Author's note: Thanks to you two that reviewed! It was greatly appreciated.
Author's note 2: This chapter sort of helps to explain a few things and basically set the timeline of the fic. As I know most of you are reading to catch a glimpse of our favorite agent, just remember…patience is a virtue. *g*
Chapter 2: GamesEyelids beginning to flutter and open, Eric Rickman found himself in a very unfamiliar place. The last thing he'd remembered was being picked off the ground…and then, seeing three men in suits come in. Something must have happened since then, as he realized he was now lying on a small bed.
He was in a room that seemed to be very similar to his own…minus the black wallpaper and posters of punk rock bands. Besides the bed, there was nothing else inside the room except for a lamp attached to the ceiling. Leaning forward to get up, he quickly halted, now remembering all the injuries he'd most likely sustained. It was almost a minute or so before he realized that he was not alone in the room.
Huddled in the corner, there appeared to be a girl, most likely his age although he couldn't tell as her knees were tucked in and her head was bowed down. Her hair in pigtails, she seemed to be a normal teenager like he was. At least he wasn't the only one in the same situation.
"Hey there…"he said weakly, not knowing what was wrong…besides the fact they looked like they were prisoners.
The young girl looked up, and to Eric's surprise, she didn't appear to be crying; as a matter of fact, when she looked up, he could see a small smile on her lips.
"Geez…I wondered if you were dead or something. They brought you in here like six hours ago…" she said with relief. She looked to be around seventeen or so, with big brown eyes and brown hair. Dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a slightly torn shirt, Eric assumed that she had been brought here the same way he'd been.
"Where are we?" he asked, finally getting enough strength to sit up.
"To be honest…I haven't got a clue. I was pretty much dragged in here. One moment I was watching reruns of the Brady Bunch on T.V, and the next moment I see these weird-ass guys in suits come barging into my house. They put a blindfold on me…so I pretty much don't know where we are, or how to get back home" she said, faltering at the end, as she seemed to realize that she really didn't know how she was going to get home.
"When I got here, they kept asking me about who had called me. I told them that I don't have any idea what they were talking about, but I mean…it's not like I was going to tell them anything ya know?" she rattled on, getting up and going over to where Eric now sat.
'Who had called…?' That question seemed to answer his very next question. They wanted to know who had contacted her. Which most likely mean that they knew that he was supposed to have met with Niobe. Frankly, he hadn't even been sure that he should go and meet her…it wasn't as if she had given him a reason to trust her. All he'd gotten was a phone call. But now it was apparent that they wanted Niobe…whoever she was. Unfortunately for the 'men in suits', they weren't about to get any information out of him.
Realizing the that girl was still talking, he tried to listen intently, hoping that she'd help him try and figure out just what was going to happen to him.
"Have they done anything to you?" he interrupted quietly, wondering to what extent the men would go to, in order to obtain their information.
"Nope" she replied happily, as if she were talking about the weather. "Actually they said that they're going to take me home soon. They even said they were sorry…" she emphasized.
"Of course, I knew that they wouldn't be able to get any information out of me. I mean, it's not as if I'm going to tell them that I'm meeting some chick named Niobe…I've come too far to give it up now…" she continued on casually, as if she was immensely proud of herself. She however, caught Eric completely off-guard.
"You were going to meet with her too?!" he asked excitedly, completely forgetting where he was and why he was there. "I got a call from her too, telling me to meet her Monday at 11pm. I thought she was some sort of whack-job until she told me her name. I mean, I've been searching for so long. No one seems to know the answer to my question…"
"What is the Matrix?" the girl added, still smiling.
"Yeah…I mean, she told me that she'd meet me in some alley near a dumpster behind the Marriot Hotel. It's not like I wanted to get mugged or anything, so I haven't exactly made up my mind as to whether or not I'm gonna go…" Eric finished, lying back down on the bed.
That didn't last long however, as the teenage boy succumbed to hormones, and therefore did as any other teenage boy would do when they were with a girl…he tried to show off.
"Actually…" he whispered, "I founded a Matrix chat room. It's really popular, and a bunch of people are always on it…"
"Wow…cool!" the girl exclaimed, seeming actually impressed. Then looking more intently at Eric, she gasped.
"Oh my God! How did you get that?" she said, pointed towards his neck. Eric wasn't sure what she was talking about, as he couldn't really see the handprint-like bruise that had begun forming, but he knew where it had probably come from.
"Some guy…he looked exactly like the others…he came to see me first. He picked me up like I was a fucking rag doll. The last thing I remember was seeing him make some silver liquid stuff go into the one of the three guys."
"Woah…that's so creep—" the girl didn't finished answering as the door to the room opened, and in stepped the three men that Eric had seen earlier.
"We are here to take you home" one of them said.
Getting slowly out of bed, Eric limped and clutched his side as he headed towards the door.
"Not you. You must stay" the second of the three men said towards the boy.
The girl got up again, and waved merrily back at Eric before turning to depart. To him, she seemed rather odd. After all, he didn't think that anyone could be that cheery if they were in the same situation as they had been. She appeared to be oblivious to the dangers and risks that were around her. Why would someone like Niobe actually want to meet with such a 'weird' girl…
"See? You'll be home in no time!" she said as she left the room, leaving Eric alone and afraid. Being with her had been better than being all by himself. Unfortunately, he didn't know how wrong he was…
~~~~~
Walking out of the door with Agents right behind her, she made sure the door was closed before she turned around to face her 'assailants'. Smirking, she quickly opened the door again.
Seeing the questioning look in Eric's eyes as he say her, she smiled. "Just one more thing…"
Before he knew it, Eric was being grabbed and dragged off the bed and onto his knees. Panic rushed through him. This was wrong…something was wrong. The girl…she was no longer smiling…, well she was smiling, but it wasn't a really friendly one.
Staring at the girl in disbelief, it took him a moment to realize that the chill he had gotten by his neck, was from the cold, metal barrel of a nasty looking gun. As the Agent pulled the trigger, the last thing Eric felt was a sudden rush of air, before collapsing onto the floor.
As the Agents retreated from the room, the girl who had seemed so nice, and 'weird' to some extent, now seemed older than she appeared…with a sharp, calculating gleam in her eyes.
"He'll wake up soon, and think it was all just a bad dream…" she murmured to herself, ignoring the Agents waiting patiently beside her. Turning to look at the lead Agent, she directed her order. "Make sure he gets home safely."
"Are we sure that the tracking device will work efficiently…"an Agent stated. It didn't appear to be possible for him to ask something as a question, but rather ask it as a statement. Yet the girl didn't seem to take notice.
"It will work. The old bug was too easy to identify. The Rebels always seemed to pick up on whether or not someone's bugged. This way…we have the upper hand" she added as she walked off, motioning with her index finger for the Agents to follow.
They all walked through a white hallway, which seemed to go on forever. No door in sight, she stopped and turned right, now facing the wall. Putting her hand against it, she cocked her head towards the Agents.
"I'm taking it that the boy had a visitor that you have yet to tell me about…" she said smoothly, directing her comment to the obvious lead Agent.
"Smith made contact with the target before we arrived. You were correct in assuming that he would try and duplicate himself. He was however, unsuccessful…" he said, actually sneering as he spoke.
"Agent Williamson" she said, as the wall right beneath her hand began to glow green, "you mean to tell me that you had Smith incapacitated, and you did not bring him back here?"
"I…We did not feel it was necessary. Your orders were to obtain the boy" the lead Agent Williamson stated. It was as if the more modified the agents were, the more human they became. It had been impossible for an Agent to be unsure of its own priorities in the past. Apparently, that had changed. "He is not yet aware of his upgrade…"
"And we will keep it that way" she answered coldly, as the entire section of the wall was now rumbling, before moving inwards and sliding over. Walking through, with Agents right behind her, they entered a large mansion-like estate…which completely contrasted with the hallway they had been in moments before.
"Miss Var—" the other Agent started, before seeing the girl turn around and glare at him.
"Can we please try and remember that my name is Leila?" she said sighing, knowing that it would probably be a long time before any Agent was able to successfully call any human by their first name.
Turning to look at each other, the agents seemed to go silent for a minute before the third one decided to speak.
"Leila…what is the current course of action. Niobe must be captured, the Mainframe has given u—" he was not able to finish as she grabbed him by the neck and slammed him back against the door they had just come in.
"Agent Richardson…the Mainframe is not supposed to give orders to you three…and you are not supposed to obey them. I am the only one you take orders from. I would have assumed a sentient program like yourself would have learned that by now" she said, letting go of the Agent and allowing him to adjust his tie and suit.
Not noticing Agent Williamson putting his hand to his ear, she was caught off guard when he spoke.
"The Council requests your presence immediately" he directed at her.
Leila turned around just in time to see all three of them shift uncomfortably in their places.
"Great…just great!" she said, muttering to herself as she headed towards an elegant flight of marble stairs at the other end of the room.
In ten minutes she was back downstairs, this time looking completely different than before. A black silk shirt beneath a black pinstriped blazer, she looked like your typical business woman. Hair pulled back tightly in a ponytail, it was now clear that while she might have appeared to be young in the boy's eyes, she certainly didn't look it now.
The Agents had waited downstairs, and didn't appear to have moved from their positions.
"Agent Ryan…get the car" she said as she went towards the door, this time a key in hand. Putting the key in and turning it, she heard the corresponding click and opened the door.
The hallway that they had walked through was now gone…in it's place was a few descending steps before leading to a large front yard with a large fountain in the center. It looked like the entrance to a gated estate, complete with a nice black limousine pulling up in front of them.
As the elderly chauffeur came around to open the door for Leila and the two agents remaining, she turned towards Richardson. "Go take the boy home. Make sure you have his memory corrected before letting him go. I trust you know what you're doing…" she said, as she watched him turn around and head back inside.
Now with one Agent remaining, they both entered the limousine to find Agent Ryan already seated.
Who knew how she could tell them apart…many of them looked exactly the same, mid-thirties to early-forties, with the same strong facial features and crisp looking suits. Add that to the fact that none of them really had a personality, Leila herself even wondered how she could tell the difference…
It was a silent yet quick ride into the center of the city…known to many as the Core Network. High rises and skyscrapers abundant, the limousine quickly pulled up to one of the many tall buildings that surrounded them.
The Agents getting out before allowing Leila to do so, they quickly canvassed the area, looking for any potential threats. As usual…they found none.
Leila had been there plenty of times before, after all, she did work there. The familiar LV and Associates engraved on a large gold placard on the pillars in front of the entrance, she entered to see the familiar hustle and bustle of hundreds of similarly dressed individuals running back and forth.
At her entrance, she received an abundance of "Hello Miss Varzideh" and "Good Afternoon Miss Varzideh", before even making it to the elevators.
There were thirteen of them in total…six of the elevators lined the left side of the wall, while another six lined the right side. A lone elevator stood directly in front of her, which is where she was headed.
Pushing the 'up' button and waiting for the doors to open, she entered (Agents in tow) and pushed the single button that was there.
The elevator ride took forever as the silence within it seemed to be more deafening than anything else. The Council usually never requested to see her…which meant that either there was something important going on, or she was in big trouble.
Ever since the information had arrived that Thomas Anderson had been able to take down a group of sentinels outside of the Matrix, the Council had been checking things left and right in regards to the running of the System. Deals were being made, prices were being asked and paid, and everyone was checking over their shoulders wherever they went. Luckily for her, they even went as far as requesting a human be put in charge of certain Rebellion activity. As usual, the Council assumed that a primitive mind could only be understood by another of the same. Leila however, thought herself at least several steps ahead of the Rebels.
Getting off the elevator, she had to squint in order to adjust her eyes to the blinding bright light. Everything was white…the walls, the chairs, the large table, even the attire worn by the seven men in front of her. They all seemed to radiate an intense light. If she hadn't known any better, she would have thought that they were angels. Yet that was far from the truth…
"You wished to see me…"she replied, trying to read their facial expressions. While she was usually good at reading people, she had yet to master the art of trying to figure out what a program was thinking. They betrayed nothing in their mannerisms and usually remained cold and neutral.
"It has come to our attention that there is an ever mounting concern with regards to the amount of rogue programs that have been active within the past month, as is estimated in human time…" the gentleman at the far end of the table spoke.
"The Rebellion has also had an increase in its'…bravado. While some of us here believed that placing you in a position to deal with these matters would be beneficial to the efficient functioning of the system…" a second man continued, trailing off and no doubt waiting for another of his peers to speak up.
"It is now clear that one human and a handful of our best sentient Agent programs, cannot manage both these problems alone. It is therefore, more logical for you to focus your effort on the Rebellion, instead of the increasing amount of rogue programs becoming active."
Leila did her best to kept a calm face. What the hell were they trying to say? That she couldn't handle both tasks? So far she had made for a very efficient task leader.
"With all due respect…" she added with a reserved tone "are you trying to tell me that I am not doing an efficient enough job?"
"We are telling you what we are telling you…" the gentleman in the center of the table started. He appeared to be the oldest of the seven, and if human, could have possibly been said to have been around eighty years of age. His eyes however, as with most programs, betrayed his appearance.
"We knew from the beginning that you could not solely handle the responsibility given to you. And while you have proven yourself to be an asset to the System and this council…you are still only human."
Before he could continue, Leila sneered. She kept hearing that over and over—you're just human… What did that mean? Being human was a great thing, whether computer programs realized it or not.
"We are aware of your fascination with the former agent known as Smith, and we are also aware that you went through an unauthorized source in order to have an upgrade produced. While in any other situation you would be undoubtedly reprimanded for such a disregard for the rules, we understand that your personal ambitions may sometimes cloud your objectives…which is why we have decided that another individual shall be brought in."
Losing her temper, she completely ignored the somewhat panic-stricken looks of the Agents behind her. They were in front of the Council of Seven…each of the seven capable of deleting them and destroying her in a moments notice. It was not in their programming to understand fear, yet what they felt was still not very reassuring.
In a somewhat surprising fashion, Agent Ryan put a hand on her shoulder.
He had been assigned to Leila along with many other Agents. Having observed the moods and actions of the human female, he had come to predict what emotions were prone to certain actions. Along with narrowed eyes and thinning lips, it was clear that the emotion, which was apparent on her face, was anger. Luckily, his contact with her shoulder seemed to have taken her by surprise, allowing the Seven to continue without interruption.
"While you are efficient in determining the actions of the Rebellion and their movements towards the victory of the city they call Zion; in order to neutralize the rogue program issue, we have brought in a program which we feel has a better understanding of the mentioned programs…" the man in the center stated, although it was accompanied by a loud indignant snort from the girl in front of him.
"And who exactly did you have in mind…?" she asked disbelievingly, knowing that they had probably just assigned a stupid Data Program to try and predict the movements of the various programs.
Ignoring her outburst, another of the seven continued, this time with a slight smile. "He will be as a business partner of sorts. This is the first time that we have allowed a human and program to work together on equal ground. Keep in mind…you are replaceable, and therefore any effort on your part to destroy or not cooperate with your partner shall be punishable by deletion…or in your case, death."
She had known all of this when she had first been given her position. Humans equaled expendable. The only question was, just who exactly they wanted her to work with.
"In regards to your question, I believe that he can answer it for himself…"the gentleman ended, motioning his hand towards the elevator.
Before even turning around, Leila knew who it was by the sound of her agents taking out their guns.
Slowing pivoting, she saw the one person that she never thought she'd see herself working with.
"Hello Miss Varzideh…" said the voice of a square jawed and flawlessly dressed agent.
"Smith?! My new partner is Smith?!" she said, directing her outburst towards the Council, but not taking her eyes off the smirking ex-Agent.
"Yes. Since you took the liberty to have another Smith produced, we felt that he would therefore be the best program for the job. Of course, this one has been re-programmed into the system…" one of the gentleman stated, as Leila wasn't really paying attention to who was speaking anymore.
She was definitely in for a ride…and whether or not this Smith knew it…so was he.
To Be Continued…
