USH'S MATRIX GAME FIFTH ASSIGNMENT (COMBAT PATH)- 'Payback'

"I don't think that was his main concern," says Marduk. "What difference did it make to him if they were acting oddly or not? He wasn't trying to fool anyone."

"San has a good point," Mors says. "For whatever reason, he did not want them to be Agents with different forms. He wanted them to be relatively human."

"Unfortunately, that is so, I'm afraid," Mors says to Dallas. "Unless the Agents completely eradicated him through deletion, I do not think he is gone."

"There was a recorder left in that spammer I gave you, Mors," says Dallas. "We saw everything that happened with Melitus. It wasn't... quite what we expected."

"How so?" Mors asks. "What did you see?"

"lets us look at it."

Dallas takes you to the monitors on the Shez, where the scene is played out.

-----

[The three Agents stride into Melitus’ chamber and approach Melitus in his iron lung. As they get close they seem to recognise who it is. Melitus looks angry, and refuses to look at the Agents]

Agent 1: You. What are you doing?
Agent 2: You should not be involved in these matters.
Agent 3: They do not concern you. They are not your function.

[At this point Melitus turns to look at the Agents]

Melitus: How dare you talk to me...

ssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

...I am well outside your … jurisdiction. There is nothing…

ssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

...that you can do to me… Leave at once!

[The Agents pause]

Agent 3: This is not why you were allowed here.
Agent 1: This matter will be reported. All irregularities will be investigated.
Agent 2: You will have to answer for what you have done.

[The Agents turn and leave]

-----

"Interesting, huh?" says Ariadne.

"No renegade," says Marduk. "Melitus is most definitely part of the system."

"Outside the jurisdiction of Agents?" says Ariadne. "What the hell does that mean, he's in the Matrix, isn't he?"

"Well, that shows just how much we know about the System!" Ares states.

"well...some programs are meant for more than keep the matrix safe and quiet, i would assume" says Rade.

"The Agents regulate the Matrix, Rade," says Marduk. "Everything in it, regardless of purpose, is their jurisdiction. The System has no other means it uses for control."

"Perhaps Melitus is a Machine of some incredibly high ranking in the Matrix," Heph suggests. "But other than that, I have no clue."

"I agree with Heph," says Marduk, "but that only creates more questions. If he is important, what and who is he? The Agents imply he was meant to be in the Matrix, but not doing what he was doing... we know neither what he was, or was meant to be, doing."

Dallas waves a dismissive hand.

"I'm not worried," he says. "If it threatens us, I am sure we'll learn about it soon enough. We got the codes; time we got home."

"I fully agree with you, Captain," Mors says. He motions for everyone to head up the ramp of the Shez. "I am ready for a long vacation..."

Mors heads up to the ramp and heads to the cockpit, flopping down in the co-pilot seat.

Ares nods in agreeance before heading up the ramp with a tired yawn and a stretch.

Ok folks, that more or less wraps things up for the external storyline; now we return to Zion.

Xp??

I can't issue xp until the new system is ready.

phooy
When will the new system be ready??

(wheee we're done!)

Yay for done...ness...

Sorry, I WILL get around to post-scripting this... but probably next week.

New system will be into next year, I am afraid, looking at schedules as they stand. I know a lot about it, but it hasn't gone through any form of comparsion or checking yet, let alone testing!

Err, I'll be after you guys to test it, of course. You've been very helpful so far. More on that later.

Ok no worries...
(Does that mean we won't be starting another assinment untill next year??)

So it seems...

Or possibly longer... I don't actually have a story for you!