Chapter Three: The White Rabbit

Waves of communication do not exist only in phones, although they are a main source. However, their codes are intertwined with all others, producing a network, on which life thrives.

A network.

A program?

Never mind what it is, for now, as it does not matter. What matters is its purpose; information. Binary emissions exist everywhere need be, including the screen you are examining this very moment.

However, I can assure you that other screens relay much more useful information, such as the one in the living room of a man named Thomas A. Anderson.

Mr. Anderson lived the cluttered life of a hacker, as was apparent from the condition of his apartment. Papers were scattered about and true furniture was scarce among the mass of speakers, headphones, computer screens, keyboards, disks, and weed-like cables that surrounded the man. Oh, yes, this room was a feast for the network, overgrown with technology. His eyes were shut and his head lay silent in between the muddle, although his headphones remained on. His face was young looking, but unlike many his age he seemed to know more about living inside a computer than outside of one. Next to him say a bowl of cereal, but Thomas was unconcerned about it spilling.

As he slept, however, the computer lived on. A message board had been set up, by Mr. Anderson, of course, and was entitled "The Matrix." A few minutes earlier, there had been no posts, but now they swarmed as a search ran through all replies, looking for exactly what Thomas wanted to find. Of course, there was no guarantee that he would find it.

NEO: Board open to replies.

JACKON: I heard Morpheus has been on this board.

SUPERASTIC: Morpheus doesn't even exist, none of the detectives can find him and he's been hacking longer than we've been breathing. And the Matrix is nothing but an advertising gimmick 4 a new game.

QUARK: The Matrix is a euphemism for the government.

TIMAXE: You mean MTV.

SUPERASTIC: He means Sega.

FOS4: ALL HAIL SEGA!!!

Thomas sat up and sighed. "Idiots don't know shit," he muttered to himself. However, online, he was not known by his birth-given name, but as the hacker alias, Neo. He took another spoonful of the cereal and once again rested his head on the desk.

A buzz sounded in his headphones as the computer screen went black. Green text scrolled across the screen. A private message? Neo didn't accept them, but here one was.

The screen flashed. "Wake up, Neo."

Neo glanced at the screen and froze, reading his name. He winced. "Hackers hacking hackers."

The screen went blank, and then more words popped up. This time they came slower, hesitating, letter by letter. "The Matrix has you."

"What?" Neo squinted at the screen and glanced behind him. The Matrix? Someone knew? Who was this, where were they?! This wasn't safe, no, his own computer being hacked. He hesitated slightly, and then hit escape. No response. "What the hell. . . "

"Follow the white rabbit."

"White rabbit?" Neo read aloud. He hit escape again, twice, three times. Nothing happened.

"Knock knock, Neo."

A chill ran down his spine. Then, a knock at the door. Neo almost jumped out of his chair. He looked at the door, contemplating whether to answer or not, and then back at the screen.

The message was gone.

Neo stood, composing himself. "Coincidence. . .coincidence. . ." He shook his head, not quite sure what had happened, when someone knocked again.

"Hey, Tommy-boy, you in there?! Open up!" Neo immediately relaxed. Choi. One of his customers.

"I'm coming, hold on." Neo walked to the door and turned the handle, making sure the lock was in place before he released it. This way, the door would only open a few inches, just in case. Neo shook his head once he had completed the process; he was being stupid.

There was another knock, and Neo opened the door.

Sure enough, there was Choi, but with a group of friends, all wildly dressed in black leather and piercings. He smirked, noting one girl's nose ring, which was chained to her ear.

"You're two hours late."

"I know, it's her fault," Choi replied, glancing at the woman next to him, who his arm was wrapped around.

Neo opened his mouth to ask exactly what had happened, but then decided that he didn't want to know.

"I need your help, man. Desperate," he said, although not looking very
worried at all. "They got me, man. The shackles of fascism." He held
up a red notice.

"You got the money this time?"

Choi held up two hundred dollars and slapped it into Neo's hand.

"Hold on," Neo said, shutting the door and turning towards his bookcase. He pulled out one with false pages and inserted the money into a slot before grabbing a disk. He opened the door again and handed the disk to Choi.

He grinned. "You're my savior, man. My own personal Jesus Christ."

Neo hesitated. "You get caught using that--"

He was cut off. "I know, I know it's never happened. You don't exist."

Neo nodded and looked to the ground.

"Something wrong, man? You look a little whiter than usual."

Neo smirked at his comment. "My computer-it-" He paused, searching for the right words. "You ever have that feeling, when you're not sure if you're awake or still dreaming?"

Choi nodded, and his girlfriend smiled. "All the time. It's called mescaline, it's the only way to fly."

Neo sighed and looked to the ground. "Well, I better go."

Before he could close the door, Choi called "Hey, it sounds to me like you just need to unplug, man! You know, get some R&R?!" He looked to his girlfriend, and tightened his grip around his shoulders. "What'd you think, Dujour? Should we bring him with us?"

She looked Neo over with she same stare she had been giving him the whole conversation. It made him nervous, being examined, but he was indifferent when she replied. "Definitely."

Neo shrugged and looked away. "Uh, I can't. I have work tomorrow."

Dujour pressed herself against Choi, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning her face against his. "Come on, it'll be fun," She said, looking Neo over again with her red-shadowed eyes. "I promise." As she turned, her shirt slid back, exposing her shoulder blades. She was covered in tattoos of all kinds, from bands and symbols to military slogans. But there, on her arm.

Neo gasped. A white rabbit.

"Sure. I'll go."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's note: I FINALLY GOT IT UPLOADED!!! As it says on my profile, the site was being stew-pod, and nothing would come up. So yeah, I'm glad. This isn't my best chapter, but oh well, I guess. Maybe I'll rewrite it later. I apologize for the short length of this chapter, but it's a short scene. Also-will someone teach me how to do the bold and italic text? Another problem is that whenever I put three dots, you know, to show a pause, when I upload the document, it only shows up as a period. How do I fix that? Thanks SO MUCH, everyone, for the reviews! Especially Chord! --Bryte