Disclaimer: See Part I.
Deus Ex Machina
Chapter 1
Shinji Ikari trudged home, not hurrying to get there. All that waited for him was an empty house. He had his favorite SDAT tape running. Sometimes music was all that made life bearable.
Lost in the music, he didn't pay attention to where his feet took him until he was standing in front of his father's company. Ikari Automotive occupied a small warehouse, which was both factory and offices for the small spark plug manufacturer. Shinji stared at the building for several minutes, before he slowly walked to the front door.
Inside it was the tiny lobby, where the receptionist usually was. Her desk was empty, though a cheery sign declared that she would be back in five minutes. Shinji walked past it and stared at the office door. His hand clenched into a fist, and loosened, then clenched again. He held it like that for a moment, then knocked on the door.
"Come in," barked a harsh voice. Shinji stepped inside and stood there, waiting for his father to notice him. The name sign on his desk was half covered with papers; he could only read his father's first name. Gendo. "What are you doing here?" the man asked, barely sparing a glance for his son.
"Um...I was wondering, if you would be home tonight. For dinner. I have some information from school that I'm...supposed to show to my parents." He winced with the last word.
His father continued reading the report in front of him. "No, I won't be home," he finally said. "Not until very late. I have too much to finish by Friday, so don't wait up for me. If you have anything that needs signed, leave it on the table."
Shinji sighed. He had expected this. "Fine." He walked out of the office. "I stopped waiting up a long time ago," he said to the closed door. The receptionist still hadn't returned.
He walked the sidewalk again, trying to lose himself to the music once more. His father was barely home long enough to sleep, let alone raise a son. Shinji only knew he was remembered because his allowance was on the kitchen table every Monday morning.
Six months ago, he had taken his allowance and bought a ticket for the Tokyo rail line. He rode the train for more than two days, circling the city, until a police officer finally noticed him and took him home. On that second day, the school had called his father and asked why Shinji had missed consecutive days of school.
He didn't see his father until the day after that. He was scolded for making a nuisance of himself. At that moment, he had decided that he had no use for his father anymore.
So why was he trying to get his attention again?
*Are you ready?*
Shinji spun around when he heard a voice whisper to him. He looked around, but saw no one. He realized that his SDAT player was on full volume; he couldn't have heard anything that quiet. Shinji took out the earphones and looked around.
*The Matrix has you.*
There was a girl down the street, a block away from him. Even from the distance, he could tell she was staring at him. The girl's red eyes locked onto his, holding them him with their gaze.
A rustle of wings caused Shinji to glance away. A flock of birds had taken off from a nearby phone line. He looked back to the girl, but she was gone. Shinji ran down the street, but the girl was nowhere in sight.
He stared at the phone lines again. Sometimes, he imagined that he could see the electricity and data running down the wires, tiny green specks flowing inside the black line. He shook his head, and turned for home.
Shinji sat down at his computer. It was one of the only things he really enjoyed. He started a CD of classical music, and connected to the internet. A faint smile crossed his lips. The world wide web was less secure when he was roaming it.
Hacking came naturally to him. Systems always seemed to bend to his will. He hadn't ever dared to hack any major governmental systems, and usually didn't change anything he did get into. But he knew he could, if he had to.
He had several new emails waiting for him, from his "friends", hackers from around the world who shared their information and tricks with him. Occasionally, he shared a few of his tricks with them.
He quickly deleted the bugs attached to two of his emails. Trojans, designed to scan his computer and send information about it back to the person who sent it to him. One of the offenders would be getting a very nasty virus in return.
The other offender had produced some useful information, and thought he could get some more. Shinji sent his own trojan back. As long as this one could help him, his system would be left intact. Later, though, the FBI might be receiving an anonymous tip. The hacker didn't know what country "Invincible" was in, so he certainly couldn't finger a Japanese teenager.
Shinji read the email.
Invincible,
I got these out of FBI and Interpol reports. Thought
you might be interested:
Hacker Thomas "Neo" Anderson, reported in Boston, eludes
police and FBI agents. One officer dead, seven others
suffered extensive injuries.
Terrorist "Morpheus" again eludes Scotland Yard
detectives in Heathrow. Despite sealing a terminal, he
was not captured.
I think there's more info here. I'll need to do some
more digging to find out though. You interested or
not?
Cypher
After the second report was a fuzzy photo of a black man wearing sunglasses. Shinji squinted at it, trying to memorize the face. "So that's Morpheus," he said to himself. "Those people sure get around."
Shinji walked across the room and picked up his cello. It was another thing he truly enjoyed. The warm, low sound filled his room. He relaxed as he played, letting the stress of school and his father bleed out with the notes. His eyes fluttered shut as his hands continued to play. He looked like he might have been asleep, but the song didn't stop until the final note, which hung in the air for a long moment afterwards. Shinji breathed a relaxed sigh, and opened his eyes.
His calm was marred by a frown when he looked at his computer. An instant message window had opened, even though he was certain that the program was not running. He put his cello away and sat down at the computer again. He checked the message program. It was indeed shut off, but he had a message anyway. Confused, he finally read the message.
VoiceOfSilence: Hello, Shinji.
His frown deepened. He had never seen that username before. He wasn't sure what concerned him more, that this person knew his name, or that they could reach his system this easily.
InvincibleTruth: Who are you?
VoiceOfSilence: That does not matter.
VoiceOfSilence: Are you ready?
His fingers froze. The whispered question he had heard earlier echoed in his mind. That girl?
InvincibleTruth: Was that you I saw?
VoiceOfSilence: Yes.
InvincibleTruth: How can you do this?
VoiceOfSilence: It does not matter. I can help you.
VoiceOfSilence: You have been looking for Morpheus
and Neo. You are looking for the answer, which you
think they can give you.
VoiceOfSilence: You know the question, don't you?
Shinji's breath caught in his throat. There were hints and whispers online, of secrets and strange occurrences, of something beyond any person's understanding. His fingers hovered over the keyboard, unwilling to commit the thought to words, lest it slip away from his grasp.
InvincibleTruth: What is the Matrix?
There was a long moment before he got a response.
VoiceOfSilence: The answer is here, if you are
ready.
InvincibleTruth: I am ready.
VoiceOfSilence: Almost. But we're running out of
time. They're coming. Do not trust them.
Shinji started when his doorbell rang. He glanced back at his monitor, and saw that the chat window had gone blank. He stared at it until the doorbell rang a second time. Rising quickly, he ran out of the room, thinking that the girl maybe wanted to speak with him in person.
He opened the front door, only to find a man in a dark suit standing outside. "Shinji Ikari?" he asked.
"Y-yes. Can I help you?"
"I am Agent Sato. I would like to have a word with you."
Shinji looked from the agent to the other two men with him. All three were dressed in identical gray suits, with sunglasses and radio earpieces. While Agent Sato was Japanese, the others where white. "Am I in trouble?" he asked.
"That's what we will discuss." said the Agent, stepping into the house. Shinji stood aside so the other two could enter. As he shut the door, he heard a motorcycle engine revving, and saw a flash of long red hair flowing as the rider sped down the street.
Shinji lead the visitors into the dining room. He glanced at the clock. 7:30. His father wouldn't be home for several hours.
Dark clouds had moved in that evening, obscuring the setting sun. Shinji turned the dining room lights on, but the rest of the house was still cast in dark, oppressive shadows.
Agent Sato sat at the table, so Shinji sat across from him. The other two agents stood at the entrance to the room. Shinji couldn't help but feel cornered.
The agent pulled a large folder out of his briefcase and opened it. One glance at the contents caused Shinji's blood to run cold.
"I'll be honest with you, Shinji. We know all about you, about what you do under the name 'Invincible'. A fitting nickname, as you are one of the most sophisticated and subtle hackers we've dealt with in several years. It was made even more difficult because you rarely ever did anything to your targets. It seems that you simply hacked your way in for the sake of hacking into things."
The agent removed his glasses and leaned forward. "You are very talented, Shinji. It takes a master hacker to even attempt what you have done.
"The penalties for your crimes can be tremendous." He leaned back and motioned to the other two agents. "My companions here are from the American FBI. They wanted me to simply punish you, or even get you extricated to the US to stand trial for your crimes against their country. But I convinced them that you could be useful to us.
"There are greater dangers than a single high school student. We believe that a man named Morpheus, or members of his cell, will attempt to contact you. You may have heard of these people, but I doubt you know the extent of their crimes. Morpheus is considered the most dangerous terrorist in the world. Kidnapping, murder, and widespread destruction are their methods of operation.
"If you help us, I will have your record erased. You will have a clean slate, and even get a chance to use your abilities productively." The agent leaned forward, almost pleading. "Will you help us, Shinji?"
Shinji shifted in his seat. The man's gaze seemed to bore into his skull. From the doorway, the other two agents radiated menace and contempt. Shinji had conflicting urges to run, or admit that he had already been contacted. Under the table, his hand slowly tightened, and relaxed, repeating the cycle several times. Finally, he spoke. "That...that sounds like a nice deal. But I haven't been contacted."
"Really?"
"Yes. And...I don't think we should be having this conversation, not without my father or a lawyer here." He sat up straighter, feeling bolder as he spoke the words. In his lap, his hands were balled into fists.
Agent Sato sighed and put his sunglasses back on. "I'm disappointed, Shinji. I thought I could count on you."
Shinji smiled slightly. "I have my rights."
"Your rights? Your rights are meaningless, Shinji Ikari," the agnet growled. Sato stood as the other two rushed forward, grabbing Shinji by the arms and lifting him into the air. He was slammed down on the table. One of the agents grabbed his jaw and twisted his head to the left.
Sato pulled a tiny cylinder from his pocket. "You will help us, Shinji, like it or not." He tapped the tip of the cylinder. A tiny red light lit on one end, and the thing seemed to grow, sprouting several short, thin tentacles. He set it on the side of Shinji's head.
Shinji tried to shake it off, but the agents were holding him too firmly. He could feel the thing approaching his ear, sticking its legs inside, and pulling itself down his ear canal. He jerked and screamed, overwhelmed by pain.
With one final jolt, he tumbled out of his bed. He struggled to untangle his limbs from his sheet. He lay on the floor panting, gingerly touching his right ear. Was it just a dream?
He looked up at his clock. 2 am. Shinji stood and walked to the bathroom. Light snoring carried from his father's bedroom. He didn't know when the man had come home.
"Was it just a dream?" he whispered to himself.
In the bathroom, he splashed water on his face. Slowly, he examined his face. His ear seemed fine, and there was no pain. There weren't any bruises on his neck. The way the men had held him down, there probably should have been. "Just a dream."
Shinji walked to the dining room and turned on the light. Everything looked normal, not like the room had seen a struggle earlier. He walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water. As he drank, the phone rang.
He picked it up. "Hello?"
A deep, warm voice answered. "Hello Shinji."
"Morpheus?"
"Yes. This line is tapped. Do you want to meet?"
"Why?"
"They're pressing you. They don't understand what you are, and it could be disastrous for everyone if we don't get you out."
"What...I am? What do you mean?"
"Your time has grown short. Are you ready?"
He swallowed. That question again. "Yes."
"Go to the bus stop outside your school. Be there in 20 minutes." The other phone clicked off. Shinji stared at his phone for a moment, before rushing to his room to get dressed.
Eighteen minutes later, Shinji slid to a stop outside his school. He bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath. It had stopped raining when he left his home, but it started again a few minutes before he got there. He was wet, cold, and tired. He stood under the sheltered bus stop and tried not to think about the trouble he might be getting into.
A tall, black clad man walked up to him, ignoring the rain. And it seemed that the rain ignored him to, as his hair and coat remained dry. "Hello Shinji."
Shinji looked at the man cautiously. That wasn't the same voice he spoke with earlier. He asked the obvious question, ignoring the fact that it could be the most dangerous. "Where's Morpheus?"
"He had to prepare a few things, so I came to meet you." He walked to the bench and sat down. "My name is Neo."
"Neo?" Shinji stared at him, dumbfounded. "You're Neo?"
The man smiled and nodded. "Yes."
"It's great to finally meet you."
Neo smiled again. "I wondered if you would remember that."
"Of course. I learned a lot from the email we exchanged."
"Really?" asked Neo, sounding surprised. "We only communicated a few times. I don't think I could have shown you that much."
"Well...you must be a better teacher than you think."
Neo smiled. "Let's hope you're right." He extended his hand. In his open palm lay a silver cross necklace. "Please, put this on."
Shinji picked it up and inspected it. "What is it?"
"A sort of jamming device." As Shinji put it on, Neo inspected him from head to toe. Shinji felt that Neo was looking through him. Finally, Neo reached into his coat. "Hold still," he said, drawing what appeared to be a gun.
Shinji jumped and backed away. "What is this? What are you doing?"
"You're bugged Shinji. I need to remove it."
"Bugged?" Shinji's encounter with the agents flashed into his mind. He stared at the object in Neo's hands. It looked like a pistol, but had odd attachments that no weapon would have. "What do I do?"
"Sit down here, and look straight ahead." Neo instructed. Shinji did as he said, and Neo pressed the suction cup on the end of the barrel to his ear.
"Um...what exactly is this bug-OUCH!" A static shock stung his ear, and Shinji was sure that his eardrum was being sucked out. He jerked away as Neo withdrew the gun, pulling off the glass tube on its end. A tiny metal cylinder with a glowing red light lay inside it.
"That was real?!" shouted Shinji.
Neo smiled. "Not any more." He tossed it into the street and it bounced away. They watched the red light as it faded. Neo spoke again after it went dark, answering Shinji's unspoken question. "I'm here because we need your help. You have a talent, Shinji. A very rare, special talent."
"What kind of talent?"
"More importantly," said Neo, turning to Shinji, "you will be able to use that talent. There are other people in the world who have the same potential you do, but they can't accept it.
"Look around, Shinji. The world you know. The lie that everyone is forced to accept. But you know better. You know that there's something just beyond your senses, something you can't quite grasp."
"The Matrix?" Shinji asked, not daring to breathe.
"The Matrix is none of your concern." Shinji spun around to see Agent Sato and his companions approaching.
Neo leapt to his feet and stepped between them and Shinji. He pulled a cell phone out and spoke into it. "We've stayed too long."
Sato's eyes widened. "You!" All three agents whipped out their pistols. Shinji closed his eyes, waiting to be torn apart by bullets. He heard their gunfire, but nothing hit him. He opened his eyes to see two-dozen bullets floating in the air before Neo's outstretched hand.
A black sedan raced up the street, forcing one of the agents to dive out of the way. Neo quickly stepped forward and kicked him before he hit the ground. The agent soared high through the air, landing on the bus stop and smashing it.
Shinji couldn't believe what he saw. Neo and the agents fought, hand to hand, faster than humanly possible. Even though he was outnumbered, Neo clearly had the advantage. The agents couldn't even land a blow while Neo efficiently batted them aside.
The back door of the sedan opened. "Get in," Neo ordered, pushing Shinji toward it.
Shinji tumbled into the back seat and the car pulled away. "Wait! What about Neo?" He looked through the rear window, to see all three agents converge on Neo again. Shinji didn't understand how they could still be standing. He didn't understand a lot of what he had seen or heard this night.
"He'll be fine," said the woman in the passenger seat. "He'll probably beat us to our destination."
Shinji turned to look at the two people in the car. The man who drove had long hair pulled back into a ponytail, and seemed very intent on his driving. The woman had spiked, platinum blond hair, and wore an amused smirk. She was twisted toward him, and Shinji suspected that she had a gun out, hidden behind her seat.
"Who are you people?" Shinji asked.
"I'm Apoc," said the driver, "and this is Switch. We're part of Morpheus's crew."
"Why didn't Morpheus come to meet me?"
"He had to prepare some things for your arrival," said Switch.
"My arrival?"
"We have to...no. He'll explain it all." She glanced over her shoulder. "We're here."
The car stopped at an old, run-down apartment building. Shinji looked up at the bleak facade. He was certain it wasn't the rain that made this place so dreary. He followed the two adults up the stairs.
Apoc knocked on the heavy steel door marked 402. There was a scrape of metal, and it swung open. A dark-haired woman stepped back, holstering a pistol as they entered. Apoc shut the door.
"Where's Neo?" asked the woman.
"Toying with some Agents," answered Switch. "Is everything ready, Trinity?"
"Almost." The woman turned to Shinji. "Morpheus is waiting for you."
Shinji followed into a large living room. Switch and Apoc walked through a double door on one side of the room, closing it behind them.
Across, the room, a tall man stood staring out the window. He turned when the door clanged shut. "Hello, Shinji."
"Morpheus?" Shinji stared at the man for a moment. "Its...its an honor to meet you, sir."
Morpheus offered his hand, which Shinji shook. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Shinji." He motioned to a pair of large red chairs that faced each other. They both sat, as Morpheus observed him for a moment.
They turned when the metal door opened again. Neo strode into the room. "Sorry I'm late." He quietly crossed the room, and stood next to Trinity.
Shinji glanced around the room. It was dusty and worn, but seemed safe. Neo and Trinity stood in front of the door to the other room. The similarity between this and his earlier meeting with the Agents struck him. But these three people were different. While the agents had radiated menace and hate, these people were...hopeful? He wasn't sure he was reading them right, but he did feel at ease in their presence.
He turned back to Morpheus, who watching him intently. "Why are you here, Shinji?" he finally asked.
"Neo said that I have a gift, that can help you," he answered.
Morpheus smiled slightly. "Forget about what anyone else may want. Why did you decide to come here?"
Shinji thought for a moment. He had wanted to meet this man for several years. He had never thought about what he would ask, believing it was impossible. After the evening's events, anything he might have asked seemed irrelevant.
"I want the truth," he finally said.
"Are you ready for that, Shinji?" Morpheus reached to the small table next to him and picked up a silver cigarette box. He opened it and poured something into his hand. "The path before you will be difficult, and the cost is very high. But you will know the truth, and, as they say, the truth will set you free."
Morpheus leaned forward, and opened his right hand. A small blue pill lay in his palm. "This is it, Shinji. Time to decide. Take the blue pill, and you fall asleep, to wake up at home. You can think whatever you want; we won't meet again.
"Take the red pill," he opened his left hand, revealing it, "and you see everything."
Shinji looked at the pills for a moment. He looked up at Morpheus, whose eyes were obscured by his sunglasses. Shinji's face was reflected in both lenses, hovering over one of the pills. He raised his hand and reached forward. "Remember," said Morpheus, causing Shinji's arm to pause. "All I offer is the truth."
Shinji nodded, then reached forward again. He placed the red pill in his mouth, and washed it down with the glass of water that was on the table.
Morpheus smiled at him and stood. "Come with me." He led Shinji to the doorway that Neo and Trinity stood in front of. They opened it, giving Shinji their own pleased smiles. They walked into the next room, which was full of computers and equipment that Shinji had never seen before. At the center of the room was an old rotary phone.
"Apoc, are we ready?" ask Morpheus.
The pony-tailed man who had driven the car nodded. "We are good to go."
Trinity led Shinji to a chair at the center of the room, as Neo lifted the phone and set it on an old-style modem cradle. Trinity placed a medical sensor on the side of Shinji's neck.
"What is all this?" Shinji asked, curiosity overcoming him.
Morpheus turned to a computer screen. "The pill you took is part of a trace program. It will disrupt your I/O signal, so we can locate you."
"What?"
"It means stay calm," said Neo. "This will be...different."
Shinji glanced around the room, suddenly worried about what was to come. Too late now, he thought to himself.
He began to feel cold. It started inside him, in his chest, and quickly spread throughout his body. Before he could ask about it, a sudden pain pierced him. He grabbed at his chest, knowing it was futile. Perhaps this was what a heart attack felt like.
Morpheus pulled out a cellular phone. "We're going to need a signal very soon."
"We're getting a trace!" said Trinity.
Shinji fell out of his chair. As the pain increased, the air was squeezed out of his lungs. He writhed on the ground, barely conscious. His vision was blurred, and growing dark around the edges.
"Lock! Got him!" shouted Apoc.
"Now!" said Morpheus.
With a final jerk, Shinji was suddenly free of the pain and cold. His vision remained blurry, but was now pink, not black. His mind struggled to comprehend what he saw, of his own body, and the place he was in.
He was in a large tube. He pushed himself up, finding his way blocked by plastic. Using all the effort he could muster, he broke through it, rising out of the liquid. He suddenly choked, and pulled a tube out of his mouth. He looked at his body. There were numerous tubs running into his chest and limbs, and he could feel more on his back, and his head. He stared at the gray towers before him, dumbfounded.
Suddenly, a machine appeared in front of him, floating in the air. A huge claw sprung out of it and grabbed him by the neck. Shinji screamed as something drilled into the back of his skull. When the claw let go, he dropped back into the liquid, only to spring upright again when the other tubes on his body began breaking explosively away.
The back of the tube opened, sending him down a long tunnel and into a pool of water. He struggled to stay at the surface, barely able to move his arms. Before he sank under, a light appeared in the air. A huge, mechanical hand grabbed him and lifted him up.
Shinji felt cold metal lifting him, then strong human arms, as a blanket was wrapped around his body. He managed to open his eyes, and saw Neo. "Welcome to the real world, Shinji," he heard before he lost consciousness.
Shinji woke on a bed, under a bright light. He was unable to keep his eyes open, until something blocked the light. He opened his eyes and saw two faces hovering in the air over him. One was framed by long red hair, the other's was short, and pale blue. They were the two most beautiful creatures he had ever seen. Angels?
"Am I dead?" he rasped.
The redhead smiled. "Far from it."