Prime Objective

Editor's Note:
Those of you readers who are especially of the 'femme' variety, may get a kick out of my allusion to 'deirty'ness, as mentioned later in this chapter. If you want to find out just what it is to be a 'deirty girl', visit: http://www.geocities.com/tanathir_canathel/deirtygirls.html

~*~

It was another day on board the Logos. Cat’s slender fingers were tapping away dutifully on her laptop. It was already her duty to research Agent Smith – Niobe set her to the task, and Cyren was her partner whenever they had to slip back into the Matrix for information.

Now even his name could not be spoken around her, without a barely perceivable chill running down her spine. Sometimes, she could even feel the side of her face tingle from where he had touched her. It was altogether strange, especially because it had happened in the Matrix – not to her physical body. But she had her own opinions on ~that~ particular subject.

Cyren came upon her while Cat was otherwise preoccupied with her subject of study. A fair hand was placed on her shoulder, and Cat lifted her golden-browns up to look at the pretty Irish face. “Oh, hello Cyren.”

A kind smile beamed down at her, Cyren’s own eyes twinkling with a hidden mirth. “So, have you found anything new on this ‘rogue agent’?”

Cat shook her head, turning her eyes back to the screen. Her fingers resumed typing as she was adept at the art of multitasking. When on a ship where you were dealing with people plugged into the Matrix, whose lives were on the line – while at the same time making sure that none of the ‘machines’ blew up your ship, multitasking sort of became a prerequisite.

“Not much more than just that. I mean, after talking to Neo, it is full likely that a part of him was imprinted into Smith. However, that’s still bordering just a philosophical viewpoint. I want statistics. We need to know what we are dealing with, here. This program is not just any ‘rogue’. This one has a vengeance, and I need to learn of his capabilities.”

“~His~ capabilities? ‘He’ is just a program, Cat.”

‘Bloody hell’, Cat thought. ‘Already said too much.' She winced at Cyren’s words – and her suspicious tone. She would not meet her gaze, however.

Cyren let her hand drop from Cat’s shoulder. Had Cat looked up, she would have seen that Cyren’s facial expression was not completely stern. It was perhaps a little suspicious, and yes, even a bit teasing. However, above all, she showed concern.

“Cat, what happened when you left the Matrix that last time? You were held up by an Agent – and, basically, you survived. What was going on?”

Cat blew her own Bettie Page-style bangs. Her tongue moistened her lips, as she prepared to explain. “Well, he…he um…” This was not going so well. Finally, she forced herself to blurt it out, her Spanish accent getting thicker under the stress. “He stopped me before I picked out the phone. ‘Something about asking if I was going somewhere. Then he reached up and I thought he was going to clone me into him, but instead he lowered his shades. And he…had…the most amazing eyes… They were, so very blue…”

She trailed off, and Cyren widened her gold-green eyes, seeing that Cat’s mind was beginning to wander in the middle of that subject. With slight incredulity to her voice, she uttered, “Cat!...”

Which of course, Cat quickly cleared her throat as though nothing had happened to throw her mind off-track. She quickly continued, “Then he reached up and brushed the side of my face. And when I realized that he was not making a move to kill me, that’s when I finally picked up the phone. I still have no idea what that was about, though.”

Cyren merely nodded. Of course she was concerned for her dearest friend and shipmate. “Well, I can’t stress enough that you must be careful. Your skills are invaluable to this ship, and, well, I don’t know what I would do if we lost you…”

A tender smile lifted the corners of Cat’s slips, as she looked up at her friend. “I know. I will be. So…when do we next go on our Smith-hunt?”

“A-hem”, Cyren exaggeratedly cleared her throat, giving Cat a ‘you deirty girl’ sort of look. “Actually, we’re due in ten minutes. Are you about ready?”

Cat’s smile lingered upon her lips, as she gave a resolute nod. She folded up her laptop and together with Cyren, went to see Bios.

“Alright, girls. I can hack you onto the corner two blocks down from the Mainframe building. Head due North, binarily speaking.” By binarily, it was understood he meant ‘according to the Matrix’s reality'. Bios, even serious as he was, still had a gentleness about his almost-onyx eyes, set within his kind, dark face. “Cat, I’ve got your laptop logged onto the system, so any information you ladies can grab will be downloaded here. Be careful – and good luck.”

He hooked them up, and when they next opened their eyes, they were in the Matrix. Cat was wearing the same outfit as before, as was Cyren. It was just the sort of clothing they felt most comfortable in. Cyren was wearing a figure-hugging black bodysuit. A black leather corset cinched her waist, held together by sleek silver buckles. Her boots were lower than Cat’s – going up only to her knees. The girls looked formidable, and dashing in their trenchcoats, as they walked down the streets of what looked to be downtown in a major city. Both walked with that poise as though they were royalty, and fully in control. Truth be told, because they were Awakened, this lent to their self-confidence.

Cat, however, as kittens go…could be as playful as one. She would eventually break down, and was not serious when she did not have to be. Even on the mission as they were now, she spotted the backside of a man standing by a newsstand. Ever the walking hormone, her eyes trailed down to his shapely rear, against which well-tailored slacks clung.

An evil grin spread across her ruby, Latina lips. ‘Why not?’ she thought. 'It’s not like it’s really happening, and likely I’ll never see him again'. So when the two walked by him, Cat’s hand was already out, and gave that man’s tush a sound smack in passing.

One could imagine, then, how heat instantly flared up around her face, when she turned to glance at him…
and found herself staring at those ominously familiar..dark…glasses.

Eyes widened, she quickly turned her head away. Without trying to be too obvious, she tried ‘ushering’ Cyren more quickly along. “OhmigodOhmigodOhmigod…”, she muttered.

“What? What???...” Cyren looked at her friend incredulously. It seemed she gave Cat lots of looks like that, and it was not as though her friend was not deserving of them. She gave a glance over her shoulder, and her bright, peridot-coloured eyes also widened, as she too, quickly turned her head. “Crap!”, and sped up her walk to keep in tempo with Cat’s quickened steps.

“What did you do???” she inquired, trying to keep her surprised tone to a whisper.

“I…I smacked his ass,” Cat stammered.

“You what?!?!? You smacked an Agent's ass?!?!?”

“He had a nice ass! How was I supposed to know it was…him? Look - just keep walking, we’ll turn up that corner.” Cat led her friend down the street and they turned down the corner towards a Starbucks. No sooner did they get it in their sights than Cat was halted by Cyren, who then proceeded dragging her off to the side and into an alleyway.

“What now??” Cat exclaimed, yet also trying to keep her voice to a hush.

Cyren peeked around the corner, then motioned to her friend. “You see that guy over there?” Cat looked, seeing rather a handsome young man. Tall, blonde, athletic. “Yeah I see him, so what?”

Cyren pulled her back to the alleyway, her expression now unreadable as she prepared to explain. She took a breath, and began, “He’s…my boyfriend.”

~*~