Matt felt incredibly uncomfortable.
As soon as he and Slider had arrived and greeted Dr. Marbles, Slider had set up his machine. After a few moments of brief discussion, Matt had clicked the button.
Now, friends he had thought he would never see again were streaming in through the door. Some of them had lived only a few hours away, and he'd never known. Others were still coming, from places as far away as Casablanca.
"Matt!" Shari Spotter grinned and hugged him. She was about his age. Behind her, Professor Stumblesnore stumbled into the room. "Oh, it's so good to see you!"
"You too, Shari. Come on, sit down." Matt found an abandoned chair and set it upright for her.
He wandered into the kitchen where Jackie and Slider had made some snacks. There were quite a few platters already being handed around, but he picked up two more, just so he looked like he was doing something.
"Irene?" The name popped out of his mouth before his brain acknowledged it as he caught sight of her, hiding behind the counter.
He shook his head, before correcting himself. "I mean, Inez. What are you doing?"
Inez glanced at him, before ducking down behind the counter to make herself even more invisible. "Nothing."
"Nezzie…" Matt began.
Inez sighed slightly. "It's nothing, okay?"
Matt shrugged. Normally, he would try to pry it out of her, but he was feeling a little overwhelmed by all the people who were coming and he imagined she was, too. "Well, okay. I'm going to go put these snacks out on the table."
Inez looked a little surprised that he hadn't tried to look into it any further. She nodded, relieved.
Matt put it out of his mind as he set the platter of carrots and dip on the table and was approached by Ms. Fileshare.
Someone cleared their throat loudly. "May I have your attention, please?"
Everyone turned to see Slider, standing authoritatively at the front. Behind him, Dr. Marbles was nervously wringing his hands.
"Dr. Marbles has a plan. I'm going to let him explain it, so please listen carefully." Slider gracefully stepped out of the limelight and let Dr. Marbles take over.
Dr. Marbles coughed awkwardly. "Well…I – the plan depends on two people infiltrating Hacker's home. They need to find the screen where Motherboard used to be. I know that Hacker has removed it, but I don't know where he's kept it. After that, we'll all go in and find the screen. I have a chip that I believe will reboot Motherboard. We'll have to create a distraction, of course, but that would be best worried about after the first phase of the plan is taken care of."
Everyone was nodding. They looked around at each other nervously. Matt met Jackie's eyes from across the room.
"Who's going to go in?" Creech questioned. "They have to be two people that look so different from what they used to be, The Hacker would never even suspect them."
Instantly, the mood deflated. No one was that different.
"I'll go." A voice spoke up from the kitchen.
Matt turned his head around so fast he might have gotten whiplash. Inez was standing in the soft kitchen light, right in front of the door. She looked so young and innocent, and so completely incapable of doing such a big mission.
"Me too." Digit floated down next to her. His voice was scratchy from lack of use, but his face showed pure, grim determination.
Matt glanced at Jackie. Her face was white with shock, and Matt knew his expression was about the same.
Inez and Digit were the perfect candidates for the mission.
He couldn't bear it if they went.
Cyberspace…or his family?