I'm not sure if anyone was keeping up with this little series of mine on the old forums, but I've posted it here in it's completion (so far) for anyone who may be interested. For anyone checking it out for the first time, I've approached this thing as a spontaneous creative process. When I started it out, I didn't know what was coming. Slowly it's taken its own shape. I've been looking at it like one of those old pulp stories...a serial adventure that unfolds a chapter at a time every week. Like a comic book...except without any pictures. As one of the biggest fans of The Matrix films EVER...I've tried to stay true to the style and content the series is loaded with...as well as my own bits of style and...liberties. So...here it is (posted a chapter at a time because of length)...thanks for reading. Let me know what you think
Astor's Story
Chapter One: A Faceless Redpill
Another beautiful day in Mega City, Astor thought to himself as the gray rain hammered on his head. No matter how much he told himself it wasn’t really there, he couldn’t make himself feel dryer. He peered through his binoculars at the apartment complex across the street. He lowered them and looked up at the sky. As the water slapped his eyeballs, he could almost see the green symbols that composed each drop. He looked back to the apartments unaided by the binoculars and focused on the thirteenth story abode. The window was half covered by a tattered curtain, and the room beyond it was dark…just as dark as it had been for the last three hours.
Astor turned his eyes over the edge of the building he was sitting on. He looked down with the cascading raindrops and looked upon the people meandering on the sidewalks and roads below. He raised his binoculars to get a closer look. Mostly bluepills. He decreased the magnification to get a wider look. About fifty people in view now, across the street, and to the plaza a block away. He could tell who was blue and who was red, but for some reason they still looked the same. He held his gaze down the street for a few moments longer, imagining himself wandering among them, then lowered his binoculars with a sigh.
He turned his attention back to the thirteenth floor apartment. What the hell am I doing here? Of all the things I could be doing…this is what I choose. Astor let out a long sigh with his thought. The rain was getting heavier. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Dry as a desert…dry as a desert…dry as a desert. He kept his eyes closed as he let his concentration slack and thoughts drift. It seemed that running away and meditating within his own head (quite literally) was the only way to get a moment’s peace lately. Zion was utter chaos. People were so volatile and irritable you’d think they were still at war. Not that Astor knew any different. He was pulled from the slime after what’s his face made the truce. But still, the situation seemed rather ridiculous. When he was still blue as a blueberry, he existed in a world of war. He watched as the world’s leaders accused and talked snidely of one another. Dropped bombs like the sky dropped water. He searched for meaning and truth. He knew the ignorance and arrogance of the masses around him was a façade. A lie that could be penetrated and escaped. But once that escape was made and his so called freedom was found, what did he see?
More ignorance. More arrogance. More war.
Astor opened his eyes with another long sigh and looked into the thirteenth floor apartment. Still nothing. The curtain was still half drawn, and the room was still empty and dark. He thought about getting up and leaving. Leaping from the top of the building and bounding throughout the massive city, rooftop to rooftop, as he had done so many times in his dreams as a bluepill.
But his prophecy nagged at him. What if she arrives the moment I walk away? He had spoken to the entity known as The Oracle a couple months before, yet her words still hung in his head, forever keeping their place just behind his eyes, never letting him misplace them. “There will be one of you who will bring a great message. You will meet her. You may even love her.”
Her name, her name…what was her name? “Demitre`.”
Demitre`.
Astor had never been one for “magic” or anything “supernatural.” But his time of being aware of the nature of The Matrix and reality itself had taught him one thing: anything is possible. And The Oracle certainly had a way with words. Her appearance wouldn’t suggest it, but her presence sure did. But, Jesus, why was she saying those words to him? All he really wanted was to be free…to feel a certain peace of mind. He didn’t worry himself with crusades or vendettas; they were pointless and only resulted in more ostracizing. He could fantasize of being a hero, of causing some sort of hugely significant change to the world around him, but in his heart he knew that wasn’t a part of what he was. The matter of the fact was, he wanted to be another faceless redpill.
Astor noticed he didn’t feel wet or the drumming of raindrops on his head. He looked up to the sky and realized that it was in fact still raining. The dampness he had shut out of his mind slowly crept back in. “Pft…ignorance is bliss,” he said aloud.
He looked about the city, at all the faceless blue/redpills running about, then raised his binoculars up to his eyes. He increased the magnification and aimed them across the street at the thirteenth floor apartment.
Still empty.
(continued in following post)
Chapter Two: Half a Waste
Astor’s RSI trickled from the phone and began to form inside the phone booth. As soon as he felt himself take full shape he hung up the receiver and stepped out. He looked around, watching the green code cascading and flying all around. This part was always disorienting. It made him feel dizzy, out of place, and confused. He stood still, letting his own code blend with the code around him. Soon enough the world took solid shape. Astor got his bearings and began running.
After a few steps he leapt into the air. He soared higher and higher, feeling as light as a butterfly. He reached the peak of his arc, and began his descent. He looked down at the rooftop that was quickly approaching. He focused and it seemed to slow down. His feet collided with the tar and sent a tremor across the building. Without hesitating he began running to the stairway entrance.
He knew exactly where to go. Seventh floor, room 777. It was an easy number and location to remember because there weren’t even thirty rooms per floor. Labeling his own as 777 was Syeko’s own “clever” way as a disguise. As he made his way down the stairway, Astor wondered how he was going to have to handle the situation. With a character like Syeko you never really knew which direction things were going to go. He might welcome Astor with open arms, or with one of his automatic pistols. When he reached the seventh floor doorway, Astor stopped and took his code launcher from his back pocket. He quickly typed in the command for his kinetic shield. He prepared his mind for combat and readied his poison knives.
He opened the doorway and stepped into the hallway. The ambiance was already unsettling. There was a stink of blood, sweat, and what seemed like stale fecal matter. Astor slowly made his way to the end of the hall and turned left. All the way at the end, he could see room 777. The door was cracked open. A beam of light was coming through and shined on the adjacent wall. Definitely not a good sign. Astor looked back to the stairway exit. He wondered if he should just forget about it and get the hell out of there. God only knew what was waiting for him beyond that cracked open door.
He continued towards room 777. As he crept closer and closer, Astor couldn’t help but imagine the answers that could be waiting for him. It was certainly a possibility that Syeko had given him the wrong location, either on purpose or by mistake. It was also possible that Syeko had never even heard of the human known as Demitre`. His story of seeing her and talking with her in her “favorite hideout” could have been a fabrication. A yarn spun to get some info out of Astor. Well whatever the situation…I’m sure it’ll be resolved one way or another real quick.
Astor touched the door and pushed it open. He looked into the large one room apartment. At the other end of the room, he could see Syeko, his torso ripped open, his guts lying around him, and his blood splattered all over the wall.
Astor let out a disgusted grumble and moved inside. He clicked the door shut and looked all around. The wall by the door was riddled with bullet holes, even on the ceiling and floor. Astor could see through them to the apartments below and above. He moved towards the body. There were tiny crackles of electricity dancing across it. Astor reached what was left of Syeko, kneeled down next to him, and looked into his eyes. His head was crammed against the wall at an uncomfortably awkward angle. His eyes were wide and black. Whatever life was once behind them certainly wasn’t there anymore.
Astor examined the corpse. It was clear someone had already searched him. His pockets were turned out and there were a couple tiny devices lying on the floor next to his empty pistols. Astor stood up and looked around the room. There was a rack of guns on one side and a large cabinet on the other. There was a kitchen in the corner across from him, a wide window separating it from the living room. Astor moved to the window and looked inside…nothing. Not even a refrigerator. Rubbing his face he walked to the cabinet. He opened it and looked at its contents. It was loaded with diskettes, booster shots, maps, and photos.
Astor picked up one of the several booster shots and looked it over. He didn’t recognize it. Could have been anything…he didn’t dare try it out. It was strange how the nature of drugs was so different within The Matrix, especially once you were aware of the nature of The Matrix. They could look like liquid or powder or plant, but were in fact only code. A code that would interact with your own. Rewrite it, alter it, maybe even delete it. Very dangerous stuff…unfortunately. Astor dropped the shot with a sigh and picked up a stack of diskettes. He held them in his hands, sliding them like cards, looking at the labels. Each one appeared to be a name. Coen, Anthelia, Heru, Rhine, Kusato, Quackadero. “Hm…” Astor dug around the cabinet, trying to determine just how many disks there were. At least fifty of them…maybe a hundred. As he rummaged he noticed a name that stuck out. Astor. “What the hell?” He dropped all the other diskettes and picked up the one labeled as his own with a slow and slightly confused hand.
As he looked at the diskette, trying to figure out why it even existed, a gravelly voice from behind him belted, “Human!” Astor spun around, his disk still in his hand, to find a female lupine lurking at the doorway. As fast as lightning, Astor put the disk in a pocket and put his hand on a poison knife. “Think, human…you don’t want to meddle in these affairs.”
“What affairs are those?”
The lupine began sulking towards him. Astor noticed her claws were tainted with blood. He was sure she thirsted for more. “I was hoping more of you would show up,” she grumbled with a toothy grin.
“I have no business with you,” Astor replied, fully ready to fling a knife at the menacing lupine.
“Hm, looks like we’ve got business now. You’re snooping through what’s mine.”
“Yours? Last I knew this was Syeko’s place…not a lupine’s.”
“I don’t think Syeko lives here anymore, so whatever he may have had stashed in here, is up for grabs.”
“Sure…sure, that sounds fair. And all I’m walking out of here with is this.” With his hand that wasn’t fondling a knife, Astor pulled the disk from his pocket. “This has got my name on it…so I’d say it belongs to me.”
“Yours…maybe, but walking out of here with it…I don’t think so.”
In a flash, Astor put the disk back into his coat pocket. “What do you want with it?”
“You ask too many questions.” With that the lupine leapt at Astor, her claws and teeth glaring. But when she was within an arm’s reach, she bounced off of Astor’s kinetic shield. The lupine let out a shocked yelp. Astor always loved that, his attackers stupefied bounce back when they smacked into the shield like it was a pane of glass.
Before the lupine could recover from the collision, Astor whipped a knife from his belt and stuck it right in her chest. He immediately grabbed another and flung it at her face, but she had had time to get her wits back and dodged the blade. But luckily for Astor, she could feel the effects of the poison already doing its job. Astor could almost see it himself, the code running through her body, disrupting her signal, and sending burning waves of debilitating pain throughout her body. With a growl she yanked the knife from her chest and threw it to the ground.
Astor poised for combat as the extremely pissed off lupine came at him for a second time. They engaged in a blurry mess of punches and kicks. Astor managed to land several blows, and blocked just as many from the lupine. He landed a kick in her gut and sent her reeling back. He switched to an aikido pose as she charged again. He focused all his mental energy into his movements. He swung his left leg around, sweeping it across the lupine’s face. He grabbed her arm as she flew in a punch, pulled it over and down, attempting to break it at the elbow, but she was too strong. At that moment, she brought a knee up in between Astor’s legs.
Astor’s concentration was shot. He fell back and the lupine leapt into the air. Astor rolled out of the way as she came down, claws first. Her razors stuck into the floor where his chest used to be. As Astor pulled himself up from the ground the lupine came up from behind and wrapped her arms around his neck. Not good…not good. She was pulling his life away. He tried concentrating, reminding himself that he wasn’t really being strangled, but it was futile.
With his last remaining mental strength he focused and pushed off the ground. His feet flew into the air and over the lupine’s head. She lost her grip as he flipped over and behind her. As his feet hit the ground, he slammed both of his fists into the back of her head. As she fell forward, Astor started running. He bolted for the door with pure panic fueling him. He kicked open the door, ripping it off its hinges, and started down the hallway.
The lupine howled from the room and her footsteps began thundering across the floor. Astor pushed himself even harder. His feet seemed to glide across the carpeting. As he reached the stairway exit, the lupine came around the hallway corner. Astor started up the stairs. Only four stories. He took the stairs six at a time. Within ten seconds he was at the top and out the roof exit. Without hesitating he jumped into the air, soaring through it like a hawk. With his arms stretched out like wings, he landed on an adjacent building. He rolled as he landed and lied on his back.
Astor breathed deeply. “Jesus.” He rolled onto his stomach and crawled to the edge of the building. He peered over and saw the lupine coming out of the rooftop exit. She stood there, looking around. She howled a terrifying and menacing scream, it gurgled and scratched, then she barged back into the building.
After only a few seconds, Astor’s strength had returned. He closed his eyes and regained his concentration. He stood up and walked across the building. When he reached the other side, he looked over the city. Lucero Point lied below him, and across the bridge, Magog and a little more safety.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the diskette. He looked at the precise black marker handwriting spelling out his name. It wasn’t what he was hoping for, but it was something. “At least it wasn’t a total waste.”
Astor put the diskette back in his pocket, jumped off the building, and after landing on the sidewalk below, scaring a bluepill half to death, he started running across the river to a secure hard line.
Astor/s RSI trickled from the phone and began to form inside the phone booth. As soon as he felt himself take full shape he hung up the receiver and stepped out. He looked around, watching the green code cascading and flying all around. This part was always disorienting. It made him feel dizzy, out of place, and confused. He stood still, letting his own code blend with the code around him. Soon enough the world took solid shape. Astor got his bearings and began running.
He knew exactly where to go. Seventh floor, room 777. It was an easy number and location to remember because there weren't even thirty rooms per floor. Labeling his own as 777 was Syeko's own "clever" way as a disguise. As he made his way down the stairway, Astor wondered how he was going to have to handle the situation. With a character like Syeko you never really knew which direction things were going to go. He might welcome Astor with open arms, or with one of his automatic pistols. When he reached the seventh floor doorway, Astor stopped and took his code launcher from his back pocket. He quickly typed in the command for his kinetic shield. He prepared his mind for combat and readied his poison knives.
He continued towards room 777. As he crept closer and closer, Astor couldn't help but imagine the answers that could be waiting for him. It was certainly a possibility that Syeko had given him the wrong location, either on purpose or by mistake. It was also possible that Syeko had never even heard of the human known as Demitre`. His story of seeing her and talking with her in her "favorite hideout" could have been a fabrication. A yarn spun to get some info out of Astor. Well whatever the situation...I'm sure it'll be resolved one way or another real quick.
Astor let out a disgusted grumble and moved inside. He clicked the door shut and looked all around. The wall by the door was riddled with bullet holes, even on the ceiling and floor. Astor could see through them to the apartments below and above. He moved towards the body. There were tiny crackles of electricity dancing across it. Astor reached what was left of Syeko, kneeled down next to him, and looked into his eyes. His head was crammed against the wall at an uncomfortably awkward angle. His eyes were wide and black. Whatever life was once behind them certainly wasn't there anymore.
Astor examined the corpse. It was clear someone had already searched him. His pockets were turned out and there were a couple tiny devices lying on the floor next to his empty pistols. Astor stood up and looked around the room. There was a rack of guns on one side and a large cabinet on the other. There was a kitchen in the corner across from him, a wide window separating it from the living room. Astor moved to the window and looked inside...nothing. Not even a refrigerator. Rubbing his face he walked to the cabinet. He opened it and looked at its contents. It was loaded with diskettes, booster shots, maps, and photos.
Astor picked up one of the several booster shots and looked it over. He didn't recognize it. Could have been anything...he didn't dare try it out. It was strange how the nature of drugs was so different within The Matrix, especially once you were aware of the nature of The Matrix. They could look like liquid or powder or plant, but were in fact only code. A code that would interact with your own. Rewrite it, alter it, maybe even delete it. Very dangerous stuff...unfortunately. Astor dropped the shot with a sigh and picked up a stack of diskettes. He held them in his hands, sliding them like cards, looking at the labels. Each one appeared to be a name. Coen, Anthelia, Heru, Rhine, Kusato, Quackadero. "Hm..." Astor dug around the cabinet, trying to determine just how many disks there were. At least fifty of them...maybe a hundred. As he rummaged he noticed a name that stuck out. Astor. "What the hell?" He dropped all the other diskettes and picked up the one labeled as his own with a slow and slightly confused hand.
As he looked at the diskette, trying to figure out why it even existed, a gravelly voice from behind him belted, Human!" Astor spun around, his disk still in his hand, to find a female lupine lurking at the doorway. As fast as lightning, Astor put the disk in a pocket and put his hand on a poison knife. "Think, human...you don't want to meddle in these affairs."
?What affairs are those?"
The lupine began sulking towards him. Astor noticed her claws were tainted with blood. He was sure she thirsted for more. "I was hoping more of you would show up," she grumbled with a toothy grin.
"I have no business with you," Astor replied, fully ready to fling a knife at the menacing lupine.
"Hm, looks like we've got business now. You're snooping through what's mine."
"Yours? Last I knew this was Syeko's place...not a lupine's."
"I don't think Syeko lives here anymore, so whatever he may have had stashed in here, is up for grabs."
"Sure...sure, that sounds fair. And all I'm walking out of here with is this." With his hand that wasn't fondling a knife, Astor pulled the disk from his pocket. "This has got my name on it...so I'd say it belongs to me."
"Yours...maybe, but walking out of here with it...I don't think so."
In a flash, Astor put the disk back into his coat pocket. "What do you want with it?"
"You ask too many questions." With that the lupine leapt at Astor, her claws and teeth glaring. But when she was within an arm's reach, she bounced off of Astor's kinetic shield. The lupine let out a shocked yelp. Astor always loved that, his attackers stupefied bounce back when they smacked into the shield like it was a pane of glass.
Astor poised for combat as the extremely pissed off lupine came at him for a second time. They engaged in a blurry mess of punches and kicks. Astor managed to land several blows, and blocked just as many from the lupine. He landed a kick in her gut and sent her reeling back. He switched to an aikido pose as she charged again. He focused all his mental energy into his movements. He swung his left leg around, sweeping it across the lupine's face. He grabbed her arm as she flew in a punch, pulled it over and down, attempting to break it at the elbow, but she was too strong. At that moment, she brought a knee up in between Astor's legs.
Astor's concentration was shot. He fell back and the lupine leapt into the air. Astor rolled out of the way as she came down, claws first. Her razors stuck into the floor where his chest used to be. As Astor pulled himself up from the ground the lupine came up from behind and wrapped her arms around his neck. Not good...not good. She was pulling his life away. He tried concentrating, reminding himself that he wasn't really being strangled, but it was futile.
With his last remaining mental strength he focused and pushed off the ground. His feet flew into the air and over the lupine's head. She lost her grip as he flipped over and behind her. As his feet hit the ground, he slammed both of his fists into the back of her head. As she fell forward, Astor started running. He bolted for the door with pure panic fueling him. He kicked open the door, ripping it off its hinges, and started down the hallway.
Astor breathed deeply. "Jesus." He rolled onto his stomach and crawled to the edge of the building. He peered over and saw the lupine coming out of the rooftop exit. She stood there, looking around. She howled a terrifying and menacing scream, it gurgled and scratched, then she barged back into the building.
After only a few seconds, Astor's strength had returned. He closed his eyes and regained his concentration. He stood up and walked across the building. When he reached the other side, he looked over the city. Lucero Point lied below him, and across the bridge, Magog and a little more safety.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the diskette. He looked at the precise black marker handwriting spelling out his name. It wasn't what he was hoping for, but it was something. "At least it wasn't a total waste."
Chapter Three: Reconstruction
Astor's boots clanked on the metal walkway. As he walked past the living units, the sounds of construction echoed throughout the massive cylindrical structure that composed the city of Zion. Since the end of the war, Zion had become awfully crowded. The construction crews couldn't build or repair the living areas at the rate bluepills were being freed. The sounds of cranes, hammers, drills, and welding were a nearly constant presence throughout the city. And forget the dock. Merely stepping into the dock area meant all verbal communication ceased. But, the place still seemed warm. Comfortable and somewhat safe. Far safer than The Matrix.
Astor was glad to be back for the time being. After spending nearly a week on the hover barge, and most of that week spent within The Matrix, it was nice to be somewhere where he could sleep on a fairly soft bed and eat fairly tasty food. But despite his brief lull of relaxation, he couldn't keep his thoughts away from the strange stash of disks and the prophecy he had yet to fulfill. Hopefully, he would receive some answers very shortly.
He reached the end of the walkway and took a right on the balcony that went around the city wall. He soon reached the doorway he was looking for and pounded his fist twice on the steel frame. After only a few moments, Pendril slid open the latch and opened the door. "Hey. Astor. I've been waiting for you." Pendril turned away, leaving the door open for Astor to enter.
Stepping into the apartment, "You've found something?"
"Well...I've found something." Pendril's place was filled with data translators, compilers, defragmenters, and analyzers. As Astor shut the door, the sounds of construction diminished but did not disappear. Sitting down at one of his desks, Pendril turned a monitor towards Astor. "So here's the information from the data card you gave me."
Astor looked at the screen, but didn't see anything besides random code fragments. "Doesn't really look like anything."
"No, not as it is, but they are a part of something specific...your RSI to be exact."
Astor cocked an eyebrow. "What?"
"I didn't really get it at first, but that is what they are. Do you really understand the nature of your RSI code?"
"Basically."
"Well...a bit more than basically, you're composed of millions of different elements. Strands of code that compose your emotions, your parts, your clothes, your thoughts...and they're always changing. As you interact with the elements of The Matrix, you are constantly re-writing yourself. So...to put someone's RSI onto a disk is pretty much impossible."
"But you said this stuff..." Astor pointed at the symbols on the monitor screen.
"Right...and they are...but they're the somewhat constant elements of your code. Like your physical structure." Pendril turned the monitor back towards himself to point out certain fragments. "I've put together that these compose your torso...these bits are your head...and these are either your legs or arms."
Astor stared at the screen with half afraid eyes. He rubbed his chin as he examined the code bits. He wasn't very proficient with data language, but as he looked at the fragments on the screen, he knew he was looking at something dangerous.
Pendril looked at Astor and knew exactly what he was feeling. "I know it's pretty frightening."
"Yeah...I mean, how did someone do this?"
"That I don't know. It would require someone with a very high level of access to The Matrix...and a profound understanding of its data structure." Astor stood up straight and took a meditative breath. He pondered the leads that he might have. He wondered where he was going to start to get to the bottom of this. Snapping him out of his thoughts, Pendril added, "There was one other thing on the data card. A file that I can't read."
"Why?"
"Because it's composed of code that I've never seen. A format I've never heard of. The file is labeled as V-R-C-E-1."
Astor felt dumbfounded. Whatever he was expecting to hear from Pendril, this was not it. He thanked Pendril and left. Returning to the metal walkway and the bombarding noise of construction, Astor tried to get a foothold on the situation. Why did Syeko have diskettes with human RSI fragments? And what does that lupine know that I don't? And the question that continued to nag him, What, if anything, does this have to do with Demitre`?
Astor continued to mull over those questions over and over again until he reached the elevator. He knew he was going to have to go back to Syeko's apartment...and possibly back to the lupine. He pushed the button for level nineteen and the elevator jarred into motion. It would stop six more times before it reached his level, picking up more and more people. By the time he got off he felt like a canned fish. At his level, the construction was less abundant, but the echoes were even more disorienting, bouncing off the city walls, dissolving its origin, and making Astor feel as though he was under water. When he reached his living quarters, his five roommates were elsewhere, giving him some room to move quickly. He packed some supplies and a change of clothes, and within ten minutes he was heading to the dock.
Chapter Four: Redirected
Astor attached the corner of the code transparency filter to the wall in front of him. He pressed the release and stretched the frame out to make a square about two feet on each side. The filter was only a thin metal tubing that could be extended vertically and horizontally. When activated it dispersed the code within its area, turning whatever it surrounded into a green hazy fuzz. Astor pressed the tiny button in the upper left corner and the wall began to fizzle. Green symbols popped up and cracked. Within a few moments Astor could see through the wall as if it were a screened window. Directly across from him, separated only by a narrow alley, was a window looking into room 777. Astor peered through the wall into Syeko’s apartment looking for any sign of life. He moved around, trying to get his eyes around the edges of the opposite window.
He was almost positive no one was over there when he saw a faint movement in the kitchen at the other side of Syeko’s apartment. Astor focused his eyes, pushing his vision further into the room. The only movement was what looked like an arm moving up to a head, scratching, then moving back down. Is it the lupine? It didn’t seem to be. It sat too upright. Astor figured it was safe enough to venture over there. He quickly took down the code transparency filter, put it in his back pocket and headed to the neighboring building.
When he reached the seventh floor of Syeko’s building, the stink hadn’t faded one bit. Might as well smell like roses, Astor told himself. He ignored the smell as he headed down the hallway, and as he turned the corner and saw the fully repaired and closed door to room 777, the odor had disappeared from his senses completely.
Astor was more prepared for any trouble this time around. He had two Glock 25’s in shoulder holsters and a slew of knives stuck in his belt. As he reached the door, he pulled his left Glock out and cocked it. He put his hand on the rusted doorknob and tried it…it turned easily. As he slowly pushed it open, the hinges squeaked softly. With only a crack to peer through, Astor looked into the apartment. There wasn’t anyone else there.
He slid into the apartment without a sound and shut the door just as silently. He moved along the wall towards the kitchen, keeping his Glock ready to fire. He moved past the kitchen door and to its window. Like a drifting shadow, Astor moved his left eye past the dividing wall and looked through the glass. Sitting in a chair in the far corner, concealed by a veil of darkness and dust, was the figure Astor had seen earlier; and running a vibe of déjà vu through Astor’s brain, the figure performed the same action. Slowly and mechanically the figure moved his hand to his head, scratched twice, then lowered his arm back to his lap.
Astor pulled back from the window and thought for a moment, preparing his strategy in a few moments. He quickly slipped in front of the kitchen door. Readying his mind for anything, he kicked the door open and rolled into the room. He aimed his Glock at the figure in the corner. “Who are you?” he commanded.
The figure seemed to snap out of a deep delirium and said, “What?”
“Who are you?!”
The shadowy figure slowly looked to one side then back, and in a manner similar to a lobotomy case replied, “I’m sorry…I don’t understand your command.” Astor relaxed slightly. He was picking up a couple puzzle pieces. He stood up, and never taking his aim from the figure, moved to the light switch near the doorway. He flipped the switch and immediately his strange suspicions were confirmed. He was looking directly at Syeko.
“Syeko?” Astor asked, lowering his gun slightly.
“Yes.”
Syeko seemed completely oblivious of the fact that he was supposed to be dead. “Syeko…how did you get here?”
“I don’t understand.”
Astor lowered his gun completely and moved closer to Syeko. “I was here yesterday, Syeko…and I saw your dead body, torn to pieces, just over there.” He pointed to the living room, moving even closer to Syeko.
As Syeko continued to speak, Astor got close enough to look into his eyes. They were wide and blank, but filled with color. “Hm,” he droned, “I’m not quite sure how that would be possible.”
Astor pulled back, his confusion surmounting. This clearly was not Syeko. The RSI fragments he had seen earlier were popping up in his mind again. Astor took a breath and redirected his strategy. “What are you doing here, Syeko?”
Syeko looked away for a moment, looking as though he was doing arithmetic, then turned back to Astor and said, “Waiting for you.”
“Why are you waiting for me?”
“You have questions. I am to lead you to answers.”
“You know what questions I have?”
“You wish to know about the diskettes.”
Astor’s suspicions were rising. Someone powerful was behind this…powerful and dangerous. But Astor figured that if he was going to get to the bottom of it all, he would have to let Syeko (or this representation of Syeko) lead him to his supposed answers. “Okay, Syeko…lead me to my answers.”
Without hesitating, Syeko stood up and walked past Astor. He exited the kitchen and went to the cabinet in the living room. Astor came out of the kitchen as he opened the cabinet doors. Astor looked in and saw that it was virtually empty. There were only two booster shots. Syeko grabbed them and put them in a pocket. “What are those for?” Astor asked as they started out of the apartment.
“You will need this in order to see.”
Chapter Five: Settling In
The trip to Astor’s answers was a long and unsettling one. During the two train rides, one on the yellow line to Morrell, then a hop over to the orange line into Hampton Green, neither Astor nor Syeko said one word. When they got on the yellow line leading into Downtown, Astor’s discomfort rose ten-fold. He hated Downtown. It was the bleakest, most mechanical, most hostile area of Mega City. Whenever he entered the area, Astor couldn’t help but constantly look over his shoulder. There was no telling who or what might be coming up behind him to take him out.
As they exited the subway station and came up on the streets, the ambiance around them was exceptionally intimidating. The sky was a flat gray, but the enormous skyscrapers still cast long and chilly shadows. As they walked down the sidewalks, there seemed to be a twenty-degree difference between the shadows and the diffused daylight. Astor felt dangerously exposed until they reached their destination, when his dread managed to reach new heights.
The government building loomed over them like the Wall of Dis. Astor hated government buildings more than anything. There was something about the sense of control the buildings emitted that ate into him. The endless possibilities of exposure, manipulation, and destruction bore into his sense of security like a drill press. He stopped in the plaza in front of the building while Syeko continued to the doors. Astor considered his options. He contemplated where his path would take him if he decided to enter the building. At the revolving doors, Syeko stopped, taking notice of Astor’s hesitation.
Astor recalled his conversation with The Oracle several weeks before. She had said, “You will have to take difficult paths if you’re going to find what you’re looking for. But hey…how is that any different from any other day, huh?” She definitely had a knack for making generalities pretty poignant.
Astor looked the building up and down one more time, watched the spotlights in the plaza bounce off the glass wall, and said, “No different.” He took a breath and walked to the still waiting Syeko and the two of them entered the building.
The elevator zoomed towards the thirty-seventh floor. There were two bluepills in the box with Astor and Syeko, and the looks on their faces were priceless…they always were. Astor loved the bewildered or disgusted or confused looks he received since his “rebirth.” The chrome elevator dinged and the doors opened at the appropriate floor. Syeko led the way out, and as Astor entered the hallway, he heard the two bluepills still in the box take a breath of relief. The central hallway was about fifteen feet across and fifty yards long. As they walked, Astor took notice of all the security cameras lining the ceiling. He also noticed that there weren’t any doors except the large double doors at the end of the hall. The air was tight, there didn’t seem to be any sounds. Even their footsteps were muffled thunks that were sucked away by the vacuous void they were walking through.
When they reached the metal double doors, Syeko pulled down the handle and opened the left side. Astor was close to follow and they entered a preliminary office. There were six guards, three standing on both sides. They were clad completely in black. They wore the same black sunglasses and each one had their short hair slicked straight back. Astor thought they were awfully akin to agents, but very fortunately, were not. Syeko stopped in the center of the room and one of the guards from the left approached. Syeko removed the two booster shots from his pocket and presented them to the guard. The guard took them without saying a word, then opened the second set of double doors, swinging them both wide open.
Syeko followed the guard into the office and Astor did the same. The room was huge. At least fifty feet by fifty feet. The walls were adorned with paintings and lined with sculptures. In the center there stood a great bronze horse on top of a massive pedestal, one of its front legs pulled up, its head reaching upward as if it were about to rear into the air, bellowing a silent neigh. Beyond the horse there sat a large mahogany desk slightly silhouetted by large windows that looked out onto the rest of Downtown. As though its owner enjoyed reinforcing stereotypes, there was a metal ball bearing swing clinking back and forth, demonstrating the effects of kinetic energy, sitting on one corner of the desk, and a chrome globe on the other.
The doors clicked shut on their own as the three individuals moved around the bronze horse and finally revealed the man behind the desk. He sat in a large metal chair, his elbows propped on the armrests, his hands folded beneath his chin. He wore a silver suit with equally silver hair pulled back into a ponytail. As the three formed a line in front of his desk, the man lowered his hands to his lap and curved his lips up in a slight smile.
Astor stared at him, waiting for him to make a move. The man looked at the guard and slightly motioned towards Syeko. The guard took one of the booster shots, pressed it to Syeko’s neck, and released its contents. Immediately, Syeko began to shake. Astor moved back as Syeko’s code began to pop and diffuse. He twitched violently as he disappeared in clumps. Part of his chest disappeared with a “poof” and a flash of light. Then his waist, his legs, his torso, his arms, his neck, his head. He disappeared completely in a flash of green haze.
Astor bolted to the wall, pulling out his Glocks, aiming one at the guard, the other at the man, neither of whom made any commotion. Keeping his slight smile, the man said, “There’s no need for that, Astor. We’re not going to hurt you.”
Not removing his aim, “Yeah right…then why the cloak and dagger charade?”
“Come now…I don’t see it as cloak and dagger…or a charade. Simply, the means necessary to accomplish my goals. Your goals as well.”
“How do you know what my goals are?” The man lifted a diskette from his desk. Astor darted his eyes around from the man, the guard, and the disk. “I don’t know what that is.”
“Precisely.”
Astor was seriously thinking of making a break for the windows. Diving through them and hoping he could land safely on the street below. “If your goals and my goals are the same, how about getting rid of the man in black?”
Chapter Six: Empty Handed
“Who are you?” Astor asked very directly.
Holding his devious smile for a few moments, the man finally replied, “Morningstar. Jonathan Morningstar.”
“Who…are you?”
Morningstar chuckled a bit and returned his hands to his chin. “I am a human…like you…that understands the role of power and responsibility in this world.” Astor continued to stare him in the eyes. “I am the figurehead of an experiment. A project to clarify and solidify my power. To bring true order to our race.”
“Why have you brought me here?”
“Well…Astor…as you may or may not have guessed, we have had our eyes on you, and many other so called redpills, for quite a long time.”
“Why? Why, if you’re such an aficionado of purpose, have you been collecting RSI fragments? What are they for?”
Morningstar chuckled again. “You are indeed very direct, Astor. But please…why should I tell you? You are but a pawn. You are only here because of mere curiosity. A series of happenstance events. There is no way I can…trust you.”
Astor was beginning to get fed up. He opened his coat a bit, exposing his weapons. “What do you know of Demitre`?”
Morningstar scrunched his lips and darted his eyes around. “Demitre`? Is that a name? I know nothing of,” with a sharp spiteful flare, “Demitre`.”
He seemed serious, which unsettled Astor even more. The mystery that surrounded this woman’s name was beginning to look like a meaningless snipe hunt. “What do you want from me?”
Morningstar’s smile widened. “Your cooperation.”
“What does that entail?” Morningstar put his hand on the booster shot and lifted it for Astor to see. “Absolutely not…do you think I’m stupid?”
Morningstar bobbled his head a bit. “It isn’t exactly what you think. It did what it did to Syeko because he was a…simulacrum of sorts.” He raised the booster shot slightly, “These shots work in two different ways. They construct and they delete. If you, a real bonifide human code structure, were to take this injection, it would begin a restructuring process that we could then extract. And then begin a simulacrum project based on your RSI structure.” Morningstar paused, setting the shot down on his desk. “However…if you were a simulacrum…it would disassemble your code structure.”
“Why do you want to create simulacrums from redpills?”
Morningstar held his smile. “If we manage to perfect the process…we can never die.”
Astor weighed his words. Morningstar slid the shot across his desk for Astor to take. Astor picked it up and held it in his lap. After a moment he stood up and moved closer to Morningstar’s desk. “Perfect it?” he asked, looking at the shot.
“Yes, Astor. Perfect the process and the end product will no longer be a simulacrum…but rather, a living consciousness.” Astor moved his eyes from the shot to Morningstar. “Consider it. You have nothing to lose…and everything to gain.”
Astor stared at Morningstar for a few moments longer, then without any warning or preemptive motion, he leapt over the desk, stuck the shot into Morningstar’s neck and pulled the trigger. Morningstar let out a shriek and began shaking. His code popped up and crackled. He began to disappear in the same manner Syeko had earlier.
Before Astor could really react, the double doors came swinging open. Astor jumped off the desk and darted to the bronze horse. He stepped from behind it and began zinging knives towards the six guards that were hustling into the room. The blades flew through the air like hornets. Within a matter of seconds, Astor had released fifteen of the twenty-five blades he had in his belt. He had no idea how many, if any, had hit the guards.
He crouched behind the horse and a barrage of bullets came blasting at him. The slugs dinged and ricocheted off the metal animal, and exploded pockets into the concrete pedestal. He pulled out both his Glocks and looked at the huge windows in front of him. He aimed his pistols ahead and fired four shots. The glass exploded and there was a rush of wind. Paper began swirling through the air as he stepped from behind the horse and began firing at the guards.
As he fired, he ran backwards. The guards began to disperse, three going to the right, the other three to the left. Astor opened his arms, still firing away. He managed to hit a guard as he jumped up onto the desk, and immediately stepped off the other side. Bullet holes were exploding all around. He could see and hear the lead slicing through the air and whizzing past his head. He fired five more shots before turning and taking the last few feet he had to accelerate to full speed. With only his right heel on the edge of the window frame, he hurtled himself out of the window.
He dove through the air, his hands forward, his legs straight back. He concentrated as hard as he could, trying to make the world slow down to a snail’s pace. He was making his way over the street. He was a hundred feet from the neighboring building, and a good three hundred feet up in the air. He calculated his descent as he continued to fall, and saw where he would connect with the approaching building. He steadied his guns, taking aim at another set of windows. He didn’t feel the rushing wind. He didn’t even see the ground below him. His vision and concentration were a telescope, fully focused on his point of contact with the window below and ahead.
When he was fifteen feet away, he opened fire. He emptied his guns with the three bullets he shot off. The window shattered in an array of shards. As the glass fell and hit the floor he entered the open window. He tucked his arms up, rolled onto the floor, hitting his back, and bounced onto his side. He continued to roll and bounce until he slammed into a cubicle only ten feet into the building.
He grunted loudly as he came to a stop. His concentration was gone. He rolled on the ground in pain as the office workers gathered around him. They’re incessant and crazed talking pulled him from his daze. He quickly regained his wits and sat up on his knees. He took a few deep breaths and pushed the pain from his mind. He looked around at the utterly confused faces surrounding him. He knew he needed to get out of there…fast. Any minute now an agent would be honing in on his presence in the highly restricted area. He pushed himself onto his feet, brushing away any debris. He looked back to the window and noticed his Glocks. He took a step towards them, then decided it didn’t matter and bolted for the elevator, leaving the dozens of bluepills completely out of their wits.
He made it out of the building without any trouble. Security’s response had been slow enough for him to make it out without anyone questioning him. Once on the streets, Astor tried to find his bearings, trying to recall the location of the nearest hard line. His adrenaline was still pumping through him by the gallon. He turned to the right and started running. He didn’t know if he was going in the right direction, but at that point, he was being driven solely by instinct. As he ran, he pulled his cell phone from his coat pocket and dialed his operator.
He made it a block in a matter of seconds when his operator answered and he noticed a phone booth another block ahead. He stopped in his tracks, but before he could communicate with his operator, he heard a ghastly sound behind him. He turned and saw the violent transformation of an agent stealing a bluepill’s body. “**bleep**,” he said with a breath and began sprinting as fast as he could towards the hard line.
After only a few steps he heard the ominous words, “There is no escape.”
He didn’t slow. He could hear his operator from the phone in his hands. He raised it to his ear and heard him yelling, “Come on, Astor hurry! You’re almost there! You’re almost there!” The phone booth was quickly getting closer. He ran with his arm stretched forward.
“Here I come!” he yelled into his cell phone. “Be ready for me!” When the skin of his fingertips touched the receiver he pulled it from the cradle and threw his head against it. As the agent opened fire, he felt himself dissolve and disappear.
Astor’s eyes bolted open on the hover barge. One of his crewmembers was pulling the plug from his spine. “Whew! That was a close one eh, Astor?” Astor didn’t reply as he sat up, breathing hard. He stood up and felt the real metal floor beneath his feet. “So…did you get what you were looking for?”
