The Underground
Story Form By Panda (altered)
Originally by Nate Docken
Chapter 1: Negotiation
A man walked through an empty wide hallway with Japanese style sliding doors. The bokens hitting each other echoed through the hallway, getting louder as he got closer to his destination. He stopped where the bokens were the loudest and pulled the door aside.
Phoenix, dressed in white, faced his opponent who was dressed in black, Koe. They both turned their heads, still in position to fight.
"You two, everyone's here." said the man. "Let's get this over with."
About twenty people crowded around a metal oval table, most standing, some sitting. The room wasn't small, but it was quite ratty looking and dusty. There were narrow racks of old torn clothes and stacked boxed around the room.
"Okay... let this meeting of the Underground captains commence." said Koe, who was sitting in where everyone could see him. "The date is..." he glanced at his watch. "The fifth of May, of the year two-thousand. If anyone has any apologies of why they couldn't attend the last meeting, blah blah blah, you all know what I'm going to say. And for the love of god! We're inside! Take those shades off!"
Everyone looked at each other confused for a moment before taking them off.
"Thank you..." he took a deep breath. "Okay, now, does anyone have anything to kick off this meeting before item one on the list?"
"Yes." said Phoenix. Everyone turned their heads towards him. It hadn't been too long since Apollo had been resurrected. Some whispered to each other, Phoenix completely ignoring it. Kalia watched him from the side of the doorway. Her hand was in her giant grey hoodie pocket, clutching what kept her comfortable. Though she rarely used that gun, she wasn't there to kill anyone. She thought back to the time of Apollo's death.
Flashback
At the time, she was sitting in a park feeding birds that flocked around her. She was resting peacefully, thinking about recent happenings.
A phone ringing. It was her phone, how silly. She answered.
"Kalia!" it was Koe.
"What? What's wrong?" she asked.
"Apollo's in danger," he said. "I was talking to him on the phone when it disconnected... it wasn't clear what he said but I definitely heard an Agent."
"What?..." she whispered.
"You're the closest to him!" he paused. "...and I know you'd do anything to protect him, so go. He told me he was on the edge of the suburbs, that's several blocks South of the park you're at."
Kalia didn't reply.
"Be careful." he said and hung up, knowing she would do what she had to do.
She turned towards the hills of houses South of the park. She had a grim feeling about it, but ran. Ran as fast as she could.
"Representative to Sinis." Phoenix continued. Kalia snapped out from daydreaming. "I would like to announce that the Prophets are gaining more and more followers. If we are to continue to exist, we need to spread out, find more people, and begin encountering these Prophets before our organization is laid to waste."
"I agree." Koe nodded. "I have heard from Sinis that a plan is being made to that cause, however for the present time. We need to strike harder and faster. And that plan, in part, will be revealed to you all today." he turned to Kalia. "Kalia, please show our guests in."
She stepped out of the room. She felt slightly nervous about bringing inside the guests. Not only for who they were but for what the others would think. She thought they might think she brought them, but she was confident in Koe's plans.
She returned back into the room, followed by two Agents. Upon seeing the Agents, everyone in the room except Koe, jumped up or took a step back and pointed their guns at the two. Kalia, frightened since she was in front of the Agents, covered herself with her gigantic hoodie sleeves and crouched down trembling. The Agents, however, did not move or react.
"Everyone, calm down!" Koe yelled upon seeing Kalia.
"Koe! Why have you led Agents to this area?" Phoenix growled. "This is outrageous!"
"Our guests, Agents McAfee and Norton are here at the request of our leader, Sinis." he said. "Now if you would all holster your weapons for the present moment and please chill out." he motioned the two to two reserved chairs at the table. "Gentlemen, please, have a seat."
The Underground seemed restless and anxious. The two Agents walked past Kalia, who was still crouched down, and sat down stiffly on the chairs. Koe looked around, pleased.
"Good," he knitted his hands together on the table. "That's a start. Now for the love of god, guys! We're freaking, inside! Take off the shades! Seriously, everyone: glasses off!" he banged the table, making half the room jump.
The remaining people, including the Agents, hesitantly took off their sunglasses.
Koe shook his head. "What is it with these people and their sunglasses?" he asked himself under his breath.
"Now Koe..." someone from the back of the room said. "Would you please tell us why there are two Agents sitting blatantly in our midst and also to the reason of why we have not all been killed yet?"
"Yes, please." said Agent Norton with a mocking smile, also knitting his fingers on the table. "Enlighten us."
The other in the room seemed to mutter agreeing.
"I would be more than happy to." Koe began. "While we, the Underground, disapprove of the actions and control of the Agents, Sinis and I both realize that the only reason they exist is to...solve...the problems that come up in the Matrix; rogue programs and freed minds. If the Prophets didn't exist, neither would the Agents, or at least on an active level in our lives." he glanced at the Agents. "And while we dislike the Agent's power and presence, we despise the prophets even more; they're freeing minds to fight the system that sustains the human race, freeing minds to fight a war against a vastly superior machine race that we have no hope of winning.
"So our position—Agents, pay attention now—is that we, the members of the Underground, are enlightened minds, as opposed to a freed mind. We are still plugged into the matrix, but we know the secrets of the real world's existence, and therefore, we also have some control of what some might consider 'supernatural powers' over what we perceive as reality. With mental training, we can see that the matrix is not really real, and therefore can use the same expanded abilities of speed, force, dexterity, etc. that trained Prophets have control over. The big difference, though, is that once the Prophets are destroyed completely, both within the matrix and out, we will submit to the Matrix and have our minds wiped. We, too, think that we are acting in the best interest of all of humanity. But once humanity is safely back in the… limbs of the machines, we will go back to our humble places and dream the dreams you give us.
"So," said Agent McAfee. "You are proposing... what, exactly?"
"A truce, of sorts." said Koe. "You don't attack us, we don't attack you. We each know the other's ideology and purposes. You know of our intentions to destroy Neo and Morpheus and the other prophets and help return the Matrix to harmony. And in return for helping you and the Matrix, when all is said and done, we go back to our old lives, unknowing of the real world."
The Underground chatted quietly amongst each other, some looking confused and some obviously liking the plan like Phoenix. The Agents looked at each other briefly, sharing a silent psychic conversation and communing with the Matrix control.
"It is agreed." said Agent Norton. "But.. how do we know this... 'Enlightened Mind' concept will never happen again?"
"I cannot guarantee that something like this will never happen again... hell, I don't even know how it happened in the first place." he chuckled. "But here we are. If it should happen again, you have my deepest condolences and I hope you work something out at that point in time." he picked up his papers and straitened them. "I am glad to hear of this truce, and if no one has anything else, I would consider this meeting adjourned so I may return back to Sinis and deliver this freakin' lovely report!" he slammed a big folder filled with paper on the table.
"I have one question about this whole deal." said Phoenix. Everyone turned to him again. "Will we actually be working work the Agents... or it this just a truce between our two factions?"
Everyone, including the Agents, turned to Koe.
"We'll see how things develop." he replied.
The whole room was silent for a moment.
"Well then, Gentlemen..." Koe suddenly said. "Thank you for coming, and I look forward to what the future brings."
The Agents nodded stiffly. The Agents stood up and headed towards the door, but Agent Norton stopped next to Phoenix momentarily.
"I remember you." he said to Phoenix, and left, followed by the chattering Underground. Phoenix stayed behind, turning his head towards Koe. Although he was more content with the deal, he was still slightly confused and had a question for Koe. Kalia walked slowly behind the crowd, seeking for a single glance from him. He hadn't even looked at her since he came back to life that day... Disappointingly, she got none.
She walked outside the door, but hid to the side to listen in.
When everyone was gone, Phoenix had still continued to stare at Koe, obviously wanting his attention. "Why was I not told of this?" he asked.
"Sinis wanted to see how you would react," he chuckled. "Not because he doesn't trust you, but he thinks that not everyone needs to know everything. Even I don't know all of this plans." he saw him slightly irritated. "...And I can tell that you are discontented with this development. I can offer nothing else other than asking you to relax... Y'know, I hate being with you when you were like this, either Apollo or Phoenix.
Phoenix suddenly pushed a chair aside across the room. He spun around and headed towards the doorway.
"Oh, and Phoenix?" said Koe, hoping to stop him momentarily. He didn't turn around, but he did stop. "You be careful out there."
He then turned around, grinning, then left. He only saw Kalia from the corner of his eye but didn't look at her. She stood frozen, not expecting him to come out so soon. She felt even worse from the fact that she was right next to him and he didn't notice her. She turned the other direction and left, feeling miserable.
That woman. he thought as he walked away silently. He did notice she was around him most of the time, but he didn't care. His main goal in life was to eliminate the Prophets, even if it meant shutting other unimportant but curious things out. When he got out of the building, he stopped at the door. He looked up at the second floor where the meeting had been held, then walked away.
Koe leaned back in his chair and set his feet on the table, his hands knit in his lap. He looked pleased with himself.
"Did you get all of that, spying prophet?" he said, pulling his gun out and pointing it towards the shadows. As he fired a few shots, there was a excrutiated scream and a figure ran out of the room. Koe grabbed his sword from the table and chased after the infiltrator.
He chased the person all the way downstairs into the back. They mazed through alleyways until they came to a stop at an empty area surrounded by trees and a brick wall. As he emerged from the bushes, a man stood in the middle of the area with a pistol. When he heard it fire, he cut the bullet in half, deflecting it and all other bullets.
His face grinned in amusement as he ran out of bullets. "Looks like I may have underestimated the Underground by a bit." he said, tossing aside the gun.
TBC