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."

[a1enzo]

"Got it."

[notascreensaver]

AndrAIa makes her way over to Enzo after Matrix has given his advice, and hides her own delivery by crouching and hugging the smaller sprite and whispering in his ear.

"Don't pick fights unless you have to, but don't bother fighting fair unless you know the other guy is going to."

[a1enzo]

Enzo grins and nods against her shoulder. "Thanks. I'll miss you."

[notascreensaver]

She smiles and gives him another squeeze.

"I'll miss you too Lil' Sparky."

[renegade-enzo.livejournal.com]

Matrix places a hand on the younger sprite's shoulder.

"Try not to be gone too long. Got it, little guy?"

In typical Matrix fashion, he says this while trying to maintain a manly facade.

[a1enzo]

Enzo grins; this is more than he usually gets out of Matrix. "I'm gonna try to find a Door soon as I can. But I'll be home for breaks an' stuff."

[command_dot_com]

With that the final boarding whistle for the ferry to the Super Computer blows out across the piers. Dot looks back towards the boat.

"That's our last call guys. Time to head off."

[mendanddefend_archive]

Bob slides easily into the driver's seat of the car. "Hop in, Cadet."

[a1enzo]

Grinning, Enzo gives a last hug to AndrAIa, one to Matrix just to watch him squirm, and races for the car. Shotgun!

[renegade-enzo.livejournal.com]

Anger! Hate! Malice!

...or, okay, maybe just one last glare from Matrix to Enzo for the hug.

[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?"

[mendanddefend_archive]

"An apartment complex about twenty sectors from here. You can't really see it from the data line..."

[command_dot_com]

"Do your parents still live there?"

...You have told them about her, haven't you?