He said he killed an Agent
Chapter 8: I still love candy
" Ah, Sati, honey!" The Oracle said with a smile, as the little Indian girl ran into the kitchen, with Morpheus and Niobe at her back.
" Oracle!" Sati exclaimed, running to embrace the woman.
" I'm sorry that had to happen, dear." The Oracle apologized. " But it seems that our old friends Morpheus and Niobe rescued you."
Sati nodded furiously. " They did. But, I was hoping that Neoh was going to help me." The young girl admitted, mispronouncing Neo's name.
The Oracle shrugged. " Well, we don't know where Neo is, or if he's coming back, Sati. I would be grateful to those two for being brave enough to rescue you."
The young program turned around and gave a slight bow, thanking them. Morpheus nodded with a smile, and Niobe did the same.
" Why don't you say hello to Seraph, Sati, I think he'd like some company. He's in the bedroom." The Oracle said, as Sati nodded and ran towards the bedroom.
" How is Seraph?" Morpheus asked, stepping more into the kitchen. " He must have faced an Agent or two for him to lose the girl."
The Oracle nodded, taking out a cigarette to smoke.
" He's been better," The Oracle said, " That's for sure. The Agents thought it out well. They caught him in the "backdoors". Agent Brown faced him personally."
Morpheus seemed impressed. " They sent one of their leaders. I wouldn't have expected that."
The older woman took a deep breath of her cigarette. " Yeah, they knew he'd get the job done. Seraph insisted on fighting the Agent, so it seems that Brown decided to try out an experiment on him."
" What type of experiment?" Niobe asked.
" Well," The Oracle replied, " the kind that Smith used to try. He even did it to me, once."
Morpheus took off his sunglasses. " Are you saying the Agents have found a way to copy themselves?"
The Oracle shook her head. " The experiment...was a failure. Seraph told me that Brown stuck his hand in his stomach, and then both of them started to shake. Seraph started to change, but then Brown started to scream, and took his hand out, unable to finish the transformation. His code is in bad shape, there is a little bit of Brown's code in him, but the real problem is that what's left of his code is scrambled. The Agents don't know what they're doing yet, but they are definitely trying."
Sati screamed from the other room, alarming everyone else.
" Oh, dear." The Oracle said, putting out her cigarette. " I guess I should have warned her, first."
" What do you mean?" Morpheus said.
" I'll show you." The Oracle told him, as she got up, leading the two rebels into the bedroom. As soon as they walked in, Sati ran up to the Oracle with her hands on her mouth, and tears in her eyes.
" I think Seraph is sick..." Sati said. The Oracle leaned down to hug her.
" He'll get better." The Oracle promised her. " Why don't you go have some cookies in the kitchen, okay?"
" Okay." Sati agreed, leaving the room, obviously upset.
The Oracle was wordless as Morpheus and Niobe entered the bedroom, and saw what appeared to be Seraph, lying flat and unmoving on the bed.
His traditional Chinese fighting gown, which had always been white and open, was now as black as an Agent's suit, with the middle button buttoned, like a suit jacket.
Morpheus leaned closer to see Seraph's hair was a little longer and slicked back in some places, but still short and spiky in others. His sunglasses were still the same, rounded glasses similar to Morpheus', save the fact that they hung off his ears, but the most prominent, and disturbing change...was his face.
Seraph had Agent Brown's nose and lips.
The rest of his face remained the same, as far as jaw structure, ears, and complexion, but it was very unsettling to see a white nose and thin lips on the Asian man. It looked as if his nose and lips had been cut off, and Agent Brown's had just been glued on.
" As you can see," The Oracle said sadly, " his code in very scrambled."
" Is he dying?" Niobe asked.
" He's not recovering, that's for sure." The Oracle said. " But...he doesn't appear to be getting any worse. Normally, I would take him to the source...but..."
" But the source only wants to delete you...and him." Morpheus finished for her.
The older woman nodded.
" Is he talking?" Niobe questioned.
The Oracle shrugged. " Oh, he talks. Sometimes, he'll babble on about 'engaging rebels' or 'confronting the second anomaly', and other times...he'll plead for my help, and apologize for losing Sati."
Morpheus sighed. " I don't know if it's safe for him to be here." He said, observing Seraph. " If he's talking like an Agent, then he might start acting like an Agent."
" There's nowhere to take him, Morpheus." The Oracle told him. " And I'm not about to throw my Guardian out on the street."
Morpheus paused.
" I think I know somebody who could help him." Morpheus said.
The Oracle smiled. " Really?"
Morpheus grinned. " But you already know who I'm going to suggest."
" Wouldn't be much of an Oracle if I didn't." She said. " Yes, I would like him to try to. After all, he is...the second anomaly."
Morpheus nodded grimly, before asking her.
" Oracle, what exactly does that mean?"
" You mean the fact that there are two anomalies?"
" You told me my purpose was to find The One. Well, if Neo was The One, then what does that make for..."
" His name is Nighten." The Oracle told him. " And he is a crew member of the Mnemosyne. Of course, they're just finding that out, and he might be in some pretty hot water right now."
" It was Neo's job to save us all." Niobe pointed out. " To end the war. What's this guy's job?"
The Oracle paused, smiling.
" Do you know what my last talk with Neo was about?" The two didn't respond. " It was about balancing equations. I told him that he balanced out Smith, that I unbalanced the Architect's equation, and that everything was always trying to maintain balance. Right now, this world is a mess. Definitely not balanced. There are too many Agents trying to mess everything up."
" So he's the balance to the growing amount of Agents." Morpheus stated. " But how did he get his abilities?"
" Well, a few ways." The Oracle reasoned. " I suppose he was born with them, but he can only use them because the system is trying to equalize everything. Neo also gave him a little help, as did I."
" He told me Neo gave him his weapon." Morpheus said.
The Oracle nodded. " The grenade launcher was a present from Neo. But more than that, Neo had altered it, so that it changed the man's code, helping his abilities to awaken. He's not The One, Morpheus. Although there have been others in past versions of the Matrix, Nighten in no reincarnate. He is however, vital to the future of your kind...and, unfortunately...the demise of mine."
" Crusher, are you okay?" Pandora asked her little brother, whose eyes were wide and mouth was wide open.
" My head...hurts a little." Crusher said, rubbing his forehead.
" Well, that's normal." Gannon told him. " Especially after we just downloaded 7 years of practicing kendo into your head."
" It's a good pick, though." Hermes said. " Japanese sword fighting is very quick, and takes a lot of skill. The katana was definitely a good choice."
" Let's give him a chance to try it out, then." Gannon said. " We'll load you up in the construct first."
A world of white came over Pandora and Crusher, as they found themselves in the construct. Pandora was in her normal RSI attire, but Crusher was in a notably different outfit.
Dressed from the neck down in blue Samurai armor, with his new katana sword at his side, Crusher provided a very interesting mix of cultures, with his blonde spiky hair over the shogun suit. Also, he had decided to keep his cape, which was flowing behind his Samurai armor.
" I've got to hand it to you, Crusher." Pandora said. " You've got style."
Crusher smiled happily as he drew his sword like he had been wielding it for years. However, the moment it was out of its scabbard, the blade started to pull his arms down, until the tip rested against the ground.
" It's too heavy!" Crusher said, angrily trying to pull up his sword.
Pandora gave a small laugh. " C'mon Crusher, you have to be able to hold you're sword before you can start swinging it at people."
" I know how to swing it!" Crusher contended, grunting as he was making no progress in lifting the sword. Finally he dropped it on the ground. " I'm just not strong enough." He said, looking down. " Could I pick a lighter sword?"
The female warrior walked over to him, and lifted up his chin with her hand.
" Watch this." Pandora said, as he crouched down near the sword, wrapped her pinky finger around the hilt, and lifted it up effortlessly.
The young boy was impressed, but still defiant.
" You're older than I am, so you're stronger!" He contended.
" Crusher, do you really think I am stronger than you because I have bigger muscles in this place? You're forgetting where we are." Pandora put the katana back on the floor in front of her brother.
Crusher paused. " Is this like the roofs of those buildings?"
Pandora nodded. " This is the construct. It's like the Matrix, and so it has the same rules as the Matrix. But because the Matrix is not the real world, you don't have to obey those rules. That sword isn't too heavy for you, because...its not even a sword. Do you think that's metal the blade is made of?"
Crusher looked at the sword unhappily, and then walked over to it, and reached to pick it up.
Once again, it was too heavy. The boy with tall, spiky blonde hair grunted, and angrily kicked the sword, hard enough that it flew up at Pandora. His sister leaned over and threw her arm out to catch it.
" If you can kick the sword that hard, you can pick it up." His sister told him. " Here, catch!"
She tossed the blade before her brother could respond, so Crusher had no option but to catch it. He leaned forward anxious for it to fall in his hands, and when it did, when he wrapped his fingers securely around the hilt, holding it perfectly upright just fine.
" It's not too heavy?" Crusher said, surprised.
Pandora shook her head. " You were thinking about it too much. I knew that if I threw it at you, you would catch it on impulse, and not have time to over think it. But now that you believe you can hold it, you'll be fine."
Crusher nodded, as he smiled and started to skillfully wield the sword, slashing enemies that weren't there, cutting through imaginary obstacles, and slicing into transparent evil-doers.
" Hermes, load the Agent program." Pandora said with a smug grin.
Crusher looked up with surprise as the white abyss he was standing in transformed into a busy street sidewalk, with hundreds of people moving around him. He sheathed his sword, as Pandora started walking forward.
" This is what the Matrix is like, little brother." Pandora said. " You know it, you were living in it up until recently."
Crusher followed his sister, though he was amazed at how people seemed to be walking around her, and right into him.
" But not everyone is as lucky as you are, Crusher. In fact, a lot of people are still plugged into the Matrix, and even though the war is over, it can still be a very dangerous place."
" Why?" Crusher asked, as a woman in a business suit nearly knocked him over. " You mean like car crashes, and fires?"
" No Crusher." Pandora told him, stopping for a moment. " I'm talking about programs. The Matrix runs on programs, it is a system dependent on them. Most...you'll never notice. But some, more troublesome programs, appear as humans. The biggest problem, Crusher, is that some of these programs can use people, people that aren't free like us."
The two started walking again.
" What do they look like?" Crusher asked, putting his hand on his sword.
Pandora shrugged. " The programs I'm talking about? Well, because they can use people, they could be every person walking around us right now. Anyone that is still plugged in can be taken over by these programs."
Crusher had stopped listening to her, as he was fascinated by a large Dalmatian trotting down the sidewalk.
" Crusher!" His sister yelled. " What did I just say?"
The little boy's face turned red. " Well, I was looking at the dog, but..."
" What dog?" Pandora said with a smile.
Crusher turned around, expecting to see his Dalmatian, and was instead greeted by a tall man in a jet black suit with slicked back hair, pointing a gun at his head.
The young boy screamed as he drew his sword out effortlessly, rolled to the side, and sliced off the arm that was holding the gun.
The Agent simulation turned to Crusher angrily and knocked him down with his remaining arm. When the Agent started to walk towards him again, Crusher leaned forward and shoved his sword through the Agent's stomach, impaling him. Crusher's eyes went wide as the Agent was about to fall on him, and he rolled out of the way.
Pandora was stunned, she had planned on telling Hermes to freeze the program, so she could explain Agents to Crusher, but...it seemed he knew how to handle himself pretty well.
" Pandora...who is that guy?" Crusher said, backing away.
" That was an Agent simulation. They are the programs that can move in and out of any human that we haven't freed. They don't like us, and will try to kill us."
Crusher's eyes went wider when blue electricity overcame the agent simulation, and lying impaled in front of him now was an old man in jogging clothes.
" I...killed an old man?" Crusher said, horrified with himself.
" No, Crusher, this is just a simulation. But these are the people that Agents take over. Agents don't get hurt, they leave these people behind, their hosts. But if that were a real Agent, Crusher, I wouldn't have wanted you to draw your sword. I would have wanted you to run."
" Why?" Crusher asked. " I won! I beat him!"
Pandora shook her head. " A real Agent would have shot at you before you turned around. Your sword is a good weapon, and I'm glad you're not afraid to use it. But right now, we're going to play a new game."
" Okay. What is it?"
" Tag." Pandora said with a smile. " Hermes, load up another Agent!"
Crusher watched as a tall woman walking by him started convulsing, and her face and hands started to change shape. Only a moment later, she had changed, completely transformed, into an Agent.
" Okay, Crusher." Pandora said, as the Agent simulation started walking towards him. " He's it."
Crusher looked very surprised and terrified, and so he ripped his sword from the body of the man he had killed, and started to run.
He ran his ass off.