It had been five months. Still no sign of him. Still no trace of Agent White.

Rumors were abound. Some said he was dead, deleted. Others told me he was reassigned. Other theories included a theory about how Agent White could’ve been turned into another program. Recycled. I knew there was no proof for the rumors, but I had hope that he was still alive and well. Then, finally, a lead. I contacted Sieges for any clue on Agent White’s whereabouts.  She showed me a video that showed Agent White. He was still an Agent, the lead Agent in charge of the investigation of Algorithm Black. But he was different. He had no emotions, and apparently, no memory of me. After viewing the video, I bowed my head in sadness.

 “They took away his emotions.” Sieges told me. “Those idiots!” I replied. I still had my digital bomb, the one I had used earlier to threaten the OWB into submission regarding Agent White. “The OWB is going to pay for this!” I exclaimed, remembering my bomb. “Don’t do anything drastic. It’s not worth destroying the System over this. Can’t you find another Agent you could reprogram?” She asked. I nodded. “I have the perfect candidate.” “Who?” “Agent Brown.”

 Meanwhile, downtown…

 Agent Brown stood in the living room of an apartment, with Agent Pace, whom he was now assigned to work with on a sporadic basis. He was peering out the window, looking for any suspicious activity. Nothing yet. And they were both forced to sit here and do nothing, while waiting for their next orders. Agent Pace touched her earpiece and vanished, enroute to another location to meet with some operatives. He sighed and sat down on the couch.

 I approached the building disguised, so no one could recognize me. I had detected Agent Brown on my code scanner. I went up to his floor and stopped right outside the room he was in. I used my little laptop and hacked the local code, accessing Agent Brown himself. I loaded the old program that I had used on Agent White and loaded it into Brown’s program…and waited…

Agent Brown squinted behind his sunglasses at the front door. There was something stealthed over there, as there had been a rift in the Matrix code…and a change in his own program. He suddenly had all these strange and alien memories come flooding to his mind…he remembered an operative named Jane Anderson, otherwise known as Wire. The memories were very fragmented as he remembered a small animal called Piglet, and an apartment building in Sai Kung. He stood up from the couch and approached the door cautiously.

I was in a kneeling position just outside his front door in sneak, and invisible to humans and programs alike. My little computer beeped at me, the Agent was incoming. Slowly but surely. I shut down my hacking computer and backed away from the door.

Agent Brown opened the front door. The emotions he was feeling at that moment were overwhelming, and he stopped in mid-stride and observed these strange new emotions. Emotions were alien to him, as he has never felt them before. He felt curiosity of who was hacking his program and the Matrix, and he felt an overwhelming love towards this operative named Wire. He continued walking, grabbing the doorknob and turning it, opening the door to the hallway. There was nothing visible…yet.

I was three feet away from him! It appeared he couldn’t see me…yet. I had to keep myself from giggling as I peered at him. Perfect black suit, black sunglasses, and dark brown hair. He was famously recognizable, as he was one of the Agents who used to work with Smith. I stood up very slowly as to not break my stealth. Then, surprising me, he spoke! “Human, identify yourself. I know you are present in this hallway but stealthed to avoid detection. I can detect a latent code stream from you.” My eyes went wide. He touched his earpiece suddenly. “I need an anti-stealth measure activated at my current location.” Suddenly, a flash of light and I was visible! I froze in place when I realized what was going on. Agent Brown cocked his head slightly, with a curious look on his face. “Agent Anderson. What is your reason for being at this location?” He asked. I had to improvise. “I came to…repair…your…backup hardline.” “Operative, there is no hardline at this location. You’re lying.” “I uhh…dammit…” My face burned a hot red. I was horrible at improvising random reasons. “Your anxiety levels are high. You cannot lie to me. I can read your vital signs. Why are you here?” “I was…uhh…” He looked down and saw my hacking laptop. “You! You were hacking the Matrix!” He exclaimed, but by the time he finished his sentence, I had grabbed my laptop and booked it for the door. He pursued. I had to find a place to hide and now!

I ran from the apartment in a full sprint. Agent Brown wasn’t too far behind. “Agent Anderson - stop running!” He yelled. I didn’t answer or slow down. I couldn’t afford to be captured now. My cell phone rang. No doubt it was Agent Gray, asking me why I had hacked the Matrix and why I was now running from one of my own - an Agent. I increased my speed with an algorithm in my RSI when my hacking keyboard dissolved into green code. I jumped up onto a rooftop, just out of sight of Agent Brown. I could hear him down below. “Send some reinforcements. She’s still running.” I looked down and saw two Agents appear next to him as he walked down the alleyway. Agent Gray was one of them…I turned and ran the other way when one of the Agents saw me. The Agents jumped up onto my rooftop as I ran toward the opposite edge, and my phone rang again. This time, I did not bother. I pulled it from it’s holster on my belt and threw it as hard as I could at the Agents behind me. Two of them dodged it, the third grabbed it in mid air. I looked back once before jumping off the roof - down into a window a couple floors below on an adjacent building. I fell down - and smashed through the glass, rolling out of the fall. I had landed in a hallway, but no time to observe my surroundings. The Agents were following. I ran down the hallway to the stairs and jumped floor by floor down the stairwell. I got to the bottom and pulled the door open, and ran face first into Agent Gray. The impact sent me backwards, but did not touch him. Sitting on the floor in the stairwell, I thought of getting up and running back up the stairs. That idea was shot as Agent Brown landed from a hyper jump on the first flight. I smiled. “How the hell did you guys find the stairs so fast?” I asked them. “We know the layout of every building in the Matrix, Ms. Anderson.” Agent Gray replied. My eyes spied a weak spot in the wall to my left… “Are you hurt?” Agent Brown asked. “I’m fine.” “You’ll be coming with us.” The third Agent said, coming around the corner on the second flight slightly above me. I stood up and brushed off. I inched toward the weakened wall. “You can come with this!” I replied, flipping them all off as I jumped backwards through the wall and landed on the other side, still on the ground floor. I stood up and ran for the front door. The doors flickered in green code…as I reached them. They were locked - from the inside. The three Agents appeared from the stairwell, and patiently walked towards me, as I yanked on the door with all my might. There were windows next to the door, which I took my gun out and shattered the glass. I stepped through it and continued running. There was a hardline within view! Tabor Park Central…I ran towards it but was forced to change course when Agent Brown landed directly in front of it after a hyper jump. I looked up to where he had jumped from - the other two Agents were still on the rooftop. “Stop running. Let me help you.” Agent Brown said to me. “And you think that I’ll trust you?” “I would hope so, since you are a Machine Operative.” “And that makes me automatically a candidate to trust Agents?” “No, but you can trust me.” “Why? Why can I trust you?” “Because…I love you.” I smiled. My program was working! “You’ll have to catch me first!” I replied, hyper jumping on top of the nearest building. Next available hardline: Tabor Park West. I ran for it. I hyper jumped to the city block where the hardline was. A bluepill near the hardline began to morph into an Agent, just as I grabbed the ringing phone.

In a split second, I awoke in the real. I had been jacked in while inside the Machine City. The plug retracted away from me and disappeared inside the wall. I looked around and saw other humans jacked in, reclined in chairs. I seemed to be inside some kind of strange building. I knew, in order to leave, I could not just walk outside. Near the door, which was an airtight hatch, there was a strange suit to wear that resembled a thin, rubbery spacesuit. I stood up from my chair and put on the suit. Then, I exited the building through the hatch, emerging outside. I also knew that the Machines were looking for me, and Zero One was the worst place to be.

Agent Brown looked at Agent Gray and Agent Wilkins, who emerged from a building a second later. “She’s escaped.” Agent Gray said. “No,” Brown began, “She can’t escape us. She’s in the city.” “Begin a trace.” “It’s already begun.” Agent Wilkins replied.

Somehow I suddenly had the feeling I was being traced, so I began to run. I ran past the bug like machines, and those who walked, crawled, slithered and wheeled. None of them seemed to notice me yet. They were going along with their own business. Finally, I found what appeared to be a tunnel of some sort. I entered the tunnel and continued to run. Luckily this suit had night vision on it.

“We’ve found her. We have her coordinates.” Agent Gray said, “Begin the transfer.” Agent Brown flicked out of existence as his program was transferred to a machine body in the Real.

In the real world, a machine blinked to life as Agent Brown’s program finished it’s transfer. It animated and broke away from it’s power plugs attached to the wall of a building near to Wire’s position. It resembled a machine with “tank treads” at the bottom that could fold up and form legs, and it’s arms were extremely long and could unfold to reach long distances if needed. It’s head and eyes resembled a praying mantis, with two large glowing red eyes, and a mouth that resembled insect mandibles. Agent Brown preferred to be upright and humanoid, so as to not startle Wire when he encountered her. His “tank treads” folded up and became longer, and formed two legs. His arms folded in and rested at his sides. His mechanical neck straightened out. He walked out of the building onto the “streets”. He scanned the crowd of machines coming and going, and his eyes picked up a warm blooded target, approximately three hundred yards and going farther away every second. His DNA scan showed it was Agent Anderson, AKA “Wire”. He began to run in that direction.

I kept running until I got to the end of the tunnel, and I exited back out into the marred landscape. I kept running until I very suddenly hit a precipice and was forced to stop, nearly losing my balance. The drop-off was probably at least five hundred feet. I could survive a jump like this in the Matrix, but to attempt it here would be suicide.

Agent Brown’s mechanical sensors picked up Wire standing near a very deep precipice. Suddenly, he was alarmed when she fell backwards and grabbed onto the ledge, nearly falling to her death. His legs unfolded back into tank treads and he raced - over forty miles per hour towards where Wire was.

I fell backwards, and in one last maneuver, grabbed the ledge of the precipice. I heard a mechanical noise as two Sentinels flew overhead - one circled over me and the other flew below me. I wondered if it would catch me if I fell.

Agent Brown finally arrived to the precipice, and he could see Wire hanging on for dear life over the edge. He saw two sentinels near her as well. He opened what appeared to be a small satellite, which transmitted audio signals. He spoke. “Ms. Anderson, I am Agent Brown. We have everything under control. The two sentinels will not let you fall.” He waited for her reply.

I suddenly heard a very monotonous and recognizable voice about six feet away from me. “Ms. Anderson, I am Agent Brown. We have everything under control. The two sentinels will not let you fall.” “And I can trust them like I can trust you?” I asked him. “Yes. You can trust us.” The Machine from where the voice was emanating from suddenly extended it’s arms and sent them towards me. “Grab onto my arms, Ms. Anderson. I will pull you back up.” One hand at a time, I transferred my grip-for-life to Agent Brown. Once he had both of my arms, he pulled me back up over the edge and then lifted me to my feet directly in front of him. Agent Brown was a strange looking Machine. “You must come back with me to the matrix complex. You must jack back in.” “Oh no,” I replied, “I’m not going back. Not as long as Gray and his cronies want me apprehended.” “You cannot avoid Machine influence, you cannot keep running. They will find you, and they will apprehend you. It is only a matter of time.” He used his mechanical arm and grabbed me, and began to lead me with him. “No,” I replied, “I’m not going back.” “I’m sorry, Ms. Anderson. But you have no choice.” He used his strange mechanical arms to pick me right off my feet. He began to wheel back towards the city and the building while carrying me. It was about five minutes. We arrived and he finally set me down. I stopped in front of the door. “No. I won’t.” “You have no choice but to comply. Cooperate, and make it easy on yourself.” I agreed with his statement and entered the building. He followed close behind.  I sat down in the chair and was jacked in. He was hooked back into the wall with power plugs and a matrix jack. My eyes snapped shut.

I was thanking the Gods when I arrived in the Matrix a second later; First, that Agent Brown was nowhere in sight. And second, the other Agents weren’t either. I began to run, hoping to make it to Club Hel in Hampton Green, the only safe place in the Matrix where I could hide from Agents. Would the Merovingian let me in? That was the next question.

Agent Brown looked over at Agents Gray and Wilkins. “She changed her location.” “Where is she?” “Begin a trace.” “It’s already done.”

I had landed in International, the “Chinatown” of the Matrix. I began to run, as I knew that my location was being traced. I had to get to another hardline. My next available hardline was Sai Kung Central. I hyperjumped up onto the closest building. I was about three blocks away from my hardline. I had to keep moving.

Agent Gray put a finger to his earpiece. “We’ve got her. Sai Kung Northwest in the International district.” “Let’s go.” The three Agents disappeared, accessing the hardline themselves to teleport to her location.

I landed on the rooftop, and heard a noise. I looked back at where I had jumped from. Three Agents emerged from the hardline. I jumped from the rooftop towards the hardline. They followed. I heard one of them yell. It was Agent Gray. “Agent Anderson! Stop running!” I ignored them and kept going. One block and closing. The hardline came into view.

Agent Brown remembered that Wire is a very skilled hacker. He remembered his own hacking skills. He waited until she landed on the next rooftop and then rooted her, gluing her feet in place. He smiled. She was going to be his one way or another!

I landed on the next rooftop, directly above the hardline. I went to take a step and nearly fell over. I was rooted! My feet were glued to the cement. I pulled at them to no avail. The three Agents landed near me. They were at the opposite side of the rooftop. “You cannot avoid us. Escape is impossible.” I figured that this rooting thing was a virus. I pulled out an antibiotic and swallowed it, releasing their condition on me. I hyper jumped off the building, landed, and grabbed the hardline, sending my RSI to Hampton Green. I had to get to Club Hel. It was Club Hel or Bust.

The three Agents looked at each other, and then hyper jumped down to the hardline. “Where did she go?” Brown asked. “She’s in Hampton Green. She’s heading for Club Hel.” Agent Gray replied. “If she makes it we won’t be able to apprehend her.” Wilkins said. “If we re-morph on location we can meet her there.” Agent Gray said, the other two Agents nodded. The three of them vanished, leaving three clueless bluepills behind.

I emerged from the hardline and began to run again. I was about a city block away from the club. I was almost there, and the club was within view. It took me about a minute of running before I reached the entrance to the underground parking lot. Suddenly, I heard a familiar sound - three bluepills morphing. I looked to my left as I ran down the ramp into the garage and saw them. They were morphing into Agents! I ran faster. I was about halfway to the elevator when they emerged. “Agent Anderson - stop running immediately.” Agent Gray yelled across the garage, echoing. “Wire, please. We want to help you.” Agent Brown said to me. I shook my head and reached the elevator. The door did not open. The two bouncers walked up to me. “What are you doing here?” One of them demanded. “I need access to the club. Please.” The exilic bouncer looked over and saw the three slowly advancing Agents. “The Liege does not appreciate those who betray him.” The other bouncer replied. “Agent White is dead. Those bastards killed him!” I said, pointing at the three Agents, who were still walking towards me. “There’s no point in resisting us, Agent Anderson.” “Agent?” The bouncer asked. “Yeah. I’m a Federal Agent. Now let me in the *CENSORED* club.” “We don’t appreciate Machines making demands. You’re on the Liege’s turf. You will respect his rules.” The Agents were ten feet and closing. “You’re going to regret not letting me into the club.” “We don’t appreciate Machines making threats either.” I felt a hand grab my arm and pull it behind my back. It was Agent Gray. I looked the bouncer in the eyes. “You’re going to pay for this.” I felt handcuffs. I was handcuffed as the other two Agents came up and surrounded me. “This isn’t the end of this!” I yelled, through clenched teeth like Smith as me and the Agents all dematerialized, en route for the Source, and consequently, the OWB.

I emerged - handcuffed - in the Source two seconds later. The three Agents who were with me had not left yet. “Agent Anderson.” The Architect (AKA OWB) said to me. “What do you want?” I asked him. “You’re here because I want to know why you were hacking the Matrix.” “I was looking for Data Node activity in and around the building where Agent Brown was.” “You’re lying.” I sighed and shook my head. He was right. I guess I had to be honest. “I went there to look for Agent Brown.” He nodded. “And why were you looking for Agent Brown?” “I went there to find him because I wanted to modify his program.” “And you modified his program. You corrupted yet another one of my Agents.” “I did no such thing! He’s fine.” “But you fail to understand. I cannot have Agents with emotions out in the simulation, Agent Anderson. They become biased and vulnerable. They become inefficient.” He looked at Agent Brown and cocked his head slightly. “You changed your program, this time…you made it so I cannot remove it. You see, your program, if left unchecked, could spell an increasing probability of failure for Agent Brown.” “No. It’s been improved.” “Irrelevant. Your modifications are already causing him to become inefficient. Much of his thought processes are dedicated to you, now.” I smiled and blushed. “Nevertheless. I managed to return Agent White to normal.” “You killed Agent White, you bastard!” I yelled, suddenly. The three Agents had to hang onto me to keep me from tackling the OWB. He showed no emotion, because he had no emotion. “I did not kill him, Ms. Anderson. The Algorithm Black killed him.” Hearing the finality of that statement, I began to cry and fell to my knees. The OWB looked down at me from his chair. “You are emotionally unstable, Ms. Anderson. I’m going to send you back to the simulation with the Agents.” “Fine, I don’t care what happens to me anymore, do what you want!” I yelled in reply. He clicked his pen at me. We all dematerialized again.

The Agents and I rematerialized at Tabor Park West. I was in a kneeling position, still crying. Agent Gray released my handcuffs. He looked at Agent Brown. “We’re going back to the Source. Our assignment is completed.” “Very well,” Agent Brown replied, “I’ll be here, in the simulation.” Both Agents nodded and vanished. I stood up slowly and then nearly fell into the bench behind me. Agent Brown sat down next to me. He put an arm around me. “Are you ok?” He asked me. I wiped the tears from my face and nodded, my voice breaking a little bit. “Yeah…I think so.” “You loved him, didn’t you?” “Yeah.” “As much as I love you?” I nodded. “Yes.”  Suddenly, a cellphone rang. The sound was muffled. “Oh! I almost forgot I had this.” Agent Brown said, pulling my cellphone from his pocket. He handed it to me. It rang again. “Thanks.” I replied. I looked down at it. It was an old friend - TheRecycler. I opened my phone and answered it.

TheRecycler stood inside Club Hel. “Wire, I heard about your ordeal a couple hours ago. Are you ok?” “Yeah, I’m fine.” She answered, very seriously. “Who’s the Agent you’re chasing now?” He asked. “How did you know?” I asked him. I had no idea where he could’ve heard. I supposed the Merovingian had eyes and ears everywhere in the Matrix. “The Merovingian knows almost everything, Wire.” I laughed and nodded. “It’s true. So…do you need me? Do you need anything? I can be there in two minutes if you need me.” He asked. “No, I’m fine. He’s with me right now.” “Who?” “Agent Brown.” “You mean the Agent Brown? As in the Agent who used to work with Smith way back when?” “Yep.” “*CENSORED*, Wire. You’re in deep this time…so where did the Agents haul you off to when you vanished from Club Hel?” “The Source.” Silence. I figured I had effectively rendered him speechless. “Then what happened?” “I met the OWB. Basically he had caught me hacking the Matrix and Agent Brown’s code…” “Wow. Did he do anything about it?” “Nah,” I replied, “Just gave me a stupid lecture and booted all four of us back here.” “Well, it’s good to know you’re alright. You and that Agent now have free access to Club Hel. The Merovingian wasn’t too happy with those bouncers.” “Good.” “Look, I gotta let ya go. The Merovingian wants me to run more errands for him.” “Ok. Talk to ya later.” “Yeah. Bye.” I hung up.

[Background]

“TheRecycler” - Program Alpha - is an exile program who once worked in the pods. He would liquidate the dead and feed them to the living. He worked efficiently and hardly noticed by the System, since the beginning of the Matrix - for five iterations - until one day the Machines upgraded and sent in Program Beta. Program Beta took away Alpha’s job and purpose. The Machines wanted Program Alpha deleted, but he ran. He contacted the Trainman and was transported into the Matrix. He attained a human shell and began work for the Merovingian. He chose the name TheRecycler, because it fits him well. He calls himself “an old undertaker”, and continues to do the work of the Merovingian. When not dodging Agents looking to delete him, TheRecycler resides at Club Hel.

TheRecycler is an old friend of Wire, who’s known him since before she knew Agent White.

My cellphone rang. I looked down at it just as Agent Brown asked “Who is it?” “The Merovingian.” I opened the phone. “Hello, Liege.” “My sweet Wire…how are you?” He asked in his thick French accent. “Oh, I’m ok.” “What happened earlier at my club?” “The Machines kidnapped me to the Source again.” “And did the Architect harass you again?” “Yeah…he sorta gave me a lecture on how I’m not supposed to hack the Matrix.” “Well, listen sweet Wire…there is a reason I called you. I wanted to let you know that you have free entry into Club Hel. TheRecycler convinced me that I could help you. So…I agree with him.” I gave Agent Brown a look of amazement, who then cocked his head in curiosity. I put my hand up to stop him from talking. “Free entry into Club Hel? To a Machine Operative?” “Yes. I also must apologize to you for my club bouncers’ actions. They were supposed to let you in…apparently no one remembered to tell them that.” I chuckled. “Alright. Thank you, Liege.” “Of course, my sweet Wire. If you need me, don’t hesitate to call.” “Alright. I’ll talk to you later then.” “Anytime.” He hung up first. Suddenly, as I hung up my phone, Agent Brown touched his earpiece and listened to something. Then he looked at me. “The Architect has put out a call to bring you back in…for questioning.” I shook my head and stood up, backing towards the hardline. “I’m not going back…not going back…” I grabbed the phone and teleported right back to Hampton. Agent Brown followed…and so did other Agents who were dispatched to the area to investigate.

The Architect viewed his tiny TV screens from inside the Source. He pointed his pen at one of them and it blinked, showing Wire running for her life towards Club Hel. “Agent Gray.” He said. Agent Gray appeared on the screen next to the one that showed Wire. “Yes sir?” “I want you to pursue Agent Anderson. I want her in my custody immediately.” “Yes, sir.” “Oh, and make sure to take her pet into custody. We can use it for a bargaining chip.” “Yes, sir.” He clicked his pen and the screen went blank.

I arrived at Club Hel and was welcomed in this time. I saw the Merovingian sitting in the main room. “Wire! Welcome back to my Club. Your room is exactly as you left it.” “Thank you, sir.” I replied, bowing to him. I then proceeded to go to the elevator and went up to my floor. I stepped off and went to my room. Home sweet home.

Agent Gray went to Wire’s apartment and kicked the door in. He walked in and found Piglet sleeping on the couch. He carried a net with him, and he slammed the net over Piglet, trapping him inside. He then got Piglet into the net, which resembled a fishing net and carried it back out. Piglet awoke with a start and began to kick and squeal. He was hoping Wire was nearby to hear him squealing…no such luck. He kicked and squealed as Agent Gray carried him down the hallway, until he was tired, and he collapsed - defeated - at the bottom of an inescapable net. Agent Gray vanished with Wire’s baby, and the door to the apartment looked as if it had never been disturbed.

After a few minutes I headed back to my apartment to get Piglet. I used my key and entered. I stopped after entering a couple of feet. I knew there was something wrong. “Piglet?” I called. Nothing. No movement, no pitter-patter of tiny cloven feet - nothing. I pulled out my handgun and cocked it. I looked around for signs that the apartment had been disturbed. Thanks to my clean and vacuumed carpet, I noticed almost perfect footprints in it. They looked like the bottom of a dress shoe…an Agent had been here. I frowned and got angry. Those bastards had taken my Piglet! I ran back out of the apartment.

I almost immediately opened my phone and called Agent Gray. “You took my Piglet, you bastard!” I yelled into the phone. “Ms. Anderson. If you surrender to us, we will return your pet to you. We won’t harm him.” “You do realize that taking Piglet was crossing the line, right? An act of war. You’re going to pay for this. This isn’t the end of this.” I hung up.

Five minutes later, I was at Club Hel explaining my situation to the Merovingian. “They took Piglet!!” I exclaimed, getting emotional. “I have a secret weapon that I don’t normally give to operatives.” The Merovingian said, holding out his hand to me and opening it slowly. In his palm were three bullets. “These are kill codes. They will kill an Agent. Agents cannot dodge them.” I reached out and took the bullets. “Load them into your handgun when you go retrieve Piglet. I will send an exile team with you. Good luck.” “Wire.” I heard a voice call from behind me. I turned around. It was Agent Brown. “I heard the news. I’m here to help you get Piglet back.” I wasn’t sure if I could trust him or not.

“Who is he?!” The Merovingian demanded. I put my hand up. “It’s ok, Sir. He’s friendly.” “I don’t care if he’s friendly, I want him out of my club.” “Why, if I may ask?” I asked. He pointed at Agent Brown’s earpiece. “He still has his Machine connections. He is no exile. But he’s different from them which allowed him to enter my club.” I squinted at Agent Brown. “If you still have your Machine connections, how can I trust you?” I asked him. “You’ll just have to trust me.” I shook my head. “That doesn’t work.” I pointed at the door. “Get out. And take your Machine influence with you.” “My offer stands. If you need me, you know where to reach me.” And with that, he turned on one foot and exited the club. I turned to the Merovingian. “I apologize, Liege…I didn’t expect him to track me here.” “It’s ok,” He replied, “Take this exile team and load your kill codes into your gun. I have tracked the Agents to this location.” He pulled out a map and pointed at an intersection in Mara. “That’s the Machine base where Piglet is being held. Go there and expect three Agents.” I nodded. “Three Agents, three bullets.” He nodded as well. I turned around. I had a six-man team waiting for me. Two Nightmares, a Lupine and three Blood nobles. Vampires. “Let’s rock and roll.” The Lupine said, cracking his knuckles. I nodded as I pulled out my handgun and loaded the three kill codes. We exited the club, en route to Mara, to the Machine base.

It took us about eight minutes to get to Mara by van. We pulled up in front of this large government-looking building. “Let’s roll.” I said, as we all exited the van and entered the building. Elevators up ahead, and to our right, a long desk with a secretary behind it. “Hey! You can’t enter without proper ID. Let me see your ID!” We boarded the elevator. “Here’s your ID.” I said, flipping her off. The exiles chucked. The secretary punched a button underneath the desk. A silent alarm.

Meanwhile, on the 73^rd floor, Agent Gray suddenly put a finger to his earpiece. Agent Pace and Agent Wilkins were in the room with him. On a table nearby, Piglet was inside a strange glass bubble, suspended in fluid and sleeping. He looked like an animal in a mini pod. “She’s on her way up. Complete with a team of exiles.” “Excellent,” Wilkins replied. “She’s taken the bait.” “She’s going to walk right into it.” Gray completed his sentence. Contrary to his programmed nature, Gray smiled ever so slightly. Pace said nothing, simply shook her head slowly, as she disagreed with using a pet to bring a human into custody…but it had worked.

I drew my gun with the killcodes. The elevator stopped and I led the team into the hallway. We advanced through the hallway, coming up to the first door on the left. I kicked it in and swept it with my gun. “Clear!” I called. The exiles cleared the next room until we found the door at the end of the hall. We kicked that door in too, and found nothing. I stopped the team. “They’re in the next room.” I said. One of the Nightmares nodded. “Let us lead then.” The Nightmare opened the door and was almost instantly killed by a couple of extremely loud gunshots. I knew that sound - Agent guns. The rest of the team charged the room, drawing fire for me. I leaned around the corner and shot Agent Wilkins with a kill code bullet. He fell backwards and dissolved in a shower of green code. Agent Pace vanished and left behind a bluepill which was grabbed and bitten into by a blood noble. Another nightmare got killed as I looked for Piglet…where was he? I spotted him on the far wall as the rest of the team died except for one blood noble; who dropped the bluepill and ducked for cover. I grabbed Piglet, who was encased in some sort of strange glass bubble. I put him underneath my arm like I was carrying a football and ran out the door. I heard a voice as I made for the hallway. “You’ll never make it.” I stopped before opening the door and running for the hallway. “What’s wrong?” The Blood Noble asked. “There’s a Machine sweep team out there.” “Sweep team?” “Yeah. It’s those guys the Machines call whenever there’s a mess to clean up or a person to capture. Sorta like a specialized SWAT team.” I looked for a window…there was one here. “I’ll hold them off,” The Blood Noble said, “You run for the club with Piglet.” I nodded and jumped out the window.