"Bob. You can't just go out roaming the city! It's not safe. And what if the guardians caught you? You're not a registered citizen!" Dot gave an exasperated sigh as she spread a blanket around me. "Bob. You need to rest now. I don't want you to collapse later on. All right?"

I gave her a weak smile and tried to get some rest. But I couldn't help but wonder what existed beyond these walls. Was Mainframe still falling apart? Had it been restored? I had no idea and it was driving me insane! I never was the patient type.

"I gotta get out of here. I have to know!" I got up off the bed, and bolted for the door.

"Hey! No!" Dot tried to stop me, but as I touched the doorknob an electric shock went through my body. "I tried to warn you."

"What was that!?"

"It's the alarm system. It keeps burglars from breaking in."

"Burglars? Is that problem?"

"A problem! Ha! Most places get hit every week, unless they have an alarm system!"

"Wow. Mainframe really has changed. That was never a problem before."

"I bet a lot has changed since you last saw Mainframe." She walked over to a large window I hadn't noticed before, and she pulled back the curtain to reveal what is now known as Mainframe. I was horrified. Instead of seeing my beloved system of white, I saw a system of bronze. Everything was that color, even the sky. I guess you could say we were living in golden times.

"That's Mainframe?"

"Yeah. Is something wrong?"

"It just looks so different! Everything is gold!"

"Different? Mainframe's looked like this longer than I can remember."

"This is just so..."

"They say the Supercomputer looks like this. Is it true?"

"When I was there, it was white, kind of to symbolize purity. It was never this tacky."

"Tacky! Well... Yeah, I guess it is."

"Bob. Tell me about Mainframe. When you lived in it."

"Well... Mainframe was wonderful. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue. The system was always busy, and the Principal Office was the white sphere at the center of us all. Something interesting was always happening. Megabyte always kept me on my toes. Him and Hexadecimal. They were --"

"Did you say Hexadecimal?"

"Yeah."

"Was she a virus?"

"Yes..." I didn't know what she was leading up to, but it was making me nervous.

"We have a virus named Hexadecimal here in the system! Do you think it's the same one?" She grabbed my hands and lead my to the door. I gave an uncomfortable cough and pulled away. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but she reminded me so much of Dot...

"I guess we should check it out...Maybe she'll be able to help me."

"I'm...I'm sorry about--"

"Yeow! I forgot about the door!"

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She punches in a few numbers, and the door opens.

"You make it look so easy!" I give her a grin.

"Funny...We're going to have to get a fake registration for you, if you're going to hang around outside my apartment."

"A fake registration? Isn't that illegal?"

"Yeah...but I won't tell if you don't." She gave a wink and walked down the hall.

"Matrix?"

"Yeah?"

"I got the fake if you got the cash."

"Here."

"Now remember...I was never here."

"Neither was I."

"Here you go Bob. If the guardians ask for your ID, hand them your icon with this in it." Dot handed me a chip to put into my icon.

"Wouldn't this cost a lot?"

"Don't worry about it Bob."

"Dot. You didn't have to do this."

"It's OK. I wanted to help you out."

I didn't know what to think. I felt bad about this, but she genuinely seemed to want to help me out. "Thanks Dot." I gave her a kind smile, and pulled out my zipboard.

"What's that?"

"What?"

"In your hand."

"My zipboard?"

"Zipboard?"

"It's what we use to get around Mainframe and other systems."

"Maybe in the dark ages. But now we use these cute little jetpacks." Dot pulled off a tiny jetpack from her belt. It was smaller then my hand! She put it back, and turned it on and she was able to fly up in the air without a zipboard! It's incredible that something of such a small size could lift so much!

"That's amazing!"

"Not really. Everybody has at least one. But I guess you don't. I can't believe you guys actually rode on those old clunkers! I've only seen those things in museums! But, luckily for you, I always carry a spare, just in case."

"Thanks Dot...I think."

"No prob, Bob. Now let's go find Hexadecimal."

"Would she still be in Lost Angles?"

"I'm pretty sure. The Guardians tried to convert it, but they always got mixed up. They eventually gave up hope and have left it alone."

"Great...Let's go. Hopefully Hex'll be in a good mood."

We set off to Lost Angles. She may be my only hope if Macro can't get us in to see the Chip.

"Have you really met her?"

"Huh? Met who?"

"Hexadecimal! I don't think anybody ever has... I mean I've heard all the stories, but nobody has ever made it safely back from there."

"You're kidding? Hex is nothing more then a pussycat...Once you get to know her. Why hasn't anybody made it back from Lost Angles?"

"Nobody knows Hex. Sometimes the Guardians catch a glimpse of her through one of the scanners. But nobody has ever been able to give a clear description of her. But she's over a month old. We've got records dating back far enough. We were surprised to see that she was the first virus to ever be registered with the supercomputer! The Guardians have been able to keep track of her. She never leaves Lost Angles, and she has the oldest registered ID still in use!"

"Wow! I can't believe Hex is still around after all that long! You know, it was my idea to register her!"

"What? Why? You're a Guardian why would you want to preserve a Virus when you had the chance of deleting her!"

"Well...Hex is my friend. And I couldn't let her be deleted! I guess it just goes against my protocol. Mend and Defend."

"Against Viruses!"

"No ... Against enemies. And Hex wasn't our enemy, she was our friend. A little more ... spontaneous then others, but our friend. So it was my duty to protect her."

"You have so much...Kindness in your heart. Why you ever became a Guardian is beyond me!"

"Guardians were different then."

"Yeah. I keep forgetting."

We flew in silence for a few moments. I couldn't believe how much Guardians must have changed to make Sprites think this way about us. I'd have to be careful to whom I told my format too! And to think that Hexadecimal was still alive! Talk about Lucky breaks!

"Do you think she'll remember you?"

"Who, Hex? I know she would! Who could forget a face like mine?"

With those words, Dot and I found ourselves being transported into Hex' lair. I could hear her demonic laugher above me, but I couldn't see her.

"Wahahahaha! More victims for my fascinating collection!"

Spotlight appeared all around us. There were many statues of Sprites and Binomes frozen in stone. At least I hoped they were statues. Dot grabbed hold of my arm, as a cold breeze passed through the Lair.

"Now I'll give you three nano's to escape. If you fail, you will become my new additions. One!"

"I can't move!"

I looked down at our feet and they had been turned to stone like the others! It was slowly creeping up the rest of our body. She intended to make us statues by the time she finished counting! Unfair!

"Two!"

"No! Please stop!"

"Hex! It's me! Bob! Stop!"

"Three!"

I could feel my body stop. My mind stood still for a few moments before it started to slowly slip away. My senses were heightened again, and I could feel Hex' presence appear next to me. She walked around before speaking. My body began to scream for oxygen.

"Oh my! What have I done? It really is you Bob. After all these years of waiting and I've forgotten what I've waited for. I knew you'd come back Bob. I never lost faith. It may have wavered from time to time. But I knew you wouldn't stay away forever...I saw many generations come and go. And you never came. I didn't understand why you left in the first place. But here you are, and is that Dot with you? I see you two have finally found each other again. Been given a second chance. And here I am stealing it away from you. But no more."

Just before everything became black and was gone, bright lights and the rush of oxygen filled my lungs! I started gasping for breath! I'll never take it for granted again.

"Dot. -gasp- Dot are you ok?"

"-gasp- Bob. -gasp-"

"Thank-you Hex. I knew you wouldn't do that. But what about all the other sprites and binomes? It's not like you to hurt so many people just for privacy. What happened to you Hex? What happened to Mainframe?"

"Bob...I still can't believe it's you!"

She hesitated at first, but then she hugged me. It felt so good to be so close to someone I know.

"Why did you leave? We never figured it out! We could've used your help when they attacked us!"

"Hex. It wasn't my choice to leave. I never would, you should know that."

"But where did you go! Why!"

"I don't know Hex. Just as the reboot started it was like I became frozen in time, and then all of a sudden I woke up here. In the future. I missed out on a whole month! I don't know or understand anything going on. You have to help me. You're the only one who can. Please Hex. Please."

I turned to her with my pleading eyes, and I saw her face turn from contempt to understanding.

"Oh Bob. I knew you wouldn't leave. I was the only one who never lost hope."

"Dot...did she?"

"Everyone eventually did, Bob. As the hours rolled by, you seemed more and more likely too never show up. So they soon forgot. But never me Bob. I knew you would never leave us forever. You'd come back soon. If not for Mainframe, then for Dot. And I see you two have found each other again. And I'm very happy"

"Hex. She's not..."

"But you even called her Dot. And she looks like Dot."

"She's a descendant of Dot."

"Oh yes...I see the resemblance, but she lacks the refinement that Dot always had."

"Hey! I happened to be very refine..."

"I'm sure you are."

"Hex..."

"Yes?"

"Who was he?"

"Who?"

"The guy...The guy that Dot...married." It broke my heart just to say the words. Knowing that it was with someone other then me.

"We don't know. He passed through town, and then he was gone. We never saw or heard from him again."

"No...Was she..."

"She was hurt. But when the child was born, we all assumed that he was yours. It wasn't until Dot was practically on her deathbed that we found out it wasn't you. Many had already passed on by then."

"What was his name."

"I think it was..."

"Hex. I have to know."

"My memory is so old..."

"Hex please!"

"It started with an M..."

"No...Was it..."

"Macro! Macro was his name. He looked a lot like you, now that I think about it."

"No...it can't be..."

"What's wrong Bob? Are you okay?" Dot put her hand on my shoulder and tried to see my face, but when I looked at her all I could see was Macro. I pushed her away and tried to breathe.

"Bob?" Hex floated around trying to see what's wrong. "Did you know him?"

"Macro was...my brother."

"You're brother? I never knew you had a brother! How marvelous! And what a coincidence. Imagine Dot having a relationship with too guardians of the same family!"

As Hex went babbling on, I could feel my heart breaking and hatred flowing through my body. My only brother betrayed me. Dot betrayed me. How could she! I thought she loved ... I guess I'm just rationalizing. I was gone for a whole month. It just isn't fair. Why me? Why did I have to miss my whole life and the lives of everyone I loved? It's selfish of me to have wanted Dot to be alone. I guess I understand that she moved on with her life...But why Macro? My brother! Was this some sort of sick punishment to get back at me for leaving?! It wasn't my fault! None of this can be real! I's all some sort of dream...isn't it?

"Bob!"

I looked up from my reverie only to hear Hex and Dot screaming in my ear...Dot. I miss her so much.

"What! I mean what? What's going on?"

"It's like you just blacked out or something. You weren't responding to us at all. What happened? Are you okay? Are you feeling ill? Should I take you back home?"

"No...I'll be alright. I was just...thinking." I took a few steps back and gave a deflated sigh. I knew I had to be strong if I was to figure out what happened, and to get back home. "Hex. Can you tell me what happened to Mainframe after I left?"

"Sure Bob. You may want to sit down, It'll be a long story."

I shook my head in refusal, but Hex was never one to take no for an answer. A couple of chairs appeared underneath us, forcing us to sit down.

"We were obviously all devastated and shocked that you were gone. We couldn't figure out what happened. I guess it affected Dot the most. Afterall, she lost you once, and now she lost you again. So she tried the hardest, searching for you everywhere. She feared that the Guardians might have captured you, but they could find no proof. The Surfr helped Dot search the Web, but eventually he gave up and tried to convince Dot too. He remained in Mainframe, hiding from the guardians, just like everyone else. Dot never gave up...at least at first. But she eventually tried to get on with what little life she had. She had alienated just about everyone she knew. Her business would've gone straight down the tubes if AndrAIa hadn't taken over with Matrix. AndrAIa had a firm head on her shoulders, just like Dot. Matrix was mainly just dead weight pushing the slackers around. They soon had their first child. A girl. She was very beautiful and ambitious. When she turned about four hours old, we all found out that she wasn't Matrix' kid. It was the Surfr's. Apparently they had an affair while Matrix was out helping the business. You can imagine how furious he was! He tried to kill the Surfr, but he disappeared, and we haven't heard from him since. AndrAIa tried to smooth things over, but Matrix would only agree to stay married if she agreed to destroy the remains of her affair. She naturally refused, but she loved Matrix too much to leave him. So they made a compromise, since she wouldn't delete Kalika, that was the daughter's name, she agreed to have her frozen in time. She would live on, but in a frozen state. AndrAIa visited her everyday, and left many letters.

"Almost two hours later, AndrAIa was six minutes pregnant with Matrix' kid. It was the same time that a strange sprite came to visit. That was Macro. He claimed he was a renegade, trying to fight the Guardians, and had heard about our struggle. He tried to help, but it turned out that he was an undercover Guardian. He was the one that broke Mouse's defenses and let the Guardians in to attack. We tried to put up a fight, but we were all caught unaware, and he was already in the Principal Office.

"Soon everyone was captured, except for me because I never allowed them to get very far into Lost Angles."

"What! Why didn't you let everyone stay here with you!"

"It was too late! We were all caught by surprise, all I could do was protect myself and hope that one day I'd be able to tell this story to someone else who could take over the fight."

I got up and began to pace the room. I was torn in half. One half blamed Hex for everyone's defeat, and the other half agreed and understood Hex' way of thinking. I guess she tried to do what was right, but with all her unknown powers and secret viruses, why couldn't she stop the Guardians? I just couldn't understand. Maybe I'm just too basic, but I know I'll always think that Hex is at least partly responsible for everyone's capture. As I paced, deep in thought, I could hear snippets of the small conversation Dot and Hex were having.

"So you and Bob are good friends?"

"Yes were are. We go way back. At least a month. He saved me from certain nullification. I owe Bob everything. There's nothing I wouldn't do for him. Am I to assume the same of you two?"

"Oh no. We've only known each other for about a second. And he was unconscious for half of it!"

"Oh really? Then how did you two meet?"

"We didn't really meet, it was kind of an accident really. You see, I was on my way home from work, and I decided to take a shortcut through a back alley by the Principal Office. Well, as I was flying by I noticed something shiny white on the ground, so naturally I zoomed in for a closer look. That's when I saw him lying there. I didn't know if he was hurt, or living there, or what. So I took him home with me, and waited for him to wake up. And that's basically how we met."

"How sweet! Someday you'll be able to tell your children the exact same story." Dot gave an uncomfortable cough and shifted in her chair. "...But I suppose that will never happen, considering that you're not his Dot."

"His Dot. She was an ancestor of mine, right?"

"Oh yes. She was who we were discussing about earlier."

"And I guess they really loved each other."

"Oh yes. But they never got the chance to tell each other that."

"Why not?"

"Because he disappeared. Remember. But she said that she loved Bob more then life itself, and would spend hers searching for him."

When I heard Hex say those words, my heart leapt with such joy, knowing that she loves me, and such sadness knowing that she's gone.

"What did she look like. Do you have any image files of her?"

"I may have one or two. SKUZZY!!"

I saw Skuzzy, Hex' loyal pet and companion come whooshing by my feet. I turned around and saw Dot standing next to Hex and, well, Dot. She was saying something I couldn't hear. I walked towards her and reached out to touch her arm, but it went right through her. It shocked me at first, but as I looked around, I saw that it was just a video clip of her being produced from Skuzzy. I felt new meanings to the word heartache.

"I'm so sorry Bob. I didn't realize what pain this would cause you."

I looked away from Hex and Dot, not wanting to show them my tears.

"Pain? No. No pain. I'm perfectly all right. I just got something...caught in my eye, that's all. I'll be alright."

"Bob?" I could feel Dot step closer towards me, and I pulled away. Just the sight of her reminded me of my loss.

"I just need to be alone for a few minutes. Okay?"

"Bob."

"Please. I'm fine. Just fine."

I walked away towards a dark corner, and sat down and began to cry.

"Hexadecimal, I feel really bad. It's all my fault."

"Don't be too upset. He's grieving. He needs some time to understand and accept his loss."

"You're right, but I can't help but feel bad for him."

"I do too. He just needs some time alone. That's all."

"Yeah...Hex? Do you think you could tell me what really happened between the Guardians and the citizens of Mainframe? I've heard so many glorified Guardian tales of history, but you of all sprites should be able to tell me the really truth. Did the citizens really become wicked and try to take over the Supercomputer?"

"Oh User no! It was the other way around! The guardian Daemon had created and become infected by a virus she created. The Virus took over her body, and soon she became 100% viral. So she decided to rule the supercomputer, the net, the web, everything. She began infecting all the other Guardians with the virus, so they would obey only her and no longer be a threat to her. The only two Guardians unaffected were Enzo Matrix, Dot's not so little brother, and Bob. With them around, Daemon would never be able to fully rule all. She knew that and tried everything she could to infect them. That's why she sent Macro. A renegade relative of Bob seemed less threatening then anything else, and totally unexpected. He told us tales of how Bob was fighting the Guardians inside the Supercomputer and that's why he disappeared, but it was all a lie. Soon they had Matrix, and all that was left was Bob. But because he was no where to be found, she won. There was no free sprite or binome left to fight. All except me. But I knew I could never defeat Daemon on my own. So I've waited all this time for Bob. With his help, we'll be able to free Mainframe, and restore it back to it's uninfected self."

"How do you plan to do that? Daemon is undefeatable!"

"Not so. While I waited, I found an antidote to the Virus. It kills it off, and anyone completely under its control will be deleted. Most sprites are only infected enough to be controlled."

"Really! What's the antidote? I'll do anything to defeat Daemon!"

"The antidote is ... AAHHH!"

I looked up and say Hex encased in blue energy. As I looked towards the source, I saw a small army of Guardians.

"Hex! Dot! What's going on?!"

"AHHHH!!"

"Bob! Help her!" Dot pulled out what appeared to be a gun and she started shooting at the Guardians from behind Hex' throne.

I started shooting energy beams at the Guardians and was able to knock out the one who was hurting Hex, but then a sprite in black swooped down and grabbed Hex. Before I could even react he transported them out of there. The few guardians left turned their full attention on Dot and me. I was getting tired because I didn't have my full strength back yet, and I was sure Dot would run out of ammo soon enough. We had to find escape somehow.

"That's him! Seize the male!"

Suddenly the Guardians started to aim at only me. I couldn't figure out why. Maybe they found out my registration was illegal. I had to save Dot if not myself.

"Dot! Get out of here now! Go!"

"No way Bob! I’m not going to leave you alone for these vultures!"

"Get out Dot! It may be your only chance!"

"Everyone always gets a second chance Bob! I'm willing to wait for it!"

This Dot is all too much like the old Dot. I knew how stubborn she could be. I racked my brain frantically looking for a way out of here. The Guardians kept advancing, pushing us close to the edge of the ground. I looked behind my shoulder and I couldn't see an end to pit.

"Dot!"

"Bob?"

"Do you trust me?"

"What!"

"Do you trust me!"

"...Yes!"

"Grab my hand!"

Dot hesitated a moment, but she grabbed my hand and I gave a small salute to the Guardians, then jumped off the edge into the dark pit.