Disclaimer: I do not own the Matrix. I just live in it. (j.k.) All of the caracters are mine. This takes place before the Matrix trilogy (obviously).
A girl with short, shaggy brown locks sat behind her desk, completely absorbed in the hi-tec graphing calculator in front of her. She pressed the last set of buttons to complete the program and slipped the lid on with a snap. She handed it to the older boy next to her.
"I'm done. Now time for your end of the deal," the sixteen-year-old girl said.
"Will this do every thing?" the boy asked skeptically.
"It will perform all of the calculations that were on the copy of that test you gave me. The programs are self-explanatory. Now the dough, please," she replied.
He handed her a wad of cash, which she counted twice before slipping into a safe. As he left the room, the girl turned her attention to her laptop. As she typed, something caught her eye. The screen of her graphing calculator was flickering. When she picked it up, she almost dropped it in surprise. A word was written on the screen, "Matrix"
"Hey, Velmster," called a voice as the head of her Vietnamese friend appeared in the doorway.
"Yeah, Matt," she called back, picking up the calculator.
"Rand and Kid Clue are going to a party, no adults," Matt said.
"BYOB?" she asked.
"No, they're not that dumb." Matt replied.
She was about to say no, but the message mysteriously left on her calculator changed her mind. A new inscription followed "Matrix". "Velma," it read. "Follow the clues." Could it really mean the Clue brothers?
"Cool," she said, too intrigued to resist. Only her program customers and Matt knew her, Kerena Hans, as Velma, or Velmster as Matt liked to call her. Matt wouldn't have done something like this and her customers were too dumb to pull something like this off. That is why they came to her, for programs that would help them cheat on tests.
Velma got up and followed Matt, her only close friend out the door.
Velma soon found out that the Clues brothers weren't as smart as Matt had believed them to be. The reason the party wasn't BYOB was because the Clues had provided the liquor. Apparently, they had raided a liquor store the night before. Velma shook her head in disgust.
"Let's go, Matt," she said turning to leave.
"Kerena," a voice called from behind her.
"Matt!" she said with out turning around. "You know I hate that name."
"I'm not Matt," said the voice as a hand clasped her shoulder. Velma grabbed the hand and flung the person over her back. Her purple belt was finally going to pay off. To Velma's surprise, the blonde landed on her feet. Entirely dressed in black, the woman looked at least twenty, and not like some one who would even look at Rand or Kid. She reminded Velma of Buffy the vampire slayer, but in leather.
"There is some thing wrong here and you know it. The world isn't right. I can give you answers," the woman said.
"Alright, spill. What's the Matrix?" Velma said.
"Come here, tonight, at midnight, if you want to know." The woman handed her a card. On the front was a strange arrangement of letters.
N S K
T R (infinity symbol)
Velma recognized it instantly as the short hand for a matrix. She flipped it over and read "1379 Aspen Road Apt. 17" Just then, Matt bumped into her.
"We're going," she said.
"But the party's just started," Matt complained.
"Now, Matt," Velma said.
The woman at the party had put Velma in a black mood. She had pulled on a pair of black jeans, and a black tank top before she left. The outfit was completed with a black leather jacket.
She hailed a cab and had it drop her off at a small grocer's in the not so good part of town. The cab driver asked her if she really wanted to be dropped off here, but Velma declined his offer to be taken elsewhere. Just what would he think of where she was really going?
Velma walked the two blocks from the grocer's to Aspen Road, glad she had opted for black tennis shoes instead of boots. A run down apartment complex greeted her at 1379. She found Apt. 17 and rang the bell. But no one came to the door; it simply creaked open.
The inside of the apartment was no better than the outside. The walls had once been something that resembled white but the floor color was indistinguishable. Two doors and a hallway lead into various rooms of the apartment. Velma opted for the hallway, as it was lit and would provide the easiest escape route.
A tall European man in a slick black suit took off his glasses when she entered. The woman from the party was sitting across from him.
"Welcome, Velma, or should I say Kerena?" the man said. "I am Noir. And you have come here to learn of the Matrix."
"Neither, if you please. Kerena's my given name and Velma's my work name," she replied, "though I want some answers about this Matrix of yours." She pulled out the business card and showed him the matrix side.
"That is not the Matrix, just the symbol of our ship," Noir said. "The letters stand for the members of my crew. I'm the N, then there's Slam our mechanic, and Kat, my second in command, you've met, Tiate's our programmer and Rix."
"But that's only five people and there are six spots. What's the infinity for?" Velma asked.
"We hope it's for you," Noir said. His cell phone rang and he picked it up. "Kat, we have to make this quick. Rix is coming now."
"What's wrong?" Kat asked.
"Agents are on to Rix. Velma, you cannot be told what the Matrix is. I can only show you the answers. I'm going to offer you a choice," he said gesturing to the two pills lying on the table. "Take the red, and receive your answers. Take the blue, and this will all be just a dream."
As Velma looked at the pills, the phone in the kitchen rang. Kat went to pick it up. Noir nodded at her. A few seconds later, Velma heard the receiver drop. She made a split second decision and swallowed the red pill.
"Noir," she said, "I can't move my legs."
"This is normal. The pill was a tracer so we can locate you," Noir replied.
"But I'm right here," she cried, as the paralysis move up her body.
"No, you're not," Noir replied cryptically. "You're in the Matrix."
She couldn't move her arms now and she felt it spreading up her neck. A guy ran into the room. He had dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. His face was vaguely familiar but she couldn't place it.
She locked eyes with him as realized that she couldn't move her mouth. Those eyes were the last things she saw before the paralysis reached her eyes and darkness swallowed her.