Chapter 2:
What's the worst that could happen?
It had been several micros since AndrAIa had gotten Matrix down from the banner incident, but he still brooded and thought about how he would get even for it. He paced back and forth through the living room of their home, grumbling to himself while AndrAIa prepared a home cooked meal for the return of their youngest daughter. It had been minutes since she'd been home and she wanted everything to be perfect.
"He is so deleted the next time I see him." Matrix's gripe was lost to the walls. AndrAia had stopped listening two micros ago and was rather used to just tuning him out when he got like this. "And I mean QuickTime movie file of the cycle, MNN all second coverage kind of deleted. Ray Tracer is going down. He will not get away with this one."
"Mom, he's doing it again." A voice called out from the front door as it closed. Matrix turned to see his youngest daughter, Adell, setting a large duffel bag on the floor and smiling sweetly at him. "Hi Daddy," she greeted him as she came toward him and wrapped her arms around him in a big hug, "I'm home."
"Glad to have you back, Princess." He said, returning the embrace. "We've missed you so much." He pulled her out to arms length and gave a rarely seen sweet smile, one he usually only gave to his family. He couldn't believe how much she had grown in just the past couple of hours. Like most of the Matrix family, she had the bright green coloring, dark hair and violet eyes of her father, and although she wore her hair long, she was still the spitting image of a young Dot. "How's school been going?" he asked.
"Great," she replied with a slight sneer, "if you like being cooped up in a lab all second." Her sneer turned to a smile as she continued, "But it will all be worth it once I start my internship. I'm pretty sure I aced the finals."
"That's great, Kiddo," Matrix beamed with pride as he hugged his daughter once again, "I'm so proud of you. Dr. Matrix is going to look pretty good on the family reunion invitations."
Adell giggled slightly at her father's words. "Thanks, Daddy."
"I thought I heard someone come in." AndrAIa said as she entered the living room. "Why didn't you tell me she was home?" she asked, smirking at her husband and giving her daughter a hug. "How was your trip?" she asked.
"Pretty uneventful," Adell answered, "but long. I'm starving." She said, rolling her eyes.
"Good, I made your favorite for dinner, vegetable lasagna." Matrix groaned slightly upon hearing it. "Don't worry, there's a couple of steaks on the grill for you and Enzo, Sparky."
"Uncle Enzo's coming?" Adell's eyes brightened as they entered the kitchen. "Pixelacious! I haven't seen him in minutes."
Matrix's grin grew wide at the mention of his younger brother. The look didn't go unnoticed by his daughter though. "Oh no, don't tell me you two are going to plot against Mr. Tracer again."
"Who said anything about plotting?" Matrix replied, still holding the grin on his face. "Can't a guy just be happy to see his brother?"
"Oh come on Dad, I heard you barking at the walls when I came in." She replied as she helped herself to a cup of java on the counter. "So what happened this time?" she asked with a sidelong glance.
AndrAia started snickering after her daughter asked the question.
"What?" He asked in a harsh tone. "It wasn't funny."
"No," she said, still giggling, "it wasn't. It was stupid and dangerous and could have gotten one of you deleted."
"Than why are you laughing?" He asked with a smirk.
AndrAIa had a hard time answering through her giggling. "I don't know, maybe it was just the sight of your legs kicking and…" she couldn't finish the sentence after bursting out in a fit of laughter.
Adell now started to laugh as well and spoke to her mother. "You didn't happen to get a .jpeg of that did you?"
"I wish." She answered, still laughing.
"I don't believe this." Matrix rolled his eyes and headed toward the living room. "Where the dell is Enzo?"
***
It had been over an hour since Nick had been in Mainframe, yet very little seemed any different than when he had left. All the businesses, large and small, were still in the same place. All the houses that he recognized were still there, along with a few new additions to the rural areas. He had loved this city all his life and regarded many of its citizens as his family. But even now as he flew over the familiar landscape of his home, he wondered how he could be so compelled to leave it?
He remembered feeling the pull even as a child, always wanting to go on trips through the net with his father or even into the web. His mother had never been too crazy about letting him go, but had allowed it, knowing the search engine protocol raced through his code and the longing to find other systems, peoples and cities was too great a pull for her to stop. Even while away at school, he found it hard to concentrate now and then. It took all the will he had at times to keep himself from packing a few belongings and heading off into the net. But right now, just like after a cycle-end in the web when he was a boy, it felt good to be home again.
As he glided his baud lower toward the city, he couldn't help but notice the activity still going on at Floating Point. He swung around in that direction to take a look to see if his parents might still be there, figuring that if they were around, they were most likely to be on the top level where the carnival was setting up. When he didn't spot them there, he searched on the second level around the stage where the reenactment of the system restart was scheduled to be.
"Well, look what the nulls dragged in." He heard a familiar voice from behind him as he set the baud down. As he turned around he realized it was the person he least wanted to see at this moment, considering the illegal cargo tucked away in his duffel bag. The Prime Guardian stood there, smiling at him, as he said, "Long time, no see, Nick. Home a little early, aren't you?"
"Oh, hey Bob," Nick did his best to act nonchalantly as he spoke, "I was just looking for my parents. Have they been around here?"
"You just missed them." Bob smiled and went to give him a friendly clap on the shoulder. Nick flinched slightly as the clap landed and breathed a silent sigh of relief when it was over. The volatile nature of the contraband in his bag had him on edge to say the least. "They left about a half a millie ago. They're probably home by now." He smiled at the young man, and then looked at him quizzically. "I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow."
"I wasn't going to, but I got off a day ahead of time, so I figured I'd surprise Mom." The young man said with a confident smile.
"Well, you're sure going to surprise her with that load of laundry there, Nick." Bob said, pointing to the large and very heavy looking duffel bag on the shoulder of the young sprite. "You could almost smuggle something out of the system in a bag that size." The Prime Guardian laughed at his own joke.
Nick tried to keep calm and softly laughed with Bob. "Hehe, yeah, you probably could." He was pretty sure that the Prime Guardian hadn't suspected anything unusual, but he certainly didn't want to press his luck with his chances. "Well, it was nice seeing you again, Bob," Nick began, "but, I'm going to go and find my parents. Tell Dot I said hi."
"Hey," Bob started as Nick hopped on his baud, "if you stick around a few more nanos, Dot and I can give you a lift home. I've got the old 262 purring like a kitten. It'd probably be easier than lugging that thing all the way home."
"That's alright," the young sprite gently protested, "I've lugged it all the way here through the web. I can make it a few more sectors home." He said with a satisfied grin.
Bob thought this was highly unusual for Nick since any other time, he was more than eager to go for a spin in the old classic. "Well, alright, if you're sure."
"I'm sure, Bob." He said as he lifted the baud higher off the ground. "Thanks for the offer though. Maybe tomorrow after I'm settled and before the festival starts, we can go for a spin?"
Bob smiled and nodded in agreement. "I'd like that." He said as he watched Nick ascend into the night air. "See you tomorrow."
As Bob watched Nick head to Kits sector to his parent's home, he found himself amazed for the umpteenth time that day at how quickly time had passed since he arrived in Mainframe. Nick was the youngest of all the children born to the original sprites at the restart, and here he was now, a fully-grown man. He was pulled from his musings quickly by a voice behind him.
"Was that Nick flying off?" Dot looked a little stunned at the sight of him. "I thought he didn't get back until tomorrow."
"He wanted to surprise Mouse." He said matter of factly before continuing. "Do you ever feel like time is just going by too fast to take it all in?"
Dot considered the question for a moment but then answered, "I think you're getting a little too nostalgic in your old age, dear." She said as she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind him.
Bob smiled and laughed gently at her remark. "Maybe I am." He turned around to face her and put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer, kissing her forehead. "Maybe I am." He sighed and held his wife as they watched the evening light wane into the darkness of night and thought, yet another day was gone and they would never be able to get it back.
***
Any other time, Nick would have been more than glad to get a ride in the old 262. He had loved that car ever since he was a boy. But considering the circumstances with the illegal formats that were still hidden in his duffel bag, he felt it would be best, no matter how good he was at covering things, to not take the chance of getting caught. Bob was one of the most understanding sprites he knew, but when push came to shove, he was still the Prime Guardian, and a damn good one at that. If Nick were to be caught carrying these through the net, there would be Dell to pay no matter if he was Mouse and Ray's boy or not. Right now the only thing on his processor was to get these things to a safe place and stow them away before he did get caught.
He quietly made his way to the small house that he grew up in, so as not to let on to his parents that he was home just yet. He drifted silently on his baud to the garage where ship was parked and quietly opened the door. The last remaining light of the day was just enough to find his way to the small storage closet and open the door. He carefully slid the duffel bag off his shoulder and opened the outer compartment and removed the three very old and volatile unformat commands that he had been carrying through the web.
After making sure that each was securely wrapped and placed, he covered them with an old tarp that had been folded on a storage shelf. He closed and locked the storage closet behind him and left the garage, relieved that he was no longer carrying the unstable commands. One good jolt of anything and they could go off unexpectedly. At least now he was fairly sure that they were safe.
As he made his way to the house, he could hear his mother's laughter coming from inside, probably from something his dad had either said or done. It was one of the things that he admired about his parents. They always found a reason to laugh, no matter how bad things would get. There were times he could remember while growing up when things would get him down, be it girls or school work or something else, they never pushed the issue or forced him to talk, but always found a way to cheer him up. Even when they argued, it didn't last long and it never got too serious. They would always find something humorous in it before it did.
As he opened the door, his mother's laughter carried through the house. He could hear his dad talking about something and laughing as well, although he couldn't quite tell what he was saying yet. He set his duffel bag down on the floor, propped his baud next to the old man's and quietly made his way to the kitchen where the voices were coming from.
***
"You didn't." Mouse questioned her husband after telling her what exactly had happened to the banner.
Ray sat on the counter of their kitchen, grinning and drinking a bottle of I/O while explaining the uproar that happened at the park earlier in the day. "I did." He said proudly. "I loved every nano of it too."
Mouse just shook her head. "I would say that I can't believe that you did that, but after all the things I've seen the two of you do to each other over the past hours, I can believe it." She shook her head again, letting a small grin appear on her face.
Ray grinned even more as he said, "You should have seen his legs flailing around." He studied her face a little more closely and noticed her trying to keep a straight face. He knew she didn't want to think it was funny but was finding it hard not to. "He looked like a little baby bird falling out of its nest."
Mouse couldn't contain her laughter any longer as she pictured it in her processor. Just the thought of big old tough Matrix hanging from a banner and swinging his legs around was too much. She tried to contain it after a short nano and managed to say, "That's not funny."
"Oh come off it, love." Ray said with a huge smile. "You know it is."
"So this is what you do while I'm away," Nick's voice interrupted them, "sit around and make jokes and drink I/O without me?" He said with a smile.
Mouse turned to see her son standing in the entranceway to the kitchen. "Nick!" she exclaimed as she got up from her chair and crossed the room to meet him. "Oh Baby, it's so good to see you." She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.
"It's good to see you too, Mom." He said as he returned the embrace.
Ray walked up behind Mouse and let her finish getting her hug before putting his arms around the young sprite himself. "We really missed you, Boyo." He said out loud before whispering, "Where's the stuff?"
"In the garage." Nick whispered back before saying, "I missed you too."
"You weren't supposed to be home until tomorrow, sugar." Mouse said as she pulled some leftovers out of the fridge. "I would have made something special if I knew you were going to be home tonight."
"Since when did that ever stop me from eating you out of house and home?" Nick asked with a sly grin.
"Never." Mouse and Ray answered at the same time.
Nick laughed slightly as he went to the fridge and started pulling out what looked good to him and thought to himself, it was definitely good to be home.
***
"Are you finished, Uncle Enzo?" Adell asked as she cleared the picnic table of the dishes and debris from the cookout. They had decided to have their dinner out on the patio since it was such a pleasant evening outside.
"Yeah, all done, Princess," he said as he slid his plate to his side for her to reach it better. "Oh, and take this too, while you're at it." He said as he put his glass on top of the plate she had just picked up.
"And don't forget this," Matrix said as he piled his own glass on top, "or this." He added a bottle of ketchup.
"Or even this." Enzo threw his paper napkin at the pile of dishes the girl was now holding and laughed.
"Very funny," she replied with a smirk, "but I think I'll just make a second trip." She carried the dishes back into the house and left the two men to sit in the torchlight and talk.
"I really missed doing that to her." Enzo said with a small laugh. "At least she has a sense of humor about it. Remember when we used to do that to Cady?"
Matrix couldn't help but laugh. "User, she used to get so spammed mad at us for doing that." He said as he remembered it fondly. "She had her mother's temper, though."
Enzo burst into a fit of laughter at his brother's remark. "Dude, that is the funniest thing I think you've ever said."
"What?" Matrix smirked.
"You're kidding, right?" Enzo asked with a raised eyebrow and a grin. "AndrAIa's temper?"
"You don't think Andi has a temper?"
"Oh, I know she has a temper." Enzo slightly laughed before continuing. "Nothing like yours, though."
"Hey, I've mellowed out a lot over the hours." Matrix said with a proud grin.
"This is true," Enzo had to admit, "except when it comes to a certain surfer." He started to laugh once more.
Matrix's face turned to a glare as he thought about what happened earlier in the day. "Speaking of which," he said as he turned to face his brother, "I could use a favor."
"Oh no," The younger of the two replied with a sigh, "not again."
"Oh come on, Enzo." Matrix almost pleaded with his younger brother. "You usually come up with better stuff than I can, and I really need to get him back for this afternoon in the park." He said with an almost sinister tone.
"Dude, you know I hate when you drag me into this stuff." Enzo protested. "Why can't you just let it go?"
"Let it go?" Matrix replied in shock. "After what he did today? I don't think so."
"Dude, this isn't my war." Enzo protested once again. "Why do insist on making me a pawn?"
"Admit it, Enzo." Matrix grinned at the younger man. "You get just as much of a kick out of it as I do when it turns out like we plan it."
"No I don't." he started to laugh as he replied.
"Ah ha! Yes you do." Matrix's smile broadened when he saw how Enzo was trying to hide the grin on his face. Admit it."
"Alright, alright," he said as he laughed slightly still, "I think it's sort of cool when I see one of my plans work." He took a serious tone as he continued. "But not if someone gets hurt."
"No one is going to get hurt, Bro." Matrix reassured his brother. "The only thing that'll end up getting hurt is the surfer's pride." He grinned with anticipation now. "Besides, with you helping me," he continued, "what's the worst that could happen?"
***
Mouse awoke the next morning to the smell of fresh java coming from the kitchen, something she wasn't quite used to since she was usually the first to rise on the cycle ends. Upon opening her eyes, she noticed the morning's light streaming in through the bedroom window. She turned her head and glanced over to the clock by the bedside and noticed it was already past 0900 and Ray was nowhere in the room. They must have let her sleep in for once, she thought as she pulled back the covers and climbed out of bed.
After sliding on her robe and quickly pulling back her hair, she made her way to the kitchen to see her husband and her son busily making breakfast. Mouse stood still and raised an eyebrow at the pair. This had only happened a few times before that she could recall, and every time it did, they were up to something.
"Well, looky here." Mouse began as she watched Nick and Ray doing their best impression of gourmet chefs. "I got to say, this is a real treat being able to sleep in and having two handsome men cook my breakfast for me."
"Good morning, Mom." Nick turned and said with a smile.
Ray turned to his wife and gave her his usual confident smile. "Good morning, love," he said as he lifted a pan off the stove and flipped a flapjack in midair, "did you sleep well?"
"I sure did, sugar." She walked over and kissed her husband's cheek, then leaned over and kissed her son on his while he worked on the sausage. "Makes me wonder just what the two of you are up to." She said with a crooked smile.
"Now why would you say a thing like that?" Ray put on an indignant look over a grin at the question. Nick just shook his head and grinned as he looked toward his mother.
"Because, every time you let me sleep in and make breakfast," she narrowed her eyes and pointed between the two of them, "something 'accidentally' gets blown up, crushed or vaporized. Now, just what are you two up to, and when can the rest of us expect to call the medics?"
"That hurts, Mom." Nick said as he feigned a painful expression. "That really hurts."
"That was all just coincidence and you know it." Ray said with mock scorn. "And it wasn't all our fault anyway."
"Oh, of course not." Mouse rolled her eyes and sat down at the table while Ray brought her a cup of java.
"Isn't it possible that we cooked this lovely breakfast out of the goodness of our hearts?" Nick chimed in as he saw his mother's suspicions grow.
"Yeah, don't you think we're capable of feeling that maybe you do so much for us that we'd just like to give back to you for once?" Ray added.
Mouse shook her head. She still had the sneaking suspicion that they were up to something, but right now she just didn't have the energy to argue. "Alright, alright, let's just have breakfast and drop the whole thing." She laughed slightly before taking a sip of her java.
After the two men brought over plates of food, silverware and various condiments for the meal, they sat down with Mouse at the table to enjoy their breakfast. As she prepared to take her first bite, she noticed that both of them seemed to be in hurry for some reason. They both ate at an alarmingly fast pace and were finished by the time she had taken her fourth bite.
"Say Nick," Ray began after he finished his food, "I've been working on some projects out in the garage lately. Care to take a look at them?"
"Sure Dad," Nick said with a knowing nod, "sounds pretty interesting."
Mouse looked back and forth between the two. Ray hadn't been in the garage for cycles. "What projects?" she asked.
Ray did his best to give her an answer. "Just some things that I've been working on for a while now." He and Nick got up from their seats and headed for the door. "We'll take care of the dishes when we get back in, love. Don't worry."
Nick groaned slightly at the word dishes, but then smiled as he saw the stunned look on his mother's face. "We'll be right back, Mom." They both headed out the door before she could protest.
They were definitely up to something. She didn't know what it was, but she had a feeling it had something to do with Matrix. As she finished her breakfast alone and sipped on her java, she wondered if she should call Dot and have her beef up the security at the festival that night. With those two acting the way they were, anything could happen.
***
The tarp slowly raised and exposed the three volatile unformat commands that sat on the shelf in the storage closet. "Be careful, Dad." Nick said as Ray smiled and ran a finger over one of the gold colored shells. "Any little thing could set them off."
"I know." Ray answered with a large grin. He looked closer at them and began to speak to the small objects. "I'm going to name you, Matrix's new bike." He said as he laughed almost evilly and gently petted the object.
Nick rolled his eyes as his father continued to laugh. "I knew this had something to do with Matrix." The young sprite muttered.
"Don't tell me you expected anything else," Ray began with a sidelong glance to his son, "you should know me better than that, Boyo."
"It's never going to end, is it?" Nick asked, shaking his head.
"Not as long as I'm processing and he keeps trying to out do me." Ray glared at the small objects on the shelf, thinking of all the possibilities. "I'll be an old geezer in a wheel chair like Phong and still get even with him every time."
"You don't think that you're taking this just a little too far? I mean, unformatting his new bike seems pretty serious." Nick asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You know Nick, you're starting to sound like your mother." Ray said as he glanced over to his son.
Nick beamed at his father's words. "Well, she is a pretty smart lady, you have to admit."
Ray chuckled slightly as he covered the volatile commands back up. "Well, the smarter you are, the easier it will be to pull this off. Now, let's get down to business and go over the plan one more time."
Nick shook his head once more as his father went over the plan. Deep down, he knew that no good could come of this.