Silicon Tor reared up over G-Prime like a cobra preparing to strike. It was a testament to the personality of its architect and principal inhabitant, the viral lord Megabyte. He, too, was much like a predator about to strike – most of his time was spent plotting, scheming and preparing, as he was doing now.
In the throne room on the top of the tower, Megabyte was processing the information he had just received from one of his spies in the Principal Office. A Guardian Net ship. This event had great implications for him.
"So…this ship is bringing new updates to the system," he said, tapping his fingertips together. "This could be a problem. But it could also be…" - he rotated his throne so that he was facing Hack and Slash – "An opportunity."
The two robots looked at their master, then at each other, then back at Megabyte again. They were as BASIC as BASIC could be, but they were smart enough, at least, not to attempt a reply.
"Those system updates probably include new security measures," Megabyte said, "That will prevent me from monitoring system communications." He had only recently figured out a way to do this, and all his hard work would be for nothing if the updates were installed. "But there is something else on that ship's computer. Something I want very much." He looked at his two robot lackeys expectantly.
"Err…" Hack was trying to find an appropriate response to this. He finally decided on one. "What is that, boss?"
"Yeah, what is it?" Slash chimed in.
Megabyte leaned back in his throne and smiled confidently. "The codes to the Supercomputer. I must get that core!" The virus pressed a button on his throne, giving his spy at the docks the signal to contact him as soon as possible.
Two nanoseconds later a VidWindow appeared in front of the throne. On the other end of the connection was Charl_E, a zero binome who worked as a technician in the Principal Office. "Yes, Lord Megabyte?" he asked.
"Your information was most helpful," Megabyte said. Charl_E smiled at the compliment. "But I have another task for you. Listen carefully…"
~***~
Bob and Dot landed their zipboards in the Principal Office hangar, where the CPUs were docked. They minimized their zipboards and walked up to a white craft emblazoned with the black-and-yellow Guardian icon. A door in the ship's side slid open, and a female Guardian stepped out of it. She turned to face Bob, who saluted her. "Guardian 452 reporting as ordered, Ma'am," he said.
The inspector – Dweila, or Guardian 216 - was tall and lean, with an angular face and a perpetual frown. Her skin was a lime-green color, and her dreadlocked, reddish-brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail. She was carrying an organizer pad under one arm, presumably for taking notes with. Dot noted (with disapproval) that although Bob was wearing his dress uniform, the inspector was wearing the standard Guardian uniform. If Dot had been in Bob's place, she would have felt insulted. She decided, right then and there, that she did not like this woman one bit.
"At ease," Dweila said. Bob complied. The inspector looked at Dot, as if expecting her to explain herself.
Dot put on her best smile. She disliked Dweila, but she could help Bob by being polite. "Hello. My name is Dot Matrix. On behalf of the inhabitants of the system, I would like to welcome you to Mainframe," she said.
The inspector nodded. "I am Guardian Lieutenant Dweila. Glad to make your acquaintance," she said. She didn't sound as if she meant it. She addressed Bob again. "My ship needs a tune-up. I have also bought updates for this system's Principal Office – they are contained in the ship's computer core. Someone needs to bring them to the control room for installation," she said curtly.
"I'll take care of that, ma'am," Dot said, trying to sound cheerful. Dweila peered at her, suspicion obvious in her eyes. Dot realized that she had just made a mistake – of course the inspector wouldn't trust just anyone with the welfare of her ship!
Bob saved her. "You can trust Dot, ma'am," Bob assured her. "She works with the system administrators." That wasn't precisely true, but it wasn't a lie either – it would do. The inspector glanced at him, then nodded. She took a small gold-and-white passkey from her belt and held it out to Dot.
The inspector looked at her organizer. "All right. First on the list: an inspection of your living quarters." Bob nodded to her and saluted again. The two Guardians went to the bay door, maximized their zipboards and set off for Bob's apartment in Kits Sector.
Dot wondered if the inspectors really did do a white-glove test. When Bob had told her about it, she'd thought it was unlikely, but it seemed to her that this Dweila was just the type who would do something like that. No wonder Bob had the jaggies.
~***~
After the Guardians left, Charl_E approached Ms. Matrix, who appeared to be deep in thought. The binome cleared his throat to get her attention. "Ms. Matrix," he said, "I can take care of tuning up the ship." He pulled a small wrench out of his tool belt.
Dot nodded at him. "Thanks," she said, handing the ship's passkey to Charl_E. "And can you please remove the computer core from the ship and give it to Phong?"
"Certainly, Ms. Matrix," Charl_E said. While Dot VidWindowed Phong for a CPU, the binome boarded the Guardian ship. He closed the door behind him. The inside of the ship, like the outside, was sleek and mostly white. On the ship's control panels and readout screens, lights blinked and flickered in an electronic dance. Charl_E whistled appreciatively – this ship was of a much better class than anything that could be found in Mainframe.
The viewport at the helm was tinted, so that one could see through it from the inside but not the outside. This was a good place to make the call from. Charl_E nodded to himself, and opened a VidWindow to Silicon Tor.
~***~
Megabyte tapped the blinking button on the arm of his throne, and a VidWindow opened before him. "Ah, Charl_E," he said. "I see you got into the Guardian's ship. Very good."
"Do you want me to bring you the computer core, Lord Megabyte?" Charl_E asked, eager to please.
"No, not yet," Megabyte said. "Otherwise they will become suspicious. Let them install their updates." He would lose the ability to monitor Mainframe's communications network, but it was a small price to pay for the Supercomputer! "Once the updates have been installed, get the computer core and contact me as soon as possible."
In the VidWindow, Charl_E saluted him. "Yes, sir! Understood!"
"Good. That is all." Megabyte closed the VidWindow and smiled to himself. By the end of the second, the Supercomputer would be his for the taking.