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I'm posting this here because I was inspired to do it this morning! Yay! This is a Reboot fic! my... one and only Reboot Fic! I love it!





The Benign(sp?) and the Beast







Dot Matrix sat in her small, dim office, vid windows surrounding her as she planned out more security for the System where she lived, Mainframe. Megabyte may have disappeared ages before, but she still had a feeling he was lying in wait somewhere. She sighed, running her fingers through her short hair and standing.

"I need a break." She murmured to herself.

"Excuse me? Did I just hear you say 'I need a break' sugah?" Mouse said as she ducked in through the door, her eyes sparkling mischeviously. Dot leered at her.

"No Mouse, you were imagining things again." She said saracastically, a smirk on her lips. Mouse laughed, walking over and putting her arm around the younger Sprite's shoulders.

"Come on, let's go out for a girls night on the town, darlin', you could use the change."

As they left Dot's office, the two of them noticed that Matrix, Bob and Phong were bent over another vid window, talking to someone. Dot decided not to bother getting involved, continuing to walk with Mouse...

Until she heard the mentioned name of an old friend.



"Perhaps we should heed his warning. I mean, Capacitor wouldn't make up this story for fun, would he? Maybe we should shut down the transports in and out of Mainframe, even if just for a little while." Bob said softly to Phong.

"Capacitor is a senile old binome now, Bob. Sure, he's got a lot of fire, but now, he hasn't got the brains to back it up. " Matrix shot back. "We shouldn't shut down transport just because some ranting, raving old binome is convinced a virus is rampaging through systems."

"Perhaps..." Phong said, resting the tips of his digits together. "We should consult someone who can tell us the truth. Perhaps we should contact Turbo immediatly..."

"What in the net is going on?" Dot asked as she escaped Mouse's embrace and walked over. Both sprites and the head of the Principal Office looked over at her.



"A rampaging virus? We've heard some stories of a worm terrorizing a system far away from here, but there's no way for it to get to Mainframe, I assure you. We haven't heard anything else besides that." Turbo's aging voice said as his image floated before them on the vid window. Dot sighed, frowning slightly.

"Why then, would the Captain insist that a worm was headed straight towards us?" She asked. Turbo blinked, not answering for a moment. When he opened his mouth to respond, the sky outside began to grow dark as a metallic voice filled the air.



"Warning...Incoming Game...Warning...Incoming Game..."



All the sprites sprang into action immediatly, Dot heading to the nearest computer to find the coordinantes of the Game.

"Sector C. Let's move it, guys!" She called. Matrix, Mouse and Bob took off towards the game, leaving Phong and Dot behind to take care of Mainframe while they were busy. Turbo watched quietly, his eyes guarded against emotion for now. He didn't speak as the two monitered the game, he only watched, his gold flecked eyes taking in the surroundings behind the two of them.

Inside him, something stirred, but he quelled it, not wanting to draw the attention of the other two. Patiently, he sat and waited for the Game to end.





Inside the game, Bob had already done an analysis and was preparing to move out while Mouse and Matrix covered him.

"This game seems Basic enough, but where is the user?" Matrix growled, his metal eye swivelling to see through objects that the others couldn't see through. Bob waved a hand.

"Be patient, Matrix. We're nearing the next level, we'll find the user there." He replied. Matrix grunted in impatience while Mouse scouted a little ahead.



The game was indeed basic, and it was altogether too easy to find the User and destroy him, ending the game quickly. Mouse smiled as the cube lifted, turning to face Matrix and Bob. Her smile left her face slowly as her eyes fell on someone standing behind the two...she had never seen the sprite before. The other two stopped their small celebration upon seeing her face, turning to look at the Sprite as well. Mouse hurried forward and caught the girl's arm as she began to fall.

"Go get Dot..." Mouse said softly. Bob nodded, taking off to get the other woman. Matrix continued to look at the girl, wondering why she seemed so familiar to him.



Her long black hair hung down her back in a braid, shot through with extremely crimson streaks that intertwined down the complex braid. Her eyes were a deep crimson as well, and her skin was very, very pale. Long crimson fingernails curled from the tips of long slender fingers, and her lips were the same color. Her outfit was formfitting, black like her hair, but lined with crimson and gold. Matrix's eye swivelled to look at her, both of them widening.

He looked at her icon, and knew the truth.



Mouse gasped as Matrix held his gun out suddenly.

"Get away from her." He growled. Mouse blinked.

"Honey, what are you doing? Can't you see this girl needs our help?!" She cried. Matrix kept the gun level.

"Mouse, get away from her! She's a virus!"

Mouse looked down at the girl, saw that she was looking up at the older sprite who held her, her crimson eyes questioning. The older woman slowly let the younger go, seeing that she could hold her footing now. Mouse kept slightly in front of the girl, still not sure if Matrix was telling the truth.

"Put your gun away, Matrix. She can barely stand on her own, she can't be dangerous. Besides, I'm not feeling any distrust towards her, so you cool your jets." She said, trying to stop her heart from pounding. She glanced again at the girl, looking up in releif as Bob and Dot came riding into view, along with Ray and AndrAIa.



"Matrix! What's going on?!" Dot cried, landing and running over to her brother. Matrix had his teeth bared in a snarl as he continued to hold his gun out at arms length. The girl was suddenly showing new life as the others came up, her eyes searching the crowd and falling on Bob. The sprite moved forward slightly, drawing the attention of Dot for the first time. She blinked as she looked at her, her eyes narrowing as she tried to figure where she had seen the girl before.

Black and red braid swaying, the girl stepped forward until she was only a few feet from Bob.

"Guardian." She murmured, her voice soft and deep, her eyes holding hidden emotions. Bob looked her over, swallowing. Even Dot's beauty couldn't compare to the beauty of this new sprite.

"Bob, careful, she's a virus." Matrix growled. "And I wish someone would let me shoot her! She doesn't belong here!"

Dot touched Matrix's arm, shaking her head. Bob continued to stare at the girl, his eyes sweeping over her at last. When they, too, fell on the icon, he took a sharp breath in.

"Hex?" He whispered. The new sprite smiled.





"Perfect...she's the reincarnate of Hexadecimal." Matrix growled again, teeth bared. AndrAIa touched his arm again.

"Relax, we don't know that yet." She said. Matrix looked down at her, finally lowering the gun.

"But Bob just said as much!" He cried. AndrAIa shook her head, walking over to Bob to get a better look at the Sprite, or, as they now knew, Virus.

"What's your name?" She asked. The virus looked at her, and immediatly, AndrAIa could see the simularities.

"J. My name is J. Peg." The girl said. "Or, at least, that is the name I gave myself when I was created. I came here to warn you and the others, Guardian." Her attention had turned back to Bob.

"Warn us? You came to warn us? Why would a virus warn us and what would a virus warn us about?!" Matrix howled, angry that he couldn't shoot her now that AndrAIa had decided she was good enough to carry on a conversation with. J. smiled, her crimson eyes dancing with inner flames.

"You must be Matrix. Mother warned me about you." She said, laughing. Bob blinked while the others stared at the new girl.

"Mother?" He said, his voice shrill. J. nodded.

"Mother. My mother is Hexadecimal, or rather, I am a fragment of her. I came to warn you that the Captain was right. My sister, Wurm, is on her way to Mainframe."

Yeah, you know, I suppose it does help to know a little about the source of the fanfiction... Glad you enjoyed it though!