Just reloaded the chapter. Special thanks to AKIDA Yamakusa for catching my incredibly stupid and potentially confusing typo.
Sorry if it threw a few people off, but, no, Hao is not Smith. I leave the role of the Agents to the X-Laws. Hao's role is not in the original Matrix movie, but is an addition of mine to make things more interesting for me to write. ^_~
And to unpredictable.l, sorry, I have no idea how long this will end up being. Dreadfully disorganized, you see…
The next day did not start out well for Yoh. Tired from staying out late, he overslept and was late for work, which he did not really want to go to anyway. It was a software developing company; he did quite well, and Hao had worked there too, but now it had lost its thrill. The brothers had taught themselves and each other everything there was to possibly know about computers, and Hao had landed them respectable jobs at it too. But the elder Asakura had also chosen to branch off into a more lucrative and riskier profession as well: hacking.
Yoh had never approved, but he was not going to stand in his brother's way. They had both kept legal jobs, and had been rather close as it was. Their cubicles had always been next to each other; they had still lived together to save on rent; they worked on projects together, Hao's stolen knowledge adding to their skills.
But then something had happened. Yoh suspected it had been something his brother had found with his fellow hackers, but he wasn't sure. All he knew was that Hao suddenly became more distant, occupied with something else, something secret. He had heard him muttering in his sleep, words like "matrix" and "Agents" and, once, "Anna."
And then Hao had simply disappeared.
Yoh had searched for him, combing the Internet for any clues his brother might have left behind. He had found other hackers who might have known his brother, but they offered little help. Then he looked for some explanation on the matrix, as that had been what Hao had mused on most. To his surprise, no one seemed to know precisely what it was, though there were many theories. And many of them were tied to a man named Morpheus.
Yoh shoved the thoughts from his mind. His boss, Rhineheart, was wrapping up his lecture on attitude and being late for work. Yoh pretended to have been listening, and nodded.
"What did he say?" queried a tall co-worker from a nearby cubicle as Yoh slouched into his own.
"He said that I'd better not be late to work again, or I'd be fired," grumbled Yoh.
"Oh," said the other man. "Well, it was nice working with you."
"That's not funny, Ryuu," said Yoh, though he failed to muster any malice into his voice. Oy…not a good day… He sank into his chair, trying to muster enough energy to get to work.
"Excuse me. Asakura Yoh?" came a voice from behind him.
He jerked awake and turned to see a FedEx man with a package in his hand. "Yeah. Yeah, that's me." He signed and took the large envelope, waiting until the man was gone to rip it open. There was no return address, and he couldn't remember ordering anything.
It was a plain black cell phone.
Puzzled, he took it out and then nearly fell out of his chair as it rang the instant it was in his hand.
Completely nonplussed, he flipped it open and put it to his ear. "Hello?"
"Hello, Neo. Or I could be formal and say Asakura Yoh. Can I use Yoh-kun?"
Yoh blinked several times. "Um…okay. Can I help you?"
"Yoh," said the voice, serious again, "do you know who this is?"
"Morpheus," said Yoh absently, hoping whoever was on the other end didn't mind hacker inside jokes.
"That's right."
"What?? I was jo…okay, fine…so you're Morpheus. What's up?" He'd play along with this for a little. It sure beat working.
"I had hoped we could have this conversation under more favorable conditions, Yoh-kun, but you can never count on hope, can you?"
"…no…"
"I've been watching you, Yoh-kun, and I want to meet you. I don't know if you're ready to see what I want to show you, but it appears we have run out of time."
That's what Anna said. Is this for real?
"They're coming for you, and I'm not sure what they're going to do to you."
A chill ran down Yoh's spine. "Who?"
"Stand up and see for yourself. Slowly. The elevator."
Keeping his head down, Yoh stood carefully and looked. The elevator door opened, and two rather intimidating figures stepped out. One was a girl clad in black and metal with long pale hair, and the other was a tall blond man in an almost-white uniform. Several cops accompanied them. They stopped to ask the closest employee something, and he pointed toward Yoh's cubicle.
Yoh ducked back down hurriedly. "What do they want with me?" he demanded, feeling panic snagging hold of him.
"I'm not precisely sure, but if you don't want to find out, I suggest you get out of there."
"How??"
"Do exactly as I say. The cubicle across from you is empty. Move now!"
He did, feeling a pang of emotion as he dove into what was once Hao's workplace and slid into the faint shadows under the desk.
"Just wait."
The two newcomers walked slowly towards his cubicle and turned, searching it with their eyes. He waited, holding his breath, not sure why he was shaking.
"A little longer," came Morpheus' voice softly.
The two turned away. He could hear them talking quietly, questioning. "I dunno where he went," came Ryuu's voice. "Maybe for a drink of water."
They walked off, and Yoh forced himself to breathe slowly.
"Now," said Morpheus, still on the phone, "go down to the end of the row and into the first office on the left. Stay as low as you can."
Don't need to tell me that, thought Yoh.
"Now."
He darted out from Hao's cubicle and moved as quickly as he could while almost bent double. To his surprise, he actually made it into the designated office.
"Good. There is a window to your left. Open it."
"How do you…?"
"Explanations later. Go out the window and to the scaffolding nearby. Use it to climb to the roof."
"But…"
"Go!"
Yoh opened the window and made the mistake of looking down. The ground seemed so horribly far away. "I can't! I hate heights! I…"
"You're giving in to fear. There are only two ways out of this building. One is by the scaffolding, and the other is in their custody." He didn't have to say whom.
"But…"
"You take a chance either way. But it's up to you." The phone went dead as Yoh stared at it in horror.
"I can't…" he moaned, even if Morpheus was no longer listening. Stepping out of the window with great trepidation, he stood on the ledge, unable to tear his eyes from the street far below.
The phone rang again.
He answered it. "Morpheus, I just can't –"
"Yoh!" said a new voice, "just listen to me!"
Yoh froze. It wasn't Morpheus.
"Hao?"
"That's right. Just listen to me. You have to…"
"Where have you been?" shouted Yoh, relief flooding through him. Hao was alive, he was talking to him.
"It doesn't matter right now. Look, you need to get to the scaffolding and climb to the roof. It's not too far…"
"I know. Morpheus told me."
"Morpheus?" Hao muffled a curse. "Look, just get to the scaffolding and –"
A sudden gust of wind took Yoh by surprise. He swayed for a moment, almost falling, but his hand caught the window.
The phone slipped from his grasp.
He watched it tumble from the ledge and disappear in the distance as it plummeted down thirty stories to the street below. "Hao! No!"
"You! Stop!"
He turned, still a mass of tangled emotions from losing his only contact with his brother. Several policemen were standing in the office behind him, guns drawn. He had not been fast enough.
*
No one noticed Anna watching silently, displeasure in her eyes, as the cops loaded a handcuffed and completely bewildered Yoh into the back of a police car.
To be continued…