"You ready?" Vara asked as she hacked into the Matrix, her fingers racing over the many keyboards of her console.

"Yeah, I'm ready," replied Nicodemus, fighting the urge to nod, in fear of damaging the seven-inch plug that protruded into the back of his head. Vara finished typing and turned back to him.

"Just a little word of advice, don't fuck around with Abner. There's some crazy shit going on and you better not screw it up."

Before Nicodemus could protest, the world around him sped away, leaving a pure white universe. He examined his arms, and ran a hand through his hair. The plugs and nodes had disappeared. His shabby, ragged clothes were now replaced with a crisp new suit; he smiled.

I'll never get used to this shit.

He glanced around his surroundings; taking account of the utter emptiness of the antiseptic world. Nicodemus stood in the middle of an infinitely vast world. He was in the Construct.

He felt his pocket, half knowing that a cell phone would be inside. He flipped it open and spoke.

"Well, aren't you gonna ask me if I need anything?"

"Screw you," answered Vara, as she stared at his unmoving body a few feet from her. "The only thing you need is a broken jaw."

In the blink of an eye Nicodemus was suddenly inside a decaying green room. A phone blared annoyingly on a small round table. But, before he could reach it another hand picked it up. Nicodemus jumped as Abner appeared before him.

"We're in; we'll be back in less than an hour." He replaced the receiver, and turned back to Nico, his eyes hidden by his opaque sunglasses. "I have been in your position as well. I know the feelings that you are feeling, the questions that are running through your head." Nico opened his mouth to protest-

Abner cut him of- "Please, let me finish." Abner paused, and turned away from Nico. "What you will find out in the next hour will affect your life forever. What you will find out will affect our people forever. Still, I am not sure if you are ready to know how crucial it really is. However, it is not my choice; the Oracle will determine what, or what not to tell you; I am merely a messenger."

With that Abner turned away from Nicodemus and headed for the door, beckoning with his hand to follow. Nicodemus followed him up the stairs trying to piece together what he had been told. "You haven't told me where we're going."

Abner stopped at the door, hand resting on the knob. "We are going to see the Oracle." He opened the door, and sunlight spewed through the opening. Nicodemus squinted through the glare. "Who's the Oracle?" he yelled.

Abner smiled, "You'll see soon enough."

She sat with her legs crossed, her hands over her lap. Her bronze skin sagged shined in the dim light. She smiled as she looked Nicodemus over, glancing around with mock interest. She motioned him to him to sit; he obliged.

"Well now aren't you a handsome man; strong chin, good build; the ladies must be after all the time?" Nicodemus frowned; he hadn't expected this. He had expected a strange mystical creature-not this…grandma.

"Do I really look like that old? I always though I looked quite good for my age." Nicodemus gawked at her. "How, how did you do that-how did you know what I was thinking?"

"I could see it on your face. No matter, here have a cookie." She lifted a plate of cookies towards him. Nicodemus stared at her, unmoving. "Go on, have one; they're still warm," she said with her unrelenting smile.

Finally, Nico reached for the plate. "Oh, and don't worry about the plate," the elderly lady said. "Excuse me?" Nico said. Distracted, Nico bumped into the plate, knocking it out of the lady's hands; it fell to the ground and shattered. He looked at mess, and then back up at the lady.

"How did you do that?" Nicodemus looked dumbfounded, and was turning pale. She answered in a matter-of-fact way, "Why do you think they call me the Oracle?" She shook her head, and picked a cigarette of the coffee-table. "You young people,"sucking on the cigarette, "think you know everything. I should know, I do know everything."

Nicodemus leaned back into his chair, trying to decipher what exactly he had just seen. He had a feeling that he was going to learn a lot today.