A shift in the space-time continuum occurs. A great battle has been fought and although our side has won, the ripples caused by two such titanic forces clashing have burned some brides and laid the foundation for many more bridges to be built.

"What is it Endian" Asks Cookie. I open my eyes. I am in the central information chamber of the Guardian Cruiser Browser.

"It seems you and Captain AJaX are going to have to finish deploying the firewall in my absence" Cookie, a brilliant young sprite squints at me in confusion. "I need to leave the net. Immediately. Urgent business has just come to my attention."

"What! You're leaving? Just hold on a nano here. You can't just leave us! You said yourself that without you there is no way to return to the Supercomputer once the firewall is up and it won't be fully secure against these new web creatures unless its initialized from both sides!"

"Relax, I won't leave you stranded." I said, closing my eyes again. "I'll contact Turbo and have another Guardian sent here to..."

"Another Guardian? Where are they going to find a guardian to replace you! I've worked with other Guardians before; you're on a completely different level! A code master's got nothing on you. Your like… a user incarnate. When we get back to the supercomputer you can quit the guardian gig and live up to your full potential with me at Central Cyber Command. Besides, no one can leave the Net. It's impossible."

I open my eyes again.

"OK. Turbo is sending another Guardian to portal you and the Browser back to safe Cyberspace once your work here is done. My travel arrangements are nearly complete."

"But I didn't see you…"

"I don't necessarily need a window, or my key tool, to communicate with people. Now be quiet, there isn't much time and I have much to say. When we began this mission I was the only one who knew what we were up against, and I don't mean I was the only one on this ship, I mean I was the only one in the entire Net. Once you and the others found out you thought it would be impossible to achieve any kind of security against these new creatures, and it probably would have been without my help. Well now a different civilization is faced with a different and more dire threat. Like you they have no idea it exists and by the time they even begin to suspect it will be far too late. You guys have a fighting chance now. Our first strike has reduced any potential invasion to a crawl, and with this firewall you will have ample time to consider your options. It is my intention to give this other society the same thing I gave yours: a fighting chance so to speak. Do you understand?"

"I suppose, but what do you mean 'so to speak'? And how did you contact the Prime Guardian, or receive a distress call without actually communicating?"

'There is no point in explaining to him that I'm using a telepathic network that spans realities, dimensions, and universes; the concept of telepathy or ESP in general is impossible in this plane of existence.' I think to myself.

"Well, the people I've been assigned to go help are opposed to violence of any kind, so I can't go and convince a nonexistent military force to lend me a ship and a crew and a genius to nip the threat or threats in the bud like I did in the supercomputer with the Guardians. I'll figure something out though, I always do. Ah! Turbo has selected the agent he is going to send. Her name is Linux and she is apparently exceptionally bright. Been a Guardian for over three minutes now. You'll be in good hands. As long as you guys don't linger here too long the web creatures will not have a chance to regroup and attack again. If they do, then just remember that I already took care of the biggest threats so there shouldn't be anything that this ship can't handle here for quite some time. Just make sure that the firewall is activated even if it's the last thing you do. Otherwise all my time spent here will have been in vain. I'm almost ready to go. Tell Captain AJaX and the crew I said goodbye. I doubt I will return to the Supercomputer in any of your lifetimes, and if I do then chances are it's because your lives are about to end." The barriers that separate the disparate fractions of existence shudder. Countless defenses and traps and locks, many placed there by me, creak open. A world made completely of Zero's and One's, of computer information that is stored on a hard drive that doesn't exist connects with a world of flesh and blood and machines and magic and more and less than everything imaginable. All this happens far above and bellow the capacity for my young friend Cookie or anyone or anything here to detect or comprehend. "Function: Portal. Code: 10010 101 1 1100 1001 10100 11001" I say.

The trinket on my left wrist springs to life, firing a blue energy beam out in front of that expands like a balloon. The beam changes to gold and combines with the blue Vortex. The swirling mass of energy trembles a moment before becoming a partially transparent sphere about 2 meters in diameter.

"How did you open a portal without a tear? And how come it's so see-through? I've never seen a portal like that!"

"It can only be used by a sprite who can will his own code to change in such a way that he will partially leave phase with this reality. In order to do that you need to have an understanding of the laws of Physics in another universe. That is what I'm doing now, and I'll be done in about 15 nanoseconds. By the way, the user is just a myth created by an ancient order whose descendants are now the oldest and most powerful code masters. There are beings that are similar to your people's idea of the user out there. Heck, I've been one of them on occasion, but never has anyone from outside the net affected anything inside the net."

"Except you?"

"And some of my colleagues but we had to come into the Net first. Goodbye my friend." At 'goodbye' my body shimmered and then turned transparent. I stepped through the portal and it closed behind me.