continued...

 

Megabyte smiled as he watched the object fall on his own screen, then turned to the binome at the analyzer. "WELL?"
"It defies description, Lord Megabyte. It looks like a sprite, but...it cannot be classified."
"Is it from the Web? The Net? The Super Computer?"
"No, my lord...it appears to have come straight from the User."
Megabyte turned back to the screen. He watched the object fall. "It fell into Sector 18...the storage district. Hack! Slash!"
The red and blue flunkies snapped to, appearing in front of their master and nearly running each other down in the process.
"Yes, Lord Megabyte?" "Yes, Lord Megabyte?" Just out of synch with each other to make the greeting sound cacophanous.
"Go to that Sector and find that object. If it is from the User... there must be some way I can use it to my advantage. Get over to Sector 18 and bring me any suspicious sprites hanging about down there, and take some troops with you. Detain it, but do not destroy it."
"Yes, sir!" "Of course, sir!" "Anything you say, sir!" With that, they took off. Megabyte watched the replay once more, freezing it in mid-play with the golden ball in mid-air. "Hmmmmm..." he said ominously, deep in thought.
"What is the User thinking?"


At that moment Megabyte had uttered those words, Cybermage1 was thinking about how to pay for dinner.
The diner was not particularly well-kept, but some good smells were drifting from the kitchen. The sign over the entrance said, "Mem's." Cybermage1 walked in and looked around. The establishment was filled with some particularly scruffy-looking
binomes, ones and zeroes dressed in work clothes. Cybermage1 went up to the counter and a particularly surly one dressed as a waitress turned to look at him. "Whaddya want?"
"Um...hi. Look, I'm new around here..."
The one looked him up and down. "No kidding, sprite."
Cybermage1 looked around his field of vision, not moving his head. The way everyone was looking at him, he suddenly knew how it felt to be a paramecium under a microscope. "Well, I'd like to get dinner, but I don't have any money on me or credit."
Laughs erupted around the diner and the one guffawed, "Then you have a problem, sprite!"
"Well...uhm, I do know how to fix things. Is there something you need fixed? I fix it, you give me a meal. Sound fair?"
The one looked at him with narrow eyes. "The food maker over in that corner hasn't worked for more than a minute. If you can fix THAT, you can have a few SECOND'S worth of meals."
Cybermage1 smiled. "Deal." He walked over to the machine in the corner. As he bent down over it, the cook walked over to the waitress. "Mem, that thing won't ever work again. Why'd you tell him that?"
"Come on, Bus. I get hard luck stories here alla time, but if he can do something with it, what's the harm?"
Cybermage1 looked over the machine carefully. He wasn't quite sure how it worked, but he'd made some preparations earlier with Archon. He concentrated, crossed his fingers, then said, "Archon, Debug & Reconstruct."

A glowing red ball materialized and hung in the air, as if deciding where to go first. Conversation stopped as the binomes watched the ball of light descend into the foodmaker and disappear from sight. The foodmaker glowed red, then a shower of color rose from the top and sprinkled all over the machinery. Where the rain of color touched, the rusted metal reformed and turned a gleaming chrome. Missing parts re-grew and moved themselves into place, and the red glow went away, revealing a brand-new foodmaker.
Cybermage1 turned with a smile, proud of the work he'd put into the Spell.
"Alright, who's hungry?"

A few milliseconds later, Cybermage1 was enjoying a new experience: eating food in Mainframe. It was quite good, and filling in a way he couldn't describe.
"What's your name, sprite?" the waitress binome asked in a mood significantly sunnier than the one she'd used when he first came in.
"My name's..." he said around a mouthful of food, then held up a finger, swallowed, then finished, "...my name is Cybermage1."
"I'm Mem. Nice ta meetcha. What'd you use to fix the foodmaker?"
Cybermage1 smiled. "Magic." Then he took another bite.
"Never seen anything quite like it, 'specially not down here. Well, when the Guardians come down here sometimes. Are you a Guardian?"
"Not really."
"Then what are ya?"
Cybermage finished the food off, then wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"Lost. That was good food, Mem. I thank you."
"Aw, don't get all formal on me, Cybermage1." The binome smiled. "You get around much?"
"Yeah...I've been all over the Net, I think, but I've been learning to see things in a new way, you might say. There's a lot that's new..."
Cybermage1 turned to see Mem staring at him.
"You sure do talk wierd, sprite. But if yer lost, you should head to the Principal Office."
"Where is it?"
Mem led Cybermage1 to the window and pointed to a huge, gilded structure off in the distance. "There it is. You got a ride?"
"I can get there." Cybermage1 turned back to Mem, kneeling on one knee.
"Thanks for your help." He kissed the back of her hand. Mem blushed a metallic red as he stood up.
"Sweet talker. Don't be a stranger, y'hear?"
As he left, Cybermage1 was starting to wonder if he really needed to leave that quickly.
That's when the explosion blew him off his feet.
Cybermage1 flew to the side and fresh pain blossomed as he landed on his right side. He shook his head to clear the buzzing in his head and looked up. A fast-moving, bulky vehicle flanked by binomes in dull green uniforms came into view as his vision cleared. Sitting on top of the vehicle were two robotic-looking beings, one red, one blue.
"You fired too high!"
"No, you fired too low!"
"High!"
"Low!"
Cybermage1 got to his feet, leaning against the wall next to him. "What the...?!" he asked, then realized that Archon wasn't in his hand anymore. He said a few unpleasant words, then looked up at the arguing sprites on the tank. "Hey, what did you do THAT for??"
Hack and Slash stopped arguing to face Cybermage1 again. "You gotta come with us!" Hack said authoritatively. "Someone wants to see you."
"And talk to you." Slash added.
"And speak with you."
"And discuss a few things with you..."
"Alright, I get the picture already!" *Where the heck is Archon??*
Cybermage1 thought wildly. "Who is it that wants to talk to me so badly that he sends an armed escort?" *Stall for time...!*
"Lord Megabyte wants to talk to you," Hack said.
"And he doesn't want anyone else bothering you," Slash added. "so we're here to protect you."
Cybermage1 spotted Archon out the corner of his eye, lying about twenty feet away. "And if I decide to decline his gracious and heavy-handed invititation?"
Hack and Slash turned to each other for a moment, then turned back and replied, in a rare display of wit, "THEN WE'D HAVE TO INSIST."
"Oh. Well, then, I guess there's only one thing to say in reply."
Cybermage1 reached to his right. "And that is...ARCHON, TO MY HAND!"
The magestaff suddenly flew to his hand. Hack and Slash jumped off the tank and the binomes spread out, taking firing positions and the tank's main gun swiveled to orient on Cybermage1.
"Archon, SHIELDS!" Cybermage1 yelled as Hack and Slash closed on him, their fists raised to pound him into the street. A clear green globe surrounded Cybermage1 just in time as Hack and Slash's fists hammered the shield. Cybermage1 could feel the impacts, but they were muted and harmless. "Alright, you guys want to play rough? Fine. Let's dance. Archon, Rapid-Fire!"
Hack and Slash were suddenly thrown back by a storm of energy bolts fired from the staff's head. The bolts disassembled neatly, reducing them to a pile of parts before they hit the street. Cybermage1 stopped firing and smiled, then his smile disappeared as he realized that he had dropped his Shield Spell to use the Rapid-Fire Spell. Now that he had used both to take out the two flunkies, the REST of the armed escort now had a splendid shot at him!!
Cybermage1 dove for an alley as bolts of energy from the binomes lit up the street. As he rolled behind some cover, then got to his feet and ran down the alleyway, he dearly wished he hadn't only made three Spells. "I may have made a tactical error in judgement..." he muttered angrily. "At least that metal monster can't follow me here!" Then a burst of bolts sped past
him and he realized that the binomes were well-armed and perfectly capable of following him! "Stupid, STUPID!" he growled, ducking to his right, then his left. "Looks like I'm going to have to use up my last Spell. Archon, stand by."


The binomes turned the last corner and stopped as they saw the unknown sprite looking around, apparently trying to decide which way to go. The leader, a binome named 33071, fired a shot into the wall next to the sprite's right hand. The stranger turned in surprise, dropping his staff.
"Hold it right there, sprite!! Don't move!"
"Alright, alright, I give up! Don't shoot!" Cybermage1 said, a hint of panic in his voice. 33071 liked the sound of the sprite's fear. "Kick your keytool over here!"

"My what?"
33071 fired a burst of energy at Cybermage1's feet, causing him to jump back against the wall. "That rod you carry, null-brain! Kick it over here, NOW!"
Cybermage1 looked coldly at the grinning binome and kicked the staff over to him. 33071 reached down and picked up the staff. 33071 held it up and the staff suddenly spoke!
"-Spell stimulus complete. Spell: Amnesia."


AndrAIa and Matrix saw the flash of light in the storage sector. Matrix touched the commlink on his wrist. "Dot, Bob, this is Matrix. Investigating unidentified flare in storage sector."
"Do you need assistance?" Dot asked.
"Not likely," Matrix grinned. "Matrix out."


Cybermage1 went over to his fallen staff and picked it up, looking around at the binomes that had been chasing him. They were all milling about, looking around at Cybermage1 and their surroundings with equal wonder and confusion. He felt a pull on the sleeve of his robes and Cybermage1 turned to see 33071 looking up at him. "Excuse me..."
"Uhm...yeah?"
33071 scratched his head. "Who are you?"
Cybermage1 relaxed. "No one of consequence. Now if you'll pardon me, I have to go." He wrenched his sleeve away from the binome, who watched him leave with a mixture of forlorn loss and confusion. He was hoping that the man could tell him his own name.


Matrix and AndrAIa came in low over the alleys and streets, coming to a full stop once they saw the hovertank. "Looks like Megabyte's model...better stay low, keep it from getting a good shot at us," AndrAIa advised, but Matrix was already barreling straight for it, rolling from side to side on his zipboard to keep from being a sitting duck. AndrAIa sighed and zipped after him.
By the time Matrix got to the tank, he realized that something was wrong. There were six binomes, all wearing the colors of Megabyte's troops, but they were completely uninterested in doing anything except sitting down and playing with their feet or wandering around. "AndrAIa, there's something wierd about all this. Check down the alley, I'll check out the tank." "Got it." AndrAIa sped off down the alley and turned a few corners to find the rest of the troops standing around looking dazed. 33071 noticed AndrAIa's approach and ran over to her. "
Who are you?"
"What??" she asked in disbelief. "I'm AndrAIa...who are you?"
"I don't know...I was hoping you could tell ME."
AndrAIa was distinctly unnerved as she radioed to Matrix, "Something really STRANGE is going on here. I just met the rest of Megabyte's troops...from the look of them and the way they act, they've lost their memories...they don't even remember being under Megabyte's leadership, since they aren't interested in shooting at us."
"That's not all, AndrAIa. I just checked the tank's memory banks, transmission logs, even the main control modules. They're completely BLANK." Matrix shook his head. "Somebody managed to erase the memories of every binome here, as well as the memory of the tank's control modules."
"Hang on." AndrAIa turned back to 33071. "What do you remember?"
"Well...I remember the man in white. I remember standing next to his keytool, he picked it up and I asked him his name. He said, 'No one of consequence. Excuse me, I have to go.' Then he went that way." 33071 pointed out of the alleyway.
"Thanks. Someone else is going to come here and take care of you all." He brought the commlink up again. "Matrix, tell Dot there's a lot of lost binomes down here that need some help. I think I've got a lead on the entity that did this."
"I'm coming with you."
"No, I need you to stay here and watch over these binomes."
"AndrAIa! These are Megabyte's shocktroopers!"
"Right now, they're nobody's children. Find anything else?"
"Yeah, Hack and Slash. Looks like they're going to need some SERIOUS re-assembly."
"Get Bob and Primal down here. If they can be fixed, maybe they can tell us what happened if I can't find the one who did this. AndrAIa out."
Matrix sighed. "Next time, SHE'S the one who gets to babysit... hey, don't touch those, stay away from them!" he yelled as some of the binomes picked up the discarded energy throwers and tried to figure out what they did.


AndrAIa zipped out of the alley, looking around for anything out of the ordinary. This was the fifth exit into the streets she had tried, with no success so far. This time, however, she was rewarded with the sight of several binomes and a sprite wearing white walking quickly away from the alley. "Hey, you!" The figure continued walking. AndrAIa zipped past him and landed right in front of him, holding out a hand. "Stop!" The figure looked up and AndrAIa saw the face within the cowl. AndrAIa gasped as she
saw the glowing eye. "Identify yourself, sprite."
Cybermage1 was tired and angry, but he managed to maintain a civil tone.
"Who wants to know, lady?" Normally, Cybermage1 would've appreciated the fact that a computer-generated mermaid was standing in front of him, asking to know his name, but the events of his time as a sprite made him weary and irritable. "Are you going to start shooting at me, too?"
AndrAIa was taken aback. "That all depends...do you come in peace?"
"Look, I didn't start the war back there, they did, and..." Cybermage1 shook his head and sat down on the curb. "Right now, I don't even care...at least a cell would be a good place to sleep."
"I didn't come here to put you in chains, stranger. Look..." AndrAIa crouched next to him. "What's your name? Mine's AndrAIa."
"I'm...Cybermage1."
AndrAIa sat down next to him. "It's a start, isn't it? My format is
Guardian. What's your format?"
"My format? Geez, what a question...I guess you can call me an 'otaku'."
"Did you come here from the Net?"
"Not exactly..."
"Are you lost?"
"Lady...AndrAIa, you hit the nail on the head."
AndrAIa frowned a little. "What's a nail?"
"Skip it. Yeah, I'm lost."
"Well...maybe we can help you. Come on, let's go. There's a few friends I know who might be able to answer the questions you have."
Cybermage1 got up reluctantly as AndrAIa helped him to his feet. As he got up, Matrix flew out from an alleyway. "AndrAIa, Dot's here and she...!" His voice stopped abruptly as he saw AndrAIa holding Cybermage1's hand.
"What's going on here?"
Cybermage1 withdrew the hand from the hand AndrAIa used to help him up. He looked at the burly sprite, recognizing the look on his face. "Relax, buster, she was just helping me get to my feet. Who are you?"
"The name's Matrix, sprite. The question is, who are YOU? Are you the one who wiped those binomes?"
"Didn't have much of a choice, they were trying to kill me! Don't worry about them, they'll be alright...I think. Their memories should return in a little while."
"What did you do to them?" Matrix advanced a step and Cybermage1 brought up the staff in a defensive position.
"Back off, bud, or find out firsthand." Cybermage1 hoped he was wearing his poker-face. Archon had no Spells left in memory.
"Matrix, calm down!" AndrAIa said scoldingly. "He's lost and he was attacked by Megabyte's troops. How do you think you'd feel if you were in his place and someone hostile started questioning YOU?"
Matrix sobered. He knew what being lost was like. "I was just worried, that's all. For all we knew, he's just as bad as Megabyte, or worse."
"We?" AndrAIa asked.
"Bob, Dot and Primal are here. Tiller, Kayne and Jaina are on their way; they saw the flare and decided to come over. I guess they were bored." He turned to Cybermage1. "Well, sprite, are you coming with us?"
"Looks like I am. Lead on."


"So how did you get here?" Matrix asked as they navigated their way back to the rest of the group.
"I...don't remember. It all kinda happened pretty quick. One second, I was minding my own business and the next thing I know, I'm here and a Game Cube is being dropped on my head. Things kinda went downhill from there."
Cybermage1 said, trying not to sound too evasive.
"Game Cube...wait, maybe that object that fell, the one that Phong was talking about? Maybe this is him."
"I dunno...he sure looks just like any other sprite to me."
The trio came out of the alleys to the street where Bob, Dot, Primal, Tiller and Kayne were discussing the tank and what to do with it. Bob and Dot were in favor of taking the tank apart and using it for scrap, while the others were in favor of 'commandeering' the tank and adding it to the defenses surrounding the Principal Office. As Cybermage1, AndrAIa and
Matrix stepped out, Primal turned to look at them. "Matrix! AndrAIa! Who's your friend?"
"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Cybermage1. Cybermage1, this is Bob, Dot, Matrix Primal, Tiller, Kayne and Jaina."
Cybermage1 looked around at the varied looks of the different sprites. Bob, Tiller, Kayne and Dot looked normal enough, almost conservative in their clothes and styles, but Primal had a distinct animal look to him. As Cybermage1 wondered what to think, Jaina showed up on her zipboard and really threw his perceptions off. She wore more jewelry than the rest of
them combined, and her body was a study in pierced perfection. Cybermage1 found her quite attractive, despite that back when he was Steve, he found the ideas of body piercings and tattoos somewhat ridiculous. On Jaina, however, they added to her good looks quite favorably. "Uhm...nice to meet you all."
"Hi, Cybermage1. Will you be staying around long?" Bob asked.
"Yeah...since I don't know how to get back," he admitted.
"Good. That gives us plenty of time to talk." Cybermage1 noticed that both Dot and Matrix Primal were studying him with more intensity than he found comfortable. Dot continued, "You certainly made a showy entrance. Are you from the User?"
"The User? You mean..." *ME,* his brain finished. "No, I don't think so. I'm just a sprite, like you all. Well, maybe not like him," he added thumbing at Primal. "Never met anyone quite like you before."
"You remember that much?" Primal asked.
"No matter how foggy my brain might get, I think I'd remember someone like you. No offense, I mean that in a good way."
"Perhaps we should continue this conversation somewhere else. Like the Principal Office. Maybe Phong can help you with your memory. After that, we'll try to get you back where you came from."
"Oh, no hurry on that. Now that I'm here, well...I'm not really eager to leave." He tried hard not to look too long at Jaina. "I think I might like it here."


Megabyte watched the procession leave the area with his chromed teeth grinding together. He had watched the attack and the results of the newcomer's power, watched and seethed when the Guardians and their friends showed up. *This sprite is from the User...and his power is nothing like I've ever seen before. And if there's one thing I HATE...it's what I don't understand.* "Losses?" he asked the sensortech.
"...the entire legion, my lord," stammered the binome. He knew hours ago what happened to binomes who brought Megabyte bad news. "The tank as well."

"The tank is expendable, as is the legion...but were you able to examine the power levels of that sprite?"
"No, my lord...not correctly. Half my instruments are off the scale and the others don't read anything at all. It as is if he was deliberately trying to confuse our sensors."
"Hmmmmm..." Megabyte mused, brooding. *I am forced to consider the prospect that this sprite is here for one reason and one reason alone...he is an anti-viral agent with the function of destroying me. This cannot happen...and perhaps it won't. This sprite seems quite naive to the ways of Mainframe, and this can be used for my benefit.* Megabyte tapped the armrest of his throne and a vidwindow opened, revealing the face of Hexadecimal.
"Hex...we have to talk."

To be continued in the next issue...

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