*   *   *
 

"You wonder when
I'll go away,
if I could deal with it,
I would obstain-
I cut you in-
Come, let's go for a while,
I cut you in-
You ain't leavin' at all,
I cut you in-
let it go to your head,
I cut you in-
Part-time friend"

A few lyrics from a really neat song I heard on the radio one day...
 

   *   *   *

Pain 3

   *   *   *
 

 Dot tossed in her bed, murmuring in her sleep.
 She stood in a blank vast-nothing. Dot felt different. Looking down, even without light she somehow saw that she was dressed in her regular peach jumpsuit. Sighing in relief, the sprite relaxed. She felt-free. There was a clean space where Megabyte's infection had used to be. As a mirror appeared in front of her, Dot smiled.
 Until she saw something strange in it.
 Tendrils of green light were crawling across it. No-they were  only crawling across her reflection. Dot looked down at her arms and saw nothing strange THERE. As she watched a familiar buzzing filled the air.
"No-" said Dot, her body starting to reflect what the mirror one did.
Her clothes started to turn black. Her skin darkened and became shinier. She felt the infection all over again.
 "No-NO! This is all a dream!" she said angrily, trying to block out the pain and fear.
 A snake-like whisper, the voice of the infection itself echoed through the room.
 "*You're mine...mine forever...I'll always have you...some of you is in ME now...and I in you...forever Dot..."
 With a cry, Dot woke. She shakily sat up and breathed deeply.
 "It's just a dream...just a dream..." she said, trying to comfort herself. Then she realized that the dream was probably no worse or better than real life.
Moaning, Dot collapsed back onto the pillows, trying to forget about the nightmare, about everything. She drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
 

   *   *   *
 

 Dot sat at a desk in one of the Principal Office's main rooms, worried. The whole level was abuzz with the newest operation.
 Essentially, it went like this:
 Hexadecimal was certainly powerful, yet she COULDN'T resist being nullified. Hopefully. Therefore, wait until a gamecube came down, lure her into position, and escape after trapping her inside. A suicide squad of binomes would stay inside the game and-this was the part that made Dot's stomach turn-make sure the User won.
 Megabyte and a troop of his lackeys were in the other corner of the room. The equipment that Phong had used to predict the positions of games was running there at full power, with several add-ons attached. It was a fair bet that today would be the day the User accessed a game-there hadn't been a cube dropped for a few seconds and it was about time one appeared. Dot took a last look at the room, a bit annoyed at the noise level, then opened up her folder and absorbed herself in her work.
 

   *   *   *
 

 Megabyte looked at the table, slightly bored yet apprehensive at the same time. He truly hoped this would work, yet the waiting was starting to annoy him. The large virus took a few paces away and stopped. He looked out the hangar, which was open in preparation for the plan, giving him a good view of Mainframe.
 This wasn't like him.
 He knew he shouldn't be planning such a spur of the moment thing to do. They would only have 25 microseconds warning. If he took too long, he would be trapped inside the gamecube. If he took too little, Hex would fry them even before the cube dropped.
 And something had been bothering him all morning. A thought tickled the back of his mind, refusing to come into focus. He was almost doing this project so hurriedly to get his mind off of it...
He snarled to himself. "Concentrate on what's happening NOW." He thought. He turned to a binome that had just hailed him.
 "Sir! We've detected a cube!"
 "At last..." Megabyte thought. He motioned to the binomes. "Well, get ready. Start putting all personnel and equipment into place."
 "Right!"
 The virus walked over to Dot, who, absorbed in her work, hadn't noticed him until he was quite close. As his presence suddenly filled her mind, she almost visibly cringed.
 "Yes?" the sprite asked without looking up.
 "We've *finally* detected a game dropping down soon." He smiled to himself, predicting Dot's reaction at what he was about to say next.
 "You're coming with us Ms. Matrix."
 "What?!" Dot's jaw dropped and she finally looked at him. "There is no WAY I'm doing *that*!" she tried to announce with conviction.
 The virus narrowed his eyes.
 "You don't exactly have a *choice*, now do you?" he said, sneering slightly.
 Dot's mouth twisted up in anger. She *knew* that she didn't. She had just snapped that out of reflex. Sighing, she shrugged in defeat and asked. "Fine. What do I have to do?"
 "Oh it's quite simple." Megabyte said. "You're to oversee the operation. I'll be too busy trying to actually lure Hex down..." A shadow of worry came and went over the virus's face at the though of the riskiest (from his point of view) part. "THAT'S really the main reason I need you for this, Dot." He said almost conversationally. "Meet me at my limo in a couple microseconds."
 Dot tried to think of an excuse. "But-I have this backlog of files and-"
 "Oh just close them off. It's not as if they *won't* be here when you return." The virus strode off, now bothering to look back.
 Dot, vexed, started closing down her programs. She snapped shut her organizer and followed the virus after a few microseconds.
 

   *   *   *
 

 Megabyte was waiting inside the limousine. "Oh good-you're here." He said with that strange pseudo cheerfulness Dot has seen a few seconds earlier. "Climb in."
 "With YOU?!"
 Megabyte rolled his eyes. "Oh do get in Ms. Matrix."
 Dot climbed into the limousine's plush interior, sitting opposite Megabyte and then shuffling into a corner to get a window seat. Gingerly touching the seat, she looked around. It *was* nice, she had to admit. Whatever else he might lack, the virus had taste. Megabyte gestured to the driver and the craft lifted and purred towards the landing site.
 Opening her files again, this time she made them display the troops and map of the area. The sprite looked up and noticed the way Megabyte sat, cross-legged, one hand draped casually over a knee.
 "User-he *always* acts gentlemanly." Dot though bitterly. "And he talks elegantly and he's cultured and sophisticated and polite and we forgot that he was programmed to *expand*. Because he managed to hide it so well, we started thinking of him just as unpleasant, not EVIL. But then it was too late..."
 Sectors whisked past. For all its smoothness, the limo was quite fast. One of the many strings of binary digits that festooned Mainframe went humming by.
 "And it worked. It *still* works."
 They sped past a capacitower. Dot glumly sat there, staring out the window, becoming less aware of the virus as she became wrapped up in her own thoughts.
 Megabyte sat back a bit as he noticed her retrieve. He looked thoughtfully at Dot. He wondered-could he delve into her mind from this close, softly, and still make sure she wasn't aware of him? Experimenting, the virus gently probed the tips of Dot's feelings.
 Melancholy-regrets, and thoughts of things longed for past and wished for present-
 As he picked these up, Dot shook her head. It had seemed as if a deeper shadow had entered her thoughts for a nano second. A grain of suspicion entered her mind and she glanced up at the virus, who had severed the link the moment he detected she felt him and was now trying to look casually at the TV screen. Inwardly, his mind was racing.
 "No-she shouldn't have felt *that* light a touch-what's *happening*? Perhaps the copywritting has something to do with this." he pondered, worried.
 

  *   *   *
 

A place in a deserted sector on the outskirts of Mainframe near the sea. There were a few small houses and apartments left, but these were decaying from lack of repair, Dot noticed. So did Megabyte.
 "We're going to rebuild more than just the Principal Office as soon as Hex is removed." He muttered, half to himself.
 The limo came to a stop. Dot stepped out onto the top of an old building, from where she would direct the whole thing.
 "How much time do we have left?" she asked Megabyte who remained inside. Dot realized she had to put away some of her dislike for him for the moment to at least get her job done.
 "15 microseconds." He replied. "Tell me immediately when everything is in position. I'll be waiting." The tinted window rolled up and the limo drove off. Dot was left alone. The sprite mentally rolled up her sleeves and began to give various orders to the ABC's.
 

   *   *   *
 

 8 microseconds left...
 Megabyte's limo stopped just at the border of where the game would land. He looked on as all the fleets lined up, prepared. The virus drummed the fingers of one hand on his leg.
 7 microseconds left...
 A window opened up. It was the squad of binomes destined to be in the game. Their equipment was in top-notch condition, everything shined to a polish. The leader spoke.
 "We're ready, willing, and able to serve *sir*!" he snapped off a salute. The rest of the squad followed suit.
Megabyte nodded.
"Excellent." He said. "Now we've only to await Ms. Matrix's call."
 Another vid-window snapped open. Dot merely said "Ready."
 6 microseconds.
 Megabyte turned to the squad. "Now, you know your orders-you are to win the game at *all costs*. Understand?"
 "Yes my Lord!" they all said.
 Dot noted their immaculate condition, the devoted, almost reverent tone they had used-they were all EAGER to do this. They considered dying for Megabyte an HONOR. With a tight, sick sort of feeling in her stomach she watched them begin to prepare as Megabyte shut off the window.
 4 microseconds.
 "Leave your vidwindow on." He ordered. "You'll need to know how my little conversation with Hex is going to go."
 Taking a breath, Megabyte dialed Hex's number. He saw the back of her head as she turned around in a slow, deliberate way that showed she wasn't surprised at his call at all. A shocked mask adorned her face.
 "Why BRO-ther...I didn't KNOW you still had the courage to SPEAK to me..." the mask switched to one of anger. "AFTER WHAT YOU DID! Still..." now the mask was one of a smile. "I DID get you back after I blew up your Tor-wasn't that simply *hilarious?!*" She gave off a tiny  tinkle of laughter.
 "Please Hexadecimal." Her brother countered. "This is strictly business."
 "Oooh?" the female virus asked, semi-intrigued. "About what?" her smile became vicious. "Would you like me to take further retribution on you for your simply HORRIBLE treatment of me?"
 "Let us not get into that *now*." Megabyte snapped. "This however, needs to be done shall we say-face to face?"
 Dot had been watching this exchange of hidden verbal barbs. Neither of them came out and said anything plainly-it was like a game. Their words were always shrouded in different layers of deadly meaning. The tension was getting unbearable-she wondered if all viruses acted like this towards one and other.
 "Oh but brother...why would I want to go over there when we can chat from here?" Hex replied lazily.
 Megabyte simply leaned back a bit and examined his finger nails. "Oh-well then. If you're too *afraid* too meet me here...I *quite* understand." He said, false understanding oozing from his voice.
 "AFRAID?!!!-you DARE challenge me..." she grinned viciously again. "You shall HAVE your wish then, dear *brother*." The vidwindow closed.
 2 microseconds.
 Realizing that quickness might be a better asset than style in this case, Megabyte gestured to the chauffeur. The car stopped beside the virus's previously parked motorcycle. The limousine sped off, and Megabyte sat on the bike, floating up to tower level.
 1 microsecond.
Dot's face was apprehensive, and as she looked on the scene she though "Is he SURE this is going to-..."
 BOOOOOOOMMMM...
 Part of the level exploded.
 "Oh." thought Dot. "It worked. She's here." The hovering figure of Hexadecimal appeared.
"Oh no." she added.
 30 nanoseconds.
 "Well BROTHER..." asked the red virus floating a good block away from her sibling. "What *is* it exactly you wanted to discuss?"
 Megabyte prayed that the game would land on time. He prayed that his sister would let herself be trapped inside said game. He prayed that this would work. But most of all, he prayed that Hexadecimal had never bothered to learn enough about gamecubes to figure out what happened when you lost.
 15 nanoseconds.
 "Actually, it's really my army that wants to say something." Megabyte replied, seemingly calmly. "Give them my best regards, won't you?"
 At that signal Dot, who had left an audio link on, in turn gave the signal to all the legions that had been waiting. ABCs streamed towards the virus and fired. Hex blinked, then giggled in delight at something to play with and simply blocked the shots. The ABCs dipped and curved, trying to avoid her fireballs, their main objective to keep Hex amused enough to stay there for as long as possible.
 "Warning..." the sky turned purple and the outlines of a game could be seen above their heads.
 Dot and Megabyte both simultaneously breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Incoming game..."
 "Ooh? A game? What-" a stray shot from an ABC managed to tag Hex, who lost interest in the game for a moment to vaporize it.
 "Warning..."
 The glowing cube started to drop.
 "Ooh...I simply MUST see what's inside THERE..." Hexadecimal said in fascination. A small smile came to her lips and she barred her fangs. "And after what that WRETCHED User did to me!" a mask with a small tear came to her eyes. "Dropping the game down just when I was about to blow up Mainframe...but wait..." a confused mask. "What happens if you lose again?"
Just then another shot managed to hit her and she turned her full attention to the ABCs, which now seemed more of a nuisance than fun.
 "Come on...come ON Hex..." hissed Megabyte from his bike. Just then the game cube dropped so low as to obscure his vision from that height. He abruptly dropped and turned it towards Dot's platform. Megabyte parked it beside her with a whoosh.
  "Gyah! What are you doing here?" She asked, almost absently as she brushed off the dust from her clothes.
 "It's a better view." The virus replied and shrugged.
It was almost there...
Hexadecimal had just sent a fireball that scattered a legion when the bottom of the game swallowed her up. With a crash, the cube settled, and silence filled the level.
 

   *   *   *
 

 Dot played around and adjusted her organizer. Megabyte drummed his fingers on the bike, a bored yet taunt expression on his face, similar to he one back in the hangar.
 "Why is this TAKING so long?" he suddenly asked.
 Surprised at the sudden break in the silence, Dot automatically replied "Game time is different that ours. And all games are different."
 "Oh." Megabyte leaned his elbow on the handle bar and his chin on his fist. "Why?"
 "What?"
 "Why should the User run on a different time level than us? What's the point?"
 Dot was at a loss. She had never heard anyone ask WHY game time was different. "Well...no one knows."
 He looked annoyed. "I thought sprites knew things like that about the games."
 "Look, guardians in the Supercomputer maybe." Dot said. "But not in systems like this."
 "The Supercomputer..." the virus blinked. "You know, I'd nearly *forgotten* about that..." he looked thoughtful.
 Dot winced. "Bra-vo." her mind thought. "You had to remind him about *that*."
 The cube's colors turned from dull to bright purple, and they both started.
 "Game over..."
 "Oh PLEASE..." said Megabyte, leaning forwards.
 "User wins."
 "YES!" he almost shouted as the game exploded upwards. The BOOM echoed and re-echoed through the level, and a large, gaping hole could be seen where the cube had formerly been. Megabyte zoomed down into the hole, leaving behind Dot who asked "Hey! Where are you-" curiosity overcoming her, she took out a zipboard and followed him. Megabyte went to the bottom of the level. He appeared to be searching for something. Coming up behind him Dot wrinkled her nose. There was just rubble and the acidic reek of burned wires here.
 "What are you LOOKING for?" she asked, puzzled.
 "Oh-Dot. Help me look for Hex's null, would you?" the virus said absently.
 "Wh-erg. What do you need THAT for?"
 "Do just help find it Ms. Matrix."
 "They're usually at the very bottom." Dot said. "At least, that's where they were when-" she stopped, a small wave of grief washing over her.
 "When your brother was nullified?" asked Megabyte cheerfully.
 Dot said nothing but abruptly went in a different direction. The virus chuckled after she had left.
 "My-that still hurts, doesn't it?" he said softly.
 Dot tried to block out the sudden memories-those of searching for what remained of the two small sprites, looking through the rubble, hoping against hope that they'd somehow still be alive and well...
 But they hadn't.
 And Megabyte had said it that way to hurt her on PURPOSE! What *was* he, sadistic?! They had almost been having a semi-normal conversation when... Dot's fists clenched and unclenched in a futile gesture of anger. Why couldn't he just leave her alone?
 A squeak broke her train of thought, and she spied a red and black null among the rocks. It had a white splotch on its front end.
 "What remains of Hex's mask..." Dot thought. Another squeak attracted her attention, and she saw some other nulls nearby. Their dark, metallic blue color left no doubt as to their identity. "What remains of that viral squad..." she added, in horrified fascination.
"Uh-found her!" Dot said outloud. She leaned down to pick Hex's null up, then hesitated as it screeched warningly.
 "Well *done* Dot." purred Megabyte as he pulled up beside her. "The whole operation went quite smoothly in fact-my congratulations."
 Dot felt a brief surge of happiness at pleasing Megabyte-and then guilt at herself for feeling that. The infection's urge to do nothing but please the virus and be gratified by it pulsed then faded. Shaken, she mumbled "thanks" to Megabyte, but he was only half listening anyway. He looked down at what was formerly his sister.
 "Finally-FINALLY she can't INTERFERE anymore-" he smiled viciously. "Pick her up and dump it into the energy sea. This I simply MUST watch..."
Dot gingerly picked up the squirming null, gasping as it shocked her a bit.
 "Augh!"
 Megabyte ignored her exclamation. Dot flew to the edge of Mainframe, then tossed down the writhing null. As it hit the sea, she felt a sudden shiver of *happiness*-but not hers. She glanced sideways at Megabyte, who sat there with a triumphant look on his face. Was that HIS feeling that had ran through her body?
 A now familiar sweep of revulsion came as Dot thought of this. She didn't NEED this-this connection between her and the virus. And she already felt violated enough without it getting any stronger.
 "Don't tell me his feelings are in my *head* now..." she thought, depressed.

   *   *   *

 "What a *glorious* day." Megabyte thought happily. "With Hex deleted, I can concentrate on something I've been waiting for so long-" his lips curved in a sinister smile that would have made anyone watching shudder. "Infecting Megaframe. Completely."
 He gazed around the empty chamber, reliving the day's events bit by bit. He noted to himself that Dot could apparently be trusted and relied upon when it counted-truly a professional. He couldn't help but admire her for that.
 Speaking of Dot...time to check up on her. He slid into her thoughts again, hiding his presence. She seemed better than on most days-almost beginning to be resigned to her situation. He missed the pain though-ah well. He smiled once more. There would be ample time enough for that. His thoughts trailed down dark paths that he normally never treaded. What WAS it about this sprite that brought this out in him, The virus idly wondered.
 Megabyte decided to pull out. He shut off the connection and-
 *It didn't shut off.*
 A thin trickle of thought remained, connecting them ever so slightly. Almost panicky, Megabyte tried to shut it off again.
 No luck.
 He cursed. So THAT was what had been at the back of his mind all second!
"This is getting most...unusual." He said out loud. It wasn't that bad, and in fact easy to ignore after a while-but it was still there.
 The virus softly hissed in anger and confusion. The copyright had *nothing* to do with it, he knew that now. If anything, it should lessen the bond. What WAS going on? The frustrated virus glared up at the ceiling.
 In her room, sensing something amiss, Dot turned uneasily in her sleep.

Chapter 4