Title: Downloaded: Chapter Six
Author: Stormhawk
Rating: PG
Notes: Don't think so
Word Count: 3145
Please Read and Review.
Gadget spent two minutes on the computer before realizing that he was going to go to the mall with a not-so-fictional fictional character and that that was much cooler than a message board dedicated to her universe.
They walked about ten blocks to the mall, which had an open plan, and a Plexiglas roof to allow the sunshine in but not the cold wind or rain. On the way there Stef had put her borrowed sunglasses back on so she was harder to recognize, and she was tempted to cut her new hair off because it kept falling over her face, no matter how many times she tucked it behind her ear.
The widespread use of holograms were more apparent in the daytime, everyone from shop assistants to babysitters were of a photonic nature. And none of them were accorded the least bit of respect by anyone other than their owners. All had their discs displayed out in the open, as if it was some sign of their status. A few that the guys pointed out as being newer or more expensive models had internal discs, that allowed them to seem more human-like but had markings out in the open so that there was no confusion.
Subconsciously, she put her hand down on her own disc. Under the flare shirt it was nearly invisible and their reasoning worked that anyone else who saw something under there would assume it to be a small personal computer or music player. CD's being a thing of the past all music was no on datacards, and in a format, somewhat similar to Mp3, though much more advanced. An average disc could hold fifty hours worth of music. And with many players equipped with solar power sources, it meant that it rarely needed maintenance. And if a person was sick of their play list, they could easily tune to a web station, if their player was web-enabled (though those particular players cost more).
"So where are we going?" Stef asked the guys as she looked around at the people. They wore brightly colored clothes, a few were very somberly dressed, and some had piercings that looked electronic. Flare shirts were popular, so she didn't stick out at all.
"The Rim," Grady said. "I have a feeling you'll like it." The Rim was at the other end of the mall and it took about five minutes to walk up there.
"Whoa," was the first thing Stef said upon seeing The Rim. First of all, the place was huge, a small set of stairs led up to it where it had it's own floor/wing of the mall. Second of all, the first thing she saw was a hologram advertising The Matrix (available to buy in two month's time) and as they entered she saw that it was actually several different places in one. It was a combination Internet café/arcade/comic store and had all of the Matrix/ATS merchandise available.
"You like?" Grady asked. "We spend a great deal of time here."
"I used to work here," Gadget said. "But they fired me."
"Programs are people too dude," a familiar voice said from behind her. Turning and half-expecting to see Hummer she saw a teenage guy looking at a talking t-shirt that had the hippy-surfer's likeness on it. Taking her time, she browsed through all the merchandise.
There were the various 'episodes' of ATS available to buy, or in a box set. T-Shirts, some that talked, some that had moving images on them, and others that were relatively normal. Suits and other costumes like the ones the rebels wore, sunglasses from both sides of the war. Soft, plush chibi-versions of her and her friends, action figures that could interact with each other. Graphic novel adaptations of the stories, posters, everything a fan could want. The same range was available for VWS.
"Guys, look what's on," Nevin said holding up a flyer. It was a session flyer for the cinemas on the level below them.
"What?" Tavis asked as he looked at a blue tee that exclaimed 'Exiles rule!"
"The Hobbit, can we see it again?"
"We saw it like thirteen times in the original run." Grady pointed out.
"We weren't alive during the original run," Tavis said swiftly.
"I meant the holo-cinema adaptation."
"The Hobbit?" Stef asked. "That actually happened?"
"Yeah," Grady said. "Hasn't it happened in your world yet?"
"Our worlds aren't exactly the same. I mean, it's not like going back into the past or anything. Near as I can figure, Jonas copied and pasted your history into the original program and let it go at its own pace, just keeping certain events the same, like the wars and such."
"It's only three bucks," Nevin said.
"I'm with him," Stef said. "I wanna see it."
"Ok," Grady relented, and pointed out the way to the cinema. But when they got there, however, they were turned away because of a problem with the holo-systems.
"This sucks," Stef said and Nevin just had to agree with her.
"Let's reduce this place to a pile of rubble," he suggested with an evil glint in his eye.
"I told you he needed anger management," Grady said to Tavis as their friend started planning out where he would need to place the explosives.
"Don't you guys have it on card anyway?" Gadget pointed out.
"Hey guys," a voice said from behind them. "What you doing here?"
"Hey Legind," Grady said as all four guys bowed to a girl about their age with short black and blond hair, green-framed oval glasses, black clothes and a necklace with a large orange stone hanging from it. "Why have you chosen to grace us with your presence?"
"Me? Be here because of you lowly beings? I came for the cinema."
"What are you working on?"
"The adaptation for 'Lies', who's your friend?" she said looking at Stef.
"I'm Stef."
"Yeah, and I'm Greer."
"No you're not."
"That was my point," she said with a smirk.
"Her name is really Stef," Grady said.
"Oh – sorry, I'm used to people saying stuff like that."
"Why?"
Legind looked in horror at the guys, "doesn't she know who I am?"
Stef was confused, "sorry I don't."
"Everyone calls me Legind, I actually have forgotten what it says on my birth cert, I am the artist who does all the graphic novels for ATS."
"Oh, I saw those in The Rim. Cool art."
"Jonas thought so, he decided he wanted adaptations after Matrix was released so he had a web comp, there were like ten thousand entrants and I beat them all. Now I work at my own pace doing all the comics."
"And the posters, and other various designs," Gadget pointed out.
"Yeah – I pretty much run the show. Not bad when the local art school wouldn't even accept me."
"Very good," Stef said.
"So why are you guys here?" Legind asked.
"Well, we were going to see Hobbit," Nevin said. "But now we're going to blow this place up."
"Oh Nevin, you and your explosives," Legind said rolling her eyes.
"What's he want to blow up now?" another voice said from behind them.
"Ruin, you're late," Legind said exhaustedly.
"I'm only fourteen minutes late," Legind's friend Ruin said. She was an inch or two shorter than Stef, with long brown hair and blue-green eyes, she was wearing one of the 'Programs are People Too' t-shirts. "Or are you fourteen minutes early?"
Legind shook her head, and chuckled. Ruin looked at Stef. "Hi, I'm Ruin. I co-write the graphic novels I could hear her taking all the credit for."
"Stef."
"The real Stef?"
"Come on Ruin, it's not real," Legind said. "Only in our dreams."
The five looked at each other and smirked, "think we can trust them?" Grady asked the rest.
Tavis scoffed sarcastically, "well, we trusted Gadget. I think these two are safe."
Legind shook her head, "what are you talking about?"
The guys smiled, "come with us," Tavis said, still managing to sound incredibly Morpheus-like. Knowing this place like the back of their hands they led them through to a little-used service corridor behind The Rim. It had originally been going to be used for offices but the rooms were empty.
"What is this all about?" Legind asked as she looked at Ruin who was just as suspicious as she was.
"Stef, if you'd be so kind," Grady said. Stef nodded and look of her sunglasses and smirked. Legind and Ruin stopped moving altogether, they didn't even breathe for a few moments.
"Who, Grady did you…" Legind started to ask.
"No," he said with a smile, "I didn't."
"Holy crap," Ruin said as she turned and looked at Legind, they stared at each other for a minute then started to jump up and down, "IT'S REAL!" they shouted as they bounced around the room.
"How is this possible?" Legind asked. "I mean, you are real right?"
"Don't doubt it for a minute," Stef said as she tucked the stray lock behind her ear again. "Is everyone in this world obsessed with the Matrix?"
"Well," Nevin admitted, "at least everyone we talk to."
Legind opened her mouth to say something but one of the doors to the corridor opened and a security officer walked in. "What are you kids doing in here?" he asked, "you should know better than to come back here, you can get in a lot of trouble."
"We were just," Nevin started nervously, "we were what guys?"
"Waiting for Peter Neicth who own and operates Rim," Legind lied smoothly.
"Really?" the officer said with a bored look on his face, "the fact that I saw him going out to the parking lot five minutes ago has nothing to do with that then?"
"Oh, maybe we're early," Ruin said as she motioned to the door.
"Clear out," he said. All seven nodded and walked back out into the main part of the mall.
"Well," Legind said, "anyone up for a snack?" the rest agreed so they walked into Rim and ordered some food while they grabbed a table with a computer.
Ruin looked at Stef, "how the hell did you get here?" She sighed and ran through the basic version of what had happened as the food arrived.
Gadget, sitting nearest the computer took the imitative and opened up the message board. Nevin sipped his soda, "anyone on?"
"Only that Chives guy," Gadget said disappointedly. Chives was the kind of person who talked about himself a lot and could be truly obnoxious.
"Look," Nevin said tapping the screen, "he made a new thread." Sighing, and with no other threads having been updated Gadget clicked on it.
***
Thread by Chives: Jonas home early
Chives- remember how I told you all, my brother lets me fly free when he flies to cool places? (He's a pilot if you forgot) well, something WICKED happened today. You'll neva guess what. Jonas WAS ON THE SAME PLANE AS ME!!! He was flying first class of course but I got his AUTOGRAPH as the plane was boarding. GO ME! YAYAYAYAY! (I am happy) We landed about an hour ago. Damn jetlag, me go sleepy now.
***
"SHIT!" Gadget screamed. Nevin rubbed his ear.
"Bit louder, I don't think you woke all the dead."
"We have a serious problem," he said in a scarily detached voice.
"What?" Grady asked with dread. He waved them over, crowding around his computer they looked at the thread he was reading.
"This is really bad," Stef said with a hint of hysteria. "He's home already. It's over, I'm dead."
"He'll put you back in won't he?"
"Maybe, maybe not – I don't know. And he'll know I'm missing."
"I'm sorry," Grady said reaching over to put a hand on her shoulder. She pushed his hand away, standing from the table she walked out into the mall.
"I'm going to talk a walk," she mumbled as she left. The others couldn't do anything but watch her walk away. The layout of the mall wasn't overly complicated so she'd find her way back. He was back, all their plans of getting back into the system undetected were dead, security might be lax while he was on vacation but surely he would notice when he was there using it.
They didn't have that long until he found out, maybe he might also sleep off his jetlag first but that would only delay the inevitable.
The guys only had four hundred and twenty dollars total, and they couldn't apply for a loan and have the money in less than a week. Tavis' granddad wasn't about to lend his grandson any more money so they were completely out of options.
Finding a bench Stef sat down and sighed.
*****
Jonas was tired with jetlag so he crashed as soon as they got home. He was asleep faster than Carol had ever seen him. Shaking her blond head she switched on his computer that was linked with the ones back at the labs. She had promised not to mess with anything, unless he was with her but there was no harm in looking.
She was quite adept with dealing with this system; she knew it as well as he did. Part of that was because she adapted quickly, part of it was because she had the knowledge downloaded into her.
But something was strange; the system was on 'pause' because of an interruption. This may have been for a regular system check but after checking she found one wasn't running.
A hacker!
Somehow some second-rate hacker had found their way into the JL server. Immediately checking all the top-secret research files she shifted through the logs to see what they had done.
Judging by the access trail they were a fan of the franchise. Checking out trailers and clips and such she started to relax, there was nothing wrong with that.
She stopped and stared at the last entry.
They had found their way to the source codes.
Jonas defiantly wouldn't be happy about that.
A slow smile spread across her face and a chuckle escaped her lips as she saw exactly what they had done.
Her.
Well, this was cool.
And she wasn't going to say a word to anyone. Especially not to Jonas, this was for her to know and for him to find out.
*****
Stef wasn't sure how long she sat on the bench, there wasn't a clock around and she didn't have a watch on. She'd go find the others in a minute; she just didn't want to face up to the fact that she might never get home.
The bench she was on was near the door and a different security guard walked toward the door, tapping his stun baton, which was acting up. Giving it an especially heavy hit, it surged with electricity and the sudden increase in power caused Stef to blink in and out of existence.
The guard looked over at her, having seen the disappearing act. "You, hologram, stand up."
Stef kept her expression controlled like she did when Brown was around, "yes sir?"
"Where is your owner? Why are you sitting being idle?"
"Um…"
"I'm right here," a small voice piped up behind the officer, he turned and saw Nevin who walked past and possessively wrapping his right arm around Stef and restraining her somewhat to stop her from saying anything stupid, "she's a glitchy new model. They haven't worked out all the bugs yet."
"What kind of hologram is it?"
"Multi-purpose," Nevin said as he gave Stef a look that told her to play along. She fixed a happy Recruit-Anne-like bimbo smile on her face as the officer shook his head and walked away. Nevin sighed in relief as they sat back down.
"Couldn't help yourself could you?" Stef asked Nevin as a broad smile remained on his face.
"Not really, but it was for the best."
"How so?"
"Um…some people have problems with holograms. They don't like them to speak as though they are nothing more than a piece of technology."
"But in this world they aren't."
"Some of the ones that come from AI labs you wonder about. The thing was AI and holographic researches were always two separate things. It was only in the last twenty years or so that they started to create human-like forms. Ten years since they could have solid form and only about five years ago they started walking around and implemented everywhere."
"I see."
"They passed an ethical by-law to stop the researches clashing too much by not allowing holograms to be sentient. There are intelligent programs though, like the new Honda engine was designed by a machine."
"What would happen if a hologram was found to be intelligent?"
"They would simply be destroyed, all the evidence covered up and everyone knew about would forget about it or disappear."
"That's not right."
"The underground doesn't think so either."
"Who?"
"Hacker/programmers that live on the web, they have sites and boards that talk about there being intelligent holograms and how that should be allowed."
"You're just not an idiot fan boy are you Nev?"
"That is the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me. Can I hug you?"
"Ok," she said as she gave him a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and smiled. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the others approaching. "You can let go now Nevin," she said. Grady smirked as his friend refused to let go.
He grabbed Nevin's shoulders, "Nevin – detach now." Nevin made a series of whined like a puppy but let go.
"But it's glomping day. I just wanted to glomp an agent."
"And you did Nev," Stef said as she straightened her shirt. "If I had to breathe, I'd be dead."
"But you're not human so you don't need to breathe," Gadget said. He received a couple of death-looks, "shutting up."
"You want to know two of the things I hate the most?" Stef asked the trio, they nodded. "Being reminded that I'm not human, and being reminded that I was. Does that make any sense at all?"
"Perfect sense, let's get you home."
Stef stared up at him, "how exactly? We don't have a Spyder." Grady turned and looked at the other girls who deposited a large box in her lap. It was a Spyder.
"You bought this?" they smiled and nodded. "Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means."
Legind and Ruin smiled, "I think we do," Legind said.
"Cab rank is just out the door, let's go. Maybe you can get back in before his jet lag wears off," Ruin said as they walked out and hailed a van-cab, with enough seats for them all.
"We can only hope," Grady said, not sure if they would get back in time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ok, way different to the old version of Chap 6 but I did want to leave the trip to the mall in (in the old version they didn't actually go) (plus this version is over 1000 words longer). Working on Chap 7 now.