Vick says: Chapter 8 now, the battle song of those who fight for the freedom of Zion...join this heroes while they prepare the attack on the Matrix's Agent core ... this is the first time Shiva enters the Matrix and the beginning of the adventure...if you thought things were going to be easy then....*chuckle* you were wrong please pay attention because here you'll see the intro of one of the main characters of the second part of this saga...
Also, meet Richard Stone...a.k.a. Freud.
Feedback point : vickpena@yahoo.com.mx please use encrypted email engine with fake DNS address, I suspect agents have been chasing me...
Disclaimer. Agent Smith, the Matrix and other characters related are property of other very creative persons and not mine, a fan who wants to write an entertaining and interesting Sci Fi piece based in this outstanding saga.
THE MATRIX:
Firewalls
By Vick
Vickpena@yahoo.com.mx
The Agent and the Hacker.
Chapter 8
A good day to die
Inspired in Matrix Reloaded OST track 17 "Mona Lisa Overdrive' by Juno Reactor and Don Davis
"you know this is not personal, don't you?"
The voice broke the silence of the night. The moon was shiny and the forest quiet, the stars twinkled in the sky...it was the perfect night to go out on a walk to breath the scent of night blossoms and the fresh country air.
But the persons in that far and deserted area of the woods were not there for fun but for business.
The old but carefully restored Pontiac GTO painted in black had its headlights on, illuminating the place where two men, one on his knees and other standing with a cigar in his mouth, were.
"I will pay....just...just give me more time" the man on his knees begged, his voice cracking in the beginning of desperation.
The man with the cigar shook his head. " I am sorry "
His voice was soothing and calmed, it sounded friendly but the 9 mm in his right hand evaporated any wrong conclusion. He would use the gun without hesitation but not yet...
Stone, as the people in the 'business' knew him, attached a silencer to his gun...he hated the loud 'Bang' of those weapons...
"This is a good day to die, Ian " Stone said with his tenor voice that contrasted deeply with his rude face " I just do my job"
"Stone...please..." the man begged. " I will give you whatever you want!....but don't kill me"
Stone sighed , after fifteen years in the business he was completely convinced he had heard every promise a man about to die can make...they offer everything...even things they cannot give...one time, a Drug Cartel boss he was hired to execute promised him the presidency of a small Asian country...very tempting but not enough to break his policy of dedication....Stone was a dedicated assassin and he was used to finish his work.
Like Ian Malcolm here...a man who didn't know when to stop betting on the wrong horse.
When you're a compulsive better it is like when you fall in a deep well filled with soft mud...if you're wise, you stay calm and try to get out...but, if you try to move fast you'll sink, slowly but constantly until you drown...Ian suffered the same thing...he didn't remain calm when he won the first time and continued betting...the result was that one day he was unable to pay...he drowned in his own mud of debts and ended up meeting a person like Stone.
"There is a shovel in the trunk " Stone said. " you better start digging now..."
The man sobbed like a little girl.
"Stone! Please!"
Stone sighed in anger and went to the trunk, fetched the shovel and threw it at Ian's feet...he was crying louder...
"dig now" he commanded, his voice serious " and don't make me shoot you in one leg...it is hard to dig that way..."
Ian grabbed the shovel and looked up with a fierce expression Stone knew too damn well...Ian was thinking on defending himself with the shovel...he was imagining he was some character in one of those action movies where the hero saves himself in the last minute.
But Stone knew the truth...there was no way in hell he'd survive the night...just once he was taken by surprise...where?...he didn't remember but there was snow everywhere and the cold was terrible...
That time he was supposed to kill a young man who was shaking like jello and the wife...or now ex wife of his boss...the poor kid was so stupid to think the most powerful gangster in Colorado wouldn't find out he was sleeping with his wife...not to mention the wife...who thought she wouldn't be caught when she, in a outburst of arrogance, had sex in her home in the bed she shared at night with her husband...how stupid that was?...well...the reaches of their stupidity were about to be shown as Stone dragged them down of the Dodge Durango he used to get to that snowy place up in the mountains.
They were both naked.
Stone was using a heavy and expensive coat.
The young man began to cry...but the woman was in complete control , a hard thing to do when you're naked, and, when he gave them the shovels it happened...the woman hit him in one knee ..he fell back and was about to die...the woman, Nadia, hit him hard in the stomach but she never thought how much that coat protected him.
Anyway, the breath was knocked out from him and he'd probably die if the man would've helped her...but he was sobbing uncontrollably.
The woman tried to hit him again, this time in the head but he shoot, freezing her with a clean shot in the forehead.
When she fell to the ground Stone rose, slowly...and shoot her three more times....
The bang of the detonations echoed in the mountains.
The young man had to dig two graves.
That day stone learned a very important lesson, he had to be alert all the time and read the intentions in the person's eyes, it was easy to do that, specially when they were about to die.
Ian tried to hit him.
Stone shoot him in one leg.
The man fell backwards
"I told you not to make me shoot you..." Stone said,
Ian dug his grave crying all the time maybe accepting his destiny...maybe so terrified to try to do some other attempt to escape...he was lost and he knew it...
At the end and when Ian was looking him up from inside his grave Stone sighed, aiming.
"I have a wife and kids..." Ian said, sadly " could you let them know how sorry I am...I never wanted to hurt them...I just...just...couldn't stop..."
"I will tell them..."
"they won't be hurt, will they?" Ian asked in hope " tell me they won't get hurt"
"I promise they won't " Stone said and shot.
Ian collapsed inside his grave...Stone never missed and always shot in the head...that way they wouldn't suffer long...
Stone spent the next hour covering the body and, by three a.m. he started the engine and drove back to the city....he never got there
He was used to trust no one and avoid all kind of problems...it is not wise to involve in troubles when you are an assassin...so he tried, very hard to have a peaceful life... as peaceful as possible...
Stone succeeded most of the time, for the people who knew him, Richard Stone was a the owner of a famous Bar downtown Boston...like that one from the TV show...Cheers...he had a regular crowd of clients and all of them would swear , a hand on the Bible, that he was not capable of killing a fly.
He wore his mask well...staying out of troubles, attending his Bar
When the people he worked for had a 'job' for him all they had to do was to send an envelope with the photo and the address of the person he had to kill, that simple... and , as soon as he memorized the information , the envelope was promptly used to lit a cigar.
Once the job was done he'd receive his fee , cash...delivered directly to him by random messengers.
Yes...he had to stay out of any problem.
Anyway though, he hated some things...and hated them badly.
He stopped in a Gas Station and, while the tank filled, he walked to the convenience store near the pumps.
With his mind set in a beer, Stone headed to the back part, to the freezers.
When he passed near the little office next to the freezers he heard a phone ringing.
Which reminded him there was no clerk behind the counter.
He selected a six pack of Ballantines and returned to the counter.
The place was empty.
The phone continued ringing loudly.
"hello?" he called, tapping on the counter with his knuckles.
All he heard in reply was the insisting Ring of the phone.
Stone put the amount of the beers on the counter and walked out carrying them in one hand.
He opened the door and heard it.
The sound of something being broken in the back part of the Gas Station.
He heard gasps and sounds of fighting.
"it is non of my business " Stone said and walked to his car, returned the nozzle to its position in the pump and put the tap on, then sat in the driver's seat and started the engine determined to run away from there as fast as he could before the cops arrived.
But there was a slight change of plans.
Stone left the engine running and got down his car.
He hated uneven fights.
A woman was tossed from the side of the Convenience's store building directly to one of the pump where she crashed loudly.
Stone expected to see a bunch of men walking out from the shadows, he was most surprised to see a single guy in gray suit marching toward the woman with evident killing purposes...
Stone moved...
But she still had will to fight and demonstrated it when she kicked the man using a Karate kick,
The man fell heavily, the woman rose and tried to run toward the convenience store...
The man in gray suit drew his gun and shot.
The bullet hit the woman in the ankle....she tripped and fell, her hands flew to the injure ...the man leaped to his feet and approached the woman who was looking up in pain.
Stone pressed the gun against the back of the man in gray's head.
"let's see if you can dodge this..."
He shot
The man in gray suit collapsed but as he fell to the floor...his body transformed and changed incredibly to that of a young man wearing a uniform featuring the name of the Gas Station.
"what the....?" Stone said, dumbfounded
"help me up..." the woman cried..." we have to go now...he'll come back...."
Still too shocked to understand what was happening he helped the woman up, she grabbed him for support.
"You need to get medical assistance ..." Stone said, looking around, now aware he could be seeing spotted anytime...a car could stop there...
"No..." the woman replied, looking at him with her deep blue eyes " all I need is a telephone...now!"
"Who or what was that man?" he asked, helping her to move toward the convenience store.
"My name is Smith"
He turned around.
"How...?" he asked
"let us say I have certain skills ..." he paused next to the dead man "I thought you only killed by contract "
Stone winked " how do you know I...?"
"Surprise, surprise " Smith said, fiercely "now, hand me the woman and I will spare you..."
"he is lying " the woman stated, clinging to Stone because he was the only way to get help. "he will kill you...of that you can be certain!"
Stone had to choice.
His policy of not trusting anyone had to be changed.
Right now
Stone lifted his gun and fired...bullet after bullet.
Smith dodged every shot , moving incredibly fast, so fast Stone couldn't believe...
He stopped firing , his mouth agape.
Smith fixed his tie and jacket " you had your chance , Mr. Stone...now...my turn "
But the woman still had something to say .
"Run!" she commanded and drawing her gun , shot to the gasoline pump behind Smith.
The Agent looked back and received the flames.
Stone simply hoisted the woman in his arms and ran away as fast as he could.
The Gas Station exploded and the shock wave lifted them runaway couple in the wind, sending them to the other side of the deserted road.
Stone protected the woman as much as he could but she was unconscious
Stone wouldn't wait to see if that strange character walked out of the Gas Station so he began to run on the side of the road with her in his arms...
He had to get out of there.
The road was deserted and no cars were seeing ...good...no one would like him with what happened...
He stopped, a mile away, exhausted.
The woman groaned.
"are you ok?" he asked, gasping for air.
"yes..." she said " thank you for helping me "
"what the hell was that thing?"
"An agent " the woman said , weakly, searching for something inside her pockets...it was a Nokia cell phone where she dialed a number and waited." Abraham....tell Jeremy we have a new crew member..."
"we need to get out of here quickly...." Stone noted, likely to himself.
The woman pressed the 'end' key.
"We will, Stone..."
Valkyries on the run
Smith was an expert in human behavior.
Not because of his program but for his own research.
Secretly, and since he began functioning, he felt curious about those creatures he was supposed to chase...this , humans...
So, he created a little data base in the which he began storing the results of his research, every human was a new possibility to learn...and a possibility to test his knowledge.
He knew that given the correct circumstances a human would betray even his friends in order to obtain something he wanted badly...that was human nature...indeed...
Exceptions ?, yes, but those were rare and were always related to errors in the system.
The count of human ships destroyed by sentinels until that moment was eleven....a good record...soon, Zion would be defenseless and they would destroy that annoyance...then...finally, peace in a perfect world of imperfect humans sleeping in power plants.
Eternally.
"Excuse me, mister "
Agent Smith looked down slowly when he felt something tugging his jacket. He found a little red headed girl dressed in scholar uniform looking up with a smile.
He decided to ignore her.
But the girl tugged his jacket again. This time harder.
"I said...excuse me , mister..." she insisted with childish obstination.
"what do you want?" he asked, dryly
She showed him a bottle of Coca Cola" I can't open it " she stated " could you do it for me?, please?"
Smith looked away, to the passing people, searching in their faces the look of recognition that would betray an infiltrated from Zion.
Nothing.
People continued walking, minding their own business, cursing the heat, talking by cell phone, listening to music in their walkman, carrying their children back from school.
Finally, a moment of peace for him...
"so...will you help me or not?" the voice of the little girl asked from below
"I'd suggest you to leave now " Smith said, coldly
"Mommy says we pay your salary " the girl stated, " if thats so, then I want you to open this for me...technically I am your boss too."
Smith found that most amusing...and ironic...the little girl was right...they were working to protect them for their selfish binary purposes ...to be fed with human's bioelectric energy and heat.
He kneeled down to be at her eye level and grabbed the bottle she was handing him.
"so...you are my boss?" he asked, twisting the cap open and giving the bottle back to the little girl
She sipped her coke " yes"
"are you not afraid of me?" he asked, removing his sunglasses
The girl giggled "No, you're a cop and you're here to protect me"
"I see " Smith nodded " and how do you know I am a cop?"
"I saw you on the news the other day"
"Is that why you came to me to open your drink?"
The girl nodded "Absolutely"
Smith rose, a communication was being received in his radio link....there was information about certain activity he was expecting...another proof of his knowledge of human behavior was now entering the Matrix ...great...and he was near...he'd handle that issue personally
Excellent...
He began walking but the girl stopped him taking his hand.
"Thank you" she said " hey, won't you tell me your name?"
Smith had no time for that now...every second was important...
"I am Smith, " he replied, hastily, running away.
"Go get the bad guys Smith!! " the girl giggled, waving at him.
****
The 'bad guys' were no others but Joyce and Shiva.
"We're in"
"we read agents heading your way " Jung said. " you better move "
"Do we have a car?" she asked
Jung typed some commands and pressed the 'Enter' button " now you do....I gave you a fast car ...you have the keys...white Mustang Cobra, "
Joyce found the keys in one of her pockets " keep us informed, Jung"
"will do " the operator said "hurry up and get out of there"
Joyce hung up.
"let's move " she said, walking out of the storage room they were " it seems your former boss is heading this way "
"where are we?" Shiva asked, a little confused. "my, being loaded here certainly makes you feel weird..."
Joyce turned left.
"follow me " was all she said.
At the end of the corridor was a door Joyce promptly opened.
They stepped out into a parking lot and the first thing they saw was the promised car.
Joyce sat in the driver seat and started the engine.
Shiva removed her sunglasses and sat in the passenger seat.
"We are moving..." Joyce said.
"I do not think so..."
Smith drew his gun, appearing exactly next to the driver window.
"Damn it!"
Joyce stepped in the gas pedal and the car darted away, Smith fired, breaking the rear window of the car...bullets zipped through the parking lot but all of them missed.
Joyce turned left hastily, the rear wheels blocked by the parking brake screeched and were set free until the car was heading exactly toward the exit ramp.
She accelerated and headed that way at full speed
"My god, that was close " Shiva said, sighing in relief
Joyce clenched her teeth " he does not give up that easily"
The car jumped out to the street.
Shiva looked out and saw a blurry image of Smith and two Agents in the sidewalk as Joyce drove down the street.
"how he found us this fast?" she asked dodging a Silverado truck that just pulled out of the curb
"he takes his job seriously " Shiva ventured to say. " are we far from Sonic's hideout?"
"far enough " Joyce muttered
the Silverado truck accelerated and began following them , Joyce watched it in the rear view mirror and turned right in the next street...the truck followed...it was all she needed to confirm who was at the wheel, and even more when the truck hit an old Volkswagen to take him out of the way...the small car spun around and hit a parked Lincoln...
Joyce pulled his cell phone out and dialed
"operator"
"Jung, Smith found us too damn quickly...any explanation for that?"
"No " said the imperturbable Jung "it is like if he knew where you were "
Joyce shot a look to Shiva...
"I will have to abort the mission " Joyce said "it is dangerous "
"Request granted " Jung replied " but you'd have to escape from the Agents first ..."
Jeremy, arms folded, was pacing back and forth the main deck, following the persecution with real attention.
Jung was typing in her keyboard very fast, looking the monitor in front of her while talking in her microphone.
Jeremy stopped next to Joyce's body...in her face he saw nothing but calm but Shiva's face was another story...she had her eyes closed and even when she was not in danger, her hands were clenched to her seat in an exteriorization of what she was experiencing.
"take a left next corner, Joyce " Jung said, sharply
Freud walked in the main deck, in his face Jeremy saw problems
"We have a distress signal from the Adventurer, twenty miles away from here....they are being hit badly...what do we do?"
Jeremy remained in silence.
"Jeremy?"
"We stay here "
"but..." Freud argued
"I said we stay here...." he stated, firmly "if we give out our position then our mission will be over"
"alright" Freud sighed.
"contact the nearest ship and dispatch it that way " Jeremy commanded " let's hope they get there in time"
Freud left to comply his orders muttering curses.
In other circumstances, the Mordecai would assist immediately but this time the mission was more important than the lives of a crew and he hated that ..they all did.
"Watch out!" Shiva yelled
The Mustang missed by miracle being hit by a trailer that appeared in the intersection, the driver, Agent Kane, controlled the heavy vehicle and joined the persecution, opening a path for Smith to follow, throwing cars out of the street, cars that Joyce had to dodge first, and that was a hard task considering they were in a packed street at noon
A red light.
She had no time.
A Nissan Sentra stopped next to an old Mercury Cougar leaving a small gap between them.
Too small.
Joyce twisted the steering wheel dramatically to the left and zeroed through the only space available ...the sidewalk....
A newspaper rack seemed to explode sending newspaper everywhere, the persons began jumping to the side as the white rocket raced on the sidewalk , anyway, a second later, the Mustang jumped to the street and turned left...a big mistake...
Shiva couldn't repress a low desperate groan when she saw they were driving in the wrong direction but Joyce wasn't impressed and darted bravely through the incoming traffic.
The Sentra and the Cougar were hit by the trailer and sent flying to the other side of the street. Shiva saw how the trailer headed their way and continued the persecution followed by the Silverado....
A way out...all they needed was a way out...yes...
"this wasn't supposed to be like this " Joyce noted, with her eyes locked with the road, knowing the minor distracting would mean their doom. " damn it...we need to get out of this street "
"oh, really?" Shiva quipped
"Jung....I need your help " Joyce said
her cell phone rang.
"Yes... " a quick maneuver to avoid crashing " talk to me , Jung!"
"I have a hard line a mile ahead, but I need you to stick in that route until you get to the freeway exit ramp..."
a mile?...Joyce wondered....it was impossible, not driving in the wrong direction and not with agents chasing them.
"it is impossible!" she gasped
"I know. " Jung replied. " can you do that?"
But her answer had to be delayed because the trailer was getting closer and closer, the Silverado truck was out of sight.
Joyce saw the flashes of police cars approaching in the distance...it was not possible to do what Jung was asking...
"I won't make it" she said,
"help is on the way " Jung stated " wait for the signal and accelerate all you can because things will get hot..."
click.
"hot?"
"hold on!" Joyce said pressing the gas pedal all the way down.
***
Smith smiled.
He knew the car heading his way had no chance to escape
The barricade set by the police was impenetrable and the trailer chasing the Mustang wouldn't give up.
Not even if the Mustang stopped and the infiltrated surrender.
Agent Kane would run over them.
"we have the spike strip ready " a fat police officer said,
"Thank you " Smith said. "get your men ready "
"they are...I don't know why two girls in a stolen Mustang deserve this much attention "
Smith removed his sunglasses "you do not need to understand it, sergeant ...you just have assist us in this operation "
"why don't you stop your agent in the trailer?" Karl McGregor asked, angrily " he is hitting every car ..."
Smith looked at him long and hard, so hard the sergeant decided to shut up
"I want you to open fire at my command " Smith said, loudly " these criminals are dangerous and no considerations have to be done...understood?"
The barricade was composed by four Impala police cars with their strobes on.
The policemen prepared to fire...the twelve of them had automatic weapons and some other heavy weapons including shot guns and AR-15 rifles.
Two more minutes.
The traffic was being held by officers in the colliding streets with similar barricades, for what they concerned, the Mustang had no escape.
"Signal?" Shiva asked, dumbfounded " what kind of signal?"
Joyce remained in silence, her eyes locked with the incoming barricade, the odometer marked 90 miles per hour...the trailer was still behind them...if something had to happen it had to happen now.