"Let me get this straight," Wayne said as he jogged beside Bob. "We're going to the hub of a viral station, to try and rescue an infected renegade cadet who just happens to have been the source of the cure for an infection that nearly destroyed the entire Net?"
"You make it sound so random," Davic remarked sarcastically.
Wayne shook his head and laughed. "You guys must be Guardians. No sprite in his right mind would try a stunt like this."
"It keeps things interesting," Bob said.
"It certainly does," Wayne confirmed.
Glitch buzzed.
Wayne blinked. "I didn't understand that."
"The translation algorithms are part of the Guardian protocol, Doc," Davic reminded him. "You haven't had those for at least ten minutes."
"Glitch says Matrix is in a large control room at the end of this hall," Bob put in before Wayne could reply.
Glitch beeped and clicked some more.
"Only one door…Some suspicious power fluctuations…Matrix is the only sprite in there. No Megabyte." Bob grimaced.
"Sounds like a trap," Wayne observed.
"It is a trap," Davic said sourly. "What I want to know is where our backup is."
"Dot will be here," Bob said firmly. "You two stay here. I'll go get Matrix."
"Like crashes I will," Davic shot back. "The Doc can stay behind if he wants, but I'm going in to save your ASCII after you spring the trap on yourself."
"I'm coming with you," Wayne said firmly. "You say that I gave up the Guardian protocol minutes ago. Maybe that's true, but I don't remember those minutes, so for me they never happened." He lifted his chin and challenged Bob with his eyes. "As far as I know I'm a Guardian, and being a Guardian is more than just a protocol."
"Have you two forgotten that you're file-sharing?" Bob demanded. "One overload and—"
"—we're deleted," Davic finished. "Believe me, Bob, I know. But if you go in there and get into trouble, we're going to have to come after you and your cadet. Not to mention we still don't know where our friendly neighborhood Trojan Horse virus is, or whose face he might be wearing. He might be the one in that room, instead of that infected cadet. Our chances are better if we all go in together."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Bob said dryly. "Will you at least let me go in first?"
"Sure," Davic grinned. "You're the one with a girlfriend to impress." He swung one arm in a melodramatic feint. "Leading the charge to rescue her poor infected brother. She'll love that story."
Bob rolled his eyes as Wayne looked from one Guardian to another and lifted his eyebrows questioningly.
Bob consulted Glitch. "Glitch, schematic."
Glitch beeped, and projected an image for the three sprites.
"Huh," Davic said. "I always did prefer circular rooms. No corners to get backed into."
"Matrix is here," Bob said briskly, pointing to the center of the projected room. "I'll go to the right and circle around to him. Davic, you take care of this power source, whatever it is. Wayne, you keep our escape route open."
Davic nodded. "Got it."
Bob sighed, and his face set. "Let's do it."
The door opened easily. Bob went right, Davic ran toward the live console on the left, and Wayne snatched a chair and shoved it into the doorway, preventing the door from closing behind them. That much went according to Bob's sketchy plan.
Nothing else did.
Just as Bob reached the central console and Matrix, the grey-faced sprite sat bolt upright with his gun in his hand. His right eye buzzed and glowed red as he leveled his gun on Bob.
"Matrix, it's me! Bob!"
Matrix expressionlessly pulled the trigger, and Bob leaped aside as the round slammed into the wall behind him.
"Matrix, what are you doing?"
"Somehow, I don't think he's feeling quite himself, Bob!" Davic yelled from behind the console.
Matrix turned around fast, and three quick shots tore through the console, wall, and a patch of floor where Davic had been an instant before.
A vidwindow appeared as Matrix targeted again, and explosive rounds chased Davic halfway around the room.
"Ah, Bob," Megabyte purred from the vidwindow screen. "I trust you are enjoying the little party I arranged for you. I'm so sorry I couldn't be there to enjoy the fun, but I have pressing business elsewhere now that you and your annoying little friends are finally out of my way."
Matrix's targeting icon found Bob, and the Guardian leaped sideways. "Glitch! Shield!"
Two more shots ricocheted off Glitch's expanded round face. One of them shattered the vidwindow, and the other bounced back toward Matrix.
"No!" Bob yelled.
The shot whistled past Matrix's ear, and tore a hole in the wall behind him. The sprite ignored it and lined up for another shot.
Another vidwindow appeared. "I had my scientists perform a few upgrades on your protégé. He's quite the destructive one, isn't he?" Megabyte went on. "Far be it from me to interfere with his Guardian training. You'll notice that I left him and his favorite toy fully charged for target practice."
"He's slave-disked!" Wayne cried from the dubious safety of the doorway.
"You should have deleted that virus a long time ago, Bob!" Davic yelled over the sound of Matrix's gun.
"I'll draw his fire, you disarm him!" Bob cried. "Wayne, get out of here!"
Matrix focused on Bob, and Davic circled around behind the infected sprite. Caen glowed in its Guardian's left hand.
Matrix turned, and his right eye clicked as it tracked Davic. Matrix's right arm suddenly shot out from his side and fired at Bob, while the sprite's glowing red eye sent a targeting icon toward Davic.
Wayne scrambled across the room. The former Guardian's eyes were flickering from purple to green.
Caen shrieked, and Matrix fired as Davic dove beneath the central console. The shot tore through the power leads between Matrix's feet, and a Tear exploded into life, hanging an arm's length from Matrix's face.
Davic gasped as a shudder went through him, and his face flickered to near-transparency for an instant. He glanced at his keytool. "Hold him, Caen, hold him! Bob, Wayne's going green-eyed on us!"
"How I regret losing this opportunity," Megabyte mused from his cracked vidwindow. "I do wish I could see the expression on your face right now. Or perhaps hear your cries as the station explodes. Yes, that would be a sound to rock me to sleep at night."
"Bob, he's rigged the place!" Davic cried as he scrabbled his way out from under the console. "We've got to get out of here!"
"Not without Matrix!" Bob answered. "You take Wayne and go! I'll be right behind you!"
"Yes, it must be such a dilemma for you, Bob," Megabyte chuckled. "Do you leave the belligerent boy behind, or do you risk your life in a vain attempt to save him? No matter. Herr Doktor assures me that the destruction of something as large as this station will create shock waves strong enough to delete everything within half a second of here."
"Bob?" The voice came from Glitch's screen even as it blocked another incoming shot. "Bob? Come in, Bob!"
"Dot?" Bob asked. "Dot! Get away from the station. Get back into the Net, and take the Web Riders with you, now!!"
"Bob, what's happening?" Turbo's voice came onto the comm link.
Wayne dove under the console and somersaulted across the floor to Davic. He was flickering from head to toe. "I need to borrow this for a nano," he told Davic as he snatched Caen out of Davic's hand. Wayne's eyes shone bright green in his dimming face. Caen squealed, and a spark leaped under Wayne's fingers. "Save your energy, Ral!" Wayne told the keytool sharply.
Caen buzzed angrily.
Matrix whirled on the sparking console, and fired four shots in quick succession.
"Ral! Portal!" Wayne whipped Caen into the air like a discus, and it spun across the room, passing Matrix's shoulder and landing on the Tear behind him. The Tear stabilized.
Wayne let out a whoop and ran straight at Matrix. A bright red targeting icon formed on Wayne's chest just as Wayne hit Matrix. The two of them toppled head over heels into the Portal, and vanished.
"Wayne!" Bob yelled.
"We've got what we came for, Bob, let's go!" Davic ran across the room, grabbed Bob's elbow, and they both leaped into the Portal.