Chapter 9: Fin
Matrix, AndrAIa and Bob could hardly keep track of how long they�d been planning. Cycles came and went as CaMi served her time at the front desk of the tower, the three others spun their plans in the tiny office they were essentially trapped in, and slept what little they could when they could. CaMi managed to bring back reports on what was going on with Daemon and her charges, and the news was not good.
"The Guardians she�s infected totally are getting restless." CaMi informed them, perched in her usual spot on the desk. "Daemon�s totally distracted by something, probably your friend..." Seeing Bob�s stricken expression she patted his arm lightly. "That�s a good thing, folks, it means she�s still processing. But she�s not giving her minions anything to do, and they�re wondering what�s happened to their �Mistress�. Some of them seem like they might do something...er...unfortunate, if we don�t think of something soon..."
AndrAIa sighed, propping her head in her hands. "We�ve almost got something worked out, CaMi. Just a few more details to iron out."
The sprite nodded distractedly. "I know you lot are under too much pressure already...but I�m just getting concerned for your valkyrie, being in there so long and with all the Guardians wondering what Daemon�s hiding up there."
Daemon fretted and coughed, circling the bed restlessly. Mama had so much trouble staying awake...and it didn�t even seem to be her fault. But when she was awake, all she asked about were those...those..../others/, and that made Daemon angry. This was her mama, and she loved her dearly...she wondered where that phrase had come from, but she liked it...and she didn�t want her mama to talk about those pests anymore. Especially not now. Especially now that Daemon knew what Vice wanted.
Daemon was getting sicker. She had never been very strong, but in the recent cycles she could feel herself getting weaker, and coughing more, and hurting more. Absently she ran her fingertips over the patches of code degradation on her face, where Vice�s spikes entered her skin. Vice was doing this to her, weakening its own host.
And it wanted her mama to be the new one. She knew that now.
Something deep within Daemon, from her old self and her old life, completely rebelled against the idea. Dimly she knew she couldn�t let Vice have her mama even if she didn�t really care one way or another. And Vice felt it, and hurt her more often because of it, and made her even sicker. She didn�t know how long she could hold out. Her existence had narrowed to a closed circle of protecting her mama and pain. She couldn�t even order her Guardians around anymore.
The very act of thinking about why she wouldn�t let Vice have her mama made Vice hurt her again. She staggered against the side of the bed, whimpering. Blurrily she saw her mama was awake again, and she tried to call out to her but her voice wouldn�t work. But warm fingers closed around her hand and squeezed gently, even as those pretty purple eyes flickered shut again.
Daemon knew who was more important now. But she concentrated on clearing her mind of such thoughts and Vice slowly let her go again. Weakly Daemon got her balance again, then gazed down at her mama�s hand in hers. Creakily she climbed into the box-bed where her mama lay and curled up against her side, falling into the light doze that was as close as she ever came to sleep.
It was hard to stay awake, but Dot forced herself to try every few cycles or so, mostly to prove to herself that she wasn�t quite deleted yet. Sometimes the pale child supervirus was prowling about her chamber, but most often she was right there at the bedside, gazing in at Dot with wide guileless eyes. At first it was disconcerting, but as waking up every now and then became force of habit, Dot also grew used to tiny Daemon�s vigil over her. Somewhere, somehow she knew the child meant well. Sometimes she nearly forgot the brutal pieces of hardware that Daemon wore, and the virus seemed only a small lost sprite with no one to show her the way.
Dot had completely lost track of the time she had spent in the chamber, though she had begun to notice that Daemon was having more trouble breathing and walking as time went by. She had been awakened many times before by the child�s pained sobs, but this was the first time Daemon had been right there with her. Somehow Dot had summoned the strength to take her hand, though the very effort sent her back to unconsciousness again. But she knew that somehow Daemon knew the meaning of the gesture, and was soothed by it. Daemon seemed to seek out and crave affection, like any other child.
At the base of the tower the others went over their plans. CaMi pored over the drawings and notations they had made, nodding half in agreement and half in pure weariness, nearly devoid of her usual dry but welcome humor. They had all had precious little sleep lately.
AndrAIa pointed to a few of the calculations she had made. "See, the whole thing hinges on us all doing our job at the exact right time. It�s risky, but it�ll have to do."
CaMi sighed softly. "The trouble with such plans is that one tiny change can throw everything off. But you�re right. There�s no other choice. I�m just worried that if we wait too long..."
Matrix rubbed his forearm across his eyes. "Are things that bad out there?"
CaMi nodded. "Daemon�s issued no orders in all the time you�ve been here. The Guardians are a mess, there�s no one to give them orders and virals without orders are always a wreck."
"Getting Dot back won�t stop that though..." Bob pointed out reluctantly.
"We�ll just have to take it as it comes." CaMi said, raking back her fair hair tiredly. "Look, since you can�t do anything until it�s time for this plan to go into action, why don�t you all try to catch some rest? You�ll need to be alive-awake-alert."
The others nodded in agreement. CaMi mustered up a smile. "I�ll wake you when it�s near the right time. I�m needed out front again or I�ll be missed...gotta try to keep those restless Guardians in line." She slid off the desk and slipped silently back out into the hall.
Daemon had awakened again and relocated to her chair, flopped in it exhaustedly. She had barely been able to make it this far, just across the room, but she had felt Vice grow alert and dared not stay close to her mama any longer. Not until Vice ignored her again.
She panted lightly, trying to get her breath back. For the first time in awhile she gazed around her chamber, noting the still-remaining shards from the old gateway and the lack of posted guards. Well, she didn�t need any of that now.
She reached up to scratch at her cheek again, where one of Vice�s points was itching her. When she drew her hand away she saw bright green ooze on her fingernail. She started, puzzled...that wasn�t what her mama�s energy looked like. Fear sat in a cold lump in her stomach as she tested each of the spiked she could reach. All were oozing the green stuff. Vice was slowly getting ready to leave its original and now sickened host behind.
Matrix, Bob and AndrAIa had all managed to achieve a light drowse when CaMi burst into the office, navy blue eyes even wider than usual in pure fear.
"Wake up, they�re going up there /now/, think of something!"
Bob blinked blearily. "CaMi, what..."
"Listen! The Guardians are going up to Daemon�s chamber, now, and they�re quite ready to kill!"
"Kill...kill Daemon?"
CaMi shook her head desperately. "No! Kill what�s distracting her!"
They were out in the hall in a flash. Muffled yelling was audible at the end of that hall, and a group of twenty or so Guardians were making their way to the lift, fully armed. Bob grabbed CaMi�s arm. "CaMi, are there stairs?"
She peered at him blankly for a moment, then blinked and nodded once, turning and taking off down the hall at a full run. "Hurry, or you�ll never beat them!"
The four clattered up the narrow stairwell, fear lending them stamina. But sheer luck no one fell too badly, they they were all fairly battered by the time they burst out of the stairwell on the top floor. AndrAIa then took the lead, and they pelted around the hallway towards Daemon�s chamber. AndrAIa gasped out as she ran, "The others are here, going for the other doorway! We have to beat them in!"
They finally fetched up against the familiar crystal doorway, and Matrix began breaking it down, not even slackening his pace as he ran into it head-on. Sounds echoed down the hallway, the Guardians were working on the other gateway. The others added their strength to Matrix�s, yet even as they did so they heard the other gate shatter and the enraged viral Guardians swarm inside.
Daemon raised her head slowly as unfamiliar noises began to echo down the hall. She didn�t quite understand, and really felt rather too tired to worry. They were her Guardians, she could tell that from here. They wouldn�t dare harm her. She heard a slight noise from her bed; her mama must have been woken up by the noise. How dare they disturb her and her mama like this?
One of her gateways shattered inward, and a group of Guardians burst through, just as she had expected. She tried to sit up straight in her chair, though her energy seemed to be draining from her with every nanosecond. Imperiously, she asked, *Why do you come here causing such a fuss?*
One of the Guardians stepped forward, a particularly burly red fellow who was waving his gun wildly. "We come to get rid of whatever be bothering you, Mistress."
Daemon summoned the strength for a dismissive gesture. *There is nothing bothering me. You may go.*
The large Guardian who seemed to be the de facto spokesperson looked bemused. "But you�ve not been giving orders lately, Mistress..."
Daemon scowled. *It is no concern of yours. Leave me.*
Dot had been irritated when noise had awakened her...she hadn�t been ready to wake at that particular moment. But surprisingly, she felt a little stronger than she had before, and a sense of urgency forced her to slowly sit up in the bed for the first time in...well, she couldn�t remember how long. Gingerly she felt of the wound on the side of her head, but found only dried energy and a crudely-fastened strip of soft white cloth. She heard the unmistakable sound of a mob, and her brain sluggishly ran through the possibilities. Maybe it was Bob and Enzo and AndrAIa, coming for her. She eased herself out of the box, though nausea and pain swept through her at every movement. Her leg buckled under her as she climbed out, and she fell in a heap by the side of the bed-box. Then she heard the doorway burst open.
Daemon frowned fiercely at the Guardians before her, though it hurt her face to do so. *Do you not hear me? Leave me alone!*
The lead Guardian still did not back down, and the others did not seem inclined to move without seeing what he did first. Finally the brute seemed ready to relax and obey his Mistress�s orders, when a slender shape moved around the side of Daemon�s bed, gripping the side for support.
"That�s the one we need to be rid of!" The Guardian shouted to his fellows, raising his gun and taking aim directly at Dot.
The other crystal gateway splintered, and Bob, Matrix, AndrAIa and CaMi burst in on the other side of the room. They stood frozen a moment, trying to figure out the situation.
Daemon turned her head slightly to see what the commotion was on her other side.
Dot lifted her head slowly, still unable to walk without the support of the bed-box under her hands. "What is..."
The burly red Guardian fired.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" The cry of terror and despair seemed to echo on two octaves, and it seemed that perhaps the higher reverberated mechanically. Bob was already running, though he knew, just knew that he could never make it in time. He tripped on the dais and fell to his knees, unable to make the last dash to save Dot�s life. He had lost her. Cruelly, time seemed to slow to a crawl.
But an anguished white shape suddenly flew in front of Dot, sprawling desperately in front of her. The energy bullet sliced through the metal that clad Daemon�s spine, and seemed to lodge in her shoulder. Her tiny body convulsed in mid-air and was knocked sideways from the bullet�s impact; she landed heavily on her side. Lime green liquid oozed from the torn metal, mingling with pale red-purple energy from her shoulder. She gasped soundlessly as the metal protrubances of the viral device jerked out of her body and lay in two halves behind her, twitching like a dying insect.
Nobody moved. Except Dot.
Dot had fallen to the floor again, halfway trying to duck as she saw the Guardian fire at her. It wouldn�t have done any good, she realized now, except...she crawled forward swiftly, gathering the limp body of the child who was once Daemon against her. The child had already begun to flicker in her arms.
Daemon-no-longer suddenly opened her eyes, gazing up at Dot with those familiar adoring pools of blue that had become so familiar. The child coughed wrackingly, then brought shaking fingers to her throat, prodding for the device that had nestled there and finding only the wounds it had created, now bleeding the glowing viral substance. Dot cast about for a way to stop the energy loss, but she didn�t know where to begin. The child in her lap gripped one of her hands and coughed again, then slowly opened her mouth. Her true voice emerged, faint from disuse but clear and sweet.
"It...doesn�t hurt, Mama."
Dot smoothed the child�s dark hair, tears running down her face. But she saw that for the first time since she had seen her, there was no pain in the girl�s huge blue eyes. The thin white fingers tightened on her own as the child shuddered and flickered again, then slowly her pale lips curled into a smile.
"I love you, Mama."
The child held Dot�s gaze for another moment, then with a sigh, dark-lashed alabaster eyelids slid shut over the beautiful blue eyes.
"I love you too." Dot whispered, and the girl smiled again; her lashes trembled slightly but her eyes did not open. Suddenly she grew limp in Dot�s arms, and with a final flicker, she disappeared.
Then Bob was next to her, enfolding her gently in his arms. She buried her face against his chest and sobbed.
Around them, the Guardians were blinking and disoriented, as if slowly coming out of a long deep sleep.
It took a great deal of work, but with CaMi�s efficiency and the enlisted authority of Turbo (who had almost immediately been sought out and joyfully welcomed back by Bob and Matrix, among others), the Supercomputer seemed well on its way to recovery. In fact, it was noticed by many that Turbo and CaMi got along remarkably well, and it was a pity that they hadn�t really gotten to know eachother sooner.
The remains of the viral device had been thoroughly deleted, and there seemed to be no further threat of viral invasion. The fully infected Guardians did not remember much of what had befallen them, but that was probably all for the better.
The four original travelers had sent back word to Mainframe as soon as communications were back up, and Mouse had been overjoyed to find that she was not, as she put it, "Doomed to become an honest hardworkin� fearless-leader-type." They had stayed in the Supercomputer to help get everything organized, and long enough for Bob to make sure most of his acquaintances were safe. But now they all felt it was high time to get back home.
So they were gathered in CaMi�s office...not the old hideout they had used in Daemon�s tower, but a much larger affair more suited to the professor-become-file-manager of the Supercomputer.
"Won�t you come to Mainframe with us, CaMi? Just for a little while?" Dot persuaded. CaMi and Dot had become quite close since the latter�s rescue. "You�ve got the system well enough under control, you could just come for a little bit..."
Bob snorted, but his tone was affectionate. "Listen to her talk, Ms. Command.com of Mainframe."
CaMi laughed her bubbling laugh and shook her head. "Not just now, lovey, you know I�ve got a lot of work on my hands."
Dot grinned slyly. "And I suppose you�d rather visit when you could bring Turbo along."
CaMi blushed slightly, then added, "And I suppose I�d have nothing to do there, now that I don�t need to look after my little boy anymore, seeing as he�s found someone else for the job."
Dot blushed back, then they both burst out laughing. After a few moments CaMi smiled and went to Dot, Bob, Matrix and AndrAIa in turn, giving each a motherly kiss on the forehead. "I will come and visit you. And you must come and visit me, too." To Dot, she added, "Don�t let my little boy stay away so long again."
Dot nodded solemnly. "I promise, CaMi." She sighed slightly as a sadness seemed to settle over her again.
As the others meandered towards the portal room, CaMi caught Dot by the wrist again, holding her back. "Don�t try to fool me, lovey. No one can shake off losing a child just like that."
Dot shook her head, but a tear slid down her cheek anyway. "CaMi, I feel like it was somehow my fault..."
"Lovey, you were the best thing that happened to that little girl."
"But she�s gone, all because of me..."
CaMi patted Dot�s arm lightly. "She gave her life for you, because she loved you. She wanted /you/ to live."
Dot nodded slowly, sadness starting to become understanding. CaMi smiled gently. "It will take you awhile, to work it all out. But you�re strong, and people who love you will help you."
Bob stepped back into the office. "Dot, are you ready to go yet?"
CaMi pushed Dot gently towards the door. "Speak of the devil." She grinned at the sprites� confusion over the expression. "Valkyrie, she gave you a gift. Now go home, go away and leave an old sprite to do her work!"
They laughed at her sally, even Matrix and AndrAIa who could hear her from the portal room. Matrix�s voice boomed down the hall. "The day you�re old, CaMi, is the day I�m as short as you are!" Laughter bubbled up again, and Dot felt a the grief inside her begin to flow away.
Bob slipped an arm around her waist. "You all right? You�ve seemed a bit down lately. Er...which is understandable..."
Dot smiled up at him. "I�m fine...she...she gave me a gift." She paused thoughtfully for a moment, then pulled him into the portal room with the others. "Come on. Let�s go home."
*fin*