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:
Solia: Hey, look how fast I'm updating. I'm so proud of myself. Okay, if you have just finished chapter thirteen and have gone on to this one, you should probably know that nearly three months have passed since the end of the previous chapter. Chase and Ari got the job (yay!) and are now flying around the sewers in a hovercraft called Nadir. Now the real adventure can begin – and I can finish uploading my other fanfiction, Déjà Vu, in which Chase and Ari make an appearance. So to read more Chase and Ari adventures check out the other story. They don't do much but Chase has cool hair so it's all good.
Thanks to Danigrebel, Ninja Neo, Cold Cypher, andii (I love you, hon) and Leanan Sidhe for your great reviews. We really appreciate it. )
Lady Delerith: Hope everyone's having a goodtime. I know I am... HOLIDAYS! Anywaysm our new chappy, it's going to be a bit explanitory so we can get on with out new adventures... and guys . Thankyou once again to all our loyal readers, we lovers you muchly.
THE BEST HOMEWORK EXCUSE EVER: Chapter fourteen
Ari eased the insertion needle out of her best friend Chase's cranium plug. The other girl awoke, opening her black-brown eyes.
"That gives the tummy a bit of a jolt still," Chase admitted. She sat up and brushed her brown fringe away from her face. Ari nodded and hung the steel needle up behind the chair her friend sat in. It did still seem weird to wake up in a totally different place as to where you were only moments before, as was what Chase meant. But Ari was agreeing to another thing that surprised her every time she was awoken from a training simulation – the fact that she was waking up on the Nadir, the hovercraft she and Chase now lived and worked on.
Three years ago, Ari had been Kye Saunders, a seemingly normal fourteen-year-old living out a normal life in a normal world – that she now knew hadn't existed. That world was the Matrix, a giant computer program that made people plugged into it believe that they were living out their lives in the real world. But Ari had seen the real 'real world', and she knew that the Matrix was nothing but a bunch of green-coded lies. Over the past three months, since being appointed to this post as a crewmember-in-training, Ari had grown to deeply resent the Matrix and all it stood for.
"It gets easier," Lunar, another crewmember of the hovercraft Nadir, said as she read the multiple computer screens, which showed the coded version of the Matrix. "Eventually there will be a time where you'll just wake up and accept that this is the reality, and you've left the dream world behind."
"Thanks," Chase said politely, getting out of the chair, although Zion-born Lunar had no idea.
"Where are we going now?" Ari asked. Lunar checked a few screens and consoles.
"Looks like we'll need to pay a visit to Zion to recharge," she answered. "We'll have to ask the captain, though."
"I've seen enough of that place to last me a lifetime," Ari complained. She and Chase had spent the last three years there, taking every opportunity to learn anything that would make them candidates for new trainee crewmembers for hovercrafts. Becoming a crewmember required a lot of hard work and training, but it was the only chance for people inside Zion to get out of the underground-cavern city and do anything remotely exciting.
"It was only three years," Lunar said consolingly. "You spent fourteen inside the Matrix."
"I guess." Ari let it go. She had finally been accepted as a member of one of the ships, and, better yet, Chase, her best friend in the world, ever, had been accepted onto the same post. It was better than she could ever have hoped for. Especially considering how close they'd come to losing it – twice – thanks to Ari's shocking behaviour and lack of restraint.
After settling down from her fight with Glorious, Ari had realised that she had very probably blown her and Chase's chances of ever getting a position on a hovercraft. She had accepted that she deserved to lose it herself, but Chase, having done nothing wrong, could still suffer the consequences, so, swallowing her pride, Ari had resignedly gone to Captain Glyph to apologise for her behaviour and ask that he not punish Chase by dismissing her also.
Impressed by Ari's loyalty to Chase and her ability to accept her fate as consequences of her actions, Glyph had explained that he was definitely taking on Chase, who had displayed admirable patience, loyalty and skill in protecting and calming Ari, and that he also wanted Ari. Glyph said that he approved greatly of the girls' deep bond and their teamwork, an example of which he had never seen before, and also of their intuitive balancing of each other's strength and weaknesses.
"It would be a shame to break up such a harmonised pair," he had said with a smile. "You have your failings, Ari – we all do. But luckily for you, you have someone like Chase to conceal these failings and be strong where you aren't. And she has you. I enjoyed watching the two of you against Miss Glorious – you protect each other in turn. You seem to know each other's minds."
"Chase seems to know my thoughts," Ari had admitted. "I think she has a gift."
"You think she's the only one with gifts, Ari? What about the glass wall in the training simulation earlier? There was nothing wrong with the system. You did something."
"I can't have."
"In any case, Ari, I would hate to be the one to break up a wonderful team like that. I'd like to accept both of you, but you have to learn to restrain yourself. Anger can be useful sometimes in the Matrix, but it's better to let it go. I can't have that on my ship. I believe in you, Ari, and I believe that you are a very talented young woman with a lot to offer the resistance. You have a lot of anger but you're a good girl – you shelved your pride and admitted your faults to help Chase. I'm pleased. It was very mature of you to apologise just now. I'm delighted to accept you and Chase as my newest trainees."
Four days later, the girls were leaving Zion (and that stupid bitch Glorious) behind. They'd been back once since then, about seven weeks ago, and still hadn't been inside the Matrix, but Ari was channelling her inner Chase (ha ha) and remaining patient.
Chase wandered over to the computers and checked out her scores. She had just run through a training program, trying to learn more about fighting skills.
"You did well," Lunar congratulated her. The other girl nodded vaguely, still reading. Ari ignored Chase's results. They were bound to be all but perfect. Chase and Ari always got top scores in training simulations.
She had first met Chase when they were both plugged into the Matrix, but back then they had been Kye Saunders and Sophie Evans, two fourteen-year-old girls. Chase had been another normal teenaged girl with a normal family, which she had also had to leave behind. One of the things that made the two of them so close was that they had been through similar hardships and had been freed at the same time, by the same people.
But it still seemed amazing that their friendship had been born of something so despicable as the Matrix. Ari didn't think she would ever be able to repay Morpheus and the other members of the Nebuchadnezzar enough for freeing her. It was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Even though the real world was nothing in terms of luxury when compared with the Matrix, it felt better to be there, and she could go to sleep at night knowing that everything that she had witnessed that day had really happened. She didn't have a bunch of ignorant people around her that were under the impression that they were her family.
Ari had a brother inside the Matrix, but now she barely thought of him. He wasn't really her brother after all – they weren't born of the same parents, because they weren't born at all. All of that sibling rivalry had been wasted, because they weren't really related. They hadn't been all that close, anyway.
"I think I'll need some more martial arts training really soon," Chase said flatly. She had become very pessimistic about her scores lately. She was never happy with her scores – she always expected better of herself. Ari assumed it was because Chase thought the same as she did – the Matrix was evil, and all the people in there deserved to get out, and the two of them needed to perfect their skills so as to get those people out.
"You got record scores!" Lunar exclaimed, rolling her grey eyes. "Chase, you scored 86 percent!"
"Eighty-six out of one hundred," Ari piped up as she washed the insertion spike.
"That isn't one hundred percent," Chase replied. She sighed. "I'll train more later. I'm too tired now."
"Yeah, go get some rest so that you can fully enjoy the sights of Zion," Ari muttered, following her as she left the Core room of the Nadir.
"It's a major tourist attraction," Chase agreed, yawning. "Come one, come all, and see humanity's greatest stronghold – Zion." She grinned weakly. "Sounds lame, doesn't it?"
Ari nodded, but she knew that her friend didn't really hate the city. Neither did she, but they still pretended. Actually, it was amazing. It was super-cool to think that thousands, maybe millions of humans, over a hundred years, had created the underground dwelling with nothing but primitive technology and their hands. But the two girls had spent three years there, with no little holidays or small escapes – it was kind of depressing to be there. It was all that humans had left.
Chase swung around a corner, yelping in surprise. Ari was right behind her, immediately there just in case. The instinct that told her to help Chase was sort of in-built – inside the training simulations, inside of Zion; they had to rely on each other. But it was only Coyote.
"Like to watch where you're going?" the older guy asked. Coyote was about twenty-four or so, another Matrix escapee. He was a really cool sort of guy, a total big brother type – protective, nice, friendly, easy-going, gentle, etc. That was another thing Ari liked about being free. The people she met were always so open and honest. Inside the Matrix everyone was guarded and untrustworthy. The people had no idea who they could trust, but then, they weren't confined to the same hovercraft for months at a time, depending on the same people.
"Sorry," Chase said, tiredly. She forced a smile as Coyote gave her a quick inspection.
"Training?" he asked finally. She nodded.
"Just finished."
"She scored eighty-six," Ari added, pulling on a short curly lock of black hair.
"Can't wait until we get out of Zion," Coyote said wistfully. "After we go in for the recharge, Nadir's going to get a new assignment inside the Matrix. By then, you two should just about be ready for your visits to the Oracle. Then your own assignments."
"The Oracle?" Ari asked excitedly. She couldn't wait.
"Own assignments?" Chase demanded.
"But you never heard that from me," Coyote added hastily. "It's a surprise. Okay?"
"We didn't hear a thing," Chase said with a smile. She continued down the corridor. With a quick wave to Coyote, Ari followed her.
She was so excited and nervous about seeing the Oracle, a woman who knew everything, according to Coyote.
Later that day, at mealtime, Ari dropped into her usual place beside Chase. The mess hall, like the rest of the ship, was mainly metallic. The rest of the crew sat there, too, eating their protein-rich, ultra-healthy, ultra-tasteless goo placidly.
The Nadir held a small crew of six. It wasn't a large hovercraft, so six (and captain) was a perfect number for them. Apart from Ari and Chase, there was Lunar, Coyote, Specter, Citadel and the captain, Glyph.
Lunar was the operator, the only Zion-born human on board the ship. She sat beside Citadel, like always, her long strawberry blonde hair tied hastily into a ponytail. She had no plugs, and therefore couldn't jack into the Matrix. But the others couldn't use the Matrix without her sitting at her station watching over them. She had a pointy nose and was kind of bulky, far from petite, although completely lovely.
Her ex-partner, Citadel, sat to her right. His brown hair was worn casually and short. He had escaped from the Matrix at age nine, twenty years ago. Ari didn't know an awful lot about their relationship, but she was pretty sure that for years, Lunar and Citadel had been lovers, even having a daughter, seven-year-old Shelbie, who now lived in Zion with Lunar's brother. Now they had separate rooms, but they remained great friends.
Specter was the oldest member of the crew, older than forty-five, although Ari wasn't sure how much. He had a naturally tanned complexion, and kept his head shaved. And he always wore a gold ring, no matter what. He was a little grumpy, and loved to talk about his military training in Zion years ago.
Coyote was the easiest to relate to. He got along with everyone, understood everyone, and, in turn, everyone liked him. He had messy reddish hair and freckles, and he was tall and a little gangly. Ari just adored his faint Scottish accent.
Captain Glyph was respected by all of these people. He was one of the most relaxed and flexible-natured captains in the Resistance, enjoyed a good joke, but made sure that things went according to the rules and didn't let things get out of order. His light blonde hair was worn tidily in a ponytail and he had amber-brown eyes, like an eagle's. He was athletic and strong, the ideal physical structure for a captain.
Right now he was discussing the trip to Zion for a recharge with Specter, the usual pilot.
"It should only take less than fifteen hours from this depth," Glyph said thoughtfully. "We should download some more training simulations into Nadir's memory banks for the girls."
"Sir, how long will we be in the city?" Specter asked curiously. Both Lunar and Citadel looked up with interest. Ari knew they were looking forward to spending time with their girl.
"Not too long – maybe thirty-five hours," Glyph decided. "That should be sufficient."
"I'm sick of Zion," Ari complained. "What are we going to do after that?"
"Oracle," Glyph said simply. Both girls perked up after that piece of interesting, official news. That would be exciting. They just didn't know to what extent. "New assignment."
The trips to and from Zion were always dead boring. There was nothing to do but clean, and you couldn't watch the others jack into the Matrix. Sure, you could take part in some training simulations, but other than that… Well, it was just worse. No one had much interesting to say or do, so for fifteen hours, no one did anything. Except clean.
Ari loved being in the cockpit when they entered the gates of Zion. She enjoyed watching the giant mechanical doors open, welcoming them inside the underground cavern of a city.
She was even happier when Specter and Glyph offered to let her pilot the ship through the gates and into the docks. She loved any chance to pilot the ship, but they had never given her this difficult opportunity before. They must trust her a lot to let her try.
"I'd love to," she said, truly honoured, and took a seat in the pilot chair. She took a hold of the controls and placed the headset on. Someone was trying to contact them. She opened the line.
"This is the Nadir approaching and requesting entrance into Zion through gate two," Ari said smoothly and without falter.
"Nadir is cleared through gate two, and allowed to dock one," the man on the other end of the line answered. The huge doors at the end of the tunnel opened in the middle, revealing the light behind them, and, very carefully but also confidently, she flew the hovercraft through them and into the metallic docks. She landed perfectly.
Glyph slapped her shoulder cheerfully.
"That was perfect. You'd make a good pilot some day, you know," he said, making her practically glow with pride.
The lot of them filed off the ship into the city. There was a small crowd of people waiting for them.
"Ma! Daddy!" a little girl in the crowd squealed. Little Shelbie, a dark blonde, pointy-nosed, round-eyed seven-year-old angel, bolted free of the crowd. Lunar knelt down and opened her arms to her daughter, catching her in a hug. Citadel grinned and scooped the little girl up as soon as she had broken away from her mother.
Specter's twenty-three-year-old twin son and daughter met him with claps on the back, hugs and cheerful smiles; his daughter was Coyote's latest girlfriend, and she greeted him with a kiss. Glyph smiled upon seeing his wife Lucky in the crowd, with a small bundle in her arms – their three-month-old boy Helix, whose untimely birth was the reason for their first, only and early return to Zion seven weeks ago, when Glyph gave up trying to restrain going home to meet his son.
Ari stood beside Chase, her only family.
"Hello, girls," someone said. Both of them glanced to the left and spotted their other family, Teardrop and Cinnamon Brown, their other two greatest friends in Zion, and also their flatmates of many years.
"You didn't think we'd let you arrive not greeted, did you?" Cinnamon asked with a grin as Ari and Chase hurried up to her and Tear.
"I don't know," Ari said with a grin, clasping Cin's hand in hers and embracing her lightly with the other arm in a tomboyish fashion. Chase and Tear, the sentimentalists, hugged tightly and beamed at each other.
"You two rebels want to come and sit down with the old gang?" Cinnamon asked.
"The old gang?" Chase asked sceptically, releasing Teardrop. "We've been gone seven weeks, and we were never a gang."
"Us, and Alloy…"
Ari nodded and followed, but her mind was still in the ship, where her daydreams of piloting, jacking into the Matrix and visiting the Oracle still awaited her.