1.1.1 Chapter 6
Malestorm sighed as she entered her Sickbay.
" Walkson!" she cried, " Get in here!" The Binome entered with medical tools.
" Yes, mistress?" the Binome asked.
" My last two fought back. They damaged me. Repair the tendrils," she barked.
" Oh, dear," Walkson said, dropping most of his tools. The tool he needed was still in his hand and he ran over to Malestorm. " I assume that you didn't get them." Malestorm glared at him.
Wellmen walked down the corridor of the P.O., now hoping to sleep for the first time since getting this body. How he could sleep as a null in a robot body was beyond what he knew, but then again, he had had no clue about the second plane of sprite existence know as the Web. This was all before the sirens, of course. After them, Wellmen, who still had no clue how to get into the bed, much less sleep in it, headed straight down to the waroom. Dot, AndrAIa, and Mouse were all standing next to a vid window.
" Dot, what happened?" he asked.
" Dad, a virus attacked us. She has Matrix," Dot whispered.
" You're certain?"
" We just received a note from her. It said that Matrix and Ray were hers, and that there is nothing we can do about it." There was a dead silence in the waroom.
Hex fell, meaning that the User had won. Now the game choose Daemon. She was felled quickly, unable to defend herself. Now it was Bob's turn. " If I fail, Kerry, don't waste time trying to help me. Make the game choose you," he said as he entered the arena.
" Guardian. I have so been waiting to do this. Deleting you will be delicious," the User said. Bob ignored him. The User was acting just like Megabyte always had.
" I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, MB," Bob glared, " Glitch, Blaster."
" Really, Guardian. You can't delete another processing being. It goes against everything you stand for."
" Don't count on the Guardian protocol to save your sorry ASCII, Megabyte."
" And such language. Really, Bob. Tell me, did you ever use those words on my dear, dear sister?"
" Glitch, fire," Bob growled, aiming. Megabyte just stood there bemused. As such, he wasn't expecting the blast of energy the hit him.
" Game Over."
" Bob," Kerry said, " the way you talked to that User, well it was like Megabyte was there. I should get you to the Principal Office."
" That's a good idea. Dot should know about that game. That was very eerie."
" I agree, but I was going to take you there for a different reason entirely. Bob, you are obviously damaged somehow. It could be from what happened to Turbo. Regardless, let's get you to your home." Kerry opened a vid-window. " Dot, where is Bob's home?"
" It's in Kits Sector. You'll know it immediately. There's a rotating 8-ball over the top of it."
" All right. Thank you." Kerry looked at the P.O. " What happened there?" she asked.
" Malestorm."
" Fine. I'll be there momentarily," Kerry said, closing the vid window. " Bob. Give me your key," she ordered, extending her hand. Bob, who was required by his code to follow orders from Guardians of a higher level than him, gave her the key. " Glitch, make sure that Bob stays in his apartment and gets bed rest- lot's of it. Bob, you are not to leave your apartment unless I order it. Do I make myself absolutely clear?"
" Yes, ma'am," Bob slumped. Kerry took him to his apartment then locked him in.
Dot was waiting with a briefing for Kerry by the time she got there. When Kerry was done reading, she was shocked.
" Mouse did severe damage to Malestorm who seemed more interested in you than her?"
" That's what it seemed to Specky, the CPUs, and me."
" Hmmmm, maybe I copied her wrong."
" You have that right. Kerry, I once hated Mouse because the first time she came to Mainframe, she nearly deleted my little brother. But then, she saved my life from the Web creature that caused all this trouble. Before the Web creature, we were able to contain Megabyte and Hexadecimal. When the portal opened to the Web, we had to join sides with the virals. They betrayed us, threw Bob in a telephone booth-"
" Telephone booth?"
" We had to call it something. Capsule, missile, they were both too usual. Not to mention, Hex told us Megabyte used up all his money on the building of spare ABCs that were used when he went after he returned from the Web plus the ABCs that were used in the war, so he had to use something to send Bob off into the Web as far as he was concerned. Recently, Matrix went into the Web in a Web protection suit to get the telephone booth. He found a phone book inside that listed the numbers of Megabyte's viral henchmen. Now, who's telling this story, me or you?"
" I'm not sure anymore," Kerry chuckled. Dot smiled. " I'm not even sure what the story is about either."
" Dot! Kerry!" Wellmen cried. Dot and Kerry entered the waroom.
" What?" Dot ordered.
" Dot, AndrAIa is going into labor."
" What? But there were still a few cycles left until the due date!"
" I know, but measurements can't be off. I'm living proof of that. Well, sort of."
" Mind runnin' that one by me again?" Kerry asked.
" Here, watch this." Dot tossed Kerry a vid of True Stories of Mainframe. " The acting's horrible, but it gets the basic measurements- no pun intended- outlined. Mouse?"
" I already have the med teams on their way."
" ' Daemon Rising,' 'Cross Nodes,' 'What's Love Got To Do With It?' and 'Sacrifice?' Kerry whispered.
" Malestorm has hit the Super Computer!" Specky cried.
" Are you sure?" Dot and Kerry asked together.
" Positive, sirs. A report just came in from a Guardian named Kal."
" That's the Prime Guardian's secretary. I guess, Kal is currently my secretary. Put it on screen," Kerry ordered.
" This is Guardian three-four. I'm calling all Command.com's in the Net. I also am making a plea to the Codemasters. If you have had any abrupt disappearances, to contact me immediately at the-" The message was covered in static, then was replaced with Malestorm's face.
" We interrupt this plea for a special report: You're all doomed. I am Malestorm. You cannot count on those pathetic Guardians, for their Prime Guardian is mine. He is currently causing terror under the guise of Terror. Hunt him, his assistant Megabyte, or myself all you want, you'll never catch us. We now return you to the previous message."
" -Thank you, that is all," Kal finished.
" Helpful, wasn't that?" Kerry said, charmingly, then remembered the game. " Dot! She mentioned Megabyte. In that game, something scary happened. Bob and I emerged in a fighting game. The User was Megabyte and the other choices were Daemon, Hexadecimal, Matrix, AndrAIa, and Bob." Dot and Mouse gaped at Kerry. Mouse was the first to regain her voice.
" Do you mean to tell me that Users know about us, sugar?" she asked, pulling out her katana and polishing it.
" I don't know, but it does mean we should be careful about what goes on in here."
" Warning. Incoming Game. Warning. Incoming Game."
" Oh, no! Not now!" Dot cried. Wellmen returned from the med center.
" Dot, it was just a false labor. There were several of those before Enzo was born. He probably gave the baby some of the same complications," he said, obviously sighing.
" Thank goodness. Okay, Mouse, you, Kerry, Hex, Enzo and I will go into the game," Dot ordered.
" Enzo?" Mouse asked.
" Dad and Specky can't handle him without me, and Hack and Slash are still feuding with each other each time Slash mention Megabyte," Dot sighed.
Soon afterwards, the sprites were on their way to the game.
" Dot! It's gonna land on Bob's apartment!" Mouse cried.
" Not good!" Dot cried.
" This is not good," a voice said behind them.
" AndrAIa!" Mouse cried.
" AndrAIa, you're supposed to be in the med ward!" Dot cried, just as the game landed on them.
" So. What did I miss?" AndrAIa asked.
Cat sighed looking at the growing black mass.
" The Eye of the Storm is coming!" Ori cried.
" Cat! The evac siren has been given! Wise One is getting the Binomes out of here! Captain Capacitor and the Saucy Mare are holding all those here! Ori is capturing the nulls! Terrin told us where to go before he disappeared!" Ani cried.
" Malestorm, come and get me!" Cat cried.
" She's random!" Ani cried to Ori who was loading the last of the nulls.
" Maybe, but unless one of us drags her on board, she also be deleted!" Ori called back.
" Yeah, but why me?" he asked, looking up. He zip boarded up to the top of the pentacle where Cat was screaming her lungs out. He didn't see the bolts of lightning headed for them.
" Ani! Cat!" Ori cried, but it was too late. Terrin's wife and best friend were gone.
Malestorm sighed as she entered her Sickbay.
" Walkson!" she cried, " Get in here!" The Binome entered with medical tools.
" Yes, mistress?" the Binome asked.
" My last two fought back. They damaged me. Repair the tendrils," she barked.
" Oh, dear," Walkson said, dropping most of his tools. The tool he needed was still in his hand and he ran over to Malestorm. " I assume that you didn't get them." Malestorm glared at him.
Wellmen walked down the corridor of the P.O., now hoping to sleep for the first time since getting this body. How he could sleep as a null in a robot body was beyond what he knew, but then again, he had had no clue about the second plane of sprite existence know as the Web. This was all before the sirens, of course. After them, Wellmen, who still had no clue how to get into the bed, much less sleep in it, headed straight down to the waroom. Dot, AndrAIa, and Mouse were all standing next to a vid window.
" Dot, what happened?" he asked.
" Dad, a virus attacked us. She has Matrix," Dot whispered.
" You're certain?"
" We just received a note from her. It said that Matrix and Ray were hers, and that there is nothing we can do about it." There was a dead silence in the waroom.
Hex fell, meaning that the User had won. Now the game choose Daemon. She was felled quickly, unable to defend herself. Now it was Bob's turn. " If I fail, Kerry, don't waste time trying to help me. Make the game choose you," he said as he entered the arena.
" Guardian. I have so been waiting to do this. Deleting you will be delicious," the User said. Bob ignored him. The User was acting just like Megabyte always had.
" I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, MB," Bob glared, " Glitch, Blaster."
" Really, Guardian. You can't delete another processing being. It goes against everything you stand for."
" Don't count on the Guardian protocol to save your sorry ASCII, Megabyte."
" And such language. Really, Bob. Tell me, did you ever use those words on my dear, dear sister?"
" Glitch, fire," Bob growled, aiming. Megabyte just stood there bemused. As such, he wasn't expecting the blast of energy the hit him.
" Game Over."
" Bob," Kerry said, " the way you talked to that User, well it was like Megabyte was there. I should get you to the Principal Office."
" That's a good idea. Dot should know about that game. That was very eerie."
" I agree, but I was going to take you there for a different reason entirely. Bob, you are obviously damaged somehow. It could be from what happened to Turbo. Regardless, let's get you to your home." Kerry opened a vid-window. " Dot, where is Bob's home?"
" It's in Kits Sector. You'll know it immediately. There's a rotating 8-ball over the top of it."
" All right. Thank you." Kerry looked at the P.O. " What happened there?" she asked.
" Malestorm."
" Fine. I'll be there momentarily," Kerry said, closing the vid window. " Bob. Give me your key," she ordered, extending her hand. Bob, who was required by his code to follow orders from Guardians of a higher level than him, gave her the key. " Glitch, make sure that Bob stays in his apartment and gets bed rest- lot's of it. Bob, you are not to leave your apartment unless I order it. Do I make myself absolutely clear?"
" Yes, ma'am," Bob slumped. Kerry took him to his apartment then locked him in.
Dot was waiting with a briefing for Kerry by the time she got there. When Kerry was done reading, she was shocked.
" Mouse did severe damage to Malestorm who seemed more interested in you than her?"
" That's what it seemed to Specky, the CPUs, and me."
" Hmmmm, maybe I copied her wrong."
" You have that right. Kerry, I once hated Mouse because the first time she came to Mainframe, she nearly deleted my little brother. But then, she saved my life from the Web creature that caused all this trouble. Before the Web creature, we were able to contain Megabyte and Hexadecimal. When the portal opened to the Web, we had to join sides with the virals. They betrayed us, threw Bob in a telephone booth-"
" Telephone booth?"
" We had to call it something. Capsule, missile, they were both too usual. Not to mention, Hex told us Megabyte used up all his money on the building of spare ABCs that were used when he went after he returned from the Web plus the ABCs that were used in the war, so he had to use something to send Bob off into the Web as far as he was concerned. Recently, Matrix went into the Web in a Web protection suit to get the telephone booth. He found a phone book inside that listed the numbers of Megabyte's viral henchmen. Now, who's telling this story, me or you?"
" I'm not sure anymore," Kerry chuckled. Dot smiled. " I'm not even sure what the story is about either."
" Dot! Kerry!" Wellmen cried. Dot and Kerry entered the waroom.
" What?" Dot ordered.
" Dot, AndrAIa is going into labor."
" What? But there were still a few cycles left until the due date!"
" I know, but measurements can't be off. I'm living proof of that. Well, sort of."
" Mind runnin' that one by me again?" Kerry asked.
" Here, watch this." Dot tossed Kerry a vid of True Stories of Mainframe. " The acting's horrible, but it gets the basic measurements- no pun intended- outlined. Mouse?"
" I already have the med teams on their way."
" ' Daemon Rising,' 'Cross Nodes,' 'What's Love Got To Do With It?' and 'Sacrifice?' Kerry whispered.
" Malestorm has hit the Super Computer!" Specky cried.
" Are you sure?" Dot and Kerry asked together.
" Positive, sirs. A report just came in from a Guardian named Kal."
" That's the Prime Guardian's secretary. I guess, Kal is currently my secretary. Put it on screen," Kerry ordered.
" This is Guardian three-four. I'm calling all Command.com's in the Net. I also am making a plea to the Codemasters. If you have had any abrupt disappearances, to contact me immediately at the-" The message was covered in static, then was replaced with Malestorm's face.
" We interrupt this plea for a special report: You're all doomed. I am Malestorm. You cannot count on those pathetic Guardians, for their Prime Guardian is mine. He is currently causing terror under the guise of Terror. Hunt him, his assistant Megabyte, or myself all you want, you'll never catch us. We now return you to the previous message."
" -Thank you, that is all," Kal finished.
" Helpful, wasn't that?" Kerry said, charmingly, then remembered the game. " Dot! She mentioned Megabyte. In that game, something scary happened. Bob and I emerged in a fighting game. The User was Megabyte and the other choices were Daemon, Hexadecimal, Matrix, AndrAIa, and Bob." Dot and Mouse gaped at Kerry. Mouse was the first to regain her voice.
" Do you mean to tell me that Users know about us, sugar?" she asked, pulling out her katana and polishing it.
" I don't know, but it does mean we should be careful about what goes on in here."
" Warning. Incoming Game. Warning. Incoming Game."
" Oh, no! Not now!" Dot cried. Wellmen returned from the med center.
" Dot, it was just a false labor. There were several of those before Enzo was born. He probably gave the baby some of the same complications," he said, obviously sighing.
" Thank goodness. Okay, Mouse, you, Kerry, Hex, Enzo and I will go into the game," Dot ordered.
" Enzo?" Mouse asked.
" Dad and Specky can't handle him without me, and Hack and Slash are still feuding with each other each time Slash mention Megabyte," Dot sighed.
Soon afterwards, the sprites were on their way to the game.
" Dot! It's gonna land on Bob's apartment!" Mouse cried.
" Not good!" Dot cried.
" This is not good," a voice said behind them.
" AndrAIa!" Mouse cried.
" AndrAIa, you're supposed to be in the med ward!" Dot cried, just as the game landed on them.
" So. What did I miss?" AndrAIa asked.
Cat sighed looking at the growing black mass.
" The Eye of the Storm is coming!" Ori cried.
" Cat! The evac siren has been given! Wise One is getting the Binomes out of here! Captain Capacitor and the Saucy Mare are holding all those here! Ori is capturing the nulls! Terrin told us where to go before he disappeared!" Ani cried.
" Malestorm, come and get me!" Cat cried.
" She's random!" Ani cried to Ori who was loading the last of the nulls.
" Maybe, but unless one of us drags her on board, she also be deleted!" Ori called back.
" Yeah, but why me?" he asked, looking up. He zip boarded up to the top of the pentacle where Cat was screaming her lungs out. He didn't see the bolts of lightning headed for them.
" Ani! Cat!" Ori cried, but it was too late. Terrin's wife and best friend were gone.
