Chapter 9: Birthday Cakes and Karaoke Robots

"Three…two…one…Yayyyy!" Everyone cheered and applauded as a ring of golden light, starting at Mouse's feet, rose up and vanished over the top of her head. A ragged and off-key chorus of "Happy Birthday to You" ensued, then more cheering and clapping. Little Enzo tooted a plastic party horn and the celebration was officially underway.

Two seconds ago, the Absorber virus had been deleted. Things in Mainframe were back to normal. Or at least as close to normal as they could get. The birthday party was taking place in a large room in the Principal Office. It had been decorated to perfection (in other words, to Dot's specifications) the second before. The birthday cake and various other foodstuffs were laid out on a side table. Balloons abounded throughout the room.

Hexadecimal and Hack and Slash had been invited to the party, against Dot's better judgment, because it was as much a victory celebration as it was a birthday bash. The three of them — Hexadecimal most of all — had offered help when Mainframe needed it, and they deserved something in return.

The celebrants gathered around the buffet table, plates and forks ready, as Ray began cutting up the pink-and-white frosted multi-layer cake. "I made it myself," Hexadecimal announced proudly. Bob had convinced Dot, after a very heated exchange of whispers, that it would be better for all concerned if they accepted Hex's offer to bake the cake. It looked quite appetizing — not an attribute of her previous culinary creations, unfortunately. It was chocolate sponge cake with strawberry filling — at least, that's what it looked like. With Hexadecimal, you could never tell.

Because of the rules of ettiquette, none of the guests could start eating the cake until the birthday sprite had taken the first bite. In most cases, this rule is the cause of a few moments of irritation and impatience on the part of the attending guests, but to most of those gathered at the event, it was a relief. For Mouse, of course, it was something of a problem.

"It looks lovely, Hex," Mouse commented. "Ah'm sure it tastes lovely too." Her voice didn't quite sound sincere, but Hexadecimal, who was not very good at picking up on details like these, beamed proudly.

Hack leaned over and whispered to Slash. "Y'know," he said, "Times like these make me glad I can't eat." Slash patted his back in agreement.

Mouse, after regarding the cake for a cycle, sighed and applied her fork to it. Everyone at the table watched closely as she lifted a bite of cake to her lips, inserted it into her mouth and began to chew. She paused — causing all the sprites to tense for a moment — before she smiled and nodded. Mouse swallowed the cake. "It's delicious. Thank you."

Those partygoers who were able began to eat their cake. The henchbots sighed and stared at the cake longingly for a moment, until Slash was struck by a rare flash of inspiration. He nudged Hack to get his attention, then began whispering to him. Hack perked up as well; then the two of them hurried to the collection of speakers and sound equipment in the corner, which included a karaoke machine. Slash fiddled with it, trying to turn it on and find the song he wanted, while Hack picked up one of the microphones and tapped it. Everyone else in the room turned to look at him. The red 'bot suddenly became very nervous.

"Umm…Slash and I have a song we'd, uh, like to perform. Yeah." He looked at Slash, who gave him a thumbs up before picking up the other microphone. After a couple of cycles some music started to play, and the pair began to sing a few seconds later.

"When the night
has come…
and the system is dark,
and there's no
light aroundwe can see…"

Hack had a surprisingly good singing voice. Slash provided him with the bass section of the song. Before long, everyone was clapping to the beat. The henchbots concluded the song amid appreciative applause, and bowed before leaving the stage. AndrAIa stood up.

"I need a partner for this one," she said, looking at Dot. Dot shook her head and held up her hands.

"C'mon, sugah," Mouse cajoled her. "One song for the birthday girl?" She grinned. Dot acceded to her request and stood up. Everyone cheered as she went up to the stage to take her place next to AndrAIa. They sang "We Are Family" together — after that, Dot ended up singing more than the "one song" that Mouse had requested of her.

"Bob? I needs must speak with thee," Galatea said quietly as she tapped the Guardian on the shoulder. Mouse was singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," and although she was off-key by several millimeters, everyone was having too much fun to care.

Bob turned to Galatea, feeling a little worried. "Is something wrong?" he asked, trying to imagine what it might be.

"Oh no," she replied, shaking her head, "Not at all, really. But I just thought of something a few sec…" she broke off mid-word, rolling her eyes and mouthing a silent curse. "Sorry. A few cycles ago. Something that I wish to discuss with thee after…"

Mouse finished her song to a round of cheers and applause, cutting off the conversation between Bob and Galatea. They exchanged a quick glance, agreeing to talk about whatever it was at a better time.

The birthday sprite took a bow and returned to her seat. Ray Tracer got up and went to the microphone that she had just left. "Many thanks to Mouse for giving us a demonstration of her musical talents," he said with a wide grin. He waited for the resulting laughter to die down before he continued. "Now, since we've done the feasting and singing bit, it's about time for our birthday girl to open her presents." The other party guests cheered their assent, and Mouse grinned. Dot and little Enzo moved the plates and cups near the head of the table, clearing a space for Mouse to open her presents on. Hexadecimal, Hack and Slash brought over the presents, which had until now been waiting in a pile in the corner.

One by one, the presents were opened; a clothing format from AndrAIa (which she had programmed herself), a framed color JPEG that little Enzo had made, and a rare .MP3 album from Dot, among other things. After the last present had been opened, though, Mouse had an odd look on her face, as if she'd been expecting something that hadn't happened.

"Well, take a look at this," Ray said in mock surprise, producing a small package from behind his back. "Looks like that wasn't the last one after all. Happy birthday, love," he said, offering her the package. It was a small, flat rectangle, wrapped in teal paper and tied with a blue ribbon. Mouse grinned at the surfer, accepted the package, and began to undo the ribbon. Then she removed the paper carefully, revealing a small red box. The room was thick with anticipation as Mouse opened the box, gasped in surprise, and then favored Ray with a brilliant smile.

"What is it?" little Enzo queried excitedly. Using the thumb and forefinger of each hand, Mouse took out the thing in the box so that everyone could see it. It was a golden bracelet, hung with charms that resembled the symbol on Mouse's seal ring. The little golden mice had bodies made of polished oval gemstones, which glowed richly in the light. She proffered it to Ray, who took it carefully and put it around her left wrist.

"Thank you, darlin'!" Mouse said gratefully. She sounded as if she were about to break out in joyful tears. But she didn't do that. Instead, she leaped out of her chair, embraced the Surfer and kissed him passionately. The other guests, depending upon who they were, smiled or showed a sudden interest in the ceiling. Little Enzo made an exaggerated gagging noise. Dot frowned at him, but Mouse and Ray took no notice of him at all.