6: TESTING

The deeper, darker side is explained to him.

Aerial opened her eyes and sighed deeply. Phoenix was scurrying around the array removing the jacks from the crew as each woke up. She sat up slowly and massaged the back of her neck with her hand. Through the curtain of her hair she caught a glimpse of Tiresias lying very still in his seat, probably in a state of slight shock. She swung her legs off the chair and touched his arm. 'Are you all right?'

The young man jumped under her touch, then smiled faintly at the sound of her voice. 'Yeah, thanks… God, that was scary.'

He stood up and ran a hand through his hair. 'It's not over yet,' Aerial reminded him.

'Don't I know it,' he replied wryly.

Mimic approached them and said quietly, 'We need to get back in as soon as possible. Just you two, Sphere and me this time.'

'Why aren't Spess and Vriha coming?' asked Aerial. It was obvious why Genius was remaining.

'Phoenix says he had a close call with a gang of squiddies. I want gunners ready just in case. Are you two okay? I mean, it was pretty stressful in there.'

'We'll be all right,' said Tiresias, smiling.

'Good. Take a couple of hours break and I'll get Genius to call you when we're going in again.' Mimic disappeared, possibly to inform Zion of the disturbances.

'Hey, Birdy.' Aerial shot a disparaging look at Phoenix, who hesitated. Her nickname had suddenly become sensitive, and she didn't want to talk about it, not with Phoenix at least. 'Birdy yourself,' she returned.

'Sorry, cherie,' said Phoenix, sounding a little wounded. 'I was just going to ask you what was happening in there. You kept... phasing out, for want of a better phrase.'

'Yeah, I've been wondering about that,' mused Aerial. 'Falcon could do it too.'

'Falcon?'

Aerial was forced to think fast, 'The program. Those wing things remind me of some kind of falcon, that's all.' Privately she was astounded. She was sure that "Falcon" was his name, but how could she have known that?

'Hey, if you fancy hopping into the dojo again...'

'All right, all right. I'm beginning to feel like a freak,' complained Aerial as she turned back and threw herself into her chair.

Phoenix tapped away at his keyboard as Tiresias slid the jack in for the fourth time that day.

Aerial stretched in the dojo and called to the empty air, 'So what do you want me to do?'

'Just try to do it again,' came the Operator's voice, echoing through the room. Aerial looked into herself. When it had happened before, she had been under fire. So maybe if she dodged... She darted to the left, with no result. Then she recalled that she had been concentrating. She closed her eyes for a moment and brought her focus to a razor edge, and leapt to the right this time.

Something rushed through her again, and she knew it had worked. She isolated the feeling and held it, sustaining the invisibility. Phoenix laughed in amazement, 'Oh wow!'

Aerial let it go and returned to normality, the feeling gushing over her again. 'Did it work?'

'Hell yes! Your code went all weird – I'll have to learn that one. Invisibility, huh? So, can you do anysing else?'

Phoenix's accent had slipped back, which told Aerial that he was genuinely excited. She grinned. 'Well, that program could split himself...'

'Oh, do zat!'

'Bare with me a sec, I've not tried this...' Aerial's tiredness was flowing out of her and a giddy rush replacing it. She closed her eyes again and concentrated. She found the sensation of performing a star-jump and twitched her head as she imagined it. There was another rush through her body, similar to when she became invisible, and she had the strangest feeling of déjà-vu. Alarmed, she called out, 'Phoenix, I'm getting '

'You did it! You did it!' cried the Operator. 'Sacre bleu, you did it! WOW!'

Aerial looked around and laughed out loud. Standing next to her staring straight ahead was an identical copy of herself. If she utilised her new vision, she found she could actually see through it. She waved her hand in front of the copy's eyes to no response. 'Temporary copy.' She relaxed and the image vanished.

Aerial decided to try and mimic what Falcon had done earlier. She began to run, and split herself. The copy ran also, whilst she zigzagged across its path. 'Oh yes!' she cried in jubilation, punching the air. She was so elated with her own success that she put on a burst of speed and performed what she liked to think of as her signature move.

Aerial had not always been known as Aerial. In fact, when she was freed, her alias was Echo. However, there had been no fewer than seven other Echo's in Zion at that time, so she had decided to change her name. She had been thinking on her new alias when Mimic had taken her through the training, and especially the jump program.

No one ever makes the first jump – Echo was no exception. As she fell however, the rushing air rippled her sleeves into wings, and although she smacked down hard onto the tarmac, she was smiling at the time.

Echo became obsessed with the jump program, persuading Phoenix to let her try again and again to make the jump. Although her numerous falls seemed to have no consequence, Echo was in fact trying to sense the gravity. Eventually, she threw herself from the skyscraper, and with an immense effort, managed to hold herself in the air for about two seconds before dropping yet again.

Mimic was impatient to see her progress, and demanded she try and make the jump again. Obediently, Echo leapt from the one skyscraper and managed to grab hold of the second, for her jump had not quite carried her across. Eager to show off, she let herself drop like a hawk drops to its prey. Throwing her arms wide, she used her mind to pull up before the tarmac swelled up to meet her… and promptly crashed into a pile of dustbins.

This episode gave her two things: a knock to her ego, and her new alias. What better name for someone obsessed with flight than Aerial?

So her signature move had become a stylised version of The Drop which had made the crew laugh so much. Aerial streaked to the wall and did a wall-run, pushing off and spreading her arms like wings, defying gravity to glide through the air on her back. She performed a straight flip, her body rigid as a pencil, and dropped straight down to the matting, dust and chips of wood clouding up her legs from the dents her feet had made.

Phoenix's voice came again, 'You done practicing yet, Birdy?'

'Yup. Get me out.'

Tiresias removed the jack on Phoenix's command, and Aerial awoke once more in the chair. She was developing another headache. 'Woo, that was fun,' she commented, massaging her forehead with one hand.

Phoenix scrambled out of his chair and ruffled her hair. 'Get some rest, cherie. I'm sorry for dragging you back in, but aren't you glad I did?' Aerial nodded and smiled, heading towards the ladder and a short sleep.

Falcon stood before his employer's desk, hands clasped behind his back and his wings folded. He stared resolutely at the polished wood of the desk. The Merovingian had been much less than pleased when Falcon had returned empty handed, and the bird was ready for a beating.

The Frenchman treated Falcon to a unsympathetic stare for a good few minutes until the program shifted nervously and offered, 'Je suis très désolé, monsieur.'

'Do not sink zat apologising in a different language will make it any better, Falcon.'

'Sorry, sir.'

'As you can imagine, I am very disappointed wiz you. It seems I overestimated you. In fact I know I did; it was an experiment.'

'That's all I am, isn't it?' blurted Falcon. 'An experiment.'

'Fermez la bouche,' commanded the Merovingian. Falcon complied. The Merovingian leered at him, 'Maybe I should give you anozzer chance. Such abilities are too good to waste. Yes, zis time, I will be sending you with accompaniment.'

Falcon raised his head and saw the look in his employer's eyes. 'Oh no...'

'Your companions will be z' Twins. Zey need to get out of z' 'ouse,' he added

Falcon rolled his eyes, 'Does it have to be them?'

'Are you arguing wiz me, Falcon?' The Merovingian raised an eyebrow.

'... No, sir.'

'Good. Now run along. I will send for you when it iz time.'

Falcon fairly scuttled out of the office.

He took out a portion of his anger by kicking the wall at regular intervals all the way down the corridor. He was forced to stop this when a paperweight in the shape of the Empire State Building narrowly missed his shoulder and an extremely testy accent called, 'Stop zat, or I will not send for you at all!'

Grumbling to himself, Falcon stalked back to his room, his wings flaring in agitation. He was so worked up he walked into another of the Merovingian's cronies, who made a noise very much like a growl. Falcon apologised as the werewolf gave him an evil look and loped away.

Falcon crashed onto his bed and flared his wings beneath him, trying to plan on how to ditch the Twins. So absorbed was he in his plottings, that he didn't noticed Persephone glide into the room. He jerked upright, wings spread, as she sat down on the other end of the bed. The long feathers at the tip of his right wing brushed her body.

'Hello Falcon.'

'Um, hi.' Falcon shifted again.

'I have been waiting to be alone with you for a long while, ever since you came here.' Falcon raised his eyes and met Persephone's gaze. The program smiled at him, somewhat sadly. 'I have said it before, but I am so jealous of you.'

'Yeah, well, I'm not that free now, am I?' Falcon held up his left hand and showed her the thick silver ring on his middle finger.

Persephone seemed a little disappointed. 'Oh, he did employ you?' Her gaze returned to the carpet.

'Yes, and now I have to put up with the Twins for my next mission.'

'Ah, you are going after the next Oracle?' Persephone looked at him again. 'This has been a pursuit of my husband's for many years now. He has tried so many times to find the other one, but every time he has failed.'

'There's always been two Oracles?' Falcon was interested now.

'Of course. For every program, there is an equal and opposite human, the basis of that program's shell. It becomes much more complicated as Zion is terminated and the Matrix reloaded. Programs like wildlife are easy enough – they are deleted and new ones created based on a randomly selected human. With those who escape deletion, the relevant human dies off eventually, but the program still runs. Do you follow?'

Falcon nodded. Persephone went on, like a child telling a secret, 'For the System to run smoothly, there must always be a twin human. Programs that still have purpose and were not rebooted are allocated another randomly selected human, not necessarily resembling the original program.'

'The Oracle is never deleted?'

Persephone nodded. Falcon continued, 'So with every reboot, another human is selected to have the Sight?' Another nod. 'And he's found her at last?'

'He thinks he has. But he has thought so many times before. I'll show you.' Persephone rose and went to the door. Fascinated, Falcon followed. Persephone stopped him near the door with a hand on his chest. 'Normally, I would charge a fee for something like this. But since you have nothing I want, I do not see the point. However, I will show you only if you promise to pay me back at some point.' She didn't leave him a chance to agree or decline, but strutted away. Falcon strode after her.

Persephone led him to the library, where the werewolf he had knocked into earlier was sitting watching some kind of cheesy horror film. The man started up as they entered, but relaxed immediately when he recognised Persephone. His gaze shifted to Falcon, and he bridled. ''S all right, Abel, he's with me,' said Persephone heavily, as though she had said it many times before.

She crossed the room and tugged on a book. There was a dull click, and a bookshelf rotated on a central axis to form an entrance. Falcon snickered, 'Corny.'

'Indeed,' agreed Persephone. Falcon was in awe of the amount of bitterness she managed to cram into the single word.

He followed her down into the lower levels, which were seemingly devoted to wine. Falcon looked around, puzzled. 'The humans got turned into wine?'

Persephone smiled, 'No. Please, follow me.' She negotiated a thick pillar, led him around a circular torture pit, and through a low archway.

Immediately, there was the sound of multiple gasps from the second level. Falcon stared around. A number of cells lined the walls, each holding a single male prisoner. Persephone gestured, and Falcon made his way along the corridor. His breath froze in his lungs as someone called out weakly.

'My eyes... my eyes... They took my eyes!'

'Holy shit...' breathed Falcon. At least three quarters of the prisoners were blind; their eyes neatly extracted leaving two irregular circles of badly healed scar tissue. 'Why the eyes?' he asked, turning back to Persephone.

'The code for the Sight is within the eyes. If the owner will not cooperate, my husband removes the eyes and extracts the code for himself. That is to say, he would, if he would get his arse in gear and actually bother to find the right one.'

'Why so many?'

'Any human who inadvertently mentions the fact that he could "see what was coming next" or a similar metaphor, within my husband's spies' range, is targeted. Why male?' Falcon closed his mouth and nodded. Persephone explained, 'The program is always the opposite sex to the human template. I do not know why, it is just something that is done.'

Falcon shivered. 'The target human this time is blind already,' he mused aloud.

Persephone raised her eyebrows, 'Really? This time he might be onto something. Well, I suppose we had better get back. My husband will be wanting you soon.'

Falcon tore his gaze away from the prisoners and followed Persephone back up to the library. His mind was turning over the bulk of information he had just received. In particular, the image of the young girl who had caught him as he flew kept returning to his brain. Always the opposite sex…

The werewolf had vacated the couch, leaving the film running. The credits scrolled lazily upwards on the flat-screen. Persephone sat down and brought the menu back up on the DVD. Falcon was about to exit the room when she called, 'Remember Falcon, you owe me for that.'

Falcon nodded and left. Persephone sighed pensively and began channel-hopping through the security cameras.

A/N: There's an error in this chapter that I decided to leave in. Spot it, and you get an Oracle-cookie.