Lost Souls

by FalconWind

Based on the Matrix Fanfic 'Angels and Demons' by JazzyMegster/Pejios

Disclaimer: I don't own The Matrix or any part of it. It is owned by Larry and Andy Wachowski. Please do not sue.

Chapter Two - A Present

      A few hours later, they all realized Gabe was in a real bad funk. Crash was still typing, and the rest of the guys were just wasting time.

      "YES!" cried Crash, scaring the crap out of Doc and Firewall. "I am a freakin' genius!"

      "What? You figure out how the Caps Lock works?" he said sarcastically.

      "No, better than that!"

      "Well, what is it then?" he demanded.

      Crash looked hurt. "You were mean. I don't want to show you."

      "Then let me look." Doc came over and read the lines of code. After a few moments her eyes widened. "Is this what i think it is?"

      "You bet your titties!"

      Doc smacked him the back of the head. "Good work, asshole."

      Crash rubbed his head. "Thanks," he growled. "It's for Gabe."

      There was a metallic knock at the door. "Go away," yelled Gabe.

      The door opened anyway. "Hey, Gabe, it's just me."

      "What do you want?" he asked, rather uninterested.

      "Oh, nothing much, just wanted to give you your birthday present."

      This managed to get him to sit up from his bunk.

      "Here," Crash threw the disc into Gabe's lap. "I think you'll like it."

      "But I don't have a computer."

      "Oh," Crash feigned surprise. "Well, I guess you have the use the one out here. Amongst the land of the living."

      Gabe hesistated.

      "Aw, come on man! The disk is worth it, believe me! I haven't worked on something this cool for ages!"

      "Oh, all right."

      Gabe popped the disk into the drive and sat in the chair. Crash peered excitedly over his shoulder. Gabe hit enter, and after a few moments, his eyes lit up.

      "Wow! An armored trenchcoat! Totally kick ass!"

      "See? Sweet stuff ain't it!" Crash said giving him a high-five.

      "This is great! Stronger than kelvar!"

      "Ten times as thin too! Now you can take hits as well as give'm!"

      "Thanks Crash! This is great!"

      "Told you so!"

      "How'd you pull it off?" asked Hardware.

      Crash beamed with pride. "Well, let's just say that loopholes are my middle name."

      "I can't believe you did it in only three hours!"

      "Well, actually, I've been working on it for three years. I just finished it today, is all."

      "Oh."

      "What does THAT mean?!" Crash demanded.

      "It just means 'oh'!"

      "Oh."

      "Guys!" came Firewall's voice over the intercomm, "I'm picking up a weird signal up ahead. It's definately not one of ours!"

To be continued...