Chapter 8: Other than the Matrix

Date: Approx 2203

Time: -

Area: Tunnels of the Real

The Nosferatu sat dormant on the composure of rock and metal that made up the ground it sat upon, and the walls that surrounded it. The tunnel was dark and damp, hues of depressing blue fading off into black as the rock and wires and pipelines stretched off into the dark. The Nosferatu itself was one of the larger hover crafts, the largest hovercraft Zion had next to the Mjolinr, both ships in the large class. It had at least 12 pads, and it looked like a large control center building as it sat in the dark with steam all around it on the floor. Aside from all the pads, there were four antennae for transmissions, and fourteen gun turrets.

Since it was the largest ship the Resistance had with them, it was crowned their flagship, and it's Captain, Blood, the leader of the fleet. Blood was one of those tough-as-nails types of people. One could tell by the scars on his face that he had experience with this life and how to live it. He was a man they could depend on and trust, wise and with a few tricks up his sleeve for anyone who tried to come after them, man or machine.

In the core of the ship, the four who had just had a run in with Morpheus's crew were being unplugged from their chairs. Blood got up from his chair and looked at the others. "Is everyone okay?" he asked.

Balthasar sat up from his chair and pushed his hair away from his face and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. What about the others?" Sonia's eyes opened and she inhaled. After blinking a few times, she exhaled.

"Are you alright?" Blood asked her, looking at her vitals screen.

She nodded. "Mhmm."

Leon shook his head when he sat up and looked around. "What an unexpected pain in the ass that was." He looked over to Sideways. "Didn't you see those guys waiting for us?"

Sideways, the Nosferatu's Operator, looked up from his screens. "I was concentrating on getting that exit up fast enough before any Agents began to chase you again, alright? I can't do everything, I'm only human."

Leon rolled his eyes. "Whatever.."

"Hey!" Balthasar called out. "Both of you shut up, I'm not in the mood to hear it, I was just getting shot at."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Nitro said as he put the last insertion needle back onto its rack. "Hot shot over here hit Morpheus, twice."

Sideways chuckled. "Yeah, that was great. Score for Balthasar!"

Balthasar grinned and nodded. "Yeah, that's right. I did hit him. Maybe he won't be so zealous and macho next time we meet."

Blood walked around so he could join into the conversation. "I couldn't believe he had the balls to show up and try to kill us right there. If we find his ship he'll be sorry."

Leon arched a brow "Oh yeah, when was he allowed to get a new ship?"

Blood scratched the back of his neck to take care of an itch. "He was granted a new one when Hamann made him the head of Zion's Matrix Corps shortly after this war began. He believed our job wasn't over in the Matrix even though there was peace, and Hamann thought the same. Remember when he let the Nebuchadnezzar leave after Lock called back every ship because he thought something about the oncoming sentinels could be done in the Matrix?"

Sonia nodded. "Yeah, I remember watching it leave and wondering why it was being allowed to leave in the first place. Both of them are crazy."

"You can say that again," Leon claimed. "In either case, now our reason for going into the Matrix is the same as it was before: To find a way to destroy it."

"A lot of work five ship crews are going to have to do." Sideways said.

"We'll pull it off, trust me. A free mind's more effective than a closed one. It'll be destroyed before you know it."

"Okay, enough with the wishing and hoping, we're off. Let's see if we can find something new besides uncharted tunnels. Nitro, come with me."

Nitro nodded and he followed Blood off to the cockpit. The other three looked at Balthasar.

"Sideways, I want you to monitor sentinel activity," Balthasar ordered.

"Sonia, Leon, do whatever you want, I don't care."

Leon gave Sonia a suggesting look with a nod, and Sonia shrugged back. Leon tilted his head forward slightly, and Sonia's eyes widened a bit. Leon shoved her and she smirked and shove him back. He went to shove her back again but she ran off and he chased her. You could hear their giggles as they ran off down the corridor.

Sideways looked at Balthasar and he rolled his eyes. "I can't be a hypocrite. Why deny it?"

Sideways shrugged. "I don't know man, you just go with the flow." Balthasar shrugged and walked behind the consoles, grabbing a swivel chair and setting it behind Sideways before sitting himself down. Rather than being situated in some random spot on the ship, the consoles and monitors were wired and attached to the wall a few feet from the chairs, on top of a grated floor, with wires hanging down above him and pipes all around him. The chairs were over to Sideways's left. Behind him, the ship's fuses. He typed in a a few commands and the three central monitor panels displaying the code script of the Matrix switched to three different HUD screens. One displayed sonar readouts, one displayed radar readouts, and the other displayed what the camera's in front of the ship could see, that way, Sideways could see what they saw.

A few of the smaller screens switched to display things such as proximity, power display, and hull integrity. Some of them also displayed the matrix script code so that it could still be checked on without being in the way of monitoring sentinel activity. Sideways spoke into the headset. "Alright cap, me and Balthasar are ready. Nothing near us at the moment."

"Alright. We're setting off," Blood answered. He flicked the right switches and pushed the necessary buttons while Nitro started up the ship's holographic and navigational systems. Blood flicked three main switches to his left on a panel full of the critical controls, and Nitro pulled back on an overhead lever. The lights glowed as they lit up, luminating the inside of the cockpit, and the hum of the pads coming to life followed. The ship rocked and dropped a bit when the landing gears were taken up into the ship, but remained hovering nonetheless.

Gripping his controls, Blood spun the ship around 180-degrees while Nitro kept it steady, and then they headed off down the tunnel the same way they had come earlier before landing in that area. The pads gave off light blue trails as the ship flew, and the light that came from them lit up the tunnel before them. It wasn't long before they came to a crossroad of sorts. One path leading straight up from their current position, one going down on a slant, and then the tunnel continued forward and downward. Since they had previously come from the path leading down, Blood and Nitro exchanged looks as they thought of which way to go.

Blood nodded his head forward and Nitro nodded. Turning back to the paths that lied before them, they continued on the path leading forward. The ship buzzed as it flew down the tunnel, lined with pipes jutting out from the top and bottom and running along the path. The tunnel began leading downward, and so, the ship tipped down with it. It straightened out after a while, so Nitro tipped the ship's rear down slightly to prevent crashing and causing a ruckus. The radio began to crackle, and someone's voice came through.

"Heading off?" the voice asked. Blood identified it as the voice of Vega, Captain of the Merciless. He grabbed the receiver and brought it up to his face.

"Affirmative. We're seeing if we can find anything interesting. What about you?"

"Same thing, we'll be heading opposite your direction though. Going anywhere special?"

"We're taking an uncharted route that's currently just going straight ahead. Looks like it'll stay that way. Any sign of anything we should be worried about?"

"We thought we detected another ship before but whatever it was it left pretty quick. Crew started scaring themselves saying it was a ghost ship."

"Heh, you never know out here. We'll see you later, we're gonna maintain radio silence from here on out."

"Alright, good luck. Don't do anything I wouldn't."

"Right, right." Blood sighed as he hung the receiver back up and switched off the radio. Nitro listened in on that sigh. "Something the matter cap?"

"It's just the irony of it all," he answered. "What do you mean?"

"We left Zion because we thought living there with the machines at large would be a risk. We're at more of a risk out here going into uncharted areas than we were living in Zion."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point. But we're out here for a good reason. The ones back at Zion don't want to be a part of this anymore. So, leave them behind. Those fit will be the survivors."

Blood simply nodded in response as he thought of it. The tunnel stretched on forward and remained this way for a while with no tunnels branching off on the sides for about a hundred miles. They were the bullet, slowly traveling down the barrel of the gun. Blood turned on the microphone on his headset.

"Anything Sideways?"

"Nothing boss. Smooth ride so far."

"Good. Tell me when something comes up."

"You got it."

He shut the microphone off and typed a command into the keyboard before his piloting joysticks, speeding the hovercraft up a bit.

"Getting impatient?"

"Getting bored."

Nitro chuckled and checked the holographics. "This should bring some sunshine to your day."

"Don't play with me."

"No, I'm serious. The tunnel moves up and branches off up to the right. To the left is what looks like a desolate factory that was used for construction."

"Where are we?"

"300 kilometers below a stretch of mountains."

"A construction factory in the middle of the mountains? Never mind, the turn is coming up now." Gripping his controls, Blood turned the ship so that the stern swerved 90-degrees left, while Nitro took care of stabilizing the ship. The climb before them was pretty steep.

"Gee you really find the good spots don't you?" Blood asked.

Nitro's forehead wrinkled. "What? You wanted to go this way!"

Blood hit him in the shoulder. "No bitching. Don't make me drop you off before one of the Zion gates."

Nitro shuck his head. "Alright, alright."

Blood turned his headset on again. "Balthasar, Sideways, hold something, we're going up and we're making a tilt that might throw you into a wall."

Balthasar and Sideways exchanged looks. "Uh, thanks," Sideways responded.

Balthasar rose from his seat quickly and poked his head down the hallway leading to the quarters. "Hey! Love birds! Vertical tilt, find something to hold onto!"

Leon and Sonia, who lay under covers, looked at each other with an alarmed look. They both frantically looked for something to hold onto before Leon came up with an idea. "Let's just sit up against the wall!" So, they did. Needless to say, their bare upper bodies were exposed, but nonetheless, if the ship tilted any, they'd be in a reclined position. After letting a few minutes pass by, Blood and Nitro pushed the ship forward and up. The whole ship tilted back until it had nearly turned upwards 90-degrees going straight up.

"Boost power to the pads!" Blood shouted, but Nitro was two steps ahead of him, already typing in the commands. The pads glowed brighter, with more white and electric blue bolts moving from the pads to the tunnels that surrounded the ship. After increasing the ship's speed, Blood pushed his joysticks forward. Balthasar and Sideways held onto their chairs for dear life, and Leon and Sonia laughed as though it were a roller coaster ride.

Blood and Nitro were doing all of the work and it wasn't a walk in the park. Soon enough, they came out of the top of the tunnel, and they straightened the ship out so that it floated as though it were idle. Blood and Nitro took a look at what they were in. The ship floated amidst a waste factory, compacting, melting, and burning wasted over materials the machines had used for power and construction. The chamber was rather flat in shape, and lined with furnaces. Steam and smoke rose from underneath the ship, and went out through the shaft that was above the ship in the chamber.

Nitro studied the holographics. "This is new. Well, ancient. It's been around for years according to the return readouts, but we've never seen it before. You know what it is?"

Blood looked at the furnaces and noted how the steam and smoke moved from under them and rose above them. He looked up the shaft, lined with pipes, grates, conduits, batteries, and tried to see what it lead to. Then there was a flash in the smoke. But then Blood realized it wasn't smoke. Thunder cracked like a whip. It was then he realized that the shaft led up to the surface. "We're in an exhaust shaft. The furnaces are disposing the waste from that factory we passed before. Boost the power to the bottom pads, we're going up."

Nitro's eyes widened. "We're going to the surface!?"

"We're so far away from Zion and the rest of the ships. It's worth a shot, we've never seen this part of the world before."

"Well, I guess we have no choice. Let's go."

Shifting the power to the lower pads, Nitro made sure the ship didn't tilt or slide as it floated up in it's regular horizontal position. Blood's eyes followed the pipes and cables that lined the shaft as they ascended, and he kept alert. The ship was moving slow, but steady none the less. Static bolts generating from the pads would every so often zap out onto the shaft's inside. The shaft itself was big enough to fit two Large class hover crafts into. Above the opening of the shaft, lightning broke the clouds followed by the rumble of thunder, highlighting the wreckage below.

The Nosferatu rose out with steam and smoke from the top of the shaft, that was lined with a teeth-like crown of sorts. Spinning the ship around, Blood and Nitro surveyed the land before them. Huge, destroyed towers rose up from the ground, amidst the fallen debris. Buildings lay decimated and crumbling, with parts of machinery all over the place. It was rare that any of them saw the surface. It gave gave them a creepy feeling, a feeling that said "This is what lays above you while you are deep underground. The graves of your fallen ancestors," as though their ghosts may be walking amongst the ruined cities.

Lightning flashed again, and something caught Blood's eye. In the mountains that were the wall behind the city wreckage, he saw a carved out passage tunnel, just big enough for the Nosferatu to fit into.

"There," he pointed. "The tunnel. Something's behind the mountains."

Nitro nodded and pushed the ship forward, and with a loud buzzing hum, the ship sped quickly towards the hole. "It's conveniently big enough," Nitro commented.

"It could have been used by people once with ships like these," Blood answered. Nodding, Nitro drove forward into the hole, and the pads brightly lit the narrow space with a blue tint. They came out the other end, and the sight took their breath away. A huge, almost endless city lay out before them. It was obvious that the structures were human made, but it had been overrun by machines.

The scary part was, it was so much in any bad condition as it was abandoned. Power lines, nearly 1/5 the size of a Small class hovercraft, wound and twisted throughout buildings and structures. That was another thing, the buildings. Insanely tall towers rose from sections of buildings, and in between each of these square shaped sections were gaps. Very deep gaps.

"You sure you wanna go down there?" Nitro asked.

"The place is abandoned. The machines have already passed the place over. As long as we're quiet, they won't suspect a thing."

Nitro shrugged. "Can't hurt."

Blood brought the ship down into the city and in between two sections, turning around a corner as he descended. The both of them stared at the structures as they passed them by, and also looked down deeper into the gaps at what was below them.

"This is intense..." Blood managed to say in his state of awe.

"You can say that again.." Nitro replied.

Balthasar and Sideways said nothing as they watched the display. They were both alert and hypnotized by the images of this unseen city at the same time.

"We'll set down over there," Blood said pointing ahead. There sat a tremendous dome with a large 04 painted onto it. There were more power lines leading into it and out of it on the opposite side. There was a hole in the top of this dome, so Blood flew the ship in and swooped around before going in. When they did, he found a place to land and with a rumble they did so, setting down under the hole from which they entered. Sideways spoke up on his headset.

"Everything alright?"

Blood turned his headset on. "Yeah, we're fine. Any sign of sentinels?"

Sideways checked the readings, and saw no sign of anything. "I got nothing, but the readings are saying that there's a huge amount of electricity in whatever you landed us in. Do you know why?"

Blood looked at one of his side monitors to verify Sideways' claim, and he was right.

"We'll check it out," Blood said, and turned off his headset.

"So what is it?" Nitro asked. After a moment, he spoke out again. "It looks like the inside of Zion's dock."

All Blood could say was "Hmm.." Inside of this dome, a large generator sat in the center, and power lines lining the inside of the dome were all wired to it. Every so often, bolts of electricity would spark from a random power line to the generator. Considering what Nitro suggested it looked like, he compared the size of this dome to the size of Zion's dock in his head.

"This used to be a dock," he said. "When the machines came through they cleaned it out and put this huge generator in here. There's millions of volts passing through here. Now it's a power station."

Nitro's eyebrows raised up. "Are we gonna blast it?"

Blood sat there considering the effect it would have, both on the ship and the machines. "Yup." He switched on his headset again.

"Sideways, charge the EMP."

He and Balthasar exchanged looks, and Sideways shrugged, pushing down the button marked "ARM". It glowed red after being pushed down, to signify that the EMP was now ready for fire.

"EMP's armed," he responded.

Blood sat there and waited a moment. "Punch it."

With the loud sound of an electrical explosion, the blue shockwave flashed out from central area of the ship and consumed the entire dome in its blast radius. In the same instance, orange sparks exploded from every single point in the dome creating a super bright flash that could have blinded Blood and Nitro if they didn't look away.

There was a loud noise, a BAAMMMMMMM, from the millions of volts of the electric power suddenly being strangled and killed. Electrical fires broke out all over the dome and it suffered structural damage.

----

Sitting in his black chair surrounded by hundreds of screens sat The Architect, monitoring activity and anomalies all over the Matrix. Suddenly, in red blinking letters reading "ALERT: POWER LOSS" came up on all of the screens. Arching a brow as he read the message, he hit the button on his pen, bringing up damage detail. It read: "Damage suffered: 03/04 Mid-area. Time: 23:09:27:12. Cause: EMP." He sighed as though he was bored, or annoyed. "They knocked out a serious power station. Sentinels will be deployed."

----

Alarms in the ship went off, and Blood stared out at what was becoming an inferno inside the dome. Their power was out, all except for their headsets and the radar. The power array within the ship was insulated to survive an EMP. "What happened to the ship?!" Blood yelled.

"Nothing happened yet besides a power loss, but it's about to get the Osiris treatment if the auxilary power doesn't kick in soon!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Sentinels coming in fast. Whatever you did, you gave away our position and pissed them off. I count ten sentinels incoming."

"How long before they get here?"

"I'd give 'em four minutes"

"Shit. How long before the auxiliary power kicks in?"

"Three minutes!"

Blood looked over to Nitro. "Some sunshine to light my day huh?"

All Nitro could do was shrug with a "heh.."

Blood shouted back into the headset. "Is there anyway you can get that auxiliary power to charge faster, we're sitting ducks!"

Sideways typed like there was no tomorrow, accessing the ship's power setup. "I can try to reroute the power, but it might take me a few minutes."

"You have two!"

"Got it!"

Sideways began reworking the ship's power shift path, and then Leon and Sonia entered. "What's the matter, we heard sirens," Leon said.

"Turrets, now!" Balthasar answered, and the three of them ran to the nearest ladders and dropped down to the turret stations. Outside, the sentinels were getting closer and closer with that familiar whine as they tore through the air. Blood looked at the holographics.

"Where the hell did they come from?!"

Nitro shook his head hitting all sorts of switches as he turned on the ship's front turrets. "I got no idea sir, all I care about right now is getting out of this damn city before I get torn apart limb by limb."

Blood turned back to his controls. "Sideways, the power?"

"Almost finished..." Once he accessed the final circuitry path, he switched the root path so instead of the auxiliary power spreading out to the entire ship, it would go directly to the priority emergency systems and then worry about secondary circuits. Once this was finished, there was a distinct repetitive beeping noise that confirmed that the new path would work out, and the power rushed back to the ship.

As the sentinels drew nearer, the Nosferatu rose up from where it landed, spun 180-degrees and flew up out of the old dock and now useless power station. Buzzing through the city sections in the deep gaps, the Nosferatu fled, with the sentinels in pursuit.

"Can we lose them in the city?" Nitro asked as he checked the proximity of the sentinels.

"I wouldn't waste the time. If we're lucky we can get them in the tunnels."

"The tunnels? You know how far that is?"

"Yes I know how far it is, don't worry about that just worry about helping me fly this thing. Is our power back?"

"100 power, got any ideas?"

"Increase the speed."

As the Nosferatu entered the passage that was in the mountains, Nitro increased the speed to make the ship go as fast as it could go. The g-force threw him back into his seat.

"Whoa! What are you doing up there?" Sideways asked.

"Hauling ass!" Blood shouted. Coming out of the passage and passing through the wreckage of towers still standing, Blood could see the exhaust vent up ahead when he saw the smoke and steam rising out from the ruins. Nitro checked the rear visuals and saw 150 small red lights in the dark of the passage chasing after them. "Not good...They're still after us." The Nosferatu was coming over the ventilation shaft now.

"Alright Nitro, on my mark take power from the front pads and reroute it to the rear, I need a 90-degree front tilt when I come around that vent shaft."

Nitro typed in the commands. "Reroute to rear pads...90-degrees front. Waiting for your signal.."

Blood swerved to the right of the vent shaft and turned left to bring the ship so that it was facing the shaft. "Now!" Nitro activated the set commands and the stern went up into the air bringing the ship completely vertical. Nitro held onto his chair.

"Ah..shit..." he mumbled as he nearly fell out. The Nosferatu rolled as it flew deeper into the tunnel as though it were a screw. The sentinels weren't far behind. The tunnel began to bend, and they were getting closer to the point where the tunnel would cut left and begin to straighten out for about a hundred miles.

"How are we going to lose them in that tunnel?" Nitro asked.

"Get ready to tilt the ship again. Route all power from the pads to the top pads, were gonna hug the wall when we make that turn," Blood answered. He was worried about getting the ship steady before worrying about sentinels. The turn came, and a plethora of blue bolts sparked out from the pads on the bottom of the ship, pulling it closer to the wall and scratching up against it a bit, making screeching noises.

"That didn't sound so good.."

"Did we lose any pads?"

"No, hull integrity is 97. Turrets are firing away."

Bullets luminated in an orange glow flew from the turrets and were shot into the swarm of sentinels.

"Now that the ship is moving straight, it should be easy to take them out!" Blood said into his headset.

"We're working on it..!" Balthasar said through gritted teeth as he tried to stay in his seat and shoot at the same time. One of the red blips on his targeting screen disappeared. "Got one."

Leon shot down another. "Make that two!" Blood tilted his head over to Nitro as he looked straight ahead. "Find out how close we are to the mapped tunnels and increase our speed."

"Speed's as high as she goes. 17 miles from mapped territory."

"Using Zion's dock EMP's are too risky, the ship won't be able to get out and we could be captured."

"So what are we gonna do?"

The holographics console beeped, a new image was on backup display. Nitro checked to see what it was; It was the Rebellion. "Rebellion's close by."

"Call 'em." Nitro typed in "OPENTRANS\:REBLLN," and a communications link was set up. "Django you better be there I need your help!" Blood shouted into the headset microphone. He turned right into a side tunnel and cut another left. The radio crackled and Django called back. "What's wrong?"

"I have about seven sentinels chasing me, we need to set up a trap for them."

"Alright, I see you, go down the tunnel and go down the first chance you get, I'll be waiting there."

Remembering the directions Django provided, Blood sped the ship forward. "He better have a good plan."

"He's Django," Nitro said. "He's always got a good plan."

Django activated the Rebellion's propulsion system and retracted the landing gears. The ship rocked and the rest of the crew looked around.

"What was that?" Sigma asked, looking at the others. She was about 5'5, and wore dark blue pants and a white shirt.

"He's taking off," said Cable, the ship's operator. He was wearing a black short sleeved, wide collared shirt with dark blue pants and brown boots.

"Sit tight, I'll check it out," Masai said, and he went off the the cockpit. He wore a red long sleeved shirt with black pants. The ship lifted off with a forward tilt and moved out into the mainline tunnel, adjacent from where the Rebellion had taken off. Masai moved into the cockpit and sat in the passenger seat. "What's going on?"

"Nosferatu's coming in, being chased by sentinels. We gotta help him out."

"This should be fun." He grabbed an headset and turned it on. "Cable, arm the EMP, we're gonna need it in a minute."

Cable answered with an "uh-huh" and pushed the ARM button, turning on the light under the red switch. The Rebellion moved in and set down on the ground in the tunnel in a small ditch in the rock, and it sticked out just a few feet above the surface of the tunnel lining. Up ahead, Django looked out the window and saw the Nosferatu turn down into the tunnel. Then the sentinels followed after it.

"Alright Blood, you see my ship? Pass overhead and when you're out of my EMP range I'll burn the squids."

"Thanks."

"Bring up the holographics on our EMP range, Masai."

Masai brought up the holographic image and it showed an image of the outside surrounding area. It showed the tunnel, with a red ship in the middle showing the Rebellion's position. Another red ship was approaching, and that was the Nosferatu. A clear, blue tinted bubble surrounded the red icon that was the Rebellion, which showed the ships EMP range. The blast radius was 200 meters from the ship. "Here he comes.." Django said under his breath.

The Nosferatu approached and Django watched the holographics. It passed over and was almost out of the EMP blast range, while the sentinels were just coming in, not knowing the Rebellion was even there.

"Stupid squids.." Django said as the Nosferatu came out of the EMP range. "Now, Cable."

Cable turned the key and the blue electric shock wave exploded out from the ship, rocking the surrounding area. The sentinels sparked and shook violently for a moment in mid air as electric bolts passed through them. They dropped lifelessly to the ground with a "CLUNK".

"Thanks Django, I owe you," Blood said into his headset.

"Don't mention it. What happened out there?"

"We found something, then we wrecked it."

"What was it?"

----

Nothing like the taste of pure Italian wine. Captain Raven of the Vendetta thought to himself, sipping the glass he had poured, placing the bottle on his oak desk as he drank. He savored at the sweet and yet sour liquid, the same liquid that nearly a millenia ago that had been drunk by Julius Caesar and the great Emperors of Rome. Or at least, it was supposed to be, had Raven not known better. As one of the Resistance captains, he was fully aware of the Matrix and the conflict going on in the outside world, but he didn't let it deny him the pleasures of his life.

There he was, in his office at the top of the tower. Right now, he was posing as the CEO of a software corporation called the Rivermore Corporation, a proud company that boasted for its support to the United States military and several other large groups around the simulated world. While the real President of the company was currently on vacation with his secretary on a 'business trip', at least as a phone call between the President and his wife described it, Axe, the Vendetta's operator, managed to alter the last given orders so that Raven would be named CEO in his absence, at least for sometime.

It was the perfect way to create undercover operations within the Matrix that would tie the Resistance closer to the machines, as well as other things. Raven particularly enjoyed the setup, being at the top floor that overlooked the city in an office with black tile, an oak desk, a flat screen drop down TV/entertainment center with surround sound and two glass visors that surrounded the office at 90 degree angles, being divided by the entry way to the secretary's office and hall way, and the wall behind the desk that held the President's various awards, certificates and diplomas, plus three pictures, each of a friend of the Presidents. It originally had a picture of the President too, but Raven had Axe hack that out of the office and replace it with a picture of himself.

From his view point, Raven could see evening was beginning to set in through the clear sky, as darkness start to creep into the blue. He sighed at that, wishing the sky around Mega City would be more like how it was in Arizona, which had a mixture of pink, orange and yellow colors in the evening. Then again, Raven probably wouldn't have been able to put up with the simulated heat, or the desert for that matter, so he didn't complain about the chosen location for this job.

The door opened to reveal a man dressed in a white suit with knee high black boots, and a crimson red cape slung over his shoulders. If this were the ancient world, one would mistake the man for a german kaiser of sorts, judging from the ornate black lining around his white suit and the fur on the top end of the cape, which encircled the man's neck before ending at the sides. The suit was split open to reveal a black undershirt, but barely enough that one could just see a line of black in the man's attire. A

t his right side, he had a single Colt Single Action Army revolver holstered, and though it could not be seen, there was another "Peacemaker" revolver at his left, except that one was on the back of the man's left side, covered over by the cape. He had a stern look on his face, which was squared and somewhat broad, definitely specifying the man as Austrian decent. His hair was combed back, and his mustache was neatly trimmed. And finally, he wore a pair of shades that had long, slender lenses which covered his eyes entirely. He gave Raven a nod.

"What is it Arius?" Raven asked, adjusting his square shaped, shaded glasses a little.

"Our dealer is here, Captain." Arius said in a thick Austrian voice, booming and strong.

"Excellent, send him in at once." Raven spoke in a cool, yet happy tone. He himself wore a black business suit here, with a dark green dress shirt, black tie and slender black slacks with dress shoes. Everything he had on was black and dark green, aside from the gold buttons, cuff links and the button on emblem on the tie. His hair was also black, parted to the sides to make him look more like a gentleman to females and a negotiator with males. And as always, he wore glasses so no one could see to his eyes in conversations.

Arius stepped to the side and allowed a man dressed in a black jacket, black slacks, a tan dress shirt and his hair pulled back into a tight pony tail, to walk through the door. As he did, Arius took out his right revolver and began to pistol twirl it up and down in similar fashion to a cowboy.

Following was another man, dressed in an overcoat that extended to his knees, a black dress shirt and black dress pants. Curiously, the sleeves of his overcoat both had white crosses embroidered into them. Other than that, there wasn't much to discern. He wore a pair of square shades similar to Raven's, except his were reflective. As the man with the pony-tail had learned, it was impossible to see past those shades to the man's eyes, as they were as dense as a blind man's.

"Ah, Captain Anome, a pleasure that you finally arrived." Raven began, "Please, have a seat, we have much business to discuss."

"I prefer to stand." Anome stated.

"Sit down." Arius barked with thunder.

Anome immediately jumped at the man's voice, to which Raven held his arms up in the air. "It's alright, Arius. If he doesn't want to sit, then we should honor his decision. After all, Captain Anome is technically sitting down at this very moment, if you think about it. Still, for the sake of appearances, I must request you to reconsider, Anome." Raven tipped his head down to give Anome a view of his eyes, showing his enjoyment at watching the man sweat.

Anome hesitated for a moment, but complied with Raven's request, taking a seat at the front of Raven's desk. "Thank you." Raven said, also taking a seat at his chair, then proceeded to pour some more Italian wine for himself. "Would you like some as well? I know it's simulated, but one should not deny the body the enjoyment of taste."

"No, I'm here on business and business alone, Raven." Anome said in a low growl, trying to hold back the venom he felt toward this man.

Raven sipped his wine and then took a cigar out from the desk, and with it a pair of clippers. "Always business, Anome?" he sighed as he clipped the tip off the cigar, "For once, I wish Zion would get a man just like me. Someone that I can enjoy a glass of wine or smoking a cigar with."

"You never offered me a cigar."

"You want one?"

"No."

"My point exactly." Raven said, raising an eyebrow at Roland. He took a wooden match and lit the cigar, then placed it in his mouth, taking a long drag. He let out a puff of smoke and smelt the aroma. "You know, I've always wondered why Zion treats the Resistance with such hatred, like you're treating me now," he said, taking the cigar out of his mouth.

"But I can understand why you think we're villains, just..." he looked up in the air as if thinking, "What if, in the middle of the story, the protagonist decides to quit in his quest? What if, just before he fights his nemesis, he decides he doesn't want this anymore and just goes back to his home. And better yet, who is there to take his place?"

Raven grinned. "There will be no one else but the villain to take his place. Granted, the villain's role was originally to make the hero's life more difficult, but in this case, the so-called heroes quit ahead of time, leaving only the villains to slay the dragon. So tell me Anome, if the villain is fighting for the hero's cause, does that make him a villain? Even if the title remains, would it be a sin for the villain to win?"

"You, Blood and the rest are nothing more than terrorists." Anome said with an accusing tone, "Disturbing the peace between Zion and the machines just because you can't lay down your guns."

"Please, you call that peace?" Raven laughed, "To me, it takes more than a deal to create true peace. It takes an agreement between the two parties on the matters they originally disagreed on, the building of a relationship between the two races. Not some deal made between Neo and the great Lord of the Machines itself. That's why 'villains' fight on, to continue the work 'heroes' like yourself started and abandoned for some cheap ass excuse. 'Neo saved Zion... Neo this and Neo that...' Pah, the thought of a whole treaty made because of one heroic act, such hypocrisy on the heroes' part for believing it."

"It wasn't until you and the rest of your fleet went active that our relations with 01 have turned for the worse." Anome sneered, "Frankly, I don't want any part of this war."

"Then why are you here? Why did you want to make this deal with us?" Raven wondered.

Anome sighed, "Because 'General' Morpheus still thinks our job isn't finished in the Matrix, and he has ordered the remains of Zion's navy to deploy."

Raven laughed at this, "Oh, this is rich. Very rich. Like a divine comedy even." he leaned forward, "No matter what side you're on, the Matrix is still the center of attention. Tell me, is it your homesickness for Zion fueling your decision, or just your hatred for Morpheus?"

"Neither." Anome said, "I'll make this point right now, I hate the machines, and I hate the Matrix. But I don't give a damn about your crusade. If you want to fight the Matrix, that's fine with me, but I'm not on your side."

"And yet you are."

Anome sighed, "I'm merely giving you an advantage in the war." He pulled up a briefcase that he had carried into the room before, placed it on the desk, and opened it to reveal several CD cases stacked together like dollar bills, "Each of these discs contain simulacra programs that were created by Zion's coders to help its redpills fight the war. You'll be one step ahead of Morpheus and the machines, because you'll have dozens of renewable soldiers at your disposal."

"Very interesting." Raven said, pulling a CD out and looking it over, seeing his own reflection on the plastic cover. He then looked over to the man in the black overcoat. "Magnus, is he speaking the truth?"

Magnus slowly walked over to the case and looked at it. Immediately, Anome felt a cold tension wash over him, as if the coding that his RSI consisted of had fluctuated. His heart beat quickened as a result. Just what was this guy doing?

"He speaks the truth." Magnus assured, "However, our friend's neural patterns have sped up some."

"So I see." Raven smirked at the sight of a nervous Anome, "You must disregard Magnus, he has some 'sensitivity' in the Matrix. He can feel out coding and impulse patterns the same way an operator can at the console." He looked back at Magnus, "That's all I needed to know."

The man in black nodded and stepped back next to Arius, who was still pistol twirling his revolver. Raven continued to speak, "Now, the question is what's in it for you? You gave us what we want, but why did you on your own accord?"

"I want your word that you'll end this war," Anome declared.

"And how do you suppose I do that?" Raven asked.

"Figure something out." Anome said. "I don't care about Morpheus' ideals or yours, I'm sick of living like this and I want it to end."

"Please, no sob stories, they don't do anything for me." Raven griped, contemplating, "I tell you what. One of my sources in Zion is in a rather close position to your Lock. And you know how close 'Deadbolt' is to the High Council. I'll work something out with him, and you'll be on your way back to your precious city. Do we have a deal?" he reached across the desk with his right hand.

At first, Anome hesitated, feeling as though he had just sold his soul to the devil himself. As he recalled in old mythology, ravens were birds that carried the souls of the dead to heaven or hell, and right now, he didn't trust this raven at all. Still, if he or his crew were to see Zion again, then he had no choice but to make a deal with this demon.

He took the hand. "Alright," Anome said, "If you'll excuse me, I must get back to my ship." He got up and turned, walking out the door, past Arius and Magnus.

"Ever a prudent man, don't you agree?" Raven asked his two crew members.

Magnus just smirked, "I can sense his fear. Right now, he's regretting making negotiations with us, trying to find another way out of our deal."

"Shall I shoot him boss?" Arius asked, immediately grabbing the handle of his Colt in mid twirl and pointing it at the doorway.

Raven shook his head, "No, we made a deal, so we must honor it, even if he regrets it. After all, honor is one of the traits that we have that will put us above the machines." Just then, his cell phone rang. He slipped it out of his pocket, opened it and placed it at his ear, "This is Raven."

"Axe here, Captain. Just got word from the Nosferatu, I think it's something you want to hear..."

----

Morpheus sat topless on the table in the infirmary. Two wires were taped onto his chest with medical tape, taking his heart rate. Another plug was inserted into the canal in the back of his head. On a screen his vitals were displayed, recording his heart rate and brain waves. Zee came over with a syringe filled with white fluid and injected it into one of the plugs on his forearm. Morpheus gritted his teeth at the annoying sting of the needle. "Don't be a baby," Zee told him. "You'll be fine."

He smiled. "You know, for a crew mate you sure do take the liberty of making fun of your captain," he said to her.

"Yeah, well, I volunteered to come on board as a medic. Someone has to watch you guys to make sure you don't kill yourselves."

"You're just here because you think I'm crazy," he said.

"That may be a reason, but I just figured the more help you had the better."

Morpheus laughed. "Do you think we can't handle ourselves out here?"

"No, that's not it," she said as she disposed of the needle and checked the area he had been shot in. "One of the main reasons is so I know Link is okay. I figured if he wouldn't stop operating for you, then at least I could go out with him. I can handle myself around here."

He nodded. "That's true. How long have you been with us?"

"Two years."

"Ah, that's right. Two years of dependable service and not a second of doubt." She rolled her eyes and shook her head as she smiled. "Are you still hurt?"

He shook his head. "No, not really. I've been at this game long enough. Knowing it isn't real takes the pain away."

Zee came back up and began taking the wires off of him. "Yeah, well, at least it was only a 9mm round. Could have been worse," she said suggestively. There was a creaking noise of a hatch being opened. They looked over and saw Niobe coming in.

"You know," she began as he walked in, "There wouldn't be any pain if you didn't create the Matrix Corps."

Morpheus raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? I suppose you have a point, but then again, our presence in the Matrix during this war is just as important as it was during the last, maybe even more so." Zee unplugged the coaxial from his head.

"Yeah, maybe, but it's a lot more hectic. I mean, why do we even fight in there anymore? New Agent programs are so deadly, it's obvious they want us out. Five years ago I thought we had peace, and we wouldn't have to fight and live like this anymore. Don't you get tired of it sometimes?"

"Part of me agrees with you, and I want to say yes, but at the same time, I can't."

"Why not? Didn't your prophecy say The One was going to end the war and destroy the Matrix too? That turned out to be lame anyway."

Morpheus sighed, remembering how the prophecy he believed in so much was just a measure to keep him under control. "He ended the war. He did what he had to do. This wasn't planned by either side." He took a moment to think. "The reason is that the Council also thinks we need to be in the Matrix, to take care of the ships that left. That's why I'm sitting on this table anyway."

"Oh yeah, that's right. 'General Morpheus of the Matrix Corps'," she said in a mocking tone. "Jason couldn't believe that, you becoming his equivalent in another field," she said with a laugh.

"Oh yes, who could forget," he said in a concurring manner. "Victory never tasted so good. Besides, someone has to oversee Matrix activity."

"Yeah, who better than you?" she asked, drawing a look from him.

"Are you mocking me?"

She smiled. "Relax tiger, playing with you." Zee laughed to herself while she cleaned up her equipment and unplugged the heart rate monitors. Morpheus looked over and paused for a moment, then he nodded. "Alright, playtime's over. Niobe, Link is in the cockpit getting the ship ready, we're going back to Zion and you two are flying like usual, so get going.

"Yes, Captain." She said in a cool tone. She turned to walk out but just as she was about to walk through the door, she stopped and looked back. "Or is it General?"

"Move it." He said with a stare and a deep tone. She smirked and went to the cockpit.

----

Niobe and Link sat at the controls in the cockpit. They slowly drifted down an entrance tunnel approaching Zion gate six. Wires hung like vines from junctions and metal criss-crossed to form frames that loomed overhead like rafters. The gate up ahead was closed, with two turrets on either side. Every 250 feet a small cylindric object came out of the top of the entrance tunnel with a blinking blue light. These were the EMP charge defenses, some of many that surrounded Zion. Link put on a headset and turned on his holographics monitor.

"Zion control this is the Nabonidus on approach requesting access through gate four."

Behind the gate operators plugged into their chairs sat another operator, hovering over his keyboard and listening in to the conversation on his headset. His screens displayed blue code strands falling down the screen, and he logged in that the Nabonidus was incoming, then patched Link through to the control, and then monitored the procedure.

In the construct sat the six Zion gate operators clad entirely in white. An asian man pushed, pointed and dragged several boxes on the interface before him that formed pictures of the gate, the turrets, the tunnel, several trickling numbers that were statistics, and the oncoming ship. "Nabonidus, your request is confirmed, standby."

"Roger that, control." Link responded. He looked at Niobe and they smiled as if to laugh, at how many times they'd gone through this same procedure.

"This is gate control ordering a weapons stand down at gate four, the Nabonidus is coming through. Open the gates." As the Nabonidus passed by, the gun turrets disengaged. "Nabonidus, you are cleared through gate four to bay six."

"Roger that control," Link said again. The doors began to open with a loud rumble, blue light peering through. "Welcome home Nabonidus, good to have you back."

"Good to be back," Link replied.

As the Nabonidus passed through the narrow opening in the tremendously thick bay doors, some bolts shot from the pads into the doors. "The Nabonidus is through," said the operater watching the screens of blue coding. Up in the tower in the center of the dock, a gate control operator nodded upon seeing the ship pass through. "Roger that control. Zion control, standby for gate four lockdown."

The giant gears marked "ZION FOUNDRY" and the counterweights and the chains began to churn slowly. As the gate began to close, an APU stood by, armed, its guns aimed down the entrance tunnel. The huge gates closed with a SLAM, and the APU's pilot turned around and disengaged his weapons. Drifting the ship in and taking it down ever so slowly, Link guided it down into bay six. It shook as it came down, and touched down smoothly.

"The Nabonidus is down in bay six," said the gate control operator. "Roger that," the operator behind the screens of blue coding responded.

The hatch opened with a hiss. The crew- Morpheus, Niobe, Ghost, Kid, Link, Sparks, Gizmo, Hacksaw, and Zee, all walked down the ship ramp with their bags slung over their shoulder. They looked out at the dock, seeing that some other ships were also back, such as the Freedom and the Validus, two of Zion's newer ships since the others had been destroyed.

Since the other five left, Zion was left with six hovercraft, not including the new ones still being built, or the hover barges. Civilians and soldiers walked around peacefully. Calm was in the air, and the light shined down upon the dock crane on top of the gate control tower, creating quite the welcoming atmosphere. It was good to be back. Morpheus was greeted by a passerby, then he turned to the crew.

"Go on ship's liberty. Meet me in the Dead Duck at 21:00 hours, drunk or sober." Smiles came out amongst them. "Alright!" Link said, and he turned to give a high-five to the hearest person, that being Kid. He laughed. As they began to walk away, Morpheus began walking in another direction, and Niobe arched a brow.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to speak with the council. I'll be with you shortly."

She nodded and Morpheus walked off. Niobe joined up with the rest of the group as they walked down the street suspension past several people. Civilians and soldiers gave them nods as they passed by, acknowledging the fact that another crew had come home. It was a custom among the people that lived here. The mumble of the voices of so many people drowned out the sound of the footsteps clanking against the iron plated street.

Carved into the street level were innumerable stores and shops, above them, apartments and balconies that lined the cylindric area of living space that housed thousands. People flowed through the streets. Their clothes of homespun wool, denim, and leather. Carved into the solid granite walls, between homes and around red steel doors, were intricate and beautiful carvings. They navigated through thick crowds of people, humanity melting into one race.

This was the main street, full of fighters, some even children. As they walked by, they passed a workshop with children approximately twelve and thirteen years of age working on a machine. They stepped into an elevator, and came down to a street full of shops. Stepping out of the elevator, they walked down the street and stepped into a club, Dead Duck. It's a sailor joint. A not so shabby place, with beer on tap, and rum. Crew members of other ships recognized them, and greeted them with nods and hellos. They took a booth in the corner and the waitress arrived.

"Welcome home, brothers and sisters. First day back?"

"Yes, lovely." Sparks said with a wink.

"On the house then. Eight rums?"

"Sounds good." Niobe said. The waitress nodded and walked off.

"Good to be home.." Sparks said with a relaxed tone. "You can say that again," Kid added.

"What do you think Morpheus is up to?" Link asked.

"Nothing important, he went to check in with the council. Probably giving them an update." Niobe told him.

"Oh. Nothing special." Link said. He looked over at Zee. "You look better when we're here, you know that?"

The others came back with a loud "Aww!" Link and Zee smirked.

"Don't be jealous!" She said. The others laughed, and the waitress came back with their drinks. Tall glasses of rum. Hacksaw picked up his glass and the others rose theirs up.

"Live free or die fighting!" They hit their glasses together and slammed their drinks back in one gulp, and hit the empty glasses onto the table.

"How about one more round?"

They all said "Yeah!"

----

Morpheus stood before Zion's high council. "General Morpheus," Councilor Hamann called out. "You have something to report?"

"Yes Councilor, I do. An update on the war front."

"Good. How are things looking?"

"My crew and I ran into Blood's crew in the Matrix. A shootout ensued, but no one was killed. They were being pursued by an Agent, for what reason I don't know."

"Do you have any insight on their activity?" Councilor Danzer asked.

"We don't know what they are doing in the Matrix for sure, possibly looking for a way to destroy it, but we do believe they are up to something in the tunnels and on the surface that could be very dangerous."

"What do you mean?"

"Intel between our ships still out in the tunnels report that several of the Resistance ships have been moving into uncharted territory and to unseen areas on the surface to look for a way to destroy the machine city itself."

"That's preposterous!" Councilor West called out. "How do they plan to do such a thing?"

"We were wondering the same thing. The other day, Captain Jade reported that the Nosferatu passed by and was being pursued by several sentinels, and the readouts that her sensors took read that the EMP had just been fired off. After tapping into their radio frequency, it was revealed that they had taken out some sort of power station for the machines."

"They didn't even call in the attack or ask if they had the go ahead!" Councilor Undila claimed.

"Why would they? They left Zion, they wouldn't listen to us or take orders from us." Councilor Hamann said.

"We will continue monitoring their activity without their knowing as best we can. Until then, I have nothing further to report."

"Thank you General, you're dismissed." Councilor Dilliard said. Bowing his head slightly, he turned and left the chamber.

"If we don't stop them quick they'll get us all killed," she said.

Councilor Hamann let out an irritated "Hmm."

----

The Nemesis' mess hall wasn't really the most glorious looking part of the ship, but then again, not a lot of hover ships were that way. As far as old-time ship classification would be concerned, the Nemesis would be an assault cruiser, placed between the sizes of ships like the infamous Logos and the Mjolinir, as well as balanced between speed and offensive capabilities. Basically, a medium sized hovercraft, like that of the late Nebuchadnezzarand the more recent Nabonidus, in the Medium class. It was an ideal multi-task vessel that could be put on any mission front and expected to accomplish it with flying colors, thus making it suitable for a pirate band. But that still didn't leave much room for the mess hall or quartering.

As one would see, the mess hall was the same gunmetal gray colored surrounding as the rest of the ship, dank and generally unkempt. A few shoddy posters decorated the walls, one of which was a picture of Zion General Morpheus standing in his Matrix attire with sunglasses and a sheathed katana slung over his shoulder, the bottom line reading 'WE NEED A FEW GOOD MINDS. ZION WANTS YOU', a promotion for the Matrix Corps. The poster had several make shift darts embedded into Morpheus' bald head, reflecting the crew's thoughts on the poster.

The rest were several pictures of naked woman with beer bottles, beach balls, revealing clothing and other objects covering their breasts and vaginal areas or some movie posters like a 'Star Wars' poster with Boba Fett or 'Hellboy' with a picture of a big red demon brandishing a magnum revolver. There was also a movie poster for 'Harry Potter', but that one had a few metal darts through it as well. As for the room itself, it was really nothing more than a metal 'picnic table' set in the center, the galley across from that, and the entry way on the other side. Anubis was sitting at the picnic table, currently eating some makeshift oatmeal, minding his own business as usual. At the corner of the room, Solitaire was leaning against the wall, filing her nails with a make shift file.

Though free from the Matrix, Solitaire had made it a habit to take care of her body's appearance, despite the rather primitive society she now lived in. Not that she was the stereotype supermodel wannabe, it was just something she was used to in the Matrix, a habit that was hard to abandon. Much like her love for martial arts. She loved studying new forms of combat style and ways to make her body move, ways that took strength and stamina to make happen. In fact, that was the motivation that made her free her mind, the thought that she could accomplish techniques that she never thought possible. Times were tough, but she had no regrets about her decision.

There was some light music in the room, jazz playing from speakers that were placed at every corner of the room, as if the 'bloodthirsty' pirates were trying to establish a calm atmosphere. The band was unrecognizable, but one could tell the music was ripped from the Matrix. It was at this point Blade came through, in his stern attitude as always, looking ready to pick a fight. "I hope you two aren't planning to stay here all day," he said.

"Not really. After I'm done with my nails, I'm going go shopping at Times Square, then to Broadway to see Phantom of the Opera." Solitaire rolled her eyes. She spoke with a chinese accent in her voice, but unlike other members of her 'race', she could speak fluent English. "Geez, Blade, you should sit back and relax. It's not like Zion has orders for us."

"Solitaire, if you haven't noticed, we're not in Zion right now," Blade shot back. Blade was an interesting character, as he took himself as the stereotype second-in-command that would hold the ship together, even with a lazy captain and a motley crew. Difference was, Irvine was quite serious about his job, and the crew, though being pirates, were very good at their jobs, needing little to no management to keep them in line. In many opinions, Blade took his job well too seriously, always acting as though Commander Lock or General Morpheus had issued important orders to the crew for some special ops mission. Some have even questioned why Irvine took him on as his first mate, but so far, the Captain of the Nemesis has failed to give out with an explanation. "If Sentinels all of a sudden pop out of nowhere, I don't want to die because you two being lazy."

"I'm not being lazy, 'if you haven't noticed', I'm filing my nails." Solitaire stated in a matter-of-fact tone, "Even if our minds our 'free', we have to care about our bodies. It's part of our nature after all, right Anubis?"

Anubis just continued to eat his apparent snack, trying his best to ignore the two around him. He did, however, look up and give Solitaire an icy glare, one that made her regret trying to bring her apparent comrade-in-arms into the conversation. As she and the rest of the crew had noticed over the past few days, ever since his mind was freed, Anubis was a cold man, uncaring about what the rest of the crew did around him.

But Solitaire new better than to judge him here. She had seen how he fought, even before his mind was freed, when he was Daniel "the Swordsman" Lancaster, the infamous assassin for the Silver Dragons gang inside the Matrix. A cold man, but one well versed in the art of combat, especially when it came to the sword. Solitaire felt her body shiver remembering one of Anubis' little bouts in a training program.

"And what about you, Anubis?" Blade changed his direction toward the man sitting at the table, "Didn't you hear Solitaire ask you a question?" he sat down, and gave of a sneer at Anubis, who continued to eat, "What's the matter? Habla ingles? Did your vocal cords fail to generate when you were grown?"

"Leave him alone, Blade." Solitaire said, putting her file down and now looking at the table with the two men, "I thought he'd enjoy verbally making you look dumber than you are anyway."

"No, no, Solitaire." Blade replied, "I know his type, I've seen it before back at Zion."

"Here we go again..." Solitaire muttered to herself.

"Whenever a mind is freed, it's usually greeted with confusion and fear, of the regular world," Blade began to preach. "However, some new minds tend to keep quiet and not affiliate with their shipmates after being freed, because they have this little bit of hope..." he gestured with his index finger and thumb, as if he were holding a speck of dust, waving it in Anubis' face, "...that this is all a dream, that they will wake up to their regular lives in the Matrix like nothing happened. Guess what, my friend, this isn't a dream." Blade then shaped his hand into a fist and punched Anubis across the face. While Blade wasn't super strong physically, the punch was enough for Anubis' head to shift to the side.

"You see?" Blade smirked, "Life is not a dream after all."

"Ah, if I were you Blade, I wouldn't talk anymore." Solitaire said, in warning.

"What do you mean...?" That's when Blade felt all blood flow to his hand begin to shorten out. Since he was looking at Anubis' face the whole time, he failed to notice that after his punch had landed, Anubis' right arm had grabbed onto his wrist, singled out a nerve point and was now pressing on it with much pressure with his thumb. Blade grimaced, feeling needle-like tingling around his entire arm, trying to break free of Anubis' stone hard hold. Seeing his point had been made, Anubis let go, as Blade took back his arm.

"You son of a..."

"Bloodthirsty my ass." a voice said around the corner. Both Solitaire and Blade turned to see Janus leaning against the wall, with his arms folded. His hair had grown back more, slightly longer than it was before he was unplugged. "Geez, Blade, you sound like what that Commander Lock guy Marley told me about."

"And what are you-?"

"Don't start bitching at me after that little speech to Anubis," Janus stated with metal in his voice, "Because I won't let that punch land. I'd grab your fist before it hit and sever your nerve."

Janus' eyes narrowed, some of his attitude as a narc detective returning to his personality. It was no different than some mob boss or street punk trying to intimidate him into backing off, aside from Blade just being an asshole with no back up. Either way, he never took that.

Blade sneered, "Fine. If I had it my way, I would dump you and any other new mind back to the machines," he growled. After that, he promptly stormed past Janus, heading to cockpit. Janus merely shook his head, "Is he always like that?"

"Don't mind him, he has a prejudice toward newly freed humans." Solitaire shrugged, "After all, he's a seasoned warrior of Zion that's seen it all," she said with great sarcasm. "New minds to him are a liability."

"Why did he leave Zion?"

"He got tired of 'elite soldiers' like Lock or Morpheus bossing him around." Solitaire answered, rolling her eyes at the irony.

Janus just chuckled, also seeing it, but being amused by it. Without another word, he walked past Solitaire and got his own bowl of food, or whatever they called 'food'. Deep down, Janus longed for a decent hamburger or hot dog, the kinds you got from street vendors. He sighed, as regret started to settle with the effect of a tidal wave. He knew he gave up on his life, but he never contemplated losing some of the smaller pleasures like a hot dog or even a microwaveable pizza. Stuff that humans took for granted, but would feel dire regret if they lost the privilege of having in their lives. After getting his bowl and some water on the side, he took a seat next to Anubis and started to eat, immediately grimacing at the flavor. "What is this stuff anyway?"

"Some sort of protein enzyme, mixed in with enough vitamins and minerals to keep you healthy and alive," Solitaire explained, sharing some disgust. She reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a small sack of paper, tied together with a piece of yarn, or at least it looked like it, and tossed it over to Janus.

"What's this?" Janus asked.

"Salt." Solitaire explained, "Pure salt, mined in the caves around Zion. I managed to sneak a whole load of the stuff out the last time we were there."

Nodding, Janus opened the bag and sprinkled the white crystals over his bowl, then taking another taste. He closed his eyes, savoring at the new flavor. A flavor that he had missed, "Thanks, much better."

"No problem." Solitaire said, "You miss your old food, don't you?"

"How did you-?" Janus began.

"I've seen it before on a lot of people. When it finally comes down to it, people only think about what matters the most to them like family, friends, stuff that motivates them. However, they never think about the minor stuff that plays a huge effect in their lives. Hobbies, like going to the movies, playing video games, listening to music or eating decent food." Solitaire explained, sitting back, and thinking.

"Back in the Matrix, I was a movie star in Hollywood. I made several kinds of movies, mostly martial arts and action, because people knew me better as a fighter than an actor. Everyday, after I was done practicing or shooting a scene, I would stop by this one little chinese cafe for my dinner, as a mental reward to myself for completing my tasks." she closed her eyes, remembering the taste of fresh sesame chicken, pork-fried rice and an egg roll, "In a way, that cafe was as important to me as my career, I probably could never live without it in the Matrix."

"But here?" Janus asked.

Solitaire smiled, "Just the thought of doing stuff that people would think impossible keeps me going." she leaned her head against the wall, "What about you? What do you miss the most from the Matrix?"

Janus let out a short sigh, "Out of everything, including habits, it was my work. I know it sound cheesy, but it kept me in line and on track of things, kinda like how you make that chinese restaurant sound. It kept me focused."

"And how do you feel now?" Solitaire asked, "If it's alright for me to press on."

"It's alright. Now, I really don't know what I'm here for." Janus replied, "It's like going undercover, that kind of feeling, except here you know there's no way out. Once you're in, you're in, so you have to make the best of it and try to do your job. That's how I feel anyway."

"I see..." Solitaire said solemnly.

"What about you, Anubis?" Janus turned to the man beside him.

"Ah, I wouldn't do..."

"I don't miss anything." Anubis replied, with a monotone voice that spoke volumes of his nature. "I left the Matrix because that world had nothing for me to believe in, nothing more."

"And this world has something for you to believe in?" Janus said, in a matter-of-fact tone, "I don't understand. Daniel Lancaster, a dark legend among the crime lords and police force alike. You must've had something that kept you working, everyone that works in crime does."

By this point, Anubis had finished his meal and got up. Without responding to Janus, he moved past, and washed his dish in the sink area in the galley, then walked out. Solitaire and Janus exchanged looks with a shrug. Marley walked in and gave the two a nod. "Hey guys, whatcha doin'?"

"Just talking, really," Janus answered. Marley went over a pulled a makeshift pitcher from the refrigerator and poured it into a makeshift cup. He chugged it down and due to the bitterness of whatever it was drinking, his face scrunched up and he shook his head. "Woo! Strong stuff!," he said. He began to pour another glass and glanced over at the others. Janus looked curious. Solitaire was indifferent, as she was back to filing her nails.

"Want some?" he asked Janus.

"Uh, sure."

"Comin' right up." He pulled out another cup and poured some in, then handed it over to Janus. Janus looked down at the liquid in a skeptic manner. He looked back up at Marley, who took a gulp.

"Well don't just look at it, go ahead, take a sip."

Janus shrugged. Couldn't hurt, right? He took a small sip and spit it out in the same instance. Solitaire looked up as Marley started laughing his ass off. Janus looked up at him, his face and mouth all wiry from having sipped something so strong and bitter, yet sweet and flavorful at the same time he couldn't take it. "What the hell is that?"

Kira came in and poured herself a bowl of the enzyme goop, sitting down to eat while Marley laughed up a storm.

"Hahahahaha-huh? Oh, what you never drank before have you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No, you've never really drank before."

Rolling his eyes, he got it. "No, I guess not."

"You know what else you've never done before?"

"What?"

"You've never gotten your freak on either. We got two fine ladies on board, I'm sure one of them would be up to dancing horizontal with you. Which one you want? Solitaire? Kira?"

Janus glanced from Solitaire to Kira, and saw Kira was smiling. "Uh.."

"Yeah, and virtual doesn't count, Mr. I can't remember having sex with my girlfriend," Solitaire chimed in.

"Well, I'll drink to that," Janus answered with a grin.

"Here, here," Marley called and hit his glass to Janus'. This time they both took the beverage down in one gulp. Marley let out a refreshed "Ahhhh" while Janus coughed for a moment.

"Well, I gotta go. Stuff to do." With that, Marley left. Janus looked up to Solitaire, glanced at Kira, who was looking down at her bowl of goop, and back to Solitaire, with a look that said "Did any of that make sense?" She let out a small laugh, and Janus did the same in return. Good times.

----

The Nemesis was parked in a dark and damp sewer mane. The pads were shut off and this was where they planned to stay for the night. Freezing cold drips of water dropped from the top of the sewer mane to the bottom, giving it the likeness of a cave. A quartet of sentinels wormed their way into the murky depths and slipped by. Making their way through a twisted passageway, they passed the cockpit by mere feet. In the shadows, Irvine and Blade watched them sail by, an appearance of beauty and terror at the same time, as though they were mechanical organisms. They faded off into the distance.

"Power up. Sleep mode." Irvine whispered. Blade nodded, and flicked two switches and typed something into the keyboard in front of him, setting the mode. Minimal cockpit displays turned on, and the cabin remained dark. The ship was small, cramped, cold. Nonetheless, it was home.

On the main deck, Glitch, Kira, and Janus were hanging out. Janus leaned against a bulkhead while Kira stood up on a ladder. Glitch was standing, pacing around, quizzing Janus.

"Okay, the Construct..."

"Holding program used to load things like clothes, weapons, and training simulations. We go there before going into the Matrix."

"Right. The Matrix is..."

"A virtual reality program that's made to keep the minds of the enslaved oblivious to the fact they're in a prison and being used to power machines."

"Hmmm, yeah."

"What?"

"Well, you can't really tell someone what the Matrix is. They have to see it for themselves after they're unplugged to see it for what it really is."

Janus thought about it. It made sense, sort of..

"Your eyes felt weird when you were unplugged because.."

"I never used them before."

"Good. Now what's this?" He pointed over at one of Janus's monitors.

"Life systems monitor, glucose levels."

"What's that?" He pointed over to the giant silver ball over in the back.

"Main power supply to the core." He followed Glitch over to the operator's station, where there were vines of coaxial hanging and snaked to and from huge monolithic battery slabs, a black portable satellite dish among banks of ship systems and keyboards and computer monitors. He pointed over to the red key-switch.

"How about this?"

"Power systems self destruct. Uses all remaining power to generate an E.M.P"

"Our best weapon against the machines. The problem is if someone is still in the Matrix when that thing goes off, they're not coming back."

Janus nodded. He looked over and stared at the screens displaying the huge syllabus of green Matrix code characters that fell in strands. Over the past few days he'd been struggling to learn the complex codes. "Ka equals 9. But reverse Ka is point-nine, right?"

Glitch nodded. "You catch on quick man"

"I know these symbols from the hacking trainer. But why's it so hard to find them on the keyboard?"

"Your brain knows what to do," Kira said. "But it has to associate the characters with your body."

"It's muscle memory, Janus. Think of the space bar and your thumbs nail it, because they've hit the space bar millions of times. But think about reverse 'ka,' and your fingers don't automatically hit the reverse key and the 'ka' key in one shot. It's kinda like the shift or caps lock function."

"Where did these symbols come from anyway?"

"Most of it is from the old Japanese. It's Katakana. See, the machines aren't binary, no zero and one. They're quantum-based, so instead of an open-close base of zero or one, open and closed, they use all numbers between zero and one."

"All numbers between zero and one. That could be an infinite number of numbers."

"Not could be, it is." Janus was astounded.

"Holy shit. How many calculations per second?"

"How many CPS...well, that's kind of hard to estimate. Put it this way: picture all the particles in the known universe. Not just atoms, but sub-atomic particles that compose atoms."

"Okay. At last count that was like, billions right? Trillions?"

Glitch let out a "heh" with a smile. "Well, it's up there. In any case, the number of calculations per second the Matrix can perform is greater than the estimated number of particles in the known universe."

"Whoa."

"That's how they have the operating power to create entire worlds within their mainframes." Kira said.

"That's why it looks like reality huh. They have the computing power to create entire worlds."

Glitch nodded. "Right."

"So, if we hack into the Matrix, why can't we just change the code while we're at it?"

"No, no. See, it's not that simple. We broadcast a signal to hack into the matrix, which is what this satellite dish is for. If a hack is discovered, security measures are taken to secure the breach, like for instance, sentinels may be dispatched to the ship location or Agents might be distributed to the hard line location. The sentinels may logically decide to watch that location going forward, terminate it, or change some codes to access it. The Agents would sever the hard line, thereby setting a trap, refusing entrance or exit. It's like the wireless internet. It frees you from connecting your machine to the internet with wires. Kind of like how remote controls changed the way people interacted with their TVs. However, some people do not secure their access point."

Janus nodded as though to say, "I'm listening."

"In our case, we try to secure the access point before sending you in, and then if it becomes compromised, either we find another one or we hack it and patch it again. Now, the reason we can't just change coding around when we hack into the Matrix; The machines, the programs that code, create, and maintain the Matrix, they are code. There are different types of programs at work, many unseen with no interaction in the Matrix. Then, there are the enforcers, the ones we all know as Agents. In simple terms, think of the game battleship. You can see your field, and I can see mine. But we cannot see each other's and yet that is the goal of the game, to locate your opponent's coordinates and remove their pieces. If there is a third party watching along with us who is not participating in the game proper, then they can see the picture in its entirety, 'they' being the machines and programs that operate in the Matrix. They have the overview that we are trying to attain. They have uploaded all the information and can be arbiters of what is to happen. They are the server. They are the control."

"..Right."

"Well, my point is, the machines code and recode the Matrix by pure will. Interaction with the Matrix, the physical act of being there, by default, allows people to change their environment - The Matrix. They move objects, make sound, affect cause."

"Like reality."

"Almost," Kira began. "Reality is unalterable. But the fabric of reality in the Matrix can be rewoven. Some can reach beyond normal cause. Their affects on the Matrix are deeper than the average. They have learned to change it according to their needs. But they don't have total control. That's why we need operators like Glitch here."

"Oh. What makes us able to change the Matrix when we need it?"

"A free mind," Kira said with a smile. Caught off guard at first, Janus paused for a moment before smiling back. Glitch looked up to see Irvine walk in as Blade went to his quarters.

"Whatcha guys talking about?"

"We just finished the operation programs and he's showing great retention. I'm trying to teach this guy some programming. He's stuck in the 20th century. He's got no skills."

Janus smirked.

"Don't worry, he'll learn in time. But we're done for the night, so get some rest." The others nodded and went off to their quarters. Glitch went in first, and Kira and Janus were still on the way. He swallowed a knot in his throat.

"Hey, Kira," he called out.

She paused for a moment and turned around. "Yeah?"

He looked down and first but shook his head and looked up, his eyes meeting hers. They both paused for a moment then. "Uh, this life you live. The cold ship. Never knowing when danger will show up, and fighting in the Matrix...Why do you do it?"

She thought about it for a few seconds, looking down to break the eye lock. "I don't know, really. I asked for the truth, and this is what I got and there's no turning back. I wouldn't have it any other way. I know it sucks at first, but you kinda get used to it. Have you ever felt like you couldn't find your niche in life?"

"...Yeah."

"Well, after Irvine found me, I felt like I found my place." His eyebrows wrinkled as he thought about it. He knew exactly what she meant, and found himself nodding his head in agreement.

"Like when you live day to day waiting for something to happen in your life, but when nothing happens, it just seems meaningless?"

She looked up at him, sort of surprised. "Yeah...just like that. How did you know?"

"I felt the exact same way until I came here. After that...this life is exactly what I've been waiting for. I didn't care what it was, I just wanted something to happen. I always knew it was there, I just didn't know how to get to it."

Kira looked at him like he was a whole different person. In a few seconds, he put her whole life into a few words. She felt like she knew him for the longest time.

With a smile she said "Goodnight, Janus" and left to go into her room, leaving him standing there in the hallway.

He heard a voice behind him say "Make a hole," and he turned around to see Marley coming down the hall. He let Marley pass and then went into his own room.

He took off his boots and climbed under the covers, put his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes to go to sleep.

Things were looking up.

----