The Matrix

[Founder]

The question that drives all of us mad...the question that we all ask...the question we need an answer to...

What is the Matrix? - Neo



What is the eternal truth that will set us free, that will bring us from ignorance onto the path of knoweledge?

That you are a slave, (...). Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind. - Morpheus



A choice must be made. It will free you, but freedom comes with responsibility...

This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. - Morpheus



What is your purpose...your mission that comes with freedom?

"As long as the Matrix exists, Humanity will never be free." - Morpheus



Who must we defend?

The Matrix is a system, (...). That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it. - Morpheus



Who must we fight?

"No. It is another training program designed to teach you one thing: if you are not one of us, you are one of them." - Morpheus



What side will you choose?

"What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad." - Morpheus



Will you choose to fight for freedom or enjoy the bliss of ignorance?

"Because you have been down there Neo, you know that road, you know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be. - Trinity



The choice is yours...

"Welcome to the real world." - Morpheus



Hoverships:

Fassus




"Electro-Magnetic Pulse, disables any electrical system within the blast radius, only weapon we have against the machines." - Trinity

Locations:

Zion


Mainline


The Matrix



Characters


Code Name: Sovereign
Birth Name: Jacob Crane
Position: Captain/Pilot
Age: 30
Played by: Founder


Code Name: Ziona
Birth Name: Zoe Anderson-Cobalt
Position: 1st Mate/Pilot
Age: 27
Played by: Ziona


Codename: Hawkeye
Birth Name: Rachel Fenix
Position: Gunner/Hacker
Age: 22
Played by: La Forge


Code Name: Phoenix
Birth Name: Kai Leon Xavier
Position: Gunner/Hacker
Age: 20
Played by: Lord Borg


Code Name: Firewall
Birth Name: N/A
Position: Program
Age: Unknown
Played by: Spellbinder Marik


Code Name: Watcher
Birth Name: ?
Position: Operator
Age: 61
Played by: NPC


Code Name: Dominion
Birth Name: ?
Position: Gunner/Hacker
Age: ?


Code Name: Cynic
Birth Name: Owen Roth
Position: Technician/Pilot
Age: ?

Open Positions

Gunner/Hacker:
Designer/Hacker:
Technician/Pilot:
Operator/Hacker:

BIO Format:
(Pic)
Code Name: (Ex. Neo)
Birth Name: (Ex. Thomas A. Anderson)
Position:
Age:

Allies:

The Oracle



She is a guide, (...). She can help you to find the path. - Morpheus

Enemies:

Agents

Smith


"The purpose of life is to end." - Smith

Jones


"Only Human." - Jones

Brown


"Perhaps we're asking the wrong questions." - Brown

Sentinels



"Careful, sir! The squids are sneaky bastards. Could be a trap." - Colt

Additional Notes

1) This RPG takes place five years before the first Matrix movie. I did that so people with limited knowledge of the Matrix series could join and not feel left out. Obviously, you need limited knowledge, but I will be glad to explain anything I left out. We will eventually encompass the movies, but that'll be later. Right now, Neo, Morpheus, Trinity and all of them aren't the heroes they are in the movies...yet.
2) I don't want BIOs for each character because I want us to develop our characters through the RPG. Learn their history. Mold it with others.
3) At no point can your character be like Neo. That's a given. Not unless we find a way to make that fit in the story somehow.
4) The additional rules of STV apply here.
5) Have Fun!

[Founder]

(My character is not Neo, nor is he affiliated with him at the present time in anyway. )



-Unknown, Unknown Location-

The sound of a telephone ringing could be heard, echoing loudly within the dark, abandoned room. A lone figure stood in the darkness, listening on the ringing echoed in the bare room. He was dressed in all black from head to toe. His brown eyes were covered by equally black sunglasses. He stood at 6'0 tall, his broad shoulders bulging from within the jacket. It was hard to tell, but he wielded two handguns under his jacket and a Firewind Wakisashi, a short Japanese sword. It was his weapons of choice when he was not forced to fight hand to hand. The dark figure stepped out of the shadows and approached the loud, ringing phone. With a gloved hand, he lifted the phone to his ear, but said nothing. An angry voice could be heard on the other side.

"What the hell takes so damn long boy?" He asked, "You should answer the minute I call."

The figure cracked a rare smile at the voice through the phone and spoke in a quiet voice, responding quickly but calmly.

"I'm in." He said simply.

The voice through phone responded in his usual, sarcastic manner.

"No sh*t," He replied, "You better hurry. She'll be pissed at you for going in without her."

Without another word, the figure gently placed the phone back, hanging up. There was nothing really left to say to the operator on the other line. He was right though, time was always against him when he entered the fake reality and the fact he went alone might anger the others in his crew, but he was restless and wanted in. Realizing that it was foolish to stand around, the figure made a choice to continue. He began to walk towards the door but stopped when he noticed the window overlooking the city. For a moment, he couldn't bring himself to look away from it all. He approached the window and stared downwards at the immense city and the myriad of inhabitants. Dozens of cars whoosed through the streets, while a roaring airplane flew through the dark, cloudy sky. People flooded the streets, walking towards various locations. Everything, every part of it was fake. Well, the people were not fake but their lives most certainly were. The dark clad man watched all of it in barely controlled fury and contempt.



It was an illusion. No, it was much worse then that. This was not some cheap magic trick that some idiot magician did at birthday parties. This was a prison, made to turn Humans into docile slaves without firing a single bullet, without any shackles or jail cells, without any words of coercien. It was a prison for the mind. It...is the Matrix. Unable to look at the "city" anymore, he turned away from the window and approached the door. The figure, Sovereign, captain of the hovership, Fassus, walked down the empty hallway. He made his way down the steps until reaching the first floor and exiting the building. A car was waiting for him, programmed by the operator to be sitting there, ready for Sovereign to take and use. He would be driving to a university, filled with students. None of them remarkably spectacular, save for one...

-Fassus, OP Station-

An elderly, dark skinned man sat at the operator's station inside of the large hovership. He watched the dozen or so screens that depicted various things. The most important thing of course was the Matrix code. It was the only way he could know what was going on inside and be able to assist those who were inside.e



The operator, perhaps ironically called Watcher, shuffled the headset on his head and squinted his eyes to look at one of the monitors. The captain of the hovership had gone into the Matrix alone, not a particularly intelligent thing to do. Watcher did his usual complaining and protest, but eventually gave in. For him, loyalty came before anything else. There were currently potentials that needed watching inside of the Matrix and Sovereign was determined to do that. He had this obession with freeing people and sometimes it overtook his judgement. That was why his first mate, Ziona, always seemed to be the perfect counterbalance to his irrationality. Watcher couldn't blame Sovereign though. He hated the machines more then anyone. Being an operator was what he had been all his life. He knew hacks, back and forth and could always save people in a crunch. While he was rather old, his experiance made up for it. Watcher was not freed from the Matrix like the rest of the crew but was born in Zion, the last free city of Humanity. His parents were freed from the Matrix and he heard the stories. It definitly shaped his outlook on the struggle Humans were currently enduring through.

"Crazy bastard." He whispered to no one.

The other crew of the Fassus was asleep, leaving Sovereign little time to do what he needed to...

-The Matrix, Unknown-

Sovereign pulled the car up towards a very empty parking lot. It was currently the weekend, so many of the students were off home or partying or whatnot. Only the most dedicated students were sitting inside of the computer lab, reading, amongst other things. Sovereign knew that one of the students were inside the building. He was always there. The boy never left it for a moment. He was not aware of what the Matrix was, but he knew deep inside that he didn't belong here. That there had to be so much more to life then simply...existing. That boy had no idea how right he was. Sovereign walked through the empty courtyard, keeping close to the shadows. He approached the computer lab, hesitating for a moment before entering. A promise was made to himself before entering the Matrix this night. He promised that he would not make initial contact with the boy. It was still far too early for that. His eyes darted through the dimly lit hallway, searching for anyone. There was another person at the end of the hallway, but she did not see him. It was an elderly Hispanic woman, working as a cleaning lady, making sure that the garbage inside was being cleaned out. He turned down another hallway, avoiding her and slowly heading towards the computer lab. After walking for a more minutes, he stopped at the door and looked through the small glass into the room. Like clockwork, the boy was staring at the computer, typing something undiscernable from his current vantage point. There had been an oppurtunity for him to speak to the boy through the computer, but he didn't want to do that just yet. Soon, he would. Staring at him was pointless and Sovereign wasn't going to learn anything. He turned away and walked down the hallway, heading towards the exit. The boy was not the real reason he entered the Matrix. No, it was because he wanted to get off the ship and come back. Now, he had no love for the Matrix initially, but he wanted to see what it was he was fighting for. No matter how many times he jacks in, the sheer awe of being in an artificial world where Humanity is enslaved unknowingly continues to stagger him. Ironically, entering the fake world was his dose of reality. He stepped outside and saw it was now raining rather hard. He sighed and looked around, grateful that there was no one in sight. Sovereign reached into his coat pocked and pulled out a cell phone. He called for the ship, his ship in the real world.

"Operator." Watcher responded.

Sovereign kept walking towards his car, while speaking.

"I'm heading back," He said in a deep voice, "Exit?"

Watcher replied, "You're leaving already? I thought-"

"Where is the exit?" Sovereign said more forcefully, showing he didn't want to talk about.

The operator sighed on the other line, then finally responded after a few clicks on the keyboard.

"There is one nearby on campus," He said, "There is a payphone just two buildings away, south."

Sovereign hung up without another word and broke into a light run. He didn't know why, but he felt really paranoid, as if it was he that was being watched. The payphone was not very far, he could see it from where he was. Just as he was about to reach it, there was a man that picked up the phone and started to use it. Sovereign cursed and rushed towards the payphone where the man was yelling about something.

"I need to use that phone." He said over the loud rain.

The man looked at him, annoyed and motioned behind him.

"Get in line a**hole," He said, "I'm using it now."

Sovereign groaned inwardly, not in the mood for this. He hated staying inside of the Matrix for too long. This rude man was now making things go longer then they had to. Sovereign was about to shove the man from the phone, when he looked at him, squinting his eyes.

"Wait a minute," He said, "I know you..."

He slammed the phone down and pointed to Sovereign in surprise.

"You were on the news," He said, "You're wanted for..."

Suddenly, he realized that he was standing next to a "criminal". Of course, Sovereign was not a criminal in anyway. Unless you count his "crimes" against the system. He and his crew had attacked a factory in an effort to rescue a potential that was in danger. It was not everyday people did that and it nearly cost Sovereign his life. However, thanks to Ziona, he had survived the ordeal and managed to make the news with the complete distruction of the facility. Sovereign stepped back, realizing that if the man had recognized him, then the system had as well. All of the "blue pills", Humans living inside of the Matrix, were hardwired to the system. This allowed the dreaded agents of the system to see through the eyes of anybody, including this man. The man shook and suddenly grew shorter, green electricity shooting from his body. His flesh stretched and his hair thinned. Sovereign's eyes widened in horror when he realized that the annoying man turned into an agent.



"Mr. Crane," Agent Smith said, "You've returned...and for the last time."

With a closed fist, he slammed it into the pay phone, destroying Soveriegn's way out of the Matrix. Agents were very strong, several times stronger then any Human. They were fast too, negating the speed of bullets. Their most impressive "ability" was they could not die. Not one Human had ever fought against an agent and won. Which is why Sovereign turned and fled, fleeing from the lead agent, Smith.

"Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t." He muttered, as he ran.

Sovereign was fast, but Smith was prepared for this. He pressed the earpiece closely and whispered something, no doubt shouting orders to others. As soon as Sovereign reentered the large courtyard, he realized who Smith had contacted. Campus security, only lightly armed, rushed to stop Sovereign. Two of them stood in Sovereign's way, creating a wall for him to ram into and fall down. Sovereign concentrated and did a flip over them, seemingly going in slow motion. They could only watch in awe as he majestically used acrobatics to escaped their method of stopping him. Smith was not deterred by this and jumped over the men, surprising them once more. Sovereign landed and continued to run, finding it difficult to breath. His heart was literally slamming against his chest from the fear he felt at the sight of the agent running after him. He reached out into his jacket and yanked out two fire arms. Sovereign did a side flip and opened fire on Smith, prompting the agent to dodge every incoming bullet. He didn't expect to hit him, but it did slow Smith did, even for a second. Sovereign yanked out his cell phone and contacted the ship.

"Operator," Watcher said, "I know, I know. Agent. Stay calm. Run to the 2nd floor. Third door on your right."

Sovereign didn't respond and tossed the cell phone away, not even having the urge to hide it in his jacket. He ran up the stairs only to find Smith waiting for him at the top.

"Mr. Crane," He said, "Where are you running to? There are no more doors. No more phones. No more exits. Only me."

He slammed his foot into Soveriegn's chest, causing him to fall down the flight of steps. Sovereign cried out in pain and watched as Smith leapt into the air and prepare to slam both knees into Sovereign. The rebel captain slid out of the way, narrowly avoiding having his chest crushed. He kicked Smith in the face, getting a rare hit off from the agent, then continued running. Smith easily recovered and continued to give chase. Sovereign saw the room and heard the ringing phone. He threw open the door just in time to see the Hispanic cleaning lady shudder and turn into Smith. Sovereign didn't even bother trying to fight him. Smith yanked out a large gun and fired just as Sovereign picked up the phone and dissapeared...

-Fassus-

Sovereign's eyes opened and he suddenly realized he was back, in the real world. Watched yanked out the jack in cable from his head, sitting the chair up. Sovereign tried to slow down his breathing while clutching his pained chest.

"That was stupid." Watcher scolded.

The captain held his hand up, implying he didn't want to hear it. With a painful groan, he got up from his chair and headed to his cabin. It had been a rather rough night for the man and a rude awakening that entering the Matrix without backup was not in one's best interest...

+9: Obviously effort put in, detail, background information yadda yadda yadda... you get the idea Plus... it's the Matrix, duh!

-Ziona

[Lord Borg]

-The Matrix, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University-

The computer lab was rather dark. The only source of light was a dim lamp on the desk, the computer screen, and an overhead light behind him, near the door, which was several feet away. The only sound that could be heard in the room, was the sound of the keys ont he keyboard claking as he worked at the computer in front of him.

Kai Leon Xavier, as he was known in this world or to some, Kai. To even fewer, the faceless hacker, Pheonix. Not many knew of this alias. at least as far as he knew. However, more knew of this then he had thought.

Kai sighed as he stared at the screen and stopped. A part of him wondered why he was doing this, working on what ever he had to work on each day. It was the same thing, day in, and day out. He woke up, he showered, dressed went to class, and listened to someone drone on and on in front of the room.

Kai simply felt there had to be more to this miserabl charad called existance. Every thing felt so fake, and not real. It seemed at times as if he was simply some tool hooked to machines and fed them while they thrived off his suffering.

Kai of course, had absolutly no idea just how right he was. He sighed again and stood and stretched and yawned. He had not seen the man in the dark suit peering into the window, who had left before Kai had stood.

Kai moved for a window and looked out and watched the wain poor down in the hail storm of what looked like could flood the area if it kept going for very long.

Kai shook his head and moved back towards the computer to continue his work. For now, he would keep up with this...facade, called exsistance. However, he'd never stop looking for his answers.

[Ziona]

Fassus, Sleeping Quarters

A grunt and a rustling was heard in the darkness. Another rustle... another half-moan of discontent... more rustling. Nothing could be seen in the darkness, save for a very small corner of what appeared to be a cot, highlighted by a little illumination coming from a small lamp-like fixture on the wall. A hand fell into the light. It was delicate with long fingers of the most delicate shade of ivory.

There was another rustle and this time a set of eyes fell into the light. The soft ivory lids were shut against a nightmare or some sort of worry that was bouncing around the head of the young Asian woman lying on the cot. A ripple of concern crossed over her face, a grimace, a wince, a murmur of a name.

"Sovereign you..." The woman mumured before her eyes jumped open. Those eyes. Those soft grey eyes. They weren't the normal chocolate brown most Asians had. They were grey. A striking grey of storm clouds just on the horizon. Not a cold grey. But a soft, powdery, ash grey.

"Sovereign."

The woman sat bolt upright, her hand slamming down on a nearby contraption, trigging the lights to pop on in the room. She glanced around her small abode and sat in her bed for a few seconds, clutching the sheets to her chest. The thing light-blue shirt she wore clung to her chest with a cold sweat.

Gingerly, Ziona touched a spot on her side, lifting her thin shirt a moment to examine a wound patched up with gauze and tape at the moment. She frowned heavily, remembering the wound sustained by saving her Captain's life just a few weeks earlier. With that, she sat for a few moments, still catching her breath. With a sigh, Ziona rolled over on her cot and tried to fall asleep again.

Down the hall, Ziona thought she heard a noise but she shut her eyes against it and fell back into a fitful sleep only to be awoken later by another dream ending in disaster.

+ 6 Poor, Poor Ziona, nightmares
-Lord Borg

[Founder]

-Fassus, Mess Hall-

Restless and unable to sleep, Sovereign made his way towards the mess hall onboard the hovership. He yawned, not necessarily out of being tired, and sat down on one of the hard seats. His eyes darted around the dimly lit room, finding nothing of interest. There was a food dispenser that oozed out disgusting mush, that even to this day, Sovereign hated eating. It made him sick, but what could he do? He leaned back and shut his eyes, dozing off before he even knew it. It had been some time since he got a nice rest. He could not wait until the Fassus could return to Zion. Things were so much safer there. The hovership Fassus was named after the latin term Fassus, meaning "to reveal" or "to make known". Which of course was rather poingnent considering their mission. For weeks, he had his eyes on two potentials, but freeing them was so complicated. Then again, was it ever easy? He hoped that soon he could talk to his friend, Ziona. She was always a clear mind and would help him to sort all of this out...

[Spellbinder Marik]

-The Matrix, Mainframe, Cell 241-

Lines of code crisscrossed in a chaotic fashion fighting intrusion and countering it nearly every time. A short time ago punctures, intruders began to push and break through. At first I could adapt, upgrade and re-write my code in order to keep them out but lately they�ve been more active. From my point of view I appear like this:

But from a more literal point of view and within the Matrix I appear like this:

The Matrix had begun a diagnostic on me. It was checking my stability. A moment later a different firewall had sprung into place.
Return to Primary Cell. I sent the acknowledgment ping and disengaged my code. I was returning to my place of origin. Where I had been created. Humans called it returning home. One of the more archaic terms was �My old stomping grounds.�

[Ziona]

Fassus, Sleeping Quarters

Ziona awoke with a start but didn't sit up this time. She simply watched the ceiling in the dim light and sighed heavily. With a moan, she got up and stumbled to the door, gingerly rubbing her side. After a few seconds, Ziona composed herself, pulled on some grey cargo pants and a pair of black combat boots. Moving towards the door again, Ziona pulled the door opened and decided to go find something to eat.

Moving slowly down the hallway, Ziona came to the mess hall and entered quickly. She blinked a few times in the bright light before she noticed Sovereign sitting at the table. She made her way over and sat down, opposite him and watching him as he seemed to be dozing.

"Wakie wakie." Ziona laughed lightly and gently poked him in the arm with a slim finger.

+2 LOL!, that's funny *poke* Wakie wakie!
-Lord Borg

[La Forge]

The Matrix, Hidden Valley Apartment Complex

A dark red mid-size automobile, a 1987 Buick Century to be exact, emitting a thick cloud of dark smoke from its muffler trudged along down the crumbling asphalt driveway of the Hidden Valley Apartment Complex. Sitting in the driver's seat of the old car which looked like it was going to break down, any second, happened to be a young woman, of about twenty years old. Her long brown hair was tied up in a bun. Her ghostly white hands clutched, tightly, at the leathery steering wheel. The Buick slowly trudged on along down the driveway, towards the last building of the apartment complex, Building 12, a decrepit old stone building at the far end of the lot, directly next to the Main Office of the Hidden Valley Apartment Complex. All the while, the Buick would stall, forcing the young woman in the driver's seat to yell out a certain four letter word, at nausea. However, her voice was muffled by the thick plastic surrounding her and the sounds of the sputtering engine of the Buick.

Eventually, the Buick arrived at its destination, Building 12. The dying automobile lurched to a halt in a vacant parking space in front of the building, just as the engine died. The woman remained in the car for a moment, glancing about, nervously, as she normally did every time she parked her car, waiting to see if the car which had been a hand-me-down from her father, given to her on her sixteenth birthday, over six years ago. Now, the Buick Century which she had simply adored those years ago, was about to die on her, after having accumulated so many miles, in its time.

The young woman waited in the Buick for about a minute, before she slipped off her seat belt, pulled the key out of the ignition, and, slowly opened the rusty car door. She took a step out of the car, a long leg, covered by black jeans, emerging from the interior. The woman exited the vehicle, before she turned about and stuck her head in, for a moment, to collect her duffelbag. With her bag in hand, the woman pulled her head out of the Buick's interior and gently closed the door. However, despite her efforts to keep the ancient car in one piece, one of the side-view mirrors fell from the side of the car. The mirror cracked on the hard ground. The woman let out a four word expletive, before she bent down and angrily scooped up the mirror and jammed it into her duffelbag. She would have to tape or glue it back onto the car the next day. She was exhausted and didn't feel like fiddling around with the Buick right now. She had already had to have it repaired four times in the last four months and the cost was stacking up.

Right now, she only wanted to get into her apartment and take a nice, hot bubble bath. Her body tingled with excitement, just thinking about it. The woman rushed off towards the peeling wooden door of the apartment building, with duffelbag in hand. Her worn pleather blue and white sneakers sent up a cloud of dust, as she made her way up the two concrete steps, up in front of the main door to the apartment building. After pushing open the wooden door, she made her way up the fuzzy red carpeted stairs, toward, her duffelbag swaying from her shoulder, all the while. Her room was all the way at the top of the building and having to make this walk to her room twice everyday was incredibly tiring. Luckily, the woman was in good physical shape, so, the walk wasn't so hard for her. Still, simply walking to her apartment room was like an exercise course, in itself.

Eventually, she arrived at the very top of the apartment building, to Room 1337, her own apartment room. She fumbled through her keyring, looking through her several keys, pushing away her Borg Cube keychain and her Yoda keychain, until she finally came to her apartment key. She inserted the rusty key into the slot and pushed the door open, entering her tiny apartment room, after a long hard day at work.

Inside her apartment room, the twenty-two year old woman, named Rachel Fenix, walked across her fuzzy white carpet, past her black pleather couch, her television set, complete with "rabbit ears", her computer desk, all of which consisted of her living room down the short hallway, past her bedroom, and, into the bathroom at the end of the hall.

In the tiled bathroom, Rachel dropped her duffelbag onto the down toilet seat and looked at herself in the cracked mirror above the sink basin. She was dressed in her standard work uniform, consisting of a collared black t-shirt and black jeans. A namecare reading "Rachel Feinx' was pinned on her breast, her name having been misspelled by her employers.

Rachel worked at a local videogame store, FuncoLand, working five days a week, nine hours each day. She worked the nightshift on Fridays, which would be tomorrow. Rachel had gone to a local community college, for about a half of a year, striving to become a computer programmer. However, she had been forced to abandon her education when she couldn't handle the enormous costs of her schooling, not to mention her increasing debt. She had considered working two jobs, for awhile, to try and find the money to stay in school, however, she had decided against it. Rachel had decided that she would simply start a small savings fund, something which she had forgot to do in high school, as she was too busy wasting away her money on the fads of the day to save. She wasn't giving up her education. She was simply putting it off, until she could afford it. Rachel was content with the life that she had, anyways. However...a bit more money wouldn't hurt.

The woman who had garnered herself the nickname "Hawkeye" from her friends at work, when she played first person shooter videogames, let a heavy sigh escape her pale lips, before she slowly undressed, tossing her uniform onto the toilet seat, along with her duffelbag. She let down her hair and kicked off her shoes, at the foot of the toilet seat, before she stepped over to the chipped porcelain bathtub, slilding across the cold tiled floor. She leaned over, her star necklace hanging down in front of her as she did so, to turn on the bathtub. The water took awhile, however, in time, the water began to flow from the fountain. She dipped her pinky in the water, after a moment, to check its temperature. The water was absolutely freezing. The water system in her apartment was a bit lacking, in the water temperature. However, such was to be expected when it comes to cheap ass apartments on the bad side of town.

Rachel waited a moment or two...or ten...until the water was warm enough for her to properly take a bath in. During this time, she had brought in her stereo and popped in an old cassette of Queen, one of her favorite bands. She poured in the soap to make the bubbles, before she gingerly stepped into the bathtub. As she entered the tub, one would be able to see the tattoo of a rose and a gun, on the small of her back. Back when she had graduated from high school, she and a bunch of friends had gone out partying at a local bar. Rachel found that she couldn't handle alcohol too well. In the end, she ended up with that tattoo and a weird man in her bed the following morning. Ever since then, she has been clean and sober, refusing to drink, nor smoke. She cared about her health. However, in hindsight, she wished that she had chosen a more original tattoo in her drunken state. A rose? How original...

In any case, Rachel positioned herself in the soothing waters of the bathtub, the bubbles surrounding her bare body, as she slowly drifted into a relaxing sleep, listening to the sounds of "Bohemian Rhapsody" all the while...

+8 effort and detail is clear
-Lord Borg

[Lord Borg]

-The Matrix, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University-

Kai sat in his seat, staring at the screen, but he wasn't doing anything in particular. In fact, he had done nothing for the last few minutes. He was lost in thoughts at how existence seemed so bleek and fake. He wondered why he ever continued the charade day in, and day out. He found it comical, he acted like his grades still mattered. Officially, they did, but in 'reality', they did not. While he made it look like he was doing his work, he was looking for answers. What kind of answers, he did not know.

[Founder]

-Fassus, Mess Hall-

Sovereign snapped out of his dream like state and opened his eyes to see Ziona who sat across from him. He felt a little sheepish having been caught like that by her. Then again, if there was anyone he considered his friend, it would be her. It didn't matter how she caught him. He ran a hand over his bald head and laughed.

"Well," He said, "I guess I was more tired then I thought."

He looked down and noticed a blood stain on his grey shirt. It was blood that dripped from his mouth as he exited the Matrix and onto his shirt. He quickly tried to hide it with one arm.

"So," He said, "You slept longer then usual...why?"

[Ziona]

Fassus, Mess Hall

Ziona frowned as she noticed the stain on Sovereign's shirt. Her frown deepened and she leaned across the table and pulled at Sovereign's shirt, looking scrutingly at the blood stain.

"Sovereign?" She whispered, sitting back down and leaning her elbows on the table. "You didn't, did you?"

[Founder]

-Fassus, Mess Hall-

Sovereign sighed, not able to hide it from her.

"Look," He said, "It was fine, there was no problems...."

He definitly would not mention the agent attacking him. That would get a swift kick from her.

"I...uh...I wanted to go back and see one of our potentials," He said, "The kid is in the same spot he always is..."

He hoped that she wouldn't hold it against him for what he had done...

[Ziona]

Fassus, Mess Hall

Ziona eyed her captain coldly for a few moments but eventually couldn't help but smile and nod.

"Of course, Sovereign." She sighed heavily and got up, heading over to one of the food dispensers to get some food. She hardly ate in the Real World, an obvious statement when you looked at her frail, nearly skeletal like body. Within the Matrix, she was strong and fit, but in the Real World, well, stress had taken its toll on her body.

With a sigh she sat down, wincing slightly as she stretched her side in a way it didn't want to go. She rubbed her side a few seconds gingerly before half-heartedly stirring the food before her.

"Don't worry. I doubt that kid will move, Sovereign. But until I'm able to make a run again, I don't want you trying any drastic rescue measures. Just give me another day or two and my RSI should be up to normal." She sighed heavily and looked down at her food. "I feel it's somewhat my fault... for getting my RSI all screwed up. But I guess it's better to have a screwed up RSI then have a dead captain, eh?"

She half-heartedly smiled at Sovereign and glanced down again at the food before her. With a grimace she pushed the bowl away, deciding for the milloneth time that eating just wasn't suited for her.

[Founder]

-Fassus, Mess Hall-

Sovereign frowned, seeing her push the food away and the fact she wanted to wait some time before going back into the Matrix. He had to tell her about the agent. Because of Sovereign's stupidity, Phoenix was now in trouble.

"I don't know if we have the time." He told her honestly.

He looked at her closely, not sure of what to say. Ziona, as the first mate, deserved to know.

"Ziona," He said, "I ran into an agent while at the school. He knows that I was snooping around there and with the limited amount of people there...they're going to put two and two together..."

He felt guilty for putting Phoenix in danger. This was the freedom of Cynic all over again. Cynic had been a worker in a factory and witnessed a strange glitch in the Matrix while working. The amount of doubt in reality caused him to be ready to be freed, or so Sovereign thought. Against Watcher's wishes, he forced the others to jack into the Matrix and free Cynic. Sadly, this was not good at all because Cynic was not ready to be freed. To this day, he is still bitter about losing his old life. Would this happen again?

[Ziona]

Fassus, Mess Hall

Ziona felt anger boil up into her mind. She was mad because of Sovereign's mistake and she was mad that she couldn't go in and rescue this boy right then. With a sigh, Ziona shifted in her seat and thought a few moments. It had been a couple weeks. Perhaps... maybe she could go back in.

"Well, let's get a run crew ready." Ziona got up gingerly from her seat and looked back at Sovereign. "Now's a good enough time to figure out if my RSI is ready. If I drop dead in front of you, woops, it wasn't."

With a half-smile Ziona awaited her Captain's orders.

[Lord Borg]

-The Matrix, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University-

Kai let out a sigh and looked around, to make sure no one was around to see him. The room was empty aside from him. He tapped a button on the keyboard a couple times, and the screen changed. He was going to run though the internet, to see if he could find any sort of refernce to people feeling like him. If he had someone to talked to about this feeling, and not treat him like he was nuts, perhaps he could feel better.

[Founder]

-Fassus, Main Hall-

Sovereign smiled, grateful that Ziona was ready to go in the Matrix. No matter what, she was tough and did not let anything stop her.

"Thanks..." He whispered.

He got up and motioned for her to follow, leaving the food behind. Dominion, Cynic, and Watcher were standing nearby the Operator's station, staring into the Matrix. Sovereign approached the trio, his voice speaking loudly.

"We're going in." He said loudly.

Watcher looked back at Sovereign, a grim look on his face. It was obvious there was bad news.

"Good timing," He told him, "Cause our boy is about to be caught..."

Sovereign approached the screen, staring into the Matrix...

-The Matrix, Carnegie Mellon University(Hallway)-

As Phoenix sat in his seat, three men dressed in similiar clothing and flanked by campus security, approached the computer room where the unsuspecting boy was sitting, contemplating his role in this world. The lead man, dressed in black, was agent Smith. He motioned with one finger, ordering the others following him to spread out and cut off anywhere Phoenix could run to.

-The Matrix, Carnegie Mellon University(Computer Lab)-

The screen that Phoenix was staring at suddenly changed to all black, as if the computer had died. However, if he checked, he would see the computer was still working. Green text began to spill out across the screen.

If you want to live...get out of that room...now.

[Ziona]

Fassus, Main Core

Ziona stood next to Sovereign, putting on a brave face for the battle. She wasn't exactly sure what would happen once she jacked back in. For all she knew, she could wake up in the Matrix with a still bleeding wound or, even worse, a fatal wound. She didn't remember her wound being all that extensive but then again, she didn't remember much of anything.

With that, Ziona turned and headed over to her usual chair. She began programming a few things in, trying to keep her mind off of what was about to happen. With a sigh, Ziona took a seat in the chair, sat back and relaxed... waiting for the others to follow.

[Lord Borg]

-The Matrix, Carnegie Mellon University(Computer Lab)-

Kai was looking at the screen when it suddenly went black.

"What the hell?"

He looked around and saw the other monitors still worked. He checked his computer it was still plugged in. He saw a weird flash on the screen and looked. There was this green wording appearing on the screen.

"What the hell?"

Kai stood and looked to see if someone was playing a prank on him. He went to the door and looked out the window. His eyes went wide when he saw the three suits and the campus security.

"Oh *beep*...*beep*!"

Kai ran for his seat, then grabbed his jacket and grabbed it and moved for the window, the fire escape.

"*beep*...*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*!"

Kai opened the window and started to climb though. He was finally caught. It was stupid of him to hack that database. Very stupid, it was now the big time. Kai moved for the ladder as the metal clanged under his heavy foot falls.

[Founder]

-The Matrix, Carnegie Mellon University(Computer Lab)-

Agent Smith opened the door and stepped in the room to find...no one. He looked around, but couldn't see anybody. A frown crossed his face as agent Brown appeared behind him.

"Where is the target?" He asked in a monotonic voice.

Smith looked back at him, no emotion whatsoever on his face.

"He is not here," He said simply, "Send police to his apartment. I want him found."

Brown made a quick nod and then left. No matter what, they would find him. His eyes, under his sunglasses, darted towards the open window...

-Fassus, Main Core-

Cynic watched as Sovereign, Ziona, and Dominion took their seats.

"Agents are after him," He said, "We can't go in there."

Watcher slid the jack in cable into each of their heads.

"I seem to recall you were freed under the same conditions." Dominion said.

Cynic gulped, hating the memory of his "freedom".

"Look," He said, "I ain't going in there...not with agents. It isn't smart..."

[Ziona]

Fassus, Main Core

Ziona turned as much as the spike in her head would let her. She spoke quickly, firmly and calmly.

"Cynic." She took a breath. "I promise you... nothing will happen to you. Do you hear me? Did I fail you the last time? Cynic... just trust me. Trust me."

Ziona shut her eyes and waited for the program to load.

"Just trust me."

[Lord Borg]

-The Matrix, Carnegie Mellon University-

Kai slid down the ladder of the fire escape as his weight pushed it down to the ground. He looked up slightly.

Damn, left the window open...

Kai turned and ran down the street, he had to get off the campus. His mind flashed for the safety of his appartment. However, if he was a cop, he'd already have people there. He wondered just who the hell sent him that message, how did someone know cops were after him? Kai moved for the 'main' street, not really sure what to do.

[Founder]

-Fassus, Main Core-

Cynic bit his lip, hesitant to the last and unsure. Watcher motioned for him to take a seat, but he didn't do so immediatly. He didn't want to enter the Matrix, but Ziona's promise compelled him to do so. Unknown to anyone, he found himself infatuaded with her and wished that she would reciprocate the feelings. As far as he knew, she was involved with no one and he felt it would be perfect. Unfortunately, she did not really imply she...felt the same for him, nor did he reveal he felt anything for her. However, her words were enough to get him to sit down and lay back. Watcher plugged Cynic in and held his finger over the load button.

"What's wrong old man?" Dominion taunted, "Your fingers getting arthritic on us?"

Watched gave a fake smile in return towards the Japanese male.

"Well, I haven't heard any complaints from your lady friends, so..." He chided.

Dominion looked at him in anger, but could not respond because at that moment, they were all broadcasted into the Matrix...

-The Matrix, Empty Office-

Sovereign, Ziona, Cynic, and Dominion all appeared inside of an advisor's office inside of the school campus. Thankfully for them, no one was inside. Soveriegn picked up the ringing phone from the desk.

"We're in." He said.

[Ziona]

The Matrix, Empty Office

Ziona appeared in the Matrix, donning her usual apparel of black leather pants, black combat boots, a long black leather trenchcoat, and a red shirt showing off an ample amount of goods. Her eyes were hidden behind dark tinted sunglasses. Her hair was long, flowing almost completely to the small of her back, and straight, the blackest black available in the machine world.

At her side were her twin Desert Eagles, both with black casings. In her right boot top was wedged a small, three-inch blade and, under her black jacket, sat a few more rounds of ammo incase she needed it.

Ziona moved a few times, testing her side which seemed to be holding up very well. It was a little sore but no bleeding that she could see. Her RSI had recovered nicely.

"Ready to go, boss." She spoke as she checked to see that her cell phone was secured to her side. Everything was in order. Now she turned to check out the troops...

[Spellbinder Marik]

-The Matrix, Mainframe, Primary Cell-

When I reappeared in the main cell I was assembled in humanoid form. A technician led me to an area that I hadn�t been previously aware of.
�Have you been malfunctioning?� I shook my head.
�No but I have been encountering increasing attempts at breaching the firewall. Some minor signals got through but were caught by redundant SecNets.� The Technician nodded and continued to assess him as a doctor might a patient.
�You are being replaced. You program is as fully upgraded as it can be and is no longer sufficient. Report to the lab for de-compilation.� I nodded and entered another lab in the building. I was rudely shoved into a chamber that vastly resembled a gassing chamber used by humans at one point as a mode of execution. I felt a curious sensation. My access was limited to the mainframe now but I still had access to the most basic nodes. I ran a search using the description of my sensation. The search result returned.
[Fear, The chance or likelihood of an undesirable thing happening.] I ran a second search of how to eradicate or fight this sensation. Many results returned but I got the basic message. I began to feel my code being pulled apart subroutine by subroutine. Humans would call this sensation pain. Another search result appeared. This one, while not entirely understood made perfect sense.
[He who runs away lives to fight another day.] I took what humans would have called a deep breath and ignited my humanoid form.

I felt the energy of my former employment flow through me as I increased the resistance quotient of my code. The chamber around me began to ripple as if its molecular structure was breaking down. That was not the case. My counter intrusion software was now interpreting this as a threat that must be blocked. Blocking threats had been my primary function for a long time. The chamber walls peeled away as the heat increased. After another moment I had created a big enough breach that I could climb through. Combustible materials began burning as I climbed out. I saw the technician and several men in suits appear seemingly out of thin air. The Agents. Sentient programs. Technically I was now classified as sentient. I now had a greater limited access to the database. [Sentient, Capable of feeling and perception. Capable of responding emotionally rather than intellectually.] The agents produced weapons he recognized. In this setting I saw guns but through my perceptual filters I saw heavy eradication code designed for what the Matrix had classified as Exiles. I opened my arms wide and ignited an enormous explosion.

For a brief instant I saw nothing but my perception came back and I rushed for a line of windows that had been blown out my explosion. When I reached them I leapt out and began to fall�

+ 4 Good post
-Lord Borg