Hi. See, Ryly, I can update! Not only am I back, but I'm completely unrepentant for not having updated all summer. No, seriously it wasn't my fault- it's kinda hard to update when you don't have Internet access or even a bleeding computer...

Lyrrik: Oh, for shame, S'Lark. You could've just asked to use your aunt's computer, but noooo...

You. Quiet. Now. So, to continue... Item One: Canon Character Appearances. I figure that since I'm working on the assumption that Reloaded and Revolutions were nothing but system propaganda, I might as well mess around with the characters a little too. Nothing horrible or drastic, just a little thing here or there... Item Two: Canon Character Behavior. I'm trying to keep 'em in character, when they show up. Tell me if you think I'm not doing a good job with them. Milligan, the disclaimer please!

Milligan: (ahem) S'Lark doesn't own the Matrix movies, or anything associated with them; this including but not limited to: characters, setting, and plot elements. She is not making any money from this (as if anyone would pay anyway...). And single quotes and shitloads of little dots: '...this is an ex-parrot!...' are Silver's thoughts, not that you haven't heard this before...

And now... the chapter! The title is my feeble attempt at a pun- Support, as in Moral, and also as in Beam... Aren't I just pathetic?

Project Athena: Chapter XVIII- Support

Slowly shaking off her feeling of panic (direct result of nearly plummeting to her doom), she slowly looked up. Ordinary boots, ordinary leggings much darned and patched at the knees, ratty tunic-length sweater... and a face that looked an awful lot like Lynx.

'...way too tall, though...'

"Um... hi. I'm-"

"Silvertree, from the Cassiopeia. Lynx was telling me about you."

'...Lynx...argh...didn't her mother ever tell her it's not nice to talk behind people's backs?...'

With some effort, she stifled the useless urge to yank the mystery woman's feet out from under her and send her tumbling into the abyss.

"That's me. And you are...?"

The mystery woman ignored her question.

'...bitch...'

"I wasn't expecting to find anyone here. Usually, nobody comes up this far. Or," the woman added pointedly, "risks their neck sitting out there."

"I felt like being alone."

"What are engine rooms for, then?"

'...let's try telepathy!...go away, go away, go away, go away!!!...oh, c'mon...please?...shit, not working...'

"Lynx is rewiring something down there. Again."

"Oh. So why did you say you were sulking?"

'...nosy lady...arg!...'

"I didn't."

"But you are sulking."

Thinking happy thoughts of a mystery lady-shaped splatter on the tunnel floor, Silver took a couple of deep breaths, got her temper under control, and practically growled:

"I didn't say that either."

"Well, something's obviously bothering you."

'...yeah...you are!...'

Silver didn't trust herself to even open her mouth for fear of what she might say. When after a moment's silence it became clear she wasn't planning on responding, the mystery lady sat down on the edge of the platform, dangling her feet over the side. Now that her unwanted guest's face was on a level with her own, Silver could see that a long scar, so old as to be only a light streak in the skin, marred the left side of a face that was otherwise nearly identical to Lynx's. Through some freak of chance, it followed her cheekbone almost perfectly from the bridge of her nose to somewhere below the corner of her eye, then sloped sharply down to pass under her ear and disappear into her hair.

'...not too bad, as scars go...when that was new, it probably looked like warpaint...'

"That's what happens when you mess around with program assassins armed with straight razors."

'...agh!...was I staring?...'

"Ah... sorry..."

Apparently she didn't really give a damn whether Silver was staring or not, because she kept on talking.

"Whatever's bugging you, don't just shut up and wait for it to go away. Keep shit bottled up and it'll rot you inside. Just talk."

'...surely you jest...what are you, the resident shrink?...'

"Talk...?"

"Nobody has to hear. Just get it out of your system."

"Talk to myself. Great. The last thing I need is for everyone to think I've gone completely crazy."

'...as if you aren't already...oh, SHUT UP!...you're not helping!...'

"So talk into your pillow. Just rant. It helps."

And with that, the mystery lady got up and walked away.

'...and about time, too!...'

Silver tried to go back to her previous thoughts, but the woman's words kept coming back to haunt her, and she felt somehow guilty for sulking. Finally, she inched back to the platform and returned to the Cassiopeia, grumbling. Not having anything better to do, she went to the engine level to inquire about Lynx's irritating doppelganger. Carefully stepping over Lynx's spanner set (arranged in neat, regimental rows by size and gauge), she sat against a wall.

"Geez. Who spat in your goop? Not that you'd notice, in that stuff, but you look seriously pissed, not to mention depressed."

"I don't suppose you have a twin? Or a clone, or an alternate personality or something? 'Cause I just met someone who looks just like you, but-"

"-Has a scar on the left side of her face? That'd be my cousin Trinity."

'...Trinity...as in 'wife of the savior of mankind' Trinity?...oh shit...and she was trying to be nice, too...'

"You look like you just saw a squiddy. What's wrong?"

'...I feel like I've been ripped off...and I just acted like a bitch to one of the most famous and talented people in the real world...and I'm in a horrible mood...she doesn't want to hear about my issues...not really...'

"It's nothing."

'...nothing that's any of your business, that is...'

"You're sure? 'Cause I'm nearly done here, and if you need someone to talk to..."

"I'm fine, thanks."

'...time to try ranting into my pillow, I guess...'

And with that, she plodded off.

Woot! Angsty!Silver... or is she just PMSing? For you, Alina, first of my reviewers, giver of good advice, a character flaw! She has poor social skills and can't handle the thought of being seen as a human, with problems- nooo... she's gotta act like a supergirl, with no issues whatsoever... guess it's from acting like a good little fanatic Republican, absorbing so much of her parents' right-wing bullshit all summer without so much as turning a hair, taking revenge during the school year...

Lyrrik: Now, now, don't get ahead of yourself... Silver's backstory comes in later, remember?

Oh yeah... and nobody kill me for the whole Trinity thing, just tell me if she's in character.

Bye!