COMING HOME
CHAPTER IV
"Hey."
"Hey! Talk to me."
Enzo fought, clinging to sleep, not wanting to let it go, but it was no use. The voice wasn't going away. He tried to roll away from the sound, but there were hands on his shoulder. "Talk to me, Enzo. I'm starting to get worried now."
"Dot?"
"Who else? Come on, Baby – Talk to me. It's time to wake up."
"All right…" The boy yawned mightily and stretched, wincing as his muscles protested. "Ow…"
"Asleep in the middle of the day again." Dot sighed. "I just don't understand."
"I'm OK." Enzo mumbled. "I was just tired – I went for a long walk after- after I left."
"Cecil said you came in before lunchtime and went straight into the apartment."
Big mouth! " I dunno. Maybe." He yawned again. "How's Bob?"
"Better. He'll be going home tomorrow, Phong says."
"That'll be interesting."
"You're not kidding." Dot smiled ruefully. She brushed the hair out of brother's eyes and cupped his chin. "But we were talking about you, as I remember. You slept all day and didn't eat lunch – and you barely touched your breakfast. What am I supposed to think?"
"Phong said I was OK, didn't he?"
"Yeah he did, smart-guy – but he also said I was supposed to keep a close eye on you! I suppose you want to skip dinner, too?"
Enzo did – his stomach was edgy, and he just wanted to close his eyes and sleep forever – but he also wanted Dot's attention directed elsewhere. "No – I'll come out and eat something. Is it dinnertime?"
Dot laughed and shook her head. "Yes, it's dinnertime. Come on out and I'll make you something. Or do you want to go upstairs?"
"No – the kitchen's fine. Thanks."
"OK." She smiled, giving him a long look as he sat up, cross-legged, and scratched his head. She turned for the door. "I'll put something on for you. See you in a micro."
"Dot, wait."
She turned back. "Hmmm?"
Enzo sighed and stared at his lap. "Well…"
"What is it, Enzo?"
"Nothing… Just – I'm sorry. About before. Sorry I yelled at you at the P.O."
"Sweetie, that's OK-"
"Sorry." The boy repeated, still not looking up. "I was pretty basic. You don't need to worry about me, OK? I'm fine."
"Not worry? I don't think so." She was next to him, on the bed, kissing his cheek. "And I'm sorry you're not feeling well. We'll get you through it, OK?"
"Yeah."
"Angel." She hugged him hard, causing him to grimace. Fortunately she didn't notice. "Come on out of here and eat something now. We'll watch a vidscreen or something and you'll feel better."
"Cool." He sighed, wishing more than anything he could just go back to sleep...
It was time to talk to Matrix.
Enzo had picked at a plate of food, Dot's Astro-chicken parmigiana. It was good, like always – but he hadn't been able to force down more than a few bites. She sat with him on the couch for a while, trying to get him interested in a basketball game – something she never would have chosen to watch on her own in a million minutes, he knew. The boy didn't even remember getting into bed – clearly he'd fallen asleep and she'd carried him, embarrassing in it's own right.
After she'd rousted him out of bed (no small effort) in the morning, he'd dragged himself to the breakfast and listlessly sipped applet juice, feeling Dot's eyes on him the whole time. She'd smile every time he caught her staring, but he could sense the worry in her gaze. She thought he was really sick. And there was something else in her expression too, something he knew but couldn't place – something strange, out of context. The boy had the strange feeling he'd recognize it if he only saw it where he would expect to – but where was that?
"I suppose we should be thinking about school." She sighed, absently stirring her java.
"Aw Sis…"
"Well – the net doesn't stop processing for our problems, Kiddo. School's been back since D-Day. You really should be there…"
"Don't make me go!" Enzo pleaded. He was sure he could never stay awake through a whole school day, not even close – and that would inevitably lead to embarrassment. And there was so much stuff on his processor anyways…
Dot sighed again and stroked his forehead softly with her index finger. "I really don't want to send you – not like you are now. I'd worry all cycle. I think I'll take you to the P.O. with me so I can keep an eye on you."
"The P.O.? OK, I guess." At least it wasn't school…
"We'll try and keep you from getting too bored." She smiled. "I'll bring some pillows and blankets and we can set you up in my office if you get tired."
"D'you think Matrix will be there?"
"Matrix? Oh Honey, I don't think it would be a good idea for you to see Matrix right now."
"Why?" Enzo protested. "He's my brother!"
His sister raised an eyebrow. "Your… Maybe he is, Enzo. But I don't want you getting upset right now. You've been getting upset a lot lately and it's not good for you."
"Why would I get upset? I just wanna talk to him!"
"I know. But he…" Enzo could see the strain on Dot's face as she struggled for the words she thought would protect his feelings. "He's been under a lot of pressure. He was infected and everything-"
"So were you!"
"Honey-"
"Dot, I really wanna talk to him. He's hardly talked to me since the reboot. Please?"
"We'll see." She sighed wearily. "We'll just play it by ear, OK?" She tweaked his ear and smiled as she said it.
"Whatever." So they'd gone to the P.O., and Enzo was as sure as anything that it was time to talk to Matrix. Matrix could help him if anyone could – Matrix knew everything about him! Everyone else was scared of the big sprite, seemed like. But not Enzo. Well, maybe just a little…
The boy was more sure than ever that something really weird was happening to him. If Dot knew what had happened at Mister Pearson's, in G-Prime… But she couldn't know – not ever. He wouldn't tell Matrix either – not about that. But about the other stuff – the headaches and the weakness and being sleepy all the time. Maybe the same the same thing had happened to him! Maybe it was all part of that "growing up" process he was always hearing about but never seemed to really happen to him, not fast enough anyway. Maybe it was just a normal thing, Matrix would know. If he didn't, who would?
He'd slipped away from Dot the first chance he got, when she became engrossed in a report on the status of the security forces after the Daemon fight. He thought about looking for Bob – Glitch-Bob – but figured he'd better find Matrix before Dot found him. He ran into Specky in the hallway outside the war room. "Hey – do you know where my brother is?" The little one binome frowned in puzzlement. "Matrix!"
"Oh! He and AndrAIa are at the armory I believe. Doing an inventory of CPUs and other weapons stocks. After the Guardian army slipped through the portal we were forced to-"
"Thanks!" Enzo sighed. That guy could bore anybody… It wasn't a long walk to the armory, but Enzo had to stop on more than one occasion and rest, hands on his knees. He was even weaker than yesterday – he was sure of it. Use your zip board, Stupid! The inspiration, like most of his good ideas, came too late to do him any good. His processor was almost as out of it as his body…
The big, bearded sprite was standing amidst the stacks of ammunition, CPU parts, hand-held weapons. He was lazily tapping on a keypad as he strolled the stacks. "Hey." Enzo called out from behind him.
Matrix turned, his hand half-reaching reflexively for gun. He relaxed when he saw Enzo, then stiffened again. "Hey. Didn't hear you coming. Since when are you so quiet?"
"Dunno." The boy shrugged, eyes on his feet, taking a few weary, aching steps towards the renegade. "How you doing?"
"I'm OK, I guess. Word is you're a little under the weather."
"Who told you that?"
"Dot, dummy! Who do you think? So – what's wrong with you? You OK?"
Enzo bristled, tried to remember what Ray had said. He looked up finally to see Matrix staring back at him, silently. But not at his face. The big sprite's eyes were focused at chest level. "What're you staring at?"
"Nothing." Matrix muttered guiltily, and looked away. Enzo was sure he'd seen the same look in Matrix' eyes that he had in Dot's – the same wrongness. What was it?
The boy gingerly walked up and stood next to Matrix, this time the look on the big sprite's face unmistakable surprise and concern. "Jeez, Kid – you look like Old Man Pearson!"
"Thanks a lot." Enzo muttered, leaning against an exoskeleton.
"What in the net is wrong with you?"
"I dunno." The boy sighed. "I was hoping you could tell me."
"Me? Seems like you'd wanna talk to Phong about that, Kid – I'm no medical program-"
"I know. But you're me. Aren't you?"
Matrix bristled for a nano, visibly controlled himself. "In a way. Yes. But I still don't understand. Dot said Phong already checked you out-"
"He did. But he didn't really find anything. Dot's really worried and I was thinking maybe the same thing happened to you, or something."
"Me?" The bearded sprite frowned. "What exactly is going on? Where does it hurt?"
"All over." The boy sighed, momentarily allowing his expression to reveal more than he wanted. "I mean – not much. Just…sore. You know. And I'm tired. And I feel weak all the time."
"Should be used to that." Matrix said in a low voice. Enzo stiffened, glared at him. The big sprite's face softened. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything…"
Enzo straightened up, feeling a surge of energy for a nano. "Thanks a lot."
"I said I was sorry, Kid. I'm just joking around. You… You did really good. Against Daemon. We wouldn't have won it if you hadn't." The big sprite awkwardly patted him on the shoulder.
"Thanks." Enzo sighed, weariness settling over his body again like data filling in the empty spaces where his energy had been. "But I'm pretty scared about what's going on."
"I don't know what's going on, Enzo. You should really be talking to Phong."
"So… Something like this never happened to you? It's not normal?"
"Normal? What do you mean?"
"I dunno." Enzo muttered. "I thought maybe it was some kind of growing up thing, a stage or something…"
"You talking about puberty, Kid?" An amused smile. Enzo felt his ears turn red. "I don't think so. You're not there for a while yet, if I remember right – and besides, it wouldn't be normal for you to hurt all over like you're talking about. And be weak – that doesn't sound right. Plenty of other basic stuff, but not that."
"Crash it all! So what's wrong with me, then?" Enzo felt himself starting to be afraid, but he fought it down – there was no way he was crying in front of his brother.
Matrix looked over at him, again not in the eyes, but in the chest. "I'm no med unit, but it seems pretty obvious to me what's wrong."
"No!" Enzo scowled. "It's not my icon. Hex wouldn't hurt me."
"Kid-"
"My name is Enzo!"
Matrix gritted his teeth, controlling himself again. Enzo felt a sense that he was playing a dangerous game, seeing how close he could get to a cliff's edge before it gave way and sent him tumbling to the rocks below. "Enzo. You were feeling fine a few cycles ago, weren't you?"
"Yeah…"
"Well – you do the math, K-… Enzo. Hex did something to your icon and ever since, you feel sick. It doesn't take a genius like Phong to figure out what the problem is."
"No! She did something to your icon too, didn't she? And you seem OK."
"Well…"
"Well, what? What did she do to you?"
"She didn't really do anything to me. We think she just took some of my Guardian codes so she could spread them through the net when she fragmented. So it's not the same, is it?"
"But – why would she hurt me, then?" Enzo felt a triumphant swell at his logical victory. "Why would she hurt me – she liked me! She didn't hurt you and she didn't even like you."
"The feeling was mutual, believe me."
"So? I told you – she'd never hurt me. Why would she?"
"Because she was a virus, Kid!" Matrix snarled. "Don't you get it? She was a damn virus – and viruses can't be trusted. We never should have giver her a PID in the first place."
"But she saved the net!"
"Yeah, well – I still have my doubts about that "cure". You don't understand anything, Enzo – you're a little kid. She might have made you laugh but she didn't really care about you. She was nuts."
"She did care." Enzo felt a catch in his voice, hated it. "She was right about you – you are a virus-hater."
"You would be too, if you had any sense!" Matrix spat. "Did you forget about Daemon? About Megabyte?"
"She wasn't like them!"
"They're all the same!" The bearded sprite enunciated the words slowly, veritably shouting them. His eyes darted quickly down to Enzo's chest. "User, Kid – don't you know how much danger you could be in? This isn't a game! You think I want to see something bad happen to you? I don't!"
"You're wrong. It's something else, it has to be…"
"Crash! You're still just a stupid kid, like always. I thought after Daemon maybe you'd grown out of it, but-"
"Shut up!" Enzo wasn't feeling weak anymore, all of a sudden. "Just shut your fat face!"
Matrix seemed taken aback by the sudden authority in Enzo's voice. "I don't really care what you think of me, Enzo. But I don't want anything bad to happen to you, whether you believe it or not. You can think what you want." The big sprite grabbed his data pad and headed briskly for the door.
"Matrix!" Enzo shouted after him. The big sprite didn't turn. "Crash! Crash it all!" He was alone in the armory, his voice echoing off the high ceiling and the distant walls. He felt a preternatural strength in his muscles, like he could push off the ground and go so high that he'd never come down. "No! Not again…"
His world was lost in swirling light and heat, a burning behind his eyes, harder to control than before. He felt like he was a sheet of flame, light as air, floating about and burning whatever he touched. He was vaguely aware of sounds – boxes crashing, metal screeching on metal, a voice- his voice. Footsteps reverberating in the cavernous room. It could all have lasted for a nano or an hour, he wasn't sure and didn't even want to know. And when is was over, there was only silence – silence and heat. The heat wasn't going away, he was burning now, not the flame but just a boy being burned by it. And AndrAIa's face, full of alarm, staring down at him. Or had he dreamed her? It wouldn't have been the first time…
