Part I
The young woman stood at the base of the Tor, studying it with disappointment and annoyance, her green lips pressed into a small frown. She was rather young, about eighteen or nineteen cycles. She stood tall, taller than a lot of men, her height accented further more by the thick green hair the fell to her black boots. She appeared quite strong, her sleeveless green vest and gold tanktop revealing muscled lavender arms and taut abs; she wasn't overly buff, but she did have muscles. She wore tight black jeans, edged with a gold belt with several mechanisms strapped to it, and dark purple sunglasses. To top it off, the image of a web creature was tatooed on her upper right arm. With her scowl, she fit anyone's description of a tough girl.
She gave a short, dry laugh. Well, her purpose for coming to Main Frame was gone. The Silicon Tor, which had once stood bright, majestic and powerful over the city, was now dull and dilapidated from neglect. Daddy, as she mockingly called him, wasn't home.
She had only seen her father once, several cycles back. She had been in Main Frame on business. She had spoken to Megabyte then. It was a normal conversation for their case. She had asked him if he remembered her mother. Ah, yes, he had replied. The spunky sprite from the Super Computer. He had really liked her. A very nice woman, Dee was. Her daughter was her spitting image. Sorry he hadn't kept in touch. How was Dee these days? Deleted? Oh, how sad.
She had liked Megabyte. He was nice, sincere, powerful. She liked his way of doing things. He had told her to see him if she ever needed help.
And, User, did she need it now.
How she missed Vi. He had been the love of her life. Silvery blue skin, wavy black hair, that winning smile, his laugh. Despite his strength, he had been so gentle. She had risked everything for him, including her career as a Guardian. But that didn't matter. They had the viral ship, and of course each other. She held up her hand, allowing the gold wedding band to catch the light, and for a moment, she smiled.
The frown returned. She turned around and sucked in a mouthful of RAM. Now that Daddy was gone, where could she go now? The ship was gone. The Super Computer was out of the question.
She pulled her keytool off of her belt. Her last link to the Guardians. She clenched her fangs. She hated the Guardians. They could all burn in Disk Space, for all she cared, User declare it so.
Nonetheless, she still had her old keytool. It was useful yet. "Hertz," she commanded. "Display a list of all recorded icons and accompanying sprites."
Hertz emmitted a friendly beep, a list of characters appearing on a screen. The woman quickly scanned the list, muttering occasionally. Then she laughed.
"Here's a name I didn't think I'd see," she said aloud to no one in particular. "Mouse is in the old MF."
Mouse shrugged. "We were zip board racing. I lost him somewhere in the Kit's Sector.
"Sounds exciting," said Dot whistfully.
Mouse grinned. Dot appeared quite bored, very unlike her. "What, no meetings ya should be rushing off to, darling?"
"Canceled."
Mouse took this in with a nod. "I'm thirsty. I need to access an energy shake. Where's Cecil?"
Both heads turned to stare at the helpless waiter as he tried to free an arm from Friskett's jaws.
Dot smiled helplessly. "I'll get you one. I could use one myself."