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It took energy to tap into my guardian's head, but once I was in, I was in. I found him suspended in white, unconscious in his unconscious, and loomed up to get his attention. He awoke with my shadow pouring over him.

"What?"

Bob stepped toward my clean surface, not recognizing me at my immense size. Don't ask me why I decided to portray myself as gigantic. I think it was a bit of a statement. I'd been so important to him in the last few cycles, so much had happened that he didn't even realize. Plus I was kinda swollen with his energy. He looked at his reflection in my surface.

"Am I real, or… just a copy?"

I turned on him. He stepped back, astonished. It was strange coming face to face with Bob. I'd never spoken to him on this level, and it had been so long since I had a unique identity even if it was a figurative world. He stared up at me, I focused down on him and signaled, hoping that he'd understand.

"Bob!"

"Glitch?"

He got it! I trilled with my accomplishment.

It was time to give him that lecture I'd been saving.

"How can you think you're a copy? You're the real deal! You've got to survive and go back to Dot!"

"What do I do?" Bob called back to me. "We're merged! When she sees me I remind her of things she wants to forget."

"Leave it to me." I assured him. "I have friends who are going to help us! What you've got to do is let them through."

"Through?"

"Open up and let them help." I told him. "Can you do that?"

"I can." He replied. He paused. "You're helping me again, Glitch."

"My primary function, Guardian."

I signaled back to the others waiting in the wings, sending them energy and instructions. Now was the time. Everybody out!

They swirled into the dream, unable to sense it as anything but strange patterns of bits. What they did see was a light at the end of their long winter where code, signal and data danced through the air. The exit was right through the figure of Bob and he opened up his heart and let them pass, a strange feeling of release passing over us both. The energy levels about us were dropping. The twenty-ninth keytool passed through and I prepared to log off. Bob opened his eyes and looked at me. "You too Glitch."

"But…"

"Leave." He said. "We were always better as partners anyway."

I could feel his heart stir. Or was that my heart stir? I compressed down into energy form and b-lined for the opening. "Thanks Bob."

I entered a portal, and exited into clear cold air. It was a bizarre feeling. I was missing most of my code, unable to sense sight, sound, or touch, but I could feel the paths of transmissions floating through the air. Two signals came alongside of me. One was Copeland, I know because he transferred to me. "Hold on, Glitch, we'll have you taken care of in a nano."

The keytools about-faced, fully charged. They shot beams of light down into the figure laying on a medical table. The white energy traced Bob's code through the opening he'd made with his will. It penetrated and patched the empty spaces, frayed edges and broken parts. I felt my code come free of his, like separating stripes in a pattern. Quickly my good old-fashioned keytool functions came back. I sensed the scale of the room. I could identify its occupants. I sensed the processing power of the equipment, the landscape of the surrounding building, and the format of the system. I could sense the levels of each of the keytools around me. My friends. As I recovered I turned my healing power on Bob as well, breaking off the crystalline covering and knitting his code into its unique shape. He was safe.

The keytools turned and focused their beams quickly on me. I was stunned and froze, a strange sensation, stranger now that I was without feeling, touched my bits and bytes and reformatted what was myself. "What's happening."

"We're giving you the greatest reward we can." Grace told me.

An Upgrade. It was an honor to be sure. It healed my broken pieces and enhanced my abilities. When they'd finished I fastened fast to Bob's wrist. This was where I belonged. I recognized an emotion I had dismissed ages before when I didn't know it had a name. I was happy.

The others floated around me, thanking me. Copeland's signal predominated the others. "Wear that badge with pride, Glitch." He'd scanned the room and sensed Turbo standing in back. His tone was glowing. "Now, if you'd excuse us. We have to go."

"Go on you guys!" I signaled up. "Thanks for everything!"

"Thank you Glitch!" Kink called back. "You kick ASCII!"

I tracked them as they moved back from Bob. Copeland was in the lead, flew straight for Turbo and fastened tight to his wrist, latching on to the Prime Guardian as fast as his gears let him. Turbo looked down with a broad smile. "Copeland!" Copeland whirred a reply. "Welcome home! We're joined again."

The rest shot for the halls of the Supercomputer PO, their scanners locked on their respective guardians. I sighed and eased back. It was me and Bob, the way it should have been. Nothing would hinder us now, nothing.

Wayne scanned the degraded Bob for health. He was always an interesting little guy. I regret I never got a "look" at him, but ce la vie. He turned to Turbo. "Bob's fine, but his code doesn't match what we have on file."

"I guess that means he's the copy. That's gonna hurt."

Copeland and I both were shocked. "WHAT?"

"Copy my bitmap!" I shouted. "He's the real Bob! REAL! I know his code better than anyone!"

"There's gotta be some mistake." Copeland agreed with me. "I wonder…"

Bob woke up slowly. It was good to read him from the outside for a change. It was so right, it made everything on the inside feel like a bad dream. He looked to Turbo. The Prime Guardian regarded him with the best smile he could put on. "Welcome back, Bob."

"What happened?" Bob asked.

Ooooh! Bob voice patterns! Hooray! Its like coming home!

"The keytools saved you." Turbo told him.

Bob sat up and looked down at me. "Glitch!" He smiled. "Thanks Glitch."

I whirred up at him. 'My pleasure, really!'

He looked to Turbo and Wayne. "I'm in the Supercomputer aren't I?"

"Yes." Turbo replied.

Bob jumped up off the cot. Wayne seemed to object, but Bob was moving too fast for him. "That means I've left Dot with that Copy Bob! I've gotta go back!"

"But Bob, wait." Turbo bade.

Yet the power of love was too strong to be stopped by words. Bob shot down at me. "Glitch! Portal to Mainframe!"

I was more than happy to comply.