*   *   *

      Pain

   *   *   *
 

 Megabyte sat back in his throne. He surveyed the tapestries hanging from the Principal Office, the viral symbols painted and etched into the walls.
 Mainframe. All of it converted. All of it...his.
 It was wonderful.
 He pressed a button and a vid-window popped up. A binome saluted.
 "Do go and see if our "guest" has woken up, will you? I'd like to chat a bit."
 "At once Lord Megabyte!"
 He drummed his fingers idly on his throne. The vid-window re-appeared. A sprite standing outside a prison cell appeared, flanked by guards. The sprite glowered.
 "What do *you* want?" it asked.
 "Hello Dot." Said Megabyte, smiling brightly.
 

   *   *   *
 

 Dot stood in the secret exit. Mouse had yanked her into the tunnel, then left quickly to take care of the binomes. Hack and Slash hovered around her, worried.
 "Dot? Please, c'mon Dot!" wailed Slash.
 "Yeah, we need to go!" added Hack.
 "I-need to do something first." She said, looking down.
 "What?"
 "Yeah, what?"
 "Just...I have to watch. I need to know what-what that BASTARD is going to do!" she raised her eyes and Hack and Slash backed away a bit. "This is my system! And Phong is like a father to me! I need to find out what happens. I need to KNOW! Otherwise I'm going to think of this every night..."
 Hack and Slash stood there, unsure of what to do.
 "Go back to Mouse. I'll be along in a while. I'll be able to catch up, don't worry."
 "But Phong said-"
 "That's an ORDER soldier!" she snapped out in her commander voice. Automatically Hack and Slash saluted and left. Dot shook her head, a bit ashamed at fooling them, and hurried down a corridor that led to an invisible observation point. She closed the door behind her, just in case.
 The small room allowed her to look out through a window and hear what was happening, without anyone outside being able to see HER. It was supposed to be used for experiments, but Megabyte's attack had forced her to convert it for war.
 With tears in her eyes, Dot watched the door buckle. She winced as each blow brought the small, sad sprite standing by the door closer to his doom.
 "Oh Phong..." she whispered.
 Her eyes widened as the doors almost exploded inwards. Megabyte stood there shining, outlined against the light, panting slightly. He laughed softly, then extended his claws with a *shing* sound. Phong backed away a bit. Megabyte simply strode forward and picked up Phong by the neck.
 Dot's eyes widened as he brought his claws forward in a sweeping motion and-
 -the rattle of a body hitting the floor, the clink of a head being tossed into a containment unit, the soft, half-maniacal laughter filling the room as the virus shut the defenses down-
 Dot buried her face in her hands for a second. When she looked up, the virus stood in the center of the chamber.
 "Finally, after all this time," he breathed, looking around in ecstasy, "finally *mine*..."with a rapture filled look, Megabyte slowly walked over to an important looking console and laughed outloud.
 Dot fled.
 

   *   *   *
 

 Hack and Slash finished stripping the building of all its valuable equipment. They stood inside an abandoned science lab. They had been raiding several places for Dot, who needed to upgrade the guard cannons. Hack picked up the last box.
 "Well, that's it then" he said.
 "Let us leave now." Slash replied nervously. "I really don't want Megabyte to catch us here."
 "Oh, I believe it's a bit too late for that." Remarked a voice.
 Hack and Slash whirled around to see fifteen binomes pointing various weapons at them. Megabyte's vid-window floated in the air behind them. He narrowed his eyes in interest.
 "Well well. Still functioning, are you? How-convenient." He leaned forward. "Bring them to me. Now."
 

   *   *   *
 

 Hack and Slash tried to stand defiantly in front of Megabyte. The virus didn't seem particularly upset by their defection.
 "Ah, Hack and Slash...I assume the rebels rebuilt you? Most likely Phong. Although the repair job is less than perfect. Mind you, I had more experience with THAT."
 "W-We don't have to do anything YOU tell us anymore!" declared Hack bravely.
 "Yeah! Dot's our boss now!" chimed in Slash.
 Megabyte chuckled. "Do you think I really care by now? All I need is some information from you two."
 Hack and Slash exchanged a worried glance. There was something in Megabyte's voice that bothered them. He sounded almost-happy. He NEVER sounded almost happy. Hack shuddered and wished Megabyte would yell at them a bit. This was getting too weird.
 "We're not saying anything!" he boldly announced. Slash nodded along.
 "Saying?" Megabyte raised an eyebrow. "Who said this was going to be voluntary?"
 

   *   *   *
 

 A User hour later, a viral binome sighed and dumped some melted, charred lumps of red and blue metal into a dumpster.
 

   *   *   *
 

Megabyte sat back and smiled. The new, high ranking army official vid-windowed him.
 "You called, sir?"
 "Yes, I'd like you to prepare, say, ten legions. It's time we paid a call on our rebel "friends."
 "Yes sir!"
 

   *   *   *
 

 Dot stood at the console. "Hack and Slash are LATE." She said, worried. "Even for them! Something's wrong."
 A blast shook the building. The front doors exploded, bits of metal imbedding themselves into the wall. Dazzling bolts of green light filled the room. The guard cannons immediately swung into action, firing down at the intruders.
Dot looked out the open doors and her eyes widened. Ten legions?! And behind them-Megabyte's limo.
 "Head for cover!" yelled Dot at the top of her lungs, leaping towards a near wall of crates in the back corner, where everyone was gathering. The virals hadn't come in yet. She stopped. The back doors! She looked at them and saw then shiver under pressure. They were being forced open! She dodged a blast, crouched, and sprang for the computer consoles. Wiping her brow, Dot reached up and pressed a button. There was a small explosion, and part of the roof caved in over the doors.
 Dot smiled. They had rigged it that way on purpose. There was another small explosive set into the wall behind the crates as a last resort exit, and unfortunately, they'd have to use it.
 Dot crouched again, then RAN for it. She made it to the crates, where a firing line had been set up.
 "Casualties?" Dot asked Mouse. The hacker looked up from her rifle. Dot saw the tears.
 "Half of the whole force. They planted bombs in the other bases. They must want the people in this one."
 "Oh my User." Said Dot. "Oh my-" Dot sucked in her breath. She could guess what had happened to Hack and Slash. Megabyte could have used them to find out the location of the base after some persuasion...and viral patrols had been more and more frequent in the area they had been raiding...Dot had a feeling that they wouldn't be coming back. Ever. Suddenly, she was *angry*. Trembling with rage she grabbed a gun off a rack. A shot from a viral grazed her skin. Dot dropped the gun and held her hand. The wound was bleeding, blue energy dripping across it.
 "Mouse!" she said between gritted teeth. "Toss me a bandage." Mouse did so. Bandaging her hand, Dot propped the gun up against a crate.
 A viral took out the last guard cannon.
 "That-that-" muttered Dot, loading the gun while wishing that Megabyte would come in so she could shoot the REAL cause of all this. She picked the rifle up, aimed down the scope and peeked over her crate. Firing off five shots, she ducked down again. A huge blast of energy singed the wall behind her.
 Panting, Dot adjusted her headphones and talked into them.
 "Hello? Anyone outside? Come in! Please!"
 "Ma'am! I'm outside! The troops have c-completely destroyed the other rebel bases! I-I'm the only survivor!"
 Dot's headphones crackled into life as a lone binome responded, the panic evident in her voice.
"They've surrounded the building! And they're-wait a nano, I think they're up to something-looks like they're going to-"
 Static. Dot banged the headset a few times. "Hello? Hello! Come in!" No response.
 "What's up sugah?" asked Mouse, turning her head.
 "A binome just told me Megabyte's got us surrounded! She said she though he was planning something when she-went offline."
 Mouse nodded. "Only one thing to do in a situation lahk this."
 "What?"
 "We make sure there ain't enough of them left to carry out the plan." Mouse hefted a grenade launcher grimly.
 Dot picked up her rifle.
 

   *   *   *
 

 Megabyte narrowed his eyes. There. That should do it.
 "That's enough." He ordered. "Switch to filelockers now."
 He half-smiled.
 "I want the rest of them alive."
 

   *   *   *
 

 "Filelockers? Oh BIT." Mouse snarled as their forces were trapped in cubes. "Hey tin boys! Access THIS!" she stood up and fired. The troops around the door scattered, but quickly re-grouped.
 "Mouse! Get DOWN!" Dot hissed. Mouse dived towards the floor, but an errant shot hit her arm. She was immediately caught in a green, transparent rectangle.
 "Mouse!"
 Dot looked around to see that most of her forces had been file locked. There was her, three binomes valiantly shooting at the virals and-that was it. Tears came unbidden to her eyes. She also stood up and yelled over the crates at Megabyte.
 "Megabyte! You User-damn BASTARD!"
 Megabyte was surprised her voice had carried that far. He allowed himself a smirk as she was file locked.
 

   *   *   *
 

 They stood in the wrecked rebel base. Megabyte had allowed their heads to be freed so that they could hear him. Fifteen binomes and the two sprites were lined up against the walls. They all glared in defiance at the binomes guarding them. The virals stood to attention as Megabyte walked in. He turned to face them, a slight smile on his face.
 "Ah, at last. The famed last group of rebels in Megaframe. It IS so very interesting to finally meet you. For the first AND last time, let me assure you."
 "Still," he continued cheerfully against their stony silence as he walked down the line of prisoners, "you DID manage to put up a fight, albeit a small one. It was a rather amusing diversion at times. The army does so like to have a few targets around for practice." He sneered. "As you'll soon find out. I intend either to delete or infect you. The choice is not entirely yours, I'm afraid. But first-" he looked at Mouse who was almost ready to spit, "a demonstration."
 Megabyte walked over to where she was imprisoned next to Dot, who was at the end of the line. Mouse continued to glare at him. He chuckled, finding it amusing. "Ah, you're completely beaten and still you try to put up a fight anyway you can. No wonder you lost."
 Mouse snapped, "We were still a thorn in your sahd for a while, vahrus, and that ain't bad considering what we had left."
 "No, it wasn't." replied Megabyte, stepping closer. "But I'm afraid I have no use for your talents as a hacker, so long as we are denied Net access. I have some people in my employ with similar "talents" as yours. And I DO so like to make an example of what happens to those who would oppose me."
 His front claws shoot out ominously.
 "Oh User." Breathed Mouse, eyes wide as she realized what he was going to do. With a swift motion, he plunged them into her face, slightly tilted them, and pulled.
 Dot's stomach did a slow flip-flop as she watched Mouse's head literally ripped from her neck. Megabyte was turned slightly towards her, so she didn't think anyone else but her saw his face as he pulled Mouse's head off. He had on a look shorn of all his normal self-control, as his viral nature showed through. It was a look that said, "I liked doing that. I like to violently delete people. And the more that are hurt by this, the better." Dot tried not to vomit.
 Megabyte simply tossed Mouse's head over his shoulder, where it hit the ground with a wet thud. His face went back to its normal cool exterior. He turned even further to Dot, who had gone ashen with shock and horror.
 "Oh, by the way, don't worry about that happening to you. I'm afraid I'll be needing your assistance in the Principal Office later, so you will have the privilege of working for me."
 "If you don't decapitate me first." Breathed Dot, starring at Mouse's body. She looked up at him. "I saw your face when you killed her." She hissed. "I saw your expression. You ENJOYED it."
 Megabyte leaned back a bit, surprised that she had caught him. A flicker of anger showed on his face, that she had seen a side of him he tried to so carefully hide. It went calm again. "Perhaps the shock's been to much for you." He said smoothly. He nodded to a guard binome, who scurried up. "Filelock her completely." The guard nodded and complied.
 "As for the rest of you," he continued, walking to the other end of binomes who were starring fixedly at him in fear, "I really don't know whether to delete you all, give you to my army for sport, or just infect you." He put a hand to chin in a thoughtful position. "Hmm...I believe that I'll choose...infection. It's always HAS been my favorite." On cue, the guards stepped in and completely filelocked them as they had with Dot.
 

   *   *   *
 

 Dot had been sitting in her small cell for what felt like a second, although in reality it had been a cycle. Finally the door opened. Flanked by guards, Dot was lead out of the cell. A window snapped up, with the smiling face of Megabyte on it. Dot glowered and spat out, "what do *you* want?"
 "Hello Dot." Replied Megabyte. He seemed to be in a good mood, she noted. "I believe it's time for you to try a new occupation: viral."
 "I'd rather be deleted. Slowly." Dot replied.
 "Oh come now Dot." Megabyte said cheerfully. "Infection isn't THAT bad. Just ask your former rebel friends. No wait, they're patrolling Baudway right now. Over where you used to live. New recruits are always so eager."
 Dot slightly sagged at the mention of the Diner. Megabyte noticed.
 "Ah yes. I WAS so sorry to hear about the Diner." He said in mock sadness. "Such fast service. Mind you, you always have casualties in a war."
 "Like Mouse?" said Dot tightly. She felt the beginning of tears and forced them back. She would *not* cry in front of him. She would not. She would NOT!
 The slightest flicker of annoyance crossed Megabyte's face. "MUST you dwell on that? Really Dot, do try to live in the present." He leaned back in his throne. "It's going to be an academic matter for you soon, anyway." He nodded to the guards. "You know where to take her." He logged of as Dot was forced down the hallway.
 

   *   *   *
 

 "Ah, there you are!" said Megabyte, smirking in triumph as Dot was brought in front of his throne. He was wearing his legs, and strode over to her casually. Dot braced herself not to back away. Megabyte raised an eyebrow. "I usually have the PIDS just fed into the computer when dealing with mass infection, but I thought I'd do this personally, for old times sake..."
"Gee. I'm honored." Said Dot sarcastically.
Ignoring the comment, Megabyte took another step forward. Dot started to sweat. "Oh no wait, there's someone I wanted to show this too..." he said, pausing.
 The doctor binome at the console nodded, and pulled a lever. A jar with something floating in it appeared. Inside it-
 "Oh dear User..." Dot clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent being sick. Floating in it was Phong's HEAD.
 Which blinked. Dot took a small step back.
 "Phong-you're alive?!"
 "Child?" asked Phong. His head shuddered. "What are you doing to her virus?!"
 Megabyte snickered softly. "Oh, you'll see for yourself. You might want to watch. After all, we've almost drained your memory and you'll be deleted after that...I though perhaps you'd like to see a little of your friend before you go."
 Megabyte looked at the doctor.
"Her PID?" he queried.
 "Right here, Lord Megabyte!" Herr Doctor replied. Dot's PID number came up. She didn't exactly know how it worked, but the computer was somehow connected to Megabyte. Now that they had her PID, he could infect her manually.
 The virus walked all the way over to Dot. He placed his hands above her shoulders and the air became filled with the whine she had come to associate with infection. She wanted to run. She WOULD have run but she was paralyzed. And besides, there was nowhere to run TO.
 For a nano second, Megabyte looked at her thoughtfully. He seemed almost-regretful?
 "Pity this." He thought. "Their personalities are almost always wiped out...and rather liked her's. Ah well..."
 He raised his hands slightly then brought them down. Dot screamed.
 "Initialize copyright protection!" snapped out a voice.
 "What?!" yelled Megabyte. A light erupted from Dot, and he let go of her, the infection breaking off. She collapsed, only half-infected. Phong looked at Megabyte serenely.
 "I can keep you from her a little while, virus. After all, I DID used to be command .com."
 The doctor was frantic. "Her PID! It's been hidden! I don't think we can bring it up again on the computer!"
 "Pity." Snarled Megabyte. "Now I have to find some way to break it manually! Considering the condition the Principal Office is in, we don't have TIME for that!" he turned to the doctor, outwardly calm. "Herr Doctor? How soon can we completely drain the old sprites memory?"
 "In a few seconds, my Lord."
 "*Do so.*"
 Dot stirred, moaning on the floor. Megabyte stared at her curiously, picking her up by her shoulder. Her skin was now a rather fetching shade of blue green. Where her hair had shone green, it now was red. Dot opened her eyes and he looked into the magenta irises on the pale green whites of her eyes. Dot's eyes widened as she saw him, and she jerked back. Megabyte let go of her shoulder as she did so, causing her to fall to the ground. Dot clutched at her head.
 Oh God...she could *feel* him in there...a malignant presence crawling through her mind, embedding itself there. She was vaguely aware that *his* connection to *her* mind was stronger than hers to his.
 "It IS a rather close link, isn't it?" Megabyte commented while looking down on her. "Some sprites just seem to be that way."
 "Get OUT of my HEAD!" Dot said, shaking it.
 "So sorry, it can't be helped." The virus replied. "Do change to the standard uniform now Ms. Matrix."
 Without willing it, Dot's hand came up and tapped her icon as she stood up. She was now dressed in a navy blue top with a black collar and black pants, with some red highlights. She had seen it before on the few viral sprites in the system. She shuddered in horror, what had just happened sinking into her mind like a lead weight.
 Megabyte walked over to his throne and reattached his upper body to it with a twist. Pressing a button his legs sank out of sight.
 "Normally we'd give you a few seconds to rest." He said to Dot. "But I'm afraid we're in need of your skills as soon as possible."
 Dot gave no response. Her face had twisted up, and she stared down at her skin in horror. Megabyte sighed. He KNEW she could hear him, her mind was just preoccupied with processing what had just happened.
 "Ms. Matrix!" he snapped. "DO pay attention!"
 Dot's head jerked up, forced to obey, although she still didn't make eye contact.
 "Yes?" she asked through gritted teeth.
 "As you can see, the Principal Office is in less than perfect condition." The distant boom of a piece of the outer shell falling off and smashing into the ground emphasized Megabyte's statement. He winced slightly at the sound of his city in such disrepair.
"I need you to help me rebuild it." He continued. "I believe you've had some experience with building schematics before...?"
 "There was the one time you smashed up the Diner." She said lowly.
 "Yes, there WAS that. As I mentioned before, the army DOES get so bored sometimes...anyway, I'll be placing you in the engineering department for now. You may have a couple cycles recovery time, then report there." He waved a hand and airily said, "DO try to get some rest Dot. You're going to be so very busy soon."
 Dot just stood there and stared, looking as if she wanted to scream, or kill him, or both.
 "Go. Now." Megabyte commanded.
 Her viral obedience kicked in. Dot left, suppressing another shudder, her lips pressed tightly together. Megabyte's eyes narrowed as he watched her retreating back. Exactly how far was she under his control?...
 

   *   *   *
 

 Dot *fumed*. She sat down angrily on her bed. Megabyte's presence had faded, thankfully. She supposed distance affected it, although it was still there.
 She glanced around disdainfully. He had given her what had used to be the storage and viewing room for all of Mainframe's business records and transactions. She was well aware of the irony, since more than a quarter of them had belonged to her. It was a subtle little joke on Megabyte's part, although only he would find it funny. Now the room was empty, with the exception of a desk, a few chairs, and a makeshift bed. Dot crawled onto the bed and drew her knees up to her head.
 The loss. The infection. The deaths. *Mouse's* death.
 She let out a choked sob. All these events welled up in her mind until suddenly it was as if a floodgate had opened up and pain poured through. Dot began to cry in earnest, tears soaking her pants.  Exhausted and feeling an empty ache in her stomach, she dropped her head onto the pillow and went to sleep, sniffling.
 

   *   *   *
 

 Megabyte leaned back slightly, closing his eyes. He had dismissed the guards and doctor, preferring privacy right now. He looked into what, for lack of a better term, was his mind's eye view of all his virals.
 Binomes had a very weak connection. He could barely feel them. Sprites were more strongly tied to him, yet still they tended to become blurry among the teeming thousands he controlled. But Dot...
 Dot was like a flame in his mind.
She burned green against the blue black minds of the other virals. It was a bit disturbing. The partial infection SHOULD have dampened her out, but no. Her anger was there, and fear and hate, and...
 Pain.
 *Grief*.
 To the virus, who had never felt anything even close to this, it was a shock. Was THIS how sprites felt when someone died? How did they function?
 He pulled back hastily from the feeling. He could separate his feeling from hers, but this one seemed to want to pull him in. Hmm. Intriguing.
 After he drew back and examined it, it was-almost pleasant. He wasn't exactly a sadist, but something about her pain was soothing, in an odd sort of way. The virus found himself enjoying the sensation. He was almost disappointed when she fell asleep.
 Opening his eyes, Megabyte pulled out of the viral connection.
 "This is becoming most interesting." He said softly.
 

Chapter 2