Chapter 1

"Now listen here, young sprite. The only, and I mean the only, reason that I take care of you is a minutely pay-check from Scroll and Keystroke, and if you were anyone else's child, you would already be tossed out on the street on your bitmap. Do you hear me?" A wizened old binome was angrily talking to a young blue-skinned sprite that was obviously intelligent, and who was just as obviously not listening to him. "Bob, it isn't much I ask, but I will ask you a final time, stay away from the games. They are dangerous, for more reasons than one. And, BOB!"

The young sprite, at the sound of his name, turned to look at the old binome. "What?" he asked, putting up a lazy grin.

"Have you heard a word I've said?"

"Yadda, yadda, games are dangerous. Yadda, yadda, stay out of them. Yadda, throw me out on my ear, blah blah. Yeah, you old bitmap, I hear ya. It's the same spill every time."

"Then why do you not listen?" The binome almost sobbed in frustration. He could only imagine what Scroll would do to him if he came back from one of his raids and his son was missing or nullified.

Bob didn't answer the question, his active mind was already engaged in something else. He didn't handle boredom well, and right at this moment, the binome was boring him. Bob couldn't even remember what this particular binome was called. He had had too many to count in his 5 short minutes of life. He desperately missed his parents and he had begged them time and time again to take him with them on missions, but they had denied his efforts at every turn.

He was getting better though. Just last cycle he had made it all the way to the entry point before they had discovered him hiding in their ship. His father had been furious of course, but what did he expect from his son? He was his parents' child after all, and he could tell that through their anger, they had been rather pleased.

For a sprite who was only 5 minutes old, he was remarkably far ahead of the rest of his age. He could read and write, and his mind was nothing short of brilliant. However, he didn't take time to use his mind on most occasions. On the whole he spent his time getting himself in trouble and then using his mind as a last resort to get himself out of it. It simply happens when you don't have parental supervision.

He was lean and muscular, filled with stamina, able to continue for seconds after others had already dropped dead. His parents trained him when they were home, and he never missed a moment of training. It was the only time when he was truly happy. His parents rarely had to tell him something more than once for him to remember it perfectly.

Above all his flaws though, was Bob's addiction to the games. Something about that purple cube descending from the sky, threw Bob's system into hyper drive. His parents, his various keepers, and even random sprites off the street had attempted to stop him from entering the games, but he somehow almost always succeeded in getting in. He wasn't just good at the games, he was great. He had defeated the User numerous times, though he had received a few close calls doing it.

Despite his parents' best efforts to quell this addiction, it was only getting worse. He was even making a name for himself in the system. The amazing child prodigy who was saving their system from nullification. However, that was the last thing his parents wanted. So far, they had managed to keep Bob a secret from their enemies, but with his reputation as a game-winning sprite getting out, it was going to be harder and harder to do. He was so young, it was hard not to be worried for him in the games. However, he kept winning, and the more he won, the better he became.

The Binome sighed. He could see that he simply was not getting through the young sprite's head. "Fine, Bob, go play with your friends."

Though Bob was not watching the Binome, or showing any signs that he was listening, at these words, he immediately nodded, and without once returning his gaze to the gray-haired binome, he turned and strolled off.

"That sprite," the binome hissed, "is going to be the death of me yet. I can never tell what's going through his head. It's a good thing his parents are coming home this cycle. I'm quitting!"

Bob waited until he was out of sight of the old binome and then he broke into a run. He grinned a little grin and laughed to himself at the expression that had been on that old binome's face. Bob couldn't help it, he loved infuriated his keepers. Quickly, he pulled out his brand new floppyboard and flew down the streets of Inspiron. It was a small system, one that Bob had been staying in way too long. He knew his parents were feeling the same way. Everytime they returned they seemed more worried. They tried to hide it from Bob, but he certainly wasn't basic, he knew that he could find out the facts from other places than his parents, and because he had done so, he knew that net travel had been restricted for the first time in history. The Guardians were out after the hackers and mercenaries in force. Bob figured the Guardians had too much free time on their hands. Didn't they have better things to do than to chase down innocents mercenaries?

It was as he was driving past one of those newsstands, that he heard it.

"Stay tuned for this special news-breaking announcement: Scroll and Keystroke, two notorious sprite mercenaries were just spotted in the Pentium III system. Guardians now have them cornered and have them held under heavy fire. There seems little hope for escape this time for those two legendary mercenaries. Wait, this just in... they seem to be shouting something. According to our source there, it doesn't sound like a call to surrender. As far as our source can tell they are shouting, 'Bob...alt...ctrl...delete...' any idea what this means? We have no idea either. Well, stay tuned for further news on these two villains' capture."

Bob stood frozen in the air on top of his floppy board. Over the minutes, his parents had given him many secret codes to tell him what to do in emergency situations. This was the one code he never thought his parents would utter. It was telling him to go into hiding and not emerge until they found him, if they ever did. It was a message to find the three sprites who could possibly protect him without betraying him. Petrified, Bob wondered what to do, and as a last resort, he headed back to his keeper.

As he approached the old binome's door, it was flung open and the wizened old binome was standing there triumphantly. "Ha, ha," the binome cackled, "your parents are about to get their due. I saw the news already, it is all over the net. Well, you'll get no sympathy from me. You little rascal, you've tortured me and walked all over me. Do you really expect me to help you? I'm not getting any more money from your parents, and that means you're out of here. Here's your stuff, get going." With that, the old binome tossed out Bob's small file of items.

"Please, uh, sir," Bob said, shocked by this betrayel. He hadn't realized the old binome had disliked him so much.

"Bah!" the binome exploded, "and you don't even know my name, do you? Well, get out. I've already sent out a message over the web. They'll be coming for you. All of them. Everyone from the Guardians to the Bounty Engines. You don't realize how much you're worth at the moment, do you? I'd turn you in myself, but I'm paid until the end of this cycle. So, good luck, and good riddance." And with that, the door was slammed in young Bob's face.

For the first time in his life, Bob realized he'd been a fool. When he needed help the most, he had been betrayed. He now realized that if he'd treated the old binome nicer, he might have helped him escape. Now, Bob was on his own, and he still didn't know the binome's name.

Bob stood staring at the door, still in shock at the sudden turn his life had taken. After a few nanos, he squared his thin shoulders, and lifted his head high. It's alright, he told himself, I don't need them anyway. I am Bob, son of Keystroke and Scroll. I can take care of myself. And with a last snort at the old binome's domain, he turned and headed for the net access.

Bob, using his slight size as an advantage, quietly crept into a corner and watched all the ships coming in and out. He had enough credits to buy a flight, but he knew if he did, the credits would be traceable. In his young mind he realized it would be less risky to sneak onto a plane. He knew he was good enough not to get caught. So, he began to size up the ships. He wanted a small one, where he could stay in the compression area a few days and not be caught. He also wanted one that most likely was not looking for him. That's when he spotted the girl.

Her hair attracted his notice first. It was orange and seemed to swirl with electric sparks. She seemed to be about his age and she was dressed in old clothing, but at her side she carried two katanas. He took a double take. She was, like him, hiding behind the crates watching the ships intently, and suddenly Bob knew he'd found a way in. She began to slide toward a smaller, one-to-two person size ship and she inserted a console file into the side and began to type furiously. Bob smiled in approval. His mother was a hacker as well, and he could recognize the clumsy way the girl began, but as she got into the flow, she began to hack more smoothly.

That's when Bob noticed the large man sneaking up behind the girl. It was obviously one of the ship's crew members and he was definitely intending to stop the hacking to his ship. Bob decided at that moment to make his move. Slowly, he slid forward and cautiously stalked up to the man. As the man reached out to grab the girl, Bob touched a pressure point on the hulking man's neck, and the sprite dropped. The girl turned in surprise at the sound of the man crashing to the ground, only to see a small, blue-skinned sprite who couldn't have been more than 5 minutes, standing over him.

The boy motioned for her to be quiet and continue, which she did. However, she couldn't help shyly glancing over at the boy, who was around her age. A couple of times the boy would reach over and type into her console, fixing a few mistakes that she had made, and in a scarce nanomoment's time, they were in, and she was in full control of the ship. She glanced shyly at the boy again. It was obvious that he'd been trained by a professional, and she wondered what his intentions were now.

He just smiled, reached over and pushed a couple buttons. The ship door slid down and the girl and boy entered their new "pirated" vessel. Inside they quickly moved to both sides of the ship and almost as one person pushed buttons and downloaded commands. In a few more nanoseconds, they were up and gliding out of the system. Below, Bob could see people running toward their vacated spot, but it was too late. They flew quickly away from the system.