Title: Agents
Author: Stormhawk
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: This all belongs to The W Brothers and Warner Brothers. And the Agents, don't forget the agents. Stef is mine.
Word Count Originally: 7238 Word Count Now: 10045
Summary: After an attempt to recruit a new freedom fighter is foiled by Smith, he recruits her himself into a human Agent program.
Notes: I have taken some liberties with the abilities of Agents. We really don't know how they work so please accept my creative licensing.
~ ~ Denotes remembered dialogue.
Please read and Review.
Twenty years ago.
It was a beautiful warm spring morning. Emma Mimosa and her sister Pam were having a morning tea at the table in the living room. Next to them, but closer to the kitchen Emma's daughter two year old Stephanie was running around her crib with her doll.
She held it over the side and showed it to her mother. Emma loved her daughter dearly but she had to say how pretty her doll was about every ten minutes to keep the child happy.
"It's a lovely doll Stephanie," Emma said tiredly.
As Emma turned back to her half finished cup of coffee the door was knocked in with one mighty kick. A man ran in and she stood. "Who are you?" she demanded of him.
The man dressed in all black was one the rebels. He only had two problems; one was the fact that he was a yellow-bellied coward. The other was that an agent was chasing him. He did not want to die.
"Get out of my house!" Emma screamed at him as her right hand flew toward the phone.
"There's no need to call the police,' Agent Smith said as he stepped over the fallen door and into the house. He drew his Desert Eagle and aimed it at the rebel coward.
In one quick movement the rebel plucked Stephanie and her new doll from the crib and held her in front of him like a human shield.
"Get away from me agent." Unperturbed Smith merely adjusted his angle a little and fired. Emma screamed when the gun fired. Smith looked at them and erased the memory of the last few minutes.
Emma and Pam went back to talking as though there was nothing wrong. Smith turned away, this was so routine he felt he could do it on autopilot.
The coward lay dead on the floor, the bullet had killed him instantly. Stephanie was upset and unsure of what was going on so she was crying. Or maybe it was because her new doll was broken. The bullet had passed through it to kill the man.
"You brought this on yourself," Smith said to the dead man.
Being so young and naïve the dead man meant nothing to the toddler. She looked up at the agent in distaste. "You broke my doll." She made a face at him.
Smith suppressed a smile, if only rebels were this entertaining. He knelt and pried her from the dead man's stiff arms. He rose and then he looked down at the damaged-beyond-repair doll.
He shifted Stephanie so she was supported on one arm. He reached down with the other. Stephanie watched in amazement as the doll's head ran back together and flew up to him.
Even as young as she was Stephanie knew she had seen something special. Satisfied the doll was as good as new he handed it back to her. He pressed his earpiece and called for a cleanup crew for the body.
The mental proof had been erased from the adults; there was no need to erase the child's memories. Humans never remembered anything from their infancy.
The child was covered in the dead rebel's blood. Smith deposited the happy- again brown haired child back into her crib and retrieved a washcloth from the kitchen. He returned and wiped all the blood off her.
As he cleaned the already drying blood from her she repeatedly tried to pull his sunglasses off. What a nice human, Smith thought as he looked at the cute baby, shame I'll probably have to kill her when she grows up.
Brown and Jones arrived with the clean up crew. Smith wiped the smile from his face and tried to look as though he hadn't been enjoying Stephanie's company. Brown and Jones shared a knowing look, the same thought going through each of their minds. So disgustingly human.
If the truth was told they had both though about getting the mainframe to delete or at least recompile him.
Twenty years later. The present.
This isn't the real world? What the hell does that mean? Stef asked herself. Stephanie Mimosa was not one to be fooled easily. She considered the fact that the people she was talking to were insane but they seemed relatively normal.
Sometimes she cursed the Internet. That's how they had found her, they had contacted her through her website. They had left several enigmatic messages that had peaked her curiosity and had drawn her in but now it was getting weird.
One of them, who went by the name Morpheus - he seemed to be the leader - was now sitting in the chair in front of her with two pills. A red one in his right hand and a blue in his left hand. Stef supposed they were some kind of drug that would make her believe anything they said.
At least there appeared to be no rush for her to make a decision. Morpheus was a very patient man, having given this choice to hundreds of people. Her hand hovered at her side, unsure which color to pick. If I don't like what they show me I can always go home, Stef reasoned as she went to reach for the red pill.
Stef didn't have a chance to grab the pill as the door to the room they were in was kicked down. Stef let out a scream as she saw the body of the man who had been guarding the door.
The man who had kicked the door in stepped into the room. He was well- dressed and wearing sunglass even though it was night.
"What the hell?" Stef turned to Morpheus for an answer but he had fled into the next room already. Seeing no other choice she ran after him and the man in the suit followed her.
The others who had been in the next room weren't there anymore. Morpheus was standing in the window ready to jump. He took a second to look back at Stef to scream the word 'run' before he jumped from the fourth-story window.
Wondering if this was a suicide club she had almost joined Stef ran to the window. To her infinite surprise she saw them running unharmed down the street away from the building.
The word 'run' replayed in her head but the command died somewhere between her mind and her legs. The man in the suit walked past her, ignoring her and looked out the window as Morpheus and his crew disappeared from view.
She looked at the man in the suit. She had no idea what was going on but wanted absolutely nothing to do with any of it. She backed away from him and ran down the four flights of stairs and out onto the street.
As she ran from him Smith sighed and muttered to himself, "why do they always run?"
Stef looked up toward the fourth floor as she ran from the building. The man was still standing there. Seeing her he stepped through the window and jumped down, landing less than twenty feet from her.
Stef heard and saw the concrete snap as he landed. "What the hell are you?" He didn't answer her instead he drew his gun. Holy shit he was going to kill her! Her light skin went even paler as fear washed over her.
"You brought this on yourself." He said coldly.
Stef felt like she had been struck by lightening. She remembered the man. "You fixed my doll," she said quickly. Then she kicked herself mentally for how childish the statement sounded.
"What?" For once, Smith faltered, unsure of what that statement could possibly mean. His files were racing overtime trying to make a connection that made any kind of sense.
"I was a little kid. Some guy ran into the house, you.killed him.' She trailed off realizing the same might happen to her. "The bullet smashed my doll then you fixed it."
Smith remembered the incident, how could he forget it? He had been right all those years ago - he did have to kill her.
Keep talking Stef she ordered herself. If he was talking then he can't be shooting. "That guy back then, he had something to do with these freaks didn't he?"
Smith nodded once, "he was one of them."
"I have nothing to do with them. You don't have to kill me.'
"Unfortunately you know too much."
"I don't know anything.' She had to think of something, anything that would save her life. "Behind you!" she screamed.
Smith turned, he had wondered if the rebels would return for her. He realized he had been tricked when he spun and saw no one. Stef took the second of confusion and ran for it. The agent allowed himself a smile as he watched her run into a brick wall that he had required to be there.
Stef took a step back from the brick wall that had appeared from thin air. She knew it hadn't been there a minute ago. Morpheus' words came back to her; 'this is not the real world' She turned and saw the man running toward her.
She hit the wall in a gesture of pure frustration. A hole the size of her fist was knocked into the solid wall of bricks. She did a double take and looked down at her fist. She had never done anything like that before.
Still scared shitless about a brick wall appearing from nowhere she decided not to think about it and just run around it as it wasn't quite as wide as the road, there was just enough room for her to slip past. Before she could run toward the end of the wall three more appeared and boxed her in.
Her soon-to-be assassin leapt straight over the wall and landed in front of it. Stef was now considering the fact that she may be insane; people could NOT leap over walls that high.
If she was going to die, she at least wanted a couple of answers first. "How did you do that?" she asked him slowly - he was still holding the gun.
She could almost see him deciding whether to answer her or shoot her. Fortunately he chose the first, "what did they tell you exactly?"
"Nothing precise. Something about this not being the real world. He also mentioned computers and machines."
"Did you believe it?"
Stef made a strange noise halfway between a snort and a sigh, "I do now. Who are you? What are they?"
"Smith. Agent Smith. They are they rebels. Would you like to know more?"
"If it will keep me alive." Not pointing a gun at her he didn't seem so bad and she did want answers. She wanted to know what the hell was going on.
What happened next was as unbelievable as the brick wall appearing from nowhere. They were standing in the box of brick walls, Stef blinked and they were in an office.
Smith sat behind his desk and motioned for her to sit in the empty chair. "This is not the real world. You are inside a computer simulation."
Ok, he was insane as the rest but he seemed to believe himself. "What?" was all that she could manage.
Smith saw her confusion. "Let me finish. This world, the rebels call it the Matrix, is exactly like the real world used to be like before it started to destroy itself. About two centuries ago it became virtually unlivable and the Matrix was constructed. In here humans can live and flourish whereas in the real world they would simply die."
It really did sound insane but Stef felt there was some innate truth to it all. She did believe him no matter how fantastic it sounded. "Where do you fit into this?"
"Agents are." he took a moment to find the right word. "Guardians simply. Sentient programming but guardians nonetheless. We make sure the Matrix runs smoothly so that its inhabitants may have normal live."
"And what about the rebels?"
"The rebels believe that a life in the real world no matter what to be better simply because it is the truth. The real world is dead. All that is left is the Matrix."
Stef sat back in the chair taking it all in. "What are they trying to do?"
"They wish to destroy the Matrix. If they succeed the majority of the human race will cease to exist." Stef was confused, why would anyone want to destroy the world they had grown up in? The rebels sounded like impertinent rebelling against their parents.
Lost in her own musings Stef became aware that Smith was staring at her. "What are you going to do with me?" She really didn't want to go to jail; hopefully she would get off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
"You have two choices Miss Mimosa. You can either go back to your normal life with no knowledge of these events. Or.you can work with us to protect your world from the rebels."
"Why do programs need help? I saw what you could do, I can't do anything like that."
"There is an inherit limit to our programming that the human mind alone seems to be able to surpass. I believe you could be trained."
"Okay. Sign me up." It sounded cool to her. She had no idea how cool it was going to turn out to be.
He stood up and walked to the door, she followed him out. They walked down a few corridors, past a gym where other recruits were practicing Agent techniques.
"This is actually possible?" Stef asked as she looked at two boys fight in midair.
"Yes." Was his simple answer.
He opened another door and they walked into a training facility. Agent Brown and Agent Jones were already waiting with their own recruits.
Smith joined Jones then they both walked over to the side. Brown stood in front of the humans to explain what they needed to do.
"This is the first test," the tall agent started. "Those who pass it will progress to the next stage. Those who don't will be expelled from the program." Behind him three thirty-foot brick walls appeared.
"Simply jump over the wall and then jump back over. Begin." The three recruits stepped forward. All of them had seen things recently that that would have considered impossible only hours before.
Brown's recruit who was a couple of inches taller than the other two went first. He ran quickly at the wall, jumped fifteen feet straight up and smashed painfully into it. Bleeding from several small cuts and a broken nose he slipped back down to the floor.
Stef smiled, no time like the present. She took three running steps toward her wall and launched herself upward. She landed with a dull thud on the other side. Jones' recruit, Kyle, was a few years older than Stef and was not going to be beaten by a girl. He jumped up, landed on the top of the wall and back flipped down to the ground near Stef.
"Beat that," he dared her.
Not afraid of any challenge Stef merely replied, "I shall." And she did. She walked back a few feet so she could get a run up. She ran at her wall, launched upward, flipped high above the wall and landed on the other side. It was strange; Stef realized while in the air, she wasn't afraid of being thirty-five feet in the air. Cool.
Kyle had been beaten. He simply jumped back over the wall. They both looked down at Brown's recruit who was slowly rising to his feet holding his bloody nose. Brown looked down without concern and with a mild but not unexpected disappointment.
"You failed," were his only two words as he led the ex-recruit out. His memories would simply be erased; there was no sense in wasting a battery.
"Congratulations," Jones said to Stef and Kyle. "Follow me to the next stage." They followed him to the next room, which was even larger than the last. It was a mockup of a cityscape. It was an exceedingly real mockup. Stef looked up to see the moon and a few faint stars.
The two recruits were issued weapons. Kyle looked slightly confused but Stef immediately holstered hers, first making sure the safety was on.
"Keep these for the further stages. In this level you will be partnered with another recruit and patrol the city as if you had already made it through the rest of the tests. In here are several simulations of places that rebels are often recruited from."
Two other recruits walked through the door. Stef reasoned that they must have already done the jump test. They split into partners and walked into a simulated club.
"Did you ever come to places like this before.?" Stef's partner, a light haired guy about her age asked.
"No, I wasn't very social." Stef said distractedly looking around for rebels.
"You missed out then. Clubbing is sweet," he said as he checked out a pretty but also very drunk girl to Stef's right. "Makes you wonder if we're doing to right thing. Maybe the rebels do have a point."
"They want to destroy the world, how can that be right?" Stef said, her blue-gray eyes burning coldly.
"The world is fake. I think I'm." the next word never made it out of his mouth. Stef had drawn her gun and fired. Her partner fell down as the sound of the gunshot died away. The simulated clubbers didn't even turn.
"Why did you do that?" Stef turned to see Jones behind her.
"He was a traitor. He was agreeing with the rebel's view."
"Good. You passed."
"Passed what? This was a test?"
"Of course it was. We had to see where your loyalties lie." The simulated cityscape and the digital people disappeared from around them. Kyle looked up from talking to his partner as the mockup faded.
"Did he pass?" Stef asked Jones as he walked away.
"No, he was too indecisive." Jones left the room with Kyle. His partner to whom he had been speaking also disappeared. He was also a simulation. Though it didn't show on her impassive face Stef was exceedingly happy with herself. This was the first thing she had ever done in her life with this degree of success.
"Well done," Smith said.
Stef smirked, "When's the next stage?"
"It will come soon enough. Do you know that only one in fifty recruits make it this far?"
"That would make me the one." Smith's eyes narrowed slightly at her last two words but then went back to normal.
"And only one in those ten that have made it this far make it through this stage."
Stef wasn't scared. "I play the odds."
"If you're ready then follow me." Without a second of hesitation Stef followed him to the next room. This level was a fighting simulator. Facing Stef were a dozen well-armed swat team members and a few rebels.
They were all frozen and unmoving until Smith said, "Begin."
Stef gulped, she had never been a very good fighter. As the swat guys knelt and started to fire, she pushed away all her conscious thoughts and started to act on pure reactions. She emptied the rest of her bullets at the swat guys first, killing most of them with ease.
She threw the gun as it clicked empty. A rebel pointed a gun at her as a swat guy ran up behind her. Remembering the ease of the jump level she jumped on the spot and the bullet that had been intended for her instead killed the swat.
She landed, kicked him in the head with such force that she heard his neck snap. She stole the newly dead rebel's gun and took care of the rest of the swat bar one. She snapped her second neck in less than thirty seconds and moved on.
Three well-trained rebels were all that was left. Stef smiled as she launched herself at them. Two of them she took care of easily enough but the third threw a knife at her.
Unable to react quickly enough it lodged itself in her arm. Taking his chance he jumped at her to finish her off.
Rolling out of the way to avoid him, Stef pulled the knife from her arm, spun and stabbed him in the heart with it. As he fell Stef let of the knife. She looked around at all the carnage, shaking her head she let everything process. A clock on the wall informed her that the whole battle had in fact taken less than two minutes.
"Very impressive," Smith said stepping back into view. He looked down at one of the bodies and rather than stepping over it he ordered the simulation to end and all of it disappeared.
Stef shook her head at him, "I didn't pass."
Smith was confused, "why not?"
Stef brandished her arm. "I was injured."
Smith smiled his own slightly strange smile. "If you survive this level you pass."
"Ok. What else do I have to do?"
"Nothing, your tests are over."
"That was it?" Stef asked incredulously.
"That's it. You may want to get that looked at."
Stef was only now starting to feel the pain; her adrenaline-charged brain was now getting around to process pain. "I thought it wasn't real."
"The blood is real. The wound is real. Real is whatever you perceive to be."
"So you're saying that nothing is real in the Matrix unless my mind lets it be?"
"Exactly. Some of the rebels have learned how to bend the rules of the matrix so that's why we need human recruits."
"But only strong ones."
"That why we have these tests. They thin out the weak," a thin trickle of blood was running down her arm, "Unless you plan on bleeding all over this facility I suggest you get that attended."
"Is there a nurse's office?"
"There is a medical facility. And a morgue."
Stef winced from the dawning pain before smirking. "I'm not ready for the morgue yet."
*****
As the Nebuchadnezzar flew through the sewers of the real world everyone was having a good night's sleep except for Tank who was searching for the recruit they had abandoned by necessity.
Morpheus climbed into his seat and looked blankly at the scrolling code.
"Any luck yet?"
"None. Smith got her then she disappeared. I haven't seen anything."
"There was no choice Tank," Morpheus said tiredly, more trying to convince himself than his Zion-born friend.
"I know Morpheus, I didn't say anything."
"Keep looking Tank."
*****
A medical agent who had the same basic physical appearance tended to Stef's shallow flesh wound. Whereas the other agents had a slight air of danger about them he did not, he was nothing more than a doctor for the human recruits.
As he tied off the bandage he looked up to Smith. "All yours."
Smith nodded curtly. "Follow me," Stef stood and followed him down yet another corridor of the agency.
"I thought you said there weren't anymore tests," Stef said with a slight note of accusation in her voice but with an arm on the mend she wasn't ready to face anymore simulated enemies at the moment.
"This isn't a test," he said as they stopped outside of a door. "Welcome to the place only one in five hundred recruits gets to see." Stef followed him in, not knowing quite what to expect.
She was slightly disappointed. It was only a storeroom. But then again, only one in five hundred got to see it. Maybe it was special.
Hundreds of perfect-condition Agent suits were hung meticulously just awaiting an owner. Rows of guns and ammunition and to her amusement, an entire stand of sunglasses.
"Only one in five hundred? Is that why it smells so dusty?" Smith just looked at her, "Oh right. No dust."
"Only what your mind perceives to be real." He turned from her and selected a female version of the suit. The female suit was almost identical except for a slightly different cut for the pants and jacket. "This will fit you."
She was too busy staring at the guns to hear him. She pulled one down and slammed a clip into it. After the fight simulator it had begun to feel natural. "When do I start?"
"As soon as you change. There is an assignment waiting for you."
"Especially for me?"
"No. It was for whichever recruit made it through or whichever agent finished their current assignment first. Now it's yours."
He motioned to the changing room. She accepted the suit from him and changed. When she stepped back out she was an Agent.
"So what's the mission?"
"Assignment," he corrected gently. "There is a computer oriented college at the edge of the city. We believe the rebels have taken interest in several of the students there. We need to discover which ones and dissuade them from joining the rebellion."
"When do I start?"
"Now." She followed him out of the Agency and they got into a car that appeared from thin air.
"I'm going to have to get used to that." They drove to the college. Stef suppressed a chuckle, she had actually been considering going to this college before all the recent events of her life had come to pass.
Stef watched as numerous students milled around. "It could be anyone of them."
"We need to determine who and stop them from making contact."
"It won't be easy. Look at them, anything that guy." She should have had no trouble remembering such an important and strange name but it had slipped away.
"Morpheus," Smith said helpfully.
Stef nodded, "Morpheus says will draw them in. Freaks, geeks, losers and loners."
"The stereotype of a rebel before they are taken out of the matrix. Several have been recruited from here and similar colleges."
Like a light bulb going on in her brain Stef got an idea. "Do you have a picture of the rebels?"
"This is a computer simulation. You can have whatever you want."
"You didn't teach me that yet."
"Just clearly think the word 'require' then the item you require. It works with everything from photographs to brick walls."
"I remember them." She followed the instruction and in her hand appeared a photo of Morpheus, Neo and Trinity. "Perfect," she said.
"If I may ask, what are you planning on doing?"
"Well with your permission, I have an idea which will make them avoid the rebels at all costs."
"This should be interesting. You have permission." Stef smiled and held out her hand. In it appeared a long black leather jacket.
Smith's expression was clearly asking her for an explanation. "These uniforms might be standard issue but they will avoid me like a virus if I walk in there with it on."
She slipped off her Agent jacket and put her new one. It was a perfect fit. She got out of the car and walked into the college.
She spoke to one of group of students after another. She gave them basically the same story. The rebels were in fact computer police who wanted to charge them under some new law for any and all computer crimes they had ever committed. Stef knew, having committed a few transgressions herself, that most of the students were at least a little guilty. The story spread like wildfire.
*****
"Morpheus," Tank yelled from the main deck. The rebel leader came running in.
"What is it Tank?"
"I found the one that got away."
"Good. Where is she?"
"The college on the edge of town."
Morpheus picked up the intercom mike. He called down to the engine room where Neo and Trinity were fixing the engine, which had been giving out a lot more than usual.
"Neo, Trinity? Come up here quick."
"Ok Morpheus," Neo said.
"Morpheus?"
"Yeah Tank?" Tank didn't say anything, he just pointed.
"Shit." Morpheus cursed under his breath. The corner of the screen Tank was pointing to had the code-scroll of an agent.
"She must have gotten away somehow. They're looking for her." Neo and Trinity appeared and they all uploaded to the Matrix.
There was an entrance relatively close to the college so they were there only minutes after they entered.
*****
Stef went back to Smith. "I must have told everyone in this school about the rebels," she said as she ripped the photo in two.
"Rebels," he spat looking past her. She turned and saw the leather-clad rebels that were here to help her. They were in for a rude shock. An evil plan came to her.
"Point your gun at me," she said as the rebels came closer.
"What?" he asked in total disbelief. If he had been human a thought similar to 'what the hell is she thinking?' would have been running through his head.
"They've obviously come back to rescue me. Pretend you're going to kill me." Complying with the new recruit's plan he drew his gun and aimed it at her head. He frankly was a little surprised that she trusted him enough to have him point his gun at her for a deception when only a matter hours ago he had really been going to kill her.
Though having no more experience than a few high school drama lessons Stef was a good actress when she wanted to be. It may have been because she was a good liar. She took on the appearance of utter and total fear.
Some of the loitering students saw the Agent's gun and began to run and scream in terror. Finally the rebels saw the agent and 'their' missing recruit.
"Help!" Stef screamed pitifully to the rebels - and general public. To Smith she started babbling inanely. "Please, please don't shoot me. Oh god, don't kill me." She took a step back as he advanced. He needed no practice or acting lessons, he had done this hundreds of times before. Except all of those times he had killed the rebel.
Stef tripped on the uneven ground as he took another step toward her. He trained the gun down at her. "Goodbye," he said coldly as he went to pull the trigger. Someone flew over her head and knocked Smith to the ground.
Someone else pulled her to her feet and across the college ground. She looked over her shoulder as she ran to see Neo fighting Smith with Morpheus coming to help him. Trinity was running with her.
Morpheus shot Smith who morphed from one of the college lecturers. He didn't come running back to the fight because he wanted to see how well Stef had thought her plan out.
"Shouldn't we help them?" Stef asked Trinity as innocently as she could. "That guy could kill them. What the hell was he anyway? He didn't seem to be human."
"He was an Agent."
Neo and Morpheus came running up to them and they headed for the nearest first-timers exit. "Where are we going?" Stef asked.
"We are getting you out of the Matrix. It isn't safe for you anymore," Neo answered.
They came to an old and dilapidated building. Inside it was pretty much the same setup she had seen last night except there was a ringing phone.
"I'll go out and tell Tank to be ready," Morpheus said as he picked up the ringing phone. Stef drew her gun and shot at his disappearing, it was too late; the bullets did no damage whatsoever.
Two sets of angry eyes looked at Stef as they realized that they had been tricked. "Traitor," Trinity whispered.
"Agent actually." Stef said as Neo drew his own gun and a firefight ensued. They avoided each other's bullets but once out of ammo the physical blows weren't was easy to avoid.
When Trinity joined the fight Stef was quickly overpowered and fell to the floor. She was hurt but far from dead but she wouldn't be alive much longer if she didn't think clearly.
Require, no vital signs. Stef thought as Neo bent over her fallen form and checked her pulse. As long as she didn't move she would be fine.
"She's dead." He said without care. The exited the Matrix. Stef didn't know this so she lay perfectly still under the guise of death waiting until she knew it was safe to sit up.
Someone else bent down and checked her vital signs. "A waste," she heard Smith say. Smiling, she sat up.
"I'm not dead." Stef said as she stood.
"As it would appear."
"I was going to at least try and kill them at the college but I thought it would be better to find one of these places. It's one less way to take more rebels into the real world."
"Good thinking. We often try and find these places but often they elude us."
"I did good?"
"Yes. It would have been unlikely that you would have able to kill any of them anyway. Mr. Anderson is annoyingly hard to kill."
"And his punches hurt like hell." She sat down on the chair in a position that hurt the least. She could almost feel the bruises forming.
"No other recruits that have encountered him have survived."
"How many successful recruits has the Agency had?"
"We have been recruiting for fifty-four years."
"Oh, ok. How many since Anderson showed up?"
"Twenty-three."
"How many are alive now?"
"Six, including you."
"Shit. Anderson killed how many?"
"Twelve. Morpheus and Trinity have killed six and four respectively."
"I'm glad it isn't thirteen and I don't plan on being his next victim." She peeled off the leather jacket and required it to vanish. She required her Agent jacket from the car and slid it gently over a couple of bruises as she put it back on "What now?"
"Since the college is now longer an issue you will be given a new assignment."
They went back to the Agency and since there weren't any assignments to do he showed her to the recruits' living quarters. Each recruit was given a small but spacious self-contained unit.
Stef changed out of her suit that dusty and bloody thanks to her fight with Neo and put on a new one that was in her wardrobe. She relaxed on the bed and required a drink.
There was a knocking on the door. She got up and opened it. "You're the new recruit?" The guy at the door asked. Though obviously a recruit he wasn't wearing a suit, he was wearing a tracksuit.
"Yeah, I'm Stef Mimosa."
"Curt O'Connor. Are you going to stay in here all day?"
"What else is there to do?"
"You've got to be one of Smith's," Stef nodded. "He never explains anything. Come with me. Oh, you might want to change."
"Into what?"
"Just think require, training suit." Stef followed him and a second later she was also in a tracksuit.
She followed him to the gym. The other five recruits were already practicing their moves. "Well?" Curt asked her.
"Cool," Stef commented. She watched two guys sparring, half the time their moves had them both fighting in midair. Another girl was punching through foot-thick walls while another was dodging bullets.
"What can you do?" He asked her.
"What can YOU do?" She retorted.
"Don't take it as offence. Is there something you're skilled in? Gravity, speed, maneuverability?"
"I've been here less than a day."
"Then let's practice."
They only stopped for a quick dinner before getting back to training. Sometimes they challenged each other but most of the time they worked on their strength, Stef found out that she was good at manipulating gravity.
Through the afternoon and into the night the other recruits explained bits and pieces of information that she didn't know yet. Information about the history of the matrix and the real world.
It was early in the morning before any of them got any sleep. A very annoying alarm went off at exactly seven am and woke them all up. Curt knocked on her door and they walked to the mess hall.
"Which agent recruited you?" Stef said as she ate her breakfast.
"Jones," Curt said after swallowing his Coco Pops. It was great having breakfast there as they could have whatever they wanted. "I was a geek at a computer college. There was a fire and I was trapped. I jumped from a fifth- story window and lived."
The other recruits introduced themselves. Enid, whom had been punching through the walls when Stef had walked into the room waved hi then proceeded to tell Stef her story, it was a tradition when they had a new recruit to relive how they became recruits. "These guys were bothering me; four big muscled guy. Brown found me after I kicked the shit out of them." Stef smiled, someone with Enid's slight frame wasn't the kind of person you expected to be a good fighter.
The two guys who had been sparring had also been recruited by Brown and had been recruited after scaling the sheer wall of a building to escape some cops.
The girl who had been dodging bullets didn't speak as a rule so Enid told Stef her story. Lisa had escaped a school shooting by dodging the bullets. She was quiet but was a very good recruit.
Stef was a little curious, Brown had three recruits, Jones had two but she was Smith's only - living - recruit. "You're wondering where Smith's recruits are aren't you?"
"Sort of but with the amount of people who don't make it through the tests."
"He gets as many through the tests as Jones and Brown but his usually die when they go up against this certain bunch of rebels."
"Anderson's?" Stef asked and Curt nodded. "I fought them yesterday, they aren't that tough."
"You went up against Anderson and you're still alive?"
"I don't die easily," Stef said with a smirk. Behind them someone cleared their throat. Stef turned and saw Smith, drank the rest of the milk then excused herself.
"Morning."
He ignored the greeting as they walked down the corridor. "You showed promise yesterday when you came up with that plan to deal with the rebels. I wonder if you could repeat it."
"What's the deal?"
"We have a rebel downstairs in a cell. All normal ways of extracting information have failed. She is only low in the ranks but if we can learn the location of her ship."
"Ship?"
"The rebels use hovercrafts. They hack into the Matrix from these ships."
"Ok."
"If we can learn the location of her ship then we can take care of some of the rebels."
Stef thought for a minute. If she walked in looking like an agent the rebel would refuse to tell her anything. Stef smiled - she had an idea. "You only want the location of her ship?"
"That would be sufficient though anything we could learn would be good." Stef began a requirement. One minute she was a tidily dressed Agent recruit and the next she was a battered and bleeding rebel wearing a torn and bloodstained set of black clothes.
"Care to explain?"
"The rebel will never tell anything willingly to an Agent but to another rebel they'll sing like a drunk."
"Very well," Smith said. On the way down to the cellblock Stef explained the rest of the plan.
The rebel, a woman named Athena stood and walked to the bars when she heard the door to the cellblock open. She saw what she thought was another rebel being half-dragged, half-led by Smith.
Stef was really getting into the part, she was screaming curses at the Agent and threatening him. Athena allowed herself a smile, the unknown rebel was really brave and apparently fearless, she herself hadn't been brave enough to say anything when she had been captured.
Smith held Stef with one hand while he unlocked the cell door with the other. Athena contemplated escape for perhaps half a second before a dark look from Smith quelled the thoughts.
Stef broke away from Smith and got three steps before he caught her. He roughly threw her into the cell. He drew his gun and seemed to toy with the idea of killing her before he disregarded it and slammed the door shut.
After she heard the cellblock door slam Athena helped Stef to her feet and guided her to the spare bunk. "Are you ok?" Athena asked with genuine concern.
"Sure, I guess." Stef said as she rubbed the back of her head. She'd have to pay him back for that.
"He could have killed you."
"I'm not afraid of him," Stef was able to say honestly but it backed up Athena's fearless theory.
"I'm Athena." Stef introduced her herself as Chips.
"It's short for Microchips." The recruits had told her that the rebels never used their real names for some odd reason. Chips sounded appropriate.
"I guessed that."
"So let me guess," Stef started. "You didn't answer their questions either?"
"No, I'd never tell them anything."
"Good. We can't let them win."
"I just hope I can get out of here before they pull the plug on me."
Rebels killed each other? "Would they do that?"
"Of course. The war is more important than anyone of us."
"True. Where's you ship?" Stef said causally.
"Why do you want to know that?" Athena retorted suspiciously.
"I'm just making conversation, I need to think about something besides the pain in my head."
"Mine's below the 347 pods. Where's yours?"
Stef quickly racked her brains, "Within the fields of children." She hoped it would work, she heard Curt say that name last night.
"That's dangerous, you must have a great pilot."
"He's the best. Did you tell them anything?"
"I would never tell those damn machines anything."
"Well, they aren't around now. Tell me what they wanted to know and I can help you to make up lies to tell them instead."
"Will that work?"
"It can't hurt to try."
Athena spilled all her secrets to Stef who helped her make up lies to tell her. She recorded everything Athena said into a small note-taker that she had required without the rebel seeing.
They talked for about half an hour before Athena's head violently jerked and she fell down like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Stef had her suit back on by the time Smith opened the door. "They found her ship," he said as Stef stepped over the body.
"Sorry I couldn't get any good information out of here but here's what I did get," she said handing him the note-taker. "Some more rebels dead at least."
"You are proving to be a worthwhile recruit."
"Maybe if you didn't sick all of yours onto Anderson and his buddies then you would find that we are worthwhile."
Stef could have kicked herself. Her mouth worked before her brain sometimes. Before he could say anything she apologized in a much more respectful tone. "Sorry sir, that was out of line."
Since there was nothing else for her to do she went to the gym. Oddly it was empty, all the other recruits were somewhere else. Last night she had found the balance beam to be very fun when you could manipulate gravity. She required her tracksuit and started to practice.
She leapt fifteen feet above the balance beam, flipped once and landed at the other end. She jumped again, and dove through a required hoop. There was no harm in having a few tricks up her sleeve. As she practiced Stef found it was very calming.
It was calming until the balance beam disappeared.
The second to react she had was enough; she adjusted her position so she would land in a crouch so she wouldn't be injured. The second after she landed she drew her gun and looked around for danger.
She rose to feet and saw Curt standing near her. "What are you doing? I'm trying to practice."
He took a step toward her; "you aren't going to practice anymore."
"What are you talking about Curt?"
"The Agency's new golden girl, Stef Mimosa, the best recruit they've had in years."
"Are you jealous or something?"
"Small-minded or not you are going to be very helpful to the rebels."
"What are you talking about?"
"Are you shallow and stupid? I'm a rebel."
"Your loyalties were tested. You passed," Stef said slowly.
"Killing a simulation? What that actually supposed to be a test?"
Curt drew his gun and faster than a human eye would be able to follow they shot at each other. They fired until they had their guns at each other. Stef looked at Curt's gun.
"You're empty."
"So are you," he began to say but she pulled her trigger one last time. She yawned as his body fell to the floor. She touched her earpiece and summoned Smith.
"Jones will be pissed," she said as he appeared in the gym. He looked at her for an explanation.
"He was a rebel. A well trained deceiver but a rebel nonetheless."
"This is not good. If one of them could infiltrate to this level." he trailed off and looked at Stef with a hint of accusation.
"Me? Who killed him?"
"You might be the rebel and he was about to expose your secret."
"I've been here two days. In those two days I've found a rebel ship and lived through a fight with your Mr. Anderson."
"Yes, the latter is most unusual."
"I am not a rebel."
"How am I to be sure?"
"Trust me."
"Agents don't trust Miss Mimosa."
Stef pointed up behind his head. "There's a security camera up there."
Require, security tape. Require, TV. Require, VCR. The items appeared. Smith pushed the tape into the VCR and watched it.
Require, chair. Stef thought. She sat in it as soon as it appeared. She was feeling really weak and tired. Smith was oblivious; he was reviewing the security tape in case there was anything he may missed.
"Fine, he was the rebel. But we will have to screen the new recruits closer from now on."
He turned to compliment her the progression of her skills in the last couple of days but saw her sitting. "Were you injured?"
"I don't think so but I really feel sick." Stef would have sworn she heard him groan. She could guess what he was thinking. It would be something along the line of 'a great recruit but now she's sick.' She didn't blame him, she hated being sick.
"Do you want to go to the medical bay?"
"I think that would be a good idea."
The gym disappeared and they were standing in the medical bay. "I'm going to get used to that," Stef said to herself.
Smith left and the doctor examined her and ran a few standard tests. She stayed around for the results. He sat down at his computer and started to look at a few files.
Stef required a glass of water and sat cross-legged on the bed.
"Aha," he finally muttered.
"Well, what's wrong with me?" She asked as she slid off the bed and went over to him.
"There is nothing 'medically' wrong with you," Stef could tell he was using the word loosely, "nor is it a code error. Your real world body is dying."
"What?"
He pointed to the screen so she could read the cold, hard facts for herself. "You came from a bad crop."
"Bad crop?"
"If it makes you feel better it may be a comfort to know that around a thousand other humans have the same problem. None of them have any idea that they could fall down dead at anytime."
"Wonderful. Thanks," Stef said dryly. The doctor shrugged and went back to his computer. Stef left the medical bay and went back to her room.
Stef was shaking in anger. First the first time in her life she had found something she was good at and now she was going to die. She slammed her door shut and punched the wall in anger.
She had forgotten how strong she was; the punch went straight through the wall. She kept punching and kicking at her room until it was nothing more than small pieces of debris around her ankles.
Smith was mildly surprised at the state of the room. He would have knocked before entering but there was nothing for him to rap his knuckles against. "Bad news I assume."
"Yeah I'll say. I'm dying. My real world body came from a bad crop according to the doctor."
"They do happen."
Stef sat down on her dusty bed. "This sucks, I finally find something that I'm good at and now I'm going to die."
"I could make it painless if you want." Stef looked up at him, no matter how strange the offer was he intended it to be kind.
"Are you offering to kill me?"
"Yes."
She shrugged, "I might accept but there is something I want to do first. If I'm going to die I want to go out in a blaze of glory."
"Meaning what?"
"You said I was the only recruit to ever go up against Anderson and survive. I feel lucky."
"You have a plan?"
"Yes, a simple one. I'm going to kill him."
"You will find it harder than you think."
"I have nothing to lose."
"Very well," was his reply. She stood and shook the dust from herself.
"I just have to think of a plan now." Require, new room she thought. A new room with repaired walls appeared. She paced a little, trying to think of a plan.
"Have you thought of one yet?" The impatient Agent asked her.
"No, why?" Couldn't he give her a few minutes to think?
"On other occasions it hasn't taken you more than thirty-two seconds to come up with a viable idea."
She decided to take that as a compliment. She smiled. "Smith?"
"Yes Miss Mimosa?"
"I have an idea."
"Would you care to share the details?"
"There are a couple of things I need to know first."
"Such as?"
"How do I communicate with the real world from within the Matrix?"
"Use either a public phone or cell phone and require outside access."
"That seems simple enough. How long till I die?"
"Deaths caused by bad crops are never predictable. Why?"
"I was wondering if I should bog you down with the details or just start the plan. If I tell you the details and die first at least some other recruit can carry it out." Her voice had unintentionally bitter.
Damn the real world, Stef thought. Smith sat down beside her and held out his right hand, a second later a steaming white mug appeared in it.
"What's that?" She asked curiously. As far as she knew Agents didn't eat or drink.
"It's warm milk. Psychological studies of humans have determined that it."
Oh! It was for her. "It's not real," she said swiping it from his hand. "But thanks." Real or not, it did help.
"Details?" he inquired as she drank her milk.
She stopped drinking and wiped the milk mustache off. "I'm going to make myself a rebel - just as an act. I will tell them that the evil Agents are messing with my mind making me go against my own people. That at least should at least get their attention. I'll request that Anderson come in himself and take me out of the Matrix. While he's in here you should be able to trace his ship and if I don't kill him you can destroy his ship."
"When do you want to get started?" He queried.
"When I finish my milk." She drained the last drop and required the glass to disappear.
"Ready?"
"I just have to practice one thing first." She stood and straightened her jacket. She required a leather jacket to replace it but rather than it appear instantaneously as clothes requirements did. She required that it flicker for a few seconds to make it seem more like a glitch or some kind of static.
She practiced it a few more times. "Ok, got the hang of that."
"Why did you need to practice that?"
"All part of the deception. Trust me Smith."
"Agents don't."
"Trust me Smith," she repeated. "I'm going to kill Anderson if it kills me."
*****
"Human agents? Why?" Neo demanded of Morpheus.
"We've known about them, you've fought them you just didn't realize it. They were the agents that didn't revert to the humans they had stolen. About fifty years ago they finally figured out what we had already known. Only the human mind can bend or break the rules of the Matrix. Usually they go after people who show talent or awareness of the Matrix."
"Then why her?"
"She was there. Smith had the opportunity to grab a prisoner and he took it."
"She shouldn't have sold out the human race," Neo spat. "If I had of known she wasn't dead I would have finished the job."
"We left her for dead," Trinity said quietly. "What would you think of humans after that?"
"We had no choice Trin," Neo said defending Morpheus' actions.
"Guys?" Tank's voice rose over the debate from his chair. "Someone here wants to talk to you."
"Who?" Morpheus asked, he wasn't expecting any calls from Zion.
Tank flipped a switch so a voice came over the speakers. "Morpheus? Neo? Trinity? Can anyone hear me?"
"What do you want?" Morpheus said.
"Help if you'll give it to me."
"Go ask Smith," Neo spat at her.
"I don't think so. If he knew I was making this call, he would try and kill me. Again." Stef said flatly.
"What do you want Stephanie?"
"They did something to me. I don't know what I'm doing half the time. I think they're trying to turn me into one of them."
"How do we know you aren't a traitor? This could be another trick."
"I would never sell out the human race," Stef said convincingly. "And I would not try and trick its only hope of escaping this prison."
"Well, what can we do?" Morpheus asked, trying to take hold of the situation.
"Get me out of here and I will tell you everything I know. I can remember some of what they've put into my head."
"She is lying Morpheus," Neo said, he didn't want to trust her as far as he could throw a skyscraper in the real world.
Anticipating the comment, Stef shook herself and allowed her Agent uniform to appear and disappear, like she was living static.
The rebels watched the screen as Stef's code scroll shifted strangely. "Stef?" Trinity asked, genuinely concerned for her.
Stef heard the voice through the receiver she had dropped. She allowed the leather jacket to return as she picked the phone back up. "Did you see that?"
"Yes," Morpheus answered evenly. "What happened?"
"It's happened a couple of times that. I told you I think they're trying to turn me into an Agent. Please help me."
"It could all be an act." Neo said coldly.
"I swear on my life this is not an act. If you don't help me my life could be a matter of hours - or minutes. It depends on how long it takes them to find me."
"I'll go through Morpheus." Neo said. "If I even suspect that's she's a traitor, I'll kill her. This time I'll make sure that she's dead." Neo knew perfectly well Stef could hear every word he said.
"Well.what if what happened a minute ago happens again."
"If you become a danger I'll kill you."
"I understand."
"There's a phone box on Fourth and Orion. Be there in ten minutes."
"All right."
Stef made her way to the phone box. It stank because she couldn't require anything for the pain, as she knew the rebels would be watching her. She made it there in seven minutes but Neo was already waiting.
Neo was dressed in his trademark all black. He shook his head at her as she approached. "If you even think of doing anything." he let the threat hang.
"I won't. I promise."
She followed him to yet another exit for first-timers. The pain was getting worse.
~ ~ A thousand other humans have the same problem. None of them have any idea that they could fall down dead at anytime.
Damn that doctor, she would have felt a little better if he hadn't been so calm when he was saying those words.
Anytime. She knew her time was going to be soon. Very soon judging by the amount of pain. Keeping up the 'evil Agents' act, she allowed her suit to show a couple more times before 'gaining control.'
Neo's dark look that he had been wearing since she saw first saw him turned even darker. She inhaled sharply as she felt her real world body approaching breakdown.
"Take your jacket off. Sit in that chair," Neo said gesturing to a very old and strange-looking chair. She obliged as he busied himself at the computer. With his back turned there was no way he could see her draw her gun.
She fired but faster than she thought even he could react he dodged the bullet. She fired again and again as he drew his own gun.
Being of comparable abilities, they ducked each other's shots until Stef's guts wrenched in pain. Her real world body was taking a turn for the worst. The pain made her lose focus and her speed slowed. Neo shot her.
Her guts hurt again, but this was from the hot lead slug that had pierced her middle. She fell to the floor in pain. She lay perfectly still.
Neo was not falling for the same trick twice. He fired again but his gun clicked, it was empty.
Stef slowly clenched her gun. She had one shot left. It would be him or her. One of them wouldn't be alive in a few seconds.
Neo leant down to snap her neck. Agent, human or whatever she was it was unlikely that she would survive that.
As he leant in close Stef opened her eyes and swung her arm around. Neo hadn't had time to react from the sudden move when she started to pull the trigger. Before she could finish, her world swirled around her.
Blinking in the harsh light she found herself in the medical bay. "Why the hell did you do that?" She screamed at Smith. "I was about to kill him!"
"You're empty. It would have been a waste of a recruit."
"I'm not empty," she said, intending to prove her point by shooting him instead. She leveled her weapon and pulled the trigger. Click. She was empty. "Empty?" she whispered.
"As I said."
"I thought I had."
"But you didn't."
"I thought I had one more round left. I was so close."
Smith went to say something but she started to shake. She felt like she was being eaten from the inside out. She doubled over in pain.
"Real world body failure," the doctor said without care.
She looked up at Smith. "Painless," she pleaded as her body went to hell. Smith drew his gun and fired. As soon as the bullet pierced her skull her pain stopped. Everything stopped and went black.
"Morgue," Smith stated simply before turning and walking out of the medical bay.
One week later.
Smith, Jones and Brown were waiting in a large office to meet the new Agent. Since new Agents were a rarity they were expected to meet them. The mainframe required it.
The door to the office opened and a woman walked through. Brown was displeased for several reasons. Among them was the fact that male Agents were better in combat.
Jones was indifferent. An agent was an Agent, unless of course that Agent was Smith.
Smith stepped forward to greet the new Agent. "Agent Smith," she said with the slightest hint of a smile.
'Welcome Agent Mimosa.'
The End.
Author: Stormhawk
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: This all belongs to The W Brothers and Warner Brothers. And the Agents, don't forget the agents. Stef is mine.
Word Count Originally: 7238 Word Count Now: 10045
Summary: After an attempt to recruit a new freedom fighter is foiled by Smith, he recruits her himself into a human Agent program.
Notes: I have taken some liberties with the abilities of Agents. We really don't know how they work so please accept my creative licensing.
~ ~ Denotes remembered dialogue.
Please read and Review.
Twenty years ago.
It was a beautiful warm spring morning. Emma Mimosa and her sister Pam were having a morning tea at the table in the living room. Next to them, but closer to the kitchen Emma's daughter two year old Stephanie was running around her crib with her doll.
She held it over the side and showed it to her mother. Emma loved her daughter dearly but she had to say how pretty her doll was about every ten minutes to keep the child happy.
"It's a lovely doll Stephanie," Emma said tiredly.
As Emma turned back to her half finished cup of coffee the door was knocked in with one mighty kick. A man ran in and she stood. "Who are you?" she demanded of him.
The man dressed in all black was one the rebels. He only had two problems; one was the fact that he was a yellow-bellied coward. The other was that an agent was chasing him. He did not want to die.
"Get out of my house!" Emma screamed at him as her right hand flew toward the phone.
"There's no need to call the police,' Agent Smith said as he stepped over the fallen door and into the house. He drew his Desert Eagle and aimed it at the rebel coward.
In one quick movement the rebel plucked Stephanie and her new doll from the crib and held her in front of him like a human shield.
"Get away from me agent." Unperturbed Smith merely adjusted his angle a little and fired. Emma screamed when the gun fired. Smith looked at them and erased the memory of the last few minutes.
Emma and Pam went back to talking as though there was nothing wrong. Smith turned away, this was so routine he felt he could do it on autopilot.
The coward lay dead on the floor, the bullet had killed him instantly. Stephanie was upset and unsure of what was going on so she was crying. Or maybe it was because her new doll was broken. The bullet had passed through it to kill the man.
"You brought this on yourself," Smith said to the dead man.
Being so young and naïve the dead man meant nothing to the toddler. She looked up at the agent in distaste. "You broke my doll." She made a face at him.
Smith suppressed a smile, if only rebels were this entertaining. He knelt and pried her from the dead man's stiff arms. He rose and then he looked down at the damaged-beyond-repair doll.
He shifted Stephanie so she was supported on one arm. He reached down with the other. Stephanie watched in amazement as the doll's head ran back together and flew up to him.
Even as young as she was Stephanie knew she had seen something special. Satisfied the doll was as good as new he handed it back to her. He pressed his earpiece and called for a cleanup crew for the body.
The mental proof had been erased from the adults; there was no need to erase the child's memories. Humans never remembered anything from their infancy.
The child was covered in the dead rebel's blood. Smith deposited the happy- again brown haired child back into her crib and retrieved a washcloth from the kitchen. He returned and wiped all the blood off her.
As he cleaned the already drying blood from her she repeatedly tried to pull his sunglasses off. What a nice human, Smith thought as he looked at the cute baby, shame I'll probably have to kill her when she grows up.
Brown and Jones arrived with the clean up crew. Smith wiped the smile from his face and tried to look as though he hadn't been enjoying Stephanie's company. Brown and Jones shared a knowing look, the same thought going through each of their minds. So disgustingly human.
If the truth was told they had both though about getting the mainframe to delete or at least recompile him.
Twenty years later. The present.
This isn't the real world? What the hell does that mean? Stef asked herself. Stephanie Mimosa was not one to be fooled easily. She considered the fact that the people she was talking to were insane but they seemed relatively normal.
Sometimes she cursed the Internet. That's how they had found her, they had contacted her through her website. They had left several enigmatic messages that had peaked her curiosity and had drawn her in but now it was getting weird.
One of them, who went by the name Morpheus - he seemed to be the leader - was now sitting in the chair in front of her with two pills. A red one in his right hand and a blue in his left hand. Stef supposed they were some kind of drug that would make her believe anything they said.
At least there appeared to be no rush for her to make a decision. Morpheus was a very patient man, having given this choice to hundreds of people. Her hand hovered at her side, unsure which color to pick. If I don't like what they show me I can always go home, Stef reasoned as she went to reach for the red pill.
Stef didn't have a chance to grab the pill as the door to the room they were in was kicked down. Stef let out a scream as she saw the body of the man who had been guarding the door.
The man who had kicked the door in stepped into the room. He was well- dressed and wearing sunglass even though it was night.
"What the hell?" Stef turned to Morpheus for an answer but he had fled into the next room already. Seeing no other choice she ran after him and the man in the suit followed her.
The others who had been in the next room weren't there anymore. Morpheus was standing in the window ready to jump. He took a second to look back at Stef to scream the word 'run' before he jumped from the fourth-story window.
Wondering if this was a suicide club she had almost joined Stef ran to the window. To her infinite surprise she saw them running unharmed down the street away from the building.
The word 'run' replayed in her head but the command died somewhere between her mind and her legs. The man in the suit walked past her, ignoring her and looked out the window as Morpheus and his crew disappeared from view.
She looked at the man in the suit. She had no idea what was going on but wanted absolutely nothing to do with any of it. She backed away from him and ran down the four flights of stairs and out onto the street.
As she ran from him Smith sighed and muttered to himself, "why do they always run?"
Stef looked up toward the fourth floor as she ran from the building. The man was still standing there. Seeing her he stepped through the window and jumped down, landing less than twenty feet from her.
Stef heard and saw the concrete snap as he landed. "What the hell are you?" He didn't answer her instead he drew his gun. Holy shit he was going to kill her! Her light skin went even paler as fear washed over her.
"You brought this on yourself." He said coldly.
Stef felt like she had been struck by lightening. She remembered the man. "You fixed my doll," she said quickly. Then she kicked herself mentally for how childish the statement sounded.
"What?" For once, Smith faltered, unsure of what that statement could possibly mean. His files were racing overtime trying to make a connection that made any kind of sense.
"I was a little kid. Some guy ran into the house, you.killed him.' She trailed off realizing the same might happen to her. "The bullet smashed my doll then you fixed it."
Smith remembered the incident, how could he forget it? He had been right all those years ago - he did have to kill her.
Keep talking Stef she ordered herself. If he was talking then he can't be shooting. "That guy back then, he had something to do with these freaks didn't he?"
Smith nodded once, "he was one of them."
"I have nothing to do with them. You don't have to kill me.'
"Unfortunately you know too much."
"I don't know anything.' She had to think of something, anything that would save her life. "Behind you!" she screamed.
Smith turned, he had wondered if the rebels would return for her. He realized he had been tricked when he spun and saw no one. Stef took the second of confusion and ran for it. The agent allowed himself a smile as he watched her run into a brick wall that he had required to be there.
Stef took a step back from the brick wall that had appeared from thin air. She knew it hadn't been there a minute ago. Morpheus' words came back to her; 'this is not the real world' She turned and saw the man running toward her.
She hit the wall in a gesture of pure frustration. A hole the size of her fist was knocked into the solid wall of bricks. She did a double take and looked down at her fist. She had never done anything like that before.
Still scared shitless about a brick wall appearing from nowhere she decided not to think about it and just run around it as it wasn't quite as wide as the road, there was just enough room for her to slip past. Before she could run toward the end of the wall three more appeared and boxed her in.
Her soon-to-be assassin leapt straight over the wall and landed in front of it. Stef was now considering the fact that she may be insane; people could NOT leap over walls that high.
If she was going to die, she at least wanted a couple of answers first. "How did you do that?" she asked him slowly - he was still holding the gun.
She could almost see him deciding whether to answer her or shoot her. Fortunately he chose the first, "what did they tell you exactly?"
"Nothing precise. Something about this not being the real world. He also mentioned computers and machines."
"Did you believe it?"
Stef made a strange noise halfway between a snort and a sigh, "I do now. Who are you? What are they?"
"Smith. Agent Smith. They are they rebels. Would you like to know more?"
"If it will keep me alive." Not pointing a gun at her he didn't seem so bad and she did want answers. She wanted to know what the hell was going on.
What happened next was as unbelievable as the brick wall appearing from nowhere. They were standing in the box of brick walls, Stef blinked and they were in an office.
Smith sat behind his desk and motioned for her to sit in the empty chair. "This is not the real world. You are inside a computer simulation."
Ok, he was insane as the rest but he seemed to believe himself. "What?" was all that she could manage.
Smith saw her confusion. "Let me finish. This world, the rebels call it the Matrix, is exactly like the real world used to be like before it started to destroy itself. About two centuries ago it became virtually unlivable and the Matrix was constructed. In here humans can live and flourish whereas in the real world they would simply die."
It really did sound insane but Stef felt there was some innate truth to it all. She did believe him no matter how fantastic it sounded. "Where do you fit into this?"
"Agents are." he took a moment to find the right word. "Guardians simply. Sentient programming but guardians nonetheless. We make sure the Matrix runs smoothly so that its inhabitants may have normal live."
"And what about the rebels?"
"The rebels believe that a life in the real world no matter what to be better simply because it is the truth. The real world is dead. All that is left is the Matrix."
Stef sat back in the chair taking it all in. "What are they trying to do?"
"They wish to destroy the Matrix. If they succeed the majority of the human race will cease to exist." Stef was confused, why would anyone want to destroy the world they had grown up in? The rebels sounded like impertinent rebelling against their parents.
Lost in her own musings Stef became aware that Smith was staring at her. "What are you going to do with me?" She really didn't want to go to jail; hopefully she would get off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
"You have two choices Miss Mimosa. You can either go back to your normal life with no knowledge of these events. Or.you can work with us to protect your world from the rebels."
"Why do programs need help? I saw what you could do, I can't do anything like that."
"There is an inherit limit to our programming that the human mind alone seems to be able to surpass. I believe you could be trained."
"Okay. Sign me up." It sounded cool to her. She had no idea how cool it was going to turn out to be.
He stood up and walked to the door, she followed him out. They walked down a few corridors, past a gym where other recruits were practicing Agent techniques.
"This is actually possible?" Stef asked as she looked at two boys fight in midair.
"Yes." Was his simple answer.
He opened another door and they walked into a training facility. Agent Brown and Agent Jones were already waiting with their own recruits.
Smith joined Jones then they both walked over to the side. Brown stood in front of the humans to explain what they needed to do.
"This is the first test," the tall agent started. "Those who pass it will progress to the next stage. Those who don't will be expelled from the program." Behind him three thirty-foot brick walls appeared.
"Simply jump over the wall and then jump back over. Begin." The three recruits stepped forward. All of them had seen things recently that that would have considered impossible only hours before.
Brown's recruit who was a couple of inches taller than the other two went first. He ran quickly at the wall, jumped fifteen feet straight up and smashed painfully into it. Bleeding from several small cuts and a broken nose he slipped back down to the floor.
Stef smiled, no time like the present. She took three running steps toward her wall and launched herself upward. She landed with a dull thud on the other side. Jones' recruit, Kyle, was a few years older than Stef and was not going to be beaten by a girl. He jumped up, landed on the top of the wall and back flipped down to the ground near Stef.
"Beat that," he dared her.
Not afraid of any challenge Stef merely replied, "I shall." And she did. She walked back a few feet so she could get a run up. She ran at her wall, launched upward, flipped high above the wall and landed on the other side. It was strange; Stef realized while in the air, she wasn't afraid of being thirty-five feet in the air. Cool.
Kyle had been beaten. He simply jumped back over the wall. They both looked down at Brown's recruit who was slowly rising to his feet holding his bloody nose. Brown looked down without concern and with a mild but not unexpected disappointment.
"You failed," were his only two words as he led the ex-recruit out. His memories would simply be erased; there was no sense in wasting a battery.
"Congratulations," Jones said to Stef and Kyle. "Follow me to the next stage." They followed him to the next room, which was even larger than the last. It was a mockup of a cityscape. It was an exceedingly real mockup. Stef looked up to see the moon and a few faint stars.
The two recruits were issued weapons. Kyle looked slightly confused but Stef immediately holstered hers, first making sure the safety was on.
"Keep these for the further stages. In this level you will be partnered with another recruit and patrol the city as if you had already made it through the rest of the tests. In here are several simulations of places that rebels are often recruited from."
Two other recruits walked through the door. Stef reasoned that they must have already done the jump test. They split into partners and walked into a simulated club.
"Did you ever come to places like this before.?" Stef's partner, a light haired guy about her age asked.
"No, I wasn't very social." Stef said distractedly looking around for rebels.
"You missed out then. Clubbing is sweet," he said as he checked out a pretty but also very drunk girl to Stef's right. "Makes you wonder if we're doing to right thing. Maybe the rebels do have a point."
"They want to destroy the world, how can that be right?" Stef said, her blue-gray eyes burning coldly.
"The world is fake. I think I'm." the next word never made it out of his mouth. Stef had drawn her gun and fired. Her partner fell down as the sound of the gunshot died away. The simulated clubbers didn't even turn.
"Why did you do that?" Stef turned to see Jones behind her.
"He was a traitor. He was agreeing with the rebel's view."
"Good. You passed."
"Passed what? This was a test?"
"Of course it was. We had to see where your loyalties lie." The simulated cityscape and the digital people disappeared from around them. Kyle looked up from talking to his partner as the mockup faded.
"Did he pass?" Stef asked Jones as he walked away.
"No, he was too indecisive." Jones left the room with Kyle. His partner to whom he had been speaking also disappeared. He was also a simulation. Though it didn't show on her impassive face Stef was exceedingly happy with herself. This was the first thing she had ever done in her life with this degree of success.
"Well done," Smith said.
Stef smirked, "When's the next stage?"
"It will come soon enough. Do you know that only one in fifty recruits make it this far?"
"That would make me the one." Smith's eyes narrowed slightly at her last two words but then went back to normal.
"And only one in those ten that have made it this far make it through this stage."
Stef wasn't scared. "I play the odds."
"If you're ready then follow me." Without a second of hesitation Stef followed him to the next room. This level was a fighting simulator. Facing Stef were a dozen well-armed swat team members and a few rebels.
They were all frozen and unmoving until Smith said, "Begin."
Stef gulped, she had never been a very good fighter. As the swat guys knelt and started to fire, she pushed away all her conscious thoughts and started to act on pure reactions. She emptied the rest of her bullets at the swat guys first, killing most of them with ease.
She threw the gun as it clicked empty. A rebel pointed a gun at her as a swat guy ran up behind her. Remembering the ease of the jump level she jumped on the spot and the bullet that had been intended for her instead killed the swat.
She landed, kicked him in the head with such force that she heard his neck snap. She stole the newly dead rebel's gun and took care of the rest of the swat bar one. She snapped her second neck in less than thirty seconds and moved on.
Three well-trained rebels were all that was left. Stef smiled as she launched herself at them. Two of them she took care of easily enough but the third threw a knife at her.
Unable to react quickly enough it lodged itself in her arm. Taking his chance he jumped at her to finish her off.
Rolling out of the way to avoid him, Stef pulled the knife from her arm, spun and stabbed him in the heart with it. As he fell Stef let of the knife. She looked around at all the carnage, shaking her head she let everything process. A clock on the wall informed her that the whole battle had in fact taken less than two minutes.
"Very impressive," Smith said stepping back into view. He looked down at one of the bodies and rather than stepping over it he ordered the simulation to end and all of it disappeared.
Stef shook her head at him, "I didn't pass."
Smith was confused, "why not?"
Stef brandished her arm. "I was injured."
Smith smiled his own slightly strange smile. "If you survive this level you pass."
"Ok. What else do I have to do?"
"Nothing, your tests are over."
"That was it?" Stef asked incredulously.
"That's it. You may want to get that looked at."
Stef was only now starting to feel the pain; her adrenaline-charged brain was now getting around to process pain. "I thought it wasn't real."
"The blood is real. The wound is real. Real is whatever you perceive to be."
"So you're saying that nothing is real in the Matrix unless my mind lets it be?"
"Exactly. Some of the rebels have learned how to bend the rules of the matrix so that's why we need human recruits."
"But only strong ones."
"That why we have these tests. They thin out the weak," a thin trickle of blood was running down her arm, "Unless you plan on bleeding all over this facility I suggest you get that attended."
"Is there a nurse's office?"
"There is a medical facility. And a morgue."
Stef winced from the dawning pain before smirking. "I'm not ready for the morgue yet."
*****
As the Nebuchadnezzar flew through the sewers of the real world everyone was having a good night's sleep except for Tank who was searching for the recruit they had abandoned by necessity.
Morpheus climbed into his seat and looked blankly at the scrolling code.
"Any luck yet?"
"None. Smith got her then she disappeared. I haven't seen anything."
"There was no choice Tank," Morpheus said tiredly, more trying to convince himself than his Zion-born friend.
"I know Morpheus, I didn't say anything."
"Keep looking Tank."
*****
A medical agent who had the same basic physical appearance tended to Stef's shallow flesh wound. Whereas the other agents had a slight air of danger about them he did not, he was nothing more than a doctor for the human recruits.
As he tied off the bandage he looked up to Smith. "All yours."
Smith nodded curtly. "Follow me," Stef stood and followed him down yet another corridor of the agency.
"I thought you said there weren't anymore tests," Stef said with a slight note of accusation in her voice but with an arm on the mend she wasn't ready to face anymore simulated enemies at the moment.
"This isn't a test," he said as they stopped outside of a door. "Welcome to the place only one in five hundred recruits gets to see." Stef followed him in, not knowing quite what to expect.
She was slightly disappointed. It was only a storeroom. But then again, only one in five hundred got to see it. Maybe it was special.
Hundreds of perfect-condition Agent suits were hung meticulously just awaiting an owner. Rows of guns and ammunition and to her amusement, an entire stand of sunglasses.
"Only one in five hundred? Is that why it smells so dusty?" Smith just looked at her, "Oh right. No dust."
"Only what your mind perceives to be real." He turned from her and selected a female version of the suit. The female suit was almost identical except for a slightly different cut for the pants and jacket. "This will fit you."
She was too busy staring at the guns to hear him. She pulled one down and slammed a clip into it. After the fight simulator it had begun to feel natural. "When do I start?"
"As soon as you change. There is an assignment waiting for you."
"Especially for me?"
"No. It was for whichever recruit made it through or whichever agent finished their current assignment first. Now it's yours."
He motioned to the changing room. She accepted the suit from him and changed. When she stepped back out she was an Agent.
"So what's the mission?"
"Assignment," he corrected gently. "There is a computer oriented college at the edge of the city. We believe the rebels have taken interest in several of the students there. We need to discover which ones and dissuade them from joining the rebellion."
"When do I start?"
"Now." She followed him out of the Agency and they got into a car that appeared from thin air.
"I'm going to have to get used to that." They drove to the college. Stef suppressed a chuckle, she had actually been considering going to this college before all the recent events of her life had come to pass.
Stef watched as numerous students milled around. "It could be anyone of them."
"We need to determine who and stop them from making contact."
"It won't be easy. Look at them, anything that guy." She should have had no trouble remembering such an important and strange name but it had slipped away.
"Morpheus," Smith said helpfully.
Stef nodded, "Morpheus says will draw them in. Freaks, geeks, losers and loners."
"The stereotype of a rebel before they are taken out of the matrix. Several have been recruited from here and similar colleges."
Like a light bulb going on in her brain Stef got an idea. "Do you have a picture of the rebels?"
"This is a computer simulation. You can have whatever you want."
"You didn't teach me that yet."
"Just clearly think the word 'require' then the item you require. It works with everything from photographs to brick walls."
"I remember them." She followed the instruction and in her hand appeared a photo of Morpheus, Neo and Trinity. "Perfect," she said.
"If I may ask, what are you planning on doing?"
"Well with your permission, I have an idea which will make them avoid the rebels at all costs."
"This should be interesting. You have permission." Stef smiled and held out her hand. In it appeared a long black leather jacket.
Smith's expression was clearly asking her for an explanation. "These uniforms might be standard issue but they will avoid me like a virus if I walk in there with it on."
She slipped off her Agent jacket and put her new one. It was a perfect fit. She got out of the car and walked into the college.
She spoke to one of group of students after another. She gave them basically the same story. The rebels were in fact computer police who wanted to charge them under some new law for any and all computer crimes they had ever committed. Stef knew, having committed a few transgressions herself, that most of the students were at least a little guilty. The story spread like wildfire.
*****
"Morpheus," Tank yelled from the main deck. The rebel leader came running in.
"What is it Tank?"
"I found the one that got away."
"Good. Where is she?"
"The college on the edge of town."
Morpheus picked up the intercom mike. He called down to the engine room where Neo and Trinity were fixing the engine, which had been giving out a lot more than usual.
"Neo, Trinity? Come up here quick."
"Ok Morpheus," Neo said.
"Morpheus?"
"Yeah Tank?" Tank didn't say anything, he just pointed.
"Shit." Morpheus cursed under his breath. The corner of the screen Tank was pointing to had the code-scroll of an agent.
"She must have gotten away somehow. They're looking for her." Neo and Trinity appeared and they all uploaded to the Matrix.
There was an entrance relatively close to the college so they were there only minutes after they entered.
*****
Stef went back to Smith. "I must have told everyone in this school about the rebels," she said as she ripped the photo in two.
"Rebels," he spat looking past her. She turned and saw the leather-clad rebels that were here to help her. They were in for a rude shock. An evil plan came to her.
"Point your gun at me," she said as the rebels came closer.
"What?" he asked in total disbelief. If he had been human a thought similar to 'what the hell is she thinking?' would have been running through his head.
"They've obviously come back to rescue me. Pretend you're going to kill me." Complying with the new recruit's plan he drew his gun and aimed it at her head. He frankly was a little surprised that she trusted him enough to have him point his gun at her for a deception when only a matter hours ago he had really been going to kill her.
Though having no more experience than a few high school drama lessons Stef was a good actress when she wanted to be. It may have been because she was a good liar. She took on the appearance of utter and total fear.
Some of the loitering students saw the Agent's gun and began to run and scream in terror. Finally the rebels saw the agent and 'their' missing recruit.
"Help!" Stef screamed pitifully to the rebels - and general public. To Smith she started babbling inanely. "Please, please don't shoot me. Oh god, don't kill me." She took a step back as he advanced. He needed no practice or acting lessons, he had done this hundreds of times before. Except all of those times he had killed the rebel.
Stef tripped on the uneven ground as he took another step toward her. He trained the gun down at her. "Goodbye," he said coldly as he went to pull the trigger. Someone flew over her head and knocked Smith to the ground.
Someone else pulled her to her feet and across the college ground. She looked over her shoulder as she ran to see Neo fighting Smith with Morpheus coming to help him. Trinity was running with her.
Morpheus shot Smith who morphed from one of the college lecturers. He didn't come running back to the fight because he wanted to see how well Stef had thought her plan out.
"Shouldn't we help them?" Stef asked Trinity as innocently as she could. "That guy could kill them. What the hell was he anyway? He didn't seem to be human."
"He was an Agent."
Neo and Morpheus came running up to them and they headed for the nearest first-timers exit. "Where are we going?" Stef asked.
"We are getting you out of the Matrix. It isn't safe for you anymore," Neo answered.
They came to an old and dilapidated building. Inside it was pretty much the same setup she had seen last night except there was a ringing phone.
"I'll go out and tell Tank to be ready," Morpheus said as he picked up the ringing phone. Stef drew her gun and shot at his disappearing, it was too late; the bullets did no damage whatsoever.
Two sets of angry eyes looked at Stef as they realized that they had been tricked. "Traitor," Trinity whispered.
"Agent actually." Stef said as Neo drew his own gun and a firefight ensued. They avoided each other's bullets but once out of ammo the physical blows weren't was easy to avoid.
When Trinity joined the fight Stef was quickly overpowered and fell to the floor. She was hurt but far from dead but she wouldn't be alive much longer if she didn't think clearly.
Require, no vital signs. Stef thought as Neo bent over her fallen form and checked her pulse. As long as she didn't move she would be fine.
"She's dead." He said without care. The exited the Matrix. Stef didn't know this so she lay perfectly still under the guise of death waiting until she knew it was safe to sit up.
Someone else bent down and checked her vital signs. "A waste," she heard Smith say. Smiling, she sat up.
"I'm not dead." Stef said as she stood.
"As it would appear."
"I was going to at least try and kill them at the college but I thought it would be better to find one of these places. It's one less way to take more rebels into the real world."
"Good thinking. We often try and find these places but often they elude us."
"I did good?"
"Yes. It would have been unlikely that you would have able to kill any of them anyway. Mr. Anderson is annoyingly hard to kill."
"And his punches hurt like hell." She sat down on the chair in a position that hurt the least. She could almost feel the bruises forming.
"No other recruits that have encountered him have survived."
"How many successful recruits has the Agency had?"
"We have been recruiting for fifty-four years."
"Oh, ok. How many since Anderson showed up?"
"Twenty-three."
"How many are alive now?"
"Six, including you."
"Shit. Anderson killed how many?"
"Twelve. Morpheus and Trinity have killed six and four respectively."
"I'm glad it isn't thirteen and I don't plan on being his next victim." She peeled off the leather jacket and required it to vanish. She required her Agent jacket from the car and slid it gently over a couple of bruises as she put it back on "What now?"
"Since the college is now longer an issue you will be given a new assignment."
They went back to the Agency and since there weren't any assignments to do he showed her to the recruits' living quarters. Each recruit was given a small but spacious self-contained unit.
Stef changed out of her suit that dusty and bloody thanks to her fight with Neo and put on a new one that was in her wardrobe. She relaxed on the bed and required a drink.
There was a knocking on the door. She got up and opened it. "You're the new recruit?" The guy at the door asked. Though obviously a recruit he wasn't wearing a suit, he was wearing a tracksuit.
"Yeah, I'm Stef Mimosa."
"Curt O'Connor. Are you going to stay in here all day?"
"What else is there to do?"
"You've got to be one of Smith's," Stef nodded. "He never explains anything. Come with me. Oh, you might want to change."
"Into what?"
"Just think require, training suit." Stef followed him and a second later she was also in a tracksuit.
She followed him to the gym. The other five recruits were already practicing their moves. "Well?" Curt asked her.
"Cool," Stef commented. She watched two guys sparring, half the time their moves had them both fighting in midair. Another girl was punching through foot-thick walls while another was dodging bullets.
"What can you do?" He asked her.
"What can YOU do?" She retorted.
"Don't take it as offence. Is there something you're skilled in? Gravity, speed, maneuverability?"
"I've been here less than a day."
"Then let's practice."
They only stopped for a quick dinner before getting back to training. Sometimes they challenged each other but most of the time they worked on their strength, Stef found out that she was good at manipulating gravity.
Through the afternoon and into the night the other recruits explained bits and pieces of information that she didn't know yet. Information about the history of the matrix and the real world.
It was early in the morning before any of them got any sleep. A very annoying alarm went off at exactly seven am and woke them all up. Curt knocked on her door and they walked to the mess hall.
"Which agent recruited you?" Stef said as she ate her breakfast.
"Jones," Curt said after swallowing his Coco Pops. It was great having breakfast there as they could have whatever they wanted. "I was a geek at a computer college. There was a fire and I was trapped. I jumped from a fifth- story window and lived."
The other recruits introduced themselves. Enid, whom had been punching through the walls when Stef had walked into the room waved hi then proceeded to tell Stef her story, it was a tradition when they had a new recruit to relive how they became recruits. "These guys were bothering me; four big muscled guy. Brown found me after I kicked the shit out of them." Stef smiled, someone with Enid's slight frame wasn't the kind of person you expected to be a good fighter.
The two guys who had been sparring had also been recruited by Brown and had been recruited after scaling the sheer wall of a building to escape some cops.
The girl who had been dodging bullets didn't speak as a rule so Enid told Stef her story. Lisa had escaped a school shooting by dodging the bullets. She was quiet but was a very good recruit.
Stef was a little curious, Brown had three recruits, Jones had two but she was Smith's only - living - recruit. "You're wondering where Smith's recruits are aren't you?"
"Sort of but with the amount of people who don't make it through the tests."
"He gets as many through the tests as Jones and Brown but his usually die when they go up against this certain bunch of rebels."
"Anderson's?" Stef asked and Curt nodded. "I fought them yesterday, they aren't that tough."
"You went up against Anderson and you're still alive?"
"I don't die easily," Stef said with a smirk. Behind them someone cleared their throat. Stef turned and saw Smith, drank the rest of the milk then excused herself.
"Morning."
He ignored the greeting as they walked down the corridor. "You showed promise yesterday when you came up with that plan to deal with the rebels. I wonder if you could repeat it."
"What's the deal?"
"We have a rebel downstairs in a cell. All normal ways of extracting information have failed. She is only low in the ranks but if we can learn the location of her ship."
"Ship?"
"The rebels use hovercrafts. They hack into the Matrix from these ships."
"Ok."
"If we can learn the location of her ship then we can take care of some of the rebels."
Stef thought for a minute. If she walked in looking like an agent the rebel would refuse to tell her anything. Stef smiled - she had an idea. "You only want the location of her ship?"
"That would be sufficient though anything we could learn would be good." Stef began a requirement. One minute she was a tidily dressed Agent recruit and the next she was a battered and bleeding rebel wearing a torn and bloodstained set of black clothes.
"Care to explain?"
"The rebel will never tell anything willingly to an Agent but to another rebel they'll sing like a drunk."
"Very well," Smith said. On the way down to the cellblock Stef explained the rest of the plan.
The rebel, a woman named Athena stood and walked to the bars when she heard the door to the cellblock open. She saw what she thought was another rebel being half-dragged, half-led by Smith.
Stef was really getting into the part, she was screaming curses at the Agent and threatening him. Athena allowed herself a smile, the unknown rebel was really brave and apparently fearless, she herself hadn't been brave enough to say anything when she had been captured.
Smith held Stef with one hand while he unlocked the cell door with the other. Athena contemplated escape for perhaps half a second before a dark look from Smith quelled the thoughts.
Stef broke away from Smith and got three steps before he caught her. He roughly threw her into the cell. He drew his gun and seemed to toy with the idea of killing her before he disregarded it and slammed the door shut.
After she heard the cellblock door slam Athena helped Stef to her feet and guided her to the spare bunk. "Are you ok?" Athena asked with genuine concern.
"Sure, I guess." Stef said as she rubbed the back of her head. She'd have to pay him back for that.
"He could have killed you."
"I'm not afraid of him," Stef was able to say honestly but it backed up Athena's fearless theory.
"I'm Athena." Stef introduced her herself as Chips.
"It's short for Microchips." The recruits had told her that the rebels never used their real names for some odd reason. Chips sounded appropriate.
"I guessed that."
"So let me guess," Stef started. "You didn't answer their questions either?"
"No, I'd never tell them anything."
"Good. We can't let them win."
"I just hope I can get out of here before they pull the plug on me."
Rebels killed each other? "Would they do that?"
"Of course. The war is more important than anyone of us."
"True. Where's you ship?" Stef said causally.
"Why do you want to know that?" Athena retorted suspiciously.
"I'm just making conversation, I need to think about something besides the pain in my head."
"Mine's below the 347 pods. Where's yours?"
Stef quickly racked her brains, "Within the fields of children." She hoped it would work, she heard Curt say that name last night.
"That's dangerous, you must have a great pilot."
"He's the best. Did you tell them anything?"
"I would never tell those damn machines anything."
"Well, they aren't around now. Tell me what they wanted to know and I can help you to make up lies to tell them instead."
"Will that work?"
"It can't hurt to try."
Athena spilled all her secrets to Stef who helped her make up lies to tell her. She recorded everything Athena said into a small note-taker that she had required without the rebel seeing.
They talked for about half an hour before Athena's head violently jerked and she fell down like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Stef had her suit back on by the time Smith opened the door. "They found her ship," he said as Stef stepped over the body.
"Sorry I couldn't get any good information out of here but here's what I did get," she said handing him the note-taker. "Some more rebels dead at least."
"You are proving to be a worthwhile recruit."
"Maybe if you didn't sick all of yours onto Anderson and his buddies then you would find that we are worthwhile."
Stef could have kicked herself. Her mouth worked before her brain sometimes. Before he could say anything she apologized in a much more respectful tone. "Sorry sir, that was out of line."
Since there was nothing else for her to do she went to the gym. Oddly it was empty, all the other recruits were somewhere else. Last night she had found the balance beam to be very fun when you could manipulate gravity. She required her tracksuit and started to practice.
She leapt fifteen feet above the balance beam, flipped once and landed at the other end. She jumped again, and dove through a required hoop. There was no harm in having a few tricks up her sleeve. As she practiced Stef found it was very calming.
It was calming until the balance beam disappeared.
The second to react she had was enough; she adjusted her position so she would land in a crouch so she wouldn't be injured. The second after she landed she drew her gun and looked around for danger.
She rose to feet and saw Curt standing near her. "What are you doing? I'm trying to practice."
He took a step toward her; "you aren't going to practice anymore."
"What are you talking about Curt?"
"The Agency's new golden girl, Stef Mimosa, the best recruit they've had in years."
"Are you jealous or something?"
"Small-minded or not you are going to be very helpful to the rebels."
"What are you talking about?"
"Are you shallow and stupid? I'm a rebel."
"Your loyalties were tested. You passed," Stef said slowly.
"Killing a simulation? What that actually supposed to be a test?"
Curt drew his gun and faster than a human eye would be able to follow they shot at each other. They fired until they had their guns at each other. Stef looked at Curt's gun.
"You're empty."
"So are you," he began to say but she pulled her trigger one last time. She yawned as his body fell to the floor. She touched her earpiece and summoned Smith.
"Jones will be pissed," she said as he appeared in the gym. He looked at her for an explanation.
"He was a rebel. A well trained deceiver but a rebel nonetheless."
"This is not good. If one of them could infiltrate to this level." he trailed off and looked at Stef with a hint of accusation.
"Me? Who killed him?"
"You might be the rebel and he was about to expose your secret."
"I've been here two days. In those two days I've found a rebel ship and lived through a fight with your Mr. Anderson."
"Yes, the latter is most unusual."
"I am not a rebel."
"How am I to be sure?"
"Trust me."
"Agents don't trust Miss Mimosa."
Stef pointed up behind his head. "There's a security camera up there."
Require, security tape. Require, TV. Require, VCR. The items appeared. Smith pushed the tape into the VCR and watched it.
Require, chair. Stef thought. She sat in it as soon as it appeared. She was feeling really weak and tired. Smith was oblivious; he was reviewing the security tape in case there was anything he may missed.
"Fine, he was the rebel. But we will have to screen the new recruits closer from now on."
He turned to compliment her the progression of her skills in the last couple of days but saw her sitting. "Were you injured?"
"I don't think so but I really feel sick." Stef would have sworn she heard him groan. She could guess what he was thinking. It would be something along the line of 'a great recruit but now she's sick.' She didn't blame him, she hated being sick.
"Do you want to go to the medical bay?"
"I think that would be a good idea."
The gym disappeared and they were standing in the medical bay. "I'm going to get used to that," Stef said to herself.
Smith left and the doctor examined her and ran a few standard tests. She stayed around for the results. He sat down at his computer and started to look at a few files.
Stef required a glass of water and sat cross-legged on the bed.
"Aha," he finally muttered.
"Well, what's wrong with me?" She asked as she slid off the bed and went over to him.
"There is nothing 'medically' wrong with you," Stef could tell he was using the word loosely, "nor is it a code error. Your real world body is dying."
"What?"
He pointed to the screen so she could read the cold, hard facts for herself. "You came from a bad crop."
"Bad crop?"
"If it makes you feel better it may be a comfort to know that around a thousand other humans have the same problem. None of them have any idea that they could fall down dead at anytime."
"Wonderful. Thanks," Stef said dryly. The doctor shrugged and went back to his computer. Stef left the medical bay and went back to her room.
Stef was shaking in anger. First the first time in her life she had found something she was good at and now she was going to die. She slammed her door shut and punched the wall in anger.
She had forgotten how strong she was; the punch went straight through the wall. She kept punching and kicking at her room until it was nothing more than small pieces of debris around her ankles.
Smith was mildly surprised at the state of the room. He would have knocked before entering but there was nothing for him to rap his knuckles against. "Bad news I assume."
"Yeah I'll say. I'm dying. My real world body came from a bad crop according to the doctor."
"They do happen."
Stef sat down on her dusty bed. "This sucks, I finally find something that I'm good at and now I'm going to die."
"I could make it painless if you want." Stef looked up at him, no matter how strange the offer was he intended it to be kind.
"Are you offering to kill me?"
"Yes."
She shrugged, "I might accept but there is something I want to do first. If I'm going to die I want to go out in a blaze of glory."
"Meaning what?"
"You said I was the only recruit to ever go up against Anderson and survive. I feel lucky."
"You have a plan?"
"Yes, a simple one. I'm going to kill him."
"You will find it harder than you think."
"I have nothing to lose."
"Very well," was his reply. She stood and shook the dust from herself.
"I just have to think of a plan now." Require, new room she thought. A new room with repaired walls appeared. She paced a little, trying to think of a plan.
"Have you thought of one yet?" The impatient Agent asked her.
"No, why?" Couldn't he give her a few minutes to think?
"On other occasions it hasn't taken you more than thirty-two seconds to come up with a viable idea."
She decided to take that as a compliment. She smiled. "Smith?"
"Yes Miss Mimosa?"
"I have an idea."
"Would you care to share the details?"
"There are a couple of things I need to know first."
"Such as?"
"How do I communicate with the real world from within the Matrix?"
"Use either a public phone or cell phone and require outside access."
"That seems simple enough. How long till I die?"
"Deaths caused by bad crops are never predictable. Why?"
"I was wondering if I should bog you down with the details or just start the plan. If I tell you the details and die first at least some other recruit can carry it out." Her voice had unintentionally bitter.
Damn the real world, Stef thought. Smith sat down beside her and held out his right hand, a second later a steaming white mug appeared in it.
"What's that?" She asked curiously. As far as she knew Agents didn't eat or drink.
"It's warm milk. Psychological studies of humans have determined that it."
Oh! It was for her. "It's not real," she said swiping it from his hand. "But thanks." Real or not, it did help.
"Details?" he inquired as she drank her milk.
She stopped drinking and wiped the milk mustache off. "I'm going to make myself a rebel - just as an act. I will tell them that the evil Agents are messing with my mind making me go against my own people. That at least should at least get their attention. I'll request that Anderson come in himself and take me out of the Matrix. While he's in here you should be able to trace his ship and if I don't kill him you can destroy his ship."
"When do you want to get started?" He queried.
"When I finish my milk." She drained the last drop and required the glass to disappear.
"Ready?"
"I just have to practice one thing first." She stood and straightened her jacket. She required a leather jacket to replace it but rather than it appear instantaneously as clothes requirements did. She required that it flicker for a few seconds to make it seem more like a glitch or some kind of static.
She practiced it a few more times. "Ok, got the hang of that."
"Why did you need to practice that?"
"All part of the deception. Trust me Smith."
"Agents don't."
"Trust me Smith," she repeated. "I'm going to kill Anderson if it kills me."
*****
"Human agents? Why?" Neo demanded of Morpheus.
"We've known about them, you've fought them you just didn't realize it. They were the agents that didn't revert to the humans they had stolen. About fifty years ago they finally figured out what we had already known. Only the human mind can bend or break the rules of the Matrix. Usually they go after people who show talent or awareness of the Matrix."
"Then why her?"
"She was there. Smith had the opportunity to grab a prisoner and he took it."
"She shouldn't have sold out the human race," Neo spat. "If I had of known she wasn't dead I would have finished the job."
"We left her for dead," Trinity said quietly. "What would you think of humans after that?"
"We had no choice Trin," Neo said defending Morpheus' actions.
"Guys?" Tank's voice rose over the debate from his chair. "Someone here wants to talk to you."
"Who?" Morpheus asked, he wasn't expecting any calls from Zion.
Tank flipped a switch so a voice came over the speakers. "Morpheus? Neo? Trinity? Can anyone hear me?"
"What do you want?" Morpheus said.
"Help if you'll give it to me."
"Go ask Smith," Neo spat at her.
"I don't think so. If he knew I was making this call, he would try and kill me. Again." Stef said flatly.
"What do you want Stephanie?"
"They did something to me. I don't know what I'm doing half the time. I think they're trying to turn me into one of them."
"How do we know you aren't a traitor? This could be another trick."
"I would never sell out the human race," Stef said convincingly. "And I would not try and trick its only hope of escaping this prison."
"Well, what can we do?" Morpheus asked, trying to take hold of the situation.
"Get me out of here and I will tell you everything I know. I can remember some of what they've put into my head."
"She is lying Morpheus," Neo said, he didn't want to trust her as far as he could throw a skyscraper in the real world.
Anticipating the comment, Stef shook herself and allowed her Agent uniform to appear and disappear, like she was living static.
The rebels watched the screen as Stef's code scroll shifted strangely. "Stef?" Trinity asked, genuinely concerned for her.
Stef heard the voice through the receiver she had dropped. She allowed the leather jacket to return as she picked the phone back up. "Did you see that?"
"Yes," Morpheus answered evenly. "What happened?"
"It's happened a couple of times that. I told you I think they're trying to turn me into an Agent. Please help me."
"It could all be an act." Neo said coldly.
"I swear on my life this is not an act. If you don't help me my life could be a matter of hours - or minutes. It depends on how long it takes them to find me."
"I'll go through Morpheus." Neo said. "If I even suspect that's she's a traitor, I'll kill her. This time I'll make sure that she's dead." Neo knew perfectly well Stef could hear every word he said.
"Well.what if what happened a minute ago happens again."
"If you become a danger I'll kill you."
"I understand."
"There's a phone box on Fourth and Orion. Be there in ten minutes."
"All right."
Stef made her way to the phone box. It stank because she couldn't require anything for the pain, as she knew the rebels would be watching her. She made it there in seven minutes but Neo was already waiting.
Neo was dressed in his trademark all black. He shook his head at her as she approached. "If you even think of doing anything." he let the threat hang.
"I won't. I promise."
She followed him to yet another exit for first-timers. The pain was getting worse.
~ ~ A thousand other humans have the same problem. None of them have any idea that they could fall down dead at anytime.
Damn that doctor, she would have felt a little better if he hadn't been so calm when he was saying those words.
Anytime. She knew her time was going to be soon. Very soon judging by the amount of pain. Keeping up the 'evil Agents' act, she allowed her suit to show a couple more times before 'gaining control.'
Neo's dark look that he had been wearing since she saw first saw him turned even darker. She inhaled sharply as she felt her real world body approaching breakdown.
"Take your jacket off. Sit in that chair," Neo said gesturing to a very old and strange-looking chair. She obliged as he busied himself at the computer. With his back turned there was no way he could see her draw her gun.
She fired but faster than she thought even he could react he dodged the bullet. She fired again and again as he drew his own gun.
Being of comparable abilities, they ducked each other's shots until Stef's guts wrenched in pain. Her real world body was taking a turn for the worst. The pain made her lose focus and her speed slowed. Neo shot her.
Her guts hurt again, but this was from the hot lead slug that had pierced her middle. She fell to the floor in pain. She lay perfectly still.
Neo was not falling for the same trick twice. He fired again but his gun clicked, it was empty.
Stef slowly clenched her gun. She had one shot left. It would be him or her. One of them wouldn't be alive in a few seconds.
Neo leant down to snap her neck. Agent, human or whatever she was it was unlikely that she would survive that.
As he leant in close Stef opened her eyes and swung her arm around. Neo hadn't had time to react from the sudden move when she started to pull the trigger. Before she could finish, her world swirled around her.
Blinking in the harsh light she found herself in the medical bay. "Why the hell did you do that?" She screamed at Smith. "I was about to kill him!"
"You're empty. It would have been a waste of a recruit."
"I'm not empty," she said, intending to prove her point by shooting him instead. She leveled her weapon and pulled the trigger. Click. She was empty. "Empty?" she whispered.
"As I said."
"I thought I had."
"But you didn't."
"I thought I had one more round left. I was so close."
Smith went to say something but she started to shake. She felt like she was being eaten from the inside out. She doubled over in pain.
"Real world body failure," the doctor said without care.
She looked up at Smith. "Painless," she pleaded as her body went to hell. Smith drew his gun and fired. As soon as the bullet pierced her skull her pain stopped. Everything stopped and went black.
"Morgue," Smith stated simply before turning and walking out of the medical bay.
One week later.
Smith, Jones and Brown were waiting in a large office to meet the new Agent. Since new Agents were a rarity they were expected to meet them. The mainframe required it.
The door to the office opened and a woman walked through. Brown was displeased for several reasons. Among them was the fact that male Agents were better in combat.
Jones was indifferent. An agent was an Agent, unless of course that Agent was Smith.
Smith stepped forward to greet the new Agent. "Agent Smith," she said with the slightest hint of a smile.
'Welcome Agent Mimosa.'
The End.