Debacle braced himself for his assault, at the last minute I slid and knocked his feet out from under him.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay down.” Debacle began to laugh.

“I’m glad you find defeat so amusing virus.”

“I wonder, are you truly a sprite?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You have faint traces of that viral smell, and your stamina is unusually high for a sprite,”

“Shut your mouth scum, or I’ll shut it for you.”

“I’ll take it from here.” offered Ms. Card.

“No, that’s all right.”

“I insist. Link, containment field.” Link emitted a gold beam that surrounded Debacle and rendered him immobile. Just then, a portal opened and two Guardians emerged carrying an anti-viral transfer container.

“Load him up boys. High Command is going to have a field day with this one.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.” Riven said, stepping in between the Guardians and the prostrate Debacle.

“This one’s mine and I’ve got to take him back to Anti-Virus.exe for processing.”

“Not this time, Mr. Riven. Part of the deal we made with your superiors is that we keep the catch. Don’t worry, it’s all taken care of.” said Ms. Card patting Riven on the back.

When he arrived back at Anti-Virus.exe, Riven saw just how ‘taken care of” things were. There were Guardians and file movers everywhere.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re out of business Riv.” answered a fellow employee. Riven was stunned. He had been gone for a few minutes at most and his whole life was coming apart at the circuits. He caught hold of the Prime Director and asked how this had happened.

“Some rubbish about an expired license. All operations are scrapped; the Guardians take care of all viral threats now. We’re obsolete.” The Prime Director sighed, “I guess this means you can call me Mr. Mac Fee from now on, Riv.”

In the time that followed Riven watched as Anti-Virus.exe was terminated. He wandered the streets, lost in thought and ended up in Sector Six. It was a run down sector, the place was full of bars selling bootleg mega malts and other illegal drinks.Riven entered a rather seedy tavern called The Hardrive. He had just ordered a drink when a blue skinned, silver haired, vixen approached him.

“You look like a man who’s down on his luck.”

“You have no idea.”

“Care to tell a stranger your tale?”

“Let’s just say his job was his life and now its been scrapped.”

“Just like old Anti-Virus.exe, I heard the Guardians took that place apart.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, I see, you’re a former hunter. Aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“I got a job opening if you’re interested. It has all the perks of being a virus hunter and twice the pay.”

“I’m listening.”

“Just imagine, travel, danger, blowing stuff sky high.”

“Sounds too good to be true.” The girl smiled.

“Meet me on pier eleven in ten par-secs if you’re interested. His name’s He by the way.”

“He? The fiercest pirate on the web, captain of the Bloody Biome?”

“Aye, that’s me.” She gave me a wink and sauntered out the door. He had made a tempting offer, especially sinceRiven was officially unemployed, but pirating really wasn’t his thing. He had just made up his mind to tell her thathe wasn’t interested when a gang of Guardians burst through the tavern door.

“This sector’s being cleared out. Everyone please stay where you are and wait to be scanned.” Naturally, everyone in the room rushed for the nearest exit. They were all the types who wanted to avoid Guardians for various reasons. The Guardians, of course, began stunning biomes and sprites by the score. Riven took advantage of the situation and slipped out the back door.