The Marquis and its entire crew is made up by me, as well as certain other characters. The rest of it is the property of their respective owners. So here it is.

THE
MATRIX
ACE

CHAPTER 4
PROGRAMMED

"I can't go back, can I?"

"No. But if you could, would you want to, knowing what you do now?"

".... No."

"It's always hard for a mind to adapt, but we freed your mind because we sincerely believe you can help us. Remember that. For now, just try to get some sleep."

* * * * *

Pylon walked into Ace's quarters the next morning. He was a tall, pale-skinned man with neatly-cropped black hair and angular features. "Good morning," he said. "Did you sleep at all?"

"No," Ace ground out.

Pylon grinned. "Well, you will if I have anything to do with it," he said. "I'm Pylon, the ship's operator, and it is my job to see what you can't and to partly make sure you don't get yourself killed."

"Why partly?" said Ace.

"Because you do the rest of making sure you don't get killed," said Pylon brightly. "Now, c'mon, I'm gonna fill your head with code."

* * * * *

"Ju-Jitsu? I'm going to learn Ju-Jitsu?"

"Kid, you're gonna learn everything before I get through with ya."

Ace grinned. "Just gimme the program."

"Your wish," said Pylon, rapidly typing, "is my keystroke colon double-backslash execute command."

There was a blur of light in front of Ace's eyes ...

"You like?" said Pylon.

"More!" said Ace.

* * * * *

"Yep, he's been in there for ten hours now," said Pylon.

"He'll want to use what he's gotten afterwards," said Tenshi.

Zephyr continued to watch Ace's thrashing form as Pylon continued to pump code into him. "... Did I look like that?" she said. "It looks like he's getting beaten up."

"Looks like something else to me," said Jaxter, grinning.

Suddenly, there was a warbling noise from Pylon's console. "Hey, look who's calling from the Matrix!" said Pylon.

Tenshi looked over at the screen and grinned. "Just in time, too."

Ace took a deep breath as he sat up. "I know kung fu," he said.

"Well, why don't you go into the Construct and try it out?" said Tenshi. "Zephyr, you join him."

* * * * *

This time, the Construct was a dojo. Ace and Zephyr were wearing karati gi outfits. Standing in front of them was a tall Asian man with an undefinable air of age around him. He was wearing a pair of circular dark glasses and a simple black outfit with a faded grey jacket over it.

"Hello," said Ace uncertainly.

"Greetings," said the man with a slight bow. He had a faint Japanese accent. "I am Seraph. I am here through a connection between the ship's construct and the Matrix."

Ace exchanged a glance with Zephyr, who shrugged, as ignorant as he was.

"I will teach you some of the ways of the Matrix," said Seraph, "but before I do, let me first apologize."

"Apologize for what?" asked Zephyr, confused.

"For this," said Seraph.

Ace found himself sailing towards the opposite wall from a vicious kick to his chest. He heard the sounds of punching as he got to his feet, then Zephyr suddenly landed next to him. "Here's a tip," she said. "Remember, this is a computer simulation, and it follows some of the same rules as the Matrix. You can bend or break some of them. All you need to do is focus."

Ace didn't have much time to think about this, because almost immediately, Seraph was upon them. It took all of Ace's newfound skill just to keep himself from getting knocked down. Okay, just focus ... focus ... For an instant, he saw Seraph's hand moving towards him in an uppercut that would knock him off his feet, moving in slow motion ... and in that instant he blocked it.

"Good," said Seraph, pausing the fight for an instant. "Now try to hit me!"

Ace and Zephyr moved in, using a combination of moves from various martial arts, but Seraph was able to block or counter them all. "Take him from both sides!" said Zephyr, doing a flip over Seraph so that he was between her and Ace.

And even then, Seraph was able to prevent both of them from landing a single blow.

* * * * *

"Hey, guys, Zephyr 'n' Ace are fighting Seraph!" said Jaxter. The mess hall promptly cleared.

* * * * *

Ace kept having brief moments in which he saw the "slowing down" again, and in most of them he managed to block Seraph's attacks, but he was finally hit by a stray punch, and fell back onto the floor.

"You have at least started to learn, Ace," said Seraph.

Ace sighed. "You're too fast."

"It has nothing to do with muscles, Ace," said Zephyr. "Is that really air you're breathing?"

Ace arched an eyebrow. "I don't know," he said. "Are those really clothes you're wearing?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just get up and start fighting," she said.

Ace found it easier now, somehow. The brief bouts of slow motion were less brief and more controllable, as he began to slowly out what it was he was focusing on:

It wasn't real.

That knowledge alone gave him a kind of power that he couldn't have had when he believed he was in the real world, to a certain extent. He could just imagine himself, lying on the bed in the Marquis' main deck, as he began to deflect all of Seraph's attacks.

Finally, he managed to kick Seraph's leg's out from under him. Seraph stood and said, "Good." He looked up. "We may now load the Jump program."

* * * * *

Ace coughed as he was unplugged. "Ow ..." he groaned. His body ached. "I thought you said it wasn't real!"

"Mind over matter," said Dr. Coffin. "Your neurons tell your brain you just got a twelve-story facefull of pavement, and damned if it's gonna ignore something like that."

Ace looked around. The entire crew was there. "Um . . . when did you all get here?"

Styx grinned widely. "No one misses a chance to see a fight with Seraph," he said.

"Yeah," said Napalm, who had a shock of firey-red hair and wild eyes. "One of the best kinds of entertainment this side of Zion."

"Zion!?" exclaimed Ace, bolting upright. "You mean ... you're Zionists!?"

"Oh boy ..." muttered Jaxter, facepalming.

"Zion," said Tenshi, "is the last human city, deep underground where it's still warm. Someone happened to drop the name while they were the Matrix, and now the idea that we are the 'terrorist cult of Zion' is all over the newsmedia."

"Hot damn," said Ace. "A whole lot of that makes sense now."

"Great! Glad we got all that cleared up," said Pylon. "Now let's send you back in for round 2."

Ace noticed that Zephyr was still plugged in. A glance at one monitor showed that she was on the opposite building with Seraph. "Okay," he said.

* * * * *

"Very good," said Seraph, as Ace landed between them afte a now-successful jump. "It is clear that you are a survivor."

"What, just from that jump?" said Ace.

Seraph shook his head. "No. I became sure of this when you struck me," he said. "You do not truly know someone until you fight them."