Ok, here's Chapter three. It was a lot easier to fix than Chapter two and it didn't take me nearly as long to revise. Thank God for small miracles. This fic is dedicated to Lucy, Kate, and Jonathan. You guys are the best! Standard disclaimers apply...yadda yadda yadda.
Enjoy!!
CHAPTER THREE
The next morning was full of tension as the sprites tried to make plans to defeat Daemon. Everyone was relieved that the two Matrix siblings had managed to work things out between them. The renegade and the system commander talked into the wee hours of the morning about their time apart and the different events that occurred. Matrix had shown up in the War Room with a small bruise on his shoulder that made everyone curious as to how he had acquired it. They figured it had something to do with Dot because the Command.com grinned smugly when Bob asked about what caused it. No other answer was given except the grin and Matrix's cheeks turning a darker shade of green.
After hours of trying to come up with a decent plan, Dot sighed finally and leaned against the consol, rubbing her tired eyes. "Ok, I think we have a basic idea of what's going on here. There is only one remaining system besides Mainframe and Daemon even said that she almost had it under her control. If that's true, then we only have our own resources to rely on. We have approximately two hundred CPUs at our disposal, which isn't much compared to the guardians. How many did you say they have, Bob?"
"Well, not counting the ones that are already in different systems across the Net, I'd say they have close to five hundred plus however many cadets Daemon's managed to infect. I think that would give her about seven hundred or so," the guardian replied solemnly.
"It's pretty obvious that we can't fight 'em with brute force, sugah. So, that means we'll have ta find a way ta outsmart her." Mouse stated.
"We could try infiltratin' the Principle Office, mates. I don't think the ruddy virals would be expectin' that." Surfr suggested from his spot next to Mouse by the circular map in the middle of the room.
"That's a good idea, Ray. I'm leaning toward that as well. The only problem would be to get in and delete Daemon as fast as possible without running into too much trouble. That would take a lot of planning." Bob agreed with a meaningful glance at Dot.
"I'll see what I can come up with." Dot replied with a small smile.
"Ok, I think we could all use a break. I'm all for going to the kitchen and grabbing an energy shake. Anyone care to join me?" AndrAIa asked as she stood up from her consol and stretched her tired muscles.
"I hear you." Matrix replied with a tired grin. He turned to ask Mouse and Ray, but the hacker and the search engine had already left. "Hm...guess they wanted to take a break too."
"Yeah, I think they did." AndrAIa commented with a knowing smirk.
"You two coming?" Matrix asked Bob and Dot.
"In a minute, Matrix." Dot responded with a grin.
"Alright, suit yourself." Matrix replied. He put his arm around AndrAIa's waist and the couple left the War Room.
Dot turned to Bob. The silver armored guardian smiled at her. She approached him and hugged him gratefully. "Thank you for everything, Bob." Dot said, looking up at her lover.
"No need to thank me. I'm glad you and Matrix worked things out." Bob replied and kissed her gently on her forehead.
Dot smiled at him radiantly, leaving the guardian weak in the knees as always. She wrapped her arms around his neck and guided his lips to hers, kissing him passionately to show her gratitude while savoring the feelings he invoked in her. Bob held her tightly and returned her kiss with equal vigor, losing himself completely. They parted after a minute for lack of air.
"Let's go meet the others." Bob said breathlessly, giving her a bright smile. He held out his arm to her and the Command.com accepted it with a smile.
They walked to the P. O.'s kitchen. The others were already there, including Little Enzo and, to Bob and Dot's amazement...Hexadecimal.
Before either of the sprites could recover from the shock of seeing the ex-virus sitting at the table chatting with AndrAIa, Little Enzo noticed his hero had entered the room. The little sprite jumped out of his seat and with incredible speed, tackled the guardian, accompanied with his usual shout. "BOB!!!"
Bob shook his head, then looked up at the boy sitting on his stomach. "Hey, Enzo, what's processing?" he asked with a grin.
"Wow, Bob! This is so alphanumeric!! High density! We're almost like roommates!! We can have so much fun!" Enzo said excitedly, flailing his arms around for emphasis.
"Of course we can, but do you mind holding that thought so I can access some energy?" Bob replied.
"Oh, yeah sure, Bob," Enzo climbed off him and reseated himself at the table. Bob stood and walked over to the counter where Dot was making the shakes for everyone with the help of AndrAIa.
"Your usual, Bob?" Dot asked.
"Yes, please," he answered and kissed her cheek.
"Bob, would ya cut that out already? You're makin' me gag over here!" Mouse said with a smirk as she walked into the kitchen with Ray behind her.
"Oh look who's talking! At least I'm not the one who holds the record for the longest kiss in the Supercomputer, Mouse," the guardian teased.
"Alright, fine, ya got me there. Now go sit down before I kick your ASCII," the hacker replied and went to help Dot and AndrAIa. Bob obeyed her with a sly grin.
"Do you really hold the record for the longest kiss, luv?" Ray asked curiously.
Mouse looked at him incredulously and raised one fiery eyebrow. "What do you think, sugah?"
"Never mind." Ray said shortly.
Dot and the others finished making the shakes and passed them around the table.
"Oooh what's this?" Hex asked excitedly as she looked at the shake.
"It's uh...it's an energy shake, Hex. You drink it and it replenishes your energy." Bob answered her awkwardly.
"What's it taste like?" Hex inquired looking at Dot.
"Well, they come in different flavors. You can choose any kind you want," the Command.com replied.
"So what flavor is mine?" the ex-virus asked.
"Yours is strawberry. I didn't know what kind you'd like so I just went with that one. Try it, you might like it." Dot said and took a sip of her own.
Hex did and the group soon regretted giving her any more energy. She liked the shake very much and proceeded to ask question after question about the different flavors they could come in and what the recipe was to make them. Then, when Dot got tired of answering her questions, she turned to Bob and began asking him.
Dot looked around the table at her friends. They'd come so far in the past few months. It was nice that even with the viral threat hanging over their heads, they could still find a little bit of time to relax. She knew it wasn't going to last, but she was going to enjoy what little time they had.
An hour and a half later, after tons of questions from Hex and a few more shakes, Dot decided it was time to get back to work. "Guys, I think it's time we head back to the War Room," she said reluctantly.
"Yeah, you're right, sis." Matrix said.
But before the group could even get up from the table, a vid window appeared in front of Dot. It was Phong.
"My child, I believe you had better report to the War Room immediately," he said with a grave expression on his face.
"I'll be right there, Phong." Dot replied, slipping into commander mode. She left the kitchen quickly with the others close behind her. When they arrived, they found Phong and Specks looking over a consol screen.
"Oh dear, I'm afraid this is not good." Phong was saying as they entered.
"What's not good, Phong?" Dot asked as she walked up to him.
"My child, it seems that a majority of the citizens have seen the wanted posters. It seems to have caused a bit of a problem," the venerable sprite replied.
"What kind of problem?" Dot asked as she tried to get a look at the consol.
Phong and Specks said nothing. Specks turned the screen toward her. On it, hundreds of binomes were shown standing outside the P. O. shouting that they demanded to see the Command.com. Some of the binomes were holding copies of the posters.
"Uh oh, sugah, Phong's right. This doesn't look good." Mouse said from behind Dot.
"What are you going to do about it, Dot?" AndrAIa asked as she also looked at the screen.
"I say we go out there and break it up." Matrix said with a scowl as he removed Gun from its place on his hip.
"No, Matrix, put it away. They want the Command.com, so be it." Dot said decisively.
"What? You're gonna go out there and face a mob, honey?" Mouse asked, her eyes going wide with shock.
"Dot, I don't think that's a good idea." Bob said worriedly as he put a hand on her arm.
"We'll come with you." AndrAIa spoke up.
"She's right, luv, you can't go out there alone." Ray agreed.
"You're going to stay in the P. O. I'm going out there and giving the people what they want. They want to speak to me and they have every right to that request. I'm going alone end of file." Dot said in a tone that clearly stated she was not to be argued with, "You can keep watch from here and if anything happens, I know you'll be there." That said, she turned and left the room
"She's got guts, mate, that's for sure." Ray said to Bob.
"Yep, that's Dot for you." Bob replied as he watched his lover exit the P. O. with a worried frown on his face.
~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~
Dot went outside of the Principle Office and faced what looked to her like half the population of Mainframe all shouting angrily. The shouts died down as she approached. She cleared her throat and addressed them. "Citizens of Mainframe, what's the problem?"
A one binome, who was apparently the leader, stepped forward. "Ms. Matrix, we want to know the meaning of these posters."
Dot could have sworn that she had seen the binome somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where. She ignored the feeling for now and concentrated on answering the question. "There is a super virus who plans to take over the Net. Her name is Daemon and I received a message from her last night. She said that Mainframe was the only system she has yet to conquer along with System Alpha, but according to her, she's almost gained control of that system." Dot told them, hoping that it gave them some security.
"And why is it, Ms. Matrix, that you are worth more than the two guardians?" the binome asked, holding up her wanted poster.
"Honestly, I can't tell you that because I don't know myself. It's obvious why she wants Bob and Matrix, but she didn't say anything about me. My theory right now is that if she can get to me, the system will be easier to take over. Other than that, I don't know," she answered truthfully.
"Well, what's to stop her from attacking us right now? She could be here at anytime and you're still making plans. You don't even have a solid plan to defeat her do you?" the binome asked with a scowl.
"At this time we don't, but we do have a definite idea of how we are going to stop her." Dot replied, trying to ebb the rising fear she felt as the mob seemed to get angrier at her answer.
"Oh really? Do tell," the binome replied sarcastically.
Dot knew for sure that she didn't like this guy at all. Something's not right about him. "We do know that the best way we can stop her would be to infiltrate the Principle Office in the Supercomputer. We can't use force because we don't have the resources," she explained.
"What were Daemon's demands?" the binome asked.
Dot sighed; she knew this one had to come up sooner or later. "She says that if we surrender, she will not harm the system, but if not..." she trailed off.
"Mainframe is doomed," the binome finished for her.
"Yes." Dot answered sadly.
"Why don't we just turn you in? Daemon said she would spare us if we surrendered," the binome said. This statement was met with shouts of agreement from the crowd. The mob began to advance on her.
'Well, Dot, this is a fine mess you've gotten yourself into,' she thought fearfully. She started to back away from the crowd, but paused when she heard the sound of a portal forming behind her. She turned to see Bob coming out of the portal with Matrix and AndrAIa right behind him with their weapons ready.
"Hey, pretty lady. Need some help?" Bob asked her with a grin.
"Definitely." Dot answered gratefully.
Matrix let out a low growl and fired Gun into the air. The crowd was quiet immediately and looked fearful of the renegade. "I think you should all go home before it gets ugly. And don't you ever threaten my sister again," he said scornfully.
Almost as one, the crowd turned and fled as fast as their little legs could carry them. Matrix turned to his sister. "You alright, Dot?" he asked her, the concern showing where the anger had been seconds ago.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you," she answered, giving her brother a weak smile.
"May I suggest we go back inside before anything else happens?" AndrAIa asked as she minimized her trident.
"No objections here." Dot replied and the group returned to the War Room.
~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~
"Well, that was a cheerful bunch." Ray said when the four sprites returned.
"I'll say." Matrix replied bitterly. He leaned against the wall and brooded.
"This is ridiculous, Dot! I don't understand why, after all you've done for these people, they'd turn on ya like that!" Mouse exclaimed angrily. The hacker was obviously not pleased with the situation. When the Mouse was angry about something, she let everyone know about it. Not that anyone could blame her in this case.
"Calm down, Mouse, I knew it was coming." Dot said and sat down in a chair near her workstation.
"You did?" AndrAIa asked, not bothering to conceal her surprise.
"I don't get it, Dot, you knew it was coming? Then why in the Net did you go out there?" Bob asked.
"I knew it was coming because it's one of the basic rules of taking over a system. To get the system faster, you do everything you can to turn the citizens against the leader. It just happened sooner then I expected. I went out there to show them and Daemon that I'm not afraid of what she can or will do. This mob means that Daemon has someone on the inside. My bet would be it's that binome that led the whole thing. Right now, I think it's time we got back to work," she said seriously.
No one argued.
~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~
It was well after midnight when they decided to call it a night. Of course, that was only because Mouse kept dozing off, but waking up every time her head drooped. Ray and AndrAIa had already fallen asleep. The game sprite had her head rested on her arms and the search engine was using his board as a makeshift bed. Bob and Matrix were making a valiant effort to stay awake, but were unfortunately failing miserably.
Dot woke them all up and sent them off to bed, telling them to be ready for another planning session later that morning. This was met by a groan from the sleepy group of sprites. She didn't want to be so forceful about it, but trying to figure out how to beat Daemon was a serious matter and they all knew it.
Dot sat down at her workstation and continued to work until she heard someone clear his or her throat to get her attention. She turned around in her chair.
"Dot, I think it's time you call it a night." AndrAIa told her.
Dot sighed and turned back to face her consol. "I don't think I can, Andri."
The game sprite regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, and then went to stand next to her. "Why not?"
Dot looked at her. "You're not easily scared are you?"
AndrAIa thought for a moment, then replied, "No, I guess not. Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm scared out of my mind. I'll be honest with you, Andri, I have no idea how in the Net I'm going to pull this off. For the first time in my life, I don't have a plan"
Even after all we came up with today?" AndrAIa asked. She would never admit it to anyone, but she felt a little shiver of fear creep through her at Dot's statement.
"I've gone over the ideas we had again and again, but they just won't work. They don't go into details or examine all the possible outcomes. Any number of things could happen before we could even get a mile away from the Principle Office and we don't have much time left." Dot answered worriedly.
"Dot, I know you, you'll think of something. You always do."
The Command.com smiled at her. "Thanks, Andri. I really appreciate it."
"Anytime. Now, I suggest you get some sleep. You look like you haven't had a decent night's downtime in days."
"It feels that way."
"Come on, let's get out of here. I'm sick of seeing this room. I see it every time I close my eyes, I've been in here so much." AndrAIa joked. She walked to the door and waited for Dot to follow her.
Dot laughed and grabbed her organizer. She followed AndrAIa out of the War Room and the two women walked down the hall to the guest quarters. They reached AndrAIa and Matrix's room a few seconds later.
"Good night, Dot." AndrAIa said, opening the door. The sound of Matrix's snoring drifted out of the room.
"Good night, Andri, I'll see you tomorrow." Dot replied with a smile.
AndrAIa closed the door and Dot continued down the hall. She had almost reached her room when she felt something prick her in the arm. She let out a small cry and turned to see a male sprite she didn't recognize injecting her with something. He smiled maliciously at her and she felt like the world was spinning. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was a guardian icon with green infection veins pulsing on his chest.
~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~
End of Chapter Three
Ok, now for what I'd like to call "The Thank You section":
Dragonmaster: Thanks D. M.! I really appreciate it! Talk to you later!
Rebecca: I'm glad it caught your interest! Thank you!
Khartoum: Thank you for the suggestion. I'll keep that in mind. I don't really know what I'm going to do with Megs, but my friend Kate would love for me to bring him back. ;)
Green Goddess: I really hope you liked it!
Sirinial: No, he won't be Daemon's bitch if I do bring him back, you nut! ;)
Askani Blue: I wrote it as fast as I could, I swear! Hope you liked it! :)
Alrighty, well, that was short. We really need to fix that people, my fingers aren't even cramped. I can't encourage you enough to review! If I don't get any reviews, I won't continue the story. Thank you again to all who did review and I hope you liked this chapter. Stay Frosty!!
Enjoy!!
CHAPTER THREE
The next morning was full of tension as the sprites tried to make plans to defeat Daemon. Everyone was relieved that the two Matrix siblings had managed to work things out between them. The renegade and the system commander talked into the wee hours of the morning about their time apart and the different events that occurred. Matrix had shown up in the War Room with a small bruise on his shoulder that made everyone curious as to how he had acquired it. They figured it had something to do with Dot because the Command.com grinned smugly when Bob asked about what caused it. No other answer was given except the grin and Matrix's cheeks turning a darker shade of green.
After hours of trying to come up with a decent plan, Dot sighed finally and leaned against the consol, rubbing her tired eyes. "Ok, I think we have a basic idea of what's going on here. There is only one remaining system besides Mainframe and Daemon even said that she almost had it under her control. If that's true, then we only have our own resources to rely on. We have approximately two hundred CPUs at our disposal, which isn't much compared to the guardians. How many did you say they have, Bob?"
"Well, not counting the ones that are already in different systems across the Net, I'd say they have close to five hundred plus however many cadets Daemon's managed to infect. I think that would give her about seven hundred or so," the guardian replied solemnly.
"It's pretty obvious that we can't fight 'em with brute force, sugah. So, that means we'll have ta find a way ta outsmart her." Mouse stated.
"We could try infiltratin' the Principle Office, mates. I don't think the ruddy virals would be expectin' that." Surfr suggested from his spot next to Mouse by the circular map in the middle of the room.
"That's a good idea, Ray. I'm leaning toward that as well. The only problem would be to get in and delete Daemon as fast as possible without running into too much trouble. That would take a lot of planning." Bob agreed with a meaningful glance at Dot.
"I'll see what I can come up with." Dot replied with a small smile.
"Ok, I think we could all use a break. I'm all for going to the kitchen and grabbing an energy shake. Anyone care to join me?" AndrAIa asked as she stood up from her consol and stretched her tired muscles.
"I hear you." Matrix replied with a tired grin. He turned to ask Mouse and Ray, but the hacker and the search engine had already left. "Hm...guess they wanted to take a break too."
"Yeah, I think they did." AndrAIa commented with a knowing smirk.
"You two coming?" Matrix asked Bob and Dot.
"In a minute, Matrix." Dot responded with a grin.
"Alright, suit yourself." Matrix replied. He put his arm around AndrAIa's waist and the couple left the War Room.
Dot turned to Bob. The silver armored guardian smiled at her. She approached him and hugged him gratefully. "Thank you for everything, Bob." Dot said, looking up at her lover.
"No need to thank me. I'm glad you and Matrix worked things out." Bob replied and kissed her gently on her forehead.
Dot smiled at him radiantly, leaving the guardian weak in the knees as always. She wrapped her arms around his neck and guided his lips to hers, kissing him passionately to show her gratitude while savoring the feelings he invoked in her. Bob held her tightly and returned her kiss with equal vigor, losing himself completely. They parted after a minute for lack of air.
"Let's go meet the others." Bob said breathlessly, giving her a bright smile. He held out his arm to her and the Command.com accepted it with a smile.
They walked to the P. O.'s kitchen. The others were already there, including Little Enzo and, to Bob and Dot's amazement...Hexadecimal.
Before either of the sprites could recover from the shock of seeing the ex-virus sitting at the table chatting with AndrAIa, Little Enzo noticed his hero had entered the room. The little sprite jumped out of his seat and with incredible speed, tackled the guardian, accompanied with his usual shout. "BOB!!!"
Bob shook his head, then looked up at the boy sitting on his stomach. "Hey, Enzo, what's processing?" he asked with a grin.
"Wow, Bob! This is so alphanumeric!! High density! We're almost like roommates!! We can have so much fun!" Enzo said excitedly, flailing his arms around for emphasis.
"Of course we can, but do you mind holding that thought so I can access some energy?" Bob replied.
"Oh, yeah sure, Bob," Enzo climbed off him and reseated himself at the table. Bob stood and walked over to the counter where Dot was making the shakes for everyone with the help of AndrAIa.
"Your usual, Bob?" Dot asked.
"Yes, please," he answered and kissed her cheek.
"Bob, would ya cut that out already? You're makin' me gag over here!" Mouse said with a smirk as she walked into the kitchen with Ray behind her.
"Oh look who's talking! At least I'm not the one who holds the record for the longest kiss in the Supercomputer, Mouse," the guardian teased.
"Alright, fine, ya got me there. Now go sit down before I kick your ASCII," the hacker replied and went to help Dot and AndrAIa. Bob obeyed her with a sly grin.
"Do you really hold the record for the longest kiss, luv?" Ray asked curiously.
Mouse looked at him incredulously and raised one fiery eyebrow. "What do you think, sugah?"
"Never mind." Ray said shortly.
Dot and the others finished making the shakes and passed them around the table.
"Oooh what's this?" Hex asked excitedly as she looked at the shake.
"It's uh...it's an energy shake, Hex. You drink it and it replenishes your energy." Bob answered her awkwardly.
"What's it taste like?" Hex inquired looking at Dot.
"Well, they come in different flavors. You can choose any kind you want," the Command.com replied.
"So what flavor is mine?" the ex-virus asked.
"Yours is strawberry. I didn't know what kind you'd like so I just went with that one. Try it, you might like it." Dot said and took a sip of her own.
Hex did and the group soon regretted giving her any more energy. She liked the shake very much and proceeded to ask question after question about the different flavors they could come in and what the recipe was to make them. Then, when Dot got tired of answering her questions, she turned to Bob and began asking him.
Dot looked around the table at her friends. They'd come so far in the past few months. It was nice that even with the viral threat hanging over their heads, they could still find a little bit of time to relax. She knew it wasn't going to last, but she was going to enjoy what little time they had.
An hour and a half later, after tons of questions from Hex and a few more shakes, Dot decided it was time to get back to work. "Guys, I think it's time we head back to the War Room," she said reluctantly.
"Yeah, you're right, sis." Matrix said.
But before the group could even get up from the table, a vid window appeared in front of Dot. It was Phong.
"My child, I believe you had better report to the War Room immediately," he said with a grave expression on his face.
"I'll be right there, Phong." Dot replied, slipping into commander mode. She left the kitchen quickly with the others close behind her. When they arrived, they found Phong and Specks looking over a consol screen.
"Oh dear, I'm afraid this is not good." Phong was saying as they entered.
"What's not good, Phong?" Dot asked as she walked up to him.
"My child, it seems that a majority of the citizens have seen the wanted posters. It seems to have caused a bit of a problem," the venerable sprite replied.
"What kind of problem?" Dot asked as she tried to get a look at the consol.
Phong and Specks said nothing. Specks turned the screen toward her. On it, hundreds of binomes were shown standing outside the P. O. shouting that they demanded to see the Command.com. Some of the binomes were holding copies of the posters.
"Uh oh, sugah, Phong's right. This doesn't look good." Mouse said from behind Dot.
"What are you going to do about it, Dot?" AndrAIa asked as she also looked at the screen.
"I say we go out there and break it up." Matrix said with a scowl as he removed Gun from its place on his hip.
"No, Matrix, put it away. They want the Command.com, so be it." Dot said decisively.
"What? You're gonna go out there and face a mob, honey?" Mouse asked, her eyes going wide with shock.
"Dot, I don't think that's a good idea." Bob said worriedly as he put a hand on her arm.
"We'll come with you." AndrAIa spoke up.
"She's right, luv, you can't go out there alone." Ray agreed.
"You're going to stay in the P. O. I'm going out there and giving the people what they want. They want to speak to me and they have every right to that request. I'm going alone end of file." Dot said in a tone that clearly stated she was not to be argued with, "You can keep watch from here and if anything happens, I know you'll be there." That said, she turned and left the room
"She's got guts, mate, that's for sure." Ray said to Bob.
"Yep, that's Dot for you." Bob replied as he watched his lover exit the P. O. with a worried frown on his face.
~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~
Dot went outside of the Principle Office and faced what looked to her like half the population of Mainframe all shouting angrily. The shouts died down as she approached. She cleared her throat and addressed them. "Citizens of Mainframe, what's the problem?"
A one binome, who was apparently the leader, stepped forward. "Ms. Matrix, we want to know the meaning of these posters."
Dot could have sworn that she had seen the binome somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where. She ignored the feeling for now and concentrated on answering the question. "There is a super virus who plans to take over the Net. Her name is Daemon and I received a message from her last night. She said that Mainframe was the only system she has yet to conquer along with System Alpha, but according to her, she's almost gained control of that system." Dot told them, hoping that it gave them some security.
"And why is it, Ms. Matrix, that you are worth more than the two guardians?" the binome asked, holding up her wanted poster.
"Honestly, I can't tell you that because I don't know myself. It's obvious why she wants Bob and Matrix, but she didn't say anything about me. My theory right now is that if she can get to me, the system will be easier to take over. Other than that, I don't know," she answered truthfully.
"Well, what's to stop her from attacking us right now? She could be here at anytime and you're still making plans. You don't even have a solid plan to defeat her do you?" the binome asked with a scowl.
"At this time we don't, but we do have a definite idea of how we are going to stop her." Dot replied, trying to ebb the rising fear she felt as the mob seemed to get angrier at her answer.
"Oh really? Do tell," the binome replied sarcastically.
Dot knew for sure that she didn't like this guy at all. Something's not right about him. "We do know that the best way we can stop her would be to infiltrate the Principle Office in the Supercomputer. We can't use force because we don't have the resources," she explained.
"What were Daemon's demands?" the binome asked.
Dot sighed; she knew this one had to come up sooner or later. "She says that if we surrender, she will not harm the system, but if not..." she trailed off.
"Mainframe is doomed," the binome finished for her.
"Yes." Dot answered sadly.
"Why don't we just turn you in? Daemon said she would spare us if we surrendered," the binome said. This statement was met with shouts of agreement from the crowd. The mob began to advance on her.
'Well, Dot, this is a fine mess you've gotten yourself into,' she thought fearfully. She started to back away from the crowd, but paused when she heard the sound of a portal forming behind her. She turned to see Bob coming out of the portal with Matrix and AndrAIa right behind him with their weapons ready.
"Hey, pretty lady. Need some help?" Bob asked her with a grin.
"Definitely." Dot answered gratefully.
Matrix let out a low growl and fired Gun into the air. The crowd was quiet immediately and looked fearful of the renegade. "I think you should all go home before it gets ugly. And don't you ever threaten my sister again," he said scornfully.
Almost as one, the crowd turned and fled as fast as their little legs could carry them. Matrix turned to his sister. "You alright, Dot?" he asked her, the concern showing where the anger had been seconds ago.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you," she answered, giving her brother a weak smile.
"May I suggest we go back inside before anything else happens?" AndrAIa asked as she minimized her trident.
"No objections here." Dot replied and the group returned to the War Room.
~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~
"Well, that was a cheerful bunch." Ray said when the four sprites returned.
"I'll say." Matrix replied bitterly. He leaned against the wall and brooded.
"This is ridiculous, Dot! I don't understand why, after all you've done for these people, they'd turn on ya like that!" Mouse exclaimed angrily. The hacker was obviously not pleased with the situation. When the Mouse was angry about something, she let everyone know about it. Not that anyone could blame her in this case.
"Calm down, Mouse, I knew it was coming." Dot said and sat down in a chair near her workstation.
"You did?" AndrAIa asked, not bothering to conceal her surprise.
"I don't get it, Dot, you knew it was coming? Then why in the Net did you go out there?" Bob asked.
"I knew it was coming because it's one of the basic rules of taking over a system. To get the system faster, you do everything you can to turn the citizens against the leader. It just happened sooner then I expected. I went out there to show them and Daemon that I'm not afraid of what she can or will do. This mob means that Daemon has someone on the inside. My bet would be it's that binome that led the whole thing. Right now, I think it's time we got back to work," she said seriously.
No one argued.
~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~
It was well after midnight when they decided to call it a night. Of course, that was only because Mouse kept dozing off, but waking up every time her head drooped. Ray and AndrAIa had already fallen asleep. The game sprite had her head rested on her arms and the search engine was using his board as a makeshift bed. Bob and Matrix were making a valiant effort to stay awake, but were unfortunately failing miserably.
Dot woke them all up and sent them off to bed, telling them to be ready for another planning session later that morning. This was met by a groan from the sleepy group of sprites. She didn't want to be so forceful about it, but trying to figure out how to beat Daemon was a serious matter and they all knew it.
Dot sat down at her workstation and continued to work until she heard someone clear his or her throat to get her attention. She turned around in her chair.
"Dot, I think it's time you call it a night." AndrAIa told her.
Dot sighed and turned back to face her consol. "I don't think I can, Andri."
The game sprite regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, and then went to stand next to her. "Why not?"
Dot looked at her. "You're not easily scared are you?"
AndrAIa thought for a moment, then replied, "No, I guess not. Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm scared out of my mind. I'll be honest with you, Andri, I have no idea how in the Net I'm going to pull this off. For the first time in my life, I don't have a plan"
Even after all we came up with today?" AndrAIa asked. She would never admit it to anyone, but she felt a little shiver of fear creep through her at Dot's statement.
"I've gone over the ideas we had again and again, but they just won't work. They don't go into details or examine all the possible outcomes. Any number of things could happen before we could even get a mile away from the Principle Office and we don't have much time left." Dot answered worriedly.
"Dot, I know you, you'll think of something. You always do."
The Command.com smiled at her. "Thanks, Andri. I really appreciate it."
"Anytime. Now, I suggest you get some sleep. You look like you haven't had a decent night's downtime in days."
"It feels that way."
"Come on, let's get out of here. I'm sick of seeing this room. I see it every time I close my eyes, I've been in here so much." AndrAIa joked. She walked to the door and waited for Dot to follow her.
Dot laughed and grabbed her organizer. She followed AndrAIa out of the War Room and the two women walked down the hall to the guest quarters. They reached AndrAIa and Matrix's room a few seconds later.
"Good night, Dot." AndrAIa said, opening the door. The sound of Matrix's snoring drifted out of the room.
"Good night, Andri, I'll see you tomorrow." Dot replied with a smile.
AndrAIa closed the door and Dot continued down the hall. She had almost reached her room when she felt something prick her in the arm. She let out a small cry and turned to see a male sprite she didn't recognize injecting her with something. He smiled maliciously at her and she felt like the world was spinning. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was a guardian icon with green infection veins pulsing on his chest.
~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~ ~(V)~
End of Chapter Three
Ok, now for what I'd like to call "The Thank You section":
Dragonmaster: Thanks D. M.! I really appreciate it! Talk to you later!
Rebecca: I'm glad it caught your interest! Thank you!
Khartoum: Thank you for the suggestion. I'll keep that in mind. I don't really know what I'm going to do with Megs, but my friend Kate would love for me to bring him back. ;)
Green Goddess: I really hope you liked it!
Sirinial: No, he won't be Daemon's bitch if I do bring him back, you nut! ;)
Askani Blue: I wrote it as fast as I could, I swear! Hope you liked it! :)
Alrighty, well, that was short. We really need to fix that people, my fingers aren't even cramped. I can't encourage you enough to review! If I don't get any reviews, I won't continue the story. Thank you again to all who did review and I hope you liked this chapter. Stay Frosty!!