Through It All
Written by Airstrike Brant
Part 2: In the Beginning
Bob walked back into his apartment, mentally exhausted. It had been the first time he had ever discussed exactly what had happened; the way he had lost Dot to an explosion. He leaned his back against the door and again his gaze fell upon the box on the desk. It seemed to almost call to him and he decided not to fight the urge as he walked over to the desk. As if against his will, he lifted off the lid of the box, and pulled out the first thing his fingers came in contact with: a scrap of soft pink material. The tears he had been holding back trickled down his cheeks as he stared at it and walked back over to the couch.
The lie he was telling himself now, about how he was staying in this system because someone needed to, was not a new one. He had said almost the same thing to himself when had first decided to stay in Mainframe. It had been no more the truth at that time then it was now. He should have realized, from the moment he saved this little souvenir, how he truly felt.
Leaning back on the couch and stroking the scrap of cloth between his fingers, he allowed himself to be transported back to that time. It was back when he had been happy and thought of new beginnings, unaware of the tragic ending that was to come.
"Maybe he has come to help us," someone else whispered.
Bob heard the whispers, but didn't respond as he glanced about the small system. It looked like an average place with everything neat and tidy, but not very exciting. Still, he was looking for a place to relax before he continued on his journey and this system appeared to be exactly what he had been looking for. It wasn't a place he would want to live, despite the fact he was originally from a system that was just as small, but for a short visit it appeared ideal. He pushed his dark glasses higher on his nose as he casually made his way into the city. Here, even more binomes stopped and stared, but Bob couldn't understand why. Surely they had seen a Guardian before.
He continued walking until he came to a nullified sector, the first indication that everything was not as it should be. Taking his glasses off, he examined the damage. It had been a game, no doubt, and he couldn't help but wonder how many innocents had suffered the fate. At the Academy, his instructors had always accused him of being too sympathetic and emotionally involved. After all, you could only do your best, and there was no way you could save everyone in every system. He turned away from the sight remembering that this wasn't even the system that was his final destination. His future was not here.
Soon, a few businesses came into view, but one in particular caught his attention. "Dot's Diner," he read aloud, and shrugged. He was a bit hungry and it looked like a nice enough of an establishment. He casually made his inside.
"May I help you, sir?," a server asked.
"Uh, sure," Bob looked at the name on the server, "Ceecil."
"The name is Cecil," the sever responded.
"Cecil," a feminine voice scolded, "Don't be rude to the customers."
"I'm sorry, mademoiselle," Cecil apologized.
Bob turned to look at the speaker, and his breath caught in his throat. There was something about her he found absolutely breathtaking. He didn't think it was her beauty, although she was quite beautiful with her flawless green skin and purple eyes. There was something about the very essence of who she was that was attractive. She seemed so confident yet so open the way she merely stood there smiling at him.
"Hello," she said, walking over, "Welcome to Mainframe."
"Uh, hi," Bob managed, finally finding his voice, "Thanks."
"Here," she said, leading him over to a booth and sitting across from him, "Cecil! Two energy shakes."
"Right away," came the reply.
"Sorry about Cecil," she whispered, "He sometimes gets a little cranky."
"That's okay. Oh, by the way, I'm Bob."
"I'm Dot Matrix."
"As in, 'Dot's Diner'?"
"The one and only. Best food in Mainframe."
"You sound like quite the business woman."
"That's what they tell me." Dot's smile grew warmer. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you."
"You are?," Bob asked, confused.
"We've been needing a Guardian around here for some time. The games have really been hitting Mainframe hard. Besides, we have other problems."
Bob sighed. "I'm sorry to tell you, Miss Matrix, b-"
"Dot."
"Dot," Bob repeated, "but I wasn't planning on sticking around here."
"What do you-" Dot began, only to be interrupted by Cecil delivering the two energy shakes. "What do you mean?"
"I was just traveling through," Bob said, "I only stopped here in Mainframe to rest a bit before I continue on the system I had already chosen."
"Oh," Dot said, her smile fading, "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I'm not usually like that."
Bob took a drink of his energy shake. "No harm done," he said, trying to smile, "I just wanted to be honest with you. I would love to help, but I'm not staying."
"Isn't Mainframe good enough?," Dot asked suddenly.
"What?"
"Isn't Mainframe good enough to deserve help? We've asked for assistance, but no one ever comes. Then you waltz in and say you would love to help but that you're not staying. Why?"
"I had already told the other system I was going to be there for them," Bob answered, his voice rising, "I already have a place to live rented and everything. I just wanted to take a small break before I got there, but that was obviously a mistake."
"Obviously."
Bob grew angrier. "As for your earlier question, I would not like to stay in Mainframe because it's too...."
"Small?"
"Slow! I would go random from boredom if I stayed here."
"Oh, I doubt that," Dot said, standing up, "I'm sorry to have kept you from your fast paced future."
"And I'm sorry that I came here!" Bob responded, also getting to his feet, "And furthermore-"
"Time to pay up!," a voice yelled from outside.
"Yeah, time to pay!," another yelled.
"I just paid you!," Dot yelled in response.
"Pay?," Bob asked.
"Nothing for you to worry about," Dot sneered, "Just one of our little problems."
Bob looked out the window and saw two bots, one blue and one red surrounded by binomes, all of which had peculiar green and red eyes. "They're viral!," he yelled, amazed. "You have a virus here?," he asked Dot.
"Actually we have two," Dot replied, some of the hardness seeping from her voice, "But only one demands payment."
"Two viruses?"
"Yeah. What are you, basic? I said there are two viruses."
"And the payments?," Bob asked.
"The payments are for the virus Megabyte. He demands all the sectors he hasn't managed to infect pay him for the privilege of still being clean."
"And you pay?"
"What else can we do? It's not like we can fight him. We've tried that in the past."
Bob's eyes narrowed. "A virus demanding payment while I'm around," he said, "I don't think so." With a determined stride, he walked outside the diner.
"Who is that, Hack?," the blue bot asked.
"I have not see him before, Slash," Hack, the red one, responded.
"It sort of looks like...," Slash began.
"Could it be?," Hack asked.
"I think it is," replied Slash.
"A Guardian," the two said together in an awed tone.
"That's right," Bob said, "And what's this about payment demands?"
"We must tell Megabyte," Hack said.
"Yes, we must tell him right away," Slash agreed.
"He will want to know," added Hack.
"Yes, he will."
Hack and Slash turned away from the diner and headed back towards the Silicon Tor, the viral binomes following closely behind. Bob watched them go.
"It's amazing what a reputation can do for you," Bob said, turning toward Dot.
"Yeah, amazing," Dot responded.
"Listen," Bob began, "I think we got started off on the wrong foot. You just caught me off guard when you started talking about how much Mainframe needed a Guardian."
Dot smiled. "And I got a little over-defensive when you said you were moving on. I just get so angry when people act like Mainframe isn't as important just because it's small. It's still my home."
"I understand. Look, maybe I was a bit hasty when I said I wasn't staying."
"What do you mean?"
"What kind of Guardian would I be if I left a system when it needed me? Besides, I have a feeling that this Megabyte character is going to be a little upset with me."
"You're probably right. But really, if you don't want to stay, don't. We don't you need to stay here because you feel sorry for us."
Bob smiled at her. "Right now, I think this is where I need to be. Now all I need to do is find a place to stay."
"There's an apartment over in Kits that will probably suit you."
"Great. Who do I need to talk to about this apartment? Where do I find them?"
Dot held out her hand as if to shake. "Nice to meet you."
"You? You mean you not only own a diner but you also own an apartment?"
"I own a part of every business in Mainframe."
"Surely not every business."
"Every business. Try to find one I don't have a part of."
"I just might take you up on that challenge."
Dot laughed. "I hope you don't mind losing then," she said.
"Dot!," a voice yelled. Bob turned to see a small sprite running towards them, followed by the biggest dog he had ever seen. "Dot!," the boy yelled again, "You wouldn't believe what happened in school today! Miss Brodie said that -" The boy's voice dropped off when he saw Bob. "Wow! A Guardian! I don't believe it!" He jumped up and bowled Bob over. Bob went down hard with the boy still standing on his chest. "Have you come to help us with the games?," he asked excitedly. "This is so cool! I still can't believe it! I'm going to become a Guardian someday too, you know. So are -"
"Enzo!." Dot interrupted.
"Yeah, sis," Enzo answered.
"How about getting off of him now?"
"Oh, sorry," apologized Enzo, who stood up and allowed Bob to get back to his feet.
"I'm sorry about that," Dot said.
"That's okay," Bob said, smiling.
"This is Bob," Dot said, "And this is Enzo, my little brother."
"Hi Bob! So have you come to help us with the games?"
"I'm going to help anyway I can," Bob replied.
"Enzo, you better get started on your homework. Bob and I have some business matters to work out."
"Aw, Dot," Enzo whined.
"Don't worry, Enzo," Bob said, "I'm planning on sticking around for awhile, so we'll have plenty of time to talk."
"Really? Alphanumeric! Come on Frisket!," Enzo called to the large dog.
Frisket looked towards Enzo before walking a little closer to Bob and sniffing. "Nice dog," Bob said, reaching down to pet the dog's massive head, but immediately stopped when the dog began to growl. As if satisfied that Bob now understood how he felt, the dog turned and followed Enzo.
"And I usually have such a way with animals," Bob said.
Dot shook her head. "So you want to see the apartment?"
"Sure."
"Then follow me. Again, I'm sorry about Enzo knocking you over. He's gets over excited sometimes."
"That's okay. I used to be the same way."
Dot smiled. "Now I'm worried about him," she said.
Bob returned the smile. Mainframe was looking more interesting all the time. She led him to Kits and to the apartment. He had to admit, it wasn't a bad place.
"Why don't you look around," Dot said, "I need to step out and make a few business calls."
"Fine," Bob said, already examining the rooms. He was just stepping towards the window when he heard some muffled noises from outside. Reacting instantly, he ran outside just in time to see Hack and Slash carrying Dot away. "Dot!," he yelled, jumping on his zip board and hurrying after them.
"Uh oh," Hack said, "I think he sees us."
"He most definitely sees us," Slash added.
"We need to hurry and drop her off before he catches us."
"Most definitely. I do not want to get caught."
Flying as fast as they could, they went across the twisted bridge that led to Lost Angles and dropped Dot on the other side. As soon as she was on the ground, the two quickly headed back to the Silicon Tor. Bob didn't bother chasing the two once that he saw that they had dropped Dot but instead went to her and helped her to her feet. Already he could see hordes of nulls coming towards them.
"What is this place?," Bob asked.
"Lost Angles," Dot replied, "but there's no time to explain. We have to g-" Before Dot could finish her sentence, the ground seem to open up beneath their feet and they fell. Almost before Bob could realize what was happening, they found themselves in a sort of underground room that was dominated by a twisted chair.
"Visitors? How nice," a voice crooned from the shadows.
"The second virus?," Bob whispered.
Dot nodded. "Hexadecimal," she whispered in reply.
As if on cue, a mask appeared first and floated towards them. Then, the rest of Hexadecimal suddenly came into view. Even though he had only seen her for a nano, he was sure that the virus's power levels were probably off the scales, just from her entrance. Hexadecimal looked at the two and her mask changed from a pleasant expression to extreme happiness. "Now, you're new," she said, "I know I'd remember if I'd seen you before." She waved one of her hands and Dot went flying from the room and out of the lair.
"Why did you do that?," Bob asked.
"Three's a crowd, you know," Hexadecimal calmly replied. Slowly, she begin walking around him, looking him over. "I didn't know that Guardians came in such nice..," she paused as if looking for the right word, "Packages."
Bob couldn't respond. At the Academy, many of his instructors had told him he would be prepared for any type of situation because everything was covered. However, he almost positive no class had given him instructions on how to handle a virus flirting with you. Maybe I suggest they add a course to their curriculum, he thought to himself.
"My, aren't you the quiet one," she continued, a new mask appearing so that she now appeared somewhat smug.
"Uh, not usually," he managed.
"So, do you have a name?"
"Bob."
"Bob? Interesting. I'm -"
"Hexadecimal," he finished for her.
"Oh, here we've only known each other for few nanos and we're already on a first name basis. You Guardians do move quickly."
"Yeah, that's great. Look I really need to be going..."
"So soon?," she asked, changing to a sad faced mask with blue eyes and a tear then to angry expression with red eyes and pointed teeth "That's so rude!"
She's chaotic, he realized and he thought of a way to quickly diffuse the volatile situation. "It's not that I don't want to stay," he began.
"It's not?," she asked, her eyes a calmer shade of green but the expression somewhat puzzled.
"No, you see I'm just moving in and I, uh, I need to get back to make sure the movers don't break all my stuff when they are putting in the apartment. You know how it is. If I'm not there, I'll be lucky if they don't smash everything I own."
"You're moving in?," she asked. "Wonderful!," she exclaimed, switching back to the mask she had first used to greet Bob, "Then we'll probably see each other again?"
"I'd bet on it," Bob answered, mentally adding unfortunately at the end.
"Well, then I don't want to leave those movers unattended," she said and waved her arms. Bob felt himself flying upward and out of the lair.
As soon as he was on solid ground, he breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that's over with," he mumbled.
"Bob!" Dot yelled. Bob turned and saw her dangling from the twisted bridge that connected Lost Angles to Mainframe. She had probably been hanging there the entire time he had been with Hexadecimal. He rushed over and pulled her up, but her sleeve caught a jagged edge of the bridge.
"Are you okay?," he asked.
"I am now. Thanks."
Before Bob could respond, a vid window popped up and Bob found himself staring at a sinister, metallic looking face.
"Megabyte?," Bob asked.
"So you've heard of me," Megabyte responded.
"What do you want?," Bob demanded.
"Well, Guardian, or should I call you Bob? That is your name, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Well, Bob, I was just going to congratulate you on passing my little test."
"Test?," Dot asked, "What do you mean test?"
"Oh, Miss Matrix. Allow me to apologize for having to use the old 'damsel in distress' routine but sometimes the traditional methods are the best ones. As for you Bob, you did well, but if you challenge me, you will not succeed. I would advise you to remember that." The vid window closed as quickly as it had appeared.
"I'm beginning to see why Mainframe needs a Guardian," Bob said.
"Just beginning?," Dot asked, joking. She looked at the sleeve she had ripped on the bridge and tore off a small piece that was dangling. "Here," she said, handing the piece to Bob, "a souvenir to remember your first experience with Mainframe life."
"Oh gee, just what I've always wanted," Bob replied, laughing, but he stuck the piece of cloth in his pocket.
"Come on, let's go back to the diner," Dot said.
"Best idea I've heard in quite a while."
"Hello, Bob!," a cheerful voice called out.
Turning around, he saw Hexadecimal walking towards him, and he quickly put the item back into the box. She had never visited him before, but he wasn't surprised to see her. Very little surprised him anymore.
"You don't look very happy to see me," she complained with a mock pout.
He sighed. "Please, Hex," he said, "I really need to be alone right now."
"But you've been alone for so long. I think you look like you need a friend," she replied her lips turning upward in a slight smile.
"Please," he repeated, "Leave. I want to be by myself."
"But you've been gone for such a long time," she insisted, "I would think you would be happy to see me. Why aren't you?"
"Because you remind me of Mainfame!," Bob yelled, "And I don't want to be reminded of that system ever again!"
Hexadecimal took a step backwards, surprised by Bob's uncharacteristic outburst. A cynical part of his mind found it funny that he was the one having the emotional outbursts while she was acting almost normally. Things definitely had a way of changing completely around. Still, he knew he had acted inappropriately. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, "I shouldn't have yelled."
She regarded him quietly for a moment. Bob had always been unsure if Hexadecimal was able to truly experience all emotions or if things like compassion were out of her reach. She had shown up at the memorial Phong had arranged to remember Dot, and had been quiet, almost respectful, throughout the services. As Mouse had put it, perhaps Hexadecimal wasn't being compassionate but just being respectful was a great improvement.
"Why did you yell then?," she finally asked in a subdued tone.
He was about to respond when a vid window suddenly appeared. "Mr. Guardian, sir," a binome said, "it seems we have a problem down here at the docks."
"I'll be right there," Bob responded and the vid window disappeared.
"Mr. Guardian, sir?," Hexadecimal repeated.
"Formality is overdone here," Bob explained, "I tried to get them to just call me Bob, but they never could seem to remember. I gave up trying to correct them." He attempted a smile. "Look, I have to go..."
"I know. I know," she interrupted, "Well, I'll see you later then, I guess." She paused for a moment as she looked at him. "You know," she finally said, "The only one who blames you for the accident is you." She vanished from the room, leaving Bob alone once more.
Bob was stunned beyond words. Hexadecimal had never mentioned anything about the accident before. In fact, she had worked to avoid the subject all together. "How you know you're going over the edge," he announced to the room, "Hexadecimal starts giving you advice on mental health." He looked back down at the box and retrieved the second item once more. Holding in his hand, as if to draw strength from it, he hurried off toward the docks.