Shi: She bought the Matrix movies when she was on vacation, so now she's completely hooked. And she wants to get a lot up before school starts.
Me: hisses Don't say the evil 's'-word!
Shi: Sorry... she's been reading a lot of Matrix-oriented fics, too.
Me: What? Rolands Shifter has awesome Matrix fics... I love them... Anyway, take it away, Bob!
Bob: Elven-Princess Ginny don't own Matrix or Beyblade, but she owns the Helm and it's crew, so DON'T STEAL THEM!!!!!!! R&R!
Chapter Seven
Driving Lessons
Over the next couple of days, the Blade Breakers took a fair amount of combat training – Kai, Ray, and even Tyson joined in the fun. Once a day some of the crewmembers would test them out and see how they were doing by going into the dojo and sparring with them. The beybladers soon learned the 'rules' that were possible to wiggle around in the Matrix, although so far they had not been allowed to enter it.
As Ray sat up deep into the night one evening, he remembered back to the Jump program he and his friends had participated in three days ago, wondering how he had gotten so far, seeing as how the others had only gotten about half as far as he. How was it possible, he asked himself as he heard voices discussing something in the room next to his. One of them he recognized as Kenny, and another as Emily. There were two others, but Ray wasn't sure whom they belonged to.
He got up and left his room, leaving the sleeping Kai by himself. Walking through the now near-familiar halls, he saw himself making his way towards the core. It was to his surprise that he saw nobody sitting in the spot that, most of the daytime, was occupied by Dee. Ray was about to pass by the room to head up to the cockpit to see who was there when, in the corner of his eye, he saw something move over by the chair that people used when they entered the Matrix.
Ray cautiously approached it, and saw that Omni lay there, looking as though she was unconscious. A rush of worry swept over him, and he darted over to the Operating chair. He looked at each of the monitor screens in turn, watching as odd green symbols moved around them. Not entirely sure of what he was actually doing, Ray let his fingers move hastily over the keyboard, as if he had been doing this all his life. Something somewhere near him clicked, and he looked around, confused. And then –
"What in the One's name?!" a female's voice came.
Ray jumped a foot in the air – if he had jumped any higher, though, he would have come in contact with the source of the disturbance. Looking up, he came face to face with Devi, who was looking at him as you would look at criminal who had gotten out of jail only to break the law again.
"Devi! What are you doing here?" asked Ray, as though she were the disobedient one.
She folded her arms across her chest. "Seems I should be asking you that."
"I, if you want to know, was taking a little nighttime walk," replied he.
Devi jumped down, did some sort of a flip, and landed next to him, with her arms still crossed. "Oh, and you just decided that you would come over here, disturb ME, start typing – which you know is off limits – and sit in Dee's favorite chair? You're digging a damn deep grave for yourself."
"Well, first of all, I didn't know you were there, because I thought you would be in bed," he began to explain, and then she cut it.
"Um, Ray? Most of the time, I sleep up in the rafters," she informed him.
He looked like he'd just been told that one plus one equaled two. "Oh," was the reply, and then he remembered what he'd been saying. "And just so you know, the only reason I was sitting in that chair and typing was because Omni is plugged in and I wanted to make sure that your 'beloved captain' was okay!" he told her furiously, trying to keep his voice down.
Devi stood there, a mix of shock, anger, and mild respect coursing through her. "Get up," she barely managed to say. He didn't move. "Get the hell up, Ray. You don't want me to wake the others."
Ray stared at her for a moment, and then got out of the chair to let the child jump in. He only noticed then that she wore the headset normally sported by Dee. Examining things from behind the chair, he wondered how he could have not seen the headset cord that went from one of the monitors up to what would have previously been the rafters.
"Me and her were chatting a bit a while ago. She told me she needed to jack in for a bit. I told her I would take care of things back here until she came back," explained Devi. "And now – oh shit."
Although Ray never saw anything, Devi must have seen something in the green characters on the screen. She began typing at lightning speed, and then, in a rushed voice, talked into the headset. "Omni, get yourself the hell away from there, now. I've just seen an agent, ma'am. Yes, I'm damn well sure of it. Get your butt to Wells and Lake this instant."
For the next minute or so, Devi's hands never stopped moving, and she kept saying things like 'Hurry your ass up' and 'Start burning rubber, now' to the Captain. Devi didn't look overly worried, only slightly.
"What's an agent?" inquired Ray.
The child looked curiously at him for a moment. "You'll find out soon enough. All I can tell you is that they are the toughest enemy you will ever face in the Matrix, and that nobody has ever beaten one."
Pretty soon, Devi took off the headset and rushed over to her Captain, who was awake but still plugged in until the youngest teen got to her. "Holy shit," Omni voiced. "That one was damn fast."
"I apologize, Captain. I... I should have seen it sooner. It's my fault that it found out where you were. I wasn't playing close enough attention," said Devi guiltily.
The older girl looked at her curiously. "Don't sweat it, kiddo. I'm all right. Nothing to worry about."
"No, Omni. There is something to worry about. If I hadn't have jumped down from the rafters when I heard Ray, I wouldn't have seen it, and... and you could be dead right now."
The Helm's Captain examined the young child. "You've kept the headset on, right?" When Devi nodded, she continued. "Well, when I saw the agent, I would've called you for and exit, and I wouldn't be dead."
"Yes, I know that, but by the time you saw it, you could've been dead already!" yelled Devi before she ran off.
Omni called after her, but it was no use. She turned to Ray, who was standing there as though he shouldn't be there. "Ray... what are you doing up this late?"
"Oh, I, uh, couldn't sleep, and I decided to go for a walk," he replied. She nodded. "What were you doing in the Matrix?"
For a moment, she just looked curiously into his eyes. "I had to talk with someone. What were you doing when Dev heard you?"
"Oh, I was, er, typing. I'm sorry." A guilty look crosses his sweet face. Before Omni got a chance to say anything, the boy continued. "I saw you plugged in and, I don't know why, but I went over to Dee's chair and just... began to type. I don't think I knew what I was doing, but it just came, and I couldn't stop myself."
Although Ray couldn't see it, he knew that the girl was upset with him when she glided over to the chair, slid on the headset, and began to type while glancing at the screens. "Oh dear God..." the Captain said.
"What is it?" Ray asked before he could stop himself.
She glanced at him as she said, "Do you know what you did?"
"No," the guilty boy replied, "I said I was sorry."
"Ray, don't be sorry. You've learned how to locate people in the Matrix. For some new Operators, that can take days, even weeks. It's amazing."
From the look on his face, Omni could tell that he was confused, repeating her words in his head. "So that's good?"
"Well, it'll be good if you ever become an Operator," replied the Captain. "It's certainly not bad though." She gave him an encouraging smile before inquiring, "Do you know if Kenny is still awake?"
Ray nodded, and absent-mindedly walked with her to Chief's door, while knowing she obviously must know where his room is. Omni flashed him another smile and told him to go to bed and get some rest before she entered the room. "Hello guys," she greeted everyone as she entered the room. The others greeted her as well – Emily gave her a little salute, Kenny nodded, Tochi stood up and went into a deep bow, Blaze merely voiced a greeting, and KC motioned for her to take a seat.
"Back so soon, Cappy?" the latter teenager asked.
Omni nodded as she sat down next to him. "Yeah, there was an agent... and there was some sort of misunderstanding between Devi and Ray –" Emily and Kenny's ears perked up at the beyblader's name "– and now Devi's pissed off at herself, and she ran off... I don't know where she's gone off to. Hope she doesn't try something like last time..."
The group exchanged foreboding looks as they all remembered something they would rather forget. Breaking the awkward silence, Kenny spoke up. "What was Ray and Devi's misunderstanding?"
Omni told them all she knew about the ordeal, and they decided to check on the little one later. Then she remembered what Ray's new-found skill was. "When I checked out what he had done after Devi'd run off, I realized that he had somehow learned how to located people."
"What?!" Emily exclaimed, though keeping her voice down.
"That's amazing!" added Kenny, keeping a quiet voice as well.
The Captain nodded. "Yeah, weird, too. Doesn't even know how he done it."
Remembering what they were supposed to be talking about, Tochi said, "What are we doing with them tomorrow?"
"Well, I figured we might as well give them some driving lessons," replied Omni. "Hopefully we can get Devi to come too, she loves driving."
The small group of people muffled their laughter so as to not awaken anyone. Yes, Devi definitely did love driving, and was pretty damn good at it too.
"Anyway, I think we should all go to bed now..." Tochi said, seeing the drowsiness in many of the others. "Captain, did you want me to stay up and watch over the Matrix? You look like you need to rest."
She shook her head, giving him a 'Thanks anyway,' kind of look, but he persisted.
"For the past couple of nights your gotten four, maybe five hours of sleep, tops, ma'am. Take some time off, please," he begged.
The girl got to her feet. "No, and I do not want to repeat myself. Now let's all leave Kenny in peace, and everyone go back to your quarters." They all nodded and exited the room. Once they were in the corridor, Omni separated herself from the rest of the group as she went towards the core, whereas the others were heading to their bedrooms. All except for Tochi. "I thought I told you to go to bed, like the others."
"You did say that, Captain," agreed he.
She looked at him, her face filled with curiosity. "And you defy your Captain's orders, then?"
"Well, actually, Captain, I'm due to relieve Phantom of his post in a half hour's time, so I didn't see any real reason for heading off to bed."
Omni didn't say anything as they continued down the hall, side by side. He put him arm around her shoulders, but she didn't object to this. Instead, she did the same with him. "You do know that you were wrong about the time, right? You don't relieve him for an hour."
"I know. I want to keep you in check though, and make sure you don't count sheep on the job."
"Devi!" a voice called out the next morning. There were about a dozen others doing the same thing; some of the voices were embedded with anger, others with fear, yet others with annoyance, and a few with worried fear. One of the ones with the latter tone was slightly hoarse-voiced at the moment – Omni was like this because she'd been looking for the child constantly for around an hour – all the others had taken five or ten minute breaks every now and then. "Devi, come out!"
Walking into the mess hall for the hundredth time that day, she spotted KC, who was staring off into space. He didn't move and inch as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
"KC?" she asked. Still, he remained stationary. "KC!" repeated the girl, causing him to jump to life.
"Wha happened?"
She shook her head disappointedly. "You were staring off."
"S...sorry. Any progress?" The Captain shook her head, and KC noticed a tear escape her reddened eye. "Don't cry, Captain. We'll find her, I promise, and she'll be safe and sound. Trust me."
Omni took a seat about a foot away from the boy. "I sure as hell hope you're right," replied the younger of the two in a choked voice. She blinked furiously, but could not halt the oncoming flow of tears. KC immediately slid over next to her and clutched her in his arms, whispering encouraging things in her ear as she buried her face in his shoulder.
Tyson and Max were walking through the halls then, wondering what the hell was going on. But Ty was hungry, so they decided to get some food and question whoever was in the mess hall. They'd almost gotten to the doorway when Tyson spotted KC's face and stopped his friend is his tracks. 'If it's that bastard in there,' though Tyson, who hadn't thought good of KC since their little talk, 'then I don't want to eat.'
However, when they continued down the corridor, he couldn't help but glance in, and then he saw Omni, crying her heart out in KC's shoulder. Once again, he paused his friend and himself, only this time he went into the room.
"What's going on?" asked Ty, as the two beybladers seated themselves across from the others.
"You don't know?" questioned KC.
Granger shook his head. "Nope. Nobody's told us."
"We can't find Devi. Everyone's been looking for her since morning, and we've swept the ship, looking everywhere we could. We're just hoping that she's alright."
Both of the Blade Breakers looked sympathetically at the Captain. Max was about to say something when a figure appeared in the doorway, making the boys gasp – Omni didn't see anything of course, for she was still crying. On closer inspection, it was, in fact, Devi, who looked as though she'd been up all night, crying. She did look much paler than usual.
"Dev!" KC exclaimed, and the older girl sat bolt upright, wiping her eyes in her sleeve. Devi stood there, looking deathly white, as though she'd seen a ghost or something.
KC had just stood up to go see her when her knees gave way and she fell to the floor. He bolted to her and lifted her into his arms before setting her on the table. Looking her over, the oldest in the room noticed her pant leg was torn and there was a cut on the back of her thigh. It was bleeding quite a bit.
"Shit! How'd you get that?" asked the boy.
The little girl forced a smile. "Loose screw, I think. Up in the rafters."
KC and Omni glanced at each other, and neither wanted to leave the girl at the moment. "Tyson, Max," the Captain said, turning to them, "go to the core and tell whoever's there that we've found her and we need a medic."
Both of them nodded and ran off.
The boy that was left in the mess hall took off his sweater and wrapped it tightly around the youngster's leg. Omni sat up on the table next to her and hugged her. "Where the hell have you been? We've been looking for you forever."
"I spent the night mostly in the gun bay, and I hung out in the infirmary for a bit as well," she admitted. "Most of this morning I was up in the rafters..."
The Captain stared at the girl for a moment, and then broke into silent tears again. Devi latched on to her neck, hugging her tight, and let her cry into her shoulder. "I," she began, and proceeded to speak between sobs, "was afraid... afraid that you would... that you had..." Omni paused. "I didn't want to go through that fear again..."
"Don't worry, Cappy. I admit, I had though of doing it for a while, that's why I was in the infirmary. There were lots of scalpels and scissors and stuff there... but then I realized that if I had slit my wrists, stabbed myself, or even killed myself, that you'd have hated yourself more than getting killed by an agent or sentinels. You... you and the rest of the crew... you're all the reason I didn't do it this time. I love you guys... you're my family, and I don't want to cause any pain," explained the thirteen-year-old.
Just then, Cadin and Geichu entered the room, with several other people close behind, crowding the mess hall. "Oh God, I'm so happy to see you, you little devil!" exclaimed the girl, running over and hugging her. "So what did you do to yourself?"
As she pointed to the dark cloth bound around her leg, Geichu was looking somewhere besides there. He immediately snatched up her wrist, and everybody saw the blood in a thin line on it. "Dev..." he began.
"I never did it," she informed him. "I thought about it, and even took a bloody scalpel to it, running it against my skin. But I never did it. Just wipe away the blood."
At lunch that day, after the whole thing with Devi was over with, Dee informed the Blade Breakers that they would be learning to drive.
"I have my license," Kai shot back. "We all do."
Several of the people in the mess hall laughed. "Oh, we know you know how to drive. But we're going to teach you how we drive," KC replied, then turned to Omni. "Boss, Matrix or simulation?"
She thought for a moment. "Simulation for practice, then Matrix to see if they pass." The people in the room exchanged significant looks – this would be their first time in the Matrix since they'd learnt the truth. The Captain hauled out a sheet of paper and began to write something. "I figure they'll be in separate cars, with two instructors each. I'll put Kenny and Emily in with the Blade Breakers' chick, I think –" Hilary blushed slightly "– and KC and Blaze will be with Tyson." Ty gulped; he knew KC was going to be tough on him. "Max will be taught by Phantom and Dea, and Ray can go with the medics. Myself and Tochi will take Kai."
Everybody nodded and Devi arrived. Nobody could see it, but her leg saw sewn up from the cut. "So I'm guessing I don't get to teach anyone, then?"
In a very serious tone, Omni said, "You're in very serious condition, young lady, and I will not be allowing you to jack in for some time." There was an unpleasant silent, before everybody save for the beybladers cracked up. "No, but seriously, I thought you didn't like teaching and going in the simulations, so I was just going to get you to test them when they went into the Matrix."
"Okay then," she agreed and then sat down to a bowl of unappealing flavorless slop – the stuff they called food. "As long as I get to do something."
Some time after lunch everybody that Omni had said was going to be instructing and learning got plugged in. First they went to the construct. "Alright, everyone. You're going to have to pick out a vehicle in a moment. Now keep in mind, it should be a car, because they're light and pretty speedy. You must pick something that has a top speed of a fair bit more than two hundred kilometers, okay? Now, what do you want?"
After the cars had been picked out, they separated into the teams of three that had been set at lunchtime. The cars appeared on five different concrete roads, and the groups took a test run to see how the Blade Breakers drove, reminding them that they could go as fast as they wanted – as long as they didn't run off the road, of course. Tyson seemed to have a need for speed – he was going at a speed of 150 km/h. Kai and Ray seemed to maintain a speed of about 185, whereas Max only went at about one hundred. Hilary, however, was as conservative as she was annoying, only driving at about 50.
"Okay, okay, stop now," Dee's voice commanded from the heavens. "I said STOP!" With that, red traffic lights and stop signs popped up out of nowhere, and everyone – eventually – came to a stop. "You all suck! You're going to slow!"
With this said, the instructors laid down the 'Top Five Rules of Driving in the Matrix'. The first rule was that you avoid the freeway at all cost – apparently it was suicide. Although none of the Blade Breakers really understood this, they nodded. Rule number two was that when you are not being chased by any form of law official or an agent, you stay under the speed limit. Drawing unneeded attention was bad for the crew, especially if it meant agents. Thirdly, when driving, if a police car is behind you and asks you to stop, you get the hell out of there – you never know if the cop will turn into an agent. The fourth rule was that speed limits are there for a reason. When you are being followed, you are to go no less than twice the speed limit. Hence, if the limit is sixty, you must exceed one hundred twenty. And the last and final rule – never lose the keys to your vehicle, because you might get in some nasty business with an agent.
Pretty soon, the Operator ran some very convincing simulations, testing them for the five rules to see how they would adapt from their original way of driving. Surprisingly, Hilary – who usually aced every test – did very bad, but did improve a little through the course of the training. Two hours after they'd been jacked in, the teachers agreed that they were ready.
Everybody was jacked out at this point, to give the students a ten-minute break and give them a talk about the Matrix. About fifteen minutes after, they were back in the chairs, but the only one of the 'instructors' who was going to go back in was Omni. The others that went in were Cire, Devi, Kimmy, and Strife.
Soon, they entered a room, one by one, where a phone rang. Omni answered it. "We're in. Where are the cars? Good. We'll see you soon."
Cire looked around at everyone. He and the boys all wore long, black cloaks, as did Strife. Kimmy wore black pants and a black T-shirt under a black trench coat, and so did Hilary. Devi was sporting a white, sleeveless blouse and white jeans, underneath a white trench coat. Omni wore a creamy, spaghetti-strap top and white (what looked like) leather pants. All ten of them wore sunglasses. The old man handed everybody a cellular phone, and then made sure they were equipped with guns. Hilary didn't want to touch any one the pockets in her jacket, for she knew she was armed with four pistols.
"Our vehicles are in the indoor parking lot below this building. They are all the same, so pick a color. The examiners all have keys. We are to go into the lot one at a time, with one or two minutes between each pair. Cire, you will be going with Max, Kim, you can take Tyson, Strife'll be with Kai, Devi with Hilary, and I'll be with you, Ray. The first pair to go will be the girls, then Strife and her boy, followed by Cire and Max, then Kim and her student. You and I go last, Ray. Everyone got it?" The teachers all nodded. "Now, if you run into any trouble, phone Dee – just dial '0' on your phones, kids – and she'll get you to an exit. She'll be watching us anyway, so we should be safe."
The Beybladers looked extremely nervous, especially Hilary. Cire gave her an encouraging smile. "Don't worry," he said, "you'll be okay." She tried – but failed horribly – to return a grin.
"Let us go," Devi spoke up. They exited the room and split into pairs; Ray and Omni stayed by the door of the room they'd just come out of, trying to look normal by chatting; Kimmy and Ty leaned their elbows on the window sill at the bottom of the first staircase; Cire and Max were at the top of the next set of stairs, so that they were barely two meters away from Kim and Tyson, and appeared to be having a father-son chat; Strife and Kai were at the opposite end of the staircase Cire and Maxie were on; Devi and Hilary went straight to the parking lot.
Hilary looked around at all the cars, and finally indicated a pink one with a retractable roof. Devi almost gagged, but nodded all the same as they made their way to it. She tossed a keychain over to her student, and as they got into the car, picked up her phone and called Strife. "Strife? Yeah, we just got in a car. A pink one." Even Hilary, who'd retracted the roof, could hear the laughter from the other end, Strife was laughing so loud. "Oh, shut it before I die your hair pink. Anyway, we're leaving the parking lot now. Bye."
Hilary listened closely to Devi's directions as they entered the bustling city. She couldn't help but notice all the people on the sidewalks. But when the thirteen-year-old noticed this, she yelled, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"I was just –"
"Keep your eyes on the fucking road! That's the most primary rule of driving! Even when the Neanderthals first invented round stone wheels, they made sure to keep their eyes glued to the hard-packed dirt road!"
Hilary muttered an apology and went back to staring at the street. "How long are we going to be driving?" she asked.
"I'm not quite sure, actually... Captain never said. I expect we'll be called, either when your friends fail horribly or when they decide they've had enough... or when something goes horribly wrong," replied the younger or the two. "Make a left at the next turn."
For the next ten or so minutes, they drove throughout the city. Hilary made one or two serious mistakes ("What are you doing?" "I'm going on the highway." "That's the freeway!" "Oh, sorry, I didn't know.") but was quickly corrected by her teacher. Finally, they were on one of the highways, and Hilary slowed to a halt.
Devi waited a moment for Hilary to start the car again, but then asked, "Why did you stop?"
"Because of the –" she began, but was cut off.
"Hello, young ladies," a voice came. Both girls whirled around to see, at the driver's window, a handsome older gentleman. He was wearing a police uniform and tipped his hat in greeting. "May I see your license please?"
Hilary nodded, and poked around in one of the pockets in her coat after taking off her seatbelt. What she didn't realize was the cop had spotted one of the pistols placed in her pockets.
"Hold it right there!" he screamed, and both girls heard a gun being drawn. "Take off your jacket, Miss!"
"Fuck you, you bastard!" Devi had already released her seatbelt, and in a flash her hands were on the back of Hil's seat, and her feet walloped into the officer's face, knocking him backwards. As Devi came back down, she shoved into her student's side, pushing the older girl to the passenger side but slamming her into the door. In less than a second, the engine was growling, and they were speeding down the highway at amazing speed – Hilary didn't dare move enough to look at the speedometer. All she did was put on her seatbelt and lie back.
"Fuck!" yelled the girl, but due to the fact that they were going nearly three hundred kilometers per hour, Hilary had to strain to hear it. "Fuck, Hilary! You know the rules!" Soon, however, she'd slowed to just over two hundred. "Are they following us?" She tried hard to keep her voice even. With a quick glance, Devi saw that Hilary was white as a ghost and staring straight ahead, holding on to the door handle. "Jesus, Hilary, are they fucking following us?!"
Hilary snapped out of the trance and looked backwards; four cop cars, sirens blaring, could be seen in the distance. "Yes!" she replied, terrified.
"Mother-fucking cops," the younger of the two said. "Can you shoot a gun, girl?"
Hil bit her lip. "Yes, I was taught."
"Then take out your fucking pistols and fuck up those fucking cop cars as fucking fast as fucking humanly possible!" ordered Devi. Hilary whirled around in her seat and did as she was told. Devi, on the other hand, was now driving with one hand, as the other was searching her pockets for her cell phone. It was ringing already, so she answered it.
It was Dee. "What in God's name just happened, kiddo?"
"Hilary broke rule three!" replied Devi. "How bad is it?"
Typing could be heard in the distance. "Well, you haven't got it that bad, it's only four agents."
"Four! Fuck, fuck this! This girl should never be fucking allowed in the Matrix again!" screamed the youngster. "How long until I lose sight of them?"
"Well, if you keep going at this speed and they keep going at their speed, you can lose them in maybe five minutes, but –"
Devi interrupter her. "But I'll be on the freeway."
"Exactly. That was the 'but'."
"So, what do you suggest I do?"
More typing could be heard. "Make a left at the next exit."
"Okay," she said. "Hold on, girl, we're turning!" She felt Hilary slide back into her seat as she turned, and get up again to shoot. "Where's the nearest hard-line?"
"Well... the nearest is a block up and then to the left for two blocks. The only thing is, it's in an airport lobby."
Devi swore loudly. "Where's the closest one besides that?"
"Um... about three minutes away, but that would only be if you maintained the speed you're at now, which you can't do unless you want a dozen more cops on your ass," explained the Operator. Dee could hear more swearing. "I guess it'll be the airport then?"
Dev sighed. "Yeah, it'll have to be. Will y – OW!"
"What the hell just happened?"
Devi bit her lip as pain from the bullet that had pierced through her arm surged through her. "Bullet," she replied. "Will you be ready for us?"
"Yeah, you just get your ass their now," replied Dee, and bother girls hung up. "You alright Hilary?"
The girl gave an affirmative answer and kept shooting. "How much longer?"
"We're closing in on the exit now," replied the younger. "Should be out in a minute, two tops." The car screeched to a halt in front of a large airport, and Devi grabbed Hilary's arm and jumped out of the car with her before the vehicle had completely halted. They bolted to the entrance, shoving people aside, and came to a phone booth, where the telephone was already ringing. Hilary picked it up and immediately disappeared. Devi had just put the receiver back when she saw two agent – grown men wearing suits and sunglasses and carrying guns – enter the airport. "Fuck," she muttered under her breath, hauling out a pistol and wishing Dee would hurry up. When the telephone gave a loud ring, the agents' attention was drawn to if, and they fired – but all they managed to hit was the tip of the receiver as it fell limply, dangling by it's cord.
Back on the ship, the young girl opened her eyes to see several faces staring down worriedly at her. Devi felt KC yank the spike gently from her head before helping her sit up.
"Is she okay?" Dee hollered from her seat.
The child grinned. "Depends on your definition of 'okay'," replied she. "I'm alive, I can feel the blood rushing through my veins, I've retained all my senses, and as far as I know, I'm not terminally ill." Several people laughed at this. As they parted to let her free, Devi saw Hilary weeping into Tyson's shoulder by the far wall. She did not feel sympathy for the girl – in fact, she clenched her hands into fists, but tried to keep a pleasant look on her face as she turned to the Captain and asked, "Captain, may I request something of you?"
"Request away, kiddo."
"I must request that Hilary –" the Blade Breaker's wheeled to face whoever was speaking "– be restricted from the Matrix until further notice." Everybody looked between the quite serious-looking Captain, Devi – who was looking oddly serious and very pissed off – and Hilary, who was staring blankly at the girl, in shock.
Omni seemed to be thinking this over. "May I ask for the reasons that are the basis for this request?" She was being strangely formal, something that wasn't often seen on anyone when they were on board the ship.
Devi's choked up voice was slightly high-pitched at first. "Reasons? I'll give you some goddamn reasons! First, she nearly broke rule one of driving in the Matrix –"
"I didn't know it was the freeway!" Hil shot back.
"– then she seriously breaches fucking rule three –"
"It was a police officer! I forgot, okay? I'm used to abiding by the law! I forgot they could turn into agents!"
"– oh, and then the cop saw one of the fucking pistols she was carrying! You never show a fucking cop a weapon!"
"I'm sorry!"
"And not only did she seriously endanger her own life, but mine as well, and I got shot in the fucking arm! If I hadn't acted so fucking impulsively, and driven my fucking ass off to get to that fucking airport, I – and she too – could be in a fucking body bag right now!"
The entire ship fell silent, save for Hilary's muffled sobbing into Tyson's shoulder. Omni looked to Cire for guidance to find that he'd left the room, probably to get something to eat. The youngest crewmember latched her arms around Phantom's neck and he squeezed her back, glad she was alive.
Omni sighed. "I will think over your request and answer it tomorrow," she said simply before heading through the doorway.
"Captain!" Devi yelled. The addressee whirled around. "I... I'm sorry for freaking out like that."
She nodded and walked to her room.
"You going to be okay, kid?" asked Phantom, as he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him. She bit her lip and nodded before resting her head on his shoulder.
"I knew today was going to be doomed," said Dee. "It was obvious from early this morning."
Cadin tilted her head questioningly. "What do you mean?"
The Operator smiled. "Well, first the whole incident, and then... you know someone always screws up during driving lessons. Only thing is, it's usually during the lessons themselves, not the test."
Hilary looked guiltily at Dee and then Devi.
Me: Any good? Hope you liked it! If you did, feel free to review! Any questions, just ask! Bye bye! Y'all come back now, ya hear?