Graduation day

Defibrilator

Kaede Central, 1934HRS

Sitting at the table, in the Chinese restaurant in Kaede Central, IronChimera stared at the small package, as she held it in her hand. She slowly set it on the table, very carefully, like it was a bomb ready to go off if it was the least bit jolted.

Closing her eyes, she reminisced about the last few days. Since Machine leadership had granted her access to the archives, her off-duty hours had become anything but. Being a relatively recent operative, at least in the official sense of the word, she had missed much of the recent history of the simulation. She threw herself at the missions, her mind drinking in all the subtleties and betrayals, the mistrust, backstabbing and sometimes open war that raged through the Matrix from time to time.

At first, she was mildly surprised at the accuracy of the pre-recorded missions. For all intents and purposes, the computer-generated entities were as real as anything else. The bullets felt real, the blows hurt her all the same. It felt just about as close to time travel as she could imagine, especially when she got to meet... dead people. That small experience was what threw her, most of all.

But she grew used to it. She learned to forget the "press play now" start to all the missions, and to treat them as the real thing. She learned to look at this reflection of a reality gone by, and see here and now, not then and there. And she reacted, nothing more. The missions flew by.

The experience was so realistic, that she could feel herself growing stronger. Upgrading. Her RSI being pushed, like it did whenever Gray called on her for a mission. Mr. Baudrillard was right, she thought. The simulation made reality feel pale by comparison. It was particularly ironic that the reality the simulation copied was a simulation in itself. Plans within plans, levels within levels.

She tore through the archives, and she sent the discs back to the archivist. Moments later, she got the message. Go to Mara. Pick up the package. She was a bit surprised when she looked at the card that came with it, and saw that she was the intended recipient, and not some scientist, or undercover operative, or system agent, like it usually was. She had no idea what it meant, what it was.Only what she wanted it to be.

She looked at the package. This was a first. It wasn't in the nature of her controllers to issue rewards. Only tools. She picked it up, and opened it. Inside the box, was a pair of sunglasses and a small brown envelope. Her eyes widened a bit, when she examined the glasses. She knew this model. She picked up the envelope, and felt that it contained something other than paper.

IronChimera opened the envelope, and turned it over on her hand. The small item, made of plastic, mostly, weighed practically nothing, but when she looked at it, it made her hand feel like it weighed a ton.

Oh, my...

Tabor Park, 2117HRS

At the top of the Machine Tower, Standing close to the ledge, facing East, IronChimera connected the earpiece to her encrypted radio - taking care to not turn it on yet - and, eyes closed, put on the sunglasses. Slowly, she put the earpiece in her right ear. Perfect fit. As she opened her eyes, she turned on the radio. The night burned brighter. The contrast shifted, and everything turned just that little bit clearer. She saw an operative jump by, and her mind instantly knew his background. She smiled. This was, indeed, a tool. But surely her controllers knew that this was the best gift they could ever have given to her.

Defibrilator

((WTH... No edit button. Sorry about the weird text formatting there. Enjoy.))

**Illyria22**

Very cool post!

Lyr

Defibrilator

/blush.