THE FIFTH
By Lucky
I was sixteen years old. I didn't want to go to the club, but that's what Crystal wanted so I went, after all, what are friends for? So I went with her. As soon as we got there, Crystal was gone. We call her Crystal for a reason, she beautiful, but she has this addiction to Crystal Meth. I was alone. I was scared. And I was about to meet someone who would change my life forever.
"Hey, D!" He yelled at her from behind her. She knew who it was before she turned around.
"Nero. Hey." She said, trying to sound exited to see him over the loud music. He smiled.
"Wanna dance?!?!" he yelled into her ear, lips brushing her perfect skin.
"Sure... yea." He led her on to the dance floor through the sweaty bodies, holding her hand so she could follow him even with the flashing lights. He could have found her anywhere in that room, she was so perfect.
She let the beat move her; she knew this song well. They danced in the middle of the floor, grinding close to each other. He ran his hand up under her red dress, playing with her red garterer belt.
"God, your hot tonight. I want you soooo bad." He whispered in her ear from behind. She giggled but pulled his hand out from under her skirt.
"I don't think so, Nero." She said, turning around. He smirked at her.
"I don't think you have a choice, Diamond." He grabbed at her chest. Her fist hit him on the jaw, breaking two teeth. He spit the broken teeth out and laughed.
"Sweet." He said.
"Shit." She said.
"Diamond?" Crystals voice came in as she regained consciousness.
"Shit."
"Yea, get up."
"Help?" Diamond reached a hand up. Crystal grabbed her arm and pulled, falling over and passing out. Diamond looked around. She was still in the middle of the dance floor, people around her continued to dance. Only one did not. He stood there, blood dripping from his fists, licking a drop of blood off his lip. He was scrawny, with mousy brown hair, wearing all black, his shirt partially unbuttoned.
"Hey. You. Can you help me get up?" She asked him and he reached to her, helping her up, getting blood on her arm. She looked around the room, seeing Nero on the floor with a bloody nose and black eye. "Did you do that?" She asked him. He nodded, casually looking her up and down at the same time. "Hot Damn." She murmured. There was a scream from the door.
"POLICE!"
"Shit." He whispered.
"You need help?" He nodded. "They're looking for you, huh?" He nodded again. "You hit Nero for me?" He nodded for a third time. She smiled. "Come on." She took his bloody hand in hers and led him to a dark corner, pushing him down onto a chair. "One more question, then I'll help you. What's your name?"
"Mouse." He said quietly. "Who are you?"
"I'm just your Lady in Red, trying to help a fellow hacker." She said, grabbing his collar and straddling his lap. They began to kiss, growing more and more passionate. The flashlight shone on them after ten minutes. She broke their kiss by biting his lip where he had been bleeding. She half-turned, both of his hands resting on her thighs under her red salsa dress, only there for show, yet they both enjoyed it. The police shined their flashlights as a man in a suit and sunglasses walked over to them. He looked Mouse over, then Diamond, smirking.
"Go back to... that." He said, mildly disgusted, glancing at her messy blonde hair. She pulled Mouse back to her, knowing the police would leave soon. After they left the club, Mouse slowly pulled away, kissing her more and more lightly. Finally, he sighed, standing up, Diamond rolling onto the chair.
"I will never forget this. I'm gunna write you into one- well, never mind. But I guarantee, you'll be famous. If you ever need anything, ever," he said, handing her a cell phone. "I'm speed one."
"MOUSE!" A girls voice yelled from behind them. He turned his head, never looking away from Diamond.
"I'm there, Trin." He pulled a phone out and pressed a button. It dialed. "Thanks for this, Lady." Someone answered. "Mr. Magician, we need an exit." He said, blowing her a kiss.
50Karats- Hey is someone here or am I alone?
50Karats- Ooookay, I guess I'm alone.
50Karats- This is actually kinda fun... wow, I'm bored.
50Karats- So I met this guy a couple weeks ago, and gawd is he hot. And I think he liked me, too. But he said his name is mouse, and I guess he could be THE mouse, but I dunno, and he gave me this phone but I don't wanna use it, because I dunno who he really is, he may be one of those government people I always hear people like BlackWiddow and Rat getting caught by- god I miss Rat- but I dunno if Mouse is really mouse or if he is one of the government people, so I dunno who I can trust or anything like that, I mean for gods sake, I don't even know whose here, but its someone so you'd better let me know who you are or else. I am capable of stealing your whole life and making it hell if you want me to, so speak up.
SkweekyToy- Jay-sus. You make good threats.
50Karats- Who are you?
SkweekyToy- Thanks again, Lady.
50Karats- Oh. My. God.
SkweekyToy- I am here, my child.
50Karats- Ha. Hahaha. How long have you been here? Did you just read EVERYTHING I wrote or did I just not detect you soon enough?
SkweekyToy- You detected me when I wanted you to. I'm hot? And, yes, you are right about the feelings thing.
50Karats- Where are you? Can I see you?
SkweekyToy- No. I am at home. I am talking to Morpheus about letting you live with us.
50Karats- Morpheus? Isn't he a Greek God or something?
SkweekyToy- Some would say that. For now, I just follow what he says.
50Karats- So did you really re-write windows, like they say?
SkweekyToy- I-uh-I have to go.
50Karats- I knew it.
SkweekyToy- One day. In 24 hours I need you to be here, can you do that for me?
50Karats- I'll be here. SkweekyToy- Thanks, Lady.
"Morpheus!" "MOUSE!" They yelled at the same time, one louder than the other. "You first." Mouse said, impatiently. "I found someone I need to unplug. I need YOU to do it. Why you? Because she knows about you, she'll trust you. She knows about the mouse that the agents tried to poison." "Fine. Name and shit?" "She's called Diamond, for her strength, she knowledge and her beauty. Known to the regular message user as 50Karats, because she's worth that much. What?" Morpheus asked when he saw Mouse's sly smile. "The Lady in Red." "You think Diamond is an agent? You think she's-" "No. Diamond is the Lady in Red, the original, the one, the only." "So this will be easy. Pack up and ship out, Mouse, you've got unplugging to do."
SkweekyToy- blahrgal. You should be here...
SkweekyToy- I hate waiting... I should kill waiting. I think I will.
50Karats- How will you manage to do that?
SkweekyToy- By taking you out to dinner.
50Karats- Why?
SkweekyToy- Because you are beautiful, and I need to see you again. I have someone you should meet.
50Karats- Who?
SkweekyToy- Me.
50Karats- You? I've already met you.
SkweekyToy- You can think that if you want to. I'll meet you in an hour-
50Karats- If I'm going to meet you, I need time to get ready. Two hours.
SkweekyToy- Fine, two. Fifth and main.
50Karats- I'll be there.
SkweekyToy- Good.
"Diamond."
"Mouse."
"You look, well, you look damn good." He said, looking her over, her red garter showing at the top of her red fishnets under her short black schoolgirl skirt, red fishnet shirt over a revealing black tank.
"You're not looking so bad yourself." She said, looking him over, his black suit shirt partially unbuttoned, pinstriped coat slung over one shoulder, pinstripe pants, sunglasses on, despite the growing darkness.
"Shall we?" He asked, motioning to the town car waiting by the curb. She nodded, and he opened the door for her, helping her in before he closed the door and came around the other side. The driver was a man, in his mid- twenties, wearing all black. Once Mouse got into the car, the driver pulled away from the curb, obviously he knew where to go. They sat in silence, neither uncomfortable, just silent. Mouse cautiously took Diamond's hand in his, smiling slightly. She smiled back at him.
"Mouse?"
"Yeah?"
"How'd you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Avoid the poison?" Mouse laughed softly.
"That's what you're here to find out." The car slid to a stop and the diver nodded to Mouse. "Here we are." He said, getting out and opening the door for her. She nodded thanks to the driver and stepped out, one stiletto heel at a time onto the red carpet, which led into the Shadow club. Diamond knew that it was a club, and she was very under aged. "Don't worry about a thing, Lady." He murmured into her ear. As they approached, the bouncer looked at Mouse, nodding and let them in as VIP's.
"How the hell did you just do that?"
"Magic, Lady." He said. "Welcome to the Shadow." He said as they emerged from the revolving doors. The music was loud, the people happy. There were screens with projections on them on each wall and comfy couches all over. Hanging from the ceiling was a performer, performing acrobatics on ribbons over the dance floor. There was an empty corner and Mouse headed for it. A man in a suit intercepted them.
"Mr. Baldwin! It is a pleasure to see you again! I see it will be your usual spot? And you will have your usual drink?" Mouse nodded. "What will the Lady have tonight?"
"The Lady will have a kiss." Mouse said before she could order one herself. She smiled at him and followed him to the empty place in the back of the club. He offered her a seat and waited until she had sat until he did so himself. "Now, shall we get pleasantries out of the way? How are you?"
"I'm great, now that I can see you." Diamond said, smiling in mock innocence. "You?"
"I am absolutely wonderful, now that I can to take you out." They sat in silence for a few moments. "Now comes the question: why are you here? Yea, I know, I am just so amazingly attractive..." she laughed, knowing it was true. "No, seriously. There is a question that needs to be asked... the question will answer the question of why you are here." He paused, obviously more for effect than anything else. "Do you ever feel- unreal? Like you are just a pawn, being used?" Diamond thought for a minute, obviously semi-confused.
"All the time." Diamond said. "I feel like I'm not real, like I'm a program, I've got set things to do each day and that's all I can do, its all I'm allowed to do. Is that the feeling you're talking about?"
"Exactly. What-" He started, then stopped, grabbing her hand and sitting in silence as their drinks we brought to them. He nodded thanks and waited a minute. "What else do you feel?"
"I feel like I'm slowing down, every day is harder and harder to live, like I'm slowly-" she cut short, a terrified look on her face.
"Like you're slowly being poisoned?" She nodded. "Its because you are. But I can help you. I know how to beat the poison, how to stop it. I've been there; I was about your age. It was only three years ago. I remember the feeling, like your walking into the haunted castle and you see the rose in the room you know you aren't supposed to go into because the beast will kill you if you do. I can get you into that room, Diamond. All I need to know from you is how badly you want in." He saw the lust in her eyes. He knew she wanted in more than anything else she had ever wanted but he wanted to hear her say it.
"I want in." He smiled.
"More to the point, you want out. Out of this lie." The driver of the car said, sliding into the booth next to her. Now that she could see him, he was fairly handsome. He was bald, a little goatee and was dressed all in black, wearing a black leather coat and pants.
"Diamond, meet Cypher. He'll be the candlestick." On cue, Cypher began humming 'be our guest'. Mouse and Diamond laughed. "Drink up, sweetheart- you'll need it." He said, downing the rest of his Stinger. Diamond smiled, drinking the last of her Kiss.
"Lets get to that rose."
{EW.} Was Diamond's first thought when she regained consciousness. {What the hell is this stuff?} She tried to sniff it, but breathing in through her nose proved harder than she had thought it would be. There were tubes in her nose. And mouth. And ears and all over her whole body. {Crap.} She sat up, using all her strength. {Ooookay... this is weird.} She thought, pulling the tube out of her throat and mouth, gagging slightly. She saw something move. {Wait, where the hell am I?} That something came over, looking at her. If what it was doing could be called looking. There was a bright light in her eyes and a sudden, sharp pain in the back of her neck. She felt nauseated; as if she was about to vomit everything she had ever eaten up. As she passed out she heard a familiar voice speak. "Welcome to the real world, Diamond."
She awoke again. She couldn't breath. {Ah shit...} She took a breath and sucked in liquid instead. Coughing, she tried to look around. All she saw was brownish red liquid. {What the hell is this stuff?} She asked again. Suddenly she broke into air, gasping. She tried to sniff it this time, and realized quickly what it was. {Blood. Fucking human blood... why the hell is there a pool of human blood? And why am I in it?} She heard machinery. Looking up, she tried to scream but nothing would come out. It descended upon her, grabbed her and pulled her out of the blood. Her heart beat fast, too fast. {I knew I should worked out more...} She thought to herself and wondered where she was going. There was again a bright light and she realized what was coming next. {This is death?} She thought finally passing out.
"Diamond?"
"Shit."
"No, your good now. We got the rose- now you can stay."
"Stay?!?!" She asked, sitting up abruptly. She was in a cold, steel room, on what could only be called a bed. She noticed a chill on the back of her neck, and felt where it was. "I don't have hair. Why don't I have hair?"
"You've been freed, Diamond. Welcome to the real world."
"Real- what?!?!"
"Diamond. Trust me, you're safer here than anywhere else you could be right now. Go back to sleep."
"Mouse-" she murmured as she began to relax.
"Yeah, Lady?"
"Stay here with me?"
"Forever, Lady." He said as he moved to be her pillow, fingers intertwining with hers.
They stayed like that for an hour. There was a soft knock on the door, but Diamond did not wake up. The door opened. Trinity's head popped in.
"Awwww... that's cute, Mousy. And here I thought you were a pimp at heart."
"Ha. Funny, Trin. What did you want?"
"Morpheus wanted to talk to you. Said something about it being important."
"Fine, tell him I'll be right there."
"Fine. Be happy I'm nice." Trinity said, closing the door behind her.
"Diamond? Diamond- wake up."
"Ugh." She groaned and sat up slightly. "Oh, hey." She said in a little kid voice, smiling sweetly.
"Hey. I gotta go, but I'll be back. If you feel up to it, you can try to walk around a bit, it's hard to find your way around, but I'll come find you. Promise." She smiled. "Oh, and here." He said, pulling a warm, fleece lined cap over her head. "This might help keep you warm. Bye."
"Bye, Mouse." She sounded like a little child trying not to sound sleepy.
"Don't let the bed bugs bite."
"You're the only thing I'll let bite me."
"Go to sleep, Diamond." Mouse said, closing the door as he walked out, smiling. The only sound in the corridor was the light clunk of his shoes. He walked at a casual pace, not worrying too much about Morpheus' impatience. He was alone in his thoughts. Maybe Diamond was too old to unplug? He had been sixteen when he was unplugged, her same age. Why did it seem to be hard on her?
"It was just as hard on you. It's this hard on everyone. Don't worry about it, Mouse. I know how much she means to you- I'll try to be easy on her." Morpheus said, gripping Mouse's thin shoulder. "But I need her to do some training with Hektor, okay? Soon. Because if she is what I think she is, we'll need her as soon as we can have her."
"What do you think she is?"
"I think she may be the One."
"Liar. Why?"
"Because I think she is."
"Your wrong. Just like you were last time." Mouse said, backing away from Morpheus. "You remember what happened last time. You took her to the Oracle and she came back and killed herself. Do you remember that?!?! And then Digit?!?! He killed himself because he loved her, Morpheus! I'd do the same thing for Diamond- you know it. If you make her do the same thing as Cleo did, I swear to you-"
"MOUSE!" Morpheus yelled over Mouse's yelling. Mouse stopped instantly and began to nervously nibble his nails. "I wont. Diamond is stronger than anyone else on this ship. Anyone else who we've ever freed. She'll be FINE."
"She'd better be."
A poke on her shoulder woke her.
"Hi."
"Um- who are you?" Diamond said, sitting up on her bed. There was a man in her room. A tall man. His brown hair was just shaggy enough to get in the way, not long enough to be pulled back. Black eyes glared at her. His clothing was all black.
"I'm Hektor. Your operator."
"My what?" Diamond asked matter-of- factly.
"Operator. It'll make more sense soon. But we need to get going. Follow me." She stood up, noticing the woolen clothes that were unexpectedly warm and cozy. She also noticed she now wore boots. Diamond pulled the hat Mouse had given her down as low as it would go and followed Hektor out of her room into the steel hall. Everything seemed so cold, she was grateful for the hat. They walked through the corridors; the only sound breaking the slightly awkward silence was the loud thud of their boots on the harsh steel grating below them. They arrived at a large room with odd chairs in a circle. There were wires all around and people working on various things. Hektor smiled, motioning to the room.
"Welcome to the Nebuchadnezzar. That's Cypher- you know him already." Hektor said, pointing at a bald man sitting in front of three computer screens. "Right there, the dude with the black hair, he's the one we call Trillian." He smiled, waving a little sheepishly. "He's the one who takes over for me when we go in. That's Apock." A man in his late twenties with long dread-locked hair nodded to Diamond. She smiled back. "The albino over there is Switch." The woman flipped Hektor off before smiling at Diamond. She had pale skin, blue eyes and white-blonde hair.
"I'm not an albino." She said mostly to Hektor in a slight Texan accent. "I just liked mayonnaise when I was a kid." Everyone laughed, including Diamond.
"Where's Mouse?" She quietly asked Hektor as he led her to a chair.
"He's talking with Morpheus and Trinity." Hektor soothingly explained. "Now, this is going to hurt." He told her before plugging her in. Her body arced for a few seconds before the program was loaded up. Everything was black for what seemed like a lifetime of pain. Suddenly, she was in a practice room, complete with kendo practice swords and spears. She smiled.
"Practice time." She grabbed a kendo sword, running though the routines, practicing eight counts by her self. She swung and thrust for hours, realizing she wasn't tiring. Somehow her muscles remembered the years of training her dojo had put her through, the kendo, tai-chi, all the animal forms and fighting techniques she had ever studied flowed through her mind at an amplified talent level. She smiled as she imagined her teacher there, fighting with her, knowing she would win in this place. There was a noise behind her. She whipped around, sword at ready. At the end of her sword stood a man. He smiled.
"Morpheus?"
"Morpheus." He agreed. "You are Diamond. I am honored to meet you."
"And I you." She said, lowering her weapon to bow slightly to him. He bowed and swiftly attacked with his bare hands. With a few swift hits to the back of the knee, stomach and upper back, Morphius was rendered useless by Diamond's bamboo sword.
"Hektor. Take us out." Morpheus gasped. Diamond was enveloped once again in utter painful black until she saw Trinity's face looming into few. Trinity helped Diamond out of her chair, trying to with hold laughter.
"What?"
"Its just funny that you beat Morpheus. He kinda thought you weren't that good."
"Oh. Well I obviously am."
"Obviously." Morpheus' voice was airier than normal. It was obvious he was still gasping for breath. Apock laughed.
"Diamonds cut gods, too. You learn something new every day."
"Hektor, Agent training, please." Morpheus said as he was plugged in. Diamond followed feeling helpless in the anguishing black of a program loading.
They were on the street, walking. All the people around them were dressed in white and black, boring colors. She wore what she was wearing the night she was unplugged, lots of red, except now she wore combat boots instead of stiletto heels. She followed Morpheus.
"What you need to know is that most people are not ready to know the truth. I doubt you really were. But here you are. Why? You are here because you must, because you are the one who will save us all." He paused, letting that sink in for a minute. "There are people who are so helplessly in love with the lie that the machines feed them that they will fight- even kill..." Morpheus was lecturing; his words had rhythm, like he was rapping, not talking. Diamond paid attention until something caught her eye, a woman in a red dress walking towards them. Something about the way she walked seemed familiar. Something about the dress, the way she wore her hair. The confidence and mock innocence in the woman's eyes seemed so familiar.
"Oh my god." Diamond whispered.
"Where you listening, Diamond? Or were you looking at the lady in the..." Morpheus asked, suddenly realizing what he should have known.
"I was looking at ME, Morpheus."
"Look again." Morpheus said, sighing, as he understood. Mouse wasn't lying, that is what Diamond looked like, to the letter, the night they had met. Diamond turned around to see an agent pointing a gun to her head. Morpheus gasped as he watched her reaction. She did not try to protect herself, but grabbed the gun from the agent's hand and pointed it to his skull.
"You stole me. I want myself back."
"FREEZE IT HEKTOR!" Morphius yelled as he saw the initial squeeze of Diamonds hand signifying she was about to shoot. Everything froze. Everything that was moving froze. Everything except for Morpheus and Diamond.
"What did you do that for? I coulda killed him! He fucking stole me, Morpheus, he was me! He deserves to die! Just let me shoot the bastard!"
"I don't know what the program will do if you kill him, Diamond. Mouse made it. I don't want something to happen to it. No one has ever reacted like that before, I don't know what to say except to have Hektor load the jump program." Suddenly they were on top of a skyscraper, wind blowing Diamond's hair.
"Jump. You have to let it all go and just believe everything I say. Follow me." Morpheus said, running and jumping the large gap between the rooftop Diamond was on and the one next to it. Diamond laughed.
"Sure. It'll be fun." She ran a few steps and jumped, not with force but with will. She flew across the gap. "Shit." She murmured as she looked down. It was the most beautiful ugly thing she had ever seen, the asphalt below. It called to her, she knew she was supposed to fall, but she didn't want to. She wanted to be on the roof of that other skyscraper with Morpheus. And she was. She landed, rolled and ended up a laughing ball on the roof at Morpheus' feet.
"Whoa." Morpheus mumbled. Diamond stopped laughing and stood up.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"Holy Shit." Hektor murmured as he watched the screen. He heard Morpheus say something to Diamond and knew he wasn't supposed to tell anyone either. He brought them back out of the program; Trinity unplugged Diamond as Hektor ran over to Morpheus to unplug him. "I wont tell, Morpheus." Morpheus nodded, knowing he would say that.
"Diamond, you aren't bleeding or anything, are you? Are you okay?" Trinity asked Diamond as she unplugged her.
"Hurt? Why would I be hurt?"
"The fall, Diamond." Morpheus said, firmly. Diamond smiled.
"Yea, my back hurts a little, but I'll be fine. Morpheus took it easy on me, I guess I was allowed three bounces."
"Nuh-uh! Morpheus is playing favorites again?!?!" Trinity whined. "Why wasn't I ever your favorite? The last one was Cleo, and you know what happened to her, so maybe I don't want to be your favorite! Beware him, Diamond!" Trinity said, laughing. Diamond smiled and began to laugh, too. Her laugh was contagious. First Switch, then Apock and Cypher and Hektor were all laughing. Only Morpheus was not, but he smiled largely, obviously amused. Diamond slowly stopped laughing and held her stomach for a minute.
"Is there food in the real world, or do we go with out that, too?"
"What's this?" Diamond asked as she picked up a spork full of the runny mush in the bowl Hektor had handed her.
"Food. Nourishment, actually. It doesn't really qualify as food unless it has some sort of a taste or something... so think of it as nourishment." Diamond sniffed it and wrinkled her nose.
"Too bad I forgot my Tabasco at home." Hektor laughed. She took a bite. "Huh. It's like Tasty Wheat. God I hated Tasty Wheat."
"Good news- you never really had them."
"Oh yea. I forgot." She ate in silence for a minute. "Hektor, where's Mouse?"
"I don't know, Diamond. But when you're done eating, you should sleep. Even if you don't feel it, it's been a LONG day." Diamond nodded, eating very quickly. Hektor walked her back to her room. "It'll be an early morning. Get some rest." He said, then turned, walking away. She waited until he was far down the corridor before she went into her room. She pulled the hat down low on her head and sat on her bed, unwanted tears flowing. People had been nice to her, but she missed Mouse so much. I wonder if this is what its like to be in love? She wondered to herself. Just then, she heard her door open. She looked up, her cheeks tear soaked.
"Hey Lady." He said, then looked at her, chin dripping with tears and body shaking. "Diamond, what's wrong!?" She took a breath and began to talk through her quiet sobs.
"I... I don't know... I just tried so hard today and I did such a good job and then I saw me and I saw that I was in the program and I just lost it... I just couldn't stop... and I tried to kill him but he wouldn't let me and then I jumped..." She rambled until her sobs took control. Mouse shut the door quickly with a loud clank and walked over to her.
"Diamond... I'm so sorry. I just thought- well I thought you'd be okay with it, ya know? Like it would be fine to make you the distraction in the program. I know you're the distraction in my life..." He sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"What does love feel like, Mouse?" Diamond asked, looking up at him, tears brimming. He smiled.
"Like this." He bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. She felt such a rush of warmth and emotion when his lips softly brushed and teased her that she understood immediately.
"Just like that?" She asked airily into his ear. He nodded. "Oh." She said, snaking her arm around his head and gently pulling his lips towards her. Diamond tenderly kissed him, her soft lips warm against his cold, chapped ones. Slowly, she climbed onto his lap, continuing to caress him. Diamond was careful to not let it grow more passionate, just let the kiss tease and taunt Mouse. He wrapped his arms around her small waist and kissed her harder, forcing the kiss to be passionate. She pulled away slowly, looking him over. "God, your hot." She whispered, pulling him into a deep kiss. He scooted back, leaning his back onto the cold steel wall. She, in turn, put her hands behind his neck, wrapping her arms around him.
There was a knock.
"Shit." Diamond said, sliding off Mouse's lap and grabbing her shirt, quickly putting it on and cracking the door open.
"May I come in?" Morpheus' deep voice asked politely. Diamond glanced quickly at Mouse, fumbling with his shirt.
"Uh... can I come out?" Morpheus nodded. She slipped outside, careful not to let Morphius see inside. "What can I do for you, Morpheus?"
"Well, there's this guy. I need him unplugged, and I think you're the one to do it."
"What's his name?"
"Lamo."
"The Homeless Hacker? A gray hat? Why the hell do you want him?"
"Oh, I have my reasons." Morpheus said, peering at the door.
"Reasons? Do you know who he is? He'll die if you unplug him... he'll do more bad than good. He used hacking to help people, to help agents figure out the cracks in their systems so they could better protect against what we do, what we have to do to fix this problem. Do understand that if he comes on to this ship, if he doesn't fight and die, he will find a way to destroy us? Do you understand that, Morpheus?" He stood, stunned for a moment, opening his mouth like he was trying to say something but no noise came out. Finally, he turned around and walked away. Diamond sighed, slipping back into her room.
"What did he want?"
"He wanted me to unplug someone." Mouse looked semi-shocked but beckoned for her to come sit again. She again sat on his lap, caressing him deeply. Diamond put her hands on his cheeks, holding his head where she wanted. She felt his hands on her back, pulling her closer to him. After a while, Diamond noticed that her hands were wet. Slowly, she pulled away, looking at him. Mouse's eyes brimmed with tears, tears that streaked down his face and dripped off his chin.
"Mouse?" He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at her in his state. He felt a soft finger whipping away his tears. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing..." {I just know you're going to die, and you aren't even the one...} he lied, kissing her softly. "You should do what Morpheus says... he knows what's best. For now, you really should get some sleep, you have more to do tomorrow than you think." He stood up, letting her slide to her feet. She followed him to the door. "One more thing." He said, turning and kissing her once more. "I love you." He said, shutting the door behind him before she could say or do anything. The lights shut off right then, too.
"Damn."
Anguishing black. Diamond thought about it, and realized that this was the longest it had taken a program to load. {Oh yea, matrix, not program}. She heard a phone ring.
"We're in, Trillian." Morpheus said. Diamond looked around. The first thing she noticed was everyone looked different then they did when she had met them, except for Mouse and Cypher. Trinity wore all black pleather, it looked like a dress. Apock wore a black suit, looked like Armani to Diamond. Switch wore all white. Apparently it was her favorite color. Morpheus wore dark maroon slacks, black button up shirt, green tie and black leather jacket. Hektor wore black, semi-baggy slacks, a black button up shirt and a black trench coat. His hair was longer now, and pulled back into a messy ponytail, with little curls popping out of the black twisty tie that attempted to hold it. His hair was the only different style. Except, of course, Diamond. She had her long blonde hair back, in curls. In stead of what she wore the night she was unplugged, she now wore hip-hugging black leather pants, white studded belt, black corset that showed the slimmest line of tummy skin, black leather coat, heeled doc. Martin boots and had her nails painted white. Mouse looked at her in surprise. She shrugged.
"I thought I should fit in." The others stared at her in disbelief.
"It took me a year to realize I could change what I was wearing in the Matrix." Trinity said, stunned. Morpheus smiled, but nodded to the cars waiting for them.
"We should go." He said. They all walked to the car, Cypher driving. Morpheus sat in front with Cypher, Mouse and Diamond in the back. Apock and Switch stayed behind as Hektor climbed on the Honda magna v4 waiting for him. They pulled out, driving down street after street.
"Where are we going?" Diamond asked Mouse in a low whisper.
"We are going, Diamond, to see the oracle." Morpheus said, looking back at them as Hektor zoomed past them.
"Who?"
"The one who will tell you what you need to know."
"You say this every time, don't you?" Morpheus nodded.
"I do. But I am going to say it again. Behind this door are all the answers. I can only show you the door, you have to walk through it." Diamond reached for the door, turning the handle.
"It's locked." She said. Morpheus stared in shock.
"What?"
"The door is locked."
"Fuck." Morpheus pulled out his phone. "Trillian. Did we miss a De ja vu?"
"Morpheus, why would they change it? We are undetectable and we aren't attracting attention. Why would there be a de ja vu?" Morpheus stopped, stunned.
"How do you know about changes? This is your first time in the Matrix." Diamond shrugged, turning the door handle yet again for good measure and falling in the door. Morpheus groaned. "So graceful... I'll wait here. Find me when you're done." He said and sat in the chair right inside the door. Diamond got up, dusting herself off. Slowly she wandered through the first hall. There was a room with a television and couches. {Must be a waiting room...} Diamond thought. She pocked her head into the kitchen. It smelled like old cookies. {This is so surreal... it's like a memory or something.} She walked around, trying to find a bedroom or something. There were none. Just the kitchen and waiting room. She wandered back into the kitchen and opened her mouth to apologize for intruding on the conversation when she realized they had not seen her. There was a man, mid-twenties. He was attractive; he had black hair and a thin but muscled build. He was talking to an African American woman in her sixties, smoking a cigarette, glancing at the oven to watch her cookies bake. {This IS someone's memory. I know it is.} She looked up as the woman began to talk.
"Now I'm supposed to say, 'hummmmmm, that's interesting...' but you already know what I am going to say."
"I am not the One." Diamond said with the man.
"Sorry kid. You got it in you, looks like you're waiting for something... maybe your next life or something..." The figures faded.
"You know what I am going to say." Her voice echoed. {Shit.} Was Diamond's first thought. {Morpheus...} was her second. She ran to the entry hall, rounding the corner quickly as Morpheus stood up. He held a hand up for her to stop when she opened her mouth.
"What she told you was what you need to know. It was also for only you to know. I do not ask that you tell me anything." He said, opening the door for her. She graciously stepped through. The trip back to the car was silent. Once she got in with Mouse, he worriedly rubbed her back.
"You all right?" He whispered. She nodded, watching Hektor ride next to the car.
She felt it in the pit of her stomach first.
"Shit... Cypher, pull the car over. NOW!" Morpheus' head swung back in surprise and Cypher screeched to a halt.
"What is it, Diamond? What's wrong?" Mouse asked worriedly.
"I don't know. All I know is something really bad is about to happen." She said, opening the door of the car and getting out. "Morpheus, call Trillian. I think it's really bad." She heard a motorcycle run over the curb and screech to a halt behind her.
"What's up, D?" Hektor asked from behind her. She turned and smiled a little at him.
"The usual."
"Diamond. We have to find an exit; Trillian will only be able to unplug one of us. He's dying. Lets go. Now." Morpheus said through the partially open window. Diamond climbed back into the car and Hektor peeled out on his motorcycle. They drove for a few minutes, Morpheus on the phone the whole time. Cypher pulled to the corner as Morpheus rolled out, answering the ringing phone. He disappeared. Cypher parked the car, answering his phone.
"Yea, yea... okay. See you in a minute." He hung up, handing the phone to Diamond. "Call Switch and Apock. Speed three. Tell them what's going on and that they need to find an exit. Tell them I'll call them when I can. Good luck." He said, almost as an after thought and then disappeared into the phone as well. As soon as the phone hit the glass of the booth, the feeling in Diamond's stomach got worse. She doubled over in pain for a minute.
"DIAMOND!!!" Mouse yelled, grabbing her, forcing her to lean against a wall. "Are you okay?!?! What's going on?!?!" She shook her head.
"Mouse, you gotta get out. You have to leave." He looked at her in desperation. The phone began to ring. Hektor looked at Mouse. There was a shot. "Shit." Diamond whispered as she watched Hektor jump in front of Diamond and Mouse. She watched as the whole right side of his body was blown back receiving the shot into his shoulder. He stumbled a step back.
"Ow." He mumbled. Diamond ran to catch him as he fell. Mouse ran with her, eyes alert for anyone who may have fired the shot. He saw an agent pushing though the crowd towards them.
"Diamond, we have to leave. NOW." He said to her, trying to get her up.
"Mouse, I'm not leaving Hektor here."
"Diamond. You're the one. Morpheus will kill if you stay here to die. I am not going to let you die. I can't." Diamond sighed.
"Hektor, get up." She said, standing up and looking Mouse in the eye. "Mouse. I am not the One. I know Morpheus thinks, he believes with all his heart that I am, but I'm not. The oracle's door was fucking locked, Mouse. The only information I got was from a memory, not even my memory. I know in my heart I am not the one. I'm just good. Go. If you love me like I think you do, you will go and let me take care of what needs to be done." She grabbed his collar like before, passionately kissing him. "I love you, Mouse. I have to die because of that love. You'll understand. I know you will. Just go." Diamond whispered, pushing him towards the ringing phone. He went slowly, walking backwards, never taking his eyes from her. By then, Hektor was up, standing behind her. Shots were being fired, none hit either of them. Her hair blew in the wind as he picked up the phone and watched her disappear from his life forever.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO MOUSE!?!?!" Morpheus yelled as he unplugged mouse. Mouse just looked at him, tears in his eyes. Morpheus' glare softened. A single tear fell onto the metal grating below, seeming to break the silence in the room with a loud drop. Everyone watched them; the only two not there were Hektor and Diamond. Mouse looked over to where Diamond's body lay. Not dead yet. She held the hat he had given her in her hand, tightly gripping it in desperation. He sat in his chair, staring at her. Morpheus whispered. "What did you do?"
"GET ON!" Hektor yelled at Diamond, revving his motorcycle. She ran, dodging bullets as she hopped on behind him. They sped off. Diamond looked behind them.
"Oh shit." She tapped Hektor on the shoulder. "I've gotta go. Thanks for everything." She said and jumping off the back. He spun out, trying to get back to her. She rolled as he did, his Honda magna v4 crushing him. Diamond ran to him out of instinct. He waved her back, yelling to her.
"I was already dead! Save yourself!" She ran. She ran and didn't look behind her. She ran until she was lost.
"Of course. It would happen like this." She mumbled to herself as she ran into a brick wall. Turning, she placed her back against the wall and waited for the Agents to show up. They did, slowly. They knew they would win. They knew she wasn't going to kill them. They knew just like she knew. What they didn't know is that she was going to fight them, damage them until they killed her. She just stood there, waiting for one of them to start something. One pulled out a gun.
"No." She said in surprise. Why hadn't anyone reminded her they had guns? She felt the bullet go through her shoulder. It hurt. A lot. Yet she did not cry out in pain, as she knew they thought she had. Instead she stood tall, looked at each one of them as she spoke. "Go ahead. Kill me. But one day, someone will be what everyone thinks I am. Someone will be able to kill you, to ruin everything you ever worked for. All these minds will be freed, to live in Zion. They will all join the fight. Only a few will say with you. Some day, we will defeat you. We, the Humans who created you will kill you. We will figure it out." {Wow...} she thought to her self as she spoke. {Just like Shakespeare, talking for a long time then finally dying... this is kinda cool.} "I know this. How I know this is not important," {especially because I don't know myself...} "But it is important you know that no matter how many people you kill, no matter how many people who you think are the One, you will never know who it really is until it's too late. Remember that. Yea, I'm gunna die. Once I shut up or you get tired of me talking, you'll shoot me like fifty times. And I'll most defiantly be dead. But there will be others." Diamond smirked. "Others just like me. Pretending to be something we aren't just to confuse you." There was another shot. Her other shoulder hurt now too. She pulled out her phone and dialed. She wasn't sure how, it just happened. She heard Trillian's voice.
"Operator." He said as she felt three shots in her chest.
"Mr. Magician. Tell Mouse I love him."
By Lucky
I was sixteen years old. I didn't want to go to the club, but that's what Crystal wanted so I went, after all, what are friends for? So I went with her. As soon as we got there, Crystal was gone. We call her Crystal for a reason, she beautiful, but she has this addiction to Crystal Meth. I was alone. I was scared. And I was about to meet someone who would change my life forever.
"Hey, D!" He yelled at her from behind her. She knew who it was before she turned around.
"Nero. Hey." She said, trying to sound exited to see him over the loud music. He smiled.
"Wanna dance?!?!" he yelled into her ear, lips brushing her perfect skin.
"Sure... yea." He led her on to the dance floor through the sweaty bodies, holding her hand so she could follow him even with the flashing lights. He could have found her anywhere in that room, she was so perfect.
She let the beat move her; she knew this song well. They danced in the middle of the floor, grinding close to each other. He ran his hand up under her red dress, playing with her red garterer belt.
"God, your hot tonight. I want you soooo bad." He whispered in her ear from behind. She giggled but pulled his hand out from under her skirt.
"I don't think so, Nero." She said, turning around. He smirked at her.
"I don't think you have a choice, Diamond." He grabbed at her chest. Her fist hit him on the jaw, breaking two teeth. He spit the broken teeth out and laughed.
"Sweet." He said.
"Shit." She said.
"Diamond?" Crystals voice came in as she regained consciousness.
"Shit."
"Yea, get up."
"Help?" Diamond reached a hand up. Crystal grabbed her arm and pulled, falling over and passing out. Diamond looked around. She was still in the middle of the dance floor, people around her continued to dance. Only one did not. He stood there, blood dripping from his fists, licking a drop of blood off his lip. He was scrawny, with mousy brown hair, wearing all black, his shirt partially unbuttoned.
"Hey. You. Can you help me get up?" She asked him and he reached to her, helping her up, getting blood on her arm. She looked around the room, seeing Nero on the floor with a bloody nose and black eye. "Did you do that?" She asked him. He nodded, casually looking her up and down at the same time. "Hot Damn." She murmured. There was a scream from the door.
"POLICE!"
"Shit." He whispered.
"You need help?" He nodded. "They're looking for you, huh?" He nodded again. "You hit Nero for me?" He nodded for a third time. She smiled. "Come on." She took his bloody hand in hers and led him to a dark corner, pushing him down onto a chair. "One more question, then I'll help you. What's your name?"
"Mouse." He said quietly. "Who are you?"
"I'm just your Lady in Red, trying to help a fellow hacker." She said, grabbing his collar and straddling his lap. They began to kiss, growing more and more passionate. The flashlight shone on them after ten minutes. She broke their kiss by biting his lip where he had been bleeding. She half-turned, both of his hands resting on her thighs under her red salsa dress, only there for show, yet they both enjoyed it. The police shined their flashlights as a man in a suit and sunglasses walked over to them. He looked Mouse over, then Diamond, smirking.
"Go back to... that." He said, mildly disgusted, glancing at her messy blonde hair. She pulled Mouse back to her, knowing the police would leave soon. After they left the club, Mouse slowly pulled away, kissing her more and more lightly. Finally, he sighed, standing up, Diamond rolling onto the chair.
"I will never forget this. I'm gunna write you into one- well, never mind. But I guarantee, you'll be famous. If you ever need anything, ever," he said, handing her a cell phone. "I'm speed one."
"MOUSE!" A girls voice yelled from behind them. He turned his head, never looking away from Diamond.
"I'm there, Trin." He pulled a phone out and pressed a button. It dialed. "Thanks for this, Lady." Someone answered. "Mr. Magician, we need an exit." He said, blowing her a kiss.
50Karats- Hey is someone here or am I alone?
50Karats- Ooookay, I guess I'm alone.
50Karats- This is actually kinda fun... wow, I'm bored.
50Karats- So I met this guy a couple weeks ago, and gawd is he hot. And I think he liked me, too. But he said his name is mouse, and I guess he could be THE mouse, but I dunno, and he gave me this phone but I don't wanna use it, because I dunno who he really is, he may be one of those government people I always hear people like BlackWiddow and Rat getting caught by- god I miss Rat- but I dunno if Mouse is really mouse or if he is one of the government people, so I dunno who I can trust or anything like that, I mean for gods sake, I don't even know whose here, but its someone so you'd better let me know who you are or else. I am capable of stealing your whole life and making it hell if you want me to, so speak up.
SkweekyToy- Jay-sus. You make good threats.
50Karats- Who are you?
SkweekyToy- Thanks again, Lady.
50Karats- Oh. My. God.
SkweekyToy- I am here, my child.
50Karats- Ha. Hahaha. How long have you been here? Did you just read EVERYTHING I wrote or did I just not detect you soon enough?
SkweekyToy- You detected me when I wanted you to. I'm hot? And, yes, you are right about the feelings thing.
50Karats- Where are you? Can I see you?
SkweekyToy- No. I am at home. I am talking to Morpheus about letting you live with us.
50Karats- Morpheus? Isn't he a Greek God or something?
SkweekyToy- Some would say that. For now, I just follow what he says.
50Karats- So did you really re-write windows, like they say?
SkweekyToy- I-uh-I have to go.
50Karats- I knew it.
SkweekyToy- One day. In 24 hours I need you to be here, can you do that for me?
50Karats- I'll be here. SkweekyToy- Thanks, Lady.
"Morpheus!" "MOUSE!" They yelled at the same time, one louder than the other. "You first." Mouse said, impatiently. "I found someone I need to unplug. I need YOU to do it. Why you? Because she knows about you, she'll trust you. She knows about the mouse that the agents tried to poison." "Fine. Name and shit?" "She's called Diamond, for her strength, she knowledge and her beauty. Known to the regular message user as 50Karats, because she's worth that much. What?" Morpheus asked when he saw Mouse's sly smile. "The Lady in Red." "You think Diamond is an agent? You think she's-" "No. Diamond is the Lady in Red, the original, the one, the only." "So this will be easy. Pack up and ship out, Mouse, you've got unplugging to do."
SkweekyToy- blahrgal. You should be here...
SkweekyToy- I hate waiting... I should kill waiting. I think I will.
50Karats- How will you manage to do that?
SkweekyToy- By taking you out to dinner.
50Karats- Why?
SkweekyToy- Because you are beautiful, and I need to see you again. I have someone you should meet.
50Karats- Who?
SkweekyToy- Me.
50Karats- You? I've already met you.
SkweekyToy- You can think that if you want to. I'll meet you in an hour-
50Karats- If I'm going to meet you, I need time to get ready. Two hours.
SkweekyToy- Fine, two. Fifth and main.
50Karats- I'll be there.
SkweekyToy- Good.
"Diamond."
"Mouse."
"You look, well, you look damn good." He said, looking her over, her red garter showing at the top of her red fishnets under her short black schoolgirl skirt, red fishnet shirt over a revealing black tank.
"You're not looking so bad yourself." She said, looking him over, his black suit shirt partially unbuttoned, pinstriped coat slung over one shoulder, pinstripe pants, sunglasses on, despite the growing darkness.
"Shall we?" He asked, motioning to the town car waiting by the curb. She nodded, and he opened the door for her, helping her in before he closed the door and came around the other side. The driver was a man, in his mid- twenties, wearing all black. Once Mouse got into the car, the driver pulled away from the curb, obviously he knew where to go. They sat in silence, neither uncomfortable, just silent. Mouse cautiously took Diamond's hand in his, smiling slightly. She smiled back at him.
"Mouse?"
"Yeah?"
"How'd you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Avoid the poison?" Mouse laughed softly.
"That's what you're here to find out." The car slid to a stop and the diver nodded to Mouse. "Here we are." He said, getting out and opening the door for her. She nodded thanks to the driver and stepped out, one stiletto heel at a time onto the red carpet, which led into the Shadow club. Diamond knew that it was a club, and she was very under aged. "Don't worry about a thing, Lady." He murmured into her ear. As they approached, the bouncer looked at Mouse, nodding and let them in as VIP's.
"How the hell did you just do that?"
"Magic, Lady." He said. "Welcome to the Shadow." He said as they emerged from the revolving doors. The music was loud, the people happy. There were screens with projections on them on each wall and comfy couches all over. Hanging from the ceiling was a performer, performing acrobatics on ribbons over the dance floor. There was an empty corner and Mouse headed for it. A man in a suit intercepted them.
"Mr. Baldwin! It is a pleasure to see you again! I see it will be your usual spot? And you will have your usual drink?" Mouse nodded. "What will the Lady have tonight?"
"The Lady will have a kiss." Mouse said before she could order one herself. She smiled at him and followed him to the empty place in the back of the club. He offered her a seat and waited until she had sat until he did so himself. "Now, shall we get pleasantries out of the way? How are you?"
"I'm great, now that I can see you." Diamond said, smiling in mock innocence. "You?"
"I am absolutely wonderful, now that I can to take you out." They sat in silence for a few moments. "Now comes the question: why are you here? Yea, I know, I am just so amazingly attractive..." she laughed, knowing it was true. "No, seriously. There is a question that needs to be asked... the question will answer the question of why you are here." He paused, obviously more for effect than anything else. "Do you ever feel- unreal? Like you are just a pawn, being used?" Diamond thought for a minute, obviously semi-confused.
"All the time." Diamond said. "I feel like I'm not real, like I'm a program, I've got set things to do each day and that's all I can do, its all I'm allowed to do. Is that the feeling you're talking about?"
"Exactly. What-" He started, then stopped, grabbing her hand and sitting in silence as their drinks we brought to them. He nodded thanks and waited a minute. "What else do you feel?"
"I feel like I'm slowing down, every day is harder and harder to live, like I'm slowly-" she cut short, a terrified look on her face.
"Like you're slowly being poisoned?" She nodded. "Its because you are. But I can help you. I know how to beat the poison, how to stop it. I've been there; I was about your age. It was only three years ago. I remember the feeling, like your walking into the haunted castle and you see the rose in the room you know you aren't supposed to go into because the beast will kill you if you do. I can get you into that room, Diamond. All I need to know from you is how badly you want in." He saw the lust in her eyes. He knew she wanted in more than anything else she had ever wanted but he wanted to hear her say it.
"I want in." He smiled.
"More to the point, you want out. Out of this lie." The driver of the car said, sliding into the booth next to her. Now that she could see him, he was fairly handsome. He was bald, a little goatee and was dressed all in black, wearing a black leather coat and pants.
"Diamond, meet Cypher. He'll be the candlestick." On cue, Cypher began humming 'be our guest'. Mouse and Diamond laughed. "Drink up, sweetheart- you'll need it." He said, downing the rest of his Stinger. Diamond smiled, drinking the last of her Kiss.
"Lets get to that rose."
{EW.} Was Diamond's first thought when she regained consciousness. {What the hell is this stuff?} She tried to sniff it, but breathing in through her nose proved harder than she had thought it would be. There were tubes in her nose. And mouth. And ears and all over her whole body. {Crap.} She sat up, using all her strength. {Ooookay... this is weird.} She thought, pulling the tube out of her throat and mouth, gagging slightly. She saw something move. {Wait, where the hell am I?} That something came over, looking at her. If what it was doing could be called looking. There was a bright light in her eyes and a sudden, sharp pain in the back of her neck. She felt nauseated; as if she was about to vomit everything she had ever eaten up. As she passed out she heard a familiar voice speak. "Welcome to the real world, Diamond."
She awoke again. She couldn't breath. {Ah shit...} She took a breath and sucked in liquid instead. Coughing, she tried to look around. All she saw was brownish red liquid. {What the hell is this stuff?} She asked again. Suddenly she broke into air, gasping. She tried to sniff it this time, and realized quickly what it was. {Blood. Fucking human blood... why the hell is there a pool of human blood? And why am I in it?} She heard machinery. Looking up, she tried to scream but nothing would come out. It descended upon her, grabbed her and pulled her out of the blood. Her heart beat fast, too fast. {I knew I should worked out more...} She thought to herself and wondered where she was going. There was again a bright light and she realized what was coming next. {This is death?} She thought finally passing out.
"Diamond?"
"Shit."
"No, your good now. We got the rose- now you can stay."
"Stay?!?!" She asked, sitting up abruptly. She was in a cold, steel room, on what could only be called a bed. She noticed a chill on the back of her neck, and felt where it was. "I don't have hair. Why don't I have hair?"
"You've been freed, Diamond. Welcome to the real world."
"Real- what?!?!"
"Diamond. Trust me, you're safer here than anywhere else you could be right now. Go back to sleep."
"Mouse-" she murmured as she began to relax.
"Yeah, Lady?"
"Stay here with me?"
"Forever, Lady." He said as he moved to be her pillow, fingers intertwining with hers.
They stayed like that for an hour. There was a soft knock on the door, but Diamond did not wake up. The door opened. Trinity's head popped in.
"Awwww... that's cute, Mousy. And here I thought you were a pimp at heart."
"Ha. Funny, Trin. What did you want?"
"Morpheus wanted to talk to you. Said something about it being important."
"Fine, tell him I'll be right there."
"Fine. Be happy I'm nice." Trinity said, closing the door behind her.
"Diamond? Diamond- wake up."
"Ugh." She groaned and sat up slightly. "Oh, hey." She said in a little kid voice, smiling sweetly.
"Hey. I gotta go, but I'll be back. If you feel up to it, you can try to walk around a bit, it's hard to find your way around, but I'll come find you. Promise." She smiled. "Oh, and here." He said, pulling a warm, fleece lined cap over her head. "This might help keep you warm. Bye."
"Bye, Mouse." She sounded like a little child trying not to sound sleepy.
"Don't let the bed bugs bite."
"You're the only thing I'll let bite me."
"Go to sleep, Diamond." Mouse said, closing the door as he walked out, smiling. The only sound in the corridor was the light clunk of his shoes. He walked at a casual pace, not worrying too much about Morpheus' impatience. He was alone in his thoughts. Maybe Diamond was too old to unplug? He had been sixteen when he was unplugged, her same age. Why did it seem to be hard on her?
"It was just as hard on you. It's this hard on everyone. Don't worry about it, Mouse. I know how much she means to you- I'll try to be easy on her." Morpheus said, gripping Mouse's thin shoulder. "But I need her to do some training with Hektor, okay? Soon. Because if she is what I think she is, we'll need her as soon as we can have her."
"What do you think she is?"
"I think she may be the One."
"Liar. Why?"
"Because I think she is."
"Your wrong. Just like you were last time." Mouse said, backing away from Morpheus. "You remember what happened last time. You took her to the Oracle and she came back and killed herself. Do you remember that?!?! And then Digit?!?! He killed himself because he loved her, Morpheus! I'd do the same thing for Diamond- you know it. If you make her do the same thing as Cleo did, I swear to you-"
"MOUSE!" Morpheus yelled over Mouse's yelling. Mouse stopped instantly and began to nervously nibble his nails. "I wont. Diamond is stronger than anyone else on this ship. Anyone else who we've ever freed. She'll be FINE."
"She'd better be."
A poke on her shoulder woke her.
"Hi."
"Um- who are you?" Diamond said, sitting up on her bed. There was a man in her room. A tall man. His brown hair was just shaggy enough to get in the way, not long enough to be pulled back. Black eyes glared at her. His clothing was all black.
"I'm Hektor. Your operator."
"My what?" Diamond asked matter-of- factly.
"Operator. It'll make more sense soon. But we need to get going. Follow me." She stood up, noticing the woolen clothes that were unexpectedly warm and cozy. She also noticed she now wore boots. Diamond pulled the hat Mouse had given her down as low as it would go and followed Hektor out of her room into the steel hall. Everything seemed so cold, she was grateful for the hat. They walked through the corridors; the only sound breaking the slightly awkward silence was the loud thud of their boots on the harsh steel grating below them. They arrived at a large room with odd chairs in a circle. There were wires all around and people working on various things. Hektor smiled, motioning to the room.
"Welcome to the Nebuchadnezzar. That's Cypher- you know him already." Hektor said, pointing at a bald man sitting in front of three computer screens. "Right there, the dude with the black hair, he's the one we call Trillian." He smiled, waving a little sheepishly. "He's the one who takes over for me when we go in. That's Apock." A man in his late twenties with long dread-locked hair nodded to Diamond. She smiled back. "The albino over there is Switch." The woman flipped Hektor off before smiling at Diamond. She had pale skin, blue eyes and white-blonde hair.
"I'm not an albino." She said mostly to Hektor in a slight Texan accent. "I just liked mayonnaise when I was a kid." Everyone laughed, including Diamond.
"Where's Mouse?" She quietly asked Hektor as he led her to a chair.
"He's talking with Morpheus and Trinity." Hektor soothingly explained. "Now, this is going to hurt." He told her before plugging her in. Her body arced for a few seconds before the program was loaded up. Everything was black for what seemed like a lifetime of pain. Suddenly, she was in a practice room, complete with kendo practice swords and spears. She smiled.
"Practice time." She grabbed a kendo sword, running though the routines, practicing eight counts by her self. She swung and thrust for hours, realizing she wasn't tiring. Somehow her muscles remembered the years of training her dojo had put her through, the kendo, tai-chi, all the animal forms and fighting techniques she had ever studied flowed through her mind at an amplified talent level. She smiled as she imagined her teacher there, fighting with her, knowing she would win in this place. There was a noise behind her. She whipped around, sword at ready. At the end of her sword stood a man. He smiled.
"Morpheus?"
"Morpheus." He agreed. "You are Diamond. I am honored to meet you."
"And I you." She said, lowering her weapon to bow slightly to him. He bowed and swiftly attacked with his bare hands. With a few swift hits to the back of the knee, stomach and upper back, Morphius was rendered useless by Diamond's bamboo sword.
"Hektor. Take us out." Morpheus gasped. Diamond was enveloped once again in utter painful black until she saw Trinity's face looming into few. Trinity helped Diamond out of her chair, trying to with hold laughter.
"What?"
"Its just funny that you beat Morpheus. He kinda thought you weren't that good."
"Oh. Well I obviously am."
"Obviously." Morpheus' voice was airier than normal. It was obvious he was still gasping for breath. Apock laughed.
"Diamonds cut gods, too. You learn something new every day."
"Hektor, Agent training, please." Morpheus said as he was plugged in. Diamond followed feeling helpless in the anguishing black of a program loading.
They were on the street, walking. All the people around them were dressed in white and black, boring colors. She wore what she was wearing the night she was unplugged, lots of red, except now she wore combat boots instead of stiletto heels. She followed Morpheus.
"What you need to know is that most people are not ready to know the truth. I doubt you really were. But here you are. Why? You are here because you must, because you are the one who will save us all." He paused, letting that sink in for a minute. "There are people who are so helplessly in love with the lie that the machines feed them that they will fight- even kill..." Morpheus was lecturing; his words had rhythm, like he was rapping, not talking. Diamond paid attention until something caught her eye, a woman in a red dress walking towards them. Something about the way she walked seemed familiar. Something about the dress, the way she wore her hair. The confidence and mock innocence in the woman's eyes seemed so familiar.
"Oh my god." Diamond whispered.
"Where you listening, Diamond? Or were you looking at the lady in the..." Morpheus asked, suddenly realizing what he should have known.
"I was looking at ME, Morpheus."
"Look again." Morpheus said, sighing, as he understood. Mouse wasn't lying, that is what Diamond looked like, to the letter, the night they had met. Diamond turned around to see an agent pointing a gun to her head. Morpheus gasped as he watched her reaction. She did not try to protect herself, but grabbed the gun from the agent's hand and pointed it to his skull.
"You stole me. I want myself back."
"FREEZE IT HEKTOR!" Morphius yelled as he saw the initial squeeze of Diamonds hand signifying she was about to shoot. Everything froze. Everything that was moving froze. Everything except for Morpheus and Diamond.
"What did you do that for? I coulda killed him! He fucking stole me, Morpheus, he was me! He deserves to die! Just let me shoot the bastard!"
"I don't know what the program will do if you kill him, Diamond. Mouse made it. I don't want something to happen to it. No one has ever reacted like that before, I don't know what to say except to have Hektor load the jump program." Suddenly they were on top of a skyscraper, wind blowing Diamond's hair.
"Jump. You have to let it all go and just believe everything I say. Follow me." Morpheus said, running and jumping the large gap between the rooftop Diamond was on and the one next to it. Diamond laughed.
"Sure. It'll be fun." She ran a few steps and jumped, not with force but with will. She flew across the gap. "Shit." She murmured as she looked down. It was the most beautiful ugly thing she had ever seen, the asphalt below. It called to her, she knew she was supposed to fall, but she didn't want to. She wanted to be on the roof of that other skyscraper with Morpheus. And she was. She landed, rolled and ended up a laughing ball on the roof at Morpheus' feet.
"Whoa." Morpheus mumbled. Diamond stopped laughing and stood up.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"Holy Shit." Hektor murmured as he watched the screen. He heard Morpheus say something to Diamond and knew he wasn't supposed to tell anyone either. He brought them back out of the program; Trinity unplugged Diamond as Hektor ran over to Morpheus to unplug him. "I wont tell, Morpheus." Morpheus nodded, knowing he would say that.
"Diamond, you aren't bleeding or anything, are you? Are you okay?" Trinity asked Diamond as she unplugged her.
"Hurt? Why would I be hurt?"
"The fall, Diamond." Morpheus said, firmly. Diamond smiled.
"Yea, my back hurts a little, but I'll be fine. Morpheus took it easy on me, I guess I was allowed three bounces."
"Nuh-uh! Morpheus is playing favorites again?!?!" Trinity whined. "Why wasn't I ever your favorite? The last one was Cleo, and you know what happened to her, so maybe I don't want to be your favorite! Beware him, Diamond!" Trinity said, laughing. Diamond smiled and began to laugh, too. Her laugh was contagious. First Switch, then Apock and Cypher and Hektor were all laughing. Only Morpheus was not, but he smiled largely, obviously amused. Diamond slowly stopped laughing and held her stomach for a minute.
"Is there food in the real world, or do we go with out that, too?"
"What's this?" Diamond asked as she picked up a spork full of the runny mush in the bowl Hektor had handed her.
"Food. Nourishment, actually. It doesn't really qualify as food unless it has some sort of a taste or something... so think of it as nourishment." Diamond sniffed it and wrinkled her nose.
"Too bad I forgot my Tabasco at home." Hektor laughed. She took a bite. "Huh. It's like Tasty Wheat. God I hated Tasty Wheat."
"Good news- you never really had them."
"Oh yea. I forgot." She ate in silence for a minute. "Hektor, where's Mouse?"
"I don't know, Diamond. But when you're done eating, you should sleep. Even if you don't feel it, it's been a LONG day." Diamond nodded, eating very quickly. Hektor walked her back to her room. "It'll be an early morning. Get some rest." He said, then turned, walking away. She waited until he was far down the corridor before she went into her room. She pulled the hat down low on her head and sat on her bed, unwanted tears flowing. People had been nice to her, but she missed Mouse so much. I wonder if this is what its like to be in love? She wondered to herself. Just then, she heard her door open. She looked up, her cheeks tear soaked.
"Hey Lady." He said, then looked at her, chin dripping with tears and body shaking. "Diamond, what's wrong!?" She took a breath and began to talk through her quiet sobs.
"I... I don't know... I just tried so hard today and I did such a good job and then I saw me and I saw that I was in the program and I just lost it... I just couldn't stop... and I tried to kill him but he wouldn't let me and then I jumped..." She rambled until her sobs took control. Mouse shut the door quickly with a loud clank and walked over to her.
"Diamond... I'm so sorry. I just thought- well I thought you'd be okay with it, ya know? Like it would be fine to make you the distraction in the program. I know you're the distraction in my life..." He sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"What does love feel like, Mouse?" Diamond asked, looking up at him, tears brimming. He smiled.
"Like this." He bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. She felt such a rush of warmth and emotion when his lips softly brushed and teased her that she understood immediately.
"Just like that?" She asked airily into his ear. He nodded. "Oh." She said, snaking her arm around his head and gently pulling his lips towards her. Diamond tenderly kissed him, her soft lips warm against his cold, chapped ones. Slowly, she climbed onto his lap, continuing to caress him. Diamond was careful to not let it grow more passionate, just let the kiss tease and taunt Mouse. He wrapped his arms around her small waist and kissed her harder, forcing the kiss to be passionate. She pulled away slowly, looking him over. "God, your hot." She whispered, pulling him into a deep kiss. He scooted back, leaning his back onto the cold steel wall. She, in turn, put her hands behind his neck, wrapping her arms around him.
There was a knock.
"Shit." Diamond said, sliding off Mouse's lap and grabbing her shirt, quickly putting it on and cracking the door open.
"May I come in?" Morpheus' deep voice asked politely. Diamond glanced quickly at Mouse, fumbling with his shirt.
"Uh... can I come out?" Morpheus nodded. She slipped outside, careful not to let Morphius see inside. "What can I do for you, Morpheus?"
"Well, there's this guy. I need him unplugged, and I think you're the one to do it."
"What's his name?"
"Lamo."
"The Homeless Hacker? A gray hat? Why the hell do you want him?"
"Oh, I have my reasons." Morpheus said, peering at the door.
"Reasons? Do you know who he is? He'll die if you unplug him... he'll do more bad than good. He used hacking to help people, to help agents figure out the cracks in their systems so they could better protect against what we do, what we have to do to fix this problem. Do understand that if he comes on to this ship, if he doesn't fight and die, he will find a way to destroy us? Do you understand that, Morpheus?" He stood, stunned for a moment, opening his mouth like he was trying to say something but no noise came out. Finally, he turned around and walked away. Diamond sighed, slipping back into her room.
"What did he want?"
"He wanted me to unplug someone." Mouse looked semi-shocked but beckoned for her to come sit again. She again sat on his lap, caressing him deeply. Diamond put her hands on his cheeks, holding his head where she wanted. She felt his hands on her back, pulling her closer to him. After a while, Diamond noticed that her hands were wet. Slowly, she pulled away, looking at him. Mouse's eyes brimmed with tears, tears that streaked down his face and dripped off his chin.
"Mouse?" He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at her in his state. He felt a soft finger whipping away his tears. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing..." {I just know you're going to die, and you aren't even the one...} he lied, kissing her softly. "You should do what Morpheus says... he knows what's best. For now, you really should get some sleep, you have more to do tomorrow than you think." He stood up, letting her slide to her feet. She followed him to the door. "One more thing." He said, turning and kissing her once more. "I love you." He said, shutting the door behind him before she could say or do anything. The lights shut off right then, too.
"Damn."
Anguishing black. Diamond thought about it, and realized that this was the longest it had taken a program to load. {Oh yea, matrix, not program}. She heard a phone ring.
"We're in, Trillian." Morpheus said. Diamond looked around. The first thing she noticed was everyone looked different then they did when she had met them, except for Mouse and Cypher. Trinity wore all black pleather, it looked like a dress. Apock wore a black suit, looked like Armani to Diamond. Switch wore all white. Apparently it was her favorite color. Morpheus wore dark maroon slacks, black button up shirt, green tie and black leather jacket. Hektor wore black, semi-baggy slacks, a black button up shirt and a black trench coat. His hair was longer now, and pulled back into a messy ponytail, with little curls popping out of the black twisty tie that attempted to hold it. His hair was the only different style. Except, of course, Diamond. She had her long blonde hair back, in curls. In stead of what she wore the night she was unplugged, she now wore hip-hugging black leather pants, white studded belt, black corset that showed the slimmest line of tummy skin, black leather coat, heeled doc. Martin boots and had her nails painted white. Mouse looked at her in surprise. She shrugged.
"I thought I should fit in." The others stared at her in disbelief.
"It took me a year to realize I could change what I was wearing in the Matrix." Trinity said, stunned. Morpheus smiled, but nodded to the cars waiting for them.
"We should go." He said. They all walked to the car, Cypher driving. Morpheus sat in front with Cypher, Mouse and Diamond in the back. Apock and Switch stayed behind as Hektor climbed on the Honda magna v4 waiting for him. They pulled out, driving down street after street.
"Where are we going?" Diamond asked Mouse in a low whisper.
"We are going, Diamond, to see the oracle." Morpheus said, looking back at them as Hektor zoomed past them.
"Who?"
"The one who will tell you what you need to know."
"You say this every time, don't you?" Morpheus nodded.
"I do. But I am going to say it again. Behind this door are all the answers. I can only show you the door, you have to walk through it." Diamond reached for the door, turning the handle.
"It's locked." She said. Morpheus stared in shock.
"What?"
"The door is locked."
"Fuck." Morpheus pulled out his phone. "Trillian. Did we miss a De ja vu?"
"Morpheus, why would they change it? We are undetectable and we aren't attracting attention. Why would there be a de ja vu?" Morpheus stopped, stunned.
"How do you know about changes? This is your first time in the Matrix." Diamond shrugged, turning the door handle yet again for good measure and falling in the door. Morpheus groaned. "So graceful... I'll wait here. Find me when you're done." He said and sat in the chair right inside the door. Diamond got up, dusting herself off. Slowly she wandered through the first hall. There was a room with a television and couches. {Must be a waiting room...} Diamond thought. She pocked her head into the kitchen. It smelled like old cookies. {This is so surreal... it's like a memory or something.} She walked around, trying to find a bedroom or something. There were none. Just the kitchen and waiting room. She wandered back into the kitchen and opened her mouth to apologize for intruding on the conversation when she realized they had not seen her. There was a man, mid-twenties. He was attractive; he had black hair and a thin but muscled build. He was talking to an African American woman in her sixties, smoking a cigarette, glancing at the oven to watch her cookies bake. {This IS someone's memory. I know it is.} She looked up as the woman began to talk.
"Now I'm supposed to say, 'hummmmmm, that's interesting...' but you already know what I am going to say."
"I am not the One." Diamond said with the man.
"Sorry kid. You got it in you, looks like you're waiting for something... maybe your next life or something..." The figures faded.
"You know what I am going to say." Her voice echoed. {Shit.} Was Diamond's first thought. {Morpheus...} was her second. She ran to the entry hall, rounding the corner quickly as Morpheus stood up. He held a hand up for her to stop when she opened her mouth.
"What she told you was what you need to know. It was also for only you to know. I do not ask that you tell me anything." He said, opening the door for her. She graciously stepped through. The trip back to the car was silent. Once she got in with Mouse, he worriedly rubbed her back.
"You all right?" He whispered. She nodded, watching Hektor ride next to the car.
She felt it in the pit of her stomach first.
"Shit... Cypher, pull the car over. NOW!" Morpheus' head swung back in surprise and Cypher screeched to a halt.
"What is it, Diamond? What's wrong?" Mouse asked worriedly.
"I don't know. All I know is something really bad is about to happen." She said, opening the door of the car and getting out. "Morpheus, call Trillian. I think it's really bad." She heard a motorcycle run over the curb and screech to a halt behind her.
"What's up, D?" Hektor asked from behind her. She turned and smiled a little at him.
"The usual."
"Diamond. We have to find an exit; Trillian will only be able to unplug one of us. He's dying. Lets go. Now." Morpheus said through the partially open window. Diamond climbed back into the car and Hektor peeled out on his motorcycle. They drove for a few minutes, Morpheus on the phone the whole time. Cypher pulled to the corner as Morpheus rolled out, answering the ringing phone. He disappeared. Cypher parked the car, answering his phone.
"Yea, yea... okay. See you in a minute." He hung up, handing the phone to Diamond. "Call Switch and Apock. Speed three. Tell them what's going on and that they need to find an exit. Tell them I'll call them when I can. Good luck." He said, almost as an after thought and then disappeared into the phone as well. As soon as the phone hit the glass of the booth, the feeling in Diamond's stomach got worse. She doubled over in pain for a minute.
"DIAMOND!!!" Mouse yelled, grabbing her, forcing her to lean against a wall. "Are you okay?!?! What's going on?!?!" She shook her head.
"Mouse, you gotta get out. You have to leave." He looked at her in desperation. The phone began to ring. Hektor looked at Mouse. There was a shot. "Shit." Diamond whispered as she watched Hektor jump in front of Diamond and Mouse. She watched as the whole right side of his body was blown back receiving the shot into his shoulder. He stumbled a step back.
"Ow." He mumbled. Diamond ran to catch him as he fell. Mouse ran with her, eyes alert for anyone who may have fired the shot. He saw an agent pushing though the crowd towards them.
"Diamond, we have to leave. NOW." He said to her, trying to get her up.
"Mouse, I'm not leaving Hektor here."
"Diamond. You're the one. Morpheus will kill if you stay here to die. I am not going to let you die. I can't." Diamond sighed.
"Hektor, get up." She said, standing up and looking Mouse in the eye. "Mouse. I am not the One. I know Morpheus thinks, he believes with all his heart that I am, but I'm not. The oracle's door was fucking locked, Mouse. The only information I got was from a memory, not even my memory. I know in my heart I am not the one. I'm just good. Go. If you love me like I think you do, you will go and let me take care of what needs to be done." She grabbed his collar like before, passionately kissing him. "I love you, Mouse. I have to die because of that love. You'll understand. I know you will. Just go." Diamond whispered, pushing him towards the ringing phone. He went slowly, walking backwards, never taking his eyes from her. By then, Hektor was up, standing behind her. Shots were being fired, none hit either of them. Her hair blew in the wind as he picked up the phone and watched her disappear from his life forever.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO MOUSE!?!?!" Morpheus yelled as he unplugged mouse. Mouse just looked at him, tears in his eyes. Morpheus' glare softened. A single tear fell onto the metal grating below, seeming to break the silence in the room with a loud drop. Everyone watched them; the only two not there were Hektor and Diamond. Mouse looked over to where Diamond's body lay. Not dead yet. She held the hat he had given her in her hand, tightly gripping it in desperation. He sat in his chair, staring at her. Morpheus whispered. "What did you do?"
"GET ON!" Hektor yelled at Diamond, revving his motorcycle. She ran, dodging bullets as she hopped on behind him. They sped off. Diamond looked behind them.
"Oh shit." She tapped Hektor on the shoulder. "I've gotta go. Thanks for everything." She said and jumping off the back. He spun out, trying to get back to her. She rolled as he did, his Honda magna v4 crushing him. Diamond ran to him out of instinct. He waved her back, yelling to her.
"I was already dead! Save yourself!" She ran. She ran and didn't look behind her. She ran until she was lost.
"Of course. It would happen like this." She mumbled to herself as she ran into a brick wall. Turning, she placed her back against the wall and waited for the Agents to show up. They did, slowly. They knew they would win. They knew she wasn't going to kill them. They knew just like she knew. What they didn't know is that she was going to fight them, damage them until they killed her. She just stood there, waiting for one of them to start something. One pulled out a gun.
"No." She said in surprise. Why hadn't anyone reminded her they had guns? She felt the bullet go through her shoulder. It hurt. A lot. Yet she did not cry out in pain, as she knew they thought she had. Instead she stood tall, looked at each one of them as she spoke. "Go ahead. Kill me. But one day, someone will be what everyone thinks I am. Someone will be able to kill you, to ruin everything you ever worked for. All these minds will be freed, to live in Zion. They will all join the fight. Only a few will say with you. Some day, we will defeat you. We, the Humans who created you will kill you. We will figure it out." {Wow...} she thought to her self as she spoke. {Just like Shakespeare, talking for a long time then finally dying... this is kinda cool.} "I know this. How I know this is not important," {especially because I don't know myself...} "But it is important you know that no matter how many people you kill, no matter how many people who you think are the One, you will never know who it really is until it's too late. Remember that. Yea, I'm gunna die. Once I shut up or you get tired of me talking, you'll shoot me like fifty times. And I'll most defiantly be dead. But there will be others." Diamond smirked. "Others just like me. Pretending to be something we aren't just to confuse you." There was another shot. Her other shoulder hurt now too. She pulled out her phone and dialed. She wasn't sure how, it just happened. She heard Trillian's voice.
"Operator." He said as she felt three shots in her chest.
"Mr. Magician. Tell Mouse I love him."