Chapter Seven
It was a trap. It was a goddamn trap! The damn 'bots knew we were coming and so a few dozen guards saw a paper flow by twice, or the same pigeon warble, and the building was rigged, the entire goddamn building!
We had entered the elevator and Puma had moved to push the button.
"Don't touch it," Neo said. "It's rigged to something, probably a high explosive."
"Damn it!" I almost yelled. I whipped up my cell phone.
"How do you know?" Puma asked.
"The Matrix," Neo replied. "I see it in coding. All the time."
"Daggert here," the phone came through.
"Daggert!" the yelled as Puma and Neo ripped off the top of the elevator. "The entire building has traps! Everywhere!"
"We found out," Morpheus was on the line. "You, Puma and Neo will have to do this alone. We are cut off."
Sweat broke out on my forehead.
"Cut off?"
"Brian?" Puma asked as he got out his automatic grappling hook.
"It will be hard, I know this," Morpheus said. "But I believe in you. Just focus. Plus, you'll have Neo on your team. Leave the Agents to him and get Kayson out."
"Brian?" Neo asked. "Is that his name?"
"Yeah, it's his real name," Puma replied. "But his hacker name is Hunter."
"Hunter," Neo repeated.
"Hunter?" Morpheus asked.
"Okay," I said, hung up and pulled out of autohook. "Let's go. Neo, you'll have to be our eyes when it comes to these traps."
"Good," Neo said as we got up onto the top of the elevator. "'Cause there are motion detectors covering the elevator walls upwards. Explosives again."
"Damn," Puma said. "Well, then we're done, we can't get up then."
"Not so fast," I said. "Neo, if you flew up there, could the explosions affect you?"
Neo looked at me.
"Or..." I continued. "Could you stop them?"
"Geez, I-I don't know," Neo replied. "I've never tried anything like that."
My cell phone rang.
"You're going to have to try," I said and put the cell phone to my ears.
"Agents and an army of officers coming your way," Maybell said and hung up.
"And you're going to have to do it now," I finished.
"What?" Puma asked. "What's going on?"
"Agents and officers heading our way," I said. "Neo, if you do anything, do it now."
It was amazing. Neo nodded and bent his knees and then moved, launching himself up the elevator shaft. Puma and I were knocked to the elevator roof from the force of the explosion. Heat welled up against my face and suddenly the heat intensified - and stayed there. Cautiously, I opened my eyes. Like I said, it was amazing. Neo said there, a black spot in a wall of chaotic lights. Balls of flame were frozen around him, shards of the wall simply stopped in mid-air, the massive explosions were there, so close you could touch them. Suddenly, a bullet went past my nose.
"Go!" I yelled, firing my autohook up. Puma did the same. The hooks flew past Neo, hovering there, admiring his own handiwork in awe and we shot up. I looked down and saw a glimpse of an Agent staring up through the window in the roof of the elevator.
"See ya later, pal," I said and fired. The elevator exploded instantly, creating an oxymoron with the rest of the frozen environment. Bits and pieces on elevator and SWAT officer goo flew everywhere, some hitting the freeze-frame explosions and incinerated instantly. Neo flew up to where we were.
"According to Morpheus," I explained. "Kayson should be on this floor. Ready?"
"Ready," Puma said.
"Ready," Neo said.
"Good," I said and kicked outwards at the closed elevator doors. They smashed inwards as we burst through onto the floor.
"Traps?" Puma asked.
"Explosive mortar," Neo said. "Strapped to the floor and the ceiling."
"Fine," I said. "I'm through playing around with their crap."
I took a step back and ran. I leapt before I hit the area which Neo warned me about as I turned, hitting the sides of the wall.
It's not real.
I began to run. Keep sideways, I thought, keep sideways.
It's not real.
I was slipping, I realized. I ran faster, desperate to stay on the wall. Almost there, almost there. You're slipping! my brain screamed. I had to stay up.
You think that's air you're breathing?
Morpheus spoke in my head, and I snapped up my head. Almost there. Hell, why is this so much trouble. It's not real. You think that's air you're breathing? No way, Sammy, that's grade A hallucinatory computer programing. I landed and turned back towards Puma and Neo. Puma gaped.
"Woah," Neo said. I felt very complimented to get such a reaction from the One. Neo leapt and soared over the hallway to where I was. Puma looked unconvinced.
"Stay there!" I said. "We'll be back with Kayson!"
Puma shrugged.
"Go get him!" he yelled back. I smiled and faced the door. "Oh, Brian?"
I turned.
"Yeah?"
"Here!" Puma yelled, throwing me two 9mm Uzis.
"Thanks!" I said, chuckling. Neo and me raised a leg and then kicked at the door. Everything seemed to go into slow motion at the point, maybe it was because I was moving so fast.
You think that's air you're breathing?
The door blew backwards, floating through the air as the SWAT officers situated around the room sluggishly turned, raising their automatic rifles. It didn't take much. I merely sent off bursts of the uzis, the officers falling in the rain of our combined firepower. I ignored the Agents, who included Agent White, and merely ran for the frightened young man on the chair. Geez, I thought. They had really broken Kayson, for a couple of years ago, that young man didn't know the meaning of the word 'fear'. Neo turned, spraying bullets at the Agents, who seemed to go into their own hyperdrive. I ripped off Kayson's ropes and grabbed him. Yes! I thought. I had gotten Kayson!
Then everything sped up again.
And the Agents began to fire.
I whirled, trying to dodge the bulletfire with a near-hysterical man in my hands. Neo blurred to each side, catching as much bullets as possible, but the ground and the walls about me still ripped off from the fire.
"Neo!" I yelled as I ran out the door. "Let's go!"
Neo backed off and dropped his empty guns.
"This should slow you down!" he yelled and plunged his hands forward. The effect was incredible. The Matrix seemed to ripple from the affect, slowly moving through desk, chair, wall, Agents. Then it sped up again and the chairs and the walls burst into fragments of broken coding. The Agents slipped and fell to the ground in the rain of electronic cosmic destruction. Adrenaline rushed into me and I made it over the hallway in one jump. Neo flew over it and landed at the same time as I did. Puma took Kayson from me as I turned. Agent White walked through the doorway and looked at me as the other Agents walked in.
"I will enjoy decapitating you, Mister Tarashima," Agent White said, in the Agent's sinister monotone voice.
"Decapitate this!" I yelled, firing at the floor as I leapt back. The hallway erupted into flaming cataclysm, sending us flying into the elevator shaft. I grabbed onto the autohook rope and almost ran into one of the frozen explosion bubbles - frozen yet deadly hot.
"Neo!" I yelled up at the floating figure. "Can you make the explosions continue?"
"I think so!" Neo yelled down.
"Well, do it when I say to!" I yelled and dropped, flying down all the way to the basement, where the ground erupted into craters around my feet. I had been in this game long enough for it not to hurt at all. Seconds later, Puma, with Kayson, landed and so did Neo. We ran towards the door in front of us when I heard the door opening behind us and the click of a weapon.
"You will alway lose, Mister Tarashima," Agent White said, raising his gun. I gave the signal and the entire building exploded on top of us, except we were faster and closer to a door, while our neighbour friendly Agent was right underneath the shaft.
"Holy cow!" James yelled as we flew from the shock wave.
"Holy cow?" Trinity asked, mockingly, as he embraced Neo. Morpheus and Daggert both raised their cell phones.
"Tank?"
"Maybell?"
"We need a way out," they said in unison. They looked at each other and chuckled.
It was a trap. It was a goddamn trap! The damn 'bots knew we were coming and so a few dozen guards saw a paper flow by twice, or the same pigeon warble, and the building was rigged, the entire goddamn building!
We had entered the elevator and Puma had moved to push the button.
"Don't touch it," Neo said. "It's rigged to something, probably a high explosive."
"Damn it!" I almost yelled. I whipped up my cell phone.
"How do you know?" Puma asked.
"The Matrix," Neo replied. "I see it in coding. All the time."
"Daggert here," the phone came through.
"Daggert!" the yelled as Puma and Neo ripped off the top of the elevator. "The entire building has traps! Everywhere!"
"We found out," Morpheus was on the line. "You, Puma and Neo will have to do this alone. We are cut off."
Sweat broke out on my forehead.
"Cut off?"
"Brian?" Puma asked as he got out his automatic grappling hook.
"It will be hard, I know this," Morpheus said. "But I believe in you. Just focus. Plus, you'll have Neo on your team. Leave the Agents to him and get Kayson out."
"Brian?" Neo asked. "Is that his name?"
"Yeah, it's his real name," Puma replied. "But his hacker name is Hunter."
"Hunter," Neo repeated.
"Hunter?" Morpheus asked.
"Okay," I said, hung up and pulled out of autohook. "Let's go. Neo, you'll have to be our eyes when it comes to these traps."
"Good," Neo said as we got up onto the top of the elevator. "'Cause there are motion detectors covering the elevator walls upwards. Explosives again."
"Damn," Puma said. "Well, then we're done, we can't get up then."
"Not so fast," I said. "Neo, if you flew up there, could the explosions affect you?"
Neo looked at me.
"Or..." I continued. "Could you stop them?"
"Geez, I-I don't know," Neo replied. "I've never tried anything like that."
My cell phone rang.
"You're going to have to try," I said and put the cell phone to my ears.
"Agents and an army of officers coming your way," Maybell said and hung up.
"And you're going to have to do it now," I finished.
"What?" Puma asked. "What's going on?"
"Agents and officers heading our way," I said. "Neo, if you do anything, do it now."
It was amazing. Neo nodded and bent his knees and then moved, launching himself up the elevator shaft. Puma and I were knocked to the elevator roof from the force of the explosion. Heat welled up against my face and suddenly the heat intensified - and stayed there. Cautiously, I opened my eyes. Like I said, it was amazing. Neo said there, a black spot in a wall of chaotic lights. Balls of flame were frozen around him, shards of the wall simply stopped in mid-air, the massive explosions were there, so close you could touch them. Suddenly, a bullet went past my nose.
"Go!" I yelled, firing my autohook up. Puma did the same. The hooks flew past Neo, hovering there, admiring his own handiwork in awe and we shot up. I looked down and saw a glimpse of an Agent staring up through the window in the roof of the elevator.
"See ya later, pal," I said and fired. The elevator exploded instantly, creating an oxymoron with the rest of the frozen environment. Bits and pieces on elevator and SWAT officer goo flew everywhere, some hitting the freeze-frame explosions and incinerated instantly. Neo flew up to where we were.
"According to Morpheus," I explained. "Kayson should be on this floor. Ready?"
"Ready," Puma said.
"Ready," Neo said.
"Good," I said and kicked outwards at the closed elevator doors. They smashed inwards as we burst through onto the floor.
"Traps?" Puma asked.
"Explosive mortar," Neo said. "Strapped to the floor and the ceiling."
"Fine," I said. "I'm through playing around with their crap."
I took a step back and ran. I leapt before I hit the area which Neo warned me about as I turned, hitting the sides of the wall.
It's not real.
I began to run. Keep sideways, I thought, keep sideways.
It's not real.
I was slipping, I realized. I ran faster, desperate to stay on the wall. Almost there, almost there. You're slipping! my brain screamed. I had to stay up.
You think that's air you're breathing?
Morpheus spoke in my head, and I snapped up my head. Almost there. Hell, why is this so much trouble. It's not real. You think that's air you're breathing? No way, Sammy, that's grade A hallucinatory computer programing. I landed and turned back towards Puma and Neo. Puma gaped.
"Woah," Neo said. I felt very complimented to get such a reaction from the One. Neo leapt and soared over the hallway to where I was. Puma looked unconvinced.
"Stay there!" I said. "We'll be back with Kayson!"
Puma shrugged.
"Go get him!" he yelled back. I smiled and faced the door. "Oh, Brian?"
I turned.
"Yeah?"
"Here!" Puma yelled, throwing me two 9mm Uzis.
"Thanks!" I said, chuckling. Neo and me raised a leg and then kicked at the door. Everything seemed to go into slow motion at the point, maybe it was because I was moving so fast.
You think that's air you're breathing?
The door blew backwards, floating through the air as the SWAT officers situated around the room sluggishly turned, raising their automatic rifles. It didn't take much. I merely sent off bursts of the uzis, the officers falling in the rain of our combined firepower. I ignored the Agents, who included Agent White, and merely ran for the frightened young man on the chair. Geez, I thought. They had really broken Kayson, for a couple of years ago, that young man didn't know the meaning of the word 'fear'. Neo turned, spraying bullets at the Agents, who seemed to go into their own hyperdrive. I ripped off Kayson's ropes and grabbed him. Yes! I thought. I had gotten Kayson!
Then everything sped up again.
And the Agents began to fire.
I whirled, trying to dodge the bulletfire with a near-hysterical man in my hands. Neo blurred to each side, catching as much bullets as possible, but the ground and the walls about me still ripped off from the fire.
"Neo!" I yelled as I ran out the door. "Let's go!"
Neo backed off and dropped his empty guns.
"This should slow you down!" he yelled and plunged his hands forward. The effect was incredible. The Matrix seemed to ripple from the affect, slowly moving through desk, chair, wall, Agents. Then it sped up again and the chairs and the walls burst into fragments of broken coding. The Agents slipped and fell to the ground in the rain of electronic cosmic destruction. Adrenaline rushed into me and I made it over the hallway in one jump. Neo flew over it and landed at the same time as I did. Puma took Kayson from me as I turned. Agent White walked through the doorway and looked at me as the other Agents walked in.
"I will enjoy decapitating you, Mister Tarashima," Agent White said, in the Agent's sinister monotone voice.
"Decapitate this!" I yelled, firing at the floor as I leapt back. The hallway erupted into flaming cataclysm, sending us flying into the elevator shaft. I grabbed onto the autohook rope and almost ran into one of the frozen explosion bubbles - frozen yet deadly hot.
"Neo!" I yelled up at the floating figure. "Can you make the explosions continue?"
"I think so!" Neo yelled down.
"Well, do it when I say to!" I yelled and dropped, flying down all the way to the basement, where the ground erupted into craters around my feet. I had been in this game long enough for it not to hurt at all. Seconds later, Puma, with Kayson, landed and so did Neo. We ran towards the door in front of us when I heard the door opening behind us and the click of a weapon.
"You will alway lose, Mister Tarashima," Agent White said, raising his gun. I gave the signal and the entire building exploded on top of us, except we were faster and closer to a door, while our neighbour friendly Agent was right underneath the shaft.
"Holy cow!" James yelled as we flew from the shock wave.
"Holy cow?" Trinity asked, mockingly, as he embraced Neo. Morpheus and Daggert both raised their cell phones.
"Tank?"
"Maybell?"
"We need a way out," they said in unison. They looked at each other and chuckled.