Alright, hello fellow Reboot Fans. This is my first Reboot story, though I have been a fan for a long time. Basically this follows Bob through his younger years and shows how he ended up in Mainframe...(MY VERSION). I am not affiliated in any way with Mainframe Inc. nor do I own or in anyway claim ownership of Reboot, (though I'd love to so I could get them to finish the series.) At a later point I may also revise the Daemon Saga. I loved My Two Bobs movie, but I wasn't so thrilled with the way Daemon Saga was handled, so I might make some minor improvements (cough, cough), at a later date. Hope you enjoy. Story primary features Bob, (of course) but eventually will get into some of the other characters from Reboot. So R&R.
Prologue
The small sprite came into a world far different from that which most babies know. His mother grimaced in agony, as contractions rolled through her and she looked at her husband in horror.
"The baby is coming! Do something!" she roared over the sound of the storm, her brown eyes filled with pain and her normally bright blue skin pale with pain and glistening wet with the rain that fell from the sky.
"What should I do?" the male asked, his dark, burly blue complexion scarred and rugged. "Just have it and dump it somewhere! The Guardians are coming!"
"It's our baby! I'm not leaving it! I can't believe you even suggested that! Think of something!"
The man thought, his silver eyes matching his silver hair and they narrowed in concentration. Just at that moment the dreaded words echoed across the sky: WARNING: INCOMING GAME...WARNING: INCOMING GAME.
"Not now!" the woman cried in terror.
The man's face however, melted into a pleased expression. "No, don't you see?" he yelled over the sound of the storm. "We can go into the game and hide there! They'll never think to look for us in there, and with that many Guardians around this area, they're sure to win the game. You can simply have the baby in the game and then we'll make a run for it!"
The woman looked skeptical, but as another contraction ripped through her, she grimaced and then turned and ran toward the descending cube. Her husband followed her at a slower pace.
"HALT!" a voice came from behind them and the man turned to see a Guardian in hot pursuit. Behind him several more emerged from the storm. The blue-skinned man turned and plunged into the cube, only to have it slam down behind him. Worried, he turned to his wife, who was leaning against the side of the cube holding her stomach in agony.
"I think...I think all the Guardians are outside. They didn't get in!" Scroll, the male sprite, cried in shock.
"What are we going to do, Scroll? Without the Guardians, we don't have much chance of winning this game. We are all going to be nullified!" The woman's eyes were wide in panic, but as Scroll chuckled, she felt herself calm down slightly.
"Don't worry, Keyboard," Scroll said jovially, "they don't call me the net's best mercenary for nothing."
As he placed his fingers over his icon, he paused and said, "I'm sorry what I said about leaving the kid earlier. I didn't mean it. With us as his parents, he's going to be top-notch. This I know. Now, be calm as I win this game."
He grinned a cocky grin, his lips twisting slightly as they smiled through an old scar, and then he rebooted. Wearing a commando uniform he raced off to win the game. Watching him go, Keyboard shook her head in exasperation. Why she married that sprite, she'd never know. Suddenly another contraction ripped through her and she dropped on the ground from pain. Then, with no doctor and no midwife, in the middle of a sunny, commando game, she gave birth to a tiny sprite.
The baby came out screaming, his smooth blue skin glistening in the unnatural light of the game. His mother rocked him, and gently cooed to him. Slowly he calmed down, and his chrome locks of hair blew gently in the breeze as he opened his tiny eyes to stare at the game around him. He gurgled slightly and then tasted his first meal in the strange atmosphere of the game.
As the baby nursed, Keyboard carried him toward the castle, where she hoped to meet up with Scroll. The baby already looked promising, his eyes bright and alert, his tiny fists strong and well formed. Knowing that the time was soon for the baby to come, she had brought clothes with her and she quickly dressed and diapered the baby. She heard sounds of combat coming from in front of her and she looked up from the baby to see her husband fiercely battling the User. Scroll seemed to be holding his own and pressing the User hard. The User cried in agony as Scroll sliced down, cutting off one of the User's arms, and then in a bizarre example of User humor, the User said, "It's just a flesh wound."
Scroll shook his head in exasperation and continued hacking. He looked up at one point to see Keyboard watching him, and he grinned as he saw the precious burden she was carrying. "As soon as I win," he yelled, as he continued bashing his opponent, "we make a break for it, the Guardians are sure to be waiting outside for us. Head into one of these caves. They should represent houses once the game leaves. Did you give the baby his icon? He's going to need it to leave the game!"
Keyboard slapped her head and said, "Where is my brain today?" Quickly, she pulled out a small white and black icon and scanned the baby with it, downloading his individual codes. Then she placed the icon on the baby chest and ran toward the cave. She reached it and crept inside waiting. After several minutes, she saw Scroll come toward her and she looked at him questioningly as he dragged the User to the cave.
"Why did you bring the User here? Why is the game still going? Why didn't you end it?" Keyboard asked, clutching her small bundle tighter.
"I want my little one's first moments spent defeating the User," Scroll said chuckling. "Quick, reboot the kid and let's see what he's got."
"Are you completely random?" Keyboard asked, her face frozen with shock. "No sprite his age has ever been rebooted this young."
"I know," Scroll chuckled, "he'll be the first."
Keyboard shook her head, and said, "Next you'll be wanting him to be a Guardian." Scroll snorted at the absolute idiocy of the idea and again gestured for her to reboot the baby. Sighing, she rolled her eyes and double-clicked on her infant's icon. "Reboot," she said.
A light shimmered around the baby, and he gurgled and let out as much of a smile as any infant could. His father gently picked up the baby, who was wearing a smaller version of his father's clothes and he placed the infant's hands on his sword where the babe grasped instinctively. Then father and son plunged the sword down, ending the User. The game began to shimmer around them as the small family ducked into a cave and the game disappeared.
GAME OVER: the voice echoed for a moment and then was gone. The ten members of the Guardian Collective stood outside searching for any sign of the mercenaries. They were gone. A small cadet, named Turbo, looked around the area, following his trainer.
"Impossible," his trainer, named Cursor, said. "The woman was pregnant. They couldn't have gotten far. In fact, I think she was in labor."
Turbo couldn't help but find himself thinking of the mercenaries with admiration. Not only had they won a game by themselves, without a keytool no less, but they had also managed to escape the entire Guardian Collective.
"Spread out!" yelled the Prime Guardian, Silicon. "They've got to be around here somewhere."
The Guardians spread out, keytools scanning. Turbo trotted after Cursor, hopeful that they would still find the mercenaries, but doubtful. After all, the were chasing Scroll and Keyboard. They were legends. It would be nearly impossible to find them. Especially in this bad weather, which hindered the keytools and ruined the scans. Finally Silicon called the search off. "We'll get them next time, men, don't worry. This is the last time they get away with hacking into the armory."
Cursor snorted and looked down at his gangly cadet. "That's what the old guy said last time," he whispered to Turbo, and Turbo giggled nervously. It didn't seem to be right to make fun of the Prime Guardian that way, but more than anyone else, Turbo idolized Cursor. With the rain pouring down, the Guardians turned and headed back to the Academy.
Three pairs of eyes watched them go. "Phew," Scroll breathed, "that was close. They were getting awfully close to us just then."
Keyboard nodded in relief and hugged the sleeping child to her. "So, Scroll," she said after a moment's pause, "what are we going to call him?"
"Well, we talked about it, Key. I thought we'd decided on one already."
Keyboard nodded, and smiled gently. "This child of ours, he really is going to turn the net upside down, isn't he?"
"Definitely," Scroll grinned. "Not just the net though. The net, the web, and any other place that can be reached by portal. They had better start preparing themselves, because Bob is on his way."
Bob yawned sleepily, and his parents smiled tenderly at each other. A few moments ago, they had been two separate beings, but now, they were a family, and they would do all in their power to protect the newest member. Even if it meant their lives.