Disclaimer: See Part III.
Deus Ex Machina
Chapter 14
"I'll be gentle," Asuka echoed. "I'll be...gentle," she said again, with a low, sultry whisper. "I'll be so, so-"
"Enough!" Kelly yelled, red faced. "Why aren't you jacked in?" she demanded.
Asuka shrugged. "The professor said we were short an operator today. I got stuck on the outside." She leaned back in her seat, looking past Kelly to Kensuke. "I think she's trying to change the subject."
"Obviously," Kensuke replied, adjusting his glasses.
"Somebody's got a cru-ush," Asuka sang.
"I do not!" Kelly protested. "I just..."
"Yes?" Asuka asked, leaning toward Kelly. On Kelly's other side Kensuke did the same.
Kelly's expression grew soft as she looked at the boy lying in his link chair. "He's been out for less than two weeks. He still looks overwhelmed by all of this."
Asuka and Kensuke leaned back, frowning.
"He's also pretty cute," Kelly thought out loud.
"Ah HA!"
"Wait, wait, I mean..."
Inside the Construct, Shinji Ikari and Stephen Tsujimoto stared at the city that had appeared around them.
"Are we in America?" Shinji asked.
"New York," Stephen replied. "Is this real?"
"It's a simulation," Shinji replied. "We use these for training. Though I've never been in an exercise in a place this large," he added, staring at the buildings that towered overhead, crowding the sky.
"What are we supposed to do?"
"We have to find something," Shinji said. He reached into his coat and produced a large envelope. "It could be a person, or an object we have to retrieve."
Shinji tore the envelope open and poured its contents into his hand. "A key?"
"That looks like a locker key," Stephen replied. "Where does it go?"
Shinji shrugged. He reached into his pocket, retrieving his phone. Punching the speed dial, he called their operator.
Kelly's cheerful tone answered after the first ring. "Operator, what's up?"
"We need to know...well, what's going on," Shinji replied.
"Right." Shinji heard typing as Kelly brought up the exercise information. "Okay," the operator began, "That key is for a drop that was used by another crew. They lost a package and couldn't retrieve it."
"They lost it?" Shinji asked. "How?"
"I don't know," Kelly replied. "The ship hasn't transmitted since making the drop. Go to the 34th and Penn Station and find out what they left in the drop."
"Okay. Anything else?"
"There's a high terrorism alert in the city," Kelly said.
"Um...okay," was Shinji's confused replied.
"That means there will be Agents."
"Oh."
"Good luck!"
Shinji hung up his phone and pocketed it. He patted his jacket, making sure that his pistol was in its place. He quickly explained the mission to Stephen.
Stephen nodded. "Should we take the subway?"
Shinji glanced around, examining the nighttime crowd. "Yeah."
The quickly found themselves on an empty subway car. Shinji sat down and drew his pistol. He checked the clip to make sure it was fully loaded, and chambered a round.
Stephen, hanging onto an overhead rail, watched Shinji. "What are the Agents?" he asked.
Shinji holstered his weapon. "They're programs. I saw them, once. They're...dangerous. They hunt the soldiers who go into the Matrix."
"Morpheus said they killed my sister," Stephen said.
Shinji glanced at Stephen in surprise, then looked down. "I'm sorry."
Nothing more was said during the train ride. They reached the station and left the train, quickly finding the lockers. Shinji opened the locker and found a key card inside.
"Hilton New York," he read.
In a parallel Construct, Rei and Mouse had already reached the hotel. They walked slowly down the hallway, nerves tensed for a possible ambush.
As they reached the designated room, Mouse turned his back to the door. He drew a pair of pistols and held them at his sides.
Rei gently slid the keycard into the lock, and turned the doorknob. The door slid open, revealing only darkness. Rei drew her pistol and stepped in. Glancing each direction down the hall, Mouse backed in and closed the door.
Inside, the room was only lit by city light filtering in around the edges of the curtains. The two teens quickly searched the room.
"It doesn't look like anybody stayed here," Mouse said.
Rei opened the drawer of the nightstand between the room's two beds. Inside was a small tape recorder. She took it out and pressed the play button.
"This is Captain Gilliam of the Belshazzar. The Bell has been damaged by sentinels. We fought them off, for now, but we can't move. We came into the Matrix to attempt a drop; we've been gathering information on over a dozen potential recruits.
"The info was stolen by a renegade program. He's called Alexi Gregor. He killed two of my crewmembers and stole all the data. Agents got the remainder of my officers. I lost the Agents, but I doubt I'll live long enough to get to an exit. Even if I do, the sentinels will be waiting for me.
"Whoever's listening to this, you've got to get that info back. If it falls into the Agents' hands they'll destroy those kids. Kill Gregor, negotiate with him, just do what ever it takes so we can get them out."
There was nothing more after that. Rei stopped the tape and put the recorder into a pocket.
"Should I call Kensuke?" he asked.
Rei nodded.
Two seats away from the bespectacled operator, Asuka was relaying the same information to her own team. "This Gregor thinks he's a crime lord. He lives in Brooklyn, and owns numerous bars and clubs throughout the city."
She typed in several commands, calling up the meager information that was provided about the renegade program. "You can most likely find him at the Grey Harbor, a bar on the east side."
Asuka hung up on her team and leaned back, stretching her arms over her head and yawning.
"You didn't tell them about the APB," Kensuke said.
Asuka shrugged.
"Or the fact that you sent them to a gangster bar, which won't welcome a couple of teenage boys," Kelly added.
"I'm just trying to make it interesting," Asuka replied.
"Are you trying to lose?" Kensuke asked.
"No. If I was, I would have found a way to get the Agents' attention." She stifled a yawn. "I should be in there. Operating is boring."
Under advice from their operator, Shinji and Stephen located the renegade program's home. Gregor lived in a loft apartment over a warehouse he owned, reportedly used to move assorted contraband into the city. Such activities were irrelevant to Zion's soldiers, and the program was normally ignored by Agents as well.
The two teens warily approached the building. The apartment was dark, but there were guards inside the warehouse. The two exchanged a brief glance, silently agreeing to avoid a confrontation.
They slipped behind the warehouse, finding stacks of huge shipping containers. The two leapt up them, ascending ten feet with each jump. A final leap, and they were on the roof.
"What do we do now?" Stephen whispered.
Shinji glanced around slowly, noting several skylights in the roof. He walked to the nearest one and looked down. The apartment below was empty, and cast in deep shadows.
Shinji's instincts screamed at him to leave, contrasting the training that said he could easily get in. He wavered on indecision for a moment, before slowly drawing his pistol.
He kneeled down and opened the skylight. Without a word, he dropped into the apartment, landing in a crouch in the center of a spacious living room. He held his breath, waiting for the inevitable ambush. When none came, he rose, stepping out from under the opening.
Stephen dropped down, landing heavily. Shinji spun around as the loud thump echoed through the apartment.
"Sorry," Stephen whispered. He stood upright and looked around the room.
Shinji pulled out his cell phone and called the operator. "What are we looking for?"
Kelly glanced over mission data. "Captain Gilliam favors physical representations. Look for a folder, or a book."
Shinji thanked her, and Kelly disconnected. She glanced at the operator consoles on either side of her. "How are you guys doing?" she asked.
Asuka grinned. "I've got my team involved in a pretty good bar fight."
Kelly frowned. "That's not part of the mission."
"I know, but it is funny."
Kelly sighed and looked to her left. "Kensuke?"
The boy glanced at her. "They're at the bar, too, but we're going to be a little more subtle."
"How so?" Kelly asked.
"This Gregor has, um...tendencies, which Rei can try to exploit to get close to him."
"What?" Kelly asked.
Asuka understood what he had implied. "Pervert."
"Hey, it was her idea," Kensuke replied. "Who writes these programs, anyway?"
"Someone at the Fleet HQ," Kelly replied. "I think." She typed another command on her keyboard, brining up more information on a secondary screen.
Asuka glanced over at the info. "Kensuke, did you forget to mention something?"
Kensuke smirked. "I'm just trying to make it interesting," he said. With a press of a button, his secondary displays loaded the image translators, creating a video image of his team, complete with audio.
The entrance to the Grey Harbor was guarded by a pair of large bouncers. Both men wore short-sleeves in defiance of the chilly evening weather, exposing tattoo-covered arms.
Rei pulled her hood tight over her head, concealing her unusual hair color. The guards sneered at the glasses-wearing teens as they approached.
"Beat it," one said. "No kids allowed."
Mouse stepped forward, glaring up at the men. "We're here to see Gregor." He turned his head slightly, in Rei's direction. "We have business with him."
The guards glanced between the two. "Go up the stairs in the kitchen," one said. "He'll be waiting."
Their senses were assaulted as soon as they entered the club. The packed crowed gyrated to the heavy beat the DJ laid down. The acrid smell of cigarettes and sweat stung their noses. Lasers and strobe lights flashed in their eyes, blinding them with brilliant afterimages.
The two pushed their way through the crowd, eventually reaching the bar. They slipped past it and into the kitchen, finding the stairs they were directed to.
Another guard was waiting for them at the top. "Follow me," he said gruffly. Unlike the two bouncers, Rei was certain that this one was a program.
He opened a heavy wood door, ushering them into a massive, opulent office. Thick carpet and rich wood paneling helped reduce the music from below to a dull thump, felt more than heard.
The office was dimly lit. Another guard stood inside the door, which the first closed. Across the room, two men were seated in high backed chairs.
"Come in, my friends," one said. "Please, join me. I understand that you would like to conduct business."
"Yes, we would," said Mouse.
The man leaned forward. He was heavy set, with thin gray hair and malicious eyes. "Well, step forward and let me look at you."
Rei did as he asked, stepping forward and pulling her hood down. She removed her sunglasses, and fixed the man with her brilliant red eyes.
Gregor stared at her, surprised by her unnatural hair and eyes. He blinked a few times, regaining control of his features. "I apologize for my rudeness," he said. "But I did not mean for you to step forward." He turned toward Mouse. "I meant him."
Rei glanced over her shoulder at her partner. His eyebrows had shot far above the top of his sunglasses frame.
"Him?" he echoed.
Kensuke, Asuka, and Kelly burst into laughter as a look of horror crept over Mouse's face. Even with the limited color resolution of the image screens, they could see the blood draining from his face. It was even funnier to them when his body, lying in the link chair, did the same thing.
Kensuke gleefully banged away on his keyboard. Seconds later, still images of Mouse appeared on their screens. "I'm a bad person," Kensuke grinned.
"He's going to kill you when he gets out," Asuka said, still laughing.
"I'm going to kill him when I get out," Mouse hissed. He was not laughing.
Behind him, the guards shifted warily. Mouse spun around, drawing his pistols. He put a pair of bullets into each of the programs, dropping them before they could draw their own weapons.
Gregor and his partner both leapt to their feat, going for their own weapons. Rei jumped forward, lashing out at Gregor with a foot. He flew back into his chair, tumbling it backwards as Rei spun in mid air. Her other foot lashed out the other man, sending him crashing down on the coffee table. The table broke, but not before snapping his neck.
Rei landed on the ground with her back to Gregor, her pistol out and pointed back at the program, who lay still on the ground. Mouse stepped next to her as she rose, pointing his own weapons at Gregor.
The program found himself trying to stare down three different barrels.
"Now, where are Captain Gilliam's files?" Rei asked.
Gregor's eyes widened as he heard the question from lips that didn't move. "You're rebels," he whispered.
"What was your first clue?" Mouse sneered.
"You won't get it," Gregor said. "I've got it stored away at my home. Converted, to data. You rebels can't access everything."
"We don't have to," Mouse said. He pulled the trigger of his right gun. Gregor screamed as his kneecap was shattered.
"You'll get it for us," Mouse said.
"Forget it," Gregor hissed.
"I've always wondered why programs fell pain," Mouse said, looking thoughtful. "And how much of it they can take."
"A lot more than a human can," Gregor replied, trying to sit up.
Mouse shoved him back down with a boot to the chest. "I have plenty of ammo," he replied.
Kensuke winced as Mouse fired again.
"He's really mad," Kelly said.
They watched as Mouse reloaded his pistol. He had emptied the previous clip next to the program's head, inflict at least temporary deafness in his ear.
"He's going to kill me when he gets out," Kensuke remarked.
Shinji searched through the apartment, trying to find some clue about the missing information. He had already searched every cabinet, opened every book, and even looked into the hidden safe thanks to a safe-cracking program Kelly uploaded, but he still hadn't found any hint of the stolen information.
Stephen, meanwhile, had sat at the computer, searching though its hard drives for suspicious information. He soon stumbled on a surprising file.
"Hey, Shinji, come here."
Shinji crossed the large living room, leaning over Stephen's shoulder to look at the screen. "What is it?"
"I don't think our friend is running a standard operating system here." Stephen moved the mouse and clicked a green icon. The screen immediately went dark, and green code began scrolling down from above.
"The Matrix?" Shinji asked.
"Could it be?" Stephen asked.
"I don't know," Shinji replied. He pulled out his cell phone and pressed talk, enabling the speaker function at the same time.
"Operator," Kelly said.
"Are you seeing this?" Shinji asked.
"You've tapped directly into the Construct code," Kelly said. "How?"
"It was already on this computer," Stephen said.
"I see," Kelly replied. They heard her typing for a moment. "It looks like this thing has a connection to the Matrix itself. Or would, if you were in the Matrix," she added. "It's a data structure, a way to store info where no human in the Matrix could possibly reach."
"Could the missing data be here?" Shinji asked.
"Maybe. Let me hack in and see what's there."
"How can you hack this?" Stephen asked. "Isn't it encrypted?"
"Yeah, but there are ways to get around that," Kelly replied. "I could show you some time, if you like."
"That's not all she'll-" another voice spoke up, and was quickly cut off as Kelly placed her hand over her microphone.
There were several muffled, unintelligible exchanges before she spoke to them again.
"Sorry. I found our missing data. I've copied it to the local system, and have deleted it from Gregor's files. You guys can head to the exit, we're done."
Rei stepped through the door and looked around briefly. There was no one in short hallway. She nodded back to Mouse, who followed her out of the room. He closed the door, shutting an unconscious Gregor and three dead guards inside.
"You sure this will work?" Mouse asked.
Rei nodded. "I believe that he was telling the truth." She glanced over at the boy. "Do you feel better now?"
Mouse nodded. "Yeah."
"Are you still going to kill Kensuke?"
"Absolutely."
They were halfway down the stairs when sudden shouts stopped them.
"Police!" a voice screamed. It was followed by bursts of automatic gunfire.
"Go!" Mouse said. They turned and fled back up the stairs, rounding the corner as a SWAT officer reached the base of the steps.
The two charged back into Gregor's office. Rei ran to a window and opened it. Leaning out she saw numerous cops in the alley below.
"Fire escape," Mouse said, pointing to the building across the alley. He planted one foot on the windowsill and leapt out, grabbing onto the rail twenty feet away. As soon as he had climbed over, Rei leapt after him.
SWAT officers flooded into the room as she went. One rushed to the window, weapon raised, only to see the teens disappear onto the other building's roof. "Two suspects fleeing on the rooftops," he said into his radio. "We have suspects already down in here."
"Roger," came the reply. "Airborne unit will pursue."
Overhead, a helicopter spotlight shone down, illuminating Rei and Mouse.
Mouse drew both his pistols, firing at the aircraft. The spotlight shattered, returning darkness to the rooftop as the helicopter rose and backed away.
"We must go," Rei said. She turned and ran for the edge of the roof, leaping across the street and onto another building, landing lightly. Mouse followed, landing harder and rolling forward. Both sprinted forward, jumping to the next building.
Mouse's phone rang, and he drew it as he ran.
"Agents!" Kensuke warned.
Mouse stuffed the phone back in his pocket. "We're in trouble," he shouted to Rei.
"Follow me," she replied. Rei stepped off the edge of the roof, dropping to the alley three stories below.
Mouse landed next to her, ready to run again. To his surprise, Rei calmly walked out of the alley, pulling her hood into place over her hair. Mouse followed her out and around the corner. He almost ran again as a heavy thump echoed out of the alley they had just left.
Instead, Rei gently pulled him into a small restaurant. They quickly found a table in a dark corner and sat. Mouse saw two Agents sprint past the front windows. He choked on a sigh of relief, though, as a third agent stepped up to the glass, staring intensely into the restaurant.
After a moment he turned away, following after his companions.
Mouse finally relaxed, letting out a long breath. A waitress walked up to the table, asking for their order.
Mouse looked at Rei, who shrugged. He glanced around the room, trying to determine what kind of restaurant they were in. "Uh, we'll have two colas, and a pepperoni pizza," he said.
"Aw, that's cute," Kelly cooed. "It's like they're on a date or something."
"I'm going to kill him," Kensuke growled as he stared at the screens.
"I think somebody's jealous," Asuka smirked as she disconnected her teammates' link plugs. Both had been killed by Agents. They immediately began to complain about "lack of support" and "insufficient information", only to be lectured back about real soldiers having the ability to succeed with no information whatsoever.
Ignoring the ranting, Kelly logged her teammates out. The professor walked over as she unplugged their cables. "Congratulations," he said. "You're done first. No Agent interaction, no confrontations, zero unnecessary civilian casualties; a perfect score." He stepped back and raised his voice, addressing the entire room. "You are all free to leave as soon as you're done. I'll see you tomorrow."
Several other students gathered around the winning team. Most of the class was still in the middle of the exercise, and the professor had returned to his desk to monitor their progress.
Shinji was surprised to see Touji and Hikari approaching. "You're done?" he asked.
Touji shrugged. "We got caught in the police raid on the club. I tried to fight through the SWAT types and get at that Gregor guy first, but Agents showed up. You know what happens after that."
Shinji nodded. "Is that how you got that bruise?" he asked, pointing to a purple mark on the side of Touji's forehead. "Some kind of carry over from the Construct."
"No," said Vijay, who had operated for Touji. "He did that after I disconnected him. He somehow managed to plant his face into the back of Hikari's link chair. I think he was-mrrf." Touji wrapped Vijay in a headlock, clamping the boy's face into his own side.
"I slipped," he said, in a tone that said he would not allow argument.
"Yeah right," Asuka replied. "You may be an idiot, but I don't believe that. You were trying to look down Hikari's sweater, right?"
Touji's eyes widened in fury. He dropped Vijay, who gasped for air. "That idea never even occurred to me!" he yelled defensively.
"Only because you're too dumb to think of it," Asuka replied.
"But you did think of it," Touji shot back. "So who's the pervert here?"
Stephen took an unconscious step back from the two, as did everyone else. Seeing his confused expression, Kelly patted him on the arm. "Just sit back and watch the drama," she said.
"And watch out for flying furniture," Shinji added.
Far away, on the cold surface of what used to be Ontario, a meteor smashed down, vaporizing several acres of the great glacier that covered much of the northern regions of the world.
A unit of maintenance machines was dispatched, to check on the status of a substation that was only a few dozen miles from the point of impact. Their last transmission was quickly relayed to Zion.
"I can't believe you stopped for pizza," Asuka grumbled for the sixth time.
"It's not like they really ate it," Shinji said.
Asuka glared at him. "If I kicked you while we were jacked in, it would hurt, right?"
"Right," Shinji agreed.
"It's the same thing. They may not have actually eaten anything, but it tasted good."
"It was not very good," Rei signed. "The pizza was very greasy."
"That doesn't matter," Asuka replied. "It must have been better than most of what we have here. And another thing..." she trailed off as she realized she was walking alone.
She turned back and saw Shinji and Rei staring past her, into the depths of the Geofront. "What?" she asked, turning around.
They were standing on the crest of a small ridge that ran through the city, giving a good view of the north and east of the Geofront. At the Project Center, more than a mile away, one of the great transports was settling onto the loading dock over one of the Evangelion bays.
Author's notes: Well, I like this chapter a lot more than the last one. I hope all of you do, as well.
And in case you missed the blatantly obvious hints, there will be an Angel battle in the next chapter. Look for it in two weeks.