One and Two and Three

HaHA! a Review! *point, jump up and down* I'm... I'm just so happy... here, have some more plot.

Disclaimer-> Wachowski Brothers= Rich and Owners. Me-> Fangirl with no money and a crappy guitar that i don't know how to play.

no sue me.

no sue...

Outside the Matrix, Trinity was giving Mazon both the guilt trip and silent treatment at once as she lay Keyes down, settling into long moments of silence only punctuated by resentful glares and mutterances of ‘can’t believe it...’ She had Linc set up a hack according to her current position, which Mazon could still feel, though after repeated attempts with no access, plugged her in.

Keyes' eyes shot open and she inhaled deeply. She was connected. The pain on the back of her head was only a dull numbness now, and she was able to ignore her ribs, providing she didn't breathe too much. As for her back, it felt sticky and raw, like she was shedding and someone had forgotten to tell her how to wiggle out. Still, she was now officially plugged into the Matrix and that meant she could leave. But… she moaned and buried her face in a pillow. She was stretched out sideways, near naked except for the wrapping which formed a fairly decent shirt, covering her breasts and stomach completely, on a bed in an apartment that she could only assume the Twins owned. That put her on enemy territory… didn't it? She was still alive, that had to mean something. Right?
~don't be daft. They just want you in good physical condition before they kill you.~ another moan. Maybe if she could get to a phone or something… call Linc, get out without either of the Twins noticing. Lifting her head, Keyes looked around the room, noting it was entirely black. But no where in the darkness did she see a phone. Let alone a cell phone. Letting her head drop, Keyes focused her hearing on the quiet of the apartment. Stretching her ears, she heard…a shift, some deep breathing. No footsteps, no murmmered conversation, no waking presence aside from herself. Pushing against the bed, Keyes made to roll over and sit up when the harsh pain in her ribs came back, pounding at her, searing pain met her insolence for attempting to even move. Falling back on her chest. Keyes buried her face back in the pillow, breathing harshly. Moving would be an impossibility. Shifting slightly, Keyes pulled the comforter up around her tighter and turned, slowly. Flopping on her back she felt her ribs move slightly farther back into place. Letting her head fall back, Keyes lay there, clutching the blanket to her. Everything sucked.

"Where is she Linc?" Trinity turned to him, her back to Mazon who stood by Keyes, looking down at her forlornly.
"There. Top floor of this building. She's awake but…"
"She was in the truck"
"What?" Trinity and Linc turned to stare at Mazon who looked back up at them.
"The Twins have her. After… after I left…without her, she woke up back in the elevator and…" Mazon's hands clenched into fists. She was staring off into the space somewhere over Keyes' head. "One of them bruised her ribs… then they put her in the truck when…. When they were chasing you and Morpheus and the KeyMaker."
"My god… she was right there…" Trinity muttered to herself.
"Then…then Morpheus blew them up. They… they just left her there. Came back when the explosion died down and took her to the apartment…" she was shaking a little, possibly seeing things as she tried to tap into Keyes' head. "One of them helped her shower, the other wrapped her and put salve on her… she's okay right now but… oh god" something in the Matrix on Linc's screen flashed and Mazon went limp. Saved from the floor only by Trinity leaping over and catching her. She sat down and held her daughter to her.
"We have to get her out Linc… soon. What ever is blocking Mazon is killing her."

The Merovingian was not happy. Someone kept on attempting to hack his firewall. It was a code he'd installed to all that came under his payroll, a kind of safety measure for his guards. All of which were dead now, except for the Twins of course. But where they were he had no idea. All he currently knew was that some human kept on nearly breaching the code and accessing them. All this coupled with previous stress, loss of the KeyMaker and Persephone's attitude of late; the Merovingian had just about had it. He was sitting back in his restaurant, looking at the patrons gloomily. Tapping a few keys in his laptop, he picked up the trail of the two and soon enough found them, passed out in that place they kept, passed out with a human. A girl. He leaned back and grinned lightly. trust the Twins to think of something as menial as girls after a thorough ass kicking. It was disappointing though, that the two hadn't bothered to return after the Highway Adventure. Not the actions of upstanding employees at all. Sitting back for a moment, he opened the day's previous security tapes, and watched in fast motion as Morpheus, Trinity and Neo entered, talked, got up and left. A moment later that damn concierge program led in two girls, both obviously human anomalies, that is to say, 'freed', they sat and a moment later the Twins entered. He hit play and turned up the sound, observing the day's previous discussion.

"Afternoon boys, My colleague and I are here to see your boss. perhaps you'd be good enough to direct us to his whereabouts?"
"And what's in it for us?"
"of course, we wouldn't ask you to do this out of the goodness of your sweet little hearts. we're offering you..."
"well?"
"I'm not gonna shit around with you boys. you work for money. your mercenaries. it's as simple as that. how much is he paying you?"
"enough"
"we're done here"
"you'll die you know. If you stay here, working for Merovingian.... we'll just have to kill you
eventually… you... we can make sure you survive. We can save you from the Matrix. even if you are just programs... or you can stay. it's up to you" And the girls exited, followed shortly by Twins.
Closing the program, Merovingian rested on stippled fingers. Those … those children had tried to buy off his most trusted bodyguards, then told them about that stupid program they were working on, to free machines from the Matrix. It was really a pretty futile idea. Something about joining a Program with a human, then freeing the human who has the program's personality. They would use it for minds to old to leave the Matrix, freeing programs in their place. Still, it was disturbing that the encounter had happened at all. From the way the children had acted, Morpheus, Trinity and Neo had no idea they had even come. Most disturbing indeed….

When Mazon awoke again, she was in her room, the lights off. Still, she could feel body heat, Neo, sitting at the edge of the bed. Pushing herself up, Mazon rubbed her head and smiled weakly.
"Hi dad…" Neo turned to look at her, not answering, his expression unreadable in the twilight of her room. Feeling uncomfortable, Mazon began talking, feeling the need to explain herself, explain everything. She told her father's silent figure about how she and Keyes had entered the Matrix without permission or at least letting someone know. She talked and talked, the conversation with the Twins, the elevator ride from hell, Mazon returning to this world only to realize Keyes was still in the other one and whatever was keeping her from returning. When she finished, Neo leaned back and sighed.
"Mazon… do you know what time it is?" at her shake of the head, he sighed again. "You tried to reenter and passed out, remember?" a nod this time "that was three days ago." Now a gasp.
"Holy fuck, is Keyes out? Is she okay? What happened that knocked me out for that long?" Neo raised his hands, stilling her questions.
"Keyes is better, but Trin and Linc are still unable to contact her. Seems like the Twins have been looking after her pretty well. Her ribs are only bruised, burns gone. She ate an exurbanite amount of food earlier, and is moving around. We found an adaptation to the Matrix, specifically written for Merovingian's cronies. A fire wall, as it were. That's what was stopping you." there was silence then and Neo felt arms wrap around him.
"Dad… I'm sorry… for everything…" he grinned, there in the dark, and hugged her back.
"it's okay Mazon… it'll be alright. We won't lose her"

Keyes kept on drifting in and out of consciousness, sometimes noting a time of day, sometimes feeling hands on her. Turning her, rubbing the cold stuff into her skin, sometimes changing her wrappings. Sometimes she was alone. These were the worst times of all. Times when she worried frantically that she'd been abandoned. At first her stomach rumbled periodically, but that had stopped after while, just another ache. Things were never completely in focus. Ever. Time went like passing visions. Sometimes bright, sometimes dark. It all depended on what current hurt woke her up. Once it was her bladder, crying at her earnestly. The trip to the bathroom had been a long, arduous process. But she'd done it and returned to the bed.

During all this, the Twins, having recovered fully, often sat around, there in the apartment, debating a number of things, what to do with Keyes when she recovered, if her offer for a job had any merit, why exactly they had saved her life and were keeping her around now. One had set up a chess game he'd found somewhere and they played constantly for the next couple of days. It was after a game and they were setting back up the pieces when One leaned back and sighed.
"We are bored"
"Well what is there for it?" One shook his head, placing pieces in their spots. They both used white identical pieces and had named prices for each one, dishing out cash. Chess was for mercenaries too. The sound of a toilet flushing caught the attention of both and they looked at each other for a moment before standing and moving to the doorway of One's room. They looked inside just in time to see Keyes climb back into bed, making small human sounds, clutching a pillow as she dropped off again. They simultaneously turned and headed back to their game. Two as nonchalant as ever, One with a small grin on his face.

A day or so later, it occurred to Two that Keyes was still human and that humans eat. So he went out to get Human food leaving One to stare forlornly at… whatever. What he'd done, in fact, was head into his room and sit on the edge of the bed. He sat there and studied the face of this human that had survived what some programs could not. He wasn't really sure when Keyes sensed his gaze, but saw her open her eyes sleepily and look back at One for a second before gasping and slamming back into the headboard, clutching the blanket to cover herself. He looked at her disgruntled hair, sticking out in places, caution standing out on her features. They stayed like that for a moment, One sitting on the edge of the bed, turned and watching Keyes who was clinging to both the blanket and the headboard watching One. After a while, when it became apparent that neither were going to do anything… drastic, Keyes relaxed her grip and slid down to sitting, leaning against the headboard, still holding the blanket to her. A few more second of awkward silence followed before Keyes made a pass at conversation.
"What are you going to do with me?"
"Nothing."
"Is someone going to do something with me? Or do you and your precious brother kidnap girls for fun?"
"Have trust, we hadn't originally planned to kidnap anyone. "
"Oh yeah? What changed your mind?" One reached up and rubbed the left side of his jaw
"You connected." Keyes looked at him for a moment then grinned a little and looked away.
"Yeah, an eye for an eye aye?" she touched her ribs lightly. "But then, so did you" this time bitterness creeping into her voice. One simply shrugged and after a moment Keyes snorted
"You're such a prick, and your brothers no better." One's jaw tightened.
"Yes, how vile of us to pull you from the brink of certain deletion and nurse you back to health "
"I wouldn't have been on any brinks if you'd never followed us into that elevator!" Keyes voice was raising and One held back a grin. He was beginning to figure out how this girl worked. She took a breath or two and sat back. "Besides, it's your fault for being unreasonable."
"Unreasonable? How so? Because of loyalty?"
"Oh please, you’re a mercenary, loyalty only goes as far as money"
"Yes well that money goes quite far."
"Mine would go farther." Now she was sulking, chin dropped, looking out under eyelashes bitterly at him.
"Why is it so important for you to … enlist us?" Keyes thought for a moment, trying to put her motives into words.
"Because I … you…. I just need to… fuck" she looked to the side ~well that was a hit Keyes. No wait! Tell him that you don't know why, that'll go over REALLY well~ "humph"
"Oh what's this then? Disappointed your flawless plan isn't so perfect? Poor girl."
"If you're just going to sit there and prove what a prick you are then you can go."
"What? And be deprived of your company? No thank you." One shifted more on the bed; Keyes wasn't nearly as hard to piss off as he'd originally assumed. This was going to be fun. "Besides, it's so enjoyable to make you angry, your cheeks get this tint to them and your eyes squint, rather like a pig's" Keyes stared at him for a moment, then clenched her hands into tight fists.
"Just go away, if you're trying to get a rise out of me your wasting your time."
"Really?"
"Yeah, now that I know that's what your trying to do, nothing would make me happier then to see you fail" One smiled politely at her then, patronizingly
"As you wish." Keyes sat back crossing her arms as One stood and walked around the side of the bed, sitting down closer to her. "Although, did you ever find out just what happened to that friend of yours?" now he had her attention. She looked at him disdainfully, obviously determined to ignore what ever he was about to say. "She didn't make it out of the elevator, sorry. Begged us before we did away with her. Offered all sorts of things. Two took advantage of more then a few. Your friend was a screamer, didn't shut up until a gun barrel was in her mouth." He leaned forward, observing how her fists shook and whispered in her ear. "Speaking of mouth, hers was so tiny, but we stretched it out. Oh yes, we fixed that mouth in no time at all." He barely dodged the fist aimed for his face, re-materializing only to be grabbed and pushed to the bed. Keyes had snuck his knife at some moment and had it at his throat.
"Take it back." He grinned a little and phased out, moving his head above the knife only to phase back in, plant a kiss on Keyes angry lips and pull the knife from her hands and phase back out, leaving her alone in the suddenly oppressive room. Looking around quickly, she stalked into the next room only to feel a pinch on her neck and unconsciousness grab her up quicker then she really knew.

Keyes woke up to a door closing and footsteps moving very close to her. Something crinkled as it was set on the bed and the footsteps retreated. She wrestled her eyes open and stared at the bag from a fast food joint. Sitting up, Keyes noticed she was back in One's room, back on his bed, still naked. She peeked inside and held back a grin. About six burgers, five fry and fry substitutes and a couple of large pops. Keyes pulled herself into a cross-legged position and began to devour the food. It was as if her body had fallen into a state of eating it's self and this sudden substance in it, FOOD woke up some inner longing and Keyes ate every bit of it. Stopping only when the last bite was swallowed. She sat for a moment and shoved the wrappers back in the bag, tossed it into a wastebasket and fell back on the bed. Hands on her stomach, then exploring her body, running over her ribs which were no longer wrapped, back which felt like her own skin again, head which was sound.
Grinning, Keyes swung her legs over the bed and stood, immediately crumpling to the floor. ~Gods, how long was I out? ~ Using the bed, Keyes levered herself up and stretched, cringing as she felt a dull pain in her sides return. Sighing, Keyes headed to the bathroom, used it, then studied her image in a full-length mirror. Thinner, paler, dark bruises on the ribs still and ~where's my hair??~ It was so short, singed black at the tips. Hanging over her face thinly. Pushing it back, she pulled her hand away from it quickly. Apparently no one realized she would only get dirtier and dirtier as time went.
Trying to ignore her very naked self, Keyes reached into the shower and fumbled with the knobs until hot water poured from above. She scrubbed herself for the next hour or so, turning her pale skin red under the water and soap, she washed her hair a couple times, shaved her with a razor she found under the sink ~Do programs need to shave? ~ and shut off the water. Standing where she was a moment longer, letting memories return to her. Gods. How long had it been? How long had she lain, passed out in that room? A week? A month? Shaking her head a couple times, she stepped out, grabbing a towel and pausing to study her now clean self in the mirror, noticing again the shorter hair. ~well, at least it'll be easier to take care of~ Keyes toweled herself off, then wrapped the towel around her chest, noticing that it barely covered her rear and frowned, then stepped from the bathroom. Time to find some clothes, then a phone.

The Twins stood infront of the Merovingian who paced angrily.
"Four days! Four days and and what, there is no word there is no reason. You disappear with with some human girl for why? Do you have any idea what you've missed? Or maybe you don't care that some child has nearly hacked your firewalls to pieces." They just stood there, calmly watching their employer work up a rage, swearing in his beloved French. Two spoke up.
"But she did not succeed" Merovingian turned his wrath over
"Yet! She did not succeed yet! … wait, she?" now it was One's turn to add to the discussion.
"Is it not the anomaly's spawn? It is said she possesses…. Gifts" Merovingian's pace slowed and became thoughtful
"The anomaly's child… then it would not be to forward for me to assume that your… guest is her dear friend?" the Twins didn't answer. They didn't need to. "Yes yes yes, this could work to our advantage… bring her here and we shall see how much trouble we can make" the Twins nodded and turned to walk away, sharing a look though seemingly blank faces.

Keyes soon discovered she was alone. She found an slightly over sized dress shirt and ran her fingers through her hair shaking her head to give it a messy look. She then opened the door of the room and ventured into the rest of the apartment.
"Oh very homey. White on white on white." a sigh. A quick look over of the rooms found Two's grey bedroom/bathroom, a closet and, of course, the main room. It was basically a large square with a bar separating the kitchen from. Everything about it looked authentic; it even had a refrigerator whose light clicked on when she opened it. Empty, not surprising. There was no food, no television, just a couch, two love seats and a glass coffee table. Nothing hung on the walls, not a splash of color. She noticed there was no dust anywhere. Deciding the expedition was a flop; Keyes headed to the front door and tried it. Locked, from the outside. She growled and headed back to the couches, and flopped carefully down on a love seat. No where, in her search, had she seen so much as a phone jack. This place was dead. After about five minutes of pure moping, Keyes skulked back to One's room and pulled all his sheets off the bed. Folding them all together, she rummaged through the closet and produced an extra complete set. She made the bed, hoping it would pass the time. No such luck, thirty minutes later the sheets lay with out a wrinkle, a single imperfection. She shoved the old sheets into a drawer of the dresser, all of which were empty, except for the top drawer which had an old pair of white satin boxers, which she confiscated to help cover her scantily clad self, and an empty magazine clip. Ten minutes later Keyes was back to the love seats, feet wedged under the couch, doing sit-ups. ~This has got to be the lamest kidnapping ever. ~


There Ya go.

I realized that since I'm finally posting this, that means I'll actually have to start writing it actively again so as to finish it...

Reviews are always welcome and appreciated, though i fancy roasting a pig over any flames.