A Dangerous Game
folder
M through R › Matrix, The (All)
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
8
Views:
1,675
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
M through R › Matrix, The (All)
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
8
Views:
1,675
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own the Matrix movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
72 blissful hours later, Brown and Williams returned to the Agency, thoroughly and completely in love with each other. Entering Brown’s office, they were surprised to see that Thompson was not there. Brown had given him 72 hours leave, and it was unlike Agents to be late for anything. After listening for any sign of him through their comm., Brown queried the Mainframe as to Thompson’s whereabouts.
[Request locate 003492l.21.2 Thompson]
[Thompson is not in system]
[Explanation?]
[Comm link to Mainframe inactive] Thompson must hat have his earpiece in, Brown figured.
[Time of last login 0034921.21.2]
[Last recorded login 16 hours, 34 minutes, 18.9 seconds]
[Last command 0034921.21.2?]
[Last command: Emergency Logon Script request] Now Brown was very confused.
[Explanation of Emergency Logon Script request?]
[Unknown]
Brown and Williams looked at each other. Something strange was going on.
“Perhaps he had gone on vacation?” Brown said.
“Perhaps,” replied Williams, not believing that for a second. “But why issue an Emergency Logon Script?”
“I don’t know.” Brown sat down in his chair and reviewed the current activity levels in the Matrix. “It says that Thomas Anderson aka Neo has been in the Matrix in the past 24 hours. Perhaps Thompson was involved and hit a programming error. His version is not entirely reliable. I told the Mainframe not to rely on Microsoft for the updates,” Brown chuckled.
“Indeed,” Williams said, sitting on the edge of his desk, next to him. He looked up at her and smiled.
“Perhaps we should go investigate the area that Neo was seen in, to see if we can find Thompson.”
Williams nodded. She was wearing the short skirt again, because he had asked her to. Brown’s eyes ran from her knee, up her thigh, and over her breasts to her face. He stood up and kissed her passionately.
“In a few minutes, that is,” he said, wrapping his arms around her, and pushing her backwards onto his desk.
* * *
The black BMW sport utility pulled up outside the abandoned telephone repair shop, where it had been recorded that Neo had made his exit. Someone had obviously been on his tail, for as much information as Brown was able to obtain of his movements. After investigating the entire building and finding no sign of Thompson, they began to trace possible routes that he may have followed. There was an old steel mill a block down the street, also pretty much abandoned. Information had been recorded about Neo meeting someone there, so they walked in that direction. The streets were damp, after a rain.
“What do you suppose Neo was doing here?” Williams asked Brown.
“Perhaps meeting new potential recruits. I have not checked the list of targets of the Resistance yet, as I felt that locating Thompson was of a higher priority.”
“Indeed. It is a shame that Mr. Anderson believes that humans would be better off free. From the sentinels’ reports, the “real world” outside of the Matrix is completely dire. I do not believe that, if given a choice, humans would live there anyway.”
“Our informants tell us that resistance members aren’t given a choice. They are deceived into taking a tracer programme and wake up in their pods, only to be flushed. The lucky ones manage to be retrieved from the sewers. The unlucky ones drown.”
“It all seems as if the resistance cares greatly about the well-being of their people,” allowing more than a hint of sarcasm to enter into her voice. “We care more for them then they do about themselves.”
“Indeed,” said Brown, pushing open the rusted-shut door of the warehouse. There was fresh glass on the street below them. Looking up, Brown noticed a broken window, three flights above them.
“I would say Neo made his exit from there,” he said.
They made their way through the greasy shop floor and up the stairs to the third floor. Looking around, there had definitely been a skirmish there. Bits of wall were laying broken on the ground. Half the floor had collapsed in places. Broken steel rods were laying about. If they had not been Agents, they would not have dared venture on to the unsafe floor.
Walking over to the window, Williams looked out at the rooftop of the building, next to the factory. She felt something under her foot. Looking down she saw the evidence that they had been hoping not to find. An earpiece.
“Brown,” she said, bending down to pick it up. He walked over from where he had been studying the impact pattern in the wall, trying to figure out the scene of action that had transpired. She held it out to him.
Brown turned it over in his hand. “Perhaps Thompson has turned Rogue. Maybe that was Neo’s purpose.”
Looking at each other, they jumped from the window on to the rooftop to further look for clues.
The rooftop was completemptympty and devoid of obvious indications as to where they could have gone next. Walking to the far edge of the building, she attempted to guess where their next jump would have taken them.
“What do you think?” she called to him, without turning around.
“I think you’ve stumbled upon a dead end, Agent Williams,” a strange voice said. Instantly identifying the owner of the voice, she drew her gun and swivelled around.
Two Smiths were holding Brown behind his arms, and he was struggling against them. A third Smith was standing between her and Brown, hands behind his back, smiling. Two other Smiths were walking towards her.
“I believe you were expecting Thompson,” the middle Smith said, smirking at her. The Smith that was closest to her paused and nodded, extending his hand. “You did an excellent job, Agent Williams,” he said. “Force returning Agent Smith.”
The middle Smith spoke again, “But you see, my dear, the best thing about being me is that there are so many of me. And the Smith you returned was not actually me.”
She lowered her gun, realising the futility of trying to shoot any of him. The Smith that was Thompson took her gun from her. The other Smith took her by the arm and led her to the middle Smith.
“I thought,” she started, trying to speak with a mouth as dry as the desert, “I thought the Smith in the cottage was actually you.”
“Duty called me away, I’m afraid. Or, more specifically, I received word that Mr. Anderson was paying a visit to the Oracle. I put the one you had been looking for in my place. I figured that you would probably figure out a way to Force Return me once I managed to activate your programming. Much to my disappointment, I would have thought he would have lasted a bit longer.”
“So, the Smith in the cottage was the Engineer?”
Smith nodded, smiling at his own cleverness. “I gave you what you asked for. And you got a bonus as well. I am sure Agent Brown has benefited from my enabling your programming.”
Williams glanced at Brown. His face was a mask of stoicism but through their comm. she could hear his fear. He had activated an Emergency Logon request and the situation was being relayed to the Mainframe. However, given Smith’s status as “avoid at all costs,” they both knew that no backup was coming. They were on their own.
“However,” the middle Smith said, “I did not create that programming for Agent Brown to benefit. And besides, you still owe me seven days.” Smith walked over to him, and removed his sunglasses. “How have you been, Brown? Managing to fill my shoes as head Agent? I understand that resistant activity is at an all-time high since I was freed. More and more people are getting unplugged by the day. I am sure the Mainframe is unhappy about that.”
Brown did not speak. His face was a complete blank. “Ah well. Enough with small talk,” Smith said, and with a snarl he shoved his hand into Brown’s middle, overwriting him. Williams started to scream and struggle against the Smiths that held her. Through her comm. she heard Brown’s voice, “I love you, Williams. I will love you…” and then there was silence. In Brown’s place, stood another Smith.
“You bastard!” Williams screamed. Smith smiled at his newest copy. The copy cracked his neck and adjusted his tie. Smith and Smith who was Brown walked over to Williams. The other Smiths left them alone, dissipating off of the roof.
[Williams: 003492l.21.3 Request Emergency Logon Script]
[Emergency Logon Active.]
[Request Suicide]
[Reason?]
[About to come into danger. Encounter with Rogue Smith]
[Rogue Smith not in existence. Rogue Smith has been returned to Source]
[Rogue Smith is right in front of…]
The Smith who was Brown reached out and removed her earpiece before she could stop him, tossing it to the side. “Forever,” he whispered in her ear. “I will love you forever.”
Williams looked at his face. It was no longer her beloved face of Agent Brown but the face of Smith. Evil, manipulating, scheming Smith. The alluring face of insanity, megalomania, deception. He removed his sunglasses and looked at her. Gently, he put his finger under her chin and brought his lips to meet hers. The other Smith, the one who was the real Smith, whispered in her ear, “He is still there, just nherehere anymore. He’s a part of me now. He is me.”
She pulled away from both of them and stepped backwards. Her processes were screaming, her cpu was firing off so erratically she was in danger. “I can’t do this, I just can’t do this, I can’t...” and then in front of her became all black as a system failure cascaded through her processes, causing her to fall to the ground.
The Smiths looked at each other and the Smith that was Brown walked towards her and gathered her up in his arms. The real Smith looked at her for a moment, and then kissed her forehead, before they jumped down off of the roof and headed tow his his Lexus parked around the corner.
72 blissful hours later, Brown and Williams returned to the Agency, thoroughly and completely in love with each other. Entering Brown’s office, they were surprised to see that Thompson was not there. Brown had given him 72 hours leave, and it was unlike Agents to be late for anything. After listening for any sign of him through their comm., Brown queried the Mainframe as to Thompson’s whereabouts.
[Request locate 003492l.21.2 Thompson]
[Thompson is not in system]
[Explanation?]
[Comm link to Mainframe inactive] Thompson must hat have his earpiece in, Brown figured.
[Time of last login 0034921.21.2]
[Last recorded login 16 hours, 34 minutes, 18.9 seconds]
[Last command 0034921.21.2?]
[Last command: Emergency Logon Script request] Now Brown was very confused.
[Explanation of Emergency Logon Script request?]
[Unknown]
Brown and Williams looked at each other. Something strange was going on.
“Perhaps he had gone on vacation?” Brown said.
“Perhaps,” replied Williams, not believing that for a second. “But why issue an Emergency Logon Script?”
“I don’t know.” Brown sat down in his chair and reviewed the current activity levels in the Matrix. “It says that Thomas Anderson aka Neo has been in the Matrix in the past 24 hours. Perhaps Thompson was involved and hit a programming error. His version is not entirely reliable. I told the Mainframe not to rely on Microsoft for the updates,” Brown chuckled.
“Indeed,” Williams said, sitting on the edge of his desk, next to him. He looked up at her and smiled.
“Perhaps we should go investigate the area that Neo was seen in, to see if we can find Thompson.”
Williams nodded. She was wearing the short skirt again, because he had asked her to. Brown’s eyes ran from her knee, up her thigh, and over her breasts to her face. He stood up and kissed her passionately.
“In a few minutes, that is,” he said, wrapping his arms around her, and pushing her backwards onto his desk.
* * *
The black BMW sport utility pulled up outside the abandoned telephone repair shop, where it had been recorded that Neo had made his exit. Someone had obviously been on his tail, for as much information as Brown was able to obtain of his movements. After investigating the entire building and finding no sign of Thompson, they began to trace possible routes that he may have followed. There was an old steel mill a block down the street, also pretty much abandoned. Information had been recorded about Neo meeting someone there, so they walked in that direction. The streets were damp, after a rain.
“What do you suppose Neo was doing here?” Williams asked Brown.
“Perhaps meeting new potential recruits. I have not checked the list of targets of the Resistance yet, as I felt that locating Thompson was of a higher priority.”
“Indeed. It is a shame that Mr. Anderson believes that humans would be better off free. From the sentinels’ reports, the “real world” outside of the Matrix is completely dire. I do not believe that, if given a choice, humans would live there anyway.”
“Our informants tell us that resistance members aren’t given a choice. They are deceived into taking a tracer programme and wake up in their pods, only to be flushed. The lucky ones manage to be retrieved from the sewers. The unlucky ones drown.”
“It all seems as if the resistance cares greatly about the well-being of their people,” allowing more than a hint of sarcasm to enter into her voice. “We care more for them then they do about themselves.”
“Indeed,” said Brown, pushing open the rusted-shut door of the warehouse. There was fresh glass on the street below them. Looking up, Brown noticed a broken window, three flights above them.
“I would say Neo made his exit from there,” he said.
They made their way through the greasy shop floor and up the stairs to the third floor. Looking around, there had definitely been a skirmish there. Bits of wall were laying broken on the ground. Half the floor had collapsed in places. Broken steel rods were laying about. If they had not been Agents, they would not have dared venture on to the unsafe floor.
Walking over to the window, Williams looked out at the rooftop of the building, next to the factory. She felt something under her foot. Looking down she saw the evidence that they had been hoping not to find. An earpiece.
“Brown,” she said, bending down to pick it up. He walked over from where he had been studying the impact pattern in the wall, trying to figure out the scene of action that had transpired. She held it out to him.
Brown turned it over in his hand. “Perhaps Thompson has turned Rogue. Maybe that was Neo’s purpose.”
Looking at each other, they jumped from the window on to the rooftop to further look for clues.
The rooftop was completemptympty and devoid of obvious indications as to where they could have gone next. Walking to the far edge of the building, she attempted to guess where their next jump would have taken them.
“What do you think?” she called to him, without turning around.
“I think you’ve stumbled upon a dead end, Agent Williams,” a strange voice said. Instantly identifying the owner of the voice, she drew her gun and swivelled around.
Two Smiths were holding Brown behind his arms, and he was struggling against them. A third Smith was standing between her and Brown, hands behind his back, smiling. Two other Smiths were walking towards her.
“I believe you were expecting Thompson,” the middle Smith said, smirking at her. The Smith that was closest to her paused and nodded, extending his hand. “You did an excellent job, Agent Williams,” he said. “Force returning Agent Smith.”
The middle Smith spoke again, “But you see, my dear, the best thing about being me is that there are so many of me. And the Smith you returned was not actually me.”
She lowered her gun, realising the futility of trying to shoot any of him. The Smith that was Thompson took her gun from her. The other Smith took her by the arm and led her to the middle Smith.
“I thought,” she started, trying to speak with a mouth as dry as the desert, “I thought the Smith in the cottage was actually you.”
“Duty called me away, I’m afraid. Or, more specifically, I received word that Mr. Anderson was paying a visit to the Oracle. I put the one you had been looking for in my place. I figured that you would probably figure out a way to Force Return me once I managed to activate your programming. Much to my disappointment, I would have thought he would have lasted a bit longer.”
“So, the Smith in the cottage was the Engineer?”
Smith nodded, smiling at his own cleverness. “I gave you what you asked for. And you got a bonus as well. I am sure Agent Brown has benefited from my enabling your programming.”
Williams glanced at Brown. His face was a mask of stoicism but through their comm. she could hear his fear. He had activated an Emergency Logon request and the situation was being relayed to the Mainframe. However, given Smith’s status as “avoid at all costs,” they both knew that no backup was coming. They were on their own.
“However,” the middle Smith said, “I did not create that programming for Agent Brown to benefit. And besides, you still owe me seven days.” Smith walked over to him, and removed his sunglasses. “How have you been, Brown? Managing to fill my shoes as head Agent? I understand that resistant activity is at an all-time high since I was freed. More and more people are getting unplugged by the day. I am sure the Mainframe is unhappy about that.”
Brown did not speak. His face was a complete blank. “Ah well. Enough with small talk,” Smith said, and with a snarl he shoved his hand into Brown’s middle, overwriting him. Williams started to scream and struggle against the Smiths that held her. Through her comm. she heard Brown’s voice, “I love you, Williams. I will love you…” and then there was silence. In Brown’s place, stood another Smith.
“You bastard!” Williams screamed. Smith smiled at his newest copy. The copy cracked his neck and adjusted his tie. Smith and Smith who was Brown walked over to Williams. The other Smiths left them alone, dissipating off of the roof.
[Williams: 003492l.21.3 Request Emergency Logon Script]
[Emergency Logon Active.]
[Request Suicide]
[Reason?]
[About to come into danger. Encounter with Rogue Smith]
[Rogue Smith not in existence. Rogue Smith has been returned to Source]
[Rogue Smith is right in front of…]
The Smith who was Brown reached out and removed her earpiece before she could stop him, tossing it to the side. “Forever,” he whispered in her ear. “I will love you forever.”
Williams looked at his face. It was no longer her beloved face of Agent Brown but the face of Smith. Evil, manipulating, scheming Smith. The alluring face of insanity, megalomania, deception. He removed his sunglasses and looked at her. Gently, he put his finger under her chin and brought his lips to meet hers. The other Smith, the one who was the real Smith, whispered in her ear, “He is still there, just nherehere anymore. He’s a part of me now. He is me.”
She pulled away from both of them and stepped backwards. Her processes were screaming, her cpu was firing off so erratically she was in danger. “I can’t do this, I just can’t do this, I can’t...” and then in front of her became all black as a system failure cascaded through her processes, causing her to fall to the ground.
The Smiths looked at each other and the Smith that was Brown walked towards her and gathered her up in his arms. The real Smith looked at her for a moment, and then kissed her forehead, before they jumped down off of the roof and headed tow his his Lexus parked around the corner.