The virals attacked, and Bob and Davic leaped out of the doorway.

"Davic! Close the door!"

"I don't think that's going to help!" Davic snapped Caen into a spin, and it hung in the air in front of the open door. Several energy beams slammed into the glowing circle generated by the spinning keytool, and it buzzed as it slowly retreated into the hallway. Davic watched Caen for an instant, then shook his head. "We've got to Portal out of here! Caen can't hold back that much force for long!"

"Come on, then!" Bob threw himself across the doorway. Glitch exploded into a Portal on the opposite wall.

"Caen!" Davic snatched his keytool just as Bob pulled him through the Portal.

Matrix vaulted over a control console, pulling it down after him. Viral fire tore into the console. Sparks showered over the sprite lying prone behind the console.

The blasts stopped, and a voice said, "You are trapped. There is no way out."

There was silence for a beat, then Matrix's gun sailed into the air.

"Gun! Multiple target acquisition!"

There was a roar of weapons fire, then silence again.

Matrix's gun dropped back into its owner's hand. "There's always a way out," he told the unresponsive binomes on the floor as he rose.

"I beg to differ," said a smooth, low voice.

Matrix spun, aimed, and fired in one smooth motion.

Megabyte simply stood there. The shot hit his polished skull and exploded, leaving…a dent. The virus chuckled. "Oh really now, boy, is that the best you can do?" He took a step toward Matrix.

Matrix's right eye buzzed, and he adjusted his aim and fired again.

Megabyte ducked aside from the round aimed at his eye, but kept coming forward. "You know, I really should thank you. I rather enjoy the Web."

"You would," Matrix snarled. He took a step toward the door, keeping his eyes and his gun on Megabyte.

"Of course." Megabyte replied. "The Web destroys the weak, and nurtures the strong and the ruthless. Quite a delightful place, really." He leered at Matrix.

A dull boom rang through the station, and the floor bucked. Matrix was thrown off his feet. Megabyte, however, threw his claws into the wall and remained upright.

"I suppose that little bump came with the compliments of the Web Riders," Megabyte mused. "I really must exterminate them some time, they're becoming an annoyance."

"Trust me. It gets worse," Matrix growled as he scrambled to his feet.

"You know, I think you've said that to me before," Megabyte answered. "Is your processing capacity really so limited that you must repeat yourself? What a pity. No wonder your little Game sprite left you."

Matrix let out an inarticulate yell, and charged.

Megabyte's tentacles wrapped around the raging sprite, and Matrix's war cry ended in a sudden yelp.

"Temper, temper, boy," Megabyte chided. Matrix stared dully back at the virus, his red-irised left eye the only bit of color in his gray face.

A few virals poked their heads into the room as the floors shook again.

Megabyte let Matrix drop to the floor. "Ah, captain. I trust you have something important?"

"Yes, sir. We're under attack, sir."

"So I surmised," Megabyte said dryly. "How is it that the Web Riders broke through our outer defenses, captain?" His tone was silk over ice.

The captain fidgeted under the virus's gaze. "I've never seen so many Web creatures, sir. The Riders must have brought every pod in the Web! We're outnumbered."

"I see. And where is our guest from the Supercomputer?"

"All over the station, sir. We can't pin him down. And—" the captain paused.

"Yes?"

"Bob's here, sir. He and another Guardian were spotted on Level Two ten nanos ago."

"Indeed," Megabyte said. He glanced down at Matrix, who sprawled on the floor like a forgotten child's toy. "Perhaps a different approach is in order. Take this prisoner to the Interrogation Room. I need him to extend a few party invitations."

"Phong! Is there any word from Bob?" Dot asked.

"No, my child. The Web Riders have signaled that they have begun their attack, but nothing more."

"Sir! Ma'am!" Specky yelled excitedly. "The viral forces are retreating, Commander," he continued in a more controlled tone.

"Oh no, they're not," Dot answered. She opened a command window. "This is Commander Matrix to all Mainframe forces. Cut off the viral retreat."

"What!?" Specky cried, his voice climbing high in panic.

Dot ignored him and went on. "Do anything you have to to keep those ABCs in the system."

"Sir!" another binome interrupted. "I'm reading more blips coming in from the Web!"

Dot switched her screens, and watched the tiny points of light streak toward the Principle Office. "It's about time."

Turbo glanced at the clock on the War Room wall, then dropped his eyes back to the glowing screen in front of him. He scanned the incident data yet again, then broke off, grimacing and rubbing his eyes. He turned in his seat. "Comm, report."

"Cato System still isn't answering hails, Prime. Several more systems have confirmed the presence of the infection, but they've got it under control. Kelley over in Toscanini Node says the Command.com's gone green-eyed, she's trying to keep things online but the system oscillations are getting worse. Leonard called in; he's OK but he can't hold on alone much longer."

"Have we got any cadets left?"

"No, sir. Begging your pardon, sir, but since all the cadets have been sent out on emergency crews, I asked Geri to go give Leonard a hand."

"Good thinking, Nichols. Any word from Davic or Wayne?"

"No, Prime."

Turbo's worn face creased. "What's taking them so long?"

Glitch let out a squeal, which bounced off the walls of the narrow air duct. Bob, flat on his belly, jumped, banging his head. A dust bunny fell out of his hair. "Glitch, I thought I asked you—what?"

"What is it?" Davic hissed. He sneezed, a sound that echoed like a small explosion in the long duct.

Caen, wrapped around its Guardian's head like a miner's lamp, bent its round face in front of Davic's eyes, and showed him a small schematic.

"Oh, great," Davic rasped.

"Ah, Bob, there you are." A vidwindow popped open in the duct in front of Bob, blocking the way forward. "And you brought your little friend. How delightful. I do so enjoy guests."

"You don't want to do this, Megabyte," Bob ground out.

"Oh really?" the virus said in mock surprise. "How very strange. I thought I was doing exactly as I pleased."

"It's not a good idea to cross a Guardian, virus," Davic growled.

"It is even more foolish to challenge me, Guardian," Megabyte shot back. "You are bound by the principles ingrained in your very protocol. I have no such restrictions."

"You're just as much a prisoner as we are, Megabyte," Bob said. "Your code forces you to destroy, to infect, and to corrupt."

"Now let's not start that again." Megabyte said dismissively. "Surely you realize by now that you are merely wasting your time attempting to appeal to my better nature. I am a virus. I have no better nature."

"Your sister did," Bob answered.

"Hexadecimal was little more than chaos personified," Megabyte purred. "She was power without function. I, on the other hand, have both power and function. Observe." He stretched out one arm, and his tentacles extended.

The camera followed the writhing tentacles to the floor, where Matrix lay unmoving.

"No!" Bob cried.

The tentacles wound around Matrix, one pinning his arms and the other winding around his legs. Matrix jerked, and a small, bright flash of light ran from his chest up Megabyte's tentacles and disappeared into the virus's arm. The sprite went limp again, flickering in and out of existence.

The camera returned to Megabyte's face as he withdrew his tentacles. "You see, Bob, I hold power over you. You must try to save the life of your friend, even though he is nearly deleted and the odds of your defeating me are nearly non-existent. You need not crawl through the station, Guardian, unless such a mode of travel satisfies some Guardian notion of propriety. I know where you are, and I have what you want. You will come to me sooner or later." The vidwindow closed.

"That's it," Davic spat. "I'm not just going to delete him, I'm going to carve him up into little tiny pieces, then delete him one piece at a time."

"That's not helping, Davic," Bob said sharply.

"No, but it sure makes me feel better. Kind of warm and fuzzy, you know?"

"You're a barbarian, Davic."

"Yes. Your point?"

Bob shook his head and dragged himself forward. "Come on. There's a vent ahead we can use to get back into the corridors."

"Why not just blast a hole in the duct? The virus just pointed out that we don't need to bother with stealth anymore."

Bob stopped and turned as much as he could in the narrow duct. "How much power does Caen have left?"

"About half a charge. Enough to do the job."

"Barely. Glitch is lower than that—all those Portals ran us way down. There's no way to be sure what Megabyte's put between us and Matrix, not to mention how much power we'll need to hold Wayne if we can ever catch up to him. Are you willing to risk their lives to spare yourself some crawling?"

Davic was silent for a moment. "Time was, we'd have charged into that room and to crashes with the consequences."

"Time was, we were cadets and the worst that could happen was to blow another sim," Bob answered. "Things have changed."

"Mm."

The two of them wiggled down the duct toward the vent without another word.