Brown reviewed the footage for a third time. It was a clip from the human
news, the latest in a series of four. Each of the pieces showed a scene
where a figure heavily cloaked in red and of indeterminate gender, was
either accosting or had recently accosted criminals in unlawful and
generally violent acts. The first time the figure had appeared he (or she)
had stopped a bank robbery in progress, defeating ten armed men in ski
masks.
The second time he appeared he successfully deterred a museum heist, and a week later broken up a drug smuggling ring that the police had been after for months. There were people claiming to have been rescued from muggings, and the internet was awash with rumors. The police were calling him a dangerous vigilante, popular consent called him a real super hero, and he had been universally dubbed by the media the Crimson Knight.
But there were only two reasons that Brown took any interest in what would normally be a ridiculous human affair. One was this new footage, in which the criminals this so-called 'Knight' had beaten a group of rebels who had taken control of a radio station and were using it to broadcast their anti- matrix message. The agent who had been assigned to the task (as the vigilante operated over a thousand miles away) had gotten there after the 'Crimson Knight' had already finished the job. Brown was indignant that any agent would be so incompetent as to be shown up by some rogue, be it program or human.
That incident, however, could possibly have been an isolated incident. This Crimson Knight might not necessarily know anything about the matrix. That however was not the only reason Brown was wasting his precious time on the mystery figure. The other reason was that the vigilante displayed superhuman abilities. He showed signs of paranormal speed and strength, and was able to create a sort of plasma blast projected from the palms of his hands.
Brown was convinced that he was dealing with an exile, though when he had run a search through the mainframe, the Knight's profile had not matched that of any previously know exile. Exiles as a group also tended to attempt to keep a low profile in order to avoid being destroyed, a habit which was both moderately successful, and infuriating. If an exile had chosen to abandon safety in anonymity for notoriety, Brown would take full advantage of that.
So Brown had decided to take over the investigation personally. He stood from his desk and shifted outside Smith's office. Since it was a mission some distance away, and Brown was unsure of the duration it would take to accomplish, it was his duty to inform the command agent. He knocked on the door.
"Come in," came Smith's voice.
Brown opened the door to find that Smith was not alone. Mimosa was in his office, which was hardly unusual.
"Agent Brown," Smith said.
Mimosa nodded to him in acknowledgement, but Brown ignored her presence.
"I am going to the Los Angeles agency to investigate a possible exile."
"Very well."
"I am unaware as to the length of my investigation."
"That is fine agent Brown, you may proceed."
Brown nodded and shifted away.
Mimosa immediately broke into a grin. "Alright! Brown's gone!" she cheered, "Time to party!!"
Smith looked at her dubiously.
She held up her hands. "Kidding," she said, still grinning.
The command agent smirked.
***
Brown shifted to the Los Angeles agency and stood, giving his programming a moment to adjust to the three-hour time difference.
He walked through the echoing halls of the LA agency. Every agency in the world had the same layout, though with different touches, such as the languages on the doors, or country-specific signage.
He knocked on the door of the LA command unit. "Come in," the voice said, he opened the door and walked in. The LA command unit appeared to be a bit younger than he, humans would estimate the west coast agent to be in his late twenties or early thirties. His hair was much fairer than his, programmed to give the impression of someone who spent a lot of time in the sun.
Other than that, he was just an agent.
"I'm Agent Taylor," he said, "what can I do to help you?"
"Agent Brown, from New York. I'm here to offer assistance regarding the exile that the human media has dubbed the 'Crimson Knight'."
"Yes, this 'Knight' is giving us a great deal of trouble. Our own combat agent, Agent Shore, has been attempting to track it, but has had little success."
"I know, that's why I've come to assist."
"You think you can catch the Knight?"
"Agent Taylor, I excel at destroying exiles."
"Then we welcome your help. There is an office on level five that is free. You may use it if you like."
"Yes, I will need somewhere to work from."
The command agent held out his hand and a standard folder appeared in it. "This is every observation that Agent Shore has made."
He accepted the file and shifted away. He shifted to the spare office on level five and locked the door. It was almost exactly like his office, absolutely plain with no personal touches whatsoever.
He looked out the window, this was the only noticeable difference, as it showed him a different cityscape.
It was time to start his hunt.
*****
It wasn't until a couple of days later that Pixel finally had a list of all the charity events that were occurring in the area. The one that was on that night was most likely the one that was going to draw the Knight's attention as it was the largest one on in the near future.
Staking out the event from a safe distance into the shadows she had with her both her knife and sword. She stayed away from all the cameras and media so her face didn't accidentally get recorded.
After waiting for a long time she began to think that the Knight wasn't coming, but before she could leave she saw her. It was nothing more than an androgynous shadow leaping from rooftop to rooftop toward the large, brightly-lit building.
Pixel grew her wings and flew up to intercept the Knight before she could ruin what it was that the exiles had.
She slammed straight into the Knight and the red-clad figure hit the rooftop. Pixel whipped out her sword and tried to cleave the Knight's head from her body. The Knight nimbly dodged the attack and directed a stream of plasma at the fairy.
Pixel jumped and shrunk down so that it would be harder for the Knight to incinerate her. "Why are you doing this?" the Barbie-sized fairy screamed at the Knight. "Why are you trying to ruin our world?"
"It's their world too!" The Knight said with a laugh as she peeled off her mask. She had red-tinged skin and black eyes, her hair was white and closely shaven. "They deserve the truth!"
"You sound like a rebel but even they have the brains to know that not all of them handle it!"
"Then the world will be better once they're gone. This world will be filled with people who know and accept the truth."
"Is that why you've been helping them? To make them think that we're all superheroes and good guys?"
"A good first impression is always a good thing."
"So what happens when they find out about all the vamps and wolves that just want to have them for lunch?"
"They'll just have to learn to accept them."
"Who are you to make that choice for them?"
"I am the Crimson Knight!" she crowed to the night.
"Not for much longer," Pixel said as she resumed her normal size. "Soon you'll just be crimson."
"I'm not scared of you."
"You should be." Pixel promised darkly.
The Knight grinned and jumped off the building, landing nimbly on the ground and running from the dangerous fairy.
She ran into a building...and then straight into Agent Brown.
***
"Time for this to finish," he said with a sick smile. "You've led me on quite a hunt."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Brown."
"That is so incredibly boring."
Ignoring her, he whipped out his gun and started to fire at her. She dodged all of the shots and ran back out. She'd have to find another benefit to crash, it seemed that no one would be getting her message tonight.
She saw an open door and ran in. There was a thud behind her and she turned and saw Pixel land in the doorway, her sword at the ready.
The Knight didn't have a chance to react as she ran forward.
Pixel whipped her sword around and cleaved the Crimson Knight in two, doing what she needed to do to protect her kind. She felt no more remorse than when she had killed an enemy.
The body fell with a wet splat to the ground and she didn't even give it a second look as she turned to find something to wipe the blood from her sword with.
***
Brown had been so close to his enemy but she had given him nothing more than a temporary slip, he ran through the door to where he had seen her go and had come across the strangest of sights.
An exile, killing another exile. That wasn't something he had ever seen before.
Well, at least she had taken care of the so-called Knight, but that still left one exile to be dealt with.
She turned and the moonlight shined off her sword and refracted off the Knight's blood. It had been a swift and efficient stroke, much like what he would do if he believed in using archaic blades.
***
Pixel turned away from the Knight and saw the imposing figure in the suit looming in the doorway.
"Shit..." she said and prepared herself for another fight.
She held her sword at the ready but before she could run at him with in angry and suicidal charge he disappeared. Maybe she had scared him off - well that would be something to brag about in the chateaux.
Then suddenly she heard a noise and looked out the window, she caught the fleeting image of a young man running away. She couldn't see much in the dark, just the impression of someone with longish black hair and wearing a long coat running from the building.
But then she realized just how wrong she had been.
The agent wasn't gone.
He came at her from behind and grabbed her wrists, making her drop her sword and pulled them up behind her back so that she couldn't move.
"Why did you kill that exile?" he asked in a hiss.
"Why do you care?" she retorted as she tried to free herself of his grip but he just held her tighter and the circulation to her hands was cut off.
"Answer my question and I'll make your death less painful than what I had planned for that knight."
"I am not going to tell you anything!" she screamed and with a sudden burst of power she flipped him over her, he landed with a thud on the ground, she grabbed her sword and thrust it into his chest.
Green electricity crawled over his body and he was replaced by an old man wearing newspapers and raggy clothes. She ran for her life, pulling out her key and escaping through the nearest door.
Once inside she collapsed and breathed a sigh of relief, at least she had escaped him. That was something to be thankful for. She rubbed at her wrists, thankful that he hadn't broken any of her bones and had been too busy attempting to question her to kill her straight away.
She sheathed her sword and decided to clean it once she got home. She walked down the hall and opened the door to the chateaux.
Since she was working for Mero full time now, she had her own apartment at the chateaux, she walked up the grand stairs to the third floor. It was a level up from the twin's room but it was big, flashy, and now it had the feeling of home.
The second time he appeared he successfully deterred a museum heist, and a week later broken up a drug smuggling ring that the police had been after for months. There were people claiming to have been rescued from muggings, and the internet was awash with rumors. The police were calling him a dangerous vigilante, popular consent called him a real super hero, and he had been universally dubbed by the media the Crimson Knight.
But there were only two reasons that Brown took any interest in what would normally be a ridiculous human affair. One was this new footage, in which the criminals this so-called 'Knight' had beaten a group of rebels who had taken control of a radio station and were using it to broadcast their anti- matrix message. The agent who had been assigned to the task (as the vigilante operated over a thousand miles away) had gotten there after the 'Crimson Knight' had already finished the job. Brown was indignant that any agent would be so incompetent as to be shown up by some rogue, be it program or human.
That incident, however, could possibly have been an isolated incident. This Crimson Knight might not necessarily know anything about the matrix. That however was not the only reason Brown was wasting his precious time on the mystery figure. The other reason was that the vigilante displayed superhuman abilities. He showed signs of paranormal speed and strength, and was able to create a sort of plasma blast projected from the palms of his hands.
Brown was convinced that he was dealing with an exile, though when he had run a search through the mainframe, the Knight's profile had not matched that of any previously know exile. Exiles as a group also tended to attempt to keep a low profile in order to avoid being destroyed, a habit which was both moderately successful, and infuriating. If an exile had chosen to abandon safety in anonymity for notoriety, Brown would take full advantage of that.
So Brown had decided to take over the investigation personally. He stood from his desk and shifted outside Smith's office. Since it was a mission some distance away, and Brown was unsure of the duration it would take to accomplish, it was his duty to inform the command agent. He knocked on the door.
"Come in," came Smith's voice.
Brown opened the door to find that Smith was not alone. Mimosa was in his office, which was hardly unusual.
"Agent Brown," Smith said.
Mimosa nodded to him in acknowledgement, but Brown ignored her presence.
"I am going to the Los Angeles agency to investigate a possible exile."
"Very well."
"I am unaware as to the length of my investigation."
"That is fine agent Brown, you may proceed."
Brown nodded and shifted away.
Mimosa immediately broke into a grin. "Alright! Brown's gone!" she cheered, "Time to party!!"
Smith looked at her dubiously.
She held up her hands. "Kidding," she said, still grinning.
The command agent smirked.
***
Brown shifted to the Los Angeles agency and stood, giving his programming a moment to adjust to the three-hour time difference.
He walked through the echoing halls of the LA agency. Every agency in the world had the same layout, though with different touches, such as the languages on the doors, or country-specific signage.
He knocked on the door of the LA command unit. "Come in," the voice said, he opened the door and walked in. The LA command unit appeared to be a bit younger than he, humans would estimate the west coast agent to be in his late twenties or early thirties. His hair was much fairer than his, programmed to give the impression of someone who spent a lot of time in the sun.
Other than that, he was just an agent.
"I'm Agent Taylor," he said, "what can I do to help you?"
"Agent Brown, from New York. I'm here to offer assistance regarding the exile that the human media has dubbed the 'Crimson Knight'."
"Yes, this 'Knight' is giving us a great deal of trouble. Our own combat agent, Agent Shore, has been attempting to track it, but has had little success."
"I know, that's why I've come to assist."
"You think you can catch the Knight?"
"Agent Taylor, I excel at destroying exiles."
"Then we welcome your help. There is an office on level five that is free. You may use it if you like."
"Yes, I will need somewhere to work from."
The command agent held out his hand and a standard folder appeared in it. "This is every observation that Agent Shore has made."
He accepted the file and shifted away. He shifted to the spare office on level five and locked the door. It was almost exactly like his office, absolutely plain with no personal touches whatsoever.
He looked out the window, this was the only noticeable difference, as it showed him a different cityscape.
It was time to start his hunt.
*****
It wasn't until a couple of days later that Pixel finally had a list of all the charity events that were occurring in the area. The one that was on that night was most likely the one that was going to draw the Knight's attention as it was the largest one on in the near future.
Staking out the event from a safe distance into the shadows she had with her both her knife and sword. She stayed away from all the cameras and media so her face didn't accidentally get recorded.
After waiting for a long time she began to think that the Knight wasn't coming, but before she could leave she saw her. It was nothing more than an androgynous shadow leaping from rooftop to rooftop toward the large, brightly-lit building.
Pixel grew her wings and flew up to intercept the Knight before she could ruin what it was that the exiles had.
She slammed straight into the Knight and the red-clad figure hit the rooftop. Pixel whipped out her sword and tried to cleave the Knight's head from her body. The Knight nimbly dodged the attack and directed a stream of plasma at the fairy.
Pixel jumped and shrunk down so that it would be harder for the Knight to incinerate her. "Why are you doing this?" the Barbie-sized fairy screamed at the Knight. "Why are you trying to ruin our world?"
"It's their world too!" The Knight said with a laugh as she peeled off her mask. She had red-tinged skin and black eyes, her hair was white and closely shaven. "They deserve the truth!"
"You sound like a rebel but even they have the brains to know that not all of them handle it!"
"Then the world will be better once they're gone. This world will be filled with people who know and accept the truth."
"Is that why you've been helping them? To make them think that we're all superheroes and good guys?"
"A good first impression is always a good thing."
"So what happens when they find out about all the vamps and wolves that just want to have them for lunch?"
"They'll just have to learn to accept them."
"Who are you to make that choice for them?"
"I am the Crimson Knight!" she crowed to the night.
"Not for much longer," Pixel said as she resumed her normal size. "Soon you'll just be crimson."
"I'm not scared of you."
"You should be." Pixel promised darkly.
The Knight grinned and jumped off the building, landing nimbly on the ground and running from the dangerous fairy.
She ran into a building...and then straight into Agent Brown.
***
"Time for this to finish," he said with a sick smile. "You've led me on quite a hunt."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Brown."
"That is so incredibly boring."
Ignoring her, he whipped out his gun and started to fire at her. She dodged all of the shots and ran back out. She'd have to find another benefit to crash, it seemed that no one would be getting her message tonight.
She saw an open door and ran in. There was a thud behind her and she turned and saw Pixel land in the doorway, her sword at the ready.
The Knight didn't have a chance to react as she ran forward.
Pixel whipped her sword around and cleaved the Crimson Knight in two, doing what she needed to do to protect her kind. She felt no more remorse than when she had killed an enemy.
The body fell with a wet splat to the ground and she didn't even give it a second look as she turned to find something to wipe the blood from her sword with.
***
Brown had been so close to his enemy but she had given him nothing more than a temporary slip, he ran through the door to where he had seen her go and had come across the strangest of sights.
An exile, killing another exile. That wasn't something he had ever seen before.
Well, at least she had taken care of the so-called Knight, but that still left one exile to be dealt with.
She turned and the moonlight shined off her sword and refracted off the Knight's blood. It had been a swift and efficient stroke, much like what he would do if he believed in using archaic blades.
***
Pixel turned away from the Knight and saw the imposing figure in the suit looming in the doorway.
"Shit..." she said and prepared herself for another fight.
She held her sword at the ready but before she could run at him with in angry and suicidal charge he disappeared. Maybe she had scared him off - well that would be something to brag about in the chateaux.
Then suddenly she heard a noise and looked out the window, she caught the fleeting image of a young man running away. She couldn't see much in the dark, just the impression of someone with longish black hair and wearing a long coat running from the building.
But then she realized just how wrong she had been.
The agent wasn't gone.
He came at her from behind and grabbed her wrists, making her drop her sword and pulled them up behind her back so that she couldn't move.
"Why did you kill that exile?" he asked in a hiss.
"Why do you care?" she retorted as she tried to free herself of his grip but he just held her tighter and the circulation to her hands was cut off.
"Answer my question and I'll make your death less painful than what I had planned for that knight."
"I am not going to tell you anything!" she screamed and with a sudden burst of power she flipped him over her, he landed with a thud on the ground, she grabbed her sword and thrust it into his chest.
Green electricity crawled over his body and he was replaced by an old man wearing newspapers and raggy clothes. She ran for her life, pulling out her key and escaping through the nearest door.
Once inside she collapsed and breathed a sigh of relief, at least she had escaped him. That was something to be thankful for. She rubbed at her wrists, thankful that he hadn't broken any of her bones and had been too busy attempting to question her to kill her straight away.
She sheathed her sword and decided to clean it once she got home. She walked down the hall and opened the door to the chateaux.
Since she was working for Mero full time now, she had her own apartment at the chateaux, she walked up the grand stairs to the third floor. It was a level up from the twin's room but it was big, flashy, and now it had the feeling of home.
