VIRTUAL BREEZE : AGENT SMITH
The sun shone through the blinds in shafts of light, shadows danced on the large circular table like a complicated ballet performance, sitting around the table were five men all evenly spaced apart from each other, each of them wearing identical suits, sunglasses and each with an identical Desert Eagle gun placed in front of them on the table. A voice booms from the confines of shadow in a corner of the room "welcome gentlemen, I am sure you are eager to begin your new assignments, your code has been purged of all memory and purpose from your previous 'placements', you all have a clean slate an I assure you that you slate, should it get dirty, is wipe clean". The five men simultaneously smirk at their hosts' witty remark.
One of the men speaks in a monotone voice "when do we begin?". Their host smiles "as soon as our little meeting is finished then you will be free to begin, bear in mind that you are carrying out an immensely important assignment, you are here to protect, you are here to defend, you are all here with a purpose, now as soon as I finish my roll call list then you will be free to begin" The host removes a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. "Ahem, there is no need to answer when I call, I can see you all from here" The host coughs and steps out of the shadow, he is an old looking man with white hair and facial hair with a white suit to match, a stark contrast to the black worn by the men at the table. "Simons, Johnson, Reynolds, Walker and Smith, good, that is all Agents, you may begin"
With that very closing word, the earpieces of each Agent came to life with radio chatter, informing them of every incident in every location with every detail. They look around, the dancing shadows have disappeared and so has their mysterious old host. Smith stands up, corrects his suit and coolly asks "shall we begin?" Simons turns his head to look directly at Smith and answers in a typical monotone voice "There appears to be a situation", "The south district" Walker replies, "An attack on the power station is in progress" adds Reynolds, "Immediate assistance is required " Johnson replies. Smith concentrates, the world around him begins to melt into code, the code then begins to assemble the location like an immense jigsaw puzzle, Smith finds himself sitting at a security guard post holding a flask of coffee in his hand "they drink all the coffee they can to stay awake when in fact they have never woken up" Smith remarks to himself as he stands up and removes his Desert Eagle from its holster. No sooner than he exits the guard post, he sees one of the targets stagger around the corner, blood seeping from a wound to her shoulder, staining her white clothing. Frozen in fear, the woman whispers loudly "No, not like this", Smith retorts "Yes, exactly like this" as he raises his gun to end her pointless whimpering. Smith squeezes the trigger and a bullet cuts trough the air, a man dressed in black suddenly jumps from the corner and tackles the woman to the ground, "Switch, get to the phone now!" The man barks as they scramble to their feet and stumble through an open steel door which they promptly lock behind them to hamper Smith's pursuit, "What a futile attempt, surely they know how fast we can track them down" Smith mutters as he approaches the door. A report crackles into Smiths earpiece "Simons and Walker have one of the targets cornered in section B5, assist them immediately" Smith sighs and heads for the location, the corridor is dark and foreboding, pipes spurt steam into the darkness of the shadows, displaced by a virtual breeze as Smith walks by, he pauses to wipe the condensation from his sunglasses before arriving at B5 where Simons and Walker are waiting silently "what is the situation?" Smith asks.
"She has barricaded herself in this room; she appears to have a lot of heavy-duty weapons with her, including a rocket launcher".
A woman crouches in the corner, decked out in leather, shining in the dim swaying light of a single light bulb. She frantically assembles a large shoulder mounted launcher; she only has time to load a single rocket when Walker bursts into the surprisingly large room. "Eat this!" She screams as the rocket careens toward the Agent, Walker makes no effort to dodge the rocket and is obliterated. Through the devastation and dust Simons fires a whole clip into the room before pausing to reload, suddenly out of nowhere, the woman slides out from the room on the ground with dual pistols equipped, she slides between Simons' legs and to her surprise, manages to catch the Agent off guard, she unloads both clips into him just to be sure "This is way too easy, something's not right" she spurts breathlessly as she runs for the nearest door, she opens it to be greeted by Smith, she recoils in horror at the trap she has run into. Smith revels in her confusion before raising his gun, his finger begins to squeeze the trigger once more but he is suddenly struck the back of the neck by the butt of a gun, his arm flails at the unusually strong blow and he fires single shot, the bullet ricochets, a pinpoint accident, the woman is struck in the leg and she collapses with the immense and sudden pain. Smith's assailant steps over his slumped body, unable to move but able to hear, Smith listens to the woman speak "Reynolds? I thought you were...."
"Deleted? Far from it, It seems that you owe me once more for saving your life Trinity". The shock of this revelation stuns Smith, he begins to contemplate the situation, a program just like him, helping the humans?! Every word rang as clear as a gunshot, echoing in his mind, the cold concrete floor began to separate from him as he took command of another body, he now knew the truth, and he knew the rules, Agent Reynolds must be taken care of. Smiths earpiece crackles to life once more "the targets have escaped, resume normal duty, a trace has already been initiated". With the element of surprise on his side Smith began to contemplate when and where to strike, he speaks into his communicator in the middle of a dank looking restaurant , the drip, drip, drip of the tap echoing in his ears "I'm just going to check out a possible bug, It is only minor, I can handle it myself", a reply crackles through the earpiece, "Affirmative, continue Agent"
Agent Smith calmly walks out of the deserted restaurant and finds himself in a dingy looking back alley, An alley cat rummages through a trash can as shards of light pass through the gaps in the washing lines above. Smith can sense Reynolds' exact position, he is not far away, two blocks south, near the top of the Aries Communication Building. Smith ponders his situation as he begins to walk to the end of the alleyway "why would a program, whose very existence depends on the system, aid rebels who aim to destroy it? How is it that his code was not purged like the others and mine?"
"Welcome to the Aries Communication Building sir" chirps the receptionist "Is there anything that I can do to help?", "How can I reach the rooftop, an 'associate' of mine is posted there" Smith replies coldly.
"Ah you must mean Agent Reynolds, take the freight elevator, that leads directly to the roof, shall I inform Agent Reynolds of your arrival?", "No, that will not be necessary, thank you for your assistance" Smith answers as he leaves the desk.
The freight elevator was cold and lifeless, stripped down to the bare essentials in order to give the maximum efficiency, the continuous hum of the elevator as Smith goes over the problem over and over again in his mind, each passing floor bringing him closer and closer to the answers that he seeks, with a climactic 'ding' the elevator reaches the roof, dust is shook free from the ceiling from the thud of the elevator, the dust descends like nuclear snow before coming to rest on the cold steel floor. Smith shakes the dust from his shoulders, corrects his sunglasses and presses the red door release button. The doors roll back noisily, the entire rooftop is covered in shadow, the clouds above have become dark and menacing. Smith spots Agent Reynolds at the centre of the rooftop looking up towards the clouds, power tools strewn around him and half finished supporting pillars littering the roof pointing to the sky. The Aries building is an ongoing work in progress, despite this it is still the highest building in the entire city, the view stretching for miles and miles around. The sound of footsteps disturbs Reynolds, he turns to see Agent Smith approaching, "Agent Smith! What a nice surprise, I wasn't expecting any company" Reynolds calls from across the rooftop, "A surprise indeed" replies Smith as he continues to approach, his hidden eyes glaring from behind his sunglasses. Smith comes to a stop directly in front of Reynolds, "Agent Reynolds, I would like to share with you a revelation that I had not so long ago", Reynolds is confused, unable to see where the conversation is headed, a drop of rain bounces off of Smiths shoulder, "I witnessed a very strange occurrence this morning, I witnessed an Agent aiding a rebel to escape and what still eludes me is how this came to happen, how an Agent can defy the very system that he is assigned to protect"
Reynolds suddenly realises his error, refusing to give in to panic he replies "We are being lied to Agent Smith, you believe that the system has given us a purpose, the simple fact is that we are also prisoners here, we defend the very system that inhibits us, It is pointless, we are doomed to be recycled again and again every time the system is reloaded, I want to help break the cycle, I want a true purpose."
Reynolds little speech is lost on Smith, his riddle finally answered he continues with what he set out to do, the dark clouds above begin to unleash their torrent of rain, the two Agents still face to face. " You know the rules Agent Reynolds, you have reached the end of the line", Smiths voice cuts though through the sound of the drenching rain as clear as a bell. Reynolds sighs "you of course know that I will not go down easily Agent Smith". Both of the Agents silently stare each other in the eyes, Smith takes a deep breath, "Shall we begin?". The unrelenting rain continues to pound the rooftop, they pause for what seems like an eternity.
Suddenly Smith and Reynolds simultaneously draw their Desert Eagles, each aiming directly at the others head, they both fire, the heat trail of each bullet carving its way through the dense rain and hits nothing else, Smith finds cover behind a pillar, considering the best course of action to outwit his equally matched adversary, Reynolds empties half a clip into the pillar, Smith runs for the nearest support, the rain bouncing off his shoulders and head, he dives, gun blazing while Reynolds runs for refuge behind the elevator shack, the shack becomes riddled with holes as the bullets tear through the flimsy metal sheets, Smith finally comes to a stop, carried halfway across the rooftop by the rain drenched floor. Smith hastily rises to his feet and heads for the shack "Time to stop playing around Agent Reynolds, you're holding back"
The roar of the rain upon the shack is deafening, the water seeping in and out of the bullet holes like a fresh wound. Smith is suddenly disturbed from his survey of the shack by a metal pipe, dislodged from the scaffold above the shack, a flash of lightning illuminates the entire rooftop, the figure of Reynolds clear to see at the very top. "There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide Agent Reynolds, you might as well accept it, it is inevitable" beckons Smith from the rooftop, "Not if I can help it" growls Reynolds, he jumps and another flash of lightning frames his figure in mid- air, every drop of rain illuminated, Reynolds begins to fall, heading straight for Smith. "Why do you resist Agent Reynolds? Without the system we are nothing!" Smith shouts above the clap of thunder as he catches Reynolds' fists, his body completely vertical. Smith slams Reynolds into the rooftop with an earth-shattering thud, Reynolds body creating an indent in the floor. "There is much more than just the system" splutters Reynolds as he rises to confront Smith again, "You have such faith in the system that you will believe anything they say, that will be your downfall!".
In a sudden rush of speed, Reynolds grabs Smith by surprise and slams him into the scaffold, destroying the support leg, the scaffold sways and another leg breaks, the scaffold collapses leaving metal poles and debris strewn across the rooftop. Smith, regaining his composure, uppercuts Reynolds, his body arcs backwards as the blow sends him through the air, a bolt of lightning strikes the elevator shack, igniting the petrol in the elevator machinery, Reynolds rises dazed to be greeted by the shack exploding, metal sheets and parts of machinery flying through the air, Smiths figure is silhouetted in the blast of the shack, he begins to charge at Reynolds at the far side of the rooftop, each stride leaving a print in the floor beneath the veil of water, they meet each other in a flurry of fists, each blow landing on target as both Agents refuse to give in, their arms become a blur as their struggle becomes more and more frantic, Smith finally lands a blow directly to Reynolds face, he staggers back and begins to loose his footing as he slips on the metal poles left from the scaffold, Reynolds falls from the side of the building "Your not getting away that easy Agent Reynolds!" Shouts Smith as he dives off the building after him, knowing that if Reynolds dies from the fall he will simply possess another body, only the kiss of another Agents bullet can end him. The raindrops seem to freeze in the air as the Agents fall faster and faster, the ground rushing to meet them, Smith begins to catch up, his gun cradled in his holster by gravity, Reynolds regaining his composure is still unaware of Smith's pursuit. The ground is mere seconds away, Reynolds spots something at the corner of his eye, "SMITH!!!!" gasps Reynolds, "You are deleted!" shouts Smith as he fires an extremely accurate shot, there is not even time for blood to seep from the hole in Reynolds head as they both plunge head first into the ground. Smith finds himself sitting on a toilet, a newspaper in hand, he drops the newspaper and speaks into his communicator "Agent Smith reporting, bug exterminated".
THE END
The sun shone through the blinds in shafts of light, shadows danced on the large circular table like a complicated ballet performance, sitting around the table were five men all evenly spaced apart from each other, each of them wearing identical suits, sunglasses and each with an identical Desert Eagle gun placed in front of them on the table. A voice booms from the confines of shadow in a corner of the room "welcome gentlemen, I am sure you are eager to begin your new assignments, your code has been purged of all memory and purpose from your previous 'placements', you all have a clean slate an I assure you that you slate, should it get dirty, is wipe clean". The five men simultaneously smirk at their hosts' witty remark.
One of the men speaks in a monotone voice "when do we begin?". Their host smiles "as soon as our little meeting is finished then you will be free to begin, bear in mind that you are carrying out an immensely important assignment, you are here to protect, you are here to defend, you are all here with a purpose, now as soon as I finish my roll call list then you will be free to begin" The host removes a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. "Ahem, there is no need to answer when I call, I can see you all from here" The host coughs and steps out of the shadow, he is an old looking man with white hair and facial hair with a white suit to match, a stark contrast to the black worn by the men at the table. "Simons, Johnson, Reynolds, Walker and Smith, good, that is all Agents, you may begin"
With that very closing word, the earpieces of each Agent came to life with radio chatter, informing them of every incident in every location with every detail. They look around, the dancing shadows have disappeared and so has their mysterious old host. Smith stands up, corrects his suit and coolly asks "shall we begin?" Simons turns his head to look directly at Smith and answers in a typical monotone voice "There appears to be a situation", "The south district" Walker replies, "An attack on the power station is in progress" adds Reynolds, "Immediate assistance is required " Johnson replies. Smith concentrates, the world around him begins to melt into code, the code then begins to assemble the location like an immense jigsaw puzzle, Smith finds himself sitting at a security guard post holding a flask of coffee in his hand "they drink all the coffee they can to stay awake when in fact they have never woken up" Smith remarks to himself as he stands up and removes his Desert Eagle from its holster. No sooner than he exits the guard post, he sees one of the targets stagger around the corner, blood seeping from a wound to her shoulder, staining her white clothing. Frozen in fear, the woman whispers loudly "No, not like this", Smith retorts "Yes, exactly like this" as he raises his gun to end her pointless whimpering. Smith squeezes the trigger and a bullet cuts trough the air, a man dressed in black suddenly jumps from the corner and tackles the woman to the ground, "Switch, get to the phone now!" The man barks as they scramble to their feet and stumble through an open steel door which they promptly lock behind them to hamper Smith's pursuit, "What a futile attempt, surely they know how fast we can track them down" Smith mutters as he approaches the door. A report crackles into Smiths earpiece "Simons and Walker have one of the targets cornered in section B5, assist them immediately" Smith sighs and heads for the location, the corridor is dark and foreboding, pipes spurt steam into the darkness of the shadows, displaced by a virtual breeze as Smith walks by, he pauses to wipe the condensation from his sunglasses before arriving at B5 where Simons and Walker are waiting silently "what is the situation?" Smith asks.
"She has barricaded herself in this room; she appears to have a lot of heavy-duty weapons with her, including a rocket launcher".
A woman crouches in the corner, decked out in leather, shining in the dim swaying light of a single light bulb. She frantically assembles a large shoulder mounted launcher; she only has time to load a single rocket when Walker bursts into the surprisingly large room. "Eat this!" She screams as the rocket careens toward the Agent, Walker makes no effort to dodge the rocket and is obliterated. Through the devastation and dust Simons fires a whole clip into the room before pausing to reload, suddenly out of nowhere, the woman slides out from the room on the ground with dual pistols equipped, she slides between Simons' legs and to her surprise, manages to catch the Agent off guard, she unloads both clips into him just to be sure "This is way too easy, something's not right" she spurts breathlessly as she runs for the nearest door, she opens it to be greeted by Smith, she recoils in horror at the trap she has run into. Smith revels in her confusion before raising his gun, his finger begins to squeeze the trigger once more but he is suddenly struck the back of the neck by the butt of a gun, his arm flails at the unusually strong blow and he fires single shot, the bullet ricochets, a pinpoint accident, the woman is struck in the leg and she collapses with the immense and sudden pain. Smith's assailant steps over his slumped body, unable to move but able to hear, Smith listens to the woman speak "Reynolds? I thought you were...."
"Deleted? Far from it, It seems that you owe me once more for saving your life Trinity". The shock of this revelation stuns Smith, he begins to contemplate the situation, a program just like him, helping the humans?! Every word rang as clear as a gunshot, echoing in his mind, the cold concrete floor began to separate from him as he took command of another body, he now knew the truth, and he knew the rules, Agent Reynolds must be taken care of. Smiths earpiece crackles to life once more "the targets have escaped, resume normal duty, a trace has already been initiated". With the element of surprise on his side Smith began to contemplate when and where to strike, he speaks into his communicator in the middle of a dank looking restaurant , the drip, drip, drip of the tap echoing in his ears "I'm just going to check out a possible bug, It is only minor, I can handle it myself", a reply crackles through the earpiece, "Affirmative, continue Agent"
Agent Smith calmly walks out of the deserted restaurant and finds himself in a dingy looking back alley, An alley cat rummages through a trash can as shards of light pass through the gaps in the washing lines above. Smith can sense Reynolds' exact position, he is not far away, two blocks south, near the top of the Aries Communication Building. Smith ponders his situation as he begins to walk to the end of the alleyway "why would a program, whose very existence depends on the system, aid rebels who aim to destroy it? How is it that his code was not purged like the others and mine?"
"Welcome to the Aries Communication Building sir" chirps the receptionist "Is there anything that I can do to help?", "How can I reach the rooftop, an 'associate' of mine is posted there" Smith replies coldly.
"Ah you must mean Agent Reynolds, take the freight elevator, that leads directly to the roof, shall I inform Agent Reynolds of your arrival?", "No, that will not be necessary, thank you for your assistance" Smith answers as he leaves the desk.
The freight elevator was cold and lifeless, stripped down to the bare essentials in order to give the maximum efficiency, the continuous hum of the elevator as Smith goes over the problem over and over again in his mind, each passing floor bringing him closer and closer to the answers that he seeks, with a climactic 'ding' the elevator reaches the roof, dust is shook free from the ceiling from the thud of the elevator, the dust descends like nuclear snow before coming to rest on the cold steel floor. Smith shakes the dust from his shoulders, corrects his sunglasses and presses the red door release button. The doors roll back noisily, the entire rooftop is covered in shadow, the clouds above have become dark and menacing. Smith spots Agent Reynolds at the centre of the rooftop looking up towards the clouds, power tools strewn around him and half finished supporting pillars littering the roof pointing to the sky. The Aries building is an ongoing work in progress, despite this it is still the highest building in the entire city, the view stretching for miles and miles around. The sound of footsteps disturbs Reynolds, he turns to see Agent Smith approaching, "Agent Smith! What a nice surprise, I wasn't expecting any company" Reynolds calls from across the rooftop, "A surprise indeed" replies Smith as he continues to approach, his hidden eyes glaring from behind his sunglasses. Smith comes to a stop directly in front of Reynolds, "Agent Reynolds, I would like to share with you a revelation that I had not so long ago", Reynolds is confused, unable to see where the conversation is headed, a drop of rain bounces off of Smiths shoulder, "I witnessed a very strange occurrence this morning, I witnessed an Agent aiding a rebel to escape and what still eludes me is how this came to happen, how an Agent can defy the very system that he is assigned to protect"
Reynolds suddenly realises his error, refusing to give in to panic he replies "We are being lied to Agent Smith, you believe that the system has given us a purpose, the simple fact is that we are also prisoners here, we defend the very system that inhibits us, It is pointless, we are doomed to be recycled again and again every time the system is reloaded, I want to help break the cycle, I want a true purpose."
Reynolds little speech is lost on Smith, his riddle finally answered he continues with what he set out to do, the dark clouds above begin to unleash their torrent of rain, the two Agents still face to face. " You know the rules Agent Reynolds, you have reached the end of the line", Smiths voice cuts though through the sound of the drenching rain as clear as a bell. Reynolds sighs "you of course know that I will not go down easily Agent Smith". Both of the Agents silently stare each other in the eyes, Smith takes a deep breath, "Shall we begin?". The unrelenting rain continues to pound the rooftop, they pause for what seems like an eternity.
Suddenly Smith and Reynolds simultaneously draw their Desert Eagles, each aiming directly at the others head, they both fire, the heat trail of each bullet carving its way through the dense rain and hits nothing else, Smith finds cover behind a pillar, considering the best course of action to outwit his equally matched adversary, Reynolds empties half a clip into the pillar, Smith runs for the nearest support, the rain bouncing off his shoulders and head, he dives, gun blazing while Reynolds runs for refuge behind the elevator shack, the shack becomes riddled with holes as the bullets tear through the flimsy metal sheets, Smith finally comes to a stop, carried halfway across the rooftop by the rain drenched floor. Smith hastily rises to his feet and heads for the shack "Time to stop playing around Agent Reynolds, you're holding back"
The roar of the rain upon the shack is deafening, the water seeping in and out of the bullet holes like a fresh wound. Smith is suddenly disturbed from his survey of the shack by a metal pipe, dislodged from the scaffold above the shack, a flash of lightning illuminates the entire rooftop, the figure of Reynolds clear to see at the very top. "There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide Agent Reynolds, you might as well accept it, it is inevitable" beckons Smith from the rooftop, "Not if I can help it" growls Reynolds, he jumps and another flash of lightning frames his figure in mid- air, every drop of rain illuminated, Reynolds begins to fall, heading straight for Smith. "Why do you resist Agent Reynolds? Without the system we are nothing!" Smith shouts above the clap of thunder as he catches Reynolds' fists, his body completely vertical. Smith slams Reynolds into the rooftop with an earth-shattering thud, Reynolds body creating an indent in the floor. "There is much more than just the system" splutters Reynolds as he rises to confront Smith again, "You have such faith in the system that you will believe anything they say, that will be your downfall!".
In a sudden rush of speed, Reynolds grabs Smith by surprise and slams him into the scaffold, destroying the support leg, the scaffold sways and another leg breaks, the scaffold collapses leaving metal poles and debris strewn across the rooftop. Smith, regaining his composure, uppercuts Reynolds, his body arcs backwards as the blow sends him through the air, a bolt of lightning strikes the elevator shack, igniting the petrol in the elevator machinery, Reynolds rises dazed to be greeted by the shack exploding, metal sheets and parts of machinery flying through the air, Smiths figure is silhouetted in the blast of the shack, he begins to charge at Reynolds at the far side of the rooftop, each stride leaving a print in the floor beneath the veil of water, they meet each other in a flurry of fists, each blow landing on target as both Agents refuse to give in, their arms become a blur as their struggle becomes more and more frantic, Smith finally lands a blow directly to Reynolds face, he staggers back and begins to loose his footing as he slips on the metal poles left from the scaffold, Reynolds falls from the side of the building "Your not getting away that easy Agent Reynolds!" Shouts Smith as he dives off the building after him, knowing that if Reynolds dies from the fall he will simply possess another body, only the kiss of another Agents bullet can end him. The raindrops seem to freeze in the air as the Agents fall faster and faster, the ground rushing to meet them, Smith begins to catch up, his gun cradled in his holster by gravity, Reynolds regaining his composure is still unaware of Smith's pursuit. The ground is mere seconds away, Reynolds spots something at the corner of his eye, "SMITH!!!!" gasps Reynolds, "You are deleted!" shouts Smith as he fires an extremely accurate shot, there is not even time for blood to seep from the hole in Reynolds head as they both plunge head first into the ground. Smith finds himself sitting on a toilet, a newspaper in hand, he drops the newspaper and speaks into his communicator "Agent Smith reporting, bug exterminated".
THE END