Notes:
Thanks Puck! That extra 'o' has been shot. As for Tinnun, (a-k-a Somali), she'll appear later on.

2: COINCIDENCE

The connection is made.

Aerial yawned. The soft blue night lights of Zion were dampening her awareness, making her sleepy. She was tired anyway, having been unceremoniously woken up in the small hours with an urgent message from her captain to get back to the ship. Eventually the lift slowed and stopped, and she stumbled out. She could see Captain Mimic standing alone next to the sleeping ship; no one else was in sight.

'I could have had another ten minutes in bed,' she grumbled, dropping her bag beside the railing.

'You and me both, kid,' replied Mimic, beginning to pace up and down. Aerial leant on the railing and stared up at the web of walkways that spanned the enormous cavern near the core. One of the best things about Zion was that it was so warm...

She was contemplating going back to sleep when the lift doors opened once more. The fiery-haired operator, Phoenix, strode towards them, the assistant operator at his elbow. Tiresias was blind, but it didn't stop him coming up with the best attack strategies on this side of the planet. He was also a whiz at guessing passwords. Mimic stopped her pacing and opened her mouth to berate them for their lateness, but Tiresias got in first, 'We only got the message ten minutes ago, before you explode.'

'Oui, the messenger boy you sent got lost,' added Phoenix. His English was near perfect, as it had been uploaded to his brain when he was freed, but he was from Paris. Tiresias had lived in London for most of his life.

He left Phoenix's side and went to the railing, dropping his bag beside Aerial's. He sat on it and ran his hands through his hair, spiking it up. Aerial sank down next to him and he smiled as he sensed her presence.

The lift doors opened again. Tiresias lifted his head and listened; Mimic wheeled around from inspecting her ship. Genius, Vriha and Sphere crossed the decking. The latter two looked very tired, but Genius' eyes were bright.

Vriha's full alias was Vrihaspati, a lesser Hindu god of hymns and prayers. Not a lot of people could pronounce it correctly, so he shortened it. He was a slim Pakistani who specialised in combat with machetes. Sphere was also Asian, with very long dark hair that she wore plaited in a single braid down her back. Genius was American, of medium height and pretty well built. Aerial thought he might be attractive, if his personality wasn't about as appealing as month-old road kill.

Genius ran a little to get to the front of the group, trying to pretend he wasn't half asleep. This time Mimic did explode, 'Where have you been? I sent the message an hour and a half ago!'

'It was these two, Captain,' put in Genius, swelling his chest. 'I was awake instantly and ready within ten minutes.' Sphere and Vriha exchanged glances; Vriha shrugged his shoulders at Mimic.

'Whatever.' Mimic could just about put up with Genius, as could the rest of the crew. He was unbelievably arrogant, and the worst thing was he seemed not to be aware of the fact. He actually believed that he was the best hacker on board the ship, when majority opinion assured him that Phoenix was.

'Let's get out of here,' said Mimic, slinging her bag over her shoulder and flicking her hair from her eyes.

'What about Spess?' asked Aerial. Spess was the first mate, and rumours said that he and Mimic were, or were close to becoming, an item.

'If he's not here in two minutes, we're leaving without him,' said Mimic impatiently.

Right on cue, Spess came flying down the ladders that provided an alternative to the lifts. He was a broad-shouldered Jamaican whose family had moved to America before he was born. He skidded to a halt, offering an apologetic grin to Mimic. The captain rolled her eyes and motioned with her free hand, 'Come on.'

Aerial stood up and let Tiresias link her, following Sphere onto the Alethea.

Spess piloted the ship skilfully through the tunnels, with Phoenix co-piloting. The Alethea was primarily designed for scouting out new uncharted sewers, and as such there was very little living space on board. Aerial thought it quite cosy. Mimic often complained about the lack of space and threatened to extend it herself if they weren't given a bigger one soon.

Aerial emerged from her cabin as the ship gave the familiar lurch which meant they were landing. Vriha beckoned to her and ducked into the dining room. Aerial followed. The entire crew squeezed into the white-walled little room; Genius elbowed Vriha in the ribs as he squashed up to let Aerial in.

'Right,' began Mimic, 'I know you're all anxious to know the reason for me calling for you in the middle of the night, and you'll be disappointed, because I can't tell you exactly. However, I can tell you that the Oracle has requested two of our crew members to visit her, as soon as possible.'

Genius perked up, his eyes shining. Aerial rolled her eyes. Mimic continued, 'We'll be at broadcast level in a few hours, so run along and amuse yourselves until then. Vriha, there's a load of cables come loose again near the core – they need re-bundling and shoving somewhere out of the way. Off you go.'

The crew dispersed. Genius caught Aerial's arm and led her to a corner. 'Are you doing anything tonight?' he whispered. Aerial shook her head. The young man grinned, 'Fancy hopping into the Matrix for dinner with me?'

Aerial gave him a seething look and stalked away to the core. Genius called after her, 'You let that other guy take you out once! How is this any different?'

Aerial walked across to the monitor layout and studied a random screen absorbedly. 'Something wrong?' asked Phoenix from his customary position in the middle of the sprawling arrangement.

Aerial shook her head slightly, 'Genius. He thinks he's so... it.'

'I know what you mean. Why don't you kick some imaginary ass in the dojo?' Phoenix winced as a burst of sparks came from above his head, and Vriha swore in Bengali.

Aerial smiled, 'Yeah, I think I will. Beam me up, Scottie.' Tiresias gave a half laugh from his position tinkering with some wires at the array of chairs.

'Huh?' said Phoenix, puzzled.

'Nothing... just something from a TV show I used to watch,' said Aerial, crossing the deck to her favourite chair. Tiresias followed the sound of her boots on the metal and jacked her in, his fingers running over the back of her head as he located the plug at the base of her skull. Phoenix loaded the training dojo.

Dressed in loose a martial arts robe, Aerial warmed up quickly by running for five minutes, then stretching and limbering up. She had been going through her moves for about an hour when Genius flashed up, dressed identically except for the colour. Aerial ignored him and performed a round-off, four backward handstands and a back-flip.

'Bring it on, Aerial,' he taunted, taking up his first stance. Aerial ignored him again and went in a run to the nearest wall, taking six steps vertically up a beam and back-flipping off. The back-flip was her favourite move. Genius, still wounded at her rejection earlier, came towards her again, 'Come on Aerial, give it a shot.' He took up his stance again.

Aerial regarded him coldly, 'You didn't bow.' Her English accent was like glass compared to his drawling tones.

Genius looked scornful, 'You don't believe in that shit, do you?' He rolled his eyes as she nodded once, 'Oh give me a break...'

'I could break your neck if you want.' Her anger was rising. Deliberately, she bowed slowly, one fist against the other palm. Genius' eyes lit up and he came at her.

Aerial let her anger flow into her limbs, and they exchanged blows and dodges and blocks, each trying to outsmart the other. Aerial leapt over him, dodged his foot as he lashed out and let fly with a ferocious combo ending in a drop kick. Genius soared through the air but controlled his fall and landed heavily on his feet at the other end of the dojo.

Aerial took a running jump, but bent the rules of gravity, arcing her body towards the rafters and landing softly on a large beam.

Genius got to his feet below her and stared up, panting. 'Come down and finish this!' Aerial stepped from behind the eaves and bowed, signalling the end of the fight. Genius scowled, but said nothing beyond, 'Phoenix, get me out of here.' He disappeared a few moments later.

Aerial dropped down to the matting again, taking the sting out of the fall with a front flip. She was hot and sweating; her robe clung to her. She was still furious with the young man, and ran as fast as she could towards the nearest wall, this time managing eleven vertical steps before the ceiling came too close and she pushed off. She shot through the air on her back for a few precious seconds as she fought gravity, then performed a backward somersault and...

... dropped out of the sky, wings cutting back and folding into a streamlined torpedo shape. The pigeon flapped clumsily. Three codes: a deactivation code and two death codes raced the simulation of the falcon; all four struck in the same moment...

... Aerial cried out in the echoing silence of the dojo as a sharp burning pain lanced up her spine. She twisted in the air and lost her concentration. Gravity returned with vengeance on her unconscious form, bringing the girl's body down hard onto the matting...