The Kimmatrix: Matrix Shutdown
A Fan Fiction Fusion By
Classic Cowboy and Turles
Chapter 2: Lost
"A lost inch of gold may be recovered, but never a lost inch of time."
- Chinese Proverb
110101100110100111001011011100101010110101
"Sir, correct me…if I'm wrong," Link asked Morpheus from the co-pilot's chair while his hands maneuvered the Nebuchadnezzar Two through a dark tunnel filled with debris, concrete, reinforced steel, old rusted pipes, and other chunks of building materials, "But I don't think we're in the sewer system."
"That is correct," Morpheus stated numbly, looking straight forward as the Neb Two's lights poured into the dark abyss of the tunnel.
"So…" Link assessed the situation, "With navigation systems fried, we have no way of knowing if we're moving up or down."
"That is correct," Morpheus repeated, still looking into the black nothingness beyond the glass windows.
"So we're lost somewhere between the surface and the center of the earth," Link concluded, "basically, we're screwed."
"That is correct," Morpheus repeated himself not, changing his tone at all.
"Do you have any idea how unsettling that is, sir?"
"I have a fairly good idea." Morpheus responded with a twinge of optimism in his voice.
"Good," Link shrugged as he continued to pilot the Neb Two through the darkness of the tunnel.
It had been two weeks since the Fall of Neo Zion, and the Neb Two was the absolute last ship that had made it out before the Omega Sentinels had detonated the bomb. Unfortunately, their close proximity to the blast zone had fried a good amount of the circuitry in the ship. Luckily, the ship was still operational enough to handle flight, but the situation was growing dire. Not only were the ship's navigation and communications systems fried, but they were carrying a good few hundred Zion refugees onboard. To make the situation even worse, their food supply was running short and it was getting worse by the day. Needless to say, the crew of the Neb Two felt that it was imperative that they find a way to the surface, with or without the navigational system. Even though it seemed like the most impossible and daunting task, Morpheus would be the one to say that they've faced the impossible before.
The opening of the bridge door was hailed by a metallic clank followed by the long screech that came with the poorly oiled hinges rubbing against one another. In walked Ghost and Niobe, both of them dirty, sweaty, and clothes stained with oil and whatever else had been spilled onto them.
"Sir," Ghost began his verbal report while wiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, "The broadcast system is back online but it looks like either we're not at broadcast depth or the machines are blocking access to the Matrix on this level."
"Both are possibilities," Niobe had guessed, "But we really need to get to the fleet soon… and with the Neb Two as it is…I don't know how long we'll be able to last on our own."
Niobe's and Ghost's report had started to sink in amongst Morpheus and Link, and the situation seemed to have gone from bad to worse. In the old days, Morpheus would probably have said that fate was trying to test them to see how long they would be able to survive under such conditions. After all, it was always within human nature to try and survive, even more so for the crew of the Neb Two since they had people counting on them. It would be just fine if it was just the crew, but a small fraction of Zion's population? That only seemed to compound the idea of how bad things had truly gotten.
"Oh God!" A gagged call came from the hallway.
The crew on the bridge looked through the open door and saw a gray and orange blur that looked suspiciously like Kim Stoppable dash across the main deck and over the refugees with one hand over her stomach and one covering her mouth. It was obvious she was going to be sick, the only question was whether or not she would make it to the bathroom.
"Here we go again…" Niobe sighed as she shook her head. "I'm gonna go check on her."
Niobe stepped off the bridge and went down to the main deck to the only bathroom that Kim could have gotten to in the hurry that she was in. The door to that one bathroom was open, slightly, only enough for Niobe to see the back of Kim. Her butt and legs in a position that said that she was down on her knees with her face directly into the toilet's basin. Niobe stepped up and tapped the metal door.
"Kimmie?" she called, "You okay?"
There was no answer from the bathroom, at least vocally, there was only the sound of a wet splattering, which told Niobe all she needed to know. It was soon followed by Kim's coughing and sickly moaning.
"Take that as a no," Niobe answered her own question as she reached to the metal door and gave it a light shove. She looked into the bathroom to see Kim pulling herself away from the toilet to sit on her ankles, her face just simply a mess. Her eyes tired and still having tears running down them from the force of her vomiting. She reached up and used her sleeve to wipe away the saliva and extra vomit that clung to her lips.
"I wish this stomach bug would make up its mind," Kim moaned, "Coming or going, I'm getting sick of getting sick."
No sooner than she gave that statement, her stomach turned. She placed a hand over her stomach, the other over her mouth as her cheeked pouched out, and went straight back to the toilet where she gagged and deposited what was left in her stomach into the toilet bowl. With Kim's face in the toilet, Niobe went to the nearby cupboard, took out one of the small washcloths, ran it under some cold water, and waited for Kim to finish. It took a couple of good gags before Kim was done, and as she tried to finish, Niobe sat down beside her and rubbed Kim's shoulders. She had a very good idea of what was wrong with Kim and it certainly wasn't a stomach bug.
Kim had pulled back once again, looked at Niobe through her teary eyes, saw the damp cloth and used it to wipe her face and lips.
"Feel any better?" Niobe had asked Kim sympathetically. It was oddly funny since in the past six months; Niobe had seen Kim in so many different ways. She had seen the cocky teen hero, Kim, the lonely girl who had lost her best friend to another woman, Kim, the woman in love, and now Kim the sickly. Through all those different lights, she had come to think of Kim, not only as her daughter, but also as an adopted sister.
"Yeah…" Kim had answered Niobe's question before coughing into the washcloth, "A bit…but now I'm feeling a bit hungry."
"You really are something else, Kimmie," Niobe smiled at her adopted sister/daughter before helping her up to her feet, "Come on, let's get you some food."
110101100110100111001011011100101010110101
That night the crew, along with the volunteer help of the Zion refugees, worked to try and stabilize the damaged hovership. Yet, whenever they thought that something was fixed, something else would break down. While some of the volunteers had given up, the crew of the Neb Two continued on simply because they had to. Their survival had depended upon it, and danger, it was said, focused the mind. Ideally, Morpheus wanted the ship to work just well enough to get into the Matrix and hopefully find someone to rescue them. That someone, as Morpheus wanted it to be, would have to be Ron. If he was in there, then he would feel them through the code of the Matrix and they would be saved.
Morpheus had thought about this ideal rescue in the late hours of the night on the bridge of the Neb Two. It was his turn to keep watch for Sentinels or any machines that could give away their position. He knew that he and his crew already had enough problems without these new Omega sentinels making things worse.
The metal door behind him had sent out that clanging saying that someone was fixing to enter. Morpheus turned to see who was there and saw Kim Stoppable, who seemed to have regained some color in her face after being so sick that morning.
"You okay, sir?" Kim asked, worried about her captain's condition, given what had been going on in the past few days.
Morpheus looked at the girl…no, the term 'girl' no longer applied to Kim Stoppable. She had grown up so much in the past half-year since she and Ron were freed from their dream life inside the Matrix. Kim Stoppable was no longer a girl; she was a young woman.
"I should be the one asking you that," Morpheus smiled wearily at the young woman.
Kim walked up to Morpheus' side and looked out the windows of the Neb Two's bridge.
"It'd be better if…" Kim drifted off, leaving her sentence open.
"If he was here," Morpheus completed Kim's sentence. He reached up and placed his aged hand upon Kim's shoulder, "I know, Kimberly. You two have never really been apart...at least not for this long…it must be hell for you."
Kim replied with a nod to Morpheus' sympathy, before adding, "I'd be better if I knew if he was okay."
"I'm certain that he is alive, well, and searching for us as we speak, Kimberly." Morpheus sighed as he took his hand from Kim's shoulder and brought it back to his lap.
"How can you be sure he's okay?" Kim asked. Her voice was trembling slightly, but she tried to fight it as best as she could, "Because he's the One?"
"No," Morpheus answered, shaking his head, "although that does ease some of the worry. It is because if I was in his situation and separated from Niobe, even death would fear taking me before I found her."
"You think Ron and I will make it through this?" Kim asked as she sat down in the co-pilot's seat. "It's weird; I've never been worried about stuff like this before. This isn't the first time Ron and I have been in a world saving situation, I mean, we've done it for years. Might have been in the Matrix, but it was still real to us. It always seemed real, but this time…maybe because we've both physically died…it all seems too real now…and it's frightening."
"Kimberly, I'm not going to lie to you," Morpheus boldly stated, sounding like the father that he was, "I had every expectation that, even after the truth about the prophecy came out, today I would be spoiling Neo and Trinity's children as if they were my grandchildren. I was wrong… the one thing I am certain about is that Neo and Trinity died without regret and, even in death, their love changed the course of the war. Treasure the moments you had together, but do not grieve thinking that there will be no more…because it will take ten thousand times the number of sentinels up there and the Armies of Hell besides to stop Ron from trying to get to you, and you…to him. Also, I have no doubt both of you are more than the Machine forces can handle."
There was that moment of silence that accompanies any enormous speech that an adult gives to a young person. The silence was the elder generation allowing the younger to let the advice sink in. Especially in this case, since, in Kim's mind, there was the very real possibility that she may never see Ron again. Though Morpheus knew that could not happen, not only for Kim, but quite possibly for the future of the human race. He looked over at Kim and smiled; he didn't know why he did, but he forced himself to lose his smile when he asked his next question.
"Kimberly," Morpheus began, still trying to hide his smile in anticipation of Kim's response to his question, "have you and Ronald ever discussed having a family?"
"What?" Kim quickly asked. Her expression was that of curiously surprised shock before she started stammering and blushing bright pink, "N…no…no…"
"I am merely making conversation, Kimberly," Morpheus explained, still fighting back a small giggle, seeing as how Kim's response was just what he had expected.
Kim had since calmed down slightly, "We were only married a week, the last time we were…together…and um…" Kim paused before starting back up again, "I used to swear I'd never be a mother. Once, when we were still plugged in, my dad busted his leg and he asked me to coach the Tweebs' soccer team. I was just terrible, making the kids' play as if their lives depended on it. To tell the truth, I used to hate children…with a passion."
"But now?" Morpheus asked.
"With Ron… it's different," Kim had explained, "It's…I…I've seen him with kids, Morpheus, I've seen him with your kids. Actually, during that whole coaching episode, Ron was the one that kept trying to make me see that winning wasn't everything, and the kids' just wanted to have fun. Being the Kim I was back then, I agreed that winning wasn't everything, it was just the only thing that mattered, at least to me. I know that Ron wants to be a father more than anything. I can read it in his eyes. After this is all over…I want to help him become one…and after seeing Niobe with Trin and Neo…I…kinda wanna try my luck too."
"That's good to hear," Morpheus said as he stood up from his pilot's seat, "I'm certain you and Ronald will be excellent parents."
"I can't wait 'til it happens and I get to see mom's face when I tell her she's going to be a grandma," Kim smiled dreamingly, just imagining the possibilities, "I can just see her flipping out already."
"And if I've learned anything from your father," Morpheus added to Kim's small dream, "Say the p-word and he'll long to make you a widow."
"That'd be dad alright," Kim laughed.
110101100110100111001011011100101010110101
"Oh God…" Kim moaned as she sat up in bed, her stomach turning over and over into itself as if it were dough being kneaded. She laid one hand on her stomach and the other over her mouth, "Oh Jesus…"
She already knew what was coming, so the moment she felt her stomach turn, she got right to her feet and bolted out the door. She dashed down the hall dodging wiring and pipes, and skirting the sleeping Zion refugees on her way to the bathroom. All the while Kim still managed to hold her hands over her stomach and mouth; as she gagged out the phrase that had awakened all those on board the Neb Two:
"Get the hell out of the way!" followed by the slamming of a door, and the depositing her stomach contents into the toilet basin.
This had been the typical morning routine aboard the Neb Two for the past couple of weeks, Kim getting up to vomit, and the commotion that she usually caused woke up most of the refugees along with the crew. Though that particular morning was a little different.
It was different for Captain Morpheus, who, woken by Kim's commotion, got up, making sure not to disturb his wife in the bed next to him, and headed to the bridge and try once again to tackle the problems at hand for the crew.
He was still rubbing the sand out of his eyes when he reached the bridge and was greeted with a very unusual sight. He found Link, Ghost, and his daughter, Trinity, standing around and giggling to themselves like Junior High School kids desperately trying to keep straight faces while listening to the lectures in sex ed class. Morpheus had then awakened completely when his eyes had met this sight and he went into his captain mode (with a hint of his fatherly behavior mixed in for Trinity) as he looked at his crew members.
"I do not know what you two have done to my daughter," Morpheus had stared down both Ghost and Link, "But I am well aware that it is, more than likely, not at all good. If so, it will lead you to scrubbing the toilet after Kimberly is finished with it."
Even under the prospects of such punishments, Ghost and Link still had managed to keep the grins on their faces.
"So you better tell me what you have done," Morpheus stated his ultimatum, but oddly enough under such conditions he was still able to keep his calm philosopher's tone about him, "Before I make you two do it without a towel or brush."
"We did nothin', Cap'n," Link chuckled, "Trin here did everything."
"And what exactly is 'everything', darling daughter?" Morpheus said, turning his attention to Trinity, who was carrying that same smug look that her mother would have when she knew that something really good had happened.
"I fixed it," Trinity had reported to her father as if it was some kind of prize that had meant the entire world to her. She stepped over to the console that sat between the pilot's and co-pilot's seat. She reached out and pressed a button, and from the console came a holographic projection of the surrounding area. It sat there in blue holographic wire frame, spinning around, and zooming out to plot its course in a yellow line through the pipes above them.
Morpheus came closer to the console seeing how it was working as if it had been just installed. He kept darting his vision from his smug, smiling daughter to the operational navigation system. He was just trying to grasp the reality of it; that his daughter, who was no older than twelve, had done in one night what his crew couldn't do in two weeks. That was when he felt a great swelling of pride in his heart as he turned around and went straight to the door of the bridge."
"NIOBE!" He called out to his wife.
It was less than half a minute before Niobe came out from the corridor carrying Kim Stoppable in tow, one arm over her neck and her other arm around her waist. Kim was looking as pale as the white paste that they'd always eaten, and looking so weak that a puff of air from someone's lips could knock her over.
Morpheus looked at his wife and stated proudly, "Look at what my daughter has done!" His pride swelling to such a crescendo that he was giving Trinity a tight, nearly bone crushing, hug. "We'll be able to contact the others through the Matrix in less than four hours."
Niobe had looked to her husband, to the fixed navigation console, and then to her daughter whom she developed a thin smile at. She then looked at her husband remembering what he said, praising "his" daughter. She then grew a slightly peeved look at him.
"Your daughter my ass…" She said to Morpheus sarcastically, "I carried her, so she's mine. You wanted a son…and you got him…she's my daughter."
"How about I be both yours and daddy's daughter?" Trinity had asked, before stating with a captain's determination, "Let's go find Ronnie so Kim can stop sulking all the time."
"You hear that, Kim?" Link asked, smiling away in the joy that they would finally be getting somewhere while he pulled Kim into a hug, "We're gonna get you back to your husband quick, fast, and in a hurry."
"Yeah…that's great…" Kim moaned as she swayed back and forth with her hand on her stomach. She looked extraordinarily pale, even with this supposed stomach bug she had. She then looked up at Link she moaned, "Link…let me go before I…"
It was too late for Link. He didn't have a quick enough reaction time to get away from Kim when it happened. He did let go of her, but was less than a foot away when Kim lunged forward, mouth open and the white paste came up her throat and onto Link's shirt.
Only half a minute later, Trinity had something to say about the disgusting event.
"At least we know she ate," she shrugged.
"Yes," Link agreed, rather disgusted, "And now it's on me….now I'm going to get…get cleaned up…"
110101100110100111001011011100101010110101
Inside the Matrix, the crew of the Mad Dog was in New York City at Central Park, right at the very statue of Alice silently frozen and talking philosophically with the caterpillar perched on his mushroom and smoking the hookah. A few feet away from the statue of Alice and the Caterpillar, Bonnie "Tres" Rockwaller looked up to see Ron coming down for the landing like a bird dressed in a duster.
"Any luck?" She asked Ron, hoping that he would deliver good news that someone was found.
"No sign of the Oracle anywhere," Ron had reported, his tension and worrying showing through his voice, "And Wade isn't picking up the Kimmunicator's signal either and I figured he could have at least told me where the Oracle is."
"What'd he say when you asked?" Steve "Kid" Barkin asked of Ron.
"He told me that his mother is a very unusual woman," Ron shrugged, "Though…I don't think that Smith has her."
"Why'd you say that?" Brick "Tater Salad" Flagg inquired.
"Smith had said some programs were still in on the system…" Ron repeated the one line in the conversation, "And I'm pretty sure that the Oracle broke from the main system around Neo's time."
"Where could she be?" Bonnie had asked in a rhetorical sarcasm.
"That's what's buggin' me," Ron answered as he shook his head, "I figured she'd show up considering what's been going on outside…but…it's like…"
"Like what?" Bonnie asked as she stepped closer to Ron, placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.
"It's like…" Ron tried to answer, but had trouble grasping the right phrase, "Like…she's avoiding me…"
"We have to keep trying," Bonnie told Ron, trying her best to be supportive even though she seemed to be the least likely person to even be remotely supportive. She then took her hand off of Ron's shoulder, which drooped with his posture in his despair coming to meet with the growing feeling of hopelessness.
Then something hit Ron like a bolt of lightning that had spread through every nerve in his body. His posture had straightened right up until he looked as stiff as a flag pole. At first he turned his head, which was followed by his upper body and then the rest followed behind.
The crew of the Mad Dog had seen it all happen, each of them had the same question, but only Barkin had asked it.
"What is it, Neo?" He asked.
Ron didn't hear Barkin's question; he felt himself stretching out with his new senses like the fingers of a hand trying to reach a high shelf. He continued to stretch as far as he could. He knew that something had changed in the code of the Matrix. It might have been another ship's crew or it might not have, but he had to know. His senses took his vision all the way to the other side of New York City, to a pair of green eyes…a red coat…and red hair…
"KP!" Ron shouted as he quickly squatted down, making the stone and asphalt beneath him ripple like loose pancake batter and he rocketed up to the sky like a cruise missile covered in black.
110101100110100111001011011100101010110101
On the other side of New York City, Morpheus and the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar Two stepped out into the old and dingy alleyway in a deserted and dilapidated part of the city. It had only been a minute or so since they had entered the Matrix, and with a nervous hand and his heart in his throat, Morpheus pulled out his cell phone.
"Let's hope there's someone out there," Morpheus thought to himself; it wasn't exactly something he wanted to say aloud since the crew was edgy enough as it was.
The others listened as Morpheus waited for someone on the other end to pick up.
"Sparks!" Morpheus shouted out with such joy and happiness that it felt as if he was about to break out a verse of Hallelujah Chorus, "You have no idea how wonderful it is to hear from you…the Neb Two is heavily damaged, but we made it this far, where's Captain Barkin?...Alright…so they're on their way…"
Morpheus turned to Kim and smiled in a way that made Kim look at him rather confused.
"And one in particular is moving quicker, yes…" Morpheus continued the conversation, "Yes, I am well aware that his abilities are murder on the Mad Dog's code scanner…very well…we'll be waiting."
Morpheus closed his cell phone and placed it back in his pocket, signaling for Ghost and Niobe to step away from Kim. Thankfully Kim wasn't looking at them; she was leaning against the nearby brick wall of the building and watching the sky. Perhaps, she still felt a little sick from that morning or perhaps she was just trying to recover from it. As she leaned against the wall, she looked down and saw that everyone had backed away from her, but before she could even ask why, a sonic boom echoed in the skies above.
Instinctively, the crew of the Neb Two looked up to where the sound was coming from. Kim looked up to the sky and watched as, within a matter of seconds, a black dot in the sky had rocketed down to the ground where Kim stood. Her first thought was that it was going to crash into her, but, to her surprise, the thing had embraced her. It all happened so fast to Kim, she had closed her eyes and was waiting for the impact when the pair of arms had wrapped around her and dragged her off into the stratosphere. The collision had knocked some of the wind out of her lungs, but as she tried to breathe, instead of air, she felt a pair of warm lips pressing against hers. She would recognize that kiss anywhere; she wrapped her arms and even her legs around the one and only person she had loved more than ever. When she returned Ron's kiss, it felt as if her lips were on fire against his, but she didn't care, for if Ron was a fire, she would gladly burn in his flames.
The crew of the Neb Two watched as Ron took Kim into the air, kissing her as he went, and then came floating back down to hover a few inches off the ground as they continued the impromptu make-out session, until Morpheus had broken it up.
"Ahem!" He cleared his throat, hoping to gain their attention.
Kim and Ron broke the kiss and looked at their friends with red faces of their embarrassment. Without making a small apology, Kim and Ron came down to the ground from their literal cloud nine.
"I see you made it out in one piece, Ronald," Morpheus said to Ron as his and Kim's feet touched the ground. Though once they got to the ground, the two of them couldn't keep their hands or their lips off of each other. Then again, who could blame them? Only married for a week and then separated for two. They started to hug and kiss once again.
"That's great to know," Morpheus spoke sarcastically as the newlyweds continued to make out, "We made it out fine too."
Down the alleyway, the Neb Two crew heard the sound of a car engine coming closer, and, sure enough, Morpheus smiled seeing the black sedan that belonged to the crew of the Mad Dog. The sedan's doors opened and, in unison, came the members of the crew; there was Brick "Tater Salad" Flagg, Bonnie "Tres" Rockwaller, and Captain Steve "Kid" Barkin. They came down the alleyway, smiling away at the Neb Two crew. At least most of them were smiling. Bonnie was trying to avoid looking at Kim and Ron, and not in the usual, angry-jealous way that she used to have back in their high school days. It was just that the two of them were so happy to be with one another and the happiness in those two tore at her heart like some great, mythological beast.
"Great to see everyone from your group made it out in one piece, Morpheus," Barkin nodded at Morpheus and the rest of his crew.
"If my ship was in better shape, it would have been a little more bearable," Morpheus replied, looking over at the Sedan and expecting Napster and Kazaa Possible to come out of the car and down the alley to meet with them. Morpheus went numb from the inside out as his heart sank to the ground. Napster and Kazaa Possible did not come out of the car, nor did they come down the alleyway. They were nowhere to be found.
"Hey," Kim called the attention of the Mad Dog crew, "Where's my mom and dad? Are they back on the Mad Dog? They weren't hurt were they?"
The sound of that question made the Mad Dog crew go deathly quiet. They knew the truth, but it would be too terrible to bear or to tell, and so that responsibility fell onto the shoulders of Kim's husband, Ron "Neo" Stoppable.
"KP?" Ron asked as he took his wife's hand into his own, giving it a gentle squeeze, his voice stammering as the horrible memory replayed in his head over and over like a bad nightmare that refused to go away, "Let's…let's go…for a little walk, okay?"
Ron led Kim down the street, noticing a bus bench advertising the anti-depressant Zoloft on its back. He smiled ruefully at the coincidence. 'Fitting.', he thought.
"Ron, tell me," Kim commanded as she glared at her husband, her mind running through what could have happened to her parents, "Where are my parents?"
Ron reached up and pulled off his sunglasses with a deep sigh. He looked to his wife, with whom he had only just reunited a few minutes previous and felt how unfair life was when he knew what news had had to deliver.
"KP…" Ron said to his wife as he placed his hands on her shoulders, "You might…wanna sit down…."
To be continued…