I've always had a soft spot for ReBoot. I was a teenager when it first broadcast and I thoroughly enjoyed the programme. CGI being rare at the time; I was fascinated by it, having grown up with 2D animation. I wrote this fiction between mid 2001- 5th May 2002. It's a prelude to the very first episode of ReBoot "The Tearing". Enjoy and stay frosty!

My ReBoot time scale which probably isn't accurate:

Year - Hour

Month - Millisecond

Week - Second

Day - Cycle

Hour - Microsecond

Minute - Nanosecond

Second - Nano

Hidden File

Early in the hour, a young woman sat in a Diner, completely surrounded by Vid-Windows and with a small organiser upon the table in front of her. Her face was hard in concentration and her very short, black hair fell in a tidy fringe over the round black glasses perched on top of her nose. Dot Matrix. At first glance, Dot would seem to be absolutely absorbed in her work and not caring about anything else. However, Dot was often misjudged by the microseconds she spent in front of her organiser. Indeed, some people didn't tend to look any further than the pie charts, but in actual fact, what was actually going on in Dot's head, was the organisation of fifty things all at once. Dot didn't just work, nor did she only care for work. More often than not, she was worrying about her little brother Enzo's safety, saving Mainframe, reluctantly playing the games that the User sent, organising events, the running of her Diner ('Dot's Diner, Fastest food in Mainframe!') and whether she was ready to admit it or not... thinking about Bob, Mainframe's guardian, a daring, handsome young man of similar age with blue skin and silver unruly hair who liked to live his life on the fly and somewhat hazardously by Dot's own standards.

Bob had only been assigned here two seconds. At the start, Dot was annoyed to see him. Actually, what was going on was more along the lines that she felt guilty for blaming the young Guardian for the destruction of the Twin City, Mainframe's former identical city, located right next to Mainframe. It was true; Dot and Bob had met before as teenagers. A Cadet Bob had turned up, hunting for the virus Kilobyte. Dot mistook his sympathy over Twin City as a confession that he'd caused the explosion and shouted at him, pounding on his chest. He had left, insisting that he was innocent to Dot even though she already knew. He'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, now a slightly older Bob was assigned to Mainframe they were fast becoming good friends.

Dot liked to plan for everything. She liked to have it prepared in advance, whereas Bob was exactly the opposite, and this often caused a few disagreements between them. Enzo, Dot's little brother, idolised Bob and often said that he wanted to be just like him when he got older. On each mentioned occasion, Dot had pulled a face as though someone had just announced the system was crashing.

Still, although Dot worried a lot, planned everything, worked too much, fussed over everyone like she was 20 hours older than she actually was and occasionally appeared downright stubborn, she had a big heart and cared about everyone. She also had a fun loving side to her personality, and was more often than not amused when it came to Enzo, and indeed Bob's antics. She was definitely not the weak heroine, and she let Bob know this when he tried to save the day in his usual catchphrase hero way.

"Will I ever get this work done?" she muttered to herself, taking off the glasses that she only used for work and rubbing her tired eyes.

Her temper was already short and only needed a certain hyperactive little brother by the name of Enzo to start incoherently jabbering away about something cool that Frisket, his protective, hostile, red and yellow dog had done today. Dot could barely hear herself think over the background noise that sounded like it was up for competition with every sound byte in the Supercomputer. She thought that she'd heard someone she knew over the "Wait at the bar, wait at the bar" by Cecil to some poor unsuspecting binomes, the sound of Frisket growl, some chewing noises and finally someone shouting "Hey! That's my zipboard!"

Dot smirked to herself in between taking calls at the feral dog, knowing that Enzo wasn't far behind. Hopefully, he was getting on with that homework data he'd promised to do a whole cycle ago... 'Now... where was that e-mail from the Mr. Mitchell account?... ah! Here it is... erm... now... aww, great, I forgot the spreadsheets for... User! We're way behind schedule!'

"DOT!"

"Wha...? Oh Bob, it's just you..."

"BOB!" A flash of various colours zoomed past, only assumed to be Enzo, set right on target for Bob.

"Thanks, no-one important, ya know... just me..." mumbled Bob from his new position on the floor.

"Enzo!" scolded Dot, not even looking up from her work.

Bob and Enzo looked at one another knowingly. Only Dot could truly have the power to see through the back of her head! Bob's attacker grinned from behind his messy black hair in a way that reminded Bob of a kid who'd just drank too many energy shakes. In fact, he looked just like Dot with light green skin and violet eyes. Looking like he'd drank too many energy shakes and being hyperactive and energetic was an every cycle event for Enzo, whose baseball cap was in its usual sideways position on the top of his head.

"Oops...sorry Bob!" Apologised Enzo sheepishly, getting up from Bob's chest and dusting his trousers.

"No problem Enzo." Bob stood up and cast a look of sudden fear towards the other side of the Diner...Frisket!

'Uh oh!' Thought Bob. Now he'd have to take special precautions to make it out of the Diner safely! Everyone knew that Frisket and Bob didn't get on. Well, actually it was more of a one way feeling, because Bob would have happily made friends with the dog if it didn't feel the need to block the diner entrance and force him to climb through the window. Bob had an idea that Frisket could sense him getting close to Dot, so he was trying to protect her like some sort of hairy older brother. Luckily Frisket hadn't spotted Bob yet. The threatening dog was already occupied with a group of shaking binomes in a booth opposite. One of them bravely chucked a Burger Byte at the dog whilst another was performing the gravity-defying act of hanging from Cecil's rail on the ceiling.

Unfortunately this was the last of Bob's worries, when suddenly a Vid-Window popped open in front of him. Yep... Megabyte. Megabyte was a virus and a very clever one at that. His blue, metal armour gleamed and his face looked menacing. Megabyte spoke in the manner of an old English gentleman, but beneath this he was actually one of the most dangerous viruses in the Net. Megabyte had just got used to having a Guardian in the system, and it was clear that the virus was already planning how best to use this 'protector of Mainframe' to his own advantage.

"Why, hello Bob, I have a little proposition for you..." Announced Megabyte, with a smile that resembled someone about to display a gun.

"Yeah? And whadda you want Megabyte?" Bob looked annoyed at the Vid-Window.

"Now Bob, let's be rational about this. You see...what I had expected to hear was 'I don't think so.' Or even the boy to call me Megabutt or something along those lines...but considering the fact that I've just kidnapped Ms. Matrix...(he paused, looked at Bob, who stared confused, and then glanced down at his claws)... I'm quite shall we say... erm... (leaning forward)... surprised."

Bob held his surprise in, shielding it from Megabyte and calmly stated:

"Alright...how did you do that, since she's sitting right h..."

Bob stopped mid sentence, realising that Dot was indeed gone, leaving all her work behind. Now, if Bob knew Dot, she would not do that voluntarily.

"Hey! Whaddya want with my sister Megabreath?" Enzo shouted into the Vid-Window.

"Ssh, Enzo, it's okay, just leave this to me." Bob assured him.

"Wonderful." Came the distinctly French accented sarcastic comment from behind the bar.

"That's it Megabyte, this is the cheapest shot I've seen you take so far!" Bob shot at Megabyte, who seemed completely un-nerved at the comment.

"Huh, whaddya expect from a virus..." commented Enzo.

"I'm afraid you are wrong Bob. This is just the very...beginning of my plan. Heh, heh. I have...much MORE planned for Mainframe after I succeed." smiled Megabyte evilly.

"Yeah, right... Glitch! Locate sprite: Dot Matrix." Stated Bob into his Keytool, as Megabyte's Vid-Window closed.

Glitch whirred and then beeped.

"What in the net?'Dot Matrix: Not Found'. That's impossible; everyone in the system can be located through their P.I.D!" Stated Bob in disbelief. "This is bad..."

"Very bad!" Finished Enzo.

"Ugh! Hack, Slash, you have to let me go!" Said Dot defiantly, as the arms of Megabyte's two muscle men (the robotic and very confusing Hack and Slash) dragged her down some disgusting alleyway in G-Prime. Amidst wondering what the glowing ball of light around her icon was, she noticed that she was right next to one of the oddest shops she'd ever seen. At least, as the occupants seemed to be wearing shades, Hawaiian shirts and pink trousers standing outside with a penguin this was more than enough to be considered 'odd'. As she was dragged past the filthy door that led into the shop, one of the binomes wearing a pink wig on his head shouted something about 'Support the boogle connections! The binomes of the Net must know their true ancestry!'

On a sudden move of inspiration but perhaps more to do with getting away from a bunch of self declared nutters, Dot somehow managed to get free of Hack and Slash with a quick move and picked up the nearest object she could find. It turned out to be a strange looking harmless multicoloured thing that resembled a hammer and Dot looked accusingly at the bunch of binomes by the door, who all seemed to be smiling and looking for all the Net like they'd done her a great favour. Dot wondered exactly how stupid this situation looked to any bystanders, but after waving it threateningly at Hack and Slash, she slumped her shoulders, chucked it away and sighed, walked over to the robots as though in defeat, and thought 'it's either this or the madhouse'.

"I'm afraid we cannot do that Dot" Stated Hack as they grabbed her by the arms again and continued away from the shop.

"We're under orders from..."

"Megabyte."

"Strict ones."

"Yeah, and he would not be happy."

"He would delete us."

"Yeah, it would not be good."

"Very bad."

"Totally."

Dot rolled her eyes as Hack and Slash tripped over each other's sentences. These two were just so basic, they could turn their backs for one nanosecond, she'd make a run for it and it would take them a whole cycle to figure out that she was gone.

"HACK! SLASH!" boomed a voice from the background, as they stopped outside the Tor, Megabyte's lair.

'That is, if Megabyte weren't here too', she remembered as an afterthought.

Hack and Slash looked at one another, blinked, and then Slash stated:

"He means us Hack."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Oh, then I suppose we had better..."

"...Go to him."

"Report the situation."

"That would be good."

"And salute."

"Yeah, that too."

"Yes."

"What are you bumbling fools on about?" Said Megabyte, wondering why on Earth he kept these two around. "How is our...guest?" He added, casting a glance at Dot, who was glaring at them all.

Hack and Slash rolled up to Megabyte, saluted ridiculously, and started their ramble:

"She is right here Boss."

"Yes, just as you told us."

"She is nice."

"Very nice."

"But she tried to escape."

"We stopped her."

"Yes, we thought it would be bad."

Megabyte rolled his eyes, waved his hand at them, motioning them to roll back and stepped forward to Dot.

"Ye-es... it's a wonder she hasn't escaped." He nonchalantly stated, noting the idiocy of his two minions for future reference.

"So Ms. Matrix, how are we today?" Asked Megabyte, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Dot simply narrowed her eyes in response.

"Usually more talkative than this aren't you Dot? What happened? Oh dear...have you gotten behind on your schedule?" Said Megabyte, leaning forward to face her.

"You really think this is going to work don't you Megabyte? You know...I almost feel sorry for you." Dot tilted her head to one side with a hint of amusement.

"Yes... of course I have a schedule to keep to as well... Hack, Slash! Let us show Ms. Matrix our PLAN." He narrowed his eyes in Dot's direction.

"Which involves..." He continued "THIS." Then pulled Dot's glowing icon from her suit.

"How come we can't locate Dot, Bob?" Questioned Enzo, as they both flew along on Zip Boards over the Wall Street sector.

"I don't know Enzo, but whatever the reason is, it's not good." Replied Bob with a frown on his face.

"Dude! This is just totally major! Wonder what Megabyte's got planned..." Wondered Enzo out loud.

"Whatever it is, it won't be half as good as what Dot's got planned..." Bob smiled.

Dot Matrix was an extremely efficient, organised and independent sprite. She could organise anything and make up any schedule for almost anybody. But... when you've had your icon swiped it's not good.

"Now Ms. Matrix, you're probably wondering why we would want your icon for our plan. Well...the fact is, we can't have you escaping can we? And if I keep your P.I.D you won't be going very far hmmm?" explained Megabyte as they walked down the corridors of the Tor.

"You're gonna pay for this Megabyte!" said Dot, determinedly, being held once again by Hack and Slash.

"Yes..." Said Megabyte, nonchalantly.

As they reached the main control room, Megabyte ordered Heir Doktor to turn on the screen at the left hand side of the room. He then passed the binome Dot's glowing icon and he and Frankenbinome stood chattering evilly at the controls. Dot tried to see what they were doing, but Hack blocked her path and forced her to kneel on the floor. Megabyte noticed.

"Do make yourself comfortable Ms. Matrix...it's amazing what information these icons can give you." Smiled Megabyte evilly.

"Yes, yes? Oh no, no, no. Of course Mr. Mitchell, but I'm sure Dot will not have forgot, not after what happened last time concerning Frisket, two binomes, a flying refrigerator and Bob having to attend the fracture clinic for a few days...It's a wonder he didn't change his mind about coming to Mainframe since it was only his second cycle here... I think something stopped him leaving. Maybe it was Dot's card." Smiled Phong, mischievously.

Phong had been leisurely sipping his cocoa whilst going over some system diagnostics, when Mr. Mitchell had sent him a Vid-Window. Normally, Mr. Mitchell wouldn't have stood up to someone as high as the secretary to the Command Com but nobody was stopping him from getting the report for his account when he was committing the all important, front page news act of buying a new yacht. Should this not occur, it was the end of the Net, as he knew it.

"Phong, heh, heh. With all due respect...I have to buy this yacht...I mean, it's going to be my all time baby, you understand? I had it modelled on myself you know? So...heh, heh, I would be very grateful if you'd find out what happened to Ms. Matrix for me?"

Mr. Mitchell spoke in the manner of someone who was trying desperately to convey a message of importance to a complete idiot, without completely losing it through laughing falsely. Phong, however, was having none of it.

"As secretary to the Command Com Mr. Mitchell, I don't consider it part of my programming to hunt down sprites for you as your personal messenger...however, since the child appears to be missing and a friend of mine, I shall make an exception just this once."

"Much appreciated Phong. Heh, heh." Ended Mr. Mitchell, with a facial expression that was obviously trying to resemble a smile and not quite making it.

As the Vid-Window closed, Phong wondered desperately whether Megabyte would have been the favoured choice to engage in conversation with than Mr. Mitchell. However, the main importance right now was to make sure Dot was all right. Now...where was that P.I.D scanner?

"Ah, here we are!" Said Phong.

Phong was just about to scan for Dot's P.I.D, when another Vid-Window popped up.

Strangely enough, it wasn't Mr. Mitchell wanting to know why the information hadn't been obtained in the time space of two seconds. It was Bob.

"Bob! Do you know of Dot's disappearance?"

"That's what I'm calling you about Phong." Bob answered over the Vid-Window.

"You have tried the system P.I.D scanner my son?"

"Yeah, I tried it on Glitch, but no luck I'm afraid." He looked to the side at Enzo.

"Ah...I do not understand Bob. Everyone's P.I.D can be located through the system scanner, even if someone else has it... unless of course..."

"I'm not considering that Phong." Came the reply.

Phong wondered whether Bob had indeed, as he put it 'been hanging around Dot too long'. Bob looked down smiling. Phong seemed to have this strange power of being able to know what was going on inside his head without even saying anything. Enzo, who thrust himself in front of Bob to look at Phong, interrupted their thoughts.

"Phong! What's going on? She can't just have disappeared huh?" Demanded Enzo.

"Do not worry Enzo, we will find her! Help Bob find Dot for me and..."

"Alphanumeric! Can Frisket come to?" Enzo practically jumped 10 feet in the air at the prospect of doing something 'really cool' as rescuing Dot.

"Yes, my child, but..."

"Pixelacious! Thanks Phong. C'mon Frisket, we're gonna help Bob find Dot. If you see any viral binomes...don't eat them yet, we'll have to interrogate them for information, O.K?"

Frisket panted and pricked his ears up at the prospect of deleting a couple of viral binomes whilst Bob smiled, rolled his eyes watching as Enzo sped off in his highly hyperactive, enthusiastic manner. He turned back to Phong, who had a serious look on his face.

"Phong, what's up?" He asked.

"Be careful young Bob. Make sure Enzo doesn't get into trouble...and watch your step in G-Prime."

"Aw, c'mon Phong... hey, don't we always come out on top?" Smiled Bob, overconfidently.

"Be careful." Repeated Phong, closing the Vid-Window and leaving Bob with a slightly confused expression.

Of course we'll be okay, we're gonna go there, get Dot back and come home. Simple... even though deep down Bob always knew it wasn't. Luck was everything he relied on. He laughed quietly to himself. Dot would delete me for not having a plan…

Catching up with Enzo, they entered the border of G-Prime on Zipboards, Frisket running below.

Back at the Tor, Dot was beginning to wonder what Megabyte was doing with her icon...amongst worrying about Enzo and whether anyone knew where she was.

'...And you know what the stupidest thing is?' She thought to herself. 'Here I am, surrounded by viral binomes at the Tor, waiting to be possibly deleted...and what am I worrying about? Whether Mr. Mitchell will get the money for his yacht!...I mean for User's sake...?'

Dot's thinking was interrupted by Megabyte walking back into the room. He didn't look pleased.

'Maybe he can't convert me.' Thought Dot hopefully.

"Prepare the icon for conversion!" Megabyte commanded Heir Doktor.

'Oh.' Dot's face sank.

"Hurry! We're running behind. You know of my plan Heir Doktor...Hack! Slash!" Megabyte ordered.

"Here Boss!"

"We are here!"

"Certainly."

"Without a doubt."

"What are you two doing? I warned you to... oh, never mind, I don't suppose it does any good does it?" He spoke more to himself than anyone else in the room.

'No, not really.' Thought Dot - it was the only thing she could ever possibly agree with Megabyte on.

"So Ms. Matrix. I trust my colleagues have been keeping you company?" Megabyte asked with a twisted smile.

'Well, if you like binomes that prod you in the back and occasionally tell you to sit still or delete then yes, the company's been wonderful.' Dot wanted to say.

"Yes. I didn't think you'd have much to say on that." Smiled Megabyte evilly at the look on Dot's face.

In the background, Frankenbinome managed to drop a glowing ball of light on the floor that Heir Doktor promptly slipped on. For a brief moment, Dot actually saw her icon in Heir Doktor's hand.

"You fool! Vat are you doing?" Shrieked the Doktor swooping the ball from the floor where it had landed. As quickly as Dot could see her icon, it had disappeared again.

'Maybe that's what they're converting me with.' She wondered morbidly.

Unknown to Dot, Bob, Enzo and Frisket were making their way through G-Prime, Megabyte's viral sector, and could see the Tor not far in front on them.

Bob, flying along on his zipboard, nearly fell off as Glitch began to beep.

"Woh!" Shouted Bob, recovering his balance then muttering something under his breath about jumping at such a stupid thing. He then turned to Glitch and made a surprised sound.

"Enzo!" Called Bob, to the little sprite zipping along in front of him through the deepest, darkest part of G-Prime.

"What is Bob?" Asked Enzo, nearly suffering the same fate as Bob, as he jolted around and recovered his balance on his little zipboard.

"It's Dot's P.I.D. Glitch just had a reading from Dot's P.I.D, but now it's gone again."

"Dude. What in the net's going on?" Enzo said more to himself, looking up at the now near located Tor.

"I did not!"

"You did too!"

"Not!"

"Did too!"

"I moved my null to that space and you knocked him over!"

"Did not!"

Dot's face had by this time, twisted into a scowl crossed with a long-suffering look. She didn't think anything could make the situation of waiting to be converted viral worse. Evidently, she was wrong. Now seated on the floor (Megabyte had only one seat for himself in the middle of the control room), Dot had to listen to Hack and Slash who were guarding her. Worse still, they were playing some strange game with a bunch of nulls on the floor. Dot tried to picture Hexadecimal's face (Megabyte's insane virus sister) if she found out the new use for her 'pets' was clearly a cross between chess figures and marbles. This prospect didn't seem the most optimistic of things to be thinking right now, considering she would probably come bursting through the Tor wall with some insane dialogue, ask a bunch of confused virals whether they found her current clothing format nice, destroy the control panel inadvertently on her way through the door and blow up half the Tor without realising it. Megabyte was already in a bad mood for some reason.

'What's taking them so long? And what's this 'information' they want from my icon?...Of course! He's after the codes for the Supercomputer. No, that's too wild a thought; it must be something else he thinks he can get. Phong's the only one who knows the codes! Even Bob doesn't know!...Oh User, I haven't even told him that yet. I knew there was something I'd forgotten on his briefing cycle...'

Dot suddenly had a mental picture of Bob, swooping in to save the day, and amidst fending off the nulls that Hack and Slash had been playing with, trying not to fall down the hole that Hexadecimal had created from blowing up half the Tor and trying to contain Megabyte as he made his way across the room to an open portal into the Supercomputer trying to shout: "Dot! Why haven't you told me the codes to the Supercomputer from Mainframe yet?"

Dot smirked to herself despite the current situation and realised that she had to do something... but that was the easy part. What was the something she was going to do?

Bob, Enzo and Frisket had reached the foot of the Tor. Frisket looked up at the Tor as though it was an oversized cat and with an equal look of disgust. Enzo reached down and patted his head.

"It's okay Frisket. I know you don't like it here... Bob, how're we gonna get in?"

Bob was wondering exactly the same thing. They didn't exactly cover, during three years in Guardian training, exactly how to enter the lair of a system dominating Virus.

"Er... well, we erm... and then we..." began Bob.

"You don't know do you?" Said Enzo, with a smiling facial expression like Dot's. "It's okay Bob. I've been trying to figure out how to get in here at night when Dot's got to sleep. I've got a map."

Bob looked highly amused.

"She doesn't know about it and Phong seemed more interested in his cocoa when I asked for it... but I haven't been able to figure it out..." Enzo paused to shrug his shoulders. "...Besides ringing the doorbell that is."

Bob looked amused at the prospect of ringing the doorbell to a power hungry virus and politely asking whether he could come in and foil his plans, but that was before he saw the doorbell.

"You're kidding right? He's got a doorbell?" Bob looked at it disbelievingly.

"Apparently not." Smirked Enzo.

"You know, I don't really see myself..." Bob started, and then thought of something. "Enzo, have you got that map on you?"

"Sure Bob. Like Dot says 'always be prepared!'" Enzo smiled proudly, handing the paper to Bob.

"Okay, what've we got here? This is a plan for all the storeys in Megabyte's lair, right?" Enzo nodded enthusiastically.

"Right, so we're looking for the storey that's at door level...here!" Bob announced, prodding his finger at a picture on the map.

"According to the map, there's a forgotten entrance to the Tor...maybe Megabyte doesn't know about it."

"Where's that? I never saw that?" Enzo questioned.

"Here. It's written in code, that's why you couldn't read it." Said Bob. "I just know how to decipher this code, that's all. Whoever wrote it must've known a Guardian could figure it out. That's one of the most basic codes they teach us at the academy." Said Bob pointedly.

"Woh!" Smiled Enzo looking at Bob as though he was the User. "Hey, Bob... maybe whoever wrote this, wanted someone to find the entrance... but not Megabyte!"

"Yeah..." Considered Bob. "Then again, maybe they wanted us to walk straight into a trap too!"

"We oughta check it out Bob. It might get us to Dot quicker!... Where is it?" Enzo smiled at his own quick thinking.

"Let's see... it's elsewhere in G-Prime. Al's Wait and Eat!" He nearly shouted.

Enzo suddenly looked as though he'd rather face Megabyte than have to fight his way past Al's droning, binome Waiter whilst explaining 'No honestly, we just have to save the damsel in distress, slay the villain, then I promise we'll order an energy shake for the use of your secret passageway'.

"Let's go!" Announced Bob, stuffing the map into his pocket and dragging Enzo along as he got on his zipboard. Enzo jumped on his own zipboard and motioned for Frisket to follow.

"Oh well!" Shouted a grinning Enzo to Bob in the distance. "I guess it's either this or play 'knock a door - run' with Megabyte's viral's!"

Megabyte wasn't looking happy. Well, less happy than he normally looked. Dot was still on the floor reluctantly listening to Hack and Slash's null game and Heir Doktor recover the glowing ball of light from the floor five more times after Frankenbinome had dropped it. At one point, it had gotten so ridiculous that Dot nearly offered to hold it.

Megabyte was sat in his chair, watching over everyone with eagle eyes and making sure that no-one was trying to do anything out of sync with his own plans, whilst a screen on the left hand side of the room was reading some statistics and something about '60 percent'. Dot hoped that this didn't mean she had '40 percent left'.

Hexadecimal had found out about the lost nulls, just as Dot had predicted, leading to an interesting moment when Megabyte calmly stated that 'he knew nothing about any nulls', at which point Hack decided to rather visibly throw the nulls in question at Slash's head in the background of the Vid-Window.

As Dot wondered whether Hex would try any of the things she'd previously thought up, the screen on the left read '62 percent', and Megabyte announced:

"Well Ms. Matrix, you won't have long to wait now..." So normal, that is was as though everyone was sat in the room waiting for a bus.

Just as Dot was about to announce that she had no intention of being converted, something odd happened. Megabyte stood up and walked out of the room. Hack and Slash started throwing the nulls again, and the virals seemed to have blank looks on their faces.

"What?" Dot asked nobody in particular. "What's happening?"

As if to answer the question and as though this happened on a daily basis, a hologram of Phong appeared in front of her.

"Phong? What're you doing here, they'll see you." She pointed at Hack and Slash.

"They will see nothing my child." Said Phong gently. "I have... altered circumstances somewhat in order to speak to you." He added with a mischievous look on his old face.

Dot smiled knowingly. She already knew of Phong's strange powers and commands.

"My child, you know what is going on, yes?" Asked Phong, his image flickering with static slightly.

"Not… really Phong." Answered Dot, knowing full well that Phong did.

"Megabyte is trying to obtain the pass code for the Supercomputer." Explained Phong, making the situation as clear as mud.

"Erm..." Replied Dot again. "Phong...can I just ask exactly how he's going to get the codes for the Supercomputer out of my icon? Even if an icon could store such information... and how could Megabyte know about it?"

"Dot. I cannot explain why or how the codes are in your icon at this present time, I will explain later my child. However, what I must tell you is that you have to find a way to retrieve your icon. There is much more at stake here than Megabyte infecting the Supercomputer!" Said Phong, although Dot couldn't imagine what could be worse than Megabyte infecting the Supercomputer.

"I'll explain later, just try your best my child, and be careful. Bob and Enzo are on their way." Phong announced as though he could read her thoughts.

"Enzo?...He's got the..." Dot started as Phong disappeared, leaving his second confused person behind today. 'What are the codes doing in my P.I.D?' Dot wondered.

Dot's thoughts were interrupted by Megabyte, walking back into the room as though looking for someone to accuse his unexplained absence on. He suddenly got hit in the head by a flying null and promptly swarmed upon by a dozen binomes, all active once more and trying to pull it off. The screen read '70 percent'. Dot forgot her questions and began to form a plan as Megabyte announced that his Tor would be a 'null free' zone from now on.

"Bob, I can't believe you did that!" Enzo shouted down a narrow, dirty passageway and a voice from the other side of the darkness shouted back at them 'Bob, I can't believe you did that!' echoing around the walls.

"What?" Bob tried his best to look innocent. "We had to get past them somehow."

"Yeah but... trading my map with Al's Waiter to open the passageway? I mean... what in the Net does he want a map of the Tor for?" Burst out Enzo looking gloomily at the dirty floor as they zipped along in the equal gloominess of the corridor.

"Well, he was the one who asked for it in return and to answer your second question Enzo; I dread to think!" Bob smirked as he sped along.

Frisket was still running along behind them, occasionally glancing disapprovingly at Bob in his usual way, whilst Enzo muttered something about seedy G-Prime binomes trying to get Megabyte's autograph.

After several nano's of speeding along in the gloomy passage, Enzo's face lit up brightly as he realised they were coming to the end of the tunnel. Bob, meeting the same sight of a metal trapdoor in the roof, to which Enzo said 'very original', declared smiling:

"Well, here's where we find out whether we're gonna get deleted or not!"

Enzo shot a 'thank you for that' expression and Frisket looked like he was on the edge of biting Bob's leg. Bob held his hands up in defeat declaring that it was only a joke and knowing that if Dot were here he'd already be on the floor with a giant bruise on his cheek.

Bob pushed at the trapdoor above him and it slowly gave way, with an unfortunate metal scraping sound that Enzo was sure had alerted the nearest virals all glaring menacingly with six foot long guns as they poked their heads out of the hole. 'Let's just hope that Dot isn't one of them yet'. Thought Enzo, as Bob looked out of their tunnel to see if the coast was clear.

"All clear Enzo!" Bob whispered, on cue from above him.

Enzo climbed up and out of the hole in the floor and Bob looked down into the passageway on his hands and knees.

"Wait, how're we gonna get Frisket..." Then he looked up and came face to face with the dog. "How does he do that?" Bob risked a look at Enzo, as if afraid of Frisket biting his head off, should he get the chance.

Enzo simply shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Frisket, who smiled at Bob but in a decidedly different way.

Dot stared at the glowing ball of light in Frankenbinome's hand. What she had decided, after watching the many times they'd managed to drop it on the floor and the subsequent amount of falling over that had occurred, was that Heir Doktor was holding her icon and Frankenbinome was concealing it with the ball of light. Obviously the doctor was doing this to keep one hand free for other matters.

What was the ball of light for? There was no point in hiding it from the rest of the room; everyone knew it was there. 'Of course!' Thought Dot 'It's some kind of command that hides a file. The others won't be able to detect my P.I.D in the system!... But with the amount of times it's been on the floor and able for detection, no doubt Bob's probably thinking it's April the 1st!' She pictured Bob wondering whether she was opening portals all over the system and coming in and out just to annoy him, the latest News data and some criticising binome from 'This Cycle' standing next to Mike the TV, proudly announcing 'I never did reckon' much ter that woman... Mighty suspicious if yer ask me.'

Dot brushed a strand of ebony hair out of her eyes and wondered if Bob and Enzo were okay. She knew of Bob's death defying stunts quite well by now. 'So considering that' she thought sarcastically 'They're both probably hanging by a thread at the top of the Tor by now, with a bunch of ABC's firing madly at them, Bob holding a knife between his teeth like they're both in some insane movie that Mike the TV would broadcast.'

Just at that moment, Frankenbinome had skid past the screen (80 percent) having been knocked sideways by one of Hack's nulls and was sliding towards Dot, the ball of light landing behind her. Dot quickly downloaded the ball of light into her organiser, which was hidden on the back of her belt.

"Verr did it go?" Shouted Heir Doktor, looking hysterically at the icon in his hand.
Frankenbinome got up and looked around the floor, then shrugged his shoulders helplessly at the doctor, who was already frantically searching underneath his control panel.

"What is going on?" Demanded Megabyte, who took one look at the two cowering binomes and said, "You've lost the hidden file command?... You fools! That was the only one in the Tor! Now the Guardian will be able to locate her! He's already in the Tor, I've found his signal!"

He shot a suspicious look at Dot, who simply smiled at him. 'So he's in the Tor? I have a better use for this command' she thought, tapping into the organiser behind her back...

Whilst Bob wasn't hanging by a thread from the top of the Tor, he was having great difficulty moving around it. He, Enzo and Frisket had been roaming the metal plated corridors, trying to get past the viral guards. However, it seemed that everywhere they went the binomes were around the next corner as though they were attached to them with a string.

As a result, Glitch couldn't have chosen a worse moment to start beeping intermittently than the moment when Bob and Enzo had tried to ambush a couple of binomes with massive guns. Bob had had to jump behind the nearest column, Enzo and Frisket closely following. He couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Dot's P.I.D registering on the screen and for once, not doing a disappearing act like Houdini. Bob had explained to Enzo that now they knew Dot was definitely here and weren't just wandering around the Silicon Tor as though they were after Megabyte's autograph (Like Al's, Enzo was thinking), they could concentrate on finding her.

Enzo had asked Bob where she was and Bob had replied that she was in the control room, assuming that Megabyte was in there too. After several moments of talking to Enzo 'the one good thing about registering a virus and giving them a P.I.D, is that you always know where they are.' (Viruses don't have P.I.D's), Glitch was giving a different beep.

Bob made a surprised noise and Enzo started.

"What's wrong Bob?"

"Heh, it's okay, Glitch's just received something." He said.

"Well, what's the surprise about?" Asked Enzo.

"Normally, Guardian's only get files sent from the Supercomputer downloaded to their keytools. Usually news or upgrades. That sort of thing." Explained Bob.

"What's it got this time?" Asked Enzo, wondering why they were stood in the middle of the Tor having a conversation about Glitch as though they were walking leisurely through Floating Point Park on a sunny cycle.

"Erm... I'm not sure. Doesn't have the usual Supercomputer address on it... It's from here, in Mainframe!" He exclaimed.

"And...?" Prompted Enzo as he saw a group of binomes march past.

"No-one here in Mainframe knows Glitch's address... Wait a nano..." Bob smiled, knowing the one person who would at least have took it upon herself to find out and know such information even if he didn't tell her.

"You know, I'll bet this is from..." Said Bob pressing a button on Glitch.

"...Dot!" He confirmed, opening the message and seeing her trademark business garb that she stuck on the end of e-mail. There was no message, just a file attachment.

"Go ahead Bob." Motioned Enzo. "Open it!"

Bob pressed another button on Glitch, and a glowing ball of light flew out, causing Frisket to snap at it like a fly.

"A hidden file command!" Exclaimed Bob. "I'll bet this is what they were hiding her icon with. She's gotten hold of it and sent it to us. We can use it to get around the Tor without be seen!"

"Alphanumeric!" Enzo burst out, a little too loudly, and the binome across the corridor looked inside his data sandwich suspiciously.

"Uh uh, Enzo. You'll have to find a place to hide till I get back. The command can only hide one person." Bob ordered gently.

"Oh bummer." Moaned Enzo. "Just when the cycle was getting interesting!"

Bob motioned Enzo to stay behind the large column beside the wall and warned Frisket ('Take care of him!'). Bob then set off, and as the command hid him from view, wondered what in the Net Enzo could find interesting about wandering around a bunch of corridors hunting for a control room. He'd much rather be hanging from the thread at the top of the Tor, now that's interesting!

"I know you did something with it." Stated Megabyte to Dot, still annoyed over the missing hidden file command. "The only reason I haven't taken action is because our dear friend Bob is already in the Tor and knows you are here. You will be pleased to know, Ms. Matrix, that I haven't converted you by now because we need some... information" He paused to look at her from examining his claws. "...So you see we can't go infecting valuable codes can we? Hmm? Not when I need them for the Supercomputer. Oh and er, rest assured Ms. Matrix, once I have the codes...there will be nothing to stop me from infecting you."

"Nothing except Bob." Smiled Dot back calmly.

"Oh, yes..." He said dismissively waving his claws. "I don't expect to be having too much trouble from Bob you see... we're tracking his P.I.D." He looked at the screen on the right hand side of the room, which showed a small blue dot moving along the corridor. "Useful things...aren't they?" He smiled evilly.

"...Er... yes?" Dot sarcastically and calmly answered, refusing to get rid of her smile.

Megabyte looked annoyed, and then turned to the viral binomes at the screen. "Well gentleman, where is the Guardian now?"

The binomes jumped as though someone had pulled a rug from under their feet and froze with terror.

"Well, what is it?" Shot Megabyte.

"Sir!" Said one binome, bravely saluting. "Bob has disappeared. His icon is no longer visible on our screen!"

"NO!...I don't believe all this. First the command and now him!" He glanced at Dot, then at the screen and then back to Dot again.

"No matter..." Announced Megabyte, guessing something and advancing on Dot. She began to back away. "Stay where you are Ms. Matrix!" He warned with his claws suddenly extended. Dot froze with terror. "After all, we don't want Bob to be rescuing a null now do we?" He was still moving around her as though looking for something, then spotted it immediately; Dot was unable to hide it. "Ah!... Here we are." Megabyte announced smiling and pulling a switch of personality similar to Hexadecimal. Dot looked at his claws and saw that he'd got her organiser.

"Awfully clever Ms. Matrix wasn't it?... Sending the command to Bob...But where is the young sprite hmm? Why can we not trace his signal...? I wonder..." Plotted Megabyte.

Dot thought that Megabyte was doing well to be wondering anything. 'Does he want something with my organiser?' She tried to guess. Megabyte had got her organiser, he knew what Bob was using to get around the Tor unnoticed, he was after Enzo and the screen was reading 90 percent. 'Can this get any worse?'

Bob hummed to himself as he ran through the corridors of the Tor. He was getting bored now. All this running and not even one of the binomes suspected he was here. Bob's love of action where things had to be happening at 100 miles per hour whilst hanging off the edge of a cliff was probably why. Trouble was, since Bob didn't have the guards to contend with as he looked for the main control room, his mind was wandering to other things... Dot being one of them. He kept shaking his head every time she came into his mind; he had to concentrate, no matter how boring this was. Besides, every time she did, Frisket kept coming into his mind too, growling furiously. Bob smirked. 'Even tries to stop me in my thoughts too.'

As Bob rounded a corner, he discovered a whole herd of viral binomes guarding some large doors with glowing spears. He looked down at Glitch, expecting to see Enzo's signal, but there was none. 'Uh oh. Enzo!' He thought, alarmed. He looked at them, one eyebrow raised at the camera. "Talk about your stereotypical villain's hideout entrance."

Suddenly, a large trapdoor opened below him and he fell, plummeting several feet "Aaaaaaaaaaaagh!... Oof!" He landed on the floor with a cry. "People have gotta stop doing that..." said Bob, as he looked up and saw a bunch of confused viral binomes all gathered around the hole, muttering to themselves. For a second, Bob wondered why, then realising that holes don't open in floors and screams come out of nowhere every cycle, slowly moved his limbs to check that nothing was broken.

"Oh boy. Where do I go from here, the entrance is up there!" Bob looked all around him as he got up from the floor.

"Well Bob, going up the stairs would be good!" Smirked a boy's voice suddenly from his side. Bob nearly fell over when he looked at the small green sprite at the side of him, grinning from ear to ear.

"Enzo! Don't do that!... I thought I told you to... what did you do to your icon?"

"Clever, huh Bob?" Enzo grinned, pointing at it.

"Game sprite mode!" Smiled Bob, surprised. "How did you know how to do that?"

"Uh...don't tell Dot, but I had a quick look at her organiser." He paused, looking sheepish. "It was a file about games. I noticed your chapter and decided to read it. Frisket, come out of there!" He finished, shouting to Frisket, who was chasing a small creature around.

"Did you… come in the same way as me?" Asked Bob.

"Nah, I fell through that hole there" Enzo said dismissively, as though falling through holes in the ground was a regular event and not worthy of discussion "... lucky Frisket broke my fall...the binomes up there looked a bit confused though… I hid before they could see me!" He said pointing at a separate hole.

Bob laughed at Enzo as they walked towards some metal steps. "Keep this up, and we'll have no viral binomes left to convert back to normal!... They'll all be as confused as Hexadecimal... and that's saying something." He paused, frowning. "Probably become members of that shop in G-Prime." They both continued and Bob asked, "Hey, how did you get into Dot's organiser anyway?"

"Oh that... it's no big deal." Enzo shrugged. "I'd already guessed the password anyway..." He smiled mischievously at Bob, and then walked up the stairs.

Bob rose an eyebrow suspiciously "Why... what's her password?"

"Oh nothing..." Shrugged Enzo smiling "let's just say...it's something she likes a lot!" He grinned, nodding to himself as if pleased with his description as he turned back to Bob who was walking up the stairs behind him. Frisket growled as if to say 'Not if I have anything to do with it!'

Bob stopped and looked to the side thinking. Then he continued up the stairs. "Bill Gates?"

"Alohomora." Phong told the door leading into the Read Only Room. The door opened up and he passed through to the floating Vid-Window in the middle of the room.

Phong stared at the blank screen on the Vid-Window. He'd tried to help Dot as best he could, but he couldn't help feeling useless at the moment. Dot was in there with Megabyte, and he had allowed young Enzo to go with Bob. He honestly hoped the three were all right, for the sake of everyone, not just Mainframe.

"Ah, I knew there was something I'd forgotten to do..." He remembered, taking out a small organiser. "Mr..."

"Phong!...Er, Sir..." A Vid-Window popped up.

"Mitchell." Phong slumped with a long-suffering expression.

"Heh, heh, hello there Phong. As you can imagine, I'm starting to get worried about...well, Dot's safety..." Mr. Mitchell looked about as worried as the happiest person in the Net.

"Ah, Mr. Mitchell." He responded coldly.

"Now Phong, all I'm saying is if anything's happened to the young woman, I'll never forgive myself. All that work I have her doing..."

"... And you want her to organise your money before the cycle is through..."

"I'm telling you Phong, I work her too hard, she's..."

"Not available to draw your money out at this time." Phong resisted.

"Phong, please. I'm just as worried about Dot as you are. Call me if you hear any news about..."

"The yacht..." Finished Phong.

Mr Mitchell looked like he was about to argue again, but Phong quickly cancelled the Vid-Window.

"User, please let it be Megabyte next time." Phong sighed, looking into the Read Only window.

"Ms. Matrix." Megabyte called from across the room.

Dot looked up with a start. 'I have to get that icon back. I can't let him get the codes.' Thought Dot determinedly as she looked at Heir Doktor and Frankenbinome with it. The screen was reading '95 percent' and if she didn't do something now, what if Bob didn't turn up? The other P.I.D screen on the right hand side of the room was still blank; she could tell he was still using the hidden file command, but what if he couldn't find the control room?

"Ms. Matrix." He said again, causing her to look up and scowl at him.

"Ah, much better." He smiled like a lion ready to pounce. "Now...let's discuss what we're going to do shall we?"

Dot laughed to herself. 'Who does he think I am?'

Megabyte sensing resilience stated, "Of course, unless life as a null suits you better...? Once you are infected and are under my command, I shall use you to capture Bob, who it seems... sadly..." He paused to look at her. "Won't make it up here to rescue you in time..." He looked at the blank screen which should have shown his P.I.D and stated mockingly. "That Guardian hasn't got the brains to find you no doubt, that's why he's taking so long...I had hoped we'd be able to kill two nulls with one stone...or perhaps three..." He smiled evilly.

Dot narrowed her eyes, knowing who the third sprite was. "Over my deleted body!" She shouted.

"Now now Dot, with Bob not being here to save you and all, I don't think it is in your best interests to be losing your temper." He said in an intimidating way. "Now... you're going to give me the password for your organiser..." Dot raised an eyebrow "I'm going to use it to contact our Guardian's keytool and tell him that you're fine... then I'll retrieve the codes from your icon, and infect you. We're both going to go on a little trip to the Supercomputer." He said, as though they were going on holiday to the East Coast.

Dot laughed.

"Have it your way Ms. Matrix..." He said, waving a group of binomes with glowing spears over to him.

Dot wasn't hanging around, and with strength she didn't even know she possessed, picked up a large console from the floor and chucked it at the binomes and Megabyte, then ran from the control room. She didn't even know why she was doing it, there was no way out. Still, if Bob didn't show up soon, who was going to be able to do a thing against Megabyte except her?

"Surround her!" He shouted. The binomes responded quickly and before Dot even got to the doors, they were standing in front of her.

"Aagh!" She jumped back with shock, as they waved the spears menacingly...

"Bob, ya know, there is a switch." Enzo pointed out with a smirk as the three stood in front of the door at the top of the stairs with no apparent handle.

"Huh? How come I didn't see that?" Bob looked surprised.

"No idea Bob." Replied Enzo with a giant grin on his face. "See, I'm observant, you can tell Dot that!"

"Yeah, have a gold medal Enzo." Bob looked amused. "So, where are we?... Er, here!"

Bob pressed a blue switch to the side of the large metal door and stepped back as it opened. "Get behind me Enzo." He ordered, motioning the little sprite behind him.

Frisket looked annoyed, as though he been motioned back too and looked at Bob as if to say 'Just try me.' Bob rolled his eyes at the dog as the door slowly opened.

Almost immediately they heard Megabyte's voice echoing around whatever room they had stepped into. Bob couldn't see anything, then realised they were on a balcony above another room.

"Gee Bob, d'ya think this is where old Megabutt is hiding?" Enzo asked, jokingly grinning.

"Could be Enzo." Bob smiled back.

Frisket simply growled at the sound of Megabyte's voice, and when Bob moved forward and looked over the balcony, Frisket growled louder.

"Gee, just decide whose side you're on, will you?" He said as he looked over the low metal wall at the scene below.

"So what do you say Enzo. Should I perform a forward somersault, swinging from the chandelier and scoop Dot up as I'm flying majestically through the air?" Bob asked dramatically.

"Whatever you say Bob." Enzo hid a smile with his hand and Frisket growled louder.

"I'm kidding okay?" Bob held his hands up in defeat. "You never know, she might like that!"

Enzo mumbled something about 'if passwords are anything to go by, then yeah' and whispered to Frisket "What's a chandelier?"

Bob looked down to see Megabyte advancing on Dot. Heir Doktor and Frankenbinome were stood on the left hand side of the room in front of a screen and a bunch of binomes were on the right hand side of the room, with a screen that displayed a map of the Tor. Bob blinked and raised an eyebrow to see that Hack and Slash were playing with a couple of nulls, and then shook his head exasperated.

"Well, he sure has changed his weaponry stock... wait a nano, that's Dot's organiser, what does he want with that?" Bob looked confused as he realised what Megabyte was holding.

A bunch of viral's with glowing spears were making sure Dot wouldn't go anywhere fast. Enzo meanwhile was holding Frisket back, the dog practically falling off the balcony to attack the virals.

"Well Ms. Matrix." Megabyte threatened. "Are you going to co-operate with our little agenda or not?"

"No." Dot answered, determined.

"I need the password Dot." Megabyte said nonchalantly looking at her organiser. "You are going to tell me..." The virals edged the spears closer to Dot. "Aren't you?" Megabyte came face to face with her.

Dot was fighting inside, Bob could tell. She was going through all the options and predicting what would happen if she chose to tell him. Her eyes were closed and she was shaking her head every few seconds as if that option wouldn't work.

Bob looked across the room. "Oh boy, is that whose icon I think it is?" He said to himself as he saw a tiny black and white coloured P.I.D sat in a clasp at the controls. He looked up at the screen and it read '95 percent'. 'He's gonna infect her!' Bob was panicking and wasn't aware of Megabyte's plan to take some information from her icon before doing so. So, never one for standing around to make plans first, he decided to find a quick way to the level below.

"What's going on Bob?" Enzo struggled to see over the balcony wall and Frisket nudged him up gently with his nose. "Er...just wait here Enzo. I'm gonna try and get behind them, unnoticed." He said, climbing over the balcony in full view of Megabyte and looking as unnoticeable as a guy wearing orange whilst cleaning the windows of a skyscraper. Frisket was still close to becoming the Net's first flying dog and snapped at Bob's fingers like a shark as he edged past.

"The first thing I'm gonna do when we get outta here..." Bob grunted as he shifted his weight along the wall. "Is get you a... personal... trainer."

Suddenly, Dot's expression changed and she opened her eyes, frowning.

"Well Ms. Matrix… the password?" Megabyte intimidated her.

"Guardian." Dot blurted out suddenly, as if she had a plan.

Bob was still moving along the wall trying to be conspicuous, whilst Frisket continued to assault him from above. Enzo looked like he was on the edge of laughing at them both, and probably would have done had the situation not been so serious. Frisket growled loudly and in between snapping at Bob's fingers, glared menacingly at Heir Doktor and Frankenbinome who were watching the machine's progress with Dot's icon. A strange noise was coming from above them, as though someone was walking across the roof making clanging noises. Megabyte looked up and sighed, as though he knew what it was.

"What was that Ms. Matrix?" Megabyte ordered.

"The password is 'guardian'," She repeated.

Bob fell. Enzo couldn't believe she'd told Megabyte and dropped Frisket who caught up with Bob flying down through the air. This resulted in Frisket clamping his jaws on Bob's boot, making them look like some sort of strange man and dog skydiving act. Everyone looked towards the display going on from the balcony and the virals guarding Dot were tripping over each other to see, getting into such disarray that they forgot they had a job to do. Heir Doktor was trying frantically to get the icon to extract the codes faster and Dot was trying to sneak over to him to grab her icon, Megabyte being otherwise occupied by the scene.

Bob and Frisket landed, Frisket pouncing at the confused virals and leaving Bob in a heap on the floor.

"Don't bother to help me up. I'm fine." Bob stated to no one in particular as he rested his head on the floor. A crowd of binomes being chased by Frisket interrupted Bob's faint. He jumped up from the floor and wondered whether if Mike (his loud talking TV flat mate) were here, there would have been a sudden announcement that the race had started.

"WOOHOO! Go get 'em Frisket!" Enzo shouted from the balcony, punching his fist into the air.

The virals scattered and Bob caught Dot's eye as she was advancing on the doctor. She tried to ignore his gaze and turn her attention on getting the P.I.D, but he was already coming over to help her.

"ENOUGH!" Megabyte bellowed, who obviously couldn't believe that events reminiscent of the circus had happened.

Everyone froze. Frisket turned inquisitively holding a floored binomes leg in his mouth, Dot was wondering whether she was happy or not about the interruption (since Bob had been about to say something to her), Heir Doktor was frozen holding the icon away from Dot's hand, Enzo looked suddenly bored and rested his chin in his hand on the balcony, and the sound of Hexadecimal screaming at the top of her voice and subsequent clanging from the roof seemed to produce a sort of weird grand finale.

"Ugh." Sighed Megabyte, looking upwards and shaking his head. "Hide those nulls!" He ordered Hack and Slash, who had been avoiding the whole situation and cowering in the corner.

"Yes Sir!"

"Yes, Sir, Yes Sir!"

"Sir, Sir, yes Sir!"

"Yes Sir!"

Turning back to the sprites in freeze frame, he then questioned "So Bob, I hadn't expected such a...grand entrance. In fact, I hadn't expected any sort of entrance at all."

"Megabyte, this isn't going to work." Bob stated, coming out of his frozen state as everyone else closed their open mouths.

"Yes, really...Bob I think you'll find you're outnumbered. You might as well surrender; I have the codes for the Supercomputer." He replied, pointing to the screen which now read '100 percent'. Heir Doktor had managed to re-attach Dot's icon to the machine, and it had completed the download. The codes were now being extracted, and Megabyte turned back to them, grinning evilly.

"So now... since erm...recent events have happened we're going to have to change our plans, hmm, Ms. Matrix? You see, now I don't need your password. Since Bob is already here there is no point in telling him you are fine. All that remains now is for me to infect you and enter the Supercomputer."

"Aren't you forgetting something Megabyte? You need a portal to access another destination if you're going to use the codes." Bob stated.

"WHAT?" Megabyte shouted.

"Man, you guys really are out of it aren't you?" Bob rolled his eyes. "I keep forgetting you don't know these things."

Megabyte glared strangely at Bob, but this look was nothing to the one coming from the side of him. Dot didn't like being told that she was 'out of it'.

Enzo shouted from the balcony "Whattcha gonna do now Megadump? Talk about basic! We're gonna crash your files big time!" The giant trademark grin fixed firmly on the front of his face.

"Gah! Why did you not plan for this Heir Doktor?" Megabyte bellowed.

"Mein fuhrer, the technology here...it eez not possible to create a portal from such a system!" He answered quickly.

"Very well. We shall have to find another way of accessing the Supercomputer."

"Huh, there isn't another way Megabyte!" Bob smirked.

Megabyte suddenly turned quiet. "I believe you Bob... but there's something you're NOT telling me, isn't there? How do you create a portal?...What do you use?..." He circled him.

"Don't know what you're talking about." Bob suddenly became careful and Dot noticed, cocking her head questioningly as she saw Bob's expression.

Megabyte remained silent for a short while, then said "Now Bob...I think I've figured out your little secret."

"About time." Smirked Bob.

"You can create portals with tears." He said, simply.

"I'm a Guardian. Sure we can create portals with tears." Bob said, winking at Dot, like he knew what he was doing. Actually, Bob's mind tried to work, but the only answer was the sound of Frisket growling in the background. Bob wasn't sure whether this was directed at Megabyte or him.

Without warning, the second answer to the dilemma came. A huge explosion ripped open one corner of the Tor, and after everyone had fallen to the floor and shielded their faces, coughing to get the dust out of their systems, they opened their eyes to see a floating Hexadecimal smiling sweetly down on them, as though she'd walked through the door.

'Okay.' Bob thought to himself.

"Now what?" Megabyte turned around.

"Megabyte! What a pleasant surprise!" Hexadecimal announced, sweetly.

Bob waited for the change of mood and it came pretty quickly.

"WHERE ARE MY NULLS?" She shrieked, with a needless to say, furious mask on. "They aren't yours Megabyte, they're mine. I would like them returned!" She said, looking like a child with a tantrum.

"Hexadecimal... this is not the time." Megabyte waved his hand, motioning her away.

"Oh dear. You're going to try and get to the Supercomputer again?" She laughed. "You fool!" Her mask changed to annoyance. "Haven't you realised that there is yet no way out of this system? (Sweetly) You need a way of stabilising tears my dear."

"My dear Hexadecimal, I already know what I need to complete my...journey. And I know just who..." He looked at Bob. "Is going to provide me with..." Hexadecimal looked bored, and changed the subject.

"GIVE ME THE NULLS!" She shouted.

"Ugh... Hack, Slash. Give the lady what she wants." Megabyte surrendered.

Hack and Slash brought the nulls out from their hiding place and trembling, handed them to Hexadecimal.

"Thank you boys." She smiled. "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING WITH THEM?" Her angry mask was back. "No matter!" She announced. "I have them back... (Suspicious look) try and steal my toys again Megabyte and you shall get more than you bargained for!... (Happily)... Goodbye!" Hexadecimal turned to go, and Dot could swear that she'd asked one of the virals if they liked her clothes.

"Oh that was a close one!"

"Real close!"

"Closer to me."

"No, she was closer to me."

"Closer to..."

"You...and me."

"Me and you."

"She was close close."

"Yeah... close."

"Close."

"Hack! Slash!" Megabyte was shouting to shut them up and didn't realise that Bob was catching Enzo, who had jumped from the balcony. "I am growing weary of your talkative format!" He added, pointing his claw at them, still not noticing that Bob was helping Enzo climb onto the top of a monitor and out of the hole that Hexadecimal had created in the wall of the Tor. Enzo climbed up carefully, but when Bob tried to make Frisket follow Enzo, he wouldn't, and decided to lunge at him instead.

"Boss..." Slash started, realising that Bob had helped Enzo escape.

"Yeah Boss, there's something..." Hack continued.

"Important..."

"Maybe I shall have to take out your voice chips." Megabyte was considering and appeared oblivious to the commotion in the background.

As Bob found himself being chased around the room by Frisket, Dot was trying to think of a way to get her icon back from Heir Doktor. The icon was attached to a couple of metal clamps, securing it into position and there didn't appear to be any way of removing it manually. The only way to remove the icon would be to press the right button on the controls and Dot couldn't see herself pressing every single button to get the right one. She could just imagine the first one she pressed being the button that crashed the whole system.

'Knowing Megabyte, there'll be that sort of button around the Tor somewhere.' She thought.

Bob however, on his adventures with a certain ferocious dog had just managed to perform the only other possible removal of the icon. At least the force with which he had crashed into the monitor and the subsequent position in which Frisket had landed was more than sufficient to send the whole lot flying, including Dot's icon. As the dust cleared, everyone looked on in disbelief.

"Not quite what I had in mind." Stared Dot, as Bob dragged himself off of the floor (and not to mention, Frisket).

Spotting her icon on the floor, she made a dive for it, and judging by the inhabitant's faces of Silicon Tor, not one of them had been expecting an avalanche of flying equipment. Megabyte was the first to recover from the incident.

"Stop them you fools!" He shouted.

Hack and Slash looked at one another, then at Megabyte and back towards the monitor intermittently. The two bots were confused at the best of times, but when you've just seen flying monitors, walls exploding, people diving from balconies and spent a couple of minutes with Hexadecimal, you're ready for joining her and SCSI at Lost Angles.

Meanwhile, the virals didn't seem to be doing much 'stopping'. In fact, they were the only people being stopped. The trembling binomes were cornered by Frisket, Bob and Dot taking this opportunity to make for the hole in the wall of the Tor.

Dot re-attached her icon as she ran, Bob dragging her along by the hand as Megabyte figured that he might as well try to stop them himself seen as how everyone else was pretty much incompetent. He charged after them as they climbed up the monitor, his metal feet clanging loudly on the floor. Dot's ankle slipped and Bob caught her arm just in time. Bob looked at her, Dot smiled back sweetly and Frisket jumped in between them, glancing triumphantly at Bob in a doggy way. 'I really do wonder about him' Bob thought, frowning in Frisket's direction. They both jumped outside, grabbed Enzo who was standing there waiting, and Frisket landed in front of them with what looked like a Viral's walkie-talkie headpiece in his mouth.

As they jumped onto their zipboards they could hear Megabyte's curses of rage as he stood outside the Tor. The virals had piled outside and Hack and Slash were picking up a little green and white null. Dot shook her head exasperated as she flew along. 'At least I'm not there to witness the next game' She thought to herself, Enzo grinning as he flew beside her.

Megabyte had spotted the green and white null and took it off the bots, realising something.

"Hack! Slash! You no longer need to bother Hexadecimal. I think I've found what I'm looking for." He smiled evilly at the small creature, squirming in his hand.

Hack and Slash looked at the null, then to each other and Slash shrugged his shoulders.

"That's him?"

"Kinda..."

"Small?"

"Yeah, I thought he'd be..."

"Bigger!"

"Yeah but he's a null!"

"Oh yeah."

"I forgot that too."

"Sir!" A viral binome announced, running up behind him. "A tear has just opened in the power room!"

Megabyte seemed to be considering something, and then looked up at the flying sprites.

"We shall see who wins the next time we meet Bob. I think I may have a use for you..."

"Woh, that was a close one back there Bob!" Enzo remarked as the three sprites zipped over G-Prime in the direction of the Principal Office.

"It always is with Megabyte." Dot sighed, as though the whole situation was nothing new.

"Yeah, of course. He arrived around the same time as I did when the Twin City..." Bob stopped to avoid causing any distress (and also to avoid revealing information; Bob knew more than he let on about the Twin City destruction), but could already see Dot's eyes welling up with tears. She zipped ahead in front of them and Enzo turned to Bob.

"She doesn't like talking about it Bob." Enzo pointed out.

"I know, I'm sorry." Bob replied gently.

Enzo fell quiet for a few nanos, and only altered his composure when Frisket broke the silence by barking at an unsuspecting binome below.

"Wanna play a game?" Bob grinned at him. Frisket growled.

"Not you!" Bob looked down at the dog, rose an eyebrow smiling and shook his head.

"Sure!" Enzo's face lit up. "How about eye spy?"

"Okay Enzo, you go first."

"Cool!" He grinned. "Uh...eye spy with my little eye, something beginning with...M!"

Bob seemed to look around him, and then saw Dot. "Ms. Matrix?" He said in Megabyte's voice. Enzo laughed out loud.

"No..."

"Not...Megabyte?" Bob asked looking around him, as if expecting the virus to appear in his limo.

"Far from it." Enzo said.

"Mad dog?" Bob raised his eyebrows seriously, looking down at Frisket.

"No Bob!" Enzo frowned.

"MR. MITCHELL!"

"I was just gonna say that..." Bob said, and then did a double take.

"Right Phong!" Enzo smiled. "Phong?"

Finding themselves at the steps of the Principal Office finally, Dot, Bob and Enzo saw Phong surrounded by a bunch of binomes, Mr. Mitchell being one of them. Looking closer, they could see that the rest of the binomes were the women who always followed him around and a couple of guys who looked like bodyguards.

"I'm telling you Phong, I'm going to have to have the report on my account!" Shouted Mr. Mitchell.

"Mr. Mitchell, this is not a bank!" Phong was arguing.

"Phong, please, if I could just get into her organiser I'd extract the report myself!" He said pleadingly.

"I do not have Dot's organiser." Stated Phong.

"The organiser is here. I mean she works here doesn't she?" He was becoming hysterical and the women tried to look like they were with someone else, clutching their handbags with tension.

"No." Phong announced the obvious.

"What... bu...pher... of course she does boys! Heh, heh!" He looked at his bodyguards. "I mean you're trying to tell me I don't know where my associates work? Of course I do, heh, heh. It's all part of my 'instil their self confidence!' I mean...if you look like you're interested in them, then they're happy and do more work!" He nodded unconvincingly, wringing his hands nervously.

"I see." Phong replied. "Even though you aren't?"

"I... well... it's... this is ridiculous! You had your chance Phong! Now I'm afraid we're going to have to use extreme measures!" He dramatically announced, with his finger in the air, whilst the two bodyguards shrugged at each other and started smacking pathetically on the Principal Office doors. Phong raised his eyebrows but made no attempt to stop them, noting that the women were now walking down the long stretch of path in front of the Principal Office conversing with a young male binome in shades.

"That's it boys! We'll be in there in no time!" Mr. Mitchell proudly announced, as though they were in an action movie and actually getting somewhere.

Enzo was practically on the floor laughing at the display, Frisket was cocking his head quizzically and Bob and Dot looked on amused with their arms crossed. Phong hearing Enzo's laughter turned and shrugged at them all.

Dot cleared her throat and stepped off her zipboard, walking towards Mr. Mitchell.

"...Dot! Oh, er... we were just..." He began as he turned to see whom the voice belonged to.

"Redesigning the Principal Office doors?" Bob tried to hide a smile, as the binomes were still hitting the doors furiously and not even creating a scratch.

"...Oh, that!" Mr. Mitchell seemed to remember the stupidity going on behind his back. "Er, boys, heh, heh. That'll do now...it looks like Ms. Matrix has arrived." He glared at her.

The bodyguards shrugged at each other again.

"So besides redesigning the Principal Office doors and annoying Phong, what exactly have you boys come here for?" Dot smiled in her charming way.

Mr. Mitchell looked slightly annoyed at being called a 'boy', but Dot's face said it all. He immediately gave in the argument at the first hurdle.

"Ms. Matrix, heh, heh...we've all being waiting patiently and calmly..." He smiled maniacally, looking like someone who was about to run off to the nearest discount store and elbow some innocent people out of the way to be the first inside.

"I know." She smiled, sympathetically.

"Oh...then why, pray tell, have you taken 6 microseconds longer than normal to get my report?" He shot.

"Dot, there is something else I've been meaning to..." Phong began, but was then interrupted by a huge crowd of binomes all ranting on and shoving forward to Dot.

"Dot the lift in the 16 Bit Corpora..." A female binome started.

"And what about my window?" Old Man Pearson spoke up.

"It wasn't me!" Said a young binome in a baseball cap.

"Dot, we've been going offline for the last 6 microseconds!"

"Some crazed man in a pink wig disrupted our council meeting!" A binome in a suit put forward.

"It was my destiny to disrupt your council m..."

"I found THIS in my closet!" An old binome shoved a penguin at Dot as if to finalise the conversation.

"Oh...well you know, I had a bit of trouble with Megabyte..." She started quickly accessing her organiser and typing away at high speed. Bob raised an eyebrow and Phong shrugged.

"...A whole bunch of unexpected things happened and oh well, that's what you get I suppose..." She laughed. By this time, Enzo and Bob were looking over her shoulder watching her type away.

"Megabyte seemed to think that it would be a good idea to steal my icon, some basic plan of his so..." Mr. Mitchell and the rest were now joining the watching, as she handed a piece of paper to Old Man Pearson and another one to the woman from 16 Bit Corporations.

"... We all sort of got sidetracked and I really do apologise for the delay..." She smiled as a police van pulled up and bundled the guy in the pink wig into the back of their van. Everyone watched as it drove off in less than five nanos flat and screeched around the corner.

"...I believe this is your report Mr. Mitchell." She handed him a piece of paper as everyone stared in amazement and the penguin waddled off.

"Oh and er...enjoy the yacht!" She smiled as he was being shoved away by the now retreating crowd and his bodyguards, whilst still trying to turn around and stare.

She turned around, snapped her organiser shut and looked at Bob and Enzo. Not to her surprise, Bob and Enzo were literally stood there, mouths hanging open. Phong simply smiled knowingly, with the usual look that he gave when he knew something that no one else did.

"Woh." Bob intelligently remarked.

"Now if you'll excuse me boys." She nodded to Bob and Enzo. "I have a Diner to organise." She jumped briskly onto her zipboard and sped off for Baudway.

"Well." Ended Phong. "I think that says it all."

Later in the cycle, Dot walked up to the Principal Office to see Phong. It was really bugging her as to why the codes had been on her icon. She just couldn't understand it. How did they get there? And when? Dot found that the more she thought about it, the more she couldn't make any sense out of it at all.

The night sky looked beautiful as she walked along the path in Floating Point Park. To her surprise, someone else was admiring the sky on the path in front of her. Bob. She took the opportunity to look at him properly whilst he was otherwise preoccupied, then smiled and walked up to him a little faster.

"Hey Bob." She called.

Bob turned, startled. "Dot, I was just..."

"Don't worry Bob. Your secret's safe with me." She smiled, already knowing him inside out.

"Dot, I uh... wanted to talk to you anyway." Luckily, Dot couldn't see Bob blushing in the fading light.

"Oh?" She tensed up. She knew what this might be about. "What about?" She asked, hoping it didn't sound too apprehensive and more nonchalant.

"That was... pretty amazing what you did today." He grinned, turning towards her.

Dot felt her heart turn upside down when he did that. "Oh!...Hmm, just doing my job!" She said, laughing.

"Yeah but... so well!" He smirked.

"Well somebody's gotta do their job right!"

"Trying to say something?" Bob teased.

Dot laughed and they stood in silence.

"Dot I… I'm sorry about earlier, I know I said…" Bob suddenly looked down at his feet.

"Don't worry about it." She smiled. "I don't know why, but the mention of the City…it…it always upsets me." She suddenly laughed and looked up at the sky. "It probably always will." She sniffed slightly.

Bob decided to risk putting his arm around her. He rubbed her shoulder, and then let it drop casually. Dot smiled "Thanks."

"For what, I didn't say anything."

"Actions speak louder than words." She said looking straight ahead but feeling her cheeks get redder.

Bob felt weird when he stood next to Dot. It was like a really good feeling that they were friends, but the best thing was... he could feel the excitement about what they could become at the drop of a hat. 'Man, this is strange' thought Bob. Unknown to him, Dot was thinking exactly the same thing.

"Close call today huh?" Dot broke the silence.

"Yeah. Lucky Enzo and I got there in time." Bob flashed a hero-type grin.

"Hmm… lucky I know a bit of Guardian code..." Dot smiled mysteriously, and Bob's eyes widened suddenly. What did she mean by that? Standing with his hands in his pockets, he could feel a piece of folded up paper. No way! It was Dot all along with the map!

"You know something Bob?" He turned towards her, thoughts interrupted. "We'll make a great team!" They both laughed together, and then stared into the night sky.

"Well, I gotta go see Phong, I'll see you tomorrow." She announced half-heartedly.

"Okay Dot, see you tomorrow."

"Oh and Bob... thanks for coming after me today." She turned back around as she was walking away.

"No problem." He smiled and waited till she turned and walked off, then stared after her. I'm in love he thought. Standing in silence for a nano, he then burst out laughing. Needless to say, if Frisket had been there, he would have been growling.

Phong sat, reading the Mainframe Chronicles. He was awaiting the knock at the door, which came exactly at the right nanosecond. He smiled to himself as she walked in.

"Hello Phong." Dot said with an edge to her voice like she was expecting to be told the worst.

"Hello my child, please have a seat." He motioned for her to sit down.

"Thanks Phong, but I still haven't figured out wha..."

"Do not worry my child; the news shall be no more disastrous than Mr. Mitchell's dress sense...How was Bob?" Phong asked innocently, looking through some papers.

Dot raised an eyebrow at him as he kept muttering to himself. ('No, no... Oh yes, that's... no').

"Have a drink my child, have a drink!" He suddenly burst out, pointing towards a small mug of cocoa.

Dot jumped and then picked up the mug, bringing it to her lips.

"So as you can imagine..." Phong suddenly said loudly, and Dot nearly choked on her cocoa.

"I have some strange news to give you. Your Father had requested that I never tell you but under the circumstances..."

Dot looked perplexed.

"...Anyway, many hours ago when your Mother was still alive, we had a strange occurrence here in Mainframe. In fact, some people say it had something to do with your mother's death..."

"Oh?" She asked, pausing her mug before it reached her lips.

"Well, of course you know that your mother was nullified by a game." Phong gently said.

"Uh huh." Dot looked down.

"At the time, a system viral scan was running... it had been scheduled by the User apparently, looking at the records... but when we accessed the old viral scan that was running when the game had been in progress...we found that it had detected a viral signal, yet we have never had a virus here since Megabyte and Hexadecimal." He ended ominously.

"You mean...?" Dot started, pausing the mug again.

"It is most likely that there was a virus in the game."

"And some people think it killed my mother." She ended.

"That is correct... and I'm afraid, it is probably most likely my child... As you know, Tom was an experienced game player, and he was in the game with your mother at the time. No-one could believe that he had lost the game."

Dot remembered Tom from her teenage hours. He was, if you like, the local hero and lived in Twin City. He wasn't a Guardian, heck, they didn't even know about Guardian's back then. He'd been appointed by her Father to keep the peace.

"When the game left we found only one null. It had Tom's colourings. We never found another. There is something I have long suspected, but never proved about nulls...You can only have a null, if it still has its sprite code. If not, there is no null, simple as that."

"What are you saying Phong?" Dot took a small sip of cocoa but the next remark made her nearly choke once more.

"The virus drained your mother enough to steal part of her code into its own...therefore there was no null."

"But what does this have to do with the codes being in my icon?"

"Oh, that is the simplest part. Hours ago, your Father thought that he had discovered the correct codes to a bigger system. It was a system so big, that it was...a Supercomputer. Of course, now we know that that is exactly what it is." Phong smiled.
"However, there was other events happening at the time that could threaten the secrecy of his findings... he decided to hide the codes somewhere safe... he chose the safest place he could think of... your icon. Actually, there are more instructions in your P.I.D. Blueprints for inventions I should imagine. So as you can see, it would have been hazardous for Megabyte to get the blueprints, they could have been for anything. You were just a small child at the time and your mother was still alive, so she knew also what had happened." Phong explained.

"So, how do the two stories fit?" Dot looked perplexed.

"It is possible that the virus that drained your mother's codes is still around. If this is true, it would not have only taken your mother's codes, but also her memories...this means it would know the codes to the Supercomputer and where she and your Father had put them...it is possible that Megabyte may have known this virus, therefore he has found out."

"Oh." Dot fell silent and finally gave up on the mug of cocoa, resting it on the desk.

"Well." Said Phong. "Now you know... I was wondering… perhaps you need extra protection? I designed a couple of robots that you could use." He asked eagerly.

"Thanks Phong, but I should be able to take care of myself... I don't think Megabyte's going to try this method again anyway." Dot nearly laughed at Phong's desperate desire to test his inventions and got up to go.

"Do not underestimate Megabyte my child. I believe that he will do almost anything to get into the Supercomputer. Viruses... they are not rational beings. Some wish for power, others for chaos. Some simply kill and some are just an annoyance. But all viruses..." Phong nodded his head. "Are most certainly bad news."

Dot smiled at her old friend. "Okay Phong, thank you for telling me about the PID... I guess I had to know." She stood with her hand on the door handle.

"I trust the map proved useful for young Enzo?" He added, smiling in his old way.

Dot laughed. "Yeah. He still thinks you didn't see him get it!"

"Be careful my child." He watched her walk out of the door.

"Hmm…well now…wonder what was wrong with the cocoa?" Phong pondered at her full mug.

"Okay Dot?" Enzo sat in the Diner the following sunny morning sipping his energy shake and kicking his feet on the counter.

"Yup." Dot had the trademark glasses on again and was sitting in her usual booth surrounded by Vid-Window's. Enzo rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Frisket. "Hey Dot, I thought Frisket never came in the Diner. That's the second time I've seen him in the last two cycles!"

"Hmm..." Dot replied with less than half of Enzo's enthusiasm.

"Dogs! Every time I clean up thiz place zer eez a dog in here! Or a Guardian…" Cecil looked irritated, noticing Bob walking through the doors.

Enzo's question was answered in less than two nano's, when Bob came walking in through the doors. Frisket was immediately on alert and Enzo could see him creeping around the counter like a lion after an antelope. Enzo tried to resist grinning, but he just couldn't.

As Bob walked past the counter, Frisket leapt from the side and attacked the side of his uniform, sending Bob spinning as he tried to avoid him, and then bounced out of the doors. "Aaaagh!... Uh, Enzo, I thought you said that Frisket never came in the Diner?" He gasped.

"I think he likes you Bob!" Enzo laughed. "He's only started doing it since you came!" He covered his mouth with his hand.

"Yeah?" Bob looked out of the window. "Well he's got a funny way of showing it hasn't he?"

"Good morning Ms. Matrix. The Mitchell account is fully functional; you'll be pleased to hear." The female binome dressed in pink announced through one of Dot's Vid-Windows as Bob glared through the Diner window. A couple of binomes watched Bob curiously as he gestured to Frisket.

"Thanks. I'm sure Phong will be glad to hear that too." She smiled, thinking of the previous days antics.

"Dot?... Do-ot!" He was suddenly at the side of her.

"Hi Bob." Dot said monotonously.

"Ugh...erm, can you, you know... sort of, drop the Vid-Windows for a nano?" He asked gingerly.

"Sure." She said, surprising everyone, snapping her organiser shut and turning to face him.

"Erm...okay...so how've you been? Did the meeting with Phong go well?" He asked.

"Yeah, nothing too important." Dot lied. "So Enzo, are you ready for school?"

"Awwww!" Enzo moaned. "I wanted to go into the next game with Bob!" He shuffled his feet on the floor.

"Not likely buster." Smirked Dot. "You're gonna get some ancient languages logged in that CPU of yours, or face a cycle with Phong."

"Okay." Enzo suddenly looked worried and headed for the door. "I'll be fine Sis." He rolled his eyes, as she was about to say 'be careful'.

"Take Frisket!" She shouted, leaning through the Diner window at him. Frisket bounded out of nowhere to follow Enzo and Bob ducked under the window ledge.

"We'll be fine Sis! It's not like we need a map!" He retorted, walking backwards and facing her, then turning around to walk in his direction.

"Yeah well, maps come in handy at times, don't they Enzo?" She shouted and smiled mysteriously as he visibly jumped in the distance.

END FILE!