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 FOUR: FINAL CHAPTER

Zenna sat alone in a cell in Silicon Tor. Graffiti on the grubby wall read 'Cyrus waz yer' and the smell of stale urine hung in the air. A viral binome snored noisily with a bunch of keys tantalisingly close, but utterly unreachable beyond the impenetrable force-field that the young sprite had already tried to breach. She held the key tool in her hand and addressed it directly.

'Why did you bond with me instead of my sister? She's the cadet.'

Lexie emitted a series of peeps.

'I know, but I'm not cut out to be a guardian. I'm not brave enough and… well… what I am.'

Lexie beeped. Footsteps approached. A prickle of fear climbed up Zenna's spine.

'Lexie, hair bow.' Zenna commanded. The key tool transformed into a dark blue bow with the key tool cogwheel proudly glinting in the centre.

'Lexie, come on. You can do better than that.'

Lexie peeped mournfully.

'Lexie, please, I need you to hide.' Zenna paused. 'Do it for my father.'

Lexie vibrated and turned bright pink. Zenna fixed the gaudy accessory into her hair and turned to face the door where Hack and Slash arrived with Bunnyfoot. The snoring binome leaped to his feet and lowered the force field to allow Zenna to step out. She knew running would be pointless even before she was handcuffed to the monstrously misaligned binome.

'The boss is ready to see you now.' Hack informed the sprite.

'Okay.' Zenna nodded and followed the virus' favourite henchmen. They led her through corridors rimmed with power conduits to a cage lift with a puddle of oil near the doorway. Zenna was glad that nobody tried to talk to her. It gave her more time to compose herself.

Once inside Megabyte's control room, Zenna could not help but be impressed by the virus' sense of theatre. The only light came from a now-complete wireframe map of Mainframe that rotated slowly above the empty seats and discarded controllers. The virus directed his hover throne in through a door with such a bright light behind him that all Zenna could see was his outline. She noted the breadth of his shoulders and suspected that he was a much more powerful virus than her mother. When he fully entered into the light and Zenna could see his immense physical form, Zenna realized that it was definitely the case. She met his penetrating gaze and found it impossible to look away, Megabyte's eyes glowed redder as he scowled at the little sprite. Zenna's pale blue eyes widened and her stomach churned into a freezing knot.

'Are you sure she's a guardian?'

'Oh yes boss,' Hack assured him. 'She's got a key tool.'

'I saw it too.' Slash confirmed.

'Is that so?' Megabyte questioned, then held out a clawed hand to Zenna. 'Give it to me.'

'I'm sorry sir, I don't have it.' Zenna lied. 'I dropped it when your security officers picked me up.'

Hack and Slash were decidedly flattered at this description.

'Did you hear that?' Hack hissed excitedly at Slash. 'She called us officers!'

Megabyte lifted his face from his palm to address his tinplate troublemakers. 'Go back out there and find the key tool.'

'Uh boss?' Questioned Slash.

'You didn't understand what I asked you?'

'What about the girl?'

Megabyte grinned. 'Leave her with me.'

Alone with Megabyte, save for Bunnyfoot, Zenna felt even more afraid.

'I'm going to ask you one more time, give me the key tool.'

'I'm sorry sir, but I really don't have it.' Zenna replied, utterly terrified. She knew the consequences of handing a key tool to a virus and dug deep into every cache of courage she had, hoping there would be enough for her to find another chance to escape.

'Do you expect me to believe that?'

'Yes sir.'

Megabyte chuckled. 'My, you are the defiant one. It's almost as if you're not afraid of me.'

'I am, sir.' Zenna confessed. 'You must be the most powerful virus I have ever met.'

Megabyte was intrigued. 'Have you met a lot of viruses?'

Zenna swallowed hard. 'I met your neighbour, Hexadecimal.'

Megabyte laughed and inspected his claws. 'Ah yes, dear, eccentric Hexadecimal. I could talk about her all day, but I've got a system to take over and a key tool to obtain.'

The virus rose from his hover throne, reattached his legs, and towered over the little sprite. He snapped the handcuffs that bound her to Bunnyfoot, releasing the binome, who clumped away between the empty seats, stumbling over wires as he went. Zenna dreaded to think what the virus was planning to do without any witnesses. Megabyte grasped Zenna's shoulder and lifted her clean off her feet, bringing her to his eye level. She could feel his claws digging in to her shoulder, just enough to stop her falling to the floor, but no so hard as to crush the joint itself, which he could so easily do. Not that this would be a long term problem for Zenna, it would still hurt.

'If you won't give me the key tool, I will just have to take it.'

'I… I don't…'

Megabyte extended one claw and aimed it at Zenna's neck.

'No… Don't… Please...' Zenna begged.

Without breaking eye contact, Megabyte slashed through the front of Zenna's coat, sending half of the front fluttering to the floor like a discarded handkerchief. There was clearly no key tool hidden in its folds. A thin red line oozed through a fresh rip in the shoulder of Zenna's pink blouse.

'I... really... don't... have... it...' Zenna said quietly, on the verge of completely breaking down.

'I'll just have to look harder then.' Megabyte leered, extending a second claw, hand poised above the girl's head, a whisker away from the large pink bow fastened to her pewter coloured pigtails.

Zenna knew the next blow would dislodge the keytool from her head and the game would be up. She felt something dribble down her left nostril and sniffed it away hurriedly. Megabyte shifted his jaw, flashing a few rows of teeth.

Megabyte slashed downwards again, with a triumphant little grunt.

The rest of Zenna's coat crumpled to the floor and landed in a fresh, warm puddle. One of Zenna's pigtails landed on top. The keytool remained unscathed. The bug that had led Hack and Slash to the girl's position tumbled out with a small clatter.

Megabyte looked at the mess on the floor and shrugged.

'I seems you did not have a key tool after all. I do apologise.' the virus said with utmost sincerity. 'I would tell you to go, but it appears you already have.' and he placed Zenna on the floor, next to her ruined coat.

Zenna staggered a little and looked for a way out. Suddenly a familiar voice called her name from the void above the control room.

'Zenna! What in the net do you think you're doing? Give me back my key tool, now!'

'Uh...' Bob began, so shocked by the callous reaction of the guardian upon discovering her younger sister at the mercy of Megabyte. He followed Ideal down into the void of Megabyte's control room with Enzo trailing behind. The smaller sprite saw the state of Zenna and instantly regretted not telling Bob that she had been taken by Hack and Slash.

'She doesn't have a key tool.' Megabyte informed her. 'I checked quite thoroughly.'

Ideal sniffed. 'Zenna… was that you?'

Zenna looked at the floor. 'I'm sorry, I was scared.' Every particle of fear she had previously felt was now replaced by a deep and burning humiliation.

'When I get you home...'

Bob stood between the sisters. 'You are not taking that child anywhere.' He stated firmly. 'There is something very wrong going on here and neither of you are leaving my sight until I have got to the bottom of it.'

Ideal looked defiant. Zenna gazed in wonderment at her knight in shining dreadlocks, not minding in the slightest that he had called her a child.

'I thought you had more important things to do than fret over my sister.' Ideal sneered.

Bob pressed his lips together and did not reply, instead turning back to Megabyte.

'Nice map.' He said, indicating the map with his thumb, which was beginning to fill with with little yellow dots. 'What has that got to do with the little tiny bugs you've sent flying around the city?'

'Oh, you found them?' Megabyte smiled. 'Good, aren't they?' Extravagantly unfurling an arm, the virus spelled out his plan.

'I have mapped out every corner of the city and have sent my viral forces throughout it so they can wait for my order to attack. They all know where they are thanks to the data gathered from my drones. The CPUs will have no chance to retaliate because everywhere will be under attack all at once and then Mainframe will be mine!' He paused. 'Do remind me to thank Dot for organizing it all so well in her defrag.'

'Impressive.' Bob nodded, taking care to not look at either Enzo or Ideal. 'You've really got us this time.'

'Bob!' Enzo protested. 'You can't give up that easily!'

Bob shrugged. 'Nothing I can do now.'

Megabyte looked baffled. 'Is that all you're going to say? I was hoping for an I-don't-think-so at the very least.'

'Well, there's nothing anyone can do now, so why fight it?'

'Have it your way, then.' Megabyte strode up to a control panel facing the map, which still rotated gently. Index finger poised over an ominously red button, Megabyte turned to grin at Bob one more time.

Bob waved back.

Megabyte pressed the button.

Nothing happened.

Enzo stood the other side of the control panel, out of sight, holding a disconnected wire.

Megabyte looked around and saw the sprite, who immediately dropped the wire and retreated. The virus growled and snatched up the wire and attempted to reconnect it. Behind him, the wireframe map flickered and distorted. Ideal popped up from behind a processor box and cracked her first smile since arriving.

'What have you done!?' Megabyte roared.

'It was quite simple.' Ideal smiled. 'All the location data you had collected was stored in plain text, so I just, y'know, mixed it up a bit.' she turned back to the keyboard and continued tapping away with a laugh that only served to pour fuel on the fire of Megabyte's wrath. He picked Ideal up by the wrist, unsheathed the weapons on the back of his hand and aimed squarely at the guardian's face.

'Megabyte! No!' Bob called, but Ideal was closer.

'Lexie! Axe!' she commanded.

Bob shouted. 'That won't stop him!'

'Yes it will!' Zenna growled. She swung the axe and sliced her sister's arm off at the elbow.

Megabyte stared, horrified, at what he held in his hand until it disappeared in a small cloud of lilac energy. Bob had already scooped the injured guardian off the floor and cradled her in his arms, distressed by the brutal actions of the young sprite.

'Lexie! Balloon!'

The key tool transformed into a hot air balloon which began to drift upwards. Zenna leaped into the basket and helped Bob deposit her sister in before he leaped in himself, swiftly followed by Enzo. Zenna yanked hard on the cord and the balloon shot upwards, out of the reach of Megabyte who could only watch as they drifted away. In the control room, vid-windows began to pop open with viral binomes complaining that they didn't know where they were or what they were supposed to be doing next.

Megabyte sighed and ordered them all to return to the Tor.

In the basket of the balloon, chaos reigned.

Ideal screamed and thrashed in pain while Bob physically held the two sisters apart.

'I need to get to my sister!' Zenna pleaded.

'You've done enough!' Bob ordered. 'Sit down while I steer this thing to the Principal Office.'

'She's right,' Ideal hissed through gritted teeth, clutching the stump of her arm. 'Come on – do your thing.'

The four shuffled around in the basket and Bob took control of the balloon. He watched Zenna gently cradle her sister's wound, take a deep breath and close her eyes. Small clouds of lilac energy formed around Zenna's fingers and the worked them around the space where the guardian's arm should have been. Bob and Enzo watched, amazed, as Zenna formed a new arm for her sister. Ideal flexed her regenerated fingers and tutted.

'There was really no need for you to do that.' she complained. 'I had that virus completely under my control.'

'Uh, no you didn't.' Bob corrected her. 'You were about to be deleted and you were still giving him lip! It's like you weren't even afraid of him.'

'I wasn't.'

'Well, you should have been.'

'I can handle viruses.' Ideal bragged. 'It's this one I've got to watch out for.' and she poked her sister in the shoulder. Zenna winced and repaired the wound Megabyte had inflicted on her.

'Is that because she stole your key tool?'

'It's mine.' Zenna protested wearily. 'It bonded with me after Dad… went.'

Ideal was shocked. 'You were there? Why didn't you save him? You just wanted to take his key tool, didn't you? You wanted a toy to play with like a child, didn't you?!' Ideal lunged at her younger sister, but she dodged behind Bob.

'No! I did try to save him, but he was too badly damaged. I couldn't manage it and Mum got really angry when Lexie bonded with me and tried to take her off me.'

'So what if Mum took Lexie?' Ideal shrugged. 'She would have given her straight to me, right?'

Zenna bit her lip.

Bob looked perturbed. There was something not right about these two and he was determined to find out what it was. Turning away and tugging on the balloon's burner to mask his voice, he quietly opened Glitch's communication screen.

'Phong, could you let me use the static analysis room? I need to perform a code review… Actually make that two… I'm coming into the Principal Office by balloon… Don't ask.'

Inside the gleaming whiteness of the infirmary, Bob and Phong studied the results of the code review. Phong was upset.

'I cannot believe that I let you bring those two into the Principal Office.' Phong said, looking through the glass partition into the waiting area where the two Diode sisters sat a respectful distance from each other. Zenna sat quietly while Ideal sat with her arms folded, legs crossed and a face like thunder, glaring at Enzo who was apologizing to Zenna for letting Hack and Slash take her away.

Bob sighed. 'I know she's a virus, but the results prove that she is benign. It's the other one I'm concerned about.' He scrolled through a page of text. Large parts were highlighted in red. 'Whoever downloaded the guardian protocols onto her did a really bad job. She's throwing unhandled exceptions all over the place.'

'No wonder she's so… disagreeable.' Phong remarked. 'It really is a shame we can't help her.'

'I know Phong.' Bob agreed, standing up to leave the room. 'There is only one place that can.'

As soon as Bob opened the door, Ideal sprang to her feet. 'Can we go home now?'

'I'm afraid that's completely out of the question.' Phong sighed.

Ideal's jaw dropped while Zenna looked relieved. Bob cut in quickly.

'Could you tell me about your mother?'

'Our mother?' Ideal questioned. 'What do you want to know?'

'She's a virus.' Zenna admitted quietly, hardly daring to look up. 'Our father knew all about you, Bob the guardian who believed in restoring viruses, so he spent his whole life trying to turn our mother around. All it did was make her angrier and angrier, so he made Ideal a cadet in case something happened to him and one day… it did. Mum just bit Dad's head off.'

Stunned silence.

Ideal reacted angrily. 'That is the most disgusting, hateful lie I have ever heard you tell!' She turned to Bob. 'Don't believe a word of it – she's always making up stories.'

'Ideal, You sister is right.' Bob explained gently. 'You both have viral elements in your code, that's what makes you so angry and gives Zenna the power to replicate.'

The young guardian opened her mouth, made a strange noise and sat down heavily in the chair next to her sister. 'All this time.' Ideal muttered to herself. 'How come I didn't know?'

'Dad kept it from you.' Zenna explained. 'He wanted you to be the system's guardian and he didn't think you could do that if you knew the truth about mum.'

Ideal dropped her head into her hands. 'How do you know all these things that I don't?'

'I read his logfiles.'

'How can I ever look my own mother in the eye ever again?'

'You don't.' Bob stated. 'There is only one place for you two now.' He paused and grinned. 'The Guardian Academy.'

'Alphanumeric!' Enzo cried. 'You're going to be guardians! I told you that Bob could sort things out for you! Can I come visit?'

'But what will happen to our home system?' Ideal asked, 'We can't let a virus loose, the place will be offlined!'

'I've got that all figured out.' Bob reassured her. 'I can arrange for someone to keep an eye on things for you while you learn how to become a fully fledged guardian.'

Zenna spoke up. 'I can't be a guardian though. I'm a virus and no matter how benign I am, that will never change.'

Bob looked a little disappointed. 'It's a shame, because you already have the "mend" part of being a guardian sorted out – that's probably why your father's key tool bonded with you rather than your sister. One thing I can do is make you a protected member of the Guardian Academy, so they can help you.'

'And not delete me?'

'Not if you're a protected member.'

The young virus removed her icon and placed it into the gurdian's outstretched hand. Bob unpinned his own icon and downloaded some code. When Zenna replaced her icon, a gold circle glinted around the circumference. 'Thank you, Bob.' she smiled.

At the port, Bob helped Ideal and Zenna back into the phishing boat.

'Nice boat,' Bob remarked and read the name printed on the side of the vessel. 'The Mary Sue. That's a pretty name.'

'Thanks,' Ideal smiled. 'I built her from scratch.'

Bob nodded. 'You must have put a lot of yourself into her.'

'Hey Bob,' Zenna asked, 'When Ideal has graduated from the Academy, can I come and live in Mainframe with you and Enzo?'

'Sure you can, as long as your sister says so.' Bob agreed with a little laugh. 'You're a protected member now.' He bent down, loosed the phishing boat from it's moorings and waved at the sisters as the fired up the engines and steered towards a tear a little way out on the Energy Sea. He watched as Zenna stabilized it into a portal to the Super Computer and the little craft disappeared

...

Thanks you for reading! If indeed, you still are.