AndrAIa walked down the metal corridors of the Guardian Central Command. Garrison had contacted her half a cycle ago, and asked if she could come and watch some of the cadets train. But the game sprite had offlined right through the training session.
She reached the door leading onto the terrace that over looked the Danger Room and keyed in the open code. As she entered, Garrison looked up and smiled at her.
"Sorry I am late. I got your message ten nanos ago when I woke up." She came in and looked down into the empty Danger Room. "Did I miss a good show?"
Garrison grimaced. "It was terrible. Blind brawling and horrendous use of large detonation weapons. I denied their request and reassigned them to taught by Jarrel."
AndrAIa widened her eyes. Jarrel was the harshest Guardian AndrAIa had ever met. A bit of a social recluse, Jarrel spent most of his time fine tuning and designing new weapons. During the past three minutes, AndrAIa had only seen Jarrel once. She knew though, the one thing he hated was insubordination. And for this reason, he agreed to instruct cadets.
"Well, that will either straighten them out, or cause them to quit." AndrAIa said, smirking.
Garrison sat in the recliner chair pressing the palms of his hands into his eyes.
"Doesn't matter to me. I read over those so-called recommendations. I think that system wanted them out as much as Palmer wants them out."
AndrAIa sat at the side of Garrison, and both sprites stared out into the Danger Room.
"No good cadets equals no good Guardians, but then what's the use, we don't even have our key tools." Garrison absently rubbed his forearm where his key tool once resided. AndrAIa had noticed this habit in the Guardians that had lost their key tools from Daemon's infection.
"They are out there somewhere. Don't ever give up hope."
Garrison smiled at her. "Your optimism is boundless. Thank the User you came to the Super Computer to keep our spirits up and help with the repairs." He paused and thought of question many had wanted to ask her. He knew the answer she told everyone who did ask. I'm here to help with the repairs, she would say as she flashed her bright smile.
"Why did you leave Mainframe?" He asked finally.
"I'm here—"
As she begins to regurgitate her canned answer, Garrison interrupted.
"The real answer, Andi."
AndrAIa met him in the eye and gauged him. Internally, she felt a flare resentment grow. This was worse than the 'do you want to be a Guardian' question. Why couldn't sprites just be happy that she is here helping? Yet, Garrison, along with Tronnie had been some of the few people she became fast friends with, and Tronnie already knew why she left. Shouldn't Garrison deserve to know as well? Not yet, she thinks to herself. Her reasons were not so much a painful past, but more of a sad burden she carried within herself.
"Garrison, I—"
In mid sentence, AndrAIa's eyes widened and she felt herself heave forward. She heard Garrison call out her name, but it sounded muffled and hazy. Her vision blurred, and she felt a tingling in the back of her mind before blacking out.
---
Do you know what I am? A voice came.
What in the Net? What is going on? AndrAIa turned around, trying to see where she was but only sees purple and red mist.
Do you know what I am? The voice came again.
Oh User. I'm in the Web! AndrAIa realized in panic.
No. Not the Web. But the Web is being infected. AndrAIa, look at me. The voice said.
AndrAIa turned around and stumbled backwards as she comes face to face with a Web creature. Her hours of game fighting training switch on and she took a fighting stance while her nails extend in preparation to attack. One hand slid to her hip, searching for trident.
AndrAIa, the voice said, look at me. Look at yourself.
AndrAIa raised one hand, but as she does so, she recognizes something within the Web creature.
"You have my code. You are the Web creature that absorbed my code when I touched the egg sac." AndrAIa said.
Yes. I can communicate with you because we are linked by code. The voice pauses, you did not know web creatures are sentient? We are like you, but different in form AndrAIa. Something is happening to us. A monster came for us. The monster came to kill us to destroy you. The monster is coming for all of you. Now wake.
---
AndrAIa looked around. She was in the infirmary room. There was an energy transfusion kit next to her, and various monitors were blinking around her.
"Nothing too terrible, exhaustion can be blamed for that. But the second long nap you've just woken up from has made up for it." Caster said as he hands a pouch of blue liquid to her. "Have an energy shakes with this liquid in it before you decide to do anything. Now off you go to fix something." He grins and puts gauze over the needle prick of the IV.
---
AndrAIa crouched near the ground and welded the panel over the circuitry. Tronnie had insisted she fix something less strenuous and assigned AndrAIa to replacing the panels over fixed circuitry.
After the last panel was welded on, AndrAIa stood up and stretched. Her long form didn't agree with being jammed underneath a table.
"All done. This makes all the V.D.Cs repaired except the Metazoan Chamber." Tronnie stood near the door, and checked her pad. "Not bad at all seeing to we're still understaffed."
AndrAIa lifted up her welder's mask and followed Tronnie out of the room.
"Capacitor should be here in two seconds with the new Chamber parts, and with any luck, a new Chamber built a second after that."
"Well, if I know Gavin, I'm sure he'll be early with his delivery and…" AndrAIa moaned and grabbed Tronnie's arm for balance. With her other hand, she pressed two fingers in between her brow and grimaced.
"Andi?" Tronnie said uncertainly.
The game sprite had her eyes tightly closed and she swayed slightly on her feet. A nano passed before the tension left her face and she was able to speak.
"My head…" She said as she slowly looked up.
"I'm calling-" Tronnie started to say.
"Behind you!" Shouted the game sprite as she pulled Tronnie behind her and unleashed four nails at the menace she sees.
"Andi," the other sprite said nervously, "what are you doing? There's nothing…"
The game sprite trembled as she looked at her friend.
"Web creature… I saw a Web…" Her voice trailed off and her hopeless look frightened Tronnie.
Tronnie pressed a button near the door, and opened a vid window to Caster.
"Caster, medical emergency. I'm bringing AndrAIa." She shut the window, and without another word, she led the stunned game sprite out.
---
"The only thing I can suggest is to keep your energy levels up. Energy shakes, fast food and lots of offline time." Caster unlocked the scanning chamber and stood back as Bob swung his legs to the side of the examination table.
"I've spent too much time doing all three, and I feel fine. Really, these phases barely happen now. I haven't had one in minutes." Said Bob as he backed up nervously from Caster's medical scanners. "I really don't see the need for these bi-minute check ups."
"Bob," Caster said, "no one in the history of the Guardian Collective has merged with their key tool. We have to play it safe with this one. You're the only one who can make portals to the Super Computer. Turbo doesn't want to put a port in here so you have to stay nice and healthy for us." He finished recording things on his data pad and looked back at Bob.
"All done?" Bob asked hopefully.
"Until half a minute from now."
"Bye!" The dread-locked Guardian yelled as he dashes quickly out of the room.
---
"Ay!! Ye be late for the opening! Those technicians almost have the Chamber ready ta start! Fast workin' folk they be eh Bob?" Capacitors hobbled proudly forward as he watched the final stages of the put together for the V.D.C begin. Behind him, Bob stopped and looked at the new equipment.
"Executioner's toys," he mutters quietly, "I had wished they had gotten the message that deletion isn't the way. Hex's sacrifice should have taught them that by now." Bob glowered at the tricadium bonds that held viruses helpless as they were deleted. He remembered so vividly Hex's sacrifice to save the Net.
---
"Come now Guardian," Capacitor removed his hat and tapped his wooden peg leg on the ground. "New ideas take time. Right now, without the key tools, can ye really blame the Guardians for deleting viruses?"
"I guess not." Bob looked away. He knew it was hard to fight viruses without key tools. The key tools were a combination of vast variety of tools. There was no need to carry scanners, blasters and containment units. All you needed was one Guardian who was joined with a key tool. Now, even the minor, small-scale viruses needed teams of four or five guardians to neutralize.
"Thar goes the final panel! Time to break out the drink!" Capacitor hobbled his way forward to the exhausted technicians team. Round the clock work shifts had enabled the new chamber to be built in record time. With a hearty cheer, Capacitor revealed a bottle of wine and began celebrating the completion of the chamber.
Left behind, Bob only shook his head and walked away.
---
"Bob!" A familiar voice called out from behind him in the hallway.
"AndrAIa?" Bob stopped in mid-step and turned around. "Hey! It's been a while. What's this? The first times during my bi-minute check ups that I've seen you?"
The two sprites gave each other a friendly hug, and continued to walk down the corridors.
"I've been working on trying to fix all sorts of things here. I barely had time to go offline sometimes. Where are you going now?"
Bob looked down to the shorter game sprite.
"I'm just going to talk to Turbo. He said he has a new theory to finding the key tools. Why don't you come along?"
AndrAIa smiled weakly.
"I can't. Caster has ordered me to stay in my quarters. He thinks I over exert myself."
Bob gave her a worried look and stopped walking.
"You okay? What's the matter?"
AndrAIa sighed loudly and looked wearily at the Guardian.
"I don't know. I just keep…" Her voice died in her throat as her eyes fixed on something behind Bob.
"AndrAIa?" Bob moved to turn around but the game sprite stopped him.
"Don't. Nothing is there. It'll go away in a nano. Just don't look." She said with effort.
Bob narrowed his eyes but did as his friend told him so. He watched her carefully though. He could see breathing quicken despite her efforts to keep calm. The hand she had on him was so tense it quivered, and he could feel her nails begin to extend.
"Andi?" He asked in a quite low voice. "What's the matter?"
In AndrAIa's eyes, it was the Web creature. It floated about a meter behind Bob. This was the sixth time she had seen it since her first hallucinations four seconds ago with Tronnie. The creature broke from its position and swam lazily back and forth in the corridors. Sometimes it would speak to her of a monster. Other times it just floated in her vision. Then, it did something unexpected. The Web creature turned quickly to face AndrAIa again and charged roaring at her with it's jagged maw gaping.
"Oh User! Look out!" AndrAIa screamed and staggered backwards. Bob followed her, trying to catch her but only served to get in the way of her nails as she unleashed them at the Web creature. Both she and Bob fell to the ground. She saw the Web creature loom in upon her, open its jaws wider than ever thought possible and swallow her.