CHAPTER 20
DESCENT
Matrix wondered how he got himself into these situations.
The renegade took the steps two at a time. The sprite he pursued had evaded him thus
far but the renegade was closing in. The stairs seemed to climb forever, but Matrix knew they had to end at
the roof eventually, so he pressed doggedly on.
The stairs finally ended at a door and Matrix burst
through into the bright sun and oppressive heat, Gun held out before him. Stretched out for miles around were the
dwellings and businesses of System 998, a haphazard piling of block-like
structures, most run-down, all on top of one another forming a network of small
mini-cities, each with their own chain of command. Word had it was you could get anything in System 998, anything
you couldn't legally get anywhere else anyway.
Mouse and Ray had been here during the Daemon
Conflict. It had been where they had
first learned of Daemon's Armada. And
it was here that they hoped to learn of Raven's whereabouts.
The other two systems Flame had mentioned had yielded no
results and Matrix was thinking Flame had double-crossed them, but why? She had nothing to gain by lying. Or did she?
System 998 had been the third system and it was here that
he and Bob had sought out Bob's contact. The contact had informed Bob that he might know someone who knew where
Raven is. Unfortunately, they found the
man in his apartment, having just been attacked. He fragmented moments later but not before telling Bob that his
assailant had been the very sprite who could possibly lead them to Raven. They had tracked him down and Matrix and Bob
had entered the tavern. A fight had
ensued. Matrix hoped Bob was all
right. The Prime Guardian had seen
their quarry escaping and had ordered Matrix to pursue. Now Matrix moved stealthy past the various
obstructions on the rooftop.
Movement to his left was the only warning he received
before his quarry leapt out at him brandishing a metal pole. Matrix leapt aside, but not quickly, enough
as the pole smashed against his shoulder. Matrix gave a growl of rage as he fell back and as his quarry lunged at
him, Matrix raised Gun and fired. The
stun blast – they had wanted him alive – struck the sprite man in the shoulder
and sent him flying.
"Damn it," Matrix hissed regaining his feet and gingerly
probed his aching shoulder. Unexpectedly he heard a sound behind him and he whirled, Gun raised.
"Whoa!" Bob said
raising his hands.
"Bob! You're all
right!"
"But you're not," Bob approached him, "I heard a shot,
what happened?"
Matrix nodded to where his quarry lay flat on his back
and out cold.
"Let's take him somewhere a little more private," Bob
said grimly, "He's going to tell us what we want to know."
***
The motel room was draped in shadow. Bob leaned against the far wall, his arms
crossed calmly surveying Matrix as he glared at the sprite, the red glow of
Matrix's cyber eye increasing the sinister quality of the former renegade's
features.
Matrix stood before the captive sprite, his face a grim
mask of hate, "Before we beat the living chips out of you, you're going to
answer a few questions."
"I'm not telling --," the sprite began.
Matrix lashed out and grabbed him by the collar, "Wrong
thing to say!"
"Matrix," Bob said calmly, then to the sprite he said,
"You'll have to excuse my friend, sometimes it's hard to control him."
"You wouldn't do anything!" The sprite said in a strangled voice, "You're --,"
"Don't test me," Matrix tightened his grip.
"Please!" the sprite turned terrified eyes to Bob, "Don't
let him hurt me!"
"Well now that's up to you, isn't it?" Bob said, "No matter what happens here,
you're going to rot in jail for murder. Now things could be fairly easy for you there – or – maybe something
else can happen."
Matrix released the sprite with one hand and drew Gun,
"Something like me blowing you away?"
"Okay, okay," the
sprite turned to Bob, "Don't let him hurt me. What did you want to know?"
Bob smirked, what a pixel-brain, "Raven. Where is he?"
"You're kiddin', right? You want me to rat out the Raven?"
"Yes, I believe that's what I just said."
"Then you might as well take me to jail," the sprite
said, "I'll take my chances there."
"No, you don't," Matrix hissed, "Start talking!"
"Well he could be anywhere!" the sprite said, "He had
hideaways all over the place so I've been told. No one ever knows where he really is."
"Give us an idea," Bob said.
The sprite named various systems, all of which were the
ones they had already checked out.
"Well – there's one more thing you can do," the sprite
said. "There's a --,"
Their captive's next words were cut off when the door was
suddenly smashed open. Neither Bob nor
Matrix had time to react as several sprites poured in.
"Delete them!" Their captive yelled.
Bob raised his palms exploding balls of golden light and
the room was bathed in over-brightness and Bob lashed out at the nearest man to
him.
He heard Matrix's bellow of rage and the two men threw
themselves into a second fray. In the
midst of it all, Bob saw their captive escape out the door. The Prime Guardian yelled an oath and shoved
violently through the circle of bodies. The pixel-brain wasn't going to escape a second time.
"Your turn!" Matrix screamed and punched the nearest man.
Bob forced his way from the room and dashed down the
hall, he was out the front and into the street just in time to see the sprite
duck around a corner. Bob was after him
immediately, chasing him down side streets and narrow alleys. They came to an open road and his target
dashed down another alley. He lost
sight of him for a moment, then movement caught in his peripheral vision had
Bob dashing down a side street to his left.
The Prime Guardian halted abruptly.
The sprite was standing there in the middle of the alley,
by himself a grin of supreme confidence on his face.
"This is not good," Bob muttered and at the very same
moment, movement behind him told him he wasn't alone. At least a dozen sprites and binomes surrounded him, coming from
within doorways and from behind and to either side of him.
"Now who's in trouble?" Their former captive smirked.
"Bring it on," Bob said.
They advanced on him, and Bob turned to the nearest ones
firing blast after blast until they managed to converge on him dragging him
down, and pinning him to the filthy concrete, Bob continued to fight wildly,
realizing it was futile. The sprite
approached him, "Looks like you're just going to end up one of those missing
persons of System 998."
The shot came from over their heads and grazed the sprite
across his arm that time. Bob grasped
onto the nearest arm and sent a searing blast over his skin. The man screamed and suddenly the weight was
off him. Bob regained his feet and
smiled at the sight of Matrix pummeling his attackers and once again, Bob was
fighting alongside his comrade.
At one point Bob saw their captive climbing to his feet,
holding his injured arm. He limped over
to one of his fallen friends and lifted his discarded laser pistol, pointing it
at Matrix's exposed back.
"No!" Bob prepared
to fire a blast and before he could do so, another came from above. Silver-white it bathed the sprite in an
eerie glow and the man screamed, before pitching forward on his face.
Gliding smoothly from above a blue-clad figure expertly
piloted the Surf Baud to a smooth landing a few feet away from the body.
"G'day, mates," Ray Tracer smiled. "Need any help?"
"Surfer!" Matrix
yelled.
Their attackers that remained standing turned and fled.
"Ray Tracer! You
old surfer boy! Where've you been?" Bob strode up to him and clapped him on the
shoulders and Matrix followed suit. "It's good to see you."
"I heard about the Little Mate while surfing the net,"
Ray said. "I – ah – stopped off at
Mainframe and Dot gave me the lowdown. I did some checking myself and this is where I was told Raven last was."
"Us to," Bob nodded to the unconscious sprite, "We have
the roughest time getting information from this pixel-brain."
"Really?" Ray
looked at the sprite that was moaning piteously, "Maybe I can help with that."
***
"Wakey, wakey," Ray smiled down at the sprite that was
sprawled across Baud.
"What, the --?" The sprite groaned.
"I'd watch where I stepped if I were you mate."
The sprite gave a strangled cry of alarm when he realized
he was several hundred feet above the rooftops.
"No! Get me
down! I'm afraid of heights!"
Ray clucked his tongue, "Too bad for you." The search engine leaned Baud slightly to
the right.
"No! NO!"
"Wanna tell me where Raven is?"
"I don't know, I swear! But – I was going to tell your friends I know who will know exactly
where he is. A mercenary named
Hellcat. She's in the Celeron
System. Word is she owes Raven a
favor. She'll know, really!"
"Well now, I'd bet you'd be mighty happy to lead us to
her, right?" Ray smiled and leaned Baud
a little further.
"Yes, yes, I will! No funny stuff either."
"That's a good little dipswitch," Ray leaned down and
patted him on the cheek. "Hang on
tight, now."
They reached the ground and the sprite literally crawled
off Baud and began kissing the pavement. Bob, Matrix and Ray looked on in disgust.
"Our mate here has agreed to take us to someone who knows
exactly where Raven is," Ray said.
"He'd better be telling the truth," Matrix grunted.
"Oh, I am, I am!" The sprite said, "But once I take you to Hellcat, I'm free to go right?"
"As if," Matrix hissed.
***
Quicksilver paced back and forth his footsteps echoing
through the empty space of the warehouse. It had been much too long for his liking since last receiving a
report. Since Chaos had left him and
their informant had been unreachable, Quicksilver had not received any news
from the Capitol in quite some time. He
had been monitoring the news of the city and had heard the reported rumors of
the Prime Guardian's demise but he wanted - needed -- to know for certain. He needed someone who could get into Council
Hall with little notice.
Then it came to him.
"Of course!" Quicksilver's laugh was slightly random, "Why didn't I think of her
before?"
Quicksilver had ordered one of his minions, a young
sprite woman, to care for the child. He
had the owner of the warehouse set her up in a room far enough away so they
wouldn't disturb him. Quicksilver
couldn't be bothered to dispose of the child and he didn't trust any of his
minions to do it. Only Chaos would do
the job to his satisfaction.
Quicksilver strode to where the woman was. He burst into the room and she hurriedly
placed the child in a box she had been using as a bed for him and knelt before
him. "You know of the woman,
Desdemona?"
"Yes sir," she said.
"Have the owner of this place get in contact with her and
bring her to me. She will come
willingly."
"Yes sir - um - sir? What of the child?"
"Leave it here. It can survive a few micro's without you," Quicksilver snapped, "Get her
here or the next body they find will be yours."
"Yes sir."
Quicksilver returned to the main area and activated the
vid-TV again. Just a glimpse, that was
all he wanted.
***
It had been a long, grueling night for the renegade and
the game sprite.
Questioning had gone on all night, with the members of
Daemon's Chosen either being tight lipped or spilling their circuits. Now someone, supposedly one of the Chosen
who had been in the warehouse where they had taken Dot had pointed them to a
house in Sector 1001 where supposedly, their lived a high-ranking member of his
group. The plan was to watch him at
first, then make their move.
But for now, it was morning and neither one of them had
had a bite to eat since yesterday afternoon. Since Dot's Diner was still offline, Matrix and AndrAIa strode wearily
into Al's Wait and Eat. The Waiter
looked up, "Al, the breakfast rush is here."
"What?"
"Sure you don't want to get some sleep?" Matrix asked.
"Sure I do," AndrAIa said, "I'd love to, but this is the
first solid lead we've gotten and I think we should take care of it now."
"So we stake this place out and see if our perp shows?"
"Hopefully he will," AndrAIa said, "Unless that Chosen
member was lying to us."
"I hope it will be easier then when Dot and I --,"
The opening of a vid-window interrupted Matrix. Dot's worried face, appeared, "Matrix?"
"Dot, what is it? What's wrong?"
"Would you come to the Principal Office right away?" Dot said, "Bob needs to talk to you."
"I'm on my way," Matrix said.
"I'll arrange for a transport and meet you at the CPU
office, Sparky," AndrAIa said.
"Better make that food to go," Matrix said.
***
Matrix knocked on the doorframe to Dot's office. She was just sitting there staring at the
top of her desk. She looked up and
smiled tiredly at him. Matrix knew
immediately something was seriously wrong.
"What is it?" He
walked in closing the door behind him.
"Enzo," Dot said quietly, "I --,"
"Dot?" An
uncomfortable feeling was beginning in the pit of his stomach, "It's Bob isn't
it?"
"Yes --,"
"Dot, what is it?"
"Enzo listen to me," Dot said, "Last night, Bob went into
the second stage of the illness."
"Oh User," Matrix muttered, "Did you call Rose?"
"Of course we did," Dot said, "She still hasn't found the
antidote although the medicine she gave Bob seems to be helping."
"Where is he?"
"With Phong in the infirmary," Dot said, "We'll go there
now. I wanted to prepare you first
-it's - he --,"
"I've probably seen worse," Matrix said. "Let's go."
***
Phong met them at the door to the examination room. "I am glad you came so quickly my son. He is waiting inside for you. Dot, have you prepared him?"
"I hope so Phong."
Phong bowed his head, then turned to open the door.
Matrix stepped inside and the door closed behind
him. It was semi-dark within. Bob sat on the examination table; his back
to Matrix, but the renegade immediately saw the large white bandages across his
hero's back. "Bob?"
He turned and smiled slightly, "Thanks for coming."
"Bob," Matrix said again as he walked around the
table. Bob's face was bandaged as well.
"Do I look as bad as I think I do?"
For a nano, Matrix couldn't reply. "I'm sorry."
Bob sighed, "Rose still hasn't found anything new, but
that isn't what I wanted to tell you. Matrix, if I should - if the inevitable happens - well there are things
I need for you to do. First off, well I
know I don't need to tell you to take care of Dot. You'll do that anyway."
"Yes," Matrix muttered.
"But I also need for you to look out for and train Little
Enzo."
"What?"
"I know how you two feel about each other," Bob
continued. "But you need each
other. Little Enzo needs a big
brother. Someone he can look up
to. Someone who can be his hero."
"I'm not --,"
"No," Bob cut him off, "Don't say you're not. You are. You may find this hard to believe, but despite everything Little Enzo
has said, I believe he admires you a great deal, deep down. He's going to need you to teach him the
things that -- well you know. He'll
fight you every step of the way but you must keep trying. Someday, he'll realize the type of
relationship you two can have if he meets you half way. Will you promise me you'll try?"
"Yes, Bob," Matrix said, "You have my word."
"Also," Bob said, "I've already made the necessary
arrangements and discussed this with Katiyana. She will be interim leader of the Collective but that will put her in
danger. I need you to protect her and
make certain my enemy doesn't get to her. Do anything you can to prevent that, understand?"
"Yes."
"I'm leaving the choice up to you whether or not you'd
like to complete your Guardian training. I only wish I could be here to see it."
"Don't talk like that," Matrix said.
Bob smiled sadly, "Mainframe will need a new
Guardian. I'd like you to take on that
role but don't feel pressured into it. Like I said, the choice is yours. I know no matter what happens you'll do well - Enzo."
"Bob," the renegade's powerful body began to shake with
emotion, his voice once again dropping to that plaintive whisper, "Please don't
die Bob."
He heard Bob moving to stand behind him and by his soft
moan; Matrix could tell Bob was in pain. After a moment, Bob laid gentle hands on his shoulders.
"I'll always be proud of you," Bob said.
His shoulders fell under the slight pressure of Bob's
hands and the anger, fear, and sadness left him to be replaced by an unwanted
and stark realization. He didn't know
how he would survive without the man who was his hero.
"I have to go," Matrix said after a few moments. He had to get out of there now, otherwise he
was going to start smashing things or bawling like an infant. "AndrAIa and I have our first solid lead on
a major player with Daemon's Chosen. We're going to stake out his place."
"Be careful," Bob cautioned.
"I will," he couldn't take it a nano longer. He quickly left the room.
Dot and Phong were waiting for him outside.
"Are you all right?" Dot laid a hand on his shoulder.
"I --," Matrix whispered, and then as always, he hid his
true feelings behind a wall of bitterness, "I'm fine. AndrAIa and I are going after another Chosen member. We'll report in as soon as we nab the guy."
"All right. Just
be careful."
Matrix nodded stiffly before he walked away.
***
The moment AndrAIa saw him she knew something was
wrong. "Matrix?"
"Are we ready?" Matrix motioned towards the transport that AndrAIa had commandeered for
them. She had parked it behind the CPU
office.
"Yes," AndrAIa said, "Sparky, what happened?"
"Nothing," Matrix said curtly, "Let's go."
AndrAIa climbed into the transport after him and took the
controls. Matrix didn't protest. The two made their way down to Level
31. The run down tenement seemed
deserted, but there were signs of life within. AndrAIa halted the transport in a space between buildings, which
afforded them a good view.
"Now do you want to talk about it?" AndrAIa said when she cut the transport
engine.
Matrix let out a belabored sigh, "Bob – we talked for a
while and --,"
AndrAIa could see the explosion coming. She had learned to read him so well over the
hours they had been together. Still she
was unprepared for when Matrix slammed his fist into the transport control
panel and swore loudly.
"He went into the second stage of the illness last
night," Matrix said, "How he can expect us to go on like nothing's wrong,
Dre? Doesn't he know how this is eating
me alive? How it's eating us all
alive?"
"He knows, Sparky," AndrAIa reached over and took his
hand and he flinched. AndrAIa
sighed. He had hurt himself of
course. AndrAIa left her seat and went
to the rear of the transport, and got out the first aide kit. There was an ice pack within and AndrAIa
took in back to Matrix and held it on his now swelling fist. Neither spoke, but the look of despondency
in his eyes – the same one, AndrAIa knew was mirrored in hers told her he felt
as she did. She loved Bob too, and like
Matrix, didn't know what she would do if he died.
***
"Ray is missing," Mouse's worried face appeared in the
vid-window. "He didn't report in all
night. I'm going out to look for him
but I need some back up."
Bob muttered an oath. "I'm on my way there. I'll
contact Katiyana and have her send out a contingent of CPU's. Mouse, don't you dare go out alone
understand?"
"All right, sugah, just hurry, okay?"
"On my way."
Dot was already talking to Phong, "The portal generator
will be ready."
Bob contacted Katiyana finding to his confusion that he
couldn't make a connection immediately. When he did finally reach her, she seemed harried, and the connection
barely clear.
"My User, Bob?" Katiyana said when she saw him.
"I --," his face flushed, he couldn't prevent it.
"It's all right Bob," Katiyana smiled with sympathy.
"What's up with communications this time?"
"I'm not certain, I've tried to contact Zif. I'm sure he knows what's going on. I suppose I'll have to walk over to
Operations," Katiyana replied, "Bob, you must make a statement soon. I'm not certain what we can do --,"
"They won't see anything but the bandages," Bob
said. "Has it gotten that bad?"
"Yes," Katiyana said, "Even in this short time. I'm getting hundreds of frantic calls from
sector commanders and various officials asking about the rumors."
"I'm on my way now, but I need you to do something," Bob
frowned as the vid-window was distorted by static. "Mouse just called and said that Ray is missing. I'd like for you
to mobilize some CPU teams."
"Very well," Katiyana said, "Colonel Tempus reported in earlier. He's in Sector 2000, quelling a
disturbance. I wanted to ask you, did
you authorize --?"
Abruptly, the vid-window closed.
"What in the net?" Bob asked, "Dot, what happened?"
"I don't know," Dot was programming on her console, "It
was closed from her end."
Bob didn't like the sound of that.
***
Light barely filtered into the narrow and garbage-ridden
alley. The sounds of the outside world
muted by the solid walls of the buildings. Rats searched for food within the rotting waste. One such creature cautiously approached the
figure lying haphazardly in a pile of refuse. It squeaked with alarm as an arm moved and the rat dashed for cover.
Ray awoke with a pain-filled groan.
"Bloody hell," Ray muttered. Where was he? He gingerly
picked himself out of the garbage. Baud
came to him with only a thought. The
last thing he remembered was following Colonel Tempus –
Ray swore, his curses echoing to the rooftops. He had been ambushed from behind but not by
Tempus. Ray had had the colonel in his
sights the whole time. He had been
patrolling with his men, quelling the various disturbances that had begun. Ray had followed at a distance, observing
from the air or from tops of buildings. Then something – some news the colonel had received in his comm had the
soldier mobilizing his troops in a hurry. Ray had taken to the air and followed.
There was a small disturbance, not a riot per se, but a
group of teenagers causing mischief. Tempus had his men surround the area and round up the miscreants. The colonel had taken a group of men down
another alley and Ray took to the air, making to follow.
The next thing he knew something had slammed into Baud,
setting every nerve in him on fire, then he was plummeting. A frantic cry for help to Baud had been the
only thing that had prevented him from being deleted but the landing had not
been soft. He must have been out of the
rest of the night.
"Mouse is going to be livid," Ray moved carefully from
within the alley. It had to be early,
because none of the businesses were open yet. Besides some broken windows and garbage strewn on the street, there was
no sign of the disturbance.
Dizziness overtook him and Ray leaned against Baud,
drawing strength from his other-self. He had to get back to the Hall.
"Hey, mister."
Ray turned and squinted through his goggles at the little
boy who stood before him. "Well, G'day
mate," Ray managed a wan smile.
"You okay? This
ain't the place to be hanging out in."
"Isn't," Ray corrected.
"Geez, you sound like Peg," the boy said, "Can't you all
just let me talk like I want?"
"Who's Peg, your mum?" Ray stood straight.
"Naw, she's just the lady who looks after us," the boy
said, "My name's Rich." He stuck out
his hand.
Ray shook it vigorously, "Ray Tracer."
"Wow! Cool board,
totally schway!" Rich said, "You need a
doctor. My Aunt Judy has a clinic."
"Aunt Judy? Wait
a nano," Ray said, "Peg wouldn't happen to be Peg Walrod?"
"Yeah, you know her?"
"Know of her," Ray smiled, "How about ride, mate? I may need your help, I'm still a little
woozy."
"Yeah? All right,
I'll show you the way."
Ray climbed unsteadily on Baud, "Hop aboard, mate."
Rich clambered on and Ray had to concentrate around the
pounding in his head to keep himself and Baud steady.
***
When Bob stepped out of the portal he was surprised to
find Mouse waiting for him and the look on her face told him he needed to get
things moving, "Don't worry Mouse, we'll find Ray."
"We got serious problems here," Mouse said, "I went to
Katiyana's quarters to see about getting some back up and her door was
ajar. I went in and – we have to get to
the Hall infirmary. Katiyana was
attacked."
***
Ray tried to be patient as Aunt Judy patched the bump on
his head. He was anxious to return to
the Hall but it would do little good if he took a headlong dive off of Baud
again.
Someone knocked a few times on the examination room door
and it opened a fraction, "Everyone decent?"
"Come in Peg," Aunt Judy said.
Ray got his first real glimpse at Peg Walrod. She was pretty – although no so much so as a
certain red-haired mercenary.
"So, you're the Surfer," she smiled at him and extended a
hand which Ray shook. "Nice to meet you
at last. Now maybe you'll want to tell
me what's going on with the Prime Guardian?"
"What?"
"I know something's up," Peg went on, "There are rumors
running rampant that he's dead. I know
I talked to him but that could have been a simulated voice and I haven't seen
him in ages --,"
"He's fine," Ray said, a little harsher than he intended
so he modified his voice, "But he may not be, if I don't get back to the
Hall. Do you have a vid-phone I can
use?"
"Yes, if you have Aunt Judy's bill of health," Peg
said.
"He needs bed rest, but I doubt he'll get it anytime
soon," Aunt Judy said.
Ray turned to the buxom women, took her hand and kissed
it, "I promise I will as soon as sprite-ly possible, lovely lady."
Aunt Judy blushed, "You are a rogue, Ray Tracer."
"Thank you," Ray smiled, then turned serious, "Now
where's that vid-phone?"
"Follow me," Peg motioned.
Out in the hallway, several children were gathered around
Baud admiring while Rich bragged about having actually ridden.
"Yeah, it was totally schway!" Rich was exclaiming, "Ray!"
Ray almost expected the little sprite to tackle him
Enzo-style but the child merely sauntered over to him.
"You okay?"
"Aunt Judy says I'm perfectly healthy," Ray said,
"Good," Rich said, "Do you think I can take a ride on
Baud again?"
And before Ray knew what was happening the children had
surrounded him and was begging for rides. Ray tried not to hurt the children's feelings by rushing off, but he
really needed to get to that vid-phone, "You can all have a ride when I've
taken care of my business and only if you're good and listen to Peg, agreed?"
"Agreed." The
children said as one.
"Don't worry, Ray," Rich said, "I'll keep them all in
line."
This of course earned him hits and admonishments from the
others. Peg motioned to Ray again and
he followed her down the hall.
The vid-phone was in Aunt Judy's office. Ray frowned when the call had trouble
connecting but he finally managed to get Rule and asked immediately for Bob.
"He's at the infirmary Constable Tracer," Rule said.
"What? What
happened to him?"
"Not to him, to Mistress Katiyana, she was attacked in
her room."
"My User!" Ray
said, "Is she all right?"
"We don't know yet sir."
"Wait, is anyone else with the Prime Guardian?"
"Constable Mouse is with him."
"Where's Colonel Tempus?"
"Well – out on patrol, sir as far as I'm aware,"
"Get a message to the Prime Guardian and tell him I'm on
my way. It's imperative that he not be
alone, understand?"
"Yes Constable."
Katiyana had been attacked. Surely it couldn't have been
--?
Peg had left him alone to make his call. Although he knew it wouldn't be polite of
him just to leave so Ray scribbled a note, thanking her and hurriedly returned
to the Hall.
***
Bob slowly approached the bed where Katiyana lay. The doctor had only allowed them a few
nanos. Mouse stood against the wall.
"Katiyana," Bob whispered, "I'm sorry."
Her face had been battered horribly. Both eyes had been swollen shut but she
seemed to be aware of his presence for her lips, bloated as they were, parted
and she whispered something.
Bob leaned closer, "I'm here, Mistress. I'm sorry I couldn't prevent this. It's all my fault."
"No," Katiyana's voice was a strangled croak. "Tracker --,"
Bob looked at her right wrist and noticed for the first
time that Tracker was missing.
"Katiyana," Bob took her hand, and the sight of her
brought tears to his eyes "Who did this?"
"Prime Guardian," the doctor, a tall sprite man stepped
forward.
Bob leaned closer, "Katiyana can you hear me?"
Again, her voice was inaudible then she seemed to slip
back into unconsciousness.
Bob turned fiercely to the doctor, "I want her to have
the best of care, understand? And I'm
putting a constant guard on her door."
"Yes, Prime Guardian."
Bob and Mouse moved back out into the Hall. For a moment the Prime Guardian stood there,
staring at the opposite wall, his fist clenched. Unexpectedly, a headache started at his temples, "I can't let
this go on," Bob muttered darkly, more to himself. "Who's doing this? I'll
stop them, so help me I'll delete whoever did this to her."
"Bob --," Mouse began.
"No!" An aberrant
rush of anger gripped him, "There's work to be done, you coming or what?" And Bob strode down the hall before Mouse
could answer but not before he heard her mutter a curse. When she came up to him as he waited for the
lift Bob muttered, "I'm sorry."
Mouse smiled with sympathy, "It's okay, sugah. You know whoever did this –
well -,"
"She must have known him," Bob said. They rode the lift together. "Anyone else wouldn't have gotten close
enough to her to get Tracker."
The headache pressed against his forehead. Bob rubbed his palms together as they were
slick with perspiration. Why was it so
hot in here?
"We'll do city wide searches, door to door," Bob said,
"Anyone who can't account for their whereabouts will be brought in."
"Bob --,"
"I want to call a meeting of all the Guardians present in
the city," Bob went on. It seemed to
him awfully closed in the room. Why was
it taking so long? "Anyone of them
could have done it and I will find out who."
"You sure you want to resort to that?" Mouse laid a hand on his shoulder.
"I should have a long time ago," Bob said. He leaned against the wall and closed his
eyes, but the image of Katiyana's bruised face flashed before him.
"I understand," Mouse said.
They rode the rest of the way in silence.
***
"Prime Guardian," Rule said when they arrived back at his
office, "I have some urgent messages for you. Constable Tracer has called in." Rule relayed the message.
"Thank the User," Mouse whispered, "I told that search
engine of mine to be careful."
"Also, Colonel Tempus is requesting backup in Sector
2000. He says there's a major
disturbance going on there."
Bob said, "Get him online, now."
"Yes sir," Rule said.
"You think it's him?" Mouse said, once they were in Bob's office with the door closed, "You
think he attacked Katiyana?"
"I want to believe it wasn't him," Bob said, "But we need
to check on his whereabouts. If he was
in Sector 2000 when Katiyana was attacked it couldn't possibly have been him
unless he used a portal and the relays would have detected them."
"Maybe we should call Zif to make sure," Mouse said.
"Good idea," Bob sat down, suddenly exhausted, "Thanks
for sticking by me. Sometimes, it's not
so bad. Other times it's hard to
function around the pain."
"Sugah, I'll say again, I wish you'd follow Rose's advice
and check yourself into the hospital."
The vid-window opening prevented Bob from having to reply
as Colonel Tempus's face appeared.
"Prime Guardian, what happened to you?"
"Long story," Bob said, "Rule says you need back up?"
"We have a civil disturbance going on here," Tempus said,
"It seems to be the same group causing these things, not to mention spreading
the rumors of your demise."
"I'll handle that," Bob said, "I'm sending some backup
for you but as soon as you've dealt with the situation, I want you to report
back here immediately."
"Prime Guardian, with all due respect I'm needed out here
--,"
"Katiyana was beaten," Bob said.
"What? Dear
User! Who could have done such a
horrible thing?"
Bob's eyes narrowed, "That's what I intend to find out."
"Then I will return as soon as I'm able," Tempus said.
When the vid-window closed, Bob said to Mouse, "Have Rule
contact Zif. Let's check to see if a portal was opened besides the one we
used." Another thought occurred to Bob,
"And ask him what the disturbance was in the communications."
"You got it Bob," Mouse said.
Bob opened another vid-window. He wanted to call Mainframe and bring Dot and Matrix up to date
and he had his own arrangements to make. They needed to continue with the search. This illness of his had caused him to waste too much time. They needed to find his enemy.
***
Matrix slammed a fist into the face of his attacker. The binome went down and didn't get up. The renegade turned in time to see AndrAIa
crack her trident across the skull of a second assailant.
That time, there had been less trouble apprehending their
suspects. Well Matrix couldn't exactly
say it was less trouble but at least there had only been too of them in the
apartment – their suspect and a buddy – and there had been no gunplay. But the two binomes had been foolish enough
to try and attack them. Their suspects
soon learned their mistake.
The CPU's escorted the two binomes downstairs and Matrix
and AndrAIa followed them out. Matrix
gave orders that the apartment be blocked off and an investigation of the scene
begun. He and AndrAIa stepped outside.
"You okay?" Matrix asked.
AndrAIa collapsed her trident, "Fine. Hey, what's going on over there?"
AndrAIa had motioned to a group of people standing before
an abandoned building. They were
talking quietly amongst themselves and pointing at the wall. Curious, Matrix and AndrAIa approached.
The people saw them coming and scattered like frightened
rats, giving the renegade and the game sprite an unobstructed view. The picture of a bloated spider was carved
crudely into the wall directly above the sentence. AndrAIa let out a horrified gasp. Matrix stepped forward and his big frame began to shake
violently. The fingers of his Gun hand
flexed. Written in blood red letters
was:
THE CHOSEN SHALL
RULE
Gun was in Matrix's hand and his cyber-eye targeted with
a red-hot glow. He raised his
formidable weapon and fired a single shot, blasting the offending words and a
good portion of the wall away.
When the smoke cleared. AndrAIa reached for him and lowered his Gun arm to his side. Matrix heaved a sigh and holstered his
weapon.
Then something – an intense feeling Matrix couldn't
describe – struck him like a blast from his own Gun.
"Matrix?" AndrAIa
stepped before him and placed both hands against his chest, "What is it?"
Somehow, although he wasn't certain how, Matrix knew
something was wrong. It was as though
everything around him for one nano became sinister and repulsive. He realized with a shudder that the feeling
was familiar. He had experienced it
once before. Then it was gone, as
quickly as it had come but Matrix remembered and knew what it meant.
"Sparky?"
He looked at AndrAIa as though seeing her for the first
time, "AndrAIa, we've got a serious problem." Then without explaining, he turned and strode to the transport.
"Matrix, wait! What's going on?"
They had to get back to the Principal Office. Matrix was already starting the transport as
AndrAIa climbed in.
"Sparky, if you don't tell me what's going on --,"
"AndrAIa," Matrix sighed, she'd probably think he was
going random, "Do you remember at the meeting with Web Alliance when Bob and I
sensed a viral presence?"
"Yes," AndrAIa said warily.
"Well I just got that feeling again," Matrix said, "It
took me a little while to recognize it and then it was gone as quickly as it
came."
"Oh no," AndrAIa whispered.
"I lost him," Matrix said more to himself, and then to
the game sprite he said, "AndrAIa, I think there's a new virus in Mainframe."
