Disclaimer: Adding to the list, I don't own the Matrix Trilogy; they are the sole property of the Wattowski Bros. and Warner Bros. Plots and quotes either.
Tron Reformation
Chapter 3: Follow the White Rabbit; What is the Grid?
Chisame was in a deep quandary at this moment for reasons understandable. Her computer had been hacked in by some unknown hacker, who didn't mean a whole lot of sense at this moment. The words he spoke out were very cryptic, such as 'follow the white rabbit'. And the last bit even made it more confusing.
"Knock, knock?" she asked herself as she put on her glasses, "What's that supposed to…?"
KNOCK, KNOCK!
She nearly jumped out of her seat as she looked to her door. Once again, the door knocked, until a voice was heard from the outside, "Chisame! It's me, Konoka. I'm here to escort you to the party."
"Ugh! Great, her again," Chisame groaned as she rubbed her head in annoyance. She got up and walked to her dorm room door, opening it. And true enough, she saw Konoka, along with Yue and Satomie, all in casual attire and rarin' to go to the party. "For the last time, I…"
"Um, before you start, I need to ask," Satomie asked aloud.
Chisame groaned as she rubbed her temples, and asked, "What is it?"
"What's with the playboy costume?"
She looked at them slightly confused at that question… until she went as white as a sheet. She had nearly coughed up blood in shock and realization as she looked at herself. She had yet to change out of her costume. She gacked at this, "ACK! Excuse me for a moment!" and slammed the door in their faces. For about five minutes, the three girls looked puzzled outside from the computer girl's room. Finally, she popped out, wearing a black hooded T-shirt, a red mini-skirt, and long red and white striped stockings, as well as her glasses, but left her hair just free of her hair ribbon.
She coughed, acting as if she was clearing her throat, and asked, "So, um… what's up? Why the dorm visit?"
"Well, we…" Konoka asked, but noticed Chisame being a bit nervous, but it wasn't about before. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow, "You seem a bit out of it. And I doubt it's about your little costume scene."
Chisame nodded as she looked back to her computer, "Well, my computer. It's…" and saw that the screen returned to normal, with no trace of the mystery hacker's presence. She then turned back to the others, and shook her head, scoffing it over, and asked nonchalantly, "Have you… have you ever had that feeling that you were being watched? For real? And that those people were never seen, but for some odd reason you just knew they'd be there?"
Konoka nodded as she chuckled, "Yeah, I've got a similar feeling. It's called Setsuna; she won't stop looking out from me, even though she doesn't show it." She then looked down the hallway, and shouted, "Isn't that right, Setsuna?"
A shadow could have been seen from around the corner, flinching back into it, as someone went unnoticed. Konoka shook her head as she sighed, "Sorry about that. So what do you say? Y'know, this party might be able to help you relax a little."
Chisame looked away as she grimmed silently, 'The only thing that'll help me relax is to transfer out of this crazy asylum you call an academy.' She looked to them and sighed, shaking her head no, "No, I can't. I've got a lot of work on my computer to finish on. The only way I'll catch up is to pull an all-nighter."
"Oh, come on," Konoka giggled, not caring about Chisame's excuses, "It'll be fun for you. You spend so much time sitting at the computer so long, you'll grow mushrooms on your head."
Chisame signed, and was about to answer back, but then she saw it. There, right on Konoka's back, were two white ears sticking out from behind her. She pointed, stunned as she asked, "Um… Konoka? What's that on your back?"
Konoka looked confused, and looked over her shoulder, and giggled, "Oh, that. It's my backpack." she twirled so that her back was shown, as well as her backpack… which was in the shape of a cartoon White Rabbit. "Don't you think it's cute?" she asked her.
"I'll go."
Konoka and the others were a bit stunned, as they saw Chisame nearly stare into space at the backpack. She had remembered what the computer screen had read on it, 'Follow the White Rabbit.' Until she snapped out of it, and nodded, "Yeah, sure. I'll go with you guys."
That Night
Gymnasium Party
The party was just as Konoka had explained it would be; joyous, fun, and unwinding. Although she forgot to mention it was also noisy, crowded, and headache-inducing for some. Ako was on stage, playing an electric guitar with three girls; one was a blonde with ponytails and two small braids, the other a short haired brunette, and the last was a girl with long lavander hair. These girls were the cheerleaders of Mahora's Junior High division, Sakurako, Madoka, and Misa. Boys and girls were dancing and mingling with each other, all having fun in the process. Everyone was having a blast at this party, except for one person.
The Hacker girl, Chisame was leaning against a post, arms crossed, and felt like she did not have the time of her life. She groaned as she berated herself, 'Chisame, you are such an idiot now. What the hell were you thinking? Follow the White Rabbit? Sheesh, I must've been…'
"Chisame Hasegawa?" someone asked from behind her.
Hearing someone call her voice, particularly a boy's voice, she turned around and saw the figure that asked her name out. It was a boy, around fifteen, at least that's what it looked like. He was wearing a duster brown jacket, a red and blue baseball cap on his head, a black scarf around his mouth and nose, sunglasses, and had baggy jeans on as well, and only had socks on. To Chisame, this spelled either goofy weirdo, or sexually perverted predator.
The mysterious figure asked, "Chisame Hasegawa?" she didn't answer back to him, until he asked, nearly aloud, "Net Idol, Chiu-Chiu?"
"WWHHHAAATTT?" Chisame shouted with disbelief, nearly coughing up blood. Then her thoughts were racing in her head as she screamed out loud, 'HE…HE KNOWS ABOUT ME? THIS GUY KNOWS MY SECRET!' She cried and drowned in her self pity at this situation. Someone had found out about her secret life and it was none other than some weirdo in a pervert getup. 'I can just hear it now; the whole class will welcome me into Crazy-Ville. My life is completely ruined!'
"Excuse me," he asked aloud, catching her attention as he asked honestly, "You are Chisame Hasegawa, right?"
"Yeah, so what's it to you?" Chisame asked, feeling a little better, forgetting about the fact he knew her secret.
The stranger bowed his head in respect, as he replied, "Greetings, User. My name is DRU-1."
For a moment, she let that name hang in her head for a moment, until she finally asked, surprised, "DRU-1? The fan that always sends those letters."
He nodded, and sounded happy, "Yeah, I wrote all those. I'm like your biggest fan."
"You're pretty much a creep," Chisame shot out bluntly, causing DRU-1 to fall over, as she explained, "Seriously, I know I like the praise and all, but all that stuff you say most of the time. It's pretty creepy."
Recovering from getting stabbed like that, DRU-1 stood back up from his face vault, and replied, "Okay, that didn't go well. But I'll get back to the point of why I'm here."
It was then that Chisame had pieced it together, as she pointed right at him, accusingly, "Hey! You're the nut job that hacked my computer."
"Yeah, sorry about that," DRU-1 apologized, but got right to business, "Listen, I brought you here because I needed to warn you."
Chisame raised an eyebrow at this as she asked, "Warn me? About what?"
"They know about you," he replied, "They're watching you now."
A moment of silence was between them both; only the band playing and everyone else were mingling. Until finally, Chisame spoke out, asking, "Are you from the Government?"
DRU-1 slapped his forehead at this, as he groaned, and looked to her calmed down, "Please just listen."
He walked over to her, close enough that she thought he was going to kiss her, making her feel a little nervous at this. And then he finally spoke up to her, whispering into her ear, "I know why you're here, Chisame."
"Yeah, because you invited me," Chisame grumbled, "Well, Konoka pretty much dragged me over here."
DRU-1 groaned as he thought, 'Jeez! This girl's hard to talk to.' however, he straightened out as he began again, "I know what you've been doing … why you hardly sleep, why you don't try and make friends, and why night after night, you sit by your computer doing your Net Idol thing. I even know why you hack into databases from nearly every sector of this planet. You're looking for him. Your uncle: Kevin Flynn." Chisame's eyes nearly lit up by that, but allowed him to continue, "I know… because I'm trying to find him, just like you and Sam are trying to, and just as he found me. And when he found me, he told me I wasn't really looking for him. I was looking for an answer. It's the question that drives us, Chisame. It's the question that brought you here. You know the question, just as I did."
Chisame was pretty quiet on the thought, 'The Question? What's he talking about? I don't…' but then, it came into her head as she finally whispered it out, "What is the Grid?"
"That's the one," DRU-1 answered, as he led her towards to the door.
"Hey, wait a minute!" she nearly shouted, "Where are we going?"
"To the College Research Facility," he answered, "There's someone there that can explain the situation to you."
She grumbled as she once again deduced, "Either you really are working for the government… or I'm seriously getting punked here."
Mahora Science and Research Facility
The building that was the Science Center and Research Facility for the Robotics Division of Mahora's College Academy was quiet and empty. Perfect enough for two teens to walk into, as DRU-1 led Chisame to one of the labs. But before they entered in, Chisame stopped him as she asked, "Okay, why are we even here?" she saw DRU-1 sigh for a moment, until finally he turned around, and removed his facial covers. Chisame jumped back as she saw a metallic head, with a lens eye and a grill for a mouth. She jumped back, nearly screaming as she freaked out, "Y-Y-Y-Y-YOU'RE A ROBOT?"
"No!" he defended, "But, well… I, um… " He sighed, as he shook his head, answering, "We couldn't come by ourselves because… well, it's hard to explain." He reached for the door knob as he explained, "My leader, Morpheus, can explain it better than I can."
She crossed her arms as she asked, "Is he in a robot body as well?"
He shrugged, "He pretty much is. But there is one thing you need to know: be honest with him. He knows a lot more than you think." And he opened the door, letting them both in.
There, standing next to two lab chairs, a robot much like what DRU-1 was, stood with his back turned to them. And then, it turned around, looking right at Chisame. If it had a working mouth, it would have smile as Chisame walked to it. And then it spoke out to her, "Greetings, Niece of Kevin Flynn… I am Morpheus."
'Great, another robot. What's with the robots?' she thought as she groaned, but put on the best front as she reached to shake the robot's hand, "I'm not sure what to say, but the pleasure's mine to meet you."
"On the contrary," the robot stated, "The pleasure's all mine to meet the niece of my oldest friend."
Chisame sat down in one of the chairs, and asked, "Uncle Kevin never mentioned a Morpheus before."
"Well, he shouldn't have," Morpheus commented, "I'm a man that's hard to find." He then sat down as DRU-1 sat down far from them, Indian style, as Morpheus began, "I imagine that right now, you're feeling a bit like Alice. Hm? Tumbling down the rabbit hole?"
"Something like that at this moment," Chisame answered truthfully.
"I see it in your eyes," he replied. "You have the look of a young lady, a User, who accepts what she sees because she is expecting to wake up and everything will be normal. Ironically, that's not far from the truth that there is no such thing as normal, nor is there anything perfect." it was quiet for a moment, until Morpheus spoke up once again, "Do you believe in fate, Chisame?"
"No," she answered.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.
"I know exactly what you mean," he replied as he explained further, "Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, ever since your uncle disappeared from the world. And that there's something wrong with that explanation. No one can simply disappear from the world. You don't know where he is, but he's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad."
"I feel like I'm going mad at this point," she mumbled.
"It is this feeling that has brought you to us," he answered. "Do you know what I'm talking about?"
Chisame thought about it for a moment, until she finally answered, "The Grid." But she shook her head, "But it's just make-believe stuff my uncle told me about when I was a kid."
"Is that what you believe? Or simply you denying the possibility that something truly outside the norm exists in the Normal World, out from in front of you?" He then leaned back and asked, "Do you want to know what it is?"
She shook her head, "No, but you can explain."
"The Grid is, in better terms… a frontier in which Man is both God, Demi-God and the Architect," he answered, "It is all around us. Even now, in this very room through the electronics. You can see it when you look in your computer screen, or when you speak on your cell phone. You can feel it when you play a videogame, when you chat online, when you hack into a computer. It is the world that has been created through mankind's imagination through his ultimate creation: the computer."
Chisame shook her head as she got up from her seat, "Okay, you're crazy." she then backed away from them as she stated, "You guys are all crazy. All of you talkin' crazy-talk!"
"Please just listen," Morpheus stated as he stood up, "Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Grid is. You have to see it for yourself." he then walked over to her as he explained, "This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. Tomorrow will be the day Flynn disappeared from this world, and every year on that day, your cousin does something… rather rash with ENCOM."
"Tell me about it," Chisame groaned as she knew of this, "Every time he does, either me or Mr. Alan Bradley have to go over and bail his butt out every time."
"If you can, go to America, go to Flynn's Arcade and to his computers. You'll find something that will help you find Flynn. If you meet us again, this time in the flesh instead of behind constructs, I will show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
Chisame shook her head, groaning about this as she headed for the door. She opened it and was about to leave, but not before Morpheus called out, "Remember: all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more." and then finally, he powered down, falling to the floor, as did DRU-1.
Chisame shook her head, groaning, "Yeah right. Freaks," and left just like that.
That Night
Chisame's Room
She was lying on her back, under the covers, wearing only an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants for pjs, but she wasn't asleep. What the guy Morpheus had said to her back in the Research Division that night, kept ringing through her head. She looked over to her desk for only a few moments, until she sat up, pulling the covers off her. Her untied hair swung over her shoulder as she took a deep sigh and got out of her bed. Her bare feet quietly took her over to it as she pulled the chair out and sat down, taking a picture she had her eye on for some time.
It was the last picture of her, Sam, and of Uncle Kevin that she had. The trio were happy the most in the picture, oblivious of the events that would separate them entirely that night he disappeared.
Chisame sulked as she frowned at her uncle's picture, "Damn it, Uncle Kevin. Where are you?" For the moment, she shook her head as she groaned, "Great. I listen to the ravings of a robot that says he's not a robot, believe him in saying he knows where my uncle is. And here I am talking to myself." she hung her head in shame as she mumbled a beratement to herself, "Great, I really am going nuts. Might as well join the rest of those loonies in my class."
RING! RING!
Chisame nearly bolted from her seat, hearing her cell phone ring out like that. She reached up and turned it on, "Hello?"
"Chisame, it's me. Sam."
"Sam?" Chisame groaned, rubbing her forehead, feeling a headache coming or rubbing away the sleepiness from her eyes, "What is it? I'm trying to sleep."
"Yeah, um…"
She groaned, knowing full well where this was coming, and sighed as she guessed what was coming next, "Let me guess: you're calling from the police station, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Sam confessed as he explained the situation, "I just recently released ENCOM's newest software system out all over the world, the ENCOM OS 12. Hope you got it; a copy of it should be coming to your email soon."
"You stole it, didn't you?" she groaned.
"More like 'released' it before it got out into stores," Sam tried to sugar coat the truth a bit, "It was a much better deal than letting Ed Dillinger Jr. sell it at a high price."
"And now you want me to make your bail, don't you?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
In truth, Chisame didn't know if she could deal with this any more, and sighed, as she half-answered him, "I'll think about it." and hung up on him before he could plead with her.
World Tree
The World Tree, the tallest one on the campus, and the one with the most rumors. The tree was big enough to almost look like the one from the James Cameron movie, Avatar. There was even a wooden ladder built on the side for those to climb up and get a good view of the entire island campus. And that was where Chisame was, leaning on the branch and looking over the campus, her face all in thought at this moment, trying to piece things together. Should she go to America once again to help her troublemaking cousin out? Or just leave it at that and go on with her life. But then, she remembered what Morpheus had told her,
If you can, go to America, go to Flynn's Arcade and to his computers.
You'll find something that will help you find Flynn.
If you meet us again, this time in the flesh instead of behind constructs, I will show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.
She sighed deeply, trying not to let those words sink into her as she groaned to herself, slapping herself in the face. "This is insane," she berated herself, "Me, go to America? To my Uncle's old Arcade and find what? A map leading me to him?" Though, deep down, she didn't want to admit it, there might have been something there that could give her a long time deserved answer.
Then, finally sighing and crossing her arms on it, she shook her head as she groaned, "I must be out of my mind. Guess I should take residents with everyone else in Class 3-A in Crazy-Town."
Next Chapter: Visiting America and Family; Flynn's Page and a Discovery