~*~Dimension Hopper~*~

      Chapter Sixteen:  Enter the Cyber

      (Zika meets The Matrix) 

~*~

       "Are you going to stop bitching?" Karma snapped, "You're giving me a headache!"

       "Sorry," Celeste Vizier sighed. "I know it's not helping, but I got to vent! This is so uncomfortable, letting the Dark Angel have so much power!  You sure Aamina knows what she's doing?"

       "Positive," Givin replied wearily. 

       "At least, she'd better!"  Zachria Syria tossed her head.  Solar Genetic looked at his partner nervously. 

       "That's not reassuring," Enlei said. 

~*~ 

~Elsewhere~

Computer code scrolled across the screen, a repetitive march that the watcher had seen before.  He leaned back in his chair, keeping only half of his attention on the screen.  Mostly his thoughts were on the mission that had just begun. 

Suddenly, the screen froze.  The watcher blinked, and sat up straight.  The coding faded away, to be replaced by a chilling message.  After a few seconds, it melted away, but it didn't matter.  The words were burned into his mind.   Three times three

Eyes of warmth and eyes of cold

Eyes of youth and eyes of old

Three times three the circle spins

Destiny grows.

Three times three

Eyes of love, eyes of hate

Bound forever in the cycle of Fate

Balance of all

Mortals and immortal both

Heed this call

Eyes of gay and eyes of grief

Three times three

The Trinity

His breath came in harsh gulps as he watched the screen return to normal.  He would have wondered whether he had dreamt it, except for the message that blazed at him when he closed his eyes. 

On the screen, the Matrix marched on.

~*~

Flash.  Zika felt the Dimension Hopper cooling down on her arm, but kept her eyes closed.  There was this sensation of floating, of being held up, but not, that she was enjoying.  It was relaxing. 

She traced a newly healed scar on her arm.  Shouldn't have let those two get that close to me. 

There was a tingling against her skin.  She sighed inwardly, and opened her eyes.  Then she smiled. 

Thank God it's not an F***in' FOREST!!! Then she realized where she was, and she laughed. 

~Elsewhere~

"What the…?"

"What's wrong?  They're still plugged in, right?"

"Yeah, they're fine.  It's just this!"

"What kind of program is that?"

"I'm not sure, sir.  It looks like some sort of virus."

"A virus?  Unbelievable!  Can you get more information?"

"I'm working on it sir.  Shall I inform the others?"

"Not quite yet, we need more information.  Is it dangerous to us?"

"It doesn't appear to be sir.  Not yet anyways."

"I see."

On the screen, the line of code marched ever on.

"Sir, it's moved."

"Watch it."

~*~

City cement is warm during summer days, when waves of heat could be seen rising into the air.  Zika laughed at the deception.  It was like a bittersweet memory to her, an amusing plaything.  It was so easy for her to reach out with her mind and shape it to her will.  She giggled with childish delight as she effortlessly altered her appearance. 

~*~

"What is it doing?"

"I'm working on it, sir."

~*~

Zika smiled, feeling a certain tingle of senses.  She reached and activated the cloaking device.

~*~

"Sir, it's disappeared."

"Shit!"

~*~

The backdoors were ridiculously easy to find.  She spent some time wandering the halls, peeking into secret places and watching secret things.  Once, a probe found her and managed to send out a distress call before she destroyed it. 

She frowned down at the broken pieces of electronic metal still shooting sparks at her feet.  The fact that the machine had been quick in its last moments did not bother her; it was the message inside of the report that made her mad. I'm not a bloody virus!  She snarled silently.  How rude! 

The whirl of machines caught her attention, and she saw a new program rushing towards her.  Her eyes narrowed, reading clearly its intent. 

A flick of a wrist, painfully simple, painfully easy, and the anti-virus program exploded.  Zika snorted as she moved out of the area and into the hall of backdoors. 

However, she found the hall blocked by some mutation of a program.  She watched as the mutation attempted to overwhelm a group of individuals.  Her eyes narrowed as she caught a clear look of the opposition. 

Those are renegades, she realized.  These are the people who have clawed their way out of this virtual reality and into the one beyond their prison.  This must mean that there are more than this small group. 

Zika smirked with amusement.  She de-activated the cloaking device and stepped into view. 

"Hey, you bastards!  Over here!  You all are as slow as the first computer!  Could your IQ level go any higher or is your shoe-size your highest capacity?" She yelled.  They all stopped, turned and stared at her.  "Gee, you all are so smart, using your brawn instead of the meagre power of your brain, as that you have no intelligence and it would consist of suicide to do anything other than overwhelm with sheer numbers!  But that's not going to work, is it?  NO!!!  Know why?" She roared.  "BECAUSE THE DARK ANGEL IS HERE!!!!"

Zika threw back her head and laughed.  Everyone else blinked.  "What the-?"

"Now, I know what you all are thinking; who in the name of the Seven Systems –okay, maybe not of the Seven Systems- Who the HELL am I?  I AM DIGITAL ZIKA SILVER1, THE FUTURE RULER OF THE UNIVERSE!!  WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Zika posed as she crackled, ignoring the blank looks directed at her.  She sighed, and dropped out of her maniacal laughter. 

"Okay, I'll make this easy for you:  I'm the world's version of a nightmare." She said.  "In here, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, and no body can stop me."  Zika paused for effect.  "Got that?"

Someone in back spoke up.  "You mean you're not a virus?"

Zika's face darkened.  "A virus?" she repeated, menace laced in her voice.  "Am I a virus?" She took a deep breath.  "Let me ask you this; do I look like a virus to you?  Do you think that a virus can really do the things that I can?  Can a virus do this?" She whirled around and scratched at the fabric of virtual reality.  A gaping hole appeared, showing a void of space beyond.  She reached in and pulled, stabilizing the portal.  Then, without warning, she and the hole disappeared. 

~*~

"Er, what just happened?"

"I do not know."

A frantic beeping sound drew their attention from the monitors.  The meter measuring the amount of electricity being generated and consumed was giving off sparks. It withered and gathered itself as if alive.  The two men backed away as carefully as they could. 

Suddenly, the electricity surged.  It coiled and began to take the shape of a young girl.  From out of a doorway of electric flames, Zika stepped out of the Matrix. 

"So, this is the real world, huh?" Her eyes swept across the room, taking it all in.  The men shuddered involuntarily as her gaze lingered on them.  "Quite the vacation spot," she smirked.

"Zika, I don't really think that we should stay here," Jova protested.  Zika nodded. 

"For once, I agree with you, Jova.  Why stay in this dump when there's so much more of this world to explore, wreck and ruin."

"Not that there's hell of a lot left," muttered Jova.  Zika laughed, and with an ironic bow, she glided away from the men, straight through the walls of the airship and out into the beyond.

~*~

Zika floated, traveling over the ruins of cities and homes, examining the destruction and decay of the human civilization.  Delighted, she laughed as she swooped and soared.   

       Then she came upon the rows of human farms.  Then she stopped to consider.  She was tore between being horrified over the treatment of what she considered her people, and being impressed.  It was an inhumane manner to treat the species that ultimately were the creators of the machines, but at the same time, it was a brilliant way to overcome the situation. 

       Zika sighed.  "It's not easy to be the destined ruler of the universe," she said.  "Although I admire the machines for what they have done, my duty comes first before my pleasure."  

       "What are you talking about?" Jova asked.  "Since when have you had a sense of duty?"

       "For long that you know, moron!" Zika snapped back.  "Now, just for your sake, I'll demonstrate!"

       "No, Zika, please, don't!"

Zika ignored him, flying off in a rage.  She followed the stream of machinery up to a mass of a motherboard.  "Here," she whispered with bloodlust in her voice and in her eyes.  "Here is where justice is given."  She laughed. 

       With a sweeping gesture, she released an enormous fireball.  The machines were consumed in a torrent of fire and energy.  Their circuits were overrun with electricity and exploded before the heat melted their metal frames.  The structure of A.I. was blasted apart into a smoking crater. 

       As the fragments settled, ash began to fall like bizarre snow. 

       "Let all thee know, that the Dark Angel has returned," Zika said. 

~*~

       A shadow fell over the corpse of a hunter.  Pewter kneeled next to it, examining what remained of the machine's circuitry.  "I'd have to say that this was one of the lucky ones," he said.  "It was destroyed instantly.  She's now taken to slowly killing machines."

       "Gee, I thought I'd never see the day when the Digital Dark Angel killed machines," Ikeda remarked. 

       "Me neither," Pewter rose, his cloak sweeping in the ashes.  "But there's nothing else here for us to do.  We'd better get back and report."

~*~ ~*~

N/B:  Gee, did anybody miss me?  I got a few reviews while I was gone.

Zika: And for anyone's information, no, chapters cannot be rewritten.  This entire piece is raw material, almost straight from Neko's head.  There is no editing and no rewriting after a chapter is completed, and there never will be. 

N/B:  well, there might be a spell-checker and grammar check.  Some of these I write when I'm not thinking very well.

Zika: you never think very well

N/B:  Hey!  You're MY muse! A little encouragement would be appreciated here! 

Zika: You want encouragement, go ask Lex.  I ain't the person. 

N/B:  anyways, see you next chapter!