Chapter 3
One year later
"Alright here's the plan." Soren said as he briefed our crew. "The target will be travelling by plane. He'll be leaving from New York City airport. Axel and Devil will be the snipers for the mission. The rest of us are to take out anything in their way."
"What if he's using Agents as guards?" I asked.
"Axel will take out the target, you can cover him if that is the case."
Axel and I exchanged looks.
"The reason for that arrangement is that Axel is a better sniper. We're going to arrive half a kilometre outside the airport. Once we're there we split up and the mission begins. Got it?"
"Yes Sir!" We snapped in unison.
"Good. Alright Jax get ready to load us up."
Jacking in was always an interesting experience. I liked picking out an outfit. Today I had chosen a red leather suit with a red cotton singlet top underneath and red boots with chunky heels. As Axel had predicted my hair had grown back to full length (something I was quite pleased with). I had it arranged in a French braid.
I selected a pair of 9000 S Automatic pistols from the weapon racks for my shoulder holsters, four throwing knifes for my sleeves and my boots, some grenades, an MP5, an AK-47 and an M95.50 Advanced Sniper rifle, which were to go in my bag.
"Nice choice." Binary said as she grabbed a shotgun.
"Is it your turn to ride shotgun tonight?"
"Hell yeah."
"Damn."
"Alright Jax load up the car." I heard Soren say behind me. A black jaguar appeared behind us.
"Everybody ready?"
"Should be." Axel yelled.
"Okay Jax. Send us in."
Around me a room constructed itself. First the table, then the phone, the floor, the walls and the roof. The phone rang.
"We're in."
I suppose I should fill you in on some of the things that have happened in the past year while we're on the way to the airport. Well where should I start? Lets see. I went to see the Oracle a few months ago. The visit went something like this…
The young woman waits in an old style apartment with several children. A child of perhaps five levitates several wooden blocks in the air, a girl manipulates a magnetic field creating sparks of electricity.
I watched with interest. Who in the hell were these kids? Were they going to be freed too?
"Excuse me Devil," The woman who had let me in at the door nudged me. "The Oracle will see you now."
I followed her into the kitchen. A woman was looking inside an oven.
"Don't tell me." She said. "You're Devil."
"And you're the Oracle?"
"Bingo." She reached inside the oven and pulled out a tray of cookies. "Smell good don't they?"
I watched with interest as she placed them on the stove. She turned around to face me. "Not what you were expecting huh?"
"Nope."
"Well let me have a look at you." The Oracle took my hands and looked at my palms.
"Now open your mouth and say 'ah'."
Was this woman a oracle or a doctor?
"Alright here's your fortune." She sat down at the table and lit up a cigarette. "I see a sad time coming for you but I also see happiness following that sadness. I see love between you and a dead man."
"Huh?" Was this woman all there?
"Don't worry you'll understand when the time comes. Now take a cookie and go back to your friends. You won't remember any of this until a short time before it happens."
Now that I think back on it, I'm not sure of who she meant. The dead man? Who in the hell was she talking about?
Another thing that's happened is Axel and I are seeing each other. I don't think it's love but in the last six months I've never been happier. Just waking up beside him everyday is the best thing ever. Although getting caught by Soren making out on the Vigilant was probably the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me, I don't mind. Soren didn't either. He laughed his ass off hysterically for about ten minutes straight and then proceeded to tell everyone else on board.
It's been a crazy year with the guys on the Vigilant. Between missions and council meetings I was having the time of my life. For once I felt like I actually belonged. For once I felt like I had a purpose. Now that I think back on my life in the matrix I never really had a purpose. For me it was just getting up out of bed every day, going to work and coming home again. Honestly compared to my life now I cannot think of anything worse to have to do everyday. Well enough about me. Lets get on with the story.
We finally reached the airport about twenty minutes later. I rechecked my guns and went off with Axel to begin our mission. We had to get to the tarmac without being noticed.
Yeah, like that was that going happen.
Soren, Vector and Binary were (discreetly) behind us, prepared to take out any target that was in our way. Axel and I walked together acting like we did in Zion; like a couple to try to fool the security. For a moment I really thought that our plan could have worked. And it might have if the nearest security guard didn't turn into an Agent.
"Shit!" I cursed as I withdrew my pistols. "Run Axel. I'll hold him off." But it was too late. Another Agent had appeared and had grabbed him.
"Oh no." This was not my day.
I reached for my cell phone and dialled.
Jax answered. "Operator."
"Jax a little help here would be good."
"It looks like they're moving him towards the tarmac."
"Any police?"
"Two units and there's some serious activity heading your way."
"More Agents?"
"S.W.A.T units. Find the conveyer belts they use for the baggage. Number ten should take you directly to the tarmac."
"Alright." I saw Soren and the others. "Come on we need to get to the conveyor belts."
I ran like a mad woman trying to get to the conveyor belts. I found the one I was looking for and jumped straight on, narrowly avoiding the spray of bullets from the police. Once we were all clear Binary threw a grenade, taking out the police in the area.
"Nice one." I commented.
"Thanks."
I re-holstered my pistols and got my MP5 out. I liked the MP5. It could double as a sniper rifle in the most extreme situations and could let off a barrage of bullets like a machine gun but not nearly as random.
"Okay heads up here they come." Soren said with a machinegun in hand.
I checked the ammo in my weapon for the third time that minute. We weren't even out of the tunnel the conveyor belt went through when we opened fire.
When we came out there was a pile of about ten bodies, all those of S.W.A.T. After a few seconds of surveying our handiwork we ran like hell to the control tower.
More police and S.W.A.T units were awaiting us.
"Take em' out." Soren ordered.
Five seconds (and several bullets) later all there was left were corpses.
"I thought you guys needed help." That made me jump. Ghost casually strolled in with a rifle in his hand.
"We do." Soren snapped. "If they get Axel in the air he's dead. You take the tower. We'll take the stairs.
The door blasted open. An Agent and several S.W.A.T members barged in. We ran for our lives. I threw a grenade behind me and didn't look back. I threw away my MP 5 which had no bullets left in it anyway and pulled out my AK-47.
"Devil take out the one at the top." Vector yelled. I aimed and blew his brains out.
Ewww.
"DEVIL WATCH OUT!" I heard below me but too late. I felt something red-hot pierce my right ankle.
"JESUS SUFFERING FUCK!" I screamed. "Who the fuck just shot me?"
I collapsed onto the ground. My ankle felt like it was going to explode. I had never been shot before. I didn't know what to do.
"Vector get her out of here now." Soren yelled.
Vector picked me up. He was surprisingly strong. He ran with me to a cop car and threw me inside. He got inside the car and drove like a man on fire. With what little strength I had I pulled off my right boot and my jacket. I could see the bullet.
"Don't try to take it out. You could damage a nerve." Vector said from the front. "Tie your jacket around your ankle to slow the bleeding.
I winced as I tied the leather jacket around my ankle.
'Breathe.' I told myself. 'Just breathe'.
I rang the ship.
"Operator."
"Jax where's the nearest exit?"
"Two blocks south of your direction on Lake Street. It's an old phone box."
"Good. Vector get to Lake Street now." He sped the car up.
"How does my ankle look?" I asked Jax.
"It missed any arteries in your leg but I won't be able to tell if there's going to be any residual damage until you jack out."
"Wonderful." I hung up.
Vector parked the car and picked me up. He started running towards the old phone box. I heard it ringing. I love that sound. To me it was the sound of safety. I picked it up and felt myself vanish from the artificial world.
Jax pulled the spike out of my head. "You okay?"
"My ankle hurts like hell but I'll live. How's Axel?"
"He's alive." Jax gave me a needle filled with fluid. "You know what to do with this." He dashed back to his station.
I injected the liquid into the plug on my right forearm. Instantly the pain stopped. I collapsed back onto my chair exhausted.
"They got him." Jax yelled excitedly. "Ghost's got Axel. He's fine."
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Where's Soren?"
"At an exit. Be ready to unplug them."
Soren awoke first, then Vector and Binary.
"Are you okay?" Binary demanded.
"Don't worry about me. I'm fine."
"Devil go to sickbay now and have Binary run a diagnostic on you now. That's an order." Soren said sharply.
"I want to be here when he wakes up. Please Soren. You know he means a lot to me."
Soren sighed. "Alright."
A few minutes' later Axel's eyes fluttered open. Jax was standing by to give him a shot.
"Come on this one's going to sickbay too." Soren ordered. Reluctantly I hobbled down the corridor with Vector and Jax carrying Axel behind me.
"Niobe said to tell you 'midnight'." I could hear Axel behind me saying to Soren.
It was revealed in sickbay that there was residual damage in my ankle and I wouldn't be able to enter the matrix until it had healed. Axel was in worse shape than I was. He had suffered damage all over his body. When the others had left, I stroked his messy hair. "You gave me quite a fright back there you know."
He smiled. "I know. I'm sorry."
I started crying and flung myself onto him. "Don't you ever do that again. I honestly thought I was going to lose you."
"Hey easy now. I'm still sore."
I backed off. Axel managed to sit up. "I love you stupid. I'll always come back for you. Now where's my kiss?"
I glared at him but kissed him anyway.
"You get some rest okay. I'm going back to my room."
As I closed the door behind me I realised something. Did he just say he loved me?
We arrived back in Zion by nightfall. The others were still asleep after jacking in for the meeting. Apparently there had been another ambush. Fortunately there were no casualties. We had gotten lucky this time. But it was just a matter of time before our luck would run out.
We docked ship and debarked. I grabbed my stuff and helped Vector carry Axel to our room.
"Sleep for a while okay." I said to Axel as I dressed to go to the temple.
"I've been asleep since I jacked out." He protested.
"And you can barely talk without your ribs hurting." I sat next to him on our bed. "Please just do what I ask you to." I gave him my most sincere look.
Axel rolled his eyes. "You know I hate it when you do that. It makes me agree to anything you say."
I grinned. "And that's exactly why I do it." I kissed him. "I'm not going to be long. Probably an hour or two."
Dressed in a white mini skirt and a brown halter neck, I made my way down to the temple. The painkiller was wearing off but my ankle had healed quite a bit so the pain wasn't too bad, just enough for me to hobble.
Everyone had gathered some time later in the temple. As Councillor Hamman entered the temple a revered silence came over the crowd.
"Tonight," He spoke. "Let us honour these men and women. These are our soldiers, our warriors; these are our husbands and wives, our brothers and sisters, our children. Let us remember those that have been lost and let us give thanks for those that have been found and who stand here beside us." He paused. "Now I would like someone else to close this prayer. Someone who hasn't spoken here in a long time but who I believe has something to say that we all need to hear. I give you Morpheus." As he finished the whole crowd erupted in cheers and screams for the legendary captain."
Morpheus stepped up onto the altar. "ZION HEAR ME!" as he spoke a silence fell over the crowd. "It is true what many of you have heard. The machines have gathered an army, and as I speak that army is drawing nearer to our home." All at once nervous chatter began among the people. "Believe me when I say we have a difficult time ahead of us," He continued. "But if we are to be prepared for it, we must first shed our fear of it. I stand here before you now truthfully unafraid. Why? Because I believe something you do not? No! I stand here without fear because I remember. I remember that I am here not because of the path that lies before me but because of the path that lies behind me! I remember that for one hundred years we have fought these machines! I remember that for one hundred years they have sent their armies to destroy us! And after a century of way, I remember that which matters most: WE ARE STILL HERE!"
We screamed our agreement. Even though Morpheus was not exactly regarded as sane he knew how to inspire the people.
"Tonight," Morpheus boomed, "Let us send a message to that army. Tonight, let us shake this cave. Tonight, let us tremble these halls of earth, steel and stone. Let us be heard from red core to black sky. Tonight, let us make them remember: This is Zion AND WE ARE NOT AFRAID!"
Once more we were overcome with inspiration and determination as we cheered for the captain. Then the music started.
I saw Ghost just staring out into the cavern. I wondered what he was thinking about. Would he go down there and dance? Nah. Well it wouldn't hurt to ask him. I walked up behind him in attempt to surprise him but before I could put my hand out to pat him on the shoulder he turned around…and scared the shit out of me.
For a few seconds I was lost for words. I finally said, "Are you going to dance?"
He stared at me with an utterly bemused expression, as if I had said 'do you want play Russian roulette with an Agent'.
Eventually he broke the silence. "Why?"
I felt myself blushing under his stare. "Well I was hoping I could dance with you."
"Okay."
I grabbed his arm. "Come on."
My favourite song was playing. It felt strange hearing it in this place but it was comforting in a way. He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close. It felt nice to be close to someone. Honestly I felt a little guilty that it was Ghost holding me and not Axel. But it I guess we all need to be held every now and then by someone, anyone. Doesn't that just sound like a lyric from a backstreet boys song?
I looked away then I looked back at you
You tried to say things that you can't undo
If I had my way I'd never get over you
Today's the day I pray that we make it through
Make it through the fall
Make it through at all
And I don't want to fall to pieces
I just wanna sit and stare at you
I don't want to talk about it
And I don't want a conversation
I just want to cry in front of you
I don't want to talk about it
Cause I'm in love with you
When I start thinking like that it just confuses me. I wanted to be with Axel but at the same time I wanted to stay with Ghost forever. I wanted this song to never end. What the hell is wrong with me? I didn't have feelings for Ghost did I? It wasn't possible. Maybe I was just tired and stressed out. Yeah, that was it. It had been a long week.
You're the only one I'd be with til the end
When I come undone you bring me back again
Back under the stars
Back into your arms
"I should go." I said quickly and ran through the pit. I could hear him behind me.
"Devil wait! What's wrong?"
And I don't want to fall to pieces
I just wanna sit and stare at you
I don't want to talk about it
And I don't want a conversation
I just want to cry in front of you
I don't want to talk about it
Cause I'm in love with you
The truth is I didn't know what was wrong. Emotionally I felt like there was a roller coaster in my stomach. Physically with each step I took, my feet felt like they were made of concrete.
Eventually he caught up with me. "Devil are you okay?"
Wanna know who you are
Wanna know where to start
I wanna know what this means
Wanna know how you feel
Wanna know what is real
I wanna know everything
Everything
I don't want to fall to pieces
I just wanna sit and stare at you
I don't want to talk about it
And I don't want a conversation
I just want to cry in front of you
I don't want to talk about it
Cause I'm in love with you
I felt the oxygen drain from my mind. I looked at him and gasped, "Ghost."
Cause I'm in love with you
Then everything went black.
"Is she gonna be okay?"
"Yeah. In all likelihood it's probably just exhaustion sickness. She's hardly slept in the last week at all. She tends to do that. She'll overwork herself and then she just crashes and burns. But she'll be fine in about a week or so."
I opened my eyes. Axel, Ghost, Niobe and Ice were standing over me. I was in my room on my bed.
"You gave us quite a fright there young lady." Axel said. "How you feel?"
"Like shit."
"That's not surprising. You'll be staying here until you're better."
"I can't go back on the Vigilant?"
"Afraid not." Ice replied. "You could die you know. We can't afford to lose any other assassins. God knows we've already lost enough."
"Does Soren know?"
"No he'll be told tomorrow. You can still go to the council meetings but you should stay here and rest. Otherwise you'll get much worse." Ghost said looking down on me.
"Alright. Everybody out so I can get some sleep. Except Axel."
When they had gone I peeled off my party clothes and slipped into a light cotton tunic. I snuggled up to Axel and relaxed. As much as I loved partying I preferred just being held and to sleep.
"Don't overdo it." He whispered to me.
"I'll try not to."
"You've had exhaustion sickness four times in the last few months Devil. You're pushing yourself too hard. I'm worried okay."
"I know. But I only work so hard because I love what I do. And because I have someone worth fighting for." I looked at him as I said that.
"You mean that?"
"Of course I do. It's not easy for me to admit that I care about someone. Now shut and snuggle up to me."
As the lights went out in Zion and the night came to an end I drifted off. But not before I heard his voice in the still darkness, which made me smile.
"I fight for you too."
That was the last time we would share the same bed. From there on everything in my life just went downhill. The war ended and everyone I loved was dead.
I was in my quarters when I heard the news. It had been three days since the war had ended. The Hammer, which had been repaired and could now fly was flying through the tunnel to look for survivors. What they found was the wreckage of the Vigilant and the bodies of my friends, including Axel. Roland was the one who had brought the news to me. After he had left I was numb for about five minutes. Then I dropped to the floor and screamed.
I screamed. I screamed for Axel, for Soren, for Vector and for Binary. I screamed because I should have been there to die beside them instead of lying in this stupid bed. I screamed because now I was alone. My closest friends were gone and all I could do was scream.
I didn't come out of my room again for a week. I just sat in my bed in silence. I didn't want to talk to anybody because I knew that the second I opened my mouth I would cry. I didn't want to cry. I hated crying.
One morning I went to the training centre that everyone had abandoned and jacked into the construct. I sat on top of a mountain, breathing in the cool mountain air. I knew that this place wasn't real but it was my only escape from the grief that plagued me.
Trying to escape reality.
Trying and falling
"Axel I miss you so much." I whispered. "Why did God have to take you from me? Why couldn't I die as well?"
I knew that no one would answer my questions so I fell to the ground sobbing. The earth beneath me became a sponge, soaking up my tears. I cried until there was a deep hollowness within me, a kind of peace.
I felt a strong pair of hands lifting me up and cradling me.
"Ghost please just go. I don't want you to see me cry."
"We've all got to cry sometimes. Just let me hold me while you do."
"Why?"
"Because I know what you're going through and I wish that someone had been there for me."
"It was Trinity wasn't it?" I dared to ask.
He didn't answer. He just held me and played with my hair. I relaxed and let my feelings just drift away.
"I'm sorry Ghost. I know you cared for her."
"It doesn't matter. She was never mine."
At that point I decided to keep my mouth firmly shut. The sun in the program started to set. I didn't want to leave at all. I wanted to stay here forever in his arms. I didn't care that he wasn't mine. I just wanted him to hold me.
I must have fallen asleep in his embrace because I awoke in my own bed. I kept wishing that this was all some horrible nightmare and I would awake and Axel would still be alive and I would still have my friends. But I know now that this is the true reality and I was stuck in it for good. I didn't know what I was looking for in the Matrix and I sure as hell didn't know what I was looking for here. I had lost everything and now I had to find something else.
It's hard when you lose the definition of what your life was. For me life meant waking up on the Vigilant next to Axel, going into the Matrix on assignments and coming home to Zion at the end of it. Now I technically didn't have a life. My mother always used to quote to me 'life is what you make it.' I used to hate it when she said that. It's only now that I realise that she was right. We define our life by the elements which compose it: boyfriend/girlfriend, work, friends, sleep, sex, hobbies, etc. But what do you do when you lose all of that? Do you try to find new things to make up your life or do you wallow in the pieces of if and try to make sense of how fucked up everything is? I wish I knew.