The User kept to the roads, following whatever it was that Users used in place of logic. Davic, Bob, Mouse, and Wayne cut across country, tracking the User with Glitch's sensors. Davic plowed through the underbrush, yanking up whatever came to hand to feed his ogre appetite, and incidentally clearing a path for the three centaurs. He waded several swift rivers with a centaur under each arm and a third draped across his neck. Wandering bands of Game Sprites scattered before Davic's heavy tread.
"So Aria came from this Game?" Wayne said as he trotted beside Bob.
"That's what she said," Bob confirmed. "Turbo said that this is actually an upgraded version of her Game."
"That might explain why it only took that one arrow to finish her," Mouse said musingly.
"Or maybe that Sorcerer was just lucky," Davic growled around a mouthful of apple trees.
"In my experience there's no such thing as luck," Mouse countered.
"Luck or not, we've got to get Turbo to come out of the Game with us," Wayne said. "If he's the Prime, and there's an infection loose in the Net—"
"Not to mention a virus loose in the Web," Davic added.
"—the Collective needs its Prime," Wayne finished. He stopped. "Can one of you guide me to Turbo?"
"What for? He's made up his mind," Davic growled.
"No, he hasn't," Wayne said with an edge to his tone.
The other sprites stopped, and looked back at Wayne. The ex-Guardian met their questioning faces with an implacable gaze.
"Someone should keep track of the User," Bob offered finally.
"Why don't you take the hacker lady and go entertain the User, Bob," Davic said. His tone was incongruously deferential for an ogre. "I'll lead the Doc back to Turbo."
Bob nodded. Mouse acknowledged the change with a flick of her tail, and the two of them jogged off, following Glitch's guidance.
"Well, let's go," Davic murmured. "It's this way."
Davic and Wayne rejoined the road a little south of the hamlet of Raven's Hame. Davic prudently gave the town a wide berth, circling around it before picking up the road again. He paused to reach over the wall of a vineyard and uproot a handful of grapevines, which he generously shared with Wayne. He also raided a henhouse for eggs. "I don't think I like those so much," he commented after he'd swallowed the results of his raid. "Too scratchy."
"They'd probably taste better if you took the eggs out of the nests first," Wayne observed.
There was a commotion behind them, and Davic turned to look over his shoulder. Caen beeped.
"Uh-oh," Davic grunted.
The noise grew louder.
"What do you mean, uh-oh?" Wayne asked suspiciously.
"Well, apparently the farmer who provided my little snack has just found out about his charitable donation," Davic answered.
Wayne rolled his eyes. "How bad?"
Davic consulted Caen. "Looks like we're about to meet the entire village mob. Have you got a good run in you?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Not really. Want to run or ride?"
"After seeing what riding did to Bob, I think I'll run." Wayne picked up his gait from a trot to a gallop. There was a noticeable hitch in his stride as he strained his injured leg, but he kept up with Davic's long legs until the angry villagers were left far behind.
Wayne dropped back to a walk, limping. "I think we've lost them," he panted.
"Good," Davic replied, settling back to a saunter himself. "It would have been a shame to pass this up." He stepped off the road into a pumpkin patch, and stuffed a few into his mouth before starting to fill his hands with pumpkins the size of Wayne's hindquarters.
Wayne stood in the road and watched the Net Guardian. "Tell me, are you a thief in-system as well as in Games?"
"Yup," Davic said without rancor. "What can I say, it's a gift. If it weren't for the Guardian protocol I'd be worth a few trillion units by now. But Turbo got a hold of me, and now I'm completely ruined. Too honest." He popped another pumpkin into his mouth and bit it in a spray of juice and seeds.
"Let's move on, then, before someone else finds out about your 'gift'," Wayne said dryly.
"In a nano," Davic answered. He gulped down a few more pumpkins. "I need a few more for the road. I'm eating for two, you know."
"Can Caen move Game energy through the link?" Wayne asked.
"It says it can," Davic shrugged. "I've asked how, but the answer comes back as gibberish."
Caen made a rude noise.
"Well, you could have done it in some normal programming language," Davic retorted.
Caen's reply was lengthy. Davic's furry ears turned red.
"All right, all right, I'm a monoglot dope. Cut it out already," Davic grumbled.
"How far are we from Turbo?" Wayne asked, changing the subject.
Davic nodded toward the horizon. "I can see him from here."
"Good. Let's go." Wayne trotted off at a brisk pace, still lame in his right front leg.
Caen beeped.
"That's bad," Davic said through a mouthful of pumpkins. He started after Wayne, munching as he went.
Caen buzzed, then whistled.
"That's worse." Davic sighed. "How do I get myself into these things?" he asked no one in particular, "Can Bob and Mouse keep them busy, at least?"
Caen replied with a single click.
"That's what I figured." Davic shoved another handful of pumpkins into his mouth, and picked up his pace a little to keep up with Wayne, who had now shifted into a canter.
"Turbo?" Wayne paused at the foot of the hill, and looked up at the silent shadow spread across the hill's crest. "Turbo, what are you doing?"
"What I should have done ten minutes ago," Turbo answered.
"This isn't ten minutes ago, Turbo," Wayne said harshly. "This is now." He took a few steps up the hill. "You can't go back and change what happened then."
"Who're you to talk?" Turbo grated. "You're the one who's trying to deny fifteen minutes of history."
"That's right, I was," Wayne admitted. "But you were right, Turbo—we haven't got time for regrets. We're both needed."
"'…the good of the many…'", Turbo murmured. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You're going to let them recompile your memory?"
"Yes."
"Good. You'll know then what you've asked of me."
"I have a pretty good idea of that now," Wayne said softly. He took the last few steps, and carefully settled down beside Aria. "I'm sorry, Turbo."
"Mm. Me too."
Davic skidded to a halt at the foot of the hill. "I hate to break up this tragic moment, but we've got company coming!" He pointed.
Wayne looked in the direction Davic indicated, and his eyebrows rose. "Is that the User?"
"Looks like it," Turbo confirmed. He rose, and glanced around for his sword. He caught Wayne's eye as he tapped his icon. "No rest for the weary, huh?"
"Isn't that the Guardian motto?" Wayne asked ruefully.
"Bob and Mouse are right behind them," Davic reported. "Only two of the User's party are left. Hey—good shot! Make that one."
"Which one's left?" Turbo asked.
Copland beeped, and Davic whooped.
"Doesn't matter, Boss, we're done!" Davic cried. "User, am I glad that's over."
"Game…Over," the system voice announced. The Game lifted.
Davic and Wayne both gasped as the Game withdrew, and they flickered as Caen squealed.
"Davic!" Turbo grabbed the Net Guardian before he fell. Mouse and Bob ran toward them from a little further up the street. A siren began to blare from the direction of the system's Principle Office.
Wayne wove unsteadily, and blinked dumbly at Mouse and Bob as they eased him gently to the ground. He winced, and rubbed his behind. "User got me," he murmured. His eyes shaded from purple to green and back.
"Crash it, Caen, hold him," Davic ground out as he sat down on the sidewalk.
Caen's buzz sang up the scale to a rattling whine.
Several ambulances turned onto the street, and screeched to a halt beside the weary group. Binome paramedics piled out, almost tripping over each other in their hurry.
"The readings only show five sprites—" someone said.
"Foxtrot says no one came out of the Game in his system—"
"—who got deleted?" A young one binome looked from one face to the next. His single eye widened. "Where—where's Aria?"
"She's all right," Turbo said heavily. "She had to stay with the Game." He indicated Davic, who was taking deep breaths and staring fixedly at the sidewalk, shuddering. "We've got a couple of medical emergencies here, son."
The paramedics looked up at him, their eyes very solemn, then went to work. They bundled all five sprites into ambulances, efficiently ignoring Bob's protestations and Mouse's demonstrations of good health.
Wayne drifted. He listened to the binomes around him talk. Words like "pulse" and "rate" slipped across his mind and vanished. The edges of the world tilted and skewed. There was a moment of nagging pain, and an instant of sudden power, then things settled back into gray formlessness. He wondered idly what had happened to the pain, and then he slipped into darkness.