Part I - What's going on?
"Hey, who�s the big ugly green guy?"
The celebration suddenly stopped, and all the sprites froze�even Phong, who had stopped taking pictures�as Little Enzo frowned, and, hopping off Bob�s chest, took a look around the newly restored Mainframe. When his gaze landed on Mouse, Ray, Matrix, and AndrAIa, standing off to the side, he asked, "What�s going on?"
"It�s�it�s nothing, Little Brother," Dot reassured him, giving his cap a playful spin, though she looked as though she were going to cry.
Enzo saw her sniffle, and his frown deepened. "Sis, why are you crying?"
Dot wiped a hand across her eyes. Bob, who had gotten up, put a hand on her shoulder. "I�m fine," she said. "Just glad you�re back."
"But�I was only in school. It�s not like I was gone�what�s going on?" Enzo repeated. "Who are those other sprites? I�ve never seen them before."
Dot couldn�t say anything, so Bob jumped in. "They�re friends who came to visit," he said, thinking it was perhaps the lamest lie to tell a 1.0-hour old.
Dot nodded. "Let�s go to the diner. Then Bob and I�ll tell you everything."
"Sure," Enzo said, still confused as to what he had missed. Bob held his hand as he reached for Dot with his other one.
"I�ll be there in a nano," Dot told him. She nodded toward the others, and Bob caught her drift. He urged Enzo to Baudway, leaving Dot with the four other sprites.
The Command.com didn�t look at Mouse and Ray but focused her attention on the other couple, her expression solemn. "Matrix, AndrAIa," she said, "you can�t come to the diner."
"What?" the renegade asked, frowning. Beside him AndrAIa looked distressed.
"You can�t come," Dot repeated. "For now we don�t want Enzo to know about-- what happened to you. So just don�t talk to him."
"But Sis�" Matrix pleaded.
"Dot. Just call me Dot for now. All right?" Without waiting for their answer, she turned on one heel and left for the diner.
Matrix stood there, looking stricken. AndrAIa leaned her head on his shoulder for comfort, and he held her tightly, trying to sort through his mixed feelings.
Mouse and Ray, standing nearby, weren�t sure what to do. Dot hadn�t told them whether or not they were allowed at the diner as well, but Phong nodded at them to go. They did, Mouse giving the couple an encouraging slap on the shoulder.
"Don�t worry, guys," she said, trying to sound reassuring. "Dot�ll warm up ta ya in a couple o� cycles. You�ll see." Then she and Ray left, using his Baud for transportation.
Phong watched the two sprites that were left worriedly. AndrAIa�s eyes were closed, and Matrix was silent, but soon his hurt turned to fury.
"Of all the basic, low-density things, I�" he started, but AndrAIa stopped him.
"Come on, Lover, let�s go to the park." She sounded as sad as he felt.
Phong watched them go, then rolled back inside the Principle Office, his joy gone.
"So Megabreath shot you in the Web?" Enzo asked incredulously in between sips of his energy shake.
Bob nodded, remembering with a smile Enzo�s nickname for the power-hungry virus. "Yeah. And it wasn�t until a full hour later that Mat�" He was stopped by Dot�s venomous glare. "I mean, the pirates found me and we got back to Mainframe."
"I can�t believe you guys went through an hour long viral war!" Enzo exclaimed. "And where was I?"
Dot shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "I don�t know. But that�s how all our friends came�they were visiting, and helped out in the war."
Enzo took a slurp of energy shake, thinking over what Dot had told him. "But who are the green guy and his girlfriend? I didn�t get a chance to meet them. Are they from another system, like Mouse? Or the Web, like Ray?" The other sprites had given their own mostly true stories that Enzo believed.
"That�s not important," Dot said. The others wondered why she didn�t just tell her brother the real truth. "You shouldn�t see them anyway."
"Why?"
"They�re from another system. But they�re just not good people that I wouldn�t approve of you hanging out with. End of file."
Enzo fell silent, sure that his sister was hiding something. What it was, though, he didn�t know.
"This is horrible," Matrix sighed, closing his eyes in anguish. He and AndrAIa sat on one of the benches in Floating Point Park. They were the only ones there, since all the families of binomes had retired to their homes for the evening.
The game sprite rested her head against his chest, listening to her lover relay his numerous thoughts to her, wishing she could comfort him more.
"Why is she so afraid of me?" Matrix asked in a low voice that failed to hide his emotions.
"Enzo, it�s not that�"
"Yes, it is. And don�t call me Enzo. I�m Matrix. The only Enzo anyone needs is across the city." His sadness changed to anger and then back and he heaved a deep sigh. "My own sister is afraid of me because I�ve changed. I guess it�s true; you really can�t go home."
"Don�t say that!" AndrAIa told him fiercely. "Mainframe has always been your home, ever since you were little, and it still is. It doesn�t matter how big or old you are; home doesn�t change."
"Unless it went through a system restart," Matrix muttered dryly. But the discussion seemed to be closed for the moment.
AndrAIa shivered as a light breeze blew through the park. "It�s getting cold. We should find somewhere to stay.
Matrix wrapped his arms around her, and AndrAIa nuzzled close, glad to be pulled against him. "Maybe we could get a room in the Principle Office," she continued.
"Maybe. But we need our own home, someplace just for us."
AndrAIa looked up at him. "Matrix, we have to make do with what we have. We may have to stay at the P.O. for a cycle or so, and then we�ll find someplace. We could do it in the Games; we can do it here." She stroked his bearded cheek. "Besides, we�re together, and that�s all that matters."
The barest hint of a smile flickered across his face, and Matrix kissed her forehead. "You�re right." He pulled AndrAIa tighter against him and buried his face in her hair. The game sprite, for her part, closed her eyes and put her arms around him.
They sat there for what seemed like micros, both feeling lost in their own home.