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.
MATRIX
ACE
CHAPTER 7
ROUTINE MISSION
"Ace. Zephyr."
Ace looked up from the synthesized meal, which vaguely resembled meatloaf. (He was glad he'd been born when he had. Before the Seventh Matrix, ships only had a tasteless white goop to eat when they were outside of Zion.) "Yeah, Captain?" he said.
"Do either of you think that you are ready to re-enter the Matrix?" said Tenshi.
Ace exchanged a glance with Zephyr, who shrugged, and said, "Well ... What would we be doing?"
"The Copernicus made a data drop in the Matrix," said Tenshi. "We've lost contact, but we think it is because they triggered the Emergency EMP, which would have damaged their ship as well as any Sentinels. We're pretty sure the Machines don't know about it, so it should be relatively safe." He looked from one to the other. "I wish you to be among those who go to retrieve it."
"I'm ready," said Zephyr.
"Me too," said Ace. "Might as well face it now ..."
"Good," said Tenshi. "We'll be at a good broadcast point within the hour." He left.
"Remember," said Tenshi, "it may seem a simple mission, but you must get the package at any cost. The Matrix is a dangerous place."
"I'll remember," said Zephyr, wincing slightly as the plug was inserted into her skull.
"Okay, since this is both of your first time back in the Matrix," said Pylon, "I'm going to put slightly more emphasis on my warnings to watch out, and run at the first sign of any Agents, but not with much enthusiasm, because I just know you're going to ignore anything I say until you're running around trying to find an exit."
"Maybe you should have more faith in us?" said Ace. Styx snickered.
"Yeah, whatever," said Pylon, pushing a button.
Ace felt like his brain was being sucked out via the base of his neck ...
... and then he got the opposite sensation, as if the world was being pumped into his brain.
They were in an abandoned store. On a table in front of them, a phone was ringing. Styx picked it up and said, "We're in."
Ace examined himself; he was now dressed in a black outfit, with a red leather jacket. It was pretty eye-catching; but then, the rest of them were, as well. Styx and Fate were still wearing their outfits from before, and Zephyr was wearing ... green. That was the only way to describe it. She was wearing a dark green latex catsuit and a skimpy green vest, as well as pants that looked jet-black. And, of course, the obligatory dark glasses. And her hair was spiky.
She smirked, seeing his gaze. "Quit staring," she said, sounding amused.
Ace simply stared out the window of the black sedan, watching as the world went by.
Or at least, what looked like the world felt like it was going by.
Ace looked down at his hands. They looked real. They felt real. His jacket felt real; he could feel the individual creases in the leather.
But none of it was. It was all just a dream. If he concentrated, he could almost feel the plug stuck into his head ... or was it just his imagination?
The car pulled to a stop in front of a large building. "Here we are!" said Styx. "I'll hold the exit. You guys go in."
"All right," said Fate. "C'mon, you two, let's get moving." She took out her cell phone. "Pylon -- what number is the PO box again?"
"Same as last month," said Pylon. "253711. Should be in the room just off the lobby." He typed away at his console, spending half his time looking at the screen. "No sign of any trouble yet. Let's hope it stays that way."
Jaxter watched the scrolling green codes for a moment. "I live for the day when we'll be able to translate the codes into visible images," he murmured.
"Nah, it'd be too blurry," said Pylon. "This is just an overview code -- it'd be too risky trying to look at anything more detailed. Plus, getting a good 'camera angle' would be hell."
"Oh, you're no fun," said Jaxter.
"No, Jaxter, I am not," said Pylon. "I am an Operator."
The post office was almost empty. "Almost closing time," murmured Zephyr.
"We'd better move fast then," said Fate, looking around. "Let's see ... box 253711 is that way ..." She led them into a side passage, leading to a room filled with PO boxes. "You two hang around here and let me know if anything comes up. I'll get the package." She went into the room with a purposeful stride, going straight to the "253700-253799" area of the wall.
Ace was watching the security guard when it happened. He walked into the PO box room, gave him and Zephyr a funny look, saw Fate, gave a start of recognition ...
... and changed. There was a blur of motion, an electronic sounding buzz/whir, and instead of a man in the black-and-white security uniform, there was what could only be described as an Agent, reaching to pull out a handgun. "Look out!" shouted Ace.
Fate didn't even flinch. She pulled the small package out, slammed the box shut, and dived to the side, almost dodging the bullets from the Agent.
They need to buy Fate some distraction so that she, at least, could escape. You must get the package at any cost ... With those words ringing in his head, Ace impulsively pulled out his own pistol and fired at the Agent.
He felt his stomach twist as the Agent simply dodged in a blur of motion, seeming to leave behind an afterimage that the bullet passed right through. It stopped, seeing that no more bullets were coming its way, and then spoke.
Its voice was stiffly precise, and almost seemed drawn out, giving the impression that it had carefully considered every word. It said, "Haven't you seen an Agent dodge before, Mr. Klaymoore?" It raised its pistol and fired.
Ace had already thrown himself out of the way, knowing sudden death when he saw it. He hurriedly got up and began to flee, unconsciously noting that Zephyr was already halfway to the exit, and he turned halfway only once to see that the Agent was behind him, pistol raised to aim with deadly accuracy ...
And then swung around to point its pistol at Fate, who at that moment had come up next to it, and who then kicked the pistol away before kicking the Agent in the face whilst simultaneously shooting it in the chest. The Agent fell backwards; in a blinding flash of light, it transformed back into the security guard, who now had a hole in his chest.
"Keep running!" yelled Fate, and the three of them all but smashed through the glass of the post office doors.
Styx was waiting for them outside; Fate all but leaped over the top of the car to slide into the seat on the other side, allowing Ace and Zephyr to quickly get into the passengers' sides. Ace hadn't even closed the door before Styx hit the gas, and the car surged forward.