Title: The Best Homework Excuse Ever

Rating: PG-13. The language here is about as bad as you'll hear in high school, which is the age that all of our readers are of or above. If you have not yet entered high school, then you shouldn't be reading this.

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: Hey all, I wrote this chapter and it didn't take my two months or something I hope you like and a warning, there is a lot of language towards the end of this. Hope you enjoy

THE BEST HOMEWORK EXCUSE EVER: Chapter 18

They were in the Matrix on a routine 'sleepover' – they were jacked in for a 36-hour shift together with the intention of watching Stark from a close distance and with the entire crew of the Nadir watching their every move, ready to jump in and help at any time. Captain Glyph himself was spending tonight at a bus stop two blocks away, guarding the exit. He was close enough that he could help the girls if they needed help, and yet far enough away that he wouldn't encroach upon their independence.

Glyph really was a fantastic guy. The girls had been observing Stark from the Nadir for three weeks now. Every few days, Glyph had taken them on day trips into the Matrix to out-of-the-way Internet cafes to research their subject. Once he was sure they'd learnt enough, he'd dropped the bombshell – he trusted their sensibility, responsibility and their knowledge thus far enough to allow them almost complete creative license for the rest of this task. Chase and Ari had planned their operation exactly and had their proposition back to their captain within two days. And so he had granted them 36 consecutive hours inside the Matrix – the longest shift allowed by law for anyone aged under twenty-five. Fully-trained adults could stay in the Matrix, unconscious and on virtual life-support, for 50 hours before they had to be either (by Zion law) jacked out via an exit, or unplugged (killed by default). Staying in for long periods of time had been proven to be mentally and physically damaging.

The girls had 36 hours living inside an empty apartment in Jai Matthews' building to watch him and eventually establish contact. Glyph had promised he would not interfere – he wanted them to feel free to act the way they felt they needed to, without his authoritative presence pressing upon them. He had so much trust for them, it made Ari smile. The captain would wait by the exit all night, and then swap shifts with Citadel in the morning.

The 'ping' sounded in the elevator as the doors slid open to reveal a damp, dimly lit hallway. Ari looked up from her daydream and visibly shuddered when the smell of mold and old pizza boxes attacked her.

"You've got to be kidding me," Chase whispered from behind Ari, as though afraid to wake the residents of the disgusting place. In truth it was late evening – everyone was inside their apartments, watching talk shows. "It's… gross. It's like the Oracle's place… except worse, and I didn't think you could get worse than that."

Ari turned to her counterpart and smirked. This will definitely be interesting. She couldn't wait to see how Princess Chase survived. Zion and the real world were a bit icky and primitive, but the grossness of Stark's building was probably beyond Chase's tolerance levels. Picking up two of bags of their equipment, Ari took in a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator.

"Ok, let's get to it. Oh my god, Chase, we're doing it! Our first mission, it's going to be so damn awesome." They both giggled as they lugged their bags down to the end of the hallway to the one marked with no. 106.

"I thought we were in 109…" Chase said, looking up and down the hall.

"We are." Ari flipped the last digit back up. "This place is not worth the money we aren't paying for it. Ok, let's put our knowledge into practice" Chase pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and laid into the lock, a slow click shortly following. She opened the door to an overwhelming stench of mould and rat poison.

"Oh, now you've got to seriously be kidding me!" she exclaimed, upset, as they both drew back. Ari pulled their packs in and dumped them on the faded lounge chair, pulling out the computer gear as Chase slowly closed the door behind them. She was probably afraid to lock herself in.

"Ok, let's just get set up first before it gets too late and do the quiet neighbour thing," Ari said, taking charge in light of Chase's obvious weakness. "Hang low… Did I just say that?"

"Yes, yes you did. Be afraid, Ari." Chase giggled as Ari pretended to throw a cushion at her. "I'm going to see where the rooms are. Please let there be a non-lice-infested bed, PLEASE!"

Ari smiled after Chase, thinking how she thought she'd have a hard time. Pulling out the shiny, never-before-touched laptop, she cleared a space on the coffee table and plugged it in. It's been too long, she thought, logging into her old msn account and finding it suspended. That's right; it would have shut down after three years. Sighing, she started up another account; and went back to her unpacking. It was strange to be back, there was this feeling of belonging. No, I don't belong here, I never did.

Chase had searched the flat and picked out the main room for herself and the other room for Ari. Ari chucked her small bag on the floor and collapsed onto the bed not bothering to take off her boots. The room brought back memories of her home, the dingy basement (so out of place in the elegant home) she knew as her refuge with her computer. This was better though. No ignorant mother always shrugging her off, never noticing her at all. No arse of a brother that abused her to get money for his damn cigarettes. As the memories flooded back to her Ari laid back, tears rolled freely down her cheeks. How long had it been since she'd cried last? Forever? How long had it been since that life? Three years. Only three years? She curled into a ball and let the tears slowly trickle down her cheek, across her nose, relishing the feeling of freedom she received. She should be like Chase and cry all the time for no reason instead of not crying for years and years and then walking into a strange room and turning into a fountain. Right then there was a soft knocking at her door. She sat up quick, and tried to wipe away the tears as the door opened, not in time though.

"Ari, I… Ari are you ok?" Chase demanded, walking right in. Ari inwardly cursed herself for showing a weakness and tried to smile. This was hers and Chase's first mission, their dream, and here she was moping over something past.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't look it. What's wrong? You can tell me, Ari," Chase added softly, sitting beside her friend and brushing back curly tendrils of mahogany purple hair. Ari bit her lips and took in a shuddered breath. She's your best friend, almost your sister or twin, she reminded herself, finally letting her emotions pour out.

"It's just this place, being back in the matrix and everything. It reminds me of home and… how shit it was." Ari sighed and took a great interest in the hole in the blanket. "My mum, she didn't care about me at all. I was just another person to her, not her own child. Even when I was sent to hospital after… after cutting myself, she just said that something about 'teen culture' and went back to her work. I was nothing to her." Ari glanced down at her black cuffs. They covered up her entire wrists. She suddenly felt a need to see her smooth white wrists, pulling them off to reveal the thick white scars running down her wrist. Oh God, they're back. She didn't have them in the real world – she hadn't realised that she still had them here. Chase reached over and covered them up, tightening the leather cuffs.

"They'll always be there, Chasey," Ari said dejectedly, not bothering to stop her. "They're part of me, that's why they're still there even after all these years-"

"Those aren't yours, Ari," Chase snapped, sounding surprisingly firm. "You didn't do that to yourself and none of that happened to you."

"What are you talking about? Of course it did. It happened to me. I did cut myself – I made those scars."

"No, that was Kye Sanders, a lonely girl with crap parents from a different time," Chase said, securing the second cuff. "That wasn't Ari. That wasn't the girl that can kick anyone's arse, and that I hold as the closest friend I have. Ari, my sister, my best friend, would never do that to herself. You aren't Kye Sanders anymore, remember that."

Ari ran her hand over her other leather cuff and smiled at Chase, wiping away her stray tears. "Thanks, Chase. That means a lot. I'm alright now."

Chase smiled back and got up, "Glad to help. I'm going to go check out the building. Lunar said the phone lines were in the basement; I'm going to try to bug Stark's phone. See what interesting goss we can get."

"Yeah, I'll go put those cameras up around. I wonder what happens in that elevator."

Chase pulled a face at Ari and closed the door behind her. Ari got up and pulled out her leather jacket, pocketing the spy cameras. She left the apartment after Chase grabbing a bag of rubbish as an alibi.

Pulling out the tiny cameras she placed them around the hallway and in the elevator. Getting rid of the rubbish she went back to the apartment but stopped when she heard the click of Stark's door opening. He was walking towards her before she could react. This is your chance, she started walking towards him and 'accidentally' bumped into him.

"Oh, sorry."

The deep voice made Ari look up at him, losing herself in his eyes. She smiled at him, "Sorry, that was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going." He stood there, staring at her but shook his head when he noticed Ari's smirk.

He cleared his throat. "Are… are you visiting someone?"

"Oh, no. I just moved into no. 109. I was just looking around but I have to get back, lots of cleaning to be done. That place is a dump." She moved to her door taking a last glance as she went into the apartment. He was still staring after her. He does have the body, nice!. She giggled as she closed the door. Damn she was good.

Chase walked in a short time later and sat next to Ari, who was setting the cameras up on the computer.

"I saw Stark at the elevator. He is hot. It's like you can't help but make a pass at him."

"Yeah, I know," Ari answered, throwing a grin in Chase's direction. "Ok, all we have to do now is wait for the Matthews' to leave and I can slip this note onto his desk."

Chase took the note from Ari and read it out.

"'Stark, meet us at the Lake, 10 pm Tuesday. Come and find everything you have been looking for. –Ari'… A little ambiguous isn't it?"

"Yeah, well, we can't give away too much. Plus, what guy could resist that invitation?"

"True." Chase yawned, and then stretched, cat-like. "Ok, well, I'm going to get some sleep. You ok with keeping watch?"

"Yeah, night."

Ari made a coffee and tried to get as comfortable as she could on the over-springy couch. She had almost dazed off when she noticed Stark's door opening once again and several people file out. They must be his family. She waited for the elevator doors to close before she slipped out of the apartment and over to his. Gently opening the lock, again with Chase's bobby pin, she slipped into the apartment. It was the same layout as her apartment but the floors were cluttered with clothes and other rubbish. Grimacing she stepped over a pile and crept further into the room. She could only imagine how little princess Chase would react to this place. Probably wouldn't enter. Lucky it was Ari who got this task then.

There were only three rooms in the apartment but it seemed that Jai had to share with his younger brother. The room was scattered with toy dinosaurs and metabots on one half, the other was relatively clean with a computer tucked into the corner. How cute. Ari inspected the desk. It was littered with printouts of emails and internet banking transfers (probably illegal). A few long-empty coffee mugs served as paperweights. Ari placed the note between the keys of Jai's computer's keyboard and left the room.

She was walking back to the apartment's entrance when the scraping of a key sounded from the front door. Her heart stopped when she couldn't find anywhere to hide. The door opened and a young girl with curly brown hair ran in, grabbing a pink jacket off the back of a chair in the lounge room. She ran back out the door, slamming it shut behind her as Ari slipped down from the ceiling breathing hard. That was too close. She waited by the door until there was no more noise and slipped back to her apartment. She closed the apartment door behind her and took a deep breath and headed to her room. They could go 'save' Jai in the morning, now it was time to sleep.

---

"You cheating bastard! It's just you, isn't it? You fucking said you were finished with this crap! No more getting drunk with college girls, no more cheating after I took you back. And now this!"

Ari shot up in bed, woken by the high-pitched shrill coming from outside her room somewhere. She stumbled out of her bedroom and into the lounge room where Chase was staring intently at the monitors.

"What the hell was that? I was sleeping, damn it," Ari mumbled, trying look alert and not to yawn.

"You have to see this; he's getting torn into shreds!" Chase commented. Ari dropped down next to her and looked at the screens. Jai was standing in the hallway being berated by a gorgeous girl of oriental characteristics. There was no need for audio, she was screaming loud enough to be heard five blocks away.

"Please Ella, what did I do?" Stark's innocent voice could be heard through the door nearby.

"What did you do? What did you fucking do? How could you cheat on me!" shrieked the teenaged girl, who had to be Ella.

"What? Look, it was nothing. Maria's a liar. What did she tell you?"

"Maria! You mean there's a Maria and an Ari? I can't believe you! You are a total wanker!"

Ari and Chase looked at each other. Ari murmured a hardly audible, "Oh shit."

"Well that didn't fit," Chase said. She sat back from the screens while Jai struggled to redeem himself. "Ari, what did you do?"

Ari looked wide-eyed at Chase. "I didn't do anything. I just passed him in the hallway but I didn't tell him my name and… Oh, the note. She found the note! I left it on his desk. This isn't good."

"What's that in her hand?" Chase asked, squinting at the screen. Ari did the same, screwing up her eyes to better see Ella's right hand. It was a tight fist that held something that looked like a bunch of paper.

"The note. It must be."

"Are you sure? It doesn't just look like a small note, there's something more. The last thing I want is for Jai's angry ex to walk out of here with something incriminating like hacked bank details or something."

"Why would she have something like that?"

"Did Jai have anything like that on his desk?" Chase asked. Ari thought for a second and nodded.

"Yeah, he did. A few downloaded bank statements with illegal transfers here and there. Nothing unusual for someone like him or us."

"But still not legal," Chase said, "and I don't want the police involved. That would make this way too difficult for us."

Ari realised this was true. Glyph would never ever allow them to continue if there was a risk like law enforcement. On the screen, Ella was waving the sheet of paper.

"This proves everything I've ever thought of you, Jai," she said furiously. "You're just as low and completely despicable as I always knew, and now I have proof, right here."

"We need that paper," Ari said, heading for the door.

"Wait!" Chase called, following quickly. "We don't know if it isn't the note. Be cool." Ari opened the door and walked out but stopped dead when a pair of angry brown eyes fixed upon her. Chase almost walked into her. Jai turned to look at the girls and raised his eyebrows in shock, looking them both up and down.

Ella broke down, tears pouring down her cheeks. "You can't even pay attention to me when we are having a goddamn fight! You are always perving on other girls. That's it! I'm leaving you for good this time!"

It seemed that almost everyone in the building was standing against the walls of the corridor, nosily observing the unfolding action. When Ella exclaimed that, there was an audible, shocked, collective intake of breath.

"And these," Ella cried, waving the papers in her hand at Jai. He reached for them but she snatched them away and began to read them in her raised, teary voice: "'Sometimes I look at photos of us together and wonder why we ever broke up – we were so hot together. I can't stop thinking about the time we…' I don't even want to know what Kathy thinks about." Ella wiped her cheek dry and shuffled through the papers, obviously not evidence of illegal bank transfers. "Your reply to that: 'Kathy, I don't know how many times I have to say it, I never wanted it to end, I've have you back in a second. I've matured and I think we have another shot'. Please. You, mature? And then there's one from Talitha. Isn't she, like, fourteen? Practically a little kid. 'Thanks so much for coming over, Jai, I've never had a better Friday night in'. You told me you couldn't come to Bernadette's party because you were babysitting."

"I was babysitting!" Jai argued. "Talitha usually has boring old babysitters-"

"Oh, I'll bet none of them are as fun as you," Ella said scathingly. She threw the papers at him, "To think you print out your slimy, disgusting e-mails! You filthy pig!"

"Ella, this is stupid-" Jai began, but Ella cut him off by slapping him across the mouth. He went silent, stunned.

"That's right, Jai, just be silent," she said softly. "You're nicer that way. Close your mouth. Everything that comes from your mouth is shit, and I don't want to hear anymore." She walked off, giving him one last indignant look as the elevator doors closed behind her.

Chase tugged on Ari's sleeve, " I think we should go back inside now." Ari nodded and walked back inside. They turned to the monitors and saw Jai pick up the papers, stopping at the small hand written note from Ari. He seemed to be smiling and stuffed it in his jacket pocket.

---

:Stark: says: Who r u?

-Ari- says: I'm the one you have been waiting for; I have your answers, Stark.

:Stark: says: u r the 1 who left the note?

-Ari- says: Yes, meet me at the lake and everything will become clear.

:Stark: says: how do i know this isnt jst some set up how do i no u rnt some old guy with weird fantasies?

-Ari- says: I'm not. My trust is all I can offer.

:Stark: says: wat if dats not enuff?

-Ari- says: Then you're not who we're looking for. The Matrix has you.

:Stark: says: can u tel me bout the matrix?

-Ari- says: Yes, we can. Do you trust me, Jai?

:Stark: says: … how do u no my name?

-Ari- says: I know a lot more than that, so much more. Meet me there.

:Stark: says: how can I tel you apart from the homles ppl who live at the lake

-Ari- says: You will know us. There will be two of us. The answers are out there.

-Ari- Appears to be offline.