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[Author’s note: things may happen in this story that you
will say, “That couldn’t have happened!” I work it
out; don’t get your panties in a ruffle]
Little Sister- part 1
Sydney ran her fingers through her silver hair. The braids twined
themselves around her fingers. She didn’t really believe
that they had fought like that. Her brother and her had been
close forever. She fought him and she cried, and he left anyway.
Her brother Bob was leaving her in a rush, to go to the Guardian
Academy. She frowned, thinking of
how he could be hurt, or even forget her.
“Nonsense,” She whispered to herself angrily, “you
know Bob wouldn’t forget you.”
“That’s right, sugah,” came a voice from behind.
Sydney turned, to see an old friend standing in the doorway.
Mouse smiled, quickly embraced by her best friend.
“How have you been, Mouse? It’s been too long,”
Sydney smiled.
“All right, but I’ve missed ya,” Mouse stated.
“How’s Bob?”
“He’s leaving me, leaving for the Guardian
Academy!”
“Don’t worry sugah, he’ll be back. How do ya think
he felt when ya left to be a Code Master? I’m sure he
didn’t like gettin’ whooped by Lenz’s trainah,
don’t ya think?” Mouse said, trying to reason with
Bob’s angry sister.
“Yes, I suppose. But I came back, an undefeated Code Master.
And he challenged Lenz’s trainer! What will he accomplish by
mending tears? And he’ll start arresting you for
hacking,” Sydney said, remembering the pride she had come
home with.
“Well, sugah, we all know that ya do half the hackin’
for me,” Mouse grinned, almost humored by the predicaments
Sydney would get her into.
“You just want Bob to put you in handcuffs.”
Mouse blushed, a rare sight for anyone. She flopped down on the
couch next to Sydney’s chair.
“Ya taught me everythin’ I know ‘bout
hackin’, but someday I’ll be the greatest, ya just
watch, Sydney. I’ll be better that ya, even,” Mouse
challenged.
“I’ll take that bet.”
“But, since I ain’t yet, could you hack into Bob’s
little organizah and let me read his little journal?” Mouse
said slyly.
“You do it, I don’t want to be anywhere near him right
now. He thinks he’s too good for this city, he can leave
this city with no goodbye,” Sydney snapped.
“But Sydney, would ya mind if I bid him goodbye?”
Sydney looked at her, almost feeling angry. Bob wasn’t such
a bad guy; he was just reckless, unorganized, and grouchy when
you made fun of Guardians.
“You just say that because you’re a hacker and a Code
Master,” he snapped, “I bet you’d change your
mind, if you weren’t like how you are.”
She shook her head.
“Alright Mouse, you can go, I’m not keeping you.”
“Are ya going latah?” Mouse asked, walking toward the
doorway.
“I don’t know. I don’t really know if I want to go
or not,” Sydney answered, pushing the silver braids out of
her face.
“Alright, Sydney, but ya may be sorry. Bein’ a
Guardian’s tough, and he may need ya,” Mouse answered
hastily, and then went out the door.
“Yeah, real tough, I can hear him reciting that wimpy motto
‘To Mend And Defend’ already. Oh, user,” Sydney
growled to herself.
Mouse stood on her zip board, outside Bob’s apartment. She
hesitated only for a second, and then rang the doorbell. Bob,
slightly younger as we know him, came to the door, and smiled to
see his well-known friend Mouse at his doorway.
“Why am I not surprised to see you?” He asked, moving
out of the doorway to make room for her to come in.
“Well Bob, I just heard the news. I don’t think ya
should go, but I guess it’s just
because ya would make such a fine hacker,” Mouse beamed,
trying to lay it on thick.
“And you probably came to tell me what my sister said, too,
I bet,” he said,
rolling his eyes. “She’s way too protective, she’s
the Code Master and the hacker, which
can be a lot more dangerous than being a Guardian.”
“Too true sugah, but she’ only doing it because she
loves ya.”
‘I don’t care. I really don’t!” Bob shouted.
“If ya don’t care, why do ya get so angry at the
slightest mention or remindah of
her?”
Bob’s deep frown transformed, into a small smile.
“You understand me way to well, Mouse.”
“I know, sugah.”
He sat down on his sofa, Mouse smoothly taking a seat beside him.
He smiled at
her as she rested her head on his shoulder.
“Is this the end of us, Bob?” She questioned, frowning
slightly, turning her head
upward to look at him.
“I think so, Mouse. There never really was an us,
anyway,” he whispered.
“Whadda ya mean by that?!!” Mouse screeched, standing
up so fast Bob nearly
fell over. “I thought all the stuff we did was special, and
that ya loved me! I didn’t want to
give myself away to just anyone, I wanted ya! I still want
ya!”
“I know, Mouse. I really do. And I really like you, but
there never was an us, in
the traditional sense, never really together.”
Mouse’s eyes began to well up with tears.
“Don’t worry, Mouse, I will come back for you.”
“What for? I’ve got nothin’ left to give, Bob! I
gave ya me, and my heart. I’ve
never loved anyone else, and maybe I never truly will love anyone
else,” Mouse sobbed,
her cheeks wet with tears.
“Mouse, you could have anyone, so why break you r heart over
me? I’m just a
nobody, just your best friend’s brother,” Bob said
softly. He still loved her, but figured
that this was the only way.
“Is that why ya think I love ya? Think again! Don’t ya
understand, Bob? I love ya,
and no one else,” Mouse declared, now sobbing violently.
“I know, and I really like you, but I can’t stay. My
destiny is out there,” Bob said,
pointing out his window at the sky. “I will mend and defend
these systems, every one on
the net, and then if you still love, you can find me.”
“Find ya?! Do ya even love me, Bob?” Mouse frowned,
wiping the tears from her
eyes.
Bob frowned even lower, because he wasn’t really sure. He
really liked Mouse,
but he knew he would find ‘the one’ when he was
Guardian. He could feel it, he just
knew.
“I can’t answer that,” Bob finally replied.
“I’m not sure.”
Mouse’s lips curled back, baring her fangs in anger. She
turned madly, kicking
open the slow door. She jumped on her zip board, and turned to
face Bob, standing in his
broken doorway.
“Ya used me, Bob, and I may never forgive ya for it. Ya were
the only thing that
was keepin’ me back from doin’ anythin’ wrong. At
least now I can hack into any files,
and not think of how my Guardian wannabe boyfriend will make me
feel guilty for it!” She
swore to him, and to herself.
Bob turned away from the broken door, and as his back faced her,
his eyes grew
misty. He had never cried for anyone before, except for his
parents, and when they died.
But, nothing had died, at least not physically. But something was
indeed dead. He knew
he would never again love Mouse, and that she would always be
fawning for him, until she
met the right one for her. But, he wondered, what if I am the
right one? Did I just ruin our
chances at happiness? He shook his head, wiping his young tears
away. He turned back
towards the door. She was gone. He sat down on the sofa, slipped
on his headphones,
and let himself get lost in his rock music.
In the energy park, Mouse sat lonely on the bench, her cheeks
soaked with tears.
Binomes stared at her as they walked by, and she only answered
with an angry stare.
They dodged her gaze. She pulled her knees up to her chin, and
wrapped her arms round
them. ‘How could he have used me?’ She thought. ‘I
hope I can get over him.’
Sydney’s silver braids whipped on her blueberry skin, and
she rode in her orange
car to Bob’s apartment. Bob had fixed the door already,
fighting back tears as he
remembered the hurtful words Mouse unwittingly said. He really
loved her, he was sure,
but when she was around he wasn’t in love. He couldn’t
understand what was wrong with
him.
She stopped at the closed door, staring at it, hesitating to make
her decision. She
reached forward, pressing the buzzer. Her heart pounded.
“Let me in, Bob, I miss you,” she whispered to herself.
“What are you doing here, Rogue*?” He frowned, the door
opening slower than
ever.
*[Rogue was an old nickname given to her by their parents, on her
hacker/Code
Master ways, in many ways looked down on]
“I am here for forgiveness, do not make me change my
mind,” she snarled.
“There is nothing to forgive,” said Bob, pressing the
button to shut the door.
“No! Wait!” Sydney cried, throwing herself inside,
barely getting in the closing
door.
“You really don’t want me to go, do you?” Bob
accused. “ Would you rather I
become a rogue, like you? I don’t want to, even if you do!
This is my dream, Sydney, and
not even our parents death could change that!”
“You retched creature, how could you say that about our
parents? They
supported your dream, and I came to support it as well, but you
obviously don’t want my
help. I’m leaving as well, Bob. I’ve decided to go back
to the Hackers’ Guild, and live
my life hacking, and fighting Code Masters, as I need to. They
cared for me there, and no
one but Mouse here cares for me. You may be my brother, but there
is no longer any love
in the remaining family, in our family,” she growled,
choking back rage and tears all at
once.
“Oh Sydney, I didn’t know… Forgive me! I’m
sorry! I didn’t know,” Bob
gushed, trailing off quietly.
“I don’t want to forgive you, as you wouldn’t
forgive me. I no longer want your
forgiveness, you disgusting basic monster!”
Bob now could hardly speak, overcome with shock.
“I love you, sis,” he confided.
“If you really loved me, you’d find me when you get out
of the Academy,” she
said, almost copying Bob’s proposal to Mouse.
“That’s not fair! Do you even care about me, little
sister?”
“Yes, but I want you to prove yourself to me.”
“I will find you, Sydney, I promise,” Bob pledged.
There was an awkward pause, and the siblings embraced each other.
“I will see you again, and maybe I will bring Mouse with me
to the Guild. I will
find another city attached to the net, so you can find me, unless
you learn how to hack and
find the Guild. That is how I will make it fair for you,”
Sydney explained, pulling out of the
embrace.
“I will find you, little sis. I will,” Bob murmured.
At that, they smiled one last goodbye, and Sydney walked to her
orange car. She
started it up, and hovered away from Bob, never knowing when she
would see him again.
If she would see him again. She drove by the energy park, and saw
Mouse. She scooped
Mouse up in the car, and drove the sobbing girl home. She decided
to tell her later about
the plans to leave for the Hacker’s Guild.
Mouse vid-windowed her later.
“Hey sugah,” Mouse said weakly.
“Hey Mouse. I have to tell you something,” Sydney said.
“No, I have to say somethin’ first. I’ve decided
to leave, to go to the Hacker’s
Guild.”
“Well, I’ll see you there then.” Sydney smiled,
realizing her and her friend were
destined to be together. Mouse grinned through the vid-window.
“I’ll meet ya here, I’ll give ya the time when I
get my stuff ready,” Mouse planned.
“Sounds like a good plan to me.”
Shutting the vid-window, Mouse said to herself, “A good
friend is better than any
man, I s’pose. I just won’t tell her about Bob an’
I.” She turned, stuffing a few of her
wanted things into a small pack. She deleted her un-needed
clothes from her format. She
never felt so good to leave anywhere. Mouse always had a complex
for leaving a place.
Being an orphan may have helped that. She had only been in this
city for what seemed like
mere nanos, and she was on the move again. She always wondered
whether or not she
would ever stay anywhere forever, but she could never imagine
that, unless held there by
friendship or battle. How little did she know then.
Sydney was packed and ready, starting up the car to head to
Mouse’s. She
vid-windowed her, and then drove with the top down, the wind
whipping her long braids.
Mouse was ready to go already, standing outside her apartment
door. They went above
her apartment, and pulled Sydney’s organizer out. With a
series of complicated codes,
they opened a portal, linked to the Hacker’s Guild. The link
was unprotected, because
anyone who had the codes was a hacker already, or was worthy of
being one. They
flaming orange car drove slowly into the portal, the girls
shouting victory calls the whole
way inside. Then, with a flash, they were gone.
Bob watched on from his apartment, as they disappeared for the
Hacker’s Guild,
rumored to be at the ‘Edge Of Beyond.’ No one was
really sure of this, except the
Hackers.
“Yeah! Put the petal to the metal, honey!” shouted
Mouse, closing her eyes and
letting the cool air beat against her face. She loved how Sydney
drove, speedily,
dangerously. It reminded her of the Bob she once knew, wild,
risky, unpredictable.
Sydney loved the air in her chrome locks, so she speeded up,
pushing the engine to its
max.
“And there it is. Home, the Hacker’s Guild, on the Edge
Of Beyond,” Mouse
smiled.
They gazed at the large, black structure, sprinkled with lights.
Few would be
awake, so they decided to find a hotel. Sydney switched her icon,
revealing her Hacker
identity. Here she was remembered, appreciated, and befriended.
She would always be
closest to Mouse, but people didn’t scorn her as they did in
the regular net cities. Here
she was not different, but marvelous. Sydney smiled to herself,
thinking the only reason
she would ever leave was to get a registration in some crappy net
city so Bob could find
her.
“Sydney, sugah, there’s a hotel ova there,” Mouse
pointed to the gentle blinking
lights of the run-down hotel.
“Alright, but if it sucks really bad, we’re only
staying tonight. And we ARE NOT
sharing beds, forget the 1.1 crap about best friends.”
“I agree, so don’t worry ‘bout it.”
They took their small packs to the front desk. The sprite hastily
opened a book,
and asked for their names, to access their credit accounts*.
*[I use credit accounts like those Star Wars episode 1 credit
accounts. I didn’t
like the movie that much, but I liked it enough to steal a good
idea.]
“Sydney,” she told, not expecting to have to give a
last name.
“Wow, the Sydney who controlled the whole Guild by hacking
into to prove
herself?” The sprite asked in wonder.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“And yours, Miss?” The man addressed Mouse.
“Mouse is my name, the account is undah mouse.sugah.”
“Yes, thank you. Is that sugar with an H or an R?”
“An R,” she answered, a little offended.
The girls yawned, stretching their legs. They raced each other
giggly to the
elevator, and then raced each other to the hotel room. They each
flopped onto their beds,
making snatches at the TV remote. Finally, they decided to watch
an action film about a
slick thief, who lived in the primitive 8 bit days. They both
could outwit the guy, but for his
time he was a genius.
“Mouse?”
“Yeah, sugah?”
“Do you think Bob will find me?” (They had told each
other what had happened
when they saw Bob last.)
“Yeah, I do. Do ya think I will have to find him, or do ya
think he will care enough
to find me as well?”
“Yes, he will find you, and you won’t have to find him
because that is in the
unlikely case we are actually apart,” Sydney laughed.
The girls chuckled together, knowing only tragedy could separate
them.
“I really think that if you don’t end up with him, you
will end up with someone
better for you. I didn’t even know you were into the
goody-two shoes type anyway, to be
honest,’ Sydney stated honestly.
“I’m not, honey, but I do like ‘em cute.”
“Oh eeew! I don’t want to hear that my brother’s
cute! Oh, sick. Excuse my
while I delete my lung from yakking it up!”
“Sorry, sugah, but I gotta be truthful,” Mouse giggled.
Sydney shook her head as she got up to go to the shower. She
freshened up
speedily, and then Rebooted into her favorite pajama format- a
sweatshirt and smiley face
boxers.
“Oh, goodness, sugah! Do ya have any idea what ya look
like?!” Mouse
squealed, teasing her.
“Well, I’m not trying to seduce you, so you can sleep
in peace,” Sydney teased in
return.
Sydney gently dropped herself into her energy bed, dozing off as
the energy tingled her body.
The energy always seemed to soothe her muscles. Next to her,
Mouse booted into her
favorite bedtime format. The bright blue tank top matched
beautifully with her black shorts.
Plunging into the energy, she quickly dozed off, dreaming of Bob
falling in love with her again.
The morning came. You don’t get much morning at the Edge Of
Beyond, so it was still fairly
dark. In fact, it was always like an evening, and it was
comfortably warm, never changing.
Mouse and Sydney yawned as they shuffled around sleepily in their
room.
“Oh, Sydney, I’m so tired,” Mouse whined, muffling
a yawn.
“Join the crowd. We have to go out though, soon, to find an
apartment or something,” Sydney
groaned tiredly.
“Aw, shucks. I don’t wanna leave yet.”
“Me neither.”
Mouse then darted into the shower, coming out later in her normal
clothes. Sydney was
already in her clothing, untangling her metallic braids. Sydney
looked into the mirror. She
looked, in a few ways, like Bob. The silver hair, the blueberry
skin, the brown eyes. She was
glad that was all that made them resemble each other. Mouse
turned, repacking her things,
and slipped the small bundle on her back. Sydney followed behind
her out the door, they
handed in the key, waving goodbye to the sprite at the front
desk.
Sydney hopped over the side of the car, while Mouse opened the
door. Then, they began to
search the floating city for a place to stay permanently. They
saw a large vid-window with an
arrow, giving directions to an apartment complex with vacancies.
They found about 4 other
ones along the way, but they finally found their original
destination. The place was called
Ghost_Files, after the legendary first hacker’s web name.
The apartments were huge, and
they hardly cost anything. Mouse decided on a middle floor
apartment, while Sydney decided
on the same building, but at the very top floor. There she could
gaze at the beautiful Beyond’s
horizon, even if it was dotted with ugly, dead web creatures.
They were welcomed by the
owner, via vid-window, and afterward began to download furniture
for their dwellings.
“Here I go,” Bob murmured to himself. He jumped on his
zip board, and hovered to the
Principle Office, where the Guardians were picking up their
volunteers. Bob rushed in the
door, with his energy level soaring, tried to keep himself
contained. There were a couple other
sprites, and about 7 binomes. He noticed he was about in the
middle of the age group, and
then he saw someone he knew from school.
“Charlie? Hey, Turbo! Over here,” Bob shouted, getting
the sprite’s attention.
“Bob- hey Bob! I didn’t think you’d come!”
The tall boy turned, reaching out his
hand. Bob took it, shaking it firmly.
“Well, may the best man get is yellow icon first,” said
Bob, raising a competitive
eyebrow at Turbo.
“Oh, and Bob?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t ever use my real name in public again, OK?”
“Sure thing, Charlie,” Bob snickered.
Turbo rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair.
Before the Academy,
Turbo’s hair was in tall spikes, but the rest of him looked
youthful as well, so the look really
fit.
“Do you miss your sister yet, boy?” Turbo asked,
already making use of the word
‘boy’ towards Bob.
“Yeah, in many ways. She and Mouse left already,” Bob
replied, staring at his
shoes.
“Where’d they go? I wished I coulda said goodbye to
your sister, if you know
what I mean,” Turbo said, smiling as he thought of Sydney,
and then began to laugh, as
Bob’s face grew red.
“That’s just plain disgusting! You say anything like
that again about my sister, I’ll
kick your a-”
“ATTENTION!! Make a line! Face forward! Stand
straight!” A rough voice
commanded, scaring the young cadets into a quivering line. Turbo
was still smirking about
Bob’s reaction about his sister, and Bob was still flushed.
‘That is so gross,’ he thought,
‘my sister! I hope no other guys wanted to say
goodbye…or did.’
The binome with the rough voice ordered the cadets to file single
lined into the
back of the ship, the ship that would take them all to the
Guardian Academy.
Meanwhile, Sydney had already gone to the Principle Office to
apply for a
position. Her hacker skills were tested thoroughly, and her
results were to be given to her
later. Mouse went later, taking the same test, but struggling a
lot more compared to
Sydney. She wished she had finished training under Sydney; it
would have been so much
easier. She knew she would someday be among the best hackers,
along side Sydney, but
she knew that wasn’t now. She finished the test slightly
sweaty and nervous. Sydney had
been waiting outside, playing the game Pong on a vid-window. As
Mouse drew closer,
she saw Sydney was actually watching a game, with an elderly
sprite and a binome.
“Where is this at?” Mouse inquired, figuring it
wasn’t of this system.
“A place called Mainframe. Apparently this old sprite is
called Phong, and is very
wise or something. You have to beat him at his own game to get
his advice. There is a
twin city, and I think I will register there,” Sydney said.
“Alright, sugah, ya do that, and I’ll keep my
registrations with me,” Mouse agreed
sourly.
“I never said you had to. Well, since the test results
aren’t going to be back for a
few nanos, let’s go now. I saw this ad for a diner.
Al’s Wait And Eat or something like
that, it’s brand new.”
With that, they buckled themselves in, and used the organizer to
set a portal
direction for Mainframe’s twin city, Serverframe. They drove
with a normal speed,
whipping hair all around. Sydney stopped the car at the end, and
scanned for a place to
open the portal where they wouldn’t be seen. They found an
alley by the Mainframe
dump, and made their quiet arrival.
“Do you feel that? That weird tingly feeling?”
“Aw, honey, don’t git carsick on me now!”
“No, there is a Code Master here.”
Mouse shook her head. “How do you know that?”
“It’s a Code Master thing, I wouldn’t expect you
to understand. Sorry,” Sydney
explained. Still weary, she put together her staff, and slipped
it under the back seat. They
drove quietly, and finally hit the main road. They headed to
Serverframe. At the principle
office, Sydney went to register. Outside in the parking lot,
Mouse listened in on the
conversation, hacking into files and changing things to cover for
her. Yes, Sydney really
was on the Net Transport, or at least she was according to the
file on the Transport.
“Now, Ms. Sydney Chicago, you are a resident. Welcome to
Serverframe.”
“Yes, yes, thank you.”
Walking out triumphantly, Sydney beamed, and gave Mouse a high
–five.
“Good job! You deserve to be a high-hacker member of the
council.”
“And ya do to, sugah,” Mouse complimented in return.
“Let’s go to that diner now. It’s on
Mainframe’s level 31.”
“Good thang, too, because I’m starvin’.”
They pulled up to the diner, to find it absolutely packed. With
frowns, they
decided to go somewhere else. Suddenly, a one-sided, small
vid-window opened up in
front of Mouse. It said that her test results were in, and that
she should see them right
away. Mouse dropped Sydney off on Baudway, where there was sure
to be a place to
eat at, and went back towards the dump to open another portal.
Sydney was going to be
picked up as soon as Mouse could get back. Strolling along,
Sydney realized that she felt
a lot better in this city than the other one. There was almost a
sense of impending doom in
Serverframe, like the end was near. She kept walking, coming upon
another new diner,
called Dot’s Diner. The people were coming and going
constantly, and she wondered if it
was because the food was fast, or the food was bad. Sydney
decided to go in,
remembering to change her icon into a ‘ReBooter’ so she
would be inconspicuous. She
pushed open the door, to be greeted by a stuffy waiter.
“This way, madam,” he ordered. This was Cecil, the
exact same as we know him.
“Oh. Thank you.”
“Here is your menu.”
Looking at it, she decided to get an energy shake and a burger.
She ordered, and
the waiter asked her to sit at the counter for a moment. A green
sprite came smiling from
behind the counter.
“If you can catch the shake, your lunch is free!”
“Is this a contest or something?”
“Yes, it is a contest. Few have caught the fastest food in
Mainframe,” replied
Mrs. Matrix. She was a fair height, with long blue hair, and she
was very pretty. From
behind came a tall, orange sprite with dark black hair. He was
also good looking.
“Dot! Enzo! Come here, see if she catches it,” they
shouted. 2 sprites came from
the back, one very young, not even 11 yet. The other sprite was
about her age. They
both had green skin, and the midnight black hair. Smiling, the
girl, Dot, silently mouthed,
‘you’re going down.’ Sydney grinned, getting ready
to catch the speedy shake. With a
pop! The shake was released. It sped down the counter, barely
visible to the eye.
Swinging her arm down, she snatched the drink, amazing each and
every spectator.
Smiling at Dot, she mouthed ‘you just went down.’
The spectators went back to their seats to eat, still quietly
amazed. The Matrixes
went back, slack-jawed. Enzo made happy baby noises in the
background.
“You aren’t from around these parts, are you?” Dot
asked, a suspicious eyebrow
raised.
“Does it show?” Sydney asked, sipping her energy shake
and pulling herself off
the floor.
“Actually, yes. It shows very much,” Dot replied,
leaning on the counter. Cecil
brought the burger over to Sydney, scoffed a little, and then
resumed his priorities. “Damn
crabby waiter. So, where are you from? You have reflexes like a
Code Master.”
Sydney smiled. “You think so? What makes you say that?”
“Only the undercover Code Masters that come around can catch
anything that
fast. Are you a Code Master? You have that air about you. And I
saw you change your
icon from a hacker’s across the street.” Dot leaned in,
whispering,“ What are you?”
Leaning in also, Sydney whispered, “I am Sydney, high-hacker
of the Guild, and I
am Rogue, a Code Master from the net. I am undefeated; I studied
under the Code
Master Lenz. Does that ask your question?”
Dot’s eyes were wide open, and she grabbed onto the counter
for support. “A
Code Master? A hacker? In Mainframe? This will be the end of us
all!”
“No, it won’t. I fight Code Masters outside of the net
cities, on the Edge Of
Beyond. That is my assigned fighting place, and my favorite
residence, by the Hacker’s
guild. If you don’t believe me, I’ll take you there at
my next fight,” Sydney offered.
“That’s okay, really, I believe you!”
“You don’t have to agree with everything I say,
y’know, I’m a sprite too. I’m not
some super being.”
“Alright then, I’ll go. When is your next one?”
Dot asked, edging towards a
different life, a life more like Sydney’s.
“I don’t know. When I am challenged. It may be a cycle,
even. I am not
challenged very often,” replied Sydney. Dot looked at her in
wonder, wishing she could
be as successful at what she does as Sydney is at her
‘occupations.’
“Why did you come here anyway, if you like the Hacker’s
Guild so much?”
“I made a promise to my brother, that when he gets out of
the Guardian Academy
he will be able to find my registration in a net city. I chose
that one over there,” Sydney
explained, pointing towards the sister city.
“And you just waltzed in, proving to them you were just
moving?” Dot asked,
now suspecting her of lying.
“My friend hacked into the files while I smooth-talked the
front desk. If you don’t
believe, check my files.”
“Alright, I’ll do that.”
Finishing the last bites of her burger, Sydney shook hands with
Dot, and walked
out the door.
“She was a different one, wasn’t she?” Mrs. Matrix
murmured to her family.
“Definitely, sweetie, she is very different,” Mr.
Matrix said, wiping off the counter,
watching Sydney walk down Baudway. When she was a small figure on
the horizon, a
flaming orange car seemed to swoop out of nowhere, and the other
figure slipped to the
passenger side, and Sydney sped the car back down towards
Dot’s. Dot stepped outside
the diner, and put her hands on her hips. She was waiting for
Sydney to prove herself.
Sydney pulled out her little organizer, and typed in the series
of portal codes.
Dot’s mouth hung open, as she moved toward the portal.
“Is that the Edge Of Beyond?” She gasped, pointing her
finger to the sky on the
other side of the opening. Sydney smiled, and waved goodbye.
Mouse slunk low into the
seat, so not to be seen. And she wasn’t. Dot stepped back,
still slack-jawed. To her, the
Edge Of Beyond was no longer a fairy tale. Dot decided then to
keep a tight lip about it,
or she may face the wrath of Code Masters and of Hackers. Sydney
waved goodbye,
and drove into the portal.
“Goodbye Mainframe! So, Mouse, how where your test
grades?” She asked,
turning her attention towards Mouse.
“Well, I’m a middle-mastah hackah,” She replied.
Middle-master is one of the
top 15 positions in the Hacker’s Guild. “Did ya git
your grades yet?”
“No, strangely enough. I wonder if something happened.”
“I bet that means something in itself, like that you’re
a high-hackah, the 3rd
position or sumthin’.”
“I hope so. I already downloaded myself some
furniture,” Sydney worried.
They arrived at the Guild, and Sydney dropped Mouse off at her
apartment.
Revving her engine, she soared up to her parking spot, and then
turned off the engine. She
missed its purr already! Opening her door, she flopped down on
her red coach, and
accessed a soda.
“Mmmm, I love these things,” she whispered happily to
herself. She sipped it, and
lay down on the sofa, and accessed a vid-window. She looked
around in the Mainframe
resident listings, and then she found Dot.
“Hey Dot. Do you believe me now?” Sydney asked, beaming
into the
vid-window.
“Oh…yes, yes, I believe you,” Dot said quietly.
“Would you…show me? Can I
see what it looks like, the Edge Of Beyond?”
“It’s very beautiful, dark, and warm. There are
stars.”
“Stars?”
“Yes, many, many beautiful stars.”
Tugging the vid-window with her, Sydney climbed the fire escape
to the rooftop.
“Oh, wow, it IS beautiful,” Dot gasped. “Will I
ever get to go there, Sydney?”
“Sure. Someday.”
Sydney was amused by the sprite’s wonder. Sometimes she
forgot how much
knowledge she had gained in her young life. Dot then got a
confused look on her face.
“What are those things outside the tear?”
“Dead web creatures, actually. Web Creatures don’t
bother us much, since we’re
cloaked.”
“Look, Sydney, I have to go. My parents are coming, and I
don’t think they like
you much-”
“Most people don’t.”
“Look, can you window me at 24:50?” Dot begged.
“Alright. I guess so,” Sydney answered.
With that, the vid-window closed. Mouse was in the doorway
seconds later,
slightly angry.
“Oh, hey Mouse,” gushed Sydney.
“Hey yaself! Ya gonna git us in trouble if you keep on
talkin’ to that net girl.”
“Mouse, she has no clue where I am. She’s nice, and I
really think I trust her.”
“Hmph!” Mouse growled.
“Mouse, are you jealous of Dot? Don’t be, you know you
and I are best friends.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s just that I-”
“Feel betrayed by Bob? I do, too, so don’t feel alone.
I won’t betray you,
Mouse, I promise. But I think you, me and Dot will be friends,
even if it isn’t at the same
time.”
“I dunno. I guess ya are right.”
“I know I am. You probably won’t even remember her
unless you meet her, and I
doubt you will.”
“I s’pose.”
Mouse then smiled weakly, left the apartment and went to her own.
She did feel
betrayed by Bob, but did Sydney even know about her and Bob? Had
Bob told her? Or
was she just able to see and know? These types of questions ran
through Mouse’s head
as she turned on the TV.
In Sydney’s apartment, Sydney had already gotten ready for
bed. She turned on
the TV. She settled on a baseball game, and rested on her
favorite red couch. She sighed,
wondering if Mouse was still jealous of Dot. She figured no, and
that if Mouse met dot,
she’d make her jealous in every way, and be snotty. That was
a Mouse-ish thing to do.
So, she decided, that Mouse would never meet Dot, on her accord.
A vid-window
opened above her.
“Greetings, Sydney. We have your test results,” came
the voice from the binome
in the window.
“All right then, let’s hear it,” she smiled,
rebooting back into her clothes.
“You, Sydney, have acquired the position of high-hacker, 2nd
position,
vice-commander of the Hacker’s Guild. Congratulations,”
the binome informed.
Sydney was left breathless. She murmured a “Thank you.”
The vid-window was
shut, and she ran down to Mouse’s apartment.
“Mouse! Mouse! You’ll never guess what happened!”
She cried.
A testy Mouse opened the door.
“Whadda ya want, sugah?” Mouse said bitterly.
“I made high-hacker, 2nd position! I want to go
celebrate!” Sydney announced,
jumping up and down.
“That’s great, Sydney!” came a familiar voice in
the background of Mouse’s
apartment.
“Who? Huh?” Sydney questioned, and as she said this to
herself, a familiar figure
came from the shadows. She gasped. It was Bob.
“I took ‘im while he was on vacation break,”
whispered Mouse, winking at her.
“Vacation break only 3 days in, Bob?” Sydney said,
trying to be oblivious to the
whole situation.
“Uhh, yeah, some dude got hurt, and it messed up lots of
files. That’s why we got
a week off,” Bob replied, really believing Sydney was
oblivious to the whole situation.
“I’ll see you later, and Mouse, when you are finished,
make sure to put him back
using a hacked vid-window this time as well, OK?”
“Sure thing, sugah.”
“See you, Sydney, and I already found the place you
registered, it’s
Serverframe,” said Bob.
“I prefer Mainframe, though. You’ll find me
there,” Sydney informed.
“Yeah, bye sis,” Bob hinted.
With that, she went up to her apartment. ‘My greatest
accomplishment,
overshadowed by nookie! I suppose I’d do the same thing, but
I can’t now, can I?’ She
thought this, and many other things bitterly. ‘I guess I
should call Dot now.’
“Hey Sydney. What’s processing?”
“Nothing. I just remembered to call you. Sorry if I’m
late,” apologized Sydney.
“Actually, you’re just in time. 5 nanos ago, I
wouldn’t have answered your call,”
Dot said, smiling widely, and then she winked. A boy sprite
walked through the
background that wasn’t her family.
“Man! Everyone has got some tonight except me. I feel
rejected,” Sydney
murmured.
A knock was on the door.
“Give you details later,” the girls said in unison,
giggling. The vid-window shut.
A binome stood in the door.
“Package for Sydney.”
“Oh. Yeah, I’m Sydney. Who is this from?”
The binome searched the package. “The main Hacker
office.”
“Oh. Thank you,” she said graciously, then shut the
door. She ripped the paper
off, and inside was her new uniform. It was a navy blue suit. It
was stiff. It was stuffy. It
was ugly. She unfolded the jacket further, to have a note tumble
out. It read:
Feel free to make necessary changes.
Requirements are that you remain
decent and that the navy blue color is the same.
“This should be easy enough,” She remarked. She took
the slacks and threw
them in the garbage. ‘No stuffy, non-baggy pants for
me,’ she thought. She kept the suit
top mostly the same, only adding red shoulder guards. [Think
Starship Alcatraz in ‘The
Tiff’] She found a pair of blue pants in her format that she
copied and pasted into her
uniform format. She added knee and elbow pads, a deep black, and
took her old combat
boots from another format. She quickly polished them, and then
added them to her
uniform format, completing it. Now finished with her work, she
rebooted back into her
bedclothes. Sydney was exhausted, and decided to call Dot the
next day. She went to
bed, dreaming of meaningless things.
“Sydney, wake up honey!” Mouse shouted, shaking the
sprite violently.
“Whoa-huh-what?” Sydney stammered, aggravated by her
rude awakening.
“Ya ovaslept! It’ll be time to go to work in 2
nanos!”
“2 nanos! Hold on a second,” Sydney requested. She
rebooted into uniform, and
her and Mouse ran to the car. Untangling her braids, Sydney
cussed the whole way. The
engine roared to life, and the girls rushed off to work.
“You are late. I trust this will not happen
frequently.”
“I am sorry, Ms. Daemon, it won’t happen again,”
Sydney assured. Mouse had
already gotten into work safe and sound, not having to run as
far. Daemon was a tall
sprite, lanky, with gray skin and bright red hair. Her eyes were
icy blue, and seemed to
look straight into you. She was fiercely beautiful. And the way
she acted, she could
control you easily. And to many, that is what she did.
“I have a few things to inform you of, Sydney,” Daemon
stated.
“Yes ma’am,” she said, swallowing her fear.
“Your hacker codename will be Phoenix. You will fly a JB-13
fighter if battle is
necessary. You happen to be the only Code Master here, so you are
expected to battle
outside of the Guild. No damage is to be done to my city.”
Sydney’s eyebrow raised at the words ‘my city.’
Did this sprite really think she
owned this city?
“And I already have an assignment for you,” Daemon
continued; only pausing to
take a breath. “You are to find and hack into the files of
Mr. Matrix, citizen of Mainframe.
You will copy these files and return them to me. I want this done
by 23:50 tomorrow.”
“May I ask why, Ms. Daemon?” Sydney asked, biting her
lip.
“Yes, you may ask, but I may never give you an answer.
You’re a smart girl, you
can figure it out,” sneered Daemon.
“Yes ma’am.” With that remark, Daemon signaled for
Sydney to go to her new
office. Out in the hall, Sydney was thinking of ways to delete
her.
“Yes ma’am.” ‘What a jerk,’ Sydney
thought. ‘ I wonder if her mother was basic
and her dad was a virus.’
“I heard that,” Daemon whispered, suddenly, in
Sydney’s ear.
“What? How? How did you- ” Sydney cried. It didn’t
matter, because with a
small whoosh, Daemon was gone. Sydney was left scared and alone
in the Hacker’s cold
hallway. Mouse’s day had been a little worse.
“You WILL obey my rules. You WILL finish all your
assignments, and you
WILL NOT disrespect me! Do you understand?” the tall sprite
asked. Mouse was angry
with this man already for the way he treated the other binomes
and sprites, and she wasn’t
appreciating being yelled at for showing up.
“Yes sir, Mr. Adams, sir!”
“Alright then. I am going to take you through a course, and
you must pass to be
battle efficient! The simulations begin in 20 nanos, so be here
and be ready!” the sprite
ordered again. With that, he tromped off, giving Mouse time to
prepare. She accessed a
vid-window in the ladies’ room, and began talking hastily to
Sydney.
“I have to take anotha test! I hope this is the last!”
Mouse whined.
“What one are you taking?’
“A fightin’ test, battle simulation.”
“Oh, I took that one already. It’s easy after you get
past the first level,” Sydney
explained.
“How many levels are there, sugah?” Mouse asked
worriedly.
Sydney sighed. “15, I believe.”
“Oh. I really don’t feel like doin’ this.”
“Neither did I, but I passed, and I get to fly a JB-13, and
I got one of the lower
scores. Think of what you could get.”
“I s’pose, sugah. I gotta go, I only got 10 nanos
left,” Mouse murmured, and then
shut the vid-window.
“Are you ready, little girl?” The Commander sprite
asked condescendingly.
“Yeah, I’m ready. And DON’T call me little girl
again, or I’ll delete you so fast
that-”
“Are you threatening me, little girl? You better be careful,
because I don’t take
threats lightly,” the Mr. Adams growled. He pulled Mouse to
him, and stared her right in
the face. She only stared back, not giving the terrified tremble
he was expecting. He
squeezed her tighter to him, crowding her against his muscular
chest. He sneered at her,
and then began to squeeze the life out of her. She howled at him,
struggling to get free, but
he was just too strong.
“Stop that! Adams, get off her now!” A voice commanded.
It was Sydney’s
voice.
“Who are you?”
“I am Phoenix, high-hacker, vice-commander of the Guild. I
order you to put her
down,” she commanded.
“Thank ya, Sydney!” Mouse cried, still wiggling to
break free.
“Prove it to me, and I’ll let her go. I like them
sassy,” Adams threatened.
Angrily, Sydney pulled out her ID. The sprite gasped, and dropped
Mouse to the
floor. With a snarl, she kicked him down to the floor with her.
She got up and ran beside
Sydney.
“We’re gonna report ya, ya virus lovin,’ basic, no
good slime ball,” Mouse
growled.
“You can’t do that,” he said, trembling at the
enraged Sydney.
“Just watch me.”
The girls walked silently down the cold, dark hallway.
“Where are we goin’?” Mouse asked nervously.
“To see head-hacker Daemon, to complain.”
“No, that’s alright, I’ll call my commandah
tonight, don’t worry about me.”
“Promise me that you’re Ok, Mouse.”
“I am Ok,” Mouse assured.
“Fine then. Let’s go home.”
The walk home was in silence. Mouse smiled dryly as she walked
slowly into her
apartment. Also silent, Sydney went to her lodgings. She opened a
vid-window, and
contacted Dot.
“Hey Dot,” she welcomed, trying to forget the
happenings earlier.
“Hey Sydney. What’s processing?”
“Nothing much. A pretty boring night, actually. Say, what
time is it?”
“About 20:50. Why?”
“I was wondering if you want to come the Edge Of
Beyond.”
“Yeah, you know I would. Do you want me to bring
anything?”
“Well,” Sydney thought, “bring something like a
zip board.”
“Why?” Dot asked.
“Have you ever played tag with dead web creature
skeletons?”
“No.”
“Then,” Sydney said slyly, “You have been missing
something.”
“Alright, I’ll be at the diner. You’re picking me
up, right?”
“Yup.”
With that affirmation, the vid-window shut. Sydney picked up her
decrepit zip
board and wiped it off, because it was covered in dust from not
being used.
“Hey there, you old piece of junk. You won’t fail me
now, will you?” she
murmured.
Putting it on her uniform’s belt, she went to her car to go
pick up Dot.
15 NANOS LATER
“Wow! Is this the Edge Of Beyond? It’s beautiful,”
Dot whispered, leaning her
head upward to watch the different color streaks crash and pull
apart above her.
“No, we’re not there yet. You just wait. Dot, if you
think this is pretty, you should
see the sky there. It’s navy blue, with stars sprinkled on
it. I showed you it through the
vid-window, but that’s not the same. I figured you should
see it yourself. It’s a place I’m
proud to call home.”
Dot nodded, barely aware Sydney had said anything. ‘I will
never forget this,’ she
thought, smiling above her, ‘how could I forget this?’
“You ready to be amazed, net sprite?” Sydney asked,
slowing the car down to a
halt.
“Amaze me, hacker sprite,” Dot giggled.
With a flash of bright light, the opening on the other end of the
portal was opened.
The car sped towards the city, and Sydney thought better of it.
‘It’s cloaked for a
reason,’ she worried, ‘and I wouldn’t want to get
Dot in trouble.’ Putting the car in park,
it floated dead in the sky, not moving from its position.
Smacking Dot on the arm, Sydney cried, “Tag! You’re
it!” unfolding her ancient
zip board, she raced underneath the car.
“Hey! Will my zip board run on your city’s energy? And
where is your city?” Dot
wondered.
“Yeah, it will. And my home is closer than you’d
think.”
“Really? Where?”
“See the spot where all the stars are missing? Look closely,
and you’ll see the
outline.”
“Wow, I can see it. Aren’t you guys worried about web
creatures?”
“Web creatures aren’t known for their brain power, you
know that, Dot.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s so different out here. You know
things change here, but
you’d think everything would change. Didn’t you feel
that way when you first got here?”
Sydney sighed. “I wasn’t very appreciated for it. The
told me I wasn’t good
enough to be a Hacker. I showed them by taking over their Guild,
until I was guaranteed
a spot and an everlasting account in their city,” Sydney
explained. Smacking Dot on the
shoulder again, “You’re still it!”
“I’ll get you!” Dot threatened, jumping on her zip
board. The two played for
hours, (sprite time) darting between skeletons, over and under
Sydney’s car. Dot won by
at least 15 tags.
“We act like we’re 1-1 out there.”
“What, you want to compile up so fast?” Sydney said,
rolling her eyes.
“I never said I didn’t like acting 1-1,” Dot
laughed. The two were tired, so they
flopped in the seats of the car. They stared at the stars,
finding shapes and people and
words.
“Sydney,” Dot whispered, “Do you ever think I can
come here again?”
“Yes, I think you will,” Sydney replied.
“I think I should go home, then. It’s getting
late.”
“Alright, let’s go. Can we stop at my apartment real
quick?”
“Ok, as long as I get home soon.”
The screaming orange car made its way towards the city. Inside
the cloaking
shield, Dot frowned at the city. ‘It looks just like mine,
except it has bigger sectors,’ she
thought.
“What’s the matter, hoping for a technological
amazement?” Sydney snickered.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“We’re ahead in working networks and whatnot, not our
community. Hate to
disappoint you.”
Dot nodded, “it’s Ok.
Silence was in the car with them as the sounds of the city
overtook them. The
bright streetlights made them squint, and finally they came upon
Sydney’s apartment.
Leaving Dot in the car, Sydney made a run to her apartment. She
dumped her zip board
in a chair, and opened a vid-window, getting a hold of Daemon.
“What is the man’s name I have to hack?” Sydney
asked, trying to play dumb.
Daemon said, irritated, “Mr. Matrix, of Mainframe.”
“Yes ma’am, thank you.” She shut the vid-window
hastily, and ran downstairs.
In the car, they were silent again. They had run out of things to
say.
“Hey Dot, does your dad have some big project going on? A
lot of people are
talking about it.”
“Yeah, a really big project. He’s working on changing
nulls back into binomes
and sprites.”
“That’s a really noble thing to do.”
“Yeah,” Dot sighed, trying not to feel suspicious.
‘Nothing is up,’ she thought,
‘Sydney wouldn’t do that to me.’
“How did you hear about it, Rogue?” (Sydney had told
her about the nickname
situation.
Sydney panicked. “A couple of sprites came back from
Mainframe and that other
city and found a couple fried nulls in their engines. What a
horrible sound they make.”
“That was probably one of his first experiments, he fried
those things horribly.”
“Oh. OK.”
They began to chatter again. Dot forgot about the nosy question,
and they went as
if nothing had happened. Sydney was feeling some grief inside,
though. ‘Do I have to hack
her father’s files? Maybe Daemon is just curious at what he
is doing. Yeah, that’s it. I’ll
give her the files once I get home.’ The time passed
quickly, and before they knew it they
were in Mainframe, almost to Dot’s.
“I think I’d better drop you off here,” Sydney
remarked, slowing the car.
“Why?”
“You’re parents don’t like me much. Also, I think
that I should keep ‘on the low,’
so no one can recognize me from those wanted posters awhile
back.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s a good idea,” Dot replied
half-heartedly, and got out of the
car. She began her short walk to the diner. She turned and waved
goodbye to her friend,
and then kept going. ‘What a nice girl,’ Sydney
thought. ‘I’d feel horrid if anything
happened to her.’ In her apartment, Sydney opened a
Hacker’s vid-window. A
Hacker’s vid-window is one that has tools that make the job
a little easier, and it is a little
better. They aren’t available outside the Guild, so Hacking
outside of the city must have a
regular vid-window. She accessed every file of the Matrix
family’s. She easily found the
information she needed. She opened the file named
‘Null/Sprite Reversion.’ Sydney
gasped as she saw the information. Dot was really telling the
truth when she said he was
trying to change Null/Sprite form. There were pictures of nulls
taking sprite form for
nanoseconds, and then going back to their Sprite form.
“Daemon wouldn’t do anything to hurt this
project,” she realized. “She must just
be curious.”
Copying the files to her organizer, Sydney saved them and shut
the hacked link to
Mr. Matrix’s files. She showered, and then went to bed. All
night she dreamed of the
miracles she believed Mr. Matrix’s project could do. The
next morning, she woke up
early. Mouse had already gone to complain to her Commander.
Sydney grabbed her
organizer and headed to the Principle Office.
“Good morning, Sydney,” greeted Daemon, seemingly in a
much better mood.
Surprised, she asked, “Are you bringing me the files
already?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Do you still want the answer to the question you
asked?” Daemon smiled,
placing the organizer on the desk.
“The one about the reason for it? Well, it would be nice,
madam, because his
daughter is one of my friends. I want to know if anyone in those
cities will be harmed,”
she cringed, pulling at one of her silver braids nervously.
Daemon still smiled at her,
making her nervous.
“You may ask the answer when you complete the assignment. I
don’t mean to
sound like I’m pre-programmed, but work needs to be done
without conscience in the
way. I will harm no one in the sister cities. My mission for
these files is for them to
succeed.”
“You mean that you’re going to download information to
Mr. Matrix’s files, to
help his cause?” Sydney asked, beginning to twitch with
hope.
“Yes.”
“Oh,” Sydney whispered confusedly, hoping Daemons words
were truth and not
a sweet lie.
“I will need you in 2 days to go to the cities and find out
how the project is going.
You will report to me immediately thereafter.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“You are dismissed, Sydney,” Daemon sighed, almost as
if she was already tired
of Sydney’s presence. “Sydney?” she requested
softly.
“Ms. Daemon?”
“I will tell you the whole reason behind my helping the
Matrix project. My love
was a strong, handsome man. He was a guardian, and a good one at
that. He went into
many games, becoming a hero to all who knew him. I loved him so
much. Have you ever
been in love, Sydney?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Then maybe you won’t understand. My guardian went into
a game, and he
couldn’t win. He screamed so loud as he lost. You could hear
him outside the game, and
do you know what he screamed, Sydney?” Daemon sighed,
closing her icy eyes at the
memory.
“No, Ms. Daemon.”
“He screamed my name. He died alone in that game, alone. He
screamed out my
name, and then he was lost. He was turned into a horrible null.
Can you figure why I
support the Matrix project now?” Daemon asked.
“You want your lover back. You still love him after all
these years?” Sydney
wondered, bewildered by the thought of being in love forever.
“Yes, I still love him. You never stop loving someone when
you have no reason
not to.”
“I’ll take your word for it, madam,” Sydney
wisped, still amazed.
“You will have too,” Daemon said, frowning softly.
“Why ma’am?”
“You will die before you realize love for another, and only
your family and friends
will mourn you, not the one who was supposed to have mourned
you.”
“Ma’am, may I speak freely?”
“Yes, you may.”
“You are so full of shit. How would you know when I would be
deleted? How I
will feel, whom I will love? Not even the user knows that,”
Sydney snorted.
“I do know, Sydney. There is a way you can overcome this
death I foresee, but I
cannot tell you.”
“How would you know any of this?”
“Haven’t you realized yet, Sydney? You are the only in
the net, the web, and the
Guild not afraid to challenge me. Many fear me, for I can see the
future.”
“I do not wish to hear of your delusions, Miss Daemon.”
“If you afraid to call them truth, yes, they are
delusions.” Daemon retorted. She
lifted her icy blue eyes and whipped back her blood red hair.
Sydney shifted
uncomfortably in her seat, tugging at the uniform nervously.
“Remember to report to me in 2 days on the Matrix
project.”
Sydney nodded slowly, disturbed by the speech before. Would she
die that way?
Will she never be loved? ‘Sydney, you are a basic
fool,’ she scolded herself. ‘Daemon
couldn’t possibly know the future. But then, how did she
know what I called her before in
my mind?’
“Sydney! Sydney wait up, honey!”
She turned, only to see Mouse running toward her. She smiled,
only trying to
mask her fear. “Yeah, Mouse? How did your day go?”
“Well, sugah, that bastard Adams is suspended. I get to take
my fightah test in 2
days.”
“Lucky! I hated that test,” Sydney said, truly envying
Mouse at the moment.
Anything to get her mind off Daemon.
“I hope I pass, I want a good fightah ship.”
“I got one, and my fighter grades were only average.”
“Well, you’re a head Hackah, too. I may get grades 2
times as good, and get a
little shit-bucket.”
“I’ll pull some strings for you, don’t worry about
it, Mouse.”
“Alright, then, I bettah do good on that test so you can sit
on your ASCII!”
“I don’t just sit on my bitmap, I work for Commander
Daemon,” Sydney sighed.
“Yeah, I guess that’s pretty easy, but I will have a
lot of stuff to do when I finish my
starter assignments.”
“Yeah, sugah, you just lie straight faced so well,”
Mouse teased. She smiled,
pulling her jacket on. “Is chilly in here, or is it just
me?”
“No, it’s not you. It’s really cold. My uniform is
really warm, and I’m freezing.”
“Why do ya s’pose that is?”
“I don’t know. It can’t be an energy blackout,
because everything else is on. I
don’t know.”
“A web creature must be near! They cause extreme cold at
times!” Mouse
exclaimed, her eyes opening wide in fear.
“Oh User! Let me do a security check.” Opening a vid-
window, she contacted a
binome in main security. She explained Mouse’s horrifying
theory. He shakily pressed the
button that began the intruder scan.
“Oh, oh, oh,” he quivered, covering his mouth with his
hand. “ I found a class M
fighter web creature. It’s on level 2, in the dump.”
“No! That’s impossible! We’re cloaked! And those
are incredibly rare outside
the web! We couldn’t- ”
“We do, ma’am. And we’ll be lucky to survive
it.”
“Shut up and alert the othahs!” Mouse snapped.
“Yes, miss,” the security guard returned, saluting and
shutting the vid- window.
“Oh User,” Sydney said again.
“Can we survive this, Sydney?” Mouse inquired,
swallowing silently, staring in
Sydney’s eyes.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
Mouse was about to speak when a loud alarm began to sound. It was
a high wail,
shaking the walls in the city. Mouse turned her eyes upward,
realizing that they must get to
their battle- stations.
“Mouse, we got to go NOW!” Sydney insisted, beginning
to turn toward the ship
docks.
“All right, Sydney, let’s go,” Mouse said,
following Sydney down the hall. The
alarm was now louder, making every sprite have to cover their
ears. Sydney ran to her
dock, jumping in her ship. Mouse just stood there, feeling
confused, due to being assigned
no station. She was grabbed from behind, and pushed towards a
FS-87, an unnamed,
unclaimed ship. It was in excellent condition. She was jerked
into the ship, and the sprite
who put her in there was Daemon. Daemon was getting in the ship
next to her, and
Mouse blinked in bewilderment. Realizing she was hesitating, she
put on her helmet and
started up the engine. Daemon smiled weakly and gave her the
thumbs-up through the
cockpit window. All ships that were manned hovered in waiting.
The doors roared open,
signaling that the creature had been lured out. They were now to
destroy it. The battle
cruisers soared out the open door. Little did they know that they
began their last
journeys…
“Phoenix in check, ready for action,” Sydney shouted
into her intercom.
“All units have checked in, now let’s get that
virus!” came a cry from the other
end of the intercom. The fighters began to assemble, and fired
brutally onto the web
beast. Its many arms writhed around it in agony. It was
surrounded, and it began to howl
out in pain and misery. A portal opened in the midst of all the
firing and triumph.
“Look! A web virus! It’s heading this way! It’ll
be the end o-” A shout came form
the intercom again. Screams and shouts of horror filled the
radio. Ships scurried
everywhere, colliding with each other. The web creature floated
pitiful and weak in the
Edge Of Beyond’s sky. The virus realized that this mutilated
creature was a half-decent
host. It moved its slinky body and infected the web fighter. A
screech was heard, and
then the web creature straightened itself. The virus had healed
it, and increased its
strength. It looked at the half- cloaked city in anger, and
headed straight for it.
“No! It can’t catch you! Evasive maneuvers! You must
avoid its grasp!” Daemon
shouted, hoping someone else was alive to hear her. A few weak
murmurs came over the
radio. She sighed in relief, not all was lost. The web creature
was still gaining speed, and
would catch them in nanos. Sydney rolled and hoped she was out of
the infected
creature’s reach. No one would be out of his hold.
Mouse’s ship had been hit, and even
though was she trying to repair it, she was just floating. She
was barely breathing, afraid to
make the slightest loud noise. The web creature flew by, thinking
her deleted. She sighed
in relief, and slumped down, ready to cry in fear.
“Sydney!” Mouse whispered to herself, “will she
survive this?!”
Meanwhile, Sydney was making her craft fly in every angle
possible, glancing
back to see her and Daemon where the only to survive.
“MOUSE!!! NOOOOO!” She screamed, tears flooding her
eyes.
“Sydney! You can’t worry about it now! We must
survive!” Daemon ordered.
Few Hackers were left in the city, and she knew they were
vulnerable without the fighters.
Someone had to survive this massacre. They 2 still turned and
rolled their ships in every
way possible. Mouse sat there, helpless, with her hand upon the
glass of the cockpit. Her
gentle breath slightly fogged the cold glass. It wouldn’t
have been so cold if that damn
web creature hadn’t been there.
“The web creature has a hold of my ship! Get the others and
evacuate them! Go!
NOW, SYDNEY!” begged Daemon, hearing the Web Creature crush
the back of her
ship. Daemon was thrown about 30 feet from her vessel, floating
helplessly in the air,
kicking and fighting, trying to get away, even then knowing her
fate. She knew what was
going to happen to her when they found that Web Creature. And she
knew now that she
had to accept her fate. She stopped her fighting, and lay
motionless, waiting for her
fortune. The monster moved toward her, and pulled her toward it
with its arm. She
cringed. It began to open its mouth, and began to spit out the
virus.
“No! This isn’t supposed to happen! You kill me! I saw
it! You kill me!” She
moaned, putting her hands up to defend herself. Her mind had
foreseen her death, she
was sure this could not be. As the virus left it, the web
creature’s grip weakened
increasingly. Daemon kicked free, and began to float towards the
city. She screamed as
the virus fully left the body, and wrapped itself around her.
Daemon screamed as the
black virus soaked into her skin, and infected her with its evil.
She then was no longer the
Hacker Commander Daemon. She was Daemon, the super-virus.
“Oh NO! That can’t happen!” Sydney said to
herself, as she went towards the
city. Daemon hissed to herself as she saw Sydney’s efforts
to save the remaining Hackers.
She looked the same except for one small thing. The irises of her
eyes were now gray,
like her skin.
“Sydney, you are such a fool,” she snickered, raising
her hands to the sky above.
Daemon gathered energy in her palms, and the energy glowed and
pulsed in her hands.
Pushing them forward, she shot the ‘bombs’ towards the
Guild. It shuddered, rumbled.
And then, as Sydney tried to turn her ship around, it exploded,
cracking into a million
pieces violently. Her ship shot forward, tumbling her around
inside. Her seat belt had long
since snapped, and she was thrown all over the cockpit.
Mouse’s ship was pushed gently,
but she did not move far. Sydney awoke to hear a slight laughing
noise. She opened her
sleepy eyes to find Daemon standing above her.
“Good morning, Sydney,” Daemon greeted cheerily. Sydney
raised her head and
gathered her surroundings. She was on the top of her beaten ship,
damaged beyond
repair. Her face hurt, and she realized that several bruises had
appeared on her face. She
ran her fingers groggily over them. Sydney remembered the battle,
and looked at Daemon
in horror.
“You! You destroyed my city! My home! You are evil, may
you-”
“Quiet, insolent cringing dog! You have no choice but to
obey me now, or face
deletion.”
“Delete me then!”
“You will not get out that easy. You know that,
Sydney.” Daemon smiled, and
began to speak again, after being met with silence. “I will
give you 15 nanos to escape the
Edge Of Beyond. After that, you will be under my control.”
In a panic, Sydney hastily opened a portal to Mainframe. Her
heart pounded. She
pushed herself into the ‘doorway’ and floated towards
her sanctuary. She looked at her
organizer; she only had 4 nanos left. The ending was in her view
now. She would end up
by Dot’s if she made it. If she made it. The portal made a
sudden turn upward, forcing her
to grab onto the edge of it. It began to close, and as Sydney
glanced back she could see
that Daemon was closing in on her.
“Sydney! Is that you? Give me your hand, quick!” A
familiar voice shouted. It
was Dot, reaching for Sydney’s hand already. She grabbed it,
and began to pull her friend
through. Sydney screamed as she felt a sudden sharp pain in her
thigh. It was Daemon,
clutching on her thigh as she pulled her back to the Edge Of
Beyond.
“No! Don’t let me go! Please! Don’t let me
go!” Sydney wailed, sobbing in fear.
Daemon began to pull harder now, more insistent on Sydney’s
fate. Dot clenched her
teeth together, and pulled as hard as she could.
“I won’t let you go! Sydney!” Dot shouted, pulling
harder. Sydney howled at
being pulled apart like that, extreme pain shot through her body.
“Yes you will!” Daemon cried. She let go of Sydney with
one hand, and gathered
energy with it. Dot’s eyes opened wide with terror as the
energy bullets came at her. One
hit her directly on the shoulder, knocking her unconscious. Her
limp hand let go of the
sobbing Sydney’s arm, and she fell to the ground. Sydney
still did not give up. She clawed
at the air, and screamed at the watching binomes for help. No one
did, and she was
swept up in the portal, slashing and kicking for her life. Dot
still lay unconscious on the
pavement, unattended. Mr. Matrix ran out of the diner, and had
seen the whole ordeal.
He scooped Dot up in his arms.
“Dot! Dot! Speak to me!” He shouted, shaking her
gently. Dot opened her eyes
with a groan, and looked around groggily at her audience.
“What happened?”
“Don’t you remember?” Mr. Matrix asked, concerned.
“Remember what?” Dot asked confusedly.
“Sydney? The portal?”
“Who is Sydney? What are you talking about? The last thing I
remember is when
that sprite spilled energy shake on the floor,” Dot replied.
She shook her head, rubbed it
gently, and sat up.
-The Matrixes said no more of Sydney or of Dot’s encounters
with Sydney.
Mouse escaped later into the net, completely safe to take off
until Daemon came back.
Mouse stayed in the net for much of her life. And so begins the
story of her and Bob in
the net. Bob never knew the fate of his sister, because Mouse had
not seen. It was too
dangerous to go back. And so begins Season 1, where Bob comes to
Mainframe. Dot’s
father and mother had already been killed in the accident. Why
that happened will be the
next part of the story. No one knows of Sydney’s fate. What
happened will be in the part
of this story. To be continued.