A/N: Alright here we are! The first chapter where things take a different turn from the original. Whether or not it holds up, I'll leave up to you dear readers.

And... Action!

~Chapter Ten~

Useless. It had all been completely useless. For over half a decade, Alexa Lan had not seen her baby sister or brother-in-law in person. She had gotten to see her niece all of three times and her nephew only once, and so long ago the two probably didn't even remember her. All in the name of safety.

Faking her death had been easier than Alexa thought it would be. Clyde was right when he said that he was the number one target of Abaddon and his army, but that anyone associated with him was also in grave danger. She hadn't believed it until that fateful day six years ago when the maniac had located her townhouse in Memoryville and had his men drop a bomb. How they'd managed to do that without anyone ever spotting them was still beyond her understanding, but she had barely gotten away with her life.

Her husband, Linus, was not so lucky.

"And now I've lost you, too, Eileen," Alexa whispered as she held a picture of the two of them as children.

The sound of the doorbell pulled Alexa from her thoughts. Taking a deep breath, she composed herself and answered the door to see her neighbor, Margaret Lovelace, on the other end.

"Good morning, luv," she said, "How are you holding up?"

"I just can't believe it," Alexa said, tears springing to her eyes again, "Just the other day I was talking to Eileen. It doesn't feel real."

"I know," Margaret said, "That's always how it is at first. But she'd want you to go on."

Alexa wiped the stray tears from her eyes. "I've wanted to be able to see my niece and nephew again, but not like this."

"There, there," Margaret said, hugging her friend, "This too shall pass."

"If this is how I'm handling it, I can only imagine how much harder the kids are taking it."

"Then you must try to be strong," Margaret said, "For their sake."

"You're right," Alexa said as she let go of Margaret and looked at her watch, "Well, I better get going if I want to avoid the air traffic."

"Have a safe drive, luv," Margaret said, patting her shoulder, "We'll come over later."

Location: Control Central:

By 11:45 A.M the Benson children were dressed, packed, and waiting on the sofa in the main control room. Melissa wore a white, short sleeved church dress that came down just above her knees with black Mary Jane shoes to match. Her blue hair had been braided into two pigtails. Marbles wore a blue shirt with beige slacks and brown shoes.

"Why are we here now if our aunt won't be here until noon?" Marbles asked his sister impatiently.

"Because if she comes early, we don't want to keep her waiting," Melissa replied.

In all honesty though, Melissa was also becoming impatient. This room they were waiting in looked too much like the room from her nightmare. She kept telling herself how it was just a dream. But in the back of her mind she was worried that, at some point, that green cyborg would barge in and drag the two of them away to who knows where. Just then, Sir Dalhart came through the entry door, much to her relief.

"Melissa, Marbles," he said, "Your Aunt Alexa is here. She is waiting in the hangar bay. Grab your boxes and come with me."

The children did as they were told and followed the cyber-ruler out to the hangar bay where a tall, bluenette woman was standing next to her cyber-coupe. She had the same pale blue skin as their mother, but had a small series of freckles on her nose and cheeks. Her sky blue hair was pulled back in a French twist and her brown eyes were framed by a pair of glasses.

"Hello, Melissa. Hello, Marbles," she said, "You probably don't remember me, but I'm your mother's older sister, Alexa."

Melissa silently studied the woman for a moment, feeling like they'd met before.

"You look familiar," she said, "But I don't know why."

"We've met a few times in the past, but you were very young," she explained before turning to the cyber-ruler, "It's good to see you again, Sir Dalhart."

"I only wish it were under more pleasant circumstances," he said.

"I do too," Alexa said, "You're a good leader, Sir Dalhart. Eileen always had wonderful things to say about you."

"I couldn't have led this universe so well without her insight. Take good care of them. They'll need you."

"I will."

Sir Dalhart then turned to face the Benson children and gave them both new Skwak Pads.

"I guess this is good-bye for now," Sir Dalhart said, "I have enjoyed your company here. Don't hesitate to call. God bless!"

"Good-bye!" Melissa and Marbles said as they climbed in the back of the cyber coupe.

As Alexa got in the driver's seat, she realized something.

"You two have never been in a cyber-coupe, have you?"

"I don't think we have," Marbles said.

"We haven't," Melissa confirmed, "But I know what we're supposed to do."

Melissa slid over to her brother's side and put his seatbelt on him. "It keeps you safe in case there's an accident."

"Very good, Melissa," Alexa said as she put the keys in the ignition, "Well kids, get ready for your first flight!"

With that the three passengers took off, waving good-bye to the cyber-ruler as they drove off into Cyberspace.

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For most children, an hour-long flight would be unbearable. But little Melissa and Marbles, having known nothing other than rows upon rows of trees, were in complete bliss as the cyber-coupe traveled through the skies. They took in every passing cybersite, star, and even stray cyber static as if it were a fine work of art in a museum.

Before they knew it, the cyber-coupe was lowering itself down to a specific cybersite.

"Well kids, here we are," Alexa said, "Helping Hand Land. This has been my home for the past six years, and now it'll be your home, too."

"Its huge!" Marbles exclaimed.

"Most cybersites are, Marbles," Melissa said, "Even Pompadoria is. We've just never been beyond the forest."

"Oh..."

Alexa landed her coupe in front of a quaint two-story house.

"Welcome to your new home," Alexa said as she took the keys out of the ignition, "Things are a bit different here, but I hope you'll adjust well."

The two siblings unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of the coupe. Alexa stayed silent, watching the children take in their surroundings. How had the time gone by so fast? The last time she'd seen these two, Marbles had just been booted and Melissa was just learning to walk. Things were different then.

Things were safer then.

"Woah!" Melissa said, pulling the woman from her thoughts, "That house is huge!"

Alexa glanced in her niece's direction and smiled. "Yes, that's my neighbor Margaret's house. She's made a fortune over the years as a computer programmer and it shows."

"Margaret..." Melissa said, "Sir Dalhart mentioned her. He said she has a daughter."

"Yes," Alexa said, "She was named after the real world's first computer programmer: Augusta Ada Byron, countess of Lovelace. Margaret has always admired the woman. It's practically an obsession. She even changed her surname to Lovelace and programmed Ada to be a math and science prodigy."

"Daddy told us about Lady Lovelace," Marbles said, "He said she worked with a man named Charles Cabbage."

Melissa laughed. "Actually, Marbles, his name was Charles Babbage."

"Aren't you a clever girl, huh?" Alexa said, "Come on. Let's get you two inside before we all overheat."

Alexa opened the door and let the children in before her.

"This way, kids," she said as she headed towards the stairs, Melissa and Marbles following close behind.

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"Do you think I'll like Mrs. Lan's niece and nephew, Mother?" Ada asked as she and her mother waited to be rung up at the local florist shop. The two had bought three bouquets of white lilies and roses to show their condolences to Alexa and the new neighbors.

"Of course you will," Margaret said, "You like Mrs. Lan, don't you?"

"Yes," Ada said, "She's very nice. But that doesn't mean the siblings are."

"I have no doubt they're wonderful children, luv," Margaret said, "Their father, Clyde, God rest his soul, was a dear friend of mine since college. We used to study together, play games together, all sorts of things. He was a very intelligent, kind, and caring cyborg. And I know that those traits were passed down to his children."

"Is that how you met Mrs. Lan?" Ada asked, "Because you already knew her... um..."

"Brother-in-law is the term, dear," Margaret said, "And yes, it is. Something very terrible happened to Mrs. Lan and Clyde urged her to move here in the aftermath. She had no job at the time and so we both helped her get a paid internship as a data analyst."

"That was very nice of you," Ada said, "Did something happen to the niece and nephew too?"

"I'm afraid so, dear," Margaret said as she thanked the cashier and the two left the shop, "Their parents were brutally murdered and now Mrs. Lan is all the family they have left. But please do not speak with them about it. They are all very sensitive about it right now. Actually, why don't you bring the two of them over to our house and show them your play room? Most of their belongings have been lost, including their toys."

"Alright."

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After Alexa had shown the children their bedrooms, the two siblings sat on top of Melissa's bed and talked about their new home.

"I still can't believe we're gonna go to school Melissa!" Marbles said excitedly.

Marbles had been home schooled his entire life and Melissa most of hers. She got to spend a few months of kindergarten at a public school before the rebellion had become so great, that leaving the premises of Forever Forest was too dangerous and she had to be taken out of school in favor of a private tutor. It had been such a short time that Melissa was in school and it had been so long ago, that she remembered nothing about the students or the teachers. So Melissa was just as excited as her younger brother.

"I know Marbles," she said joyfully, "And this is such a beautiful cybersite. We will be happy here."

"Yeah," Marbles agreed, "Plus Aunt Alexa seems really nice."

"She does," Melissa said, "I wish my memories of her were more clear. Maybe they'll come back as we get to know her."

"I'm a little nervous though too," Marbles said, "We've never met anyone our age. What if we don't fit in? What if the kids at school don't like us?"

"Oh Marbles you worry too much," Melissa said reassuringly, "Everything will be alright. And besides, no matter what, we'll always be together. We'll always have each other."

Marbles smiled and hugged his sister tightly. Melissa returned the hug.

"I love you!"

Melissa hugged her brother even tighter, "I love you too, Marbles!"

Neither child realized they were being listened to. Alexa let a few silent tears slide down her face, the conversation reminding her so much of her relationship with her deceased sister.

"They seem just like how we were," Alexa thought, "And Melissa. She seems to care a lot about her little brother. She is more like a mother to him than a sister. He might as well just call her mother."

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It was around sunset when the doorbell rang again. Alexa already knew who it would be but was still surprised by the massive amount of flowers the two were carrying.

"Oh my," she said, "Are those all for me?"

"Not all of them," Margaret said, "There's also one for each of the little ones."

"Thank you Margaret. I'm sure they'll appreciate it," Alexa said before walking towards the stairs, the Lovelaces close behind, "Melissa! Marbles! Come downstairs! The neighbors have come to welcome you!"

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Mrs. Lan," Ada said as Alexa took one of the bouquets.

"Ada!" Margaret warned.

"No, no its alright," Alexa said as she went to her kitchen to find a vase, "Thank you Ada."

Alexa was still in the kitchen when the children came down, so Margaret introduced herself.

"Hello," she said, "You must be Melissa and Marbles. My name is Margaret Lovelace and this is my daughter, Ada."

Margaret looked to her daughter expecting her to curtsy and introduce herself, but instead the girl just stood there staring at Marbles, her cheeks turning bright red.

"He's so handsome," Ada thought.

"Ada," Margaret said grabbing the child's attention, "Please introduce yourself."

Ada turned to look at her mother, then turned her gaze back to the two children in front of her. She curtsied sheepishly. "Hello."

At that moment, Alexa returned to the room and caught Ada's look.

"Oh, how adorable!" she thought.

Margaret cleared her throat.

"Oh, and these are for you," Ada said holding out the remaining bouquets, "There's one for each of you."

"Thank you, Ada," Melissa said as she took one.

"Yeah, thanks," Marbles said as he took a bouquet as well, "Um, can I ask you something? Why are you dressed like Victorians?"

Melissa facepalmed. "Marbles, you can't just ask people why they dress a certain way!"

Margaret laughed. "Don't worry, Melissa. We actually get that question quite often. You see, I'm quite a big fan of the Ada Lovelace from Earth and try to copy the life she would've led. I even named Ada after her."

"Yeah, Aunt Alexa mentioned that," Marbles said, "That's so cool!"

"Thank you. I hope to be as intelligent as the real Lady Lovelace some day."

"You already are, luv," Margaret said, running her fingers through the girl's hair, "Now, the grown ups here need to talk alone for a little while. Can you and your new friends find something to do, perhaps?"

Ada remembered their agreement from earlier. "Oh yes! I have a big play room at my house full of dolls!"

"Dolls?" Marbles asked, sounding as far from impressed as possible.

Margaret and Alexa couldn't help laughing at the boy's reaction.

"Maybe something a little... less girly?" Alexa suggested.

Ada's blush deepened at that. "Oh, um, alright. I'm sure we can find something."

The two women waited for the children to close the door behind them before speaking again.

"They seem like lovely children," Margaret said, "And the boy looks so much like Clyde!"

"He really does," Alexa said, "Though he seems to have picked up a short stature from this side of the family. Melissa seems a bit more lucky in the height department."

"She certainly has your sister's eyes though," Margaret said.

"I know," Alexa said, "Meanwhile, both of us have Mom's hair. Dad would be glad to see his favorite feature of his wife's is continuing down the family tree."

"They'd both be very proud of you for taking on this responsibility."

"I hope so," Alexa said quietly, her gaze wandering.

"What are you thinking, luv?" Margaret asked.

"Just the irony of it all, I guess," Alexa said, "I always knew there was something up with Biff, long before he'd ever laid a hand on her. I just never thought he was low enough to...ugh."

"Nobody can ever really predict this sort of thing."

"No, I suppose not," Alexa admitted, "But I can't help wondering if things would've turned out this way if Eileen had listened to me... if she'd never given Biff the time of day."

"She still ended up marrying a top spy," Margaret pointed out, "Abaddon's men would've been after her even if Biff had never joined them."

"Maybe," Alexa said, "Maybe..."

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"Woah," Melissa whispered as Ada let them in, "Your house looks bigger on the inside than it does on the outside!"

A four armed cyborg came down the winding staircase.

"Are these our new neighbors, Ada dear?" she asked.

"Yes," Ada answered, "This is Melissa and this is Marbles. Melissa, Marbles, this is my nanny and our housekeeper."

"Its nice to meet you," Melissa said.

"What's your name, ma'am?" Marbles asked.

"Nanny," she said, "I was programmed to take care of Ada when Margaret was too busy so I've never needed any other name."

"Come on!" Ada said beginning to run up the stairs, "My playroom is this way!"

"Now Ada," Nanny said, "What does your mother always tell you about running in the house?"

"Don't do it," Ada said, hanging her head as the two siblings followed her.

Ada waited until Nanny was completely out of sight before saying, "Race you to the playroom!"

"Wait," Marbles said as he and his sister ran behind her, "That's not fair! We don't know where the playroom is!"

"Come on, Marbles. Let's just follow her!"

The two siblings ran after their neighbor just as she opened a door.

"Oh my gosh!" Melissa said as she gazed inside, "I've never seen so many toys in my life!"

"Mostly dolls," Marbles muttered.

"Well," Ada said, choosing her words carefully, "I have some costumes in that chest over there. There's some super hero capes. We could play super heroes."

Melissa and Marbles went to the chest Ada was pointing at. There were, indeed, a wide array of costumes.

"Oh wow!" Marbles said taking out one specific costume, "I really like this one! It reminds me of Super Man!"

For hours the three children pretended to be a trio of heroes, using Ada's dolls as the victim they were trying to save. Ada had a play castle that they put the dolls in. The three pretended that the dolls were princesses that got locked away in the castle by some horrible villain. At one point they even had Ada be the princess that Marbles and Melissa had to save by themselves. 'The Princess of Parallelograms' she called herself.

"There Princess. You are safe now," Marbles said at the end of their pretend mission.

"Thank you both for saving me from that awful cyborg," Ada said dramatically.

The three put their costumes away and decided to play a board game instead . They were all glad to have become friends so quickly.

"You know," Ada said, as she rolled the dice for the game, "If we're going to be a team of superheroes I think we should have a name for ourselves."

"You're right Ada," Marbles agreed, "But what should we call ourselves?"

"How about the 'Three Magical Flowers Always There At Each Hour?!'" Ada suggested dreamily.

"WHAT?!" the siblings said looking at her as if she were crazy.

"Well what did you two have in mind?" she asked, slightly offended by their reaction.

The three children were silent a few minutes, thinking of some sort of name for themselves.

"I think I might have an idea," Melissa said after a while.

"Well," Marbles said, "Tell us.

"How about..." said Melissa, "How about the 'Cybersquad?'"

"I think its simply perfect!" Ada exclaimed.

"I like it too," Marbles said, "Cybersquad it is!"

So with that, the three new friends had come up with a name for themselves: The Cybersquad. It would be a name that they would use for years, even when they were full grown and no longer played childish superhero games. A name simply used to acknowledge their special close friendship together.

Little did they know, however, that this name would be used for another group of three children many years later. Little did they know just how important the term "Cybersquad" would someday be...

So obviously some things have stayed the same. But Alexa is the big change we'll have in this version. I hope she holds up to my previous OC's. We shall see how this goes. As Digit would say:

See you in Cyberspace!