A/N: Huhi! We are unnaturally hyper right now! Unfortunately, my story is only going to get depressing from here, so if you want to skip away and keep you joy, that's fine with me, but I do wish to say that the end will be happy. I promise that the end will be happy. Love from your author! (reviews are like sugar….)
D/C: We've been through this already! You're worse than my shrink!!! (not that I have one, or need one, but it's the thought that counts)
Chapter 13: Close Encounters
Rhiannon checked the business card for the thousandth time before stepping out of the metro and climbing the stairs into the bright sunlight. She slipped into a store to check herself in the bathroom's mirror. She morphed her knapsack to a small black backpack, which she slung over both shoulders before summoning her katana and gun belt. She left the store with a second glance from the clerk.
When she reached the fancy office building, Rhiannon took a deep breath, and stepped through the revolving door. She fixed a reckless expression on her face, hoping that her eyes glinted with the look of a hungry killer.
Rhiannon was about to step onto the elevator when she heard someone behind her shout, "Rhiannon, no!"
Rhiannon stopped short. A small white blur leapt in front of her.
"I told you not to come!" a blonde five-year-old scolded. "Quick, leave!"
"What are you talking about?" Rhiannon asked quietly, trying to maintain her killer's composure.
The little girl said excitedly, "M'name's Pandora and I'm telling you not to go upstairs. He'll pick you to pieces!"
Rhiannon scrutinized the girl for a moment or two before deciding to take her advice. She seems earnest enough, she reasoned. She turned on her heel and left, muttering, "Alright."
"Hey! I just saved your life!" the girl called after her. "Aren't'cha gonna thank me?"
Just before stepping into the ever-bright sun, Rhiannon turned back and said, "Thanks," as she slipped on a pair of sunglasses. She stepped outside through the brass revolving doors and summoned her cellphone to her hand. She had begun to dial the Merovingian's number when two identical, freak-white men knocked her down as they tore down the walk.
"Hey you! Watch out!" she yelled at them as she got to her feet.
They turned into the office building out of which she had just walked, and Rhiannon realized that they had to belong to the Merovingian. She shook her head as she dusted herself off, and, sighing, she made her way to the subway.
As she got ready to step onto the metro, she noticed a relatively large group of people in similar eccentric clothes step off.
Deciding that they were rebels, Rhiannon started after them. There was a vaguely recognizable man in their number. She could not place his face as she trailed them. She knew she had seen him before, somewhere, anywhere…
The group split. The man went right; the rest went straight. Rhiannon decided to follow him; she needed to know who he was. After two blocks and a turn, he whipped around impossibly fast and threw her into the brick of the building they were passing. He held her there, by her throat. Rhiannon could not breathe. Her mind wandered aimlessly. So odd really, that I breathe and the Agents do not. So odd that I require human necessities. Maybe I am human. I hope I am. The man's face contorted as he whipped a gun out of his coat. No time had passed, but Rhiannon's mind had wandered far off into the realms of LaLa Land. She was dwelling on her past when a sudden thought expelled every other one. That's the guy from Dahr's office.
"Why are you following me?" he demanded, cocking his pistol.
Rhiannon did not notice, but continued to stare. It had to be Anderson. It just had to be. Ever so quietly she whispered, "You're the One."
Recognition registered in his eyes as he understood that she knew him. "And you are?" he requested with cold and cruel malice.
"I need to speak with you." So quiet, her voice…
"Who are you?" he asked again, his gun inching closer to her forehead.
Rhiannon found her voice, and her strength. She space hopped beside him. "I will speak with you." The presence of the other rebels registered on the edges of her consciousness, and she felt their location. She space hopped to them, to wait. The One would be coming shortly…
~@~
The rebels stood about the room, milling around until their recruit showed up. Morpheus shouted from the other room, and every one of the six of them felt their daydreams evaporate as they rushed to his aide, all pointing their guns on a teenage girl, dressed in the clothes of a trained assassin. Eight guns cocked, ready to fire, all aimed at the girl, who looked mildly around, drinking in her surroundings. Three of the eight recognized her as the one who had followed them, who had followed Neo. At that moment Neo burst through the door, two pistols focused on the one point in the center of the room. Suddenly the silence was broken by the girl…
"Such gravity… How did I get so dense?" she asked, trailing off. She was making sense only unto herself. She turned to face Neo. "You are the One. I will talk to you now."
All eyes looked to Neo for explanation, and when none was given, to Morpheus for approval. Neo and the girl left the room, making their way to a room across the hall.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Rhiannon did not answer, but she looked at the fading, peeling wallpaper. "The worship of the Past is forbidden."
Neo did not understand, who could understand someone who had been so coherent minutes earlier, but now sounded as crazy as a lark? He waited for her to continue. In his experience, a program (as he assumed that she was) always elaborated.
"I'm not an oracle, but I can tell what you're waiting for. Odd, really. Never could do that before… I'm A20—they've brainwashed me. I'm Rhiannon. I've never introduced myself that way before. Funny. My name is Rhiannon, Rhiannon Aenigma. You are the One." A statement. She asked, "What is your name, by the way? I've only ever heard you referred to as Anderson."
"My name is Neo."
"That's good and well, Neo. I'm Rhiannon." The wallpaper must have been very interesting. "I'm not a program."
The One raised his eyebrow. Impossible.
"At least I don't think. But I can help you. I have to. I need to tell you about the Matrix."
Neo said, coldly, "I know what it is."
Rhiannon looked at him, scrutinizing, glaring, studying. Neo was cocky, impetuous, to her eyes. "I said about," she corrected. "About it. There is a new experiment. A new line of programs. They can change the coordinates of any object within the Matrix, themselves, other people, phones. Not even you would stand a chance against them. Everything about them is perfect. They live for death. They are the new Reapers. They are called A-lines. A for assassin. They can feel your presence within the Matrix, feel you jack in, feel you blink, breathe, move. They feel you think. They sense rebels, they appear at their location. They destroy them. Not one is left standing. This experiment is almost ready for release. In only a few months time, they will be unleashed and within a week, every rebel who jacks in to the Matrix will be terminated, killed, murdered. I want to help you destroy them."
"What's in it for you?"
"Peace of mind." She paused. Rhiannon's words sank in. She continued after several minutes. "I have something else. I don't know how I got it. Or when, but the idea just struck me. Divine intervention. Your friend told you something once. Something about a door and a key and problems."
Neo remembered his experience on the cloudy day nearly a year before. Or maybe it was only six months… The girl! He remembered Rhiannon! She had been at that school, something about her had made him watch her. Something struck him as odd, but he had not been able to place it. She had taught her friends biology…
Rhiannon was still talking. "I'll give you a key to the apartment when you help me."
Neo was nodding, agreeing. She would help the rebels, but in return for what? "What is it you want?" he asked.
Rhiannon seemed caught off guard. After a moment, she answered, "I want help in my task."
"What task?"
"It is mine, one no one can help me with. But you can help me get there."
"How?"
"Later, later. For now you must return to your crew and tell them what I have told you. It is up to your captain to decide whether to help me or not. Here," Rhiannon said as she summoned a small piece of paper with her cell number scrawled on it and handed it to Neo.
"What is it?"
"My number. Call me when you have your answer. Remember, all I want is my peace of mind, which is the completion of my task."
~@~
After the rebels left, with their newest member, Rhiannon pulled out Clocky. She wound him, and she said, "Clocky, I feel dumb. I just told some rebel a bunch of cryptic bull crap and I can't think of why. I barely know what I'm talking about. It's almost as if someone else was talking for me. But that's nonsense, isn't it Clocky?" Rhiannon sighed and hopped back to her motel room.
-}^^#~@~#^^{-
So there you are, next chapter is being revised, so it should be up soon! Please review, I appreciate all feedback!
