Chapter 10 Aftermath
Mainframe the Main Square
"Goood Morning Mainframe and what a beautiful day it is. Megabyte has been captured, locked up like a null in a cage. The Guardians are in force helping the good citizens of Mainframe get back on their feet and we have this man the thank for it, Turbo the Prime Guardian," announced Mike the TV. He was golden three foot tall talking TV. The amazing thing was not that he talked but he wouldn't shut up. He turned to a large pale green skinned man.
Turbo was a large muscular man. On any other sprite the pale green colouring would have looked weak but not on this man. He gave a forced smile to the camera crew. Why couldn't he be helping with cleanup like the others? He knew the answer he was the leader of the Guardians and the hero of the day. "Thank you Mike, it is an honour to be here!" he lied through gritted teeth.
In the background of the ruined city Buttercup and Kardon(Bob's old friend) were giving out much needed supplies to a family. Buttercup picked up the binome boy who proceeded to wail in terror. "Ugly lady, ugly lady."
Meanwhile another unfortunate Guardian had been cleaning away some debris from a smashed building he hit a water main. The water jet shot the poor sprite up into the air he landed about two blocks away.
"Mr. Prime Guardian your help with setting up our system has been amazing but not as amazing as how you defeated Megabyte. Tell us how did you do it?" asked Mike.
"Well I couldn't have done anything if it weren't for the help of some very special people Bob, Dr. Chandra and-"
"How about Hexadecimal? How did you trick her into helping you?"
"I didn't trick her into anything she came of her own free will. She'd do anything for Bob."
"Oh yes we're well aware of that! Now really, you were very brave standing up to Gigabyte and defeating him."
"Actually it was Hex who defeated him: she forced a separation. When that was done Bob trapped Megabyte in a level 10 force field."
"Really? Hex forced the separation? I thought that it was you. Well the crazy Bat did save us all once but that was probably due to the energy core she just ate."
Turbo's lips tightened in anger, "Hexadecimal is one of the bravest data forms I have ever met. When I found her she was so damaged she looked like a charcoal briquette not a person. With any other creature they would have died but not Hex. The girl not only lived but also recovered in record time enough to help Bob and your ungrateful ASCII's."
"Speaking about Bob where is he? I was hoping to interview him,"
"He's in Lost Angles visiting a sick friend."
"Oh Princess Bula!"
Turbo put his hands in his head and sighed in exasperation.
8 Ball Apartments a few nanos ago
Bob had been frantically searching catalogues to find something for Hex to wear when he heard a knock at his door. He called for the person to come in and Buttercup Charger, one of his old teachers stepped inside.
She looked around his place, "Tacky furniture, you could get better what with your salary."
"Tried that once and a certain Null Monster trashed my apartment."
"Speaking of Null Monsters I brought some clothes and things like you asked for from the Academy. They're the only decent things left in her size and in some way I think it is appropriate Hex to have them. Look I gotta go now I have to give out some care packages with Kardon."
Bob mumbled a thanks, took the bundle and then left for Lost Angles himself.
Lost Angles
Bob slowly skimmed his zip board above the streets of Lost Angles. Even though the buildings looked exactly the second it was built but the place seemed more than ever like a ghost town.
Suddenly something clattered from inside one of the buildings starting Bob. He almost fell off his zip board. He whirled round and saw movement from a window. He recognized the form of Cyrus one of Megabyte's old henchmen. Squatters, Mainframe's outcasts, had taken refuge here and Bob had come to see one of them.
He stopped by a small hospital surrounded by a lush garden and went inside. Inside the building the place was stark but had expensive furniture. Then he heard the crying. Being the compassionate sprite he was he tentatively searched the pale coloured rooms until he found Princess Bula.
The large female sobbed continuously as she sat in a chair. She had descended into a deep depression ever since she found out her lover had been murdered by Megabyte. She looked pathetic in her hospital gown and her messy hair. A nurse tried to comfort but Bula had a lot to grieve for. Specky's baby was beginning to show.
He left the pair to search Hex and found Dr. Chandra waiting outside her room.
"Don't go inside just yet, the doctor's giving her an examination," cautioned Chandra.
"It's lucky you have experience in dealing with situations like this," said Bob.
"Not really not anything like this. Megabyte didn't rape her not in the conventional sense. What he did was far worse. He violated her not in only in body but also in mind and soul."
Bob swore under his breath and slowly sat down in one of the chairs in the hall. A few micros later the doctor walked out. Bob was dismayed to see it was a binome doctor and not Rom himself.
"She's fine physically, as for her mind she's far from fine," said the doctor.
"Can I go in and see her?" asked Bob.
"Of course you can but I warn not to expect much," said Chandra.
They entered into a small dark room. The blinds on the single window were closed. When his eyes had adjusted to the darkness he saw Hex lying on a large ornate bed. Beside the bed stood her throne and her looking glass.
"I thought that if I brought some things from her home she might feel safe," explained Chandra.
Bob sat on the throne and looked down on the girl. She looked so small and helpless. He took her hand and found it as cold as ice. "Hex, Hex" said Bob softly. The girl did not stir in the least. "I've brought you some clothes for if, no when you get better you can go outside."
The Guardian pulled out a small purple skirt of the finest cloth. He gasped in shock. This was Daemon's clothes Buttercup sent him. He glanced down and saw the note.
To the victor belong the spoils
Buttercup would think this appropriate to wear her dead enemy's clothes. Shaking his head he bent down and kissed the young girl's forehead.
Dr. Chandra said, "The experiences she's had lately have been extremely traumatic, she's retreated deep inside her mind. I have tried to reach her but have not had any luck. Only time will tell how badly the damage is. Anyway, I have another patient I would like you to see, Enzo has finished his first set of treatments from Dr. Rom. After all he's been the poor boy is severely traumatized."
A few nanos later they found Enzo in the hospital's sunroom. The room was brightly lit and furnished with wicker tables and chairs; a fitting place for this system's now deleted upper crust to recover. The boy was quietly drawing by himself on the richly carpeted floor. Chandra called out his name and Enzo turned around giving Bob the shock of his life. Every part of the young sprite had been restored except for his eyes. They were green with red pupils like Megabytes'.
"Oh hi Bob," said Enzo listlessly. "I guess going to the Guardian Academy is out of the question now."
"Enzo, you can do anything you set your mind to," said Bob fiercely then he sat himself down beside the boy on the floor.
Mainframe Teaching Hospital
The blue skinned sprite worked on his patient in the large teaching theatre as an audience behind the glass looked on. The surgeon's hands were deft and quick as he worked on a numeral whose leg had been ripped off by Gigabyte. The theatre, though it was set out with all the required operating equipment, seemed more like a conventional theatre than an operating room.
"And by regrafting the nerves in the leg and electrically stimulating the damaged area limb regeneration should be complete in a few seconds," boasted Rom the star of the show.
The audience oohed and aahhed as Rom finished procedure. The doctor bowed after it was done, the perfect showman. The audience clapped.
In the bleachers Phong turned to Dot, "He reattached a limb in record time, amazing!"
Dot quite hardily agreed. A few micros later Rom walked up to them.
"Rom that was great! Is there anyway you can possibly stay? We need you especially after Megabyte's and Hex's rampage," said Dot. Her eyes glittered in admiration. She liked this sprite he reminded her of what Bob was like before the Guardian left her during the Web Wars.
"I think I can take some time off of my busy schedule to help those who really need it." Smiled Rom he then became serious. " I want to thank you for warning me about that Bat. I should have listened to you ."
"No problem all of us here in Mainframe had been tricked by a virus. I'll set you up in some place nice," said Dot as she smiled warmly at him.
Lost Angles the New Mental Hospital
Dr. Chandra's Log
Hexadecimal has finally awakened and the psychological damage due to recent events is far worse than I ever could have imagined. I have tried a neural reformatting of her brain like what Bob did just before restart but the treatment has not worked. Turbo has heard of rare cases of this with other viruses but not to this extent and certainly not with any possible forms of treatment. Meanwhile the girl is slowly but steadily deteriorating and I fear what the citizens of Mainframe will do once they hear of her condition.
It all started in the middle of the night a few seconds ago. Young Enzo had a particularly bad nightmare and ...
It was the pain of another that got Hex out of her fugue. Someone was crying in the dark, someone she knew. Slowly she sat up and found herself in a thin hospital gown. It was cold so she dressed herself a robe and some slippers that somehow she knew came from Bob. Cautiously she stepped outside her room into the hall outside. The hall was dark and deserted it being the middle of the night.
Following the sound she came to another small room. By the toys and furniture inside she could tell it was a child's room. She opened the door and stepped in. Young Enzo sat crying in his bed, carefully she crept up to him.
"What is the matter?" she asked.
Enzo stopped his crying and looked up. He rubbed some of the tears out of his eyes, "Hex you're better. I- I was having this bad dream I was a virus again Dot and the other were going to kill me. I tried telling them who I really was but they just wouldn't listen and then Matrix he got out h-his gun and he shot me!" The boy started to cry again.
The girl took him in her arms held him, "Now shush! It's all over now and you can't, you mustn't blame them. They wanted to believe it was all over, that they were safe."
"You knew!"
"Megabyte is a part of me, like your sister is a part of you. Given time I'm sure she would have seen her mistake. As for the others, people will always believe what they want to believe despite evidence to the contrary." She held him again as he started crying again.
Unnoticed by the pair the night nurse, a hard-faced female zero binome, had returned to Enzo's room with something to help him sleep. Upon seeing Hex she dropped the needle she was carrying and stared at the pair as Hex comforted the boy. What happened next horrified the hardened nurse.
Gently the girl rocked the sobbing boy in her arms. Her face started to twitch as something came over her then she started to sing Little Enzo a lullaby in Fortran. It was a song the nurse recognised and she knew of only one person who ever sang it; Phong's sister and she had been deleted when the Twin City had been destroyed.
Quickly and quietly the nurse opened a vid window, "Dr. Chandra come quickly. Hex has awaked but she's not herself!"
Dr. Chandra's log
.upon her birth Hexadecimal must have deleted all the inhabitants of Lost Angles in the explosion. Turbo theorizes that being a deleter virus she must have absorbed their knowledge and their codes like any normal deleter virus does only all at once. Each mask that she owned was an imprint of someone's personality, they not only were used to express here feelings but they controlled her as well. When we regenerated her we not only restored her codes but the citizens of Lost Angles as well and when she finally embraced her emotions she took in their personalities as well.
For now the personalities are coexisting but for how long? It is only a matter of time before they fight for control of Hexadecimal's body and a chance to live again. I fear for Hex's safety for it will only be a matter until the Mainframers find out about her absorbing the sprites of the Twin City.
Dr. Chandra ended her report and looked down at the pictures that Hex drew. Now they made sense. The psychologist could see what they stood for. The subject was always the same. The pictures just got better as time went by. In the latest one Dr. Chandra could see Hex drowning, being overwhelmed, in a sea of faces, the faces of the citizens of the Twin City. So that was why she was so afraid to express her feelings, Bob's report had explained about the nature of the masks but Dr. Chandra wanted to believe that with a healthy brain that problem wouldn't happen.
"I have been such a fool!" said Chandra.
Mainframe, The Principal's Office a few seconds later
"I have been such a fool!" said Turbo as he looked at the vid window.
Bob, Dot and Turbo were watching the vid window in the conference room. Inside the window they could see the protest that was happening outside. The crowd was in an ugly mood. They waved signs in the air such as "Justice now!", 'A murderer walks free" or "Keep Mainframe Pure". Hundreds of binomes roared in anger they surged forward around a podium just in front of the Principal's Office and then became silent as a single female binome walked up to the stand.
It was a prissy little female wearing a tight old-fashioned bun and horn- rimmed glasses. Dot recognised her as Emcee the lady who almost ruined Matrix's first birthday party.
Emcee cleared her throat, shuffled some papers and then began, " I am here to address an issue that has been sorely neglected by our leaders. Justice!"
The crowd roared in agreement.
Emcee continued, "In a desperate act to save his friend, Turbo brought back to us a virus who terrorised us for days on end. You all remember the paint program incident, being turned to stone and the first Nullzilla? Well Turbo made a deal with this monster, help him save Bob and in return Hexadecimal would have Mainframe and us. Well I say no deal! Megabyte and her killed hundreds of us in their last rampage. What's she going to do now that has free reign of the city? Somebody please think of the children."
Dot turned to Turbo, "Can't you do anything?"
Turbo sighed, "I've already done what I could, I gave you Megabyte. I can't send in my Guardians to control the crowd. As soon as word got out, there would be rioting all over the Net. No Dot you must control this by yourself and Bob you can't be seen helping her."
In the vid window Emcee was working the crowd up " and I say we go across that bridge, we go into that hospital and we get Hexadecimal ourselves. Now before she regains her strength, the blood of the Twin City Sprites is on her hands."
The crowd cheered wildly. They turned round and the mob surged towards the bridge and Lost Angles.
Dot stabbed the air opening another vid window. Inside was the home guard leader a moustached one binome. The one binome hastily saluted her. "Sergeant, I need you control this crowd. Keep them away from the Mental Hospital at all costs so that I can deal with this."
Lost Angles
Behind a protective shield of guards Dr. Chandra pleaded with the bloodthirsty crowd, "For the love of the User please don't go in. You say you want to protect your children well there are children here, like little Enzo. Princess Bula is also here and many of my staff has families like you. You're afraid of Hexadecimal, but"
"VIRUS LOVER!" some one shouted and threw a rock at her. The mob surged forward pushing the guards to their limits. They held the crowd back for now.
Meanwhile in the hospital's dark but clean basement, Hex and Enzo huddled behind a pile of boxes. Behind them a portal opened up and out stepped Bob. Hex's face twitched and she cooed and stepped up to greet Bob.
"Hello handsome," the young girl said as she wrapped her arms around the Guardian.
"Hex, we don't have time for this," said an exasperated Bob. " You're going to have to leave this system. You're no longer welcome here."
The little girls face twitched as another personality came into effect, "NO! This is my home I'd rather die than leave! Let them come I'm ready for them!"
"Hex they're going to kill you if stay here and I don't want you to die," said Enzo
"FAQ them I'll rip them apart with my bare hands but I'm not leaving," she shouted.
"Great she slipped into her commando personality," thought Bob. Out loud he said" Hex you must leave now or they'll kill not only you but Enzo and Chandra too. Do you want them to die? Well if you don't leave the hospital now they'll come in and they'll rip everyone apart and these deaths will be on your heads."
The girl's face rippled and twitched, "I don't wanna die" said one persona. " I can't live anywhere else,' said another. "How dare they we're heroes!" "We must do something," " I must save my new friends."
Her face twitched for one last time. "Bob, can your portal carry all of us in the building?" she asked.
"No, but we can worry about that later when you're safe."
"No Bob, I must leave the hospital and must be seen leaving. I have a plan."
Outside the building Sergeant Peters did his best to hold back the crowd. The mob was getting more and aggressive it was only a matter of time until they stormed the building. Peters had given his men full riot gear but they were seriously outnumbered. Dot told them to protect the building at all costs, however, many of his men agreed with the crowd in general. Finally it all ended with a tap on his shoulder.
Peters turned round and saw Bob. The guardian said, " Peters bring out an armoured CPU to the front of the building, Hex is ready to leave."
In the mob Emcee was ready to rush the building when she saw the CPU land at the front door. The home guard parted as if to let the crowd in but then she realized it wasn't to let them in but someone out. The virus stepped out from the building, her hands cuffed together. The Sergeant touched her icon and she rebooted from the purple outfit she wore into dull grey prison clothes.
"By the power invested in me I place you, Hexadecimal under arrest." He said in a loud voice.
The crowd cheered as the virus was led into CPU and sped off to the prison.
"Finally justice is done," thought a satisfied Emcee.
Mainframe the Main Square
"Goood Morning Mainframe and what a beautiful day it is. Megabyte has been captured, locked up like a null in a cage. The Guardians are in force helping the good citizens of Mainframe get back on their feet and we have this man the thank for it, Turbo the Prime Guardian," announced Mike the TV. He was golden three foot tall talking TV. The amazing thing was not that he talked but he wouldn't shut up. He turned to a large pale green skinned man.
Turbo was a large muscular man. On any other sprite the pale green colouring would have looked weak but not on this man. He gave a forced smile to the camera crew. Why couldn't he be helping with cleanup like the others? He knew the answer he was the leader of the Guardians and the hero of the day. "Thank you Mike, it is an honour to be here!" he lied through gritted teeth.
In the background of the ruined city Buttercup and Kardon(Bob's old friend) were giving out much needed supplies to a family. Buttercup picked up the binome boy who proceeded to wail in terror. "Ugly lady, ugly lady."
Meanwhile another unfortunate Guardian had been cleaning away some debris from a smashed building he hit a water main. The water jet shot the poor sprite up into the air he landed about two blocks away.
"Mr. Prime Guardian your help with setting up our system has been amazing but not as amazing as how you defeated Megabyte. Tell us how did you do it?" asked Mike.
"Well I couldn't have done anything if it weren't for the help of some very special people Bob, Dr. Chandra and-"
"How about Hexadecimal? How did you trick her into helping you?"
"I didn't trick her into anything she came of her own free will. She'd do anything for Bob."
"Oh yes we're well aware of that! Now really, you were very brave standing up to Gigabyte and defeating him."
"Actually it was Hex who defeated him: she forced a separation. When that was done Bob trapped Megabyte in a level 10 force field."
"Really? Hex forced the separation? I thought that it was you. Well the crazy Bat did save us all once but that was probably due to the energy core she just ate."
Turbo's lips tightened in anger, "Hexadecimal is one of the bravest data forms I have ever met. When I found her she was so damaged she looked like a charcoal briquette not a person. With any other creature they would have died but not Hex. The girl not only lived but also recovered in record time enough to help Bob and your ungrateful ASCII's."
"Speaking about Bob where is he? I was hoping to interview him,"
"He's in Lost Angles visiting a sick friend."
"Oh Princess Bula!"
Turbo put his hands in his head and sighed in exasperation.
8 Ball Apartments a few nanos ago
Bob had been frantically searching catalogues to find something for Hex to wear when he heard a knock at his door. He called for the person to come in and Buttercup Charger, one of his old teachers stepped inside.
She looked around his place, "Tacky furniture, you could get better what with your salary."
"Tried that once and a certain Null Monster trashed my apartment."
"Speaking of Null Monsters I brought some clothes and things like you asked for from the Academy. They're the only decent things left in her size and in some way I think it is appropriate Hex to have them. Look I gotta go now I have to give out some care packages with Kardon."
Bob mumbled a thanks, took the bundle and then left for Lost Angles himself.
Lost Angles
Bob slowly skimmed his zip board above the streets of Lost Angles. Even though the buildings looked exactly the second it was built but the place seemed more than ever like a ghost town.
Suddenly something clattered from inside one of the buildings starting Bob. He almost fell off his zip board. He whirled round and saw movement from a window. He recognized the form of Cyrus one of Megabyte's old henchmen. Squatters, Mainframe's outcasts, had taken refuge here and Bob had come to see one of them.
He stopped by a small hospital surrounded by a lush garden and went inside. Inside the building the place was stark but had expensive furniture. Then he heard the crying. Being the compassionate sprite he was he tentatively searched the pale coloured rooms until he found Princess Bula.
The large female sobbed continuously as she sat in a chair. She had descended into a deep depression ever since she found out her lover had been murdered by Megabyte. She looked pathetic in her hospital gown and her messy hair. A nurse tried to comfort but Bula had a lot to grieve for. Specky's baby was beginning to show.
He left the pair to search Hex and found Dr. Chandra waiting outside her room.
"Don't go inside just yet, the doctor's giving her an examination," cautioned Chandra.
"It's lucky you have experience in dealing with situations like this," said Bob.
"Not really not anything like this. Megabyte didn't rape her not in the conventional sense. What he did was far worse. He violated her not in only in body but also in mind and soul."
Bob swore under his breath and slowly sat down in one of the chairs in the hall. A few micros later the doctor walked out. Bob was dismayed to see it was a binome doctor and not Rom himself.
"She's fine physically, as for her mind she's far from fine," said the doctor.
"Can I go in and see her?" asked Bob.
"Of course you can but I warn not to expect much," said Chandra.
They entered into a small dark room. The blinds on the single window were closed. When his eyes had adjusted to the darkness he saw Hex lying on a large ornate bed. Beside the bed stood her throne and her looking glass.
"I thought that if I brought some things from her home she might feel safe," explained Chandra.
Bob sat on the throne and looked down on the girl. She looked so small and helpless. He took her hand and found it as cold as ice. "Hex, Hex" said Bob softly. The girl did not stir in the least. "I've brought you some clothes for if, no when you get better you can go outside."
The Guardian pulled out a small purple skirt of the finest cloth. He gasped in shock. This was Daemon's clothes Buttercup sent him. He glanced down and saw the note.
To the victor belong the spoils
Buttercup would think this appropriate to wear her dead enemy's clothes. Shaking his head he bent down and kissed the young girl's forehead.
Dr. Chandra said, "The experiences she's had lately have been extremely traumatic, she's retreated deep inside her mind. I have tried to reach her but have not had any luck. Only time will tell how badly the damage is. Anyway, I have another patient I would like you to see, Enzo has finished his first set of treatments from Dr. Rom. After all he's been the poor boy is severely traumatized."
A few nanos later they found Enzo in the hospital's sunroom. The room was brightly lit and furnished with wicker tables and chairs; a fitting place for this system's now deleted upper crust to recover. The boy was quietly drawing by himself on the richly carpeted floor. Chandra called out his name and Enzo turned around giving Bob the shock of his life. Every part of the young sprite had been restored except for his eyes. They were green with red pupils like Megabytes'.
"Oh hi Bob," said Enzo listlessly. "I guess going to the Guardian Academy is out of the question now."
"Enzo, you can do anything you set your mind to," said Bob fiercely then he sat himself down beside the boy on the floor.
Mainframe Teaching Hospital
The blue skinned sprite worked on his patient in the large teaching theatre as an audience behind the glass looked on. The surgeon's hands were deft and quick as he worked on a numeral whose leg had been ripped off by Gigabyte. The theatre, though it was set out with all the required operating equipment, seemed more like a conventional theatre than an operating room.
"And by regrafting the nerves in the leg and electrically stimulating the damaged area limb regeneration should be complete in a few seconds," boasted Rom the star of the show.
The audience oohed and aahhed as Rom finished procedure. The doctor bowed after it was done, the perfect showman. The audience clapped.
In the bleachers Phong turned to Dot, "He reattached a limb in record time, amazing!"
Dot quite hardily agreed. A few micros later Rom walked up to them.
"Rom that was great! Is there anyway you can possibly stay? We need you especially after Megabyte's and Hex's rampage," said Dot. Her eyes glittered in admiration. She liked this sprite he reminded her of what Bob was like before the Guardian left her during the Web Wars.
"I think I can take some time off of my busy schedule to help those who really need it." Smiled Rom he then became serious. " I want to thank you for warning me about that Bat. I should have listened to you ."
"No problem all of us here in Mainframe had been tricked by a virus. I'll set you up in some place nice," said Dot as she smiled warmly at him.
Lost Angles the New Mental Hospital
Dr. Chandra's Log
Hexadecimal has finally awakened and the psychological damage due to recent events is far worse than I ever could have imagined. I have tried a neural reformatting of her brain like what Bob did just before restart but the treatment has not worked. Turbo has heard of rare cases of this with other viruses but not to this extent and certainly not with any possible forms of treatment. Meanwhile the girl is slowly but steadily deteriorating and I fear what the citizens of Mainframe will do once they hear of her condition.
It all started in the middle of the night a few seconds ago. Young Enzo had a particularly bad nightmare and ...
It was the pain of another that got Hex out of her fugue. Someone was crying in the dark, someone she knew. Slowly she sat up and found herself in a thin hospital gown. It was cold so she dressed herself a robe and some slippers that somehow she knew came from Bob. Cautiously she stepped outside her room into the hall outside. The hall was dark and deserted it being the middle of the night.
Following the sound she came to another small room. By the toys and furniture inside she could tell it was a child's room. She opened the door and stepped in. Young Enzo sat crying in his bed, carefully she crept up to him.
"What is the matter?" she asked.
Enzo stopped his crying and looked up. He rubbed some of the tears out of his eyes, "Hex you're better. I- I was having this bad dream I was a virus again Dot and the other were going to kill me. I tried telling them who I really was but they just wouldn't listen and then Matrix he got out h-his gun and he shot me!" The boy started to cry again.
The girl took him in her arms held him, "Now shush! It's all over now and you can't, you mustn't blame them. They wanted to believe it was all over, that they were safe."
"You knew!"
"Megabyte is a part of me, like your sister is a part of you. Given time I'm sure she would have seen her mistake. As for the others, people will always believe what they want to believe despite evidence to the contrary." She held him again as he started crying again.
Unnoticed by the pair the night nurse, a hard-faced female zero binome, had returned to Enzo's room with something to help him sleep. Upon seeing Hex she dropped the needle she was carrying and stared at the pair as Hex comforted the boy. What happened next horrified the hardened nurse.
Gently the girl rocked the sobbing boy in her arms. Her face started to twitch as something came over her then she started to sing Little Enzo a lullaby in Fortran. It was a song the nurse recognised and she knew of only one person who ever sang it; Phong's sister and she had been deleted when the Twin City had been destroyed.
Quickly and quietly the nurse opened a vid window, "Dr. Chandra come quickly. Hex has awaked but she's not herself!"
Dr. Chandra's log
.upon her birth Hexadecimal must have deleted all the inhabitants of Lost Angles in the explosion. Turbo theorizes that being a deleter virus she must have absorbed their knowledge and their codes like any normal deleter virus does only all at once. Each mask that she owned was an imprint of someone's personality, they not only were used to express here feelings but they controlled her as well. When we regenerated her we not only restored her codes but the citizens of Lost Angles as well and when she finally embraced her emotions she took in their personalities as well.
For now the personalities are coexisting but for how long? It is only a matter of time before they fight for control of Hexadecimal's body and a chance to live again. I fear for Hex's safety for it will only be a matter until the Mainframers find out about her absorbing the sprites of the Twin City.
Dr. Chandra ended her report and looked down at the pictures that Hex drew. Now they made sense. The psychologist could see what they stood for. The subject was always the same. The pictures just got better as time went by. In the latest one Dr. Chandra could see Hex drowning, being overwhelmed, in a sea of faces, the faces of the citizens of the Twin City. So that was why she was so afraid to express her feelings, Bob's report had explained about the nature of the masks but Dr. Chandra wanted to believe that with a healthy brain that problem wouldn't happen.
"I have been such a fool!" said Chandra.
Mainframe, The Principal's Office a few seconds later
"I have been such a fool!" said Turbo as he looked at the vid window.
Bob, Dot and Turbo were watching the vid window in the conference room. Inside the window they could see the protest that was happening outside. The crowd was in an ugly mood. They waved signs in the air such as "Justice now!", 'A murderer walks free" or "Keep Mainframe Pure". Hundreds of binomes roared in anger they surged forward around a podium just in front of the Principal's Office and then became silent as a single female binome walked up to the stand.
It was a prissy little female wearing a tight old-fashioned bun and horn- rimmed glasses. Dot recognised her as Emcee the lady who almost ruined Matrix's first birthday party.
Emcee cleared her throat, shuffled some papers and then began, " I am here to address an issue that has been sorely neglected by our leaders. Justice!"
The crowd roared in agreement.
Emcee continued, "In a desperate act to save his friend, Turbo brought back to us a virus who terrorised us for days on end. You all remember the paint program incident, being turned to stone and the first Nullzilla? Well Turbo made a deal with this monster, help him save Bob and in return Hexadecimal would have Mainframe and us. Well I say no deal! Megabyte and her killed hundreds of us in their last rampage. What's she going to do now that has free reign of the city? Somebody please think of the children."
Dot turned to Turbo, "Can't you do anything?"
Turbo sighed, "I've already done what I could, I gave you Megabyte. I can't send in my Guardians to control the crowd. As soon as word got out, there would be rioting all over the Net. No Dot you must control this by yourself and Bob you can't be seen helping her."
In the vid window Emcee was working the crowd up " and I say we go across that bridge, we go into that hospital and we get Hexadecimal ourselves. Now before she regains her strength, the blood of the Twin City Sprites is on her hands."
The crowd cheered wildly. They turned round and the mob surged towards the bridge and Lost Angles.
Dot stabbed the air opening another vid window. Inside was the home guard leader a moustached one binome. The one binome hastily saluted her. "Sergeant, I need you control this crowd. Keep them away from the Mental Hospital at all costs so that I can deal with this."
Lost Angles
Behind a protective shield of guards Dr. Chandra pleaded with the bloodthirsty crowd, "For the love of the User please don't go in. You say you want to protect your children well there are children here, like little Enzo. Princess Bula is also here and many of my staff has families like you. You're afraid of Hexadecimal, but"
"VIRUS LOVER!" some one shouted and threw a rock at her. The mob surged forward pushing the guards to their limits. They held the crowd back for now.
Meanwhile in the hospital's dark but clean basement, Hex and Enzo huddled behind a pile of boxes. Behind them a portal opened up and out stepped Bob. Hex's face twitched and she cooed and stepped up to greet Bob.
"Hello handsome," the young girl said as she wrapped her arms around the Guardian.
"Hex, we don't have time for this," said an exasperated Bob. " You're going to have to leave this system. You're no longer welcome here."
The little girls face twitched as another personality came into effect, "NO! This is my home I'd rather die than leave! Let them come I'm ready for them!"
"Hex they're going to kill you if stay here and I don't want you to die," said Enzo
"FAQ them I'll rip them apart with my bare hands but I'm not leaving," she shouted.
"Great she slipped into her commando personality," thought Bob. Out loud he said" Hex you must leave now or they'll kill not only you but Enzo and Chandra too. Do you want them to die? Well if you don't leave the hospital now they'll come in and they'll rip everyone apart and these deaths will be on your heads."
The girl's face rippled and twitched, "I don't wanna die" said one persona. " I can't live anywhere else,' said another. "How dare they we're heroes!" "We must do something," " I must save my new friends."
Her face twitched for one last time. "Bob, can your portal carry all of us in the building?" she asked.
"No, but we can worry about that later when you're safe."
"No Bob, I must leave the hospital and must be seen leaving. I have a plan."
Outside the building Sergeant Peters did his best to hold back the crowd. The mob was getting more and aggressive it was only a matter of time until they stormed the building. Peters had given his men full riot gear but they were seriously outnumbered. Dot told them to protect the building at all costs, however, many of his men agreed with the crowd in general. Finally it all ended with a tap on his shoulder.
Peters turned round and saw Bob. The guardian said, " Peters bring out an armoured CPU to the front of the building, Hex is ready to leave."
In the mob Emcee was ready to rush the building when she saw the CPU land at the front door. The home guard parted as if to let the crowd in but then she realized it wasn't to let them in but someone out. The virus stepped out from the building, her hands cuffed together. The Sergeant touched her icon and she rebooted from the purple outfit she wore into dull grey prison clothes.
"By the power invested in me I place you, Hexadecimal under arrest." He said in a loud voice.
The crowd cheered as the virus was led into CPU and sped off to the prison.
"Finally justice is done," thought a satisfied Emcee.