The Matrix: Evolution

[Paendragon]

Merlin

He eyed the hotel from the alley as he climbed out from the manhole.

It seemed quiet...but in here, that meant nothing.

"Operator, I'm at the exit point. Outside. Any surprises waiting inside for me?"

He bobbed his head out of the alley, looking in both directions for the others. There was no sign. He hoped they all made it, but if not...

He knew it sounded cold, but what he carried was worth it. he could tell by the look in Zales eye when he gave it to him, and by how eagerly he was willing to lay down his life for it.

His hands squeesed the grips on the pistols, reassuringly. They wouldn't be much good against an Agent, but they were better than nothing.

"What do you think Operator?"

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Sekhmet

"I have a very bad feeling about this. I get blips." She bit her lip and glanced over at her sleeping comrades. "I'm thinking upgrades of some sort. If it weren't for the rookie, I'd say bale...."

 

[Paendragon]

Merlin

Merlin nodded.

The kid was on his way here.

"Alright, I'm going in..."

 

[dj conan]

Blaze gasped as he opened his eyes, then felt the jack sliding out of his skull. He was back in the real world, back aboard the Ragnarok. And lucky to have made it there.

"My god, we have to warn the Freedom!"

"Are you shitting me?" exclaimed his operator. "You barely made it back alive after being chased by that agent upgrade, whatever the fuck you wanna call it!"

"And if I don't do something, they won't be so lucky."

A long pause...

"Alright, lay your ass back down in this chair." Blaze obeyed.

"From what I understand, they were headed to a hotel trying to rendevous with Zales. I've been tracking their position, and it seems they're headed for the Roosevelt, another hotel. I can drop you in an abandoned apartment building two blocks away."

"That will do nicely. Load me up."

Blaze felt the jack sliding into the back of his neck. The sensation at first felt like stuffing a Q-Tip as far into your ear as you can get it. Then a flood of white light as the construct came to life around him. Not much had changed about his appearance, other than his clothes. He wore a long black trench coat and the distinguishing shades, letting others know whose side he was on. The rest of his residual self image he had based on his real life appearance.

A table rushed out from the distance and stopped three inches away. Two .45's and a 12-gauge lay neatly on the table, along with plenty of ammo. Blaze took these and waited as the table rushed into the distance.

It came subtly at first, but then happened all at once. Furniture: couches, chairs, tables. Then the walls came and fit themselves into place. Blaze watched calmly as the lobby of the old apartment building formed itself around him. Then it all stopped.

The phone was ringing.

"I'm in."

"The Agent is with one of them, impersonating someone else. Be careful who you trust. Merlin is just outside the hotel, while Alloc is on his way with Warlock from Zales's crew in a van. The others are MIA, so I suggest calling the Freedom and seeing what's up."

"I'll do just that."

Blaze flipped the cell phone open and dialed. "Sekhmet, this is Blaze from the Ragnarok. I'm here to help."

OOC: I hope that wasn't too much all at once, I kinda started writing and couldn't stop. If I got anything wrong, by the way, let me know and I'll edit it.

 

[Paendragon]

Merlin

He slipped through a groundfloor window, into an empty room, and pulled his guns from their shoulder holsters.

He was as silent as could be, all his senses projected outward looking for a trap.

He opened the door, slowly, and peered out into the hall. There wasn't a soul to be seen, which, in itself, wasn't too comforting.

He glided through the hallways, and the staircases, stopping on each floor, to look for Agents, or any other copper tops.

Human's could be just as dangerous as an Agent to a rebel, especially if you were recognised. An Agent would infiltrate any body available to destroy him or his crew, or any other rebel in the vicinity.

If you're not one of us, you're one of them. It was a mantra he had been given when he was first unplugged as a kid, and was pure truth.

He went up another flight of stairs, and stopped. He knew where the hard line was, the trick was getting ther alive. Even as close as he was.

 

[Paendragon]

The homeless man reached for the bottle, and brought it to his lips. It never got there, landing with a crash in the alleyway. He screamed, or tried to, as his hand stretched and pulled, sprouting fingers from his palm.

Soon it was over, and Agent Barnes rose to his feet, and looked up at the hotel in front of him. This is where they were, he knew. He touched his earpiece, as he received his instructons, then leapt up to the fire escape. He knew where they were heading, and he would get there first.

 

[poohlive]

With a fiery burst that seemed to surprise even him, Alloc crashed through the door. His entire body came to a sliding stop, as splinters of the door flew all around him. His guns were out, both aimed at different parts of his harrowing entrance, ready to shoot at any sign of movement.
The hotel front was empty though. Inside, dark shadows played against the cracking plaster on the walls. The furniture held an antique quality, which an inch of dust around everything almost seemed to enhance. Alloc saw a flight of stairs going up, and a few elevator doors further down the hallway.
No one.
Nothing.
Had the information been wrong? Maybe no one was here after all. The hardline still plugged in, he wouldn't have to go to Warlock's backup plan, he could just leave from here and wait out with the others.
Already leaping the stairs two at a time, he dared to put down one gun and call up Sekhemet. The other gun was poised in front of him, locked and loaded for anything.
"What's going on? Where is everybody?"
He said this to mean both the cops that were supposed to be here, and the team memebers who had mysteriously not showed up to the rendezview. For a chilling moment he thought perhaps, he was the only one left. A cold shiver dropped down his spine at this spot, making him run even faster if that were possible.

 

[Paendragon]

Merlin

Merlin rounded the corner into the meeting room, and skidded to a halt. Standing near an open window, between him and the hard line was an Agent.

"Ah, Mr. Goodman, isn't it? My name is Agent Barnes. I'm afraid I cannot allow you to leave just yet. I have some questions for you."

Merlin aimed and fired, both pistols. The Agent, of course, dodged the bullets. Then again. merlin wasn't trying to kill him, just distract him long enough to get by him.

He ran to the wall, jumped up on it, and pushed off, still firing. His path taking him over the Agent's head. But the Aent was too fast. He leapt upward, forgetting about the bullets racing toward him, and slamed into Merlin's chest, smashing him backward into the ceiling. They both feel back to the flor in a heap.

Merlin groaned, and pushed off the floor, landing on his feet. The Agent was already up.

Merlin atacked, a flurry on kicks and punches, none of which landed solidly. The Agent blocked them all, and counter punched.

And the fight for the life of a rebel was on.

 

[poohlive]

"The funny thing is... you actually think you can win."
Alloc leveled the carbine Uzi against the two fighting at the center of the room. One program and one human, both battling for their existence, and the irratication of the other. With blood trickling down his lip, Alloc felt a surge of both energy and anger come from him.
He needed this worse than anything else. A sense of justice, but more importantly a path for revenge. This fucking computer had been the key to all of the problems, and the Agent embodied the computer down to a T.
"Come on then," The gun still in his hand, he moved towards the fight. The uze itself was no longer important, just a shield he could use to get closer. He wanted to strangle the fucking agent with his bare hands, watch the artificial life drain from his glossed over eyes.
Then he would snap the fucker's neck.
Alloc moved closer, looking for a way into the brawl.

 

[Paendragon]

The Agent was too fast... too strong. He knew in his head that he had no chance, one on one, against an Agent. Not to win. Not much better of a chance to survive.

He was angry... not at the possibility of his death. He knew, quite well, how that would come about. He was the Captain of a ship, and as such, he wouldn't be killed by the Agent. No...he would be captured in the hope that he would give up the codes to Zion's mainframe.

He wouldn't, of course. Not while he still had breath in his body, Then they'd try to hack into his brain. But he would be long dead by then. Unpluged by Sekhmet. He didn't blame her. She would do what she had to do.

What he was angry at was that whatever was on the disk in his possession would never be known. Its information would die with him.

The Agent landed a punch on the left side of his jaw...blood spewed out of the opposite side of his mouth as his head snapped around, He used the momentun to carry himself in a circle, and swing a backhanded fist at the enemy. The Agent blocked it, and kicked him, hard, in the ribs, sending him slamming against the wall. Merlin pushed off the wall, and snapped a quick kick at the Agents head, surprisingly, it made it through, and landed on the left side of the programs face, knocking his glasses off his face. he tried to follow it up with another kick - blocked - then two punches - blocked - then a short kick to the programs chest - knocking the Agent backward a half a step. But the Agent came on again without missing a beat.

That was the key. No matter how hard you hit them, you couldn't seem to hurt them. Not really. Their strength wasn't in muscle, but electronic impulses on a massive program. How do you hurt that.

Still the fight went on...one that with each passing second he was closer to losing.

Then he saw him. Alloc!

If he could get the boy the disk, he could take it out of the Matrix! Merlin might not be able to beat the Agent, but he would keep him distracted long enough for the rookie to get the hel out of here.

He lost sight of Alloc as he dodged an impossibly fast flurry from the Agent, felt pain in his jaw, and found himself on his back on the floor. His hand found the disk in his pocket, and he opened his mouth to call to Alloc. The Agent, too, noticed the other rebel, and turned toward the new threat.

Now's the time...

Then he saw the look on the boys face, and he knew what that meant. He didn't come here to run.

No...

"No!"

But it was too late. Alloc had entered the fight...

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Sekhmet

Watching the screens Sekhmet frowned as a new annomoly cropped up....Her phone lines were down. Somehow the agents had blocked the cell phones trasmissions and all she got was "The number you are calling is outside of our service area. Please try again later."

Trying the hardline in hopes of reaching someone was to no avail. She could only watch the screens helplessly....and hopelessly...as her team engaged in battle.

When blood began to trickle from Merlin's mouth she gave up the screens and her attempts and rushed to his prone form to apply first aide. She'd always beleived that if care was taken to strengthen the body here, the rebel might last longer in the Matrix.

"Please don't die." She said to him. "Or if you do die, die clean, so I don't have to kill you."

_____________________

Behind the Roosevelt, acting as back-up, Agent Beckham stood in front of the phone routeing box, his fist deep inside it's guts and the smell of burnt wireing filling the air effectively shutting down service for the entire blocks worth of phones.

 

[dj conan]

"The number you are calling is outside of our service area. Please try again later."

"Fuck!"

Blaze furiously dialed again.

"The number you are calling is outside--"

"Fuck you!" Blaze yelled as he hung up again.

Okay, Blaze, think, he told himself. The Roosevelt Hotel. I'm supposed to be two blocks away. But which direction?

Looking outside, Blaze could see nothing that indicated Roosevelt anything.

Praying he was right, he picked a random direction, and ran as fast as he could.

 

[poohlive]

Alloc let a whole round from the Uzi dump into the agent. He dodged each and every one, as if they came seperately, but that was what Alloc wanted. Since the agent spent so much time dodging bullet after bullet, Alloc had hurled a powerful forward kick at him.
It sent both of them flying. The agent backwards, and Alloc forwards. The grin on his face made him foresight his own victory. Alloc had won, he had defeated this fucking bastard with only one kick.
Then they stopped.
The agent hadn't fallen. In fact, he stood there, both of his hands now on the foot that Alloc had used, which was still in his stomach. A second of fear was all he could spare as the agent threw him, by his foot, into the nearest wall.
Before he even hit the ground, Alloc was already fighting to get back up. He took the blow very well, the pain unable to register as he stood ready to take on another fight.
The agent waited for him when he stood.
Fuck," Punch after punch came into him. His training took over to dodge the worst ones, but each came through didn't feel like anything on any training program. They were brick walls, hitting at more than his body, it was hitting at his mind.
"No, God. Fuck!" He tried dodging, moving to the right, something, but each move became a huge mistake that ended him up right back where he started.
Alloc, in desperation, dropped to the ground, going into a roundhouse to sweep the agent off his feet. The agent, though, jumped high into the air.
Without a second thought, he grabbed for his other gun, laid flat on his back, aimed at the fucker still flying in the air, and shot for all he was worth.

 

[Paendragon]

He pulled his guns and fired, joining Allaoc's attack.

That when something amazing happened. One of his bullets tore into the shoulder of the Agent.

You wouldn't know it by his expression, by Merlin was extatic. It didn't last for long, though. The Agent landed, spun, and leapt on top of Merlin, he managed to get off anothe shot, but wasn't sure if it hit or not.

Merlin fought savagly, kicking, smashing at the Agents ribs with th handles to his guns, but they didn't seem to have any effect. And he couldn't reach his clips to reload.

He couldn't breath any longer. The Agent's hands wrapped around his throat, tighter. He let go of the guns, and grabbed the back of the enemy's hands, but it only slowed him down. He was too strong.

The Agent knew he was in command...knew he was the Captain. And knew if he was incapacitated the fight would be all but over. No one could take an Agent alone, even with Allocs gifts. He fought to maintain consciousness, but was failing. He released one hand, and grabbed the disk, to send it skittering across the floor toward Alloc. Hopefully the boy would take it and run...

 

[poohlive]

Alloc reloaded his gun. He looked at the agent, hovering over his captain, killing him. Alloc moved to help, but stopped as a disk skidded to a halt before his feet.
The look in Merlin's eyes were undeniable.
"No," Alloc whispered, gritting his teeth at the rage that began to fill him.
"No!"
He jumped on top of the agent, grabbing his head and pulling back with all his might. In a moment of uncertainty, he lost his balance, and the agent flung both of them to the back wall. He hit, hard, blood flying from his mouth. It hurt twice as bad, because the agent shoved into him just as hard as the wall did.
He had been compressed.
Alloc, to his surprise, found theg un still in his hand.
He unloded it into the back of the agent, unsure if he hit anything, but wanting to do something about the pain other than cry.
He pushed the agent off, running for the disk, but never got there. A kick sent him falling end over end across the floor. The paintook over, and he spasmed once. A rib had broken, or something that bad. His chest exploded in pain, something he wasn't sure he would ever overcome.
He crawled, hand over hand to grab for the disk.
Maybe they could still get out of her.
Tears and blood mixed in his eyes, and it was becoming hard to see.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Sekhmet

"Please..." Sekhmet found her gaze wandering to the jack at the back of Merlin's head and then would forceably pull her eyes away. It wasn't over yet.

Slipping an oxigen mask over both mens faces she then jabbed a shot of adrinline into Merlin's thigh. Maybe it would help...maybe it wouldn't. It could give him the extra edge or put him in cardiac arrest.

Better to have tried something than to give up and pull the plug.

 

[Paendragon]

Merlin

He watched, as ribbons of blood shot out of the Agents chest.

Alloc had shot him!

But now the boy was down. And the Agent moved toward him, slowly. Merlin could tell the body he used was mortally wounded... only the Agent kept it moving. And from the look in the enemies eyes he wanted just one thing, to take one of them down with him.

Merlin, with a new new burst of energy reloaded the one gun he could reach, and pushed off the floor, leaping toward the Agent.

The Agent, injured, didn't see him until he slammed into his back. he jammed his gun into the Agents spine, and fired. Once, twice, three times...

He was aware of the spray of blood that hit the far wall, and of little else... until he found himself lying on top of the dead body of some copper top. He gasped, and turned to look at Alloc.

The boy had saved his life ... and he would wring his neck for it.

he opened his mouth to say something, and then froze. He heard a loud noise coming from outside on the fire escape. Feet moving impossibly fast. The Agent.

He crawled over to Alloc and tried to help him to his feet.

"Time to get the fuck outta here, kid..."

 

[poohlive]

Alloc took in a deep breath through gritted teeth, making a sound like a tire flattening, as he pushed his weight to one foot. The other exploded in pain if he tried to use it.
He leaned hard against one side, holding the diskette up to Merlin.
"We did it man," A shit grin exposed bloody teeth.
He grabbed the ringing reciever, without a second thought, and came home.
An odd sense of flying went through him, and he woke up, sitting in a chair, as his body ached with a general feeling of pain, but none of the specifics as just before in the Matrix.
He leapt out of the chair, wincing as he nearly fell to the floor. That was a bad idea, testing his body, he moved slower now, and went up to the vid screens.
"Is he out?"

 

[Paendragon]

Merlin

He watched Alloc vanish, and waited. The footsteps were getting louder. And then they stopped. He pulled his pistol, and held it out towards the door. His body screamed in pain, and he grit his teeth to fight it.

"Come on, dammit, get me outta here..."

Just then, the phone rang, and he snatched it out of the cradle as quick as he could. The last thing he saw as he vanished was The Agent kicking in the door.

His eyes opened on the Freedom, to the sight of Sekhmet.

"I'd kiss you, if my face didn't hurt so much..." He tried to grin, and winced.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Sekhmet

"Kiss me anyway." She kissed him, then jumped into her seat. "They are running a trace."

She looked back at them.

 

[dj conan]

Blaze's cell phone rang.

"Yeah?"

"Blaze, the Freedom is safe, but don't breathe easy yet..."

"What do you mean?"

"Just get outta there. There's an exit three blocks away. Also when you get back, we've got a message from Zion. I decided I'd wait for you before I opened it."

"How thoughtful."

 

[Paendragon]

Merlin

He was surprised when she kissed him, but grinned afterward.

"They are running a trace."

He sat up slowly. "Get us the hell outta here..."

He was in no condition to help her, but he had faith in her piloting skills. Still, he moved himself, slowly, into the co-pilots chair.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Sekhmet

Sekhmet hit the control that retreived the broadcasting equpt even as she pulled them off the hotel lobby floor. Forgotten grandur slipped by them as she crept the ship out into what had once been a street.

A quick glance at the radar showed that there was some squid activity to the northeast, so she took a southern route to advoid them.

"Where to boss?" She asked.

 

[poohlive]

Alloc took comfort in finding a wall to lean on. He slid to the floor, losing strength to do anything more. They could take control of things now, and he sure as hell didn't know how to help them.
No one had ever trained him to run anything on the ship. Just being pulled out, there was enough training with the Matrix program, the actual mechanics of outside technology baffled even the hardest of computer programmers.
Which he once was...
His eyes began to close, but he stopped himself from falling to sleep just yet. He wanted to make sure they were out of danger. Just cause the agent was gone, didn't mean danger had now ended.
In all honesty, it was just beginning.
Alloc kissed the metal hull, thanking himself that he hadn't died yet.
Not yet.

 

[Paendragon]

Merlin

"We've got to read what's on the disk, and make contact with Zion. They should know what happened to Zales," he gasped.

He turned to glance at Alloc. "Plus we need to get some supplies. Do you know of any other ships nearby?"