Wayne ran up the steps after Bob and Davic, both of whose keytools were chattering in high, staccato contrast to the long, slow notes rolling through the Saucy Mare II from below and outside.

"What—are they so upset about?" Wayne panted, a bit winded from the run.

"Not sure," Davic threw back over his shoulder as he took the steps to the poop deck three at a time. "Something about the infection in the Supercomputer."

"Wayne!" Turbo called from the poop deck above. "Tell me you've got that patch file ready to go."

Wayne shook his head, and let himself slow down as he climbed the last few steps. "Get me to my lab, and I'll have it finished in three cycles."

"We haven't got three cycles, Wayne," Turbo said tightly. "And getting to the Ward's going to be a problem." Turbo's gaze shifted, and Wayne followed the Prime's eyes. The doctor blinked, then looked again.

Copland was in its accustomed place on Turbo's left gauntlet. Perched on the Prime Guardian's other wrist was a second keytool, this one a green-gold box with no screen.

Turbo lifted his right arm. "This is Isa. It's an unaffiliated keytool."

"Unaffiliated?" Davic looked at the featureless green box. "What's it doing here, then?"

Copland clicked, and Caen replied, then launched into a long progression of squeals and clicks.

Bob's face drained of color.

"Whoa," Davic breathed.

"Would one of you translate, please?" Wayne asked, his tone only a little impatient.

"We're in trouble, Doc," Davic said.

"The infection has mutated somehow," Turbo said. "It's not just affecting a few sprites anymore."

"And...?"

"The keytools are running the Supercomputer," Bob said heavily. "Everyone else has gone random, and they're dying."

"The Guardian keytools called in the unaffiliated ones for help," Turbo explained. "They sent Isa to warn us."

"An entire system..." Wayne rocked on his heels, then rubbed his face with both hands. "An entire system of Green-Eyed Monsters."

"We need a patch file, old friend," Turbo said frankly.

Wayne shook his head. "We don't need a patch file." He looked up and into Turbo's eyes. "We need a miracle."

Dot began giving orders as soon as the Saucy Mare II dropped into Mainframe. "Specky, call out every EMT in the system and get them into Briefing Room two. Phong, we're going to need a code sequencer and an intensive care unit online. Dad, how are you and Enzo?"

"Everything's fine, Dot," the null-sprite answered. "How are you? We've been so worried. Where's your brother?"

"Matrix is up in the crow's nest," Dot said quickly. She dropped her eyes. "He's—he's hurt, Dad. Megabyte almost killed him."

The elder Matrix was silent for a moment. "And where is Megabyte?" There was a hint of steel behind the words.

"We don't know," Dot admitted. "I'll explain when we get there, Dad."

"Hold still, Davic," Wayne said in an exasperated tone.

"Speed it up, Doc. Every nano we wait is someone else offline." Davic drummed the fingers of his free hand on the biobed.

Wayne's jaw tightened. "I know that as well as you do. So in the interest of saving as many sprites as possible, shut up and hold still!" He lined up the insertion point yet again and went back to work.

Turbo stuck his head into the room. "How's it coming?"

"It would go a lot faster without interruptions," Wayne answered testily.

"Don't get your code in a twist, Wayne," Turbo told him. "Dot's mobilizing all of Mainframe. You should have all the help you need in less than half a microsecond."

Wayne hit a few more keys, and the insertion point pressed against Davic's ribs hummed, then glowed bright blue.

"There," Wayne said. "You're done. Now remember, if a Game drops—"

"Run. I heard you the first three times, Doc."

"It bears repeating. Write protection will prevent the infection, but it will also prevent you from ReBooting."

"And a Game would nullify me on contact. I'm not stupid, Doc."

"No, you're a Guardian," Wayne shot back. He shut down his equipment and sighed. "Look, kid, just try to come back in one piece, OK?" He clapped one hand on Davic's bare shoulder and met his eyes for a long moment, then jerked his head at Turbo, who was still standing in the doorway. "And keep him out of trouble, if you can."

Davic grinned. "You got it, Doc." He reclaimed his icon and Caen from the tray beside the biobed, and clicked back into uniform. "Ready to go, boss?"

"Yeah. Let's do it before the infection finds a way around write protection. Copland! Scan for a class five Tear."

"Caen can take care of it," Davic protested.

"I'd rather save Caen's power for an emergency," Turbo answered. "Here." He tossed Davic a stowed zipboard. "You remember how to fly one of those?"

"In rings around you, old-timer," Davic answered, hooking the zipboard to his belt. "I still think we should take that Riot Wing of yours."

"We won't need it, Davic. This is a search and retrieve mission, not a frontal assault."

"A little extra firepower never hurts, though," Davic said darkly.

"These are plague victims, not invaders," Turbo told him in a severe tone. "They're sick, not evil."

"Sick sprite with viral powers can kill you just as dead as a healthy viral," Davic muttered.

The Saucy Mare II rocked gently against her mooring lines, her engines silent and most of her crew away on shore leave. The ship was not quite abandoned, however. A lithe, barefoot figure clung to the rigging, working its way up toward the crow's nest.

Matrix acknowledged AndrAIa's arrival on the tiny platform with a slow shift of his eyes from the horizon to the Game sprite and back.

AndrAIa sat down in the little space left on the platform, and leaned back against the bulwark that ran around the edges of the crow's nest. "There's no place like home," she said with a contented sigh.

Matrix grunted.

AndrAIa looked at him, then said, "Can we talk?"

"You said there was no 'we'," Matrix growled. "There's only me. And I got nothing to talk about."

"There wasn't a 'we' because I didn't know where you ended and I began," AndrAIa said.

Matrix closed his eyes, and a muscle along his jaw jumped.

AndrAIa slowly reached up and stroked Matrix's cheek.

"Don't!" Matrix bit out. A tear escaped his eye. "Don't," he said again, in quiet desperation.

"Then talk to me, Enzo," AndrAIa pleaded.

Matrix suddenly jerked into motion. He scrambled around the mast, set his back against the far bulwark, and aimed his gun between his up-bent knees at the Game sprite. "Dead sprite's trigger at point-blank range," he told her, his voice shaking almost as hard as his hands. "Magnetic shrapnel rounds. Eat holes right through Web armor." The muzzle of the gun jerked alarmingly across AndrAIa's face.

"Enzo, it's all right," AndrAIa said gently, her fine brow wrinkling. "You're safe. We're in Mainframe. I'm your friend."

"Don't know that," Matrix answered. "Not for sure. Can't be sure of anything."

"I love you," AndrAIa said firmly. "I'm sure enough of that for both of us."

"No!" Matrix's fingers slipped on the butt of the gun. "There is no 'we'! Leave me alone!" He took a deep breath, visibly controlled his breathing, and looked down the barrel of the gun into AndrAIa's eyes. "Safer alone."

"Apart from Megabyte, you mean," AndrAIa said. "He took over your mind and locked you away in your own head."

"You left me," Matrix accused.

"I had to," AndrAIa replied simply.

"I loved you," Matrix said. Every muscle along his arms stood out.

"I know," AndrAIa told him. "That was why I had to go away. There were some decisions I had to make alone."

"There can be only one," Matrix told her. "Only one I can trust. I'm safer alone."

"No," AndrAIa said. "You're not. Think about it, Enzo. Megabyte—"

"Megabyte—" Matrix shook his shaggy head. "Wouldn't stop. I saw."

"But you couldn't act," AndrAIa finished. "He was stronger than you were."

"Safer alone."

"Stronger together," AndrAIa countered. "Megabyte tried to use you to destroy everything you love and he hates. He was stronger than you—but his plan failed. You know why? Because he's not stronger than all of us. We work together. We fight together." She reached carefully across the gap between them. "And we'll beat him—together."

"No." Matrix looked up and leveled his gun at her again. "It's not real. There's only me. Alone."

AndrAIa sat back. "All right," she said. "I'm going back down to the engine room." Her eyes were wide and sad as she slid toward the rigging. "I'm sorry, Enzo." She disappeared down the rigging.

Matrix kept his gun trained on the spot where AndrAIa had been until the rigging stopped moving and there was no sound except the creaking of the ship's timbers. Then he let out an explosive breath and relaxed all at once, the gun slipping out of his nerveless fingers unnoticed. He leaned back against the bulwark and closed his eyes, taking huge slow breaths and letting them out.

A Portal opened above the Academy training field, and two pairs of Guardian boots landed on the grass almost simultaneously. Caen closed the Portal and dropped into Davic's hand, clicking softly.

"Looks pretty quiet," Davic offered, sweeping the grounds with his alert eyes.

"Yeah. Too quiet." Turbo's eyes were moving, too. "Let's move." He jogged off toward the Ward with Davic loping beside him.