Title: This One Refused

Author: Perfect Ruin

Rating: Will not go higher than PG-13

Disclaimer: The Matrix and all their characters belong to the Wachowski Brothers and Warner Brothers. I own Kiree and any other original characters that you don't recognize.

Summary: Steps have to be taken to destroy the exiled Agent Smith.

Author Notes: Just on Jones and Brown, I think this is a new theory as to what happened to them. I don't think they became the upgrades and I hope they weren't deleted, so I think demotion is a plausible idea.

Word Count: 584

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"That would be an appropriate term, yes," Jones said as he sat back in his chair. "Well?"

"I already have a job," Kiree said. "And it doesn't involve bodily harm. Smith stuck his hand into my chest and tried to kill me, I want to live to see my twenty-first birthday."

"Wouldn't you like to repay him for that?" Brown asked, knowing a lot of humans had a weak spot when it came to a chance for revenge.

"Yes," she said firmly. "But it would more likely get me killed in the process."

"We could train you, the rebels can do things you can't imagine because they know how to bend and break the rules of this system. You could do the same."

"Like what?"

Brown drew his gun and pushed it across the table to her. "Shoot me."

"What?"

"You cannot destroy me with that weapon. Do it."

Agent Brown stood while Kiree picked up the gun; it was heavy and aimed it at the agent. Hesitating for just a moment she pulled the trigger. He moved out of the path of the bullet as if he were dodging a slow moving balloon.

"Again."

She pulled the trigger many times and he avoided all the bullets. When it clicked empty he sat back down and held out his hand, she handed back the gun in a state of shock.

"You wouldn't be that fast," he said, "but perhaps enough to save your life." He pulled out the clip and refilled the bullets. She watched as they appeared as coding then fully materialized.

"Could I do that?" she asked.

"This will be harder to do," Jones said. "We are programmed and know how to do it."

"Let me try, how do I do it?"

"Imagine the object you want clearly in your mind…to put it into terms you would understand, you will the object into existence. All objects can be pulled from the Matrix code, as everything is made of it. Try."

"Ok," Kiree said, even though it sounded a little strange. She imagined a glass of water, and held out her hand – expecting it to appear – it didn't. She scrunched up her face and imagined the water being there.

Then she realized that was why it wasn't appearing, you weren't supposed to imagine the object being there, you had to imagine pulling the object from the code, creating it. Concentrating, this time it worked.

"Cool," she said and drank the cold water. "I'd like to see what this code looks like."

Jones stood and pointed to the wall at the end of the room, it flickered and disappeared, instead replaced by scrolling green symbols. He let her look at it for a moment before reloading the wall. She thought it was beautiful.

"Well?" he asked again. "Are you willing to work with us?"

"Can I think about it?"

"You have five minutes," Jones said as they left the room and closed the door behind them. Kiree stood and walked over to the window, staring out at the quiet city. It wasn't real.

What's real anyway?

So this was the dream world she had heard mentioned on the net, the splinter that drove some hackers to people like Morpheus. People that wanted to drag them away from their homes and family.

Pulling a fifty-dollar bill from the air she smiled, she could get used to this.

She opened the door and looked at the two agents who were waiting patiently.

"Ok guys, I'm in."

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Did anyone see that coming?