By: Liz and Andy

Enzo’s violet eyes searched the stranger seated across from him. The boy’s expression went from curiosity to confusion and back.

"Are you okay?" Dot looked at him harder, as if she might then be able to see into her little brother's head.

"Give him a minute, Dot," the big sprite said hastily.

Enzo stared at his older self, his gaze moving from the blank golden stare of Matrix's prosthetic right eye, to the scar that ran from the adult sprite 's eyebrow to cheek, and finally to the gun on Matrix's hip.

"So, you're me?" Enzo asked.

"Uh. Yeah." Matrix's voice rumbled. He shifted uneasily, perched on the coffee table, which sagged under his weight.

Dot, her face more lined than it had been before the war, leaned forward, and Enzo slid back in his chair, eyes flicking nervously between his sister and Matrix.

All three Matrix siblings turned towards Bob as he entered the living room. "Things are slowing down at the diner," Bob said. "A few of them will party all night, but Cecil's stopped serving anything stronger than an energy shake." Dot's eyes drifted back to Enzo, and Bob looked straight at the child. "Late night, huh, Enzo?"

Enzo looked up at his distorted reflection shimmering in Bob's armor, and didn’t answer.

Dot answered for him. "Very late. Enzo, you had better go to bed. We'll talk in the morning. Come on, I'll tuck you in." Dot rose, and Enzo silently got up. The two of them disappeared down the hallway, leaving Matrix and Bob in the living room.

"So, what do you think?" Bob asked in a low voice.

Matrix managed to bring his usual growl down to a fierce whisper. "He's scared of us. Can you blame him? This is all my fault." He stood and paced.

"Well," Bob started, "I look at it as an opportunity. To tell the truth, I was kind of upset when I first saw you all grown. I hadn't realized it, but I really enjoyed your flying tackles." A nostalgic smile crossed Bob's face.

Matrix paused and glowered. "Why?"

Bob shrugged. "Everything is new and exciting to him." He watched Matrix prowl, and added, "It was for you once, too."

Matrix stopped. "I put that weak little boy behind me. I had to." He wasn't whispering anymore, and his deepened voice carried.

"That might be a loss."

Matrix, startled, met Bob's level gaze, and for a moment, Bob thought he saw little Enzo behind the orphaned purple eye. Then Matrix turned and stormed out. Bob stared after him as Dot came out of the hallway.

The room was a clash of colors. The walls alternated between red, yellow, and green, splattered around without regard for adult tastes. Guardian trading cards were strewn on the floor around a Reboot Robot Entomologizing Force toy. There was a model of an old red convertible with a gray fender on the dresser. Under the covers on the bed was a sobbing little boy.

AndrAIa waited. The hour had long since gone from late night to early morning, but AndrAIa remained on Bob’s couch, watching a documentary titled "The War for Mainframe: The Battles We Lost and Why Megabyte Won". The narrator was describing Megabyte’s final defeat with relish when Matrix finally returned.

AndrAIa muted the sound on the television and asked, "So, how did it go?"

"Can't tell. He seemed mostly confused." Matrix stood in the doorway, looking more than a little confused himself.

AndrAIa turned off the documentary, rose, and went to Matrix, pulling him gently toward the couch. "Well, it is a lot to take in. Things have changed in the time he missed." AndrAIa put her hand on Matrix's shoulder, and he sank to the couch under her gentle pressure.

"I know. I just wish the whole thing hadn't happened in the first place. If I had only remembered to change my icon, this wouldn't have happened. I don't want him here." Matrix fingered his icon as he said it.

"Just try to think of him as a little brother." AndrAIa suggested.

"No." Matrix rose. So did his voice. "He's me. I thought I had gotten over hating him, but when I saw him sitting there in my chair..." He trailed off and stalked across the living room away from AndrAIa.

"He's not the one you hated, Enzo, so don't take it out on him." AndrAIa got up, and moved to block Matrix’s path across the floor. "Maybe if you spend some more time with him-"

"Are you kidding? I don't want to see him!" Matrix fumed.

AndrAIa sighed. "Why not?"

Matrix stopped his pacing and took AndrAIa by the shoulders. "I told you. I look at him and I see the boy who failed when Mainframe needed him most. I see myself!"

Unintimidated, AndrAIa responded in kind, grabbing his head and making him meet her eyes. "Matrix! Are you trying to tell me you haven't changed since that backup?" He turned his face away, and AndrAIa firmly pulled it back. "Listen to me. Your childhood is over. You aren't that little boy. He has lived his whole life in Mainframe, and may live the rest of his life in Mainframe. Or he might go to the Supercomputer and become a full Guardian like Bob. Whatever happens, his future is not your past." She held his gaze until the tension left his jaw, and he let go of her to sit back down on the couch.

* * *

Dot surveyed her rebuilt diner with satisfaction. Cecil zipped back and forth, fussing and complaining as always, while the usual afternoon crowd chattered and laughed as though Megabyte had never been.

She turned her eyes back to the sprites seated around her, and her expression changed. Bob sat beside her, finishing off a plate of the day's special. He hadn't said anything in more than five nanoseconds. Somewhere in the Web he had learned silence. Matrix, huge, gruff, and with an eye on the door, nursed an energy shake. AndrAIa, whose childhood precociousness had given way to clear-eyed intelligence, slid over in the booth and pulled the adult Enzo's right arm over her shoulder. Matrix scowled, and tried to pull away. AndrAIa held on, and mumured softly, "You won't be needing it, Enzo. We're home."

Dot's reverie was interrupted by the arrival of her little brother. Enzo, unlike the other sprites at the table, belonged in the diner the way data belonged in files. The boy shoved the door open and favored his sister with a long-suffering stare.

Dot smiled and said, "Hello, Enzo. How was school today?" She got up and gave the youngster a one-armed hug as he pushed past her and threw himself on the bench beside Bob.

"Ancient Languages is so boring. Why do I need to know Fortran?" Enzo turned to Bob. "You don't have to know all that dead-file stuff to be a Guardian, do you? A Guardian should study Games and stuff, right?"

"Actually, Enzo, most of the people I met in the Web spoke obsolete languages. Besides, a Guardian's supposed to know everything."

"But-" the boy started. His brow furrowed and he closed his mouth, puzzled.

Dot gestured to Enzo to move over, and she reseated herself. "You need to know these things, Enzo."

Defeated on two counts, Enzo turned to Matrix. "You've done all Miss Brodie's assignments before." His eyes narrowed slyly. "Do you think you could help me?"

"No," Matrix answered shortly. He leaned on AndrAIa, clearly intending to leave, but AndrAIa leaned right back, and refused to budge.

Bob looked from child to adult with a speculative expression on his face, then opened his mouth just as a vid window flashed into existence in front of Dot.

"Commander Matrix. You asked me to remind you about this afternoon's meeting." Specky self-consciously shoved his glasses closer to his face.

Dot nodded. "Thank you, Specky. Make sure the big conference room is ready, will you please? I'm on my way."

"Wait a minute, Specky." Bob turned to Dot and threw her a glance over Enzo's head. "Dot, I think I should go with you."

Dot caught the look, and nodded. "Of course, Bob. AndrAIa, you and Matrix can keep an eye on Enzo, can't you?"

Matrix opened his mouth to reply, but only grunted as AndrAIa surreptitiously elbowed him in the ribs.

The game sprite smiled and answered, "We'd be happy to, Dot. We should all get to know each other, anyway." She ignored Matrix's glare.

Dot smiled uncertainly. "Good. Specky, set an extra chair at the table for Bob, please."

"Yes, sir. Ma'am." Specky nodded, and the vid window closed.

Dot put her arms around her little brother for a moment, then sighed and said, "This meeting shouldn't take long, Enzo. If you get your homework done before I get back I'll take you over to the data slides, all right?" She rose.

"Okay, sis." Enzo sounded a bit subdued. He slid out of the booth to let Bob pass, then settled back down and dutifully pulled out his homework.

The table was silent for a few moments, while the child's brow furrowed as he labored over his assignment. Finally he looked up at Matrix.

"Do you know any Fortran? I don't understand this part here--"

"No, I don't know any Fortran." Matrix growled. He picked up his shake and took a large swallow.

Enzo, taken aback by the older sprite's surliness, turned to AndrAIa. "Can you help me, then?"

AndrAIa gave Matrix a critical glance, then smiled at the child. "I'm sorry, Enzo. I never got a chance to learn it."

"Oh. Okay." Enzo looked back down at his homework for a moment, then looked back up again and asked, "What system are you from, anyway?"

"I'm not from any system. I'm a game sprite."

Enzo's eyes went wide. "Really? Cool." Then he paused. "But game sprites can't exist outside Games."

"That's a long story-" AndrAIa began.

"And you should be doing your homework," Matrix finished. He took another swig of his shake.

AndrAIa's face hardened, and she took a hold of Matrix's arm. "Matrix, would you come with me for a nano?" She rose.

Enzo looked from AndrAIa's face to Matrix's, obviously aware of the tension, but unsure what it meant.

AndrAIa smiled at the child even as she towed Matrix out of his seat. "We'll be right back, don't worry. Maybe we can find an old readme file to help you with your homework." She steered Matrix toward the door. "Cecil, would you watch Enzo for a nano, please?"

The bustling waiter turned and threw up his hands. "Ah! Of course! And what shall I do next, polish your boots? I am a concierge, not a babysitter." He sailed off, muttering.

"Thanks, Cecil," AndrAIa called after him. Then she dragged Matrix out the door and out of sight of the diner's windows. She addressed her companion in no uncertain terms. "All right, Matrix, what's going on? All he did was ask you for help with his homework."

"I can't help him. I didn't get much farther than he is before the Game dropped."

"So what? He's got teachers to correct his mistakes. He's trying to make friends, Enzo."

"I'm not the kind of friend he needs." Matrix wrenched himself free of AndrAIa's grip.

The argument would doubtless have escalated to a full-blown fight, if Captain Capacitor hadn't chosen that moment to interrupt. The pirate's vid window image bowed extravagantly to AndrAIa, and said, "Excuse me lass, but Mouse left without going over her plans with me engineers. She seems to have forgotten a rudder. We need complete plans before we can start construction."

"Mouse wouldn't leave something like that out, Captain. She probably came up with something better and forgot to tell you about it. I'll be there in a few nanos." AndrAIa shut down the vid window and turned back to Matrix. "Will you at least go back in there and try not to scare that little boy?"

Matrix gave her a dark look, then sighed and nodded.

"Good." She stretched up on her toes and gave Matrix a peck on the cheek. "Pay attention to him, lover. Maybe he has more to teach you than you can teach him." Then AndrAIa activated her zipboard and took off.

Matrix stood, watching the way AndrAIa had gone, long after she was out of sight. Then he shrugged, and trudged back into the diner.

Little Enzo was still in the booth, chin in hand as he doggedly pored over his homework. He seemed to be utterly unaware of the thumping rhythm his free-swinging feet made as he kicked the table leg in a constant one-two, one-two beat.

Matrix stood in the aisle behind the boy for a moment, just watching, then resolutely marched to the table and said, "Hey."

The kicking stopped as Enzo's concentration broke. "Oh, hi. Where's AndrAIa?"

"Captain Capacitor needed her help."

"Oh," Enzo repeated.

They stared at each other for a moment.

Matrix took a deep breath, and sat down. "You want an energy shake or something?"

Enzo shook his head disgustedly. "I've already had one, and Cecil says Dot told him another one would spoil my dinner." Then he brightened. "But if you ordered one, and then gave it to me..."

"Forget it. Do your homework." Matrix idly scanned the room, avoiding Enzo's hurt expression.

Enzo turned his attention back to his assignment, and managed for nearly fifteen nanos before he asked, "So, what's a Web creature look like? Did you really fight Megabreath on top of the Principle Office? Is AndrAIa really a game sprite? Can we go circuit racing? Or play jetball?"

Matrix stiffened, then visibly restrained himself. "Do your homework, kid. Stay put. Tell Dot I went to help AndrAIa." He made it out of the diner without so much as a broken dish.

* * *

Dot took a deep breath. "The new security systems are almost ready, everyone. Your cooperation and hard work are going to pay off." She sighed, and continued in a more sober tone. "I think we'll be ready just in time. The reason I called this meeting was to show all of you this. Phong, play the message, please." She sat down and turned toward Bob as the lights went down.

Turbo's face was an unhealthy steel-gray. The infection that was slowly spreading through his code glowed faintly at his temples. He stared out of the vid window with the expression of one staying alive through sheer force of will.

Bob closed his eyes for a moment, then grimly sat up and watched the recording.

Turbo wasted no time. "Citizens of Mainframe. You are hereby ordered to stand down, and welcome Daemon as your new Command.com. If you fail to comply, Daemon will be forced to invade your system. She is preparing her troops as I speak." He gestured, barely more than a twitch of his fingers, toward a small counter at the bottom edge of the screen. "Heed this warning, and no harm will come to you." The recording ended, and Turbo vanished.

"He looks worse every time we see him," Specky commented nervously. "And I definitely don't like what he had to say this time."

"He's still trustworthy, Specky." Dot said firmly. "Otherwise he wouldn't have taken the trouble to tell us when the attack would come."

The bespectacled binome blinked. "He did?"

"The only part of that message that matters is the date, Specky," Bob said bleakly. "Turbo changed the timestamp to show when Daemon will invade, right down to the nanosecond." He favored Dot with a sad smile. "Here we go again, hey Dot?"

"Not exactly, Bob." The Command.com's face hardened. "This time, we'll be ready."

* * *

"HEAVE!" Captain Capacitor roared. The pirate captain had discarded his flambuoyant hat and coat, and was working at least as hard as his crew on the construction of the Saucy Mare II. "Put your backs into it, lads! HEAVE!" He kept yelling support and orders at his straining crew as they hauled on the mast. The thick, heavy beam rose slowly into the sky, and finally slid into place with a thunk, and the weary crew cheered.

Captain Capacitor wiped his brow and accepted a mug of rom from Mr. Christopher, his ever-present first mate. "Good work, m'lads! We'll have this ship ready for business-" He broke off as he caught sight of Dot, Bob, Matrix, and AndrAIa bearing down on him on zipboards. "Well, blow me down! Mr. Christopher, tell the cook to set a few extra places at the table. It appears we'll be having guests for dinner."

Dot didn't wait until she was within conversational distance. "Captain!" she yelled. "Can this ship sail?"

"Of course she can sail, dear lady!" the pirate answered. "We just need to finish building her first," he added as Dot stepped off her zipboard onto the half-completed main deck.

"I'm afraid we don't have time for that, Captain," Bob said. "You see-"

"We're being invaded," Matrix said shortly. "A fleet just came out of the Net."

"And you expect to repel them with this?" Capacitor gestured to the planks neatly stacked near the bow of his ship. "She'll be a fine vessel, Matrix, but she's not ready for battle yet."

"She doesn't have to be, Gavin," AndrAIa stated firmly. "What’s out there is too small to be an invasion fleet."

"But I do want to know just who they are and what they want before they land on our docks." Dot's tone was brisk. "Can this ship sail at all, Captain?"

"To anyone else, dear lady, the answer would be no. I never leave port unless my ship is ready for battle."

Dot's face fell.

"But since there are no other seaworthy vessels in Mainframe, I suppose I'll have to bend the rules a bit. Mr. Christopher! Inform the crew that we're going to be taking a little cruise. Tell Mr. Andrews and Mr. Phil we'll be using the starboard engine, and half power."

"Yes, sir!" Mr. Christopher scurried away.

The Saucy Mare II was half again as large as her predecessor, and only one of her three engines was online. Her pace, therefore, was very stately. However, ship, crew, and passengers were moving out to sea, and Captain Capacitor made it abundantly clear that he had no intention of speeding up.

Matrix, who had never conquered his childhood inability to sit still, stomped around the half-finished deck, pausing every few steps to glare toward the horizon. AndrAIa, apparently unruffled, conferred with Mr. Phil over Mouse's engineering plans. Bob sat on a stack of planks and waited, his fingers steepled in front of his face.

Dot used the time to fill the captain in. "It's getting worse out there, Gavin," she started. "Mouse says some systems are all but abandoned."

The captain, who had donned his hat for the voyage, tapped his chin with his hook. "So you've said for decacycles, lass. What does that have to do with this fleet in our waters?"

"The only reason they're here is that I opened a portal to the Net."

"What! I thought you closed the Net."

"I did, but Mouse and Ray have been sending intelligence reports to a Net buffer just outside Mainframe. I open a portal and download everything from that buffer every few cycles."

"And these blaggards were waiting when you opened the portal?"

"Yes. We think about six or seven ships got through before the portal closed."

Capacitor tapped his chin with his hook again. "My crew has faced such odds before, good lady, but we've never gone into battle without so much as a deck gun online."

"You could have had her finished by now, you know," Dot said in a tone of gentle reproach. "It’s unprofitable to insist on building a ship by hand, when a few machines can make fifty of them in a millisecond."

"What in the Code would I do with fifty ships, dear lady? I only have one crew. This way, by the time we're finished, even the cabin boys will know every bolt and seam, from topsail to keel."

Matrix's yell brought everyone to attention. "I see them!" He pointed.

Captain Capacitor put his telescope to his eye and followed the sprite's line of sight. "Mr. Andrews! Three points to starboard! Arm yourselves, lads, and wait for my command!" He drew his filelock sword as his crew broke out hand weapons.

Bob rose, and went to stand by Matrix at the rail. "What can you see, Matrix?"

"Seven ships, all carrying passengers," Matrix reported briskly. "I don't see any weapons-yet." He pulled his gun. "Of course, that doesn't mean there aren’t any there."

"Let's get a little closer before we make any hasty decisions," Bob said. "This doesn't feel like an invasion to me. How fast are they moving?"

"Not fast enough to outrun us," Matrix answered.

AndrAIa joined them. "They might not be running from us, Matrix."

Matrix grunted, but lowered his gun a fraction. "They're changing direction," he reported. "Headed this way."

The gap between the unknowns and the half-finished Saucy Mare II slowly closed. Of Captain Capacitor's crew, only the ship's cook, patiently peeling potatoes, seemed unconcerned. The only sounds were the soft thrumming of the engine, and a few low-voiced conversations as the crew rearranged the deck to provide as much cover as possible.

AndrAIa was the first to say it. "Stand down, everyone!" She pulled Matrix's gun down, and looked back over her shoulder. "They've just put up a white flag."

"They're surrendering? Already?" Captain Capacitor sounded almost disappointed.

"Ahoy the ship!" It was a strained female voice. "We have no weapons. We need help. Repeat: We need help."

"It could be a trick." Matrix growled.

"Aye, lad, so it could." Captain Capacitor looked though his spyglass again. "But those vessels are far too small to carry much plunder or weaponry."

"Still, it's a risk we can avoid." Dot said. "Why don't we send a jolly boat out there to negotiate? I'll be the first volunteer. Coming, Bob?" She looked slyly down at the Guardian on the deck.

Bob opened his mouth, then closed it with a sardonic smile. "I guess I am. I wouldn't want you to have all the fun."

"I'll go, too," Matrix said.

"You and I will stay here," AndrAIa contradicted. "To watch their backs."

Matrix's brows lowered, but he let Bob and Dot get into a jolly boat without protest. As they motored off, however, he raised his gun, and muttered, "Gun: Multiple target acquisition."

Bob guided the jolly boat alongside the largest of the craft in the flotilla. It was a rather ungainly-looking and battered silver excursion boat, built to ferry tourists from system to system. It was also dangerously overloaded. The open deck was crammed with binomes and sprites, all clutching bags, boxes, and in some cases each other. A few brave (or especially desperate) binomes even clung to the rail, riding with their feet braced on the hull less than a hand's-breadth above the sea. Somewhere in the crowd, a tired infant wailed. The white flag AndrAIa had seen was made of a bedsheet and someone’s golf club hastily strapped to the forward rail.

The other boats in the fleet were small pleasure craft, hastily pressed into service as inter-Net vessels. One of them even sported a jaunty flag, and several fishing poles stuck up above the heads of the several dozen binomes on the deck.

"This isn't an invasion, it's an evacuation," Dot murmured.

"That's right, it is."

Dot looked up at the sprite who had spoken.

"We've been in the Net for nearly three cycles," the yellow-haired sprite continued. "This is the first uninfected system we've found."

"Three cycles?" Dot repeated. "Has Daemon spread that far?"

The spokesprite nodded. "I used to run a ferry service, but nearly every system is either controlled by the Guardians or-" she broke off, and gave Bob an apprehensive look. Her eyes widened. "You're a Guardian, aren't you? That's a Guardian icon."

There were several gasps, and a few screams. "Guardian! We've been captured by a Guardian! Maxine, get us out of here!"

Bob, startled, watched as the word spread. "Please, don't be afraid. Yes, I'm a Guardian, but I'm not infected." His words had no effect.

Dot raised her voice. "He's telling the truth! He's here to help!"

The silvery spokesprite grabbed for the rail of her ship as the deck wobbled. Her passengers pressed up against the far rail, trying to get as far away from Bob as possible.

The top-heavy ferryboat rocked, and the inevitable happened. One of the binomes clinging to the rail lost his grip, and plunged toward the sea with a scream.

The falling binome came to rest just above the surface of the sea, and hung there, openmouthed. Then he slowly rose, and drifted through midair, landing safely in the jolly boat, where Bob sat with one hand extended and an expression of fierce concentration on his face.

"Why don't you ride back to the city with us," the Guardian suggested gently. "It looks a bit crowded up there."

There was dead silence as the refugee processed this. He turned and looked at Dot, who smiled encouragingly. The binome gulped audibly. "All right."

"Good." Dot said. She looked back up at the ferry's captain. "Why don't we transfer some of your passengers to our ship? We can sort the rest of this out when we get back to Mainframe."

The silvery sprite gave Dot a long, weighing look. Her eyes moved to Bob, sitting in the stern of the jolly boat, then to the still-rattling binome amidships. She turned and addressed her passengers. "Does anyone else want to go with them?" Silence. The slender search engine turned back to the jolly boat. "I guess they're still scared of you, Guardian. We'll follow you in."

The Saucy Mare II led the refugees into port like a mother leading her wayward children home. Dot spent the trip arranging for temporary files for the refugees, and ordering dozens of hot dinners to be delivered from the diner to the docks.

* * *

Dot could plan almost anything, given time and her organizer. However, she hadn't planned for a welcoming committee. Fortunately for Dot, someone else had taken over that duty.

"Hello! Welcome to Mainframe, friendliest city on the Net." Enzo shook an elderly refugee's hand, then handed him a boxed dinner. "You'll be spending the night in Floating Point Park, with a beautiful view of-"

"Enzo!" Dot strode up to her little brother.

"Yeah Dot?" The boy looked up, beaming.

Dot put her hands on her hips and tried to hide her smile. "What are you doing?"

"I'm welcoming them to Mainframe, Dot. Somebody has to do it. See, I even got dressed up." He looked down at himself admiringly. He was wearing a quasi-naval uniform and cap, complete with gold braid.

Dot smiled. "I guess I overlooked that. Thanks for thinking of it, Enzo."

"No problem, Dot." The boy turned back to his self-appointed task. "Hello! Welcome to Mainframe…"

Matrix turned away from the little scene, fists clenched.

AndrAIa put her hand on his shoulder. "I think everything's under control here. Let's go home."

Matrix took a deep breath, let it out, and nodded.

"Mind if I join you?" Bob came toward them. The newcomers opened a wide path for him, nervously eyeing his icon. Bob slumped a little as he said, "I don't think my help is needed here."

* * *

Enzo was thrilled. Just as he had hoped, there were other young sprites among the refugees. He dutifully finished handing out the packed dinners, then eagerly went in search of new friends. He took along a spare box. Shaking all those hands had made him hungry.

Enzo found the family he was looking for on the edge of the scattered diners. There were three of them, a mother and two children. The mother had pale orange skin and a heavy braid of blue hair. The children were both yellow, but their hair was blue like their mother's. Enzo put on his biggest, friendliest smile, and walked up to them. "Hi! I'm Enzo. Can I sit here?"

"You're supposed to say, 'May I'," the little girl said.

"Be nice, Ansi." The children's mother had a smooth, low voice. "Of course you may sit here, Enzo."

"But he was wrong!" Ansi persisted.

"Yes, but it's rude to point it out in public." The adult turned to her other child, who hadn't yet spoken. "Enzo, this is Boolean. My name is Iso Hedron. Please excuse Ansi. She's planning to be a teacher, and she's already starting work."

"That's OK, Mrs. Hedron. My sister corrects my grammar all the time." Enzo turned to the still-silent boy and stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet ya, Boolean."

"That's Bo," the boy answered. "Nobody who wants to stay friends with me calls me Boolean."

"Except Mom," Ansi giggled.

"Shut up, microbrain."

Enzo hurriedly said, "OK, Bo then. Do you play jet-ball?"

"Some," the other boy admitted.

"Oh, great!" Enzo exulted. "I've had to play against Bob, since there aren't any other small sprites in Mainframe, and he's really fast because he's from the Supercomputer--"

Bo interrupted. "Bob's the Guardian, right?"

Enzo beamed with pride. "Yup. My, um," he paused, "older brother Matrix is a Guardian, too, and someday, I'm going to go to the Supercomputer-" He stopped, and looked at his audience. All three of them were staring at him. "What?"

Mrs. Hedron took a deep breath, and reached to pat Enzo's hand. "It's all right, Enzo. It's just that my husband stayed in our home system to fight the infected Guardians."

"And he'll come for us after the Guardians are gone," Bo added.

Enzo blinked. "But Guardians protect systems. They win Games and fix tears and stuff. 'To mend and defend'. That's what Bob does."

"That was what all Guardians did until Daemon came," Mrs. Hedron sighed. She shook herself. "But there's no use crying over lost data. Tell us about Mainframe, Enzo. Where do you go to school?"

Enzo, still troubled, spent the next microsecond talking about Miss Brodie, homework, data slides, his sister, and slow food, until Dot came to take him home. He lay awake far into the night.

* * *

Enzo got up early the next morning, and rushed through his breakfast. He ran all the way to Floating Point Park, and led nearly forty new students to school. Classes began a microsecond late that day. The teachers had to sort the new youngsters into classes.

Unfortunately for the excited pupils, who were hoping the confusion would spare them the day's homework, Dot sent Phong to help out. Enzo and Bo suffered through a day of arcane tips and obscure quotes.

The day's fuzzy logic class ended in a huge puff of purple fuzz. "Perhaps we should continue this discussion tomorrow," Phong told them. "Please read chapter six tonight. And bring a broom tomorrow."

"Are your classes always like that?" Bo asked as he and Enzo left for the day.

"This is the first time I've had Phong as a teacher. Wasn't that last example great?" Enzo brushed some stray fuzz out of his hair as he walked. (None of the newcomers had zipboards yet, so Enzo politely left his on his belt.)

"It looked good, but it didn't make any sense."

Enzo laughed. "Most of the time, nothing Phong says makes any sense. Dot says it's because he still thinks in Fortran."

"He's that old?" Bo looked impressed.

"Yeah. He was the Command.com of Mainframe for about a million minutes."

"He was? Who's your Command.Com now?"

"Phong retired and made Dot Command.com. She was already running most of the city anyway. Now Phong just hangs around and gives everybody advice." Enzo shrugged. "You want to go nerf hunting or play jet-ball or something?" A volley of barks broke into Enzo's offer, and the boy’s face lit up. "Frisket! Here, boy!"

The enormous dog rounded a corner, carrying a scrap of something in his powerful jaws. Right after him came Mr. Pearson on a zipboard, waving his arms and yelling at the dog. Frisket dropped his prize on the ground, barked at the junk dealer, then leaped for Enzo, knocking him flat. He licked Enzo's face.

Mr. Pearson swooped in and grabbed the battered item. "I'd think that you and that overgrown brother of yours could somehow manage to keep this four-legged disaster under control, boy. This is the third time this decacycle that I've caught him on my property. Next time I'll call the CPU's." He waved the unidentifiable item at the dog.

Frisket laid his sharply-pointed ears back and growled.

Mr. Pearson dropped lower. "Don't you be growling at me, you mangy cur. I'll have you muzzled."

Enzo, still flat on his back, looked up at the irate binome. "I'm sorry, Mr. Pearson. Frisket was only bored. Weren't you, boy?" He put his hand on Frisket's head.

Frisket whined, wagged his stump of a tail, and licked Enzo's face again.

Enzo laughed. "See? He's a good dog. Let me up, Frisket."

The enormous animal took his paws off Enzo's shoulders, and Enzo stood up.

Mr. Pearson rolled his eye. "Well, just see to it he goes exploring somewhere else when he gets bored, boy." He soared off on his zipboard, muttering.

Bo's eyes were wide. "Is that your dog? He's huge," he said respectfully.

"Frisket's my friend. He's real smart," Enzo said proudly. "He even goes into Games with Bob and Matrix."

"And who was that Mr. Pearson guy?"

"Him? Oh, he lives in the junkyard and fixes stuff. He always sounds like he's mad at you, but he doesn't mean it."

Bo shook his head. "This system is so weird. You have an uninfected Guardian, two Command.Coms, and this huge dog." He looked around. "But why aren't there any more sprites?"

Enzo's smile faded. "Um, there was an accident."

"What kind of accident?"

"An experiment went wrong, and it accidentally deleted most of the sprites in Mainframe," Enzo said in a very small voice. He scuffed the ground with the toe of one shoe.

"So you're the only kid in Mainframe?"

"Sort of."

"No wonder you're weird," Bo said. He grinned suddenly. "Race you back to the park."

Enzo's head came up, and the two of them ran off at top speed.

* * *

The message on Dot's organizer was breathless. "Hiya Dot me and Bo are going zipskating Bo says it's really fun so I'll see you later bye."

Dot smiled. Her little brother was happy. He had a friend his own age. The message was curiously reminiscent of the kind of thing Matrix used to leave on her organizer before he and AndrAIa had disappeared into that Game. "You'll grow up happy this time, little brother," she promised.

* * *

"This looks like a good spot. We can skate down that little hill there." Bo pointed.

"It's a good thing some of the temporary files are gone, or we wouldn't have any space. When are you moving?" Enzo asked his friend.

"As soon as my mom starts work over in G Prime. It'll be nice not to have to sleep next to my sister anymore." Bo grinned. "She snores."

Enzo laughed, then gestured to the hill. "So show me how you do this."

Bo tossed a single zipboard pad onto the turf, then ran, and jumped onto the pad, one foot swinging free as the pad glided down the slope. Bo stopped at the bottom, and stepped off. "It's fun! Try it!" he called.

Enzo ran a few steps, and landed with both feet on the pad. "Whoaaa!" He windmilled, and finally fell off, but bounced to his feet halfway down the slope. "Lemme try that again."

"Sure," Bo agreed. "Only make sure you use your right foot, and lean back a little this time."

"Lean back. Okay. Here I go." Enzo sprinted to the top of the hill, dropped the zipboard pad, then trotted back a few steps. He ran forward and jumped, landing on the zipboard with one foot, and swinging the other madly for balance. This time he managed to jump off and land on both feet before the zipboard skidded to a stop. "I did it! Alphanumeric! You do it again, Bo."

Bo nodded. "Watch this." He set the other pad of Enzo's zipboard, then ran, leaped on the pad, and made a horizontal loop in the air. He kicked the zipboard free at the height of his spin, caught it in one hand, and tucked it under himself before gliding smoothly to the ground, stepping nonchalantly off the pad onto his free foot.

"Wooow." Enzo breathed. "Can you teach me that?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," growled a deep voice.

Enzo's face fell, and he turned. "Aw, come on, Matrix. Bo says all the kids in his old system zipskate."

Matrix lifted Enzo by the back of his shirt. "What's that got to do with you?"

"Enzo!"

Both Enzo and Matrix turned as AndrAIa came soaring across the manicured lawn on her zipboard. She looked at the debris of Enzo's zipboard, then at Bo, who looked away. "What in the Net's going on here?"

"We were just-" Enzo started.

"They took apart a zipboard and were trying to ride it." Matrix finished flatly. "I thought I was stupid as a kid."

AndrAIa lifted her eyebrows. "But a zipboard isn't stable unless it's got two pads. Everyone knows that."

"You can do some really great tricks on it if you practice," Bo said shyly.

"Come on, Matrix. I promise I won't hurt myself," Enzo wheedled.

Matrix pulled the boy closer. "Don't make promises you can't keep, kid. Besides, Dot says it's time to go home now. So put your zipboard back together and let's go." He set the boy down with exaggerated care, and turned to Bo. "Isn't your mother calling you?"

Bo looked up at the looming sprite, then mumbled, "I'll see you in school tomorrow, Enzo." He ran off toward the tent he shared with his mother and sister.

* * *

Mainframe was preparing for Daemon's invasion, but that hardly affected the User's capricious habits. The system was abruptly awakened from sound sleep one night, to the dispassionate voice of Mainframe saying, "Warning: Incoming Game. Warning: Incoming Game."

Enzo sat straight up in bed, then bolted into the living room. "Dot! Where's the Game dropping?"

Dot Matrix, the Command.com of Mainframe, slouched on her couch, wrapped up in a fuzzy white bathrobe. "Not now, Enzo." She spoke into a vid window.

"Citizens of Mainframe. Evacuate G Prime. Let the Guardians handle this. Stay calm, and move quickly. I repeat, evacuate G Prime immediately." She keyed for another link. "Phong, I'm going to need a monitoring link routed to my organizer."

"G Prime? Oh, no, that's where Bo and his mom and sister are! They've only been there two cycles, Dot! They don't know their way around yet!" Enzo was almost jumping up and down.

"Calm down, Enzo! The CPUs will make sure everyone's clear before the Game lands."

"We should try to get there, Dot. In case Bob and Matrix don't make it on time."

Dot rolled her eyes. "Enzo, we don't have time now. Besides, Matrix is already there, and-" she consulted her organizer, "it looks like Bob's going to make it, too. They'll take care of the Game. Our job is to take care of all the people outside the Game. Like your friend Bo, for instance."

"Why don't I go see if I can find them, Dot? Just to make sure they're all right. Maybe they can come back here for the night."

"I don't want you out on the streets this late, Enzo." Dot checked her organizer again. "Phong, get me the WallDoor Hotel, please. I think we can put everybody from G Prime there for the night."

Enzo sat down on the couch beside his sister, and watched the numbers flicker on her organizer for a while. The WallDoor Hotel willingly accepted the night's guests, since there were few travelers in Mainframe these days.

Despite his intention to remain wide awake, so he'd know the moment the Game left, Enzo fell asleep, nestled against his sister. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, Dot went and got the comforter off Enzo's bed, and tucked it around her brother as she waited.

* * *

Enzo woke the next morning to find Dot still watching the Game stats. "It's still going?" he asked.

"It must be a new Game. I've never seen one go on this long," Dot murmured.

"Why hasn't Bob won yet? He knows all about Games."

"I don't know, Enzo." Dot's voice was hoarse with exhaustion and worry. "I don't know."

Enzo fixed himself a bowl of Chocolate Frosted Data Bombs, and scooped them into his mouth with his fingers as he watched the Game stats over Dot's shoulder. "Want some cereal, Dot? It's good."

"Thanks for the thought, Enzo, but you'd better get to school."

"School? How can I go to school when Bob and Matrix are in a Game, fighting all kinds of monsters to save the city from nullification?" Enzo warmed to his subject. "They might be trapped in a room with burning hot floors and walls that slowly close in while you try to guess which door leads out of the Pit of Utter Deletion, or they could be flying through clouds of poisonous gas trying to get to the Hidden City and find the Key to Completion before the flying worms chew their ships into powder-"

"Enzo!" Dot cried.

"Yeah Dot?"

"Go to school. Believe me, you'll know when the Game leaves."

"Okay, Dot. I'm going to the WallDoor Hotel on the way so I can walk with Bo."

"Then hurry, Enzo. Don't be late."

"Dot?"

"Yes, Enzo?"

"Maybe you should change your clothes. It is morning, after all." Enzo ran out the door before Dot could reply.

* * *

Enzo and Bo looked up at the pulsating wall of the Game. To say they were dawdling on the way to school would imply that they had actually moved in the last ten nanoseconds, which they hadn't. "So your sister doesn't know when it'll leave?" Bo asked for the fifth time.

"Nope. It could be here all day." Enzo shaded his eyes. "I wish we could see what's happening in there."

"Me, too." Bo was silent for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "You know, back home, the Guardians didn't go into Games. They just ran around arresting people."

"Bob and Matrix always go into Games. Matrix grew up Game-hopping."

"What's that?"

"You live in the Games, jumping from city to city with the Games. You get to do all kinds of exciting things. You compile up faster than anyone else. You never have to do homework."

"Is that why he's so random?"

"He's not random," Enzo defended. "He's just tough."

Their conversation was interrupted by the system voice. "Game. Over."

The Game withdrew, leaving two figures in the street.

Bob bent over for a minute, panting. Then he looked up at Matrix, who was also struggling to catch his breath. "Do you realize what you just did?"

"I won the Game," Matrix rasped.

"By short-circuiting our power supply? If that stunt hadn't worked we'd have been out of options, Matrix. We'd have lost the Game to a dead battery."

"It worked, didn't it?"

Bob closed his eyes, and stood absolutely still for a moment. "Look, I realize that you haven't been Guardian-trained, so you had to make up your own tactics, but you've got to learn to think about the consequences before you take a risk like that."

"I know all about consequences," Matrix growled. "You lose a Game, you lose your life."

"And a major sector of the city you're sworn to protect!" Bob took a step toward Matrix. "Don't forget that! You're not fighting just to survive anymore. You're fighting to save a city!"

Matrix took a step back, his face full of hurt surprise. Then his heavy brows lowered, and he roughly shoved past Bob. "I have never forgotten that," he said in an uncharacteristically soft tone. "Never." He took a few steps toward Enzo and Bo, then noticed the two boys standing in the street. "Don't you two have somewhere else to be?" he rumbled. He whipped out his zipboard, and was gone.

Enzo stood staring, openmouthed. He blinked back tears, and mumbled, "Um, I'm going to go see if Matrix is okay." He activated his zipboard and flew off without waiting for a reply.

"Enzo! Wait!" Bob lifted one hand, then dropped it to his side as the boy sped out of sight. The Guardian sighed, then he looked up at Bo, who stood frozen in his tracks. Bob carefully stepped back, and said, "You go ahead to school, Bo. Tell the teacher Enzo will be in later." Sirens began to wail as Dot's emergency forces roared toward G Prime.

Bo, freed by the scream of the siren, and spurred on by the sight of Bob's bright yellow icon, fled. Bob watched the boy run, then shook his head and turned toward Kits Sector.

* * *

"Miss Matrix?" The vidwindow came on in front of Dot's couch.

Dot, still in her bathrobe, jerked awake and looked up at the vidwindow. "Miss Brodie? What's wrong?"

"Young Enzo never came to school today. Is he all right? I thought perhaps you might have kept him home to help you clean up after the Game."

Dot, suddenly wide awake, sat straight up on the couch. "He left for school just before the Game left. He was going to meet his friend Bo and walk with him."

"That's why I didn't call you earlier, Miss Matrix. Bo was late this morning, and he told me Enzo would come in later." Miss Brodie paused. "Bo did seem a bit upset, now that I think of it."

"Thanks for telling me this, Miss Brodie. If you hear anything else, let me know. I'll take it from here."

Miss Brodie nodded, and Dot ended the transmission. She called up another vidwindow, and dialed the Hedrons.

* * *

"I swear on my source code, Dot, that's all he said." Bo said earnestly. "Then Bob told me to go to school, and to tell Miss Brodie Enzo would be late."

"And you didn't see which direction Enzo went?" Dot asked.

Bo shook his head.

"All right. Thank you, Bo. You've given me a few leads."

"When you find him, tell him I've got his homework," Bo said softly.

"I will."

* * *

Dot's next call was to Matrix and AndrAIa's apartment on the far edge of Baudway. AndrAIa answered the call. "Yes? Oh, hello Dot. What's processing?" She had obviously been cooking--she was wearing an enormous white apron and a smear of sauce on her cheek.

Dot, distracted by worry and still short on sleep, skipped pleasantries. "Enzo's missing, AndrAIa. He didn't go to school today. Is Matrix there?"

"He's asleep."

"Did he say anything to you about what happened after the Game?" Dot prodded.

AndrAIa shrugged. "He said he'd had an argument with Bob. I thought it would be better if I waited and asked him about it after he'd slept a few microseconds. He's always grumpy when he's tired." She looked at Dot's desperate face, and wiped her hands on her apron. "Hey, if you want help, I'll leave a note for Matrix and come over."

"What's going on?" Matrix, tousled, barefoot, and for once unarmed, shambled into the room. He looked at the vid window and blinked. "Hi, sis. It's not another Game, is it?"

"Enzo's missing," AndrAIa explained.

That brought Matrix awake. "He didn't go to school?"

"I just talked to his best friend," Dot told them. "Enzo went looking for you, Enzo."

"Now there's a strange sentence," AndrAIa murmured.

Matrix's brows furrowed. "But I came straight back here after the Game..." His face cleared. "I think I know where he went. I'll go get him."

"Where, Enzo? Just tell me where he is, I'll pick him up."

Matrix looked at his sister for a moment, then shook his head. "Don't worry, he's all right. But I should be the one to find him. We have some things to talk about." He headed back toward the bedroom to get dressed.

AndrAIa watched him go. "It had to happen sometime." She turned back to the screen. "I think we have to let Matrix do this his way, Dot."

Dot looked at AndrAIa helplessly, then nodded. "All right, but keep me posted, will you?"

"Of course."

* * *

Enzo hugged his knees a little tighter as his stomach growled. He had cried himself out microseconds ago, and now he sat, watching the data sea ripple and glow.

Someone was coming from behind. "Go away," he told the intruder. His voice sounded sulky. He hated that.

"I told Dot I'd find you." That rough voice was easy to identify. Matrix.

"Why were you looking? You hate me." Enzo curled himself smaller, and turned away from his adult self.

"That sounds familiar," Matrix said under his breath. "Listen. I don't hate you."

"You hate me." Enzo repeated. But he did turn just enough to see the older sprite's reaction out of the tail of his eye.

"It's not that simple." Matrix said through a sigh. He sank to the ground, and propped his elbows on his knees as he stared out over the sea.

Enzo put his chin on his arms, and the two of them sat in silence for a while. Finally Matrix asked, "So why didn't you go to school?"

Enzo didn't answer immediately. "Bo thinks you're random."

"Yeah? So what if I am?"

"I'm going to grow up to be you." Enzo stated. "That means I'll be random too." He rubbed his face with one fist.

Matrix stared at Enzo for a few nanos, digesting this statement. Then he shook his head. "That's not how it's going to be, kid. I won't let you go through what I've been through." He turned his eyes back to the data sea. "Megabyte took away my life, but no one's going to take yours."

"Bo's scared of you." Enzo said abruptly.

Matrix caught the implication. "I'm not surprised. Sometimes I'm scared of myself."

"It's not really that much fun to be a Guardian, is it?" Enzo was obviously voicing all the questions he'd spent the day brooding over.

Matrix kept his eyes on the sea. "Not always. It's a bigger responsibility than I thought it was when I was your age."

"That's why Bob was mad at you, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I didn't think about what I was doing. I just reacted."

Enzo put his head back down on his knees. "Maybe I should go home now. Dot's probably worried."

"I think you're in for the microsecond version of the 'Just let me know where you are' lecture," Matrix agreed.

Enzo smiled wanly. "Dot likes to make speeches."

"She's good at it, too. Come on."

* * *

"All hands! Prepare to cast off!" Captain Capacitor, decked out in resplendent finery, stood on the poop deck of the Saucy Mare II, and punctuated his orders with slashes from his polished sword. "Mr. Phil! Is the engine room ready?"

"Ready, sir!"

"Mr. Andrews! Status!"

"Ready at the helm, sir!"

"Mr. Jimmy! Weapons status!"

"All guns online, sir!"

"Mr. Christopher!"

"Aye-aye, sir!" The ship's accountant hastily transferred a large camera to his left hand, and saluted with the right.

"Keep her steady, lad, keep her steady. Don't make posterity dizzy."

"No, sir! I mean, yes sir!" Mr. Christopher saluted again, and the camera wobbled.

AndrAIa, standing by the rail with Matrix by her side, hid her smile behind her hand.

The captain, in his element, bellowed, "Cast off! Take her out, Mr. Andrews!"

The Saucy Mare II left port with graceful dignity. Her rails were twined with garlands, and ribbons fluttered from the tops of her masts. Even her deck guns were draped with colorful bunting. Her crew bustled about, trying to look busy while enjoying the trip.

"She's a beautiful ship, Gavin," AndrAIa complimented the captain. "Thank you again for inviting us on your first cruise."

"Thank you, Mademoiselle." Captain Capacitor swept off his hat and bowed. "I thought the debut of this lovely lady should be attended by the lovely lady who helped us build her."

AndrAIa laughed. "It seems both the Mare and I have charming rogues as escorts." She put her arm around Matrix.

Mr. Christopher, carefully panning the camera across the deck, paused for a moment, looked up at Matrix, then shook his head. "Charming?"

* * *

"Hey, Bo! Watch this!" Enzo sprinted, and hit the zipboard pad so hard it brushed the grass. The pad shot down the slope, then abruptly rose straight in the air as Enzo shifted his weight. Enzo reached down, caught the pad with his left hand, then twisted into a near somersault before slamming his left foot back onto the pad and gliding to a stop.

"A left-handed flip switch? How'd you come up with that?"

Enzo grinned. "By accident. How else?"

* * *

"Keep going, Bob. The tear should be just around the next bend."

Bob, on his hands and knees far below Mainframe, answered, "Are you sure this is the fastest way to the tear, Dot? I feel like I've crawled across half the city."

Dot's voice crackled in Bob's headphones. "I'm sorry, Bob, but those maintenance tunnels were designed for--"

"Automated subroutines. I know." Bob pushed his hard hat back on his head. "I still want to know what could cause a tear down here. Yuck!" He picked up one hand and shook it. A squealing Null vanished into the darkness. "It's times like this I regret my choice of career," he mused.

A rumbling murmur interrupted. It came more clearly through the mike at Dot's end. "Warning: Incoming Game."

"What!" Bob bumped his head against the tunnel's roof. "Dot, tell me there's a hatch close by!"

"The closest one is back the way you came, Bob!" Dot's voice was tight. "You can't make it!"

Bob scrabbled in the narrow tunnel, trying to turn around. "This is bad. Very bad! Dot! Where's Matrix?"

"He and AndrAIa are out on the data sea with Capacitor! Wait a nano." Dot's voice took on a note of relief. "The Game's dropping over Floating Point, Bob. I'm pretty sure I can get there before the Game lands."

"Dot, you can't! Remember what Phong told you about Games when he retired?" Bob panted as he scrambled through the tunnel. "If the Command.com is nullified the whole system oscillates out of control! You have to stay out of it, Dot!" He came to a three-way intersection of the tunnel. "Dot, which way?"

"Left, Bob!" Dot's voice calmed down as she put her attention to the task. "I'm sending a tunnel scooter for you. If we're lucky..."

Bob stopped in the tunnel. "I've got a better idea, Dot." He activated his zipboard, then pulled it until the connecting rods straightened out. He lay flat across the zipboard. "This should be interesting." He kicked off the tunnel walls to get himself started, and shot down the tunnel. "Dot, where's my next turn?"

* * *

"Come on, Bo, it'll be fun."

"Fun? Have you gone completely random? That's a Game, Enzo!"

Enzo grinned confidently. "Games are great, Bo! I’ve been in lots of Games with Bob and Dot. You get all kinds of cool powers, and—"

"But Bob isn’t here!" Bo exclaimed. He grabbed Enzo’s arm and pulled. "Come on, let’s get out of here."

"Bob’s coming," Enzo answered. "Without Megabarf to stop him, there’s no way Bob could miss a Game."

* * *

"Bob, what are you doing? My monitor says you’re moving faster than a tunnel scooter!"

"Let's just say I'm trying a new sport. I'm coming up on a cross-tunnel, Dot. Which way do I go?"

"Left," Dot answered.

Bob leaned, and made the turn, but made several loops in the tunnel before regaining control of his zipboard. He forced his eyes to refocus, and muttered, "I'll have to tell Enzo about this."

* * *

Bo looked nervously about. "I don’t like this, Enzo. Shouldn’t Bob be here by now?"

"He’ll be here, Bo. I think he had to go down to the maintenance tunnels to fix a tear, so he’ll probably be a little late. But he’ll be here. Besides, someone has to defend the city." Enzo's voice climbed a few octaves in his excitement. "Otherwise all of Floating Point could be nullified!"

"And us with it!" Bo pointed out.

* * *

"What the—Oh no! Bob! I have to go!" Something at Dot's end clattered.

"Dot, don't!"

A new voice crackled in the mike. "She's gone, sir."

"Specky?"

"Yes, sir! I'll help you out, sir!"

"Specky, you have to stop Dot. Call out the CPUs, deactivate her zipboard, anything! Just don't let her get into that Game!"

"I don't have that kind of authority, Bob. I--"

"Then do it on my authority! She's risking the whole system!" Bob ground his teeth. "What in the Net is she thinking?"

"I don't understand it, either, sir. I--Oh dear."

"What?" Bob reached an upshaft, and yanked his zipboard back into shape before jumping on and accelerating.

"Well, according to Dot's organizer, Enzo and his little friend Bo were going to be at the park zipskating this afternoon."

Bob's jaw tightened. "Let me guess. Neither one of them has showed up at the evacuation points."

"No, sir."

Bob's brows lowered. "Then I guess I'll have to make a mess!" This last was a shout, which was immediately drowned out by the thunder of exploding masonry.

"Bob! Are you all right?"

* * *

"Bob’s not going to make it, Enzo! We have to go, now!" Bo grabbed his friend and pulled him toward the edge of the park.

"But…Bob." Enzo reluctantly started walking, his eyes scanning the sky above the city.

"He’s not here! Hurry up!"

* * *

A soft hum below G Prime became a steady whine. The few binomes unlucky enough to work on the lower levels stopped, listening to the odd sound emanating from beneath their feet. The whine built to a howling roar, and the binomes fled as a circular section of the street cracked, then burst outward in a shower of debris. Bob, perched on his bent and smoking zipboard and surrounded by a nimbus of golden light, shot out of the ground like a missile, headed for the levels above.

Bob yanked off his hard hat and yelled into his headset over the noise. "Specky! Clear my path, I don't have time to dodge traffic!" He let the dented hard hat fall as he kicked the zipboard’s speed higher.

Startled citizens dove for cover as their Guardian streaked past, his overtaxed zipboard screaming. Bob skimmed by the Principle Office, his eyes on the cube dropping out of the ominously purple sky.

* * *

Enzo, now running alongside Bo, stopped, and pointed. "Bo! Look, it’s Bob!" He waved, and beamed in relief. "I told you he’d be here!"

Floating Point was empty, except for...Bob's eyes widened as he caught sight of two small figures on one of the green lawns. "Enzo!" Bob leaped from his zipboard in a long, low dive--and caught a glimpse of Enzo’s ashen face just before the Game touched down a fingertip’s length away from Bob’s outstretched hands. The Guardian bounced off the purple wall of the Game, and fell facedown onto the manicured grass. Horror-struck, Bob lifted his head from the ground, and breathed, "No. Enzo. Oh, no." He buried his face in his hands as his ruined zipboard smoldered.

Dot, surrounded by a squad of CPUs, came gliding over the turf. Her face paled as she saw the Guardian, flat on the ground and outside the Game.

* * *

"Bob!" Enzo stared at the spot where Bob had been, openmouthed.

"He didn’t make it, Enzo. We’re going to have to win this one by ourselves." Bo’s voice wobbled, but he went on anyway. "So let’s do it and get out of here. Have you seen this Game before?"

Enzo closed his mouth and looked around the new environment. He and Bo stood in a floating chamber with marble Philars and a stained glass ceiling. There were 12 different portraits hanging in air, also made of stained glass. Enzo’s eyes widened, and his face drained of color.

"What’s wrong?" Bo asked.

Enzo turned to look at his friend. "I've heard of this game before. AndrAIa told me about it. It's a tournament style fighting game between gods, demons, and mortals. This should be the phase where the User selects his character."

Bo turned, and looked down into the pit below, where a colored outline flicked back and forth among the portraits. His eyes went a bit wild as he scanned the stained-glass characters. "All right. Then what?"

"We have to defeat the User in hand to hand combat."

"So we just choose a character and become him, and wait our turn."

"No. The User only has to defeat five opponents. We have to second-guess the User, and reboot into one of the characters just before the User chooses the character to fight."

"So we’ve got five chances to guess right." Bo took a deep breath and gulped. "That--that doesn’t sound so bad."

Enzo shook his head. "No, it’s bad, Bo. It’s very bad."

The golden outline skipped around the circle of portraits.

"What do you mean?" Bo’s eyes widened until the irises were surrounded by staring white. "Didn’t AndrAIa tell you how to win this Game?"

"No, Bo." Enzo watched as the User chose its form, not meeting his friend’s eyes. "Matrix and AndrAIa played this Game when they were our age. This is the one they lost."

"They lost?" Bo whispered. "We’re dead, aren’t we?"

Enzo shook his head. He turned, and looked down at the flame-winged User in horrified despair. "Matrix and AndrAIa survived it. So—so can we."

* * *

GAME OVER. THE USER WINS.

Continued in "Conscious Decisions."