Blind Date

The sound of rapid typing greeted Harrison Kenton as he stormed into the room. "Alright, what the hell is going on, Mr. Pritchard?" he growled.

"We're under attack, sir!" the nervous technician replied.

The bald man's expression grew angrier. "What the hell am I paying you lot for?" he shouted, shaking his fist at Pritchard and several other technicians manning various computer stations. "We're supposed to be invulnerable to intrusion!"

"It, um, seems, uh, sir, that the systems we put into place have some design flaws," responded another tech, a woman named Flores. "We, well, ummm, did warn you, sir, that the more expensive product might be the better choice," she added sheepishly. She cringed when Kenton turned his glare in her direction.

Kenton turned his glare back at Pritchard. "So, what are you doing about this intruder?"

"Its two intruders actually," said Pritchard. "We're trying everything to block them but they keep slipping through our defenses."

"They're after our R&D files, I'm sure of it!"

"Don't worry, sir, we've encrypted the R&D material," said Pritchard confidently. "No hacker or industrial spy has access to computers powerful enough to break the encryption." He tapped a command into his computer, and suddenly his smile became a deep frown. "Oh. Oh dear."

"What?"

"They're not going for the R&D files. They're going after PR files." His frown became even deeper. "And one of the hackers has just accessed them."

"And those files aren't encrypted," Flores interjected. "Mr. Pritchard said it wouldn't be worth the bother, no one would be interested in them."

"YOU IDIOT!" roared Kenton. "The product we're about to launch is highly controversial, and the PR department has been developing a campaign to generate a favourable response. But now, because you were too damn lazy, our customers will learn about it weeks in advance, without our campaign convincing them it's a good idea!" Kenton smashed his fist onto the top of Pritchard's monitor and gave the hapless man a menacing look. "You might want to consider seeking new employment before the day is out," he said as he turned around and stalked out of the room.

"I warned you," said Flores bluntly as Pritchard buried his face in his hands.

"I am the champion, of the world!" sang Gimpy, horribly off key. "Once more I, G Prime, have proven my superiority over a mere girl!" He had challenged his arch nemesis, the mysterious female hacker who called herself She Prime, to a duel. The challenge was a simple one. Penetrate the computer system of a specific company to acquire a specific piece of information. Whoever got the information first was the winner, and it had been him. (Gimpy conveniently ignored the fact that She Prime had beaten him the last two times he'd challenged her to a similar duel.) Of course he'd been hoping he could also pick up more information that would lead him to who She Prime really was, and where she was. That hadn't happened, but he was sure that next time they fought online she would finally slip up and he would have her.

Tonight's intrusion exercise had been more than another attempt at one upping She Prime however. It was intended to benefit a lot of other people as well. Gimpy frowned as he looked at the information he'd gone to great effort to get. It seemed the rumours were true. Kentel Toys was going to produce a talking Jar Jar Binks action figure. What a disappointment, he thought. Gimpy considered George Lucas a genius, but even geniuses made mistakes, and like many people he considered the annoying alien character a big mistake. And he'd been so hoping they'd produce a talking Obiwan Kenobi figure.

Gimpy started typing up a short report detailing what he'd found. Perhaps if he posted it in the right places there would be enough fan pressure to make Kentel changed their minds and produce a figure more worthy of the Star Wars legacy.

She Prime smashed a fist into her keyboard with a growl. The little twerp had won again! And she'd been hoping for a third consecutive thrashing of G Prime.

She leaned back in her chair and tugged on one of her earrings, a habit she fell into when she was nervous or annoyed. She just couldn't seem to gain an advantage over G Prime. She might be dominant for a bit, but the pendulum would soon swing the other way and he would have the upper hand, but only for a limited time. In the end their respective strengths tended to balance out. G Prime had better equipment, but she seemed to have slightly better code writing skills. More importantly she suspected they tended to think alike and tended to come up with the same answers to whatever challenge might be involved, preventing either from getting a decisive edge.

She did have one major advantage. She knew who he was, while she was just a voice at the other end of an audio link to him. She just couldn't figure out how to exploit the fact.

Jesse looked out the window of her room at the early evening sky as she talked to her mother. She was a bit surprised at the question her mother asked. "No, Mom, I'm not going out with anyone."

"That's good, Jesse. You see, an old friend of mine has a son...."

"Mom, I don't need you fixing me up!"

Jesse's mother kept her cool. "I know you don't, dear. But my friend seems to think her son does, and she's been begging me for help."

"And you want me to go out with the poor guy."

"I wouldn't ask, but Ann has been rather persistent about asking," she replied, sounding slightly annoyed. "If you say no, I'll more than understand, but I could really do with the help."

Jesse thought about it for a moment. "Okay, Mom, I'll do it. Its not like you ask me for favours very often. But you'll have to do something for me in return."

Her mother chuckled. "And I bet I know what it is. You want me to bake up a batch of your favourite chocolate chip cookies and send them up there."

"You know me so well," Jesse said in amusement. "That's one of the things I miss about being away from home, those cookies."

"I think that's a fair exchange. So, I'll give him your number. He's supposed to be coming to town on the weekend. Thank you, sweetheart. I'll talk to you soon, love you."

Jesse smiled. "I love you too, Mom. Bye."

Lisa was lying on her bed, noodling around on her bass. "So, your mom's trying to set you up."

"Nah, she's not. She says she's just trying to get an old friend off her back, and I believe her." Jesse grabbed one of the knives she kept on the shelf above her bed and started cleaning her fingernails with the tip. "She's pretty transparent when it comes to meddling, and I can usually spot it a mile away."

"And you decided to go for it."

"Why not? Its not like I'm getting a lot of offers."

"I'd have thought you'd have to beat them off."

Jesse shook her head. "Nope. The last guy to ask me out was one of Gimpy's crew, that one with the curly red hair and the braces. Melvin or something."

Lisa laughed. "I've seen some of those guys. I have trouble thinking of Gimpy's sidekicks as a 'crew.'"

"Yeah, they aren't exactly the scariest bunch are they?" Sastisfied with her cleaning job Jesse put the knife back on the shelf. "I wish I knew why I'm not getting more attention. It might be because I hang out with Brodie and Kruger so much, and people think I'm dating one of them."

"Could be, although all they'd have to do is spend a couple minutes near you guys and they'd be able to tell you aren't," countered Lisa.

"I suppose." Jesse shrugged. "Or maybe the guys around here are into taller women. That's the only thing I'd change about myself physically if I could, I'd make myself a bit taller."

Lisa laughed. "You're not exactly a midget."

"No, but I'm shorter than a lot of girls around here. Just a minor disadvantage of having ancestors from China." Grabbing a textbook off her desk she sat down crosslegged on her bed. "But hey, its not like I'm sitting around moaning and groaning because I don't have a guy. I'm quite happy with my life the way it is. Having a boyfriend would just be an added bonus."

"You've got that right," agreed Lisa.

Nitz leaned against a wall, waiting. Kimmy's first Wednesday class was just about to end and he was hoping to catch her when she came out. He really wanted to talk to her and he wasn't in the mood to play phone tag this morning. When the door of the classroom swung open Kimmy was amongst the first students to walk out. Smiling, Nitz called out to her.

"It's so good to see you," she said as she walked over. "We haven't spent much time together lately. I've been so busy! The new play we're doing is a real undertaking, and the role I'm doing has a lot of dialogue that needs to be rehearsed. And the costumes are so complicated they need a lot of tailoring, so I've been spending my time with the seamstress. You'll definitely have to come see it..."

"Well, of course I wi...."

"...because it'll be terrific! And then when I'm not busy working on that I've got all this stuff to do for my classes, the professors are just piling on the work. Then there's the midterm exams too, I'm been studying for those for a couple of weeks already, because you can never start too early if you want to get really good marks. Maybe we can study together..."

"That would be ni...."

"...even though we don't take any of the same classes together. And I've also got all these other things too, like helping plan the Christmas food drive, we want to get that going pretty soon. Oh, look at the time, the food drive committee is meeting in just a few minutes! I'd better run! Thanks for catching up with me, Nitz, I really appreciate it. If I get the chance I'll phone you later tonight and we can maybe align our schedules a bit better. Bye!"

Nitz watched in disbelief as Kimmy charged off, her long red hair streaming behind her. He hadn't even managed to complete a sentence in their one sided conversation. "Crap," he muttered as he leaned heavily against the wall, feeling very disappointed. He would have been glad to spend even 15 minutes with Kimmy, but she didn't even have time for that.

Scowling, Nitz spun around and stomped angrily down the hall. He had no real idea where he was going to go, only that he didn't want to go in the same direction Kimmy was.

Mump walked into Gimpy's room. He wanted to talk to G Prime before heading off to his afternoon classes. As was usually the case he found Gimpy in front of his computers, rapidly typing away. "Sir, will you be joining us tonight?"

As Gimpy turned to face Mump he quickly minimised the program currently visible on his monitor. "Not tonight. You and the others will simply have to risk the dangerous territory that is GamingOnlineCentral without me. I have an important project that needs my utmost attention."

"Do you need our help, sir?"

"Um, no, it's alright, Mump," Gimpy replied nervously. "I'm sure I can do it without you."

"If you say so, sir. See you later then!"

Mump was half way down the corridor before he let a frown appear on his face. Something odd was going on. G-Prime had minimised whatever he was working on so Mump couldn't see it, and the way he talked made it seem as if he was trying to hide something. But what could he be hiding from Mump, of all people, his right hand man?

Mump continued to worry as he rode the bus to Tekerson. He was still frowning when he arrived at the front doors of the main library building. As he was about to walk in a familiar voice asked, "Hey chum, why so glum?"

Looking up he smiled at the young woman in a black trenchcoat, a dark hankerchief tied around her head. "Oh, hello, Tabitha," he said. "It's nothing, really."

"Yeah, right, buddy," she said, raising an eyebrow. "So spill."

Mump sighed. "Its G Prime. I think he's hiding something from me."

"So?"

"I just find it hard to believe he would have a secret from me."

Tabitha snorted. "Come on, Mump, everyone has secrets they don't tell their, errr, closest associates." Calling you his best friend would be pushing it, she thought. "I mean, you have things you wouldn't tell Gimpy, right?"

Mump nodded. "You're right, maybe I' m just being naïve. But it seemed to be computer related, so you'd think he'd want my assistance."

"Ha, if his ego is as big as I hear it is he might just be too embarrassed to admit he needs help with whatever it is he needs help with."

Mump chuckled. "It's true, he does have a big ego. But why shouldn't he? He is G Prime after all."

Tabitha rolled her eyes.

They spent the next several minutes catching up with each other on what they'd each been up to and the latest Tekerson gossip. Tabitha was relating an especially juicy rumour about goings on in the robotics club when Mump suddenly turned pale. "Oh dear. Th--there s--she is," he stammered, pointing at a student passing nearby.

Tabitha smiled. The short girl with glasses, her dark hair tied in a ponytail, wasn't the kind of person most people would find intimidating. But Mump wasn't most people. He found talking to girls in general hard enough, Tabitha being a noteable exception. But Mump had a crush on Miranda, the girl in question, and so it was ten times worse with her. "You should go after her," she suggested.

"I can't."

She gave him an encouraging look. "Hey, I'm not saying you should confess your undying love to her. Just go and talk to her a bit. Maybe ask if she'd like to go have a donut or something."

"No, I can't. What if she said no?" Mump sighed as he watched Miranda walk away. "I really should go, I need to do so research. See you later."

Tabitha shook her head as she watched him walk into the library. "It's not if she says no that you're really worried about, Mump," she said softly. "It's if she says yes." She began to walk towards the main electronics lab, where her next class was. As she did she considered what he had said about G Prime.

She had a pretty good idea what Gimpy might be up to. She suspected their ongoing feud wasn't something Gimpy would be open about given how he had reacted to the idea of a girl being his equal, or even his superior, at anything computer. She wasn't sure if Mump had even heard of She Prime.

She sometimes felt guilty about talking to Mump about Gimpy. She genuinely considered him her friend, and never deliberately pumped him for information. But given how much Mump's life seemed to revolve around Gimpy it was inevitable that she picked up quite a bit of information about what G Prime was up to, and could infer other things from what Mump said. It wasn't Mump's fault that his friend Tabitha Drake was secretly G Prime's archenemy She Prime. Hopefully Gimpy and Mump would realise that if they ever found out the truth. The last thing she wanted to do was drive a wedge between the two of them.

Friday night found Jesse preparing for, as she and Lisa had jokingly taken to calling it, "The Date of the Century." The heavy purple eyeliner, matching lipstick, and teased out hair was Lisa's first clue to what her roommate had in mind for the evening. "So, you're trying to intimidate the guy?"

"That's right," Jesse replied as she slipped on a pair of leather pants. "I wanna make sure he isn't likely to be interested."

"You might be jumping to conclusions, he might be a great guy."

Jesse chuckled. "Come on, Lisa, the guy is probably a geeky accountant with thick glasses and greasy hair who's so scared of women he has to have mommy arrange his dates," she said sarcastically. "At the very least he's probably way too traditional for someone like me if his mother is his matchmaker."

"Well, I still think you're jumping the gun, but then who am I to talk? The last guy I dated seemed like Mr. Right but turned out to be a complete jerk."

"Well, it's not just that he's probably a loser, I'm not really interested in a long range romance." Jesse picked up a t-shirt and showed it to Lisa. "I thought for a minute about wearing this one, but I doubt they'd let me in the restaurant with it on."

"Ah, Big Black's Songs About %%$ album cover," said an amused Lisa. "A classic."

Jesse smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, but I've never actually worn it. I'm too much of a chicken!" She held up another shirt. "But this Black Flag logo shirt should be all right." She slipped on the shirt and grabbed a metal studded choker off her desk. "We're going to Morley's, and they're pretty mellow about what people wear," she said as she pulled the choker around her neck.

"Good choice. It's a nice place, but not a really romantic one."

"So, how do I look?" Jesse asked, slowly turning around.

Lisa grinned. "Frankly I'm wondering if you aren't gonna scare me away."

Nitz sat at his desk, tapping his fingers on its top as he waited for Kimmy to pick up her phone. He was calling her apartment number after getting no response from her cell phone. He hadn't seen or talked with her since Wednesday's aborted encounter, and hoped that by calling her around suppertime he might manage to catch her.

"Finally," he mumbled as he heard Kimmy's phone being picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kimmy. It's Nitz. How are you doing?"

"Oh Nitz, its great to hear from you! I'm sorry I didn't catch you the other night."

"That's all right. So, what are you up to tonight?"

"Actually I'm just heading out for a protest rally."

Not again, thought Nitz. "What are you protesting against this time?" he asked, all the while hoping his disappointment wasn't obvious.

"Some researchers at Tekerson are working on a Navy sonar project, and there's evidence that this sonar is harming sea life. So some animal rights and peace groups are going to protest against the research. You want to come?"

It wasn't hard for Nitz to make a decision. He wasn't really in the mood to spend the night being ignored by Kimmy, which he knew was what would happen. When Kimmy was in protest mode she tended to be rather single minded about whatever she was protesting. "I think I'll pass. That's not really my thing, and I've got plans tonight."

"I understand. I've really got to go, but for sure I'll phone you later tonight, and we can schedule some time together. Talk to you later!"

As Kimmy hung up Nitz slammed down the phone. Once more he found himself taking second place to Kimmy's other activities, and he found the whole business very frustrating. They barely seemed to see each other anymore. Not that the last couple of times they had gone out had been loads of fun. Kimmy was going through another crisis of confidence, and seemed more interested in Nitz as, to quote a phrase Rocko once used, "Shoulder To Cry On Guy" than as her boyfriend.

Their relationship had revolved around Kimmy's schedule from the start, but Nitz hadn't minded at the time. They'd spent more than enough time together for his taste, especially since his most cherised dream, being with her, had come true. But as the weeks had gone by they'd slowly begun to spend less and less time together as Kimmy seemed to be doing more and more. He'd learned that the redhead had trouble turning down a request to help with a worthy cause, and in general seemed to think she was letting the world down if she didn't cram something important into every minute of the day.

Nitz wasn't sure what to do. He didn't exactly have much experience to go on. Christmas break was quickly approaching however, and since both he and Kimmy would be going home for the break he hoped they'd get a chance to spend more time together then.

A familiar voice halted Nitz's musings. "Yo, buddy! You around?"

"Yeah, Rocko. Come in."

Rocko walked in and sat down on Nitz's bed. "Watcha up to? You got something doing with Kimmy tonight?"

"No, I'm not doing anything with Kimmy tonight, yet again," said Nitz wearily. "She's going to this protest against sonar research over at Tekerson. It screws up fish or something."

"She's sure into that save the whales kinda stuff, isn't she?" Rocko replied. "So hey, guess that means you and me can go catch a bite."

A skeptical smile appeared on Nitz's face. "You're paying for supper?"

"Yeah, man, at Morley's Steakhouse."

Nitz's expression became even more skeptical. "Right. Pull the other leg."

"No, seriously." Rocko stuck a hand into his front pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "See, I won this gift certificate," he said, waving the slip at Nitz. "Went to the opening of that new country bar the other night, filled out a contest entry and, waddayaknow, I won."

"Well, if it's for a romantic dinner for two I'm not interest. You know I don't swing that way," said Nitz with a straight face.

"Har har, very funny. It's a 50 dollar job, so I figured I'd round up you and Gimpy. But Gimp's not coming, he's doin' some computer crap, as usual. And don't even think about Cal taggin' along."

"Sure, sure." Nitz stood up and reached for his jacket. He slipped it on and shoved his hands into the pockets. "Yeah, I'll go with you. Not like I've got anything better to do, and its better than sitting around moping all night."

Jesse stood by the entrance to Morley's Steakhouse. She had arrived a couple of minutes early and decided it was better to wait outside. A car soon pulled into the parking lot and a man quickly climbed out and walked towards her.

Jesse stared in surprise. The tall guy with spiky hair wearing a Sex Pistols t-shirt, leather jacket, mirrorshades, and a skull earring dangling from his left ear definitely wasn't what she was expecting. "So, I'm guessing you're Mike Shou."

"And you must be Jesse Leung." He looked at her for a moment, and then laughed. "Well, it seems once again the old saying is true, great minds think alike." He pulled open the door of the restaurant and motioned for her to go first. "Let's go inside, and I'll explain what I'm up to, although I think it's sort of the same thing you are."

Together they walked into the restaurant. After being shown to their table they sat for a few minutes looking at the menu, with Jesse making some suggestions about what was good. The waitress took their orders and Mike leaned back in his chair. "So, let me guess, you dressed up like that to intimidate me, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Jesse readily admitted. "I figured you'd be some geeky momma's boy loser accountant type who couldn't get a date to save your life and who'd be scared off by a 'tuff gurl.'"

Mike laughed. "Well, I am studying to be an accountant, forensic accounting to be exact. Might work for someone like the FBI or the SEC if I get the chance."

"Not if you dress like that," said Jesse with a grin. "So, from what you said a bit ago I'm guessing you were trying for the same effect."

"Yeah, Mom kept going on how 'Margaret's daughter is a nice traditional girl who anyone would be proud to have as a daughter in law,'" he said in a whiny voice.

"I don't know where she got that idea from. My Mom would never tell her something like that. I'm normally a lot more subtle than this, but I'm hardly some demure girly girl hoping to use college to find a good husband either."

"Well, I don't know if she was going quite for that." Mike sighed. "But the truth is, and I want to apologise about it, that you've kinda gotten mixed up in a mess between me and my parents." He reached into a pocket of his jacket and pulled out a photo, which he handed to Jesse. "You see, I've already got a girlfriend."

Jesse raised an eyebrow as she took the picture. It was a shot of an attractive young woman with long straight hair, a broad smile on her face. "So you were trying to ensure this date was a flop."

"Yeah. Jin Hi and I have been going out for months, and we've gotten very serious." He frowned. "But my parents won't accept her. They keep saying she's not 'good enough' for me because her family is working class. Bad as that is I hope that's all their problem is, as I'd hate to think its because she's Korean as well."

"That sucks. I know I don't like it when my parents don't trust my judgement."

"So, I finally got fed up with their nagging, and decided that I'd let Mom arrange something for me, just to get them off my back. Jin Hi agreed, figuring that at least it would buy us some time to figure out what to do. And so, here we are."

"Well, you won't hear me complaining," replied Jesse with a sly smile on her face. "After all, on my budget I don't get to eat out at a place like this very often. And you're paying."

Mike laughed, shaking his head.

"Now this is a good steak," said Nitz appreciatively as he finished chewing a bite of the grade A t-bone on his plate. "Been a while since I had some of this."

"You should have had the steak and lobster special like me," said Rocko as he dipped a piece of lobster into a bowl of butter. "After all, you're not payin' for it."

"Lobster's not really my thing." A familiar sounding laugh caught Nitz's attention. "You know, that sounded like Jesse."

"Well, yeah, she's sitting at a table over there," replied Rocko, cocking a thumb over his shoulder.

Nitz frowned. "Why didn't you mention that before?"

"'Cuz she's already got company, and it ain't anyone I know. So I figure she's probably on a date and would appreciate the privacy."

Nitz's eyes widened. "A date?"

"Yeah. She's sittin' there with some Chinese guy, and he doesn't look he's her brother or something, so I'm guessing it's a date." Rocko smirked. "Besides, do you really think I wanna sit around being insulted by her all night? You know that's what would probably happen."

"Come on, Jesse's not that bad. You know she's just teasing most of the time."

"You, maybe. But enough about Jesse, my story is lots more interesting." Rocko started to tell Nitz about the latest shenanigans at Alpha Alpha, but quickly realised that Nitz was only half listening. He grinned when it became obvious that Nitz was trying to look around him to get a glimpse of Jesse and her date. "You know, if you want I can move a bit so you can get a better look."

"Huh? No, that's not necessary," replied Nitz in a slightly embarrassed tone.

Rocko shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said, and then continued with his story. Once more he could tell Nitz was only half interested, and fought the urge to tease Nitz as his friend tried to get a look at Jesse in the mirrors that lined one side of the restaurant.

Jesse smiled as she walked out of the restaurant with Mike. The evening had turned out to be rather better than expected. Of course she had been expecting an awkward pseudo date where she tried her best to be undesireable, not a pleasant supper with someone who was in on the joke, so to speak.

"Thanks for this," began Mike. "I really...."

"Dude, if you try and apologise one more time, I'll clock you one," she interjected, cutting him off. "Feeling a little guilty, are we?" she added with a smirk.

He gave her a sheepish grin. "Yeah. Jin Hi may have gone along with this, and nothing was going to happen anyway, but I still feel like I'm sort of cheating on her."

"Yep, you have definitely got it bad for her." The sound of a car pulling up caught Jesse's attention, and she looked over to see a taxi pull to a stop. "Well, there's my cab." She offered her hand to Mike. "Listen, if the two of you ever get out this way give me a call. I'd love to meet her," she said as they shook hands.

"You bet. I'm guessing you two would like each other."

"Besides, I bet it would be fun watching you two. Well, I'd better run. Thanks for everything. See you around." She walked quickly over to the cab, and waved back at him as she climbed in.

Rocko grinned as he gave Nitz a sidelong glance. He'd been pretty quiet since they'd left the restaurant, and Rocko guessed it was because of Jesse and her date. Rocko found the whole thing very amusing. Nitz was dating Kimmy, who was supposedly Nitz's one true love or some romantic crap like that. Yet once he'd found out Jesse was in the restaurant on an apparent date he'd behaved like he was Jesse's jealous boyfriend or something. Rocko had almost had to drag Nitz out of the restaurant when they were finished.

Rocko rolled his car to a stop just beside one of the main State U. parking lots. "I'm gonna let you off here. It's easier for me to head back if I go this way."

"What? Oh, yeah, sure," replied Nitz distractedly. "Thanks for supper," he said half heartedly as he climbed out of the car.

"My pleasure." Rocko shook his head as he watched Nitz give Kruger, who was walking across the parking lot towards the car, a rather anemic wave hello. Rocko rolled down his window and called out to Kruger, "Yo, dude. How you doin'?"

"I'm doing." Kruger watched Nitz walk slowly away. "Hey, what the $#% is his problem?"

"We were over at Morley's for supper, and Jesse was there with some guy. Figure she was probably having a date."

Kruger looked surprised. "A date? With who?"

Rocko shrugged. "Nobody I know. Go ask Nitz tomorrow, from the way he was actin' I'm sure he's gonna go ask her a bunch of questions."

"Yeah, yer probably right."

"Hey, if you've got some free time Wednesday night gimme a call. That strip joint on 46th is gonna have chicks wrestling in chocolate pudding. Catcha later." Rocko rolled up the window and drove off.

"Jesse dating someone. Wonder if it's serious?" muttered Kruger as he started to walk towards Chilton Hall.

"Morning, Jesse."

Jesse smiled as Nitz walked into her room. "You're up early." She knew from past experience that Nitz tended to sleep in on weekend mornings.

"Yeah, I went to bed pretty early last night," said Nitz with a shrug. "Besides, Kimmy and I have a brunch date, of all things. This was the only time she had available we could spend together all weekend. So here I am, up at 10 on a Saturday morning."

"Hey, better to spend some time together than no time at all."

"I suppose."

"So, what brings you around these parts?"

"Oh, I was just walking by and thought I'd say hello," Nitz replied, and immediately regretted it. Given where their respective dorm rooms were located you couldn't just casually walk by one after leaving the other. "I mean, we haven't talked in a while, so I figured I'd see what you were up to."

"That's true," Jesse agreed with a nod. "I think it was Monday the last time we talked. Do anything interesting this week?"

Nitz shrugged. "Nah, not really." He watched her shoving things into her backpack for a moment. "So, how was your date last night?" he asked. He hoped he didn't sound too nosey.

Jesse was surprised. "How did you find out about that?"

"Well, actually, Rocko and I went out for supper at Morley's last night and we saw you there."

"You guys should have come over."

Nitz shook his head. "We didn't want to interrupt."

"Believe me, you wouldn't have been," said Jesse with a smile, and quickly explained the whole story.

Nitz nodded as she finished. "I guess you're right, we wouldn't have been bugging you. Its too bad it wasn't really a legit date though."

Jesse shrugged. "Like I told Lisa, I'm not interested in a long distance relationship, and I prefer to arrange my own dates. Besides, he is studying to be an accountant."

"Not big on accountants I see."

"Nope." She grabbed her backpack and slipped it on. "Come on, we can walk to the elevator together. After all, you don't want to keep Kimmy waiting."

"Not much chance of that," replied Nitz, and Jesse couldn't help but notice a trace of melancholy in his voice.

Gimpy's fingers flashed at lightning speed across his keyboard. "There! That should...the hell? Now that's malfunctioning?!" He angrily reached for his mouse, using it to open another program. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked with a growl.

A distorted ding announced the opening of his webcam program in response to an incoming transmission. He let out a frustrated grunt, as he had more important things to do right now than shoot the breeze. He became even more annoyed when a familiar logo appeared, and She Prime's cackle floated out of the speakers. Gimpy winced when a distorted roar suddenly drowned out her laughing. "...humilate you today?" was all he heard of her opening taunt as the distortion faded out.

"I have no time for your foolishness, woman! My dear, beloved, core computer is bedeviled by some noxious malady, and I can't figure out what the hell it is."

Sitting in front of her own computer Tabitha smirked at Gimpy's melodramatic statement. Her smirk became a frown as Gimpy's face in her video window became a bright green, then almost faded to black before returning to normal. "What kind of trouble are you having?"

"Random malfuncBZZZZZTTTT!"

"Did you go to a site called starwarsisthegreatestever.net recently?" she asked, playing a hunch.

"Yes, but none of the links seemed to work. What does that have to do with anything?"

"You've been hit by a virus. Whoever set up that site just did it to infect computers with viruses. Guess he doesn't like Star Wars fans."

Gimpy was livid. "Someone dares to use the good and holy name of Star Wars to harm others? Blasphemer! They shall be punished!"

She Prime chewed on a knuckle for a moment to keep herself from laughing at Gimpy refering to Star Wars as "good and holy." It was just a movie for heaven's sakes! Shaking her head she called up a file that a friend had sent. "Okay, I'm sending you a file. It's a cleanup patch that will stop that virus dead and repair any damage that it caused. But don't even think of using the e-mail message to backtrack me. I know how to cover my trail very well, as you already know, so you'll just be wasting your time."

"Why should I trust you?" he asked, his suspicion very obvious, as he opened his e-mail program. He found She Prime's message with its supposed virus cleaner had already arrived. "You infected my system with a virus yourself last year."

"Hey, if you don't wanna trust me, fine. It's no skin off my nose. But you'll be spending the next six weeks fixing your system, assuming it isn't a total writeoff!"

With a loud "Hmmph!" Gimpy opened the e-mail attachment and ran the enclosed program. A small, animated figure of a cleaning lady with a broom appeared. It began moving randomly back and forth across the screen, accompanied by a cheery tune Gimpy was sure came from an old Atari 2600 video game cartridge. After a few minutes of movement the figure came to a stop in the middle of the screen and morphed into a cheerleader. The cheerleader then jumped up and down to the sound of a fanfare, holding up a large sign that read "VICTORY!"

Gimpy quickly ran a check on his system, and found it was once more operating normally. "Well, it seems to be working again," he said grudgingly. "Why did you send me that? Why did you help me?"

"I have my reasons," was all She Prime said. The webcam popup then winked out, leaving Gimpy to wonder about her motivations.

She Prime grinned. She could have rubbed Gimpy's nose in the fact that a girl had saved his bacon, but instead she decided to take the high road. She wasn't quite sure why she had, but however Gimpy took it she was sure to benefit in the end.

Finally, at long last, this comes out. It would have been out sooner, but I've been lazy about writing for a while.