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Part 1

Quinn Rentack looked up at the Gate and shifted his duffel bag on his shoulder. "Yeah."

The tech laughed. "You're in for a treat. It's a real kick in the head." Then he looked around and lowered his voice conspiratorially: "Just be careful what you say about them."

Quinn looked at him. "'Them'?"

"Yeah. The natives." Seeing that Quinn did not have a clue as to what he was talking about, the tech clarified, "The sprites, anthros, and such. Some of them are part of those hate groups, like the Apocalypse. They don't like 'Users' much."

Quinn nodded nervously. "That's not very reassuring."

"Hey, you're the writer," the tech said with a shrug.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Quinn demanded, insulted.

The tech smirked at him. "Just this: writers tend to be pretty nosy, and often get themselves hurt. You just watch yourself in there, Rentack."

Then a voice came over the PA. <<All outgoing passengers with names Q through Z, please report to the front.>>

Quinn and the tech looked up. "That's me."

"Better get going," the tech said as he turned to his console.

Quinn hefted his suitcase and duffel bag. He moved forward to the front, where a woman in a uniform checked his pass and ideepic. The official smiled. "Good day to you, Mr. Rentack. First time in cyberspace? You're going to love it."

"So I keep hearing," Quinn remarked, thinking of the technician. "But what about these hate groups I keep hearing about, like the Apocalypse?"

"Nothing to worry about," the official assured him. "You're going to the Resonate System. It's one of the safest in the world. Besides, there's a few Guardians around. They'll take care of all those problems." Now she handed him a datachip. "That chip contains almost all the information you'll need. Thank you, and have a nice day."

Quinn stepped up to the Gate, then hesitantly stepped through. There was a brief moment of chilling pain and vertigo, and then Quinn found himself on a small platform. Another official helped him down. "Welcome to the Resonate System, Mr. ...," here the official checked his pass, "--Rentack."

"I'm through?" Quinn asked, turning to look back at the portal.

"Yes. If you'll proceed down the ramp that way, you'll find an information terminal. Thank you, and have a nice day."

Quinn proceeded the way she indicated and found himself in a huge metropolis--the Resonate System. Prior to colonization, the Resonate had been a major mecca for sound files. Virtually every .wav, .ra, .midi, and MP3 file in existence had gone through the Resonate at least once. The system even had natural harmonics that were a bit disconcerting to the visitor. If one stood in certain spots (which were called 'harmonics'), one could hear whispered conversations on the other side of a room. There were numerous concert halls and theatres. Since colonization, it remained the place for composers and performers. It had become, in essence, the Carnegie Hall and Broadway of the Metaverse. Quinn was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer size of the system. He wasn't looking where he was going, and thus he collided with someone.

Quinn fell to the ground, dropping his luggage in surprise. The other man was a human, dressed in a loose khaki jacket, tough gray work pants, and a black shirt. An icon was on his belt, but that was the fashion these days. He had curly hair that sort of spiked on the ends, and his eyes were hidden by a pair of wire-framed sunglasses with dark green lenses. A line of bright green light flicked across those lenses. "Hey. You a newbie?" the man asked, apparently not affronted by the collision. Quinn nodded jerkily. The man laughed, then helped Quinn up. "I was like that my first day, too." He shook Quinn's hand. "I'm David. David Gabbiani."

Quinn blinked. "Uh, Quinn. Quinn Rentack."

"The writer? Hey, I've read some of your stories. They're pretty good," David said. "Don't worry. The initial shock wears off. Me? I've lived in cyberspace for a few years now. You grow to love it."

Quinn stammered a bit as he collected his luggage. David chuckled. "Listen, you're obviously way too overwhelmed to go around alone. I'll walk with you. Where you staying?"

"Uh," Quinn mumbled as he pulled out his passkey. "Sector D-Nine, the Ray Building."

"Hey, cool, I live there, too!" David said. "I'll show you the way." He started off, so Quinn had to scramble to follow. "Don't worry. You'll get used to the speed of things here."

Before they even got past the corner, however, a hovercar roared up, blasting music. Two sprites grinned at David. They both had dark gray skin and glittering black hair. One was male, the other female. The male sprite, the driver, spoke first. "Headed home, D?"

David broke out in a large grin. "Naught! Nada! Great, you can give us a lift!"

"Us?" the female asked.

David put an arm around Quinn's shoulder and pushed him forward. "Naught, Nada, meet Quinn Rentack, the writer? He's new in the system."

"Hey," the two sprites said.

The male sprite held his hand out. "I'm Naught Aught. This is my sister, Nada."

"P-pleased to make your acquaintance," Quinn said.

"Where you live, Quinn?" Nada asked.

"Ray Building."

"Hey, DaVinci lives there!" Naught said, pointing a finger at David, who glared back. David's grin faded. So did Nada's. Naught blinked and corrected himself. "Ah, David, I mean." Quinn blinked as well, looking at Naught strangely. Naught continued, "But, anyway...let's go!" Quinn handed over his luggage and clambered into the backseat of the car.

Nada turned to face him as David climbed in next to him. "You might wanna buckle in, Quinn. This might be a bit fast."

Before fast even got out of her mouth, Naught stepped on the accelerator and the car launched forward, music blasting. Quinn squinted, gritting his teeth against the wind and intense decibels as Naught, Nada and David shouted along with the music, a piece from the 20th Century by a band called Prodigy:

o/~ Magic people, voodoo people! o/~

Quinn then had to hang on for dear life as Naught spiraled the car through the Resonate System toward sector D-Nine. Naught whooped with laughter. He had glittering black eyes (like his sister) and had his hair cropped short on the sides and long on top. His hair rustled wildly in the wind as Nada bopped her head along with the music, her long braided hair waving.

Then, almost as soon as they had taken off (it seemed to Quinn), the hovercar stopped on a dime. Quinn, on the verge of hyperventilating, climbed shaking out of the car. David hopped out, that line of green light flicking across his lenses. "Welcome to the Resonate System, Quinn."

But then something raucous interrupted the sounds of the orchestral tune-up at the Waveside. David and the Aughts turned. "Aw, basic, the race!" Naught swore. The car swung around and spiraled to stop and land over the port area. This was something Quinn had glimpsed but not visited yet. The Resonate Tracks, the race center for the system. Anything and everything was raced here--bikes, cars, horses, and whatnot. Currently, a hoverbike race seemed to be in progress.

"What's going on?" Quinn asked as he saw a few racers go zooming by. Two dozen racers total went around the track at breakneck speeds. People screamed all around.

"It's a bike race! We never miss 'em!" Nada yelled over the din.

"Why? Who's racing?"

"Zilch! Whoo!" Naught howled as one racer flashed by. Quinn blinked. Zilch?

"He'll have to do better if he wants to win," Quinn remarked.

"You nuts?" David replied. "Zilch is in the lead! Niente's right behind him!" A second racer, a female, was right behind the male racer that the Aughts identified as Zilch.

Zilch and Niente slowly crept up on the other racers. Within a few seconds, David and the Aughts were practically messing themselves with excitement. Quinn watched as Zilch and Niente went through the other racers. It seemed as though they were going to lap the others. Soon, they broke out of the pack and screamed over the finish line. There were several bike lengths between them and the rest of the pack.

David, Naught, and Nada were screaming themselves hoarse as the rest of the racers finished not one but two more laps! Zilch and Niente had lapped the others twice! Quinn couldn't believe it! David grabbed Quinn's arm as the Aughts pushed through the crowds to find the main bleachers. They stood very close to the winner's stand, where the two winners already stood. Zilch was a sprite of similar skin color to Naught and Nada, and with long, wild glittering black hair. It was totally unkempt and hung down to his knees. His black eyes glinted beneath green-tinted goggles. A smirk sat on his lips. "Thank you, Resonates!" he hollered over the noise. Niente stood beside him. Her hair was just as long, just as messy, and her goggles were around her neck. She was smirking just as much.

A sprite in a referee's uniform was handing Zilch the winner's trophy and announcing the large prize that Zilch had won: 160,000 credits. "The winner--and still champion--of the Resonate System Races: Zilch Aught!"

Quinn looked at Naught and Nada, who were still cheering their...brother? The ref continued, handing Niente a silver trophy and announcing her runner-up prize: 16,000 credits. Not a meager sum either. "And runner-up, Niente Aught!" She accepted the trophy graciously and flashed a V-for-victory sign to the crowd.

Quinn blinked. So the race winners were related to Naught and Nada. He looked at them again. "Cousins?"

"Siblings," Naught replied.

Minutes later, Zilch and Niente had been introduced to Quinn and were sitting astride their bikes beside the car. Zilch was older than Naught, and Niente was just a bit younger than her fellow racer. It turned out that both were professional racers. They supported themselves--and their whole family--on their winnings. The Aughts' parents had been deleted in a skirmish with a virus some years ago.

Zilch was tall, clad in a blue-gray outfit and a long black overcoat. He turned out to be a friendly sort, if a bit gruff. Niente was a more aggressive and 'fight now, ask later' type, but she was still a bit compassionate. She was clad similarly, but wore a red headband that kept her wild hair out of her face. "Let's go introduce Quinn to the twins, hey?" Zilch suggested, kick-starting his bike. Niente nodded, doing the same. Naught brought the car into gear and the three vehicles sped off to a park on the far side of the Resonate.

They landed and looked around. "Where are they?" Zilch asked. At that moment, a silver streak flew by. A hoot of laughter mocked them as another flew by.

"Comin' through!" the voice said as the streaks looped around to stop in front of them. Both drifted up to them. Again, Aughts. These two were both male, younger than Nada, the youngest thus far, and were obviously teenagers. One wore a pair of thick goggles with red photoreceptors. The other did not. Both wore silver and blue jumpsuits and stood on hoverboards. The boards looked like the surfboard used by the legendary Web-Surfer Ray Tracer. The difference was that the hoverboards were rounded on the ends and not pointed like Tracer's surfboard.

Zilch grinned. "Quinn, meet Nil and Void." Nil turned out to be the one with the goggles. They looked exactly the same, aside from that.

Quinn looked at Nil. "What's with--"

"--the goggles? Helps everyone tell us apart," Nil replied.

Introductions were made. After they were done, Quinn asked, "Are there any other members of the Family Aught I should meet?"

"Actually," David said as he leaned against the car, "there are--"

"DAVID!" came a young voice. A small, boy sprite, not more than six years old, came flying in and knocked David flat on his back. He groaned, then lifted the young sprite--an Aught by the looks of him--off of him.

"Blank, you know better than to--"

"DAVID!" Another sprite, a five-year-old girl, flew in and knocked the man flat on his face. David rolled over and got up.

"What is this? Tag team?" he muttered. "Quinn, Blank and Zip. Blank, Zip, meet Quinn."

"Helluva tackle they got there," Quinn said.

"That's us!" Zip said proudly. "The Aughts' own Little Enzos!"

"Shoot," David said.

"Okay, so Zilch and Niente earn their keep racing," Quinn said.

"Right," David replied.

"Nil and Void aren't yet old enough to get jobs, and Blank and Zip, well it's obvious there."

"Right!" piped the two kids.

"So, what do you and David do, Naught? Nada?" Quinn asked, looking at them flatly.

Naught stammered a comment. "We do odd jobs."

"Yeah, odd jobs," Nada agreed.

"Yeah," David added.

"You're hackers, aren't you?" Quinn said.

The car halted. Naught and Nada turned around to look at him. Zilch, Niente, Nil and Void stopped along side them. Naught's eyes narrowed, then he angled the car down to stop far down in the depths, where very few harmonics were found.

David grabbed Quinn by the shirt. "All right, talk."

"How do you know?" Nada asked.

"Naught called you 'DaVinci,'" Quinn said to David. "DaVinci was the hacker who cracked the Teracomputer's outer security systems."

David and Nada looked at Naught, who beat his head against the steering wheel. David--or DaVinci--released him. "All right, it's true. I'm DaVinci, the Renaissance Hacker. Nada and Naught here are Surf and Aztral, the Flip Side Felons."

"The Flip Side Felons?" Quinn said. "They're the ones who messed up the traffic windows in the Supercomputer!"

"Yup," Naught confirmed after he stopped beating his head.

Neinte suddenly grabbed Quinn and hauled him out of the car, tossing him against a wall. Zilch held him against it by his throat. "You planning to narc off to the Guardians?"

"No," Quinn croaked. "I was just curious, I swear!" Zilch dropped him. Quinn rubbed his neck. "Helluva grip you got there."

Niente hauled him to his feet now. "If you narc off, you fly off. Clear?"

Quinn nodded. "Crystal." Niente released him, causing Quinn to fall on his butt. He got up, rubbing it. "Look, I always thought hackers were cool, that they'd make good heroes for a story or something. If it weren't for my lackluster computer skills, I'd be one."

DaVinci came over to him. "Since you know, you cannot not sign on. We can find a use for you, maybe as our offline eyes."

"How's that?"

"You follow the news, the CPUs, the Guardians. If they get too close, you blow the whistle," Nada said.

"So it's either this--" Nil said.

"--or trashin' time," Void finished.

Quinn considered. "Put in those terms...sign me on."

The Aughts slowly smiled again. Blank and Zip grinned at each other. "We gotta new friend, Blank!" "Looks that way, Zip!"

Quinn was in the MP3 Eatery, sipping on a mug of coffee. A few datapads were laid in front of him. One or two had his notes and sketchings of a new story. He'd popped off enough drafts to his publisher to keep the paychecks coming, but he was suffering from writer's block. The rest of the datapads were newspapers. One, billed the Mainframe Manifest, blared a headline:

HACKER DAVINCI CRACKS TERACOMPTUER AGAIN

Other newsnet sheets had other related headlines:

DAVINCI RETURNS, GUARDIANS ON CASE

FLIP SIDE FELONS HIT MAINFRAME CORE

"Unbe-fraggin'-lieve, ain't it?" the waiter, a sprite called Walt, asked as he set a burger down in front of Quinn. "Can't fraggin' believe that the fraggin' Guardians can't fraggin' catch these guys."

"Hmm," Quinn murmurred as he bit into his burger. He quietly munched on it as he looked down the length of the counter to see two cops talking. He swallowed and bowed his head, seeming to read one of the news-sheets. In reality, he was dipping his head into a harmonic that tuned into the cops' area.

"...freq from the precinct?" asked one cop, a yellow-skinned sprite.

"Yeah, Chief says we got a loc on the Flip Side Felons," the other, a red-skinned sprite, replied.

"What?" Yellow asked.

"Yeah, they're right here in the Resonate," Red remarked.

"Basic," Yellow swore.

"Yeah. We'll go nail them right after lunch," Red chuckled.

Quinn set down his burger and went to the bathroom. Once there, he pulled out his comm-link. It looked a great deal like an old-style cellular phone, similar to the type that was in a 20th Century movie called The Matrix. He snapped it out. There was a beep. Then Naught's voice answered. "Technical Support, how may I disconnect you?"

"Naught, it's Quinn," he said. "Listen, the Resonate's Blues are on to you."

"What?"

"You read the sheets at all? You, Nada, and David are all over 'em!"

"Basic."

"They know you're here. I heard them say they had a loc on you."

"Basic!"

"That's what I said. You gotta get outta there! They're eating lunch. When they finish, they're coming!"

"BASIC!"

"Go! Now!" Quinn said. "Fallback Gamma!"

"Out!"

Quinn slapped the comm shut and came out of the bathroom. The cops were polishing off their sandwiches. Quinn sat down as the two blues dashed out the door. Quinn smirked as he bit into his burger again. He calmly read the sheets. A few minutes later, his comm rang. Quinn flicked it open. "Quinn. Start talkin', it's your credit."

"It's Nada. We're clear."

"Roger-roger. I'll meet you at the races in an hour."

"Check. Out."

Quinn snapped it shut and quietly finished his lunch. Two big louts sat at a table behind him. Quinn half paid attention as they started talking.

"So, Tomasi, when we gonna get the guy?" one asked. He, like his friend, was a huge sprite. He wore his bright yellow hair short, and his black tank top tight. His ice-blue skin glistened with sweat.

"Shut it, Rollo," Tomasi muttered. He also wore a black tank top. His hair was a glowing red, not unlike the famed Mouse. His skin was also ice-blue. "Il Lupe will tell us."

Il Lupe? Quinn thought. I'll have to ask DaVinci about that.

"The boss wants us to be in place within the hour," Tomasi told Rollo.

"Right, an hour," Rollo confirmed. He laughed. "In an hour, that low-res idiot DaVinci is gonna be ours!"

Quinn gagged. DaVinci?! Holy shit! He slapped down some credits to pay for his lunch. "Hey, Walt, something's come up. I gotta-I gotta-I gotta go." He dashed out of there after quickly gathering his pads.

As he ran down the street, he snapped out his comm. It beeped. Naught answered. "Operator."

"It's Quinn! David's in trouble!"

"What're you talking about? We got away from the blues."

"No, not the blues! Muscle! A couple of goons are planning to jump DaVinci!"

"Who?"

"Their names are Rollo and Tomasi. They work for some guy called Il Lupe!"

"Il Lupe? Is he a F'Vali?"

"I dunno! Warn David not to go to the races!"

"I--Quinn, David left a few minutes ago!"

"Shit! Can you patch me to his comm?"

"No. He left it here."

"Shit! Again. Listen, call Nil and Void. Tell them to protect David. I'll be at the races as soon as I can get there!"

"Right. Nada and I are already on our way out."

Two blocks down, a sprite smirked to himself. He wore silver-gray armor, identical gauntlets, and featureless glowing blue-gray eyes flashed beneath short cropped silver hair. His skin was a bleak light-gray, completely unlike the tone of the Aughts. His left hand rested on a black and silver cane. If someone looked close enough, they would say he looked like David Gabbiani.

As Quinn neared, the sprite swung the cane out to connect with the man's nose. Quinn's head snapped back and he went down instantly. As he looked up with starry vision, the sprite stepped out and looked at him. The sprite held up a hand, and energy swirled between his fingers. The sprite pushed his hand down, palm down. The energy hit Quinn and knocked him out.

The sprite turned to the wall. He pointed his cane, and a vidwindow opened. Rollo and Tomasi saluted. The sprite spoke: "You nearly let Rentack warn DaVinci."

"Sorry, sir," Tomasi apologized.

"Yeah, we were gonna jump him," Rollo added.

"Never mind," the sprite said. "Just be in place by the beginning of the race."

"Yes, sir!" "Yeah, yes, sir!" The sprite waved a hand and the vidwindow faded. The sprite slowly smiled and stepped back into the alley, walking calmly down toward the darkened end. Before he reached it, he gestured with his cane, and a portal opened before him. He stepped through and vanished.

Nil and Zip were standing next to him. Well, that's not entirely accurate. Zip was standing on Nil's shoulders, and Nil hovered a few feet off the ground on his hoverboard. Nil, who had his hands on Zip's feet, turned his head to look at the hacker. "Well, what about last month? He missed a race then."

"That's different," David protested. "He was doing research in Mainframe. He couldn't make it back. He's in-system now." He made an annoyed sound. "Where is he?"

Suddenly, Zip, who was holding a pair of binoculars, suddenly jumped up and down, causing Nil to wince. "I see him! I see him!"

"Who? Quinn?" David asked.

"No, silly, Zilch! He's coming out of the garage now!" Zip said.

"Great," David moped. He scratched his stomach. "I'm getting hypoglycemic. I gotta go get some snack or something." He started off.

"Bring me back a Sodee Pop, will ya?" Nil said.

"Make that two!" Zip added. David gave an acknowledging wave and ambled off.

A minute or so later, Void came zooming up on his board. He looked around. "Where's David?" he asked hurriedly.

"He went to go get some Sodee Pop," Nil told his twin. "Why?"

Void replied, "I just got off the comm with Nada. Quinn called them half an hour ago sayin' some goons were planning to jump David. They just found Quinn, waylaid not far from the MP3 Eatery!"

"Basic," Zip said.

"Watch you mouth!" Nil chided her. Then he swore. "Zish. We gotta go tell him!" Zip hopped down to hold onto his leg as he and Void slipped off to the vending machines.

When they arrived, all they found were a few fallen bottles of Sodee Pop and two icons. One was David's faux-icon, the hacker tool that every human in the Underground had. The other was an icon of some beauty, but it was a symbol that they had all seen in the newsnets. It said 'USERS OUT.' Nil and Void looked at each other. Zip looked around Nil's leg.

"The Apocalypse."

Two vague, and large, shadows appeared in the light. One seemed to have a reddish corona around the 'head', while the other seemed to have a more yellow corona. A deep voice came from one of the shadows. "Hey, boss, he's awake."

"Good," a disturbingly familiar voice said from outside his vision. "Leave us. He poses no threat anymore."

The two shadows left. David heard a door slam. The other voice chuckled. "I finally found you. It took months of searching, but I finally found you, User."

David tried to sit up straight, but his bonds and the chair prevented it. He squinted into the light. "Who are you? Are you a Guardian?" The voice chuckled. David scowled. "Answer me!"

"Me? A Guardian? How laughable," the voice said. "No, User, I'm not a Guardian. Far from it!"

"You keep calling me a User," David said. "Do you work for the Apocalypse?"

David thought he sensed a shrug from the speaker. "If that is convenient for you to believe, then yes. It is of no consequence to me what you believe about me."

David squinted into the light, but could not discern the speaker. "Who ARE you?" he demanded.

All at once, the light went off. David's vision was plunged into darkness as his eyes struggled to adjust. Two points of light, glowing blue-gray in the dusky room, hovered before him. David knew that those were his captor's eyes. But then his eyes started to adapt, and he began to make out the features.

"I have so many names . . . ," the speaker said. "The more religious types call me Legion. More people refer to me as the Wolf." Then David could see his captor's face. It was himself . . . only not himself. The other-him had bleak gray skin and silvery hair, and those eyes. The other-him snickered. "But you may call me . . . Lean Il Lupe." It was pronounced 'LEE-en ill LOO-pay.'

David tried to speak, but he couldn't. Lean chuckled. "You see . . . I'm YOU. Your . . . darker side. Your . . . creation. Your . . . virus."

David Gabbiani, also known as DaVinci, felt a cold, icy fear seep into his spine.

Lean smiled. It was a terrible thing to see. "Welcome . . . to my world."