No, I haven't died of math homework or spontaneously combusted...yet. I'm
perfectly healthy and I have no good excuse for not updating for...what is
it now? Four months? Five? The plot has gone through some major tweaking
on paper, and it's practically 180 degrees from where it was going last
summer.
Here goes with another chapter, abominably late as always. Yeah and stuff... I'm bad and evil and furthermore I'm an evil bitch for changing the update day and then skipping it an estimated total of twenty times or more. I fully expect the Lady Voldemort to personally rip me to shreds for it... flame it you want to, or you could all attempt to telekinetically force me to hit myself in the head repeatedly...
This chapter is set a week or so after the last one because I'm sick of being unoriginal and putting a "new" spin on stuff straight from the movie. I'm going to try to speed through the "major boring shit" (heheh, good old Link...whatever happened to him?) and then get on with things. This will make for some really dull stuff and some crappily written stuff, but once things start to pick up, it'll improve- I promise. Oh, and Neo shows up in this chapter. Those of you who've seen Revolutions, do not yell at me for this. The explanation of the plot device will turn up SOON (and you all know that 'soon' means 'in a couple of weeks'). If he's out of character, my excuse is he's pissed off. We never actually see movie-Neo get really angry- irritated, lovestruck, disbelieving and shocked, and of course the famous confusion, but properly angry? No. So please go easy on me for this one. Oh, and when he says "Neb" he is in fact referring to the same ship from the first movie- according to me it never blew up. Really, his presence in this chapter is simply to prove he still exists. This will be explained SOON.
Disclaimer: Now hear this! Silvertree and co. are mine, as is Athena itself. If you want them, ask first. I do NOT own The Matrix, I don't even pretend to. The late Douglass Adams owned/owns the Hitchhiker's Guide and all quotes from it. I think Neo makes a brief appearance in this part so just for the record, he's not mine either. *sniffles*
'...good grief...what am I doing thinking at a time like this?...' is what it looks like when Silver thinks.
Project Athena: Chapter XVI- Life Goes On
In the days that followed, Silver ran through a variety of simulations designed to teach things in what was often the most irritating and/or humiliating manner. The most memorable of these was known as simply "the jump program" and involved what the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy might have described as "flinging yourself into midair and learning how to miss the ground." She was also beaten to a pulp on three separate occasions by Wynn, Sketch, and Pheniks, respectively, before managing to win against Tee. When not thusly occupied, she hobbled around Athena on legs covered with bruises that didn't seem to have realized that logically they shouldn't exist. Voldie and Vix had decided to be her official tour guides, and Silver found herself warming to the idea of actually talking to people voluntarily on a regular basis.
Her tenth day found her sitting precariously on top of the Hive along with Voldie, Vix, and Yak. They were waiting for the Verdandi's return from Zion, and their current spot had a perfect view of the tunnels.
'...bloody cold though...'
Silver was enjoying looking out over the usual passers-by, trying to match names to faces (or hair). Spotting an uncharacteristically sullen face under a bird's nest of matted brown hair, she smiled wryly.
'...that'd be Mop...one person who's not pleased the Verdandi's coming back, and bringing E.M. with it!...'
She was surprised to note that she wasn't doing half badly- many of the people looked at least vaguely familiar. She was listening in on a conversation taking place about a meter directly below her boots when Yak poked her in the ribs.
'...yow!...mental note to self: find way to injure Yak...or not...but what does she want?...'
"What?" she demanded.
"Look who's come out of hiding," Vix answered, pointing in the general direction of 'over there.' Looking where Vix pointed, Silver could tell in a split second who was being indicated. Tall, looking like he meant business, and in a very bad mood, or so it seemed.
'...hell...what's bugging him?...'
"Holy shit, he looks mad," Voldie commented as the person in question drew nearer. She, Vix, and Yak exchanged a look. "Let's find out why!"
'...damn...one of their 'looks' again...what now?...who is that, anyway?...'
It was then that Silver decided she was sick of not having things explained to her. "Who the hell is this person, anyway?" she demanded. "I've noticed you have a way of not explaining things to me, and it's pissing me off."
'...ahh...it felt good to say that...'
"Oh, sorry," Yak said, sounding contrite. "That's Neo."
'...errr...oh yeah!...the savior-of-humanity person from that history disk...'
"Ah. I see." He didn't look much like anybody's savior at the moment. To Silver, he looked more like a normal person in a rotten mood. The four of them slipped down from their seats to a stack of storage tubs and thence to the ground, and slipped into the Hive just before Neo did.
'...eavesdropping makes me feel so evil...heheheheh...'
"Can someone tell me where I can find Rigel? I need to talk to him." His tone was carefully mild, but he looked about as menacing as a thundercloud. Rigel, who was partially responsible for the defense system, elbowed his way through the people standing 'round and raised an eyebrow.
"You called?"
"Yes. Unless I'm gravely mistaken, in the past five days the Nebuchadnezzar has made three different requests for a clearance date."
"Oh," Vix muttered. "Boring stuff. Let's go." They returned to their perch. "Phooey. I thought maybe something important was happening."
'...poor Rigel...Neo looked pretty pissed...'
Her musings were cut short by a sudden hush. In the sudden quiet, a faintly staticky voice issued faintly from the Hive.
"...This is the Verdandi, requesting shutdown on sensors 1- and 2a...repeat: we are waiting for sensors 1a and 2a to go offline..." Static was all there was to be heard for several long moments before the sensors apparently were disabled as requested and "...Thank you...proceeding to sector 2...ehh...make that 2a..."
Yak snickered. "Stupid protocol. But Rigel the pedant will bitch endlessly if it's not observed."
'...sounds like my teacher wanting us to stand by our desks when we spoke, back in seventh grade...'
"Well, it's not his fault he can't figure out by himself that if they want sensor 2a offline, they're going to be in sector 2a, not 2b," Voldie remarked snidely.
Slowly, the Verdandi came into sight around a slight bend in the tunnel, still a long way off, before settling to the tunnel floor and being lost to sight amidst the rubble. A moment later, the staticky voice announced "This is the Verdandi requesting clearance to proceed through sector 3...a." There was a long pause, and then, "Thanks...now proceeding...." The ship made stately progress along the tunnel, taking what seemed an inordinately large amount of time."
"Stupid speed limits," Vix remarked grumpily. "And what's more, strictly speaking I think they're moving faster that they're supposed to be."
"Another deadly sin, if you're Rigel," Voldie put in.
'...how in hell do those things float, anyway?..."
As the ship grew near, Silver just stared. As she watched, in one tightly controlled maneuver tons upon tons of metal moved neatly to their appointed spot, sending bolts of energy crackling between it and the girders of the superstructure.
'...good grief...what would happen if they mucked up their landing?...ugh, don't be so morbid, Silvertree!...'
"Hey Mop!" Vix called, "She's back!" The foursome perched on top of the Hive exchanged a grin as Mop fairly flew in the opposite direction, then they set off for the returned ship.
###
Please, please don't kill me! I wanna live!
Lyrrik: You should have updated sooner then. *returns to playing with my homemade Soma cube*
*sticks out tongue* You're no help. Anyways, please don't cause my gory demise, even though I sorta deserve it for not updating since November. Yes, I know that this chapter is relatively crap, but four months of revision couldn't do anything for it so it's best to just post it and get it over with. There'll be more soon, including... (drumroll, please)
Milligan: *drumroll* Lyrrik: Dun dun dunn!!!!!
...an actual PLOTLINE!
Now, for all you lovely peoples who reviewed since the last chapter, The AWARDS CEREMONY!
A.L.T2: Thanks a ton for continuing to review me.
Suzuka Blade: You get the "Most Philosophical Remarks" award. Thanks a million for your insights.
And of course, a million billion trillion thanks to Sway, a.k.a. The Lady Voldemort for reviewing this and "Breakfast in the City" and especially for kicking my ass into gear over the past three days to make me actually post this instead of just saying I would.
You all rock!
Seeya!
S'Lark
Here goes with another chapter, abominably late as always. Yeah and stuff... I'm bad and evil and furthermore I'm an evil bitch for changing the update day and then skipping it an estimated total of twenty times or more. I fully expect the Lady Voldemort to personally rip me to shreds for it... flame it you want to, or you could all attempt to telekinetically force me to hit myself in the head repeatedly...
This chapter is set a week or so after the last one because I'm sick of being unoriginal and putting a "new" spin on stuff straight from the movie. I'm going to try to speed through the "major boring shit" (heheh, good old Link...whatever happened to him?) and then get on with things. This will make for some really dull stuff and some crappily written stuff, but once things start to pick up, it'll improve- I promise. Oh, and Neo shows up in this chapter. Those of you who've seen Revolutions, do not yell at me for this. The explanation of the plot device will turn up SOON (and you all know that 'soon' means 'in a couple of weeks'). If he's out of character, my excuse is he's pissed off. We never actually see movie-Neo get really angry- irritated, lovestruck, disbelieving and shocked, and of course the famous confusion, but properly angry? No. So please go easy on me for this one. Oh, and when he says "Neb" he is in fact referring to the same ship from the first movie- according to me it never blew up. Really, his presence in this chapter is simply to prove he still exists. This will be explained SOON.
Disclaimer: Now hear this! Silvertree and co. are mine, as is Athena itself. If you want them, ask first. I do NOT own The Matrix, I don't even pretend to. The late Douglass Adams owned/owns the Hitchhiker's Guide and all quotes from it. I think Neo makes a brief appearance in this part so just for the record, he's not mine either. *sniffles*
'...good grief...what am I doing thinking at a time like this?...' is what it looks like when Silver thinks.
Project Athena: Chapter XVI- Life Goes On
In the days that followed, Silver ran through a variety of simulations designed to teach things in what was often the most irritating and/or humiliating manner. The most memorable of these was known as simply "the jump program" and involved what the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy might have described as "flinging yourself into midair and learning how to miss the ground." She was also beaten to a pulp on three separate occasions by Wynn, Sketch, and Pheniks, respectively, before managing to win against Tee. When not thusly occupied, she hobbled around Athena on legs covered with bruises that didn't seem to have realized that logically they shouldn't exist. Voldie and Vix had decided to be her official tour guides, and Silver found herself warming to the idea of actually talking to people voluntarily on a regular basis.
Her tenth day found her sitting precariously on top of the Hive along with Voldie, Vix, and Yak. They were waiting for the Verdandi's return from Zion, and their current spot had a perfect view of the tunnels.
'...bloody cold though...'
Silver was enjoying looking out over the usual passers-by, trying to match names to faces (or hair). Spotting an uncharacteristically sullen face under a bird's nest of matted brown hair, she smiled wryly.
'...that'd be Mop...one person who's not pleased the Verdandi's coming back, and bringing E.M. with it!...'
She was surprised to note that she wasn't doing half badly- many of the people looked at least vaguely familiar. She was listening in on a conversation taking place about a meter directly below her boots when Yak poked her in the ribs.
'...yow!...mental note to self: find way to injure Yak...or not...but what does she want?...'
"What?" she demanded.
"Look who's come out of hiding," Vix answered, pointing in the general direction of 'over there.' Looking where Vix pointed, Silver could tell in a split second who was being indicated. Tall, looking like he meant business, and in a very bad mood, or so it seemed.
'...hell...what's bugging him?...'
"Holy shit, he looks mad," Voldie commented as the person in question drew nearer. She, Vix, and Yak exchanged a look. "Let's find out why!"
'...damn...one of their 'looks' again...what now?...who is that, anyway?...'
It was then that Silver decided she was sick of not having things explained to her. "Who the hell is this person, anyway?" she demanded. "I've noticed you have a way of not explaining things to me, and it's pissing me off."
'...ahh...it felt good to say that...'
"Oh, sorry," Yak said, sounding contrite. "That's Neo."
'...errr...oh yeah!...the savior-of-humanity person from that history disk...'
"Ah. I see." He didn't look much like anybody's savior at the moment. To Silver, he looked more like a normal person in a rotten mood. The four of them slipped down from their seats to a stack of storage tubs and thence to the ground, and slipped into the Hive just before Neo did.
'...eavesdropping makes me feel so evil...heheheheh...'
"Can someone tell me where I can find Rigel? I need to talk to him." His tone was carefully mild, but he looked about as menacing as a thundercloud. Rigel, who was partially responsible for the defense system, elbowed his way through the people standing 'round and raised an eyebrow.
"You called?"
"Yes. Unless I'm gravely mistaken, in the past five days the Nebuchadnezzar has made three different requests for a clearance date."
"Oh," Vix muttered. "Boring stuff. Let's go." They returned to their perch. "Phooey. I thought maybe something important was happening."
'...poor Rigel...Neo looked pretty pissed...'
Her musings were cut short by a sudden hush. In the sudden quiet, a faintly staticky voice issued faintly from the Hive.
"...This is the Verdandi, requesting shutdown on sensors 1- and 2a...repeat: we are waiting for sensors 1a and 2a to go offline..." Static was all there was to be heard for several long moments before the sensors apparently were disabled as requested and "...Thank you...proceeding to sector 2...ehh...make that 2a..."
Yak snickered. "Stupid protocol. But Rigel the pedant will bitch endlessly if it's not observed."
'...sounds like my teacher wanting us to stand by our desks when we spoke, back in seventh grade...'
"Well, it's not his fault he can't figure out by himself that if they want sensor 2a offline, they're going to be in sector 2a, not 2b," Voldie remarked snidely.
Slowly, the Verdandi came into sight around a slight bend in the tunnel, still a long way off, before settling to the tunnel floor and being lost to sight amidst the rubble. A moment later, the staticky voice announced "This is the Verdandi requesting clearance to proceed through sector 3...a." There was a long pause, and then, "Thanks...now proceeding...." The ship made stately progress along the tunnel, taking what seemed an inordinately large amount of time."
"Stupid speed limits," Vix remarked grumpily. "And what's more, strictly speaking I think they're moving faster that they're supposed to be."
"Another deadly sin, if you're Rigel," Voldie put in.
'...how in hell do those things float, anyway?..."
As the ship grew near, Silver just stared. As she watched, in one tightly controlled maneuver tons upon tons of metal moved neatly to their appointed spot, sending bolts of energy crackling between it and the girders of the superstructure.
'...good grief...what would happen if they mucked up their landing?...ugh, don't be so morbid, Silvertree!...'
"Hey Mop!" Vix called, "She's back!" The foursome perched on top of the Hive exchanged a grin as Mop fairly flew in the opposite direction, then they set off for the returned ship.
###
Please, please don't kill me! I wanna live!
Lyrrik: You should have updated sooner then. *returns to playing with my homemade Soma cube*
*sticks out tongue* You're no help. Anyways, please don't cause my gory demise, even though I sorta deserve it for not updating since November. Yes, I know that this chapter is relatively crap, but four months of revision couldn't do anything for it so it's best to just post it and get it over with. There'll be more soon, including... (drumroll, please)
Milligan: *drumroll* Lyrrik: Dun dun dunn!!!!!
...an actual PLOTLINE!
Now, for all you lovely peoples who reviewed since the last chapter, The AWARDS CEREMONY!
A.L.T2: Thanks a ton for continuing to review me.
Suzuka Blade: You get the "Most Philosophical Remarks" award. Thanks a million for your insights.
And of course, a million billion trillion thanks to Sway, a.k.a. The Lady Voldemort for reviewing this and "Breakfast in the City" and especially for kicking my ass into gear over the past three days to make me actually post this instead of just saying I would.
You all rock!
Seeya!
S'Lark