The Matrix: Crimson Chronicles
Episode 1: Troubleshooting
Chapter 1
Agents, Exiles and orbs
"Sync, Get us outa here" came the cry of Crimson, Captain of the hover ship, the Hephaestus, named after the Greek god of fire.
Crimson was medium height with brown hair, wearing his patented crimson shirt, blue jeans, Black boots and Skeleton gloves.
"Got an exit all ready for you, just follow the signs." Came the reply of Sync, Crimson's operator and friend, they'd worked on the ship for 12 years, and throughout their entire time together Sync had never given Crimson a straight answer.
"Signs? What signs?" Crimson shouted running up a set of stairs,
"Follow the Sound of music" Sync hung up.
"Music? These hints get more annoying every time!" Crimson snapped the phone shut and threw it to the floor. Seconds later it was destroyed as the Armani wannabe shoes of a perfectly groomed man in a suit ran up the stairs after him.
"Bloody agents, making me run!" Crimson grumbled jumping up the stairs, missing around 4 every time.
Upstairs Crimson could hear something; it was music, could this be the same music Sync meant? The lyrics, that'll give it away… "Phone…Ring…" that was all he could make out, but that had to be it, he began to gain speed, he was nearing the light at the end of the tunnel, the exit was just down the hall, but the agents were just behind him, he wasn't going to make it.
Ahead of him a woman had just come out of her apartment, she turned to see Crimson running at her, she reached into her pocket and as she did so she began to transform, her clothes became black and she became a he, growing taller and removing the hand from her inside pocket, and producing a gun.
No exit, no way of leaving, what to do? All these thoughts shot through Crimson's head as he dropped and slid through the agents legs, avoiding the bullets, that now had the names of the pursuing agents on them. As he slid across the floor Crimson span, getting out his twin 9mm handguns from his pocket and unloading the clip's on the agent, strangely, hitting him.
Crimson replaced the guns and rolled backwards, getting into a standing position. He turned and headed for the source of the music. Even though the agents were technically dead it wouldn't be long before they would be back on his tail.
The music was coming from three doors down, Crimson ran towards it and barged through the door, the music cut out in front of him was an old fashioned phone, coiled phone wire, turning number disc, and ringing. A bullet shot past Crimsons forehead. He looked left and there, as he knew there would be was an Agent. Crimson reached into his jacket and took out a small oval object, pulled out the pin and dropped it, running inside the room and lifting the phone to his ear.
He felt cold all over as his mind was disconnected from the link to the computer.
Azure, The Red headed Hack artist who recently joined the Hephaestus, pulled the spike, as they called it out of Crimson's head, causing a hot sensation to run through him.
"Their getting harder to outrun with every passing second" Zer0, the second in command of the Hephaestus and expert programmer, commented looking at the replay of the mission.
" Something was strange about that last agent," Crimson said getting off the log in chair, and moving over to the encoded video. "Look, I hit him, I was just trying to slow him down… but I hit him."
"It was as if he wasn't actually aiming for you in the first place" Azure was looking over Sync's shoulder trying to help with the inspection.
"Look, here's where I hit him." Crimson said looking closely. " Hey, what just happened, his Encryptions just changed drastically, that's not even an agent, it looks as if it's in exile."
"A what?"
"ksh An exile is a program that was set for deletion but didn't go back to the machine mainframe. ksh" Came a voice over the intercom system.
"Example…" Zer0 had pressed a button on the console and was waiting for an answer.
"ksh The oracle. ksh"
Crimson turned away from the screen and walked out of the room down a corridor, up a ladder and onto the bridge.
"What we got Cohalt?" Crimson said looking out of the front window of the Hephaestus.
"Apart from an idiot asking me about exiles? Nothing… except, well there's a small blip, almost undetectable, on the radar, it's been there for a while now" Cohalt had dark brown hair, white skin and, rags for clothes, as did everyone else. Cohalt was almost always sarcastic, but when he needed to be, could hack any system faster than even the computers.
"Show Me," Crimson commanded sitting into a chair just opposite the holo-viewer.
"See, nothing." Cohalt said, looking as close as possible to the holo-viewer.
"Yes there is, look" Crimson pressed a button zooming in. On the screen appeared a small orb, metallic with small instruments protruding from the sides.
"It's a tracker, the damn machines are tracing us!" Crimson said calmly. " Zer0 Man the turrets we've got a tracer." Crimson took his hand away from the com-link.
"ksh You got it cap'in ksh"Zer0 shouted back across the inter com.
The sound of running footsteps on metal sounded across the Hephaestus. Zer0 reached the turrets and strapped himself in, putting on the head set communicator.
The sound of a gunshot sounded out throughout the sewers. Then came another shot, apparently Zer0 had missed. Another shot sounded, and another, and another, until finally an explosion was heard, the orb lay in pieces scattered across the sewer floor.
"ksh Got 'im ksh" Zer0 said, as he un-strapped himself.
The pipelines were silent, the Hephaestus was going home.
Chapter 2
Home Sweet hell"I request a drop in all arms at gate 5, we have the Hephaestus on approach… open her up boys. Foods warm, Beds Made, welcome home." The operator said, giving
Cohalt clearance to enter.
The Hephaestus flew across the dock and lowered into position, landing in dock 7, gate 5. The doors to the Hephaestus opened and Crimson stepped out followed by Azure, Zer0 Sync and finally Cohalt.
Ahead of the crew was a welcome party, although it was less of a party and more of a Firing squad. They had come to arrest the Crew of the Hephaestus, the reason, was unknown to Crimson.
"You are Crimson of the Hephaestus are you not?" said the first armed escort.
"I am, what is the meaning of this?" Crimson said." Commander Loch demands your immediate presence." The Escort said.
"Then I will come," Crimson said, putting his bag on the floor, he turned and moved close to Azure, kissing her gently and then flipping a coin like device to Zer0. "You know what to do."
"Yes Cap, she'll be ready to leave ASAP" Zer0 said catching the Vira-Disc. A Vira-disc is a very complex program, which, not only is a disc, but it is a disc containing the data of every virus known to man.
"What do you think your doing?" Commander Loch said the second Crimson had shut the door.
"What do you mean… Sir?" Crimson knew the second that Loch had spoken what he'd done.
"Explain your actions,"
"I didn't believe my actions needed explaining, Sir."
"You disobeyed a direct order."
"I allowed the Neberkaneza to Jack in."
"I specifically told you not to allow Neo into the Matrix."
"I believe that he is the way forward. And I believe that this is something he must do. For the Zion and us." Crimson finished his speech and Loch glared at him.
"You disobeyed a direct order."
"I helped Zion to survive."
The door opened suddenly.
"Sir" a soldier had come in. "It's the Neberkaneza, It's requesting help, Morpheous, Trinity and Neo are stuck in the matrix."
"They got in on their own they can get out the same way." Loch said, grumpily at the soldier.
Crimson stood for a second looking at the stunned soldier as he began to leave the room.
"Wait!" Crimson shouted to the soldier. "I'm going."
"What? No your not, I order you not to go!" Commander loch shouted at Crimson.
"Screw your orders." Crimson shouted slamming the door.
"Ok, Zer0 upload the Crimson access virus onto the main computer and Mimic, get us outa here!" Crimson said strapping himself into the Gun turrets. The Hephaestus hovered and span. It headed towards a gate, Gate 5, the gate began to open. "Crimson access… never fails."
The hover ship flew at lightning speeds across the Pipelines and finally they reached a hard line access point.
"ksh Time to Jack In ksh" Sync said across the com.
Chapter 3
The one, The two, The void"So, what do you need?" Sync asked.
"Besides a miracle? Guns, and lots of them." Crimson replied down the phone.
Crimson closed the phone as the stacks of armaments moved into place.
"Something like this has only been tried once before, and that was by the one, by neo." Zer0 said, taking a semi-automatic 9mm handgun off the shelf.
"I know, but it was before he had the power." Crimson said. As the walls of the matrix built room closed in around the four soldiers. The phone on the table in front of them began to ring, Crimson picked it up, put it to his ear and spoke.
"We're in!" The phone was hung up and they left the room.
"Operator."
"Tank? This is Crimson. I'm here to help."
"It's good to hear from you sir." Tank said, trying to find their location.
"What's the problem?" Crimson said, strait down to business.
"I don't know, they entered a club, where they were meeting with the oracle… but… the second they got inside it was as if they had been teleported across the globe."
"So, what's the problem?" Crimson sat in the red Nissan skyline he kept for missions and just drove around.
"Their in the void sir."
The Void, a place where no program dares to go, a sanctuary from battle and the eternal resting place of all who enter. No living soul has ever returned from the void. It is said that once an agent or a soldier of the un-plugged variety enters, all power is lost.
"You can't be serious? How'd they get in there?" Zer0 said, enraged at the thought of having to venture inside.
"Smith, he set a trap." Tank said, checking on the jacked in Morpheous, Trinity and Neo.
"We can't do it, No living soul has ever returned from the void. They say that once an agent or one of us enters, all our power is lost."
"If nobody has ever returned from the void how does one know that all power is lost?" Crimson said, snapping the phone shut and throwing it to Azure. "You've got a soldier to find, we'll get them out of there." Crimson said.
Azure moved the phone to her ear.
"Operator,"
"Sync, I need a motor." Azure said,
"Bike or car?"
"Bike"
"Ok, you got it, Just follow the Signs." Sync said.
"What Signs sync?"
"Follow the White rabbit." Sync hung up.
"Follow the white rabbit?" Azure repeated.
"There, that pet shop what do you see?"
"White rabbits," Zer0 said.
"And in front of it?" Cohalt said.
"Kawasaki Ninja. Got to go." Azure jumped out of the car, while it was sill moving, landing and rolling up to the bike, keys still in the ignition.
"Be as fast as humanly possible." Crimson said, speeding off to the void.
Azure leapt onto the Bike, turning the key and accelerating to the max. She turned the bike around and drove off towards a local apartment complex.
"-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-" Azure typed away, hacking into the government files, servers and criminal records. She was looking for hackers, programmers, and other types of computer crime specialists. She was looking for two in particular. A hacker named Mimic, or Sean Mc'euwan, and Elektro, or Kris. The best two hackers she'd heard of. They'd both only been caught once, both hacking into the English government computers and both by Crimson, or as he was called then, Dante Jenkins, Crimson, before being un-plugged, worked for the government, tracking hackers and hacking criminals.
She reached onto the desk the computer was on, got her drink and opened the bottle.
"This is gonna take a while." She muttered, as a new window of names came up on the screen. "Ok, maybe not so long." She cycled through the names, finally finding Mimic, address, and phone number, place of work. She took it down and continued her search.
"-Click-" Azure froze.
"Miss Cleonberg." Came an almost computerised voice from behind her. "So we meet again?"
"-Ring-ring-" Azures phone rang, she reached down, took it and answered it.
"What?" she said.
"Watch out, there's an agent coming." Sync said, urgently.
"You're a bit late."
"What? No, look he's outside."
"No, he's standing behind me with a gun to my head."
"What?"
The agent took the phone from Azures hand and moved it up to his ear, keeping the gun aimed perfectly towards her temple.
"Hello, Operator, as they seem to call you. Does your Matrix feed seem, a little, slow, today?"
"Who the hell is this?"
"Brewer, Agent Brewer."
"Pass me back to Azure, NOW!"
"Attitudes like that wont get you anywhere, Ms Sync."
"Pass me over!"
"Since I am a charitable person, I will allow you to speak to your friend, one last time." Brewer said,
"Sync?"
"Ok, I'm gonna make history here, I'm gonna give you the location without code."
"Ok,"
"Get to flat 23 the exit is there."
"How do I get there?"
"Out the door up the stairs, third door on your right."
Azure hung up, she began to stand, slowly.
"Ms Cleonberg, prepare to die." A phone rang upstairs, Brewer looked up suddenly and Azure knocked the gun away, kicking Brewer in the stomach and heading for the door.
She was at the door, left or right? Right, she ran on, choosing right rather than left, mainly because from previous experience, right usually worked, she kept moving, she could hear the agent behind her. He was closing in, bullets rushed past her, and suddenly she was in the arms of an agent. Also from previous experience she could discover that this agents name was Smith. He removed his arm from his pocket, producing a gun.
"You!" Brewer said when he finally reached the two of them.
"Yes, Me."
"You are an exile who will be deleted."
"Although…" A second smith emerged from an apartment.
"It may not be…" A third.
"As easy as it seems." A forth said.
Brewer looked around, he was obviously confused, and this went against all his programming.
All the Smiths began to raise their guns as Brewer kept looking around, trying to make sense of it, trying to create a 'logical' explanation,
But it was too late. All of Smiths bullets were already deeply embedded into Brewers Data. He dropped to the floor and changed into an old lady, creating a green electric bolt, which shot through the body before leaving it dead on the floor.
"Well miss Cleonberg. Is it? I don't believe we've had the pleasure." Smith said, turning her around and aiming his gun at, as before, her temple.
"This just isn't my day." Azure said, looking down.
"Yeas, it would seem that way." Smith said, but then the Smiths all spoke, but not as him. "More!" they said, eyes glowing green as if they were receiving a message. "We need more," they returned to normal, their eyes stopped glowing and they looked back down to Azure. "It seems that your getting out of trouble yet again, I'm needed in more pressing matters, I'll be seeing you."
And like that he and the other smiths were gone.
"This has just been such a weird day," Azure said as she ran up the stairs and into the ringing room, picking up the phone and un-plugging herself.
To be continued…