"Maintenance almost complete, Motherboard. Stand by for reboot," Dr. Marbles said as he backed out from under the console.

"That's all there is to it?" Hacker, their son, asked.

Dr. Marbles had created him to help with maintenance on Motherboard, ruler of Cyberspace. She had aided him in the creation of the borg, thus making them his parents.

"Yes, maintenance complete and saved," the older borg answered as he rebooted the supercomputer's firewall.

"Um, Doc?" Hacker said as he noticed the pink glow that always foretold a portal.

"What?"

"Portal."

"Backspace, portal? Incorrect data, there can't be a portal, Motherboard didn't create one."

"Look."

The doctor turned, surprised to indeed see the beginning of a portal. He turned back to the console, furiously typing to cancel the unwanted device. He found he was too late and couldn't override the command. They all watched as the portal opened, a small child tumbling through. They gasped as the little girl sat up and looked around, the portal vanishing behind her.

She was very young and obviously human. It had never been done before, bringing a human into Cyberspace, but there was always a first time for everything. The small girl looked around in awe, taking in the new world she was so suddenly thrust into.

"Where am I?" she asked quietly, her eyes still darting around.

"You're in Cyberspace," Motherboard spoke up, having come back online after her maintenance. "I am Motherboard, and this is Dr. Marbles and our son, Hacker."

"Hi," the girl said, finally focusing on the two borgs.

"Hello," Dr. Marbles said, still shocked that a human was in Cyberspace. "What's your name?"

"Maddie," she whispered, looking away.

"Well don't worry, Maddie," Dr. Marbles said, turning and entering a retrieval code for a new portal, "you'll be home in two nanoseconds."

But the portal refused to appear. He and Motherboard tried several times to open one to the location the girl had been plucked from, but neither could get a clear lock on the area. They looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.

"Are you my new parents?" Maddie asked, her question coated in innocence.

"Backspace," Dr. Marbles managed before Motherboard took over so as not to confuse the girl.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, the lady at the orphanage always said my new parents would come and take me away, and this is away."

It was further away than she knew, but neither wanted to tell her that.

"Maddie, it was an accident that brought you here, and it appears it cannot be reversed," Motherboard said. "So for the time being, you'll stay here in Control Central."

"Okay," Maddie replied, just glad to be away from the orphanage.

"This way," Hacker said, guiding her out of the room to show her around.

She was quite cute, Motherboard mused as she watched the girl timidly reach for Hacker's hand. Light blonde hair, small build, the classic doll. It was her eyes that intrigued the supercomputer. One was a light blue, the other a deep green. She had never seen that before, since Cyberspace was mainly inhabited by cyborgs. She could tell that if the child stayed she would become quite popular for her unusual appearance.

'For the time being' turned into something far more permanent. Both Dr. Marbles and Motherboard found themselves attached to the little girl and couldn't bear to send her home, which wasn't a problem considering neither had found a way. What surprised them was the ease with which Maddie adapted to her new life. She fit in perfectly, even more so when Dr. Marbles inadvertently found out she was a child genius. He had been searching out a new program to boost Motherboard's defenses when she calmly pointed out a minute error he had failed to see. Doubting, he had checked it, only to find the child was correct and that any other error would fry the computer's circuits. It was then he began to train her in the maintenance of Cyberspace's leader.

Hacker became jealous, vengeful even, though neither Dr. Marbles nor Motherboard noticed until it was too late. They drained his power, banishing him to the desolate Northern Frontier, and gaining Digit in the process.

"Mommy!"

The shriek rang through Control Central, jarring the computer out of sleep mode. A small blur raced into the room, darting under the console to her favorite place. She could hear the sobbing as the three year old nestled back into the small space, sighing as she realized it was yet another nightmare. She supposed she really should stop the child from watching the Castleblanca channel.

"What's wrong, Maddie?" she questioned.

"Nightmare," the child whimpered, but made no move to come out.

Maddie liked the warmth that surrounded her underneath the console. Though her mother couldn't physically wrap her arms around her to comfort her, when she was underneath it felt like a hug.

"Have you been watching those scary movies with Digit again?"

"No...maybe," she amended when she felt the temperature flair around her.

"Maddie, you know you're not supposed to watch them until you're older."

"I know Mommy, but Digit told me they weren't scary."

Motherboard sighed. She would have to have a talk with Digit about appropriate things for small children to watch. He loved his little sister, there was no doubt about it, but sometimes he misjudged a situation and unintentionally scared her. Before she could begin trying to coax the small blonde out from her hiding space, Dr. Marbles wandered in, looking exhausted but worried.

"Did she run in here?" he asked.

"Yes, she's hiding."

Maddie's sobs slowed a bit.

"Daddy?" she questioned just to make sure, though she knew her mother would protect her.

"Yes, my little gigabyte, I'm here."

The child flew out from under the console into her father's arms, burying her face in his neck and sobbing anew. Motherboard watched, pained that she couldn't comfort her own child properly. Marbles soothed the girl, finally calming her so that she stopped crying.

"Say goodnight to your mother," he said, lifting her so that she could touch the massive screen Motherboard was displayed on.

A small hand brushed the bottom of her screen.

"Night, Mommy."

He carried her back to bed, tucking her in and kissing her goodnight.

"Dr. Marbles," he heard Motherboard call before he made it back to his own room. He re-entered the control room, yawning and hoping whatever she wanted would be quick.

"Yes, Motherboard?"

"I have a favor to ask of you. Would it be possible for you to build an android body for me?"

"It might be possible, but highly unadvised. For you to be out of control for even a short while could cause utter chaos."

"I understand, but I must admit I'm..." she trailed off, unsure of how to best finish the sentence.

"You're what?" Dr. Marbles asked.

"Concerned."

"About what? You're a wonderful ruler, everyone loves you."

"Not that. I'm concerned about Maddie."

Now he was truly baffled. What was she concerned about? The girl was perfectly healthy, coming along nicely in her studies, and she adored her. He didn't see the problem, but then he really was useless at this sort of thing.

"What's there to be concerned about? She's perfectly healthy and advancing well in her studies."

"Not that," she sighed, wishing she didn't have to voice her fear aloud. "I'm worried that I might not be a suitable mother."

"She adores you, can't you see that?" he asked, astounded she would ever consider herself inadequate.

"Maybe so, but she deserves a mother who can hug her, kiss her goodnight, touch her when she needs comfort. I can't do any of those things."

"Maddie doesn't care about any of that. She loves you, so much. Who does she always run to when she's upset or has a nightmare? What's her favorite hiding place? Where does she spend nearly all of her time? Her world revolves around you, don't you see? You're literally the center of it."

His speech moved something in the supercomputer, but it wasn't enough to discourage her from her goal.

"Perhaps you're right, but it doesn't change the fact that I can only watch her, not interact with her. Please Marbles, do this for me, make me this body so I can spend time with her as a mother should."

He sighed, sensing he wasn't going to win the argument.

"It's against my better judgement, but I'll do it." He yawned, once again realizing how late it was. "I'll confer with you in the morning on the appearance of the shell, as well as the correct program to allow transfer."

"Thank you. Goodnight, Marbles," Motherboard said, her way of ending the conversation.

"Goodnight, Motherboard," Dr. Marbles said, exiting control.

She smiled as she began to power down. She knew her friend was right, that it wasn't safe to be out of her main screen too long, but she had to do it for her daughter. Satisfied that soon she'd be a better mother, she closed down her final programs for the night. Sleep mode activated.