The year is 2030. Seven years ago, the TAAO Gang, a group built up in the minds of the locals after a five year disappearance, returned from the Matrix and destroyed the ship of an invading alien force- though not without a cost.
Now, the city of Zion has risen to the surface of a reborn world. The black fog blotting out the sun has been removed, and the light shines through. Terraforming technology has turned the formerly dead Zion landscape into a lush forest, surrounding the skyscrapers and suburbs of Zion. Five colony cities surround Zion, within the land formerly known as Israel or Palestine.
A large hill many miles away from Zion overlooks all this. If you were to take a two-lane road out of Zion and drive for sixty minutes, you would ascend many meters and arrive at a gate. A sign on the gate would say Walker Farm and Homestead. On the other side of it, there would be fields of wheat and corn, orchards of apples and pears, a large barn full of livestock, and other exotic crops. If you entered this field and followed the two-lane road a bit farther, you would reenter the forest. After driving for a couple miles, you would arrive at an impressive farmhouse. Through a window on the first floor, you would see a woman in her late twenties, with her children, baking cookies.
Twenty-eight year-old Cassie Sullivan and her three children, Lisa, Oliver, and Lauren are standing in their kitchen, devouring a bowl of raw cookie dough with large spoons.
"Now, kids, make sure not to eat all of it, or we won't have any to make actual cookies out of!" Cassie told them, shoving another bite into her mouth and cradling baby Lauren in her arms.
"But mom, it's better when it isn't cooked!" the seven-year old Lisa protested, taking another bite.
"Ya, I'd never get this full up on your burnt cookies!" five year-old Oliver intoned.
"Hey!" Cassie said playfully, spooning the last bite into her mouth. "Whoops! It's all gone!"
All the kids laughed (except Lauren, she's a baby).
"Alright, it's about bedtime, everyone go take a bath," Cassie told them. "I'll be there to check on you soon."
"Aw, but mom!" Oliver complained.
"I'm older than Oliver, I should get to stay up later!" Lisa cried.
"Please!" they both said at the same time.
"No!" Cassie ordered. "Go get clean!"
The two kids moped out of the room, looking disappointed.
Cassie walked down to the nursery and put down the baby (who, incidentally, was already asleep). Then, she went back to the living room, waiting for Evan to return.
After an hour, the front door opened, and Evan came in, still in his black uniform. Evan was a member of the ZPPO (Zion Paramilitary Police Organization), a substitute for the police, founded by a group of volunteer civilians, before it became an official government agency.
"Evan! You're back early," Cassie exclaimed.
"I hope that surprise is pleasant," Evan said mischievously, as Cassie embraced him.
Since Evan lost Silencer enhancements, he had been working out like crazy. He'd managed to hold on to a good chunk of strength, but he wasn't nearly as strong as his former self, nor was he as fast or resilient. His brain was still relatively sharp, and he could run faster than most, but his abilities were no longer supernatural.
"How's Israel?" she asked.
Israel Haddock was the chief of the ZPPO, and he was good friends with the Walker family.
"He's doing well for the most part," Evan replied.
"That's good," Cassie said. "Wasn't his wife sick recently?"
"She's better now," Evan told her. "Is Sam back yet?"
"Of course not," she replied. "He's sixteen years old and it's a Friday night. Did you honestly think he'd be back yet?"
"I'd think you would've cracked down on all this partying he's been getting up to," Evan stated.
"For goodness' sake, I'm his sister, not his mother!" Cassie told him. "It's not up to me what he gets up to anymore. He can fend for himself."
Sam was at a school party in the gym of Zion School of Arts and Sciences. Dressed in a white blazer and tie, and black slacks, he contrasted with the dark room. Setting off his look was his perfectly trimmed and styled black hair and shockingly red cortage. His table was in the center of the room, a spot where he could easily reach the Song Request Booth, the food stands, and the exit. He was with his best friend, Xiu-Ying, and his new girlfriend Vanessa.
Xiu-Ying was a Manchurian kid who shared most of Sammy's classes. He had a narrow face, short hair, and a pair of perfectly circular glasses. He was kind of short, standing at only 5' 8". At this moment, he was dressed in a grey dress shirt and black slacks. They'd met when they were both eleven years old, and Sam had told him many great stories from the TAAO Gang's past adventures. He was apparently related to the old Chinese emperors, and held the title of heir (a lot of good that'll do him). Most importantly, he was a master of martial arts, able to deal with most attackers easily.
Sam had met Vanessa the previous month, at a Valentine's Day event. She was tan, with long, chocolate brown hair, and was about an inch shorter than Sam (she was 5' 10"). She was wearing a green, baggy shirt, and a pair of jeans. She and Samwere holding hands under the table, as "Never Gonna Give You Up" played over the speakers.
"Man, this is the life!" Sam exclaimed contentedly, eating a cookie with his one free hand.
"Yeah, the life," mumbled the very girlfriend-less Xiu-Ying.
"Don't worry," Vanessa comforted him. "Soon enough, I will give you a couple lessons on how the brains of girls work."
"I should be giving those lessons," Sam chimed. "I know more about girls than most girls."
"Sure you do, nerd," a voice said. Sam, Vanessa, and Xiu all turned to see the resident bully, Garrett, standing there. Garrett had strawlike blonde hair, a round, plump face, a build like a sack of freshly baked bread, and a similar mannerism.
"Oh, it's you!" Sam exclaimed joyfully, standing up. "I love bullying bullies!"
"Ha, easier said than done, nerd," the sack of bread- I mean, Garrett replied, squeezing his squishy fist menacingly. "We're gonna play a game!"
"Oh yeah?" Sam said. "What's that?"
"I'm gonna roast you," Garrett threatened. "You are repugnant, you twig!"
Everyone around them went 'ooh'. That roast really made Sam wonder how Garrett became a bully in the first place.
"Alright," Sam replied. "You wanna hear my roast?"
"Bring it on, flavorless watermelon!" Garrett exclaimed.
"Just by looking into your eyes, I can tell that you're just a bum who spends sixteen out of twenty-four hours in his basement, playing video games, forgetting to do his homework and constantly needing to make excuses. He'll never get a girlfriend, because his face is completely busted and his belly hangs over his belt and down to his knees. He's about as intelligent as a hunk of raw beef, and he knows it!"
The Next Morning….
Lena and Mike owned an orphanage to the south of Zion. Like the Walker Homestead, it was on a hill (though not as high of a hill), and it was about an hour out of Zion. However, this orphanage wasn't quite like the average orphanage. Lena and Mike were cultured, and built their orphanage in the middle of a traditional Chinese Garden…. Which was built in the middle of a traditional Japanese garden.
"The kids doing their chores yet?" Lena asked Mike.
Mike had gone a bit to spare over the past seven years. When Evan lost his supernatural strength, he dedicated himself to restrengthening. However, Mike had lost most of his physique: he had a paunch, and had lost weight (muscle is heavier than fat). His BMI percentage had gone up greatly.
"No," Jolly Mike replied. "They've just started breakfast."
"It took you that long to cook?" she demanded.
"I woke up late," Mike stated. "It's not my fault."
"Dear Lord," Lena muttered.
Lena and Mike had two young children. Thomas was seven years old, with thick, dark brown hair and a round face. Justin was three, and was much thinner and lighter than Thomas. He had dark hair, which was nothing but a fuzz on his face. He looked a lot more like Lena, but Thomas looked like neither of them.
The two kids were currently eating breakfast with the rest of the young kids (Mike and Lena tended to treat their children the same as the rest of the orphans, to prevent the orphans from feeling second-class). There were about twelve orphans, all of them pulled off the streets by Mike and Lena, and taken to the orphanage. The kids would work together to deal with dishes, tend the garden, and take care of other odd jobs. Lena and Mike were their mother and father, and they did their best to take care of them.
Ben and Marika led a much different life than the other two TAAO couples. There were two full families with many children, who lived outside town. But Ben and Marika were different.
Ben played major league football with the Uptown Vultures. The career he had chosen devoured his life, as he spent almost every day practicing and playing the game he loved. He was widely considered to be the best football player society had ever known, merely due to his Silencer enhancements (at max speed, Ben could hit about seventy miles per hour, but he usually limited it to about thirty. He usually jogged on offense).
Marika worked at the Center for Zionite Scientific Research as a leading mathematician and physicist. She was able to spend more time at home than Ben (generally, the two were only able to see each other in the evenings), and thus, she could look after their son James Edward. However, she still wasn't home as often as she needed to be to watch the young kid, so he spent a lot of time at the Walker Homestead.
At this moment, Marika was running an analyzation of a singularity that had been observed in a distant corner of the Milky Way. Much research had been done on black holes at the lab, and Marika, as a physicist, was one of the most important figures in the studies.
"Dr. Parish, what do you make of it's size?" asked Professor Karner.
"It's relatively large, probably generated from the collapse of a Red Giant," Marika replied. "The collapse of a Red Giant could generate an extremely large gravitational field." she paused for a moment. "That may become a problem for humanity in the far distant future, but it isn't anything anyone in this lab will need to worry about."
"It is something someone will have to worry about eventually," Dr. Vedley stated. Vedley was Marika's rival in the physics department. She wasn't quite as skilled as Marika, so she resulted to unconventional tactics to gain an upper hand.
"We should analyze the rate at which it can draw things in," Karner suggested. "Get out a pen and start taking notes."
Meanwhile, Ben was on the field, showing his coach true skill on the field.
They were doing a track course to improve speed and agility (Ben's team was full of a bunch of oafs who were excellent and tackling, but terrible at reaching their opponents). Ben could move at triple the speed and jump far higher than anyone else. He had completed six laps by the time everyone else finished one.
"Excellent job, Parish!" the coach exclaimed. "I'm not sure how you are so talented, but I'm sure it's not from illegal drugs and/or enhancements!"
"Definitely not, coach!" Ben replied.
Now, the team QB had finished his second lap (he was the second-fasted member of the team. He was rarely sacked).
"Oh, c'mon!" the coach (who was pretty old) said. "How come you guys can only complete one set of hurdles in the time it takes Parish to complete six?"
"I'm sorry, we're just all worthless at football!" the QB replied.
"You run like you've just finished time at a post-drug rehab," the coach muttered, walking away. Ben laughed quietly to himself.
Then, he thought of the family he was neglecting. By spending every day at the field, he was letting down two other people he was supposed to protect and look after. But he dismissed that thought: he was making money doing this, and that was what the family needed most.
He took off to finish his seventh lap, the rest of the team huffing and puffing behind him.
Caleb and Elmer had gone into business together. Purchasing a penthouse in the city center with soldier's pay, they proceeded to found an extremely famous and popular pizza place. Gates and Coine's Legendary Pizza Parlour became the most popular restaurant in Zion due to it's commitment to real food and quality service (and it's top-of-the-line arcade). Distantly, the two friends could see the place from their window.
At this point, Elmer was sitting on his couch, sipping on a homemade protein smoothie. Over the years, he had changed. His face was nothing like it was in the Matrix: his scars had disappeared, and he had grown a well-trimmed beard. His black hair was currently longer than normal, and quite untidy (polar opposite of his beard). He was already wearing his work clothes: a denim jacket over a white shirt, and blue jeans.
Caleb's cat, Louis, was curled up next to Elmer, sleeping, when Caleb walked into the room.
Caleb also had similar garb and appearance suggested relation to Elmer, but upon closer reflection, you would see many differences between the two. Caleb was much more muscular and refined, his hair was tidier, and he was a couple inches taller. His eyes were also a bright, shocking blue, while Elmer's were coal black. Elmer looked more ragged, more tested, and much, much more weary. Battle trauma had finally caught up with him.
"Ready for work?" Caleb asked, walking to grab his smoothie.
Elmer took a moment to formulate his reply.
"I will be shortly," he replied, dragging a comb through his hair (to no avail).
"I can head up earlier, if you want me to," Caleb told him. "I'll open up the place, and you can come in later."
"That's a good idea, Caleb," Elmer replied. "I'm not feeling well at all at the moment. I'll be in in a couple hours at the latest."
"Great," Caleb said. "I'll meet you down there."
Caleb and Elmer both knew the same thing: Elmer wasn't finished recovering from the kind of mental scarring he had gone through, and he probably never would. Caleb was a good friend, so he made allowances, and pretended that he wasn't trying to. And Elmer tried to hide his weakness, making excuses for his shabbiness and depression. So Caleb ran the business, and Elmer was there to back him up (sometimes).
Caleb finished his smoothing in a couple seconds, and got into the elevator. Elmer was left in the living room, slowly draining everything that was left in his class.
Almost empty, or barely full? He thought to himself.
Someday, he would have to figure this out. Someday, he would have to rise above his insecurities. But for now, he just needed to recover.
TAAO PART III COMING SOON!