Family Betrayal

Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Matrix stuff yadda yadda yadda.

Timeframe: Over ten years before the Matrix.

Psycho D-Girl is mine and whoever else you don’t recognise.

My father stared off into space, that was the first sign I got. The second was the fact that he stood up and just walked out, without telling anyone where he was going. I remember not so long ago both my parents had gone to great lengths to hide what they were from us; my twin sister Jennifer and me. Then I had seen what my father could do. I was twelve at the time and I remember it like it was yesterday, I was roller blading down a small, pretty much deserted street and it wasn’t all that bright down there when I saw them fighting. My father and a dark man dressed in a suit. I suppose it wasn’t that weird when I look back on it, but the fact that the dark man was wearing sunglasses in a dark alley all but screamed the fact that this wasn’t right. I came to a stop not far from them.

“What are you doing?” I had asked. At my voice my father had turned from his opponent, he seemed shocked that I was there. The man took advantage of my fathers momentary distraction and leaped for the nearest fire escape, climbing upwards and out of sight.

“Where did you come…never mind. I can explain everything as soon as we get home.” For the first time in my life my father was flustered, he didn’t know how to react to the situation. In my naiveté I thought that there was a perfectly reasonable explanation as to just what he had been doing.

When we returned home my mother was already there, she was a lot calmer than my father was. Jennifer was there to and my parents sat us both down.

“We are programs for the system.” My mother said. I looked at Jennifer, eyebrows raised, but she looked as confused as I was.

“What are you talking about?” She asked.

“We have permission to tell you that this place is all a program. None of it’s real.” My father said.

“Like something on TV?” I asked. My mother shook her head.

“In a way I suppose it is, but not quite. Like I told you already your father and I are both programs of that system. I’m a systems analyst and programmer, your father is an agent. This place you are in is like a computer program, millions of human minds are plugged into it by machines. It was the only way we could survive, we need their energy. This was the perfect solution, humans get to live out their own dreams, their own lives, and in return we get to use their energy.” She said. I looked at Jennifer again and it was obvious we both came to the same conclusion, both our parents had lost their marbles. Falling back on the sofa I laughed out loud.

“I thought you didn’t like fantasy stories, mom. If you’re programs then what are me and Jen? Are we programs to?” I asked.

“No you are both human.” She replied.

“Now that doesn’t make sense. If you’re programs or machines or whatever you can’t have human children, can you? You really have to study up on this stuff if you’re going to try and convince us that’s true.” I said turning to Jennifer.

“You ready to learn how to roller blade now?” I had been trying to convince her for ages to try roller blading. This conversation seemed to have made her lose all inhibitions about breaking her neck though, because she nodded and stood up and we were going out the door when my father spoke.

“She isn’t lying. We can prove that it is the truth.” He said. I turned back to face him and waited.

“Well? Show us.” I said. Mo mother closed her eyes and for a brief moment I saw the house myself and everyone else disappear, to be replaced my lines of some kind of code. Then everything returned to normal.

“How did you…what did you just do?” I asked in surprise.

“I told you, this is a program.” My mother said.

From that day on I knew that this wasn’t real, none of it. What my parents had said was true, and I hated them for it. I couldn’t believe that the whole human race could be enslaved without knowing it. That’s how it started; I wanted to find out who that man was my father had been fighting in that alley that day, because I knew that he had the rest of the answers that no one could give me. I did things to get myself noticed by him, racing cars and bikes that I learned to improve myself. Then I met Steve, he was two years older than me and he knew his way around a computer like no one I had ever seen before. He thought me a few things and I started my search for the ‘dark man’, as I now referred to him as, I had no name to go on and I found a lot more stuff than I bargained for. The ‘dark man’ had been labelled a terrorist, he wasn’t referred to by name on the internet either, but he wasn’t the only one. There were so many others, the most prominent of which was Morpheus. Steve and I tried to contact someone out there. Then Steve told me that he was being watched and I knew who was doing the watching. I told him to stay away from the agents, if they came in his direction run the other way. Then one day Steve didn’t show up, he disappeared. I continued doing what I was doing by myself. I wasn’t sure if Steve had been killed or taken by the agents or if he had found the truth.

In the meantime I had been told numerous times by my parents to stop what I was doing, but like I said earlier I now hated them because they were a part of the conspiracy to control humans. Naturally I completely ignored what they said, if anything I worked even harder on it.

One night after a particularly hard underground race I was returning home when I saw an agent car chasing another one and I knew that these were some of the people who could help me. Even as I speeded to catch up I saw the agent car slam into the side of the one they were chasing, both cars came to a halt. I crashed into the side of the agents car, forcing it to move away from the other one. The car I was driving was well built, so there wasn’t much damage, I waited a moment to see if they were going to get out. When they didn’t I climbed out of mine and walked towards the one the agents had crashed into. The man who had been driving was unconscious and the man riding shotgun was not much better off. I struggled to open the door of the car, but in the crash is had been badly damaged. I opened the back door and got in, reaching forward I hauled the man behind the wheel into the back and I climbed into the front. I picked up the mobile that was on the dashboard; obviously one of them had been using it before the crash. I put it to my ear.

“Tell me where you want these guys to go and I’ll get them there.” I said into it. There was silence for a moment.

“Who is this?” A female voice asked.

“Who I am isn’t as important as the agents who are going to show up any minute.” I said.

“Which way do I go?”

“Do you know the old warehouse on Marehan road?” She asked.

“Yeah.” I replied.

“There will be someone waiting there to get them out.” She said. I tossed the phone back on the dashboard and took off. I glanced over at the guys in the passenger seat and got a shock.

“Steve? What the hell…you got out.” And that was all I had time to say, in the rear-view mirror I had spotted an agent car. I watched the speedometer rising slowly as I went faster and faster I ripped around the corner on two wheels and down a side alley. This was the same track that the race had taken earlier and I had driven that three times. I knew it by heart. There was hardly any traffic on the road tonight. I closed my eyes, not really sure if it was the right thing to do or not, but knowing that the agents could track me somehow. I counted down the seconds in my head. After almost three minutes I screeched to a stop and opened my eyes, we were right out side the warehouse. I pushed out the remaining glass in the door and climbed out that way, grabbed the phone as I opened the back door.

“I’m here. Where to now?” I asked as I pulled the man out of the back seat.

“Second floor of the warehouse. There’s a man coming down to help get them out.” She said. Even as she said it I saw the man in question and nearly dropped the guy I was dragging.

“You’re him.” I said in surprise. He gave me a suspicious look.

“I’m who?” He asked. I shook my head.

“We don’t have time; there were agents right behind me. I think I lost them, but I can’t be sure.” I said. He opened the passenger door and pulled Steve out.

“You need help walking, Malachi?” He asked. That must be his name now, I thought. Malachi mumbled something I couldn’t hear, the dark man helped him up the stairs and I followed, dragging the other man with me. I’m not that strong and he was heavy so it took a few moments for us to reach the top. I wasn’t sure why the dark man trusted me, if I was in his shoes I would have been a little more suspicious. We went into a room where a phone was ringing, the dark man put it to Malachi’s ear and I stared in shock as he disappeared in silver threadlike things.

“What was that?” I asked. Ballard put the phone back in the cradle and then came over and took the other man from me.

“How we get in and out.” He said. In and out of what? I wondered, but I didn’t say anything out loud. The phone rang again and once more the dark man pressed it to the other mans ear and he to disappeared. He turned to me once more.

“Thank you for your help.” He said. The phone started ringing again.

“There’s something I want in return.” I said.

“What’s that?” He asked.

“I want out as well. I know this isn’t real and I don’t want to live this lie anymore. I want to see what’s real.” I replied.

“I thought you might.” He said.

“But not yet, there’s something I need to do first.” I said.

“We can do it tomorrow night.”

“How do I contact you…what’s your name?”

“I’m Ballard. You won’t have to. You still have the phone that Malachi was using. We’ll contact you.” He reached for the phone.

“Until then.” I said. I turned and walked out of the room before he had a chance to say anything else.

“We need to talk.” I said as soon as I came into the house. Jennifer looked up from where she was reading some kind of schematics.

“What about?” She asked.

“Not here. Let’s go for a walk.” I pulled the door open again and followed her back out of the house. We walked in silence for a long time.

“Well? What is it?” She asked. Now that the moment was here I couldn’t seem to find the courage to tell her, but I had to.

“I’m getting out and I want you to come with me.” I said in a rush.

“Get out of where?” She asked.

“You know where. They’re going to get me out tomorrow. Please, Jen, you’ve got to come with me.” I said. She stopped walking, but remained silent for a moment.

“I need time to think about it.” She said. She turned back in the direction of the house.

“Don’t take to long, it happens tomorrow.” I called after her.

I worked on my bike that night. I knew that it wasn’t real, but working on the bike or my car had always helped when I was feeling nervous or excited. Besides I’d probably be using it tomorrow and I wanted to make sure it was up to the job of getting me where I needed to go. I was fairly sure that they wouldn’t let me leave if they could stop it. I stayed in the garage all night and most of the next day. Late in the afternoon the door to the garage opened and Jennifer stood there.

“You made your mind up?” I asked her.

“Yes.” She said, and then shut up. I stood up from my crouch over the bike and watched her as she moved around the garage picking things up and putting them down again.

“And…” I prodded her.

“And I’m not going. Father has offered me the chance to work for them and it seems like a good idea.” She said.

“What exactly do you mean ‘work for them’?” I asked suspiciously.

“It means that I’m going to work for the agents, do the same kind of thing that father does.” She replied.

“So you’re saying to hell with it? You’d rather live in this…this make believe world than see what’s real? Be a pawn in their chess game, because that’s all you’ll really be, they don’t care about us, Jen. You know they don’t. Given half the chance they’d turn us in.” I snapped.

“Yes, I would. Which brings us to another point, they’re tired of having to clean up your little messes, and they want you taken care of. You stay here or you die, it’s that simple. The choice is yours.” She smiled sweetly at me. Like looking into a demented mirror, where the person staring back at me looks exactly the same but they don’t act the same.

“What do you mean ‘taken care of’?” My blood ran cold, I already knew the answer to that one, I just didn’t want to believe it. In my pocket I could feel the phone vibrate as Ballard tried to contact me. Our eyes met, and I knew that it would never be the same again. I pulled the phone out of my pocket, answered it and pressed it to my ear.

“Five thirty, Union Square bridge. Ask the man sitting on the bench for a light.” Ballard said.

“I’ll be there.” I said and hung up. It was already five fifteen; I grabbed the keys for the bike as I moved towards it. Something hit me hard in the shoulder.

“What the hell are you doing?” I snapped at Jennifer.

“You can’t leave. You see I told them that you’d join them. If you don’t then you must die.” She said it as calmly as if she was discussing the weather. I moved my hand to my shoulder and only then realising that my hand wouldn’t move the way I wanted it to, she had thrown a spanner at me and it hurt like hell.

“And you’re going to do it?” I asked incredulously.

“I don’t like it, but if I have to yes I will.” She replied. I faked moving left then sprang past her on the right, she kicked me as I did and I lurched forward, almost falling flat on my face, but I managed to regain my balance. I turned back to her and tried to move my hands into a defensive position, but my injured arm still refused to respond. Her fist hit me on my unprotected side, she followed this up with a quick roundhouse kick and I flew back into the trashcans. I quickly got back to my feet.

“Had a change of heart?” She asked. My head rose and I glared at her.

“No. I am going and you won’t stop me.” I said. The laugh she gave at that sent shivers down my spine.

“Are you so sure of that?” She smirked at me.

“You’re my sister, my twin. You can’t do this.” Call me naïve but I actually believed that.

“Wrong, I’ve been told to stop you that means I can do whatever I want.” She moved towards me. I turned and I ran, with my injured shoulder I was in no condition to fight her anyway and I had a sneaking suspicion that she could use any kind of fighting technique she wanted to.

I arrived at Union Square five minutes late, it couldn’t be helped, I had been sidetracked by an agent and had to go the long way. I didn’t recognise the man on the bench as either Malachi or the driver of the car from the night before and I wasn’t sure if he was with Ballard. I reached into my pocket for a cigarette, but I must have dropped them somewhere along the way. What the hell? I figured. The worst he could say was no. I walked up behind him.

“Can I bum a cigarette off you?” I asked. He turned to face me; I couldn’t see his eyes as he wore sunglasses. He pulled a packet of John Player from a jacket pocket and offered it to me silently. I stuck one between my lips.

“You got a light?” I mumbled around the butt of the cigarette. His other hand came up and a silver lighter flashed to life. I inhaled deeply and blew the smoke out through my nose. He made no move to get up off the bench, but he continued to stare at me. Now I was starting to get a little nervous. I was ready to bolt at a moments notice.

“Aren’t you a little young to be smoking?” He asked.

“I’m sixteen. Besides they’re not real anyway, or didn’t you know that?” I said. He stood up, putting one hand inside his jacket.

“Good answer. I’m Bane, come with me.” He led me to a motorbike parked nearby.

“Nice bike.” I commented. He gestured for me to climb on behind him. I did and put one arm around his waist to hold on, my other arm still wouldn’t work right, my shoulder was probably dislocated, and the pain was getting worse, but I didn’t say anything about it.

He brought the bike to a stop outside an abandoned hotel and we got off. He brought me inside the darkened building and up the stairs into a room that was probably the only one that hadn’t been looted. Ballard waited inside and he turned to me as we entered.

“You’re late.” He said.

“I had some family business that needed to be taken care of.” I said. He held out both his hands, in one was a red pill, the other a blue pill.

“You take the blue pill and you go back home, forget everything that happened here. Take the red and I will show you the truth. The choice is yours.” He said.

“Let me guess, if I pick the wrong one then you kill me, right?” I asked, just a trace of sarcasm in my voice.

“What are you talking about?” He asked a confused look on his face. I smiled with little humour.

“Family joke, you’d have to have been there to understand.” I reached for the red pill.

“Follow me.” He brought me into another room. Malachi sat in front of a computer, he smiled when he saw me.

“You decided to come out.” He said.

“Says the one who needed convincing that something wasn’t right.” I said.

“You didn’t bring Jen with you.” He said.

“No, she had other ‘career’ opportunities.” I muttered under my breath. Ballard stood behind Malachi, as Bane directed me to a chair in the middle of the room.

“Can I ask a question?” I asked.

“Of course.” Ballard said.

“The guy who was driving the car yesterday, is he alright?” I asked. Ballard looked surprised by the question.

“He’ll be fine.” He answered.

“Good.” I said. Bane joined Ballard and Malachi after he had finished sticking those heart monitor thingies to me. Ballard took out a phone.

“Have you got her yet, Cyl?” He asked.

“Good, we’ll be coming out as soon as she’s gone.” He had obviously received the answer he was looking for.

“I’m just locking onto her now.” Malachi said. Why did I suddenly feel like the proverbial guinea pig?

“Got her.” All of a sudden I felt like someone had dumped a bucket of warm water over me. I don’t remember waking up, just landing in ice cold water and trying to stay afloat, but my shoulder and arm now felt like someone had whacked me with a hammer a few times and I curled around the pain. I vaguely remember voices speaking words that I didn’t understand. Waking occasionally in a brightly lit room, needles stuck in all over my body. Each time there was a different person there.

“You didn’t tell me about your broken collarbone.” Ballard said one time I woke up.

“Hmm…thought it was a dislocated shoulder.” I mumbled and went back to sleep.

The next time I woke up I was in a room that looked about as barren as a prison cell. My arm was strapped to the opposite shoulder and across my chest. A woman slept in the bed on the other side of the room. She woke even as I looked over at her

She sat up on the bed and walked out of the room a word. I followed her but stopped not far from the room, my hand slowly reaching for the back of my head. My fingers found a piece of metal there and I froze.

“What are you doing alone?” Someone asked.

“Bane?” I asked. He looked a lot different than he had the last time I’d seen him.

“Yeah. Did Cyl leave you one your own?” He asked. At my answering nod he frowned.

“Ballard is going to be pissed.” He said.

“Why?”

“Because you shouldn’t be left on your own until you know your way around,” then in an obvious attempt to change the subject,

“Are you hungry?” I nodded eagerly.

“Then come with me.” When we got to the mess hall he introduced me to everyone already in there.

“Zan, the driver of the car. And I believe you’ve already met our operator, the chirpy and always happy Cyladriel.”

“Shut up, Bane.” She grumbled as she sat down at the long table.

“She a really nice person once you get to know her. It’s just that her and morning don’t get along very well with each other.” Bane said. He put a bowl of something in front of me.

“Is this some kind of glue or something?” I asked.

“It’s food.” Bane said. I poked at it with a spoon as if it were nuclear waste.

“It looks…delicious.” I said.

“Looks like glue, tastes like glue and yet it isn’t.” Everyone laughed, except Cyladriel; she just glowered around at everyone. Ballard came in and when he saw me sitting there he nodded in greeting.

“Good, you’re awake. Cyl, I’ll be taking her into the construct once you’re finished here.” He said. She just grunted in response, Ballard didn’t take offence to it, he was obviously used to her. I wasn’t so lucky, I was apparently going to be sharing a room with her while I was here, which reminded me of something.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“The Caducus, it’s my hovercraft.” He joined us at the table after he had gotten himself some glue.

“And it’s about 2200 or thereabouts.” He finished his food in record time and stood up again.

“Come on. You to, Cyl.” He said the last part almost tentatively, as if afraid that the operator would kill him for disturbing her. Sure enough she glared back at him, but stood up anyway and helped herself to another cup of what smelled like coffee and followed us out of the mess hall.

“You’re arm will be able to come out of that sling in a few days. I want to be sure it’s healed properly. I still think that you should have told me you were injured.”

“I don’t know why that matters so much. I mean it’s going to heal, it doesn’t even hurt that much anymore.” I said.

“It’s not that. When we pulled you out of the water you were going into shock. When we free someone they’re already weak enough. You’re heart stopped twice, you could have died.” He said. That shut me right up, imagining ones own death has probably been done by everyone at least once, but to have to almost happen twice is enough to make anyone a little quieter.

“Take a seat.” He pointed at a chair that looked more like it belonged in a dentist’s office than here. I did what he asked anyway, half expecting him to pull out a tooth drill and start complaining about the terrible state my teeth were in. Instead he came over and pushed my head back into the weird cushion on the top of the chair.

“This is probably going to feel a little strange.” He said. Cyladriel pushed at the back of my head and I felt something click into place. I tried to move my head out of the way, but Ballard held me firmly in place. I opened my mouth to ask what the hell he was doing but suddenly I found myself in a blindingly white place. A moment later Ballard was there as well.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Cyl, load the real world.” He said. The environment changed to a barren looking rocky waste. In the distance I could the ruins of what looked like it had once been the Statue of Liberty.

“Over a hundred years ago we created AI. They did all the menial jobs that we didn’t want to do ourselves. They had no respect. Then B-166ER killed his owner, he was put on trial. Some argued that he should receive a fair trail as he was after all the same as man. The leaders of the world disagreed and they ordered the destruction of all AI. Some of them survived and the built a city near Africa, they called it 01. They monopolised most of the worlds markets, creating everything from computer parts to hovercars. A sanction was put on 01 to stop them. 01 sent ambassadors to the UN headquarters in New York; they wanted to have a stable relationship with men. Their pleas to work together to make a better world was refused. A war started where men dropped nuclear bombs on 01, but machines do not have the same weakness to radiation that we do. 01’s troops took over many countries. Our leaders came up with a final solution, the blackening of the sky. A terrible war started and millions were killed. The machines moved on, they had studied humans had found a way to use the bioelectric, thermal and kinetic energies that our bodies produced. Over time they found a way to place humans in a sort of coma like state where their minds were plugged into the Matrix. That’s where you were until a few days ago. The Matrix is a computer program, none of it is real.” Ballard finally finished speaking.

“Wait...you said it wasn’t real, I broke my collarbone in the Matrix, how can it still be broken here if this is real?” I asked.

“Your mind makes it real.” He replied.

“So if I had died in the Matrix I’d be dead here as well?” I asked.

“Yes. We’ll unplug now and Cyl is going to run through the operation, combat and whatever other programs you want to learn. Cyl, get us out of here.” He spoke up at the black sky. Then I was back on the ship, I suppose I’d never really left it.

“Alright, first things first, operating programs, boring but unfortunately they’re necessary.” Cyladriel said. She seemed to have gotten over her bitchiness. She was right though the operating programs were boring, explaining what a hardline was and how to use the exit, that sort of stuff.

“And now for the more interesting stuff. Pick a disc, any disc.” Cyl held out a bunch of discs in a fan shape in one hand. I picked one and gave it to her, she looked at it briefly as she sat down behind her monitors again.

“Interesting choice.” She said.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Origami.” She laughed as she loaded it up.

“Maybe I could dazzle an agent with my paper folding skillz and then give him a very nasty paper cut.” I joked.

“You never know. Combat training comes next.” And so it went. She finished up a few hours later and was about to unplug me when I stopped her.

“You have any driving programs in there? And include bike riding with it.” I asked.

“Ballard told me that you were a pretty decent driver already. I didn’t think you’d need them.” She said.

“Knowing all you have about driving can’t hurt. You never know when it could come in useful.” I told her.

“Okay, the last one who had these loaded into them was Zan and that was three years ago. There here somewhere.” She dug through her boxes of discs until she found the right ones.

“That’s all the programs you have?” I asked before she loaded it in.

“No, but Ballard usually wants to split it into two sessions. It can be very tiring. Here we go.” She put the disc in and suddenly I knew more about cars and bikes than I ever had before.

“And we are done for the day. Let’s go get some food.” She said. She pulled the spike out of my head and helped me up, steadying me as I stumbled. After I finished eating I went back to the bare room and went to sleep.

Words in these -„³[ ] are IM¡¦s. The IM glasses are an idea I got from ¡¥Enter the Matrix¡¦, when the first one came up on my screen I remember wondering how the hell Sparks can send an IM and if Ghost had to take out his phone every time he got an IM he never would have gotten anywhere. So the IM idea isn¡¦t mine, but the IM glasses are, if you use it without my getting my permission first then there¡¦s really **** all I can do about it, cos I don¡¦t know u.

*********

I went up to the main deck the next day and found that Ballard, Bane, Malachi and Zan were all plugged in.

¡§What¡¦s going on?¡¨ I asked Cyladriel.

¡§They¡¦re causing a distraction for another crew.¡¨ She replied not taking her eyes of the monitors. I handed her a disc.

¡§What¡¦s this?¡¨ She asked.

¡§Something I¡¦ve been working on, I¡¦m not sure if it will work though. It¡¦s a program to allow you to stay in constant contact with anyone in the Matrix.¡¨ I said.

¡§How does it work?¡¨

¡§You have to load it first; obviously. You have to make a recording of your voice so it will recognise it, then assign a key to pick up on your voice, which will in turn be transmitted as a kind of instant message on a pair of sunglasses. The person you are contacting will be able to respond in the same way, only you¡¦ll get what they¡¦re saying come up on one of your monitors. I just don¡¦t know if it will work the way I want it to, so we have to give it a test run.¡¨ I said.

¡§And you want to do it now.¡¨ It was a statement not a question. She let out a long sigh and ran a hand through her long hair.

¡§Okay, the construct, but don¡¦t tell Ballard.¡¨

¡§My lips are sealed.¡¨ I said as she loaded me up into the white construct again, this time there was a table with a pair of sunglasses on it. I picked them up and put them on.

¡§Are you receiving me?¡¨ I asked. Almost instantly a message appeared in the lower portion of the right lens.

[I can read every word you say. Will it work like this for everyone?]

¡§They¡¦ll have to make voice recordings as well, but yes, at least that¡¦s the plan. I took the glasses off for a moment and looked for any telltale sign that they weren¡¦t ordinary glasses, there wasn¡¦t. I put them back on.

¡§Nice job, I even like the style you picked for me.¡¨ I said. There was no answering IM, I took the glasses off and looked them over again. I knew that it wouldn¡¦t do any good, if they weren¡¦t working properly it was the program. I sat up in the chair as soon as Cyladriel pulled the spike out of my head.

¡§What is it?¡¨ I asked. She quickly returned to her seat and I moved up behind her, but I could make no sense of the scrolling symbols.

¡§They ran into trouble. Cops have surrounded and are entering the building they¡¦re in. I need to get them an exit.¡¨ She tapped frantically at the keys. The yellow light flashed and she hit a key.

¡§Operator.¡¨ She listened for a moment.

¡§I can¡¦t find any other way out of the building except the front door and SWAT are coming through that. I have an exit close by but you need to get out of there now.¡¨ She nodded and hit the same key again.

¡§What do we do now?¡¨ I asked.

¡§Now we wait and hope they make it out.¡¨ She replied.

¡§What if-?¡¨

¡§Not now.¡¨ She said. I shut up and let her work, suddenly she rocked back in the chair as if someone slapped her.

¡§Oh no.¡¨ She whispered. She started typing again, waited a few minutes then started speaking.

¡§Agents, captain. They¡¦re coming up in the elevator, four of them. Go up, it¡¦s the only way.¡¨ She stopped to listen to something Ballard said, before speaking again.

¡§It¡¦s the only way I can see, if you go down the stairs you¡¦ll run into SWAT and like I said the agents are in the elevators¡Kwhich have just reached your floor now. You need to move.¡¨ Despite the situation her voice was totally calm. She stared at her monitors.

¡§Shit.¡¨ She whispered.

¡§Two got out on your floor. Looks like the other two are heading for the roof to cut off your escape.¡¨ Ballard obviously hung up the phone because she turned her head in my direction, still keeping her eyes locked on what she was doing.

¡§They¡¦re trapped. If they got out of this alive I¡¦ll be surprised.¡¨

¡§The agents will kill them?¡¨ I asked.

¡§Yes, the one thing that they try to do is kill all rebels who enter the Matrix.¡¨ She replied. We both turned our eyes back to the monitors, even though I didn¡¦t understand the symbols I felt like I was watching a drama unfolding.

¡§They got Zan and Bane. Ballard and Malachi are still moving up.¡¨ She said after a few minutes. Then she flinched.

¡§What?¡¨ I asked.

¡§Ballard just got hit by the roof door; an agent shoved it in on him. They got all of them.¡¨ She said as if not quite believing it herself. She pulled her headset off and put it on the chair as she stood up and started pacing the main deck.

¡§What do we do now?¡¨ I asked. She didn¡¦t answer.

¡§Cyladriel, what do we do now?¡¨ She finally turned to me and I could see in her eyes that she blamed herself for them getting caught.

¡§Is there another hovercraft that we can contact to help them?¡¨ She still remained silent.

¡§Cyladriel!¡¨ I grabbed her arm and dragged her back to the monitors shoved her headset off the chair and sat her down in it, I waved my hand in the direction of the monitors.

¡§They¡¦ve been caught, but they¡¦re still alive. Is there away we can get them out before they¡¦re killed. What do we do?!¡¨ I said. She finally snapped out of it, she shook her head.

¡§We need to make a drop.¡¨ She said. I sighed in relief, at least now I didn¡¦t have to be the one in charge here.

¡§What¡¦s a drop?¡¨ I asked her.

¡§A drop in the matrix, we need to make a recording put it in an envelope or a box and post it on to a particular box number in the post office. Someone from another ship will pick it up and report it to Zion.¡¨ She replied.

¡§Alright let¡¦s get to work. You make the recording. Is there anything else that needs to be done?¡¨ I asked. She shoved a new disc into the drive as she shook her head.

¡§Okay, give me the IM disc. I need to check I think that there might be a fault with it.¡¨ I said, she handed it over and I moved to the computer on her left. Then started typing in commands, before I had gotten very far I realised that the sling on my arm was getting in the way and I couldn¡¦t use that hand so I took the sling off. My arm was a bit stiff and sore but I was able to move it properly. Beside me Cyladriel was making the recording, including all the relevant details of what had happened.

¡§There it is. It would only let one message be received and transmitted; I think I¡¦ve fixed it now. Are you finished?¡¨ I asked.

“Almost.”

“Load me in.” I said. She stared at me for a long moment.

“You haven’t finished your training yet, if you run into trouble in there then-” I cut her off.

“We don’t have any choice, someone has to make the drop and I’m the only one who can go in.” I said. This wasn’t quite how I had been hoping to spend my first few days in the real world.

“Okay, but only to make the drop, once you’ve done that you need to get straight to an exit. Keep your head down, don’t get into trouble, drop the package off and get the hell out of Dodge, got it?” She said. She was probably the mother figure on this ship, I thought.

“No problem.” I said as I took a seat and she jacked me in, she put me in the construct first. I was dressed in black leather jeans and a leather jacket and my short hair was gelled back. The same table was there this time there was a phone, a package and two p229 S automatic pistols as well as two clips of ammo, I holstered the weapons, put on the glasses and picked up the package and shoved the phone in a jacket pocket.

“How about a bike?” I asked. The construct changed and I was in a garage filled with bikes.

“When we have more time I need to spend it in here.” I muttered. I chose a silver Harley, I sat on it and started it up. I took a few moments to get used to the feel of it.

“Okay, put me, Cyl.” The construct fell away and I was next to a ringing payphone on a city street.

“I’m in. Where to?”

[That’s as close as I can get you. The post office is on Sabre Street, just keep heading north, after you go past the Starbucks coffeehouse at the end of this street take a right. Keep going for about two kilometres and then take a left, that’s Sabre Street.]

“Okay.” I revved the engine, the part of the Harley Davidson programs coming to the front of my mind. It didn’t take long to get to the post office, I parked in front and got off the bike. Looking around to check where the security officers were, a part of the operating programming; check and know where threats are likely to come from so you can be ready for them. I went up to the counter and handed over the package.

“Can you make sure it gets there by five?” I asked. The woman nodded distractedly and I walked away, doubting whether that package would make it at the time I had requested, but I took Cyl’s warning and kept my mouth closed. I swung one leg back over the bike and took off down the street.

“Same phone I used to get in?” I asked.

[No, another one on Roche’s Street. Keep going down this street, keep left, after about 300 metres take a right and then another right, after about five kilometres you’ll be there. It’s a warehouse; exit is on the third floor.]

“Got it.” I said. I hadn’t gone very far when I swung the bike around in a U-turn and went back the way I had come.

[What are you doing?] Cyl asked.

“I think I just saw a car drive past with Malachi in it.” I said.

[You’re right, it is Malachi. But what are you doing?]

“Following him. They might have the others in the same place.”

[You should get to the exit. We can’t afford to loose anyone else.]

“Yeah, but then we might not be able to get any of them back. I am doing this, Cyl.” And you can’t stop me, I thought. I followed the car a few blocks until it pulled in front of skyscraper. An agent got out of the drivers seat, the back door opened and a second agent got out. He pulled Malachi out after him. I parked the bike a few cars behind the agents, but kept watching. Malachi turned in my direction and I nodded once, ever so slightly to let him know that I was there. I saw his eyes widen, but he gave no other sign that he had seen me. The agents hustled him inside the building.

“They just brought him into the building that I’m parked next to.” I said.

[You were right the others are in there.]

“You got a good place from where I can keep watch on this place.”

[Right here, standing behind me.]

“Very funny. I’m serious, if I leave this place and they move them when you’re not watching then I’m going to have to do this all over

[The café across the road, ask for a window seat. You’ll be able to keep an eye out from there.]

I kicked down the bike stand and strode over to the café. I asked for the window seat and when I asked for just a black coffee when I took out the wallet from my jeans pocket I was surprised to see it crammed with more cash than I had ever seen in my life. The waitress obviously saw how much money was in there as well because she suddenly became a lot more friendly. She went away to get my coffee.

“Anyone at the drop site yet?” I asked.

[No, they probably won’t come until just before closing time.]

I sat in the café for the whole afternoon, no more agents went into the building and none came out, of course seeing them come and go was no indication of whether they were there or not. At nine thirty the café closed and I was still sitting there, I stood up paid for all the imaginary coffee I had drunk and left a more than generous tip for the waitress.

“Did they collect it yet?” I asked as I made my way back to the bike.

[No, they might not be do that until tomorrow.]

“That could be too late.”

[We have no other choice. We can’t contact any of the other ships or we risk being detected by sentinels.]

“What’s a sentinel?”

[When you get back here I’ll tell you.]

“I wasn’t going to-” She cut me off in mid-sentence.

[If you stay in there any longer you could be detected by the agents. You need to come back now.] I knew it would be pointless to argue with her.

“Fine, where’s the exit?” I asked.

[About another 150 meters up the road.] I decided to leave the bike where it was and make my way on foot; it would look a little strange walking such a short distance. I didn’t think how strange it would look if I stepped into a phone box and disappeared.

“Welcome back. You might want to head straight for your bunk and get some sleep.” Cyl told me.

“I think I agree with you. Wake me up in three hours, I’m going back in.” I said.

“That probably isn’t safe, especially as you haven’t been in the Matrix that often. Besides we should wait until they pick up the package before you go back.”

“Don’t bother; you’re not going to convince me.” I said as I stood up and headed back to my room, where I fell asleep without even getting under the blankets, I was that tired. Despite her misgivings she woke me up when I had asked her to and I joined her in the mess hall where we both grabbed some food before hurrying to the main deck.

“They pick it up yet?” I asked.

“Nothing yet.” She replied.

“Do you think that the package made it to the box? Should I make another drop?” I asked. I was totally new to this and I had no idea what to do, hopefully Cyl would.

“No, we can’t risk making another one. There is one thing we can try, but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea.” She said.

“What’s that?” I asked. She looked sideways at me and I knew she was mentally debating whether she should tell me or not, eventually she decided on the former.

“We can contact another ship directly from within the Matrix itself.”

“How?”

“You go in and phone them the same as you would me, except you use a different number. Each ship has one of their own. The operator of that ship will answer the same as I would, before you tell them anything you need to make sure that it is a ships operator that you’re talking to, use a special phrase that they will recognise, he or she will give you a particular answer. If no operator answers, then leave the message. Ask for the captain. Give him the phrase for a drop, do not engage in any other conversation. That’s it.”

“I think we should do that. We don’t know when someone will pick up the package and by the time they do it could be too late.” I said. She took a sip of her coffee as she thought it over, eventually she nodded.

“I agree, I mean I know you’re a…” She trailed off.

“The new kid on the block? Like I said yesterday, we don’t have any other options.”

“Okay, have a seat.”

“And after I’m finished I’m going back to that building, they’re still in there?”

“They haven’t been moved anywhere else. Be careful.”

And once more I was in the Matrix after going through the construct first.

[Don’t use that phone. There’s a bus station nearby that will have enough phones so that a trace will be impossible.] Cyl told me. I could see the bus station at the corner of the street I was on and walked towards it, once I was inside I made my way to the bank of phones and picking up one I dialled in the number.

“You have reached the café; Del Mar, please leave a message at the sound of the tone.” I hung up again and moved on to the next phone.

“Operator.” A voice said.

“Do you need help moving to your new apartment?” I asked.

“That would be much appreciated, there’s more stuff to move than I can manage myself.” He replied.

“I need to speak to your captain.” I said.

“This is the captain.” An older male voice said after a few moments.

“I have dropped off the winged staff of Mercury for the play you are doing. You need to come and pick it up, you know where.” I said and hung up.

“I did it. I’m going back to watch the building now.” I said.

[Got it. It shouldn’t be long before they go in to pick it up.] Cyl responded. I took out a packet of cigarettes and lit one up as I walked in the direction of the same skyscraper as yesterday.

[Wait a minute, they’re splitting them up. Bane and Malachi are being moved.]

“Where to?” I asked.

[The post office you were at yesterday.] She replied.

“But they’re gone to collect the package there.” I said.

[I know, they need to be warned that agents are coming there so they can make the pick up and get out of there.]

“How am I supposed to do that?”

[Get to the post office, wait for them to arrive and tell them then.] She told me. I was standing near a motorcycle parking area and I picked one of them out.

“I need a key or something.” I said.

[One download coming right up.] Cyl said. Download for what? I wondered. Then I knew, within moments the bike roared to life and I left for the post office. I pulled up outside.

“Who am I looking for?” I asked as I got off the bike.

[Thaddeus, the captain of the Osiris.]

“Oh that really helps. What does he look like?”

[He’s dark and he’s about thirty.] She said. I went into the post office and stopped dead. There were a lot of people in here.

“Perhaps I should just stand here and call the name Thaddeus a few times.” I muttered.

[That probably isn’t the best plan of action.]

“I wasn’t being serious. I can’t ask each of them if they’re Thaddeus, any ideas?”

[I’m trying to give you his exact position now…oh, shit!]

“What?” I asked.

[The agents are outside. You need to give him time to get that package, cause some kind of distraction.]

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?”

[Just do it. Start screaming or something.] I didn’t know it at the time, but Cyladriel had only just finished her operator training and this was her first assignment, like me she didn’t know what the hell to do. I nonchalantly strolled over to one of the security guards and when he turned to me I belted him across the face with my fist, he dropped to the ground and I ducked behind one of the pillars. I pulled my pistols out of their holsters, stepped out from behind the pillar and started shooting at anyone in a security guards uniform; every single shot hit its mark. Damn, those training programs are good.

“How’s this for a ****ing distraction?” I asked.

[That wasn’t quite what I had in mind.]

“It does the job you asked me to do.” I somersaulted behind another pillar to reload my guns.

“Where are the agents now?”

[They just entered the post office. Be careful these guys can move faster than anything you’ve ever seen.]

“I know that, you found Thaddeus yet?” I asked.

[Yeah, but I wouldn’t worry, I think he knows that you’re on his side. Hell, people in Australia know that you’re causing a commotion.]

“Just let me know when he has it.” I snapped stepping out from behind the pillar and shooting again.

[Now, get to the elevator behind the counters and go up to the roof, I can guide you from there.] Cyl told me. I leaped over the counter and legged it in the direction of the lifts, jabbing my finger into the button on the wall and diving through the doors before they had opened all the way. Just as the doors were closing a hand reached out and pushed them apart. The person froze when I shoved one of the guns in his face.

“Wait for the next one.” I said firmly. He didn’t back off, he just stared at me, at least I think he did, it was hard to tell because he wore dark glasses.

[That’s Thaddeus, let him in with you.]

“Are you sure?” I asked.

[Of course I’m sure, hurry up the agents are behind him.] Even as she said it I could see the agents in question, I shoved one of the pistols into its holster, grabbed Thaddeus and yanked him into the lift, at the same time I started shooting at the agents. They weaved in and out of the paths of the bullets.

“What the hell?” I stared at the gun as if it was somehow to blame. I ran out of ammo and in a fit of frustration I threw the pistol with all my might at the agents, needless to say he ducked out of its path as well. The doors finally closed, and I turned to Thaddeus.

“Sorry, didn’t know who you were.” I said.

“You’re with Ballard’s crew?” He asked.

“Yeah, call me Psycho.” I didn’t mean that the way it sounds, but it was better than Psycho D-Girl, that was just stupid, but then I was thirteen when I had chosen that name. There was a crash on the roof of the lift and it shuddered, the lights blinking, I pulled out the other pistol.

“Is that an agent?” I asked.

“How should I know? Probably.”

[Yeah, as soon as the lift stops get out and start running.] Cyl said.

“Which way?”

[The stairs to the roof are on your right as you come out of the lift.] She said. Thaddeus was looking at me strangely, I ignored him.

“And where am I supposed to go once I get to the roof?”

[There’s an exit in the building facing you as you come out the roof door.]

“I don’t suppose you gave any thought as to how I’m supposed to get there.”

[Jump across.]

“Of course, jump across that makes absolute sense. Aren’t you forgetting about the laws of gravity that things and people fall down they don’t float?” I asked sarcastically.

[Use your jump program training.] The lift pinged and the doors slid open.

“What the **** is that?” I asked.

“Who are you talking to?” Thaddeus asked. Now I looked at him.

“Cyladriel, our operator. It’s kind of like an IM in the glasses; she gets mine on one of her monitors.” I replied.

[Damn, I forgot that you hadn’t done that yet. Listen to me, you can do this. There are agents right behind you, you have no choice.]

“Get killed by an agent; get scraped of the ground below with a spatula, what’s the difference.” I muttered to myself.

“Come on we have to do this now, before the agents get here.” Thaddeus said.

“After you.” I told him. He ran to the edge of this building and leaped, he landed on the roof of the other building.

“Is that how it’s done, that doesn’t look too hard.” I said. I followed suit, ran across the rooftop and leaped, sailing across the gap. I crashed into the other building with bone jarring force, my fingers scrabbling to get a grip, but I was slipping. Strong hands grasped me around my wrists and hauled me upwards. For a moment I lay on the roof, trying to get my breath back.

“Ow, that hurt.” I moaned. I made my way slowly to my feet, and wiped the back of my hand across my bloodied nose.

“What was that supposed to be?” Thaddeus asked.

“What do you think? I was trying to commit suicide.” I said in a pained tone as I made my way to the roof door and down the stairs. I took out my phone; I had lost my glasses when I tried to smear myself against the wall of the building.

“Where is the exit?” I asked.

“Just inside the roof door. Now that the agents know you’re around you need to get out of there.” Cyladriel said.

“Okay.” I said and hung up. I could argue about coming in again later.

“How long ago did you do the jump program?” Thaddeus asked.

“You know what? When I get back I’m going to make it my business to do it.” I said.

“You mean you haven’t done it yet?” He asked. I shook my head in reply.

“What are you doing in here if you haven’t finished your training?” The phone started ringing.

“Once you see that disc you’ll know why.” I reached out and picked up the phone, but before I put it to my ear I added.

“You should know since that disc was made they moved two of them to the post office, that’s why I was there.” I put the phone to my ear and sat up in the chair back on the Caduceus. I rubbed the back of my neck; or rather the socket in my head as Cyladriel pulled the spike free. It hurt like hell, but I didn’t say anything about it. I looked at her.

“Now what do we do?” I asked.

“Now we wait, Thaddeus will either make another drop for us to pick up or else he’ll contact me the same way you just did a while ago.” She replied.

(Osiris)

Robbie inserted the disc and the Caduceus operator appeared on the monitor, she started speaking. Giving the details of what had happened and why they were making the disc. Before she was even halfway through a young girl appeared on Cyladriel’s left side. She was obviously a new addition to the crew, Thaddeus thought, her bald head was testament to that fact. The girl turned to the operator even as she was still making the recording and asked if she was finished with it yet, then insisted that Cyladriel jack her in to make the drop, the operator in turn told her that she wasn’t finished her training yet. The girl argued that she was the only one able to do it. Now Thaddeus understood what she had meant by her response after he had asked her why she was in the Matrix if she hadn’t completed her training, they had had no choice if they wanted to get the rest of their crew back. He also knew that what she had meant when she said ‘they’ve moved two of them to the post office’ meant that they had split the crew of the Caduceus up. This was just going to make his job harder. He mentally went through his options.

“Okay, this is what we’re going to do.” And he told his crew the plan.

Cyladriel woke me up not long after I had fallen asleep in the mess hall. After wiping the dried food off my face I went up to the main deck where she gave me the details of Thaddeus’s plan. Then I insisted that she load me into the jump program. It took me a while to realise that what I was doing wrong was that I didn’t believe it could be done, after that it all fell together. It took me almost two hours though and then I had her load me into some practice sessions of hand to hand combat, by the time I was finished it was almost time to go into the Matrix and meet up with Thaddeus and the other ships crew that he had contacted to help free Ballard and the others. She loaded me into the construct where I holstered two p229 S pistols an MP5 and as much ammo as I could carry and a few grenades. She had even picked out a nice bike for me.

“I’m ready.” I said as I swung one leg over the bike.

[Okay, you know where you’re supposed to meet them?] She asked.

“Yeah.” I replied.

Once I was in it didn’t take me long to get to the meeting place, I pulled up outside next to a black car, got off the bike and walked inside. Thaddeus and another man turned as I entered.

“Vector this us a new member of Ballard’s crew, Psycho, this is Vector; captain of the (?).” Thaddeus introduced us as I joined them and their crews at the table. There were two maps spread out across the table.

“Vector is going to get Zan and Ballard. I’m going to the post office for Bane and Malachi. Who do you want to go with?” Thaddeus asked.

“With Vector, I’ve spent enough time in the post office over the last two days to last me a lifetime.” I replied instantly.

“Is there anything you’d like to add?” He asked.

“You probably know how to do this better than I would. Which reminds me, why did you let me come on this mission? When I told you I hadn’t finished training yesterday you didn’t seem to happy.” I said.

“If I were you and my crew had been taken I wouldn’t want to be left out of an operation like this one.” Thaddeus smiled as he said it.

“Well, you’ll be pleased to know that I’ve run through the jump program a few times until I got it down right. I don’t want to hit the side of a building again, that hurt and I have the bruises to prove it.” I grimaced as I said it.

“Any questions?” Thaddeus asked. No one said anything.

“Then let’s get this thing done and get them back to exits.” I went with Vector and his crew. One of his crew; Baron drove the car.

We entered the building in ones and twos so as not to draw to much attention and got in one of the lifts.

[That’s weird; there are no security guards in that building.]

“Are you sure?” I asked. Thaddeus had obviously told Vector about the glasses because he didn’t act surprised by my question.

[Yeah, no security, no cops. Nothing.]

“That’s weird.” I muttered.

“What is?” Vector asked.

“Cyladriel says that there are no guards or police in this building, that doesn’t make sense. I mean they’d have to know that we’d come for them, right?” I glanced at him, not sure if it was weird or not. Vector looked between his crewmembers; Baron and Contract.

“It could just be the building, but knowing who they have here it’s not like the agents to let something like this go to chance.” He said. The elevator stopped and Vector and I got out.

“Contract, you and Baron head down to the basement, turn off the power. We might have a better chance of doing this with no lights.” Vector turned to me.

“We’re going to wait until they get that done and then move in there as a team.” The lift with Contract and Baron descended again. I looked up at the wall behind Vectors head; he turned to see what I was looking at.

“What?” He asked.

“Does that vent go into the same room as Ballard and Zan?” I asked.

[Eventually it does, yes.] Cyl replied.

“Cyl says that it goes through the same room where they have them.” I told Vector.

“So what? We can’t fit in there.” He said.

“Maybe you can’t, but I’m a little smaller than you are. There are no agents or anyone else in that room. You’re the leader of this thing, and we both know that I’m rally just along for the ride, so it’s your call.” I said. He looked at the vent and then looked at me, finally he nodded his assent.

“Okay, what are you going to do once you get in there?” He asked. I pulled at the vent covering, until it came free.

“Untie them, maybe that’s why they haven’t tried to get out already.” I climbed up into the vent and Vector put the cover back on. I crawled down the length of the shaft, following Cyl’s directions. I felt like I had crawled half the building when I finally reached my destination. I stayed in the vent and checked to see if the room was empty of anyone other than Ballard and Zan.

[I checked already, there’s no one in there.] Cyl told me.

“Just making sure, I’d really rather not have any surprises waiting for me.” I kicked the vent cover a few times and it crashed to the floor below and I jumped down to the floor after it. I made my way quickly over to them and was surprised to see that neither of them had been tied up.

“What did they do to them?” I asked. Both Ballard and Zan were half conscious, but I could see no sign of injury to them.

[Some kind of drug. They’re not going to be able to go anywhere on their own for a while.] She said.

“Okay, I’ll just get them out the…why is there no door in this room?”

[What? There has to be, how else did they get them in there?]

“There may have been a door, but there isn’t one now.” I took out my phone and dialled Vectors number, he answered quickly.

“There’s no door in this room. I’m going to try and get them out through the vent.” I told him.

“Will they fit?” He asked.

“It’s gonna be a tight fit, but there’s no other way and Cyl says they’ve been given some kind of drug, they can’t move by themselves.” And it was going to be tough, believe me. You try pushing one fully grown man and dragging another through a vent, all the way trying to get yourself through that tiny space. It took me almost twice as long to get back than it had to go there in the first place.

“Open the vent.” I called. The vent was taken off again and Vector reached up to lower Zan to the floor, then I came out and reached out to pull Ballard down. Then I stood there for a moment getting my breath back and trying to ignore the headache that was coming on.

“What’s wrong?” Vector asked. I stood up and smiled, pretending like I didn’t feel as though I had a herd of elephants practicing their tap dancing routine in my head.

“Nothing, getting them through there was just a little harder than I though.” I replied. He seemed to accept my explanation.

“Let’s get out of here.” He pulled Ballard’s arm across his broad shoulders and all but carried him to the elevator, Contract and Baron following with Zan in between them.

“To easy.” I muttered to myself.

“What was?” Baron asked.

“Getting them out. There was no door in the room so they must have known that at least one of us would have come through the vent. I was half expecting them to toss a few grenades in there as I was coming back with Ballard and Zan. They didn’t obviously. So the question is how are they going to try and stop us from leaving this place?” I asked. No one said anything but anyone who had a free hand automatically reached for a weapon.

“Tell me this place is clean.” I said.

[Then I’d be lying, a SWAT team have just pulled up outside. There’s no other way out.] Cyl said.

“Shit, she says that there’s SWAT coming in.” I told Vector.

“Is there another way out?” He asked.

“Only way out is through them.” I replied.

“Dammit. Here’s the plan, Baron, Contract and me are going to try and get rid of them. You guard Ballard and Zan, alright?” He said.

“No problem.” I said. I knew that he had given himself, Contract and Baron the hard job and I had been given easy duty. I didn’t mind, after climbing through that vent with Ballard and Zan I’d have trouble doing anything. Leaving the clean up job to those that were more experienced was probably the best idea anyway. As soon as we got out of the elevator and dropped Ballard, Zan and me behind a thick pillar, then they each moved off in a different direction. It wasn’t long before the foyer was filled with the sound of gunshots. I kept my head down. It went on for what felt like forever.

“There you are.” My head shot up and I stared at my father, who stood over us.

“I knew you wouldn’t leave them here. Typical human sentimentality.” He didn’t wait for me to respond just kicked me with enough force to send me flying across to hit another pillar, causing the fancy covering to crash on me and the floor around me. I felt pain shoot through my chest, but ignored it as I saw him reach for Ballard, with a snarl I launched myself off the pillar and right at my father. He didn’t seem to see me doing it, or maybe he didn’t care because I crashed into him sending us both rolling across the floor. I was back on my feet and in a fighting stance within moments, keeping myself between him and the drugged Ballard and Zan. I watched him as he circled me like a bullfighter in the ring with a pissed off bull. He leaped at me and I just barely managed to duck out of his way, but he did manage to hit me in the back of my head as he passed. For a few seconds I saw stars. I shook my head trying to get my vision back to normal.

[Are you mad?! He’ll kill you!] Cyl said.

“If he wants Ballard and Zan that badly then that’s what he’s going to have to do.” I said. Gunshots erupted around my father and he weaved in and out of their paths, Vector and Contract picked up Ballard and Zan. Vector caught my arm and pulled me after him.

“Come on. We have to get out of here now!” He ordered. I ran after them, giving my father a last dirty look as I disappeared out the door, Baron following me as he reloading his gun, he had been the one shooting. We got into the car and I took the wheel, Baron riding shotgun. The car took off down the street; this was where all those years of racing underground and Cyl’s driving programs really came in.

“Did the others get Bane and Malachi?” I asked.

[They’re both back here already.] Cyl replied. Thanks for telling me, I thought, as I yanked the steering wheel to the left and ripped around a corner and ground to a halt outside the exit Cyl had given me moments ago.

[Thaddeus is waiting inside.] Cyl told me after a moment or two of none of us getting out of the car.

“Exit’s clean.” I told Vector and we all climbed out of the car and went inside, almost as soon as we arrived the phone started ringing. Thaddeus lifted the phone and put it to Zan’s ear. When it rang again he lifted the phone and sent Ballard back. It rang a third time Thaddeus motioned me towards it.

“Thank you.” I said before I to disappeared.

Cyl was grinning like an idiot as she pulled the spike out of my head.

“You did it.” She said.

“With Vector and Thaddeus’s help.” I said, rubbing the back of my head with one hand. It doesn’t hurt anymore…now I feel like my whole brain has been set on fire. Bane and Malachi apparently hadn’t been drugged because they were helping Ballard and Zan, the both of whom still looked disoriented.

“Now I’m going to get some proper sleep.” I told her. I stood on shaky legs and climbed slowly down the ladder, as soon as I reached my room I crawled under the covers.

I woke up and almost yelped in shock as yanked the cover up over my head, I couldn’t help the moan of misery that escaped my mouth.

“What’s wrong with you?” Cyl’s voice floated over from the other side of the room.

“Go…” And stopped at the painful rawness in my throat. She didn’t say anything after that. A moment later I felt someone’s cool hand on my forehead, I blinked my eyes open and stared at Bane through slitted eyes. He shone a bright light in my eyes, I hit his hand and the light went away.

“Relax, I just want to see what’s wrong.” He said. I clamped my hands over my ears.

“Stop shouting.” I whispered. He looked towards the door of the room, I didn’t know who was there, and to be honest I didn’t care.

“I think I know what it is.” He said to them.

“Great, now can you piss off and let me die in peace?” I moaned. He reached under the covers and pulled my arm out; he pushed a needle into one of the sockets on it and injected the contents and then darkness.

When I woke up the next time I was in the med bay.

“Welcome back. How are you feeling?” Bane came over to the slab I was lying on.

“You’re talking doesn’t cause me to cringe in agony and I don’t feel like my head is the centrepiece in a bonfire anymore.” I replied. It still hurt, but not as much as it had. He shone a light in my eyes again and I didn’t attack him like he was Satan himself. Then looked in my ears and all those other things that medics love to do.

“Do I pass the test?” I asked just as Ballard came in.

“With flying colours.” Bane replied.

“What was wrong with me anyway?”

“You had Matrix syndrome.”

“Well that clears it up very well.” I said sarcastically.

“It’s what we call it when someone spends too much time plugged in to the Matrix or training programs or the construct.” Bane told me.

“Then why don’t any of you have it?” I asked.

“Because we’ve had time to get used to it. You need to build up a resistance to being plugged in, acclimatize to the matrix so to speak. You hadn’t done that. How long were you jacked in for anyway?” Bane asked.

“Uhh…” I did some quick math in my head.

“About thirty five hours or something, but I took two breaks in between, of about two hours each.”

“That would do it.”

“Why did you do it?” Ballard asked.

“Do what?”

“Make the drop, then watch the building that they had us in and then cause a distraction for Thaddeus?” He asked.

“There was no one else to do it.” I shrugged as I said it.

“Is she cleared to leave here yet, Bane?” He asked.

“Yeah, just don’t let her go swinging out of the ships pipes or anything.” Bane said jokingly.

“I’ll try not to. Come on.” Ballard said. I followed him in silence for a while.

“There’s something else I think you should know.” I said. He turned to look at me.

“What’s that?” He asked.

“My parents, my parents in the Matrix I mean. They’re programs, my father is an agent, and my mother is a programmer. I think that the reason they took you and the others was because of me.” I said.

“I know.” He shrugged his shoulders, as if it was no concern.

“You know my parents are part of the Matrix?” I asked.

“Yes.” He replied.

“And you don’t mind?”

“You’re human aren’t you?”

“The pain I felt from ‘Matrix syndrome’ felt human enough. I don’t understand though, I mean my parents are programs; my twin sister broke my collarbone and decided to go work for the machines. Aren’t you afraid that I might betray you or something?” I was confused by this; I didn’t think that I was good enough for him to spit on.

“Not particularly, no. You are your own person not what they wanted you to be.” He replied.

“I do have a question for you though and I’d like you to answer it honestly.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Knowing what you know now, seeing what the real world is like, if you could go back and take the blue pill instead of the red, would you?” I thought about for a long moment and shook my head.

“Why not?”

“At that warehouse when I told you that I knew the Matrix was a lie I meant it. The next day you gave me a choice; the red pill or the blue pill. I chose the red, since I’ve been here, in the real world, that’s all I’ve been doing, making choices. People don’t get that in the Matrix. Being able to make my own choices is being free and I wouldn’t change that for anything.” I said honestly. Maybe it didn’t make sense to him, but it did to me.

“We’re going back to Zion now. Locke’s probably going to want to talk to you.” He said.

“What is Zion and who’s Locke?” I asked.

“Zion is the last human city; it’s underground near the earths core where it’s still warm. Locke is the commander of the Zion military. Our commander.” We came out on the main deck where Zan was sitting at the monitors. I figured Cyl was probably unconscious or something after her days of sitting there when Ballard, Bane, Malachi and Zan were in there.

“There’s another reason I wanted to talk to you. The laws are that no one under the age of seventeen can be part of a crew. I think that you’ve proven that you can be a part of this crew, if you want to and if I can convince Locke that I need you would you be interested?” He asked. I stared at him; apparently he really did trust me not to betray him and his crew.

“Very interested. Thank you.” I’ll admit I was excited at the prospect. He was about to say something when Malachi interrupted.

“Zion control is on the line captain, they need our clearance codes.” He said.

“I’ll be back in a moment.” Ballard told me and went up to the cockpit to join Malachi. As soon as he was gone Zan looked over at me.

“I’ll be leaving the ship as soon as we dock.” He said. I went over to join him.

“How come?” I asked.

“Well I don’t know if you’ve noticed this but I’m not that young. I’m also the ships engineer and once I’m gone the ship is going to need a new one, if you want I can show you the basics while we’re docked and introduce you to Berm; he teaches engineering back in Zion. He can show you all the stuff I don’t know. And it will probably give Deadbolt another reason to let you stay with this ship.” He grinned at me as he added that last bit.

“Who’s Deadbolt?” I asked.

“That’s Locke’s nickname, just don’t call him that to his face.” He explained.

“No one really likes him do they?” I asked.

“Well I’m sure someone likes him…maybe.”

“So what can you show me?” I asked.

“Got your interest with that engineering thing.” He reached down and lifted up some tattered, dog eared books and handed them to me.

“Take a look at them and if you’re still interested after that we can talk.”

“No programs to learn this in thirty seconds?”

“Of course we do, but why would you want to do that?”

“I don’t, if you really want to know something then it takes experience and hard work, or so I’ve learned. Besides it will give me something to do.” Once I had finished reading the first one my mind was on one thing, finding out as much as I could on all the inner workings of the ship. It hadn’t taken that long, I could read very fast.

“Have you got any more?” I asked Zan.

“Now that’s what I like to see, someone who takes an interest in engineering. Follow me little grasshopper and I shall teach you all I know.” He said and he led me down to the core of the ship, where the real lessons began. By the time we docked in Zion there wasn’t much I didn’t know about the ship. As I walked down the ramp of the ship though my breath was literally taken away.

“Wow!” I said.

“The response at the first sight of Zion in all its glory.” Cyladriel said. I had no smartass comment for her, she was right; the city was nothing like anything I’d ever seen before.

“It’s good to be home.” Ballard said.

“Back here again in the morning.” Zan told me.

“What are you two planning?” Ballard asked suspiciously. I opened my mouth to answer, but Zan answered first.

“Actually it might be better if she told you at her hearing tomorrow.” He said as he drifted off in the same direction that Cyladriel had just gone. I looked at Ballard.

“Hearing? What did I do to deserve a hearing?” I asked. He chuckled as he shook his head.

“It’s not like it sounds. It’s just a meeting with Locke that’s all.” He said.

“Although knowing Locke it will turn into a hearing.” Malachi said.

“That’s good, Malachi. I think you just gave her a heart attack.” Bane said.

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine.” He added to me.

“Come on, I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping while we’re here.” Ballard said. We got in one of the lifts that would take us down below the docks. I was amazed by just the docks, I was even more so by the actual city. He opened a door and gestured me in first and came in after me.

“This is a room usually set aside for people who had recently been freed from the Matrix. It’s pretty bare but I don’t think you’ll be spending a whole lot of time here anyway, I know I didn’t when I first came here.” He said.

“If you need something just ask anyone on these levels, most of them are from ships to and they’re fairly understanding when it comes to new people. Now I have to go and meet Locke.” He closed the door quietly behind himself. I didn’t stay there very long, Ballard had been right, I wanted to see Zion.

I walked along a walkway that had been set up as a kind of market, with people selling everything from food to tools. I passed a guy who had very little hair on his head; I figured he had just been freed from the Matrix as well. He was standing at a burger stand, admittedly I wanted one as well so I stopped next to him. He turned to look at me and then smiled.

“Hello, you’re a new one as well, aren’t you?” He asked.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t eat one of those if I were you.” I said.

“Why not?” He asked.

“They might taste alright, but I’ve seen a lot of Zion already and I didn’t see any cows here, so what do you think they’re made from?” I smirked at him. He took a huge bite of the burger in his hand and grinned right back, as we continued walking down the marketplace.

“I’m Corrupt.” He said.

“And I’m Psycho.”

“What ship you come in on?” He asked.

“The Caduceus, you?”

“The Gnossis.” And then he told me what date he was freed on.

“That makes you my brother.”

“What?”

“Bane told me that people freed on the same day are brother and sister, or something…I wasn’t really listening.”

“I never had any brothers or sisters. It might be nice.”

“With the family I had you might not feel that way for very long.”

“Yeah, but they weren’t your real family anyway, so it doesn’t really matter anyway.” He grinned as he said it.

“There you are!” I heard Malachi calling. I turned at the sound of his voice.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. He glanced at Corrupt, who got the hint.

“I’ll probably see you again before we leave, little sister.” He told me.

“Come with me.” Malachi said and led me through the labyrinth that was Zion, until we got back to the ship. Cyladriel was waiting in the main core.

“Let’s get started then.” She said.

“Wait a minute, what’s going on?” I asked. She glanced over her shoulder at Bane, who stood behind her.

“It might be better if you don’t know, that way when you ask you can’t say.” He said. Cyladriel came over and stuck the spike in my head.

“Why do I get the feeling I’m the only one who doesn’t know?” I asked just before she put me into the construct. A moment later I was joined by Malachi, we were in a place that vaguely resembled a gym.

“Welcome to the sparring program. Attack me.” He said.

“Why would I want to do that?” I asked.

“Stop asking questions and just do it. We only have until this evening.” He said. Fine, I thought. You want me to attack you then I’ll attack you. I ran at him and leaped into a flying kick which he easily ducked. I turned the kick into a roundhouse punch and managed to make contact with his head, then knocked him down with a spinning kick. I thought we were finished. As a result when he recovered and leaped back to his feet I was totally unprepared for the double locked fist that slammed into my chest and sent me crashing backward into the wall. Okay, not finished. I thought. He came at me again, this time with another kick, I grabbed his leg and swung him against the wall, at which stage someone else knocked my feet out from under me. I leaped high into the air and spun around, one foot lashing out to hit them, but like I had done to Malachi a moment before they caught me and tossed me across the room.

“You might do alright against one opponent, but let’s see how you do against two of us.” Bane said. Malachi came at me first, in yet another flying kick, just before he hit me I ducked and I punched him as he sailed over my head. Then Bane came after me hands and feet moving fast, I held my arms in a defensive position to ward of his attacks. I waited for an opening and when one showed I didn’t hesitate, head butting him in the nose, he lurched back, blood streaming down his face. Malachi hit me from behind and I suddenly became very friendly with the wall and the window shattered. I landed on my knees and stayed there, moaning in pain. I could see Malachi and Bane approaching on either side of me, they weren’t finished yet. I held my head in my hands and moaned louder. I could see Bane ready himself for some kind of final attack.

“Wait, Bane. I think she’s really hurt.” I heard Malachi say. Bane halted as Malachi came closer, standing over me now. I fell onto my back and made gurgling sounds, as if I was choking. He bent over me, one hand moving to lift my head up. Before he touched me though I grabbed him by the ankle and swung him as hard as I could against the opposite wall. I leaped at Bane, who hadn’t been expecting the attack, I landed with my knees in his stomach, my hand with a piece of broken glass pressed against his throat.

“You want to tell me what’s going on now?” I asked in a friendly tone. He started to make gurgling noises, I rolled my eyes.

“You seriously think that’s going to work on me not five seconds after I tried it?” Instantly he stopped making that noise.

“You want to pull us out now, Cyl?” He asked. I sat up in the chair and stared at Bane, waiting for an explanation.

“Well?” I prompted when he didn’t say anything. He glanced at Malachi.

“Don’t look at me, you’re the first mate, you tell her.” Malachi said.

“If she knows then she could let something slip to Deadbolt if he asks.” Bane said.

“So something to do with Locke and the sparring program. What could it possibly be? Is he going to come in there and fight me or something?” I asked.

“Or something.” Cyl said. Bane glared at her for a moment, then looked at me.

“Trust me, it’s better if you don’t know. You can’t tell him if you don’t know.” He said.

“Have you ever heard of lying? I’ll just pretend that he’s one of my beloved parents in the Matrix, I’ve been lying to them for years. Spill it, Bane.” I snapped. He shook his head stubbornly.

“Captains orders.” He said.

“No problem, I’ll just go ask Deadbolt.” I stood up and was about to descend the ladder when Bane; a look of consternation on his face stopped me.

“Okay, okay. This evening Deadbolt is going to put you up against Ballard in the sparring program to see how well you do. If you do good then he might just let you stay onboard. Only problem is that Ballard is good, but if he holds back on you then

Deadbolt will know it. For obvious reasons Ballard couldn’t practice with you himself, so he asked me to do it.” He told me.

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? Don’t worry Bane I know how to keep my mouth shut when I need to. What about Malachi and Cyladriel, they just came along for the ride?” I asked.

“I don’t know about Malachi but I’d certainly prefer to be riding something else that wasn’t to happy when they heard I had to do this.” Cyladriel said.

“Ow, my innocent, virgin ears!” I cried.

“How old are you supposed to be to join a crew anyway?”

“Eighteen, but it’s actually very rare for someone to become part of a crew at that age anyway.” Malachi said.

“And I’m not even seventeen yet. Let’s get the show on the road and prove to Deadbolt that I can do it. And of course the sooner we do this the sooner Cyl can go back and ride her rocking horse.”

“Just as long as you don’t pull that stunt of being more injured than you are.” Bane said, rubbing his stomach ruefully.

“It worked, didn’t it?” I smirked at him.

“Yes, but while we were actually worried about you a cop or an agent isn’t going to be.”