To spare Caen's power reserves, Wayne and Davic used a Headquarters Portal generator. Turbo came down to see them off. "You sure about this?" he asked Wayne.

"I'll be all right, Turbo," Wayne said levelly.

Davic lifted an eyebrow at the two of them. "Is there something I should know here?"

Turbo locked eyes with Wayne for a long moment, then answered, "Just watch his back, Davic."

"Do they know we're coming?" Wayne asked quietly.

Turbo shook his head. "I'm not exactly Bob's favorite sprite right now. They're not accepting calls from Headquarters."

"I guess they haven't caught that Trojan Horse, then." Davic swung Caen across his palm, and the keytool extended into a slender staff.

"Let Bob handle the virus, son. You just get in, find Matrix, and get back out."

Davic acknowledged that with a narrowing of his eyes and a short nod.

Turbo fed Mainframe's address into the generator, then activated it. A controlled explosion rocked the room, and a Tear opened up. Turbo hit another key, and the generator stabilized the Tear. The Prime Guardian watched the Net Guardian and Wayne go. The portal closed behind them, and Turbo was left alone in the room.

The Portal opened onto a quiet, grassy park. Davic glanced around, Caen at the ready. Wayne simply shifted his carryall a little higher on his shoulder and said, "Let's go to the Principle Office. Someone there should be able to tell us where to find this Matrix."

"Why bother them?" Davic swung Caen in a slow circle. The keytool clicked to itself, then beeped as it tugged gently toward the edge of the park. "If we're fast, we can be gone before they even know we're here."

Another voice interrupted. "Not notice someone opening a Portal into my system? I don't think so."

Davic looked over his shoulder. "Hey, Bob."

Guardian Bob drifted a little lower on his zipboard, his expression puzzled. "Davic? What are you doing here?" He looked to Wayne, and his brow furrowed still more. "Doctor?"

"Do you know these two, Bob?" A green-skinned female sprite stopped her zipboard beside Bob's.

"Doctor MacHewlett's the Head Medical Protocol at the Guardian Complex in the Supercomputer," Bob explained. "I don't know why Davic's with him. He should be somewhere on the other end of the Net."

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" She put her hands on her hips and smiled at Bob.

"Oh, right. Uh, Dot, this is Doctor MacHewlett. Doctor, this is Dot Matrix, Command.com of Mainframe."

Dot Matrix let her zipboard drop slowly to the ground, then gave Wayne a firm handshake. "Pleased to meet you."

"Ms. Matrix." Wayne accepted the handshake, then asked carefully, "Are you by any chance related to Enzo Matrix?"

"They're my brothers," Dot replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because the Doc here wants a scan of a cadet named Enzo Matrix. I'm just along for the ride," Davic replied.

"A scan? What for?" Bob asked.

A small crowd was starting to gather. Wayne shifted his bag again and murmured, "I think it would be best if we explained that somewhere else."

Dot exchanged a glance with Bob, then nodded. "Of course." She called up a vidwindow. "Matrix?"

"Yeah?"

"Meet us at the Principle Office in ten nanos."

"What for?" Matrix demanded.

"We've got guests from the Supercomputer," Dot answered. She closed the vidwindow before Matrix could reply. "That should get his attention."

Davic, nonplussed, folded his arms and said, "Is he always like that?"

"No," Bob shrugged. "Sometimes he's worse."

"He's under a lot of strain right now," Dot said apologetically. "He's worried about AndrAIa."

Neither Dot nor Bob seemed to know what to say next.

"AndrAIa?" Wayne prompted.

"Matrix and AndrAIa grew up together in the Games," Bob explained. "She signed on with Captain Capacitor and left about two decacycles ago. Matrix isn't taking it very well."

"Megabyte's not helping, either," Dot added.

"Grew up in the Games?" Davic repeated quizzically. "And I thought I had a strange childhood."

"It's a long story," Dot murmured. "Let's go. Bob, would you mind?"

"All you have to do is ask, Dot. Glitch!"

Bob's keytool burbled a response, then shot out a flare that exploded into a Tear. An instant later, the Tear stabilized, and Bob swept in a flamboyant bow. "Ladies first."

Dot smiled, and led the way through the Portal.

They stepped through the Portal into the wreckage of an outdated War Room. A repair team stood around and on the dark central console, poking the ruin with various gadgets.

Davic whistled. "Redecorating?"

"Megabyte," Bob answered grimly. "Every time we think we've got him contained, he shows us another new trick."

"Maybe you should stop trying to contain him, then," Davic growled.

"Don't start, Davic. I know what I'm doing."

"So do I," Davic shot back.

A new voice interrupted. "There is an old readme file that says, 'Time settles all arguments'." An ancient sprite glided into the room, and looked up at the visitors.

"Uh, thanks, Phong." Bob turned to Wayne. "Phong, this is Doctor Wayne MacHewlett. He's interested in the cure for Daemon's infection."

"Ah," Phong peered up at Wayne from behind his glasses. "Truly a miraculous program."

Wayne nodded. "It was. I'd like a scan of the sprite who created it."

Phong blinked, and steepled his long, thin fingers. "I see. Unfortunately, our medical records were destroyed in the struggle against Megabyte." He waved one hand sadly at the fire-blackened walls of the War Room.

"That's all right," Wayne replied. He patted the bag at his side. "I've got everything I need right here." His purple eyes roamed the room. "If there's anyone in need of treatment…" he offered.

"That's very generous of you, Doctor," Dot thanked him.

"If he really is a doctor," a rumbling voice growled.

Wayne lifted his eyebrows and turned to meet the gaze of a burly green sprite with a gun on his hip. "You must be Matrix," he said dryly.

The green sprite grabbed his gun and leveled it at Wayne's head. "Who are you?"

Wayne's eyes narrowed. "I'm someone who doesn't like having a gun in his face," he said quietly.

"And I don't like it when people drop in uninvited," Matrix snarled.

"Easy, Matrix," Bob said soothingly. "I know these sprites. They're friends."

Matrix glared into Wayne's eyes for a long moment, then lowered his gun. "Sorry," he said shortly. "Just being careful."

Davic snorted. "I'd hate to see what you call reckless, then."

A klaxon sounded. "Warning. Incoming Game. Warning. Incoming Game."

"Perfect," Matrix muttered in disgust. "You coming, Bob?"

"I'll be right behind you," Bob answered to Matrix's retreating back. He turned to Davic. "Duty calls."

Davic looked down the hall. "You're not the only one duty's calling." He swung Caen restlessly. "But I've got to stay with the Doc, so go ahead." He slapped Caen against his palm and glanced around. "Hey, where'd he go?"

Wayne ran down unfamiliar streets, toward the rapidly dropping Game. The carryall slid off his shoulder and fell. Wayne laughed, and ran harder. His bright green eyes shone with anticipation as he slid into position beneath the glowing purple cube.