A/N: Hello again all. I hope no one has been just dying to read this next
installment. I have so much on my plate right now its not even funny. I'm
sorry that this can't take priority. Graduating high school is just a tad
more important as was a short story I'm writing for possible publication.
The short story is finished now but its not going to get much better for
awhile - as in mid June, which is when, I get back from summer vacation. *sigh*
I'm also sorry for the lack of originality of the song lyrics. I don't get
out much musically speaking. I listen to whatever my friends hand me. Keep
the reviews coming!!! I really appreciate all the feed back I'm hearing.

Disclaimer: The song is from Green Day. I do not, of course, own the Matrix
or Agent Smith. I do own Glitch, the restaurant The Traditional Rose and the
character Ring. Credit goes to my friend Lira for the name of the restaurant.

Rating: PG-13 for language and angst. There's nothing terribly offensive but
still no kiddies allowed.


VI: Impossible Lesson

Another turning point
A fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrists
Directs you where to go
So make the best of this test
And don't ask why
Its not a question
But a lesson learned in time

******

Glitch and Smith stepped out of her apartment building and onto the bustling
sidewalk. They defined odd couple to the letter with Smith in his starched
suit and dark sunglasses and Glitch in her faded jeans and ratty tennis
shoes. She had to take at least two steps to his one just to keep up with
him, as she was nearly a head shorter than Smith.

"So tell me something about yourself." Glitch said after several blocks of
silent walking in the hazy sunlight that filtered through the clouds.

"What do you want to know?" He asked not looking down at her.

She shrugged, putting her hands in her pockets. "I don't know. Anything."

"There is nothing I am at liberty to tell you." He replied.

Glitch sighed. "This conversation is going nowhere."

"What could be done to alleviate this?" Smith asked, not looking down at
her.

"Well you could ask something about me." Glitch suggested. "It would be a
way to start things off."

Smith seemed to think for a moment, though Glitch wasn't sure if it could
really be defined as thinking. Would processing have been a better word? At
length he spoke, "Why do your friends call you Glitch?" He asked.

"It's my hacker alias." She replied as she zipped up her fleece jacket
against the wind that blustered up the street.

"How did you get it?" Smith asked, his voice sounding almost conversational.

Glitch smiled to herself. Perhaps this wouldn't be so hard. He was starting
to get the idea of conversation. "A friend of mine at the Mainframe gave it
to me, because my specialty in the hacking world is turning small problems
into major ones."

"You create computer viruses." His voice was gaining a chastising edge.

"Well, I don't create them per se, though I can." Glitch explained. "I just
find ways to introduce them so that they look like a small anomaly."

"A glitch." Smith said.

Glitch smiled then, showing her small white teeth. "Exactly."

Smith however did not smile. "You are aware that the act of introducing
malicious viruses is illegal?"

She gave a mental sigh. So much for him understanding conversation. "None of
my stuff does any real harm though." Glitch replied, in a weak attempt to
defend herself. "What they do is reversible and-" She stopped talking and
frowned. "This is not exactly what we should be talking about." She said.

"What do you mean?" Smith inquired.

"You berating me for my choice of hobbies does not fall under the heading of
friendly idle chatter." She said.

Smith was silent for a moment as they walked. "You never answered my
question from this morning." He stated finally.

"Your question?" Glitch asked. "Which one? You asked like fifty."

"No, I did not." Smith countered.

"I know. I was exaggerating." Glitch replied rather darkly. "You know, being
sarcastic?"

"I was referring to my question about your choice of sleeping positions."
Smith said stiffly as they crossed the street to the park. Glitch noted he
did not look both ways before stepping off the curb.

"About my hugging my pillow?" Glitch asked looking up at him. "I thought I
answered that."

"Not sufficiently." Smith answered shortly. "I still do not understand why
you do it."

Glitch was silent until they reached the bridge that spanned the duck pond.
She leaned on the rail and gazed out over the water as she spoke. "It¹s an
intimacy thing." She said finally.

Smith's face twitched with curiosity. "Go on." He implored.

"Nearly all of human interaction is based on physical contact." Glitch
continued. "We shake hands or give hugs when we meet each other. We
sometimes pat each other on the back to show approval. Couples will often
times have their arms around each other or hold hands." She glanced over at
Smith who showed no sign of understanding a word of what she was talking
about. She heaved an exasperated sigh and ran a hand thought her hair. "I
don't know how to explain it to you, Agent Smith. It's an emotional thing. A
human thing. You're a machine. It's like trying to explain a rainbow to
someone who is blind."

"You could at least try." Smith implored sounding a touch insulted.

Glitch sighed again and cast her charcoal gray eyes about the park. She
spied two high school age teenagers holding hands as they walked around the
edge of the pond. "Great." She thought. "A visual example."

"Ok, Smith, do you see those kids?" She asked pointing them out.

Smith scanned the park for a moment before his gaze found the couple. "Yes."
He answered.

"Do you see how they are holding hands?" She didn't wait for him to respond.
"That's what I'm talking about. They hold hands because it¹s reassuring.
They know the other person is there."

"Only couples engage in this behavior?" Smith asked still watching the
teenagers with increasing interest.

Glitch fought a frown. She didn't like Smith's phrasing. He made the human
race sound like a flock of tropical birds in mating season. "Well yes and
no." She replied slowly.

"Can you explain this to me?" Smith requested, his voice still abysmally
neutral.

"Well the need for physical contact is a major part of our biological
wiring." Glitch told him. "From the time we are born we have an inner drive
to be touched. Babies can die if they are not held and caressed and it
carries over into our adult lives. We don't die of course but if we are
denied human contact it does affect one's mental and emotional state. "

"So you are starved for human contact?" Smith said conclusively, turning a
meaningful look to Glitch. "That's why you hug your pillow when you sleep?"

Glitch laughed abrasively. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. To be touched
can have a variety of meanings. It can be meant to show compassion or love
or protection among a huge array of other messages. I hug my pillow I guess
because I need that sense of being secure and protected."

"Then why do you not seek out another's company?" He asked.

She dropped her gaze, which was now empty and murky as the water under the
bridge. "Having a significant other makes my life too complicated."

"You seemed quick enough to accept my bargain." Smith noted, arching an
eyebrow.

Glitch made a derisive sound. "Consider my choices, Smith. It was crash
course you in human intimacy or be arrested and go to jail. Having you
around may complicate the ever loving hell out of my life but it beats the
pants off the alternative."

"What would be the alternative." Smith asked rather pointedly

Glitch opened her mouth to speak and then closed it for a moment as if she
didn't trust her mouth to form the words that wouldn't burn to speak. "Being
put in jail." She said finally.

"Not being alone?" Smith asked, noting her discomfort.

Glitch raised her empty eyes and gazed at the couple across the pond. She
sighed heavily as she watched them kiss innocently, just a mere brush of
lips. Something about the smile on the girl's face told her that there
hadn't been many kisses before this. "I'm used to being alone." She replied
in a hollow tone.

"But you said it was a basic need of humanity for physical contact. How do
you live with out it?" Smith asked, in a rather confused voice.

Glitch turned her head away slightly. "Physical contact like that is not
something that can be shared with just anyone." She said, hoping she was
speaking loud enough for Smith to hear. She didn't know if she could stand
to repeat herself. "It has its costs. Emotional costs."

"You know this?" Smith asked, stepping closer. "How?"

"I gambled with things like that once. Love. Romance." She said distantly.
"It was a long time ago. I gambled, lost and paid the emotional cost in full
and it still smarts, believe me."

"What do you mean?" Smith inquired growing more befuddled by the moment.

"Relationships like that," She nodded to the couple across the pond, "They
don't last."

"Then what is the purpose of marriage?" Smith questioned obviously still
puzzled.

Glitch smiled slightly. "Perhaps that was a bit pessimistic of me." She
said. "Relationships like that don't always last and when they end it's
emotionally painful. You're suddenly deprived of the attention and affection
the other person provided and it hurts for a very long time. Like I said, I
know. I've been there before."

"How so?" Smith asked.

Glitch sighed heavily. She was growing tired of Smith's constant inquiries.
They were dredging up memories better left buried. "I don't want to talk
about it." She said softly.

Smith took an ominous step forward. "I need to know." He said firmly.

"No you don't." Glitch replied vehemently. "I said I don't want to talk
about it. Maybe we can some other time, but not now." She sighed and
swallowed back the tears collecting in her throat. "I can't put it into
words anyway. We can't start off like this. You can't understand losing
something you never had. At least not yet. "

Smith was silent for a moment as he processed what she had just told him.
"How do you intend to make me understand?" He asked.

Glitch shrugged. "Date you I guess." She said casually.

"Then what action would we need to take next?" He asked, as he adjusted the
cuffs of his jacket.

Glitch's face turned pensive as she cocked her head in thought. She opened
her mouth to speak but she flinched.

"What is it?" Smith asked.

Glitch raised her hand and wiped her cheek. Her fingers came away moist. "Uh
oh." She said.

Smith's brow furrowed slightly. "What's happening?"

Glitch looked up at the slate colored sky warily. "It's starting to rain."
She said throwing up the hood of her jacket. "Come on! If we hurry we might
be able to out run it." Without thinking she grabbed his hand and took off
running.

The couple didn't get far, not even two blocks, before they were showered
with armies of raindrops. They were still four blocks from Glitch's
apartment and were drenched before they got inside the lobby.

Glitch collapsed against a column by the door laughing, her hair in dripping
ropes despite her hood. Smith, looking decidedly irritated, took off his
sunglasses and began to dry them with a linen handkerchief.

"Why are you laughing?" He asked, obviously not amused in the least.

"I don't know." She answered, still giggling madly. "Its just funny. I'm
sure we both look ridiculous."

"You never answered my question." He stated as he put the handkerchief away.

"Right. You need to know what the next step in dating is." She said as she
peeled off her soaked jacket.

His reply was a terse nod.

"Well I guess you have to ask me on a date." She shrugged.

"How would I go about this?" Smith asked.

Glitch leaned thoughtfully against the column behind her. "Well, usually the
guy asks the girl to go out with him to a nice restaurant for dinner or to
the movies or something like that. You know, where it's just the two of
them."

The corner of the Agent's mouth curled into the most of a smile he could
manage. Glitch could see the wheels turning behind his dark blue eyes. It
seemed that he had been waiting for this for some time. "Where would you
like to go, Ms. Carter?"

Glitch smiled back at him. "Well when do you want to do something would be a
better question to start off."

"Tonight would be best." He answered. "The other Agents will be putting the
surveillance equipment on your computer this evening at seven p.m."

Glitch folded her arms across her chest and nodded in understanding. "Well,
my favorite restaurant is a few blocks away, and I don't have dinner plans
for tonight." She said in a tempting voice.

"What is the name of this restaurant?" Smith asked as he straightened his
tie.

"The Traditional Rose." She replied her smile growing. This was going well.
Maybe she wouldn't have to spoon-feed him everything.

"I shall make reservations for six p.m. tonight then." Smith told her in an
official sounding tone.

Glitch nodded, her smile widening. "That sounds wonderful."

"I will see you at a quarter to six then, Ms. Carter." Smith said as he
turned toward the door.

"You can call me Simone." She called after him.

He paused and turned back towards her. "But that would place us on a first
name basis."

She gave another of her signature shrugs. "Suit yourself." She said
casually. "I'll see you tonight."

"Good bye, Ms. Carter." Smith said and he stepped out the door into the
driving rain.

Glitch thought about calling after him, "Don't short a circuit in the rain!"
But she thought better of it. Smith's sense of humor seemed nonexistent. She
bounded up the stairs to her floor enthusiastically occasionally climbing
two at a time. When she reached her apartment her face split with an excited
smile. She had no idea why she was so thrilled. After all, it wasn't a real
date. Smith didn't feel anything for her. He couldn't. This was a job to
him, an assignment. Still a tiny voice in the back of her mind whispered
gleefully, "I have a date tonight!"

Glitch went to her closet to begin looking for something to wear for dinner
only to find that she had nothing. Her wardrobe consisted only of jeans,
sweatshirts and tee shirts and she needed a dress. Glitch hadn't worn a
dress since her grandmother's funeral five years ago and it had been
borrowed from her cousin.

She then went to the phone and called up Ring, dialing her number from
memory.

"Hey Glitch! What's up?"

"A lot actually." Glitch replied flopping down in her computer chair. "Do
you have a dress I can borrow?"

There was a stunned silence from Ring before she spoke, "You need a dress?"
She asked, her voice colored with laughter. "Glitch, the Queen of Jeans,
needs a dress? What the frickin' hell for?"

"I have a date tonight." She replied sheepishly.

"Shit, chick! When did this happen?" Ring exclaimed. "It's not Slice is it?"

"No, of course not." She answered incredulously. "You don't know him anyway.
I met him a few days ago."

"Well, at least give me a name." Ring requested.

"I can't."

There was another long silence. "Fine. Keep your damn secrets. I trust your
taste. So what kind of dress do you need?"

"Something sophisticated. Black maybe."

"Where are you going?"

"The Traditional Rose." Glitch replied. "For dinner tonight."

"On the classy side..." Ring said thoughtfully. "I think I have
something."

"What is it?"

"What? You don't trust my taste? It¹s a safe black dress, I promise."

"Alright, alright." Glitch said. "Can you bring it by in an hour?"

"Sure thing. I'll see you then." Ring replied.

"Later." Glitch said before hanging up the phone. She ran a hand through her
hair. It was still soaking wet, which meant she probably looked like a
drowned rodent. Glitch heaved a sigh and trudged towards the bathroom, shaking drops from her hand as she went. It looked like she was going to need another shower.

******