Illyanna crouched on the roof of an overlooking building with a pair of binoculars in her hand in which she was watching the Rebels and more importantly her target move about, she was ready, she had already scouted the area and knew what to expect, this was the infamous Nebuchadnezzar crew with figures such as Neo, Morpheus and Trinity present, each of which were extremely lethal and to be avoided at all costs. This would hopefully be a purely stealth mission, sneak in, pick up the target and then sneak out without anyone noticing her, admittedly the not being noticed part did not matter in the mission but it would make it that much easier to secure the target. The target? Disks containing certain unspecified data, it really didn't matter as they were a means to an end and Illyanna's next pay check.
Walking back from the edge Illyanna built up enough space for a good run up before she sprinted across the roof and leapt onto the roof of abandoned building the Rebels were using as their base, flying across the almost cavernous distance between the two buildings with ease and landed silently upon the roof with little problems. She crouched as she scuttled across the roof using the angled roof to hide her approach from any potential observers as she hurried across to an open skylight, prying the skylight open Illyanna dropped down into the roof below as silent as any hunting cat and scanned the room for any sign of danger, she was roughly 3 floors above her target and would have to work her way down however the stairs would be far too dangerous to attempt as they were most definitely guarded. It was perhaps fortunate that she had spend sometime before hand, she had actually heard about how the Rebels had managed to avoid the Agents in this very building by travel through the buildings walls to escape and that would be her ticket down, Illyanna quickly orientated herself working her position within the building out to that of the mental map in her mind.
Once that was worked out she moved over to the door silent, listening to any possible noise in the corridor outside to checked the corridor was definitely clear, opening the door and a quick cautious peak proved so, allowing her to move into the corridor with no problems. She moved towards the west wall which would be the one that lead directly down into the room the disks should hopefully be in, reaching the wall she tore several of the wall boards out with as little noise as she could before pausing to listen whether she had been noticed, after a moment she was certain she was fine and squeezed herself into the gap between the two walls and began slowly climbing her way down the three floors.
She tensed as she reached her destination, listening for any possible noise in room which could give away the presence of any hostiles, peaking through a small gap in the wall allowed her to spy into the room and to check the room was clear to a certain extent, she could see what she assumed were the target disks sitting on the table in the centre of the room. As carefully and as silently she could she broke a section of the wall, enough to squeeze through before slipping into the room, walking over to the desk revealed a large pile of disks that would be far too many for her to take at once however she only needed the target disks and could check the disks one by one on the computer they had conveniently left next to the disks. Illyanna as quickly as she could checked each and everyone of the mini disks on the computer discarding the ones that didn't contain the relevant information, at least her employer had felt fit to inform her of the file names that she would be searching for, the disks were being quickly checked and she had picked up 3 of the 4 required disks.
Fate however suddenly decided to pile on the pressure as Illyanna heard voices the room on the other side of the double door, offering a silent curse and prayer to whatever god existed in this godforsaken place she ducked behind the table, within moment however it became obvious that whoever the voices were they weren't going to come straight into the room and remained outside discussing something just beyond her hearing. Deciding to take a risk Illyanna stood up from behind cover and began frantically checking the remaining disks searching for the final disk she needed while discarding the useless ones, as Illyanna reached for one of the remaining 7 unchecked disks in order to check it the double doors burst open.
Neo and Trinity strolled in the room deep in conversation until they together spotted Illyanna standing at their computer equipment and froze along with Illyanna who had frozen like a deer in the proverbial headlight, ten thousands thoughts ran through Illyanna's mind, most of them rather creative speculation on god's parentage before grabbing the remaining 7 disks and stuffing them into her jacket. That motion knocked Neo and Trinity out of their shock and they rushed forward to engage the intruder, Illyanna blocked twin attacks from both Neo and Trinity with some difficulty as she fought to get enough space to make good an escape, her chance came as Trinity struck out to hit her leaving herself open.
Taking full advantage of that Illyanna grabbed Trinity's arm and threw her hard into Neo before sprinting off into the other room leaving the pile two Rebels to sort themselves out, she burst out the second set of double doors ignoring the cries of a startled random Rebel before jumping onto the stair banisters, using it to slide down to the half way landing. Illyanna didn't even bother to pause as she fell off the banister at the end, sticking her hand out before using them to bounce off the wall and travel straight down the second half of the stairs down to the next floor without slowing down in the slightest.
Illyanna turned and ran for the next load of stairs in a full sprint racing through the corridors before skidding to a stop in horror looking at the grim faced dark figure that had just dropped down in front of her.
Neo moved almost faster than she could see and grabbed her harshly, grinning nastily "Gotcha"
Thinking fast Illyanna reared her head back and head butted him as hard as she could with full vampiric strength, Neo cried out in pain as his head was hit with enough force to shatter concrete causing him to let go of her and take a step backwards whilst clutching his head. He tripped over his bellowing coat behind him and let out a sound that most certainly wasn't a scream before crashing down the stairs, bouncing several times in a tangle of coat, limbs and swear words.
Illyanna's sight of the savoir of humanity bouncing like a demented otter was cut shoot as she instinctively ducked as bullets ricocheted off the walls mere inches from her head shot by no other than Trinity, Illyanna dodged more bullets as best she could as she sprinted down the corridor and around the nearest corner. She winced in pain as several bullets hit their marks before she got around the corner and out of sight, Illyanna grabbed her key, shoving it into the nearest door before running though said door she had opened, closing it behind her.
Trinity ran around the corner after the dark haired woman however her target appeared to have disappeared, not put off Trinity kicked in the doors to the rooms in the corridor but whoever had been here was long gone and had managed to escape them which was more than a little embarrassing. Trinity let out a huff of breath annoyed; whoever had just stolen the disks was probably working for the Agents, Traitors to humanity, she would never understand or forgive them.
"Fucking recruits" She muttered hatefully under her breath as she walked back to check on the others, walking out onto the stair well she saw a large dust cloud hover in the air and the rather bemused faces of her fellow crew mates as they looked down the stairs.
Trinity blinked as she looked over the banister at the impressive dust cloud that had formed at the bottom of the stairs. "Neo?" Trinity called out concerned.
"Owww..."
Illyanna leaned against a wall of the backdoors and laughed as she slowly slide down the wall, leaving red blood streaks down the wall behind her, the injuries wouldn't kill her despite the pain they caused and she reached into her jacket searching for something. Pulling out the disks from her jacket, she checked they were okay before kissing them eyes glittering then tucking them back into her jacket, she had managed to successfully obtain the disks for her employers and it looked like she could get that new motorbike she had her eyes on. With her next pay check ensured Illyanna began carefully pulling out the bullets which had managed to get lodged in her body, grinning meanwhile at the recent memory of her frenzied flight, the adrenaline, excitement and escaping death by a hairs breath, these were the things she lived for.
Illyanna watched as the injuries healed quickly before her eyes while juggling the three bullets she had bullet out of her body in her hand, vampiric healing was really useful at times and this was definitely one of those times. Sighing she pulled herself up and headed towards the backdoor which lead to the gutter, it had ruined a perfectly good top and jacket, bullets were such a nuisance.
Walking through the door from the backdoors into the 'Gutter', Illyanna was greeted by the sight of both Gemini and Tara standing in the entrance halls waiting for her; Tara looked somewhat nervous and awkward while Gemini definitely looked annoyed.
"You've got visitors" Gemini informed Illyanna with a deep scowl, pointed across into the living room with her arm.
"You've also been shot" Tara pointed out looking slight freaked, Illyanna shrugged it of and walked into the living room to see who had come to visit her, she recognised Mortis and the Werecat triplets but she didn't recognise either the vampire or the brown haired girl whom had a strange scent. Illyanna frowned, if she was suddenly surrounded by Lilith's brood then that most likely meant...
Illyanna spun around and gapped in disbelief "Mother!"
Lilith lay sprawled across the couch completely carefree, fully enjoying her childe's reaction and smiled at Illyanna "hi honey"
Illyanna stood and stared at Lilith in disbelief some more before groaning "I've died and gone to hell" she bemoaned.
Mortis chuckled at Illyanna's mortification, knowing full well the relationship between Illyanna and Lilith or rather the disaster that dared called itself a relationship whilst the brown haired girl looked around a little confusedly, obviously not having a clue on their pasts.
Illyanna rubbed her hand across her face. "What are you are doing here?" she asked in despair, her day was quickly taking a turn for the worst.
"Do I need a reason to visit one of my daughters?" Lilith asked pretending to be wounded.
Illyanna scowled and replied to her mother in a beautifully sarcastic tone. "Yes, actually"
Lilith frowned. "No need to be sarcastic dear" She told her childe.
Illyanna sighed tiredly.
"Make yourselves at home guys, I need to go change" Illyanna told the group, gesturing down to her bloody clothes before heading off to her room.
Stepping into her room the first thing Illyanna did was to stash the disks somewhere safe namely one of those wall socket/safe things she'd picked up and modified a little... exploding traps where such fun. Stripping out of her clothes, she gave herself a quick cleaning off before changing into fresh clothes and walked out into the living room to once again to confront her mother with a hopefully more objective mindset... ah, who was she kidding?
Returning back into the Gutters main living room she discovered everyone more or less sitting around waiting for her return, idly making small talk and catching up on recent events, Gemini and Tara were curled up on the couch with the Werecat triplets scattered lazily around them. Illyanna sat down in a chair opposite to her mother and focus all of her attention on her. "So why do you grace us with your presence?" Illyanna asked wearily.
Lilith looked at Illyanna calmly, seeming to reflect infinite patience. "Well I have decided to pay my good friend the Merovingian a visit" She informed Illyanna in a tone slightly laced with humour.
"Hell" Murmured Gemini "We all know how much he enjoyed it the last time you paid him a visit"
Illyanna flicked her eyes from Lilith to Gemini and back again, she didn't want old hostilities to flare up and Gemini was not helping. The pair of them had old back history dating all the way back to the creation of this world and Gemini's Exile, Lilith never did like Gemini whether that was because of Illyanna's previous relationship with her or the fact Gemini was a Hybrid type Exile Illyanna was never able to tell. It was probably a combination of the two however in her favour Lilith wasn't so much caring now days, seems that 150 years had pretty much burnt the hatred out or that's at least what Illyanna hoped.
"Any particular reason for this visit?" Illyanna jumped in, using the question as an attempted to distract them and hopefully preventing another incident.
Lilith looked at Gemini but didn't say anything deciding to play nice and answer Illyanna's question instead.
"A bunch of Mero's goons decided to invade my territory, after leading my people on a merry chase through the streets of London attracting the attention of the Recruits and Agents. The end result mass property damage and a hippy wagon sticking out of 'Thomas & Sons' Antique shop." Lilith did not sound pleased as she said this, in fact she had that quiet dangerous aura surrounding her.
Illyanna though back to what she knew of London and winced, 'Thomas & Sons' was one of Lilith's more favourite shops and although she probably wouldn't have to pay for the property damage, she would be annoyed at the destruction of her personal favourite shopping locations.
"Cool" Replied Gemini impressed by the sheer level of chaos, then again when you combined Liliths forces with Mero's then chaos was the only possible outcome, it had been that way ever since their first meeting and slowly been getting worse and worse.
Illyanna waiting for the bloodbath to commence, she waited 5 seconds and was pleasantly surprised that Lilith hadn't at least maimed Gemini, seems she really was getting over those previous incidents Illyanna mused.
"So why drop by?" Illyanna asked now curious to her mothers purpose, Lilith wasn't exactly Illyanna's mother but instead the primary program to which Illyanna was once a sub program serving and they had translated their connection as such that they were family members now.
Lilith's eyes sharpened and you could sense her getting ready for business. "I need to know the details of Mero's latest movements, who's working for him and how good they are." Lilith stated, it all but being an order.
Illyanna cocked her head. "Well I should have that information in the study" She told her mother standing up and gesturing down a corridor with a spare arm. "Your people can wait here whilst we talk."
Lilith stood up from her sitting location and stretched like that of a big cat before nodding. "That would be good. Tell me? Are those ghosts of his still around?" She asked as the pair walked of towards the study and out of earshot.
The group in the Living room was still for a moment until Gemini shifted, trying to free herself from Tara who lay on top of her, Tara herself had thoughtful look on her face. "That was an interesting experience" She stated before turning her head to look at Gemini. "What was that all about?"
Gemini grinned somewhat wryly.
"Lilith doesn't much like me, actually compared to previous meeting that went positively smoothly" She told her lover, Tara shifted some more so she was more comfortable lying across Gemini and Gemini herself gave up on trying to move for the next few hours, Dark angels could be just as stubborn as werewolves on some things.
In Tara's case it was getting her to move once she was comfortable, Gemini gave the room a quick look, the Werecats were lying lazily around on the couch and chairs, they would be quite happy there for the next few hours. Mortis and the Brown haired girl still had very little to do though and the Brown haired girl was looking somewhat uncomfortable with the pair of them.
"Hey you" Gemini called to the girl whom looked like she was still well within her teens.
"Who? Me?" The girl asked in confusion, looking around for anyone else.
Gemini smirked. "Yes you" She told the girl "What's your name?"
"Oh.. its Ember" The girl said, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear. Something about her very character struck Gemini as wrong until it suddenly clicked in her mind, in fact Gemini mental scolded herself for not noticing it sooner.
"You're a hybrid type aren't you?" Gemini asked curiously, her eyes sharp and picking up on small details such as the girl wearing much heavier clothing than anyone else, yet she still wrapped her arms around herself as though she were cold.
Ember bit her lip nervously giving Mortis a quick look out of the corner of her eyes before replying. "Yes, Yes I am" She said and then frowned "Why?"
It was Tara that spoke up from her place lying across Gemini's lap. "My changeling here is one of the first hybrids in existence" She spoke with something akin to pride and at the same time teasing, it was weird for her to imagine being alive for as long as Gemini and even weirder to be in a relationship with someone like that but when you're a program, very little in your life is likely to be normal.
"The first" Gemini gently reminded, she had been Exiled some 154 years ago when her purpose as an emulator program between the two difference version of the Matrix that had existed at that time, had finally expired. The very night she had been Exiled she had almost been killed by Agent Brown, currently one of the most enthusiastic agents at killing Exiles, in fact he seemed to make it personal.
Ember blinked in surprise. "Wow... You must be really old!" She exclaimed before wincing at her wording.
Tara burst into laughter at Gemini's expense, Gemini herself merely rolled her eyes. "Wise is the word I prefer... Really wise." She mumbled.
"Anyway" Gemini announced, remembering what she was going to say before she was side tracked. "What I was going to say is that there is a pool table over in the other room, it'll give you something to do" She suggested, pointing in the direction of the room.
"Nice" Said Ember before dragging a reluctant Mortis and Raven off to play several rounds of pool, the large black man looking like he'd rather sit and polish his gun, he was such a bore at times. Raven was much easier to drag off, in fact she looked like she wouldn't mind a distraction.
Gemini chuckled slightly at the pair as they left, idly playing it Tara's hair.
Tara shifted to look at her again, this time with an appraising look. "So now it seems that our quite night in at your place has been invaded by the horde, wanna go to my apartment?" She asked slyly.
Gemini's warmed up and twinkled with mischief. "What are we waiting for?" She asked.
Needless to say... the pair were out the door faster than lightening, leaving only the lazy semi sleeping Werecats behind who regarded the whole situation with a laidback amusement but really couldn't be bothered to move or say anything, Illyanna and Gemini really had great taste in soft furniture.
Quentin arrived back at his apartment with a variety of different feelings and emotions, to say he was conflicted was the understatement of the year, he had finally tracked down what he had been searching for and had been rejected out of hand by the Vampiress. What was even more confusing was his sudden desire to actually become a vampire instead of just finding one, the more and more he searched down in his soul he realised that it was that desire that had been driving him all along.
But why would one want to become a vampire? A creature cursed to walk the earth for all eternity and drink the blood of the living.
Immortality.
Vampires were immortal, so far so that as long as they didn't do anything particularly stupid or attract unwanted attention to themselves, they could live forever or at least until the universe ended. 'It would suck to still be around when the universe ended' Quentin mused and then winced at the mental vampire pun.
Tonight wasn't a complete failure however and this brightened his spirits considerably, Vampires were real, he hadn't gotten a good look at the Vampiress but something deep in his soul told him that he had found one. He was actually incredible surprised he had found one in an actual graveyard, the more he thought about it, the more idiotic that seemed to him and he realised the only reason an actual Vampiress was there was to watch the stars.
Vampires watching the stars seemed somewhat out of character but then again, no tale is told without corruption and since vampires were supposedly once people themselves then why shouldn't they still retain their hobbies and interests.
Quentin sat in front of his computer and booted it up, waiting patiently as the OS loaded up before opening his Messenger program to see if anyone had left any messages for him. A quick check proved that yes, in fact several people had but only Lorelei was still online, Quentin pondered about Lorelei he or she was a weird character to be sure but their advice was always sound.
He clicked on Lorelei's symbol and opened a chat window with them.
DarkWorld5: Hi
Lorelei: Ah.. Hello Dark
DarkWorld5: How you doing?
Lorelei: Oh Im alright, yourself?
Darkworld5: Good, I think I found something
Lorelei: Looks interested Such as?
Darkworld5: I meet a dark figure in a graveyard...
Darkworld5: A woman... Im sure shes a vampires
Lorelei: A graveyard?? Seems a little clique don't you think?
Darkworld5: Embarrassed I realise that now but I think she was looking at the stars...
Lorelei: Interesting, so what are you planning to do next?
Darkworld5: I don't know, I probably head back to the graveyard and see if she returns.
Lorelei: well be careful whatever you do, vampires aint the only monsters in the darkness
Lorelei: Try not to become vamp food either Grins
Darkworld5: Rolls eyes Thanks for the sound advice...
Lorelei: Winks Anything honey...
Lorelei: Hmmm...
Lorelei: I have to go now
Lorelei: Shame, we never get to chat much now
Darkworld5: You busy?
Lorelei: Oh im just looking after a place for someone
Lorelei: Anyway... Toodles!
Darkworld5: Bye!
Lorelei Has Logged Off.
Quentin shrugged and typed up his current experience on his computer, using it as a digital diary just in case he should forget any details over time. Once he had finished typing up the recent event he yawned, looking at his wrist watch showed it was getting onto 2 am and Quentin raised an eyebrow, he hadn't realised it was that late, he switched the computer and walked over to his bedroom.
He barely had time to get undressed and into bed before falling asleep.