Bob exited the portal to Mainframe and it closed with a melting sound. He stood on his zipboard grinning broadly at his adopted home. He suddenly couldn't resist anymore and shouted out happily. He raced across the sky towards towards the Principal Office.

Bob had been in the Supercomputer, fighting against Daemon. The uninfected Guardians had been victorious, but only by a small margin. It had been a vicious battle, and Bob had seen many of his old friends deleted, including his mentor, Turbo.

He had been contacted a few days after the system had been restarted at his appartment by Turbo, telling him he had to come. Bob had been depressed, but kept it secret from all his friends, even Dot. He didn't want them involved, but he knew that if he told them they would want to come. He had left during the middle of the night, just leaving a note in Phong's messages. When Bob left, he locked the ports to the super computer, making it impossible for them to follow.

It doesn't matter anymore, he thought as he zipped to the diner, intent on finding his friends. He landed and stepped off his board. Slamming his foot on one end of it, it flew into the air and Bob caught it with one hand. He walked into the diner, casually attaching to his side.

Cecil saw him and rushed over. "You're alive!?"

Bob grinned. "You sound disappointed."

Cecil ignored the comment and continued talking in his foriegn accent. "Zay are at the P.O, with ze exeption of Enzo. He's at school." The Mac then shook his head in pity. "Just wait 'till Madame gets back. If you weren't deleted by a Supervirus, she'll do it for you."

Bob gulped and thanked him. He left and hopped back on his zipboard. I'm not so sure I want to find them now,he thought jokingly, wondering what she would say to him. He had broken his promise, but he hoped she would forgive him.

He saw the green-skinned sprite flying over Floating Point in the direction of her home in the Kits sector. She was half-preoccupied with reading a minimized vidwindow, so she didn't notice him come up behind her. He grabbed her around the waist, startling her badly. She whirled around, ready to attack whatever was holding her. Her eyes opened wide in surprise, totally unprepared for who it was. "BOB!" she cried. Before he could say anything, she knocked him onto the grass.

A Matrix family trait, he thought. He tried to explain where he had been, but he couldn't get the words out because she wrapped her arms around his neck and began kissing him. That's not! he thought happily.

I guess Cecil was wrong. She isn't going to kill me, Bob thought, remembering what the waiter had said.

When she finally stopped, she looked down at him and said "I thought I'd never see you again."

He propped himself on one arm and opened his mouth to speak. Suddenly he felt a throbbing pain in his arm. She punched me! he realized. "Ow! What was that for!"

Dot sat up, not looking so happy anymore. "You jerk! You didn't even bother to tell us! You just left us all here and broke your promise!"

Bob shrunk back, surprised at her instant mood change. "I-I couldn't tell you." he stuttered apoligeticly. Dot, (who was still sitting on him) crossed her arms, waiting for a better explanation. He tried again. "I didn't want you to get hurt." She still was frowing at him. Come on Guardian, think of something to say!

"I love you?"

Dot tried to stay serious, but couldn't and sighed. "Fine, you're off the hook, but sometime I'm going to leave and not tell you. Then we'll see how you like it."

Bob grinned and put his head back in the grass. Nice save.

Dot crawled off and sat crossed legged beside him. "So what happened? Is Daemon gone?"

Bob nodded and was about to explain further when Dot's organizer beeped. She picked it up and opened it. It was Mouse. "Dot, sugah, we just picked up a signal that there was an unregistered enterence into the system."

Dot shook her head, "I know."

Mouse looked sideways at her friend. "You do?"
"Yes, Bob came back." She glanced at Bob lying on the grass, listening to the conversation.

"WHAT?!" came Mouse's response. Bob laughed to himself. Mouse's voice came loudly over the organizer, "Where is he! I'll delete 'im!"

Bob stopped laughing, motioning for Dot not to tell Mouse where he was. Dot grinned miscieviously and said calmly, "He's at Floating Point with me." The screen blinked off, Mouse having left. Bob groaned, not wanting to explain to Mouse. She could delete him.

Dot stood up, stretching. "I have to pick up Enzo now, so stay here." She pointed an accusing finger at him. "This time I mean it."
Bob looked at her seriously. "I won't leave." Dot got back on her zipboard, and flew across the park to Enzo's school. "I promise." he said quietly, and flopped back down on the grass.

Putting his hands behind his head, he closed his eyes against the bright sky. He felt something cold and hard touch his neck, and noticed the light seemed to have faded. Opening his eyes, he saw Mouse standing above him, her katana barely touching his neck. "Next time you do that, I'll decapitate you and let Phong have your head for his Pong games." She took the blade away from his neck and slid it back into her boot.

Bob grinned, "Sure, you would, Mouse."

She knelt next to him. "Really Bob. Don't do that again. You should have seen Dot and Enzo."

Bob suddenly felt very guilty. "I know, I couldn't help it."

Mouse leaned back, letting the sun fall on her face. "I would have done the exact same thing," she said truthfully.

The moment was shattered by small footfalls in the grass. Bob turned to see little Enzo rushing him at breakneck speed. He jumped on the larger man, crying, "Bob!" The two started wrestling in the grass, Bob letting Enzo think he was winning.

Dot came behind her brother, sitting next to her hacker friend. "I thought I'd come back to see a mangled corpse. What happened Mouse?" she joked.

Mouse shrugged. "I was too tired." she leaned against the tree behind her. Dot picked absentmindedly at the grass.

Bob sat up, panting, little Enzo sprawled out on the grass gasping for air. "So Mouse, where's your better half?" Bob said, eyeing Enzo and making sure he was ready if he attacked again.

Mouse opened one eye. "He's with Matrix and AndrAIa having an energy shake at Al's."

As Bob listened to her, he put his guard down. Suddenly the small sprite jumped back on Bob, forcing him to the ground.

"I won!" he cried triumphantly, and crawled over to sit beside Dot, who smiled happily at Bob.

The sky suddenly turned a dark shade of purple. "Not now." Bob complained. He was perfectly happy just to sit in the park all day. He got to his feet asking, "Anyone else coming?"

Dot spoke up. "Sure."
Enzo hopped up, filled with new energy. "Can I come?"

Dot considered, but decided against it. She had been much more lenient with this Enzo, but she had a strange feeling about this game. "Sorry, not this time." Enzo looked at his feet sadly. "Next time you can go with Bob."

"Okay," he said, still upset, but not nearly as much. Dot stepped on her board. They started towards the game cube.

Dot and Bob stood at the edge of a large field. The sky was blue. It was a beautiful setting. In front of them lay a large castle made out of light grey stones. Coloured banners flapped slowly in the breeze.

Since Bob and Glitch were now downloaded, he had no need to give the keytool any verbal commands. He instantly got the game stats in his head. "Alright. This game is called Sage Quest. A medieval style adventure game. The User is three levels behind us, and we have to stop it before it reaches the 'Bloody Tower' and gets the Ring of Life."

"ReBoot!" the two sprites chorused. The green cylinder of light shot down around each of them, then faded away.

Dot checked out her new format. Her skin was now a light blue colour, similar to Bob's, and on each hand there was a tattoo of a water creature: a dolphin on her right hand, and a seahorse on the left. She was wearing a long blue skirt with fish swimming around inside it, and a blue top that reminder Dot of AndrAIa's, only with a bit more substance. Sandles made of seaweed protected her feet. She had long hair that fell down her back. Wait a nano... She picked up a small lock. It wasn't hair, but water that flowed continuily and disapeared when it reached the end.Like a waterfall,Dot mused.

She glanced at Bob. He was the total opposite. His blue skin had turned into a bright red, and his hair was made of flames that flickered down his back. His eyes were the colour of charcoal, and he wore body armour similar to Matrix's that constantly changed colours, from black to dark red. Bob wore black boots instead of sandles. He too had tattoos on his hands, only his were one of a skull, and one of a sun.

They looked at each other, each surprised at the other's appearance. "Wow," Bob said, obviously impressed. Dot lifted her hand curiously and gently touched Bob's arm. There was a sizzling sound, and they both pulled apart in shock. Dot put her finger in her mouth to ease the burning, and Bob rubbed his arm. "Guess that leaves out any kisses, huh?"

Dot took her finger out of her mouth and nodded. "What are our weapons?"

Bob's eyes glazed over as he listened to Glitch in his mind. "You're a Water Sage, so your powers are something called Mystic Current, and Rip Tide. The current can cause whirlpools anywhere, and the Rip Tide is used when you touch someone. They'll drown, even if there's no water around. Dot smiled in satisfaction. "I have something called Sage fire, which makes a large fire balls, and Burning air, which makes the air the User breathes turn into fire in their lungs. Dot scrunched up her face, getting a mental image of that happening.

"Come on. Let's go before the User gets here." Bob walked across the drawbridge, leaving deep, black scorch marks in the wood. Dot followed, looking behind her and seeing small puddles where her feet had stepped.

The two sprites stood in the center of the courtyard, looking at their surroundings. The courtyard was a large empty space with the stone walls surrounding it on each side. There were a few barrels and a pile of hay in the corner, but nothing else.

Bob noticed a large wooden door along the back wall. "Come on!" he said, starting for the door. When they reached it, Bob tried the handle, but it didn't open. "Locked." he said concentrating. "Step back," he warned Dot. Bob put his hands out and shot one of his flames at the door. It bounced off the door and flew back in his face. Luckily it didn't hurt him because he was made out of fire.

Dot frowned at it, realizing it must be locked by magic. "Let's try and find another way in." Bob agreed, and they each went in different directions. Neither had any luck. Each time they found a door, it was the same story.

Dot began to grow impatient. The User might show up at any moment, and they weren't any better off than at the beginning. She walked over to the pile of hay and sat down to think. Suddenly the pile gave way and she fell through a hole into a dark room, lit only by the beam of sun from the surface. It smelled musty, with the faint scent of death hanging in the stale air. She was unhurt, but nervous. Anyone, or anything, could be in the room. "Bob?" she called, standing slowly and peering into the darkness. The sound of her own voice was frightening, so she stopped. The silence was even worse. She swallowed as she heard something scurry across the floor near her feet.

Bob scratched his head, perplexed. There appeared to be no way into the castle, but years of playing games had taught him that there was always a solution, though sometimes it was unexpected or abstract. He turned around to see if Dot was doing any better. He glanced around, not seeing her. "Dot?" He walked to the center of the courtyard. She was nowhere to be seen. He grew anxious. At that moment he heard a small voice calling his name. Running to the sound, he crossed the courtyard and found a large hole. Bending down, he saw Dot standing about twelve feet below, looking around nervously. "Dot?" She looked up, relieved. "Hold on, I'm coming down." Bob grabbed onto the edge and swung down. He let go, and landed solidly on his feet. The dark room instantly grew light, Bob's hair lighting up their immediate area.

Dot sighed, and moved to hug him, but stepped back when she remembered what would happen.

Dot, now being able to see, looked around the room and emitted a small gasp. The light showed her that they were in a torture chamber. On one side of the room was an iron mummy, a shrivled corpse still impaled on the spikes. Behind them lay a rack, and shackles thrown uncaringly on the dirt floor. "Come on," Bob said quietly. The guardian had been in several games like this one, and while they didn't bother him as much as they used to, he still felt uneasy in them. He walked across the room towards the stairs at the other end of the room. Dot followed closely behind, not wanting to look at the torture devices, but her morbid curiosity made her.

"Watch out." Bob warned her, but it was too late and Dot didn't listen to his warning in time, too busy looking around.

Suddenly she felt her foot collapse into something crunchy. She looked down, only to see it was imbedded in an old corpse. She pulled it out slowly, terrified it might move. Dot covered her mouth in disgust and ran after Bob, who had already reached the bottom of the stairs. Bob turned around at the sound of her footsteps, asking "What happened?"

Dot put her hand against the wall and lifted up her foot, shaking it to get the flakes of skin and pieces of bone out of her sandle. "Nothing." she said, not wanting to tell him. He motioned for her to go first, and she did eagerly, not wanting to have her back to the room.

As Dot climbed, she ran her fingers along the side of the walls. The spiral stairs were made out of the same grey brick as the rest of the castle, but they had been worn smooth and rounded by centuries of use. When she reached the entrance to the next floor, she found it was blocked by a large piece of wood. She put her hands against it and pushed, but it didn't move an inch. Dot stepped back, waiting for Bob.

When he reached the top, he saw the panel and said, as if expecting it, "There's something you have to press to get out." He ran his fingers along the stones and stopped on a certain one. Bob gave it a shove, and the wood in front of the door slid away with a loud grating sound.

Dot turned to him. "How'd you know?"

Bob grinned. "Lucky guess."

Dot stepped into the hall. As she walked past, she saw the wood had been the back of a bookcase.

The hallway she was in was lit by torches and the occasional window, and had brightly coloured tapestries along the walls. There was a door in the wall, but she figured it would be locked too, and kept walking. Dot went to the nearest window and looked out. Something was moving in the field, coming closer to the castle every second. She squinted, trying to see the small object. It's the User! it occured to her. As he neared, she could see he was riding a black horse with metal armour protecting it. The User itself was wearing a gothic style blue tunic, and brandishing a large, two-handed sword. On his shield was a black dragon baring his teeth in an imposing position.

"Bob! The User is here!"

Bob came up behind her, looking over her shoulder. "I've got an idea." he said. Dot moved out of the way and let Bob lean out the window. He put his hands out and began sending fireballs at the User. The User, unexpecting the attack, was hit and fell off his horse. His body faded into nothingness. "One down," said Bob, "two more to go." He stepped back, knowing he couldn't use the same weapon again until he had recharged some more.

They continued walking down the hall, Dot leading. When she went to turn the corner, she slammed into another figure, both of them falling backwards. Dot peered in happy astonishment at the other person. "AndrAIa?" The figure grinned, and got to her feet, helping Dot up in the process. Matrix stood behind her, watching for trouble. The two other sprites had rebooted as sages too. AndrAIa as a Wind sage. Her skin a dark grey, and her now black hair floated constantly around her face. She wore a skirt too, but it looked more like a swirling mass of wind than clothing. Matrix was the earth sage, his green skin staying the same shade, but his hair turning a dark brown. They too had tattoos, of tornados and a small wind on AndrAIa's hand, a tree and a rock on Matix's.

Matrix looked at the fire sprite behind her, wondering what his sister was doing with it. Then it occurred to him it was Bob. "BOB!? When did you get back! Why didn't you tell us?! Did you get hurt? What happened with Daemon?"

Bob shook his head, smiling. He's still the same Enzo as he was when he was little, only bigger and more trigger-happy. "I just got back a nano ago, I didn't tell you because I didn't see you, no not badly, and Daemon was destroyed. Eventually."

AndrAIa looked at him, impressed. "He's good."

Dot smiled. "I know."

Matrix shook his head. He was going to have to get used to this whole 'Dot and Bob' thing. He had always pictured them as just friends. I was a naive kid, he thought.

"I didn't think you had made it in time," Bob said to Matrix.

"We almost didn't." Matrix responded. "What's in that direction?" He pointed his big green hand in the direction of the bookshelf.

Dot shivered. "Nothing, don't go that way."

Matrix frowned at her, knowing she was unnerved by something. "Well, we just came from that direction, and there's nothing down there."

"Then let's try that door, see if it works," AndrAIa suggested, pointing to the wooden door Dot had ignored before. Above it were four different symbols, a dolphin, tree, tornado and skull.

The sprites went over and stood in front of it, not quite sure of what to do. Bob suddenly felt nautious, his skin turning darker and darker in colour. He fell onto his knees, putting his head in his hands. AndrAIa, who was closest to him, bent down to help him. "Are you okay!?"

Bob gritted his teeth, feeling even worse. The game sprite backed away letting Dot through. The effect was instantanious, and Bob felt totally normal again. He stood up saying, "I feel fine now, I-I don't know why."

AndrAIa went to comfort him. Bob felt the feeling return, and closed his eyes, trying to fight the sensation. Dot was the first to clue in. "AndrAIa, wind extinguishes fire!"

AndrAIa stepped back in alarm. "Sorry Bob!"

He opened his eyes, fine once again. "That's okay. I'm fine as long as you don't come too close." She stepped behind Matrix, not wanting to cause him any more pain.

"Alright, what if we try using out powers together on it. That way we don't have to get too close." The others agreed. Positioning themselves carefully, they looked at Dot for the signal.

"On three." She commanded. "One...two...THREE!"
The sprites fired simoutaniously, the powers combining in a beam of four different colours, and knocking the door flat.

Matrix was the first to enter, with the others right behind. They were in a small corridor with three directions to go in. Torches lit the small space. "A maze?" Dot asked.

"Exactly," answered Matrix, frowning. He had been in plenty of games where there had been mazes, and he had hated every one of them.

"If we split up we'll have a better chance of beating the User to the ring," Bob said from the back of the group.

AndrAIa nodded. "Okay, I'll go with Matrix again, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead." Dot said, letting her friend pass. The two went to the right, which meant that Bob and Dot could choose to either go straight or left.

Bob looked at Dot, "Any prefrence?"

She scrutinized the two choices. "Let's go the the left. They would never make the center passage the one. It's too easy."

Bob grinned, "Good choice." He then proceeded to start down the middle one.

Dot put her hands on her hips. "Whatever one I chose you were going to choose the opposite, weren't you?"

Bob nodded, trying not to laugh at the expression on her face.

Walking down the dark tunnels, they searched for the way out. Bob grew frustrated with the seemingly never ending maze. Several times they hit a dead end and had to backtrack. Dot sighed in relief when she spotted a wooden door at the end of one of the passages. She walked up to it, pushing it open with surprising ease. Bob followed right behind, not wanting her to get into any trouble.

Behind the door was a large hall with incredibly high ceilings. The floor had a long woven rug leading to another door on the other side of the room. It was lit by huge circular stained glass windows on one side of the hall that sprinked colours through the room. Immense statues of knights lined the walls, their swords held upright as if defending something.

Dot gazed in awe around the room, never having seen anything like it before in her life. Even Bob had to admit it was pretty intense. They began walking carefully down the hall, alert if something chose to attack them. The room echoed with every footstep. Even the sound of their breathing was amplified by the stone walls. As Dot walked by the first statue, she peered up at its face. The man's eyes were ghostly, like he had really had lived at one time, then was frozen in stone. She shivered and kept going.

As the two sprites neared the end of the hall, Dot suddenly heard something strange, like the grating of two stones together. Looking up, she saw the last statue's sword was moving. "Bob!" she cried and dove for him. The sword rushed down and hit the floor with a sharp clang. Dot stared at the sword, breathing hard. If she hadn't pushed him, Bob would be in two pieces right now. She got up slowly, the sound still ringing in her ears. She helped Bob off the floor, his eyes widening in terror when he saw the sword that had just missed him.

"Thanks," he breathed. Shaking his head, he went to the door. "Okay, this is the last room. All we have to do is get the Ring of Light, then we can end this and go home." He pushed it open and walked through.

The room that spread out before them was huge, larger even than the file room in the Principal Office. Dot looked around in awe. The room was square with immense pillars that supported the ceiling and gave the whole room the look of royalty. Four doors identical to the one they had just left were located on each of the walls, and in the center, a lone glass cube stood with something gold spinning in it slowly.

"That must be the ring." Bob said, startling Dot back to reality. "Let's just get it and get out of this game."

Dot nodded in agreement and they started for the ring. Before they had gone ten feet the User entered through the door to the left, slamming it loudly. Bob muttered an oath and got in a battle stance, waiting.

Upon seeing Bob and Dot, the User's hands went to his side and he unsheathed his sword. He strode towards them, grinning in anticipation. Suddenly, without any warning he let out a cry and charged them, swinging his blade with the skill of a blade master.

"Dot, get the ring, I'll take care of him!" Bob cried over his shoulder.

Dot glared at him, but did as he said, running to the box. Why does he always have to be the hero? she wondered to herself. When she reached the box, she searched for some way to open it, but there was no visible way. "Cursors. You just have to lock it too," she said frowning.

Bob watched her go, then turned his attention back to the User, who was standing before him in a threatening position, trying to look intimidating. Not that Bob would have admitted it to anyone, but it was working. The User lunged for him, but Bob jumped to the side, causing the blade to hit the ground and spark. The User glanced up angrily with a frustrated look, which was instantly replaced with one of shock as he saw a boot coming towards his face. He cried out as it hit him, knocking him over to his back. He lay on the ground, disoriented. Bob used the moment of opportunity to use one of his game given powers, turning the air around the User to fire. He watched in morbid fascination as the move went to work. The knight grabbed his throat as blood started pouring out of it. He tried to scream, but it came out instead as a bubbling fountain of red liquid. He dropped to his knees as the fire melted his lungs from the inside out.

Dot winced as she watched the man being burned alive where he knelt. As soon as he hit the floor the body turned to ashes. Dot swallowed hard, trying to keep the energy shake she had recently drank down.

"That's one down." Bob said calmly, wiping his forehead with his arm. The figure of the User flickered a few times, then disappeared. A moment later it reappeared, whole and standing ready to fight in front of him. "Back for more?" Bob said, half amused.

Then the User did something Bob had not accounted for. Instead of resuming the attack on him, he quickly un-slung a bow that had been over his shoulder and notched an arrow. Dot blinked in surprise as she realized he was aiming at her. Before Bob could make a move to stop him, the User released the bowstring, which went slack with a snapping sound.

Dot threw her arms around herself, attempting in vain to shield herself from the arrow. She gasped as she felt it hit her stomach. To her surprise, it didn't hurt. In fact, the only feeling she noticed was the strange sensation of it traveling through her body, then exiting out her back. She twisted around just in time to see it hit the wall behind her and clatter harmlessly to the stone floor. She had forgotten that she was portraying a water sage in this game.

Bob watched the scene in amazement, then remembered the User and turned on him, glaring at him with hatred. The two stared at each other, trying to determine who would make the next move.

The competition was abruptly broken off when a door to the side of Bob slammed, and Matrix and AndrAIa walked in. Matrix saw the User and, in a single movement that was almost a blur, he pulled out gun and fired. The shot flew straight for the knight and knocked his head clear from his neck. AndrAIa went over to Dot and, using her starfish, sliced a hole in the glass. Dot carefully reached in, avoiding the edges, and grabbed the ring.

Bob sighed, waiting for the game to lift so they could get out of it and go back home. He was tired, and wasn't in the mood to play games. After a moment, he realized something. The game wasn't leaving. To further prove his suspicions, the User's corpse disappeared and reappeared, fully intact, ready to fight again.

"What's going on? That was his last life!" Matrix said in surprise, keeping gun targeted and joining AndrAIa and Dot. "He should have been deleted!"

"I know." Bob said quietly from the other side of the room. Thinking back to his years in the Super Computer, he remembered one of his lessons on malfunctioning games. It was possible, but there were only two reasons a game would continue to play once the User had been taken care of. The first was a cheat code, and the second, much rarer, was viral infection on the cube. He shivered as he remembered Daemon's last enraged words: You may have destroyed my empire and deleted me, but it is not over.

AndrAIa raised her hands and formed a small cyclone, which she sent after the User. He tried to attack it with his sword, but nothing happened. He quickly gave up and attempted to run away. Considering the amount of armour he was wearing, he was not doing too well. Had they not been in the situation they were in, Bob might have laughed. He used the opportunity to join his friends in the center of the room.

"Are you okay?" he asked, directing he question to Dot, who was busily inspecting the ring. She looked up and nodded, then went back to reading a small inscription on the ring.

"What happening Bob? Why hasn't the game left?" AndrAIa asked.

Bob cast a quick glance over his shoulder, then turned back to her. "I'll explain, but first, we should get out of here. That tornado might not last too much longer."

Bob pushed the heavy door open and peered cautiously around the dimly lit room. The only light was from a small fireplace along the far wall. It was a library, the walls lined with ancient looking books and manuscripts. In the center of the room was a large wooden table, but other than that, it was deserted.

"It looks safe." Bob said over his shoulder, and entered. The rest followed, still on edge. Matrix, the last one in, slammed the door loudly. AndrAIa jumped in surprise and twirled around, glaring at the huge sprite.

"We're trying to hide from the User, remember?" she said angrily, smacking him with the back of her hand. Her hand meerly passed through his chest and out the other side. AndrAIa frowned, but Matrix grinned immaturely and made his way to the table where he sat down. The table creaked ominously under his weight.

"The User must have used a cheat code." AndrAIa muttered to herself, finding a spot beside a bookshelf and standing with her arms crossed over her chest, deep in thought.

Dot walked beside the bookshelf, running her fingers over the old covers, leaving a little trail of water on them. Scanning the titles sideways, she stopped almost instinctively on a particularly thick book, bound in leather the colour of dried blood. She pulled it out and opened it carefully, as to not destroy the old, yellowing paper. A thin, spidery script covered the paper, making the reading difficult. Turning the page, she sucked in her breath. Inside, hand sketched in black ink were diagrams of methods of torture. One man was being branded while another was getting ready to go on the rack. Dot winced, but turned the page again, morbid curiosity taking over her better sense.

"That's what I thought at first, but Glitch said he didn't detect any codes," Bob said in response to AndrAIa's remark. "The User didn't cheat." He was totally oblivious to what Dot was doing.

AndrAIa refocused her eyes and looked intently at Bob. "But, that would mean..." she trailed off, not wanting to voice the other option.

"Viral infection." Dot finished for her, her voice emotionless. The game sprite turned to Dot, giving her a confused look.

"We can't be sure of that."

Dot said nothing, just lifting the book for all to see as a response. At first Bob wasn't sure what she was doing, but as he looked to the paper, he saw something that made him want to be sick. Intricately detailed pictures covered the two pages. He swallowed as he realized what was being depicted. In the first picture, a representation of Matrix only without a head. His decapitated head was lying on the ground next to him in a pool of liquid. In the following picture, AndrAIa was being hung from the gallows. Seeing the next one, he clenched his hands together in fists, and resisted the urge to throw the book out the nearest window. Dot was shown in the bottom of a pit, ready to be buried alive. She had her eyes jammed shut, and her mouth was open in a silent scream. It was too vivid for Bob, and he turned away.

"There's a message for you." Dot said quietly, and turned the page. In the same flowing script that filled the rest of the book were the words

 I will have my revenge.

Silence filled the room, which was only broken by Matrix's inquiry. "Daemon?" Bob nodded and took a deep breath. Suddenly Matrix felt anger rising in him, and he grabbed the book from Dot, throwing it across the room into the fireplace. A few sparks flew from the fire and small black ashes floated up to the ceiling.

The Principal Office

Come on Dot, what's taking you Sugar? Mouse bit her lip and glanced out the window, watching the game cube in the next sector, waiting for it to leave. The unmoving purple block just sat there, flashing with the occasional flood of energy. Mouse was getting worried, something that was very uncharacteristic of her. She was interrupted by Cesil, who cleared his throat angrily and gave her a look that would scare Hexadecimal.

"Excuse me Madame, but you will have to stop that, you are annoying the other customers." Mouse was about to ask what, when she realized she was tapping her nails on the table top nervously. She instantly balled her hand into a fist and put it in her lap. Normally Mouse we have objected, but today she didn't feel like protesting.

"Thank you." Cesil said, somewhat surprised. He turned away, though he didn't sound like he meant the 'thank 'you'. Mouse got up, her mind set on going to the Principal office to talk to Phong. She headed towards the garbage but stopped when a thought popped into her head. She grinned mischievously and looked for Cesil. She found him taking an order from two young binomes, his back turned. Mouse pulled her arm back and flung the half empty cup straight for him, hitting him squarely on the back of the head. When he turned around to locate the culprit, no one was there, but the doors were swinging slightly.

Mouse paced around the map in the war room, anxiously wringing her hands together. I've never seen a game last this long. What is Bob doing in there? I swear when that Guardian gets out of there I'm going-

"All right Mouse. I'm finished. Now, what can I do for you? You seemed very upset" Phong stood in the doorway with a concerned look on his face. "Mouse, are you all right?" Mouse stopped pacing and put her hands down.

"I'm not sure. It's just that this game is taking way to long, and it's starting to get to me. What if something happened? I'm gettin' tos soft for my own good." Phong wheeled over to her and looked at the readings on the map.

"I have been thinking the same thing, and considering the fact the game time passes faster..." He shook his head and changed the subject. "Try to contact them. Maybe we are just being paranoid." Mouse nodded and headed to a workstation, happy to know she wasn't the only one feeling that way.

After trying several times to contact them and accomplishing nothing, she was about to give up. She had tried every way she knew of, and she still couldn't reach them. She looked to Phong and shook her head negatively.

"Mouse, come here. I have something interesting for you to see." The hacker gratefully left the workstation and headed to Phong's.

"What is it Sugar, anything that will help us?" Instead of answering directly, the old sprite pointed a slender finger to the screen. What Mouse saw made her almost lose her balance.

"WHAT! Those, those are viral! How could that happen?"

"I'm not sure." Phong said with a dark look on his face.

Hexadecimal bit into her third biscuit, not really liking the taste of baked binome, but eating it anyway. She still was a little unused to actually eating, so the experience took away some of her bordom. The ex-virus looked around her lair unhappily. "My this is boring. It never was this way when Megabyte was here, I almost miss him."

Suddenly she had a mood swing, and looked happily to her pet. "Let's pay a visit on my favourite sprite." With a wave of her hand, the plate of biscuits disapeared, and she got to her feet. "Coming Scuzzy?"

A few moments later, Hex was knocking on Bob's door. "Hello? Is anyone home?" When no answer came, she broke the lock and strode in. "My, my, my. This place has no character at all. It needs a woman's touch." Scuzz gave a small jump and a picture of Dot appeared on the cat creature's screen.

"Not that one!" Hex said angrily, but the anger quickly subsided. "Shall we do Bob a favour and fix it up a bit?"

"Now Suzzy, what do you think?" Hexadecimal stood in the middle of Bob's appartment a nano later with her hands on her hips, smiling proudly at her latest accomplishment. Before waiting for an answer, she started laughing hystarically. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he comes back!"

The Guardian's place had been transformed, and looked more like a small version of Hexadecimal's lair than anything else.

Apruptly Hex stopped smiling. Something was wrong. She felt another virus close, or, if not a virus than something that had been infected. Hex bristled at the thought of another virus invading her territory. How dare this other virus try to infect something in her system. Next she would be after her Guardian!

Hex smiled happily and looked down to Scuzzy, who felt it too. "We will have to find out where she is so we can welcome her! What fun this will be! Think of it Scuzzy, another virus again! Why we can..." her voice trailed off as she walked out of the apartment.

"So what do we do now?" AndrAIa asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know." Bob said unhappily. He had tried to think of some way, any way, out of the situation, but there was nothing they
could actually do from inside the game cube.

"Mouse is still out there, and I think she would try to do something if she noticed the game was acting strangely." Dot pointed
out. "We've been in here a long time; she or Phong should have figured it out by now."

The conversation was disrupted by a loud banging at the door, as if someone were trying to break it open. Matrix jumped to his
feet, and reached for Gun, but AndrAIa stopped him.

"Even if we do delete him, he'll still return," she reminded him. He growled something too low for even her to hear, then
reluctantly put it back. The wood on the door suddenly splintered, and a few pieces of wood broke off and fell to the floor.

"Why is he still trying to attack us?" Dot asked, trying to make herself heard over the noise.

"We still have the ring, and he won't stop until he gets it." Bob said.

"Why don't we just give it to him?" asked AndrAIa as she backed towards the window.

"Because, if we give it back he'll win the game."

"Great. Either way we lose." Bob glanced towards the window.

"Where does that go?" he asked AndrAIa, who was standing next to it. She leaned over and peered through.

"It drops about a floor and leads to a walkway around the courtyard."

"Good enough, let's get out of here," Bob announced.

Matrix pulled out Gun and aimed. "It may not work on the User, but it will on that." He pulled the trigger, and the window exploded outwards, sending shards of glass flying. As soon as the glass had settled, AndrAIa jumped to the ledge and dropped down, using her game-given wind ability to float down. Dot came down next, splashing a little water on AndrAIa. They moved to the side to give the others room as they jumped down, but AndrAIa had to catch Bob when he stumbled forward a step. He quickly backed away when he remembered the past incident with the game sprite's ability.

The walkway was a dead end in one direction, but at the end of the other there was a large wooden door that seemed to lead
into a tower.

"Let's try over there," Matrix suggested. When they reached the door, he tried to open it, but the door refused to move. "It
won't open!" he said out to the others. "But don't worry, I've got it covered." He braced himself and prepared to ram into it with
his shoulder. Bob looked at the door suspiciously. Something about it was wrong. Suddenly he realized what it was. "Matrix,
wait!"

The warning came too late, and the huge sprite was already throwing himself at it with all his weight behind it. He rammed hard
with his shoulder, but the door didn't so much as shake. Matrix stumbled backward, catching himself right before he fell. He
cried out angrily and looked at his shoulder, which was a noticeable shade of dark green.

Bob sighed, and walked to the door, placing his hand on top of it. "This isn't a real door Matrix. This is just the edge of the
game cube. Matrix frowned at him, then put his hand out too. It was perfectly smooth, like a wall. "You could have said
something earlier," he said angrily.

"So, now where?" AndrAIa asked, thumping the wall with her fist in frustration.

Matrix looked to his sister, who had been silent since they had entered the room. "Any ideas Dot?"

She paused for a moment, then spoke slowly, thinking it through. "It seems like the only place we can go is down. Maybe once we're on open ground we can put up a better fight with the User, or try to contain him somewhere. That way we can try and figure out a way out of this game and we won't have to worry about him."

"Works for me." Bob said.

"Hex, do you think you could do anything about it?" Mouse asked, trying very hard to be civil to the insane virus. "Hex?"

At the moment they were standing in Dot's office, with the exception of Hexadecimal who was seated happily in her chair.

Mouse and Phong exchanged glances. The virus had just shown up and made herself at home, muttering something about another virus in Mainframe.

"My, she has a nice office. Why don't I get a chair like this?" Hex pushed against the wall and spun herself in a circle. "Weee! This is such fun. I think I should run for Command.com next cycle.

Mouse got a mental image of Hex being in charge of Mainframe, and the city painted multicoloured raced through her mind. Mouse shook her head and focused her attention back on Hexadecimal. "Please Hex, we need your help"

Hex stopped her spinning and regarded Mouse thoughtfully. "Well, there might be a way."

Dot carefully climbed down the wall, using the uneven stones as a grip. When her foot struck the ground she let go and stepped back, making room for Bob as he came down. Suddenly he lost his grip and toppled backwards onto the ground. He quickly stood up and grinned, reminding Dot of the way he used to be. "It was slippery," he said, "Dot got water all over the stones."

He turned and pointed to the main gate, the way they had entered. "We have to get as far away from this castle as possible. The User knows it much better than we do. We should find someplace outside the castle walls so we can trap him, and we have to do it fast. It's almost night."

The sky had turned a dark orange and pink, and the last of the sunlight was fading fast. Several of the torches around the courtyard had been lit, casting an ominous glow on the scene.

Bob found his mind straying to thoughts of the book, but he quickly pushed them away. He needed to concentrate on what he was doing instead of what might happen. Daemon was only trying to scare him into lowering his guard and making him panic into doing something basic. Your little trick is not going to work, virus, he thought vehemently.

"Bob, are you okay?" He blinked, realizing where he was.

Dot was beside him with a concerned look on her face. Matrix and AndrAIa were on the other side of the courtyard, heading towards the huge gate that led away from the castle grounds.

"Yes, I'm fine. Let's go catch up before they leave us behind." Dot shot him one last worried glance, then started after him.

The two followed after them and caught up when they were entering under the large portcullis. As soon as Dot had caught up to Bob, AndrAIa and her brother, a steel gate slammed to the ground behind her, causing Dot to spin in alarm. "He's trying to seal us in!" Matrix growled from the front of the group.

The sprites raced for the other side to escape the castle before they were sealed in, but the other portcullis hit the ground dangerously close to them, nearly impaling Matrix. They were trapped within the two gates, and surrounded by the stone walls and ceiling. There was no where left to go.

AndrAIa reacted by trying to blast the gates open, but they remained in the same place, unmoved by the wind. She turned to the others. "What about you Matrix?"

"I can't. I haven't recharged from the last attack," he pointed out.

"Bob?"

Bob put his hands on the metal and clenched his fists together, trying to melt the bars. Nothing happened. "I can't either," he said as he pulled his hands away with a defeated look on his face.

There was a loud scraping from above, and they looked up to find the User looking down at them through a murder hole. He grinned at them, but disappeared a moment later. The sound of something being dragged along the floor started again.

Dot looked at the hole in confusion, wondering what the man was doing. It suddenly occurred to her.

"Out of the way!" she cried as she pulled Bob by the wrist to the edge of the wall. Where the Guardian had been standing a waterfall of boiling oil splashed down, spilling on the ground.

Dot stepped back as the oil spread towards her, but ran backwards into the gate. It soon spread across the ground, cutting them off from Matrix and AndrAIa on the other side. She and Bob had nowhere to go, and the steaming liquid was coming closer by the second.

Just as it was nearing them, Bob took her by the arm and climbed onto the gate, using the spaces to hold on. AndrAIa jumped up and remained in the air, using her game abilities to float. Matrix saw what Bob and Dot were doing, and did the same, trying to distance himself from the oil.

"Don't let go!" Bob warned Dot. She looked down to the oil flowing right underneath her. "Don't worry, I don't intend to."

Mouse looked at the looming game cube she was standing at the foot of and frowned. "This better work. If you try to do anything Hex..." Hex didn't even seem to hear the threat, and if she did, she was not concerned with it.

"Stand back." Hexadecimal ordered. Mouse got on her zip board and retreated to a safe distance, but still close enough to watch Hex cautiously. Mouse opened a vid window and contacted Phong, who was waiting back at the Principal Office to get the readings.

"We're ready Phong," she announced. He nodded, and closed the window.

Hex glared at the purple box, remembering her last experience with a game cube.

"Not this time," she muttered to herself. She held out her hands and formed a protective energy field around them as protection from the lethal amounts of energy. Hex snarled at the game and put her hands on the surface. There was a bright flash of light, temporarily blinding Hex and the hacker a few paces back.

When it subsided, Hex was almost surprised to find herself still in one piece. She focus her energy on infecting the cube, a relatively easy task for her.

Mouse watched in amazement as the cube changed from a purple colour to a deep red. She suddenly realized she had never seen Hex infect anything before. Hex had always destroyed things and had her fun, but never actually infected anything. Mouse shuddered involuntarily and stepped back. It really was a creepy effect.

Almost as soon as it had started, the infection stopped and Hex stepped back, admiring her own work. "Not bad," she said appreciatively.

Mouse stepped forward, tearing her eyes off the scene to face Hexadecimal.

"Now what?"

"What do you want to happen?" Hex asked calmly, inspecting her nails.

"Make the game end! Get it out of Mainframe! It's infected!" Mouse ordered, on the brink of yelling at her.

"Are you sure, I mean, wouldn't it be interesting if we made Bob-"

"Please Hex!"

Hex stuck out her lip and narrowed her eyebrows at the sprite, but did what Mouse said. With a snap of her fingers, the game shot upwards into the sky, and the system administrator announced the successful end of the game.

It had been a while since the User had poured the oil, but it was still bubbling on the ground, threatening to burn them if they stepped down. It was very quiet, the noises above had stopped.

"Where is he?" Matrix mumbled. Dot turned her head to see her brother clinging to the opposite gate. If the situation had been any different, she might have burst out laughing at the scene.

"There's your answer," Bob said quietly.

The User stood on the other side of the gate, putting an arrow to his bow and aiming into at the caged sprites. As he fired, Dot could have swore she saw him smiling...

Dot felt the ground drop beneath her, and landed hard on her feet. She, and the others were so surprised at the sudden turn of events their legs didn't support them and, they fell to the ground. Because Bob had been higher than Dot on the gate, he fell backwards and landed on Dot.

"What in the Net?" Someone said from the ground. Dot sat up to see that that someone was Matrix, who was rubbing his arm and looking around the sector in a state of shock. Bob stood up and helped Dot to her feet. "What happened?" He asked her as she checked for bruises.

She looked up and glared at him before answering. "You sat on me." He grinned, but she continued to scowl at him.
"No, I mean with the game."

Before anyone could ask any more questions, they were interrupted by the sound of Mouse crying out joyfully. Dot gaped at her friend.

The hacker was swinging Hex in a circle, yelling happily. Dot and the others got to their feet and made their way to Mouse. Mouse saw them looking at her strangely and let go of the virus. Hex stumbled backwards, but regained her balance at grinned at the sprites, though mostly at Bob.

Mouse cleared her throat, obviously embarrassed. "You're okay?"

Matrix nodded, looking at her like she had just eaten a null. Dot glanced over at Bob, who was trying very hard not to laugh.

Mouse stood up straight, looking around at the group. "Come on, Phong will probably want to see if you're alright." They decompressed their zip boards, and started for the P.O.
Dot flew after Mouse, catching up to her as they flew over the Bob's apartment. Mouse glanced over, then quickly focused her attention back on their destination.

"If you laugh darlin', I'll teach you a lesson you won't soon be forgetting. " Dot smiled, wondering where Phong's camera was.

Bob sighed as he reached out and entered the numbers into his coded lock for his apartment. This time, stay erased Daemon, he thought.

Bob stopped dead in his tracks and stood in his doorway.

"What in the Net...? HEX! What did you do?!"