Author's Note: I do not own the rights to ReBoot and have no legal or moral right to create this story. I have written it purely for entertainment purposes.
CHAPTER TWO
As preparations for the defrag got under way in the Principal Office, Bob began to understand why the reaction in the Diner had been significantly less than favourable. Most of the inhabitants of Mainframe had to be moved or enlisted to help as every unit of data stored around the city had to be identified and catalogued. Teams of binomes, under the command of Phong, systematically searched every nook and cranny of the storage levels of every sector. An alarming number of binomes had seen fit to set up home among the grey boxes of data and they proved reluctant to let the cataloguing teams in, knowing that the removal teams would soon follow...
Dot stood surrounded by vid-windows, most of which were larger than her. A bug buzzed in circles around the sprite, the angled vid-windows making a perfect velodrome for the irritating insect. Dot was determined not to let the insect distract her from her work, or let anyone else know that there was any possibility that it could be the case. She was engaged in the most critical phase of the operation - matching the size of the files with the size of the spaces available. She wanted no help from anyone, dismissing offers with a curt 'shush'.
One of the vid-windows that Dot was trying her hardest to ignore showed Bob supplying a continuous verbal update as he dodged between endless binomes frantically loading grey boxes of data into shipping containers with forklift trucks. Enzo and Frisket walked alongside him. They passed a pair of one binomes who were having difficulty manoeuvring a package of data that was over twice their size.
'To me,' the first one said.
'To you,' replied the second one.
There was a slip, a trip, a somersault and the package landed on the floor, scattering bits everywhere.
'Oh dear, oh dear.' Bob remarked, sidestepping the mess as the two binomes negotiated a clean-up operation.
'I bet Dot's not even listening.' Enzo sighed.
'Sure she is.' Bob reassured him. Frisket snorted.
'Say something that will make her listen, then,' Enzo challenged.
Bob shrugged and turned back to Glitch. 'We're in level fifteen of Baudway and I can report that… uh… there's a giant monster made of nulls stomping the scenery into pixels.'
The guardian paused. Enzo sniggered. Dot didn't flinch.
'I guess you're right.' Bob sighed and continued walking. Before they reached the next corner, Glitch emitted a distress signal and Bob immediately addressed the key tool.
'Glitch – report!'
'What is it Bob?' Enzo asked.
Bob looked alarmed. 'A ship is docking in the port. I need to get over there now.'
'I'm coming too!' Enzo announced and jumped on his zip board to follow the guardian.
'I should probably take you back to the Principal Office – it could be anyone arriving.'
'Aw, Bob...'
Bob sighed. 'Okay, just be careful and make sure you do what I say.'
'Yes sir!'
As they approached the dockside, a fleet of CPUs came into view and lined up along the edge of the city where the solid ground met the Energy Sea. Further inland, binomes drove forklift trucks loaded with pallets full of data, shuttling them between shipping containers and huge lifts leading to the lower levels of the city. Bob and Enzo alighted next to a pair of binomes wearing blue hard hats and slurping mugs of thick, orange tea with the teaspoon standing vertically in the centre.
The one binome poked himself in the eye and yelped in pain. The zero binome patted him on the shoulder and the one binome burst into tears and hugged his colleague, clearly unused to being on the receiving end of affection or sympathy. The zero awkwardly hugged back and shrugged at Enzo as he walked past.
A small phishing boat with a solo pilot at the helm glinted on the horizon. Bob ordered Glitch into a pair of binoculars and took a closer look. The craft approached steadily at a brisk pace and Bob was soon able to make out the identity of the pilot. It was a Guardian wearing the same standard uniform as Bob, with lilac skin and pewter coloured hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck, save for one strand tucked behind her right ear. She did not look like she was travelling for fun.
'Why would a Guardian be travelling by boat?' Enzo asked when Bob told him what he could see. 'Why didn't she open a portal?'
'Maybe she likes boats.' Bob suggested, putting the binoculars away and striding towards the dock where the vessel was preparing to moor, hoping he was giving out the right balance of friendliness and authority. A binome caught the rope the guardian threw to him and proficiently tied it to a brass bollard. Thanking the binome as she disembarked, she acknowledged Bob and Enzo with a curt nod.
Bob stepped up to introduce himself. 'I am guardian four five two – please state your name and purpose.'
'Guardian one four eight,'' The newcomer replied. 'Ideal Diode. I have come to take my sister home.'
'Your sister?' Bob repeated. 'I've never come across a sprite from the Ideal family in Mainframe.'
'I followed the signature of the portal she opened.' Ideal explained.
Bob looked puzzled and consulted Glitch. 'We have no record of any portals opening within the city.'
'My measurements are never wrong.' Ideal retorted. A bug buzzed at Ideal's face on an apparent collision course and was snatched out of the air by the guardian, who held it tightly within her closed fist.'My sister is definitely somewhere in this system. I will find her and I will bring her home.'
'We will certainly help you find her,' Bob offered, 'But Mainframe is quite a big place and it will take quite a while if we don't have any pointers to follow.'
'What about Lost Angles?' Enzo piped up, 'that's not in Mainframe, but it's close enough.'
'Lost Angles?' Ideal questioned.
'Mainframe used to have a twin city, but it was destroyed in an accident. Lost angles is all that remains,' Bob explained, poking tiny buttons on Glitch, looking for portal signatures. He found one.
'And it's uninhabited?'
'No, a virus called Hexadecimal lives there.'
Ideal's jaw dropped.
'You let a virus live… oh wait...' A look of realisation dawned on Ideal's face. 'You're Bob, aren't you? You believe viruses can be reprogrammed, don't you?'
'It's a theory I've got.' Bob shrugged, non-committally.
Ideal dropped her head to one side. 'I'd like to talk to you about that, but not until we have saved my sister from that virus!'
'I think we can manage that.' Bob smiled. ' But we should make a start for Lost Angles. Hopefully you sister has stayed out of Hexadecimal's way.' Recognising the look of alarm of Ideal's face, Bob quickly backtracked. 'Hex isn't particularly dangerous as such, but she can be quite, um, intense.'
'I'll bear that in mind,' Ideal answered and watched Bob mound his zip-board and take off on a course around the city's perimeter, with Enzo following closely behind.
'Isn't it quicker to go through the city?' Enzo asked?
Bob glanced over his shoulder. 'I don't trust her enough to take her on a guided tour of Mainframe. I don't think she's a proper guardian.'
'Because she's a girl?' Enzo piped up.
'What? No!' Bob objected, startled that Enzo would think such a thing. 'Her attitude just isn't sitting right with me. Plus the guardian one four eight guardian going my the name of Diode that I knew about, was a man.'
'So it is because she's a girl then?'
Bob frowned at Enzo. 'You're determined, aren't you?'
Enzo flashed a cheeky grin at Bob. 'Maybe the Diode you knew is her father?'
'Maybe.'
Ideal looked at the bug in her hand. A single, round eye, not unlike a binome's eye, looked back at her and blinked. The back of the bug was navy blue and marked with green arrows and small rectangles. Any resident of Mainframe would have recognized Megabyte's insignia, but Ideal did not. She slipped it into her pocket and followed Bob to Lost Angles.
...
Thank you for reading, if indeed you still are.
