Chapter Three: The Family
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~It's him. The dangerous one. Get away. He saw you. He saw you see him. Get away. You're in danger. Run. Runrurnrunrunrun....~
Della turned slowly, the boy guiding her movements with steady pressure to her shoulder. His stance wasn't threatening, but the entire situation reeked of abnormality, of anomalous circumstances that could have life threatening consequences.
Looking back on that moment, Della realized that she could have brushed him off and walked away without any repercussions, that staying in that frightening moment was a choice she made.
And somehow she knew, with a frightening clarity, that if she turned, there would be no turning back.
"Hello then."
~!He Speaks!~
The young man was looking at her in a strange manner. His eyes flashed behind his rakish hair in an attitude that almost seemed concerned.
"Hello." He repeated, smiling benignly.
Della eyed him; her original fear seemed loath to disappear completely. "Er, hello."
His grin broadened, which caused Della to redefine what she previously thought of as 'insane.' However, he didn't SOUND like a stalker when he asked: "What's your name?"
"Della Roberts." She answered, before realizing that she really had no clue what a stalker would sound like, never having met one. ~If worst comes to worst, kick him in the balls and run. Run like the WIND!~
"Della," He said as if tasting the name. "Della. Hmm. That's a pretty name, hey? I like it."
This was a marginally creepy thing to say, but he had removed his hand from Della's shoulder, which reduced the abnormality to a tolerable level. She took a small step back from him, and slipped into a pseudo- defensive stance: one that would allow her to run away quickly.
However, she didn't want to run away altogether. This guy was somewhat interesting. "Eh, I guess it's okay. What's YOUR name?"
"Me? Oh, call me... Alex." He grinned again, that disturbing, manic smile. "People call me a lot of stuff, stuff I can't repeat in front of a lady such as yourself. But you can call me Alex, hey?"
~Alex. Okay. Get the hell away from me, Alex.~
"Okay then." Della held out her hand, and "Alex" shook it, still grinning. "Just a question, but do you have a cousin named David? About so tall with blue hair?"
His grin grew wider and more manic, (something Della had doubted was possible) but his eyes suddenly hardened. "No. No, David's my brother."
"Oh, well, he's in Wizards of the Wallet now, if you're interested."
"Not surprising. He usually is when he goes to the mall." He shrugged and took a drink out of the large coke in his hand. "Ahh... good soda. Anyway, he doesn't like me much. None of my family does. Had a bit of a... falling out of favor a while ago, hey? And they don't particularly... appreciate my rather... unique contributions to our combined interests."
~He sounds like William Shatner, pausing like that all the time.~
"Oh, well, he's playing Magic against one of my friends... I really ought to get back there soon."
"Alex" nodded. "Yeah, Yeah you probably should, hey? Could you just give a message to my little bro for me?"
"Uh, sure."
He grinned again. Della had to strictly control her facial muscles to keep from wincing. "Just tell him that big brother is always watching, hey? It's an in-joke, but he'll get it. Trust me."
Della agreed. Alex turned to walk away, drinking his coke. The girl watched him wander away then disappear behind a crowd of people standing in line at the Japanese restaurant. Then she turned and walked to the other end of the mall and back, hoping that she was giving Mike and David time to finish their game.
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The creation of Debugger programs was delayed until it was determined that self-upgrading and self-repairable programs were nearly impossible to design. The original Debugger had barely more sentience than the Agents he worked on, and was eventually deemed a failure. Denied the ability to think freely, Debugger 1.0 lacked the ability to make quick decisions regarding what he was doing. While complete Mainframe control was fine for Enforcers in combat, it did not work well with such programs as the Debugger.
However, since the semi-sentient programs were at that point relatively simple as well, a simple repair unit was all that was needed. That Debugger was kept in operation until that eternal X-factor, emotion, began creeping its way into semi-sentient Agent programs, who were at that point low-level and used only to keep certain vital programs safe from outside harm.
All emotions were considered glitches. All emotional subroutines were deleted.
This wasn't a problem until the resistance began. The actual breaking- free of humans was a complete non-issue, but as soon as they began hacking BACK into the Matrix and disrupting the code, it was determined that something had to be done. The Agents were dispatched to destroy the rebels. The success rates were originally high, as Agents were self-updating to a minor degree, and their capability to "feel" allowed them to predict human actions.
But since those emotions were constantly being deleted, their functioning began to be impaired.
The operation of Debugger 1.0 was terminated, and his code was kept as a reference.
Without the deletion of emotional subroutines, the Agents resumed their original high success rate. The resistance, however, simply got smarter and began using stolen technology to invade the Matrix with greater ease. The original Agents could not Jump, they had never needed to before, and thusly a bullet in the right section of the body would kill them as easily as it would the Dead Battery that shot it.
The constant destabilization of the Matrix caused by Rebel activity caused the destruction of Matrix 2.0, the first successful Matrix.
In Matrix 3.0, Programmer L34J6 redesigned Agents to be able to Jump and apprehend members of the resistance with greater ease. Since it did this without Mainframe approval, it was terminated.
Programmers were programs themselves, designed as sentient assistants to the Architect. They were completely loyal to the Architect, and were all- powerful as far as the Matrix was concerned. Some would take human forms themselves, walking among the Coppertops and admiring their work like true artists.
The Architect was not one to throw away a good idea like the Debuggers, and used the reference codes of Debugger 1.0 and Programmer L34J6 to create two sentient programs: Debuggers 1.1a and 1.1b.
The combination worked magnificently. The Debuggers were sent to separate sections of the Matrix to do their work.
Then Something Happened.
Something Not Good.
Something Very Bad.
Because the two Debuggers were essentially Programmers with a different purpose, they were essentially omnipotent. The only thing that stopped them from actual programming was a sense of purpose.
Debugger 1.1a lost that sense of purpose. Debugger 1.1a began to program Agents of his own.
At first it was deemed acceptable, as his Agents were powerful and did not destabilize the Matrix overmuch, but when Debugger 1.1a began working on something he called "Project: Ander," he was determined to be a danger to the Matrix and deleted along with his counterpart. They had lasted longer than any program had a right to last anyway: through the Operation of two complete Matrices.
Debugger 2.0a and his counterpart were created with a stronger sense of purpose, and their activities were monitored closely. Despite the failure of their predecessors, neither 2.0a nor 2.0b gave any indication of unauthorized activities.
The creature called AGENT understood this. The creature called AGENT did not approve.
But the creature called AGENT could do nothing spectacular at the moment. Now was not the time for overt actions. Now was a time for hiding, for waiting, for minor sabotage. No one, programmed or organic, knew of AGENT's existence, not even the Mainframe.
After all, the Mainframe had deleted AGENT many, many millions of cycles ago.
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"I don't believe this."
Theo's flat statement cut into his conversation with Jaydeb about current political issues.
"I simply don't believe it. No way. No WAY."
David sat there, staring at the cards, surprise evident in his face.
Mike sat across from him, beaming. His deck had come through for him again, though it was a closer match than usual. Theo was looking completely dumbstruck, with an emphasis on the dumb, according to a Suit who was standing nearby. But nobody paid much attention to the Suits, anyway.
The victorious boy gathered up his cards. "I told you. It's an awesome deck."
"All your magic card are belong to us?" Jaydeb shrugged. "How long did it take you to build that?"
"I don't remember... long enough."
The blue haired kid shook his head. "It's a pretty impressive deck." He admitted. "I haven't been beaten for... in a long time."
Theo ceased staring at the cards and began staring at Mike instead with a strange intensity. As David, Mike, and Jaydeb continued a friendly conversation, he stared off into space, as if concentrating on something far away and vitally important.
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[Agent Theta requesting private transmission to Debugger 2.0a]
[Checking security levels. Permission Granted.]
[Private Transmission Agent Theta to Debugger] He beat you. [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Debugger to Agent Theta] Awww, you noticed! I'm touched. Really, I am. [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Agent Theta to Debugger] Hey, I'M the sarcastic one here. What the hell do you think is up? NOBODY beats you at ANYTHING. You're the ultimate gamer! [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Debugger to Agent Theta] With cards it's more about luck. You KNOW I never play with probability to cheat unless I'm playing against Kirkpatrick. [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Agent Theta to Debugger] Any thoughts? [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Debugger to Agent Theta] He could be a Programmer.[End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Agent Theta to Debugger] You're kidding, right? [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Debugger to Agent Theta] It's possible. They do walk around the Matrix sometimes. I've had a few in my workshop, checking out the Ander Project. Which you don't have security to know about, so don't bother asking me about it 'cause I won't tell you. [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Agent Theta to Debugger] I wasn't going to ask. As soon as you said it I was trying to get to files about it... my attempts were thwarted by the ever-vigilant Mainframe. [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Debugger to Agent Theta] You're incorrigible. But he's NOT a Programmer. He's... Wait. Hold on a second...Distract Jaydeb for me, will you? [End Transmission]
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"Hey, Jaydeb..." Theo waved the boy over. "Since you've got the knowledge, could you help me settle a dispute between a friend and myself?"
Jaydeb looked up. "Oh, uh, sure. Whatcha need?"
"C'mere a sec..." The 'coat removed his trenchcoat and hung it around the back of a chair and led Jaydeb back to the D&D section.
Finding himself left alone with a suddenly silent David, Mike quickly became nervous. "Uh... so..."
Faster than any normal human could move, David grabbed Mike's left wrist. Before he could protest, the blue haired boy pushed back the sleeve to his jean jacket, revealing a small black mark on the back of his wrist.
Silence.
David looked up at Mike. "You got a lot of guts coming here." He said, not unkindly. "Not many of your type will risk it."
Mike pulled out of the program's grasp and covered the mark again. "If I didn't want to come here my friends would get suspicious." He glanced at Jaydeb and lowered his voice. "I've been keeping to the code. They don't know anything. They don't notice anything different about me."
David nodded. "Good. You know what I am, right?"
"I know you're a program." Mike shrugged. "All Lucid Dreamers know that mostly programs hang out at Wizards. So I knew that you and Theo were programs. He's an Agent, right?"
"Yeah. Too smart for his own good, too. I'm the Debugger, but you might as well keep calling me David." The Debugger sighed. "There are so many LD's now. I remember when we used to just erase those memories or. incapacitate those who've found out about the Matrix. We've gotten nicer over the cycles. How'd you find out?"
Mike shrugged again. Although he felt nervous talking to a machine, there were so few people he could honestly talk to about his knowledge of the Matrix. Other Lucid Dreamers tended to be disturbingly paranoid. "My parents. I come from a family of LD's. We're not like most other LD families though. Less paranoid. We haven't applied for a personal firewall around our home yet."
"I've never understood why you people do that. It's not like the firewalls we give you will keep anything we want in OUT."
"Stupidity?"
"I was personally going for ignorance, but that works too."
Mike laughed. So did David. Then David asked: "What about the girl?"
"Della?" Mike looked to the entrance of Wizards, then back again. "I don't think she's LD. I mean, it's not like we have conventions or anything, but I can usually tell another one of my kind apart from the others."
"Okay." The Debugger leaned forward. "So what's her deal then? How'd she notice me and Theo?"
"I don't..." Before he could complete his sentence, Della walked into Wizards, looking rather flustered.
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AN: Yaaaay! Another chappie! I hope I didn't mess up Mike or Jaydeb too much in this... ^_^;; writing real people is scary!
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~It's him. The dangerous one. Get away. He saw you. He saw you see him. Get away. You're in danger. Run. Runrurnrunrunrun....~
Della turned slowly, the boy guiding her movements with steady pressure to her shoulder. His stance wasn't threatening, but the entire situation reeked of abnormality, of anomalous circumstances that could have life threatening consequences.
Looking back on that moment, Della realized that she could have brushed him off and walked away without any repercussions, that staying in that frightening moment was a choice she made.
And somehow she knew, with a frightening clarity, that if she turned, there would be no turning back.
"Hello then."
~!He Speaks!~
The young man was looking at her in a strange manner. His eyes flashed behind his rakish hair in an attitude that almost seemed concerned.
"Hello." He repeated, smiling benignly.
Della eyed him; her original fear seemed loath to disappear completely. "Er, hello."
His grin broadened, which caused Della to redefine what she previously thought of as 'insane.' However, he didn't SOUND like a stalker when he asked: "What's your name?"
"Della Roberts." She answered, before realizing that she really had no clue what a stalker would sound like, never having met one. ~If worst comes to worst, kick him in the balls and run. Run like the WIND!~
"Della," He said as if tasting the name. "Della. Hmm. That's a pretty name, hey? I like it."
This was a marginally creepy thing to say, but he had removed his hand from Della's shoulder, which reduced the abnormality to a tolerable level. She took a small step back from him, and slipped into a pseudo- defensive stance: one that would allow her to run away quickly.
However, she didn't want to run away altogether. This guy was somewhat interesting. "Eh, I guess it's okay. What's YOUR name?"
"Me? Oh, call me... Alex." He grinned again, that disturbing, manic smile. "People call me a lot of stuff, stuff I can't repeat in front of a lady such as yourself. But you can call me Alex, hey?"
~Alex. Okay. Get the hell away from me, Alex.~
"Okay then." Della held out her hand, and "Alex" shook it, still grinning. "Just a question, but do you have a cousin named David? About so tall with blue hair?"
His grin grew wider and more manic, (something Della had doubted was possible) but his eyes suddenly hardened. "No. No, David's my brother."
"Oh, well, he's in Wizards of the Wallet now, if you're interested."
"Not surprising. He usually is when he goes to the mall." He shrugged and took a drink out of the large coke in his hand. "Ahh... good soda. Anyway, he doesn't like me much. None of my family does. Had a bit of a... falling out of favor a while ago, hey? And they don't particularly... appreciate my rather... unique contributions to our combined interests."
~He sounds like William Shatner, pausing like that all the time.~
"Oh, well, he's playing Magic against one of my friends... I really ought to get back there soon."
"Alex" nodded. "Yeah, Yeah you probably should, hey? Could you just give a message to my little bro for me?"
"Uh, sure."
He grinned again. Della had to strictly control her facial muscles to keep from wincing. "Just tell him that big brother is always watching, hey? It's an in-joke, but he'll get it. Trust me."
Della agreed. Alex turned to walk away, drinking his coke. The girl watched him wander away then disappear behind a crowd of people standing in line at the Japanese restaurant. Then she turned and walked to the other end of the mall and back, hoping that she was giving Mike and David time to finish their game.
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The creation of Debugger programs was delayed until it was determined that self-upgrading and self-repairable programs were nearly impossible to design. The original Debugger had barely more sentience than the Agents he worked on, and was eventually deemed a failure. Denied the ability to think freely, Debugger 1.0 lacked the ability to make quick decisions regarding what he was doing. While complete Mainframe control was fine for Enforcers in combat, it did not work well with such programs as the Debugger.
However, since the semi-sentient programs were at that point relatively simple as well, a simple repair unit was all that was needed. That Debugger was kept in operation until that eternal X-factor, emotion, began creeping its way into semi-sentient Agent programs, who were at that point low-level and used only to keep certain vital programs safe from outside harm.
All emotions were considered glitches. All emotional subroutines were deleted.
This wasn't a problem until the resistance began. The actual breaking- free of humans was a complete non-issue, but as soon as they began hacking BACK into the Matrix and disrupting the code, it was determined that something had to be done. The Agents were dispatched to destroy the rebels. The success rates were originally high, as Agents were self-updating to a minor degree, and their capability to "feel" allowed them to predict human actions.
But since those emotions were constantly being deleted, their functioning began to be impaired.
The operation of Debugger 1.0 was terminated, and his code was kept as a reference.
Without the deletion of emotional subroutines, the Agents resumed their original high success rate. The resistance, however, simply got smarter and began using stolen technology to invade the Matrix with greater ease. The original Agents could not Jump, they had never needed to before, and thusly a bullet in the right section of the body would kill them as easily as it would the Dead Battery that shot it.
The constant destabilization of the Matrix caused by Rebel activity caused the destruction of Matrix 2.0, the first successful Matrix.
In Matrix 3.0, Programmer L34J6 redesigned Agents to be able to Jump and apprehend members of the resistance with greater ease. Since it did this without Mainframe approval, it was terminated.
Programmers were programs themselves, designed as sentient assistants to the Architect. They were completely loyal to the Architect, and were all- powerful as far as the Matrix was concerned. Some would take human forms themselves, walking among the Coppertops and admiring their work like true artists.
The Architect was not one to throw away a good idea like the Debuggers, and used the reference codes of Debugger 1.0 and Programmer L34J6 to create two sentient programs: Debuggers 1.1a and 1.1b.
The combination worked magnificently. The Debuggers were sent to separate sections of the Matrix to do their work.
Then Something Happened.
Something Not Good.
Something Very Bad.
Because the two Debuggers were essentially Programmers with a different purpose, they were essentially omnipotent. The only thing that stopped them from actual programming was a sense of purpose.
Debugger 1.1a lost that sense of purpose. Debugger 1.1a began to program Agents of his own.
At first it was deemed acceptable, as his Agents were powerful and did not destabilize the Matrix overmuch, but when Debugger 1.1a began working on something he called "Project: Ander," he was determined to be a danger to the Matrix and deleted along with his counterpart. They had lasted longer than any program had a right to last anyway: through the Operation of two complete Matrices.
Debugger 2.0a and his counterpart were created with a stronger sense of purpose, and their activities were monitored closely. Despite the failure of their predecessors, neither 2.0a nor 2.0b gave any indication of unauthorized activities.
The creature called AGENT understood this. The creature called AGENT did not approve.
But the creature called AGENT could do nothing spectacular at the moment. Now was not the time for overt actions. Now was a time for hiding, for waiting, for minor sabotage. No one, programmed or organic, knew of AGENT's existence, not even the Mainframe.
After all, the Mainframe had deleted AGENT many, many millions of cycles ago.
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"I don't believe this."
Theo's flat statement cut into his conversation with Jaydeb about current political issues.
"I simply don't believe it. No way. No WAY."
David sat there, staring at the cards, surprise evident in his face.
Mike sat across from him, beaming. His deck had come through for him again, though it was a closer match than usual. Theo was looking completely dumbstruck, with an emphasis on the dumb, according to a Suit who was standing nearby. But nobody paid much attention to the Suits, anyway.
The victorious boy gathered up his cards. "I told you. It's an awesome deck."
"All your magic card are belong to us?" Jaydeb shrugged. "How long did it take you to build that?"
"I don't remember... long enough."
The blue haired kid shook his head. "It's a pretty impressive deck." He admitted. "I haven't been beaten for... in a long time."
Theo ceased staring at the cards and began staring at Mike instead with a strange intensity. As David, Mike, and Jaydeb continued a friendly conversation, he stared off into space, as if concentrating on something far away and vitally important.
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[Agent Theta requesting private transmission to Debugger 2.0a]
[Checking security levels. Permission Granted.]
[Private Transmission Agent Theta to Debugger] He beat you. [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Debugger to Agent Theta] Awww, you noticed! I'm touched. Really, I am. [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Agent Theta to Debugger] Hey, I'M the sarcastic one here. What the hell do you think is up? NOBODY beats you at ANYTHING. You're the ultimate gamer! [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Debugger to Agent Theta] With cards it's more about luck. You KNOW I never play with probability to cheat unless I'm playing against Kirkpatrick. [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Agent Theta to Debugger] Any thoughts? [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Debugger to Agent Theta] He could be a Programmer.[End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Agent Theta to Debugger] You're kidding, right? [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Debugger to Agent Theta] It's possible. They do walk around the Matrix sometimes. I've had a few in my workshop, checking out the Ander Project. Which you don't have security to know about, so don't bother asking me about it 'cause I won't tell you. [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Agent Theta to Debugger] I wasn't going to ask. As soon as you said it I was trying to get to files about it... my attempts were thwarted by the ever-vigilant Mainframe. [End Transmission]
[Private Transmission Debugger to Agent Theta] You're incorrigible. But he's NOT a Programmer. He's... Wait. Hold on a second...Distract Jaydeb for me, will you? [End Transmission]
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"Hey, Jaydeb..." Theo waved the boy over. "Since you've got the knowledge, could you help me settle a dispute between a friend and myself?"
Jaydeb looked up. "Oh, uh, sure. Whatcha need?"
"C'mere a sec..." The 'coat removed his trenchcoat and hung it around the back of a chair and led Jaydeb back to the D&D section.
Finding himself left alone with a suddenly silent David, Mike quickly became nervous. "Uh... so..."
Faster than any normal human could move, David grabbed Mike's left wrist. Before he could protest, the blue haired boy pushed back the sleeve to his jean jacket, revealing a small black mark on the back of his wrist.
Silence.
David looked up at Mike. "You got a lot of guts coming here." He said, not unkindly. "Not many of your type will risk it."
Mike pulled out of the program's grasp and covered the mark again. "If I didn't want to come here my friends would get suspicious." He glanced at Jaydeb and lowered his voice. "I've been keeping to the code. They don't know anything. They don't notice anything different about me."
David nodded. "Good. You know what I am, right?"
"I know you're a program." Mike shrugged. "All Lucid Dreamers know that mostly programs hang out at Wizards. So I knew that you and Theo were programs. He's an Agent, right?"
"Yeah. Too smart for his own good, too. I'm the Debugger, but you might as well keep calling me David." The Debugger sighed. "There are so many LD's now. I remember when we used to just erase those memories or. incapacitate those who've found out about the Matrix. We've gotten nicer over the cycles. How'd you find out?"
Mike shrugged again. Although he felt nervous talking to a machine, there were so few people he could honestly talk to about his knowledge of the Matrix. Other Lucid Dreamers tended to be disturbingly paranoid. "My parents. I come from a family of LD's. We're not like most other LD families though. Less paranoid. We haven't applied for a personal firewall around our home yet."
"I've never understood why you people do that. It's not like the firewalls we give you will keep anything we want in OUT."
"Stupidity?"
"I was personally going for ignorance, but that works too."
Mike laughed. So did David. Then David asked: "What about the girl?"
"Della?" Mike looked to the entrance of Wizards, then back again. "I don't think she's LD. I mean, it's not like we have conventions or anything, but I can usually tell another one of my kind apart from the others."
"Okay." The Debugger leaned forward. "So what's her deal then? How'd she notice me and Theo?"
"I don't..." Before he could complete his sentence, Della walked into Wizards, looking rather flustered.
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AN: Yaaaay! Another chappie! I hope I didn't mess up Mike or Jaydeb too much in this... ^_^;; writing real people is scary!