(Untitled)

[im_so_sari]

[Out of Milliways: "I dunno, maybe somethin' sweet... somethin' pretty... somethin' loud." Dialogue lifted from Transformers Animated Episode 10, "Sound and Fury."]

Okay, so Sari and Bulkhead didn't get do a whole lot of toy shopping today. But they kicked a supervillain's butt, and that's even better. Thus, Sari's feeling pretty good as she comes

Comments

[renegade_enzo]

Kicking butt and taking names is something Matrix approves strongly of. Heck, he made a career out of that.

"Birthday, huh? What're you asking for?"

Here, Matrix might be thinking of his own, which isn't due for another year, at least.

And maybe wondering what Mainframe will do to celebrate it, and how much strong-arming will be required to get him to go along with it.

[im_so_sari]

"I don't know yet. That's what I'm tryin' to figure out."

[renegade_enzo]

"I always start with the stuff I like."

That's a long list.

"Then narrow it down to what people are likely to agree with and give me."

That turns a long list into a very short list. Not many people would give him a public display of viruses being mercilessly deleted, after all.

[im_so_sari]

"What do you ask for that people won't give you?"

When your father is the founder of the world's biggest robotics manufacturer, 'we can't afford that' isn't in your vocabulary.

[renegade_enzo]

"It's not that I ask and they won't give so much as 'I know they won't give me what I want'."

Pause.

"So I'll make it a point to ask other people for it."

Maybe the Academy will let him be present for a few viral executions. Maybe they'll even let him press the button.

[im_so_sari]

"Why wouldn't they?"

[renegade_enzo]

"Because they'd think me crazy for asking it."

Actually they might think something else, but crazy works here.

[im_so_sari]

"How come?"

[renegade_enzo]

"It's complicated."

Meaning, "You'd think I was crazy, too, if I told you".

[im_so_sari]

Sari gives him a Look.

It's a Look that clearly says 'Give me some credit, just because I'm not yet eight years old doesn't mean I'm STUPID.'

[renegade_enzo]

Matrix gives her a Look of his own. Well, if she wants the truth...

"You have anything in your world you hate enough to want to see terminated with extreme prejudice?"

[im_so_sari]

She wasn't expecting that at all.

"...geography tests? Maybe?"

[renegade_enzo]

Of course, she hasn't known Matrix long enough to have him tell her what he thinks about viruses.

"Geography tests they'd at least be willing to consider. That involves inanimate objects. Viruses, on the other hand, are not."

Pause.

"I do not like viruses."

His tone should be enough to tell Sari just how much he does not like viruses.

[im_so_sari]

"...why?"

[renegade_enzo]

He points to his right eye.

"How do you think I got that? I lost it in a Game I never would have been in if Megabyte hadn't betrayed Bob and sent him into the Web."

Pause. In the end, in his mind, everything is Megabyte's fault.

"They-he-ruined everything. Destroyed everything. My home. My family. My life. And Daemon. She stole away AndrAIa. I got her back, but..."

The thought causes him to wince in pain. There can be no forgiveness in him for all that they've done to him and those about him.

[im_so_sari]

Sari is quiet for a long moment.

"I guess if programs are people, then viruses are too, huh."