Prime Objective

“We’ve been spotted!”

Cat looked at her partner on this mission – Cyren – and together, the brunette and the redhead started running…and jumping – from one rooftop to another.

They had known from the moment they laid eyes on him, this Agent was different from the others they’d encountered until now. But as far as they were concerned, that did not make him any less deadly.

Cyren had been with the camera, snapping pictures like mad on her digicam. All this was from the ‘safety’ of a rooftop. They were on a building across from the Mainframe building. That’s what they called it, anyway. To anyone else, it looked like any prestigious office building. Only the Resistants knew that the men in the dark suits and shades who came and went into it, were in fact, Agents of the Matrix.

It was on this watch, however, that they noticed something unusual. One of the agents, standing across the street from the building – watching it as they were – was slightly different. He was not wearing an earpiece. Through Cyren’s high caliber zoom lense she noticed this, once Cat had pointed him out. She had pointed out one they both knew and feared – Smith...Agent Smith.

Smith. He was the only one who had visited her dreams – or rather – her nightmares, ever since she had become unplugged. Almost every person the Resistants tried to free, had a run-in with one Agent or another. They did not always survive. But in Cat’s case, it was Smith whom had personally tracked her down. Anytime she stepped back into the Matrix to free someone who was ‘Awakened’, made aware of the situation of the Matrix – Smith was almost always there to greet her. Despite the way his mere name could give her chills, she had to admit she was impressed by his programming. His fighting was superb, as were his tracking and shooting skills. She had been able to witness all this in brief successions, before she had to step in to make sure her fellow Resistants could escape from him relatively unscathed.

So it was from her view up on the roof, that she picked him out of the crowd. A few quick snapshots were taken by her friend Cyren, before he turned his head...and looked...right up at them. Somehow, he had sensed them! There was no time to figure out how or why, as they dashed over the rooftops.

Both long-legged women had no problem keeping up to speed, but Smith was somehow on their tails! Gravel pounded beneath their boots. Cat’s long brown hair looked almost like flames as it flowed out behind her. The sunlight made the red highlights in her mane to glow. Miranda’s hair looked moreso as fire – a vibrant red-orange it was. Both girls went tumbling over the roof...all but flying down to a brownstone building and crashing through the windows. They were sure they had lost Smith by then, but they were not going to let that assumption to slow their progress. Cat whipped her cellphone off her belt and called BIOS – their friend who was in charge of anyone who was ‘hooked up’ to the Matrix, onboard the ship Logos.

“Operator” a low male voice answered, some apprehension notwithstanding.

He instantly recognized the velvet voice on the other end, more breathless than it usually already was, from the current state of duress. The faint Spanish lilt was magnified anytime she was in an excitable state. “Bios! You’ve got to get us out of here! Agent Smith is on our tails!”

He gave her quick directions – a phone booth on the very corner of the building in which they were. No sooner said than the two girls were dashing down the stairs and back out on the streets.

Like clockwork, the phone in the booth started ringing. “Go ahead!” Cat yelled to Cyren, whom quickly picked up the phone, and phased out. Cat had just barely had the chance to hang it back onto the receiver, awaiting her turn when she heard a smooth, low voice. A voice that made her feel as though silk was being brushed against her neck.

“Going somewhere, Ms.Hex?”

Her breath stilled in her throat. Her exquisite, porcelain features were frozen in fear. Exotic, almond-shaped, amber-brown eyes widened. Full, cherry lips parted as she turned her head…
and found herself staring into a dark pair of shades. Into the very face of one whom had haunted her dreams, whom was to her and others – fear itself.

“Smith”, she barely whispered. The phone began ringing – but how could she answer it? He’d have her dead on the spot.

His hand lifted and she thought he was going to plunge it into her chest. She had seen him do it before to others – make duplicates of himself. And never until now had she noted – they never were wearing those ear pieces. However, his hand did not shoot out at her, but rather, to his shades…which he lowered.
A wave mingled with a strange combination of fear and euphoria, then overcame her. Instantly she was captivated by his eyes. Those clear, depthless blue eyes. The adage of eyes being windows to the soul, flitted in her mind. But this was a program that stood before her. A ruthless, killing machine. How dare he…have eyes like that? They were bright and unnaturally intelligent. More than that. They seemed to look into her...to be able to see her very thoughts.. She was unable to shrug the feeling away, standing frozen as she was.

The phone had not ceased ringing.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Bios and Cyren watched the screen in fearful anticipation. Why was Cat not answering? Yet they saw from the readings that she was alive, albeit, she was standing right in front of an Agent! So she was not dead, but for how much longer? Hoping against hope, they kept the connection open, waiting to see...

Cat barely flinched as she thought ‘This is it, he’s going to clone himself in me...’ The thought was fleeting as he reached up with his free hand – and slowly, let his fingertips graze the side of her face. Finally she breathed, with the softest intake of breath. She was completely unprepared for him, for this, for the effect he had on her. Though her heart was racing, it was not because of fear alone. Underneath the black lace bra she wore beneath a crimson laced longsleeve, she felt exactly what his touch did to her. She was certain he could tell too, for albeit she was wearing her black leather trenchcoat – it was wide open, revealing the black mini skirt and thigh-high stiletto boots beneath. Running in them was not a problem, once she had learned to master her position within the Matrix as she had. But nothing had prepared her for this – for mastering the reaction Smith was eliciting from her.

His crystal blues lowered briefly, noting the hardened peaks beneath her bra. The...barest...of smirks, arrogant though it was...was making its way upon his lips, as his eyes met hers once more. She felt the urge within her, to lean into his touch, though it would go against every perception she previously had about him.

It was not until his hand lowered an inch from her face, that she snapped back to the present. Of the fact that the phone was still ringing, and that, though her hand was still grasping the receiver – that she had not picked it up. And so without another moment to lose, she brought it to her ear. But before she phased out, she was able to catch the most brief glimpse at the change in Smith’s facial expression – which seemed the slightest bit let down at her leaving...

~*~