Spike felt drained when he got back to Roger's. The discussion with Talisent had lasted less than an hour and seemed to go by very quickly, but it took a lot out of him. Spike knew the commitment he'd given Talisent was not what Nancy and Roger were expecting. He wondered how he would tell them and where he would get the energy for it. This wasn't going to be easy.

He figured he may as well start by letting them know the conclusion. They could get their protests out of the way and then start dealing with the situation. So he led off by telling them he had agreed to be transported to Talisent's lab. The transfer would take place the following night.

Nancy and Roger listened quietly. Nancy couldn't believe what she was hearing and didn't know what to say to Spike. It was obvious to Roger that Nancy was upset. She looked like a volcano about to erupt. Roger didn't dare say anything for fear that Nancy would pounce on him to let off some of her steam. With the two of them quiet, it left the air time for Spike. He just kept hitting on details of the discussion with Talisent. In a scattered, sort of random order. Nothing like his usual methodical style. Roger thought Spike seemed punchy and was starting to get worried about him. Nancy had never seen Spike like this before.

Spike wrapped up his summary of the discussion by telling them about Horus. It was then that Nancy picked up the connection. She could see that Spike had reached his decision on a personal basis. He wanted to do this for himself. He wanted everything Talisent said to be true. And to Spike, it was worth risking everything, even his life on the chance that it might true.

After a long pause, Nancy gave Spike her commitment to helping in anyway she could. Spike thanked her for her understanding and support. Roger jumped in with his own, somewhat forced, excitement. He was trying to follow Nancy's lead. He just wished he knew where she was going with it.

Nancy prompted Roger to tell Spike about their success in tracing Talisent's phone call connection and Roger gave Spike all the gory details. Roger really knew his stuff when it came to telecommunications. Spike listened to Roger distantly and inserted a comment or question now and then. Nancy was just observing Spike. Roger didn't exactly know how to end his story because he couldn't piece it into the overall action plan. He would have liked to have said what they could do now that they had the address. Nancy rescued him by saying they hoped to not need the information, but it seemed good to have it anyway. Spike agreed with her and another uncomfortable pause set in.

Nancy stood up from her chair and suggested everybody get some rest. It had been a long day. Roger yawned an approval. Nancy also suggested that Spike take some time for himself to get his thoughts worked out. Maybe run some diagnostic routines and some maintenance utilities. It sounded like a good idea to Spike. He felt like thinking about Talisent and his future. He could begin to imagine how all the pieces might fit together. His past, his present, and this amazing new future. Spike left Roger's place to return to his home-base at MicroLabs. With Spike cleared, Nancy powered down Roger's system and told him to suspend the Internet link so she could be sure they were alone. Roger could tell that his early bed-time wasn't going to happen. Nancy laid it out for Roger. She told him that Spike needed help and it was up to the two of them to provide it. She already had a plan in mind. It still needed some contingencies covered and some hardware prepared, but she said she thought they could be ready in time if they got to work right away. They had less than 24 hours before Spike was going to walk in and hand himself over to Talisent.




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