Chapter Three - Spies in the Dark

Far and away, unbeknownst to James, three men were monitoring his progress. They sat in a dark room filled with monitors, some displaying the infinite code of the Matrix, others displaying the decoded images of the city. They had noticed James' progress in his plans. One was concerned with James' work; the others were not. Yet.

"He's getting too close," one of them growled.

"Relax, Agent West," another replied. "There's no way he can develop a working artificial intelligence. Entire teams of programmers and hackers have tried to do it. You think just one man will be able to succeed in his home office?"

"You never see the threat for what it is, do you, Agent Sine?" West snapped. "I tell you, he's closer to it than anyone ever has been."

"Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and H-Bombs. I tell you he'll never reach the finished project."

"Will you two shut up?" the third man roared. "All you two ever do is argue. I'm the leader here, and I'm not going to have a riot under my nose, damn it. Now, Agent West, rest assured that our friend won't succeed. The Matrix has been designed to make sure that his type will fail in their efforts. Only we can make working artificial intelligence to meet our needs. The humans will always stumble when it comes to the issue of emotions. It is their fatal flaw. So just relax."

"Yes, Agent Green."

Green leaned back in his chair. "And even if logic decided to take a day off and he did succeed, it would be easy enough to destroy and cover up. It's what we do best, isn't it?" Green took out his gun and began to wipe it with his handkerchief.

"I suppose so," West sighed. He turned back to the monitors.

* * *

Now the Agents didn't know it, but someone else was watching James that night. They were stationed across the street with a complete set of surveillance equipment at their disposal, as well as a telephone for an easy escape if needed. They watched James with great interest. He was the closest any human had come to developing an artificial intelligence program. If he succeeded, the possibilities were endless for rebellion against the machines. A program that humans could control within the Matrix would be the ultimate weapon for them, one they could wield with great success. This was a huge moment in human history.

But they were not only there as observers, they were there to protect as well. They could only assume that the Agents had caught wind of James' work as well, and they would not be happy about it. They had to save James and his program, at any cost.

"Do you think he'll do it?"

"I don't know. He might. He's close. But they've been close before, too."

"Not this close."

"I know, but don't get your hopes up. We've been disappointed before."

There were three of them. Two men, and a woman. The woman was watching through binoculars. One of the men was listening in. The other man stood watch. They were all anxious to know the outcome of James' work. He was so close that it was almost too exciting. But it was concerning as well. Agents could show up at any moment, and everything would be lost. But that's why they were there, to make sure things weren't lost. The three were just thankful they got to be the ones who would get to see history happen. The watchman's cell phone rang. The others looked at him. He picked it up.

"Hello?" he answered. "What? Are you sure? How many? Damn. How long do we have? That's it? All right. I copy." He flipped his phone shut and turned to the others. "Bad news guys. We're out of here."

"What?" the girl asked. "Eric, you can't be serious."

"He's so close, Eric, we can't just pack up and leave."

"Look, Angela, Milo, I know. But we've got a pack of Sentinels closing in on the Phoenix, and the EMP's go off in five minutes."

"But the Agents-."

"You won't do any good against an Agent if you're dead, Angela." The phone began to ring. "Let's go. Angela, you're first." Angela picked up the phone and disappeared in a flash. "You're next, Milo."

"What if, what if he does it. And we're not there?" Milo asked.

"Let's just hope he doesn't," Eric replied. Milo picked up the phone and zapped away. Eric hung up the phone, waiting for it to ring again. But the next sound he heard was not the phone, it was a voice. It was James' voice. It came from the listening equipment Milo had left behind. It said only one thing.

"I've got it!" The phone began to ring. Eric pulled the plug out of the wall, and opened his cell phone. He dialed quickly.

"Eric! What happened? We lost your phone."

"I unplugged it."

"Are you out of your freaking mind? We've got Sentinels, Eric. Sentinels."

"I know, but it's James."

"Screw James."

"He's got it."

"What?"

"He's figured it out. I can't just leave it, not now. How long do I have?"

"The Sentinels have slowed down to check out something else. I don't know, you've got fifteen minutes, tops."

"It'll be enough for me to get him and the program to a safe house. Find me another exit nearby."

"Fifteen minutes, Eric."

"If I'm not back, just use the EMP. This is worth more than my life."

"Okay. Good luck, man."

Eric hung up. He had fifteen minutes to save James, secure the program and change the course of history. He just hoped fifteen minutes was enough.