Haunted Honeymoon Ch 4

Chapter 4 - C Side Slaying

Now this is the life.
Bob had no memory of ever floating in such cool data. The lagoon lived up to its hyper card. The only problem was he had to enjoy it alone.
Bob flipped himself over and swam towards the shore. There were dozens of tourists sprinkled along the beach, sprites and binomes, other couples and families. Two children were the closest to the area Bob and Dot picked out for their day at the shore. They were busying themselves by building sand castle.
Bob could see Dot lying on a blanket reading a file folder. Her bright red bathing suit contrasted her green skin to perfection. The swimwear had a dramatically low scooped back with cut outsides. The shopkeeper who sold her the swimsuit called it a unikini. Dot's icon rested in the center of her chest with the suits straps coming up around her neck and upper back. A pair of sunglasses hid her eyes, giving her the advantage to stare at Bob while hiding it.
As Bob emerged from the water, Dot took her eyes off her reading. It seemed equally fitting for Bob to have on aqua blue swim trucks with orange stripes running down the sides. Bob's icon hung from a gold chain around his neck. The guardian leaned over and rubbed his finger in his ear, attempting to drain the data out.
Dot smiled. My handsome Guardian Angel.
Dot heard a whirring sound and a click. Glitch had snapped a picture of Bob. She giggled. The keytool became the digital camera for the honeymooners. He enjoyed irritating Bob by taking pictures at the most unpredictable times, but at least it respected their more private moments. The keytool hid behind Dot as Bob came closer, scooping up a towel to dry off.
Bob warned, "Don't think I didn't see that Glitch."
The keytool whined.
Bob ignored Glitch and spoke to Dot, "I hope that isn't some work you mysteriously smuggled on board the Mare."
"Its a brochure of activities," Dot informed him. "I want to find something for us to do."
"What? What we've been doing isn't good enough," Bob plopped down on the blanket beside Dot.
"Of course it has silly," Dot replied. "I just want to plan something special."
"Uh oh. One of your plans. It's bound to be good," He kissed her on the shoulder.  Bob then lay back on the blanket and put his hands under his head. Dot rolled over to look down at him. She asked, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," Bob wondered. "Why are you asking?"
"Because I know something is still bothering you," Dot twisted her finger around the chain on his neck. "You were restless last night."
Bob heaved a sigh, "Mackenzie thinks I threatened him. All I did was warn him what might happen. I'm... worried."
"Bob you can't do anything more about it," Dot untwisted her finger from his icon.
"I know. I know. I'm sor-."
Dot put her hand over his mouth. "Stop saying you're sorry. You sound like a broken CD Rom."
Bob chuckled, "Like when I sent my zipboard crashing all over the Web lair. I kept begging Unix's forgiveness."
"Hm?" Dot then remembered. "Oh. That story."
" I was quite a trouble maker."
"And a good leader."
Bob wanted to dispute her claim, but chose to ignore it.
After a few microseconds of relaxing, Bob got up. "The lagoon is calling again. Care to join me?"
"No," Dot picked up the file folder again.
"Aren't you going to come in data at all? "
"I don't want to get my hair wet."
"Huh? That is one lame excuse."
"But it's kind of true."
Bob grabbed Dot's foot. "Come on. It will be fun!"
"Let go! I said no!" Dot managed to wiggle loose and tossed a towel over Bob's head. Bob pouted. Dot scolded, "Now don't you start. I said no and l mean it."
Dot rolled herself on her stomach and kept an eye on Bob just enough to make sure he walked away. She relaxed, concentrating on the brochure.
Cyber stallion riding along the beach? A party boat excursion? A walking tour of Paradise Code? What to do, what to do.
Dot suddenly felt data splash all over her back. She yelped and sat up, first looking at the two binome children building the sand castle. The younger child pointed, "He did it."
Dot saw Bob holding the children's bucket. Bob had such a fiendish grin on my face.
"YOU!" Dot yelled at him.
Bob dropped the bucket and ran into the lagoon. Dot stopped at the data's edge and wagged her finger at him. "I'll get you for that Mr. Bob Matrix!"
"Good. I can't wait," Bob laughed as he swam away.
Bob then heard a scream. A one binome appeared to be in distress. This was a job for the lifeguard, but Bob's programming kicked in. He swam hard to reach the binome and caught hold of him as he went under.
Bob struggled to keep the binome above data until the sprite lifeguard arrived. The lifeguard said, "Let's get him on shore."
Dot stood on the shoreline with the rest of the tourist watching. The binome child said to her, "He sure is brave."
"Yes. I know," Dot smiled.
The sprites each took hold of one of the binome's arms and swam for shore. The binome was still fighting them. The lifeguard shouted, "Calm down. We've got you."
"Something else is panicking him," Bob guessed.
"It is just fear. Once he's on shore-," The lifeguard saw a slimy black creature around the binome's lower body. He screamed and dropped the binome, leaving Bob to finish pulling the poor victim on land.
"Some help," Bob complained. The crowd of on lookers were now terrified. Several fled the beach for the safety of their nearby bungalows. The strange little creature had wrapped itself around the binome's waist, sucking energy from him. The binome pleaded, "Get it off me."
"I'm working on it," Bob assured him. Glitch came whizzing up to Bob. He caught the keytool in his hand and started scanning. While the crowd had moved to a safer distance, Dot came closer, fearing for her husband's life. The lifeguard tried to stop her. "Are you random! Keep back!"
"My husband is trying to help," Dot told him. "Someone needs to stand by him."
"Do what he says Dot," Bob ordered then commanded Glitch, "Negative flow."
A small beam of energy struck the creature in its mouth. Dot ignored Bob's advice and came a few steps further. She asked, "What are you doing?"
"Souring the milk," Bob explained. "Glitch is tricking it into rejecting the binome as a clean source of energy. Then it will let go. I want you to stay clear so it doesn't come after you next."
"But what about you?"
"I'll be fine," Bob insisted. "Just stay back."
Two CPUs arrived on the beach. They trained their weapons on the creature. One asked, "What is that thing?"
"A baby C serpent," Bob answered.
The second CPU said, "Those things are suppose to be extinct."
"Well this one is pretty lively," Bob concentrated. "Come on baby. You can't feed on him anymore. He's got to taste bad."
Bob put his hand around the beast's neck, waiting for the little C serpent to let go. When it did, the serpent squealed and attempted to seize onto Bob's neck. Glitch intercepted the C serpent, allowing it to clamp onto it instead. The keytool and the creature rolled away. The lifeguard pulled the binome to a safe distance. Dot used that moment to run to Bob side.
"I said stay back!" Bob yelled at her.
Glitch remained wrapped up in a ball of coils until the serpent didn't like its taste either and let go. The C serpent wiggled away, floating through the air like a Web creature over the data.
It can fly! Bob thought.
The CPUs suddenly opened fire. Bob and Dot ducked as the trigger-happy binomes cut the sea creature down. It fell to the surface of the data and disintegrated. Bob yelled at them, "What did you do that for?!"
The first CPU glared at Bob in disbelief. "It attacked a civilian."
"It was a baby! It was looking for a source of energy to feed on! It didn't know any better!"
The second CPU countered, "Well I do. And I can't let people get hurt in spite of you and you guardian preservation causes!"
"You could have hit us!" Dot added with an equal dose of fury.
"I've killed these things before," the second CPU admitted. "I don't miss."
"Before?! Where?"
"That's classified."
Bob glared at them. "We'll see about that."
Bob picked up Glitch started walking towards their bungalow, so full of rage and adrenalin, he hardly heard Dot calling after him. She finally got hold of his arm and stopped him. They embraced. Dot told him, "You're a hero."
"They don't think so," Bob said. The couple looked at the group of on lookers. They were quite scared, not only of the serpent but Bob's attitude. They began packing up their things, intending to leave the beach, many for good.
"I have to talk to Mackenzie again."
"Not without me," Dot insisted.
"He's not an easy man to deal with."
"Neither are you sometimes. I'll manage."
"I yelled you," Bob realized.
"Don't say you're sorry. I understand why."
Bob hugged her again. "I'm never going to let anything hurt you again. Not without a fight. My convictions are nothing if something happened to you."
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

***

Bob returned to the Principal Office dressed in his uniform. Dot booted on her black and white outfit. She hand brought it out of habit, unlike Bob, who always needed to keep his suit at the ready.
When they entered Mr. Mc Kenzie's office, the two CPUs who had slain the C serpent were there.
Mackenzie stood up from his desk and offered Dot his hand. "Mrs. Dot Matrix. What a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to Paradise."
Dot shook Mackenzie's hand.
"Your paradise has a couple of worms in it. I would have liked to have met for a nicer reason."
"Yes. I had been trying to keep the problem contained. It looks like I failed."
"Do you even understand what you're doing?" Bob asked. "C serpents are considered extinct."
"Well it seems we are harboring the last of them," Mackenzie huffed. "As if we wanted the task."
"Have you tried containment?" Dot asked.
"Yes. We have patrol boats constantly maintaining a buffer zone. Unfortunately this is the second one who got this far inside the zone."
"So you try to catch them before they come this far?"
"Catch?" The CPU interjected. "They're too dangerous to catch. You saw what the last one did."
"It needed energy," Bob reminded him.  "Like infant Web creatures it will seek out the highest source it can locate after it hatches."
"So I'm supposed to let them eat the tourists?" Mackenzie asked.

"No. But, I think I know what they are supposed to be using. The Web creatures."
"There you go again."
"Mackenzie. Listen to him. He knows things you don't," Dot pleaded.
Bob explained, "Class M Web creatures lay their eggs in safe areas to keep predator creatures like spores and stingers from harming the infants. C serpents lay eggs as well. The mother is leaving them in what she thinks is a safe place. When the children hatch they seek energy to feed on. Suckling on the Web creatures gives them the both strength and the transportation they need they need to leave the system."
"So I'm supposed to let these creatures live in my system?"
"In Mainframe we coexist with an enormous population of nulls Mr. Mackenzie," Dot said. "Some kind of living arrangement isn't impossible."
"Really? I thought guardians played games to prevent nullifications?"
Dot could see Bob getting annoyed. She quickly explained, "We suffered severe losses before Bob arrived. He volunteered to stay and help us. That's how we fell in love."
Bob was surprised by Dot's statement. She winked at him, hinting she had said it to soothe him. Bob needed it since Mackenzie didn't like him. Mackenzie asked, "May I ask how you kept the nulls in check? Maybe we can try your method out."
"Its a little beyond your capability. You would need a power source comparable to a core chamber."
"Where did get something like that?"
Dot now looked at Bob with a hint of dread. Bob started to explain, "A Class Five virus escaped from the Super Computer and was pulled into Mainframe's twin city. The resulting explosion caused most of the nullification and formed two new viruses. One possessed transfinite power limits and the ability to control the nulls. She was the virus who gave herself up to save the Net."
"Her?" Mackenzie, like most other sprites, sensed Hexadecimal as she past through them. He added, "She felt real angry."
"There were many emotions. Fear. Sorrow. Love. Different people felt different bits of her personally as she defragmented. There are those who claim pieces of her still exist in the Net. The nulls remain dossal in Mainframe. Its almost her way of leaving a thank you note behind."
The CPU said, "It looks you knew this virus pretty well."
"I did. She...was my friend."
Mackenzie stared at Bob for a moment before bursting out laughing.
Bob grew agitated. "What is so funny?"
"You're right. What is so funny? This is actually quite sickening. I'm wasting my time talking to you. You're completely random."
"What?!" Bob yelled. "We told you the truth!"
"And it's frightening."
"Mackenzie. We only want to help," Dot defended her husband.
"By following the advise of a guardian who treats dangerous monsters and viruses as pets?"
"Bob cares about all life forms."
"You don't think the same way, do you?"
Dot bit her lip. "Not... completely."
"You two are going to have an interesting marriage." Dot put her hand out to hold Bob's wrist, fearing he might use the clinched fist just below it to punch Mackenzie in the face. Mackenzie added, "If you intend on staying, this is my advice, stay out of the data and out of my office."
"Is that a threat?" Bob shot back.
"Only a warning. Good day."
"But-." Dot began.
Bob took Dot's hand and shook his head. He held onto Dot as they got up to go. The door opened a moment before they reached it and female sprite started to step in. The orange skinned sprite took a step back, "Oh. I'm sorry Jon. I didn't know you had company."
"They were just leaving sweetheart," Mackenzie said.
Bob and Dot exited the office. The look in Mc Kenzie's wife's eyes left the last impression on Dot.
Something wasn't right.

***

Dot rebooted into her halter dress, knowing Bob waited on their private porch to go out for dinner. She felt so guilty over not being of help in dealing with Mackenzie. In fact, things were now much worse.
Dot could see Bob sulking in one of the winker chairs, his feet resting on the cushioned ottoman. He looked so handsome in his casual suit. Dot walked up behind him and rubbed her hands on his shoulders. Dot sighed, "You are so tense."
Bob asked, "Am I ruining everything for you?"
"No," Dot said. "I didn't expect you to stop being a guardian the nanosecond we were married."
"But you never expected me to not act like one on our honeymoon?"
"You didn't know what would happen on this trip. Neither of us did. It was a surprise. A bigger surprise then we both wanted."
"Are you disappointed?"
"No. That is so silly to ask. How can I be?" Dot sat on the edge of the ottoman looking at him. "I'm with you."
"I owe you another vacation."
"We'll plan something when we go home. Right now we need to make the most of this," Dot slipped into his lap and kissed him deeply.
"We're suppose to go to dinner," Bob reminded her.
"So we'll be a micro late," Dot laughed. "A noisy restaurant is nothing compared to you. I should know. You are completely hopeless."
A squealing sound from the nearby beach interrupted the romantic interlude. The sprites looked at each other, recognizing the sound.
"Another one?" Dot got up and the sprites stood at the balcony rail, listening to the cries of the little C serpent somewhere in the water. Bob spoke, "Mackenzie's troops haven't wiped them all out. At least not yet."
Before Dot could say anything, Bob took off his jacket and hopped over the rail onto the sand below. Dot wanted to protest; yet she knew Bob's guilt over the deletion of the other infant. Bob reached his hand towards hers, squeezing it and reassuring her, "I'll be right back."
Dot watched as Bob walked up the data's edge and waded in. He didn't bother to reboot his clothing, getting his suit wet. Bob stopped at his waist and started making small shrilling calls, similar to a Web Creature. Bob tapped his hand along the surface of the data.
What is he doing? Dot wondered.
A dark tentacle lanced out of the data, hitting Bob and sending him under the surface.
Dot screamed. She hopped the rail without a nanosecond's thought and ran into the data, not caring about getting wet. Dot frantically looked for Bob, seeing no sign of him.
Don't do this! Don't leave me!
Bob emerged from the data several bits away, gasping for air. Dot saw the C serpent around Bob's chest, its head clasped onto Bob's abdomen.
"Bob!" Dot cried.
"I'm okay," he wheezed.
Dot waded over to him. "No you're not! It's squeezing you!"
"I can breathe!" Bob insisted.
"Get it off!"
Dot tried not to be terrified. The animal was suckling energy from Bob's body. Bob put his hands on Dot's upper arms. He stared at her and repeated, "Dot. Listen to me. I'll be okay, but I need you to help get us inside where it's safe."
Dot remained unconvinced Bob wasn't in any danger, but she did as he asked. Bob pull his arm around her and they waded out of the data towards the bungalow. Bob knew the hungry little beast wanted to feed much longer then a Web creature infant. This would take time.
I'll give you what it takes to survive. Its not like I've done it before...