Reboot chapter 2

Ozone prowled the streets, scanning for targets. He allowed the Binomes that fled to escape, after all, hunting cowards was beneath him. He was looking for Sprites. They would provide the test for his new skills and instincts. "First, the Renegade" he thought. "That one had been a mistake to begin with. Remove him, and there would only be one other child of Wellman Matrix remaining. And she would be no threat. I'll be able to stalk her at leisure. A slow, satisfying hunt."

At that moment, the Diner came into view. "Cecil will know something..."

Cecil saw the boy coming, and was afraid. This new Sprite looked like a virus, but he hadn't heard anything about a second Virus in Mainframe, at least after Hex had been blasted out through the Net. More or less stuck in the Diner, information flowed only as quickly as customers, and after a Binome ran in screaming "Megabyte's back!!", well, business had been a little slow. To be more accurate, he hadn't seen anyone since the rats deserted the ship. He'd given some thought to using his emergency Zip Board, but this was his home. He'd stay with it until the end, although the end might have just opened the doors.

"Where are they, Cecil?" No emotions flowed in the words. He might be small, but there was an aura of threat about him. "You have three nanos... 11..."

Mustering all his remaining courage, the service bot replied: "I do not know, and would not say if I did." With this, he crossed his arms and turned away, tilting his monitor slightly upward with his usual air of disdain.

But only for a micro. All self-control deserted him when he heard the next words.

"10..."

The words themselves didn't really affect him, after all, they had been the next logical statement the probable Virus would have made. What really terrified Cecil was their proximity. Somehow, the boy had crossed the entire room between counts without making a sound. He turned, slowly, right into the face of the blue-green Sprite crouching on the counter. For the first time in his career as waiter, he felt inferior, small. In spite of himself, he found himself thinking of his former home as just a building, and for some reason an obvious target to boot, and in that moment, he desperately wished he had fled with the other rats.

"1..."

He cast about desperately for something to say, anything that would keep himself from being off-lined. All he could squeak out, all he could think of was "May I take your order?"

Ozone's right hand flashed- a blur- and Cecil found himself bouncing off the counter and onto the floor. He landed face-down, and would have preferred to stay that way, but the Virus disagreed. A hand clasped the waiter's arm, and flipped him over. Too terrified to even scream, he watched as those golden talons edged closer to his screen.

The words were coming from far away, possibly the other side if the Net. Somehow, the voice knew his name: "Bob..." Soft, soothing voice, though.

Somewhere closer: "Bob..." He felt like he was floating, and in that instant, he realized that this was the first thing he'd felt in quite a while.

Again, closer: "Bob..." To his right, now, or was it his left?

"Wake up..." Familiar now, he should know the voice...

"WAKE UP!!" he finally began to focus on those pretty , purple eyes just pixels away from his own. Suddenly, everything flooded over him in one massive wave: the run, finally breaking free, that scream, Matrix calling Gun-- GUN!!

"Glitch! Shield!!" he shouted. AndrAIa was thrown almost completely across the room by the force of Bob's expanding force field, which fizzled and died almost immediately. Confused, he looked down at the readout screen on his wrist. Glitch's power supply was dangerously near depleted. A few more nanos, and the Key Tool would be forced to use his own memory reserves just to keep functioning. "Glitch, Idle," the Guardian ordered, and Glitch entered his standby mode to conserve the last of his reserves.

"What happened? Why are his power cells empty? Where are we? What--"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," the Game sprite stood, gingerly stroking her posterior. "Calm down and I'll explain."

"Sorry AndrAIa..." Bob blushed.

"Never mind. Listen: you've been on the verge of cascade failure since Matrix shot you. Glitch has been playing life-support to keep you processing, but he's been using his own power to do it. We're in Lost Angles, figured this'd be the last place the Virals would look for us. Unfortunately, Hex never had any recharge zones in the place... guess she powered the whole thing herself. When I kissed Matrix, I tried to switch Gun into Stun mode, but evidently, I didn't get the switch far enough over. You took four or five high-energy blasts before we could hold him back. He would have finished you off, but the Virals caught up with us, and they were a more immediate threat. He covered us while we dragged you out, but we lost sight of him during the retreat. I have no idea where he is..." She trailed off, looking very afraid, but only for a moment. "There's something else..."

Bob could see the hesitation in her eyes. She desperately did not want to give him any further bad news, but he could see that it was important. "What is it?" he prompted.

"There was a lot of damage to your bitmap. Glitch couldn't spare much power to repair it, because he was trying to keep you processing. You're going to be scarred." Hesitantly, she reached out to touch his face. She began to trace a meandering line from his left optic, down toward his cheek, but turning outward toward his ear. The line was only a few pixels total in length, but it seemed to distress the young Sprite greatly.

"What is it?" he asked again. "I'm alive. If it only cost me my looks, then I got off lucky."

"That's not it..." she started. "I can't explain it, but... "

"AndrAIa, it's ok. We've got more to worry about right now. We need to find Matrix before he does something stupid."

At that moment, Matrix was doing something stupid.

Deep within the recesses of the Silicon Tor, he was attempting to steal weapons from his enemy. He'd met surprisingly little resistance getting in, and was currently loading crates into an ABC. Hopefully, most of the Virals he didn't see also didn't know where his friends were. AndrAIa had mentioned that they should head for Lost Angles, so he assumed they'd be there when he finished. For a moment, he had felt a pang of guilt for trying to offline Bob, but he choked it down. He needed to stay alert.

The limited selection worried him, as well. He remembered his last time in Megabyte's arsenal, but he'd just been Enzo then. It had seemed to him then that there had been row upon row of weapons in those days. Now, most of those racks were empty. The implication was not lost on the Renegade. Megabyte was back, and his army was bigger than ever.

He was dragging what appeared to be the last crate of materiel up the loading ramp of the ABC when the door burst open, and more energy bolts than he would have thought possible rained down on his position.

Through more luck than skill, he was only hit once in his frenzied dive for cover. The downside, though, was that he felt his right arm go completely numb from the blast, and Gun clattered to the floor some distance away.

He pressed his back against the crate and checked his options. Running was impossible. Gun was close, but without use of his arm, the weapon would be useless to him. The ABC was loaded and ready to lift off, but he'd have no cover to get back on board.

He leaned back for a moment and felt the blasts impacting the crate. No options. He glanced over his right shoulder and read the partial label up to the point it disappeared behind him- DATA: MINESW-- his heart hit the floor and began to dig a new hole when he looked to his left and saw the mindless Smiley looking back at him. Shock drained all emotions from him, and he thought flatly, "Hm, so that's why the User doesn't play that game anymore. Thought it was just boring..."

Another round of blasts on his volatile cover roused him from his thoughts. Sensing his lack of options, he threw himself to his feet and bolted for the shelter of the ABC. Blasts ricocheted all around him, and for a moment, he thought he might actually get away. He keyed the autopilot and turned back. "Gun! Return!" he shouted, raising his limp right arm with his left hand. The vehicle began to lift off and he felt again the reassuring bulk of his trusted weapon as a stray blast impacted the crate one last time.

The container had evidently had enough, and voiced its opinion on the matter with an almost system-shattering explosion. Matrix registered the expanding fireball only for an instant before he was rocketed back into the front of the vehicle and into unconsciousness.

Bob was everywhere in the room. His scent was in the pillow, his ghost was on the couch in front of the game console. She desperately needed him to be here with her. She had been crying in his bed for minutes, lost in hopeless sobs. Her little brother was gone- again, stolen from her this time by Megabyte. Hack and Slash, her loyal, if none too bright, bodyguards were scrap by now, if any part of them still existed at all. Matrix, her little brother all grown up; Mouse and AndrAIa, dear friends and confidantes, were missing.

Worst of all, though, was Bob. He'd stirred up feelings in her she'd buried long before losing him to the Web. His reappearance as 'Glitch-Bob' had sparked a series of events that had turned her world upside-down, and even led to her almost marrying Megabyte.

That had been HIS fault, HIS lies, but the guilt she felt at not being able to see through the Virus's act was only outweighed by the despair that she might have lost Bob all over.

She stood at the edge of the yawning Abyss on the verge of surrendering herself to the pain when the first tremor ran through the entire sector. The force of the quake was more than enough to snap her back to reality. She ran to the window and scanned the area: through Kits sector, across the Baudway, into G Prime, and was moving back over to Wall Street when the motion caught her eye.

At first, denial convinced her that her mind was playing tricks. She blinked and looked again, but this time, there could be no denying it: the Tor was collapsing in upon itself. Despair, fear, and disbelief were burned from her mind as she realized that only one Sprite could make that big a mess: MATRIX. Whether he was alone or not, things tended to blow up when he was nearby. If he was alive, MAYBE THE OTHERS WERE, TOO!

Someone was fighting back, and it was her job to lead them. There was no time for self-pity, her system needed her. She gathered her wits about her and headed for the door. She paused only a moment to look back, giving voice to her hope that Bob was indeed well and whole, and that she'd see him again, very soon.

Explosions ripped through the lower levels of the Tor. They rolled outward, seeking release, until they broke through the tower's outer shell. Flames licked out to damage surrounding buildings. For a few nanos, everything seemed to settle down, the destruction to pass.

Illusions, unfortunately, have a way of being only temporary.

First, the low rumble. Then, the mighty tower seemed to shrink in upon itself. The edifice almost seemed to shriek at its own death as it collapsed into its foundation. The force of the collapse was more than the damaged surroundings could weather, and soon, several other buildings joined the Tor in its grave.

Suddenly, as the last of the dust began settling, the buildings began to leap back up to their respective foundations, followed micros later by the Tor. Finally, the fireball imploded, and the sector was once again whole.

The miracle of rebuilding held for but a moment, then the scene played itself out again to its near-deafening conclusion.

Seven times Megabyte had replayed the destruction of his home. Seven times without a single word. He watched the scene without a hint of emotion on his face until the end, then he reversed the footage and watched it all over again.

Viral Binomes stood silently all around the former War Room, waiting for some emotional outburst, some hint that seeking cover would be in their collective best interest. None would risk breathing, as no one had ever issued an insult of this magnitude to their Master. He was not prone to emotion (he viewed that as Hex's domain), but no one, not even the trusted Herr Doktor had seen him this silent before. He appeared calm, distant, as though the events on the Vid window were some Read-Only file that Mike the TV had concocted.

Phong watched as well. Someone had just done the unthinkable, and the next moments might well decide the fate of his beloved System.

When the eighth replay of events finished, the Virus calmly turned to the quaking Thrall awaiting orders at his right hand. "General, I would like you to begin a purge of this system for me"

"Sir?" the Binome stared without comprehension.

"Shall I spell it out for you? Very well, then. I want a sector-by-sector sweep of this entire system to begin immediately. Scan each sector for non-Virals, and destroy ANYONE not already infected. When you are finished, start over. Then do it again. I want this system completely Viral in ONE HOUR."

"Sir, all remaining Binomes will resist. I'm not sure we can finish in that amount of time."

A collective gasp issued from the room. How could this Thrall be foolish enough to question Megabyte's orders? His edicts were absolute. To hesitate was almost treason. To do otherwise was to risk deletion on the spot.

The Virus stared intently at the now cowering Zero beside him. "You may have a point," he stated thoughtfully.

The General, overcome with shock, risked a glance between his crossed arms. He was still processing, much to his (and everyone else's) immense surprise.

"In that case," the Virus continued, "my orders have changed. Burn everything. Every building, every Data Node, all of it." He stood and began stalking through the room, locking gazes with each One and Zero he passed, terrorizing any thoughts except total obedience from their processors. "Raze this entire system to the ground. Only when nothing remains but ashes will you stop."

Virals scampered and fell over each other to begin preparations for destroying the System. In the chaos, the Zero that had questioned his Master made one more mistake.

He got too close to Megabyte.

The Virus scooped him up in one swift motion. "And of course, let us not forget the efforts of our brave General. After all, without his input, he wouldn't be the fine example he is today." At that moment, he released his talons and ripped deeply into the bitmap of the unfortunate Zero. The Binome screamed, then faded out of existence in a small burst of pixilated light. Without losing composure, Megabyte sheathed his talons and looked around the room again. "So I ask again, are there any further comments?"

Binomes scattered to the winds as they endeavored to carry out the Virus's nearly impossible orders. He knew that fear was a powerful motivator, but from time to time, he just HAD to get is hands dirty to remind them all who was truly in charge.

Phong hung helpless nearby, watching as Thralls plotted the destruction of his beloved system, his home. Soon, they would march in force through her streets, possibly reducing her to ashes. His mind raced through possibilities and plans, looking for a way to solve this, until, at last, a faint glimmer of hope began to shine in the farthest reaches of is mind.

"The worst of it was the fear. When Megabyte first entered the system, anyone with a 4-bit processor was terrified of him. Now, he'd survived the Web. That knowledge alone was scary. But now, to know that the Virus could become anyone, hide anywhere pushed the emotional level well past blind panic. Then there were the sketchy reports that somehow, another Virus had entered the system. Little was known about him, and in this case, the LACK of knowledge does terrible things to a mind filled with fear. There were as many rumors as there were mouths to spread them. Things were getting—"

"All right, Old One. You're scaring the children," AndrAIa chided as she scooped one of the tots into her arms.

The slender, bearded Binome smiles impishly up at her. He had been in the system since one of the earliest upgrades, and there were periodic light-hearted debates as to whether or not he was actually older than Phong. Unfortunately for all the debating parties, the two remained smilingly tight-lipped about the subject.

AndrAIa laughed, feeling her momentary irritation at the aged Binome melt away. "Besides," she laughed, "Shouldn't you report to sentry duty?"

He threw a jovial salute and had jus begun to move his old code toward the posts when they saw it: there was a flash of light- the silent signal that a ship was incoming. The plan in this situation was simple: hide. The sentries all had rabbit-holes at their posts, so getting out of sight was little trouble.

Everyone began to scramble for his or her assigned hiding places. After a few moments of well-controlled chaos, Lost Angles appeared as deserted as ever.

AndrAIa risked a glance over the pile of rubble that she and Mouse had been assigned to hide behind. Far overhead, just coming into view was one of Megabyte's troop transports. She caught her breath as she realized that something was wrong with the vehicle's flight path. She drew back and regarded her friend who was also examining the bogey. AndrAIa looked carefully at the telltales in the hacker's expression and knew that Mouse was close to understanding something. She was moving to take another peek when Mouse grabbed her arm.

"This doesn't make sense," Mouse whispered. "I've studied all of Megabyte's pilots, and this isn't one of his attack patterns. It's too slow for a strafing run and too high to be landing troops." She paused a moment, then smiled. "At least we get to test these out." She waved her hand through the air at about chest level. At her gesture, a palm-sized Vid window opened in front of her. "Bob," she whispered. "Do you read?"

Bob watched the ragged flight path of the enemy's war machine as it traced a path generally toward a clearing a short distance away from his own position. It shakily swooped lower as it approached, clipping one of the rather chaotic structures that populated Lost Angles, raining debris upon his position. Bob ignored the rubble, none of it large enough to be dangerous, and instead concentrated on the mystery vehicle now powering down almost within his reach.

"Captain, I need to borrow your stunner," he said, without turning to the Binome crouched behind him. He felt the slap of the weapon against his palm and braced himself for the events that would unfold in the next few micros. "The moment the ramp is clear, open fire. Stun everything. We can't afford to take any losses at this point. Save the ABC. We can use the armour."

"Yes, Sir," came the whispered replies from behind him.

The ramp began to open, and the tension pulled tight enough to be plucked. The maddeningly slow descent seemed to take seconds before the interior of the craft finally came into view.

"NOW!" Bob shouted as he leaped forward from his cover, aiming with the rod-like weapon in his hands. He felt the recoil as the device spat bolts of disruptive energy downrange toward the occupant of the Military craft parked in front of him.

"No, wait! Don't shoot!" came a familiar voice from within the craft.

Bob held up his hands, signaling for a cease fire while he peered cautiously through the open doorway.

"Lucky for me, you guys are lousy shots," Matrix growled as he emerged from behind the captain's chair where he had again taken refuge.

"Where have you been?" Bob challenged, perhaps a bit more gruffly than intended. "We've been-"

"Bob, shut up. Just, shut up. I don't want to hear another word out of you. I've been trying to help us win this war once and for all. Megs moved into the PO, which left the Tor more or less unguarded. We needed weapons, so I stole some. One of us needs to do SOMETHING or that Virus is going to take the entire system."

"Going off on your own is just going to get you deleted, Matrix. You should've-"

"Should've what?" the Renegade shouted. "Waited for one of your oh-so-wonderful plans? Oh, that's right! Phong and Dot made all the plans. You just screwed them up. They held this system together, not you. They would know how to get us out of this, but," he began to advance on Bob. "They're not here, are they? You heard Phong screaming. Megabyte's done something I don't even want to imagine to him, and Dot? Nobody's seen her since the war room.

"Where is she, Bob? Well?" the green Sprite challenged. "Until you can tell me something useful, don't say another word to me. I'm the Guardian of this system, and from now on, we do things my way."

AndrAIa placed herself between Bob and Matrix. "Sparky, Bob was-"

"No, Rai, Bob wasn't. We lost the system because of HIM. He was more worried about the rights of some code-sucking Virus than the people he was supposed to be watching over. He didn't delete Megabyte when he had the chance, and I'm not going to make the same mistake."

He spun and kicked the lid off one of the crates he'd stolen. Inside were more of the rod-like weapons that Binomes fought with, except… something was different.

AndrAIa caught on immediatedly. "Are those Deleters?"

"Yep," Matrix grinned slightly to himself. "From now on, we use Meg's own tech against him. We shoot to delete, not stun. No surrender. Better Deleted than Viral."

At that moment, the System shook to its very foundations. The stunned Binomes and Sprites alike spun in time to see the hovering meadows of Floating Point sector crashing down upon one another. Quake after quake stampeded through the system while Mainframers watched in abject horror as the peaceful sector reduced itself to rubble before their very eyes.

AndrAIa wept openly at the realization that the area had been set up as a rally point for Mainframers in case of emergency. The open parks of the sector were one of the few places that large numbers of Binomes could gather in case of emergency. Now the entire sector was, in effect, gone, along with everyone hiding there.

Before the aftershocks had died away, four gigantic Vid Windows had opened around the Principle Office sphere. Megabyte's face laughed down at the system. "This was a taste of things to come if nothing less than this entire system bows down and surrenders all PID's to my Viral Troops immediately. Resistance will be met with swift and sure Deletion, without mercy or hesitation. Proceed at once to the Principle Office for conversion."

Matrix turned back to all the anguish-stricken faces surrounding him. The War was just beginning, but it already seemed lost. He looked from face to face, watching the hope drain from each single or pair of eyes, until he caught sight of Bob. The Guardian had abandoned his stunner in favor of one of the weapons from the crate.

Catching Matrix's expression, he shrugged. "Megabyte wants us to go to him. Personally, I'm beginning to think it's a good idea. What do you say, Guardian?"

Matrix smiled and took a Deleter from the crate. "We wouldn't want to disappoint him, now would we?"

AndrAIa watched them, fear gnawing at the pit of her stomach.