Balancing Out the Equation.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Matrix characters or the Matrix storyline.

Chapter 2

Special Note: Agent Smith does not yet have the power to replicate just yet.

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All five of them appeared in an abandoned apartment building. The phone rang. Captain Tirant picked up the phone. "We're in." He hung up right after that. The crew wore their usual. Most wore suits and all had sunglasses. Some wore ties some didn't, but they did look much better than their real bodies. Ashe smiled at the crew. Dressed formally and all in black, the group was very intimidating. Ashe couldn't help but crack a joke. "Look everybody, it's the mafia!" Ashe pointed at the crew. The crew looked over to Ashe with an emotionless look and went back to getting ready to leave the apartment. Ashe pouted. Sometimes, the crew was too serious.

They soon left the apartment building and headed toward their destination in a car. They arrived at their destination no more than five minutes later. Tirant and the crew walked toward the door. Tirant knocked. The door window opened and showed a man wearing a similar outfit with sunglasses. He merely said, "You've arrived." He shut the window and opened the door. Tirant was the first to enter, next Haigen, Daxil, Leton, and Ashe at the end. Ashe right before she went in glanced behind her. There was nothing there, but she could have sworn that someone was watching her. Little did she know, someone was watching her. That someone was watching everybody enter the meeting, but he did not disrupt it. He dare not disrupt it for he was waiting for one man. One that went by the name, Neo. Agent Smith watched Ashe go in. He watched as she glanced back. He didn't know then of the importance she would be to him. At that moment, she didn't either.

Tirant lead the way to the meeting room. All of the captains were already there, except Morpheus. Tirant greeted Niobe. "Captain."

"Tirant." Both acknowledged each other with a smile. Tirant soon looked over to Ashe and nodded. Ashe realized that it was her cue to leave. She left the room to protect the other exit. Just as soon as she left, the meeting started.

Ashe walked briskly to the other exit. There were two other men guarding the entrance. Ashe acknowledged them with a smile. With a tilt of her head she asked, "No signs?"

Both men shook their heads. "None." Ashe nodded. A few minutes passed when she felt Neo's presence. She smiled. Morpheus always timed it perfectly. How he was able to do that, she could only wonder. And then she sensed something. Agents? Yes, but there was also something else. She couldn't tell what it was, but she got ready nonetheless. Ashe looked over to both men with a sad smile. "You guys better get out of here. I'm afraid you'll get pummeled if you stay." The men, unused to being talked to so casually was, at first, confused. Ashe shook her head. "Sorry about that. I meant that the meeting's over. You guys should get out of here. I'm not very good at being serious and cool at the same time." The men seemed to understand that danger was nearing. They ran for their exits. Ashe knew that agents were coming and decided that instead of waiting for them, she would distract them. Ashe opened the door and ran down the alleyway. Not too fast because she needed to draw the agents away from the rebels. Soon the click of her boots was joined with the sound of the agent's own clicks. Just as she turned left, she heard bullets puncture holes near the edge of her trench coat. She was cutting it close. For the few seconds Ashe was out of the agent's view, Ashe pulled out her own handgun and stood waiting for the agent to appear. The moment the agent was pulled into view, Ashe shot. The sound of the bullet was enormous. Ashe grimaced as she watched a female coppertop fall to the ground, lifeless. No matter how many times she saw this scene, she would never get used to it.

Ashe pulled out her cell phone. "Operator," could be heard at the other end. Ashe looked around the area. "Hey, are they out?" Adenias replied, "Yeah. There's an exit for you at the end of that street." Ashe smiled. "Mission Accomplished! See you soon." Adenias chuckled in the back, "Yeah, see you… Holy…" The cell phone in Ashe's hand suddenly shot out of her hand in pieces. A bullet hit it precisely. Ashe shot around. How could she have been so careless to not have noticed another agent? Ashe realized something different about the agent. His code just did not seem correct. He wore the same suit, the same tie, the same tie clip as an agent, but he wasn't. He was tall, about six foot three. He was handsome. Masculine face features and muscular body. "What are you?" she asked.

Agent Smith smiled. "Me? Why I'm simply called Smith."

Ashe suddenly tensed. "Smith. Are you no longer an agent?" She had heard much of Smith from Neo and Morpheus but she never met him before.

Smith smiled another evil smile. "No, no. Not an agent anymore. Mr. Anderson, your savior, freed me. I am an exile." He motioned towards Ashe.

"Why are you here then? Revenge? I am hardly the person you should be confronting." Ashe replied wondering. An agent seldom conversed with a rebel.

Smith took a step forward. "No. You are not the person I am looking for, but you are interesting. You can bend the rules of the Matrix almost as well as I or Mr. Anderson can. That fact in itself intrigues me."

Ashe stood her ground. "I intrigue you?"

Smith then ran at her. He threw a punch that Ashe blocked with difficulty. If she did not block it, it could have easily gone straight through her. Smith had much more brute strength and speed than an ordinary agent. They exchanged blow after blow when Ashe, due to her bad habit of adding an extra step to a move, left herself unguarded for a moment. Smith was able to throw a punch to her sides. Ashe flew a couple of feet to the side. Grimacing in pain, Ashe tried to stand up. Smith smirked. "Well, it seems that you are inexplicably human like Mr. Anderson. A virus. Incapable of competing with a machine." Ashe, still struggling to get back up on her feet, replied "A machine is limited in what they do. A machine may be perfect but is imperfect at the same time." Smith frowned. "Humans are incapable of perfection. They are a virus. They bring destruction to whatever they touch. Their lives are measured by hardship and cruelty." Ashe, finally on her feet, smiled at Smith. "But it only makes the happy things in life sweeter." Smith lost all emotion in his face. He seemed distracted by his thoughts. Ashe took the chance and ran. She took off at neck-breaking speed. The phone booth came into view.

The pain was spreading and consuming her senses. Ashe was starting to slow down, and only too late did she realize that Smith had grabbed her. Smith had thrown her and Ashe hit the wall hard. Her body was aching all over. A dribble of blood ran down from her mouth. It seemed that Ashe wouldn't be able to get out easily. Smith straightened his jacket. "Don't you see, Miss Williams? Mr. Anderson will fail and Zion destroyed. Because humans are imperfect, we are in power. We are perfect." Ashe smiled as she realized something. "Smith. You are capable of emotions. You are imperfect." Smith's face darkened. The smirk on his face was wiped off clean. And then, Smith smiled. It was an evil smile. "Only a human could think so. Miss Williams, you fool yourself with these illusions. You…" Right in the middle of his sentence, Smith moved to dodge a bullet. Ashe turned to see another agent appear. He had his Desert Eagle out. Ashe was looking at the agent when she heard Smith speak. "Ah. Agent Brown. Have you come to terminate me?" The agent responded in a monotone voice. "You are no longer needed." Another bullet was shot. A battle soon ensued. Ashe seeing the chance she had to escape grabbed it. She scrambled to her feet and with the last of her strength reached the telephone booth. Because of Smith being a superior program to Agent Brown, by this time, Smith was watching Ashe. Ashe wiped the blood off her face and picked up the phone.

Smith watched as she disappeared and left the Matrix. The words that she said puzzled him. It confused him. He thought about the emotions she spoke of. How was she able to detect these emotions within him so easily? Was it that visible? He, himself, still denied the emotions. He was aware of the… feelings?.. he felt, but only realized these urges grew. Smith realized that he hated Mr. Anderson. Hated. An emotion.

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Author's Note:

I hope that I rewrote it better. I'm still a little unsure about it, but comments would be helpful. I tried to make her less of a Mary-Sue and more realistic. I also hope the Matrix scenes were better. Hopefully Smith was also kept in character. I tried to and I think I succeeded, but I may have just failed horribly. I don't know anymore.

Morgane Lurkerstriker: I hope I was able to rework my writing to fit your expectations better. I tried to use a lot of your tips but the description on my character is part of my writing style. I like having a clear picture of a character before the story starts. But I understand where you are coming from. Also, don't worry about me being offended. I like trying and improving.

Bastardized: I saw your points on my character and I tried to change her personality a bit to be more of an opposite of Trinity. I tried to take out the parts in the movie and make them more original. I hope that I did a better job than before.