(no subject)

"Hey, E!" Balun gives a wave as Enzo enters the room.

"Hey, Balun. Hey, Caret. How was vacation?"

"Pretty good," replies Caret, taller and apparently skinnier than ever. "I went to the data slides a lot, and I made a logical map of ARPANET out of spaghetti code."

"Caret..."

"What?"

"Nothing. How about yours, E?"

"Good. I visited Dani at her, uh, new place. It was pretty rad. Oh, and guess what? AndrAIa's pregnant!"

"Dude!" Balun leans forward excitedly. "You mean her boobs are gonna get even bigger?"

"Whose boobs?" asks a voice from the doorway. Enzo spins around to see a lanky boy, perhaps a few minutes older than him, with peach skin and long hair a little too red to let him pass as a human.

"Hey!" calls Balun. "You must be the noob."

The noob in question grins. "Brilliant deduction, dear roommate! What gave it away? The luggage, or the face you've never met be before?" The grand effect is rather spoilt when he adds eagerly, "So, whose boobs are getting bigger?"

"Enzo's sister-in-law the Game sprite," Balun replies happily. "Scha-wing."

Enzo narrows his eyes at Balun. "Because she's having a baby, dipswitch."

"So you're Enzo Matrix?" the redhead queries. "Congratulations to your sister-in-law, then," he continues without pausing for a response. Shuffling into the room with his bags, he glances around. "So which bunk is mine?"

Enzo blinks. "Uh... yeah." Frankly, by now he's accustomed to being stared, whispered, and fan-flailed at for the first second or so of term. Casual acknowledgement is a bit disconcerting.

"You're above Balun," Caret fills the newcomer in.

"That's me," adds Balun. "He's Caret Gibson-Irvine. You won't notice him until he says something weird." Caret nods in solemn agreement.

Feeling the need to recoup some sort of loss, Enzo puts in, "Balun's the campus bookie, and he just got his driving certificate so he'll probably be deleted within the minute."

"If I go, I'm takin' you with me!"

The newcomer slings his bags up onto his bunk. "Nice to meet you guys, I'm J-"

"JOSEPH!" a female voice hollers from somewhere outside. "Where in the freaking Web did you get to?"

Joseph heaves a sigh, sticks his head out the door, and bellows, "My room, Amy, where do you think? D5!"

"Yes, and how am I supposed to know that?" One can almost see the mystery sprite's eyes rolling, and her voice grows louder as she approaches. "I was supposed to be following you, remember?"

"Well, why didn't you?"

"Because I had to find my own room!"

"Excuses, excuses..."

"Brat."

"Dipswitch."

"You love me anyway," comes the response. "Seriously, how am I supposed to follow you when I can barely see what's going on in front of me?" With that, a large stack of boxes with legs appears at the doorway. "Not to mention the fact you rushed off while I had to dodge through the other students."

"Some packmule you are."

Balun's eyebrows are raised to maximum. "Sister?"

"Best friend." Joseph makes a round of introductions.

"Charmed. A little help here?" The pile of boxes wobbles.

Everyone but Joseph hastens to take a box, revealing that there is, indeed, a sprite behind them. The red-skinned girl rolls her eyes at Joseph. "Way to help me out, dearest friend of mine."

"You're a Guardian now. You can't afford to let me coddle you."

Her brows rise. "What do you call my carying your stuff for you?"

"A favour?"

"I'll show you favour," the growls Amy, advancing on her friend.

Enzo interrupts hastily. "What's in all these boxes, anyway?"

"My workshop equipment," Joseph replies joyfully, happy for the interruption. "I couldn't very well leave home without it, now could I?"

"What kind of equipment?" asks Caret.

"My chemistry set, a microscope, a few circuitry projects, a simple physics engine..."

"If he starts flailing," adds Amy, "if you value your eyebrows, duck."

Enzo and Balun exchange a look, and Enzo grins. "And I thought we were gonna be bored without Hugh."