AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Please note the change in rating and bear it in mind as you continue reading this fic. The following chapter contains scenes of a violent nature and strong language, and some readers may be offended. Rest assured that no graphic or gratuitous images have been used; however, the subject matter is difficult and these scenes were necessary for the development of the story.
I felt the familiar sizzling and crackling of energy as the game cube washed over us. My processor was numb as the reality of the situation slowly dawned on me. Mr. Garamond wasn't here. Lisa and I were trapped in a game with Zip and Calisto. How was it possible – where was he?
"Looks like it's just us." Zip said. His voice was soft and calm, but there was a hint of something underneath it, lurking.
"Crash! Where in the net is Mr. Garamond? He's supposed to be here!"
"Don't worry Enzo – we'll take care of you." Whatever was hiding in his voice was coming closer to the surface, now.
"Yeah – if your diaper needs changing or something." Calisto grinned.
"Grow up!" Lisa spat. "You're the ones who act like you're in diapers! You're pathetic."
A hint of anger flashed in Zip's eyes, but his voice stayed low. "You sure like to talk, seeing as you're just a first-hour bitch."
"Hey! Don't you call her that!" I was getting so angry that I had no chance whatsoever to control it.
"It's all right." Lisa whispered in my ear.
"I think Enzo's getting cranky – maybe he needs a nap." Zip chuckled.
"He's scared." Calisto tittered. "Scared of the big, bad game."
"Well, don't worry – if things get too scary we can sing a song for you, like Guardian Bob."
My stomach lurched. Violently. "What?"
Zip smiled coldly at me for a nano and I felt like all the air had been sucked out of my lungs. The he looked around. "Guess we better figure out what's going on with the game, shouldn't we? Wouldn't want to be nullified or trapped in here."
"I don't recognize this one."
"Me neither. But maybe Enzo does – he is the great game legend, after all. Tell us, Enzo – save us all, Hero." I couldn't take my eyes away from Zip – it was like I was paralyzed. I felt Lisa's hand on my elbow, squeezing softly, reassuringly. "Well, Little Prince? I thought you'd been in hundreds of games with your Guardian friends!"
I swallowed a knot in my throat that felt like a jetball, and looked around. We were surrounded by walls of green – plants, alive. Like vines. They were all around us, twisting and turning at odd angles. I looked at them for a nano and realized they truly were alive – they were shifting and slithering slowly on themselves. A kernel of flash memory hit me and I looked up at the sky. We were outside – it was filled with stars, and a crescent moon hung midway between the horizon to my right and the sky directly above us. "Labyrinth."
"What?" Lisa whispered.
"Yes – what is it? Do share, Prince Enzo. You've played this before?"
"Yeah." I rasped, my mouth so dry my voice was barely audible. "Labyrinth of Knossos. A maze game."
"What's the point? What do we do?" Calisto asked.
"Um… The User has to collect objects. Items, treasures, whatever. Once he has all of them he has to find his way to the center of the labyrinth before the moon sets, or the gates of the underworld open up and the dead cross the River Styx and reclaim the Earth."
"But what do we do?"
I stared at Calisto, amazed. What a null. "Stop him, Idiot."
"So all we have to do is keep the User from collecting these treasures and finding the center of the labyrinth before the moon sets and we win? Run out the clock?" Zip asked.
"Basically – yeah. That or kill him. I mean, there's more to it-"
"Perfect." He smiled. "That should be just perfect."
"What do you mean?"
He shot that same smile at me again, the one that sucked all the air out of me. It was cold, frighteningly calm. Almost like I'd seen it before, on a different face…
"What's the matter?" Lisa whispered. I barely heard her.
"Shouldn't we reboot?" Calisto's voice shattered the spell I was under, and Zip turned to him.
"Why not? Let's see what we're dealing with." He brought a hand to his chest and tapped his icon, and Calisto mimicked him. "Reboot!"
"Crash!" I whispered. Calisto had rebooted as a tall, bearded sprite in a long, jeweled tunic and a bronze breastplate. He held what appeared to be a large, golden doll in his arms. It was Zip whose appearance was shocking, though – he still had the body of man – admittedly a huge, muscular one – but his head was that of a bull, covered with black fur and crowned by two pointed white horns. He carried a bulky silver mace. He looked terrifying.
"Very nice." Zip said. His voice was a low, deep rumble that seemed to rattle my insides and it was as scary as his appearance. "Very nice. And you look like a king of some sort." He turned cold, red eyes on Lisa and me. "Why haven't you rebooted?"
I tore my eyes away from him – with difficulty – and looked at Lisa. My insides were a panic, racing from one terror to another. But she had no idea about the worst of them – she only knew we were stuck in a game with two dangerous nullheads, and that was bad enough. She smiled and reached for her icon. "Let's do it."
"Reboot!" Lisa was now clad in a long, sky blue tunic that descended to her sandal-clad feet – her hair was dark, deep brown with a hint of red, totally different from her normal golden locks but still incredibly beautiful. And the hair was crowned with a small tiara ringed with blue and red stones that shimmered in the moonlight. She was so breathtaking that I forget everything else, just for a nano, until her voice snapped me out of it. "You look nice, Enzo. Very mature."
"Oh!" I looked down and saw that I was covered with a light brown tunic that looked very plain compared to Lisa and Calisto's fancy clothes, but it was still finer than the ragged, blood-stained toga Zip had on. There were sandals on my feet and I knew my hair was longer, because I felt it resting on my shoulders. Two things stood out, though – the unfamiliar scratchy feeling of a beard and mustache – which sent a little thrill through me – and a pressing weight on my back. Another flash memory exploded and I didn't even have to look and see what the weight was. "Thanks. You, uh… You look incredible."
"Who are we supposed to be, anyways?" Calisto's shrill voice ruined the nano or I could have been staring at Lisa all cycle.
I sighed. "You're Midas – a king."
"King? Cool!"
"Just shut up, all right?" He glared at me, but kept quiet. I heard a low chuckle from Zip. "You're cursed. Everything you touch turns to gold, including game sprites and Users. We're immune from it." I turned and stared at Zip, trying to keep my revulsion down. "You're a minotaur – half- man, half-beast. I think it's called a 'bull'. This maze was built to keep you in."
"What about you two?" Zip rumbled. I swear, when he talked the ground shook a little.
"Lisa is a princess. A- Ar…" I thought for a nano, eyes closed. "Ariadne! Princess Ariadne. And it looks like I'm Daedalus. That's an improvement, last time I was Icarus…"
"What's so special about you?" Calisto sneered.
"I'm a scientist. I built this place. And I built these wings to fly out and escape it, after I was imprisoned in here."
"You can fly?"
"Yeah. I guess. And I have the power to change the maze with my head. You know, just by thinking about it." Bob had been Daedalus the last time, and Matrix was the minotaur. Boy, Matrix hated that, but it made me laugh! I remembered Bob telling me about changing the maze, and I sent my mind out, just to test it. It was a very weird feeling – I could sense the others there, even with my eyes closed – they were like warm bursts of color in my mind. I could picture the maze in my head, too – it was like I was floating above it, looking down. With a grunt of exertion I moved a couple of walls around in there.
"Hey! It changed!" Lisa's voice. "Enzo, that's so cool!"
"Yeah." I smiled. "It should help us out. Remember I said the User has to collect stuff? He needs something from each of us – but he has to find us first. From me it's one of my wings. Lisa's tiara. One of Zip's horns."
"What about me?"
"That!" I pointed at the object in Calisto's arms.
"This? A stupid doll?"
"It's your daughter. You touched her and she turned to gold."
"Cool!"
"No – it's not cool! You… Never mind." He was hopeless. "That's basically it. The User will come looking for us, and trying to get this stuff. He's a great warrior, Theseus. And he's smart, too. But he has to do it all before we kill him or the moon sets. We should probably split up, so it's harder for him to get all the objects he needs." As soon as I said that it sounded wrong, though – there was no way I wanted Lisa to be on her own in this place. Not with a User and these two psychos roaming around.
"I don't think so." Zip rumbled thoughtfully. "I think we'll stay together."
I was secretly relieved – like I said, I didn't want to leave Lisa's side. But I didn't like the idea of Zip being in charge, and I hated the idea of giving in to him without a fight. "What about the User? If we're all together, he only has to find us one time! If he defeats all of us he'll win the game."
"I'm not concerned about the User, Little Prince. Not yet, anyways. And I wouldn't be either, if I were you. Either of you. You've got much more serious problems."
"What're you talking about?" Lisa spat defiantly. I felt that jetball in my throat again. Something was very, very wrong.
Zip took a couple of steps towards us. "I don't have to answer to you now, Bitch – you or your little boyfriend. There are no prying eyes in here, are there?" Before I could react, he reached a muscular arm out and fondled the front of Lisa's tunic. You can guess where – I don't want to say.
"Hey!" she squealed. "Stop!"
Her voice broke me out of my trance and I flew at him, fists raised. Before I got to him Calisto grabbed my by the collar and yanked me back. "You bastard! Touch her again and I'll kill you!" The rage I felt inside put any other I'd ever felt to shame – I really would have killed him if I could've. It made me understand Matrix a lot more, just for that split nano.
Zip laughed softly. "I'm gonna do a lot more than touch her, Peachfuzz – and so is the King, here. And there's not a deleted thing you can do about it." His bull head broke into a hideous smile. "This body is fully functional."
"You're basic, Zip." Lisa was smiling bravely, but her voice was shaky and so was she. "You're totally losing it! I'd never let a pig like you near me."
"Me? Lose it? I think you've got things backwards, Princess."
"This isn't funny, Zip." I panted. I struggled weakly against Calisto, but his sim was a lot stronger than mine – naturally, I would reboot as a scientist when I needed warrior strength! "This is going too far, this is crazy! If you do anything to Lisa I'll tell Laser the nano we get out of here!"
"Shut up!" Calisto slapped me hard on the back of the head.
"Let him talk – it makes me laugh." Zip was still smiling grotesquely. "Besides – he won't be doing any talking once we get back home anyway."
"You piece of shit." Lisa snarled. "If you touch me again-"
"Enough." He slapped her on the face, not hard enough to injure her but hard enough to catch her attention. I watched a red handprint bloom on her cheek with a growing sense of doom. Lisa just looked stunned. "I've been waiting to put you in your place for a long time, Enzo. You arrogant little prick. There's no one here to save you now, is there? Where's Quantum now? Or Mouse, or Bob or even Mr. Garamond? I don't see any of them, do you? I didn't think so. No, it's just us – and I'm going to show you just how worthless you are, Little Prince, and I'm gonna enjoy every nano of it. And the thing I'm gonna love most of all is the expression on your face when I-"
"No!" I screamed. "No, no, no! Shut up! I'll delete you, I swear to the User I'll delete you!"
Zip laughed. "Bring him closer." Calisto roughly shoved me towards Zip and he reared back and punched me, not with his full power but a solid shot right above my belly button. I coughed and went to my knees, seeing stars.
"Enzo! Enzo, are you all right?" I could feel Lisa's cool hands on my face but I couldn't open my eyes to see her yet.
"I'd enjoy hurting you a lot worse, Peachfuzz. Maybe I will later. But I want you nice and alert for everything that's gonna happen now."
"You're completely basic, you know that?" Lisa said softly. She was still holding my face in her hands. "You're nuts."
"I'll… tell." I rasped. "I…swear I'll… tell, Zip. You can't… do this!"
"No you won't. And you wanna know why? 'Cause if you do, I'm gonna tell everyone your girlfriend's little secret and you'll be waving bye-bye to her forever, because she'll be out of the Academy on her ascii."
Zip's words snapped me back to my senses like a bucket of cold data splashed on my face. My eyes shot open and I looked up at him. "What?"
"What secret?" Lisa whispered.
"What secret, Princess?" Zip ran a hand over her cheek and she shuddered. "Why, the little story about your family tree, that's all. I know all about it and I'll just bet Laser would be very interested, too."
"What? No!" Lisa's eyes darted towards me.
"No! You… You can't!"
"You're wrong again, Little Man. I can and I will. I know all about it, thanks to you."
"No!" I wailed. "You can't know!"
"Enzo?"
I couldn't bring myself to look at her face – I knew what I'd see there and I didn't want to see it, ever. "I didn't tell anyone Lisa. I swear I didn't! I swear…"
"Your little journal made very interesting reading, Enzo. What was it – "We held our lips together for one breath, and then two, and the air from her nose was warm on my face and my hand was on Lisa's neck and hers was still on my cheek. I can't even describe what her lips were like, but I'll try – they were like everything I'd ever imagined a girl's lips were only a thousand times better. They were warm, and they tasted sweet, and they curved to meet the shape of mine and mine did the same for hers and it was absolutely amazing and I don't think anything in my life will ever measure up to that first real kiss."
I just stared at him, speechless for a nano, two. This was worse than the punch in the gut, way worse. "What… I- How…"
"It's like poetry, really." Zip rumbled in his earth-shaking drone. "Young love is such a beautiful thing. Shall I tell Lisa about your "grown-up" dream, too?"
"No!" I groaned. I still couldn't look at Lisa, I'd never be able to look at her again. "How can you know? You can't know! You can't, you can't…"
"I've taken a special interest in you, Little Boy. I take a special interest in Mouse's class, too – the advanced class, not the one you sprouts have to take. The one where she teaches us about real hacking – but then, I doubt you've got the sack to stick it out long enough to be a second-hour. Whether your little lover makes it that long is up to you."
"Lover!" Calisto giggled. "Fat chance!"
"Have you yet, Enzo? No, of course not – you're just a little boy. I'd say you couldn't even manage it for her except we both know that's not true, don't we?"
"Shut up!" Tears were burning my eyes now and I couldn't do anything to stop them. It was a horrible nightmare come to life. "Just shut up. You can't know what I wrote. You can't!"
"Can't I? Would you like me to read some more? I remember all sorts of things – Calisto and I really enjoyed it."
"How?"
Zip giggled – an odd sound his freakish throat wasn't designed to produce. "I'm brilliant, Peachfuzz – your little security protocols were easy as pi squared to break. Like I said – I pay attention in Mouse's class." He roughly yanked Lisa upright. "Enough talking – an enjoyable as this has been, I'm ready for some real fun."
"No! No, no, you can't!"
"Shut him up. But don't hurt him – yet." Zip growled. Calisto put a clammy hand over my mouth and held me as I kicked and struggled, some part of me still hoping that I'd wake up in my bunk any nano.
"I won't let you do this, Zip." Lisa said in a quavering voice. "Tell them if you want – get me expelled. It's better than being touched by a worthless null like you."
"We're going to do 'this', whether you want us to or not, Princess. We can do it the hard way or the easy way – your choice." He grabbed her behind the head and forced his mouth over hers. She struggled wildly and finally managed to wriggle out of his grasp as he stood there, laughing softly.
She was crying now, but still trying so hard to be brave. I loved her more that nano than I ever had, and it deleted me that I was helpless to do anything for her, even as I kicked and struggled harder but couldn't break free. Maybe it was that painfully intense love for her than started an idea forming way in the back of my processor. "If you…you…" She choked on the word – she couldn't get it out. "If you do, I'll tell Laser when we get out. I don't care if I get expelled – so will you. And a lot worse – having a codemaster for a father isn't a crime."
Zip hesitated, just for a nano. I sent my mind out, searching for a hot spot among the cool energy of the maze walls. It was a risky move, but I was as desperate as I could be. "That's your choice, Bitch. Maybe we'll just delete both of you after we're done with you – terrible things happen in games, sometimes. Sprites get deleted."
"You don't have the balls, Zip. Besides - they'll never believe you." I found what I was looking for, not far away from us among the wild tangle of passageways. It was incredibly hard to concentrate because my ears could still hear what was happening in front of me, and it was breaking my heart. I tried desperately to focus on slowly, surely shifting the walls of green. "They'll know you did it, Zip. You'll be file locked for the rest of your pathetic lives."
"I don't think so." I could hear doubt in his voice now, though. "Even so – maybe I'll just tell everyone what a slut you are – how you screwed both of us and loved it. And while I'm at it why not tell them your little boyfriend is a copy, too? He's the pathetic one! That should do wonders for your reputations! And we'll rough Enzo up too, while we're here – may as well. Terrible things happen in games sometimes."
"No! Don't you touch him!" The burst of warm energy was coming closer now. The way was clearing as the walls gave way to open passages that led directly to us.
"I'll do what I want." The sound of his hand slapping her cheek again snapped my eyes open, and I strained against Calisto's grip even harder. He was hesitating, trying to decide what to do. I think he was scared she would tell on him, unless he killed her – and she was right, I don't think he did have the balls to kill her. The problem was, he really wanted to do what he'd planned to do, that was obvious. I could see the battle going on, between his brain and his body. No one said anything for what seemed like forever, as my mind detected the energy coming closer and closer. I reached out and shifted a last wall of green.
Finally the battle inside Zip was over. He smiled and grabbed Lisa by the wrists. "Bring him over – I want him to have a good view."
"Yes!" Calisto hissed urgently.
I bit at Calisto's hand and he yanked it away. "No!" I wailed, knowing my voice could be heard by more than just the four of us and glad of it. "Don't! I swear I'll delete you!"
"I'll… I'll tell." Lisa whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I don't… don't care about… getting expelled. I don't…"
"Maybe I'll delete you then." Zip pushed Lisa to the ground and knelt and grabbed her by the wrists again. "I'm going to enjoy this, you little tease. You're almost as arrogant as Enzo, flaunting your hot little body all over campus. You like spending time with little boys, huh? Well, you're with a man, now."
"You'll never be a man." Lisa growled. "You could rape me a thousand times and Enzo would still be a thousand times the man you are."
A murderous anger flashed in Zip's red eyes and he pulled his arm back, as if he was going to punch Lisa in the face. She flinched and he held his fist there for a couple of nanos. Then he smiled. "Bring him."
Calisto wrestled me around behind Lisa, looking full-on into Zip's face. I gathered all my strength and pushed myself off the ground, kicking out as hard as I could at Zip's head. I just missed him, unfortunately – even in this body my legs were still too short. Zip narrowed his red eyes at me. "Do a better job of holding him, Idiot. I've got work to do here."
"Sorry!" Calisto slapped me in the ear, hard, and I cried out in spite of everything.
"Stop!" Lisa snarled.
"I'd love to do terrible things to you, Peachfuzz – but not yet. I want you all there for the next few micros. After that – all bets are off."
"Don't take too long with her." Calisto whined. "I'm ready to go right now."
"You'll get your chance." Zip turned his attention back to Lisa, still keeping his firm grip on her wrists. He forced her arms up above her head. "Last chance to do this the easy way, Princess. Well?" Lisa didn't say anything – she just stared up at him hatefully, the tears flowing down her cheeks. Zip chuckled and shifted his grip, maneuvering both her wrists into one huge hand, and reached the other for the neck of her tunic.
"Nooo!" I tried to bite Calisto's hand but he was ready for me. Lisa screamed and started struggling wildly under Zip's grasp, twisting and kicking at him as best she could as he started to tear at her tunic. He swore and lowered more of his huge weight onto her torso, pinning her down.
It was Calisto who saw the User first, which is funny because he's so stupid he wouldn't recognize a dog if it bit him in the ascii. But my eyes were locked onto Zip and Lisa and theirs were locked onto each other. "Look out!"
"What?" Zip spat irritably. He'd managed to rip Lisa's tunic off of one shoulder and was clearly focused on what would happen next. When he followed Calisto's eyes and saw the User, though, he immediately sprang to his feet. "Crash! Crash it all!"
The User stepped down the passageway towards us, still a ways off – Theseus, a young, bearded warrior in a simple tunic, holding a one-handed thrusting sword. Lisa, still crying, curled into a ball and crawled slowly towards me. "What do we do?" Calisto cried.
"What we planned. Keep calm and everything will be fine."
"I… I can touch him – turn him to gold! Like the infant said!"
"How stupid are you?" Zip growled. "That'll kill him – we'll win the game and be back at the Academy. What good will that do?"
"Right, right – sorry!"
"We'll slow him down – hurt him but not kill him. Then we can take our time with her and enjoy ourselves until the moon sets and we win the game." He raised his mace as the User drew closer.
I knew I'd taken a terrible risk leading the User to us – but one look at the horror on Lisa's face told me it was worth it. And it wasn't the User that had put that look there. At least this way I was forcing Zip into some sort of decision. I strained, trying to go to Lisa, but Calisto's grip was still too strong, even though it slackened a little as he got distracted by the User.
The User may has well have not even been there – all I could see was Lisa. Her tunic had been ripped away from one shoulder and her chest was partly uncovered, but I refused to look – I swear my eyes burned. I concentrated on her face. Her cheeks were red from the slaps and the crying and I wanted more than anything to hold her and make everything be all right for her – but I knew that was impossible. Even if we survived the game I knew she'd never forgive me. But that didn't matter now – I still had to get her out of this, I had to. I watched her as she crawled closer, then as she looked up at the User and her eyes focused. "Enzo! What…"
I looked back at the User at last. He and Zip were circling each other, slowly. He was smiling, but that's not what I noticed. I hadn't seen it when I was facing him head-on, but from the side it was obvious – the pulsing green vein on his neck. "No!"
"Be careful." Calisto hissed. "That sword looks pretty sharp!"
"Of course it's sharp, you 9-pinhead! Get off your ascii and help me – cut him off, push him towards me!"
"Lisa!" I whispered. "You've got to get to me this nano – hurry!" Calisto dragged me over towards the User, holding me in front of him like a shield. "Zip! Stay away from him!"
"Shut him up."
"No! He's infected, you nullbrain! Don't let him touch you! We've got to get away from him now!"
"What?" A flicker of confusion crossed his bull face for a nano, then disappeared. "Nice try, Peachfuzz. But not nice enough."
"It's true! Look at his- Mmmmmmf!" Calisto had his hand over my mouth again.
"Maybe he's right." Calisto said doubtfully, as Zip lunged at the User with his mace and missed. His sim was clumsy and slow, but the User made no effort to use his sword except to defend itself. The last thing it wanted to do was delete us. "His neck looks funny – it's all- Owww!"
All of a sudden Calisto's grip on me was gone and I pushed myself away from him and rolled to my feet, wincing from the pain in my gut. I looked up and saw Lisa's teeth buried in his forearm as he screamed. He flailed his arms and finally managed to toss her away and she landed hard, with a groan. "Lisa!"
Calisto looked confused, debating whether to go after us or help Zip with the User. I crawled over to Lisa and wrapped my arms around her. She was shaking like anything, and soft little sobs were coming from her throat. "En…Enzo…"
"Are you OK? Are you hurt?" She shook her head slightly. "Can you walk?"
"Look!" she whispered. I looked up and saw Zip struggling to free his mace, which the User had grabbed in one hand and was holding as if Zip were a little child trying to yank it free. It was just like Sideshow Bob in the game when I was 0.1 – he had strength this User would never have if he weren't infected. And who knew what else.
"Help me!" Zip shouted. "Touch him! Touch him, kill him!"
"But the game! If I touch him it'll be over!"
"Do it you idiot!" Zip screamed. The mace glowed bright green for a nano, and Zip stiffened and groaned. Then he dropped to his knees and the User released the mace.
"Zip!" Calisto shrieked. Then he backed off a step like the coward he was.
Zip took a deep breath and stood. The green pulse on his neck was obvious. Lisa gave a little gasp and I hugged her tighter. The User took a step towards Calisto, but Zip put a hand on his elbow. "No. Don't touch him."
They stood for a nano, as if some sort of silent communication was passing between them. Then the User smiled. "Of course, Brother." Zip smiled now too, and took a step towards Calisto.
"Get away from him!" I shouted. "Don't let him touch you – he's infected!" Calisto was too scared to move – he just stood there shaking, looking between Zip and the User. "Calisto – come on! Get away from him now!"
"Don't go, Calisto." Zip said softly, still smiling. "Aren't I your best friend? Come on – let's shake." He held out his hand.
"No! Get away, Stupid!"
"Come on." Lisa whispered in a shaky voice. "Enzo!"
"We can't just leave him! He…" It was too late, though. Calisto wasn't basic enough to shake Zip's hand, but he was too much of a coward to do anything else. He just stood there and trembled and let Zip reach out and put his hand on his forehead. Calisto gave a short little scream and went to his knees, and the golden child dropped from his arms and rolled to our feet. Then he was silent. And after a nano he stood, and all three of them turned to look at Lisa and me.
Please note the change in rating and bear it in mind as you continue reading this fic. The following chapter contains scenes of a violent nature and strong language, and some readers may be offended. Rest assured that no graphic or gratuitous images have been used; however, the subject matter is difficult and these scenes were necessary for the development of the story.
I felt the familiar sizzling and crackling of energy as the game cube washed over us. My processor was numb as the reality of the situation slowly dawned on me. Mr. Garamond wasn't here. Lisa and I were trapped in a game with Zip and Calisto. How was it possible – where was he?
"Looks like it's just us." Zip said. His voice was soft and calm, but there was a hint of something underneath it, lurking.
"Crash! Where in the net is Mr. Garamond? He's supposed to be here!"
"Don't worry Enzo – we'll take care of you." Whatever was hiding in his voice was coming closer to the surface, now.
"Yeah – if your diaper needs changing or something." Calisto grinned.
"Grow up!" Lisa spat. "You're the ones who act like you're in diapers! You're pathetic."
A hint of anger flashed in Zip's eyes, but his voice stayed low. "You sure like to talk, seeing as you're just a first-hour bitch."
"Hey! Don't you call her that!" I was getting so angry that I had no chance whatsoever to control it.
"It's all right." Lisa whispered in my ear.
"I think Enzo's getting cranky – maybe he needs a nap." Zip chuckled.
"He's scared." Calisto tittered. "Scared of the big, bad game."
"Well, don't worry – if things get too scary we can sing a song for you, like Guardian Bob."
My stomach lurched. Violently. "What?"
Zip smiled coldly at me for a nano and I felt like all the air had been sucked out of my lungs. The he looked around. "Guess we better figure out what's going on with the game, shouldn't we? Wouldn't want to be nullified or trapped in here."
"I don't recognize this one."
"Me neither. But maybe Enzo does – he is the great game legend, after all. Tell us, Enzo – save us all, Hero." I couldn't take my eyes away from Zip – it was like I was paralyzed. I felt Lisa's hand on my elbow, squeezing softly, reassuringly. "Well, Little Prince? I thought you'd been in hundreds of games with your Guardian friends!"
I swallowed a knot in my throat that felt like a jetball, and looked around. We were surrounded by walls of green – plants, alive. Like vines. They were all around us, twisting and turning at odd angles. I looked at them for a nano and realized they truly were alive – they were shifting and slithering slowly on themselves. A kernel of flash memory hit me and I looked up at the sky. We were outside – it was filled with stars, and a crescent moon hung midway between the horizon to my right and the sky directly above us. "Labyrinth."
"What?" Lisa whispered.
"Yes – what is it? Do share, Prince Enzo. You've played this before?"
"Yeah." I rasped, my mouth so dry my voice was barely audible. "Labyrinth of Knossos. A maze game."
"What's the point? What do we do?" Calisto asked.
"Um… The User has to collect objects. Items, treasures, whatever. Once he has all of them he has to find his way to the center of the labyrinth before the moon sets, or the gates of the underworld open up and the dead cross the River Styx and reclaim the Earth."
"But what do we do?"
I stared at Calisto, amazed. What a null. "Stop him, Idiot."
"So all we have to do is keep the User from collecting these treasures and finding the center of the labyrinth before the moon sets and we win? Run out the clock?" Zip asked.
"Basically – yeah. That or kill him. I mean, there's more to it-"
"Perfect." He smiled. "That should be just perfect."
"What do you mean?"
He shot that same smile at me again, the one that sucked all the air out of me. It was cold, frighteningly calm. Almost like I'd seen it before, on a different face…
"What's the matter?" Lisa whispered. I barely heard her.
"Shouldn't we reboot?" Calisto's voice shattered the spell I was under, and Zip turned to him.
"Why not? Let's see what we're dealing with." He brought a hand to his chest and tapped his icon, and Calisto mimicked him. "Reboot!"
"Crash!" I whispered. Calisto had rebooted as a tall, bearded sprite in a long, jeweled tunic and a bronze breastplate. He held what appeared to be a large, golden doll in his arms. It was Zip whose appearance was shocking, though – he still had the body of man – admittedly a huge, muscular one – but his head was that of a bull, covered with black fur and crowned by two pointed white horns. He carried a bulky silver mace. He looked terrifying.
"Very nice." Zip said. His voice was a low, deep rumble that seemed to rattle my insides and it was as scary as his appearance. "Very nice. And you look like a king of some sort." He turned cold, red eyes on Lisa and me. "Why haven't you rebooted?"
I tore my eyes away from him – with difficulty – and looked at Lisa. My insides were a panic, racing from one terror to another. But she had no idea about the worst of them – she only knew we were stuck in a game with two dangerous nullheads, and that was bad enough. She smiled and reached for her icon. "Let's do it."
"Reboot!" Lisa was now clad in a long, sky blue tunic that descended to her sandal-clad feet – her hair was dark, deep brown with a hint of red, totally different from her normal golden locks but still incredibly beautiful. And the hair was crowned with a small tiara ringed with blue and red stones that shimmered in the moonlight. She was so breathtaking that I forget everything else, just for a nano, until her voice snapped me out of it. "You look nice, Enzo. Very mature."
"Oh!" I looked down and saw that I was covered with a light brown tunic that looked very plain compared to Lisa and Calisto's fancy clothes, but it was still finer than the ragged, blood-stained toga Zip had on. There were sandals on my feet and I knew my hair was longer, because I felt it resting on my shoulders. Two things stood out, though – the unfamiliar scratchy feeling of a beard and mustache – which sent a little thrill through me – and a pressing weight on my back. Another flash memory exploded and I didn't even have to look and see what the weight was. "Thanks. You, uh… You look incredible."
"Who are we supposed to be, anyways?" Calisto's shrill voice ruined the nano or I could have been staring at Lisa all cycle.
I sighed. "You're Midas – a king."
"King? Cool!"
"Just shut up, all right?" He glared at me, but kept quiet. I heard a low chuckle from Zip. "You're cursed. Everything you touch turns to gold, including game sprites and Users. We're immune from it." I turned and stared at Zip, trying to keep my revulsion down. "You're a minotaur – half- man, half-beast. I think it's called a 'bull'. This maze was built to keep you in."
"What about you two?" Zip rumbled. I swear, when he talked the ground shook a little.
"Lisa is a princess. A- Ar…" I thought for a nano, eyes closed. "Ariadne! Princess Ariadne. And it looks like I'm Daedalus. That's an improvement, last time I was Icarus…"
"What's so special about you?" Calisto sneered.
"I'm a scientist. I built this place. And I built these wings to fly out and escape it, after I was imprisoned in here."
"You can fly?"
"Yeah. I guess. And I have the power to change the maze with my head. You know, just by thinking about it." Bob had been Daedalus the last time, and Matrix was the minotaur. Boy, Matrix hated that, but it made me laugh! I remembered Bob telling me about changing the maze, and I sent my mind out, just to test it. It was a very weird feeling – I could sense the others there, even with my eyes closed – they were like warm bursts of color in my mind. I could picture the maze in my head, too – it was like I was floating above it, looking down. With a grunt of exertion I moved a couple of walls around in there.
"Hey! It changed!" Lisa's voice. "Enzo, that's so cool!"
"Yeah." I smiled. "It should help us out. Remember I said the User has to collect stuff? He needs something from each of us – but he has to find us first. From me it's one of my wings. Lisa's tiara. One of Zip's horns."
"What about me?"
"That!" I pointed at the object in Calisto's arms.
"This? A stupid doll?"
"It's your daughter. You touched her and she turned to gold."
"Cool!"
"No – it's not cool! You… Never mind." He was hopeless. "That's basically it. The User will come looking for us, and trying to get this stuff. He's a great warrior, Theseus. And he's smart, too. But he has to do it all before we kill him or the moon sets. We should probably split up, so it's harder for him to get all the objects he needs." As soon as I said that it sounded wrong, though – there was no way I wanted Lisa to be on her own in this place. Not with a User and these two psychos roaming around.
"I don't think so." Zip rumbled thoughtfully. "I think we'll stay together."
I was secretly relieved – like I said, I didn't want to leave Lisa's side. But I didn't like the idea of Zip being in charge, and I hated the idea of giving in to him without a fight. "What about the User? If we're all together, he only has to find us one time! If he defeats all of us he'll win the game."
"I'm not concerned about the User, Little Prince. Not yet, anyways. And I wouldn't be either, if I were you. Either of you. You've got much more serious problems."
"What're you talking about?" Lisa spat defiantly. I felt that jetball in my throat again. Something was very, very wrong.
Zip took a couple of steps towards us. "I don't have to answer to you now, Bitch – you or your little boyfriend. There are no prying eyes in here, are there?" Before I could react, he reached a muscular arm out and fondled the front of Lisa's tunic. You can guess where – I don't want to say.
"Hey!" she squealed. "Stop!"
Her voice broke me out of my trance and I flew at him, fists raised. Before I got to him Calisto grabbed my by the collar and yanked me back. "You bastard! Touch her again and I'll kill you!" The rage I felt inside put any other I'd ever felt to shame – I really would have killed him if I could've. It made me understand Matrix a lot more, just for that split nano.
Zip laughed softly. "I'm gonna do a lot more than touch her, Peachfuzz – and so is the King, here. And there's not a deleted thing you can do about it." His bull head broke into a hideous smile. "This body is fully functional."
"You're basic, Zip." Lisa was smiling bravely, but her voice was shaky and so was she. "You're totally losing it! I'd never let a pig like you near me."
"Me? Lose it? I think you've got things backwards, Princess."
"This isn't funny, Zip." I panted. I struggled weakly against Calisto, but his sim was a lot stronger than mine – naturally, I would reboot as a scientist when I needed warrior strength! "This is going too far, this is crazy! If you do anything to Lisa I'll tell Laser the nano we get out of here!"
"Shut up!" Calisto slapped me hard on the back of the head.
"Let him talk – it makes me laugh." Zip was still smiling grotesquely. "Besides – he won't be doing any talking once we get back home anyway."
"You piece of shit." Lisa snarled. "If you touch me again-"
"Enough." He slapped her on the face, not hard enough to injure her but hard enough to catch her attention. I watched a red handprint bloom on her cheek with a growing sense of doom. Lisa just looked stunned. "I've been waiting to put you in your place for a long time, Enzo. You arrogant little prick. There's no one here to save you now, is there? Where's Quantum now? Or Mouse, or Bob or even Mr. Garamond? I don't see any of them, do you? I didn't think so. No, it's just us – and I'm going to show you just how worthless you are, Little Prince, and I'm gonna enjoy every nano of it. And the thing I'm gonna love most of all is the expression on your face when I-"
"No!" I screamed. "No, no, no! Shut up! I'll delete you, I swear to the User I'll delete you!"
Zip laughed. "Bring him closer." Calisto roughly shoved me towards Zip and he reared back and punched me, not with his full power but a solid shot right above my belly button. I coughed and went to my knees, seeing stars.
"Enzo! Enzo, are you all right?" I could feel Lisa's cool hands on my face but I couldn't open my eyes to see her yet.
"I'd enjoy hurting you a lot worse, Peachfuzz. Maybe I will later. But I want you nice and alert for everything that's gonna happen now."
"You're completely basic, you know that?" Lisa said softly. She was still holding my face in her hands. "You're nuts."
"I'll… tell." I rasped. "I…swear I'll… tell, Zip. You can't… do this!"
"No you won't. And you wanna know why? 'Cause if you do, I'm gonna tell everyone your girlfriend's little secret and you'll be waving bye-bye to her forever, because she'll be out of the Academy on her ascii."
Zip's words snapped me back to my senses like a bucket of cold data splashed on my face. My eyes shot open and I looked up at him. "What?"
"What secret?" Lisa whispered.
"What secret, Princess?" Zip ran a hand over her cheek and she shuddered. "Why, the little story about your family tree, that's all. I know all about it and I'll just bet Laser would be very interested, too."
"What? No!" Lisa's eyes darted towards me.
"No! You… You can't!"
"You're wrong again, Little Man. I can and I will. I know all about it, thanks to you."
"No!" I wailed. "You can't know!"
"Enzo?"
I couldn't bring myself to look at her face – I knew what I'd see there and I didn't want to see it, ever. "I didn't tell anyone Lisa. I swear I didn't! I swear…"
"Your little journal made very interesting reading, Enzo. What was it – "We held our lips together for one breath, and then two, and the air from her nose was warm on my face and my hand was on Lisa's neck and hers was still on my cheek. I can't even describe what her lips were like, but I'll try – they were like everything I'd ever imagined a girl's lips were only a thousand times better. They were warm, and they tasted sweet, and they curved to meet the shape of mine and mine did the same for hers and it was absolutely amazing and I don't think anything in my life will ever measure up to that first real kiss."
I just stared at him, speechless for a nano, two. This was worse than the punch in the gut, way worse. "What… I- How…"
"It's like poetry, really." Zip rumbled in his earth-shaking drone. "Young love is such a beautiful thing. Shall I tell Lisa about your "grown-up" dream, too?"
"No!" I groaned. I still couldn't look at Lisa, I'd never be able to look at her again. "How can you know? You can't know! You can't, you can't…"
"I've taken a special interest in you, Little Boy. I take a special interest in Mouse's class, too – the advanced class, not the one you sprouts have to take. The one where she teaches us about real hacking – but then, I doubt you've got the sack to stick it out long enough to be a second-hour. Whether your little lover makes it that long is up to you."
"Lover!" Calisto giggled. "Fat chance!"
"Have you yet, Enzo? No, of course not – you're just a little boy. I'd say you couldn't even manage it for her except we both know that's not true, don't we?"
"Shut up!" Tears were burning my eyes now and I couldn't do anything to stop them. It was a horrible nightmare come to life. "Just shut up. You can't know what I wrote. You can't!"
"Can't I? Would you like me to read some more? I remember all sorts of things – Calisto and I really enjoyed it."
"How?"
Zip giggled – an odd sound his freakish throat wasn't designed to produce. "I'm brilliant, Peachfuzz – your little security protocols were easy as pi squared to break. Like I said – I pay attention in Mouse's class." He roughly yanked Lisa upright. "Enough talking – an enjoyable as this has been, I'm ready for some real fun."
"No! No, no, you can't!"
"Shut him up. But don't hurt him – yet." Zip growled. Calisto put a clammy hand over my mouth and held me as I kicked and struggled, some part of me still hoping that I'd wake up in my bunk any nano.
"I won't let you do this, Zip." Lisa said in a quavering voice. "Tell them if you want – get me expelled. It's better than being touched by a worthless null like you."
"We're going to do 'this', whether you want us to or not, Princess. We can do it the hard way or the easy way – your choice." He grabbed her behind the head and forced his mouth over hers. She struggled wildly and finally managed to wriggle out of his grasp as he stood there, laughing softly.
She was crying now, but still trying so hard to be brave. I loved her more that nano than I ever had, and it deleted me that I was helpless to do anything for her, even as I kicked and struggled harder but couldn't break free. Maybe it was that painfully intense love for her than started an idea forming way in the back of my processor. "If you…you…" She choked on the word – she couldn't get it out. "If you do, I'll tell Laser when we get out. I don't care if I get expelled – so will you. And a lot worse – having a codemaster for a father isn't a crime."
Zip hesitated, just for a nano. I sent my mind out, searching for a hot spot among the cool energy of the maze walls. It was a risky move, but I was as desperate as I could be. "That's your choice, Bitch. Maybe we'll just delete both of you after we're done with you – terrible things happen in games, sometimes. Sprites get deleted."
"You don't have the balls, Zip. Besides - they'll never believe you." I found what I was looking for, not far away from us among the wild tangle of passageways. It was incredibly hard to concentrate because my ears could still hear what was happening in front of me, and it was breaking my heart. I tried desperately to focus on slowly, surely shifting the walls of green. "They'll know you did it, Zip. You'll be file locked for the rest of your pathetic lives."
"I don't think so." I could hear doubt in his voice now, though. "Even so – maybe I'll just tell everyone what a slut you are – how you screwed both of us and loved it. And while I'm at it why not tell them your little boyfriend is a copy, too? He's the pathetic one! That should do wonders for your reputations! And we'll rough Enzo up too, while we're here – may as well. Terrible things happen in games sometimes."
"No! Don't you touch him!" The burst of warm energy was coming closer now. The way was clearing as the walls gave way to open passages that led directly to us.
"I'll do what I want." The sound of his hand slapping her cheek again snapped my eyes open, and I strained against Calisto's grip even harder. He was hesitating, trying to decide what to do. I think he was scared she would tell on him, unless he killed her – and she was right, I don't think he did have the balls to kill her. The problem was, he really wanted to do what he'd planned to do, that was obvious. I could see the battle going on, between his brain and his body. No one said anything for what seemed like forever, as my mind detected the energy coming closer and closer. I reached out and shifted a last wall of green.
Finally the battle inside Zip was over. He smiled and grabbed Lisa by the wrists. "Bring him over – I want him to have a good view."
"Yes!" Calisto hissed urgently.
I bit at Calisto's hand and he yanked it away. "No!" I wailed, knowing my voice could be heard by more than just the four of us and glad of it. "Don't! I swear I'll delete you!"
"I'll… I'll tell." Lisa whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I don't… don't care about… getting expelled. I don't…"
"Maybe I'll delete you then." Zip pushed Lisa to the ground and knelt and grabbed her by the wrists again. "I'm going to enjoy this, you little tease. You're almost as arrogant as Enzo, flaunting your hot little body all over campus. You like spending time with little boys, huh? Well, you're with a man, now."
"You'll never be a man." Lisa growled. "You could rape me a thousand times and Enzo would still be a thousand times the man you are."
A murderous anger flashed in Zip's red eyes and he pulled his arm back, as if he was going to punch Lisa in the face. She flinched and he held his fist there for a couple of nanos. Then he smiled. "Bring him."
Calisto wrestled me around behind Lisa, looking full-on into Zip's face. I gathered all my strength and pushed myself off the ground, kicking out as hard as I could at Zip's head. I just missed him, unfortunately – even in this body my legs were still too short. Zip narrowed his red eyes at me. "Do a better job of holding him, Idiot. I've got work to do here."
"Sorry!" Calisto slapped me in the ear, hard, and I cried out in spite of everything.
"Stop!" Lisa snarled.
"I'd love to do terrible things to you, Peachfuzz – but not yet. I want you all there for the next few micros. After that – all bets are off."
"Don't take too long with her." Calisto whined. "I'm ready to go right now."
"You'll get your chance." Zip turned his attention back to Lisa, still keeping his firm grip on her wrists. He forced her arms up above her head. "Last chance to do this the easy way, Princess. Well?" Lisa didn't say anything – she just stared up at him hatefully, the tears flowing down her cheeks. Zip chuckled and shifted his grip, maneuvering both her wrists into one huge hand, and reached the other for the neck of her tunic.
"Nooo!" I tried to bite Calisto's hand but he was ready for me. Lisa screamed and started struggling wildly under Zip's grasp, twisting and kicking at him as best she could as he started to tear at her tunic. He swore and lowered more of his huge weight onto her torso, pinning her down.
It was Calisto who saw the User first, which is funny because he's so stupid he wouldn't recognize a dog if it bit him in the ascii. But my eyes were locked onto Zip and Lisa and theirs were locked onto each other. "Look out!"
"What?" Zip spat irritably. He'd managed to rip Lisa's tunic off of one shoulder and was clearly focused on what would happen next. When he followed Calisto's eyes and saw the User, though, he immediately sprang to his feet. "Crash! Crash it all!"
The User stepped down the passageway towards us, still a ways off – Theseus, a young, bearded warrior in a simple tunic, holding a one-handed thrusting sword. Lisa, still crying, curled into a ball and crawled slowly towards me. "What do we do?" Calisto cried.
"What we planned. Keep calm and everything will be fine."
"I… I can touch him – turn him to gold! Like the infant said!"
"How stupid are you?" Zip growled. "That'll kill him – we'll win the game and be back at the Academy. What good will that do?"
"Right, right – sorry!"
"We'll slow him down – hurt him but not kill him. Then we can take our time with her and enjoy ourselves until the moon sets and we win the game." He raised his mace as the User drew closer.
I knew I'd taken a terrible risk leading the User to us – but one look at the horror on Lisa's face told me it was worth it. And it wasn't the User that had put that look there. At least this way I was forcing Zip into some sort of decision. I strained, trying to go to Lisa, but Calisto's grip was still too strong, even though it slackened a little as he got distracted by the User.
The User may has well have not even been there – all I could see was Lisa. Her tunic had been ripped away from one shoulder and her chest was partly uncovered, but I refused to look – I swear my eyes burned. I concentrated on her face. Her cheeks were red from the slaps and the crying and I wanted more than anything to hold her and make everything be all right for her – but I knew that was impossible. Even if we survived the game I knew she'd never forgive me. But that didn't matter now – I still had to get her out of this, I had to. I watched her as she crawled closer, then as she looked up at the User and her eyes focused. "Enzo! What…"
I looked back at the User at last. He and Zip were circling each other, slowly. He was smiling, but that's not what I noticed. I hadn't seen it when I was facing him head-on, but from the side it was obvious – the pulsing green vein on his neck. "No!"
"Be careful." Calisto hissed. "That sword looks pretty sharp!"
"Of course it's sharp, you 9-pinhead! Get off your ascii and help me – cut him off, push him towards me!"
"Lisa!" I whispered. "You've got to get to me this nano – hurry!" Calisto dragged me over towards the User, holding me in front of him like a shield. "Zip! Stay away from him!"
"Shut him up."
"No! He's infected, you nullbrain! Don't let him touch you! We've got to get away from him now!"
"What?" A flicker of confusion crossed his bull face for a nano, then disappeared. "Nice try, Peachfuzz. But not nice enough."
"It's true! Look at his- Mmmmmmf!" Calisto had his hand over my mouth again.
"Maybe he's right." Calisto said doubtfully, as Zip lunged at the User with his mace and missed. His sim was clumsy and slow, but the User made no effort to use his sword except to defend itself. The last thing it wanted to do was delete us. "His neck looks funny – it's all- Owww!"
All of a sudden Calisto's grip on me was gone and I pushed myself away from him and rolled to my feet, wincing from the pain in my gut. I looked up and saw Lisa's teeth buried in his forearm as he screamed. He flailed his arms and finally managed to toss her away and she landed hard, with a groan. "Lisa!"
Calisto looked confused, debating whether to go after us or help Zip with the User. I crawled over to Lisa and wrapped my arms around her. She was shaking like anything, and soft little sobs were coming from her throat. "En…Enzo…"
"Are you OK? Are you hurt?" She shook her head slightly. "Can you walk?"
"Look!" she whispered. I looked up and saw Zip struggling to free his mace, which the User had grabbed in one hand and was holding as if Zip were a little child trying to yank it free. It was just like Sideshow Bob in the game when I was 0.1 – he had strength this User would never have if he weren't infected. And who knew what else.
"Help me!" Zip shouted. "Touch him! Touch him, kill him!"
"But the game! If I touch him it'll be over!"
"Do it you idiot!" Zip screamed. The mace glowed bright green for a nano, and Zip stiffened and groaned. Then he dropped to his knees and the User released the mace.
"Zip!" Calisto shrieked. Then he backed off a step like the coward he was.
Zip took a deep breath and stood. The green pulse on his neck was obvious. Lisa gave a little gasp and I hugged her tighter. The User took a step towards Calisto, but Zip put a hand on his elbow. "No. Don't touch him."
They stood for a nano, as if some sort of silent communication was passing between them. Then the User smiled. "Of course, Brother." Zip smiled now too, and took a step towards Calisto.
"Get away from him!" I shouted. "Don't let him touch you – he's infected!" Calisto was too scared to move – he just stood there shaking, looking between Zip and the User. "Calisto – come on! Get away from him now!"
"Don't go, Calisto." Zip said softly, still smiling. "Aren't I your best friend? Come on – let's shake." He held out his hand.
"No! Get away, Stupid!"
"Come on." Lisa whispered in a shaky voice. "Enzo!"
"We can't just leave him! He…" It was too late, though. Calisto wasn't basic enough to shake Zip's hand, but he was too much of a coward to do anything else. He just stood there and trembled and let Zip reach out and put his hand on his forehead. Calisto gave a short little scream and went to his knees, and the golden child dropped from his arms and rolled to our feet. Then he was silent. And after a nano he stood, and all three of them turned to look at Lisa and me.