I return from the Web, from corruption and torment, to this place.
Mainframe.
My format: Trojan Horse. The perfect spy. The perfect saboteur.
But where is the line drawn between an exact copy and the original?
I am losing myself, losing my purpose, betraying my function.
But…is that so wrong?

ReBoot: Counterpoint

Every eye in the War Room was trained on me as I walked heavily through the door, my face a blank mask that rivaled any of Hexadecimal's. Dot's eyes flickered down to Glitch, and she nodded grimly, her lips thinning.

The calm in the Office seemed forced. Nobody was crying, or panicking – everyone was in a state of shock. Ms. Matrix herself abruptly walked out of the War Room. Nobody tried to stop her. After a few more awkward moments, I was startled by a large hand on my shoulder. My instinctive reaction was to unsheathe my claws and go for the throat, but not only was that extremely unadvisable in this situation, it was impossible in the weak state I had trapped myself in. I merely tensed under the hulking brute's grasp. Dot's thug of a brother was quite literally the last person I was interested in seeing right now.

"If you want to talk…?" Matrix asked, hesitantly.

"No." I snapped. Maybe too harshly – he seemed taken aback. I shook off his grip impatiently, taking a hesitant step towards the door.

The part of me that was, well, Bob, insisted I should go after Dot. In the unstable state I was in, it might not be a good idea, but…it was what Bob would do.

I gloomily foresaw an eternity of doing what Bob would do. It wasn't that Bob had a bad life, it was just that it so diametrically opposed to my original function that I felt I should be outraged, furious even.

I wasn't. I was afraid. Bob's life felt right, in a way that my own never had. I didn't feel the constant hunger for power, for domination, for acknowledgement. I still desired these things, but it was not an imperative.

However, there were certain aspects of me no diabolically tense code of Mouse could erase. Or at least, I hoped that was so. I clung desperately to what was left of myself, even though it hurt me to do so.

I would not let this setback keep me from my function. I would play the game as best I could, learning to be Bob, live his life, steal his future.

And when the opportunity to commandeer true power arose, I would seize it if I was worthy. I was strong. I would survive this trial, like I had so many others.

If I did not…it did not bear thinking about.

I went to find Ms. Matrix. It was not difficult. She was sitting in the diner, fielding an insane number of messages at once, immersing herself in her work. I slid into the seat next to her.

            "Dot?" I asked. Ms. Matrix had the mulish look on her face I was used to seeing on her larger brother. She was staring fixedly into space, stabbing options on her organizer as if she was trying to delete them. I reached gently to the nearest vid-window, canceling it. She glared at me, almost crying.

"Are you okay, Dot?"

She slammed the organizer down on the table. "No!" How could I be okay? I should have stopped him, stopped them!"

"It's not your fault…" I tried.

"I'm the FAQing Command.Com!" her voice rose shrilly. "Of course it's my fault! I'm supposed to be the common sense for the entire spammed system!"

I stayed silent. I had encountered Ms. Matrix in a similar state once before, when I had cornered her in Megaframe with several ABCs and opened a vid-window to 'negotiate'.

The ABC casualties were total.

"He said he wouldn't leave me! He promised!"
"Sometimes," I ventured, "promises can't be kept."

She glared at me. "I want yours."

"What?" I blinked.

"Promise me you'll never leave me. Promise me!"

I stared at her a moment, then slowly shook my head. "I can't do that, Dot." This was beginning to head in a very awkward direction.

"Oh?" Dot's voice dropped to 'dangerous purr', and I looked nervously to the door. There wasn't any way I could make it in time. I had to ride this one out.

User help me.

I raised my hands a bit defensively. "What do you want from me, Dot?"

"I want you to stay for once, spammit! Don't leave me alone again!"

"You have Matrix. AndrAIa. Phong, even."

She prodded my chest. "But I want you. How hard is that to grasp?"

I ran a hand through my hair wearily. "Trust me, Dot, you don't want me. You want him."

"I think after all we've been through, I can make up my own mind!"

I grabbed her hand. "Listen to me, Dot! You know what happened today, in the Game. I'm not going to make a promise to you I can't keep!" The raw sincerity behind my words shocked even me. True, there was more than a bit of common sense involved – if I did anything at all to Dot, and blew my cover, Matrix wouldn't hold back. And there was no place where I was as likely to reveal myself as in the intrigues of a sprite relationship. As a virus, I could take him, perhaps. Not as Bob. But still, there was that something else…that didn't want to hurt her.

She was quiet for a moment. "You're leaving, aren't you."

I avoided her eyes.

She sighed heavily and turned away.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry. But Turbo needs me. The guardians need their keytools back. They need to talk to Glitch." Truth, again. For the most part.

"The Supercomputer, then." she muttered.

"Yes." I wanted to see the great city for myself. Wanted it more than anything. It had always been my goal.

"Fine," she said, flatly. "I won't stop you."

I blinked, not expecting that. Surprised, I looked up, and her eyes pinned me.

"Do you love me, Bob?"

I closed my eyes, searched within myself for an answer. Obviously only one answer would be acceptable…but…

I held Ms. Matrix in great esteem. Not only did she effectively and invisibly govern a system at peace, but at war she was a ruthlessly intelligent opponent. Her plans were often devilishly complicated, and often worked despite that. Ms. Matrix was my most dangerous adversary, the one who could anticipate me best, and the one I respected most. Did I, as the virus Megabyte, love her?

I doubted it. As a virus, I was incapable of love – it was a weakness that was incompatible with my goals. As a sprite, though, with the code of Guardian 452 dominant…

"Yes." I said, simply. And it was truth, again.

She smiled sadly at me. "When are you leaving?"

"I don't know." I said quietly.

"Bob….if you can't promise to stay with me forever…"

I turned to look at her.

She stared in my eyes, a half-smile dancing around her lips. "Will you at least promise me tonight?"

When she looked at me like that, I could hardly refuse.