Author's Note: Man, am I sunburned... just spent the entire day at a water park, feeling pretty burned out. Anyway, I realize that Mouse and Dot in particular were more than a little out of character in the last chapter- there is a reason for this. As I said way back in the prologue, "it may get a little confusing at times- bear with me, the fic explains itself as it goes along." Some of you seem a bit quick to condemn me; I especially enjoyed Kermit's rather graphic description of what he thought I was trying to do- but just to relieve any misconceptions of the direction I'm taking this, I've made the next couple chapters extra long. I was going to write both tonight, but it took a little longer than expected- it's 4 AM here, gimme a break! Lol, anyway, just bear with me a little bit longer, read through the next couple chapters, and all will become clear. I promise, lol. K? On a side note, for those of you interested in writing collaborative fics, there's a new thing Claire told me about. The author name is ROM, go check it out. And WHY does almost nothing I put in italics, save in italics, and upload in italics NEVER appear on ff.net IN ITALICS? Can someone PLEASE answer me that? Lol, with that said, I've bored you enough, those that are still with me here, lol. On with the fic!

Part V: Revelations 

                                                     Time: Past (as chapters will be for quite awhile)

The cool, dark hallways of the Principal Office were deathly quiet as Dot paced silently near her room, cradling a cup of hot cocoa in her hands. Phong had said the drink helped him to relax, but it wasn't working its magic for her at the moment. She absently plucked at the uniform she wore as Command.com... a uniform she felt she didn't deserve, at the moment. What had happened in the War Room just a few nanos ago? The meeting seemed to be proceeding smoothly and then everyone had just seemed to explode at her. How could she let something that was supposed to be so logical, so cool and removed degenerate into total chaos like that? The shouting, her stubborn refusal to let Bob go, and even pulling a weapon on Mouse... was she really that kind of person?

I think it's time you stopped thinking of yourself, and put the needs of Bob and this entire system ahead of your own selfish motivations! Mouse...

Am I really like that? Have I gotten so used to giving orders during the war, getting what I want immediately and not seeing exactly what those orders cost, of lives, of Mainframe... that I've become the person she hates, that she says I am without even knowing it?

Bob... I know what I can handle... I just think I'm the one best qualified to check it out- before whatever caused it destroys the rest of Mainframe.

Have I put my own desires above the needs of Mainframe? Has my love for Bob blinded me to the fact that he has needs of his own? Duties, responsibilities, enemies I can't always protect him from? Just what have I done?

Then perhaps the greatest of her mistakes... Enzo... How could I let him see all that? I was lucky enough to get a second chance with him, and I vowed I would protect him whenever I could, never let him grow up like Matrix- no one to love him, to watch out for him... And yet the single worst thing in his life has come from me. To watch his sister and one of our closest friends like that, ready to draw weapons on each other, perhaps even to kill...

Would I have killed Mouse? she asked herself. Given how I was feeling then, everything spiraling of my control, everyone screaming at me at once... could I have done such a thing? The answer to her inner question was disturbing.

A single tear rolled down her cheek. The only thing I can do now is fix whatever I can... I'll talk to Mouse as soon as she gets back. She flinched at the thought of how painful that would be. And Enzo... As much as she didn't want to have to explain to him what had happened, she knew it was the right thing to do... The only thing I can do. With a sigh of resignation, she walked back into her room and set her cup on the counter, booting from her uniform into something more casual. It was time to talk to Enzo, for better or for worse... to begin reparations for all she had done.

Mouse leaned back as Ship leveled off, hitting its cruising altitude and heading for the blast site... G-Prime. The former location of the Tor. Her muscles tensed in anticipation at the thought of it. She hadn't been in a real fight, hand-to-hand and not from a distance like Dot liked it, since Megabyte... so long ago now, it seemed. This one should be interesting. Her hand rested idly on the hilt of her katana, a single thought whispering like the caress of a deadly lover through the innermost recesses of her mind: Action, at last.

Matrix sat in the copilot's seat next to her, his face tensed, brooding. She knew what he must be thinking, about all that had happened back at the War Room just a few nanos ago. What does it matter, anyway? she thought. In just a few nanos this will all be over- one way or the other. Strange, she thought, the thought somehow absurd after everything that had transpired, If I should die, if whatever it is down in that blast pit should finally best me, then I won't have to worry about what Dot or Bob or any of the others thinks. In a way, it will be a release... And deep down, Mouse knew, she longed for that release. No matter how much she tried to deny it, there was always the shame... for the things she had said, for the people she'd hurt, and for how much she inwardly seemed to like all the fighting, to thrive on it somehow...

She'd always laugh it off, say she was just trying to "live life to the fullest" or something like that- but the wounds were always there, just beneath the surface. She wondered if any of the others ever saw how it really affected her... even things said in anger like what she'd said to Dot. Odd, how just a few nanos can seem to forever change your life...

Matrix reached over and quickly reset Ship's autopilot for new coordinates. Mouse looked over, ready to yell at him- but stopped when she realized the new destination was Floating Point Park. "What are you doing, Matrix?" she asked, caught between anger and concern at the big green sprite. Matrix looked down, the same brooding expression on his face. "Nothing," he said at last. "I just... need to think a minute, OK?" "If you say so, Sugah," Mouse said, leaning back in her seat as Ship's landing gear descended.

Enzo lay facedown on his docking bay, kicking aimlessly at the covers as he thought about what had happened, back in the War Room. He'd seen what was happening between Dot and Mouse; that was obvious. But what he'd done afterward... some Guardian material he was turning out to be. He'd had a real chance to make things better there for a second- but instead he'd only managed to make things worse. Just like he always did...

For some reason, seeing Dot and Mouse fight had affected him more deeply than it should have. Maybe the thought that they'd both drawn weapons, to injure, perhaps even to kill each other... A fresh tear rolled down Enzo's cheek. He buried his head into his pillow, trying to stop the flow. You're a Guardian, spammit! he said to himself. Stop it! What would AndrAIa think of you now?

That was something else that bothered him. The way he'd run crying from the room like a basic sprite had just made everything worse... and how could AndrAIa ever think of him as anything but "Little Sparky," or "Young Enzo," if he kept doing basic things like that? He knew Matrix had been troubled by what was going on- they were the same sprite, after all- but at least the big sprite had kept his cool. What he'd done, to himself, to everybody... he'd never live this down. Lowering his head onto his pillow, he sobbed brokenly into it, knowing that at least now, no one could see or hear him.

Someone knocked at the door. He ignored it, burrowing deeper into his pillow, wishing he could just sink into the earth and it would all go away...

Another knock. "Enzo?" Dot's voice. "Enzo? Can I come in? We need to talk for a nano." Enzo's face scrunched up again, her voice bringing back memories of that painful instant, just standing in the doorway seeing everything...

"Enzo?" the voice pressed. "Go away... just go away," the boy sobbed, his voice broken, the way it sounded making him want to cry even harder. Outside Enzo's room, Dot Matrix turned away, tears streaming silently down her face as well.

Matrix sat in one of the secret places he'd known in the park as a boy. You'd never know it was there, just walking by- a thick clump of bushes obscured it from view, and a small rocky precipice jutted out over a pool in the creek below. And not much farther away, the ground dropped away, providing a breathtaking view of the rest of Mainframe.

Matrix looked down at his reflection in the pool, chunking a rock aimlessly into the center, marring its mirror-like perfection but for an instant, until his face shimmered back into view in the rippling waves. Mouse sat down beside him, sitting comfortably on the spongy grass.

"What's wrong, Sugah?" she asked, eyes seeking his downturned face. "I dunno, Mouse," he said, head lifting to look her in the eyes. "It's just, I thought all the fighting was finally over, you know? Then there was that EXO unit that went berserk, and that explosion in G-Prime...and finally what happened in the War Room just now. I'm tired of fighting, Mouse... it was some distant romantic dream when I was Young Enzo, and I lived for it in the Games, loved it even, against old Megabyte. But now I'm just tired... of everything. Why can't there be peace, just for once here in Mainframe? Why us?"

"Maybe fighting is just the way of things," Mouse said. "Maybe that's all life is- just living from one battle to the next, trying to protect yourself and the ones you love... until death provides a release." She walked to the edge of the cliff, looking down at the beautiful view before her. There are worse ways to die, she thought wistfully. One more step and I wouldn't have to worry about Dot, or Ray or Bob or even this new enemy. Just one more step...

The thin ground at the edge of the cliff crumbled under her, and with a sharp cry she started to fall backward, over the edge. Mouse knew suddenly that she didn't want to die- that perhaps, after all, there were things to live for. Like Ray... and Bob.  Mouse screamed as she fell away into nothingness, time seeming to slow to a crawl as the cliff fell further and further away. Then came a jarring crash, and Mouse knew no more.

"Mouse!" Matrix shouted as the hacker's scream shattered the peaceful stillness of Floating Point Park. He surged forward, grasping frantically at something, anything he could grab onto... an ankle. He held on for all he was worth as Mouse's forward momentum carried her into the cliffside, her head impacting with a sharp crack. Desperately, he pulled Mouse up, over the lip of the cliff, hoping against hope that she was all right. A thin ribbon of blood flowed from one temple, but other than that she seemed fine... Matrix rushed over to the pool, cupping a handful of freezing water in his hands and splashing it over the hacker's face. "Mouse! Mouse!" he shouted, shaking her, hoping she wasn't...

The hacker groaned, opening her eyes slowly, blinking in the sudden light. "Sugah?" she said hesitantly. "Mouse!" Matrix cried in relief. "What- what happened?" she said groggily. "I thought I was done for." "You almost were," Matrix said, explaining what had happened. "Maybe what you said is true, that that's just the way the world works- but I don't have to accept it. Not today, at least," he said, grasping her hand in his and helping her to her feet. "Come on- let's find out what caused the explosion and get you to the infirmary," he said, wiping away the trickle of blood flowing from her temple. "You don't look so good."

"I don't feel so good either, Sugah," she said, her face visibly paling as she tried to put weight on her left foot. "My ankle's busted- I'm not going to be much help to you down there." She smiled thinly, leaning on the renegade for support as they walked slowly back toward Ship. "You sure you don't want to wait, go back to the Principal Office first?" "No, Sugah," she gasped, accidentally putting to much weight on her injured ankle. "We've got to find out what caused that explosion- before whatever it is strikes again." "If you say so," Matrix said doubtfully, strapping her into the copilot's seat as Ship's cockpit hissed shut. He worked the controls, and Ship hovered off slowly into the sky...

The mysterious object in the center of the blast crater, become now the epicenter of a rising storm of anger and raw emotion, continued its soft, regular pulses of light- pulses that emitted a deadly secret weapon. Its pulses grew faster, as if eager for more. It could sense it- all over Mainframe, binomes, sprites were breaking apart under the stress. An air of panic filled the streets surrounding the crater and soon, it knew, sheer chaos would reign. Chaos to which it would bring a new, different sort of order...

Its sensors registered a small blip as an object set down in the crater not far from its location. Intruders! Its upper vents flared in small flashes of steam. It was early yet for phase two... but the intuders had left it no choice. The elimination of the behemoth exoskeleton meant its primary goal couldn't be achieved right away, and if the two sprites that even now proceeded toward it discovered it in its present condition, all would be lost. The vents clicked slowly into place, rusty now after so long underground. Its pulses increasing now in frequency and intensity, it waited for the two sprites to close...

The dust rose in clouds as Ship settled onto the ground in what had once been a dense urban area in G-Prime. It had become a wasteland now, Matrix saw. Desert sands swirled past the viewport, and it was clear that nothing could exist here now, in this most inhospitable of conditions. Nothing could survive here for very long at all. Matrix cracked the cockpit door, stepping out into the whirling maelstrom of sand and debris. "Just wait here!" he called back as the door hissed shut once again. "I'll be back before you know it!" Flashing him a tight-lipped, pain-wracked grin, Mouse gave him a thumbs-up gesture as he started off toward the center of it- the place that started it all.

Despite his nonchalant words and the soaring temperature in the area, Matrix shivered, drawing Gun out of its holster. Whatever was waiting for him down there, he hoped he really would be back soon... and he sensed it now. Something really was waiting for him down there... and he could only pray to the User he'd survive it. He rubbed the back of his neck absently. His head was pounding, had been since that meeting in the War Room... only now it was much worse. Once he finished surveying the blast site, he'd head for a quick drink at Al's- maybe that would take the edge off the pain. Suddenly, ahead in the gloom, he saw it- the round, silver ovoid they'd tried to pull out of the crater that day... the object he knew had infected the EXO crane arm. What else could have done such a thing? Megabyte's legacy lives on, he thought grimly. For the place the thing was sitting was almost exactly at the former location of Megabyte's Tor. The evil we do lives after us, he thought, remembering how the place had looked when Megabyte was still in charge. But this time, I'm going to end Megabyte's legacy... once and for all.

The thing just sat there, pulsing with a rhythmic red glow... and abruptly, vents mounted along its topside snapped open in a flash of white-hot steam. Matrix raised Gun, trigger finger at the ready- but by then it was far too late. A sound unlike any Matrix had ever heard emitted from the newly opened ports. It was so high-pitched he could barely hear it- but it seemed to assault his ears, his mind relentlessly, the pain in his head so blinding it was impossible to think, to move. He clapped his hands over his ears, dropping Gun, trying to make the pain go away... but it only seemed to get even worse. Above the renegade's harsh, desperate scream, a distant voice could be heard: "WARNING, INCOMING GAME. WARNING, INCOMING GAME..."

Enzo lay on his bed, staring up at the roof, eyes half closed and almost asleep. Another knocking came at the door. He rolled over. "Go away," he mumbled sleepily. "Hey there, Little Sparky." AndrAIa's voice. "Can I come in?" Sitting up, he rubbed his head, which had been aching since today's meeting in the War Room. "Sure," he said, hoping his voice didn't sound too ragged. The thought of what she might think of him now made him flinch inwardly as the door hissed open. The slim game sprite closed the door behind her, unfolding her luxurious legs and stretching out full length to lay on the bed next to Enzo. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked, her lips curving into a dazzling smile. Enzo could only shake his head, looking at her. Her beautiful body had always had that effect on him... he remembered, back even before the reboot, being speechless when she turned those beautiful eyes on him... he suspected Matrix was still that way as well.

"Are you OK, Enzo?" she asked, leaning back on the pillow. "It's all right, Andri, really, it's just-" Now or never... Guardian, he thought to himself. Do it now- or you'll regret it for the rest of your life. "AndrAIa," he said, steeling himself. "I love you," he said simply, unable from the raw emotion to keep his voice from choking. "I have ever since, ever since I met you... and then after the reboot..." tears streaming down his face, he stopped, unable to continue... hating himself for his weakness. "It's hard, Andri," he said, looking up into those beautiful azure eyes of hers once more... the very sight making him want to scream, for the thought of never knowing such a thing again- at least, not as Matrix now did. "Shh, Shh..." AndrAIa said, placing a finger against his lips. Moving forward, softly, gently, she kissed him tenderly on the mouth. His sobs stopping slowly, he looked back at her... she was smiling gently down at him again. His arms went around her, truly happy for once, for the first time since the reboot. He knew it couldn't last- but for one nano, for that one instant in his life, he had her back again. He closed his eyes, remembering AndrAIa as she once had been- picturing that tiny, innocent sprite in his arms once more. A tear escaped from the corner of his eye- not of pain this time, but of love... for once, of contentment. He felt like he could stay like this forever, and never want to do anything else...

AndrAIa held him, rocking softly back and forth, back and forth. She drew back a moment, studying him, comparing him to the sprite she once knew. Surprising herself, she felt a jolt of pain, of longing to return to the past, to the way it once was- but she knew it could never be. "Believe me, Enzo," she said, speaking this time from the heart. "I know what you're feeling- I know how hard it is. It's just-" her arms went slack around Enzo's middle. He stared up at her as her eyes went slowly wide. He flinched backward as AndrAIa shot up off the bed, the peaceful stillness of the room shattered by the game sprite's shrill scream. She palmed the door open and ran from the room, her voice fading as the door hissed closed once more. What have I done? Enzo thought, trembling. She never deserved this. What have I done, to hurt someone I love like that? I'm not a Guardian... I never will be. I'm just a pathetic, basic sprite... just like I'll always be, to her. To everyone... The ache in his head growing, he pushed his face back down into the pillow, his whole world come crashing down around him.

Dot paced the War Room, waiting for the dust to clear out of G-Prime so she could see what was going on. Mouse and Matrix had been gone a long time now, and despite her earlier words she hoped they were okay. Phong wheeled into the room, doubtless wanting to chide her for standing in one spot for so long, studying the screen relentlessly- hoping to glean some minor, overlooked detail from the scant amount of information already available.

But whatever he had been about to say vanished from his lips as the door hissed open and AndrAIa came running through behind him, screaming hysterically and clawing at her ears. "What has happened, my child?" Phong asked, somewhat alarmed. "Can't you hear it?" AndrAIa wailed. "It's terrible!" Phong looked around, locking the door shut behind her- but saw nothing. "Computer!" Dot's voice rang from her position in the War Room as Command.com- in command, it seemed, once again. "Analyze and track unknown audio source. Provide visual representation on the main vidwindow."

Faint waves began to appear on the viewscreen, growing clearer, darker, as the computer picked up more data. The waves emanated outward in a circular direction, like ripples in a pond, covering all of Mainframe... and the source of those ripples was the place she had sent Mouse and Matrix in to investigate... the one place she most feared it would be. "Oh, dear," Phong said, watching the waves cascade out from the area in G-Prime still covered by enormous clouds of dust, obscuring any view they might have had. "What does this mean?" Dot demanded, fingers tightening on the railing as she stared at the viewscreen before her, unsure what to make of it all.

Phong wheeled forward, uttering a single, simple, fatal phrase: "It has begun."

A/N: OK, those of you who are still with me, please review! It isn't much to ask, and if you've read this far, the least you can do is review it now, for better or for worse... until next time, Tom.