Oh no! It's all over! I hate it when my stories end... actually, I don't mind
so much this time, because that means that the last part of this trilogy is
coming soon! Unlike the Matrix Revolutions, I'm hoping that the next part
will be the best of the three. Again, like I did for the first story, there
will be a preview of part three at the end of this chapter. And enjoy this
last one! Thanks to all of you who have been reviewing from the beginning
and stuck with me all the way!
Chapter 15 - Danger
Asha heard her phone ring. "What now?" she muttered. She pulled it out again. "What?" She'd heard Tank's voice on the line, sounding worried, telling her to get out of the Matrix in her other way. "Why?" she'd asked. The reason became apparent very quickly. An arm flew out of nowhere around her neck, and the phone flew from her hands. She gasped – just because she was the second hope didn't mean people couldn't make her jump. "Let go!" she shouted.
She looked down at the arm. She recognised that sleeve. Agent Smith. With his other arm he picked the phone off the ground. "I'm sorry, Asha can't come to phone right now," he said amusedly, right behind her head, "I'll make sure she gets your message." He hung up and threw the phone into the bushes.
Asha closed her eyes, and suddenly leant over forwards, swinging Agent Smith that way with all the strength she could muster. He flew over her shoulders, but kept hold of her arm. "What are you DOING?" she asked, trying to sound more irritated than scared, but she knew what would happen if she didn't get out soon. She couldn't risk leaving the Matrix the other way in case she inadvertently took Agent Smith with her.
"So what are you doing in the Matrix again so soon, Miss Warner? Your appearance here is getting somewhat unwanted."
"Yeah, well, that's not my problem," said Asha, still trying to get free, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to be getting back-"
"No, I don't think I'll be doing that," said Agent Smith, "No doubt Neo is on his way, and I'm not likely to turn down the chance of getting rid of both of you at once, am I?"
"Guess not," said Asha, rolling her eyes, "But what if he doesn't turn up?"
"Oh, he will," said Agent Smith, "And even if he doesn't, now that you have fulfilled what you were supposed to do, the crew has no use for you. They won't hesitate in activating the EMP. Then your irritating existence will be over."
These words echoed through Asha's brain. The crew didn't have any use for her anymore. She could, actually, die. The fear was clearly evident in her eyes, because Agent Smith smiled. He pulled her to him, pinned her in front of him and started dragging her towards a black car parked on the street, in the front seats of which sat agents. She glanced around and saw a couple of people just leaving a shop and staring at this teenage girl struggling to escape from a man. "Help!" she shouted, "HELP!"
One of the agents strode up to the people. Asha could see him talking and looking as serious as agents always did, and the people turning to look at Asha with slight fear in their eyes.
"You see?" said Agent Smith quietly directly into her ear, "You humans will always believe whoever they believe is the authority. The main reason for humans' suffering, Miss Warner, is that they choose to believe what is most horrible. Hope is fading in the human world, Miss Warner, it is nothing but an illusion."
Right at that moment, with her being captured by agents, a program out to kill her and sentinels on the way to the destroy the Nebuchadnezzar, Asha could quite easily believe that.
* * * * *
The crew looked at the screen in amazement. "That girl is jinxed," said Tank, "Every time she goes into the Matrix..."
"How far away are the sentinels?" said Morpheus.
"Five minutes, maybe less," said Tank.
Trinity was loading in Neo. "Be fast," she said, "And careful."
"I will be."
"But what if..." Trinity couldn't even say it. She felt her throat contracting in worry.
"I will," said Neo, "But I'm not coming back unless I've got Asha with me."
"But if it's impossible, you really must leave her, she wouldn't want you to die for her." She looked into Neo's eyes, leant in and kissed him briefly. Neo smiled, then Trinity loaded him up. She ran to the screen. "Where is he?" she asked immediately.
"The agent disabled the phone Asha came in by," said Tank, "And the nearest other one was ten blocks away. He's going to have to hurry."
"The EMP's ready," said Falcon, also looking at the screen worriedly. He was still slightly in awe of the other crewmembers, and Asha was the only friend he had on the Nebuchadnezzar. He hoped nothing would happen to her.
* * * * *
Asha continued to try and fight off Agent Smith. She knew Neo was on the way, but didn't want this to turn into a massive fight. Agent Smith seemed to find her attempts amusing. They were nearly at the car, which had two more agents in the front seat – it would be very difficult to escape once in there. She couldn't think of what to do, except fight harder. Which she did. Agent Smith sighed exasperatedly and hit her with such force on the head that there was a flash of white light in front of her eyes and she very nearly blacked out; she stopped fighting immediately. He then forced her into the backseat. She grasped the side of her head, trying to get her thoughts in order. There had to be something she could do-
A black figure came flying out of nowhere and collided with Agent Smith, who flew back several feet down the street. Asha blinked at where he had just been, and threw herself towards the open door. She felt an agent grab onto her foot, but just jerked back with the other foot. She felt it connect with something, and the grip loosened, so she shook herself free and got out the door.
Agent Smith was staring at the new arrival in slight disbelief. Asha turned to see who it was, expecting Neo, but was also shocked. It was David.
"David?" she gasped. David didn't even look at her.
"You've told her, haven't you?" said Agent Smith.
"Told her what?" said David innocently. Asha heard his voice in her head. 'Play along, play along, or they'll kill you here and now...'
"Told me what?" echoed Asha quickly, "What's going on?"
"You let your human feelings get in the way," said Agent Smith.
"I don't know what you're talking about," said David, "I was flying, wasn't looking where I was going..."
"You expect me to believe that?" said Agent Smith.
'Asha, go!' she heard David say urgently in her head. Asha nodded, and turned to run, but was caught in the arms of the other two agents, who had got out of the car. Agent Smith looked at them.
"Take her back to the car," said Agent Smith, "The sentinels will arrive soon." Asha wasn't standing for that. She threw both her arms upwards, and the agents flew into the air. She then started to sprint down the street, followed by the agents. Her head was still aching, and she could feel the agents gaining on her. As they got nearer and nearer, Asha had nearly resigned herself to not being able to escape this time, when she heard a rush of air behind her. An arm went round her waist and pulled her into the air. She glanced at her rescuer.
"Neo!"
"Asha, we don't have any time," said Neo, "We have to get to an exit, the sentinels are nearly at the Nebuchadnezzar-"
"We can't just leave David! They'll kill him!"
"Asha, if we don't leave now, we die."
Asha thought desperately. "Fine," she said at last, "No need for an exit though." She closed her eyes, and pictured the Matrix around her splitting to form a gap. She then threw herself and Neo through the gap, and after a feeling of falling, she opened her eyes on the Nebuchadnezzar.
"Morpheus, now!" shouted Trinity, who had been standing next to Neo. Asha immediately felt the vibrations of the EMP as the energy washed over her. She threw herself onto the floor with her arms over her head. When the shaking subsided, she walked shakily up to the control deck. She was shocked to see sentinels lying useless on the ground just outside the ship. They'd only just got out in time. Falcon leapt to his feet and gave her a hug.
"Are you all right?" said Morpheus, thankfully not giving her a hug.
"I'm fine," said Asha.
"Did you get any information?" said Trinity, as she walked in, her arm round Neo.
"Well, we need to get to the Matrix mainframe," said Asha, "But I don't know how."
"We'll find a way," said Neo, "We have to."
Asha nodded. "And we will." She quickly hurried over to the computer screens to see what was going on. Scanning the area, she was very surprised to see that David was gone, and the agents driving away in their car. "Wait, what happened?"
"Where?" said Tank, coming to look over her shoulder.
"David. He saved me from the agents, but they just let him go?"
"How do you know he saved you?" said Neo.
"What?"
"Let's look at this," said Neo, sitting down, "You go to meet David, agents show up, you nearly get killed. You go to meet him again, agents show up, you nearly get killed. Noticing a pattern here?"
"But..." Asha didn't want to believe that these had been traps, but she realized the evidence was looking like they could easily have been. "He's telling us about the Matrix being shut down, and how to save the people-"
"That's just it. How do we know the Matrix is being shut down? All we have is David's word, and let's face it, he hasn't been all that reliable."
"Does it matter?" said Falcon, speaking up for the first time. Everyone turned to look at him. "Even if he is lying, and the Matrix isn't being shut down, isn't it about time we finally did something for all those millions stuck in there?"
There was a silence as each crewmember thought about this. "If it is a trap," said Trinity finally, "And there's agents prepared-"
"We would have known that could have happened anyway," said Falcon, seeming to get more confident, "All the dangers that we could face if we did; they're not going to change whether it's really being shut down or not, is it?"
Asha was watching Morpheus. It was his decision in the end, after all. At last he looked up. "What the hell," he said, "Let's go for it."
***
And now, the preview of the third part, still tentatively called 'A Prophecy Fulfilled.'
Phoenix, the captain of the Aeneas, looked back. He swore as he saw Gamma get hit with a bullet, stumble, and not get up again. He saw the rest of his crew freeze. "Keep going!" he ordered. Time to feel sad when they were out of this. Two agents, right behind them, were most captains' nightmare.
They kept running, running faster than it was possible for anyone still in the Matrix could run, but the agents kept up easily. Morpheus had been in this sort of mess before, several years ago, and they'd escaped with only one fatality – but that was by Morpheus sacrificing himself to give the others time to escape. He glanced back at the agents, who were gaining on them all the time. That was their only option, and he was the captain, he had to look after his crew.
"Etain," he said to the woman running at his side, "Take over. Get everyone to an exit."
"What?" said Etain, "What are you going to do?"
"Just get everyone out of here." He stopped running and started to run back towards the agents. Etain watched in horror as she realised what he was going to do. She was about to run after him, when she realised that this really was the only option.
"Come on!" she called to the rest of the crew, who were all also looking at Phoenix heading back in bewilderment. Phoenix himself was leaping into the air, aiming his feet at the agents for maximum impact. It didn't work quite as well as he'd hoped, considering they knocked him off course, and he went rolling along the road. He lifted his head slightly and saw that Etain and the others were safely around the corner. It wasn't far to an exit, they'd make it. Now he had himself to worry about.
The agents seemed to be discussing him quickly.
"He is a captain. He will know the codes to the Zion mainframe."
"You're not getting them!" called Phoenix, but the agents acted as if he wasn't there.
"We no longer need those."
"But they would be an asset."
"It is too much effort."
"Then we should terminate him immediately." That agent raised a gun. Phoenix forced himself not to close his eyes; he would die bravely.
***
Onto the last callouts! See you all when the next part is released!
Im a Brandybuck – At least the tension has subsided slightly before I abandoned you for a few weeks! But the tension will be basically non-stop in the next part. It's the last part of the trilogy, what do you expect?
MollyJean – (grabs crown) Cliffies are mine to ruuule! To controool! And no, he's not, but all this is made slightly clearer in the next one and will be clarified even more when I get round to writing his story. Though it doesn't actually show in this story, I have thought all these things through!
Jack Cole – Daisy's fine, thanks! She's just having kung-fu lessons from the Wob-Wobs! I'm not a sporty person – though when we play rugby and I have the ball, I am known for my vicious kicks...
TBI – Smith has never actually been seriously hurt, as you may have noticed. I'm too fond of Smithy-boy, even though he does scare me slightly (OK, more than slightly). Don't know what I'll do to him in the third part though...
Hogwarts-Drama-Queen – (eyes widen in horror) MY STORY IS LIKE SPIDERMAN??? NOOOO!!! But yes, she doesn't save both – that's sort of to show that she's not some superhero, she's just a normal person. And congrats, yours was the 200th review! And... quacking? Really? HUZZAH! RANDOMNESS!
Sirocco.flow – OK, so THAT was a cliffie... sorry... maybe it is some sort of problem... (goes to anti-cliffie discussion group)
Sci-freak GrodySpork – Hahaha! Good point! I always wrote badumbum TSH, but that's just me. Maybe we have different drum kits. And David is sweet, when he wants to be...
Alocin – Yes, very cool and evil... but I still find him scary... Still trying to find somewhere to fit in the spoon. Not sure if I'll be able to.
Kit19 – Up, up, up the stairs we go, until we come to... the tunnel... Ack, Gollum moment. I apologize.
T'Lorie – You're muttering to yourself about evil cliffies? I've caused you to develop schizophrenia??
Becca and everyone else – Hm... phone up the easter bunny and his friends. They may look cuddly, but they'll kick that skeleton's – well, they'll stop him, let's just leave it at that.
Deity of Sorrow – Thanks very much! That's really sweet!
See you all soon! The next part will be up within a few weeks! (waves farewell, the Wob-Wobs playing 'Ghostbusters' in a fanfare style)
Chapter 15 - Danger
Asha heard her phone ring. "What now?" she muttered. She pulled it out again. "What?" She'd heard Tank's voice on the line, sounding worried, telling her to get out of the Matrix in her other way. "Why?" she'd asked. The reason became apparent very quickly. An arm flew out of nowhere around her neck, and the phone flew from her hands. She gasped – just because she was the second hope didn't mean people couldn't make her jump. "Let go!" she shouted.
She looked down at the arm. She recognised that sleeve. Agent Smith. With his other arm he picked the phone off the ground. "I'm sorry, Asha can't come to phone right now," he said amusedly, right behind her head, "I'll make sure she gets your message." He hung up and threw the phone into the bushes.
Asha closed her eyes, and suddenly leant over forwards, swinging Agent Smith that way with all the strength she could muster. He flew over her shoulders, but kept hold of her arm. "What are you DOING?" she asked, trying to sound more irritated than scared, but she knew what would happen if she didn't get out soon. She couldn't risk leaving the Matrix the other way in case she inadvertently took Agent Smith with her.
"So what are you doing in the Matrix again so soon, Miss Warner? Your appearance here is getting somewhat unwanted."
"Yeah, well, that's not my problem," said Asha, still trying to get free, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to be getting back-"
"No, I don't think I'll be doing that," said Agent Smith, "No doubt Neo is on his way, and I'm not likely to turn down the chance of getting rid of both of you at once, am I?"
"Guess not," said Asha, rolling her eyes, "But what if he doesn't turn up?"
"Oh, he will," said Agent Smith, "And even if he doesn't, now that you have fulfilled what you were supposed to do, the crew has no use for you. They won't hesitate in activating the EMP. Then your irritating existence will be over."
These words echoed through Asha's brain. The crew didn't have any use for her anymore. She could, actually, die. The fear was clearly evident in her eyes, because Agent Smith smiled. He pulled her to him, pinned her in front of him and started dragging her towards a black car parked on the street, in the front seats of which sat agents. She glanced around and saw a couple of people just leaving a shop and staring at this teenage girl struggling to escape from a man. "Help!" she shouted, "HELP!"
One of the agents strode up to the people. Asha could see him talking and looking as serious as agents always did, and the people turning to look at Asha with slight fear in their eyes.
"You see?" said Agent Smith quietly directly into her ear, "You humans will always believe whoever they believe is the authority. The main reason for humans' suffering, Miss Warner, is that they choose to believe what is most horrible. Hope is fading in the human world, Miss Warner, it is nothing but an illusion."
Right at that moment, with her being captured by agents, a program out to kill her and sentinels on the way to the destroy the Nebuchadnezzar, Asha could quite easily believe that.
* * * * *
The crew looked at the screen in amazement. "That girl is jinxed," said Tank, "Every time she goes into the Matrix..."
"How far away are the sentinels?" said Morpheus.
"Five minutes, maybe less," said Tank.
Trinity was loading in Neo. "Be fast," she said, "And careful."
"I will be."
"But what if..." Trinity couldn't even say it. She felt her throat contracting in worry.
"I will," said Neo, "But I'm not coming back unless I've got Asha with me."
"But if it's impossible, you really must leave her, she wouldn't want you to die for her." She looked into Neo's eyes, leant in and kissed him briefly. Neo smiled, then Trinity loaded him up. She ran to the screen. "Where is he?" she asked immediately.
"The agent disabled the phone Asha came in by," said Tank, "And the nearest other one was ten blocks away. He's going to have to hurry."
"The EMP's ready," said Falcon, also looking at the screen worriedly. He was still slightly in awe of the other crewmembers, and Asha was the only friend he had on the Nebuchadnezzar. He hoped nothing would happen to her.
* * * * *
Asha continued to try and fight off Agent Smith. She knew Neo was on the way, but didn't want this to turn into a massive fight. Agent Smith seemed to find her attempts amusing. They were nearly at the car, which had two more agents in the front seat – it would be very difficult to escape once in there. She couldn't think of what to do, except fight harder. Which she did. Agent Smith sighed exasperatedly and hit her with such force on the head that there was a flash of white light in front of her eyes and she very nearly blacked out; she stopped fighting immediately. He then forced her into the backseat. She grasped the side of her head, trying to get her thoughts in order. There had to be something she could do-
A black figure came flying out of nowhere and collided with Agent Smith, who flew back several feet down the street. Asha blinked at where he had just been, and threw herself towards the open door. She felt an agent grab onto her foot, but just jerked back with the other foot. She felt it connect with something, and the grip loosened, so she shook herself free and got out the door.
Agent Smith was staring at the new arrival in slight disbelief. Asha turned to see who it was, expecting Neo, but was also shocked. It was David.
"David?" she gasped. David didn't even look at her.
"You've told her, haven't you?" said Agent Smith.
"Told her what?" said David innocently. Asha heard his voice in her head. 'Play along, play along, or they'll kill you here and now...'
"Told me what?" echoed Asha quickly, "What's going on?"
"You let your human feelings get in the way," said Agent Smith.
"I don't know what you're talking about," said David, "I was flying, wasn't looking where I was going..."
"You expect me to believe that?" said Agent Smith.
'Asha, go!' she heard David say urgently in her head. Asha nodded, and turned to run, but was caught in the arms of the other two agents, who had got out of the car. Agent Smith looked at them.
"Take her back to the car," said Agent Smith, "The sentinels will arrive soon." Asha wasn't standing for that. She threw both her arms upwards, and the agents flew into the air. She then started to sprint down the street, followed by the agents. Her head was still aching, and she could feel the agents gaining on her. As they got nearer and nearer, Asha had nearly resigned herself to not being able to escape this time, when she heard a rush of air behind her. An arm went round her waist and pulled her into the air. She glanced at her rescuer.
"Neo!"
"Asha, we don't have any time," said Neo, "We have to get to an exit, the sentinels are nearly at the Nebuchadnezzar-"
"We can't just leave David! They'll kill him!"
"Asha, if we don't leave now, we die."
Asha thought desperately. "Fine," she said at last, "No need for an exit though." She closed her eyes, and pictured the Matrix around her splitting to form a gap. She then threw herself and Neo through the gap, and after a feeling of falling, she opened her eyes on the Nebuchadnezzar.
"Morpheus, now!" shouted Trinity, who had been standing next to Neo. Asha immediately felt the vibrations of the EMP as the energy washed over her. She threw herself onto the floor with her arms over her head. When the shaking subsided, she walked shakily up to the control deck. She was shocked to see sentinels lying useless on the ground just outside the ship. They'd only just got out in time. Falcon leapt to his feet and gave her a hug.
"Are you all right?" said Morpheus, thankfully not giving her a hug.
"I'm fine," said Asha.
"Did you get any information?" said Trinity, as she walked in, her arm round Neo.
"Well, we need to get to the Matrix mainframe," said Asha, "But I don't know how."
"We'll find a way," said Neo, "We have to."
Asha nodded. "And we will." She quickly hurried over to the computer screens to see what was going on. Scanning the area, she was very surprised to see that David was gone, and the agents driving away in their car. "Wait, what happened?"
"Where?" said Tank, coming to look over her shoulder.
"David. He saved me from the agents, but they just let him go?"
"How do you know he saved you?" said Neo.
"What?"
"Let's look at this," said Neo, sitting down, "You go to meet David, agents show up, you nearly get killed. You go to meet him again, agents show up, you nearly get killed. Noticing a pattern here?"
"But..." Asha didn't want to believe that these had been traps, but she realized the evidence was looking like they could easily have been. "He's telling us about the Matrix being shut down, and how to save the people-"
"That's just it. How do we know the Matrix is being shut down? All we have is David's word, and let's face it, he hasn't been all that reliable."
"Does it matter?" said Falcon, speaking up for the first time. Everyone turned to look at him. "Even if he is lying, and the Matrix isn't being shut down, isn't it about time we finally did something for all those millions stuck in there?"
There was a silence as each crewmember thought about this. "If it is a trap," said Trinity finally, "And there's agents prepared-"
"We would have known that could have happened anyway," said Falcon, seeming to get more confident, "All the dangers that we could face if we did; they're not going to change whether it's really being shut down or not, is it?"
Asha was watching Morpheus. It was his decision in the end, after all. At last he looked up. "What the hell," he said, "Let's go for it."
***
And now, the preview of the third part, still tentatively called 'A Prophecy Fulfilled.'
Phoenix, the captain of the Aeneas, looked back. He swore as he saw Gamma get hit with a bullet, stumble, and not get up again. He saw the rest of his crew freeze. "Keep going!" he ordered. Time to feel sad when they were out of this. Two agents, right behind them, were most captains' nightmare.
They kept running, running faster than it was possible for anyone still in the Matrix could run, but the agents kept up easily. Morpheus had been in this sort of mess before, several years ago, and they'd escaped with only one fatality – but that was by Morpheus sacrificing himself to give the others time to escape. He glanced back at the agents, who were gaining on them all the time. That was their only option, and he was the captain, he had to look after his crew.
"Etain," he said to the woman running at his side, "Take over. Get everyone to an exit."
"What?" said Etain, "What are you going to do?"
"Just get everyone out of here." He stopped running and started to run back towards the agents. Etain watched in horror as she realised what he was going to do. She was about to run after him, when she realised that this really was the only option.
"Come on!" she called to the rest of the crew, who were all also looking at Phoenix heading back in bewilderment. Phoenix himself was leaping into the air, aiming his feet at the agents for maximum impact. It didn't work quite as well as he'd hoped, considering they knocked him off course, and he went rolling along the road. He lifted his head slightly and saw that Etain and the others were safely around the corner. It wasn't far to an exit, they'd make it. Now he had himself to worry about.
The agents seemed to be discussing him quickly.
"He is a captain. He will know the codes to the Zion mainframe."
"You're not getting them!" called Phoenix, but the agents acted as if he wasn't there.
"We no longer need those."
"But they would be an asset."
"It is too much effort."
"Then we should terminate him immediately." That agent raised a gun. Phoenix forced himself not to close his eyes; he would die bravely.
***
Onto the last callouts! See you all when the next part is released!
Im a Brandybuck – At least the tension has subsided slightly before I abandoned you for a few weeks! But the tension will be basically non-stop in the next part. It's the last part of the trilogy, what do you expect?
MollyJean – (grabs crown) Cliffies are mine to ruuule! To controool! And no, he's not, but all this is made slightly clearer in the next one and will be clarified even more when I get round to writing his story. Though it doesn't actually show in this story, I have thought all these things through!
Jack Cole – Daisy's fine, thanks! She's just having kung-fu lessons from the Wob-Wobs! I'm not a sporty person – though when we play rugby and I have the ball, I am known for my vicious kicks...
TBI – Smith has never actually been seriously hurt, as you may have noticed. I'm too fond of Smithy-boy, even though he does scare me slightly (OK, more than slightly). Don't know what I'll do to him in the third part though...
Hogwarts-Drama-Queen – (eyes widen in horror) MY STORY IS LIKE SPIDERMAN??? NOOOO!!! But yes, she doesn't save both – that's sort of to show that she's not some superhero, she's just a normal person. And congrats, yours was the 200th review! And... quacking? Really? HUZZAH! RANDOMNESS!
Sirocco.flow – OK, so THAT was a cliffie... sorry... maybe it is some sort of problem... (goes to anti-cliffie discussion group)
Sci-freak GrodySpork – Hahaha! Good point! I always wrote badumbum TSH, but that's just me. Maybe we have different drum kits. And David is sweet, when he wants to be...
Alocin – Yes, very cool and evil... but I still find him scary... Still trying to find somewhere to fit in the spoon. Not sure if I'll be able to.
Kit19 – Up, up, up the stairs we go, until we come to... the tunnel... Ack, Gollum moment. I apologize.
T'Lorie – You're muttering to yourself about evil cliffies? I've caused you to develop schizophrenia??
Becca and everyone else – Hm... phone up the easter bunny and his friends. They may look cuddly, but they'll kick that skeleton's – well, they'll stop him, let's just leave it at that.
Deity of Sorrow – Thanks very much! That's really sweet!
See you all soon! The next part will be up within a few weeks! (waves farewell, the Wob-Wobs playing 'Ghostbusters' in a fanfare style)