Decision
Written By: Syd
*Author's Note: AndrAIa narrates this story. It takes place just after "Game
Over". Sorry if you haven't seen the third season.
GAME OVER. USER WINS. GAME OVER. USER WINS. GAME OVER. USER
WINS….
The emotionless voice filled the Game. I knew it would haunt me
for the rest of my life. If there is a "rest of my life", I thought sadly. Enzo
was gone. I was trapped inside a stained-glass window with only Frisket to comfort me,
unsure of whether Mouse's untested program would work or not.
And the User had won.
I wondered whether Megabyte would take over Mainframe, with the Guardian gone. I wondered
whether my friends would survive. I wondered whether my Icon would allow me to leave with
the Game. I remembered my first Game as a Mainframe citizen. I had secretly been scared to
deletion that I would leave with the Game. Now I could only hope for the exact opposite.
The Game started to rise. And to my immense relief and joy, I began to rise with it.
The Game fell once more. There didn't seem to be any other
Sprites there.
Now-familiar (and also quite annoying) music began to play, and the windows lit up one by
one. The User chose Zaytan again.
"The User has no imagination," I told Frisket.
The music started to play again. The windows lit up, stopping
right on mine. Frisket whined.
ANDRAIA AND FRISKET, said the voice, and I found myself on the playing floor.
"Okay, Frisket," I said, trying to make the best of things. "We
spread out and attack from both sides. He can't get both of us at once. Got it?"
Frisket nodded agreement.
Round one. Frisket and I fanned out around the User. Frisket
growled. Zaytan turned to attack him; the dog probably seemed more threatening at the
time. In response, I stabbed him with one of my swords. The User turned to face me.
Frisket pounced in response. I sidestepped just in time, and the User was lying flat on
his face (if that was a face, that is). Frisket and I attacked, and as the round ended, I
thought I heard a cheer.
Round two. The User was smart; he backed up against the edge of the ring. Frisket and I
fought as hard as we could, but the monster User had experience in this game, and we had
none.
Round three. The User backed up once more. In a flash of
inspiration, I backed up to the other side of the ring. Frisket followed my lead. We just
stood at opposite sides for a while. "I have all the time in the Net, User," I
told him. "Come on! Are you attacking, or are you weaseling?"
This was a strategy I had learned from, well, most of the people I know. It's called
intimidating. The User stepped forward. I grinned, and Frisket and I surrounded him. The
User roared. And Frisket and I attacked.
I don't remember much of the fight after that. What I remember
is that, as I was ready to use my finishing move, I hard a thump. I turned right around,
and to my amazement, there was Enzo, in the window behind me. He was banging on the glass
and looked like he was trying to say something.
A normal Sprite wouldn't have heard him; the glass muffled the words. But I had been
programmed with good hearing, and I could tell he was telling me to reconvert my Icon. I
realized he must have converted his, when it was evident he would lose.
Sometime after the User had slashed his eye out, since he had a huge scar and his eye was
closed. He had survived the User's finishing move, because Game Sprites have multiple
lives.
I wordlessly reconverted my Icon and Frisket's, then turned to
face the User and delivered my finishing move.
GAME OVER. GAME OVER.
I rushed over and hugged Enzo.
Enzo gasped and I turned to see what was wrong. I gasped too,
because the system was not Mainframe.
It was completely different.
"What happened?" Enzo cried.
"It seems there was a little problem with this program," said
Toshiba, the system's chief scientist. "It let you leave with the game and kept you
from being nullified, sure. But it didn't return you next time the User of your system
inputted the game. It returned you the next time any User inputted the game. And that was
this one."
She went on. "This is an excellent program, though. That Mouse
lady sure knows her stuff."
"Yeah," Enzo said sadly. "Look, do you think you'll be able to
get us home?" Toshiba handed back Enzo's Icon, which she had been examining.
"Sorry, kid. This system has no ports. However…" her voice trailed off.
"Go on," I prompted.
Toshiba seemed hesitant. "We have no Guardian, either. If you
could stay and help us, well…"
"We'll think it over," Enzo told her.
Once we were outside I finally said it. "What are we going to do?"
Enzo caught up with me later that second. "I thought it over,"
he said, "and I really have no idea what we're going to do. I was assigned to
Mainframe, but a Guardian can't just abandon a troubled system."
"I thought it over too," I said. "It's up to you. I really had no home in
Mainframe. I didn't have time. My home is with you."
Enzo smiled sadly. "I don't know yet. I really don't. What I do
know is that while I'm in this system, I have to try to help it. There's a virus here I
have to… take care of. Could you help?"
I nodded. "All right. Where is this virus?"
"It has a sector on the far side of the system. Toshiba showed
me the way. Come on."
The sector almost looked abandoned. I kept getting weird
feelings, though, like I did when Megabyte was nearby. Thinking about that made me wonder,
what was he doing to the system? Would the Firewall hold? I suppressed my stray thoughts
and tried to concentrate.
"Glitch says the virus is about a hundred bits in that direction," Enzo said,
pointing. "You ready?" I nodded.
"All right. Let's do it!"
We entered a clearing. The feeling was stronger. Frisket
growled. I touched the trigger on my crossbow, ready to fire.
I heard a rustling behind me. I turned slowly. Enzo was checking
Glitch. He looked at me and nodded. I slowly raised my crossbow. Suddenly something leapt
out. I screamed. I couldn't help it.
"It's a Class One!" Enzo called. "We should be able to handle
it!"
I knew there was some truth in what he was saying. Hexadecimal was a Class
Two (chaotic) and Megabyte was a Class Three (power-hungry). Class Ones weren't even
sentient. But this thing was huge!
I only got four shots from my crossbow before the virus threw it
across the clearing. My spines only bounced off its armor. I couldn't fire my starfish off
enough. Enzo tried a wide-fielded energy beam, but Glitch wasn't functioning properly.
Frisket tried to claw the virus, or bite it or something, but it got one well-aimed swipe
at him and he was out cold. This was not looking good. But suddenly I got an inspiration.
"We have to work separately!" I called. "You keep it busy! I
have an idea!"
I found one of the arrows from my crossbow. Then I found an
instrument panel. I tied one of the wires in the panel to the arrow. I looked back. The
virus had Enzo cornered. It had its back to me. Perfect.
I threw the arrow. While it was still in midair, I turned the
panel on. The virus was about to strike when the arrow hit. There was a bright flash of
light, and we never saw that virus again.
"Good idea, AndrAIa," Enzo told me. "Could you be quicker next
time?"
I knew he was joking but I apologized anyway. I grabbed the
remaining three arrows, maybe I could make a spear or a trident or something. Enzo and I
picked Frisket up (he was still unconscious) and headed for the PO.
"We are very grateful," said the system's Command.com. "That
virus has troubled us for longer than you can imagine. Could you accept this small
gift?" He handed Enzo what looked like a small gold ball.
"What is it?" Enzo asked.
"It is a replacement eye," the Command.com replied, gesturing to the huge scar
the User had given Enzo. "It is energy-sensitive and will help you sense other things
as well."
Enzo looked troubled. "I can't accept this," he said. "I…"
"Please," the Command.com replied. "It is but a small token of
our appreciation. Shall we install it for you?"
"Well, I couldn't exactly install it on my own," Enzo replied,
"But…"
"Then if you will come this way please."
Obviously the Command.com wasn't very perceptive. I wondered
what Enzo had been trying to say.
Enzo, Frisket and I were standing outside the PO. "We are very
grateful for your help," the Command.com told us (for about the millionth time that
second).
"We are also grateful for your help," Enzo replied. "However, we
have decided that we have to try to get home."
Everyone looked mildly surprised. So that was what he had been
trying to say earlier!
"We have both helped each other quite a bit," Enzo continued. He wasn't usually
one to make speeches. "Without that virus in the system, you will probably have most
of your problems solved for quite a while. We have to look for our home."
"We stand by your decision," the Command.com replied, but I
could tell he was shocked.
"That was surprising," I told him in a few microseconds when the
others had left. "I was thinking we were staying."
Enzo smiled at me. "So was I. But then I realized I can't just abandon Dot and the
others. I have to try."
I smiled at him, and nodded. All we needed now was a Game.
WARNING, INCOMING GAME. WARNING, INCOMING GAME.
It was a few seconds later. I looked at Enzo and nodded. Every
time I looked at him, his new eye shocked me. It's hard to get used to that kind of thing.
We were escorted to the sector. Everyone else was evacuated.
It's not easy to get used to that kind of thing, either.
"What are you looking at?" Enzo asked.
I realized I had been staring off into empty space. "Oh… that.
That sort of hole in the sky. It's not really a hole, though. I just realized it was
really a portal."
"You're thinking about Mainframe, " he said.
"Yeah," I said. "It's out there somewhere."
He smiled. "We'll find it someday."
I wondered if he meant someday as in some time in the future, or if he really thought it
would take that long.
I nodded. "Someday."
The game descended, opening a new world to us.
And someday…
