Prologue
War never dies
It's my descent, a familiar pain
Of watching all I believed fade away
Of traitors and fools
Of beggars and thieves
Which mask will you choose?
What is underneath?
I never wanted you to see
The darkest part of me
I knew you'd run away
I waited but you never came
The music blasted hard in Reaper's ears as his cold steel blue eye's looked at the green code make its way down the screen in front of him. The room he currently sat in was part of the Matrix's finest slums, it was at one time an two room apartment that could have been a nice place to live. Time however was not kind, even in a world controlled by machines, now it was just a shabby room, the walls busted through revealing the old wood beneath, old floral wallpaper hanging everywhere. The illusion was brought together by the bricked up window in the corner and an old torn rug that lay underneath the old metal card table in which supported the laptop Reaper was typing on. All in all some would find it a disgusting, rat infested pest hole, but ones pest hole was another persons perfect spot to hack without drawing too much attention. Reaper blew a puff of smoke from his mouth and nostrils as he dragged on a cigarette, his fingers worked the keyboard like a fine masseuse, his eye's darted back and forth.
To the untrained eye the screen was just a scrabble of numerical based script you would find behind a program, but it was more then that, in fact it was like a watching a security feed but ten times better and more effective. What it told him was that the building he was in was still empty and void of life, which at this crucial point was extraordinary. Ever since the war had started again between Zion and the machine world, it had grown increasingly harder to find secure locations to work from within the network. For years they had secretly rebuilt their way in the Matrix, rebuilt their armies just in case a day ever came when the fragile piece broke, new programs were implemented to improve hackers whom entered the Matrix. They had increased their technological abilities ten fold, but as the saying goes great minds think alike, it was never thought that the machines would do the same exact thing.
Everything in the Matrix was different now from when the war ended fifty years ago, everything was upgraded and that included the sentinel programs that protected the system. After the incident with Neo, unknown to either side, both had begun to manipulate the Matrix code, to make it work better for themselves. The machines has implemented a system into the Sentinels which allowed them to bend and break the rules of the Matrix world very much like Neo did, they were stronger, faster, smarter, and fifty times more lethal then they ever were before. But the humans had done the exact same thing, hackers were retrained in a new way, a way that too was inspired by Neo, to be able to break those same rules, the unfortunate truth was though that the machines had a better advantage and most of the hackers who undertook the training were unable to complete it. There were very few who understood how Neo could do the things he did, and the ones who did knew of the code within him that gave him his abilities realized it was too complex to duplicate fully. So most who took the training lost their minds from the mental strain. In the end only specialized nuero patterns that could handle the mental strain were capable of completing the training and that was very few.
It was these few who became Elite Hackers, a small group of men and woman capable of manipulating the code from within the Matrix itself. But even then that was not enough, the machines had advanced too far ahead, and they had the advantage which lead to many deaths but also lead to technological advancement from the human side. There were not enough Elite Hackers to take on the sentinels within the Matrix so if they could not make more Elite Hackers then they would make a way for others to combat the sentinels and live, and this came in the form of device attached to the wrist. The device was in basic terms a virus within the system that was capable of altering the code, within the Matrix itself it was a digital keypad on your arm, you could input commands which could alter the Matrix code around you in small ways. The device's only main drawback was that it had rules which lined up with the rules of the Matrix, or in other words you could not just make a gun appear out of thin air however it could take out a staircase or form a wall between you and a sentinel and various other things within the realm of the Matrix. With this new technology humans had the capability to fight back against the sentinels all be it indirect, but none the less it kept them alive more or less.
For the first five years this was enough the humans had begun to release minds from the Matrix again like before, to free the minds still trapped within the Matrix. But when it rains it pours is how the saying goes, it was within the sixth year of the war with the machines that Zion started to divide and it came in the form of a man whom was released from the Matrix, a man whom apparently had a special ability, an ability that enabled him to see the future or so he said. This same man was the one who drove Zion apart when he spoke of another whom would be called the Chosen one. Many were outraged at the mere mention of it, for many knew of the meeting between Neo and the Architect a story of legend passed down since the end of the war. Many wanted to execute the man who claimed to have the abilities very much of the Oracle and others fearing the machines joined him. This was how the group known as the Neolites began, a group dedicated to the belief that another chosen one would arise and come to end the war like Neo did fifty years ago. But with the formation of this group a second group formed to combat them, they held the belief that there would be no chosen one and believed in the ideals Jason Locke held, that the only way to win the war was through the strength of the real world and not some mythical being. This group became known as the Lockes, these two groups leads to the final group which arose due to the power struggle within Zion. The final group was for those who did not hold the beliefs of either the Neolites or the Lockes, a group who believed only in ending the war if it was to be one way or the other.
This group had no name as they were more or less the people who refused to join either side. Ten more years passed and Zion was in a constant but peaceful struggle between beliefs, that was when the one and only Oracle stepped forth again and reached out to us and that was when everything changed. She alone spoke of one within the Matrix, one born in the system itself whom would be the one who could end the conflict between the machines and man, a person with special abilities that were not a code implanted by the machines. With this information Zion was thrown into an upheaval the Neolites feeling vindicated pushed for the finding of this person and the Lockes pushed harder to not waste resources on myth and this alone almost caused a war from within. It was in the end decided to avert losing men and woman in a pointless struggle that one final group would be formed, a group comprised of men and woman from both sides combined with ones who held no sway one way or to other and this group alone would search for the chosen one. The leader of this group, the same man the Oracle approached would be the one who would become the leader and deem this group The Chosen. It has been another three years since that time and none have located the new Chosen one, times are becoming dire and the machines are pushing harder then ever before to destroy Zion. An this is what lead the man known by his hacker alias Reaper to be sitting in this slummy room at this exact moment.
"Captain you have company, NYPD, three units advancing quickly, approximately seven men all armed."
The voice came through the music in Reapers ear as he typed into the laptop in front of himself, the screen suddenly changed to a different sent of codes. Reaper raised his wrist silently, sliding up the lid on the device on his wrist he typed into the keypad a randomized code of various numerical values. With the press of send the door behind Reaper suddenly changed from and old wooden door to a steel framed door.
"I got it Tracer, the program is nearly implemented and we should have results in another couple minutes. Do you spot any Agents in the area?"
"No Captain but we received a distress call from an unknown source code to the NYPD so you can pretty much guess they will be showing up soon."
"Keep your eye's open Tracer and keep me informed, the Agents have been able to avoid detection recently so I don't want any unneeded surprises."
"You got it Captain stay frosty."
Reaper heard the steel door behind him thump with rather surprised yelp of pain, Reaper smiled to himself, they had not been expecting the door to be steel lined and it was rather funny as hell. It would take them another couple moments to get the door opened, or at least that long to bring up the battering ram so the program could run its search perimeters first. Reaper sighed heavily as he put his hand through his black short cropped hair, he never imagined his life would lead him to this point. Sitting in a room running a trace program for a person for all he knows doesn't even exist, the same person who is suppose to save Zion from complete destruction with some kind of special powers. Across the room there was a broken mirror, he looked in from the chair, he saw flecks of himself in it, he was decked out in full black from head to toe, a pair of military style steel tipped boots, black cargo's, a leather belt, black t-shirt covered by a leather coat and complimented with sunglasses to cover part of the scar that ran down his face, well the scar would be there on the outside world but in here it was just a perfect face.
Once he had been a rather care free happy guy, always wore bright colors, a looker at that who could get any girl he wanted, his wavy black hair covering a smooth face. Then just like that it all changed as if in a day. He had been a hacker, a damn good hacker at that, he was one of the elites or as elite as one could be in a virtual machine world. He had been approached by a stranger, a well dressed stranger whom had been looking him. He told him things, things that made no sense and then at the same time it made perfect sense. The truth was Reaper felt like he did not belong in the world, he was alone and often times more the not felt as if he was in some sort of dream that he could never wake up from, amazing how he was not far off from the truth of it all. When he saw the world for the first time, the real world, it was a nightmare as much as it was a relief, to know that everything was just a lie, all of it just a big lie. At the same time he was free, free to decide his own fate and that alone was worth it, to make it to where he was now.
Reaper slowly turned his attention back to the screen, there was an electronic ping as the program finished its trace just as the door behind him resounded with a loud bang of metal against metal. Looks like the police got their battering ram finally, Reaper ignored the door and typed into the keyboard, the line of code quickly speed up his eye's darted back and forth as he typed in a couple of commands and sent the data back to his ship.
"Tracer the data is transferring in now, I think we may have something so send it to Whiz and start compiling it immediately."
"You got it Captain, we have activity outside sir, a black car just pulled up I think you might have company... shit, we have definite Agents on the scene, two Agents sir you might want to get out of there."
Just as Tracer finished speaking the door behind Reaper was busted open as seven men quickly poured into the room. The one in the lead quickly screamed for Reaper to stand and put his hands up, Reaper silently complied as he stood up he looked at the screen the code showed him the officers like a video camera.
"Sergeant I thought I told you to create a perimeter and wait for us to arrive. You were under no circumstances to approach the building."
Agent Campbell was precise and cold as he looked at the human Sergeant with a certain disdain. He looked up silently at the building before him, inside was one of the Elite Hackers from Zion and if he didn't know they knew of his location then he definitely did now thanks to this pathetic human.
"Oh please Campbell, were not boy scouts I think we can handle this without your special help. I already have three units up there and they are no doubt bringing down the suspect as we speak."
Agent Campbell was silent as he passed by the man with the second Agent in toe, he looked at the door of the building silently as he stood on the stairs, almost like he was seeing something the no one else could.
"Your men are already dead Sergeant."
Campbell spoke the words coldly and emotionless as he entered the building leaving the Sergeant confused and addled.
Reaper was silent as the officer approached him with the cuffs, he played the scared suspect for just another moment longer. The sudden turn of his body was damn near unseeable as he drove his fist into the police officers face. Time slowed down to a bare trickle as the officers face dented in slowly, with another solid blow Reaper kicked the officer with a round house kick. Time seemed to speed back up as the officer flew back and hit into four other officers knocking them to the ground hard. The two remaining officers quickly opened fire, Reaper put his hand up as the bullets all came to a halting stop slowly before him. The officers looked on in disbelief as the other officers finally got back to their feet raising their own guns. The bullets in mid air in front of Reaper suddenly turned and pointed towards the officers, As if being shot again from another gun the bullets gained momentum again and slammed into the other officers. All the officers fell simultaneously to the floor dead before they even hit, Reaper silently raised his wrist as he typed in a command to the device. Looking up the two Agents slowly entered the room, the one he recognized, he was known only as Agent Campbell, the leader of the Sentinels and the other his lackey whom had no name.
"Well, well, Campbell its always nice to see you again, you have to admit that using the cops as puppets is rather smart, they are rather easy to spot so your arrival was more then predictable."
"You will not make it out this time Mr. Seeley."
"Never say never Campbell, and I am sure I have said this before but my name is... Reaper."
Reaper finished his sentence as he pressed the send button on the device on his wrist, there was a sudden loud cracking as the floor suddenly broke and gave away beneath the Agents feet, both of them quickly disappeared below, Reaper went to turn when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Campbell suddenly flung himself back through the hole not even seconds after he disappeared.
"Not this time."
Reaper smiled as spoke the last words in a jokingly way towards Campbell.
"Catch me if you can."
Reaper turned and quickly jumped through the nearby window, the bricks gave away like wall paper as he dove through. The window then quickly rebuilt itself back up with bricks. Agent Campbell walked forward as he put his hand forward, he touched the bricks, they were now very real.
"So be it Mr. Seeley."
He's a stranger to some
And a vision to none
He can never get enough,
Get enough of the one
For a fortune he'd quit
But it's hard to admit
How it ends and begins
On his face is a map of the world
(A map of the world)
On his face is a map of the world
(A map of the world)
From yesterday, it's coming!
From yesterday, the fear!
From yesterday, it calls him
But he doesn't want to read the message here
Nex was silent as he leaned back in the old computer chair listening to the music, his feet were propped up in front of him as the numerous computer screens flashed various different programs. Reaching up Nex pulled his black signature ski cap down over his emerald green eye's and then crossed his arms getting comfortable in the chair. The room around him was a complete mess, a mix of old clothes, take out boxes, empty bottles and various electronics scattered over the scarce bit of furniture. To those who knew him this was a normal thing for Nex to those who truly knew him they would be shocked, in fact when he was a tad bit younger he was what some considered an obsessive neat freak, even to the point where he labeled items in alphabetical order. But time did tend to change people and the man once known as a geeky little nothing called Edd was now one of the world top hackers.
"Requesting all units we have a 10-80 in progress need immediate assistance in apprehension of known cyber terrorist Dante Seeley over. 10-4 dispatch over."
Nex's eye's shot open immediately at the name on the CB radio, quickly leaning up Nex pulled the ski cap back and quickly pulled himself to the keyboard in front of himself. With a keystrokes he pulled up the NYPD database and quickly hacked in, in a few keystrokes he pulled up the camera's within the squad cars all around the city. His eye's were going back and forth going through the feeds, his heart was beating fast, Reaper was here the man he had been looking for now for months, the best hacker in the known world. Nex typed furiously on his keyboard, he quickly pulled up a grid of the streets, another screen lite up with security feed from street camera's. Moments later there was a red blip on the screen and then various others came online one after another.
"I got him that has to be it!"
Nex spoke the words to himself excitedly as he got himself a street view, on the screen he watched a black sedan flashed by the camera soon followed by many various cop cars. Nex turned to another screen as he quickly typed on the keyboard, a live new report suddenly hit the screen.
"We have confirmation now that a citywide chase is underway tonight as known Cyber Terrorist Dante Seeley or Reaper as he is known by was earlier located in an abandoned apartment complex on Bay street. It has been reported that seven police officers died in the confrontation and the Seeley is now in a stolen vehicle racing throughout the city. Keeping you updated and bringing you more on this breaking story after this short break."
"All units, all units, air support is on route."
Nex heard the dispatch as he quickly turned to another screen and started typing at lightening speed, screens flashed past quickly. With another few keystrokes Nex looked at the grid, it all of a sudden lite up like a Christmas tree.
"Dispatch there is something wrong with our tracking and navigation, suspect is pulling away, we need eye's on him from the sky, over."
Nex gave a chuckle as he typed a few more commands and quickly intercepted the message meant for the air support. With another couple keystrokes he locked in the vehicles transponder and took the mic from the CB radio and spoke:
"Air unit 34, air unit 34, suspect is heading down Franklin Avenue, over. Roger that dispatch, over."
Nex grinned to himself as he kept typing away on the keyboard, the sudden black screen that flashed across his entire set up nearly made his heart skip a beat.
"What the hell?!"
Nex swore softly to himself as he was surprised, he typed on the keyboards but he could not bring his screens back up. In the next moment Nex stopped as his eye's caught a white text at the top of his screen, it appeared out of nowhere like someone was typing directly into his computer.
-They will find you Nex. Your not safe, you have made yourself a target. They are coming.
Nex cocked his head at the screen trying to figure out what the hell that even meant, turning his head a set of flashing lights appeared outside his apartment window. Nex quickly went to the window and looked down, there was a police cruiser outside and a cop was making his way into the builder. Oh shit... how the hell had they found him?! His hacks were untraceable and this quickly at that. Nex returned to his computers quickly with the intention of deleting all the files however the word Run was flashing across his screen in big bold letters. Nex had no choice reaching forward he clicked a couple keys in specific order an his entire system started to spark and sizzle. The next thing anyone knew the door to Nex's apartment was busted open as the cops came inside armed, but they found nothing but smoking computers and an open window.
"Tracer you got an exit lined up for me?"
"Yes but we have a problem, the one we were trying to find, Nex, he apparently found you first and tried to aid your escape. The sentinels received the information and sent NYPD to apprehend him. I alerted him in time but how long until they find him we can't be sure."
"There is nothing more we can do at this time Tracer, we will formulate a plan once I am out of the Matrix. Wheres my extraction point?"
"5th avenue, there is an old hardware store, 45930, phone is prepped and ready. Local police already found your empty vehicle, looks like Nex's little distraction helped after all."
"Got it. See you soon."
Reaper quickly typed in the location into the device on his arm, the glasses over his face turned on and came to life displaying a small street layout along with distance and exact location of his exit point. Looking forward from the building he was standing on he took a few steps back and then ran forward, letting his foot hit the edge of the building he jumped high into the air and crossed the one hundred foot gap and easily landed on the next building. With a couple more leaps he was soon right near the old hardware store, scaling the nearby fire escape Reaper swung down to street level and quickly entered in the store busting open the side entrance. He could hear the ringing from the back, he quickly found the phone and picked it up putting it to his ear just in time to see Campbell standing in front of him. The bullet left the chamber of the large caliber gun and struck the phone as it still floated in the air for just a moment then it dropped to the floor in two pieces.
Campbell approached the destroyed phone as he looked down at it, two other agents came to his side.
"Escaped again did he? This is becoming quite agitating I can imagine, it does not matter though the one they were tracing, we have identified him as Edward Allen, a hacker who goes by the name Nex. He helped him to escape, we sent a unit to pick him up."
"Make sure he is brought straight to me, I tire of these games."
