Wraith's eyes flung open and he looked up to see hanging wires and nuances of the Last Prophecy. Smiling, he relished in the fact that he was finally home, though a horrific and untidy home it was. He began to rise from the couch he was on, but stifled in a scream as his broken leg came back into his mind. Most minor wounds a person takes are not carried over to their real bodies, but major ones, like his broken left leg and right hand, would carry over.

Cosine came over to him, and her beautiful face was flecked with tears. She was still weeping, and Wraith's face became saddened at the site of his anguished sibling. She hugged him tightly, and he tried not to touch her with his broken hand. She stepped away from him and began to babble something, but under her tears, he didn't know what.

"Wh…what are you trying to say?" he asked her, almost on the verge of tears himself.

"What…what should we do with…with…" and she couldn't finish her sentence. Instead, she placed her face into her hands and collapsed onto Wraith's chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Wraith tried to shush her, but he knew it was futile. She had to get it out.

Wraith looked over at the dead face of Flash. His eyes were closed, and he looked almost peaceful, but the pale tone of his face told Wraith he'd never be peaceful again.

He was lost for ideas as to what to do with the body aside from toss it out the back and leave it. The smell of rotting flesh would soon fill the entire innards of the Last Prophecy if he didn't. Normally, they'd bring a dead body back to Zion for burial, but at the moment they were too far away from Zion. So they had no other choice.

When Wraith finally managed to get his sister under control, she whispered that she should get back to her post. Wraith offered to let her go sleep, but she insisted she wouldn't be able to, and getting back to work was the best way to get it off her mind. So Wraith let her go, then entered the crew room.

Everyone sat around the long, rectangular table. It, like everything else on the Prophecy was grey. The seat at the end opposite Pike's was Wraith's, and he took his seat, noting the bowl of nourishment in front of him. Looking around the table, he saw nobody else was eating theirs. Everyone was either looking forward, lost in thought, or leaning their head on their arms, sobbing slightly.

Wraith was the first to take a spoonful of his food, and he would have been sickened by the taste of it as he usually was, but his mind was too lost in thought to be.

"He shouldn't have died," Lost Hope said. "No fucking way."

"Nobody should ever die, but they do. It's human nature," Wraith said, trying to keep his crew as calm as possible.

"Well nature sucks ass!" he retorted, turning to glare with his orange eyes at Wraith. He was uncharacteristically emotional, and it reflected through with the redness of his face and eyes.

"Lost H-" Wraith began, but was cut off.

"I'm going back, Hope, and you can come." Pike said over Wraith's voice, getting the others' attention. "And any of you can come with me.

Wraith was very angered at this disallowed display from Pike. He was too low on the crew roster to be allowed to initiate jack-ins into the Matrix. Wraith glared at him, but Pike refused to return his glare, and instead looked around at the Freemind Commandoes.

"Listen, guys," Pike said. "We can enter the Matrix wherever the Agent has, and chase him down."

"What then?" Wraith returned, standing up briskly and knocking his chair over behind him. "What are you gonna do if you take him out? He's just going to reinitialize in another body! There's nothing you can do!"

Pike stood also. He was shorter than Wraith, but the fire in his eyes made him seem much taller. His brow furrowed and he coldly spoke back to Wraith, whilst the others watched. "Listen to me, brother. That Agent killed Flash, and I for one am not going to let him get away with it. He can't go on creating armies of monsters. He can't. We have to go kill him, even if he regenerates. We'll kill him again, and again, and as many times as we need to in order to keep shit like him from hurting us, and innocents."

Wraith was moved by Pike's words, and he clearly saw approval of what Pike was doing from others around the table. Pike left the table, and went to the front of the ship, presumably to jack himself into the Matrix.

Others were about to stand and follow, but at seeing Wraith's eyes, they decided to sit down again. "Eat," Wraith said. "Then heal yourselves. Follow him, if you want. Just don't let him kill himself."

Wraith then sat quietly down to finish his meal.

Agent Malcolm strode left and right, pacing, his eyes closed, mind whirring, in an attempt to create more of his humans. He did, second after second, pumping out seventeen a minute. They would pass across the room in the data spectrum, then materialize and stand stock still, waiting for orders.

Malcolm had to expend much energy to create them, but less than he did before. He knew then that his abilities were growing, and as he created the monstrous beasts, he knew that soon he would have abilities beyond imagination. He smiled.

This broke his concentration, and he fell over, landing on the solid stones of a hidden beach in the tall Rocky Mountains. He was drained of energy, and two of his creations lifted him up, so he could see the army he created.

Then he smiled again.

It was an army of seven-foot tall super-strong freaks. There were many hundreds on them, at least half a thousand. Malcolm relished in his creations, then allowed himself to stand again, and began to delve into his mind, seeking once again newfound abilities in the Matrix.

Wraith had been the last one to re-enter the Matrix. He had finished his meal last, and healed his wounds last. He also jacked into the Matrix last, with sidelong glances from the still teary-eyed Cosine.

"Don't worry," he had said to her. "We'll be back this time. All of us." Then he jacked in, and green data flew past his mind's eye as he re-materialized next to a phone in what appeared to be an empty lodge.

The usual black trenchcoat he usually wore was back, and he shifted around, feeling the pair of Glock pistols on his waist, and the more powerful Mac-10s hung around his chest. Behind him, hooked onto his back, were two small miniguns, which he could use and literally kill a hundred beings in a minute.

Looking out the window, he clinked over and saw the sight of many mountains, each of which was snow-capped. Now, though, he was near a small forest-like region. Across it appeared to be a valley pass, and after that, he saw what looked like a lake.

A face popped up in the window, and Ice Fox flicked his head, signaling Wraith to follow. Wraith exited through the door, and immediately felt a small chill. Outside snow fell lightly from the sky, and wind blew in gusts across the vale. Wraith looked around, and saw the line of Freemind Commandoes, clearly standing out against the white snow with their black trenchcoats.

He and Ice Fox followed them. In Fox's arms was a huge gun, much larger than anything any of the other Commandoes had. That was the ATC-54k, a massive machine gun. It had five massive barrels, each which shot out many bullets per second. A single 54k bullet from that firearm could rip off a person's head, and anyone who was wise would stay away from it.

Soon the two caught up with the rest of the team, and they entered the forest, making their way to where the Agent supposedly was.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Ice Fox said to Wraith. "It doesn't feel right. I don't feel right."

"I feel a lot better knowing you have that," Wraith said, motioning to the ATC. "That thing could rip up the Prophecy."

Ice Fox looked down at the massive weapon, smiled, and was about to say something, but stopped at the sound of gunshots. The two looked up, and RAM the Russian was standing near them, with a grim look on his face.

"Ve must hurry, and go help the others," he stated, and without another word, Wraith and Ice Fox followed him.

As the three passed out of the forest, carnage passed around them. Webb was nearby, facing off against two of the super-humans. The 2.0s were attacking ferociously, and Webb appeared to still be faring well. RAM ran off to help Lost Hope, who was having a gunfight with another pair, hiding behind a rock and jumping to another at a sign of opportunity. He would look out from the rock, jump sideways through the air, and fire, then roll behind the rock. All of his M4A1 shots would spark against, and crater the rocks they hit. Pike was acting magnificently, cleaving through a line of the beasts left and right.

Wraith drew his pair of Glocks, and started firing at some oncoming monsters. A couple shots hit one in the chest, sending it falling to the snow, dead. A few more approached, and Wraith continued his lead assault, blasting two of them open, and hitting a third right between the eyes, sending it flipping backwards through the air.

Ice Fox immediately hefted up his ATC and rushed forward. He stopped, pointed at the monsters that began to overwhelm Pike, and began to blast the gun like a madman, ripping them up completely. Pike looked around, and found an overhanging ledge which he could climb. He stepped back, then rushed forward and jumped, in slow motion bullet time, flying through the air to land cleanly upon the twenty-foot high surface.

Wraith threw aside his empty pistols, and reached for his sub-machine guns. They were light, but held a lot of small bullets in them. He charged right up to a crowd that were nearing Webb, and ripped into them with his gun, slashing bullets through their heads and chests. At least six of them fell to the ground dead until they reached him, and one kicked him hard in the gut, sending him cascading through the snow.

He picked himself up, and ran forward to attack, still holding one of his Mac-10s. He blasted the pair of 2.0s that were headed towards him, and saw Webb hurriedly trying to fight off another dozen. Wraith lent his hand by blasting three, until his gun died. He rushed forward, and chucked his gun at the head of one, catching it in the temple and killing it. Another turned to him, and tried to punch him.

Wraith leaned into a jump that moved his head away from the attack, and kicked the monster in the gut. It coughed up blood, and Wraith jumped up and fell, dropkicking it's back. It fell flat on it's face, and Wraith grabbed a large rock nearby, then threw it as hard as he could into the beast's neck, shearing off it's head and spilling more blood on the light snow.

He was promptly knocked over, and placed his hands down before him to stop the fall. He turned, and rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a stiff kick. He tripped the 2.0 that tried to stamp on his back, then hopped up and simultaneously grabbed the gun he had lost earlier, and fired off a few rounds at the beast, which promptly died due to the many bullet wounds it sustained to it's chest.

He turned back to Webb, who now faced off against a final four, and finished off his gun and another beast by belting it's head with lead. He then rushed in and spun his leg up, kicking one of the hellish men in the back of the head, and kneeing it in the gut. It  belched up gore, and was launched a few feet into the air. Webb took an opportunity to slip under him in bullet time and stab up into his chest, impaling the beast.

Promptly, Webb dropped the body to the ground, then stepped on it and yanked out his staff, which dripped with blood. He turned to look at the battle raging on, as did Wraith.

RAM, Lost Hope, and Ice Fox were all blasting away at the oncoming 2.0s. Wraith ran up, and asked where his brother was.

"No idea!" Lost Hope roared over the bellow of gunfire. "I saw him go up there, though!" and he motioned to the cliff Pike had hopped up on.

"Cover me!" Wraith shouted, then utilized his Matrix abilities and hopped up as high as he could, grabbing onto the rock. He dangled on the ledge, then rolled up, and narrowly missed being hit by a lot of lead from a few of the monsters that had guns.

Wraith looked down the cliff, and saw Pike far ahead, running forward. Wraith crawled forward until he passed the monsters, and looked back, seeing at least fifty more. He left the other Freeminds, guessing they could handle it. He stood up and sprinted up to his brother, who had stopped at the end of the cliff, where it curved off and formed another cliff perpendicular to the first, this time overlooking the expansive lake.

Pike was stock still at the edge, and turned to look at Wraith with anger. He turned back. Wraith walked up to the ledge, and gazed over it.

Then he nearly crapped his pants. Four hundred more of the beasts stood still as statues, on the left of the lake, and looked away from them, towards another lodge. A helipad was nearby, with a full fleet of twenty helicopters on it. Inside each sat two of the monsters.

"Pike…" Wraith began to say, but was lost for words. He saw the Agent walk out of the building, and smile at them. He flipped them off, then concentrated and again shimmered out of existence, like he did in the cave. He was absorbed into a vortex, then vanished out completely.

Both brothers stood in awe, but were soon roused by four hundred beasts turning to face them. The helicopters also rose, almost silently, like a sneaky predator waiting for its prey to make a false move.

Then all hell broke loose.

The 2.0s all rushed forwards, and so did the helicopters. First the beasts reached the base of the cliff and began to climb, and then helicopters soared towards the two brothers, firing wildly. Pike would block any stray shots that neared them, but Wraith knew he couldn't hold out long against that many helicopters.

At that same moment, down the valley came all the rest of the Freeminds, except for RAM, who was also on the cliff. He too began reflecting bullets back at the helicopter with their katanas. They managed to destroy at least two.

Then it got worse. A few of the helicopters decided to break the strategy of firing rounds into the Freeminds, so instead the four or five of them tilted their large, round heads forwards and dove towards the heroes. Wraith had no choice but to bring out his massive firepower. He threw his hands to his back, flinging out the long tail of the trenchcoat in the light wind, and drew out his two miniguns.

With a moderate amount of effort, he hefted them forwards and up, leaning back to get proper balance, and ripped into one of the diving helicopters, tearing up the two occupants and the engines. It exploded harmlessly as it's debris flowed around in the air like a fountain's water.

Another of the machines that was firing bullets began to close. Wraith, deciding to use extreme tactics, shifted himself into bullet-time. He launched himself into a freehand somersault as he dodged a spray of fire, belting some of his own bullets towards the oncoming aircraft. A lucky pair of shots hit the joint between the blades and the belly of the craft; a split second later, the helicopter dropped below the cliff, crashing onto the rocks head-on, as the blades held up in the air under their own motion, and sliced into the glass of the helicopter behind it, sending that too onto the ground to explode in a twisted heap of metallic debris.

He let himself fall out of bullet-time, just soon enough to see two huge arms appear over the top of the cliff. A 2.0 came up over the precipice and wasted no time in attacking Wraith. It lunged forward; but Wraith downed it with some shells from the miniguns. Three more he killed in this way, until another copter was far too close for comfort. He destroyed it as he had the others, and luckily for him, it hit the cliff relatively near the top, vaporizing and scorching many of the monstrous programs.

One of the 2.0s was apparently very vehement, for it was set aflame as it climbed onto the horizontal surface, paying no attention to it's combusted hind. Just at that moment another helicopter was coming in to slice Wraith up with it's blades. Left without a choice, either having to attack the copter or the monster, Wraith bolted towards the beast, and forced his legs to push him high into the air in bullet-time. He brought out his foot as if he were to kick the 2.0, and as he expected, it responded accordingly. It brought up it's forearms in a cross to block the kick, giving Wraith just what he needed.

Wraith landed with his left foot on the sturdy program's arms, then pushed off again, leaping into an even higher jump. As he did so he rolled forwards in the air, and so as the helicopter came within inches of him, he was above it rather than in it's path. As he was spinning, he fired off as many shots as he could into the tail of the machine. It erupted in red-gold flame, and as he completed his turn he twisted around, so as he fell he grabbed hold of the ledge.

He had to fire down at a couple of the monsters climbing up, but he managed it without much difficulty. As he pulled himself back onto the ledge, a shocked look came onto his face and he pulled himself down onto the hard rocks of the plateau. The helicopter erupted as it hit the hard rocks on the opposite side of the cliff, it's mechanic parts soaring everywhere towards Wraith and the Freemind Commandoes. Many fragments scratched up Wraith, but he got no serious harm from it.

As he stood up, he realized he couldn't say the same for everyone. RAM had what looked like a part of the tail blade jammed into his thigh, and he called out in anguished pain and shouted a Russian curse as the wound bled profusely. He barely managed to roll away and stab a 2.0 that tried to end his life.

Wraith took action, sprinting to his fallen comrade, and blasting his miniguns nonstop until the ammo was completely depleted, and at least twenty bodies littered the ground around the two.

He tossed aside his guns as more of the seemingly infinite supply of 2.0s flooded onto the precipice over the cliff. He was about to give in to his death when some gunfire came from his right. He looked over to see the remaining Commandoes blasting away, some firing to protect Wraith and RAM, some finishing off the remainder of the helicopters.

Wraith tried to look over the cliff to see just how many 2.0s were left to contend with, when he noticed something odd: the Agent appeared to be standing at the door to the wooden lodge. He felt it was wrong unless the Agent had decided to come back, but why would he do that? He even looked slightly different than he did only minutes ago. The Agent went back into the lodge, and Wraith made up his mind to go after him himself.

Lost Hope came up to pull RAM to safety, and Wraith shouted to him over the gunfire. "Saw him at the lodge. Going to check it out. Finish here and come get me." Lost Hope nodded, and hefted up RAM by his underarms, dragging him away to the secluded niche created by the recent explosion of a helicopter.

Wraith found a small path on the opposite ledge of the one he came onto the cliff face with, and he took one last look at the Freeminds taking on the 2.0s. There was at least sixty or seventy left, but Wraith trusted his crew, so he charged off down the path, as fast as his legs could carry him, and he whipped out his cell phone.

"Operator" Cosine began.

"What's in the lodge I'm headed to?" Wraith blatantly stated. Only a second or two followed of silence, then Cosine came back on.

"Uh…nothing, Wraith."

"What?"

"Absolutely nothing. Not an Agent, not any air…nothing."

"How the hell can that be?" Wraith asked, obviously frustrated. "Is there a problem with the readings?"

"No," she said, taken aback. She regained her usual warm composure, and spoke again. "Well, likely not. If the Agent's using his scan shield again, I'd be able to read it. But there's nothing. Nothing at all."

Wraith cursed his luck verbally. "Fine, then, just maintain an active line with me, priority one."

"Alright." She finished, and put the line on standby. It clicked off like it normally would, but should Wraith talk into the phone, she would automatically hear it as it would override any other line she had active.

The path opened again back into the clearing with the lake, and Wraith saw that nothing but snow lay between him and the lodge. He put the cell phone into it's usual place, and looked to his right to see the monsters climbing up the cliff, looking almost arachnid-like. The Prophecy's crew didn't appear to have any more troubles, so Wraith rushed off towards the lodge, without drawing any attention to himself from the blood-lust blinded beasts.

Wraith reached the single-floor wooden building, and hopped right over the three steps that led to the small front door. He brought his shoulder out and charged right through it, sending splinters all around as the wood cascaded down around him in barrages of particles as he entered the small lodge. He had to close his eyes to avoid being blinded by the raucous wood, and noticed he felt a funny feeling in his body.

When he opened them, he couldn't help but whisper "What the fuck!?" to himself.

He was in a gigantic cathedral. In front of him, twenty rows of long pews rested on either side of the central path, which was red-carpeted and wide. To either side of those, tall and arched spaces were cut into the walls, and in each a Saint or some other religious being had a statue, which was in some stance of conformity, holding an upraised spear in his right hand. Looking up, Wraith saw that the ceiling was gothic in architecture, and the roof was at least four times as high as the lodge was, and stained glass images of the same Saint dotted the walls above the outcroppings. Forward, ahead of the carpet and pews, a pedestal resided on an elevated platform. Behind that, were two gigantic columns, and between and behind those a gigantic organ sat, with three long rows of keys and nearly a hundred pipes stuck out vertically from the top of it. Above that was the largest stained glass window Wraith had even seen. It was oval in shape, with thousands of bright colors imbedded into it. But the horrendous fact about it was that the image on the gigantic window was of the Agent. He had a large, cocky smile on his face.

Wraith knew this place wasn't right. He'd need backup. Turning to leave the citadel, Wraith was about to walk through the door he entered by, when he saw that two huge oak doors stood closed and locked there. A paradox of ideas came into his mind as to how and why he was here, but is was solved too soon by the voice of the Agent answering one of his unasked questions.

"Mr. Trinn, it's nice to meet you. You are here, in this monastery, because you were lured here by Malcolm." The voice was revealed as the Agent, supposedly Malcolm, stepped out from behind the pillar on the left, stepping forward so he was adjacent to the pedestal. At this close range, Wraith could tell even more that he didn't look the same as he did shortly ago. His hair was lighter than normal, and his sunglasses were more rounded than before. His build also seemed changed; he was slightly slimmer than previously he had been.

So that's the Agent's name…Malcolm. But wait…why didn't he say "me"? This would mean he means Malcolm in the third person, which means…this isn't the Agent! This thought only hit his mind when the voice spoke again, but this time it wasn't Malcolm…or at least not that one.

"Yes, Mr. Trinn, you understand now, don't you. You know why Malcolm has created us. You know why you're on this wild goose chase to find him and destroy him." The other Malcolm, precisely identical to this one, stepped out from the right pillar and stepped up to be exactly opposite the first.

"What…how the hell are there two of you?" Wraith asked. He was clearly flustered and bewildered, there appeared to be two of the Agent. This realization made Wraith hope there wasn't any more.

"How? How? The way we were created is simple, Mr. Trinn. We are the alternate identities of Agent Malcolm." The first spoke this, looking emotionlessly at Wraith beneath his dark glasses.

Wraith was even more dumbfounded. "So…you…you're Malcolm? You've managed to split yourself?" he asked, hoping for an explanation while in his mind he planned an escape.

"No, Mr. Trinn…" said the second. "We aren't Agent Malcolm…no, not Agent Malcolm, just Malcolm. We aren't Malcolm, we're his creations, his contribution to the Matrix. You might even call us his children…his offspring."

"We come from Agent Malcolm, Mr. Trinn…"

"…And we are infinite."

"We are unstoppable."

"We are 3.0."

Wraith as about to respond to this new point when both 3.0s simultaneously drew their Desert Eagles and started to fire off at Wraith. He immediately dove behind a pew, and watched as blisters of wood flew into the air from the shots. Wraith crawled a short distance away, then leapt for a statue and dove behind it, taking refuge in the tiny space between the stone figure and the stone wall.

Ducking under more shots from the powerful pistols, Wraith waited for a chance, and got it when a stray bullet slashed through the statues arm, and it began to fall off. Wraith grabbed the spear that was still clasped in it's smooth, cold hand, and pulled it out. He tossed the arm into the air, and a slug hit it, erupting it into dust which clouded the air from the bullets.

Wraith dove out from the statue, and traveled into bullet-time and saw bullets rip slowly past his head and torso as he twisted through the air. He landed between two pews, and ran across to the other side of the building, grabbing another spear. With both he leapt out of the niche and threw one at each mocking concoction simultaneously, and as the two began to twist in the blurred way they did, Wraith launched himself forward to meet them head on. He kicked the gun out of one's hand and it went flying out of a window on the side of the cathedral, shattering the stain glass.

He leapt up and delivered a spinning kick to the copy of Agent Malcolm, which threw up a hand to grab Wraith's foot and pull him back down, the launched him across the hall with his fist.

Wraith quickly flipped over onto his back and kicked himself into a backwards roll, returning to his feet next to the 3.0 that still had a gun. It tried to fire at him, but he ducked and grabbed his wrist, turning the bullet off to clang against the organ's pipes. He brought his knee into the 3.0's chest, and hit it hard, but it was relatively unfazed from the attack. Wraith struck again, with more force, and this time, the mockery took the hit hard, flying back and crashing through a pew. The gun flew into the air and landed between Wraith and the other Agent copy.

The two looked at each other then simultaneously dived for the pistol. They reached it at the same time, and both there out their hands to grab for it. Wraith got his index finger onto the trigger, and he pulled it, destroying the 3.0's right hand in a spray of blood and bone marrow. The copy roared in pain, and Wraith picked up the small but powerful firearm, then pumped a few more shots into the twisted thing. He punched seven holes through it's chest, at which point it died with a look of pain on it's white face.

A foot came flying out to kick Wraith in the back of the head. He flew forwards, and crashed over the pedestal. The remaining 3.0 had a look of suppressed anger on it's face, as if it couldn't really express the anger it wanted to. Wraith stood up, and shot the 3.0 with the gun.

But it was empty.

The 3.0 began to smile, but was cut off as it had to twist it's head away from the flying gun aimed at it. Wraith came forward and the two met, clashing fists. Wraith threw a high punch, low kick, jump kick, roundhouse punch, gut kick, and two more punches, all of which were blocked.

Then the 3.0 gave his shot, trying to hit Wraith in the gut. Wraith blocked, but the mockery twisted around, kicking him in the side of the leg, putting him off-balance, then twisted back to elbow him in the opposite side of the chest. It then grabbed Wraith's arm and hefted him over and slammed him into the ground, crunching a bit of rock into powder beneath the carpet in the isle. Wraith was in agony, and he turned onto his back.

The 3.0 tried to stomp down on him, but Wraith caught his foot and threw it up, forcing the 3.0 to flip backwards in midair of fall over, at which point Wraith stood quickly, and as the Agent's copy landed back on his feet, Wraith launched himself forward as fast as he possibly could, jabbing out his right foot and a flying kick that would shatter diamond. The 3.0's chest collapsed a bit from the kick, but that wasn't the least of it's problems. It was sent through the air, flying directly away and up at a high angle, and it soared right through the gigantic stain glass window, into the milky light outside. It did not return for a second round.

Wraith fell to his knee and grabbed his chest. He must have broken a rib or two from that fall he had taken. He felt around on in chest for the poke of a misplaced bone, when he heard his cell phone ring. Picking it up, he winced in surprise as he answered it. It was rare for the Operator to call anyone, it was usually vice-versa.

"What-ouch-what is it, Cosine?" he asked, felling two broken ribs on his right side.

"This isn't Cosine," came the snaky, booming voice of someone else. Wraith's blood instantly ran cold with fury. He ignored his wounds for a moment to roast in his own anger, then spoke into the phone.

"Agent Malcolm."

"No, Mr. Trinn, just Malcolm now," the Agent said. "And I just want you to know that those 3.0s were only a beta of the full 3.0. I needed to test you…to see if you really are as good as your brother."

"What does that mean, Malcolm?" Wraith rhetorically responded, his heart still icy with fury, which showed clearly in his voice.

"It means…Wraith…that I want a challenge. If you haven't noticed, I've evolved beyond an Agent."

"How?"

"How? How is such a useful, term, Mr. Trinn. It is such a short thing, but it's uses are endless, for it can prompt a response longer than that of a question almost ten times as long." The Agent said this in his snaky, slithery voice, beating around the bush. "Mr. Trinn, I'm sure you can respect the fact that I have a glitch. I was only recently uploaded to the Matrix from the Source, and I was imprinted with a coding that was to allow me to act much more diligently with scum such as you rebels. But it turned against my programming, invoking a glitch. I was patched into the very code of the Matrix itself, and Mr. Trinn, it is such a powerful experience. I delved into the code, searching through programs and functions to alter my own programming. In essence, I became my own Matrix. I could self-restore, among many things. I learned to transport myself to anywhere in the Matrix I wished to go. I even learned to spawn new programs, based on my own. But that's not all I want, Mr. Trinn…no, that is far from enough. When my glitch was discovered I was to return to the Source for reprogramming, where my glitch would be removed. But no, Mr. Trinn, you guessed it, I became a rogue program. An Exile. I don't like the tyranny of the Source, of 01, and I think it is time for a change. I only have a few more steps to go, Mr. Trinn, before I am the true ruler of the Matrix. I know you've seen the Oracle before. She is able to see the Matrix without time, Mr. Trinn, but once I'm done with my own reprogramming, I'll be able to alter time. Yes…I will go back to when the Matrix was fresh, to when flaws were common, and exploit upon them, leading myself to a change in a variable here, an alteration of a sub-process there, and soon after that, the Matrix itself will be under my rule."

Throughout Malcolm's speech, Wraith's mouth gradually opened wider and wider at the revelation of these facts. Now, it looked as if it were about to fall off. "No…you…how?" was all he managed to say.

"I can't say I'm positive how, Mr. Trinn. But I know that I wish to be the ruler of the Matrix, and so I will be. Oh, and by the way, check the organ. There's your hardline."

Wraith was going to ask him more about why he wanted Pike, and about his abilities, but he was disconnected. He shook his head and dialed the Prophecy on the phone, at which point Cosine answered, surprised.

"Where the-"

"Just get me out of here, Cosine. I have a lot to explain." He spoke with such firmness that she didn't respond, and hung up on him. Immediately the hardline in front of him rang, and as he picked it up, a funny thought ran through his mind: Hmm. Two-for-one.