By: RoeBoot

Part 1 - Buried in the Past

The Super Computer - Before the Daemon infection

Mack Binary twirled his club as he walked into the main office of Disk Tools Operations. The indigo-skinned sprite with brown hair and eyes whistled a tune slightly off key. When he hit a bad note the cyberdog next to him whined. The Search Engine dog looked at him in distaste, rolling his amber eyes.

"Music critic, Byte?" Mack holstered the club on his belt and scratched his partners ears. "You'd listen to Pixie sing off key."

Mack approached the front desk. Pixie's assistant Claris worked at filing a stack of reports. She looked up only long enough to tell him, "Pixie is in the specimens room waiting for you."

"Thank you, Claris," Mack replied.

Mack walked through the double doors to the desks right and began going down the hallway. He wrinkled his nose. He hated the smell of Disk Tools. Too antiseptic. The lighting always made you think sprites came here just to delete. Worse, he had to met Pixie in the Specimens Room called by many in the Armory "The Freak Show." As he entered he glanced at the shelves full of bits of viral material. Most were simply class one bug residues but every few containers had parts of larger viruses the had been deleted by Guardians. Some were recognizable as parts of fingers or skin, some were not. There were Bugs, Workers, Scouts, and Soldiers preserved for study and dissecting. The biggest prize in the room was the tentacle of a Class M Web Creature. Mack bristled from staring at it. He turned away from the display calling out. "Pixie?"

"In here."

Mack walked towards the next room but paused at the door's threshold. It contained nulls. They lined one wall ceiling to floor. Each had been filed into its own private container with a marker indicating info on the null inside. Most of them had been nullified in games, among them were Guardians. With no family to be passed onto they were forced to live out there less then half lives in data storage under the watch of Disk Tools to be used in tests to reverse the process.

Mack started to go in and almost tripped over a cyperpup scampering around the room in hot pursuit of a loose null. The dark blue German Shepherd youngster tripped over his own black paws trying to catch catch the creature. He bumped his dark muzzle against one of Mack's boots. The pup whimpered and looked up at Mack, his amber eyes showing displeasure at not being able to corner the null.

"Fetch!" Mack picked the puppy up and cuddled him. The dog wagged its tail. "Studying hard to be a Guardian too, huh? Just like your daddy here?"

The puppy squirmed out of his arms and jumped to the floor. The youngster touched noses with the elder dog. They wagged their tails in rhythm. The father was happy to see his son training to search as he was, and his grandfather before him.

Pixie stood in the center of the room leaning over a metal examining table. She had three nulls on it, each in a different glass cage. She studied one under a magnifying glass. Pixie didn't look away, even when she heard all the yelping. She spoke to Mack. "How's the Armory?"

"Fine."

"Still refusing to do windows?"

Mack grimaced." That joke is getting really old Pixie. What have you got here?"

"My mystery. I wish Bobby were here to see this. Since I can only e-mail a report to him, I figured I'd show you."

"Next best choice? I finished first in class remember? Bob wasn't even there at graduation."

"And you're the best Guardian in the Armory. A real asset. Now look at this."

Mack consulted the small vidwindow sitting horizontally on the examination table. He also looked through the magnifier. "Are you sure about this?"

"I scanned everyone using Quark three times. Even he agrees with me." Pixie pointed to the red null first. "This was a sprite. A Guardian to be exact according to the record. This one," she pointed to a gray metal colored null, "was a binome." Pixie pointed to the tricolor null Fetch had been chasing around the room. "That one is the clinker Mack. This was a Game Sprite!"

"How in the Net is it possible?"

"You read what else I found odd?" Pixie asked.

"The energy residue from each null appears the same. Since they're all different life forms it would mean the same cube did it to all of them."

"It's what I think I'll have my next class theorize when I bring them here. I'll be picking them up in a few micros." Fetch barked. Pixie picked the puppy up as it scampered up to her. "And this little guy is almost as keen as Quark. He can smell the difference in nulls too. Got a lot of his father's program. He'll be a fine search engine dog. Just as good as having a Keytool around."

Mack rubbed the pup's head. "Then I won't be so envious."

"Aw, Mack," Pixie said. "You're letting that old ram bother you. Even when you've got Byte? The best Search Engine K9 in the Super Computer?"

Byte whined. Mack smiled and scratched the dog's ears. "I guess I get a little jealous. I finished first in my class but I never got a Keytool."

"Honestly you're just as bad as-"

"Bob?"

"Yes," Pixie sighed. "Tomorrow is the day he left. I miss him. And Laser."

"Reso too. And Dixon."

"Yes. It hasn't been the same for either of us. I miss the old days."

Flashback: The Super Computer - Upgrade Day

The day had finally processed. Cadet uniforms were to be converted to the primary blue and turquoise with orange trim in the final upgrade ceremony. Each graduate already possessed the new uniform download in their icon but they were not to activate the chance until the Oath had been properly administered. Then they would be told to reboot.

The cadets sat in several rows on the Academy Hall stage. Laser Jet sat on the front making himself feel more attentive to his appearance.

A high command Guardian came up to the podium. "All cadets rise for the oath."

With a shuffling, noise the class stood up at attention and raised their right hands. "I hereby pledge with the fullest functioning of my central processor, to take on the duties of Guardian and all its parameters of responsibility. I hereby swear to mend and defend my Sector, System, and the Net from all forms of threat that would attempt to destroy it, whether it be the User, Viruses, Code Masters, or Web Creatures. I will lay down my bitmap to fulfill this obligation without regret or remorse, knowing that this is my program and will never fluctuate from it. This is my duty, my honor, and my purpose, until the day I delete, so help my Programmer."

"Congratulations cadets. You are now Official Guardians," the Sprite announced.

The former cadets tapped their icons almost in unison, writing over their old uniforms with the new two-tone blue of patrol Guardians. The audience of spectators cheered loudly. Laser glanced around to Dixon in one of the rear rows. Dixon gave him a thumbs up which Laser returned.

"Act on the fly!" Laser shouted.

"Live on the edge!" she hollered in return.

The crowd broke out in applause. Pixie grimaced when she heard a loud whistle pierce her audio receptors. She turned to Bob. The cadet smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

Pixie ruffled his hair. "Happy Laser made it?"

"Sure."

Pixie just kept grinning; the next cycle was going to be very interesting.

* * *

Several nanos later the former cadets were milling among friends and family members in the reception hall. Most of the new Guardians were talking about their first postings. Other anticipated the "choosing", when a Guardian found out if he had the special something to have a Keytool as a friend and companion. Dixon and Laser were not too surprised to find themselves listed for sectors in the Super Computer's Anti Viral Task Force.

"Dixon! Laser!"

The pair saw Cadets Reso Jet and Bob approaching with Guardian Pixelasha. Reso held up a holopick camera.

"Smile," she told them. They did as the shutter clicked.

Reso then ran up to Laser to give him a huge hug. She gave a much lighter one to Dixon.

"Congratulations," Pixie said beaming as proudly as a parent.

"We wouldn't have made it without you," Dixon replied.

"Don't hard file yourselves. Any other mentor could have gotten you to final upgrade."

"But none matched you Pixie," insisted Laser.

"Copy that," Dixon added.

"Triple copy it," Bob agreed.

An indigo skin colored Sprite with jet black hair and blue eyes came over to them.

"Hey Mack!" Laser exclaimed. "Heard you got the Armory! Nice going."

"One of us was bound to. Surge is being packed off to Hardware. Crystal goes to Power Port. Merced is getting Silicon Valley, only a short zip away. They even want to send some new Guardians to Freespace."

"Freespace needs more Guardians?"

"Every place needs Guardians now. Remember all those warnings about the Web expanding into more regions of the Net. Freespace isn't as boring as it used to be."

"I still say it's boring," a familiar voice told them.

The Reso and Laser turned to see there mother, a beautiful golden skinned sprite. Her long brown hair was braided into a single pigtail down her back. Her brown eyes smiled as wide as her face as she observed hr children's look of glee, not at her appearance but of the man beside her, Guardian Chip Relay.

"Uncle Chip!" Reso ran to him and gave him a hug. "You missed the ceremony. I saw it with mom. She didn't tell me you were coming!"

"I had to get a replacement file for my post. I figured I'd miss the ceremony but I wanted to come out anyway to see about filing for a new cadet to mentor and to see if Laser got chosen."

"If I don't, you came for nothing," indicated Laser.

"Nothin'? I'm as proud as data punch to see you a Guardian. You've make Bevel proud. And Ram would be too."

Ram's two children nodded in a mixture a reflective sadness and joy at the thought of their deceased father. There mother hugged them both. "My children are following in the best footprints I ever knew."

Mack saw Bob's longing gaze and shared his sympathy. Bob had practically been raised by the Academy since his parents were deleted. Pixie was the key caretaker of him since only a small sprite. As Mack glanced away he said to Bob, "Check out who's coming to see you."

Prime Guardian Commander Turbo never had to ask for silence when he entered a room or approached a group. His size made him an imposing figure even if he weren't the Prime Guardian. As he came towards them, every Guardian gave him a salute which he promptly returned in kind. When he reached Pixie she came to full attention, bringing her hand up to her face.

"Sir," she said.

"Pixelasha. At ease," he saluted. "The same order applies to your present and former students."

Mack, Laser and Dixon relaxed. Reso and Bob however seemed to have their hands stuck to their foreheads.

"You can put your hands down, cadets," Turbo told them.

"Oh. Yes sir," Reso responded still nervous. Bob only smiled in admiration.

"Chip? Got out of Freespace?"

"For one cycle. I had to see my sister's son carry on the well known Jet name. I put in a request for a new cadet to come out with me to Freespace."

Turbo stepped up to Bevel giving her an uncustomary peck on the cheek hello. "It's a pleasure to see you Bevel. How's the breedin' farm goin'?"

"I dropped off the new batch of cyberpups at the Academy. I'm sure there will be good Guardians to pair those Search Engine dogs to when they're grown. It's wonderful to have the SGK9 Program working so well. But I'm more impressed by these two children of mine."

"I came over see them as well. Laser. I came over to personally to congratulate you. Your father would be very proud."

"Thank you sir. May I say that my father expected this of me, but not of my sister."

Reso smiled shyly. "There is always room for more then one Jet in Guardianship."

Turbo glanced at Mack. "You gave a good class speech, Guardian Binary. Heard you got the Armory."

"Yes sir."

"When you get there be sure to tell them you don't do windows."

Mack's mouth dropped open slightly.

Turbo continued. "Everyone has permission to laugh."

They did.

Dixon added, "I warned you a long time ago, Mack. You should have changed your name."

Turbo looked at Bob. "How are you doing, son?"

Bob hardly knew what to say to Turbo in front of the others. Turbo acted as the father, the brother and the leader to him. "Ready for duty, under a Guardian sir."

"I read your end-of-year term paper. Very interesting."

"It's more then a paper, sir. It's a proposal of what could be possible."

"In your dreams, Game Boy," Reso said.

"Hey! I believe the possibility of reprogramming virus can be done!"

"You might as well be trying to turn a Web Creature into a house pet and get nulls to stop eating Sprites energy."

"Oh and I take your theory that there isn't such thing as a User will really pan out!"

**AHEM!** Pixie cleared her throat.

The cadets realized they were arguing in front of the Prime Guardian. They instantly stopped.

"Sorry sir," they said in unison.

"I did say at ease, not at each others throats," Turbo chuckled as he looked as Bob. "I hope you and Dixon will be looking out for each other instead of arguing too much about virus theories."

"What?" Bob, Dixon, Reso and Laser said as one.

"Turbo!" Pixie got to scold him. "You weren't supposed to tell them now."

"I need to break some of the tension between these too before it got any worse later on."

"But... I thought..." Bob looked at Laser confused.

Laser had to explain. "Bob. I can't take you because we're too close as friends. It wouldn't be considered fair."

"What about me?" Reso asked.

"Sorry Res. I can't teach you either. Family isn't considered far."

"Then who will I get?"

"Mack got first choice." Dixon said.

Reso sighed.

Mack looked disappointed. "What? You don't think I'll do a good job?"

"No. I mean yes! It's just going to take some getting used to. Having you as a partner I mean."

Turbo excused himself. "In speaking of getting good partners I have the inside track on the Keytool selections. But I'm not allowed to say anythin'. I have to continue to mingle. As you were."

Turbo turned and left.

aser told Reso. "You can breathe now Res."

She shook her head. "Did I look as stupid as I felt?"

"We both looked at bit stupid arguing in front of him," said Bob.

"Don't fret Res," Pixie said. "Turbo's used to getting that kind of reaction. Just relax or you'll always look like you'll jump out of your pixels every time you see him. And you have to control that temper of yours."

Mack chuckled. "I've heard that joke more times then I can process during my training. I never thought it would come out of Turbo."

"Now I get to use it." Reso said.

"You're right Dixon. I should have changed my name."

Laser looked at Dixon. "You're going to be chosen. I know it."

"No way! You're a better pick. Right Pixie?"

"Well. That really doesn't mean much. A Keytool sees beyond that. Right Quark?"

The Keytool chirped.

"Hush now! Don't give anything away!"

"He knows doesn't he?" Dixon pressed her.

Pixie kept her face like stone. "And you'll know soon enough too. Be patient. Good things come at their perfect timing."

* * *

The selection ceremony was a private format. Only family were allowed in the waiting area outside as each Guardian came out. It was a time of mild disappointment for many. Turbo was there to make sure to congratulate the recipient or to tell the Guardian that just because they were not selected didn't mean they weren't good. The Keytool and only the Keytool made the choice.

Bob, Reso, Bevel, Chip and Pixie stood together as a group. Dixon and Laser wanted to go in together, considering each other to be more then friends. Bevel whispered to Pixie. "Laser is more than just a little smitten with Dixon."

"I know. I've caught them so many times passing notes to each other in class I wondered if either of them would graduate. Who knew they'd finish so high in the rankings?"

Bob stared at the doors to the chamber. "Shouldn't it have happened by now?"

Chip nodded.

"You were disappointed when you weren't chosen, Uncle Chip?" Reso said.

"Sure. But I got a great partner as a substitute. I hated leaving Maximilian in Freespace."

"You'll be together again soon enough."

The chamber doors slid open. Turbo came out first. Dixon and Laser walked out side by side, arms clasped behind them, looking very disappointed. Reso bought into the deception.

"Oh no. Neither of you got picked."

"It's not that," Laser sighed. "Glitch and Buzz got in a fight over who got the better Guardian."

"Now they're not talking to each other," added Dixon.

"Glitch and Buzz?" Reso said bewildered.

Dixon and Laser grinned and held out their armbands. Each had a Keytool on them.

"Both of you?" squealed Reso happily. "Alphanumeric!" She hugged them.

Laser laughed. "We had you fooled for a few nanoseconds."

"You two can be so mean sometimes!"

Laser introduced his Keytool. "Reso. This is Buzz."

"Buzz. He sounds tough."

"He’s a youngster next to Glitch," Dixon said.

"Let me see." Reso examined the Keytool. "What a cute name." Glitch started to chirp. "What’s that?"

"He said thank you."

"We weren't kidding, Pixie. Buzz and Glitch were arguing over who got the better Guardian," Laser told Pixie.

"Well I'd expect better behavior from Keytools. Don't you agree, Quark?"

Quark began to chirp. So did Buzz and Glitch. Copland joined in as well. In the end Buzz and Glitch said they were sorry. The Keytool chatter got interrupted by a loud yapping noise. A cyberpup had followed the Guardians out of the armory room. The pup pressed his nose up against Bob's boot to sniff him before trying to nibble on the toes.

Bob sheepishly looked at Bevel as Turbo said. "One of your recruits got lose and thinks Bob is a chew toy."

"What is it with you and dogs?" remarked Reso.

Bevel bent down and lifted the pup in her arms. The cyberdog squirmed, making it even harder for her to hold his oversized bulk.

"Byte! You naughty boy! You're supposed to be in the kennel! How did you get out?"

The pup tried to squeeze out of Bevel's hold. Pixie took Byte from her to examine him. "He looks a bit small but those paws are huge. He might be the biggest search dog we have in the Super Computer."

Byte sniffed Quark and then Pixie's icon, then whined and struggled to get out of her grasp to go to Bob. "Why Bobby! I think he likes you!" She pushed the puppy into his arms. Byte sniffed Bob's icon.

"Why is he doing that, mom?" Reso asked Bevel.

"He's logging in the smell for his program. Search engine dogs will do it all the time so they can locate a sprite."

Byte looked at Bob a long time, wagging his tail. He smelled very different from the others, as if there were something special inside this Guardian. The puppy cuddled up in Bob's arms and fell asleep.

Bevel put her arms out and took the pup. "I'd better put this little software bundle back in his proper data storage."

"I'll go with you, mom."

"And I'll tag along," Chip offered. "If only to spend the company of my two favorite ladies."

The mother and daughter walk back into the Armory with Chip. Laser saw Bob look a bit disappointed to see the puppy go. "Mom told me Byte has a good family back ground. His grandfather was a cyberdog named Retriever."

Bob had a look as if trying to remember something.

"Bob are you all right?" Pixie asked.

"I thought I...I got a jaggie feeling all of a sudden."

"It's probably nothing."

"Yeah. Nothing." But for some reason, Bob didn't believe it. He put it aside.

"Come on. Let's grab an energy shake. I'm in the mood to seriously celebrate!" Dixon said.

"So am I," Laser patted Bob's back and they headed out of the room.

Pixie said to Turbo. "His ram is still faulty. He doesn't remember Retriever."

"Maybe it's better he doesn't for now."

"It's been hours, Turbo. I worry about Bobby. If it weren't for us and Laser, I wonder where he would have ended up..."

* * *

"You were chosen, Mack. It just wasn't by a Keytool."

Byte thumped his tail on the floor. Mack stroked the dog's head. "I do like having Byte around. Even though I think he liked Bob more then me when we first met."

"Bobby is a special one, Mack. No one can quite put there finger on it, but that Guardian is going to make us proud one day. And so will you."

"It must still break Bob's heart: losing Dixon, then Laser. I never calculated how Laser could manage taking Bob on as a last request filed from Dixon. I almost thought Turbo would say no but I guess Turbo had his reasons."

"Mainframe was the reason Mack. Bobby wanted to go back after he passed his finals. Dixon loved Laser Mack. He was happy to take her place. Who would have thought Laser would die just before Bob transferred?"

"Bad-Luck Bob."

"MACK!" Pixie snapped at him.

"Aw! Pixel. I didn't mean it to sound the way other sprites called it. Other cadets nicknamed him that. Not me."

"It wasn't other cadets, Mack. It was Reso."

Mack shook his head. "Pixie I've only speculated what happened to Laser by hearsay. Is the official report ever going to be publicly released?"

"Not without hard evidence to back it. There is only one eyewitness to the Laser's nullification."

"Bob. And his memory is still so scrambled. Reso at least deserves to know the truth."

"Don't we all?" she answered turning to him. "Even I don't know what Bobby might have seen. Only Turbo and the Council."

"This isn't fair Pixie. To Reso or Bob."

"No it isn't. We share a common grief in the loss, Mack."

"I wish I could have made Reso stay in the Super Computer. You can't get any farther from here than Outpost Omega."

"No lad. You can. That place is called Mainframe."

Read Part 2 | Back to the Changing of the Guardian