You know, you almost have to admire Megabyte’s persistence.  Even when he’s trapped behind a firewall, he still knows how to cause trouble.  And today was no exception.
 “Motion sensors focused on G-Prime have just gone off the scale!”
 Dot was another person you had to admire.  One of these cycles I’m gonna figure out how she always knows what to do.
 “We’ve got movement -- lots of movement.  There’s a buildup of forces at the firewall,” Specks explained.  “Looks like Megabyte’s having a party and everyone’s invited.”
 Typical Megabyte.  When he was settin’ up to take over, he made sure everybody knew it.  But Dot, as always, was on top of things.  “Prepare auto-defense mode 9704.”  I nodded and started entering in the codes.  Amazing -- when we first met, I never would have believed that in a little more than an hour, I’d be taking orders from her.
 Phong said something about Hexadecimal’s power breaching the firewall -- and he was right.  In a matter of nanoseconds, viral troops were coming through the wall in a steady stream.  They were heading right for us -- but we couldn’t do anything until Dot gave the command.
 “Wait for it...”
 Wait for it?!  In a few nanoseconds, they’d be right on top of us.  What was she waiting for?
 “Er, Dot?”  Phong ventured.  “Megabyte is not with them.”
 So, she was holding out for the big fish.  And he was sending out his guppies to clear a path.  Coward.
 Dot echoed my thought:  “You blue-tinned coward; come and get us!”
 “Sis!”  Enzo called out.  “We’ve gotta activate the defenses -- now!”
 “I know; I know.  Hit ‘em hard, Mouse!”
 Just the words I’d been waiting for.  I turned to the officers.  “You heard the lady -- all cannons deploy.  Safety’s off.  Let ‘em rip!”
 We had the virals right where we wanted them.  In an instant, dozens of cannons were unloading on the ABCs, who turned tail so fast they practically left aerial skid marks.  VidWindows inside the Principle Office showed us the whole thing; troops that managed to escape our fire crashed into the now-solid firewall.  The whole attack force was wiped out.  Take that, Megabyte, I thought.  That’ll teach you; mess with us, and we’ll nail your viral butt to the wall.
 I didn’t see Dot for a few nanoseconds after that; when she did join the celebration, she acted happy enough, but it seemed forced.  Poor girl.  She’d lost so much in such a short time: her diner, her normal life, Bob -- I could tell she loved him, even if she wasn’t ready to admit it to herself yet.  I watched her high-five Enzo, her smile finally looking genuine.  At least she’s still got her brother, I thought.

 Later that day, we got our second dose of excitement.  Warning lights on the command console began to flash; Enzo was at the board in an instant, Dot and AndrAIa right behind him.  “The new long-range sensors Mouse fitted to the defense grid are registering a -- a massive energy build above the city,” Specks reported.
 “Can you tell what it is yet?”  Dot was all business, as usual.
 “Uh -- confirmed!  It’s a game.  Scanning for landing coordinates.”
 Dot turned to Enzo.  “This is it, Little Brother -- I mean, Guardian Matrix.”
 “On my way, Commander Matrix.” He started to go, but Dot stopped him.
 “Wait!  Enzo. . .”
 “Yeah, Dot?”
 “Look -- you’re all I have left.  Now you be careful out there.  I don’t know what I’d. . .”
 Enzo cut her off.  “Hey, don’t get all mushy on me.  You’re a commander, remember?  Anyway, AndrAIa and I can take on any User.”
 “Okay, go.  But be --”
 “Careful?  I know, I know.”  Enzo high-fived AndrAIa, and they left with Frisket, eager to show off their stuff.  Dot watched them go, her face a combination of fatigue and sadness.  I put a hand on her shoulder; she turned to me.
 “They’ll be okay, Sugar,”  I told her.
 “I just can’t get used to this.  I’m letting my little brother go into games.”  She sighed wearily.  “It’s just too much responsibility for a little Sprite.”
 “That little Sprite is a young Guardian,”  I countered.  “Bob knew what he was doing, and he chose well.”
 “Bob was supposed to be here to train him!”
 “Yeah, and if the portals to the Net were open, Enzo could be downloaded to the Academy.  Look, honey, things didn’t turn out that way; we have to make do.  We all have our roles to play.”  Dot nodded slightly; she didn’t like letting go of her brother, I knew; but she also knew it had to be done.
 Specks updated us on the situation.  “The long-range sensors nailed it.  Game landing where predicted.”  Naturally; that’s what I built them to do.
 “Is the sector evacuated yet? I don’t want amateurs getting in Enzo’s way,”  Dot said.
 “Sector is being cleared.  No movement from G-Prime.  Enzo and AndrAIa are on their own.”
 “That’s what I’m afraid of.”  It really amazed me how close Dot and Enzo were.  I’d never had anyone watching my back every step of the way like that.  I hoped Enzo knew how lucky he was to have Dot; User knows I was certainly glad to have her in my corner.  I’m pretty sure Enzo was, too.

 “How are the power levels?”  Dot was really on edge today; I would have given her an answer, but she had already moved on.  “Any sign the game’s nearly over? Is that reading normal?”
 Thankfully, Phong stepped in.  “My child, the game has barely begun.  Even accounting for the time discrepancies between virtual space and game space, there is still a finite time we must wait.  Be patient.”
 This seemed to calm her down a little.  But Phong wasn’t silent for long: “What does someone have to do to get a cup of cocoa around here?!”
 Great.  Between the two of them, they were nervous enough for all of Mainframe.

 About twenty microseconds later, Specks said the words Dot had been waiting on pins and needles to hear:  “Energy buildup confirmed.  Game about to leave.”
 Dot was giving orders in a heartbeat.  “I want med teams in there immediately.  Full security alert.  Get in and get our people out of there ASAP.  Keep scanning G-Prime -- this is when Megabyte could try something.”
 “GAME OVER.”
 Thank the User.  Now maybe Dot could relax a bit.
 “USER WINS.”

 If there’s one thing my life has taught me, it’s that things don’t always happen the way you want them to, and you have to do the best you can with what you’ve got.  Hell, I’d practically made a living out of expecting the unexpected.  But as I watched that game cube leave, I was certain of one thing: this should not have happened.  Not to them.  I looked over at Dot -- and almost winced at the expression on her face.  Not to her.
 Now I was angry -- and I wasn’t even sure what at.  The User, Megabyte, Fate in general maybe.  What kind of cruelty was at work here, ripping this woman’s life apart piece by piece?
 The whole room was silent; we were all just watching Dot.  Tears were starting to run down her face.  “Enzo...no,”  she said, barely above a whisper.  Then she screamed, “NOOOO!!!”
 I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach.  Tears stung behind my eyes; I fiercely fought them back.  Dot had collapsed into a chair and was sobbing uncontrollably.  I went over and put my arms around her.  “That’s it, honey, let it out.  It’s gonna be okay; we’ll get through this,”  I murmured, only half aware that I was even speaking.  Dot was unquestionably hit the hardest, but this was a harsh blow to everybody.  Enzo and AndrAIa may have been warriors, but they were still just kids.  They’d had so much potential, so much going for them -- they didn’t deserve to be taken away so soon.
 Megabyte’s probably gettin’ quite a chuckle out of this, I thought bitterly.  Well, keep laughing, you bastard.  One of these cycles, you’re gonna pay dearly for all the pain you’ve caused.
 I promise.