It took all of Bob's strength to hold Matrix back. In the back of his mind, in a place where nothing had changed, he couldn't believe this was Enzo, and his vision blurred over, Enzo's face superimposed over Matrix's. He glanced to Dot, and he saw her in her peach jumpsuit, removing her glasses to admonish him about something or another. He felt the game pull at his codes, and for a nano, he forgot why he was holding back.

Matrix strained against him, and Bob knew he felt the same pull.

User, what have I done?

He felt, rather than heard or saw the game fully hit, the same way he felt Matrix echo his own thoughts.

"What have we done?"

Bob shook his head sharply, staring out over a dying Mainframe. No time for regrets... no time for much of anything, but waiting. He had done all he could, but he had this feeling, this feeling deep in his core that he could've done something else. But for the first time, he had no idea what that could have been; for the first time, he didn't have any answers.

Everything went into slow motion, like his clockspeed was dropping, but he saw every detail like he had never seen things before. Bob watched as Phong tapped his fingers together meditatively, and he saw peace on the old sprite's face. He could hear Phong's lids scrape over his eyes as they closed, and he was fascinated. He saw AndrAIa reach for Matrix, saw their love and fear... and resignation? No, not that. It was acceptance, a calm, almost. They were ready, no matter what. No regrets.

He felt Dot's energy next to him, and he reached for her hand, watched his own arm stretch almost involuntarily towards her.

She stepped into it, stepped into him, and he wished for a shred of that peace and calm the others were feeling. He looked into her eyes, and he saw fear there, but it was mixed in with love and acceptance, and she seemed to be searching his own face for answers.

He couldn't give her any. His insides felt frozen. He couldn't give Dot what she needed. He couldn't give any of them what they had needed. What if he was wrong? What if they lost everything, if he lost everything? He tensed and grabbed Dot's upper arms, hard. Her eyes narrowed for a split nano, and she saw what he was thinking. She smiled, and tried to touch his face, but he couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Oh, User, Dot...

What power that had remained on flickered, and then died as the system shut down. Everything was black, and he widened his eyes, trying to take in as much light as he could.

The voice continued. Warning. System Crash. Warning. System Crash.

"Bob?" Dot's voice was low, and he swung his eyes towards her. "Bob, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's going to be okay."

"No," she said, panicky now. "No, what's wrong? I don't feel r-ri-ri-right."

Everything snapped back into normal speed. The power wasn't coming back, the data wasn't coming back. He felt Dot flickering in his hands, but he felt painfully solid. He could hear the others coming to the same conclusion.

"Enzo, I think ther-"

"AndrAIa? Are you al-"

"Guardian. It is what we fea-"

"Bob."

Bob leaned close to Dot, a thought burning in his head, one last thought before the end. "Dot, I wanted to tel-"

"What...have you done?"

He gripped Dot's arms tighter. "What? No, this isn't what I wanted. This isn't what I thought..."

"You did this," she whispered. "You d-did-did this."

"No! No, I didn't, I didn't!"

"Stay frosty," she ground out, her legs buckling.

His hands closed into fists as she flickered out of existence. "Dot? Dot! No! I didn't mean this! I didn't think this would happen!" He turned to face the direction of the others.

"It's over, Guardian," Phong said.

And then they were all gone, but he was still there, still processing, in the dark. "Phong!" he cried out feebly. Then more forceful. "Matrix! AndrAIa!" He lowered his hands to his sides. "Dot. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

There was a sound in the dark, and he whipped his head around, but still couldn't see. He felt helpless- his codes were processing in over-drive, but he felt detached somehow, desensitized. A familiar voice sounded near his ear.

"Well, Guardian. You did to them in a few nanos what I had been trying to do for hours: crushed their spirits. I suppose we're more the same than you once thought, hmmm, Bob?"

Everything suddenly sped up, and Bob felt like the entire Net was collapsing onto him. He felt dizzy. It couldn't be...

There was a glint of Megabyte's eyes in the dark, his red irises glowing in triumph. "I am rather disappointed that you deleted them all; not the way I would've done it, Guardian. And since you took what was rightfully mine, I'm afraid I'm going to have to demand reparations."

"You were sent into the Web...you can't be here."

"Just like you didn't delete your closest friends?"

"I didn't do that!" Bob roared. "It wasn't my fault." Rage and denial grew quickly in him, and Bob raised his shaking hands, concentrating deep inside to call up something, anything, just to make Megabyte stop talking. Stop processing. His own codes be damned, he wanted to erase the virus once and for all.

Nothing happened.

Megabyte chuckled. "Oh, Bob, you do amuse me. Here, let me help you..." He reached out a claw and grabbed both of Bob's hands, holding them down between them.

Bob realized what he was going to do, as everything again slammed into normal speed.

"Now hold still, Bob. This won't take but a nanosecond." Megabyte covered Bob's icon with three fingers and closed his eyes.

Bob felt an odd tingle start in his chest, that quickly grew to a burning. "No! You can't!" His stomach dropped and he felt sick as the infection started to spread. His limbs felt heavy and his veins were burning. He was able to keep his wits for a nano longer, until he heard screaming and realized it was coming from his own mouth. His ears filled with it, and with the sound of Megabyte laughing.

 "No!" Bob's eyes flew open, and his surroundings had changed: he was in his living room in Kits, on his couch; the hand over his icon was not Megabyte's, but a soft, light green; the voice in his ear was soothing.

"Bob? It's okay, it's only a dream."

Dot. "Dot," he whispered, and he grabbed her, holding her head against his chest. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to let you down."

The green sprite smiled sadly. "Oh, Bob, you didn't let me down; you've never let me down. It was a dream, that's all." She slipped her arms around his waist and squeezed.

"It felt so real..." Bob shook his head and blinked, trying to clear away the image of Dot flickering on deletion.

She sat up straight, not taking her hand from his chest. "Why don't you tell me about it, so I can prove to you it doesn't mean anything."

Bob's mouth pulled with a little grin. "Do you have a fail-safe plan for everything?"

"Of course."

The guardian expelled a long breath, and opened his mouth, wondering where to start telling her about it, if he wanted to tell her about it. He thought of the system crash, of Megabyte, of the sprites he loved erasing... He changed the subject. "What time is it?"

"It's a little past 0100. You fell asleep about a second ago, and I didn't want to wake you." She frowned at the expression on Bob's face as his eyes glazed over. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"Y-yeah," Bob breathed deeply and squeezed the back of Dot's neck. "Yeah, I'm okay."

She tilted her head, unsure of what he was thinking. "Okay, then. Walk me to the door? I have to get up early tomorrow."

"Why don't you stay this cycle?"

Dot sat back from him and her hand fell to his knee; this time, she was the one looking distressed. "I really should get home. I left Enzo with AndrAIa, and I have a meeting in the morning, and-"

Bob smiled and laid a finger on her lips. "Okay, okay. I get it. Come on, I'll walk you out."

"It's not that I don't want to stay," Dot said, turning to him when they got to the door. "It's just that-"

"Dot, it's fine."

"Yeah, okay." She touched his face. "You're sure you're fine?"

"Positive."

"So kiss me goodnight already," she laughed.

"Whatever the madam wishes." Bob took her face in his hands and kissed her, softly at first. Her mouth was so warm, so comforting, so safe. He felt a pull deep inside and his kiss turned urgent - her energy seemed to radiate from her, inviting him to stay, to go deeper. She made a small sound, something more than a sigh and less than a moan, and he had to hold himself back from taking it any further. Just a kiss, idiot. That's all.

She pulled away slowly and licked her lips, her cheeks a little flushed. Her voice was gravelly when she winked and said, "Stay frosty, Bob."

Stay frosty. His warm, safe mood was shattered, and his core stopped and then started processing in over-drive. He managed what he thought was a smile and watched her zip off towards the diner. He stood like that for a while, not able to move, willing himself to forget.

"Enzo! Get your bitmap in here! You're going to be late for school!"

Bob walked into Dot's place as she was bellowing down the hall for Enzo. And everything is right with the net. He smiled to himself.

"Is Bob here yet?" Enzo's voice shrilled from his room.

"He's right here. Now let's go- don't make me yell!" Dot turned quickly to Bob and gave him a peck on the lips. "Hi there."

"Hi yourself." He grabbed her around the waist to draw her closer.

She let him have control for a second, then pulled her head back a little and brushed some strands of hair out of his eye. She looked at him sternly. "Bob, did you sleep last cycle?"

He shrugged and laughed lightly. "Like a rock."

Her eyes searched his. "You wouldn't be lying to me, now would you?"

He put the back of a hand to his forehead, feigning offense. "Lying? To you? Dot, what must you think of me?

She frowned and opened her mouth to say more, when she heard a sharp whistle from behind her.

Bob's eyes shifted to look over her shoulder. "Enzo. You ready to go?"

"Only if you are," came the retort.

"Enzo!"

"It's okay, sis. I'll wait." Muffled giggling followed.

Dot broke away from Bob's grasp. "Okay, okay. That's quite enough. You," she pointed to Enzo, "have to go to school." She thrust a brown bag at him. "And don't forget your lunch. You," she continued, pointing to Bob, "don't forget, you and Mouse have a meeting with Phong at 1100. I have to get to the Principal Office before Phong sends Hack and Slash over here to find out where I am." She attached her organizer to her belt and kissed both sprites on the cheek. "You and you, have a nice day." Then she was gone, leaving said sprites staring after her with a mixture of love and astonishment.

"That never ceases to amaze me," Bob said softly. "How does she do that?"

Enzo grinned to himself. "That's my sister. And your..?"

Bob looked at him. "And just what are you implying, Enzo?"

"Bob, please. I may be 01, but I'm not basic."

Bob waved to Enzo from the sidewalk in front of his school, then checked his internal clock. 0900. Two seconds until he was supposed to meet Mouse and Phong at the Principal Office. He stifled a yawn and mulled over going back home to get more sleep; the cycle before, despite what he told Dot, had definitely not been good. In the daylight, he could barely remember why he hadn't slept well- some dream, he knew, but he couldn't really get a bead on what it was about.

Yawning again, he turned towards Kits, deciding a second more sleep might be just what he needed to clear his head. He stopped after a few feet, feeling a strange tingle in his stomach-almost a tickle, but from the inside. What the- oh, no.

He looked up as the sky turned purple, and he heard the familiar bells start up.

WARNING: INCOMING GAME. WARNING: INCOMING GAME

He groaned. It's just too early for this, he thought, changing course to intercept the game

As he approached, he felt an odd chill, one he had felt sometimes in the web. He shook it off. That was a whole different life...

As he neared the game, he heard a whistle from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Matrix and AndrAIa zipping in his direction.

"Hey, Bob, wait up," Matrix called.

"Wait up," Bob said to himself with a smile. Louder, he said, "Yeah, I'll just tell the manager to hold our place until we get there."

They stopped a few feet from him and looked up at the falling game. Matrix grinned sheepishly at Bob.

Bob smiled back, thinking how much he had changed in the minutes since the restart. Although he was almost Bob's age now, Matrix still exhibited signs of the young sprite Bob had left behind - being back in Mainframe had given him back a bit of the exuberance he had lost. For cycles after the restart, he wouldn't go anywhere near the games, but over the past minute, he had taken to going back in, so long as Bob was around. Bob figured he was making up for lost time, something they were all trying to do.

The game landed and a dull quake rumbled through the ground. Bob let his eyes adjust to the dark after the bright cycle of Mainframe, and took stock of his surroundings. Matrix and AndrAIa were standing to his left, waiting for his word to ReBoot.

He focused inwards and analyzed the game. "Okay, guys, this is a tactics operation game called Rogue Spear. The User's objective is to take down an enemy assigned by his higher up. We have to take the User out first." He looked around at the stone patio they were standing on, and inclined his chin towards the mansion doors a few yards away. "The User's target is in there. He'll be coming in with a team of game sprites."

AndrAIa narrowed her eyes and looked to Matrix. "Yeah, we've played one like this before."

"I always wondered what kind of a User would play a game like this for fun. All those game sprites killing each other..." He half put up a hand to touch AndrAIa, then lowered it, thinking this was neither the time nor the place.

"Let's get this over with," AndrAIa said, noting Matrix's gesture and smiling tightly at him.

Bob nodded and raised a hand to his icon. "ReBoot!"

A cylinder of green rose around Bob and whisked him off to another part of the game, inside the mansion. He had rebooted into a black heavy cloth outfit with a black mask over his face. Checking the game's stats, he saw that he was chosen as the leader of the team hunting the User, with three game sprites on his unit. He assumed Matrix and AndrAIa had rebooted on different units. As the leader of the team, nothing was carried out without his go ahead, and he could jump from unit to unit, replacing game sprites, to keep an eye on the action. He shivered for a second as he let the feel of the game wash over him.

"Bob, the blue team's ready," Matrix's voice crackled over Bob's earpiece.

"Same for the red team," AndrAIa said. "No, hold for orders," she responded to a game sprite on her team as she waited for Bob to tell them what to do.

"Okay, people. The User's going to be coming in at all possible entrances. Matrix, take the back door, AndrAIa, you take the roof. I'll wait at the main entrance."

"Copy that." Matrix turned to give his unit orders. He took note of the sprites on his team. There was a short stocky man, a taller young kid, and a petite woman. They were all covered in the same black outfits, so he couldn't see any of their faces. For a second, he thought of AndrAIa and how this used to be her. He clamped down on the thought and finished up the orders. "Oh," he added. "And stay back from the doors. The User may try to blow them open."

"Move out," Bob commanded. "Let's get this User."

A few micros later, the User's unit came through the front door, as Bob had thought he might. So arrogant, some of these Users, he thought. He took Bob off guard though when he sent some flashbangs in ahead of his unit.

Bob was momentarily blinded and he yelled for his unit to fall back. He heard silenced gunshots and felt one whiz by his ear. "User's inside!" he yelled into his comlink, fumbling along the wall for the entrance into the next room. "Come on, let's move! We have to regroup!"

His vision came back slowly and he saw the User's unit headed his way. He blinked against the whiteness that still partially covered his eyes. The User loomed over him, and for a nano Bob swore he saw a glint of blue metal in the User's hand. And those eyes behind the black mask...

Megabyte? Bob was frozen in place and the User's outfit seemed to melt away, revealing an expanse of gleaming blue and viral green. He blinked again, and reality came back into focus for a nano, then was replaced by Megabyte's sharp grin. No, please... not now...

He heard a thud as one of the User's sprites went down by the hand of one of Bob's sprites. The User turned to look, and Bob took the opportunity to scramble to his feet and press against the wall as the rest of his unit rushed by him into the next room. He cursed his own foolishness at almost letting the User get him, even angrier that he may have missed his chance to end the game. He gritted his teeth, cocked his gun and took aim at the User. His bullets missed by a hair as the User dodged, but it was enough to scare him into running the other way. Bob watched as the User's unit disappeared into the back of the mansion.

"Matrix," he barked. "He's coming your way."

"Copy that. AndrAIa, what's your position?"

"Uh, I can't really talk right now. I've kinda got my...ugh.. hands full. Watch your back!" The two men heard the staccato of bullets over the comlink.

"You okay?" Matrix asked worriedly.

"Just fine, Sparky." Her voice dropped a level as she spoke almost to herself. "I hate this game."

Bob turned and held up his hand, indication to his unit to hold for orders. He had to form some kind of plan. He smiled. As usual, it comes down to a plan. "Matrix," he said. "Do you have visual on the User?"

"Yeah," Matrix came back in a low voice. "He's just ahead."

"Any other units?"

"Not that I've seen."

"That means one unit is unaccounted for. They've probably gone for the target. But without the User?"

"Wait, Bob! The User disappeared. He was replaced by a game sprite."

"That's what I was afraid of."

"Bob! I've got visual on the User! He just jumped into the unit over here. I'm going to try to take him out."

"Go for it, AndrAIa." Bob thought for another second. If AndrAIa couldn't get him, that means the User would be free to go after the target. He had to get protection over there... "Matrix! Get your unit out of there. You're the closest to the target, and someone has to be there to protect him."

"Copy th- No! Crash it, I've got a man down!"

"Matrix, the User just jumped again. I think he's coming your way!" AndrAIa's voice was tinny and far away over the comlink.

Bob swore. He had to get to Matrix; they had to get that User. And Megabyte... he shook his head sharply. Concentrate, you basic sprite. Where is the User's other unit? His own unit was still holding, waiting for his command. He spoke to Matrix. "What's happening?"

"The other unit... they've got me trapped, and I think the User went for the target. One of my men threw a flashbang, but we were all too close... I can't see what's going on-"

"Hang on, Matrix, I'm coming after you."

"But, Bob, the target."

AndrAIa cut in. "Bob, I think the target's on the move. He's coming my way. I'll cover him."

"No, AndrAIa..."

"Matrix, we can argue later. Right now, you guys have to take out the User. I'll cover the target."

Matrix sighed heavily. "Okay, but be-" His comlink abruptly cut off and static came across to Bob and AndrAIa.

"He's okay, Bob," AndrAIa said after a shocked pause. "I'm sure of it."

"I'm going after him."

AndrAIa came back quickly. "Copy that. I'm going after the target."

Bob gave orders to his unit to follow him and prepared to jump into Matrix's team. He hoped there were still game sprites left to jump into. He closed his eyes and felt a slight displacement for a nano. He opened his eyes at the same time he felt a bullet graze his side, tearing a small hole in the edge of his flak jacket.

He shook it off and turned to shoot at his would-be sniper. He aimed to injure, not to kill; he didn't want to kill if he didn't have to. The game sprite didn't move fast enough and fell to the floor as Bob's bullet caught him in the thigh.

"Matrix!" Bob yelled. "Are you okay?"

"I'm right here."

Bob turned to see Matrix kneeling next to a fallen sprite from his unit. Bob quickly knelt next to him. "We have to go - we have to get the User."

"Yeah," the green sprite said softly. His black mask had been ripped away and the comlink lay mangled over his shoulder, torn from his ear. He face was sad and tired looking.

"It's not your fault," Bob said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"I know."

"Come on, we really have to go."

"Yeah." Matrix stood, wiping a hand across his forehead, leaving a smudge of the game sprite's energy.

Bob stood, too, looking down at the game sprite's body. Even though her flak jacket concealed most of her curves, Bob could tell she was female. A shiver passed through him again, and before he knew what he was doing, he had knelt beside her again, reaching for her mask.

"Bob, what are you doing?"

Bob didn't answer as he peeled away the sprite's mask. He gasped in horror at the sight of her face.

"Dot?" he whispered hoarsely. "No."

"What?" Matrix stepped closer.

"How? How?" Bob was fumbling with the flak jacket now and he ripped it open to expose an outfit similar to Dot's. He raised his gaze to her face - it was definitely Dot. Her thick short hair lay plastered against her forehead, and her violet eyes stared blankly at him, frozen in deletion. He felt sick, like he was being torn apart inside. How did this happen? Why didn't I know she was here? One thought stuck out among the rest: You failed her...again.

He brought a shaking hand to his face and he ripped off his own mask, using it to cover the wound in her midsection. "I'm so sorry..."

Matrix looked over his shoulder to see the last of the User's unit trotting out of the room in pursuit of the target. He spun to Bob, struggling to keep his temper in check. "Bob, I don't know what's going on, but I do know that if we don't move right now, we may lose this game!"

Bob looked at Matrix in anguish, puzzled by his lack of emotion at his sister's deletion. Then he turned back to Dot's body. His face contorted into shock, disgust, and then anger as he looked at the sprite on the ground. Then he stood and pushed past Matrix, to the door where the User's unit had exited. "Let's go."

Matrix knitted his brow and turned to follow, glancing one last time at the sprite on the floor, at the angular face and long blond hair that had been revealed when Bob took off her mask. He blinked hard at the sight of her glazed brown eyes, then shook his head and jogged after the guardian.

"AndrAIa, where are you?" Bob spoke into his comlink.

"I'm on the roof with the target. The User is right behind us." She paused for a nano. "Is Matrix with you?"

"He's fine, but we're down two sprites. What about your unit?"

"One down, Bob. We didn't even see it coming. We rounded a corner and..." she trailed off and exhaled sharply. "But the rest of us managed to get out alive."

Bob reassured her. "That's what matters, AndrAIa." The blue sprite turned to Matrix. "They're on the roof and that's where the User's probably heading. We have to get up there now!"

Matrix nodded and cocked his gun. "Copy that," he growled and dashed ahead of Bob, heading for the servant stairs.

Bob shouted orders into his comlink for the other unit to cover their backs and followed Matrix to the stairs.

Matrix stopped short at the second landing and held his hand back towards Bob. "Wait, I think the User's just ahead of us. We can probably get a clear shot from here if we go slow," he whispered.

Bob braced his hands on his knees and looked up at Matrix, who was two stairs up from him. He had an urge to charge past the green sprite and just spray bullets every which way until the User was deleted and this fragging game was over. What's wrong with me? He tiredly rubbed a hand over his face.

"Bob?"

"Yeah, yeah, that sounds good, Enzo."

Matrix raised his eyebrows at Bob's use of his first name, but he said nothing. Instead, he edged one more step up, and said, "Ready?" At Bob's nod, he moved again, then again, creeping silently towards the User. Suddenly, the User swung around and fired haphazardly in their direction. Matrix turned and yelled "Get down!" as he pressed himself against the wall.

One of the game sprites on the User's team pulled a grenade and threw it down the stairs. Matrix caught it as it sailed by and with a grunt, lobbed it as hard as he could past Bob. It bounced against the wall at the second landing and rounded the corner a nano before it exploded.

The explosion masked the sound of the door to the roof banging open to reveal AndrAIa and the last sprite left on her unit. "Hey!" she yelled, taking careful aim at the User's head. "Game over!"

The User turned and pushed one of his own sprites in the way of the bullet. "No!" AndrAIa shouted, and the sprite staggered and fell into the User, knocking him to the floor. She quickly released the magazine from the gun so she could reload, praying there was enough time before the User got his footing again.

Matrix and Bob meanwhile were struggling with the User's game sprites. They seemed to be everywhere in the small space of the stairwell, even though there were only five of them. Matrix had one bullet left in his gun that he was saving for the User and was swinging at the game sprites with the butt of it, trying to clear a shot path. Bob was breathing heavily, grappling hand to hand with one particularly burly sprite.

He looked up to see Dot standing at the top of the stairs, reloading a huge machine gun. He faltered, and the game sprite hit him square on the jaw. In a burst of anxious adrenaline, he threw his head, which felt ten times its normal size, into the other sprite's head, knocking him to the ground. He shook it off in time to see the User aiming at Dot, who had just clicked the new magazine into place.

Matrix looked up at the same moment, and lurched forward, throwing off a game sprite. "AndrAIa!"

There was a roar from behind him, and he felt himself being shoved out of the way by Bob, who pulled a pistol from under his flak jacket as he leapt at the User. They went down in a tangle of limbs and weapons and Matrix hauled himself up with this gun at the ready.

Bob sat astride the User, his pistol to his forehead. "No," he said quietly, and pulled the trigger.

GAME OVER.

Matrix looked to AndrAIa as the system's voice rang out, and her eyes flicked to Bob, who was still holding the pistol to the User's head, his arm shaking.

The game lifted, leaving two sprites standing and one kneeling with his hands in his lap. Matrix grabbed AndrAIa's hand in relief and squeezed it. She returned the gesture, then nodded to Bob, who still hadn't moved.

"Bob?" Matrix ventured softly.

The guardian stood up and smiled thinly at the two of them. "Fun game."

"Bob, are you okay?"

"Fine. I- I have to head over to the Principal Office." He breathed deeply and threw out his zip board. "Great job in there, guys, really."

AndrAIa stepped towards him. "Do you want some company?"

"No, no I'm meeting Mouse and Phong... I'm fine, really. I'll see you two later." With that, he turned and zipped away.

AndrAIa turned to Matrix and arched an eyebrow. "That was... unusual."

Matrix said nothing, watching Bob zip off towards the Principal Office.

Dot turned as she heard the door slam open behind her. "Bob, what-"

Bob cut her off, kissing her hard, desperately, holding her head fast with one hand, the other grabbing her by the belt across her midsection and pulling her tight against him.

She made a tiny sound of protest until her hands found his shoulders, then his hair, and she leaned into him, getting that warm, flushed, Bob feeling he always invoked in her. The control room faded and a rush of white noise filled her ears.

Nearby binomes stopped and watched the Command.com temporarily forget herself, a sight they would probably never see again. A zero binome smirked, openly staring, and nudged the one binome next to him. The second just nodded, grinning to himself as he stared at the text file in front of him, thinking of his own wife at home.

Specs pushed his glasses up tight against his eyeblock, blushing furiously. He was eye-level with Dot's hip, and he ducked his head close to his work in an attempt to block out the two sprites to his left. A flashing red light indicated an incoming call, and he gratefully answered it.

Phong's face filled the vidwindow. "I am looking for the Guardian. Is he there with..." He trailed off as he saw what was going on. He waved a hand in front of him and smiled. He addressed someone off the screen. "Yes, he is there with Dot. They are... sorting something out." He turned back to Specs, who blushed even deeper as a few binomes who overheard started laughing. "Tell Bob when he is, er, done, that he should meet me in the security office." The old sprite nodded in farewell and closed the connection.

"Uh-" Specs addressed Dot's knee, unable to look at them. "Miss Matrix, sir?"

Dot foggily heard someone speak to her, but she pushed it aside. She had a nagging feeling there was something wrong with what she was letting happen, but Bob's hands were so warm on her back and her neck... surely whatever is was could wait. Bob walked her backwards until the backs of her thighs were pressed against the control panel, and Dot's mind screamed for her to get a grip.

Matrix watched the display from the doorway, unable to stop the grin that spread across his face. And they used to call me random! He cleared his throat. "Uh, guys?"

Her brother's voice registered in Dot's head, and she jumped, breaking away from Bob, her face flaming. Sweet User...

A new vidwindow opened behind Dot. "If y'all are finished, Bob and I actually do have some work to do." The hacker winked at Bob as Dot spun around.

"It seems to be getting a little crowded in here," Dot growled, adjusting her belt and smoothing a hand through her hair. "Bob will be right there, Mouse."

"I'll send him back after the meeting so he can, ah, debrief you. Now come on, Guardian, we don't have all day." Mouse smiled coyly as she waved a few fingers at Dot before closing the connection.

Dot then turned on Bob. "Well, you heard her. Go on, get out of here." She leaned forward to give him a kiss on the cheek, whispering in a low voice, "If you're lucky, maybe we can get to that debriefing later." She fought to contain a smile at his dazed look, and looked at Matrix. "Was there something you needed, Enzo?"

Matrix chuckled. "No, I think I'll just walk Bob over to the security room, make sure there aren't any more - holdups."

"Very funny. Now, shoo, both of you."

Matrix clapped Bob on the shoulder and address the as-yet silent sprite. "Come on, Bob, I know when we're not wanted."

Bob nodded slowly and whispered a good-bye/apology to Dot before following Matrix out of the room.

Dot shook her head and smiled to herself. What am I going to do with them? Noticing how quiet it had become, she looked up to see every binome in the room staring curiously at her. She glared. "What? Don't you all have work to do?"

Send all comments to sparcck@hotmail.com and stay tuned for Chapter 2, due out any time now ;)