A/N: Yay! A new chapter is born! I hope you haven't been waiting on this
for too long. I suppose now would be a good time to extend my thanks to Rei
Kasen for posting this for me as my computer has many firewalls which
prevent me from doing it myself. Merci Rei! *yanks cookie lever*

Disclaimer: I hate these frickin' things. No I don't own Matrix or Smith nor
do I own the song lyrics which are from the song "Quidam" from Cirque du
Soleil. Glitch is mine. You use her without my permission. They will need
dental records to identify you when I get finished with you.

Rating: R still and will be the whole way. This time it's language and adult
themes. Parents, your little brats probably won't even get half of the stuff
in this chapter but I could be underestimating them. I've seen ten year olds
write slash fics that would make the seasoned slash addict a little sick.
Anyway, my point is, no kids need to read this.

III: Empty Hands

There's nothing left
There's nothing right
There's noting wrong
I'm one I'm two
I'm all yet none of you
The truth the lie
The tear the laughter
The hand and the empty touch
I am here alone
Waiting for the curtain call
******

A knock came at Glitch's door not two seconds after the clock on the coffee
pot hit three p.m. Shaking, Glitch answered the door, her sweaty palm
slipping on the doorknob.

Agent Smith stood in the door looking much as he did two nights ago. He wore
the same starched suit and rimless sunglasses, and he stood exactly the
same, with his hands clasped in front of him.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Carter." He said in a flat voice.

"Hello Agent Smith." She replied trying to keep her voice as even as
possible. "Come in." She stepped out of his path.

Wordlessly, he stepped past her and into the tiny apartment.

"Would you like something to drink?" She asked, as she closed the door.

"No thank you." He answered his voice not changing.

"Well I just made a pot of coffee so do you mind if I have some?" She asked.
She secretly hoped the caffeine would settle her nerves at least a little.

Smith shook his head, his face unreadable and neutral.

"Have a seat." She gestured to the two chairs by the butcher block in the
kitchen, which doubled as her dining room table.

Smith did so and waited patiently for her to get her coffee.

"So what was it you wanted to see me about?" Glitch asked as she sat down in
front of him. She kept her voice as calm and innocent as possible.

Smith gave a soft sigh as if he had been dreading this all day. Something in
his face told Glitch that she was in more trouble than she realized. He
removed his glasses, set them on the table and looked Glitch directly in the
eye. His eyes were a drowning electric blue that took Glitch's breath.

"I will be frank with you, Ms. Carter." He began as he rested his arm on the
table. "What you have stumbled upon in these past weeks is a closely guarded
secret of the government. Not only is it illegal for you to have access to
those codes but very dangerous as well. Please tell me how you came to find
them."

Glitch took a long slow drink from her mug before she gave her reply.
"Agent, I don't know how to tell you this but I have no idea how I found
those codes."

His gaze darkened. "I don't believe that." He all but growled.

"Would you like to see the browser history?" Glitch asked. "I'm sure you're
capable of checking to see if I've cleared it."

Smith thought for a moment before standing and striding towards her bedroom.
Glitch stood from the butcher block and followed at his heels. She left her
mug behind.

The computer was already on. Smith settled himself in the computer chair and
cleared the screensaver of flying toasters with a bump of the mouse. He
pulled up her browser and began to clatter in commands on the keyboard.
After a moment of careful search, Smith turned in the chair to face Glitch.
His face looked plainly confused. "Well perhaps we were wrong. This is not
entirely your fault after all."

"What do you mean?" Glitch asked.

"While you were engaged in activities that fall under the description of
'hacking' it appears that someone has been doing the same thing from the
opposite direction." He replied, sounding as though he were choosing his
words carefully.

"What?" Glitch was now genuinely confused and no longer play-acting.

"Someone has been following your footsteps on the net and has managed to
meet you halfway with these codes." Smith said. "Now I know what question
you are about to ask. What are these codes?"

Glitch nodded mutely.

He sat forward slightly "Well I cannot answer that with any relative ease,
but I will do my best to make you understand."

Glitch didn't even remotely like the sound of that.

"There is a hacker out there who makes you and your comrades look like
amateurs." He continued. "He is using his skills and infinite knowledge of
computer programming to devise a way to enslave your mind."

"Enslave?" It was the most absurd thing she heard since Slice told her of
Splinter's successful hack into the CIA, and even that had been believable.
"Enslave how?"

"Do you know what the codes are?" Smith asked.

"Not exactly." She answered slowly, taking time to measure her words. "They
are something like codes in a role-playing game. Like something a programmer
would use to create a level in a game, but its more complex than that." She
sat down slowly on the bed, not taking her eyes off Smith's face.

The corner of Smith's mouth twisted into as much of a smile as he ever gave.
"You were on the right track when you said that it was a role-playing game."
He folded his hands on his stomach and leaned back in the chair. "That is in
essence what it is, or will be. It has yet to be completed."

"What will it be for?" Glitch asked, curiously as she leaned her elbows on
her knees. "And who will be using it?"

"Everyone upon its completion." Smith answered ominously.

"Define everyone." She said, frowning in confusion.

"I cannot answer that with any certainty." Smith said. "However we do know
the use of this program. Are you familiar with the term AI?"

"Yes. It stands for artificial intelligence." She replied.

"Are you aware that it exists?" Smith inquired.

Glitch blinked at him slowly. "No. I would think that it would have been all
over the news if AI had been created."

"Not if a criminal had created it first." Smith said calmly. "Allow me to
explain."

Glitch got the feeling that this could take awhile. "Please do." She said.

Smith touched his long fingers together and leaned back a little further in
the chair. He appeared to be almost relaxed. "The man weaving this alternate
reality is the inventor of AI. I've seen them. I've seen his machines. They
work beautifully but for one flaw."

"What is that?" Glitch asked.

"The machines were originally built to run on solar power. It takes an
enormous amount of power to produce independent thought, much more than can
be gathered from the sun." Smith explained. "So this man has discovered a
way to imprison the human mind in an artificial universe and harvest
electricity from the human brain."

Glitch's dark gray eyes widened with shock and disbelief. "That¹s not
possible." She said after a moment.

Smith turned his head to the side slightly. "What is not possible?" He
asked.

"Creating an alternate reality. Harvesting power from the human brain. The
existence of AI without our knowledge." She ran her hand roughly through her
hair. "Its insanity."

"Is it really?" Smith asked, sounding as though her shock amused him.

"Well, yes!" She replied forcefully. "I have a hard time buying that AI
exists without anyone saying anything about it. Even if it were not common
knowledge, I would know about it. I'm a hacker for crying out loud. It's my
business to know stuff I'm not supposed to."

A dark smile twisted on Smith's face.

"I don't believe you." She said finally, her charcoal eyes narrowing. "Prove
it."

Smith laughed, if one could call the low growling sound that escaped his
throat a laugh. "Come closer." He said, hooking a finger at her.

Glitch slid from the bed and approached him as he removed his earpiece,
letting it fall down and hang from the tight wire coil. Smith directed her
to look into his ear. What she saw defeated all words. Where the dark canal
of his ear should have been was a silver port thought which a wire could
have been fed.

"Holy shit!" Glitch all but shouted as she scrambled back to the bed.

Smith, his face holding the mildest expression, plugged his earpiece back
into his ear. "So now do you believe?"

Glitch nodded her mouth too dry for speech and her mind reeling too fast for
coherency.

He smiled a little but his blue eyes remained empty. They almost seemed fake
and now Glitch knew why they looked that way.

It took her two tries before she could speak. "So-…so if you are an AI, who
do you work for?" She managed to ask, knowing she must have sounded stupid
and paranoid. "I thought no one else has AI's."

"I am what is known as a Sentient Program, or Agent." Smith replied with
some dignity. "I am what the government managed to steal from this mad man."

Glitch was silent for a moment as she soaked it all in. "So this guy is
powering his AI's by using a computer generated reality to harvest
electricity from human brains. No one else knows about this but the
government, who has managed to steal some of his hardware."

"Precisely." Smith replied, his same odd smile twisting on his face.

Glitch laughed abruptly.

"What?" Smith asked, his smile shifting to a confused frown.

"What just came out of my mouth sounded like something out of a science
fiction movie and yet," She paused, musing. "It all makes sense."

A weighted silence filled the bedroom as Glitch mulled it all over in her
head. It was giving her a brain cramp but somehow she could understand. At
length, she looked up at Agent Smith and spoke. "So now that you have
completely shattered my grip on reality, what do you want from me?"

Smith sat forward in the chair making it squeak. "We want two things from
you, Ms. Carter."

"I'm listening." She said, crossing her legs.

"First we want full access to your computer. We can use your web browser to
track this hacker and perhaps introduce bugs and tracers into his system.
That could slow him down and even help us pinpoint his location."

Glitch pretended to think for a moment before she nodded tersely. "Done."
She said. "What else?"

The same odd smile twitched again at the corners of Smith's mouth. He looked
as though her were searching for the right words.

"Well what is it?" Glitch asked rather impatiently.

"I am an AI but you know this." Smith said. "The government has made us
responsible for the integrity of the Internet and all things therein. This
does involve occasional contact with the public. The government does not
wish for it to be common knowledge that we are not human."

"So what does that have to do with me?" Glitch asked, cocking her head to
one side.

"The government believes that extensive human contact will deepen our
understanding of human behavior, so we can imitate it more accurately."

"So what? You want to spend more time with me?" Glitch asked.

Smith's strange smile deepened to flash his teeth. He almost looked
sadistic. "I know of no other way to explain it to you aside from being
blunt."

"So be blunt." Glitch said, her voice sounding strained. "What do you want?"

"We have been educated in many forms of human contact save one. That would
be the intimacy that exists between two humans who are romantically
involved. The government is telling us that the best example of human
behavior is found in these intimate human relationships."

Glitch sat in shocked silence, the expression on her face speaking volumes.

Smith gave the same gravelly laugh. It was almost an abrasive sound. "I
gauged that would be your reaction."

"You want me to have a relationship with you?" She asked, her voice shaking
with disbelieving laughter.

"In essence yes." Smith answered.

"Gods on high." She breathed looking up at the ceiling.

"In return for your cooperation you will be awarded a clean slate, legally
speaking." Smith tempted patiently.

Glitch ran her fingers through the roots of her hair. "Will this involve any
physical intimacy?"

"Of course, as our research shows this to be the basis of all of human
interaction, especially between males and females." Smith replied.

"No, I don't mean hugs and kisses." Glitch corrected. "I mean real physical
intimacy." She jerked her thumb at the bed. "Am I going to have to have sex
with you?"

Smith licked his lips before he gave his calculated reply. "It is a distinct
possibility."

"Gods." Glitch hissed between her teeth as she flopped back on the bed.

"Do we have a deal?" Smith pressed.

"If I do this, I get off clean?" She asked staring up at the off white
ceiling. She didn't think she could look at Smith."

"You have my word." He answered smoothly.

Glitch's chest heaved a heavy sigh. "Sold." She said finally.

"Excellent." Smith replied. She could hear the pleased smile spread across
his face. "I will be here at eight tomorrow morning."

She nodded painfully, partly because she knew what she was doing and partly
because she wasn't a morning person.

"Ms. Carter, please understand that this is-"

"Yeah I know." She said shortly, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Not to be
discussed. This never happened. I'm a hacker. I'm good at keeping secrets.
You won't have to erase my memory or anything."

"I am glad you understand that." Smith said as he got up from the chair. He
showed himself out leaving Glitch lying limply on the bed.

******