Title: Choices and Chances: Chapter Twenty-one

Author: Stormhawk

Chapter Word Count: 1529

Please read and Review.

They shifted down to the docks, it wasn't hard to guess which one he was in, there weren't that many empty ones that the rebels didn't frequent, and it wasn't a smart idea for a collaborator to be in a rebel hangout.

They walked in, and Ryder, in a long dark coat, was leaning against an old broken shipping crate.

"We need to have a talk," he said levelly.

"You're going to talk this time?" Darth asked, "and are you going to act like a reasonable man?"

"I am a reasonable man," Ryder said calmly.

"Oh...yeah...right," Stef mumbled. Ryder shot her a look, which she countered with a shrug.

"How about you start by telling me exactly what is going on," he said as they stood across from them.

"I don't see why we have to explain anything to you," Darth said, "you don't go questioning Niq about her relationships."

"Well to the best of my knowledge, Niq is not with a program. Human relationships, whatever their nature, need no explanation. Relationships with something not human need explanation. A reason as to why a program would want a programmer."

"Ryder, reasonable men do not do all the talking, they actually listen," Darth said.

"So you wouldn't have a problem if I was human?" Stef asked.

"I would have a serious talk if you were a recruit, just to make sure this wasn't some kind of plan."

"The way you keep implying that this may only an evil scheme to get information out him makes it seem as though you have something to hide, that you're keeping information that wasn't in your d-base."

"No, we don't, but I'm not sure that our is good enough for you."

"So even though you entire crew is under our protection, and you are all collaborators, you still don't trust us."

Ryder shook his head, "I guess deep down, I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"You disappoint me captain, it is my experience that humans are usually the ones who are much more likely to betray each other."

"Well given that most of your experience with humans is staring at them from behind your gun before you kill them..."

"Do shut up, or I will shoot you, I don't care if you are a collaborator," Stef growled with her eyes flaring. "How dare you judge me? You don't even know me and you've already passed judgement on me."

"Give me a reason to pass a different judgement."

She sat quietly for a moment, silently debating with herself as to what to say to him. "I can't Ryder, I can't give you another reason to judge a system program differently. I'm just a program and I don't think that's ever going to be good enough for you."

"Frankly, it's not."

"Then I guess I have nothing else to say," she said as she shifted away.

"Ryder, I don't understand why you're acting like this. You've never acted like this before."

"Well one of us has never been this close to one them before, I just think it's a little dangerous."

"Dangerous? For who?" Darth asked angrily.

"For everyone."

"How so?"

"It's dangerous for you in several ways. One, you really don't know her reasoning for wanting to be with you. Two, how are you going to feel when she gets tired of you and leaves? Three, if she gets angry or upset with you she can kill you without a second thought."

The Ryder's phone rang, "Galli, I'm busy," he said as he answered it.

"That I can see for myself," Galli said with a smile, "wave, you're on Galli-cam."

"Get to the point."

"I've got a hacker that needs to meet with you."

"Not today." Ryder paused and considered what his operator had just said, "what? Why would hacker want to meet with me? Is this some Zion trick?"

"No captain, trust me, this is not a Zion trick. And trust me when I say you want to meet with her. Take Darth too."

"I guess I can spare a few minutes. When, who and where?"

"Now. Unseen Spyder. River and Dale."

"Unseen Spyder?" Ryder questioned, "should I know that name?"

Darth grinned to himself, but wiped it off his face before the captain could see it. This was certainly going to open the captain's eyes.

"Come on Darth, we'll take my car." Darth nodded and followed the captain out to his car. Ryder drove stoically to the building on the corner of River and Dale. They got out and looked around for any sign of the hacker.

Ryder walked over to the door and found a note taped to it, '4th floor,' it read.

"All right," he said to himself, "let's see what this is all about."

They walked into the building and up to the forth floor, seeing as there was only one door open, they walked into it. They saw someone, clad in black leather, standing with their back turned to them, standing beside a pair of red chairs.

"Unseen Spyder?" Ryder asked.

"Unseen, just call me Unseen," she said curtly.

"You wanted to see me?"

Unseen turned to look at them and Ryder froze when he saw who she was. Darth just smirked to himself, having already guessed what was going on.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ryder demanded, "what trick are you trying to pull now?"

"This is not a trick," she said as she took the long jacket off and hung it over the side of the chair, "I just know that you don't fully understand what's going on here."

"And by dressing like a rebel you expect me to listen to you more than when we were in the warehouse?" he spat at her.

"Let her speak," Darth said, "you said you were going to be reasonable. At least do an imitation of reasonable."

"As sick as it makes me to think about it," Stef said as she looked down at the chair and remembered sitting there, honored to be in Morpheus' presence, back when she had been naïve, "I almost became a rebel. Morpheus and Trinity themselves contacted me."

"Why would they contact an...agent...oh my god," Ryder said as he stared and leant heavily against the crate.

Darth and Stef smirked at each other, "I think he finally gets it," Darth said.

"You mean to say that you were human? But how is that possible?" Ryder whispered.

"It just is possible. So you see if I said I was human, I would be lying, and I said I was a program it wouldn't be a lie, it would just be a half-truth. I am an Agent, nothing is going to change that."

"And I'm a man who made a rash decision."

"Which decision cap?" Darth asked.

"To leave Zion."

Darth just stared at him, "you regret being free of the war? You regret safety? What exactly about this situation do you regret?"

"It's not like that," Ryder explained, "more of a feeling I get in the middle of the night, a feeling every turncoat must feel. It's all right for you young ones, you, Niq and Cray, but we're having more of a problem letting go. But it's ok," he said with a smile, "I made this decision for you. That's why people fight wars, we fight so that the future generations get the world to live in."

Stef rolled her eyes, "is there something about this room that makes people talk in speeches?"

"We fight so that you get to make your own decisions, whatever they might be."

"Ryder...are you saying?" Darth started.

"No, I'm not. I said you get to make your own decisions, it doesn't mean I like or accept them, but for the moment I'm just going to but out of it. Just keep this out of my face and it'll be ok for the moment."

The captain of the Exodus turned and walked away.

"That," Darth explained, "is Captain-Ryder-speak for 'I have to sit in my cabin for four days so I can understand what's going on in the world.' The last time he acted weird, no one but Pandora saw him for a week."

"Your captain is a strange man."

"Yes, he can be."

"I know how long it can take to adjust. Even now there are times when I don't know who or what I am. Program or human. I think I've finally fully accepted that I'm both at once." Then she noticed that he was staring at her, "you like what you see?" she asked him coyly.

"The other night I tried to imagine what you would look like as a rebel, trust me, this is much better than what I saw."

She required the leather outfit to change back to her suit, "Unseen the rebel is just an image, this is the reality."

Darth reached out and coiled her tie around his finger, pulling her closer and closer, "I know," he said with a smile as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. "So where were we?"

She smiled coyly as she shifted them away, "I'm sure we'll figure it out."