The Matrix: Legacy

Four

Cookies

An hour and seven cookies later, Abel had gotten his thoughts back together. As Cain had been asleep at the time, there was no need for anyone to find out about that.

Unfortunately, Abel had forgotten about the cameras. Tiger strolled in, a big grin on his face. Abel did not trust that grin. It meant that Tiger was in the mood to make trouble. "So, I'm on camera duty this week," he opened the conversation. Abel choked on his eighth cookie.

Tiger pounded the werewolf on the back to get him over his coughing fit; Abel glared at Tiger as he downed a glass of water. The androgynous vampire had removed his sunglasses, and Abel could see the good-natured mischief in his eyes. "You like her, don't you?"

Abel gave the white-clad program a Look. "No. I like her scent. It was a welcome relief from Cujo."

"I hear that," Tiger replied, nodding. Cain and Abel had it the worst, but they were far from the only programs who suffered from Cujo's stench-inducing "hobbies".

"Still," Tiger went on, "she's easy on the eyes."

"A lot of girls are easy on the eyes," Abel growled, not liking the way this conversation was going.

"Yeah, but Trinity's sister. How many can claim a conquest like that?"

"None," Abel snapped. "She's unclaimed."

"Which means she's up for grabs."

"Tiger, if you're trying to play 'matchmaker', I swear to the Source I'll…"

"Tiger neglects to mention that she dances," a new voice put in. Abel and Tiger looked up as another program sat down, the long-haired Seth. Abel arched an eyebrow as he leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his coppery hair. "She dances."

Seth nodded. "She's got a talent for it, too. Too bad she was wearing workout clothes, though. I'd have liked to see more of her figure." Abel rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless, the both of you."

They shrugged. "Come your turn on the cameras, you'll see what we mean," Seth told him. Abel snorted, and ate another cookie before reaching for a beer.

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Ghost sat in silence after Sparks told him the news. The Merovingian has Avalon now... blast it, Trin, how am I supposed to look out for her while she's in the Matrix?

Link was thinking. "Y'know," he began, "that mansion of his is just another part of the Matrix, right?" Ghost nodded silently. "Now, what do most of the coppertops running around Zion have in common?" Link continued. Ghost and Sparks smiled at the same time, each catching on. "We're hackers," Ghost supplied. "So let's do some," Sparks put in, throwing his arms around Link's and Ghost's shoulders. "Niobe and Morpheus'll probably be occupied for awhile, and they have to go see the Council first, so let's go cheer up a certain dancer."

The three men made for Spark's apartment – of them, he was the only one with computers all over the place. Along the way, Sparks managed to snatch Krsna, a coppertop who had been released during the time of the One and who had just completed his training. The four of them worked in harmony; Ghost doing the initial hack, Link and Sparks handling the minute details, and Krsna covering their tracks and undoing any alarms in the system.

Krsna had put in for the Logos, despite their current lack of a ship; Niobe had snapped the kid up before Lock had remembered the Logos was gone with Trinity and Neo.

Krsna hailed from Indiatown and the German District in the Megacity; he was fluent in Farsi, German, English, and Computer; he was a hacker renowned for covering his tracks flawlessly. He was so good, he'd never encountered an Agent, a feat not even the One had managed.

He also had a reputation of being the cause of several minor explosions all over Zion, as well as one that had nearly levelled the training facility. When he had been taken before the Council, black-faced and huge-grinned, he had explained that the actual problem had been with a chemistry experiment that had been sabotaged.

No one was sure if that was true or not, however, there had been no casualties and no one could prove that it had been done deliberately or not, so they let him off with a warning.

A year under Niobe had shaped him up, at least.

"Hey, Ghost?"

Ghost spared the Indian a quick glance.

"When we're done, can I upload a virus into their system?"

Or not.

"No," Ghost, Link, and Sparks replied simultaneously. "That's what I get to do," Sparks added, earning him Looks from the other two. "What?" he asked innocently.

"We're in," Link said suddenly, and all four bent to their tasks.

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Farsi is one of the languages spoken in India, yes? If I'm wrong, please correct me. Yes, Krsna fans, the Mad Bomber is back. Worship, laud, adore, and all that.

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funkless- Awww, thanks! I like to think I've improved since I began writing; thanks for the compliments. And yes, I am – how'd you guess?

lehorin- Your first? Hmm. You think I'm accurate with the Twins? I think I love you. Thanks for the compliment!

Hmm, fanfiction dot net seems to have taken away my semicolons....