PSX
By Archangel
Chapter One: Plug it In
"Hey. Wake up." He didn't stir. "I said wake up." A slight groan, but he still didn't move. The officer rolled his eyes and finally kicked him under the ribs, just in the right spot to knock the wind out of him, as well as wake him up.
"Hurk!!" The boy exclaimed with no air in his lungs.
"Shh." The officer responded. "You mustn't wake the others."
The boy slowly, but surely started breathing again.
"What..." He panted quietly. "What's going on?"
"Get up. You're leaving."
He rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"
"Four in the morning."
"What?!" He exclaimed in a stage whisper.
"Come with us and say no more." With that, they left.
The boy lay face-up in his bed for a moment, a simple mat on the floor. Everyone else around him also slept that way. He was one of them: an orphan. He could barely remember the parents he thought he'd known. They weren't real. They were probably still stuck in the Matrix somewhere.
Oh, well. Things like that didn't bother him anymore. He'd gotten over that long ago.
The boy sat up and yawned. Why up so early? But orders were orders. He put on the clothes he'd laid out for himself, and buckled up his boots. Then, he picked up a strange sort of necklace and put it around his neck, then walked out. The one thing he missed about his life in the Matrix was the sun. He only saw machinery now. But that was life. He rubbed his eyes and tried to fix his dirty blonde hair.
He looked around and saw the men walking. His legs were weak from being asleep, but he ran to catch them anyway.
"So," he said when he caught up to them, "what do I have to wake up so early for?"
"Punctuality reasons." One man said.
"Punctuality reason?" The boy repeated. "Am I going to be late for a date or something?"
"Hardly." The other man responded. "The ship will be ready to leave in a few minutes and you have to be on it when it leaves."
"Ship?"
"That's right."
"But...I'm not scheduled to practice today."
"We know."
"Then..."
"All your questions will be answered when you arrive." The first man stopped him. "Just concentrate on getting to dock five in time."
The boy raised a brow. What was the deal?
It was only a minute or two before they found the dock. The ship was just getting a few things packed into it. It was rather difficult to tell any two ships apart unless you knew what to look for.
"The Genesis." The boy said. It wasn't the most highly regarded ship in the fleet, but it was a grand vessel, nevertheless. The boy stood outside it at the base of the ramp, staring up at it. A thin man with stepped past him with a crate in his hands.
"Well?" he asked. "You getting on or not?"
The boy snapped out of his trance.
"Uh, sure, yeah." He walked up the ramp and inside.
There weren't a whole bunch of people inside, just the standard ship crew. Everyone who went by, though, looked at him, eyeing the newcomer. He just waved sheepishly.
"You must be the new guy."
The boy turned around. "C-Captain Riley?"
The captain nodded. He was a big man with very short black hair. He looked down at the newbie with solid eyes that could hold no fear. Despite his intimidating appearance, he extended his hand.
"Welcome aboard the Genesis."
"Th-thank you, sir, but...why am I here? It's supposed to be my day off."
"Captain," the thin man said, stepping in. "We're about ready to go."
"Alright." He turned back to the boy. "I'll explain everything later. For now, just go though that door over there and converse with the others." With that, he left.
"Go?" the boy asked to no one. What was going on? He sighed and went through the door he'd been instructed to enter.
Inside, there was only one other person: a boy, 18 years old, like he was. He was tall with a head of blonde hair halfway down his neck. He looked rather tough from his strong build.
"Hi."
"Hey." The new boy responded.
"Do you know what's going on?"
"No, not really." The tough guy extended his hand. "Call me Pyro."
The boy shook Pyro's hand. "X."
"What?"
"That's my name: X."
"X? Kind of a funny alias, don't you think?"
"Memorable, right?"
"True." Pyro nodded.
"So do I want to know why they call you Pyro?"
"I like to blow things up."
"Ah."
Just then, the ship hummed and came to life.
"Are we taking off?" X asked.
"I think so." Pyro answered.
X sighed. "I thought I had a day off."
"Mm." They felt the vibrations as the ship lifted away from the dock and hovered away. "So..." Pyro started. "Any reason they call you X?"
He shrugged. "They just couldn't think of any alias for me, so they just called me X because I had no name. It stuck."
"Mm. Cool." A minute later, the door opened and the captain walked in, along with the thin man.
"So, I see you guys have gotten somewhat acquainted." The captain said, sitting down. "Good."
"Captain." X began, "Why are we here? I don't know about Pyro, but I wasn't scheduled for any training."
"I know. This isn't training."
Pyro and X looked at each other.
"This is the real thing, gentlemen. Welcome aboard."
"Hold on." X said. "Back up. What do you mean 'this is the real thing'?! You're just gonna pick us up, put us on a ship, and tell us we have a job now?"
The captain thought about that, then nodded. "That's right."
"Interesting." Pyro said, unfazed.
X looked at him. "You're not surprised?"
"A little, but it's a good kind of surprise, you know?"
X thought about it. "Well, I guess, but...what about all our stuff?"
"Packed and in your quarters." The captain answered. "Any other questions?"
"Yeah. Why did we have no previous notice of this?"
"We didn't want any complications."
"Ah. So...why us?"
"We needed new recruits after that incident we had, you probably know about it."
"Yeah." Pyro said. "Some crazy program went psycho on all your men."
"That's it."
"How inviting." X muttered.
"We looked through the profiles and watched the actions of many people. It wasn't long before we decided on you three."
"Three?" Pyro asked.
"Ah, you haven't met Shadow yet?" The captain noted.
"Who's Shadow?" X asked.
"I guess it's understandable."
"Where is he?"
"Behind you."
Pyro and X turned around and saw nothing but the wall in the back. Then, two eyes opened up.
"WHOA!!" X exclaimed. Someone walked away from his hiding spot with a smile.
"I was wondering when someone would find me." Shadow said.
Pyro pointed at him. "That was cool."
Apparently, Shadow had camouflaged himself by a mixture of paint and clothing to blend in with the walls.
"Dude." X said, amazed. "How did you do that?!"
"Shadow is very talented in the ways of stealth." Captain Riley informed. "That's the main reason why we hired him. He'd be a perfect spy."
Shadow sat down and threw his arms up. "What can I say?" Shadow was about as tall as X was with light brown hair almost to his shoulders. Parts of his hair covered his cerulean eyes.
"As for Pyro," the captain continued, "He's an excellent fighter; greater than most men I've ever seen. That and he could take down and airport with a pistol."
Pyro smiled. "Maybe two pistols..."
Everyone chuckled.
"Alright." X said, "But what about me? I need an atom bomb to take down an airport. And I'm really no good at stealth. Why hire me?"
"Your technological intellect."
X couldn't argue with that one. He did know any computer, inside and out. "So let me guess. I'm the Operator?"
The thin man who had come in with the captain shorted. "Fat chance, kiddo. That's my job. Call me Hero."
"Hero?" Shadow asked.
"You'll call me that when I get you an exit in a tight spot."
"So then..." X wondered.
"You're going in with Pyro and Shadow." The captain said.
"Why?"
"You're a hacker."
X jumped. "How do you know that?!"
"We've been watching you. We want to use your creative skills."
X took a breath. "You do?"
"Of course."
He couldn't believe it.
"Your technological expertise could prove useful. You know all about viruses; you can identify them rather quickly, or at least their effects."
"Sort of. I mean, I'm not perfect."
"But you're eighteen and you know more about this kind of stuff than most ship operators."
"How can I help if I'm in the Matrix, though?"
"The Matrix is one giant computer, you know. You can do a lot with it, I'm certain. Besides, our enemies these days are programs, you know."
X did know. The truce had been settled nearly two years ago, when Neo confronted the Machine King. A little while afterwards, the machines sent representatives so sort out everything. The machines let the humans live, but they couldn't release those in the Matrix just yet. If they did, they'd perish. The machines could only let the humans go if they had another energy source. Originally, the machines' energy came from the sun, but, of course, the black sky now prevented that.
The sky could quite possibly be cleared, but the machines could not do it themselves; the energy fields were too great for them to endure. It was like flying into a giant EMP field that never turned off. The humans agreed to help. If they cleared the sky, the machines would release the humans.
And so, the truce was complete...they thought. Apparently, AIs had become too intelligent. Some rebelled, refusing to unite with humans. Rogue programs began attacking the Matrix, created by the truce-breakers. The truce-keeping machines could not delete them. Since they were created from machines, machine viruses were useless. The humans began sending men in to fight the programs. The truce-keeping machines helped out with their own programs-if they could.
But the programs were hard to find, and harder to kill. The leader of the rebel machines was the one that created the most hideous program known: The Merovingian; the French nuisance that no one seemed able to stop. His empire was incredibly strong now; almost impenetrable.
Finally, the last crew of the Genesis got in, with the help of the Merovingian's wife, Persephone. It wasn't the first time she'd helped humans, of course. The crew defeated a good number of programs and almost succeeded in deleting the Merovingian himself.
Then, disaster struck. No one knew what it was or where it came from. A crazed program, incredibly powerful, attacked the crew. Captain Riley was the only one to escape, and he was in intensive care for a while. The stories he told brought chills up and down anyone's spines.
The monster had a name: Abyss. According to the operator, Hero, the program seemed to come out of nowhere and disappear once its business was done. But according to Riley, the story was deeper. Abyss slaughtered his men and took no damage. Riley barely escaped with his life.
When he was back on his feet in the real world, the doctors advised him not to go into the Matrix. Now, back on his ship, he was looking for new recruits. He'd found them.
"So," the captain continued, "Your viral knowledge may prove useful."
X thought about it. "I can probably upload a bunch of stuff when I plug into the Matrix."
"That's the spirit. Well, each of you has your own abilities, your own strong and weak points, but I think that together, you three can do a lot."
Pyro, Shadow, and X looked at each other and smiles slowly spread across their faces.
"Okay, gentlemen." Riley said. "Let's get to work."
Author's Note: Alright, chapter one done. Kinda dull, I know, but things will get more interesting, trust me. This story is somewhat based on Matrix Online. I know it isn't out yet, but I'm using what I have. Well, what did you all think so far? Please review. It's good to be back.
By Archangel
Chapter One: Plug it In
"Hey. Wake up." He didn't stir. "I said wake up." A slight groan, but he still didn't move. The officer rolled his eyes and finally kicked him under the ribs, just in the right spot to knock the wind out of him, as well as wake him up.
"Hurk!!" The boy exclaimed with no air in his lungs.
"Shh." The officer responded. "You mustn't wake the others."
The boy slowly, but surely started breathing again.
"What..." He panted quietly. "What's going on?"
"Get up. You're leaving."
He rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"
"Four in the morning."
"What?!" He exclaimed in a stage whisper.
"Come with us and say no more." With that, they left.
The boy lay face-up in his bed for a moment, a simple mat on the floor. Everyone else around him also slept that way. He was one of them: an orphan. He could barely remember the parents he thought he'd known. They weren't real. They were probably still stuck in the Matrix somewhere.
Oh, well. Things like that didn't bother him anymore. He'd gotten over that long ago.
The boy sat up and yawned. Why up so early? But orders were orders. He put on the clothes he'd laid out for himself, and buckled up his boots. Then, he picked up a strange sort of necklace and put it around his neck, then walked out. The one thing he missed about his life in the Matrix was the sun. He only saw machinery now. But that was life. He rubbed his eyes and tried to fix his dirty blonde hair.
He looked around and saw the men walking. His legs were weak from being asleep, but he ran to catch them anyway.
"So," he said when he caught up to them, "what do I have to wake up so early for?"
"Punctuality reasons." One man said.
"Punctuality reason?" The boy repeated. "Am I going to be late for a date or something?"
"Hardly." The other man responded. "The ship will be ready to leave in a few minutes and you have to be on it when it leaves."
"Ship?"
"That's right."
"But...I'm not scheduled to practice today."
"We know."
"Then..."
"All your questions will be answered when you arrive." The first man stopped him. "Just concentrate on getting to dock five in time."
The boy raised a brow. What was the deal?
It was only a minute or two before they found the dock. The ship was just getting a few things packed into it. It was rather difficult to tell any two ships apart unless you knew what to look for.
"The Genesis." The boy said. It wasn't the most highly regarded ship in the fleet, but it was a grand vessel, nevertheless. The boy stood outside it at the base of the ramp, staring up at it. A thin man with stepped past him with a crate in his hands.
"Well?" he asked. "You getting on or not?"
The boy snapped out of his trance.
"Uh, sure, yeah." He walked up the ramp and inside.
There weren't a whole bunch of people inside, just the standard ship crew. Everyone who went by, though, looked at him, eyeing the newcomer. He just waved sheepishly.
"You must be the new guy."
The boy turned around. "C-Captain Riley?"
The captain nodded. He was a big man with very short black hair. He looked down at the newbie with solid eyes that could hold no fear. Despite his intimidating appearance, he extended his hand.
"Welcome aboard the Genesis."
"Th-thank you, sir, but...why am I here? It's supposed to be my day off."
"Captain," the thin man said, stepping in. "We're about ready to go."
"Alright." He turned back to the boy. "I'll explain everything later. For now, just go though that door over there and converse with the others." With that, he left.
"Go?" the boy asked to no one. What was going on? He sighed and went through the door he'd been instructed to enter.
Inside, there was only one other person: a boy, 18 years old, like he was. He was tall with a head of blonde hair halfway down his neck. He looked rather tough from his strong build.
"Hi."
"Hey." The new boy responded.
"Do you know what's going on?"
"No, not really." The tough guy extended his hand. "Call me Pyro."
The boy shook Pyro's hand. "X."
"What?"
"That's my name: X."
"X? Kind of a funny alias, don't you think?"
"Memorable, right?"
"True." Pyro nodded.
"So do I want to know why they call you Pyro?"
"I like to blow things up."
"Ah."
Just then, the ship hummed and came to life.
"Are we taking off?" X asked.
"I think so." Pyro answered.
X sighed. "I thought I had a day off."
"Mm." They felt the vibrations as the ship lifted away from the dock and hovered away. "So..." Pyro started. "Any reason they call you X?"
He shrugged. "They just couldn't think of any alias for me, so they just called me X because I had no name. It stuck."
"Mm. Cool." A minute later, the door opened and the captain walked in, along with the thin man.
"So, I see you guys have gotten somewhat acquainted." The captain said, sitting down. "Good."
"Captain." X began, "Why are we here? I don't know about Pyro, but I wasn't scheduled for any training."
"I know. This isn't training."
Pyro and X looked at each other.
"This is the real thing, gentlemen. Welcome aboard."
"Hold on." X said. "Back up. What do you mean 'this is the real thing'?! You're just gonna pick us up, put us on a ship, and tell us we have a job now?"
The captain thought about that, then nodded. "That's right."
"Interesting." Pyro said, unfazed.
X looked at him. "You're not surprised?"
"A little, but it's a good kind of surprise, you know?"
X thought about it. "Well, I guess, but...what about all our stuff?"
"Packed and in your quarters." The captain answered. "Any other questions?"
"Yeah. Why did we have no previous notice of this?"
"We didn't want any complications."
"Ah. So...why us?"
"We needed new recruits after that incident we had, you probably know about it."
"Yeah." Pyro said. "Some crazy program went psycho on all your men."
"That's it."
"How inviting." X muttered.
"We looked through the profiles and watched the actions of many people. It wasn't long before we decided on you three."
"Three?" Pyro asked.
"Ah, you haven't met Shadow yet?" The captain noted.
"Who's Shadow?" X asked.
"I guess it's understandable."
"Where is he?"
"Behind you."
Pyro and X turned around and saw nothing but the wall in the back. Then, two eyes opened up.
"WHOA!!" X exclaimed. Someone walked away from his hiding spot with a smile.
"I was wondering when someone would find me." Shadow said.
Pyro pointed at him. "That was cool."
Apparently, Shadow had camouflaged himself by a mixture of paint and clothing to blend in with the walls.
"Dude." X said, amazed. "How did you do that?!"
"Shadow is very talented in the ways of stealth." Captain Riley informed. "That's the main reason why we hired him. He'd be a perfect spy."
Shadow sat down and threw his arms up. "What can I say?" Shadow was about as tall as X was with light brown hair almost to his shoulders. Parts of his hair covered his cerulean eyes.
"As for Pyro," the captain continued, "He's an excellent fighter; greater than most men I've ever seen. That and he could take down and airport with a pistol."
Pyro smiled. "Maybe two pistols..."
Everyone chuckled.
"Alright." X said, "But what about me? I need an atom bomb to take down an airport. And I'm really no good at stealth. Why hire me?"
"Your technological intellect."
X couldn't argue with that one. He did know any computer, inside and out. "So let me guess. I'm the Operator?"
The thin man who had come in with the captain shorted. "Fat chance, kiddo. That's my job. Call me Hero."
"Hero?" Shadow asked.
"You'll call me that when I get you an exit in a tight spot."
"So then..." X wondered.
"You're going in with Pyro and Shadow." The captain said.
"Why?"
"You're a hacker."
X jumped. "How do you know that?!"
"We've been watching you. We want to use your creative skills."
X took a breath. "You do?"
"Of course."
He couldn't believe it.
"Your technological expertise could prove useful. You know all about viruses; you can identify them rather quickly, or at least their effects."
"Sort of. I mean, I'm not perfect."
"But you're eighteen and you know more about this kind of stuff than most ship operators."
"How can I help if I'm in the Matrix, though?"
"The Matrix is one giant computer, you know. You can do a lot with it, I'm certain. Besides, our enemies these days are programs, you know."
X did know. The truce had been settled nearly two years ago, when Neo confronted the Machine King. A little while afterwards, the machines sent representatives so sort out everything. The machines let the humans live, but they couldn't release those in the Matrix just yet. If they did, they'd perish. The machines could only let the humans go if they had another energy source. Originally, the machines' energy came from the sun, but, of course, the black sky now prevented that.
The sky could quite possibly be cleared, but the machines could not do it themselves; the energy fields were too great for them to endure. It was like flying into a giant EMP field that never turned off. The humans agreed to help. If they cleared the sky, the machines would release the humans.
And so, the truce was complete...they thought. Apparently, AIs had become too intelligent. Some rebelled, refusing to unite with humans. Rogue programs began attacking the Matrix, created by the truce-breakers. The truce-keeping machines could not delete them. Since they were created from machines, machine viruses were useless. The humans began sending men in to fight the programs. The truce-keeping machines helped out with their own programs-if they could.
But the programs were hard to find, and harder to kill. The leader of the rebel machines was the one that created the most hideous program known: The Merovingian; the French nuisance that no one seemed able to stop. His empire was incredibly strong now; almost impenetrable.
Finally, the last crew of the Genesis got in, with the help of the Merovingian's wife, Persephone. It wasn't the first time she'd helped humans, of course. The crew defeated a good number of programs and almost succeeded in deleting the Merovingian himself.
Then, disaster struck. No one knew what it was or where it came from. A crazed program, incredibly powerful, attacked the crew. Captain Riley was the only one to escape, and he was in intensive care for a while. The stories he told brought chills up and down anyone's spines.
The monster had a name: Abyss. According to the operator, Hero, the program seemed to come out of nowhere and disappear once its business was done. But according to Riley, the story was deeper. Abyss slaughtered his men and took no damage. Riley barely escaped with his life.
When he was back on his feet in the real world, the doctors advised him not to go into the Matrix. Now, back on his ship, he was looking for new recruits. He'd found them.
"So," the captain continued, "Your viral knowledge may prove useful."
X thought about it. "I can probably upload a bunch of stuff when I plug into the Matrix."
"That's the spirit. Well, each of you has your own abilities, your own strong and weak points, but I think that together, you three can do a lot."
Pyro, Shadow, and X looked at each other and smiles slowly spread across their faces.
"Okay, gentlemen." Riley said. "Let's get to work."
Author's Note: Alright, chapter one done. Kinda dull, I know, but things will get more interesting, trust me. This story is somewhat based on Matrix Online. I know it isn't out yet, but I'm using what I have. Well, what did you all think so far? Please review. It's good to be back.