v.05.08 - So Be It
"I just don't know what happened to me Phong..." Dot said. "And the way he looked at me when I was sitting there on the floor..."
The old sprite shook his head sorrowfully.
"My child, you must avoid him at all costs. What you are doing now is only self-destructive."
The looked at him in horror. "But Phong-"
"No, Dot. This is how it must be." He wagged a long finger at her. "You will not go to see him again. Promise me this."
"I, I promise, Phong." The green sprite's jaw was shaking. "I guess I should get back to work. Talk to you later."
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"Tell him I'll meet him there!" Hexadecimal said in the background as she left the room and AndrAIa pulled up a vidwin. The two of them had been working on Hex' little makeover for so long that light was returning to the sky outside.
"Bob, yeah, I'm sorry to wake you, but Hex wanted me to tell you she'd meet you at the...meeting."
The guardian just groaned an agreement and rolled over in the bed. He really didn't care at the moment. He hadn't wanted her to come to begin with.
AndrAIa minimized the vidwindow and called Hex back into the room.
"Okay, let's get you put together!"
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"I want to go straight to the Academy!" Enzo exclaimed through a vidwindow to Dot.
"Are you sure, Enzo? I mean, you could come home for a while and enroll next semester..." The gave him a gentle and hopeful smile.
"Sorry, Dot. Matrix already has me enrolled." The young sprite, though trying to hide it, was beaming with joy.
"Oh, alright then." Dot nodded, masking her disappointment.
"Oh, and Matrix is going into the Academy too!"
"What?" The green female was completely surprised. "I, I didn't know...he didn't tell me."
"It's pretty cool, though, isn't it?" Enzo waited for her response.
"Definately, Enzo. I think it's..." Dot took a nano to choose the right word. "Alphanumeric."
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"Can I see him yet?" It had been micros since Ray's surgery had ended, and she was on the edge of her seat waiting to see her love.
"I suppose." The nurse said wearily - this sprite had been asking her all night to see this guy. "Be quick - he's not supposed to have visitors for another cycle or so."
Mouse rushed into the hospital room eagerly, and gently placed her hand on his.
"How do you feel, Honey?"
Tracer had a feeling that Mouse had spoken to him. He'd heard a muffled voice, and was hoping it was hers. With his head bandaged over the eyes and ears, he didn't really know much about what was going on around him.
"Mouse?" He spoke slowly and uncertainly. "Look, Love, I can't really hear you all that well..."
This is why he wasn't supposed to have visitors. Carefully, she bent to kiss him in the hospital bed and then left; she could come again next cycle - maybe then he'd be able to at least hear her.
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"AndrAIa, how much longer are you going to be?" Matrix enquired from the other side of the door.
"A little longer Matrix. Why?" She had stopped tidying the pile of downloads and just let Hex take care of herself for a few nanos.
"We have to get moving soon. Don't forget, we have to pick Enzo up and get him settled at the Academy, and we have to get ourselves settled into the apartment." The renegade was leaning against the wall.
"Apartment? Oh shoot! I forgot..." She folded her hands together for a split-nano, and then opened the door. "What are we going to do?"
"We'll move in - I've been working while you were having your little jamboree." A pleasant smirk appeared on Matrix' face.
"You what?" The gamesprite was curious about what her lover had done.
"I was working with a land-lord via vidwin, and I got us a great place, and I got everything packed - minus the stuff in our room." The renegade chuckled. "I think the land-lord's afraid of me though..."
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Bob stood in the mirror in his guardian uniform. Did he want to wear this to the meeting? After all, he was on trial, and his very function was pending on this. He could lose his code. Did he really want to go down as the conformist after all of these weeks of being the one with the radical theories...one of which he was currently in trouble for? He did still have the download from when he merged with Glitch...
What about Glitch? Would his keytool counterpart leave him because he wasn't a guardian, or would it still choose him as its partner. Could Glitch even do that? Could any keytool?
He shook his head, and decided on the silver garment. He'd do his hair the same as it had been before too. It was unfortunate that he couldn't make the web scars appear again. It'd not that he wanted them on his face, but he wanted the Grand Council to see just how much he'd been through while trying to serve the Collective. Well, he'd do the best he could - that was all he had to offer now.
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"What do you think?" Hexadecimal walked out behind AndrAIa and revealed her new look to Matrix.
"Wow, that's a real transformation, Hex. You look..." The renegade threw a quick glance to his girlfriend, and smiled. "You look wonderful."
"Do you really think so?" The white sprite looked down her body. "I look so different."
"You look great!" The AndrAIa said cheerily.
"Well, pack your stuff and let's go!" Matrix was showing an exuberance that AndrAIa hadn't known still existed in him. "We'll bring Hexadecimal with us, pick up Enzo, drop them both off at the Academy, and get settled in ourselves!"
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Bob crossed his fingers and whispered a prayer to the User. It was after lunch. It was time to meet with the Grand Council. He didn't know where he'd begin.
He walked silently out into the centre of the room, and the Council took their seats at a long, curved table, facing him.
"It's nice to see you all again - I wish it was under better circumstances, though." The blue sprite said with a forced smile.
"Guardian 452, you are here before us today so that we may decide whether or not you deserve to keep your guardian code." Turbo said solemnly, standing up. "The Council knows what has happened, but would like to hear it from your mouth...from the very beginning, for even I don't know how you managed to transform a virus into a sprite. Are you ready to begin?"
Bob nodded slowly, and began his speech. He ran through his past experiences with the Collective, and his struggles in the web, and came finally to the virus that was Daemon.
"If it had not been for Hexadecimal, we would not be here right now. You see, she was willing to be deleted to save the net. Now, even you must admit that a virus willing to save any sprite, let alone the entire net, must have some good somewhere within her." Bob nodded, and walked along the front of the curved table. "I don't think that I've ever met a sprite quite like Hex - she's seen both ends of the spectrum, and she chose to be a sprite of her own free will. I didn't force her into it."
He continued to speak for almost a microsecond, when Turbo stood up suddenly and stopped him.
"Bob, we've heard enough to make our decision. Now, if you would plea-"
"Wait!" Hexadecimal glided into the room with a beautiful smile on her face.
"Hex..." Bob couldn't believe his eyes.
She wore a scarlet v-neck dress, with sleeves that hung just past her hands, and a slit in the side of the skirt up to her knee, revealing her shapely, white legs as she walked. She was wearing simple, scarlet shoes - high heels, without decoration. On her ears were shimmering, tear-shaped earrings, and she wore a matching necklace. She had long, black hair that fell in soft curls down her back, tied with a scarlet sash.
"I thought your skin was gold." Bob whispered.
Hexadecimal laughed softly. Of all the things that he could have said at that moment, he chose to ask about her skin.
"No, darling, that was a cat-suit." She replied, broadening her smile as she faced the Grand Council, waiting for Turbo to be seated. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Hexadecimal, the sprite who was formerly a virus. I know that I am why this Council had convened, and as such feel that I am entitled to speak to those who have gathered. So for a moment, please forget Bob, Guardian 452 of the Collective, and take into consideration what I have to say.
"There was a time, when I cared for no one who would stop me from performing my function. I even despised my own brother. I sought destruction and chaos. That, however, has changed. Before the system crash of Mainframe, Bob defragged me. At the time, it was against my will, but I immediately felt so much better than I ever had as a virus. Although I was not a sprite, I functioned like one and I lived like one.
"Even before that, I knew Bob was a good Guardian - he was someone who would one cycle change the fate of the entire net. I never knew that I would be part of it, but when I was, I hated having to give up my sprite-hood, and return to being a virus. In truth, I feared it.
"Obviously, I was given as chance to become a sprite again, so I took it. I fought my very function to take it. This sprite was the reason I took it." Hex stopped and looked at him reassuringly. "Surely, a guardian that can turn a virus from her function is a guardian that you want in your Collective."
"Your input will be taken into consideration as we debate, Hexadecimal." The Prime Guardian said. "We will reconvene next cycle, one micro after the opening ceremonies for the new semester of the Academy. Until then, you are free to do as you please."
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Matrix couldn't believe this. He was finally going to be a guardian. He never thought he would get this far. Now he was delivering a speech at the Academy, on the opening cycle. As his name was spoken, he stepped up to the podium and greeted the audience. This was going to be harder than he thought.
"I am here on this cycle to speak on game-hopping, and my personal experiences..."
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They were taking the bandages off as Mouse came into Ray's room. He had two black eyes from the surgery, but he was otherwise fine. When his eyelids flickered open, she covered her mouth.
"Oh my User, Ray, look at you!" She ran over and gave him a hug. "You look amazing Sugar!"
"My vision's a bit blurry." He replied, trying to focus his surroundings.
"Mr. Tracer, your eyes aren't completely adjusted yet." The doctor began. "In a few cycles they will automatically adjust, but before that happens, your bitmap has to heal."
"That doesn't sound right." The hacker said suspiciously, putting her hands on her hips.
"It's unusual, I know, but those were the results from the last surgery." The doctor replied.
"Don't worry about it." Ms. Dos stated, striding into the room. "He'll be fine. Just wait and see." The female surfr handed Ray a mirror. "I know it won't be a clear picture, but take a look."
A smile slowly snuck onto Ray's face.
"Wow, this is great." He said, looking at his reflection. "Dos, thank you very much."
"You're welcome, Ray." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Hopefully this can undo some the damage I did so long ago. Now, you and Mouse have a good life. I'm out of here."
"Already?" Mouse enquired. "We haven't even had a chance to get to know you."
"Not necessary." Dos replied. "I didn't come here to get strung up with friendship. Maybe some cycle we'll meet again, but don't count on it."
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"...so I struggled through it, cycle by cycle." Matrix heaved a sigh. "Then, when I came home, I found out that it was on the verge of destruction. The fighting was supposed to end when I got home, but it didn't. After Megabyte was gone, it was Daemon. After Daemon, there was Megabyte again, just waiting to destroy Mainframe. To this cycle, it seems like he was defeated too easily. Then I almost got lost in the games again, and I nullified the sprite I love. I was fortunate - my friends and family were able to restore her, and I landed here in the SuperComputer, but things could have turned out so much worse. I'll always have a reminder or what happens when you try to take on something that you know you can't handle..." He tapped his cheek, just under his false eye. "And because of that, I must stress the fact that you press on with courage, but caution as you take on the task of serving the Collective. Never step beyond your limits, or you're going to fall off the edge of a cliff." He stopped speaking for a nano, and then flashed a smile. "With that, welcome to the Guardian Collective. I'm sure you will all make fantastic guardians."
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"And it is, on this cycle, that we have decided that Bob, Guardian 452 of the Collective, will be allowed to continue to serve." Turbo said pleasantly, reaching to shake Bob's hand.
Bob, grabbed a squealing Hex and kissed her, afterwards throwing his arms in the air and letting out a hoot of joy.
"Thank you!" He shook the hands of all members of the Council, and then grabbed Turbo for a hug. "Thank you so much!"
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It had been a few cycles, and Dot had finally heard from Matrix, who told her everything that was going on with himself, Enzo, and AndrAIa, as well as with Hex, and Bob. He knew nothing of Mouse and Ray, but assured his sister that they were okay - they always were.
"So they've all left me here alone, without so much as a good-bye." She whispered to herself, dropping the readme on her desk.
"Dot, these just came for you." Phong rolled into her office and handed her a readme and some pictures.
"Hey Sugar!
"Sorry we didn't tell you what was going on, but things were a little random. I know that I told you I wanted to be a bridesmaid at my wedding, but Ray and I decided to elope. He had a surgery by the way - he now has eyes and ears, and doesn't need those goggles anymore.
"Love you lots, Dot!
"We'll probably drop back in a bit!
"Mrs. Mouse Tracer (I just love the sound of it! Don't you?)"
Dot set the read-me down and took a look at the pictures, stopping on one in particular.
Mouse and Ray were in a tropical system, at an altar. They were obviously exchanging vows by the data seashore. Her hair was down long, and she wore a pale yellow, "sun" dress. She also had a straw hat on, with a yellow sash tied around it.
Ray, with his still-bruised, green eyes, and his silver-disc ears, was beaming. He wore a loose, button-up tee in red, and a pair of tan-coloured khakis. They really were happy.
The shook her head.
"What does this leave me, Phong?" She asked forlornly. "There's nothing left here for me."
"That is not true, my dear Dot." He replied, trying to comfort her. "I am here, and you have a system to run. As we restore more sprites from nullification, they will look to you for guidance."
"So this is it." She had drifted away from the net around her. "I have a system to run, and they have the net to explore." Red began to seep into her pupils, and green flecks appeared in her purple irises. "So be it."
END.