The Matrix Series

Season One: The Virus

Chapter Two: Something Off

In a large, white room filled with the blinding light of electric lamps that were nowhere to be seen, Matthew was seated in front of a futuristic-looking computer, pale face twisted into a smirk. "Problem solved," he stated. "I guarantee you that they won't wake up again."

The computer whirred thoughtfully. "But they can still be a problem. Their codes are not matching up with the program."

Matthew snorted. "That's why they're locked up tighter then Fort Knox, right?" the boy asked.

"Not all of them," the machine replied. "We need some of them to complete the program, but I do not know just how long the program will be able to control them. Did you find what I asked of you?"

The black-haired child sighed in frustration. "The answer is still no! Whoever the heck organized this place seemed to want to make sure no one would be able to find it, let alone put it in operation."

The computer, if human, would have most likely shrugged at that point. "Just keep looking. I feel this very instant something ... or someone, rather ... is watching us."

Instantly an explosion of neon-green light enveloped the room, and everything went dark as Matthew and the computer vanished.

Crystal slowly opened her blue eyes, sitting up as she groaned slightly and rubbed her head, looking around. She could see nothing – just an endless sea of pure, spaceless, limitless black. She frowned, crossing her arms. "Not again ..." the little girl murmured to herself.

What was this place? She remembered having a nightmares about something like this once, around a year ago, and that surely couldn't be a good sign. Even now, months later, she could recall every detail perfectly, almost as if it was yesterday ...

Flashback

Crystal sat bolt upright in bed, panting hard as she trembled all over, clutching the blankets in a death grip as she whimpered softly. She had just awoken from a very scary nightmare, but it wasn't a normal nightmare, it seemed far too real and ... suddenly, the bedroom door opened, and the four-year-old jerked her head up to see her adoptive sister standing in the doorway. "What happened, Sugar Cube?" she asked, walking over. "Another nightmare?"

Clarion sat on the edge of the bed, and Crystal nodded, trying her best not to cry, but it was hard. She was so scared ... "Was it a monster?" her sister asked.

The child nodded a second time, leaning over to quickly whisper the dream in Clarion's ear, and once she finished, Clarion sighed and pulled her into a warm hug. Crystal snuggled against her chest. "You won't let that happen, will you?" she murmured.

Clarion smiled. "Of course not. Now, good night, Sugar Cube. Dream with me, and I'll kill every monster that tries to scare you again, okay?"

The red-head kissed her sister's forehead, causing her to giggle and relax in her arms. Within a few minutes, the little one finally fell asleep, and Clarion gently tucked her back underneath the covers, standing up as she left the room and closed the door behind her, leaving it open a crack. As soon as she was gone, Crystal opened her blue eyes and slipped out of bed, stealthily tip-toeing over to the door and pressing her ear against it. She could faintly hear Clarion's voice saying, "We have a big problem, Dad. She's having nightmares about Turbo."

"But she doesn't even know about Turbo!" Crystal heard their father, Felix, protest.

End of Flashback

Crystal quickly shook her head in confusion. How could she dream about things she wasn't even supposed to know existed or were real? Did that mean those dreams were real? Maybe that could explain the darkness around her, but what could she do about that? She was still only four years old, much to young to really do anything ...

But she still had to try. Everyone kept telling her she was much more intelligent then her age, and now was the time to prove them right.

Or wrong.

Clarion snapped open her neon-blue eyes, and her gaze met with a white ceiling. Wrinkling her nose, she sat up, feeling a bit dizzy, and looked around the cozy room she somehow found herself in. She was laying in a bed made entirely out of white chocolate, with fluffy, marshmallow pillows white blankets spun out of cotton-candy. The walls were painted a pale blue, the floor and ceiling white, and the curtains in the open windows were a bright, sapphire blue. At the bed-s side was a small table made out of white chocolate, and on it was a book. The book had a blue cover, no illustrations on the front at all, but the title across it, written in white, was Life in the Arcade.

That was probably what she was reading before she fell asleep, but strangely, the room didn't seem very real to her, as if it was just part of a dream ... pushing aside those thoughts, as they were pure nonsense, of course this wasn't a dream, she opened the drawer of the night table. Just to check, she felt she needed to write something, anything, to prove this was all real. Nothing was inside. Clarion frowned as she realized the book didn't have a pen or pencil with it, and no such writing tool was on the desk either.

She looked around the room a second time. Besides what she had already noticed, she spotted a white chocolate wardrobe and several drawings and sketches on the wall, which showed her with the other Sugar Rush Racers, even with Taffyta. Why does Taffyta being friends with me seem like such a strange concept? she asked herself, getting up out of bed and running over to the wardrobe.

After quickly dressing, Clarion opened one of the wardrobe drawers and found, lying inside, a notebook and pencil, certainly not from Sugar Rush judging by the fact they weren't made out of any candy or food material. Now why do outside items also seem like a strange concept for me to grasp? she asked herself again, sitting cross-legged on the floor as she opened the notebook and began scribbling basic information.

"Name: Pammy Cotton Candy"

She tapped her chin, studying the name. "Mm ... no ..."

The girl wrote underneath the first name "Pamela Ramirez Jackson", but that somehow also seemed wrong. What was her name again? Why was she having trouble remembering it? Clarion thought hard, chewing on the end of her pencil, then finally wrote a random name that popped into her head – "Clarion Jackson Grace Fix-It".

"Fix-It?" she asked herself, now even more confused.

Why the heck would she have a name like that? But it seemed right, or at least, almost right. She risked a forth line and wrote "Clarion Grace Jackson". She smiled, as for some strange reason, she felt satisfied. Those two seemed correct to her. "Now, let me see ... age? That's easy, nine ... wait, no, ten ... mm, better fourteen. Yeah, defiantly fourteen."

Smirking, she wrote "Age: 14"

"Now, family ..."

Clarion quickly wrote, "Family: A twin bro, Aaron Jackson Grace Fix-It aka James Robert Grace. And parents ..."

She stopped again, frowning slightly. Why was that part so hard to remember? She noticed the names Jackson, Grace, and Fix-It were appearing again without her even being aware of writing them, but she couldn't remember why those names were coming up. She shrugged. "Okay, let's go to the next one."

"Home: Sugar Rush Speedway"

Wait. That didn't look right either ... after a moment of pondering, she finally risked it and wrote a "?" next to the game. "All right! Now name the people in the pictures ..."

Clarion looked up at the drawings. "... Well, that's easy. But why's it easy to remember them and not my parent's names?"

"Because you don't have any parents," a voice spoke up.

Clarion whipped her head around to see, standing in the doorway, a young girl with black hair sprinkled with candy bits and hazel-brown eyes, dressed in a regal, pink and white formal dress, covered with sugar that could almost be glitter and better defining the word "royal gown" then "formal dress". Vanellope von Schweetz! "President!" she exclaimed with a startled gasp, not expecting to see the ruler there.

Wait, why had she said President? Vanellope seemed to notice as well and giggled. "Princess!" she corrected cheerfully.

Now Clarion was getting confused all over again. I don't remember Vanellope being called President, but it seems right, and yet she's a Princess, not a President, and why does her attitude just seem ... off somehow? she thought curiously, letting a deep sigh escape her. Why can't I remember anything? Ugh, what the heck's wrong with me?!

"I do too have parents!" the red-head finally protested hotly, crossing her arms, blue eyes flashing. "I know I'm not supposed to have any, but I do! I just can't remember them at the moment. And why the fudge are you even here?"

Vanellope frowned. "Now, now, that's not the way you are to speak to your Princess," she answered haughtily. "And you're acting very strange lately, Pammy. I warned you about reading those stupid science-fiction books! Oh, and by the way, the Arcade will open in five minutes."

Clarion raised an eyebrow. "But ... but today's Sunday!" she exclaimed.

The President-or-Princess girl stared at her strangely. "No, it's Monday," she corrected her, also raising an eyebrow. "What did you do all day? Sleep?"

Clarion thought about that. So far, that's what it sure seemed like, but if she was sleeping, then she couldn't be reading that book she saw. And if it wasn't the book, then where had those memory fragments of green lights and watches come from? Why did she remember them ... ugh, she needed more time to think about all this, but now, it was time to race. She could try and figure out what was going on when the Arcade closed again ...

James woke up to the forever-annoying sound of someone knocking on his door. He groaned. "I know, Mom, I know, I'm coming ..." he muttered, thankful he was still in his normal clothes and not pajamas.

Maybe it wasn't his adoptive mother, since he didn't remember her knocking on his bedroom door like this when he was late in awakening. She'd have busted the door down by now. He snickered a bit at the thought, opening his blue eyes as he sat up and looked around. He was in a small, blue and white room with a bed, a wardrobe, a small table, and drawings tacked up on the walls. On the table was lying a blue book, reading across the front Life in the Arcade, and a calendar was hung on the wall next to a blue-curtained window. He assumed he was in Sugar Rush by the fact everything was candy, and somehow knew his room was almost identical to that of his twin sister's, but he couldn't recognize exactly where he was. "I have to stop reading before bed," he muttered, eyeing the book nearby.

The person knocked again, and James asked himself, Who in their right mind could that be on a Sunday morning?

His questioning thoughts vanished before he could grasp them, and he called, "Okay, I'm coming!" to the person at the door.

Quickly sliding out of bed and pulling on his boots and hat, he glanced at the calendar, which showed him, surprisingly, it was already Monday. That was weird, he didn't remember Sunday, so he had assumed that was today ... "What did I do the whole Sunday?" he muttered to himself, puzzled.

Walking over to his bedroom door, James grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open to reveal a young girl waiting impatiently outside. She was younger then him, with black hair and bright green eyes, and was dressed in a sparkly, royal-white dress. He recognized her as Lily von Schweetz, Vice-President of Sugar Rush Speedway. Vice-President? he thought to himself, confused. With a dress and a crown?

"Are you ready?" the girl asked him, sounding annoyed as her green eyes half-closed.

He blinked. "To ...?"

She frowned. "The Arcade will open in five minutes! You're never late, what's wrong with you?

James shrugged, running a hand through his red hair. "I don't know. Why am I even here?"

"Because this is your game!" Lily replied, grabbing his hand as she pulled him out of his room, down the stairs, and outside of the house.

James shook his head, yanking his hand away from her as he stopped at the front door of what he guessed was his house. "No, it's not! I know I have a job here, but I have a home and a family in ..."

He stopped. Why couldn't he remember where his family was? Who was his family? What was wrong with him?! "... I ... I can't remember, but I know I have one! And where's my sister?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Vanellope is getting her. Now, enough of your stupid stories, it's time to race!"

Finally. The Arcade was closed. Clarion rested her head against the seat of her kart, which was parked at the finish-line. Taking her notebook out of her jacket pocket, she let her blue eyes wander over the words. "Let me see ..." she murmured. "What else do I need ..."

She thought about that for a moment, and Vanellope approached her, crossing her arms as she stopped next to the driver's door. "Are you still thinking about all that nonsense about having a family?"

Clarion sighed. "I know it sounds strange! I just ... I feel like I missed something."

"Are you going to participate in the Random Roster Race tonight?" the black-haired Princess asked.

The red-head shook her head. "No. I need to find out what exactly I lost."

Vanellope rolled her eyes with a huff. "Then can you please get your kart off of the finish-line?" she asked sarcastically.

This time Clarion rolled her eyes. Yeesh, what was wrong with Vanellope? From what she remembered, she was fun and quirky and playful and always laughing, but this Vanellope ... reminded her of a Princess. A snobby, sophisticated, bratty Princess. Ugh. Straightening, Clarion started her engine and, stepping on the gas, spun around and raced away, hair whipping in the wind as she headed for the Rainbow Bridge leading to Sugar Rush's exit.

Screeching to a stop at the bottom of Rainbow Bridge, Clarion let herself relax a little as she looked up at the cotton-candy clouds, musing. "The last things I remember ... there was this green light ... green eyes ... codes scrolling ... everyone sleeping ... they were sleeping, I was sleeping, and ... I was with some friends ... and some of them were from Sugar Rush, but there were others ... they weren't Racers ... they were from somewhere else ... and ..."

She groaned. "Oh, come on! Why can't I remember them?!"

"You too?"

Clarion turned her head to see her twin brother, James, standing besides her kart, and she smiled. "Oh, hi bro. What's up?"

He sighed. "I dunno. I spent all day trying to remember something I forgot, but I can't recall it at all. Only a little bit."

She nodded. "I know. Our family. I can't remember them, but I know we have one, and yet Vanellope keeps saying we don't have any parents or siblings! Why? I don't understand, why does she think that?"

James paused. "Maybe ... maybe together, we can remember," he suggested.

Clarion chuckled, opening the side door and making space for her brother to sit down, and he slid in next to her, closing the door. He passed an arm around her neck while she rested her head on his shoulder, both of them gazing up at the plug exit, when suddenly, their eyes flashed neon-blue light at the exact same time. Instantly, their memories flooded back to them like a torrent, and it took a good five minutes before the flashbacks stopped and they could move again.

The twins blinked. "... Did you feel that?" Clarion asked, still a little stunned.

James smirked. "I said we could remember together, didn't I?"

She rolled her blue eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you're always right," she muttered softly.

He shook his head, red hair swaying. "No. You're always right. I just tried out being right for once."

Clarion smiled, then asked, "You want to go back home, now? Our real home?"

James grinned. "Are you kidding? I can't wait for it!"

Laughing, the two kids jumped out of the kart and ran up the sugary, Rainbow Bridge, jumping into the train once they reached the exit and letting it whisk them back to Game Central Station, staring at each other with wide smiles, their matching, blue eyes shining with excitement.

They were going home.

Moprheus stared out the window of his room, "seeing" the dark world of the realm of the Black Knight begin to light up again as it did every time the Arcade closed. Sonic said that gray clouds and no sun all the time was a bit too dreary, and honestly, Morpheus agreed with the Hedgehog on that point, despite not actually knowing what that meant. He supposed it had something to do with lack of light, but being blind, he had very little idea what that was either.

Everything was wrong. Morpheus didn't know exactly what was going on or why this was happening, but it was all wrong. The Matthew person couldn't fool him into thinking this was all real – it might work for people who could see, but he couldn't see, he could just sense. And everything he sensed was wrong. Worse yet, it was like he was the only one that both remembered the light and knew something was off. He'd tried telling Virtual, Rae, even Sandy, but they just thought he was being "odd" again.

Well, he'd just have to snap them out of it later. For now, he had to see whether or not the twins, or Jelly, or even Crystal remembered what had happened. Hopefully, their memories hadn't been erased or locked or whatever in Avalon was going on. The only question was ... why would somebody do that to everyone's memories? What purpose could that serve?

"Morph?"

Morpheus turned to see a yellow Cat with black hair standing in the doorway of his room, wearing a red and back dress with white Angel wings folded at her back. He nodded at her. "Hello, Melli."

The female, Mellius the Winged Glitch Cat, smiled. "Hey, the Round Table Knights are going to visit the Green Hills Zone back in Sonic's world – want to come along?"

The Cat paused, then shook his head. "No, thank you."

His girlfriend cocked her head, looking confused. "Huh? Why not?"

Morpheus stepped away from the window, withdrawing his blue lightsaber from his necklace, and faced her. "Is this real?" he asked.

Mellius blinked. "... What?"

He motioned around them. "This. What you see. Is this real?"

The yellow Cat looked even more confused. "Morph, what are you talking about?"

Morpheus sighed, looking back at the open window. "Dreams seem real while you are in them," he murmured softly. "But it is only when you wake up that you finally realize some things are actually strange ... because you never remember the beginning of a dream. You always end up right in the middle of what is happening ... so how did you end up here?"

He looked back at Honey. "If Sah asks where I am, tell him I will be gone for a while."

Moprheus gently pushed back her, walking out the door, and Mellius blinked, turning to watch him leave. "But ... but where are you going?"

He glanced back to "look" at her. "To Game Central Station. I must find the others."

Before the yellow Cat could say anything farther, Morpheus dissolved into shadows and vanished.

The train finally stopped at the game's exit, and twins leaped out, running into the crowded and bustling Game Central Station. Clarion noticed the Surge Protector didn't stop her, which she found somewhat strange, but shrugged it off. The Central was as busy as usual, so maybe the problem with lost memories was only with Sugar Rush, nothing a simple game reset couldn't fix.

At least, Clarion hoped that was it.

The duo quickly sprinted to Fix-It Felix Jr, jumping into the rickety karts that took them to the world of Niceland, but the second they stepped out of the train and into the game ... they felt something was horribly wrong. "The darkness could threaten us ..." James muttered.

Clarion rolled her eyes. Not that she thought her brother was wrong, it just sounded like he had gotten that phrase from a book. Just reading something was one thing, but she could never understand why he quoted things. But that wasn't the point. The first and most obvious sign that something was off was that, where East Niceland should be, was nothing but empty space and forest and a dump filled with smashed bricks. They stared at the dump in horror, and James finally managed to speak. "... You think we went back in time?" he asked shakily.

Clarion couldn't help but roll her bright blue eyes again. Well, he'd already turned the Core Four into ponies and almost herself as well, but her chameleon code had saved her, teleported Vanellope to a second dimension, followed by him teleporting all of the Sugar Rush Racers and transforming them into candy Smurfs, but back in time? He was exaggerating a bit. "No. Vanillary was already unlocked, and they remember us," she pointed out.

James had to agree with her on that point. "Okay, then let's look around!" he exclaimed, grabbing her hand and running with her over to the Niceland Apartments, in one of those rare moments where he was the head twin and not Clarion herself.

She let herself be dragged by her brother until they reached the apartments, where they found Gene standing at the entrance doors. That made Clarion hesitate, but James approached the short, squat man with his best, innocent-looking smile. "Hi, Gene!"

Gene turned and smiled. "Ah, hey kids! Come to invite us to another party?"

The twins shared a puzzled look. "Um ... no?" they answered at the same time.

The mayor raised an eyebrow. "So, what is it? You two never leave Sugar Rush except to give out party invitations!"

WHAT?!

Never leave Sugar Rush? What did that even mean? What was wrong? And why was Gene being so ... nice to them?

"Okay," Clarion replied, cutting off her thoughts as she pulled off her best lie for such a special – and important – occasion. "We weren't feeling very well all day, so Pres– I mean, Princess Vanellope, suggested that we do something different then usual, so we're just walking around, saying hi to some friends and all. You know."

She gave a nervous laugh, starting to back away as Gene stared at them, obviously confused. "So, uh, glad to see you, Gene, tell everyone we said hi!"

Clarion waved to him, smiling as she grabbed her brother's hand, and quickly spun around and walked away, pulling James with her. Once out of sight of the Nicelander mayor, James yanked away from her grip and asked, "What was that?!"

Clarion ran a hand through her red locks of hair with a sigh of frustration. "I don't know! I think something's really wrong here! What it is and what's started happening to these games to change them, we're gonna find out."

"How?" her twin questioned, tilting his head slightly.

She smiled. "Why, we'll begin where it all began, of course. The place we found Matthew."