Title: New lives: Chapter One
Author: Stormhawk
Rating: PG-13 Rather heavy, but not R-worthy.
Disclaimer:
Matrix Wachowski Brothers and Warner Brothers
ATS Me
Stef, Darth, Vamp duo Me
Pix Pixel
Greer Vin, Grimoires, Motoki, Divelle Overlord Mordax
Word Count: 16932
Summary: Greer learns to deal with being an agent, and adopts a whole new personality, a more extroverted one. Meanwhile, a war is brewing among the exiles.
Notes: I know this took a long time, I'm sorry. Blame the fact I was finishing off and betaing the novel (Again, my eternal thanks Alo, that work you did was more than phenomenal)
Like most of you know already, Mordy gave me a basic character arc of what's going to happen with Greer/Vin in Season 3, but I've had to come up with 98 of the details, and choosing to go in my own directions with some ideas, and putting more emphasis on others. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new side of Greer.
GOTO and Review.
0101010
Greer felt woozy as he walked down the Agency hall. He almost felt as though he was having trouble walking, having trouble keeping his balance.
Death, it would seem, has an effect on equilibrium.
But it wasn't only that, he felt like a newborn. Everything was so bright and shiny and new, he was seeing the world through new eyes.
Which, in all fairness, he was.
Suddenly, he pitched off to the left, but Stef caught him before he fell. "Watch your footing, it's a bit disorientating. I fell over three times in my first five minutes."
"So this is what you are as well?"
"Yeah, you know…" she cut herself short, "oh yeah, you don't remember anything…"
"Nothing after getting shot while we were going after Yami."
"It's ok, I'm sure you can catch up on pretty much everything. But yeah, I'm just like you."
"Well that's one question answered."
"You got another one?"
"Where are we going?"
"Right here," she said as she pushed open the door to the conference room.
He blinked in the bright light, and saw Agents Smith and Brown standing across the room. Brown looked angry, not unusual, and like he had been in the middle of saying something.
He grinned and mockingly saluted, "Agent Greer reporting for duty sirs."
"Welcome Agent Greer," Smith said as everyone sat.
"This is unacceptable," Brown snarled as soon as he sat.
"I'm just getting used to it myself," he said with a grin, "I feel rather odd."
"There was only one slight problem," Stef said quietly.
"And that is?" Smith asked.
"Three months memory loss, he doesn't remember what happened."
"What…happened?" he asked as he noticed the changes in the other agents' expressions.
"You went insane," Brown said as his lip curled, "you murdered civilians, and the Edmund twins, there was no basis for bringing you back. I refuse to accept two of them in this agency!" he yelled as he thumped his hand on the desk.
"Did you say the Edmund twins? Weren't they dead already? How could I kill them?"
"They were trapped, and part of them came back, you destroyed them," Smith reported calmly. "You can see the file footage later."
"I want one of them transferred," Brown growled, "one liability is enough here. It is unimaginable what would happen what would happen if they both malfunction."
"Don't worry Brown," Stef said calmly, "if Greer doesn't work out you get rid of us both, that's what the Mainframe said."
Brown almost smiled, "that is somewhat more acceptable," he said while he silently planned possible ways to make Greer malfunction.
Smith looked at him, "Greer, now that you are one of us, there are certain things that you must realise, and certain limitations that you must adhere to."
"Since resistance is futile anyway, I'll be glad to."
Smith's eyebrows raised a little, "you now have all the responsibilities of an agent, but Clarke has informed me that you will also be allowed to retain your recruit freedoms, such as your weekly free time."
After the meeting was finished, Greer walked out of the room, "was that a long meeting?" he asked Stef as they walked down the hall.
"We were only in there five minutes."
"I'm just restless I guess. Considering that I've been dead for a month is that strange or normal?"
"I really don't know," Stef said as she shrugged. "It's not like there are a lot of cases to look at."
"Is there anyone else like this?"
"Just us two, but there was another one. Carol Whitman."
"What happened to her?"
"She wasn't as successful as we were," Stef said with a faraway look in her eyes. "Ok, you have to save anything you want from your room before it gets reset."
"I can't keep my room? Why not?"
"You're getting an office instead."
"I can put a bed in my office?"
"You don't need a bed, we don't sleep."
A wry grin crossed his face, "beds aren't only good for sleeping." A look of panic crossed his face, "um…um…about needing a bed, how do I put this…?"
Stef shook her head, "don't pop a subroutine, you're not built like a Ken doll."
"Thank god," he said with a sigh of relief.
"As soon as you can, go see Jones."
"Why?"
"I think he needs to talk to you about a few things."
"Such as?"
"Just trust me and go see Jones," Stef said as he pushed open the door to his room.
"Oh what is that smell?" he asked as he flicked on the light.
"I would guess that you had food left in here. Fuzzy foods are people too."
"Huh?"
"After a certain period of time, fuzzy foods gain sentience and have rights…don't look at me like I'm crazy."
"I'm starting to think this is some kind of strange near-death experience."
"You'll be ok Greer, everything will seem uber-strange for a while, but you'll be fine."
"Vin."
"Huh?"
He flicked on the light and looked around at his room, "Vin, as in short for Vincent, my first name."
"You have a first name? Oh…that's right."
"Call me Vin, I don't want to be called Greer anymore."
"Why?"
"Not quite sure, it doesn't seem to fit me anymore."
"I wouldn't expect Brown or Smith to call you Vin. They'll still call you Greer, or Agent Greer, cause that's what you are now."
010101
"Shut up Cain!" Abel yelled at his brother.
"I'm only saying the truth," Cain said in defence. "You do have fleas."
"I'm gonna…!" the enraged werewolf went silent, "you smell that?"
Cain joined his silence and sniffed the night, "what is that?"
"I'm not sure, but I don't want to stick around and find out."
Abel pulled a key from his pocket and they went through the nearest door. "Do you think…?"
"I'm not sure," Cain replied, "but that smell wasn't right."
"What do you think it was? Shapeshifter?"
"No…even shapeshifters have a distinct smell, I'm not sure what that smelled like."
"You think it was…that thing?"
"Oh you aren't listening to those two are you?"
"The vamps did say that something attacked them, something no one had ever seen before. Their wounds took days to heal and they usually heal in a few seconds."
"You think it's something the system is doing? Some new weapon against us?"
"I think that if it was, it would have done more than attack two lowly-paid vampires who were trying to kill another exile."
"You think she's dead?"
"Well the vamps did collect the reward, or so I heard."
01010101
"Was that them Motoki?"
"Yes Master. Cain and Abel, two of the most stupid programs to ever deform the Matrix."
Grimoires resumed his current favourite human shape, the one that was helping him gain a foothold in this new world.
"And they are typical of your old employer's servants?"
"To a degree, most of his employees are nothing more than dumb muscle for hire, but the ones in his inner circle, and those that contract for him…they can be formidable."
"Has anyone ever tried to challenge his power?" Moires asked as they turned and headed back to his abode.
"No one is stu…" the Japanese exile shut her mouth as she saw Grimoires' eyes flash golden. "No one has tried and succeeded. Whenever someone tries he either destroys them or absorbs them."
"He sounds ruthless," the unique exile said, "but in a human way."
0101010
Vin looked around his room, things seemed so different…and it wasn't only because there were a lot of items that he didn't recognise.
It was probably coming back to life…it was like a new perspective.
The infinite lives cheat…he mused, I guess I've got that now.
He made sure his door was locked, and went into his bathroom. He stripped, letting the perfect-looking suit fall into a heap and crumple on the floor.
He stopped himself before going into the shower and took a breath. He realised with a start that he hadn't been breathing, he hadn't been bothering to do something every human knew to do instinctively from the moment they were born.
Then again, he wasn't human anymore.
He pulled his hair from the tie and let it spill over his back, getting stuck by the pleasantly warm water.
It was uncomfortable.
Shaking his head, he realised for the first time how much he disliked his long hair. It was annoying, it got in his way, and it was time to get rid of it.
After he finished showering, something he had done in order to have time to think, rather than any actual uncleanliness, he towelled off and required himself into a pair of pants.
He required a full-length mirror and stared at his half-naked form.
Yes. It was defiantly time for a change.
He wasn't a recruit anymore.
He wasn't human anymore.
He wasn't Greer anymore.
Since first awaking in Jones' lab, he had been trying to think of himself as Greer, as that was what he had called himself for so long…it just didn't see to fit anymore.
He required a pair of scissors and swung his hair around, cutting a large chunk of it off before turning back to the mirror and requiring it to an even shorter length, and slightly tidier than what he had done.
Requiring himself back into full uniform, he required his room to reset itself without bothering to save anything.
It was his second life now, his second turn, he didn't need anything from his first life.
He wasn't human anymore, he was better. He wasn't flawed and slow, he was immortal and perfect.
Jones. He had to go see Jones. What for, he had no idea, probably something to do with what he was now.
"Hey!" a voice called from behind him, "you new? I'm…"
The guy stopped speaking as soon as Vin turned around.
"Holy fuck," the recruit said after a moment of shock, "this ain't real."
Vin was confused, "do I know you?"
"Greer?"
Vin nodded, "yes?"
Ken shook his head slowly, "you're dead, you died. Like a month ago."
"So who's the new one?" a female recruit said as she walked up to Ken. She took one look at Vin and promptly fainted.
Ken leant against the wall, "is this a dream or something, you are dead!"
"Not anymore," Vin said with a grin.
"What are you? Zombie? Vampire?"
"Agent."
"That's not possible."
"Why not?"
"Cause…" the recruit was lost for words, "because that doesn't happen."
"So give me another explanation."
"I can't."
"So I guess that means I'm telling the truth."
"You're really Greer? This isn't some kind of trick."
"And what would the purpose of such a trick be?" Stef asked as she walked up behind Vin. "I can assure you that this is Vincent Greer, who you now shall refer to as Agent Greer."
"Why him? A lot of good recruits die, so why him?"
"Recruit Williams, don't question the system," Stef replied coldly.
Ken curled his lip, "does this happen at other agencies?"
"No, it's never happened before."
Vin's eyes flickered, "never?" he asked pointedly.
"Never."
"So he's really an agent now? He just wasn't in some kind of coma?"
Vin smirked, "I can prove it."
"That I would love to see." He turned to Stef. "Would you mind obliging?"
"No problem," she said as she drew her gun and pressed it to his head. "The first time hurts a bit," she whispered, "your code has to get used to it."
"Just shoot me already."
"Ok," she said and pulled the trigger.
His body fell back and then disappeared, he appeared a second later, with no signs of damage.
Ken crossed himself, "holy fuck," he whispered, "you mean, they made you into one of them?"
"Don't get jealous," Greer said with a grin.
"I'm not so much jealous as confused. I…I got to go think about this." He helped the other recruit to her feet and they quickly made their way down the hall.
"Is that reaction normal? They were kind of freaked out."
Stef shrugged, "people handle the news in different ways, that's why I tell as few people as possible."
"Were you looking for me?"
"Jones mentioned you hadn't gone and seen him yet."
"I was going there now, what's with the big stress?"
"Have you looked at the files yet?"
"A wild theory tells me I was pretty bad at the end, I don't really want to go through files without knowing what to expect."
"I think the best person to ask about that would be Jones."
"Up until a few weeks ago…a few weeks ago by my memory, I thought he was stalking me or suspecting I was a traitor, you make it sound like we became friends."
Stef smiled sadly, knowing what heartbreak Jones was going through because of Greer's missing memory, "you were, you two were very good friends. You were very close right up to the end. Jones fought to get permission to bring you back. You really need to go talk to him."
"Katrina," Vin said suddenly, "uh…I'm not sure if I spoke to you about Katrina."
"Oh…it's safe to say I know who Katrina is."
"Yeah?" he asked with a grin, "so what happened? Does she know I…died?"
"Please, go talk to Jones, I don't want to say anything that he doesn't want you hearing yet."
Vin narrowed his eyes, "what do you mean by that?"
"See Jones. Please," she said and shifted away.
Vin shrugged to himself, and walked around to the tech's office. He knocked on the door.
"Come in," a small voice called.
He pushed open the door, Jones was sitting in almost a cocoon of monitors. They were on all sides, all displaying different things. "Jones?"
Jones looked up, and several emotions crossed his face before he managed to make it neutral. "Hello Greer."
"You wanted to see me?"
"Yes," Jones said as he required a chair, "please sit."
Vin sat in the chair, and propped his feet up on one of Jones' desk.
Jones took a deep breath, knowing that things were different, and that they probably wouldn't go back to how they were.
"So what can I do for you?"
"Well I am trying to discover if I can restore your memory, I'm sure it can't feel good to have a portion of your life missing."
"It's strange, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything." He shrugged, "you can't miss what you never had right? I'm sure I can make up the lost time, you guys can just tell me what happened right?"
"Being told of events isn't the same as having the memories of them."
"Like going insane?" Vin asked, violence entering his voice, "I'm supposed to miss going completely insane. Miss the memory of killing civilians? I think I can live without those memories."
"Greer…"
"Vin."
Jones looked up, "what?"
"Vin. If you don't mind, that's what I'd like to be called."
"Any particular reason?"
"I like the it, why?"
"Well, so far as I knew, you didn't like anyone calling you by your first name."
"That was before, you know, I died. I feel different, free or something." Vin leant back and thought for a moment, "I told you that I didn't like anyone calling me Vincent?"
"Yes."
"You and I…we were friends in the last three months?"
Unable to say anything for fear of crying, Jones nodded.
"I'm sorry, but I don't remember anything."
"It's fine Gr…Vin. I don't intend on burdening you with a relationship you can't remember."
"Relationship?"
"Friendship."