The Viral Guardian Series
by Jareth, The Viral Guardian.
Chapter Four: Rejection
Matrix yawned loudly, then took another long swallow from his drink. Night had long since fallen on the System of Mainframe, and most of the other sprites in the City had gone to bed already.
AndrAIa, the beautiful Game Sprite, stood behind the register, dutifully wiping the countertop. All of the other customers had long since left Dot's Diner, but AndrAIa had volunteered to stay behind and lock up.
Neither said a word; in fact, Matrix had almost fallen asleep when the silence was shattered by a loud bark and a painful sounding crash.
"Frisket?" Matrix rose from his seat at the bar and ran out of the Diner, followed closely by AndrAIa.
Just outside the Diner, several small black discs hovered at eye level, each brandishing various weapons and sensory mechanisms. Frisket sat on the sidewalk, growling loudly. One of the discs lay on the street ahead of him, it's outer casing torn apart and it's internal components strewn all over the ground.
As soon as the black discs spotted Matrix, they swiveled all the weapons and targeted him. He quickly drew his Gun, but they fired before he could. He ducked into the diner, using the door frame for cover. Whatever these things were, they had firepower.
* * *
Bob walked down the streets of Kit's Sector, headed for his apartment building. Although he was capable of teleporting, he preferred to conserve his energy. After all, with Daemon on the loose, he never knew when he might need it.
Suddenly, Bob stopped short. He thought he'd heard something. Something high-pitched, like something he'd heard in a Space Invaders Game once. Bob spun around. Nothing.
Shrugging, Bob turned and once again began walking towards his home.
* * *
The windows in front of the Diner shattered under the force of the blasts. Several of the Black Discs hovered in through the broken window, showering the sprites inside with laser fire.
AndrAIa removed the small cylinder from her belt and pressed the small button on the side, lengthening it into a vicious looking, golden trident.
Frisket growled menacingly, baring his razor sharp teeth. The discs advanced without a second thought, almost as if they lacked the capacity for self preservation.
Within moments, the three sprites had made scrap metal of the hovering discs.
"Enzo, what WERE those things?" AndrAIa asked, sheathing her trident.
"Some sort of attack drones," Matrix said, bending over to examine the wreckage.
"But who in Mainframe would attack US?"
"No one in Mainframe," a new voice said, surprising both Matrix and AndrAIa. Both sprites spun around, drawing their weapons.
Matrix sighed, lowering his Gun. "Phong, don't DO that. I nearly erased you."
Phong bowed his head in apology. "I am sorry, my son. I did not mean to startle you. But I think you had best examine the remains more closely. Bob contacted me not long ago. It seems more of these drones attacked him as he was nearing his apartment. Kit reported a similar incident, but was cut off. I fear... the worst."
Matrix pulled a piece of the armor of plating from the wreckage. "AndrAIa... look."
AndrAIa kneeled down next to Matrix. "Phong... this is..."
"The Guardian insignia. Yes my child, I am afraid these drones were sent from the Supercomputer."
* * *
"So let me get this straight...," Timesprite said, yawning loudly. "We're being attacked... by the Guardians?"
"A lot's happened since you've been gone Timesprite," Bob said, sitting down at the conference table with the others. Most of the sprites in Mainframe had come together in the P.O.'s War Room, at Phong's request.
Matrix nodded. "The Guardian Collective has been infected by a Supervirus named Daemon. Kit, Bob, and I are the only three uninfected Guardians in the Net."
"Which is probably why you were targeted," Phong said.
"Daemon certainly wouldn't like to have Guardians around who weren't under her thumb," AndrAIa said.
"And now that Mainframe's back on the Net, it'd be a piece o' cake to attack us anytime," Mouse added.
"Wait a minute," AndrAIa said, "if these drones were designed to seek out Guardians, then..."
Phong looked around at the other sprites at the table. "Kit. She was cut off, right in the middle of her call."
"And Jareth," Bob said. "Can you get a fix on their locations?"
Phong typed a few keys on his console. "I am afraid not. Neither Jareth nor Kit are appearing on the Principle Office's scanners." Phong looked back up at the others. "I am afraid they may already be gone."
"Give me their last known locations," Bob said. "I'll check it out."
Phong complies, and Bob disappeared in a flash of golden light.
Most Chaotic Viruses tended to be nocturnal, and Timesprite flinched at the sudden brightness. Rubbing her eyes, she asked: "So what does it mean if they're gone? Were they deleted?"
"It... is possible," Phong said. "They may have also been captured. We have no way of knowing."
"Well, they're gone," Bob said, reappearing with another bright flash.
"Eep!" Timesprite said, covering her eyes.
Bob shot her a confused look, then shrugged and turned to Phong.
"I checked out Kit's apartment. No one there."
"And Jareth?" AndrAIa asked.
Bob held up a large black feather. "The bridge to Lost Angles is covered with these," he said. "These are blaster marks all over that support tower. You know, the one he likes to stand on?"
"I always knew that was an accident waiting to happen," Matrix grumbled.
"Okay, so they're gone," Mouse said. "The question is, what are we goin' to do about it?"
"Two options," Bob said. "One: We take a little trip to the Supercomputer and battle our way through User knows how many Viruses and Infected Guardians just to see if they're still processing..."
"Or Two," Matrix said, "We go back to bed and forget this whole thing ever happened."
"And we just let them keep Jareth?" Timesprite asked.
"Yup."
"What about Kit?" Dot asked pointedly.
Matrix paused, then let out a sigh. "All right," he sighed, "when do we leave?"
* * *
"Could you please stop pacing?" Kit asked. "You're making me nervous."
Jareth sighed and plopped down into a corner of the cell. After being abducted, the two had been locked in the darkest, dreariest dungeon the Guardians could find for them. At first, Jareth had been thrilled with his new surroundings. But the novelty had quickly worn off. He had gotten bored, and Kit, of course, was never happy with the situation.
"Can't you just, like, blast the door down or something?" Kit asked.
Both their Keytools had been taken from them, leaving them with no way to contact their friends and, more importantly, no way to break free.
In response to Kit's question, Jareth merely shrugged. "I dunno," he said.
"Well, could you TRY?"
"Yes, I could."
There was a brief pause, and Kit stared at Jareth expectantly. Jareth simply stood there.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Well, WILL you?"
"Will I what?"
"Try to break down the door!"
"Oh. Sure."
Jareth brought his hands together, a massive ball of energy forming between them.
"Stand back," he warned.
Jareth threw the ball directly at the door, where it caused the metal bars to shatter like glass, freeing the two imprisoned Guardians.
At least, that was the plan.
What actually happened was the ball of energy splashed harmlessly off the metal, leaving the bars unscathed.
Kit sighed, then slid down the wall until she was sitting dejectedly on the floor.
Jareth continued pacing.
* * *
"Is everybody ready?" Bob asked. Those who had decided to venture to the Supercomputer had gathered at Mainframe's harbor, where they stood, waiting expectantly.
In response to his question, virtually everyone present answered in the affirmative.
Matrix and AndrAIa stood apart from the others, resting against a pile of wooden crates. Matrix sat on the ground, his back resting against the pile. He grunted with satisfaction, cleaning his Gun with a piece of cloth. AndrAIa leaned against the wood, filing her nails. She held them up to the light, admiring their razor-sharp edge. Hexadecimal lay atop the crates, extending her own claws and comparing them to AndrAIa's.
"So, if you file them, does it take away any of the natural sharpness?" she asked.
"Depends on the file," AndrAIa answered. "Now, if you want them LETHALLY sharp..."
AndrAIa's words were cut off by the sounds of a loud, roaring engine, as Mouse's ship, Ship, flew into the harbor. Beneath it, held in a stasis field was a large, pulsating tear.
"That will do just fine," Bob said, using his Keytool download to analyze the tear. "Go ahead and let her go, Mouse!" he called.
Seated in the cockpit, Mouse nodded and punched the appropriate controls. The energy field dispersed, freeing the tear.
Bob concentrated, letting his eyes fall half-closed. He gathered his energy and prepared to--
"Oh, allow me, Bob!" Hexidecimal cried, breaking the Guardian's concentration.
The chaotic Virus flew out over the energy sea and quickly stabilized the tear into a portal that would take them all directly to the Supercomputer.
Bob sighed. At least he'd save his energy.
* * *
"Talk!" The infected Guardian practically screamed at Jareth.
The Viral Guardian switched to an innocent grin. "Sure. What do you want me to talk about? Oh, I know! I could tell you about the time I was nearly deleted! Should probably be a bit more specific, I've been nearly deleted lots of times. Why, there was this one time when my brother Megabyte-- I think he's dead now, unless he found some way or other to survive the Web... say, have you ever been to the Web? I keep meaning to go, but I never seem to get around to--"
"Shut up!"
"Well, make up your mind," Jareth said, sounding hurt. He folded his arms and put his dead down on the table. On the tabletop in front of him were Shark and Clip, his and Kit's Keytools, evidence of their being Guardians.
"You're clearly a Virus," the Guardian said, pacing back and forth across the interrogation room. "So, would you mind telling me exactly why you registered to the drones as a Guardian?"
"Not at all! You see, I AM a Guardian... I'm just sort of a Virus too. It's a long story."
The Guardian glared at him. "I'll bet most of your stories are. Never mind, that then. Why is it that your Viral energies match out Queen's?"
"That I don't know," Jareth said, resting his elbows on the table in front of him. "My Viral energies really shouldn't match anyone's, except maybe my sister's... or my Mother's, I suppose. I don't know, I've never really tried comparing my energies to anyone's. I wonder how that would turn out? Let's see, I KNOW I've got a scanner in her somewhere..." Jareth began to rummage through his pockets. "Unless it's in that big pile outside."
The Guardians had attempted to search Jareth for weapons, and had commanded him to empty his pockets. But, when the pile of junk reached waist height and Jareth showed no signs of slowing down, they had decided to skip it.
"Hey! Keep those hands where I can see them."
In response, Jareth stuck both hands directly into the Guardian's face.
"Viruses," he muttered. He placed Jareth's hands on the table. "All right, you mentioned your Mother. Who is she?"
"Oh, her name's Daemon, or Demon, or Dameon, or something like that. I haven't seen her in a long time, so it's hard to be sure, and... say, are feeling okay? You look kind of sick."
Sure enough, the Guardian suddenly began to look ill. "Did... did you say Daemon?"
"Yep! That's it. I remember perfectly, now that I've heard it said out loud. Have you ever met her? I seem to recall her saying something about having plans for the Supercomputer and the Guardian Collective. "
The Guardian was no longer listening. He walked over to the door of the interrogation room and opened it a crack, and began speaking to the people outside.
Jareth wondered what they were talking about.
* * *
Now that Jareth was gone, Kit had adopted his habit of pacing the cell. Things had been bad enough when it had been just the two of them, but now it was worse. Even when you don't understand half the things they say, she thought, it's still nice to have someone to talk to.
Suddenly, a sound from outside the cell made her jump. An unconscious Guardian being thrown past the cell made her jump even higher.
"You okay Kit?" Bob's face suddenly came into view from around the corner of the cell. Matrix appeared right behind him, massaging the knuckles of his right hand.
"I am now!" Kit said, as Bob began to charge up a large ball of energy.
"Stand back," Bob said, preparing to release the charge.
"No, Bob, wait, that won't..."
The energy ball struck the bars, but didn't even phase them.
"-- work," Kit finished. "Jareth tried that already."
"Let me try," Matrix said. Bob moved aside, allowing Matrix to move forward. Grasping the bars in his large hands, Matrix attempted to bend them, straining until the veins stood out on his arms and sweat began to trickle down his face.
"Matrix, stop that before you rupture something," Kit said. "Where are the others? Are you two alone?"
"No," Bob said, kneeling to examine the lock of the cage. "AndrAIa is keeping a lookout at the entrance, and Hex... well, she ran off somewhere. You know Hex." Bob stood, having remembered that he knew nothing about locks.
"Where's Jareth?" he asked.
* * *
"Where are we going?" Jareth asked innocently. The two Guardians escorting him down the long passageway didn't answer. After he had told these people that Daemon was his mother, they seemed less interested in him than in how Daemon would react to his presence. They were so preoccupied with this that they hadn't even noticed when Jareth had snatched the Keytools off the table. They had ignored every question, every irrelevant comment. In a nutshell, these people were BORING. Still, he couldn't help but wonder where he was being taken.
After walking for quite some distance, they finally reached a large, heavily armored door. One of the Guardians keyed a lengthy access code into the security panel beside the door, prompting a long string of beeps.
Jareth giggled. "Trick or treat," he said to himself. The Guardians ignored him.
With a loud hiss, the doors parted. Beyond them lay a large chamber, much like the War Room of the Principle Office back in Mainframe. But the technology here looked a great deal more sophisticated. There were more blinking and flashing things than Jareth could count.
In the center of the bleeping and beeping and flashing room was a large chair, like some sort of throne. And seated atop it, glaring condescendingly at everyone around her, sat--
"Mom?" Jareth asked.
The Virus in the throne started at the sound of the familiar voice. She glanced at the new arrivals, and was amazed to see two glowing green eyes staring at her from out of an ebony mask.
"Lore?" Daemon asked. "Is that you?" The Supervirus rose to her feet and walked toward Jareth, her eyes shining with delight as she recognized her oldest son. "Lore! It IS you! Why, I haven't seen you in minutes! But what happened to you? You've changed!"
"It's great to see you again Mom! You don't seem any different at all, except that now you're in charge of the Guardian Collective. I've changed? Really? But these are the same clothes I always... Oh, you don't mean I've changed, you mean I've CHANGED. Well, it's a long story. You see, there was this Guardian who really didn't know what he was doing... you remember, the one who came after you with a chainsaw?"
Daemon frowned. "I remember. But how do you? That was all before you were brought on-line."
"Well, that's the thing. When the city exploded, he transferred himself to me. The Guardian Protocols, his memories... everything."
Daemon looked very depressed by this news. "That's bad Lore."
"Call me Jareth," said Jareth. "I like Jareth better, now that... wait, why is that bad?"
"It means you've been corrupted. You're not a Virus anymore, but still not a Guardian. A little of both, but not enough of either. Worse, it means you can no longer fulfill your function."
Jareth was more than a little confused, a state that he was not unfamiliar with. "What are you talking about?"
"I first created you and your siblings so that if anything happened to me, the three of you could unite to form a backup copy. But now your code had been polluted by Guardian Protocols. You're useless to me."
Daemon gestured to the Guardians who had escorted Jareth to her.
"Destroy him," she said, a look of genuine sadness in her eyes. She turned away, mounting the steps back to her throne. The Infected Guardians caught Jareth by the shoulders, and pulled him back out of the room.
"Mom... Mother," Jareth started to say, but the doors closed, sealing off the chamber.
Jareth walked back to his cell in silence, his mask completely expressionless.
* * *
The Guardians knew something was wrong the moment they entered the cell block. A large, unfriendly looking green man and a Guardian in silver armor stood in the hall, apparently talking to one of the prisoners.
They didn't have a chance to do anything about it, however. No sooner had the Big Green Sprite spotted them than he drew the gun from his hip and shot them both, dead on.
Jareth looked from one smoldering body to the other. Both dissolved, as Sprites tend to do when they are deleted.
"Lucky," Jareth said. He walked over to the spot where Bob and Matrix stood, and leaned against the cage.
"Are you okay Jareth?" Bob asked.
"No," Jareth said simply. "Can we go now?"
"Not unless you can open this cage," Matrix grumbled.
Without saying a word, Jareth drew a piece of bent wire out of his pocket, stooped next to the keyhole, and picked the lock.
As the cage door swung open, Kit exited, staring in disbelief at Jareth.
"Why didn't you tell me you could pick the lock?"
"You didn't ask." Jareth began walking towards the exit.
"Yes I did! I asked if you could open the door."
The Viral Guardian turned and looked blankly at Kit. After a long pause, he said: "You asked if I could blast the door. You never said anything about picking a lock. If you had asked me to OPEN the door, I would have opened it. You didn't, so I didn't. Now, can we PLEASE leave?"
Without waiting for an answer, Jareth turned and walked out of the prison, with a very confused Kit staring after him.
* * *
On the driveway just outside Dot's Diner, a silvery orb appeared without warning. It remained just long enough for a lone figure to emerge, then vanished. Gazing around at her surroundings, the figure quickly got her bearings and entered the 50's-style Diner.
* * *
Dot Matrix looked up from her organizer as the bell above the Diner door sounded. To her surprise, the sprite standing in the doorway had peach colored skin, the kind she had seen on User Avatars in games. She was wearing armor almost identical to Bob's, but colored red. Dot was even more surprised when the sprite walked right up to her and addressed her by name, as if the two had been friends for quite some time.
"Hi Dot," the sprite said. "Is Jareth around?"
"Jareth isn't in the best of moods lately. He had a disagreement with... look, I don't mean to sound rude," Dot replied, staring at the sprite as if she expected a bird to pop out of her forehead on a small spring, "but who are you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry." The sprite in question extended her hand. "I'm Jo Ann Montgomery, User Guardian One, System Mainframe."
Dot looked at her outstretched hand, not making any effort to touch it. "User Guardian. Right."
"Oh, not this Mainframe. I'm from an alternate universe." The sprite... Jo Ann?... stated this as calmly as if she were ordering an energy shake. The User Guardian looked around expectantly. "Is Jareth here?"
That cleared it up. This wacko was a friend of Jareth's. "Just a second," Dot said, punching a few buttons on her organizer. Within a few moments, Jareth's face appeared.
"Talk, it's your quarter."
"Jareth, could you come to the Diner? There's someone here who wants to talk to you," Dot said, not bothering to ask what a quarter was.
The Vidwindow connection terminated and moments later a spinning mask flew through the doorway. Jareth appeared, materializing in a relaxed position on the countertop.
"What's up?" Jareth asked brightly, his encounter with Daemon all but forgotten. "Oh, hi Jo Ann," he added, noticing Jo Ann's presence.
"Hi Jareth!" Jo Ann said brightly.
Dot looked relieved. "You know this person?"
"Yup," Jareth stated. "Remember when I disappeared after the restart? Well, if any of you had bothered to ask where I'd been, I'd have told you about her.
Jo Ann unclipped a small case from her belt and handed it to Jareth. "Special delivery," she said.
The package contained a holo-disc, which Jareth examined, wearing his most bewildered looking mask. Unable to make heads or tails of it, he looked expectantly at first Dot, then Jo Ann.
"It's a holo-disc, Jareth," Dot said, taking it from him. She switched it on, and instantly holographic letters appeared, hovering just above the disc's surface.
Jareth stared at the letters blankly.
Dot stared at Jareth blankly.
"Well?" she asked. "Are you going to go?"
"Go? Go where?"
"Can't you read it Jareth?" Jo Ann asked.
Jareth shook his head.
"It's a wedding invitation," she explained. "Hex and Rab are getting married, and Hex wants you to be there."
"Rab?" Dot asked.
"He's a sprite Hexadecimal created using pieces of code from every male Guardian in Mainframe," Jo Ann explained.
"He's what you get if you run Ray, Matrix, Bob, and Wild Card through a blender," Jareth simplified.
"Wild Card?"
"Bob's brother," Jo Ann said helpfully.
"Bob had a brother?"
"He does now," Jareth shrugged.
Dot began to massage her temples. "Let me get this straight: Jareth is going to another universe to attend the wedding of his sister to sprite made up of bits of code that were taken from all the Guardians in Mainframe, including one that doesn't exist?"
"Yup. If Hex asks where I am, tell her I'm at her wedding." With that, Jareth followed Jo Ann out the door of the Diner.
"Whatever," Dot mumbled, closing her organizer. Dot got up from her seat, turned out the lights, and locked the doors as she left the Diner for the evening.
To Be Continued...
by Jareth, The Viral Guardian.
Chapter Four: Rejection
Matrix yawned loudly, then took another long swallow from his drink. Night had long since fallen on the System of Mainframe, and most of the other sprites in the City had gone to bed already.
AndrAIa, the beautiful Game Sprite, stood behind the register, dutifully wiping the countertop. All of the other customers had long since left Dot's Diner, but AndrAIa had volunteered to stay behind and lock up.
Neither said a word; in fact, Matrix had almost fallen asleep when the silence was shattered by a loud bark and a painful sounding crash.
"Frisket?" Matrix rose from his seat at the bar and ran out of the Diner, followed closely by AndrAIa.
Just outside the Diner, several small black discs hovered at eye level, each brandishing various weapons and sensory mechanisms. Frisket sat on the sidewalk, growling loudly. One of the discs lay on the street ahead of him, it's outer casing torn apart and it's internal components strewn all over the ground.
As soon as the black discs spotted Matrix, they swiveled all the weapons and targeted him. He quickly drew his Gun, but they fired before he could. He ducked into the diner, using the door frame for cover. Whatever these things were, they had firepower.
* * *
Bob walked down the streets of Kit's Sector, headed for his apartment building. Although he was capable of teleporting, he preferred to conserve his energy. After all, with Daemon on the loose, he never knew when he might need it.
Suddenly, Bob stopped short. He thought he'd heard something. Something high-pitched, like something he'd heard in a Space Invaders Game once. Bob spun around. Nothing.
Shrugging, Bob turned and once again began walking towards his home.
* * *
The windows in front of the Diner shattered under the force of the blasts. Several of the Black Discs hovered in through the broken window, showering the sprites inside with laser fire.
AndrAIa removed the small cylinder from her belt and pressed the small button on the side, lengthening it into a vicious looking, golden trident.
Frisket growled menacingly, baring his razor sharp teeth. The discs advanced without a second thought, almost as if they lacked the capacity for self preservation.
Within moments, the three sprites had made scrap metal of the hovering discs.
"Enzo, what WERE those things?" AndrAIa asked, sheathing her trident.
"Some sort of attack drones," Matrix said, bending over to examine the wreckage.
"But who in Mainframe would attack US?"
"No one in Mainframe," a new voice said, surprising both Matrix and AndrAIa. Both sprites spun around, drawing their weapons.
Matrix sighed, lowering his Gun. "Phong, don't DO that. I nearly erased you."
Phong bowed his head in apology. "I am sorry, my son. I did not mean to startle you. But I think you had best examine the remains more closely. Bob contacted me not long ago. It seems more of these drones attacked him as he was nearing his apartment. Kit reported a similar incident, but was cut off. I fear... the worst."
Matrix pulled a piece of the armor of plating from the wreckage. "AndrAIa... look."
AndrAIa kneeled down next to Matrix. "Phong... this is..."
"The Guardian insignia. Yes my child, I am afraid these drones were sent from the Supercomputer."
* * *
"So let me get this straight...," Timesprite said, yawning loudly. "We're being attacked... by the Guardians?"
"A lot's happened since you've been gone Timesprite," Bob said, sitting down at the conference table with the others. Most of the sprites in Mainframe had come together in the P.O.'s War Room, at Phong's request.
Matrix nodded. "The Guardian Collective has been infected by a Supervirus named Daemon. Kit, Bob, and I are the only three uninfected Guardians in the Net."
"Which is probably why you were targeted," Phong said.
"Daemon certainly wouldn't like to have Guardians around who weren't under her thumb," AndrAIa said.
"And now that Mainframe's back on the Net, it'd be a piece o' cake to attack us anytime," Mouse added.
"Wait a minute," AndrAIa said, "if these drones were designed to seek out Guardians, then..."
Phong looked around at the other sprites at the table. "Kit. She was cut off, right in the middle of her call."
"And Jareth," Bob said. "Can you get a fix on their locations?"
Phong typed a few keys on his console. "I am afraid not. Neither Jareth nor Kit are appearing on the Principle Office's scanners." Phong looked back up at the others. "I am afraid they may already be gone."
"Give me their last known locations," Bob said. "I'll check it out."
Phong complies, and Bob disappeared in a flash of golden light.
Most Chaotic Viruses tended to be nocturnal, and Timesprite flinched at the sudden brightness. Rubbing her eyes, she asked: "So what does it mean if they're gone? Were they deleted?"
"It... is possible," Phong said. "They may have also been captured. We have no way of knowing."
"Well, they're gone," Bob said, reappearing with another bright flash.
"Eep!" Timesprite said, covering her eyes.
Bob shot her a confused look, then shrugged and turned to Phong.
"I checked out Kit's apartment. No one there."
"And Jareth?" AndrAIa asked.
Bob held up a large black feather. "The bridge to Lost Angles is covered with these," he said. "These are blaster marks all over that support tower. You know, the one he likes to stand on?"
"I always knew that was an accident waiting to happen," Matrix grumbled.
"Okay, so they're gone," Mouse said. "The question is, what are we goin' to do about it?"
"Two options," Bob said. "One: We take a little trip to the Supercomputer and battle our way through User knows how many Viruses and Infected Guardians just to see if they're still processing..."
"Or Two," Matrix said, "We go back to bed and forget this whole thing ever happened."
"And we just let them keep Jareth?" Timesprite asked.
"Yup."
"What about Kit?" Dot asked pointedly.
Matrix paused, then let out a sigh. "All right," he sighed, "when do we leave?"
* * *
"Could you please stop pacing?" Kit asked. "You're making me nervous."
Jareth sighed and plopped down into a corner of the cell. After being abducted, the two had been locked in the darkest, dreariest dungeon the Guardians could find for them. At first, Jareth had been thrilled with his new surroundings. But the novelty had quickly worn off. He had gotten bored, and Kit, of course, was never happy with the situation.
"Can't you just, like, blast the door down or something?" Kit asked.
Both their Keytools had been taken from them, leaving them with no way to contact their friends and, more importantly, no way to break free.
In response to Kit's question, Jareth merely shrugged. "I dunno," he said.
"Well, could you TRY?"
"Yes, I could."
There was a brief pause, and Kit stared at Jareth expectantly. Jareth simply stood there.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Well, WILL you?"
"Will I what?"
"Try to break down the door!"
"Oh. Sure."
Jareth brought his hands together, a massive ball of energy forming between them.
"Stand back," he warned.
Jareth threw the ball directly at the door, where it caused the metal bars to shatter like glass, freeing the two imprisoned Guardians.
At least, that was the plan.
What actually happened was the ball of energy splashed harmlessly off the metal, leaving the bars unscathed.
Kit sighed, then slid down the wall until she was sitting dejectedly on the floor.
Jareth continued pacing.
* * *
"Is everybody ready?" Bob asked. Those who had decided to venture to the Supercomputer had gathered at Mainframe's harbor, where they stood, waiting expectantly.
In response to his question, virtually everyone present answered in the affirmative.
Matrix and AndrAIa stood apart from the others, resting against a pile of wooden crates. Matrix sat on the ground, his back resting against the pile. He grunted with satisfaction, cleaning his Gun with a piece of cloth. AndrAIa leaned against the wood, filing her nails. She held them up to the light, admiring their razor-sharp edge. Hexadecimal lay atop the crates, extending her own claws and comparing them to AndrAIa's.
"So, if you file them, does it take away any of the natural sharpness?" she asked.
"Depends on the file," AndrAIa answered. "Now, if you want them LETHALLY sharp..."
AndrAIa's words were cut off by the sounds of a loud, roaring engine, as Mouse's ship, Ship, flew into the harbor. Beneath it, held in a stasis field was a large, pulsating tear.
"That will do just fine," Bob said, using his Keytool download to analyze the tear. "Go ahead and let her go, Mouse!" he called.
Seated in the cockpit, Mouse nodded and punched the appropriate controls. The energy field dispersed, freeing the tear.
Bob concentrated, letting his eyes fall half-closed. He gathered his energy and prepared to--
"Oh, allow me, Bob!" Hexidecimal cried, breaking the Guardian's concentration.
The chaotic Virus flew out over the energy sea and quickly stabilized the tear into a portal that would take them all directly to the Supercomputer.
Bob sighed. At least he'd save his energy.
* * *
"Talk!" The infected Guardian practically screamed at Jareth.
The Viral Guardian switched to an innocent grin. "Sure. What do you want me to talk about? Oh, I know! I could tell you about the time I was nearly deleted! Should probably be a bit more specific, I've been nearly deleted lots of times. Why, there was this one time when my brother Megabyte-- I think he's dead now, unless he found some way or other to survive the Web... say, have you ever been to the Web? I keep meaning to go, but I never seem to get around to--"
"Shut up!"
"Well, make up your mind," Jareth said, sounding hurt. He folded his arms and put his dead down on the table. On the tabletop in front of him were Shark and Clip, his and Kit's Keytools, evidence of their being Guardians.
"You're clearly a Virus," the Guardian said, pacing back and forth across the interrogation room. "So, would you mind telling me exactly why you registered to the drones as a Guardian?"
"Not at all! You see, I AM a Guardian... I'm just sort of a Virus too. It's a long story."
The Guardian glared at him. "I'll bet most of your stories are. Never mind, that then. Why is it that your Viral energies match out Queen's?"
"That I don't know," Jareth said, resting his elbows on the table in front of him. "My Viral energies really shouldn't match anyone's, except maybe my sister's... or my Mother's, I suppose. I don't know, I've never really tried comparing my energies to anyone's. I wonder how that would turn out? Let's see, I KNOW I've got a scanner in her somewhere..." Jareth began to rummage through his pockets. "Unless it's in that big pile outside."
The Guardians had attempted to search Jareth for weapons, and had commanded him to empty his pockets. But, when the pile of junk reached waist height and Jareth showed no signs of slowing down, they had decided to skip it.
"Hey! Keep those hands where I can see them."
In response, Jareth stuck both hands directly into the Guardian's face.
"Viruses," he muttered. He placed Jareth's hands on the table. "All right, you mentioned your Mother. Who is she?"
"Oh, her name's Daemon, or Demon, or Dameon, or something like that. I haven't seen her in a long time, so it's hard to be sure, and... say, are feeling okay? You look kind of sick."
Sure enough, the Guardian suddenly began to look ill. "Did... did you say Daemon?"
"Yep! That's it. I remember perfectly, now that I've heard it said out loud. Have you ever met her? I seem to recall her saying something about having plans for the Supercomputer and the Guardian Collective. "
The Guardian was no longer listening. He walked over to the door of the interrogation room and opened it a crack, and began speaking to the people outside.
Jareth wondered what they were talking about.
* * *
Now that Jareth was gone, Kit had adopted his habit of pacing the cell. Things had been bad enough when it had been just the two of them, but now it was worse. Even when you don't understand half the things they say, she thought, it's still nice to have someone to talk to.
Suddenly, a sound from outside the cell made her jump. An unconscious Guardian being thrown past the cell made her jump even higher.
"You okay Kit?" Bob's face suddenly came into view from around the corner of the cell. Matrix appeared right behind him, massaging the knuckles of his right hand.
"I am now!" Kit said, as Bob began to charge up a large ball of energy.
"Stand back," Bob said, preparing to release the charge.
"No, Bob, wait, that won't..."
The energy ball struck the bars, but didn't even phase them.
"-- work," Kit finished. "Jareth tried that already."
"Let me try," Matrix said. Bob moved aside, allowing Matrix to move forward. Grasping the bars in his large hands, Matrix attempted to bend them, straining until the veins stood out on his arms and sweat began to trickle down his face.
"Matrix, stop that before you rupture something," Kit said. "Where are the others? Are you two alone?"
"No," Bob said, kneeling to examine the lock of the cage. "AndrAIa is keeping a lookout at the entrance, and Hex... well, she ran off somewhere. You know Hex." Bob stood, having remembered that he knew nothing about locks.
"Where's Jareth?" he asked.
* * *
"Where are we going?" Jareth asked innocently. The two Guardians escorting him down the long passageway didn't answer. After he had told these people that Daemon was his mother, they seemed less interested in him than in how Daemon would react to his presence. They were so preoccupied with this that they hadn't even noticed when Jareth had snatched the Keytools off the table. They had ignored every question, every irrelevant comment. In a nutshell, these people were BORING. Still, he couldn't help but wonder where he was being taken.
After walking for quite some distance, they finally reached a large, heavily armored door. One of the Guardians keyed a lengthy access code into the security panel beside the door, prompting a long string of beeps.
Jareth giggled. "Trick or treat," he said to himself. The Guardians ignored him.
With a loud hiss, the doors parted. Beyond them lay a large chamber, much like the War Room of the Principle Office back in Mainframe. But the technology here looked a great deal more sophisticated. There were more blinking and flashing things than Jareth could count.
In the center of the bleeping and beeping and flashing room was a large chair, like some sort of throne. And seated atop it, glaring condescendingly at everyone around her, sat--
"Mom?" Jareth asked.
The Virus in the throne started at the sound of the familiar voice. She glanced at the new arrivals, and was amazed to see two glowing green eyes staring at her from out of an ebony mask.
"Lore?" Daemon asked. "Is that you?" The Supervirus rose to her feet and walked toward Jareth, her eyes shining with delight as she recognized her oldest son. "Lore! It IS you! Why, I haven't seen you in minutes! But what happened to you? You've changed!"
"It's great to see you again Mom! You don't seem any different at all, except that now you're in charge of the Guardian Collective. I've changed? Really? But these are the same clothes I always... Oh, you don't mean I've changed, you mean I've CHANGED. Well, it's a long story. You see, there was this Guardian who really didn't know what he was doing... you remember, the one who came after you with a chainsaw?"
Daemon frowned. "I remember. But how do you? That was all before you were brought on-line."
"Well, that's the thing. When the city exploded, he transferred himself to me. The Guardian Protocols, his memories... everything."
Daemon looked very depressed by this news. "That's bad Lore."
"Call me Jareth," said Jareth. "I like Jareth better, now that... wait, why is that bad?"
"It means you've been corrupted. You're not a Virus anymore, but still not a Guardian. A little of both, but not enough of either. Worse, it means you can no longer fulfill your function."
Jareth was more than a little confused, a state that he was not unfamiliar with. "What are you talking about?"
"I first created you and your siblings so that if anything happened to me, the three of you could unite to form a backup copy. But now your code had been polluted by Guardian Protocols. You're useless to me."
Daemon gestured to the Guardians who had escorted Jareth to her.
"Destroy him," she said, a look of genuine sadness in her eyes. She turned away, mounting the steps back to her throne. The Infected Guardians caught Jareth by the shoulders, and pulled him back out of the room.
"Mom... Mother," Jareth started to say, but the doors closed, sealing off the chamber.
Jareth walked back to his cell in silence, his mask completely expressionless.
* * *
The Guardians knew something was wrong the moment they entered the cell block. A large, unfriendly looking green man and a Guardian in silver armor stood in the hall, apparently talking to one of the prisoners.
They didn't have a chance to do anything about it, however. No sooner had the Big Green Sprite spotted them than he drew the gun from his hip and shot them both, dead on.
Jareth looked from one smoldering body to the other. Both dissolved, as Sprites tend to do when they are deleted.
"Lucky," Jareth said. He walked over to the spot where Bob and Matrix stood, and leaned against the cage.
"Are you okay Jareth?" Bob asked.
"No," Jareth said simply. "Can we go now?"
"Not unless you can open this cage," Matrix grumbled.
Without saying a word, Jareth drew a piece of bent wire out of his pocket, stooped next to the keyhole, and picked the lock.
As the cage door swung open, Kit exited, staring in disbelief at Jareth.
"Why didn't you tell me you could pick the lock?"
"You didn't ask." Jareth began walking towards the exit.
"Yes I did! I asked if you could open the door."
The Viral Guardian turned and looked blankly at Kit. After a long pause, he said: "You asked if I could blast the door. You never said anything about picking a lock. If you had asked me to OPEN the door, I would have opened it. You didn't, so I didn't. Now, can we PLEASE leave?"
Without waiting for an answer, Jareth turned and walked out of the prison, with a very confused Kit staring after him.
* * *
On the driveway just outside Dot's Diner, a silvery orb appeared without warning. It remained just long enough for a lone figure to emerge, then vanished. Gazing around at her surroundings, the figure quickly got her bearings and entered the 50's-style Diner.
* * *
Dot Matrix looked up from her organizer as the bell above the Diner door sounded. To her surprise, the sprite standing in the doorway had peach colored skin, the kind she had seen on User Avatars in games. She was wearing armor almost identical to Bob's, but colored red. Dot was even more surprised when the sprite walked right up to her and addressed her by name, as if the two had been friends for quite some time.
"Hi Dot," the sprite said. "Is Jareth around?"
"Jareth isn't in the best of moods lately. He had a disagreement with... look, I don't mean to sound rude," Dot replied, staring at the sprite as if she expected a bird to pop out of her forehead on a small spring, "but who are you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry." The sprite in question extended her hand. "I'm Jo Ann Montgomery, User Guardian One, System Mainframe."
Dot looked at her outstretched hand, not making any effort to touch it. "User Guardian. Right."
"Oh, not this Mainframe. I'm from an alternate universe." The sprite... Jo Ann?... stated this as calmly as if she were ordering an energy shake. The User Guardian looked around expectantly. "Is Jareth here?"
That cleared it up. This wacko was a friend of Jareth's. "Just a second," Dot said, punching a few buttons on her organizer. Within a few moments, Jareth's face appeared.
"Talk, it's your quarter."
"Jareth, could you come to the Diner? There's someone here who wants to talk to you," Dot said, not bothering to ask what a quarter was.
The Vidwindow connection terminated and moments later a spinning mask flew through the doorway. Jareth appeared, materializing in a relaxed position on the countertop.
"What's up?" Jareth asked brightly, his encounter with Daemon all but forgotten. "Oh, hi Jo Ann," he added, noticing Jo Ann's presence.
"Hi Jareth!" Jo Ann said brightly.
Dot looked relieved. "You know this person?"
"Yup," Jareth stated. "Remember when I disappeared after the restart? Well, if any of you had bothered to ask where I'd been, I'd have told you about her.
Jo Ann unclipped a small case from her belt and handed it to Jareth. "Special delivery," she said.
The package contained a holo-disc, which Jareth examined, wearing his most bewildered looking mask. Unable to make heads or tails of it, he looked expectantly at first Dot, then Jo Ann.
"It's a holo-disc, Jareth," Dot said, taking it from him. She switched it on, and instantly holographic letters appeared, hovering just above the disc's surface.
Jareth stared at the letters blankly.
Dot stared at Jareth blankly.
"Well?" she asked. "Are you going to go?"
"Go? Go where?"
"Can't you read it Jareth?" Jo Ann asked.
Jareth shook his head.
"It's a wedding invitation," she explained. "Hex and Rab are getting married, and Hex wants you to be there."
"Rab?" Dot asked.
"He's a sprite Hexadecimal created using pieces of code from every male Guardian in Mainframe," Jo Ann explained.
"He's what you get if you run Ray, Matrix, Bob, and Wild Card through a blender," Jareth simplified.
"Wild Card?"
"Bob's brother," Jo Ann said helpfully.
"Bob had a brother?"
"He does now," Jareth shrugged.
Dot began to massage her temples. "Let me get this straight: Jareth is going to another universe to attend the wedding of his sister to sprite made up of bits of code that were taken from all the Guardians in Mainframe, including one that doesn't exist?"
"Yup. If Hex asks where I am, tell her I'm at her wedding." With that, Jareth followed Jo Ann out the door of the Diner.
"Whatever," Dot mumbled, closing her organizer. Dot got up from her seat, turned out the lights, and locked the doors as she left the Diner for the evening.
To Be Continued...