"Hell no," said Pixel. "We are our own group, we work towards a fairer world."
"We are called Escape Key," said Byte. His voice butted in with a booming tone. It was clear that he either did not like Grace or trust her.
The drizzle of rain had failed to evolve into a shower, Grace realised that she was not cold. On some level she felt intrigued, even though she had been deceived by Pixel. Maybe, she noticed something about Pixel, that was constant and attractive. Something warm. Or maybe she just didn't know what the hell to do.
"What exactly does your group do?" Grace said.
"We are hackers," said Pixel. "We bring down those that want to exploit the weak. We brought down the President of Mallovia, after we discovered that he stole millions from the country's people. And when we discovered that the government of Grandane was selling weapons to terrorists, we made it public news."
"You're kidding," said Grace. "You guys were behind those things?"
"Yeah," said Qwerty. "I know we seem just like kids but it was us."
"Shouldn't you be at school?" Grace considered the fact that Pixel had never mentioned what school she was going to even though she is fifteen.
"And waste our time learning things we already now? We all finished school early, just like you Grace. We know your history. You got a doctorate in quantum computing by the age of 21. An admirable achievement. But us guys we can't wait for the future any longer. The older generation, politicians and businessmen don't care about the younger ones, or the planet. Polluting it with greed and leaving us worse off than our parents. We are going to restart everything and make real change of prosperity and happiness for all." Pixel sounded like she was speaking from the pulpit. A perfectly executed monologue that could be used for an election campaign.
"You're serious?" said Grace. Her face looked incredulous. "You seriously think you three can change the world?"
"With the right backing we can. We have Mr Snow Globe."
Snow Globe, thought Grace. That was who the purple haired girl talked about. But that girl was gone. Grace noticed she was nowhere to be seen. A police car flew past on the main road with its flashing blue lights and its sirens blaring.
"We do this because we believe it's our role to restore balance in society. To bring order where there is chaos." Pixel now stood in direct confrontation to Grace. Byte shook his head, giving Grace a dismissive look and set off on his skateboard, casually going over a few low ramps with his hands in his pockets.
"You see Avatara has brought chaos to the world Grace," Qwerty said. "Everywhere there is avatara. Our crews here at the park have banned it from this area. It's a madness like everyone is mad. People not eating and sleeping because of it. People not taking care of their kids. It's a lot of madness out here."
"Yeah Qwerty is right, Grace," said Pixel. "We all watched as we saw it sweep over the planet and send it crazy. We considered pulling the plug on it somehow, but your programming was so new, so different, we weren't sure what to do. We don't want to hurt anyone."
"Neither do I," Grace said.
"Then please help us," Pixel pleaded. Her face remorseful and sullen. "Please Grace."
Part of Grace's mind urged her to walk away but she also felt she had to know more and the problem of Avatara would loom over her forever if she did nothing. These guys seemed to offer a way out.
"Just cut the electricity supply to Sheldrake and all their systems will shut down," said Grace.
"I'm afraid that won't work now," said Pixel. "They've enhanced their power systems with backups relayed on backups. They can draw power from a dozen sources now."
"Not forgetting that they got firewalls on firewalls as well," said Byte. "They've jacked the place up."
"We need to bomb up the Avatara kernel at Sheldrake itself," Qwerty said.
"Please Grace you're our only hope," said Pixel. In any other situation, Grace probably would have burst out laughing at what sounded like a lame 'Star Wars' reference. But this was not one of those types of days.
"I can't," said Grace.
"Why?" asked Pixel.
"Because you tricked me Pixel, because you lied."
"I had to, we wanted to give you time to recover, from your previous problems with Sheldrake. I thought if we got to know each other better it would help but time ran out, so I now have told you early."
Grace felt conned. Pixel's words angered her more. "So you only befriended me, so that you could get me into your little scheme!?"
"No," said Pixel. "Well, yes, but I really do like you and liked working for you---"
Byte interrupted. "It's not worth it Pixel, we can do it all without her. Me, you and Qwerty, it's all good man." He turned away from the group to signal his displeasure and rode his skateboard on a few of the humps.
"Why don't you just tell her Pixel?" said Qwerty. Irritated.
"Tell me what?" said Grace.
Pixel stared at Qwerty with a firm expression and then looked at Grace with a solemn one. After a breath, she said it.
"Byron Grimm is back."
Grace laughed with disbelief, Pixel's words barely registering. "You can't be serious to say that," she said. "My ex-boyfriend just tried to get codes from me, by saying that."
"She's serious Grace," said Qwerty. "The man is back."
"He's dead," said Grace. "His body is buried underground."
"But his avatara lives, combined with the one called Knightmare," said Pixel.
Robert Ash.
Grace froze. This couldn't be true, just couldn't be. That disbelief, were your thoughts search for alternative answers but come back empty handed. That's where Grace was. Blank. Lost. Knightmare-Grimm being alive, a waking nightmare. A realisation that it's not over. In fact, this is a different type of over. The over that it's really starting all over again. Her dream of a normal life and just opening shop tomorrow as normal became ever distant.