Greetings all, sorry it's taken me so long to get a new chapter up but it's been nothing even vaguely resembling a good week. Tonnes of college work, at least two computer viruses, on Tuesday I ended up walking home in a hailstorm. And on Friday the sodding bus didn't show up.
Sorry, I'll stop ranting. Thanks to all reviewers, replies are at the end of the chapter.
By the way, now that I'm up to 100 reviews, I can, um, well I guess I can't really do anything, I'm just pleased that's all. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far.
Chapter 33: Order
Aiming was difficult; the gun in my hand felt like it weighed a ton. A bullet in your shoulder will do that to you. At the time, I barely even noticed that I'd been shot. Once the initial shock and disbelief had passed, the rage had begun to set in. Accompanied with that, the pain almost felt comforting.
It was the rage that gave me the energy to lift the weapon in my hand and point it at my target. The gunshot boomed then echoed in the previously silent room.
I dropped the weapon before I'd checked to see if I'd hit anything. At this point, I couldn't have cared less. The rage seemed to have vanished with the noise. It was replaced now by weariness, a lesser anger and fear, which given the circumstances I guess was understandable.
After about a minute I willed enough strength into my neck to look upwards; and see that I hadn't hit anything. I also found that Smith was standing over me with a look that looked like contempt on his face.
"We do not have time for this."
With that he buried a punch into my face that shoved me into unconsciousness.
Smith had wandered back over to Eric and left me twitching on the floor. It was surprising just how much my body had been through in the space of a single day. A sentinel had punched a massive hole in my leg. Explosives smashing into the Destiny had sent me flying in assorted directions, and to top it all off, Smith, the enemy of all mankind showed up out of nowhere and beat the living shit out of me.
I heard a noise which sounded like someone getting punched in the face, and a weary surge of anger flooded through me as I realised that Smith had probably just clouted Eric. This was followed by a weary surge of confussion as I tried to find an explanation for the fact that there was another me.
The silence of the room amplified the footsteps that were coming towards me. I was still too weak to do anything except form a pained facial expression as I found Smith standing over me once more.
Two hands grasped my coat and pulled me to my feet. As this happened, one of the heads in my jacket fell to the floor with a squishy thud. Smith then released his grip and after wobbling for a few moments, I managed to stand upright in an almost dignified position.
"I'm sorry about that, but as I told him", he gestured at the crumpled form of Eric; "we do not have time for this."
I stared at Smith incredulously for a few seconds; my theory was that this was a feeble attempt at humour. Then my legs gave way and I passed out as my head struck the floor.
When I woke up, the pain was gone.
There was no trace of the bullet that had smashed into my shoulder, I actually felt surprisingly energetic.
More tricks of the machines.
Me and Wanderer had been placed outside. I was later to learn that this was so as to provide medical aid and explanations to those that needed them. After pushing myself to my feet, I noticed that 'Wanderer' was seated upon a sentinel corpse a few meters ahead of me. He was staring at me as if I was a six legged budgie.
After returning the stare for a few seconds, I walked over to where he was sitting and took a seat upon a tree stump that had been turned to charcoal due to the battle that had taken place earlier that day.
"Remember this face?" I asked, feeling a twinge of satisfaction as to my being able to think up a halfway witty opening line.
"Remember this one?" He countered, gesturing at himself.
I nodded, and then fell silent. You'd think at a time like this there'd be dozens of conversation topics, there probably were, but for a long while, none of us felt much like talking, and when we did, we didn't get much time.
"So what happened?" I said I wasn't really all that interested, it was hard to feel anything, especially seeing as I had blown yet another opportunity to kill Morpheus. It didn't hurt so much as the first failure, but it was not a feeling that I enjoyed.
"Well," he seemed equally uninterested, not surprising really, "after I, you, we, well you know what I mean. After the separation process, I woke up in a tube and got thrown into a sewer with centuries old crap festering in it."
"That must have been fun."
"Indeed, anyway, a helpful sentinel apparently dragged me to Zion where…"
"You saw Zion?"
"Yeah," he looked at me as if I'd just asked him what a bus was, "I've spent most of my time there shooting at sentinels, or are they Demons? Smith explained it on the way here but I wasn't really listening."
"Demons and assorted programs. I've spent most of my time here shooting aat them in their un-sentineld state."
I inhaled sharply as I suddenly remembered that I was talking to a serial killer, memories of Smith's delightful short movie entered my head, and I could begin to feel the bile rising from my stomach.
I locked it down.
It felt a bit hypocritical feeling angry at him seeing as I'd sent more then a few Demons in a sentineld state to the grave. I took a few more breaths and tried to banish the anger.
"Eric."
I turned my head to see Niobe staring at me. The look on her face suggested that she was seriously considering shooting me. I stood up.
"Yeah?"
She inhaled a few times before answering.
"He wants you back inside."
Wanderer pushed himself up and the three of us walked back to the battered destiny.
Now for replies:
Agent Josie: I hope the fact that i took a while to update didn't result in Naz catching fire. Thanks for the weasel image. I shall use it well, you'll see what i shall use it in soon enough. Thanks for reviewing.
Tai Wilson: If Smith is Neo's opposite, then presumbly they have the same fancy powers, and since Neo can stop bullets, so can Smith, probably, anyway, thanks for reviewing.
LiMiYa: After a few days, the novelty of an email address wears off. Sad but true, anyway, you're welcome and thanks for reviewing. For an explination of Smith's bullet stopping ways, see the reply above you.
Yar Kramer: Oh shit, sorry I was going to read your fan fiction but, like with most things, I forgot. I'll make sure to do that assuming I don't forget again. I couldn't find a misspelling of Morpheus. I'll look again later. Thanks for reviewing.
Don't get shot any of you.
Sorry, I'll stop ranting. Thanks to all reviewers, replies are at the end of the chapter.
By the way, now that I'm up to 100 reviews, I can, um, well I guess I can't really do anything, I'm just pleased that's all. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far.
Chapter 33: Order
Aiming was difficult; the gun in my hand felt like it weighed a ton. A bullet in your shoulder will do that to you. At the time, I barely even noticed that I'd been shot. Once the initial shock and disbelief had passed, the rage had begun to set in. Accompanied with that, the pain almost felt comforting.
It was the rage that gave me the energy to lift the weapon in my hand and point it at my target. The gunshot boomed then echoed in the previously silent room.
I dropped the weapon before I'd checked to see if I'd hit anything. At this point, I couldn't have cared less. The rage seemed to have vanished with the noise. It was replaced now by weariness, a lesser anger and fear, which given the circumstances I guess was understandable.
After about a minute I willed enough strength into my neck to look upwards; and see that I hadn't hit anything. I also found that Smith was standing over me with a look that looked like contempt on his face.
"We do not have time for this."
With that he buried a punch into my face that shoved me into unconsciousness.
Smith had wandered back over to Eric and left me twitching on the floor. It was surprising just how much my body had been through in the space of a single day. A sentinel had punched a massive hole in my leg. Explosives smashing into the Destiny had sent me flying in assorted directions, and to top it all off, Smith, the enemy of all mankind showed up out of nowhere and beat the living shit out of me.
I heard a noise which sounded like someone getting punched in the face, and a weary surge of anger flooded through me as I realised that Smith had probably just clouted Eric. This was followed by a weary surge of confussion as I tried to find an explanation for the fact that there was another me.
The silence of the room amplified the footsteps that were coming towards me. I was still too weak to do anything except form a pained facial expression as I found Smith standing over me once more.
Two hands grasped my coat and pulled me to my feet. As this happened, one of the heads in my jacket fell to the floor with a squishy thud. Smith then released his grip and after wobbling for a few moments, I managed to stand upright in an almost dignified position.
"I'm sorry about that, but as I told him", he gestured at the crumpled form of Eric; "we do not have time for this."
I stared at Smith incredulously for a few seconds; my theory was that this was a feeble attempt at humour. Then my legs gave way and I passed out as my head struck the floor.
When I woke up, the pain was gone.
There was no trace of the bullet that had smashed into my shoulder, I actually felt surprisingly energetic.
More tricks of the machines.
Me and Wanderer had been placed outside. I was later to learn that this was so as to provide medical aid and explanations to those that needed them. After pushing myself to my feet, I noticed that 'Wanderer' was seated upon a sentinel corpse a few meters ahead of me. He was staring at me as if I was a six legged budgie.
After returning the stare for a few seconds, I walked over to where he was sitting and took a seat upon a tree stump that had been turned to charcoal due to the battle that had taken place earlier that day.
"Remember this face?" I asked, feeling a twinge of satisfaction as to my being able to think up a halfway witty opening line.
"Remember this one?" He countered, gesturing at himself.
I nodded, and then fell silent. You'd think at a time like this there'd be dozens of conversation topics, there probably were, but for a long while, none of us felt much like talking, and when we did, we didn't get much time.
"So what happened?" I said I wasn't really all that interested, it was hard to feel anything, especially seeing as I had blown yet another opportunity to kill Morpheus. It didn't hurt so much as the first failure, but it was not a feeling that I enjoyed.
"Well," he seemed equally uninterested, not surprising really, "after I, you, we, well you know what I mean. After the separation process, I woke up in a tube and got thrown into a sewer with centuries old crap festering in it."
"That must have been fun."
"Indeed, anyway, a helpful sentinel apparently dragged me to Zion where…"
"You saw Zion?"
"Yeah," he looked at me as if I'd just asked him what a bus was, "I've spent most of my time there shooting at sentinels, or are they Demons? Smith explained it on the way here but I wasn't really listening."
"Demons and assorted programs. I've spent most of my time here shooting aat them in their un-sentineld state."
I inhaled sharply as I suddenly remembered that I was talking to a serial killer, memories of Smith's delightful short movie entered my head, and I could begin to feel the bile rising from my stomach.
I locked it down.
It felt a bit hypocritical feeling angry at him seeing as I'd sent more then a few Demons in a sentineld state to the grave. I took a few more breaths and tried to banish the anger.
"Eric."
I turned my head to see Niobe staring at me. The look on her face suggested that she was seriously considering shooting me. I stood up.
"Yeah?"
She inhaled a few times before answering.
"He wants you back inside."
Wanderer pushed himself up and the three of us walked back to the battered destiny.
Now for replies:
Agent Josie: I hope the fact that i took a while to update didn't result in Naz catching fire. Thanks for the weasel image. I shall use it well, you'll see what i shall use it in soon enough. Thanks for reviewing.
Tai Wilson: If Smith is Neo's opposite, then presumbly they have the same fancy powers, and since Neo can stop bullets, so can Smith, probably, anyway, thanks for reviewing.
LiMiYa: After a few days, the novelty of an email address wears off. Sad but true, anyway, you're welcome and thanks for reviewing. For an explination of Smith's bullet stopping ways, see the reply above you.
Yar Kramer: Oh shit, sorry I was going to read your fan fiction but, like with most things, I forgot. I'll make sure to do that assuming I don't forget again. I couldn't find a misspelling of Morpheus. I'll look again later. Thanks for reviewing.
Don't get shot any of you.