nofileext | 4.04: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Word.

There's a tiny hourglass on a choker around Daemon's neck. It's always been there. At the moment she was first compiled, the sand was all in the top half of the glass, and it's been slowly draining through ever since.

Now, as she stands at the threshold of Mainframe's Principal Office, the last grain of sand comes to rest.

Daemon stops dead in her tracks. As she speaks, her words seem to echo in the infected ground and sky around her:

"I am Daemon.
I am not an entity; I am a time.
My time is now.
The Word is CRON."

"NO!" Bob gasps. "Not a Cron virus..."

Daemon's body shimmers, blurs, then dissolves in a cascade of orange sparks. All that's left is a vaguely person-shaped mass of green light where she stood. (Is this really Daemon? Was the girl just another puppet, another vessel for the Word?)

The light flows upward and outward, losing its shape and coherence as it goes. It spreads through the system, through the open port, through the portals still open above the Principal Office. Every system in the 'Net is bathed in its green glow.

Throughout the 'Net, every sprite, binome, and numeral who remains touched by the Word stops dead in their tracks, just as their mistress did. They close their eyes and begin counting down.

"111100... 111011... 111010..."

Current Mood: fulfilled

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From:

mendanddefend_archive

Bob's eyes flicker open. He tries to smile, but it comes out as more of a grimace.

"Hey."

From:

command_dot_com

"Stay with us, okay? You mustn't leave me. Not again. We need you." Dot leans over him stroking his chest, like she's scared he's going to disappear. "I need you."

Then... all of that pent up anxiety and emotion just breaks over the firewall, and she starts sobbing, crying onto his chest. "I love you. Please don't go. Stay... Marry me."

From:

mendanddefend_archive

Bob's having a hard time following her words. It's taking an enormous effort just to stay conscious. He's losing the feeling in his fingers, and what he can feel hurts like hell, and he's just so tired...

Wait.

Did Dot just say what he thought she said?

She did.

Bob looks up at Dot, and a genuine smile crosses his face. "I th-thought you'd never ask..."

Then he gasps as another surge of pain floods through his system, and--

and--

("But how will our love survive?")

and everything just fades out.

("It won't. I'm sorry.")

Bob's head sags back against the pavement. He's not moving. His body is becoming more and more transparent by the picosecond.

From:

command_dot_com

"Bob? BOB!!!"

No. No no nonono. Not Now. NO. Dot panics and starts freaking out. "oh SPAM. MEDIC!!!"

From:

a1enzo

There are just too many inputs for Enzo to process. Hex is gone, sacrificed - the 'Net is safe, we're all going to survive - Dad is gone again, for good without Hex to hold him together - Bob and Dot are engaged, finally - Bob is dying -

At his age he's never heard the term 'cognitive dissonance'. All he knows is that he feels like his brain is spinning, like his mind is dizzy but not his body. He shuts his eyes tight and presses the heels of his palms to his temples.

From:

renegade-enzo.livejournal.com

Matrix watched helplessly as everything played out. His hands slowly curled into tight fists as he realized there was nothing he could do to help.

Bob was dying, his dad came back and was just as quickly taken away again, everyone was worried...

These problems couldn't be solved with guns and fighting, and because of that, he felt completely useless.

From:

notascreensaver

AndrAIa reached for Matrix's hand, giving her lover a worried look. Bob and his dad both gone in the same day. Being infected and then being forced to stand back helplessly while the fight raged.

"Sparky?"

She felt she had a right to be worried about him.

From:

renegade-enzo.livejournal.com

Matrix turned his head to look at AndrAIa, giving her a sad look, squeezing her hand gently.

He wordlessly looks back to everything going on again. He didn't know what to say at the moment, so he didn't even bother.

From:

notascreensaver

AndrAIa wrapped her arms around his waist, gently squeezing.

It was really the only thing she could do. At least she was here to give him even this small amount of comfort.

She tried to tell him it would be alright, but she didn't think it would be.

From:

nofileext

The med team that Enzo had recruited is already outside, but fear of crossing Hexadecimal had kept them from coming to Bob's aid immediately. Now they don't have that excuse, and Bob needs help now.

Six binome feet pound the pavement as they sprint across to where the Guardian lies. "Stand clear, Ma'am," the lead Zero snaps at Dot as she straps the cuff of the energy transfuser to Bob's arm.

From:

mendanddefend_archive

As the energy flows in, Bob's body starts looking more opaque again. In a nano or so, he looks almost as good as new.

But he doesn't wake up. He's barely breathing.

From:

command_dot_com

Dot reaches out to hold his hand, hoping for some kind of response, part of her is so angry that this is HAPPENING... Her coding is scrambling to find some sense of order to arrange everything, fix things...but it can't find any way of doing so.

File not found. Command Error. Abort/Retry/Fail?

She has no idea what to do.

From:

nofileext

"Is he stable for now? Can he be moved?" Phong murmurs. The doctors nod. "Then take him to the medlab."

The binomes nod again and unfold from their medpack a stretcher, with small hoverdiscs attached at intervals around the frame. Gently, one takes Dot's hand to remove it from Bob's.

From:

command_dot_com

Dot's hand doesn't move and she fixes the rectangular binome with a look, one that says if they try to seperate her from Bob right now there will be quite a bit of hurting, with a side order of limb removal.

She then looks at Phong, questioningly. He seems to know what to do.

From:

nofileext

Phong gazes back at her, then nods at the binomes. They nod back, resignedly, and hoist Bob onto the stretcher as best they can with Dot still holding his hand. Raising the stretcher as high as they can for Dot's sake, the 1 and Phong guide it inside.

From:

a1enzo

Enzo hesitates, then follows. They're not keeping him out. Not this time.

From:

precocioustilda.livejournal.com

Tilda has no idea who Bob is, but he looks to be injured, and that's never good.

She quietly follows along behind the stretcher and its entourage. She's fairly small and unlikely to get in the way, after all, and who knows - she might just be able to help with something. Besides, the only person here she properly knows is Enzo, and he's going that way.

From:

goinghost.livejournal.com

Danny was a little dizzy. "Sorry guys, I want to stay, but I'm out. I need to get back and transform back for a while. I'll be back, though, to check on Bob."

Who he desperately hope would be alright.

They hadn't come too late, had they?

Either way, if he didn't take a break and go human and rest for a bit, it'd be too late for him.

From:

fryertuck

"I'll have a milkshake for you when you get back," says Tucker in his ear.

Re: Epilogue

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From:

steadfastknight

Enzo wasn't the only one. Kitt followed Bob - after all, it was him that he'd known of, had come to help, and seeing him like this left Kitt with a terrible feeling that he'd done something wrong. He'd sat vigil for Michael. He'd do the same for Bob.

From:

mandercommander.livejournal.com

Bruck just follows Enzo. "There...anything I can do, Enzo?" There's a look of concern on Bruck's face as he asks this; he's never met Bob, but...whomever he is, he's clearly important to Enzo. So...Bruck wants to help.

From:

a1enzo

Enzo looks bleakly up at Bruck. "I don't know."

Re: Epilogue

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From:

twiceahero.livejournal.com

Oracle doesn't even voice her decision, one she made as soon as she saw Bob's condition. She just follows the group silently into the infirmary. The joyful bounce that she's had in her step since she arrived in Mainframe is gone now.

From:

queenofmay

Marian knows who Bob is, but she'd never gotten to meet him before. She heard of him through Dot and it was obvious that her focus was on him.

She'd go home. Helplessness, even combined with the want to help, would only get in the way. She didn't know how to help him and it looked like there were people would could and would be able to once they cleared away.

Marian did, before she went to join the others leaving, step up behind Dot and says quietly. "If you need anything--anything--you know where to find me."

Then she walked quietly after the group discussing milkshakes and ice packs, with a strange expression. Though strange seemed normal with everything the day had brought.

From:

seker-pride.livejournal.com

Format notwithstanding, there isn't a lot he can do to help out. Whatever healing skills he possessed as a normal-if-dead Ihlini are rudimentary compared to the Cheysuli.

He just doesn't have it in him to help Bob.

But Bob's not alone; the guardian has more competent healers to tend to him anyways.

There are other jobs to do. Other things he can put his latent skills towards. Ways to help out here.