Chapter Four:
As Adell and Nick walked through the park, Adell couldn't help feeling that there was a surreal quality to this second. Here she was, back in her home system, walking and talking with someone who had been her best friend for hours, but there was something different that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She and Nick had spent about a millisecond catching up and the general tone of their conversation had been the same as always, very familiar and comfortable. Why then was she feeling discomposed and jittery?
"So how long do you have off before you start your internship?" Nick asked, hoping she didn't have to leave Mainframe too soon. He hadn't realized until now just how much he had missed her company.
"I've got a whole minute off till I have to go back," she replied, "not sure what I'm going to do with all that time, though."
"At least you get some time off to relax a bit," he answered, relieved that she would be around for a while, "I've only got a few seconds till I graduate, then it's back here to start working with the tech boys in the P.O." He then added a bit timidly, "You could come to my graduation if you want."
"You know I will." She replied with a smile as she put her arm around his waist. "I'll be the one waving the 'Yay Nick' pennant." Both of them laughed before she continued. "Plus, if you're here in Mainframe, it'll give me someone to pester beside my dad."
"Yeah," he managed to say over his laughter, "maybe you can drop in at the P.O. and say hi once in a while too," his tone became slightly disheartened, "before you leave, that is."
"I just might do that." She replied with a smile before they were interrupted by the system voice.
Warning. Incoming Game. Warning. Incoming Game.
***
Bob looked up as the system sky turned to an ominous purple as the familiar voice announced the game. He scanned in all directions for the landing coordinates and finally pinpointed them in Ghetty Prime, all the way across the system. It was going to take a lot of speed to get there in time and right now all he had was the old 262. It was running quite well, but as for speed, it left much to be desired. "Glitch, get me Matrix." He said as he got an idea.
A vid-window opened in front of Matrix and Enzo while they were on their way to the bikes. "Matrix," Bob said from the other side, "you got a bike to spare? All I have here is the 262, and that's not going to make it in time."
"Not a problem, Bob." He answered. "Meet us at the parking lot and you can take mine. Andi's is a little tricky to handle at times so I'll take hers."
"Thanks Matrix, see you there." Bob closed the window and raced toward the parking lot on his zip-board. Normally, if the game were closer, he would have just used the zip-board. But this game was clear across the entire city and no zip-board would make it in time.
As he reached the parking lot, he found Matrix and Enzo at their bikes. He caught up with them as they were starting the engines. "You guys are tagging along, I take it?" he said as he jumped on Matrix's bike and started it up.
"Wouldn't miss it." Enzo said with a smile as they lifted off and headed toward the game. "Let's go."
***
Ray had kept a close watch on Matrix and Enzo as they made their way to the parking lot. He knew that if the command he placed was going to work, racing off to a game was more than likely a good way to set it off. He kept his distance, remaining close enough to just see them clearly. As he approached the parking lot once again, he saw Bob taking off on Matrix's bike.
"Oh no." Ray whispered under his breath. This was not good. If the unformat command was set off while Bob was on it, there was no telling what would happen, especially with him being the Prime Guardian. If he found out about the illegal command, there would be Dell to pay. Not just for him, but also for his son for smuggling them into the system.
He had to make sure that Bob didn't go into that game cube. The energy surge would set it off for sure, and a game was not a good place for that to happen. As quickly as he could, he flew after them. Keeping up with them, however, was proving to be more difficult than he thought. He had almost forgotten about AndrAIa making some modifications to the bikes. But with sheer determination, he gave the baud everything it had to catch up to them.
***
"Looks like some things never change." Adell commented as she and Nick watched the game cube on its descent through the sky.
"You can say that again." Nick replied as he pointed to the system's defenders, rushing to get to the cube in time.
Adell couldn't help but smile as they flew overhead. She still felt a great deal of pride in her father and uncles' dedication to Mainframe and keeping its citizens safe from harm. She giggled slightly, however, at the sight of her father on her mother's sea-foam green bike.
"What's so funny?" Nick asked, slightly confused by her reaction.
"Dad just looks a little silly on Mom's bike, is all." She replied as she pointed toward the speeding Guardians.
Nick suddenly realized what it was she had been pointing out, and a feeling of dread began to course over him. If Matrix was riding AndrAIa's bike, where was his? His dad had to have placed that command by now. Had it already happened?
"Uncle Bob looks sort of small on Dad's bike too." She giggled once again.
"Oh boy!" Nick thought out loud as another terrible thought entered his mind. If Bob happened to set off that command, his entire career in Mainframe would be over before it even started. He'd be in serious trouble, and so would his father.
He stared at the racing trio briefly, praying to the User that his dad hadn't found a way to install it, before catching sight of another movement in the distance. He focused his visor on it and saw his dad rapidly surfing after them. "Oh boy!" He said once again, knowing now that he had installed it and it was just a matter of time before they were caught red-handed by the Prime Guardian. "We have to stop them!"
"What?" Adell was quite confused by his remark.
"No time to explain now." He said as he grabbed her and set her behind him on his baud. "We just have to stop Bob from getting in that game." He lifted the baud off the ground and began to follow them at a heart stopping pace.
Adell had no idea what to make of the situation. All she knew was that Nick was very determined to catch up to the trio. "What do you mean we have to stop him? He has to go to the game to defeat the User."
"If he reaches that game," he was now shouting, "he may not be around to defeat the User!"
"What in the Net are you talking about?" She had never seen him this agitated before and it was starting to frighten her.
"Just trust me on this Adell, we have to stop him before he gets in that game. Now hang on." Nick leaned forward and the baud launched forward even faster, causing Adell to grip tight to Nick's waist. They raced behind them as fast as they could and slowly began to close the sky between them. As they got closer, Nick began to shout Bob's name, praying to the User that he would hear him. He urged his baud on, desperately trying to gain more speed. The game was just a short distance from them now and time was running out. In a last ditch effort, Nick cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled as loud as he was able. "Bob!"
***
AndrAIa and Mouse had been browsing the flea markets for quite a while when they realized it was time to meet Dot for lunch at a nearby café concession. After the three sat down, Mouse decided to make mention that she thought Ray and Nick might be up to something.
"And then they went out in the garage, supposedly to look at some project that Ray's been working on." Mouse rolled her eyes as she continued. "The old man never goes in the garage any more unless he has to."
That does sound weird." AndrAIa said as she picked up her energy shake and took a sip. "Do you think we should have someone keep an eye on them?"
"I don't know," Mouse sighed. "I don't have any substantial proof to go on to warrant having them watched."
"Well it's not going to hurt to just have someone on standby, just in case." Dot added. "You know how things can turn out when Ray or Matrix is up to something."
"Ahh," AndrAIa said as she winced a bit and put her hands on her head.
"Is something wrong Andi?" Dot asked, concerned about the dropping game. She knew that AndrAIa had a sort of intuition about them and could often tell when something had gone wrong.
"Something's not right." She answered.
"Is it the game?" Mouse asked.
"Not the game, something else." She answered. She seemed to be listening to something in the distance. "Someone is yelling for Bob."
"Can you tell who it is?" Dot asked.
"No, but I have a bad feeling about this." She continued as she listened more closely. "I think we should go check it out."
"I'm with you, Sugah." Mouse added, also getting the feeling that something was wrong.
"Me too," Dot said as she began to get up from the table. "After what Mouse said about this morning, anything could happen."
The three women hopped on their zip-boards and headed toward the game, the sense of urgency growing as they got closer to the descending cube. None of them had any idea what was happening at the edge of G-Prime, but whatever it was, it was bad.
***
"Bob!"
The Prime Guardian could have sworn he heard someone calling his name. He glanced around and when he saw Nick and Adell racing toward him, he hit the brakes hard to slow the bike down. The bike lurched forward and came to a standstill with a jolt.
"No!" Nick yelled as he saw a small flash coming from the side of the bike. It was too late. The bike began a slow descent over the sector and began to spit and sputter as if it were running out of energy.
Bob cranked on the gas to try to get it to climb once again, but it was futile. The bike was on its way down, gaining speed as it dropped. He aimed for a nearby rooftop and hit the brakes as hard as he could. The bike skidded and was coming dangerously close to the edge of the building without slowing enough to stop it. It was just about to go off the edge when Bob shouted, "Glitch. Grapple!" Glitch responded and sent a three-pronged hook and line to the other side of the rooftop, effectively stopping the bike before it plummeted off the top of the building.
Bob took a brief nano to catch his breath as Nick and Adell landed on the roof behind him. He still hadn't quite figured out what had just happened.
"Bob, are you alright?" Nick said as they ran toward him.
"Yeah," he replied, still quite shaken and confused, "what in the Net just happened?" He lifted himself from the bike, and his eyes widened when the bike began to melt away before his eyes. "Whoa, that's not normal. What the Dell is going on?"
Nick hung his head slightly as Adell and Bob watched the bike, horrified, knowing that this would not go over well with Matrix. They all seemed to be thinking the same thing since they all looked up to Matrix, still heading to the game. He apparently hadn't seen what had happened, and Bob was relieved that at least someone was going to be in that game. He and Enzo could handle things on their own if things got ugly in there.
"You want to tell me what just happened?" Bob looked over to Nick and Adell for answers.
"I'd like to know that myself." Adell said as she turned to face Nick. She didn't look too happy with him at the nano and Nick cringed slightly.
"It's a long story, Bob." Nick said as he looked at the roof below his feet.
"Well, since it doesn't look like I'm getting into that game," Bob's face became stern, "I think we have some time. Why don't you fill me in and explain this."
***
Ray could still see Matrix and Enzo, but he had lost sight of Bob. This was not good. Matrix, he knew could handle the bike on a downward spiral, but Bob was a different story. He began looking around for any sign of the Prime Guardian as he neared the dropping cube. He tried not to panic, knowing that Bob could be very resourceful and could take care of himself. But he would never be able to forgive himself if something happened to him.
As he scanned G-Prime for him, he finally noticed that Bob was on a rooftop behind him, safe and standing with Nick and Adell. The bike, however, was a mess. Spammit, if only that were Matrix down there, he thought. The look on his face would be priceless. He focused his goggles on Bob's face and noticed that he wasn't too happy about what had happened. He turned the baud around and started to head for the rooftop to get Nick off the hook, when something made him look up, causing him to curse under his breath.
Ray had been concentrating so hard on finding Bob that he didn't notice he was right in the game cube's path. By the time he realized it, it was too late. A wave of purple energy engulfed him. After the wave passed, he was in a world that he didn't recognize.
"Cursors!"
***
Mouse, AndrAIa and Dot finally spotted Bob on a rooftop near the game cube. They all noticed right away that the Prime Guardian didn't look too happy, but he seemed to be processing fine. They all gave a silent thanks to the User before landing on top of the building. Nick looked a little worried and Adell looked downright angry. As they came closer, they all saw the melted heap in front of Bob.
"What in the Net happened here?" Dot asked as she looked over the mess. "Bob, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he said as she hugged him tightly and looked him over, "there's no need to worry."
"Oh no," Mouse said as she took a closer look, "is that Matrix's bike?"
"You've got to be kidding me." AndrAIa said as she saw the (V) symbol slightly distorted in the melted mess. "He is going to be so mad when he sees this."
"As it turns out, that was the point." Adell huffed and glared at Nick.
Mouse looked over to her son, who had 'Guilty' written all over him. "Does this have anything to do with a certain project that your father has been supposedly working on?" Nick gave her a sheepish look and Mouse sighed. "I knew you two were up to something."
"Look," Dot said as she shook her head, "we can sort all this out at the Principal Office. We've got a game to keep an eye on."
"I'm sure the game will be fine Dot," Bob interrupted, "Matrix and Enzo are in there. They'll be alright."
"That's not what I'm concerned about," she said as she got back on her zip board, "Ray's in there with them, and there's no telling what can happen with those two in a game together."
Bob almost turned white. It was bad enough when they were together in the city, but in a game? If those two got under each other's skin enough, it could put the whole system in danger. He prayed to the User that they would use their heads and not do anything that might harm Mainframe, but after looking at the melted mess in front of him once more, there was only one thing he could say.
"This is bad. This is very bad."
***
"Where's Bob?" Matrix said as he looked over their surroundings.
"I don't know." Enzo answered. "He was right behind us last I knew. Do you think he might be on a different level?"
"Doesn't seem likely since we were all together." Matrix looked around once more. "I wish he was here though, we could really use some game stats."
Enzo looked around and tried to figure out what the objective was. The room they were in seemed very large and the ceilings were very high. The wide wooden lanes reminded him of the jet-bowling alley in Sector 1101 in Baudway. The only thing was, these were huge; at least ten times the size of a normal lane. There were several boxes sitting in random locations all over the room, each having a different type of decorative pattern on it. "Well, what do you say we reboot and see what the game gives us?"
"Let's do it." Matrix replied.
"Sure thing, Mate."
Matrix and Enzo turned around quickly to see Ray standing there on his baud. "What are you doing in here?" Matrix snarled at the surfer. "And where's Bob?"
"He had a bit of problem on the way to the game." Ray answered with a grin, knowing it was tearing the renegade up that he was in there. "By the way, what was Bob doing on your bike?"
"My bike?" Matrix was starting to put two and two together now. "What did you do to my bike?"
"There's no time to discuss this now!" Enzo said as several small vehicles appeared in the room in different locations. "We've got a game to win."
Matrix continued to glare at the surfer for a nano, then reached for his icon and tapped it twice. "Reboot."
"Reboot." Enzo followed suit.
"Reboot." Ray said as he clicked his icon. Matrix was still glaring at him, but it was hard to take him seriously in his rebooted form. He was still green, but very short and had an oddly oblong head with a little antennae coming from the top. His stubby little body was the real kicker though, and Ray couldn't help but laugh at the sight of him.
"What are you laughing at?" Matrix said as he pointed to Ray. "You're just as bad." The surfer looked down to see his rebooted form and almost laughed at himself. He was chubby and pink. He looked at his reflection in the little toy car that had rebooted with him and saw a large snout like nose and a cork in his belly.
"Haha," Enzo said as he pointed at the both of them, "you two look ridiculous." He continued to laugh as they looked at him. He was definitely some sort of doll, taller than them, and was wearing a cowboy hat, fringed shirt and pants, and cowboy boots. He also had a small vehicle that resembled a toy.
"Laugh later, Bro." Matrix said as he got in his little vehicle. "Like you said, we got a game to win."
When all three were in their vehicles, the User showed up. Ray noted that it looked like it couldn't make up its mind if it was a robot or a man. The User also came with a vehicle and was sitting at the opposite corner of the room.
"To infinity, and beyond!" The User called out and the vehicles started to move. All three of them watched the game sprites and the User for a nano as they drove over the boxes and picked various items to hurl at the others.
"Go for the boxes!" Matrix yelled as he drove over a yellow and black polka dotted box and picked up an eight ball. When he got in range of the User, he sent the eight ball flying at him, but at the last nano, the User turned and the ball hit the wall and shattered. "Spammit!" He called out.
Several of the game sprites were doing the same thing, but it became apparent that they didn't differentiate between the User and themselves when one of them hurled a squeaky rubber sheep at another and knocked it out of the game.
"Watch out for the game sprites!" Ray yelled as he drove over a box and picked up a small rocket and aimed for one of them. "They don't care if you're the User or not."
"You two keep the game sprites occupied while I go for the User." Enzo said as he got right up behind the User with a spinning top. He released it, but instead of going straight after the User, it spun off to the side, bounced off one of the gutters, and came back to hit him. His vehicle turned black and immediately stopped running. "Cursors!" He shouted as he spun and was knocked out of the game.
"Spammit!" Matrix shouted once again. "Enzo's out." He looked over to Ray with a menacing glint in his eye. "Just you and me, Pal."
Ray returned the icy look. "Let's do this."
The two men raced off in search of suitable boxes with weapons to pick up while the User took out another game sprite with a rubber ball. Matrix drove over a red box with a yellow lightening bolt on it, picking up a static charge on his vehicle's antennae. Ray drove over a blue box with red stripes and picked up a spinning top. Both of them took off after the User from different sides of the room, determined to be the first to knock the User out.
As the User drove down an alley, Matrix came over a gutter rail from one side while Ray came in from the other. Before they could slow down or turn their vehicles, they slammed into each other, knocking both of their weapons off in different directions.
"Spammit Surfer, I just about had him." Matrix growled.
"What are you yelling at me for? I was just about to let the top get him when you came barreling over the rail." Ray glared as he shouted. "I could have had him."
"Leave the User to me!" Matrix snapped. "Just stay out of my way and let me get this game over with."
The User was barreling up another alley while the two sprites argued. He loaded his vehicle with a static charge and took out yet another game sprite.
"We'll just see who gets the User." Ray sneered and took off down the alley, looking for more ammo.
"Yeah," Matrix sneered and took off after Ray, "it's going to be me!" He caught up with the surfer and drove side by side with him for a nano before turning his wheel and catching him in the side. Ray's vehicle wavered for a nano before he got control back and swerved directly into Matrix, who was still racing down the alley. Matrix wasn't expecting the hit and spun around over one of the rails.
"Haha," Ray called out as he drove over a blue box with red dots and picked up a rocket, "you're getting too old for this spam. Just leave it to someone who can get the job done." He came around on a narrow stretch of carpet and caught sight of the User at the other end going around a corner. He turned his wheel and drove over another rail, hoping to catch the User on the other side, when Matrix came up from the side and knocked him with an eight ball. Ray's rocket disappeared, but his vehicle was still running.
"Spammit, Matrix! I just about had him."
"No," Matrix shouted, "I just about had him and you got in the way!"
"Uh… guys." Enzo's voice rang out as he watched the User take down another of the game sprites with a yo-yo. "You think you can argue about this later and get the User?"
"I'm trying," Matrix's stout green form shouted, "but someone keeps getting in the way."
"Well, if you'd watch what was going on instead of being a hard headed psychopath," Ray snorted at Matrix, "you'd be able to see that I damn near had the User until you came barreling through."
Enzo watched the User take out what appeared to be the last of the game sprites. "Uh… guys, you really need to get the User."
"Just stay out of my way, before you end up getting your old ASCII in trouble." Matrix sneered at the surfer.
"My old ASCII can still keep up with any User so I suggest you stay out of my way, Mate."
"Guys?" Enzo shouted out one more time. "The User is coming right at you!"
The two men quickly looked around to see the User right at the end of the alley they were in, coming at them with a rocket poised on the front of his vehicle. Matrix could only find one thing to say as the User kept coming. "This is not good."
"Not good at all, Mate."