Epilouge: The End is the Beginning of the End
Date: 2004 M.T.
Time: Evening
Area: Mannsdale Housing Projects
The black Silverado fishtailed and it moved around the corner with a SCCCCRRRRRR. As they drove down the block toward the construction site, Solitaire could see that there were squad cars and S.W.A.T. vans all over the place around the building. She looked back to Blade.
"Are you ready?" She yelled.
He pulled back the action on the M240 and nodded. She pushed the pedal to the floor. The Silverado's engine revved and they went faster down the block. Some cops at the building heard the sound of the speeding truck, and turned to see where it would be coming from. As they came in front of all the cars, Blade opened fire.
TATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA
The M240 roared as Blade held down the trigger, hitting several of the squad cars, causing some of them to explode even. Cops ducked and jumped out of the way, and 7.62x51mm bullets ripped holes into the sides of the cruisers. Some of the cops returned fire from their hiding places, but even if they did hit the car, their measily 9x19mm rounds wouldn't do the truck any damage. As Solitaire rounded the corner to turn down the adjacent street, Blade continued to fire as long as there was some sort of a law enforcement vehicle in his sight. He let go of the trigger when he could no longer see them. Solitaire looked into the rear view mirror.
"You alright?"
"Yeah. They should be coming to follow us any second now."
When the truck had gone, the cops came out from ducking. There was confusion, questions being yelled all over the place such as "What the hell was that?!" and "Who were they?" Finally a decision had been made to go after them, and one of the officers spoke into the radio on his shoulder.
"This is Carter, a speeding vehicle just passed by the construction site at 5th and Bayview in Mannsdale, a pickup truck. There was a gunner in the bed of the truck with a machine gun and he messed up our cars pretty bad, unknown if anyone was hit or killed. Squad cars have been dispatched, over."
In no time, the squad cars were in pursuit of the truck. Blade heard the sirens, and behind them he could see two squad cars chasing them down the street, no sign of a helicopter or any other units. Solitaire's phone rang, so she pulled it out and answered it.
"Yeah?"
"Solitaire, it's Glitch, listen, the others got out of the building by helicopter, you guys just gotta get out of there. There's two squad cars behind you now."
"Which way should I go?"
"Make a left, now!"
She complied, and the truck swerved left. Blade slid from the little corner he was sitting in, trying to hold on. "The hell are you doing?!" He yelled.
The squad cars sped up, and they got closer to the truck. "Can we get any backup?" one of the cops driving asked his partner
"No, everyone's tied up at that damn construction site, this was a clever little maneuver."
They yelled as their bodies suddenly twisted and transformed into those of Agents Williams and Miller. In the car behind them, the policemen transformed into Agents Johnson and Thompson. Blade had a double take.
"Shit!" Blade yelled.
"What's the matter?"
"You got Agents tailing you, four of them," Glitch told her. "Tell him to put that gun to good use, and make a right."
"Take 'em out!" Solitaire yelled as she turned the car. Blade tried to stay in place and get the gun up at the same time. Williams saw this, and gave a quick glance over to Miller. Miller took out his Desert Eagle and aimed straight in front of him, taking out the windshield as he blasted at the truck, putting large holes into the hatch, nearly hitting Blade.
"Whoa!" He yelled. Deciding accuracy wasn't important, he just pointed the gun in their direction and fired. Williams swerved the car left and right, dodging most of his shots, although some of them put decent sized holes into the hood of the car. Miller shot back, this time he took out the glass in between Blade and Solitaire, and she was startled. Blade tried to return fire again but the truck swerved around another corner as he fired, resulting in him totally missing Williams and Davis's car, but instead hitting the side of Thompson and Johnson's car. One of the bullets went through the door and into Thompson's leg, causing him to grit his teeth.
"You feel pain?" Johnson asked in a robotic tone.
Thompson wrestled the wheel to turn the car without crashing. "Redpills are a nuisance," he muttered.
Blade tried to shoot at Williams again, but the weight of the gun, along with the recoil, and the fact that Solitaire was driving like a madwoman, made it all too difficult to work the gun.
"Fuck this!" Blade said as he threw the gun down. He pulled out his MP5K and ducked again, as more of Miller's shots nearly hit him. Blade pointed his gun at the shot up squad car and fired, hitting Miller in his left arm, just as his clip ran dry. Some luck though that the Agent was shooting with his right hand. The Nemesis' first mate smirked, but his moment of grief was cut short when Williams ran the front bumper into the back of the truck, sending Blade slamming into the back of the cab.
Williams reached into his coat and pulled out his gun, handing it to Miller. "Keep shooting," he ordered.
Miller brought the gun up just as Blade came up again.
(Note to readers: "" denotes bullet time sequences beginning and ending).
The spray of bullets from Blade's submachine gun sizzled through the air as Miller aimed his gun. Three of them slammed into the Agent's chest, blood bursting from underneath and staining his white shirt, while the others headed his way ripped into the seat. The rest hit Williams, two in the chest, one in the head, and one in the neck. As the bullets hit Miller's chest, he grit his teeth and closed his eyes tight behind his glasses, losing his aim as he pulled the trigger twice. The .50AE rounds flew back at the truck, missing Blade, but hitting the rear left tire and clipping the gas tank
The truck bounced from the bullet hitting the tire. Williams lost control of the car and "died", while Miller's body transformed back into that of a cop with a flurry of electric volts. Williams transformed also, and his host body's foot slammed into the brake. The squad car immediately stopped in a dead halt and began to turn horizontally in the road. Thompson and Johnson's car smashed into the side of the car in front of them and as a result, the back of the car bumped up into the air, turning the whole vehicle upside down, landing on top of the first car and killing the Agents as the windshield smashed down onto the hood of the first car.
"Damn.." Blade said. The truck bounced slightly again though, and Solitaire lost control. Blade fell as the car swerved and fishtailed, eventually rolling onto its right side. He fell out and rolled onto the ground before stopping. As he got up from the ground, he grabbed his left shoulder, and pain was shot through it.
"Ahh..damn.." he said to himself. He looked over to the truck and saw that Solitaire was climbing out of the car, having sustained little or no injury. "Come on," he told her, and she went to him.
"We gotta get outta here." She said. Blade's phone rang, it was Glitch. Solitaire had left her phone in the car.
"You guys alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, we're alright."
"You'll live, but you need new exits. You guys aren't even close and staying together would be a risk, so I'm gonna give you two different exit points, now get moving."
"Pain in the ass..." Blade muttered. They started to run down the street when the truck exploded. They stopped and looked back for a moment. "'Like a rock'.." Solitaire said sarcastically, before they started running again.
"Okay, you guys are in Camon Heights. Blade, your exit's gonna be at Camon North. Solitaire's will be at Camon Central, go."
Blade closed the phone against his hip and put it back into his pocket, then he looked over to Solitaire. "You're at Camon Central. See you when you get there." They nodded to each other before they split up, Solitaire down a back alley, and Blade down the street to his exit at an intersection further down. He reloaded his MP5K with a new clip.
----
Balthasar opened his eyes and found himself in an empty downtown subway station. The pay phone rang in front of him and he picked it up. "I'm in," he said.
"Alright, listen Balthasar, get upstairs and to a secure area, I'll call you back to tell you which pairing from the Nemesis you're closest to, you go after them from there," Sideways told him.
"Right." Balthasar answered. He hung up the phone and ran to the stairs leading to the city streets above.
----
Anubis flew the Black Hawk over the downtown area. They passed by several tall skyscrapers, and luckily, they hadn't been noticed yet. Irvine listened to Glitch over the phone.
"Okay, up ahead there's an empty enclosed parking lot boxed in by a few buildings, do you see it?"
"Yeah, I can see it." Irvine told him as he nodded in the direction of the lot. Up ahead below, amongst some lower buildings, Irvine could see the parking lot down on the ground below. Irvine looked over to Anubis and he nodded too, also seeing where Irvine had nodded to.
"Alright, take the helicopter down there, and drop off Janus and Kira. I'll tell them where their exit is and get back to you guys." Glitch explained.
"Where's Blade and Solitaire, did they make it out alright?"
"They had a bit of a car accident but they should be okay, they're headed to their exits as we speak. You got the plan down?"
"Yeah, we know what to do," Irvine answered. He hung up his phone and pointed to the parking lot. "Head down there, we have to drop these two off," he said to Anubis. The ex-syndicate member nodded as he heard Irvine over the spinning rotary blades. Irvine turned around to Janus and Kira.
"Listen up you two. We're dropping you off, Glitch will contact you and tell you where your exit point is."
Janus and Kira exchanged glances before looking back at Irvine. "We'll be alright," Janus told him.
Anubis brought the helicopter down deeper into the city as he moved closer to the parking lot. Once he was over the lot, he steadily brought it down so that it hovered a few feet off of the ground.
"Okay you two, out," Irvine told them. They moved to the edge of the opening and jumped out, Janus first, then Kira. Janus squinted his eyes as the winds from the helicopter blades blew his hair all around. Anubis looked down to him and nodded, before pulling back up into the skies. Janus and Kira stood and watched as the helicopter lifted off, then turned to each other once it had turned in the opposite direction.
"We better get moving," Kira said to Janus. He held up a finger as though to say "wait a minute." His phone started to ring, and he pulled it from his pocket.
"Movie-fone," Janus answered.
"Very funny. Zia South," Glitch told him.
"Right," replied Janus. The call then ended. He turned to Kira as he put his phone away.
"C'mon, this nightmare's almost over. Follow me." They both ran to the street.
----
Balthasar walked through the crowded street. Shoving past some businessman, he made his way into a small alley which lead to a small lot, boxed in by the walls of the surrounding buildings. He removed his phone from his pocket and dialed the Nosferatu. After a ring, he heard Sideways pick up on the other end.
"Talk to me Sideways."
"There's a pair headed to an exit at Zia South, they're the closest." Having received the info he needed, Balthasar killed the connection and put the phone back into his pocket.
As if on cue, three Agents, one from each door in each "wall" of the lot, came out and approached him. They were Agent White, Agent Bird, and Agent Lewis. White stopped in front of him, Bird to his left, Lewis to his right. Balthasar didn't seem surprised or worried in the least bit, but rather annoyed that Sideways didn't see it coming. He looked at each of them behind his black lenses.
"White, Bird, Lewis. Nice to see you again." He told them in a cocky tone. They all smirked.
"You know the rules, Mr. Daniels. You may have escaped last time but this time we'll be happy to put a stop to your unauthorized entries," Agent White told him.
Balthasar rolled his eyes behind his glasses, letting out an impatient sigh. "Please."
Agent White was the first to attack. He punched out with his right fist for Balthasar's face, only for him side-step to the left. Grabbing White's still-extended arm with his right hand, Balthasar punched him in the jaw with a left hook. Turning in the same motion while letting go of White's arm as he was knocked back, Balthasar reached for his gun and as his back faced White, Balthasar having turned 180-degrees, he pulled out his handgun, an all black SVI 2011, and turned to his right to see Agent Bird coming for him. Quick on the trigger, he fired five shots into the Agent's chest before the Agent could realize he'd taken his gun out.
As Bird fell, Balthasar was now just about to complete the 360-degree turn, he looked over his right shoulder and saw Agent Lewis moving in for a punch, so he right-roundhouse kicked him in the face, knocking the Agent down to its left. When he was down and Balthasar's circle was complete, he looked down as Lewis looked up in time for Balthasar to shoot him five times in the face. As he looked down at Lewis' body transform back into a civilian, he re-holstered his gun. From the corner of his eye, he saw Agent White's right fist coming at his face. He leaned back, the punch flying past his face, and pushed the arm forward. To counter this, White spun counter clockwise planning to execute a high left roundhouse kick to the back of Balthasar's head. Predicting something like this from the Agent, Balthasar ducked forward, the Agent's foot and leg flying over his back. As the Agent's foot came down, Balthasar came up and in a counter-clockwise roundhouse fashion, smashed his right elbow into White's nose, busting it open and causing blood to gush out.
While White was phased and his arm still tucked in from the elbow strike, Balthasar gripped his gun. As White came back, Balthasar smashed him in the face with his elbow again, knocking the Agent back and giving himself enough room and time to pull his gun out. Three quick shots into the middle of the Agent's chest and he dropped down to his knees, and then fell onto his face. When he re-holstered his gun, Balthasar noticed the blood stained on the leather of his trench coat on his elbow. He let out an annoyed hiss, and left the alley to access the street.
"Time to find those rookies."
----
Anubis brought the helicopter down on the drop off point, hovering a good twenty feet from the ground.
"Get off, we don't have time!" Anubis yelled to Irvine over the rotor blades. The captain of the Nemesis agreed, slipping out of the helicopter's passenger area and dropping to the ground below. The syndicate assassin hung in the air for a few more minutes, watching as the captain's trench coat flew up from the air sliding through the gap between Irvine's back and the coat, then dropping down again when Irvine touched the ground. He would've waited a little longer, but the proximity alarm on the Black Hawk's radar display began going off, then followed by Glitch on the cell phone.
"You got two F-16C Falcons coming in hot, and their pilots have been overridden by Agents! Get out of there!"
Anubis didn't give a reply. He ascended a little and shot forward, weaving in between buildings and street areas to keep the F-16's from getting a missile lock on them. "Did you equip the Black Hawk with on board countermeasures!?"
"There was no room. Black Hawks weren't designed to carry offensive ordinance!"
Anubis growled, wishing the operator had put in a Hind or some other gunship that he could use against the Agents. Even though they were Agents, he could take on two F-16s with a gunship if he had something to fire at them.
Forget it, just use what you got! He told himself.
Then Glitch came back on him, "We also got another problem."
"What?"
"We got Blade out, but a SWAT team has cornered Solitaire at Camon Central. They're keeping her from the exit."
"And what do you want me to do about it?" Anubis spat.
"Damn it, ninja boy, why are you asking me? Help her out, man!" Glitch ordered on the other side.
"Solitaire is a competent fighter, she does not need my aid." Anubis gave a cold reply.
"Usually, I'd agree with you, but she's taking too long fighting them off, an Agent can pop in at any moment." Glitch stated.
Anubis was about to reply, but another alarm went off. "Damn it," he muttered, before taking evasive maneuvers. One of the F-16s had locked onto him, and fired a missile. Judging by how close it was, it probably fired an AIM-9 Sidewinder, a heat-seeking missile that had a good reputation for pulling hard maneuvers. Anubis didn't think at that point, he started to unbuckle from his chair.
----
From the cockpit of his F-16C Fighting Falcon fighter, Agent Harper only grinned at seeing the Black Hawk burst into a cloud of flames on his HUD. He pulled his fighter up and over the cloud, gaining some altitude while the second F-16C, now piloted by a freshly formed Agent Davis, leveled out with him, pulling into formation.
"Any sign of him?" Harper asked his comrade.
"It doesn't matter. There are still three more. They are to all be eliminated." Davis stated.
"Intercept the target Vince Burnett. I will destroy the other female," Harper said in a cold mechanical tone that surpassed even the usual Agent tone.
Both F-16s broke formation, heading for different directions, before the two Agents both dropped away from their host bodies, leaving a pair of confused Air Force pilots.
----
The SWAT leader shot the knob off the door, then shoulder tackled through the wooden frame. He didn't make it far though, as a mysterious force shattered his face mask and sent him flying backwards. The rest of his team looked to see who would dare make such an attack, only to find a petite oriental woman dressed in a leather jumpsuit and jacket, grinning at them as if they were applauding her. She gave a theater-styled nod-bow to them, then burst into action, running at her first target and punching him square in the jaw, so hard that it broke on contact.
The four other SWATs brought their machine guns up and opened fire, but by that point, Solitaire had rolled herself behind the body and let the bullets rip into the SWAT man, before she kicked it into one of her attackers. The force was enough, combined with the bullet proof vest and gear that it effectively broke the man's ribs on contact. That left three to deal with.
As she half expected, they didn't make any attempt to dodge, they merely stood there firing their machine guns at the girl, as if they would hit anything. She flipped and landed, much to their shock, on the brick wall opposite of them, running down toward the street, but instead of running that way, she flipped off the wall and drew her Walther PPK. Although one would look down upon the gun due to its small size, she showed how effective it was, firing a pair of shots into one of the SWATs' neck, taking him out of the fight. She then merely ran to another SWAT and jumped, landing her foot on the tip of his helmet, and causing his partner to blast him in the face while bringing his machine gun up to her level. When she jumped off the man's helmet, she flipped in the air again, slipping her gun away for a moment before landing behind the last SWAT.
The guy, a rookie fresh out of the academy, drew his combat knife in an attempt to slash her. Rather than dodging, Solitaire simply brought her right hand up and caught the man's wrist. Slowly after that, she started to twist the arm behind the trooper, the sounds of pops and crackles from the bone structuring giving way to stress playing vividly. The man screamed in the slow pain, dropping the knife when Solitaire got the arm all the way to the man's mid back line. The oriental woman was then about to kick the man into the opposite wall when his body fizzled and wavered.
"Oh shit.." was all she managed to let out as Agent Harper formed in front of her.
The first thing Harper did was punch her, with enough force that sent her flying through the brick wall. Then, using his left arm, he began to twist the right back into place, the sounds of bones cracking once again filling the air. Difference was, they were cracking back into place, and Harper did not make any signs of pain. Solitaire gaped at this, through the dust, knowing full well that she was done for now. She drew her gun again and fired shots at Harper, but the Agent weaved to the sides, dodging each bullet that flew at him, until Solitaire's pistol finally ran dry.
"Not bad, human," he said, while pulling out his Desert Eagle.
Solitaire threw herself from out of the hole and somersaulted past the two bullets that Harper fired at her, jumping up again and punching the Agent across the face. It felt as though she had punched a steel pipe, but she didn't let it slow her down, instead following it up with a punch combo to the stomach, then a karate chop to the right shoulder and finally a round house kick that had enough force to make Harper stumble back. Even then she didn't let up, continuing onto throwing a flurry of palm strikes at targeted nerve areas to disable Harper from moving, before finally she gripped his tie and head butted him. Strangely, her attacks did have an effect, as Harper was sent flying back into the wall opposite from the one she made a hole in, causing it to dent.
However, the force of the head butt left the Chinese girl disoriented, making her stumble and rubbing out her vision. This allowed Harper to recover quickly, but he decided to be a good sport. He waited for her to recover, all the while dusting himself off and cracking his neck.
"Amusing, very amusing," Harper said. "I've never been thrown into a wall before, let alone by a female."
"What do you have against females!?" Solitaire growled, attempting to throw another punch at him.
Harper caught the punch in his left hand, "The way you humans are bred, the female of the species usually exhibits lesser physical ability than the male. However, you obviously do not have that status." He started to crush her hand, causing Solitaire to yelp, "I can crush your hand, rip your body piece by piece in this world, and yet you show little pain, almost nothing outside disorientation. That's… interesting." He then clubbed her in the back of the head with his Desert Eagle, putting Solitaire to her knees. She was barely able to remain conscious now, and Harper knew she would take a while to recover. So, he decided to end it like this.
"Garbage, only good for consuming resources." Harper told her, then pulling the trigger.
The shot never came though. Before the hammer could strike the bullet, a glint of light appeared to travel through the front of the gun, all the way to the back. A second later, the top portion of the barrel, the spring and half the .50AE bullet exploded into different directions. Harper looked up just in time to see Anubis strike him with the hilt of his katana against the nose, with enough force to break it had he been human. This was followed by another cutting attack by Anubis, but Harper moved back, only gaining a scar across his face.
Solitaire managed to come to at this point, but barely. She could see someone fighting the Agent in front of her, and doing rather well actually, as he or she was backing the Agent against the building exit. However, who could it be? Blade and Irvine had already gotten out, and Janus and Kira were both in a different areas. That left only one person out of the crew, and surely it couldn't be him…
The Agent finally took to the offensive and caught Anubis' sword blade, forcing it out of his hands. He then grabbed the assassin by his neck, in a similar move Solitaire had made on him, holding him there and head butting him three times. The third one made Anubis fall backward, but it didn't disorient him, at least not for that long.
The assassin made a spin kick that made Harper join him on the ground, then following that up with kicks towards the Agent's up turned face, but Harper managed to deflect each attempt with his own legs. The Agent finally kicked towards Anubis' head, forcing the assassin to jump back up, quickly followed by Harper, and continue the fight standing. Both men threw punches and kicks at each other, but none managed to land any significant blow, until finally Harper nailed Anubis in the chest with a palm strike.
Anubis stammered backwards, feeling as though his lungs had been smashed, immediately coughing up blood. As a result, he lost his balance and eventually fell on one knee. Harper grinned at his accomplishment, forcing this human to kneel before him. Certainly, if he himself were human, he would have felt honored or whatever humans feel when one acknowledges the other's superiority.
However, he didn't realize that Anubis had stumbled back close to his katana. In another blur, Anubis grabbed it and made a slash at the Agent, cutting off one of his legs. Now it was Harper who was forced to kneel, but Anubis wouldn't be allowed the satisfaction of a seized victory. Harper's body fizzled with bright bolts of electricity before the Agent program exited the body of the now dead bluepill.
Anubis felt like he could laugh at his fallen opponent, but this caused him to cough up blood. He stumbled, feeling faint on his feet, to the point where he had to use his sword as a cane to keep him up. At first, Solitaire wasn't hesitant to approach him like this, but she saw that he really was wounded. She could feel deep inside herself, a sense of gratitude and a sense of wonder. Why had he helped her? He wasn't the type to save comrades certainly, even if Irvine ordered him. Then there was the way he fought. The way he pushed the Agent against the doorway, allowing her to run at any given time while he distracted it wordlessly.
She knew he would deny all this or ignore her, but she was good at seeing through action rather than mere words. Still hesitant, she walked over to the assassin. "Let me help." She said, placing Anubis' right arm over her shoulder, then taking his sword and placing the tip in its sheathe. Anubis grabbed the blade edge and pushed the sword into the sheath, letting it slide in.
"I can walk by myself…" he began.
"Don't give me that. You can hardly breathe." She countered, but gave no hints of anger in her voice. In fact, it sounded more like concern, "Just don't say anything, like you usually do."
Anubis complied, because he knew she was right. Damn, not good enough, was all that he thought at that point.
----
Janus and Kira came out from an alley between two buildings and into a street. They ran across, to a large parking lot of a mall. It was empty, no one to be seen in sight, no cars, just a few buildings they could only see the backs of. They stopped and looked around. Across from the parking lot, a series of apartment complexes stood tall.
"Which way do we go?" Kira asked.
"This way," Janus said, pulling her along, in the direction of the tall brick apartment buildings. They came up to a fence, and when it came to getting over it, they jumped and flipped over it without laying a finger on it. Janus was impressed. I didn't think I could do that. The duo now was behind a large warehouse, and they continued to head on the direction of the cross street Glitch told them. As Janus ran, his coat billowed out behind him like a large cape
"We'd better hurry," Kira told him. "Agents are looking for us."
"No kidding," Janus answered sarcastically.
Then came the sound of infected coding. They both stopped in their steps, and Janus' coat came down and wrapped around his legs. The ground before them started to flicker and glitch, and up from this came the ghostly figure of one of the mysterious silver-clad guys programs from that abandoned building. Once he came all the way out of the ground, he unphased and stood on his feet.
Janus was closer to him, Kira a foot or so behind Janus. The program's black lips curved into a mischievous grin.
"Haven't we met before?" he asked in an instigating manner.
Janus' eyebrows wrinkled in slight frustration. Kira didn't get it either. I thought they were only in that glitching building...she thought to herself.
The program attacked, pulling a switchblade from the inside of its coat and stabbing for Janus' throat. He casually side-stepped out of the way, the silver sleeved arm coming past him like a dodged punch. The program stumbled forward, sneering at Janus for his maneuver. But before the program could move to make another attack, Janus grabbed its arm, pushing up at the tricep and down on the forearm with a SNAP.
The program's head whipped back with gritted teeth, and it let out an "Rrrgh!" in pain. It reached for its handgun in a concealed holster on the back of its belt, but Kira pulled out her own and fired three .380 ACP rounds into its torso. It writhed in pain, entering its phased state. Its transparent arm became free of Janus' grip, to his surprise, and it floated back some. It solidified again, fully healed from its injuries, and went back on the attack. Swiping its blade for Janus's face, it missed as he leaned back, but instead of stumbling like last time, it took a big step forward and continued with its advance, slashing down for Kira's face.
She backed up, causing the sterling albino to fall forward a bit, enough to throw off his balance from his attack position. This gave Kira enough time to fight back, as she spun and high-kicked the program in the face. It stumbled back a few steps into Janus, where he promptly caught it in his arms and snapped its neck. Dead, or it seemed so at least, the ghost's body phased as it fell from Janus' arms, falling into the ground once again. He shot a look at Kira.
"Let's get the fuck out of here!"
They ran towards the intricate complex of apartments, but no more than a few seconds later did they hear gunshots behind them. They stopped to see where it was coming from; Another silver clad program had appeared and was shooting after them. They kept running, but suddenly out of nowhere, another seemed to have appeared, also shooting in their direction, but this time in front of them. Thinking quickly, Janus pulled Kira's arm and she followed him down a side street. However in this maze of brick and street, the silver clad programs were all but pervasive. As they turned around the corner, another one had come out of an alley not too far down the street, firing at them with his Taurus PT945, which seemed to be the trademark handgun of these silver clad programs. The .45ACP rounds smashed the brick corner to bits as Janus and Kira ducked out of the way running down another alley.
"We're almost there!" Janus exclaimed.
----
Not far from Janus and Kira, a passer-by walked down the sidewalk and into an alley to access the back door of his apartment. He removed from his jacket a set of keys, fiddling through them with his one hand trying to find the right one. Suddenly, his body began convulsing, and he dropped his keys. When it was over, he'd morphed into Agent Davis. Davis pressed his hand to his ear piece, receiving news of an unknown malfunction and forbidden presence in the area. He then ran off out of the alley.
----
Being chased by the two silver clad programs, Janus and Kira dodged in and out of the series of back alley-ways trying to escape. As they ran, the gunshots that followed behind them were reminiscent of a nightmare, where one ran from a beast he could not escape, no matter how much he tried to get away. Ducking constantly from the shots, the two Nemesis crew fighters did their best not to trip over themselves, keeping each other's safety in their best interest. While it was a motivation to stay alive, they couldn't afford to let it get to them now, neither could risk playing hero. One of the silver clad programs had to reload his pistol, but then the one stopped them from their pursuit, as though it could sense some sort of unseen danger ahead.
"Stop here," he said in a stern tone, sure that going on ahead would spell trouble for them.
"Trouble ahead?" the other asked.
As the one to the leader's right slammed the clip into his gun and pulled on the slide, he looked to his twin. "An Agent."
"He shouldn't be a problem for us. They have rules to follow," he reminded them, re-holstering his pistol.
"True, but he's after us. Even if we beat him, and we can, others would follow." The leader said.
"We share a burden with the redpills," the second one said.
"Let it be theirs this evening." The leader decided.
Then, as if on cue, the two of them phased. Once again, they passed through the ground and disappeared.
----
When they'd heard the gunshots had stopped, Kira looked behind to see if they were still being chased, and saw nothing. "They're gone," she told Janus. They could hear the phone ringing just around the corner up ahead.
"Doesn't matter, keep running. We're almost home," he answered.
They came around the corner, the phone on the brick wall to the left down the alley. But they froze in their steps. The tall, built body of Agent Davis stood before them like a powerful figure looming over the weak. He stood there staring at them behind his black sunglasses. Janus and Kira stood there in fear staring back, sort of crouched in their stance and holding each other back as though to protect themselves. There was a dead and dreadful quiet. The two couldn't move a muscle, they couldn't make a sound.
Janus blinked. Like a person waking up in the middle of the night to find themselves trapped in sleep-paralysis, he became aware of this fear that had overcome him. His thoughts shifted as his stare remained on Davis behind his mirrored lenses.
What is this? What am I afraid of? What is she afraid of? He isn't real. He doesn't exist, not if this is a dream world. 'Your mind makes it real'...Well, if your mind makes it real...
Janus stood up straight. Kira looked at him like she thought he was crazy.
"What are you doing?!" She yelled in a whisper.
"I can fight him." He answered. His voice was bold with confidence.
Davis snorted as though to laugh. Janus took a step forward, and Davis pulled out his gun, the famed Desert Eagle in .50AE. In a reflex response, Janus lifted in front of him his left hand, open palmed as though to say "stop". His right arm followed behind; He was covering his face. He turned from the waist up to his left, closing eyes just tight enough so that he could barely see out of them, and leaned back, jumping up and back into the air as though he had just taken an uppercut. The first shot rang with a flash. Kira's eyes opened wide, and the world moved slow.
As Janus fell backwards into the air, it sizzled with wads of lead like angry flies heading straight for him. The first bullet passed over the right side of Janus's rib cage as he fell back, and Kira sprawled off to the side behind the corner to evade the oncoming bullets. As Janus came closer to the ground, he unfolded his arms and tilted his head all the way back as the second and third bullets flew over him. He gritted his teeth, feeling their heat on his face and they barely missed. Twisting all the way so he was facing his right, his right hand landed down on the ground as the fifth bullet passed over his face as he brought his left arm over his face for protection. The sixth bullet skimmed the surface of his arm as it planted onto the ground as he landed. The bullet took a piece of his tricep, and his elbow hit hard into the ground as the rest of his body landed
The seventh bullet smashed into the concrete just barely missing Janus's head, causing bits and pebbles of it to smack up into his face, like when you mow the lawn and a tiny rock kicks up. His left arm lay over his torso, and his right leg bent at the knee as he lay there. Davis walked over to him with a fearful pace. Kira didn't know what to do; she knew her own bullets wouldn't stop Davis, all she could do was watch.
"Oh no..." she said to herself.
On the Nemesis, everyone else was watching.
"Well Irvine, you tried. Did you tell him how little someone's chances were for getting out alive even when they were running from an Agent?" Blade asked as he stared at the screen of scrolling green runes.
Irvine didn't say a word.
When Davis reached Janus, who lay helplessly and injured on the ground, he pointed his gun at Janus's head. But when he pulled the trigger, the gun went click. They both arched a brow in confusion. Even the guys watching the screens did. But this was his only chance. Janus took advantage of the brief pause, using the muscles in his back to spring himself up. He planted his left hand on the ground for support and leverage, and kicked Davis across the face. As Davis's head snapped back, Janus continued turning in the air, impossibly pushing himself up with his arm and turning 360-degrees, landing on his feet and facing Davis. His glasses had fell off, but fear was absent from his glare as his hair fell down onto his shoulders.
Nor Kira, or the rest of the crew watching could believe it. "No way.." they all said to themselves silently.
Janus stood facing Davis as he came back into pace. They stared at each other; Janus into anonymous black square lenses, Davis into what he considered were fragile, weak human eyes. A small gust of wind blew by.
"He's not gonna..." Anubis began.
Janus punched for Davis's head but was blocked and consequently punched in the gut causing him to keel over into the perfect position for the uppercut that followed, knocking Janus back a few steps. He was a bit knocked out, shaking his head and his shoulders a bit to get back into the game, but Davis just waited there. When Janus looked ready again, Davis punched straight for Janus's face, but he leaned to the right and cracked Davis in the face with the knuckles of his right hand, coming back up with the same fist and returning the uppercut from before.
While Davis's head had knocked back, Janus lifted his leg and kicked Davis in the stomach, knocking him back a few steps. However, Davis had come right back into a stance that showed he wasn't affected. Janus punched out with his right, Davis blocked it with his forearm and punched back, for Janus to block with the same maneuver.
He did a little "wax-on/wax-off" with the same arm he blocked with, his left, pushing Davis's arm out to the side, and smashed his right elbow up into Davis's nose, a move that would normally kill a man. But Davis came right back and with a kick he sent Janus flying into the brick wall, creating a huge "dent" in the wall. Slowly, and pushing off of the surface of the dent his body had created, Janus pushed off of the cracked brick and got himself up, running forward to punch Davis in the face. However, he only walked into a block paired with a blow to the stomach that led into a kick that sent him flying back into the brick wall he had just came from, only above the hole he'd just made!
Landing on the floor on his hands and knees, he tried hard to stand up fast but wasn't fast enough. He got up just in time for Davis to grab him by the shirt, turn, and hurl him into the opposite wall on the other side of the alley. Kira stood, watching, because at the same time she was afraid to get involved, she was also in awe of the fact that Janus kept going.
"Damn, I don't know what you fed this guy but if he can live through all of that and still have the will to stand, he may have a chance," Glitch said.
Still, Irvine said nothing.
Janus began to fall in a slump as he leaned against the wall, unable to hold himself up with his own legs from the constant smashing into bricks. Davis picked him up by his throat and with immense force, punched Janus in the chest. As though he were being crucified, Janus's arms extended out to his sides when he took the shot in the chest and when his body was forced back into the wall, the tremor his body created caused cracks to spread in the wall, away from his body. His head slunked down as he coughed blood up. Back on the ship, in his chair, he coughed up blood there too, causing all the spectators to turn and see where the "cacghk!" had come from. Janus could barely keep his eyes open now, he was almost nodding off. Davis decided it was now time to finish this dance.
He forcefully grabbed Janus by the throat, so hard that his head bounced off the brick wall he was being pushing up against. The Agent's grip tightened, but Janus's eyes stayed in the same, almost dead stare rather than bulging. He felt pain coursing throughout every inch of his body. He watched as Davis waited for him to die.
Those watching on the Nemesis were just waiting for Janus's heart meter to flat line, no one saw a way out of this one.
I can't die..how can I die? It's not real, it doesn't exist. If I give up now and die here, I'll disappoint Irvine...
His gaze fixed upon Davis's black lenses.
What...what are you? What are you waiting for, why don't you smash my head against the wall and we can get this over with? You wanna torture me and watch me die a slow death? Look at you. All you are is a computer program, right? Fuck you...fuckin' machine!
Janus's limp arm raised and took Davis by the throat.
Kira, the Nemesis crew, even Davis, couldn't believe it. Davis's face went "?!" Janus's grip tightened. So tight that the veins on his neck started to bulge. Davis gripped Janus's arm with his free hand, but Janus's grip got tighter. Davis gritted his teeth, his face going from "?!" to "?!!", as he removed his hand from Janus's throat and grabbed onto the redpill's arm with both hands, tightly, thinking maybe he could grip it so tight that the human would succumb from the pain. But no such thing happened. Instead Janus lifted Davis off his feet.
Glitch couldn't believe what he was seeing. Kira didn't know what was going on. Janus stared up at the struggling Agent.
"You don't get it do you? I know it's not real. I'm taking advantage of that," he told Davis. Glitch noticed one or two runes fall down the screen that were all white in color, not a shade of green.
"What is that?"
With that, a look of fear came over the Agent's face. Janus turned, and smashed him into the wall he was just being pressed up against, creating a "dent" in the bricks in the same fashion Janus's body had done to the opposite wall. Remembering that wall, Janus turned, his grip still deadly tight, and threw Davis at the hole he made with Janus's body. He flipped forward in the air, and landed upside down in the hole, landing on his head and his neck. Janus was breathing heavy, sounding as though he were enraged. Davis slowly climbed up and out of the hole.
Seeing his opponent standing and waiting for him, he got up and ran at him, throwing a punch for his face. Janus blocked it, but with his other hand Davis punched him across the face, and followed up with a roundhouse kick to his face, knocking him back. As he came in with a punch that would have knocked him the fuck out, Janus was still leaning back from being knocked back by the kick. Davis's fist flew past Janus's face, causing him to lean in toward him.
Janus punched him in the face so hard that it spun him around to face the other direction. While his back faced him, Janus jumped and sent a kick into his lower back that sent him flying forward. He landed on the ground and skidded a bit, cutting him up some and tearing a bit of his suit. He got up off the floor, examined himself, dusted himself off, and turned around to face Janus, standing in a perpendicular intersection with another alley.
Janus let out a sigh, the Agent just wouldn't give up. But then suddenly, out from the cross alley came an arm clothed in a leather sleeve with blood stain, and it took Davis by the throat.
Caught off guard, the Agent couldn't do anything about it, and he was raised up into the air by this arm. The owner of this arm stepped out from his hiding place. Ankle length leather trench coat, black shirt, black BDU pants with knee-high boots with buckles covering the laces, muscular build, and long black hair. Balthasar.
Davis tried to look down to see who it was choking him to "death", but he couldn't tilt his head enough. Balthasar's grip was so hard, that the Agent program and all of its rules couldn't handle it anymore, and it "died". The body hanging by Balthasar's grip was engulfed in a flurry of blue-green bolts until it transformed back into the civilian host body. When the reversal was complete, Balthasar tossed the body into the brick wall facing him, and it went all the way through rather than just making a "dent". He turned and looked at the other two. Janus had never seen him before, and to each other they were both strangers, but Kira knew who it was.
In a whisper, she had identified him. "..The Potential!"
"Ohh shit..." Marley said under his breath.
Balthasar took out his gun. Janus knew that if he moved too fast, whoever this guy was that just helped them, may shoot them both. The two men of similar appearance stared at each other, Janus once again into black lenses, and Balthasar into determined eyes. Behind his lenses, Balthasar could see Kira had come out from her corner into regular sight.
"So," Balthasar began in an elite tone, "you must be the new guy. And I see you have a friend with you."
Janus stayed stone face. Balthasar quickly lifted his handgun;
BAM
Janus waited for the pain of being shot, or the sudden loss of control of his body that would cause him to fall to the ground dead. But it never came. This confused him, and he arched a brow is display of this. Why had Balthasar wasted a bullet if he wasn't going to shoot him?
Behind him, Janus heard an "Ugnh..." Turning his head so he could see somewhat behind him, he could see Kira standing there behind him at the corner. He turned sideways so not to turn his back to Balthasar and leave himself open to be shot. When he got a better look at Kira, he could see that she was leaning on the corner of the wall with her one hand, and holding her stomach area with the other. Blood was seeping through her fingers. Without second thought, Janus ran to her, away from Balthasar, forgetting about him completely.
"Jesus, will you be alright?!"
"I..I don't know. It hurts.."
"I gotta get you out of here."
"No, wait.."
Ignoring her protest, he took the arm she was using to lean on the wall with and draped it over his shoulder. The phone on the wall still rang, waiting for the two to answer the call. But Janus knew they wouldn't both be able to make it through the exit with Balthasar there, so he made his choice. Walking her over to the phone, he told her, "You're going back."
"What are you doing?"
They'd reached the phone. He put his hand on it, not yet taking it off the hook. "I'm just the new guy, no one's grown attached to me yet. I can die without costing the crew anything."
Her eyes widened. "No! Don't do it!" She was in great pain, and she was fading.
"I have to. We have to"
"Janus.." Her eyes closed.
He put the phone to her ear, but nothing happened. At first, he didn't understand why. But then she let out a final exhale, and her neck muscles loosened. Her head gave way and hung, lifeless. Janus frowned.
"Kira, come on. Don't do this."
But there was no response. Janus didn't want to believe it, but he knew. He'd seen this so many times in his life. With a sigh, he gently laid Kira's body down on the ground.
Balthasar watched all this in amusement. He knew he had one bullet left in the gun. Janus turned around to face him, not hanging the phone up.
"Quite the gentlemen. The heroic knight sacrificing himself and his chance get away with his life so that the fair lady can make it out alive. Didn't work out that way though did it? You might have passed that training simulation we've all been through. 'Rescue Chip,' right? This time you failed. All a good show of chivalry, but we've all seen this movie before. We know how it ends."
"You and me both."
A silence fell upon them, as they stood staring at each other. Balthasar re-holstered his gun, and Janus frowned in confusion at this.
"She didn't make it. But dying in an alley wouldn't fit you. I'll give you a mercy killing."
Janus arched his brow, and Balthasar took off, bolting down the alley, with Janus in immediate pursuit. His pains from the clobbering he'd received from Davis had seemed to fade; His mind was determined on catching this foe.
Little did he know it was the best fighter in the Matrix since Neo that he was going after. But even if he did, he still would have went.
----
Kira's vitals flat-lined back on the Nemesis. Blood leaked from her mouth and she coughed up more. Irvine and Marley ran over right away to help her.
"Kira wake up!" Irvine yelled. He smacked her face a few times as Marley prepped a shot. But she didn't react. On her vitals display monitor, "CARRIER SIGNAL LOST" flashed repeatedly.
Marley looked at Irvine as though to ask if he should inject the shot. But the Captain merely drew up to look at him with an expression of anger and sadness on his face. Finally, he shook his head. Kira was gone. Marley started unhooking her.
Looking over to the other redpills in his crew, Irvine could see they were all as embittered by Kira's death as he was. He also realized they were torn, between their loss of a long-time crew member, and the safety of a recently-added one. Not interested in losing another crew member this day, he spoke up. "How's Janus holding up?"
"He's doing okay for now," Glitch said. He refreshed the screen, a new screen opening from inside another expanding square of code. "He's right here, running after Balthasar, they're playing cat and mouse." The screens showed Balthasar and Janus running through the alleys and streets, jumping over obstacles and from rooftop to rooftop.
"Looks like Balthasar's leading him somewhere," Anubis suggested.
"He has no idea what he's getting himself into." Blade said in a hopeless tone. "Aren't you going to do something Irvine?"
"There's nothing we could do to save him now."
"What?" Glitch asked, almost shocked. The feeling was mutual among the rest of the crew, they'd never imagine their captain leaving a man behind.
"How can you stand there and not do anything?" Solitaire asked him.
"He won't let us help him."
"What do you mean?" Anubis inquired.
"I've never seen anyone stand up to an Agent, go through a beating like he did, and come back for more, all while not even out of the Matrix for a year even. His confidence is fueling him. His mind is so free right now, that he doesn't care if he comes back or not. To him, if we tried helping him, we'd be putting ourselves in danger. All we can do is wait."
"How are his vitals?" Solitaire asked.
"Go to his chair and check," Marley told her. She ran over and checked his screens. In a nutshell, he was still alive, but he'd seen better days.
----
It was a beautiful day inside the Matrix. The sky was blue, with hues of pink, yellow, green, and orange throughout the clouds, and the sun shined with a beaming yellow-orange. On an empty rooftop stood Janus and Balthasar, their little chase game throughout the city stopping here. A breeze picked up, causing the skirts on their trench coats to sway slightly.
Janus stood at one side staring at Balthasar, and Balthasar the vice versa. A small piece of paper being pushed by the wind blew in between them, and as if on cue, they began to run at each other. They met at the middle of the roof, where Janus began to throw a series of punches and kicks at Balthasar, only for him to nonchalantly dodge and block each one while standing in his place. He returned the flurry of attacks with some shots of his own.
Janus blocked and dodge some of them, however he wasn't quick enough to counter every attack, and was hit. In particular, Balthasar went to strike at Janus's head from the left, was blocked, came from the right, and was blocked again, and as his second shot was moved out of the way, Janus took a shot in the ribs on his left side when Balthasar snuck in a right kick, and then punched him in the chest with his left fist. While Janus was a little phased by this, Balthasar wound up his right hand and as Janus gained his balance and came up straight again, Balthasar smashed him square in the face. The hit was so hard that it knocked Janus off of his feet and he fell on his back, his head bouncing off the concrete on impact. His face showed the pain he was feeling. He moved slowly on the ground. Balthasar walked over and stood over him. He took out his pistol. Janus couldn't move- couldn't think.
"Such heroic nonsense."
BAM
The gunshot echoed in Janus's ears. There was a pain in his chest, a burning. Through his eyelids, just beyond his eyelashes, he could still see the light from the sky. But everything slowly began to fade. A thousand thoughts crossed over his mind as he lay there. Balthasar stood there and stared for a moment, like a hunter watching to see if his prey had died. The smoke rising from the bullet hole in the center of Janus's chest passed as a confirmation of death for Balthasar. Hitting the slide release on his pistol, he re-holstered it, smoke still coming from the barrel. He reached into his pocket as he walked away, pulling out his cell phone.
----
On the Nemesis, Janus's vitals had dropped. His heart rate monitor flat lined. On the neural synchronization monitor, "CARRIER SIGNAL LOST" flashed over and over. The constant wine of the flat lined monitor hung in the air.
Blade sighed, as though to say "Damn it."
Anubis and Solitaire were feeling equally discouraged. It was the second crew-member death in less than 45 minutes.
Glitch sat staring at the code, and Marley put his hand to his forehead. A look of guilt and regret hung over Irvine's face.
"Let me go back in." Anubis simply put. These words came as quite a shock to the crew, although when they saw Anubis' face, they could see he was ready to kill.
"What the hell-? We just got you out! And Janus is dead, why the hell do you want to go back in?" Blade yelled.
If Anubis wasn't holding back his rage at that moment, he probably would've broken Blade's nose, but fortunately he kept himself under control. Without any words, he moved back over to his chair, starting to re-enter his clothing and weapons.
Irvine moved against him. "There's nothing you can do."
"Get out of my way, Irvine." Anubis snarled out of warning.
"Don't do this, Anubis. It'll be a noble, but short fight, and it won't bring Janus back."
"No, but I will at least take from Blood an eye for an eye. Isn't that what we all want right now?" Though Anubis said that sentence without raising his voice, it was clear that there was rage present in his voice, and the look in his eyes that he was very much ready to kill. In fact, he was so convincing, Irvine was about ready to let him have his way when Glitch spoke up.
"Captain, you may want to wait on that…" he said. On his monitor, a curious white strand of code poured down across the screen.
----
In the Matrix, Janus lay there motionless. In the dying thoughts of his mind, he recalled his thoughts, like a person who was half asleep, in the limbo between the dream world and the waking world. Irvine's voice echoed; 'The body cannot live without the mind. If the mind was killed, it tells the body it was killed, which results in you being dead.'
Am I dead...?
Janus' eyes continued to stare up into the endless sky, though he had accepted a long time ago that he was dead. Even in the Matrix, he felt his heart shut down and his blood flow began to slow down. His eyes felt dry now from the lack of blinking, which had once been an instinctive action, but along with the rest of Janus' movements, had faded with his mind. After a few moments, the sky had become fuzzy, then slowly faded to black, much like death was portrayed in the movies.
Janus assumed that this was caused by the blood loss, after all, .45ACP had a good reputation for blowing open flesh and inner organs. But that didn't matter now, it wouldn't be long before he ended up wherever he was destined to go.
This made the former detective laugh a bit, it was hilarious. After all this time, after finally learning the truth about his existence, it would all end here. He was never able to completely follow the White Rabbit through his hole, instead ending up being left in Lotus Forest, with no aid from the Cheshire Cat or Tweedledee and Tweedledum. It felt so incomplete, and if it weren't for his lack of energy, Janus would have cried out in frustration. Why did it have to end here? There was so much to learn, so many things to do now that he was free.
Seeing as how there was no way of returning, he decided to stay in the current situation. So… is this how death feels like? he asked himself. He had to admit, outside being cold and not being able to move his body, he didn't feel any pain at all. The feeling of intense heat, melted metal against his chest and the sudden shock from his lungs being blown open had long since faded along with the rest of the Matrix, leaving the former detective to continue… floating in the darkness. He figured he was floating, because he couldn't feel the hard pavement and nothing else for that matter. Instead, he felt himself drifting like a leaf down a river, seemingly no real destination but going on its course none the less.
Wait... What the hell am I thinking? Janus asked himself.
Am I just going to die like this? Because someone put a bullet in my chest? Why?
He felt himself finally able to cry out, imagining tears starting to run down his face in make-shift sorrow.
After everything I did to learn the truth, after the choice I made and the road I've traveled? This is my fate, why I left everything important to me?
Janus could feel anger start to grow inside of him.
Damn you Irvine, you really got me to think that perhaps there was a reason to come out here. You really made it out like there was something here, some reason to exist in the real world. Well guess what, numb-nuts, all you did was lead me to my death. I hope I can haunt your dreams at night, you self righteous pirate son of a bitch.
He shook his head at that.
No, it wasn't his fault. I made that decision to come out, I knew I could've died in Irvine's company, and I accepted the fact I could die wherever he took me. Heh, that wack job was right, when it comes down to it, we humans never want to accept making a mistake. We'll find every variable we can to make it look like we were innocent, but when it comes down to it, it was all a matter of choice…
Choice… Janus wondered at that. There I go again. Blaming my damnation on a simple word. Yeah, that's right. Just another excuse to justify my fate, not like it matters. But still, I can't help but wonder if there really was a reason for everything… Was living in reality really worth it? Was it really worth fighting for? Was it really worth dying for…?
Almost instantly after that phrase, Janus did something that probably would've killed him if he weren't already dead. He blinked. Almost instinctively, he closed his eyes and tightened his eyelids, as if trying to hold back tears. Then he realized, he was dead, he wasn't supposed to blink. Slowly but surely, he began to feel his body again. The weight of his clothes, his body laying on the rooftop, the wavering of his trench coat against an invisible wind, all familiar feelings and yet still unique in their own right.
The former detective didn't have long to enjoy these feelings. In the distance, he thought he could see a single flicker of light appear, so close that he could feel the warmth. Naturally, he reached out toward the light, curious as to what it was. When he touched it, the light formed into the familiar katakana code strand, only white this time, which then scrolled down like it was designed to do. Janus turned to his left and saw another strand scroll down, then behind him, another strand. More and more strands began to rain down until it surrounded him. From each strand, Janus could feel a power unparalleled by anything he felt before, all coming into his body. He could feel life return to him, and his motor functions began to resume as he instinctively took in air.
----
The Oracle sat on her couch, knitting a garment. Sati sat before her, watching cartoons on the television. The Oracle looked up suddenly, as though someone had called her name. But there was no sound. A look of confusion and remembrance came over her face. Something was different; There was a change. However, she couldn't place it. At least, not until she felt the code in the Matrix begin to ripple. For a moment, her programmed heart stopped beating, and she could feel as the simulated blood stopped rushing through her veins. As a result, she dropped the garment and the knitting tools. It had been a long time since she felt this.
In the room of screens, a warning came over The Architect's monitors. Several monitors reverted to display a large view of scrolling code, and in a box layered over the code, read "SCRIPT MALFUNCTION: ANOMALY UNKOWN." The box disappeared, to give a full view of the falling runes of code. The Architect arched a brow as he began to notice the change. More white runes appeared on the screen, and for possibly the first time in his long existence, the Architect's eyes widened, the emotion known as surprise caving in from his programming. He knew what the code read as, but it shouldn't have been there.
----
"What's going on?" Glitch asked. The others looked at the monitors, and too were puzzled by this white coding taking over the green. On the Nosferatu, and every other Resistance ship, and every ship out of Zion, it was seen.
----
The phone rang, and someone picked up on the other end.
"He's dead. I'll need an exit." Balthasar said. He ended the call and put his phone away.
Janus could see the sky. 'Can the mind live without the body?'
He then felt what could only be described as a sudden power that had coursed through his body. His eyes opened, and he inhaled greatly as though he had gone through a great scare. Slowly, he brought his hand to his chest to touch his wound. Blood on his fingers, hot. He blinked. Taking a moment to look around, he saw he was in the same world, on the same rooftop. What happened to me?
He slowly stood, and he remembered.
I'm alive.
----
On the Nemesis, Janus revived. The heart beat started up again, only it was rapid. The carrier signal was abnormal. He began to breathe again. The coding that represented Janus strolled again, but it was all over the screen, throughout the white coding.
"That's not possible..." Irvine said.
----
Janus's body jerked in his place as he stood. A power had overcome him from within, in a rush, as though he were hit by an immense wave but was strong enough to overcome it. All of a sudden, from inside out the green coding that made up his RSI had changed to white, glowing brightly. He looked at himself.
And he was suddenly a different person. He looked at his arms, his hands, examining himself, as he could see this new power running through him, the white coding that he had never seen before shining brightly. He looked around him, and for the first time, he saw the Matrix. An entire world made of scrolling green code, the dream world, in its true form, the false reality it always was. Irvine hadn't lied to him after all, for now, he truly did see this world for what it was. As he took this in however, he wasn't surprised. For some reason he couldn't understand, he was familiar with all of this. He knew it all, from the ground to the sky, and all that was in between. It was as though for that brief moment when his mind was separate from his dying body, he had become part of the world around him, and was resurrected upon realizing it.
He could see every change, every fluctuation in the code before it happened, as it happened, took shape, and changed again. He didn't understand it, and his mind battled itself, his old self trying to come to terms with his new self, and vice versa. Confusion and Nirvana simultaneously. Before him, a man made of bright green coding stood, it was Balthasar. Janus could sense something in him too, but he couldn't see it. In the blink of an eye, his code vision switched to normal sight.
Balthasar turned around, knowing he heard something, but unable to believe it was anything from Janus. However when he saw him standing there, staring him down as though he were waiting to be seen, his eyes widened behind his lenses. But Janus's face never changed. He didn't say a word.
"N..No," Balthasar said tripping over his words. "This can't be. I killed you."
But there was no witty comment. Only that stare. This wasn't the same man Balthasar had just killed. For the first time since he couldn't remember, Balthasar felt fear. Gritting his teeth, he pulled his pistol from his shoulder holster and aimed. He pulled the trigger, but was there was no blast of a gunshot, only the click of an empty magazine.
He tried again. click. He looked at the gun, and quickly back to Janus, afraid that if he took his eyes off of him, something might happen. Janus reached for his thigh, and pulled from the holster his remaining Beretta 96, which still had some rounds in it left over from before. His teeth still gritted, Balthasar couldn't believe he was going to be shot. He wanted to run, to run at Janus and beat his body down into the concrete. But instead of firing, Janus tossed to him the Beretta. When Balthasar caught it, he looked back at Janus in a skeptical manner. When he began walking toward Balthasar, he held the gun up and fired, continuously. But as Janus walked forward, the bullets headed straight for him veered off course within inches of his body.
----
On the construct monitors of anyone's ship, the white coding began scrolling down the screen so fast, that the picture on the screens changed from scrolling code to actual footage of what was going on in the Matrix. Everyone was in state of awe.
----
When all the bullets were used up, Balthasar threw the gun away. Janus was only feet away. Balthasar ran to him, and began throwing a series of bunches and kicks at Janus, who nonchalantly dodged or blocked each shot by a simple nod of his head, tilt of his body, or lift of his arm. The whole time, the unimpressed, yet fear summoning look stayed on Janus's face.
Balthasar sent a fist for Janus's face again, but this time, Janus caught it in hand. Balthasar first looked to his hand, then to Janus. He tried to pull it away, but Janus's grip tightened, so much that Balthasar could feel the bones in his hands beginning to crack. It was ridiculous, he knew this wasn't his body. But why did it hurt, now, in the face of fear? He didn't understand, and if there was anything these two men had in common most at this time, it was that neither of them could understand why or how any of this was happening.
Balthasar began gritting his teeth again, and Janus ever so slightly leaned his head to the left. A punch; WAM! Janus's idle fist slammed into Balthasar's chest, sending him flying back to the opposite end of the roof and into the steel door leading to the stairs that led down into the building. The door had severely dented, and Balthasar landed on the ground before the door in a state of shock and ultimate pain.
----
"Get a trace on that damn ship!" Blood yelled. Sideways got to work, and established a trace to find the Nemesis.
"What's happening?" Leon asked, in disbelief of what he was seeing. This spectacle could be seen by anyone who could watch a construct monitor, and it made sense to no one.
"I don't know, I've never seen this before," Sonia said.
"None of us have." Blood told them.
A beep went off, the trace was complete. "I found them," Sideways said.
----
Janus took one last look around. It was time to go. Leaving Balthasar behind on the rooftop, Janus left to return to the exit he was supposed to leave from. Since the others could see where it was he was headed, Glitch re-patched the exit. By the time Janus had walked back to the alley, the phone was ringing, waiting for him to pick it up. He took it up off the receiver and looked down at it for a moment, hesitating. He blinked, trying to recall all of these events. He knew he wasn't the same man he was only a few moments ago. A voice interjected his thoughts.
"The answers are coming," it said. He heard it, the same as when a person hears voices as they doze off into sleep. He was sure he heard it, but there was no sound. He brought the phone up to his head, and the world before him broke into pieces as his body disappeared, until he was back in the Construct. Then, his eyes opened on the ship. He took a breath, and exhaled slowly. On the construct monitors, the picture gradually faded back into scrolling green code.
As he lay in his chair, a voice came from the side.
"Janus..?" It was Irvine. As he approached Janus, he could see a look on his face that gave him a sense that there was something different about him.
"What happened in there?"
Janus turned his head to face Irvine, with an omniscient look in his eyes.
"The mind can live without the body."
----
TO BE CONTINUED in: The Matrix Revelations
