The feast ended with a good note. Everyone praised King Megabyte highly and left once it started to get late enough. Slaves then ran around, cleaning things up, as the more important people went off to their rooms.

The only person that didn't pitch in was Bob. He stood there, watching the whole commotion from the corner. Only a few times did he have to walk by the king when he had to place a new serving in front of him and Sir Matrix. And each time neither of the two suspected he was there.

Now he watched as different slaves gathered leftovers, taking them back to the kitchens where he could hear Mouse slaving away and complaining about ever dish that was brought to her. Other than her, none of the other slaves looked familiar to him.

Then it dawned on him. Where was Dot? He looked around and realized that he hadn't seen her since AndrAIa had been taken away from the room. He stepped more into the room, hoping to see her maybe around the corner or in the doorway to the kitchen. She was nowhere to be seen.

***

AndrAIa was fuming with anger. Her whole body felt hot with hatred toward King Megabyte as she thought about the look on his face she had seen earlier. He truly was a monster and she couldn't wait until he was no longer around to torment her amazon sisters.

If she could only get out of this prison cell she'd be in his room, putting an end to this. At least she knew that her agreement to tell them everything had bought her time.and maybe a little trust.

The dungeon doors creaked open slowly, but she didn't even turn her head to see who it was. She was tired of being visited and told what to do, or being threatened. And she wasn't sure if she wanted to see Sir Matrix again.

"What do you want now, Matrix?" she demanded.

"Uh.it's me, Dot," a timid voice spoke up, causing AndrAIa to turn her head. It was the slave girl again, standing in front of the now closed door.

The Amazon frowned, still in her sitting position. "What are you doing here? I didn't think I'd have the privilege to eat again."

"I'm here because I want your help."

AndrAIa raised one eyebrow, intrigued. Dot moved over to the cell door and sat down quietly just on the other side of the bars. She looked nervous. "What is it you want?"

Dot looked down, then back up at her. "I want you to teach me how to fight."

AndrAIa wasn't sure she had heard right. "You want me to what?"

"Teach me to fight."

"Sorry, I don't think I can do that here on the other side of the bars."

Dot shrugged. "Maybe if there's an appropriate time."

"Oh yeah? Like when? And why do you want this so much?"

There was a long silence and for a moment AndrAIa thought the slave was crying. But then Dot looked up, her face dry.

"Because," she said, taking out a shiny blade from the inside of the cloak, "I want the King to die."

AndrAIa jumped to her feet, suddenly very alarmed. "You want what?!"

Dot didn't flinch. She just calmly put the dagger back and stood up as well. "I figured you'd want to help me," she said, pleading. "You hate him, probably as much as I do. I figured maybe I- we can help each other."

This slave was crazy! There was no way this woman could get away with killing the King! AndrAIa shook her head. "No. You might as well give up now, you'll never get away with it."

Dot grabbed onto the bars in desperation. "But you've got to help me! I can't do this alone! You're the only one I know of that even has a chance to get to the King!"

"I said no!"

"Please!"

"NO!" AndrAIa picked up the basket still lying on the ground and threw it at Dot. To her surprise, the slave caught it between the bars and threw it to the cell ground.

"You have to!" she yelled, surprising the Amazon. "You have to! You don't understand the King has done just as much to me as he's done to you!"

AndrAIa turned in surprise and stared at Dot. The slave now looked like she was crying.

"I used to be just another peasant out in the town," the slave said, "I lived with my parents and my brother! Then without warning, in the middle of the night, guards barged into the house and accused my parents of treason against the King. They did nothing of the sort! Right in front of me they killed them and kidnapped my brother and I, leaving my parents in the house. They made me a slave and took my brother away! I don't even know if he's dead now because I was only fourteen when it happened!"

AndrAIa continued to stare at Dot, stunned.

"And now, just a few years ago, I found out that the King had ordered the slaughter of my parents," Dot finished up. "There was no treason. He didn't like my parents because they stood up for what they believed was right and he felt threatened by that."

Dot wiped what tears she had left away from her eyes and looked down at the ground. AndrAIa stepped forward.

"I.I thought you said you had amnesia."

The slave looked up. "That's what I tell everyone because I don't want to tell them what really happened. But I'm telling you this right now because I need your help. Now please, help me."

AndrAIa hesitated. It was true, she wasn't the only one suffering from the King. Dot had had it just as worst.

"Okay," she finally replied, "I'll help you."

***

It was late that night when Bob finally decided to go to the slave quarters and try to get some sleep. All day he hadn't seen Ray anywhere but he wasn't going to talk to him yet until he figured out exactly what he was going to do about King Megabyte and the system clock.

Turned out Ray was wrong about the whole slave sleeping quarters. Instead of two separate rooms, there was one big one, the middle wall apparently torn down. Slaves slept everywhere with only a blanket to cover themselves with.

Bob stood in the doorway, not sure exactly what to do. How could people sleep in these conditions?

He saw an empty cot on the far end of the room and decided to take it. Right next to it was another empty cot, which no one had taken so far. He took the first one and leaned against the wall, not ready to sleep as of yet.

All the other slaves were asleep. Already one day for Bob had been enough, but these people had to go through a lifetime of grueling days. They must have been exhausted.

Just as he was lying down to rest, he saw movement in the doorway and saw a feminine figure moving across the room. He automatically recognized her as Dot. He watched as she moved through the darkness and approached the cot beside him. She didn't recognize him apparently or cared because she immediately flopped down and was silent. He listened and for a second thought he heard crying. Concerned he tried to listen harder, but the crying sound was gone. She was asleep.

***

King Megabyte didn't go to sleep. Instead he headed for the throne room and, making sure the doors were securely locked, sat down at his throne. Herrdoktor came out of the shadows, a sandwich in his hands. Megabyte rolled his eyes. When was the binome going to learn? Never eat on the job.

"Bring out the system clock," he boomed. Herrdoktor immediately scrambled back into the darkness and suddenly a wall across the room slid open, revealing a secret panel. Inside was the system clock. It was huge and he watched as the numbers ticked on by. Herrdoktor scrambled back into the room and stood where he was supposed to- next to the throne.

Megabyte got to his feet and walked over to the system clock, taking long strides. When he reached it he noticed the box he had installed on the side, hooked up to all the cables inside. That box was the only thing he cared about now.

A small smile played across his face. "Y2K bug indeed," he said to himself. Who would've thought that he would be that inevitable system glitch? He started chuckling softly, then it got louder and louder until it's sound bounced off the walls. Herrdoktor stood where he was, his knees now shaking in fear as the laugh swirled around in his head, echoing across the room.

***

AndrAIa looked up from her perch in her cell, hearing the sounds of laughter coming from just outside the castle walls. Getting to her feet she jumped up to peer out the barred window, only to see two drunks walk by, laughing about something.

She watched them disappear from sight, then turned back around- just as the dungeon door opened. It couldn't be Dot, she knew the slaves had to be asleep at this time of night. So that only left one person.

She looked to see that not only Sir Matrix had come, but two other guards, their gruff expressions staring at her face. She kept her stance, not daring to move as Sir Matrix took out a set of keys and unlocked the gate. Holding it open, the two guards walked in, later followed by Sir Matrix who left the door open.

"Hello again," Sir Matrix said, "since you've agreed to tell us everything, I've decided to come and ask a few questions. My two guards are here.only to make sure things go smoothly."

AndrAIa glanced at the two guards who now stood by the open cell door.

"First let me tell you a few things," Sir Matrix began. "I am the only one allowed to control where you go and what happens to you- other than the King. In fact, I can say you're dead right now and the guards will kill you. But." he started circling her, "I'm willing to let you live a little bit longer."

"The deal was that you'd let me live if I told you," she pointed out.

"Yes, yes. That is true. Now you are the Queen of the Amazons, correct?"

"I am."

"Do you have any plans to attack the castle?"

"No."

"But you attacked the kingdom just days ago."

"The forest is also a part of the kingdom. And we only fight out of defense."

"Defense. Ah. So why were you burning all those villages and killing the people?"

"I made specific orders that no one was to get hurt."

"So you wanted to get a point across and in so doing.you lit a village on fire."

"Yes."

"Do you have any idea how barbaric that is?"

AndrAIa stared at Sir Matrix. "How is that any different than you? You led an army to kill my amazon sisters, did you not? And you are calling me barbaric when you burn innocent people that the King claims committed treason? You are the one that's barbaric! You're the monster!"

Her words stung the man as he stood there, stunned. For a minute he didn't know what to say. "What do you mean, burning innocent people?" he demanded.

She narrowed her eyes. "Think about it."

Realization hit him and he grabbed her around the neck, holding her against the wall. "Curse you!" he shouted, "curse you and the rest of your nation! My parents were killed because they were believed to have committed treason!"

She didn't react as he held her against the wall. She simply stood there, arms at her side. "So why are you serving the man who ordered it?"

Sir Matrix didn't answer. He just stared at her, hand still on her throat. His grip had loosened, however, allowing her to breathe easier. Finally he released her and turned toward the guards.

"Leave us," he ordered.

The guards hesitated for a moment, then turned and left, leaving AndrAIa alone with the knight. Matrix walked to the other side of the cell, clearly upset.

"I'm sorry about your parents," she finally said. "It if helps you feel any better, I know what it's like."

He turned to face her, and suddenly he no longer looked like the cruel, merciless knight she had seen earlier.

"My uh.my mother was an Amazon also, I never knew my father. She was killed one day when a band of guards came through the forest. They saw her walking along the path and just killed her, just like that. They killed other Amazons as well, and that's the only reason we fight you today."

Matrix walked toward her, his strides less gruffer, he looked more relaxed. He stopped in front of her. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

She looked up at him and for a moment that's all they did, stare at each other. Then he leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. They were just starting to get into it when he stopped and stepped back.

"I shouldn't be doing this," he said, realizing that if anyone found out about this, they'd both be killed.

AndrAIa looked at him, not knowing what to say. It didn't matter anyway because he turned around and left abruptly, closing the dungeon door hard behind him. He hadn't even bothered to close the cell door and if she wanted to she could've left right there. But she didn't. Instead she walked to one of the walls and sat down, hugging her knees close to her chest.

***

Dot got out of bed late that night, when she was sure no one else was awake. Then, quietly, she walked across the room and down the hallway until she had reached the kitchens. She kept walking until she reached the main room, then slowly ascended the stairs.

No one else was awake, including the guards that should've been standing at the top of the stairs. Infact they weren't even at their posts. Finding that as a stroke of luck, she continued on until she had reached the level she knew held the King's royal bedchamber.

Walking barefoot so she wouldn't make a sound, she found the floor cold and icy. She wasn't used to walking around so late at night, but the anticipation of what she was about to do next kept her more awake than ever.

Over the years the King had caused her pain more than anyone can tell or think of. Killing her parents just because he didn't like them was just the beginning. He knew her specifically and purposely made her a slave. He took her brother away from her, leaving her alone and without family. But that wasn't all he had caused her.

Her anger for him and greatly changed her life. She worked every day, thinking about her parents and plotting her vengeance. And every night she cried herself to sleep, wishing she were still fourteen where her parents will still be with her and her brother would still be there.

When she finally reached the door leading to the King's bedchamber, she tried the handle and was glad to find it unlocked. Pushing it slowly forward she walked into the dark room, peering through the darkness. She could just make out the bed in the far corner.

Closing the door behind her as softly as possible, she stood there until her eyes had gotten used to the dark. Then she crept forward, reaching into her cloak and drawing out the dagger.

She knew that even after talking to AndrAIa, she couldn't stand knowing that Megabyte was still alive. She had already made a deal with the Amazon, but maybe with killing the King now, she'd be doing a favor for everyone.

When Dot finally reached the bed, she could just make out the lump under the covers and knew that it was King Megabyte. Feeling the tears in her eyes she raised the dagger and tried to muster up enough courage when-

The lights flew on and her eyes widened. Standing all around the room was guards. The covers on the bed flew back and instead of King Megabyte, it was another guard that immediately grabbed the dagger and pointed it at Dot to keep her from moving.

Surprised she backed up against the wall, eyes wide with fear. She had been caught!

There was movement and King Megabyte emerged, dressed in a robe. He smiled at her, amused. "Interesting," he said, "how very interesting. Take her away, kill her in the morning."

Her mouth opened to scream, but a guard covered it and started to drag her from the room. She tried to struggle but she was no match as she felt more guards grab her to take her away.