Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Viruses are predatory by design and it is time for me to follow my function. Prepare yourselves for the hunt.”

The corridor lights had gone down. It was pitch black for what felt like seconds then, finally, the lights returned. Dim, hazy, red. Emergency lighting.

Dot heard her own breathing -  in, out, in, out.  She focused on it like a mantra, clinging to life, to hope. Beside her, Hack and Slash turned their heads to and fro, fidgeting and trembling; the low whirr of their gears and the quiet screeching sound of metal sliding against metal intermingled with her breaths, creating a discordant composition.

The tannoy remained silent. Megabyte must be on the move. He was going to toy with them, torment them, and hunt them down like animals, Dot could feel it in her soul. They were now pawns in his sick game.

She turned, eyes scanning the void, peering into the murky crimson. The sound of her feet when she moved were like cymbal clashes - one step, two, BANG, BANG.

Why had they all let themselves be split apart like this? Why had Hack and Slash dragged her away, leaving her father and little Enzo behind? Where were Mouse and AndrAIa? Where were Bob and Matrix? What had happened to Frisket, to Phong, to Mike? To everyone?

The lights flickered. There was a sound in the distance. It reverberated down the halls. Was it a scream? A door creaking? A weapon drawn? She couldn't tell.

She needed a plan. She always had a plan. But what? What could she do? She felt that sinking feeling, that instability which came whenever she was outwitted, tricked and duped.

There was another crash behind them, closer; the undeniable sound of metal being torn asunder and the clash of steel.

Dot spun around, and Hack and Slash followed suit. There was still nothing to be seen. Would that ruckus herald the coming of a friend? Or the raging red eyes of their foe?

They all remained frozen.

"Boys," Dot resolved at last, her voice but a whisper, “We have to move.”

It was a testament to the tension and dread that neither Slash nor Hack replied. They had no confidence left for even a whimper or a whine. The two kept close, one to either side of her, as if to maintain a pretence of being her protectors, whilst the inverse was perhaps more precise.

Dot moved ahead, sailing through the red mist, a tiny boat lost at sea. There was nothing to be seen except empty corridor after corridor.

Her fingers flexed, reaching for the gun holster that wasn't there. She had no weapons bar her mind, her feet and her fists. Her limbs shook. She was broken, humiliated, terrified. She had been through war and worse, and yet to be trapped in here, in these corridors, which she knew so well, and be preyed upon by a monster who could turn himself into anyone? And to have practically invited him in, to have had no inkling, no forethought, that he would dupe them all so effortlessly? It was an insult, a vicious slap to the face; it was abject horror.

I can outwit Megabyte s he told herself, I know I can . She had been playing dangerous games with him for cycles. One of them succeeded, then the other; one fell for a ploy, and then the next did. Equals, distorted reflections, alternate versions of the same program. It didn't bear thinking about.

Time stretched. She moved as lightly as she could but every sound continued to be amplified in the silence. And then at last there was a shift in the shadows, a movement at a cross junction ahead, an indistinct blur moving at speed. 

Dot halted and squinted.

Hack and Slash crept around her, their eyes wide. 

"What was that?" Hack mewled. He thought he was whispering but his voice was like a gong being struck.

Dot waved a hand in a sharp gesture of “be quiet”. She then crept on with tenuous steps.

There was the movement again, a dark shape whizzing across a distant gap like a scuttling spider racing from one hiding space to the next.

Hack and Slash clocked it this time and emitted pathetic little wails. Dot felt her heart jump.

The red lights faded, flickered, then came back on, a bath of blood.

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

"Dot."

Sickness and pain shot through her like a punch in the gut.

She turned slowly, reluctantly, eyes seeking the source of the voice, whilst dreading the revelation at the same time. The tone had been uneven, quavering between Bob's warming reassurance and Megabyte's gentlemanly tenor.

Dot’s gaze alighted on a figure. It was Bob.

Hack and Slash moved forward in unison. "Bob?!" they chimed together, a chorus of relief.

Dot whipped her arms out like a gatekeeper, though, planting a hand on each of the robot’s flanks. "I don't think it's Bob, boys," she said.

She had been avoiding eye contact but now she met Bob's gaze. He had that expression on his face she had seen so often in recent times, but which she had failed to clock was not his expression at all. A smug self confidence, a leer, an arrogance which she now recognised clearly, irrevocably, as someone else's hallmark. Why oh why had she not seen it before?

Bob was motionless. Red light glinted off his silver locks like liquid flame. His brown eyes wavered, glitched; teal and red - brown - teal and red.

"Marry me," he said, "and we'll be together for all time."

It started as Bob's voice, but disintegrated into Megabyte's sonorous baritone.

Dot froze. Cold fear, trauma, a pill so easily swallowed; knowing now who it was she had truly embraced, who she had opened her heart to, who she had kissed, who she had nearly married and taken to bed.

The sick bastard.

Bob's pupils glinted again, his teeth showing in a grin. There were fangs at the corners of his lips. He laughed but it soon warped, distorted, dropped into a deep bellow.

The doppelgänger crouched, tensed, sprang into the air. Limbs stretched, fingers erupted into razor claws, teeth became a jagged mountain range, eyes flashed red. Megabyte landed back onto the floor with a slam. He was a warped and changed creature, degraded and alien, his gentleman veneer cracked and flaking. A shapeshifting trojan.

"Megabyte!" Hack and Slash gasped as if the thought had never occurred. They rolled backwards, hesitated… but then suddenly galvanised. Rolling their huge shoulders, it was now their turn to rally around Dot. They pushed her back behind them and faced their former master.

"We must protect Dot!" Slash asserted.

"Yes. That is our function!" Hack agreed.

Their brows dropped, bodies tilted; a pair of bulls ready to charge.

Megabyte stood casually, claws swinging as if in a breeze, head dropped like a carnivore studying its prey, calculating, weighing up its options.

There was a pop as Hack and Slash's jet packs burst out in unison. The two then fired up their jets, clenched their fists, and blasted off.

Dot shielded her eyes in the glare as the flaming jetpacks added a dazzling molten glow to the deep red ambience. 

But the boys’ valiance was in vain. 

Megabyte moved quickly. His pupils dilated, appearing almost completely red, and he stretched out his arms, flexed his claws…

Hack came in first.

Megabyte stepped aside, whipped his arm out, knocked the head from Hack's body. It thundered against the wall then rolled down the corridor.

Slash had no time to stop or retreat as he witnessed his brother’s decapitation. Megabyte twisted about, lightning fast, and swung his other arm. 

There was another smash as Slash's head rebounded off the opposite wall and spun away. 

The bodies of the pair dropped, sparking and twitching, the flames from their packs extinguishing in tiny pops.

Megabyte froze where he stood, curled over, feral. His claws curled involuntarily and he bobbed slightly on his knees, an athlete preparing for the next race. His eyes were shut as if he was collecting himself before he blinked once, twice, three times then turned to look back down the corridor at Dot.

She met his scrutiny. This virus she didn't know. 

Her fingers wriggled in reflex again, still seeking the gun that she didn’t have. She appraised the situation, thoughts flashing rapidly through her mind. Think, think, think!

She spun on her heels and ran. Was there any other option? She knew these corridors like the back of her hand, surely she could find a way out, or find someone else, or even lose him?

She took the next left.

Behind her she heard Megabyte roar, the beast triggered.

She swung a right. Her fists were clenched, driving hard. She gasped and panted.

At the next T junction, she careened into a wall, running too fast to stop. She pushed herself off in a rebound. Keep running, keep running, keep running.

She could hear Megabyte behind her still, his talons screeching against the floors, his great limbs thundering off walls as he leapt and sprang. A quick glance behind showed a creature on all fours, a voracious predator, chasing her down.

She tried to dismiss the image, minimise the proverbial vidwindow, and kept on sprinting, changing direction time and again. Her lungs screamed, her legs ached, her chest burned.

At length she came to a dead end, a locked door. She rushed to the control panel and pressed the buttons rapidly; she was feeling panicked yet composed. You can do this, you can do this, you can deal with this pressure she repeated to herself like a mantra. You have gotten out of worse.

[Access Denied]

Her fist pummelled the panel; she screamed and cussed and kicked the door. Of course that blasted virus had overridden all the security systems. It wasn’t going to be that simple.

As her breaths slowed and the inevitability of her fate achieved clarity, she felt strangely calm. Perhaps this was it. Perhaps it was time.

But she didn’t believe in a no win scenario, did she?

It hit her how silent it was. She stepped away from the control panel and the locked doors then turned around and faced the darkness.

Megabyte was crawling down the corridor toward her, deceptively quiet for a creature so huge, so heavy. His eyes were red supernovae in a deserted, dead galaxy. He still moved on all fours, a stalking lion, shifting one limb at a time: one massive clawed hand came forward, followed by the diagonal rear leg, then the other hand, and so on and so forth. 

Dot felt tears on her face, but not of pity, not of terror - these were hot tears of rage. How dare he do this to her? To her friends? He was relentless, coming back at them time and again, tireless, vicious, obsessed. When would it ever stop? Why did Bob think he could change this monster? Why did he want to save the devil?

She moved toward Megabyte. There was no other way. She balled her fists, her eyes flashed with purpose. If this was the end then she would not shy from him, she would not give him the satisfaction. Let him have all her pain, her fear, her hate, let him have her soul; she hoped it poisoned him. 

She halted and opened her arms to him. Come on then, come and get me, you ASCII. Copious tears ran down her cheeks, lines of liquid fire, tracks of searing wrath. Her chest heaved with resolve.

She watched Megabyte come to a halt before her. He cocked his great head to one side, studying her person, his eyes narrowing to thin red slits. He had no monologue to deliver, he offered no witty repartee; there was just a vicious animal.

A taut silence stretched between them, a moment frozen in time, a vacuum devoid of noise, of sense.

Then she saw him tense, his entire body coiling in on itself like a winding spring, limbs bending, a dynamo revving. A deep growl rumbled in his chest before it exploded in a roar and he leapt. She shut her eyes, clenched her fists. The lights went out. Black nothingness engulfed her.

However, a nano later, which had felt like a second, she realised she was still processing. She had been holding her breath. She gulped air into starved lungs, looked up. One by one, the overhead lights began to come back on. The red murk returned. 

The corridor was empty.

It didn’t compute. Where could a man that big have disappeared to? He had been hurtling at her at full tilt, a blue-tin destrier charging. Where had he gone? He surely couldn’t have shifted?

Her eyes flitted back and forth, up and down. She swallowed, hesitated, stepped back. Her gasps echoed off the walls.

Then she heard a tiny, tinny sound, of metal scraping against metal. Quiet, indistinct, but undeniable. A chill shot up her back and twisted her gut in nausea. Her heart leapt into her throat. A bead of sweat formed on her brow.

He’s behind you.

She blinked with an air of finality before, gathering her courage one last time, she spun on her heels.

But there was nothing there.

Her eyes darted again. Pupils constricted. Brow furrowed.

And then she looked up.

Two red eyes stared back. The great hulking monster was crouched upside down on the ceiling like a huge spider, his limbs tucked in on himself, claws splayed. His teeth showed in a grin. She heard him chuckle, long and low, before at last, with a snarl, he lunged, flying down at her from above. All she could see were silver teeth, an open maw, the flash of golden talons as his hands reached for her.

Instinct took over and she strove to evade him but lost her footing and slipped backwards. Her head hit the floor, her body followed. The air was knocked from her lungs. Her mind was dazed.

She lost focus. Suddenly, she was standing on the streets of Mainframe as a child. She saw her dad heading off to work, and then she saw her mum cradling tiny baby Enzo. She was at school with friends, sprites who were now long gone. She was in the smouldering aftermath of the explosion of the twin city, horrified, heartbroken. She was with Bob, defending Mainframe from the viral menaces that her father had unwittingly invited in…

And then with a snap, she was back online, in the present. She could feel Megabyte’s huge hands on her shoulders. His head was hovering over hers. She could feel his breaths, hear his low growls, but she kept her eyes shut; she didn’t want to see his face so near again. The last time he had been this close he had kissed her, humiliated her. But this was different. This was the animal inside.

But once again, nothing ensued.

Dot could hear Megabyte’s chest heaving, could feel the pinch of his claws as they pressed ever so slightly harder into her shoulders. Did he intend to destroy her? Or had he become truly debased and was intending to slake his lust? When you had captured your prey, what came next?

She opened her eyes.

Even though Megabyte was looking down at her he did not appear to be seeing her. His pupils moved irregularly, unfocused. He looked stupefied, confused, panicked. His mouth gaped as if he was struggling to breathe. 

He jerked his hands from her shoulders, flexed his claws, then slung them toward her. But they were repelled and bounced back at him. It was quite as though they had hit an invisible membrane. And so he tried time and again, and each time followed the same result.

Dot frowned at this display, unable to compute it. She nearly fell into a fit of hysterical laughter; it looked so ludicrous. What was happening?

Megabyte’s movements became increasingly more desperate and aggressive. He swung his talons, slung them down, sliced the air, but never once was he able to touch her. 

At last, in an acceptance of defeat, he turned his hands on himself and clawed his own face, doubling over like a wounded animal. The roar of despair and self disgust that followed was ethereal, haunting, ghostly. It was a cry of horror, of coming to terms with the illogical: that he was, for some reason, incapable of hurting her; that part of his coding had been corrupted or rewritten.

Chapter Text

How long they remained there, Dot didn’t know. She on her back, stunned, confused; Megabyte on his knees, bending over her like a tree under too much duress. It was only when they began to hear the approach of many marching footsteps, echoing down the silent halls, that the uneasy impasse finally came to an end.

Dot angled her head up and looked at Megabyte. He had turned away and was peering over his shoulder. One of his hands reached down and pressed down on her arm, pinioning her. 

So he could still touch her? This wasn't making any sense. What had just happened?

The heavy footsteps came closer. Strong beams of torchlight were now penetrating the red haze; they found Megabyte, skimmed across his breastplates, flowed over his head and crest, and then shone directly into his eyes, making his pupils constrict to tiny specks.

Dot planted her free hand against his wrist and attempted to lever herself out, tugging and squirming, but he held her too firmly and without any apparent effort. And even this small exertion made her nauseous; her head swam. Stay calm, she told herself. Whoever those people are, they must be here to help.

“I started to get suspicious,” a voice called from down the corridor, “when you didn’t think to invite me to your wedding.”

It was the sprite at the head of the incoming party, a man with wide shoulders, a broad chest, and a soldier's gait. His head was covered by a helmet which distorted his voice, but he wore the uniform of a Guardian. A Prime Guardian.

Megabyte recognised the individual straight away and indulged himself in a wide grin.  “Ah, yes," he jested. "Such an oversight. Wasn’t that so very rude of us, my darling?” 

He pulled Dot up against him and pressed his head against hers. She tried to wriggle free, lip raised in disgust, but to no avail. 

“And to go ahead whilst poor Bob was in stasis, in danger?” the man continued, stepping slowly toward them, “I thought to myself ‘Bob wouldn’t have done that’. So… I had a feeling something was amiss long before it turned out that the other Bob was you, Megabyte.”

Megabyte’s eyes darkened and he let Dot slip back to the floor whilst he raised himself onto his feet.

The man removed his helmet. “I’ve wanted to face you for a long time,” said Turbo. “Bob can keep praying for your redemption, but I can’t allow this farce to go on any longer. Too much is at stake.”

Behind Turbo was a battalion of Guardians in combat armour. They had blasters cradled in their arms, upon which were mounted the strong light beams which were now all centred on Megabyte.

“Well, a guard of honour. I’m touched.” Megabyte made a show of rubbing his chin with his hand. “Does an insignificant virus such as myself warrant such attention? And led by the Prime Guardian, no less? I almost blush.”

Dot stared at the Guardians, saw a gap next to Megabyte’s legs, braced herself like a sprinter on the starting blocks. But the moment she started to run, a metal cable whipped out and tightened around her body then yanked her back into Megabyte’s arms.

“Now, now, my darling. We haven’t even had our honeymoon.”

“We. Never. Got. Married!” she hissed at him as she kicked and struggled in his binds. Her vision was spinning.

Megabyte laughed as her blows bounced feebly off his shining body. "Isn't she magnificent?" he chatted conversationally, running a single talon down her cheek, before turning his eyes to Turbo and the Guardian posse. 

The Guardians hesitated and seemed reluctant to come any closer. Whilst Megabyte held Dot, they would not, could not, fire. Their code would not allow them to risk her safety.

"Dot,” Turbo called. “Are you okay?"

“I’m fine,” she lied. "Look, I don’t think he’s able to hurt me so use that against him!"

Turbo looked doubtful. Megabyte meanwhile jerked his head down to glare at her, showing that uncharacteristic loss of self control, the flare of red eyes; but then just as quickly he was calm again and Dot was reminded unaccountably of Hexadecimal.

"How much are you willing to chance on the lady’s words?" he asked his audience at large. He unfurled his claws and pointed one toward Dot’s neck, as if he meant to slit her throat if they tried him.

“Give it up,” Turbo replied calmly, unimpressed by the theatrics. “You can’t escape. We’ve sealed off every corridor.”

“Have you now? Well maybe I have taken a page out of the Guardians' training manuals and no longer need doors.”  

Megabyte leapt, swung his claws at the ceiling panels, and sliced through them; it was like hot knives going through butter. In four clean swipes he had rent a massive hole, up into which he sprang and disappeared.

“Get after him!” Dot heard Turbo thunder from below whilst she remained bound in Megabyte’s grasp. They were up in a service tunnel which he hurtled along like an unwieldy, three-legged dog, keeping one hand on her at all times. She closed her eyes and curled her limbs into her body for protection as he charged past protruding pipes and wires, but he seemed to instinctively knock every potential hazard out of her way. It was as if he didn’t want anything to touch her.

He lumbered first in one direction, then another, turning at sharp angles, making abrupt stops, gauging his location, then rushing off again, grunting and growling all the time like a wild beast.

At length he stopped and clawed at the floor beneath them. Once the metal panels fell away, he dropped down into another corridor. He looked one way then another, then continued to run.

Two Guardians cut them off ahead, rushing out of a side corridor.

Megabyte made a show of lifting Dot onto his chest so she was clearly visible. 

The Guardians hesitated, their blaster barrels were lowered. Civilian, civilian!

But Megabyte didn’t stop.

The Guardians looked indecisive, exchanging glances. Should they take flight or face him? They certainly couldn’t fire whilst he held Dot up like a sprite shield.

If they fired, would he even let them hit me? Dot found herself pondering, thinking back to the service tunnel and the safety bubble he seemed to have kept her in. If he can’t harm me, perhaps he can’t let harm come to me either? Is he playing a bluff?

Megabyte reached the Guardians in a nano and swept a thunderous kick at the first one, which sent them flying up into the ceiling, rendering them unconscious. Then his claws lashed out at the other, cutting deep chasms in their chest, which proved fatal.

Dot watched helplessly as the body of the second Guardian dropped, flickered, then disappeared forever. How could delivering death be so easy?

“You bastard!” she shrieked and she tried to struggle out of his hold anew. But the cables around her were too tight and his grip too strong.

“Language,” Megabyte jeered.

He swung a tight turn ahead then skidded to a halt. A firewall was across the corridor. Beyond it was a Guardian accompanied by Mouse. 

Megabyte bared his teeth and snarled. Of course it was Mouse. He should have taken them all out rather than play his little games. But never mind, it was too late now.

Mouse glared through the barrier and blew a hostile kiss to Megabyte as if to say ‘What, I’ve double-crossed you again? You are slipping, sugah.’ 

But then Mouse turned her gaze to Dot and gave her a small nod. We’re coming for you, honey .

Dot felt a faint smile draw up the corners of her mouth. If Mouse is okay, hopefully so are the others she prayed, but there was no chance of getting answers now. Megabyte spun about and was off again. He ran around a corner then tore a gulf in the floor before he dropped onto the level below.

There were four corridors branching off a junction here. And every one had a firewall.

Megabyte looked between each one and sighed. The noose was tightening.

He leapt back to the level he had come from only to find he was surrounded by multitudes of Guardians. They crept closer in the gloom, guns aimed. And there was Turbo on the front line, his eyes stern, jaw firmly set.

Megabyte met his gaze and showed all his teeth in a raffish grin. “Is the deletion chamber ready for me?” he sneered.

“It’s had your name on it for a long time.”

Megabyte laughed, deep, dark, unsettling; the kind of laugh that got under one’s skin and crept down one’s spine. “And will you be sending her with me?” he pressed, indicating Dot in his arms. He rubbed his head against her cheek in mock affection. She recoiled, tried to pull away, failed, so she turned and spat at him instead.

“My, my,” he purred, catching Turbo’s eye. “Isn’t she wonderful?”

“I want him shackled in the detention centre before this cycle is over!” Turbo shouted, pushing his helmet back onto his head. “And I want Dot Matrix safe, you all hear? We can do this. Remember your training!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

Megabyte grinned and began turning on the spot so he could take in their numbers. He calculated, plotted, planned, and paid particular attention to the body language of each of the sprites, studying the set of their shoulders and the steadiness of their weapons. It became clear quite quickly that many of these soldiers were practically children, most likely only recently commissioned into the field. Many Guardians had been lost in the war against Daemon, leaving behind cadets and youths who were neither battle hardened nor experienced. Many of them may never have even seen a virus like him before.

Megabyte released Dot suddenly and she dropped to the floor with a thud. 

This surprised her. Wasn’t she his trump card? But then she understood. He meant to fight, and she would only be a hindrance. 

She shuffled back against the nearest wall. There were people everywhere, the corridor was poorly lit, and she still felt giddy, but at least, for the moment, she was free.

Then the melee began. 

There were shouts and the pounding of feet as the Guardians charged at Megabyte. But he was quick.

Dot watched in horror as Megabyte tore rifles out of hands with his metal cables, then crushed and tossed them away; she heard screams of pain as his talons sliced through armour and skin, rendering many defenceless and others deleted; he sprang off walls, scuttled along the ceiling like a creature from the abyss, launched himself at Guardian after Guardian, knocking off helmets and spitting venom into their eyes to blind them. He kicked and punched and hissed and bit and roared… It was like being trapped in a cage with a tiger.

“Train a target on him! Train a target on him!” Turbo’s voice thundered through the chaos of shrieks, yells and fired shots.

But the Guardians were struggling to keep Megabyte in view and panic began to take hold. They got in each other’s way in the confined space, pushed and shoved and tripped, and began to lose their nerve as they witnessed their friends and comrades succumb to injury or death. 

And then the shifting began.

They all heard Megabyte’s laugh as he dropped the lights. He was gone when the emergency lighting returned. And they knew what had happened.

“Too late, he’s shifted!”

“Where is he?”

“He’s one of us!”

“How do we know who he is?”

Suddenly one Guardian pushed his blaster under his neighbour’s chin and fired. Brains decorated the wall. There were screams, yells, dreaded realisation.

“That’s him!”

“Quick, fire! Fire!”

But the lights dropped once more, and then it started again. And again. And again. 

Tears started to open up around them as blasters hit exhaust pipes and powerlines, ripping holes in the system’s very fabric.

Turbo flung off his helmet. “Everyone take off your helmets!” he commanded. “We need to see everyone’s faces! Look for any doubles!”

Dot felt numb. It had never been like this. Visceral, frenzied, nasty.

The lights went off. Then came back on. The numbers of Guardians dropped. The number of tears increased. They could not keep up with him.

Dot tried to think. She could hear her own breaths inside her head, could feel the heavy thump of her heart. There was a deep chill running down the nape of her neck and her eyes suddenly alighted on a youth across the hallway, a Guardian who looked so young and terrified, he must surely have been a cadet last second. 

The lights flashed again. Where a nano ago another Guardian had stood, just in front of the youth, there was now Megabyte.

Up the virus rose, unfurling to his full height, filling the corridor like a behemoth whilst his eyes, two red balls of fire, blazed over the young Guardian in the gloom. 

Dot could see the boy’s eye whites reflected in red, could see the shine of sweat beading on his forehead; and she could hear the gasp of his breaths, feel the distress, the panic as if it were her own. And then he was Enzo, could have been Enzo, a boy full of bravado, both resourceful and courageous, but still a boy when all was said and done. To someone, somewhere, this young man was their Enzo; their brother, their son, their friend. And he was too young for this. Just like Enzo had been too young. Dot’s heart bled.

Megabyte swiped his claws at the youth, but, to the young Guardian’s credit, he managed to dodge the attack and leapt backwards. What the youth failed to notice were the sparks that flew from his keytool as the virus’s talons nicked the edge of it. 

The Guardian steadied himself but was now trembling so hard he struggled to remain standing. And yet he still had the courage to hold his ground and face down the monster. His eyes sought out a tear and he raised his arm, pointed his keytool. “Toggle, portal!” he shouted. He still hadn’t noticed his keytool was damaged.

The keytool sparked and whined in protest, but strove to obey, and a tear behind Megabyte transformed into a portal. The vista beyond showed a monstrous cell, far away in high security quarantine. But it glitched and fizzled, unstable.

Megabyte glanced behind him, registered the portal’s destination, and his eyebrows twitched as though in pain. Maybe it had triggered a distant, distorted memory? But he quickly returned his attention to the young man, flexed his claws, bent his knees, and prepared to pounce.

Dot knew she couldn’t let this happen. Too often she had been told that she needed to stand back, to stay safe, that it was imperative she remained behind to formulate plans, to produce strategies. And she realised that recently she had become so wrapped up in finding a way to win, at refusing to admit defeat, that she had put this above the wellbeing of others. Had she not nearly sent little Enzo out into the games in the hope he would come back like Matrix to save them from Daemon? What had made her see Enzo as a means to an end rather than a boy? When had her own brother become a statistic, a pawn on a gameboard?

‘Megabyte was right. You are a perfect couple. You are just like him,’ a voice in her head sneered.

She recoiled from the notion. No, that’s not true.

She clenched her fists, found her resolve. She had made too many mistakes as of late, had hurt too many people. Enough was enough.

She spotted a blaster on the floor, its owner now gone, never to return. She ran at it, swept her arm low as she passed, whipped it into her grasp. She ignored the dizziness in her head and focused only on the task she had set herself.

I hope this works.  

She sprinted toward the red haze that was Megabyte’s eyes and skidded to a halt between the young Guardian and the virus.

“Ms Matrix,” the leviathan purred, taking a heavy step toward her, “What a delightful intrusion.”

She smiled the smile of a dead person, wide, sinister, and turned the gun around, pointing the barrel under her chin.

Megabyte stopped immediately. His grin faded, his claws twitched.

She fingered the trigger.

He leaned toward her as if she was drawing him on a string.

She smirked, scoffed. Yes , I thought so.

She began to step around him in a wide circle, threatening to shoot the whole time. 

He watched her, transfixed.

Dot backed into a wall then slid along it. 

He continued to turn on the spot, to follow her as she passed him.

And then she was in front of the portal. She pressed the barrel more firmly beneath her jawbone and applied more pressure to the trigger.

Megabyte looked like he was about to spring.

“Dot, no!” someone shouted. She hardly registered the words. They were thick heavy echoes, background noise, the shadow of ghosts.

The portal behind her trembled, the picture fragmented then reformed. 

Dot sought out the eyes of the young Guardian who was now behind Megabyte. He was gaping at her, frozen, indecisive. And then he looked down at his keytool, saw it sparking and short-circuiting, knew the implications…

“No, no, wait!” he cried, stretching a hand in Dot’s direction.

His desperate entreaty made Dot prevaricate. And her inaction released Megabyte. He turned back to the youth, flung a hand out in his direction and sent two metal cables flying.

The boy yelled as the cables latched onto him like leeches. He collapsed onto the floor and started to writhe and fit, fighting the virus’s control. His icon glowed, trembled and spun.

Megabyte roared, the ethereal sound of a monster, not a man. His huge legs shuddered and his abdomen was taut as he threw all of his energy and effort into possessing this youth.

The boy was kicking, spitting and shaking now. His eyes rolled, he cried, he growled, he cursed, he foamed at the mouth. His PiD then popped off his body like an overheated rivet and at last he was still.

Megabyte breathed deeply, visibly stumbling, and whipped his cables back into his arm. And then he watched with satisfaction as the boy got slowly to his feet. 

Dot could see the young Guardian's eyes were now teal and red. Megabyte had made him his creature. Impossible. It was one thing to possess binomes, but high-energy individuals, protected by Guardian coding no less? What else might he now be capable of? Did he even know himself?

Megabyte turned his head to look back at Dot. He looked exhausted by his exploit, but he wasn’t done. He smirked, shifting his jaw side-to-side and grinding his teeth together in a goading gesture, before he raised his hand and fashioned his fingers into the shape of a gun, like a child might do in playground games. And in horror Dot saw the young Guardian mirror Megabyte’s movements but raise up his blaster instead. 

Megabyte turned his fingers toward his skull and pressed them against his crown. The boy turned his gun into his own head.

Megabyte continued to stare at Dot, cold, provocative. Now don’t do anything foolish, or else I just might.

Dot’s breaths came thick and fast. She was so angry, so disgusted by this, that she shoved her blaster back up beneath her jaw. You want foolish? Try me.

Her finger found the trigger, began to pull it.

'I’m so sorry dad, Enzo… Bob.’

But in a blur of blue, too fast to compute, Megabyte was on her. She was dimly aware of the blaster being torn from her hand, catapulted away, before her body was engulfed by the virus’s huge arms, incarcerating her in a protective embrace. And then they were tumbling, rolling, falling, the momentum of his dive carrying them into the tremulous portal at her back. And everything went black.

The portal flickered out of existence the moment they were through.

Turbo rushed to the side of the Guardian Megabyte had possessed. “Twain, are you ok?”

The boy blinked once, twice, three times. His eyes were clear again. “Yes sir,” he replied, rubbing his head, confused. “I… think so.”

Turbo sighed and patted Twain’s shoulder. “You did well, son.”

“The portal,” the youth stuttered in horror, “It wasn’t safe, it wasn’t stable! My keytool… Sir, I’m sorry, I--”

Turbo gave Twain’s shoulder a squeeze. “You did the best you could. I couldn’t ask for more.”

But as Turbo’s gaze traversed the scene, took in the aftermath of the ruckus, he wondered if he had made the right decision in coming here. The corridor was filled with destruction, with the wounded and the dying. Tears hovered in the air. Twain’s keytool still sparked and whined. A feeling of dread and sadness lingered. 

And then he let his eyes rest on the empty space where the portal had been. 

The portal had not been showing the detention centre when Dot and Megabyte had fallen through; it had been glitching and cycling, which meant that they could now be almost anywhere. If they had survived at all.

Chapter Text

“You may kiss the bride.”

Dot looked at Bob, filled with joy. He smiled back. They drew together, their lips pressed, and the hall erupted in cheers and applause. At last, they were married.

Dot felt as though she and Bob had been walking down the aisle for seconds, literally ever since they first met. It was almost too much to process that they were finally wed and could start their lives anew, archiving as much of the difficult, traumatic past as possible and opening a fresh new file for the future. Here was a milestone to mark the end of all the battles, the war, the loss and tragedy. Here was something worth celebrating.

Bob suddenly swept Dot into his arms and carried her down the aisle. It seemed to entertain the crowd and Dot was dazzled by the moment. But when had Bob ever been gallant? He was normally so awkward, clumsy even.

The celebrations that followed blurred into a joyous whole. Food and drink at the diner, dancing outside across Baudway long into the evening, chatting and joking with friends, and raising a glass to those who had passed. Bob’s guitar came out before the night was done. That brought back memories almost forgotten.

Then finally to bed.

Her entire body tingled when they lay entwined together, Bob’s fingers slipping into hers. His lips whispered across her skin, tracing a line from her mouth, down her neck and to her collarbone. She moaned as he lingered there, closing her eyes and arching her head back; she was flooded with anticipation, impatient for more. She was quite amazed at how smooth and attentive he was; she hadn’t expected that at all.

Then the change came without warning. 

Bob’s skin turned cold against hers, she was crushed beneath the sudden heft of his weight, his grip became vice-like.

Her eyes snapped open, head lifted. Two red pupils stared back at her.

Megabyte. 

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

She could not move. She was paralysed by shock, by terror. This was impossible!

Megabyte’s mouth curved into a smile, a jagged row of shark’s teeth, and he seized her lips in a feral kiss, swallowing her screams. She tried to fight, but she was trapped, his hold too strong, his weight too much. Silver cables bound her wrists. She couldn’t breathe. He wrenched her hips against him, pressed his body down between her thighs–

Dot woke up with a start and a terrified gasp, her body covered in a cold sweat.

But where did the nightmare end and reality begin? It was no fiction that golden claws were clasping her in an oppressive embrace and that she was curled up against Megabyte’s chest like a sleeping child.

In a knee jerk reaction, she tried to pull away, but his grip was like iron. She was confined by the cage of her bodyguard. Memories were flooding back to her like a high speed download: the Guardians, the fight, the portal! Oh cursors…

Her eyes darted up to Megabyte's face. He was unconscious. 

He saved me. I thought he would. I gambled my life on it. But why can he neither harm me, or allow harm to come to me? How has this happened?

Dot took deep breaths, tried to keep her emotions in check. What a terrifying return of events. The dream hadn’t helped, its every image evoking pain, its every speculation a stinging whip crack. 

Reflection and retrospect can come later. Focus on something else, anything else. Look around.

She tried to peer around the huge frame of her keeper as they lay entwined on the ground. All she could see were trees and greenery, and all she could hear was silence. This certainly didn’t look like a grim quarantine cell. 

Not good. This was not good.

I could have died.

Think about that later. Stay in the present.

He needs to wake up, I can't get free until he does. What if he never wakes up? Oh for crying out loud…

Megabyte’s eyes opened a fraction as if on cue. He then closed them again and took a deep breath, as though struggling to rouse.

At the same time, Dot felt his grip loosen and his fingers opened. She tore away like a racehorse out of the starting gates, scuttling across the floor in a blind panic. 

Megabyte’s huge frame stirred like a waking dragon, cumbersome and heavy. He rolled onto his chest, splayed his arms out, pushed himself up, swayed then fell back down with a grunt. He lay still again but she could hear his breathing now, deep and guttural, as if he were battling his own body’s inertia.

Run! Run now!

She got up, stumbled, lost her footing in the dirt, fell onto hands and knees, struggled for purchase. But she tried again, knotted her brow, growled at herself and then pushed herself up and away. She didn't look back. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him. If he was disorientated and out of sorts, she had a chance to get as far away as she could.

But where was she going? All she could see in every direction were trees, trees, trees. They were massive trees, too, with gigantic round trunks that held up a heavy, leafy canopy far above. 

The most unsettling thing about this place however was the lack of noise. There was a silence here that was not so much a lack of activity but something akin to a huge breath waiting to be exhaled.

Dot ran until her legs were done and she was out of breath, then she dropped down exhausted beside a massive bole. 

As her adrenalin settled, she realised how sore her legs really were and how incredibly thirsty she was. She also realised, like a kick to the stomach, that for the first time in her life she wasn’t in Mainframe. 

So now it was her turn to be lost in the Net.

What does a Command.Com do when she is far from home and has no one to command?

She wondered if Enzo and AndrAIa had ever been here. They had told her many stories of their time game-hopping, and later Net-surfing, talking about the many systems they had visited and how diverse the environments and people were. She knew that some systems could be vast. If this was one of them, she might be lost for a long time.

All of a sudden, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She had the feeling of being watched.

Her eyes flicked up, scanning the trees. Surely Megabyte hadn’t found her already? He hadn’t looked like he could walk, much less track her down like a bloodhound. Though nothing would surprise her now. 

It wasn’t Megabyte. Though she wasn’t sure if that would have been worse.

At first she was put in mind of Frisket as a creature with a long nose and pointed ears slunk from behind a tree. But it was larger, less sleek, its fur jagged, dark and long, its eyes yellow and glowing. It walked on all fours like a dog, had a tail like a dog, even its fangs pointed out from between its jowls like a dog’s; but to call it a dog would be an injustice to dogs everywhere.

It was circling and its eyes never left her.

She swallowed, took a deep breath. Don’t panic.

But it was difficult not to panic when a second one appeared. Then a third. A fourth. She lost count. A whole pack of yellow-eyed predators. She’d escaped from one monster to find herself in the midst of a multitude of others.

Please let a game cube drop. That would be really helpful right now.

The creatures circled closer. They looked ravenous. Their mouths were dripping with saliva. 

This was ludicrous. What kind of system was this?

She slowly pushed herself to her feet and found herself once again reaching a hand toward her thigh, seeking the gun holster that wasn’t there. 

Great. No weapon. 

The tree at her back was too wide to climb, and there were no branches low enough to grasp. So no means of escape either.

The beasts were so close she could discern the myriad different colours in their bright eyes, stripes of gold and amber and fire. Really quite beautiful.

Then suddenly, as if a silent cue had been given, the animals tore out of formation and charged at her in sync.

Give me a break!  

She braced, stared them down, clenched her fists.

But in a flash of golden talons and pearlescent blue, the lungeing beasts began to fall with alarming alacrity. The eerie silence was shattered by the sickening sound of splitting flesh and cracking bone.

Megabyte.

Dot flinched, fell back against the tree again and raised her hands to her face as gore splattered through the air. So here was her bodyguard, appearing like a bullet from out of nowhere. He must have run here like a manic demon.

She peered between her fingers and watched as he once again played the animal. He bared his teeth, shifted about from two legs to four, snarled, whipped his claws around, and kicked and diced the attacking canines. Raw energy poured out of the wounds and rents. She saw no sign of fear, no hesitation, no layers of remorse or self-control. The dismembered limbs and pools of bodily fluids began to collate around her whilst her erstwhile saviour fought and battled and brawled, protecting her at the central fulcrum of this fracas.

When at last the final dog fell, emitting a pitiful howl, its guts ripped from its belly and hanging like a dripping rope from the end of the virus’s massive talons, silence descended anew.

Megabyte’s chest heaved. His eyes were solid red again and he was hunched over on all fours like a beast himself, his body trembling.

Dot gathered her fortitude and began to move toward the virus.

What are you doing?

She stepped carefully over the disintegrating body parts and stopped when she was a short distance in front of him. His mouth was still agape, teeth bared as he gasped like a fish out of water. He looked like a thing utterly possessed and did not seem to perceive her presence. He simply remained where he was, crouched and quivering.

Dot chewed on her tongue. She was in truth terrified. Megabyte had chased her down the Principal Office corridors, then murdered and maimed Guardians all around her, and now had slaughtered an entire pack of animals in a crazed frenzy. And still there hovered in the background, like a suffocating miasma, the knowledge that she had nearly married him, that her nightmare might well have become reality and that he may have taken his duplicity all the way to the marriage bed. He was a despicable creature. How hollow it felt to have been saved by him. How thankless was it for a man to be mysteriously bound to you when all he had ever delivered was misery and trauma? 

It thus came as a complete mystery to her when she began to stretch her hand out and she placed her palm flat against Megabyte’s shoulder, green skin on gold plating.

He can’t hurt me.

It was an immediate remedy to his paroxysm. He roused at once as though doused by cold water, inhaling sharply whilst his eyes came into focus. “Ms Matrix,” he said drowsily.

Dot jerked her hand away like she had touched a hot iron. Her mouth opened but she could not find the words. Instead her eyes moved between the dismembered bodies, the senseless gore, and she opened her hands to it all.

Megabyte followed her gaze and her gesticulations and studied the devastation he had wrought. His jaw slid from side to side, fangs grinding, and he took another deep breath.  “Hmm,” was all he murmured. 

He was far too composed for Dot’s liking. “I don’t even know where to begin.” Her voice was tense, her mind a tangled mess of anxiety, fury and confusion.

Megabyte blinked back at her in silence then noticed the gore hanging from his hand. He raised his lip in distaste, shook his fingers out, then flicked the remnants of the entrails and raw energy into the undergrowth.

“Ms Matrix,” he said at length. “I think there is a problem with my code.”

“There’s always been a problem with your code,” she sneered.

“Charming,” he rallied, smirking at her in the way he always did. But it was half-hearted. “I appear to have become your unwitting protector, your bodyguard. It is like a compulsion, I cannot refuse the call, it is almost akin to being--”

“A Guardian?” she finished for him.

His lips quirked into an ironic grin. It made her feel nauseous. 

“Well… not quite what I was going to say,” he remarked, “But there are similarities. Though I do not believe their coding is quite so… extreme?”

Dot glared at him. “How awful this must be for you.”

His eyes flashed. “It would be a cruelty indeed if I am no longer able to be myself.”

“And a mercy for others,” she sneered. “This is ridiculous. How can you suddenly have this ‘function’?”

He was quiet whilst he meditated on this, his eyes slowly moving one way then another.

“You were protected from the Web by Glitch’s Guardian code, were you not?” Dot pressed, clutching at straws.

His eyes fixed on her. “Yes, it is likely.”

“Has some further transfer of code happened? Or a change of programming? Or –?”

He shrugged, which was an impressive gesture on so huge a frame as his great bulk, his wires and plates, shifted up and down. “I am afraid I have no answers. And I fear that whether or not you desire my company, whenever your life is in danger, or your person in peril, I will be compelled to protect you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Give me strength.”

“I am not particularly ecstatic about it either.”

“If this is another bluff, I swear…”

He did not shift his gaze, did not move. Except for his mouth; he smirked but just enough for the points of his fangs to show between his lips. It was not a nice smile. “Oh my dear Dot,” he retorted, “Do you honestly think I would fabricate this? That I am that desperate to get into your arms again? Into your bed?”

She flushed angrily at the jibe, the inference, which hit too close to the quick. It was savage and distasteful. “You can delete that thought.”

“Or maybe file it away for another cycle? I can be persuasive.”

“You would have to be excessively persuasive."

"Ah, a challenge."

"This isn't a joke! What sort of cruelty is this? To have you bound to me, without choice? You, a murderous virus who hid beneath the guise of the sprite I love. You who had no qualms in marrying me as another man? When would it have stopped? What was it all for?"

"Now it all comes out,” he rejoined more forcefully, his voice taking on an edge. “It does one good to vent. Shout, scream, let's place all our chips on the table. Don't filelock and suppress your feelings like you normally do."

She marched at him, eyes livid, and shoved him in the chest. "How dare you presume to know me and my feelings? You know nothing."

"On the contrary, we spent a lot of time together when you treated me as a sprite rather than a monster and I have come to understand you far better than you could possibly imagine."

“But you are a monster.”

Megabyte glared back but said not a word; he just let the products of her imagination hover and fester in the air like a pile of rotting software, of broken dreams. But he soon became weary of this little altercation so ceded victory to her with one of his pithy sighes and walked away.

"Well, regardless of our fine opinions of one another,” he said over his shoulder, “I have no choice in how I am presently wired. So I apologise for the inconvenience.”

“But that does not affect how you feel,” she rallied, “You might be compelled to protect me, if that’s what it is, but that doesn’t mean you desire to.”

He halted and turned back to her, arching a brow, finding her remarks curious. “Are we talking about my feelings now?” A little laugh. “How considerate.”

She scowled at him. “Maybe once in your life you will think about someone else’s. Who knows, you might find it refreshing.”

He cocked his head like a big dog hearing a whistle and gestured to the bodies surrounding her, which were deleting as they spoke. “If you stop being so incensed and look around, you will perhaps perceive that I did think very much about someone else’s feelings. And trust me, Ms Matrix, it was a novel and discomfiting experience.” He then turned and began marching away again.

She scowled at his retreating back but did not move.

“Come along,” he called when he realised she was not following. “You are not safe here.”

“I think I’d rather be erased.”

“That isn’t an option available to you at present. And I don’t particularly wish to have to run so far and so quickly the next time those wild curs ambush you. It is tiring.”

“Forgive my lack of sympathy.”

“Such hostility.”

She shook her head, unable to compute his audacity. His ability to shift dispositions from killer to gentleman gave her whiplash. “You might have destroyed me if not for this 'malfunction', this corruption. You deleted countless Guardians. You’re a murderer and a snake and a thug and you know it. And yet you stand there, all good manners and niceties, and expect me to just happily trot along with you?”

He let her stew in her own words for a nano or two and then replied calmly. “Yes, I do. And I do beg your pardon but I cannot go against my code.”

“Oh Bob would say that. Even now.”

“Yes. He would.” A strange look crossed Megabyte's visage, but was then gone almost as if it had never been. “But that is neither here nor there. So perhaps if, for now, you would deign to partner your keen intellect with mine, we might find a solution to this quandary. Or at least find civilisation in the meantime."

“Don't you dare start thinking about infecting this system.”

“Ms Matrix, you are positively exhausting,” he lamented theatrically. “I just wish to assess the situation which you have kindly dropped us into. We can bicker again later, if you fancy.”

She scowled but followed him. There was hardly another option.

The forest stretched on forever. They walked, and walked, and walked. They didn’t encounter any more creatures, or any binomes or sprites.

Dot soon recognised that Megabyte was struggling. His head carriage was low and his steps were increasingly slothful and lethargic. 

When they next came across a small clearing, which was relatively flat and spacious, Megabyte descended onto all fours without saying a word, then circled and dropped, his body curling in on itself and making him look something akin to a big blue cat. He was asleep in moments.

“Charming, “Dot huffed, walking as far away across the clearing from him as possible and sitting beneath another tree. She then watched the sleeping colossus for some time.

What if this was another ploy? What if he was just waiting for her to go offline so he could double-cross her yet again? He might transform, spirit her away, or just take her where she laid…

I can’t stop thinking about it all. About the wedding, the deception, about Bob. How can I forget the slaughter and savagery that followed? The spite and wickedness? And will I ever stop thinking about what could have been?

She took a deep breath and stared up at the stratosphere, which had darkened and was now a moody, inky purple. She didn’t want to sleep in case she dreamed. She felt ashamed even though it wasn't real. It hadn't happened.

But it might have. He could save my life a thousand times, it won’t ever cancel out what he’s done. And it doesn’t change what he truly is: an amoral, irredeemable monster.

Chapter Text

Why were there no games? They had been in this system for seconds and still not a single incoming game.

“Had it not occurred to you that the User does not always desire to play games?” Megabyte sallied to Dot one morning as he watched her frown up at the tree canopy.

She scowled back. Of course it had, but never to see a game cube? It was such a regular occurrence in Mainframe it had become normal to expect them at least relatively frequently. And from what she had heard of other systems, it was common elsewhere. But not here. The heavens remained empty and calm. No voice heralded the warning of an incoming game. It was almost eerie.

They were still in the forest. It was getting repetitive and frustrating. Megabyte at least was able to climb up the colossal tree trunks with his huge claws and had been able to gauge which direction to take. There was something beyond the vast woodland, he reported; but he would not explain what. Perhaps he didn’t know himself. They headed that way regardless.

The dogs came back. Mostly they only watched them, seeming fully aware that the big blue monster had destroyed many of their kind already. Dot found the tension unbearable and she lost count of the number of times she saw the hounds stalking them out of the corner of her eye. What did they want? What were they?

Megabyte tried to make conversation every once in a while. How could he do that? Just shrug off what he’d done, all the slaughter and the violence, the animalistic madness, and compartmentalise it all, pack it away in little boxes, then engage in polite conversation as if nothing untoward had happened?

She never answered him.

“Dot Matrix, I shall possibly be erased by sheer boredom,” he quipped after his umpteenth attempt.

“Good,” she hissed.

They walked and walked. Sleep revitalised some of their energy but Dot kept thinking about food. Her stomach grumbled. So did his.

One evening, Megabyte disappeared without a word and came back some time later with a dog hanging limp in his jaw. He then ripped a limb from it and proffered it to her with a nasty grin. She nearly gagged and immediately lost her appetite. Megabyte simply shrugged and sat down with his kill, devouring it like it was high cuisine. In a tiny way, she almost envied him.

Later that evening as they sat at opposite ends of a clearing in the dark, she suddenly said, “Take me up there.”

His gaze roved onto her at a leisurely pace, a pair of glowing coals in the gloom. “Excuse me?”

She rolled her eyes and jabbed a finger aggressively up toward the high tree canopy. “Take me up there with you. I need to see things for myself.”

She could just about make out the purse of his lips. “That won’t be very pleasant for you.”

She scoffed more loudly than she’d intended. “Now you play the gentleman? What is wrong with you?”

Megabyte sighed and shook his massive head. “I need every appendage to climb these boles so you would be required to hold onto me. And if you lose your grip, it is a long way down.”

“Well you wanted me dead anyway, didn’t you?”

“You are being petulant," he grumbled. “But it is delightful to hear your voice. The silence was tedious.” He paused, ground his teeth. Dot had noticed he had a habit of doing this now and the grating squeak that his fangs made as they rasped together was becoming increasingly irritating.

“If you fall,” Megabyte continued, “you must surely have processed that I will try to save you? But then if I fall, there is no one to save me. And if by chance I cannot save myself then we go together.”

“You won’t fall. And you have always been able to jump ridiculous heights, falling won't hurt you.”

“I appreciate your faith in my abilities.” He shifted and laid down, propping his head on his hand and staring at her. “But we could save a lot of energy and difficulty - and mutual discomfort - if you forget this little notion and allow me to continue to climb unencumbered." He made a show of checking his talons on his free hand. "Do you not trust my little reports?”

“I need to see for myself,” she repeated. “And when have I ever been able to trust you?”

He chuckled in a low, deep baritone. “Well, quite. But you will be disappointed when my honesty is confirmed by your own eyes.”

“That’s my affair.”

His eyes lingered on her before he made a lazy shrug and then settled fully on the ground, coiling his body in on itself. “In the morning, then,” he said.

She turned away with a huff but jumped as she saw yellow eyes pitting the darkness, surrounding them like stars in a firmament. There were dogs everywhere. She swallowed, tensed, looked back at Megabyte. He was motionless.

I hate this. I hate being unarmed and tied to this bastard. I just want to go home and make sure everyone’s ok. I want to sleep in a proper bed and not feel on edge every nano. I want to talk to dad. I need to talk to Bob. I want to hug Enzo, and I want to put the world to rights with Mouse. I want to fix everything I messed up… 

“Do you have nightmares?”

His voice startled her and the yellow eyes promptly scattered.

“What?”

Megabyte's crest shifted, he raised his head and his glowing eyes fixed her with a curious look. “You do not sleep often or well.”

“Well forgive me if I disturb your beauty sleep.”

Megabyte smirked. She could see the twist of his lips and the shine of his fangs even in the low light. “I am many things, but beautiful is perhaps not one of them.”

“Do viruses dream?”

“Of course we do. Are we not sentient beings?”

“And what do you dream about?”

He said nothing. The silence drew out, strained, uncomfortable. She then watched as, without another word, he tucked his head back down, closed his eyes, and laughed darkly under his breath.

She looked daggers at him. What an absolute ASCII.

The next morning, as soon as she was up on her feet, he was in front of her, wearing a smug smile.

She glowered at him. He cocked a brow at her in return then slowly lowered himself to his haunches. 

Your move.

He was infuriating. 

She took a deep breath and marched smartly around him, then reached out and made to grasp at the mass of cables at his nape. But, as if repelled by a sinister force, her hand stopped halfway and she froze. Flashbacks hit her in quick succession, each one a bullet to the heart: images of Bob turning into Megabyte at the altar; of Megabyte taking hold of her and kissing her on the steps outside the Principal Office; of him chasing her down the corridors on all fours; of him standing over her like a barbarous brute with claws raised, ready to strike…

Megabyte sensed her hesitation and peered back over his shoulder, his red eyes flashing. He made an obnoxious chortle.

Stay calm, he wants a reaction.

Gathering her resolve, she plunged her hand fully into the bunch of silver wires and then heaved herself onto his back. It didn’t help that he wasn’t particularly easy to hold onto; his shining body had very little purchase or give. Worse, she felt her heart begin to pound and palms sweat at being so close to him; her mind fogged, her thought processes buffered.

“I told you this would be unpleasant,” she heard him grouse at length, his voice coming to her like a distant foghorn in a thunderstorm.

His apathy however gave her mind sudden clarity and emboldened her. She shimmied herself up his back, hooked her arms under his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his torso. It was done.

Megabyte bowed his head and went silent. She felt him take several deep breaths. He didn’t move.

She was about to say something but abruptly his feet shifted, his hands dug into the ground and he pushed himself forward. She clutched him tight as he lolloped first on all fours, then on two legs, then hurtled full speed at a tree.

He wasn’t anywhere near it when he leaped, vaulting as high as a several storey building with frightening ease. When he hit the trunk, the force of it nearly dislodged Dot; she grunted, gritted her teeth, and tried desperately to maintain her hold. She didn’t look down. She didn't want to see how far there was to fall.

They neither said a word, but she noticed that he didn’t start to clamber up until she had readjusted her position and secured herself again.

True to Megabyte's prediction, it was an uncomfortable journey. Each time he moved an arm or leg, he had to tear claws out of the bark with force then ram them up to the next spot, before heaving himself up and repeating. It was jarring and unsteady.

Once they were finally in the canopy and amongst sprouting branches, Dot pulled herself straight off his back and began climbing on her own. She was quick and almost enjoyed the challenge, the freedom of being up here and doing something for herself. She felt rather than saw Megabyte’s eyes on her as she ascended; his gaze carried weight. 

When she reached the top of the canopy, she felt the vibration of the lower boughs as Megabyte followed her up, twisting and turning through the tree like a monkey who had lived up here all its life. Their heads then emerged in tandem at the top, he a short distance away from her.

Dot looked around and gaped. The system truly was vast. She couldn't even see the sea, assuming there was one. The trees went on and on in every direction - except for one.

There appeared to be a mass of structures in the distance piercing the horizon, a cluster of tall jagged buildings. Though it was hard to discern very much from so far away, it was clear there was a high barrier surrounding the edifices like a huge city wall. Dot pondered on this and felt unsettled.

Megabyte meanwhile perched on his branch like a waiting vulture, quiet, still, but vigilant. "So. All is as I said. This jaunt was a waste of time and energy."

“I can see a lot more than ‘what you said’," she countered. "You didn't tell me about that high fence for a start."

He blinked slowly and his chest swelled with a sigh. "Why should I have? It is a minor concern."

“But why is it there? Why would they need walls like that? To keep the hounds out?”

He exhaled through his nose before he replied archly, “You think like an optimistic, unfettered sprite. So may I offer you the viewpoint of an autarchic virus? Perhaps the walls are to keep the populace in.”

She gave him a dour look. "Nonsense. Anyone with a zipboard could get over that."

"Perhaps they don't have zipboards?"

She gave him another frown. "So what was your plan? To break down the walls when you get there?"

He made one of his indolent shrugs. “If necessary.”

“I can’t let you do that.”

He held her eyes. Friction crackled. Side to side went his jaw, and he growled in a low tone, "You perhaps forget that you do not have complete dominion over me."

“I haven’t forgotten. But I know I could make life very, very difficult for you."

His mouth tightened. "Yes. I am aware." And he plunged beneath the leaves like a serpent diving back under the waves.

Dot pulled a face after him but stayed where she was a microsecond longer, taking the time to absorb the vista and commit it to memory. This system had so much wasted space, her business mind observed. She wondered if the people here would prove to be hospitable. That high fence made it look like a prison. She had a bad feeling about this.

Megabyte soon resurfaced next to her and he followed her line of sight before he made another impertinently loud sigh.

She glared at him. "You’ll wish you were able to fly like your sister when I push you off.”

He laughed at that, his eyes lighting up. "I’m sure. Now would you please come along?"

"It looks like we could go along the treetops, the branches form a connected canopy,” she suggested. “Wouldn't that be quicker? And it’s dog-free."

He stared at her again. He looked annoyed. "A sound hypothesis, but I fear it would ultimately be more hazardous. You might fall, get hit by branches, etcetera, etcetera…"

And the unsaid words were that he could not allow that, that he would not be able to stop himself wrapping her in proverbial cotton wool no matter what the cost to himself. How pitiful. 

She felt a sudden surge of power and dominance. "Oh does it hurt? To have to take care of me?"

Megabyte moved a hand to his chest in mock mortification. "Oh yes, my pride is wounded."

She sobered quickly and it was her turn to sigh. "What I wouldn't give for a zipboard."

"Oh, does it hurt?" he retorted at high-speed, "To be so woefully ill-equipped and unprepared?"

"Log off."

He snickered then disappeared again.

If we'd ended up in the Guardians' high security prison instead of here, would he be dead by now? Would I be at home? Would I be happy?

She slapped the intrusive thoughts down and slid carefully beneath the canopy. Her foot slipped a little, she felt her heart jump in her throat, grasped at a bough. Before she could even register it, one of Megabyte's silver cables was around her ankle.

"Careful,” he snarled irritably. “It would be quite a fall.”

A glance to her left picked him out. His limbs were splayed across the gigantic tree trunk like a big gecko and he held one hand out from which his cable had been launched.

“It would be,” she quipped in return, “but you appear ready to catch me.”

He withdrew the cable quickly with a snap then crawled onto a bough above her and hung upside-down from it so that his face hovered mere pixels from hers.

"Well… I presently have no choice in that. But as it is a little awkward to manoeuvre up here, and rather high above the ground, I cannot guarantee your safety or mine." He cocked his head to one side, "And I would so hate for my final moments to be plummeting to oblivion with an ill-tempered sprite in my arms."

Dot's scowl deepened. 

It only made him laugh more. "Come along," he said a second time, as if to a child, whilst he crawled back to the trunk and righted himself. “Time to go.”

"Don't talk to me like that."

"Such temper."

"I'd punch you if it didn't hurt so much "

"And violent as well?"

She held her tongue. It wasn't worth it. She strode over, grabbed the wires beneath his crest and pulled on them so hard it jerked his head back. She then swung onto his back, making sure to kick him accidentally-on-purpose as she did so; it wouldn't hurt him, but it made her feel better.

Alas, he seemed to enjoy it. She could sense his smirk. But he said nothing further and started to clamber back down the great tree. 

The descent was even worse than going up, but they were back on the forest floor soon enough. She slid off him as quickly as she could, wiping her hands on her thighs as if to get rid of the rank aura he emitted. Then they just kept moving again.

The light changed, fading from bright and fresh to dime and dusky. Night was coming.

“So… what do you dream about, Ms Matrix?” Megabyte asked again as their pace began to slacken and rest beckoned. “You never did answer me.”

“Well you didn’t answer me either.”

“Ah, quite right. How rude of me.” The monster was quiet for a few more strides. “Tell me what you imagine I dream about, I am curious.”

She shrugged sullenly. “Gateways? The Super Computer? Portals? Empire?”

“My, how original.”

A silence then descended that was so intensely frosty and awkward, it sent a chill down Dot’s spine. She slackened her pace and felt the desperate urge to run from him again. 

"My turn,” he purred in a languorous drawl. “Let me hazard a guess as to what it might be that compels you to cry and whimper whilst you sleep. Is it the terror of me and my iniquity?”

Dot stopped in her tracks. Fragments of her recurring nightmare flashed through her mind like a movie file playing at double speed, full of horror, dread, futility…

“I thought so,” Megabyte continued, his tone quiet, sinister. “It probably won’t help you to learn that I dream about you, too.”

She felt like she had been shot. And then she felt unclean. What was the point of sharing that? Did it matter? Why did it make her feel so guilty? Was it even true?

Megabyte kept on moving. Either he hadn’t or he chose not to notice her reaction, but when he finally did stop and turn back, all Dot could see through the inky darkness was the scarlet blaze of his eyes and the black rugged silhouette of his body.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” he called, his voice a booming thundercrack in the void, “to never be apart, even in dreams? And to find no relief upon waking? That is if one sleeps at all.”

They didn’t speak for some seconds after that. 

Morning and nights came and went. The hounds tailed them. Megabyte climbed trees alone, gauged direction, then they kept moving. Dot weakened whilst Megabyte hunted like a feral cat. By the time the towering fence line loomed ahead, she was utterly famished. An energy shake and bag of chips would be such a welcome sight right about now.

Between the edge of the woodland and the city wall was a long stretch of flat, unadorned land. Silent, empty, lifeless. It didn’t look inviting. Neither of them made a move to leave the cover of the forest. They stood in the undergrowth, the wheels in their minds turning. Click. Click. Click.

Dot furtively glanced at Megabyte. His eyes moved in little jerks, as if he were intricately studying the fence, its height and build.

Is he thinking of scaling the wall? Cutting through it? And then what? What will he do?

“What’s your plan, Ms Matrix?” Megabyte asked all of a sudden. Perhaps he had felt her eyes on him. “I thought we might compare our notepads.”

Dot took a deep breath and met his gaze as he turned his head in her direction.

“I need to access some energy," she replied. "That’s my priority.”

“Hmph.”

“My biggest worry is we haven’t seen any life outside those dogs. We know nothing about what this place is, or about who or what’s inside. And we’ve still not seen a single game cube.” She rubbed her temples and sighed. “I can’t imagine strangers visit very often by the looks of things.”

“Well, I am fairly confident that I am unlikely to be welcomed,” Megabyte mused indifferently, looking at his claws. “Particularly in this state.”

His voice became background noise whilst Dot absorbed herself in staring up at the huge enclosure once again. It was bothering her more and more. And this was bolstered by the dread of what to do about him. She couldn’t walk into a city looking for aid with a virus in tow, especially one she had brought here. What would they think? What would they do? And who knows what he might try to do? Great User, how would she ever explain any of this?

She turned her eyes onto him. I brought him here. It was an accident that we arrived in this system, but I can’t wash my hands of him. How do I even begin to solve this dilemma? What would Bob do?

“I’m going to find a way in,” she resolved. “You stay outside the walls.”

She made to move but Megabyte blocked her way.

“You understand if you’re hurt, even threatened, I will be forced to come crashing through those walls to your aid?”

“It’s a gamble I need to take. Now move.”

He didn’t. “So you expect me to just sit around and… wait for you?”

“Move!”

“You see, I can’t help but think,” he mused airily, “that you might go in there and alert the people to the virus in the system. Perhaps you will appeal to them to contact the Guardians - for which I wouldn’t blame you; I just hope Turbo and his children are ready for me this time. And whilst they deal with me, you might find yourself the means to return to your little backwater system and keep trying to convince yourself that you are happy with your life.”

She gave him a piercing look. Her fists clenched.

“But at least, whilst I am dispatching Guardians and infecting this system - thanks to you I must add - you will be free of me.” He fixed her with a hungry look and smiled with all his teeth. “If you can ever be free of me, that is. Maybe our mysterious bond will be extant even across pathways. Perhaps I will find my way back to you.”

“Rest assured, whatever happens in there, I will not be letting you do anything to this system, do you understand?”

His responding laugh was deep, raucous, stomach-churning. “Dot Matrix, I am not your dog .”

She hadn’t realised she was at her limit until she snapped. Her purple irises flared as she thrust a finger under his chin and got right up into his face. “You are my dog if I put a gun to my head, a knife to my throat, or prepare to jump off a high building. You would be walking to heel in a blink!” Her expression shifted from ire to malice. “And don’t you forget that any time you might think about possessing an innocent binome, corrupting a sprite or conquering a sector, there I’ll be in the shadows, ready to hurt myself, knowing you’ll drop everything to prevent it - because you no longer have free will. Even the dedicated server in my diner has more independence than you. So do as you're told or I’ll make you rush to my aid every nano of every second until you beg for the deletion chamber!”

He lowered his head to her level, his face now mere pixels from her own. “My, my, aren’t you a wonder to behold? And yet remind me, whom is a slave to whom in this arrangement?”

Dot held her ground and lifted her chin. “Fuck around and you’ll find out," she hissed.

Megabyte gave her a long, careful look, his eyes scanning her features in tiny darting movements, as if probing for cracks and weaknesses. At length he merely exhaled then dropped onto four feet and sat like an obedient hound. 

“Well I appear to be your dog after all,” he quipped, “So I shall leave the proverbial ball in your court.”

She glared at him. His yield had come too easily. The crafty bastard would still be plotting and planning, she knew it. Because she would do exactly the same.

‘You are just like him,’ her subconscious piped up again.

Log off!

“Well at least make yourself useful,” she said. “Help me find the city gates.”

“I could just take you up and over?” he reminded her, waving a hand idly at the high walls. “Perhaps even through.” A jab of his talon. A leer.

“No! How’s that going to garner good relations? We’re doing things my way. Now shut up and get moving.”

Why was he smiling like that? Why was that huge mouth of his set in a stupid grin? “As you wish, Ms Matrix,” the snake fawned.

Chapter Text

Dot and Megabyte followed the wall around from the safe cover of the woods until, at last, a pair of thick, solid doors came into sight. They were nearly as tall as the fence itself, an absurd size, and would be impossible to shift unless you had an exosuit or were a giant. Upon closer inspection, however, one could perceive a smaller door set into the bottom corner which was an appropriate height for a sprite or binome to use.

“I’m going to see if I can get in,” Dot said. “Do not follow me.”

Megabyte was strangely agitated, as though he could not settle; jittery, fidgety, impatient. She could hear his claws making irritating scraping sounds as he rubbed them against one another. “Very well,” was all he grumbled.

She didn’t look at him before she began to walk from the woods and out into the open. 

It was a tense journey, eerie even. A heavy silence stifled the air. Dot’s eyes darted left to right, up and down, scanning the wall before her and the flat ground either side. She took slow, wary steps. There wasn’t a road or even a path leading to the doors, just the lifeless, unadorned ground, an empty no man’s land stretching between the colossal fence and the trees. 

But the crossing was ultimately uneventful and she reached the small door without incident. She sighed with relief, paused for breath, then sneaked a glance back over her shoulder. She couldn’t see Megabyte any more. Would he really sit idly by whilst she explored inside?

She cast aside the nagging doubts and pressed on.

The first surprise was that the door was both unlocked and unguarded. No intercom, no special lock, nothing. This was little comfort. She pulled it open a crack and peered through. Beyond there was a wide street lined with small trees, all pruned into perfect spheres. The road was flanked by tall buildings; the ones close by were not as high as the wall, but it appeared that the nearer to the centre of the city one looked, the higher the towers yawned. And the metropolis was vast. So many buildings, so many roads. And yet there was no movement, indeed no life, to be seen.

Dot hesitated. Mainframe was a city which never slept, where binomes and sprites were up and about all the time. The clinical, silent vista before her was a nightmarish and stark contrast. But perhaps it was too soon to judge? 

And yet, even straining her ears, she could discern no buzz of traffic, no shouts, laughs or cries. Her gut was telling her to turn back.

I can't. There is nothing to turn back for.

She took a breath and crossed the portal, shutting the door behind her.

Still nothing happened. She remained alone. When she moved forward, her boots echoed loudly in the silence. The flagstones were pristine. It was like one of those cities in some of the games which were beautifully planned and designed but unlived in, empty.

Dot started to pick up pace, chose a direction and went with it. On every avenue she tried the doors on the towers and peered into windows; they were all locked and the insides were silent. She repeated this process on several different thoroughfares until it became tiresome and deflating. It also began to bother her that she didn’t see any shops or eateries, or any play parks or cinemas. What was this place?

At length she came to a large open square, situated at a junction between several streets. In the middle of it was a statue of a binome holding a hand toward the sky. Its face was carved with a massive smile of contentment, as though it was living its best life. There had been a plaque beneath it once but it had been removed, the screw holes still clear to view. There was an ornate garden surrounding the monument, the grass cut into perfect lines with daisy wheels planted in the flower beds. On each of the square’s four sides, and facing the monument, were bright, clean public benches. 

Dot walked over to one of the benches and dropped onto it, steepling her fingers and staring at the statue over the top of them. The carved face seemed to mock her.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there but she almost panicked when, finally, she detected movement out of the corner of her eye. She shot to her feet, spun on her toes, and watched as crowds of binomes filled the streets. The mass exodus seemed to be coming from the centre of the city. They were all chatting quietly to each other and walking at a steady pace, calm and well mannered.

She began rehearsing in her head the words she might say. Or at least she tried to, but her mind was a fogged, panicky mess; she was hungry, she was tired, she was disorientated. She wasn’t even sure she’d be able to string a sentence together, never mind explain anything. And there was a lot to explain. And even more questions to ask.

The binomes came closer and closer and began to diverge, moving off down different streets and alleys; it looked like they were heading home after a long day. A few at least continued to walk in her direction. When they got close enough, one or two glanced up, smiled, nodded, then carried on. Most of them didn’t take any notice of her at all.

Dot was frankly lost for words. If this place had been a cosmopolitan, busy port system, she might understand their apathy, but since it appeared such a cut-off, oppressive sort of place, she had at least expected someone to show surprise, or even challenge her. Weren’t they even a little suspicious? She must look bedraggled and out of place.

She had the urge to shout at them, to call them to account, then had to remind herself this wasn’t Mainframe and she wasn’t a Command.com here. She may even be overreacting. At least the system wasn’t deserted. It was frankly a relief to see something alive that wasn’t Megabyte or a wild dog.

As the crowd began to thin and still no one spoke to her or confronted her, Dot took the initiative to try to engage some of the binomes herself. She moved forward and attempted to block their paths. 

One binome laughed, treating it as an impromptu game, dodging left and right to try to get around Dot until they slipped by and skittered away. 

The next binome just kept his head down and tried to move through Dot like a bulldozer, refusing to lift his eye. Dot gave in and let him go by. 

On her third attempt, Dot literally grabbed a binome by the shoulders. “I’m sorry but please can you help me?” she asked.

The binome looked back without blinking. “Help? With what?”

I’ve accidentally arrived in your system with a shape-shifting Trojan horse virus and I’ve been attacked by wild beasts in your vast woodland - who’s in charge here? They need to do something about them! - but anyway, for some reason the virus is compulsively keeping me safe, though it’s against his will and mine. We’ve been in this system for seconds now, trying to reach your city through that never-ending forest, and I really need to access some energy and find some shelter and have some assistance in getting back home. You must signal the Guardians as soon as possible because I can’t trust this virus not to harm your system and, though I sort of have him under my control right now, I can’t spend the rest of my life threatening my safety so that he has to protect me just so I can stop him doing anything else. Please help me.

Where should she even start? It sounded ridiculous.

“I’m a stranger here,” she explained. “There was an accident in my home system and -”

“That’s a nice story.” The binome brushed Dot’s hands off its shoulders. “Good evening.” And off he went.

Dot’s brow furrowed. The binome hadn’t even sounded rude, just… disengaged. Disinterested.

She darted over to another binome. “Excuse me, can you help me? I arrived in this system by accident -”

“Accident? Fancy that.” Then that one kept walking, too.

Dot spoke to multiple different binomes. All of them were docile, unthreatening, calm, but utterly impassive, as if they weren’t really listening.

She blew a raspberry with her lips. She could feel the frustration building. There weren’t many binomes still in the square, she was running out of time. 

She tried once more and intercepted a slim tall binome in a shabby suit. 

“Excuse me. Can you tell me where I can access some energy?”

The binome blinked. “Remember to collect your rations,” was all he said. He moved on.

And then the street was empty and she was alone in the square again. 

She was perhaps even more bewildered now than she had been to begin with. Her thoughts strayed back to Matrix and AndrAIa once more. She had always found it painful to think that Enzo had had to cope with this kind of thing as a child, been forced to navigate the unfamiliar ethics and governance of strange lands and peoples. But Enzo had done it, and pulled through. So what would he have done in this situation?

He’d have kept going. Kept trying. That’s how he survived. That’s what Matrixes do. We don’t believe in a no win scenario.

She rolled her shoulders, marched purposefully forward, picked a road, and started to walk down it.

“Psst.”

She froze, turned, peered into an alley. There was movement in the dark shadows and the angular form of a one-binome emerged from behind an impressively clean and tidy dumpster. 

The binome made eye contact, glanced left and right, then gestured with his hand. Come closer.

Dot glanced around herself first. The street was still empty. She started to walk over but stopped short of the alley entrance so she could look up at the tall buildings flanking either side of it. There were no balconies and all the windows were dark and shuttered.

“You’re right to be suspicious,” the binome whispered, his voice so low she could barely make out the words. “Where have you come from?”

“Another system."

"I gathered that. How?"

“It’s a long story. There was a freak accident.”

The binome looked suspicious. “An accident,” he echoed hollowly.

Dot’s face hardened. “Look I'm just lost, hungry and tired. I’ve been stuck in that forest for seconds!” She gestured animatedly in the general direction of the wall. “Why won’t anyone talk to me? It wouldn't hurt any of you to show some kindness."

The binome’s mouth tightened. He again looked around himself. He moved closer to Dot. “You will not find much help or affability here. You will want to ask why but, like your ‘accident’, mine is also a long story. And I daren't say too much in case…” His voice tailed off and he said no more.

Dot was quiet for a nano, trying to think. Nothing was making much sense. This system was a strange place.

“I need to contact my home system,” she said plainly. “Can you help with that?” 

He shook his head. “External communication is forbidden.”

“But you might be in danger.”

“We’re always in danger. Now stop talking. They might hear you.”

She blinked. “Wha-?

The binome put a hand to his mouth and clamped it over his lips aggressively, giving her a firm frown. Be quiet.

She sealed her lips.

The binome gestured again. Follow me.

She walked behind him gingerly, hardly daring to breathe.

When they were in almost pitch blackness at the back of the alley, the binome stopped and turned to face her again. He tapped his hands together in a nervous gesture and looked indecisive; he didn’t make eye contact. “You are hungry?” he asked quietly.

Dot nodded sombrely. “Yes.”

The binome reached into his jacket, pulled out a tiny tin, opened it, and handed her a small sachet from it. “I have a feeling I can trust you,” he murmured, “So this is my gesture of goodwill. It is not much, I’m afraid. We hear there was good food once. But this is all we have for sustenance. It will at least stave off your hunger.” He closed his tin and slipped it back into a pocket.

Dot felt hesitant to take it. “But this is yours?”

The binome made a half hearted smile. “I will be ok. You look terrible, if you don’t mind me saying, so I would judge your need to be greater.”

She smiled warmly, genuinely touched. “Thank you.”

The binome nodded. “I do have questions, and I would like to talk, but I cannot stay any longer. I must get home.” He escorted her quickly back to the alley opening and pointed up toward the city’s centre at the very tallest building, which was some distance away. “Take my advice. Stay away from there. Stay away altogether if you can, but I fear that is not an option for you.” He paused a nano, his voice dropped even lower. “I will try to help you. We have scheduled downtime in a cycle. Come back then under cover of dark and I will find you. It may well be that we can help each other? There are stories of saviours who come from the Net to liberate oppressed systems. Perhaps it is time.”

It was such a long walk back to the forest. To have come so far and yet still be no closer to getting home, it was discouraging. And yet there was some hope. It was too soon to quitfile.

It was dark again by the time Dot slipped back into the dank undergrowth of the wretched forest. As she moved through the trees she noticed a light up ahead, a wavering orange glow indicative of fire. She felt her back stiffen and she crept onward charily, stepping lightly like she would if she was sneaking up on the User in a game.

What she found was a small, unattended campfire in a clearing. It crackled and illuminated the trees with a warm ambience. She could smell something delicious, but her stomach roiled at the thought that it could only be one thing.

“I wasn’t expecting you to return if I am completely honest.”

Dot froze at the sound of Megabyte’s voice. Her eyes darted up, down and around, but she couldn’t see him anywhere. 

“As if I could trust you to behave yourself in my absence,” she sneered. “I see you have lit a beacon to let everyone know we’re here.”

She heard his rumbling laugh rise from somewhere in the undergrowth. “Yes, well, raw meat does become a bore after a while. I thought I’d be a little more sophisticated.”

Where was he? “Will you come out here?” she snapped. "Don't make me make you."

The leaves and twigs rustled behind her. She turned quickly and a yellow eyed dog emerged, all its teeth on show. 

Her eyes widened, she leaped back and held her fists up. Not again.

The dog stalked closer and closer, slathering, growling. And then it sat and cocked its head. “Really, Dot, had you forgotten I’d protect you if you were attacked? Show some pluck and hubris.”

The dissonance of his voice coming from the animal was disorientating. But it all clicked into place within nanos and she gave him an utterly scathing look, like a mother would to a child who has tried to pull a pitiful prank.

The dog grinned then crouched, began to transform; its paws lengthened into fingers, its eyes faded from yellow to red, its ears became a massive red crest, and Megabyte emerged from his latest disguise.

“Why did you do that?” Dot spat.

“I thought I needed to do a spot of method acting, to really hone my skills," he quipped, rubbing his knuckles against his chest. "My skills as a dog, that is."

Dot’s expression did not change.

He sighed at this poor reception. “Well in truth, I thought I would partake in some investigative work and attempt to learn something from these creatures.”

“And did you learn anything?”

“No, no. The other dogs would not communicate with me. It was as if they knew I was a pretender.” He laughed. "Ironic that a base beast can so easily see what a sprite cannot."

She rolled her eyes. "Then what? Did they attack you? Did you eat them all?" She gestured to the fire. Can I smell roast dog?

Megabyte held her eyes, raised his hand, clicked his fingers. A whole pack of the creatures emerged in perfect synchronisation, forming a large circle around them. Dot jumped again, backed closer to Megabyte, then realised the animals’ eyes were all teal and red. They were his.

“Since you forbade me to invade the city and corrupt its peoples,” he relayed in a mellifluous baritone, “I thought I would conquer the savage creatures that seem to want to consume you. Aren’t I magnanimous?”

Dot glanced between each of the animals with a sense of unease and dread; the emptiness of their expressions and the way their jaws hung open gave her the jaggies. Some of them were dribbling. She turned her eyes back to Megabyte’s face. “You’re an ASCII.”

“A ‘thank you’ would have sufficed,” he jibed. He clicked his fingers again and the dogs vanished. “So, where are the Guardians? Why are you still here and not back in Mainframe? Did you find my charm so irresistible?”

“Can you hear yourself?” she grumbled, already exasperated. She pushed past him and dropped onto the ground with a huff, staring into the campfire.

Megabyte made one of his infuriating little chuckles and sat opposite her, eyeing her through the wavering smoke and flames. “You’re far too easy to bait, Ms Matrix.”

She glowered at him. I’m going to have a permanent crease in my forehead at this rate .

Megabyte steepled his fingers and began tapping the claws together impatiently. Clink, clink, clink. “Well are you going to sit there festering all night? Or are you going to elaborate on your own adventures? I would like to know where I stand. Or where we stand.” He leered again.

She heaved a deep sigh and kneaded her forehead. “There’s something very wrong in this system.”

He blinked slowly. “Have you only recently come to that conclusion?”

Dot pulled a face at him then looked away, chewing on her tongue. She then remembered her hunger and the strange little sachet the binome had given her. She brought it out and placed it in her palm, studying it with a frown.

“What is that?” Megabyte asked.

Dot held it up between two fingers, sniffed at it. There was no writing on it so who knew what it contained, and it was so tiny. When she pressed it, it felt like there was nothing but granules inside. “It’s food, apparently,” she said.

Megabyte moved closer, crawling on all fours so he could get a better look. She pulled the sachet away from him in a reflex action.

He chortled. “Do not fear, I will not steal your little snack.” He sat back on his haunches. “Are you sure I can’t tempt you with a more substantial meal?”

“Log off. It'll be fine, I'm sure.”

“That might contain anything. If you start hallucinating and running into trees, I will have to restrain you.”

She felt the corner of her lip prick, checked herself, pulled it back down.

He did not allude to it. “So. What leaps of discovery have you made?”

“Well just as your dogs would not talk to you, it was near impossible to get anyone to talk to me in there. Most of them were… disinterested. And the one binome that did speak to me was scared. But I think he will help me.” She turned the sachet over and over in her fingers whilst she reflected on things, trying to get her head around this place and what little she had discovered. It was like dropping into a game without having any stats, without knowing the aim or even who the enemy was.

“Did you not employ your winning personality and urge everyone to action?” Megabyte sallied.

Dot didn’t deign to answer.

“And so it has come to this. Better the devil you know and all that?”

She gave him a withering look. But I don’t know you any more.

“Allow me to go in there and gauge the situation,” he pressed. “I will make some swift progress, I assure you.”

“You are not doing anything,” she countered sharply. “We talked about this.”

“Did we? I believe you ordered it. There was no discussion.”

“You’ve already raised an army of zombie dogs. What else were you planning on doing if I hadn’t come back to check on you?”

He looked quite pleased with himself. “Well, who knows? I am full of surprises.” He tapped his talons against his chin. “I’m curious, were the people not a little concerned that you had brought a virus into their system?”

She hesitated.

How he smirked. “You didn’t tell them?” Another dark laugh. “How interesting.”

She scowled. “There wasn’t an opportunity.”

“But of course.”

“I will find a way out of here. And a way to break our… thing.”

“Such a pity. I still hold that we would make an exceptional partnership.”

“Will you delete those thoughts?”

“Why? Do they frighten you?”

“They offend me.”

“Offence implies that you are invested enough to be bothered about it. Which intrigues me.”

“Stop being a manipulative bastard.”

"Ha, yes, yes… I am that.”

She looked at the fire, listened to it crackle and smoulder. Her eyes then lifted once more and fixed Megabyte with a glare. “What do you even want any more?”

The way he tilted his head implied he hadn’t expected such a question. “How very thoughtful of you to ask.”

It was like talking to an errant child. "Stop sneering and answer me."

"What if you don't like the answer?"

"I doubt I will."

"I am a virus, I'm not as complicated as you believe. We are driven to infect, to corrupt, to cause uproar and dysfunction, to usurp power for ourselves, etcetera, etcetera. It is how we are coded. You had experience enough of this whilst living alongside my sister and I, did you not?"

It wasn't really an answer. "Are you evading the question?"

"Not at all. I am just reminding you that we have base instincts and drives. Like any living being."

"Which I am sure you can control."

"To a degree. We are not animals, after a–"

She noticed Megabyte’s gaze dart away. His pupils dilated, full red. There was a rustle in the undergrowth behind her. Without thinking, she turned, was faced by an open jaw of teeth, the flying form of a rabid dog.

Megabyte was over her before she could shriek. His claws swiped and golden talons speared the creature. It cried out in agony, writhed and struggled. Megabyte roared, eyes full of fire. He lifted the impaled creature high above them both and raw energy oozed from its wounds, slid down his arm, dripped onto his face.

Dot panted, averted her gaze. Breathe. Just breathe.

She regretted that she looked up again at the exact instant Megabyte bit into the dog's neck and tore out its throat. The way the firelight glinted off the gore made it seem all the more hellish.

All went quiet. Megabyte lowered his arm, the frenzy faded, he started to come back to himself. The dog’s body slid off his claws with a squelch. It made a heavy thud when it hit the ground.

He turned and gave Dot a weary look. "I appear to have missed one."

She scoffed, turned away, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

"Let us hope you make progress on your next jaunt inside those walls," he lashed out as though his fuse had suddenly blown. "My patience is not infinite and the longer you tarry, the more increasingly tempted I will be to - how did you so eloquently put it? - 'fuck around and find out'." With a snarl he then disappeared up a tree in a scurry of claws and limbs.

She rolled her eyes; he was becoming as disconcertingly changeable as his sister. She crawled over to the campfire and held her hands out for warmth. Her entire body felt cold. Her heart felt hollow. She felt very alone.

Her stomach rumbled. She looked again at the sachet, shrugged, then tore it open and swallowed the contents. Bland but it sated the hunger. She didn’t hallucinate. She half wished that she would.

She curled up into a ball on the ground and tried to sleep. The end of the next cycle couldn’t come quick enough.

Chapter Text

Dot laid on her back at the edge of the woodland and stared up at the sky. The colours were turning moody, shifting from a vapid yellow to a purple bruise-like colour then finally darkening to a steel grey. There was nothing else to do but wait. She had walked about in the forest for a time, safe in the knowledge that the hounds were suitably tamed, but it was all too quiet and lifeless. Watching the stratosphere and waiting for darkness seemed the only other option.

She sighed and checked her watch. By some miracle the timepiece was still working, even after everything it had been through. ‘Excellent Mainframe craftsmanship’ she thought with a sad smile. It had once belonged to her mother. It brought her great comfort.

Megabyte had not returned after his little tantrum. Where he had gone and what he was doing was a mystery. She was tempted to bring him back. It made her uneasy to think he might be up to something. But she didn't. It was frankly peaceful without him and a relief to not have to parry his constant verbal feints. She needed a break.

The microseconds crawled by, the sky finally turned black, and when her watch intimated the cycle had ended, she got up and returned to the city. In her hand, she clutched the empty food sachet like a talisman.

It was hard to tell if the city was in any kind of downtime. It was as quiet and desolate as it had been before, only darker. There was, strangely, a single beam of light shining into the sky from the tall tower at the city’s centre. It was the same tower she had been warned to stay away from. Dot mulled this over for a nano before she shrugged it off and began retracing her steps to where she had first met the curious binome. 

The darkness lay heavy and fog-like and everything looked sinister. When she found the familiar alley, she froze at its opening, bent forward and peered into the void. Should she say something? No, surely a bad idea. The binome had mentioned about being overheard. Were there hidden cameras, microphones, or spies?

Was this the right alley, she started to wonder? The buildings were all so similar. Perhaps she had taken a wrong turn? The binome hadn’t specified he would meet her here, he had only said he would find her. It was all very vague. Maybe she had been foolish to come? It might well be a trap.

She set her shoulders, took a deep breath and took a few paces into the pitch black.

“Well, well. What have we here?”

Dot jumped at the voice and, thinking fast, slapped her hand to her mouth before she could make a sound. When she looked up, two red eyes glowed back at her. Splayed like a massive spider high up on the wall was Megabyte.

She was furious. Searing rage surged in her breast. 

But the image before her was suddenly overlaid by flashbacks, disorientating and unsettling, as though a movie file had superimposed itself over the present and was playing before her eyes. She saw Megabyte clinging to the rafters in the Principal Office corridors, she felt his claws on her body, recalled the horror of being carted down service tunnels in his clutches like a prized kill, remembered the way his eyes had flared, the chilling cruelty of his voice, and saw again, in all its visceral detail, the Guardians he had disembowelled right in front of her.

She scrunched her eyes shut against the visions, bottled the panic and the fear, forced the images into an archive, then reasserted herself. Her eyes flashed at him.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed as quietly as she could.

Megabyte sniggered under his breath and began to traverse the wall like a lizard, arms and legs moving in diagonal pairs. "You have surely read the old ReadMe file which says you should keep your friends close and your enemies even closer?"

Dot’s scowl returned. “Is this the length of your so-called patience? You demand I make quick progress but don't even give me a chance? Because quite frankly a null has more patience than that. I told you I am dealing with this.”

He laughed again, deep in his chest. “Well, there's very little you can do about it, is there? You can make me come running on a whim - which I notice, pertinently, you haven’t since I last left you - but you have not the ability to send me away again.”

"I wish I could."

Megabyte leapt off the wall, dropped in front of her, then raised himself up to his full height so he towered above her like a monolith.

She was not to be intimidated and raised her chin, met his gaze. “How long have you been here?” she demanded.

"Do not distress yourself. Only as long as you.” He ground his teeth, jaw shifting left to right. “I followed you in. Nothing more.”

“Followed me? I didn’t hear you.”

“We viruses can be quite light on our feet," he sallied.

She inhaled a deep, irate breath.

Megabyte sighed at her fractiousness. “In all honesty, I would prefer not to be too far away from you. It is -” He groaned as he sought a suitable phrase, his fingers wriggling in the air as though to catch a stray thought. “- somewhat agitating.”

“Oh how the mighty have fallen,” she sneered.

He grunted. “Quite. I assume being too distant from my charge sets my, aha, Guardian code on edge.”

“It is not ‘Guardian code’.”

He smirked. “Well, whatever you want to call it then.”

Dot glanced back to the alley entrance. Still no one was in sight.

“So where is your new friend?” Megabyte queried, following her line of sight. “Have they quit file?”

She turned back to him and pointed a finger under his chin. “I swear, if you have messed this up for me -”

“I haven’t, Ms Matrix, trust me. And I will stay hidden. I'm good at that." A wide grin. "It is only fair you permit me the opportunity to survey this city for myself. It is frightfully dull being alone in that forest with nothing to action.”

“You could drill your little dog army. Play them off against each other.”

“Yes I could. What fun.”

She took a deep breath. Her lips were pursed, her patience short.

He leered. "I will behave. I promise."

Ugh . She marched toward a dumpster, pulled her leg back and then made to kick it with such force and speed, it would surely smash her foot. She saw Megabyte tense, knees bent, claws reaching for the floor as prepared to fling himself at her - until she stopped her foot mere bits before it connected. Oh how his face flickered rapidly from self-control to overt frustration then back to self-control again.

She scoffed. “You’d better behave.”

Megabyte remained still and silent but then, a little peculiarly, he started to chortle deep in his belly. And without so much as another curt remark or piece of sass, he turned to the wall and began to climb. He was lost to the inky blackness in no time. But Dot could still hear that laugh echoing in the murky crevices of her mind.

It was at this moment that, finally, the friendly binome appeared. He almost tumbled over as he came to a sudden stop at the alley mouth, having apparently been running. 

"There you are!" he said in a whisper which carried surprisingly well. "I knew you would come. And here I am, as promised!"

Dot's brow furrowed, the words striking her as strange, almost comical.

The binome looked a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat. "Come along," he said, waving a hand before he moved off at a swift pace.

Dot shrugged inwardly and tailed him.

They walked for some time and she lost all sense of direction. It did not help that every street appeared like the last. The binome took so many turns - left, right, completely back on himself. Sometimes he froze at a junction, always keeping close to the walls, peering around corners as if expecting trouble, but they did not see anyone else.

At length, the binome took her down another of many nondescript alleyways and then down some concrete steps into a cellar. There were nothing but crates stored haphazardly down here, and the walls were grey and unadorned. A single lamp hung from the ceiling, dull and flickering, casting a dismal glow.

Dot watched as the binome made a slow circuit of the room. He checked behind several crates, then backed toward a wall and knocked against it in a curious pattern of rats and tats.

A portion of the wall slid across and a hidden doorway appeared.

The binome made a sharp nod. Go on in. 

She slipped inside and he followed. The door shut behind them, leaving not a trace.

Dot could hear the low hum of conversation as soon as she entered the secret room. There was a small group of binomes sitting in a circle at its centre, all dressed in the same thing, a slate grey set of shirt and pants. A rank miasma lingered in the air, something akin to energy shake dregs and leftover slow food, she couldn’t process it. The room wasn’t overly large and was as plain as the cellar they had just come through, except for the tally lines marking one wall, a small table in the corner, on top of which was a mechanical device in a state of disrepair, and finally there was a timer in the middle of the floor, counting down.

The conversation in the room began to fade as the binomes each turned to study Dot. They showed varying amounts of interest, but the overriding sentiment appeared to be mistrust. It was still an improvement on the complete indifference the other binomes in the city had exhibited.

Dot met their gazes with calm patience and waited for her guide to open the dialogue.

“I am back, everyone, I am back,” her friend said, “and here is the sprite I told you about. Who would have thought we would live to see the second when there was a sprite in our system again? Please make her feel welcome.”

There was more whispering, murmuring, side eyes, and gawps. Dot heard the words “Admin”, “User” and various mumbles of amazement and incredulity. But welcoming they were not.

Except for one young zero who squeaked, “Are you here to free us?” The zero was promptly shushed by the others before Dot could respond.

Her guide turned and gave her a small, slightly apologetic smile. “It is safe for us to talk here,” he said, “I am sure you have as many questions as we do. But we do not have long." He indicated the timer. "You see, whilst we’re in downtime, our movements are somewhat masked. But when the alarm sounds, we all need to get back to our homes as soon as possible.”

Dot immediately wanted to ask about this, but before she could articulate her questions, her guide said, “Would you like to introduce yourself? Please tell us your story.”

And everyone was suddenly looking at her, silent and attentive. 

Well, group speaking was nothing new to her. It was time to win their confidence.

“My name is Dot Matrix,” she began, “and I come from a system called Mainframe.” 

She paused. Where to even start with the rest? What information would it be useful to divulge? How much should she share with these strangers? 

“I arrived here in a freak accident and I am hoping you can help me.”

And then she found she couldn’t stop herself. Perhaps it was the result of being chained to Megabyte and only Megabyte for seconds on end. She gambled on trust and told them everything, starting with the Guardians and the portal, working through her misadventures in the forest, and finally wound the story up with her finding herself in this very room. She did her best to explain the situation with Megabyte, but that turned out to be harder than she expected. 

“The virus that came with me is bound to protect me. I don’t know what happened to cause this, and neither does he. I cannot control him, but I can interfere with his drives to infect and corrupt. I believe I can keep him at bay for a while, but not forever. Which is why it is imperative I contact the Guardians as soon as I can. I need to get him - and myself - out of here. For your safety, and mine.”

The group didn’t look as alarmed about Megabyte as she expected they might. This was somehow worse than any hysteria. She had anticipated at the very least accusations, some laments about her bringing a virus to their system, but there came nothing of the sort. They just gave her curious, slightly put-out looks. In fact, they seemed more hostile at the mention of the Guardians.

“Trust the Guardians to cause trouble,” one mumbled.

“Humph. The Guardians look after their own. They don’t dirty their hands with the likes of us.”

“They plant viruses, you know. Treat small systems like their own little playgrounds.”

“What kind of virus is it?” one of them finally asked, moving away from the Guardian issue. 

Thank the User, at least someone was interested. 

“A Trojan Horse. A shape shifter. But as to the extent of his abilities, I could not say.” 

And as the Fellowship took to talking amongst themselves about this, Dot suddenly found it hard to breathe and struggled not to regress to panic on their behalf. How could she make them see the things she had seen and get them to grasp the true vice and wickedness of this creature? Did she really have to go further back and tell them everything about him, right from when he had first arrived in Mainframe? She hadn’t the energy or the drive for a start. And there certainly wasn’t time.

She sat herself down on the floor, feeling her legs tremble all of a sudden; whether from fatigue or something else, she wasn’t sure. It was only when her guide placed his hand on her knee and she came back to herself with a snap that she realised she had completely zoned out. 

“I said thank you for telling us your story,” he said with a warm smile.

“Oh. Yes. You’re welcome.” Then she added, warily, feeling a bit disorientated, “Are… Are you not scared or upset? About the virus?”

The binome shrugged amiably. “It is probably not our highest concern right now. It might even prove… useful.”

The cold drop of terror and disbelief Dot felt was swift. Oh she knew well what would follow if they treated that blue-tinned beast with complacency. 

“Please, no, don’t –”

The binome tapped her knee again. “Calm yourself,” he said plaintively. “Let us speak to you for a little, and we shall come back to this.” And he put his hand to his mouth and cleared his throat with a couple of polite coughs. 

Everyone came to attention immediately as he took centre stage. 

“I am Windows Smith,” he began with a flourish of his arms. “This system is Cloud One. And we -” He indicated every binome in the room “- are the Fellowship of the Webring.” This appeared to be a cue for the others to draw up and gather about him in a slightly shaky heroic pose.

Dot had no idea what her face was doing but Windows looked askance all of a sudden with a sheepish titter. 

“Yes, erm… Well, we in truth know nothing of the Web or its mysterious rings,” he mumbled, “But we liked the name!”

Dot laughed nervously and began to feel a sensation akin to freefall, as though she had been copy-and-pasted into a bad comedy sketch and was losing all grip on reality. Or maybe she had popped a motherboard?

But still, she had to admit, despite the eccentricity, there was warmth and familiarity here which felt reassuring. How she'd missed being around binomes. It felt like home.

The Fellowship all resettled in their little circle around Windows.

“And what is the function of your Fellowship?” Dot asked.

“To smash the oligarchy.”

Dot blinked. “Right. Well. You said your story was a long one, so I guess you’d better get started.”

And so Windows began to tell the story of Cloud One. He explained how, many cycles ago - so long in fact that there wasn’t anyone left who remembered it - there had been the games. The User had been merciless and given the system no rest, downloading game after game after game. And they lost most of them. The citizens could not sleep, could not lead fulfilling lives, for always were they in fear of the cubes. Nulls were everywhere and legend said that what is now thick forest, outside the walls, was once a wasteland of broken buildings and broken lives. It was brutal and relentless.

“But then, all of a sudden, the games - and the constant nullification - stopped,” Windows recounted with panache, “and it is at this point that the Administrator arrived, heralding the dawn of a new era. And it could not have been more different.

“The User, it came to be known, desired that Cloud One only process files and documents. They were not interested in playing games any more. And so, under the Admin’s leadership and guidance, the populace changed tack to appease this changed User. Every morning, everyone got up and went to work to fulfil their little functions - processing letters, numbers, tables and formulas - and then, at the end of their shifts, they returned home, safe in the knowledge that they had done their duty. It was a haven in comparison to the dark times. But then came the war.”

Windows’ expression faltered and he looked profoundly sad, so the Fellowship began to assist him with the story, taking it in turns to explain how Cloud One was but one system in a connected network - in truth, there existed Clouds One through Nine - and for a reason no one really seemed to remember, these systems came to be at odds and the conflicts began.

“Cloud One was spared the battlefront, but the war interrupted trade links and supply chains,” one of the group expounded. “It became harder to access energy. Resources became scarce. And so the Admin brought their distribution under their control.” 

Windows pulled one of the little sachets from his pocket at this cue and held it up. Dot recognised it at once. 

“We receive food as rations now,” he related, “It is enough to satisfy our hunger, but it never fills our stomachs.”  He pocketed the sachet. “And it wasn’t just good food that disappeared. The city is said to once have had clothing outlets, restaurants, diners, cinemas. Bu,t as you may have noticed, there is none of that now. There is just work and the war.”

Dot felt that rising sense of unease, even familiarity, begin to creep up her back. Didn’t I have a bad dream a bit like this once? Is this Megaframe all over again?  

“The Admin’s control has crept into everything,” Windows continued. “All communication is monitored - allegedly for security - and we are forbidden to contact other systems. Not that we have the means to contact them, anyway. We believe there is still a port somewhere, but the location is secret, and so we cannot leave. It is stifling.

“And we are expected to be thankful for this. The citizens are routinely reminded that all our needs are provided for; that we live in safety, free from the games, whilst others fight to preserve our liberties; that our obligation to the Admin and to each other supersedes any selfish desires. But we know there is more than this. We know that something is amiss. And from this, the fellowship was born.”

“I think I have got the picture,” Dot affirmed, “So help me with some details. Who exactly is the Admin?”

“Oh we don’t really know. We never see them," a binome replied.

“What?”

"They stay shut up in that big tower over the core. They have a vast staff of Televisions who preach their dogma for them."

Dot could hear the capital ‘T’. “‘Televisions’?” she queried.

“Yes. Sentient Televisions. They occasionally do their rounds on the streets or pop up on the vidwindows, spewing out bulletins and updates. Do you not have them in your home system?”

She rolled her eyes and groaned. Oh yes, they had one. But she doubted the Televisions here went around proclaiming the joys of Bucket O’ Nothing.

But something else was bothering her. "This may sound ridiculous,” she said, “But how do you know if the Admin is real if you never see them?"

The Fellowship looked at one another. "How do we know the User is real?"

Fair enough. Moving on.

"Why is it so dangerous to talk on the streets? Are you being watched?"

Everyone nodded. “Cloud One is, in a manner, a police state,” one of them explained, “Our very thoughts and feelings are monitored.”

“Expand on this. Who monitors your thoughts? And how?”

The group collectively described how there were binomes amongst them they liked to call the Process Police. They did not wear any sort of uniform, they were simply a group of plain-clothed neighbourhood snitches, subservient and devoted to the Admin. They listened in to conversations, watched where you went, and scrutinised who you socialised with. If you dared to speak against the system, or complained about your job, or even acted a little oddly, then… Well, their little white van sometimes did the rounds and they all dreaded being thrown into the back of it. 

“And if the police are not watching us,” another expounded, “then the Admin’s tower is. There are surveillance devices everywhere. Even in our homes.”

“Thankfully we have discovered that any drops in power interfere with most of the espionage gadgets,” Windows stated. “And we just do our best to evade our nosy neighbours.”

Dot glanced again at the device which was in pieces on the table. Maybe that had once been one of these ‘gadgets’?

“Well if you want change you’re going to need numbers,” she said plainly. “Are there any more than those of you here tonight?”

“This is the crux of the issue,” Windows lamented. “We exist in a minority. Some agree with our sentiments but are too scared to act. And most do not seem to be able to think freely. They are content with the mundane life, are happy just to function; to have a job, go to work, come home, and be safe. Dull predictability is their preference. And you might say ‘well, what is the problem with that?’ But it goes beyond rationale. Do you recall the near insensibility of the binomes you tried to talk to on your first visit, Dot? Is it any wonder we codename them drones?”

Dot agreed that they had been strange. Disinterested, bland, robotic. It was almost as though their individual sense of curiosity and suspicion had been altered, or removed completely.

“You suspect that their PiDs have been tampered with? Their coding perhaps changed?” she suggested.

Many of the Fellowship shushed her as if the notion was a kind of blasphemy.

“Perhaps,” Windows replied, and even his voice had dropped to a whisper. “We do not know for sure. Regardless, we worry that, between the police at one end of the spectrum, and the drones at the other, we may never rally enough opposition to raise a coup.”

“Well worrying won’t change anything,” she countered firmly. “What you need to do is figure out exactly what numbers you have. You need to assess your skills, your equipment, and be honest with yourselves about what you are willing to risk, because it’s going to be dangerous. Trust me, I know about these things.”

“I knew there was something about you from the moment I saw you!” Windows beamed, his face lighting up. “You understand completely! You will be the one to help free us. I can feel it!”

Is it written on my forehead? Dot wondered ironically. But even though she was, deep down, worn out, and even though all she wanted to do was to go home, she suddenly felt buoyed up. Windows’s excitement seemed to lift the mood and help give the others hope. Dot could feel their trust in her palpably increase. And it made her feel alive, made her feel like she was finding part of herself again, to be amongst this brave group, this self-proclaimed Fellowship of like-minded binomes, who had somehow managed to find one-another in an atmosphere of mistrust and adversity. This was her scene.

“I think you comprehend that your freedom is tied in with ours,” Windows continued a little more sombrely. “You will only be able to find your way out of Cloud One via the Admin. And we can only be free by overturning the Admin’s control.” He held out his hand. “So can we count on you?”

Dot took his hand in return and shook it. “I’m in, Windows Smith.”

She realised she still had so many unanswered questions, that there was so much she didn’t know, but she also at last felt a sense of clarity and direction, the likes of which she hadn’t felt since she arrived here. The way forward was uncertain, and the task appeared huge and insurmountable, but it was at least a start. And since when had she ever believed in a no-win scenario?

“What we need now,” she murmured, mostly to herself, “is a plan.”

And then the timer began to alarm. It had hit zero.

Cursors .

Everyone began to get up and prepared to disperse.

Windows moved to Dot and took her hand, pulling her to her feet. “Quick, we have to get you back before full power resumes.”

“There’s so much more we need to discuss.”

“I know, now volume down, I will take you as far as I can. We will talk a little on the way.”

They slipped out of the cellar and walked quickly and quietly through the dark streets, keeping close to any walls and in the shadows. Dot wondered if Megabyte might be silently tailing her like before, but she couldn’t see the glow of his eyes anywhere, and in truth she hadn’t the time to look for him. Windows was moving so fast and in such a haphazard manner she had to concentrate hard to keep up.

Windows brought her past the square with the euphoric binome statue in it, then took her right up to the door in the massive gates.

“Why don’t you all come into the woods?” Dot asked and wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before. “The door isn’t locked.”

“We know,” he replied. “But there is only death for us in the forest.”

She wanted to tell him about how the hounds were safe now. But then she realised it would only be for as long as Megabyte willed it. And there was no more time for chatter.

Windows reached into his shirt and pulled out one of his food sachets and again handed it to Dot.

She took it and squeezed his little hand in gratitude. “When can we meet again?” she whispered.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged forlornly. “I will figure out a way to get a message to you.” He looked at his feet, scuffed the ground. “Dot, this virus. Remind me. You said it can shape shift?”

She wanted to protest, to insist once again that they absolutely could not trust or try to utilise Megabyte, that they would find another way. But she didn’t. 

“Yes, he can,” she replied honestly.

“Hmm,” he mused, then said earnestly, “Please look after yourself. And stay outside the city until I find a means of contacting you. We have no idea if you have already been spotted and I don’t want you to be taken.”

She nodded sharply then slipped out the door before she closed it on the sight of Windows’s retreating back.

Dot moved quickly back toward the forest. It was still dark out here but it did not feel as unpleasant as it did inside the city. It was almost a relief.

As soon as she neared the monstrous trees, she spotted her viral counterpart, right out in the open. Megabyte appeared to be presenting a mirror image of herself from earlier, for he was laid on the ground, arms crossed behind his head to support his huge crest, and was staring up at the sky. He made no move to acknowledge her as she got closer even though she knew he must be able to hear her footsteps. So rude.

“Have you noticed the tiny sparks running along the circuits in the stratosphere?” he asked out of the blue. He raised a hand above himself, waved his claws in the direction of the sky. “Quite beautiful really.”

Dot looked up, her brow creasing. But he was right, there were little jolts of energy moving about up above. She had never seen that before. Certainly not in Mainframe. 

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“Does it need to mean anything? Some things just are.”

Her lips quirked and she felt the freefall again. Was he losing his mind? Was there any sanity in this system? Or was it her who was coming unhinged?

She walked around him and dropped onto the ground with a huff. “Where did you get to? I thought you said you couldn’t bear to be parted from me?” 

“That is slander. I did not say that.”

“Close enough. What have you been doing?”

He made one of his characteristic sighs. "I simply took the liberty of the darkness and power-down to skulk around. It is indeed a strange system."

"If I find you've infected or possessed anyone -"

He finally deigned to look at her and gave her a weary glance. "Yes, yes, we've been through this. I behaved myself. I fear that, even if I had wished to break our covenant, the clandestine nature of the populace meant that I had no opportunity. Frankly I would have had to smash through some doors and walls to find myself a victim, which would have been a little attention-seeking, wouldn't you agree?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Just a little. But let's say I wasn't here, and you were free to do as you pleased, what would you have done then?"

"If you weren't here? My, how dull that would be. I'd be quite beside myself."

"Be serious."

He smirked. "Well, I would find a suitable candidate to shift into and then start to dig for information. I'd need to know more about this place before I made any decisions." His voice dropped. "But alas, this is fantasy. Whilst I am tied to you, and yoked by your little threats, I can't just do as I please, can I?"

She glared back. You could try harder, I know you could. He really wasn’t making much overt effort. Where was his persistence? His relentless attempts to conquer? Perhaps there was something else holding him back? Or was he just in no hurry? Biding his time? Working behind the scenes?

"So, what have you been up to this time?" he chattered. "Have you found your passage home?"

“I have been employing my winning personality to urge everyone to action, of course.”

They shared a look. He laughed.

Dot then told Megabyte a basic version of what the Fellowship had told her, about the Admin, the totalitarian society, the undercurrent of rebellion. She didn't want to give him too much to work with; he might use it against her.

Or he might not, in which case his input could even be valuable. He was far from stupid and thought in ways she didn't, after all.

What she definitely made sure to keep to herself was the fact the Fellowship might wish to use him like some sort of trump card, as if he was just a weapon or a gadget. She began to ponder on whether they actually had any experience with viruses.

Megabyte was quiet for some time once she had finished talking. His red pupils continued to follow the wayward sparks in the murky stratosphere, pensive and calm.

Dot lay back and watched the heavens too. It was somewhat soothing.

"What I advise," Megabyte eventually murmured, "is that you attempt to access the Administrator. Learn about the other side of the coin."

Maybe he wasn't going to offer any sensible insights. "What, just rock up to that big tower and knock? Oh please.”

“What is the worst that could happen?”

She fixed him with a look of disbelief. "Are you making fun of me? I can think of some pretty bad outputs."

"Have you forgotten that I, your obedient watchdog, will come to rescue you if you are in dire straits? Whether I wish to or not?" His eyes suddenly widened as if he'd had an epiphany. "Or perhaps I could save you the trouble?"

"You mean seek the Admin yourself? Don't be ridiculous, I can't trust you. And even if I could, how do you expect to get into that tower looking like that, you'd have to --"

Megabyte was tapping his fingers against his chin, and his eyes were fixed on her, bright, almost crazed, like a child praying they'd be permitted to go out to play. His mouth hovered in an open grin, waiting for her to catch up with him.

The chips dropped.

"No, absolutely not!" she resolved.

He sighed. "Oh come now. It appears your only way out of this system is via the Administrator, so why don’t we go straight to the source? Of course, that isn't to say that you couldn't overturn the system from within; use its disgruntled peoples, create an uprising, and find a way out on your own. You are a well practised resistance leader, after all. But who's to say you will succeed? And have you any notion of how long that might take? Have you calculated the risks, the shortcomings? You recall you never wrestled my sector from me in Mainframe until I was gone, by which point I had acquired most of the system. And defeating me was not a quick enterprise. You even had a hacker on your side then, a service you are sorely lacking now. I also -" He raised a finger at her as she opened her mouth to interrupt. "- advise you not to attach yourself to any one party too soon. Who's to say you've chosen the correct side? Your decision may prove premature."

"I have a gut feeling," she replied succinctly. "It’s good enough for me"

"A gut feeling," he drawled. "Fascinating. Is this the same one that made you choose my masquerade of Bob over the real sprite?”

She felt her stomach drop. Low shot, too low. But well calculated. It took her down rapidly; the weight of the guilt and the shame, that festering pustule of a wound torn open afresh, burst, unhealing; the terror, the recurring nightmares, the sickening thoughts of what could have been cycling through her consciousness over and over and over again.

She shot to her feet and stormed off into the dark woods.

She could hear some wild dogs running past her as she marched, weaving through the trees. One went by on the left. Two more rushed by on the right. Just watching her, each one with Megabyte's glowing eyes.

"Perhaps ask yourself -" Megabyte said, making her jump, as she found he was all of a sudden casually leant against a tree in her path. "- if there is a 'good' and a 'bad' here? Or anywhere, for that matter. Don't let your sense of morality dictate and overshadow your choices. Think more about how long you truly want to be stuck in this system. And how long you want to spend trapped with me." His eyes turned on her and narrowed. "Trust me. We should work together on this, for both our benefits."

She moved past him, kept going. Being bound to him didn't mean she had to work with him. Oh she felt sick at the sight of him. He had the gall to keep pedalling his idea of teaming up whilst reminding her that he was the source of all her unhappiness. Was there no end to his unrelenting spite? If he hadn't come back to Mainframe, she and Bob would be married by now and everything would have turned out fine, wouldn't it?

Wouldn't it?

"One second you tell me not to wander off, the next you just leave me to my own mischief. You must make your mind up, Ms Matrix. Don't strike me then pet me."

Dot glared at Megabyte, who had now silently fallen into step beside her. She hadn't seen him get there.

"You are such hard work," she hissed.

"Don’t you enjoy the challenge?"

“Log off.”

A pair of his possessed hounds crossed in front of them like outriders then disappeared again into the undergrowth.

"You are still not ready to entertain the notion of a partnership?" he pressed.

"Your legacy speaks for itself. You'd only work with me for as long as it suited you."

"Oh I am hurt."

She ignored him. She needed to keep meeting with the Fellowship, download more information, formulate a strategy. But did Megabyte have a point? Was she on the right lines? Or was her history applying bias, presettings? Was she jumping too quickly to conclusions? Might the Admin not be the great power the Fellowship had made out? Might the Admin even be amenable? No one had ever seen them, after all. They could even be a red herring, a mere extension of a bigger problem; a spokesperson, a puppet. Or a lie.

Oh how she reminisced almost fondly of the old times, of Megabyte's relentless drives to access the super computer with his stupid little plans and schemes. At least it had been clear back then who the enemy was and what he had wanted. Equally, it had been easy enough to figure out what she and Bob needed to do to stop him. It wasn't all this complex coding and hidden functions, where nothing appeared to be what it seemed, where everyone had ulterior motives. When did things become so murky?

"I have some ideas," Megabyte persisted. "Undo your pride and let me assist."

She turned her lip up at him. "And how much deletion and destruction would follow if I let you loose? How many innocent binomes would you take down along the way? You wouldn't care about them."

"My, my, are these words coming from the same Dot Matrix who sent countless binomes to certain deletion in her own system's war? All those trusting soldiers who worshipped and followed her blindly? The Dot Matrix who wanted victory against me at all odds?"

Her fury surged through the veil of lassitude. She halted and spun on the ball of her foot to face him. "That's not fair!"

"Perhaps not. But you could be reckless. Sometimes you forgot yourself, forgot your comrades. You saw triumph on a game board." He bridged his claws as he spoke, and tapped them together in a random pattern  "You felt the thrill of my potential defeat when you perceived it was within your grasp, yet you did not always tally the cost. You did not think about the homes and families left behind every time a CPU vehicle crashed and burned. Admit that." 

"Shut your big mouth!"

"It's a compliment," he smirked. "A commander needs to be cold and detached. It is impossible to wage a war if one cannot compartmentalise their life, separate the battlefield from the hearth and home. How else can one with your moralities live with themselves?"

"I can't," she snapped, before she processed her own words and wished she could backspace.

Megabyte titled his head and nodded. "Yes. You see, in the end, you sprites destroy yourselves. Viruses such as I need only be patient."

Dot blinked hard and realised her eyes were welling. She wiped the pending tears away. Don't show him weakness. Which was an absurd thought; he'd seen all her emotions when he had worn Bob's mantle. What did it matter?

Because he shouldn't have seen that side of me. I did not give him permission. The moments were false, stolen.

"Oh, to be hard and cruel," she grumbled back at him, "How easy would everything be?"

"Hard and cruel? Yes, but only when needed. Does it make everything easy? Not necessarily. But amorality has its advantages. You should try it."

Why did he take such pride in his own lack of principles? Or was he just goading her?

She swung around and moved to punch a tree in frustration and anger. She knew full well her fist would never meet the trunk. It was just an act of spite.

There was a rush of air as Megabyte tore past her. He caught her hand in a blink before she could tear even a single pixel of skin on the bark. Oh he looked livid, teeth bared, chest heaving, a vicious brute. Where was the composed gent now?

“Get off!” she shouted.

“I can’t!” he thundered in return.

She scoffed. “Oh yes, that’s right, you can’t. It’s outside your control. You’re just a pathetic puppet on a string.”

He snarled. “Yes. Your pathetic little puppet. I wonder if you realise which strings you are pulling?”

Dot moved her free hand in a flying arc to punch his face. Just a gesture in kind. It'd make her feel better if nothing else. But he caught her fist with his silver cables in barely a blink, the thick wires looping around her wrist and halting her hand’s progress long before her fingers fractured against his jaw.

How his red eyes dilated.

"Well," Dot jeered, triumphant, "maybe I will learn which strings to pull?"

"Maybe you will?" he retorted, his voice a low rumble.

They paused awkwardly, continuing to glare at each other, until Megabyte’s mania faded and he was able to release his hold on her. 

Megabyte’s expression was odd, Dot couldn’t read it. 

He took a step closer and moved his head down toward her.

She hesitated, froze, didn't know what to do. But he stopped quickly and jerked backwards. 

"There is an uninhabited sector," he said, unruffled. "All empty buildings. Did you know?"

She didn't. "So? What use is that?"

He stared at her again as if waiting for her to follow his train of thought. She was still too busy trying to work out what had just happened.

"If you grow tired of beds of dirt," Megabyte elaborated, "why not utilise an empty building as a base of operations? It would save time and may prove useful."

"Is the sector unwatched? Do you know why it's empty?"

Another of his shrugs. "I have no idea. But we all seem to be making assumptions and leaps of faith so I thought I'd throw in my gamble."

"Well I think it's safer here."

Megabyte just smirked and she wondered what he was thinking, wondered which way the gears in his mind were turning.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Does it make you feel uncomfortable?"

"I can't be any more uncomfortable. I already know you dream about me."

"Yes, yes. I do.” 

I will not rise to this .  

"Stop being creepy. I'm going to make a bed and go to sleep." She turned her back on him and began to walk back the way she had come. "Don't wander off again. Dog."

He did not reply but she could practically hear his infernal grin. 'Wait until I have you on a leash and take you to the Fellowship of the Webring' she thought.

Chapter Text

“NEWSFLASH! Cloud 3 has made an alliance with Cloud 5! Cloud 6 reported to have crashed. Current status: unknown. Cloud 9 refuses to comment on data breach where Cloud 7’s access codes were compromised. But wait, there's more! BREAKING NEWS! Sources on Cloud 1 report the Administrator has met with the –”

The screen fizzled and popped. The Television went silent.

Dot groaned in frustration and threw her hands in the air. “He was getting to an important bit! You need to get it back. Concentrate!”

Megabyte growled deep in his throat. “What gives you the impression that I am not concentrating?”

“I don’t know, maybe the rate at which you keep offlining him?”

Megabyte’s eyes flared at Dot, all red.

She held her ground, didn’t falter. ‘ Go on, short-circuit,’  she thought to herself. 'What are you going to do about it?’

But Megabyte did not say another word.

The Television was laid on its back, its limbs akimbo, its antennae bent and twisted, its screen broken and dotted with interference. Megabyte had a pair of his silver cables plugged into the unit's undercarriage and was curled over it, a surgeon at work. But he wasn’t having much luck with his patient. Occasional progress was made, only for the TV to then sputter and cut out. 

The Television had not been a planned guest, and certainly not a planned patient. In fact, ever since last night, things had taken a strange turn.

It had been several cycles since the meeting with the Fellowship. Dot had set up camp at the edge of the woods, opposite the gate, waiting and watching for any sign of Windows. Megabyte had remained with her like an unwanted but irremovable file attachment. 

Whilst the pair of them had idled and boredom had set in, Megabyte had occupied himself crafting a chess set. He carved the pieces from tree branches and scratched a board in the dirt. They’d played three games over two seconds, winning one each before Dot had checked Megabyte’s King on the third. It was the middle of the night at this point and, just as an argument started to brew, a scream pierced the air, coming from the direction of the wall.

Dot and Megabyte had turned in tandem. A binome was sighted careening out of the small side door and running for its life in their direction. A nano later, in its wake, came its assailant - a Television.

The Television could have passed for Mike the TV were it not for the black paintwork and the rather ridiculous moustache which hung heavily over its top lip and curved down the sides of its mouth. Two black beady eyes floated in its screen and its mouth was constantly on the go, blaring out dogma and doctrine at an alarming rate. And the speed at which the TV unit moved was impressive. Dot could recall seeing Mike the TV running but it had never been especially quick.

Without stopping to process, Dot had rushed into the open to assist the fleeing binome. She recognised the individual as Windows almost immediately and, with an impressive turn of speed, reached him just before the Television did. She then swept him into her arms, spun on her heels and bolted back toward the woods. 

The Television had not been deterred. In fact, it had appeared only further spurred on; it sprinted faster and faster until it was within mere bits of assaulting Dot. 

But Megabyte was flying out of the undergrowth before the Television had any opportunity. He blocked the Television's path, swung his talons, and sent the TV careening into a tree bole. 

The Television had screamed dramatically then crunched on impact, its voice silenced, its screen cracking. It had been malfunctioning ever since.

Dot had tried to talk to Windows but he had been so overwrought she got nothing but unintelligible babbling from him until he had overloaded and passed out.

Megabyte had quipped he could hear Windows’s brain beeping like a struggling dial-up connection but Dot couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

And so it was hoped the TV could be revived and offer some clues.

Dot tapped her fingers over and over against her lips, pacing up and down. She glanced again at Windows, who was propped at the base of one of the huge trees some distance away. She could only think that something terrible had happened.

Her eyes then drifted back onto Megabyte. He had a look of such intense, constipated focus on his face, she almost burst out laughing.

“When you shift into someone else,” she blurted out, quite without planning, “do you download all that individual’s memories?”

Megabyte sighed, blinked heavily and came out of his workman-like trance then turned his head toward her with what she could only call an exasperated air. “You implore that I concentrate and then you initiate a conversation? Do you mind?”

She didn't miss a beat. “I’m sorry, I totally forgot you couldn’t multi-task.”

Megabyte raised his lip and feigned a laugh then snapped his head back round and continued to tamper with the Television with far more vigour than was perhaps necessary.

Dot felt the corner of her mouth prick up. Who’s easy to bait now, you ASCII? 

And yet she realised she genuinely wanted to know the answer. Do you harbour Frisket's memories? Mike's? Did you see things Bob saw? It was an uncomfortable notion. If that was the case, surely he would just shift into the TV now and reveal all its secrets? Or would shifting into a damaged vessel be too risky, perhaps rendering the path to his own destruction?

She didn’t find out as Megabyte did not speak to her and she did not press him any further. The milliseconds ticked by. No further progress was made.

Dot exhaled through her lips, blowing a raspberry. 

She wondered if her unsubtle impatience was the catalyst that tipped Megabyte over for, in the same instance, he lost his temper in spectacular fashion; he growled, jerked his cables away from the Television, and gave the unit an almighty thump with the flat of his palm. A thunderous clang echoed through the trees and across the yawning emptiness to the city.

An awkward but intense silence followed. Then suddenly the TV’s screen focused. 

Megabyte laughed and exchanged a look with Dot. 

She rolled her eyes. ‘Lucky’ she thought.

But there was no time for a further exchange of sass as the Television began to broadcast at once.

Flickering pictures rolled across the screen, images of war, vicious attacks, system crashes and deletions. The TV narrated the reports in a dull monotone, speaking again of alliances and coalitions; of betrayals, subterfuge, dissent and destruction. It was impossible to keep up with the different factions, to know which systems were friend and which were foe. It was nigh on impossible to even comprehend how Cloud One fit into this broken, warped mess of a jigsaw.

"But wait, there's more! BREAKING NEWS! Sources on Cloud 1 report the Administrator has met with the Guardian Collective –"

"Pause it," Dot ordered.

She heard Megabyte grunt. He plugged a cable into the TV and, after a slight delay, managed to freeze the broadcast. The image of an unknown Guardian flickered on the screen.

Dot stared at it. She was breathing steadily but her mind was operating on overdrive. A spring of hope had erupted in her chest. The Guardians had been here. Perhaps were here still. Had they been sent to look for her? Or would they be looking for Megabyte? Or was this a complete coincidence? The Guardians’ operations were vast, after all.

“I am sure you are aware,” she heard Megabyte drawl, tearing through her veil of hope and yearning, "that we have no way of corroborating any of the information we just heard?”

"Of course I know that," she snapped.

She didn't need to look at him to know he was cocking a brow and smirking.

"Maybe I won't need to try to contact them after all,” she muttered to herself. “Maybe they will find us."

"The Guardians?" Megabyte laughed unpleasantly. "Don't overestimate their abilities."

“Says the virus who used to get his bitmap kicked by my baby brother!” she retaliated. “Who's to say the Guardians haven't found a trace? Managed to track our location? That Windows wasn’t on his way to tell us about it?"

“I hardly think he would be backspacing for his life for that. Perhaps if you finish watching the broadcast before jumping to wild conclusions?" - He raised a finger before she could interrupt him. She hated how he knew she was about to speak. - "And I suggest that you rein in your optimism. If the Guardians have visited and gone straight to this cryptic Administrator, where does that leave you? Have you not already set yourself up against the, aha, solid state?"

"What does that matter? It doesn't make them allies. It's a totally normal procedure for visitors to go to an admin or command figure. It'd be suspicious to avoid them."

"Ah. Just like you have gone straight to the authority figure and not avoided them?"

Dot flushed. She'd file-dropped herself straight into that one. "Log off. We didn't exactly come through the front door, did we?"

He shrugged lazily. "I give you full credit for our entrance. But let us acquire some perspective. There are a myriad of reasons the Guardians might deign to visit, few of which concern either of us. There’s so much potential for 'mending and defending' in systems of conflict, after all." He paused and grinned nastily. “There also remains the possibility that everything we have been shown is a lie. Have the Guardians truly visited? Is there even a war? I have yet to see convincing evidence for any of the rhetoric your ‘Fellowship’ has fed you. And you are no doubt aware that I know a thing or two about propaganda and deceit."

Dot scowled at him and his cynicism, not least because, despite her lack of trust, he still managed to sow heavy seeds of doubt.

"Can you press play again, please?" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Yes, Ms Matrix," he sallied.

"The Guardians have allegedly made requests for access to Cloud One. These have been denied," the TV narrated; "The Admin wishes to reassure the citizens that the Guardian Collective will never be permitted access to our system during their glorious tenure." There was an image of a pair of Guardians on the screen, both being escorted into a tower. "The reason behind their visit remains strictly confidential and the Admin requests that everyone continue to function as normal and report any signs of fragmentation or breach of security to the Ministry to preserve our system's collective wellbeing. Long live the Admin!"

As the pictures continued to roll, nothing more was mentioned of the Guardians, and the Television moved onto topics relating to the other Clouds.

Dot sighed, her brow creasing. Of all the random systems to fall into, it had to be one which seemed politely hostile to the Guardian Collective. And Megabyte could waffle all he wanted about fabrications, she genuinely felt this was no mock-up or hoax. Things were just becoming more confusing and strange by the nano.

What she really needed to know was what had happened to Windows. Why had the Television been chasing him? Had her recent visit put the Fellowship in danger? Had their plans for a coup been uncovered? And did the arrival of the Guardians have any bearing on Windows’s plight? It was surely no coincidence?

Suddenly, right under her nose, Megabyte shot his cables into the TV and turned it into a viral zombie. The Television groaned and shuddered then slouched over, gormless, vacant, its screen a block of teal, its eyes a hazy red.

Dot fired Megabyte a blazing look, coming back to herself. "I hope you can undo that. He might still be useful."

Megabyte met her glare with equal steel, his teeth hooked over his lower lip. But he remained strangely silent.

Dot took another deep breath. “I need to speak to Windows. Things might become clearer then.”

“Yes. Opaque, I dare say.”

She glared again. I want to hit him. So hard. But I can't, even if I want to. What injustice is this?

All Dot could hope for was that the Guardians’ visit was a sign that Turbo was making good on his words. ‘I want him shackled in the detention centre before this cycle is over! And I want Dot Matrix safe.’ Surely the Guardians had been - were - looking for her? Surely someone was? Matrix, AndrAIa, Mouse? Bob…? 

Or was she being too short-sighted? Perhaps Megabyte was their only real concern; a virus who had slaughtered so many of them. A vicious killer, without scruple or self-control, now loose in some system in the Net from where he might finally find a way to reach the Super Computer.

That’ll never happen whilst he’s my stupid dog. What can he do that I can’t prevent?

She started to laugh. It surprised even herself. The sound was like a tinkling of bells, alluring but unerringly intrusive, incongruous, and a little out of tune.

Megabyte looked thrown at first but he swiftly collected himself and his lips relaxed into a wide smile. The siren song drew him in. He moved away from the Television, swaggered up to her, closed the gap, risked shipwreck on the rocks.

"You might be under the impression that you're trapped here," he murmured, invading her personal space, arching over her, “Yet I have never seen you more free.”

Dot held his eyes, squared up to him. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Megabyte sniffed out one of his short little laughs. "Of course you don't see it." He shook his head, though not unkindly. "Here we are, bereft of any tethers except each other, lacking our empires and responsibilities. And you are thriving."

She frowned. “Thriving?” 

Her befuddlement made Megabyte grin. “Oh Ms Matrix,” he teased, tapping a finger on her nose, “is this not the most unencumbered you've been, for a long time? Here with me? Where there is only yourself to think of?”

She scoffed at him. “What Basic logic is that? I haven't only got myself to think of. There's you taking up my precious breathing space, and the Fellowship, and Windows, and –”

“Hmm, yes,” he interrupted idly, “But you are no one's caretaker. And look what that does to you. Here you are, making merry. Carefree. At ease. One might say friendly, even.”

She felt her expression descend back into a glare. “Stop talking out your ASCII. Why does every conversation with you become a trap?”

“My dear, it is only a trap if one baits it.” He fixed her with a heady look. “And in this instance, it certainly wasn't me.”

Dot swallowed. He was so close to her. But she wasn't scared. She placed her hands on his abdomen to push him away, paused, vacillated; wasn't sure if the tremble was in her arms or in his body; could not discern if the tightening of his stomach was him taking a breath or being taken aback; but it all passed so quickly it might have been her imagination, and she was shoving him back and walking away and the only thing that followed her was the weight of his eyes. It didn’t occur that she would never have been able to push him unless he let her.

And all of a sudden, there was Windows. He was conscious, on his feet and in her path. He looked drowsy and disorientated, but Dot still noticed how his eye flickered between her and Megabyte, confused, uncertain. She felt abashed. But that wasn't important right now.

"Windows! Thank the User you're okay." She looked him up and down. "How are you feeling? What happened? Are you able to speak to me?"

"Where's the Television?" Windows asked bluntly. He sounded rough.

Dot sighed and pointed behind her.

Windows's eye followed her indication to the possessed TV, then his gaze moved on to Megabyte beside it.

"We must destroy it," the binome whispered.

Dot hesitated. Who did he mean?

“That is your virus, I assume?” Windows continued.

“What? Yes, I –”

"Ask your virus to destroy the Television," Windows pressed.

"Hold up. Surely we can–?"

Windows cut her off. "The Television will transmit back to the Administrator. It’s seen too much already. Dot please, there's no time to explain. It is too dangerous!"

Dot heaved a sigh and turned to Megabyte.

Megabyte raised his chin, arched his brow.

She swallowed - oh to be hard and cruel - then jerked her head in the direction of the prisoner. "The Television. Offline it."

Megabyte sighed and began to inspect his fingertips. "After all of my efforts…"

"Do as you're told."

“I fear your request would be...” - A wriggle of his fingers, an arrogant look. - “...counterproductive?”

Dot pursed her lips, exhaled angrily. "I didn't ask for your opinion."

"Well you're getting it anyway. Have you not recently said it yourself? That 'he could be useful'?"

"If Windows says it's too great a risk, it's too great a risk."

Megabyte laughed quietly to himself. "What a peculiar scenario. You demanding murder and me protesting clemency." He fixed her with one of his looks.

"Stop being –"

"A manipulative bastard? Yes, yes, the insult is becoming tiresome. Be a little more inventive."

She stamped her foot. Her expression darkened. 

His lips parted in a grin, his eyes lit up. 

Damn it.

"Can we talk?" Megabyte asked amicably.

“We are talking!”

“I believe you, at least, are shouting." 

She groaned out loud and stomped back over to him.

“What now?” she snapped.

He steepled his fingers. “Let us go back to chess.”

Her mouth gaped. “Have you popped a motherboard? We can discuss our stupid game later.”

“Now, now, let me finish.” He cleared his throat. “Let us say the Television was a chess piece in our game. A knight, perhaps. And we’ve taken it. Well and good. It's ours. And here stands you. The queen, of course. All powerful. And where stand I? 'Your virus'?”

She realised she was fast losing her temper. “I don’t know,” she snapped.

Megabyte remained infernally calm. “Well. Think about it.”

“You’re just a puppet. A pawn.”

He raised a finger. “Yes. Well done.”

She was thrown. It had been meant as an insult.

“And do you know, oh queen, what the power of your pawn is?”

Megabyte began to walk around her. It was slow, lackadaisical, and unerringly predatory. She kept her eyes on him, turning her head until she couldn’t follow him any more, then whipped it around the other way to keep a tab on him.

When she made no further reply, Megabyte stepped right up to her and lowered his head to the side of hers so he could speak directly into her ear. “Once a pawn reaches the other side, it is promoted. It is permitted to, some might say, transform ?”

Dot heard the question, the request. He was relentless.

She raised her chin, turned her head toward him. Her nose very nearly touched his jaw. 

“A pawn can certainly become anything. Except a king."

Megabyte’s next laugh was a deep, amused grumble. He turned his head so that they were practically nose to nose. 

“True. But kings are highly overrated, wouldn’t you say?”

She smirked, scoffed, then stepped back and half turned away. “You cannot be trusted in any guise. I don’t know why you keep trying to persuade me.”

“I fear you may be running out of options. Have I not proved myself to be a good servant?"

“Hardly." She crossed her arms, eyed him firmly. “The Guardians might still be here?”

“They might. Do you think I would be fool enough to seek them out? Show myself to them?”

“I wish you would. For my sake and sanity.”

He snickered. “Well, what have you got to lose? If I sneak into the city and the Guardians catch me, and perhaps finally destroy me, you will be free. Alternatively, and far more likely, if they don’t, I am still beholden to you. You can recall me at any moment. Use your power. Pull my strings.”

She felt a tremor run through her body, shook it off. “Oh come on. It is all so much more complicated than that. And you’ll likely just find a way to escape.”

“I think it doubtful I’d be able to achieve that in any reasonable timeframe.”

"I'm not so sure, with your new abilities.” - She raised a finger in front of his mouth when he opened it to speak and revelled in her success when he checked himself. - “So shut up and let me talk to Windows."

His brow quirked as if he were impressed. "Come now. Talk to me first."

"We are talking."

"Indeed. Quite civilly, too." He smirked.

Her eyebrows rose and she mirrored his smile. “Fine. You've got two nanos to lay out your proposal. But I will still hear what Windows has to say and only then make up my mind. Understand?”

His grin widened, revealing a jagged line of sharks' teeth. “Very good, your majesty.”

In the distance Windows watched them converse, tried to hear what they were saying, couldn't discern a thing. So whilst their attention remained firmly on each other, he began to move toward the zombie Television. He stared into its vacant screen, knocked his hand against the glass. It made a hollow noise. He trembled. “Down with the Administrator,” he muttered before, with firm resolve, he drew his hand back then punched the glass with force, shattering the already cracked screen.

Chapter Text

A binome strolled through the revolving glass doors into the vast foyer of the Admin’s Tower. He stopped, looked around, inhaled the heady scent of totalitarianism and smiled.

Behind the reception desk, Number Three looked up. "Windows!” they exclaimed, “We had heard the Televisions were after you. Did you not get taken to room 1100101?"

"I did," replied Windows, "And I am glad for it. I saw the error message in my ways and have corrected my faulty code. I only wish I had processed my malfunctions sooner."

Number Three clapped their hands. "Oh I am so relieved you are no longer a traitor. Welcome back! And long live the Admin!"

"Long live the Admin!" Windows saluted. 

He walked across the foyer, head held high. Binomes all around him stared and gawped. There were whispers about treachery, deception, defiance. Someone hid behind a potted palm in panic. But Windows only nodded, waved, and marched on.

Let them look. I am a binome who has been hunted by the Televisions and lived to tell the ReadMe file. I am reset!

He entered one of the many lifts. It was full and yet everyone somehow managed to move aside and make space as he sauntered in. It wouldn't do to touch the renegade.

"Does the Ministry know you're back?" a tall One binome sneered over a pile of books he was carrying.

"Why yes, yes they do,” Windows replied. “I have, infact, been mailed here straight from the Ministry, ready to take on my new position."

"New position?" The tall binome snorted scornfully. "They're getting slack. A promotion is undeserved."

"But isn't it fair and just to be shown the error message of one's ways and be permitted to restart?" Windows rolled his shoulders and exhaled. "I finally feel free. Liberated. How did I not see the extent of the Admin's genius until now?"

Someone applauded but the tall binome said no more. When the lift stopped on the next floor, the tall binome slipped out, followed by several others.

As the lift ascended again, Windows hummed an airy tune.

"I thought you worked on a lower level, Windows?" a Zero queried. She stood to his right and held a briefcase. "Have you changed directories?"

Windows tapped his hands together. "Yes, I have. I am very excited. The Ministry made me see that I am capable of so much more than basic sums. Let me wrangle some engineering functions or statistics! I am moving up the table!"

"Good for you," the Zero replied. She got out on the next floor.

The lift ascended, stopped, ascended, stopped, and steadily emptied until there was just Windows and a Number Eight left.

"Did I hear you right, Windows?" Number Eight asked. "That you were heading to Engineering? Or was it Statistics?"

Windows hummed another tune and caught Number Eight's eye. He smiled brightly, nodded, but did not say a word.

Eight gave Windows the once over as if something bothered him deeply. "We're way above both Engineering and Stats now," they elucidated slowly and carefully.

"Ah. Yes we are, aren't we?" Windows agreed blithely before his voice deepened abruptly to a heavy baritone. "Pity."

The lights went out.

When the lift next stopped and the doors pinged open, Number Eight emerged and strode out. 

And Number Eight remained passed out, slumped in a corner of the lift.

"Argh!!" Windows yelled, waking with a start.

Dot turned and looked at him. He looked panicked, terrified, distraught. 

"I was wondering if you were ever going to come back online,” she said. “You've been out for seconds."

"Seconds? That long?" Windows rubbed his head and began to absorb his surroundings - Dot, the massive trees, and the multitudes of sleeping dogs surrounding both him and Dot like a fortification.

"Did it work?" he asked. "Did the virus shapeshift into me?"

“Yes he did.”

Windows paused, swallowed. "It's not come back yet?"

Dot shook her head. "No.” A sigh. “I can't believe I let you talk me into this. The pair of you."

“It is a risk but that virus's abilities are an asset. Why not utilise them?"

"You don't know him, you don't know viruses. I only hope he keeps his word."

Windows gave her an appraising look. "You said yourself you have some influence over it. So what have we got to lose?"

'Only an entire system ,' her inner voice jibed.

Dot opened her clenched fist. In her palm was one of Megabyte's chess pieces, the Queen. She'd been carrying it around since he'd departed, gripping the damn thing like a talisman. She garnered some small comfort from the knowledge that, if she squeezed it, her dog would be back before the sharp crown had had a chance to pierce her flesh.

So why haven't I done just that? I should bring that dip switch to heel already, just tighten my grip a little…

But something was holding her back. Perhaps it was hope. Or perhaps it was rationale. It may well be that Megabyte couldn't or wouldn't travel too far away. Had he not lamented that being distant from her vexed him, irritated his 'protective drive'?

I hope he's suffering.

The nights came and went. One after another after another. Dot and Windows occupied themselves talking about everything and nothing.

"I think there was a plant in the Fellowship," Windows bemoaned as he tried madly to diagnose the catalyst for his near-arrest. "I just can't identify who it might have been."

He then began to pour his heart out and talk about Java. She was his secret love. They had met at the meetings of the Fellowship, but their relationship, their affection for one another, had been an unwitting act of defiance.

Windows explained to Dot how love was frowned upon in Cloud One. The system required all personal affection and devotion be directed to the Administrator and the system's wellbeing, and nothing else. Even coprocessing children was only sanctioned as a duty to generate the Admin’s next generation of workers.

But, in the end, Java was perhaps merely one of multiple reasons the Televisions had come for him.

"They tried to drag me to Room 1100101," Windows had lamented. "I played along for a while, but then I escaped. Only just."

"And what happens in Room 1100101?" Dot had queried, confused.

Windows had explained that the mission of the TVs wasn't to destroy dissenters; it was to save them, to convert them, to make them good citizens. A fate worse than deletion. Perhaps that was where the drones came from.

"I wonder if Java evaded capture? If anyone else from the Fellowship did?" he pondered aloud. "Perhaps your virus will find out."

Dot was doubtful, but she tried not to dull Windows's optimism.

Dot, in turn, found herself telling Windows about her family. She talked about her dad, about Enzo, even a little about her few memories of her mother. She told him about the accident in Mainframe's twin city, the tragic nullification of hundreds, the loss of her father, and the arrival of two viruses and a Guardian.

Windows was fascinated.

But the more Dot shared, and the more she reflected on her life, the more she realised that she was stuck in a loop; an animated gif, repeating itself over and over. She would get close to Bob, then she would lose him or push him away; she would become a leader, and then crash and burn, lose herself. She would care for Enzo, try to educate him, then he would go off the rails. And she felt, more and more, as though she was losing sight of what the end goal was, of what she wanted. What did she need? What was it all for? 

I had wanted children, hadn't I? Bob and I were going to get married; go on a honeymoon to beautiful and glorious systems, then come back, settle down, and think about a family.

Such heavy overthinking made the nights long. The seconds came and went without incident whilst she and Windows became increasingly restless and hungry. Windows's sachet stash was running low.

She fell into a fever dream one night. It was her birthday and Bob was with her and they were dancing. Bob had huge sharp teeth and was wearing a monkey suit. His eyes were red. The dance floor was never ending, tiled in blue and green. Little Enzo was sitting on a tall stool and in his arms was that big green guitar Megabyte had gifted him cycles ago. He played it aggressively, and it got louder and louder and louder.

"Why did it take us so long?" Dot asked Bob as they waltzed. "What was stopping us?"

"You wanted more."

"What?"

He smiled, all fangs. "You don't want someone to be kind and gentle. You want fire and risk and danger. You want someone as driven as you, as hungry, as ruthless."

Bob leaned in toward her suddenly, opening his mouth to kiss - or was it to bite? Rows of sharp teeth. 

Enzo was still playing that stupid guitar with gusto, a horrific discordant cacophony. She realised he was wearing one of Hexadecimal’s masks and, when he started to laugh, it was her laugh.

Dot placed her hand over Bob's face, pushed him back, tried to twist out of his grasp. Her head was pounding, the music was so loud, the laughing was malicious…

With a snap, she woke and squinted in the blazing light of a campfire. She could still hear that damn guitar.

As she raised her head and rubbed her eyes, her vision focused and she wondered if she was still dreaming. She could see Megabyte sat on a fallen log and he was indeed playing a guitar. Windows was perched next to him and there was a small group of binomes on the ground, sitting in a circle, listening to the virus play. The campfire crackled amidst them. 

What in the Net is going on? Have they all gone random? Or have I gone random?

In her rush to get to her feet, she stumbled.

Instantly she saw Megabyte's head shoot up. His playing ceased. 

Ah my loyal protector, ready to stop me getting hurt.

She took a deep breath, rolled her shoulders and got up with a little more care. She then marched over to the cheery little gathering and stopped at the edge of the campfire, folding her arms and leaning her weight onto one hip. She tapped her foot aggressively.

Windows and the other binomes - who she realised at once were other Fellowship members - didn't say a word, but they all exchanged glances and, following a gesture from Windows, began to move away.

Dot glowered at Megabyte as the others dispersed. "Where have you been?" she yelled, every syllable a thunderclap.

Megabyte looked at her amicably as he twanged a string on the guitar then silenced it with the flat of his hand. “Well hello to you too, Dot. Do sit down.”

She didn't. "I was beginning to think that the Guardians had erased your ASCII."

His jaw shifted side to side. "I'm afraid not. There was alas no sign or trace of them."

Dot's brow furrowed. “How do you do it?" She flicked her hand in the direction of the departing binomes. "You make people laugh and joke with you, given half a chance, and yet look at you. You’re an absolute monster to behold.”

Megabyte chuckled quietly. “My, how shallow of you. Thankfully the User blessed me with the gregarious personality of a social creature. Life and soul of any party.” He grasped the guitar by its neck, lifted it from his lap and leaned it against the tree trunk.

"Stop treating me like I'm Basic."

"Well perhaps you warrant such treatment? Why be so irked by the duration of my absence? Have you not had the power to recall me at any instant?" He paused, raised his brow. "So direct your rage a little more inwardly, perhaps."

She scowled and shifted the focus. "Where did you find those binomes? How did you find them? What are you playing at? And where did you find a guitar, of all things?" She indicated the instrument.

“Slow down, please. I cannot answer all your queries at once." He cleared his throat then lifted a finger. "Firstly, the binomes found me ." He lifted another. "You can ask them to expound on that." Finally, he raised a third. "And you would be amazed by what I discovered in the Admin’s tower. The guitar was the least of it.”

"You are so arrogant and attention seeking! You didn't need a guitar!"

Megabyte got to his feet and ambled right up to her. "Come now, let me have a small indulgence. Will it please you to hear that I also picked up some useful files? Schematics, maps, charts?" He tilted his head. "Aren't you pleased with your little dog?"

"Not especially. But never mind." She held out her hand. "Hand them over."

"The files? And where do you expect me to transfer them to? Your body won't do, I'm afraid."

Her expression remained acidic. "That’s not funny. Where are they?"

He knocked a fist against his crown. "In here, of course. Safely stored. I am fortunately an amalgamation of man and machine."

"Great, so you're practically holding them hostage? ASCII.”

"Ah. You did not think about this eventuality. That the documents I purloin might not be readily accessible. Dear me, you're slipping."

"I thought someone with half a brain might download files in a readable format. Or, I don't know, perhaps even bring along a datapad?"

"Oh I see, not only am I expected to pilfer files like a common pirate, I must scavenge software and hardware, and perhaps even convert the format? What do you take me for?"

"I don't think you want to hear the answer to that."

His lips quirked. "Nevermind. Let us not waste breath on argument.” He rubbed his knuckles against his breast, ground his teeth and gave her one of his looks. “You had best come up with an ingenious solution. I've done my bit."

Dot rolled her eyes. "We're in a forest, in case you haven't noticed."

"Clever girl. Thank you for that input. Perhaps we need to be in the city?"

She could see that look in his eyes. He knew exactly how he wished to move forward.

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

"Would you like to get inside my head?"

"If I wanted to do that, I'd get a tin opener."

He laughed heartily then chucked up her chin with a single talon. "I quite like you, Dot Matrix."

She snorted a clumsy laugh out her nose. It wasn't that she found it particularly funny, but it caught her off-guard. Perhaps that's why she laughed. She was unnerved by the intimation.

Megabyte gave her a suave look. "I'm glad you find that amusing."

"Oh shut down. You only like yourself."

He bared all his teeth in a grin. "Calumny."

"Puh-lease. How about you stop prattling and tell me everything you've been up to?”

Megabyte heaved a deep sigh before he acquiesced and began to patiently recount his exploits. He started from the moment he had taken on Windows's guise and returned to the city, then expounded on how he had surrendered to the Televisions, allowed himself to be taken to the infamous Room 1100101, and was then forced to watch the TVs deliver their ominous broadcasts. 

"It was quite an education, to experience the means and methods of another autocracy at work. I felt quite inspired. This Administrator has devised a process whereby binomes are tortured and manipulated, their thoughts and perceptions transmuted, until they conform. I naturally played my part very well and complied in no time. Once 'Windows's' indoctrination, his therapy, was complete, they sent him - me - and his sparkling new attitude back to work. How fortuitous that this meant I was sent to the Admin's tower."

Dot found his tale hard to process. "I don't believe they'd send Windows back to work just like that. Especially to the Admin's tower. And I don't believe you'd suffer for this cause."

"I have been suffering since we unceremoniously landed in this system. You underestimate a virus's resilience." He gave her a significant look. 

She pulled a face and mimicked playing a very small violin.

He made another of his perfunctory sighs. "To be frank, this might all have been avoided if your good friend Windows hadn’t put paid to our Television hostage. It may have yielded all the intel we needed, given a little more time."

"Or it might not,” Dot countered. “We can hardly blame Windows." A pause. "You still haven't explained the guitar.”

“Ah, quite right.” 

Megabyte continued his story, elaborating on his journey through the Admin’s tower, how he finally dropped his guise as Windows and began shifting from binome to unwitting binome, picking and choosing victims by chance. He told Dot how he had rummaged in archival rooms, accessed inventories, thieved files and data, and even discovered a store full of random items and add-ons, much of it strange and utterly out of context in a system like Cloud One. Amongst his finds was a guitar.

"I was quite cheered by my discovery. I couldn't leave such bounty behind."

Dot blinked at him. “I have no words.”

"Would you like me to find you a search engine?"

She groaned. “Good grief, you’re unbearable. How many cameras caught your shapeshifting? How many security systems did you trigger? You essentially left a trail of cookies for them to follow. I'm astonished you bothered to disguise yourself at all."

"My dear, this system has been more than aware of us since you first entered that city, make no mistake. My sally in and out of the tower does not change that. It is best we assume they know everything and act quickly. We now have more than enough intel at our disposal to inform our choices and enable us to find a way out of here." He paused. "If you find a means for me to share these files with you, that is. And if you deign to put your trust in me."

"I can never trust you."

Megabyte laughed gently. "Oh but you do or else you would have recalled me long before now." He lifted a finger and his expression brightened somewhat. "Perhaps I might pacify your belligerence? I would not return to my monarch from a crusade empty handed. I found a little gift for you.”

Dot wrinkled her nose, felt herself cringe inwardly. “Are you serious? What else have you dragged out here with that stupid guitar?”

His smirk deepened. He returned to the fallen log and reached behind it before he swiftly hid whatever it was behind his back and sauntered back up to her. 

She gave him a pitying look. "Please stop, I'm getting second hand embarrassment."

Megabyte apparently took pride in her squirming. "You really are too easy to bait," he jested in a low tone before he presented his offerings to her, obeisance paid in his golden talons.

Dot didn't have time to temper her reaction. Her face lit up before she could pause it. “A pair of .45s?” 

She reached out greedily and grabbed the two handguns before she lifted them in front of her face and turned them around with reverence.

She froze, gave him an accusatory look. "If you expect me to go on a murderous rampage, think again."

"No, no. I simply thought you'd appreciate the ability to defend yourself."

"I shouldn't need to with you on total recall."

"True. But how do I know I can cover every eventuality?"

"Hmm," she nodded grudgingly. "Well. I hope they're loaded."

Megabyte laughed. "So rude. A 'thank you' would do."

She felt the corner of her mouth prick up. "Thank you, then.”

She noticed the subtle arch of his brow before he bowed his head. “You are most welcome.”

Dot fought the pull, stepped back. “You can’t tell me these were just lying around?” She lifted the guns, gave them a little wave.

Megabyte shrugged lazily. “I took a casual stroll around their armoury. And please, before you arrive at the notion yourself, may I politely request that you do not turn those firearms on me?”

Dot smirked and shoved one of the guns under his jaw. “Okay,” she quipped.

A deep, delighted chortle rumbled across Megabyte's chest and up into his throat. His pupils dilated and Dot felt the visual caress. He dropped to one knee and then to the other in front of her, dragging the gun down with him. There was fire in his eyes, an impish subservience in his manner. It gave her a thrill she did not wish to acknowledge or own.

She swallowed.

Megabyte leaned more firmly against the barrel of her gun. It was a challenge, a dare.

So Dot upped the stakes and pressed the second gun between his breastplates. "Aren't you going to fight back?" she taunted.

Megabyte sniggered. "No, no. It's quite refreshing to surrender for once.” He paused, his smile widened. “Particularly to one as delightful as yourself."

Dot rolled her eyes. And yet, as benign and lighthearted as his voice was, it carried an undercurrent which made her stomach clench.

She let her arms go loose, let the firearms dangle, then raised her foot, pointed her toes against Megabyte's chest, and gave him a shove. 

He did not resist and went over like a rag doll. His wires and plates clattered against the floor. He was still grinning.

Dot moved to his side, placed her foot on his chest and pinned him.

He stared up at her with a toothy, open grin. He looked enthralled, was drawing deep, tumultuous breaths, thunderous waves.

Dot would once have called the look in his eyes strange. But now she understood, she recognised the emotion. Because she felt it too.

The realisation gave her cold feet and shame. She stepped back, turned away, gasped greedily for air as if she was drowning.

She heard Megabyte sigh and get back to his feet. "I am not as good at this as I thought," he jested amicably.

Dot scoffed and glanced at him. He didn't appear annoyed. Perhaps slightly confused. Which was almost a victory in itself. 

"Sorry," she muttered, though she wasn't sure if she was talking to him or just herself.

His reaction was mild amusement. "Sorry? Whatever for?"

"Nevermind. Clear your cache." 

He chortled again but did not pursue the matter.

Dot's fingers absentmindedly tensed and relaxed. Why don't I just shoot him? Why shouldn't I? He's giving me this power freely. A dangerous gamble.

Her eyes darted back onto Megabyte. He was still watching her, studying her, as unperturbed as ever. A natural predator, all patience and stillness. He had that smug, knowing look, as though he could read her thoughts. As though he was still testing her.

Her guard went up, fingers flexed again. She felt a bead of sweat on her brow. Her heart was pounding. She took a deep breath, tried to settle the palpitations. She felt cold, lost and flustered. Betrayed by herself.

Megabyte's eyes traversed her body from head to foot. Such scrutiny, undesired, should make her feel unclean, but the way he was doing it was almost reverential, as though he was seeing her for the first time; his expression was disquieted, almost pathetic.

She shuddered, wiped her brow. 

And as quickly as that, she felt like her usual self again, felt the ground beneath her feet.

"Enough with this stalling. We need to move fast. Especially since you've left untold damage in your wake."

He picked up the guitar. "'Damage'? Tsk. What do you take me for?"

"An animal," she countered without missing a beat, turning on him and pressing a gun into his abdomen.

He smirked, tensed his stomach, arched backwards from his hips, then reached out a single claw and pushed the barrel of the gun aside. "Perhaps wait until you have found a clear path out of this system before you erase me. I still have my uses."

"I think I can manage without you."

He snickered. "Such ingratitude."

"Such conceit."

Megabyte looked her up and down again then turned and casually retook his seat on the fallen tree. He settled the guitar back in his lap and strummed a jolly little tune. "Let us move on. Do you recall the uninhabited sector I previously mentioned?"

Dot spun the guns in her hands and caught them again. "Yes," she replied.

He continued to play the guitar, looking down at the strings. "It is something of a dead zone."

"Doesn't sound useful."

Megabyte sighed archly. "Oh Dot, stop being so angry and process what I am saying."

She held a gun up once more, aimed it playfully at his head, gave him aggressive eye contact.

He stared straight down the barrel back at her. "The Admin's scrutiny, their surveillance network, cannot function in any area which is dearth of signal. It is beyond their reach and power. Which is why, one assumes, the area is unoccupied."

Dot was unimpressed. "I am still failing to see its use to us."

"There can be no doubt that our presence in this forest is known, particularly after my heist, the exodus of several binomes and the loss of a Television. The assumption will have been made that we have taken up with the resistance. Thus they will want to keep us outside their walls where we are at our least effective. But if we invade and create our own territory, hijack their infrastructure, conceal our activity where they have little opportunity to witness it, we can surely act more frequently and with more efficiency?"

"We don't have any tools or equipment. Well, except for a guitar and a pair of .45s."

"You'd be surprised what can be made from nothing." He then leered. "And you're forgetting our trump card. We have me."

"Save me. They'd just trap us in and choke us out. Have you forgotten the firewall we once strangled you with? Or maybe they'd just annihilate us whilst we slept? You do not have an ABC army at your disposal anymore."

"But thankfully I happen to have an army of wild dogs. Isn't that smashing?"

"Your dogs can't read those files for me."

"Haha. Quite right. So shall we find something that can?"

He was steering her. She shouldn't let him.

"I honestly can’t process why you came back," she blurted out tangentially.

He tilted his head and gently twanged a string. "Excuse me?"

"Whilst you were moseying around the Admin's tower, what stopped you from simply taking over the system? Zombifying the entire tower? Or from just taking off? Why come back to me?"

He chortled. "I am a little confused. Are you saying that when you tell me not to do something, you actually intend the opposite?"

"I just don't see how you can avoid such temptation. Are you even Megabyte? Or are you hiding something?"

"I can be very restrained when needed." He cocked an eyebrow. "Besides, it would not do to rush in without an idea of what one is rushing into. And how could I leave my precious charge alone and undefended?"

She didn't even deign to respond to that. "Are you afraid of something? Is there something here more powerful than you?"

"I am perhaps looking at it."

"You're full of trash."

"And you are as charming as ever." Megabyte turned his head down and began to play another tune. "Do you still sing? Perhaps we could compose something together in our idle moments?"

“Log off. This is serious.”

And it was like she'd flicked a switch; the ringmaster cracked her whip and the lion roared. 

Megabyte cast aside his guitar and shot to his feet like a beast roused. Silver cables wrapped around her wrists, her arms were levered down, and he wrenched her against him.

She grunted on impact then glared up at him, breathing ruggedly.

"I am being serious," he growled down at her.

Dot wasn't scared of him. What could he do? He couldn’t hurt her. His every action was tempered by that. But she was scared of something else; a feeling indescribable, tantalising, sensual. 

She succumbed to a sly whim, licked her lip, and when Megabyte's eyes duly followed every slip and curl of her tongue, she felt a terrifying thrill. This wasn't an altercation.

"Let go," she whispered, commanded.

Megabyte didn't respond straight away. Had he heard her? His gaze flowed over her features as though he were committing her to memory. He looked ambivalent, his head bobbing, unable to resolve whether to lean back or press forward.

"Let. Go," Dot repeated. 

Megabyte lowered his head until his nose touched hers and he rubbed against it. "You have such a temper," he purred.

She closed her eyes, inhaled shakily, but she pushed back, rubbed her nose against his. Instinctual, hungry, teetering on the brink. Taking ownership of this power.

Did she imagine his groan, his inhalation, the bowing of his body like a tree in a tempest? It was impossible to know. But all of a sudden his grip loosened and his cables slid from her. 

As she opened her eyes again, she saw him step back and raise both hands in mock supplication.

Dot scowled, her mouth twisted, she aimed a gun once again at his head, and her finger tensed on the trigger. 

His smile widened.

With an angry grunt, she spun on her heels and a loud 'Bang!' echoed through the woodland. 

The dogs remained asleep. The binome group gawped.

Dot exhaled coolly and lowered the gun. "Well. They are loaded after all."

A tree now bore a livid scar. 

"Yes they are," Megabyte murmured. "Do you feel better now?"

Dot's eyes darted back onto him, fixed him with a look of fire. "Just know that could've been your head."

He flashed her one of his infernal grins. "So uncouth." He opened his arm back toward the fallen log. "Shall we perhaps stop making a scene and start making a plan?"

She shouldered forcefully past him but couldn't help her smirk. "Nothing wrong with making a scene," she retorted.

Chapter Text

"Whoah!" Windows squealed as the dog rose up with him astride. The binome grasped big clumps of its fur in his little hands, but the more he strove to balance on the creature's back, the more he tensed up and found himself losing his seat.

A short distance away, Megabyte witnessed this farce with a roll of his eyes and a deep sigh. He stood at the centre of a circle of prostrate, dormant wolves. Dot was next to him and the rest of the Fellowship were perched on the fallen log by the dying campfire.

"He will fall off if he does not relax,” Megabyte muttered aside to Dot.

She shot him an acid look. "So go tell him! I'm not your instant messenger."

He gave her a crooked smirk and strode across to Windows. 

Windows's eye moved up Megabyte's body as the virus approached.

Megabyte folded his arms, loomed. "If you do not relax, you will fall," he said bluntly.

"Relax? That's easy for you to say," Windows shrilled. "You're not built with flat edges and right angles! You've not been preprogrammed to fear these creatures every nano of your life!” His little body was shaking so badly he did just as Megabyte predicted and lost his balance then toppled off his mount with a pathetic clunk.

Megabyte took another deep breath and turned back to Dot. "I do not think this will function," he grumbled. "Let me possess the lot of them and be done with it."

There was a collective gasp from the binomes.

"You will do no such thing," Dot snapped. "They can do this without being turned into mindless slaves."

He grunted, ground his fangs together. "If you want them to ride my dogs into the city before the cycle is over then I advise you to reconsider."

"Just because we're short on time doesn't mean we can't give them a chance. This is their system after all. You're clearly a poor tutor."

Megabyte made a short, sharp laugh. "I do not have adequate students."

She shook her head. "You’re a waste of memory." She turned to another binome, pointed at them. "Java! Come here."

Another binome tottered over. "Yes ma'am?" she said.

Dot bent over and began to whisper instructions to Java.

It had been quite a relief to find that Java had been one of the Fellowship members who'd fled Cloud One and become part of their camp. There was a light in Windows's eye which hadn't been there when he had first stumbled out of the city, alone and disgruntled. The situation may be uncertain but at least Windows had Java. Everyone needed someone.

As Dot finished speaking, Java gave her a thumbs up and turned. She looked at the circle of dormant hounds, picked one and trotted over. She jumped onto her chosen hound, sat herself upright, exhaled deeply, then turned and gave Megabyte an assertive little nod.

Megabyte didn’t move but the dog suddenly did, unfolding from its poised down position into a stand. 

Dot looked on with pride as Java remained onboard, appearing utterly at home.

“Hmm,” Megabyte mused. He tilted his head to one side.

The hound began to walk, then trot, then finally it ran in a loping canter, drawing a wide circle around them. 

Java stayed aboard.

Megabyte sneered and he upped the ante. The dog began to weave in and out of trees, bounding back and forth, and even leapt over the fallen log (as well as the binomes sitting on it. They all ducked and gasped). 

Java looked a little strained but she maintained her seat and let her body flow with the animal.

When Megabyte finally willed the beast to a halt, Java's little mouth quirked into a big smile. "I did it," she whispered breathlessly to herself.

“Very good,” Megabyte said, clapping his huge hands together a couple of times like discordant cymbals. “I wonder if you might copy and paste your skill to your comrades?”

Java slid off the wolf’s back and wobbled as her feet hit the ground. She then brushed herself off. “I just followed Ms Matrix's advice, sir” she chirped.

Megabyte caught Dot's eye. 

Dot folded her arms and gave him a smug look, cocking her brow. 

He sniffed out a little chuckle.

Java moved off and her fellow binomes gathered about her in an excited gaggle whilst Dot sidled in beside Megabyte and gave him a playful elbow in the side.

“See. It will function. We'll have the Fellowship ready to ride your dogs in no time.”

“Hmm. Why do I ever doubt you?”

She flashed a smile, dazzling, beguiling; her red lips curled. “Force of habit?”

He paused a nano, studied her face, sighed. He steepled his fingers, stared at his claw tips. “Let us be frank, it is but one binome who has shown promise. The others need to download a few add-ons to be even fractionally as efficient. And they need to do it quickly.” 

“They can do it!"

“Well you had better upgrade them fast. We are only progressing in trifling little increments.”

"Well if someone had been a little more subtle instead of filching guns and guitars and causing upset and chaos we might have been able to sneak back in rather than run for our circuits."

"You're never going to let the guitar episode go, are you?" he jibed dryly.

“Why should I? It was a foolish extravagance."

"The absolute horror of my bringing strange musical instruments back to base and all that. Such anarchy.” He flexed his fingers. Light glinted off the razor edges. "It was simply a little sidequest, so to speak. It made no difference to any upset or chaos."

"Still a waste of time and energy."

“You are being melodramatic."

Her expression darkened. "You are being blasé. Maybe I should just muzzle and chain up my disobedient dog.”

“I say, Dot. I think we need to cover the basics before we start getting out props.”

She surged right up in his face. “Stop being foul! I'll take that guitar and ram it's neck right up your –”

“My, my… you are full of inventive ideas. Do go on."

Her guns were at his neck once again in a blink.

He sighed. "Now, now. We promised no more scenes.”

“I don’t recall making any promises.”

He pressed a single claw to each gun and gently turned the weapons aside. "Well if you mean to shoot me, then do it. It is no use making these empty threats."

She pursed her lips, shoved the guns back into her belt. "It does if it makes me feel better."

He laughed mischievously before he stepped back and flung an arm out to his side. A cable shot out from his wrist and latched onto the nearest dog. The creature whimpered, crumpled and fainted whilst Megabyte transformed into a perfect doppelgänger of the beast. 

Dot tutted, unmoved.

Megabyte stretched his canine body forward then back, yawned and bared all his sharp teeth, then shook his fur coat out and began to parade around her like a show dog.

“So…" his voice trickled down her spine like syrup, "are you going to ride me?"

She snorted and gave him a middle finger, an attempt to override the spark in her gut. 

His wolf mouth curled, the white fang tips peering out from under his lips, wave peaks in an ocean. He turned in on his circle and walked past her, fur brushing her body. 

She held her position, clenched her fists, wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. 

He came about around her other side, slunk against her again like a big cat, then halted and dropped into a down.

"A commander must set a shining example. So mount up, your majesty."

She gave him another searing look but reached a hand out toward him anyway.

He shot to his feet and leaped away.

Dot threw her hands out, utterly thrown. “What are you doing?”

His tail swung one way and then another in firm waves. He held his position, pinioned her with a stare.

She made a show of reaching for her guns.

He immediately lay down. But a smug grin remained.

She ignored the arrogance, the diablerie. "Thank you, dog," she grumbled, grabbing the scruff of his neck, heaving herself over him and straddling his back.

"Comfortable?" he asked.

"It'll do."

He sniggered, rose onto his feet and began to walk around. 

Dot played it as cool as Java and sat to the rhythm, the motion, without a problem. It proved far easier than it had been to hang onto his back when he had been in his actual form, climbing trees.

It was almost as if Megabyte read her mind for, without warning, he launched into a rapid gallop and sprinted off at high speed.

Dot shrieked an expletive and held on. But it was all a mere game, a show, a feint. She knew she wouldn't fall, wouldn't suffer a scratch, because he was her complete protector. He was bound to her. He would do anything to keep her safe. Such certainty brewed fortitude, engendered temerity.

As Megabyte ran and swerved and leaped, Dot relaxed, relished it, sat to him like a champion jockey, like they were one, a merged file, layers imperceptible as separate. There was nothing and no one but them, running faster, vigorously, in harmony. She breathed in the cold air as it hit her face, whooped to the heavens like an unburdened youth, an innocent child, let grim reality be sacrificed for joyous escape.

When she next lowered her eyes, she spied a low branch fast approaching, hanging down above their path. She knew not where the impetus came but she raised her hands, conscious that such a hit would crop her wrists clean off.

Megabyte was triggered and instantly dropped onto his belly, skidding across the ground so that Dot sailed under the branch without harm. 

When he came to an ungraceful stop, clouds of dirt erupting around him, Dot was clinging tightly to his neck. She immediately burst out laughing, couldn't help herself.

The beast snarled. "Please be sensible," he grouched.

"Why? I can't get hurt with you around."

She felt his chest expand and deflate with a profuse sigh. He had no wisecrack, no quick cheek to sling back. He stayed silent and splayed out on the ground as though suddenly exhausted.

Dot kept hold of him, nestled her head more deeply in his mane. She squeezed his tufts of fur over and over, inhaled the scent of his canid form with a deep breath.

Megabyte shifted, a lazy stretch, a moan, a trembling growl of pleasure deep in his throat. It made her belly flutter.

"Why can't you stay like this?" she joked.

He snorted. "Then I would be your dog."

"It would be an improvement."

He tilted his whole body as though he was going to roll over. She softly tumbled off then fixed him with an unimpressed glare.

Megabyte chuckled whilst his wolf's body warped and twisted, the sleek fur receding into firm angles and edges, into shining wires and joins, until he was back in his true form.

They stared at each other on their stomachs in the dirt.

"Change back right now," Dot jested.

"Why? Do you want to stroke my belly?"

She rolled her eyes.

He snickered, low and dark, then made a show of rolling onto his back.

She was pulled in, drawn by that force she dare not acknowledge, got up onto her hands and knees, crawled across, bent over him. She placed her palm flat on his silver abdomen, revelled once more at how he inhaled when she touched him, delighted in the way his muscles tensed. She let her hand slide up to his breast, paused, then scrolled back down toward his groin; felt the slight tilt of his hips into her hand, exalted in this spell she cast. She smiled then withdrew her touch, her glamour.

Megabyte pushed himself up onto his elbows, moved his face in close, wove his nose in a dance with hers, teasing but never touching.

"Mhm. Perhaps I was in error," he mused. "Perhaps it's not my belly you want to stroke."

Dot shoved his face, pushed him back. "Log off."

He sniggered. "Make me. I insist."

She laughed again, despite herself.

When Megabyte got to his feet, he extended his hand. She took it, was hauled up. She flicked a finger against his chest. The plates sang, low, sonorous.

His hand settled on her back, fingers splayed, gently guided her around. The moment swelled like a tide, eddied, flowed.

They began to amble back to camp.

"Give me your opinion," she spoke more soberly. "How long do we need until we're ready to go?" 

"Why do you ask me? Haven't you calculated the timeline? Assessed the progress of your 'troops'? Aren't you the teacher with a magic touch?"

"Stop being difficult."

"My apologies, your majesty."

She groaned. "Please stop calling me that."

"Are you not a queen?"

"You're making fun of me in that sly, subtle way of yours."

He sniffed out another of his little laughs. "You are too –"

"'Easy to bait'?" she finished for him. "And you're too predictable."

He took a large step, swerved in front of her, turned, blocked her path. "Am I? Tch. We can't have that."

She kept walking and he stepped backward with every step she took. 

She smirked, shook her head.

"Well, I am sure we are both on the same page: the sooner those binomes manage to stay aboard the dogs, the sooner we will have a makeshift cavalry and can make a sortie for the dead zone. It is however down to you, commander, to name the exact nano you wish for us to proceed."

"I wonder if we should just have tried to sneak in at night."

"Their surveillance network will be on high alert. We either make a highspeed dash for it or we likely will not make it and be offlined." He paused, smiled mildly. "Or at least your binomes will be. You have me and a pair of .45s to look after you, after all."

"I don't think this is the best plan."

"Have some self-assurance. You are a veteran strategist when all is said and done."

"My record isn't flawless."

"Neither's mine. One can defer taking action for infinity for fear of failure, or one can take a calculated risk and have a chance at victory." He shrugged as if it was of no concern to him. "My dogs can offline any offending Televisions or binomes we might cross. But we may of course be faced by much worse. Or, one can hope, there may be no resistance at all."

"Yes. They may simply let us pass, lull us into a false sense of security, then snap the trap shut behind us." She clicked her fingers.

"You have aired this cynicism before. You may be right. And I am sure you have a plan for any such eventuality." 

She raised her lip at him.

He gave her a winning smile in return then fell back into step by her side. 

They walked some more. The silence warped, blurred, became awkward.

"Does this not worry you?" Dot asked quietly, soberly.

"'This'?" He fixed her with his red gaze, burning suns skirting over green plains. "Understand I cannot read your mind. Define 'this'."

She flashed him a severe look. "Does this not worry you? Our…" She paused, sought the right word, moved her hands about, grasping for invisible threads, intangible feelings, "...'friendship'?"

"Oh, are we friends? I had no idea."

"Shut down."

He snickered. "What is there to worry about?"

"This familiarity? Complacency? I shouldn't –"

"'Shouldn't'? According to whom?"

She gave him a glare.

"Well, perhaps look at things from an alternative perspective. When one finds oneself in a novel and rather discomfiting situation, in contrary circumstances, one must choose to either develop, adapt and endure, or become obsolete; to stagnate, malfunction and perhaps even be deleted." He gave her a surprisingly affable look. "Life is generally preferable to erasure, is it not?"

"But at what cost?"

"Our dignity?" he suggested. He arched his brow, watched her carefully.

She didn't reply, only gave him a look of utter exasperation. 

He laughed heartily at this. It was almost warming. "Well I agree it is a big price for narcissists such as ourselves to pay. To have to get into bed with one's enemy."

"Fuck you."

"It was a metaphor, my dear. But if you insist."

She had a gun in her hand before she even processed it, pressing it up beneath his chin.

He did not fight her. "You're scared, aren't you?" His big hands encased hers, pried the guns away. "We are more alike than you know, more compatible than you wish to concede, more –"

"Stop doing this! Don't paint me with the same brush tool as you! It's not me who's enslaved, deleted, infected, crushed –"

"Oh Dot, you are becoming repetitive." He took a step back. "Who are you endeavouring to convince?"

She scowled and slipped the handguns back into her belt then turned with a huff and lapsed into silence. Brittle, volatile.

They marched on. The camp came into sight.

Dot paused as if she didn't want to go back.

"I don't know who I am any more," she bemoaned. A quiet confession, bitter, guilt-ridden.

It was deflating when she got no response, the chill silence hammering nails into her self-disgust. She was accruing dependency on Megabyte's verbal sallies, found a broken solace in his voice, his inappropriate familiarity. As often as she made a habit of telling him to be quiet, his inane chatter served to drown out her own inner monologue.

She watched him continue to move ahead until he also stopped then turned to glance at her over his shoulder; as though the weight of her gaze was a pull on his eyes, chattels dragged by fetters.

"What utter nonsense," he finally remarked.

Always a curveball. "What in the Net is that supposed to mean?" she spat.

He sauntered back and moved in close to her, lowering his head so they were practically nose to nose, his face weaving again, a cobra dancing to its charmer's tune. 

"You know exactly who you are and what you have always been," he murmured. 

His hands alighted on her shoulders and his eyes bore into hers, cold and unyielding. 

"And the truth terrifies you."

Chapter Text

Windows did not improve in his riding skills. If anything he got worse. Every slip or blip seemed to knock the very code out of him.

Megabyte's expression darkened with every failed retry. His brow lowered, his teeth locked, and he clenched his fists like someone ready to punch a wall through. 

"If you forbid me to possess him, then he shall have to remain here," he resolved at length.

Dot wasn't having it. "Windows is a key member of the Fellowship!" she argued. "You can't just dump him in a proverbial trash can."

"I can and I will. The many over the few."

Java thankfully came to the rescue and suggested that Windows ride pillion with her.

Megabyte looked unconvinced, but Dot remained hopeful. A test run was in order. 

Windows clambered behind Java. He clasped around her body and made a little whimpering sound. Java smiled, all patience and good will. "Just close your eye and hold on!" she told him brightly.

And Megabyte sent the wolf off.

It walked and trotted, galloped and jumped, zipped backward and forwards. And when the dread hound finally came to a stop, lo and behold, both Java and Windows were still safely onboard.

Dot wondered if her face showed how smug she felt inside. She turned to Megabyte. 

He blinked. A couple of his fangs were curled over his lower lip. He then bowed his head. "I cede to the ladies," he sassed.

"As you should," she sharply countered.

His mouth widened into a cool smirk. Behind him, his entire pack of wolves gathered and loomed, creating an eerie visual - multitudes of glowing yellow eyes, of dark silhouettes, a broken galaxy of burning stars, cascading beyond.

"Well, with no further ado, your majesty, I believe we are ready to proceed."

Dot raised a hand, pointed a finger at him. "Excuse me. Who's in charge here?"

His lips parted into a toothy grin. "Apologies.” He lowered into a mock bow. “After you."

She gave him a warning glare then turned to the Fellowship. The binomes clung together in a tiny little flock, eyeing up the surrounding wolves as though they feared the creatures would revert to their feral state any nano.

"Okay Fellowship," Dot announced, "I think we're ready for phase one of Operation Hijack. Log on, load up –"

"Freak out," Windows muttered aside.

The Fellowship all shot him glares, sighing and shaking their heads - except Java, of course, for whom he could do no wrong. She gave him a friendly punch, a winsome smile, and Windows suddenly looked almost as brave as the rest of them.

Dot ignored him. "You all remember the plan?" she pressed as she strode toward Megabyte and clicked her fingers at him.

"Yes, ma'am!" they chorused.

Megabyte gave Dot a sassy smirk and grabbed hold of the nearest dog.

"Good," Dot asserted. “Then get onboard.”

Megabyte meanwhile had morphed into a perfect duplicate dog again. Dot turned, grasped his scruff and swung her leg over his back. 

"In the event this plan fails, Ms Matrix,” Megabyte asked in an undertone as she settled into position, “do we have a plan B?"

" We don't," she retorted pointedly. "But I do."

A dark chuckle pulsated through Megabyte's chest from whence it skittered up Dot's calves, swelled around her thighs and dissipated pleasantly in her gut. She allowed herself an indulgent smirk and gave him a patronising pat. 

"Come on, pooch. Let's go."

"Do not call me that," he snapped.

"Why?" she sniped. "What can you do to stop me?"

He made one of his exasperated sighs. "I will think of something."

"Don't overload yourself."

Megabyte began to move forward, swinging his canine head side to side, verifying that all the binomes were aboard their chargers. "You know, Dot, I do believe you're bullying me."

"You're right. I am."

"And here I was thinking you were my friend."

"Shut up and concentrate."

He snickered then froze. He made no sound, said nothing, but there was suddenly the marching of hundreds of feet as the dog army assembled around him in a perfect formation. Here and there amongst the throng a binome could be spotted sitting aboard their steed.

"Alright, everyone moved off," Dot commanded. She kicked her heels against Megabyte's flanks.

There was an awkward pause. He didn't move.

A binome coughed.

Dot’s legs lifted and fell beneath her as Megabyte inhaled deeply then let out another trademark sigh. "I appreciate that I am currently a dog," he sallied, "but please do not confuse me with a broken and bent horse."

Dot kicked him again, more firmly. "You'll be whatever I want you to be," she hissed.

She noticed how his ears perked right up, felt the further snigger in his chest. "Oh will I now?"

She slapped his hindquarters. "Just move it."

He laughed heartily, set his shoulders and leaned back. "Of course, your majesty. Now do hold on so I’m not forced to catch you." And he flung himself forward and charged away.

The pack tore after him. They flowed through the trees like water around rocks, like a flock of birds swerving and flitting. The hive was Megabyte and Megabyte was the hive. Out of the forest they crashed in a chaotic mass, a myriad of streams thundering across a delta, but in a blink they swerved together, aligned, became a perfectly synced, seamless flow.

The giant gates of the city loomed ahead and, down at the bottom, obscure, almost impossible to discern, was the tiny unlocked doorway.

Megabyte's eyes flared and the great torrent arranged into a line, single file, their feet pounding the ground in time with one another, a disciplined formation. A single wolf then split from the whole, was sent ahead. Dot watched as it peeled away, running faster and faster, charging full pelt at the door.

Dogs can't open doors.

The lone hound was a torpedo, a bullet, and rammed the door with full force. The door flew off its hinges with an almighty crack whilst the mindless dog crumpled, its neck snapped, and its body tumbled away to inevitable deletion.

In the next nano, Megabyte was through the doorway, and he charged over the dog's fading body, not even giving a cursory glance to the martyr. The rest of the pack swiftly followed. 

The city streets were empty. The hounds tore down the roads, filed through the square where the hopeful binome statue still gesticulated to the heavens, and kept on moving on, an unstoppable army.

At the head of the stampede, Megabyte drove himself on, head lowered, body streamlined, and his pack mimicked his every move.

Dot hunkered down, held his scruff tight. Every street that flashed past looked the same, every block cut and pasted from the last. She hoped that Megabyte remembered exactly where to go.

There was still no resistance, no retaliation; no one emerged from the buildings; no televisions appeared to preach their propaganda. A chill ran down Dot's spine, from nape to tail bone. This had to be a trap.

Sooner than expected, the vista ahead changed. A tightly knit chain fence came into view, high and barbed 

'Maybe a pair of wire cutters would have sufficed?' Dot mused.

Megabyte increased the breadth of his strides, swung his shoulders, drove his feet, then began to collect his power and strength as he got closer and closer to the fence. 

With a sudden coil and dip of his body, he sprang.

The rush of wind was harsh and intense. Dot lowered herself over his neck, buried her fingers into his mane, trusted herself to him. She didn't wish to own the thrill, the elation, the illusion of liberty. They were soaring, flying. The silly temptation to open her arms like she had on their practice run was real but she resisted the urge. They catapulted over the boundary fence, the pack following, the entire mass movement giving the appearance of a choreographed murmuration, a tsunami rising and descending.

When Megabyte's paws hit the ground, the impact thundered through his body and trembled through Dot. She gritted her teeth and held on tight as he skidded across the ground and  allowed the force of his landing to peter out. At last he came to a smooth stop. 

His dogs flowed and filed in around him, weaving, circling, slotting into invisible nooks. Dot caught her breath and watched the mass of wolves gather until they were arranged around their master in concentric circles. She sought to see if every Fellowship member had made it, eyes scanning the files and ranks. She counted off every single one. Java was the only one who, rather incongruously, gave her a cheery wave back; she appeared utterly unperturbed and, if anything, looked buoyant. The rest of the Fellowship looked shell-shocked and traumatised. Windows especially had the unmistakable pallor of the bluescreen of death, with a glazed-over eye and shaking body.

Megabyte's chest expanded with a deep breath. He sat down and Dot slid off his back. She brushed herself off whilst he transformed back into himself in a chorus of tiny jolts and fleshy crackles. 

"What now, commander?" he asked her. He wasn't looking at her.

Dot looked at his face. His expression was unreadable and vague. "We secure our position and make ourselves a base, of course. And hope this trap doesn’t spring."

He snickered coldly. "Nothing quite like a bit of anticipation and suspense, is there?"

She rolled her eyes but, before she could throw back a reprimand, she heard the mass sound of the wolves rushing away. She watched with some awe as the dogs slickly filed off, some to the right, and some to the left, until there were none left except those on which the Fellowship were mounted.

"Where are they going?"

"To secure our position. Naturally.” He finally looked her full in the face. "Whilst they hold the perimeter we can proceed with establishing your base."

She exhaled, exasperated. He was doing it again, stealthily swiping the reins under a veil of benevolence.

Her face must have shown her annoyance.

“Hmm. You’re thinking about that muzzle again, aren’t you?” he jested.

She shoved him square in the chest. But her eyes were bright. “Perhaps.”

She took the lead and guided the party from here, ushering them through the empty sector, and found herself admiring its unexpected refinement. In contrast to the rest of the Admin’s city, where every street and building was indistinguishable from the last, here each avenue and edifice was unique and individual. It was like walking into a different world, where everything was coded to be as beautiful as it was functional.

It was in fact somewhat puzzling.

She wasn’t sure what drew her to the building she elected to utilise as their base. It was only two storeys high but had large windows and was furnished with graceful curves and striking patterns rather than sharing the bland adornment that hallmarked the rest of Cloud One’s architecture.

Inside, Dot led her misfit band around the building, walking silently amongst the stillness. There were multiple rooms containing desks, chairs, monitors, keypads. Some kind of office? Whatever it had been, everywhere was in a state of sudden abandonment. It felt as though the workers had nipped out for a lunch break. 

Dot tried a couple of the keypads and monitors, flicking at switches, pressing buttons, harbouring a sliver of hope that something might function. But of course there was no power.

“This whole venture will prove pointless if we have no power supply," she mused aloud. “We’d better start with that.”

Megabyte said nothing. He was tapping his claws against his chin and wearing one of his insufferable smirks. She ignored him.

One of the binomes tottered forward. "I volunteer to investigate! Maintaining the power infrastructure was part of my vocation in the city."

Ah. A stroke of fortune. 

Dot folded her arms, smiled. "What's your name?"

"Jay. Jay Pegg."

"Where do we need to start?"

Jay pointed down. "Basement level."

"Well, boot up and start processing."

Jay scuttled off. The sound of her feet tapping down a set of stairs could be heard.

It wasn't too long before she came back.

"I found an access hatch into the service tunnels,” she reported. “I followed it to what must be the perimeter. The power lines are severed and the service tunnel blocked off."

Dot sighed. This wasn't unexpected. "But everything appears intact?"

Jay nodded. "Affirmative. I get the impression the sector was shut down in some haste, that they simply cut the power lines and sealed the area off, both above and below ground. Nothing seems to be sabotaged or destroyed."

"Seems foolish to just leave it?" Dot pondered aloud, "Just waiting for people like us to utilise it?"

"It matters not," Megabyte interrupted, tone clipped. "I'm confident I can fashion a means to reconnect the power. Leave it to me."

He began to move.

"Oh there you go again,” Dot barked. “Running off."

Megabyte altered his course and sidled up to her, a full-bodied saunter. "Oh did you forget to tether your dog? How… disappointing."

"Stop. That."

"Are you going to threaten to hurt yourself? Force me to comply?"

She rolled her eyes. "Save me."

He ran a claw tip up her arm, from wrist to shoulder to collarbone, then tapped her on the nose. "Do trust me. I'm only going downstairs. And Jay will be with me, won't you, Ms Pegg?" He turned smoothly on the spot and fixed Jay with his eyes. 

Jay froze and glanced between Megabyte and Dot.

Dot scowled. "Stop being a condescending, manipulative bastard," she hissed.

"Would you prefer to supervise me?" he coaxed, teased, squaring his body right up to her.

She squared up right back. "Go down a level, check it out, then before you do anything, come straight back. If you're not back within a microsecond, I will shoot my foot." She made a show of lifting one of the guns from her belt and angled it down toward her toe. “I can’t wait to see you take the bullet for me.”

Megabyte looked down, raised his brow. "Hmm. A bit melodramatic." His eyes lifted to hers again. "I won't be long, darling."

She raised the handgun so it pointed between his eyes. "You want to repeat that?"

He smirked, waggled his brow suggestively, then began to stride off. "Come along, Ms Pegg,” he said.

Jay didn't move, only stared at Dot.

Dot took another breath and gave her a nod of assent. She then watched them both disappear.

She slipped her gun back into her belt and began to walk around, giving the building a thorough inspection. She started with the ground floor and checked every room, paying particular attention to the specs of every device and console she came across. One of them must surely be suitable to read Megabyte's stolen files…

Windows joined her and they moved up to the next storey and tried to piece together the mystery of this place together. They found what appeared to be more offices upstairs, rooms filled with desks and monitors and keypads. There were also copious amounts of filing cabinets lining the walls, all locked.

"I think we may have stumbled on something intriguing," Windows said at length.

"What makes you say that?" Dot replied, preoccupied. She was searching the desks for a paperclip with which to pick the filing cabinet locks. Weren't paperclips meant to turn up and help at times like this?

Windows moved to one of the walls from which a tattered poster hung. It was impossible to make out what it had shown until Windows reformed the broken picture with his hands.

Dot squinted, turned her head. "Is that an envelope? With wings?" she asked.

Windows shrugged. "It looks like it."

"Is it advertising… Net travel?"

"Possibly something along those lines. I do wonder if this might have been a travel agent?" He rubbed his mouth with his hand as he pondered. "In order to travel, one needs to have passage out, so… maybe we will find a directory or something around here? Something that might lead us to an old port, or a gateway. Assuming the Admin hasn't completely erased the browser history of this sector, so to speak."

Dot's mind was stuck on 'travel agent'. It birthed visions of a utopia, an unreachable dream; to think there had been times not so long ago when one could travel the Net safely and just for leisure. One wondered if it would ever be possible again after the damage Daemon had wrought and as other threats continued to develop and grow.

She moved away from the cabinets and ambled around the room in half a daze. Her hand slid across an empty desk. She pulled open its top drawer and found eCards showing lavish systems, places of recreation; folders full of images of exotic creatures, multicultural sprites, different lifestyles. Her focus slipped, her fingers fondled the images…

"Have you chosen a place for our honeymoon yet?"

"Log off you bastard!" she yelled and realised Megabyte was on the ceiling, hanging down in front of her, grin inverted.

Her heart popped; she felt cold, remembered the Principal Office, the fight, the monster on the ceiling. Images superimposed. How had she become so complacent?

She rallied, slammed the desk drawer shut, but did not walk away. She faced him, dared him to make another transgression.

Jay Pegg was next to Windows now. They both possessed that sheepish, guilty aspect, as though they did not feel they should watch, and yet also didn’t want to miss another blazing row.

Megabyte sniffed out a little laugh and, in a discordant patter of clinks and clangs, lowered himself onto the floor in front of Dot. He brushed himself off. "If we need to establish any kind of power connection," he drawled, as if nothing untoward had happened, "we will need - and you will be astonished to hear this - more time."

Dot's heart sank. "Well what an unexpected error," she sneered. "Do you have anything useful to report? Or are we just going to be stuck here forever?"

"Now, now, where's your indomitable spirit? Your drive to fight?"

"It's being sucked dry by your moral vacuum."

The way his brow dropped, the way he laughed wickedly, made her want to slap him.

 "For the User's sake…" she groaned.

Megabyte cleared his throat and reverted straight back to his sober disposition. “Well… I can report that not only is the power supply to this sector severed and blocked off, as our binome friend correctly reported, but that the wall they erected is so thick, I cannot cut through it." He flexed his claws and exhaled as if it was a minor annoyance. "But I do wonder if I might be able to give us… a jump start? Whilst we figure out a means to divert power back to this sector, that is."

"What do you mean?"

He looked smug and let a cable fly from his wrist into one of the old consoles. The screen flickered, hummed. As soon as he withdrew the cable again, it went dead.

Dot gaped, her brow furrowed. "You'll give up your own energy for the greater good?" An acid laugh. "Now I know you've blown a motherboard."

"Are you frightened?"

"Wrongfooted, more like."

"A curious expression." He gave her a penetrating look. "I do not believe it would be especially taxing for me to power a console. For a short while, I must stress. My reserves are, alas, not transfinite."

Dot smiled. "No they're not, are they?" she remarked pointedly.

"Hm," he grunted. "Well, all we need now is some… compatible apparatus."

Dot opened her arms to the room at large, to the mass of devices and consoles. "Will these not do?"

He shook his head. "No. Incompatible with the file types." He moved toward the door. "Permission to check the rest of the building? I promise I won't run away."

"I won't let you, don't worry."

His snigger trailed him like a bad miasma as he slithered out the room.

Dot heaved another sigh. "Come on, you two," she said, leading Jay and Windows out. "Let's go set up HQ."

It was dark by the time Megabyte came back. The nano he walked through the door, Dot's eyes automatically sought his, that strange pull, that insidious connection.

"Where did you go, Cloud Eight?" she sassed.

His familiar, low chuckle rumbled back to her, a resonant cascade. "You are quite the comedian."

"You had better be about to tell me you've found a way to share those blasted files?"

He moved closer but was distracted by the scene in the room. Desks had been pushed against the walls, opening up a big space in the middle. The Fellowship themselves were scattered across the floor in pairs and small groups, all of them fast asleep, exhausted; some were wrapped in curtains they'd pulled down, whilst others were curled under piles of old papers.

Megabyte's head swept one way then the other as he stepped over and around them. "Well, isn't this a charming affair?" he oozed. "Dot Matrix and her rebel family. All cosy and settled in."

"And don't forget her dog."

His eyes, for a split nano, fixed her with a look that left her filled with cold and nausea. The veil of charm flickered, fractured, but almost instantaneously it was restored. Perhaps she had imagined it.

"Indeed," came his deadpan, delayed reply. "Woof, woof."

A taut silence ensued. It was promptly shattered by Windows's snoring, which was obscenely loud and filled the room. 

The incongruity nearly caused Dot to burst out laughing. But Megabyte's expression remained frigid, dousing her merriment.

She composed herself. "So… did you find a compatible device?"

His mouth warped into a somewhat unpleasant grin. "Yes. I believe so."

"Great." She marched up to him. "Let's go." 

Megabyte's hand moved out, intercepted her, pressed against her belly. "Do you not wish to rest with your troops? You must be fatigued."

Her brow furrowed. "What? No. I can rest when I'm back home again."

"A courageous resolution. But your getting home is not likely to be imminent."

She glared. "It definitely won't be if you keep withholding your intel."

He didn't move his hand from her so she stepped back and folded her arms.

"What now? Why are you stalling?"

"We have gained this internal stronghold, which was our aim." He gestured to the room vaguely. "Our next move should, in fact - and in contrast - not be made in too much haste."

"Wait, you were all impatient to get in when we were out in the forest, said we had no time? So let me access those fraggin' files already."

"And I am advising you to rest and recharge so we can start in the morning as it is not looking straightforward."

"The morning? For crying out loud. Don't make me make you."

"Oh are we back to blackmail? I am beginning to wonder if you simply relish the power trip."

"I can think of a lot more things I 'relish'."

"I am sure. Why don't you let me add a few to your list?"

Dot had no time to provide a witty repartee for Megabyte quickly added, in a notably softer tone, "The files are encrypted."

She wanted to punch him. "Well of course they are."

"So we will need to –"

"Don't you dare explain things to me like I'm some Basic, newly written program. I know what that means!"

His brow raised ever so slightly. "But of course. So you understand there isn't a shortcut past this. There's no need for urgency." He looked almost spiteful. "Unless your Fellowship comprises a cracker? Mayhap one even has the key?"

"Well let's ask them," she seethed.

"Yes, let's. In the morning. Let them sleep. There's no power, it is dark, and your troops are tired."

Before she could rally a response, he began to walk away.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" she snapped.

He peered back over his shoulder. "Shush now, you'll wake the children."

Her eyes flared at him.

He wasn't cowed. "I am going to inspect more of this dead zone," he elaborated. "With your leave, of course?"

"So you tell me to rest whilst you wander off for a night time stroll?" A sceptical glance. "You're up to something."

"Such paranoia. I do not need to rest. And would fain be able to when some make such a racket." He threw a glare in Windows's direction. The binome snored on cue. "I may as well, shall we say, be… productive?"

"You are not leaving this building." Dot found the Queen chess piece, safely tucked away in a pocket. She gripped it in her fist, raised it up above her head, tightened her fingers, walked right up to him again. The lines were drawn.

She saw him shudder and tense. She thought she could hear him growl. His shoulders flexed like a hunting cat contemplating a pounce. "Oh Dot," he grumbled. "You are inconsistent. You have allowed me to venture into this city alone before now; and you have permitted me to scope this building out alone. I have not betrayed you once. Why a sudden cessation of these privileges?"

"I can't keep letting you do what you want. You coax and coddle and somehow get your way. Not tonight." She tapped the Queen's crown against his breast plates - one, two, three times - playing a sonorous little tune. "Besides, we should be cautious. We can't know what might happen now we're inside."

"Do remember I have an entire army of hounds patrolling the perimeter. And we know there are no functioning surveillance systems here. They can't spy on us. And, if by some chance any hurt is likely to come your way -" He clicked his fingers. "- I will be back before you can process it."

"The crux of the matter remains the same: I just can't trust you."

"So I say once more: accompany me. Supervise my every action." A lowering of his voice, a heady growl. "Put a leash on your dog and take him for a little walk."

Dot lowered her arm, loosened her grip. Why did the offer sound so… enticing? 

The cliff edge was there. All it required was a leap.

"What do you have to lose?" Megabyte pressed.

She blinked, sighed. "My last pixels of self respect?"

He gave her a knowing look, a sultry smile, then jerked his head toward the door. "Come along," he cajoled. "It might be… amusing. Who knows what we might find? The solution to all our problems, perhaps?"

Dot looked him directly in the eyes and her brow furrowed. She wanted to be repulsed but all she felt was curiosity, that dark sinister pull. Loose footing, fracturing rocks, an inbound rockslide.

One small step .

She dropped the Queen chess piece. It tinkled against the floor, rolled and disappeared into the shadows.

Megabyte's eyes visibly and heavily raked her, leaving enticing sparks in their wake, before he swept into a mock bow. 

She scoffed. 

He chuckled. 

They fell into easy step together, moving out of the room, down the corridor, and then left the building, drifting like wraiths into the night.

Chapter Text

Dot breathed in deeply. The peace and quiet was bliss. There was only the sound of her and Megabyte's footsteps echoing through the void. No chatter. Companionable silence. 

They wandered aimlessly, turned into whichever streets they fancied. So much for being productive. Perhaps they just needed to rest, to unwind, to recharge?

And yet, even if this was just a sightseeing stroll, it was still a revelation. This abandoned sector contrasted starkly in every way possible with the Admin's dour city beyond.

They roamed into a long, prestigious street which had clearly catered to leisure and recreation. There were theatres, cinemas, eateries and hotels, all dark and silent, but echoing with the shouts and shrills of ghosts of the past, of distant memories. Dot could picture sprites and binomes walking with their children, could hear their excited cries; the chatter of the elders, the banter of the adolescents.

Megabyte's big hand touched her back and he manoeuvred her in a gentle arc toward one of the huge, beautifully rendered buildings. They pushed through some glass revolving doors and emerged in a foyer of what appeared to have been an immensely grand hotel.

Dot gawped as she processed the magnitude and beauty of the place. She had never seen anything to compare in Mainframe; the paintwork, the carvings, the upholstery. It oozed with decadence and expense. She turned around and around on the spot, studying the lavishly decorated ceiling, its beautiful paintwork still visible in the gloom, featuring a huge quasi-religious fresco of gods and monsters, like something out of a game, full of vivid and luscious colours.

"Beautiful," she said.

"I concur," Megabyte agreed, then more playfully he added, "Fancy electing to use a drab little building for your base when edifices of this magnitude stand empty? How foolish of you."

Dot gave him a side look. 

He smirked back.

She shoved him. "Log off."

He didn't budge and maintained his smile. “Hmm, perhaps you’re right. We should keep it our little secret.”

Dot ignored him. She was suddenly filled with a mad curiosity to explore this place and see more, so she brushed forcefully passed him and set off. She found reception rooms, vast halls, dining chambers, store rooms, a beautifully equipped kitchen, all pristine but, as with their base, left in a state of abandonment; a screenshot frozen in time, long unused and unlived in. It remained a monument to the system's history, an empty memorial to a vanquished era, evoking images of a time long past, when visitors had been frequent, desired, and well received; when this had clearly been a very different system. It tied in with the extinct travel industry they’d already stumbled upon.

As she meandered from room to room, through corridor after corridor, and across hallway after hallway, Megabyte remained her shadow, didn’t let her stray far. When she discovered a grand stairway, there was no question about ascending it. Up she fled, her loyal dog loping casually in tow, and they emerged at the top into a truly vast hall.

Dot was once again awestruck. The walls reached so high it strained her neck to look up. The ceiling was supported by the most wonderfully ornate carved vaulting, where decorative bosses crowned every joint. The floor glistened with white marble and sang with every footstep. More staircases hugged the great walls and burrowed away into further elusive cavities. Intricate stained glass windows studded the walls and - the pièce de résistance - a huge open balcony yawned out on one side of the chamber, from which the great forest beyond the city could be seen, stretching to infinity under the night sky. 

Dot walked over in steady strides, drawn to the vista. She halted at the periphery and let her eyes take time to absorb the magnificent panorama. How long ago it now seemed since she dropped into that forest, locked in Megabyte's arms with insidious presage.

The heavy clank of Megabyte’s feet approached her from behind. He stopped by her side. 

Dot crossed her arms, shifted her weight from one foot to the other, then turned and looked up at him.

He stared into the distance, visage unreadable. His chest rose with a deep breath. He then turned his head and their eyes met. 

She smiled.

He smirked back then swept into a low bow, offering his hand. 

Dot took it.

And it was as if it was all rehearsed. He walked her into the centre of the hall, raised her hand high, held her eyes, and they fell into an effortless dance; a silent bolero of zeal, a tuneless nocturne of ardour, a mute prelude of fire. Their feet moved, their eyes remained fixed; they spun, reversed, stepped. He lowered her body into a dip, she went with him; he lifted her up and she laughed. Their breathing dropped into perfect sync and became faster, harder. Up he hoisted her with his massive hands, tossing her into the air, then catching her. When he lowered her, they slid against one another with a delightful friction. He growled like a beast, untethered; she sighed like a queen in her ascendancy.

At last the dance seemed to come to a close of its own volition. Megabyte spun Dot out, reeled her back in, and she slammed into his chest. They froze in this intimate embrace, eyes darting over one another’s features whilst their fingers traced lines on each other’s bodies, on their faces, signing unspoken bonds, scribing cryptic messages. Adrift, out of context, alone, their bodies called to each other; desperate, aching, ravenous. No witnesses except for windows, no judgement except from carvings.

Megabyte moved his head down, slid it by the side of hers, cheek to cheek, skin against skin. “I want you,” he purred. He tilted his forehead into her hair and nuzzled against her like a great big cat.

Dot exhaled, closed her eyes, savoured the confession. Her stomach fizzled like a writhing mass of nulls, her heart felt fit to burst, banging a furious rhythm against her ribs.

"Let me have you," the virus implored, begged. His voice was cracking and breaking. His lips found her neck and he kissed her skin. He slid his mouth up her throat and along her jawline, languorous and erotic.

Dot sighed and arched her head back then, emboldened, possessive, looped her hands around his neck, hooked her leg behind his thigh, levered him in. He snarled approvingly and seized her lips in a hungry kiss. 

Dot opened her mouth to him and let him devour her; he tasted of copper, smelled of hot solder. His fangs gently pulled at her red lips, tantalising her, inflaming her. She moaned against his mouth, tilted her pelvis into him, and he responded in kind, animals reciprocating mating calls, beasts in rut. 

His talons ran down her back and her skin tingled in their wake. His palms swept around the curve of her buttocks, squeezed her firmly against him. She heard the guttural groan of arousal in his throat, felt a low but palpable vibration running through his entire body, as though he was struggling to keep himself in check.

And perhaps he was. And maybe it was always like this for him. The gentleman was a façade, a lie, a front he had to work ceaselessly to maintain whilst the true, feral colossus was kept tamed and shackled. 

'I've done this to him, I've made him suffer, ' she thought. Oh the dark power, the forbidden longing, the iniquity! She took a sinister pride in it, tightened her grip around his neck, wrapped both legs around his waist, and heaved herself up so she could run her tongue up his neck. 

He emitted a wanton sigh which quite drove her to distraction. 

"I didn't realise you liked me so much," she teased.

Megabyte bellowed out an alluring laugh before he swung her effortlessly into his arms then turned his head so their noses touched. "Dot Matrix. Have I been so subtle?"

They shared a smile like a secret. He pressed his lips to her forehead and carried her away.

Dot felt like a lovestruck adolescent, all excitement and thrill. Her body trembled, desire flooded her loins. 'Is this love or lust? Do I truly want this or have we just been alone for too long? Become too complacent, too starved of attention?' 

Then the voice turned more intrusive, greedy, ravenous: 'What will it be like to fuck a virus? What might he make me feel? How much higher will he push me? How much lower can I drag him?'

He carried her as if she weighed nothing, up another grand staircase that ascended from the hall, winding up and up and up to another storey. At the top, they were met by a circular corridor which was punctuated by multitudes of numbered doors; guestrooms, no doubt. 

Anticipation grew, the promise of more extravagance hidden beyond, of more luxury and excess. 

Megabyte took a moment to process their surroundings. He sniffed the air then moved, picked a door, opened it, and waltzed Dot into a beautiful bedchamber.

"Wow. Nice," she commented understatedly.

His brow quirked then, with a tilt of his arms, he let her slip back onto her feet. 

They explored the room in silence, their gazes traversing the grand decor; a well upholstered four poster bed hung with drifting gauze and heavy curtains, currently tied back; ivory chests of drawers; blanket boxes bedecked in intricate embroidery; a dressing table, ornate chairs, huge mirrors. And all of it in a state of perfect, eerie abandonment. Past guests to this system had clearly enjoyed, and been able to afford, prestige and grandeur.

Dot ran her finger along the marble walls, which were carved with huge detailed friezes. She studied the scenes which showed creatures like the wild hounds with gaping jaws, locked in battle with armed binomes and sprites; and there was something else, a great beast, gigantic, twisted and sinister.

As she stared at it, Megabyte’s hands slipped over her shoulders from behind and he squeezed her in an affectionate gesture.

“Peculiar fresco for a bedchamber,” he mused.

"Did you have a bedroom in your Tor?" she asked playfully, tangentially.

He did not say a word. 

She glanced up at him. His face looked amused. 

"I bet it looked like this," Dot continued, "every victory embellished and exaggerated on the walls. Perhaps there was a big statue of yourself as the centrepiece?"

He chuckled. "Alas, you will never know."

She returned her full attention to the fresco, tilted her head as if to study it from another angle. It bothered her. “Is this Cloud One's history, do you think? Or just a story?”

Megabyte made one of his noncommittal grunts but said no more.

Dot made a mental memo to look into it later. She couldn't concentrate. Her heart was in her throat, ambivalent anticipation made her restless. She turned to face Megabyte, lay her hands on his chest, tapped out a tuneless midi.

He made a deep sound of what she could only call contentment. She felt one of his claws alight on her cheek. It drew a line down her jaw and onto the sloping curve of her neck. 

She pushed the talon away.

He grinned, lowered his head and nuzzled his nose against hers, making a low purring noise.

She sighed utterly involuntarily. Thrill burbled and roiled once more in her belly. "I'm scared," she confessed without meaning to.

“Are you?" His tone dropped. "What is there to fear?"

"Don't be Basic, you know it's complicated."

"Well quite. At least be reassured that I cannot hurt you."

"So we hypothesise, and so it seems. But where does that begin and end? Does that mean this isn't even real, that you're being coerced and softened by this drive to 'protect'? Because then I'd be no better than you; perhaps worse if I just accepted a charade, especially after –"

"You're overthinking," he cut in, "And being a tad harsh on yourself. We could easily spend all evening dissecting and examining the drives and motives of one another. Which I am happy to do, if you so wish. But I insist that you think back on the words you said to me cycles ago: that I can be compelled to protect you, but I cannot be made to desire you. My being forced to keep you safe does not also force me to want you.” His voice dropped, became husky, thick. "And I do want you."

Her stomach clenched again.

Megabyte stepped back, opened his arms wide; as though she were a wild bird and he wanted to see if she might fly away.

Dot felt increasingly agitated and turned from him. She walked off in a jagged line, moving a hand to her forehead, kneading her temples.

"What am I doing? Will I be able to live with myself? Go back home and face everyone?"

“You can do whatever you please,” he replied calmly, “but you can feel our chemistry, the desire and the need. We come together like a symphony.” He steepled his claws and tapped them together in pairs - one, two, three, one, two, three . “And if you are able to draw a line under the past, to archive our history, lock it away, then look only forward…?” His brow rose, inviting her to finish his thinking.

“How convenient it would be for me to forget what you have done. And what you might have done.”

“I am not asking you to forget or forgive,” he countered more sharply, “I am asking you to be honest about what has happened to us in this system. What is happening. To acknowledge it.”

“I am perfectly aware of what has happened. My body wants one thing, and my mind tells me - no, knows - it would be a betrayal.”

His response came like a whip crack. “A betrayal? Against whom? Your friends? It is none of their business. Against yourself? I am not forcing you. I will walk out that door, or out the window if you ask it; scuttle down this edifice and into a dark corner so you can sleep in peace.”

She rolled her eyes; windbag. “You know I love Bob. I’ve always loved Bob.”

Megabyte blinked. “Are we going to talk about this now?" He exhaled deeply, his tone quietened. "Very well. Perhaps tell me why it took you so long to even attempt to settle down with your Guardian? What held you back? Everyone could see your constant shilly-shallying, right from the inception of your friendship. It was quite wearisome. Which leads me to believe that there was… doubt? That you, for some reason, were never able to commit.” 

She felt her fists clench, her eyes flared at him. 

He grinned toothily. “Oh, are we going to fight? I do so enjoy our little squabbles.”

“You’re an arrogant, manipulative bastard.”

“Yes, yes. So you keep telling me." He inspected his talons. "Perhaps it’s what you deserve? What you desire?” 

"Log off. I had my life planned out. Bob and I were going to marry. We were going to have a family. Be happy. But someone crashed my wedding."

He smiled darkly. "I simply inserted a lever where there was already a crack. You were a wreck of your former self. So was Bob. I merely took advantage of that. And no one else seemed to notice how unwell, how unhinged, you truly were. Astounding, really."

She couldn't even conjure a retort. In moments like this he terrified her; scored back her skin, stripped the flesh from her bone and sapped the joy from her soul. And yet he also held up a mirror, showed her stark reflections of the past, unwelcome truths. She hated how he sometimes made her understand herself.

Megabyte moved toward her, halted within easy reach. 

“You are free to continue to love the Guardian, if you so wish. I cannot prevent it and there is nothing to forbid it. And it makes no difference to me, regardless of what choices you make tonight.”

Dot looked at him with a creased brow. He continued to hurl curveballs which she was truly angry she couldn’t anticipate. Her mind was too busy trying to get over his earlier commentary to even keep up with him. “But it makes a difference to me ," she stuttered. "It's not fair on Bob, or myself. It is disrespectful. It's unkind. I mean, what is it all even for if there’s no loyalty, no real love?”

Megabyte made one of his indolent shrugs. “I did not say there was no love. And it is perhaps a little late to start being fair to poor Bob.” He flashed a nasty grin. “Are you perhaps frightened that you might have the capacity to love more than one person? Or maybe what scares you is the happiness this is bringing you? Perhaps the hard truth that I might be better suited to you as a partner than you will ever admit?"

“Stop twisting things and making everything sound so crude and nasty. This is not a joke.”

He looked unmoved. "I am very clearly not laughing. You seem desirous that there be edicts controlling these matters where there is not. Where is it written that you can only select one lover in your life and never deviate? It is untenable.”

She scoffed. “That's what marriage is, you dip switch!”

“Marriage?" he spat. He opened his hands to indicate the system they were in, the two of them, and everything that had happened. "Well, this all bloomed from that absurd piece of theatre, did it not?”

She groaned angrily, felt exhausted. The evening had started effortlessly, without thought, promising playful heat and passion. And now they were at loggerheads and the past was here with them, invading the sanctuary. She felt a headache brewing, guilt gnawing, confusion fogging her mind. She marched to the bed, dropped onto the edge of it with a huff and cradled her head in her hands.

She heard Megabyte follow, but he did not sit next to her. He lowered himself to his knees on the floor, sitting in front of her like a servant. He placed his hands in his lap and his claws clinked against his thighs. 

“There was a time,” he chatted conversationally in what she could only call his consoling voice, “when you were quite… hmm, how shall we put it? Selfish.”

She was once again thrown. She raised her head, glowered.

He was smirking, goading; it was a baited line.

She took it. 

She swung her leg up and jammed her foot into his neck beneath his massive jaw.

Megabyte’s red pupils flared, his mouth curled into a deeper grin. “My, my,” he chuckled, “I hadn’t even begun.”

She pressed her foot more firmly against his throat. It wouldn’t hurt him a bit but it made her feel better. “Maybe think before you say anything else? I'm done with your insults."

He sniffed out a little laugh then reached up and gently clasped her leg in his hands, handling it as though it was made from glass. He then placed it back down in front of him, shifted himself forward and bowed over so his nose brushed against her leg, caressing, nuzzling.

Dot swallowed, froze. She scrunched the bed covers in her fingers.

There was a flicker of appreciation, of pride, on Megabyte's face. “Breathe,” he purred, dotting a line of kisses up her shin to her knee.

She exhaled clumsily and blushed.

“Now if you would let me finish,” he continued silkily, laying his big head in her lap and wrapping his arms around her calves. “When I say selfish, I simply mean self-serving. To a degree.”

She gaped at him. “For a man who plays the gentleman all the time, you are incredibly tactless.”

He grinned. “Dot, be patient with me.” He tilted his head on one side like a big puppy.  “I am simply recalling those exhilarating days where you were constantly engaged in your many businesses. There wasn’t a piece of Mainframe which was not owned by, operated by, or engaged in trade with yourself.” He righted his head and his brow dropped mischievously. “Even my sector was beholden to you and your practices on far too many occasions. You were quite the schemer.” 

“Did you process a word I just said?”

“And are you listening to me properly, Ms Matrix, or are you resolved to be doggedly vexed?”

They stared at one another. 

Megabyte heaved a deep sigh and slowly shook his head. “You who were once so caught up in your own web of entrepreneurship were forced to sacrifice your businesses and trade so you could lead a resistance and utilise your skills to generate plans of strategy and defence during a period of war. Thus, where you were once driven by your own obsessive determination to achieve fiscal success, you had to forgo your personal enterprises and triumphs to become a Command.com, a pseudo mother-figure and protector to the masses. Admirable. And yet the only person you failed to attend to, and who everyone else took for granted, was yourself.”

Dot blinked, trying to absorb his ceaseless blathering. “Can you get to the point?”

“Well I would like to turn the proverbial tables.” He made a spinning gesture with both hands, as though opening a big jar. “Shall we call it role play? I would like for you, if you can, to be selfish; think only of yourself. Remember how that felt, to be self-driven? Self-serving? And surely you deserve some self-indulgence, after all your forfeitures?”

“And what part do you play?” 

“Me? I shall affect utter selflessness, of course.”

Dot nearly burst out laughing. "I'm not sure you have the ability to act selflessly. You're a self-absorbed, self-obsessed bastard."

His laugh was deep and luxurious. "Yes, yes. Viruses are selfish. Until a sprite breaks them."

The look he gave her took her breath away. She could see how he was studying her reactions, how his grin widened and his face darkened, but there was a particular kind of wickedness in his eye, a sultry kind. They had come full circle, caught in an endless loop, the discord submitting itself once more to sinister harmony.

Megabyte laid his palms flat on her thighs and began to slide them up and down. “Dot, be selfish. Let me serve you.” 

His hands stopped on her knees. 

She opened her legs to him, as if preprogrammed.

Megabyte crawled into the void between her thighs, reached for her shirt and began to ease it up with surprising delicacy. Once the skin of her belly was bared, he bent forward, nuzzled his nose into her flesh and planted a lingering kiss at her navel.

Dot shuddered and sighed. Her hands found his crest and took a hold as though to anchor herself. This shouldn’t feel so good, this shouldn't even be happening. Why was her body thirsting for him? He was a virus, a creature not born but made; a monster who had the mere semblance of a person; not soft and yielding but hard, angular and destructive; his mouth was full of rows of sharp teeth, his fingers were talons. He was a manipulator, felon, tyrant and killer; a base abuser of power; an extension of the User's wanton vindictiveness and cruelty; the source of so much unhappiness. Could such a beast truly love? Was he worthy of anything?

Such dark irony. My father gave me life and, in an abstract way, also gave Megabyte life. Now here I am, dallying with this viral monster, this false brother, who destroyed my own father - our father - and has countless times tried to destroy us all.

The more she reflected on it, the worse it seemed.

“So,” Megabyte whispered, his dulcet tones caressing her skin, “do I have your permission?” 

Dot bit her lip. Her hands stroked his crest, followed the dips and rises, the decayed ridges. She tried to consider things rationally, and yet all she knew, all she could focus on, was him. His every touch was a thrill, a distraction; every sultry look sprouted joy. His mellifluous voice made her walk on air. She could hardly speak. It was incongruous. How could she want it all and yet hate it at the same time? How could her body boil at his touch and yet, deep down, repel it like poison?

“Dot?” Megabyte pressed. “You can say no.”

She scoffed, gave him an appraising look. "When have you ever taken no for an answer?"

He grinned. "Since I found my equal."

"Is that as close to an admission of love as I'm going to get?"

"Is that what you want?"

“I’m not sure I’d believe you.”

“Charming.”

She continued to stroke his ravaged face until Megabyte placed his claws over her roving fingers and held her hands still. He turned his lips into one of her palms and kissed it. 

She pulled her hand away. "Tell me. What happens if a sprite and a virus…?"

"Interface?" Megabyte riposted. "I'd rather hoped they'd taught you about this at school. It may take a while to explain."

"Very funny. Viruses corrupt and infect. I'm sure you haven't forgotten that?"

He smiled his wicked smile, ran a teasing finger around her cheek. "We can only willfully corrupt and infect. You know that, my darling."

She playfully pushed his face away. "Oh shut up."

He chortled then lay his head at the juncture of her thighs whilst his claws traced affectionate trails up and down her calves. 

"I am not made of warmth and softness," he rumbled, "but I intend only to give you pleasure. And, you have my word, if you at any time feel scared or discomfited, tell me to stop. I will listen. I can't hurt you. And I can be as much a man as a monster.”

Dot curled over him. "I know. But -" She grabbed a cable behind his crest, yanked it down so that his head arched back, then flashed him a wicked smile, "- sometimes a girl wants a monster.”

How his eyes sparkled, how his teeth shone. His laugh was filthy. How she lived for it. "Oh Dot. Is that a yes?"

One corner of her mouth rose. "Stop talking already."

He chuckled, hooked his talons in the rim of her pants, tugged at them. She rushed to assist him, couldn't be quick enough. Now the decision was made, everything else was filed away; the complacency, the guilt, the fears; leave it all until later. There was only the moment.

Dot shoved Megabyte off her so she might undress quicker until, frustrated by her own idiocy and fueled by impatience, she slammed her fist into her icon. Her outfit dissipated.

She watched the slight widening of his eyes, heard the catch of his breath. “You are beautiful,” his low voice lilted.

The tremor of his baritone, the note of defeat in the face of his desire, the way his scarlet pupils studied her naked body with such care and wonder. Oh how Dot’s loins flared with a wild flush of longing.

Megabyte crawled back toward her, knelt between her legs again and began to run his hands over her body in gentle sweeps. He stroked her shoulders, her breasts, her stomach, her thighs. Admiring, absorbing. Then abruptly his whole aura switched up, intensified from sedate to wild. He dived forward, growled as he drove his nose back into her belly and pressed a line of deep, hungry kisses down her abdomen.

Dot groaned and curled her fingers around his crest whilst his lips slid lower and lower and–

“Megabyte!” she whimpered as he buried his face between her thighs.

He stopped immediately, moved back, arched his brow.

Dot panted, tried to catch her breath. "Why… why did you stop?"

Megabyte smirked darkly. "I apologise. I must have misunderstood you."

They shared a look. Electricity sparked between them. 

Megabyte gripped her thighs, pulled her bodily into him, nuzzled deep into her cleft, feasted on her like a starving animal. She wrapped her legs tightly around his person, moaned, grunted and sighed. She was floating in a dreamscape, free and unattached. Surges of pleasure and thrill coursed across her synapses, whispered against her consciousness; waves lapping against a shore, gentle and steady to start, but then building, becoming stronger, more intense, heralding storm and thunder, monsoon and tsunami. She lost sense of time, of place, of the confines of her own person. There was just him and the way he made her feel.

When release beckoned, she both dreaded and desired it. She gasped loudly, unfettered; pulled him into her, pressed herself against him and heard his deep sensual chuckle in response. He continued to ply her sex until, like a gunshot shattering glass, she cried out his name, crested the wave, and surfed it until she was marooned on an island where only he existed. And where he was all she wanted. 

She panted, insensate, and lay her arm across her face as her mind buffered. She was suffused with a feeling of contentment, both warming and unexpected. As though she had found the piece of a puzzle she had no idea had been missing; as though a need, which she had been totally unaware had been neglected, had been met.

As she came back to herself, she felt Megabyte stroking her thighs with his great talons. He then pressed languorous kisses up her belly before he settled his jaw over her navel and rested there. A chuckle vibrated in his throat.

Unsteadily she raised her head and gave him an accusatory look. 

He appeared most pleased with himself. "I think," he purred sultrily, brazenly, making a show of staring at his fingers as they ran loving lines over her skin, "that you have needed that for some time."

"You're a bastard."

Megabyte chortled. "Yes, I know." 

She gave him an impish look, a fetching smile. “I don’t suppose you could do that again?”

He chuckled, a warm, rich sound. "Well, I could.” He paused, leered. “Or perhaps we could try something else? Strictly business, of course."

Dot smirked. "A partnership, perhaps?"

Megabyte laughed, deep and sensual. He rose up, pressed his nose against hers and Dot seized his mouth, her hands gripping his face. She tasted herself on his lips, forgot the virus and felt only the man. 

He began to climb up and over her, pushing her back with a light pressure, moving to lower himself between her thighs, to engulf her entirely.

She planted her hand on his chest, held him off. "No, stop," she ordered.

And he did. His huge frame wobbled, unbalanced by the sudden halt. He titled his head, appeared a little uncertain. Oh how it gave her joy.

"Don’t you remember?” she admonished. “I’m the one who rides you.”

He grinned and, whilst holding her gaze unblinkingly, made a show of laying himself down by her side and rolling onto his back.

Dot sat up, reached over him. Her hand gripped his shoulder, slid over his chest plates then flowed into the gully between his pectorals; her fingers descended over the shining silver of his belly and pirouetted onto his groin.

He groaned deeply.

She sniffed out a little laugh. "I always wondered about your… hardware,” she teased; touching, grasping, stroking.

"Did you now?" he huskily replied. 

"Yes. Whether you had any."

He sniggered darkly. "Well. I'm pleased you have your answer." 

Megabyte sat himself upright and drew her against him. Her legs parted around his hips, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and, as his long arms crossed behind her back and enveloped her in an embrace, her breasts pressed against his chest.

Dot wasn't sure if she moaned or if it was him. Perhaps both of them, in sync. The strength and force of him, every warped line and shining cable, made her feel strangely possessive, delighted, victorious. 

She curled her fingers around one of the wires behind his crest, clasped it, rubbed it back and forth. How he snarled throatily, a feral grumble of ardour. 

She jerked the cable, yanked his head back again, and rose up on her knees so she could look down into his face.

"See what you are when you take off your mask?” he snarled with delight, “When you unlock your shackles?" 

His voice flowed like liquid silver over her circuits. Salacious, provocative; beholden to her power. She scoffed but, as if in affirmation, ran her tongue up his nose, over his brow, then dragged her teeth across his crown with a grating screech.

He growled and retaliated by raking his fangs along her neck before he bit lightly into her flesh - not enough, not able, to cause pain, but enough to titillate, to inflame. How she moaned and then drove her hips into him, grinding against his erection. 

His grip on her tightened, his desperation increased. He glided his lips across her face, brushed them over her cheeks and mouth. Cables slithered from his wrists, curled around her, cradled her in a sensual embrace.

"We're made for each other," he hissed, high on lust and passion. "We always have been."

It was her turn to laugh. He was coming undone. “Don’t be ridiculous. We had no qualms about deleting each other not so long ago."

"Yes, well… who doesn't enjoy a challenge?"

They locked gazes, a calm amidst a tempest. His eyes conveyed a silent query, a request awaiting permission.

Dot breathed deeply, held his eyes. The way he looked at her made her feel quite as if there was nothing else but the pair of them in the entire system; cut off, isolated, alone.

He slipped his golden talons between her fingers, clasped her hand with an iron grip. And she squeezed his fingers in return. A signal of consent.

He smiled. His cables wrapped around her waist. His body tensed. "Breathe," he growled, implored.

He surged up, drew her down. She embraced him, welcomed him. Where there could be no pain, there came only pleasure, and a joy in this safeguard, a release. To feel him fill her and whimper with pathetic deference was exalting, bracing. 

He is mine. I’ve tamed him. 

They were interlinked, connected, coupled. A fiendish, nonsensical aspiration attained; a gamble won, a sordid fetish fulfilled. There was a thrill in being one with this entrancing monster; the power, the vehemence, the sheer impropriety; unmatched and inconceivable.

Dot slipped her fingers from his, curved her body against him, melded into him; embraced the monster without and within, took ownership of this illicit, rapturous dalliance. She moved her hips, raised herself up, lowered herself down, and growled at the feel of him inside of her, at the animalistic sounds he made. She established their rhythm, led the dance, and he followed like a doting hound.

So let us be animals, if that's what we are. Let us defy reason, if that’s what this is. Let's chase these sensations like hunters, capture and garner them, until they make us burst or beg for mercy.

She rubbed her nose against his, teasing him for a kiss; her lips moved close then darted away whenever he leaned in to meet her. “Break, shatter, be mine, you arrogant bastard,” she lured and enticed. “Desecrate my body. And don't stop until I say it's over."

Megabyte laughed; deep, masculine, raucous; glorious, proud, infatuated. He lowered his great head and pressed his lips to one of her breasts, then to the other; slid his hands up the outside of her thighs, clasped her buttocks, and arced his loins into her more firmly, a prologue to her entreaty, a tantalising precursor, a willing acquiescence. 

“Yes, Ms Matrix.”

Adrift, out of context, alone, their bodies fed off each other; desperate, aching, ravenous. A pledge without forethought, an ecstasy suffused with blight; a virus merging, fusing, mating with a sprite.

Chapter Text

Dot's Diner was a fragmented mess. Furniture and utensils were everywhere, windows and crockery were broken. 

Dot was picking through the rubble whilst her brother, Enzo, collected shattered pieces of plate and tossed them in the trash can. A few binomes, under direction from Cecil, were returning upturned chairs and tables to their original slots.

Suddenly, loud growling and barking could be heard from outside. Everyone freeze-framed.

"That's Frisket," Enzo murmured, his voice low.

Dot grabbed a waylaid bar stool and brandished it like a baseball bat. "If those grunts are back for stage two, I'm ready for them."

But no one came through the door. Getting past Frisket was no mean feat. After a few nanos, however, there was movement at a broken window.

Everyone tensed.

A flash of silver hair and blue complexion relaxed everyone's guard. It was Bob.

There was a collective exhale.

Bob clambered through the window backwards. 

Dot's eyes lingered on him; his calves and glutes were certainly well defined in that uniform. 

She quickly stowed the stool then folded her arms, shifting her weight onto one leg. 

"Ever heard of a door?" she teased as Bob brushed himself off. Her red lips quirked.

He gave her a withering look as, abruptly, his battered zip board tore between them from the direction of the doorway. It was punctured with bite marks.

"Ever heard of a Frisket?" he rejoined.

Dot opened her mouth to reply but was pipped to the post by her brother.  

"Bob!" Enzo squealed. 

He ran at the Guardian and leapt into his arms. 

"We tried to quit-file them, dude!” he twittered, “but it was seriously default. A major surge of goons showed up at the diner and started to completely offline the place!" 

Enzo began to perform an enthusiastic reenactment, kicking and punching with wild abandon - and trampling Bob under his sneakers in the process. 

"I mean blackout, crash, crunch, backslash, delete, trash, log off!"

"Enzo!" Dot cut in.

He paused. "What?" 

"I think Bob gets the picture."

They turned their eyes down and Bob was waylaid on the floor. 

"That's for sure!" the Guardian spluttered.

Enzo sheepishly hopped off Bob whilst Dot shook her head and returned to the task at hand.

"What I want to know is who and why," she grumbled, crouching down and lifting an upturned table.

Bob moved to her side and helped. "It's gotta be Megabyte. He did it to get to me."

Dot's lips tightened into a thin line. Of course. Megabyte. Trust a virus to harm innocents simply to draw out a Guardian. That virus had dug himself in and spread roots with alacrity since his inopportune arrival, tainting Mainframe's levels and servers with his insidious sleaze.

"I'll take care of it," Bob reassured her. "It's my problem."

Stoic heroism wasn't going to work here. "If Megabyte wants something, Bob,” she countered, “It's everybody's problem."

But Bob brush-tooled it off, remaining cool and unperturbed. "I can deal with it."

"But I can't deal with the downtime. Come on, Bob. What is it?"

Bob relented with a sigh and flopped down into a booth. "Megabyte wants some little ‘favour’. He didn't say what."

Cecil sidled in on his rail from above. He gave Bob a scathing look. "Just a little favour, eh? Maybe you should do eet if eet means we can stay online?"

"No way!" Dot interceded quickly with a swing of her arm. "Look, this isn't the super computer. Around here we Mainframers stick together. And when it comes to Megabyte” - She turned her nose up, her tone soured. - “the answer is always no."

Her patrons cheered and let out shouts of agreement: "Here here!" "Copy and paste that!"

Bob raised his hands in supplication. "Okay, okay. No favours for Mr Mega-virus." He pointed down at his feet. "I'm gonna file myself right here to make sure he doesn't trash this place again."

Dot couldn't hide her relief or joy, her expression was beaming. Had that virus done her an inadvertent favour?

Enzo was equally elated. "Can I help Bob, huh? This'll be cool! We'll show him what you Guardians are made of!"

A vidwindow popped open behind Enzo. 

An awkward hush fell across the diner. All eyes were locked on the screen; except for Enzo’s as he continued to yammer, blissfully unaware.

"We'll backslash and cancel his command,” he jabbered on, “I'm not afraid of old mega-breath!"

Enzo then turned and came face-to-face with the image of Megabyte himself. 

The boy’s face desaturated and his mouth popped open like a disc drive. "Bail!" he yelled and ran.

Dot's hands found her hips, she planted her feet, and her expression became hard steel.

From the vidwindow, Megabyte's red eyes scanned the diner. "My, my," he drawled, "what a messy establishment."

Dot squared up to him. "But we're still in business! Why don't you place an order - to go ?"

Megabyte's brow quirked a little. There was a smile in his eyes. "Such hostility," he oiled. "I only want to know if there's anything I can do to help the clean-up effort? Hmm?"

Dot balled her fists. The nerve. What kind of wickedness did it take to taunt them like this, under a veil of civility? What an ASCII.

"You could erase yourself," Enzo quipped from his new hiding place behind Dot. "That would help."

‘ Ha! That's my little brother ’, she thought.

But the insult bounced off the virus like an ineffective shot. "Charming," Megabyte sighed. He fixed his eyes on Bob and his tone accrued gravity. "You know, Bob, all you have to do is input one small favour and I might be able to keep this from happening again." He paused, lounged back in his throne. "No promises, of course."

"Don't concern yourself, Megabyte," Bob countered, "I'm staying right here to make sure nothing else happens." He folded his arms. "I may be the new sprite in town but –"

A loud ring from the sky. A darkening of the stratosphere. Thunder rumbled.

Megabyte looked delighted. "Ah. What a fortunate return of events…"

Warning. Incoming Game.

Warning. Incoming Game.

Dot woke up, opened her eyes, squinted in the light. Her brow furrowed and she groaned. The bed covers were strange, the sound of the atmosphere… well, there was no sound. No hum of traffic or morning chatter. Just a silent nothingness.

Had she not just now been in the diner, watching the sky turn purple? Her muscles were braced; she was ready to rush into a game cube. 

"'When it comes to Megabyte'," she parroted her past self, like a rambling drunk, "'the answer is always no'." 

"Then why say yes?" the deep baritone challenged.

The interference in Dot’s mind cleared. The picture formed. She was online and functioning.

"What?" she replied.

The dog slid up her body, rested his chin on her chest. 

"You were talking in your sleep. You said, and I quote, that 'When it comes to Megabyte'." A pause, a flourish of his golden talons. "That's me, you recall -  'the answer is always no'." 

He smiled his big decadent smile and his red eyes bathed her in their glow. He didn't remind her that last night he'd also said, 'You can say no'. There was no need.

Dot sighed, tilted her head as if to study him from another angle. The image of him in the vidwindow from long ago was shattered by the picture of the ravaged beast on her breast; the monster who had, in another life, ruined her livelihood was now no better than the stray dog that had lain in her diner's doorway, chewing on Bob's zip board. 

In fact he was less than that. He was more akin to a neutered cur, powerless unless she permitted it; leashed, repressed, benign. A low resolution copy of his former self.

She scoffed at these ruminations, slipped a hand under each side of his jaw, then lifted his big, unresisting head. "Things have changed. A dog can't be told no all the time." 

She pouted as if to kiss him, hovered near his lips, let him draw closer, then she sharply withdrew. 

"There are things I need you to do for me," she said shortly.

Megabyte chuckled deep in his throat. "Do go on." 

She felt the expansion of his chest as he took a deep breath, his body pushing against hers.

A curt laugh, a twist of her lip. "Not just those things."

He didn't look cowed. "But of course. No tasks will get completed otherwise." He cocked his head to one side. "And on that note, is it not high time we return to your fellowship?"

"It is. I want to go home."

"Do you still? Truly?" He sniffed out one of his little laughs. "Do you believe they'll accept you after what you have done?"

Dot struck back like a viper. "You're right, it's frowned upon to cavort with dogs."

She expected Megabyte to be amused, but he tensed his jaw, his red eyes flared. A flash of rage beneath the carefully cultivated mask.

She laughed loudly. "Such hostility. And you're right to be angry, of course. You're not a dog. You're less than even a null."

The virus leered. "So petty. And since you possess such a low opinion of me, one wonders why you're here in my bed?"

"Your bed? I’ve decided it’s mine."

His lips parted slowly, his fangs emerging one by one. "The point is moot. What matters is we have, to put it mildly, shared rather intimate data. That you did not tell Megabyte 'no'. In fact you very much said 'yes'."

"The tables have turned. You're in my court now. Don't you see? The virus to who I would once always say no is now a pitiful slave who can only answer me with yes."

His brow quirked then he heaved himself up and sat back on his haunches, appraising her. "Hmm." He rubbed his chin. "Poetic justice indeed. And it's 'to whom', not who."

She gave him a middle finger.

His grin remained. "Well. I do hope your friends and family see your choice in the same light."

"Excuse me, last night you told me my choices were 'none of their business'. So I'll deal with it." She sat up, shifted, crawled on all fours toward him. "And if I was you, I'd be more worried about my own reputation and situation." 

Megabyte’s gazedropped as her hands walked up his thighs; she slithered up his body, left not a pixel of space between them.

His eyes lit up, his grin widened. In his chest, a low purr rumbled.

"Your cycles as a viral dictator," Dot breathed into his face, "are finished."

His tone remained unerringly calm. "Well they have been for some time. Do keep up."

She tried not to let the vacillation, the way he threw her off the scent, show. What did that mean?

"I am quite ready for retirement," Megabyte continued amiably. He leaned away from her and inspected his claws as he was wont to do. "I will make a good pet, I promise. You can teach me to beg and all that."

She laughed coldly. "I wish I could teach you to mute."

"I have no doubt you will find a way."

"Count on it. Anyway, what happened to revenge?"

"Nothing, my dear."

She looked him dead in the eyes. He comfortably returned her stare. And then Dot smiled a private smile. Had she not warned Bob, all those cycles ago, not to attempt to deal with Megabyte alone? Hadn't teamwork always been the Mainframer's mantra? And yet here she was, dealing with Megabyte. Alone.

Do as I say and not as I do.

This wasn't as simple as teaming up to fight off the User in a game. There were only two players here and they were engaged in a long game. They neither could escape one another. The situation was either to be lamented or exploited; a mystery to be solved to be sure, but not yet. For now it was a happenstance to be manipulated.

"We need to get back," she asserted, finally getting up. "We've got files to decrypt."

"Indeed." His eyes raked her. Down then up. "And, if I may be so bold, you do look much brighter today."

The arrogance. It was both astounding and somehow… empowering? "Well I hope so," she rallied icily. "Or else what is the point of you?"

He treated her to another chortle. The tenor however was difficult to discern. "Charming," he sneered.

Chapter Text

The empty boulevard echoed with a discordant symphony of patters and clanks as Dot and Megabyte walked back to headquarters. Unhurried, casual.

When they found themselves back at the entrance, Megabyte stopped short then cocked his head in Dot's direction. He bowed slightly and swept open his hand. After you.

Dot rolled her eyes, blew a raspberry. "Save me." She marched ahead.

His amusement was tangible. He closely trailed her, his breaths brushing the back of her neck in steady bursts. How her skin prickled. She felt an ache, a whim to abruptly stop. She swiped the notion away.

They rounded a corner and passed through another doorway - Megabyte had to dip under it - before they were greeted by the diorama of Windows bent over a clutter of files and folders on a desk. They stopped, side by side, in perfect unison.

The binome made a perfunctory glance up. His pupil moved between them, a school teacher appraising late arrivals. "Finally," he jibed. "We nearly started a search function. I hope your exploration was fruitful?"

Megabyte's laugh was instantaneous and hearty.

Dot rotated on her toes and pointed a finger in his face. "Quit file already!"

His lips curled in a slow, lackadaisical motion. He folded his arms and reclined against the nearest wall. His eyes were alight with a wicked sparkle.

Dot shook her head and returned her focus to Windows. "There's a lot of impressive infrastructure here," she rambled.

Megabyte made another low snigger. Dot tutted and rolled her eyes.

Windows's gaze again sidled between her and the virus; slow, accusatory and exasperated. "What you two do together in private browsers is your affair," he remarked bluntly, "But please keep business and pleasure in their own directories. We are in a vulnerable position, have lots to do, and shouldn't delay the task any further."

Dot gaped like a fish.

Megabyte was quicker. "A bold reprimand,” he shot back, “Particularly coming from a binome whose eye transmutes into a little heart icon whenever he rides pillion with his - hm, what shall we call her? - ‘special friend’?"

Windows's face burned crimson and he looked away.

Dot shook her head. She may as well be caught between Enzo and one of his friends having a TIFF. "Are we done?" she interceded brusquely.

Windows said nothing. Megabyte remained still and mute.

"So. The Fellowship," Dot asked Windows. "All well rested?"

Windows flashed Dot a quick smile. “Yes thank you,” was his short response. He then returned his focus to the desk and its copious folders and documents. He blew a coating of dust off one and tried to read its filename.

A tense silence ensued. Megabyte sighed.

Dot folded her arms. "Has something happened?" she pressed.

"Oh, nothing has happened," Windows retorted, planting his little hands on the desk and rising up on his tiptoes, "Because the creature-” He indicated Megabyte with a firm nod of his head “- that might have created a 'happening' wasn't here. Though I'm sure it was making things 'happen' elsewhere."

Dot was almost impressed. 'Wow, burned again' . 

But Megabyte was no longer in sync. His jocular air evaporated and he seemed to change masks like his sister was once wont to do, his entire demeanour switching up. "You are fortunate that I am tightly leashed by Ms Matrix at present," he snarled, "or I may be ripping you apart pixel by pixel right now."

"Stop it!" Dot thundered at him.

Megabyte gave her a side eye. She glared right back. The very air freeze-framed; a stalemate. Then, finally, the corner of his mouth quirked. “Hmph,” he chuckled as his fangs hooked over his lip and pressed into his own flesh. His frame softened, he stepped back and averted his gaze.

Dot blinked, backspaced a pixel. What was that?

Windows broke her code-chain of thought by hopping away from the desk and tottering in front of her. "Is your virus ready to work?" he asked, his hands alighting on his square hips.

Dot didn't hesitate. "Yes he is."

Windows nodded and left the room.

Dot began to follow. She was surprised at the lack of pithy commentary from Megabyte; she’d expected a diatribe on being given no agency in her decision. Instead he had remained mute.

What he did instead was sneak behind her. His body melded against hers, his talons curled around her biceps like golden rerebraces. She felt the press of his pelvis against her backside, the cool hardness of him docking into the curve of her spine as though he were made to fit with her perfectly.

"If you were wondering at my submission," he purred into her ear, voice deep and viscous, "And I know that you were - I was arrested by a sudden pop-up in my mind." 

He rose a single talon, the point alighting on her temple before gliding back into her ebony tresses.

"The image of you bent over his desk."

He raked his teeth against her nape, exhaled over her skin, then released her, slinking past without a second glance.

Dot reached for her neck, fingertips tingling, hunting for the fading traces left by his fangs; ghostly tendrils of provocation and lust. Her belly pixelated. She tried to compress the strange fusion of hunger and hostility. "ASCII," she muttered.

As she marched into the next room, Megabyte's dulcet baritone washed over her again, resonating against the walls. "The security has held?" he asked.

"Security? You mean the dogs?" Windows responded. "Yes, they appear to have kept us safe."

"I had no doubts."

"Then why ask?"

"Polite conversation, you heathen."

Dot drove herself between the two of them and pointed a finger in Megabyte's face once more. "Don't make me tie you up outside."

He swung his big head down and locked eyes with her. "Oh please do."

She smirked and shoved his face away. She turned to Windows. "Your desk was covered in folders and files. Find anything useful?"

"I thought you'd notice," he nodded approvingly. "I have bookmarked a few for future study but, until we regain power, it makes no difference. I cannot open them.” He shrugged. “Our priority is still accessing the data your virus stole."

"I do have a name," Megabyte sallied in the background, "if you'd deign to use it."

No one did.

"He's found a compatible device to read the files," Dot continued, "But they’re encrypted."

Windows blinked. "Well of course they are. This is Cloud One."

Dot’s shoulders sagged. "I don't suppose you know where the keys might be kept for such documents?"

"With the Admin or one of their adjuncts, I dare say. We will never get them. Especially not now. We won't be able to get back into the Tower again.."

"Such negativity," Megabyte commented. He was walking up the wall on all fours. Neither of them noticed.

Windows rubbed his hand below his mouth. "Hmm," he pondered before he moved to another doorway, leaned out and shouted, "Jay!"

A patter of small binome feet could be heard racing up the steps from the basement. With a stylish skid, Jay Pegg then entered the room. 

"You pinged?" she called.

"Yes. Pause a nano." Windows turned back to Dot. "Jay's a dab hand at fixing things. She may well be able to deconstruct them, too?"

"Decrypt the files, you mean?" Dot sucked through her teeth, crossed her arms. "Well it's worth a try. And I can do my best to help." She whipped her hand out and clicked her fingers in what she thought was Megabyte's direction but he wasn't there. She cast her eyes immediately upwards. He was sitting cross-legged on the ceiling. 

"Hey! Get down and show Jay the console you need. We need to get processing."

Megabyte exhaled heavily as though the request was insurmountable before he slowly unfolded onto his feet. He marched across the ceiling - stomp, stomp, stomp - then did an impressive and frankly bizarre leap and twist down so he somehow landed right way up on his feet. 

"Well, follow me," he murmured, leading the way out the room and down into the basement.

The console he picked out looked the same as any other. Dot and Jay watched Megabyte plug his cables into the unit and give it charge. The screen lit up, frosting the room with a tepid, blue glow.

"I'm amazed he found a compatible terminal," Jay chattered. "This zone's operating system is ancient."

"You think so?" Dot replied.

"Well, from what I can decipher. Which is admittedly limited since we have no power." She laughed nervously. “I could be wrong.”

"Hmm." Dot tapped her foot, watching Megabyte's every move, every breath, every blink. 

"Lucky you've got a walking power unit with you," Jay chattered.

Dot snorted. "I guess he is that."

Megabyte was focused intensely on the screen. Small lines of text came and went. Suddenly, he froze; his pupils shrunk to tiny pinpricks and he jerked his head up. A low growl thrummed in the depths of his throat.

A series of loud bangs came from upstairs, footsteps pounding and scuffling across the floorboards - thud, thud, THUD ! 

Next came Windows's unmistakable squeal followed by a cacophonous crash and Windows came tumbling down the stairs, legs and arms flailing. He was closely followed by a wolf, which rolled over and over then landed on top of Windows in a heap.

Dot rushed over, dropped to her knees, grasped the animal by its haunches, and heaved it off. Her brow furrowed - there was something in the creature’s jaws.

Jay was with her now and took hold of Windows’s arms, dragging him away. "Are you okay?" she gasped.

Windows’s head wove around unsteadily before his line of sight bounced from Jay to Dot and finally to the wolf. "I - I think so," he stuttered.

"Any links broken?" Dot asked.

Windows looked himself up and down as if he wasn't entirely sure. He counted each limb off. Then he slowly shook his head.

Dot sighed and eyed the waylaid wolf. It was clear now that it was the beige corner of a folder sticking out of its teeth.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Jay asked.

“It came flying out of nowhere,” Windows squeaked, waving a hand at the crumpled dog. “Run-timed over my desk. Extracted the data out of me! I… I panicked and backspaced.”

The zip of Megabyte's cables could be heard as they shot back into his body, killing the console screen. The room went dim; only a vapid teal glow remained. Clank, clank, clank went his feet as he slowly prowled over.

Dot gave him an accusatory look, eyes flashing in the dark. “You control these wolves. What function are they following? What are you trying to pull?”

Megabyte showed no sign that he’d heard her. He sauntered straight past. His claws flew, swept the dog up, and dangled it in front of his face like a speared fish. 

Left to right he tilted his head, a predator studying a kill; his pupils constricted, eyes narrowed and lips peeled back, baring his fangs.

Dot, Windows and Jay were all mesmerised and couldn't look away.

The virus swept his other hand up in a large arc, placed his palm on the wolf's head, and closed his eyes.

The wolf whined and squealed, then began to judder, as though it was malfunctioning, about to crash. It released the folder in its mouth and it clattered to the floor.

Megabyte let the wolf fall - thud it went as it once again hit the ground. He then slung a cable at the folder and zipped it back to his hand. He ran his nose across the brim and inhaled…

But Dot spotted something. Apart from being locked with a hefty zip, there was a flash of red on the beige surface. "Hey short circuit, there's something written on it."

Megabyte paused and zoomed out. Crudely scribbled on the folder in red paint were two large words. He read them, blinked slowly, and made a pensive grunt. 

"Do you want some help?" Dot jibed.

Megabyte's eyes slid onto her with a slick jolt. He said nothing then, with a whip of his wrist, tossed the folder to her. 

Dot caught it neatly in her fingers, threw him a curt smile, and held it at arm’s length. She squinted in the gloom, frowning, and her mouth twisted. “‘They breed’?” she read aloud.

Her stomach dropped. She refused to check in with Megabyte and turned to Windows instead. The binome was making no move to get up.

“Does this mean anything to you?” she asked, waving the folder at him.

Windows's lips moved in silence as he framed the words, his brow furrowing. “I’m afraid not.” His eye then rolled back onto the wolf. “Where did the dog get it? Why did it bring it here?”

Dot gave Megabyte another glare. “Megabreath, I need answers. Where are your dogs roaming exactly?”

The virus sighed theatrically. “My awareness is not all and everywhere. Forgive my lack of omniscience.”

“Useless,” Dot muttered. She gave the folder another look then tossed it onto an empty desk. 

Jay's eye didn't leave the folder, eyeing it like a ticking time bomb. “Should we try to open it?” she suggested.

“I’d rather not," Windows asserted. "Who knows what’s inside?”

“Agreed,” Dot chimed. “Until we get a better idea of its source and intent, we stick to managing our own tasks. File it under 'suspicious' and we'll come back to it later.”

Her eyes were drawn back to Megabyte. His face was now plastered with one of his infernal grins. A spectator at a theatre show.

“Fix your typeface!” she snapped.

“Do give me a suggestion. Comic sans?”

“Log off. What's so funny?"

"Am I laughing out loud?"

"You may as well be."

He snorted then lurched back toward the folder in a couple of lazy strides, big arms swinging. He bent over the desk and sniffed at it again like a hound on a scent, pressing his nose down, sliding and swerving.

Dot rose her lip. "What are you doing?"

He remained with his nose fixed to the folder but threw her a wink as though sharing a secret. Something about the way he moved, the way his face wove and danced… She shifted her weight from one leg to the other; tried to extinguish the nauseous yet enticing spark alight in her gut.

At length, Megabyte straightened up and stretched. His plates and joints snapped and clanged. "We should open it," he elected bluntly.

Dot was in front of him, arms crossed, before she even realised it. "Did you not process a word I said? No! We have other priorities. It might be a trap."

“Indeed,” Megabyte agreed. "It might be."

Dot eyed him up. “Look, I understand that you used to walk into every trap going so it's probably become a compulsion…”

He laughed and flexed his aureate claws. “You are being a little unfair. I wouldn't say I sprang every trap set for me.” He rapidly curled his fingers into a fist with a screeching clunk. "But as I am undeniably an expert in both the springing and setting of traps, perhaps trust me in this endeavour?"

"No! What we need is to access those encrypted files, not bring the User-knows-what down on us by opening a mysterious attachment!"

"Calm down," he smirked before he picked the folder up and held it against his chest like a name sign. The crudely written words glared out like an animated gif. "'They breed'," Megabyte parroted with a grin.

Dot gave him a middle finger.

Megabyte sniggered then chucked her under the chin as though she was an amusingly ignorant child. "Someone is warning us," he explained smoothly, "To what end, I do not know. It may be that we have a friend on the other side. Or perhaps a gambling foe."

"What do you mean?"

He lifted the folder again, slid a talon across the ziplock and severed the seal.

"Wait, stop!" Dot yelled. Windows and Jay gasped and scarpered backwards.

He emptied the contents all over the desk. There were several tinkles and thumps. Then there was complete silence. An empty cave. A hollow tomb. A held breath.

Megabyte scanned the items, eyes darting here and there. He made a little chortle of approval and his lips quirked. "Look, Ms Matrix. Here are the keys we need."

Dot held his eyes and swallowed. A tremble ran through her body. She hugged herself, tapped her fingers vigorously against her arms. "Well," she replied. "How convenient.”

Chapter Text

Tap tap tap . Dot’s fingers danced over the keyboard, nimble and swift. Her eyes reflected the blue glow of the screen. She sat perfectly straight in a chair in front of the console monitor. Megabyte loomed behind her like a bad dream in the dark basement. His cables were plugged into the unit.

“How long can you power this thing for?” she asked absentmindedly.

“Until I pass out, I suppose.”

“Well don't.”

There was a thump from upstairs. “Oh great Norton's ghost, are you ok?” Java’s voice followed, muffled through the floorboards.

Megabyte angled his face up to the ceiling. “What in the blazes did you task them with again?” he asked.

“To move things around, clear things out, clean up. Tidy home, tidy mind.”

He blinked. “Hm. It keeps idle digits busy, I suppose.”

“That's the point, genius.”

His lips quirked.

Tap tap tap.

“What did you smell on the folder, by the way?” she pressed. “What made you so confident that a bomb, or a remove function, or something wasn't going to drop out?”

“I appreciate we are on more intimate terms, but that doesn't give you free access to my - what shall we call it? Personal data?”

Dot inwardly rolled her eyes . “Well there’s still a chance these ‘keys’ might corrupt your files so we can't even read them,” she countered in a strained singsong voice. “Let’s think like a virus.”

Megabyte scoffed. “Such negativity. And there’s only one of us qualified to think like a virus, let me remind you.” He raised a claw to his neck, scratched an itch. 

The squeaking sound made Dot grind her teeth.

“Tell me,” he chatted on idly. “Why didn't you stop me?"

She didn't reply immediately, queueing the task. Her fingers typed on. Then she hit the return key and paused. “Stop you?” she asked.

She felt the air move, the pressure change. Megabyte lowered his head. It hovered just above hers.

“From opening the folder, dear. Are you lagging?”

Dot jabbed an elbow backward without looking. It clanged uselessly against his thigh. She then heaved a sigh and sunk in her seat. “This is tedious. Figuring out which of these keys is for which file, trial and error… Basic stuff.” She ran a hand back through her hair.

“Then why not delegate?”

“And put the others at risk? No way.”

He chuckled. “Control freak.”

Her jaw dropped. “Great User, look who’s talking!”

He laughed deep in his belly. “Do not evade my question.”

“I’m not. I had no time to stop you.”

“No time? Did you forget something?”

“Forget?”

“Yes. How to call your dog?”

Of course . “Alright, sassy-ASCII.”

Megabyte was silent but she could feel his smirk.

“It still doesn't make sense,” she bemoaned, opening her hands to the screen. “This has to be a trap.”

"So you keep saying," Megabyte sighed. He sounded bored.

She arched her head over the back of the chair and stared up the great escarpment of his chest at his big head. 

He angled his eyes down, chin resting on his breast, and grinned.

"Why are you so blasé about this?" she grumbled.

He lowered his head until the tip of his nose brushed her brow. "Intuition.” A susurration, a verbal caress.

“Tch,” she grunted, swatting his nose away like a fly. She flipped her head back forward. "Frag you and your intuition. It's a trap. No one would give us these keys for nothing."

"Why ever not?” 

The tip of his claw touched her hair then ran down it in a wavy line to the nape of her neck. She ignored it. 

“There may be sympathisers at large who wish to support the Fellowship's endeavours,” Megabyte continued. “Subversively. I know how these things work. I've dealt with freedom fighters, you may recall."

“Perhaps you've just set this whole thing up.” 

She hardly realised she'd spoken the words aloud. A passing thought, a grim realisation.

He barked a laugh at this. “Alas, if only I could take such credit.”

She harrumphed tetchily. Stared at the screen. Her voice dropped. “You don’t think it was about us? The message?”

“‘They breed’?” He chortled again. “You are terrified that we have been observed, aren’t you?”

“I am not finding the thought very reassuring.”

He shrugged. “Surely a screengrab, a movie file, would have been a better threat to send? It's what I would have done.”

She wrinkled her nose. Of course you would . “Perhaps,” she grudgingly replied.

“And if the message is about our, aha, data sharing, do not take the bait. Forget your shame and wear your choices like a shield, then none of it can hurt you.”

“You’re insufferable. Perhaps these keys will contain a nasty bug that will creep up your cables and finish you off…” She walked her fingers up one of his cables and flicked at it. Her nail made a low, sonorous sound against the metal.

His hearty laugh thundered again. “Well. Stranger things have happened, of course.” He cleared his throat then bowed over her, tapping the screen with his claw. Clink clink. “You are aware I'm expending my energy whilst you sit there idling? Are you planning on continuing, or are you just going to simmer in your own vitriol?”

“You want vitriol? I’m not even warmed up.”

“I quite believe it.”

She sighed but nevertheless returned her fingertips to the keyboard and her gaze to the monitor. 

The screen flickered as she dropped in different keys in succession. Access denied, access denied, access denied . Then finally she found the one she needed. Access granted.

“Alright we're in!” Dot whooped despite her reservations. “Let’s see if this is what it's meant to be.”

“Blueprints I trust,” the virus muttered.

It was. And copious ones. Dot cycled through the schematics, trying to discern something familiar. The wall, the Admin’s tower, their ‘dead zone’? The language was old.

“Wait,” Megabyte snapped suddenly.

She stopped scrolling and squinted. "What?"

“Did you not see it?"

"No, what was it?"

"Why should I spoon feed you? You were a command.com."

"What’s the point of you, you absolute data dump?"

He made a theatrical sigh then lay his hands over hers, talons curling, encompassing her fingers. He guided her in scrolling and zooming around the screen. He slid his head down next to hers, his jaw against her cheek.

She felt her breath catch. Why now? She turned her head slightly. Her nose slipped into a hollow in his cheek. He turned his head in toward her, until his nose touched hers.

She opened her mouth, hesitated. Do I want to kiss him? Or bite him?  

“Get on with it,” she snarled.

“With the task? Or with you?” he sallied then turned back to face the monitor. 

She pursed her lip before her eyes followed his. 

He lifted a hand. Clink, clink went his claw against the glass again. “There, look closely.”

She squinted. Followed his claw tip. “A… port?”

“Quite. And an extensive one.”

A way out.

Dot shoved his finger out the way, lurched forward and practically pressed her nose against the monitor. “Can you zoom out again?”

“Yes, dear.”

She deigned not to acknowledge his mocking familiarity. Her command.com mantel had reasserted itself. She was back in business.

“Scroll right. No, stop, back left. Oh, for the User's sake, get off me and let me do it.” She shouldered his arms away - or rather he let her - and took back control of the keyboard. Tap tap tap went the keys; left and right whizzed the cursor. 

Megabyte did not interrupt her.

At length she slowed, faltered. She sat back and tapped her lip.

“What are your thoughts?” Megabyte asked.

“This data is obsolete.” She paused again, pondered, then pushed the chair away from the desk and shot to her feet. “We should get the others to look at it. Besides, that's just one of several files you downloaded, right? Maybe there are more up to date versions? These are probably archival.”

“Well, imagine that. Pulling archival files from their archives,” Megabyte sassed.

“Oh ho ho, what a comedian,” she rejoindered. She glared at his cables which formed a loose barrier each side of the chair. “Do you mind?”

With a snap, he withdrew his cables from the console. The screen died and the room dropped into darkness. The red and teal glow of his eyes and chest picked out her outline and his.

“I need to replenish my stores before I continue to offer myself up for charity endeavours,” he said plainly.

She smirked. “Oh was that hard work?”

“Hardly. But it would not do to work oneself to point of erasure”

“Shame.” She stepped into him, so her chin almost rested on his chest. “Well, please don't eat Windows.”

He sneered. A look of disgust. “Nothing could possibly tempt me.” 

“Pity I can’t offer you the fastest food in Mainframe any more. Maybe Windows has more sachets.”

She tapped a tune on his belly.

“Well. I never quite understood the obsession with ‘fast’.”

She watched his expression carefully. His mouth opened, lips curled deftly into a smile.

She smirked. “I've got a thing for speed. I doubt you could keep up.”

He laughed pleasantly, lowered his head as though he might kiss her. His hands wrapped around her waist, pulled her hips into his. “Keep what up?” he grinned.

Slam . Light flooded down the stairs from above as the basement door opened. It was easy to forget it was daytime up there.

“Dot!” trilled Jay Pegg. “I think we're all finished!”

She sighed then pushed Megabyte's head away and moved to the stairs.

Megabyte’s eyes followed her. She could feel them on her back.

“We'll carry on later,” she called back to him.

“Very good, Ms Matrix,” he replied.

“Make sure you’re ready.”

“I will, Ms Matrix.”

“You’d better be.”

Chapter Text

In the claret, velvet darkness, she swung back and forth, kicking her heels. She was riding a giant pendulum. With one hand gripping the stem, she leaned back and let the other hand fly. Raucous laughter pealed from her mouth. “WHEEE!!”

“Hexadecimal,” Megabyte murmured.

“Tick tock tick tock,” she began to trill. Every syllable rattled around the innards of his mind, little frantic mice trapped in a burning cage.

He found he couldn't move. He couldn't even perceive himself. Where was he? Was this real, or just fantasy?

“What has hands but cannot clap?” Hexadecimal called. Her expression was unbridled joy, her mouth agape, eyes bright green.

He didn't miss a beat. “A clock, of course.”

Hex’s face turned, slowly, akin to a possessed doll in a horror game. The fine curve of her ivory cheeks caught brilliant light in the gloom. Then in a flash, her face changed. A gaping smile, a raucous visage, had been donned, the eyes alight with fire. 

“Ding ding! Well done, brother.”

Bang! With a flash she was now she was in front of him, her mask unerringly neutral, her eyes vapid blue.

“Now answer me this.” She put a hand to her chin, affecting an aura of deep ponderance. “What is easy to make but impossible to forever keep?”

Megabyte opened his mouth but had nothing to say. Why did he have no immediate answer? His mind buffered. Rapid images, ideas, notions flickered through his head. A promise? A secret? A leap of faith?

“Oh dear,” Hex chortled. “The genius is thwarted. You are not thinking literally enough.”

Megabyte snorted. “How can you presume to know what I am thinking?”

Her expression glitched and was now a smug smirk, possessed of a single raised brow. Her voice became deep and viscous. “Because I'm inside your head.” She tapped her brow for good measure. Clink, clink.

The red rage descended, a deluge before his eyes, intense and violent. No, not in that inner sanctum, those sacred halls, that hallowed nave! 

“Get out!!” he thundered, fangs flashing.

But the vision was fading, swallowed bit by bit by inky blackness, until there was nothing but the husk of Hexadecimal’s chuckle echoing in a void. “Oh I'm not hanging around any longer than necessary… but I'll be back. Rest assured.”

He woke with a start. He did not blink. He stared, unseeing, eyes unfocused. He breathed; in, out, in, out. He moved his claws, the tips flexing.

“Dot?” he uttered. His voice sounded strange. Weak, pathetic. Was she there? Or had she never been? Surely that hadn't been fabricated? Cloud One and all its baggage? 

But what if it had been a turbulent dream, a searing nightmare? A farce of Hex's making?

He silenced the inner monologue. Enough . His thoughts were breeding like incalcitrant rats. 

Dot’s face appeared. It took him a moment to understand his orientation.

“About time. I told you to be ready!” she grumbled.

He breathed again. Slowly. “Am I on the floor?”

“Not the best place for a nap,” she scoffed.

He pushed himself up. Looked around as though he couldn’t process what had happened. It was dark but his eyes adjusted quickly and picked out the desks, the monitors, the consoles. Ah, yes. This was the basement. 

“Hmm.”

“Did you pass out?”

“Dot,” he asked as though he hadn’t heard her, “Do you know what is easy to make but impossible to forever keep?”

“What are you talking about? Maybe you did get a bug…”

She held out her hand to him. He looked at it like he’d never seen a hand before. Head weaving, eyes fixated.

“Come on. You’re no use to me offline.”

He slowly raised one hand and his talons wrapped around her fingers, her wrist, and most of her arm. Ridiculous, she couldn’t pull him up, why was she trying?

But when she heaved, he followed like an obedient puppet. He was on his feet, towering over her.

He released her hand and blinked stupidly again.

“Have you frazzled your circuits?” she said, folding her arms.

“No,” he replied quietly. “I was talking to Hexadecimal.”

“What? She’s not here. She’s gone.”

He laughed at her. Deep, cold, maniacal. He saw the flicker of her expression, a frown of uncertainty, a wrinkle of her lip, a flinch at the aura of madness.

“Oh my dear Dot. Gone? Whatever made you think that?”

Chapter Text

Teal and red eyes scanned the city beyond the chain link fence, roving. A possessed dog, a bewitched wolf, a fell creature walked, steady, calm, obedient. Pad, pad stepped its careful feet. It sniffed at the air, flicked its ears back and forth; hunted passively.

What had the dog been before this? What was its purpose? Its genesis?

There had been other eras, epochs. Other cities, former versions. Other times and places. People and things. Viruses and bugs. Games and programs. But the hounds had remained constant. The dogs had never judged, nor held opinion or bias. They witnessed actions and their consequences, but had no desire to label any of it for good or ill. They did not think, merely acted. They had their code and followed it.

But now they were compromised. Now they served Megabyte.

The single dog followed the fenceline, quartering each section, pixel by pixel, with nose, ears and eyes. When finding nothing, it moved on, and smoothly exchanged places with another of its brethren, who would be coming from the other way, and the process would repeat. Here was an endless, mindless patrol, an army of pedants, error checking one-another's work, a constant stream, eddying and flowing, to and fro. Every audit might yield a potential error. Maybe a new process would be initiated. Maybe this section would yield an action. Perhaps there would come a new consequence. Or maybe something utterly random would occur.

"Oyez, oyez!"

The dog's ears swivelled, pinpointed the sound. Its head then followed, turning, red eyes glaring through the jagged links of the chain fence. 

From the dark alleys of Cloud One came a Television. It carried a megaphone. Its body was painted red with gold trim. On top of its head, covering its antenna, was a tricorn. A moustache crowned its mouth. Tap tap went its buckled shoes as it marched over.

It halted directly beside the fence and stared straight into the possessed eyes of the dog. The Television's expression was stern, fearless, its lip pursed.

Next to the Television opened a vidwindow; pictured in it was a swinging golden bell. It rang: Ding-dong ding-dong . Then the vidwindow closed.

The Television coughed, cleared its throat, then put the megaphone to its mouth. 

" Oyez, oyez! " it thundered straight at the dog, its voice amplified tenfold and sending shock waves through the fence.

The wolf crumpled, ears flattening to its head, and it let out a howl of agony. 

Through the pack the distress call ran, circuits overloading, sparking, synapses transmitting, firing in a brutal torrent back to the king.

The soft murmur of paper sliding against paper filled the room. Dot and Jay had pulled a couple of chairs up to a desk in one of the upstairs rooms and were shuffling and passing the stash of eCards between them. They studied the images, read the captions and searched for clues. Anything potentially useful was piled in an out tray on their desk whilst a large waste paper basket was filling up on the floor behind them with rejections.

"Ooh, all inclusive meals," Jay remarked, gazing longingly at the mouthwatering food laid out on her next eCard.

"Shame you can't download that one," Dot lamented. Even the eCard might taste better than the sachets they were currently subsisting on. "How are you guys doing for rations?"

Jay made a little sigh, placing the food eCard in the waste basket. "We are running low," she replied solemnly.

Dot nodded. There could be no doubt that time was the largest issue at hand. Everything would be for nothing if they sparked out now due to lack of energy.

In the background, a sombre and discordant melody was playing, less a tune and more an annoying audio disturbance. Megabyte was lazily strumming the strings of his guitar. He had installed himself in the corner of the room and was balanced, quite comically, on a stool that was far too small for him, guitar cradled in his lap. His expression was vacant, his eyes unfocused, as though his RAM was over-occupied.

Dot's eyes moved to him and she tapped an eCard impishly against her lip. With a quick flick of her wrist, she sent it spinning in Megabyte's direction. 

It ricocheted perfectly off his crest with a high-pitched ping .

Megabyte's claws jerked awkwardly against the guitar strings and there was a loud, wobbly 'twang' . Blinking, he looked down at a snapped string. He grumbled under his breath and his gaze shifted onto Dot, red pupils moving slowly like leaden weights. He said nothing.

“If you have to make so much noise," Dot sniped, "Can you at least play something more uplifting?"

He lifted the guitar to show her the broken string."Well not now, no thanks to you."

Dot raised a hand to her mouth in mock horror. "Oh no," she gasped stiltedly. "What a great shame."

Megabyte's lip curled and he bared his fangs.

She flashed him another false smile. "You've been suspiciously quiet."

“I am mulling things over. Is that permissable?”

“Do you want to share your thoughts?”

“Not particularly.”

Dot blinked and glared. She placed her splayed hands flat on the desk, pushed herself to her feet, then marched over. When she reached him, she folded her arms and shifted her weight onto one hip.

Megabyte thrummed the remaining intact guitar strings whilst the corner of his mouth quirked and he fixed her with a goading glare. “Oh are you going to make me ?” He slapped his palm against the body of the guitar, silencing it abruptly. His eyes were an open invitation, a dare.

Dot half-smiled in return, but it lacked any levity. “I could ,” she rallied cooly.

Megabyte smirked, emitting a low chuckle, then turned his eyes back downwards. “You're quite the dictator. Power suits you. But we already knew that." He took a deep breath, his chest expanding, then straightened himself up, arched his head back and began to swing on his tiny stool. "Do you recall the time, back in Mainframe, many cycles ago, when I accessed the Principal Office by impersonating a system upgrade?" He fixed Dot with a strangely drunken look and raised his brow again. "I had some success, and we all had some fun, did we not?"

Dot remembered perfectly well. "Fun? You nearly erased me."

"Ha. Yes I did, didn't I? Nothing personal, you understand." He appeared to pause and buffer a moment then cleared his throat and continued, "But good old Bob lured me into a portal room, which turned out to be a virus incinerator. Clever boy.” His look intensified. “Alas I would not go quietly. I initiated a self-destruction sequence. If I had to die then the entire system would come with me. But Bob bottled it and set me free.” He made a sharp laugh. “Poor Bob. Inadvertently saving my life again. Oh those were the seconds, were they not?”

“Bob had no choice," she scoffed acidly. "And what's even your point? Getting nostalgic for all of those overly dramatic near-death scenarios you rendered for yourself? Thinking about copy-and-pasting those old habits?”

His red pupils remained fixed on her but flared with a slightly manic light. “No, no. I would simply like to remind you, in a roundabout way, that you can threaten to make me do your bidding, to come when called, to grovel at your feet, but have no doubt that I do not fear suicide if there is no other viable alternative for me.” His fingers rapped against his guitar again - one, two, three, one, two, three . "Call my bluff. I dare you."

Dot held his gaze, her lips twisting. "Wow. Was the sex that bad?"

He laughed again, but it was thick and heady, infused with decadence and filth. "It was excellent, Ms Matrix. If I have nothing else, I at least have some bedsport to keep my, ah, morale up." His lips formed into a smarmy grin.

She rolled her eyes. "Not if you wear that face you won't." She paused. "Does this brooding have anything to do with Hexadecimal?"

His smirk froze. "That was just a dream."

"Liar. You told me she wasn't gone."

He snaked his head in her direction, like a predator honing in on a scent. "Well she is not gone."

"Then where is she?" Dot opened her arms and looked around theatrically.

"I fear that is not an easy question to answer."

"How convenient for you."

He snickered. "Quite." And strummed the remaining guitar strings again.

The sight and sound of the guitar made Dot see red. Rage thundered through her and she shot her hand out, grabbed the neck of the instrument and wrenched. It came clean out of Megabyte's hands. She nearly fell back with the force.

The way Megabyte's eyes widened for a nano was all the response she needed. But he composed himself quickly, reset his expression to default, and snatched the guitar easily back. "Excuse me," he grumbled. "Quite rude."

Dot pulled a face at him but then looked down at her hands. Perhaps she was stronger than she thought? Or maybe he was simply weaker than he used to be? That was a somewhat promising notion.

And on that note…

"Don't you think it's time you got back to work?"

"Oh Dot, be gentle with me. I'm still feeling rather faint."

"Shut down. You're balanced on a tiny stool playing a guitar!"

He gave her a self-satisfied smile. "It is part of my recovery, darling."

She gave him a middle finger before pointing downwards in the general direction of the basement. "Get processing! Some of us are starving and we don't have time to waste."

His smile lingered like a noxious substance. "But perhaps I have time to waste. You and your binomes may starve, run out of energy, peter out. But I'll survive. I have dozens of dogs."

"One nano you're spouting suicide, the next you're the last one standing. Get your code in order."

He continued to smirk. "I'm merely an opportunist. All viruses are."

"And you're making yourself sound more and more like a suspect."

"Well it would not do to become complacent. We are mortal enemies, after all." He flashed her a wide, unctuous grin before turning his head down and busying himself with repairing the guitar. "Besides," he continued in a low, distracted voice, his claws tinkling against the instrument, "you are welcome to share my food source. I'll extend some charity to you, in honour of our new-found intimacy."

"I'd rather starve."

"Oh how hot and cold you blow," he murmured in a low sing-song voice. He loosened the damaged guitar string and carefully unpicked the bridge pin.

"Does your drive to protect me not run to keeping me well fed?" Dot demanded. She prodded him to make him pay attention. "It should do."

He paused in his ministrations and fixed her with one of his exasperated gazes, exhaling loudly through his nose. "Oh now I'm to become your server ?"

"You already are my server. So serve me."

He made a dry little chuckle. "Not right now, Ms Matrix. I don't have the strength."

She groaned loudly and pulled at her hair. "Ugh! Being trapped with you is nothing but torture. What have I done to deserve this?"

"Married the wrong Bob?" He grinned nastily.

Her eyes shot daggers and she reached for the pistols at each hip. They slid into her hands easily like old friends and she whipped them up and pointed the muzzles at his face. "Say that again, you blue tin bastard."

Megabyte shimmied the guns aside with a few little prods of his claws. "Well, we may not be bound by vows but we are bound nevertheless, wouldn't you agree?"

She huffed and shoved the pistols away again. She couldn't argue with that.

He tactfully changed the topic. "You have been quite busy perusing eCards, it appears. Find anything useful?"

"Not unless you want to know about the amazing resolution of Seven Megapixel Beach?" she sassed.

"Not particularly." He cleared his throat. "I confess I -"

But he silenced imminently and his pupils shrunk to tiny red specks. 

Dot's brow creased.

Megabyte swung his head round like a dog hearing a silent whistle. The guitar fell from his hands, hitting the floor with a rattle. He slid off the stool and sank onto all fours. His body tensed, his toes flexed, and his claws rapped against the floor. Tap tap tap .

Dot took a step back and watched him closely as he leaned back, an arrow nocked in a string, before - bang - he flung himself away, lolloping out of the room and down the stairs in a strange, unwieldy canter.

"Shall I follow him?" piped up Jay. 

Dot jumped, having completely forgotten that Jay was even in the room. Her cheeks flushed pink as she realised what she'd been saying in front of her. Cursors .

"Oh. No," Dot stuttered. "If he's not back sharpish, I'll hit his return key."

Jay averted her eye and nodded. "When you first came to see us in the hideout and told us about your virus, you seemed terrified, both for us and for yourself. But now you don't seem so scared."

"What? Oh. Right. Yes. It's… complicated."

Jay nodded and went quiet for a moment. Dot could see the binome pressing her hands together in a nervous gesture. The atmosphere felt awkward, like a balloon ready to burst.

"Did you want to ask something else?" Dot queried. "Go ahead. I'm an open file."

Jay jumped, looked askance. "Oh. Nothing important. But… Well watching how you and your virus cooperate, it reminded me..." She stopped, hesitated. "Quite recently, when I still went to work for the Admin, my colleagues and I started to find secret messages in our files. They were well hidden, stegified in the documents. Many of us wondered if they were a trap, a plant sent by the Ministry to test us. But we could never be sure."

Dot felt her brow draw into a knot. "What sort of messages?"

"They were short, easy to miss, sometimes a bit cryptic," Jay replied. "They said things like a virus saved the Net; that She saved us all, and we are called to worship." Jay kicked her feet against her chair's legs. Clang, clang .

Dot got a hollow, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Were you affected by Daemon here in Cloud One?" she asked quietly.

"Daemon?" Jay looked genuinely confused.

Dot paused and sighed. Would they have even known if they had been? "There was a super virus who infected nearly the entire Net," she explained. "In the end she was defeated by another virus, one which cured. That's why so many of us are still here." She took a breath. "It could all have ended."

It sounded strange now she reflected on it. She wondered suddenly how long these stories had been circulating, these tales of a virus who saved and protected rather than corrupted and conquered. How long had she and Megabyte been away? Possibly long enough for reality to become myth. Had this new gospel, this new 'Word', been born immediately in the wake of Daemon's defeat? Dot didn't recall hearing mutterings and murmurings in Mainframe. 

But then again, her mind had been on other things.

Fool.

Surely people had talked about the miraculous turn of events, had discovered that a virus had sacrificed themselves for everyone? Why wouldn't they?

But wait. Had the story been covered up? Would it harm the order of things if it was known that viruses could also be heroes? Benign ones existed for sure but were rarities. Viruses who were heroes were unheard of. 

Was that why these covert messages were being surreptitiously passed around, to avoid notice? Whose power was at threat?

Dot put a hand to her lips and felt as though the world was shifting and spinning beneath her feet.

Jay however broke her out of her reverie. "Oh. Wow. Thank you. That's good to know," she responded brightly. "It's hard to work out which pieces of news and gossip are true and which are lies in this system." Jay then shuffled through some more eCards with an optimistic smile. "I suppose if a virus saved the Net, then anything is possible. What a brave new network."

Dot swallowed and inhaled deeply.

Behind them, the door from the neighbouring room squeaked on its hinges. Dot and Jay turned and watched Windows walk in with a trio of Zero binomes.

"Is everything ok?" Windows asked. "We heard loud steps on the stairs."

"We're fine," Dot replied plainly. "Just waiting for Megabyte to come back."

"Oh. Where has it gone?"

Dot's eyes narrowed. "I don't know. We'll find out shortly."

"Is Java not with you?" Windows continued, his head swivelling left and right. "I've not seen her for a while."

Dot exchanged a look with Jay. Jay shrugged. 

"Sorry, no," Dot said. "Have you looked downstairs?"

The conversation came to a halt as thundering steps were heard coming up the stairs. Megabyte reappeared, entering the room on all fours and moving with a strange, disjointed, crabbing gait, like a giant, cumbersome lizard. His eyes shone with a macabre glaze, glassy and unfocused. But it was what was in his mouth that gave the Fellowship most pause for, hanging by a spindly arm from Megabyte's jagged jaws, was a Television.

This one was different from the other Televisions Dot had seen. It was wearing a tricorn for a start.

"Animal! Monster! Abomination!" the TV cried in a thunderous voice. It kicked and punched with the air of someone who would like to see the manager, please. "Put me down this instant!"

Windows squealed and climbed speedily onto the nearest desk, as though he'd spotted a mouse wheeling around on the floor. "No, no, no!! Get it out! Get it out!" he screamed, waving his hands in a shoo-ing motion.

Dot rolled her eyes. "You're not to smash this one, you hear?" she warned him with a wag of her finger.

"It will transmit back to the Admin!" Windows yelled in panic. "We're in danger! Smash its screen! Break its mouth!"

Dot continued to give the binome a cool, calm look as she marched across to Megabyte and took a firm hold of the free arm of the struggling Television. "How will it transmit? There's no signal here." She nodded at Megabyte and, like a well trained pup, he opened his maw and released his hostage. 

The TV hit the floor with a thunk and Dot began to drag it to an empty chair. "Jay, quick, help me get him up."

Jay sped over, sending eCards flying in her wake, and grasped the TV's other arm. She and Dot hoisted the struggling Television onto the chair. 

"Megabyte!" Dot then commanded with a click of her fingers.  

Without any further dialogue, the virus sent a silver cable whipping from his wrist which wrapped around and around the TV until it was hyperlinked to the chair. The cables obstructed most of the screen so that its two tiny eyes had to peep over the mass of cables at the top to see what was going on. "How uncouth!" it lamented, voice muffled through the binds. 

Dot brushed her hands against each other, proud of the efficiency of her team and a job well done.

Meanwhile Windows was hyperventilating on the desk, laid flat on his back, puffing and panting. Jay noticed and grabbed a bunch of eCards, trotted over to Windows, and began to fan him whilst the trio of Zeroes looked on, bemused.

Dot pointed at Megabyte and made a come hither gesture with her finger. 

He blinked, pushed himself back onto two feet and lumbered across.

"You had better give me a rundown, stat," she whispered. "What just happened?"

He made another slow blink like a judgemental cat. "This gentleman was at the fence line, shouting through a megaphone - in full caps lock I might add - at my dogs. They were almost deafened. A distress call ran through the pack." He heaved a deep breath. "I decided to bring him back with me as he has a message which he'd like to convey to the Fellowship in person."

Dot's eyes shifted back onto the cable-tied TV. It was fidgeting and wriggling and trying to break free. Its chair was slowly starting to shift across the room. 

"Do you think he will still talk after we've treated him like this?"

"Oh yes. He does so love the sound of his own voice," Megabyte smirked mirthlessly. "Shall I untie him?"

"Just his mouth."

Megabyte emitted a little snicker and did as he was bid. The cables over the Television's mouth slipped away.

"My megaphone!" the Tricorned Television bemoaned immediately. "I must have my megaphone!"

Dot gave Megabyte a knowing look. "What did you do with his megaphone?"

"I might have accidentally stepped on it," he sallied, pretending to study the tips of his claws.

Dot scoffed. Her purple eyes fixed the TV with a sharp stare. "Who sent you?"

The Television was aghast. "Why the Admin of course, you savages!"

"And what is your message?"

"Message?" the TV spat in horror. "I am no instant messenger. I am a spokesman! An orator! A Bellman!"

Dot arched her brow and tried not to smirk. Did Mike the TV have a long lost cousin? "What is your name?"

"My… my what?" The TV sounded confused and it suddenly deflated, voice reducing to a regular level.

Dot looked at Megabyte. He was smiling but just gave her a little shrug. This is your problem .

Thanks she responded with a little bite of her lip, pulling a face.

"What's your name?" she asked again. "Do you have one?"

"Of course!" the circle of the Television's mouth moved enthusiastically, voice booming again. "I am the most famous of the Admin's Bellmen. I am… Dave!"

Dot's brows arched. "Hm. Dave," she echoed, as if testing the name. She then made a shrug of acceptance and turned around, grabbing another chair from nearby and dragging it in front of the TV. She spun it around until it landed with the back facing Dave, lifted a leg over the seat, dropped down and straddled it. She crossed her arms over the top rail and used them as a chin rest. "Let's talk, Dave."

Dave's little black eyes narrowed at her, continuing to peer over the top of the silver binds. "That is not how this works!Let me orate! Give me my megaphone"

"It's gone," she stated with an air of finality. "So speak up or my dog will silence you forever."

Dave's eyes shifted left and right. "Your dog? I don't see one."

"Oh, not one of those dogs." She flashed a fake smile before glancing over her shoulder and nodding at Megabyte. "That big dog there."

Dave caught Megabyte's eyes. Megabyte did not move, but his gaze was fixed unblinkingly on the TV.

Dave swallowed. He didn't fancy getting reacquainted with that creature's teeth. "Oh. Right."

"So," Dot pressed, opening a single hand to prompt Dave. "Your message."

"It's not the same without my megaphone…"

Dot rolled her eyes. "Deliver your message or be muted forever, it's your choice."

Dave huffed. "You are uncivilised thugs, you know."

Dot's brow rose again and she tapped her foot.

"Oh alright." Dave cleared his throat and began with as much flourish as his predicament would allow. "Oyez, Oyez! Let it be known, ye Traitors of Cloud One, that the Ministry is fully cognisant of your crimes of theft and fraud. The return of the items you purloined is demanded with haste. If the stolen goods are not returned before the end of the present cycle, be warned, the Admin will order the deletion of one of your number whom we have summarily taken as surety and hostage." 

A picture appeared on Dave's screen of said hostage, but it was almost completely obscured by the mass of cables binding the Bellman.

"The Ministry awaits your diligent response," Dave continued. "Long Live The Admin!"

There was an awkward silence. Taut, like a fragile pane of glass, filled with cracks and about to shatter.

Dot frowned, sat upright and turned to look at Megabyte again. He was propping up a wall with his arms folded. 

As if drawn by an unnatural force, by their mysterious connection, Megabyte's eyes flicked onto hers. He cocked a brow. Yes ?

"We need to see the screen," she told him as if it were obvious.

Megabyte grunted then plodded over to Dave. His golden claws opened out and encompassed the entirety of Dave's head, claws squeaking and grinding against the metal.

Dave let out a little cry, his body shaking. But all that happened was the binds dropped off of him like dead snakes and Megabyte moved away again.

Dave breathed in and out rapidly then sagged on the seat with relief.

The picture was now clear for all to see. 

Windows let out a painful gasp whilst Dot let her mask fall.

"Oh no…" she sighed quietly.

"Java!" Windows cried, his eye wide with panic and glazed with emotion. He ran to the TV and flattened his face against the glass. "They've taken Java!"

Chapter Text

There were sounds of rattling, slamming, scuffing and running throughout headquarters. The binomes were searching the place from header to footnote for any trace of Java in a vain hope that the news of her being taken hostage was fabricated, a nasty feint. It just didn't seem possible or plausible that she could have been taken.

"Java!" cried Jay.

"Java!!" shouted Windows.

Chairs were toppled, filing cabinets emptied, monitors shifted aside, tables overturned.

Dot sat at a desk upstairs with her head in hands. She sighed and kneaded her temples. Every knock and bang pulled at the threads of her patience; tugging, irritating; perhaps even more so as she felt responsible for this unfortunate return of events. 

Dave the Bellman meanwhile was trying to catch her eye from across the room. He had been tied back to his chair, much to his indignation. "Hey! Hey? Can I go now? Hey?!" He wriggled his feet with so much gusto that one of his buckled shoes pinged off his foot and embedded itself in the ceiling. His little eyes looked up forlornly.

Dot glanced at him with tired, red eyes. She didn't have the bandwidth to respond. She was too busy processing the myriad of thoughts inside her own head. So much information making so little sense.

Java is a hostage. The Admin wants the stolen files back. Which would mean sending Megabyte to them. Java is a hostage. How is Java a hostage? Did someone get over the fence? We're running out of food. Will they starve us out? Did we steal something precious? Who gave us the keys? What does 'they breed' mean? Maybe the Bellman can tell us things? Maybe the Bellman knows nothing. Java is a hostage. What are the dogs? Why is the city wall so high? Why was the door in the wall not locked? Was the frieze in the hotel room a story or history? Where is the port? Who is the Admin? Is there really a war? Did the Guardians visit? Do they know I'm here? Who stands to benefit from keeping the secret of a virus saving the Net? Who is sending the messages about worship? Do we have a friend in the Admin's camp? Do we have a traitor in ours? Java is a hostage.

And so she remained, staring at but not seeing the bound TV who kept trying his hardest to gesticulate at her.

Heavy footsteps approached, slow, measured, making dull thuds against the floor. Megabyte sauntered into Dot's space and walked closely behind her. He followed her line of sight to the Television then lowered his head over her shoulder so his mouth hovered by her ear. 

"You weren't really going to allow me to delete him if he had proved uncooperative, were you?" he murmured, his golden talons slipping over her shoulders and applying gentle pressure.

Dot dropped her hands from her temples and relaxed a little at his touch. "No, of course not," she said shortly. She leaned back, shifted her shoulders, and said aside, "Can you keep doing that? To the left a little. Thank you."

"Hmm," he murmured. "A pity. You played the part so well. I quite envied the poor fellow."

Dot flashed him a piercing side eye. "Well maybe I'll tie you up, too."

He gave her shoulders a deep squeeze. A low chortle rumbled in his throat. "I look forward to it," he whispered so quietly she quite wondered if she'd imagined it. He then moved away, casual and unhurried.

Dot glared after him. "Where are you going? I need you."

He stopped and did a slow pirouette on his big feet. "'Need me'? Did I hear correctly?" He ambled back over, his big arms swinging. "Well how the tables turn. How might I meet your 'needs'?" He wrapped his talons around her wrist, drew her to her feet, twirled her around in a mock dance, before he pulled her bodily into him with a sharp jerk. His hands cradled her waist, claws pressing deep furrows into her buttocks, and he locked their groins against one another's.

Dot rolled her eyes and placed her palms flat on his abdomen, bracing against him. "Will you decelerate your hardware. I feel like I've created a monster."

He responded with another of his decadent laughs. It flowed into her belly, rippled down her spine, pooled in the pit of her core. 

"Oh Dot, the monster was always there. You just awakened him."

"Will you quit file!" She gave him a big shove and somehow levered him off. "What do we do about Java?"

He looked characteristically unruffled and folded his arms with an insolent shrug. "That is the question." He proceeded to give her one of his knowing looks, the tips of his claws tapping against his chin.

Dot glared. She felt unreasonably angry. "What is that typeface for?"

Another shrug. "Well. Think about it."

"Think about what precisely? I'm overloaded with all the things I'm thinking about. I don't have enough memory to fit it all in."

In the background, a couple of binomes thundered through the door and began rushing around the room, slamming open draws and cupboards around them.

Dot heaved a deep sigh and felt her brow furrow, flinching at every bang and rustle. She noticed Megabyte's chest rise and fall opposite her with marked tension, too.

"Minions are such a bother, aren't they?" he sighed aside.

She pursed her lip. "They are not minions!"

But his smirk only widened as the bustling binomes continued to rush around like crazed nulls. She could feel her temple pulsing, beating like a clock. Tick tock. What her face looked like, she dreaded to think. A slapped ASCII probably.

"Hey. Hey?!" called Dave the Bellman again.

"Gah!" Dot moaned and her head returned to her hands.

Megabyte's talons were on her shoulder again, grounding her, a lifeline thrown into the fug of the infuriating cacophony. "Shall we go find a more… private chatroom?" his voice murmured, like a calming note in a storm, offering her safe haven.

"Hey!!" Dave thundered once more, like a spike of energy overloading a circuit.

Dot's eyes flared, her head whipped around, and she opened her mouth to chide the Bellman, but Megabyte was quicker. He spun, flicked his wrist and sent a cable flying. It latched onto the Television like a leech. Dave squealed and arched his back as the cable made a zapping noise. He gave the appearance of having a fit, body juddering, mouth gaping and screen flickering and glitching. 

But no sooner had it started, it stopped. 

Megabyte retracted his cable. Dave sagged in his binds. His eyes were red and screen teal.

"Wait, we might have needed him!" Dot yelled, opening her hand in Dave's direction before slapping Megabyte on the chest. "How low density are you?"

The virus turned his eyes back on her. "If you are going to sit there buffering with indecision, I will act on your behalf. He is of more use this way." 

"Says who?" she challenged.

Megabyte flashed Dot a rapid fire smile. "Trust me." And he clicked his fingers. 

Dave's binds loosened and the possessed Bellman marched over, his walk slightly lopsided as he still wore only one shoe.

Dot side-eyed Megabyte. "Control freak," she hissed.

"Like recognises like," he rallied without missing a beat. "Now come along." And he made to leave.

Dot stepped into his path, arms spread wide. "Wait. We can't just walk out. The Fellowship is in distress. They need our support."

" Do they need our help? You talk to me about control, but here you are, assuming they cannot do without you, even though they had been doing so since long before we arrived."

"Shut down you insensitive bastard. It's our fault they're in this mess."

"Is it?"

Dot's scowl intensified.

Megabyte sighed. "Dot, please walk with me. I need to talk over a sensitive matter."

She opened her mouth to retaliate but something in his voice made her backspace and stop. She sighed bitterly but still trailed him out of the room. Behind them, the zombie Bellman followed.

They walked down the stairs, passing Fellowship members running up and down. When they reached the ground floor, Dot spotted Windows, sat in a collapsed heap in the middle of the room. He was crying.

Dot could practically hear Megabyte roll his eyes. He didn't stop and headed straight out the door, the Bellman trotting behind him like an attached file.

Dot paused, exhaled through her nose and began to walk over. She weaved through the haphazard furniture arrangement, items having been shifted all over the place, then squatted down infront of Windows. She moved her hand to his shoulder and touched him. "Hey," she said quietly.

Windows looked up. He wiped a tear from his eye.

Dot smiled weakly. "We'll get her back. I promise."

Windows gave her a watery smile and patted her arm in turn. "We all knew, and all know, the risks of what we're doing. This is not your fault. We are lucky we have gotten this far. Thank you."

Far ? she thought. We haven't gotten anywhere !

"We'll make a plan and we'll kick their ASCIIs," Dot said, determined.

Windows nodded and they bumped their fists together.

The binome then glanced towards the door, through which Megabyte and the Bellman had disappeared. "Where are you all going?"

"No where. I need to talk to Megabyte. Then I'll be back. I promise."

"We all need to talk," Windows said a little tersely. "If we can give the Ministry the files back…?" His words faded into a shaky suggestion.

Dot swallowed. Megabyte for Java. She could be rid of him.

Until she came close to hurting herself and then he'd be back with a bang.

Oh who was she even kidding? Even if they did return the stolen goods, the likelihood of them all being allowed to leave was minimal. They'd be just as stuck as they were now. Or worse.

"You know that won't work," she asserted at length. "Look, I need you to get your troops back together; give them a speech, settle them down. Then be on standby. We have a deadline to hit. I won't be long." She gave him a final half smile, unsure of what she was feeling inside, before she marched keenly after Megabyte.

Windows sniffled and sighed and let her go.

Outside, the sky was fogged over and the atmosphere sparking with static. It felt stuffy, humid even.

Dot turned her eyes upwards and studied the heavens for a nano or two before casting her eyes around. Dave the Bellman was standing in the middle of the road, his posture slouched. On one side of him was a comatose, collapsed dog, its tongue hanging out, limbs splayed. And on the other side, a dog sat straight and upright, its red eyes staring deep into Dot's very code. It blinked slowly, the increasingly moody sky casting it into shadow.

Dot walked over.

"I fear a data storm is coming," the dog mused as she reached him. He flicked his ears then returned to stillness.

"Can we make use of it?" she asked Megabyte.

Megabyte fixed her with his eyes. "Unlikely." He blinked again and slowly turned his head onto its side. "So, are you planning on giving me up for a binome? And I thought we were friends."

She smirked. Had he heard her and Windows from out here? "Why shouldn't I?" she tested him.

"You could ." He shrugged again, his wolf shoulders shifting awkwardly. "I'd like to see them hold me."

She half-smirked. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. "Me too."

They shared a moment. A connection, an ever strengthening bond, a burgeoning desire for something indiscernible, something more. Eyes cradled one another's, and a strange sense of belonging flickered between them.

"But then what?" Dot pressed, lowering her chin and averting her eyes. "Say we hand you over. They're not just going to give us Java and let us go free, irrespective of what you can do from the inside."

They began to walk together. Natural, convivial. Dave the Bellman followed with his vacant eyes and stilted, skew-whiff walk.

"Well. I'll just have to rescue you, won't I?" A brief pause. "Or you can force me to, of course, if I somehow fail to remember."

She stifled an acidic laugh. "The thing is I'm not here to destroy anything or anyone. That's not my style. But I think it's yours." Her eyes sidled onto him accusatorily. "And I think that's what you'd do, given half a chance."

"I don't need to remind you of my function, surely? What do you expect? Negotiations over cocktails?"

"That would be preferable," she sneered. She then waved her fingers to indicate the Bellman. "And what about him? I was planning on questioning him but it's a bit late for that." Another searing look.

MegaDog chuckled. "Well I had another idea. I thought we might wish to bargain with the Admin. There is time enough. Let us send the Bellman back with our conditions. They will, as you say, not let anyone go freely as it stands. So let us play the game. And set ourselves up to win."

A flash of electricity briefly illuminated them both in bright white, bringing out the sharpness of Megabyte's wolf teeth. The buildings around them were cast into stark shades of black and white, their windows empty, lifeless eyes bearing witness to the passing of the odd trio before them.

Dot twisted her lip. "Of course you'd want to do that," she murmured icily. "We're bartering for someone's life, you realise? I appreciate that doesn't matter to you, but it does to me."

"Well. Naturally. You think like a mother, I think like a –"

"A stinking virus, of course," Dot snapped, scowling at him.

His mouth remained open as he was summarily interrupted and he looked half amused by her pique. "Oh Dot, well done, how observant of you."

She gave him a middle finger. "Why did you change into a dog anyway?"

"I'm sorry, did you not request I stay in this form not so long ago?"

She sniffed shortly. She didn't have the patience for his mind games and she felt suddenly agitated and angry. "Never mind. What was the 'sensitive matter' you wanted to discuss?"

Their walk brought them out from the streets and to the chain link fence line. They watched as some of Megabyte's dogs prowled past on their patrol. Through the chain link, in the distance, a white van could be seen moving through the vacant streets of the city. The Process Police. And in the city centre, jutting above the mass of buildings, only just discernible through the thickening haze, a light could be seen once again emitting upwards from the Admin's Tower.

Megabyte sat down on his haunches and studied the vista, red eyes following first the white van, then moving over the multiple buildings and up to the beam of light. There were no more Televisions coming to harass them, it seemed. He said nothing. 

Dave came to a halt next to him, staring with empty eyes into the city from which he'd come.

Dot huffed and blew up at her hair to push it out her eyes. “Well?"

Megabyte watched until the white van turned a corner and disappeared. "You remember Cyrus, don't you?”

She scoffed tetchily. “Oh you mean that binome who was working for you but then betrayed you and worked for me?”

He raised an eyebrow, ignored the barb, and said in a low, conspiratorial voice. “Has it occurred to you that we might have a Cyrus?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you certain?”

“Intuition, my darling.”

Her brow puckered and she leaned away from him as though to reappraise him from a distance. “I have intuition too, you know.”

“I can make a list of the times this has failed you.”

“Log off.”

He stood up, hackles raised, and made a vicious snap in her direction, his large, white teeth bared. "Force me,” he snarled. There was a savagery and finality in his voice at complete odds with the banter and goading of a nano before.

She wasn't cowed. “Don't tempt me.” She flicked her finger against the tip of his nose then turned from him and continued to march along the fence line. As she did so, she peered into the gloomy city beyond and tried to think clearly. Windows had aired an hypothesis previously that there might have been a plant in the Fellowship, but he had also said he hadn't an idea who it might be. She could ask him again when they got back.

Above, the sky rumbled and fizzled. Electricity sparked and popped off the metal links of the fence. They needed to go back

All of a sudden, Dot felt claw tips running the length of her back, scoring invisible tracks against her skin. Cursors, it felt good. Her legs wobbled like jelly and she just about stifled a groan of pleasure.

"Stop that!" she grouched, cheeks flushing, as she spun to kick Megabyte beneath his furry tail, but instead she slammed into the blue wall of his chest. She hadn't heard him transform back.

He chuckled and enfolded her in his arms, holding her fast. His head snaked down to hers, his lips brushed her ear. "There is a trap building…"

Dot's brow creased, unimpressed. "I said this would be a trap!" she spat.

He held up a claw between them as if to shush her. "Ah, let me finish."

"Shouldn't take you long," she sniped.

"Ha! How rude." He opened his arms to release her and stepped back. "But forgive me, didn't you say you had a - how did you put it?" He waved his talons around, seeking the words, holding her eyes. ''Ah yes, a 'thing for speed'?"

She smirked crookedly. "Who's easy to bait again?"

He cocked his head and chuckled approvingly, raising a brow as if re-evaluating her. "Ms Matrix, what an adventure and enlightenment it is becoming familiar with this version of you."

"I wish I could say the same for you."

He put a hand to his chest in mock injury. "Oh, how cruel you are."  They walked on, falling naturally into step, side by side. Dave the Bellman continued to plod behind.

"So who do you think 'Cyrus' is?" she probed, looking down at her feet. "Not who I'm thinking of?"

Megabyte peered down his nose at her. "I have no idea who you are thinking of. But -" He clasped her nearest hand, halted and pulled her toward him once again. "- I do think we need to consider that my hounds have been running the perimeter since we got here." He nodded his head to indicate a dog who was even now coming their way. "And I would know if someone slipped out."

Dot looked down at her hand in his. Her thumb brushed his golden claws, once, twice.

She sensed a voyeur. On the periphery of her vision, the passing dog was giving them both a disinterested glance. For some reason, her cheeks flushed. 

She jerked her hand away and felt inordinately annoyed. "Well explain what happened to Java then."

Megabyte straightened and squared his shoulders. His eyes glowed like beacons in the thickening fog. "Precisely."

Dot puffed her cheeks and exhaled, exasperated. Her gaze was drawn upwards to the sky. It was rumbling and roiling, turning deep shades of indigo and crimson.

"So what would you do next?" she asked, her voice measured and edged like a blade. "Tell me."

He slinked up to her so they were again almost touching. Electricity flashed from above once more, bright white light that picked out the decay of his body, the hollows of his face, the pits on his skin, the angry viral skull on his chest. He was so close she could smell the dregs of dog gore on his breath. When he angled his face down, she saw just teeth in a hollow skull.

And then the bright light faded, the dullness returned, and there he was, blue and red and familiar. She was reminded, not for the first time, that he perhaps wore masks in a far deeper fashion than his sister.

She swallowed. "Just say it, don't stare at me like you want to devour me."

He sniggered deep in his belly, eyes raking her in the way that set her gut alight. "You know I do. But let us save that for another time."

A deep boom resounded from the heavens. Little sparks and glitches began to fizz and patter around them. Dot felt a shudder run through her, as though her circuits were burning. She trembled, hugged herself, and met Megabyte's gaze. The storm was coming in quicker than she'd expected. But it was like they were silently daring each other to relent first.

"Let us say this is a trap," Megabyte continued in a low, mellifluous tone, stepping forward and enveloping her in his arms, using his tall frame and large crest to shield her from the incoming flurry of zaps and sparks. "I quite fancy springing it. Will you let me, my darling? I fear I need permission."

The corner of Dot's mouth tugged up. She couldn't help it. Drawn in, inebriated on his scent, his allure, his voice as toxic as his person. She exhaled out her nose with an air of finality and placed a hand on each side of his chest before she pushed him away and stumbled back from him. 

The storm crackled and pinged around them, starting to become a thick blizzard. The air was electrified and alive, like a stimulant, affecting her very thoughts, imbuing her with levity and a kind of innocent joy. She felt like a child again.

She opened her arms and spun on the spot, a wild little laugh springing free from her throat. The charges and jolts were becoming more frequent, and much heavier. They stung as they hit, made her thoughts slow and buffer, and at the same time made the world around her appear more beautiful, more hopeful than it truly was.

Megabyte lunged after her, grasping her from behind, and holding onto her like a precious jewel. "You are a fool, Ms Matrix. Come, let us find shelter."

She giggled at him again, sounding even more intoxicated. "It's just a storm!" And she slipped from Megabyte and skipped and rushed in another direction. Who cared about the Admin? Java would be fine. Why did she even want to go home? This was all and everything. Let her stay here with her big blue dog.

And then she was a child, running, running down the open road on Baudway, trying to catch the sparkles and electric pops, caring not for the danger, just the beauty. She could hear her father's footsteps as he ran desperately to catch up with her. And through the increasing interference, the fizzle of static, was the wail of her mother's voice. "Dot! It's a data storm! It's not safe!"

She heard but did not process. She pranced and capered and laughed and cartwheeled.

There was Dave the Bellman, his tricorn on backwards, watching her bypass him numbly. His screen flickered, white bugs chasing each other more and more intensely under the glass until - 'pip' - his entire face was consumed by it and he was gone.

"Dot!" came another shout.

She continued to gambol around in a big circle, her fingers curling around the falling sparks and jolts, every one stinging her palm with more and more, intensity, poison to the veins, and separating her further and further from reality. She picked up pace, full of boundless energy, and began to sprint, gathering speed, charging through the thick storm, hardly able to see more than a few bits in front of her until - clang ! - she rebounded off Megabyte's chest. 

The momentum, her inexplicably tremendous strength, took them and they toppled to the floor in an untidy heap.

"Reckless fool," Megabyte growled.

He held her tight whilst she continued to chuckle like a drunk, her vision dancing, flickering, an entire spectrum of colours revolving kaleidoscope fashion before her eyes; her mind was a mass of confused signals and pictures, memories and feelings; too many tabs open at once. Where was she? Who was she?

She felt but did not register Megabyte's big sigh. She didn't fight his arms as he looped them under her and lifted her, cradling her.

"I didn't mean to, dad, I'm sorry," she mumbled dreamily. "Where is mum?"

The world began to fade. Her stomach spun, flipped; her body was infused with nausea and vertigo. But it didn't matter. She was floating away on a cloud.

Her hands hooked around her saviour's neck and she drew herself close, curling into a foetal position, holding on tighter and tighter. "Don't let me go," she rambled as she lost consciousness.

When she began to open her eyes, the world around her formed in greyscale. She blinked. There was a bed canopy above her. She recognised it.

She turned her head. A comfy pillow cushioned it. Thick bed covers lay over her body.

Her mouth felt really dry. Her stomach felt unsettled.

She blinked a few more times, trying to focus. There was a bright white light coming from the window. And a dark black shape silhouetted against it. 

She tried to push herself up but her head was heavy. She realised they were in the hotel. She sighed deeply and blew a raspberry.

"You were utterly pixelated, I hope you understand," Megabyte grumbled. He half turned and she realised it was him standing by the window and that the intense white was the blanket of the storm outside. 

The silence stretched out between them.

"I shall treasure the memory," he added drolly. 

She thought she could make out a smile on his face.

She felt her cheeks burn. Her hands clasped the bed covers, squeezing them over and over.

"Why are we here?" she asked. Her voice croaked.

"We were nearer here than headquarters. And it is more comfortable, is it not?"

Her eyes moved to the frieze on the wall. She started to count the images of the wolves. One, two, three…

"You were calling me 'dad' quite frequently. I fear we need to talk about that before it becomes a regular occurrence."

Her brow furrowed. She tried to remember. Vague flashes of her dream - or was it memory? - came back. "I was delirious, you dip switch."

"Yes. I know."

She sighed cooly. Looked away. Had an intense desire to return to the memory, the dream, to run back and find her mother, for one more chance.

She didn't realise she was crying until the tears began to make the pillow wet. She wiped her face hastily and rolled onto her side, turning away from the beast.

"We'll need to wait it out," he said as though he chose not to notice either.

"Why didn't it affect you?"

"Who's to say it didn't? I am simply made differently."

She paused, fingers drawing patterns in the bedding.

"Where's Dave?" she asked, suddenly remembering he had been with them.

"In the foyer. I told him to switch off."

"Oh." She found she didn't care. Nothing mattered.

Stop it, that's a child's response .

"Can I ask you something?"

"I fear you will, regardless of my answer."

She still didn't turn to look at him. She remained facing the door, huddling deep into the warmth. "Jay mentioned that someone, somewhere, is feeding messages to the workers about a virus who saved the Net."

Megabyte said nothing.

"And that they are being called to 'worship Her'." Dot moved her eyes to the frieze again, picking out the large, strange creature that was depicted with the dogs.

After a moment, she felt the mattress shift as Megabyte climbed on beside her. She rolled back over so she could see what he was doing. He was laid casually on his side, propped up on an elbow. 

"And what of it?" he asked.

She moved a strand of hair behind her ear and wiped her tear streaked face again. "Well, what does it mean?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Yes you do." She paused, studied his face carefully. "You said she wasn't gone. So is she… everywhere?"

He did not blink and held onto her eyes possessively. She noticed how his fingers were flexing, how his teeth were grinding. She could almost hear the cogs turning.

At length he exhaled and turned to glance at the window, checking on the storm. "It is not relevant at present."

"How is it not?" Dot asked. She reached out, tugged the arm he was propped up on and yanked his elbow out from under him. He dropped onto his shoulder and looked momentarily furious about it. But, lo, in another blink his expression had rearranged itself to bland amusement.

"It is bigger than this system," he murmured, "And we can talk about it at a more appropriate time."

"And when might that be?" she pressed. She sat up then leaned across him, placing one hand the other side of his body so she hovered over him like a predator about to feast on a kill. "When we get home? If we get home."

"Careful," he said, though there wasn't an ounce of care in his words. She hadn't realised she was swaying until he steadied her, taking a grip of her arm. He looked strangely angry; his pupils were small, intense, and moved over her as though he was looking for a chink in her armour.

"Answer me," she growled.

"We can talk about it when we have resolved our current predicament," he replied at length. "It is outside our control and influence as it stands."

"You're so dull."

He grumbled and waved a hand dismissively. "Enough. Focus on the matter at hand. If we cannot escape this state of affairs then what happens later is neither here nor there."

Dot gave him a victorious smirk. She lowered herself onto his chest, folding her arms under her chin. Her eyes stared into his.

"So what now?" She drew a line across his collarbone with her fingertips. "We need to act before the cycle is over. Did you say something about springing a trap?"

"Hmm," he sighed vaguely as though he'd lost interest. He now stared at the bed canopy rather than her.

Dot's fingernails tapped a tune on his breastplate in the silence. Dink, dink, dink . "We'll need to look at the schematics again," she said.

"Certainly. Establishing the location of the port is imperative. We need to identify at least one way out, regardless of any plan."

"And what of our dwindling energy supplies?" she pressed. "The message about breeding? The freely given keys? And everything else?"

His eyes slid back onto her. His claws found the back of her head and stroked her hair gently. "Unfortunately I do not have the answers. All I am certain of is that we have a Cyrus and that they are likely playing both sides."

Dot pondered on this. "So we make this double agent ours?"

"Perchance." He inhaled deeply as though sleep were creeping upon him. "No doubt they enjoy playing games. We are but pawns on a chessboard."

"Oh not chess again…" She lay her head on his breast and looked away. "And the Guardians?"

His tone was brusque. "I would not even countenance them at present. There are copious other more pressing factors."

Dot raised her head and opened her mouth to respond, but all of a sudden her vision glitched and she halted.

She blinked hard and shook her head, hoping she could cast the blip aside. But something was wrong. The nausea intensified again.

She felt Megabyte's talons curl around her arm once more as she jerked upright. She found she was losing all sense of orientation. The bed seemed to draw away, slipping out from under her body, whilst the canopy, the ceiling, rushed past overhead. Then the floor was zooming in to meet her. She was plummeting. She felt ill. At the same time, the desire to stay awake was quickly disintegrating. She lost touch with the nausea; it wandered off and left her in the murk. Her vision faded, becoming more and more low res, disintegrating into static. Blissful emptiness opened its arms to welcome her in.

But then she jolted and her consciousness held on. She didn't hit the floor. She felt the harsh, iron grip on her arm which reeled her back in from the fall. Her mind was fuzzy, buffering, she could hardly hear. She felt strangely disconnected, but somehow still soft and warm; like she would quite happily lounge in this strange, listless limbo forever. She thought she heard her mother's shout again. She tried to move, to run. Let go of me! Let me run to her, let me go back .

Then - bang! - like a blade piercing paper, her senses returned and reality resumed regular programming. She heard Megabyte's voice, just not his words; she felt the unyielding strength of his arms encompassing her. Then she realised, very quickly, she was going to be sick.

She sat bolt upright and projectile vomited. It landed with an inglorious splat on Megabyte's chest.

She breathed heavily and focused only on the mess. It was bright, livid green. Her nose wrinkled. Ugh.

With a deflated sigh, more at the inconvenience and shame than anything, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Then she turned her heavy eyes upward.

Megabyte returned her stare and blinked slowly. He didn't look as disgusted as she thought he would.

"Welcome back," he said sardonically.

"Did I just faint?"

"Not quite. Though you tumbled quite spectacularly. I had no idea you were an acrobat."

He was looking at her a little strangely. His eyes moved over her with diligence, taking in every tiny detail, an art connoisseur absorbing a raw and exciting new piece. He slightly cocked his head, blinked slowly, and a peculiar sound came from his mouth, almost inaudible; it was some form of language but so alien she could not process it. It made her feel scared.

She pushed against him. "Let me go right now!" she demanded.

He sniffed out one of his little laughs and released her.

She waved a hand at the big green mess on his chest. "Sorry… about that," she added sheepishly.

He shrugged as though it was of no consequence. "A warning would be appreciated next time."

She pulled a typeface at him. "Thanks for your concern."

He gave her a smirk that for some reason left her cold. "Forgive me. Let me try again." He cleared his throat. "Are you back online my dearest, my darling? Can I get you anything my beloved, my love?"

"Oh great User, log off!"

"Ah, I see you are fine after all." He chucked her under the chin with the tip of his golden talon, which only added to her unease, before he got off the bed and made for the door.

This was somehow worse than the feigned care. And something inside her panicked. "Wait, don't go."

He paused and rocked on his feet as though the stop had been sudden. He half turned, the glint of his red eyes peering ominously over his shoulder.

Dot screwed her face up and slapped her own cheeks. It was like there were two very different Dots fighting to control the same body. 

"Cursors. No, I didn't – I mean, don't be long. No, that's not it…"

The corner of his mouth quirked as though he enjoyed her squirming. "I need to clean myself up, no thanks to you. I won't be far away. You can summon me if you need me. You know this."

"It's messed with my head," she said in way of apology and excuse, "The storm…"

"Yes." Another slow blink. The noxious smile lingered. "Now sleep."

"But Java, the demands, the Fellowship, we're running out of time!"

He sighed loudly. It broached no argument. "The system is in the midst of a data storm. Nothing will happen until it's over. Now please will you be selfish and rest?"

She glanced at the window, saw the ongoing heavy static, and relented. "Fine." She settled back into the bed. She was exhausted. "Anyway, why do you care?"

He chuckled darkly. It gave her the jaggies.

"Dot, go to sleep."

Chapter Text

It was Dot's birthday. She was standing on a dancefloor in a flowing red dress and Bob was with her, wearing a smart monkey suit.

The dancefloor was never ending, covered in blue and green tiles that stretched to infinity. Little Enzo was there, sitting on a tall stool with that bright green guitar of Megabyte's in his lap. He was wearing one of Hexadecimal's masks. It had a wide menacing grin.

I've been here before…

Dot turned to Bob. He flashed her a smile, all sharp teeth. His eyes glowed red as he moved one hand to rest on her waist and held the other up, opening his fingers out in invitation. 

Magnetically drawn, Dot placed her hand into Bob's and their fingers knit, entwined. And then they waltzed. 

"Why did it take us so long?" she asked as they spun about the dancefloor. "What was stopping us?"

"You wanted more," Bob replied. It wasn't his voice. It was deeper, more measured.

"What?" she replied.

Bob grinned, fangs bared. "You don't want someone to be kind and gentle. You want fire and risk and danger. You want someone as driven as you, as hungry, as ruthless."

And now it wasn't Bob, it was Megabyte. As if he'd always been there. Tall and ravaged and monstrous. His grip on her was hard and unyielding.

They spun with more intensity, his claws on her waist, her fingers gripping his shoulder. He had a primal look in his eyes. His mouth was open and he panted, heavier and heavier until - bam! - he roared,  lunged at her face, jaws wide.

Time seemed to slow as she found herself staring deep into his maw, counting the multitudes of teeth, admiring the sharpness, the horror, the ferocity of them. Was this the end?

Behind her, Enzo was playing the guitar. It became louder and louder, and was completely out of tune. The mask he was wearing turned black and the eyes shone red. He began to chuckle and titter, like a prankster watching his greatest work unfold.

No, this wasn't the end. It was a beginning.

Snapping out her reverie, Dot shot into action. She grabbed Megabyte's face as his fangs came ever closer and jerked him into her, bringing him to her faster. She took his mouth in hers, turning the tide, taking control, and kissed him aggressively. Her nails raked down the sides of his jaw and then onto his neck, scoring deep ruts into his skin and leaving red trails in their wake. 

A deep growl rumbled through Megabyte's frame, his muscles tensing. He tightened his hold into an unforgiving embrace, to the point she was pinned snugly against him.

But she did not care. Because he could not hurt her. And she was strong. She tore her lips away from their kiss and laughed, raucous and fuelled with power. This was a battlefield. And she would be the victor.

She gave him a wink before she hooked her calf around the back of his knee then pulled so his leg buckled. They tumbled together to the floor, Megabyte crashing to the ground first, his metal plates and wires clattering whilst Dot fell on top of him.

Megabyte tried desperately to find purchase, the claws on his hands and feet scrabbling against the lurid floor tiles, but it was useless. He could only struggle and slip like a caged null trapped beneath a descending game cube. Dot moved one hand to each of his wrists, pinned his legs between her thighs . 

I could crush you .

The power was intoxicating. She did want more.

She lowered her lips over his chest, ran her tongue up his neck, over his big chin, and onto the bridge of his nose, before she pressed a kiss between his eyes. She then reached out for one of his hands, holding his gaze provocatively the whole while as she pulled his hefty claws toward her. She placed his talons flat against her body before she began to drag them down her breasts, over her midriff and onto her thighs. 

Megabyte's breathing became ever harder, faster. His eyes were wide and lurid red. He drank in her curves, the way her breasts rose as she inhaled, the bright shine on her crimson lips.

Dot pulled up her skirts and pushed those golden talons between her legs. She bit her lip coquettishly, made sure his eyes were still connected with hers, then she rocked her hips over his hand. Goading, challenging.

You can't hurt me . But you can serve me.

He was blowing like a spent racehorse. There was a fire lit in his eyes, fuelled by dark tumultuous passion, the desire of a wild animal to couple.

That's it. Want me, desire me. Think of nothing but me. I want you, I need you, take me, merge with me, fill me.

In the background, Enzo's high laugh could be heard. "Fight or frag? Fight and frag? It all looks the same to me!" the boy squealed in a trill, high voice, his face still hidden behind the dark mask. 

Dot hardly noticed that the boy no longer sounded like Enzo, nor did she apparently care that he bore witness to this wanton depravity.

There was a rapid change of colour beneath them as the green and blue floor tiles swatched to red and purple. A wall appeared around the scene in a big circle, large, brown, pixelated blocks dropping down and hemming them in, creating a pseudo-stage, a quasi-theatre. Dot felt strings on her wrists, her feet, her crown. She checked back in with her lover and he was a marionette too.

The blaring of Enzo's guitar was underlaid with a new sound, another entity's laughter. It was coarse, luxuriant, androgynous.

The strings tensed and jerked. The puppeteer manoeuvred the lovers.

Megabyte pulled his hand from under Dot's skirts and, with a low growl, grabbed her by the waist. He flipped her over with a rough twirl and she landed, facing away from him, on her hands and knees. Her joints clattered as though they were made from wood. 

Megabyte tossed her skirts up before his claws flared and snatched her hips, pressing firm indents into her flesh as he wrenched her backwards into him. He then curled over her from behind, a monstrous dog mounting a bitch.

The laughter of masked Enzo merged with the booming chortling of the puppet master, this savage cacophony filling the room, drowning out the screeching guitar. 

Megabyte lunged for the nape of Dot's neck with his fangs, biting into her skin and cradling her flesh between his teeth. With a wanton growl, he then thrust his hips, melding into her, making them one.

Dot groaned, whimpered, her eyes fluttered, her fingers clenched. The hunger, the need; the joy and the ecstasy. Making love and fire on the dancefloor.

The masked boy whooped and jeered. "Now we're writing code!" he derided. 

The shadow of the puppeteer meanwhile loomed from above, blocking the light and casting over them a silhouette of giant hands manipulating crossbars and strings.

Megabyte's claws found Dot's throat, golden talons hooking under her jaw, before - his strings tightening, hoisting - he pulled her head up, making her arch her neck, her spine, in a backward curve. He growled sensually into her skin, sending carnal vibrations running through her frame.

Dot closed her eyes and released a deep, contented sigh. She reached a hand up so she could curl her fingers over his claws where they gripped her throat, caressing them, supporting them. She had no wish to prise him off, even though her breaths came short beneath his rigid grip. The deprivation was a challenge, a stimulant . It kindled joy, promised ecstasy.

Her other hand snaked down her body, slipped between her legs, to touch herself, to increase the euphoria. Unabashed, uncaring, unfettered.

The puppet master cackled. "Well. Aren't we a pair?" they said, unheard as Dot groaned louder, as Megabyte grunted and thrust ever more firmly, and as release beckoned for both.

Don't stop, Dot found herself thinking, begging , keep going. Hold me tighter, be forceful, be strong. That's it. Cursors it feels so good, oh great User, I'm going to –

Dot gasped as she woke. Sweat beaded her brow and her body. She was starfished alone on the bed, the covers kicked off. The sheets were damp with perspiration.

She stared at the canopy above, unseeing. Her mouth was so dry. And her stomach rumbled. She was famished. She was dehydrated. She was flustered. Her heart was pounding so much it shook her chest.

She gave herself a moment to adjust. To recover from the dream, the nightmare. To catch her breath. 

The light in the room was strange. Pale, chill. The storm had clearly not abated.

She lifted her hand, raised it above herself, watched her fingers move against the light. No strings. She then moved her hand down, let it hover over her belly, before she slipped it down toward her groin, just under the rim of her pants. Then she stopped suddenly, astonished at the heedless inclination, desire and need.

The dream had been wild. To be someone's toys, voyeuristic playthings? 

But underneath the artifice there flowed an undercurrent of something else. Exhilarating, stimulating, invigorating, forbidden.

Why not call him? Make him meet your needs.

"Delete those thoughts," she grumbled to herself.

Once you get the taste, that's it. Your palate craves more. It cannot be sated. Viruses are slow poison, opening up the world and yet closing the door.

She placed her hand over her eyes and rubbed them until little sparks filled the blackness. Where had that thought, that admonishment, come from? What was she becoming? Or had she always been like this?

With a frustrated, angry groan, she rolled out of bed, straightened her clothes, and made for the door.

She walked out into the corridor beyond, pacing in a slow meandering line, holding out her hand and running it along the wall, up then down, in a steady wave. 

She found the sweeping staircase and began to descend to the great hall. She observed that the exquisite carvings and the intricate stained glass windows were dull and unsaturated. Like death had left its pallor over the place.

Megabyte was in the hall. Not far away from her, just as he had promised. The virus was crouched infront of Dave the Bellman and they appeared to be having some sort of conversation. Megabyte's mouth was moving but she could not hear his words.

She swallowed. A tremble ran the length of her back, nape to tail bone and she stopped halfway down the staircase. Her fingers, cresting the bannister, tapped the cold marble irritably. "What are you saying to him?" she asked aloud. Her voice echoed horribly in the chamber, bouncing and reverberating off the walls.

Megabyte did not immediately respond. He first finished his sentence and Dot watched as the TV made a sort of nod and then folded backwards onto its ASCII, hitting the floor with a thunk. Its screen blanked out with a little 'pip' sound and the glass crackled with static.

Megabyte nodded to himself, unfolded back to his full height, then turned to face Dot. "I was wondering if he could shed light on the message about 'breeding' and some of our other little mysteries." 

His voice boomed in the vast space, in contrast to hers. His was an opera singer's, a stage performer's: clear and smooth as silk, reaching effortlessly up to the Gods.

"Any success?" Dot replied a little peevishly.

Megabyte's lip curled up as if her blatant acidity amused him. "Alas, no," he smirked.

"I notice that you can actually talk to your zombies?" she added in a somewhat accusatory manner, opening her hand towards Exhibit A, the Bellman.

Megabyte donned a sly grin whilst she continued to move down the steps. "In a fashion." He shined his knuckles on his breast. "I don't wish to share all my secrets, you understand." He nodded in her direction. "And neither should you."

She reached the foot of the stairs and paced over, closing the gap between them. Her eyes traced him head to foot. She was getting wild flashbacks of the dream; how she overpowered him, held him down; how he fucked her like a wild animal. The strings, the monstrous shadow controlling them all. The laughing boy.

She swallowed, scrunching her eyes shut to try to wipe the images. When she raised a hand to her temple, to the sudden pounding in her head, she heard him say, "Are we still feeling a bit fragile?"

Her eyes shot open and blazed at him. "What are you now, my carer? My mother?"

He cocked a brow at her venom. "Now, now. You were the one calling me 'daddy'."

She exhaled angrily through gritted teeth. "It was 'dad' and I was hallucinating!"

"Ah yes. Quite right."

His expression was utterly deadpan. She knew he was teasing her and she wanted to be angry. And yet she couldn't help but permit her lips to turn up, very slightly, at one corner. Such was their familiarity now.

"Why are you always such hard work?"

He moved closer to her with a casual gait, swinging his big arms. "Well I can't allow you an easy life." He tapped the end of her nose with the very tip of a claw. "Whatever would you do with yourself?"

"Find some sanity?" she snarked, reaching up and flicking his nose with her fingertip in return.

There was a moment of warmth as they stared and smiled, silently, until Dot fought the unnaturalness of it all and turned away.

She heard Megabyte scoff quietly behind her.

"I had the strangest dream," she suddenly confessed. "I've had it before but not like this. Not so…."

She hugged herself, rubbed her arms. Couldn't find the right words. She moved away, unseeing, as she revisited it, the images replaying in her mind.

"These 'dreams' we keep having…" she continued at length, "You about Hexadecimal, me about… things." She paused, staring upward at the intricate carvings, studying the relief of the stone between light and shadow. "Do you think they're something more? Something else?"

Her voice had become drier and more hoarse as she spoke and she felt hot and bothered again. She hooked a finger in the neck of her shirt and pulled it away from her skin, shaking it to get some air.

She didn't hear Megabyte move but she jumped as his arms wrapped around her from behind, large golden hands crossing over her belly. He dove his head into the crook of her neck, his lips pressing against her skin, and murmured, "Do you keep dreaming about me? How… romantic."

Dot sighed gruffly as he nuzzled into her neck. She bared her teeth and pushed his face off, turning her head so she could pin him with a glare. "Can you just answer a question for once? This is bigger than both of us and you know it."

They gazed into each other's eyes, challenging one another, staring deeply into those windows of the soul.

And yet Dot could see only her reflection.

"Like I said," Megabyte replied at last, strangely quiet, "We should all have our secrets."

He unlocked his arms, releasing her, then sauntered away.

It was Dot's turn to scoff. "Coward."

"Is it cowardice, or simply an inconvenience for you that I don't prance to every crack of your whip?"

"I'm trying to figure something out and I could use your cooperation, you broken link."

His eyes darkened and he lowered his head, opening his claws as though ready to catch something, as though prepared to fight, to scuffle. "So force me. You have the power. Use it."

Her lips twisted, fists clenched. "I can't make you talk. Which is ironic because you never usually shut the fuck up."

He made an insolent shrug. "Well. We reach an impasse." He began to study his fingertips, as he was wont to do. "I am not sure I can help unless you share a little more information. Were you dreaming of Hexadecimal as well?" He nodded his head at Dot. "She has a habit of lingering in the mind. To think you all allowed her to sacrifice herself, to spread throughout the entire Net, and thought not what that meant."

Dot's eyes moved left then right as she ruminated over this. But these thoughts were soon subverted by her own erotic dream, where she and this virus played stallion and mare for a puppeteer's amusement and, worst of all, to the chuckles of a child.

She avoided eye contact with Megabyte but felt her cheeks flush all the same.

"Ah. I see. Was it one of those dreams?" the blasted virus discerned. He laughed darkly. "I envy you."

She scowled at him. "I've not said a word."

"There's no need. Your face is a high resolution image." He lowered his tone to something more personal, intimate. "Why so bashful? We have gone a little too far for that."

"That doesn't mean I've made peace with it all." She turned and walked to the balcony, diverting around Dave. Her heels clacked loudly on the solid floor. 

"It's still bad out there," she commented idly, dissembling. The forest was still invisible beyond the static. White fuzz filled the vista. The air continued to taste electric.

Megabyte joined her at her side. She felt the weight of his eyes on her.

"You are a poor actress, Dot Matrix."

"Shut down. I don't have the energy for your games."

"Look at me."

"Why?"

He cleared his throat. "Please."

She spun to look at him out of pure annoyance. "What?"

He studied her carefully, eyes moving over her from head to foot. "You look terrible. I advise that you backspace to bed for a little longer."

Dot rolled her eyes. "The audacity you have, calling me a bad actress. How about you stop acting like you care?"

He smiled in a vaguely unsettling way, as though keeping a nasty secret. "Can I not be civil without being attacked by your cynicism?"

She scoffed lightly under her breath as she folded her arms tightly, fortifying her person against him. "I'm fine. So leave it. Daddy ."

He gave her such bedroom eyes it made her stomach somersault. His hand moved towards her. A talon tilted her chin upwards. He turned her head to one side then the other, a doctor examining a patient. Then he nodded and let her go.

A strange, somehow tranquil silence ensued. They both turned to stare at the snowstorm.

"How do we keep getting stalled like this?" Dot blurted out. "First you bring me encrypted files, then you strand us in a storm…" She wafted her hand at the bland vista. "Is this someone's idea of a joke?"

Megabyte gave her an arch look. "I see I am to be apportioned the blame?" He blinked. "I am strong but able to conjure data storms, I am not." He shifted his weight between his feet and turned full to face her. "If you think I'm comfortable wasting time being your hobbled steed, think again."

She gave him a devious smirk and didn't miss a beat. "At least I could ride a horse…"

That stopped him for a nano. He stared at her with his big mouth slightly open. His brow arched and he made a short, dry laugh. "I am trying to discern if that was an insult or a request."

She gave him a sly look. "Don't hurt yourself."

He wasn't cowed. "Have you forgotten our little escapade into the treetops?" His claws made a pathetic wiggling motion up into the air as if in reenactment. "You can ride me in any shape or form."

Dot's lips curled, slowly, sultrily. The game was in motion, it was her move.

But she abstained from replying, put the game on hold. Instead she made a smug scoff and began to walk away. "I'm going to check the kitchens. I'm out of sachets and I'm hungry."

The only thing that followed her was his voice. "Don't hurt yourself."

Dot sauntered into the vast kitchens. It was as pristine as she remembered, well stocked with utensils and multitudes of stoves, grills, fryers and ovens. She wandered between the rows of prep tables, sinks and broilers until she sighted thick, heavy white doors set into the far walls. Ah yes. Cold storage. She dreaded to think what might remain inside. If there was food, who knows when it had last been chilled.

She moved to the first door, grabbed the silver handle, lifted it to unlock, then pulled. It groaned and resisted. She gave it another hard jerk and it slid easily free.

Inside was pitch black. As her eyes adjusted, she started to pick out shelves in shining chrome. It was strangely warm inside and the air tasted stale. 

She stepped inside. Her heels clacked on the white floor tiles. There was nothing here. She walked all the way to the back, stood on her tiptoes, placed her foot on the bottom shelf and climbed to check the top. Empty.

There was a tiny little scuffle noise behind her, coming from the kitchens. Like the movement of small feet. Quick, panicked, hushed. And following it in turn was a low sound like a gasp, but so faint she might have imagined it

She felt her body tense. The hairs on her arm stood on end. She wasn't alone.

She half turned. Watched the empty kitchen beyond. Her eyes moved in tiny increments across the tables and shelves and units. She half expected the door to be locked behind her. But nothing happened.

She walked back out of the store and cast her eyes around. She wished there was power so she could turn on the lights. "Hello?" she called.

No reply. All was silent and still.

She exhaled, unaware she'd been holding her breath. Maybe she'd just heard Megabyte from elsewhere in the building? Unless it was the sound of him coming to find her?

"Megabyte?"

No answer. In truth she knew it wasn't him. She had come to know his presence by a familiar aura, a weight, and she felt none of that now.

She shrugged and tried the next door.  A similar picture greeted her of empty shelves and racks.

Her stomach growled. The sound bounced off the walls. Almost comical.

As she emerged from the second store, she turned and spotted a poster on the wall. It was an evacuation sign with a list of instructions on how to respond to an incoming game cube. There was a bad diagram of a falling cube with numerous figures, sprites and binomes, fleeing from underneath.

'Don't panic!' was printed in particularly large text amidst the evacuation procedures.

Dot smiled and placed her hand on the image, fingers splaying. She had a moment of intense homepage-sickness. She wasn't sure if she truly missed the game cubes, but living in constant anticipation of their arrival was probably no worse than the limbo she was presently trapped in.

She moved on. There was another door nearby, less huge and heavy than the cold storage ones. When she walked into this room, her heart jumped. It was a pantry and there were a few tins left on one of the shelves which, even in the dark, she could discern were caparisoned in brightly hued labels. One of them was laid on its side.

She rushed over, grabbed a couple, and moved back out into the dim light of the kitchens to look at them properly.

Her nose wrinkled a little. Of course it was compressed food. It looked like some kind of soup, but she didn't recognise the language on the label. 

She sniffed scornfully. She would never have dreamt of delivering this swill to her customers at her diner. But perhaps even a fancy hotel needed a last resort. Still, it was disappointing. But it was food.

She wandered around looking for a tin opener, but remembered, with an impish smile, that she had one already. She reached for a nearby knife rack and drew a blade. It looked nice and sharp. She lowered a finger towards it without inhibition.

Three, two, one…

With a whoosh, a silver cable flew and curled around her wrist three times - swish, swish, swish . 

Her smug smile widened and she turned her head.

Megabyte looked particularly disgruntled. "You called?" he grumbled through clenched teeth.

Her eyebrows quirked, eyes sparkling with spite. "Yes dear." She tossed him a tin. "Open this please."

He caught it, seething, and withdrew his cable. He then pierced it with his talon and ran it around the rim, severing the lid from the can effortlessly, before he walked over and shoved it back towards her so it hit her full in the chest

A bit of liquid sloshed out as he did so, splattering on the floor. It caused Megabyte's nostrils to flare as the aroma hit his nose. He took a step back and looked down on her with blatant disapproval. "Are you sure you want to consume that?"

Dot brought the tin to her nose. Sniffed. It wasn't too bad. "What choice do I have?"

He blinked and sighed. "I can think of several." He ostentatiously sniffed again. "It smells… obsolete to put it mildly."

"It does not smell that bad. You're being dramatic."