A/N: This is the story of a young man's search for answers, not to some cosmic truth, but to the simple question 'Where in HELL are you?!' A World Apart spans a larger timeframe than any of my previous installments and will be multi-chaptered. It's a story about friendship and trust, impatience and determination. It's something of a mystery story as well.

As always [] denotes something typed on a computer screen.

Summery: BlackBird_King, a prominent figure in certain net communities has disappeared and J_Tiberius_K (aka David Madison), his best online friend, takes it upon himself to find the missing gamer and discover his true identity. But Tib will have his search hampered by a number of people, from technogoths with heavy weaponry, to old school 'friends', and of course men in suits and dark glasses...

Disclaimer: The Matrix belongs to Warner and the Wachowskis. Tiberius is my character. Greer is still mine. None of the videogames mentioned belong to me, nor obviously, does ffnet. The Agents series was created by Stormhawk. Yami is used with permission from her creator, Rogue MacKallister.

All characters and events in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events or people, living or dead, is purely coincidental. (heheh.....)

Agents: J Tiberius K

[ThanosUragataa: I just can't believe they took that sort of thing out. I mean that's ridiculous, they're trying to market everything for children now days. What's so bad about a cornfield anyways? Come on, does anybody up at NOA actually THINK? I want the Japanese version!]

[J_Tiberius_K: I think it was more for time Thanos] The boy responded, trying to type while eating a bowl of ramen, and still manage not to drop the contents of his chopsticks all over his keyboard. The last time he'd done that he'd had to go out and buy a new one. His name was technically David Madison, but his friends called him Tib. [They wanted to get it out by xmas. Production was already months behind.]

He hit enter and sat back waiting for the next response, deep in his discussion about the new Zelda game. It was on his usual chat at GXX's site and the whole crowd was there, well except for one person. Tib pushed his glasses back up as GXX himself spoke up.

[GameplayerXX: That's right, just like OOT, same thing. U'd think they'd know to start earlier. It was an awesome game though, what we got to play of it.]

[ZeldaDragomire: Hey, speaking of OOT wasn't Blackbird_King trying to hack the cart and restore playability to the lost areas? Or was that just a rumor like Mr. You can so get the Triforce? I'd like to wring the neck of the idiot that started that wild goose chase. Why did you let people post those, anyway huh X?]

The bespectacled young man glared at the screen. Of course they had to mention Blackbird, it wasn't enough that he hadn't gotten an email from him in the last two weeks, he couldn't even find any recent posts from him, anywhere. It was like the guy had just dropped off the face of the earth! He shoveled more of the salty noodles into his mouth.

[GameplayerXX: While I'll agree some people abused that particular board I happen to think the great Triforce hunt was a lot of fun!! And ya, that's what Blackie said he was trying to do anyway. (-5h0w 0FF-). Where is he today?]

Tib rolled his eyes and looked around for somewhere to set his empty ramen bowl. Scanner bed? Tower? The top of the monitor? His bed? Why oh why didn't he get a table in here? Oh riiiiight, No room. He set the bowl on the floor and typed urgently.

[J_Tiberius_K: Has anyone actually heard from Blackbird_King in the past two weeks? I haven't heard from him in...] Tib hastily pulled up a new window and opened his email account. Going to the folder marked Blackbird he opened up the last message he had gotten and checked the date on it. [15 d, 9 h and 23 min.]

[ThanosUragataa: Maybe he's avoiding you Tib. Lol. U go stalker on him?]

He pushed his glasses up. [I'm serious! I can't find any new posts from him or anything. It's like he just disappeared...]

[ZeldaDragomire: Honestly? That's pretty weird. Are you sure he's not just out of town or something?]

[J_Tiberius_K: He'd have told me, besides, he has wireless on his laptop.]

[ThanosUragataa: Maybe the feds got to him ya know? Wasn't he into some heavy hacker shit? I bet he got a visit from the man.]

The skinny boy shuddered at the possibility. He tried not to picture Blackbird in handcuffs, in a badly lit room with government agents breathing down his neck. Asking him who his fellow hackers were, edging him closer and closer to selling out.

[GameplayerXX: Or maybe he fell in with the yakuza, or the Russians. In Gibson whenever somebody disappears off the net it's the Russians. Or AI computer whores. In Idoru it was some digital floozie. And the Russians.]

He rolled his eyes. [J_Tiberius_K: I somehow doubt he was abducted by the Russian mob, and nobody's even close to inventing AI, you know that XX.]

[GameplayerXX: Yeah, but it could still be some babe.]

[J_Tiberius_K: *snort* Right, he's completely stopped using the net because of some girl.]

[ThanosUragataa: What's the matter Tib? Jealous?]

He was about to type a sharp reply when someone else came to his defense.

[ZeldaDragomire: He's worried about BBK, Thanos, leave him alone. I'm kinda worried to, I just ran a quick check on his profile, he hasn't posted anything in over two weeks, at least not as Blackbird_King. Has he got any aliases?]

Tib replied quickly, grateful for the support. [Not that I know of Zel. If he does have another he's done a good job of separating it from BBK. No trails.]

[ThanosUragataa: Can we drop Tib's boyfriend issues? I DID just beat FFXI. Doesn't anyone want to hear about it?]

[ZeldaDragomire: NO! You know, Thanos, the way you're obsessing over this, somebody might think you've got a crush on Tib.]

[ThanosUragataa: You're full of shit Zelda. Stop defending the little fag.]

Tib glared angrily at the screen, irritated with Thanos. The idiot would be insane with indignation if he'd gone missing and nobody was worried!! He typed furiously and sent his message. At the same time replies from Zelda and XX came up.

[J_Tiberius_K: XX, can you please kick him out of the room?]

[ZeldaDragomire: Isn't this room abuse? Boot him XX]

[GameplayerXX: That's it Thanos, third time this month you've attacked Tib. You're out.]

Another message came up promptly.

[ThanosUragataa has been booted]

[GameplayerXX: Better?]

[J_Tiberius_K: *grins* Thanks man.]

[GameplayerXX: No prob.]

[ZeldaDragomire: So, do any of us have any idea as to his offline id?]

[GameplayerXX: Nope.]

[J_Tiberius_K: Obviously not.]

[Tookitiki420 has entered the room]

[ZeldaDragomire: Know anybody who does?]

[Tookitiki2020: Does what?]

[J_Tiberius_K: Know who Blackbird_King is in real life or where in hell he's been for 2 weeks.]

[Tookitiki2020: You mean the guy who writes the Mario bros fics? 'Life in Spikes'?]

[J_Tiberius_K: The same. He's missing for 2 weeks]

[Tookitiki2020: He is? Um, no, I donno who he is. But his Mario character Nunzio is from upstate New York. That might be where he's from.]

[ZeldaDragomire: Not much to go on, but better than nothing. What about a name? He doesn't display it on his profile, any of you know it?]

[J_Tiberius_K: It's Greer. At least, that's what he says it is. But that's all he'll tell me.]

[GameplayerXX: That a first name or a last name?]

[J_Tiberius_K: No idea.]

[ZeldaDagomire: Well, it's a start. Run a search for 'Greer' in the New York phone directory and hope he's got a listed number.]

[Tookitiki2020: I'll do it. I'm pulling up the page now. Hold on a sec.]

[J_Tiberius_K: Thanks.]

But he was distracted. It's couldn't be, could it?...It would be way too much of a co-incidence. Blackbird_King couldn't be Vincent Greer from his old high school. He'd noticed the similarity of names before, but the fact that they both lived in New York. It was impossible. Or at the very least, highly improbable. He didn't even know if Blackbird really lived in New York anyway, it was just where his character was from. This was ridiculous.

Tib picked up the half-full Pepsi can from beside his keyboard and took a sip. He grimaced with revulsion. It was flat, and warm...He set it back down, wondering if he should bother going to get another one.

[Tookitiki2020: Got it. There are almost three thousand people in New York state with the last name Greer, and two with the first name. Do you want the list?]

Tib felt his heart sinking. That many? It was practically pointless to bother then.

[J_Tiberius_K: Thanks but no thanks, Tooki. *sigh* Really that many?]

[Tookitiki2020: Ya, sorry man. I hope you find him. Maybe he's just busy.]

[J_Tiberius_K: Yeah, you're probably right. I'm just spazzing over nothing.]

[ZeldaDragomire: Don't worry about it Tib. Thanos was just talking out his ass with the whole fed thing. No way he's been arrested.]

[GameplayerXX: We'll keep an eye out for him, believe u me. But watch out for the Russian mob, okay?]

Tib grinned [Sure XX. I'll make sure not to get involved with the Russian Mob. Thanks guys] he typed back, and then happened to glance down at the clock. It was seven thirty, in the morning. He'd forgotten to go to sleep again, damn it all, and his mom would be coming up in minutes to remind him that he had class this morning, great, just great. [Shit I gotta go. See you later.]

He logged out of the room, not bothering to listen to everyone's polite goodbyes. He sighed, leaning back in his chair and hearing the abused metal groan. This damned insomnia, he didn't even feel tired, at least, not any more so than he ever did. He stood up, his feet somewhat unsteady for having been sitting down for the last what was it, ten hours? Something told him that wasn't altogether healthy, and something else told him he didn't really care. Tib collapsed onto his perpetually unmade bed, his scrawny body sprawled over the lumpy blankets and his brown, uneven locks splayed out over the pillow that his face was buried in. His glasses pressed into the bridge of his nose.

There was a knock on his door. "David honey, you have class in an hour."

"I know mom," he muttered sullenly, turning over to stare at the door with its poster of Lara Croft. Tib shook his head, wondering why he bothered to go to class at all, he passed all the tests anyway. But that wasn't the point was it? He wasn't to class because people expected him to, because he expected himself to. He was ever the good little nerd, wasn't he? Except for that once.

He grimaced as the image of the jock's face, blood and teeth spraying came back to him. Tib sat up, shaking his head. That was almost three years in the past, but it still haunted him and so did the rumors. Tib was afraid he'd always be the kid that killed somebody with a janitor's bucket. It made him angry, and he glared at the blurred outlines of his room as he wiped his filthy glasses off with edge of the t-shirt he'd been wearing since yesterday. Nobody could understand what it was like to be what he was, to be that defenseless outlet for everybody else's aggression, and nobody cared, at least nobody he was currently in contact with. Vincent had gotten it, but that too was in the past.

Tib stood up and flipped the light on, a harsh yellow glare suddenly emanating from the bulb on the ceiling. He squinted, and shuffled over to his dresser, digging through it for something vaguely decent to put on. He didn't have much a few pairs of faded jeans and a large number of various fan shirts. He snorted, not much was clean today; he'd have to do laundry or something tonight. Looked like he had a choice between DBZ and one of his slogan shirts. Tib shoved the anime shirt back in, it practically went down to his knees. He took a look at the other shirt, ah, how appropriate. It was white and he'd gotten it at a Trek convention last year, it proclaimed in sickly green letters 'Live Poor, Die Young' and in smaller letters, attributed the quote as a 'Vulcan Fanboy Proverb'. Tib pulled off the ratty black shirt he'd been wearing and replaced it with LPDY. He then changed from a pair of black jeans that were four sizes too big, to a pair of blue ones that were only twosizes too big, and belted them so that they didn't fall off. He was already wearing his shoes.

He yanked his door open, turned off the light and yanked it closed again when he was in the hallway, the Haz-Mat sign hanging on it clanking against the wood.

It was going to be a long day, he decided, a very long day.

To be continued...