WIRELESS

~*~

I weary of your foolishness!

~*~

A former crewman on the Nebuchadnezzar known as Dozer had been well-known for brewing liquor that was good for two things: degreasing engines and killing brain cells.  When he awoke, Asmodeus felt as if he'd downed five containers of it.

He rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself up, muttering, "Fucking... ow...."  He stared at the silver steel underneath him, then noticed his hand.  There wasn't much unusual about it... except for the black glove of an unfamiliar material covering it.  "... the hell?" he wondered.  He was pretty sure he hadn't been wearing any gloves.  He looked at his other hand, which was bare, then noticed the long black coat he was now wearing.

"What in...?"

Unsteadily he rose to his feet, noting the boots encasing his feet as well as the black cotton pants and a crimson shirt under the coat.  There were mirrored sunglasses on the floor; he picked them up with his gloved right hand and looked at them for a long moment.

Then he realised.

He looked around the unfamiliar area, then spotted a worried Danaë looking out the window.  She turned to look where he'd been lying, spotted his feet, and snapped her eyes up to his face.  "Asmodeus!" she cried, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder.

He froze, startled.  "I was afraid the transition had killed you," he heard her voice say, slightly muffled due to the fact that she was talking into his shoulder.  He gently put her from him.  "It'll take more than a blinding headache to kill me," he reassured her.  "Now, I have to figure out the hardest part of this."

She gave him an odd look.  "What do you mean?"  "Judging by the outfit," he replied, "I'd assume I'm either in the Matrix or in some subset of it.  I don't care about how or why it happened, I'm just wondering how I'm going to get out."

She nodded, then stumbled as the vehicle began to slow.  The grizzled man who'd contacted Danaë lurched towards them, giving Asmodeus a filthy glare.  "We're here," he leered at Danaë.  Asmodeus' eyes narrowed as he slipped the sunglasses onto his face.  If Ghost could see this, he would certainly kill that man.  Asmodeus was sorely tempted to do so.

The train stopped, and the driver kicked them off.  Asmodeus spotted Dana's patient right away – the pool of blood was a dead giveaway.  Danaë cried in dismay and ran to him; Asmodeus followed at a more sedate pace, noting the strong resemblance between the wounded program and the girl.

Ah, so this was the man who'd chosen to become a program.  He'd heard of Red from young Orion – though Orion wasn't exactly young now.  There were rumours that Danaë was descended from a sibling of this Red.  Looking at them, Asmodeus could believe it.

He heard an odd sliding noise and turned to see the train leaving.  "Hey!" he yelled, dropping down into the tracks and chasing after it – only to run back into the station from the other end.  He blinked, looking from one end to the other.

"...shit."

He climbed back up to the platform to see Danaë trying to staunch the blood flow.  Asmodeus recognised that he couldn't be of any use to her, so he started exploring his new look.  He did like this outfit, it made him look even more intimidating.

He paused, picturing himself mentally for a moment.  His clothes tended to be limited to what was made in Zion, so why didn't he match up with his residual self-image?  Exploring this outfit, he realised that he had an assault rifle attached to his side, as well as a pair of handguns holstered on either hip.

Feeling better now that he had weapons, Asmodeus walked over to where Danaë was treating the other redhead.  Stooping down, he borrowed her cell phone and walked away, dialling a number.

Nothing.

Asmodeus glared at the phone, them began tinkering with it.  He tried again, and grinned as he heard a voice come through.  "Operator."

"Hi, Camry."

"ASMODEUS!!!"

He winced and pulled the phone away from his ear.  He was sure he'd been deafened.  He put the phone to his other ear.  "Camry, be a dear and get Genesis on the line, would you?  It's important."

A few clicks, then Genesis picked up.  "Asmodeus, where in the hell are you?"

"Well," he said slowly, "you can find me and Danaë over in the Merovingian's part of 01, near what looks like a train station.  Don't ask.  Danaë should be easy to get out, but there's going to be a complication."

"What the hell do you mean?  Where are you?"

Asmodeus looked at the letters on the wall.  "Mobil Ave."  Silence from Genesis.  "Before you can ask, no, I don't know how it happened," Asmodeus told her.  "But I can tell you that it hurt.  A lot.  And I have no idea of how in the hell we're going to get me out of here."

~*~

"How's he doing?" Asmodeus asked Danaë softly.  An hour had passed since their arrival in Mobil Ave.  "He's stable for now," she replied.  "I managed to stop the bleeding, but he's going to need a transfusion and iron-rich foods for awhile."  Asmodeus arched an eyebrow.  "So he's as vulnerable as humans, huh?"

"If Red was ever vulnerable.  Marcus once told me that Red went into the Matrix to protect him from an Agent."  Asmodeus' eyes widened.  "Why?"  Danaë shrugged.  "You'd have to ask him."

Asmodeus leaned against a wall.  "So, the Frenchman made him a program, huh?  I wonder why he did that?"  Danaë sighed.  "I don't know, and if anyone does know, they aren't telling."

"Hmmm," was the non-committal reply.

Danaë gave him a sharp glance, but Asmodeus' expression was unreadable, his eyes hidden behind the sunglasses.  Why did he have his RSI so radically different from his appearance?  He had no self-esteem problems that she knew of.

Asmodeus' head snapped up.  "Somebody's coming," he said, seeming to tense slightly.  A second later, Danaë heard the sound of a subway pulling in.  The LOOP train pulled in, the doors opened...

And the Merovingian stepped out, flanked by the Twins.  Dana's eyes widened as she took an involuntary step back, but she relaxed as Tiger and Seth also appeared.  Tiger sniffed the air and paled a little, pressing his hand over his mouth and giving his boss a dirty look behind his back.

Ah, that was right, Tiger was a vampire.

"You two, get Red," he ordered the twins, who both gave Danaë suggestive leers as they gathered their fallen comrade.  Asmodeus stepped between them and her.  "Back off," he said calmly, eyeing them.  One of the Twins stared at him.  "Do we know you?" he asked.

He smirked and removed the sunglasses.  "You might."

Seth drew in a startled breath.  "No fucking way."  Tiger's eyes widened behind his sunglasses.  "He looks just like Jet."  Asmodeus blinked.  "Did I miss something?"

The Merovingian smirked.  "So, you are ze infamous Demon of Zion, non?"  "I might be," Asmodeus replied.  "I take it you're the Merovingian?"  "Mais oui," the Frenchman replied.  His eyes flicked over Asmodeus.  "You look remarkably like someone I knew well," he mused.  A hint of regret entered his eyes as he spoke.  A blink, and it was gone.

"So, you are ze human who dared to use me as a pawn in your little game?"

Asmodeus contrived to look innocent and failed quite miserably.  "Pawn?  Oh, no, no, no, no.  You weren't a pawn: you were a bishop!"  Tiger snorted at his words, and Seth looked amused.  "I do have a question, though," Asmodeus went on.  He looked at Danaë, then turned to the Merovingian and spoke in another language.  The Merovingian blinked, answering back in the same language.  Seth's eyes widened as he listened, and Tiger looked just as confused as Danaë.

The girl offered him a soft smile, and he promptly gravitated towards her.  "I hate it when he does things like that," Tiger confessed with a fanged grin.  The fangs reminded Danaë of her theory.  "Tiger... how would one tell if someone had been attacked by a vampire?  Apart from blood loss, I mean."

The androgynous vampire considered this for a moment.  "Well, the whole of the feeding area would be bruised for four to six inches from the bite," he said eventually.  "And don't look for pinprick marks like human movies show.  Fangs slash."

He frowned now.  "Why do you ask?  Sure you don't have vampires in the real world, do you?"  She shook her head.  "In the past two years or so," she said softly, "there have been twenty self-substantiations.  The problem is, none of them were aware of the lie of the Matrix."  She cast her eyes down.  "Most of them died or went insane... only three are alive and stable, and the fourth is fighting for her life.  With one exception, all have been female, and...," she hesitated, "both the first and the last ones had parallel bruises that looked like slashes.  The others may also have had bruises, but I don't know."

Tiger looked troubled.  "You think vampire attacks are the cause?"  Danaë nodded.  "It is possible," the vampire murmured, "but likely only if the our victim is a candidate for unplugging.  I've never heard of it otherwise, though."

Dana's eyes widened.  "Wait... I know how we can get Asmodeus out!"

"Oh, hell no!" Asmodeus cried when they ran it by him.  "My blood stays in my body, where it belongs!  Besides, as long as I'm here, I might as well explore the Matrix, right?"

The Merovingian rested a hand on Dana's shoulder.  "Your real world companions will not be ready to free you yet," he said, not unkindly, "and you will need a hard line to get out, yes?"  She twitched, and he let go.  "Besides," he added as he stepped on board the subway, "the child zat you are carrying needs rest."

~*~

Stopping there because I have an all-night Matrix marathon to host.  ^_^

~*~

Megami: Thanks, but the finals aren't for three weeks yet.  ^_^

Winter: ...   You're lucky I like you.

oR3n5: Er, I didn't name Tiger.  He's a canon character.  Remember the guy all in white during the Château Mêlée?  That's Tiger.  He came with a name.  Now, you tell me who else has a lame name, and I'll tell you if it was me or the Wachowskis named them that, yes?