Title: Mimosa
Author: Stormhawk
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: This all belongs to The W Brothers and Warner Brothers. And the Agents, don't forget the agents. Stef is mine.
Notes: Part of the Agents series.
Thought you might like to know the meaning of the name Mimosa. It means imitative. AKA, false, mimetic, deceptive. Quite appropriate for an agent.
A/N: I'm using the word Shift instead of disappear/appear to describe when agents 'teleport' themselves somewhere.
~ ~ Denotes remembered dialogue
Original Word Count: 3155 New Word Count: 4832
Summary: Picks up right where Agents left off. Stef has to deal with being an agent now. She goes AWOL to see a movie but ends up meeting a rebel.
Please Read and Review.
Brown and Jones had met the new agent; they were free to go so they left. Stef looked up at Smith. Her hint of a smile had given way to an open look of confusion.
"Smith, what the hell happened?"
"Isn't it obvious?" The other agent asked her.
"I know I died," Stef said slowly. "What am I?"
"You are an Agent now. You no longer have a human body, you exist as pure code now."
"Does this usually happen to recruits?"
"No. It's never happened before."
"Why me?"
"The mainframe deemed you fit to become an Agent. You have a quick-thinking mind, quick-thinking is a difficult subroutine to write."
"Thanks," Agents have a strange way of phasing compliments but Stef was getting better at picking them out.
"Don't thank me. Thank yourself."
"If I'm an agent now why do I still feel the same? I'm still me." It was true; if he hadn't said anything and she hadn't known she had died she would have sworn she was still human.
"Then the transfer was successful."
"I'm going to kill Anderson."
"You can try. There are a few more abilities that you have now that you are an Agent. A few more tricks than a recruit can do."
"Such as?" He didn't respond verbally. He responded by drawing his gun and shooting her. She felt the bullet hit her before she had a chance to react.
Stef opened her eyes and found herself in a strange place, composed entirely of scrolling green code. She realized that she was looking at the Matrix itself. A second later she was pulled out and found herself on the street next to the Agency.
"That is one trick." Smith said as he walked out the building.
"Warn me next time before you shoot me."
"It doesn't matter. Agents don't die."
"Well what else can I do?"
"The next is communication," She heard him say but hadn't seen his mouth move. She turned and saw a copy of him talking to her.
"You don't need to change locations to communicate. You can project a copy of your image to speak to another Agent for a short amount of time. You can also change your location.."
"Do the disappearing act?"
"It's called shifting. Both are just requirements."
"Cool."
Smith removed his white earpiece and motioned for her to do the same. "You may want to drop most of your human expressions and emotions. This is only a trial. If you are seen as too human the mainframe will delete you. Your quick thinking brain won't save you if the mainframe perceives you to be a risk."
"What's this got to do with anything?" Stef asked flicking the earpiece that was dangling down beside her neck.
"It relays everything you see, hear and think to the mainframe. Removed the mainframe is still aware of you but to a lesser extent."
Stef replaced her earpiece as Smith did. "Well, what do I do now?"
"There are no assignments at the moment. Practice your new abilities and be in the conference room in half an hour."
"Why?"
"Mainframe briefing," he said as he disappeared.
After half an hour of practice, Stef was quite good with her new abilities, and had only gotten stuck in walls twice. She also practiced morphing in and out of humans.
At twenty-eight minutes and four seconds she walked along the corridor toward the conference room. She went to open the door but stopped as she heard Brown talking in a low hissing voice.
"She is not a good idea. I voiced my opinion but the mainframe didn't listen."
"If she is too much trouble then she will be deleted."
"I won't wait for deletion if starts to act like Whi."
He abruptly cut himself off; Stef leant closer to the door to see if he was just talking quieter. Someone grabbed her right shoulder and spun her, Stef punched in reaction. Brown caught the fist and held it tight. He squeezed it so tight that Stef swore she heard one of the bones break before he let it go.
"Were you eavesdropping?" He growled.
"Not really. I heard you talking and didn't want to interrupt."
"What are you doing her anyway?"
"Smith told me to come."
"Only true Agents come to briefings."
"I am an Agent remember?"
"Is there a problem?" Smith said coming from the other end of the corridor.
Stef glared at Brown, "no. No problem."
They went into the conference room. They sat around a long table and another Agent appeared at the head of the table. It had no other function than to relay news from the mainframe.
It was quite boring for Stef. She noticed that even the other Agents seemed to think it was a bit dry. She thought of it of a boring class, she was tempted to require a paper airplane and throw it at the mouth-of-the- mainframe.
She managed to avoid laughing but a smirk appeared on her face without intending to leave.
Not having anything else to do Stef went to the gym. Quart and Enid, two of the other recruits were there, sparring. They turned and looked at her, she looked exactly the same, five feet five inches tall, the same short brown hair, pale skin from too much time in front of a computer screen but there was something intangibly different about her. And they knew what it was.
"Hi," Stef said cheerfully as she required her tracksuit. She received cold stares from the other two.
"What'd I do?"
"You're an Agent now aren't you?" Quart said in what approached an accusing tone.
"How'd you find out?"
"Brown told us."
"Oh. Where are Jack and Lisa?"
"They're dead."
"But I only saw them yesterday."
"You haven't been around for a month." Enid said.
"A month?"
"Yeah, a month. Jack and Lisa didn't become Agents, what makes you so damned special?" Quart said angrily, Jack had been his best friend.
"I don't know," Stef said honestly. She felt quite unwelcome so she shifted to her room. A month? It didn't feel like it had been that long. She sat at her computer and saw a new icon on her desktop. Inbox.
Stef couldn't help but laugh. The Agency had the Internet? In curiosity she opened it. It was a little different from a standard email program; it had updates from the mainframe and standard assignments for Agents with nothing to do.
She browsed through a few - they were all surveillance sites; most were colleges and schools, a few clubs. She sighed; she had nothing else to do so she decided to pick one. Randomly she swirled her finger and around and chose one.
Figuring they would probably get pissed off at her if disappeared without telling someone she shifted to Smith's office.
"Mimosa." he said as soon as she appeared. She looked around for the chair she usually sat in but it was gone. He was staring at something so she followed his gaze. She had shifted so that her legs went through the seat of the chair.
She chuckled nervously and shifted out. "Yes Mimosa?"
"I'm going to do some surveillance work as suggested by an email from the mainframe."
"Do you know how to do surveillance work?"
"Um.no I don't."
"It's simple that's why recruits usually do it. All you have to so is keep an eye out for rebels and neutralize them if you discover any of them."
"Sounds good."
Stef shifted from the Agency and morphed from a human in the club she had chosen to survey. Her suit immediately attracted the wrong sort of attention. The kind of attention that would make rebels notice her and run.
Thinking for a few seconds she required some clothes that didn't sell her out as an Agent. It attracted a few surprised looks from some drunken patrons but no one sober saw her.
The supposed simple surveillance work turned into a small-scale street war when Stef found a few rebels recruiting more for their side. After she shot three of them she found out that there were quite a few more than half a dozen so she called for back up.
Smith appeared first, having shifted as soon as he received the call. Brown and Jones came a few seconds later with the two recruits. There were no exits for a few miles around so they had a chance to eliminate them.
Quart was taking on three rebels by himself, Enid screamed 'duck' a few seconds too late, a fourth rebel had joined his fight and shot him in the back. Enid forgot that she was in the middle of a war and ran to help him even though he was clearly dead.
As she dropped down next to him the same rebel that had ended Quart's life ended hers as well.
Brown and Jones had gotten themselves shot and were taking their time returning. It was probably unnecessary as there were only half a dozen rebels left. Stef shot another but a large man lunged at her from behind.
She tried to shoot him but he knocked the gun out of her hand. She struggled to get free but he was strong for a human. She required another gun but couldn't get at the right angle to shoot him.
Smith shot the other four rebels and turned to Stef and her captor. The rebel thought Stef was just another recruit. He saw the other Agent train his gun on him but he held as a shield.
"Takes time to train them doesn't it?" he blustered, trying to prolong his life a little. "Let me go and I let her go. You can't shoot me without shooting her." Stef smiled wryly and Smith fired, the bullet passed through her and shot the man.
"You enjoy shooting me don't you?" Stef said appearing in front of him. Smith was slightly confused, there hadn't been anyone for her to morph from and it would have taken longer for her to morph then shift back.
"How did you." he started to ask how she had morphed and shifted so quickly but heard a gunshot first.
He spun quickly and took the bullet himself, Stef shot the rebel herself and checked the others were dead.
"Come with me," Smith said appearing in communication. He disappeared and Stef shifted back to his office.
"What? And why did you get shot? Thanks but it wasn't necessary."
"Actually it was. I neglected to mention this but I didn't think I would have to spoon-feed you with every piece of information. You do have files to access."
Stef didn't say anything; an angry Smith is not something to be trifled with. "Well," she said slowly, "what did I do or didn't do that should have or shouldn't have done?"
"There is a reason we morph into human bodies."
"Yeah - that is.?"
"So that batteries and not Agents die."
"Oh. Ok."
"Not in morph an Agent can die by whatever means can kill a human. Anywhere except here that is."
"Is there anything else I should know?"
"I don't believe so but you should study your files."
"Did you just tell me to go do homework?"
"Mimosa."
"Sorry. I'm on an adrenaline high from the fight." She smirked but then reconsidered her last statement. She didn't have adrenaline anymore. Or any brain chemicals for that matter. Or even a brain. Just code.
"Anything else for me to do?"
"Not at the moment."
"I'll be in the gym," she said as she shifted to the gym and as she appeared she changed into her tracksuit. It's just going to take some time to get used to. She was sure in few days.weeks.months.that she would get used to the idea that she was nothing more than code.
She jumped up onto the balance beam and as she jumped around in midair she started to relax. Halfway through a jump she realized what day it was. For months she had been waiting for a movie to premiere. It started today. For a few fleeting seconds she wished she was human again.
Then again, there was nothing for her to do. They probably wouldn't miss he if she disappeared for a few hours. Shrugging, she shifted from the gym and morphed from a homeless man near the theatre.
The last two things before pulling her earpiece out was require a new set of clothes and some money for a ticket. She was getting to used to the leather jacket she always required when she needed someone to think that she was human, it was comfortable and fit perfectly.
As she paid for her ticket she prayed there wouldn't be any screaming brats. Then again, she still had her Desert Eagle; she hadn't let it slip away when she'd changed her clothes. You never know when a powerful handgun was going to come in handy.
She walked up into the cinema and managed to get a seat in the back row. As the seats filled she realized that she might have to sit next to someone. A human. She was still getting used to the idea that she wasn't human anymore but even before all this had happened she had been an outcast.
"Is anyone sitting here?" a male voiced as the room dimmed and the trailers started.
"No," Stef answered curtly. A guy her age sat down.
"Thanks. This is a great seat," he answered enthusiastically.
"It's just a seat," she hated peppy people. All the way through the movie she found herself making whispered conversation with the guys, whose name was Jesse, until people told them to shut up.
As the house lights went up and the end credits started Stef's eyes absently swung around the theatre. She saw Smith at the front of the theatre.
"Shit," she whispered under her breath. Stef swallowed, knowing she was in trouble. She was going to be in big trouble.
Her feeling of impending doom was swept away for a minute when she realized Jesse had gone missing. No, he wasn't missing. He was hiding. He was crouched in front of their seats behind the next row.
"Stef," he whispered, "the guy in the suit down the bottom. Is he still standing there?"
Aha! He was a rebel. They were the only ones who got scared when they saw an Agent. "Yes," she said evenly.
"Shit," came his whispered reply. Smith looked up and saw her; she gave him a pointed look. He took the hint and walked out of the cinema.
"He's gone, you can get up." Jesse pulled himself to his feet; he was covered in old popcorn so he brushed himself down. Playing the innocent Stef asked, "What was that all about?"
"I can't tell you. I don't want to put you in danger."
She almost laughed in his face, "I don't scare easily."
"If you knew what I knew, you would." His phone rang and he walked a few feet away so he could talk in private.
"If you knew what I was, you'd be the scared one," she said under her breath. He ended the call and turned back to her.
"I have to go. My friends are waiting for me."
Friends - more rebels. She stopped her hand from drifting toward her gun. But then again, one now was worth more than the few they might get if they learned the location of his ship.
"Goodbye Stef," he said.
"Bye Jesse," she said with a totally different meaning hidden behind her words as she went to draw her gun. His next statement stopped her.
"Would you like to meet them? You might be interested in what they have to say."
"When?" Stef smiled; if they could kill a lot of rebels it might make them forget about the fact that she went AWOL to see a movie.
"Thursday. A whole bunch of us are getting together. There's an old warehouse on Hook Street near the docks. Can you meet me there at ten PM?"
"Of course."
"See you then," he said as he left. She followed him as he left the building, checking over his shoulder for a sign of Smith or any other Agents. Besides the one he had spent two hours talking to that is.
Stef idled around in the foyer waiting for Smith to show up.
"What were you doing here Agent Mimosa?" he asked placing very heavy emphasis on the word Agent.
Skating around the issue she decided to tell him the news, "I just got an invite to join the rebels." His look would have killed most.
Shaking his head in disbelief he looked down at her. He spoke slowly like a parent to a small child or a teacher to a slow student. "You are aware that you are an Agent now? And fighting the rebels?"
"Yes. I just met a rebel. We talked and I saw the movie with him. He gave me the location of a warehouse they are going to use to take more rebel recruits from the Matrix."
"You could have said that first."
"Sorry sir."
"You're going to stick to that story?"
"Yes, it's the truth." She said with conviction, hoping he would believe her. He nodded.
"Of course. How was the movie?"
"It was great. I've been waiting months for it to." She cut herself off. She'd been caught. She smiled guiltily at him. To her surprise, he didn't look angry.
'Keep your guard up Mimosa. Always keep your guard up. It may have been a mistake to go AWOL but there was a good result. More rebels will be eliminated.'
"Am I in trouble?"
"Never do it again Mimosa."
"Yes sir," she said and she meant it. "Smith you can call me Stef, Mimosa gets boring. I do have a first name."
"Mimosa." he said in his you're-acting-too-human tone.
"Stef. Just do me the favor and say the word Stef."
He sighed; she wouldn't leave it alone until he submitted. "Stef."
"You are capable of saying it. I thought there might be a gap in your code that prevented it."
Smith didn't respond he seemed to be very interested in the blank wall behind her head. "What's wrong Smith? Am I boring you?"
"Mimosa, you always bore me."
"Are you sure you don't have a sense of humor? And it's Stef." She said as they both shifted back to the Agency.
"Explain your absence recruit," Brown asked as soon as she appeared. Agent Brown the one person in the world who able to wipe Stef's smirk off her face in one statement.
"I was making contact with a rebel and it's Agent."
"You didn't have orders."
"I was doing surveillance work. Meeting the rebel was an unexpected bonus." Brown looked past her to Smith who nodded. He turned and walked away but spun back when he heard a phone ring.
Agents don't carry cell phones. Agents don't need cell phones. His eyes narrowed dangerously, Stef's smirk replaced itself. Brown walked away in disgust. Stef walked a few down the corridor before answering it.
Smith went to say something but she held her finger up to her lips to hush him. "Hi Jesse."
*****
On his ship in the real world, Jesse, who usually went by Jargon had his crew track Stef's cell to see her location in the Matrix. Her location showed a café near the cinema. Having only required the phone when he asked for her number she had also configured it to show normal places instead of the Agency.
"Is something wrong?" Stef asked.
"No, nothing. I was wondering if you were still up for Thursday?"
"Of course. Why would I miss it?"
"No reason, I just wanted to be sure. Someone special is coming."
"Who? I don't even know what this is all about. Is it a celebrity or something?"
"Of sorts. He's important to my friends."
"He? Does he have a name?"
"You'll find out on Thursday."
"But Jesse," Stef said, her voice had gone all silky and sweet, "can't you tell me now?"
"I shouldn't really."
"But," she said in the same voice, "it's just me Jesse. Don't you trust me?"
"Well, it is just a name. His name is Neo."
"Interesting name, I'll see you on Thursday."
"Bye Stef.wait, do you want to meet up before then?"
Stef sighed inaudibly, but then again he just thought she was some girl. "Sure, when?"
"How about the park on Third? Ten tomorrow morning?"
"Ok, I'll be there," she said and ended the call. She snickered as she put her phone back in her pocket. "Neo's going to be there."
"If there's not an exit we have a chance to eliminate him," Smith said apparently relishing the chance.
"We can order all the hard lines within the area cut."
"Good."
"But not until he shows up in case he uses one as an entrance."
Time to do or die. 'Can I be excused from killing rebels tomorrow?'
"Why?" Smith asked suspiciously. "You just had a day off."
"I have to meet that rebel again."
"Why?"
For all his subroutines, he wasn't very smart. "Because he wants to meet up that's why. It's a human thing that's why you don't understand. He's thinks I'm human and if I don't go it would make him suspicious."
"I assume this is what qualifies as a date?"
"No." Smith's quizzical smile appeared. "Don't look at me like that Smith. It's no more than a deception."
"Fine. Have a good time anyway." She slapped her head then punched him in the arm.
*****
On his ship, Jargon turned to Neo. "This Agent is one clever bitch isn't she?"
"Too clever, that's why we have to get rid of her."
One of the other crewmembers turned around, "I thought it was impossible to kill an Agent."
"She's not an Agent. She's just one of their recruits and as easily killed anyone of us."
*****
They met in the park the next day. Both kept up the pretense that they didn't know each other's true nature. He left a few hours later making some pathetic excuse about a doctor's appointment he had just remembered. Stef thought it was more likely that the squids were approaching his ship and he wanted to leave before they used the EMP and killed him.
Stef shifted back to the Agency when no one as looking at her. Since there was nothing to do she went to the gym. Halfway though one of her jumps she heard Smith's voice.
"Report." She stopped in midair and looked down at him. Shrugging she landed beside him.
"Report what?"
"Did you learn anything of significance?"
"No."
"No names or locations of rebels in the matrix or the real world?"
"Nut."
"Mimosa did you learn anything?"
"Nothing important. Besides the fact that ice-cream doesn't taste as nice anymore."
Smith removed his earpiece and though confused Stef did the same thing. "Stef - what's wrong?" he asked with concern.
"Hey you used my name," she said carefully trying to avoid the issue.
"What is wrong?"
"Nothing, like you care anyway."
"No but you may when the mainframe deletes you."
"Why would they do that?"
"For act.for being too human. You have been an Agent for less than a week and you've gone AWOL once already."
"It won't happen ever again. I already told you that."
"Do you regret your decision to join us?"
"What decision? You were going to kill me remember? I never made any.No, I don't regret it."
"How do you feel about the rebels?"
"They all must die."
"Good. Do you want to be human again?" She wasn't as quick to answer this time.
"It's not even possible," she said at last. She avoided his eyes, suddenly very interested in the small pieces of dust on the floor of the gym.
"But if I was possible.would you want to?"
"If it's not possible why are you even asking," she said flatly, still not having answered the question.
"This is why this had never been attempted before. Agents can't allow themselves to be affected by emotions."
"I'm not affected. It just gets confusing. Think of a quick plan and it's a good thing. Make any sort of joke or use slang and it's a bad thing."
"You have to find a balance."
*****
Though they didn't see each other again, Stef and Jesse spoke a few more times over the next few days. She still thought he had no idea she was an Agent. They agreed to meet at the warehouse exactly as they had arranged the day at the theatre.
They sat together at the back of the warehouse as more humans filed in. Some were rebels that Stef recognized from the security files; most were rebel recruits.
"So when is this 'Neo' getting here?"
"He'll be here soon. Then things will start."
"Is he that special?"
"Yes," he leant closer to her and smiled. His game was to keep her fooled as long as possible, playing the innocent, pretending not to know what she was. Stef smiled back, humans were so gullible.
He smiled again; Stef wasn't very good at being a poker face. She wanted to laugh but in case it blew her cover she tried to cover it, the resulting noise was a mutated cough.
"Are you all right Stef?"
"I just need some air." She got up and walked outside. Looking up at the digitized night sky she remembered Smith's question.
~ ~ "Do you want to be human again?"
She decided right then and there her choice. It would be the choice she lived by no matter what. She would give him her answer after the impending fight.
Stef moved around the corner of the warehouse so none of the arriving rebels could see her. She put herself into communication mode. She appeared in Smith's office.
"Cool. I'm not standing in the middle of a chair."
'Mimosa?'
'Anderson is there.here.Anderson has arrived.'
'Good.'
She pulled herself out of communication mode and walked back into the warehouse. She turned her head away as she entered so Neo wouldn't see her. She sat back down next to Jesse.
Neo launched into a speech that he obviously learnt from Morpheus. "That's Neo," Jesse whispered. "He's a great man." Neo kept talking and felt laughing; the part he was saying now was word-for-word what Morpheus had spoken to her on that fateful night.
As Neo talked, he looked down at all the rebels he knew and the new recruits. He found the face he was looking for. He stopped talking when he saw Stef. She smiled at him wondering who would make the first move.
"Stef? You know him?" Jesse asked, still feigning innocence.
"Things are going to start now," she said.
"I don't think so," he said in a different tone. He was using his real voice, which was much harsher than the soft voice he had always used with Stef. She stared at him, trying to figure out what he meant. "You really thought I didn't know? I've known all along."
"Then why is Neo doing his little speech thing?"
"These recruits are real, just extra insurance to make sure you don't get away." Stef stood and looked at Neo.
"All this is for me?"
Neo didn't nod or even blink. He drew his gun and shot her. He smiled as her body was flung back. The smile disappeared when the body reverted back to the human she had morphed into.
He morphed from a rebel recruit near him. Everyone was in too much shock to move.
"The appropriate thoughts Mr. Anderson are; 'oh shit. She's an Agent now and she is going to kill you all.' Oh, and all the hard lines in a three mile radius have been cut so there's no chance of escape."
The last part was a lie. It was really a five-mile radius.
The other agents showed up a minute later. Many of the rebel recruits made a run for it and were allowed to escape; scared they would spread rumors of a dangerous underground war.
A few of the rebels also escaped, trying to make it outside the five mile dead zone so they could get out to their ships. Neo held off the agents so that his friends could escape, knowing it was unlikely that they could kill him.
Once everyone else was either dead or gone Neo flew up and through the roof.
With nothing more to do, Brown and Jones left. 'Why is Anderson so hard to kill?' Stef asked Smith.
'That is unknown.'
'You asked if I wanted to be human again?' Smith nodded, 'Not that it was even possible but you asked anyway.'
'Yes.' He waited patiently for her answer.
'I have an answer for you.' He looked at her expectantly.
'Two words. Hell and no.'
The End.
Author: Stormhawk
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: This all belongs to The W Brothers and Warner Brothers. And the Agents, don't forget the agents. Stef is mine.
Notes: Part of the Agents series.
Thought you might like to know the meaning of the name Mimosa. It means imitative. AKA, false, mimetic, deceptive. Quite appropriate for an agent.
A/N: I'm using the word Shift instead of disappear/appear to describe when agents 'teleport' themselves somewhere.
~ ~ Denotes remembered dialogue
Original Word Count: 3155 New Word Count: 4832
Summary: Picks up right where Agents left off. Stef has to deal with being an agent now. She goes AWOL to see a movie but ends up meeting a rebel.
Please Read and Review.
Brown and Jones had met the new agent; they were free to go so they left. Stef looked up at Smith. Her hint of a smile had given way to an open look of confusion.
"Smith, what the hell happened?"
"Isn't it obvious?" The other agent asked her.
"I know I died," Stef said slowly. "What am I?"
"You are an Agent now. You no longer have a human body, you exist as pure code now."
"Does this usually happen to recruits?"
"No. It's never happened before."
"Why me?"
"The mainframe deemed you fit to become an Agent. You have a quick-thinking mind, quick-thinking is a difficult subroutine to write."
"Thanks," Agents have a strange way of phasing compliments but Stef was getting better at picking them out.
"Don't thank me. Thank yourself."
"If I'm an agent now why do I still feel the same? I'm still me." It was true; if he hadn't said anything and she hadn't known she had died she would have sworn she was still human.
"Then the transfer was successful."
"I'm going to kill Anderson."
"You can try. There are a few more abilities that you have now that you are an Agent. A few more tricks than a recruit can do."
"Such as?" He didn't respond verbally. He responded by drawing his gun and shooting her. She felt the bullet hit her before she had a chance to react.
Stef opened her eyes and found herself in a strange place, composed entirely of scrolling green code. She realized that she was looking at the Matrix itself. A second later she was pulled out and found herself on the street next to the Agency.
"That is one trick." Smith said as he walked out the building.
"Warn me next time before you shoot me."
"It doesn't matter. Agents don't die."
"Well what else can I do?"
"The next is communication," She heard him say but hadn't seen his mouth move. She turned and saw a copy of him talking to her.
"You don't need to change locations to communicate. You can project a copy of your image to speak to another Agent for a short amount of time. You can also change your location.."
"Do the disappearing act?"
"It's called shifting. Both are just requirements."
"Cool."
Smith removed his white earpiece and motioned for her to do the same. "You may want to drop most of your human expressions and emotions. This is only a trial. If you are seen as too human the mainframe will delete you. Your quick thinking brain won't save you if the mainframe perceives you to be a risk."
"What's this got to do with anything?" Stef asked flicking the earpiece that was dangling down beside her neck.
"It relays everything you see, hear and think to the mainframe. Removed the mainframe is still aware of you but to a lesser extent."
Stef replaced her earpiece as Smith did. "Well, what do I do now?"
"There are no assignments at the moment. Practice your new abilities and be in the conference room in half an hour."
"Why?"
"Mainframe briefing," he said as he disappeared.
After half an hour of practice, Stef was quite good with her new abilities, and had only gotten stuck in walls twice. She also practiced morphing in and out of humans.
At twenty-eight minutes and four seconds she walked along the corridor toward the conference room. She went to open the door but stopped as she heard Brown talking in a low hissing voice.
"She is not a good idea. I voiced my opinion but the mainframe didn't listen."
"If she is too much trouble then she will be deleted."
"I won't wait for deletion if starts to act like Whi."
He abruptly cut himself off; Stef leant closer to the door to see if he was just talking quieter. Someone grabbed her right shoulder and spun her, Stef punched in reaction. Brown caught the fist and held it tight. He squeezed it so tight that Stef swore she heard one of the bones break before he let it go.
"Were you eavesdropping?" He growled.
"Not really. I heard you talking and didn't want to interrupt."
"What are you doing her anyway?"
"Smith told me to come."
"Only true Agents come to briefings."
"I am an Agent remember?"
"Is there a problem?" Smith said coming from the other end of the corridor.
Stef glared at Brown, "no. No problem."
They went into the conference room. They sat around a long table and another Agent appeared at the head of the table. It had no other function than to relay news from the mainframe.
It was quite boring for Stef. She noticed that even the other Agents seemed to think it was a bit dry. She thought of it of a boring class, she was tempted to require a paper airplane and throw it at the mouth-of-the- mainframe.
She managed to avoid laughing but a smirk appeared on her face without intending to leave.
Not having anything else to do Stef went to the gym. Quart and Enid, two of the other recruits were there, sparring. They turned and looked at her, she looked exactly the same, five feet five inches tall, the same short brown hair, pale skin from too much time in front of a computer screen but there was something intangibly different about her. And they knew what it was.
"Hi," Stef said cheerfully as she required her tracksuit. She received cold stares from the other two.
"What'd I do?"
"You're an Agent now aren't you?" Quart said in what approached an accusing tone.
"How'd you find out?"
"Brown told us."
"Oh. Where are Jack and Lisa?"
"They're dead."
"But I only saw them yesterday."
"You haven't been around for a month." Enid said.
"A month?"
"Yeah, a month. Jack and Lisa didn't become Agents, what makes you so damned special?" Quart said angrily, Jack had been his best friend.
"I don't know," Stef said honestly. She felt quite unwelcome so she shifted to her room. A month? It didn't feel like it had been that long. She sat at her computer and saw a new icon on her desktop. Inbox.
Stef couldn't help but laugh. The Agency had the Internet? In curiosity she opened it. It was a little different from a standard email program; it had updates from the mainframe and standard assignments for Agents with nothing to do.
She browsed through a few - they were all surveillance sites; most were colleges and schools, a few clubs. She sighed; she had nothing else to do so she decided to pick one. Randomly she swirled her finger and around and chose one.
Figuring they would probably get pissed off at her if disappeared without telling someone she shifted to Smith's office.
"Mimosa." he said as soon as she appeared. She looked around for the chair she usually sat in but it was gone. He was staring at something so she followed his gaze. She had shifted so that her legs went through the seat of the chair.
She chuckled nervously and shifted out. "Yes Mimosa?"
"I'm going to do some surveillance work as suggested by an email from the mainframe."
"Do you know how to do surveillance work?"
"Um.no I don't."
"It's simple that's why recruits usually do it. All you have to so is keep an eye out for rebels and neutralize them if you discover any of them."
"Sounds good."
Stef shifted from the Agency and morphed from a human in the club she had chosen to survey. Her suit immediately attracted the wrong sort of attention. The kind of attention that would make rebels notice her and run.
Thinking for a few seconds she required some clothes that didn't sell her out as an Agent. It attracted a few surprised looks from some drunken patrons but no one sober saw her.
The supposed simple surveillance work turned into a small-scale street war when Stef found a few rebels recruiting more for their side. After she shot three of them she found out that there were quite a few more than half a dozen so she called for back up.
Smith appeared first, having shifted as soon as he received the call. Brown and Jones came a few seconds later with the two recruits. There were no exits for a few miles around so they had a chance to eliminate them.
Quart was taking on three rebels by himself, Enid screamed 'duck' a few seconds too late, a fourth rebel had joined his fight and shot him in the back. Enid forgot that she was in the middle of a war and ran to help him even though he was clearly dead.
As she dropped down next to him the same rebel that had ended Quart's life ended hers as well.
Brown and Jones had gotten themselves shot and were taking their time returning. It was probably unnecessary as there were only half a dozen rebels left. Stef shot another but a large man lunged at her from behind.
She tried to shoot him but he knocked the gun out of her hand. She struggled to get free but he was strong for a human. She required another gun but couldn't get at the right angle to shoot him.
Smith shot the other four rebels and turned to Stef and her captor. The rebel thought Stef was just another recruit. He saw the other Agent train his gun on him but he held as a shield.
"Takes time to train them doesn't it?" he blustered, trying to prolong his life a little. "Let me go and I let her go. You can't shoot me without shooting her." Stef smiled wryly and Smith fired, the bullet passed through her and shot the man.
"You enjoy shooting me don't you?" Stef said appearing in front of him. Smith was slightly confused, there hadn't been anyone for her to morph from and it would have taken longer for her to morph then shift back.
"How did you." he started to ask how she had morphed and shifted so quickly but heard a gunshot first.
He spun quickly and took the bullet himself, Stef shot the rebel herself and checked the others were dead.
"Come with me," Smith said appearing in communication. He disappeared and Stef shifted back to his office.
"What? And why did you get shot? Thanks but it wasn't necessary."
"Actually it was. I neglected to mention this but I didn't think I would have to spoon-feed you with every piece of information. You do have files to access."
Stef didn't say anything; an angry Smith is not something to be trifled with. "Well," she said slowly, "what did I do or didn't do that should have or shouldn't have done?"
"There is a reason we morph into human bodies."
"Yeah - that is.?"
"So that batteries and not Agents die."
"Oh. Ok."
"Not in morph an Agent can die by whatever means can kill a human. Anywhere except here that is."
"Is there anything else I should know?"
"I don't believe so but you should study your files."
"Did you just tell me to go do homework?"
"Mimosa."
"Sorry. I'm on an adrenaline high from the fight." She smirked but then reconsidered her last statement. She didn't have adrenaline anymore. Or any brain chemicals for that matter. Or even a brain. Just code.
"Anything else for me to do?"
"Not at the moment."
"I'll be in the gym," she said as she shifted to the gym and as she appeared she changed into her tracksuit. It's just going to take some time to get used to. She was sure in few days.weeks.months.that she would get used to the idea that she was nothing more than code.
She jumped up onto the balance beam and as she jumped around in midair she started to relax. Halfway through a jump she realized what day it was. For months she had been waiting for a movie to premiere. It started today. For a few fleeting seconds she wished she was human again.
Then again, there was nothing for her to do. They probably wouldn't miss he if she disappeared for a few hours. Shrugging, she shifted from the gym and morphed from a homeless man near the theatre.
The last two things before pulling her earpiece out was require a new set of clothes and some money for a ticket. She was getting to used to the leather jacket she always required when she needed someone to think that she was human, it was comfortable and fit perfectly.
As she paid for her ticket she prayed there wouldn't be any screaming brats. Then again, she still had her Desert Eagle; she hadn't let it slip away when she'd changed her clothes. You never know when a powerful handgun was going to come in handy.
She walked up into the cinema and managed to get a seat in the back row. As the seats filled she realized that she might have to sit next to someone. A human. She was still getting used to the idea that she wasn't human anymore but even before all this had happened she had been an outcast.
"Is anyone sitting here?" a male voiced as the room dimmed and the trailers started.
"No," Stef answered curtly. A guy her age sat down.
"Thanks. This is a great seat," he answered enthusiastically.
"It's just a seat," she hated peppy people. All the way through the movie she found herself making whispered conversation with the guys, whose name was Jesse, until people told them to shut up.
As the house lights went up and the end credits started Stef's eyes absently swung around the theatre. She saw Smith at the front of the theatre.
"Shit," she whispered under her breath. Stef swallowed, knowing she was in trouble. She was going to be in big trouble.
Her feeling of impending doom was swept away for a minute when she realized Jesse had gone missing. No, he wasn't missing. He was hiding. He was crouched in front of their seats behind the next row.
"Stef," he whispered, "the guy in the suit down the bottom. Is he still standing there?"
Aha! He was a rebel. They were the only ones who got scared when they saw an Agent. "Yes," she said evenly.
"Shit," came his whispered reply. Smith looked up and saw her; she gave him a pointed look. He took the hint and walked out of the cinema.
"He's gone, you can get up." Jesse pulled himself to his feet; he was covered in old popcorn so he brushed himself down. Playing the innocent Stef asked, "What was that all about?"
"I can't tell you. I don't want to put you in danger."
She almost laughed in his face, "I don't scare easily."
"If you knew what I knew, you would." His phone rang and he walked a few feet away so he could talk in private.
"If you knew what I was, you'd be the scared one," she said under her breath. He ended the call and turned back to her.
"I have to go. My friends are waiting for me."
Friends - more rebels. She stopped her hand from drifting toward her gun. But then again, one now was worth more than the few they might get if they learned the location of his ship.
"Goodbye Stef," he said.
"Bye Jesse," she said with a totally different meaning hidden behind her words as she went to draw her gun. His next statement stopped her.
"Would you like to meet them? You might be interested in what they have to say."
"When?" Stef smiled; if they could kill a lot of rebels it might make them forget about the fact that she went AWOL to see a movie.
"Thursday. A whole bunch of us are getting together. There's an old warehouse on Hook Street near the docks. Can you meet me there at ten PM?"
"Of course."
"See you then," he said as he left. She followed him as he left the building, checking over his shoulder for a sign of Smith or any other Agents. Besides the one he had spent two hours talking to that is.
Stef idled around in the foyer waiting for Smith to show up.
"What were you doing here Agent Mimosa?" he asked placing very heavy emphasis on the word Agent.
Skating around the issue she decided to tell him the news, "I just got an invite to join the rebels." His look would have killed most.
Shaking his head in disbelief he looked down at her. He spoke slowly like a parent to a small child or a teacher to a slow student. "You are aware that you are an Agent now? And fighting the rebels?"
"Yes. I just met a rebel. We talked and I saw the movie with him. He gave me the location of a warehouse they are going to use to take more rebel recruits from the Matrix."
"You could have said that first."
"Sorry sir."
"You're going to stick to that story?"
"Yes, it's the truth." She said with conviction, hoping he would believe her. He nodded.
"Of course. How was the movie?"
"It was great. I've been waiting months for it to." She cut herself off. She'd been caught. She smiled guiltily at him. To her surprise, he didn't look angry.
'Keep your guard up Mimosa. Always keep your guard up. It may have been a mistake to go AWOL but there was a good result. More rebels will be eliminated.'
"Am I in trouble?"
"Never do it again Mimosa."
"Yes sir," she said and she meant it. "Smith you can call me Stef, Mimosa gets boring. I do have a first name."
"Mimosa." he said in his you're-acting-too-human tone.
"Stef. Just do me the favor and say the word Stef."
He sighed; she wouldn't leave it alone until he submitted. "Stef."
"You are capable of saying it. I thought there might be a gap in your code that prevented it."
Smith didn't respond he seemed to be very interested in the blank wall behind her head. "What's wrong Smith? Am I boring you?"
"Mimosa, you always bore me."
"Are you sure you don't have a sense of humor? And it's Stef." She said as they both shifted back to the Agency.
"Explain your absence recruit," Brown asked as soon as she appeared. Agent Brown the one person in the world who able to wipe Stef's smirk off her face in one statement.
"I was making contact with a rebel and it's Agent."
"You didn't have orders."
"I was doing surveillance work. Meeting the rebel was an unexpected bonus." Brown looked past her to Smith who nodded. He turned and walked away but spun back when he heard a phone ring.
Agents don't carry cell phones. Agents don't need cell phones. His eyes narrowed dangerously, Stef's smirk replaced itself. Brown walked away in disgust. Stef walked a few down the corridor before answering it.
Smith went to say something but she held her finger up to her lips to hush him. "Hi Jesse."
*****
On his ship in the real world, Jesse, who usually went by Jargon had his crew track Stef's cell to see her location in the Matrix. Her location showed a café near the cinema. Having only required the phone when he asked for her number she had also configured it to show normal places instead of the Agency.
"Is something wrong?" Stef asked.
"No, nothing. I was wondering if you were still up for Thursday?"
"Of course. Why would I miss it?"
"No reason, I just wanted to be sure. Someone special is coming."
"Who? I don't even know what this is all about. Is it a celebrity or something?"
"Of sorts. He's important to my friends."
"He? Does he have a name?"
"You'll find out on Thursday."
"But Jesse," Stef said, her voice had gone all silky and sweet, "can't you tell me now?"
"I shouldn't really."
"But," she said in the same voice, "it's just me Jesse. Don't you trust me?"
"Well, it is just a name. His name is Neo."
"Interesting name, I'll see you on Thursday."
"Bye Stef.wait, do you want to meet up before then?"
Stef sighed inaudibly, but then again he just thought she was some girl. "Sure, when?"
"How about the park on Third? Ten tomorrow morning?"
"Ok, I'll be there," she said and ended the call. She snickered as she put her phone back in her pocket. "Neo's going to be there."
"If there's not an exit we have a chance to eliminate him," Smith said apparently relishing the chance.
"We can order all the hard lines within the area cut."
"Good."
"But not until he shows up in case he uses one as an entrance."
Time to do or die. 'Can I be excused from killing rebels tomorrow?'
"Why?" Smith asked suspiciously. "You just had a day off."
"I have to meet that rebel again."
"Why?"
For all his subroutines, he wasn't very smart. "Because he wants to meet up that's why. It's a human thing that's why you don't understand. He's thinks I'm human and if I don't go it would make him suspicious."
"I assume this is what qualifies as a date?"
"No." Smith's quizzical smile appeared. "Don't look at me like that Smith. It's no more than a deception."
"Fine. Have a good time anyway." She slapped her head then punched him in the arm.
*****
On his ship, Jargon turned to Neo. "This Agent is one clever bitch isn't she?"
"Too clever, that's why we have to get rid of her."
One of the other crewmembers turned around, "I thought it was impossible to kill an Agent."
"She's not an Agent. She's just one of their recruits and as easily killed anyone of us."
*****
They met in the park the next day. Both kept up the pretense that they didn't know each other's true nature. He left a few hours later making some pathetic excuse about a doctor's appointment he had just remembered. Stef thought it was more likely that the squids were approaching his ship and he wanted to leave before they used the EMP and killed him.
Stef shifted back to the Agency when no one as looking at her. Since there was nothing to do she went to the gym. Halfway though one of her jumps she heard Smith's voice.
"Report." She stopped in midair and looked down at him. Shrugging she landed beside him.
"Report what?"
"Did you learn anything of significance?"
"No."
"No names or locations of rebels in the matrix or the real world?"
"Nut."
"Mimosa did you learn anything?"
"Nothing important. Besides the fact that ice-cream doesn't taste as nice anymore."
Smith removed his earpiece and though confused Stef did the same thing. "Stef - what's wrong?" he asked with concern.
"Hey you used my name," she said carefully trying to avoid the issue.
"What is wrong?"
"Nothing, like you care anyway."
"No but you may when the mainframe deletes you."
"Why would they do that?"
"For act.for being too human. You have been an Agent for less than a week and you've gone AWOL once already."
"It won't happen ever again. I already told you that."
"Do you regret your decision to join us?"
"What decision? You were going to kill me remember? I never made any.No, I don't regret it."
"How do you feel about the rebels?"
"They all must die."
"Good. Do you want to be human again?" She wasn't as quick to answer this time.
"It's not even possible," she said at last. She avoided his eyes, suddenly very interested in the small pieces of dust on the floor of the gym.
"But if I was possible.would you want to?"
"If it's not possible why are you even asking," she said flatly, still not having answered the question.
"This is why this had never been attempted before. Agents can't allow themselves to be affected by emotions."
"I'm not affected. It just gets confusing. Think of a quick plan and it's a good thing. Make any sort of joke or use slang and it's a bad thing."
"You have to find a balance."
*****
Though they didn't see each other again, Stef and Jesse spoke a few more times over the next few days. She still thought he had no idea she was an Agent. They agreed to meet at the warehouse exactly as they had arranged the day at the theatre.
They sat together at the back of the warehouse as more humans filed in. Some were rebels that Stef recognized from the security files; most were rebel recruits.
"So when is this 'Neo' getting here?"
"He'll be here soon. Then things will start."
"Is he that special?"
"Yes," he leant closer to her and smiled. His game was to keep her fooled as long as possible, playing the innocent, pretending not to know what she was. Stef smiled back, humans were so gullible.
He smiled again; Stef wasn't very good at being a poker face. She wanted to laugh but in case it blew her cover she tried to cover it, the resulting noise was a mutated cough.
"Are you all right Stef?"
"I just need some air." She got up and walked outside. Looking up at the digitized night sky she remembered Smith's question.
~ ~ "Do you want to be human again?"
She decided right then and there her choice. It would be the choice she lived by no matter what. She would give him her answer after the impending fight.
Stef moved around the corner of the warehouse so none of the arriving rebels could see her. She put herself into communication mode. She appeared in Smith's office.
"Cool. I'm not standing in the middle of a chair."
'Mimosa?'
'Anderson is there.here.Anderson has arrived.'
'Good.'
She pulled herself out of communication mode and walked back into the warehouse. She turned her head away as she entered so Neo wouldn't see her. She sat back down next to Jesse.
Neo launched into a speech that he obviously learnt from Morpheus. "That's Neo," Jesse whispered. "He's a great man." Neo kept talking and felt laughing; the part he was saying now was word-for-word what Morpheus had spoken to her on that fateful night.
As Neo talked, he looked down at all the rebels he knew and the new recruits. He found the face he was looking for. He stopped talking when he saw Stef. She smiled at him wondering who would make the first move.
"Stef? You know him?" Jesse asked, still feigning innocence.
"Things are going to start now," she said.
"I don't think so," he said in a different tone. He was using his real voice, which was much harsher than the soft voice he had always used with Stef. She stared at him, trying to figure out what he meant. "You really thought I didn't know? I've known all along."
"Then why is Neo doing his little speech thing?"
"These recruits are real, just extra insurance to make sure you don't get away." Stef stood and looked at Neo.
"All this is for me?"
Neo didn't nod or even blink. He drew his gun and shot her. He smiled as her body was flung back. The smile disappeared when the body reverted back to the human she had morphed into.
He morphed from a rebel recruit near him. Everyone was in too much shock to move.
"The appropriate thoughts Mr. Anderson are; 'oh shit. She's an Agent now and she is going to kill you all.' Oh, and all the hard lines in a three mile radius have been cut so there's no chance of escape."
The last part was a lie. It was really a five-mile radius.
The other agents showed up a minute later. Many of the rebel recruits made a run for it and were allowed to escape; scared they would spread rumors of a dangerous underground war.
A few of the rebels also escaped, trying to make it outside the five mile dead zone so they could get out to their ships. Neo held off the agents so that his friends could escape, knowing it was unlikely that they could kill him.
Once everyone else was either dead or gone Neo flew up and through the roof.
With nothing more to do, Brown and Jones left. 'Why is Anderson so hard to kill?' Stef asked Smith.
'That is unknown.'
'You asked if I wanted to be human again?' Smith nodded, 'Not that it was even possible but you asked anyway.'
'Yes.' He waited patiently for her answer.
'I have an answer for you.' He looked at her expectantly.
'Two words. Hell and no.'
The End.