Beginning Note/
---
There wasn't a way of telling exactly when the madness began. The room offered none but artificial light, and she was either in the middle of a very large and quiet building or there were sound proofed walls that boxed her in. It must have been several hours after she finished eating the meager meal she was provided. Three rebels walked in, and without explanation, grabbed her up and escorted her, blind folded, to a car of some sort and drove for another hour or so. She sat in silence and darkness and thought of exactly nothing. Not the emptiness in her stomach or the sense of loss that had imprinted itself into her mind. Defeat was easier to accept than hope when you were alone and weak. She sat placidly, feeling the bumps that the car drove over and swaying softly with the motion. It was sort of like a ballad that was meant to drift one off slowly to sleep. After dozing quietly, she was stirred and taken into another building and left for the rest of the night with another plate of food, this time a sort of mush with bread and water. In all of that time, her thoughts never once turned to the twins.
She decided very firmly, just before she fell asleep for what she thought was the night, that if she didn't think about the twins anymore, she could forget the last five and a half years of her life. Her memories would hazily disappear and she would be left in blissful ignorance. This was the thought that comforted her as she fell into sleep.
Just as Philo had promised, she woke Yossi early in the morning to finish their conversation. With a tap of her boot to Yossi's arm, Philo peered down at the slowly waking girl. Blurrily, Yossi peered up at the leather-clad rebel, who's expression resembled a smug cat. The woman crouched down, her face very near Yossi, who leaned away, intending to escape the rebel's encroachment. However Philo caught Yossi behind the neck and pulled her close till she forcefully pressed her lips to Yossi's. Her eyes went wide, and when Philo snapped back up into a standing position, Yossi quickly wiped at the cherry red lipstick smeared upon her lips.
"You may not understand this," Philo said as she turned away, leaving Yossi to recuperate, "but I believe that kiss was meant for my husband," she looked over her shoulder with a grin, her hair half-obscuring her face. "You see," she said, turning and gracefully walking around Yossi, "you saw my husband die, you were part of the reason why he is..no longer amoung the living." Yossi turned, still sitting on the floor, which she noticed was filthy. "So part of him, part of his..data, is inside of you," she said this with a grand gesture, as if she were realizing some profound truth. Yossi watched her warily, her arm still touching her lips from where she had wiped at the lipstick.
Philo whipped around, her long hair flying out behind her, "That, my dear child, is one small reason why you are still alive," she held up a long, thin finger to mark the number one. "But the main reason why you are here is because you, so cleverly endowed you are, will hack the Matrix for us. That is why we are not able to awaken you to the real world. We wouldn't want to risk you losing the connection, you see?"
Yossi's expression was resentful as she watched Philo speak, which was more like preaching as she made coloful gestures with her hands. "I don't want to go to the real world," she glared at Philo as she spoke.
"Well you won't have to worry about that now will you?" she walked up to Yossi then and crouched once again, Yossi began to scramble back, but Philo grabbed her thigh, and once again at the back of her neck. She smiled wickedly, then used her hand that had grabbed Yossi's thigh to daintly clean a small bit of her smeared lipstick off. "It'll be quite a while before you can fulfull your expectations. Zion, afterall, is counting on you."
Yossi inched away then, Philo's intense emotions were like a terrible weight pressing against her. They must have been aiming for the same date that the Twins had scheduled. Dread ran like ice through her body, it was still a year away. Philo must have seen the realization in Yossi's eyes, for she grinned wickedly. She could feel the beginnings of panic taking away her breath. Philo was still too close, bile was crawling up her throat. All of this brought back the memories from when this whole mess began, only quite the opposite. It wasn't the rebels that were dead, it was the twins. Irony could be so cruel sometimes. Her vision was fogged by misty tears, but crying was one thing she didn't care for.
A split second decision and she landed a fist in the middle of Philo's cheek. For a moment the rebel was paralized by utter suprise, Yossi turned and scrambled to her feet, she sprinted for the door, but Philo lunged and, with a vice-like grip, latched to Yossi's ankle. The girl was yanked from her feet, but she didn't give up. She kicked again and again at the rebels pristine face, breaking her nose, blood spurted everywhere. She wouldn't release Yossi's ankle, however, even after she turned and wailed upon her head. The door opened quickly after and three others in black and even a little red, ran to Philo's aid. Yossi grabbed a handful of the pure blonde hair as she was wretched up, halfway pulling the rebel up with her. Philo groaned till the others pried her fingers from her hair, which was speckled with the blood from Yossi's fist. More of the crimson liquid ran down the rebels face from her nose, she wiped at it as she stalked from the room, tossing the command for the others to withhold Yossi's meals for the day.
"Heh, you're going to be in some heat tomorrow, little lady," the only female out of the three walked in front of her, the others still holding her tightly by her arms, keeping her held up to her toes. They were all much taller than she, so she peered up at the rebel that spoke to her. "You may be unharmed today, but Philo will make sure that doesn't last," the woman grinned like a morbid looking cat. It didn't have the same affect as when the twins made the similiar expression. The rebel grabbed Yossi by her chin, squishing her lips together, "it's a shame your so cute, it's not going to last till the end of the year," she smirked crookedly, making her seem incredibly malicous.
Roughly releasing Yossi, the rebel swiftly stalked from the room, followed by the others, after they dropped Yossi, who fell to the ground in a shivering heap.
---
Eight months passed with an agonizing pace. Philo and Ouija, which was the only other rebel who ever spoke to Yossi, ensured that her stay with them was a malevolent experience. She was quickly taught that her body was a fragile thing indeed and that they owned her in every way possible. Their intentions were never clear when they payed her a visit. Humiliation was their favored tactic.
During her time thus far, she was moved almost every night to a new location. The drive from one place to another was usually the only time harassment was withheld when she was in the company of her watchers. Bound and blindfolded, she enjoyed the ride as much as she could. She was sure the reason they moved her was for the same reason the twins traveled so often. Agents were a pesky nuisance, and probably more dangerous for the rebels than they were for the twins, who had a decisive advantage.
Yossi, who sat in the back seat of a car that smelled strongly of leather, furrowed her eyebrows. She managed to keep the thought of the twins banished from her mind for most of the time. She shook her head as if to send the thought fleeing, when the car was suddenly jolted to one side. Yossi fell against the body of the rebel, who fell against the cardoor. She felt the vehicle gain speed quickly, but was rammed into again.
Wind rushed into the car as a window was rolled down and a spray of bullets could be heard. Yossi crawled down onto the small space between the front seats and the back. Another window was rolled down and another gun fired at their assailent. She pressed herself as far down as she could, hoping to escape any stray bullets. However, the urge to see who their attackers were was almost unbareable. Her stomach clenced at the thought that maybe it was the twins. She squeezed her eyes tightly, knowing that she could get the blindfold off now since everybody was busy.
The surprised grunt of a rebel startled her, even more so when the warm spray of blood splattered her. Rubbing her head against the seat, the blindfold came free and she cautiously sat up. The rebel fartherest from the gunners was halfway out of the window, still targetting the other car. As she expected, the other was laying across the seat, bleeding profusely from a wound in his chest. She was certain that if she looked at it just right, she'd be able to see the seat on the other side of him through the large, meaty hole. Taking the chance that the attackers were targetting the other rebel, she rose a tiny bit till she could see just above the door.
Agents, two of them, the passenger side one was holding a mean-looking gun. Yossi ducked in time for several rounds of bullets to bust through the glass. The rebel behind her, however, was right in their way, and his legs were quickly spouting blood that coated Yossi's back. The warmth of it quickly seeped uncomfortably to her skin. She gritted her teeth and pushed herself as low as she could to the car floor. In the moment the rebel took to check out his leg, climbing back into the car, he was shot in the side several times, turning his organs into mush.
The car jerked to the side again as the agents rammed them. The driver was now their target since the offending rebels in the back seat were no longer inhibiting them. They were continuesly gaining and losing speed as they swerved through traffic, the driver was dodging pedestrians as well as bullets. The rebel on the passenger side reached over Yossi to grab a gun dropped by his fellows. As he was climbing through his window, however, he was shot perfectly betweent he eyes before he could even aim. The gun flew out of his hand as he sailed backwards, falling from the car and tumbling to a stop on the side of the road.
Yet again the Agents rammed the car, the sound of metal turned to tin foil was an uncomfortable noise. Yossi could see that the door she was facing was folded in several different places. It was certain to never be opened again. Yossi was bounced between the seats again, the agents were more violently pounding into the car, and this time it swerved to the sidewalk, hit the lone standing fire hydrent and was vaulted into the air. Yossi's breath caught in her lungs, she thought it was strange that she was falling to the roof. The car did a small turn and landed on it's back, Yossi could barely hear the tires of the agents squeel to a halt. She fell unconscience then.
Sadly, however, she woke sooner than she'd have liked. The driver was dead, and a large chunk of the car had been ripped open to gain acess to Yossi. She was now laying in a heap at the feet of the agents, drowsily coming back awake. The light of the sun was blinding, surely she had suffered a concusion. Parts of her body felt on fire and sticky wet at the same time. A few broken bones at the least, and the position she was laying in made one of her legs fall numb. She knew that if she moved it, it would hurt like hell, though.
"Real name.."
"Lise Jones..," as one began the sentence, the other finished. Yossi opened her eyes, confused. That wasn't her name. Her brows furrowed as she peered at the cracks in the concrete.
"Real name.."
"Unknown."
Yossi turned her head slowly, wincing as pain spiked through her body, till she could see two agents standing over her, both looking in opposite directions off to the horizon it seemed. She wasn't as afraid as she thought she would have been. At the feet and mercy of two agents, creatures that she had ran from for several years now, she couldn't feel the fright she had once before, only a dull thobbing at the back of her head, she was certain, however, that came from the car crash she had just endured.
"Terminate?" came the low drolling voice of one of the agents as Yossi closed her eyes.
"She is to remain alive, for the time being."
Yossi moaned aloud, both Agents peered down at her with a blank expression that she found was common among their kind. She wanted to stand so badly now, being in the company of Agents was most likely worse than the presence of the rebels. She didn't want to lay down and wait for them to torture her. She tried to move the arm she was laying on out from beneath her. An intense fire was roiling beneath the skin of both arms and across her shoulder blades as she moved into a push-up position. The Agents seemed unconcerned as she attempted this. Her eyes were squeezed tightly as fireworks exploded in her darkness. Sweat beaded her skin, and when she opened her eyes, her vision was black on the far side of her view.
Down the street from Yossi and the Agents, two speeding streetbikes were roaring towards them. Yossi could hear the squeeling engines, yet they were coming from behind her, and she didn't want to try and look. The Agents turned to the menacing couple coming towards them and aimed their large handguns, firing several rounds. The shells fell to the ground, making a tinkling sound as several rolled into Yossi's vision.
Ouija and Philo weaved from side to side, dodging the bullets of the Agents. Both pulled out their own sub-machine guns and returned fire. The Agents dodged them all with ease, and as the rebels roared closer, they walked in different directions, one crossed the street as the other passed Yossi, leaving her where she lay. The curb to the sidewalk was near her, but she still felt all too vulnerable on the street. The sound of the motorcycles was becoming louder, drowning out even her own voice in her mind. The louder the engines roared, the faster Yossi felt panic overcoming her. As she struggled to the side of the street, she was trembling horribly. Fear and pain numbed her body as she finally rolled onto the curb, and not long after Ouija and Philo came roaring past.
They were finally within her field of vision, Yossi watched as both streetbikes squealed, making a hairpin turn and roaring back down on the Agents. One had to tumble out of the way as Philo weaved around, shooting off a couple bullets, then speeding back down the street, only to turn and come at him again. Ouija was ahead and on the side of the street Yossi had come to rest upon. Though she was wearing a helmet, Yossi could see her shining red hair, barely sticking out from under the helmet.
Frustration soon brought tear's to the girl's eyes. This was probably going to be the only chance Yossi would ever have at a perfect escape, but her body had failed her. Such a perfectly sunny morning, with birds singing and the air fresh, and Yossi was lying, bloody and bruised, on the side of the road as gunfire rattled her teeth, and two screaming engines roared on either side of her. Peering out of the side of her gaze, Yossi could see that Philo had manuevered the Agent far from the road. She gunned the engine and tore down the road till Yossi felt that she would have to move or be hit by the speeding motorcycle. However, Philo skid to a halt, hopped from the bike and pulled Yossi to her feet.
With a scream of protest, Yossi did her best escape Philo's grip.
"I'm either going to put you on the bike or give you something to really scream about, girl, it's your choice, but you had better make it quick," Philo said before turning to see the Agent sprinting for them and firing her gun, causing the Agent to leap, tumble, and run again. Yossi gave up and allowed Philo to pull her on behind her. In the process, Yossi's gaze nearly went completely black, she screamed and cried but it didn't make it hurt any less, and when she was finally wrapping her sore arms around Philo's abdomen, she realized there was a strange lump on the side of her thigh, along with plenty of blood that was seeping through the thin pale gray fabric. It was ominous, and she couldn't stand to look at the oddity in more, thus squeezing her eyes closed as Philo throttled the bike and raced down the street. The ride was by no mean smooth, but Yossi forced herself to cling to Philo's back.
---
Waking alone in a cold, dark room can be an unsettling experience. A thin blanket covered her as she lay on small cot. Yossi could feel an icy wall to one side, but she didn't want to explore her surroundings any further. She was horridly sore and the next thing she noticed was that she couldn't move her legs. One of them seemed to be tightly casted from her upper thigh to her ankle, and the other was tightly wrapped in an uncomfortable, itchy material. Yossi sighed deeply and closed her eyes, though there was no different in the matter of light whether they were opened or shut. She had never grown used to waking in such a dark and lonely place in the seven months that she had been the rebels prisoner.
Her darkness, however was soon dissolved as a bright light illuminated a section of the room when the only door was opened. Yossi squinted against the brightness, but didn't sit up. Philo sashayed up to Yossi's cot, but she didn't see the rebels face through the thick shadow. She had an idea, though, that it wasn't a kindly expression dwelling there.
"Zion has sent you it's good wishes that you get well soon," Yossi could imagine the expression that went with the rebels sarcastic tone. "You were beaten pretty badly in that accident, I hope you know that you alone survived where my four comrads had died. You're lucky," Philo seemed to spit acid with her last comment. "I'm sure you can heal it quickly, though.." As Philo said this, Yossi's mind immediatly went to thoughts of the Twins, how they had healed themselves on a few occasions. She shook her head to rid herself of the thought, for whatever good it would do.
"There is only five more months till you fulfill your duty, Zion won't forget you," Philo's tone of voice only seemed to be getting more sarcastic. Yossi was curious what had put her on edge this evening as she watched the shadow where Philo's face must have been shooting daggers at her. The rebel surprised Yossi when she sank to sit on the edge of the cot. With her new position, Yossi could see Philo's face more clearly with the yellow light from the open door.
"But you don't deserve their condolences..You will get better, you will suffer, and then we'll kill you. I will leave your meat out for the Agents."
Yossi sank back into the pillow as far as she could as the rebel spoke. Philo had inched closer and closer, her intensity was an unbareable warmth, like she was speaking with a burning fire in her throat that seeped out and burnt her very skin. She closed her eyes tightly and then felt Philo's weight lift from the cot. Yossi heard the door closing, and only then did she peak out into the darkness, though she knew she wouldn't be able to see anything. She was alone, and relieved, and then fell asleep once again to troubled dreams.
---
A day after they stopped bandaging her wounds, Philo's words truly sank in. It had taken three months for the cast to come off. The scars were pink and puffy, but she no longer hobbled around with her cast, wincing and gritting her teeth against the frustration and pain. Once all the healing was over, Philo and Ouija were back in full force. Several nights a week the two rebels tested out various devices that could be seen as either pain or pleasureful, depending on your view of things. For Yossi, though, those nights were nothing but torture. There were now three months left to endure, but already Yossi only wished for death. She believed firmly that that was her only escape. As nights trudged onwards with a sense of unbareable monotony, Yossi took refuge deep inside herself.
And then, a break in the darkness. An unseasonally chilly spring morning left Yossi squirming on the frigid leather in the backseat of a car. Not long ago they stopped taking the time to blindfold her, and Yossi never realized that this worked well in her favor this morning. She was still bound tightly as usual, but she had an advantage now. Yossi was peering forelornly out of the window when this thought struck her, and as she thought back to all of the times they had been transferring her in this manner, she realized many of their mistakes. It was simply just that she had given up her hope of escaping. She could have been free by now. Peering curiously around, she watched as the rebels beside her peered out the windows as well, yawning in their apparent sleeplessness. She had never taken the rebels that transported her into consideration and she cursed herself for not taking advantage of the situation sooner.
But how to do so? She decided, as they were pulling up to a new building in the middle of nowhere, that she would just have to wing it. The rebels did just as they usually do, all exited the car and followed suite, sliding over and stepping out. Before the rebel closest could lead her to the building by her elbow, she twisted away from his grasp and landed her heel right on his shoulder. He crumpled to his knees. Surprisingly, it took a couple seconds for the other to react, just as it took a couple seconds for her to free herself from the loosely tied ropes. It seemed that everyone had become careless over the months.
A few well aimed fists took out another rebel as the first got to his feet warily. Two of the others pulled their guns. Yossi dodged the first bullet and circled around one of them, quickly disarming him as she moved to use him as a shield. Her face was a mask of concentration. She didn't want this morning to go down in flames. She was happy to realize that the rebel she had hostage was also the driver. She fished his keys from his pocket and gunned down the nearest rebel. She would have to kill them all. As the first rebel dead fell to the ground, the rest made a run for cover, none of them made it. The rebel she held whimpered, he must have had the same thoughts she had while being held by Philo.
She ran to the car, leaving the four dead rebels bleeding in the dust and she drove away in the chilly morning. She wasn't sure of the direction she should be driving, never had she been this far from the city. She'd stop the first chance she had and would ask directions, but for now, getting as far as possible from the rebels was all she had in mind. She gripped the stirring wheel fiercly, thoughts of the Twins were surfacing with a vengence. As if finally being free from Philo meant that she would be at the mercy of her memories. Tears stung in her eyes, blurring her vision for a moment. It was a good thing the road was deserted, not only was she distracted, but learning to drive at the same time at 95 miles per hour.
---
When she finally made it to the city, she realized she'd be living a normal life soon. Perhaps she'd have to kill Philo and Ouija before she could actually settle down, but a normal life, if she survived, would eventually come calling. The first place she went to by instinct was her apartment. The building was in horrid condition, and she realized then that this was probably how it looked back then as well. It was old, but probably hadn't changed in the last fifty years. She opened the large entrance doors and was hit by the strongest memory yet.
--flash--
She had always been an alert girl. Always in tune with her surroundings, so even when she had immersed herself deep in thought, she didn't bump into the smooth leather-clad back of the woman leading her down the stairs. Everyone looked down over the dirty wooden railing at the entrance of the apartment. The double doors were right there, they could leave now, but the oddest person Yossi had ever seen was blocking the way. The entrance room of the apartment building was big and sparcely decorated. The wide stairs twisted around to face the doors straight on, and right now, everyone was looking sideways over the railing and into the pale white face of an equally pallid clad man. One side of his mouth was turned upwards as he gave a dangerous smirk. He, too, was wearing sunglasses, but Yossi had the creeping sensation that he was watching her behind them. It wasn't difficult to tell he was on the 'machines' side.
--end--
When she finally managed to banish the flood of emotions, she was kneeling on the dusty floor with tears running into her hands that hid her face. She quickly wiped them away, and when she touched the floor to balance herself as she stood again, she left behind a muddy handprint. Yossi looked at it curiously. The floor, beneath the layers of dust, seemed to be marble. It struck Yossi as odd that such a dilapidated building had such an expensive floor. She didn't think about it long and quickly traversed the stairs all the way to her old apartment. She realized that after so many years, it couldn't possibly be hers any longer. She stood right at the door, listening for signs of anyone moving inside. Ten minutes passed by and finally she knocked on the dark wooden door. She didn't really want to go inside she realized, but before she could walk away, the door opened. A small, red haired and green eyed girl opened the door. She looked up at Yossi, who stood there staring down at her.
"I...I'm sorry," she said, her voice thick with her troubled emotions, and she swiftly walked down the stairs and left the building. She didn't get into the car she had been driving, but took the first chance she got and stole one that the driver had just exited. It was still running, the man must have planned on making a quick stop. She drove for an hour then, concentrating only on the turn of the wheel the pedels at her feet.
--
End Note/