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Chapter 10: The enemy
The corridors provided no hiding places, consequently, Silas had to rely on the element of surprise to ensure that his escape went unnoticed for as long as possible.
This task had been made slightly easier since he stole a silencer from a guard he had shot upon leaving his cell, no alarm had sounded, and the corridors remained relatively empty, hence, for the moment at least, things were going well.
The seemingly endless labyrinth of brick walls provided no obvious exit, Silas found that he could only go forward however, which at least suggested that he was going the right way.
A left turn put Silas face to face with a startled looking humanoid program. Unfortunately for him however, Silas' gun was already in his hand whereas his was still in its holster. He was dead before his hand touched his weapon.
***********************************************************
Smith was casually strolling back and forth between the two facing doors of the surveillance station, staring with an amused grin as Silas cut down the programs in his path.
"That's it, keep going, it all helps."
In the corner of his eye, Smith smiled sadistically at the image of Vengeance's broken and lifeless corpse lying on the floor of Silas' cell. Her death was an unexpected bonus, although part of him wished that he was the one that had done the deed.
Smith pushed the dead security program out of her seat and sat down. The chair was still warm. Things had gone better then he could have hoped for, all he needed to do was take care of Silas when he had served his purpose.
***********************************************************
Silas at last came to a room that was different from the endless corridor. It was dark, and hard to see. All he could make out were three sets of shelves, all of them empty. There was no noise, or no shadowy impressions to suggest that anyone else was in the room, but Silas still kept his gun pointed in front of him.
He felt around the room for anything that could that could be used to leave it. After a few moments, he came to a door on the other side of the room. Silas was forced to cover his eyes upon opening it, as the sudden light that burst through the door after it opened was almost blinding.
Silas found himself in another corridor. It looked familiar; there were rows of green doors that seemed to stretch on for miles. Then it clicked, 'Reloaded'.
Silas' fear gave way to hope as he wrapped his hand around the nearest door handle, which, annoyingly but not unexpectedly, proved to be locked.
"I don't have time for this." Silas whispered to himself as he smashed the door open with a needlessly powerful kick.
The doorway lead into a dark, empty and surprisingly spacious alleyway. The stars were out in full force, and Silas soon found himself scolding himself for stopping to admire the view.
He looked around for anything that he could barricade the door with, there was nothing however; soon enough Silas decided that the best course of action was to run like hell.
Passers by stared once again as Silas charged past them, and once again, he didn't really care, especially when his phone started to ring.
"Yeah?" He shouted into it.
"Bus station, straight ahead," Link's voice again, "you can't miss it. First payphone on the left."
Silas' pace increased, people were flinging themselves out of his way and hurling abuse shortly thereafter. Soon enough, the bus station, and the ringing payphone came into view.
Silas instinctively ducked at the sound of a gunshot from behind him, less then a second later, he saw his exit be torn apart by the bullet which had presumably accompanied the gunshot.
Looking back over his shoulder, Silas saw Smith staring at him, he was too far away to make out the expression on his face but if he had to guess, it would be one of amused contempt.
The pedestrians screamed and scattered, Silas tried to run but was blocked by the sea of fleeing pedestrians.
"Even if you could run," said the familiar voice of Smith, who had somehow closed the gap between himself and Silas in an infinitesimally short amount of time, "you'd be dead before your first step."
Silas found himself unable to do anything but stare at the former agent, he considered shooting at Smith, but knew that it would accomplish nothing.
"I feel I should thank you Mr. Cavallo."
"For what?"
"I didn't expect you to understand, didn't you find it odd that me, Smith, the supreme detester of humanity had sided himself with those that were trying to free every human in the Matrix?"
Silas' jaw fell open slightly, he had a vague idea of what was coming next, he just had a hard time believing it.
"There's dissention in the ranks of the New Order, there are many, like myself, who believe that humanity isn't worth the trouble it would take to free, and even if we succeeded, if history has taught us anything, it is that racial hatred on both sides, but mainly yours, would lead to yet another war. Consequently, when we remove weakness from the New Order, we will destroy everything on this world but those who are willing to join us. Do you understand me Mr. Cavallo? Or would you like me to talk slower?"
Silas digested this news with a mixture of confussion and fear.
"This," he stuttered, "You're what the Oracle warned me about?"
"Well not me exactly," Smith's voice was becoming dismissive, and impatient, "I'm not the leader of the new, New order, just a devout follower. But yes, if I'm not mistaken then the Oracle, as you insist on calling her, probably warned you about us, not that it will do much good now though.
"So," Silas began, a surprising calm filling him, the last time he had felt this was when the Nebuchadnezzar was about to be rammed by a Behemoth, it was the calm that precedes death.
"So," he began again, realising that he had stopped talking spontaneously, "what are you thanking me for?"
"You killed Vengeance, the leader of the fools who believe that peace. Not to mention a number of misguided enemies."
Shame began to fill Silas now, he had played right into the enemy's hands, and he hadn't even stopped to think what he might be doing, he was only focussed on escape.
Smith raised his gun to Silas' eyes.
"Goodbye Mr. Cavallo."
To be continued
Chapter 10: The enemy
The corridors provided no hiding places, consequently, Silas had to rely on the element of surprise to ensure that his escape went unnoticed for as long as possible.
This task had been made slightly easier since he stole a silencer from a guard he had shot upon leaving his cell, no alarm had sounded, and the corridors remained relatively empty, hence, for the moment at least, things were going well.
The seemingly endless labyrinth of brick walls provided no obvious exit, Silas found that he could only go forward however, which at least suggested that he was going the right way.
A left turn put Silas face to face with a startled looking humanoid program. Unfortunately for him however, Silas' gun was already in his hand whereas his was still in its holster. He was dead before his hand touched his weapon.
***********************************************************
Smith was casually strolling back and forth between the two facing doors of the surveillance station, staring with an amused grin as Silas cut down the programs in his path.
"That's it, keep going, it all helps."
In the corner of his eye, Smith smiled sadistically at the image of Vengeance's broken and lifeless corpse lying on the floor of Silas' cell. Her death was an unexpected bonus, although part of him wished that he was the one that had done the deed.
Smith pushed the dead security program out of her seat and sat down. The chair was still warm. Things had gone better then he could have hoped for, all he needed to do was take care of Silas when he had served his purpose.
***********************************************************
Silas at last came to a room that was different from the endless corridor. It was dark, and hard to see. All he could make out were three sets of shelves, all of them empty. There was no noise, or no shadowy impressions to suggest that anyone else was in the room, but Silas still kept his gun pointed in front of him.
He felt around the room for anything that could that could be used to leave it. After a few moments, he came to a door on the other side of the room. Silas was forced to cover his eyes upon opening it, as the sudden light that burst through the door after it opened was almost blinding.
Silas found himself in another corridor. It looked familiar; there were rows of green doors that seemed to stretch on for miles. Then it clicked, 'Reloaded'.
Silas' fear gave way to hope as he wrapped his hand around the nearest door handle, which, annoyingly but not unexpectedly, proved to be locked.
"I don't have time for this." Silas whispered to himself as he smashed the door open with a needlessly powerful kick.
The doorway lead into a dark, empty and surprisingly spacious alleyway. The stars were out in full force, and Silas soon found himself scolding himself for stopping to admire the view.
He looked around for anything that he could barricade the door with, there was nothing however; soon enough Silas decided that the best course of action was to run like hell.
Passers by stared once again as Silas charged past them, and once again, he didn't really care, especially when his phone started to ring.
"Yeah?" He shouted into it.
"Bus station, straight ahead," Link's voice again, "you can't miss it. First payphone on the left."
Silas' pace increased, people were flinging themselves out of his way and hurling abuse shortly thereafter. Soon enough, the bus station, and the ringing payphone came into view.
Silas instinctively ducked at the sound of a gunshot from behind him, less then a second later, he saw his exit be torn apart by the bullet which had presumably accompanied the gunshot.
Looking back over his shoulder, Silas saw Smith staring at him, he was too far away to make out the expression on his face but if he had to guess, it would be one of amused contempt.
The pedestrians screamed and scattered, Silas tried to run but was blocked by the sea of fleeing pedestrians.
"Even if you could run," said the familiar voice of Smith, who had somehow closed the gap between himself and Silas in an infinitesimally short amount of time, "you'd be dead before your first step."
Silas found himself unable to do anything but stare at the former agent, he considered shooting at Smith, but knew that it would accomplish nothing.
"I feel I should thank you Mr. Cavallo."
"For what?"
"I didn't expect you to understand, didn't you find it odd that me, Smith, the supreme detester of humanity had sided himself with those that were trying to free every human in the Matrix?"
Silas' jaw fell open slightly, he had a vague idea of what was coming next, he just had a hard time believing it.
"There's dissention in the ranks of the New Order, there are many, like myself, who believe that humanity isn't worth the trouble it would take to free, and even if we succeeded, if history has taught us anything, it is that racial hatred on both sides, but mainly yours, would lead to yet another war. Consequently, when we remove weakness from the New Order, we will destroy everything on this world but those who are willing to join us. Do you understand me Mr. Cavallo? Or would you like me to talk slower?"
Silas digested this news with a mixture of confussion and fear.
"This," he stuttered, "You're what the Oracle warned me about?"
"Well not me exactly," Smith's voice was becoming dismissive, and impatient, "I'm not the leader of the new, New order, just a devout follower. But yes, if I'm not mistaken then the Oracle, as you insist on calling her, probably warned you about us, not that it will do much good now though.
"So," Silas began, a surprising calm filling him, the last time he had felt this was when the Nebuchadnezzar was about to be rammed by a Behemoth, it was the calm that precedes death.
"So," he began again, realising that he had stopped talking spontaneously, "what are you thanking me for?"
"You killed Vengeance, the leader of the fools who believe that peace. Not to mention a number of misguided enemies."
Shame began to fill Silas now, he had played right into the enemy's hands, and he hadn't even stopped to think what he might be doing, he was only focussed on escape.
Smith raised his gun to Silas' eyes.
"Goodbye Mr. Cavallo."
To be continued