Panic consumed all of her senses. Disbelief enflamed the deepest reaches of her logic. Pain shot up and down both of her legs and in her chest, but she knew she could not afford to stop her running.

She had just watched him shoot those she loved at point blank range. Once, she thought he was not capable of such a horrific act. Now, somewhere in her mind, she knew her time was up.

Her run came to a screeching halt when she tripped over a piece of metal left lying in the middle of the alley.

There was no energy left to gather. She could not get up. There was barely enough strength in her to push off the ground.

A dark, evil chuckle emanated from and pierced the silence. She sat up to see him right behind her, the lethal gun still warm in his hand.

“No,” she breathed, not strong enough to say it loudly.

The chuckle gave way to the sinister grin as he pointed the barrel of the gun over her icon.

“Why are you doing this?” she pleaded softly, staring into crimson pupils.

Another laugh. “If it was your business, you would know. Farewell, Dot Matrix.”

With the final word, he pulled back on the trigger and fired the last bullet in the gun. There was no chance of error. The cartridge penetrated her skin, pierced her heart. Within a nanosecond, her body pixilated into nothingness.

Triumphant, he discarded the gun and continued his journey on, not thinking twice of what he had just done.

-------------------------------------

Footsteps echoed within the highest levels of the Silicon Tor. Entering the elevator, he waited until he reached the pinnacle.

There was one in the room he walked into. “It is done?” was all he said.

He kneeled, with a nod. “Yes. They have all been deleted.”

The smile was one surging with uncontainable evil and victory. “Excellent, Guardian.”

Silence intruded as the Sprite felt something leave his mind. With one pained shot, it was gone.

Blinking his brown eyes, he stood. “What...where am I?” Looking in front of him, he saw the Virus. “Megabyte?”

The Virus’s laugh chilled him to the bone. “How does it feel, Guardian?”

“What are you talking about? What about our deal?”

“I kept it,” he informed. “I have not harmed any of them.”

The Guardian knew better than that. “I don’t believe you.”

Megabyte brought up a vidwindow. “You should. I have not harmed them.” He threw the window to Bob. “That says nothing about you, however.”

He caught the window as it played pieces of what he had just carried out. Horrified, he saw himself murder, coldly, Enzo, Phong, and Dot. He could not keep tears of sorrow in check. “You lied to me!” he screamed. “You killed them!”

“Oh, but I haven’t,” came the calm reply. “What was the deal, remind me. I infect you, I do not touch them. Not once did you say what I could order you to do.”

The more he thought about it, the more the words appeared as the truth. Now, because of his foolishness, his friends were dead, by his own hands.

Sinking into the darkness of his mind, all he could hear was the roaring laughter of the Virus, flailing his victory over everyone in the system.