"Lost Within the Void"

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own ReBoot, or any of it's characters; they are property of Mainframe Entertainment.

Bob's eyes flew open rather suddenly. He hadn't even known he'd fallen asleep...where was Matrix? The blue sprite groggily jumped up, trying to clear away the haze of sleep and think straight. There was the blanket, on the couch, but where was the sprite?

"Enzo? You still here?"

Silence.

"Crash it...where'd he go?"

------

"I have to talk to her."

"Sorry Mate, we don't let wack-jobs into this apartment anymore." Tracer said with knit eyebrows, warily staring up at the Renegade.

This was the first look Matrix had gotten at the Surfr since he'd sprung the attack on him...and he couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. Burgundy bruise on the face...purple hand-print on the neck, and scuff-marks on the outfit. How could he have done this?

The green sprite closed his eyes, taking a deep and heavy breath.

"Ray, please..." A pause. "I can't...I just can't leave without saying goodbye."

The Surfr was taken aback by this. He couldn't remember the last time Matrix had called him Ray...didn't even know if he had at all...and this...humility from him. It was entirely boggling.

"If you need an apology from me, Ray, then I am sorry...really, I am, but right now, I need to see her - just one last time." Sincere remorse and regret from the unruly sprite who felt spite was the solution to any gripe.

"...Alright, Matrix. I'll let you in, but I can't leave you alone with her."

AndrAIa and Mouse had dozed off together, the GameSprite stretched out with her head on the Hacker's lap, and the Hacker's head lolled to the side, resting on the back of the sofa.

The two men entered silently, and Matrix moved forward cautiously, not wanting to startle either of them. He once again got down on his knees in front of the furniture, gingerly linking his fingers into AndrAIa's.

"AndrAIa," He whispered softly, placing a loving kiss on her cheek. "AndrAIa, wake up."

Her eyelids flickered, eyelashes becoming nothing more than a pretty blur, and when her mind registered who she was staring up at, she couldn't help but give a sad smile.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered, not wanting to wake Mouse.

"I'm...here to say good-bye." At these words the GameSprite sat up immediately.

"What? Where?" In a nano she was on her own knees beside him, searching his eyes for the answer.

"Well," Matrix sighed wearily. "Bob wants me to go to an institution in the SuperComputer, but I just don't think I can...but I can't stay here either."

"Lover," She placed a hand on his cheek. "You know I love you. We can work this out together..."

"No." He pulled away from her gentle caress. "I don't want to risk hurting you...not again..."

"But, Enzo," Tears were standing in her eyes. "It doesn't have to be this way..."

The Renegade swallowed the growing lump in his throat.

AndrAIa, please don't make this any harder than it has to be..." There were tremors in his voice. "I love you...that's why I have to go." He took her into his arms for one last kiss - a kiss to last him for the rest of his life - before rising and turning his back on her, refusing to look back despite the desperate pleas that fell on his ears.

------

Bob leapt off of his zip board an into Matrix' path.

"Where were you? And where are you going?"

"I had to say good-bye to AndrAIa," The green sprite had stopped running, but had no intention of looking Bob in the face.

The blue sprite just shook his head.

"Well tell me next time, okay?" He took Matrix by the shoulders. "Look at me. Enzo, look at me." The Renegade didn't shift his gaze. "Alright, fine. Let's get going - you have to get to the institute before mid-second - you should probably swing by the Principle Office and talk to Dot before you go."

"I'm not going." Matrix had spoken solidly, stiffening at the very thought of having a sit-down with some shrink who thought he knew the secret to life.

Bob crossed his arms for a nano as the giant sprite brushed past him, then resorted to using Glitch to get in contact with Turbo.

"Yeah, I've got a problem...Matrix bolted on me - we're going to need a med team to take him in I think."

"Bob, you said you had this under control..."

Guardian 452 shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Turbo, I thought I did."

The Prime Guardian nodded.

"Alright, I'll have a team there in about half a micro. Think you can keep track of him until then?"

"I can try."

------

Matrix found himself in G-Prime, hiding in the shadows just to get away from everything. He'd leave in the next game and that would be that. He'd be as good as deleted, and he could start over fresh in a system that had never even heard of him. He could drop his past - all the good, all the bad - and be someone new. The thought was both a solace and a torment to him. The hardest part would be forgetting where he had come from...who he had been...

...but it was better than the institution...the psychiatric ward of the Academy. Too many people who knew him...too many people who would judge him...

Warning, Incoming Game. Warning, Incoming Game.

This was it - it was either face the web or face himself.