Hi everyone! Thanks for the great response I've had for the first chapter!
I'm probably dressing as someone from the Matrix tomorrow to go to the
cinema with my friends for my birthday (16!! Yay!). And that's my little
Matrix comment for the day. There. Wasn't that nice? Also we learnt stage
fighting at my drama club today – I know kung-fu... or, rather I know how to
pull someone's hair and slap them without actually hurting them... not as
fun...
Chapter 2 - Unplugging
The next morning Tank loaded everyone into the Matrix. It was very rare for everyone to go at once since they learnt that there was a program created for the sole purpose of killing them all – it seemed almost too easy for them all to be together at once. But there was a captain's meeting that day, and Morpheus had asked for the whole crew to attend.
As they entered the room (fashionably late, as Morpheus usually was, but always unintentionally of course) Asha saw a few familiar faces. She saw Niobe, who she didn't know very well, and she saw the crew of the Aeneas. Phoenix gave her a small appreciative smile, which she returned, but hoped that he wouldn't mention her little 'intervention' the night before.
"We don't have much time," said Morpheus, "Since we're uncertain that our other plan will succeed, I'd advise on our proceeding to the emergency plan."
"The emergency plan?" said one of the other captains, "Isn't that only for the utmost critical circumstances?"
"Well, I'd say this one was critical," said Morpheus.
"We're not even sure that there is a situation," argued another captain.
"What's the emergency plan?" whispered Asha to Neo.
"A group unplugging," said Neo quietly.
"A group-"
"We're going to get as many out as possible," said Niobe, "We'll divide into pairs. Each pair will be issued with a list of names of people to bring here. These names have been selected at random from lists of people who are sixteen to twenty-five years old." Though Trinity continued to look straight ahead, Asha suddenly felt a rush of emotion inside her. She remembered that Trinity's sister would be twenty-seven now – that ruled her out. "We meet back here at 1800 hours. Hopefully everything will go according to plan. Our ships are standing by near the power plants to pick up the people we wake up. Everyone clear?"
"May I make a suggestion?" said Neo. Everyone turned to look at him. "Since recent attempts on crewmembers' lives, and the discovery that there is a program that can change shape, I recommend that every time one of us phones another, a key phrase be said first."
"That's a good idea," said another captain, "What should they say?"
"Hi, it's Calypso," said Asha. All the captains turned to look at her. "What? It's the least likely thing she'd say. Or communistic choco cheese, no-one else I know says that..."
There was some discussion, but it was agreed that "Hi, it's Calypso," was what the captains would say.
"I'm not sure the whole 'red pill blue pill' thing is going to be quite as impressive with a time limit," said Falcon as the captains fell to talking amongst themselves.
"How many will we unplug altogether?" said Asha.
"There are about eighty people in this room," said Trinity, "That's forty pairs. Each list is about ten people long. That's 400 people in one day."
"400!" said Asha in surprise, "That's... a lot."
"Not enough," said Neo dispiritedly, "Considering the millions of people there are in the Matrix."
"It makes enough of a difference to be worthwhile," said Morpheus firmly.
Asha glanced at her sheet. They had all been paired up with a crewmember from another ship, so that should they be attacked no crew would be seriously short of members. Asha often wondered why the Nebuchadnezzar had so small a crew, compared to other ships who seemed to have about seven or eight. She now realised that it was because they were often so busy doing other things to unplug people.
She herself had been paired up with a member of the crew of the Aeneas. Etain. "Hi," said Asha, slightly nervously. Etain was a young woman, about mid-twenties, Asha would guess, with red hair that just reached her shoulders. "I like your name, by the way."
"It's from Irish legend," said Etain, "She was a girl who discovered that she was in fact from the Otherworld, and was taken back there by the man she loved." Etain laughed slightly. "It seems very fitting now. And you're- "
"Asha," said Asha, "It means hope."
"Of course," said Etain, "What else?"
She and Etain walked out of the room, Asha promising Morpheus that she wouldn't go running off into any dark alleys or go chasing agents. They had to go to an exit, then meet up again after being reloaded into the Matrix, as their area for unplugging was Ireland. "My home country," Etain had said happily, "As you may guess from the name."
"Well, my grandmother was from Greece," said Asha, "But I can't speak Greek, so it's good we're not unplugging anyone from there."
"No, Phoenix is going there," said Etain, "He's part Greek as well. As you may guess from the name. We both chose our names to fit with our heritage. See you in a minute." They had reached the phone box.
Five minutes later, Etain and Asha were walking down a street in Dublin. Morpheus had suggested that they wear ordinary clothes, as agents would be on doubled alert now that they knew that they knew what was going on. Asha hadn't realized how much she'd missed wearing jeans, but when she'd had the chance to wear any outfit in the world she'd wanted, she'd had a lot of fun.
"Here's our first stop," said Etain, glancing at the sheet of paper to check the address. They had reached a tall apartment building in the back streets of the city. "Apartment 9. We're not bothering with the computer contact, we're just going straight in, saying that we have information for them. Got it?"
"Isn't this going to be a bit shocking for them?"
"Nothing we can do about that, except make it as easy as possible. We may need a demonstration to make them believe it. You ready?"
Asha nodded. Etain pressed the intercom. It buzzed loudly. Finally a voice crackled through the speakers. "What?"
"Hello, is that Mr Williams?" asked Etain.
"Yes," came back the voice, sounding slightly wary.
"We have some information for you."
"Write a letter." The voice clicked off. Asha looked at Etain, who frowned and pressed the button again.
"What?" came the voice.
"Mr Williams, I don't think you're listening to us. We have some information for you."
"And I don't think you're listening to me. Piss off." Again, the voice clicked off. Asha glared at the metal speaker, and pressed the button for his apartment repeatedly. At first nothing happened, but after a couple of minutes the man's voice came through again. "Go away, or I'll call the police!"
"You listen here, Mr Williams!" said Asha angrily, "We have come a long way, and we are not leaving until you let us in. We're perfectly capable of breaking down this door, but we'd rather not bring the police and have to inform them about how a Mr Williams wouldn't let us in. Or should we call you Odin?"
There was a silence. For a second Asha thought that he'd turned off the intercom in spite of Asha's very apparent wrath. But then the door buzzed open, and Asha quickly leapt through it should he change his mind.
"People certainly like naming themselves after legends, don't they?" said Etain.
"The all-seeing all-knowing head of the Norse gods," mused Asha, "Well, this guy certainly has an opinion of himself."
Etain and Asha walked along the corridor towards Odin's room. They paused outside. "Anything?" said Etain.
Asha closed her eyes. "He's got a gun out," she said, "Well, if he expects that to work... I'll go first. You stay round the corner of the door. Just in case he takes a shot at you. No offence, but I'm better at dodging bullets."
Etain didn't argue, but stepped out of sight. Asha took a deep breath, and kicked the door open.
As she expected, she heard a gun shot, and instantly threw herself backwards, leaning back as far as she could go. The bullet whizzed over her head into the wall across the corridor. She heard another bullet being fired. "This guy just doesn't learn," she thought, and sprang into the air. This time the bullet went under her legs, and she was able to propel herself into the room towards the young man. As she sailed forwards, she spun round so that her heels hit his shoulders, and he flew back across the room. He collided with a bookcase and slid to the floor.
"There," she said, straightening her jacket, "Will you listen now?" As she spoke, she picked up the gun with her mind and bent it in two, tossing it out the window. Etain entered as well, and stood next to Asha.
I hate the way the little star-seperatey thing for the end of chapters doesn't show up any more. Gargh. Ah well. Onto callouts.
Tanuki Yasha – Thanks! I was worried about the fight scene. I could picture it in my head, but I can't really write them that well.
Unsigjewne – Thanks for the advice. I'll try and get better; luckily there aren't any fight scenes for a short while, so I can work on any future ones to make them more detailed.
Jedi from Rohan – The other stuff isn't as good. But it might make you understand this one a bit more...
Theshiz - ... slightly hyper? What are you like when you're REALLY hyper? Do I even want to know?
Hogwarts-Drama-Queen – Aw, thanks! I hope it's the best. It's much better than the first one, anyway... the first one was really bad, in my opinion... ever so slightly Mary-Sueish... (shudder)
Im a Brandybuck – It's so sweet that you came back to review again! I hope things are going better now.
Agent Tommy – Aw, thanks! Everyone's so sweet... I want to hug everyone... starting with YOU! (rugby tackles)
T'Lorie – You like agents, don't you? Actually, I don't mind flamers, I think they're funny, but I prefer constructive criticism.
Shadow-Spider – Eeek! OK!
Sirocco.flow – I need to cut enough time out of revising for GCSEs to write them... I should be revising now... my RS exam is in three days...
Ohiwishihadaname – Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it so much! I will continue, since you said oretty please... hardly anyone says oretty please...
Orangebananas – I will never talk! Never! You'll just have to wait and see! You never know, she might get together with... uh... Tank? Maybe not... It's interesting that you think I'm better at serious fics, most people say I'm better at humour. Hmmm. Well, at least that means I'm good at both.
So, I'll see y'all soon! I might have finished my GCSEs by then... I might not have. Probably not, thinking about it. But have fun till then!
Chapter 2 - Unplugging
The next morning Tank loaded everyone into the Matrix. It was very rare for everyone to go at once since they learnt that there was a program created for the sole purpose of killing them all – it seemed almost too easy for them all to be together at once. But there was a captain's meeting that day, and Morpheus had asked for the whole crew to attend.
As they entered the room (fashionably late, as Morpheus usually was, but always unintentionally of course) Asha saw a few familiar faces. She saw Niobe, who she didn't know very well, and she saw the crew of the Aeneas. Phoenix gave her a small appreciative smile, which she returned, but hoped that he wouldn't mention her little 'intervention' the night before.
"We don't have much time," said Morpheus, "Since we're uncertain that our other plan will succeed, I'd advise on our proceeding to the emergency plan."
"The emergency plan?" said one of the other captains, "Isn't that only for the utmost critical circumstances?"
"Well, I'd say this one was critical," said Morpheus.
"We're not even sure that there is a situation," argued another captain.
"What's the emergency plan?" whispered Asha to Neo.
"A group unplugging," said Neo quietly.
"A group-"
"We're going to get as many out as possible," said Niobe, "We'll divide into pairs. Each pair will be issued with a list of names of people to bring here. These names have been selected at random from lists of people who are sixteen to twenty-five years old." Though Trinity continued to look straight ahead, Asha suddenly felt a rush of emotion inside her. She remembered that Trinity's sister would be twenty-seven now – that ruled her out. "We meet back here at 1800 hours. Hopefully everything will go according to plan. Our ships are standing by near the power plants to pick up the people we wake up. Everyone clear?"
"May I make a suggestion?" said Neo. Everyone turned to look at him. "Since recent attempts on crewmembers' lives, and the discovery that there is a program that can change shape, I recommend that every time one of us phones another, a key phrase be said first."
"That's a good idea," said another captain, "What should they say?"
"Hi, it's Calypso," said Asha. All the captains turned to look at her. "What? It's the least likely thing she'd say. Or communistic choco cheese, no-one else I know says that..."
There was some discussion, but it was agreed that "Hi, it's Calypso," was what the captains would say.
"I'm not sure the whole 'red pill blue pill' thing is going to be quite as impressive with a time limit," said Falcon as the captains fell to talking amongst themselves.
"How many will we unplug altogether?" said Asha.
"There are about eighty people in this room," said Trinity, "That's forty pairs. Each list is about ten people long. That's 400 people in one day."
"400!" said Asha in surprise, "That's... a lot."
"Not enough," said Neo dispiritedly, "Considering the millions of people there are in the Matrix."
"It makes enough of a difference to be worthwhile," said Morpheus firmly.
Asha glanced at her sheet. They had all been paired up with a crewmember from another ship, so that should they be attacked no crew would be seriously short of members. Asha often wondered why the Nebuchadnezzar had so small a crew, compared to other ships who seemed to have about seven or eight. She now realised that it was because they were often so busy doing other things to unplug people.
She herself had been paired up with a member of the crew of the Aeneas. Etain. "Hi," said Asha, slightly nervously. Etain was a young woman, about mid-twenties, Asha would guess, with red hair that just reached her shoulders. "I like your name, by the way."
"It's from Irish legend," said Etain, "She was a girl who discovered that she was in fact from the Otherworld, and was taken back there by the man she loved." Etain laughed slightly. "It seems very fitting now. And you're- "
"Asha," said Asha, "It means hope."
"Of course," said Etain, "What else?"
She and Etain walked out of the room, Asha promising Morpheus that she wouldn't go running off into any dark alleys or go chasing agents. They had to go to an exit, then meet up again after being reloaded into the Matrix, as their area for unplugging was Ireland. "My home country," Etain had said happily, "As you may guess from the name."
"Well, my grandmother was from Greece," said Asha, "But I can't speak Greek, so it's good we're not unplugging anyone from there."
"No, Phoenix is going there," said Etain, "He's part Greek as well. As you may guess from the name. We both chose our names to fit with our heritage. See you in a minute." They had reached the phone box.
Five minutes later, Etain and Asha were walking down a street in Dublin. Morpheus had suggested that they wear ordinary clothes, as agents would be on doubled alert now that they knew that they knew what was going on. Asha hadn't realized how much she'd missed wearing jeans, but when she'd had the chance to wear any outfit in the world she'd wanted, she'd had a lot of fun.
"Here's our first stop," said Etain, glancing at the sheet of paper to check the address. They had reached a tall apartment building in the back streets of the city. "Apartment 9. We're not bothering with the computer contact, we're just going straight in, saying that we have information for them. Got it?"
"Isn't this going to be a bit shocking for them?"
"Nothing we can do about that, except make it as easy as possible. We may need a demonstration to make them believe it. You ready?"
Asha nodded. Etain pressed the intercom. It buzzed loudly. Finally a voice crackled through the speakers. "What?"
"Hello, is that Mr Williams?" asked Etain.
"Yes," came back the voice, sounding slightly wary.
"We have some information for you."
"Write a letter." The voice clicked off. Asha looked at Etain, who frowned and pressed the button again.
"What?" came the voice.
"Mr Williams, I don't think you're listening to us. We have some information for you."
"And I don't think you're listening to me. Piss off." Again, the voice clicked off. Asha glared at the metal speaker, and pressed the button for his apartment repeatedly. At first nothing happened, but after a couple of minutes the man's voice came through again. "Go away, or I'll call the police!"
"You listen here, Mr Williams!" said Asha angrily, "We have come a long way, and we are not leaving until you let us in. We're perfectly capable of breaking down this door, but we'd rather not bring the police and have to inform them about how a Mr Williams wouldn't let us in. Or should we call you Odin?"
There was a silence. For a second Asha thought that he'd turned off the intercom in spite of Asha's very apparent wrath. But then the door buzzed open, and Asha quickly leapt through it should he change his mind.
"People certainly like naming themselves after legends, don't they?" said Etain.
"The all-seeing all-knowing head of the Norse gods," mused Asha, "Well, this guy certainly has an opinion of himself."
Etain and Asha walked along the corridor towards Odin's room. They paused outside. "Anything?" said Etain.
Asha closed her eyes. "He's got a gun out," she said, "Well, if he expects that to work... I'll go first. You stay round the corner of the door. Just in case he takes a shot at you. No offence, but I'm better at dodging bullets."
Etain didn't argue, but stepped out of sight. Asha took a deep breath, and kicked the door open.
As she expected, she heard a gun shot, and instantly threw herself backwards, leaning back as far as she could go. The bullet whizzed over her head into the wall across the corridor. She heard another bullet being fired. "This guy just doesn't learn," she thought, and sprang into the air. This time the bullet went under her legs, and she was able to propel herself into the room towards the young man. As she sailed forwards, she spun round so that her heels hit his shoulders, and he flew back across the room. He collided with a bookcase and slid to the floor.
"There," she said, straightening her jacket, "Will you listen now?" As she spoke, she picked up the gun with her mind and bent it in two, tossing it out the window. Etain entered as well, and stood next to Asha.
I hate the way the little star-seperatey thing for the end of chapters doesn't show up any more. Gargh. Ah well. Onto callouts.
Tanuki Yasha – Thanks! I was worried about the fight scene. I could picture it in my head, but I can't really write them that well.
Unsigjewne – Thanks for the advice. I'll try and get better; luckily there aren't any fight scenes for a short while, so I can work on any future ones to make them more detailed.
Jedi from Rohan – The other stuff isn't as good. But it might make you understand this one a bit more...
Theshiz - ... slightly hyper? What are you like when you're REALLY hyper? Do I even want to know?
Hogwarts-Drama-Queen – Aw, thanks! I hope it's the best. It's much better than the first one, anyway... the first one was really bad, in my opinion... ever so slightly Mary-Sueish... (shudder)
Im a Brandybuck – It's so sweet that you came back to review again! I hope things are going better now.
Agent Tommy – Aw, thanks! Everyone's so sweet... I want to hug everyone... starting with YOU! (rugby tackles)
T'Lorie – You like agents, don't you? Actually, I don't mind flamers, I think they're funny, but I prefer constructive criticism.
Shadow-Spider – Eeek! OK!
Sirocco.flow – I need to cut enough time out of revising for GCSEs to write them... I should be revising now... my RS exam is in three days...
Ohiwishihadaname – Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it so much! I will continue, since you said oretty please... hardly anyone says oretty please...
Orangebananas – I will never talk! Never! You'll just have to wait and see! You never know, she might get together with... uh... Tank? Maybe not... It's interesting that you think I'm better at serious fics, most people say I'm better at humour. Hmmm. Well, at least that means I'm good at both.
So, I'll see y'all soon! I might have finished my GCSEs by then... I might not have. Probably not, thinking about it. But have fun till then!