The Beginning of the End
Written by Lady Sita
Part IV
In Matrix and AndrAIa�s new apartment, Matrix heard a scream in his sleep. He jolted awake. "AndrAIa!," he cried out softly. "What happened? What�s wrong?," Matrix asked, thinking she had had a bad dream. There was no corresponding answer.
The room was pitch black. It was near midnight, but he knew it shouldn�t be this dark. Maybe the power is out? But he had a feeling that wasn�t the reason. Matrix felt the empty space on the bed next to him. "AndrAIa?," he called out again. "Are you all right?" Silence. Something was wrong.
"Lights on," Matrix commanded. The room remained dark, no source of light whatsoever. Now he really was concerned.
He heard footsteps. Two people were in the bedroom. Neither of them were AndrAIa. He would have recognized her step.
"Who�s there? What�s going on!?," Matrix demanded. He heard a soft chuckle in reply. A woman. But not a normal sprite.
"There�s no need for you to worry, my dear boy. Not for yourself, anyway."
Matrix drew in a sharp breath. He recognized the voice: Hexadecimal.
"What do you want, Hex?," Matrix asked grimly as he reached for his pistol. It was gone. "What have you done with AndrAIa?!"
Matrix heard another voice, soft and lisping.
"She�ssss perfectly sssafe, for the moment. But she�ll sssoon be of ussse to usss. And ttthen, when we're done wittth her, you can have her back. Whatever isss left, anyhow."
"Zip Drive! Let her go NOW!," Matrix yelled angrily. He started to leap up out of the bed, but found himself frozen in place. What do they think they�re doing?!?
Matrix felt Hexadecimal take his head in her hands. He would have recoiled in disgust if he hadn�t been locked in place by Hexadecimal�s powers.
"My boy, that is no way to treat my sister. I thought you better were than that."
Matrix�s eyes widened in surprise. Sister?!?
"Don�t worry your little head off," said Hexadecimal, shaking his head back and forth in her hands, her fingernails scratching his face. "Oh, and don�t worry about Dot. We�ll take good care of her. Mouse too."
Then everything went black as something blunt hit him on the back of his head.
"Time to sssleep."
"What the Web is goin on?!," Mouse yelled as someone grabbed her from behind. "What do ya think your doin?"
"Dear Mouse, this is for your own good."
"Hex! What do you want wit me?," Mouse screeched as Hexadecimal seized her arms.
Another hand covered the hacker�s mouth. "Be sssilent, bright-haired one," said another voice, not unlike a snake, hissed as Mouse growled fiercely. "We have ussse for you."
Zip Drive!
Mouse bit down hard and heard Zip Drive snarl as the virus whipped her clawed hand back.
"That wasssn�t very cccivilized, Moussse. But I should have sssussspected asss much from you. Hackersss are sssuch sssimple creaturesss.
Abruptly, everything went dark.
Early morning.
Bob reached across to Dot�s side of the bed in his sleep. She wasn�t there.
Guess she decided to get a early start on work, Bob thought groggily.
He rolled over and drifted back to sleep, not hearing a soft cackle coming from the darkness.
Late morning.
Matrix awoke with a groan. What happened last night?
He put a hand to the back of his head and winced as he felt a cut welling up. I wonder why AndrAIa didn�t wake me up. Suddenly he remembered everything that had happened.
AndrAIa! Hex and Zip Drive took her!
There was a flash of light in the Principal Office as Bob stepped out of a portal.
"Oh, hello my friend," said Phong, turning from a console he was working at. "Are looking for Dot?"
"Yes, have you seen her today?," Bob asked.
"No, I am sorry, my son," the older sprite replied. "Dot has not reported in today. I thought she must be with you. I did not call, lest I disturb the two of you."
Hmmm, that�s strange. I wonder what Dot is up to.
Bob was about to say so when a frantic cry interrupted him.
A VidWndow popped up in front of the Guardian. He was surprised to see Matrix�s frantic face. His hair was tousled as if he had just woken up. What is he doing getting up this late?, Bob wondered.
"Bob!," Matrix cried out. "It�s AndrAIa! They knocked me out, and kidnapped her!"
"Slow down, my son," said Phong in a calming tone as he joined Bob. "Who kidnapped AndrAIa?"
"Zip Drive and Hexadecimal are working together," said Matrix. Bob could hear the fear in his friend�s voice. "They kidnapped AndrAIa, Mouse�" Matrix paused and looked Bob straight in his brown eyes. "And... they took Dot, too."
"What?!," Bob burst out.
"There�s something else," Matrix continued. "Hex and Zip Drive... they�re sisters."