"For though we love both the truth and our friends, piety requires us to honour the truth first." - Aristotle
The phone rang, and his whole body jumped. His dark eyes wandered towards the producer of the ringing, his breathing quick and huffing. His lips pricked up at the corners and slowly, with a shaking hand, let go of the mouse and wrapped his fingers around the receiver. He slowly raised the receiver to his lips and spoke.
'…Hello?'
'What was the hold up?' A deep voice barked angrily.
'S-Sorry Flint, sir. N-New job and all…'
'Well keep your head screwed on. This is a dangerous game we're playing, and that's Captain Flint to you.' The voice reprimanded.
'Yes Captain Flint.' He sighed.
'Now, Link, are there any Agents nearby?'
Arresting the phone between his ear and shoulder, he scanned the screen, tapping on his keyboard. 'None Captain. You're safe.'
'Good, I'll give him his options soon.'
'Yes, Captain.' A low buzz came from the receiver and, sighing, put the phone down. He let out a sigh of relief and he could no longer hold back his grin.
Yes Link! You've finally done it! He wanted to cheer it so much from his inner elation, but he feared that his strict Captain would hear him from inside the Matrix. He didn't want to risk a court martial. But his elation couldn't be restrained within. After all that hard work! After all the hard work you put into your training, after all the competing you did for this spot, and now! You're aboard a ship as an operator, right where you belong! Tank and Dozer will be proud! I just know it! And if not, I'll show them how great I can be! He punched the air, laughing loudly. The Captains body twitched suddenly, and his hands covered his mouth in alarm. He peered at it, curious. But he breathed finally, Phew, normal body functions.
-/\*_;)(-
The portly man stirred in the armchair, a hand went to his head of short brown hair, scratching it in his grogginess. Pulling his hand away, blood and hair stained his palm. His small eyes widened behind his round glasses in shock. He looked up to the man stood over him, dressed up in a maroon jacket and deep red-tinted sunglasses. The man had shaggy brown hair and stubble. He was well-built and thin, but the man's very shadow caused the fatter to curl up against the armchair.
'Y-You're not g-going to k-k-kill me, are you?' The man's moustache quivered.
The tall man smirked, 'Well that depends on your choice, Hardin.' He stepped back and sat down in the armchair before him. Hardin stared at him, disbelieving that the man was backing away. He cautiously placed his feet back to the ground, but his shaking wouldn't cease. His shorts squeaked against the armchair's leather material. Looking down, his face coloured in embarrassment. They were soaked. 'W-What do you want with me?' He stuttered.
'I've seen you use the EPOs. They gave you a glimpse of the truth; they could access things that no other operative has been able to access before. In short, you could be useful to us and the war that we fight.'
'W-war? I'm not fighting any war!' The man cried.
'Well, those choices are still up to you, but please, hear me out. I haven't just seen your EPOs at work.' The man smirked. 'Every day you come into work at 6am sharp. From morning 'til 11pm you sit at your computer, drinking your coke and eating your big macs that you have delivered to your door by some poor fast food restaurant staff who probably has more useful things he could be doing than delivering to a fat piece of lard like you. Every day it happens, from Monday 'til Saturday, and what do you do on Sunday?'
Hardin stared at him in amazement.
'No,' the man continued, 'I'm actually asking you, what do you do on Sundays?'
Hardin coughed and muttered, '…Sleep in 'til 4pm…?'
'Sleep in 'til 4pm.' The man shook his head in disappointment. 'There is so much more you could be doing with your life. So much more, and here you are, your brilliant mind wasting away.'
Hardin looked at him confused, '…wasting away?'
'Your mind must be straining to do anything beyond what it already knows.' The man sighed, 'I'm sure you know that a human only uses 10% of his brain, and well, if this is what your 10% looks like then I'd hate to see the other 90.'
'What are you doing here?' the portly man's nerves began to calm, his shaking stopped for now.
'I'm offering you a chance to be a greater man, even a hero to our people. Your EPOs and interrogative agents, if inserted into the monitors of our ships, could keep a track of machine activity. All sentinel attacks that can be avoided will and they could be used to save countless lives! You, my friend, were made for greater things than sitting on your ass! Well, sitting on your ass would be what you'd be doing anyway, but your ass will be saving lives!'
'A hero…? Me…? Saving…lives?' Hardin could hardly believe it. He didn't know whether it was the head injury or the blood loss he was suffering from, but his face brightened in excitement, enticed by the idea. 'Count me in!' He cried, 'I'll be your hero! Just what do I have to do? I'll do anything!'
The man's smirk grew, 'Excellent, you may call me Captain Flint! And now next comes the pills, although, this shouldn't be a hard decision to make for you now, should it?' he tucked his hands into his pockets and brought out the two pills. Hardin stared at them, amazed. In the left hand was a bright blue pill the shape of a cod liver tablet, and in the other, a pill of the same shape, but for the point that it was a swirling colour of blood red and burgundy. His skin pricked unsurely and all senses screamed, Take the blue! Do the only good thing you've done in your life and take the goddamn blue!
'These are your choices.' Captain Flint began, 'Take the blue pill in my left hand and everything stops here. You'll forget our whole conversation, forget the agent attack and you'll go back to your job at 6am tomorrow morning and order yourself a big mac with extra fries because you'll feel extra shitty. However, take the red pill in my right hand and your new life will begin. You'll learn everything you need to know, put your EPOs to great use, become a hero of the people and maybe even lose a little weight while you're at it.'
'Y-You really think I should lose weight?' Hardin looked down at his swollen stomach sitting behind his greasy white shirt and tugged at it. His blubber trembled from the attack.
'Couldn't hurt.' Captain Flint raised his eyebrows, 'ten or twenty pounds would certainly help. But just think of how much sexier the Zionites will find you.' He sneered.
A blush came up on the man's cheeks, 'A-Are these Zionites…sexy women?'
'Sexy? Are you kidding? They are smoking hot! And you should see them on the holidays. Some days you'll be wondering whether it's the beach season or if you're living in a nudist colony!'
Hardin's face grew a brighter red. He reached out for the red pill, but Captain Flint pulled his hands away. 'Now, are you sure you want to do this? Won't you regret your old life?'
'Regret? Are you kidding me? This is just what I've been waiting for! A chance for me to shine, baby! Give me the red pill!'
Captain Flint smile grew, 'Then take it; take what you deserve.'
Hardin grabbed the red pill from the captain Flint's hand and swallowed it eagerly.
'Water?' Captain Flint offered him a glass of water that had been stood by the side of his armchair for this moment. Hardin gulped it down in one mad rush, and let out a satisfied gasp, wiping his mouth on the back of his chubby hand.
Captain Flint pulled out his cell phone, dialled the number and placed it to his ear, waiting for an answer.
-/\*_;)(-
Hearing the phone, Link picked it up immediately and forced it to his ear, 'hello?'
'Ah, you're reaction time's getting quicker.' He could hear the grin in the man's voice.
'I always strive to do better, Captain.' Link smiled.
'That's what I like to hear, now, start tracing the power plant for Hardin's signal.' He continued in a voice of authority.
'Yes Captain.' Link began to tap on the keyboard, his eyes scanned for anything, any trace of him he could find. His eyes grew, looking severe. 'Captain? I've found his signal but, nothing's being disrupted.'
'What? Please tell me this is a beginner's mistake.' He replied wearily.
'It's not a mistake! His signal is the same as everyone else's in the pods! His carrier signal has not been disrupted! Something must be wrong with that pill!'
'Wrong? It can't be wrong!' Screams rose from the phone's receiver. He drew it quickly away from his ear. His eyes went straight for the monitor screen, but he couldn't believe it. My…God…
-/\*_;)(-
Captain Flint stared at the screaming mass on the floor. Hardin's body was contorting, convulsing, blood burst from his pores. His screams wretched the air and strangled the atmosphere. Flint stared in horror, why is this happening? This isn't supposed to…. His cell phone dropped out of his finger's loose grip. Hardin's neck stretched to stare at the man he was beginning to trust. His face was wet with blood and tears, red electricity curled around him.
'I-Is this…' Hardin gasped, 'supposed to hap- AAHHHH!' Blood poured from his mouth, his eyes cried red. 'Make it STOP!'
Flint backed away, his legs crumpled weakly against the armchair and he fell into it. His fear arrested him there.
Suddenly, the convulsions ceased, the blood ceased to spill from his ruptured skin. The man seemed like a crumpled mess of flesh, blood and death. The man had stopped breathing. Cautiously, Flint reached out with his foot and kicked the man's sagging stomach. No reaction. His teeth clenched angrily and his hand scrabbled for his cell phone.
'Shit! Shit! SHIT! This isn't good! I've got to alert everyone else!' His hands shakily tried to dial the numbers, but his thumb slipped onto other numbers, scrambling the number. He shook so much that he had to let it go. He threw the cell phone to the floor in his frustration; it skipped across the puddles. 'Shit! Calm down! CALM DOWN! This isn't Rocket! This is not the Mariner! You can do this!' In his frenzied reassurance, he heard the floorboards creak and he turned his head sharply. The mass of the man was up on his feet; his moustached-lips had grown into a large toothy grin.
"Finally…Father…" His husky voice carried the echoes of something much more sinister. Captain Flint stared at him in a mixture of disbelief and confusion. "I had faith…and it made me well…!" Volts of red electricity wrapped around his body as it did before, and quickly his body contorted. His chubby hands grew smaller, his stomach shrunk into his waistline, his face thinned out and his brown hair grew longer, deepening in colour. His fat stumpy legs grew thinner, longer and more defined and his whole body was becoming that of a petite, more muscular figure. His wet greasy clothes shrunk and became black and skin-tight. A head band formed around the person's head.
Captain Flint scrabbled madly once again for the cell phone, he dived across the room, skidding in blood and picked it up. But the cell phone had shattered into plastic and metallic electrical pieces. He cursed angrily and turned to find the young figure standing over him. His malevolent sneer made his blood run cold. He tried to crawl away, but the young man weaved his fingers into his hair and tugged tightly. Captain Flint cried out in pain, his face screwed up in wrenching agony.
"Someone was about to be a bad boy." The young man grinned, "Now, please tell me, where am I?" But Flint grinded his teeth angrily, holding his tongue. A deep frown cut into the young man's face, "I was asking you nicely before, but since my manners won't work on you, I'll just have to use force instead." He drew Flint's head back and smashed it into the floorboards. The force drew blood and screams of pain as he writhed against his fingers.
'I'm not telling you ANYTHING!' Flint screamed.
"I'll ask again shall I?" the young man yelled, "Where am I?" and he smashed his head again. Flint gasped in pain, spitting blood.
'…N-New York,' he breathed.
"Going to have to be more specific than that!" He gripped the man's hair tighter until he screamed.
'New York…United States…North America.' The young man tugged the man's head closer to his face, his mouth close to his ear.
"So this isn't Amestris…?"
'W-What's that…?' Flint replied through gripped teeth. His shattered sunglasses fell from his ears and onto the floor.
"Excellent." The young man grinned, and he released his hair. Flint fell to the floor; his face was drenched in blood, his senses dizzy. The young man turned on his heel.
'W-What…how…wh-who are you…?' The question posed to him stopped him in his tracks and he turned back to the captain, laughing with a maniacal pleasure.
"Me? You want to know who I am?" He wrapped his arm around the Flint's neck, hugging it tightly to his body. "There's only one thing you need to know. I'm Envy." Gripping the chin, he turned Flint's head sharply with an arresting crack. The man's body went limp and he dropped it with disregard. His body began to transform, and he took on the form of Hardin once again. "This brain seems to know more than his fat-ass body lets on. Let's put it to some use." He grinned and, with coordination, stepped over the body and the puddles of blood.
-/\*_;)(-
Link stared at the still body that lay in the fur-lined chair with a mix of panic and horror, his mouth gaped, and his whole body shook. Captain Flint's corpse was contorted at the neck where, as it shook in its death throes, its head turned sharply with a horrifying crack that made his blood run cold. He had fallen from his wheelie chair, screaming fearfully, scrambling back for the wall.
His breathing heaved, tears welled in his eyes, and his voice was a quivering vibrato as he wept. But his eyes never left the corpse before him.
'My…fault….' He breathed, 'It's all…my fault….I…couldn't…stop it….'More tears drenched his cheeks. His hands curled into fists, and he punched the ground so that his knuckles bled. He fell forward to the floor, staring at the metal floor beneath him. 'Where…to go… where…do I…go…now…?' With each time he tried to shut his eyes from reality, the stench of blood brought him back; with each time that it did, he would remember the corpse still lying motionless on the seat, staring at an invisible event.
Shakily, he brought himself up to his feet, and trudged towards the cockpit. With mechanical motions, he switched off the auto-pilot and before his senses had caught up with him he was turning the ship around back to where it came from.
They'll blame me. They'll blame for the death of this legend. I'll never be an operator again...My fault… All my fault…
-/\*_;)(-
'Right! Got it!' Dozer slammed the receiver down and he forced himself past Edward.
"What's going on?" Edward asked frantically.
'He's not taking it so good!' Dozer replied; his hand coiled around the probe and he pulled it out. Roy shot up from his seat, his breathing heaved. He flopped out of the seat. Edward caught him.
"Roy! It's all right." He tried to reassure.
"Get off me!" Roy barked, shoving Edward away. Edward lay sprawled on his back, Roy stood over him, and his eyes were narrow and wet.
'Roy, please, calm down!' Morpheus's probe was pulled out and he stood up from his seat.
"You!" Roy pointed a finger at Edward. "You did this to me!" he grasped Edward's shirt and pulled him up until their faces were just centimetres away.
'Put him down, you can't just lay the blame; you had to know the truth. Just accept it.' Morpheus placed a hand on his shoulder. Roy pulled back his elbow sharply into Morpheus' ribs and the man staggered back into a seat. The same arm flew forward and his fist met with Edward's face.
"YOU'RE THE REASON I'M HERE!" WHACK! "I HAD EVERYTHING I COULD WANT!" WHACK! "YOU TOOK IT ALL AWAY!" WHACK! "I'M NOTHING HERE!" WHACK! "HOW COULD YOU?" WHACK! "HUH?"
'That's it!' Neo ran between them, grabbing hold of Roy's shirt. 'Get off him! Put him down!' He screamed.
"I-It's…alright…." Edward spat blood, holding onto Roy's shaking arm. His face was a bloody mess. "Y-You have…every right…to be mad…at me." He looked into Roy's eyes where they streamed. "I'm sorry…I deserve…to be punished…."
'No you don't!' Neo asserted, 'He's not worth anything compared to you!' Roy stared at Neo wildly. Trinity, looking from afar, forced herself to bury her confusion.
"That's…not true…we're all…the same…but…for what I've done…I'm lower than dirt…." Edward spat more blood, glancing back to Roy, "You can…walk all over me…all you want…I won't…stop you…." Tears rolled down his cheeks, Roy's eyes grew wide, and his grip began to relax.
Morpheus jumped forward; his arms wrapped around Roy's body and he forced him to the ground. Edward fell from Roy's grip and he was pulled away by Neo. Morpheus had Roy pinned, his face grinded into the floor.
'You do not beat on other crew members! Got it? That is unacceptable!' Morpheus shouted into Roy's ear, he winced, but he wasn't fighting. He glanced up at Edward, but his face was turned away.
'Come on, Ed.' Neo whispered in his ear, 'Let's get out of here.' Edward nodded and he weakly got to his feet. The two left the top deck with Trinity following close behind.
-/\*_;)(-
Edward was sat upon the recovery table, waiting with Neo sat beside him. Trinity took out a green box and, before long was dabbing his wound with cotton wool. Edward hissed from the sting.
'That bastard.' Trinity scowled, 'He shouldn't be allowed on this ship if this is what he's going to do.'
"It's alright, really." Edward tried to smile, "I deserved that."
'No you didn't!' Trinity countered, dabbing the cotton with more force, 'that was just senseless violence! He was just looking to vent, and you were the weakest looking thing for him to pick on. He's just a bully.' She hissed; she dabbed the cotton, peering at the blood that came away. She threw it into a bin and picked up another ball, 'Jeez was he always like this before we got him out?'
"No! He's quite calm usually. He knows how to keep his head at least, but if he did lose it, it was mostly…my…fault." Edward sighed.
'We need to keep you two separated as much as we can.' Trinity resolved.
"No, we don't. I'm fine. I can take him."
'Yeah, sure you can.' She scowled, taking out a plaster and laying it across his brow.
'Will you lay off, Trin?' Neo glared, 'He's taken his beatings, so can you drop it?'
'I'm concerned.'
'Well don't be.' Neo wrapped an arm around Edward's shoulder and squeezed it.
'What is this all about anyway?' Trinity asked finally, taking out a larger plaster. 'You take a few fists from a thug and you want to leave it? What's up with you?'
Neo and Edward stared up at each other and Edward turned away from her scrutinizing glare with a blush. Neo coughed awkwardly. Trinity frowned, 'You two are hiding something from me, aren't you?'
'It's none of your business, and nothing you need to know, alright?' Neo answered.
Trinity placed the plaster across Edward's cheek, smoothing it over.
"Thanks." Edward murmured, and he made to slide off the table.
'Edward, you don't have to bottle things up all the time, especially in a place like this. It's not healthy. Please, you have to let us in.' Trinity let a small understanding smile surface.
"Thanks," Edward smiled, "but, it's not something I can talk about so easily." It faded and he looked down out of her gaze.
'I'm always ready to listen, Edward, it doesn't have to be hard.'
"I've dealt with it for some time now on my own; I think I can go for a few years longer at least." He dodged past her and walked for the door.
'Edward!' But the door shut behind him, 'What's going on Neo? What's he hiding?'
Neo rolled his eyes, 'You don't need to know! It's none of your business!'
'Then how is he able to trust you?' She scowled, 'A week ago, you two couldn't be in the same room without fighting.'
'Our fighting is old news.' Neo shrugged, 'and the only reason I know is because I guessed right.'
'Guessed what?'
'I'm not saying.' He lowered his head and kissed her forehead, 'thanks for the help, but I still have a few things to sort out.' He stepped for the door, but Trinity gripped his wrist.
'Please, promise you'll tell me what's going on.'
Neo sighed and turned back to face her, 'when Edward's ready to tell, then I'll be.' Trinity let his wrist go and he left the room.
-/\*_;)(-
Neo strode down the corridor, his frustration building; he didn't want to keep this bottled up any longer. His footsteps echoed harshly against the walls. The door came up on his right, left ajar. His hand went for the door handle, but something stopped him. Whimpers erupted softly from behind it. His hand stopped mid action.
Tears, regret…?
He pressed his back to the wall, peering in through the gap. Morpheus was there, he could see him sat on the chair, but not his face, his gaze was concentrated on Roy's form laid out on the bed. The man's lip was quivering, his hand hid his eyes, and tears glistened down his cheeks.
Neo's eyes were wide. His face creased, he wanted his hatred to surface, for him to break into the room and wrap his fingers around Roy's neck, but he couldn't bid himself to budge. What was this…sympathy? His ears tingled, words peered from the door. He leaned in closer to listen.
'I can understand your frustration, but taking it out on others is not the way to solve this.' Morpheus spoke softly.
"I-I won't…Riza use to tell me the same thing."
'Then if she told you, why did you do it?' Morpheus spoke, but Roy couldn't find the words to answer his question.
"My life, everything that I lived for, Riza, every time I put my life on the line…the life I tried to save…it's all a lie…" he sobbed.
'I know it's hard to take in, but we have to accept the Truth for what it is.'
"A bastard? Like I didn't know the first time." Roy seethed through his tears.
'The faster you accept it, the easier it will be for you. I don't mean to be cruel; I'm trying to advice you as a friend.'
"Just make it easier…and take me back."
'Into the Beta-Matrix?' Morpheus sounded astonished.
"Yeah, you can take me out, so you can put me back in."
Morpheus sighed lowly.
Here it comes. Neo frowned.
'Roy, once you've taken the red pill, you cannot be reinserted back into the Beta-Matrix.' Roy's hand flew from his face and he sat up.
"W-What…?" He hissed.
'I'm sorry; an older mind like yours is not usually favoured when it comes to freeing them from the Matrix. Their minds have been deceived by the Matrix for so long that it's often hard for them to let go of what they already know for them to accept the truth. But, despite this fact, there is no way to reverse the process. The real world is unfairly unforgiving.'
Roy's hands creased into fists and shook with anger clear in his face. 'Roy, I've told, you, it won't help to take it out on others.'
Roy twisted round and his fist connected. His fist bled, his knuckle shook in the groove it made in the wall. Tears flooded down his cheeks, he sobbed softly.
'I'm sorry.' Morpheus sighed; his hand went to the man's shoulder.
"T-Tell Neo, to stop eavesdropping…" Roy hissed.
Neo's back left the wall, hearing his name. Morpheus stood up from his seat and opened the door suddenly. He stared at Neo with piercing eyes, straight into him.
'Neo,' He began seriously, 'don't start thinking that you listening in on someone else's conversations are going to help anything. Do you understand?'
'Y-Yes Morpheus, I'm sorry-.'
'It's not me you should be apologizing to. I know very well that you don't like it when the others walk in on your and Trinity, so don't sink down to everyone else's level by paying them the same respect. You're far above that; you can apologize to Roy later. But for now, leave….'
Neo backed away and retreated down the corridor. Morpheus went back into Roy's room, smiling.
'I've left some food for you by your bed. I'll call you for lunch soon though.'
"…ok." Roy muttered.
-/\*_;)(-
He lay on his bed, staring up at the poster of Simple Plan glaring back from his ceiling. All his other posters stared back at him, their 2-dimensions bore into his eyes with a steely severity that the camera that solidified their existence also knew. His computer was a black screen, the monitor was cold, the screen was dusty, and it had been for some time. He looked down at himself. Jeans, metal chains, a band vest, his whole body baked. Sweat dripped down his brow, his golden hair stuck to it, damp. Black rolled down his cheeks.
Empty; so empty.
He jumped from his bed; his shaking hands took hold of his posters, ripping them from the walls, his screams roared through the room.
Pointless! All this stuff is pointless!
His body shook; his hands took a feverish hold of his vest and with new strength tore through the material. It had to come away, his whole body felt on fire. He would burn to death if he left it on. That was how he felt.
New tears rolled down his cheeks, he let his body flop. He fell to the floor, a thud against his side. He gritted his teeth against the surprise of the pain.
'Why…?' He hissed, 'Brother…My little brother…why…?' his sobs racked through his body, so much so he could feel his own soul tremble. The carpet was scratchy against his face, he was glad for the sting, something to take his mind off, even if it was ephemeral. His face rubbed against it, the scratchiness became a minor irritation, and it didn't seem enough. He needed something more. His eyes found the bottom of the bed, and with a shaky hand, he let his fingers guide him along the junk underneath it. His fingers found something smooth, and yet fragile, he pulled on it, pulled until a cracking sound came from it and a shard of plastic.
He gripped it tight, the sharp edges dug into his fingertips until there was a white pressure line where the shard indented his skin. He gritted his teeth against the sting, but it was more than the carpet could offer, for that he was thankful.
He pressed a point on the shard into his skin, pressing as hard as he could bear. The pain flared, made him forget; he just wanted to forget. With his eyes screwed shut, his whole darkness was alive with red, the most alive he felt. Finally, relieving the pressure, his eyes opened to find a tiny red bead and a pink dot for an indent.
Dammit Vic, you have to try harder!
He pressed the shard back into the cut, pressing harder still; he let the darkness flood through. Cries of anguish escaped his lips, his tears stained the rim of his eyes black and red; he needed more, more damage, something he could look at to make him forget. With one last yelp, he dragged the shard, screaming as it ripped through his skin. Opening his eyes, the blood was intense, running down his arm from the torn opening of his flesh. His chest heaved suddenly in a rhythmic hiccup of held back sobs; they came crashing from his body, his lips pressed to the cut, and he curled up to it, seeking the comfort he needed. The sobs wouldn't stop, he cried, because suddenly that was all he knew how to do.
'I-It's n-n-not f-fair…w-why…o-oh w-why….' his fists thudded against the floor; he needed the ephemeral to fleet on his knuckles, time and time again and at a constant. Tears, blood, pain…he needed them like a baby needed its mother; dependent.
The door opened behind him, large footsteps ceased just metres behind him; if his ears were open to that, then the pain wasn't working yet. He grabbed for the shard again and with deep screams pressed it into his skin.
'No! Stop that!' The deep voice thundered. A large hand seized his left, and with incomparable force made the shard to fall from his grip. He threw it far behind and took the boy up in his arms, laying him in his lap; he couldn't make his tears stop. 'Shush shush, it's ok now, I've got you.'
'D-Don't let me go! P-P-Please…d-don't let m-me go!' He forced his face into the man's chest, he could feel an organ beat against his head, rhythmic, constant, not a skip, calming…soothing. The man rocked him in fluid motions. His sobs lost their heaving, lost their irregular movement, breathing began to return to its norm. Darkness seeped in once again, the beating never stopped, just faded softly from hearing, until the darkness was so thick that nothing could pervade it.
A flickering light pooled in like a bright beacon, he opened his eyes to find the flickering lamp light that couldn't be fixed. Edward stared at it, lying from atop his covers back in his small room and between metal walls.
I must've been dreaming…
He pulled up his arm to be sure and found a plastic prosthetic in its place instead of a torn cut. He sighed lowly.
Who was that…?
A knock came at his door, he sat up on his bed and Morpheus stepped in from behind it.
'Edward? Do you want lunch?' He asked.
"Huh?" Edward rubbed his eyes in amidst his drawl. "Oh, yeah, yeah I think I do." He smiled in return. "Just let me…" He yawned, "Wake up first."
'Of course.' Morpheus smiled in understanding; he gazed up to the ceiling. 'We're going to have to get that light fixed, aren't we?'
"Just leave it." Edward replied, "Its fine."
'If you say so.' Morpheus shut the door behind him.
I'll fix it later myself.
Edward reasoned, and he laid back into the covers.
-/\*_;)(-
His thick fingers thudded on the keyboard. The room was dark around him except for his monitor's glare. As one hand continued to type, the other picked up a cup and sucked on the straw. He sighed with relief and placed it back and pushed his round glasses back up his nose.
"Let's see," he muttered to himself, "this must be the program…set them a location…let's see…err…apparently he made them go here before…so…you made them go left…so let's go right!" His screen was black with reams of encryption, and at its bottom, a grey notice box contained a bar, slowly filling with green.
A rush of steps came up behind him, and he turned slowly in his wheelie chair to face them. Men suited in dark suits, sheening dark green from the light of the monitor. This feeling was familiar, he'd faced them before. Slowly, he stood up, and the man at the forefront of the group perked to a more steely attention. A smirk curled on his lips in new interest.
'So…You're choosing to fight us this time…' The voice drawled coldly, 'Hm, but no matter what you do, you humans never learn. Such a…shame.' His smile reflected his pleasure in placing a word he almost lost grip of.
"A-Actually," the portly man stuttered, hoping to curl up into an invincible floating ball and he shifted away from the monitor but the guns followed him, "I don't want to-." Gun fire filled the air. He screamed as their bullets punctured his blubber; he hit the floor with a vibrating thump, but they wouldn't stop until his head made a satisfying crack.
The leader nodded and one of the men pointed their gun towards the monitor.
Suddenly, a cackle rumbled through the room. All looked at each in confusion, finally facing the mass that chuckled, his body making movements like a beating heart. Red volts flashed and curled around his body. He stood up slowly, allowing the healing to carry on.
The man nodded, and more bullets punctured his chest, but the cackling wouldn't cease. Their guns clicked, their rounds had been emptied. The red volts still flashed, flesh at the rim of their holes began to reconnect. Bone, muscle, tissue flesh, skin, clothing and finally his body shrunk, a ring of red moved up the contours of his body, shrinking away the fat until the ring met his hair line where brown hair grew into long green locks.
"You really thought you could kill me so easily? I'm hurt that you called me human!" Envy chuckled, a large grin on his face. "That's twice you killed me, and still your fingers are itching to draw bullets? Man, you're the ones who never learn!"
The man at the forefront narrowed his eyes, though his sunglasses wouldn't show it. His lips turned down into a snarl, 'It seems you're not from this…existence.'
Envy clapped, "Very well done there, I'm not from here. I'm glad someone cottoned on."
'So you choose to make a mockery of me? That is a fate I wouldn't choose if I were you!' The man stepped forward, fast; his fists flew at his chest. Envy blocked each throw and countered. The man dodged just as well and grabbed an arm. He turned and threw him towards his group. They made ready to catch, but his fingers coiled around a neck and Envy grinned, regaining his footing. The men stood back in amazement. The man in his grip was still a steely mask. Envy's finger pressed harder around his neck, his fingers cut into his flesh. One last effort and the head flew from its neck. It landed with a dull thud on the floorboards and the body slipped to the floor.
They all watched, astounded, Envy waited, but the body did nothing. It lay there as dead as it would ever be.
"So you can't regenerate." His smile curled further, "I have the advantage."
'Where are you from?' The man asked.
"A little shithole called Amestris."
'So you're from the Beta-Matrix.' He replied with caution.
"If that's what you all call it on this end." Envy grinned. "So what do humans call you? If you're not human anyway."
'We are Agents of the Matrix; we are the protectors. When the parasites start to develop into diseases, we are the ones to contain it, whenever someone makes a connection to the Real from the Matrix; we are the ones to destroy it. That is our…mission.'
"…It's interesting that you call the humans 'parasites'. We have the same ideals, almost the same abilities, and I suppose you see these parasites as little more than energy. Am I right?"
'Their existence fuels the sentinels in the Real; the Matrix is merely a pacifier to keep them silent.'
"Then we're on the same level." Envy laughed, "You got a name?"
'Firstly, tell me what you intend to do with that program.' He motioned his unloaded gun towards the monitor. 'You weren't thinking of creating a connection, were you?'
"That's a pretty long name for an Agent." Envy frowned.
'Talk!' He jerked gun threateningly.
"You're in no position to give me orders!" Envy laughed, "But I like you, Talk, I think I'll keep you around."
'That's not-.'
'Connection complete.' The monitor spoke in its mechanical drawl and a window popped up above the black screen of encryption. Without caution, Envy sat back down in his chair and watched the figures moving in the window. A dark-skinned man typed on his keyboard with long dreaded hair and a moustache. Next to him, a similar dark-skinned man was stood by him, only this one was bald. Envy grinned with success and looked to find the Agent with a look of alarm coming from behind those sunglasses, he was sure his eyes would be the same could he see them.
'Morpheus…' His voice seethed with hatred, and he stepped closer to the monitor, making sure the bit-mapped image wasn't lying, 'the sentinels should have destroyed his ship!'
"It seems there's something you want," Envy smirked, "and coincidentally, I have something I want too. You help me get what I want, and I'll get you that guy's head on a platter, how about it?"
The Agent stared at him; the intensity of his gaze was cold.
"Let's work together." Envy offered his hand. The Agent stared at it, but finally, out-stretched his own, shaking it.
'Agent Smith.'
"So that's your name. Then I'm Envy." From his hand, a circle of red encompassed his very being, and soon he was dressed in a dark suit, sunglasses and tidy hair in uniform order. "I would say this is the start of a great partnership."
'That is inevitable.' A smirk lingered on the Agent's lips.
-/\*_;)(-
'Let's begin,' Morpheus began, he stood before them all on the Top deck, 'Thanks to Mouse, we have been able to develop a program for the Construct designed to train you. You see, with each time we've encountered the Agents, we may have survived, but only by a margin. We need to turn that margin into success every time.'
'You mean like an RPG game?' Neo asked.
'Not quite,' Morpheus chuckled, 'More like a simulation. Mouse will go into detail when you get in there, but basically you'll be given situations where you're faced against the Agents and you'll be engaging in fights against them that will grow in difficulty with each one you face. Their speed, accuracy and success rate will increase, but hopefully you'll progress to such a point where any Agent will be a cake walk.'
"I think I see what you mean," Roy nodded, "The military often holds training in the North where they simulate a battlefield in order for us to train and hone our skills of weaponry and tactics in the face of something close to a real war."
'That's exactly right,' Morpheus smiled.
'-Ahem- Show off! –Ahem-.' Neo coughed.
"Well next time, why don't you get a question right?" Roy scowled.
Morpheus rolled his eyes, 'If it isn't one, it's always the other.' He muttered under his breath.
'What was that?' Neo frowned.
'Nothing,' Morpheus smiled, 'Now, let's get you all plugged in.'
Edward shifted for a seat, as did the others, he hoped to sit by Roy, but he'd already taken a seat between Apoc and Trinity. He sighed and sat down beside Neo. Morpheus went by all of them, placing their probes in. Roy stared up at Morpheus with a little hesitation.
'You'll be fine, besides, it's always better the second time round.' He plugged it in and soon all of them were stood in the white void.
"Place still gives me the creeps." Roy growled.
Looking about him, everyone was out of their usual ship clothes and into leather jackets and outfits. He was especially surprised to see Edward in a long, black leather jacket, though wearing his usual black attire underneath and seeing his hair long, blonde and tied up in a braid just like it used to be. Looking down at himself, he was dressed in his usual blue military uniform.
Edward eyed him with a smirk, "Ah, that's going to be a problem." Neo's face creased up with mirth.
"Why is everyone dressed differently?" Roy asked.
'This is our Residual Self Image, didn't Morpheus tell you about that earlier?' Switch frowned.
"Jeez, I stick out like a sore thumb." Roy groaned.
"I'll say." Edward laughed.
'You're going to have to change.' Trinity sighed, 'I'll find you something.' Suddenly, long rows of shelves came rushing towards them. Beside them now, there were long rows of clothes, from jackets and shirts, to trouser and boots. 'Ok,' Trinity stepped forward, looking through the selections, 'What are your sizes?'
"Like I'd tell a woman my sizes." Roy smirked.
'I know Neo's.' Trinity answered dismissively. Roy rolled his eyes, and stepped up to Trinity, leaned in and whispered into her ear. A tiny smile came up on her lips, 'Ok, not a problem.' She shifted through the hangers full of trousers and pulled out a pair. 'There, these should be fine.'
"Thanks." Roy muttered, taking them off her, and before he knew it, his arms were being burdened with a leather crop vest, a jacket and a pair of boots. "Do I really need all of this?" He asked, somewhat flustered.
'Well you're not going to wear those trousers over your uniform are you? And I doubt you'll be running around in trousers alone. Just think of them as necessities.'
"Fine," Roy frowned, "But I'm not getting changed in front of you all. You can find me a changing room."
'Don't be picky, just go behind this shelf. It's not a problem.' Roy sighed, muttered his thanks and made to leave. 'Oh, and one more thing.' She took out a pair of sunglasses from a box on a shelf and popped it on top of his pile. 'If you're interested.' She winked.
Roy rolled his eyes and retreated down the shelf aisle before turning left down another.
"Trinity certainly changed her tune!" Edward whispered to Neo, surprised by her previous tone, and amazed that she could act so calm before the man she was earlier calling a bully.
Reminds me of the Lieutenant.
'I didn't expect her to be so…nice!' Neo whispered back a little too loudly.
'What do you mean?' Trinity scowled, 'I am nice!' Neo and Edward cowered under her sunglass-hidden glare.
"Oh!" Edward remembered, and he unsheathed himself of his jacket, "Could you get me a smaller one of these? This one's a little big for me."
'A little.' Neo snorted.
"Shut up!" Edward countered.
'Sure.' Trinity sighed; she hung up the jacket, and pulled out another. 'This looks like your size.' Edward took it from her and tried it on. The jacket fell below his knees and the shoulders fit comfortably.
"Thanks, this is a lot better." He smiled up at her.
'Yeah, at least now you won't have to worry about tripping over your jacket.' Neo sniggered.
"I thought we'd stopped this arguing!" Edward growled.
"No, please carry on." Roy's voice echoed from behind the shelf, "It entertains me to no end."
"That's because all you ever did was poke fun at me." Edward scowled, but Roy laughed in return.
'Come to think of it.' Neo murmured,
"Oh god, don't say that." Edward smirked.
'What?'
"You. Thinking. Need I say more?"
'As I was saying,' Neo carried on, 'Why don't you get mad when Dozer calls you "little man"?' Neo asked.
"If there's one thing I've learned while I've been here, it's that when it comes to Dozer, you do not question the moustache. Besides, his accents funny, it sounds cool when he says it." Edward looked away, grinning.
"I see," Roy began; the sound of a zipper disturbed his attention, "so if the military HQ had been making fun of you in funny accents to begin with, we would have had less collateral damage, more funds, more subordinate behaviour and fewer reports of night terrors from the other soldiers."
"Oh come on, that's old news. Besides, I've told you before, there has been no evidence as of yet that links me to the night terrors." Edward sighed in annoyance. "And for your information, it's not the accent that does it entirely; it's the moustache, definitely the moustache."
'Are you done yet?' Trinity sighed.
"Almost! The vest isn't easy to get on!" Roy shouted, minutes later he called, "Are you sure this vest is my size?"
'Of course it is; I do look at the labels.' Trinity smirked.
"You can see my stomach for god's sake!"
'It's a crop top, it does that.' She shouted back. Neo was fighting to choke back a laugh.
"You are kidding, right?"
'Not kidding, just finish up.' She sighed.
"Ok, but if this vest makes me vulnerable to attacks then I will have to get my revenge on you." He smirked.
'Whatever makes you hurry up.' She answered curtly.
'Come on! We're not running on female time!' Apoc shouted, tapping his wrist impatiently. All turned to glare at him. 'What? I haven't said anything in a while.' He shrugged. 'Was the comment sexist?'
'Too sexist.' Switch slapped him upside the head.
'Ow! That hurt!' Apoc rubbed his head sorely.
'Shut up, you know you like it.'
"Whertsh*!" Roy sounded, as they heard the sound of leather against leather.
'What are you on about?' Apoc asked, confused.
"Pussy whipped!" Roy sang out as he came out from behind the shelf. His leather trousers clung tightly to his legs, the jacket was done up to a point and, as he walked closer to them, he took out the sunglasses from a jacket pocket and put them on. "Well, what do you think?"
'It's a good look for you.' Trinity answered, and the others nodded in response.
"Fine, but I'm keeping the jacket zipped up." He said decisively.
'No, let's see it.' Neo laughed.
"No!"
'Roy, jacket, undo, now.' Trinity ordered.
Roy blushed a little, "Yes ma'am." He glanced away from them as he unzipped his jacket. "This is so not my style." Holding the edges, he pulled them back to reveal a vest, the sleeve holes went from beneath the armpits to the collar bone, leaving his shoulders exposed. The top of the vest hugged around his neck, like a barrier for his jugular. Below the line where the vest ended at the solar plexus, was revealed a lean gut, somewhat defined by muscle lines along his torso and leading down into his leather trousers, which clung tightly along his crotch.
Edward's face glowed a bright red, his blush spread vastly past his hair line.
'Woo-woo!' Neo whistled, 'Trinity, you are a miracle worker.'
'I do my best.' She smirked.
"Are you sure I can't put something else on?" Roy blushed, quickly zipping up his jacket.
'If you've got the gall to ask me for clothes, you can have the gall to wear them.' She replied simply.
"Fine, but this jacket is staying zipped up." He glanced at Edward's beetroot face. "What's up with you, Fullmetal? Your face is starting to look like a fire hazard.' Roy frowned and Edward turned away quickly as he smushed his sleeve to his nose.
"I-It's nothing."
"Really." Roy passed him and stood by Trinity. "So what do we do now? Is this the simulation, or what?"
'Mouse must be having some trouble loading it up.' She sighed.
"Must be some bugs with it, don't you think?"
Trinity faced him harshly, 'Look, Roy, just because I picked out your clothes, doesn't mean you can start acting all pally with me.' She hissed; Roy was taken aback.
"I don't think I know what you-."
'You are a bully, and the only reason I helped you now was because I thought no one else would.' She growled, 'And you haven't apologized once to him, have you?'
Roy looked away, "I doubt he'll-."
'There are a lot of things you don't know, Mustang.' His surname lingered on her tongue like a throbbing bee sting, Roy was certainly feeling its poison.
Suddenly, Mouse appeared before them wearing sunglasses, a black pin-striped suit jacket and a rib cage shirt underneath, which was tucked into black trousers.
"Well, I'm glad you didn't pick out my clothes." Roy smirked.
'At least I'm not the one who looks like a leather-clad gimp-whore!' Mouse stuck his tongue out, pulled down the bottom of an eyelid while his other hand exhibited the middle finger. Roy's face creased in anger. 'Anyway,' He resumed, 'sorry I was late. Dozer and I were just doing some last minute corrections.'
"That doesn't sound good." Edward smirked.
'Don't worry. Everything should be fine.' He cleared his throat, 'Ok, the first thing you need to do before you get in is sort yourself into two groups. You'll be using teamwork, but you'll be competing against the other team.' He smiled, 'Makes it more interesting that way. Shall we do that now?'
"How do you want the teams to be sorted?" Roy asked.
'Well, Morpheus was thinking that we have a One to a team, couples can't be on the same team, and neither will anyone who's not likely to get on with the other.'
'I see what you mean.' Apoc reasoned, 'I'll sort it out. Edward and Neo shall be team leaders.' Edward and Neo sorted themselves into a distance from each other. 'Ed's team is Team Clier and Neo is, well, Team Neo. Are we clear so far?'
"Crystal." Edward chirped, and Apoc sighed.
'Good, now Trinity will go on Team Clier because of Neo.' Trinity nodded and made her way behind Edward.
'That's fair,' Trinity smirked, whispering into Edward's ear, 'if he needed another reason, I would've beaten up Roy myself.'
'Roy and Edward can't be on the same team, so Roy's with Neo.' Roy made his way behind Neo, and both glared at each other as he stood behind him. 'This leaves me and Switch teamless.'
'Well, let's keep it fair.' Mouse decided, 'We'll have a girl to a team. Switch on Team Neo and you can go on Team Clier, Apoc.' Apoc nodded and stepped to his team. 'Ok, even Whore's in a team.' He grinned. 'Looks like we're all good to go!'
"Can you please stop calling me a Whore?" Roy growled.
'If you were stupid enough to insult my choice of fashion then that's not my problem.'
"It was a mindless comment, ok? I'm sorry!" Roy huffed.
'Are you really sorry? Because if you were then you'd take off your jacket and do all of this simulation training in your snazzy new top.' He grinned wryly.
Roy growled, and shook his head, "I don't think so."
'Then you're hence forth a Whore. Get ready to rent out your ass, because I'll make sure you're bent over by Team Clier!'
'Come on, Mouse.' Neo frowned, 'This is getting childish.'
'He started it.' Mouse replied simply. 'Now, Whore, would you like to take off your jacket for us?'
'Come on, sissy!' Switch growled, 'Just take off the damn jacket!' She grabbed his hair and yanked.
"OW! OK! I'LL TAKE IT OFF!" Roy screamed. He peeled himself of the jacket, dropped it to the floor and hugged his gut.
'Well, now that we're all in a competitive mood, let's get started with the rules.' Mouse rubbed his hands together, 'when you get into the simulation, you will be in your teams. Your settings will be somewhat post-apocalyptic and even though that'll mean wide open spaces, it also means the Agents will be able to hide behind rubble, so you'll have to keep an eye out. Also, with each time you kill an agent, the skills and speeds of other agents will get faster, as Morpheus already explained. You're teams will be battling against the clock and the one to kill the most agents will win. You also win if the other team dies.'
'What about if there's only one of us left in a team?' Apoc asked.
'Then the remaining member can still gain points and manage to overtake the other team if he or she can because that team member is still in play.'
"Hold on, there's still something I don't get. I thought that if you were killed in the Matrix, then you were killed in the real world because your body can't exist without the mind. Are you trying to kill us all off?" Edward frowned.
'That's where the interesting rule about this game comes in. The Agents' bullets can't kill you!' Mouse grinned.
'Wait, what?' Neo looked dumbstruck. 'Explain!'
'This simulation is not just for training you to fight against the agents. It's also a chance to revise that good ol' lesson that Morpheus taught you.' Mouse smiled, undaunted by their surprise. 'Free your mind! Let go of all your fear, doubt and disbelief!' Mouse wriggled his fingers with a spirited grin, to emphasise the magical notion that such a thing presented, even if he was serious. 'This simulation will re-acquaint you with the idea that the body cannot exist without the mind, but also teach you that, if you believe you're being shot in the head, then you are being shot in the head. The mind thinks it's dead, and so is your body.'
"I don't see your point." Roy narrowed his eyes with scrutiny.
'Ok, Whore, if you let me continue, then you will see my point, ok? Good. Now shut up.' Mouse cleared his throat. 'As I was saying, while in the simulation, if you are injured, you have to free your mind and let yourself believe that nothing can kill you, you're untouchable. If you start to doubt that, then the injuries you suffer in the simulation will affect you in the real world. Of course, as a rule, if you are shot in the head or the chest, you'll be taken out the simulation because, ladies, it' game over.'
"Don't doubt that you're indestructible; ha, what a joke." Roy smirked.
'Uh oh, looks we have a doubting Thomas in our midst. Don't worry; you'll probably be the first to go.' Mouse grinned. 'Just remember, free your mind. Anything is possible. You know? Just don't let yourself think that you're dying, because in most cases of deaths in the Matrix, it's the mind that kills you, you follow?'
"Yeah, I think so." Edward nodded, Roy rolled his eyes.
'If you don't doubt it at all, then even pain can't touch you.'
'Will believing to be indestructible help you outside of the simulation? In the Matrix?' Neo asked.
'No, chances are, you will die if you get shot in the real Matrix, but freeing your mind will help in your ability to avoid death as much as possible; although, for you Neo, even that might not be a problem.'
'Is that all you needed to explain?' Trinity asked.
'There are a couple things I need to make clear; to be completely fair to everyone else, Neo, no using your superman thing, and Edward and Roy, no using alchemy.'
"Like we can." Edward growled, folding his arms.
"We can't use alchemy in the Matrix?" Roy asked in disbelief.
"As far as I know, we can't." Edward sighed. "But if you're going to start beating me up about it, can you do it later? We have to train now."
"I'll beat you up by winning this simulation game, how about that?" Roy growled, smirking.
"Deal." Edward agreed.
'Ok, here are your weapons.' Mouse smiled, and the shelves shifted past them to reveal a whole library of weapons from AO-222 assault rifles to the Zigana T pistol. 'Take what you want, but don't overburden yourself, you can share weapons with your teammates. Also, ammo is not refillable in the duration of the simulation.'
"So, if we run out of ammo, then we'll have to resort to hand-to-hand combat, right?" Edward verified.
'They won't but you will.' Mouse nodded. 'Anyway, I'm guessing most of you have at least some basic skill of using firearms, right?'
"Thanks to my military training, yes." Roy smiled, taking up a rifle and shouldering it as if to practise his aim.
'Here, put these on.' Trinity gave Edward three holsters.
"Where do these go?"
'Take off your jacket.' Edward removed his jacket and the smaller jacket he was wearing beneath, discarding it. 'Ok, well this is an OWB or more commonly a belt holster.' She took it out of his hands and held it up for him. 'The gun goes into the carrier at your right side. Are you right handed?'
"I can be if you want." Edward shrugged.
'Well, if you can draw it out comfortably, then it helps.' She sighed and she began to strap it onto him.
"What does OWB stand for?"
'Outside Waist Band.' She answered and she took a second strap from his hands. 'This is a thigh holster. It's smaller, obviously, but it allows you to comfortably draw out your gun where your hand usually hangs. This can go at your right side.' She took one strap around his waist and another around his thigh, connecting them in place. 'And finally, these are your shoulder holsters. You wear it like a back pack and it keeps two guns under your arms.' Having being given the holster, he pulled arms through and fixed the strap together. Trinity smiled at the small accomplishment. 'Now we can get you suited with weaponry.' She passed him a handgun. 'Put that in your thigh holster.'
"Right." Edward slotted it in. "Like this?"
'Perfect.' She passed two more, 'For your shoulder holster.'
Taking them up, he crossed his arms awkwardly, trying to slot them in.
"A little confused here." He laughed.
'Here.' She took them from his hands and slotted them in for him. She passed one last one and slotted it into his belt holster. 'And you're all set. I'm keeping you on handguns for now, because they're fairly light-weight and basic.' She stepped past him, picking up his jacket and held it open. 'Arms up.' She ordered and she dressed him. 'There, now no one knows you're fully-armed.' She gave him a small smile.
"Sure, if the long jacket wasn't a big giveaway already."
'As long as you can fight in a jacket, it's not a problem.'
'Ok, are we all ready?' Mouse asked.
They all nodded in response. 'Oh, I forgot to mention. When you get in there, you have to reach for your flag. The first one to get there wins. Clier's team will be red, and Neo's will be blue. Alright, so get ready, because now's not the time for running; now's the time for violence!' Mouse laughed as the white void began to wipe away, transforming into whirlwind of dust-filled skies and a bed rock of rubble. His laughter filled them up, carrying away their composure.
"Is Mouse ok?" Edward asked, feeling the heat of both fear and embarrassment.
'Sure he is,' Apoc grinned, 'it's a fetish for him, you know?'
-/\*_;)(-
He grasped the door handle, opened the door and let his fellow Agents pass through along with Envy. Shutting the door behind him, Envy whistled in awe as he glared about the world he had unwittingly stepped into. The walls were a blank white like an empty canvas and set into their places were dark green doors.
"What do you call this?" Envy grinned.
'This is the Backdoor. Programs such as ourselves can use them to get from one place to another.' His face remained void of expression. They walked some ways along the corridor before he stopped instinctively before a door.
"Why this one?" Envy asked.
'Now that we know Morpheus is alive, we know where they are.'
A sneer distorted Envy's face, "So we can pay them a visit!"
Agent Smith smiled approvingly and opened the door in front of him, 'After you.' He waved a hand, motioning Envy to pass by him.
"Why thank you." Envy nodded, and as he stepped through, red volts curled around his body.
Author's Note:
Was never really sure how right Morpheus being dubbed "Dream-guy" in Chapter 2 was until I found out...in Greek mythology Morfeus is the Greek God of Dreams!
This chapter is called Violence Fetish from the song by Disturbed from the album The Sickness. This one, for me, suited the chapter perfectly (I come up with the contents of the chapter before finding the song that best describes it, although sometimes, if I hear a song I like and want to turn into a chapter title, then I find a way to fit it into the story line; hopefully though that doesn't seem too obvious). A lot of violent things happen. The death of Hardin (sort of), the death of Captain Flint, Vic slitting his wrist, Roy beating the crap out of Ed, Envy and the Agents and the violent actions of Switch; of course, not forgetting the violent aspects of the simulation and the verbal abuse that gets tossed around these days. Have I forgotten anything? Probably.
Anyway, for those who have read the Matrix comics, you'll know who Captain Flint and Hardin are a lot better than I do, because I myself haven't read them. I just found them on Matrix wikia and they seemed to suit my purpose, especially those EPOs (Evolving Programming Objects). To be honest though, the EPOs were created by Hardin's employee, Peter Schoppe. Also, they only worked in the way that is shown by combining them with Hardin's Interrogative Agents (programmed to travel the internet while collecting data and conducting surveillance. This though isn't really addressed because now that Envy has Hardin's intelligience, he doesn't really need to talk about this (what would be the realistic point of explaining something he already knows to himself?). You'll find out more later on I hope.
This one was certainly longer then I intended, so I decided that now would probably be the time to cut it short, you know, so that you can wait for how the simulation will unfold. Plus, I'll have some ideas for what to do for chapter 14, although to be honest that shouldn't be hard for me. I've probably already told you that I know where I'm taking this fiction, so I have a fair idea of what's going on, even if the real detail of the chapters doesn't come to me until the actual writing.
I'll try and keep these author's notes short for once, so then I'll have something to talk about for chapter 14. Anyway, no omake this time, sorry guys, I'll work one in in later chapters though (and i have!)
*Roy makes a whip sound, but I don't exactly know how to write that sound. Just imagine a whip sound, and you'll get the idea.
Chapter 14 should be up for the 16th April, well, if I'm not hung over or something of the like from an 18th birthday party I'm going to on the 15th. I don't drink, so I'll probably be lucky. Anyway, thanks for your patience in waiting for Chapter 13. This one will be out in two weeks as you'll probably have guessed. Now, I'll let myself get on with Chapter 17. It's a fairly big one for what happens, though others have been dramatic so far, we shall see what it's like once it's up, right?
Thanks for reading and please don't forget to review! Also, if anyone has any questions they want to ask about the series so far, then please don't be afraid to ask. As Tash will know, I will answer any queries you have. They are open for debate, except the ones that could be spoilers for you. I'm not giving away any of the future plot! I'll never surrender! Ha ha ha HA!
Ophelia Davis
Ok, it has to be said! All of you should listen to Rude box by Robbie Williams on the album of the same name. You can surprisingly liken it to the Matrix! In the second verse it goes, "Ok, then back to spaceship. Take both pills, fuck the Matrix." And then, "Ok then, what to do. If you try to jack me I'll rudebox your whole crew." And finally, "Call me on my mobile, not the land line. And jack the main line, at the same time." I just love the references, and the music suits it so well.
Finally, I just got a DS game (pre-owned really) called Lux-Pain. I love it already because it's got such voice actors as Jason Liebrecht (Alfons Heiderich from Conquer of Shamballa, Hei from Darker than Black and Takizawa from Eden of the East), Colleen Clinkenbeard (Riza Hawkeye!), Christopher Sabat (Armstrong and of course Piccolo and Vegeta), Monica Rial (Mei Chang and Dante, different series but still FMA), Greg Ayres (Satoshi Hiwatari from DN Angel and Kaoru from Ouran, though he did voice the lizard chimera in FMA), Todd Haberkorn (Ling Yao from FMA and Hikaru from Ouran), Robert McCollum (the younger slicer brother from FMA), J. Michael Tatum (Scar in Brotherhood and Kyoya in Ouran), Cherami Leigh (Elicia Hughes), Brina Palencia (Nina Tucker), Eric Vale (Solf. J. Kimblee and Zagi from Jyu Oh Sei if you've seen that) and John Burgmeier (Dolcetto in both FMA series and Tien Shinhan in Dragonball Z). So there are a lot of recognisable voices in it; I'm just so pleased that Jason Liebrecht is in it, the voice of Takizawa from Eden of the East! It's a very good 11 episode series if you haven't seen it! And of course, we all remember Alfons Heiderich from Conquer of Shamballa, because that was just an awesome movie, even if it was spawned from the 2003 series (not that i have a problem with it). Definitely worth a check; they'll even be a film called Eden of the East: Air Communication, which retells the episodes, sort of like what they did for Death note. But they'll be two films after that! Can't wait.
Sorry, now for my main point. If any of you have played Lux-Pain, then any help or pointers would be much appreciated. It's one of those games where your actions affect the outcome, sort of like Harvest Moon. You can choose what to say, you're reactions, and many other things like that. It's a mystery game and it plays out like a novel (apparently), but still complicated for a first timer like me. It's my understanding that it came out a while back, so I'm sure a fair number of you who own DS's will know it.
Thanks for reading and for your help should you end my pain over Lux-Pain!