When Architecture Met Technology

[RedPiggy]

Well, the person who wrote it is not always the person who posted it. Cait's the JHH person, so she wrote this, but it was my turn to post.

 

[The Count]

So does that mean I have to nag you to write the next chapter to get it to Cait for posting?
*Zips back to another crossover fic I'm rully enjoying.

 

[RedPiggy]

Yes, go ahead and nag me.

 

[The Count]

Update please?

 

[AnimatedC9000]

CHAPTER SIX
Cotterpin drove slowly, in fits and starts, through the tunnel leading to what Waldo had called Muppet Central. How could she break it to him? She had had nightmares all night long, where Waldo chased her with a large bouquet of flowers, even though she screamed at him to go away. He was just … goofy. Maybe a Fraggle wouldn’t mind being in love with him, but a Doozer? Her stomach ached.

How had this gone so wrong? She had only wanted a simple thing and now it was so … complicated.

Still, she decided to herself, he would just have to live with her decision.

Cotterpin finally made it to the cavernous room filled with bright glowing screens filled with moving images of every kind of creature imaginable and even those that weren’t.

Suddenly, a large screen rose up about a foot into the air, grunting periodically. Cotterpin squeaked in fear.

The screen came down with a thud. A brown bird head with a long orange beak popped up from behind. "May I help you?" asked a male voice.

Cotterpin sat on her scooter with jaw agape.

"I’m sorry if I took you by surprise," he said. "I have to have half these monitors recycled by the end of the week. I’m sorry if I can’t talk long." He started to lift the screen again.

"Um, excuse me!" Cotterpin barked. "I’m looking for a guy named Waldo! Have you seen him?"

The bird put the screen down again and stroked the back of his neck thoughtfully. "Waldo, huh?" He shook his head. "Can’t say as I have – I’ve been kind of busy all day. He usually likes to hang out in TV screens around this time of the day."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you know, surfing the web, inserting himself into television programs – that kind of stuff," replied the bird.

Cotterpin gawked at the mountain of screens. "He can actually go through those things?" She sighed. "He really is a magical drawing."

The bird chuckled and grunted as he carried the screen to the other side of the room. "No … unh … it’s just a simple matter of … unh … transferring data." He wiped his brow with a beige hat. "You might wanna go check with the others and see if they’ve seen him."

Cotterpin finally tore her eyes away from the screens and nodded, driving out into a hallway to the left. A strange light brown creature with long ears and long feet hopped cheerfully towards her, licking some strange orange sphere on a thin white stick. He was singing to himself. Cotterpin giggled. He sounded like Wembley.

"Excuse me!" Cotterpin yelled as she drove up to him, making his feet squeak with a sudden stop. "Do you know Waldo? My name is Cotterpin Doozer, and I’m looking for him."

"Wanna lollipop?" the creature asked.

Cotterpin sighed. Why did she always get the slow ones? "No," she replied slowly, "I … want … Waldo."

The creature winked at her and put an arm around her, nearly suffocating her. "I’m way cuter than Waldo. Just call me Bean – the Girl Magnet Bunny."

Cotterpin bit him on the arm, forcing him back. "I want to know where he is!"

Bean rubbed his arm and pouted. Just as suddenly, he shrugged and smirked. "He was hanging around Digit, last time I saw him. That was yesterday." He took the orange lollipop and rubbed his head in thought. "Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him at all today. He and Digit must be working together on something. Or Digit still needs fixing." He tried to take the lollipop away, but it had adhered to his fur. "Aw, no --."

"Digit. Right," Cotterpin noted. "I’ll go look for him. Thanks!"

Cotterpin drove for a few minutes and then stopped, hanging her head. She sighed. "I don’t even know who Digit is," she sadly admitted to herself. Soon Cotterpin saw a heap of plastic bags lumbering down the hallway. She screeched in reverse to get out of the way.

The bags stopped and lowered to the floor. The bird head from before appeared. "Oh, it’s you," the bird told her.

Cotterpin nodded. "Yes, my name is Cotterpin Doozer and I’m looking for someone named Digit, except I don’t know what this creature looks like."

The bird tipped his hat. "Well, I’m Lindbergh, one of his best friends. Digit is taller than me, pale green skin, and lots of wires sticking out of his head."

"You mean antennae?"

Lindbergh shook his head. "No, wires. He’s a cyborg."

"What’s that?"

"A cyborg is half human, half robot."

"What’s a robot?"

Lindbergh whistled and shook his head. "You’re really behind the times, aren’t you? A robot is a machine that can move and do stuff."

"Like my scooter?"

"Well," Lindbergh shrugged, "not exactly. I don’t know how to explain it, since you know so little about it."

Cotterpin grit her teeth and clenched her fist.

Lindbergh smiled. "Look, I’m not insulting you. It’s okay not to know." He stuck his hand in a pocket on his jacket and took out a small leather tri-folded object. "I got a picture of him right here in my wallet." He showed her a small rectangular picture from one of those picture vending machines at the mall. "See?" he asked, pointing to Digit. "He’s that one right there."

Cotterpin smiled and nodded. "Thanks. That’s a great help," she replied cheerfully.

"Tell Waldo I said hi," Lindbergh said, waving as Cotterpin drove off.

Soon Cotterpin stopped as she came to a gigantic (for a Doozer, anyway) door, cracked only slightly open. She could hear two male voices inside.

"Digit?" the first voice asked in an exasperated tone. "You can’t leave!"

"Yes, I can," replied the second, deeper, voice. The sound of a heavy box could be heard slammed onto a table surface. "I lost more than you could ever imagine," he pleaded. "It’s like the IRS telling you to kill your child."

"Digit," the other voice said quietly. "There has to be another way."

Digit’s voice started to break. "Kermit – I’ve been so grateful for everything you’ve done for me, for the band, for Lindbergh – but Clive said --."

"I don’t care what Clive said!" screamed Kermit. "He’s not your boss – I am!" Cotterpin heard excessive panting as Kermit continued later in a much quieter and calmer voice. "Why on earth didn’t you come to me to verify Clive’s recommendation? Do you know how fast I would have told Clive where he could shove his spreadsheet?"

For what seemed like an eternity, there was an uncomfortable silence.

"He’s gone, Kermit," Digit replied sadly. "I’ve lost Waldo, my Waldo," his voice decreased to a whisper, "my son."

"Eep!" Cotterpin squeaked, holding both hands to her lips.

The door opened and a green bald creature with two semi-spherical white eyes, about the size of a Fraggle, looked around, and then it looked down. It gulped and spoke with Kermit’s voice. "Who are you?"

Cotterpin’s lip trembled. "My … my … my name," she began, her voice wavering, "is Cotterpin Doozer."

"Aren’t Doozers from Fraggle Rock?" Kermit asked.

Cotterpin snapped out of her shock just enough to look away and cringe. "Don’t you think it’s a bit racist to think that those caves are only about Fraggles?"

"My apologies," Kermit replied with a smirk. "Still, do you mind? I’m having a meeting in here." He started to close the door.

Cotterpin drove ahead to act as a wedge. "What does it mean that you lost Waldo?" she asked emphatically. "Are we talking ‘we can’t find him’ lost or ‘he’s passed away’ lost? How can a magical drawing die?" Tears started running down her face.

"Magical drawing?" Digit asked, his head tilted in confusion.

Kermit turned to look at Digit. "Folks from Fraggle Rock don’t know much about technology," he explained.

Cotterpin scoffed. "Hello? I am not a Fraggle! I am architect of Doozer Dome and I know plenty of machines and their functions. Building is our specialty."

Digit stared at the little Doozer. "I’m … I’m sorry, but Waldo’s been deleted."

Cotterpin growled. "What the heck does that mean?"

Digit sat down on the floor so he wouldn’t tower over the small green creature so much. "It means that he was alive and now he’s not," he replied tenderly. He waved an arm toward the entire office. "All of this equipment in here was necessary to keep Waldo alive, and I was told --."

"Not by me," Kermit interjected.

Digit sighed and continued, "I was told that it was too difficult to keep this equipment running. I had to turn it off."

Cotterpin looked around and shrugged. "Just turn it back on."

"I can’t."

Cotterpin stared at Digit, her mouth wide open. She soon clenched her fists, trembling, biting her lower lip. "I’m not a fool. Every machine can be repaired. I’m not like you: I just don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. If one light diode doesn’t work, I just turn on another one. If one road is eaten, I just drive down another one. If --."

"It’s not that simple," Digit told her.

Cotterpin crossed her arms in a huff. "Have you even tried yet?" she complained. "Lindbergh said he could hide in those big screens – why don’t you go looking for him?"

Digit continued to look morose. "I don’t think you understand – he can’t be there."

"No, I don’t think you understand!" Cotterpin retorted angrily. "He’s not like us! He’s just some piece of technology! He doesn’t have a real body --."

Digit frowned, his voice curt. "I’m part technological – and I’m real."

Cotterpin shrugged. "Bean said you needed fixing the last time he saw you. If you can be fixed, so can Waldo." Digit started to protest. Cotterpin held up her hand and looked away, adding smugly, "My logic is perfect. If technology can be fixed, and Waldo is technological, then he can be fixed." She turned to glare at Digit and pointed at him. "You’re just too self-absorbed to try to get him back. You told Kermit here that Waldo was your son – doesn’t that mean you’d do anything to get him back?"

Digit smirked wistfully and shrugged. "I know how to let go."

"Bull!" Cotterpin barked. "If you could let go, you wouldn’t be boo-hooing all over the place. You’d just go about your business, like if you lost a pencil or something. You’re a lazy coward."

Kermit nervously glanced at the two warring people in the room. He suddenly glanced at a large yellow button on a panel nearby. "What about the translocation button?"

Digit glanced at Kermit. "The what?"

Kermit nodded. "The translocation button – it helped us get inside your head, literally, when you shut down from trying to hack into universal television signals."

Cotterpin caught on faster than Digit. "It can help us get to Waldo!"

Digit rubbed his head. "Well, the problem is, I’ve been glitching badly lately due to losing Waldo. So, it’s unwise to stick me into a computer system. What would happen if he can’t be restored? My circuits can’t handle such an emotional blow."

Cotterpin sighed. "Fine, I’ll go."

Digit and Kermit looked at her in shock.

Digit carefully arranged a spot on his desk and placed Cotterpin and her scooter there. She nodded resolutely as he aimed a device at her. With a push of the translocation button, Cotterpin felt herself tingle from the feet up as though she were being tickled by a burr from the itching plant back near the Cavern of Lost Dreams, an Ancient Doozer compound. She closed her eyes just as the tingling reached her head.

She heard a single pure tone and lots of static from the screens.

She opened her eyes and looked around. A synthesized melody with a fast tempo started to waft through the air of what looked like a flat field of solid plastic, punctuated here and there with façades of buildings of various stages of decay. She could just make out a whisper of a song:

How come I must know
Where obsession needs to go?
How come I must know
The direction of relieving?

Cotterpin drove towards one of the more stable looking buildings, a smooth blue one with bright yellow windows. A small creature made up of wires and transistors sat on a small glowing sidewalk just in front of the building. It looked up. "A user?" it asked with a garbled voice that didn’t reveal the speaker’s gender.

Cotterpin shrugged. "I guess. My friend Waldo was deleted. I was hoping to get him back."

The wire creature nodded. "We know of Waldo. He’s not like us," the creature explained, its voice betraying a sense of awe. "He can go to the user world."

"Well, how do I help Waldo not be deleted?"

"If his code is still viable, he can be brought back with a file restore program." The creature shook its head. "But lately we’ve been unable to access it," it continued. "Some psychotic program is preventing access." It shrugged. "The system administration feels we might be infected."

"Machines can be sick?"

The creature nodded. "Oh, yes … and if the malware isn’t deleted, we could all be deleted." It pointed to the more derelict buildings. "The system has begun to fragment. Even if you found his source code, it might be spread in pieces over a wide area."

Cotterpin looked around. "So, where is this file restore program? Maybe I can get to it. I’m small. Maybe I can escape notice."

The creature chuckled. "It’s over by the OS building." It pointed to a crumbling white building with green windows. "But you’ll probably be deleted, User. That’s also where the infection is thought to hide."

Moments later, after driving on a thin silver road, Cotterpin walked into the building, ignored by various multi-colored creatures of all shapes and sizes. She walked for a few minutes down a long dark hallway and came across a huge black room with a single spiky throne made of what looked like dark granite. Cotterpin could see long black leather boots with high heels, but she was behind the throne and couldn’t see who it was.

A female voice, scratchy and unstable, cackled from the throne. "User, User – what kind of games shall we play today?"

Cotterpin gulped. "My name is Cotterpin Doozer, ma’am, and I’d like to use a file restore program to --."

"NO!" hissed the female voice. Suddenly, a tall humanoid female in a one-piece red leotard and hood, clad in black leather corset, crown, gloves and boots, stood before Cotterpin. Her face was a simple white ceramic mask with green eyes and dark red lipstick. Despite her ability to speak, the mask’s expression never moved. It seemed frozen in a maniacal scowl with sharp long white teeth bared menacingly. "The program is mine! You can’t --." She turned around and then turned back towards Cotterpin, the female’s red shredded cape flourishing behind her. The mask’s expression had changed somehow to a gentle smile. The female creature bent down and patted Cotterpin on the head. "My," she said in a much calmer tone, "what a small User you are. Aren’t you just the cutest little thing?" She stood back up and beckoned for Cotterpin to follow her to the throne. "Do you want to see my pet?" She giggled. "I found him some time ago. He seemed awfully lonely."

Cotterpin followed the female to the throne, where a blocky creature popped into view. A blue and white rectangular prism, with two small blue and two orange blocks formed what Cotterpin guessed was the tail. The head consisted of a peach colored prism with two red lines connecting the two pieces of its mouth. A rectangular red and white hat floated just above the head. Two blue blocks hovered just in front, shaped vaguely like hands. A small red rectangle just under the prism head served as decoration.

Cotterpin gulped. "Waldo?"

The creature seemed to shrug. It spoke in a voice much deeper than Waldo’s and without emotion. "Provide information."

Cotterpin gulped again. "I’m trying to restore Waldo," she replied quietly.

The tall female laughed, her face grinning. "She wants to restore Waldo!" She cackled. "What an intriguing coincidence – so do I!"

Cotterpin frowned. "So, you’ll help me, then?"

The tall female waved her arm in front of her face. Now her expression was of slight bemusement. "Naturally, dear User. Waldo is special – he can travel to the User world. Such a skill is unprecedented." She pointed at the blocky pet. "I found a rather large chunk of code. The file had been renamed Waldo 1.0."

Cotterpin gasped. "So this is Waldo?"

The tall female shook her head, waving her hand in front of her face, changing her expression to that of pouting. "This is a more primitive version, I’m afraid. It only gathers information."

"And I can utilize data," Waldo 1.0 added in monotone.

"Yes, he can," the tall female continued sadly. "Without the scraps of files floating around in the system, the version of Waldo that can leave the system shall never exist again." She turned toward Waldo 1.0, her face now smirking. "Go, and locate all code belonging to Waldo 2.0." She watched as the blocky, more primitive version of Waldo began to fly away slowly.

"I’ll help him look," Cotterpin offered meekly.

"As you wish, User," the tall female replied coyly, cackling as she sat on her throne, filing golden claws poking through her gloves.

Cotterpin hopped in her scooter and drove away as Waldo 1.0 hovered just in front of her. "So, um, Waldo, how do you feel?"

"Feelings are irrelevant," he noted. "I am to acquire and utilize data. Illogical constructs are merely superfluous and inefficient."

Cotterpin felt her heart sink. Why did she feel this way? This version of Waldo represented everything she had hoped to find in the beginning: a means of acquiring information to ensure Cotterpin’s place in Doozer history.

Now she found herself wishing for her Waldo.

Waldo 1.0 looked back and nodded. "It is in your programming to acquire and utilize data as well."

Cotterpin sniffled. "It’s not the same thing."

Waldo 1.0 turned back. "Users deny the obvious. It is illogical to deny the facts. You are merely an organic machine. You require input and output to interact with your environment. Your code is not made up of binary pits in a hard drive. Yours is made up of organic amino acids. Nonetheless, you function identically to cybernetic organisms." He glanced behind him. "Your speed has decreased by twenty percent. What you call discomfort regarding your surroundings is just recognition that the data is insufficient and you require more."

"You don’t know anything about how I feel about Waldo – the real one," Cotterpin retorted.

Waldo 1.0 was unfazed. "You require input from a more advanced program."

"How can you be such a jerk?" Cotterpin asked, her voice rising.

Waldo 1.0 shrugged and turned back. "My statements are accurate."

After nearly an hour (by Cotterpin’s reckoning, though she hadn’t brought a watch), they had managed to find and carry grayed-out, nearly transparent versions of Waldo’s hat, his wings, and his torso. Cotterpin’s eyes misted as she stared at the parts tied to the back of her scooter.

"Waldo 2.0 acquisition: 60%" announced Waldo 1.0.

Cotterpin groaned silently and pulled up beside Waldo 1.0. "What happens when we find all of him?"

The original Waldo continued to fly, not looking at her. "Procedure: acquire code belonging to Waldo 2.0. Procedure: access file restoration program. Expected outcome: Waldo 2.0 returns to online status with all available functions."

Cotterpin slowed a bit, thinking, and then sped up to catch up with him. "What about you?"

Waldo 1.0 hesitated. "Processing request," he replied. "Installation of Waldo 2.0 results in deactivation of Waldo 1.0." He nodded. "There is insufficient memory to run both executable files."

"So you die?" Cotterpin asked softly.

Waldo 1.0 shrugged. "I am not organic. It is different."

Cotterpin smirked, chuckling. "You’ve been ragging on me, telling me that we’re all the same."

Waldo 1.0 slowed. "You are extrapolating inaccurate conclusions from the data."

Cotterpin grinned and sped past him. "Still, if you cease to function, it sounds like you die to me."

Waldo 1.0 did not answer.

Underneath a pile of wires and microchips, Cotterpin discovered Waldo’s head and tail, as well as his bowtie. She brought them to the scooter and looked up at Waldo 1.0, who scanned the area. "Is this all of him?" she asked.

Waldo 1.0 glanced briefly at the parts. "Waldo 2.0 acquistion: 100% . Procedure: return to OS building. Procedure: Access file restoration program."

Waldo 1.0 and Cotterpin returned to the OS building, finding no one in the throne room. It was nearly pitch black. Cotterpin heard a whispered song, to the same tempo as the verse she heard before.

Deep in the night,
(Far off the light)
Missing my headache.

Waldo 1.0 gathered the next-generation version of himself and placed it on a small pedestal. He input a six-digit code and a bright white light beamed up from the pedestal.

Visions of light
(Sweeter delight)
Kissing my loveache!

The parts’ color saturation returned to normal and arranged themselves into the proper positions. Waldo looked around, yawning. His eyes bulged when he spotted Cotterpin. "What are you doing here?"

Before Cotterpin could answer, the ground began to shake and the ceiling and walls started to crumble.

"What’s going on?" Cotterpin asked frantically.

Waldo 2.0 rushed to form a strong cage over Cotterpin to protect her from the debris. "The system’s breaking up!" He spotted a blockier version of himself and growled. "The CPU can’t handle us both!"

Waldo 1.0 flew back, nearly bumping into the tall female, who had suddenly reappeared, smirking triumphantly. "Problem: Waldo 2.0 has functions that strain processing capacity," he stated in monotone. "Solution: Transfer excessive functions to Waldo 1.0."

"Think about it," the tall female offered, "you can have yourself installed on an advanced flash drive and become portable. All you have to do is turn over your capacity to enter the User world."

Cotterpin finally understood. "That’s all you wanted? His powers?"

The female continued smirking. "Of course. While I enjoy a bit of goofiness here and there, right now the first Waldo is much more helpful. His low resolution and emotionless functions are a bit boring, but he doesn’t let a little thing like morality impede his existence." She nodded. "He takes up less space, so he can acquire the advanced Waldo’s functions with plenty of room to spare."

Waldo 2.0 growled, frowning. "I’m not going to do any such thing! I’m not letting two unethical programs run rampant through the User world!"

The female waved an arm in front of her face, her expression changing to fury. "Transfer the files or I shall rip her apart!" The female malware thrust out an arm toward Cotterpin, who vanished in a red and black blur, only to reappear near the crumbling ceiling, illuminated by shafts of light coming from the outside.

Cotterpin had never felt such pain. She screamed in agony. Even getting eaten by a glob years ago couldn’t compare. "Waldo – HELP!" she shrieked. "Please, ma’am, I want to go home with him!"

A pure tone sounded, nearly taking the rest of the building with it. The female malware put down her arm, her face expressing shock.

Cotterpin should have fallen and been killed, but she found she wasn’t. She was being held aloft by a small female silly creature-looking being, with a white billowing dress, white (not "flesh-colored", like, white as a piece of notebook paper) skin, dainty features, and soft wavy white hair. Loud static could be heard, filling the air with a maddening sensation.

Cotterpin and Waldo 2.0 noticed a bright white light surround them both, and then they found themselves outside the building.
The girl giggled and sang in a soft, girlish voice, "How come I must know where obsession needs to go? How come I must know where the passion hides its feelings?"

Waldo 1.0 flew up from the building as it collapsed. "Transfer your files or the entire system will collapse," he ordered Waldo 2.0.

The girl smiled at Cotterpin and Waldo. "If only one must exist, then only one shall exist."

Both Waldo’s grunted and flew up into the air, surrounded by swarms of numbers and symbols.

Cotterpin grabbed the girl by her dress. "You’re going to kill them both!" she pleaded. The girl didn’t answer her, but kept a calm smile on her face, staring up at the two programs. Cotterpin looked up as much as she was able and saw the two glowing Waldo’s begin to merge, forming a wispy blue and white creature, with red and yellow stripes like small flames licking back across the top of its head and long blue wispy wings that curled up at the tips. Its golden eyes were embedded behind the "skin" of the head. It appeared as though at any moment it would just dissipate into thin air. Cotterpin gasped.

The creature slowly lowered itself to just above Cotterpin’s head. It spoke with a suave, ghostly male voice. "Hello, Cotterpin," he said. "I am called Waldo 3.0, a merging of two prior incarnations." One of his blue wings gently stroked her cheek. "How may I be of service to you?"

The girl nodded. "The User must return to her world and this system must be restored," she told Waldo 3.0.

Waldo 3.0 nodded, bowing. "As you wish, milady."

The tall female malware burst out from the pile of rubble, screaming furiously. "The User world is MINE!" she screeched.

Waldo 3.0 noticed Cotterpin trembling. He smiled and rose into the air, facing the female malware. A wave of bluish-purple light thrust out from his body, disintegrating the malware and restoring the OS building in one fell swoop.

The girl patted Cotterpin on the head. "That was why she didn’t want your friend, only his ability to leave the system. Your friend was equipped with anti-viral coding. Now your friend is far more powerful. He can send any creature to any electronic world. He can operate any machine or computer remotely, with just his thoughts. Yet his love for you will prevent him from harming others."

Cotterpin sniffled and turned around to face the girl. "Who are you?"

The girl smiled, shrugging slightly. "I am the heart of the system," she answered cryptically.

After a bright white flash, Cotterpin and Waldo 3.0 found themselves in the MC control room. No one else seemed to be there.

Waldo 3.0 turned to Cotterpin, smiling. "I am glad you are well."

Cotterpin didn’t know whether to look at him or not. "Are … are you okay?"

Waldo 3.0 nodded. "Thank you for believing in me," he replied. He sighed. "Still, my presence will still tax the system. Those who sought my deletion will continue to hold that belief. If I am to survive, I must be stored elsewhere."

Suddenly Wingnut and Red Fraggle popped through the tunnel in the wall. Wingnut sat on Red’s shoulder as Red carried a bright blue and white crystal. "We got this from Crystal Cavern," Red told Cotterpin.

"Red? Mother? What are you doing here?" Cotterpin asked, gawking at them.

Wingnut smiled. "This Fraggle friend of yours said you could be found in a realm called Outer Space." She looked around, inspired. "My – this is most certainly an advanced civilization you’ve found, Cotterpin."

Red nodded. "The Trash Heap told us to carry this crystal up to Outer Space." She smirked. "I thought she was crazy at first, but she told me she’d teleport me here herself if I didn’t go. Though, when she explained you were in trouble – well, kid, I couldn’t just let you stay that way, you know."

Cotterpin started to cry. She had been right to call Fraggles her friends.

Waldo 3.0 flew over to the crystal. "The next generation of data storage consists of using crystals, which can hold several terabytes of information. This crystal’s dimensions may quite possibly be enough to store all of my forms and functions."

Wingnut nodded. "Crystals from the Crystal Cavern also emit light by themselves. You would be able to display yourself independently from other machines."

Red placed the crystal on the floor. "The only catch is that every once in awhile, you have to have music to keep it going."

Waldo 3.0 nodded and looked back at Cotterpin, smiling. "Take this to Digit. Place the crystal near the system. I will find the means of initiating the transfer."

After they had done so, Waldo 3.0 seemed to disappear. Digit cringed. "What if I’ve lost him again? What if that new form of his was unstable? What if the system crashed before the transfer could be completed?"

"Do you do anything but doubt yourself?" Wingnut asked in an irritable tone.

"Mother!" Cotterpin gasped.

Suddenly the monitors went blank. Only a small command line could be seen: "System crash. Do you wish to reboot?"

Digit looked around at everyone, shrugged, and pushed the letter "Y" on the keyboard.

Cotterpin held her mother’s hand tightly with her right hand and Red’s hand with her left. "I guess I can’t fly with Waldo anymore – he seemed too wispy for that sort of thing."

The crystal in front of the stacks of desktops glowed. The Waldo she had learned to like appeared, grinning. "Is this better?" he asked in his familiar goofy tone.

Digit gawked at the return of his virtual son. "Was there an error in the installation process?"

Waldo chuckled and shook his head. He flew over to Cotterpin and kissed her forehead. "I heard her say I needed to be a bit more solid. I still have all the powers I got from the merge. I’m still the third incarnation, but who am I to tell my young lady friend she can’t prefer the second one’s looks?"

Cotterpin hugged Waldo as if no one else in the universe existed.

 

[The Count]

Yay! Oh, there's so much in here to love.

Female Mallware Queen.
Waldo 1.0.
Waldo 2.0.
Waldo 3.0.
Heart of the System Girl.
Kermit!
Digit's parental worrying... Sounded like Telly, in a good way.
Joyous/tearful reunion.

And yet, there was no endnote. So... Is there more? If so, post pleezee.

 

[RedPiggy]

There's an epilogue coming up.

Malware Queen = Hexidecimal from Reboot
Heart of the System = Aura from .hack franchise

This chapter was a sort of blend of both plots of Reboot and .hack//SIGN.

 

[The Count]

Oooooooo! *Leaves glowy reviews for both Kelly and Caitlyn. *Waits for epilogue, captain's log, monologue... Pepsi log?

 

[RedPiggy]

CHAPTER SEVEN: EPILOGUE

Cotterpin kicked her feet in the small simple concrete birdbath in the back of Muppet Central, splashing Waldo. Despite the severe Doozer dislike of water, Cotterpin couldn’t help but grin while Waldo flinched as she soaked him. He morphed into a dozen types of water creatures for her amusement, pretending to be Sea World exhibits. She giggled. “It’s wonderful you can be anything you want to be,” Cotterpin told him happily.

Waldo grinned and morphed back into his blue and white rubber-duckie self. “The best part is being your boyfriend,” he replied. He saw her open her mouth and he shushed her. “Don’t. Even if we call what we have different things, what matters is that we enjoy each other’s company.”

Cotterpin blushed and looked away, singing to herself silently in a slow ballad, “I can’t fight this feeling any longer. And yet, I’m still afraid to let it flow. What started out as friendship has grown stronger.” She sighed. “I only wish I had the strength to let it show.”

Waldo smiled warmly at Cotterpin and morphed into a blue muscular sunbather and stared into the bright sky. He was definitely in the mood for some eighties ballad to kick in. He sang to himself, “I tell myself that I can’t hold out forever. I said there is no reason for my fear, ‘cause --.” He sighed. He decided to continue out loud, “I feel so secure when we’re together. You give my life direction. You make everything so clear.”

Cotterpin gasped and blushed, grinning.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A few weeks before the holiday season at the end of the year, all of Muppet Central was decorating for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the Winter Solstice. Cotterpin brought a bunch of different sculptures made from Doozer sticks for use as ornaments for a multiculturally themed tree. Waldo hung them with the greatest of care.

Cotterpin giggled. “They’re not that fragile.”

Waldo smiled and shrugged. “I just want to make sure they’re in perfect condition.”

Cotterpin turned up her nose and scoffed. “Of course they’re perfect. I made them!”

Waldo laughed and rolled his eyes as he finished decorating the tree.

Cotterpin stared at it in admiration. “It’s pretty,” she told him.

Waldo glanced over at her. “Do Doozers have a holiday around this time of year?”

Cotterpin nodded. “The caves around Doozer Dome get real icy around this time of year. We head for the lowest levels of the Dome where it’s somewhat hotter and celebrate the First Architect.”

“Oh?”

Cotterpin continued, “Yeah. The First Architect found Doozers playing and laughing and doing all kinds of stuff. Earlier that year, the last of the kings of the Doozers left, leaving Doozers very little to do. Soon, Doozers started turning into Fraggles. If that had gone on long enough, there wouldn’t have been any Doozers left. So, the First Architect designed some toys for the Doozer to build. Everyone had a great time building the toys.”

“Ah,” Waldo nodded, “and then you gave the toys away and everyone was filled with the holiday spirit.”

Cotterpin scratched her head. “Well, no – they trashed the toys so they could rebuild them. From then on, all Doozers spend all their waking hours trying to build things the Architects design for them. Otherwise, it’d mean the end of the Doozer race.” She nodded. “It is a great honor to keep the Doozer population healthy.”

Kermit and Gonzo walked by with a couple of boxes. “Hey guys!” Gonzo shouted happily. “We’re going to watch some old home movies! Wanna come?”

Waldo shrugged. “We’ll be by in a bit,” he replied.

Cotterpin watched them walk past. She turned to Waldo. “Home movies?”

Waldo nodded. “Kermit and Gonzo do it every year,” he told her. “They show lots of Christmases past, including one where a whole bunch of different creatures from all over the country show up to celebrate.” He sighed. “That was before they met us, though, so we’re not in any of them.” He glanced at Cotterpin. “Hey, did you just imply that you enjoyed being Architect?”

Cotterpin shrugged. “I’ve always enjoyed being Architect. I’m sure as heck not gonna build. That may be fine and dandy for most Doozers, but my destiny has always had something greater in store.”

Waldo nodded sadly, looking away. “Yes, you wanted fame and fortune.”

Cotterpin laughed. “We don’t have ‘fortunes’, actually. But, yeah, I wanted to be famous by getting special knowledge no Doozer had ever seen.”

Waldo stared at her, frowning. “And I suppose I was that special knowledge?”

Cotterpin nodded. “But it wasn’t at all like I expected,” she replied quietly. She smiled and started to sing. “For even though I wandered, I kept you in my sight. You’re a diode in the ceiling, on a cold, dark winter’s night. Know that I’ve been closer, than I ever thought I might.” She inhaled, singing more forcefully, “And I can’t fight this feeling anymore! I’d forgotten what I started fighting for! It’s time to park the scooter at the door – hearing the idle engine roar --.”

Waldo smiled and kissed her on the forehead, singing just as strongly, “Well, I can’t fight this feeling anymore! I remember what I started fighting for! And if I have to crawl along the floor, stumbling right through your door, baby, I can’t fight this feeling anymore!”

Waldo flew Cotterpin into the control room as Digit inserted the VHS tape. Digit sighed. “You know, Kermit, I can burn this on DVD Blue Ray for you.”

Kermit shook his head. “I’m a sucker for nostalgia.”

Digit sighed again. “It would be nice if we could share it too,” he muttered under his breath.

Waldo’s eyes lit up. “Hey, guys! I have a great idea!” With a mere thought, he teleported everyone into the snowy front yard of Emily Bear’s farmhouse.

Kermit gasped, a tear nearly coming to his eye. “We’re in the tape!”

Waldo smirked. “Now all of us can have fun as if we had been there in the eighties!”

“Poor Fozzie’s mom,” Gonzo chuckled. “Won’t she be surprised?”

Digit, his jaw agape in wonder, took Vicki by the arm and rushed up the steps to the front porch – where they both flew backwards and landed back in the snow. They coughed briefly.

Cotterpin smirked and shook her index finger at Digit and Vicki. “Icy patches lower friction, you know!” she teased.

Digit nodded, rubbing his backside, as he helped Vicki up. “Yes,” he groaned, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Later, Waldo and Cotterpin swung on some hangers on the wall as the recorded characters busied themselves with holiday preparations. Cotterpin glanced over at Waldo and sang softly, “My life has been such a whirlwind since I found you.”

Waldo smiled and continued, “I’ve been running round circles in my mind.”

Cotterpin nodded and swung more enthusiastically. “And it always seems I’m following Waldo, ‘cause you take me to the places that alone I’d never find --.”

Waldo turned into a large safety net and Cotterpin squealed in delight as she flew onto him, bouncing onto the floor, careful to avoid the footsteps of both Waldo’s friends and the recorded characters. Waldo morphed back and snuggled her. “And even as I wander, I’m keeping you in sight! You’re a candle in the window, on a cold, dark winter’s night! I’m certain I’m closer than I ever thought I might!”

They inhaled deeply, the rest of the goings-on invisible and inaudible to them, as they only knew that each other existed in the great universe. Then sang together, “’Cause I can’t fight this feeling anymore! Now I remember what I will fight for! And if I have to crawl along the floor, come crashing through your door, baby, I can’t fight this feeling anymore!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just before New Year’s, Waldo flew Cotterpin around a small town called Hensonville, noting lots of interesting landmarks and studying the layouts of the different types of buildings. Soon, though, as they headed north, Waldo sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Cotterpin asked, draping her small arms around his neck tenderly.

Waldo replied, “Well, the rent’s getting kinda high where me an’ Digit an’ Lindbergh are staying. I’m supposed to be looking for a new place to live.” He chuckled. “I just can’t tear myself away from you, though.”

Cotterpin rolled her eyes. “You don’t need my permission to knock out two supports with one wrench, you know.”

Waldo nodded as he flew near a large building, nearly a mile in length. It was white and had lots of windows. A great big white sign with Kermit’s head in the top right corner stated “COMING SOON – MUPPET CENTRAL DORMS! CHEAP ROOMS, CHEAP FOOD, CHEAP FUN!” Smaller lettering underneath the announcement added, “Meet new friends – FREE!”

Waldo flew Cotterpin up to the southern door of the building, which was open but taped with yellow “Do Not Enter” tape. “I guess it’s still under construction,” he noted sadly.

Cotterpin gasped and jumped to the ground. “Just think of all the building opportunities!” she whispered excitedly, dashing through the door’s opening.

“Hey! Wait up!” Waldo yelled as he followed her for yet another strange adventure….

-- The end --

 

[The Count]

*Glomps the epilogue. R.E.O. Speedwagon! Dorms! MFC insertion! Thank you both for this story, a joy to read.