Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hexadecimal was drifting through the Net. She had been doing so for so long now. She had no idea how long exactly. Her consciousness was kind of broken up into millions of fragments travelling all over the Net, through every system Daemon’s Message had spread to. She couldn’t focus on one thing entirely, since her mind was split up so many times, in so many different systems. The fleeting image of a beautiful skyline sped past only for another image of a sandy seashore to stretch in front of her for less than a nanosecond. Her memories were all fragmented as well, allowing her to drift through blissfully with no regrets. She could barely remember Mainframe. She could barely remember the people there. Bob and… Megabyte and… the other guys. She briefly saw the Supercomputer, but it was too heavily defended by firewalls and anti-virus technology for her to even think about entering. Daemon hadn’t managed to infect that yet so there was no point trying to enter it.

So why did she feel so… lonely?

She became somewhat aware of another system in the distance. A new system; it was practically undefended and completely open. A perfect place. She suddenly felt longing to be home. But where was home? Who was she?

She gathered enough energy to will her fragments towards it, dragging them from so many other systems. Her coding aligned again, giving her a familiar shape. She was nearly there.

*

“Zip, get me a visual on the anomaly!”

The team of Sprites had their attention completely focused on the sight in front of them: a mass of code had arrived in Protoframe and had exploded into the system. Every CPU had noticed it arrive, but no one could explain it. It was a mass of light and colour with no shape or form. There was no way to identify it.

Zip was a young male sprite with green skin, and wild black hair. He was dressed in a generic black uniform of the system, but his Icon ranked him as Keeper. The sprite that had given him the order was a tall, muscular built Viral Defence Commander with a silver crewcut. He was extremely angry

“I’m enhancing the anomaly now sir” said Zip nervously, typing away.

The screen zoomed in, blinding all the Sprites and CPUs in the room. A female Guardian stepped forwards to the panel where Zip was sitting.

“Dex,” She said, typing in a code, “This anomaly is like something I’ve never seen. We can’t just run in full force!”

This Guardian was known as Cynth. Dex had been coded into the system from the start, giving Protoframe its basic protection settings. Cynth had been assigned later after a particularly bad virus attack, where a malicious bug deleted half of the files on the system. His command had maintained the majority of the systems upkeep and along with the help of the Systems Manager, Zip, Protoframe was a perfectly functioning System. None of them were prepared for such an anomaly to appear before them however. The code shot around randomly, not following any designated pattern. This made it hard for the CPUs to target and identify. None of them were prepared for what happened next.

“Warning: Incoming Game” the system crooned in its soft voice.

“What?! No not now!” Cynth tapped the keys, desperately trying to reject the game. It didn’t work.

The gamecube descended into the system, and engulfed the mass of code. Dex let out a yell and slammed his fist into the table.

“Cynth which game is it?” he growled.

“Erm, you’re not going to like this sir” Zip whimpered.

“Why not?” Dex gripped the back of his chair.

Zip tapped a button and the screen illuminated with the name of the game.

Dark Avenger II

*

Cynth flew her hoverboard into the gamecube just as it collided with the floor of the system. She flew alone. This game was much too difficult for Zip to join her, and she couldn’t risk him being deleted if the User won. The section of the game loaded in, and a tall forest grew around her. Her Key Tool informed her that she was in an area known as Hunters Woods.

“Hmm” she groaned. She’d been in this area before and didn’t like it.

With a double tap to her icon, she took on the crimson form of an enemy known as a Bone Shaman, who wielded a huge bone staff. It was her job to defeat the User before he defeated her. Or, she could let them challenge the boss. That would allow her to leave the game peacefully. But that was the problem with this game; it was too unpredictable. She gripped her scythe as she saw the User charge towards her. Her blood froze as she observed his bulky armour and huge club. If he had that armour, he must have played through the game already. Staff at the ready, she approached him. Before she even began to attack, the ground began to rumble. The movement caused both her and the User to stumble back. She looked around, confused. That movement couldn't possibly have come from one of the other enemies in the area.

There came a series of loud crashes and flashes of bright lights. She stood back, aghast. The User turned. They both witnessed a… what could only be described as a glitchy mess. It looked like an NPC, except they were a blank model stuck in a T-Pose, yet still able to run forwards. It carried what looked like a greatsword. Well, the greatsword was floating alongside it, swinging rapidly. Random magic explosions followed it as it steamrolled towards them. The User tried to block the onslaught but was instantly defeated. As he disappeared into mist, the NPC charged towards Cynth.

“Game over. User defeated” the game crooned.

Before the NPC could even come close to Cynth, the gamecube rose up away from them and their in-game IDs were removed. Cynth regained her normal Guardian attire. The glitch became… a sprite.

*

Hexadecimal looked up. Her vision was blurred, but she could make out a few shapes. She rubbed her head with her hand. And looked down at it.

It was blue.

After freezing for a second, she scrambled to a puddle on the nearby floor. On staring into it, needless to say, she was shocked.

She had taken her sprite form again, except this time it was very different; her skin was a pale blue instead of yellow, and her elegant corset attire complete with her cape was a deep blue instead of white. Gloves adorned her arms, ending at her hands, showing off her blue skin. Her curly black hair was back, and her headpiece was a deep grey instead. Her face and head were white down to her chest again, much like her original sprite form. She couldn’t help but stare.

“You! Freeze and stand up!” came a voice from her side.

“Which would you want me to do, freeze or stand up?” Hexadecimal replied nonchalantly, still admiring her reflection.

“Just… you… stand up and show yourself!”

Hex sighed and stood up to her full height. She turned to face the voice. A quivering sprite in Guardian attire stood before her, aiming her Keytool at her. Hex raised an eyebrow.

“Can I help?” she asked.

“State your name and function!” the sprite called to her.

“Well, my name is… Hexadecimal?” Hex relayed hesitantly.

“Are you sure?”

“I… don’t… know…” Hex rubbed her head.

“How can you not know?” the Guardian had lowered her Keytool and was just confused, “Who are you?”

“I can’t… remember… I think I was a…”

“CYNTH!” another voice yelled.

The two turned to see a much larger male sprite approaching them. He was much more intimidating than this weedy little Guardian.

“Don’t lower your guard, we don’t know what this sprite is capable of, so for now, always stand guard”

“Oh sweetie, if I wanted to destroy you, then I would have done so by now” Hex chuckled.

“And what do you mean by that?” the large sprite growled.

Before she could answer, yet another sprite ran up to the group. He was much smaller and weaker looking, and had green skin like… who had green skin again?

“Because she’s the most powerful Guardian we’ve ever recorded!”

That was the last sentence she heard, because she promptly blacked out.

Chapter Text

She heard them before she opened her eyes.

“I don’t feel comfortable keeping her here. Something doesn’t sit right in my code”

That was the larger sprite. She could tell by his gruff voice.

“If she really is a Guardian, then it could be the best protection this system has had in a long time

That was the female sprite. She sounded friendly.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you’ve got to admit you’re a little outdated. Your systems don’t hold up like they used to”

“Hmmph” the male sprite grunted, “I suppose that’s true. But it’s your neck on the line for what happens with her”

Hex was so intent on listening to the conversations that she hadn’t realised the other person in the room.

“Oh, you’re awake!”

She spun round on the bed to face the voice, and the smaller sprite came into view. She took a moment to scan him, determining whether he was a threat. She decided that he wasn’t. He really wasn’t. He was small, spindly looking.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“I could ask you the same thing,” the sprite smiled, “I’m Zip”

“Are you a Guardian?”

“No, I’m an Administrator. I manage files and code in the system to make sure everything is kept in check”

“Sounds riveting” Hex yawned as she sauntered over to the mirror on the wall. Her new reflection came into view.

“It must be so cool being a Guardian though!” Zip piped up.

Oh yeah, she was a Guardian. Why was she a Guardian? She tried to recall how this could have happened. She recalled what happened these last few hours. Her fragments had arrived at this system and must have reassembled. But she must have taken a sprite form instead of her usual viral form. Maybe that was because she entered the game before she could fully assemble. And her new look? Hmmm. It must have been when she tapped Enzo’s icon to give him her gift. She must have accidentally transferred some of his data to her when she transferred her data to him, and took some of his Guardian update to her. Enzo! She remembered Enzo! But where was he now?

She rubbed her forehead again. It was like part of her memory was just… gone. Not all of her was there, but she was whole… that was important. She didn’t feel unstable. She couldn’t feel the insanity gnawing away at her mentality. It was almost… comfortable. But then she realised something – she couldn’t feel her power. She flexed her fingers, trying to summon some form of viral energy from her core. Nothing. Well, not nothing. She could feel some latent energy that still stirred within, but it was nothing close to what her power used to be.

“Are you ok?” Zip asked.

Hex stared at him.

“Yes” she decided.

“Good, because we need your help”

Hexadecimal turned around, facing the female sprite as she entered the room. The taller chunkier sprite behind her.

“My name is Cynth, and this is Dex. We’re the controllers of this system. Well, Dex was the first one here. I followed along quickly” She smiled.

“Are you a Guardian as well?” Hex asked.

“Well, I’m a junior for the moment, but I got put on call here when the User updated the system”

“I manage the basic system defence settings, and that’s what notified me when you entered the system” Dex informed her.

“How did I enter the system?”

“You sort of crash landed, as a mess of code. Then you sort of reassembled yourself” Zip piped up.

“You must have had a terrible time out in the Net. How long where you there for?” Dex grimaced.

“It must have been… I have no idea… it’s been so long”

“That’s awful!” Cynth gasped, “now I know why you were asleep for so long!”

Hexadecimal took a few tentative steps from the bed, her legs wobbling. The sprites around her braced themselves to catch her if she fell. She decided to sit back down on the bed.

“Did you say I was the most powerful guardian you ever recorded?” she asked.

Zip nodded enthusiastically, bringing up a vid-window. The screen showed a range of stats and graphs, the lines of which were extending far off the charts.

“When you arrived in the system, your power levels were off the charts. They seemed to subside quite a bit after the game landed” he scanned through the data.

“But now we’re detecting anomalies in certain parts of the system. Some parts of Protoframe is becoming corrupted. We have no idea where these corruptions came from, but they need to be sorted out
now before anyone gets hurt” Dex cleared his throat, “would you do us the honour of helping to defend our system?”

Hexadecimal looked between the expectant onlookers. These new, random sprites she had never seen before. Repressed memories tried to push forward, memories of home – life before. But here… here was a place where she could be someone new… they didn’t know that she was a Virus. She could have… friends. She smiled.

“Well? Do we have an agreement… what was your name again?” Cynth asked.

Hex grinned.

“I am Hexadecimal, Guardian of Protoframe!”

*
 

“So, this is the basic accommodation we can offer you at this point. We have an update scheduled for tomorrow so we’ll probably move you into that once its complete”

Cynth held the door to the apartment open for Hex, who stepped inside slowly, staring around the room in awe.

“This may be basic but it’s much nicer than my last home”

“In your last system?”

Hex nodded.

“It was basically ruins” Hex chuckled

“Wh… I mean, I’m not one to judge. I’m glad we could give you something much nicer” Cynth smiled.

Hex turned to stare at her.

“You’re… giving this to me?” she gasped

“Of course, our gift to you”

“No-ones ever given me a gift before… thank you”

“No… problem?” Cynth was even more confused than before.

She watched as Hex stared in wonder around her, slowly turning as she stepped around the room. She didn’t know what to think about this new entity. She had appeared in quite a chaotic way. But she hadn’t been threatening at any point. But then again, she didn’t seem to remember much. Could she be dangerous, and she just couldn’t remember it?

She was snapped out of daydreaming when Hexadecimal asked her a question.

“Didn’t you say that there were anomalies in your system?”

“Oh err, yes but we’re currently working to identify them, to see what kind of threat we’re dealing with”

“And you think I can help?”

“We hope so. We don’t think we could handle a largescale attack” Cynth tapped the door, “but with the update later it’ll bring a scan that’ll allow us to see what they could be”

She noticed Hex shift a little bit.

“A scan?”

“Yup, just a simple scan as the update sets in. Business as usual”

Hex smiled stiffly.

“Sorry, its just… what if it doesn’t register me as a user?”

“Oh… well I’ll check with Zip. You shouldn’t be cause you have an Icon” she indicated to Hex’s abdomen.

Hex tapped her icon and looked down at her uniform, expecting to see her corset and claws. Instead her eyes met a gloved hand resting on her new blue Guardian’s uniform. She still wasn’t use to it.

“Yes. I should be ok…”

Cynth shot her a quick smile.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Hex smiled back at her.

“I guess you will”

After waving goodbye to the new Guardian, she closed the door behind her. As she strode down the corridor, she activated her Keytool, bringing up a small VidWindow. On the other side of the Window sat Zip.

“Whatsup?” Zip greeted, not really paying attention

“Hey I just wanted to check in on the readings you took earlier. Will the scan affect her in any way?”

Zip hesitated before tapping away at a few keys in front of him.

“Umm… I was meaning to say something about that… those anomalies in the system… they carry a similar energy signature as Hexadecimal”

Cynth paused in the hallway.

“What does that mean?”

“The only thing I can think about it is that whatever they are came with her when she entered the system” he shrugged, “I can’t seem to identify the signature of it. It’s way too random. I think it’s an amalgamation of code from the net that attached itself to Hex”

“Hmm” Cynth thought to herself.

She tapped her foot, thoughts running through her mind. She came to a decision.

“We’ll just have to wait for the scan to tell us more. The sooner we clean these anomalies up, the more we can find out about the code”

*

Hexadecimal didn’t know what to do now.

She hadn’t had a home before. Well, not one like this. This was a nice one.

She moved around the room, checking everything. Testing out the sofa by throwing herself on it, turning on the taps to see the running water, flicking through all the channels on the TV. She laughed and
smiled to herself with glee. Entering her sleeping area, she came across a large mirror. She touched her new face.

Her sprite form was still odd to look at. She wasn’t used to these colours, but it was nice to her. She… looked like them. Like… a normal sprite. Not a virus… a virus.

She looked down at her hands. She could feel the small ebbing of power inside her – she felt sort of… empty without her immense power. Focusing intensely, she tried to summon forth her viral energy.
An orange glow rose forth from her hands, crackling with energy. Letting it fade, she breathed a sigh of relief – she could still summon her energy in the form of viral blasts.

A warning siren blared. She looked up in confusion. A soothing voice echoed throughout the system

“Warning: Incoming Update”

The air suddenly began to hum throughout the system as the sky turned a wavering blue. She watched out of the window as trails of blue light fizzled down from the sky in various locations throughout
the entire system. She saw them flow throughout the buildings, seeking out the areas where the anomalies were located. She watched as one trail began to shoot towards her.

She couldn’t step away in time.

The blue light engulfed her, scanning her data.

She waited for the eminent deletion, a look of fear, anguish and disappointment across her face – she’d just got a nice home, and it was going to be taken from her.

And just like that it was gone.

She opened her eyes.

The energy had dissipated throughout the system, the sky returning to its normal colour

“Update installed” the voice crooned.

What happened? That was a viral scan, how did it not affect her?

She sat down on the bed and racked her memory (well, what little there was of it). Back in her old system… she knew there was another scan… but it hadn’t affected her.

She blinked then laughed to herself when she remembered.

Her power had been too strong, she’d just nullified it.

But surely that couldn’t be the case this time. Upon reflection she came to the conclusion that her power levels were now too low for it to register her as a virus.

Either way, she was safe

… For now

Chapter Text

“Zip I need a clearer image of what we’re looking at”

Dex’s voice range through their earpieces. The sight in front of them as definitely a confusing one, even to seasoned Guardian’s; a Binome had begun to float around the city, cackling as it did so. It was flying towards random items around the city, touching them as it floated past. At every touch, the items would also begin to float.

Hexadecimal and Cynth were on scene, and Zip piloting a drone to follow them. Dex remained in the base camp with the rest of security – this Binome didn’t seem too dangerous, but they were on standby just in case something unfolded. The two Guardians jogged down the roads past many confused and somewhat shaken civilians.

“No-one seems to be hurt” Cynth reported, “a few citizens have had their belongings taken from them. Well… not taken but…” she looked up at a variety of household items; umbrella’s, suitcases, even a bicycle, all floating gracefully into the air.

“Well I think we know what kind of things the anomaly can do” Hex noted as she reached up and plucked a rogue hotdog cart from the air and lowered it back to the ground, handing it back to the salesman.

“I’ve never seen anything like it” Zip’s voice mused out from their earpieces, “this Binome seems to have had its code merged with this anomaly. It’s almost like they’ve been possessed”

“Can you get a read on the energy Zip? Is there any way to reverse this?”

“I’ve been trying to analyse the data patterns for a while now but I can’t seem to find a solid read on it. I can’t even pinpoint the right kind of energy that it is, it’s way too chaotic”

“Well try and keep a visual on it, if we can begin to analyse it further. We just need to get a close look."

As if on cue, a loud cackle sounded from behind them, and the Binome flew in front of them, grinning wildly. Hex stared into its eyes in what seemed like slowmotion. Into that smile.

Her smile.

A porcelain comedy mask pulled into an exaggerated smile was seemingly fused onto the face of the Binome. She watched in silent shock and horror as her own face floated closer. With a load laugh the it shot itself into the air and raced away down the boulevard.

That laugh. It was so much like her laugh. Full of insanity, full of power.

Hex was still reeling as Cynth slapped her on the back.

“Hey wakey wakey, it’s getting away!” she called out, running off after the Binome.

Hex blinked a few times, registering what had just happened before following the Guardian down the road. Thoughts raced through her head; that was one of her masks. How was it on that BINOME? Zip had said that there was code merged with its own so… was that code… hers? When she’d landed, some fragments of code had split off – this mask, this anomaly must be on of those fragments. It seemed to hold some of her power. Is that where it had gone?

She rounded the corner, arriving at a town square. The rogue Binome was hovering in the centre, surrounded by a cloud of floating items – benches, bins, even lampposts. Cynth was readying her Keytool while Zip’s drone surveyed the area.

“Hex, can you make sure that all the civilians are out of harms way?” Cynth called to her.

“On it!” she called back, hurrying towards a group of terrified civilians huddling behind a wall

She reached out to them, smiling as she did.

“Here; take my hand. I’ll lead you to safety”

The frightened civilians took each other’s hand before grabbing hers. She led them quickly towards the entrance to the square.

CRASH

A mailbox smashed into the sidewalk in front of them, bouncing off the pavement and into shopfront before them. She shielded the civilians with her body, glaring at the possessed BINOME, who was now in hysterics. She felt so unequipped to fight this; without access to her shields or energy blasts, or even her super strength she couldn’t do much just standing here.

“Into the shop, now!” she commanded.

The civilians all scrambled over to the broken window, carefully helping each other into empty shop, out of the way of further harm. Turning back to the entity, she sought the advice of the Guardian. If she didn’t have access to her powers, she needed to help someone who did have powers.

“Cynth, what’s your strategy?”

“Gonna see if I can tether it to the ground and use a splicer to remove the anomalous code” Cynth grunted, punching in buttons

“That won’t work” Hex stated plainly

“What do you mean?” Cynth questioned, not looking away from the BINOME

“It’s too thought out”

“We’ll see about that” the Guardian grit her teeth, activating her Keytool and whipping it round

An orange beam shot out from her wrist, launching towards the floating trickster. It looked like it was gonna work… until the Binome spun in the air, deftly dodging the beam. It then grabbed it as it flew past, pulling the beam towards it. Cynth spluttered as she jerked forwards, falling over onto the floor. This was met with a loud cackle from the Binome.

“Told you” the virus hummed.

Cynth shot her a vicious stare from the floor as Hex checked out her nails. She scrambled to her feet.

“Well what would you do?”

Hexadecimal strut around giving the Binome a pensive stare. Her own mask followed her while she moved.

“We’ve got to get close to it. I’ll keep it distracted while you try and sneak up on it” she muttered while maintaining direct eye contact with this possessed entity.

“OK, so how do you want me to do that?”

“I don’t know, sneak up behind it?”

“Alright, I’m going – Zip, keep an eye on my back”

“You got it Cynth!” Zip piped up, zooming around.

Hexadecimal continued to circle around the square, keeping eye contact. She glanced behind her to notice that she has begun to walk in front of the large window of another shopfront. She could see Cynth creeping around on the other side of the square. So did the Binome. It spun round and grabbed onto a lamppost. As it flung it towards Cynth, it seemed to charge the lamp with orange energy, launching it at the Guardian. Zip called out as it slammed into Cynth, flying backwards. She didn’t however, hit the ground. Instead, she bounced off the wall behind her and began to spin off into the air.

“I uh…” Cynth opened and closed her mouth as she tumbled over and over again, “what’s happening?”

“I guess… it can pass on this flying anomaly through the objects it touches” Zip concluded.

“Yeah, thanks I think I got that” Cynth huffed.

The Binome was cackling excessively, clutching its stomach as it doubled over in mirth.

“Well I’m certainly happy you find this funny,” she crossed her arms as she rotated round, looking at it from upside down, “you getting a good view…”

She hesitated when she saw what was happening behind the Binome; Hexadecimal had been taking advantage of the distracted Binome, and was using the floating objects as platforms to deftly hop over to the floating figure, arms outstretched with a joyful look on her face. She put her finger on her lips as Cynth caught her eye. Cynth took the hint

“Well now what floaty guy? You having a good time?” she called over.

The Binome giggled again, reaching over to grab a nearby floating bench. Hexadecimal needed to act now.

She focused intently, reaching deep down into her code to summon forth the energy lying dormant. Her hand fizzled with viral energy as the ebbing power flowed through her. Just as the Binome prepared to throw the bench, she leapt onto it.

The two of them fell to the ground, slamming into the concrete. The orange energy burst outwards, surrounding the two of them. Cynth and the drone spiralled backwards through the air, both of them screaming as they did so. Hex could feel the power of the mask flowing through her. She reached out and grabbed the mask. And instantly the viral energy exploded between them, a huge pillar of viral energy illuminating the entire square. She used her power to drain the energy from the mask back into her, just enough to rip the mask from the Binome. As she took the mask into her hand, she suddenly saw through its eyes – she could see her blue sprite form looking down, the viral energy whipping her cape around her. Every so often, her form would flicker to a familiar deep crimson form, white mask peering down in shock. It seemed to take all her energy, but she fought to raise the mask to her face. As the porcelain smile touched her face, she felt it meld into her – it wasn’t just on her face, it had become part of her again. It restored a part of her code that had been missing. Memories flooded back to her, swamping her brain with partial images of a broken past. But more importantly, it filled her with power. A familiar energy flowing through her once again. Still nowhere near as strong as before, but definitely more so.

Falling down to her knees, she willed the energy around her to subside. The orange energy began to dissipate, revealing the confused and weary Binome, and the dilapidated form of the virus. She looked down at her quivering hands. She breathed a shaky sigh of relief when she saw blue. She then became aware of the items floating around her. Or rather falling. Loud crashes and bangs from benches and lampposts falling down hard on the concrete. She stumbled to her feet, checking around her to ensure that it was now safe. Nothing was floating anymore.

Well, nothing but Cynth.

“OK, why did everything fall but me?” she grumbled.

Zips voice crackled from their earpieces

“I guess because it was passed to you externally, it didn’t wear off like the other objects?”

“Great(!)” she sighed.

Hex chuckled softly, approaching the floating Guardian

“Hold on, dear”

She called upon the energy that had returned to her. The wonderful feeling of weightlessness that allowed her to lift herself off the ground. The power of flight. She deftly hovered up towards the Guardian, taking her hand before lowering them both to the ground.

“Wait, wait, you can fly?” Cynth blinked

“Oh… yes. I only just remembered how to” Hex responded.

“You just remembered?”

“Evidently. I think it had to do with the anomaly. I think whatever latched onto me in the net took some of my data when it detached from me”

She was thinking on her feet. If they found out that these anomalies were part of her viral code, and that she was the cause of the anomaly, then they would lose all the trust they had in her. She suddenly felt a sharp pang of pain in her head. Wincing, she put a hand to her forehead. The memories returned to her were pushing their way to the forefront of her mind. Flashes of people rushed through, but no faces to the bodies, no names to the people. She remembered a silver armour, the ability to make portals and fix things with no need for a Keytool… who could do that?

Cynth rushed over to the Binome.

“Sorry sir, but we’re gonna have to take you in for questioning. We just need to make sure you’re perfectly OK”

The Binome nodded, promptly passing out. Cynth stood back up, calling up her Keytool.

“Dex we need medical transport for the Eastern Square. We’re bringing in the Binome for questioning” she glanced back towards Hex, who was still reeling from the sudden thoughts.

“And another analysis of Hexadecimal”
 

Chapter Text

Back at the Principle Office, both the Binome and Hexadecimal were sitting on medical benches. Well, Hex was; the Binome was lying down, exhausted from the exertion of power.
Understandable – it was a lot of power to control.

Hex dangled her legs as she gently rocked side to side. Zip was over at the computer, looking through the scans of each of them. He tapped his lip as he squinted at them. Cynth stood next to him, looking from screen to screen.

“The Binome looks fine. No sign of corruption, no errors in his code. Looks like he’s clear of the anomaly” Zip nodded

“Are we sure?” Cynth asked

“See for yourself” Zip leant back in his office chair, spinning round to face Hexadecimal, “looks like Hex was able to remove all of the anomaly”

“But what I want to know is how?” Cynth leant back onto the desk, “and you can fly? Why couldn’t you fly before?”

Hex stopped rocking and knotted her hands together.

“I… I think I am beginning to remember things. From my old system” she began.

The two sprites exchanged a look before looking back to her.

“My old system had a Guardian of their own. Before… before me. They… I think they had a lot of problems… I can’t remember that”

“Sounds like it if they had 2 Guardians” Zip chuckled

Hex continued.

“I remember… something happened to him… he went into the Web. He was gone for…” she paused, eyes glazing over.

An unusual feeling washed over her. Loneliness… confusion… longing.

“He came back later, but he had changed. He had, merged with his Keytool” she indicated to the gadget on Cynth’s wrist, “it gave him access to all its powers, and became the only Guardian left to create portals”

The two sprites stared into space in wonder. Cynth gazed down at her own Keytool. Was it possible? It certainly was a powerful gadget.

“And could he fly?”

“I remember him flying” Hex nodded

“The Web is a dangerous place” Zip whistled through his teeth, “If you don’t have the right kind of protection from it”

“And you were exposed to it full force” Cynth grimaced

“I think I remember… something from the Web attacking me. Latching onto me. Trying to use my power for itself. I must have gotten away from it when I crashed into the system”

“Well something certainly split off from you” Zip turned back to the screens, “if something latched onto your code and then broke off, it might have taken your powers with it, especially if you’ve fused with your Keytool as well”

“I…suppose so” Hex agreed hesitantly

The conversation was interrupted by Dex entering the room, talking to his military commanders. He nodded towards the three of them as he approached.

“Nice work guys. I have the cleanup team restoring the city as we speak. I’ve also put a couple of scout teams on patrol to look out for any more of the corruptions”

“Thanks, Dex. FYI though next time we may need more help dealing with those anomalies. This one was unpredictable and powerful, but others might be even more powerful than that” Cynth breathed out, uncrossing her arms.

“Hex was able to be more unpredictable though” Zip smiled at the virus, “did you see her fancy footwork out there?”

“Why thank you Zip. I’m naturally very light on my feet” Hex hopped onto her feet, twirling on the spot, arms in the air as she slowly span.

A ‘hmph’ from across the room brought their attention to the far side of the room. A sprite had stepped out from an office. He was a shrunken little sprite, hunched over and wearing a white lab coat. He had a wrinkled face which scowled over at them.

“There shouldn’t be any anomalies at all” he grumbled

“Oh Hex, we forgot to introduce someone. This is Dr Giff. The System Administrator. He runs this whole place from here” Cynth explained.

Hex lowered her arms and made a confused face.

“I thought you were the Administrator” she pointed towards Zip, who shuffled awkwardly on the spot

“Is that what he’s been telling you. Ugh don’t listen to him, User be damned” Giff plodded over to the group of them

“I’m… just a junior in training at the moment. I act more as a helpdesk primarily” Zip rubbed his arm, “you know, helping out functions of the system and such”

“And you’ll never be a Senior Administrator if you keep playing fantasy with all this” the hunched sprite gestured over to Hex and Cynth.

Hexadecimal crossed her arms.

“Oh, forgive me Mr. Giff. I didn’t see you when you helped us defeat that anomaly. Oh wait – you weren’t there at all”

“It’s pronounced ‘Giff’, if you please”

Hexadecimal took a few steps towards the Administrator. She towered above the small sprite.

“I don’t please”

The two of them didn’t break eye contact for a few moments, scowling heavily at each other. Cynth stepped up to break them apart.

“OK Ok guys, that’s enough. It’s been a long cycle, I think we all need some rest now” she put her hand on Hex’s back, gently nudging her away from the altercation.

“Not for me” Giff huffed, “I have to stay and work on an update for the Icons, to ensure that the civilians don’t get corrupted if anymore of them get possessed”

Hex continued to glare at Giff as she was ushered out of the control room. Zip followed suit; eyes still downcast. Once they were out of the room and the door shut behind them, Hex let out a sigh and shook her head.

“Is he always like that?”

“Unfortunately” Cynth admitted, “He’s been here since the system began”

“Which isn’t even that long” Zip grumbled, “He’s just outdated”

“Does he always speak to you like that?” Hex asked.

“Well… yeah… he really wants me to focus and knuckle down with administrator work”

“So he should be praising you for the work you do well!” she sniffed, “overly grumpy people make me annoyed. Angry at people for no reason, regardless of how they actually may be”

The group eventually exited the Principle Office. Cynth stretched and breathed in the fresh air.

“I’m gonna drop Zip off at his apartment before I head back to mine, want me to drop you off too?” she offered, spinning her car keys around her finger.

“No need” Hex held up her hand to decline, “I can make my own way now”

She smiled as she began to levitate into the air.

“Of course” Cynth smiled, “Well lucky you – able to avoid gas fares and not being able to find a parking space”

The two sprites waved her a goodbye before setting off in the other direction.

“See you soon Hex!” Zip called.

Hex waved at them both in return before looking to the skies and ascending further into the air.

She began to soar around the System, giggling to herself as the buildings rushed past her. She could see the entire layout of the city; she saw the cleanup crews around the square where they fought the anomaly, setting up a safe perimeter. She saw crowds of Binomes heading out to enjoy the nightlife, all together and happy. She approached a huge futuristic tower covered with windows – looking inside she could see that this was where the screensavers were stored, their light reflecting out into the growing darkness. The roof of the tower was a beautifully lush rooftop garden. She deftly weaved between the trees, feeling the breeze rush over her. Her giggle turned quickly into a full on laugh, full of energy. She felt much more like herself now – flying always made herself feel more joyful.

“Maybe that’s why it was a smiling face” she pondered out loud

It got her to thinking – just how many fragments were out there? What happened when she collected all of them again?

She was still thinking this when she arrived back at her apartment block. No need to use the front door – luckily, she left the window open. Landing gently on the floor, she looked round to see that the apartment had in fact been renovated thanks to the last update. It had a nice classy, sleek, modern look to it. Relatively dark, but that was nice – it was familiar to her. She liked it. Feeling a wave of tiredness, she made her way over to the bedroom. She threw herself down onto the bed, letting out a loud sigh of relief. She turned her head to face the wardrobe that had now been updated to have a full length mirror.

And she sat back up in shock.

“Oh, my goodness!” she exclaimed at her red viral form.

No surprise that her face was a shocked one – in fact, a white porcelain shocked face. That didn’t move. Immediately, she jumped up from the bed.

“No… no!” she exclaimed whipping her hands in front of her face.

Sad. Then angry, eyes flaring red.

“This can’t be…”

Back to shocked as she looked down to her icon. It stood out plainly against her black corset. She gave it a tap and a wave of light ran over her. She watched in both shock and relief as her blue Guardian form reappeared.

“It must… I must have gotten too carried away” she muttered, sitting back down tentatively.

She tapped her icon again, bringing back her virus form. At least she could keep this form in her apartment. And more importantly, at least she could choose which form to be – that would have required some explaining if someone had seen her. Giving herself one last look (and one more smile) in the mirror, she lay down to get some rest, and maybe to try and put some names to the blank faces that swam through her head now.

*

“Careful Cynth, it’s making tracks towards you!”

Hexadecimal was yelling across the open plain of grass. It was now morning and the group were in the central park, tackling another anomaly. However, this was very different to the anomaly they’d faced before; instead of a Binome being possessed by a mask, what appeared before them was a huge, hulking bull shaped… thing. It was huge and blocky, with curved horns that frazzled with viral energy. On the front of its face sat another mask, this time it was her angry face – mouth open and eyebrows furrowed. When she saw it, she felt some strange feeling of relief – it didn’t have sharp teeth in a crazed smile like her demonic face – a face she wore when committing some of her most deadly acts - so it couldn’t be too bad.

Well, it… certainly wasn’t easy either.

This Thing had immense strength – they’d been notified to Its existence due to the fact that It had ploughed through the base of an entire building. Using Dex’s fleet of CPUs, they had managed to corral this thing into the main park. At least there were no Binomes here to hurt. The CPUs remained on the outskirts of the park, guns carefully trained on the anomaly. The huge bulking mass grunted and stamped the ground. Hexadecimal floated slightly above the treeline, observing the entire scene. Cynth was standing her ground on the other side of the barricade. Zip was once again observing the whole ordeal through the drone’s camera.

“I got eyes on it!” Cynth called back to Hex, aiming her Keytool at the anomaly, “have you finished the identification scans yet Zip?”

“They’ve just come in, it’s… strange…” the drone hovered over the scene, focusing its camera on the large entity, “its density is off the charts – this thing is much stronger than its size suggests, it could demolish an entire building with a swing of its head!”

“Well we won’t give it that chance” Hex approached the beast as it stamped the ground.

Summoning energy balls, she held them out like weapons in front of her.

“Now, nice and easy” she murmured.

The anomaly roared and charged.

Hex was barely able to fling herself out of the way as it stampeded over the grass. Cynth grimaced and shot off a Barrier from her Keytool. The orange energy formed into a long rectangular wall in front of the beast. The anomaly reared up at the sudden emergence of a barrier, snorting and stamping the ground with its huge feet. It didn’t stop it for long – it now turned to face Cynth, the mask’s eyes flaring a burning red.

“Uh-oh” Cynth gulped, holstering her Keytool and scrambling out the beast’s line of sight.

Hex landed on the ground, grabbing Cynth’s hand and pulling her to the side, just as the anomaly charged at them once again. It rampaged past, crashing into a tree that cracked and split immediately. It snorted again, shaking its head from side to side. The two sprites recovered from the dive to side, squinting at the sight in front of them.

“His horns are stuck!” Cynth gaped.

True enough, the anomaly was shaking his head, the trunk of the broken tree impaled on its horns of crackling energy. Hex saw a chance to sneak up on the creature as it was distracted, staying low to the floor as she approached. She could hear the grunts and the huffs of the anomaly, loud and angry over the loud crashing of the tree. She was so close – the mask was in arms reach. Just as she summoned the energy forth from her hands to force the mask off the anomaly’s face, she heard a low growl emanating from its throat. Hex froze in place, eyes drifting up and locking with her own mask glaring back at her.

She gulped.

The hulking bull reared up and slammed into the ground, causing a quaking shockwave that blew Hexadecimal halfway across the field. The virus groaned and rubbed her head as she sat up. The anomaly whipped its head to the side, launching the tree trunk off across the ground. There came a whirring sound as Zip’s drone swept across the scene.

“Cynth, I’ve analysed its weak spots, and I think I’ve found a way to beat it” buzzed Zip from the speakers

“Any time now would be good Zip!” Cynth retorted, breathing heavily.

The noise of the drone seemed to alert the anomaly. It snorted, throwing its head up and back trying to catch sight of the drone. They two sprites watched in shock as it reared up on its hind legs, waving its bulky front legs uselessly in the air as it reared, trying to catch the drone.

“Zip!” Cynth called out

“It’s top-heavy!” Zip’s voice rang out over the beast’s grunts and snorts.

Cynth’s mind clicked. She took off towards the anomaly, despite the cries from Hex across the field. Just as she was nearing the beast, she barked an order to her Keytool.

“Shockwave, highest intensity!”

The Tool responded, glowing a bright orange just as she reached the feet of the anomaly. Cynth crouched down and braced herself, Keytool stretched out in front of her. There was a beep, and then a huge wave of energy burst out of the Keytool, accompanied with a deafening boom. As the wave shot outwards, so were all the entities in the field – sprites fell backward, the drone spiralled in the air, and the anomaly came crashing down with a loud moan. The ground shook a second time as the huge creature was pushed onto its back, its flat square back preventing it from rolling over. It shook its legs in the air, and viral energy crackled out of the mask’s eyes. Cynth breathed a sigh of relief before standing back up. The threat was neutralised for now.

“Well that was some quick thinking” Hex approved, strolling on over and standing beside her as they looked over the creature.

“I was regarded for my quick thinking and problem solving skills in the academy” Cynth smiled smugly, dusting off her shoulder.

“Warning: Incoming Game”

Their eyes snapped to the sky as the voice sounded, and they watched open mouthed as the heavens opened above them.

“What’s your plan now?” Hex asked in a deadpan voice.

Cynth swallowed.

“Umm…”

Chapter Text

The game descended down, the entire system becoming bathed in a deep, wavering purple glow. Dex had been working as fast as possible to evacuate the remaining civilians from the surrounding area, occasionally turning round to glance at the huge luminous cube. He grimaced; sure, there were two Guardians going into the game, but there was that anomaly as well. There was no way of knowing how that thing was going to react in the game!

“Good luck in there” he muttered under his breath before turning back to his squad

“Alright I want a secure perimeter set up until the game leaves! I need everyone prepared if this ends in a User win, but User Preserve Us that shouldn’t happen”

The Game collided with the floor, sending a burst of energy fizzling through its surface. Everything within the cube was instantly transported into the newly generated game world. Hex and Cynth blinked at the sudden light all around them. They were no longer in the park anymore, instead they stood in a wide open plain – long grass swayed gently in the wind, trees stood vibrant dotted across the grasslands. The sky was a brilliant blue with wispy clouds strewn across the canvas, as if they were painted on. It all seemed… so high definition. Hex raised her hand to shield her face from the sun beating down on them. The two of them scanned the surrounding environment, looking for any sign of the User.

“Over there” Hex pointed.

Cynth squinted. There was a dirt path winding its way through gentle hills leading to a picturesque little fantasy village in the distance. Brown thatches houses sat clustered behind the quaint wooden walls of the village, a small cluster of life in the middle of the rolling hills.

“Well, I’m no expert, but I’d say that’s where the user would be coming from” Cynth guessed.

“What game is this?” Hex questioned, kicking at the grass.

“I’ve seen it a couple times before. It’s some kind of fantasy quest game – the User is a hero who travels the land and encounters random enemies along the way”

“And I’m assuming the random enemies are…?” Hex sighed, already knowing the answer

“Yup!” Cynth smiled.

“You think I can have a helping hand?” a voice beeped from above.

The two looked up to see the drone still hovering above them. Cynth grinned and beckoned for it to come down to her hand. An icon sat just underneath the camera and Cynth reached out to tap both it and her own icon on her belt. Hexadecimal watched them stone-faced, unsure what to do.

“What’s the matter? It’s time to ReBoot!”

Hex looked down at her chest, looking at the Guardian colours with disbelief. She’d only Booted… was it once before? She couldn’t really remember.

“I haven’t since…” she started.

“Oh right of course” Cynth smiled warmly, “it must have been a while”

She moved over next to Hex and squeezed her hand.

“On the count of 3”

Hex nodded.

“3… 2… 1… ReBoot!”

They all tapped their icons. With a flash of light, the three of them sported their new forms; Cynth was a kind of Forest Elf Mercenary, sporting pointed ears and leather armour, complete with a variety of swords and knives; Hexadecimal was a Sorceress character, wearing long black robes that swished around her in the wind. Hex admired her new outfit, flexing her new gold-trimmed gloves. The two sprites looked at each other, giving themselves a once over.

“Well it certainly suits you” Hex nodded

“Oh yes!” Cynth drew and swung one of her swords around experimentally, “I’m certainly a fan of these”

She sheathed her sword and watched as Hexadecimal spun on the spot, enthralled with the way the material moved.

“You look like a proper witch in those!”

“Why thank you Cynth, what a lovely thing to say” she conjured a few crackles of viral energy between her fingers, “always dress for the job you want to have”

There came a small cough from above their heads. Looking up, they could see that the drone had reskinned into a kind of… batbird – a small blue creature with batwings and a beak.

“Um guys, lovely fashion show and everything,” the bird chirped, “but I think we have a slightly larger issues on hand”

The two of them turned around to see where Zip was looking. They don’t know how they’d managed to miss it, but they could see the anomaly. It was still on its back, but it had also managed to somehow ReBoot as well. It had taken the form of a massive shaggy bull with huge curved horns glinting in the light. The mask still sat at its face, glaring out at them. It must have been an enemy from this world, but altered oddly – parts of its form seemed to shift and glitch every so often, as if some parts of it just didn’t exist the same way as others.

“Cynth” Hex stared at the bull

“Yeah” Cynth replied, also staring.

“It ReBooted”

“Yep”

“Its back is no longer flat”

“Nope”

“Its rolling over and getting up”

“Uh huh…”

Hex readied her viral energy, forming crackling orbs of light in her hands. They were blue instead of their natural orange due to the ReBoot. Cynth drew a long sword from a scabbard on her back.

“Lets end this then”

The group of them ran over the bull that had now righted itself fully. It whipped its head round at the sound of them charging towards it and turned to face them with a deafening roar. Hex threw off her energy balls – one struck the ground just in front of the anomaly, the other struck the beast squarely on the shoulder, causing it to stumble back. Cynth leaped at the creature, grabbing hold of the coarse, matted fur and pulling herself up with all her strength. The creature roared again and bucked viciously, but Cynth held fast. Hex readied another spell but was alerted by Zip calling out above her.

“Hex, look over at the path!”

Hex directed her attention to the path instead, leaving Cynth to continue her rodeo. A sprite was approaching them – they were dressed as a in a brown tunic covered with glinting steel armour, sword and shield in hand, running robotically down the path from the village. As they approached the scene, they turned and began barrelling towards the group of them.

“The User” she breathed.

“Hex we have a bit of an issue!” Cynth yelled

Hex’s eyes snapped back to the anomaly. Cynth was smacking the creature’s back with her sword while trying to hang on. Every hit was met with a clanking sound and bounced off uselessly, not even causing a dent to the creature’s thick fur. Hex readied another spell but before she could even plan her next step, the User readied their own weapon – a glowing blade that they held overhead before bringing it crashing down against the anomaly’s side, causing a huge blast that exploded outwards. The beast grunted and staggered to the side due to the blast. Cynth lost her balance and was blasted off to the side, hitting the ground hard. After a quick shake, the beast was back to normal – no damage at all.

“Ouch” she winced, rubbing her head as she sat back up.

She opened her eyes in time to see the User dodge out of the way of the anomaly’s swinging head-swipes, deftly countering with a few hits here and there. Other than causing it to shake its head slightly, the attacks also seemed to have no effect. Hexadecimal had risen above the fight, hovering over towards the fallen Guardian.

“Nothing seems to be working” Hex huffed, stamping her foot in frustration as she landed, “we should just give up and kill the User”

“No, I know we can do this. We just have to get through a weak point in order to penetrate this… armour?” Cynth chewed her lip.

“A weak point…” Hex puzzled under her breath.

She caught sight of the mask sitting where the creature’s face would be, orange eyes blazing above the mouth open in a silent roar of anger. A sharp pain shot through her head as a memory shot through her brain, unlocked by the sight of this mask.

Where was she?

It was a huge open room filled with… artwork? She was looking at the scene from across the room, staring at… wait… was that… her? She could see her red viral form in the centre of the room. How… how was that possible? Except… she was doubled over in… pain, clutching her face as horrific screams echoed around the room.

“Guardian” came her voice, her voice booming, joined in with multitudes of other all overlapping over each other

“Guardian!”

Who was the guardian… was it her? No… it was someone she couldn’t quite remember, couldn’t quite picture.

“You have removed the only thing that keeps her power in check! Without the masks Hexadecimal will overload and be destroyed!”

The screams amplified, overlapping with sobs and cries, filling her head with intense pain.

“DAMN YOU FOOL!”

A pain so intense it felt like her head would explode.

“You silly fool…”

It was coupled with the feeling of helplessness – all she could do was watch her body write in pain and agony as she clutched at her own maskless face, beams of light streaming through the gaps between her fingers.

The whole room began to shake…

“Hex!”

Hexadecimal opened her eyes.

She was back in the game, crouched on the floor with hands over her face. She breathed out a shaky breath and stood up slowly, trembling as she did so.

“You looked like you were in pain, and began muttering things” Cynth asked, concerned.

“I… remembered something” Hex mumbled, “something about the masks”

She refocused on her attention on the anomaly. The User seemed to be getting tired, growing weary at the useless attacks.

“The mask is the weak point. I know how to beat it”

“Well then, by all means, lets defeat this thing!” Cynth braced herself.

Hex regained her confidence, taking a few dainty steps before taking off again.

“I need that enchanted sword!” she called to the Guardian.

“On it!” Cynth circled to the side, “Zip distract the User!”

“Can do!” Zip called from the drone-bird.

He swooped down, circling the User’s head, causing him to look away for a split second. Cynth lunged forward and grabbed the Users arm – she twisted their wrist, causing the sword to fall from their hand. With one quick motion Cynth scooped up the sword and pushed the User towards the anomaly. With a quick look to check, she launched the sword into the air towards the flying virus. Hex caught the weapon, feeling the power surge through the sword. It felt comfortable. It was now or never – she flew down with all the speed she could muster, aiming straight for the anomaly’s head. She grabbed one of the horns and mustered all the viral energy she could before plunging the sword directly into the mask. The blade struck through the cheek of the mask, cracking the porcelain as it drove further into the beast. The creature let out a deafening pained roar, light spilling out of its face. Hex grit her teeth and willed even more power to flow through her and into the blade. The viral energy cracked and popped as it sizzled through the glowing blade and into the anomaly. The light bursting from the creature grew even more intense, causing the beast to shake violently. Without warning a loud crack sounded from its body and beams of light steamed out from all over it. Cynth realised what was happening – the creature’s strength was so high that it was nearly impenetrable to regular weapons, but Hexadecimal was using both her and the sword’s magic to put too much power in the creature’s body. Enough to overload the anomaly and destroy it from the inside.

“Zip get behind me!” she called out, scrambling backwards.

The drone-bird hovered down next to Cynth as she barked a call to her Keytool.

“Shield, maximum power!”

The tool whirred and a bright orange bubble formed around them. The two of them took one final look at the scene before them before the bubble hardened and became opaque – the User had backed away, processing wordlessly what was going on in front of them; Hex was holding on as tightly as she could, still gripping the sword and channelling her energy into it. Her face was a hard grimace as it slowly became taxing to keep it up. It momentarily flashed into her mind what would happen after this, but it was quickly dismissed by the burning desire to destroy everything in sight – the feeling of power around her becoming addicting.

The anomaly groaned again, the light becoming so bright it was blinding.

And then all went white.

*

“How’s she doing?”

“Her body sustained a lot of damage, but remarkably her vitals are perfectly fine. She’ll be perfectly fine after a while”

“How was she able to survive that?”

“Shush she’s waking up now!”

Hex stirred, groaning as she opened her eyes. The bright lights of the hospital ward were blinding, silhouetting the blurry heads of the others looking down at her. Cynth and Zip stood on her left, with Dex on her right.

“Ugh, did we win?” she asked groggily, sitting up and rubbing her head.

Her black hair was dishevelled, fallen out of place with her headpiece taken off. They’d removed all her uniform accessories to make her comfortable; her cape and shoulder pads lay draped on a chair in the corner. She stared at them, not fully processing that she wasn’t seeing black clothing. She shook it off.

“What happened?”

“You used all your power to push the anomaly over its limits and it exploded,” Cynth explained, “the explosion wiped out the User immediately, and our shield could barely withstand it”

“Oh… I’m sorry about that” Hex mumbled.

“Don’t be!” Zip smiled, “you beat the anomaly, and we had no idea how to do that! I’m just surprised you’re ok!”

She was OK. She remembered how she had survived – just before the anomaly completely overloaded, she used a last push of energy to grab the mask and absorb it into her. She immediately felt a surge of power wash over her, strengthening her body and revitalising her inhuman strength. When the anomaly exploded, it blasted her back but the newfound strength allowed her to withstand the blast. Just as the system’s voice crooned “Game over”, her vision had gone black.

“It was the power of the mask. It allowed me to use the strength of the anomaly”

“Wait, you absorbed its super strength?” Dex queried

“I think so” Hex answered cautiously

“You seem to be able to use the powers the anomalies have, like flight and the strength” Zip concluded.

“Is that safe?” Cynth asked

Zip shrugged.

“Her vitals show that every time she absorbs an anomaly she seems to get more stable because she’s reabsorbing lost code. These masks and powers may be something tacked on from the Net, and when she absorbs the code, those powers have become part of her”

Dex let out a barking laugh.

“Brilliant! That’s strength that was unparalleled by anything I’ve ever seen, we could really use that on this side!”

Hexadecimal smiled at him weakly. She wasn’t used to that kind of praise.

“Well, we’ll let you get some rest” Cynth patted her arm, “that was some good work today. You really helped us out of something that could have done some real damage”

“Well, its my function to mend and defend” Hex grinned.

The lie was easy to say but weirdly, some part of her wanted that to be the truth.

The other sprites said their goodbyes and bids of good rest before leaving the room. Hex smiled after them before settling down in the bed to recover, closing her eyes and letting her thoughts swim through her mind. Visions of explosions, fire, destruction – the new memories that the mask brought her. Ahh, familiarity.

“I know you’re not who you say you are”

Hexadecimal’s eyes snapped open at the voice. Dr Giff was once again sitting across the room, squinting at her through his thin glasses. Hex sighed.

“Must you always sit across the room like that?” she asked, exasperatedly.

“Do not speak to me like that, vermin!” Giff spat.

“Excuse me!?”

“You heard me! I know what you are, I saw your energies!”

Dr Giff stepped towards her intimidatingly. Hex watched him warily, half unbothered by his wizened appearance, half incredibly worried about this potentially dangerous sprite.

“When you ReBooted – the energies around you were definitely viral in nature, the monitors said so” he jabbed a crooked finger at her, “that’s what you are. A dirty virus!”

Hex stared at the finger. A tense silence filled the room, punctuated by the doctor’s heavy breathing.

“How ridiculous” she finally stuttered, “your equipment must be faulty”

“My equipment is never fault y! An administrator’s machines can never be tampered with!” Giff spat.

“Well then, if I were a virus then how would I have an Icon?” she countered.

Giff hesitated. Hex smiled.

“You surely must have noticed my Icon, it’s very pretty and I’d say one of my favourite things” she nonchalantly gestured towards her Icon pinned to her corset.

Giff stared at it, the concept whirring through his mind.

“Go on, test it if you like”

Without pausing Giff grabbed a scanner from his coat pocket, holding it up to the icon. Hex checked her nails as the machine beeped a view times. When the results popped onto the screen, she leant over Giff’s shoulder to read the readout.

Icon ID: Hexadecimal
Function: Guardian
Icon Administrator: Phong

“Seeeee?” She slapped his arm playfully, “and Administrator’s machines can never be tampered with”

Dr Giff grit his teeth, desperately trying to find fault. Hex sat back on the bed.

“Now I think it nice of you if you leave me to get some rest”

The elderly sprite glared at her but made his way towards the door.

“You may have them all fooled, but I know you’re not who you say you are. You’re dangerous. I will prove it”

Hexadecimal waved at him cheerfully as he slammed the door, finally leaving her in peace with her thoughts. She had a lot to do tonight, namely trying to figure out just who that Guardian was in her memory. Why was he there with her? And what had he done for her to be in so much pain?

Chapter Text

On the breaking of the next cycle, Hex was given the greenlight to leave the medical bay. She took this opportunity to get out of there as quickly as possible. Though she’d been able to dupe Gif now, she knew he’d still be on her case. She couldn’t give him the opportunity to find out who she was. Gliding up to her apartment window, she opened it from the outside and gently landed on the floor. She breathed out a sigh, glad to be back somewhere where she could be alone.

KNOCK KNOCK

She jumped, aiming her energy blasts at the door.

“Who is it?” she demanded

“Er just me Hex!” came the slightly timid reply.

Hex sighed again, lowering her hands. Shame, she would have liked to have obliterated something. She opened the door, revealing the small form of Zip standing in the hallway.

“Hello Zip, and what can I do for you?”

“Oh, well, Cynth and I were just wondering whether you wanted to join us for breakfast” Zip jabbed his thumb in some arbitrary direction

Hex paused for a second. Breakfast? She’d never eaten that with anyone. Well, she’d never eaten any meal with anyone. Well, besides Scuzzy.

“I’d be delighted to!” she clapped her hands, closing the door behind her.

Zip grinned as they both made their way out of the building. As they left the front doors Zip piped up.

“Hey, nice work in the last game! That was some quick thinking!”

“Why thank you, I’m quite proud of my problem-solving skills. I guess it runs in the family” she chuckled to herself.

“It was so cool! The only problem-solving I use in my life is ‘which file goes into which folder?’” he huffed

“Is that all you do all day?”

“Well, yeah, until last cycle. Dr. Gif puts me on a lot of admin work”

“That was your first game!?” Hex was shocked.

“Yeah! I mean, I know I didn’t do much but I’ve never been inside a Game-cube before!”

Zip glanced over at the park they were walking past – the same park they fought the anomaly.

“I bet you’ve been in so many games” he whispered, "what was the best one?"

“Well,” Hexadecimal floundered slightly, but found the words, “a lot of them are quite forgettable. There was this one where the User nearly won but I seized the opportunity for a surprise attack and defeated him!”

Zip stared at her open mouthed.

“Really?”

“Yep! It was even more important that we win that game because our system was under attack from a Supervirus!”

Zip faltered in his step.

“A Supervirus?! That’s serious stuff! Not even Cynth has taken on a Supervirus before! That’s so awesome! Viruses really are fascinating things”

Hex blushed slightly.

“You think so?”

“Oh yeah! I’ve read so many files about what they can do, and what varieties there are!” he waved his hands around dramatically, “oh how I’d love to decompile one and see what its made of”

Hex’s slight smile immediately faded and she looked straight ahead again.

“Oh… yes of course”

They were just entering Mains Street. It was a straight walk to the breakfast diner – they could see it down the road. Zip was walking rather jauntily, contrasting to Hex’s more restrained walk, the silence between them ever awkward to her. Neither of them noticed the sky getting dark until it was too late.

ZZZZP

A buzz and a flash exuded from Hexadecimal’s icon. Hex froze. She looked down at the small disk; it was flashing green, buzzing with energy as it began to spin round. Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes widened – the last time this sort of thing had happened…

Zip’s face fell as he saw the icon, before immediately looking up to the sky with fear in his eyes. The sky crackled and green energy pulsed across the clouds.

“Warning: Initiating Game”

The command was new… she’d never heard that at all on Mainframe. The sky thundered. She barely heard Zip yell her name before the heavens burst open. A green Game-cube shot down from the sky, rocketing down in the blink of an eye. Before either of them could even react, the cube had slammed into the ground, sending shockwaves out that shook the surrounding buildings. The game had begun.

-

Cynth was sipping her coffee, reading up on the latest updates from Protoframe – the new Guardian impressing everyone with her amazing skills, the whole Defence team tackling the scary anomalies infecting the system, and a whole section on how to best prepare for other strange things that may happen. Cynth scoffed – it had been more than just a ‘strange’ time. But things were balancing out. With Hex’s help, these anomalies could be dealt with with minimum damage. She was just what the system needed.

She put the coffee and paper down and stared out the window to see if she could see her friends. Sure enough, down Mains Street she could see the two of them down the far end of the street. She smiled. They were having a very in depth talk – so much so that they’d stopped. They looked off… something was wrong. Did the sky seem to be getting… darker. Then she saw it – a flash from Hex’s icon.

“Crap” she swore, scrambling out of the booth and towards the door as fast as she could.

But she knew that it was already too late.

As she threw open the front door, all she could do was watch crestfallen as the green energies sizzled across the sky, the thunder echoing all around the street.
She watched open mouthed as the green Game-cube shot from the sky.
She watched, helplessly, as the cube smashed into the ground, separating her from the two of them, leaving her stranded outside the game.

*

"Hex! Hex are you ok?"

The virus opened her eyes. Mains Street had disappeared. Instead they were in a bleak, run-down town. The entire landscape was devoid of life - the dead trees swayed slowly in the cold wind; old papers rustled along the ruined concrete roads; a fountain stood in the centre of the plaza they were standing in, although it had clearly not been active for a very long time. Hex realised she had stumbled to the ground, and she clumsily stood back up to her full height.

"W...what happened? Where are we?"

"We should have briefed you on this before" Zip chewed his lip, "We're in a game"

"But... how? I've never heard that command before"

"That's cause your system was probably an older system" Zip explained, "in newer systems, the User can install games directly into the drive. When they load up, or 'initiate' these games, they start pretty much instantly"

He sucked in a breath and looked around.

"We knew it would be dangerous cause the Game Cubes come down a lot faster, and then we'd have no chance for a Guardian to get in and win it. So we developed a system for the Icons"

He pointed at her own Icon, that had since stopped spinning.

"When a game is initiating, the program in any Guardian's Icon will activate as long as they are outside. It draws the Game Cube to the Guardian, and that ensures that a Guardian will always be present in the game"

"But I'm not part of this system... why did mine activate?"

Zip shrugged.

"It could be because you have Guardian code. It could also be the update we administered when you first arrived. I don't know," he threw his hands up, flustered, "I don't code these things, I just help distribute them"

He let his hands flop to the side, and began looking around even more nervously. Hexadecimal processed the information. Here they were, in an entirely new game - Hex's third game, and technically Zip's first! With no Cynth to help them out as well.

"Can you download the game's data?" she asked the small sprite.

"Huh? Oh, yeah"

He pulled out a PID and tapped in a few commands. After a few moments the machine bleeped.

"It's a horror based puzzle/shooter game"

"A what?"

"Basically, the User has to solve puzzles around this town, progressing the story. And along the way, there's zombie enemies he has to fight through" Zip scanned the screen, "oh, and there's an enemy team behind the zombie outbreak. They also act as obstacles along the way"

"Well, let's hope we're part of that team. I don't particularly feel like running round dressed as a zombie" Hex straightened up, hand hovering over her Icon, "ReBoot!"

She tapped the disc. There was a flash of light, and her new form materialised. She was wearing a sleek black leather outfit, complete with shiny black gloves, boots and mask. An insignia was emblazoned on the back of the jacket. Sure enough, she was part of the enemy team.

"Ooh" she crooned, sliding her hands over the smooth material, "this is definitely my kind of outfit"

She put her hands on her hips, and focused her attention on the young sprite, who was standing rooted to the spot watching her.

"Well?"

Zip started, and collected himself. Excited now, he cleared his throat and prepared to tap his Icon.

"ReBoot!"

The Icon flashed, changing his form to match Hex's - sporting the black leather outfit of the rival team. Now they looked the part, they now had to act the part. Zip led the two of them into the large building that sat across the plaza from them. It seemed to be some dilapidated research facility, run down and falling apart. As they made their way through the gloomy halls, they passed many humanoid figures textured like zombies. Their movements were oddly uniform, and they did not react to the two sprites as they passed by.

"Automated Binomes" Zip informed her, "we programmed them to appear in games with lots of enemies. It also means civilians don't have to fight against the User"

Hex scrunched her nose as they passed a group of them. They were odd and she wasn't a fan.

The two of them climbed the building's dark staircases - there was no sign of the user yet. They passed through an office area filled with desks and chairs - papers were scattered everywhere and broken glass littered the floor. Hex paused in front of a shattered window leading to a locked office. Sat on the desk was a keycard - it seemed to glow a gentle yellow.

"Zip, look there" she pointed at them.

"That looks like an item they need to progress the game" Zip squinted into the office, "they need to unlock the door first, so we've got plenty of time before he finishes the level"

Hex nodded as they moved on. They had some time to formulate a plan before it became a problem. The next room was a shock - the two sprites opened the door to see a huge mechanical structure standing idle at the opposite end of the room.

"What in the Net?" Hex whispered.

Zip grinned and jogged over to it.

"An Augmented CPU! I haven't seen one up close before," he tapped the machine, looking back at the virus, "it's sort of like, a mini-boss. It'll ReBoot into a giant zombie when the User gets near. It's super tough, it'll give us the greatest chance to win the game"

The two decided that they'd wait for the User just past the boss room, looking in through the dusty window of the exit door back through the room. While Zip continued to monitor the room, Hex explored the hallway. It was another quiet area with another two doors further down. She casually strolled down the corridor, testing both the doors; the nearest door opened at her touch, leading to yet another room filled with Automated Binomes. But the furthest door would not budge. It didn't even seem to come away from the wall.

'It must not be a real door' she thought to herself.

There was also a window that looked out over the grasslands all around them, so she focused on that instead. She looked out into the world - now they were on the upper floors, she could see far around them. A flicker caught her eye and she looked down to the ground. The grass and bushes shifted constantly, as if they were blurry and out of focus. Every so often, they seemed to glitch in place.

"Zip, the floor. It looks strange"

"Oh, yeah don't touch the ground out there. If you do, you'll immediately die" he responded, not looking away from the boss room

Yeesh. That sounded painful. Curiosity got the better of her - she carefully slid the window up, and leant out of it to have a good look. The cool air washed over her face, and the low rustle of leaves filled her ears. She was just about to lean back in when she noticed something odd - in the direction of the un-openable door, there seemed to be more building. But that didn't make sense... why would there need to be rooms past a door that couldn't open? What was past it?

"Hex... Hex we have movement" Zip announced, waving her over to the door.

With one last glimpse out the window, the virus hurried back over to the sprite. The two of them stared intently through the dirty glass into the large wide open boss room. Beside them, the Augmented CPU shuddered to life with a grinding clunk, its huge limbs unfurling and standing to its full height - its head practically scraped the ceiling. It rumbled as its Icon Emblem buzzed, light pulsating from its core. With a particularly bright flash, the CPU's mechanic surface was replaced with the mottled green flesh of a huge hulking zombie. It raised its tree-trunk arms in preparation. Across the room, the double doors burst open to reveal the User - a rugged-looking adventurer in a combat vest wielding a standard pistol. He aimed across the room as the ReBooted CPU let out an earthshaking roar and began to crash its way across the room. Zip let out a cry of delight.

"He has really low level equipment! This might be easier for us than I thought!" he cackled.

The User stood his ground against the humungous monster. The CPU raised his fists and, with speeds unimaginable, launched a devastating blow directly to the User's head. The impact caused the entire room to quake, sending dust and rubble up around them both. A fatal blow.

But nothing happened.

The two sprites waited for the crooning voice telling them the game was done. They waited for the game to rise back up into the sky. But nothing changed.

"But... what happened...?" Zip stared into the room, flabbergasted.

The dust began to clear, revealing the CPU standing over the User, who stood there as if nothing had happened at all.

"H...how? That attack should have killed him?" Zip stuttered

"Something is very wrong" Hex muttered.

They watched in complete shock as the User raised his pistol, aiming directly at the CPU's bared teeth.

BANG

The CPU let out a pained roar, doubling over until it collapsed on the floor. It convulsed suddenly before lying still. The User stared down, emotionless at the now still corpse, smoking gun barrell in hand. After a quick loot of the body, he began to step methodically towards the door the two of them were hiding behind. Zip was unmoving, frozen on the spot. Hex yanked him away from the door, throwing up the window and leaping deftly out into the air, sliding it shut quickly behind them. She levitated a few metres away, holding tightly onto the young sprite.

"He... that's not possible..." Zip kept stuttering.

Hex watched the User stride past the window. He was completely unscathed. Once he was past, she rose up to a window on the floor above. Once it was open, she placed Zip gently on the floor and landed beside him. They were now in another corridor. The double doors at the end of the corridor led into a stairwell leading back downstairs. Zip was still blubbering to himself. Hex gave him a tap on the arm to focus his wide eyes on her.

"Zip I need you to focus. You're the only one who can work out what's going on"
Zip blinked then shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

"Right... y...yes. Well, that CPU should have given the User a killing blow, but he was able to survive it. And then he killed the CPU with one shot using a pistol" Zip scratched his chin, "looking at all that, I can only assume that he's cheating"

"Cheating?"

"Yeah, somehow he must have gotten access to Health and Damage hacks"

"Well how would he have been able to do that?"

"Hmm... with hacks like that, it would need to be coded in by a Hacker"

"A Hacker..." Hex pondered, "and where would they be?"

"Well, they'd need to be nearby in order to make sure everything was working properly. But where would that be?"

Hex slowly stared back out of the window. Dots connected in her head.

"I know where" she stated plainly.

"Wh... where?" Zip blinked at her.

"I'll sort it out. You need to follow the User, keep me updated on what happens through our radios" she ordered, "we need to see what else he's getting up to, and how we can defeat him"

Zip chewed his lip, looking back at the stairs.

"You sure? I don't think I'll be able to take him on"

"You won't need to. I'll find out what's going on, and then we'll both sort this out together"

She gave him another smile before leaning back out the window and slowly flipping back out into the stale air. She had a new target in mind - she headed straight for the window leading into the room with the locked door. On peering into the dirty glass, her suspicions were correct: it was like something out of a sci-fi game - computer screens covering the entire wall, each showing a different room throughout the building. One of them was showing what the User could see (currently he was ploughing his way through hordes of the Automated Binomes). The room was dark, the only light beaming out from the computer screens. Silhouetted against this light, was the hunched over figure of another sprite. He was intently focused on the screens, tapping away furiously at the keyboard. So focused that he didn't hear the old window slide open, or the virus landing on the floor behind him. Hands on her hips and her eyebrow raised, Hexadecimal gave a little cough to clear her throat.

The sprite whipped round in his chair so fast he practically fell off it. He had the purple skin denoting his Hacker status, and his unkempt blue hair fizzled with energy. His eyes were stuck wide in shock, staring at her with his mouth agape. He wore a loose brown jacket over a tshirt and combat trousers, belts adorned with packs and gadgets.

"What the heck?" he stammered

"I thought it might be a Hacker" she put her hands on her hips.

The Hacker stared her up and down, taking in the Guardian attire.

"Oh, right, a Guardian" he groaned.

His voice had a generic American drawl to it, with a bored tone as he rolled his eyes.

"Here to ruin my fun right?"

"I'm here so we can win the Game" she announced, "and your hacks mean that we can't do that"

"Well I don't know what to tell ya," the Hacker spun back round, "I was brought in to do a job and that's what I'm gonna do"

"Brought in?" Hex tilted her head.

"Yup, the User sought my services on the Net, I provide them what they need, I get paid for the gig" he shrugged, "usual day for me"

"Well I'm afraid I'm going to have to shut you down. If the User wins, part of the system we're in will be Nullified!"

"Not my problem, I'm not from this system" the Hacker dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand.

"And that means you shouldn't care about this system because...?" Hex demanded.

"Look lady, I don't care who you are or where you're from, but I've gotta get this User through this level so can you just zip it?" he sighed.

Hex strode in front of him, putting a hand down on the table. He gave her a side glance.

"Turn off the cheats"

He scoffed.

She slammed her fist into the table, cracking the wood. He stared at the hole, motionless.

"I said, turn off the cheats. Or else I'll do it for you"

"Pfft as if you know how to work these computers" the Hacker scoffed.

Hex smirked.

"Ohhhhh" she crooned, "I don't need to know how to work the computers"
She took a slight step back, grinning widely at him as he followed her every move.

"I just need to know how to break them"

She flexed her hand, a flash of light bursting off her form. The Hacker shielded his eyes from the flare with his hand. When he lowered them, is eyes widened even further. In the place of the uniformed sprite stood a towering red entity. Black leather glistened in the computer light, gold trim glinting coldly back at him. A towering crown stood upon her head - spikes curving out and up towards the ceiling. But it was her face... her face was just... wrong. A white mask that stood out starkly from her deep crimson face, red lips and glowing green eyes frozen in a theatrical visage of joy. He tried to scramble away, reaching for the baseball bat he kept under the table in case of intruders, but he wasn't fast enough. The Virus leapt forwards, clawed hands outstretched in front of her. The Hacker cringed, but they didn't make contact with him. Instead she grabbed hold of the nearest computer screen, clutching it in her hands. Viral energy burst from her hands - the orange symbols cracked and fizzled, winding through the different monitors and infecting them with Hexadecimal's influence. The screens flickered before static filled them and sparks began to shoot out of the sides. The Hacker swore as one by one the screens popped and shut off. After a few more gentle cracks, all but one screen was turned off completely: only one showing the User moving slowly through the building. Proud of her work, Hexadecimal stepped back, her mask switching to one of smug satisfaction.

"There we go!" she announced in a sing-song voice.

"What in the Net are you?" the Hacker spluttered.

"Hexadecimal, the Queen of Chaos! At your service" she chuckled as she bowed to him.

"Well 'Queen of Chaos', what am I gonna do now? These computers are busted! No way they'll be able to work without taking them back to my workshop!"

"Really not my issue" she sighed, checking to see if her claws were chipped.

"Hey Hex!" Zip's voice crackled into the room from the radio, taking the other two by surprise.

"What's up Zip?" Hex responded, holding a finger up to the Hacker to ensure he didn't talk over the radio.

"I have eyes on the User! He was on the upper levels walking through doors that should have been locked, but when he got to door before the next part of the level, he couldn't get through it for some reason!"

Hex's mask flicked to a smile.

"Ah that means it worked" she slapped the Hacker on his shoulder, "I found a Hacker in a locked room. He was giving the User access to cheats, so I had to shut them down"

"Way to go Hex! In order to get through the final door he needs to get the keycard from that office we passed earlier" Zip exclaimed excitedly, "but in order to get that door open he needs to get another set of keys that he hasn't even got to yet!"

"Good, we have plenty of time to focus on a way to defeat the User" Hex mused.

"I hate to break it to you guys, but if he needs an item before he can open that door, then why is he going to that office now?"

Hex squinted at the screen. Sure enough, the User was methodically making his way back to the office in the main area.

"What was that Hex?" Zip asked her

"Well what... I'm sorry what's your name?" she indicated to the Hacker.

"Fuse" he grunted at her

"What Fuse pointed out is that the User seems to be heading back to that office"

There was a silence for a moment.

"Oh yeah, he is... but he can't get into that room... right?"

Hex looked down at Fuse, whose head rested in his hand.

"Can he?"

"Nah, I've been in this game several times. There's only one way to get into that room"

They watched in heavy silence as the User approached the broken office window. He looked at the glowing keycard sitting on the desk. Then, to their complete shock and surprise, he raised his hand, and the keycard flew off the desk and into his open palm.

The three sprites were frozen on the spot. Hex's mask was stuck in shock; Zip stared from round the corner, mouth agape; even Fuse's brow was furrowed in confusion.

"Wh...what happened? I thought you said all of the hacks had been turned off?" Hex demanded the Hacker.

"Hey that wasn't me, I don't run these kinds of hacks" Fuse tapped at the keyboard, scrolling through his lists of commands.

Lists of code ran across the screen, Fuse's eyes flicking across them at rapid speed.

"Nope, all the hacks have been shut down. Whatever this is, it's coming from the User"

"Zip," Hex called into the radio, "can the User get this ability from the Game?"

"No... no this Game doesn't have anything like that in it" buzzed his voice from the small machine

"Can you try and get a closer look at the User?" Hex squinted; a suspicion was beginning to arise in her mind, and she needed confirmation.

"I can try"

Zip scurried around the edge of the room while the User was distracted, hiding behind a column just behind him. The User was rummaging through his bag, looking through the items he'd collected and stowing away his ill-gotten keycard. Zip studied him intensely, trying to make sense of anything they'd just witnessed. The User put his hand to his face, and suddenly all became clear. His mouth fell open again when he saw the white ceramic mask held lightly in the User's hand. An expression of suspicion was etched on its face - one eyebrow raised in a questioning way. The User stowed it in his satchel and began to walk methodically back towards the boss room. Zip kept his terrified eyes on him as he left before hastily raising the radio again.

"Hex, he's got a mask! I'm 100% sure that it's another anomaly!" he hissed.

Hex nodded grimly. She had suspected correctly.

"Zip, follow him. Stay put of sight, I'll meet you there" she ordered.

"Wait you can't just 'go'" Fuse spluttered, spinning in his chair, "what the heck's happening? What is that he's got?"

Hex stopped just before hopping out of the window again.

"That mask is a source of unimaginable power. Obviously it allows him to move things with his mind. It's incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands, like you saw" she indicated to the screen.

"Oh, but clearly in the 'right' hands it's fine" Fuse indicated to the Virus, still sporting her red form.

"You keep your mouth shut about this" she warned, jabbing her talon at him, "or I can assure you you'll meet a fate much worse than deletion!"

"Look I don't care what you are or what you guys are doing, we have something much worse to worry about!" he stressed, clutching at his hair.

"What do you mean?"

"Ok, I thought it was gonna be a quick job; help the guy through the level with the hacks, then leave once he beat the level. But it was very important that I keep focused on what was happening cause of what happens later"

He hurried over to the computer, switching the screen from the User's view to a map of the whole building. Curious and concerned, Hex wandered over and looked at the screen over his shoulder. Fuse pointed at a doorway on the uppermost level.

"This door leads to the last section of the level and the final boss. It looks normal, but it's an incredibly important door," he glanced at her, "it acts as a kind of failsafe point. If it detects a hack or a cheat when the User goes through that door, it wipes the game completely. No way to stop it"

"Why does it do that!?"

"To deter cheaters. It's why I needed to be paying attention all the time so I could turn them off before that door. Obviously the User doesn't know about that cause he's still going there"

"I turned off the hacks... but that mask..." Hex realised.

"It would count as an unregistered item, and cause the game to reset" Fuse spun in his chair, "deleting us all"

Hex stood back to process this. This was serious.

"How do we stop it?"

"We'd have to beat the User" Fuse concluded gravely.

Hex nodded solemnly. She flicked on the radio again.

"Zip, come in"

"Hex thank the Net! I've been following the User through this building and it's really hard to stay hidden! At least without the cheats he's having a bit of trouble fighting the Automated Binomes"

"Good, that'll help you with the next step"

"Next step?"

"You need to defeat the User"

*

"Hex I still don't understand how you want me to do this"

Zip was currently cowering at the far end of a broken down office room behind an overturned table. Computers, desks and chairs were strewn all over the floor, Automated Binomes shuffling aimlessly between them. He had found a small pistol and now held it tightly in his trembling hand. Back in the Hacking Room, Hex was using her viral energies to power up all the other computer screens, allowing Fuse to have a perfect view of the entire building again. Her hands rested on the monitor closest to her, viral energy gently humming under her palms.

"You'll be fine. Now his hacks are gone, you are both on about the same level. You just need to shoot him enough to kill him"

"You make it sound so much easier than it is" Zip grumbled

"Heads up guys, he's rounding the corner. He'll be in your room any second" Fuse warned.

Zip closed his eyes tightly and took a shaky breath. This was in no way he was able to do this. He wasn't coded for this at all. He was a Helpdesk. And here he was, gun in hand, about to fire on a User who clearly didn't play by rules. He heard the door open, and immediately gunshots began to ring out. He took another deep breath before throwing himself out from behind the table. The User was distracted by the zombie Binomes, thinning out the crowd around him. Zip closed one eye and took aim.

BAM

The shot hit the User in his shoulder armour, causing him to stumble to the side. The action gave the Automated Binome's enough time to slash at the User several times. Zip smiled, his nerves reducing. This was easier than he thought. He raised his gun to take another shot. Just one more should do it.

BAM

Ok, in theory it was easy. The bullet shot right over the User's head, embedding itself in the wall. The User spun round to face him. Zip went pale. The white mask shone on his face, the green eyes squinting at him from across the room.

"Uh oh.." Zip mumbled.

The User raised his hand, clawing at the air. Zip felt a tug on the gun, and only realised what was happening too late. The gun flew out out hands and launched across the room only to land in the User's outstretched hand.

"Get out of there Zip!" Hex cried down the radio.

He didn't need telling twice.

Zip scrabbled towards the door nearest to him, wrenching it open and rushing out as shots began to fly over him. The door led to another corridor connecting this main building with the next building a covered bridge, except the walls of this corridor had been destroyed almost entirely. The cold air hit Zip hard, the wind already whipping at his hair as he desperately tried to think of his next step. He was focusing so hard that he didn't realise that the User had caught up with him.

"ZIP!" Hex screamed.

BAMBAM

Zip fell to the floor.

The bullets had hit him squarely on the back, sending him sprawling onto the bridge. Hex just gaped at the screen, unable to process what happened. All she could do was wordlessly stare at Zip's body.

She watched him stir, and turn slightly on the floor to look behind him.

He was alive.

"H... how?" Hex stuttered, still fixated on the screen.

"I switched the hacks back on" Fuse informed her with a sigh, rubbing his face in relief, "just in time"

Zip pushed against the floor, dragging himself away from the User, trying to recover. The User was now sporting Zip's pistol along with his own, holding them both out in front of him. Though both shots had hit him directly, he was fine.

"I turned the invincibilty hack back on" Fuse explained, speaking into the radio, "unfortunately it affects everyone in the level, so he is as well"

"How am I supposed to beat him like that then?" Zip grunted, pushing himself away from the User and towards the door on the opposite side

"I'll go and help him" Hex decided, preparing to pull away from the computers

"NO!" Fuse grabbed her hand, "If you leave then the computers will lose powers and the hacks will stop!"

Hex looked from the distressed face of Fuse to the hobbling figure of Zip struggling to crawl to his feet. She didn't know what to do. She prayed Zip did.
The young sprite reached the far wall and used it to lever himself off the ground. A rush of wind whipped around him, dislodging a piece of rubble from the bridge's edge. Zip watched the chunck of rock tumble through the air until it collided with the floor. ZAP. It disintegrated on touching the grass, the terrain glitching and rippling in response. Out of bounds. With a gulp, Zip threw the door open, narrowly dodging another shot from a rapidly approaching User. He was just about to run round the corner when an Automated Binome began to shuffle towards him. He paused, a plan forming in his mind. It was a long shot, but the only shot he had if the User was invincible.

BAM

A bullet bouncing of the back of his leg caused him to wince in pain, speeding up his decision. He unclipped his radio and brandished it like a weapon, turning back round to face the User with grim determination. The figure in front of him cocked his masked head playfully, as if he felt sorry for him. He stowed one of his pistols and held out his hand, summoning the mask's power.

Just as Zip wanted.

He weaved to the side, revealing the Automated Binome behind him. The magic passed by Zip and hit the Binome, causing it to slip up and zoom through the air towards the User. Before he could do anything to stop, the Binome slammed into the User. It immediately began to slash and roar at the User, and the User desperately tried to bat the creature off. With invincibility on, it was doing no damage. But it was just enough for Zip.

The small sprite saw his opportunity and took it. He sprinted as fast as he could across the bridge to the two figures in front of him. He slammed into the large form of the User with all his might, pushing him to topple his balance. It was all too much - the User staggered backwards, his feet mis-stepping. Almost in slow motion, the User hit the rubble on the edge of the bridge and his legs gave way. Zip stumbled from the momentum, falling to the floor. But he watched as the User continued back, falling over the edge of the bridge. Zip breathed a sigh of relief.
Hexadecimal's mask switched to one of complete and utter joy. He'd done it. She cackled as she watched the User fall, racing towards the floor. She caught movement from the corner of her eye. It was Fuse - he had brushed the lapel of his jacket aside to reveal his icon. She watched as he quickly tapped it, switching it from the usual circular icon to the triangular icon depicting a game sprite. He caught her eye and gave her a smirking salute.

"Game over" the Game finally crooned.

Hexadecimal watched as the environment around her began to surge upwards, the Hacker in front of her dissolving into flashes of light as he rose with it. There was nothing she could do to stop that. But he didn't matter anymore. She closed her eyes and willed her appearance to change back to what it was before. What they knew her as. The bright light hit her closed eyes, the pleasant warmth spreading over her. Her eyes fluttered open, taking in the sight of Mains Street again, Binomes cautiously approaching from the outer perimeters. She scanned the square momentarily before catching site of the small sprite lying on the grassy verge, still breathing heavily.

"I have to say that was impressive Zip," she beamed, making her way over to him and helping him sit up, "that was some quick thinking"

"I had a hunch, and nothing to lose at that point" Zip stretched his back

"How did you know that would work?"

"Well, I remembered that the ground was marked as out of bounds. It stood to reason that anything that touched the ground would be eliminated, regardless of how much health it had"

He stood up shakily, holding onto Hex's arm.

"I just needed to distract him somehow so I'd be able to push him over. Took him by surprise!"

"Well you managed it, and just in time too. A few nanos later and we would all be gone" she mimicked an explosion while chuckling

Zip laughed nervously.

"ZIP! HEX!" came a cry from the side.

The two glanced over to see Cynth sprinting towards them followed slightly behind by Dex, who carried his hat under his arm. The Guardian collided into a hug with them, almost knocking them down again.

"I'm so sorry, we didn't tell you about those games, I'm sorry, you must have been so worried" she gushed.

"It's ok Cynth" Zips voice was muffled, "we had a little bit of trouble but we worked out how to beat it"

"Trouble?" Dex inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"A Hacker" Hex replied.

Dex grimaced and nodded.

"Mmph. More trouble than they're worth. Lucky we actually managed to get a Guardian in there, or this whole section would have been nullified"

"Well that wasn't the only thing"

The group watched as Hex sauntered over to an item lying on the floor a few metres away. She looked down at it. Her own face stared back up at her. With a tight smile, she leant down and picked the mask up. Immediately, her brain was bombarded with memories of complete control - moving things effortlessly with just a single swish of her finger, to launching whole armies out of the System. The power rushed through her. She felt it twinge on her mind, objects all around her calling out to her, both out of reach and within her grasp. She opened her eyes to see the mask had vanished. She was aware of the rest of them approaching her, and a hand patted her arm.

"We did it. We beat a Hacker and an anomaly all in one Game" Zip grinned.

Hex smiled gently and ruffled his hair.

"We did. Not too bad for your first proper game"

She let out a sigh then causally leant over to Cynth.

"Although I would very much like that breakfast now"

Chapter Text

"Finally! This whole thing will be worth it just for this!" Cynth psyched herself up in the mirror, tying her black hair up into a low ponytail.

She stared at her reflection. She was proud of her bright blue and orange Guardian uniform, untouched by dirt and pressed to perfection. She straightened her shining bronze badge - freshly polished from last night. She sighed with content; soon that 'trainee' will be swapped for the shining silver 'junior'. It had been a long slog, especially for the new guardians. They had needed a lot of time to recover after the Viral Wars, and it had meant that all new Guardians had to have extra intense training on combat and threat neutralisation. It had taken its toll on some of the new recruits, but in the end they were coded for this. This was what she was meant to do.

"Just one more cycle" she breathed as she rubbed her eyes, "then you don't have to stay here anymore"

With one final grin in the mirror she grabbed her back and rushed out of her dorm and into the hallway. All the Guardian recruits were making their way to the Guardian Academy Central Hall to have their graduation ceremony, featuring a celebratory speech from the Prime Guardian, Turbo. As she jogged through the hallways of the Supercomputer Principle Office she saw one of her fellow recruits just ahead of her.

"Nova!" she called, waving as the sprite turned to her.

Nova was a sprite similar to Cynth, but with yellow skin instead of Cynth's green. Her deep gold hair flowed down her back, elegantly clipped up out of her face.

"Hey Cynth!" she smiled back, slowing down to let her friend catch up.

"Are you as excited as I am?" Cynth asked breathlessly

"I think so!" Nova nodded, "I just hope that I get to go to a good System. All that training has left me a little worried about Viral attacks"

"Oh I don't think you'll have to worry about all that" Cynth dismissed the worry with a wave of her hand, "you were ace at the Viral Defence training, you'll be fine!"

Nova smiled.

"Aw thanks. I mean, I was nowhere near as good as you. You were pretty much top of every class!"

"Psshhhh... well I mean it's true" Cynth chuckled.

Nova burst into laughter as well. The two of them had pretty much spent the entire time training together at the acadamy and had become firm friends because of it. Both of them had excelled at the academy, so much so that they had achieved high honours from all of the senior Guardians. Because of this, they were both expecting to be sent to high profile systems - systems with important data, or maybe even an encrypted system defending some sort of software that was incredibly sought after. Excitement bubbled up in the pit of Cynth's stomach as the two of them rounded the corner and joined the throng of equally expectant cadets. This was finally it.

The best moment of her life.

*

"There must be some kind of mistake" Cynth scoffed, still staring at the documents in front of her.

"There's no mistake" came the gruff sigh of the Prime Guardian from across the room.

Turbo leant over his desk, sorting through a few objects in a box of equipment. They were in his office having followed from the graduation ceremony. Just as she had expected she had received her badge (a particularly shiny one she may add), she had shook hands with all her senior trainers and Turbo himself and they had presented her with her Keytool and, most importantly, her system. But when she looked at her System... it just didn't make any sense.

"There's no way that this is my assigned System" she stuttered in contempt.

"And I've told you, several times now, that that is your assigned System. You've been given your Keytool, 8Bit, and your System. You'll be transported there next cycle"

"But this is a basic System" Cynth circled round the desk to face Turbo, who rolled his eyes and looked at her wearily.

"So?"

"So, it clearly doesn't need my level of expertise to defend it"

"On the contrary" Turbo argued, "the System is weak. Every System is at the moment. We're still recovering from Daemon's takeover, and a lot of Systems have been left with no defenses, or a lack of Guardian"

He sighed again and shook his head.

"She really took a big chunk out of our protection. These new recruits are our redemption, our chance to rebuild the unity..." he winced at the word, "the... connection between the Systems"

He turned to look at her head on.

"You are one of our best cadets, if not the best. I can count on you to take charge and defend an almost defenceless system. It's taken a lot of beatings and I know you are the only one who can maintain our code"

Cynth pursed her lips. It felt like such a backhanded compliment - 'you're the best at your job, here have the worst System'. She knew for a fact that even Nova had gotten a decent System. It wasn't fair. But she knew that there was point in arguing - when Turbo was set in his ways he wouldn't budge.

Well, maybe she would show him - she'd be the best Guardian the whole Net had ever known, completely upgrade the system and then they'd have to give her a better system. She put on a sweet smile as she faced the Prime Guardian.

"Very well Turbo, of course you know best"

*

The transport slowed as it approached the system. Cynth gripped her knees, staring at her pristine uniform in the tinted window's reflection. It was stupid - she was going to eat this system's problems for breakfast. But somehow, she felt a bundle of nerves writhe at the bottom of her stomach. It almost made her feel sick.

"We are now approaching Protoframe, please remain seated until the vehicle has come to a complete stop" the transport crooned.

Cynth's stared around wearily. It was nearly time. As the transport craft touched down on the outskirts of the system, she checked to ensure 8Bit was working correctly and straightened her badge. With a few beeps, the door clicked open with a smooth swish. She took a deep breath to prepare herself to meet the ambassadors of the system.

She stepped out into the light and was met with sprites straight away. Cynth's face immediately fell. A large stocky millitary general stood before her, with a decrepit, much-older sprite beside him. It was... not an impressive sight. She scanned the skyline behind them quickly. It was equally as unassuming - sure there were the generic processors and harddrives, but it was bleak and cheap, and generally run down in places. This was going to be harder than she thought. The general stood forward and reached his hand out.

"General Codex at your service, Standard Virus Protection Software" he announced in a firm yet friendly voice, "Dex for short"

He gave a single firm shake before standing back. He then indicated to the sprite next to him.

"This is Dr Gif, the System Administrator"

"A pleasure" the older man nodded to her.

She nodded back with a tight smile. She smoothed out her outfit down and clapped her hands.

"Well, I'm Cynth, and I suppose I'll be your Guardian for the time being" she announced, "so happy to be here"

"Well we're happy to accomodate you" Dex nodded, "we're excited to hear your plans to improve our system. We're accepting any new ideas, especially after our last attack"

"I was about to ask," Cynth grimaced, "what actually happened here?"

"A viral attack," Gif coughed, "we had some invaders from outside the system bring some particularly malicious malware here, and it released a devastating viral bug that punctured the system"

"Did you not do a viral scan before you opened the file?" Cynth frowned

Dex shifted on the spot.

"We did... I did, but I couldn't detect anything" he responded sheepishly

Cynth pressed on.

"What level was the virus, I need to know what I'm working with"

"Err... a Class 2 virus"

"Class 2??" Cynth exclaimed, "and you couldn't detect it? What's your version?"

Dex's skin darkened with a blush as he coughed to clear his throat.

"Erm... well I've just upgraded to Version 2.0 Beta"

Cynth let out a single laugh.

"Seriously? An Antivirus like you should at least be on Version 5.0 at this point" she shook her head and tapped 8Bit, "I've got my work cut out for me I see. But I think I can get this system up to par in a few cycles or so"

She put her hands on her hips.

"Where can I find the Systems data?"

"Ah that's all accessed through the Helpdesk," Gif explained, "Zip!"

Another figure appeared from behind the two sprites. A very young sprite with messy black hair.

"Hi..." he stammered, "Zip, System Helpdesk at your service"

He extended his hand which Cynth took to shake. In comparison to Dex's, it was weak and a little sweaty. Cynth gave another pained smile. This was going to take a lot of work.

*

"Game over"

Cynth shook her hair out of her face as the Game Cube rose up above her, leaving her in Mains Street Park.

"Chalk another Game win into my scoreboard" she announced to 8Bit.

"Cynth!"

She sighed and looked round to see the exciteable form of Zip rushing up to her from the perimeter border. He breathed heavily as he grinned broadly at her.

"That was so amazing!" he praised

"I know, you tell me that every time" Cynth tapped at her Keytool.

"You think I'd be able to make it in a game at some point?" he asked excitedly.

Cynth gave him an amused look.

"Game's really are just for Guardians," she scoffed, "you wouldn't be able to hold your own"

"Oh, but I've been studying different techniques and watching your game replays and I really think that..."

"I'm gonna stop you there. Games like that one would eat you alive. You'll end up seriously injured or, worse than that, nullified" Cynth indicated to the sky where the Gamecube had just left, "and if you think I'm gonna let you ruin my record then you can think twice"

Zip looked away, crestfallen, as Cynth tapped away at her Keytool.

"Did... did you want to get something to eat or... something?" he asked sheepishly.

"Don't have time," she looked into the distance, "Something's not right, where is Codex?"

Zip pointed at the barricade. Cynth strode towards the CPU blockade, the small sprite scurrying along after her. A few resting Binomes slapped each other on the shoulders and hurried to get back into position as the Guardian walked past. The General stood by his personal CPU swiping through his PID.

"Another good job in the Game" he congratulated her.

"Why am I still picking up viral traces?" Cynth demanded.

Dex pursed his lips and cleared his throat.

"We've realised that unfortunately when we did our neutralisation attempt, we didn't actually manage to eradicate all of it" he confessed.

He rolled his eyes as Cynth let out yet another deep sigh.

"Why didn't you tell me that sooner? Now I need to carry out a System-wide scan to find out everything about this virus"

"I've told you about this - it was a class 2 virus programmed to infiltrate files. That's where we found it last time"

"But did you take in it's format, its makeup, its behaviour patterns?" Cynth looked at him from the corner of her eye.

Dex grit his teeth.

"No"

"Well then let me finish my own analysis before we take ant action"

"Now this is literally my function I..."

"Did you find an update to the next version?" Cynth interupted.

"I... no..." Dex spluttered, "an update not given by the User is incredibly expensive"

"Fine, I'll also look for that" Cynth waved her hand, still looking at her Keytool.

"I can look for one Cynth" Zip offered.

"You wouldn't be able to get it at a Guardian's discount" Cynth shrugged, "theres no point"

Zip frowned and glanced at Dex. Dex just closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Just tell us what you need us to do now" he sighed.

"Great. Meet me back at the principle office and I'll talk you all through the next steps"

With that, she summoned her hoverboard and zoomed off into the city. Dex shook his head again and dismissed the vidwindows. Zip watched the Guardian speed off into the distance, a huge wave of dismay settling deep within his code.

*

"I've set the CPU task forces at high alert on your command Guardian"

Dr Gif ambled round the Central Command Desk, taking a seat with an old-man sigh in a big squishy chair.

"Thank you Gif, we shouldn't need them if everything goes smoothly" Cynth crossed her arms and stared at the numerous screens on the wall.

She tapped her Keytool and summoned a capsule in front of her. Holding it out to her side without looking, she shook it at Dex.

"Your update. Best I could do was Version 4 beta"

Dex grunted and took it begrudgingly. Cynth continued to watch the screen.

"You know we have..." he began.

"Things under control?" Cynth finished, "ah so thats why you have a virus hiding in the system? Your system is at rock bottom and needs to be fixed"

She sucked in a breath.

"But thankfully, fixing this system will bump my records up so much that I'll be able to finally get a system actually worth my time"

There was a slam. Everyone spun round to face Dex in shock.

"Now that is enough" he demanded, jabbing a finger at her, "ever since you stepped foot here you've done nothing but berate and insult us"

Cynth stared him dead in the eyes. Dex stared her down, breathing heavily. The rest of the room was in a stony silence.

"You think this is some kind of... task? Some kind of item on a checklist ready for you to just cross off once you're finished with it?"

He let out a harsh laugh. Cynth crossed her arms.

"If it weren't for me then this system's efficiency wouldn't be anywhere near what it is now. In just a few cycles I've turned this System around from the brink of collapse"

"You've turned it into a chore! You make everyone follow some arbitrary rules set up by you for you. And if anyone, User forgive, forgets to follow your 'perfect ideology', they're berated and insulted. You ever think some people find it hard to live up to your expectations because, I don't know, they're not trained Guardians? Even us! It's not in our function to carry out half the tasks you're asking us to do, and then you treat us like garbage!"

Dex was on a full on rant now. Zip had averted his gaze and Gif coughed slightly but remained quiet.

"This System is a home. It's our home. And it's your home too. Not just some insignificant stop along the way of your 'journey of a lifetime'. And every time Zip or anyone has even tried to get to know you or heck, just treat you like a normal sprite, you kick them aside"

Cynth's gaze fell. Dex was breathing heavily.

"You may be a Guardian - To Mend and Defend - but right now, it feels like you're attacking the civilians. Taking away their freedom to shape Protoframe in your own image," he crossed his arms again, "and I don't think the Guardians stood for that"

The room fell silent. Only the whirs of machinery wafted throughout the control centre. Dex looked away from the Guardian, who shifted on the spot.

"I'm... I'm sorry" Cynth whispered.

It was a hard thing to say. Throughout her existence, she had pushed herself to be the best, and she had told herself that apologising for something meant letting someone else beat her into submission. When did she start beating other people though? She'd never stopped trying to prove herself at any point.

"Um Cynth" Zip spoke quietly from the desk, "I think I've found something"

The Guardian refocused on reality, directing her attention to the large screen. The Helpdesk pointed at his own monitor.

"I was looking for signs of the Virus and I was reviewing everything we knew about it. We knew that it had hidden from us in a document where we would overlook it, so i checked the archives"

He tapped the keyboard and brought up a screen of document folders.

"These are the folders that have been accessed in the last minute" he announced.

"The Virus has to access a file in order to hide in it.. so all we do is look in the most recently accessed files.. Zip that's actually a really good observation" Cynth smiled weakly.

Zip breathed a happy sigh of relief and began to search through the files one after the other.

"Thank you Cynth!"

Cynth smiled again before looking back towards the Antivirus. He was turning the Update over in his hands, contemplating something.

"I am sorry, Codex" she began in a soft voice, "I forgot that this wasn't just another training mission. I forgot that people rely on me to keep them safe and happy, and I've just been focusing on what I wanted in order to make me move forward in the world"

"Well, I know you were doing what you'd viewed as the best. I can't fault you for actually doing your job. Just... we would like to actually work with you instead of for you"

He tossed the Update in his hand and caught it again.

"Plus I can't fault you for actually providing us with better equipment" he grinned.

Cynth smiled back at him. A series of beeping cause them to turn round to see Zip celebrating to himself.

"I think I've found it!"

"Think or know.." Cynth began but cut a quick glance to Dex's stern glare, "I mean, awesome job! We'll go and see either way, can't hurt to try!"

She tapped her Keytool and checked her gear.

"You know.. I may need some help dealing with a Virus. Would you want to come help out?"

Dex grinned again.

"Give me a nano to get ready and we'll be right on over there!"

*

It couldn't have gone smoother: Dex was taking to the new Update extremely well. In fact, Cynth only needed to give him one or two pointers on how to use some of the new functions. He especially enjoyed the new weaponry that came with it. The Virus put up quite a fight, but it was no match for the combination of a newly upgraded Antivirus and a top-tier Guardian. In no time at all, the entity was neutralised and deleted, the two defensive sprites could finally relax. The two of them were sitting on the grass in a park just outside the Archives, recovering from the battle, when a vidwindow popped up showing Zip's excited face.

"Way to go guys! I knew you two could do it!"

"Well we wouldn't have been able to do it without your file searching skills," Cynth gave him a thumbs up, "that really cut down the work by a lot"

"Awwh thank you so much!" he beamed, "I've gotta go now, Gif wants me to write up the report by the end of this cycle"

"Alright then, we'll catch up later. Hey, maybe we can all have a proper celebration over dinner later" she suggested.

Zip's face brightened even more.

"Oh! Yes! Definitely!" he nodded enthusiastically, "I'll see you later then!"

He signed off and the window went away. Cynth leant back, closing her eyes. Dex chuckled.

"You sound like you're making yourself comfortable"

"Well, aren't I allowed to?"

"Sure you are. That is, if you're planning on staying"

Cynth opened her eyes and looked over at the larger sprite.

"I mean, your work is done, you've fixed all our problems. I thought now was the time for you to run on back to your superiors"

Cynth wriggled on the floor, eventually sitting up.

"Well... I mean, I don't have to go back. I was assigned to be this System's protector, and while we've solved this problem, I don't doubt that there's gonna be something else popping up sooner or later"

Dex chuckled again.

"You're right," he nodded, "we could really use someone like you in a permanent position, you know, if you would like that"

Cynth looked around at the area around her. Binomes were strolling through the green space, enjoying the sun and the fresh air. Families were lounging on picnic blankets and running about through the grass. It was beautiful, picturesque - she hadn't noticed it when she'd first arrived. There was a lot that she had yet to explore.

"I suppose I can stick around, you know, for a little while"

*

"Cynth? You there?"

Cynth blinked and shook her head out of her daydream. Zip was grinning at her from across the table, Hexadecimal sat next to him thoroughly enjoying her breakfast. Dex sipped at his coffee next to Cynth, reading through todays paper.

"Oh yes, sorry, I was just thinking" she repsonded, absentmindedly stirring her energyshake, "what were you saying?"

"I was just saying telling Hex that this breakfast was a special one cause it was a bit of a celebration for you"

"Oh yes! 5 years in this system this cycle, congrats to you!" Hex praised.

Cynth smiled into her drink.

"Ahh it's nothing, it's been a blast. I've had good people to be around with all this time. Made it much more bearable"

She felt a nudge against her shoulder and glanced to the side at the Antivirus.

"Remembering all the good old times?" he smirked.

She laughed quietly and scooped up a spoonful of cream off her drink.

"Kind of. More thinking back to when I first came here. Things have really changed since then"

"You mean you've changed" Dex replied, sipping at his coffee.

"Only cause of you guys. I can't imagine my life if I hadn't met you all," she watched Zip excitedly recount various tales from the various games that Cynth had battled in to Hecadecimal, "I could still be... well... like how I was. I don't think I could handle that, looking back at it"

She took another sip from her energyshake.

"I'm proud to call Protoframe my home"

Chapter Text

CRASH

A large chunk of wall crumbled from the side of the building and smashed on the pavement below. Dex swore under his breath and fumbled with the equipment in his CPU for a megaphone. The security Binomes clustered around the barricades, trying to keep the crowds of curious onlookers from getting any closer. Dex raised the newly found megaphone to his lips.

"Sir we need you to remain calm! There are civilians present, and the Guardians are on their way!" he called up.

He was staring up at a window in one of the upper floors of an apartment complex. Well, what used to be a window, and was now just a large hole in the wall. Surrounding it was a flickering orb of blue energy. It was a perfect sphere, that apparently appeared to be completely invulnerable - it had carved a circular gap when it had emerged, and as it pushed out the bricks gave way immediately.

With no response, Dex swore again. A woosh from behind him signified the arrival of the Guardians. He turned around to see Hexadecimal deftly land on the pavement, placing the small form of Zip on the ground. Cynth swooped in on her hoverboard and hopped off it next to them.

"Oof I don't think I'll ever get used to that" Zip ruffled his windswept hair back into its original position.

Cynth stretched her arms up and out.

"I mean, you have to admit it's kind of fun"

"Can you two focus please," Dex cleared his throat, "we've got a major situation here"

"I think I recognise that..." Hex muttered, staring up at the sphere.

"Have you been able to make any obvservations on this yet?" Cynth asked the Antivirus.

"Not yet, but we do have intelligence that informs us that there are still civilians in that building. I was hoping that now you're here, things might go a little differently"

"Of course," Cynth tapped Hex on the arm.

The Virus pulled her gaze away from the orb and looked at the Guardian.

"Wanna head on up there?"

"Of course" Hex smiled, taking back to the air while Cynth jumped back on her hoverboard.

The two of them rose up the side of the building, keeping an eye out for falling debris. As they reached the sphere, they peered through the rippling blue energy into the depths of the sphere.

"Oohh" Hex hummed.

"Hello there!" Cynth greeted in surprise.

The sphere surrounded a gloomy looking bedroom, and sitting hunched over in a chair in the centre of the sphere was an unusually tall and lanky binome. He slumped, hands hanging loosely in his lap, staring at the floor. At the call from the Guardian, he slowly turned his head to stare at her. The two of them took a sharp breath in when they saw his face. Instead of the usual single eye that the Binome would usually have, the two of them were greeted with a porcelain mask staring back at them. An expression of extreme sadness was pictured on its visage - pouting lips and a single tear running down the left side of its face. The empty blue eyes stared into theirs.

"Oh..." came his gloomy, echoey voice, "its the Guardians. What do you want?"

"Hi there, we just noticed that... well, there's a big sphere here" Cynth explained, a worried smile on her face.

"So?"

"Oh... well it just... it wasn't there before, and we wondered whether there was a reason"

"I felt like it was the best option..." the Binome sighed.

Hex prodded the sphere. It was completely solid.

"What made you think that?" she asked

"No-one misses me anyway, so I might as well stay in here" the Binome looked away again.

The earpieces in their ears crackled as Zip called up to them on the radio.

"Errr guys, I just ran an analysis of the energy that the sphere is composed of"

"And?" Cynth called down.

"It's comprised of an incredibly high-density wavelength energy. Basically, it is so dense, that I don't think anything would be able to penetrate it," Zip explained.

"So that's why the building is getting destroyed," Cynth realised, turning back to the Binome, "the sphere is destroying the building as you move around"

"Oh of course," the Binome breathed out an incredibly long sigh, "you care about the building more than me"

Without warning the sphere began to expand, pushing into the wall and forcing more bricks out of place. The hole in the wall opened further as more bricks fell. Hex used her telekinesis to catch the chunks of concrete and slow their fall to the ground. The objects in the room that weren't inside the sphere were pushed against the wall, being crushed by the impenetrable forcefield. The two sprites on the outside reared back, staring at the wall of energy.

"Why did it get larger?" Cynth furrowed her brow.

"It seemed to get larger when he got sadder" Hex tapped her chin.

It was partly feigned surprise - she knew that nothing would get through that shield. After all, she was the one who used to use them to block any kind of attack. The mask was a bit of a surprise; her saddest face. She wondered what kind of memories they held.

Cynth continued to press on, trying to get through to the Binome.

"Oh now, come on, it's not like we care about the building more than you. We care about all the civilians here."

"Oh really?" came the glum reply.

"Of course!" Cynth smiled, "what's your name?"

"... Larry" he responded.

"Larry! That's nice, what sort of things do you do?" she asked.

The Binome's head swung round, its blue eyes piercing into her own, making her doubt herself. Her own brain began to fill with terrible thoughts, and her chest felt heavy.

"... You... you don't remember me?" the Binome asked.

"Erm..." Cynth hesitated.

"... You came to my birthday celebration last year... I invited you personally..."

The building began to rumble, and the sphere began to slowly expand even further. Cynth and Hex moved back from it.

"You even wished me a good birthday... It was all I wanted to happen..." the Binome began to sob.

The building began to quake as the energy fields began to push against the walls. Cynth and Hex glanced at each other with worry before gliding back down to the rest of the team. Dex looked up at the growing sphere, shielding his eyes from the sun.

"It looks like the sphere began expanding when the Binome became emotional" Cynth reported, "It must play off his emotions"

"Well we need to find out how to get rid of it soon. If that sphere gets any larger it will begin taking out other parts of the building, and we're already aware that there are still civilians in the building" Dex grimaced.

"But what could break through that? I thought you said it was inpenetrable?" Cynth asked Zip, who nodded in response.

Hex looked back up at the sphere.

"There is one thing that could work, but I don't know where it could be at the moment" she murmured.

Before the others could question her, one of the Binome soldiers from the outer perimeter ran up to them, holding out a screen to them.

"General! We have an urgent report from the archives!" he squeaked.

Dex took the report and scanned it quickly.

"What is it?"

"Someone managed to break into the archives and have been downloading the secure files!"

Dex frowned even more.

"How? We have the strongest privacy settings on those files!"

Hex chuckled.

"Well, it looks like we have a stroke of luck" she announced, sauntering away from them, "I'll handle this invader, you stay here and try to calm down the Binome. If you can't, try and get the civilians out"

The rest of the team nodded in determination. Hex set her eyes on the Archives, taking to the skies again. There was another anomaly out there, and they needed it as soon as possible.

*

"Megabyte would be kicking himself if he knew I was able to do this" Hexadecimal chuckled to herself as she strolled into the System Archives.

She tossed the Access Key Zip gave her into the air and caught it again. If this was back in her old system, he would have made her go through some elaborate plot to sneak them both in. Well, that would have been what he'd wanted to have done - Hex would have just teleported in. She sauntered down the hallway, heels clacking against the metal floor. Glancing next to her as she walked, she caught sight of her reflection in the wall. It caused her to stop and give herself a glance up and down.

"Well... it really isn't too bad at all" she admired, running her hands over her 'Guardian' uniform.

She turned on the spot, chuckling gleefully at her waist-sashes swished around her, admiring how the light played off the patterns embellished in the deep blue lace corset. She then became acutely aware that her cackling wasn't the only one echoing through the Archives. Quickly silencing herself, she tiptoed her way to the nearest drive location. She noticed the large door that was usually sealed tight with several passcodes was standing slightly open. What luck - she had found her thief. She slipped through the crack between the door and the wall, staying close to the darkness. The room was cavernous. As it should be - this was the main harddrive: all the User's data was stored her. Files revolved continuously around the room, providing a beautiful backdrop of colour to the otherwise dark expanse.

She felt a tingling feeling in the back of her mind as she stared in awe around the drive. A tiny feeling - barely even noticeable, but there nonetheless. A voice she hadn't heard in so long.

"Mess it up" it hissed gleefully.

"What?" she thought in response.

"You're in the Archives. You have access to everything. Mess it all up. Blame it on the the thief"

"I can't do that! I don't have time for that sort of nonsense!" she huffed.

"Suit yourself. It's getting boring here and you can't deny that"

The voice quelled, retreating once again to the far reaches of her mind. Hex shook her head and refocussed on the situation at hand. She noticed a trail of recently opened files strewn across the floor, their contents scattered for all to see. She kicked one of them gently as she strolled past - it should have been sealed with a passcode and encrypted. Not anymore. She followed the cackling to a makeshift stairway of platforms leading up to a slowly whirling mass of files. A binome was facing away from her, dancing gleefully on top of the highest platform, shuffling through the various of the private documents. He was dressed in a leather jacket complete with metal studs.

"Oh ho ho!" he cackled, "this one's the jackpot!"

He threw a few useless pages away over his shoulder and shoved a few more into his pockets. She caught them in midair and hovered them in front of her face. Just as she thought - the User's saved passwords. With a sigh, she took to the air again, absentmindedly folding the passwords up and placing them in her pocket. She crossed her arms as she floated behind the Binome's back.

"Passwords, passcodes, PINs, it's all heeeere" he laughed wildly, reaching out for another file.

Once he'd grabbed it, he waved his hands over the file locks. Orange sparks began to crackle from his hands into the lock. After a few moments, the lock pinged open. The Binome flicked it away and began to rifle through the pages.

"Bleh useless" he grunted, throwing the first document over his shoulder.

"I don't think the User would agree with that" she cleared her throat

The Binome jolted upright and spun round like a top, dropping the file in haste. Hex tilted her head when she saw his face. The single eye and mouth was obscured by yet another porcelain mask, this time one with a smirk, one eyebrow raised and lips curled up on one side. The Binome grabbed at it and stashed it behind his back, staring at the Virus with a fearful smile.

"Oh! Guardian! Wh... what a surprise!" he stammered, chuckling nervously, "C... can I help you?"

"I don't know," Hex sarcastically clasped her face in thought, pondering, "I was hot on the trail of a culprit stealing documents from the User. Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?"

"Umm... can't say I have..." the Binome looked from side to side.

"And somehow, um, Barry was it?" Hex asked the Binome, leaning on his shoulder.

"... Jimmy"

"Somehow, Jimmy, they are managing to access locked drives and files that they have no way of accessing"

She gave him a condescending smile.

"How would they be doing that?"

"I... I couldn't say" Jimmy gulped.

"Really?"

She waved her finger and the mask whizzed from behind Jimmy's back, spinning gleefully around into Hex's outstretched hand. Jimmy stared at it intently. Hex turned it over in her hand amusedly eventually turning it to face her.

"Do you know what this is?" she asked offhandedly.

"Err... I found it outside, it's mine. No-one else was around" he tried to grab at the mask but Hex pulled it away from out of reach.

"While I don't doubt that you found it somewhere outside, but I can tell you for certain that it's not yours"

"Oh yeah, and why's that?" Jimmy challenged.

Hexadecimal chuckled darkly, slowly moving to Jimmy's front to stare him in the eyes. With her big grin facing him, she flicked her hand in front of her face to reveal her own smiling porcelain mask in her viral form.

"Because I have the rest of the set"

As expected, the Binome fainted on the spot. Hex held him in her black gloved arms and floated gently to the floor, placing him on the floor. She then turned her attention to the mask in her hand. It certainly seemed like it opened things - it just had to open everything. Speaking of...

"Dex what's the status?" she commed into her earpiece.

"Erm not good. Cynth's attempts at civilian relations aren't working as intended" his voice crackled back, "If you're planning on coming back soon, we'd really appreciate it"

"I'll be right back. I've found the thief in one of the User's personal archives - if you can send a unit to pick him up that would be most appreciated"

"Affirmative. Hurry back!"

Dex signed off. She looked back at the mask again. One more piece of her very messy puzzle. She slipped the white porcelain over the top of her own. With a burst of energy it absorbed into her form. Immediately an intense pain shot through her body, emanating from her neck. She clutched at it, letting out a short scream and falling to her knee. The pain ebbed but her mind was still filled with images of firewalls, soldiers.. and Megabyte. The painful thoughts ebbed away slowly, but when she regained her composure, she found she was shivering. She hugged herself, trying to summon back some sort of comforting thought. It wasn't going to happen if she was alone - she needed to get back. Taking another last longing look at her viral form, she tapped her icon and transformed back into her Guardian disguise.

*

"Affirmative, hurry back!"

Dex signed off from the radio and turned back to face the situation at hand. Cynth was still trying, and failing to cheer Larry up. Everything she had said Larry had somehow turned into something negative: when she had complimented his room, he had said that he hadn't decorated it; when she asked him what sort of things he did for fun, he complained that she should remember from when he met her. And each time he got sadder, the sphere got larger. It had destroyed almost the entire corner of the building. Cynth gave up and lowered herself to the ground, stepping off her hoverboard and rubbing her eyes in frustration.

"Nothing is working" she sighed exasperatedly.

"And the sphere is growing at a constant rate" Zip informed them.

"We're going to have to try another tactic" Dex grimaced, turning to his squad, "ready the CPUs"

"That won't work either" came a voice from behind them

The three of them glanced to the side as Hexadecimal swooped in and landed on the pavement next to them.

"That sphere is completely impenetrable - no weapons you have will break through" she explained.

"Not to mention the building has become so unstable that if we were to detonate any sort of explosion, it could cause an entire collapse" Zip chewed his lip.

"And there are still civilians inside!" the squadron captain called up from the CPU blockade.

Dex sighed deeply and held his face in his hands. He shot Hex a tired look.

"Well then what do we do? You had better have got the thing you needed from that thief in the archives"

"Oh I'm definitely sure it is," Hex flexed her hands, "the anomaly will allow us to penetrate the shield just enough to get us in. Cynth and I could then try and talk to him in person, and see if we can get through to him"

Dex looked wearily between the sphere and the Guardians. He waved his hands to dismiss the CPU squad.

"Act quickly; you haven't got long"

Hexadecimal nodded. She turned to Cynth who had resumed her position on her hoverboard. With another nod to each other, the two of them rose back up to the top floor of the building. The sphere had nearly spread to half the building, cutting a huge chunk out of the walls and weakening the rest of the structure. Dex was right - they didn't have long. They hovered up to the centre of the sphere, face to face once again with Larry, who turned his glum face towards them. He watched them in stony silence.

"Are you ready Cynth? I don't know how easy it will be to hold it open" Hex warned.

"I... I think I'll be ok" Cynth shifted uncomfortably but readied herself.

Hex breathed a deep breath in and out, psyching herself up. Let's see if she still remembered how to do this - she summoned the energy from within, willing to break the walls of the shield. The energy writhed up through her arms and sparked out in beams towards the sphere. The beams connected and sparked aggressively, boring intently into the crackling blue energy. Larry flinched away, clutching the back of his chair as the shield began to warp. After a few moments passed, to their astonishment, the beams seemed to eat away at the shield, opening up a small hole just large enough for a sprite to squeeze in. Hex grit her teeth in effort, her hands beginning to shake from the strain.

"Hurry!" she called out, "I can't hold this for long!"

Cynth swerved her hoverboard, angling through the the small opening. However, in doing so the edge of the hoverboard clipped the energy field. With a yelp she staggered off the board, rolling onto the ground. The board fizzled with the shield's energy and overloaded in an instant, exploding with a small fiery blast. The force of it knocked Hexadecimal back through the air, breaking the beams of energy and closing the gap in the shield. Cynth shielded both her face and Larry from the blast.

"Hex!" she cried out, scrambling over to the sphere's edge.

Hexadecimal held her head and winced.

"I'm OK. Just give me a second to open the shield back up again" she groaned

"There's no time!" Zip yelled up at her

Hex turned her attention to the sprites down below. Zip jabbed at his PID drastically.

"The building is about to give way any second now! There are still people in there, you have to get them out now! You're the only one who can do it quickly enough!"

Hex looked frantically between the sphere and the building - the entire structure was rumbling as the sphere began to grow even more rapidly. She had to act now: she rushed down to the upper floor windows, smashing straight through them into the stairwell. She immediately understood why not everyone had evacuated - the stairwell had completely collapsed, and the sparking lights had begun several fires throughout the wreckage. She grimaced and rushed past them up the stairs, using her powers to thrust rubble aside on the way to the civilian's rooms. She kicked the nearest door down to find a several Binomes huddling in the corner in fear; a mother and child, an older Binome and a few men.

"Are you everyone left in the building?" she asked breathlessly.

The nearest Binome nodded.

"We couldn't get to the stairwell in time before the walls began to collapse, we can't even make it to the emergency exits" he rambled

"Can you please help us out?" the mother wailed, hugging her child.

Hex shot looks around the room. She could blast the wall out and float them down, but the blast could cause the building to collapse even more. She could fly them down the way she came, but she couldn't carry all of them at once. Well what else could she do?

"I can only carry two of you at a time" she bit her lip.

The mother immediately held out her child.

"Please, make sure he's safe" she began to tear up, "please"

"And here, take Old Man Hamish with you" the other male Binome helped the older man over to the Virus.

Hex took hold of the older Binome's arm and wrapped another around the child. With one final look back at the others, she began to rush towards the stairs.

CRACK

The sphere burst through the wall incredibly quickly, showering her with rubble. She only just managed to turn her body in time to protect the Binomes in her arms. She shot a fearful look back over her shoulder - the sphere had grown so much that it now blocked Hexadecimal from the rest of the group. The only way to get to them now was to go through the sphere itself, but there was definitely not enough time for that.

"CYNTH! You have to hurry!" she screamed across the building.

Inside the sphere, Cynth was still trying to reason with the possessed Binome. The blast had left her leg weak so she used a scorched bedside table to lever herself off the floor.

"Larry please, you have to give me the mask" she gasped out, holding out her hand.

Larry clutched at the face with his hands shying away further from her.

"N... no... you can't take it away from me... it's all I have. It's the only thing that understands how I feel..." he whispered.

"Wh...what do you mean?" Cynth frowned

"It... it knows me..." he stared into her eyes, "it feels what I feel, and lets me know I'm not alone... not here"

"Larry, it's just a mask! It doesn't know anything!"

"You're wrong! It whispers to me. A sweet, soothing voice. Something no-one else has done for me"

"And it's telling you to do this?" Cynth gestured around, "to push people away"

"It's the only way to keep me from being hurt" Larry hugged his knees.

Cynth furrowed her brows and took a tentative step towards the Binome.

"Larry, I'm sorry that I don't remember. I really regret not getting to know you or anyone who I meet while I'm on the job. It's not right. But this isn't the way to do this - if you stop everyone from getting to you, then it won't ever change"

Larry didn't move.

"And this is hurting people. People could be killed from this. And I'm sure that no matter what that mask says, that you don't want that. So please..."

She moved closer, now in arms reach of him.

"Give me the mask, and help everyone"

Larry stared at her hand but didn't flinch when she moved closer. She was still just too far away.

"CYNTH!" Hex cried, the sphere beginning to press her right up against the wall.

Cynth took her chance.

She pushed herself off the end-table, reaching out to grab the mask. Her hand made contact with the smooth white porcelain.

Immediately everything went blank. She felt a searing pain shoot through her left cheek, as if it had been stabbed, and she gripped it while wincing. Out of the darkness a voice drifted in;

"Hex, what happened?"

Colours began to fade in. She was sitting in a darkened room. the only object she could really make out was person sitting opposite her. He was blue, and was wearing armour of a shining silver. His face was obscured - out of focus, as if she were looking at him through a frosted glass window.

"Please, let me fix it?"

He must have been referring to whatever had happened to her face, as he also began to reach out a hand. His voice was warm and sounded like he cared, but something didn't feel right: something in Cynth's mind didn't want him near her face. She didn't trust him. Instead she covered her face and looked away.

"I don't know if I can let you do that, Bob"

Cynth had spoken, but that wasn't her voice. That was Hex's voice! Why was she spesking with Hex's voice?

"It looks painful. Please, let me help"

"I'm afraid..." Cynth responded in Hex's voice, standing up as if to leave. The man opposite - this 'Bob' - stood up as well.

"Don't be" he whispered.

He slid a hand around her waist, pulling her in closer to him. A wave of excitement and happiness rushed through her.

"Ohh Bob" she felt herself grinning.

His face was so close now, she could almost see his features becoming clearer. She leant in closer as he raised a hand to cup her face.

And then there was excruciating pain.

He shot a beam of light directly into her face, blinding her and sending stabs of pain all over her cheek.

Her scream... Hex's scream, echoed in her mind as everything went white.

*

"Cynth, are you alright?"

Cynth's eyes fluttered open. She was lying propped against the crumbling wall facing a now terrified looking Larry and a concerned Hexadecimal. She broke into a smile as she saw Cynth wake up.

"What a relief, you're ok!"

"Kind of," Cynth winced, "my leg is messed up I think"

Hex scanned over her and nodded, radioing down to the others for medical attention. Cynth's eyes wandered over to Larry: the lanky Binome looked very different without the mask, and he even carried himself differently - no longer slouching in the chair or shying away from the two of them. The mask... She looked down to see the porcelain mask still clutched in her hands. She had managed to grab it after all. The eyes were no longer blue, instead she could see right through them. It just looked like a regular mask.

'Put it on' a little voice in her head crooned, 'you've been through a lot, let me be with you now'

Cynth dropped it in shock and the voice immediately stopped. She rubbed her head in exhaustion.

"Did we do it? Did I stop it in time?"

"Well the building's still standing" Hex chuckled, "and all the civilians were evacuated safely. You got there just in time - once you took the mask off Larry the shield immediately went away"

"I am so sorry about all that" the Binome apologised profusely, "I'd just felt so lonely and down recently, and then that thing fell into my room from the sky and began speaking really comforting words to me"

He stared with both sadness and fear at the mask.

"I don't know why I put it on... I didn't want to be alone"

"It's OK, that's what it played on," Hexadecimal explained, "your feelings of sadness were exacerbated by the mask, and to stop anyone getting to you and taking it off, it created the shield"

Larry nodded sheepishly, looking down at his feet and mumbling another apology. A CPU Unit hovered up to the hole in the wall, and two security guards hopped out. One of them ushered Larry into the back of the vehicle while the other prepared a stretcher. Cynth indicated to the mask on the floor.

"Do you know what to do with this?" she asked Hex.

The Virus leant down and picked it up, dusting it off and looking into its eyes. Her own eyes glossed over a bit, but after a moment she shook it off.

"I think it definitely has some of your code in" Cynth coughed.

"Oh? And how are you sure of that" Hex asked, not looking at her while absorbing the mask into her.

"When I touched it, I felt... well, pain," she touched her cheek absentmindedly, "And I saw something that was like... a memory I guess? It was yours, cause I spoke with your voice through it. And there was a guy there... a Bob I think?"

Hex hesitated momentarily before nodding. Her expression was inscrutible.

"Yes, that is a memory of mine" she said quietly

Cynth studied the sprite opposite, trying to determine how she was feeling.

"Hex, who is Bob? Was he from your old System?"

Hex laughed to herself.

"Yes, yes he was"

"You were hurt in the memory... and all the while I was there I... Did he hurt you?"

Hex said nothing.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry I just..."

"No, it's fine. The truth is, I don't know if he hurt me. I just know that... that I was worried that he would..."

Hex then stood back as the security guards moved the stretcher over to Cynth. They raised and lowered her onto it and she lay back fully. Her eyes grew heavy with exhaustion when she realised just how tired she was. Her head rolled over to see Hexadecimal staring off into the distance. She flopped her arm out, gently taking Hex's hand in hers. The tall sprite's eyes glanced down at it.

"Thank you Hex, for your help. We really couldn't have done it without you, or you're quick thinking. We're lucky to have you here"

Hex gave a small smile.

"I'm just carrying out my function"

*

Hex arrived back to her room as usual: through the window. She didn't bother turning the lights on - her mind was rushing with new memories. She had seen what Cynth had seen, she had remembered how it felt. Her fear, Bob's words of comfort... Bob...

She wandered slowly into her bedroom, stopping when she approached the full length mirror on her wardrobe. She stared at her face, scanning her skin for imperfections. Was that something? Or a trick of the light? Her fingers delicately dusted over her left cheek. There. A slight raise in the skin, like a scar. She felt it spider out across the left side of her face. Was it a scar or...

She tapped her icon and in a flash her Viral form replaced her Guardian attire.

There it was.

Ever so faint, but it was definitely there - a hair-thin crack in the porcelain of her mask. It sat like a needle-sharp star on her cheek. You couldn't see it if you looked quickly, only if you focused on it. And Hex was staring at it. Her fingers trembled over it. Trembled in anger. She remembered how she got it. It was all His fault. Bob had tried to fix it, and succeeded! And now it was back.

Hex screamed in fury, her eyes blazing red and her face warping into a sharp toothed grimace. She raised her hands and smashed them into the glass, sending cracks all the way up the smooth glass. Small chunks of glass pattered to the floor, but the majority of the glass stayed put. Now her angry face stared at her new fragmented reflection.

Countless faces stared back

Chapter Text

She only had 30 seconds left.

Hex was sweating, her brow furrowed in frustration as the tension mounted to a peak. All Zip and Cynth could do was watch helplessly from the sideline, unable to intervene as the User triumphantly raised their hand for the final curtainfall.

This was it.

The timer beeped loudly and the stage exploded with light and confetti. Loud upbeat music burst from the speakers, and the simulated crowd exploded with cheers and screams of delight. The colours popped and sparkled around the sprites as they stared around in shock and confusion.

"Tiiiime is up Chefs!" an narrator announced jovially out of nowhere, "Leeeeeet's see how you both did!"

Hex breathed an exhausted sigh of relief. The final round was a tricky round, but she was sure she had just managed to edge ahead of the User. But she wasn't sure - the User had used a powerup halfway through the round that allowed them to gain double points during the baking round. Hex had also used a powerup, but it didn't receive as much of a bonus. She smoothed down her apron and readjusted her poofey chef's hat.

A knife hovered down in front of the two competitors - in front of both Hex and the User there was a cooking station, and on top of the brightly patterned tablecloths, were an exquisitely decorated cake prepared by the both of them. Hex's red velvet stood tall, ornately decorated with black and gold trim and accoutrements. The User's was pink and covered with white piped icing and strawberries. They were both incredibly impressive.

The knives cut slices of the cakes and two well Game Sprites stepped forwards - one with steely grey hair and the other with horn rimmed glasses on a chain. They took a slice each and carefully scooped up a slice. In tension filled silence, they put it to their lips and took a bite.

You could hear a pin drop.

Hexadecimal bit her lip.

DINGDINGDINGDINGDING

Confetti exploded from behind her and balloons began to fall over her table. Music blared out from the speakers, joining Cynth and Zip as they erupted into their own cheers and clapped as hard as they could.

"Game Over" the System's voice rang out over the cheers from the crowd.

The environment began to fizzle upwards as the Game Cube rose back up into the sky. The three sprites were left back where they were before they entered the game - hanging out in the Community Park on what was supposed to be their 'day off'. Their ReBooted outfits rose disipated and Hex stretched her arms out.

"Oof good riddance to that apron - I've never known anything so itchy" she groaned

Cynth and Zip sidled their way through the Binomes that had made up the Game crowd and approached the Virus excitedly.

"That was really awesome Hex!" Zip grinned, "I've never seen such a clutch finale to Great Baking Simulator before"

"Sorry we go eliminated so early and couldn't help more" Cynth scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"It's alright. Even I was surprised at how good the User was - if it wasn't for that last powerup I used, I don't think I would be here" Hexadecimal breathed a deep sigh.

She stretched again as the three of them strolled casually over to where they had been relaxing previously before the Game hit - Cynth was reclining in a lounger, soaking up the sun; Zip had been typing on his PC, adding to his extensive encyclopaedia of Games and tactics. Hex took her place behind a wooden easel, a canvas propped gently atop it. She summoned her palette from a nearby table and took up her paintbrush again. As she resumed dabbing spots of paint onto her art, Cynth slid some sunglasses on and lay back.

"Why can't life be like this all the time?" she sighed.

"Beats the heck out of me" Zip shook his head, engrossed in his typing.

Hexadecimal chuckled. She didn't mind the Games so much - she'd rediscovered her joy of painting and that was filling her mind with wonderous colours and patterns.

"Wow, that's looking really good Hex!" Cynth called over from her lounger, admiring Hex's art

"Oh, thank you Cynth!" Hex smiled, "it's been a while since I've had a chance to flex my creative prowess"

"Oh well if you want to do more, I can give you the editing software password so that you can redecorate your room how you like" Zip piped up.

"That would be marvellous, dear" Hexadecimal thanked him.

This was great. Her mind felt so clear - she had no cares in the world at the moment. Nothing could spoil her day - the sun was shining, her friends were chilling, and her art was turning out beautiful.

So you can imagine her disappointment when the shadows rolled in above them. The crowds of Binomes began to murmur in bewilderment. They looked to the sky, pointing in shock and surprise. The three sprites were equally as confused - this didn't seem scheduled. Cynth lowered her sunglasses and stared into the sky.

A huge vessel was slowly cruising through the skies above the System. It was shaped like a monolith, a weirdly cuboidal front and a massive main body trawling behind it. It continued to rumble across the sky until it was fully docked within the system, where it gently came to a stop.

"What in the Net is that?" Hex stared at it, open mouthed.

"It's an External Plug-In" Cynth frowned, standing up from her deckchair, "and from the fact we had no warning of it coming in, I'm guessing it's unregistered"

"What's an External Plug-In?" Hex asked.

"It's a vessel that can enter the System from the Net - they usually come from other Systems and bring data from them. But they can also mean big trouble" Zip chewed his lip while looking at the ship.

Cynth nodded.

"They can have malware installed on them, and there's always a risk they they're not here for just selling their merchandise"

"Ooh they sell things?" Hex clapped her hands together

As if on cue, a panel on the side of the ship crackled to life. It fizzled with static before flicking to a bright, colourful logo depicting a cursive FFE. A voice began to eminate out, echoing throughout the system.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, come one and all to a place to find anything your heart desires, for a price that won't make you think twice! Introducing Fantastical Fletchers Emporium! We have all things you could want, and maybe even some things you didn't know you wanted! Act quickly; we're only around for one cycle!"

The screen played a little upbeat jingle and switched of again. After a few stun-filled moments the park began bursting with excited energy as Binomes began to murmur and buzz about the things they could buy. A clunk sounded from the ship as it properly docked into the System, and a set of steps began to extend down to meet the platform. The Plug-In was open for business. Hexadecimal spun round to face the rest of them.

"Oh please can we go see?"

"Well it is our duty to Mend and Defend, so I guess we do need to check it out" Cynth tapped her Icon, switching her casual summer outfit to her pristine Guardian uniform.

With a happy giggle, Hex skipped over to the two of them and locked arms with them tightly. The two of them barely had time to brace themselves before Hexadecimal took off from the ground at high speed. With the two sprites in arm, she touched down at the top of the long staircases that led into the shop, following the bustling crowd of Binomes into the Plug-In. The inside was just as wonderous as the outside; the rooms were huge and polished - chrome walls, ceilings and floors. Dotted around the room were a collection of display cases and tables covered with many different knick-knacks as far as the eye could see. They ranged from everyday objects like tools and utensils, to pieces of tech and equipment that looked extremely different to any that they had in this System. The three of them stared around open-mouthed, taking in all the curiosities that were laid out in front of them. As they slowly made their way through the room, a door on the opposite wall slid cleanly open.
Behind it stood a tall, thin man dressed in an expensive looking blazer and well pressed trousers. His polished shoes clacked against the shiny floors as he strode towards them, fingers tented in front of him and a huge smile stretched across his green face. His piercing eyes sat slightly lidded under well kept blonde hair. He stretched his arms out as he reached the centre of the room, capturing the attention of everyone in the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm so glad you could join me here at my delightful little shop"

His voice was suave, and sounded like an old-timey car salesman. Hex found it a little off - he sounded enthusiastic, but it didn't feel quite right.

You know," he nodded and began to pace, "I've been around to many different systems, but this one looks to be one of the best"

He broke into an even bigger smile, if that was possible, and was met with a smattering of delighted applause from the Binomes. He indicated over to all of his merchandise.

"Please, take all the time you need, it's all automated so feel free to buy whatever you need. But of course, if you do need help," he placed his hand elegantly on his chest, "I am extremely delighted to help you out. Oh, but if I'm not available, my assistant will help you out"

He indicated to the doors behind him, which slid open to let a slightly smaller Sprite hurry through them to stand behind his boss. As he stood up properly, he locked shocked eyes with Hexadecimal.

Who stared back in equally as much shock at blue haired Hacker.

In the stunned silence, the shop owner clapped his hands and stepped up to the three of them.

"My my, I'm surprised to see a Guardian in my fine establishment" he announced, still smiling broadly as he bowed gently to Cynth.

His eyes drifted to the side and settled on Hexadecimal, still staring over his shoulder at Fuse, who was cowering behind his boss.

"Oh ho ho! Two Guardians for the price of one! And here I was thinking only I offered those kind of deals!" he chuckled.

He extended his hand

"My utmost apologies, I forgot to introduce myself; Fletcher Price, at your service"

Cynth did not take his hand. Instead she tapped at 8Bit on her wrist.

"Do you have a permit to set up shop here?" she asked, "We weren't notified that you'd be docking here. Not even a message"

Fletcher's smile twitched and he retracted his hand, using it instead to straighten his cuffs.

"Do have my sincerest apologies, we Pop-Ups work in the moment; we see an opportunity and take it to offer up our wares to any who may be interested"

He vaguely gestured behind him to the purple sprite still staring in shock.

"But if regulation really does mean that much to you, I can get Fuse here to gather all the correct papers"

Fuse jolted when he heard his name and cleared his throat to look at the expectant Guardians.

"Oh, yes sir, right away"

He turned sharply and scurried across the room with his head bowed low. The metal doors on the opposite side of the room slid open with a hiss and closed just as smoothly behind him. Fletcher's smile returned, albeit slightly smaller.

"May I interest you in any of my wares while we wait? I can see you straining to look into the next room" he leant towards Zip, who was craning his neck to see round the tall figure in front of him.

Zip blushed and looked away quickly.

"Oh, er sorry," he remarked sheepishly, "I was just trying to work out whether that was an A-Class Filing Upgrade in that room?"

The smile grew twice its size, almost curling like a Cheshire Cat's as he gestured towards the adjacent room.

"Why, indeed it is! You have quite the eye for software my good fellow! Shall we take a walk around?"

Cynth frowned slightly and glanced at Hex. Hex glanced back, a pleading smile on her own face.

"Oh it can't hurt to just have a look"

Cynth rolled her eyes before indicating to the businessman to go ahead. The Pop-Up Ad led them at a brisk pace to the adjoining room, past groups of excited Binomes and various trinkets for sale. The next room had a very different assortment of merchandise - much larger objects like furniture, monitors, and modified technology; tables of software like the A-Class Filing Upgrade that blinked on and off periodically and display cases containing larger objects of interest, along with what looked like pieces of art.

"Take as long as you like. I do offer a very wide range of products, much larger than any of my rivals if I do say so myself" Fletcher polished his knuckles on his lapels.

Cynth picked up an upgraded PID and turned it over gently in her hands.

"And I'm assuming that all of this upgraded tech is completely..."

"Completely up to standard, following all the correct regulations" Fletcher answered before she could finish, "and I can bring you all their papers as well, if you don't mind a lot more late-night reading"

Cynth pursed her lips and gave a nod, placing the PID down. Hex trailed her finger along a shiny, new monitor screen as she made her way across the room, drifting past Zip who was staring with awe at the variety of upgrades on offer. In moments, she came to the first of the many large display cabinets around the room. Her eyes scanned its contents with interest - an ornately carved stone sculpture depicting a sprite wearing very regal clothing.

"I didn't know you were an artist as well as a businessman" she remarked.

"Ah, I wish I could take the credit for those but alas, I am just a humble admirer" Fletcher chuckled.

He joined the Virus in staring into the cabinet.

"I travel between Systems looking for pieces of art that just speak to me, and when I do, I just cannot bear to part with them" he sniffed, tearing up slightly, "I simply must have them"

He wiped a tear away from his eye. Hex raised an eyebrow as she looked from him back to the statue.

"Where in the Net did you get this one?" Zip called over from the next cabinet over.

The two of them turned and joined the smaller Sprite at the next display cabinet. On seeing what lay inside the glass, Hexadecimal's eyes widened.

"Oh ho!" she exclaimed, leaning in close.

On the pedestal sat a large, blue skull domed helmet, with a white, skull-shaped front. The blocky face was shiny and sharp-edged, blazing red eyes glinting coldly out from green markings on the pure white. It was a face that Hex knew all too well, but she had never truly seen until now.

"Ahh, now this is one of my most precious artefacts" Fletcher announced, moving round the display case with the air of a showman, "an ancient relic from times long ago. A legend that spread terror across Systems"

He got more and more fanciful, arms outstretched and eyes wide.

"Some called him the Reaper, some called him the End of Things, but there was one name that everyone knew him as, that struck fear into the very code of all who heard it..."

He paused, taking in the stunned silence of their faces.

"Gigabyte! Destroyer of Systems!"

Zip gasped.

"The Supervirus? You mean... that's... that's his... his head?" he stuttered.

"Yep!" Fletcher slapped the glass gently with his hand, "he was terrorising a system on the outer reaches of the Net when they finally managed to take him down. To stop him once and for all they decided to take drastic measures - they CUT off his head and took his body far away to the other side of the Net, where they could never meet again"

He grabbed his jacket lapels smugly.

"After some expert bartering and a few well-made trades, I was able to acquire this incredible artefact"

He breathed out as he relaxed.

"Although it could be yours for a very very reasonable price"

Before Zip could speak Hex gave a small chuckle and responded for him.

"What a lovely story, and so inspirational, but despite that I don't think any of us would ever make that purchase" she crossed her arms and smiled, "especially considering it's a fake"

Fletcher blinked.

"Err... what do you mean?"

"I can tell you with a certainty that that is not the genuine head of Gigabyte. His head or body was nowhere to be found after he was defeated"

"How can you be so sure?" Zip looked away from the case up at her

"Trust me, I know firsthand that that's the case"

Fletcher coughed into his hand and scanned the Sprites in front of him. Hex was staring at him expectantly, eyebrow raised; Zip was glancing from the display case to him and Cynth was standing back from the group, smirking amusedly.

"Err..." he began.

"And even if it was real, would you really be selling such a sought after and dangerous item to the first person who asked about it? Especially one who was excited about filing system upgrades?"

She turned slightly towards the smaller Sprite.

"No offence"

"None taken" Zip replied, looking away in embarrasment

Fletcher's smile was tightlipped, his eye twitching. A few moments passed, and he unravelled, giving a big sigh and slouching.

"Alright, alright, yes this one is a fake" he admitted before smoothing back his hair and resuming his smile, "but a very good fake you have to admit! It had everyone else fooled for a moment. And since you have so much interest in the subject, maybe you would like to own this stunning replica?"

"Oh no thank you" Hex held up her hands, "I have enough memories associated with him to last me a lifetime"

Fletcher squinted at her quizzically, but before he could respond there was a rustling of papers behind them. The group turned and parted to see that Fuse had returned with all the necessary documents.

"Ahhh what perfect timing" Fletcher clapped and pushed through the group, "I believe you want to take a look at this?" he gestured towards Cynth, who uncrossed her arms.

"Ooooh yes, I'll be sure to give them a proper look over" she chuckled, taking the stack of papers from the hacker.

Fuse then tugged on the Pop-Up's sleeve.

"Can I see you in the office? A customer has an important query and I need your help finding what they're after"

Fletcher scanned his face before giving one final smile to the group.

"I should only be a moment, please keep having a look around"

And with that, the two took off hastily through the doors at the other end of the room. Hex watched them leave, her eyes narrowed slightly. She kept her eyes on the door as she turned to address he colleagues; Zip was still staring intently between filing upgrades, and Cynth was flipping through the documents with ease.

"I'm... quite sure that that was the Hacker I encountered in the Zombie Game"

Cynth's head snapped up.

"What? Are you sure?"

"Pretty positive at this point, judging from how he reacted when he saw me"

Cynth cackled.

"Oooh Mr Fletcher, you're in big trouble if you're using hacks"

"We don't know if he's actually using him as a hacker," Zip countered, "if he was, I would be able to tell from the item IDs if any of these were hacked in"

"Well, he may not be hacking in merchandise, but he could still be up to something nefarious" Cynth shook her head, turning back, "Hex could you..."

But her words hit empty air, as Hex was already out of the room.

*

She strode swiftly through the next room, her heels clacking on the tiles, but as she approached the office she took her feet off the ground and silently glided the last few feet. She pressed her ear to the smooth metal and listened as hard as she could.

"... had no idea she would even be in this System" Fuse's fearful voice rambled out.

"An' you're sure it's the same Guardian? Definitely sure?"

Who was that? It had to be Fletcher but... it was coarse and rugged, like someone who'd beat you up for asking the time.

"P...Pretty sure. You have to be careful, she's pretty scary when she wants to be"

"Cheers for the warnin' but I'm pretty sure I can 'andle meself" Fletcher barked out a laugh.

"No but, you don't understand she's..."

Hex used her energy to blast the door open (mostly for dramtic effect). Fletcher and Fuse whipped round to face her, their eyes bursting out of their skulls. She smiled sweetly.

"...right here" Fuse squeaked meekly.

"I'm very sorry to barge in like this, but Cynth needs you in the other room, Fletcher. Just to clarify a few things about your documents" she indicated over her shoulder with her thumb.

Fletcher glanced a hasty look at Fuse before clapping and reassuming his smile.

"Wonderful!" his voice was back to its smooth, old-timey tone, "I'll head right on over, you can hold down the fort here can't you Fuse? Marvellous"

He stepped quickly out of the office, nodding at Hexadecimal as he passed and made his way with purpose across the shopfloor. Hex tilted her head as she watched him depart but snapped round after a nano. Fuse stumbled backwards as she slammed the door to the office shut behind her, sealing the two of them in the room.

"What did you say to him?" she demanded.

"N...nothing, I swear!"

"That didn't sound like nothing from what I heard!"

"I only said that you were a Guardian, and that you interrupted my last job," he held his hands up to her in surrender, "I swear"

"I don't know if you understand the gravitas of the situation," Hex crooned, checking her nails, "but if anyone here found out who I really was, then none of them will survive long enough to do anything about it"

She tapped his nose.

"You included"

She patted his cheek playfully.

"But know that if you do tell them, I'll come for you first. Got it?"

He nodded as hard as he could.

"Wonderful"

*

"Tell me we have the all clear?"

The group of them were back in the control room of the Principle Office once again. Zip was enthusiastically installing the new filing upgrade; Hex stared out the window, arms folded, at the shadow of the Plug-In still hanging in the sky; Dex was seated at the command desk, a stern look on his face. The only person not still was Cynth, who was pacing around impatiently.

"I'm sorry Cynth, the System doesn't have any Pop-Up blockers installed, so he has all the right to enter the System the way he did" Dex explained.

"And the papers he had all checked out perfectly," Cynth huffed, "I wouldn't have a problem. It's just the last Pop-Up we had in the System left a Virus in the System that caused a whole heap of trouble. I don't understand why the User hasn't learned since then"

She shook her head.

"And Hex is certain that he has a Hacker up there working for him. Normal businessmen don't need a Hacker"

"I do have to admit that is strange," Dex admitted, "But people do just have jobs you know"

Cynth sighed again.

"True,"she slumped down into a chair, "but his last 'job' was to cheat in a video game that nearly nullified two of our friends"

"Mmm, that is true as well" Dex pondered, "but still out of our jurisdiction, as far as we're concerned"

Cynth drummed on the table, wracking things over in her brain. A short series of high pitched beeps broke through the silence, which startled her and caused her to look at 8Bit.

"Oh, my search results are here!"

"Search?" Hex dragged her eyes away from looking outside to follow the Guardian as she made her way quickly across the room.

"I forgot to mention," Cynth strode with purpose down the corridor, "just after Fletcher's first message, I requested a Web-search on his name, just to see if anything came about"

"Isn't it all a bit paranoid? All this searching?" Hex asked her

Cynth sighed and raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe, but after Daemon, we can't be too sure that anyone entering a System unannouced isn't a potential threat"

"Daemon..." Hex repeated, coming to a stop in the middle of the hallway.

The small glimpse of a memory had just shot through her head. Flashes of colour, explosions, fighting. She lifted a hand to her forehead, closing and rubbing her suddenly tired eyes. But just as quickly as the image came it suddenly left her, once again leaving an empty slot in the library of her memories.

Cynth tapped an access panel by the side of a wide double door. With a cool hiss, the doors slid apart, revealing a large open room. They both stepped into what Hex realised was a hanger; landing pads lay raised in front of them for various aircraft to park themselves on. Binomes busied themselves with boxes and various tasks around the large room. From the far end came a click and whir, and the ceiling began to separate. The wind rushed in through the hangar, causing Hex's cape to billow around her as she squinted into the light. The rushing of air was paired with the sound of engines gradually getting louder. She watched in silent amazement as a shiny metallic entity began to lower itself into the system. He was a humanoid; tall and slim, with shiny silver skin. He was adorned with an emerald green uniforn, similar to Cynth's own Guardian attire, only complete with a gold cape that hung over one shoulder. Surrounding his upper body was a mechanical harness that strapped round his chest like a metal backpack, connecting at the front with a blue circular disk. Expanding from his back was a set of wings that seemed to made out of the same metal - they splayed out to the side, gently moving in a hypnotically robotic way, metal plates in place of feathers. The entity slowed as he neared the ground, delicately landing on his feet. His arms dusted off his uniform before clasping them behind his back, his wings hissing and folding themselves in, their use complete. Hex took the time to look into his face - his features were eerily perfect, all the same shimmery metal as his skin. His gold irises stared out of his reflective eyes, and he smoothed his gold hair down into its perfect, unmoving position.

"Greetings. You must be Cynth?" He asked, nodding to the Guardian.

His voice was as metallic as he was, resonating oddly around the room. Strangely unfeeling, too perfect.

"Yes, I am," Cynth responded with a salute, "am I assuming you're Chromus?"

"Indeed I am" the entity stepped down from the landing pad and tapped at the disk on his chest.

The metal harness clicked and retracted from the disk, receding behind his back. As he approached them, Hex watched him adjust some metal disks on his palms that were connected to wires that travelled up his arms to the pack on his back, just at the base of the wings. He stopped just in front of them and resumed his statutory position.

"Well, you were certainly fast" Cynth tipped her head to him.

"Well, as an Advanced Search Engine, I pride myself with seeking the desired information quickly and efficiently" Chromus nodded his head once.

"Oh awesome, so you have the background information on Fletcher Price?" Cynth's eyes lit up enthusiastically.

"Of course, I can relay it to you now if you'd like me too"

8Bit gave a few sudden chirps from Cynth's wrist. A quick glance and Cynth turned to make her way back through the door.

"You'll have to tell me it in the bridge, I have some important readings I need to check"

The three of them quickly began to return to the main control room. As they walked, Hex stared at the Search Engine. His expressionless face stared ahead as he walked. Her eyes trailed back and scanned over his wings.

"So you're a Search Engine? How interesting - I've never met a Search Engine quite like you before"

His gold eyes turned to her. He met her curious gaze but looked back quickly.

"Well, I am and Advanced Search Engine. I am an improved variant of Search Engines, programmed to find information much quicker than before" he informed her.

"I thought Search Engines were supposed to have a vehicle?"

"My wings are an added augmentation that serve as my vehicle," he flexed his wings to demonstrate, "they are connected to me to ensure an intimate and deep connection with my vehicle"

"And the hand pads?"

"Part of my Web Armour, they act as both thrusters and a defence mechanism against anything I may meet in the Web"

He showed her the disks on his palms so she could look at the more closely, before indicating to his chest plate. Hex nodded, impressed. When she travelled through the Net, she had no protection or anything. It wasn't as dangerous as the Web, but it certainly wasn't an easy place to travel through. Search Engines were equipped with Web Armour to protect them, and an advanced variant like Chromus must have some incredibly serious weaponry.

The three of them returned to the main control room, surprising Dex and Zip, who turned as the door whooshed open.

"Talk to me Zip, what do you have to report?" Cynth asked, striding back over to the command console to look at the various screens.

"Oh er, well one of the CPU patrols reported that they witnessed Fletcher and Fuse heading through the town earlier" Zip tapped at his keyboard and brought up the CPU recording.

The camera showed the tall, well dressed Advertisement purposefully making his way through the Cultural Quarter, the smaller, scruffier Hacker following quickly with his head down. The two of them were shown to head up the stone steps leading to Protoframe's Picture Archive. Cynth scanned the video sceptically before addressing Chromus over her shoulder.

"What did you find on this guy?"

Chromus perked up, clearing his throat and standing up straight.

"Fletcher Price, Pop-Up Advertisement specialising in various merchandises from software upgrades to leisure items. Mr Price has visited a large variety of systems, serving a large number of people with many positive reviews"

"Has there been any inclination that he's been using a Hacker to obtain illegal items that he wouldn't be able to otherwise get his hands on?"

"Mr Price hired Fuse roughly 10 cycles ago. While his employment has not been for long, it has been well received by Mr Price. A lot of the reviews detail on Fuse's agreeable customer service attitude"

"Ehh not helpful" Cynth chewed her lip in frustration

"Cynth, I don't know what you're hoping to achieve with this" Dex sighed from his seat, leaning his head on his hand.

"I have certificates of authenticity for the items that received slightly more negative reviews" Chromus opened his hand and summoned a stack of documents.

The Search Engine handed them to Zip who took them and immediately began to file them. Chromus returned to his upright position.

"Would you like to hear some of the reviews from some of the customers?"

Cynth collapsed into a chair and sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, might as well," she rubbed her temple, "I don't even know why I bothered so much about it"

Chromus cleared his throat again and began to list off various reviews.

"Suzy from Holostar said: "love this new cake mixer, makes baking so much easier!"
"Roger Rodriguez from Goldsands said: "service was fast, and the DVD player works like a charm, 5 stars!"
"Lucy McLuan from Pixell Prime said: "I loved the quality of..."

"Well that's not right at all" Zip interrupted

Chromus blinked and snapped his mouth closed.

"I'm sorry?" he inquired.

"That info is wrong, Fletcher has never been to Pixell Prime - I've cross referenced them with the files that Cynth copied from the Plug-In" Zip brought up the shipping files from Fletcher's ship and pointed at them.

"Are you saying my searches are incorrect?" Chromus tilted his head

"Well no, but I'm just saying that on these transport files, there's no documented trip to Pixell Prime"

Cynth's ears perked up and she sat forward on her chair.

"Wait what?" she asked in a hushed whisper.

The entire control room was in stunned silence as they crowded around the screen. Sure enough, the shipping transcripts that detailed each journey of the Plug-In were listed in front of them. From Holostar, to Goldsands... then straight to Borderwood. No sign of Pixell Prime at all.

"It's as if it's not there at all..." she breathed, a smile spreading on her face.

"But that's not possible" Chromus interjected, still flabbergasted, "all travel transcripts must be documented in their entirety as per the Guardian Code. They can't be changed"

"Unless you have a Hacker to wipe any trace of the locations" Cynth stared at the screen then turned to him, "What other locations were mentioned in the reviews?"

After a short calculating pause, Chromus began to list off more Systems. Sure enough, every so often he listed a System that wasn't written down in the transport log; it just skipped straight to the next one. Cynth chuckled.

"We got him"

"Got him? What exactly have you got?" came a surly voice from behind them.

The group looked over to see Dr. Gif shuffling into the room, easing himself with a grunt into his chair.

"What do you achieve from doing this?"

"Well, for one, we can use this to charge him with fraud" Cynth retorted.

"Oh wow, he's not telling the truth as to where he's been!" Gif waved his hands sarcastically, "what a criminal"

"Hey, it goes against Guardian rules!"

"Why don't you stop focussing on dead end information and actually focus on criminals that are much more... within reach" he narrowed his eyes as he growled the last bit, staring towards Hexadecimal.

Hex stared back at him, equally as suspicious. Dex's cough broke the silence.

"He is right though" he sighed, "while this is important information, it doesn't hold too much importance"

Hex suddenly blinked as a thought hit her mind.

"Why was he getting rid of those specific locations? What's special about them?" she put forward.

She turned to Chromus.

"Do you have any information on any of the Systems that got removed?"

Chromus nodded.

"I pride myself on finding and storing as much background information on every System I visit. One moment and I'll scan my data files"

His eyes glazed over as he ran through his stored data. After a few nanos he perked back up.

"I searched through all the removed Systems, and I must say I found a rather interesting similarity between them"

He paused to take in a worried breath.

"Every System had just recently suffered from a catastrophically damaging art robbery"

Cynth's eyes widened and she whipped her head round to Dex, an excited smile spreading across her face. Dex stared between the Search Engine and the Guardian in front of him, processing this information. Eventually he gave a heavy sigh.

"Well... that does change things"

Chapter Text

"Can the CPU team confirm that the museum is secure?"

"Affirmative: no artwork has been stolen, and eyes have reported Fletcher and Fuse are heading back into their ship"

Cynth thanked the Binome and tapped 8Bit a few times.

"Thank you, Chromus, for the information regarding the hit Systems" she nodded to the Search Engine.

The shiny entity nodded in appreciation.

"I'm glad I could be of such service to you"

"Well what's the plan now?" Hex asked as the control room buzzed with excitement.

"Well now we have to work out how to catch him in the act" Cynth responded, grabbing her combat vest.

"But how are you going to do that" Gif gunted from the corner, "they've already been to the museum, they've seen that there's nothing worth taking"

"Ugh you have a point" Cynth slumped against the desk again, "way to ruin my fun"

"It's my job to be realistic and state what's efficient for the system" Gif settled in his seat more.

After a brief moment of silence, Hex tapped the desk with her hands as she mulled a thought over in her mind.

"We don't know they didn't find anything they wanted to steal" she suggested

The Sprites turned to look at her curiously.

"I mean, if I were to steal something," she gestured dramatically to herself, "I would obviously wait until the Night Cycle before I actually went to steal it"

Cynth clicked her fingers.

"Of course! We've just got to play the waiting game!"

"Why wait?" Hex sauntered across the room as enthralled eyes followed her, "I mean, if he's not going to steal any art, there's no harm going and talking to him about a special exhibit that he hasn't even seen before"

"But what exhibit?" Zip asked, confused, "there's nothing else that we could put in"

"Just let me deal with that" she winked at him before turning back to Cynth.

"You ready to make a deal with an art thief?"

*

Fletcher strolled through the main shopfloor, scrolling through the inventory and taking note of what was sold today. He made his way past the last few Binomes that were perusing through the items just before he closed up shop for the Night Cycle. Today had certainly been an interesting one, but it was nearly finished now.

"...and I hadn't even considered the entire range of stock that he had to offer" came a familiar voice, echoing through the room.

He sighed, looking to the ceiling. User give him strength. He put on his trademark smile and turned on his heel to come face to face with the two Guardians, smiling equally as broadly.

"Why, ladies, what a pleasant surprise" he greeted them.

"Good evening Mr Fletcher, I trust you had a fruitful day" Cynth responded, tilting her head.

"It's been pleasant" he assured her, "have you come to scrutinise me more?"

"Actually we wanted to come here and tell you personally that we apologise for our intial suspicion" Cynth leant on a table, "all your documents checked out"

Fletcher's eyes flicked between the two Guardians. Hex smiled sweetly back at him. After a moment's pause, Fletcher grinned again.

"Well... thank you very much" he admitted, nodding to them curtly.

He turned back to his merchandise shelves and continued to check through his stock. Cynth rolled her head back and spoke to the room.

"Oh Hex, did you manage to check to see if the CPU team had finished helping the curators set up the exhibition?"

"Oh! Yes, I spoke to them just before we left. Everything is in place for the grand opening" Hex nodded enthusiastically.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Fletcher microscopically twicth in their direction, clearly paying attention.

"Great, well we'll check back next cycle and ensure that all is well" Cynth dusted her hands off

She turned and began to walk back towards the door, Hex daintily skipping after her.

"Protoframe is so lucky to have the works of Dexahecimal for everyone to see. It's really a turn up for the System, after everything we've been through" she breathed out happily

The two of them reached the door and turned back one last time.

"Have a good rest of cycle, Mr Price" Hex waved, "enjoy your night off, I know we will enjoy ours"

Fletcher turned his head to face them and after another moment of contemplation, gave another one of his unscrutable smiles. With one hand he gave them a small wave in return.

"Goodnight, Guardians. It's been a pleasure"

*

"Team 1 in position?"

"Affirmative"

"Team 2? On the cameras?"

"We have visuals"

"Team 3? On the roof?"

"Am I really a team when there's only one of me?" Hex inquired into her earpiece, levitating while leaning against a chimney vent.

"I guess not, but this is easier" Cynth admitted.

"Does that make me not team 2 since I'm technically on my own here?" Zip asked from the control room, the art gallery cameras displayed across his screens

"Well technically yes but that's besides the point" Cynth hissed, peering round the dark gallery corridor and scanning the exhibition room for any movement.

"Can we move past this?" Dex sighed into his own earpiece.

He was positioned one the street outside the gallery, his car cloaked in the darkness of the night.

"Well that's easy for you to say since you're an actual team" Zip complained

Dex gave a small glance to the Binome sitting next to him, who nervously glanced up at him with his one big eye.

"Can we focus, please?" Cynth let out yet another exasperated hiss.

The sprite was creeping through the dark and empty corridors, keeping an eye on each room to see if anything was out of place. They had a plan - they were just waiting for the right moment.

Hex leant against a chimney pipe, keeping her eyes on the Plug-In. It hadn't moved all evening, dark against the shimmering night sky. No sign of life whatsoever. To be honest, a win-win; if nothing happened then they could go home happily, and if he turned up...

"Guys I'm getting something!" Zip called out excitedly over their earpieces.

Hex staggered slightly, startled by the sudden noise. Cynth swore under her breath as she pressed herself against the walls, concealing herself further in the shadows.

"What do you see?" She whispered

"I see motion on the south roof, by the glass ceiling" Zip frantically typed on the keyboard, "I can't quite make out what it is"

Before he could isolate and zoom into the camera, the entire feed cut to static. Zip's eyes flicked between them before grinning.

"Camera feed is down, just as you said it would" he informed them.

"Brilliant" Cynth crept along the hall, "Always count on a Hacker to be predictable. Hex it's on you now"

"Well I'm not sure about that" Hex responded.

"What do you mean?" Zip was confused, "I know I saw movement by the south rooftop ceiling"

"Well, I'm there now and I can't see any sign of a break in or anything"

Hex tiptoed around the ornate glass ceiling, scanning for any cracked windows or heist equipment - anything really that would indicate how he got in. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of movement down in the main hall. Crouching down and pressing her face to the glass, she stared at the sprite below. Sure enough, the tall form of Fletcher Price was making his way casually across the main hall. His business suit was swapped out for an all black outfit, obsuring his details as he kept to the shadows.

"It's Fletcher!" she gasped.

"How? I didn't hear any break in?" Cynth peeked her head out from behind the corner, eyes narrowing as she followed the Pop-Up's journey along the floor.

"I don't know... he somehow managed to slip through completely unnoticed"

"But how? All these windows are sealed tight"

"And he's heading for the special exhibit hall. That door's sealed tight with a 6 inch steel door - there's no way he can get in, especially with no tools" Cynth frowned.

"Well there's no other way in... how is he going to get in there?" Hex tilted her head, squinting.

The two of them stared as the tall sprite approached the door. He grinned as he flexed his hand and raised something up in front of him. Their mouths fell open when they caught sight of a porcelain mask, expression frozen in one of open mouthed shock. Fletcher slowly placed the mask on his face, and instantly dissipated in a flash of energy. Hex reeled back from the window, scrambling towards the ceiling over the exhibit hall.

"It's another anomaly! One that allows him to teleport through anything! Cynth you have to get in there now!"

"How am I supposed to get in there? The security system is in full effect and Zip's locked out of the system and can't shut it down"

"That'll be why he didn't bother hacking the security system, just the cameras!" Zip furrowed his eyebrows.

Hex stood atop the roof, staring down at the black tiles. If they couldn't get there in time, then he'd teleport out and escape, leave the system and then they'd never see him again. She clenched her fists in anger. There had to be another way in. She looked down at the ceiling again. She looked at her fist in the corner of her eye.

There was another way in

*

Fletcher breathed out an awe-filled sigh as he looked around the exhibition hall. The soft lights fell on the canvases that lined the walls. He stroked his finger along the frame of the nearest one, marvelling at the brushwork. The piece itself depicted a blue sprite sitting at a table, but where his face would be, instead there was blur. The face itself was held deftly in his hand, his empty eyes staring seemingly out of the painting itself. Fletcher shivered, an odd feeling of anxiety washing over him.

"Freakin' abstract artists" he mumbled.

He flicked his wrist up to have a look at a device on his wrist. He tapped a few buttons and several small drones whizzed out from his belt. The little machines flew towards each of the paintings and attached themselves to the top of the frames. With another tap on his wrist, the drones beeped and flew back into the air, bringing the paintings with them. They congregated in the centre of the room just in front of the sprite, forming a nice pile. Fletcher grinned. This was too easy.

"Fletcher, we know you're in there!" a voice rung out from behind the security door behind him.

Amused, the Pop-Up turned round, hands on his hips, to address it.

"Well, well, If it ain't the Guardian patrol, comin' to 'save the day(!)'" he chuckled

"We have you surrounded, so you might as well surrender" Cynth called through the metal.

"Is that so?" he strolled over and leant against the door, "and 'ow do you propose to do that?"

"Trust me we will be in there any minute now!"

"I 'ate to break it to ya sweetheart, but by the time you've opened the door, I'll be long gone. There ain't no other way into this room, so I would love to see what you've got planned"

CRASH

Fletcher flinched and stumbled back from the centre of the room as the high tiled ceiling came smashing down from above. The rubble crashed onto the marble floor, and more importantly, the pile of artwork. Following the destruction came the Virus herself, landing atop the wreckage like a superhero, a startled Fletcher desperately trying to take in everything. She stood up from her kneeling position, dusting off her cape and uniform.

"Well that went better than expected" she grinned, shaking off her fist.

Fletcher faltered, his face brimming with shock and rage.

"You bloody idiot!" he yelled, gesticulating to the pile of rubbish in the gallery, "look what you did to the artwork!"

"Oh come now, that's not really the issue here is it?" she put her hand on her hips, carefully stepping down from the rubble.

"Oh come on, you know I can get away from you" he sneered, his hand wavering over the mask now hanging from his belt.

Hex eyed it herself. She was getting far too used to seeing her own face all over the place now.

"I had you mistaken; you do have some genuine artefacts. But you have no idea of their true power - they're true value"

"Is that so?" Fletcher chuckled again, "well why don't you enlighten me?"

"You've only scraped the surface of what it could do" she began to sway from side to side nonchalantly, arms crossed behind her back.

What Fletcher couldn't see was her fingers waving behind her back - her telekinesis slowly but surely pulling the door behind him open.

"And the sad thing is, no amount of teaching you will allow you to truly use it to it's highest potential"

"Oh really? I think you underestimate me" Fletcher crossed his arms

"And I think you aren't very perceptive for someone with an eye for art"

Fletcher realised too late. The door had been pulled open enough for Cynth to squeeze through. The PopUp slapped his wrist-commmunicator in haste.

"Abort! The mission is terminated!" he managed to blurt out.

He desperately tried to reach for the mask on his belt but the Guardian behind him tackled him to the floor, sending the porcelain mask skittering across the tile. Hex stopped it with her foot, deftly bending over to pick it up and dust it off. With a crackle, voices began to emerge from their earpieces.

"We've got a rogue entity running from the scene! We believe it to be the Hacker, in pursuit now!" Dex barked down the radio.

"Can confirm, I have regained visual" Zip updated them

Hex shook her head as she stepped forward.

"Dear dear, what a shame. Let me guess; you got tired of selling generic wares like other PopUps, so you had to 1-up them somehow. And then you found this" she twirled the mask in his face with her magic, "and you got the bright idea to use it to break into banks and the like to get artwork for you to sell, that your competitors would have no way to beat"

"Then all you needed was someone to remove all traces from security cameras as well as the travel records that would incriminate you. You really thought of everything, and that was what led us right to you" Cynth grunted, restraining his arms behind his back.

"What is this? An apprehension or a biography reading?" Fletcher spat at them, "None of it ma'ers anyway; so what if I just broke into a museum. I didn' take anything - you guys were the ones who destroyed the artwork, so you're gonna pay dearly for that"

He indicated to the heap of canvas and wood in the centre of the room. Hexadecimal glanced behind her and chuckled.

"I'm surprised you're genius, mastermind brain didn't work it out yet - I painted those paintings. We pretended that it was some big famous artist to lure you here, and it worked perfectly"

Fletcher's face fell as he stared at the wreckage and then back up at the Guardian, who continued.

"It's my name backwards - Hexadecimal"

There was once again, a stunned silence.

"Well then... if that's the case, I hope you know something..."

"And what's that, my dear?"

"There's more than one way to teleport"

Without warning he thrust his arm to the side with all his strength, producing and clicking a little remote with his thumb. Instantly his form began to dissipate and rocket towards the sky. Cynth yelped and collapsed onto the now empty space underneath her.

"No!" Hex cursed, turning her face to the sky

"Quick! The mask!" Cynth waved her finger

With a grunt of agreement Hex raised the mask to her face, drinking in both the energies and memories - feelings of being able to move herself and others across massive distances. She flexed her muscles, letting the feeling wash over her. She pictured the ship's interior in her mind and willed herself to appear there.

Nothing.

She was still in the museum, Cynth staring at her expectantly.

"Well... I just tried"

"Crap" Cynth looked to the sky as the Plug-In began powering up, "he must have some kind of shielding that prevents unauthorised teleporting. Figures"

"Well, no matter, I'll get in there"

"How?"

Hex assumed a preparatory stance.

"I hope that he knows, that there's more than one way to get into a ship"

And with that statement, she launched herself off the floor, shooting through the sky at breakneck speed. The ship grew ever closer each second, and she stretched her fist out in front of her, ready to punch a hole right through the walls.

She couldn't stop in time.

With a hum and a flash of light, a wave of energy rippled over the surface of the ship. Hex careened into the shield, fist connecting with the solid light. The shield surged around her fist and she ricocheted off as fast as she approached. She let out a pained scream as she exploded back, hurtling down through the sky. Her mind was frazzled, she couldn't focus on regaining her composure. Instead, she braced herself for impact with the ground. It never came.

Instead, she was stopped short by gentle arms scopping her out of the air, catching her mid-fall. She caught her breath after a second of panic, craning her head round to see who or what had saved her. She was met with gleaming metal visage of Chromus smiling gently back at her. Behind him, his wings flapped methodically, easily keeping the both of them in the air.

"Could you use a hand?" he asked jokingly.

"I err... yes, thank you" she breathed out

After making sure she was OK, he let her float back into the air. Hex glared at the Plug-In and then confusedly back at the Search Engine.

"Why are you still here? Wasn't your job finished?"

Chromus shifted bashfully.

"Well, I was planning on departing after I had relayed my information, but I must admit I was rather curious as to how this whole ordeal were to pan out. I had not predicted that it would have an outcome this... intense"

"Well, if we can't get in that way we'll think of something else"

Hex placed a hand on Chromus' shoulder and willed them to transport to the Control Room. This time it was successful, and the two of them dissipated from outside and rematerialised in the Control Room, much to the surprise of ZIp.

"How did you...?" he spluttered.

"I'll explain later, how long until he leaves?" she demanded, staring at the ship through the windows.

"Not long, he's almost finished with the disembarking procedure"

"Well, he's not going to go far" Hexadecimal grit her teeth.

She braced herself against the floor, raising her hands out in front of her. With her eyes focused on the huge machine, she willed the energy within her to take hold of the ship. All of a sudden, she felt the presence of an unseen object in her hand, resting against her palms, and felt a tug against her arms. The ship powered up fully, the engine firing up. But instead of moving forwards, it instead crunched and rattled - staying in place. Hex grunted as the force pulled hard against her, but she held fast. She heard footsteps running up to the office and the hiss of the door as it opened.

"Hex? What are you doing?" she heard Cynth exclaim from behind her

"Using my powers to keep the Plug-In in place" she grunted in response, not taking her eyes of the ship, "If I can't teleport him out or me in, I'll keep him in place long enough for the CPU teams to break the shields and get in to apprehend him"

"I can get the Air Team going as soon as I can, I just have to shove this one in the cells"

Hex glanced over her shoulder to see Dex escorting a restrained Fuse through the office towards the security holding cells at the back of the office. He pushed him into the room and activated the forceshield door behind him. The Hacker scrambled to his feet and smacked against the glass.

"Let me out!" he yelled at them

"You'll only get out when we're ready to take you into court" Dex reprimanded sternly.

"No you don't understand - you can't keep him here like that he'll..."

"Dex!" Zip suddenly called out from the desks, "an incoming message from the Plug-In!"

Dex and Cynth shared a quick glance before hurrying over to the main control console. Hex remained by the window, focusing on keeping the Plug-In in place. Chromus casually his way over to join them by the console, intrigued. The screen flashed momentarily, bringing up a Vidwindow to the Plug-In. Fletcher's disgruntled face appeared on the monitor, glaring daggers at them.

"Ya think you're so funny, don't ya? Keeping me in 'ere, thinking I won't be able to leave?"

"That's how it seems isn't it?" Cynth crossed her arms, "You've got nowhere to go, so you might as well come quietly"

"Oh, I think not. I may not be goin' anywhere, but I can certainly sway you're decision" the Popup grinned maliciously, pressing a button on his console.

His entire Plug-In illuminated with an ominous red. The colour was mimicked by the office, who's own warning lights pulsated.

"Warning: Malware detected" the System's voice announced.

"Malware!?" Cynth blurted out

"Indeed! This 'andy piece of malware I developed is perfect for gettin' me out of tight spots. You 'ave 5 seconds, an' then the malware starts shuttin' down parts of the System, until BOOM, it crashes. An' don't even think about save an' recovery - this malware stops all that. Only way you'll stop it is if ya let me go"

"That's insane! You could be affected by this as well if the System crashes!" Dex scoffed

"Maybe so, but it's a risk I'm willin' to take"

"Warning: Full malware infection in 5 seconds"

The team looked at each other, faces of worry flashing across them. Cynth was the first to regain her composure and cleared her throat.

"Hex, you keep a hold of that ship and don't dare let it go!"

"On it!" Hex grunted, focusing harder on pulling the ship further into the system.

The sound of the struggling engines amplified through the system as it forced itself against her powers.

"Zip, I want a full mapping of the malware spread, see if you can confine it to the furthest sector from the public" Cynth ordered, tapping away at her Keytool.

"Can do" Zip brought up a map of Protoframe on the computer and ran a scanning programme.

The city was momentarily scanned before a few beeps eminated from the computer. The image zoomed in on a small section of the city, higlighting a slowly spreading patch of corruption. Zip the set about typing in commands to try and lock off the sector from the rest of the system. Cynth spun on the spot and turned to the Antivirus.

"I need you to try and find a way to neutralise this malware before it has a chance to cause damage"

Dex nodded and turned to leave, but Cynth grabbed him on the arm before he could leave.

"Please, be careful" she gave him a worried look, "I know you can handle this but... please don't get too close"

Dex held her hand gently and gave her a reassuring smile.

"You can count on me to be safe. I promise"

And with that he made his way too leave, radioing his team to be ready when he got outside. Cynth turned to the last person in the room.

"And I would like you to come help us, if you can" Cynth asked the Search Engine standing in the corner

"You would like my help?" he cocked his head in curiosity

"I only have one hoverboard, and you're the only other person who can fly. I need your help to try and find a way into the ship so we can stop the malware from inside" she asked sincerely

"I would be delighted to help. After all, I am in this system as well" he nodded at her, activating his Web Armour and flexing his wings.
Cynth grinned and readied her hoverboard. The two of them strode over towards the exit, but not before Cynth threw one more encouraging word towards Hexadecimal.

"You can do this Hex"

And with that, the two of them left the office. Hex was left with Zip, who was still in the process of locking off the system. It had been merely a few nanoseconds when an alarm started sounding off and the screens flashed with a warning.

"What's that alarm?" Hex darted looks around at the noise.

"Argh, it's the internal servers, they're struggling with the malware. It's already spread to approximately 25% of the system, I have to restart them now!" Zip ran a hand through his sweat streaked hair and grabbed a keypad. He scrambled to race to the server room, but grabbed the doorframe before he left.

"I'll be right back, it shouldn't take a nano. Just hold on, Hex"

"Yup, I got it don't worry" she grunted.

He nodded grimly and dashed away, leaving the Virus alone in the office. As she stared out at the ship in the night sky, she saw a streak of light shoot through the air. Her eyes followed the winged Search Engine and the Guardian up into the sky towards the monolithic Plug-In. She had no idea what they were planning on doing there, but they had to do something. Her eyes drifted to look down at the System itself. The twinkling lights of the city were mesmerising, almost hypnotic in the darkness. But as she stared further into the distance, she could see the corruption spreading - patches of glitching landscape encroaching further onto the borders of the city. If it got any further, it would start disrupting the stability of the sectors. Her eyes flicked back to the ship, and the two figures desperately trying to find a way into the impenetrable shields. She heard the doors hiss open behind her and the hurried tap of feet over the polished floor.

"Good you're back, did you get everything sorted?" she asked, turning her head only to falter when she caught sight of the wizened Binome hobbling through the office.

"Dr Gif? What are you doing here?"

"Quiet, Virus" he grunted, reaching a control panel on the far side of the room where he began punching in commands, "this is my office, not yours"

He finished entering in a code and the machinery by the wall whirred to life. A panel slid away from the wall and settled itself on the floor; a circular pad with tall beams on either side, lights flickering up and down.

"You plan on teleporting out of the System?" Hex scoffed

"Don't try and guilt trip me!" he jabbed a crooked finger at her, "with you around, this System is bound to fall to ruin, I'm getting out while I can"

"Warning: full malware infection in 3 seconds"

"People are risking their lives for the System and all you can do is think about saving your own skin? Doesn't seem very noble"

"I'm not here to be lectured or insulted by scum like you" Gif spat, powering the transporter.

Hex could only stare as the elderly Binome shuffled onto the pad, carrying two jam-packed suitcases along with him.

"Good riddance to you" he sniffed.

The panel glowed and light rose up to engulf him, dematerialising him ready to leave the System.

"Oh no you don't!" Hex grunted.

She wrenched one hand away from the Plug-In and aimed it toward the transporter. Focusing her newly accquired powers on the rapidly dimming transporter, she willed the Administrator to return. Sure enough, her viral energies latched onto the dissipating form, and pulled the Binome from the air. With a flash of light, Dr Gif was now once again standing in the office. He whipped his head around and narrowed his eyes behind his glasses at her.

"What in the Net do you think you're playing at?" he demanded, "Let me go!"

"You think you can just leave while everyone else is fighting to keep the system from collapsing? If you think that I'm just going to let you leave then you're sorely mistaken"

Dr Gif locked eyes with her, boring into her with intense hatred. A tight, malice-filled smile crinkled across his face.

"Oh I'm sure you will change your mind"

"Really? And how will you manage that; I'm known to be incredibly stubborn"

He took a shaky step towards her. She gave him a tentative look over.

"If you value your secrecy - your... "little secret" you've been keeping from everyone... then you'd know to let me go"

Hex narrowed her eyes.

"You wouldn't"

"Let me go and you won't have to worry your little virus head about it" he grinned menacingly.

Hex stood her ground, debating with herself to call his bluff. He nonchalantly tapped his cane on the floor, wondering aloud to himself.

"I mean, they may find it totally ok, but knowing them, they would most likely follow their own function; you know - their purpose, rooted inside the code for Antivirus, or Guardian..." he leant forward to say the last part in a whisper, "and you know you can't change that"

For the first time in this altercation, Hex faltered. The words struck through her and caused her intimidating scowl to flicker with doubt. Gif noticed this and let out a hoarse chuckle.

"So what's it gonna be?"

Hex began to shake a bit. On her right hand, the Plug-In, screeched and shook in the sky. On the left, the Binome was taunting her, forcing her into a corner. The pressure began to mount, especially when the lights flared red.

"Warning: full infection in 2 seconds"

With a heavy sigh she swung back round, forcing all her attention back on the Plug-In, both arms outstretched towards the ship. Behind her, the teleporter whirred to life again - she didn't need to turn in order for her to know that the wizened Binome had left. He'd barely gone when the doors slid open again and frantic footsteps clattered across the floor. Zip threw himself at the desk and began hectically typing again.

"I think I've got it working but we've got such little time left! Good work keeping that in place Hex!"

Hex just grunted in response. A moment later, a vidwindow popped up - Cynth's concerned face rose up in front of them, Chromus behind her slashing at the Plug-In's shields with blades of energy from his hands.

"Zip, it's no use we can't penetrate the shields. We have to rethink this" she sighed defeatedly

Another vidwindow popped up, this time displaying Dex's stern visage.

"Our attacks aren't pushing it back enough. We don't have enough firepower to hold it off. In just over a second, it'll swampt the town" he grunted

"Our only chance to save the system is for Hex to let the ship go" Cynth shook her head.

"No we can still do it... I can find the right input to reverse the program..." Zip began to breathe rapidly

"Warning: full infection in 60 nanoseconds"

A third vidwindow popped up. Fletcher was pictured reclining in his chair, swirling a drinking glass in hand.

"Time's almost up. Ya gonna make a move or what?" he grinned, "Only abou' 50 nanoseconds left, if ya wanna keep ya system"

The group all stared at each other, sharing worried glances. The time counted down. Hex braced her legs, pulling her arms towards her. The ship jolted in the sky, causing Fletcher to slip off his chair. She grimaced more, willing the energy to rise even higher. In response, the ship's engines began to roar and push forward against her. The lights of the system began to flash more rapidly.

"Full infection in 10... 9... 8"

"Give up, it ain't worth it" Fletcher chuckled.

"7... 6..."

"Hex!" Cynth cried.

"5... 4..."

"Let it go! NOW!"

At the command, Hex pulled her hands away, letting the invisible tether go. The force made her collapse backwards, and subsequently the ship began to blast out of the system at top speed.

"3... 2..."

Hex closed her eyes, resting her head on the floor and letting both pain and relief wash over her as she accepted the end.

"Cancellation code entered - Malware Infection Installation cancelled"

She opened an eye. The system was still intact. Her head lolled to the side, allowing her to catch sight of Zip, hunched half on-half off his chair, a worried look still on his face. He caught her eye and slipped off the chair to see if she was OK.

"Hex, are you alright? That must have taken a lot of energy and effort"

"Well, I just couldn't bare to let him go" she sighed, closing her eyes again, "and for what? I had to let him go"

"It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. We weren't prepared for this kind of attack"

The two of them sat in the now quiet control room, silent except from a few beeps emanating from the computer screens.

*

"The malware covers the majority of the city, but now that it's inactive it's not affecting the stability of the system anymore"

The rest of the team had returned to the control room. Dex was leading the debrief on the state of the infection, arms crossed and face stern. Zip was sitting quietly at the desk, hands tentatively tapping at the desk.

"The cleanup team will begin work pretty much immediately. But unfortunately because of the infection we'll have to instil a systemwide lockdown to stop it spreading so, I'm sorry Chromus but you'll have to stay here for the time being"

Chromus, who had reassumed his standing position over by the doors to the control room, perked up as his name was mentioned.

"Oh, well, that's perfectly fine. I didn't have any other jobs lined up, so I would be happy to offer my services to this System while I am here" he gave a smile and a nod to the Antivirus.

"And you over there" Dex strolled over to the holding cell, addressing the Hacker that sat within.

Fuse's head shot up as Dex approached, eyes wide and darting about with concern.

"Yes?" he asked tentatively

"If you don't want to be stuck in that cell for longer than necessary, you can help the cleanup team first thing in the morning. I'll be watching you carefully so don't even try anything"

Fuse nodded enthusiastically.

"I swear I'll be as good as gold. I didn't wanna even steal those paintings, honest! I had no idea what I was getting into, and once I did I was in too deep!"

Over by the window, Cynth huffed and crossed her arms.

"I'm still not alright with all this - he just left! We couldn't get to bring him to justice, and he's out there probably ready to steal again!"

"Well, you've given an update to the Guardian's, and they now know to keep an eye out for him all over the the Net. That's all we can do at the moment" Dex reassured her

"I know it's just... The fact that he basically forced us to let him get away with it" she made a frustrated noise.

"I just can't believe that Dr Gif is gone..." Zip replied hollowly.

The room went silent again. Cynth cleared her throat.

"And you say that you didn't see him at all before he left?" she asked Hex

The virus was sitting in the corner, still recovering from her exertion. She wearily glanced over at the rest of them but resumed to staring out the window.

"Y...yes, I didn't see him the entire time I was in here. He must have left before the malware infection started"

Cynth nodded before making her way over to the desk.

"Well, I mean I guess he had his reasons for doing so. It's a shame we couldn't of at least said goodbye or something" she sat at the desk next to Zip, patting him on the back, "but hey, this is something worth celebrating"

"Hmm?" Zip glanced at her

"With Gif out of the System, that makes you the acting System Administrator!"

Zip froze for a second, a look of shock plastering his face.

"Oh... yeah. I guess that's true... wow I hadn't even thought of that"

Dex gave a small chuckle, also wandering over to pat him on the back.

"Well, I don't want to put pressure on you right from the very beginning but, you've got a lot of work to do ahead of you - System Administrator is a big role to fill" he gave him a smile, "but I'm confident that you'll be perfect in the role"

Zip gave a nervous chuckle, before groaning and letting his head flop into his hands.

"Zip what's wrong?"

"Since Gif just left the System, that means I have to do all the paperwork! I don't suppose I can file for early retirement?"

Chapter Text

With everyone focused on cleanup, the malware infection was decreasing at a pleasant rate. Hex helped wherever she could, using her powers to clear the larger sections. She was still weak though from her exertion last cycle, and each use of her powers sent a wave of exhaustion through her. She'd just finished up aiding the cleanup team with a residential sector, and had drifted back towards the Principle Office control room. It was nice of them to always leave an open window so that she could fly in whenever she needed to. Breathing out a sigh of relaxation, she sauntered over to a water cooler to fetch a drink to refresh herself. She was just taking a sip when the doors slid open and the remainder of the team entered the office, casually chatting to each other.

"Ahh Hex! Good to see you this cycle!" Cynth beamed at her, reaching out a hand for a high five as she walked past.

"Hello Cynth! How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling good, more importantly how are you feeling? You're the one putting the most work into it"

"Well, I know I've certainly felt worse" she chuckled, "this is nothing compared to what I've been through"

"Well make sure you don't overwork yourself. You're like our star player - can't have you out of action" Cynth chuckled, making her way over to the control console.

Zip waved Hex a casual greeting before skipping over to join Cynth at the console, where they began to discuss his new roll as System Administrator. Hex returned to sipping her water, her energy slowly coming back. She noticed Dex sidle up to the water cooler, glancing down and looking at her sheepishly. He gave a slight cough into his hand as he leant against the wall.

"Err... yes so, Hex, do make sure you're taking care of yourself. You've been really helpful to us with cleaning up, and we're almost done now. You could probably take the rest of the day off"

Hex blinked at him. He crossed his arms, looking around the room.

"I really don't mind it Dex, it's actually quite a lot of fun - I've never encountered malware like this before"

"Well I'm glad you think that, I've cleaned up more than my fair share over time" he chuckled.

He cleared his throat.

"Well, uh, if you're feeling OK, and youuu... would like to... I was wondering if you would like to join me for... for dinner tonight"

Hex blinked at him again. He was clearly nervous - she'd never seen him like this before. She noticed Cynth staring with surprised and confused face, but her attention was quickly shifted back to the control console when Zip asked her a question. Hex looked back at the Antivirus who was nearly shaking.

"I mean... of course, I would be very happy to join you for dinner. It's been a while since I've had a good restaurant meal" she smiled

Her smile seemed to calm him down, and he returned the smile. He nodded his head and turned to leave the office quickly. Before he left, he spun round hastily.

"Ok so 8 o'clock, at Chez Gourmet?"

"Sounds delightful" Hex nodded

Dex smiled again and marched out of office. Hex stared after him, still rather confused. She was aware of Cynth coming up behind her.

"Well I couldn't help but overhear Dex's invitation"

"Oh yes, I think it will be rather nice, after all this business with Fletcher and the malware" Hex waved her hands to gesture to the general chaos.

Although, secretly, she was finding the malware fabulously entertaining - watching it interact with the environment, seeing structures get more and more unstable until breaking point. Once, she watched a park ranger's cabin completely deteriorate all for sheer joy. It was dangerous, and chaotic - and she loved it.

"After all," she continued, "a fancy dinner is always appreciated"

"And at Chez Gourmet no less" Cynth wiggled her eyebrows, "do you have anything fancy to wear?"

"Oh... well i'm not sure. What kind of fancy?"

"You know what, why don't I come round later and we can pick out an outfit together?" Cynth beamed

"That would be very helpful, thank you. Fancy outfits aren't usually on my mind, unless I'm in the right mood, you know?"

"Oh I know exactly what you mean. Ooooh! I'm so excited, I can't wait!" Cynth squealed with excitement before skipping away across the room.

Hex smiled contentedly. If everyone was in as good a mood as Cynth, then this dinner would go swimmingly.

*

Hex was just fixing herself up in the mirror, polishing her mask and straightening her corset when there was a knock on the door. With a quick glance at the door, she assumed her Guardian disguise. Using her powers, she unlocked and opened the door. It opened to reveal Cynth and Zip waiting in the hallway, Cynth holding a bundle of clothing.

“Hey! Are you excited? I’m excited!” she exclaimed with a grin and she practically skipped in.

“Well, not sure I’m as excited as you” Hex smiled as the two Sprites made their way into her front room.

Cynth lay the clothes on the back of a chair before taking a confused look around the room. The room was no longer the same kind of modern-chic apartment as it was when she gave it to her – it now had a distinctly more atmospheric, artistic feel to it; the wallpaper was monochrome, and peppered with somewhat ominous looking black sconces that threw light up on the ceiling, casting shadows in spikes across the walls. The shelves and mantelpieces were covered with oddly shaped curvy sculptures, clearly handmade by Hex and complemented by a variety of her hand painted portraits on the walls. The furniture in the corner by the window was replaced with a large, ornate throne with a spiked back and deep red upholstery.

“A throne? Interesting design choice” she noted.

“Isn’t it fabulous?” Hexadecimal giggled with glee and excitedly reclined in it, regally crossing her legs and settling in, “It just feels right, you know? And I love the aesthetic” she ran a finger down the arm of the chair.

“Well I’m glad you’ve enjoyed using the editing software to really make your room your own” Zip flopped down on an equally as luxurious looking sofa.

“I am” Hex’s eyes caught sight of the clothes, “OOOH! What pretty outfits!” she leapt up from the chair and held the top dress up to her body.

With a flick of her finger she summoned a floating mirror to her side and she began to admire herself from all angles. It was a gorgeous black cocktail dress complete with gold chains dangling around the front. Cynth took the next dress from the pile (a deep green full length satin gown) and handed it to her, and she immediately began to model that one as well, levitating the first off to the side.

“Which one catches your eye?” she asked.

“Well I’m not too sure. They all look beautiful. Which one are you picking? I wouldn’t want us to clash” Hex tilted her head to get a better look at the dress.

Cynth froze in the middle of picking up the next dress. She flicked a quick, confused look towards Zip, who’s brow was furrowed as well, before turning back to Hexadecimal.

“… What I’m picking?” she inquired, tilting her head

“Oh yes, I wouldn’t want to intrude on your outfits”

“Hex… you… you do know that we’re not going to this dinner right?” Cynth informed her slowly, “neither of us are”

Hex tore her eyes away from the mirror to stare at the Guardian in confusion.

“What do you mean? I thought Dex said that he wanted us to join him for dinner”

“No... Dex said he wanted you to join him for dinner… just you” Cynth explained, trying to get her to understand.

Hex’s mouth dropped open. Of course it was – that would explain why he didn’t go and ask them to dinner at the office, and why he was so nervous to talk to her. She immediately lowered the dress and clutched her hands together in front of her.

“Oh… I hadn’t even thought of that… I had no idea he felt that way” she breathed out shakily, wringing her hands

“Well I’d noticed he was a little bit quieter when he was working on the cleanup tasks, but I always put that down to him having to look after both Fuse and Chromus” Zip offered, “he doesn’t really talk about his private life very often”

Hex slowly sank down onto her throne, steadying herself by gripping the chair’s arms. Her brow furrowed as she tried to come to terms with the situation.

“Oh well, I’m… I’m not sure what to do then”

“Well, I mean, you can go. It might be a nice time” Cynth suggested, “he’s quite sophisticated, which is very similar to you, so that’s good”

“Thank you, I do hold myself to high standards” Hex smiled weekly

“Yeah you’d be brilliant together! You’re both so similar to each other!” Zip chimed in, beaming.

Hex glanced away – yeah… somehow she didn’t think that he was similar to her at all.

“You think it would be OK? I haven’t been on a date in a… well a long while. Actually, I’ve not been on one ever”

“Wait really? Someone with your looks and wit? Where they all idiots?” Cynth scoffed

“It’s not like I didn’t try to get a date with them” Hex huffed, “I think… I can’t really remember that kind of stuff”

She looked down at the dress, turning it over gently in her hands.

“I don’t really think about that part of my life much”

Cynth gave her a sympathetic look before getting up from the couch and putting a hand on Hex’s, who looked up from the dress with sad eyes.

“Maybe it could be time to change that. A new system, a new opportunity to find that one special person, without having to think about anyone from your old system. It could be a really good opportunity”

She smiled at the virus. Hex sighed, once again looking down. Cynth gave a pat.

“And hey, if it doesn’t work out, you get a free dinner!”

Hex raised her eyebrows. That was true. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea.

*

A minute later, she was waiting outside Chez Gourmet, craning her neck around to catch any sign of her date. Within moments, a rather rugged looking car pulled up to the curb. A valet Binome rushed forwards to meet Dex as he stepped out from the driver’s seat, and eagerly took the key in order to park the vehicle. The Antivirus watched it drive round the corner before turning his warm smile to Hexadecimal.

“Hexadecimal! You look wonderful!” he exclaimed.

Hex smiled and looked away in embarrassment – not because she didn’t look stunning, but because she’d never received compliments like that before, that were genuinely meant. She had decided on the green satin gown that flowed down her tall form, flaring out into a fishtail. Completing it was a white fur wrap that matched her gloves and crown atop her intricately coiffed hair. Her fresh lipstick stood out a deep ruby red in contrast to her porcelain skin.

“Thank you so much. It isn’t much really” she replied sheepishly.

“Are you joking? You’re beautiful” he gushed.

Hex smiled and waved him away playfully. The two of them made their way to the entrance, Dex holding the door open for her.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up,” Dex apologised as the waiter led them to their table, “cleanup took a lot longer than I expected, and dealing with that Hacker is proving a lot more tedious than I expected”

“Oh is he giving you trouble?”

“Eh, just lack of motivation just makes everything take a whole lot longer” Dex sighed, pulling out the chair to sit Hex at the table.

“Ahh, I see. But working with Chromus must be fun? He must have been all over the web – he must have some stories to tell”

“That he does, I can’t fault that” Dex sat himself at the table, picking up the menu and glancing over it, “he’s been to a good few Systems over his existence”

“Ahh, well you’ll have to tell me all about it” Hex nodded, also staring down at the menu.

The restaurant was filled with gentle bustle and clinks from the various other patrons. The two of them sat in silence, each poring over the various, unpronounceable dishes on the menu. The waiter returned, pen in hand, while the two of them still stared at the menu. They looked up at each other, the silence between them awkward.

“Shall we just pick the sharing platter?” Dex suggested

“I was just thinking that” Hex sighed in relief, folding the menu up.

The two handed the menus back to the waiter.

“That should take the awkwardness away” Dex grinned.

*

30 seconds later, and a few clear plates, the table was silent. Hex swirled the wine in her glass, staring down into the crimson liquid. Dex snapped a breadstick in half and used it to push some dregs of food around his plate. The clinking of other diners around them was almost cacophonous. Hex gave out a loud sigh, making Dex’s eyes snap up.

“Oh err, I’m sorry, it was my turn to ask a question wasn’t it”

“Oh, yes, I think it was”

“Erm, right, yes. So… what did you do for fun in your old system?”

“Well, I like to paint. And maybe curl up with a nice TV programme… but really, I don’t quite remember everything I used to do” she responded quietly

“Ah… yes of course” Dex coughed gently, “what about friends? Do you remember them?”

Hex gave a sad smile and shrugged. Dex’s shoulders slumped.

“I’m… I’m sorry” he apologised.

“Don’t be” Hex waved him away, finishing her wine, “you’re not to know. And neither am I to be honest”

Silence befell them again. After a few moments Hex put her glass down and rested her hands on the table.

“Look, Dex, I think you’re a wonderful person to work with, and you’ve been nothing but charming this whole evening. But I just don’t think this is working out”

“Oh I’m so glad you’ve said it” Dex sighed in relief, slumping back in his chair, “I’m sorry it’s been so awkward, but I didn’t know if you wanted to carry on or not”

“It’s not you, I just don’t think I’m ready to do things like this” she shook her head.

“No, it’s OK, I completely understand,” Dex reassured her, “I shouldn’t have assumed that things would be fine so soon after your arriving here. That you would be alright with going on something like this”

The two once again retreated into silence. After a moment, Dex leant forwards and clasped his hands together.

“Do you know anything from you’re old system? Anyone at all?”

“Bits of it. I see snippets now and then – disconnected from each other like… clips from a movie. They don’t all make sense yet”

“Any people”

Hex nodded and gave a small smile.

“Mostly faces. Sometimes voices. Names not quite as much”

“What about the man Cynth saw; Bob was it?”

“Ahh, yes” Hex’s smile broadened, “Bob I remember more. He’s there quite a lot in my memories”

“He must have meant quite a lot to you then” Dex smiled

Hex nodded, recalling what little memories she had. Feelings of warmth spread through her when she remembered his face – the blue of his skin, the depth of his eyes, his nervous smile. She took a sip of her wine thoughtfully.

“Is that who you’ve got waiting for you back home?”

“Oh we did have some good times. I loved him with all my heart”

“That’s sweet” Dex chuckled softly, before looking a bit perplexed, “but… didn’t Cynth see something… painful when she put the mask on?”

Hex hesitated, her thoughts drifting. She focused on the memory he was referring to – the memory of the two of them in her throne room, him commenting on her broken mask, and the feeling of pain as he blasted her face with energy. She gripped her glass a bit tighter as she played the scene over in her mind.

CRACK

Staring off into the distance, Hex flexed her hand open, letting the shards of glass fall to the table. The dregs of wine stained her glove and dripped onto the tablecloth, blooming out into pools of crimson on the white cotton. Dex shot up from his chair, alarm flaring across his face.

“Hex what… are you OK?”

“I… yes… sorry. I was… just thinking about Bob…” she murmured, “I… don’t know what to think about him… any more”

“What do you mean?”

Hex looked down at her wine-stained glove.

“The more I think about him… the more I wonder how good he was. I always looked at him like he was perfect – he was perfect to me”

She lowered her hands to the table, clutching at the cloth.

“But the more I look back on it… I don’t know if he ever saw me like I saw him” her brow furrowed, “I… I don’t even know if he said he loved me”

“Did you say it to him?” Dex asked

Hex nodded. Dex grimaced slightly.

“So… what’s your story?” Hex shook her head, clearing her thoughts, “I would have thought someone like you would be a taken man”

Dex sniffed a slight laugh and leant back in his chair, crossing his arms.

“Well, I once was. I had a wife, we’d been together for a very long time”

“What happened?”

“Eh, we grew apart over the years. Just… stopped seeing each other eye to eye. We decided to call it off, and I focused on work and she left with an updated antivirus”

“That doesn’t sound like a fair parting” Hex frowned.

“Well, no it was completely justified” Dex waved a hand in dismissal, “at the end we came to realise that there were things that we could have worked on. You know; I said that she left her shoes around the house too often, she said I was too outdated, I told her I would be working a bit harder due to virus infections, she’d tell me I was getting too lazy”

“That doesn’t sound the same at all” Hex exclaimed, horrified.

“No, no, she was completely right. I should have worked harder to meet her expectations” he frowned heavily as he said this. He shook his head as if to try and clear it but his frown stayed.

“From my experience, living to people’s expectations is not worth any of the bother”

Dex nodded slowly, staring into space. Hex scanned him for a moment then pushed further.

“What did she do for you?”

“Hmm?”

“What did she say to you in return? Did she make you feel happy?”

He hesitated.

“She… Of course she did. I just wanted her to be happy and she wanted me to be happy. We loved each other. I loved her”

“Did you say that to each other?”

“Of course”

“Did she say it to you?”

He didn’t respond. That was all Hex needed. She leant back in her chair and let out a sigh. She watched Dex’s expression change from one of confusion, to one of despair. He clasped his head in his hands and sunk to the table.

“Did she even say it…?” he whispered to himself.

“It sounds like she wasn’t healthy for you. You deserved so much better than that” Hex reassured him

“Cynth said the same thing” he grumbled, “I didn’t listen to her… thought she was just being overprotective”

“She was looking out for you. And that’s good. In this world of chaos, it’s good to have people on your side”

“Heh… well, thanks. I do prefer things to be a little less chaotic for me”

“Nothing wrong with a good bit of chaos,” Hex chuckled, “I find life is boring without it”

“I think I’ll need some convincing on that” the antivirus shook his head and gave a laugh

A grin spread across Hex’s face.

“Then let’s get to it”

She called over the waiter, who eyed the spilt wine and the two bedraggled customers.

“We’re both upset and without partners, so why not go a bit mad? A few sharing platters and another bottle of wine sound good to you?”

Dex matched her gaze as a smile slowly cracked onto his face too.

“Let’s do it”

*

“And then, after all the trouble he went through to get this Medusa Bug, it went off in his own tower and turned him to stone!”

“Ha! Serves him right for breaking into secure vault and stealing technology he doesn’t even know about!”

The two fell about into a fit of giggles, throwing their heads back in genuine mirth. Empty plates littered the table, and the final dregs of their second bottle of wine dripped into their glasses. Hex cackled to herself – reminiscing about the memories she did still have was proving more humorous than she had expected. And boy did she have some strong memories about her brother. Dex drank deeply from his glass and lowered it with a content sigh.

“This Megabyte sounded like a real problem. I can understand why he was difficult to deal with”

“He was quite a handful, and more than that at the worst of times. We did try to get him out of the System multiple times, believe me. But he was a slippery customer to deal with”

“Why just get him out of your System? Why not eliminate him entirely?”

“We would have loved to, but we didn’t have a dedicated Antivirus such as yourself to help us out”

“You seemed to handle yourself well though! I mean, you were able to take on Daemon” he whispered the name of the Supervirus gently over the table, “that’s something every Antivirus dreams of doing”

Hex finished her wine and set her glass back down, her eyes full of thought.

“I… remember… I remember her coming into the System, all set on finishing her infection of the Net. She… she had almost finished it… then there was like… well I’m not sure” she tried to think back to it, “she began to hurt people and I just felt like I… I had had to act. I don’t really remember what happened next…”

“Got that rush of adrenaline? Yeah, I feel that when I go up against a dangerous virus sometimes”

“No, I mean… it’s just blank… I think my memory is still lost there. All I remember is… having to take the final stand and… saying goodbye”

She welled up slightly, blinking away tears.

“I think that was when I left the System”

She fell quiet, letting her hands fall to the tabletop. Dex cautiously reached out and took in in comfort. She squeezed it and smiled quickly.

“Still, now I’m here, and I’m sure I’ll remember everything soon. Not like it’s affecting how I do things here at the moment”

“No, definitely not. You’ve been the most help this System’s seen in ages!” he chuckled awkwardly, “Don’t tell Cynth I said that”

The two giggled.

“But really, it’s been amazing having you here. And working with you has been the most exciting and interesting work I’ve done in many a cycle” Dex smiled.

Hex smiled warmly back.

“Thank you. That means a lot to hear”

She looked down at his hand.

“You know, I’m glad we had this date. I really do feel like I’m closer to you now”

“Me too! I feel like we could talk to each other comfortably and tell each other anything”

Hex’s smile faltered but she kept it up.

“Almost”

*

“Well that certainly was something” she announced to her empty apartment.

Hanging her shrug on her throne, she slipped out of the dress and into a soft dressing gown. She carefully placed the dress on a hanger and levitated it into the wardrobe, making a mental note to tell Cynth that she may have to steal that dress from her. She stretched as she made her way into her room, sitting herself down in front of her mirror.

“All things considered, I would say it was rather successful,” she began to fix up her hair in one of the larger shards, “things are finally looking up for me”

“Is that really so?” a voice hissed

Her eyes flicked to the top right corner. Her mask with one eyebrow raised stared out back at her from the shard.

“You spent the whole night lying to yourself and others”

“To an Antivirus as well!” her laughing mask piped up from across the mirror, cackling wildly

“I stretched the truth, but my intentions were true. I want to be here to help and be the person I want them to see” Hex responded, matter of factly.

“Be the person you want them to see?” the first mask sneered, “how can you make that happen when you can’t even accept your true self?”

“Leave her alone…” her crying mask whimpered from the bottom right, “she can’t let them get close… you know what will happen if she does”

“That wouldn’t happen if she got them first! They’d never see it coming if you killed them all now!” another mask smirked out from the top of the mirror.

“I’m not going to do that” she flat out retorted

“Oh of course! You’re one of them(!) You’re so intent on joining them you’ve forgotten what’s fun anymore!” angry red eyes flashed out from yet another shard

“That’s enough”

“You’ve spent so long lying to yourself, you don’t even know what you are anymore,” her smiling face stared into her eyes from the centre of the mirror, “you’re a shell of who you are, a fake. They don’t really care for you”

Hex didn’t let it finish.

She smashed her hand into the mirror, grabbing the central shard in her fist. She took one last look at her own porcelain smile before crushing the glass in her hand. The shard crumbled to her strength, reducing to dust in her palm. She watched it fall from her glove onto the floor. The silence rung out in the room. But only for a moment.

You can’t run from us that easily. We’re always with you, no matter where you go, no matter what you do

Hex spun round, looking for the source of the voice – though she knew exactly where it was coming from.

You can try to ignore us, but we’re getting bored. Sooner or later you will too. And we’ll be waiting

The laughter echoed around the room, around her head. She would have found it unbearable, but she found it comforting. Familiar – like she was finally beginning to feel like herself.

Finally remembering who she truly was.

Chapter Text

“Well I think that just about does it” Dex let out a large sigh before sinking into his leather chair at the Control Desk.

“I didn’t expect it to take quite this long” Cynth flopped into her own seat, rubbing her temples with her fingers.

“Welcome to my world,” Dex chuckled, “Malware cleanup is a heck of a time, and this one was a particularly nasty variant”

Hex and Zip joined them at the control desk - Hex sitting atop the desk, leaning back, while Zip tentatively took his place at the System Administrator chair. Fuse trudged in behind them, grumbling to himself, with Chromus looking on at his side.

“I thought it was rather fun, a nice group project that we could all do together” Hex crossed her legs and put her hands on her knees, swaying playfully.

“I agree” Chromus nodded, “I haven’t worked with a team in a long while”

“Nice for you two maybe. Not everyone can fly and make things float just by waving their hands” Cynth huffed.

“I didn’t hear you complaining when I transported you to the cafe for milkshakes now did I”

“Mmm… that’s different. Milkshakes are important”

“Now that this whole thing has finished, does that mean I can go?” Fuse complained from the other side of the room.

The sprites all turned to look at the Hacker, who just glared back at them wearily.

“Well, I suppose now the cleanup is finished, it does fulfill your community service quota” Dex reasoned.

Fuse’s face lit up with hope.

“I guess now we move on to your second community service quota regarding your reckless hacking in Zombie Evil 2, which nearly caused the deletion of 2 majorly important sprites”

Fuse’s mouth fell open.

“And then we can move on to repayment for what I can only assume are numerous other hacking offences that you may have carried out over the course of your ‘career’” Dex concluded

“Th...that’s… You can’t…” the Hacker began

“I believe Hexadecimal informed us that you stated yourself that you had been in that game multiple times, and I’m assuming that wasn’t just for sightseeing”

Fuse just stared open mouthed at the gang, who sat smirking at the desk. Eventually he clamped his mouth shut and let out a sigh of frustration, collapsing into a folding chair by the water cooler. Hex let out a little chuckle and began to look at her nails. She missed the length her claws gave her, but she adored this new red colour she’d painted them in.

“Warning: Game Lobby Open” came the cool voice of the system.

Everyone looked at each other in silent confusion.

“I’ve never heard that command before” Cynth furrowed her brow, turning to face the screen.

Zip was already tapping away at the screen as fast as possible, bringing up the information of the newly opened game. Text filled the screen as the system glowed a soft purple, as opposed to the usual vibrant purple that usually filled the sky when a gamecube fell. Hex looked out of the window at the sky; instead of a cube descending, a lilac cube had lowered partway into the system, still attached to the sky. She tilted her head - she’d definitely never seen this type of game before. How much time had passed since she’d been in the Net?

“Found it,” Zip called out, dragging her attention away from the sky.

“It’s apparently a game that’s installed on the system, like Zombie Evil 2” he explained.

“But those are green cubes that fall down really quickly, aren’t they?” Hex asked.

“Well, yes, so I’m not sure why this one didn’t,” Zip squinted at the screen, “Casino Paradise?”

“Casino Paradise?” Fuse repeated excitedly from his chair, head snapping up with a grin.

“Yes… why? Do you know it?” Cynth crossed her arms

“It’s only one of the most fun games that’s been going around recently! Your User must have finally installed it!” the Hacker got up and joined everyone at the desk staring at the screen, causing Cynth to frown at him.

“So it is a game?”

“Well, technically. It’s more of an online lobby where loads of Users can sit join and all play online together. It’s got casino games and party games, oh it’s so fun!”

“How do you win?”

“That’s just it, you don’t!” Fuse giggled to himself, before continuing when he saw the inquisitive looks, “since technically it’s an online game, where the Users just buy credits to join games against other Users or A.I., then there’s technically no winning or losing! Sprites and Binomes are free to go in and out as much as they like!”

Cynth looked at Dex, who had his eyebrows raised in surprise and consideration.

“So what do we do about it?” Cynth pushed.

“Technically, nothing” Fuze shrugged, “it’s just a bit of fun. Since we, you know, don’t have to abide by the rules the User goes by. Just things like, free money, you get to dress up, no responsibilities, no consequences. But I guess you could just stay here and you know… do more admin or something”

“Oh Cynth let’s go!” Zip spun in his chair, “that sounds super fun!”

“I wouldn’t mind going there at all” Hex smiled, clapping her hands.

Cynth gave another glare at the smirking Hacker before turning to Dex again.

“Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“Well… as long as that game is open, there can’t be another one. And it would be perfect opportunity for us to relax, especially after all the work we’ve been doing” Dex reasoned.

After a moment of pondering, Cynth let out a sigh.

“OK, I guess you guys could go. I’ll stay here and make sure this guy doesn’t take this chance to skedaddle” she gestured over to Fuse, who let out a chuckle.

“Well, you don’t have to. I’ll happily go along with you. I’m assuming you’d like a guide who knows the ins and outs of the place, someone who can give you guys the full run-down of the place so that you guys can just relax as much as possible” he offered.

Cynth pursed her lips and gave him another trademark glare.

“Plus you could keep an eye on me so you wouldn’t have to worry about me at all”

The two locked eyes, neither one wanting to break contact with each other.

“Ugh fine” Cynth finally admitted defeat, “but only if you show me where to get a drink there first”

*

“Just like I told you, it’s kind of like a paradise”

Fuse led the group through the lobby entrance, extending his hands to demonstrate to the bustling crowds. The group could see that it was made up of binomes, sprites, and a variety of generic models that represented the Users. They were the ones who were rushing around the most, zipping from the main desk through the double doors that led to the main room. The lobby was ornate - huge columns and gold filigree all over the place, lit with warm lighting. Plush red carpets were underfoot, giving this whole place a Las Vegas casino vibe. And this was just the lobby! Fuse strode up to the front desk, greeting the binome that sat behind it.

“Is there a reason why we have to wear these outfits while we're here?”

Cynth indicated to her outfit; instead of her usual guardian attire she donned a sparkly blue form-fitting dress, much like what you would wear to a casino or a fancy bar for an important party.

“I don't know, I quite like this” Hexadecimal remarked as she ran her hands over the sequined red dress that she was wearing, giving a little spin as she walked.

“Ahh don't worry about it,” Dex waved a hand, adjusting the jacket of his tuxedo, “it's always nice to get out of uniform every now and then”

In fact, all of them were decked out in some of their finest attire. Being a Search Engine, Chromus couldn’t enter the game, so had to remain in the Principle Office. Fuse turned around after speaking with the receptionist and held out 5 little keycards.

“What are these?” Cynth took one, looking it over.

It was a blue keycard inscribed with iridescent gold patterns, much like a microchip.

“These, my new friends, are your tickets to unlimited joy here. Because we aren’t Users, we have unlimited access to every game, every service here, completely free” Fuse grinned.

“Free?” Zip’s eyes widened.

“Yup. Drinks, food, games, go wild!”

“How? Seems like this would have a catch to it” Dex frowned, looking around the spacious interior.

“Well, the User’s play this like any other game. They can win and lose depending on how good they are, and how good the people who play them are. Since this is a big, online multiplayer game, they can’t ‘lose’ like the games that come into the Systems, so there’s no danger of anyone being nullified. You even get a warning when it’s time to go so you can prepare to leave”

Fuse extended his hands and gave a smile as he backed up towards the doors.

“It’s literally a paradise get-away for Sprites and Binomes. All you can play, all you can drink”

He put his hands on the double doors.

“So who’s ready to play?”

Everyone was hanging on his every word, their eyes wild, waiting to see what was on the other side. With another smirky grin, Fuse pushed them open. The group hurried in, gazing around in wonder. The room was massive; columns that dwarfed the ones in the lobby towered up to huge domed ceilings, where a diamond chandelier cascaded down. Statues of various historical figures lined the walls, interspersed with lush green plants and fountains. The hubbub of the various players was mixed with groovy music that cemented the casino feeling. Various games were set up around the huge rooms: poker, roulette, rows of slot machines. The gang could see Binomes and Sprites from other systems all over the place all dressed equally as fancy as them. There was a third type of player here as well - a nondescript blank player model that ran silently between games: the User player models. Once one arrived at a game, a human image was projected over it, no doubt the skin the User had selected outside the game. It was a veritable paradise - all relax, with no risk. The others needed no more prompting; Zip, Cynth and Dex grabbed their keycards and scarpered into the casino, eager to try out every single game on offer. Fuse grinned after them, crossing his arms with a sigh of relief.

“Well, I can certainly understand why Fletcher took you on as a salesman apprentice”

Fuse glanced over his shoulder to see Hex approaching, arms crossed, with an amused look on her face.

“You certainly sold them on this trip, they didn’t even take that much convincing”

“Well, Fletcher did say I have a certain flair when it comes to salesmanship” Fuse shrugged at her, “It’s not like it was hard though, look at this place”

“It is wonderful. I’ve never been in any game like this” Hex stared around in wonder.

“How many games have you been in? I mean… it can’t have been many, right?” Fuse asked tentatively.

The two of them began strolling through the various game stations, gliding through the crowds of Users, Binomes and Sprites.

“Only a few. Enough to know how to play the majority of them”

“I’m assuming that’s only from being in this System”

“Oh no, I was in a game in my first System”

Fuse blinked at her, surprised.

“Really? As a…” he glanced around and leaned in close to her, “as a Virus?”

“Oh yes,” Hex replied nonchalantly, tapping a slot machine as she walked past, causing it to malfunction and spit out coins for the surprised Binome, “well, technically no, but yes”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a long story, much less interesting than this” Hexadecimal brushed it aside and sidled up to a roulette table.

Fuse gave her a confused glance but sat down next to her. The two of them played a few games, each working together to rack up quite an impressive sum of money. Hex found the Users a bit odd; a bit disjointed and lifeless, only jabbering random noises at the other Users. It was creepy, but it didn’t matter - they lost just as easily. After a few games, they both took a break, their places at the table immediately filled by more Users.

“A very impressive performance there Fuse, I’m impressed” Hex admitted

“It’s not my first rodeo here” Fuse chuckled

“How do I know you haven’t just hacked your way to the top?”

“I could have done, but I only need pure skill to beat these guys”

The two shared a laugh, strolling into a central plaza filled with slot machines like earlier.

“So do we do anything with these winnings? We’re rich now, right” Hex asked, turning the card over in her hands, a menacing glint forming in her eyes.

“Unfortunately,” Fuse shrugged again, “these credits don’t last outside the lobby”

Hex’s face fell.

“But! Because we’re the guests here, we can trade them for luxuries like speciality food and drinks that aren’t usually available to regulars”

“Well that’s more like it!” Hex perked up

Fuse held his arm out for her.

“Shall we?”

Hex smiled and took it, and the two of them made their way over to the refreshments kiosk at the side of the room. They were just sipping their newly acquired champagne when they heard the raucous squabbles of their teammates approaching from across the room.

“I’m telling you there’s a glitch in the game, I did not pick those cards to put down”

“And I keep telling you, Cynth, that it absolutely, definitely wasn’t”

“And how do you know?”

“I told you, I messaged Chromus and he said no such glitch existed in this game”

“Well, tell him to check again”

Cynth huffed and plopped herself down on a bar stool and ordered another drink, Dex and Zip following up behind.

“Stupid games in here anyway” she muttered.

“She’s just salty cause she lost a lot of her credits on a bad hand” Zip informed them, “I tried telling her to hold but she didn’t”

Cynth blew a raspberry at him and sipped her drink. Dex pulled up next to her and rubbed his eyes.

“I haven’t been out this long in a very long time. I might need to head back soon”

“Awww come on man,” Fuse pleaded, “I know you’re gonna lock me back up as soon as we leave, can’t we stay a little longer?”

Dex raised an eyebrow at him.

“Please? At least spend the rest of your credits first”

Dex sighed, but grinned, extending his card out to the barkeeper. With another round of drinks ordered, the five of them clinked their glasses in celebration. Just as they were finishing up they heard a few taps of feedback from a microphone.

“Hello, hello is this thing on? Can everybody in this fine establishment hear me?”

“Ooh drinks, games and a show,” Hex clapped, “what fun!”

Fuse looked confusedly at the stage area.

“There’s not supposed to be… that stage is only there for special events, and there’s not one scheduled”

“Maybe there’s been an update?” Zip theorised.

The five of them left the bar and skirted around the edge of the rows of slot machines, past the gathering crowds of other players, all craning their necks to have a look at the stage. Standing centre stage, microphone in hand, was a “1” Binome. They were dressed in a purple glittery trenchcoat and frilled orange shirt. Their single eye glinted under a purple tinted monocle.

“I hope everyone is having a very good time tonight, I know I am” she crooned into the microphone, twirling around the stage, “You know, it’s my first time here, but I’ve been dreaming about this day ever since I heard about this game”

She danced about the stage, bopping along to the music that was playing over the speakers. The crowd murmured to each other, a few of them clapping and dancing along with them. Hex watched them dance around amusedly, shaking her head to the music. Fuse still looked confused, staring intently at the Binome. The jazzy character took a breath and continued.

“However, I’ve always found the usual day-to-day rather tiresome. And here, once you’ve done everything, there’s nothing else to do. So I say: ‘why not liven it up a little?’”
She elegantly slid onto the floor, leaning in close to one of the Binomes in the audience, causing him to swoon a little.

“So that’s why I’ve planted a bomb”

The whole crowd gasped, the entire tone of the room shifting to one of panic and fear. The Binome closest to her retreated back as far as they could, causing her to break into a menacing smile, pulling back up to the stage.

“Well, technically a bug, a viral bug, set to go off at the touch…” she flicked her hand and summoned a button from her sleeve, “of a button”

“You can’t do that!” a wealthy looking “0” Binome spluttered from the audience, “security will stop you!”

The Binome on stage laughed a harsh laugh.

“Security? In an open MMO? It was easier to take down as a house of cards in a hurricane! I don’t think they’ll be swooping in to save you sweetie. So let me just make you’re night that little more… fun”

She raised her hand in preparation to click the button, but before she could, Dex pushed his way to the front.

“Ok Ok, that’s enough now. Put the button down and step away from it”

The Binome tilted her head and gave him a quizzical smile.

“Oh? Who’s this?” she gave him a scan up and down before chuckling, “is this the security?”

“I’ll be needing you to comply and step away from the button, especially if there is anything viral involved. Do you have any idea how dangerous they are?”

“OH! You’re an Antivirus! And here I was thinking I was going to have to WORRY!” she burst out into laughter, “so you’re not actually any kind of authority, are you?”

“He may not be, but I am” Cynth stormed forwards, tapping her icon to replace her evening dress with her usual Guardian uniform.

The Binome’s smile faltered into a scowl.

“Oh… a Guardian. Of course you’re here. Can’t you let anyone have any fun?”

“This is serious. If you’re telling the truth of course”

The Binome clutched at her chest in mock shock.

“You would call me a liar?”

“Then there are people’s lives at stake. This is a very serious situation,” Cynth aimed her Keytool at the stage, “comply, and no-one gets hurt”

The tension filling the hall was intense. The Binome’s shocked face curled up into a smile again.

“Oh, but here’s the thing, Guardian…”

She reached behind her back, and whipped it out again. In her gloved hand, she held a white porcelain mask in hand, displaying a wide smile. In one swift motion, she adorned it onto her face. Cynth faltered at seeing the mask, hesitating just too long to react to her next move. The Binome raised her hand, summoning crackles of energy before launching it at Cynth. The blast hit Cynth, launching her backwards into the rest of the group.

“Oof!” she wheezed.

“Ha, music to my ears! And speaking of music...” the Binome cackled as she raised her hand and clicked the button, “let the music play!”

The room was instantly filled with pumping, high energy disco music, the warm lighting replaced with rainbow strobe lights. A disco ball lowered from the ceiling and began spinning, sending sparkling rays of light in every direction. The Binome on stage laughed with joy and began dancing around stage.

“Come on everyone! Dance with me!”

Nervously, members of the audience began to shimmy on the spot, bobbing halfheartedly from side to side. To the surprise of Cynth and the others, more and more began to dance.

“Darling, I can’t seem to bring myself to stop!” the wife of the rich Binome worriedly informed her husband, while simultaneously waving her arms above her head.

“Me too, dear! It’s like there’s something controlling me!” he blurted back, doing an increasingly aggressive macarena.

Cynth darted glances around the crowd, who were now all performing various styles of dancing to the pulsating beat. As time went on they got more and more intense, seemingly entranced by the beat.

“What in the Net is going on?” Cynth asked Dex, her eyes still fixated on the crowd, “why would everyone be…?”

She turned her head and paused, mouth hanging open, when she caught sight of the Antivirus. The larger sprite had his eyes fixed on the stage, but almost absentmindedly he was performing a little two step on the spot.

“Erm, Dex?”

“Hmm?” Dex tore his eyes away from the stage.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to work out what this Binome’s angle is” he murmured, putting his hands on his hips and swinging them from side to side.

“So… why are you dancing?”

Dex looked down and immediately tried to stop himself by grabbing his leg, but this just translated into him sliding down onto the floor and beginning an ammateur breakdancing.

“Um… I’m not entirely… sure…” he grunted in confusion.

“I believe it’s the viral bug that Binome was talking about,” Zip intervened, who had pulled out a small PED while doing a jaunty little jig, “the sensor indicates that as soon as the music started, there was a huge spike in viral energy”

“Wait so what’s that got to do with the dancing?” Fuse asked confusedly, vogueing down to the ground.

“I can only assume that this is what the viral bug is coded to do” Dex flung himself to the ground and back up again, wobbling unsteadily on his feet.

Hex and Cynth moved to stand next to each other, arms crossed, taking in the three dancing Sprites in front of them.

“I must say I’ve never seen anything quite like this. It’s quite entertaining” Hexadecimal mused.

“Yeah… I’m finding it hard to look away” Cynth tilted her head

“Well why aren’t you guys affected?” Zip pouted, spinning in a graceful pirouette.

Cynth tapped her Icon.

“Guardian Code - prevents any kind of interference from viral bugs. We’ll be able to scope around and get close to the deviant”

She nodded towards the stage, where the Binome had jumped down to the closest slot machines, sliding between the dancing citizens to begin cracking them open with a crowbar to access the credits.

“We’ve gotta put a stop to this. It’s affecting Users as well, and if they cause the Game to crash then everyone will be Nullified. Dex, guard the exits, Zip, see if you can get to a vantage point and scan for the Bug location”

The two nodded and began to dance away in various directions. Cynth lowered into a crouch and began to creep around one of the furthest rows of slot machines. Hex was about to follow suit when she felt someone grab her arm. She turned to see Fuse still shuffling on the floor, except with a grave look on his face.

“Hex you need to be careful. This viral bug could spell out a lot of trouble for you” he hissed at her

“Oh Fuse, you’re worrying too much. Guardian’s are not affected by Viral Bugs”

“But Viruses are,” the Hacker warned, “from what you’ve told me you only assimilated like, some code. It’s probably not enough for it to completely nullify everything from the bug”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that if you aren’t fast enough, then you’ll begin to dance like the rest of us. And when that happens, then they’ll see that you aren’t a Guardian”

Hex let that sink in; that means they have to work hard and fast before it was too late. She bit her lip as her mind began to race.

“Alright… well that’s a lot to think about. But we can’t let that stop us. As a Guardian, it’s my job to keep everyone safe. I need you to get the crowds away from the binome, see if you can get them out of harms way.”

Fuse nodded and pulled away as he began to vogue across the floor, giving her a concerned look but calling over to the crowds. With a little difficulty in communication due to everyone’s erratic movements, he began to filter people away from the stage.

“Hex! Over here!” Cynth called.

Hex ducked down and joined her hiding behind the row of slot machines.

“So what’s the plan?”

“Well, while we wait for Zip to try and pinpoint the location of the viral bug, we’ve got to try and disarm the Binome and neutralise the anomaly. I should be able to deal with minor fire but cover my back. Alright, GO!”

Cynth rolled out over the litter-strewn floor and raised her Keytool, aiming it at the stage.

“Alright, hands up and no-one gets…” she began.

She was interrupted as the Binome immediately flicked her hand towards Cynth, and a beam of energy pulsed out from her fingers. Cynth yelped and only just managed to dodge out of the way as the hot beam scorched the carpet.

“Oh I forgot I could shoot lasers…” Hex murmured.

“What was that?” Cynth called over, furiously typing on her Keytool.

“Oh, nothing!” Hex called back, “I do believe we need to change our tactics”

“Well what have you got, she’s too focused on us”

“I can hear the two of you!” the Binome called in a sing-song voice, hopping down and cracking open another slot machine.

“See?” Hex waved her hand, “why don’t you let me handle this. You just wait on Zip’s intel - he should have the location of the viral bug pinpointed at any point now”

“If you’re so sure” Cynth nodded, “Go on!”

Hexadecimal took a deep breath and emerged from behind the slot machines. The Binome glanced to the side and gave a tut, flicking her finger and shooting a laser directly at her. Without missing a beat, Hex threw up a shield. The laser bounced off harmlessly, deflecting into a wall sconce (which exploded immediately into thousands of pieces). The Binome blinked in surprise, the pulsing music being the only noise to fill the silence between them.

“Well, well, who do we have here, coming in and showing off her own tricks?” she cackled, putting a hand on her hip.

“Why, I’m Hexadecimal, Queen of… er... Guardian of Protoframe. And... I’m sorry I don’t believe I caught your name. To whom do I owe the pleasure of encountering?”

“Oh, well thank you for asking. No-one else in this ‘pit of sin’ didn’t even bother, so thank you very much”

The Binome gave a dramatic bow.

“Fleur Sauvage, at your service. Performer extraordinaire, and expert larcenist”

“Isn’t that just a fancy word for a thief?” Hex put her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow.

“Well I wouldn’t say thaaaaat,” Fleur tapped the crowbar against her hand gently, “more like a poor lost soul with a terrible case of kleptomania”

“Ah I see” Hex nodded in amusement.

“Is this going anywhere, Hex?” Cynth hissed into her ear.

“I’m getting there, Cynth,” Hex replied, rolling her eyes, “ugh I’m getting tired of just… doing things, you know? You know, because that’s what I’m ‘supposed to do’”

“I get exactly what you mean” Fleur nodded, smashing open another slot machine, “I used to have a day job at an ice cream parlor cause Mom said ‘young people need jobs to steer them in the right direction”

She picked up a handful of credits and shoved them into her pockets.

“Yeah, as if. People aren’t meant to follow rules. It’s so much more natural to just… give in to the chaos”

“Yes… the chaos…” Hex murmured.

The word washed over her, a tsunami of tingles drowning out all other thoughts.

“Must be nice to give into the chaos…” Hex began to approach the stage.

Fleur watched her cautiously out of the corner of her eye but allowed her to come closer.

“Hex?!” Cynth called.

“Why don’t you get an update from Zip?” Hex barked back, eyes fixated on the stage.

“Oh… OK good idea!”

Cynth ducked down and radioed the smaller sprite. His voice crackled in her ear, filled with gasps of effort as he continued to dance.

“OK Cynth, I think I have some kind of progress”

“Talk to me Zip, I need to know what I’m looking out for”

Hex hopped onto the stage, her mind beginning to race.

“Your life seems a lot more simple” she mused.

“Well, I wouldn’t say simple” Fleur huffed, “just a bit more fun”

“So what’s your actual plan?” Hex put her hands on her hips, “just stealing the credits?”

“Oh it’s much more than that!” Fleur flashed a dazzling smile, “the viral bug not only affects the Binomes, but also the Users. The more Users that fall prey to the bug, the more they report the game for being busted. The more reports, the more likely the game is to get shut down. Complete destruction, complete chaos”

Hex blinked. Cynth tore her eyes away from the two of them as Zip piped up in her ear.

“I’ve linked the viral bug to an activation code that ran about 5 seconds ago - try looking for something new that turned on as soon as the everyone started dancing”

“Well that was as soon as Fleur pushed the button. And then… the music…” Cynth breathed in a hushed whisper.

Cynth used 8Bit to grapple up to the upper floor balcony, turning around to peer down at the stage. The music continued to pump, the lights flashing around as the disco ball spun. Fleur smacked open yet another slot machine.

“And the credits are just a plus” Fleur chuckled, running her hands through the pile of silver tokens.

“So what will you do when the game resets?” Hex asked her.

Fleur hesitated, glancing to the side.

“Oh… heh, well I’ll be long gone by then, I have an exit command ready and waiting for that,” she glanced around to the slot machines, “once I’ve gotten all of these”

“Well if it’s as you say it is, then you don’t have much time left. Reports should already be flooding in. The game is not going to be open for much longer” Hexadecimal taunted, casually strolling around the stage

Cynth tapped at her Keytool, aiming it at large speakers that hung above the stage. Two laser-sights appeared on them as the device powered up.

“Alright, by all calculations, the viral bug is programmed into the music. By destroying the speakers, it’ll destroy the bug!”

Cynth pressed the ‘fire’ button on 8Bit, sending out rockets of orange energy shooting towards the speakers. They connected with a spark and caused the two of them to explode with a loud BOOM. Sparks and shrapnel rained down onto the stage, most of it bouncing harmlessly off of Hex’s shield, but some of he shrapnel tore at the rim of her dress. She stood there wordlessly, unfazed by the explosion, staring into the flames. A swear from Fleur shook her back into the room, and the two on stage shot to look up at Cynth, who shielded her eyes from the bright flash. Silence fell across the club.

“What was that, you maniac?” Fleur spat at her

“Taking out your viral bug, of course. Your hypnotic music won’t keep this game prisoner anymore” Cynth announced triumphantly.

“Oh is that what you think?” Fleur raised her eyebrow, “is that what over there says?”

Cynth spun round to where she was indicating. Huddled up at the far end of the room was the crowd of Binomes and Users. All of them were still dancing around wildly in a variety of different ways, panicking and rambling. Dex and Zip tangoed in front of the crowd together, giving a sheepish shrug towards the Guardian.

“But… the music?” Cynth questioned.

“You think I have the money for ‘hypnotic music’? Well, maybe after this I will” Fleur snickered, “and now you’ve made it awkward. I hate working with no music”

She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone, hitting the play button on it. The music resumed, now tinny and quiet out of the phone speaker.

“Ugh… sounds rubbish now”

“So, the bug is still at work is it?” Hex asked, tilting her head.

“Oh yes, I would say only a second left, maybe?”

“Huh, and all these slot machines left?”

“There are a lot, aren’t there?”

“Well how about a faster, more efficient way of destroying them?”

“Hex, what are you doing?!” Cynth called over, flabbergasted.

“Say, you have that laser don’t you?” Hex crooned, her lips twisting up into a smile.

“That I do…” Fleur stood up to her full height, brushing down her jacket.

“Well, I’m no scientist, but that disco ball,” Hex indicated up to the shimmery sphere, “would reflect those lasers quite well”

She began to pace around the stage, gesticulating with her arms theatrically, eventually ending up behind the Binome.

“So well in fact, that you could break into all of these slot machines all at once. You wouldn’t have to miss any, and you could get out with time to spare”

Fleur hesitated, looking up to the sphere and chewing her lip. After glancing over at the smiling Virus, she nodded her head.

“Yes… yes I think you might be right” she agreed, nodding her head.

Hex leant down and placed her hands delicately on her shoulders.

“Why don’t you give it a go?” Hex whispered, coaxing her forwards.

“Yes… Ok, right” Fleur rolled her shoulders and raised her hands, “feeling excited are we?”

“Hm?” Hex asked, before realising she was absentmindedly tapping her feet, “oh this? Well, you were right, it is a catchy song”

She silently tried to stop her foot from moving, but it didn’t seem to respond to any of her wishes.

“You should just give into the dance” the little voice chanted gleefully in the back of her head, “we already are”

“No, I don’t think I will” she murmured to herself.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Why don’t you take aim?”

Fleur cleared her throat and readied herself once again. After a moment’s pause, she fired a laser beam directly at the disco ball. The light hit the mirrors and ricocheted off randomly in all directions. Cynth ducked down behind the balcony rail, and Hex threw up yet another shield. Fleur winced as the lasers bounced around the room and left scorch marks along the pristine marble walls. Hex tutted and let out a chuckle.

“What, like you could do better?” Fleur put her hands on her hips and scowled.

“Oh my dear, I’m better than you could ever know” Hex crooned, holding out her hand for the mask.

Fleur held onto the mask, clutching it tight. Hex stared into her eye, the smile still spread across her face.

“Just give me the mask, and I can show you”

Fleur hesitated once again, her face scrunching as she decided whether this would be a good idea or not. Eventually, she gave in and passed along the mask. As soon as Hex’s fingers closed around the porcelain, the mask glowed and began to absorb into her hands. Flashes of memories flew through her head, causing her to blink in surprise. Visions of explosions and destruction dragged themselves up from the pits of her mind. One particularly disturbing one consisted of a hulking creature stomping its way towards her and… someone else… she saw herself fire lasers at it to hold it off. She felt the energy flow through her and down her arms. She flexed her fingers and chuckled to herself.

“Are you ready to see how it’s done?”

“At this point, definitely. Wow me, Guardian, why don’t you?” Fleur crossed her arms.

Hex extended her arms, summoning the energy forth from the depths of her being. As the energy crackled from her fingers, she flung her hands towards the disco ball. The crisp laser beams struck it head on, sending a beautiful halo of beams out in a circle. They simultaneously blasted into the remaining slot machines, causing them to all explode viciously, scattering credits all over the floor. The coins twinkled beautifully as they cascaded across the tiles. Fleur watched open mouthed at the waves of credits, frozen on the stage in shock. Hex’s eyes were fixated on the disco ball, the lasers still shooting out from her hands. The energy grew in power, their intensity increasing.

“Hex!” Cynth yelled from the upper balcony, “You can stop now!”

The words barely registered to her but she blinked and looked away. With a flick of her hand she cast a shield around the disco ball. She put her hands on her hips and turned her attention to the Binome that was now scrambling on the floor to collect as many credits as possible. With a thump, Cynth hopped down from the balcony and hurried over to her.

“What in the Net do you think you’re doing? Helping out this criminal?” She hissed in anger, indicating flabbergastingly towards Fleur.

“She’s been a brilliant asset to my plans,” Fleur informed snarkily over her shoulder, “I’d offer you a place as my accomplice, if I didn’t work alone”

“I can’t believe you, Hex! While we were all working, you were playing thief with this little… Well, thief!” Cynth pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“While you were working, I’ve isolated and am destroying the Bug” Hex replied matter-of-factly.

Cynth’s mouth flapped shut. Fleur made a choking sound and scrambled around on the floor to glare at them.

“What did you say?” she barked.

Hex wordlessly pointed to the ceiling. The three of them glanced up at the still spinning disco ball. Fleur let out a screech and jumped to her feet when she saw what was happening.

“NO!”

The shield that Hex had kept up around the disco ball had perfectly contained the laser beams that had reflected off the mirrored surface. They continued to bounce around the sphere, the energy subsequently bouncing around as well, heating up incredibly fast. Fleur flailed her arms and scrabbled towards the stage.

“You take that shield down, right now!” she hissed.

As she struggled to climb up onto the stage Cynth tackled her to the ground, wrestling the Escape Command from her belt. Hex hopped down from the stage to join them, still glancing up at the disco ball. Cynth restrained Fleur with the help of 8Bit, much to the Binome’s protest. Hexadecimal leant down to the Guardian as she tackled with the thief.

“Erm, Cynth. I would suggest that we… um… potentially move out of the way?”

“Move out of the way from what?” Cynth huffed.

“The explosion?”

“The…? Oh User preserve!” Cynth realised, almost too late.

Without missing a beat, Hex reached down and put a hand on the two of them, willing the group of them to rematerialise across the room. The three were gone in a flash, and not a moment too soon; the disco ball erupted in flames, bursting through the shield and sending a blast of viral energy cascading across the room. Shards of mirror clattered to the already littered floor, just falling shy of the group.

“NO!” Fleur screeched out again, “You’ve ruined everything!”

Cynth breathed a sigh of relief. brushing her fringe aside.

“Cynth!” a voice called over from the entrance of the casino.

The two Guardians turned to see the three sprites hurrying over to them.

“Whatever that did, it worked!” Zip informed them enthusiastically, “look!”

The crowd that had gathered by the lobby had all seemed to have stopped dancing, rubbing their foreheads and blinking in surprise and relief, murmuring to each other in confusion. The effects of the Viral Bug had worn off.

“Well, I’m glad that that’s finally stopped,” Dex sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

“Well I’m glad you’ve finally able to join us” Cynth taunted, but grinned in relief as well.

“How did you work out that the Bug was in the disco ball?” Zip asked in amazement.

“Well, when you confirmed that the Bug activated when the music started, and when Fleur said that it wasn’t the music itself, I figured that it must be in either the lights,” she pointed up, “or the disco ball”

Hex strut around the scowling Binome.

“And I’ve known some tricky Viral Bugs in my time. They have to be stored somewhere, and activated. So they couldn’t be in the lights. But the disco ball. A perfect container, no-one would think to look there, since it looks so ‘in place’. You confirmed it when I asked if you would shoot the disco ball. You hesitated. If it was just a regular disco ball then it wouldn’t have mattered”

“Then why did she shoot it?” Zip tilted his head in confusion.

“Simple,” Hex breathed, “to give into the chaos”

Cynth wrangled Fleur up off the floor.

“I don’t know why I ever trusted you!” Fleur spat

“I have a very convincing demeanour” Hex smiled sweetly.

“Well you’ll have a lot of time to reflect on that all while you’re in prison” Cynth responded flatly, beginning to escort her out of the game.

As the group made their way to leave, they were met with a smattering of applause from the Binomes left in the lobby. A few cheers rang out as the group of them waved back. Dex glanced around the room, a look of worry painted on his face.

“Shouldn’t we hurry? Didn’t they say that the game would be wiped or something?”

From behind them, Fuse cleared his throat.

“Actually, as soon as I was able to, I hacked into the game’s data and added in a ‘special event’, detailing a one-time-only special that gave everyone a temporary dance emote,” Fuse brought up a screen to show them, “and already, Users think that it was just part of the game, and the reports have gone all the way down”

“Wow, that was some quick thinking. I’m impressed” Dex admitted.

“See? It pays to have a Hacker on your side” Fuse smiled smugly

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, pipsqueak. My back is gonna be killing me for weeks because of all that dancing”

*

“I have to give you props for working out where the Bug was. And I gotta thank you for destroying it when you did - I don’t think I could have dealt with that dancing much longer”

Fuse and Hex were sitting in the Principle Office Control Room after hours - the group had decided that Fuse could have pretty much free reign of the System at this point, but for the important areas he had to be escorted around by a Guardian. Luckily for the two of them, they had an uneasy agreement. As part of that, Fuse was currently running a diagnostic on Hex’s Icon while she sat on a nearby chair, chewing on her nail. A lengthy cable ran from the Control Room computer to Fuse’s PID as he tapped away at the screen.

“I’m just glad that I fixed it when I did” Hex chuckled nervously, “I could feel the music beginning to take hold. I’m not sure how much longer I would have lasted”

With a few more taps, the computer gave a few satisfied beeps as the programme was completed. Fuse took the Icon and strolled over to the Virus, holding out the small disk for her to grab.

“Well, you shouldn’t need to worry about it anymore. I’ve upgraded it with Guardian Code and improved its efficiency in general. Now, it’s only basic Guardian Code, so don’t go crazy, but it should be enough to stop people from getting suspicious”

Hexadecimal delicately took the disk and turned it over in her hands before pinning it back onto her corset. She felt relieved and calmed by its presence - an anchor to her despite everything changing about her. It was something she had kept, something that could stay the same, no matter how she looked. She looked down and ran a white finger over the smooth surface.

“I still can’t believe that a virus was registered. Like, I don’t even get how that happens” Fuse sighed in wonder, collapsing in a chair.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure why I was, but I certainly am grateful. I… I think they thought I was helpful to them”

“It’s weird… I just can’t really picture a situation where people get all chummy with a virus”

“Do you have something against Viruses?” Hex narrowed her eyes.

“Pfft of course not!” Fuse dismissed her with a wave of his hand, “do you know how many Viruses I’ve worked with in my career? They’re just not usually the most… savoury kind of entity. You have a grace about you that I’ve not seen anywhere else”

“Thank you Fuse, that means a lot”

“And you certainly are helpful, I can’t deny that” Fuse admitted, “and a helpful virus definitely isn’t something you come by every day”

“Yes, well as you said; you definitely won’t see anyone like me again, I’m one of a kind”

The two of them shared a small laugh.

“So, do they have any idea about you? At all?”

Hex shook her head.

“Gif knew when he was here, and threatened to tell people, but luckily he hadn’t. If he had, then I doubt I would have lasted another cycle before being deleted” she sighed.

“They would have tried,” came an indignant voice from the back of her mind, “but they would have spent most of their time begging for mercy”

“Yeah, well they would have regretted that, especially today,” Fuse reassured her, “they probably wouldn’t have even been able to deal with Fleur, if it weren’t for you. They’re not exactly the brightest bunch out there”

Hex nodded glumly. Fuse put a hand on her arm.

“And hey, you’ve got me, so please don’t feel like you have to be so alone”

Hex gave him a sad smile and patted his hand.

“Well, I expect you know our agreement”

“I know, I know; I don’t let them know you’re a virus, you don’t rip my code from my chest. It’s all good” he gave a laugh, “your secret’s safe with me”

Hex gave him a smile in return. For better or worse, the two of them had formed a weird alliance, and it was one that she was comfortable with, no matter what the voices in her head screamed at her. She was sure it would last. Surely he wouldn’t be that stupid. Right?

Chapter Text

‘Just another hour or so’ she had said.

Marshall kicked a pebble as he stomped down the street. What was supposed to be a casual 6 hour shift had dragged out to nearly 9, and he was exhausted. It didn’t help that none of his work colleagues had even tried to work doubly hard to make up for it, and a lot had been dumped on him because of it. Well, he wasn’t planning on staying in this job for much longer. He had big plans; it would be the biggest restaurant in the high-class part of town, serving the fanciest cuisine any sprite had ever seen. And then all those lazy coworkers would try and work for him, and he’d turn them away.

The ‘0’ Binome let out a chuckle to himself as he strolled under the streetlights. Annoyingly, it seemed that a few of them had stopped working, leaving this side of the street draped in darkness. The light from across the street stretched just short of the pavement, and Marshall momentarily considered crossing the road. He wrapped his jacket closer around him, preparing to cross over, when he was stopped in his tracks.

“Hello? Is someone there?” a timid voice called out.

Marshall froze, turning his head to the right. A dark alleyway stretched out between two buildings. He could only just see a dumpster and some litter strewn on the floor before the darkness swallowed everything. He furrowed his brow, trying to make out where the voice came from.

“Hello? Anyone? I need help!” the voice called out again from the darkness

The urge to cross the street grew tenfold in his mind. His mouth flapped as he tried to work out what to say.

“Err… are you OK?” he called back, his voice wavering.

That was a mistake - now the voice knew he was there.

“Oh my User! Thank you so much! Please, quickly, come help me!”

“Erm… what do you need?”

“There was someone down here, they attacked me, please you have to help me!”

“I’ll err…” Marshall shuffled on the spot, glancing around him for any sign of anyone who could help him, “I’ll go call for the Guardian, she’ll know what to do!”

“There’s no time, they might come back! Please help me!”

A bead of sweat trickled down his face as he swallowed his fear. The Binome tentatively took a step into the alleyway. The darkness didn’t let up, an unrelenting wall in front of him. He took another, and then another. He began to breathe heavily as the dark washed over him, the light from across the road flickering and failing, leaving only total darkness. Marshall felt along the wall, slowly stumbling down the alleyway.

“Where are you?” he called out, using his hands to feel ahead.

His heart dropped when his hands slid from smooth stone… to writhing flesh.

“Right here” the voice hissed.

*

“Well we should have everything running at full capacity in a few seconds” Zip informed the rest of them, “and with Fuse’s help the time it took cut down in half”

The two sprites high fived each other and shared a grin. Zip had allowed him a coveted seat at the central desk where he and the Hacker had worked tirelessly to restart the System fully after the malware attack.

“Sorry it took so long to get communications back online Chromus,” Dex apologised, rifling through some folders, “I’m sure you must have a lot of work to get through”

“I will return my services to the Web, I’m sure I will obtain some work very quickly” Chromus gave him a polite nod, before extending his wings to give them a final check.

“Awh, do you have to leave?” Hex pouted, approaching and delicately twiddling one of his metal feathers, “I was enjoying our weekly flying sessions”

“As was I, Hexadecimal, but what good is a Search Engine if I do not search the Web?” Chromus smiled, “after all, it is not like you are in need of my services”

“Well that’s not necessarily true,” Cynth shrugged, “we could always do with the additional help from a Search Engine”

“Thank you, but I feel as if it is my time to depart”

“Well, if that’s how you feel then please do come visit!” Zip smiled broadly, spinning in his chair, “our communications channel will always be open”

“In moderation” Fuse murmured from the seat over, “that kind of behaviour is how Systems like yours are riddled with issues”

“Well, with that being said,” Cynth gave him a quick look, “you are welcome to come back to the System at any time” she returned to address Chromus.

“Once again, thank you for your hospitality” the Search Engine smiled back.

The group followed him out into the hangar in preparation for his departure. The roof opened with a loud clack, the metal eaves sliding to the side to reveal the sunny sky above them. Chromus took a breath in preparation before stretching his limbs to get ready. His dazzling wings expanded behind him, catching the rays of sunlight as they unfurled. With one last final wave, he gave them a flap and lifted off the ground. Like a glimmering gold angel, he begun to rise up towards the sky. As he approached the ceiling off the System, he used his Web Armour to create a safe portal to the Web; the portal was surrounded by a glittery gold dome that allowed him to pass safely through without letting any web horrors through. He shot through the dome and into the portal. As soon as he was gone, the portal flashed and closed behind him. The group watched in awe as the portal closed, leaving the sky once again untouched.

“Well, he was nice” Hex smiled sweetly.

“Yeah, it was interesting to have an Advanced Search Engine in the System” Zip sighed, “I wish our quarantine had ended sooner so we could have searched more with him”

“Mmm, yeah. Well, who knows when we’ll ever see him again” Cynth nodded sadly.

“Warning: Web Connection Established - Search Imminent” the System announced.

The group shot each other confused looks as the Web Portal began to re-emerge in the sky. The gold dome re-surrounded it and to their surprise, the winged form of Chromus flew back into the System. In shock and bewilderment, the group watched as the Search Engine returned to the hangar, re-entering through the still opened roof. He landed deftly on the floor, his Web Armour powering down.

“Well, I suppose this is a bit awkward,” he laughed sheepishly.

“Yes, long time no see” Cynth chuckled, “what brings you back so quickly?”

“Well as soon as I got into the Web, I immediately encountered an incoming request that was flagged as high priority. Since you were the nearest System, I thought it best to return back here” he explained.

Cynth looked quizzically up into the sky as the portal once more shrunk and closed. She indicated for the Search Engine to follow her back to the main room. The rest of the group hurried after them, confused at this whole event. Back in the main office, Cynth typed a few commands into the console, bringing up a search bar. Chromus stepped forwards and took a small chip from his arm guard. After plugging it into the desktop, the search bar began to fill with data. After a moment of loading, the screen changed to a waveform and began to produce a high pitched beeping sound. Cynth’s brow immediately furrowed and she leant in closer to the screen.

“Is that really what I think it is?” she murmured.

“What is it? Dex asked, concerned now.

“That sounds like… a distress call” Cynth responded, fixated on the screen.

“Should we notify the Guardian Initiative?” Zip asked concernedly.

There’s no time. We have to go now. Dex, ready the Network Ship”

“The Network Ship? Is that really necessary? Surely we just have to notify the designated Guardian area and...” the Antivirus spluttered.

“This isn’t just any old distress call,” Cynth snapped, “it’s a Guardian’s distress call”

*

Hex stood back and stared at the goings on in front of her. They were back in the hangar, the team rushing about to set up the Network Ship. Since she’d not done this before, they allowed her to just wait. A look of concern plastered her face as the sprites milled about the large spacecraft. It was a blocky yet sleek shiny ship, with a black tinted cockpit. Three wings jut out from the side and top, which would allow it to connect to the Net. She’d never seen one before, but Zip had eagerly explained everything about it to her. It hadn’t settled her nerves though - for some reason, a solid feeling of worry was sitting in her throat, and thoughts of doubt swirled in her mind. She hadn’t even realised how much she had been tensing up when Cynth sidled up to her, carrying a supply crate.

“Hey, Hex, you doing OK?” She asked, a minor look of concern on her face.

“Oh, oh yes. Sorry I’m not helping much, it's just… I’ve not been outside the System since…”

“Since you entered it” Cynth finished, nodding.

The Guardian put the supply crate down and put a hand on Hex’s shoulder.

“You’ll be perfectly fine. The Network Ship keeps everything safe, and we won’t be heading out anywhere other than the connected Net. I promise, we’ll be OK” she assured.

Hex nodded, staring at the ship. Eventually, the craft was ready. The group of them ensured supplies were packed, their uniforms pristine, and then filed one by one into the ship. Zip and Dex sat up front and took control of the flight, while Hex, Cynth and Chromus took their seats in the back. Dex turned the key into ignition, and the ship whirred into life. As the craft juttered, Hex’s breath caught in her throat and she clung onto the seatbelts. This was ridiculous - she shouldn’t be this scared. A tentative touch on her arm turned her attention to Cynth, who gave her a comforting smile.

“We’re gonna be OK”

“If you’re sure” Hex weakly smiled back, taking her hand in hers.

“Well, I’m sure we’ll get there OK, but I’m not sure what we’ll find there,” Cynth grimaced, “I haven’t responded to a Guardian distress call since the last Scam Email Scare back a year or two”

She sat back in her chair as the shuttle began to lift off the ground.

“They’re only to be used in the most dire of circumstances, so I can only guess what it could be”

That sombre note didn’t do much to help Hex’s nerves, but she clung onto her seatbelt strap and retreated further into the confines of the seat. Zip tapped a few buttons on the dashboard, and Dex gripped the steering wheel. He steered his way out of the hangar, and aimed the front of the ship at sky.

“Warning: Network Craft preparing to exit System. Stand clear” the System announced.

“Hang on everyone,” Dex commanded, “we’re about to leave the System”

A few moments later, the ship shot towards the sky. At the final moment before it connected with the skybox, a section dissolved into an exit hole, the pixels pulling it apart so that the ship flew out into the Net. Hex had closed her eyes, bracing for an impact, but when it didn’t come, she opened one slowly. The sight before her was one so beautiful, it removed every feeling of worry from her mind. Outside the window lay a seemingly endless expanse of darkness - a sort of bluey-black rippling darkness. Permeating the darkness was millions of glittering dots, shining out from every direction. Hex stared around at the level of Cyber Space, marvelling in its brilliance. Somehow, it seemed so familiar, like when she closed her eyes, she could already see it painted on the back of her eyelids.

“Are they…?” she breathed.

“Systems” Cynth nodded, “they’re all the connected Systems in the entire net

She looked out of her own window.

“There are millions of Systems out there. All of them able to be connected to and share so many wonderful experiences and peoples” she smiled, the lights reflecting in her eyes.

“Network Craft: Proto1 connecting to Metroplaza” the ship beeped out at them, “System status: online”

“It’ll take a few seconds to get there, but we’ll be there shortly” Dex informed them, “everything’s running smoothly”

“Wonderful, I’ll see if I can find the data on the Guardian of the System ahead of it” Cynth brought up 8Bit.

Hex was still looking out of the window, taking in everything around them. She noted that the ship was travelling in a sort of green tube made of light, acting like a tunnel to keep them on track from their System to the next. She hadn’t needed that the last time she was here - she’d just been sort of… everywhere.

“What is that in the distance?” she asked, pointing out to a large bright light far off beyond thousands of Systems.

Cynth glanced over and smiled wistfully.

“That is the Supercomputer” she explained, “centre of the known Net. My old home”

Hex just stared open mouthed, trying to take it all in. It was beautiful. While staring out of the window, the seconds seemed to fly by; soon the ship was beeping at them again.

“Approaching Metroplaza. Enjoy your visit”

“Alright guys, strap in. We’ll be touching down soon” Dex announced, flipping a few switches.

Hex craned her neck to take in what was going on in front of the ship. The craft approached one of the silvery orbs. This one was surrounded by the luminescent glow that indicated that it was online. As the ship came close to the orb, the surface shifted and morphed to form a hole, allowing the vessel to enter. The endless expanse of the net was instantly replaced with an incredibly scenic nighttime skyline. The city was organised in roughly the same circular orientation as any other System, only with four districts around the outside. The centre of the city was a mass of skyscrapers, their lights twinkling out in the darkness. Atop the tallest tower in the centre sat the core of the Principle Office. It was a beautiful night; streetlights and night markets dotted the ground, lighting up the grid patterns of the city. Hex was enthralled as the lights flew past, watching Binomes enjoy the nightlife.

“What a beautiful city…” she breathed.

“It really is” Cynth agreed, “Looks like a pretty well established System. I wonder what the issue is…”

The green tunnel connected them to a landing pad atop the skyscraper outside of the Principle Office, and the Network Craft touched down atop the metal. With a successful beep, the ship powered down. The group unbuckled themselves and stood to leave, albeit a little wobbly. The door opened with a hiss, and a cool wave of fresh air hit their faces. Naturally, Cynth was the first to leave the ship, stepping out into the System and establishing first contact. Waiting for them on the landing platform were two entities - a stern looking older sprite with a thick, trimmed beard, and heavy brow, standing with his arms crossed in a tweed jacket, and a shorter bright-eyed sprite with a wavy bob and freckles dotted about her face. She was dressed head to toe in a matching uniform to Cynth - a Guardian. Cynth saluted her and then extended her hand to the older sprite.

“Cynth, Guardian of Protoframe. It’s a pleasure to be here”

“The pleasure is all ours” the older sprite responded, his voice deep and smooth, “My name is Ether Blake, System Administrator”

He indicated to the Guardian next to him.

“This is Quinn”

Quinn extended her own hand.

“A pleasure”

Cynth took it and shook it, introducing the rest of the team.

“That’s Dex, our Antivirus, Zip, our Data Analyst, Chromus and Fuse who… are just here to help. And that’s Hexadecimal, our other Guardian”

“Two Guardians?” Ether raised a bushy eyebrow, “Some Systems have all the luck”

“You have a wonderful System though” Hex complimented them, “I thought it was daytime when we left though? Is it really that late here?”

“The User has a penchant for Night Mode” Quinn explained with a smile.

Hex studied her face as she looked at her. While she was happy on the outside, there was an element of exhaustion to her eyes. To the both of them - they were clearly extremely tired by something. Whatever was happening here, they must be in desperate need.

“Your System does look like it’s bustling though,” Cynth glanced over the fence at the streets below, teaming with the lights of cars and shops, “something must be incredibly wrong if you sent an emergency Guardian distress call”

The two sprites in front of them shifted and shared an uncomfortable glance. Ether swallowed and gave a grimace as a few raindrops began to fall from the sky.

“We shouldn’t speak of this outside. Follow us”

*

Thunder roared across the System, rain pounding down on the rooftops. The Principle Office stood tall against the clouds, silhouetted against the flashes of lightning. The group had moved into the Command Office - unlike their rather official office, this one clearly had Ether’s style in mind. It was a cushy office lined with bookshelves. A warm fire crackled in one corner, and a large mahogany desk complete with lush leather chair sat just in front of a fancy portrait. Ether stood staring out of the window next to the desk, watching the rain fall down from the sky. Quinn leant against the desk, staring down at the red woven rug. Hex and the Protoframers sat in wooden chairs near the fire, sipping tea provided to them by the office Binomes. After a moment of reflection, Ether began.

“Are you aware of the mythology… of the vampire?” he murmured.

The group shared confused glances.

“Vampires?” Cynth queried.

“Vampire” Chromus piped up after finishing a sip of tea, “A vampire is a creature from folklore that subsists by feeding on the vital essence of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods they inhabited while they were alive”

A stony silence filled the room as Chromus finished his search. Ether’s face stayed grim, and Quinn let out a deep sigh.

“I don’t understand. You called us here because of a story? That’s… a little far fetched” Dex asked, his brow furrowed.

“Well, that’s what we thought at the beginning” Quinn responded, “do you want to tell them or shall I?”

Ether shrugged and waved with his hand.

“You’re the Guardian”

Quinn cleared her throat and began.

“A few cycles ago I was doing my routine evening checks around the System. Everything seemed fine until I checked an alleyway on the far side of town”

She choked up a little bit.

“There was… someone at the end of the alleyway, just lying there. Not moving at all. I ran down as fast as I could but there was nothing I could do. He was…” a tear ran down her face.

She coughed and wiped her face, composing herself.

“He had been attacked, and his energy had been drained entirely. I couldn’t even try to save him”

“Could it have been a Null attack?”

“That’s what we thought initially,” Ether reasoned, “and if it was, we could just mobilise a militia force against them. But then there were the other attacks”

“We kept finding more and more Binomes attacked in the exact same way with no trace. Nulls at least leave a trail, but with these… there was nothing...”

“Except for the last one” Ether concluded.

Thunder rumbled again outside, filling the silence.

“One of the ground CPUs heard someone scream from an alleyway near Watkin’s Bistro. They rushed over to where they heard it and… well what they found was not pretty” Quinn sighed, “they reported that someone was being attacked by… something. It looked like a sprite, but also… not?”

She shook her head, trying to recall the report.

“It was tall, and dark, and before it stood up it was hunched over the Binome. Luckily, the Binome survived; the lights of the CPU managed to scare the… thing. It stood up tall before leaping up the wall, like climbing it like some kind of animal. The CPU managed to reach the Binome before it was too late. I believe his name was Marshall? And he’d experienced the same draining of energy as the others had”

“Wait, wait, hold on. They climbed the building? Are you sure it was a Sprite?” Zip shivered, “but… Sprites can’t do that. Well, not all of them” he indicated towards Hex.

“Well, not usually no” Ether strolled over to a bookshelf, sliding a leather bound volume from the oak shelf, “but the legend of the vampire states that the creature can siphon the life essence of victims in order to boost their own supernatural powers, including increased speed, strength and sometimes even flight”

He flicked through the pages of the book, scanning over the information.

“I don’t subscribe to such inane beliefs, but one can’t help but wonder…” he murmured, snapping the book shut, “after this last attack the military are extremely hesitant to take action against something so unknown, and Quinn is working off her feet as it is. It would mean everything to the System if you could help us out”

Despite the uneasy glances the group gave each other, Cynth cleared her throat, adjusted her uniform and answered.

“As Guardian of Protoframe, it would be my honour to help you out with this situation. We’ll put all our efforts into it, right team?” she addressed the rest of them.

“Oh, er, yes of course!” Hex hastily stood up from her chair, “we’ll find this vampire, wherever it is”

“If it’s a vampire. I’m still not convinced this isn’t the work of some sick and twisted individual, and whoever it is, we’ll find them and put them to justice”

“Is some homicidal crazy person really much better than a vampire?” Dex leant over and whispered in her ear.

“The answer is yes, always” Hex whispered into her other ear.

Cynth rolled her eyes.

“We’re happy to begin right away”

*

“So… Do you think that this… vampire could be… real?” Fuse tentatively tapped his fingers against each other, looking around nervously.

“Crazier things have certainly happened” Hex pondered, casually hopping from cobblestone to cobblestone, deftly dodging the cracks.

Cynth had split the group into three - she and Dex were being shown around the System by Quinn, Zip and Ether were scanning through the System data and records, and Hexadecimal and Fuse were the ground team. It irked her slightly that she was reduced to footwork almost all the time, but then again, none of them could do the things that she could. Right now, the two of them were patrolling around the streets where the last attacks happened, trying to look out for any suspicious signs; Fuse was staring at his PID, scanning the readouts for any energy spikes.

“What does that mean?” he asked, looking up from the screen.

“There are entities out there that absorb energy in order to feed,” she wiggled her fingers at him, grinning a mischievous smile, “Scary things from the dark parts of the Web, and a few viruses here and there”

Fuse tightened his grip on the PID.

“Really?”

“Oh yes, I’m quite familiar with them”

“What? How?”

“My father was one”

Fuse just blinked in confusion.

“Your father?”

“He was a Class 5 Energy Absorbing Virus” Hex replied nonchalantly, hopping up onto a lamp-post and spinning round it.

“Wait, wait, now I’m confused,” Fuse stopped walking, trying to contemplate this, “a Class 5? That’s insane, there’s like none of those”

“Well tell that to the big, scary Gigabyte, destroyer of Systems!” she announced into the dark street, floating up to the top of the streetlight to sit on it.

“No!” Fuse’s jaw dropped, “the Supervirus?”

“Daddy dearest” Hex sighed wistfully, then chuckling to herself as she lay down on top of the light, “he would love to drain the energy of entire Systems if he could”

Fuse glanced around nervously, taking it all in.

“Do… do you think it could be him then?” he stammered.

“Oh no dear, that’s quite impossible”

“Huh?”

“He can’t be here”

“W...why?”

Hex extended her arm and sung out.

“Because I’m heeeeere!”

Fuse just looked even more confused than before.

“Wh… what does that mean?”

“Gigabyte doesn’t exist, or cannot exist, my dear, if I am here” she indicated gracefully to herself, “my brother and I were born when Gigabyte was split into two by a portal gate, and can only be remade when the two become one”

Fuse let out a breath as he contemplated this.

“That’s a lot to take in. That’s a heavy weight to have on your mind isn’t it?”

“I don’t tend to have many thoughts that I focus on at the moment” Hex shrugged, hanging upside down from the lamp.

“Riiiight. And where is your brother now? Is he like you?”

“Oh I have no idea where he is, and good riddance to him. We’re very estranged” she chuckled, “and he wishes he was like me”

The PID beeped and Fuse jumped, fumbling the small screen but catching it.

“Could… could it be him then? Draining the energy of the Binomes?” he shuddered, glancing around.

“Oh no, he didn’t inherit any powers like that. Besides, he’s much to proud to be a skulking lowlife. As if the great Megabyte would stoop to attacking poor defenceless Binomes”
Hex thought for a moment.

“Actually, he was scum... so maybe”

CRASH

Something clattered down the alleyway to their right. Both of their heads snapped towards the noise. Fuse let out a nervous squeak. Hex hopped down from the lamp, face now serious, focused on where the sound came from.

“Do you… do you think that that’s…” he shivered.

“I don’t know…” Hex murmured.

She glanced at the trembling Sprite.

“You really aren’t liking this are you?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Well, what if it is a vampire!? What if they’re going to drain my energy?!”

“Well then we’ll just have to fight it together”

“And what if it’s… your brother?” Fuse whimpered slightly.

Hex laughed again and patted his shoulder reassuringly as she made her way over towards the alleyway.

“Dear Fuse, I am the strongest Virus this side of the Net, he wishes he could match me”

She began to stride towards the dark alleyway.

“Plus, if I see him, he’ll find himself on the end of my claws”

*

Zip flipped through the pages of the book, scanning the information in silent wonder.

“There’s so much information here, it’s incredible. You must have scoured the entire Web to find all this!” he breathed.

“There are plenty of other resources I can look for if you would like me to” Chromus announced, flipping through books at lightning speed.

“I think they’re good” Zip laughed, “they’ve got a pretty decent selection already”

“Well, when we first came across these attacks, we thought nothing untoward at first. But as more and more occurred, Quinn suggested that we search for any other kind of attack like it. We came across the legend of the vampire, and something just stuck” Ether explained, leaning back in his chair and straightening his glasses.

“And all downloaded and saved for later in PDFs, I like your style” Zip admired.

Ether let out a gentle chuckle.

“Well, I’m certainly not as young as you. I’m not as ‘online’ as all you modern Systems”

“You’re pretty up to date for an older system though” Zip gushed excitedly, “you have all the latest graphical updates and your file types all have the best security locks on them that you can get!” he scrolled through the System details.

“I’m surprised you’re so well versed with the in’s and outs of the System”

“Well, I was a System Helpdesk before I was the System Administrator” he blushed, “I spent a lot of time running System diagnostics and reading the info charts”

“That’s quite a promotion” Ether mused, lighting a pipe and raising it to his mouth, “what happened to your previous System Administrator?”

“He had to leave…” Zip sighed, “there was a… complication. He just left it all to me”

“Just like that?”

“He did leave rather abruptly. I had not met him long and even I thought it was rather harsh” Chromus pondered quietly.

“And he didn’t say anything to anyone?”

“Well he… He left me a note in the System’s notes archive. No-one else saw it cause only I could access it. It… it told me that I was the only one capable enough to run this System,” he furrowed his brow, “he was never one for words of encouragement, so that was like the nicest thing he’s said to me”

Ether murmured in approval, reclining in his chair and puffing some smoke.

“But there was a little note at the end. Something that didn’t really make much sense? He said I should ‘make sure I always watch my back. Some people may not be exactly who they seem’”

Zip shook his head.

“I don’t really get what he meant by that. It’s not like I’m the sort of person who makes enemies like that”

“Perhaps it was more of a cautionary word of warning,” Ether proposed, “I’ve met many Administrators who have been a fan of trivial advice and cryptic words of wisdom”

“Yeah…”

“But I’ve also met my fair share who have had no idea how to run a System with competence. So if you want some genuine advice, it’s this,” the older Sprite leant forward over his desk, “Run the System with other people in mind. If you keep the civilians at the forefront of the mind, and let them help you, then you’ll find everything works out in the end”

Zip contemplated the words with a smile.

“You know, that makes sense”

He glanced back down at his screen.

“Hey, does this look odd to you for some reason?” he asked.

Ether got up from his desk to lean over the younger Sprite’s shoulder as he pointed at a few entries from the data log.

“What have you noticed?”

“There’s a few logged actions that don’t seem to have any kind of relevance; they weren’t fixing any issues, or related to any running programme” Zip explained.

He squinted at the screen.

“It’s like they were just added in while there were other actions running, but they don’t relate in any way”

“How very peculiar. What does that mean?”

“It means that someone could be sneaking around the System, hiding what they’re doing in other actions from the User. This could be you culprit”

“User preserve…” Ether murmured in a hushed whisper.

“I need to check those in the System’s settings. Can you show me where that is?”

“Of course I can take you there now” the Older Sprite picked up his filed and moved over to the doors.

Zip spun on the spot and addressed Chromus.

“Do you think you could run a quick Web Search?”

“Of course I can. What would you like me to search for?”

“I need you to search for any instances of Viruses or entities that can sap energy from Binome’s. Ooh, and ones that can hide themselves amongst other tasks. If that’s not too much for you?”

Chromus gave a metallic chuckle.

“Zip, I am an Advanced Search Engine, I can have that done in less than 10 seconds for you”

Zip gave him a bright smile and ran to open the large sliding windows to throw them open.

“Well then I’ll meet you back here in less than 5”

Chromus brushed his wings as he extended them, giving them a gentle flap to lift him off of the floor. The Search Engine delicately hovered out into the night air, activating his Web Armour to protect him from the harshness of the Web. With a quick wave goodbye, he took off into the sky, opening his personal Portal to the vast expanse beyond. Zip watched him go with interest before sliding the window closed and turning back to the other System Administrator. Ether adjusted his jacket as he opened the door for Zip.

“I must admit, disturbingly, that this is a little exciting. We’ve not had anything like this happen before, it feels very official”

“Well, we’ve got a lead but that doesn’t mean it’s all solved”

Zip packed up his PID and hurried out into the corridor.

“I can only hope the others have a lead to go on too”

*

“Aaand over there is Lower Side, that’s where all the night markets are. Well, we just call them ‘markets’ here, what with the Night Mode and everything”

Quinn was strolling through the lamplit streets, showing Cynth and Dex around the areas where the attacks had been more prominent. Cynth was staring at 8Bit with determination, scanning for any kind of unusual reading. Dex had his own Viral scanner out, quietly beeping away as he walked.

“Is that where the majority of the attacks occurred?” Cynth asked, not looking up from her keytool.

“Quite a few of them. Mostly around some of the businesses and locales a bit further away from the main town, ya know?” Quinn responded.

“Was there anything odd about the attacks? Beside the energy draining” Dex inquired.

Quinn shrugged.

“What things would I be looking for?”

“Any kind of viral traces, residual energy left over from the attacks” the Antivirus explained, “something we could use to determine what kind of virus this could be”

“Ah, well, we didn’t find out anything from the last few attacks, but maybe at the next one?” Quinn kicked a stone on the pavement.

“Next one?” Cynth stopped in her tracks, “You shouldn’t be so eager for something else to happen to someone”

“Hey, I’m not hoping something happens. Just, ya know, if it does happen again, I’m gonna be ready for it!” Quinn explained, hopping up onto a mailbox and brandishing her Antiviral gun in front of her, “with all the speculation of vampires and such, I’ve been reading up on vampire hunters and all that”

“It’s not all fun and games,” Cynth clicked her tongue, “I know you’re a young Guardian, but these are serious attacks on innocent Sprites”

“Yeah we know,” the Guardian in question hopped down again, “I just wanna get out there and tackle whatever this is. And we’re not going to get to do that if we don’t hear anything tonight”

“I do agree with that” Dex nodded, “whatever this is, if it attacks tonight at least we can try and wrangle it”

A crackle emitting from Cynth’s radio took her questioning gaze away from the Sprite in front of her and down to her Keytool.

“Cynth?”

“Talk to me Zip”

“I think I’ve come across something. I’m checking something out in regards to some unaccounted for actions, so Ether and I are heading to the Settings to have a look”

“That’s brilliant! I wish we could say we were successful as well, but everything’s been relatively quiet”

As soon as the words left her mouth, there came a crash from an alleyway a few blocks away. The three Sprites’ heads snapped towards the noise, a mix of concern, determination and fear running across their faces.

“Scratch that, we’ve got something. Contact soon”

Cynth approached one of the dark alleys, reaching out with 8Bit.

“You getting anything Dex?” she asked.

Dex’s eyes scanned his screen.

“I’m picking up a reading, but I can’t quite place it; it’s… chaotic and all over the place. It could be in any one of those alleys”

“We’re gonna have to split up” Cynth reasoned.

She glanced over at the other Guardian, who had a look of quiet worry ghosting over her face.

“What’s your call? This is your System, after all”

Quinn snapped to attention, clearing her throat.

“Ye… yes, we should split up. I’ll take the alley on the east side, Cynth, you take the west, towards the market, and Dex you go through the middle and give yourself the greatest scope” she stumbled out.

“Affirmative” Dex grunted, shouldering his rifle and hurrying towards the alley in front of him.

Cynth prepared the rush off towards the markets, taking one final glance at the rapidly retreating younger Guardian before she dashed off into another side alley. She squinted, then shook her head before entering the all-consuming darkness before her as well.

*

“Fuse?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you hear anything?”

“I don’t… I don’t think so”

“See anything?”

“It’s dark”

“So?”

“I… what? I can’t see in the dark?”

“You can’t?”

“You can??”

“I’ve always been able to! Skulking around the dark is quite fun!”

“And you just thought everyone could?”

“Is that really so surprising?”

“Well I mean… no but… wait what are we talking about?”

"Can you see anything?"

“No!”

“Alright, just asking!”

“Why are we doing this if we can’t see? Why didn’t we bring a torch?”

“You mean this?”

“WHY DIDN’T YOU GIVE THAT TO ME SOONER!?”

“Because I didn’t think we needed it”

“You don’t need it!”

“Yes"

“Give me that!”

“All you had to do was ask nicely”

“WHAT WAS THAT!”

“My foot”

“Oh. That’s good”

“I’m glad”

“Ah! Was that also your foot?”

“No I think that was a Null”

“ARGH!”

Fuse leapt back and bumped into Hexadecimal, waving the flashlight around wildly. The Virus pursed her lips at the trembling hacker.

“You can head back out if you would like to. I can handle this on my own”

“No, I can do this. You need someone to watch your back”

“Then lets press on”

The two crept down the alley, the dark hiding all sorts in the shadows. Hexadecimal scanned the alley, looking out for any source of the noise. Something wasn’t right. She could tell; it could have been the tense feeling that lingered in the air, but it could also have been the silence. It concerned her greatly when she couldn’t hear anything - even the voices that kept her company at all times were silent. This was wrong.

There.

There was something.

A small writhing sound. Coming from a small offshoot. The sound triggered… something in her. Concern, and fear. But she couldn’t pull herself away. Wordlessly, she moved towards the noise, fixated on wherever it came from.

Unbeknownst to Fuse.

He continued down the main alleyway, the constant offshoots and side alleys confusing him. His PID was flickering, the numbers and data becoming unreadable and useless.

“Hex I’m not getting a solid reading could you…”

He glanced around, looking for her, but was faced with only darkness. Immediately, his heart began to pump even harder than before, sweat beginning to trickle down his brow. He hadn’t even been given a real weapon, just a small taser. A fat lot of good that would do against an angry virus, or worse. Using the weak light from his rapidly fading torch to scan around, he tried to check around for any signs of anything strange, to do a proper job and prove to them all that he was useful. His breath came out in clouds. That was odd… the temperature seemed a lot colder than before. Almost like all the warmth had been drained from the area… oh no… it couldn’t be.

“Fuse?”

Fuse whipped round, aiming the torch down a dead end. The voice emanated from somewhere in the darkness.

“Hex?”

“Fuse! Please, you have to help me!” her voice echoed out from the end of the alleyway, filled with fear and urgency.

“What? What happened? Where did you go?”

“I heard something over here and I came to check it out, but whoever, or whatever it was jumped me!”

Fuse gripped the torch in his sweaty hand, the nerves freezing up his muscles.

“Are you OK? Did you see anything about who it was?”

“No, it was too dark, and they were too fast! Please, Fuse, I’m really hurt!” came the terrified reply

Fuse’s eyebrows knitted together; something wasn’t right, but too many things were going on in his mind to make sense of it all. If Hex was in trouble, then whatever this was, it was serious business. But she’d saved his hide, so it would only make sense if he helped her. Right?

“Fuse, please!”

Swallowing his fear, the hacker prepared himself mentally. He was just about to step into the darkness… when he felt a hand grip his shoulder tightly. He wanted to let out a yelp but another hand clamped itself over his mouth. His heart nearly beat out of his chest, and he wanted to scream, but the hand prevented him to. His fear filled eyes rolled to the side as the hand on his shoulder let go, and a face came into view. A wave of relief washed over him as Hexadecimal’s masked face entered his vision, a clawed finger on her unmoving lips. Though he was comforted by her presence, the unmoving porcelain mask of her viral form put him on edge. With a wave of her hand, her blank expression changed to one of suspicion, one eyebrow raised. She stared off into the darkness, her green eyes scanning silently. As quiet as she could, she leant towards Fuse.

“Ask it where it is” she whispered into his ear, taking her hand off his mouth.

Fuse swallowed again and nodded.

“Where… where are you, Hex?” he stuttered out.

“Just over hear, behind the bins! I’m having to lean against the wall, please hurry!” the voice echoed back.

Hex patted Fuse’s shoulder before beginning to move towards the voice.

“OK!” Fuse called out, “I’m heading over now!”

“Hurry!” the voice called out.

Hexadecimal crept forwards, summoning a ball of orange energy in her hand behind her back, shielding the light from it with her body.

“Is that you?” came the voice, “Is that you Fuse?”

“Yes, I’m just coming now, hold on!” Fuse responded.

“Thank you Fuse…”

There was a rustle from the bins at the end of the corridor.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way…”

*

The lower level corridors were comfortingly silent, the only sound permeating them coming from the faint hum of the internal servers. Ether and Zip strolled down the smooth metal tunnels, shoes clacking on the pristine floors. Zip was in awe - this was a much high tech System than theirs, and they had a much higher amount of security in their possession.

“What’s that room?” Zip indicated as they passed a large set of double doors.

The steel doors were sealed tight with a keycard and passcode, locked up tight.

“Ah, that’s the door to the Core. We had a few attempts at a break in a while back when we got a Viral infection, and Quinn suggested that we double up on our security” Ether explained, “only I have access to it now”

Zip stared at it in wonder as he walked past. Maybe they should invest in some of this extra security. Eventually Ether led him to a more normal looking door at the end of the corridor. Typing in a passcode, the door slid open with a hiss. Zip let out an audible gasp as the System Settings was revealed in front of him. Rows and rows of servos and screens, all bleeping and blinking away, the room humming with information and codes. It was almost like heaven.

Zip immediately made his way over to the Task Manager. The screen sat independently away from the others, detailing all of the current actions that were running through the System, from both the User and from inside the System. If any action had been taken on the System, it would be recorded here.

Typing away at the keyboard, he began to scroll through the previous actions from the last few cycles. Ether peered over his shoulder, squinting at the screen to try and make sense of the rows and rows of data.

“Is there anything there?” he asked tentatively.

“It’s gonna take a while to scan through it all and find some inconsistencies, but I know I’ll find them”

Ether mumbled in interest. Zip scrolled down until his eyes caught something interesting. Highlighting it, he pointed it out for the older Sprite.

“See, there! During a Game sequence in the North Markets a few cycles ago, there was a power outage on the South Side. A Game Cube dropping in the North Sector wouldn’t cause a small-scale power outage like that. This was predetermined”

“I say!” Ether’s eyes widened behind his glasses, “is that just a one off?”

“Err, no look” Zip scrolled down further, “another Game on the Digital Coast, and a power outage on the North Sector this time”

“This is outrageous!”

“Someone is causing power outages while people are distracted by the Games. Are those sectors where the attacks happened?”

“I shall have to check the files, but there is most likely a strong correlation” Ether nodded.

Without warning, a clattering noise sounded from down the corridor. Ether and Zip glanced round, a wave of fear rushing over the two of them.

“Erm, are there any workers down here?” Zip asked timidly.

“No… no, these lower corridors are off limits,” the older Sprite approached the door, leaning out into the corridor to scan the passageway.

The once comforting silence was now eerie - the hum something that resonated on the same frequency as Zip’s now frantic heart.

“I’m just going to go check that” Ether intoned, still staring out into the halls, “if you don’t mind to keep searching for evidence, you’re on quite the roll there”

Zip gave him a smile over his shoulder before turning back to the screen. Behind him, Ether left the server room, the door sliding closed behind him with a soft ‘ssssshhhk’. Zip continued to scroll back, looking for any other kind of discrepancies. A few more blackouts during games here and there, most likely covering up for other Binome attacks. Zip copied all the notable events to a file, saving the to show the rest of them later. He was just about to finish up, when something else caught his eye.

‘System Update In Progress’
- > 67% Completed
- > Core Access Granted

That didn’t make any sense… during a core update, the System Administrator was constantly busy in the Archives ensuring that everything was installed in the right place. But if that was the case… he had to double check something. Scrolling back even further confirmed his suspicion.

‘Security Update’
- > Archives = Syst. Admin. + Guard.
- > Information Manager = Syst. Admin. + Guard.
- > Media = Syst. Admin. + Guard.
- > System Core = Syst. Admin ONLY

There. The security update was installed before that update. Who was accessing the Core if Ether was busy? Still staring in confusion at the screen, he heard the door slide open behind him.

“Oh, Ether, I need you to see this. I think that someone’s been sneaking around behind your back”

Silence.

“I know it’s hard to hear, but I’m not sure your security is not that secure”

More silence.

“Ether?”

Zip could barely turn round. He could barely let out a scream. It wasn’t as if anyone could hear it, that far down in the bowels of the Principle Office.

*

Cynth strolled alongside a quietly bustling night market, running things through her mind. This whole scenario seemed odd. This ‘vampire’ was a mythology for Users, not Sprites. Unless it was a Game Sprite that left a game and was terrorising other Systems. But then again, Dex said that he’d detected a Virus reading, so was it a Virus? It certainly matched the description of Energy Draining Viruses. There were just too many unpredictable things to think about - like what in the Net was happening in the Settings that Zip had to go and find? None of it made any sense. It wasn’t as if this market was helping anyway - the noise of the Binomes nonchalantly shopping without a care in the world was offputting, as if there wasn’t any urgency to try and solve this mystery. She glanced around at the twinkling lights that were strung up above the tents, taking in all the wares and products that were being sold to the murmuring crowds. The atmosphere was almost enough to relax her and allow her to have a good time. But as a Guardian, she couldn’t afford to let her focus lapse now. Not when there was tension in the air… as if something could happen at any moment.

BOOM

An explosion from her left shook the ground and the strings of light to shiver and quake. Cynth immediately snapped into focus, her eyes frantically scanning down the alleyway where she just saw the flash of energy. The crowds of Binomes around her screamed and scattered, rushing as fast as they could to get away from the sound of the explosion. Her Guardian training kicking in, she began to charge down the alley, torch outstretched to light her way.

“Dex, come in, did you hear that?” she called into her radio

“I did. It sounded like it came from the far side of the alley complex” came the crackled reply, “you should be nearer, but I’m trying to get into contact with Hexadecimal. She should have been over in that direction”

“I’ll contact them if I can, but just hurry there!” Cynth leapt over some scattered trash cans and skidded round the corner.

The dark alleys were like a maze, leading towards the quieter parts of town; the prime places for another attack. Explosions hadn’t been reported before, so it was anyone's guess as to what was going down.

CRASH BOOM

Another two smaller explosions roared out from the darkness, staggering her nearly off her feet. She was close now. Readying her Keytool, she rolled towards the rolling dustclouds.

“Identify yourself!” she yelled out, “I mean it NOW!”

There was another flash of blinding light, and two orbs of orange light illuminated the mist. Cynth lowered her Keytool.

“Hex?”

“Oh Cynth, it’s you” Hexadecimal lowered her gloved hands, smoothing her unkempt hair back down, “you scared me for a moment”

“What happened here?” Cynth asked, holstering her Keytool and darting looks around at the destroyed alleyway.

“There was something here” Fuse collapsed into Hexadecimal, holding himself up on her arm.

“Huh?”

“Something was here, pretending to be Hexadecimal, and calling for help” he gasped out.

“I don’t understand, someone was imitating you?”

“I don’t know what it was, but it sounded exactly like Hex,” he shook his head, “I’ve heard some good impressionists but this was something else”

There came a bounding of footsteps and Dex charged round the corner, brandishing his gun.

“What’s happening, what’s going on?” he exclaimed

“I’m still not sure. We need to reconvene to process this. Where’s Quinn?”

Hex shrugged.

“I haven’t seen her”

As if on cue, the radio given to Cynth sparked to life.

“Hey guys, bit of a situation; just after those explosions I saw a perp run out from one of the side alleys. I tried to run after him but I lost him in the crowds”

Cynth bit her lip. Damn, possibly the only lead and it was lost.

“That’s OK. If you’ve got a visual then we can try and find a match on the Systemwide Scans. I’ll contact Zip and see if he’s got any kind of continuation on that lead he had”

“Alright, I’ll see if I can get a lead here on where that guy went”

Quinn disconnected, allowing Cynth to open the channel on her earpiece for her friend.

“Hey Zip, just checking in, we’ve had a situation here and was just checking in to see if you’d had any luck on your end”

Nothing but radio static came back. Cynth frowned and retried.

“Zip come in, we need an update on your situation”

There was a scuffling sound on the other end, followed by the sound of someone picking the earpiece up.

“Erm, Cynth?” came a grainy metallic voice from the other end

“Chromus? What are you doing with the earpiece, where’s Zip?”

"Zip is… Zip is not available at the moment. You may want to come back now - I’m not sure where he is”

*

“Explain what happened, exactly”

Cynth was pacing the floor rapidly, furiously trying to think. The group had rushed back as fast as they could to the Principal Office, meeting the Search Engine back in the office where they had left that morning. Chromus was recounting the events that had transpired over the last 6 seconds, right down to every detail.

“The results did not really come up with much, other than a few examples of energy draining viruses of varying classes - none of which had any significance to our current situation. However in regards to carrying out ‘tasks’ and being ‘among’ things, it came up with a lot of results and reviews for an incredibly popular game which…”

“OK Chromus that’s enough” Cynth waved her hand to silence him and continued to pace.

“I don’t think it is a Virus, I feel like it wouldn’t have been able to lay low for this long” Dex shook his head

Hexadecimal coughed and crossed her arms, nodding her head. If only they knew.

“I know I picked up some kind of reading on my scanner” he scratched his head.

Hex’s eyes widened.

“But if you’ve been through a viral attack, that could have been residual energy”

She breathed a sigh of relief.

“But then what happened to Zip?” Cynth growled frustratingly.

“And where is Ether?” Quinn glanced around, wringing her fingers.

“That’s right, Ether would have been the only person who would have been with Zip when he would have gone. Can you take us to the System Settings?”

“I mean I can do, but we should probably split up and look around, we can probably find things faster” Quinn offered frantically.

“I’m going with Hex!” Fuse grabbed Hex’s arm, pulling himself close to her.

“I mean…” Cynth began.

“Great, we’ll go check out the lower levels, ready? Let’s go!”

Quinn began to shoot towards the door, Dex held out a hand to stop her.

“You’re right, we should stick together in groups. We’ll join you in the lower levels”

“Oh… yes you can come too” Quinn blinked rapidly and pushed past his arms.

Cynth squinted after her, her face twitching. She followed suit, striding after the younger guardian with determination. Dex left as well after giving the other group a final comment.

“You guys check up here on this floor. Stay together and stay safe”

The three of them glanced around at each other. Lightning flashed behind them, followed by a loud crash of thunder. Hex looked between the confused Search Engine and the terrified Hacker.

“Well, where shall we start?”

*

Cynth and Dex could barely keep up with Quinn who was rushing as fast as she could down the lower floors, running from room to room in a desperate search for the older Sprite. She burst through the doors, scanned the room and then rushed out again, pushing the other two out of the way.

“Hey! Watch it!” Cynth called after her, “where are the System Settings? You’d better be taking us there!”

“There’s no time” Quinn muttered

“What does that mean?” Dex asked, brows knitting together.

Quinn stopped in her tracks, her hand on another doorknob.

“Alright fine” she responded through gritted teeth.

The Guardian turned on the spot and walked quickly towards the end of the corridor. The three of them gathered around the door. Quinn pushed the door to the dark room open and stepped inside, followed by the other two. Cynth immediately rushed over to the Task Manager screen that was still depicting the data that Zip had been scrolling through. Dex opened his PID, scanning the room for anything unusual.

“Zip…” she sighed, “what happened to you”

“Are you good here?” Quin tapped her foot impatiently, “can we… Can I go and have a look elsewhere for Ether”

“Yes, that’s fine” Cynth lowered her head, “but after you answer one question”

Quinn hesitated. Cynth reached her hand out behind her, firing a blast from her Keytool at the door. The beam pulled the door shut, causing Quinn and Dex to flinch back. The two of them looked over at the other Guardian confusedly. Cynth took a breath and turned to face Quinn, an accusatory look on her face.

“What are you hiding?”

There was a small silence, before Quinn let out a nervous chuckle.

“What? What are you on about Cynth?”

“You’re hiding something, I know it. You’ve been acting off this entire time, running off without us, not concerned at all for Zip” Cynth narrowed her eyes, “I think you know something we don’t”

Dex looked between Cynth and Quinn, his eyes widening when he saw Quinn’s hard death glare back at Cynth. Her grip intensified on the door handle.

“You really want to press this further? You wanna push this past the limits of your capabilities?”

“You have no idea of my capabilities, especially when the lives of innocent Sprites and Binomes are at stake”

Cynth took a step forward, still aiming 8Bit at her.

“You ran away from us down in the town, and then not 5 seconds later, Hex and Fuse come across something that mimicked Hex’s voice, and tried to lure him in. Conveniently, at that time, you were apparently occupied with what you told us was the assailant”

“As far as I know, that was the assailant” Quinn chuckled.

“You know as well as I there was no assailant. And conveniently, you return just after Hex manages to scare whatever it was off. But we don’t get to question you at all, because we had to rush back here. Gives you an easy out, doesn’t it?”

Quinn scoffed.

“You think I was the one luring Fuse away? How in the Net would I be able to be in two places at once?”

“What makes you think I don’t know you aren’t working alone” Cynth accused.

It was Quinn’s turn for her eyes to narrow. She let out a small chuckle that built into a manic laugh.

“Oh come off it, what does that even mean? You’re making stuff up now to clutch at straws”

“I hardly think so” Cynth shook her head slightly, not breaking eye contact, “I noticed it the first time you did it, but chalked it up to a mistake. But then you did it again and again, correcting yourself when you caught yourself slipping up”

“What are you on about now?”

“You keep referring to yourself, when you’re alone, as ‘we’”

Silence filled the room as Quinn stared the other Guardian down.

“Quinn, I’m going to ask once” Cynth prepped her Keytool to fire if necessary, “who’s ‘we’?”

The younger Sprite closed her eyes, laughing once again as a broad smile crossed her face.

“Oh Cynth…” she began, a coldness layering her voice, “you should have left this well enough alone”

*

On the upper floors, the three others had been methodically checking room after room with no success.

“Why would they even be up here if they went to the System Settings? I don’t get why we couldn’t have all gone” Fuse grumbled, checking under all the desks in yet another office that they had come across.

“Judging from how scared you were down in the alleyways, I would have thought being away from the site of potential danger would make you feel more comfortable” Hex chided, hands on her hips as if talking to a child.

Fuse pouted, returning to look around the office.

“I’d feel a lot better if we could actually do something to fight against whatever this is” he groaned.

“On my searches, I found a variety of methods that were used to ward off vampires throughout history, would you like me to list some for you?” Chomus informed them both.

“You’re only just telling us this now!?” Fuse hit his head as he clambered to get out from under the table.
Chromus cleared his throat and composed himself.

“Vampires are creatures that have appeared in a variety of cultures throughout history, and subsequently a variety of protection methods have developed over time. These methods take into consideration a vampire’s weaknesses in order to exploit them. A vampire’s weaknesses vary from historical means, such as the inability to cross running water or enter hallowed ground”

“Well I’m not sure that’s gonna be any use here” Fuse mumbled.

“It extends into methods to ward them away, such as the use of crucifixes or garlic”

“I think there’s a kitchen down the hall” Hex indicated with her thumb.

“While these methods are useful to prevent attacks, there are also methods used to destroy vampires entirely. The most common methods involve a wooden stake through the heart or direct exposure to sunlight or holy water” Chromus finished.

The two others contemplated those last few methods, giving each other questioning glances.

“Do you know where we could get holy water?”

“Haven’t the foggiest. That’s not exactly the circle that I’ve run around with”

“Wooden stakes could be doable. I’m sure they won’t miss a few tables”

“Not really much sunlight here either”

Their rambling was interrupted by the sound of knocking on the wall. The three of them immediately snapped towards the noise, their eyes wide. After sharing a couple of glances, the three of them left the office they were in and crept slowly towards the next door over. The hallway was dark, the thunder rumbling slowly in the distance and the rain pounding on the window. Hex began to reach out tentatively to open the door handle.

“Hex wait!” Fuse hissed, “Maybe we should actually go get some garlic or something first”

“Just stick behind me, we’ll be OK”

The Virus gripped the handle, the two other Sprites huddling behind her. After a moment of hesitation, she pulled the door open towards her. She had failed to realise that the door had been locked, and she had just ripped the wood right off its hinges.

“Oh” she intoned quietly.

The two others looked up from shielding their eyes, peering into the darkness to see who was behind the door. With his hand still raised, Ether stared back at them in shock. He lowered his hand and straightened his outfit.

“Well, I suppose I should say thank you very much”

“Happy to help” Hex replied sheepishly, “you can have your door back”

“That’s OK, you can keep it”

“What are you doing locked in an office up here?” Fuse poked his head out from behind Hex.

“That’s just the thing, I haven’t got a clue. Zip and I were down in the System Settings, and I went to go check on the Core because I heard a noise coming from that direction when… something attacked us”

“Is Zip OK? Did you see what it was?” Hex pressed, concerned.

“That’s just it, I didn’t even get to leave the System Settings. I don’t know what happened after that” Ether shook his head apologetically.

“Well then that leaves only one place to look for him then. What’s the fastest way to the core?”

*

“Quinn, what are you doing?” Dex warned, moving his hand over to his holster.

“You really don’t know when to quit. You just wanna push things past the point where you can handle it, don't ya?”

She let go of the doorknob, casually sauntering back to the centre of the room with a smug look on her face. The dark circles on her eyes seemed to be even more accentuated than before, her skin pale and clammy.

“It wasn’t my idea to call you here. I kept telling Ether that I was handling it perfectly fine and he needn’t worry. By the time he would have worked eeeeverything out, then it would have been far too late”

“Far too late for what? Who are you working with?” Cynth demanded.

“You really wanna meet them?” Quinn’s eyes flared.

The Guardian extended her arms, flexing her fingers. The silence of the System Settings was permeated by a gut-wrenching squelching noise. Dex and Cynth watched in silent horror as black tentacles began to emerge from under Quinn’s sleeves. They writhed around her hands, curling around her arms. Two large tentacles lowered from the small of her black, raising her from the floor. The tentacles were gooey, yet spikey - they looked horrific to touch. A mass of tentacled arose from the top of her, curling around over the top of her head.

“Do you like them?” Quinn crooned, “so beautiful up close”

“I… I can’t believe it…” Cynth’s mouth flapped open.

“No…” Dex let out a terrified breath.

“Awwh, you didn’t plan for this? I’m disappointed in you two”

“I had my suspicions,” Cynth grit her teeth, “ever since I noticed you never used your Keytool”

Quinn glanced at her empty wrist.

“Oh, you mean that useless little wristwatch? I haven’t had any use for it every since my new friend came along”

“You didn’t have any choice in that; the Keytool would have left you as soon as that creature attached itself to you. Do you have any idea what will happen if that gets access to the Net?”

“Oh please. As if that’s the only way to get access to the Net” Quinn grinned a wide, menacing grin, “But you’ll never live to see that”

Without warning, one of the tentacles shot out and zigzagged its way towards Cynth. She only just managed to dodge away, letting it hit the servers behind her. Sparks flew out and showered the Guardian as she rolled away. Quinn and the Web Creature pivoted around, keeping her eyes on the Sprite. She lashed out again, slashing with the tentacles. Cynth used 8Bit to throw up some shields, deflecting them away and using her concentrated energy beams to try and slash back at them. Quinn was about to attack again when a blast from behind staggered her. Infuriated, she whipped round, the tentacles dragging their attention away from Cynth, to the Antivirus behind her. Dex had drawn and aimed his antiviral gun at her, firing off a blast at the mass of tentacles.

“Oh you will regret that” she growled

Quinn bunched the tentacles together into one huge, thick limb and begun to heft it around towards him.

“Dex!” Cynth cried.

In a split nanosecond, she fired off a mobile shield at him, causing a bubble of energy to morph around him at the last moment. The tentacle collided with the energy barrier, letting off a huge crack of light. The ball rocketed back and into the wall, the force from the hit causing it to smash straight through the thick steel walls and leaving a gaping hole into the next room over.

“Oh will you look at that? You could have at least knocked before you burst in here”

Quinn hovered ominously after him, held up by the mass of tentacles, hands on her hips in mock anger. Dex coughed and spluttered; the shield had protected him from being damaged by the impact, but it was enough to wind him, leaving him defenceless on the floor. He rolled onto his side and saw where he was: he had fallen onto a metal platform connected to a series of walkways and stairs in a massive dark cylindrical room. The walkways led to an octagonal floor in the centre that featured several command consoles and large screens. With a grunt, he glanced down and his eyes opened wide at the site of the immensely large buzzing orb that was the System Core, supported by towering machinery. The whole thing irradiated huge amounts of energy, the hum and crackles of pure power surging forth around the room. Every so often, a bolt of blue electricity would zap out of the machine and into the nearby walls. The room was illuminated with the energy, washing everything with a cool blue light.

“Do you like it? Not many Sprites get to see the inside of the Core Room. As a matter of fact, I’m not technically supposed to see this place. The ‘Keeper of the Core’ is only meant to be in here, and Ether was keeping this locked up tighter than a miser’s purse”

She chuckled as she leant over him, a tentacle wrapping around his waist to drag him up into the air.

“But what he won’t know won’t hurt him, right?” she crooned.

“Quinn you need to step down, you have no idea what you’ve done” Cynth ordered, clambering through the destroyed wall and taking aim at her back.

“Oh Cynth, you're gonna have to be the one to step down” Quinn warned.

The tentacle holding Dex drifted over to the edge, dangling the Antivirus over the metal railings. Dex struggled weakly against it, glancing down in terror at the huge Core. Cynth faltered, her teeth grit in determination, but her Keytool lowering slightly. The menacing smile spread across Quinn’s face again, revelling in her victory.

“I’ll take care of you two now, and then when the others come in, I’ll just cry and say that you attacked me senselessly, and I had to fight back for my survival” she pouted, pretending to sniffle and cry.

“They’ll never fall for that, they’re much smarter than you’re giving them credit for!”

“Is that why they’re still not here? I would have thought smarter people would have worked out to come and look for you sooner than this. Instead they’re messing about upstairs with not a thought of you on your mind” she gloated.

No sooner than the sentence left her mouth, their came loud noises from the other side of the thick double doors that marked the entrance to the Core.

“This is the place, yes?”

“Err, yes definitely?”

“How do we get in?”

“Oh, well I have to unlock the lock with my key, then type in a keycode, and I also need my keycard… Oh now where did I put that…?”

“Oh that’s alright dear, stand back and allow me”

A nano later, the door was struck with a huge blow and exploded off its hinges. As the two tumbled down into the cavernous room, it revealed Hex, Fuse, Chromus and Ether standing in the doorway, Hexadecimal still with her fist raised. The four of them ran in, crossing over to the octagonal platform in order to confront the scene in front of them.

“What in the Net…” Fuse exclaimed, sliding to a halt when he took in the sight properly.

“Oh, you just had to come in and ruin everything!” Quinn stamped one of the other tentacles into the floor in frustration, “couldn’t you have just waited until I had killed these two!”

“I always thought there was something off about you” Hex raised an eyebrow, waving a finger at her accusingly.

“Oh no you didn’t, it’s easy to point fingers when I’m looking like this” Quinn huffed

“Quinn…” Ether gently leant around Hex, pushing past her to get in front, “what have you done?”

For the first time, Quinn hesitated. Her smile fell, and her expression was switched to one of fear and sadness.

"Well… you weren't supposed to see this. You weren't supposed to see any of this"

"How did you even get in here? After the last update this place has been locked for everyone except me!"

"Oh Ether, I know you underestimate a young Sprite like me, but do you think I'd really be so stupid as to not give myself a copy of the access keys? And who's the one who gives you prompts for the security codes every time?" Quinn taunted, gesturing wildly, causing Dex to be waved around carelessly, fear and concern affixed on his face.

"But… why?"

Quinn's taunting grin flickered and was replaced with a snarl.

"Why? Because no-one would have believed me. No-one would have helped me. I've been stuck like this ever since the Viral Infection and no-one even noticed"

The Guardian advanced towards the System Administrator, looming over him.

"You didn't even bother to look for anything until you started noticing the attacks. I tried to keep them hidden; I'd let them feed while I was inside Games, and no-one was any wiser. And when you started to catch on that these weren't just regular attacks, it was so easy to convince you that it was some 'vampire' than even bother to try and explain to you what really happened. And you took that! You went with it, no matter how ridiculous it was! And here I was thinking you were smart"

"Since the Viral Infection? You said you handled that with no issues?" Ether stumbled back, still in shock as Quinn moved ever closer, "what kind of Virus does this?"

"Oh… I thought it was just a Virus…" Quinn's voice was full of cold disdain, "I went in thinking that this just a regular rudimentary procedure: go in, nullify, then get out again. Oh… how wrong I was"

The tentacle threw Dex down, causing him to slip across the railings to the edge. He grunted and flailed around to try and catch a grip of the railings before he went over completely. Cynth leapt forwards, launching out a tether cable from 8Bit which wrapped around his wrist. The two then struggled to get him back onto the platform as Quinn directed all her attention to Ether, moving over to the large central platform. Hex pushed Fuse back behind her, eyes fixated on Quinn.

"When I got to the site, I found a practically unidentifiable viral… thing… writhing around on the floor. But what was particularly interesting, was the Tear right next to it. This wasn't some ordinary Tear no… it led right into the Web"

Hexadecimal froze on the spot, rooted to the floor.

"There was nothing left of whatever virus that was… all its energy had been drained. But whatever did it saw me… and then I became its next target"
Quinn caressed one of the tentacles.

"When it latched to me, it realised that I was a lot smarter than the Virus. It realised it could communicate with me, and so it did. It told me so many wonderful things about the Web, what was out there. What it could show me. All I needed to do, was to help it regain its strength, and to help it complete its task"

"It's… task?" Ether stuttered.

Quinn's cackle built up to a ferocious roaring laughter, echoing around the cavernous room.

"In order to return to the Web, it needed create a portal. And I couldn't do it since my Userforsaken Keytool abandoned me, so it needed a new method"
Quinn slithered her way over to the control panel.

"It needed to repopulate"

She flicked a switch. The indicator lights along the walls of the room began to glow with a soft blue light all the way up to the ceiling. It was dim, but it was enough to light up what was up there; writhing and crawling across the ceiling, were hundreds and hundreds of Web Creatures. All in various sizes, all constantly moving, the gooey entities squelching as they pushed past each other. They surrounded the central ceiling spire, amassing dark matter around it and using their own bodies to try and for a gateway to the Web. By the looks of it, they were almost complete. The entire group of them gazed upon the sight in terror, unable to fully comprehend what they were looking at.

"No…" Cynth breathed, her heart racing, "what have you done?"

"A new generation of these beautiful creatures, and soon they will depart for the Web, and I will go with them"

"You and I both know that's not true!" Cynth argued, "these creatures will just drain you and leave you once they've got what they need!"

"You're lying!" Quinn screeched, "this creature has looked out for and been there for me!"

"Only because it needed to! It's using you to survive, using you to attack innocent Binomes. It's a parasite"

"You're LYING!" Quinn roared, slamming her tentacles into the floor in anger.

The Web Creatures above her writhed and let out their piercing cries. Quinn glanced up at them, and then back down at the other Guardian.

"You know, I've been hogging all the food in this System. I suppose it's time to let them have a snack before we leave. If your lucky, they'll eradicate the System quickly, and you won't suffer"

She giggled and leant over Cynth.

"So I hope your luck runs out"

As soon as she finished speaking, there came sickening screeches from above as the masses of Web Creatures began to wake up and shoot down towards the walkways.

"Don't let any of them touch you!" Cynth called out to the rest of them, summoning an energy bean to deter the first few away from her.

Dex, now having recovered from his near death experience, drew his blaster and began to fire away. He knew they weren't Viruses, but the energy was painful enough to ward them away. The Core Room was illuminated by the flashes from Keytools and guns, the shadows of the Creatures darting around all over the room. Quinn let out a series of echoing laughs, swiping at Cynth and Dex while they desperately tried to evade the Web Creature onslaught. She began to prepare to throw out another tentacle while they were distracted, when bolts of energy struck her from the side. She swung around in anger to see an angelic Chromus gliding around her, his broad wings keeping him afloat in the air. His shiny body glimmered with his Web Armour active, allowing him to be protected from the Web Creatures.

“You stupid Search Engine!” she growled, extending her arm towards him accusingly.

The Web Creatures nearby began to swarm together and turned their attention aggressively towards Chromus. He veered off around the room, firing off blasts of energy as he did so.

"Hex we have to help them!" Fuse shook her arm, eyes darting around to try and keep them all in view.

When he got no response from her he dared to tear his eyes away from the ceiling to look at her. She too was fixated on the Web Creatures, but the look of pure terror on her face was unparalleled.

She was frozen in place, sweat running from her forehead. Unable to move any muscle, terrified of what would happen if she did, she remained unresponsive to anything Fuse did.

"Hex please!" He begged desperately to no avail.

"Maybe I can talk to her again, and try to calm her down" Ether suggested.

"I'm not sure she's in a very talkative mood!" Fuse yelped, using all his energy to drag Hex out of the way of a rogue Web Creature coming right for them.

This seemed to momentarily snap her out of her trance, sending her bolting over towards the Command Console. Fuse and Ether hurried after her, heads down to avoid the swarm above. At the console, Fuse scanned the desk for anything that could be helpful. On seeing nothing of immediate use he glanced over his shoulder, and his eyes widened.

"Hex I know you don't wanna do anything but can you please help us with a shield or something?!" He pleaded as he watched a hoard of screaming Creatures race towards them.

The Virus in question was huddled on the floor, covering her face with her hands. Fuse watched helplessly as the Creatures got closer… and collided with an energy barrier. He breathed a deep sigh of relief as he noticed the blue forcefield that had surrounded them in a little bubble.

"Thank you Hex," he thanked, "I wish this stupid thing was more helpful!"

He slammed his fist on the console in frustration. The force of this caused a small cabinet door to swing open next to the main console. With a surprised grunt, the contents of the cupboard fell out.

"Zip!?" Fuse blinked in surprise

The small sprite was bound in sticky goo, restricting his hands and covering his mouth. The Hacker knelt down and hastily uncovered his mouth.

"Oh thank the User!" Zip breathed a deep breath in, "I don't know how much longer I would have lasted in there!"

"Well I'm not sure how much longer we're gonna last out here!" Fuse responded, trying to pull at the binds on Zip's wrists.

"What in the Net!?" Zip exclaimed on looking around at the Web Creatures outside the shield.

His eyes widened more when he saw Cynth and Dex desperately trying to fend off an ever approaching Quinn.

“We have to do something!” Zip wriggled around, trying to break free.

“Can’t Hex just get rid of all of these things?”

Fuse’s eyes flicked towards the shivering Virus.

“I don’t think she’s able to… What about you? You were the one who went to the System Settings looking for how to stop whatever was going on!”

“Well yes, I found out that during the last system update, there was an illegal access to the System Core”

“Uh yeah, I think we got that” Fuse indicated around.

“But! Just after that update, the System’s Brightness settings were set manually to Night mode”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, if it was Quinn, and she did it after the infection, there must have been a reason”

Fuse turned to look back at the console, and sure enough the Night Mode setting had been switched on. Curiously though, it was locked on - without the passcode, you wouldn’t usually be able to switch it back.

“It’s been locked into night mode!”

“Can you switch it back?”

“It’ll take some time, but I think I can. Ether, you help untie Zip”

“Right, yes I can do that” Ether nodded and crouched down tentatively.

The Hacker turned back to the console, taking out his PID and connecting it into the circuitboards. he began tapping away, desperately trying to hack into it as fast as he could.

“Fuse, are you almost there?”

“Almost, you guys OK?”

“Err… maybe?” Ether was pawing at the goo, staring at it confusedly as it struggled and held in place.

Fuse glanced again at Hex, giving her a concerned look. He glanced again at the swarms of Web Creatures slamming against the forcefield. He glanced at Quinn who had just swept Cynth’s legs out from underneath her and was about to smack her straight off of the edge. Chromus was unable to help her, as he was being practically overwhelmed by masses of Creatures trying to suffocate him.

There was a small beep.

That was it. Fuse yanked a handle on the console, flipping it from right to left. Immediately, the main lights in the room burst to life, filling the entire Core Room with harsh white light. The screeches of the Creatures was immediately replaced with screams of pain as they curled up and flew away up to the ceilings, piling on top of each other to try and escape from the light. One of the most piercing screams came from Quinn; the Creature on her back was recoiling in pain, tentacles curling up and losing strength, causing Quinn to slam down onto the metal grating. The pain had clearly spread into the Guardian, causing her to curl up on the floor in pain, her face contorting intensely. Now in full light, and in the newly acquired silence, the group caught their breaths. Dex helped Cynth up to her feet, the two of them limping their way over to the fallen Sprite. Chromus lowered himself back down to the platform, looking around in silent awe at all the fleeing creatures. Fuse breathed a sigh of relief and knelt down next to Hex.

“Hey, you OK? We’re OK now, you’re safe”

Hex took her hands away from her face, staring cautiously around the room at the bright lights. With a slight whimper, she stood back up, holding Fuse’s hand for support. The shield surrounding them faded, the sphere disintegrating. Cynth stopped at Quinn’s gently shaking body, aiming her Keytool at her. Dex continued past, kneeling down and using his knife to cut through the goop. Everyone finally free and less shaken up, they all joined Cynth over the whimpering Guardian.

“What… what happened… where am I?” Quinn let out in a whisper.

“Don’t play dumb, you know what happened” Cynth tutted.

Quinn stared up with tired eyes before letting everything go limp.

“I’m so so sorry” she finally admitted, “I lost control… ever since the infection I’ve been fighting this… thing. I tried… I tried to let it feed while I went into games, but it kept getting hungrier…”

She coughed and the tentacles writhed again. Hex took a step back from the group, raising her hands in defence.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ether lowered himself to the floor next to her, “We could have tried to fix this together”

“I didn’t want to put you in danger. I didn’t want anyone to be… that’s why I just locked you in the offices - they promised they wouldn’t hurt you if I got you out of the way”

“But it didn’t have to go this far…” Ether teared up slightly, taking her hand, “we could have cut this off straight away…”

“Well, you can, right?” Zip piped up, “Now that we know about it there must be something we can do”

“Oh there is” Cynth grimaced, striding past them over to the console.

“Yeah, we can fix this, right?” Zip looked up at Dex with hope.

Dex looked back at him with stony silence, a grim look on his face. Zip’s brow furrowed as he looked around at everyone. Everyone else bar Fuse had a similar look of despair.

“Warning: Core Self Destruct Sequence Initiated. Core Detonation in 15 seconds” the System’s voice echoed throughout the room.

Zip whipped round to see Cynth finish typing into the Control Console.

“Cynth what are you doing?” he demanded.

“Detonating the System. It’s the only way to deal with an infection this severe”

“But… but 15 seconds isn’t enough time to evacuate everyone”

“It’s enough for them to say goodbye to their loved ones…” Cynth looked away.

Zip’s hopeful smile fell off his face

“Wha...what? But… why? The infection is here?” he gestured around.

“I’m sorry Zip, but it’s Guardian protocol; any sign of Web Creature infection should be met with complete System eradication to ensure that it doesn’t spread to any other System”

“But we know where the infection is it’s…”

“But we don’t know who else may be infected if it’s been this long,” Cynth interrupted, “if it had just happened, then maybe I’d bend the rules and deal with 1 Creature. But this is the only solution for a situation like this” she gestured around to the stunned Creatures.

“But… all those Binomes, all those Sprites…”

“I know Zip, I’m sorry” Cynth shook her head.

“You can’t! There has to be some other way!” Zip protested.

“Zip, if anyone else was infected, then we could be opening the door for thousands of Systems to be destroyed. One System falling will protect so many others”

“Who are you to make that call?”

“A Guardian,” Cynth concluded, “now we have to leave”

“Warning: Core Detonation in 10 seconds”

Zip spun round in desperation.

“Hex, please, you wouldn’t let this happen, would you?”

For the first time in a while, Hex made a response.

“Get rid of them,” she let out in a hushed whisper while shaking her head, “get rid of them all”

Zip continued to spin round, trying to get anyone to agree with him.

“Dex?” he tried finally.

All the Antivirus had to offer was a stern face and a hand on his shoulder.

“We should go, son, we need to leave now”

Zip’s mouth flapped open and closed in silence. Cynth detached her Icon and threw it over to Dex.

“Use the teleporter to get you back to the ship. Chromus, could you take Fuse back with you?”

“Of course” Chromus obliged, siding over to the Hacker, who was also staring around in confusion.

He tucked his arm under Fuse’s and lifted off the ground, causing Fuse to let out a surprised yelp. Dex clicked the Icon, activating the teleportation matrix. Before they left, Zip made one more plea.

“Please Cynth…”

The two of them dematerialised, leaving Cynth, Hex and the two from Metroplaza.

“Hex I need you to stay here”

“What!?” Hexadecimal tensed up.

“I just need you to teleport us back once we’ve made sure that none of them have managed to escape”

“Oh… as long as that goes quickly” Hex mumbled.

The two of them cautiously approached the two Sprites on the floor. Ether clutched Quinn’s hand, who was squeezing as hard as she could.

“I’m so sorry Ether” Quinn mumbled

“I know” he gave a sad smile.

“I just wanted to try and keep the System safe”

“I know” he nodded

“I… I didn’t do my job as a Guardian…”

“I know…”

“Warning: Core Detonation in 5 seconds”

Cynth put a hand gently on Ether’s shoulder.

“I’ll let you have this moment in peace”

“Thank you,” he didn’t look up at her, “that’s very kind of you. Thank you for all you’ve done here. I know you couldn’t fix it but...”

He smiled down at Quinn as a tear ran down her cheek.

“This is kinder than letting them all suffer”

Cynth nodded silently and stepped back. With a nod to her left, Hex stepped forwards and put a hand on Cynth’s arm. In the blink of an eye, the two of them dematerialised from the Core Room and reappeared back outside, just outside of the now active Network Craft. Hex didn’t need to be told twice as she scarpered into the vehicle, strapping herself in. Cynth followed suit shortly, taking one final look back out at the doomed System. With a sad sigh (and a glance at a fuming Zip) she took her seat up at the cockpit next to Dex.
The ship hummed as it started up, lifting off the ground. As fast as they could, the group of them took off out of the System through the portal that brought them here, which closed itself off as soon as they were through. This left the System closed to the rest of the net, its silvery orb glinting in the dark expanse.

“Warning: Core Detonation in 5… 4…. 3… 2… 1”

In the complete silence of the Connected Net, Metroplaza began to contract in on itself indefinitely… before completely obliterating itself. A huge multicoloured aura was thrown off by the huge blast, sending shockwaves across the Net. Once the light died down… there was absolutely nothing left…

*

Dex stirred his coffee as he sat in the Control Room, scrolling through his daily Antivirus checks. He heard the door slide open behind him and glanced around to see Cynth stroll in through.

“Well I never quite realised how nice it would be to get home and deal with these small worries” she sighed on content.

“I completely agree. Action is all well and good but nothing beats going back to normality” Dex raised his mug to that.

Cynth sat on the desk next to him, idly chatting about the mundane things they were looking forward to. The door slid open again, causing the two of them to turn and look. Zip took a few steps into the room, before noticing who was in the room. His face changed from one of content to anger, and he slammed his stack of files on a nearby desk before storming out again. Cynth sighed as she watched him go.

“Do you think he’s going to forgive me?”

“I’m sure he’ll push past it. He just needs some time to think about it and realise that it was the only thing you could do”

“Mmm…” Cynth was unconvinced

“You had no other option; you followed protocol and saved countless numbers of lives” Dex reassured her, “it’s what I would do”

“I know” she rubbed her forehead, “I just… I don’t think he understands that it was hard for me as well. You know, as a Guardian, I had to make that decision. I had to make the decision to let all those people…”

“I know” Dex nodded again.

There was a moment of silence.

“Speaking of things not being easy, have you heard from Hexadecimal?” he asked.

Cynth shrugged.

“She went back to her room as soon as we got back. I haven’t heard from her properly, but I know that Fuse has been checking up on her”

“She did have a bad experience there… I’ve never seen her so scared”

“She’s strong… I’m sure she’ll come find us if she needs anything. At least she’s comfortable now in her room… right?”

The Virus in question was still in her room, but it was anything but a comfort for her. Her furniture was piled high against the door, the curtains pulled across the window. She cowered in the centre of her bed, face covered by her hands. She didn’t dare open her eyes, she didn’t dare look around. She could still see them swarming around. She could still see them reaching out through the Looking Glass. She could still feel them coursing through her body, the feeling of it taking control, leaving her helpless. She hadn’t remembered it at all until now. And now she couldn’t forget it.

Chapter Text

“Why did you schedule the event for today when you knew that the Solitaire Club were having their event here the same day?”

Cynth was standing in the middle of a rumpus room surrounded by two squabbling groups of Binomes, each arguing their case for why their group should be the ones to keep the room.

“The Chess Club has had this event on the calendar for weeks now!” a haughty Binome huffed to the Guardian.

“Well I know that’s not true, cause I checked it last cycle, and yours wasn’t there!” another Binome argued, sliding his glasses back onto his face.

“Guys, please” Cynth frowned in frustration, “one at a time and I’m sure we’ll sort this out. Hex, are you making any kind of progress?”

She looked around the room desperately for help from the other sprite, only to see her covered with streamers and paper decorations.

“Uhhh… not really… i think i’m supposed to be putting up knight banners over there?” Hex spun around on the spot slowly, looking around at the room.

“No no! You have to put the card suit poster up over there!” and old Binome jabbed at her from behind her.

Hex shrugged at Cynth, who tutted and shook her head.

“We could really use Zip’s help with all this”

“Wasn’t he supposed to be in charge of scheduling mishap things like this?” Hex dumped the decorations onto the quarreling Binomes and strolled over to Cynth.

“Usually, yes, but I gave him all the time off that he wanted to try and get on his good side”

“He’s still not talking to you?”

“Not really, but I suppose I don’t blame him” Cynth sighed and rubbed her forehead, “It’s a lot to make one Sprite try to understand when they don’t know. I’m sure you feel the same way”

“Err… yes, of course” Hex lied, smiling weakly.

“Warning: Initiating Game” echoed the System’s voice.

“Oh User preserve!” Cynth swore, immediately shooting off towards the exit, followed hastily by Hex.

The two were helpless as they watched the green Game Cube slam down to the ground two sectors over with intense speed, locking them out from joining and beating it. Cynth swore again.

“Dammit, we’re too late. That entire sector… nullified”

*

“This is ridiculous. We can’t keep going on like this” Dex shook his head and paced around the control room table.

Cynth and Hex had reported the situation to the others; when the two of them walked in to the control room, Dex’s face had fallen to one of intense disbelief. Fuse and Chromus had shared glances, knowing what this meant for the area within the Game. Zip still refused to look at Cynth.

“It’s these User-forsaken games installed into the drive” Cynth slapped the table in frustration, “they come down too fast and unless we’re outside, then they just go down wherever”

“Well I’m sorry” Zip huffed, “Giff and I tried the best we could to update the Icons so that that function would even work”

I know and I appreciate that Zip,” she sighed, “but it’s not enough. That whole section will be lost now”

“What do we do now?” Hex asked.

“Well, we have to wait until the game leaves, and then we have to go over and assess the situation”

“I know it’s controversial,” Fuse intoned, leaning forward with his fingers tented together, “but would it be possible to forcefully eject the game? I could make it happen”

“By all logic, since the User cannot win the game, then it would not have the same negative effects as usual” Chromus reasoned.

“It’s a good sentiment, but if we forcefully ejected a game each time we didn’t want the User to win, then it might prompt a reset in order to fix that ‘problem’” Dex explained.

Fuse nodded in acceptance.

"Makes sense. I just never got the point: why would the User winning destroy their own System? Is it just to challenge the Guardians?"

"No-one really knows" Cynth shrugged, "it's our duty as Guardians to go into the games and defeat the User"

"Game Over. User wins" the System echoed as the Game Cube pulsed and rose back up into the sky.

Cynth's eyes followed it up with contempt, arms crossed. She let out a frustrated sigh as it exited the sky.

"I managed to go so long without letting one go" She muttered under her breath.

Dex cleared his throat and stood up from his chair.

"Well, now I suppose it is time for the site assessment. Cynth, you, Hex and Zip will.."

"Wait, me?" Zip's head snapped up to attention

Dex was caught off guard, taking a moment to respond.

"Yes… did it sound like I said someone else?"

"No I just… don't you usually go along with these site assessments?"

"Usually yes, but I've had requests from Binomes to come down and check out an apparent viral bug infestation. I'm taking Chromus and Fuse to help, so that leaves you three to assess the site" He explained calmly.

Zip pursed his lips, grinding his teeth gently.

"Fine. Let me pack up my things"

*

The Nullified Sector looked as bad as it sounded; after the User had won, the Game Cube had risen back up into the sky, taking all of the sector’s information with it. No-one knows why they did this, but it was the very reason why it was so important that experienced Sprites entered the games in order to beat the User. Hex scanned the skyline, taking in all the warped, corrupted building remnants - the dark, textureless stone jagging into the sky, silhouetted against the clouds. What was once a hubbub of noise and a thriving community, was now desolate and empty.

Well… not totally empty.

Cynth stood aside the blockade of CPUs, overseeing the cordoning off the entire square from the rest of the System with a large fence. When this sort of thing happened it was essential that the area be surveyed for safety; these nullified buildings could have low structural integrity, and present a danger to the Binomes. Using 8Bit, she brought up a map of the area, seeing exactly what area they had to work with.

“Alright, everything from outside looks pretty standard,” Cynth observed, “we’ll have to head on inside to see what kind of damage we’re looking at”

“Mmhmm” Zip mumbled, tapping away at his PID.

Cynth gave him a slight frown before switching her attention to Hex, who was continuing to stare in wonder at the sector.

“Come on, let's head inside”

Showing the blockade her ID card, the three of them stepped through the gate into the run down area. Immediately the three of them were hit with intense feelings; for Cynth and Zip it was cold feelings of emptiness, the two of them shivering from the silence. For Hex, it was a warm feeling of familiarity - the destroyed, textureless buildings towered up into the sky, a wonderful reminder of what she used to know so well. She turned around in wonder, eyes still stuck to the sky as she took in the sights of the sector. Even the clouds were a dull grey in the sky, rolling over in a sluggish way. The three of them made their way through nullified sector, avoiding piles of rubble and fallen lampposts as they walked down now abandoned streets. Zip was making notes on his PID as they walked, Cynth talking to herself about the damage they were witnessing.

“Ruined apartment block, that’s the 6th one… I think that used to beeeee… a mini-mart? I’m not sure, the sign is pretty ruined”

“Uh huh. Was this 3rd street or Main?”

“Umm…” Cynth spun around on the spot, “I think Main? Argh, I’m not sure, all these streets look the same now”

“Well can we get that sorted?” Zip huffed.

Cynth shot him a sour look.

“I’m trying, it’s not easy to do this, you know. Can’t you just skip it and come back to it later?”

“Ok” Zip rolled his eyes, “if you don’t want a gap in the data then you’d better remind me”

“Hey, watch the attitude!”

“Sorr-y but I think it’s justified whe-ARGH!”

Zip suddenly buckled over in pain, dropping his PID and stumbling to the floor.

“Zip, what happened!” Cynth sprinted over to him, crouching down to the floor.

Hex’s attention was torn away from the building-tops towards the two sprites. Zip was clutching his foot, wincing in pain.

“I was just standing here and I just felt something touch my foot, and then there was just… severe pain” Zip grit his teeth

“Did you kick a rock?”

“No, Cynth, I didn’t ‘kick a rock!’”

“I think it was that over there” Hex pointed past them.

The two followed where she was pointing. Rapidly running away from them with a series of high pitched squeals and squeaks, was an iridescent red Null. The little slug zigzagged over the ruined pavements, running away as fast as it could until it eventually scurried off into the darkness of an alley.

“Crap, it must have run over your foot, and you got stung” Cynth realised

“Oh yeah, I guess that was what happened(!)” Zip grunted.

“How sweet” Hex murmured gazing over to where the Null had just been.

“Damn Nulls…” Zip swore.

“I’ll radio Dex, see if we can get you patched up properly” Cynth assured, opening up a Vidwindow.

After a moment the screen buzzed and Dex popped up in the window.

“Cynth? What’s up?” he asked as he looked over the scene.

“I got attacked by a stupid Null!” Zip announced angrily.

“You what?”

“He didn’t get attacked” Cynth furrowed her brow, shooting another look at Zip, “a Null ran over his foot and he got a shock”

“Oh, well, that’s still relatively serious” Dex considered

“It was just a baby” Hex chimed in softly.

“Just a baby?!” Zip spluttered, “that thing could have killed me given the chance!”

He staggered to his feet, limping towards the Vidwindow.

“I didn’t even want to come on this stupid recon mission. I could have just stayed at the office and worked out the answer to our important problem of the Installed games. However, I think I’ve got an answer now!”

He gestured around frustratingly.

“I’ll just create a program that will code all the Installed Gamecubes to fall in this sector when there’s no Guardian outside. That way, no-one will get hurt or have to worry about this again!”

“You can’t do that!” Hex stepped forwards in protest, “the Nulls don’t like Games!”

“So?”

“So, they’ll want to run away when the Gamecubes come down! And they can’t leave the sector or they’ll run into Sprites!”

“That’s not my problem!” Zip argued, “we can bunch them up and throw them in the Energy Sea then”

Anger flashed through Hexadecimal’s entire form.

“Kill him!” a voice roared through her mind, “he deserves to die for that!”

“Or feed him to the Nulls, if he screamed like that for one, imagine the screams he makes for a whole hoard!” another cackled gleefully.

For a moment, Hex debated listening to them. Instead, she bit her tongue and held back.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea” she replied through gritted teeth.

“I agree, it wouldn’t be necessary as long as we lock up the sector” Dex cleared his throat, “as for the solution to the Installed Games, I think it’s best if we think of this later. Let’s get you patched up and then you three can all take the rest of the cycle off. Go have a drink or something, clear your minds”

*

Synthesised pop music pumped out of the speakers, filling the dance floor with vibrant music. The Binomes were going crazy for it - laughing and screeching as their favourite songs came on one after the other. Jolly purple spotlights waved around the room, strobe lights adding in that extra bit of club magic. The dim room was exclusively lit up multicoloured lights that matched themselves to the plush sofas and booths around the bar area. This was where the three Sprites were located - sitting on barstools, leaning against the shiny chrome and purple bartop. Cynth looked to her left; Hexadecimal sat idly, staring blankfaced into her glittery Energy Cocktail. On Cynth's right sat Zip, hunched over his tangy Energy Mocktail, on account of him not being old enough to drink, his face pulled into a scowl. His foot was wrapped in bandages, giving it time to heal from the nasty sting. The two of them were silent, not having spoken since they arrived. Cynth let out a sigh and broke the silence.

"Well this is lovely isn't it?" She offered out, gesturing to the whole club, "seems like a nice fun place to bring everyone to at some point"

Zip dragged his eyes around the room.

"Would be more fun if I could drink"

"Well, unfortunately I'm technically still on duty" Cynth grinned, taking a sip from her own drink, "I need to make sure the law is upheld"

Zip made a dismissive huff as he shook his head, but a slight smile crossed his lips. Cynth continued to push forwards, happy to be having a conversation.

"Did you have anything at home you could have, you know, thats a little stronger?"

"What happened to you being on duty?"

"Out of sight, out of mind"

"That's a terrible motto for a Guardian!"

"I know but it makes me a cool Guardian" Cynth smirked, drinking another swig.

She paused and then clarified.

"I just want to say that was a joke, I don't really have that policy"

"Hmm. I wouldn't be surprised if you did, given your other rules that you uphold"

Cynth's happy demeanor fell.

"Oh.. you're still upset about that"

"Of course I am! That was a whole System full of people! They all had lives, and jobs and families!"

Cynth rotated to face Zip.

"And they would have been all destroyed by the Web Creatures if we hadn’t stepped in!"

There was a crack from behind her, and she turned back hastily to see Hex clutching onto her cocktail glass - the base of which had snapped off.

"Oh… sorry, I think I put it down too hard" Hex murmured.

"That's ok, as long as you're not hurt" Cynth assured.

"Oh her feelings you care soooo much" Zip angrily downed the rest of his juice

"I care about everyone's feelings. And besides, Hex agrees we did the right thing"

Zip leant forward to look at the Virus.

"Is that true? You do?"

"It doesn't bother me. I just wanted those creatures gone"

"How could it not bother you?" Zip spluttered, "what about all the lives that won't be able to go on? All those friends that won't be able to see each other again"

"Well I managed it for years, I'm sure people who don't exist anymore will manage fine" Hex replied pointedly.

Before could respond to that, Cynth interrupted him.

"What do you mean? Did you not have any friends in your old System?"

"Not many, I spent most of my time alone" Hex shrugged, "I guess people there didn't want to be friends with someone that powerful"

"You mean 'that in-charge', right?"

Hex paused.

"Yes.." she eventually responded, taking a sip.

“Oh that sounds so sad” Cynth clutched her chest.

“We don’t need her pity!” one of her inner voices hissed

“I just… preferred other company. Ones that listen, and are there for me when I need them” Hex shrugged.

“Exactly,” Zip waved his hand in approval, “friends who listen are actual friends”

Cynth sighed.

“Would you just drop it!” she hissed at him.

“I will once you just admit what you chose to do was wrong!”

“I would if that were true!”

“Well of course you’d think that! And now I’m sitting in this club, drinking some… expensive, fancy juice… while everyone else is screeching and falling over. And on top of that my foot hurts and it was all those stupid Null’s fault!”

There was another loud crack from behind Cynth, interrupting their argument and causing them to turn to her. Hex’s glass was now shattered to pieces on the bar, the cocktail dripping down her clenched hand onto the smooth counter. He stared straight ahead, not showing any indication of it happening.

“Hex!?” Cynth gasped, “are you OK?”

“I’m fine…” Hex murmured in reply, staring dead ahead.

“Do… do you want another one?” Cynth asked, “oh your glove… it's covered in it…”

“That’s OK” the virus responded, opening and closing her soaked gloved hand a few times, letting a few shards fall onto the desk.

After a moment of silence, she turned to the side and stood up from her stool. Turning her head slightly, she addressed the two stunned sprites.

“I’ve just realised we could go and find some of my friends. Right now”

Cynth and Zip glanced at each other.

“You… you mean… from your old System?” Zip asked.

“Oh no… but ones very similar”

She turned to face them. Somehow, her face seemed empty; her eyes seemed like they were unmoving, like empty shells that just stared forward past them. It must have been a trick of the light, or maybe her highlighter, but her face seemed… shiny… like it was made of plastic… or porcelain.

“It would mean a lot to me” she spoke out in an almost hollow voice, “it would be like being in my old System again”

Something didn’t sit well with Cynth, but she felt bad for Hexadecimal - she hadn’t had something to remind her of home, and any change to that would be a good thing. With a final, slightly concerned look at Zip, she turned back to the tall entity.

“... Sure, why not. It is our night off. Lead the way!”

*

"OK when I said lead the way, I didn't think that meant to here…"

Cynth drew her arms around her, trying to keep herself warm against the unforgiving cold of the night, a frown on her face as she scanned her eyes over the huge security barrier that separated them from the newly nullified sector.

"You said you wanted to meet my friends…" Hex crooned gently, staring at the lock on the gate "so we're going to meet them"

"But we're not supposed to be here, noone is!" Zip's teeth chattered, "the only people that go in these places are people looking for trouble"

"And you don't seem like the kind of person to keep up with that crowd" Cynth added.

"And right you are" Hex grinned at them

With a clench of her hand, she crushed the lock like it was made of paper. Sprinkling the debris off her hands, she pushed the doors to the sector open. Without hesitation, she skipped away into the dark ruins. The two others shared a quick glance before hurrying in after her. It was hard to follow her, she kept rushing in different directions, dodging and weaving between piles of rubble. Zip and Cynth silently followed, thoroughly confused. Eventually Hexadecimal made a crow of delight and sprinted into a clearing. On following, they noticed that it was once a crossroads, a big 4-way intersection surrounded by towering buildings. The textureless block loomed over them, casting shadow on an already dark night. The winds seemed to pick up a little.

"Hex why are we here?" Cynth called out to the now still Sprite.

"They will come… they will… they will be here… I'm here… I'm their queen, they must do…" Hex continuously muttered to herself.

"Cynth, whats going on?" Zip was trembling slightly.

"I don't know but just stay with me" Cynth primed 8Bit.

A clatter rang out from a dark alleyway, echoing cacophonously around the empty streets. All heads snapped to the direction of the sound.

"Aaaaaahh here they come now" Hex grinned widely again.

To the other two's horror, there came an unearthly screeching and squeaking, as Nulls began to emerge from every available space - they slithered out of the darkness, tumbled out of the windows of the buildings around them. A few even burst out from abandoned letterboxes and writhed out from sewer grates. All different sizes, all different colours, but all heading in the same direction: towards them.

"HEX!" Cynth shouted, immediately taking steps back.

Zip yelped and scampered towards Hexadecimal, who was firmly planted in the centre of the crossroads, arms outstretched in welcome and a look of pure elation on her face.

"Look at them! Look at how beautiful they are!"

The Null horde swarmed around them, pushing them closer to the centre. Cynth kept stepping back toward the others, continously pointing her Keytool at the sea of Nulls.

"If you want to stay alive I would recommend not firing" Hex warned, "there's enough here to drain you in an instant"

"If they get too close they're gonna have to be pushed back somehow!"

"They won't come any closer"

Cynth was now right up next to the others, the circle of Nulls still swirling around.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I told them not to. Look for yourself"

Cynth lowered her Keytool in confusion and flicked her eyes around. Despite the fact that the Nulls were still writhing and swirling around them, the circle that they were contained in was not getting any smaller. They were contained by a living sea of the slugs.

“What do you mean you 'told' them?” Cynth shook her head in confusion, “we should get out of here, can’t you just fly us away?”

“We don’t need to leave, they will keep us safe” Hex murmured.

“Safe? These things are dangerous!” Zip panicked, “you saw what they did earlier!”

Hex grit her teeth.

“Zip is right, they’re unpredictable. We need to leave now”

“They are fine”

“They are wild animals!”

“THEY WERE PEOPLE” Hex screeched.

The shout took the others by surprise, silencing them both. Around them, the Nulls began to get restless. Anger flashed over Hexadecimal’s face.

“These were all Sprites and Binomes like you” she continued, “they had lives and families, just like the ones you were so eager to argue for earlier”

The Nulls began to scream even louder, moving faster.

“They didn’t get a choice to be in the Game. And now thanks to us, they’ve been reduced to this form. And now you say they are animals? Vermin?”

She narrowed her eyes even more.

“Dangerous? Just because you came into their home? When they were scared and confused, and had no-one to go to?”

Zip and Cynth watched in horror as the sea began to rise. A mass of Nulls all clumped together, rising as one lump - a huge hulking mass of Nulls, rising up like some horrific creature looming in front of Hexadecimal. She continued to stand, arms outstretched, staring into this huge mass. It moved as if it were one entity, but its surface was never still.

“All this time they were scared and alone - Nullified against their own will, and then locked away”

A tear ran down her face.

“And you wanted to throw them away into the Energy Sea”

At this, the Nulls began to get angry. The writhing sea began to rise in height and speed, the squealing getting cacophonous. Cynth was wary once again, and Zip clutched onto her tightly.

“I… I didn’t mean it…” Zip whimpered, “I didn’t think… they just hurt me”

Hex wasn’t listening; she was too engrossed in staring at the Null mass in front of her. Cynth watched in concern as the Nulls began to breach forward.

“Hex…” she warned

“It’s OK… they have me now… I’m their queen” Hex whispered, “the cast out queen of those forgotten”

“Hex! They’re coming forward!”

“No, I’m in control… they wouldn’t move”

“Yes they are!”

“I will keep them safe!”

“Warning: Initiating Game”

Cynth looked to the sky, startled as her and Hex’s Icon began to flash green and spin around. A game was starting, and was coming right for them. Immediately, the Nulls began to freak out, scrambling over each other to try and get away now, scurrying away down drains and alleyways. The only one that remained was the mass of Nulls in front of Hexadecimal. Cynth watched in horror as the mass tried desperately to pull away. contorting itself into numerous uncomfortable looking shapes.

“Hex what are you doing?” Cynth called over the rapidly growing winds, the clouds overhead becoming dark, “we have to be ready to Reboot!”

“No…” Hex replied, not to Cynth, but to the Nulls in front of her, “Please don’t go… don’t leave me alone…”

She could feel them trying to pull away, trying to run away from the Gamecube. But she couldn’t let them leave… they were the only note of familiarity in this whole place. The used all the strength in her to keep them there - using all the power she could muster to overpower their desire to run. She could hear voices screaming in her head, with no clue which were her voices and which was the screaming of the Nulls. The Null mass loomed forwards, practically almost touching her hand, while simultaneously desperately stretching to pull away.

But just before it could, the glowing green cube slammed down into the ground. The Nulls outside it quivered, turning back to stare at the giant buzzing cube, bathed in the cold green light that was thrown out into the rest of the sector.

Cynth shielded her eyes as the game world materialised around her, the light from the game’s daytime a shocking contrast to the dark of outside. The world was filled with a bouncing, bopping beat, which the whole world seemed to bounce along with; a candy landscape filled with lollipop trees and gummy flowers, all bobbing along to the music. Everything smelled sweet and everything was bright and fun. Cynthq quickly scanned 8Bit’s information screen - if they lost this game, then they would be nullified as well.

“The castle is the goal, we have to stop the User getting to the Candy Crown” she muttered, “Zip we can ambush them on this path if we Reboot now”

Zip nodded meekly, detaching himself from her just for a moment. The two of them steeled themselves before double tapping their icons.

“Reboot!”

With a flash, the two of them had shifted into their game sprite forms; both of them were decked out in castle guard armour, but it was entirely made of candy. Their red and white striped peppermint chestplate and shoulderpads was in sharp contrast to their green gummy-lace chainmail. Cynth adjusted the sugary leather straps while turning to the third party member.

“Hex if you Reboot now we can…”

She was immediately interrupted by a horrific screaming coming from just in front of them. Cynth froze in her tracks, unable to fully process what she was seeing.
Hexadecimal was still standing where she was, arms still outstretched. More concerningly, the Null mass was still in front of her. Or rather, it wasn’t a mass of Nulls anymore: the writhing surface of multicoloured slugs was no longer visible. Instead, it… was almost as if it was comprised of… bodies. Cynth could see eyes, what looked like mouths, maybe even a few limbs here and there. It was moving around far too much, whipping around too much to really get a solid look at it. All she could focus on was its screams - instead of the usual electronic squeaking of the Nulls, there came a bone-chilling wailing. A multitude of voices layered on top of each other, crying out from this awkwardly textured, grey blob. It sounded in pain, it sounded scared. Cynth couldn’t move. Behind her, she noted Zip couldn’t either, his eyes fixated intently on the distorted creature in front of them. It flailed around, letting out more cries of anguish. Cynth shook her head to clear it from her stupor and rushed forwards.

“Hex get away from that!” she called out.

Hexadecimal opened her eyes, and a thousand eyes stared back. They stared straight into her heart; pleading to be let go, for their pain to stop. Fear rose throughout her, freezing her to the spot. Try as she might, she couldn’t make herself move away, she couldn’t make herself stop. She felt pulling at her side, but she’d fixed herself to the ground. Cynth grunted as she tried to pull Hex away to no avail. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the… thing again, but she could hear it getting more and more agitated, the rumbling of the floor increasing as the creature moved haphazardly towards them. As much as she didn’t want to, she would have to try and push it back from the two of them. Who knows what it could do?

“Zip make sure you’re clear, I’m gonna try and take a shot at it!” she called back, one arm around Hex, and her other readying the Keytool.

“You may not have to!” Zip called back to her, “Look!”

Cynth peered around Hex and the Null mass, down the sugar lane, to see a cartoonish rabbit figure hopping up the path. The glowing symbol above its head indicated that this sprite was the User. This threw a whole new spanner in the works - if the User ran past them now, they’d almost certainly be nullified when they finished the game. Cynth’s brain was working overtime, trying to weigh up everything and work out what to do next. Before she came to a decision, the User stopped in the middle of the lane. They stood there idle as they stared at the Null mass. Cynth breathed heavily, unsure of what to do. Should she go for the kill now? The User looked side to side.

“Game Over: User Quits” the System’s voice crooned.

The game world dissolved rapidly as the Game Cube rose back up into the sky. Cynth watched it go, the light that the world brought being immediately replaced with the cold darkness of the night. Their Rebooted forms were removed, as was the texture of the Null mass: the eyes and distorted features were gone, and back were the hundreds and hundreds of slugs. Hex’s hold on them finally broke, and she collapsed into Cynth’s arms. The mass wobbled and broke formation as the Nulls realised their newfound freedom. They didn’t stay long - as soon as they got the opportunity, they screeched and split apart, racing off in all directions to get away as fast as they could. Cynth watched them go, concerned and exhausted from the rush of emotions. Once they had all disappeared from view, she breathed a sigh of relief. With great care, she knelt down to the floor, lowering the unconscious form of Hexadecimal to the floor. Zip controlled his breathing, bending over and clutching his knees.

“What… in the Net… was THAT?!” he gasped.

Cynth shook her head.

“I have absolutely no idea… something with the Nulls in the game…”

“But how did that even happen? I thought they wouldn’t go into games?”

“Well, they won’t, but I never considered that they could”

“But… how?”

Cynth shrugged and shook her head.

“I guess…” she looked down at Hex, “I guess she really did have control over them. It took a lot out of her. We should get her home, it’s the least we could do”

*

“I didn’t think I’d be doing so much lifting this evening”

“Just hold her while I get the door open”

Cynth unlocked Hex’s apartment door and pushed it open. They weren’t even a step in when the two of them had to stop and stare around in confusion.

“Has… has she redecorated?” Cynth asked

“I uhhh… I guess? I gave her access to the decorator tool… but I wasn’t expecting this??”

The room was… impossible. Even though the room was a small apartment on the edge of an apartment complex, the room stretched out to the size of a small ballroom. It ignored the laws of physics, and definitely did not look like this from the outside. The room was entirely black now, with sinister looking spiked sconces lined the walls, bathing the room in cold light. Her spiked throne sat at the far side of the room, her TV hovering gently next to it. The whole room was dark and gloomy, like a villain’s lair. But Cynth wasn’t ever one to judge someone’s style; you should see the state of her apartment. After a moment of confusion the two of them managed to find the bedroom and shift her into it. The room matched the main room’s aesthetic - dark and broody, and a large round bed complete with crimson pillows and black silk sheets. The two of them gently lay her on the bed, careful not to rock her too much. As the two of them made their way to leave, they heard a gentle mumble from behind them.

“Mmm Scuzzy…” Hexadecimal mumbled.

“What was that?” Cynth knelt down next to the Virus.

“Mmmmwhere is Scuzzy?”

“Scuzzy?” Cynth looked confusedly at Zip, who gave an equally confused hug, “what’s a Scuzzy?”

Hexadecimal just mumbled more and opened a bleary eye. It focused intently on something behind Cynth.

“N… no… Get… mirror away…”

“The mirror?” Cynth looked towards the mirror, eyes scanning the cracks in the glass.

“What did you do to it?” Zip questioned, bewildered.

“Get… get it away!” Hex panicked, clutching the sheets and burying her face in them.

“Wha… what do you mean?”

“Fix it! Fix it!”

“I… I can get a new mirror in tomorrow if you want, I can get the workers in first thing…”

“NO! Fix it! Please…!” Hex screeched, tearing a hole in the sheets from clutching at them.

Cynth spluttered for a moment in despair before standing again.

“8Bit, repair” she ordered her Keytool.

After a beep, orange beams shot out of the tool, scanning over the mirror, sealing up the cracks. In a nano, the mirror was back to normal. Only after Cynth had finished her repairs did Hex calm down, still curled up in a ball but was silent. Cynth and Zip just stood and waited, to see if she would do anything else. When the only noise that came out of her mouth was a shaky breath, the others sighed in relief. Cynth followed Zip back out into the main room, the two of them silently approaching the door. Cynth opened it, allowing ZIp to walk into the hallway. He paused for her to follow, but she remained behind the door.

“Aren't you coming too?” he asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Cynth shook her head.

“I think it’s best if I stay here and wait for her. She went through a lot, I would hope seeing a friendly face first thing would be good for her”

“I guess so…”

The two contemplated in silence.

“That… Her control of the Nulls?” Zip began.

Cynth nodded slowly.

“That’s… that’s not normal for Guardians… right?”

Cynth’s nods changed to a slow shaking of the head. Zip nodded in confirmation.

“How… what does that mean then?”

“I… I really couldn’t say” Cynth rubbed her forehead in exhaustion, “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life”

“i know, I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep after that” Zip shuddered, “but she was right”

Cynth tilted her head.

“About the Nulls” Zip continued, “I was speaking out of anger when I said I should just program the Games to fall in the Nullified sector. After seeing what it did to the Nulls there when the Game fell… I’ve never seen Nulls act like that…”

He sighed.

“Hex was right. They were people. And we’ve been treating them like pests. Or at least I have been”

“I’m much of the same” Cynth agreed, “I neglected to remember that about them, and I can’t believe that I let myself act like that”

“Well, I guess now we’ll both be seeing them a lot differently now”

Zip looked Cynth in the eyes, taking a deep breath in.

“And after today, I can’t continue to hold a grudge against you” he sighed, “after seeing you risk your life to protect me and Hex from something you didn’t even know. Obviously you only want to do what’s best for us, and you’d only do things like… at Metroplaza… if it was the only thing that you could do. I’m sorry for not seeing that sooner”

Cynth put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a comforting pat before pulling him into a hug.

“I’m so sorry that you had to be there for something like that. No-one should have to witness that, not to mention have to deal with the thoughts of that after. I obviously don’t expect you to forget about it, but I definitely hope that you understand that I will follow my function to mend and defend, no matter what”

Zip nodded.

“I’d always do all I can to protect us. We’ve got each other's back, I promise” Cynth smiled.

Chapter Text

Hexadecimal’s eyes snapped open.

Her head throbbed, left over from the mixture of alcohol and strain.

Visions of last cycle flashed through her mind. Sounds bounced around, echoing around as if they were all calling out, but she couldn't understand anything they were saying. She pressed her hands against her head, trying to quash the sounds down so that she could try and hear herself think. Eventually she opened her eyes, taking in the remnants of last night; a tear in the sheets from where she gripped it, and the mirror. She stood from her bed, approaching the now smoothly mended glass. She ran a clawed finger over the surface, barely taking in her viral reflection.

"Hex? You up?"

It was Cynth's voice. Hex barely flinched when she heard it; she debated not even taking up her Sprite form. End this whole charade now. But no, she shouldn't. Mustering up what energy she had left, she assumed her Sprite form. Grabbing a black silk robe from her door and tying it around her, she cautiously pushed the door open to her living room. She could see the Guardian busying herself in her kitchenette, opening cupboards and draws as she looked around. At the sound of the door, she glanced back at Hex.

"Ah, good, I was gonna make tea or coffee, then I realised I didn't know what you'd prefer so I thought I'd make both, but then I realised I don't know where you keep your coffee, or your tea for that matter" She rambled.

Hex smiled weakly and pointed with her finger. The top cupboard door opened smoothly and a silver teapot and sugar dish levitated down onto the counter. Cynth nodded in approval and began to prepare a pot of tea while Hex sat down in her throne. After a few seconds, Cynth pulled up a chair and table opposite her, placing the newly brewed tea on the table. Hex thanked her, waving her hand to cause the teapot to pour itself. Cynth watched the process with quiet interest, following the cup as it floated deftly into the taller Sprites waiting hands.

"That power…" She began, "I've never seen anything like it. At least, not without a Keytool or something else aiding them"

Hex sipped ever so gently at her tea.

"I've never met anyone like you..." Cynth continued, her brow farrowing, "there's something so… special, unique, about you"

"Well thank you" Hex replied quietly, chuckling softly to herself, "I doubt you'll meet anyone else like me either"

"Where did you get that power from?"

Hex peered at Cynth over the top of her teacup. The Guardian was looking directly back into her eyes, almost like she was scanning them. Obviously she couldn't tell the truth, so it was time to stretch it.

"When I was in the Net, I wasn't… me. Well I was, but I was very, very weak. Everywhere I went in the Net, I felt myself losing pieces of me, gaining them again, and things reorganising themselves around me. At some point I drifted too close to an entrance to the Web. I… I don't know what it did, but I definitely didn't feel the same as I did going in. I felt… I am a new Sprite"

She shook her head.

"These powers were given to me, I don't know why, or how, but they were"

Cynth was silent, nodding slowly as she took it all in.

"And last cycle? With the Nulls?"

"Oh, I've just always been able to do that" Hex flapped her hand in dismissal, "I've never been able to explain that"

Cynth opened and closed her mouth in confusion, but shrugged.

"I'm not gonna argue with it. You saved us again, and I'm beginning not to question those who thanklessly risk their lives for us"

She put a hand on Hex's knee.

"We just don't wanna see you hurt yourself. Whatever you were feeling last cycle, we should have been there to help and support you from the beginning"

Hex smiled again and took her hand.

"I guess I was just missing home"

Cynth gripped her hand in comfort.

"I promise we'll get you there"

*

"Thank you for joining us, I'm sorry it had to be early but it's essential we do it now before we have to worry about it later"

Zip had assembled everyone in the Control Room, standing at the front by the main screen. To his right, Fuse sat behind the desk, at the ready with the computer when he was needed. Dex, Cynth, Hex and Chromus were all seated patiently at the table, the rest of the Principal Office workforce gathered behind them. All of them awaited what Zup had to say, as he cleared his throat to continue.

"So, as we know last cycle… well… a lot happened. To cut a long and rather terrifying story short, Hex, Cynth and I took a trip into the recently Nullified sector"

"Wha…" Dex began, but was shushed by Cynth.

"While we were there, we… well I realised that the decision to block off the sector and use it to contain the Installed games would not be the right thing to do"
He flashed a quick look towards Hex, who gave him an affirmative thumb up. He took a breath and continued, signalling for Fuse to bring up something on the monitor. A few taps from the keyboard, and the Nullified sector was brought up on screen.

"Here we can see the areas most recently affected by Nullification. As you can see, there are a few areas in close proximity to each other, only really saltwater by one or two streets that are more or less abandoned now. On seeing this, it made me realise we could solve this problem with just a little coding"

Another tap from Fuse and the screen changed to show a projected map of the area, with a much larger area highlighted on it. The group leant forward to take it all in.

"Fuse and I stayed up all night working together to code a program that would alter the way the Installed games work and force them to fall in this large open area when there is no active Guardian outside. But not only that, it will alternate where it falls within this sector in a regular rotational pattern. This will give all the Nulls that live in this sector ample space to continue to live in as well as a safe but close by area to flee to when the games fall"

"That's such a wonderful idea Zip!" Cynth exclaimed

"Plus, it should help to prevent any further damage to the rest of the System. I can't guarantee what will happen to the Nullified sector over time if it keeps being bombarded by games, but hopefully this rotation will help to reduce any impact it may have"

Zip concluded his talk and sat down in his chair breathing a sigh of relief as it all went well. The rest of the team gave him a round of applause, praising him for working so hard and quick to implement this helpful change. It was now Fuse's turn to clear his throat and stand up.

"Now, on the same topic but… 100 times more disturbing," he began with a nervous chuckle, "is the case of the Null Mass that appeared in the last Game Cube"

This caused a stir from the onlookers - they had all heard the disturbing descriptions from those who had entered the game, and rumours of what it could mean had spread around like wildfire.

"Now from what Zip had described, I've created a rough projection on what this… entity looked like. Er… if you have a nervous disposition then you may wanna look away"

He pressed a button on the keyboard and the screen changed. Cynth grimaced slightly on seeing the creature again. Hex tilted her head to get a better look, realising she hadn't really taken it in when she saw it last cycle. The crowd emitted gasps as the image rotated onscreen, giving the full view of its entire surface. After a slight pause Fuse continued.

"Now while this doesn't look anything like Nulls, we've never been able to observe Nulls within games before. And looking at this, I think I've been able to work out what happened"

He brought up an image of a Game Cube.

"So as we all know, Game Cubes hold all the data of the Game within it: settings, actions and most importantly - Game Sprites and User Data. But what's interesting is that the Games also hold a set of data known as 'Ghost Data', which is set aside to act as a backup for the User in order to recover any lost data. There have been reports of 'Ghost Data' being able to load itself in when the Games glitch or are unstable, which tells us that it must be stored somewhere between both the Game and the System”

He paused to let all this information process for them.

“So, what I believe we are seeing here, is an element of this ‘Ghost Data’” he continued, “Nulls are created when the game is won by the User, and the energy from the Game strips a Binome or a Sprite of pieces of their data, leaving them in this sluglike state. BUT! If ‘Ghost Data’ is stored within the game, then there is a potential for the Binome or Sprite data to be also stored in the Games!”

There was a ripple of murmuring from the crowd.

“What I hypothesise is that when a Null goes into a game, the stored data can be temporarily restored, allowing them to recover their forms, even if only within the Game itself!”

There were shocked and excited gasps from the audience. Could that really be true? Could there really be a way to save these souls who they thought had been lost forever? Fuse tapped through the screens, bringing up equations and codes.

“It’s still a long way away, but if we keep working on this, then it could be a turning point for Systems throughout the Net!”

His conclusion was met with a round of applause from the onlookers, curious excitement rumbling around the room. As the meeting ended and the rest of the Principal Office workers filed slowly out of the room, Cynth, Dex, Chromus and Hex approached the Hacker.

“Do you really think you can find a permanent fix for the missing data?” Cynth asked

“It’ll take a lot of work, but I believe it can be done” Fuse shrugged, “the only issue is we’d need to get the Nulls into a Game in order to make the data stick to their forms, and I know we don’t want to force the Nulls to do things they don’t want to do”

He nodded at Hex, who smiled back at him.

“Well, if we pose it to them nicely, then perhaps they’ll understand and we can work with them” she held up her hands, “I can’t guarantee anything though”

“Hey, any kind of help is better than nothing” Fuse chuckled.

Beep beep.

Dex’s PID emitted an alert, causing him to jump slightly and bring up a screen.

“Ah! They’re almost here! I’ve got to head over and meet them”

“Hold on a second, meet who?” Cynth tilted her head.

“I’m expecting an arrival from another Antivirus from a neighbouring System, bringing over a free update to my code” Dex answered, flicking away the VidWindow before stretching, “It’s been a while since I’ve had a meeting with another Antivirus, I’m almost nervous”

“Oh well you know how we are, we won’t let you go it alone” Cynth patted his arm, “we’ll be there for support”

“It’s just a routine meeting, it’s not an award winning performance” he brushed her away with a smile.

The group of them made their way down to the hanger, where the portal to the neighbouring System would open. They congregated around the gateway, Dex out in front, awaiting for their arrival. A few nanos later, the gate began to whir and glow, and the orange sphere materialised within the machinery. Dex breathed in a nervous sigh and steeled himself, pushing out his chest for a confidence boost. The sphere stabilised and three forms began to phase through. The one in front shared the same uniform as Dex; the red jacket with silver trim, complete with the Icon that featured an additional square to indicate their function. He had coiffed golden hair atop his red head, his expression one of quiet amusement. The only thing that was different for his uniform in comparison to Dex’s was that under his Icon were three silver stars. One of the Sprite’s behind him was dressed pretty much the same as him, clearly a lower grade of Antivirus. The other was very different - he wore a neat pair of brown trousers and work shirt complete with a perfectly tied tie. Rectangular glasses sat neatly atop his nose, and his black hair was brushed and styled to perfection. His expression was one of stern quiet calculation, a stark contrast to the Antivirus next to him who was smiling broadly.

“Well, well” the Antivirus in front boomed out as he stepped out of the portal,
“Codex, it’s been a long while. Managed to keep your sorry System safe for now?”

Dex gave him a tight lipped smile.

“Of course, McNort, I did take an oath when I left the academy”

The higher ranking Antivirus barked out a laugh, slapping Dex on the back.

“Alright, no need to be so serious! That was always your problem, Killjoy, you didn’t know when to stop working and when to have fun. No wonder you’re stuck here”

“Ahem” Cynth interjected, stepping forward, “may I remind you that you are only here for a routine delivery. And in my System on top of that”

The Antivirus called McNort turned her, giving her a bemused smirk.

“Alright, alright! Geez, as pushy as ever I see… Cynth, was it?” he feigned forgetfulness

Cynth scowled at him.

“And there’s Zip, congrats little man on your promotion, don’t let it go to your head”

Zip opened his mouth to retort but Dex put a hand on his shoulder.

“Is that… Chromus? How ya been bud!” the Antivirus saluted him, prompting a slightly hesitant wave back.

“Yes, it is good to see you again McNort” he smiled.

On seeing the questioning glances from the rest of the team, he explained.

“I’ve visited the Antivirus Headquarters a lot when User need me to. They are a very popular search”

“Heck yeah baby, best of the best!” McNort hi-fived the Antivirus behind him, causing Cynth to roll her eyes.

McNort turned his eyes back to the group, resting on Fuse.

“And another weedy addition that doesn’t really need any focus”

Fuse blinked in shock.

“And…” his gaze turned over to Hexadecimal, who stared back at him with contempt, “Well… who do we have here? I definitely would have remembered you pretty thing the last time we came here”

“I’m glad I wasn’t here” she responded, staring expressionless into his eyes, “and my name is Hexadecimal”

“Ooh, a feisty one” McNort wiggled his eyebrows.

“McNort” Cynth interjected, raising her voice.

“Alright! Fine!” McNort waved his hand at the Antivirus behind him, “Gavin, get the update”

As the other Sprite began to rummage in his bag, Cynth nodded towards the other Sprite, who was hanging back nearer the portal frame.

“And who’s this? Protocol states that only authorised members are allowed to allocate updates, and I don’t remember seeing them at all last time”

McNort took the update package from Gavin and began to type in a code on the metal canister. Hex looked over at him as well, to see him staring back at her directly. He slowly panned across her team taking each of them in turn.

“This is Creighton, he’s a System Helpdesk on work experience, and Antivirus protocol states that the commanding officer can greenlight his travel into other Systems. And that officer is me”

Creighton pushed his glasses up his nose.

“A pleasure to meet you,” his voice was slightly nasal and matter-of-fact, “and I would be delighted to work with you”

Cynth scanned him up and down with her eyes.

“Hmm. I suppose if he’s under your jurisdiction, then it’s fine”

“Exactly” McNort grinned smugly, opening the canister and taking out a bracelet.

Dex took the small device and gave it a look over. McNort explained what it was.

“It’s an update for your Viral detection capabilities. You know, so you don’t let any slip through the cracks”

Hex tensed up slightly at this, giving the device a stern look. Dex turned it over in his hand.

“Does it just switch on? How does it work?”

“Oh you wanna be careful when you do cause…” McNort warned but it was too late.

As Dex flicked a button on the side, causing the screen to light up, urgent, high pitched beeps rang out through the entire hangar. Cynth winced and put a hand to her ear to try and reduce the sound. Hex stared in horror at the device, her heart nearly beating out of her chest. This must be it… she was going to be found out. But to her surprise, McNort just sighed and took the watch back from Dex. A nano later, the beeping stopped.

“Yeah that happened to me too. I think it’s some weird test function it has, dodgy piece of crap is what it is” he handed the device back, “can’t rely on free updates nowadays”

Hex breathed a gentle sigh of relief. Glancing back at the group, she saw McNort’s unimpressed scowl, Gavin’s face of permanent obliviousness, and Creighton’s… wait was that… panic? She tilted her head, trying to analyse his expression. Before she could get far, he caught her eye, coughed and fixed his hair, resetting his glasses back on his face.

“It’s a little startling,” he chuckled, “I’m not used to things like that. Usually keep to my books”

“Oh that was me with this lot” Zip piped up, jabbing a thumb around at the rest of the group, “always rushing about and leaving me in the quiet of my Archives”

“You wanted to be left alone there!” Cynth retorted, “you could have come into any Game you wanted to!”

“I think you know I’d rather be nullified” Zip shivered.

“Do you think we could spend some time in the Archives?” Creighton asked tentatively, “I would love to see how an experienced ex-System Helpdesk such as yourself ran a System as successful as this”

Zip stood up straight with confidence, his ego boosted.

“Oh, well of course! It’s always a treat to give another connoisseur of fine System organisation a tour of my pride and joy!”

The smaller Sprite gestured with hands, directing the bespectacled Sprite out towards the exit. Creighton gave him an excited smile and practically hopped after him. Hex followed him with her gaze as he left, her eyes narrowed slightly. McNort watched them go as well, shaking his head as he did so.

“Nerds being nerds. Gets him out of my hair I guess. You really know what friends to make, Killjoy”

“You mind not insulting my team, McNort?” Cynth crossed her arms, staring daggers into him.

McNort pursed his lips as he made a mocking expression, with Gavin behind him snickering. Not taking any of her advice, he turned his attention to Dex.

“So what sort of things you been up to here? Anything new? Anything interesting?”

His eyes lit up as he remembered something.

“Oh! You went on that hot date didn’t you!” he patted Gavin’s arm in excitement, “yeah the one you were raving about at the last briefing session!”

Dex’s face flushed rapidly as he shifted uncomfortably on the spot.

“... I wasn’t raving about it, just mentioned it”

McNort sucked in a breath through his teeth.

“Ooh that bad, huh? Really that much of a ladykiller, are you? I feel bad for the woman who went out with you!”

“Actually, he’s just being modest” Hex interjected, casually strolling over to Dex, sliding her arm around his and pulling herself close, “the evening was perfect, and he was just such a gentleman”

McNort blinked at her, taken aback. Dex glanced at her, mid-scratch of his stubble, confusion painted over his face. Hex gave his arm a squeeze.

“It was a truly wonderful evening” she smiled sweetly at him.

“Uhhhhh…” Dex began, “Y… yes. I… almost couldn’t believe that things went… so well”

“You… you were the one who went on a date with him?” McNort asked, wavering slightly.

“I am” Hex responded, hand on her hips and standing up to her full height, “do you see something wrong with that?”

McNort scanned her face, trying to find fault in the things she was saying. Hex challenged him, her expression unreadable and stony.

“Well… congratulations to the happy couple” he smiled wryly.

“Thank you,” Dex intoned, placing a hand on Hexadecimal’s, “and I hope one day you can have something like this too”

This caused McNort to scowl, breathing heavily in preparation for a retort. Cynth took this opportunity to push herself forward.

“Ok, ok, I think it’s time to call it there. Thank you for the Update, we’ll see you for the next one”

“Well I’d love to get the F out of here, but we can’t leave until Pointdexter is finished in the Archives, and the Return Portal to come back. User knows when that will be”

Cynth sighed heavily. She didn’t want to cater for these slobs, but ah well, she wasn’t going to stoop to their level; the Guardian Academy was far more prestigious than the Antivirus Academy.

“Fuse, Chromus, could you escort these two to the guest lounge? Maybe get them some drinks or something”

She shot them a dry smile.

“Make sure they’re comfortable”

Fuse and Chromus nodded, turning to walk the two other sprites out of the hangar. McNort gave them one final scowl before flicking his hair back over his shoulder and storming out, with Gavin in hot pursuit. Once the door had slid shut behind them, Dex let out a heavy sigh and slumped his shoulders.

“Oh thank the User! I don’t know how much more of that I could have taken” he exclaimed in relief, “and thank you so much for that save Hex”

“I felt it was necessary - I couldn’t just stand there and let them insult you like that”

“Well, as much as I appreciate the help, I’m not going to look forward to the next formal event, and then I’ll have to tell everyone it was a lie”

“Ah, not necessarily. How about I go along with you, looking all glamorous, making everyone else jealous” she assured, “and then I cause a scene which makes everyone think I’m insane and unbearable, cue you stepping in and dumping me and looking like a sensible hero”

Dex raised an eyebrow with a questioning smirk.

“You thought that out frighteningly quickly”

“Frighteningly quick ideas like that are my speciality” she bowed gracefully.

They all shared a chuckle. Cynth yawned and stretched, tapping a few buttons on 8Bit.

“Right well, Hex you mind transporting us over to the Nullified Sector? We need to establish the perimeter for Fuse’s new program, and we need to use your powers to keep the Nulls from getting caught up in the setup”

Hex nodded. Any excess work in the Nullified Sector would stress out the hordes of Nulls, so it would be better to tell them to keep out of the way.

“That’s a good plan” Dex approved, “I’m gonna go see if I can program this detector so that it doesn’t… do what it did again. And… and then I’m going to have a lie down”

*

A few minutes later, Hex returned back to the Principal Office. She hovered back in through the Control Room window, brushing off excess dust from the Nullified Sector. The two of them had finished setting up the area in which the program would run, and Cynth suggested they both call it a day for now. Now free to do what she pleased, she had one thought on her mind. And it involved locating a certain Sprite.

She paced down the halls, her heels clacking on the tiles as she made her way with purpose to the Archives. Something hadn’t sat right in her mind as soon as those three had stepped foot in the System, especially with Creighton. Something about the way he looked at her, the way he acted throughout the meeting earlier. And now she had some serious questions for him.

The Archives were as silent and foreboding as always. She passed door after door, each one marking the entrance to a different file, application or piece of software. Each of them was shut, their names emblazoned on the front with electric blue light. It illuminated the slightly darker areas of the hallways, giving the whole corridor a slightly ominous glow. But the most interesting thing was that there was no sign of the two sprites that had come down this hall earlier - the Archives were big, and Zip could easily be absolutely anywhere in here, but this Creighton person? He seemed to be a much less graceful than Zip - he’d be easy to find. And yet, nothing. No sign of them. Or was there?

A gentle spark and clatter from further down the hall caused her head to turn slightly. The room at the end of the hallway was slightly ajar, and light was flickering out from it, as if it were being interacted with. Bingo. She immediately honed in on the sound, making a beeline for the door. As quiet as she could, she gently pushed it open, revealing the hunched over form of Creighton at the desk, fingers tapping away at a keyboard attached to a computer monitor. These rooms were small helpdesks that helped to find specific files. But the screen was not displaying files and documents from the archive; instead, the System’s Settings menu was filling the screen, and it seemed like Creighton had been attempting to guess the security pins. Tilting her head in curiosity, she noticed a small rectangular device plugged into the computer screen. Its little screen flashed with multiple colours, a loading sign whirling round and round. Something wasn’t right.

“Is someone lost?”

The Sprite yelped and whirled round, his glasses knocked askew.

“Oh! Ms Hexadecimal! I… I didn’t hear you come in!”

“I know. I’m very light on my feet. We both are, I’m assuming that’s how you gave Zip the slip”

She sauntered into the room, letting the door swing shut behind her. Creighton chuckled nervously.

“I… err… I’m not sure what you mean”

“Oh? Did Zip tell you to come in here? We’ll just go and ask him then and then we’ll see” she indicated behind her with her thumb.

“No!” Creighton barked in worry, causing Hex to flash him a grin.

“Oh yes of course, because then they’d find out you were snooping around where you weren’t supposed to be,” she began to slowly walk towards him, gesturing dramatically with her hands and causing him to retreat back to the desk as far as he could go, “and then they’d start questioning you, and then they’d put two and two together and work out what you truly are”

She stared him intensely in the eye. He stared back with fear.

“W…Whatever do you mean by that?”

“Oh don’t play dumb with me” she murmured with an excited whisper, “I saw how you reacted when that alarm went off. You played it off as just a startle but I knew exactly what it was; it was the worry of being discovered”

She flashed him a wild grin.

“Of being found out. I know because that’s exactly how I felt”

“P… pardon?”

“Now shush” she crooned, “you don’t have to hide anymore. You and I are one and the same: poor lost souls, masquerading as others in order to avoid being marked for the ‘scum’ we are”

She leant in close.

“A Virus”

Creighton’s expression was stone-faced as Hexadecimal leaned back, her smug expression still plastered on her face.

“Of course, your secret is safe with me. I just can’t have you going about and doing things like this,” she waved her hands at all the mess, “which will get me into trouble”

After a tense moment of silence, Creighton sighed and shook his head, looking down to the ground in amusement.

“How astute of you. I hadn’t assumed you would see through it that quickly”

“I know all the signs, it’s not your fault” she shrugged, “So what kind are you? Absorption? Harlequin? Maybe even a Jailbreak? Oooh I’ve always wanted to meet one. Oh but then you would have hacked into the Settings sooner…”

Creighton let out another chuckle, taking his glasses off and straightening his tie.

“I should have guessed you would have figured it out as soon as I saw you. As soon as they ‘introduced’ you to me” he continued, apparently without hearing her question.

Hex’s smile faltered, now confused at his sudden change of demeanour. He stood up to his full height, without slouching, his chest pushed out in confidence.

“Well, I am good at working things out” she remarked, albeit a bit nervously.

“I know. You always were…” he nodded, his eyes taking on a cold glint, “Just never quite good enough”

Something wasn’t right. Her heart began to beat faster. The situation was no longer in her control - this was wrong.

“I wasn’t quite sure about it, obviously the resemblance is uncanny” Creighton slowly slinked over, flicking her shoulder-pad with his hand, causing her to back away rapidly, defences raised and her eyes on him, “But when they said your name, I was certain”

“What do you mean?” It was Hex’s turn to question him.

“Oh come now. I know you’re smarter than this. Haven’t you figured it out?

His voice seemed to drop a tone, getting gradually deeper as his eyes burned straight through her head.

“We may have spent some time apart… but no matter what form you take, I will always remember my dear…”

His smile curled up at the edges.

“Sweet…”

Hex’s blood ran cold with fear.

“Sister…”

*

She wanted to scream.

She wanted to cry.

She wanted to be sick.

But instead she held her ground. The malicious Sprite in front of her must have noticed her trembling because he let out a cold laugh. A laugh that echoed through her entire body, and resonated through her memories.

“Do you need any more convincing? Fine, have it your way”

‘Creighton’ took a step back to give himself room and in a flash, he was no longer there. Hex didn’t want to look but fear and curiosity forced her to confront her worst fear. His body was warped and twisted, scars from User knows what littered his body… but it was undeniable: his sharp claws, his horrific smile, and those awful green eyes.

Megabyte.

“How do you like my new look? Now you aren’t the only one sporting a new design”

His voice was the same as ever; impossibly deep and full of cruel intent. He now towered over her, his head practically scraping the ceiling. Hex just stared back at him, not wanting to take her eyes off him lest he attack her in the nano she did.

“Are you going to say something, Hexadecimal, or are you just going to gawk at me like that?” he asked nonchalantly, examining his claws as if he hadn’t just revealed he was an 8ft tall cobalt blue Virus, “I have things that I need to be doing”

Initial shock finally seemed to wear off, and her cold blood now boiled with rage.

“KILL HIM!” an inner voice screeched

“NO! Get as far away as fast as you can!”

“Oh a family reunion! Now you can take this System down together!”

She did her best to quell the shrieking voices within her, and forced out her voice.

“Why are you here? How are you here? You had gone, they’d gotten rid of you!”

“I could ask you the same question” Megabyte responded, “the last I’d heard you had sacrificed yourself to rid the Net of Daemon’s infection. Quite a noble action, I commend you for that. But also stupid”

“I managed to survive, I pulled myself through the Net and landed here”

“And settled down to play pretend”

“I did this to survive here! I am not the only one of us who deceived everyone of who we are!”

“And yet you are still the only one of us to retain this deceptive form”

Anger seethed through Hex as she willed her Sprite form to dissipate, revealing her Viral form in all its glory.

“Continue to undermine me and see where it gets you” her mask shifted to angry, teeth bared at the taller Virus.

Megabyte raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"You've not changed a bit have you, even after your little journey through the Net"

"You know I'm tougher than I look. A little trip in Cyberspace won't hurt me" She turned a raised eyebrow of her own to him and looked him up and down, "You however are looking disgusting. What happened to you?"

"You know what happened" He grit his teeth

"Yes, but I want to hear it again because it amuses me so much"

"After that little wretch Enzo pushed me into the Web, I was stranded" He clenched his fist in anger, "I was picked at by Web Creatures, subjected to the Cyber Storms. My once magnificent form worn away and reforged into what you see now. Along with a few new tricks when I reformatted as a Trojan Horse virus, as you've just seen"

"Oh I remember Enzo!" Hex slapped Megabyte's arm with a big smile, ignoring everything he'd just said, "I wonder how he's doing"

"Oh he's fine, unfortunately, they all are. It was actually rather sickening"

Hex's happy expression flicked to one of confusion.

"What do you mean? How do you know? Did you go back?"

Megabyte stared back at her as realisation spread through him, and his smile curled up across his mouth.

"You… Of course, you wouldn't know! You'd gone at that point!" He chuckled, "Oh the things you'd do if you knew!"

"What do you mean? Tell me this instant!" She screeched, eyes flashing read, anger plastered on her mask.

"Hex? Is that you?" A voice echoed down the hallway.

The two Viruses snapped to attention, drawn out of the moment by the voice.

"User Dammit!" Hex swore, reassuming her Sprite form

"Hiding so soon? I wouldn't have expected the old Hexadecimal to raise Hell here" Megabyte leant against the desk in amusement.

"Once I am back to my full strength I will, believe me, but for now this is easier. And if you were wise, you would hide too!"

"It's just one Sprite, but ok(!)" He sighed, and with a flash Creighton was standing opposite her again.

"What in the Net happened here?" The voice continued as whoever it was made their way past all the open rooms.

"I know you despise me but promise me this," Megabyte whispered to her, "just don't tell them I'm a virus. Give me safe passage out and I'll never spill a word of your secret to anyone!"

"Deal, but only if you keep quiet! There are 3 Antiviruses here, we wouldn't stand a chance against them"

"I quite agree, we can call this a temporary familial truce"

Hex shivered.

"Please don't remind me we're related"

The person outside neared the door. Hex braced herself, unsure what to expect.

"Hex?" A head poked around the corner.

Before Hexadecimal could say anything to them, Megabyte grabbed the little rectangular device and barged himself into her, flinging her to the side and causing her to crash into a row of filing cabinets. He launched himself over to the Sprite, clinging onto their shoulders and pointing a trembling finger at Hexadecimal.

"She… she's a Virus! You have to help me, she was going to attack me!" Megabyte rambled in Creighton's voice, "I noticed the door was open and I caught her trying to hack into the security systems. But she isn’t how she seems - she’s a horrible Virus! This form she has is a lie, she's deceiving you!"

Hex winced as she got up, stretching all her limbs.

"Nice try, you idiot, you're clinging onto the only person who knows I am a Virus"

'Creighton' blinked a few times in surprise and turned to Fuse, who waved at him confusedly.

"Shouldn't you be keeping quiet about that?" The Hacker hissed at her, "other Sprites may not be as accepting!"

"Oh this one is, because he's not a Sprite either; he's a Virus as well" she crossed her arms, "and a most distrustful one at that"

Megabyte growled.

"Not even 10 nanos after you forged a deal, you threw me under the bus!"

"Oh too bad, I look out for myself and you know that!" Megabyte retorted in his own voice.

"Well if you're still expecting me to give you safe passage, forget about it!"

"Ah but now you see you have to!"

He altered his grip on Fuse into a chokehold, extending one of his claws against Fuse's neck.

"I have a hostage that I am perfectly fine to kill if you don't let me go"

Hex crossed her arms.

"You're really desperate to leave aren't you?"

"Argh! Of course I am! I have to escape those infernal Antiviruses! Their incessant rambling, their obnoxious laughter! I can't stand another second!"

"Sounds like you fit in perfectly with them to me" Hex sniffed.

Megabyte growled again, trembling from anger.

"I'm so confused right now" Fuse gulped

"Warning: Incoming Game"

Megabyte's growl crescendoed into a roar as he smashed a fist into the wall, throwing Fuse across the hallway.

"This System will be the death of me!"

"With any luck," Hex rushed over to Fuse, dragging him away from the other Virus, “It would do us all a favour if you would kindly remove yourself from everyone’s lives”

‘Creighton’ staggered backwards, staring wildly towards the ceiling, panic spreading across his face.

“Hex what is going on?” Fuse stammered as Hex helped him to his feet, “who is that? Why is he so worried about the Game?”

The corridor hummed with energy as the Game Cube descended onto the Archives. Hex glanced up to see the pulsing, fizzling cube slowly bring itself down through the ceiling onto the three of them. They shielded their eyes as the Game surrounded them and the digital world built itself up, replacing the small corridor with a huge sprawling… shopping centre. Hex blinked as she tried to take in the neon pink lights and the high energy 80s theme music all around. The floors were polished to mirror level, and everywhere around the huge room were advertisements for food and games, displaying various different animal mascots of bright colours and goofy poses. The entire area gave off a comforting, yet eerily empty atmosphere.

“What in the Net is this game?” Hex murmured, still looking around, bemused.

Before anyone could answer her, ‘Creighton’s’ form began to flicker and glitch. Megabyte grunted in frustration as his form shifted and snapped back to his Viral form - he loomed over the two of them, his huge blue and green body and his piercing eyes. He bared his yellow fangs at the two of them, causing Fuse to shriek and shuffle back. Hex just met his gaze and stood back up to stand against him.

“What’s the matter? Lost your focus?” she jested, smirking.

“This is only temporary. As soon as I am free from this vile contraption I will tear my way through your System and lay waste to the Net” he growled back at her.

“Well you won’t have too much longer if we don’t ReBoot and stop the User from winning the Game,” she put a hand on her hips and turned towards Fuse, “come on, you too”

Fuse nodded quickly and tapped at his Icon.

“ReBoot!”

In a flash his regular leather jacket was replaced with a shining metal body, like a robot’s. In one hand he held a large flashlight.

“What am I?” he stared down, spinning to try and see the outfit in full effect, “and more importantly, WHO IS THAT!?”

He shone the torch directly at Megabyte, who grumbled as the light hit him.

“Oh that’s Megabyte” Hex answered.

“MEGABYTE!” Fuse yelped, fumbling the torch and falling to the floor to pick it up,

“You mean the Megabyte you told me about?”

“Unfortunately”

“I see my reputation proceeds me” Megabyte mused sarcastically.

“Let it go to your head later, stop dawdling and ReBoot now” she ordered.
Megabyte just stared back at her, slowly grinding his teeth as he mulled something over, and Hex noticed a slight shift in his posture - as if he were embarrassed. Hex squinted at him until the switch clicked in her mind.

“You can’t ReBoot, can you?” her grin grew mischievously, “you don’t have an Icon, do you?”

“Ah, finally the penny drops” he rolled his eyes

“What?” Fuse stammered

“Everyone can ReBoot if they’re registered”

“But why doesn’t he have an Icon if you do?”

“Because I didn’t betray my own kind” Megabyte mused, checking his claws

“YOU do NOT lecture ME on betraying your own kind!” Hex screeched launching towards him and only stopping inches away from him, causing him to flinch backwards, “now I suggest you stay out of my way while I win this game, and maybe I’ll think about letting you live”

Megabyte narrowed his eyes as he mulled this thought over.

“As you wish…” he eventually concluded.

Without another word, he turned and began to stomp off towards a dark alleyway at the side of the map, leaving the two of them in silence except for the upbeat synth music.

“Ok Hex, what the heck was that all about?” Fuse raised his hands in confusion, “where did he come from? He was Creighton this whole time?”

“Yes, it seems he’s been hiding under that guise for a long time” Hex frowned in the direction that her brother had left, standing to her full height, “but we cannot dwell on that - there’s a game to win”

“R… right. Well we have to find the User now. What about the others? We have no idea where they are, if they’re even in the game”

“Well then we’d better get going - we’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it”

“What do we do if we find the User?”

Hex tapped her Icon, causing her form to flash once more. When the light dimmed, her entire body was now shiny, like it was made of metal. It was a dull purple except for her arms and legs that were a darker purple. Black stripes made these colours pop, and accented the red shorts and crop top with shoulder pads. Her hair was now a huge, hairspray filled mane that poofed out from her head. She crossed her eyes as she focused on a slick coiff of lime green hair that hung down over her face. She felt the hair in curiosity and her eyes widened when she felt two pointed ears sticking up from the top of her head. After a moment of getting used to the new form, she turned to face the Hacker, who was staring at her with an open mouth. She grinned at him, baring razor sharp fangs.

“We attack”

*

How big was this game?

Back in her day, games were just one racetrack, or a very linear dungeon. This was just room after room of pulsing music and blinding colours. Sure, there was the odd spooky moment where she ran into a silent, broken down part of the mall complex in her hunt for the User, but she wasn’t worried she was unsafe; part of her was certain that the User wouldn’t be able to hurt her in this game. She wasn’t worried about getting hurt anyway - she needed to find and kill the User, and then find and kill her brother. She bashed through another door to find herself back in one of the main atriums, surveying the huge, shiny, purple room with narrowed eyes. Behind her the door clattered as Fuse stumbled after her, gasping for breath.

“Hex… where are we going? This game is so big, we’ll never find them” he groaned.

“We have to find them or we’ll lose the game, do you have any other suggestions?” she responded, not looking at him.

“Well then I’m going to take a break,” he sighed and flopped onto a nearby bench, “besides, it’s not like there’s a shortage of Game Sprites doing the same job”

He was right. As Hex surveyed the large room, she took in the sight of many Game Sprites who were also taking the form of robotic surveyors - they patrolled back and forth throughout the complex, shining their torches in every direction as they searched for the User. Several times she had heard one raise an alarm deep within the game’s map, but as soon as she had gotten to where it was, it was clear that the User had moved on. She had to find them soon before they got closer to winning.

“You can stay here, I’ll head off on my own” she instructed Fuse, who nodded and gave her a thumbs up.

She began to hurry across the upper balcony towards another row of shops when she heard a commotion from behind a ‘Staff Only’ double doors. Without warning, the doors burst open and two figures stumbled out. Hex immediately raised her clawed hands to summon balls of energy, but stopped when she saw who it was.

“Hex? Oh thank goodness it’s you. Any sign of the User?” Cynth spluttered out, regaining her balance and standing up properly.

“Nothing, only a few false alarms,” Hex responded, sauntering over to the Guardian, “I thought I came close a few times but it looked like I was too late… are… are you dressed like a giant bird?”

Cynth blushed and crossed her arms. She was dressed in a similar 80s aesthetic to Hex, in a pink leotard with big shoulder pads and mismatched leopard print legwarmers, complete with chunky green earrings. But what made Hex ask was the large three-toed bird feet shoes she was wearing, and the huge tuft of white feathers that stuck out the top of Cynth’s hair affixed with a big pink bow.

“I think it’s a chicken…” she huffed under her breath.

“You two have ReBooted as the main antagonists of the game,” Zip piped up, stepping forwards while looking at his PID, “well two of them anyway”

He was dressed in a yellow vest with a big ‘i’ on the front, and his head was adorned with a white brimmed hat and big round glasses. On his belt were packs and packs of maps and brochures.

“There’s one more that you could have been, which I suppose Dex would have become if he’d made it into the game” he frowned at the screen, “although I am picking up another entity that came into the game with us”

“I know what that is” Hex frowned, “unfortunately, our new friend Creighton turned out to be a Virus”

Cynth and Zip stared at her aghast. Zip shook his head in disbelief.

“I… I had no idea…”

“I don’t blame you. He seemed like a slippery character - I found him skulking around the ‘search room’ in the archives”

“He just told me he wanted to use the bathroom… I would have kept a closer eye on him if I’d known”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Cynth reassured him, “blame the moronic Antiviruses who brought him in”

The three of them looked around the multiplex again, trying hard to work out what to do.

“What even is this game?” Hex asked in frustration.

Zip cleared his throat.

“It seems to be a horror game where the User runs around as a small child running away from giant robot mascots”

“What are games nowadays?” Hex shook her head in disbelief.

“The User has to run around this area filled with Game Sprites to play through a variety of minigames to try and work towards the objective of the game. I’m able to see where their approximate location is from the maps they’ve taken from my character, but we’ll have to spread out and look for them”

“Why don’t we just wait for them here?” Fuse chimed in from his lying down position on the bench, “this seems like one of the main places they have to walk through, so why not let them come to us?”

“That’s… actually not a bad idea” Cynth contemplated, “if we all position ourselves throughout this room, then we’ll have a good shot at cutting the User off as they try to go from minigame to minigame”

She turned to Hex.

“And we need to keep an eye out for this Virus. They could be dangerous, and we don’t have Dex to take charge of that”

Hex nodded. The group of them (Fuse reluctantly along with them) dispersed into the atrium. They began to patrol the area, keeping their eyes pierced for any signs of the User, and Hex keeping an eye out for her brother. There were a few minutes of nothing much happening, until she heard a crash from far across the room.

“Cynth, did you hear that?” she said into her earpiece.

“I did. I can’t see exactly where it is but I’m heading over” Cynth responded

Suddenly, one of the Game Sprites began to wail with a blaring alarm; the User had triggered it, alerting everyone to their location.

“I see them! I’m gonna chase after them!” Cynth announced, “Hey! sTaFf oNlY!... I don’t know why I said that…”

From across the room, Hex could just about make out Cynth sprinting across the polished floors. She tried to run up to the next level to get a better scope of things, but as soon as she did, she noticed that Cynth was now looking around confusedly.

“Cynth, what happened?”

“I don’t know! The User was here and now all of a sudden I lost them! I think they were making their way towards you”

“Fuse, Zip, what about you?”

“I didn’t get a glimpse of the User, but I am seeing a big orange bear?” Fuse responded, a twinge of confusion to his voice.

“Yeah, I saw that too,” Zip agreed, “according to my PID, he’s supposed to be on our side? So I guess he’s another Game Sprite looking for the User? I don’t know… I just saw him walking your way Hex”

Sure enough, a large orange bear robot began to stomp towards Hex. She locked eyes with it as it walked past her, its blue eyes following her. It didn’t say anything, just made its way past her towards another minigame area. She took a look at the sign to see what it was - it seemed to be a golf based minigame, with a stylish green alligator mascot pictured next to it. The orange bear seemed to scan around the area before cautiously entering through the doors. Hex narrowed her eyes. Something didn’t seem right about that bear. Wordlessly, she made a beeline straight for the doors, aiming to try and keep him in sight.

The golf course was mostly neon green, but also swamped in darkness. This didn’t help her situation, as it meant the bear was now completely lost to her. She stepped through the darkness, her footsteps echoing out throughout the huge room. She understood why this was a horror game. After searching around the room with no luck, she realised she was approaching a central crossroads section with a large object hanging over the top of it. It looked like a huge steel bucket, suspended above a rickety looking iron walkway. Curiouser and curiouser. A flicker of movement caught her eye up on the walkway - could it be the bear? She didn’t have access to most of her powers so she couldn’t fly, but she did have claws from this form. Approaching one of the walls of the room, she punched into the metal. Using both her super strength and her claws, she hoisted herself up towards the walkway. With a few grunts she made it to the top, flipping herself up onto the platform, wobbling as soon as she touched the metal. This was not a stable bridge. Gazing out over the golf course, she could see a maze of various obstacles and fencing. The bear must be somewhere within all of it. Carefully making her way to the middle of the bridge, she could see that the hanging bucket was filled to the brim with large balls. Some were quite large.

“Not very good for golfing” she murmured to herself.

“HA! Good one!” she congratulated herself in her mind.

Across the bridge, she saw something shift in the darkness. Her eyes immediately snapped to it.

“HEY!” she called out, almost leaping over to the other side.

She stopped in the centre as the bridge wobbled underneath her. To her side, the bucket creaked ominously. The figure on the other end of the bridge froze.

“I know you’re there, now show yourself! Are you the bear,” she crossed her arms, “or is this a family reunion?”

Out from the darkness, a cold laugh echoed grimly.

“Right again, my dear sister”

Megabyte’s imposing form emerged from the shadows, standing up tall and menacing as what little light there was in the room glinted off him.

“What are you doing in here?”

“Doing what you asked,” Megabyte dusted off some dirt from his shoulder, “staying out of the way”

Hex scowled at him; she didn’t believe that one bit.

“In fact, in my staying out of the way, I learned quite a lot about this game”

He stomped towards her, causing the bridge to quake and Hex to stumble, until he was practically at the centre as well.

“For instance, do you know what is behind that door?”

He gestured to his right and Hex followed it with her eyes. Down on the room floor, at the end of the course, was a set of double doors, also illuminated in green.

“Through those doors is the end of this chapter of the game. When the bear makes it to the end, the User will win this section, and you will lose”

“Why will the bear going through the doors make us lose?” Hex interjected.

Megabyte shot her a disappointed look.

“The bear is hiding the User inside it”

After a nanoseconds pause, Hex clicked her fingers.

“I knew there was something off about that bear!”

Megabyte rolled his eyes.

“In any case, when the User goes through those doors, the User will win and the Game will leave” he continued ominously, “and you will be left with 2 choices”

He raised his fist, extending a dagger-like claw as he made his points.

“You can either switch to Game Sprite Mode and leave with the game, abandoning this new System, or you can be nullified”

Hex tumbled the words over in her mind, contemplating what he said.

“HE LIES!” her mind screeched at her, “HE MUST BE TELLING LIES!”

“No! He is right! If we lose this Game we will all be lost again!”

“You can’t let that happen… Please don’t lose us again…”

“What about you?” Hex ignored her thoughts and pushed him further, “you want to be nullified, do you?”

“Oh no, dear sister, I can use my Viral power to infect the game and travel with it” he flexed his claws, “that is an option for you too, if you reveal your true nature”

“I think not” Hex replied flatly.

“Suit yourself” Megabyte shrugged

“Why are you telling me this? This isn’t your usual method of gloating. What do you gain from this?”

“Well there is another option…” his eyes glinted menacingly, “I can drop this bucket on top of the User, you will win, and then you will let me leave your System with no issues”

Hex let out a shrill cackle.

“You think I’m going to let you get away that easily?” she mocked, clutching her stomach, “after all the trouble you’ve caused already?”

“It isn’t like you have much choice in the matter”

Hex’s eye twitched. Something caught her attention from the side, and the two Viruses glanced to the side. To Hex’s horror, the shining form of the orange bear cautiously appeared from the end of the maze. She didn’t have long, but she couldn’t use any of her Viral energy blasts to attack. All she could do was watch as the bear got closer and closer. She was frozen on the spot.

“You’re losing your edge,” Megabyte hissed, taunting her from the other side of the bucket, “you’re forgetting how you used to be”

Hex didn’t respond.

“You just have to make the call, and let me go free…”

She wracked her brain for answers, but could only focus on one.

“Fine… only if you leave and never come back…”

“Of course, dear sister”

Megabyte extended his claws with a gut-wrenching slicing sound, and slashed at the groaning cables that hung the bucket above the floor below. The huge steel bucket filled with balls plummeted down, and the User had barely any time to look up before the container crashed down onto the ground with a thundering boom. Hex braced herself as the bridge shook and creaked from the sheer force, but the reassuring sound of the System announcing “Game Over” filled her with a feeling of calmness. The scenery around her dissolved and pulled itself up and away, leaving the two of them alone in one of the corridors of the Principal Office. Hex was back in her Guardian attire, and could feel her Viral energies resurging through her.

“Hex?” she heard Cynth’s call echoing down the corridors.

“Well? Am I free to leave?”

“You’re certainly not free to stay”

Megabyte cleared his throat.

“Well, do you mind opening the door?”

Hex glared at him, silently fuming. She flicked her hand to the side, flexing her fingers as orange energy pulsated around them. A nearby computer screen vibrated rapidly before imploding, showering the two of them with sparks as a Tear was created. Unfazed, Hex clenched her fist to focus her energy - the Tear began to stabilise, revolving around on itself until the smooth sphere of a Portal was formed. The distorted image of a random array of buildings appeared through the surface.

“There. I don’t know where it leads to, and frankly I don’t care” she spat, “take it an go”

Megabyte licked his lips as he stared intently through the Portal.

“Thank you, dear sister” he thanked, “it is good to see your hatred doesn’t come in the way of familial ties”

“You make me sick”

The larger Virus chuckled.

“Of course”

He stomped over to the Portal and prepared himself to travel through. Before he did, he stopped and turned to face her.

“Before I leave, I will leave you with some parting words”

“Must you?” Hex sighed, exasperatedly.

“The Wave of Darkness is approaching. Your System will fall to eternal night at his will”

He said this so sternly that Hex was taken aback. He continued, his words causing her skin to crawl in an awful way.

“He will leave one to spread word of his presence. Choose wisely”

With one final look he entered the Portal. The sphere rippled as his hulking form passed through. As soon as he had gone through completely, the Portal quavered once more before shrinking down and dissipating. Hex just watched him go, feelings of confusion and fear rushing over her.

*

“Are you sure that’s what he said?”

“Definitely. He mocked me as he made his escape, but this… this just didn’t feel like it was any normal kind of bragging”

The group had recollected in the Control Room, and Hex was detailing them with the events in the golf course (albeit changed slightly so it seemed like Megabyte overpowered her rather than her letting him escape). Cynth was furrowing her brow trying to work out what his cryptic warning meant.

“Wave of Darkness? Eternal night? Sounds like a warning from some fantasy novel…” she shook her head.

“And what did he mean by ‘he will leave one to spread word of his presence’?” Zip asked, “that sounds ominous…”

“It sounds worrying” Dex cleared his throat, “it sounds a lot like the rhetoric that was spread around during the Net Wars”

“That’s right” Cynth nodded, “Do you think this could be another Viral threat?”
Dex shrugged, arms crossed across his body.

“I couldn’t say at this point. And even if it was, I’m not so sure about the reliability of the first line of defence”

As if on cue, the door slid open and the two visiting Antiviruses slunk into the room, sheepish looks painted across their faces. Dex stood up from the desk and moved to stand in front of them - a stony expression on his own face, but mixed with a slight smirk of smugness.

“Well…” McNort began, “Um… we shall be taking our leave now… we… have a lot of paperwork to file now”

“Mmhmm, and I’ll be sure to send on my paperwork through for you when you get back” Dex informed him amusedly, “and I will definitely be passing on my individual damage report to the Prime Antivirus”

Fear and anger filled McNort’s face as he breathed a frustrated breath through his nose.

“Hey!... It was Gavin’s job to keep an eye on him, he should have known better!”

Gavin just gawked at McNort in return.

“But as his superior, it falls on you for not noticing sooner and failing to carry out your function as a supervisor. You and I both know you’ll have a reprimanding waiting for you when you get back”

McNort glared at him.

“So you’d better rush off, don’t want to make things worse for yourselves!”

“Exactly, and we’ll be sure to come visit you!” Hex sidled up to Dex and thread an arm around his waist, “you can tell us all about it then”

“Shall I escort them back?” Chromus offered.

“No need, my dear” Hex grinned, waving her hand.

In a flash, the two fuming Antiviruses dissipated from the Control Room. As soon as they had gone, Dex sat back down and put his fingers to his temples.

“Oh Great Norton’s Ghost, I am so glad that’s all over. Being able to lord something over them is great, but now I need a drink”

“I think I’ll join you in that” Cynth sighed, “I could do with a coffee”

“I was actually thinking of something stronger!”

“Dex! It isn’t even dinnertime yet… I’ll meet you at the bar”

The two of them fell about laughing, making their way out of the room. Chromus, Zip and Fuse hopped up from their chairs and hurried over to join them. Hex smiled at them, but hesitated. The thoughts racing around her head overwhelmed her.

It was no longer only her voice that taunted her from inside her mind.

Chapter Text

“Chromus, was there any kind of results for ‘Wave of Darkness’ from your searches?”

“The top results included a video game, a song online, and a piece of magic related to another popular video game. I am unsure whether these offer the information you require”

“Well, maybe… would that Virus be warning us of a new, dangerous game?”

“I don’t think so… I mean, why would he?”

“Would you like me to search the reviews for the game, Wave of Darkness, online?”

Cynth put her fingers to her lips, pondering all the information in her mind.

“No… no I think we’ll be OK… maybe you could search for the Eternal Darkness part of it?” she suggested.

“I feel like that will just bring more searches for games and things” Dex grunted, “our best bet would be trying to find any other evidence of this Virus. I can search the Antivirus Archives for any signs of them. Hex!”

Hexadecimal, who was sitting on the desk, jumped slightly on the spot.

“Y… yes?”

“You interacted with this Virus the most, was there any inclination as to who, or what, they could have been?”

She shook her head.

“I have no clue. He spouted this nonsense, and then disappeared. Honestly I couldn’t care less about the whole thing, he was probably doing to cause chaos”

“Either way, we should still look for something”

While Dex wracked his brain for answers, 8Bit beeped on Cynth’s wrist. The Guardian looked down at it, and frowned. She tapped at the screen and her expression shifted from one of confusion to concern as well.

“Excuse me” she announced and left the room relatively quickly

The rest of the team watched her go, equally as confused. Dex watched as the door slid shut behind her before addressing the others again.

"I can't believe they let a Trojan Horse Virus slip past them" He chuckled to himself, "That's a rookie error. Even I know the signs of a Trojan Horse virus"

He stood up and began to pace.

"Maybe I should teach a course on how to look out for potential hidden viruses. It may help people feel more self sufficient - and reduce the workload we have to do. Because after all…"

He stopped in front of Hexadecimal and turned to face Fuse, Zip and Chromus.

"You never know when a Virus is hidden in plain site!"

There was a brief moment of silence as everyone nodded solemnly. Hex watched, amused, with one eyebrow raised.

"An excellent speech, Dex," She patted him on the shoulder, "I think that's a remarkable idea!"

"Why thank you!" He beamed at her

The door slid back open again and Cynth returned, her pace quick.

"Cynth! What was the message about?" Zip asked.

"See for yourself" She responded shortly, making a beeline straight for the Command Console.

Hex scanned her face as she walked past - it was not happy. The team gathered around with confusion and unease as Cynth brought the email up on screen. Her inbox was displayed on the large screen, showing a whole load of neatly organised, official looking emails. The top one was the one to focus on, the subject line simply reading 'URGENT'.

"Who is it sent by?" Dex asked.

"That's just it. The sender is blank"

Sure enough, right next to 'Sender' was a blank space, something that shouldn't be possible.

"Well then… how did…? How does that work?" Dex spluttered.

"Could be for a number of reasons" Zip offered, "could be a glitch, could be Hacker, could be a poor Web connection"

"It could also be slightly worse" Fuse interjected, "it could be that the Sender is no longer active"

The team glanced over at him. He shrugged.

"I work with a lot of clients that, sometimes, mess around in the wrong circles. Fletcher certainly did, and it wouldn't be unusual to see a variety of blank emails in an inbox when… things didn't turn out the right way"

Zip shivered. Hex put a hand on his arm and leant down to him.

"Tell me more about that later" she whispered in morbid curiosity.

"Aaaanywaay" Cynth circled the attention back to the email, "That's only half the issue"

She tapped the email, opening it up on the screen. The contents of the email were sparse; there was no text, no other things written in the subject line. The only things that it had of note were several picture files. Wordlessly, Cynth clicked the first one, opening them all up in a slideshow. It took a moment to take in, but the team slowly realised with horror what they were seeing:

The pictures showed a System under destruction.

In one picture, towers and high rise apartments were crumbling. In another, a bridge had been blown apart, debris and cars falling into the Energy Sea below. The team were transfixed with despair as picture after picture displayed the utter devastation of this System.

Another picture. This one had something strange in it.

"What's that?" Dex pointed at the strange sight.

Cynth zoomed in. The picture showed a building being blown apart, but the thing that was destroying it was… nothing like they'd ever seen. It was a huge black… tentacle? Arm? Whatever it was, it seemed to be made out of pure dark energy, and within it, a rainbow of colours shone out, standing stark against the shadow.

"Looks like… a giant tentacle?" Hex mused, "smashing into the building…"

"Does it seem like something any of you have seen before?" Cynth asked the room.

The group shook their heads.

“But that’s not the most concerning thing about these photos” she continued, scrolling through the random collection.

She clicked the last image in the set. The image expanded to fill the screen, giving the group a full view of the scene in front of them. They scanned in silent shock, fully processing what they were seeing.

The image was taken from a viewpoint at the end of a main road, with a clear view down the row of crumbling buildings. The scene captured a crowd of binomes fleeing towards the camera, expressions of pure fear plastered across their faces. In the background, the entire street was engulfed with a huge wave of dark energy. The wave was crashing down the street, washing over the buildings, the cars, the people. Everything was being consumed by the wave, and it seemed to leave nothing in its wake; behind the pixelated wall of dark energy, there was nothing left alive. The world was left with damaged textures, dull lighting, and an absence of life.

“Is that…” Fuse stared at the screen, open mouthed.

“User preserve…” Dex swore under his breath.

“A Wave of Darkness…” Hex realised.

Cynth nodded slightly, still wordless. Her expression was blank, like she was still processing everything. Zip and Fuse exchanged glances.

“So whatever Megabyte was talking about… is this it? Is this… what are we looking at? A Bug? A Virus?”

“It’s impossible to tell, but whoever took these pictures, they must have been in the direct path of it” he paused, “I… I dread to think what happened to them…”

“What do we do? Do we contact the System’s Guardian?”

“That’s just it” Cynth sighed, falling down into her chair, head in her hands.

The team looked at her inquisitively. She gazed back at them with weary eyes.

“The message was sent to me through my Guardian Line…whoever sent this was a Guardian”

*

“And you’re sure you have no idea who the Guardian of this System is?”

“I don’t even know the name of the System, let alone the name of the Guardian”

Cynth was standing cross armed in the docking bay, waiting with the rest of the team as Fuse tapped away at the Network Ship’s interface.

“Everything from the System was wiped - no System information, no Guardian info, no current status. I honestly don’t know if we’ll be able to find it”

“But if those messages came through, then surely there’s enough of a signal from it to transmit them?” Dex asked.

Cynth shrugged and called into the Ship.

“Are you sure you can find a way?”

“I’m getting somewhere” Fuse called back.

He scrambled to the door, peeking his head out.

“I was able to access the IP address of the System that sent the email. The System must be damaged incredibly badly as it had no security on it, even a novice hacker could get in. I think I’ve been able to pick up a very slight trace from it, but it’s very faint”

He pointed at Chromus.

“Do you think it’ll be enough?”

The Search Engine contemplated for a second before nodding.

“If there is any trace, I’m sure there will be a way to find it”

“Excellent, just as I thought” he punched the air slightly in celebration, “it may be offline in terms of Net connection, but there are still some programmes running in the background that are connected to the Web”

He motioned for everyone bar Chromus to make their way into the Net Ship. Everyone took their seats and strapped in as the Search Engine took position in front of the ship. He spread his wings, letting them glint in the light as they extended.

“We gotta stick close to him, or we’ll slip out of his Web-stream. But he should be able to lock on to that background trace, and find a way to it from the Web” Fuse explained.

He leant over to the speakerphone.

“Ready Chromus?” he called out.

Chromus activated his Web Armour and raised his hand in a thumbs up. Fuse hit the ignition and the sleek craft rumbled to life. The Search Engine gave a flap of his wings and lifted off the ground. Effortlessly, he glided up and out of the aircraft hangar, the Network Ship following in close pursuit. Chromus picked up speed, careening towards the skybox. Just before he was about to collide with it, he raised his arm towards the sky - with expert speed and skill, he fired a single shot from his wrist-blasters, slicing into the sky and leaving a tear scrawling across the azure expanse. In a nano, he clenched his fist, and the energies surrounding the fracture began to whirl and stabilise. In an instant, a crimson portal of writhing, fluctuating energy was formed. Chromus leant his head down and made a beeline for the sphere, shooting through its mirrored surface. The Ship shot through it after him, just as the sky shook again. The portal writhed a few more times, then crackled out of existence leaving the sky as smooth and clean as before.

After a nano of traversing through a rush of light and colours, the two entities burst through the other end of a tunnel. The group of them let their eyes adjust to the endless stretches of the Web in front of them. The dark expanse was immense; an empty void that was filled with huge clouds of swirling data - data from every System, website and app on the Web. The ship slid through the clouds, and the crew stared out at the space, open mouthed. Dotted around the void were hundreds of Data Storms: violently churning collections of active data, whipping around into extremely dangerous spirals like hurricanes. They varied in size, some no bigger than the ship, some completely dwarfing them in comparison.

“They’re beautiful…” Hex breathed, staring out the window, the lights reflecting in her eyes.

“They really are,” Cynth agreed, “ a new one is formed whenever a User searches for something. Search Engines navigate around them and look for the information they’ve been required to gather”

Just as she was saying this, the ship began to rumble and grew hotter, as vibrant red data began to swarm past them. Fuse took evasive manoeuvres to veer out of their path, as the data rushed together to form yet another violent storm. Chromus’ voice crackled through the ship’s intercom.

“Be mindful of the storms. Nothing can survive flying directly through a Data Storm. Search Engines only go near them when searching the Web, and even then we only stay to the edges of them”

Fuse noted it and veered further away from the storm. Cynth glanced over to see Hex had not moved from her position at the window, staring out at the endless expanse of the Web.

“I thought you’d spent time in the Web? Haven’t you seen all this before?”

“I was mostly in the Net, and even the small times I was in the Web, I was far too fragmented for any of it to make sense”

She traced a hand down the window.

“A world truly run by chaos… what a wonderful place”

Cynth gave her a puzzled look, but couldn’t press it further as Chromus’ voice fizzled back again.

“I believe I have found the trace of the System. It is very faint, but this is the location”

Looking out of the windows, the team identified what Chromus was talking about: ports to the connected Systems appeared as tears, surrounded by destructive cyclones of energy. When a Web Surfer wanted to access the System, they would stabilise the tear and travel through. Usually you would need to know the exact location, but with Fuse’s hacking they were able to pinpoint the System. The tear was very faint, almost not visible at all; the System was obviously very weak. Chromus flew towards the tear, and once again used his Web Armour to stabilise the energies into a temporary portal. The ship followed him through the portal, zooming into the System. The portal flickered, and de-stabilised.

*

“Oh my word…” Hex breathed as the image of the System spread in front of them.

The System was almost unrecognisable as a System. The server skyscrapers were either completely collapsed or broken beyond recognition. The lights within the city were either shut off completely, leaving the city in darkness, or flickering weakly in the dark recesses of the city. The streets were wrecked and crumbled, and the cars on the roads were either totalled or on fire. Pieces of the city had fallen into the Energy Sea, and the Skybox was cracked, sparking and flickering. There was no sign of life.

“Look at the state of this place…” Dex murmured, “It’s almost completely obliterated”

“There’s still some energy in the System” Zip informed them, “it’s barely there, but there is some”

“Any signs of civilians?” Cynth asked.

“Not sure just yet, I’ll try and get a read when we land”

The ship navigated around what was left of the Principal Office, searching for a place to land.

“It doesn’t look like the aircraft hangar is very operational at the moment” Fuse pointed out, “I’ll try and find a place to land elsewhere”

He manoeuvred the ship towards the central plaza, where the wide open space was the furthest from the destroyed buildings and the fires hadn’t spread to it yet. The only things that they could see around them that were actively moving, were droves of Nulls that slithered around. As the ship touched down to the stones, and Chromus landed next to it, his wings relaxing behind him again, the Nulls fled the plaza in panic. The air was heavy with smoke as they stepped out of their ship, decked out in energy preserving spacesuits to help them traverse the collapsing System. The team looked around the area in despair, taking in the awful site of the ruins.

“How… what happened here?” Cynth stared around flabbergasted.

“Viral energy levels are off the charts” Dex announced, reading his PID, “not actively, but there’s significant quantities over pretty much everything”

“Any life signs?”

“I’m scanning but… It's hard to say…” Zip turned on the spot, scanning the surrounding area.

A sudden beep rang out from the device, causing him to jump.

“OH! I’m getting a reading!” he exclaimed.

The team gathered around to see the screen. All except Hexadecimal.

“I feel something… someone” she announced.

“Yes, according to this, they’re most likely somewhere in the Principle Office?”

“No… I feel… I feel someone here…” Hex looked around the plaza.

“What are you talking about?” Cynth asked, breaking away from the group, “is it a civilian? The Guardian?”

“I… don’t know… I can just hear them calling to me”

“Like… spiritually or…?” Fuse intoned

“No, literally” Hex turned to face the group again, “can’t you hear them?”

The team turned to face her in confusion. She furrowed her brow, putting a hand to her temple. Her mind was filled with noise, but within the noise, she could pick out what sounded like a voice. A definite, distinct voice. It rang out from the deafening hubbub, crying out to be heard and to be seen. It was asking for help.

“I think I can…” she scrunched her face up in concentration, closing her eyes to get a clearer view in her mind.

She held out her hand, fingers extended, and focused. She could sense the voice in her head, and focused onto it. She reached out with her mind, pulling the voice forwards, out of the mass of other voices.

The team were staring at her, completely baffled by what they were seeing. They watched as she stood firm, arms outstretched in complete focus.

“Look!” Zip exclaimed, pointing in shock.

The team jumped in surprise when they looked at the floor; swarms of nulls began to rush past their legs towards Hexadecimal. They watched as the Nulls began to swirl around each other in front of her, clumping together to form a shape.

“Oh no, it’s happening again!” Cynth murmured, “she’s controlling the Nulls!”

“But what is she doing with them?” Dex puzzled.

“They’re making… a person?” Fuse tilted his head.

The Nulls almost fused together, forming primitive limbs; the legs first, allowing the entity to stand up. The Nulls continued to crawl up the legs and began to combine together to form the rest of the body - the torso, the arms, building it up to the same height as the other Sprites. All that was left was the final piece. A singular Null that seemed so much more agitated shot across the floor and clambered up the body. It slithered through the chest and emerged out of the top of the torso, finally forming the head. It morphed into a spade-like shape, sides moving as if it were blinking. Hexadecimal relaxed, letting her arms fall to her side and her body slump. Cynth ran to catch her, stopping her from falling to the floor.

“Oh, it’s been a long time since I’ve done that” Hex sighed, “I thought that sensation was familiar, but it took a while to remember how to do it”

“Do what? What… is this?” Cynth stared at the mass of Nulls in front of them.

The Null entity shivered for a moment, and moved its limbs around experimentally. It looked down at its hands, and then back up to the two Sprites in front of it.

“tHis iS… sTraNGe…” the entity spoke.

It had a warbled, distorted voice, as if many people were trying to speak through them at once. The team stared open mouthed in disbelief at the creature in front of them.

“You.. can talk?” Cynth asked it tentatively.

“oF cOurSe I cAn” it responded, “i WaS onLy aRouNd a fEw nAnOs AgO”

“What?” Cynth frowned, “you were around just now?”

“yEs! WelL… nOt LiKe tHis” it indicated to itself, “bUt… COmpLeTe”

“Complete…? Nevermind, maybe you can tell us what happened here. Was it a Virus? And where is the Sprite that sent the message to me?”

“tHe MesSagE? oH! tHaT waS mE!”

“It was you?” Cynth pressed on, determined to get an answer, “How? That was the Guardian Line! MY Guardian Line! Only other Guardian’s can access that, so how did you get to it? Where’s the Guardian, and how could you contact me?”

There was a pause as the Null Creature stared at her.

“cYnTh…” it croaked out.

Cynth froze.

“H… how do you know my name? Who are you?”

“i rEaLly, ReAllY tRied tO sAvE tHem…” noises emanated from the entity that sounded like… sobbing.

“Hex… what is this?” Cynth asked, staring with intensity at the entity.

“I believe it is a person. At least that's what the last one I did was - someone who had been nullified”

“yEs… wHen ThE vIrUs caMe, I TriEd to sTop iT. To SaVe eVerYoNe”

“You… you were the Guardian?” Cynth faltered.

“Yes cYntH… i aLwaYS wAntEd tO prOve mYsElf, jUst LiKe We diD bAcK thEn…”

Cynth’s blood froze. The… the voice… she wondered why it sounded familiar.

“No…”

“i DidN’t kNoW wHo eLse tO cOntAct” the Creature continued.

“N…No…” Cynth stammered, her eyes brimming with tears.

“yOu wErE aLwaYs bEtTer aT dEaLinG wiTh tHeSe soRt oF eMerGenCies… ThAt’s wHy yoU wEre alWaYs tOp oF thE clAss…”

Cynth’s legs gave out, and she fell to the floor.

“Cynth, what’s going on? Who is this?” Dex called from across the plaza.

“i tRieD tO Be aS gOoD aS yoU…”

Cynth completely lost it at this: tears fell from her eyes and her whole body shook.

“N… No… Nova…”

*

“Are… are you sure?” Zip stammered, aghast at the image in front of him.
Cynth was still on the floor, clutching at her spacesuit to try and regain some composure.

“Nova… how could this happen?” she choked out.

“iT wAs mY oWn fAulT, I thOugHt i cOuLd dO thIs oN mY oWn”

At this, Cynth tried to reach out to hug Nova in comfort, but the Null Entity recoiled away.

“nO! yOu cAn’T toUch tHe nUlLs!”

Cynth’s hand flinched away, shaking slightly.

“I… I don’t understand how…”

“tHe VirUs tHaT aTtaCkEd cAusEd a MaSs dEleTe oF tHe sYstEm. It wiPeD oUt eNouGh oF tHe sYsteM tO cAusE a cRasH. SiNcE theRe wAs nO baCkUp, aNd tHe sYsteM wAs uNstaBlE… wE weReN’t… We WerEn’T rEcovEreD…” Nova trailed off, her distorted voice transforming into a sob.

She turned her makeshift head towards Hexadecimal.

“i hAvE tO thAnK yOu fOr bRinGinG mE bAcK”

“It was no trouble” Hex crouched down so she was also on her level, “I could hear you calling out to me, it was only right”

“So… was Nova the reading that Zip got?” Dex asked, confused and concerned.

“Well, if she was the survivor and was the reading on the PID,” Hex shook her head, “surely there would be more blips, for all the other civilians that were nullified”

“Well, there’s no others, only the one on my screen” Zip indicated to the small blinking dot.

“Zip’s probably right about them being in the Principal Office” Cynth wiped her nose with her fist and stood up, “you should go there with Hex and Fuse to try and find them”

“Err… OK yes, I can do that” Zip was slightly taken aback by Cynth’s sudden order, “what… what will you do?”

“I’m staying here to…” Cynth grit her teeth, “to… try and figure things out”

Zip frowned. Hex studied his expression - she could clearly see that he wanted to say something, but he kept quiet. Zip turned around and brought up his PID again.

“Ok… well if we’re going to the Principal Office, we’re going to have to get closer to the centre of the System. Hex, would you mind?”

Hex nodded and stepped forwards, offering her hands out for the System Administrator and the Hacker. As they took them, she willed herself to take them further into the System. The energy whirled around them, dissolving them and reassembling them after a nano. She released them, and surveyed the area that they’d arrived in: The Principal Office lay ahead of them - a huge, derelict and crumbling sphere that loomed up against the grey, lifeless sky. At its base was the once ornate building that would have been the former town hall. Now, the pillars that once greeted civilians at the grand double doors had completely collapsed, blocking the entrance to the office - the rubble from them were strewn across the stairs and all across the muddy grassland in front of the building.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting a parade for our arrival, but this is just dreary” she sniffed.

“This whole place is giving me the creeps” Fuse shivered and pulled his jacket closed around him, “let’s just find this… whoever it is and get the heck out of here”

“Well I’m even more certain now that they’re inside the Principal Office, so our best bet is to head inside”

“How do we do that genius,” Fuse snapped, “the door is completely blocked!”

“Well aren’t you glad you have me?” Zip mocked.

He tapped a few times on his PID. The ground rumbled and the surrounding area fizzled slightly. From out of the ground, a virtual door began to rise, similar ornate columns bordering it like the ones that were once outside the Principal Office doors. Beyond the doorway stood a dark, gloomy looking tunnel.

“And there we go” Zip gestured with his hand

“What exactly are we looking at?” the two other sprites tilted their heads at the newly opened entryway.

“This is a secret back passage into the Principal Office only available for System Administrators to access” Zip sniffed haughtily.

He turned to gaze into the hallway as well.

“Although… this one does seem a little worse for wear”

The three of them looked into the tunnel. The walls were lined with pipes and panels, cementing its role as a maintenance passage. However, none of the lights were on, and no sound echoed from down the dark hallway.

“And this goes all the way into the Principal Office?” Fuse raised an eyebrow.

“It should do. They’re not really well used but they function as an escape passage”

“Or a shortcut in for an invading Virus?” Hexadecimal offered tentatively.
Zip looked back down into the hallway.

“Well, there is supposed to be viral defences at the entrances,”

Hex tensed up.

“...but this whole place looks to be deactivated”

He took a step into the corridor. His footsteps echoed down into the darkness.

“Looks safe enough anyway… come on, if we’re gonna find whoever is in the office, we need to get going”

*

“How is this possible?”

“Which part?”

“Any of it”

“I mean… I’ve seen nullification and Nulls before… but this… this is different”

Cynth wrapped her arms around herself, hugging herself. Her and Dex had taken themselves off to the side to have a chat, leaving Nova to chat to Chromus. Cynth looked over at them, her eyebrows knitted together.

“But she’s here. She shouldn’t be”

“You said you’d seen this before” Dex crossed his arms too, “that Hexadecimal did this in the Nullified Sector”

“She did… but that just raises even more questions” Cynth sighed and shook her head, “A Guardian has never been able to have such an affinity with Nulls, but without her… I wouldn’t be able to see Nova again…”

Dex sucked a breath in through his teeth.

“So I guess for now… we just take it as a good thing?”

Cynth nodded silently. Dex patted her on the shoulder.

“I can give you some time to be on your own with her. I’ll take Chromus and look for any Viral traces around the System”

With one final reassuring smile, Dex beckoned the Search Engine over before heading down one of the broken up streets, leaving Cynth with the Null Figure. Cynth slowly made her way over to Nova, thoughts racing through her mind. Once she was back by her side, she crouched down to be on her level again.

“Do you remember how this happened?”

“wElL, i HeArD thAt a VirUs hAd bReAcHed thE sYstEm aNd… wEll, I tOlD yoU whAt hApPenEd nExt…” Nova looked down at her Null hands.

“This Virus… did you see it?”

“oNly iTs wEirD tEntAcLe tHinGs. i wAs Hit bY tHe wAve beForE i cOuLd sEe iT pRopErlY”

"But how? This System's spec is quite high. The Antivirus measures in place should have deterred it, at least long enough to contact the Guardians and get reinforcements?"

Nova shrugged.

"I… i wAs pReoCcupIed wiTh A gAme… I gUeSs I diDn'T dO a ThOrOugH eNouGh cHeCK oN tHeM…"

She pulled away from Cynth.

"IF I'd jUsT dOubLe cHeCkEd tHeM, thEn maYbE nOnE oF thIs woULd hAvE haPpeNed…"

She trailed off. Cynth looked up and around at the surrounding area. Crumbling, discoloured buildings towered above them. The sky was a blazing orange, as if the entire system was erupting in fire. She knew what it actually was: emergency lighting. Eventually the System would power it down, and leave the System in utter darkness. Nova wrung her makeshift hands together, clearly anxious from re-living the memories. Cynth drew lines in the dust on the ground.

“What did it feel like? If you don’t mind me asking of course”

Nova tilted her head.

“Being nullified, I mean”

Nova took a shaky breath in.

"WeLl aT fiRsT, wHen tHe wAvE HiT mE, iT fElT liKe i WaS waSheD uNdeR a wAvE aT tHe beAcH. AnD thEn… tHen iT aLl weNt nUmB. I cOulDn’T feEl aNytHinG, bUt aT tHe sAmE tiMe, I cOulD fEeL iT wasHinG oVer My whOlE boDy”

Nova lowered a hand and began to draw lines in the sand next to Cynth’s lines.

“tHeN, I cOulD feEl mYseLf bEinG pUlLeD aParT”

“User preserve…” Cynth breathed, “did… did it hurt?”

“iT diDn’T… It DiDn’t huRt LiKe yOu wOuLd tHinK. eVErY pIeCe oF mY coDe fElT liKe It wAs bEInG puLleD iN a diFfeRenT diReCtiON. I cOulD feEl MySelF iN sO mAny pLacEs aT onCe. My MiNd wAs sPreAd oUt tHiN, bUt iT waS fIlLeD wiTh So ManY difFerEnt tHougHts - LikE i WaS sEEinG so ManY diFfEreNt tHinGS aT OncE”

She looked down at herself.

“i GueSs thAt maKeS sENsE noW”

Cynth looked over her friend again. She could see the outlines where many different Nulls interlocked together. She winced as she saw them tremble, clearly all still individual creatures. The Null that took the place of her head morphed and moved as if it were blinking. It was so strange to see. She realised she was staring and looked away. “plEasE doN’T lOoK aWaY liKe thAt…” came Nova’s voice.

Cynth looked back at her makeshift face.

“Oh… I’m sorry. I… I didn’t want it to seem like I was staring at you. I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable”

“i fEeL wOrSe iF yOu doN’t lOoK aT mE… iT mAkeS mE fEel lIKE yoU hAte hoW i LoOk… LiKe i MaKe yoU uNcOMfoRtaBle”

“No, Nova, of course you don’t” Cynth shifted so she faced more towards the former Guardian, “I’m so sorry this happened to you. It’s not your fault at all. You had no control over this”

Cynth drew another line between her and Nova’s lines in the dirt, connecting them.

“And I’m just so happy that you are here. And I get to see you again”

Tears welled up in her eyes again.

“I’m so happy I haven’t lost you”

She looked up from the dirt and smiled at her friend. She couldn’t read her expression, but she knew she was smiling back. However as she looked away again, she heard the muffled distorted sounds of sobs emanating from the Nulls.

*

“Are you sure this tunnel actually goes into the Office if it’s inactive?”

“Of course! How many times do I have to tell you I know what I’m doing?”

“I’d believe that if we hadn’t been walking for what feels like minutes!”

Zip rolled his eyes and continued to press on forwards, leading the three of them through the dark tunnels. The only light came from Zip’s PID and a ball of viral energy that Hex had summoned. Fuse grumbled, dragging along at the back.

“We’re almost there,” Zip pointed at his PID screen, “the blip is almost right above us”

“Ugh finally!”

After a few more seconds of walking, Zip came to a halt.

“Here!” he announced.

“Where?” Fuse retorted.

Zip pointed towards the ceiling. On looking up, the three of them could make out a sealed metal panel in the ceiling that was different from the rest of the ceiling.

“It’s the way in, but it’s sealed due to the System’s status”

“So you’ve led us all this way for nothing!?” Fuse huffed, flapping his arms at his side in frustration.

Zip cleared his throat.

“Are you forgetting who we’re with?”

He cleared his throat and indicated to Hexadecimal with a flourish, stepping aside to allow her space.

“Why thank you Zip” she smiled and curtseyed at him.

She gracefully stepped underneath the panel, and equally as gracefully, smashed the panel out of the ceiling. Once the panel had finished clattering onto the floor, she took a hold of them and flew them up into the darkened Office. Now inside the Principal Office, Zip re-checked his PID.

“The survivor is down this corridor, we’re almost there”

He began to walk away when he heard Hex make a noise of curiosity.

“What’s the matter?”

“Didn’t you say the System was completely offline?”

“Yes? Why?”

“Well, if that’s the case, then why was this panel locked shut? Surely it should have also been offline?”

Zip hesitated. That’s true - it shouldn’t have been locked the way it was. He shared a look with Fuse, who was also sporting a now curious expression.

“Hmm… maybe they locked it before the System went offline” he tried to reason.

Fuse shrugged, and Hex stood back up to look around the Principal Office. She stared around the vacant offices; she’d never been inside this part of a Principal Office before, for obvious reasons. Meh, it didn’t look like anything special. Maybe if it was fully up and running she’d think differently, but it wasn’t particularly inviting. Still, there was some part of her that told her to break away from them and ransack the place for anything left behind. She shook the thoughts away. Later, in a better System.

The group of them made their way towards the Control Room, approaching the closed double doors.

“Here they are, assume the rescue protocol!” Zip announced officially.

“The what?” Fuse asked.

“Were we supposed to practise something?” Hex intoned politely.

Zip sighed in slight disappointment before pushing the door open. The room was pretty dark; the only lights coming from a few computer screens and servers. The desks and floors were strewn with papers. Unlike their control room, this one was two storey - a metal staircase along the edge of the room led to the large main screen, and it was up there where their sprite was located. At the sound of the door opening they whipped round, clinging to the metal bars and ducking down. He was an older sprite, dressed in a white coat, with matted white hair. His wide eyes darted between the three of them, an expression of shock and fear running across his face. Zip raised his hand in greeting.

“Please don’t be alarmed, we’re not here to hurt you!” he called up to him.

The Sprite peered out from behind the railing.

“You’re… yes… you’re Sprites, aren’t you?” he rasped back, his voice cracked and hoarse.

“Yes! We’re a party from Protoframe, here to look for any survivors from this devastating viral attack…” Zip explained.

“You’re my saviours!” the Sprite exclaimed with excitement, immediately racing towards the staircase, his labcoat flapping behind him. Underneath, he wore an unkempt shirt and some faded trousers.

He scrambled about the office, collecting papers from the desks, floors and all over. He grabbed a briefcase from behind a large desk and began rifling through drawers. Zip approached him, a little more on edge now that the Sprite was up and moving, but he'd promised Cynth that he'd deliver the rescue speech exactly like she'd told him to.

"Umm… please remain calm, we understand that the recent turn of events will have been incredibly shocking, but rest assured you will be protected and assisted from now on."

"Yes, yes, I'm very thankful for all that, now help me pack my bags!" The Sprite flapped at him with his hand.

"...oh… yes of course" Zip faltered, moving over to the desk to stack up some more documents while the Sprite entered an adjoining room and came back out with a pile of random assorted clothing.

"And, who are you?" Hex broke the new silence, reclining on the desk while looking at some of the papers.

"Oh yes! I'm Julian. Julian Weaver" the old Sprite answered, not looking up from packing his suitcases.

"And are you the System Administrator?"

"Yes"

"Keeper of the Core?"

Julian glanced up at her from looking down, peering at her from under thick eyebrows.

"Yes" He remarked flatly, "why?"

Hex smiled and shrugged.

"A lot of things have gone offline. I didn't know whether that title still had any meaning"

Still staring, Julian reached out and plucked the document from Hex's hand and returned his attention to his packing.

"The Core is still active, but User knows for how long. That's why we need to leave as soon as possible"

"Wait! You can give us an insight into what happened!" Zip encouraged enthusiastically

Julian gave a heavy sigh.

"You don't need me to explain what happened, just take a look outside! If the destruction doesn't spell it out for you then I don't know what to tell you"

"I mean like," Zip sighed, "what did the Virus do? What functions did it carry out to cause all this? I mean, we could only get the glimpse of an idea from the distress message"

"Ah yes, the message. You'll have to forgive me for that. I was terrified that it would find me here, so I didn't dare to show my face until I was absolutely sure it had gone. After that, I… I took the pictures as best I could to show the System… well, what’s left of it, but you have to understand, I was in a terrible way and frankly I don't think I'll recover quite from it"

Zip frowned and was about to say something, but he felt a hand being placed over his own. It's owner, Hexadecimal caught his eye and put a finger to her lips, but was also looking at Julian far more questioningly. Unbeknownst to this, Julian continued.

"It attacked our programs first. Er, non-essential ones to begin with. Folders, files, even smaller applications. Er, we weren't too sure why, gathering information maybe, but then it began to dig deeper"

He shut his briefcase with a snap.

"Before we knew it it was targeting everything else; larger applications, important System files, that sort of thing. But it didn't stop there, no. It… it found the System32 file"

"What's that?" Hex asked.

"What's that!?" Julian spluttered, eyes bulging at the unfazed Hexadecimal.

"It's the most important file in a System. It contains data that's essential for the System to run, without it there's almost a 100% guarantee that a System will stop working entirely" Zip explained.

He turned back to Julian.

"Do you suspect that's what it had been after this whole time? The System32?" Julian gave a slow shrug, still giving pointed looks towards Hexadecimal.

"It must have been prime target. After that it just sort of… stopped. But then… it wiped everything"

"The wave…" Zip breathed.

Julian pointed a finger at him.

"Exactly"

He snapped another briefcase shut.

"Right well, I don't fancy hanging around her much longer. Shall we be off? I suppose you have a vessel to take us away from here?"

"Oh yes, we have a Network Craft to get back through the Web! Although, if there's enough energy here, we could get a weak link to the Net and get back that way… although it may be risky if the connection fails. I can chat to Cynth about it. Oh! I should radio her to tell her we'll be back soon"

"Yes you do that, I've just remembered my plants! I can't leave those behind, I've spent far too long nurturing them to this point!"

Shoving a suitcase under each arm, he hurried into the adjoining room. Zip tapped his ear in order to get in contact with the other team. Hex watched him as he slowly paced the room, but had her attention focused by Fuse sliding up alongside her.

"Hey, I need to show you something. Something… concerning" He whispered.

"I'm all ears" She responded equally as quietly.

"Take a look at this"

He handed his PID over to her for her to read. She glanced down at the screen and read over what it was showing her. The console was filled with data values and commands. Overall, it didn't really make any sense to her.

"What is this?" She hissed

"It's this Systems current settings, compared to what it was a cycle ago"

"Where did you get this?"

"The screens over there" Fuse nodded towards the flickering monitors along the wall on the other side of the office, "they're loaded with info from just before the viral attack. And I think…”

He leant over and pointed something out on the screen.

“This reading is… interesting”

Hex scanned the data readouts, her eyes flicking between the words. Fuse was right; this was interesting. She raised her eyebrows and handed it back nonchalantly.

“Is there anything else you found out?” she asked casually.

“Not much, the computers are pretty shot. The only other thing I could see were the files worst hit by the Virus”

“And the System32?”

“That’s where things get tricky. Something’s certainly happened to it, but if it were completely gone, then so many of the essential functions for the System would have been deleted. It would have lost too many resources for it to repair itself, and well, while this place has been seriously hit, if that had gone, we wouldn’t have been able to get here”

He glanced in the direction of the office, where Julian was now emerging from. The older Sprite caught their eye, and they both flashed smiles at him.

“Got everything?” Hex asked cheerily.

“Err… yes, I believe so… is it time for us to…?”

Zip took his hand away from his ear, finishing his contact with the other team.

“We’re good to go! We’re taking you to safety!”

*

Cynth and Nova had been chatting for what seemed like minutes. Nova was recounting all the things that she had done in the System; the Games she’d played, the funny community events she’d taken part in, all the friends she’d made. Cynth smiled all the way throughout. It was really nice to hear her best friends’ voice again after all these years, despite her current… instance. They’d completely lost track of time, as they were jolted back into the present by the sound of Chromus and Dex returning to them.

“You guys look like you’ve got comfortable” Dex noted with a smile.

Cynth scrabbled up from the ground and dusted herself off.

“Well, we haven’t seem each other in while, it only felt right to catch up” she turned her nose up in mock offence, “how did things your end go?”

“Scanned the entirety of the System, there’s still an insane amount of Viral traces all over the place. No good for the System’s stability, but we were able to collect enough for Chromus"

“I believe I can now do a much more information filled Web Search to gather useful information on whatever Virus this is”

“Excellent. Well, at least we can try and make good things from what happened” Cynth smiled at Nova who nodded and stood up next to her.

“Well all we have to do now is wait for word from the others” Dex stretched out, rolling his neck in his spacesuit.

As if on cue Cynth’s radio beeped, causing them all to jump slightly. Cynth tapped her earpiece and turned off to the side to speak with him.

“Hey Zip, any luck finding the survivor?”

“Actually, yes! We made our way to the central Control Room of the Principal Office, and we found the System Administrator”

“The System Administrator?” Cynth repeated to confirm.

“jUliAn mAdE iT tHroUgH?” Nova gasped, bringing her hands to her face.

Cynth breathed a steady sigh of relief. All was not lost in this System after all.

"That's incredible, well done. Are you making your way over?"

"He's just collecting a few more documents but when he's finished we'll get Hex to transport us over"

"Brilliant. We'll see you shortly then"

With another beep she hung up her radio.

"Well that's good news, we have another survivor"

Nova trembled and lowered herself back to the floor.

"WeLl iT soUndS liKE a GOod tHinG… bUt…" she began.

"But?" Cynth prompted.

"WelL… lOoK aT mE. I diDn'T dO mY jOb aS a GuArdIan… I lEt hiM doWn"

"You did everything you needed to do. There's only one of you, and you protected them to the best of your ability"

She gave her best friend a smile

"I'm sure he'll understand"

A few nanos passed, when the group were startled by the sudden sound of Hexadecimal materialising in front of them. She had brought the entire group with her, reuniting the two groups together. Zip, Hex and Fuse stood in line with each other and behind them, a confused Sprite whipped his head around.

“What in the Net? Fascinating!” He exclaimed, “I’ve never seen teleportation that smooth before!”

"iT Is YoU!” Nova breathed in surprise and relief.

Julian whipped around at the sound of the distorted voice. His eyes scanned over the Null entity, his eyes bulging out.

“Wh…what is this?”

“jUliAn, iT’s Me! nOvA!”

His mouth fell open.

“It… can’t be…? How is this possible?”

“Nova was Nullified by the Virus sweeping through the System. It’s because of Hexadecimal that you can see her now” Cynth explained.

“Fascinating…” Julian repeated, stepping closer to her.

She backed away tentatively.

“yOu’Re… nOt uPseT wiTh mE?” she mumbled.

"Wh… why would I be upset with you?”

Nova shifted on the spot slightly.

“bEcAusE… I lEt tHe vIrUs deStroY tHe sYstEm liKe tHis…”

Julian blinked a few times.

“Oh… Nova… it was… unfortunate. I’m sure you tried your best” he assured her, “it was a very powerful Virus… er… It would have been a very stressful time, you shouldn’t let any slip ups get to you”

Nova’s head slumped down. Cynth winced at the sight of her friend sad. She desperately wanted to take her hand, to tell her it was OK. Julian fumbled some baggage as he glanced around the square.

“Is that your ship? Are we ready to depart?” he gestured a shaky finger over to the Net Ship.

“Err, yes it is. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?” Dex asked, confused at the sprite’s desire.

Julian stared at him and blinked.

“This System is on the verge of collapse, and you have the gall to ask that?” Dex held his hands up in defence.

“Woah, easy, I was just making sure you’re OK. You don’t need to panic now, we’re all here to help”

Julian relaxed a little bit, but continued to stare at Dex.

“He’s right though,” Cynth announced, “the stability of this System is declining rapidly. It won’t be long until the User does a full restart of the System back to its Factory Settings, and if we’re in the System when that happens then we’ll all be goners”

“Back to the ship then? Sounds good to me!” Fuse immediately scampered over to the ship and clambered aboard.

“But what do we do about Nova?” Zip chewed his lip.

Cynth looked between the System Administrator and her best friend.

“Well I’m absolutely not leaving her here” she said flatly.

“You don’t have to worry about that, I’ll be able to keep her formed no matter where we go,” Hex assured, “as long as I’m here, she will be”

“But can we even take her on the ship?” Dex asked.

Zip tilted his head from side to side.

“Theoretically? The Net Ship is designed to carry anything through both the Net and the Web. It’s never been done before, but I could only assume it could transport Nulls if they went on it”

Cynth nodded and turned to Nova.

“Are you ready for this? We can be together again, and we’ll find out if we can do something to help you”

Nova sniffed.

“i wOulD reAlLy liKe ThaT”

“I’m hearing a lot of votes for getting on the ship before a System Crash, but not a lot of actually getting on the ship!” Fuse called out to them

“I second that! Make way!” Julian hurried his way up the staircase into the ship.

The rest of them followed suit, Cynth keeping a careful eye on Nova to make sure all the Nulls that formed her made it onto the ship. The last to enter the ship was Hex. Her face was stony, her eyes narrowed. This was going to be a long journey.

*

“I… I really should be going, I’m.. I’m sure you have a lot of work to do!”

“Nonsense, we have plenty of time to follow procedure, please come in and make yourself comfortable”

The doors to the central office slid open with a hiss, and Dex led the group into the room. Sandwiched in the middle was the tentative administrator of the unknown System, who fumbled with his bags as he scooted into a chair. Cynth followed suit, joined by Zip, Fuse and Chromus. Behind her, the nervous mass that was Nova trundled in behind them.

“i caN’t BelIevE i’m hErE…” she breathed.

“I’m just so happy you are here” Cynth smiled warmly at her.

Nova took a tentative seat at the table, as if she still wasn’t 100% sure on how her body worked. Cynth took up a seat next to her while the others took their own. Julian tapped the table impatiently as Dex booted up the drive containing all his official documents that Cynth allocated into his control.

Tailing the end of the group was Hex and Zip; Hex with her arms folded and face downturned, and Zip with a grim expression on his face. He clutched some files tight to his chest. As Hexadecimal slowly made her way across the floor, heels clacking across the floor, Zip tapped at the keypad next to the door. The door slid closed with a hiss. Wordlessly, he tapped the keypad again, and the green “unlocked” sign flashed to a red “locked”.

“Cynth, could you give me the access code for your Guardian Account? That’s where the files on Supervirus accounts are”

“Oh yeah, here you go” Cynth joined Dex at the computer, typing in the codes. Hex continued to silently wall across the room approaching the desk as the others focused on the front.

“OK, everything should be set up, it just needs one final thing…” Cynth looked up from the screen, “Zip, we just need you to sign this off as System Administrator”

Zip snapped out of his slight trance and gave her a sad smile.

“I… I would love to… but I have something to inform you”

He cleared his throat as everyone turned to look at him.

“About what happened in that System”

“Zip? What are you talking about?” Cynth furrowed her brows in confusion.

“Yes, yes, what are you going on about? I would be very appreciative if we could speed things along” Julian prompted.

“I’m afraid there might be some complications with that” Zip shook his head.

He took out his PID and tapped the screen sadly. An image blipped up onto the screen. Hex recognised it as the entrance to the secret tunnel into the Principal Office.

“This is where it first began to seem weird to me” he began, “when Hexadecimal pointed out that the viral defences on the access tunnel were deactivated… Keep that in mind”

He flicked to the next photo.

“But then this access panel, which was originally only designed for essential, emergency hardware delivery, was locked tightly shut. If the entire defence system was deactivated, then it would have also been inactive”

Cynth and Dex glanced at each other. Chromus cocked his head. Julian stared at Zip. Zip caught his eye, and quickly looked away down to his PID.

“It was then what you said next that sat wrong with Hex and Fuse. I didn’t hear it because, admittedly, I was far too engrossed in our conversation”

He indicated to Fuse, who shakily stood up and coughed.

“Err, yes… when Zip mentioned that you had sent photos of the System in your distress message… you said you didn’t do it until after the viral attacks. And if we look at the photos…” he nodded towards Zip.

Zip flicked the screen and brought up the distress message. He scrolled through the messages, showing off every picture, showing off every stage of the Virus’ attack. Julian stared at the images too, showing things he’d never even witnessed. He began to stand up, but a firm hand from Hexadecimal was planted squarely on his shoulder, pushing him down again.

"Of course, none of that even matters considering Nova told us she was the one who had sent the message in the first place"

Nova quivered in her chair.

“And it was the final piece of evidence that Fuse found that put it all together”

He stared straight into Julian’s anger-filled eyes.

“The readings that were left on your screens: from before the viral attack, and from afterwards”

He brought one final image up on the screen. The data readings flashed up for all to see. Cynth scanned over the screen, confused beyond belief.

“The reading for the viral defence systems… were deactivated on the day of the viral attack”

The revelation was met with stunned silence.

“W… what?” Cynth demanded.

“The antivirus defence systems hadn’t failed, like Nova said, they had been manually switched off…”

“i… i hAdn’T fOrGotteN? I… diDn’T mEsS uP?” Nova exclaimed, a saddened tone to her voice.

“No, the readouts show you had triple checked them at the first sign of the viral attack. It was later when the defences were switched off. And there was only one person who could have done that…”

A series of eyes turned to glare at Julian. He surveyed the room, returning every fury filled gaze. His eyes landed on Nova.

“jUliAn…?” she asked tentatively.

Julian stared back at her, breathing heavily. Sweat began to ball up on his forehead.

“He… promised me…”

“I don’t… believe this!” Cynth grit her teeth, fists clenching from anger, “you… you…”

She couldn’t even finish her sentence, the wave of anger had made her tense up.

“You had better start talking” Dex ordered.

Julian cleared his throat and tented his fingers.

“You don’t understand what you are dealing with. This… this being was something that has never been recorded. It displays… immeasurable powers”

He paused as he collected his thoughts.

“A few cycles before… he reached out to me. I could hear him… I could… see him…”

He leant onto the table.

“He appeared like an angel to me in a vision; a being of pure energy. He told of his arrival, of the salvation he would bring everyone. Of how he needed a messenger…”

“And you decided that would be you? Play the hero?” Dex accused.

Julian chuckled and shook his head.

“He chose me. To be his messenger, to be the one to let him in. And in return he would grant me freedom”

“You mean the coward's way out?” Fuse spat.

“Don’t act so high and mighty” Julian glared at him, “you would have done the same in my position”

“So then what? You lowered the System’s defences so it could break through almost effortlessly?” Cynth demanded, her temper rising.

“It was part of his grand plan. I let him in, he frees the System, and I am left as his messenger. To pass on the tale of his presence to any others”

“Like Megabyte” Hex grunted, “he said that one would be spared to share the news of his presence”

“Ah, another glorious messenger” Julian nodded solemnly.

Anger boiled up inside Hexadecimal, but her face remained stony still.

“sO… yOu leT thE viRus… kiLl eVeryOne…” Nova whimpered.

“And you left Nova to think that she had done it? All so we would set you free?” Cynth barked.

“I had not foreseen you arriving, and Nova was… a calculated decision” Cynth slammed her fist into the table.

“YOU BASTARD!”

“Cynth!” Dex put a hand on her arm

“He allowed them all to die! He deliberately let that virus in, he gave them no chance!”

“I know…” Dex nodded.

“And now you think you’re some glorious messenger, and for what, the chance to live in the destroyed wreckage of a disintegrating System?”

“I was chosen to pass on this message” Julian mumbled.

“Quiet you!” Cynth slammed her fist on the table, “You condemned an entire System to destruction!”

“Woah!” Dex leapt around the desk, standing in front of her, “Cynth I understand you’re upset but this is where I have to step in”

“But…!” Cynth began.

“We’ll lock him up and cart him off to the Guardians. We need him to tell them what he’s told us, if he talks to them”

“I have no issue with passing on the glorious message” Julian leant back in his chair.

Dex strode up behind him and pulled him up, locking his arms behind his back in handcuffs. Cynth sighed, and wiped her forehead. As Dex escorted him away to the holding cells, the awkward tension swirled around the room.

“i… CaN’t bEliEve iT…”

*

“If he can tell them about the Supervirus, then maybe the Guardians will be able to create a contingency plan for it”

“I know, I just want to make sure he’s punished severely enough”

“And he will be,” Dex ensured the prison cell forcefield was up and running at full capacity, “once he’s been interrogated I’m sure they’ll give him a proper punishment.

Cynth crossed her arms, staring into the cell where the dejected System Administrator now sat. The only other who’d joined them, on Cynth’s request, had been Hexadecimal. The Virus watched in silence as Cynth moved over to the holding cell screen.

“Thank you, Dex. Erm, could you leave us to it? We’ve gotta, ya know, authorise the transfer as Guardians” she asked, scratching the back of her head.

“Ah yes, of course” Dex gave a grim smile.

He nodded towards Hexadecimal, who nodded back, and opened the door.

“Thank you, Cynth, for being so calm about this. I agree with you: it’s horrific what he did, and what he did to Nova. You’re a good person for taking the high road and doing the right thing”

Cynth nodded slightly. Dex gave one final half-smile before closing the door. Cynth let out a slow sigh.

“Hex?” she whispered.

“Yes Cynth?” Hex replied, equally as quietly.

“There’s something I want to ask you, you can refuse obviously”

“I’m all ears?”

Cynth turned to the Virus, her eyes dripping hot tears.

“I need you to kill him”

Hex blinked at her.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re right, forget it,” Cynth replied quickly, wiping her eyes, “I need to calm down and…”

“No, no, I’ll do it, I was just surprised you would ask that of me” Hex grinned, checking her nails.

Cynth let out a breath of relief.

“I just… being arrested isn’t enough. Not for him. He deserves to feel the pain he caused all those civilians”

She gave him a quick, hate-filled glance.

“For the pain he caused Nova”

She turned back to Hex.

“I don’t care how it’s done, I’ll cover for you. The only thing is, we keep this a secret”

Hex dragged her fingers across her lips, indicating her silence. Cynth squeezed her hand, and gave her a quick smile before hurrying over to the door to the room. After slipping through it, Hex heard the distinctive sound of the door locking. Glee began to bubble up inside her.

“Is this really happening?”

“Have we been told what I think we’ve been told?”

“Let’s tear him apart!”

Hex sauntered over towards Julian’s cell, running a finger up along the edge of the door.

“So, did you ever actually meet this Virus?” she asked nonchalantly.

Julian looked at her with tired eyes.

“Unfortunately, his eminence did not grace me with his glorious presence”

“Oh that's a shame. So you didn’t get to see a powerful Virus?”

Julian chuckled, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

“As terrifying as he power was, I must admit I am curious to have seen him up close”

“Well, I can’t help you with meeting him, but I can do the next best thing”

There was a flash and the sound of the prison cell door shutting off. Julian opened his eyes in confusion, and the blood drained from his face. Standing in front of him was a huge red virus, black spiked crown, and porcelain mask twisted into a horrific open mouthed smile. Neon green eyes burned into his own.

“Wh… What happened, who are you?”

“I apologise for not introducing myself before, but you understand I had to do this for my own secrecy”

Julian began to back away as much as he could into his cell.

“You… you’re a monster…”

“Aww and you think your ‘glorious master’ was not? You wanted to meet a Virus…”

She lashed out with a clawed hand, snagging his shirt in her hand and lifting him off the floor.

“... so now you have”

She brushed his hair away with her other hand.

“And I can confidently say I’m the best one”

Julian gulped.

“Why tell me all this? What do you gain when all this gets left out in the open?”

He flinched as she brought her unmoving porcelain smile closer.

“What makes you think you’re getting out of this?”

There was another flash of light as the two of them dematerialised. When they reappeared, Julian winced as cold air rushed over the two of them, causing him to look around. On realising where he was, he clutched at Hexadecimal’s arms and let out a terrified, panicked scream. Hexadecimal was hovering underneath the city, holding the System Administrator above the gently pulsating Energy Sea.

“Keep screaming,” Hex crooned, “it’s a cold, windy night. No-one will be able to hear you"

Julian was sweating profusely.

“Please, please don’t let me go!”

“You know, I could have chosen any way to kill you. And I wish I could kill you in many more ways than just one”

She pulled him in close.

“I could have fed you to the Nulls, so you could feel how Nova feels. But then I thought they don’t deserve that. But instead I’ll let you have what you want”

“W… What’s that?”

“You can feel what it’s like to go to your ‘glorious master’”

She held him out at arms length.

“Thank you for delivering his message. We won’t be needing his messenger anymore”

And with that, she let him go.

His screams were drowned out by the wind as he fell, plummeting towards the energy sea. Hex watched with intense glee as the Sprite flailed through the air before coming into contact with the huge expanse of energy under the city. In an instant, his body was vaporised without a trace. And the wind was the only howling that night.

Chapter Text

It was a cold night, and the equally cold sunlight filtered sadly through the clouds. Snowflakes flurried around the empty courtyard, deftly landing silently on the worn stonework of the abandoned gardens. The regal yet imposing manor stood prominent against the clouded sky. The silence was shattered by a set of double doors bursting open, and out stumbled a figure. It was wearing a worn leather coat, and washed out jeans, but easily the most intriguing feature was its head - where a head should have been was instead a camera. It turned back to look in the doorway as it clambered over the low stone wall. As it did so, two other figures burst out from the snow. These two were fully humanoid, but their skin was covered in grime, and their clothes were tatters. They bared their teeth at the camera-headed figure, releasing gargling growls that echoed around the courtyard, reaching out with their fingers twisted and curled in anger. The first figure sprinted across the courtyard, barrelling through the doors on the opposite side of the yard and out of sight. Immediately the two zombies lowered their arms. The one on the left sneezed loudly.

“What is it with zombie games?” Zip spluttered, wrapping his arms around him as the cold began to get to him, “why do I have to play as all these gross, zombie things!”

“I thought you wanted to go into more Games?” Cynth stretched up, cracking her back in satisfaction.

“Not ones like this!”

Zip sat down on one of the crumbling walls and began to rub his feet to try and warm them up.

“What happened to Users playing things like racing games or… like… fun games, ya know?”

“Ah, you know Users, they always like more hi-tech, gritty stuff. I guess it sells well”

Cynth tapped her Keytool.

“Ok so with current items, current Game progress… they should be aiming for the upper floor. They have a mini-boss fight up there that will hopefully slow them. Or even stop them”

She looked around impatiently.

“Where is Hex? She’d better not be admiring herself in the mirror again!”

As if on cue the double doors flew open again, but this time it wasn’t a bedraggled User. Instead, it was a hugely tall figure, having to duck down in order to get through the door. On her head was a glorious wide brimmed hat, and she wore a very expensive white vintage dress. Standing up to her full height, she stretched in the cold light.

“Now this is my kind of Game” Hex exclaimed.

“Of course it is” Cynth rolled her eyes and grinned.

“This is how I deserve to look all the time” Hex ran a hand over her long black gloves.

Zip grinned up at her.

“You were already tall before, how are you even taller now?”

“Because I’m brilliant, my darling”

“Alright, if you’re done fawning over yourself, can we please find the User before he beats the Game?”

“Oh we have no rush, the User was struggling with the puzzles, and they’re almost out of life”

She flicked her hand, extending her clawed fingers into long, razor sharp talons.

“This will be over before they know it”

Sure enough, it didn’t take long to find the User. All she had to do was strut around the huge mansion for a bit before she found a door she could have sworn she closed before. She dusted off her dress before bursting through the door. Just as she suspected, the User was in there, fumbling around with one of the many puzzles the game had to offer. When they heard the door slam behind them they whipped around to face her.

“End of the line, Man Thing!” she cackled, extending her claws, “yes… I rather like that”

She continued to muse over the many character lines in her head as she jammed her claws through their stomach. As the User keeled over, the game crooned “Game Over” and the world around her flashed and began to move up over her. In the blink of an eye, they were back in Protoframe. Zip and Cynth jogged over to meet her now that the map had gone.

“Well, I have to say that was our most efficient game run this month! We made it out all before morning announcements!”

“Aww does that mean we still have to sit through Dex’s briefing?” Zip grumbled.

“I thought you liked admin stuff?” Hex put her hands on her hips

“Well, yes, but only when it’s different! His last 5 have all been exactly the same!”

“It never hurts to be absolutely sure of what to do with viruses around” Cynth warned.

“Exactly,” Hex grinned, “You have no idea what could happen next!”

*

The doors slid open with a hiss and Fuse strode in triumphantly, brandishing a handfull of documents

"Email call!" He announced

At once, everyone in the room began to bubble with excitement as they clustered around him to collect their emails.

"Janice, there we are. Phillip, you got a lot this time, anything special? Don't worry I didn't forget about you Howard"

Eventually the crowd disbanded around him, and he began to approach Hex and the team, hands still full of personal documents.

"And last but not least, you guys!"

He began to dispense the emails.

"Dex, usual routine email updates"

The antivirus nodded and took the letter, opening it to have a quick scan.

"Cynth, woah, email from the Guardians. I haven't opened it, I swear! Don't look at me like that!" He exclaimed on seeing her raised eyebrow.

The Guardian took it with pursed lips, folding the confidential document into her uniform pocket. Fuse took a particularly large document from the stack.

"Zip, here's your... How many subscriptions do you have?"

Zip stuck his tongue out.

"I enjoy many different interests, I'm not ashamed to admit"

"Yeah but that's like, a LOT of credits. You know if you wanted me to, I'd make it so that you could get these all for free" Fuse offered with a shrug.

"But that would be immoral" Zip sniffed

"And illegal" Cynth intoned.

Fuse held his hands up in surrender.

"Just a suggestion"

He looked back down at his hand.

"Oh and Hex this is for you"

She'd been staring off into space for a while now, but at the mention of her name, Hexadecimal turned around in surprise.

"An email?" She asked in confusion.

"Yeah"

"An email for me?" She pushed

Fuse brought the document up close to read it.

"It's got your name on it"

Hex tentatively took the small thin paper from his hand, looking it over with mild curiosity. Sure enough, stamped in generic typeface, was her name - 'Hexadecimal'.

"You seem surprised? Not expecting an email?" Cynth asked.

"Well, no, not really. I've... Never had an email?" Hex explained plainly, "the one you gave me for this System is my first email address"

"You never had one before?" Zip spluttered, "how did you communicate with anyone??"

Hex shrugged.

"I managed"

She got all excited all of a sudden when she read the rest of the email cover.

"Ooh it says I've won a competition for 10000 credits! Can I open it now?"

"Hold on a minute" Dex interjected before she could tear open the paper, "that's almost certainly a spam email"

"Spam email?" Hex tilted her head to the side.

"Yeah, you know, a computer generated email designed to send en masse to email addresses all over the Net"

"But this could be real!" Hex pouted.

"If you never had an email or anything, how would you have signed up for this competition?" Fuse countered, crossing his arms

Hex gave a begrudging scowl.

"I could have, you don't know"

"Look, we're just concerned because, while they're usually just junk, sometimes they can be dangerous" Cynth explained.

"Yes, a lot of them can have harmful malware disguised as a useful link and before you know it, boom, virus infection" Dex sucked a breath in through his teeth, "you want me to get rid of it?"

"Oh, no it's ok" Hex gave him a polite smile, "I'll just do it later. If it's nothing, then it's not important!"

She stuffed the email into her corset, smoothing down her cape and flashing them all another wide smile. The rest of the group stared back at her, mildly concerned. Cynth cleared her throat.

"Riiiiight, well, back to the task at hand; Chromus, did your searches on nullified Sprite data come back with anything?"

They all looked toward the shiny Sprite, who shook his head.

"Sadly not, it seems that the experience you had within the Candy Wars Game is one that is still highly unknown. Any other instances of this occurring are met with similar confusion"

"Hmm, and I bet none of them featured Hex being a part of it too" Cynth tapped her chin, "I wonder if we could recreate what happened but with Nova instead of that sea of Nulls"

"Would that be safe?" Zip queried, typing up notes as they talked.

"I mean, if Hex keeps control then I'm sure it would be. You could do that couldn't you, Hex?"

"Hmm?" Hex tore her eyes away from staring out of the window in thought, "oh, yes, probably"

"I more meant, for Nova? Last time I checked, Nulls absolutely hated going into games. It's not gonna... Hurt her is it?"

Cynth paused to assess this new point. Eventually she let out a sigh and flopped her head into her hands.

"I don't know, this is all such a new weird thing. I still don't know anything about what's actually happening"

"How's she doing?" Dex inquired.

Cynth leant back in her chair.

"She's fine, the scientists are running tests on her at the moment to ensure she's stable enough to stay in the System without it rejecting her. I'm sure she is, we have plenty of Nulls here already. I just..."

She squeezed her eyes shut.

"I already lost her once, I can't lose her again"

*

Hex had not been paying attention to most of that discussion. In fact, she hadn't been paying attention as soon as Dex had mentioned the word 'virus'. Was that really true? Closing her apartment door behind her and locking it, she took the crumpled email out and held it up in front of her. Smoothing out the paper, she felt for any kinds of viral energies. None. Well, if it was designed to hide a virus then that would make sense.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Open it! Open it now!"

"Free them!"

She didn't need them to convince her anymore. With a flash of terrible excitement she transformed into her viral form, using her claws to slice open the top of the envelope to release the contents inside. A face of unmoving joy was plastered across her face when she opened the envelope up fully.

There was a flicker of movement and the blur of fuzz as something leapt out of the email and immediately scurried behind her throne. Shocked now, she tilted her head in bemused curiosity.

"What in the Net are you?"

She slowly crept towards the chair, spying a beady green eye peeking out from behind the base.

"Hello!" She crooned, crouching down so she was level with it, "and who might you be?"

The thing seemed to scan her with its eye, emanating a low humming sound as it did so. She held out clawed finger as an offering, trying to coax it out. Slowly but surely, it began to creep out from the shadows.

It was small, about the size of a cat, but other than its eye it had no discernable features. It's entire body was black, and seemed to be made of distorted polygons. They stuck out in all angles, giving it a fluffy appearance. When it moved, it seemed to just... Move. It had no legs, no limbs. Its body just seemed to shift and writhe as it silently sat and surveyed her.

"Oh you are adorable!" Hex squealed.

She leant over gently, and the virus froze but allowed her to gently stroke it. The feeling was strange - it buzzed slightly, but not like an animal, more like the quiet vibrations from an electrical panel. It was almost like purring. She gently pet the creature, sitting on the floor and smiling at it as it shifted across the room. It kept a wary eye on her, always observing what she was doing. She didn't mind; she was just so thrilled to have another virus here with her.

"You are such a sweet thing! I think I'll call you... Scuzzy! Scuzzy 2.0!" She announced cheerfully.

Scuzzy 2.0 buzzed slightly. She took that to be a sign of affection, so she gave it a gentle pat.

"Are you hungry? Do you want anything to eat?"

She stood up, and indicated towards the kitchen. It looked up at her, eye flicking between her and the kitchen. No sound came out of it. Hex tilted her head.

"What do you eat? Energy? I've got some energy shakes in the fridge?"

Waving a hand, an ice cool energy shake and a bowl floated from the kitchen and into her hand. Crouching down again, she poured a small amount into the bowl and set it in front of the virus. Scuzzy 2.0 looked down at it, shifted towards it as if giving it a sniff, then stared back up at her. Hex put her hands on her hips.

"So, not energy... Data? I think I've got some old files that I... Absolutely obtained legitimately..." She offered.

Scuzzy 2.0 continued to stare at her blankly.

"What else would a virus eat..." She mulled, tracing a finger around the edge of her porcelain mask.

She had a sudden brainwave, and clicked her fingers. A wallet materialised in her hand from nowhere, and she tipped the contents into the magically emptied food bowl. As the credits clattered into the plastic bowl, Scuzzy 2.0 launched towards them, immediately devouring them as soon as it could.

"Well, I'm glad we worked that out. I'd like to keep you around, it would be nice to have a pet with a familiar feel to it"

She looked down at the now empty bowl, and the small virus gazing at her again. Her face switched to an arched eyebrow of annoyance.

"An expensive pet if you keep eating that quickly!"

She reached down to pet the virus again, and to her surprise, this time it didn't flinch or react at all. The mild feelings of contempt immediately melted away.

"But we can work on that" she crooned, "after all, I believe I'm due a pay rise"

*

As the cycles ran on, Hex delighted in having another presence in her apartment. She would rush home after every shift, ready to smother her new pet with affection and monetary snacks. It was also a bit of a rush to keep such a secret to herself: if any of her co-workers found out about it, there would almost certainly be a lot of question. Scuzzy 2.0 also seemed to get a bit more comfortable itself; it no longer hid unmoving behind her throne in the shadows, and instead would be positioned around the house in a new place every time she looked. On top of the fridge, under the bed, on the kitchen table. She appreciated the fact that it awaited her return, always staring at her intensely whenever she got back. In fact it pretty much stared at her all the time. All. The. Time. She'd be cooking a meal of an evening and turn to grab something from the cupboard, only to be met with Scuzzy 2.0 perched on the countertop, green eye scanning her. While watching TV, her gaze would be distracted by the unblinking green orb just to the right of the TV stand, but even if she turned her back on it, she could still feel, she still knew, that it was still staring at her. One time, she awoke in the middle of the night after hearing a strange shuffling noise. Bleary eyed, she scanned the room to find the source, but was immediately faced with the bright green eye illuminating the doorway. Even in pure darkness, it still followed her every move. Initially she thought it was just hungry, so she'd emptied her wallet into its bowl as much as she could afford to, but nothing she seemed to do changed its behaviour. It only seemed to watch. So needless to say she was glad when Fuse suggested the two of them spend the evening at his one cycle. She'd eagerly agreed - maybe some time out of the apartment would make things feel a lot less... Strange.

She was applying makeup to her sprite form when he knocked. It caught her by surprise, and made her jump. She wasn't expecting him here. She'd taken to locking her bedroom door to try and give her some peace while at night (though it was futile; she still knew that it was staring at her even behind the door), so she teleported to the front door.

"Fuse!" She exclaimed as she opened it, "what a surprise! I thought we were to be spending the evening at yours tonight?"

"Yeah, we were, but then it decided that tonight was the night that the plumbing would explode and now my bathroom is currently being drained and fixed. Soooo I thought we'd just move it to here! If that's ok?" He explained.

"Well, yes, it is... It's just... Well, we'll have company this evening"

On seeing his confused expression, she pointed a finger tentatively at her throne, which caused him to jump. Sitting squarely in the centre of the chair was Scuzzy 2.0, its unbreaking stare now being shared by the both of them.

"Oh my... What... What is it?" Fuse asked, his brow furrowed.

"Oh, this is Scuzzy 2.0. He's my... My viral pet"

"Hex!" Fuse hissed, ensuring the door was slammed behind him, "is that a virus from that email you got???"

"He's cute isn't he?"

Fuse clutched onto Hex as he looked over the spiky virus.

"It's... Something?" He gulped, "what kind of virus is it?"

"You know, I'm not really sure" she pondered, "all it does is sit and look all the time"

"Does it do anything?"

"Besides eat and watch... Not really"

Fuse tilted his head at it, and watched it copy his movements.

"Well, I guess it does have some charm" he finally admitted.

"Yes it does" Hex nodded, "I'll go grab us some drinks then"

She made her way into the kitchen, busying herself with collecting some wine glasses from a cupboard.

"You know I'm glad you think he's alright. I've been having my reservations about him, but if you think he's sweet too then that makes things a little less worrisome..."

She turned round to talk to Fuse directly, only to be faced with his flailing body stumbling around the front room. His arms waved about wildly, trying to clutch onto the spiky object that had affixed itself to his head, muffling the screams that came from underneath .

"Goodness gracious!" She exclaimed, letting the glasses fall to the floor and shatter.

She clicked her fingers, and with a buzz of orange energy the two entities were separated. Fuse gasped for air, while scrambling back towards the door. Scuzzy 2.0 hovered in the air, quivering slightly as it turned it's green eye onto her.

"What in the Net was that?"

"Th...that thing attacked me!" Fuse spluttered out

Hex brought the Virus close to her, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes it did"

She jabbed an accusatory finger at it.

"We don't attack guests, especially not this one! No dinner for you until you ca-AAGH!"

Without warning, a long apendage had shot out from just below Scuzzy 2.0's eye: a long smooth tube ending with a huge array of teeth. It latched itself onto her hand, digging it into her flesh. She screamed out in pain, and anger flashed through her entire body. With a roar she flung her hand away from her, launching Scuzzy 2.0 across the room. Before he could land, she clenched her fist, causing him to float in midair. With another quick flick, she used her viral powers to fire him out towards the living room window. The small entity rocketed through the glass. She watched at the little black blip tumbled down the skyscraper, and she was sure it was still staring at her. When she couldn't see it anymore, she turned back from the window and went to help Fuse up.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine... Wh..what about you? You're bleeding!"

Hex looked down at her hand, at the bright spots of blood that trickled over her porcelain white skin.

"Oh. Look at that. I didn't even know that was possible" she mused.

"Let me help you out" Fuse scrambled over to the kitchen and fumbled around for a first aid kit.

"I'm just surprised it was able to bite me at all. I'm usually tougher than this" she murmured thoughtfully.

"Well, I'm glad it didn't get me then" Fuse mumbled, wrapping her hand in bandages after wiping them, "it got close though"

Once she was patched up, Hex moved towards the window, gazing out of the fractured glass, down at the ground far below.

"Well I'm glad its gone now. I was beginning to grow quite tired of it" she muttered.

"Do you think it's... 'Eliminated'?" Fuse queried nervously
Hex shrugged.

"Probably. It didn't seem like a particularly rugged creature. It's probably gone for good"

The sprite breathed a sigh of relief.

"That makes me feel a bit better" he admitted, "that thing creeped me out"

"Me too" Hex mused quietly, giving one more final look outside at the cool dusk outside, "me too"

*

That night, the nightmares started.

Hex tossed and turned in her sleep, plagued by horrific sounds and images that flashed through her head. These weren't the usual ones that she was used to dealing with; these were new and concerning.

Screams. Explosions. Alarms. Flared needle sharp teeth in a porcelain mask. Claws. Red.

She woke in a cold sweat.

As she calmed her rapid breathing, she noticed in her mirror that she was back in her viral form. Her head spun as she stood to move towards the kitchen. Despite having switched forms, the bandage was still on her hand, which throbbed gently in pain. She groaned, cradling her head in a hand as she drank a glass of water. When she entered her front room, she stopped in her tracks. The front room window was completely broken. Sure, earlier that day it had had a hole broken in it, but now all the glass had pretty much been removed from the frame, letting in the cold night air. The curtains billowed out, like wraiths in the wind. Hex furrowed her brow. She was sure that's not what it looked like before. But she couldn't for the life of her remember when that happened. She scratched her hand absentmindedly.

Hexadecimal went to work confused that day. While there, she asked Fuse if they had done anything to her window after the... Incident. Fuse had shook his head, saying they'd just drank and then he'd gone home. He did say that they must have had a lot to drink, since apparently, Hex had been very woozy that evening. Hex just sat there at the Control Room table, chin resting on her hand in thought.

"And the last piece to report is that last night there was a break in at a local convenience store,"

Dex was reading out the nightly reports.

"Luckily noone was harmed, but the owner said he was threatened, and the perp made off with the entire cash register"

"Ugh, I know I should have doubled back to check that sector" Cynth grumbled, "times are tough, I get that, but this isn't the way"

She took the papers handed to her by Dex.

"We can double security patrols around the surrounding stores, if that would make other civilians feel safer?"

"That was my plan" Dex nodded in agreement, "either deter them or catch them in the act at another place"

Cynth made a noise of agreement and checked her PID.

"Hex, you're on night duty in the sector over from the scene, do you mind just giving it a once over at some point? Hex?"

Hex snapped out of her stupor.

"Hmm? Oh, yes of course!"

"You feeling ok?"

"I'm fine darling, just my hand hurting a bit"

"I did notice that" Zip piped up, a look of concern on his face, "What happened?"

"Oh I was bitten"

"Bitten?? By what??"

Hex immediately tensed up. She shot a quick glance at Fuse, who shot her back an equally wide-eyed look.

"Err...." She began, "by... Myself?"

"You... Bit yourself?" Dex raised an eyebrow

"Yesssss..." She nodded slowly

"How in the Net did you manage that?"

"I got.. really into... chicken wings?"

"Chicken wings?"

"Yeah you should have seen her!" Fuse jumped around the desk, sliding up to Hex, "she had a whole bucket to herself and she was just going to town"

"They tasted fabulous"

"And then she got too into it and just..." Fuse put his hand into his mouth and bit gently to demonstrate.

The rest of the team gave them bewildered looks. Fuse and Hex just shot back big smiles.

"...riiiiight. Well, I hope it heals soon and... Be careful next time" Cynth advised.

*

The night was quiet. Hex didn't know if she liked that or not. She liked the chaos of busy places. She liked to mess things up in them to make them even more chaotic. Nights like this were empty. Nowhere near as fun. But then again, they were empty enough for mischief to be carried out with no issues. And she had command of the entire sector. She could do whatever she liked. After a while of using her powers to bend a few lamp posts into abstract shapes, she decided to drift on over to the convenience store in the other sector. Maybe she'll be able to chase down the criminal. Oooh that would be fun.

She was hovering over a fountain, making the water dance in the air when she heard the sound of glass shattering from down the road. Her attention snapped to the noise, and she lowered herself down to the ground. Her heels clacked on the stone pavement as she moved towards the noise. There came a clattering noise from an alleyway just off the side of the road. She was immediately reminded of the Web Creature from Metroplaza.

“Who’s there?” She called out

There came a rustling from the darkness, causing her to ready a ball of viral energy. As soon as she did, however, her hand began to burn with pain. She cried out, her viral energy flickering and fading. She fell to her knees as the energy writhed through her, flowing up her arm and through her. Her own energy crackled, forcing it's way to the surface, her claws materialising on the ends of her fingers as she clenched her fist to try and ebb the pain. Her vision blurred, darkness creeping in the side of her eyes, and before she could even think about radioing for help, she collapsed onto the cold concrete.

*

There were no messages. No notes. Nothing. No worried phone calls. No tentative friends waiting in the front room for her to wake up.

So how did she end up back in her apartment?

She had woken up in her own bed, morning light streaming through the window. She was feeling fine, except her hand was still a little painful. Nothing was out of the ordinary except her hair was a mess. She looked at herself in the mirror, frowning. How did she get back here? She didn't remember coming home at all. What happened?

She shrugged to herself and went about her morning rituals before work. Sitting down in front of her new Looking Glass, she commanded it to show her the news. The image rippled and displayed the Binomes sitting behind the news desk.

"...other news, we bring you an update on the recent break ins occuring in businesses around the System" one of the Binomes announced in a serious voice, "Another incident occurred last night in the West Sector"

"That's right Kenneth," the other Binome continued, "however, unlike last time, a passerby managed to snap a quick picture of the culprit. If anyone has any information on the individual, please contact the Principal Office as soon as possible"

The grainy picture flashed onto the screen once they finished talking. Hex nearly spat out her tea. As low quality as the picture was, there was no denying it - it was her. In her Viral form, white mask displaying her wide open smile, blank eyes staring straight into the camera. Hex stared back, wide eyed. It was her. Her crown, her claws, her deep red skin. But... How? She could see in her arms in the picture, she held a bag of credits, no doubt taken from the convenience store. When... When did she do this? She didn't remember going anywhere near the store, let alone in her viral form.

She was transfixed on the image until the chirping of a vidwindow tore her attention away. She answered it and Fuse's wide-eyed face flickered onto the screen.

"Hex!" He cried out, "what is going on? What did you do!?"

"I swear to you I had nothing to do with this!" She hissed

Darting a look back to the screen she saw that the news had moved on. Without being faced by her own face, she felt slightly calmer.

"There must be an imposter out there"

"An imposter that knows exactly how you look as a virus?" Fuse raised an eyebrow.

"Well if you don't think that, then there's only two people who know about me here, and if it's not me..." She warned with a crackle of energy.

Fuse waved a hand at her and rubbed his forehead with his fingertips.

"Fine fine, I don't think it was you and it's certainly not me. But that means there's something strange going on. What do you remember from last night?"

Hex hesitated.

"Honestly, not a lot... I remember being out... Then hearing a noise... Some pain and then... Waking up here"

"Hmm.." Fuse knitted his brows together in thought, "and you didn't see anyone else while you were out?"

Hex shook her head.

"I don't think so"

Fuse tented his fingers.

"I... Can try and hack into the camera feeds to find out what happened, but Dex said he'll be watching those like a hawk so I don't know how easy it will be to gain access"

"Delete them" Hex snapped, causing Fuse to blink in confusion.

"Sorry, it's... If my viral form is out there on camera, they could... They could draw similarities..." She hinted.

Fuse swallowed in thought.

"If you can" Hex pleaded.

Eventually, Fuse nodded.

"I'll see what I can do"

*

Hex scratched absentmindedly at her hand as Dex ranted to the room.

"All the footage from the last two nights! Gone!"

"I'm sure it's just a technical glitch" Cynth tried to reason, "I've got Fuse working on it to try and see if they could be recovered"

"And it's looking like... Ahh yeah there's just.. no sign of them" Fuse coughed, tapping away at his laptop keys.

"This isn't just some technical fault!" The antivirus banged a fist on the table, "first another break-in, and then the camera feeds being deleted? This has to be a coordinated attack!"

"You think it was that mystery person on the news?" Zip asked quietly.

Hex flicked her eyes around the room. Dex mulled the thought over in his mind as he sat down at the desk.

"It's too strange not to be. I've never seen anyone like that in my entire existence. I don't know if it's a rogue sprite, a virus or something else"

"I think it's a sprite, they look very sprite-y, it's most probably a sprite!" Hex blurted out.

The rest of the group stared back

"Y... Yes, well it could be," Dex agreed, "but after the last viral incident, we can't be too careful. We have to investigate every possibility"

"I'm sure it's just a regular ne'er-do-well, if it's a sprite, it shouldn't be hard to bring them to justice!" Hex called out, wide smile adorning her face.

The room was a surprised silence.

"Err.. yes, I suppose not. Especially for our team" Cynth nodded.

She cleared her throat.

“So tonight I want everyone to remain vigilant, and especially look out for this new individual. You never know where they could be hiding”

*

The cobbles were soaked with a daysworth of rain as Hexadecimal stepped through the quiet streets. Her heels clacked loudly, but she was quiet in thought. She had no memory of last night. But she was sure that she wouldn’t have stolen the money. Or would she? On second thought, that sounded like exactly something she’d do. But even back in Mainframe, she would remember every single escapade, every crime. She took delight in them. But now she was just left with a big fuzzy spot where there should have been memory.

She walked on some more, keeping a wary eye and ear out for anything untoward. But again, the night was quiet. Empty.

Until a crash sounded from the southern promenade.

It wasn’t technically on her route, but she couldn’t ignore it; not only was it her newfound desire to protect the civilians around her like the Guardian she pretended she was, but now also it was her intense curiosity as to what on earth was going on.

She made a beeline for it, building up energy to take off and leap over the rows of buildings that stood in her way. But just as she crouched slightly to jump, the searing pain from her hand flared up again. She cried out in pain as her legs buckled underneath her and she collapsed to the ground, clutching her hand. She felt her body writhing, her energy welling up inside her, boiling up, ready to explode. The strain on her body became too much, and she felt all her muscles go limp, one by one. And soon, darkness clouded her vision and her consciousness once again slipped away.

*

Once again she had passed out in the middle of a street.

And once again, she had woken up in her bed, mind a blur, and her viral form front and present.

She had stumbled into the front room and flicked the TV on only to be met once again with her own face staring back at her. This time, she was surrounded by a shower of credits as a nearby ATM had been smashed open, causing its contents to explode out onto the pavement. A defeated Hexadecimal collapsed down into her throne. How could she be doing this and not remembering it? What if it happened again? What if it happened while at work. The thoughts tumbled around in her head as she trudged through the corridors of the Principal Office. The faces and hushed murmurs of the other Binomes rushed around her as they theorised and speculated who this mystery culprit could be. She sped through the crowds and leant against the wall, rubbing her tired face with her hands. What could she do?

The sound of a door sliding open made her nearly jump out of her skin.

“Fuse! It’s just you!” she breathed in relief.

“Hex!” Fuse nearly dropped the PID he was holding, “are you alright? You look pale as a ghost datum!”

“I always look like this!” Hex hissed, wringing her hands, “I’m just… scared…”

“You? Scared?” Fuse looked her up and down, “If you’re scared, then I should be terrified!”

“I don’t know what is going on and I’m worried. What if… what if it is me out there and I don’t remember doing this? What if I’m losing control?”

“I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for it all, and we’ll find it out” Fuse reassured.

Hex gripped his arm.

“Can you stay with me tonight? Just to make sure nothing is going on”
Fuse shifted on the spot.

“Errr… I meeeeaaaan I did have plans tonight…”

“Please Fuse” Hex begged, genuine concern plastered all over her face.

Fuse scanned her face before letting out a sigh.

“Of course I’ll stay, we’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise”

*

That evening, the two of them sat in Hex’s front room, the TV blaring some inane game show where Binomes competed in a variety of ridiculous challenges to win credits. Hex was staring into her drink, nails tapping tentatively on the side of the glass. Fuse was lounged on a beanbag, absentmindedly scrolling on his PID. After a long moment of silence, Hex cleared her throat.

“Thank you for staying with me tonight”

Fuse glanced up briefly.

“It’s no trouble! You’re right, this is probably the best way to determine what’s going on”

“Sorry for taking you away from your plans”

“Ahh no it’s no sweat, I can reschedule, they understood it was a work thing”

“They? What were your plans?”

“Oh uhh, yeah,” Fuse chuckled awkwardly, “it was… uhhh… just a date”

“A date!” Hex nearly spilled her drink, “oh forgive me, I didn’t realise it was something like that!”

“It’s all good we’re going tomorrow instead” Fuse blushed and turned away with a smile.

“Sooooo do tell! Who is it? No! Let me guess… is iiiiiit that cute barista from the coffee shop?”

Fuse blinked.

“Yes? How in the Net did you know?”

“Oh please! You don’t need to be a genius to see the way he looks at you! And don’t think I didn’t notice all the coffees you’ve been bringing in with hearts drawn on them!”

Fuse blushed even harder and covered his face with his drink.

“Shush! When you say it like that it sounds cringey!”

“Well, remind me to buy you both a gift as a thanks for rescheduling for me! Goodness knows you deserve it!”

The two of them laughed and gossiped like schoolchildren as the minutes ticked by. They didn’t even register the time until an alert started blaring on their PIDs.

“Heads up guys! Reports of a break in down by the docks! I need everyone to head there now! We can stop this all tonight!” Cynth’s voice cracked out from the speakers.

The alert finished, and Hex let out a tremendous sigh of relief. It wasn’t her. She wasn’t losing control. She looked over to Fuse and she could see he thought the same. The two nodded at each other, and Hex placed her hand on his shoulder, teleporting them out into the night. The two were met with light rain that pattered down from above, and the cold night wind brushed past them. With regained confidence knowing that she wasn’t blanking out and reverting to normal, she began to stride in the direction of the break in.

“Hex!” Fuse called out, jogging after her, “What’s the plan?”

“Simple” she replied, “we find the imposter, I rip them limb from limb, and we all go home for tea”

“But what if it is another you? Another Virus like you?”

Hex ducked down a dark alley, her ears tuned in to the sound of scurrying footsteps. She lead the Hacker through the twists and turns, leading them to a quiet open square behind a series of shops. She fixed him with a grin.

“Oh sweetie, there isn’t another Virus like me!”

The footsteps turned the corner opposite them, and the two spun round just in time to see the perpetrator round the corner into the dull light of the square.

“Well…” Fuse cleared his throat, “apart from them”

Standing across the dingy concrete, was Hexadecimal. Well, not Hexadecimal, but something that looked exactly like her. Hex tilted her head and the imposter did the same. Sure enough, it displayed her viral form - red skin, black attire and white mask. The expression was frozen in one of deranged merriment. It clutched a whole ATM in its hands.

“It… it’s you!”

“It certainly seems like it”

“The mask… do you think this is one of those anomalies?”

“Hmph. Not likely”

Hex began to strut slowly around the square, the imposter's unmoving face slowly following her. Using her viral energy, she shifted forms.

“I would never let myself walk around looking all drab like that, I have a sense of decency at least!”

She put her hands on her hips, one eyebrow raised.

“And look at that mask! What poor quality! I would be ashamed if that were me”

Fuse looked between the two, and sure enough she was right - Hexadecimal’s skin was a vibrant red, her mask a shining white. The imposter had dull red skin that lacked any kind of shine or depth. Its mask was worse; cracked all over, a dusty, yellowing colour save for the eyes - the eyes were a piercing green…

“Wait… Hex, you don’t think…?” Fuse gasped.

“I have my suspicions…” Hex hummed.

She readied some viral energy in her hands. The imposter Hex did not move its gaze from her, still smiling widely, and threw the ATM to the bins by the wall. It readied its claws ominously waiting for someone to make the first move. Hex took that opportunity.

She launched a ball of viral energy with insane speed, but just as soon as she did the imposter launched itself to the side, using its claws to anchor itself into the ground, pivot and launch itself towards Hex with a slashing strike. Hex dematerialised to dodge the attack, rematerializing behind the imposter to grab its ankle and swing it overhead, slamming it into the ground. It didn’t faze the imposter; it writhed on the ground, scrabbling around and clawing at her. Hex shot more viral energy at it, but it buzzed and glitched around the floor, evading it all. It leapt at her, knocking her to the floor.

“Fuse! Do something!” she shrieked.

Fuse scrambled with he PID.

“Anyone copying? We’ve got the culprit, its attacking us! We need any kind of backup!”

“Fuse! Where are you? Who or what is it?” Cynth replied down the radio.

Hex struggled to wrangle the imposter. It leaned its grinning face down towards her as she tried to push it away.

“Come on, give up the act!” Hex hissed.

The imposter Hex let out a horrific growl and a tubelike mouth smashed through the fragile mask. Huge teeth gnashed at her, saliva dribbling down its misshapen jaws.

“Hello, Scuzzy” Hex grunted, kicking the virus away from her.

“It’s a virus! We need backup now!” Fuse rambled down the radio.

“If you hold on we can get to you with some Antivirus weaponry” Dex crackled

“Errr…” Fuse hesitated as Scuzzy 2.0 landed a heavy blow to Hex, causing her to crash into the discarded ATM, “if you have anything now, we’d really appreciate it!”

The virus turned its attention to him, tube-mouth still flailing around, those familiar green eyes boring into him.

“LIKE RIGHT NOW PLEASE!”

“Alright stand by for transfer!”

The virus launched itself towards him, slashing with its claws. Fuse threw his arms over his face and cowered back. When the searing pain didn’t arrive he opened his eyes cautiously. Scuzzy 2.0 was swiping at him but was caught in midair. Hexadecimal was holding her hand out, using her powers to catch the virus mid-leap. With a grunt, she wrenched her arm back, pulling the rogue virus back over her and slamming into the wall opposite. Fuse let out a shaky breath of relief, but recovered enough to prepare himself for the equipment transfer. With a gentle buzz, a sleek pistol appeared in his hand.

“You should have received the Antiviral Pistol now. Just shoot the virus and it should neutralise it entirely”

“Ok, I’ll try!” Fuse grit his teeth.

He took aim at the two tussling viruses, both of them trying to wrestle the others to the floor. He began to sweat as he looked between them.

“I… which one is the real Hex?”

The two viruses looked over at him. One with a sceptical raised eyebrow and the other with a tube mouth full of teeth that was flailing around.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, you’re right” Fuse shrugged.

After a moment to aim, he took the shot. A pulsing green blast hit Scuzzy 2.0 squarely in the side. Immediately, the antiviral energy began to take effect; Hex pushed the virus away as it started to writhe and scream in agony. The energy began to overtake its form, spreading over it like a wildfire. Its form flickered, and the fake Hexadecimal visage crumbled away. The mess of polygons that made up the virus began to warp and disintegrate. All she could do was stare in open mouthed horror as the Scuzzy 2.0’s form glitched uncontrollably, shrinking back to its original form - an orb of fizzling energy and a single green eye, staring at her intently. Despite everything, she felt a sense of sadness wash over her as the other virus crackled and blinked ever smaller until it eventually faded away to nothing. The square was silent. Kneeling on the floor, staring at the spot where the virus once was, Hex breathed deeply in and out. She barely registered the footsteps coming up behind her.

“Hex! Are you ok? It didn’t get you, did it?” Fuse asked hurriedly, crouching down next to her.

He was about to pat her gently on the shoulder when a hand reached up to intercept his own. He yelped as he was pulled into a gentle, yet tight, hug. He was confused, but he didn’t say anything. He just hugged her back. They would have time to discuss what had happened later. She needed time to recover. After all, it’s not every day you see one of your own kind melt away in front of you.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered to her.

“It’s ok” she responded, somewhat hollowly.

“I promise I wouldn’t ever do that to you”

“I know you wouldn't” she stared off into space, “it’s not you I’m worried about”

Chapter Text

“Test log number 1: Effect of GameCube on Null Data”

Zip ensured the audio was being picked up and being recorded effectively, and gave a thumbs up to Cynth. They were situated inside the labs, Zip’s laptop plugged into a variety of large machines. Cynth leant against the wall, chewing on her fingernail. Standing in the centre of the room was a large glass box, inside of which was the mass of Nulls that was once Nova. She quivered nervously as Zip scampered between the consoles, flicking switches and pressing buttons.

“Don’t worry Nova,” came Hex’s comforting voice from the darkness.

Her heels clacked on the floor as she approached the container, placing a hand on the glass.

“I’ll be here the whole time”

“You sure you’ll be able to hold her in place?” Cynth asked.

“Oh absolutely!” Hex smiled.

“And… is it going to hurt her?”

Zip chewed his lip.

“I… don’t know. Nulls always try to avoid games, but it’s never been fully recorded whether that’s because of fear or because of… well… pain…”

“iT’s oK, i wAnT yoU To tRy… iF thErE’s aNy wAy tO trY aNd GeT mE bAcK”

Zip nodded. He turned a few dials on the console in front of him. The machines whirred into life, and the entire structure that Nova was standing began to illuminate; the floor beneath her lit up with a bright white light. Nova looked all around, the Nulls wriggling in anticipation.

“Hexadecimal, stand by” he announced.

Hex nodded and stood atop a small platform near Nova’s container. With her whole being, she visualised Nova’s form - she visualised every single Null that made up the ex-Sprite, commanded them mentally to remain where they were. She did everything she could to keep them all interlocked and together.

“Fuse, stand by” Zip spoke into an intercom.

Fuse was located back in the Principal Office, sitting in front of the many screens in the main control room. He had plugged some hackware into the console - wires lay all around the floor and snaked over the desks and tables. Fuse sat in the middle of it, like a little bird sitting in a nest, tapping away at a keyboard.

“All set here” he responded into his own radio.

“You’d better make sure this hackware doesn’t mess with the System in any serious way” Dex warned from behind him.

The Antivirus paced the room behind him, joined by Chromus who was watching everything happening with much interest.

“I know, I know, I’ve run through the code several times. All it’s gonna do is open one of the games installed onto the computer, right over their lab, hopefully faster than the Nulls can even register. Just a short session, it’ll close in 10 nanoseconds. User won’t even know it’s started”

Dex nodded solemnly. If this was successful, this would be a huge leap forward in understanding what Nulls are and potentially how they could help them.

“All set” Fuse responded.

Zip flicked a switch. Lights on his console and Fuse’s turned green. The rooms were silent except from the
ascending whirrs of the machinery.

“3… 2… 1… GO!” Zip pressed a flashing button on his laptop.

Fuse pressed his on the other end. The System’s sky flashed green and the cool voice rang out: “Warning: Initiating Game”. The GameCube shot down from the sky directly down over the lab. Hexadecimal momentarily felt all the Nulls realise what was happening and try to pull themselves away, but with the cube touching down almost instantaneously, she was able to hold the form. The Game crashed down around them, the lab morphing into a serene forest clearing. Huge trees loomed up around them, lush grass underfoot. The three sprites glanced around, making sure that the game had set in correctly. Hex gasped out, a sudden pang of pain shooting through her. Zip and Cynth whipped round and stood in shock at the sight in front of them: the lab of course had dematerialised, but Nova was still where she was… well, it might have been Nova. The mass of Nulls that were once a humanoid form now looked more like an unrecognisable mass. Sure.. it could have looked humanoid, but there were… too many eyes, too many limbs that were trying to be the correct ones. Like all the Nulls within Nova were trying to reform into themselves, but were fighting amongst each other to take control. But the sound… the sound was a mix between a screech and a cry as the Nulls called out with new mouths that they didn't know how to use. Before Cynth could even begin to think about what to do, Zip’s PID buzzed, signalling their time was up.

“Game over”

The GameCube rose up away from them, taking the lush forest with it. Hex immediately collapsed to her knees from exertion, her hold on Nova’s form weakening to the point where it snapped, and the Nulls crumbled down to the floor, squeaking and warbling as they slithered around the glass container. Cynth immediately ran over to Hex, crouching down to see if she was ok.

“That was… a lot” Hex gasped, catching her breath.

“Too much?”

“Not really just… new… I've never done that before”

“Well, it was certainly interesting” Zip called over, “I got it all recorded so now we can go over the footage and analyse the data”

“Well at least some good can come from this” Cynth stepped over to the container, placing a hand on the glass, “any steps closer to helping her is good”

As Hex winced, the Nulls whirled around each other and began to clump together. Within no time at all, the Null form of Nova reappeared.

“wEll, tHaT wAs soMetHinG…” she chuckled nervously.

“Are you alright? Did it hurt?”

“sOrT oF… iT huRt… bUt iT diDn’T aT tHe SaMe tImE…” she shifted on the spot, “i wAsn’T… I wAs hErE, bUt I cOuLdn’T sEe hErE… iT wAs liKe I wAs iN sO mAnY pLacEs aT onCe, bUt mY mInD wAs… sOmEwhErE eLsE…”

“That actually could explain a lot” Zip announced, tapping away at some keys.

“How so?”

“If it’s true that Nulls contain fragments of Data leftover from Sprites when they’ve been Nullified, then it stands to reason that if reunited with the Game that took the Data, it sort of… restores the Nulls. Like with the Null Mass Hex created,”

Hex tilted her head. Zip continued.

“But that Mass was made up of a bunch of disjointed, random Nulls from various games. So when it entered a Game, the Data was scrambled, and it formed just random body parts”

He cleared his throat.

“I had hoped, however, that all these Nulls making up Nova were, in fact, all of them; that these Nulls contain all the Data fragments for Nova”

“And I’m pretty sure they are” Hex confirmed.

“So when the Game came down, I hoped that we would just, boom, have Nova back here. But… the Game Data was too different from her own Data… random Data tried to merge with hers, that’s what caused all the… strangeness in there…”

There was a brief silence as he paused before delivering the news they didn’t want to hear.

“I think her Data is still stored in the Game she was Nullified in… in her old System”

Zip tented his fingers and put them over his mouth. Nova quivered in the corner, and Hex could feel a cocktail of emotions rushing through her, as her entire fragmented consciousness lost every shred of hope it once had.

“So… what you’re saying is there’s… no way to bring her back?” Cynth broke the silence, a quiet waiver of anger in her voice.

“Well, I’m not saying that,” Zip sighed, “the System wasn’t entirely destroyed. It exists in a very delicate stasis state - this Supervirus only seems to target essential files; the System32, User information, important System. But it didn’t seem to affect the System’s environment settings and, I can only hope, the Game Data”

“So it could be intact!”

“Yes… but in a fragile System that is one glitch away from crashing. And without the System32 and other essential files, the System will just keep crashing over and over again with no chance of recovery. It’ll be uninhabitable until it's wiped from the Net forever. And then we’d have no chance”

“But at the moment she has to exist as… this?” Hex grumbled through gritted teeth, “incomplete and in pain?”

Zip met her eyes and gave her a defeated look.

“I…”

“Warning: Incoming Game”

The entire team’s head snapped up at the announcement.

“Is that…? Is that us?” Dex asked, confused.

“Not us” Zip stood up, PID in hand and moved over to Cynth and Hex.

Hex was drumming her fingers on the tabletop. Cynth was rubbing her forehead with her hand.

“Hex, do you mind if…?”

Without finishing the thought, Hex reached out and took hold of Cynth and Zip’s arms. In an instant, they were teleported to the city underneath the Game Cube. The Cube lowered on top of them, locking them into a Game once more. The three of them found themselves standing on a barren mountainside, surrounded by a shrieking blizzard. Zip immediately wrapped his arms around himself, teeth chattering. Cynth surveyed the area; the rest of the mountain stretched behind them, and in front of them, stood the stark silhouette of a monolithic castle in the distance. Jagged spires careened towards the sky, and crimson torches cut through the blizzard like blazing eyes. A huge obsidian bridge stretched out into the darkness towards it. Cynth scanned it with 8Bit, bringing Game info up on the screen. Before she could fully process the readings, a ‘1’ Binome stumbled towards them, out of breath. She was dressed in ragged iron armour, which had apparently been beaten and battered all over.

“Cynth! Cynth thank goodness you’re here!” she gasped, “we’re almost overwhelmed! The User is insane! They’ve almost finished this level, and they’ve only got the final boss to go!”

“And I’m assuming the final boss is over in that citadel?” Cynth nodded towards the stronghold.

“Affirmative! There’s a few strong enemies down on the bridge, and an ambush attempt just in that cave there”

“Then that’s where we’ll go,” Cynth strode over to survey the area, “Zip, you take that ambush spot, and Hex and I will take the ones on the…”

“What’s the final boss?” Hex interrupted.

Cynth snapped her eyes away from the horizon to look at her. Hex was staring with determination at the castle.

“An Automated CPU… why?”

“I’ll take its place. You two stop the User if you can”

“What, no!” Zip spluttered, “you can’t!”

“Why not? I’ll ReBoot as the final boss and I’ll crush the User into dust”

“Hex you can’t ReBoot as the boss” Cynth explained, “it’s too large and powerful. Plus it has a set number of moves and if you stray away from them, it could make the User think something’s wrong”

“Bosses have pages of info dedicated to them, Users map their moves and their attack patterns,” Zip continued, “while theoretically you could ReBoot into one…”

“So I can ReBoot into one?” Hex pushed.

“Well… yes…” Zip shifted on the spot, “Your abilities to withstand high levels of power would mean you’d be able to take on the energies of the Boss…”

“Then that’s all I need to hear” Hex interrupted.

She snapped her fingers, and the arms of the two Sprites in front of her went rigid and clamped to their sides.

“Hex, wha…!?” Cynth managed to splutter out before Hex flexed the fingers of her outstretched hand at them.

Her hand glowed, and with a thrum of Viral energy the two of them dematerialised from in front of her.

“That takes care of that” she dusted her hands together before turning to the Binome, who stood there unblinking and open mouthed.

“Where did…?”

“Hush now, tell the rest of your troops to retreat to safety. This won’t take long”

And with a wicked smile, Hex teleported herself into the heart of the dark citadel in the distance.

*

Zip and Cynth reappeared some feet above the snow-laden bridge, and promptly fell down onto the cold, hard surface.

“Argh! User preserve! What’s gotten into her?” Zip spat out a mouthful of dirty snow, scrabbling to stand up on the slippery stone beneath him.

Cynth was already on her feet, eyes scanning down the bridge.

“I don’t know… she’s not been acting like herself. She’s been acting more distant but also more… unpredictable…”

The wind whirled around her, the blizzard leaving crystals of snow in her tight curls.

“But we’ve got more important things right now. We can’t get into the citadel in time to stop her, we’ve got to try and stop the User before they get to her”

Zip nodded, finally standing up. The two tapped their icons.

“ReBoot!”

With a flash of light, the two took on the forms of heavily armoured Great Knights, Cynth wielding two swords, and Zip with a huge halberd. Cynth surveyed the bridge through the visor of her new helmet, scanning for any signs of the User.

Zip promptly fell over again.

*

The central arena was cold and desolate. A wide open circular arena, covered in dark snow streaked and stained with blood. Torches burned with crimson fire, throwing hideous shadows over the arena. The darkness glimmered across the hulking form of the Augmented CPU, standing dormant in the centre of the floor. Hexadecimal admired it as she sauntered up to it. The metal was freezing under her touch, but she could feel the energy lying within. Soon it would awaken, ReBoot, and fight the User. This was the final hurdle and if they lost here, then everything she would have fought to have in this world would be lost. She could become a Game Sprite, travel with the Game along with Cynth and Zip. Maybe that would be a nice thing to do, a nice life. Or maybe she could infect the game. This could become her world, her citadel. She could rule over the Sprites and Binomes as their queen, defeat any User that would try to best her and become a legend across the Net. Tempting, certainly. She wouldn’t have to hide anymore… but she would still be incomplete. She could feel it - there was only a small part of her that still remained distant. Some memories that were still locked away behind blurry smears of colour and sound. She needed them. And in order to find them, she needed them. The sprites and binomes that had foolishly taken her in. So she’d play the hero again and again, long enough until they could find the last anomaly.

She summoned her viral energy. Orange sparks crackled from underneath her hand and danced over the shiny white metal of the CPU.

*

“Where d-d-d-did they s-s-say the User was?” Zip’s teeth chattered under his helmet.

“Almost here” Cynth answered, eyes still scanning the end of the bridge.

Zip nodded slightly. He clutched the halberd in his hands. The cold metal numbed his hands through the thick leather of the gloves. He was shaking not just because of the cold, but because he knew that there was no way he was going to be able to use this halberd in any useful way. They were the last line of defence and he was only going to be able to hold them back. Cynth counted on him and he knew he was going to let her down. He sniffled, unable to wipe away tears from under his helmet.

He saw Cynth shift next to him, adopting a combat stance.

“They’re here! Brace yourself!”

She readied her swords. Zip tried his best to ready the halberd. He could see the User, armour cladded like them, racing down the bridge. A huge sword rested on their shoulder, being carried quite easily in one hand. They showed no sign of stopping.

“Cynth, I don’t know if I can…”

“Just try your best, if you get worried, switch your icon to Game Sprite” Cynth assured him, “we’ll be ok”

The User ran towards Cynth, already preparing an almighty swing of their sword. Cynth expertly backstepped out of the way and retaliated with a spinning strike of her own. The swords slashed the User, sending them staggering back slightly. Cynth didn’t hesitate; she pushed forwards, planting a foot firmly in the snow and raising both swords up for a strike down. Zip tried to call out, but Cynth was already swinging. The User rolled to the side, Cynth’s blades slashing down into nothing. The User then recoiled round, countering with a side sweep. Cynth cried out falling to her knees. Zip tried to aid with a heavy swing of his halberd, but the User was just out of reach. Their sword was glowing with red energy, and they were being surrounded by a rush of the same energy. There was no way he was going to be able to move away in time.

“ZIP!” Cynth cried.

There was a heavy clang of armour as Cynth dived into Zip just as the User unleashed their attack - an arc of red energy burst out from the sword as they slashed it, cutting through the night air and slamming into Cynth’s back. She yelped in pain and collapsed on top of Zip. The User hoisted their sword, took one last look at the two of them on the floor, and made their way over to the door to the Citadel.

“Cynth,” Zip grunted, trying to shake her, “are you ok?”

“I’m… fine” she replied weakly, “I’ll be ok… you might not have been so lucky”

“You shouldn’t have done that, you’re more useful than me!”

“Not true” Cynth sighed, rolling over to lie on the floor, “the User was more powerful than both of us. But my Code would allow me to survive a hit like that with minor bruising. You… not so much”

Zip sat up, watching as the User disappeared into the dark depths of the Citadel.

“What do we do now?”

Cynth rested a hand on her Icon.

“We wait”

*

This power.

This was more like it.

Hexadecimal had waited for her energy to merge with that of the CPU.

And when it did, she ReBooted.

Now, it was dark all around.

Like her eyes were closed.

But she could feel it.

She could feel how large she was.

She could feel so much power dwelling within her.

This felt right.

She heard a door creak open, the huge stone doors that she had seen on the far side of the room.

The User.

She heard the game soundtrack kick in, an epic orchestral piece echoing around the space.

She opened her eyes.

The User was a speck in front of her. A tiny obstacle. Hex reached out her hands in front of her. They were enormous, seemingly made out of molten rock. She clenched her fingers into a fist. And smashed them down. The sheer force from them shook the arena. And yet the User managed to dodge it. That made her angry. She felt that anger bubble up, and her viral energy flowed through her arms as bubbling lava. Fire spewed from her hands as she lashed out at the User. They got caught by a splash of it and grunted in pain, but didn't die. She guessed it would take more than that. The User weaved and rolled as she clawed and slashed at the ground, leaving huge gashes in the snow that bubbled and hissed with the heat. Her body was now large and ungainly, but her immense strength allowed her to lunge around the arena after the User. She managed to clip them, once, twice. But so did the User; though they seemed to use a regular sword, it cut into her. Her stony limbs splashed magma infused blood onto the white of the arena. Each hit was like a sting to her, but it was infuriating. Each pinprick of the sword sent lightning bolts of rage coursing through her. And the more furious she got, the more erratic her attacks got.

Cynth and Zip jogged down one of the stone corridors to the upper circle. The corridors leading into the boss arena were blocked with a doorway of mist to ensure only the User (with any summoned NPCs) could be present during the fight. But because Cynth and Zip were Sprites, they could access the upper gallery.

“She really did it!” Zip breathed, “She ReBooted as the boss!”

“It’s not good…” Cynth shook her head, “it’s dangerous”

“It seems like she’s doing well though”

Zip stumbled on the spot as a particularly strong blast from Hex’s hands shook the walls of the arena.

“It doesn’t matter whether she’s doing well or not. Hex is unpredictable, even more so than usual. And as the boss she can’t be unpredictable”

Zip’s eyes widened.

“Oh… of course… the bosses have a set number of moves performed by the CPU, and there are whole web pages dedicated to beating them…”

“Exactly. If she diverts from any of the predesignated moves that the boss has then the User could notice that something is wrong, and could report the game which would cause a whole bunch of red tape on our end. Or worse - a hard reset or crash, which could be bad things for us”

Zip swung his eyes back towards Hex and the User, following them as the User dodged and rolled, occasionally getting clipped by stray lava and claw slashes. 8Bit began to chirrup insistently, causing Cynth to glance down.

“The User has managed to get the health down just far enough. She's only a few hits away”

“Does this boss have a second phase?” Zip asked tentatively.

Cynth shot him a look.

“What do you think?”

The User managed to perform a back step, swinging their sword to perform a counter hit. The attack caused Hex’s stance to break, and her hulking body collapsed to the ground. Before she could right herself, the User rushed forwards and performed a reposte. The pain shot through her, igniting every fuse in her body with a blazing fire of agony. The noise of the fire was a roar in her ears. But the more she listened, the more she realised that it was the voices in her head, a deafening choir of fury and wrath.

“Let go! Let us show them what true power really is!” The voices cried.

The power surged through her, reaching her head. She was too weak. Or maybe she wanted to.

But she let it flow.

Viral energy exploded through her, bolts of red lightning crackling over her limbs. The fires spewing from her limbs merged with the lightning, burning ever brighter. All of a sudden, her attacks became… wrong.

The User managed to dodge a hit, but the Viral lightning caused them to stagger slightly, allowing Hex to follow up with a slash that connected; the pools of fire seemed to burn for longer, filling the arena with unavoidable pools of damage.

“She's losing it!” Zip gazed open mohthed.

“And she's winning” Cynth frowned.

The User managed to get one more hit in.

‘Their last’ Hex thought.

She performed a grab attack. She missed, but using her telekinesis, she grabbed the User anyway. She raised them up, and crushed as hard as she could, her fist blazing with fire. The User burned as she crushed the rest of the life out of them. As the fires ebbed, the Gamecube crooned at her.

“Game Over”

The landscape began to blur and shift upwards as the cube began to ascend. And as the cube rose up, the form of the boss melted away, leaving Hex breathing heavily on the floor. Zip and Cynth rushed over to her, stopping short when they noticed a smoking crater around her, still crackling with heat. Hex knelt on all fours still panting, sweat glistening on her face. She glanced up, wincing from the sun. All she could see was the grim, concerned faces of the two sprites in front of her. And then she blacked out.

*

“And you're sure everything is secure?”

Cynth and Zip had radioed for an ambulance, taking Hexadecimal back to the medbay. They'd reported what had happened in the Game to the others, and Dex had immediately moved to damage control. Fuse typed away at a computer.

“Yep. I've already created several posts from accounts of various ages on the Game’s store page. In each one they mention weird hitboxes and even secret attacks on some of the bosses. I'll move on to editing the official webpage soon to add Hex’s moves as a “rare” move. Hopefully that'll... do something”

Dex nodded.

“Good. That's all we can do for now. It should avoid any kind of investigation, but that was a risky call”

“I know” Cynth responded coolly, “it got away from me. I told her not to”

“Well clearly that didn't work”

“I'm aware of that” Cynth grit her teeth, “you think I wanted that?”

Dex looked her up and down with a steely gaze before responding.

“Well, as the other Guardian, you were the only person who could have jurisdiction over her”

“Jurisdiction means nothing when something like that is going on”

“Well yes but…”

“So I'll give her a strong word, and I'll limit her access to games, but as far as she's concerned, she does whatever she likes. And frankly, until it causes harm to someone in the System, I don't see it as too much of a problem”

She clacked her heel and turned to face him head on.

“I don't know the solution, but until it's a problem I don't think we should waste time looking for a solution. Not when there's other things to be worried about. Have you checked the security systems?”

Dex nodded.

“Mid-cycle checks were carried out, just about to carry out the end of cycle checks. Nothing to report, not even any attack attempts”

“Good” Cynth nodded in relief, “inform me if anything happens. Fuse, you're working on advanced sensors?”

“Yup, pretty soon we'll be able to see anything that even peeks into the System”

“Amazing, keep it up”

Cynth wandered slowly over to the window, gazing out into the skybox. The stars twinkled and blinked, the inky darkness behind them dark and somewhat oppressive. Who knows what lay beyond. But more worryingly, she knew that somewhere out there, there was something coming for them. Something that could wipe out a System like it was nothing. Something that they had no way of fighting.

With a myriad of dark thoughts racing through her head, Cynth closed the blinds.