Title: The Best Homework Excuse Ever
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own the Matrix trilogy, the canon characters, story or anything related. I can only wish that I did. I make no profit from this – I am merely exercising my writing skills for the reading pleasure of readers. However, I own this story. I own the character Chase, and Lady Delerith owns Ari.
Authors' Notes:
Lady Delerith: No, please, no. I don't want any frenzied gnomes eating my ears... Yes, well, anyway, I'm so glad you all love our story. Solia has been working extra, extra hard to make this story beyond perfect, so I hope you all like it. Read, Enjoy, Laugh, Cry, Wait with eager ersnest, have a great time reading =D.
Solia: I know I said it'd be updated after a week, but that was more of a figure of speech, you know? Like in soapies? Anyway, here it is. Chapter Four. Back to Ari. By the way, nobody has said which character they prefer. Please don't think you'll upset either me or Delerith – we need to know so we can settle our argument.
I know you all like Chase better. She's so much more real. (poking tongue at Delerith) Not that I dislike Ari. I just like me better.
THE BEST HOMEWORK EXCUSE EVER: Chapter four
"Well done," the young woman said impatiently. "Hurry up, we haven't got all day. You have questions that need answering. I can take you to who you both seek."
"Morpheus," Sophie said immediately. Ari shot her a surprised look. That was exactly what she had wanted to say. Because it was true that she had spent the last eighteen months searching for this man.
"That's right," the woman said. "Now get in if you want to meet him." She moved over a little further to make room for both girls. Ari looked helplessly at Sophie. It went against all of her instincts to get into this car, but she really wanted to meet Morpheus. Plus, this girl had just saved their butts, so they sort of owed her their trust.
Finally, hesitantly, glancing up the street to make sure her parents weren't watching, for they would most certainly kill her for doing this, Ari got into the car beside the young dark haired woman. Sophie got in next to her, shutting the door carefully. She stiffly sat next to her, pressed against the door so that she could escape if need be. The car started moving.
"Right, so who the hell are you, anyway?" Ari demanded of the woman beside her. The man in the front, the bald one, turned in his seat to glare at her angrily.
"Watch your mouth, and don't speak to her that way," he ordered. The woman glared at him. It was an attempt on the man's behalf to impress the woman with quick defence – it wasn't appreciated.
But although Ari felt a little nervous, apparently her first strike of bravery in asking for the woman's name had sparked Sophie's own.
"No, I think you shouldn't speak to Kye like that," she said sharply. "After all, if you hurt us, we can get you put away for abduction of minors, physical harm and false pretences."
Ari noticed that she didn't mention 'if we get away'.
"That's a nice thought for you, but I don't like your chances," the man said back. There was something childish in the way he liked to argue. The young woman rolled her eyes.
"Don't be stupid, you're scaring them!" she snapped at him. He glared sullenly out his front window, sulking like a child. Still looking annoyed, she turned to the girls, forcing a softer smile.
"My name is Trinity," she introduced herself. "This is Apoc," she nodded at the driver with the ponytail, "and Cypher." The bald man grunted without looking back this time.
"I guess you already know us?" Ari supposed. "You mentioned my name before, but this is Sophie-"
"No, she got it right," Sophie interjected. "I'm Chase."
"Chase? As in, Chase? Hacker?" She'd known that Sophie was alike her, but this was getting weird.
"Yep. So you're Ari. Wow. I met you online once, when we were both trying to break into-" Suddenly realising that people were listening, Sophie – or Chase, or whatever – stopped herself. Had they just handed themselves over as criminals?
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with us," Trinity said. Ari tried to remember where she knew that name from, but Sophie – Chase – remembered first.
"You mean, you're the Trinity?" she asked. Of course! Trinity, the hacker – no wonder she wasn't going to hand them over to the law. The older girl nodded.
"Yes," she said. The car had entered a busy highway. She brushed a lock of her hair out of her eyes, even though it was only just long enough to do so. Ari wondered how she herself would look with such a short hairstyle. Maybe one day she'd cut it that short.
Sophie or Chase jumped nervously as a mobile phone rang. She was about to check her bag – apparently she brought a cell phone to school despite the rules – but then Trinity pulled her own out of her pocket in a flash. She answered it quickly.
"Yes?" she said. She was silent for a moment, and Ari felt her tense beside her. Something was wrong, very wrong. "Got it. Yes. Are you sure? Damn it!" Trinity was cut off by a roofless convertible car swerving in front of them. In the front, the man called Apoc swore loudly, dodging dangerously into the oncoming lanes to avoid a collision. Avoid? More like cause one, Ari thought in a panic as she was thrown against Sophie/Chase in a radical dodging move. Trinity grabbed the handhold above her head to stop herself from falling onto Ari. She hung up the phone.
"Tank was just calling to warn us of the agents," she said through gritted teeth. "Why do they always choose the worst times to show up?"
"Because they can," Cypher said over his shoulder. "And today, we have their precious batteries on board."
"If you've taken something that belongs to your enemies, why don't you just give it back? Won't that make them stop following?" Sophie/Chase asked, her voice small and innocent.
Trinity gave her a grim smile.
"For one thing, no, they'll still follow until they've killed us," she said.
"For another, you two are the things that belong to them that we've taken," Cypher said. Apoc swerved past the convertible, and Ari caught a glance of the driver – that man who had jumped down at her from the trees in the school nature area! She gave an involuntary squeak. She felt her heart skip a beat as he pulled out a gun, looking straight at the three females in the backseat. He raised his gun with a quick glance out the front window, aiming it at their window. Trinity didn't seem to have noticed – she was busy arguing a safe route with Apoc.
"Get down!" Ari screamed, pushing both Trinity and Sophie/Chase down by their shoulders. The bullet smashed through the window, flying through the spaces that their heads had been moments before and shattering the opposite window, too. Chase screamed, huddled against the door, showered by glass. A few more bullets followed. This was too American-car-movie-theme, but too real, too close.
Their car turned sharply in a full U-turn and Apoc took off again.
"Safe," he said gruffly. He apparently didn't speak very much. Trinity immediately sat up, trusting his judgement. She looked out the back window as Ari sat up, too.
"Thanks for that warning," she said sincerely to her. Trembling, Chase looked up.
"Yeah," she said weakly, looking terrified, near tears. She had little cuts from the glass.
"Not a problem," Ari said quickly, not liking all of the grateful attention right then. "One warning deserves another?" She directed the words at Trinity, who nodded expressionlessly. She looked over her shoulder out the back again at the convertible skidding around to try and keep chasing.
"Stop by that car," she ordered, pointing to a green sedan parked on the other side of the road. The driver had stopped to answer his phone. Trinity snatched out her own. Apoc raised a hand silently and she slapped it into his palm.
"Why are we slowing down?" Cypher demanded. He hadn't been listening.
"I'm taking them to Morpheus," Trinity explained impatiently, sitting up and getting ready to get out fast.
"What, are you crazy?" Cypher asked angrily. "The agent will follow you. Once he's done with you, he'll take out these two. Is that what you want?"
"Stop pretending that I have no idea how to handle myself, okay?" Trinity said angrily. "Chase, when I say, open the door and run to that car, okay? You too, Ari – run as fast as you can, and get into the back. Right?" Both girls nodded. She turned to the men in the front. "We'll need a distraction."
Apoc slowed the car almost to a stop.
"Go," Trinity said loudly. Startled, Chase shoved open her door and bolted for the car across the road, dodging cars. Ari shuffled out of the car and followed, narrowly avoiding a serious collision with a speeding van. Without speaking to the bewildered driver, Chase yanked open the back door of the sedan. Ari stopped as a fuel tanker zoomed past and almost ran her over. Trinity waited for just an instant until the truck was past, and then continued toward the sedan.
"Listen, Marilyn, I can't get the new shipment of women's fashion into the boutique until Wednesday next week... I know your oldest daughter has a sport carnival on that day, but what do you want me to do? I might be able to manage Tuesday..." The car owner didn't notice the teenage girls getting into the backseat of his vehicle. "Your youngest daughter's birthday party? Hell, I suppose that Thursday is your twins' library day? Hey, what's wrong with you women? This is my car!" the man yelled as Ari clambered in beside Chase, suddenly noticing.
"We're borrowing it," Trinity said firmly, pulling his door open. She snatched his phone from his hand and grabbed his collar and yanked him out of the drivers' seat. She tossed him away impatiently.
"You can't do that!" Chase said, her voice high with worry for the man.
"Watch me," Trinity answered, getting into the front seat. The man scrambled to his feet and waved furiously to stop. Ignoring him, Trinity restarted the engine.
"Stop! I'm not going to have some stupid woman driver like you take my car!" the man roared. Trinity moodily snatched the novelty cushion dice that hung from the rear-view mirror and grimaced as she grabbed a packet of cigarettes from beside the gearstick.
She leaned out the window as she stepped on the accelerator and dropped the man's personal items onto the next lane and then she sped off down the highway.
"You just stole somebody's car," Chase accused. She was staring at the mobile phone that was still on line with some woman who was talking loudly.
"Yeah. Your point?"
"You can't do that!" Ari agreed with Chase. This was getting outrageous. "Why are we resorting to this kind of illegal infringement, again? I forget."
"You want to live, don't you?" Trinity asked calmly. She ended the call and the voice stopped.
"Are we going to?" Chase asked.
"Is that a crack against my driving?"
"No," Chase said, blinking in surprise. "And I think... I think that was my mum on the phone just then."
Ari turned in her seat and looked back. Apoc and Cypher had caused a huge but minor car accident that blocked the entire road both ways. No cars could follow either the men or the girls.
"I don't think the owner of the car was too impressed," she commented. "I also don't think he liked the idea of a female driving his car."
"Bloody sexist males," Trinity said with surprising passion. "Men always make it seem as though we're totally incapable of anything. How did society turn out like this? You have no idea how hard it is a woman to get to my position."
"How did that myth of women can't drive come about, I wonder," Chase agreed, brushing her hair out of her eyes. She, like Ari, had no idea what Trinity meant by her 'position', but pretended otherwise. "I hate superior-sexism, but I can't really talk – I attend an all-girls school."
Ari almost laughed, and Trinity smirked. It seemed so weird that she and her new friend, a girl she barely knew called Chase, were sitting in the backseat of a stolen car discussing the problem of male superiority with a known terrorist. Trinity was internationally infamous for hacking super-computers and even killing people. But she seemed perfectly normal to Ari. A little reserved at first, but nice enough.
"All-girl's schools. The reason this world is so screwed."
Trinity took a turn-off, glancing in her mirror.
"We should be okay," she muttered. She spotted the man's mobile phone sitting on the passenger seat as she drove down a quieter street. She snatched it up and tried to dial a number.
"Here, I'll do it," Ari suggested, not wanting to her to crash them all. Trinity tossed the phone over her shoulder.
"Thanks." She proceeded to tell Ari the long-winded number. Ari handed her back the phone. "Tank, where's Morpheus? Okay, thanks. Right." Trinity dropped the phone back where she had found it.
"You work for Morpheus, don't you?" Chase asked.
"In a matter of speaking," Trinity answered, turning carefully. "If you're asking if I work for a terrorist organisation, no, I don't. I'm not a terrorist."
"If you say so," Chase said doubtfully. "I'm not being accusing, but you have killed people – lots of people. If you're not a terrorist, what are you?"
Trinity laughed dryly.
"Don't worry - if I was going to kill you, I already would have. Funny. I'm involved with trying to 'save the world' and everyone calls me a terrorist. If only everybody knew. Oh, well, it isn't important. They're just Matrix idiots, anyway."
"Matrix?" Ari listened intently. She had been wondering for so long – what was the Matrix? Now Trinity had mentioned it.
"You'll find out soon enough," Trinity said, driving onto a darker, empty street. "I'm not really supposed to say much else, in case I stuff up Morpheus's big speech. It can be damaging to your mental health if you know too much and you take the blue pill."
"Pills?" Chase asked sceptically. Trinity smiled back at her as she stopped the car.
"You'll see. We're here."
MAYBE will be updated next week. Probably will take longer.