You Can Never Go Home Again

Human beings tend to overcomplicate things. It's not their fault. It's just their nature. Usually when facing a seemingly insurmountable problem a person will look at the quandary one or two ways, try a course of action, and when he fails he will scratch his head, shrug and give up, convincing himself it's too hard and he has better things to do with his time. This was not the case with Kevin Sawyer, a human being, who through an amazing quirk of genetic fate was born a certifiable genius.

There were few problems he could not solve, even problems others considered insurmountable, overwhelming, or other words synonymous with "just too damn hard." He considered his discipline a creative one, much like art if one appreciated the processes involved. He was quite proud of himself and his accomplishments even though he tried to hide his vanity (and some might even say insecurities) with sarcasm and good humor.

Not long ago, just a day or two ago from his own perspective, his considerable intellect had been put to the test in an incredible way. He, Bob, and Enzo had been caught up in a time paradox. It was not really a paradox per sae, but an unbelievable entanglement of parallel timelines. An alternate version of Kevin had traveled back in time in a time machine invented by Welman Matrix. In his attempt to alter his personal history, Kevin (referred to as Taylor to avoid confusion) disrupted the first Gate experiment so Professor Matrix's machine would not spawn the future from which Taylor came.

His plan backfired, however, and instead he ended up bringing about the very events he set out to alter. Kevin, Bob, and Enzo were caught in the expanding mouth of a wormhole which transported them back in time to the first Gate Command experiment. It seemed that Taylor's future would come to pass eventually after all, but his counterpart offered a solution which would restore the future from which he, Bob, and Enzo came from. There was only one problem: It would mean triggering the destruction of the Twin City, killing many innocent lives, and spawning the twin viruses Megabyte and Haxadecimal.

They hid this fact from Taylor, and after traveling back in time once more, they sacrificed him so that the "proper" history could be restored. The whole ordeal had been a trying one. Upon their return, Bob programmed the timeship to project its temporal field as far into the future as it would reach where it could never be recovered.

After that, it seemed life returned to normal, and it did except in the case of Bob, Enzo, and Kevin. To everyone else, absolutely nothing had happened. To them, there was only one history, one line of cause and effect. But the three time travelers had seen another history, or at least an aspect of it. Before it was thought the Twin City disaster was only an accident, but now it was clear there was nothing accidental about it. They had been the real cause of the explosion. They knowingly and willfully sent a man to his death with the hope of restoring their reality. It worked, and now they had to deal with the consequences.

Kevin decided to hang around Mainframe for a few more seconds. He did not want to seem insensitive to the others by leaving suddenly. Enzo had withdrawn into the Read-Only Room. The young sprite was probably the most affected of the three. He spent most of his time reading the various texts Kevin had brought, and when he did come out it was only to eat or to go home. When prodded he wouldn't open up. He seemed to sink deeper and deeper into himself. Bob understood his mood more than anyone. The Guardian paid a heavy price too.

It wasn't like any of them had a choice. To save the Twin City meant to bring about the destruction of the whole Net in the future. It was the lesser of two evils. Bob and Kevin were convinced they made the right choice.

So why, thought Kevin, can't I shake this feeling like I'm the real bag guy here?

Was there even a bad guy to blame? It was easy when you were fighting a virus or a Game Cube. It's either you or him. This, though, couldn't be pinned on a virus or some guy on the outside entertaining himself on his PC. No, this was a moral dilemma. He might have felt a little better if there were more of a connection between him and the rest of the Mainframers. As it was, however, he still felt like an outsider. This was not his home. He didn't have the same connection with the people as Bob or Enzo did. This fact made him feel worse.

When they told the others about what happened, there was little that could be said. Naturally they were shocked, but what could be done? It was history, literally. Bob had been bound by his duty as a Guardian to set things back, and the alternative was not much better. It was either save a few and face the future dominated by Daemon's rule, a future where Mainframe was broken and shattered and an inch away from being overrun by Daemon's armies, or sacrifice a few thousand to spare the whole Net.

Humans tend to overcomplicate things. Sprites do too. Sometimes, though, things are just complicated to begin with.

Bob was hard at work on his 262. The plasma converter had burnt out again. He would have to pay a visit to Old Man Pearson to find a replacement. It was important that he get the car running before the second of the ceremony. He laid the charred component on a worktable next to his toolbox. An unexpected ring from his doorbell forced him from his thoughts. He opened the garage door and was moderately surprised to see Dot standing on the catwalk outside.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to drop by and see how you were doing. We haven't had a lot of time to talk since you got back. Can I come in?"

"Sure, Yeah."

Dot walked over to the car and peered into its bowels. "Looks like your ion polarizer is cracked."

"Yeah. I was going to fix that after I fixed this converter." He squirted some hand cleaner into his palm from an orange bottle and began cleaning his hands of oil. "Would you like something to drink? I was about to take a break before you came in."

"Thanks. That sounds nice."

They went into the apartment. Dot seated herself on Bob's living room couch while he poured them each a glass of cherry quantum shake. He sat next to her on the couch and handed her the glass. She thanked him and took a small sip. A brief silence followed. Neither knew where to start.

To break the tension, Dot said, "What are you feeling?"

Bob stared into his glass. "I'm feeling a lot of things."

"You can tell me." She reached out and took his hand. He looked up and saw tenderness in her eyes. It was sympathy he felt he didn't deserve.

"I feel like I don't deserve you right now."

"Usually I'm the one in denial."

"I'm serious," Bob said. "Don't you get it? It was us, Dot. Me and Enzo and Kevin. We destroyed the Twin City." He turned away from her again.

"It wasn't your fault," she said. "You did what you had to do."

"How can you say that? You of all people?"

"You're not the only one who's had to make sacrifices, Bob," Dot said. Her voice became quieter, slower. "During the War, we had Megabyte contained within a firewall. He opened a rift once and sent an entire squadron out to attack the Principal office." Bob listened as she recounted the events. She ordered the destruction of over a hundred ABC's. Over two hundred binomes were deleted. Afterwards she felt as if a part of her died that second along with the virals. "There were other battles. More people were erased. But that second was the worst. I think it was the first time I realized we were at war and there was no turning back."

"Why didn't you ever tell me this?" Bob asked.

"I was afraid of what you'd think of me. I knew you never would have approved of what I did, but I…" she sighed, "I'd already given you up for dead."

Bob squeezed her hand. "You did the right thing, Dot," he said. "Megabyte would have overrun the city a lot sooner if it hadn't been for you."

"I know that now," she said. "But at the time it was painful. Then I learned to live with it." She looked him in the eye. "I know you feel guilty, but from what you told us, you didn't have any choice."

"This is different."

"It isn't," she said. "You had one of two options: either stop the explosion, which would have allowed Daemon to win the war, or put things back as they were."

"Are you saying you would have done the same?"

"Yes, I would have because it's history, Bob," Dot said sternly. "It's our history, and even though it's not perfect it's still who were are, and I wouldn't trade who we are now for anything. We've all come too far to be cheated out of something precious like our past. Yes, people were nullified, but we have to accept it and move forward."

Bob rubbed his forehead. He felt weary all of a sudden. "I just feel like I should have done something different. I thought about it. When I saw you back there I almost made up my mind to leave things alone, let you have a better life."

"What are you talking about?" Dot asked.

"Enzo asked me to take him to see himself while Kevin and Taylor were working. We stood outside his old school and waited until he came out. We watched you pick him up. I remember thinking about all the things we would all go through if I allowed the accident to happen, all the things I could spare us from. Then the Protocol made me remember Taylor's story about the future he came from, and I just…"

"You wanted everything back to normal," Dot said.

Bob nodded. "Yeah."

She scooted closer over to him and put her arm around his shoulders. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Nobody blames you for anything," said Dot. "Not me, not my father, nobody."

Bob looked into her violet eyes again and felt a soothing warmth flow into him. His hand found her cheek and slowly stroked her soft skin.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"You're welcome." She stood up and held out her hand. Bob took it and rose up off the couch. "Have dinner with me?"

Bob smiled, his core-com warming again. "I'd love to."

All the escapist literature in the Net couldn't help young Enzo Matrix. Since his return from the past he had spent most of his time looking for solstice in his fortress of solitude, Mainframe's Read-Only Room. Minutes before, while Bob was away in the Supercomputer, Enzo started coming here to escape the stress and loneliness he felt. Barred from entering Games, he would immerse himself in the texts of the archives and forget the troubles of his life. It was his private place where he could be by himself and think.

Something was different this time, though. Not even the sanctity of the Read-Only Room brought peace to Enzo's troubled thoughts. He had started reading a text on Codemasters but was not able to concentrate enough to make it past the first paragraph. Instead he closed all the windows and leaned forward in his chair. He rubbed his eyes then his pulsing temples. The image of the Twin City explosion ran across the darkness of his eyelids every time he closed them. The grizzled face of Kevin's double, Taylor, was never far behind. He was nullified now, along with all the other inhabitants of the Twin City, and he helped make it happen.

"Spam!" Enzo yelled as he slammed his fists into the vidwindow. The image flickered then returned to normal. He sighed heavily then he began to sob. He tried to control it, but the leaking dam finally burst and he slid out of his chair onto the cold marble floor, hot tears running down his face.

He remembered seeing his father after he returned. He practically fell into his arms, pleading for his forgiveness. A cascade of emotions assaulted Enzo's processor. He was a wreck, but he didn't know what to do about it. His entire body felt like lead. He didn't want to move from this spot, but when he heard the door of the Read-Only Room open he quickly shot up.

Phong entered the room. "Hello, my child."

"Oh…hi, Phong," Enzo said, wiping his wet cheek. "What's up?"

"You have been very reclusive lately. I was wondering if you were all right."

Enzo put his hands in his pockets. "I've just been trying to sort out some things, that's all."

"And has it been going well?"

Enzo sighed. His feelings were pretty much written all over his face, and he knew it. "No." He sat back down in his chair. "I've been scanning through the archives looking for answers, but it's all just…Crash! It all feels pointless."

Phong placed a comforting hand on Enzo's shoulder. "The pursuit of understanding one's self is never pointless, my child. You are still young. Life still has much to teach you about endurance."

Enzo just shook his head.

"Come with me," Phong said. "There is someone who wants to see you."

Enzo slowly rose from his chair and left the room with Phong. Outside was someone that made Enzo's mood suddenly brighten.

"Hey, sugah. What's processin'?"

"Mouse!" Enzo's lips curled into a smile as he hugged the mercenary. "When did you get back?"

"About a millisecond ago," she said, returning his smile. "Ray and I wanted to be here for the ceremony."

"I'm glad you're back. Mainframe hasn't been the same without you."

"Aw, I'm sure that ain't so. Phong here's been telling me some interestin' stories. Need to talk?"

Enzo sighed. "Yeah."

Kevin studied the schematics in front of him intently. The human scientist was analyzing Phong and Welman Matrix's design for a 'reintegration machine'. It was hoped this machine would restore nullified sprites to their humanoid form. The more Kevin studied the blueprints and schematics, the more he recognized aspects of his own digitization platform. It was ingenious. The machine would use lasers to force the null into a quantum superposition of observable states.

According to quantum mechanics, an object possesses an infinite number of possible physical states; however, only one state can be observed at a given time. The same way water can either be solid, liquid, or gas, but never all three at the same time, a person can have an array of traits or features, but only one can be observed.

A null retains the code of the sprite it used to be. The machine would force the null into a superposition of states, a state where it occupies all possible states of physical existence. They would then use the harvested game codes to force the null into its previous physical state before it was ever nullified. Piece of cake.

"Ingenious," said Kevin.

AndrAIa entered the science lab. "Hi, Kevin," said the Game Sprite.

"Hey, AndrAIa. How's the bambino?"

"The what?" she asked.

He smiled. "I asked how the baby was doing."

"He's doing fine," she replied.

A few seconds prior, AndrAIa upgraded her wardrobe to something more—did Sawyer even dare think the word—modest. Her bikini top had been replaced with a teal green, short sleeve blouse which still revealed her pleasant neckline. In place of her aquatic-style leather pants was a pair of bellbottom jeans, and a pair of black pumps took the place of her stiletto boots. Beneath her blouse, her tummy was beginning to bulge slightly.

"I came to see how you were doing, actually."

Kevin shrugged. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine, Kevin," AndrAIa said. She sat in a swivel chair and regarded the scientist with concern. "I know your type. You try to hide your feelings with other feelings. Trust me, I've had plenty of experience with emotionally insecure men."

"I am not insecure," said Kevin. He was becoming agitated. "I know we did the right thing. It's just…" He ran his hand through his brown hair. He looked at AndrAIa then sighed. "Look, I've always known I could kill if I had to. It's just the way I was raised, I guess. But what we did…what I did was murder."

"So you feel bad about killing yourself," clarified AndrAIa.

"That's not funny."

"I was being serious."

"Of course I feel bad."

"Would you prefer you didn't feel anything at all?"

"Please don't get philosophical on me," Kevin said. "I've got a big enough headache as it is."

"Kevin," said AndrAIa rising from her chair, "it's all right. We've all made choices that are in a gray area. You did what you had to do."

"I keep telling myself that," Sawyer replied quietly.

AndrAIa stepped closer. "Listen, Mouse is back in town for the ceremony. Everyone's getting together at Bob's apartment. Why don't you join us?"

"I really should finish analyzing these schematics." Kevin turned back to the vidwindows. "Welman is hoping to compile this thing in the next few seconds and…"

He felt her hand on his shoulder and he fell silent. "You don't need to feel left out, Kevin. You're a Mainframer, not just a User or whatever. You have friends here, you know."

He turned around. "I guess I could take a break."

She smiled. "Come on." They left the science lab and headed for the elevator at the end of the hall. "By the way," she asked, "are you any good at pool?"

"Anyway, that's pretty much what happened," Enzo said.

"Oh, sweetie, I don't know what to tell you," Mouse said. The two sat outside on the Principal Office steps. "As far as dilemmas go, you've pretty much taken the trophy."

"Kevin has an expression," said Enzo. "I think it's common in his world. Catch-22. I think it means, 'Spammed if you do, spammed if you don't.' It comes from a book or something."

"We call those sorts of situations deadlocks," said Mouse.

"It doesn't matter," said Enzo. "I just wish there had been another way. I still think we could have figured something out if Bob had just ignored the Protocol."

"You mean the Guardian Protocol?" asked Mouse.

"The Temporal Protocol," Enzo explained. "It's a special subset of the Guardian Protocol that deals with time travel. It says a Guardian has to restore whatever history existed before a change."

"I never knew the Guardians had something like that."

"Neither did I. Not until all this started happening." Enzo frowned. Talking about this only seemed to make him feel worse. He felt an uncommon wave of anger swell within him. "If Bob hadn't been such a dip switch we could have saved the Twin City, I know it!"

"Honey, the Twin City was destroyed when you were a little sprite."

"But it didn't have to happen, Mouse, that's the point! Taylor, Kevin from the other timeline, said the Twin City was never destroyed in an explosion. My dad's invention worked, and he became famous. He didn't have to get nullified. Don't you understand?"

Enzo fell silent. Mouse didn't know how to respond. The whole story seemed too incredible to be true. Enzo was hurting, but she didn't even know how to help. Somehow, she found words she hoped would ease his burden.

"Enzo, you can't help but wonder about how things could have turned out. I guess in your case it's even harder because you actually saw how things could have gone a different way. But the thing is, sweetie, they call it the past because it has passed. It's gone and done. I can't even begin to imagine what you're goin' through, but you have to keep tellin' yourself that you did the best thing. Maybe it wasn't the right thing. But it was for the best."

Enzo looked into Mouse's eyes. "I'm going to make more choices like that aren't I? In the future, I mean."

Mouse nodded. "Everyone has to make hard choices. Just ask your sister. She's still trying to live with some of the things she did back in the war with Megabyte. The fact that the system was restored doesn't make a difference; she made those choices and people died. You had to make a choice, and now you have to live with it."

Enzo turned his gaze back upon Mainframe. Kevin was right, Enzo thought. Time and space are a real bitch.

Bob's apartment building, Eight Ball Apartments, had a pool hall on the ground floor. Ray and Matrix were about to begin a game when AndrAIa walked in with Kevin. Bob and Dot were snuggling on a sofa. Dot had her organizer on her lap, but was paying little attention to the information on the screen. For a moment Kevin remembered his nights with Jessica and how they used to curl up together on the couch.

Jessie…

"Well, if it ain't the User in the flesh," Ray Tracer said.

Kevin snapped out of his thoughts and focused on the Surfer. "Nice to see you again, Ray," Kevin said, shaking the search engine's hand. "What have you been up to?"

"Oh, ya know, mate. Traveling and such. Mouse and I wanted to be here for the celebration."

"Where is Mouse?" asked Bob. "I haven't seen her."

"Phong took her to see Enzo," Dot said. "They should be on their way now."

"So, Sawyer," said Ray. "Want in on this game? With Bob we can double team."

Kevin stole a glance at Matrix who was regarding the human with his usual c neutral stare. He said to Bob, "How about it, Bob? Up for it?"

"Sure," he said, getting up off the couch. He reached for a stick out of the rack and eyes it to make sure it was straight. Kevin did the same. AndrAIa joined Dot on the couch. Kevin broke the balls, gaining a solid in the corner pocket.

Matix went next, then Bob, then Ray, and so on. By the time Enzo and Mouse entered the room Kevin and Bob were one ball shy of taking the 8.

"Hey, there he is!" said Ray.

Enzo smiled when he saw Ray. "Hey, Ray, how's it hangin'?"

"These two over here are makin' me and your brother look like amateurs."

"It's not my fault I'm that good," Kevin said. "Now are you going to complain or are you going to shoot?"

"You've been told, Surfer," said Matrix.

The game went on. Enzo sat in a comfortable chair in the corner with Frisket relaxing on the floor beside him. It wasn't long before the game ended. Bob put the 8-ball in the bottom corner pocket.

"Hey, Enzo," Ray said. "Want the next game? You can have Matrix's spot."

Matrix gave Ray a warning glance and a sneer.

"No thanks, Ray," said Enzo.

"You sure?" asked Matrix. It wasn't like his kid brother to turn down a game.

"Yeah, it's cool. Actually, I think I'm going to take a walk. I'll see you later."

Enzo got up and headed out the door. Everyone was a little confused. Even Frisket was perplexed by the actions of his master.

"Since when does Enzo take walks?" asked Ray.

Bob looked to Kevin. They both put down their cues and excused themselves, leaving to go catch Enzo.

Enzo never felt so angry in his life. He was brooding, he knew, and it scared him, but he just couldn't stand to be in that room any longer. Seeing everyone ease back into the normal routine of life was enough to make him sick to his stomach. Didn't anyone care? Was it really so easy to ignore what had happened?

"Enzo," called Bob. He was the last person he wanted to talk to. Enzo kept walking. "Come on, Enzo. Talk to us."

"Talk about what?" asked Enzo. "Everyone seems happy to leave well enough alone, so why stir up drama? It's not like we killed anybody." He stopped and quickly whirled around. "Oh, wait, we did!"

"You know why we had to do it, Enzo," said Bob. "If the Gate didn't explode, Daemon would have taken over the Net."

"We could have done something!" Enzo shouted. "We had a time machine. We could have fixed things, made it safe. We could have written Daemon out of history!"

"It's not that simple," Kevin said. "Look, Enzo, we're all dealing with this, okay? We all feel guilty about what happened but it had to happen. It was destined to happen. There's nothing we could have done to avoid it."

"I don't believe that," Enzo said. "There had to be something we could've done." He was breathing heavily now. He felt his legs quivering. It wasn't until now that he felt pain in his hands. His fists had been clinched as tight as metal vices. It was the first time in his memory he had been mad at Bob. It was the first time he had been mad at himself.

"I'm tired,' said Enzo. "I'm going home."

"Enzo, wait," Bob said.

"Bob, please," Enzo said with a strong tone of impatience, "just leave me alone for a while. I need to think."

Without another word, Enzo turned away and headed for Baudway.

Matrix and AndrAIa were getting ready for the hibernation cycle. AndrAIa slipped into her evening gown and turned out the light in the bathroom. Matrix was already under the energy covers. He had a hand between his head and the pillow. He stared into the ceiling intently, obviously in deep thought. No doubt Enzo's recent behavior was concerning him.

"Bit for your thoughts?" asked AndrAIa as she slid into bed. She cuddled close next to his muscular frame.

"I'm worried about Enzo," he said.

"He's been through a lot," said AndrAIa. "All of them have."

"I can understand why they'd be upset," Matrix said. "But I guess for us…" Matrix paused. "Nothing's different. Nothing changed for us."

"Right," said AndrAIa. "And?"

"That's just it," said Matrix. "None of us can really imagine what happened to them. For us, everything was always the same. I think that's what's hurting Enzo. He's expecting consequences, but he's still too young to know he's already feeling them."

"He'll be ok," said AndrAIa. "He's got family. Eventually he'll learn how to cope."

"I hope so," said Matrix. He turned his head. "How's the baby?"

"Mmm. She's good."

"What makes you think it's a girl?"

"Mothers are intuitive about that sort of thing."

"Oh, really," said Matrix amusedly. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

She smiled, a bright, adorable smile that made Matrix's core-com flutter. "We're both excited." She rubbed her pouching tummy, speaking for the child.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you, too."

Matrix kissed her passionately. Then, once the lights were extinguished, they fell into blissful slumber.

Kevin relaxed into his reading chair. His Mainframe apartment was dimly lit. Outside, the sky was a dusky twilight. Power-down had started almost twenty microseconds ago. It seemed as if the whole city had a blanket drawn over it. As for Sawyer himself, sleep was playing hard to get. It wasn't that he was having issues with his conscience. He just wasn't sleepy. He was absorbed with the schematics for Welman's new machine. This device was a breakthrough in cyber medicine, a cure for nulls. If they could get it to work, everyone in Mainframe could be brought back from a nullified state.

Kevin's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. He got up and answered it. There stood Enzo, hands in pockets, looking as downtrodden as before.

"Enzo," Kevin said. "You ok?"

"I need to talk to you," he said.

"Sure. Come on in." He stepped aside and Enzo walked in. He sat down on the sofa facing Kevin's chair.

"I need to know if we really did the right thing," said Enzo as Sawyer took his seat.

Kevin rubbed his head. "I believe we did. I know you don't think so, but it was the only course of action."

"That's what I can't accept. I can't believe we're all fated to do a certain thing."

"There's no way we could have known how our actions would shape the future," said Kevin. "We could have made things worse by tampering."

"So we just chose the easy way out," Enzo said.

"It was anything but easy," Kevin said. "My father had an expression. 'The evil that you know is better than the evil you don't know.' It was the lesser of two evils." It was strange he even thought of this. Kevin rarely quoted his father.

"And that makes it justified?"

"I don't know," said Kevin. "I honestly wish there was a definite answer. God knows I'd like one, but there isn't. It's a part of your history, Enzo. Now it's a part of mine. We all have to deal."

After reflecting for a moment, Enzo rose and walked toward the door. "Thanks for the talk, Kevin."

"Are you going to be ok?"

"Like you said, we all have to deal. I'm just not sure how to yet."

Enzo was standing in a cemetery. It seemed odd that he should see such a place in Mainframe. The sky above was charcoal gray. All around him were headstones engraved with names, but for some odd reason he couldn't read them. He walked through the graveyard, trying to find a familiar name. He was wearing a Guardian Cadet uniform, and in his right hand was a bouquet of flowers.

There was something wrong here. Why would he be carrying a bouquet of flowers to a headstone? Were there actual bodies buried beneath them?

He finally stopped and stared at a marble statue. It was Bob. He was in his Guardian uniform his fists balled on his hips in a heroic pose. The epitaph on the solid base below read:

GUARDIAN 452

"THE GREATEST GUARDIAN OF THEM ALL"

REST IN PEACE

Next to Bob's grave was a smaller headstone with Dot's name on it. It began to rain, but Enzo was fixated on the other gravestones. Now everywhere he turned he saw a name he recognized: Mouse, Ray, AndrAIa, Matrix, Phong, his father. He was surrounded by death and the image of death. Even the flowers in his hand were wilted now. He looked across the lawn and saw the Principal Office in ruins. There was a gigantic hole in its roof where he could see through to the other side. The whole system was dead.

Why? What happened? None of this made sense. Then he felt a presence behind him, and he turned. It was Hexadecimal. She was not the same as he remembered. She was wearing a red robe, and her face and hands were bone white. She still wore a spiked tiara on her forehead, and her facial features were smooth, as if she were a sprite again.

"Hex, what happened here?" he asked.

"It's not over," she said.

"What? What did you say?"

"It's not over, Enzo."

"What isn't over? What do you mean?"

"Don't ever change what's in here." She placed a hand on his chest above his core-com.

He felt something start to shake him.

"Enzo, wake up," Dot said.

Enzo's eyes fluttered open. Light streamed in through his bedroom window.

"Hey," she said. "Breakfast is ready. You'd better get going or you'll make us late."

"Late?" he groaned. "Late for…" He suddenly remembered. "Crash!"

The teenager jumped out of bed, forgetting to turn off the energy covers, and ran into the bathroom. He had a hurried breakfast with Dot and their dad (although Welman couldn't eat anything) and they all left for the Principal Office.

The ceremony was small, private, and closed to the general public. No one knew about it. The event had been kept secret specifically so Mike wouldn't turn it into a media frenzy. They gathered on an island at Floating Point where the energy sea was in perfect view. Beneath a decorated archway, Phong read them their vows. AndrAIa and Matrix held each others hands as they exchanged oaths. Dot and Mouse stood beside AndrAIa while Bob, Ray, Enzo, and Sawyer stood beside Matrix.

They made the decision to forego a formal wedding, gather their friends together, and tie the knot. It was simple, perfect, and romantic. AndrAIa wore a white cotton dress while Matrix wore a black long sleeve shirt and dress slacks. No tie, no dinner jacket. That was his general policy. It didn't matter anyway. In AndrAIa's eyes, he never looked more handsome.

"You may kiss the bride," Phong finally said.

Matrix took her in his arms and kissed her deeply. She drew her arms around his neck and pulled him close, savoring the feeling of his lips. In the background, the others were clapping. A flash told them Phong was taking a picture.

When they drew away, Matrix was smiling. "I love you," he said.

"I love you too."

Dot offered to book them on a cruise, but they both declined. After seeing the whole Net as children, the idea of staying at home and being with family seemed more appealing. Phong had his camera ready and started taking more pictures. Everyone was smiling and laughing. It was the first real joyous occasion in their lives since the restart of the system.

"This sort of brings back memories," Kevin said to Bob.

"Really?"

"Yeah, only Jessica and I…eloped, I guess you could say. Neither of our parents were at our ceremony. All we had was a judge and one of her friends as a witness."

"Why weren't your parents there?" Bob asked.

"Well, when you don't speak to your parents for five years, animosity tends to build."

"Your parents or hers?" Bob asked.

"Mine."

"Hey, boys," called Mouse. "Gather 'round."

Everyone gathered together as Phong set the camera on a timer and used a portable stand to set it up. Kevin remained aloof, not sure if he should join in.

"Kevin, what are you standing there for?" asked AndrAIa. "Get in the picture."

"Come on, Kevin, hurry," urged Welman.

He smiled and got next to Welman just in time.

Click…

Later, after they all had dinner together at Dot's apartment, Enzo resigned himself to the terrace. It wasn't long before he sensed a familiar presence near him.

"Son, is everything all right?" asked Welman.

"I'm just not in the celebrating mood, dad," Enzo replied.

His father came next to him. "What's on your mind?"

"Everything," he said. "I feel so lost."

"It's because of the Twin City isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Are you afraid I'm mad at you, is that it?" asked Welman.

"Aren't you?"

"Of course not," he said. "You're my son, and I love you. Nothing can change that. If anything I'm proud."

"Proud?"

"Yes. You're a fine young man despite what you might think."

"That means a lot, Dad. Really it does. I just can't shake this feeling."

"What feeling?"

"Like this isn't all. It's hard to describe. I fell like there are more choices ahead, hard ones, and I'm not prepared for them."

"Life comes at you fast, son," Welman said. "You can never prepare for what you can't predict." They both heard a surge of laughter from within the apartment.

"Sounds like we're missing out," Enzo said.

Welman put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, son. Let's go back inside."

They walked back into the penthouse apartment. Seeing everyone kicking back and having a good time made Enzo's heart warm. For the first time since he'd returned from his journey through time, he felt at home again. He saw Bob and Dot sitting close on the sofa, holding hands, smiling and laughing with the others. Something suddenly dawned on him. Bob had the opportunity to change things so that his time in the Web never happened. He could have made it to where he and Dot were never separated. But he didn't.

In spite of the horrors he knew the future held, he still chose to restore this chain of events. He chose to live with the life he'd made. It was then Enzo realized why the Temporal Protocol had been written. Time travel was a temptation few people could leave alone. Bob had stood up to that temptation while Enzo was still struggling with it, but something told him he would eventually learn to accept the fact that there were some things beyond control.

After everyone had gone, Bob lingered around for a few microseconds and helped Dot clean up. Enzo waited until Dot was out of earshot before speaking to Bob.

"I'm sorry about last second," the teenager said. "I was angry at you for no good reason."

"Enzo, it's—"

"Let me finish…I've always looked up to you, Bob. I always used to think of you as this—I don't know—perfect hero or something. But now I'm starting to realize I have my own opinions about things. I still don't agree with what we did, but I know why we did it, and it was wrong of me to hold it against you and Kevin."

Bob nodded. "Ok," he said.

Enzo nodded back. "Ok."

Dot came back into the room and Enzo headed up to bed, stopping to kiss his sister goodnight.

"Were you two talking?" asked Dot.

"Yeah," said Bob. He had a curious look on his face. "You know, Dot, I think we've been wrong about Enzo."

"How so?"

"All this time we thought he only physically matured. But just now I could have sworn I was talking to a grown sprite."