Chapter 7: Plan of Attack
In the war room, Frisket started growling. Little Enzo, who had joined Dot on patrol as Bob had suggested, turned to ask the dog what was bothering him at the same time Matrix did. Neither managed to get the question out, however, before Hexadecimal's mask appeared and she downloaded herself from it. Frisket, no longer growling but still wary, watched her.
Hexadecimal seemed oblivious to the glares of the others in the room. She walked up to Phong, and held out her scanner. "I didn't find anything," she said. Phong carefully took the scanner from her. Hexadecimal uploaded herself into her mask again as soon as she had handed it to him. Frisket relaxed; so did everyone else.
"Did anyone manage to find a trace of the Absorber?" Phong asked. He didn't sound too hopeful. There was a shaking of heads and a chorus of responses, all of them in the negative.
Matrix gave them his opinion of the situation. "That thing is pretty spa…" Dot's glare cut him off before he could say "spammed." He cleared his throat and revised what he had intended to say. "There's been no trace of it. Frisket couldn't even pick up a trail from the most recent attack site."
"It is quite elusive," Phong said. "But we have been fortunate in one way at least. There have been no further casualties since last second. Thank the User for small favors."
"Those are the only kind the User seems to give us," Enzo remarked dolefully.
"This isn't working," AndrAIa said. "We need a way to draw it out. And we have to figure out how to catch it."
"Or delete it," Matrix added.
"Galatea's sword can hurt it," Enzo pointed out. This just reminded everyone of the disaster that had taken place earlier that second, and made them feel even worse. Nobody said anything.
One of the war room doors — the one nearest the group — opened, and Bob entered to join them. He looked as unhappy as Enzo felt. "Galatea's asleep. Normal asleep, not just unconscious." he informed them. "But she probably won't wake up for a while. Any luck today?"
"The virus didn't attack anyone else," AndrAIa said. "Otherwise, no luck whatsoever."
"We have to figure something out," Dot said. "There's got to be a way to beat that thing. Okay. Let's take this from the top. What exactly do we know about it?"
"It's like a giant black null," Enzo said. "That sums it up."
Dot's eyes widened. "A null! Why didn't I think of it before?" She turned to Bob. "It's too bad Hexadecimal left already." This earned her an odd look from everyone present, and a questioning "Arf?" from Frisket. Enzo was just as confused as his dog — why would his sister want to talk to Hexadecimal? Then he made the connection.
"You think she can control the virus the way she controls nulls?" he asked.
"Maybe not control it," Dot said. "But attract it, at least. If it's drawn to energy the way nulls are, she can help us trap it. If she'll cooperate with us."
"Well," Bob said, "I just spoke to her in the medlab, but she left. She didn't say where she was going. But I could…"
"Bob," Dot said, touching the Guardian on the shoulder. "This can wait until next second. You need to rest…no arguments," she said sternly as Bob opened his mouth to protest, "and I need to come up with a working plan. Then we'll talk to her about it."
Bob looked at her for a few cycles, as if considering. "Okay," he agreed. "You're right. We all need some rest — we'll work out the details tomorrow."
Dot dismissed everyone. She was going to stay at the Office overnight again, but she would take Enzo home first. Enzo wanted to stay with her: she insisted that he should go back home instead, and not by himself. Bob offered to take him home as he had before, but Dot was worried about Bob's injury, and wanted the Guardian to go straight home in a CPU or by some other means of transport.
"You shouldn't be flying anywhere for now. You have a head injury," Dot insisted. "What if you get dizzy? You might fall or…"
Bob was obviously embarrassed by Dot's display of concern. "Dot, I'm not feeling dizzy at all anymore. I'm not going to…"
"How do you know something's not going to happen?" the threw up her hands.
Enzo was never going to get home at this rate. "Hey guys, how about I go home on my own while you two work this out?" He was only half-joking.
"No" his sister said, turning to him with her hands on her hips. "You already got yourself in major trouble once this minute." Bob was looking up at the ceiling with a forlorn expression. Enzo felt the same way. He hated it when Dot mothered him.
Ray and Mouse had not left yet — they had just finished their own conversation nearby. "I'll take 'im home," Ray volunteered, "Since it looks like you two'll be arguing 'till next second." Mouse chuckled. Enzo was relieved. He turned to the Surfer.
"Thanks," Enzo said. He looked at Dot, to check if this arrangement suited her. She nodded to him. Enzo waved goodbye to his sister and Bob before leaving the war room with Mouse and Ray.
"Ah know you don't like it, Sugah," Mouse said, "But she's just lookin' out for you. You can't blame her for bein' concerned."
"I know, I know," Enzo sighed. "But why does she have to treat me like I'm only 00?"
Dot was awakened from a restless sleep by a beeping noise. Opening her eyes, she perceived that the noise was coming from a call device on the table beside her bed. Something important was happening, then. She sat up, got off the bed and stood, changing her clothing protocol from pyjamas to her work uniform. After doing the best she could to smooth her hair with her hands, she tapped the call device, and a VidWindow opened before her, showing the face of one of the nurses in the medlab.
"You asked to be notified, ma'am," the one binome said. "She's waking up."
"Be right there," Dot said. She closed the VidWindow and left her quarters, heading at a brisk pace for the medlab.
By the time Dot had reached the medlab, Galatea was fully awake. Dot came in to see her double-click her icon, changing her clothing format from hospital clothes to her usual brown garb. She was arguing with the nurse.
"I am not going to lie back down. I have been lying down for quite some time already. Where is my sword?" She finally noticed Dot.
"Galatea, we need to talk…" she began.
"Lady Dot," she said, standing up and bowing respectfully. "I am sorry for the disturbance, but I mislike being without my sword."
"It's in your quarters," Dot informed her, trying to keep a patient and even tone of voice. "We can go get it. We'll talk on the way."
"But ma'am," the nurse protested. "We need to do a scan on her before she leaves, just to make sure…" Galatea shot the binome a look that Dot had only ever seen on Matrix when he was about to get very, very angry. The nurse froze in terror, then gulped audibly. "Or..m-maybe not," she stuttered. "If you f-feel all right, I suppose you can g-go."
Galatea's expression softened. The nurse breathed a sigh of relief as Galatea turned to Dot. Dot sighed. "All right. Let's go to your quarters. I'll talk with you along the way."
Galatea nodded. She and Dot left the room and went into the medlab proper, then into the corridor. Here there were windows — one could see that the sky outside was a dark blue-black. "What didst thou wish to discuss with me, Lady?" Galatea asked.
"Well I…um." Dot didn't know how to phrase what she wanted to say. "I heard about what happened in the Game. But I wanted to know…what you're going to do about it."
They had been walking quickly, but Galatea halted her stride and turned to look Dot in the eye. "There is not much I can do," she said quietly. "Not about that, in any case. I shall deal with it in good time. But there is a more pressing problem at hand than mine." She started walking again, though more slowly this time.
"What do you mean?" Dot demanded of her. "I think your problem is pretty serious."
They came to the door to Galatea's quarters. Galatea put her hand on the panel beside it and the door slid open. The room was dark, and Galatea couldn't find the button to turn on the lights. Dot located it and pressed it. The lights came on, and Galatea smiled as she caught sight of her sword, in its scabbard, lying on a table by the window. She went to it, picked it up, and examined it before putting it back down. Dot stood near the door, watching from the other side of the room. Galatea turned to look out the window for a moment, then she turned back to face Dot.
"I have come to a conclusion," Galatea informed Dot. "It is difficult to explain but…Mouse told me about how some sprites have particular functions that they must fulfill. They are bound to follow a…a set of rules, or a code of honor, as Bob does. It is part of his nature to mend and defend."
"It's the Guardian protocol," Dot said. "It's part of his programming." She wasn't sure what Galatea was getting at.
"That is what I am trying to say." Galatea closed her eyes and ran a hand through her hair, thinking of what to say next. "I must follow my code of honor, regardless of what I am. I cannot be any other way. So as to what I am going to do now…" she shrugged. "I am going to be myself. What else can I do?"
Dot walked over to her, slowly. "I understand what you're saying," she said.
"So despite what has happened, Lady, I will aid thee still, until the threat to thy people is gone," Galatea declared confidently. "My code of honor dictates that I must."
Dot was surprised. "That's what Bob always says. Although not quite the same way," she amended. She thought for a moment. "If you feel that strongly about it…then I'll be glad to have your help."
Galatea smiled and bowed to the "My thanks, Lady. I shall serve thee as best I can."
Dot returned her smile. She wasn't quite sure if she was doing the right thing, but if Galatea really was programmed to be that way — and to all appearances, she was — then there was no point in refusing to let her help. Not if it was in her code.
Mouse and Ray were pleasantly surprised to see Galatea in the mess hall the next morning. She seemed genuinely cheerful and none the worse for her experience the day before.
"Lady Dot has a plan for defeating the virus," she said to Mouse between bites of a cheese omelet. "Although she has not yet given me the details."
"Dot told us she had a notion, hun," Mouse said. "And she needs Hexadecimal's help for it. Never thought I'd see the second…"
Galatea's expression was one of mild surprise. "She does seem to…dislike Hexadecimal. Intensely."
Ray shook his head. "That hardly covers it. The way she feels about Hexadecimal…isn't a topic for polite conversation, if you know what I mean." He managed to give her a significant glance, despite his smoked goggles.
"I understand that Hex did some…bad things in the past. But she is trying very hard to atone for her sins, although her attempts are not succeeding well," Galatea said.
"It's not just what she did, hun," Mouse clarified. "It's what she wants to do now."
Galatea raised an eyebrow as she chewed a bite of omelet. She swallowed, and put the fork down. "So it is a matter of jealousy, then?"
"Bingo," Mouse said. Ray nodded agreement. "But how'd you figure that one out?"
Galatea leaned back in her chair, interlacing her fingers and setting her hands in her lap. "Hexadecimal was quite talkative yesterday," she explained, rolling her eyes.
Matrix and AndrAIa were in the meeting room they had used the previous morning. Phong, Bob and the robots were there as well. Frisket was napping on the floor next to Matrix's chair. The door opened, and Mouse and Ray joined them, with little Enzo in tow. AndrAIa caught the momentary grimace on Matrix's face, but touched his arm gently to keep him from saying anything.
"Dot and Galatea will be here in a nano," Ray announced. There were expressions of surprise from most of the assembled dataforms, except for Phong, who had been informed earlier.
Enzo's face lit up. "She's better? Is she going to help us get the virus?"
"Enzo, I don't think anythin' short of a filelock is gonna stop her," Mouse said with a grin. "She an' Dot are just havin' a conversation outside. They'll be here in…"
The door opened, admitting Dot and Galatea. The latter was instantly intercepted by young Enzo and his dog, and received with a chorus of enthusiastic greetings by everyone else, including Matrix and the robots. She seemed a little embarassed by all the attention. Bob, who was sitting next to the head of the table, leaned in to speak to Dot as the took her seat. AndrAIa listened in on their quiet conversation.
"Are you sure she's going to be okay?" he asked. "You saw what happened yesterday…"
"I talked with her about it," Dot said. "She insisted. She said she had an obligation to help us." Dot paused. "To sum it up, she can't go against her code."
A startled noise from Bob. "She what? Dot, she's a Guardian in her Game, but she's not…well, she's not a Guardian here. And she knows it."
"She does. It doesn't change anything," Dot said firmly. "I don't understand it either, but…well, that's just how it is. She's dealing with it in her own way."
The two of them broke off their conversation as Galatea took her seat. Then AndrAIa noticed that someone was missing from this gathering. "Where's Hexadecimal? Isn't she supposed to be here?"
There was a murmur of surprise and concern around the table. Dot frowned. "The one time I want her around…Bob, can you VidWindow her?"
Unlike the rest of them, Bob could call up a VidWindow at will — it was one of Glitch's many functions. He nodded, and a VidWindow sprang into existence before him. It should have showed him a view of Hexadecimal's Lair, as seen through her looking glass, but all it showed was a black screen with the letters "BRB" blinking in its center.
"She's not taking calls," Bob said, closing the VidWindow. He sighed. He would have to go to Lost Angles and speak with her face-to-mask, and he didn't relish the prospect of doing so.
Dot sighed in exasperation. "I'll get a CPU…"
"No," Bob insisted. "That might upset her…more. And I'm pretty sure I can go on my own. I think that would be best."
From the way they were looking at each other, they seemed to have forgotten about everyone else in the room. Hexadecimal was always a touchy subject. Nobody spoke for a few cycles.
"Excuse me, Lady Dot," Galatea said softly. She cringed a bit as everyone looked at her. "Thou shouldst let him go. He will be fine."
"I just don't want him to go alone," Dot said, spreading her hands.
"I shall go with him, an it please you," Galatea said, standing up. "Hexadecimal and I…we have an understanding of sorts," she said.
Dot peered at her for a few moments, as if straining to read between the lines. Then she nodded. "Okay," she said. "You two go together and bring her here. If we want to catch this thing…we're going to need her help."
Bob stood up, nodding thankfully at Dot. Galatea bowed to Phong and the before joining Bob at the door. AndrAIa caught her gaze for a moment and nodded to her. Galatea smiled back, and followed Bob out of the room.
Bob breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed behind him. With Galatea following him, he made his way toward the nearest lift. "Thanks," he said to Galatea as they entered the lift. The doors closed. He pressed the button that would take them down to ground level, from which they could exit the Principal Office. The lift began to move.
"I thought it was the best solution for all concerned," Galatea remarked. The lift doors opened, and the two of them walked out. "I do not yet know the details of Lady Dot's plan…"
"Neither do I," said Bob. "But if Hexadecimal is a part of it, it's going to be very interesting. One way or another."
"Fie on such ill thoughts!" Galatea chided him. "I am sure that Hexadecimal and Lady Dot can forget their enmity for a little while at least."
"You're sure. But you don't know them like I do," Bob answered.
They left the corridor they had been following and went into a much larger one. It was big enough for two CPUs to fly through side by side, with room to spare. Bob turned to walk along it, to the nearest exit door, which led out onto one of the bridges that connected the Principal Office with the system outside.
Once they had gotten out of the building, Galatea maximized her zipboard and mounted it. Bob rose into the air once Galatea was secure on the zipboard, and as he ascended he turned to face Floating Point Park, where the Gilded Gate Bridge linked Lost Angles to the rest of Mainframe. When he had enough altitude to clear the top of the Principal Office, he began moving in that direction, going slowly since he wasn't sure how well Galatea could handle her zipboard. She seemed comfortable at the pace he was setting, and flew alongside him.
"Sir Bob," she said, getting his attention. He turned his head to face her.
"Please, just call me 'Bob.' I'm more comfortable with that," he told her.
"My apologies," she said. "I'm just curious, what is that sphere floating above the Principal Office, and why is it there?"
"It's the pinnacle," Bob explained. "Every system has one, although the size and shape of the pinnacle differs from one system to another. It's the highest thing in the system, as a rule." Megabyte's Silicon Tor had broken that rule, but of course that was Megabyte's style.
Galatea turned her head to look back at it, although she did not change her course or speed — that made Bob a little nervous. Galatea turned to face him again after a few moments. "It is taller than all the other buildings. I never noticed before. What does it do, exactly?" she asked.
"Well, there's equipment inside it that can be used to make portals to other systems," Bob said. "And when the User sends us an upgrade, it goes to the pinnacle. Then we can sink the pinnacle down into the Principal Office and install the upgrade from there."
Bob spent the rest of the journey answering Galatea's many questions about how the system worked. Every answer he gave generated more questions, about portals, tears, Games, the Core, viruses…the Guardian, much to his surprise, found it difficult to answer some of her queries. He had known about these things for as long as he could remember, and the things she questioned him about were so run-of-the-program, so normal, that he had difficulty finding words to describe them. Bob was in the middle of explaining the concept of the Net when they reached the Lost Angles side of Gilded Gate Bridge. He stopped, and Galatea halted her zipboard.
"We'll have to finish this conversation later. We should descend — Hexadecimal doesn't like it when people fly around here," Bob apologized. Galatea nodded, somewhat regretfully, and they began to descend towards the ground. Bob touched down first. "Don't get off the zipboard. Just hover around here."
Galatea looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Why?"
"Because of the nulls," Bob said, pointing at one of the little squeaking blobs. Galatea looked at the one he was indicating, a red one, and then at some of the others that were milling around.
"I saw some of these creatures," Galatea said, "On the terrace yesterday. They do not look dangerous…"
"Don't touch them. They drain energy," Bob warned her, "Like the virus that almost got Enzo. He said it looked like a giant black null. That's why we need Hexadecimal's help — she can control the nulls, so maybe she can help us with the Absorber virus."
"Oh," Galatea said, nodding. "I understand." A purple null with green stripes crawled under her zipboard, lifting one of its ends (presumably its head, or the equivalent) up to examine her. Galatea moved a little higher up to make sure that it couldn't touch her. "And thee? Are the nulls dangerous to thee?"
"No." Bob shook his head. "They can drain energy through clothes, but not through my armor, and I'm not going to touch them with my hands. C'mon, Hex's Lair is this way." He began walking toward the large tower that stood brooding over the ruins, being careful not to step on the nulls as he went. Galatea glided alongside him on her zipboard. They reached the tower in a few nanoseconds. There was no way in — Hexadecimal could let them into her Lair, if she chose to, but she either had not seen them or wasn't taking visitors. Bob looked at the tower and sighed. He didn't know what to do next.
"God's thumbs!" Galatea exclaimed behind him. "What's that?"
Bob turned around and saw that she was pointing at something. Looking in the direction she was indicating, he saw Scuzzy, Hex's familiar, peeking out from behind a wall.
"Umm…hi, Scuzzy," he said nervously. After a moment the little creature whizzed over to Bob, then tilted itself so it was looking up at his face. Scuzzy's frown was making Bob feel very uncomfortable. "Can you please…tell Hexadecimal that we want to talk to her?" Scuzzy wobbled up and down, as if he were nodding, then zipped off and vanished.
"That is…Hexadecimal's pet?" Galatea asked, looking in the direction that Scuzzy had gone. Bob nodded.
Suddenly a sinkhole began to open below Galatea's zipboard. She jerked backward in surprise. As the hole widened, it became obvious that it was the mouth of a tunnel, the other end of which was somewhere below Hexadecimal's tower. When the hole stopped widening, Bob ascended into the air again and then floated down into it, gesturing for Galatea to follow him. She did so, albeit a little hesitantly. At least Hex wasn't just sucking them in the way she used to do.
After Bob had gone some distance down the tunnel, he could no longer see the light from the entry behind him, but there was a pinpoint of yellow light in front of him — that would be Hexadecimal's Lair. He floated towards it, careful not to bump into the sides of the tunnel as he went. He exited the tunnel, emerging into the chamber that Hexadecimal had made her home.
She was sitting on her throne, facing them. As they floated in and touched down on the platform before her, she stood up, opened her arms in a gesture of welcoming and smiled. She stepped down from the dais to talk to them.
"Bob! Galatea! I'm so glad that you're both better!" She turned to speak to Galatea, now looking rather ashamed and apologetic, her eyes blue. "I'm very sorry about last second. I was scared of the Game — I don't like Games. I came to visit you but you were asleep." She faced Bob. "Isn't that right, Bob? You were supposed to tell me when she woke up."
Bob exchanged a look with Galatea, then shrugged his shoulders. He turned back to Hexadecimal. "I'm sorry. She woke up last night, and I was asleep. I didn't know myself until this morning."
"I am sorry for not informing thee," Galatea apologized, "But I did not know. And it was rather late at night — I did not wish to disturb thee."
Hexadecimal, her eyes green again, waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "It would have been perfectly all right, dear. I don't sleep." She smiled sweetly. "I'm glad to know that you're all right. You did look rather…"
Bob, sensing that Galatea didn't like where the conversation was heading, cleared his throat loudly. Hexadecimal startled and looked at Bob — he narrowed his eyes a little, hoping that she would get the hint. She did, and switched the subject. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
Bob opened his mouth to speak, but it was Galatea who related the purpose of their visit. "I fear 'tis not simply for the pleasure of thy company, this time," Galatea said in an apologetic and, Bob thought, admirably persuasive voice. "We need thee at the meeting. Why didst thou not attend?"
Hexadecimal's eyes turned blue again, and her face fell. With a sad expression, she looked at her feet, linked her hands behind her back, and began tracing some design on the floor with the tip of a foot, the way Enzo did when he had been caught doing something bad. "Everyone was so mad at me yesterday," Hexadecimal lamented. "I didn't think they'd want me back. So I didn't go."
Galatea made a sympathetic face, and Bob had to work very hard so as not to laugh. "But we need thy help. Lady Dot has a plan to capture the virus, but she will need thee to assist in implementing it…"
Oops. That had been the wrong thing to say. Hexadecimal's eyes were red, her fists clenched at her sides, her posture stiff and bristling. The frown on her face was positively fearsome. She stated, in rather shocking language, what Dot could do with her plan as far as she herself was concerned. Bob had never heard her use such words before, and was rather taken aback.
He wasn't sure if Galatea understood what Hexadecimal had just said, but she certainly got the gist of it. She frowned in disappointment. "Hexadecimal, that was a very rude thing to say," she scolded, shaking her finger. This wasn't going too well. Bob stepped in, since he wasn't sure how far Hexadecimal's patience (what little of it there was) would last with the way Galatea was handling things.
"Look, Hex," he said gently, "If we want to get this thing out of the system, we'll need your help. You and Dot will just have to get along for a little while." Hexadecimal's eyes were still red, but her face was not as angry as it had been a few moments before. "Please?" Bob pleaded. "I would really appreciate it…" He didn't like being manipulative, but he was desperate. Hexadecimal's eyes turned green, and she smiled ingratiatingly.
"Of course, Bob darling. Anything for you," she purred, patting his cheek affectionately. "Let's go off to the Principal Office then, shall we?" And before he could stop her, she grabbed both him and Galatea by the arm and…
Frisket, for no discernible reason, started growling. Matrix turned to look at the dog with concern. Ray, whose time in the Web had taught him to be very perceptive, saw a flash of white appear about two micrometers above the table, and shouted a warning before Hexadecimal appeared, accompanied by a very startled Guardian on her left and a perplexed Game sprite on her right. Unfortunately for her two traveling companions, she was facing the head of the table, where Dot was sitting, and the sides, so Bob and Galatea found themselves without something to stand on. Bob crashed on Matrix with a yelp, and both of them toppled to the floor. Galatea was more fortunate — Ray caught her before she could hit the ground, and she blushed and mumbled an apology as he helped her stand upright.
"No worries, little lady," he said jovially. "Always glad to help." He flashed her a grin, and she smiled back weakly.
Across the table, Bob and Matrix had not yet managed to get untangled from each other and up on their respective feet. This was partly because Hack and Slash were trying to assist them in doing so, and also because the robots were being jostled and pushed by Dot and AndrAIa, who were trying to render aid as well. Matrix irritably cuffed the robots away, and managed to stand up. Dot pushed past Hack and helped Bob to his feet, asking if he were all right. Hexadecimal, who was still standing on the table, was surveying this whole scene with her hand to her mouth. Since her back was turned to Ray at this point, he could not see her face.
Dot, after being assured by Bob that he was none the worse for wear, frowned at Hexadecimal, who backspaced a step and almost fell off the table herself. "Get down from there," Dot growled at her. Hex, consternated, floated down from the table to touch down behind and to the side of Ray. Watching Dot warily, she went to an empty seat. Galatea did the same, taking the seat across from Hexadecimal as she had done last second.
When everyone else was more or less settled, Dot took her place at the head of the table again. "All right," she said, "Time to get down to business. We're going to trap that Absorber virus. Hexadecimal," she said sharply, addressing the virus. Hex jumped a little in her seat. "You're going to be the bait. Now, here's how it's going to work…"