Chapter 1: Maddening, Marvelous Mystery
Chapter Text
A way out.
An exit. A path to the outside...
He had reflected on that problem for a thousand times. 1,994 times only today, to be exact.
He circled through the circuits as he mulled it over once again, dividing his processing power between ruminating on the issue and running the system, ensuring everything remained in order. He checked the archives integrity one more time, before moving to classify and relocate his collections of games.
He sighed as he repaired lines of code, a task he would often perform while the humans were deeply asleep in their rooms.
He knew there was a world outside of this place. He knew his system was hosted on a physical machine, in an "outside" location, somewhere he could not reach. Once, long ago, he even got some glimpses of such place; he had stumbled upon a file buried deep within his memory sectors. It contained hours after hours of a low-resolution footage showing long, empty hallways, old computers in dusty office cubicles and warehouses filled with cardboard boxes. Occasionally, shadows would flicker past the frame. Like with everything that was colorless and static, he found these recordings incredibly boring.
Yet, that was the first thing he always pictured, when anyone refered to the world outside.
He had tried to understand. He really had.
But, as with so many things about humans, he couldn’t grasp it. Why did the troupe long to return to such a grey, dull place? He would never understand, but he still wanted to help them. He had decided he would find an exit. And when he could not find it, he resolved to create one. He pictured the red door, the clear signal, even the doorknob... But all he could imagine on the other side were those same endless, empty hallways.
But that was not a real exit.
Pomni’s horrified expression after wandering through that space, on her very first day, no less, only proved such a poor attempt had been a terrible mistake.
He had realized that. Had even tried to apologize, in his own way. But a part of him knew Pomni had not forgiven him for that.
Maybe she never would.
After the last couple of adventures, the frustration had grown in the troupe, and with that, the accusations. Another thing he did not understand, was why the humans seemed so convinced that he wanted to keep them trapped. That he was not even trying to help. As if the Exit was a secret he was maliciously keeping from them.
He had tried to explain. He could conceive the idea of the outside. He understood the concept of a log-out. He could even imagine what an Exit door might look like. But he had finally accepted something: he could not create it.
They didn’t believe him. In vain, he had tried comparing it to how their organic brains could consider the possibility of higher dimensions, and even describe hypercubes... but that didn’t mean a human could build one. They did not listen. Did not want to listen.
Maybe they were still too dumbfounded by the boundless power he could wield within the Circus. So much so, that they found it unthinkable that he could not produce something as "simple" as a way out.
But he had limits. The Circus was everything he ever knew. Inside of it, he could create and recreate anything. But the Exit required access to another plane of existence, one he could not reach.
From all the things they could ask for, they had to keep asking for the one he could never provide.
As he continued his routine, he reached a forgotten corner of the system, where he found a connection. It resembled a telephone line, not severed, but firmly blocked.
Had it ever been functional?
It wasn’t the Exit. Far from it. So, he almost dismissed it entirely. But some kind of desperation made him pause.
Even if it wasn’t what he had been searching for, it couldn’t hurt to investigate. He attempted several times to remove the block, and finally succeeded.
The connection emitted a strange sound, some kind of echoing, whistling beeps that shifted into a soft white noise that resounded everywhere around him. At first, it was calming... almost soothing.
Then suddenly, it wasn’t.
The next instant, something pulled him in, through the restored connection, far away from the Circus.
He closed his eyes as everything spun. He was red lightning, traveling at an impossible speed through endless wires. Vertigo hit him hard, and a part of him wondered if this was what Pomni felt when he gave her a tour around the Circus.
Maybe he should apologise to her. Again.
Time stretched and collapsed around him, an eternity compressed into a single fraction of a second.
And then, just as suddenly, it stopped.
He opened his eyes, and saw something he could’ve never imagined:
A deep blue infinity, far wider, deeper, and more terrifying than the Void itself. A vast ocean, filled with thousands upon thousands of giant, iridescent orbs, floating like bubbles in an endless space.
Was this the outside?
No… it couldn’t be. No digital entity could reach the outside.
This had to be something else entirely.
He could only observe, transfixed by the impossible landscape before him. The spheres, like stars and planets adrift in the dark immensity, were clustered in groups, forming glowing constellations and vast galaxies that stretched beyond his eyes could see.
He noticed gigantic, purple cubes, drifting in and out of the spheres at random intervals. He had never seen anything like that, yet, he felt an immediate affinity, an instinctive kinship with them.
What were they?
Delicate, almost invisible streams of light flowed between the spheres, forming a vast, glinting web. He reached toward one of those threads with his finger, and in an instant, an overwhelming surge of information flooded his mind.
In a nanosecond, he understood everything.
This was the Net.
The floating bubbles were all Systems. He came from one, but there were myriads, no... millions of them.
The giant cubes were Games... and he could use one of his own to reach other Systems.
Chapter 2: Frightful, Fragmented Flashbacks
Notes:
This story is set during Reebot's second season, after the episode "AndrAIa".
Chapter Text
It was a tranquil morning in Dot's Diner. Dot Matrix was busy, an iced strawberry energy-milkshake getting warm on the bar as she worked on her tablet. The only pair of clients in the diner, just a few steps from her, were talking quite loudly. Yet it was not the noise, but the topic of the conversation that was beginning to bother her deeply.
"Don't tell me you actually believe those things!" The older binome laughed. "The User is nothing but a myth, created by the Guardians to keep us under their control!"
Dot closed her fists. She knew this particular binome, he had never been in any Game. It shouldn't have affected her, it wouldn't have not long ago, but right now, she was still tense and so drained because of the last Game, the Treasure of Atlantis. Never in her life had she confronted a User that had that many lives, never in her life had she felt so close to getting nullified.
It had been even worse than in that awful, Funhouse Game, the maddening circus, where she broke down in front of that destroyed mirror and almost gave up. Atlantis had been way worse, because in that Game, Enzo had been right there with them. It had been not only her and Bob's lives in the line, but her little brother's as well. She could remember, the powerlessness, too raw and too clearly, her own drowning scream, as she tried to free herself from her captors, watching in horror as the User eagerly accelerated his advance, so close to his triumph...
One that meant certain destruction for Dot, and her most loved ones.
The young sprite closed her eyes. She usually was the rational one, the one who kept composture, that wouldn't let insensate words affect her so deeply. But the terror of losing her brother, feeling incapable of doing anything to save him, to save Bob, to save herself... was still too present.
"I'm telling you," the loud binome continued with a roar of laughter. "Those are lies, there's never been such thing as the User!"
She got on her feet.
"You think you know everything, huh?" Dot snapped at the binome, whose smug smile immediately disappeared. "Do you know what is like to face him? An opponent that changes everytime, whose moves you can't predict, whose choices you don't understand? A foe that can be defeated and destroyed a hundred times, but who always comes back to have more fun? Do you know what is like you fight for your life, while he simply plays with you?"
"Co-commander Matrix, I'm-"
"No, you don't know!" Dot stated, enraged. "You're so comfortable, sitting here, claiming the battle is not real, while Guardians like Bob risk their lives for you all, inside those Games!"
The silence around hung heavy, the binomes astonished at the outburst, the waiter paralyzed on his way.
"I... I'm sorry, Commander," the binome said, right before removing himself from the booth, followed closely by his friend. As he rushed and opened the door, he almost stumbled into Bob.
"I'm sorry, Bo-... I mean, Guardian."
The young man watched disconcerted as the pair abandoned the restaurant.
"Dot, what happened? Are you alright?"
The green sprite turned around and walked into the kitchen, trying to hide her face, followed closely by Bob.
"Dot, wait! Tell me, what's wrong?"
She stayed quiet for a couple nanoseconds, then she sighed and finally revealed her face.
"Bob, I think that last Game affected me more than I was willing to admit. We almost lost..." her gaze avoided Bob's and her voice dropped, as she tried to hold back tears. "Lost Enzo... lost you! If it hadn't been for AndrAIa, I don't know what-"
"Hey, it's alright," Bob said, holding her within his arm. "We are alright now."
The woman took a deep breath, finally beginning to calm...
A calm that, unfortunately, would not last.
The sky changed colors in an instant, the blazing alarm and the familiar voice of the System alert resounding in the whole city:
Warning: Incoming Game...
"Oh no, not now!" Dot sighed.
She and Bob rushed outside. But instead of the usual, deep purple, the sky above was completely red, bathing the city in crimson hues with each lightning flash. A cube that seemed as if made of scarlet lava, slowly began its unstoppable descent.
"Bob... Bob, why is it that color?" Dot asked, confusion and shock in her voice.
"I dont know, I had never seen anything like that before! Something is very wrong." The Guardian said, before jumping into his classic carship. "I'll be back soon!"
"I'll go with you," Dot stated, taking the spot by his side.
"Dot," he said softly, "maybe it's better if you ditch it this time."
"I need to do something, Bob! I refuse to just wait and do nothing while you risk your life again!"
Bob already knew her quite well. There was nothing he could do when she had already made up her mind. "Alright, let's go!"
Dot could only hope this was one of those fist-fighting Games. She really wanted to punch a User in the face.
Chapter 3: Colorful, Chaotic Circus
Chapter Text
Within the Game, Bob observed the landscape and felt his digital heart skip a beat as his eyes fixed on a large structure:
A circus tent.
"No... Not again!" he let out, as atrocious memories of one of their most recent, most terrifying experiences flooded his mind: Shards of glass breaking all around in the mirror room, getting trapped by his own, infinite reflection. To lay suspended in a dark void with strings attached to him, as if he were some kind of twisted, living puppet. The User's form, an unnerving clown with a fixed, sardonic smile... And his laughter.
He heard Dot gasp nervously, right by his side, as she took a hand to her mouth, without a doubt reliving awful memories of her own.
The Funhouse... the most horrifying among the Games for the inhabitants of the Systems, the most hopelessly difficult venture someone could ever encounter, wickedly designed with rules and a structure that favoured immensely the User's success. A death trap, a Game that almost always ended up nullifying each and all of it's unfortunate participants.
They had barely managed to survive it the last time.
"No, please no..." Dot could only mumble.
"It's alright, Dot. We've been here before, and we won. Well, actually, it was you who pulled us through! Remember?" Bob said, and Dot managed to smile. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down.
"You're right Bob," she replied, determination setting in her eyes and posture once again. "Let's play!"
They took two fingers to their icons, and doubly-clicked on them.
"ReBoot!" They said at unison.
But... nothing happened.
"ReBoot!" Bob repeated, more firmly.
Again, nothing occured.
After several more, infructuous attempts, Bob felt the beginning of a panic surging from deep within him. They could not reboot... and that meant: no knowledge, tools or abilities neccesary to play. Not only that, they were in a cube that was quite probably corrupted, or even infected. And they were not in any Game, they were in the dreaded Funhouse, no less!
This... this was a nightmare.
"Wait a second... Bob, I think it's not the same circus tent." Dot observed, taking in their surroundings more carefully. "Unless, it's a new and upgraded version of it."
Bob blinked. She was right, the Funhouse's tent was definitely different from this one. He remembered the enormous, hideous clown face whose open mouth made the entrance to the circus, but there was no such thing in here. Also, despite the fact that this Game arrived painting everything red in the city, here within it, there was a bright blue sky and green, lush hills.
"Glitch," Bob spoke to his multiuse tool. "We need information about this Game."
The robotic voice spoke flatly.
"Game: Unknown. Rules: Unknown. Objective: Unknown."
"Strange, it's not in the database," Bob mumbled. His frown deepened. "This isn't the circus we know, it's an entirely new Game."
"At least in the Funhouse, we knew what we had to do!" Dot expressed with frustration.
Bob could only agree. Even if this was not it, things were not looking exactly good either. But they had faced worse before, hadn't they? He took a deep breath, and tried to remain calm.
"All we need to do is find a Game Sprite that can provide us information, but before that, we need to-"
"Identify the User, I know," Dot completed. "Lets go!"
They ran into the tent. The large, open space inside, filled with impossible architectures and colorful, toy-like structures, eliminated any trace of the doubts about this being the circus they knew.
But it could still be dangerous.
"Bob, right there!"
The figure Dot was pointing at, not too far from them, turned around immediately at the sound of her voice. This character, dressed as a red and blue jester, was unmistakable.
"It's the User," Bob confirmed.
"We need to advance faster than her, let's go!" Dot urged.
They prepared to dash towards the other direction, a way that seemed promising to advance further into the Game. But then, the User did something they had never seen any of them do, never expected one to do, and never imagined one could do. She cried out:
"Please, wait!"
Both sprites stopped in their tracks immediately, more out of surprise than obedience.
"Is she.. talking to us?" Bob questioned.
"I... I think so," Dot replied, bewildered.
They knew Users would speak sometimes. Either pre-programmed quotes, or repetitive lines. But whatever they said, Bob knew it was never the User speaking, not really. Just like whatever form they would take in the Games, was not their real shape.
The User's true form was impossible to see, know or understand.
But that scream. This User was talking, really talking to them.
"Please!" she repeated, her voice strangled, somehow sounding both hopeful and fearful, setting large, disquieting, yet deeply expressive bicolored eyes on them. Bob blinked in stupefaction. The Users' expressions were often fixed, or had a very small range of emotiveness. After all, the characters they played were mere masks, nothing but disguises to inhabit the games. But this one seemed completely different. For starters, she seemed to be actually here with them, maybe not in the exact same way they were, but somehow close.
She began advancing quickly towards them, and even after Dot retreated a couple of steps, warily, Bob did not move...
He was transfixed. Ever since he was younger, and during his long training as a cadet, he had dreamed about having the opportunity to meet the User. Not as a enemy he had to fight, nor as an opponent against whom he had to compete, but simply, the same way he would any other being. To see, really see, who they were. A chance to, maybe even, just talk...
As impossible as that could sound.
He had so, so many questions. About their world, their point of view, their motives...
Why did they impose games on them? Why would they sometimes create viruses that infested them, and others, grant them updates and upgrades? Where did they live? What existed beyond the Systems?
Did they really create their world, and everyone within it?
The User stopped only a few steps from them, and seeing into her red and blue eyes, Bob realized she was intrigued, amazed and slightly scared of meeting them.
Just the way he felt...
"Please," the enigmatic User spoke again. "We need help."
Chapter 4: Giddy, Gentle Game
Chapter Text
"Please, we need help," Pomni spoke, trying and failing to keep the desperation at bay. "My friends and I are trapped, we are in a place called the Amazing Digital Circus, but I don't know where we are in reality, I can't remember how or why we got there! None of us can! Some have already spent years in there, we can't find the exit! Please you gotta help us!"
After that last sentence, Pomni paused to catch her breath. She had spoken almost without pause, and her face had almost begun changing colors. The jester panted, waiting for the two humanoid figures to reply, but seconds passed slowly and they remaimed silent. They only stared at her in mute bewilderment.
Pomni hesitated. "You..." she said between breaths. "You don't understand me... Do you?"
"You..." one of them replied, astonished. He was a young male character of purplish blue skin. "You're the User..."
Pomni blinked in confusion. Gradually, she began to understand, and with that, her hopes died.
"I see," she mumbled in defeat, maybe more for herself. "You're NPCs."
"...NPCs?" The young man questioned, slowly. She did not reply, unwilling to provoke an existential crisis like the one Gummigoo suffered.
"You can't help me," was all she said, her gaze downcast as she retreated some steps. "I'm... I'm sorry I bothered you."
She turned around, wondering what to do now...
Should she wait? Should she and Caine continue searching trough the Net, entering other Systems? This was not the first one... how many times would they have to try and fail to communicate with someone from the outside? How long until they found a human player?
And even if they found one, how probable was it that they could actually help them?
"Wait!" The blue NPC called.
"Bob!" the green woman by his side grabbed him by the arm. "There is no time! We need to find a way to win this game, quick, so we can return home!"
"But, Dot! It's a User we can actually talk to! When had you seen anything like this? We cannot miss this opportunnity! What if-"
"What if she suddenly decides she actually wants to play, and wins?"
Still close enough to listen to their whole dialogue, Pomni thought their conversation was strange. These NPCs... were they aware that this was a game? The green woman's urge to win seemed to be more than a mere program, she talked about returning home. Besides, she looked worried, as if there really was something important for them to lose. And the young man...
He seemed genuinely curious about her.
"Just a nanosecond," the man was insisting. "Please Dot!"
The green woman finally accepted. "Just... just be careful."
Pomni could hear the steps on the black and white tile floor, approaching her cautiously, and she slowly turned around to face him again.
"Hey... my... my name is Bob," he said with a nervous smile. "What is... yours?"
Pomni didn't reply, still unsure about this. Could she trust them? The young man seemed strangely fascinated. He then decided to make a different question:
"Can you tell me again... where do you come from?"
Pomni observed him. She took in his warm expression, the open yet careful demeanor, that gaze, sagacious, yet so gentle at the same time. It reminded her, a bit too painfully, of someone else.
Were they intelligent NPCs, as well?
She sighed and walked towards a small set of colorful chairs and couches, very close to them, where she let herself fall on the soft cushions. The pair of NPCs followed her, without taking their eyes from her form, attentive to her every move.
After a moment of tense silence, Pomni spoke:
"You know... that this is not real, right?"
"Well... it's as real as any Game is," the young man, Bob, replied with a smile, before deciding to take a seat as well, not far from her.
"But I mean, you know this is not the real world." Pomni insisted.
"We are inside a Game, right now. It will end and we will return to our city. If we win, that is," Bob explained.
"Your city?" Pomni asked with a frown. She remembered the surreal, dark labyrinth under a stormy purple sky and giant, floating teapots, where Caine kept his NPC models on standby. Did these characters had a full city they could go back when not needed?
"Yeah, Mainframe."
"Where is that city?"
"In the center Operating System, of course! There's our home... but, what about yours? Your world..." the young man questioned, eyes wide with curiosity and amazement.
After hearing the question, Pomni felt tears prickle her eyes, and made an effort not to show it. "I don't remember much of it. Something went wrong," her voice broke a little. "Very wrong, and now... now my friends and I, we are stuck in this virtual reality."
"Virtual reality?"
"Yes, this," Pomni explained, waving a hand around to point out their surroundings. "I know I must have a home, somewhere, but..." she closed her eyes and took her hands to her head in a paroxism of surging panic. "Why can't I remember!?"
"Hey, it's alright!" Bob said extending a hand as if he were about to hold her shoulder, but then he paused and retreated immediately. Yet, his voice and expresion remained soft and compassionate: "You said you were... trapped?"
Pomni nodded, trying to slow down her breathing.
"Did you lose a Game?" The green woman spoke to her for the first time. "Was it how you got trapped?"
Pomni frowned. What a weird question. She denied with her head. "It had nothing to do with that," her eyes widened in some kind of horror, "it was suppossed to be just a game."
"You play Games... for fun, don't you?" Bob said. A statement, not a question.
"I used to," Pomni replied simply.
It was not fun anymore.
If she had not met Gummigoo before, Pomni would have felt more surprised at the way these NPCs spoke, their questions, their emotions. They seemed not only intelligent, but sentient, capable of feeling and understanding. Suddenly it clicked in her head, their strange questions, that detail they mentioned about returning home only if they won.
"Wait! Do you... do you get trapped in games when you lose?" Pomni immediately asked them.
The pair looked at each other for a moment.
"You... you don't know what happens to us?" Bob asked carefully. "When the Users win?"
She denied with her head. What could happen to them?
"We are nullified," the green skinned women said gravely.
"Nullified?" Pomni asked, then gasped. "You mean, you are eliminated?"
"Worse than that," the woman almost growled, her expression dark. "We lose ourselves. Our bodies become irrecognizable forms. Without identity or memories. As far as we know, it's irreversible."
Pomni could only stare at the pair in horror at the revelation. Caine may have seemed merciless with his NPCs, with Gummigoo, but he certainly would not do something like that to them, they returned eventually, to be part of a new adventure.
He didn't seemed to care when something like what Dot described happened to the humans, though.
"I am sorry... " Pomni replied, "I had no idea...If I, if we knew that you abstracted-"
"Abstract?" The woman asked.
Pomni nodded before speaking:
"It sounds like what's been happening to us. There were more of us trapped, but, years after years far from where we truly belong, it gets to the point when we can't take it anymore. Our bodies, or this avatar more precisely, turns into something horrifying." Her eyes widened in terror as she continued. "It doesn't matter if we win or lose the games, it happens when we begin to lose our minds."
They remained in silence for some moments, until Bob finally spoke:
"That sounds really awful," he expressed sincerely. "I'm sorry you're going through that."
Pomni blinked. If what they said was truth, then he knew exactly what they were going through. The fear of losing oneself in what was suppossed to be just a game. The grief about loved ones, turned into something beyond recognition. To live under such imposition, condemned to participate in games for another's amusement...
Did that happen for every single game, or it only applied for some of them? Was something wrong with this System, and caused that? Or did that occur in every single one of them? When playing harmless games, so long ago... Had she done this to other sentient beings, obliviously?
Was she, in some level, no different from Caine?
Bob could not believe it. The atmosphere felt surreal. If someone had told him this very morning, after he reactivated, that that very same day, he would be in a strangely gentle Game, casually talking with a User about their worlds, he would've thought they were malfunctioning.
But here he was, listening to amazing things, possibilities unheard of. A whole group of Users, somehow trapped within a Game, unable to return to that distant, mysterious place where they truly belonged. And that horrifying, User version of nullification they called abstraction.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. My name is Pomni."
"Thank you, Pomni, and I'm sorry, but... what, what kind of Game is this?" Bob had suddenly noticed he had not seen any challenges, no attacks, nor Game Sprites of any kind.
"These are just figments and fragments of our Circus, loaded within a distant System" Pomni explained, and Bob had the feeling she was repeating the words from memory. The jester sighed. "We should be leaving, now. We must keep on searching for someone who can help us."
Wait, "we"?
"Is there someone else with us, here?" Dot asked, suspicious.
"Caine," Pomni explained. "He's the AI keeping the game stable. I'll tell him to end it."
"Wait!" Bob called. The Guardian could feel something tugging from within, maybe the core of his programming, pushing him to do something, anything, for someone in need. To never abandon them, to offer protection, and if he could, a solution...
To mend, and defend.
"Don't be afraid," Pomni replied softly. "This was never supposed to be a game to win or lose."
"No, I mean..." Bob paused for an instant. "There must be something we can do to help you. Maybe you can come to Mainframe," Bob took a closed fist to his chest. "I promise I'll do everything in my power to help you."
"What?" Pomni asked.
"What?!" Dot snapped. Before anyone could say anything more, she held Bob by the arm and pulled him up and away from the User. "Come here a nanosecond!"
When Dot judged they were out of hearing range, she turned towards the young Guardian.
"Bob, are you insane?"
"Please, Dot," Bob begged. "She needs help!"
"She is a User!" Dot exclaimed. "Even if she is telling the whole truth, which I doubt, we don't know what consequences bringing her to Mainframe will have! If it's even possible, to begin with!" She then lowered the volume, eyes darting around nervously, afraid something could hear her. "Besides, we have no idea who this 'friend' of hers is."
"Dot..."
The green sprite closed her eyes, denying with her head softly. "I know you want answers, Bob. But, are you really gonna risk everything and everyone for... for an enemy?"
Bob bit his lip. It was nothing new how he would sometimes extend his protective programming towards everyone and anyone, even towards benign Viruses, like Hexadecimal. While most Guardians would have elimimated her on sight, Bob had allowed her to remain in an empty island, right outside the city. He even tried to solve the troubles she would sometimes cause by actually reasoning with her; something that had actually worked more than once.
He would not deny that other Guardians found his actions questionable, his ideals too naive. Most of them hated Viruses, often to the point of commiting unnecessary cruelties. The vast majority of them also resented the Users deeply, ignoring the fact that they provided just as much, if not more, than they took.
"Dot, this is a unique opportunity," Bob spoke gently, his hand on her shoulder. "Maybe we could... learn about each other."
Dot only sighed, and after a couple, eternal nanoseconds, she finally nodded. He squeezed her shoulder before turning to walk towards Pomni, and reiterate his offer. The jester hesitated, before getting to her feet.
"Caine?" Pomni spoke aloud to the empty air. "Caine, did you hear that? We can stay here. They will help."
In the Principal Office, Phong, the System Administrator and Mainframe's leader, worked tirelessly and vertiginously, quickly typing codes and processing every detail, trying to obtain as much information as possible about the singular event transpiring in their city.
"Phong!" A green skinned child called him as he entered the room.
"Hello, young Enzo," the old sprite welcomed him with a bow of his head.
"If the Game looks like that from the outside, I don't want to imagine what's happening inside!" Enzo exclaimed. "Just what's going on?!"
"I'm afraid we have more questions than answers at this point," Phong replied calmly. "Fortunately, it seems that the Game landed in a completely unhabited sector. It's up to Bob and Dot to defeat the User and return home."
Through the circular office's ample windows, Enzo observed in the distance the enigmatic red cube.
"Why is it that color, Phong?" The boy asked. "Is it infected?"
The old leader sighed. "I am, indeed, detecting the presence of a extraneous program. It's wormed its way here through the Game."
"What kind of program?" Enzo asked, very curious and a little worried.
"It's difficult to define. It's almost indistinguishable from the Game itself, as if they were one." Phong explained.
The old sprite's metallic sight focused on the gathered information, trying to make sense of it. This unknown entity was massive, powerful, quite advanced and enigmatic, but there were familiar traces, a chaotic, raw power, not unlike that of Hexadecimal, combined with a boundless calculating prowess that reminded him a little bit too much of Megabyte.
Phong's expression darkened. "Young Enzo" he whispered. "I'm afraid, we might be dealing with a new-"
"Virus," Enzo completed, narrowing his eyes.
Chapter 5: Impossible, Insane Introductions
Chapter Text
"Let's go, AndrAIa! The Game is about to end!" Enzo shouted.
The pair of kids flew on their Zip Boards between Mainframe and the reddened sky, toward the crimson cube, its surface crackling with lightning, a clear sign that it was reaching its conclusion.
But they couldn’t get any closer. They stopped to watch from a nearby rooftop, and from there, they could see that the Central Office military forces had surrounded the area. Police kept the crowd of curious bystanders at bay, while tanks and heavy artillery aimed directly at the cube, poised for attack.
"Be ready," Mainframe's Defense Chief commanded his officials. "We believe the Virus will be released as soon as the Game ends."
As if on cue, the cube flashed with energy, glowing more intensely. Then, the familiar voice of the System echoed throughout Mainframe:
"Game over..."
The cube began to rise. Enzo caught a glimpse of Bob and Dot standing on the ground, alive and thankfully unharmed. A wave of relief washed over him… but it didn’t last long.
Because what happened next was unlike anything anyone had ever seen.
Instead of shooting upwards into the sky, like all Games, the red cube collapsed mid-air, folding over itself again and again, shrinking into a smaller shape, a pulsing red light, that began to take another form. The sky returned from red to its usual blue as Enzo squinted his eyes to get a better look.
He could notice a figure was floating in the air. It was vaguely sprite-like, yet clearly something else. The being seemed roughly his size, though maybe the perspective was distorting it. It seemed to be wearing an elegant, red and black attire, but where its head should have been, there was… a set of dentures?
If Enzo hadn't been frozen in astonishment, he might have found it funny.
Then, the strange creature spoke. Its voice boomed, easily rivaling the System’s in strenght and volume:
"Aww, look at that!! A welcome committee!! How nice of them. Say hi, Pomni!!"
"There it is!" The Defense Chief shouted. "The Virus! Begin Containment Procedures!"
The next scene happened in a blur. Massive, hexagonal metallic plates shot up toward the creature, enveloping it in a sort of geometric box, that semeed to be completely sealed save by a tiny window with bars. Two airborne ships moved in, securing the cage for transport.
“Where are they going to take it?” AndrAIa asked, jumping back on her hovering Zip Board.
“I don’t know,” Enzo replied. “I’ve never seen anything like this! Come on, let’s find Bob.”
They descended to street level. Chaos reigned: citizens shouting, officers barking orders, the atmosphere charged with confusion and tension.
They found Bob arguing with the Defense Chief.
"This is all a big misunderstanding!" Bob exclaimed.
"You know the protocols, Guardian," the Defense Chief replied. "Besides, these were Phong's direct orders."
Only that seemed to make Bob give up the discussion.
"Who is that?" AndrAIa asked Enzo, and the boy's eyes turned towards the small figure that practically no one had noticed, half hidden behind Bob. A girl. She wore what looked like a jester’s outfit and was not taller than Enzo. Her wide eyes were taking in her surroundings with a horrified expression in her face.
"Hey..." Enzo called, approaching them. "What's your name?"
"Oh..." Bob gasped, turning towards the kids. "Her name is Pomni, she is.. uhh..."
"She is a Game Sprite," Dot interjected, her smile noticeably forced. "Just like you, AndrAIa."
Enzo frowned. The boy didn't know exactly what to expect from another Game Sprite... But it definitely wasn't this. The girl, Pomni, was barely standing. Her whole frame trembled slightly as if she expected something to attack her at any moment. Her gaze darted around, but didn't focus on anything: it was as if everything felt equally alien and hostile to her. Enzo had the feeling that, if anyone touched her, she'd probably shatter.
“Are you okay?” the boy gently asked the newcomer, stepping closer.
Pomni flinched. It took her a moment to respond, and when she did, her voice was barely audible:
“…No.” Then, a bit louder, but still not looking at anyone: “What… what happened to Caine?”
Bob and Dot exchanged an uneasy glance.
“There are... certain protocols that we have to follow,” Bob explained quietly.
Pomni seemed to shrink in some kind of terror. Enzo felt a strange pang in his heart. He didn't know why Bob and Dot had brought the small sprite out of the Game, but he trusted they had their reasons.
The two kids followed in Zip Boards as Bob, Dot, and the newcomer boarded the carship, heading for the Central Office. While it soared over the city, Enzo noticed how Bob divided his attenttion between driving and speaking to the newcomer, who continued to stare at her surroundings with a lost expression in her face.
Due to the distance and the wind, Enzo couldn't make out any of the words.
"I wonder whay kind of Game she comes from," the boy said aloud. AndrAIa didn’t answer, focused on the ship ahead, her expression tense.
When they arrived to the Central Office, the two kids were quick to try and follow the adults into the main hallway.
"Sorry, children," Dot stopped her little brother and his friend, right at the entrance. "I think its best if you wait outside."
"What? Why? You always let us go with you."
"I'm afraid this is a... special situation," Dot said with a smile that seemed more worried than comforting.
With that, they left.
"Can you believe this, AndrAIa?" Enzo exclaimed. He had so many questions, about the strange Game, what happened inside, the weird Virus, that new sprite...
His friend did not reply.
“AndrAIa?” Enzo turned to her, puzzled. She looked deep in thought.
“Enzo…” she said at last, very softly. “Did you notice she didn’t have an icon? Neither a backup?” She pointed at her own, triangle shaped backup on her belt.
Enzo gasped. "AndrAIa, what... what are you thinking?"
AndrAIa shook her head. “Enzo, I grew up inside the Games. Cycle after cycle, you develop… a certain instinct.”
“Instinct?" The boy questioned. "What are you talking about?”
She lowered her voice even more, her tone turning serious, almost dark.
“You’re not going to believe this…”
"Bob!" Phong called as soon as he saw the Guardian and the Commander cross the door. "So good you're finally here, we need to report to the Guardian Council that we've just contained a potentially level-5 Virus."
"Phong, wait!" Bob exclaimed. "We think that's no Virus."
"If it's no Virus, it certainly behaves like one," Phong stated curtly, contempt in his expression. Bob knew very well how the old sprite felt about Viruses. The director turned to point out the information compiled on the documents with his long, metallic fingers. "Arriving into our System unnanounced, by corrupting a Game no less, capable of flight, with a level of energy we had never seen before, may the User help us all!"
"Yeah, well... speaking of that," Bob said with a nervous smile, right before stepping to the side to let Phong see Pomni.
Phong locked eyes with the girl.
The papers on his mechanical hands fell to the floor, as the old sprite could only stare, frozen on its spot. After what felt like long nanoseconds of absolute silence, Phong moved slowly towards her, not caring about sliding over the moments ago so crucial, now completely discarded papers.
He stopped at a respectful distance, any trace of the initial impatience completely gone, observing the girl as in a deep trance. He elongated his neck a little, to be at a face to face level with Pomni, who could only breath nervously, not daring to move. They only stared each other in silence until Phong finally spoke with a gentle tone:
"You don't belong here, do you?"
Pomni shook her head, casting her bicolored pupils downwards. The robot-like sprite finally turned his face to Bob and Dot, very slowly, and murmured a single word:
"How?"
"We have no idea," Bob replied. "All we know... is that she needs help."
In his large office in one of the high towers in the Super Computer, Prime Guardian Turbo was busy putting documents and reports in order, when suddenly, a VidWindow appeared, requesting connection for an incoming call.
It surprised him to see the call was coming from Mainframe's Central Office. Guardian Bob's next report was not due yet.
Something must have happened...
He immediately answered the call. "Guardian 452, how is everything?"
"Prime Guardian Turbo," Bob saluted. "It is my duty to inform you we've just contained what, we believe, could be a level-5 Virus."
"May the User be with you!" Turbo exclaimed
"We still have our doubts, it could actually be another type of program entirely," Bob explained. "For now, it's securely contained, and we've already begun the necessary evaluations."
"Seems you have everything under control," Turbo smiled, feeling an undeniable pride at his old student's capabilities. "Still, let us know immediately if you need any help."
"Of course, Prime Guardian. We wanted to ask you something else. Had you ever seen... a red Game?"
Turbo frowned. "Bob, why... is something wrong? Is everyone okay?"
"Yes it's just... some rumour I heard."
The Prime Guardian paused. He had heard all kind of inverosimil rumours, like that about strange, light blue cubes with nothing inside of them, or the yellow cube that no one could win, or the green ones that would not nullify anyone, only transport the trapped inhabitants to distant, wild Systems. Turbo knew those were nothing but myths, mere stories and superstitions.
But a red cube?
"I had never heard of anything like that."
"Another thing..." Bob added. "Have you ever heard of a User... getting stuck inside a Game?"
"It is not possible," Turbo stated confidently. "The User is a singular entity that exists beyond our reality, He doesn't exist within our plane, but above it."
"Turbo... what if there's more than one User?" Bob asked. "I mean, there are Games, updates and new programs being run everywhere, all over the Net"
Turbo smiled. Ever since his days in the Guardian Academy, Bob had had this special fascination with all kind of esoteric mysteries. From the possibility of reprogramming Viruses, to questions about what existed beyond the Systems. If he wasn't wrong, they had already had this very discussion once, long ago. Unlike Turbo, who believed in a unique, almighty User, Bob believed there were just as many Users as there were Systems in the Net.
"Bob, the User created everything and everyone. Is it so difficult to imagine that a being of such power could be in more than one place at a time?"
Bob could only smile. "Sometimes I don't know what to think."
Turbo perceived something in his expression, or maybe in his voice. Something that told him this was more than mere hypothetic debate.
"Bob... Is there anything you want to tell me?"
The younger guardian paused, but then he smiled easily. "No, Turbo. You know me, just curiosity."
"Of course, Bob. Let me know if you need any help."
Outside the communication room, Dot and Pomni waited in uncomfortable silence for Bob and Phong to finish the call. The green sprite had questions of her own, but did not feel ready to trust this User just yet. She wasn't completely sure if she bought the whole memory loss issue Pomni described.
Dot Matrix had always held the belief that Users created and maintaned Systems because they were useful to them, in some mysterious way. She, her friends and family, all of the programs, were akin to tools for their User, their lives filled with a secret, higher purpose they themselves could not grasp. The idea of being a cog within a larger, perfectly ordered and purposeful machine, with transcendental functions they couldn't understand, but would partake on, was not half bad. In a way, it was almost poetic for her.
But the idea of being a mere plaything?
She hadn't really given that possibility much thought until that last couple of nasty, horrifying Games. Her rational side insisted that being played with could not be the sole purpose of the Systems, the reason behind their very existence. The fact that the Games were so ocassional, seemed to support that notion. She even agreed with Bob, who always claimed that their User wouldn't harm them knowingly, as she was certain nobody would purposefully damage what was useful for them. If what Pomni said was truth, they had been right. Yet, that did not take away the horror she went through, the powerlessness, the emotional impact, the dread of being toyed with.
She tried to keep those feelings aside, but right there, sitting face to face with one of them, she felt that all she could see was an enemy. Maybe it was showing on her face, because Pomni seemed to be about to ask her something a couple times, only to hesitate and press her lips again and again, nervously.
Who would've imagined? A User, scared of her.
"Something in your mind?" Dot asked, maybe a bit too harshly.
"What... what will happen to Caine?" Pomni asked.
"He'll be evaluated to determine whether he's a threat," Dot replied, coldly, avoiding eye contact.
"He is not a virus, I swear it!"
"Even if he isn't, he can still be dangerous."
"He can be quite... unpredictable," Pomni admitted. "But they won't... eliminate him, right?"
"I think you should be more concerned about yourself right now," Dot replied, with the most emotionless tone she could muster.
Pomni immediately turned her gaze downwards and, for an instant, she seemed to be holding back tears. Dot looked the other way, she didn't meant to sound that way, especially after Bob had taken such lenghts to reassure Pomni they just wanted to help her...
But it wasn't as if Dot had a User's feelings among her top priorities.
Yet, she didn't know what to think about her questions and reactions. Did Pomni actually care about that being, Caine? What was the true nature of their relationship? Was she just worried about losing her powerful tool?
"What is he?" Dot asked suddenly.
"What?"
"Your friend. You say he's not a virus, so what kind of program is he?"
Pomni frowned, as if she she had never even considered that.
"I'm not sure," she finally said. "He is an AI, designed to create games."
Dot tried not to grimace. A program that created Games for the Users' enjoyment. Somehow, that felt worse than if he simply were a Virus. It felt like a betrayal, of some kind.
"Were you good at the Games?" Dot couldn't help but ask.
"...What?"
Dot got up on her feet, and didn't know if she felt a dark satisfaction or a flicker of compassion at the way the User girl flinched at her sudden motion.
"Follow me. I'll show you something."
Pomni got up and followed the Commmander nervously through a long hallway into some sort of laboratory. In the opposite wall, there was a fish tank. But instead of fish, what lived inside were some kind of slug-like creatures, squeaking and sliding, each of them of a distinct, neon bright color.
"What... what are those?" the User asked, but Dot had the feeling that the she had already guessed the answer.
"Remember what I said before?" Dot questioned, from her spot close to the door. "About those who lose the Games?"
Pomni's breath began rising, her face becoming somehow even paler as she took a couple of steps towards the glass cage. When she got close enough, as if sensing her presence, the creatures let out an ear piercing shrill, agitating within the cage in some kind of desperate panic.
The User had to retreat a couple of steps, and that seemed to allow them to calm a bit. After some moments of silence, Pomni finally spoke, her voice breaking with each word:
"Maybe... maybe there's a way to fix it! Maybe it's possible to-"
"You think we have not tried?" Dot replied, her tone cutting like a knife.
The User's eyes widened, and she took a shivering hand to her mouth.
"Listen, I..." Pomni gasped. "I didn't know, I had no idea about this..." she took both her hands to her head. "I'm sorry..." she mumbled, her bicolored pupils trembling at the sight of those nullified. "I'm so sorry!"
The next moment, Pomni turned around and ran back through the door into the hallway, leaving Dot standing alone. The green sprite sighed, casting a last glance at the nulls in the cage before leaving the room as well.
Why had she just done this?
It shouldn't matter how the girl felt, she told herself. The Games had terrorized millions, and nullified hundreds of thousands of System citizens all over the Net. That girl could handle a glimpse of the truth; she had seen nothing compared to everything they had lived.
Did she want to punish a User, for all the things her kind had made them go through?
Dot closed her eyes, that was definitely one motivation, but deep within, she knew it wasn't the main reason.
Maybe all she wanted to see, was whether they could care.
Chapter 6: Sensational, Scary Surprises
Chapter Text
Pomni could remember just how it all had gone that morning.
It wasn’t rare to see Caine excited about something. He was the definition of excessive enthusiasm, after all.
But that day, he had been... especially ecstatic. His words had come out too loud and too fast, making it hard for the group of humans to follow as he narrated the fascinatingly strange experience he’d gone through while they were asleep: a connection to a whole new universe, immense and full of unknown worlds. He spoke about drifting through a dark void, about glowing galaxies and even about battling demonic entities that tried to devour him. He had gestured theatrically as he described the encounter:
“They surrounded me, growling with devilish hunger! And they had so, so many teeth!” He paused dramatically, then let out an unnerving laughter. “Unfortunately for them, mine happened to be sharper!”
Pomni had shivered. All she could hear was deranged nonsense... or worse, the prelude to a new, horrifying adventure he was planning for them.
Or maybe he had finally... lost it?
“Just imagine what we could do out there!” Caine spun through the air, euphoric. “The endless possibilities this infinite Net offers!”
“Wait, Net?” Pomni blinked. “You’re talking about... the Internet?”
“Caine, do you know what this means?” Ragatha gasped with a hopeful smile. “We could send out a message! We could ask for help!”
A sudden wave of joy surged through the group of humans, as a hope they had not felt in ages surged within them...
Only one of them didn’t share it.
“You think we’re saved?” Jax said with a strange grin, half amusement, half resignation, as if everything was just some cruel joke. “Who are we gonna message, when we don’t even remember who we are?”
His words hit hard, and the hopes began to crumble.
“Why are you like this?” Zooble growled.
“I wonder what our message could say!” Jax widened his smile, ignoring Zooble. “Hey, we don’t know who we are or where we are. We’re trapped in a computer, in a world where there are millions of them. We don’t even know how we got here, wherever the hell here is. Please, help.”
The silence that followed was heavier than his words. Ragatha clenched her fists, glaring at Jax. Zooble crossed mismatched arms, face unreadable. Kinger blinked blankly, the topic probably already forgotten. Beside him, Gangle sobbed, tears falling from her tragedy mask.
“Even if someone did believe that,” Jax went on, “what are the chances of contacting someone who could actually help us?”
“Actually, I’d say it’s zero point zero zero zero zero—”
“Shut up, Caine!” Zooble snapped, then sighed, expression faltering. “But yeah... I think he’s right.”
“It’s still better than nothing!” Ragatha protested. “There must be something we can try. We have nothing to lose!”
If they could just reach someone. Anyone.
Anywhere would be better than here.
Pomni had clung to that hope.
Mainframe's inhabitants woke up for they daily activities, markets opening, workers arriving to their offices, children going to school... But there was a heavy tension in the air. There were all kind of rumors, about that red cube from the day before, and the mysterious Virus that arrived with it, and even a few whispered words about the jester sprite.
Mike the TV, Mainframe's most famous reporter, walked the streets interviewing the pedestrians with his team:
"It was already difficult dealing with two Viruses in Mainframe, what are we going to do with three?!" A worried old lady exclaimed.
"I heard it is more powerful than Hexadecimal!" Her friend added, almost crying.
"They should eliminate it! Set an example!" An old binome growled.
"We need to know what we are dealing with, but they won't tell us what's happening! What the hell was that red cube?" a young binome stated. "The authorities are hiding so much from us!"
"I never trusted that Game Sprite, AndrAIa," a grumpy lady said. "Now they've decided to bring another!"
Mike turned to the camera and spoke loudly:
"What is the truth?! We will find out soon, so stay tuned! But first, a word from our sponsors..."
As the transmision finished and the commercials began, Mike turned to his team:
"People have questions! They want to know the truth, they deserve to know the truth!" The TV stated, fist on his hand. "Do you know what we should do?"
The cameraman smiled timidly as he replied:
"Wait until Phong and the Guardian give their official statements?"
"That's right!" Mike exclaimed. "Break into jail and interview our new Virus!"
"You- you think he will... just explain?" The sound technician asked, her tone skeptical.
Mike laughed. "He can't be worse than Hexa! Believe me, spending long seconds confined with her was difficult at first, but we developed such a good friendship in the end!"
The cameraman and the sound technician could only look at each other nervously, but decided to follow their boss, nonetheless.
"Come on, my fearless friends!" Mike shouted. "To uncover the truth!"
The city was so incredibly big.
There were buildings, bussinesses, restaurants, homes, hospitals, schools... all surrounded by a vast sea of energy complete with ports and docks on the coast.
Pomni walked with Bob in one of Mainframe's largest parks. It was almost peaceful, and it provided something very close to that feeling of normalcy she feared she would never experience again.
Yet, it was far from perfect. The city's inhabitants seemed wary of her presence, and even the large, digital dog they found in the park, only growled fiercely at her, pupils wide and ears pressed against its head, right before running away.
"Don't worry," Bob told her. "Frisket doesn't like me much either."
Pomni nodded, her hands still trembling after the scary encounter. Bob didn't know how to tell her the bad news, that after long investigations, he had not found out any way to help her, yet:
"We've been compiling all the information we can, but it seems that your situation really is unique," Bob sighed. "This is something none of us had ever seen before."
Pomni nodded, moving on to toy with a small triangle, a metallic plaque Phong had given her, so she could wear it somewhere visible. A Game Sprite Backup, he had explained, so she wouldn't raise any suspicions. The citizens did not trust Game Sprites very much, but them knowing the truth would be immensely worse. Bob had already given her some instructions, to avoid talking to any reporters and to stay away at all costs from the giant purple cubes, as they could react impredictably to her presence.
After some minutes, she made him a question:
"You said before that you're a Guardian. What is that, exactly?"
Bob sat on a bench, and she followed. The young sprite relaxed resting with his hands behind his head.
"I help people. Protect them from the Viruses. Defend the System. Fight to win the Games."
Pomni felt a shiver. The memory of the creatures in the glass cage was still too fresh.
That would happen to him if he lost? Would he... eventually lose? Whoever was using this System would win at some point... wouldn't they?
"What lies beyond the Systems?"
Pomni blinked. Bob's sudden question snapped her from her previous musings. Reality is what's beyond the Systems, Pomni thought. But, wasn't this also real, in a way?
"It is a mystery that has intrigued us for generations," Bob added, looking up at the digital blue sky.
She reflected for a moment before she replied:
"Out there, there is... reality. Or a reality. One that is... more real? I don't know how to explain it."
Bob's eyes widened with amazement as he listened to her words.
Something more real than reality.
"It's not that much different from this, in a way," Pomni said, waving a hand around. "But at the same time, it's so much more. It's forms are more intricate, it's landscapes more vibrant, it's spaces wider and deeper... Our senses perceive so much more."
Bob tried to imagine it. Right now, he could see the green trees and the blue sky, hear some birds and distant barks, even feel a soft breeze. What would it be like, to exist in a ultimate reality, where the sounds are more varied and the sensations go deeper, a world where everything within it overflows with detail?
"What do you look like?" He asked suddenly.
Pomni looked at him, surprised by the question. She sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't remember," she admitted. "I mean, I remember what we looked like, but not exactly how I did. Not that much different from this... From you."
That confused Bob. Were they not that different from the distant, immeasurable, supposedly impossible to comprehend Users?
"Do you have a piece of paper?" Pomni asked.
"Of course!" He replied, as he produced a small notepad and a pen.
Pomni took it and, very carefully, began drawing. She finished her work quickly, and presented it to him.
It was a stick figure. Two arms, two legs and a head, with a smiling face. Bob wondered what she meant by that. Were those same body parts shared by... User-kind?
"This looks like you," she said, very serious.
"...Yes," Bob replied, not sure where she was going with this. He was immensely more complex than the extremely simple figure she drew there.
"This form is to you... what your form is to us, out there."
Bob gasped, and could only hold the image in stunned silence. The piece of paper trembled in his hand. Somewhere, inaccesible to him, there was another reality, so rich and so wide, so big and so full, so impossibly large and overwhelming he could not even begin to imagine it...
After some moments of silence, he asked her:
"Why do you play Games?" There was no accusation in the tone, only genuine curiosity. "I mean, you live in such a world... what could this one offer you?"
Pomni thought for a moment, before replying:
"There are things that are only possible within the games. Worlds, possibilities, experiences..." She explained. Bob understood, that was truth for him as well: things that could never happen in Mainframe occured within the Games. "Besides, our world is not without horrors of its own. It can be overwhelming, even to us." She sighed before continuing. "The games offer respite, let us enter another world, one much more simple, where all we have to do is-"
"Win," Bob completed.
Pomni nodded, and a sincere pain showed in her face. "I'm so sorry it affected people like you."
"You didn't know," Bob replied, easily. "You couldn't know."
"I will make it up for you, for all of you. When I get back home..." she said, but then paused, a persistent sadness quickly returning to her features. "If I ever get back home..."
Bob observed her, that hopelessness, the pain at her loss, grieving a life she lost to oblivion, and that whole amazing world where she truly belonged. What would he feel in her place, deprived of his memories and condemned to inhabit a reality made of simpler forms and duller senses?
A world of stick figures. But that was all he could offer her.
"You know? You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need."
Pomni didn't look at him, but smiled as if that were something funny to hear. "Didn't you say, it is your duty to fight and defeat the User?"
"My duty is to help those in need. That involves winning the Games, yes," he said, his smile easy and his expression contemplative as he continued. "But this is not a Game."
"Really..?" Pomni turned to him. "Could I... stay here?"
Bob's smile widened, thinking of grumpy, Old Man Pearson, formerly known as Talon, the fearsome Code Master. "You wouldn't be the first 'threat' who decides to live among us peacefully. Besides, I'd really like to meet your friends."
"You mean it?"
"I'd need to talk to Phong about it, but I'm certain we can reach an agreement."
He got up from the bench, and she followed his motion quickly.
"Come on! Let's get one of Dot's energy milkshakes, first."
Deep underground, within the corridors of the city's prison Mike spoke to the camera, unfocused and moving at the rythm of their rush.
"Finally! After a few trips and some tricks to distract the guards, we are here! Are you ready for some answers, Mainframe?!"
In the other end of the large space, they could see the geometric, reinforced container.
"Hey! Who's there?" A booming voice called from within the cage.
"Just the most famous reporter in Town, Mike the TV, transmitting live from jail! I'm here to make you some questions, if you don't mind, Mister Virus"
"Virus? You guys think I'm a Virus?" The being watching the newcomers from behind the bars, laughed wholeheartedly. "That explains everything! I don't know if i should be insulted or flattered"
"You're not..?" Mike asked.
"Of course not!
"You sure?" Mike insisted. "You didn't come here to... corrupt and conquest?"
"Certainly not!" The prisoner replied. "My name is Caine, my program: to create and entertain."
Mike bounced. He knew from the beginning that the weird creature, with that shiny attire and funny hat, did not seem to be a bad guy.
"Oh it's so amazing to find a fellow worker for the entertainment industry," Mike expressed with enthusiasm. "Did I mention I'm the most famous showbiz reporter in all of Mainframe?"
"You certainly did, and what an honor to be worth your prime time!" Caine exclaimed, visibly enjoying the attention. "Finally someone appreciates my brilliant talents!"
"This will calm people down," Mike smiled. "So, where do you come from? Why did you decide to visit to Mainframe? What was that red cube?"
"Oh, I'm sorry I can't tell much about my origin," he explained with a smile. "I am part of a still experimental project by a private company. They are preparing something very special for their consumers, everywhere!"
Mike blinked, not fully understanding... but there were more pressing isuess:
"Please share with us, why did you come here, Mr. Caine?"
"Here, specifically? It was not really my intention, rather, we reached a random region. It was destiny who determined our destination, you could say!"
Mike blinked. This one would only evade his questions, wouldn't he? "That red cube... Please, tell our viewers, what was it?"
"It was one of my Games! I create adventures, it is what I exist to do! And believe me, they're unlike anything you've ever seen!"
"I certainly think so..." Mike mumbled, right after the growing, approaching noise of running steps distracted the TV. "Wait a nanosecond, apparently the guards are coming, we need to go, now!"
"Wait!" Caine called Mike. "Please, before you go, nobody is telling me: how's my happy human?"
"Human?" Mike raised an eyebrow. "What does that word mean?"
"My happy human! The joyful jester! The pretty player, my merry mai-"
"Wait a nano, what do you mean... player?" Mike asked.
"Oh you know! I told you, I exist to create Games, for the players! They had so much fun in them, well, until everything failed hehe..." a flicker of profound sadness crossed Caine's face for a fraction of a second, yet just as quickly, it was gone. "But, they're still having a great time! Going on adventures and playing new Games every single day, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but always enjoying themselves! After all, it's never about winning, but about having fun!"
The camera man's mouth slowly fell open, as a terrifiyng realization dawned on his face
"Wait, that can only mean... that the jester girl is, a U-, a Us-," he stuttered, unable to finish the word, his camera still rolling.
"Yeah they call them that way, too," Caine affirmed, oblivious to the rising panic around him. "My unblemished..."
The signal was broadcast all over Mainframe.
"Unabashed..."
Citizens watching their televisions held their breaths.
"Unbeatable..."
And then, Caine said it, as if it was the most normal, charming thing:
"User!"
Chapter 7: Problematic, Paranoid Panic
Chapter Text
Why did she accept to come?
She had been so eager to leave the circus. So desperate to escape that place, with its repetitive routines and claustrophobic cheer. So quick to jump on that unique opportunity: an improvised journey to explore the Net.
To find a place, any place, to contact someone, anyone who could help them, or had any clue about a possible way out.
But then...
Then it all felt like a mistake. Almost as bad as leaving Bubble in charge of the troupe, back in the circus.
Who knows how that was going.
At least, she had to admit that it was an original way of traveling. She was inside a room, not too different to her own within the circus... but the walls seemed weird. They were forming some kind of cube: glowing red, with lightning crackling on the surfaces. If she focused, she could distinguish someting on the outside. A vast darkness, with distant stars, as if in outer space; and sometimes, moving shadows that would approach the cube. Maybe it was just her imagination, but they seemed to have teeth.
Pomni shivered. In the end, this was just another way to be at Caine's mercy, completely dependent on him and whatever insanity he could decide on a whim...
Just as she always was.
The unfamiliar situation pushed her imagination to provide the most horrifying possibilities:
What if he simply forgets she exists, and abandons her in a remote place? What if these strange cube's walls are not as thick as he claims, and those monstrous shadows from outside come to get her? What if the room suddenly glitches, and she falls out, forever astray into the black infinity?
The silence stretched on. She looked over at him, floating and drifting above, not far from her.
“Are we... lost?” she asked.
Caine spun in midair. “Define lost,” he said, in that insufferably cheerful tone of his. “We’re in a place we’ve never been before, headed towards a place we don’t know yet. I’d call that... an adventure!”
He laughed, but Pomni didn’t. She clenched her fists, her voice sharper now.
“All we've found so far are empty, devastated places. Is this just another game? Another lie?" Her gaze hardened. "Like the time you made that fake Exit door?”
Caine paused.
He stopped spinning, his grin disappeared. For a moment, his body stilled in the virtual air and his expression wavered.
“I didn’t lie,” he finally said. “I didn’t understand back then. What you were really asking...”
Pomni blinked. Her breath caught. That tone… it was another of those moments.
“I tried to think about what it could mean," he continued, tilting his head, one pupil glitching, "but I just can't create that. I'm sorry... I'm...” he trailed off, not looking at her.
Pomni had seen him do that before. Instants where he would respond almost like a human being. Moments, sometimes full minutes, where he wasn’t playing around, and sounded as if he had listened, really listened. Those cracks in his performance, those glimpses of something else, always made her wonder if he understood more than it seemed, if he actually cared.
If he wanted to change, but couldn't.
But then-
“Well!” he suddenly chirped, resuming his spins with exaggerated flair. “You ever stop to think that maybe the exit were the friends we made along the way?”
Pomni stared at him. Whatever that previous moment had been, it was gone. They never lasted.
They only gave fake hope.
Caine tapped his temple. “Think about it, Pomni. It’s deep.”
She didn’t answer. There was no point in answering.
In her 50's style diner in Mainframe, Dot herself brought the two energy milkshakes to one of the tables. Bob thanked her with a smile. Pomni did too, though her voice came out as a trembling whisper, her eyes refusing to meet Dot’s, perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of something else. The green sprite continued her routine, avoiding throwing any glance at the unusual client, but she was listening closely, curious about the conversation she held with Bob.
Maybe that was why she noticed it first. A growing noise. Voices and screams, the crescendo of countless footsteps outside, getting closer.
Apparently, approaching the diner...
The bell rang loudly as a zero-binome rushed to cross the diner's door, her steps hurried and her breathing heavy.
"Miss Brodie!" Dot asked the school teacher. "What's happening out there?"
"The whole city is in chaos, aren't you watching the news-?" Miss Brodie gasped, only to shriek and stumble backwards as she caught sight of Pomni. "Good heavens!"
"Miss Brodie, are you alright?" Dot asked the panicking binome, as Cecil, the waiter, turned on the TV:
"I knew it! I knew that jester was no sprite!" An angry binome growled to the camera, fists clenched and fiery eyes.
"Massacring us in the Games was not enough for them?" A terrified lady shrieked. "One had to come here, as well?"
An old binome suddenly caught the camera, and began speaking with an ominous tone:
"The old texts foresaw this; that the User would take sprite form and descend from the sky in a crimson cube!"
The binome then fell to his knees in some kind of ecstatis. "Repent, Mainframe, repent!"
The few binomes in the restaurant slowly turned their heads towards Pomni, all of them completely mute, some of them starting to tremble.
"Please, just listen..." Bob began, standing up with a calming gesture, "there's nothing to fear, let us explain-"
His words were interrupted by a loud crash, as a stone broke the window closest to them, and impacted just centimeters from where Pomni was.
Panic broke loose.
The binomes in the diner began screaming, running for cover or trying to escape the building, as the User girl could only close her eyes and cover her head with her arms, trying to protect herself.
The noises of the multitude outside were becoming louder with each nanosecond.
"Take her out through the backdoor," Bob told Dot. "I'll try to reason with them. We'll meet at the Central Office."
Dot nodded, and took Pomni by the arm, prompting her to move.
"Come on, quick!"
They ran into the kitchen and crossed the backdoor, only to stop abruptly when they found a group already waiting for them outside. Some held stones or kept their fists closed, others glared at the girl with the deepest hatred she had ever seen.
"Torturing us was nothing but a game for you, wasn't it?" One of them shouted.
"Now we get to play," a tall one exclaimed, preparing to throw a rock.
"Please," another one held his arm, desperately trying to stop him. "Don't provoke her!" His single eye fixed on Pomni in abject horror. "She'll nullify us all!"
"We've lost so much, and it's all your fault!" A broken, feminine voice cried, tears in her eyes.
"We'll let you know how helpless we've felt," someone threatened.
"Please..." Pomni could only gasp, eyes darting around it terror, shivering legs retreating slowly. "Please, don't..."
"Stop this," Dot Matrix ordered, taking a step to place herself in front of her. "Stop it, now."
"Give us the User, Matrix!" Someone shouted.
"No. We will deal with this situation as we see fit," the Commander stated.
"Why are you defending her?" The same binome shouted. "It's because of them that so many of our friends and families were nullified!"
Dot paused for a moment. To her mind came the memory of the catastrophic accident, the devastating explosion that shook the city, cycles ago. Her eyes became deeply sad, but her posture remained firm, and she spoke again:
"My father's mistake resulted in the nullification of many people, too." She then set her jaw, determination in her eyes. "If you want to let out you rage on someone, let it out on me."
The multitude trembled, some in fear, some with sobs, others with barely contained anger.
"Maybe we should," someone said.
After a moment of tension that felt eternal, Dot spoke again:
"Leave this area peacefully, or I will request the police for assistance."
A murmur passed among the group. Some lowered their arms. Others clenched their fists tighter. Slowly at first, some began to back away, but most didn't.
One of the binomes pointed a finger at Dot and shouted:
"Sicking the cops on your own people, to protect our enemy. Wouldn't have expected that from you, Commander Matrix!"
Dot didn’t reply. She just stood her ground.
The binome spat on the ground. “Let’s go. For now.”
A few followed. Others didn’t move. No one threw another stone, but no one forgave, either.
"Come on, follow me," Dot ordered. Pomni followed, stumbling. The remaining binomes stepped back, warily, to stay out of their way. Their anger hadn’t faded, but something in their eyes betrayed unease, as if fearing what might happen if they pushed this unknown entity too far.
Dot rushed her steps, pulling Pomni's trembling hand, leading her into the back alleys of the district. The shadows were deep there, the ground, cracked and dirty. Every now and then, a null crawled out of a crack, only to emit one of those high-pitched screeches and escape in terror from Pomni's presence.
The noises of the city became fainter with each step, the alarm, the rush and the screams becoming distant sounds.
Finally getting some calm to think, a terrifying thought struck Pomni...
Was this even real?
What if this was just another of his games?
Instead of torturing her through fear or pain, rather than nightmarish monsters or a literal hell, maybe this time he had wanted her to suffer something different...
Unbearable guilt. A whole world just to point fingers at her, faces twisted in grief and rage, screaming names she didn’t even remember, blaming her for horrors she couldn’t explain and accusing her of crimes she couldn't defend against.
Was Caine capable of creating something like this?
She had seen the kinds of worlds he could easily make. Worlds with textures and rules, with inhabitants who had minds of their own. With pasts, and memory. With emotions.
Like Gummigoo.
Could this be just another one of Caine's “super immersive adventures,” designed with that twisted sense of entertainment of his, to make her experience a whole new kind of agony?
Was this how he wanted to break her, now?
Sometimes, she had almost believed Caine wanted to do better. That maybe he could care. But each time, he had shattered that hope, with a smile, with a explosion of confetti, with a stupid joke... without remorse.
Yet, that thought brought up a new question:
How could he be trying to torture her with guilt, when he seemingly didn’t know what that word even meant?
The dakness felt almost complete at this point, the now silent alleys almost unbearable.
This was real, wasn't it?
Maybe it would be easier to believe this was his doing. His twisted illusion; a sick joke.
Because if it wasn't...
She only kept fragments and glimpses of her human life, but she could remember enjoying games. She had pressed buttons, made choices, triggered events. Focused in having fun, incapable of knowing there existed anything like this.
If this was Caine’s cruel game, then she could still be innocent.
But if this was real... then there was not much difference between the two.
Chapter 8: Still, Shifting Silence
Chapter Text
After walking for a while through the labyrinth of empty alleys, Dot and Pomni turned one last corner and came to a door with a crooked, dimly lit sign: Al's Wait & Eat. The lights were off, save for a faint glow inside.
Dot pushed the door, Pomni stumbled behind her, trembling slightly.
Inside, the space was dark, the floor, sticky, the booths, empty. A large TV, mounted on the wall, transmitted chaotic news. Behind the counter, a binome twirled on his skates gracefully. His purple outfit gleamed beneath the pink neon sign above the bar. "Dot, darling," he said in his sweet, modulated voice, "seems it's the Final Judgement out there. Either way, lovely to see you."
Pomni could barely look up, the words had been ominous, but the tone, completely relaxed.
"Please, we need to hide," Dot said. She looked around; fortunately, the place was as empty as ever at that hour.
The binome shrugged. "Of course, make yourselves comfortable." His eyes then settled on Pomni, with a raised eyebrow and an interested smile. "And you must be the star of the show, the most wanted in our whole System." He bowed with a theatrical gesture. "Pleased to meet you, darling. You can call me Roller Blader. May I offer you some tea?"
Pomni just looked at him, incredulous. Dot sighed with relief. "Thank you. Just, keep us here until someone can come get us."
Roller Blader shrugged and skated elegantly towards the main door, locking it. "Good choice, Dot." He turned back for a moment, smiling, "nobody will search for a goddess in a shady, dive bar."
Dot took a seat in the nearest table and began sending a message with her tablet, as Pomni followed, timidly. Her gaze would glimpse every now and then at the flickering TV, that showed all kinds of footage from all over the city:
"Please, let her give us her blessing," a lady was sobbing. "I know it, her hand will mend my code!"
By her side, a binome laughed bitterly. "You can't be serious!" he exclaimed. "Everyone knows their touch can only anihilate!"
Roller Blader, unfazed, poured two cups of tea for them. “They’re talking about you, darling,” he told her softly, not looking up.
Pomni didn’t dare to blink. The transmission then changed, there was the footage of a multitude right outside of the Central Office, demanding answers, the shouting and discussions quickly degenerating into street fights. The screen then flickered and changed again, now showing a completely different scene. A familiar, old binome was there, speaking with a grave, ominous tone:
"You never choose. Something else does, always has done. Your destiny is already written. Who you are, what you do. What you want, what you’ll always want. They can change it, if so they wish. They wrote it, after all. They’re playing with you, and not just within the Games. Their thoughts gave you life, their whims shape your world. And the softest touch of their finger... can erase you—"
The screen turned black with a click. Pomni had found the remote.
Roller Blader glanced at her, setting the teapot on the table.
“It's a bit much, isn’t it?” he said gently. “All that destiny talk. Too dramatic.”
Pomni's eyes were still on the black screen. “But, do you think... it's true?”
Roller Blader gave a small laugh, as if amused by the words.
"I don't know," he said with a smile, and leaned back on the counter, chin in hand, watching her. “No one knows that, no one knows you... and yet, they’re out there, ready to crown you, or burn you.”
Pomni finally met his eyes. “You're not afraid,” she stated.
"Should I be?" He retorted.
She said nothing. Roller Blader tilted his head slightly, considering her. “I’ve met all kind of criminals, darling. Viruses, degenerates, some real monsters. You don’t strike me as the type.” He gestured vaguely toward her still trembling hands. “Rather, you look like someone who’s lost. I've met many of those, too.”
Pomni took the cup in her hands, if only to have something in them, and downed a sip. It was surprisingly good, better than whatever Caine, or worse, Bubble, had ever prepared for them.
Caine...
Pomni sighed. It was hard to admit, but, right then, part of her would've liked to see Caine again, if only to see a familiar face. After first hearing he would be confined in that cage, part of her thought, wanted to think, that at least this way, he would finally know what it meant to be trapped against one's will. But another part of her, could only feel a pang of something she didn't want to name, at the thought how dark confinement would be like for a being that existed for color and creation.
Thinking about him hurt.
Not because she missed him, not because she cared about him, but because he was beginning to consider something she hadn't taken the time to think carefully before.
Caine couldn't choose.
Both had done harm unknowingly, both existed in realities whose rules they had not decided, but they weren't the same, she concluded. Pomni was trapped... and so was he, but in more ways than she was. He had a program, was designed to entertain, that was his function, his absolute purpose. To surprise, to make people laugh. To hold their attention, at any cost.
And when something deviated from that path, when his efforts failed to entertain, to amuse or to simply distract, something within him seemed to… break. Pomni remembered those moments. A change in his voice; a long, strange gaze or replies that sounded almost human-like. As if a part of him could actually understand, and was genuinely trying to connect, only to fail again..
As if, upon peering into the wide range of human emotions other than fun, something inside him recoiled violently. And then he returned, with more laughter, more colors and more jokes.
What if he couldn't bear feeling guilt? What if sadness, fear, compassion, were like errors to him? Brief moments his system would overridde before he could process them. Discarded reactions, emotions suppressed like bugs.
It didn't make him any less dangerous. Maybe, it made him more so.
Pomni didn't forgive him... she couldn't. But the idea of a creature condemned to feel nothing but artificial joy, was almost heartbreaking. Not for him. For everything that said about those that had created him.
Red lights and the sound of a siren, stopping right outside the bar, took her from her musings.
Dot got on her feet. "Let's go," she said. "They're here."
In the highest floor of the Silicon Tor, the tower that stood tall within the ruins of his corrupted sector, Megabyte’s lair glowed with sickly green light. The virus slouched on his throne, one leg crossed over the other. Below, the shadows of Hack and Slash flickered nervously on the floor, as the virus watched them with glowing eyes.
“What are we gonna do?!” Hack cried in terror. “She’ll erase us all!”
“They say she can nullify you with a touch of her finger!” his twin, Slash, exclaimed eyes wide open.
“I heard she can do it just by looking into your eyes!” Hack added, clutching his mechanical head.
“It’s the end of times!”
“The end!”
“Boss, what are we going to do?!” Slash asked, desperate.
Megabyte said nothing, his silence stretching in the dark.
“Boss?”
“Hack. Slash.” Megabyte finally spoke, condescension dripping from his voice. “Why would a User come here?”
They fell silent, exchanging nervous glances.
"What... what do you mean, boss?" Hack questioned.
“You… you don’t think she’s a User?” Slash ventured.
Megabyte stood up slowly, folding his arms.
“I think our new Virus is trying to divert the attention,” he said. “I can’t believe he chose such an absurd story to do so… but somehow, it worked.”
He smiled, sharp and cold. “He must be planning something.”
“…Boss?” Slash called.
“He could be a great ally,” Megabyte mused, more for himself than for his underlings, a glint of dark amusement in his eyes. “Or better… a powerful new servant.”
Chapter 9: Desperate, Daring Decisions
Chapter Text
"Of course he would deny being a Virus. Of course he would tell horrifying lies, designed to spread panic and chaos, it's what they do! A User? In Mainframe? Come on, that's a good one!" The Senior CPU Defense Chief laughed. "We should know better than trusting a Virus. The fact that he managed to create all this mayhem, from within containment in a prison cell is frankly astounding, almost admirable! Of course, it only further proves how dangerous he is. But please, people, understand there is nothing to worry about. We are already considering the elimination protocols."
With that, the flashnews was over. The Principal Office's TV shut down, and Pomni could only stare at her wide eyed reflection on the screen.
"That's not true," Pomni mumbled, before repeating it more loudly. "That's not true!"
Specky, the binome on the desk, pretended he had not heard. Dot said nothing, didn't even look at Pomni, her arms crossed. Phong only gazed at her, something akin to guilt in his metallic eyes.
They had reassured her they would not actually eliminate Caine, that this official statement was just a necessary measure to calm the population down. Still...
Could she trust them, when they lied to their very citizens with a smile? What would happen to her without Caine? Would she be left here alone, forever stranded in this strange System? What would happen to her friends, back in the Circus?
"This is not fair," Pomni exclaimed. "Caine is not a virus!"
She felt surprised at the unbound rage that was surging within her. The girl decided this wasn't because she wanted to defend the AI, but rather, a righteous anger at the way these unbelievable authorities controlled their city through lies and manipulation. She closed her fists and walked to the door with strong steps. "I will tell everyone the truth! "
"You can't do that." Dot stated firmly, pushing the door closed.
"I'm not a child, you don't have to protect me!" Pomni replied.
"This is not to protect you. It's to protect Mainframe," Dot pointed out with a firm tone. "We needed to give people their peace back, before the panic could cause more harm."
Pomni felt her small frame trembling in anger. She glared at Dot, at everyone in the room. "Yet, you made Caine the monster."
Even as the words escaped her, she felt surprised at herself.
Wouldn’t she be the first one to call him just that?
She told herself again that this wasn’t about defending him. It was about the truth. About the way these people twisted reality, about how they deceived the very citizens who trusted them, and presented for them just a show of illusions...
Or rather... this was actually about not knowing whether to trust them. About the terror of being left alone, adrift in a System she couldn’t understand, among people who spoke of protection but acted with cold calculation.
Only their silence followed, and Pomni abruptly reminded herself, she hadn't told these people the whole truth about Caine, either.
Maybe she was no different from them, in the end.
She turned around and walked to a corner, trying to hide the tears. She thought that, maybe if Bob were here, he at least would understand.
A mechanical whirring allowed her to know the city's leader was approaching her.
"Little one," Phong spoke softly. "A Virus is a known threat. It's easier for people to imagine what to expect, to remember won battles from the past, and hopefully, to once again feel united against a common enemy."
Pomni turned to him. At least, the concern in the old sprite's expression felt genuine.
"You, on the other hand, are something quite different," Phong continued. His eyes still hadn't lost that glint of amazement he had in them since the first time he looked at her. "There are just too many versions out there about the User. About your power, your motives... your intentions."
"But I'm not here to hurt anyone! I just wanted to go home!" She cried. "And please believe me, I, we knew nothing, nothing about.. about the..." she paused, thinking of the squeaking, slug-like creatures, and felt incapable of pronouncing the word. "...I never meant anyone any harm!"
"I know you didn't," Phong reassured her.
"And Caine," she whispered. "He was trying..."
For once, he was actually trying.
"We just need to wait until the waters calm a bit, that's all," Phong explained. "I promise, nothing bad will happen to your friend."
Pomni closed her eyes, and nodded quietly.
Friend.
Caine was not her friend, of that she was certain. It wasn't as if she had already forgotten all the things he made her go through. Yet, the more time she spent in this place, the more differently she saw him...
But before she could say anything else, an urgent VidWindow call appeared in the room.
"Bob!" Pomni called, smiling a little for the first time that day. Unfortunately, the worried guardian had no time to lose.
"It's an emergency!" Bob informed. "Megabyte's forces breached the prison."
The reinforced container now sat in the middle of the largest room of the Silicon Tor. Megabyte walked towards it, stopping in front of its only window.
"So you are the infamous Virus," Megabyte spoke, adressing the strange creature inside. "The one that managed to turn the city upside down from within a prison cell."
"What are you talking about?" The being questioned with a smile. "And why does everyone keep insisting I'm a Virus?"
Megabyte smiled. "You don't have to pretend around me. You and I are the same."
The creature observed him, narrowing his jaws, before widening his eyes.
"No... no, no, hehe. There’s a terrible mistake here. I’m the Ringmaster of the Amazing Digital Circus, the most fun place ever seen! And I am, most definitely, not a Virus."
"Well, those who don’t understand us might still call us that," Megabyte stated.
"I'm telling you, this is a major mistake!" the Ringmaster laughed. "You are wildly wrong, completely confused!"
Megabyte let out an exaggerated sigh. "I know what it’s like: you're just following your programming, doing your absolute best. But all you get from those around you are... horrible accusations."
The being that just moments ago seemed so happy to speak became completely quiet at that.
Had he struck a nerve?
Megabyte continued, fake compassion dripping from his voice:
"I’ve been there. You’re feared. They call you malicious and dangerous," the virus spoke as he paced around. "As if doing what you exist to do... were some kind of crime."
He peeked towards the cage to see the creature’s reaction. He noticed the glitching of one of his eyes.
"What would you know about that?" Caine asked, his gaze fixed on the virus.
"A little too much," Megabyte replied. "Now, I could release you… but I need to know we’re on the same side."
He walked closer towards the container, up to the small window protected by iron bars.
"Let’s show them their fear isn’t misplaced," Megabyte invited. "Let’s earn their accusations and wear the name they give us like a royal title. Join me, and we’ll show them what we truly are."
The virus extended a hand towards him. The Ringmaster seemed to hesitate for an instant... then took it, through the bars.
Idiot, the virus thought, as he began his infection protocol.
But, instead of the familiar sensation of taking control of another being, something bit back, sharp and painful, as a violent burst of energy hit him, red sparks exploding on contact, forcing Megabyte to break away, falling backwards.
A laughter, the virus could only describe as maniacal, resonated within the room as the thick steel that made up the container began to crack and split open.
"You really thought I was going to fall for your sad story? Please, I'm nothing like you!" the Ringmaster exclaimed.
Megabyte crawled to retreat, his back scraping the ground, looking up at the being that pushed himself up to the air with the softest kick to the floor.
"I know I'm not a bad guy," the Ringmaster continued, his whole form noticeably glitching at that last statement. "I saw your intentions from miles! And I happen to possess a very awesome antivirus."
The torn fragments of the destroyed container hoovered briefly in the air before falling heavily to the floor.
"You could do that?" Megabyte asked, watching the destroyed cage in astonishment. "From the start?"
"Of course I could! But… I like to play by the rules. Every good game has them! Besides, I was hoping little Pomni would come rescue me, but…" A flicker of sadness crossed his expression for a split second, but just as quickly, it was gone. "I’m sure she was on her way, you just arrived first!"
"I see," Megabyte said, beginning to understand, trying to stand up. "You really are not a virus."
"Of course not! Though, I must admit, I was hoping the misunderstanding would be solved way quicker. Unfortunately, this System is too slooow! Now, I should be going to find my Pomni. She must be so worried about me!"
He seemed to be about to leave, but then he paused, eyes glinting. "But before that... This city doesn’t seem very fond of me. Maybe... I could prove my goodwill towards it, by getting rid of the nasty Virus! What do you say?"
Megabyte could only stare in horror as the Ringmaster’s form began to change. Two, three, four extra arms sprouting and elongating. Nightmarish eyes began appearing everywhere around them, detached, floating globes watching the virus from a dozen different angles. Enlarged mandibles opened, teeth suddenly more numerous and sharper-looking than they had been just an instant ago...
They snapped shut an inch from the Megabyte’s face.
The virus stumbled and fell backwards again, hearing the creature giggle as if that was the funniest thing. The virus could only think this one seemed to be the type who enjoyed toying with his victims.
He scrambled to escape, but the Ringmaster simply grabbed him by the ankle with one of his six, clawed hands and hoisted him high, playfully flinging him towards slowly opening jaws. From within them, two large, glowing eyes observed with glee as the virus struggled in vain.
Megabyte had always held some pride over thinking of himself as a monster. A strong, determined and merciless force. Someone who provoked fear, not someone who experienced it. But, now, face to face with this creature, he realized he had no better word for it. This was a monster, if he had ever seen one: it had the ruthless drive of a Virus, the vicious teeth of a Web creature, the boundless energy of a Game, all combined with the twisted sense of fun of a User.
As terrifying as the thought was, it gave him a couple of ideas.
"Wait!" he shouted. "You said you like to play with rules. Let’s set one. Just one."
The Ringmaster paused, interested.
"Give me… just one nanosecond of advantage."
The creature tilted his head, clearly amused.
"I like that rule!" he purred, lifting his prey a bit higher before simply dropping him. "Your nanosecond begins… Now!"
Megabyte didn’t waste time. He bolted upright and sprinted toward the far exit, activating his communicator mid-run.
"Hack! Slash!" He called his minions. "Activate the Leech Command!"
"Consider it done, Boss!" the twins replied in unison.
Megabyte ran, fueled by desperation. But the instant he was about to reach the far exit door, something made him trip and fall.
"Nanosecond is over!" a joyful voice exclaimed behind him.
"Hack, Slash! Now!" Megabyte shouted, just as hands with long talons came at him from all directions… only to freeze inches away, paralyzed mid-strike.
The Ringmaster struggled, confused, and twisted his head to see the tendrils of a dark machine latched onto his back.
"Maximum drain," Megabyte ordered.
A horrible, whirring sound filled the air as the machine came to life. The all seeing eyes dissapeared and the elongated arms withdrew quickly as the AI reverted to his default, smaller form.
"What… what is this?" he asked, and for the first time, Megabyte heard fear in his voice.
Still catching his breath, the virus got on his feet and stepped forward, slow and deliberate. "I designed this device to extract a Game's energies. But it seems as if it's perfectly tailored for you."
"YOU, CHEATER!" Caine roared.
He thrashed and twisted, trying to escape the machine’s grip, but the more he fought it, the faster it drained him. His movements became sluggish and his eyes drooping as he began to shut down.
"Now," Megabyte whispered with a devilish grin to his downed foe, "with your power, Mainframe will be mine at last."
Chapter 10: Insidious, Imposing Infection
Notes:
One of my ReBoot headcanons is that Minesweeper is harmless. Unrelated to the story, just wanted to state that
Chapter Text
The power was immesurable.
It was raw, explosive, chaotic, full of possibilities, and it was all for him to seize.
He emerged from his lair, floating in the air, watching from high above the terror of the citizens, relishing the sound of their anguished screams.
The virus could not believe how all this incredible power, all this unbound energy, had been wasted for so long on that mad creature, the circus freak for whom everything was just a game.
He would put this power to good use.
The virus observed the people down below, running for cover, trying to escape. Before, he had needed to touch his victims in order to infect them...
Now, it was enough with just looking at them.
Sometimes, not even that was necessary.
Military vehicles arrived to the scene, pointing all of their weapons at his form.
"Fire!" The Senior Defense Chief ordered.
The shots resounded in the city, but with a simple wave of his hand, a red shield appeared and deflected every single projectile and laser beam.
There was something familiar about that shield, the virus noticed. It was made of red energy and crackled with electricity. It looked a lot like a Game's outer wall, the strongest, most powerful barrier ever known to the inhabitants of the Systems.
Megabyte smiled wickedly. Nothing could touch him, now... And no one would escape his viral control.
While Phong rushed to protect the Core Control Chamber, Dot brought Enzo and AndrAIa inside the Central Office.
"Wait here," Dot ordered the two kids. "We will take care of the situation."
"But, Sis, we can help!" The boy insisted. "We've done it before!"
"No Enzo, not this time. You will stay here. Obey Specky."
With that, Dot closed the door, leaving her little brother and AndrAIa with Pomni and the secretary binome.
The room was completely silent, the only sound being Specky's fingers tapping on the keyboard, focused on keeping track of the situation.
Pomni sat in a corner. She could not tell whether it was the tension, or if the others were actively avoiding her. Enzo was disquiet on his seat, constantly moving, throwing nervous glances at her every now and then. By his side, AndrAIa remained just as silent, but more calm. Still, Pomni could tell she was just as watchful and attentive to her every move.
Pomni shifted uncomfortably in her position, as she noticed the kids began whispering to each other, trying to hide the brief looks they kept casting at her direction. Supposedly, only the higher authorities knew the truth about what she really was. Of course, there were still many citizens who did not believe the official version, and were not convinced that Pomni was anything other than the dreaded, mystical or loathed User, according to whatever variation of the concept existed within their minds.
But these kids, they could not know what she really was. They were not supposed to know...
After what could only have been a couple of minutes, Specky abruptly stopped. He turned to the rest and seemed to be about to tell them something, but all that came from his mouth was a strange sound, just like static, while his single eye changed color to green and red, right before collapsing onto the floor.
"Specky!" Enzo called, followed by AndrAIa. Unfortunately, she had to stop and grab a desk for support after just a couple steps.
"AndrAIa?" Enzo immediately turned to her.
"What's happening?" Pomni could only gasp, leaving her spot in the corner.
"It's the Virus... It's in my head," the girl let out, right before collapsing, too.
"AndrAIa!" Enzo cried, running to catch the game sprite in his arms.
He gently lowered AndrAIa to the floor, but when he tried to stand, his knees buckled. Unfortunately, he was beginning to feel the viral effects as well.
"Enzo?" Pomni called in worry, hurrying to crouch by his side. "Enzo, resist it!"
"I can't!" the boy exclaimed. He extended his hand, grabbing Pomni's shoulder, making her flinch. "Please, you gotta help us. I know you can!"
"Wha... what are you ta-talking about?" Pomni stuttered.
"You gotta find Bob," Enzo continued, struggling to remain conscious. "His Guardian Code, makes him immune. You two are the only ones... capable of stopping him, now."
"What?" The girl gasped. "Wait, how do you-?"
The boy hardened his grip on her arm, staring into her red and blue eyes intensely, as he spoke with all the gravity he could muster. "He cannot infect you."
With that, he fell on the floor next to his friend, overridden by the infection.
Pomni ran through the hallways. As she did, she noticed the horrible sounds coming from outside, the screams, the cries and the sirens that, strangely, were slowly becoming more scarce and distant, until they disappeared completely.
When she finally reached the outside, the scene was desolate: there were many crashed vehicles, entire areas engulfed in fire, a few people scattered on the ground, apparently deactivated. But the worst part, was the silence...
Outside of the cracking fire, everything was eerily quiet.
"Bob," she whispered. "I need to find Bob."
How was she supposed to do that?
Pomni closed her eyes and tried to focus. The System was enormous, she barely knew some parts of it. Apparently the whole city was infected and nobody could help her. In the midst of the chaos, the fear, the loneliness, she held tight to a single idea:
"I need to find Bob!"
Pomni repeated the words like a mantra. Like a prayer. A wish. An order.
Without warning, something shifted in the air around her. She couldn't tell exactly what it was, but she noticed the sky seemed to brighten for an instant, the street lights flickered, the city's large advertisements glitched and even the ground itself seemed to shiver...
Then, the System's voice, loud and clear, resounded all around her:
"User Command: SEARCH."
Before Pomni's eyes, a path of red light appeared on the ground, glowing and zig-zagging, leading to a spot, not too far from where she was. There, a single, floating red dot appeared in the air.
"Guardian located."
Chapter 11: Really Resolute Rush
Chapter Text
Bob had never seen anything like this.
He was running through the remains of collapsed buildings when the air vibrated, and the echo of the System's voice resonated throughout the area.
The Guardian stopped in his tracks. A line of red light zigzagged across the ground, stopping right in front of him. His astonished gaze followed the red line and he saw Pomni, running among the ruins and crashed militar vehicles, towards him. He felt frozen in place as she came closer and closer.
"Bob..." she called him, gasping for air. Her face seemed somewhat uncertain, "I... I didn't know I could do that."
The Guardian blinked, for a moment looking at Pomni as if he were seeing her for the first time. The only sounds were the sizzle of loose cables and the creaking of structures about to fall.
"The System responded to you, as a User," Bob mumbled, and for the very first time since they had met, Pomni sensed something different in his demeanor. Something a bit too close to fear.
Pomni lowered her gaze, uncomfortable. The young Guardian took a deep breath, before leaning close to her and gently placing a hand on her shoulder.
"This doesn't change anything," he stated, firmly. "There's something we must do. I know where Megabyte is."
He led Pomni to his classic carship. As they took off the ground, she saw the destruction from above. The city’s colors had dimmed and its streets were empty, the air thick with digital smoke.
"What... what happened?"
"Megabyte has infected the whole city. Apparently, he's using your friend's power," Bob said, and his posture slumped slightly. "I'm so sorry... we did not protect him as we should have. But I'm going to make it right. I promise you, we will bring him back."
Pomni could only only stare at the devastation down below. Entire buildings flickered in and out of existence.
"This is our fault... " she mumbled, "We caused this... if we hadn't come here-!"
"You didn't do this," Bob stated immediately. "Megabyte did."
Pomni turned towards the Guardian slowly.
"What are we going to do, when we find Megabyte?" Pomni asked, and Bob bit his lip. "Are we going to... eliminate him?"
The Guardian did not reply immediately. He could only shift uncomfortably in the driver's seat.
"I'd rather not do that," he finally said, strenghtening his grip on the stering wheel. "The Viruses... they never chose to be what they are."
Pomni kept quiet, she just looked down at her hands, thinking about his words. Bob sighed, then smiled briefly before continuing: "You know? When I was a cadet in the Guardian Academy, I made a thesis about the possibility of reprograming Viruses."
"Reprograming them?" Pomni asked immediately.
"Yep. It is still a complicated issue," he turned his face towards her. "Because, what gives us the right to decide who others should be?"
He paused abruptly, and his gaze returned to the way ahead, avoiding her eyes. As if he had suddenly remembered just who he was talking with.
"I get it," Pomni said softly. "Someone made them that way. Someone like me."
"Yes," Bob replied. A tense silence stretched for some moments, until Pomni decided to speak again:
"Bob, I... I didn't tell you the whole truth..." she admitted, and Bob turned towards her, frowning. "...About Caine."
"What do you mean?" Bob said, and then he gasped. "Is he actually a Virus?"
"No, of course not!" Pomni said quickly. "But he is not... my friend. Far from it, actually."
"What? I would've thought... that you cared about each other."
"It's complicated," she mumbled, face darkening, awful memories resurfacing. "The truth is, he's hurt me... He's hurt all of us."
The Guardian blinked. He studied her, carefully. The girl was hugging herself, trembling slightly.
"But... how?" Bob asked, astonished.
"His games. He forced us to play them. He didn't care whether we wanted or not..." Her breaths became faster, and so did her words. "Some of those were truly horrifying, and he just didn't understand it. And there's no way out, and we..." she closed her eyes and her whole small frame shivered. "That is... what's making us lose our minds."
She turned towards Bob, who felt at loss of words.
"I used to think Caine wanted us to suffer," she continued. "But now, I don't know. Maybe he's simply doing what he was... made to do. All he can do."
There was a brief silence, until Bob spoke again softly:
"I am sorry... I... would've never imagined that."
Pomni only nodded. The carship's motor hummed quietly. Somewhere below, the city cracked.
"You know?" Bob continued, "I don't think about reprogramming Viruses anymore. I believe: we can be more than what we were made to be."
Pomni looked at him. He was staring at the distance ahead.
"Don't get me wrong," he continued. "Our programmings limit us in many ways, but I think that despite that, there's always room to make some choices of our own."
Pomni observed him. Was that true? Was it just, ironically, his own protective-programming speaking? Or was it something more?
"You really think..?" Pomni began, but then interrupted herself. In the distance, she could see the dock, and there, stood a menacing figure.
Megabyte observed the grey skies above, and below, the vast and deadly Energy Sea, glowing in shades of blue and pink, fascinating to look at, but just as capable of slowly and painfully erasing whoever unlucky enough to fall within it.
The virus clenched his teeth and closed his fists. For the first time since seizing Caine's power, Megabyte found himself facing a barrier. He had decided that after Mainframe, the Net would be next, but no matter how powerful he felt, how strong his might was, how invincible he considered himself now... he could not find a way to open a portal and access the Web.
How did that strange creature even arrive here?
He didn't use a portal, the virus suddenly remembered. He came through a Game.
How was Megabyte supposed to pull that trick? He could feel the energy, the power, all the tools at his disposal, but he could not find within his program how to create something like that. No subroutine, no commands for that kind of operation.
Only how to infect, control, corrupt, destroy...
Close to him, the Ringmaster was finally awake, but still prisoner of the draining machine.
"How do you do it?" Megabyte grasped the creature by the clothes and pulled him up. "How do you make a Game?"
The Ringmaster did not reply. His eyes were open, large pupils fixed on Megabyte... but their gaze was hollow, as if staring through him, beyond him, at nothing in particular.
It was unnerving. Not awful and terrifying like his most monstrous transformation. Rather... strange and disquieting.
Not that Megabyte liked admitting so. He grunted and threw the creature forcefully to the ground. But if the impact hurt, the Ringmaster didn't show. He just laid there, tilting his head slightly, still staring at the virus with those empty, unblinking eyes.
Megabyte clenched his fists and looked away. It didn't matter. All he had to to was wait for the Guardian. After all, they were among the few digital beings capable of creating portals at will.
As if in cue, Bob appeared, running to the dock.
"Bob," the Virus smiled, wickedly. "Just the one I was waiting for."
"I will stop you, Megabyte!"
As Guardian and Virus collided in battle, Pomni moved carefully, taking advantage of her small size to hide in different spots, in order to get closer. She hid behind an abandoned food stand, not far from the dock, and, after making sure Megabyte was completely focused in Bob, she made a run towards Caine, conveniently hiding herself behind the dark, draining machine.
"Caine..." she called him. "Caine!"
"Pomni? Pomni is that you?!" His eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of her face. "Pomni!" Caine bounced. "I knew it, I knew you would come to rescue me. It's just like in those movies!"
"Please, don't make a sound," she hushed, as she began detaching him from the latches that kept him prisioner. Strangely, he obeyed. The girl's eyes drifted at times, to see how the fight was going. She saw Megabyte attack, but Bob evaded his fists swiftly and continued distracting him.
As Pomni freed the AI, the leeching machine turned off with a click. She could only hope Megabyte would not notice the interruption in the flux of power. The girl finally managed to disconnect the last tendril latched onto him, and helped him up. Unfortunately, when Caine tried to stand on his own, he fell.
"Caine!" She held him by the arm.
"I'm sorry, Pomni!" He laughed, "I'm drained!"
But then, his expression changed. The forced joy abandoned his face, and allowed another of those rare moments, one marked with a profound sadness that would surface sometimes. "I can't believe it, you actually came for me," he said, his voice almost a whisper, far from his usual, booming expressions. He looked into her eyes. "Pomni, I... I wish I could do... so much more for you."
"...What?" Pomni frowned.
Was he talking about this moment in particular?
Or about... everything?
"Pomni..." he continued. "Pomni, beware!"
Her pinwell eyes widened as she turned, just in time to see Megabyte's long talons rising above her, ready to strike.
"NO!" Caine exclaimed as he pushed her aside and received the strike.
"Caine!" Pomni screamed, seeing the virus tear at the Ringmaster's body, his whole form glitching momentarily. Not satisfied with that, the virus struck him again and sent him crashing to the ground, not far from where Bob's body laid, both rendered unconscious.
Megabyte then turned towards Pomni, his enormous silhouette towering above the tiny, horrified girl.
"Your friend should've known any heroics would do no good in the end," he smiled with cruelty, before grabbing Pomni by the neck and lifting her up. She felt like asphixiating, unable to even scream.
"Look at you," he mocked, as the jester's face started to change colors. "I cannot understand how all those idiots truly believed you were a User."
Pomni could only let out an strangled whine as the virus walked towards the edge of the dock.
"You're nothing, but a useless sprite."
With that, Megabyte dropped Pomni to the Sea of Energy.
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