Up in the morning and out to school...

[a1enzo]

This is it.

They're at the docks. Enzo's carefully culled belongings are packed in the trunk of Bob's car. The ferry is scheduled to leave soon, but they're letting the other travelers board first.

Time to say goodbye.

Comments

[l33t-mouse.livejournal.com]

"...an' remember, if some other kid's BASIC enough t'try an' push ya around, punch 'im. Bam. Right in th'nose. Ya might get in trouble but it'll teach folks not t'mess with ya."

[nofileext]

"Or if he's too tall, headbutt 'im," Ray adds. "Right in the gut."

[command_dot_com]

"Mouse! Ray!" Dot heard that you two.

"Stop giving Enzo ideas, he already knows how to prank for revenge."

[mendanddefend_archive]

"And he shouldn't be doing that at the Academy either."

Like it's possible to stop him.

[nofileext]

Hey, it was perfectly sound advice. "What d'you expect him to do if someone gives him grief, then?"

[mendanddefend_archive]

"Suck it up and move on like a normal person?"

[renegade-enzo.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile, Matrix leans in, whispering to Enzo as the other adults are distracted.

"Stick with what I taught ya, kid, and you'll be fine. Just remember to try an' trip 'em if they're bigger than you."

[mendanddefend_archive]

The ferry is slow, crowded, and noisy, but it gets you where you need to go. Sure enough, before long they've docked in port at the Supercomputer. It's not a single system, but hundreds of Mainframe-sized subsystems all connected together, with the great spire of the Principal Office shining like a beacon in the far distance.

"If we take the express data line we can be at the Academy in ten nanos," says Bob as he starts the car, "but I'm guessing you'll wanna take the scenic route..."

[a1enzo]

"Yeah!" Enzo exclaims, staring around wide-eyed. Dude! He's really there!

[command_dot_com]

"Wow..." Dot is staring up at the city and the lanes around each of the hubs. San Francisco was one thing, this place is an entirely different bundle of data.

[mendanddefend_archive]

Bob grins and revs the car's engine, just for the heck of it, before taking off on a long, meandering route through the subsystems toward the core.

"See that big domed building? That's Blair Stadium...

"Over on the right is my old beta-programming school. Looks like they still haven't replaced the broken swingset...

"There used to be a big energy park there, I guess they tore it down..."

[a1enzo]

Enzo drinks it all in. Things they don't have back home, things they do have but so much bigger or just more of them... and everywhere, towers of shining green and white. He remembers something Dorothy said to him about an 'Emerald City'...

[command_dot_com]

Dot pays close attention to the benchmarks as Bob points them out along the way. As amazing as this is... She's remembered the other thing that they might be doing today.

"Where is the home you grew up in?"

[command_dot_com]

Checking in at the Administration building had been fairly quick and relatively questionless. Now all that was left to do was to help the new cadet move into his new living quarters, room D5.

Dot's carrying the smaller of the two boxes that Enzo has packed, opening the door with one free hand. "Alright let's get you moved in.."

[a1enzo]

Enzo's got the slightly larger box holding his 'personal effects,' mostly chosen from his birthday presents (plus a few last-minute items). He carries it awkwardly through the door, and immediately drops it as someone grabs his arm.

"You must be Enzo," says the bubble-gum-pink youth in a cheerful but abrupt tone. "Here, hold the base steady." And he pushes his new roommate at a large and worrying contraption sticking out through the window. Bewildered, Enzo crouches and takes hold of the nearest bit. Across the machine from him, a glossy dark-blue boy with a seafoam-green ducktail hairdo gives him a friendly grin.

"Okay, Balun, give 'er a crank," Pink commands. Blue grabs a handle and whirls it until the... gun? It looks like a gun... is emitting a steady hum. Pink rubs his hands together, grabs a pair of handles, swings the top part of the gun a few degrees leftward, and presses a thumb-button on the right handle.

A blob of dark purple something erupts out the window and arcs over the green a considerable distance. Cadets scatter at the end of its trajectory, but a few still get splattered. "Yeah!" crows Pink. "8% improvement!" He turns to Enzo and extends a hand. "Good to meetcha. I'm Hugh."

"Hi," says a dazed Enzo as he shakes the proffered hand.

[mendanddefend_archive]

Bob, who's been struggling to get the oversized guitar case through the door, raises an eyebrow at all this. "You think maybe you could wait until the term actually starts before getting in trouble?"

[a1enzo]

Hugh waves this away. "We'll clean it up," he says. "It's only fair." He's 11.01 by the look of him, with canary-yellow hair in short, fat spikes.

"Dude," says Balun, emerging from the code slush cannon. "You're Bob, aren't you?" He's 11 at the outside, and his skin looks like Megabyte's might have if freshly waxed.

[mendanddefend_archive]

"Uh, yeah, why?"

[a1enzo]

Hugh spreads his hands. "'Net's only sprite-keytool hybrid? You are kinda famous, man."

"Actually, my aunt said she used to know you," Balun puts in. "Maxine?"

[mendanddefend_archive]

Enzo's been registered, moved in to his room, and survived the initial meeting with his new roomies.

Now comes the difficult part.

"Well, I guess we'll be heading off..."

[a1enzo]

"Yeah."

This is it. His first time away from home, apart from Milliways. Although this is in the same universe, it still seems a lot farther away. Somehow, it didn't really feel like leaving until now.

[command_dot_com]

It's not the first time Dot's had to see her little brother go away.

But this is the first time she's going to get a chance to say goodbye. And it won't be permanent.

"Write back soon." Dot tries smiling, it comes out kind of halfway. "Going to miss hearing you terrorize the Office staff."

[a1enzo]

Never permanent. Never.

And, if all goes as hoped, considerably less so than it is for most cadets.

"I promise." He gives a weak grin. "I'll miss Specky freaking out."

[mendanddefend_archive]

"Now you get to terrorize the Academy faculty instead," says Bob, trying to lighten the mood.

[a1enzo]

"We'll help!" chirps Balun from his desk, where he's attempting to overclock a zipboard.

"Balun," Hugh's scolding voice calls from the bathroom. "You don't tell people you're eavesdropping. You save it for later blackmail."

"Then what're you doing?"

"Being a hypocrite."

Enzo giggles.