A/N: Ch 3 - in which my Muse demands light, fluffy things and we find out
just why Pop Music sucks so very badly. Many, many, many thanks to Mussed
and Danascully who are goddesses and just wonderful people for putting up
with my crazy ideas. *gives cookies* Thank you to everyone who reviewed the
first two chapters!
Once more, for the Hardline, because there's a little Syzygy and Spike in
us all ^_^
*******************************************************************
Chapter the Third
The bug-zapper sound of the 'daylight' power kicking in woke Syzygy as it had every morning since the first. She glared sleepily into the darkness of her cabin for a second before the lights snapped on outside in the ship with little clicks. To Tank's good natured amusement and her eternal annoyance, she responded to the lights like she had to her radio alarm in the Matrix - half a second before the damn thing actually went off. Grumbling, Syzygy climbed out of bed and slipped on a pair of pants and one of the new sweaters Trinity had left the night before. She adjusted the dark, woolen hat on her head and willed her hair to grow faster. After stomping into her boots, the only part of her outfit that she actually really liked, she did the early-morning-stumble-and-blink into the corridor. Casting a quick glance towards Spike's door and seeing nothing, she trudged towards the lavatory to splash water on her face before making her way to the mess and sitting down on the bench across from Tank.
"Good morning, Sunshine," he greeted. Syzygy groaned and let her forehead hit the top of the table. She was not a morning person. In fact, she'd noticed that most people on the Neb seemed to be night owls rather than morning people. It was probably related in some way to their shared habit of hacking in the dead of night. Tank however, seemed to be the exception to the rule. Dear God, what an exception. She listened as he began whistling a lighthearted tune, probably to annoy her, and siphoned off a tin of food for her. Christ, even the click of the tin on the table was cheerful.
"Thank you," she muttered as a spork was pressed into her hand. Syzygy sat up and began eating. The stuff wasn't so bad if you didn't think about it and just ate. More importantly, it was filling. "No coffee?" she asked, as she'd asked every day since the early morning ritual had begun. Tank grinned and pushed a carafe and a cup towards her.
"Closest thing we got," he said. Syzygy grunted thanks and poured the tea- colored liquid into the cup. It was hot and it was caffeine and that's what mattered, she supposed, even if the flavor wasn't even close. But man, what she wouldn't have given for a double mocha latte.
"So you said they have bread in Zion, right?" Tank nodded. "And they got the wheat from scavenging old universities and stuff for seed samples, right?" Another nod. "So why haven't they tried to find coffee?" she demanded. Tank grinned and shook his head.
"I will never understand you Matrix-born people. I've tasted coffee flavoring and it's just not that good. Every other one of you is completely addicted to the stuff, but I really don't see what I'm missing."
"You've never tasted real coffee," Trinity muttered from the door. "And it was real," she said, a touch of wistfulness coloring her voice. Tank shook his head with a laugh.
"And the rest of the 'good morning' crew arrives. Morning Trin, Neo." Tank saluted his bleary-eyed crewmates with his spork. Trinity sat down on the bench next to Syzygy and poured two cups of the not-even-close-to-coffee while Neo grabbed breakfast for them both. Syzygy and Trinity scooted down on the bench as Neo joined them. They ate in companionable silence for a few moments before Neo caught Syzygy's eyes.
"So you have training today?" Neo asked. She nodded and swallowed the last bit of breakfast.
"Last I heard," she replied, looking to Trinity for confirmation. The dark- haired woman set her mug down and nodded.
"You're just about finished with downloads. You have s a few of the more exotic vehicle and weapons programs to do, but I doubt you'll be firing off a bazooka in the next day or so. Today we're going to test out that last set of martial arts skills,"
"Do you think she's ready to take on the Matrix?" Neo asked conversationally. Trinity tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she considered her response and Syzygy felt butterflies materialize in the pit of her stomach. Going back was a frightening thought. How different would it be now that she knew the truth? Would she see people she knew?
"We have a run later today. If she passes the jump this time, maybe we can take her," Trinity said with a hint of a smile. Neo grinned back, drawing a wider smile from her.
"Awwwwww," Tank gushed teasingly from the other side of the table, utterly ruining the moment. Trinity's glance was absolutely murderous for about half a second before she rolled her eyes and flung her spork at Tank's head. Tank dodged her spork but was hit in the chest by Neo's instead. "Ow!"
"Come on," Trinity motioned for Syzygy to follow. Neo took her empty tin and stacked it atop Trinity's and his own.
"I have dishes today. Go get your ass kicking," he chuckled. Syzygy muttered quick thanks then scurried after Trinity. She contemplated the jump program as she made her way to the Core. Trinity had made it look so damn easy! She, however, had only managed to get a little more than halfway across before she lost her nerve and the elusive 'it' that made the minds of resistance fighters free, and slammed into the ground. She didn't want to fail a second time.
Three hours later, she wasn't sure she'd even be able to walk again, let alone jump leap tall buildings in a single bound. Even though she realized she wasn't actually doing anything, her muscles still screamed and she knew she had a rather lovely bruise forming on her right side. It hurt like a bitch.
"Take a break," Trinity instructed. Syzygy gratefully sank to the floor with a huff. She was tired and achy, but damn, was she having fun getting her ass handed to her. She'd just mastered running up walls and flipping over to land on her feet. She'd landed a few times on her head but then she'd gotten the hang of it.
"You're getting faster, but you're thinking too much."
Trinity sat across from her, cool and collected in her black gi. Her short hair was tied up in the simple pony tail and while Syzygy's RSI was sweating profusely, Trinity looked as though she'd just been strolling though a Zen garden, not kicking Syzygy's ass up one side of the dojo and down the other. Syzygy wondered when she'd have that much control and skill.
"So, how'd I do today, teach?" Syzygy asked. Trinity considered her for a moment before calling out to Tank to load the jump program. The world around them shifted and changed and they were suddenly sitting on the roof of a building wearing similar tight leather outfits. Syzygy examined her clothing with a certain amount of delight. She'd never had the money to get anything like this and even if she'd had the means, there was no way her parents would have ever let her keep such an outfit .
"Sweet."
Trinity stood with a smirk and waited while Syzygy checked out her new threads. She stood with a grin and looked around at the programmed world, marveling once again at how realistic everything seemed to be.
"It's not real," she told herself. She tried to relax and free her mind the way she'd been taught and sense that there was a program around her.
"Ready?" Trinity asked after a moment. Syzygy's eyes snapped open and she eyed the red brick building across the street. Trinity took two steps and leapt easily over the street. She landed on the other side and turned to wait for Syzygy. Now that Syzygy had a week of training under her belt, she could see that Trinity's jump didn't really break the laws of physics, it just bent the hell out of them. Her jump had been quite high and it was easy to see that such a trajectory would carry her across the street. It was something Syzygy hadn't noticed before as she'd been too preoccupied with the height of the building and the getting across part. She took a few running steps and jumped as high as she could.
The feeling was exhilarating. The wind whipped through her short hair and snatched at her clothing. She hit the highest point of her jump and knew she was going to make it. She landed next to Trinity and took a stumbling step forward.
"That was so fucking cool, I want to do it again!" Syzygy crowed. Trinity stepped aside and gestured towards the ledge. Syzygy grinned and took the jump a second time. Now that she knew she could do it, it was like seeing the world in an entirely different light. Anything was possible! Any- fucking-thing! Hell, she might even ask Neo for flying lessons! She landed this time with no stumble. Trinity took the jump back over and looked at her with approval. Syzygy preened for a moment before Trinity strode past her and stepped up to the ledge on the eastern side of the building.
"Good. Follow me. If you can." With that challenge, she leapt across the divide. Syzygy grinned and followed, watching as Trinity hit the rooftop at a run and made a beeline for the next ledge. Syzygy hit the rooftop a second later and chased after her. She forgot that what she was doing was supposed to be impossible, that she was feeling sore and beat up - forgot everything except the thrill of the chase as she ran across the rooftops and leapt between buildings, dodging sky lights and the occasional rooftop garden. She bounded ahead, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. She imagined she much look something like an actress on a wire in a Hong Kong action flick, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Syzygy raced between a series of chimneys in a residential area and watched as Trinity dove off the side of the building, grabbed a flag pole, swung around like a gymnast, then launched herself into the air, landing on the next building over. Without hesitation, Syzygy leapt over the side of the building, caught the pole, swung around and landed next to Trinity.
It was only then that she realized she'd actually dived off a building, caught a flag pole, swung around it like a gold medalist and then landed, safe and sound, on the roof of another building. This was something they did in cartoons, not in real life.
"Did I just do what I think I did?" Syzygy asked, her voice shaking slightly. The quiver soon found its way into the rest of her body as the adrenaline rush she'd been experiencing came to a crashing halt. She jumped slightly when she felt Trinity's hand on her shoulder.
"You did. You forgot to think and just acted. Remember that feeling. If you stop and think too much, the program wins and you won't be able to do anything." Trinity paused a moment and Syzygy let the advice sink in.
"I think that's enough for now."
"Really?" Syzygy wasn't able to stop the note of sadness from entering her voice. A small part of her knew this was serious training for a serious war, but she'd never had so much fun!
"It's well past lunch. We'll eat and then you might actually come with us into the Matrix. We'll have to see what Morpheus says," Trinity explained. Syzygy nodded and only then realized she was starving. Trinity called for Tank to get them out and almost instantly she was back in her chair. The metal spike slid uncomfortably out and she sat up and undid the straps on her feet. Trinity was already up and out and waiting for her.
"I'm coming, I-" she paused in mid-sentence as her eyes locked with the skinny, bald kid standing next to Morpheus by the ladder between decks. She'd never seen him before, but she knew exactly who he was. She glanced at Morpheus, but his inscrutable face told her nothing. Syzygy looked over at Trinity for support - or maybe inspiration - but the older woman's face was impassive. She was on her own.
The world felt oddly surreal as she finally slid off her chair and strode over to Spike, head held high, euphoria from her training surrounding her like armor. The room was silent except for the clump of her boots on the deck as she walked. Like the jump program, she now knew exactly what she had to do. He was slightly taller than she was, but she felt as if she was the one looking down on him. She stuck out her hand and Spike seemed to reflexively grasp it. She shook it firmly.
"Hi, Spike," she said, words echoing strangely in the dreamlike silence of the Core. "I'm Syzygy." He blinked, uncomprehending for a moment before his eyes widened.
"But, you're a girl!" he protested, looking towards Morpheus then back at her. Syzygy grinned.
"So nice of you to notice," she replied.
"You said you were a guy!" Spike said, his eyes narrowing slightly. A remote part of her felt bad, but she only shrugged.
"Yeah, I did. I lied." Spike sputtered for a second before he wiped a hand across his face.
"You can't be a girl!" Spike finally shouted. Syzygy jerked her thumb in Trinity's direction.
"She's a chick but you thought she was a guy," she pointed out. Spike's mouth opened and closed a few times as he sought an appropriate reply.
"Jez-us. F33r is going to have kittens." Spike ran a hand though the short fuzz on his head before getting angry again. "Why?" he demanded. Syzygy arched an eyebrow.
"Duh," she replied. "Girls aren't welcome in your little boys club. You all assumed I was a guy, so I played along."
"But you lied!" Spike protested again. Syzygy felt the strange emotional coolness begin to dissipate. Luckily, Morpheus chose that moment to step in.
"How did she do Trinity?" he asked, distracting both teenagers.
"She did very well. She's a natural at the jump. We should give her more gymnastic practice. I think she might even surpass Switch's levels given time." Syzygy felt a rush at the high praise. Morpheus nodded for a moment, thinking.
"If you feel she is ready for it, you can take her with you on the run this afternoon."
"I think she can handle it," Trinity assured her captain. Morpheus nodded and clamped a hand on Syzygy's shoulder.
"Good. Get something to eat and some rest. You'll go in with Trinity and Neo."
"Yes sir," Syzygy acknowledged the order and brushed past Spike to head down the ladder. She distantly heard someone following but she was focused on the Mess. She entered the room, mechanically got a tin of food then sat down at the table.
The dream shattered.
The sounds of the ship resurfaced almost painfully loud, like someone had unexpectedly turned the volume way, way, way up after having it very low. Each pulse of the engine felt like a cymbal crash next to her ear. Each creak and groan of the worn metal was a crack of thunder. Her hands shook as she tried to lift some of the goop, but the stuff kept falling off her spork. Finally she set the utensil down and pressed her hands to the table top to try and get them to stop shaking.
Had she just done what she thought she'd just done? That was twice in one day and she wasn't sure she could take another emotional rollercoaster. Neo entered and grabbed his own lunch while Syzygy wrestled with her thoughts. She felt guilty about lying to Spike, but she felt proud that she'd gone up and introduced herself before anyone could tell her secret. She felt enraged that she felt the need to hide - like being female was some dirty little secret you didn't tell the neighbors, but at the same time she almost felt filthy for playing to the assumptions of the other hackers.
Neo sat beside her and she found him to be a somewhat calming presence. Spike was part of her old, mostly hidden life.. Neo and everyone else on the crew was part of her new, open life. Trinity came and sat down on her other side and Syzygy felt her adrenaline rush lessen further.
"You ok?" the older woman asked. Syzygy let out a stream of air and nodded.
"Yep. I did what I had to do, and now it's done. And if Spike has a problem with me, he can go to hell," she stated fiercely. Trinity smirked.
"I think Morpheus was going to introduce you two, but maybe it worked out for the better. Don't worry about Spike. He'll get over it. Finish eating and then try and get some rest."
Syzygy nodded and forced the rest of her meal down. She was more nervous than hungry, but she knew she had to eat something. She rinsed her tin and made her way back to her cabin. She settled on her small bed and contemplated her training. The martial arts was fun and challenging but she knew she had a long way to go before she could match Morpheus, Trinity or Neo. She'd never fired a weapon before the gun downloads and though she was now deadly accurate, she preferred closer combat. Sword and knife fighting had been especially fun to learn. She had the know-how because of the download, but she also had the bruises from the hard lesson that knowing and doing were often different things. She only hoped she'd be ok on the run today.
A rap on her door woke her some time later. She'd been sure she wasn't going to get sleep, but her body obviously had needed the rest after the workout earlier. Syzygy rolled out of bed and opened the door. Tank's beaming face greeted her on the other side and she couldn't help but smile back.
"Hi," he said, "ready to go?"
"If Morpheus and Trinity say I am, yeah." Syzygy shrugged. Tank clapped a hand across her shoulders and began leading her down the hall in a brotherly sort of way.
"Well, that's just fine but how do you feel?"
"Uhm, ok I guess." She supposed she was ok, but now that Tank was asking her, she didn't feel as confident. Damn, there were those butterflies again. "I don't think I'd be going in if they thought I couldn't survive.right?"
"Exactly. You were doing well from where I was sitting," Tank reassured her. "I think you'll be ok if you stick with Neo and Trinity and remember your training." He broke into a huge grin. "But since all that is downloaded into your brain, you really can't forget it, so that's one less thing to worry over." Syzygy couldn't help but catch Tank's infectious smile. And it was true, strange though it was. She began to feel the butterflies settle.
"What are we doing?" Syzygy asked as they climbed the ladder to the Core. She had absolutely no idea what resistance members did other than stalk people they wanted to unplug and kick the ever-lovin' shit out of agents.
"We're going to be collecting some surveillance, dropping off some messages for other ships, and we'll be contacting the Vigilant," Trinity said over her shoulder. She was standing behind Link who was busy at the Operator's console.
"Will we see any agents?" Syzygy asked. Her brief encounter with them had been rather horrific and she'd had a couple nightmares about it since waking up on the Neb. She really did not want to meet one of the killer programs again and shuddered as she recalled the agents taking over her parents.
"Possibly," Trinity told her. "Neo seems to attract them." Her completely even voice said more on the subject than any sort of inflection could have.
"I can handle them," Neo insisted from where he was checking the equipment by the chairs. An unfathomable something passed between the two in the brief moment of silence that followed, causing Syzygy to feel a bit like a voyeur. She caught Tank's eye and he looked like he felt the same way. The moment ended when Trinity nodded agreement.
"Neo and I will handle any agents that show up. If one shows up, you run." Trinity stepped down from the operator's level to the circle of chairs. Syzygy clunked down the steps after her, sat in 'her' chair and strapped her feet in.
"Gotcha. I see an agent I run."
"Good. See you on the other side," Trinity told her as she slid the data spike into her head.
Being 'awake' Construct was strange after being awake on the ship for even a few hours. It was pristine, almost blindingly white, and utterly unlike anything on the Neb or the tunnels the ship flew through. Syzygy wore the leather outfit she'd been wearing earlier that day. Her short, dirty blond hair was gelled back out of her face and she found a pair of sunglasses tucked into the pocket of her jacket.
As she slid the shades on her face, Neo was suddenly there. Trinity's RSI followed a moment later, another dark angel in the heavenly white. The pair faced her and Trinity called out for weapons. Racks of guns, ammo, knives, swords, grenades and explosives, shot across the space. Syzygy looked longingly at the swords but chose a handgun, grabbed a few extra clips and, unable to resist, slid a knife into the top of her boot.
"Where are we going?" She asked as Trinity selected her own arms. Neo stood to one side, reading information off what looked like a palm pilot. He didn't choose any guns: he didn't need to.
"New York," Trinity answered. "We're making data drops in one of the train stations and collecting, our mail and the news. We also have a brief meeting with the crew of the Vigilant there. If everything goes well, we're picking up some CDs."
"CDs?" Syzygy questioned. She couldn't think of a plausible reason for buying music.
"We have to periodically survey the media made in the Matrix for machine tampering," Neo explained. Syzygy thought about that for a second.
"Wait, like for subliminal messages?" She blinked a few times behind her dark shades. She'd never been one for conspiracy theories about hidden messages in music. Apparently she'd been wrong.
"Those and sometimes they integrate low level carrier signal disruptions into popular music. It makes our job much more difficult if we don't know what's out there," Neo told her with a small shrug. "Plus the music is good and most of it is still made entirely by humans." They shared a brief smile before becoming serious once again.
"Time to go," Trinity told them. "Tank. We need an entrance." Instantly, an old fashioned radial dial phone appeared on a pedestal. Trinity held out a cell phone and Syzygy took it, noting the serious air now surrounding both Trinity and Neo.
"Today's run is routine. Routine usually means running for your life. Understand?" Trinity's voice was steely. Syzygy nodded once. "Good. You go last." The phone rang then and Neo picked it up. His RSI dissolved into little rivulets of code which swirled into the phone in less than a second. The phone fell, bounced on its cord a few times like an undersized bungee jumper and swung there. Trinity picked up the phone and replaced it. It immediately began to ring again.
"When I go through, hang up, wait for the ring and then pick it up," Trinity instructed. She placed the phone to her ear and was gone in a flash of code. Syzygy replaced the earpiece on the cradle and waited for it to ring. She felt like she was waiting for an eternity and then when it did ring, it was too soon. She picked up the earpiece and felt a rush of extremes: freezing cold, scalding hot, swift movement and heavy, immobilizing gravity. She opened eyes she hadn't realized she'd closed and faced Trinity. Neo was looking out of a dusty and cracked window. They were in a rundown room. The sound of heavy city traffic filtered in from outside. A twin of the old radial dial phone was on a dusty table next to her.
"Let's go," Trinity ordered. Neo was the first through the door and into the hallway beyond, setting a brisk pace. Trinity followed with Syzygy close behind. As the three walked down a dirty hallway, Syzygy tried to feel the program around her. There was perhaps something subtly different about the air here. She reached out and trailed a finger across the wall, trying to see if it felt any different. Did it? She couldn't tell. Neo paused by a heavy fire door. Daylight streamed out from under the door and the traffic sounds were louder.
"This is it. Ready?" Trinity asked, breaking the silence. Syzygy nodded. Trinity removed a set of locker keys from her trench coat and handed four to Neo and two to Syzygy. "Your keys open lockers on the first floor. You need to move what is in locker 47 into locker 242 and take any disks. Call the Mjolnir with message Alpha-Zed. When you're done with that, go buy the news if neither of us has yet."
"OK," Syzygy acknowledged the order. Trinity nodded and Neo pushed the door open. They stepped into an alleyway in the middle of the city and took a look around. Skyscrapers towered over head the rushing traffic rumbled close by and the alley stunk of garbage and truck exhaust. But was it real? Were the imperfections she felt the work of her own mind or of the Matrix? Trinity and Neo exchanged a glance - Part amusement, part sadness - then strode towards the street. Syzygy snapped out of her reverie and followed.
As the train station they were heading for was only a block away, they hadn't brought a car - but, feeling the odd though familiar press of people around her, Syzygy wished they had. Knowing that any one of the pedestrians in the flowing foot traffic around her could turn into an agent was more than slightly unnerving and she wished she had the barrier of a car surrounding her. Trinity and Neo cut a clean swath through the crowd and she followed in their wake, keeping a clear eye out for anyone wearing a drab suit and an earpiece.
The arrived without incident a few moments later and after a quick nod from Trinity, Syzygy made her way over to the lockers. She'd never been here before but she knew where everything was thanks to the operational downloads. It was a weird feeling, remembering something she'd never seen before - but, she decided, it was one of the better new sensations. Locker 47 opened smoothly to reveal a worn looking purse sitting on top of an accordion file folder. Syzygy quickly rummaged around for any disks finding three, she grabbed the folder and purse and slammed the locker door shut. Locker 242 was on the second floor. She quickly made her way up the stairs and located the locker. She opened the door and stuffed the file and purse inside. She closed the door, took the key and gave the handle a bit of a tug to be sure that it was secure. It was so she strolled nonchalantly towards the vendor selling cinnamon buns to the morning breakfast rush. She picked out a pay phone with didn't have many people around it and dug in her pocket for some change. Like all resistance ships, the Hammer had a fake business number which connected to a floating voicemail box hidden in the phone networks of the Matrix. She recalled the number from memory and thought over code Alpha-Zed while the line connected.
"Midgard tool sales and repair, specializing in hammers of all shapes and sizes since 1929. We are not open at the moment but if you would like to leave a message at the tone, we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you!" a cheery female voice recording chirped. Syzygy suspected the voice belonged to Maggie, the only female member of the Hammer's crew.
"This is Miss Nabu calling to update you on your order b4-b-y10n. Your girdle will be ready for delivery in four business days." Syzygy hung up the pay phone and made her way back downstairs. Neo fell into step beside her and handed her part of his stack of news papers. Syzygy rolled them up and stuck them into her coat's pocket. Trinity joined them a second later, took another third of the news papers and the three made their way towards the exit.
"Starbucks on 5th," Trinity instructed as she took the lead. Syzygy dutifully followed behind. The crowds outside had thinned a little and Syzygy breathed a bit easier. She was anxious to meet with the Vigilant's crew. They would be the ones, hopefully, unplugging F33r and Griffin. She had yet to meet anyone else from the Resistance and wondered what sort of people they were.
The smell of coffee and chocolate and other such heavenly things assaulted her as soon as she stepped into the room. They were in a lull between rush hours and the place was sparsely populated. Syzygy briefly wondered if a bunch of people dressed to kick ass wouldn't garner much unwanted attention if they walked into Starbucks. Looking around however she saw that the small crowd was equally colorful. Only in New York, she thought with amusement. The group they were heading for were relaxed around a large table. A bald man of middle height stood as they approached. The small woman wore a severe hairdo and an exceptionally tight outfit under a short leather coat. The dark skinned man looked like Blade and, Syzygy noted with some envy, was sipping a cappuccino.
"Trinity," the bald man greeted her with a nod, "Neo."
"Captain Soren," Trinity replied with a regal incline of her head. Neo nodded a greeting. Soren's eyes moved from Trinity and Neo to Syzygy, sizing her up.
"And this must be the newbie. Back here so soon? She must be good." Soren looked over at Trinity who tilted her head slightly in a gesture that could have meant anything. Soren's gaze returned to Syzygy. "Hopefully your friends will be as talented. It's good to meet you," Soren said as he extended a hand. Syzygy clasped it firmly for a second.
"Pleased to meet you," she replied. Soren smiled.
"Please, sit," he invited. When everyone was seated, he turned his attention back to Syzygy. "What can you tell us about your friends? What do you think they will do?" Syzygy paused for a moment to think.
"I . I think they will both choose the truth if it is offered to them. Griffin is a bit more cautious that the rest of us, but he's also the one who comes up with the craziest ideas, so I think he'll have an easier time accepting what you tell him. F33r I think will be really pissed off more than anything." Soren was nodding.
"Uhm sir?" Syzygy asked. Soren waved for her to speak. "Neither of them exactly knows ."
"That you're a girl?" he finished. Syzygy nodded once, hating the burning blush she could feel spreading quickly across her cheeks.
"I feel I should tell them if that's ok by you."
"I agree. We won't say a word. Now, there may be some difficulties" Soren said, turning to face Neo and Trinity. "There has been agent activity in or near their areas. We're keeping a remote watch, but we haven't been able to make second contact yet because of that. The Caduceus was operating in Griffin's area not too long ago, so we've decided to get F33r first. We've left messages and they've been trying to hunt me down in addition to Morpheus."
"Will you need us when you finally make contact?" Trinity asked.
"Because of the agents, quite possibly. We were planning on offering him the choice by the end of the week," Soren replied.
Trinity nodded. "We'll be in broadcast range. We'll be available if you need us."
"Thank you." Soren said with genuine warmth as he stood. The Neb's crew stood as well. Clearly the meeting was over. Soren and Trinity shook hands and then he and his crew departed without a second glance. Trinity turned and led Syzygy and Neo through a different exit and down the street.
"Hopefully they won't need us," Neo commented in a low tone as the three fell into step side by side. Trinity glanced at Neo.
"Hopefully they won't need you," she said, stressing slightly.
"Or you," Neo replied after a few steps. Trinity removed a slip of paper from her pocket and handed it to Syzygy.
"Get these," she instructed. The paper was a list of CD titles and artists. Syzygy looked up and realized they were in front of a huge Virgin Megastore. Neo took up a relaxed stance outside and she followed Trinity inside. "If you see anything else you like, get it. You should have a credit card in your pocket."
Syzygy wandered off in the opposite direction from Trinity and read the list. Most of the items were classic rock albums but a few were techno. She grabbed a hand basket as she passed a stack and started with the techno. She was midway through the classics when she started to get a headache. She realized she hadn't taken off her sunglasses and pushed them up on her head, hoping that would solve it. She continued her search, slowly going down the aisles, matching the items on her list. She paused for a moment under one of the speakers in the store. Some horrid pop song was playing over the store loudspeaker. Syzygy glared up at the speaker and moved away.
Trinity was suddenly at her side. "Take what you have and checkout now. They're on to us. Go."
Syzygy looked around as she hurried over to the checkout. The bored looking clerk eyed her and the stack of Cds in the basket, but began scanning them anyway. Syzygy felt in her pocket and removed a Visa card; with a grin she handed the card to the clerk. The girl shrugged and processed the transaction. Syzygy quickly scribbled something on the slip of paper passed to her and hurried towards the door: her head was pounding now and she just wanted to get out of the store. She met Trinity outside and immediately felt better. A dark car pulled up beside them and Trinity pushed Syzygy inside. Neo got out from the driver's seat and hopped in back with Syzygy while Trinity took control and drove off. Syzygy blinked repeatedly as the car sped away.
"The hell was that?" she asked. Neo was ripping through the plastic wrap on the CDs using a small knife. Syzygy blinked once more, and pulled out her boot knife to copy his motion.
"Britney Spears," Trinity informed her. "She's one of the newer Siren programs. Means the agents are on to us."
"Wait..Britney Spears is a program? You have got to be joking!"
"Nope," Neo smirked from the other side of the back seat. He was now fiddling with some sort of CD player on steroids. It had extra wires trailing off it and looked like someone had jury-rigged a calculator and external hard drive to it. "Says something about popular music, doesn't it?"
"Hell yeah," Syzygy agreed. "What's that?"
"This thing records all the data on the CDs and puts it on a smaller disk." Neo explained as he began feeding disks into the device. The CD went in, Neo pressed a button, the little machine whined for a second then Neo took the CD out and did the whole thing again. Syzygy watched as she continued to unwrap CDs. Neo's cell rang and he handed the operation over to Syzygy.
"What is it?" Trinity asked, looking back in the rearview mirror.
"Agents on our tail. They're just-" Neo was cut off as a car rear-ended them from behind.
"Shit," Trinity spat and threw the wheel sharply to the left, turning them into oncoming traffic for an instant before turning off down a smaller side street.
"Tank says there is an exit for us three blocks south and over one west."
"Right. Problem with that."
"What?"
"Road block," Trinity said even as she gunned the engine. Syzygy felt as if time slowed down as she realized Trinity was going to drive right through the construction site ahead. She held onto the door and the car sped forward. Suddenly Trinity veered to one side and, in a move truly worthy of the dukes of hazard, jumped the construction site. The car came down hard, bounced and sped on.
"God!" Syzygy exclaimed when she regained her voice.
"That's why she drives," Neo commented dryly. The car jolted again and fishtailed for a second before Trinity regained control. "Blown tire?" Neo asked.
"Yep," Trinity replied. "Where exactly is this exit?" she asked.
"Just up ahead. 14th floor of the building at the corner of 151st and 90th," Neo responded after a second conference with Tank.
"And the Agent?" A loud thud on the rooftop answered her.
"Here," Neo said. He started to get up but Trinity stopped him.
"Hold on a second." She threw the wheel tightly to the side again and made a bee-line for a parking garage. The Agent meanwhile began ripping at the car's roof. The program removed most of it in one huge tear and glared down at them before being smacked away by the low ceiling of the garage.
"Nice," Syzygy commented. The car whipped around the parking garage levels, climbing ever higher, dodging other cars and people. She watched it all pass by in a blur.
"Take this, leave the rest," Neo instructed as he handed her an odd looking chip from the beefed-up CD player. Syzygy tucked it into her pocket with the rest of the disks. Trinity suddenly skidded to a halt. They'd reached the roof and the only way out was down. They all abandoned the car and Syzygy followed Neo and Trinity as they raced for the edge of the roof top.
"Time to test those jumping skills," Trinity yelled before leaping across the gap for the building across the way. Syzygy gritted her teeth and followed, trying to remember that she could do this. She landed hard next to Trinity and was glad she was wearing leather or she'd have been scraped badly. Neo landed lightly next to them and the three proceeded towards the rooftop door. Neo took the lead and kicked the door down. They scrambled down the steps, saving time by leaping down entire flights. They stopped on the 14th floor and were promptly met by a surprised looking janitor. Neo punched the man out as he began morphing and shoved him aside as the three raced down the hall, Trinity now leading.
"Room 42! At the end of the hall!" Neo yelled from being Syzygy. Trinity kicked down the door this time and they raced inside. The phone on the table was ringing.
"You first!" Trinity ordered. Syzygy reached for the phone the exact moment she heard the static whine of an Agent. She turned and saw one of the hotel's cleaning ladies, now a tall Caucasian man in a suit, throw down her mop and reach for Trinity. The last thing she saw before she was sucked into the Construct was Trinity scorpion-kicking the Agent and Neo thundering down the hallway like a dark cloud.
Then she was in the Construct. She staggered a step and looked around.
"You ok?" The voice was Tank's.
"Yeah. There was an Agent."
"We know. They're taking care of it. Put everything you took here," Tank instructed as a small wicker basket appeared in front of her. Syzygy put the disks and papers into the basket with trembling hands. A moment later Trinity joined her in the white space.
"You ok?" the two asked at the same time. "Yes" they said again. Trinity held up a silencing finger and frowned.
"Good." She said. Neo appeared and Trinity's frown disappeared.
"The Agent?" she asked.
"Had to find another body."
"OK. I think we can leave this for later." Trinity dumped her own set of disks and news into the basket. Neo agreed and added his own.
"Tank. Get us out." Trinity asked sounding tired. Neo's businesslike visage was beginning to fade as well.
Syzygy was pulled back into her body and she slowly sat up. The spike slid from her head and Morpheus handed her cap back to her.
"Good job today."
"Thank you," she said as she tugged the hat back over her ears.
"CHRIST!" Spike yelled finally finding his voice, eyes wide. "You could have died! That was insane!" He was standing behind Tank at the operator's station. Obviously he'd been watching the action.
"It was pretty intense," Syzygy admitted. Her hands were shaking and she couldn't get them to stop. Damn adrenaline.
"Jeez-us."
"Come on," Tank prodded Syzygy out of her chair gently. "You have a few bruises. Let's go get those taken care of and then you can have a nice relaxing breakdown." Syzygy stepped down from her chair and grimaced. Tank tossed a blanket across her shoulders; she was suddenly cold and clung to it.
"A beakdown sounds good," she admitted with a forced smile.
"Good! I have always thought they were rather healthy myself. And after you're done with that I can kick your ass at cards." Tank smirked, obviously trying to make her feel better. Syzygy smiled back. It was working.
The bug-zapper sound of the 'daylight' power kicking in woke Syzygy as it had every morning since the first. She glared sleepily into the darkness of her cabin for a second before the lights snapped on outside in the ship with little clicks. To Tank's good natured amusement and her eternal annoyance, she responded to the lights like she had to her radio alarm in the Matrix - half a second before the damn thing actually went off. Grumbling, Syzygy climbed out of bed and slipped on a pair of pants and one of the new sweaters Trinity had left the night before. She adjusted the dark, woolen hat on her head and willed her hair to grow faster. After stomping into her boots, the only part of her outfit that she actually really liked, she did the early-morning-stumble-and-blink into the corridor. Casting a quick glance towards Spike's door and seeing nothing, she trudged towards the lavatory to splash water on her face before making her way to the mess and sitting down on the bench across from Tank.
"Good morning, Sunshine," he greeted. Syzygy groaned and let her forehead hit the top of the table. She was not a morning person. In fact, she'd noticed that most people on the Neb seemed to be night owls rather than morning people. It was probably related in some way to their shared habit of hacking in the dead of night. Tank however, seemed to be the exception to the rule. Dear God, what an exception. She listened as he began whistling a lighthearted tune, probably to annoy her, and siphoned off a tin of food for her. Christ, even the click of the tin on the table was cheerful.
"Thank you," she muttered as a spork was pressed into her hand. Syzygy sat up and began eating. The stuff wasn't so bad if you didn't think about it and just ate. More importantly, it was filling. "No coffee?" she asked, as she'd asked every day since the early morning ritual had begun. Tank grinned and pushed a carafe and a cup towards her.
"Closest thing we got," he said. Syzygy grunted thanks and poured the tea- colored liquid into the cup. It was hot and it was caffeine and that's what mattered, she supposed, even if the flavor wasn't even close. But man, what she wouldn't have given for a double mocha latte.
"So you said they have bread in Zion, right?" Tank nodded. "And they got the wheat from scavenging old universities and stuff for seed samples, right?" Another nod. "So why haven't they tried to find coffee?" she demanded. Tank grinned and shook his head.
"I will never understand you Matrix-born people. I've tasted coffee flavoring and it's just not that good. Every other one of you is completely addicted to the stuff, but I really don't see what I'm missing."
"You've never tasted real coffee," Trinity muttered from the door. "And it was real," she said, a touch of wistfulness coloring her voice. Tank shook his head with a laugh.
"And the rest of the 'good morning' crew arrives. Morning Trin, Neo." Tank saluted his bleary-eyed crewmates with his spork. Trinity sat down on the bench next to Syzygy and poured two cups of the not-even-close-to-coffee while Neo grabbed breakfast for them both. Syzygy and Trinity scooted down on the bench as Neo joined them. They ate in companionable silence for a few moments before Neo caught Syzygy's eyes.
"So you have training today?" Neo asked. She nodded and swallowed the last bit of breakfast.
"Last I heard," she replied, looking to Trinity for confirmation. The dark- haired woman set her mug down and nodded.
"You're just about finished with downloads. You have s a few of the more exotic vehicle and weapons programs to do, but I doubt you'll be firing off a bazooka in the next day or so. Today we're going to test out that last set of martial arts skills,"
"Do you think she's ready to take on the Matrix?" Neo asked conversationally. Trinity tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she considered her response and Syzygy felt butterflies materialize in the pit of her stomach. Going back was a frightening thought. How different would it be now that she knew the truth? Would she see people she knew?
"We have a run later today. If she passes the jump this time, maybe we can take her," Trinity said with a hint of a smile. Neo grinned back, drawing a wider smile from her.
"Awwwwww," Tank gushed teasingly from the other side of the table, utterly ruining the moment. Trinity's glance was absolutely murderous for about half a second before she rolled her eyes and flung her spork at Tank's head. Tank dodged her spork but was hit in the chest by Neo's instead. "Ow!"
"Come on," Trinity motioned for Syzygy to follow. Neo took her empty tin and stacked it atop Trinity's and his own.
"I have dishes today. Go get your ass kicking," he chuckled. Syzygy muttered quick thanks then scurried after Trinity. She contemplated the jump program as she made her way to the Core. Trinity had made it look so damn easy! She, however, had only managed to get a little more than halfway across before she lost her nerve and the elusive 'it' that made the minds of resistance fighters free, and slammed into the ground. She didn't want to fail a second time.
Three hours later, she wasn't sure she'd even be able to walk again, let alone jump leap tall buildings in a single bound. Even though she realized she wasn't actually doing anything, her muscles still screamed and she knew she had a rather lovely bruise forming on her right side. It hurt like a bitch.
"Take a break," Trinity instructed. Syzygy gratefully sank to the floor with a huff. She was tired and achy, but damn, was she having fun getting her ass handed to her. She'd just mastered running up walls and flipping over to land on her feet. She'd landed a few times on her head but then she'd gotten the hang of it.
"You're getting faster, but you're thinking too much."
Trinity sat across from her, cool and collected in her black gi. Her short hair was tied up in the simple pony tail and while Syzygy's RSI was sweating profusely, Trinity looked as though she'd just been strolling though a Zen garden, not kicking Syzygy's ass up one side of the dojo and down the other. Syzygy wondered when she'd have that much control and skill.
"So, how'd I do today, teach?" Syzygy asked. Trinity considered her for a moment before calling out to Tank to load the jump program. The world around them shifted and changed and they were suddenly sitting on the roof of a building wearing similar tight leather outfits. Syzygy examined her clothing with a certain amount of delight. She'd never had the money to get anything like this and even if she'd had the means, there was no way her parents would have ever let her keep such an outfit .
"Sweet."
Trinity stood with a smirk and waited while Syzygy checked out her new threads. She stood with a grin and looked around at the programmed world, marveling once again at how realistic everything seemed to be.
"It's not real," she told herself. She tried to relax and free her mind the way she'd been taught and sense that there was a program around her.
"Ready?" Trinity asked after a moment. Syzygy's eyes snapped open and she eyed the red brick building across the street. Trinity took two steps and leapt easily over the street. She landed on the other side and turned to wait for Syzygy. Now that Syzygy had a week of training under her belt, she could see that Trinity's jump didn't really break the laws of physics, it just bent the hell out of them. Her jump had been quite high and it was easy to see that such a trajectory would carry her across the street. It was something Syzygy hadn't noticed before as she'd been too preoccupied with the height of the building and the getting across part. She took a few running steps and jumped as high as she could.
The feeling was exhilarating. The wind whipped through her short hair and snatched at her clothing. She hit the highest point of her jump and knew she was going to make it. She landed next to Trinity and took a stumbling step forward.
"That was so fucking cool, I want to do it again!" Syzygy crowed. Trinity stepped aside and gestured towards the ledge. Syzygy grinned and took the jump a second time. Now that she knew she could do it, it was like seeing the world in an entirely different light. Anything was possible! Any- fucking-thing! Hell, she might even ask Neo for flying lessons! She landed this time with no stumble. Trinity took the jump back over and looked at her with approval. Syzygy preened for a moment before Trinity strode past her and stepped up to the ledge on the eastern side of the building.
"Good. Follow me. If you can." With that challenge, she leapt across the divide. Syzygy grinned and followed, watching as Trinity hit the rooftop at a run and made a beeline for the next ledge. Syzygy hit the rooftop a second later and chased after her. She forgot that what she was doing was supposed to be impossible, that she was feeling sore and beat up - forgot everything except the thrill of the chase as she ran across the rooftops and leapt between buildings, dodging sky lights and the occasional rooftop garden. She bounded ahead, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. She imagined she much look something like an actress on a wire in a Hong Kong action flick, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Syzygy raced between a series of chimneys in a residential area and watched as Trinity dove off the side of the building, grabbed a flag pole, swung around like a gymnast, then launched herself into the air, landing on the next building over. Without hesitation, Syzygy leapt over the side of the building, caught the pole, swung around and landed next to Trinity.
It was only then that she realized she'd actually dived off a building, caught a flag pole, swung around it like a gold medalist and then landed, safe and sound, on the roof of another building. This was something they did in cartoons, not in real life.
"Did I just do what I think I did?" Syzygy asked, her voice shaking slightly. The quiver soon found its way into the rest of her body as the adrenaline rush she'd been experiencing came to a crashing halt. She jumped slightly when she felt Trinity's hand on her shoulder.
"You did. You forgot to think and just acted. Remember that feeling. If you stop and think too much, the program wins and you won't be able to do anything." Trinity paused a moment and Syzygy let the advice sink in.
"I think that's enough for now."
"Really?" Syzygy wasn't able to stop the note of sadness from entering her voice. A small part of her knew this was serious training for a serious war, but she'd never had so much fun!
"It's well past lunch. We'll eat and then you might actually come with us into the Matrix. We'll have to see what Morpheus says," Trinity explained. Syzygy nodded and only then realized she was starving. Trinity called for Tank to get them out and almost instantly she was back in her chair. The metal spike slid uncomfortably out and she sat up and undid the straps on her feet. Trinity was already up and out and waiting for her.
"I'm coming, I-" she paused in mid-sentence as her eyes locked with the skinny, bald kid standing next to Morpheus by the ladder between decks. She'd never seen him before, but she knew exactly who he was. She glanced at Morpheus, but his inscrutable face told her nothing. Syzygy looked over at Trinity for support - or maybe inspiration - but the older woman's face was impassive. She was on her own.
The world felt oddly surreal as she finally slid off her chair and strode over to Spike, head held high, euphoria from her training surrounding her like armor. The room was silent except for the clump of her boots on the deck as she walked. Like the jump program, she now knew exactly what she had to do. He was slightly taller than she was, but she felt as if she was the one looking down on him. She stuck out her hand and Spike seemed to reflexively grasp it. She shook it firmly.
"Hi, Spike," she said, words echoing strangely in the dreamlike silence of the Core. "I'm Syzygy." He blinked, uncomprehending for a moment before his eyes widened.
"But, you're a girl!" he protested, looking towards Morpheus then back at her. Syzygy grinned.
"So nice of you to notice," she replied.
"You said you were a guy!" Spike said, his eyes narrowing slightly. A remote part of her felt bad, but she only shrugged.
"Yeah, I did. I lied." Spike sputtered for a second before he wiped a hand across his face.
"You can't be a girl!" Spike finally shouted. Syzygy jerked her thumb in Trinity's direction.
"She's a chick but you thought she was a guy," she pointed out. Spike's mouth opened and closed a few times as he sought an appropriate reply.
"Jez-us. F33r is going to have kittens." Spike ran a hand though the short fuzz on his head before getting angry again. "Why?" he demanded. Syzygy arched an eyebrow.
"Duh," she replied. "Girls aren't welcome in your little boys club. You all assumed I was a guy, so I played along."
"But you lied!" Spike protested again. Syzygy felt the strange emotional coolness begin to dissipate. Luckily, Morpheus chose that moment to step in.
"How did she do Trinity?" he asked, distracting both teenagers.
"She did very well. She's a natural at the jump. We should give her more gymnastic practice. I think she might even surpass Switch's levels given time." Syzygy felt a rush at the high praise. Morpheus nodded for a moment, thinking.
"If you feel she is ready for it, you can take her with you on the run this afternoon."
"I think she can handle it," Trinity assured her captain. Morpheus nodded and clamped a hand on Syzygy's shoulder.
"Good. Get something to eat and some rest. You'll go in with Trinity and Neo."
"Yes sir," Syzygy acknowledged the order and brushed past Spike to head down the ladder. She distantly heard someone following but she was focused on the Mess. She entered the room, mechanically got a tin of food then sat down at the table.
The dream shattered.
The sounds of the ship resurfaced almost painfully loud, like someone had unexpectedly turned the volume way, way, way up after having it very low. Each pulse of the engine felt like a cymbal crash next to her ear. Each creak and groan of the worn metal was a crack of thunder. Her hands shook as she tried to lift some of the goop, but the stuff kept falling off her spork. Finally she set the utensil down and pressed her hands to the table top to try and get them to stop shaking.
Had she just done what she thought she'd just done? That was twice in one day and she wasn't sure she could take another emotional rollercoaster. Neo entered and grabbed his own lunch while Syzygy wrestled with her thoughts. She felt guilty about lying to Spike, but she felt proud that she'd gone up and introduced herself before anyone could tell her secret. She felt enraged that she felt the need to hide - like being female was some dirty little secret you didn't tell the neighbors, but at the same time she almost felt filthy for playing to the assumptions of the other hackers.
Neo sat beside her and she found him to be a somewhat calming presence. Spike was part of her old, mostly hidden life.. Neo and everyone else on the crew was part of her new, open life. Trinity came and sat down on her other side and Syzygy felt her adrenaline rush lessen further.
"You ok?" the older woman asked. Syzygy let out a stream of air and nodded.
"Yep. I did what I had to do, and now it's done. And if Spike has a problem with me, he can go to hell," she stated fiercely. Trinity smirked.
"I think Morpheus was going to introduce you two, but maybe it worked out for the better. Don't worry about Spike. He'll get over it. Finish eating and then try and get some rest."
Syzygy nodded and forced the rest of her meal down. She was more nervous than hungry, but she knew she had to eat something. She rinsed her tin and made her way back to her cabin. She settled on her small bed and contemplated her training. The martial arts was fun and challenging but she knew she had a long way to go before she could match Morpheus, Trinity or Neo. She'd never fired a weapon before the gun downloads and though she was now deadly accurate, she preferred closer combat. Sword and knife fighting had been especially fun to learn. She had the know-how because of the download, but she also had the bruises from the hard lesson that knowing and doing were often different things. She only hoped she'd be ok on the run today.
A rap on her door woke her some time later. She'd been sure she wasn't going to get sleep, but her body obviously had needed the rest after the workout earlier. Syzygy rolled out of bed and opened the door. Tank's beaming face greeted her on the other side and she couldn't help but smile back.
"Hi," he said, "ready to go?"
"If Morpheus and Trinity say I am, yeah." Syzygy shrugged. Tank clapped a hand across her shoulders and began leading her down the hall in a brotherly sort of way.
"Well, that's just fine but how do you feel?"
"Uhm, ok I guess." She supposed she was ok, but now that Tank was asking her, she didn't feel as confident. Damn, there were those butterflies again. "I don't think I'd be going in if they thought I couldn't survive.right?"
"Exactly. You were doing well from where I was sitting," Tank reassured her. "I think you'll be ok if you stick with Neo and Trinity and remember your training." He broke into a huge grin. "But since all that is downloaded into your brain, you really can't forget it, so that's one less thing to worry over." Syzygy couldn't help but catch Tank's infectious smile. And it was true, strange though it was. She began to feel the butterflies settle.
"What are we doing?" Syzygy asked as they climbed the ladder to the Core. She had absolutely no idea what resistance members did other than stalk people they wanted to unplug and kick the ever-lovin' shit out of agents.
"We're going to be collecting some surveillance, dropping off some messages for other ships, and we'll be contacting the Vigilant," Trinity said over her shoulder. She was standing behind Link who was busy at the Operator's console.
"Will we see any agents?" Syzygy asked. Her brief encounter with them had been rather horrific and she'd had a couple nightmares about it since waking up on the Neb. She really did not want to meet one of the killer programs again and shuddered as she recalled the agents taking over her parents.
"Possibly," Trinity told her. "Neo seems to attract them." Her completely even voice said more on the subject than any sort of inflection could have.
"I can handle them," Neo insisted from where he was checking the equipment by the chairs. An unfathomable something passed between the two in the brief moment of silence that followed, causing Syzygy to feel a bit like a voyeur. She caught Tank's eye and he looked like he felt the same way. The moment ended when Trinity nodded agreement.
"Neo and I will handle any agents that show up. If one shows up, you run." Trinity stepped down from the operator's level to the circle of chairs. Syzygy clunked down the steps after her, sat in 'her' chair and strapped her feet in.
"Gotcha. I see an agent I run."
"Good. See you on the other side," Trinity told her as she slid the data spike into her head.
Being 'awake' Construct was strange after being awake on the ship for even a few hours. It was pristine, almost blindingly white, and utterly unlike anything on the Neb or the tunnels the ship flew through. Syzygy wore the leather outfit she'd been wearing earlier that day. Her short, dirty blond hair was gelled back out of her face and she found a pair of sunglasses tucked into the pocket of her jacket.
As she slid the shades on her face, Neo was suddenly there. Trinity's RSI followed a moment later, another dark angel in the heavenly white. The pair faced her and Trinity called out for weapons. Racks of guns, ammo, knives, swords, grenades and explosives, shot across the space. Syzygy looked longingly at the swords but chose a handgun, grabbed a few extra clips and, unable to resist, slid a knife into the top of her boot.
"Where are we going?" She asked as Trinity selected her own arms. Neo stood to one side, reading information off what looked like a palm pilot. He didn't choose any guns: he didn't need to.
"New York," Trinity answered. "We're making data drops in one of the train stations and collecting, our mail and the news. We also have a brief meeting with the crew of the Vigilant there. If everything goes well, we're picking up some CDs."
"CDs?" Syzygy questioned. She couldn't think of a plausible reason for buying music.
"We have to periodically survey the media made in the Matrix for machine tampering," Neo explained. Syzygy thought about that for a second.
"Wait, like for subliminal messages?" She blinked a few times behind her dark shades. She'd never been one for conspiracy theories about hidden messages in music. Apparently she'd been wrong.
"Those and sometimes they integrate low level carrier signal disruptions into popular music. It makes our job much more difficult if we don't know what's out there," Neo told her with a small shrug. "Plus the music is good and most of it is still made entirely by humans." They shared a brief smile before becoming serious once again.
"Time to go," Trinity told them. "Tank. We need an entrance." Instantly, an old fashioned radial dial phone appeared on a pedestal. Trinity held out a cell phone and Syzygy took it, noting the serious air now surrounding both Trinity and Neo.
"Today's run is routine. Routine usually means running for your life. Understand?" Trinity's voice was steely. Syzygy nodded once. "Good. You go last." The phone rang then and Neo picked it up. His RSI dissolved into little rivulets of code which swirled into the phone in less than a second. The phone fell, bounced on its cord a few times like an undersized bungee jumper and swung there. Trinity picked up the phone and replaced it. It immediately began to ring again.
"When I go through, hang up, wait for the ring and then pick it up," Trinity instructed. She placed the phone to her ear and was gone in a flash of code. Syzygy replaced the earpiece on the cradle and waited for it to ring. She felt like she was waiting for an eternity and then when it did ring, it was too soon. She picked up the earpiece and felt a rush of extremes: freezing cold, scalding hot, swift movement and heavy, immobilizing gravity. She opened eyes she hadn't realized she'd closed and faced Trinity. Neo was looking out of a dusty and cracked window. They were in a rundown room. The sound of heavy city traffic filtered in from outside. A twin of the old radial dial phone was on a dusty table next to her.
"Let's go," Trinity ordered. Neo was the first through the door and into the hallway beyond, setting a brisk pace. Trinity followed with Syzygy close behind. As the three walked down a dirty hallway, Syzygy tried to feel the program around her. There was perhaps something subtly different about the air here. She reached out and trailed a finger across the wall, trying to see if it felt any different. Did it? She couldn't tell. Neo paused by a heavy fire door. Daylight streamed out from under the door and the traffic sounds were louder.
"This is it. Ready?" Trinity asked, breaking the silence. Syzygy nodded. Trinity removed a set of locker keys from her trench coat and handed four to Neo and two to Syzygy. "Your keys open lockers on the first floor. You need to move what is in locker 47 into locker 242 and take any disks. Call the Mjolnir with message Alpha-Zed. When you're done with that, go buy the news if neither of us has yet."
"OK," Syzygy acknowledged the order. Trinity nodded and Neo pushed the door open. They stepped into an alleyway in the middle of the city and took a look around. Skyscrapers towered over head the rushing traffic rumbled close by and the alley stunk of garbage and truck exhaust. But was it real? Were the imperfections she felt the work of her own mind or of the Matrix? Trinity and Neo exchanged a glance - Part amusement, part sadness - then strode towards the street. Syzygy snapped out of her reverie and followed.
As the train station they were heading for was only a block away, they hadn't brought a car - but, feeling the odd though familiar press of people around her, Syzygy wished they had. Knowing that any one of the pedestrians in the flowing foot traffic around her could turn into an agent was more than slightly unnerving and she wished she had the barrier of a car surrounding her. Trinity and Neo cut a clean swath through the crowd and she followed in their wake, keeping a clear eye out for anyone wearing a drab suit and an earpiece.
The arrived without incident a few moments later and after a quick nod from Trinity, Syzygy made her way over to the lockers. She'd never been here before but she knew where everything was thanks to the operational downloads. It was a weird feeling, remembering something she'd never seen before - but, she decided, it was one of the better new sensations. Locker 47 opened smoothly to reveal a worn looking purse sitting on top of an accordion file folder. Syzygy quickly rummaged around for any disks finding three, she grabbed the folder and purse and slammed the locker door shut. Locker 242 was on the second floor. She quickly made her way up the stairs and located the locker. She opened the door and stuffed the file and purse inside. She closed the door, took the key and gave the handle a bit of a tug to be sure that it was secure. It was so she strolled nonchalantly towards the vendor selling cinnamon buns to the morning breakfast rush. She picked out a pay phone with didn't have many people around it and dug in her pocket for some change. Like all resistance ships, the Hammer had a fake business number which connected to a floating voicemail box hidden in the phone networks of the Matrix. She recalled the number from memory and thought over code Alpha-Zed while the line connected.
"Midgard tool sales and repair, specializing in hammers of all shapes and sizes since 1929. We are not open at the moment but if you would like to leave a message at the tone, we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you!" a cheery female voice recording chirped. Syzygy suspected the voice belonged to Maggie, the only female member of the Hammer's crew.
"This is Miss Nabu calling to update you on your order b4-b-y10n. Your girdle will be ready for delivery in four business days." Syzygy hung up the pay phone and made her way back downstairs. Neo fell into step beside her and handed her part of his stack of news papers. Syzygy rolled them up and stuck them into her coat's pocket. Trinity joined them a second later, took another third of the news papers and the three made their way towards the exit.
"Starbucks on 5th," Trinity instructed as she took the lead. Syzygy dutifully followed behind. The crowds outside had thinned a little and Syzygy breathed a bit easier. She was anxious to meet with the Vigilant's crew. They would be the ones, hopefully, unplugging F33r and Griffin. She had yet to meet anyone else from the Resistance and wondered what sort of people they were.
The smell of coffee and chocolate and other such heavenly things assaulted her as soon as she stepped into the room. They were in a lull between rush hours and the place was sparsely populated. Syzygy briefly wondered if a bunch of people dressed to kick ass wouldn't garner much unwanted attention if they walked into Starbucks. Looking around however she saw that the small crowd was equally colorful. Only in New York, she thought with amusement. The group they were heading for were relaxed around a large table. A bald man of middle height stood as they approached. The small woman wore a severe hairdo and an exceptionally tight outfit under a short leather coat. The dark skinned man looked like Blade and, Syzygy noted with some envy, was sipping a cappuccino.
"Trinity," the bald man greeted her with a nod, "Neo."
"Captain Soren," Trinity replied with a regal incline of her head. Neo nodded a greeting. Soren's eyes moved from Trinity and Neo to Syzygy, sizing her up.
"And this must be the newbie. Back here so soon? She must be good." Soren looked over at Trinity who tilted her head slightly in a gesture that could have meant anything. Soren's gaze returned to Syzygy. "Hopefully your friends will be as talented. It's good to meet you," Soren said as he extended a hand. Syzygy clasped it firmly for a second.
"Pleased to meet you," she replied. Soren smiled.
"Please, sit," he invited. When everyone was seated, he turned his attention back to Syzygy. "What can you tell us about your friends? What do you think they will do?" Syzygy paused for a moment to think.
"I . I think they will both choose the truth if it is offered to them. Griffin is a bit more cautious that the rest of us, but he's also the one who comes up with the craziest ideas, so I think he'll have an easier time accepting what you tell him. F33r I think will be really pissed off more than anything." Soren was nodding.
"Uhm sir?" Syzygy asked. Soren waved for her to speak. "Neither of them exactly knows ."
"That you're a girl?" he finished. Syzygy nodded once, hating the burning blush she could feel spreading quickly across her cheeks.
"I feel I should tell them if that's ok by you."
"I agree. We won't say a word. Now, there may be some difficulties" Soren said, turning to face Neo and Trinity. "There has been agent activity in or near their areas. We're keeping a remote watch, but we haven't been able to make second contact yet because of that. The Caduceus was operating in Griffin's area not too long ago, so we've decided to get F33r first. We've left messages and they've been trying to hunt me down in addition to Morpheus."
"Will you need us when you finally make contact?" Trinity asked.
"Because of the agents, quite possibly. We were planning on offering him the choice by the end of the week," Soren replied.
Trinity nodded. "We'll be in broadcast range. We'll be available if you need us."
"Thank you." Soren said with genuine warmth as he stood. The Neb's crew stood as well. Clearly the meeting was over. Soren and Trinity shook hands and then he and his crew departed without a second glance. Trinity turned and led Syzygy and Neo through a different exit and down the street.
"Hopefully they won't need us," Neo commented in a low tone as the three fell into step side by side. Trinity glanced at Neo.
"Hopefully they won't need you," she said, stressing slightly.
"Or you," Neo replied after a few steps. Trinity removed a slip of paper from her pocket and handed it to Syzygy.
"Get these," she instructed. The paper was a list of CD titles and artists. Syzygy looked up and realized they were in front of a huge Virgin Megastore. Neo took up a relaxed stance outside and she followed Trinity inside. "If you see anything else you like, get it. You should have a credit card in your pocket."
Syzygy wandered off in the opposite direction from Trinity and read the list. Most of the items were classic rock albums but a few were techno. She grabbed a hand basket as she passed a stack and started with the techno. She was midway through the classics when she started to get a headache. She realized she hadn't taken off her sunglasses and pushed them up on her head, hoping that would solve it. She continued her search, slowly going down the aisles, matching the items on her list. She paused for a moment under one of the speakers in the store. Some horrid pop song was playing over the store loudspeaker. Syzygy glared up at the speaker and moved away.
Trinity was suddenly at her side. "Take what you have and checkout now. They're on to us. Go."
Syzygy looked around as she hurried over to the checkout. The bored looking clerk eyed her and the stack of Cds in the basket, but began scanning them anyway. Syzygy felt in her pocket and removed a Visa card; with a grin she handed the card to the clerk. The girl shrugged and processed the transaction. Syzygy quickly scribbled something on the slip of paper passed to her and hurried towards the door: her head was pounding now and she just wanted to get out of the store. She met Trinity outside and immediately felt better. A dark car pulled up beside them and Trinity pushed Syzygy inside. Neo got out from the driver's seat and hopped in back with Syzygy while Trinity took control and drove off. Syzygy blinked repeatedly as the car sped away.
"The hell was that?" she asked. Neo was ripping through the plastic wrap on the CDs using a small knife. Syzygy blinked once more, and pulled out her boot knife to copy his motion.
"Britney Spears," Trinity informed her. "She's one of the newer Siren programs. Means the agents are on to us."
"Wait..Britney Spears is a program? You have got to be joking!"
"Nope," Neo smirked from the other side of the back seat. He was now fiddling with some sort of CD player on steroids. It had extra wires trailing off it and looked like someone had jury-rigged a calculator and external hard drive to it. "Says something about popular music, doesn't it?"
"Hell yeah," Syzygy agreed. "What's that?"
"This thing records all the data on the CDs and puts it on a smaller disk." Neo explained as he began feeding disks into the device. The CD went in, Neo pressed a button, the little machine whined for a second then Neo took the CD out and did the whole thing again. Syzygy watched as she continued to unwrap CDs. Neo's cell rang and he handed the operation over to Syzygy.
"What is it?" Trinity asked, looking back in the rearview mirror.
"Agents on our tail. They're just-" Neo was cut off as a car rear-ended them from behind.
"Shit," Trinity spat and threw the wheel sharply to the left, turning them into oncoming traffic for an instant before turning off down a smaller side street.
"Tank says there is an exit for us three blocks south and over one west."
"Right. Problem with that."
"What?"
"Road block," Trinity said even as she gunned the engine. Syzygy felt as if time slowed down as she realized Trinity was going to drive right through the construction site ahead. She held onto the door and the car sped forward. Suddenly Trinity veered to one side and, in a move truly worthy of the dukes of hazard, jumped the construction site. The car came down hard, bounced and sped on.
"God!" Syzygy exclaimed when she regained her voice.
"That's why she drives," Neo commented dryly. The car jolted again and fishtailed for a second before Trinity regained control. "Blown tire?" Neo asked.
"Yep," Trinity replied. "Where exactly is this exit?" she asked.
"Just up ahead. 14th floor of the building at the corner of 151st and 90th," Neo responded after a second conference with Tank.
"And the Agent?" A loud thud on the rooftop answered her.
"Here," Neo said. He started to get up but Trinity stopped him.
"Hold on a second." She threw the wheel tightly to the side again and made a bee-line for a parking garage. The Agent meanwhile began ripping at the car's roof. The program removed most of it in one huge tear and glared down at them before being smacked away by the low ceiling of the garage.
"Nice," Syzygy commented. The car whipped around the parking garage levels, climbing ever higher, dodging other cars and people. She watched it all pass by in a blur.
"Take this, leave the rest," Neo instructed as he handed her an odd looking chip from the beefed-up CD player. Syzygy tucked it into her pocket with the rest of the disks. Trinity suddenly skidded to a halt. They'd reached the roof and the only way out was down. They all abandoned the car and Syzygy followed Neo and Trinity as they raced for the edge of the roof top.
"Time to test those jumping skills," Trinity yelled before leaping across the gap for the building across the way. Syzygy gritted her teeth and followed, trying to remember that she could do this. She landed hard next to Trinity and was glad she was wearing leather or she'd have been scraped badly. Neo landed lightly next to them and the three proceeded towards the rooftop door. Neo took the lead and kicked the door down. They scrambled down the steps, saving time by leaping down entire flights. They stopped on the 14th floor and were promptly met by a surprised looking janitor. Neo punched the man out as he began morphing and shoved him aside as the three raced down the hall, Trinity now leading.
"Room 42! At the end of the hall!" Neo yelled from being Syzygy. Trinity kicked down the door this time and they raced inside. The phone on the table was ringing.
"You first!" Trinity ordered. Syzygy reached for the phone the exact moment she heard the static whine of an Agent. She turned and saw one of the hotel's cleaning ladies, now a tall Caucasian man in a suit, throw down her mop and reach for Trinity. The last thing she saw before she was sucked into the Construct was Trinity scorpion-kicking the Agent and Neo thundering down the hallway like a dark cloud.
Then she was in the Construct. She staggered a step and looked around.
"You ok?" The voice was Tank's.
"Yeah. There was an Agent."
"We know. They're taking care of it. Put everything you took here," Tank instructed as a small wicker basket appeared in front of her. Syzygy put the disks and papers into the basket with trembling hands. A moment later Trinity joined her in the white space.
"You ok?" the two asked at the same time. "Yes" they said again. Trinity held up a silencing finger and frowned.
"Good." She said. Neo appeared and Trinity's frown disappeared.
"The Agent?" she asked.
"Had to find another body."
"OK. I think we can leave this for later." Trinity dumped her own set of disks and news into the basket. Neo agreed and added his own.
"Tank. Get us out." Trinity asked sounding tired. Neo's businesslike visage was beginning to fade as well.
Syzygy was pulled back into her body and she slowly sat up. The spike slid from her head and Morpheus handed her cap back to her.
"Good job today."
"Thank you," she said as she tugged the hat back over her ears.
"CHRIST!" Spike yelled finally finding his voice, eyes wide. "You could have died! That was insane!" He was standing behind Tank at the operator's station. Obviously he'd been watching the action.
"It was pretty intense," Syzygy admitted. Her hands were shaking and she couldn't get them to stop. Damn adrenaline.
"Jeez-us."
"Come on," Tank prodded Syzygy out of her chair gently. "You have a few bruises. Let's go get those taken care of and then you can have a nice relaxing breakdown." Syzygy stepped down from her chair and grimaced. Tank tossed a blanket across her shoulders; she was suddenly cold and clung to it.
"A beakdown sounds good," she admitted with a forced smile.
"Good! I have always thought they were rather healthy myself. And after you're done with that I can kick your ass at cards." Tank smirked, obviously trying to make her feel better. Syzygy smiled back. It was working.