I don't own Cyberchase. Max is mine.

Chapter Two
A Father's Protest

Marbles stood in the doorway to the compound. Delete automatically panned the camera in his direction and Marbles' face was clearly seen on the viewer. An angry father ready to defend his child.

"Marbles?" Hacker said in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"

"Preventing you from making a mistake, Hacker." Marble said. The kindness everyone was used to seeing was gone. In its place was an expression of rage never before seen on anyone. Least of all, Dr. Marbles.

"What mistake would that be?" Hacker asked.

"You were about to delete someone who is innocent. Max never did anything to you the rest of us would do in her place." Marbles said. "You accuse her of being a gargoyle who is now bound by gargoyle laws. That is true. But you left out that it was you who made her this way."

"A minor technicality." Hacker said.

"No. Not minor at all. Max was a loving and caring young cyborg. Everyone here remembers her that way. If she is any way different than normal, you have only yourself to blame." Marbles said.

"Myself? If you hadn't made her so bloody stubborn, I wouldn't need to do it to begin with." Hacker said.

"You didn't have to do anything to her." Marbles pointed out. "She was only a child. Only a seven-year-old child and you destroyed her. She was innocent and vibrant. You took all that away from her. You tortured and mutated her. You changed her entire being. If her crimes against you are anything to compare to, yours would be much more vast."

"I'm only trying to get what I deserve!" Hacker protested.

"You deserve nothing!" Marbles said. He reached into the box of scrap parts and withdrew Max's mechanical arm. "Now, release her!"

"No." Hacker said, sharply. "I am saving Cyberspace from a terrible fate. Once she succeeds in destroying me, she won't stop. She'll enjoy destroying so much that she'll want more and more.

"The child you once knew is gone, Marbles, replaced with a mindless killing machine. Once she destroys me, she won't be able to stop. She'll kill everyone – including you and everyone else she knows. She'll only stop once everyone here has been deleted. Then, you'll have only yourself to blame for not destroying her."

"You're wrong about her on all accounts, Hacker." Marbles said. "The period of war between gargoyle and borg is over. Max, herself, has more self-control than anyone else I know. She would be able to stop herself. She is not the monster you paint her out to be."

Marbles, noticing Delete was still filming, turned toward the camera. "Friends! Listen to me! Heed the words of a father and a borg you have trusted. You know Max. You knew her since she came online. Some of you remember what she was like as a child. You know she would not do these things Hacker is accusing her of because she is not like that. Max may have changed on the outside, but she is still the same in her mind. Some of you have interacted with her. You now this. She may be a gargoyle now, but she's still retained the borg qualities the rest of you know and love.

"Don't tell me you're willing to let this happen. Don't tell me you're willing to let him destroy Max because of what she is! Look at her. Look at her right now." Marbles motioned to Max still tied to the floor. A line of drool made its way down her chin and mixed with the vomit on the floor. Delete turned the camera to Max and everyone could hear the pitiful moans coming from her pain-wracked body.

"Is that the face of a murderer? She has never done anything to you, citizens of Cyberspace, nor will she do anything bad to you. You know this and so do I. Motherboard would not have given her so much leash – so much leeway – if she thought Max was a danger to us all. If you will not trust me, trust in your leader, Motherboard."

"Motherboard can be deceived, as can you." Hacker said. "Are you trying to defend a gargoyle who may or may not be dangerous, all because you claim her as your daughter? Are you really going to chance the fact that she might be dangerous? What if I let her go and she decides to be a killer? Are you going to chance it if she is guilty?"

"Are you going to chance killing her if she's innocent? I'm not speaking because I'm her father and her creator. I'm speaking because I know her. She has nothing but our world's best interest in mind. That has been her prerogative since the beginning. That has not changed even if she has. Now release her!"

"No!" Hacker shouted. He threw the switch.

Max rose completely off the ground. The chains stretched and creaked. She alternated between screaming and vomiting thick bile. Her muscles spasmed and her wings and tail shook. Her head rocked back and forth. The chains looped through the membrane ripped at the leather as she stretched her wings an in attempt to free them and fly away from the pain.

Digit, unable to watch anymore, dropped his viewer and flew in with the kids right behind him. Digit swooped in, grabbed the cables in his wings and pulled. The cables separated from the generator and Max relaxed.

"No! Stop!" Hacker shouted. He ran to grab the cyboid but Marbles knocked him down with Max's arm to the side of his head.

Inez knelt by Max's head and smoothed back the thick, tangled mane. Max groaned and her good eye barely opened only to see the sweet, human girl, before closing completely. Digit rushed over, transforming his beak into a pair of bolt cutters as he went. He clamped down on the chain circling her body and Matt pulled the links through the hoops. Then, Digit bit the chain on her wings so Jackie could carefully unwind that from her membrane and ridge. Then, he bit the hoops holding her arm, leg, and tail in two. Then, Matt reached down and grabbed a cable that was plugged into the sockets where her prosthetic arm and leg had been and pulled them out.

"We're free." Matt said.

Inez whipped out her Sqwackpad. "Motherboard, we've got Max! Send a portal now!"

A portal swirled to life above them, sucking them into its depths. Marbles snatched Max's leg out of the pile and jumped in after them, showing instructions to Motherboard as the vacuum sucked them up.

"Take us to Shangri-La!"

Meanwhile, Hacker rose off the floor and turned to the still-rolling camera.

"As you can see," Hacker said to the watchers, "There are those who will always protect her even if she will one day become a killer. No matter. I will find her, and when I do, I will make sure she dies. I promise you that."