Title: Barrier of existence

Author: Stormhawk

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer:

Matrix universe and associated characters: Wachowski brothers.

Agents universe: co-owned by me and Overlord Mordax.

Stef, Jonas, Carol: Me

Greer, recruit Anne, Greer's bike: Mordax

Word Count: 5968

Summary: When Greer wakes up in a mental institute he is confronted by a reality that is not his own. He refuses to believe it but as time wears on he starts to accept it.

Notes: ATS Season 2, that's about it I think.

Please read and Review.

"Greer?" Stef asked knocking on the recruit's door. As she heard his heavy footsteps she tucked something into her back pocket.

"Hello Stef," he said as he opened it. "What can I do for you?"

"It's about your patrol tonight."

The recruit leant on the doorframe and looked down at her. "I don't have a patrol tonight."

"I'm afraid you do."

"Come on, I'm on my rec time."

"You're taking your rec time in your room? Um…weird."

"There's a concert on, obviously I can't go so I hacked into their security system and have a live feed running into my computer."

"Sorry but you won't be able to watch it," she said keeping her face perfectly straight. "Recreation time can only be taken when you don't have any work to do."

"Can't someone else go? Anne, Peter, Joel…any of them."

"No, I'm afraid it has to be you. It's to catch up on the shifts you missed out on while you were recovering."

"I get shot and this is the thanks I get?"

"That's the breaks."

"Well, they suck. I can't even record this or anything," he scowled down at the agent. Not exactly a smart thing to do but he was pissed about missing out on his rec time.

"One, don't use that tone with me or I'll shoot you. Two, wipe that look off your face, require something else besides your pajamas and take this," she said handing one of the thin cards from her back pocket, "you'll need it tonight."

He all but snatched it from her. Then his mouth dropped. "How did you get this? Do you know what this is?"

"It's a front row ticket to the Shadows concert you were going to watch on your computer."

He grinned, "This is our patrol?"

"As a rock band they attract the stereotypes that are usually recruited by the rebels and as such an event like this needs to be monitored."

"Cool," he said as he required a new outfit, his tracksuit was dumped in favor of green combat pants and a black shirt with a pair of blood red eyes peeking out from the middle. Turning and lifting his ponytail she read what the back said, "demon within," was written in the same red.

"Cool," she said as she changed her own outfit. Simple black pants and a 'Freezing Inferno' shirt she stopped and made one more requirement. A chunky silver omega pendant appeared on a leather chain. "Ready?"

"We're not shifting there," he said firmly.

"Oh? Then how do you suggest we get there?"

"Shift us a couple of blocks away and I'll show you."

"Concert starts in half an hour, it had better be good."

"You trust me don't you?" Smirking she slapped him lightly in the back of the head before shifting them to an alley four blocks away.

"That hurt."

"Good, now what's this brilliant idea of yours?" He smirked himself and made a requirement.

"Ooh," was her only reaction on seeing what he had required. "Pretty."

"Pretty? What are you on, this thing is beautiful," he said reaching down and running his hand along the streamlined midnight blue and silver motorcycle.

"Unable to form real words, ask for reaction later," she scratched out in a monotone. 

"Glad you have an appreciation of fine art," he said as he swung his leg over and revved it to life. He required himself a helmet, the same one he always used, blue with indigo flames and required one for her, hot pink with red hearts.

"This is degrading, I'm going to kill you," she said as she changed the pattern to silver with red stars.

"No you won't, hop on." Pulling the helmet over her head she climbed on behind him. Patting him on the shoulder he took off from the dark alley.

The city's evening traffic was how it always was, not too heavy but still a major number of commuters to deal with. None of this seemed to bother Greer in the slightest. He ducked and weaved through the traffic with utter ease; Stef just held on and enjoyed the ride.

The joy ride stopped however, when they ran into a bank of traffic, held up by a problem with the traffic lights. "We'll be late for the concert at this rate," she said leaning over his shoulder and looking at the traffic in front of them.

"Really? Sorry, I thought this would be cool."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, you have no imagination."

"Really? What do you suggest?"

"The other side of the street is practically empty."

The recruit grinned, "I like your way of thinking." Gunning the bike he eased out as soon as a few cars past them. "Ha!" he shouted as they sped past all the stopped traffic. "Shit!" he said as he narrowly missed a semi-trailer.

"Be careful," she ordered as she held onto him.

"No problem," he said as the front wheel kicked up.

Racing down the street Greer slowed when he heard something.

/He's a red pill Adam, how soon can you get us a signal?/

/Not too long Alt/

Greer scowled, "rebels," he muttered.

"Shouldn't take that long, we'll just miss the warm up band."

"Ok, where would they be?" he said looking around, since he hadn't been purposely looking for a signal it must have been pretty close. Signals in and out of the Matrix were always stronger than normal phone calls so easier for him to hear.

Requiring some info Stef pointed down an alley, "there's an old exit down there, maybe they reactivated it."

"Sounds good," he said as he drove the bike whisper quiet down the wide alley.

/Agents!/ the operator screamed.

"So much for the subtle approach," Greer cursed. Jumping off the bike they required guns and ran into the building. Bounding up several flights of stairs, they found the rebels hadn't retreated but instead were standing with their weapons ready.

He grinned, "you should have left when you had the chance, now you're just going to die."

The seven rebels in the room went to fire, a voice stopped them. "Let me have him," a cold voice said. Two rebels stepped aside and let Anderson through.

"Neon," Greer drawled with a cocky smile. He aimed his gun it at the 'One,' and went to fire. He never had the chance to.

"Traitor," Anderson spat before he became a blur to the recruit's eye. Anderson shot forward quicker than Greer could react and slammed him into the wall behind him. Greer's head was spinning from pain, he tried to remind himself that it wasn't real but that didn't help much.

Anderson held him up by his shirt and slammed him back into the wall again and again. Greer tried to fight back but his limbs wouldn't respond.

Why wasn't anyone helping him?

Anderson dropped him, leaning heavily on the wall the young man tried to focus his vision but he couldn't. He could hear the ripples of laughter coming from the crowd of rebels. Anderson bent down and picked up the recruit's weapon. Aiming it at him he smiled then fired.

Greer sat up like a shot in a bed. His bed, his room was almost completely dark, breathing heavily he dropped back down to the pillow and kicked the sheet off.

Just another nightmare. Not the worst he had had but a nightmare was still a nightmare. He'd tell Jones in the morning. Or, maybe he could walk down to the tech's office now, agents didn't sleep and it had to be the early hours of the morning so it was likely that Jones wouldn't be busy.

And seeing Jones would definitely make him feel better.

He heard a click as the door to his room opened. Standing there was the comforting shape of Agent Jones. His features obscured by the bright light of the hall that was framing him the recruit knew who it was nonetheless.

"Hello Jones," Greer said as he sat up.

"Greer. Did you have another nightmare?"

The raven-haired man nodded, "yeah, how'd you know?"

The agent tilted his head to the side, "I always know Mr. Greer."

"Mister?" Huh? "Jones since when did we get so formal?"

"Since always Mr. Greer. Was it another delusion?"

"Delusion? Jones I've never had a delusion, just nightmares."

"You'd best tell me about it then."

"It was different to the others."

"Different how?" Jones asked as he pulled out a notebook.

"Why are you writing it down?"

"So that we can discover the cause of these nightmares and cure you of it."

"I thought you said it might have something to do with my power."

"Come now Mr. Greer we've talked about this. You don't have a power."

Greer froze, he had noticed something a little off about Jones but that was the final straw. "Jones?"

"Yes Mr. Greer?"

"Turn on the light please." The agent lifted his arm and flicked on the light switch. Greer sat straight up in his bed and looked at the man standing his doorframe.

"Who the hell are you?" The man looked kind of like Jones, like enough in the face but his expression was completely wrong. He was wearing black slacks and light blue with an ID badge clipped to the pocket. This was not Agent Jones.

"Mr. Greer, you know who I am, now I think we need to talk about your nightmare then adjust your dosage."

Greer got up and shook his head, "I don't know what kind of rebel trick this is but it's not going to work on me."

'Jones' shook his head and ran his hand through his cropped brown hair. "Not with the rebels again, we are trying to cure you Mr. Greer and we can't do that unless you stop believing in these fantasies."

Require, gun. Greer thought and waited for it to appear.

Nothing happened.

It's ok; he tried to calm himself down. This could just be a dream, or it could be…a hallucination and he was really unconscious in the infirmary. Or the rebels could have pulled him out of the Matrix and this was a construct aboard one of their hovercrafts, whatever it was – he wanted out.

"Whoever you are I want to know what is going on," the recruit demanded.

"Calm down Mr. Greer."

"Stop calling me that!"

'Jones' looked off to his side and nodded, "Vincent calm down or I will have to sedate you."

"Don't call me Vincent you imposter. Jones never calls me Vincent."

"Calm down Greer."

"Let me out of here!" Running at the imposter he went to strike him but 'Jones' merely stepped aside and out of the way while two big orderlies grabbed him, dragged him back to the bed and strapped him down. A few seconds later a nurse came into the room with a large hypodermic needle.

"Anne?" Greer had time to ask as she pumped the sedative into him. Then he blacked out. 

***

"Good morning Mr. Greer," was the first thing he heard as he woke up.

"Stop calling me that and let me out of here."

"Are you going to be calm today? Because if you aren't I'm afraid you'll have to be kept in here all day."

"No," Greer lied with a straight face. "I'll be good. I'd like to get up and walk around."

"Well, I'm just warning you that if you are disrupt the other patients you'll wind back up in here."

"Patients?" Greer asked as 'Jones' undid the straps that held him down to the bed.

"Don't you even know where you are?"

"Humor me," he said exhaustedly.

"You are in the Mills Mental Institute."

"I'm in a nut house?" he sneered incredulously.

"Please Mr. Greer, we don't refer to it like that."

"What the hell am I doing in here?"

"Don't you remember anything?"

"The last thing I remember before waking up here is fighting the rebels. Anderson was there."

'Jones' shook his head, "I'd thought we'd actually made progress. Well we'll have to start again at your appointment."

"So what do I do now?"

"As long as you behave you can go to the common room with the rest of the calmer patients."

"Where is it?"

"End of the hall, turn let." Greer nodded and found his way to the common room.

He had to find some way to escape.

He'd find a way out of here.

He'd find a…

Greer stopped as he reached the door of the common room and looked at its occupants, a couple of them stood out from the rest. He knew them…maybe.

A curly-haired black man in the corner was drawing with red and blue crayons while muttering lines from Alice in Wonderland.

A tall, thin man stood at the window with his forehead resting on the safety screen whispering, "I'm not special, I'm no-one."

Morpheus and Anderson. There were eight others but he didn't recognize them. Some were talking to themselves, others were talking to imaginary people, and others still were just staring at the walls.

He was shaken from his thoughts when he heard a voice scream, "I killed him! I'm a murderer!" Greer recognized the voice.

"David?" he whispered before running toward the source of the voice. He made it around the corner just as a doctor came out of the room, muffled screams could still be heard.

"You should be in the common room," the doctor said as he turned to the boy.

"Agent Brown?"

"Just 'doctor' if you please Mr. Greer."

"Ok," Greer said and went to turn away but he felt frozen to the floor.

"Oh," 'Brown' said, "I know what you want."

"I want…" Greer started.

"A lollipop, of course," 'Brown' smiled – one of the scariest sights Greer had ever seen – and fished a green lollipop of out his coat pocket. Handing it to the stunned recruit he pointed back to the common room with another unnatural smile.

Greer went back and hung around the door of the common room, pocketing the sweet – just in case it was poison. This was a very strange…whatever it was.

He decided against it being a rebel trick when Morpheus, the great leader of the 'free' humans came over to him and asked if he wanted to color in. Greer declined, smiled nervously and made a run for it. That had been the final straw.

Creeping down the halls trying to find a way out he walked around the corner into 'Jones' and a doctor that looked like Smith.

"Mr. Greer, what are you doing down here?"

"I'm…" Greer started before turning and running blindly. Unfortunately, a patient running through a mental institution tends to attract attention so soon he was being chased by orderlies.

  Turning corner after corner he was beginning to tire and they weren't that far behind him. Coming to a wing he found a key on a hook on the wall above an empty desk, running down the hall and pushing it into the corresponding door – which was labeled in it – it unlocked. Opening it and jumping inside, he quietly closed it and peered up through the glass window. 'Jones', 'Smith' and several orderlies looked at the hall then turned down the other corridor, he breathed a sigh of relief when their sounds disappeared.

The words, "excuse me," told him the room had another occupant.

He turned and looked at the patient who was sitting cross-legged on the bed. "Huh?" he asked looking at her.

"Well…there's three options, one you're a delusion brought on by all this stuff that they've got me on to stop me from…eh…two, you're a really ugly girl or three you've escaped from the guy's ward."

Greer just stared. "By the lack of intelligent response, I'm guessing number three," she said, "now give me a reason that I shouldn't call for help or something."

"Oh come on Stef, at least tell me you know what's going on."

"Yeah, a psycho from the guy's ward just barged into my room. I'm guessing you're hiding from your doctor."

"Tell me what is going on. Is this a dream or what is it?"

"Nah, just dingy old reality."

"I do not belong in a mental institute."

"So says the psycho. Whether or not you believe it, everyone has a reason for being in here. Even if we don't like it."

"I do not belong here, it's a trick or something. No one knows who they are or anything. Jones is a jerk, Brown is handing out lollipops, Morpheus is drawing with crayons and Anderson is mumbling to himself. Anne is a nurse, you're a psycho and I'm afraid to think of where everyone else is."

"So?"

"No one is acting like themselves."

"So you're saying that we're all supposed to be someone and somewhere else, like this is a trippy alternate reality or something."

"Something like that, I just want to get back to where I belong."

"So by running into the girl's ward you can do that? I'd say you were looking for something else."

"I was trying to find my way out but then the orderlies came after me. The key opened this door."

"That's because I'm not allowed out. I have to stay in here forever. I'm going to die in here, they'll never let me out."

"Why are you in here?"

She shook her head, "you first."

"I don't…"

"What did your doctor say?"

"He said I was delusional, that everything I've been thinking was reality was nothing but my imagination."

"How do you know it isn't?"

"I know what's real."

"If you were in a really real dream, how would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?"

"That's what the rebels say," he protested.

"The who?"

"The rebels we fight."

"We? I just met you."

"No you didn't, I've known you for months." 

"Really? Cause I don't seem to remember that."

"You're name is Stef Mimosa, you're an agent. A computer program but you used to be a human, I'm a recruit…we fight the rebels…" he broke off when she shook her head.

"It's Stephanie Maat, the rest of it sounds like a science-fiction story." 

"Matt?"

"Two a's not two t's. Have you considered that it is just a delusion and that you've managed to include everyone around you into it?"

"No. It's a trick, I know it's a trick."

"How? Do you have any proof that your dream world does exist?"

"I know it does exist. I know everything about that world and nothing about this one."

"Some writers get so involved in their stories that they start to believe that they are part of the world they created and lose sight of the real world, they suppress all their memories of it and created memories take over."

"That's a whole lot of psycho-babble. Besides I'm not a writer."

"No, but you are a dreamer, it's much the same thing. Is this world that bad?"

"Uh…yeah, it's not where I belong and the person who loves me where I'm from doesn't even remember that."

"Oh, who's that?"

"That's not important, what's important is I want to go home. I can't even require."

"Re…what?"

"Jesus, you taught me it."

"Am I a big part of this fantasy world of yours?"

"It's not a fantasy. And yeah, I suppose you are."

"That's nice. What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to escape, I'm going to get out of here. I have to find a way home."

"And what if you have a delusion while crossing the street and you get hit by a car?"

"I do not have delusions!" he yelled.

"Quiet down boy or the doctors will catch you. You don't want that do you?"

"For the last time, I know what is real."

"Can't you just accept what's around you?" she grabbed a handful of her sheet. "This is feel, I can feel it. What's so wrong with accepting this reality?"

"I wish you knew what I knew."

"Go, the rounds are starting soon."

"What kind of reality is it when Brown is handing out lollipops?"

"Did you eat it?"

"No. I'd rather eat a red pill."

"Duocine? Well, can I have it? He usually runs out by the time he get up to this end of the hospital."

"Sure Alice," he said digging it out of his pocket.

"It's Stephanie."

"No, this is beyond the rabbit hole so you are Alice, here," he said handing it to her. Something caught his eye as he looked at her outstretched arm. Grabbing her arm he turned it palm-up.

"Let go of me you freak!" she screeched as he looked at her arm. Grabbing her other one he looked at that wrist as well.

"Suicide? You're a cutter?"

"Let go of me!"

"Why the hell would you want to kill yourself?" 

"Let me go!"

"Not until I find out what's going on."

"Help!" Two of the orderlies that had been looking for him heard the screams; opening the door they rushed in and grabbed him and dragged him out.

***

'Jones' shook his head as he walked into Greer's room who had been strapped back down and had been given a weak sedative, just to calm him down. "I didn't expect to have our appointment in here today Mr. Greer."

"Stop calling me that." He sneered at the man and realized that there was another thing that set him apart from Jones, this imposter had blue eyes, not Jones' green.

"Since you seem to have forgotten everything about the three months you've been here we will have to start at the beginning."

"Whatever," Greer said as he turned his head away.

"You were brought in here about three months ago because your mother was worried about you. You kept talking about events and people that didn't exist."

Greer turned his head bed to looked at his 'doctor' as he continued. "Perhaps that wasn't the best idea to bring you here because your fantasy world has simply exploded. You have taken the stimuli around you and incorporated them into your world. Your turned poor harmless Mortimer into some a bald warrior who offers drugs to teenagers. Tommy, you gave turned into a super-human capable of things no human can do. Then there is myself, apparently my colleagues and I are computerized agents who patrol this digital world. And I'm in love with you…that's correct isn't it?"

"Jones loves me."

"I see, and you as one of these 'recruits' I believed you called them have certain abilities. Abilities I'm quite sure you have discovered you don't have out here in the real world."

"This is not the real world, this is a dream or something."

"I do have to admire your creativity though, even if it's only on a subconscious level, a cyber-punk update of Alice in Wonderland…but not quite as that story is integrated inseparably into the fabric of that world."

"It's how the rebels explain it before they drag their recruits into the real world."

"I believe I like the rebels."

"What?!"

"I believe they represent your wish to leave the fantasy world behind and return here to the real world."

"But the world the rebels talk about is a blasted wasteland."

"But you've never seen it. I believe that the next time you experience one of these delusions that you should seek out the rebels and take a…what was it?"

"Red pill. You take a red pill to leave the Matrix."

"Take a red pill and leave the dream world behind. I think after you do everything will be better. You won't have to go back so often and does this look like a blasted wasteland to you?"

"Admittedly, no."

"You see it's going to be ok Mr. Greer."

"For the love of god please stop calling me that."

"How then do you wish me to address you?"

"Just plain Greer will do. That's what everyone calls me."

"Well then Greer, what else would you like to talk about?"

"I'd just like to be alone."

"That's fine. I'll talk with you tomorrow."

'Jones' left and locked the door after him. The afternoon slipped away and night came over the institute. Dinner came and went, his restraints were taken away so he could eat; the food was limp and tasteless. Just before falling into an uneasy sleep Greer whispered two words to the night.

"What if?"

*****

Jonas smiled, his little game was working. Finally he was able to exact his revenge on his stepbrother Victor. Even if it was only a shadow of the real person.

What he was doing now had taken a little more effort than the nightmares he gave Stef, with them he merely manipulated elements and let them play out. This, however included copying some program matrices and changing their personality profiles somewhat so that what remained were only echoes of their former selves.

The contract he was on with the government, that paid for all of his research and equipment gave him free reign to do whatever he wished with his programs so long as he was advancing the technology.

This situation suited him just fine.

It had even allowed him to make a not-so-small amount of money on the side by turning his digital worlds into a multi-media franchise.

He looked over the top of his monitor at the clock, it was 8.23pm. Carol would be back soon; she had gone on yet another shopping trip. He didn't mind, it had given him some time to spend with Trisha. Trisha was real…human and Carol was nothing more than a program.

Not that he'd tell her that, it might provoke her and as he'd observed an angry Carol is not a good thing. She was fairly close to normal once she had been set free of the world that had betrayed her. When she wasn't around her former enemies all she cared about was how beautiful she could make herself and what she could accessorize with what outfit.

And oddly, it hadn't taken her that long to adjust to the idea that the matrix was a simulation within a simulation. Somehow that made perfect sense to her. She'd fallen for him completely; it had only taken three days being free of the Matrix to reach their current relationship.

But until she got back to the lab and insisted they go home he would keep focused on Greer.

Greer was actually considering what 'Jones' had told him. The readout of the recruit's thoughts kept no secrets from the 'god' of the digitized worlds.

Right here in the main lab he could focus on up to fifteen areas of the Matrix or 'real' world or track fifteen persons. Only three monitors were active recording general aspects, the two he was fixated on were monitoring Greer in both worlds. The one in the mental institute and the one unconscious in the Agency medical facility.

The real Jones was fretting about Greer; he was pacing the room waiting for some reaction from the doctors as to what was wrong. They had made one suggestion soon after he had been brought in but Jones had quickly silenced that.

The Edmund twins.

He shared the same power with them so it was possible that this was the beginning of the end.

That was a possibility the thin agent didn't even want to consider, he wasn't ready to lose the recruit yet.

"Don't you have other duties?" Brown asked snidely as his recruit, who had a shoulder wound, slumped painfully onto another bed.

"I am capable of scanning for errors and glitches without being in my office. If any do occur I will repair them, for now I shall remain here."

"He's just a recruit."

"Greer is not just any recruit," Jones snapped without thinking.

"No," Brown relented – thinking Jones meant it in another way – "he's just another Edmund."

Jones didn't know what to say to that without jeopardizing his or Greer's existence. He pointed to the left side of Brown's jacket, the combat looked down at himself, it was slick with the blood of some poor unfortunate who had been deluded enough to join the rebellion. Brown required a new suit before shifting away.

"Agent Dirt," Jones muttered to himself, trying to keep from breaking down. Turning back toward Greer he realized that this was the second time he'd stood in this room unsure if the recruit would ever rise again. Looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was observing him he picked up Greer's hand and gently kissed it. "Please wake up Greer," he whispered before placing it back down at the immobile young man's side.  

He looked down at the recruit wishing there was anything he could do to make him wake up. "Is he any better?" Stef asked as she shifted in.

"No change whatsoever," the tech said bitterly.

"Is he going to wake up?"

"I don't know. It has to be related to his power, the doctors can't find any other cause for it. He might wake up in a minute, an hour, a week or never. Telephonic perception has only one precedent so it is impossible to know what's going to happen. Nothing else happened? He just…"

"He just slumped over the handlebars. He was unconscious before we hit the ground."

Jones bit his lip, "I just wish I could help him."

"You are helping. Just sit and talk to him," she tapped a monitor, "that says his mind is still here, you've just got to find a way to get it back here."

He nodded and after she left he required a chair and sat down beside him and began to talk. This technique was used with coma patients and Greer was in a none too dissimilar situation so perhaps it would help.

*****

Greer had had a fitful night, he had dreamed but he couldn't remember any of them. He just knew they were bad. Looking around he found himself still in the nut house, that couldn't be right, he should have woken up in the real world.

Ok, it wasn't a dream. With the states he had found Morpheus and Anderson in he had leant away from it being a rebel trick so what in hell was it?

Maybe his power had sent him insane and he was going to be trapped in this illusion for the rest of his life.

But what if…?

He hadn't actually wanted to believe it, he knew he was Recruit Vincent Greer who fought the rebels. But after his talk with 'Jones' and thinking it through logically he saw that there was a grain of possibility in it.

No. He refused to believe it.

But everything was there; all the elements of the world he knew right there in front of him, and if he could instantly incorporate what he saw how could be sure that he wasn't insane and hadn't made it all up?

No.

He wouldn't believe it, not just yet anyway.

He spent the day sitting quietly in the corner of the common room, not thinking about much at all, just observing the behavior of the people around him. About lunchtime an orderly came in and told 'Tommy' that he had a visitor, the man whom in Greer's world was a powerful enemy simply nodded and fell into step behind the man.

This time when the quiet and somewhat nervous doppelganger of Morpheus asked if he wanted to draw he agreed, as at least it gave him something to do. And listening to the one-man rendition of Alice in Wonderland was quite amusing especially when Mortimer did the voices for the various characters. Even Greer found it impossible to stop from laughing when he made a high-pitched squeaking voice that was supposedly Alice herself.

Tommy came back in, he was actually smiling. "Who was it?" one of the nameless patients asked.

"My girl."

Trinity was in this universe as well? That was only mildly unexpected. Tommy sat down in one of the armchairs and closed his eyes. The recruit sighed and went back to listening to the story written by the man on drugs.

*****

Jones was stopped mid-sentence by someone saying, "He's been unconscious for fifteen hours."

He looked to the side and saw Smith, "I know that sir." A dark thought as to why Smith was there snapped to the forefront of Jones' mind, accompanied by a stab of fear.

"Has there been any change in his condition?"

"No. Nothing at all." That didn't mean he wouldn't get better. Surely the command agent wouldn't order the plugged to be pulled would he? No, he wouldn't. Would he?

Smith went to say something but Jones cut him off – notably a first for him – "I have not been neglecting my duties."

"I know that."

"Are you here to pull the plug?" Jones asked bluntly, perhaps a little too bluntly.

Smith's eyes narrowed then his face softened, "No Agent Jones I am not. I hope he rises again as well." Smith nodded at the other agent then walked out of the infirmary. Jones dropped his head and breathed in a sigh of relief.

*****

About two o'clock in the afternoon Greer had his appointment with 'Jones' again. "I am glad to see you a lot calmer today…no daytime delusions or escape attempts."

Greer merely nodded.

"Penny for your thoughts," the doctor said as he settled back into his chair.

Greer swallowed, "I've been thinking about everything you told me yesterday…"

"And?"

"I'm not saying I believe it so don't take it like that…definitely don't take it like that…"

"But?"

"What if it's true and I just don't know it?"

"You are questioning it Greer, that's the first step to recovery."

"I can't…it can't be true." Greer said with a deep exhale.

"It is true, you have to believe me on that. The world you believe in is nothing but a lie."

"It's my world."

'Jones'' face took on a cruel expression, "it's a lie."

"NO!" Greer screamed as he pitched into blackness.

*****

Jones jumped when Greer made a noise, looking over the recruit started to whimper, unconscious noises of a terrible nightmare. Sitting on the bed beside him he took him by the shoulders and tried to rouse him.

"Greer? Greer wake up."

He started to shake as his life signs bounced around. The doctors came closer but Jones ordered them away, they couldn't help now. Greer screamed as his soul came slamming back into his body.

"It's…" he said panting heavily as he looked around. His eyes raced around the medical facility.

He was back home.

He looked at the person sitting close to him, it was Jones. Not some fake but the real thing. Jones removed his sunglasses and smiled.

"Greer? Are you alright?"

Greer buried his face in Jones' chest and whispered, "I will be now."

One week later.

Greer was back on the job, and once again a patrol of an area frequented by rebels turned into a fight. His partner, one of Brown's recruits named Ian Cery, was chasing down the potential they had been attempting to free, Greer however had made it to the room with the hard-line.

  As the rebel, a crew-cut man in his early forties looked down at the destroyed phone that had been his only chance of escape he turned back to face the agent recruit.

"I can free you from this you know. You can give this lie up, we can free you," he said as he held out a red pill in his palm.

Greer raised his gun and fired. "This is my world. It isn't a lie."

The End. 

Until Next Time…