Notes:
More drama, also good dad!bob.
Chapter Text
Megabyte was aware that the Guardian and his friends had escaped. Returning to the War Room in a daze had led him to pulling up the security feed and watching them argue about what to do before ultimately choosing to flee out the Core.
If he was in his right state of mind, he would go after them, cutting them off via vents before they could reach the exit. However, he was not in his right mind and instead he merely watched silently, lost in thought as his would be victims escaped his grasp.
His mind was still reeling from what had transpired. After the group left, he had changed the video from live to archived footage, bringing up the video of Andr- The Game Sprite and replaying it over and over again, watching the light go from her to him in silent thought.
What had she done? Had she infected him? Was she a virus?
He looked towards her on the video and tried to summon up the feelings of hatred and revulsion he had of her. Instead he found himself pulling up a video from the War Room mere moments prior to his grand reveal, sitting on the edge of the map table in the War Room, laughing and sipping Cocoa. He couldn't help but smile at the way she brushed strands of hair out of her eyes.
His eyes instinctually lowered, trailing down her form. With a hum on his lips, he reached forward to press a few buttons on the vid-window, causing it to zoom in on her and allowing him to view her petite frame, in uh, fine detail.
She had a nice litt-
He let out a frustrated growl, slamming his fist against the console. This wasn't right, it wasn't supposed to be this way. Megabyte angrily shut off the video, not trusting his own senses and dug his claws into the console as a distraction from his mind and the "growing issue" between his thighs.
"What are you doing?"
Ah. He had almost forgotten about the Old Fool and the rest of his prisoners. Though heavily injured, Phong was unfortunately immune to his infection even as advance as he was now.
Megabyte never knew why exactly his infection seemed to do nothing for the old sprite when clearly Daemon (that left a bitter taste in his mouth, knowing that another virus had tried and succeeded to take over his domain. And a woman to boot.) had. He could only assume the old food had a resistance to his particular strain of infection, much like one developed a resistance to an illness.
The old sprite was looking up at him from where he still laid on the floor, a look Megabyte could only be describe as disgust. It occurred to Megabyte that Phong, and the rest of them had probably just saw what he did. That was made evident by the confused expression on the boys face and what he was convinced was a raised eyebrow (if it was even possible) from the null.
"I should think it would be obvious, old man," Megabyte replied coolly, straightening up and forcing his features into a neutral expression. "I'm reviewing the security footage, trying to determine where the others have escaped to."
"I know you are many things virus, but I wasn't aware you were a pervert."
"Phong, you wound me," Megabyte replied, placing a clawed hand over his chest in mock offense.
"I may be a monster, but I am also a gentlemen. I was merely...analyzing the situation. You know how I like to have a thorough understanding of my enemies." he said, deflecting.
"Given what you tried to do to Dot, I think we both know you're capable of anything." The old man hissed.
"Really now Phong, I know what you are insinuating but do give me some credit. I have some standards after all."
Besides he would rather engage with a null before he considered exchanging codes with Ms. Matrix. AndrAIa on the other hand…
No! There it was again, those thoughts.
"Sir!"
Jerking around, caught of guard, Megabyte was poised to extend his tendrils towards the sudden voice when he realized who was speaking. Trotting in from the hidden entrance into the War Room, Herr Doktor and the rest of his lieutenants marched in, ready to do his bidding. He allowed himself to relax as he regarded his men.
"Good, you're finally here. Take the old man and the Boy to the holding cells. I don't care if you rough up Phong but you are under strict orders to keep them alive, even if the Boy is too annoying for his own good."
"Yes sir!…and what if the boy acts out?" came the reply of Lieutenant Chancy. Megabyte gave a huff.
"Honestly, I am constantly surrounded by imbeciles. How many times do I need to repeat myself to you all? We do not harm children. Lock him up in a cell. If you can't handle a mere child without resorting to force, then you are even weaker than I thought. Is that clear, Lieutenant?"
The mustache faced binome gave a shaky salute in response, not wanting to be on the receiving end of his Lord's wrath.
"Uh, yes sir!"
"Good, when you get back started arranging the rest of the troops. The Guardian and his friends have escaped but they will be back. I want every square inch of this place defended, do you understand? No one gets in. And have someone prepare my bed chambers."
With a flourish of his hand, Megabyte watched with a disinterested gaze as his lieutenants began roughly escorted Phong and Little Enzo to the holding cells, the old sprite grumbling and the boy shouting childish taunts the whole way. He briefly considered sending the Null with him, but he wanted to torment the thing.
He paused for a second, a thought occurring to him.
"Wait, Herr Doktor, I need you for something else. I am sure the rest of the idiots can manage an old man and a child."
"Of course, mein Herr. Vhat do you need?"
Megabyte glanced away for a moment, trying to formulate the words, his clawed finger tracing his chin. "I need you to run a full diagnostic on me. There seems to be...a glitch in my programming that I need to address."
"A glitch, vas meinen Sie?"
"Don't worry about it. I just need you to check for any anomalies in either my code or with my brain."
"Mein Herr?"
Megabyte wheeled around on the balls of his feet, boring holes into his head before speaking coldly and with intent.
"I believe I gave you an order Herr Doktor. Just run the scan, or perhaps I should find a replacement."
"…Ja, mein Herr."
After escaping through out the sewers, the group had quickly exited out into Baudway, surprising a mother walking by with her child, earning them a look of contempt. Finding somewhere to regroup was not hard. After Megabyte took over the city last time and after the city was restored, it was quickly established they should have a backup base should they need it.
Unlike the temporary quarters they had inhabited during the last fight with Megabyte (after he forced them to a retreat), they now had access able to a fully operational base with enhanced security measures and even accommodations, should they require them. Unfortunately, Megabyte was likely to know about it given that he had been informed of it's existence when he was masquerading as Bob.
Regardless, it would have to do in the mean time.
Either someone had gotten a word out, or they had suspected something was wrong, because a good portion of the System Officers were already waiting for them when they arrived, both hesitant and relived when seeing them. Instantly, they got to work as they all knew a full-fledged war would be on them.
There was hope they could contact the Collective for help, Bob now admitting to himself and to the rest of his friends that they had run out of choices. That hope was quickly dashed when they tried to open an external vid-window and realized Megabyte had taken the system offline, preventing outside access to Mainframe. Even his keytool, which could usually bypass restricted access to contact the supercomputer was not able to connect.
They would learn later that the Wifi port had been blown up, rendering outside help impossible. That left them to fend for themselves, but in the mean time…
AndrAIa was not right. She had not been right since her encounter with Megabyte. Mouse didn't want to break her trust by saying anything but this was too big to hide. Not when she was acting so weird. Splitting AndrAIa off from the group didn't turn out to be hard, once Dot instructed her to help with the medbay and any incoming patients, should the need arise.
Usually she would put up a fuss, wanting to be in the main action. Mouse knew from many nights of listening to her drunk at the bar, that AndrAIa struggled with being seen as anything other than Enzo's girlfriend or as an outsider (That part was on Bob really, for his genius idea to give a seminar on the dangers of Game Sprites the same day she arrived in Mainframe.) and had a tendency to push back when relegated to the role of the support. Today however, she gave no such response and silently walked off to help the binomes taking stock of the medical supplies they had access to.
As soon as she was out of earshot (which was hard to gage due to her expanded range of hearing.) Mouse waited no time telling the others what she had seen.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa - hold up a minute. What do you mean something happened between AndrAIa and Megabyte?" Matrix asked, his cybernetic eye flaring to life, hands shaking in anger. She almost instantly regretted saying anything, Matrix was quick to anger, especially when it concerned AndrAIa.
"If he hurt her in anyway, I swear to User…."
"Easy there, sugah," Mouse said, placing a hand on Matrix's arm. "I don't know exactly what happened, but something definitely went down back there. When Megabyte had AndrAIa pinned, there was this...light. It came from her and went into him. Afterwards, they both just kinda froze, starin' at each other. And when we got away, 'Dre was a mess. Cryin' and tremblin' like I ain't never seen her before."
Matrix's jaw clenched, his cybernetic eye whirring as he fought to control his rage. "That slime-sucking virus better not have laid a hand on her."
"That's just it, sugar. He...he didn't. He just kinda stood there, like he was confused." She chose not to mention the other look on his face, she was still trying to figure that out for herself.
"And you didn't ask her what happened?!"
"Of course I did! That's the first thing I asked once we were safe. She just kept saying it didn't happen."
Bob frowned, tapping his thighs out of nervousness. By now AndrAIa was out of sight, but he still found himself looking towards where she had went. "I think we need to leave it for now. Whatever happened, it's clearly shaken her up. Pushing her to talk about it before she's ready could do more harm than good."
And because he knew what she was like. She had changed so much from the little girl that had come into his care. But somethings were still the same, such as shutting down when she was stressed. It took so many sleepless nights get her to open up to him about her past; things he had been sworn not to say, even to Enzo. But even so, he knew she kept some of her past shrouded in secret.
Dot pursed her lips, torn between giving AndrAIa space and needing to get to the bottom of what happened. "Bob's right. We shouldn't push her, but we need to figure out what's going on. If Megabyte did something to her..." She trailed off, her expression darkening.
The Wedding was still on her mind. And how could it not be? It had been that morning. Every second not moving or working was spent thinking about the What-Ifs, if Bob had not arrived in time. If she had married that monster. And to think, maybe now another one of them had been targeted? It made her stomach churn.
Matrix clenched his fists, clearly struggling to restrain his anger. "I'm going to kill him, if he tried to infect her." he growled.
"Matrix, Sweetheart." Mouse paused to look him squarely in the eyes. "We don't know the full story yet. Let's not jump to conclusions."
"But-"
"Enzo, Mouse is right." Dot stepped forward, her expression stern. "We need to stay calm and focused."
Matrix let out a frustrated sigh, his shoulders slumping slightly. "Fine. But the moment I find out that virus did something to her, I'm going to tear him apart."
"We understand…just give her the space. And I mean actual space Enzo, I know how you are. You're practically itching to run after her and demand answers." Matrix opened his mouth to say something, before shutting it tightly under the piercing gaze of his sister and her firm stare.
"…Fine." he repeated.
AndrAIa found herself alone in the small medical bay, meticulously taking stock of the supplies. But her mind was a million miles away, replaying the events in the Principal Office over and over again.
It didn't happen, it wasn't real.
It didn't happen, it wasn't real.
She blinked back tears as she sat down on a crate of what appeared to be surgical masks, trying to calm her nerves.
"What did you think would happen? That you could lie forever?" AndrAIa's breath caught in her throat. The part of herself she tried to ignore always seemed to emerge at the worst moments, flooding her mind with insults and ridicule. It mocked her past and the intricate web of deceit she had spun, reminding her how easily it all could unravel.
"Honestly, I don't know why you are so surprised. We both knew this was possible. In fact, it was guaranteed. What was the percentage they said? Of it not happening to us? Oh that's right, 0.03%.What, you thought just because you were outside of the game, it wouldn't happen?"
AndrAIa squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the voice that tormented her. "No, no, shut up. This isn't real. It didn't happen, it's not real," she whispered feverishly.
"Oh, but it is real. You can't keep running from your past. From OUR past. What happened back there was very much real." The voice sounded almost amused, reveling in her distress.
AndrAIa couldn't take it anymore. "Shut up! Shut up!" She pleaded, trying to drown out the taunting voice with her own hands over her ears. "I never wanted this, I never asked for any of it!" If she was paying attention to her surroundings, she would have seen the gazes and stares directed at her as she dug her sharp nails into head in a desperate attempt to get it to stop.
"But this is such a grand occasion! We dreamed about this day for years! Of course, you hoped that it would be with Enzo but regardless, you should be celebrating. After all, it only happens once in a young Atlantian's life!
"It didn't happen, it's not real, it-"
"-AIa"
"You can chant all you want, it doesn't make it true. This is your fault, don't you see? This is what you get for lying!" barked the voice.
"No, that's not true!" AndrAIa cried, shaking her head vehemently. "I never wanted to lie, I-I had no choice!"
"-DrAIa!"
"Liar!" the voice spat. "You always had a choice. But you chose to keep up the charade, to keep pretending when we both know what you really are. You're a monster, an abomination, just like she said. I wonder what Enzo would think if he knew what you could do. Maybe I should tell him."
"No!"
"AndrAIa!"
She realizes as hands grab her, her head feels wet. Why was her head wet? She blinks back tears as her eyes focus onto a kneeling Bob, who is desperately trying to push something against her forehead, causing her to hiss on contact as it burns.
It takes a moment but then she sees it's a piece of rag, ripped off of something, stained red with blood. Was she bleeding? She reached up to touch her head, finding wetness on her fingers and pulling back to see the blood. As the fog clears, she realizes she's on the floor.
Bob's concerned face came into view as he gently pressed the cloth back against her forehead. "AndrAIa, do you need to lie down?" He doesn't ask her if she is okay, he knows she's not. Because this is not the first time he's found her like this.
But it is the first time Enzo has. Despite traveling together for nearly two decades, with only each other to lean onto, the renegade had never seen her like this. Not even close. He, and the others had been drawn first by her screams and then by the exclamations of help coming from the med bay. He had expected maybe to find Megabyte, standing over her form. Instead he found her claws deep in her own skull, writhing as she shouted at an invisible force.
Bob tries to swallow the lump forming. He knows that AndrAIa does not want Enzo to see her that way.
"Enzo, I need you to leave. Now. In fact, that goes for everyone."
AndrAIa becomes aware of the faces staring at her, a little over two dozen binomes and vector sprites all looking at her with disgust and fear, taking steps back. She looks to her friends and she sees the same look.
(shewasamonstertheyknowtheyknow)
Matrix was taken aback by Bob's unexpected request, his eyes widening in a mixture of shock and confusion. "What do you mean? I can't leave! AndrAIa needs me!" He attempted to kneel down beside her, but Bob quickly stepped in front of him, shielding her from view as if he was protecting her from Matrix.
"Enzo, please. This isn't the time right now." Bob said, his voice low and serious.
"Bob, I am going to say this once. Move. Now." Matrix growled, his eye flashing dangerously. The golden eye began to spin as it glowed red, going into targeting mode.
"No."
It was a stand off. Guardian against Renegade, an immovable force against an unstoppable object. "I'm going to give you five nanoseconds Bob." The renegade said, pulling the gun from his side, raising it to Bob's face. If he was scared, Bob didn't show it as Matrix stared him down.
"Enzo Raphael Matrix, put that gun down this instant!" Dot's stern voice cut through the tense standoff, causing Matrix to flinch slightly. Her eyes were narrowed, all traces of the caring sister replaced by voice of an command-dot-com ordering her subordinate to step down.
"But Dot-"
"No buts!" Dot snapped. "Bob, take her to the sleeping quarters and get her wounds cleaned up. Everyone else, either get back to work or go about your business! I don't know what you saw but forget about it! That includes you too Enzo."
Enzo reluctantly lowered his weapon, hands still shaking with rage and glaring daggers at Bob as he gently helped AndrAIa to her feet and guided her out of the medical bay. He watched them go, not looking away until they disappeared around the corner and out of sight before stomping off.
Dot yelled after him, asking "Where are you going?!"
"I'm going to go shoot something!" he snarled over his shoulder. Dot let out an audible sigh, the days events weighing heavily on her.
"I need a vacation."