“Pyxel: Commander of the Zionist Network Imperium. An orphan in the Matrix he was not given a name. It was only until he became a pre-adolescent hacker did he refer to himself as Pyxel. Oft times laid back, more oft times outrageous. His trademark is his trick shot style gunslinging, using flash and speed to his advantage. He is also proficient in several martial arts, as well he should be, for he was trained by the Exile known as “Seraph”
Segment 6
Angels
It was three days after the meeting; the ships had separated and began patrolling the tunnels near the Imperium, where Mordain, assisted by data experts Sharred, Kilobit and Vidicus were working day and night to decode the data from the disk. Griever rested in his cabin on the Arbiter, still feeling the effects of the attack from the Cardinal. He kept asking himself why the Cardinal was interested in him so much. Was it because of the way he escaped the matrix? Was he change more than he realized when he trans-substantiated? Why did he go through the trouble of handing him the case just to try to kill him when he opened it? What’s inside that disk? He then thought of Pyxel, through sheer willpower he broke free of the Cardinals grip and gave him the time to fight back. Where had he gone?
The Locaz was flying through the caverns of the real. Hovercrafts weren’t used like before the war. They were used to protect their territories located in broadcasting spots instead of sneaking through the core of the earth looking for broadcast points. Seavyan was in the captain’s chair, drinking some of Etheno’s special brand of moonshine. He sat there drinking his the time away while Ziguarath pilote the ship. “Three days without a **bleep**ing word.” He slurred, “Pyx! Where are ya Pyx!? Come back home boy!” He began whistling like he was looking for a lost dog. The cockpit door swung open, it was Simia, the ships operator. “Seav, we got a call.” “Pfffft. Tell Sharred I’m done playing games, she can kiss…” “It’s from inside the Matrix,sir.” Seav looked at Zig, “Hey, maybe Persephone finally took me up on that offer. Tell her I’ll be right there. He sloppily swung out of his chair and down to the loading dock where he picked up the phone at the operators chair. “Here babe, finally glad you dropped the Frog and decided to get with a real man.” “Listen to me now…” Seav immediately sobered up when he realized it was a an asian man with a whisper of a voice on the other end, he knew immediately who it was… “Meet me at the teahouse on Wo Ping street in international. You, and only you.” Seav was at a loss for words. “Yeah Seraph, sure thing.”
It was nearly day four of no sleep for Mordain and company. Sharred wasn’t mistaken when she said it was protected up the *CENSORED*. Unlocking the case was the first step, decoding the disk was another. Finally, Kilobit had had enough. “That’s it !! I’m done with this **bleep**!.” He began typing quickly on the computer, as if he was typing gibberish out of frustration. He sank back in his chair out of exhaustion, only to wake up when he realized that whatever he typed had actually done the job. The disk was decoding. The four of them looked over what they saw on the screen. Sharred spoke first “It’s some kind of database on abnormal brain patterns.” Vidicus sat up. “They don’t look human, they look machine. AI thought waves.” “But why would they be looking for AI brain patterns in redpills?” Mord moved his colleagues aside and began typing. “what are you doing Mord?” Sharred asked. “Cross referencing these patterns with the Zion Mainframe.” “But the mainframe is heavily protected.” Mordain chuckled at Kilo’s statement as he easily gained access into the Mainframe, which in it contained a file on every redpill ever extracted. Mord was now typing in a sequence of keys. “ok, now I cross-reference the database with the list on the disk, and we’ll see if we got any matches, maybe that’ll help us with some of our answers. The matching system began sorting through profiles of redpills one by one and mind numbing speed. Out of the hundreds of thousands, only a handful of names appeared as matches. “Ok, these people show anomalous brain patterns that match AI signatures…” Mordain slowed down the last word. “what?” sharred looked at the answer almost as fast as she said it. Both Kilo and Vid looked at the screen in disbelief. “I need to call Zelder and tell him to get back here now.”
Seavyan entered the small teahouse in the matrix. Where he was greeted by an asian man in a white oriental shirt and whereing small, circular sunglasses. “Seavyan, an honor.” His voice was calm. He waved his hand toward the tea tray. “No thanks, never touch the stuff.” Seraph calmly continued to drink his tea. “Uh, Seraph, I’m in a bit of a rush, why’d you call?” “She wants a word with your faction.” Seav’s face dropped. The Oracle, wanting to see the them? “But what about Pyxel?” “He is fine. What is your answer?” Seav began to chuckle. “It’s not everyday the god **bleep** Oracle wants to have a word with you. Yes.” Seraph smirked as he stood up. “Good. But first, I must apologize.” Seav already knew what was coming when he asked “What for?” “This.” Seraph came after him with a flurry of kicks that connected with his broad chest. He rolled out of the way and charged after Seraph, throwing swing after swing. But the exile was proving to be too swift for seav and kept dodging them. Seavyan’s break came when Seraph tried a low kick to his ribs. He grabbed the Exile’s leg and began swinging around the room, slamming him into pillars. Seraph slipped one quick kick to Seav’s arm, breaking free. Seav would’ve continued the fight but Seraph raised his hand. “Stop.” Espite being flung into the wall, his voice was stone calm. “Good. You do not truly know someone until you fight them.” Seav lowered his fighting posture. “Could’ve discussed it over a few rounds.” “I need you to deliver a message to your faction mates.”
The arbiter was docked in the Imperium base. Zelder and Griever were in the briefing room. Only they were allowed in. Rhyse and Temsik were also there, although they were not aware what the briefing was about. Mordain, Sharred, Kilobit an vidicus were standing infront of them. Mord was the first to speak. “the reason we are all here is because we have decoded the disk that we retrieved.” He pressed a key on his console, displaying a list of wavelengths on the screen behind him. “These are the thought patterns of AI programs. We believe that the Machines wanted the Jokerz to use this list to discover redpills who exhibited these wavelengths. We used the Zion mainframe to cross-reference these waves with the profiles of all repills to come through Zion.” “That’s all of em.” Temsik interjected. “We found very few matches, but found this one.” He pressed a button, and a specific wavelength appeared on screen. It’s was codenamed “Nephillim”. “And here is his match.” Another press of a key and a list of names ran down, stopping on one. Griever’s. His profile proved that his brainwaves matched that of the AI. Everyone looked at him closely, but all he could do was look down on the ground. “well, that explains it.” Stated vidicus Zelder stood up, “explains what? That Griever is an AI in disguise? What the hell is going on.” “It means that my escape from the Matrix wasn’t an accident, it was intentional.” Griever’s voice was cold as he laid out the har fact. “I don’t know how, but it’s there, and for some reason that attracts the Cardinal to me.” Rhyse finally stepped in. “This changes nothing about Griever, what we need to do now is figure what to do next.” After saying that the automated system turned on –The Locaz is on approach- Everyone ran to the hanger bay as Seavyan emerged from the ship, looking a little hung over. “Hey guys.” He seemed like he had a lot. “I just got a…call…from seraph.” “Yeh,” said sharred, “After how many shots?” “No, I met the man himself. He gave me a message, The Oracle wants to see us, now.” He looked at Griever. “Especially you.”
An hour later, Rhyse, Sharred, Seavyan and Griever were back in the Matrix. They met Seraph at Debir courts in Mara. “Greetings.” He said. Then he turned his head towards Griever. “Come, she is waiting.” He turned around and pulled out a set of keys. He set the key into the lock of one of the apartment doors, opening it to reveal the now infamous White hallway. They all entered and followed their exile guide down the hall, past countless of doors. He finally stopped at one. Without saying a word he unlocked that door, opening it up inside the hallway of an apartment building, seemingly they had moved all the way to the other sie of the city. He led them down the dark and dirty hallway and knocked on one of the last doors down. A small hindu girl opened it. “Seraph, you’re back.” “Hello Sati.” She hugged him at the waist and then looked at his guest. She did a small curtsy. “Welcome.” They all stepped into the apartment. Only to be greeted by a familiar face lying on the couch. The first thing Pyxel said was. “What kept ya?”
-End of Segment 6-
see those birds? At some point a program was written to govern them. A program was written to watch over the trees, and the wind, the sunrise, and sunset. There are programs running all over the place. The ones doing their job, doing what they were meant to do, are invisible. You'd never even know they were here. But the other ones, well, we hear about them all the time.
-The Oracle
Segment 7
Sight
“So what kept ya?” Before anyone could answer Pyxel, Sharred went up to him and punched him. “Four days and not a word!?” The rest of the crew held her back from giving him the rest of her mind. She slowly calmed down when she heard the soft giggling of Sati. “Still fighting I see, Leka.” They all turned around and saw the woman they had come to see. She was an elderly African American woman with a green sun dress on. She was standing there, smoking a cigarette. Sharred walked up to her a and gave her a hug. “It’s been a long time, Lady.” “You’ve grown up,dear. I barely recognized you.” “Barely recognized you too.” “Well you know how it goes.” The Oracle looked at the rest of the crew. “Gentlemen, thank you for coming.” She looked at Griever. “we have many things to talk about. But first.” She averted her eyes to Rhyse. “Rhyse, step into my parlor. The rest can make themselves at home. One of my kids will bring out some tea.” Rhyse walked into the Next room with the Old Lady. The Rest sat down as a dark lady in a green gown walked in with a tea tray. “Your favorite, Leka.” She handed Sharred a cup and then gave them to the rest. Before they could ask, Sharred answered their question. “Leka was my name while I was here. I’m one of the orphans that the Oracle raised.” The lady came up to Seav with his cup. He put his hand up “Never touch the stuff. So you’re like that spoon kid in Zion?” Sharred laughed, “Yeh, like that spoon kid.”
“So good to see you again Rhyse.” The old lady was checking on her oven, the scent of cookies coming from the oven. “Those for me?” “Maybe.” She turned around. “But there’s still time, please sit.” Rhyse sat down in the chair opposite of the Oracles. “How’s Mordain?” “He’s good.” “Still retired?” She lit a Double Destiny Cigarette. “Still.” He watched as she took a drag, “Mordain, he had such potential, it’s a shame what happened.” She took another drag. “But that’s not why you’re here. Do you know why?” “It has something to do with Griever, doesn’t it?” She looked towards her window with her deep eyes. “He was given something that should not have been given, yet here it is, fulfilling it’s purpose.” “Which is what?” “To understand the nature of something similar to itself.” “You’re not going to tell me exactly what, are you.” She smiled and took in another drag. “You are a good man, Rhyse, but it seems you keep stumbling into one amazing situation into another, for that I’m sorry. But you are the only hope that both Griever and both our worlds will have in the coming storm.” “What storm?” “You saw him.” “The Cardinal, Grieve said he was considered to be a Smith-like threat.” “He’s much worse than Smith.” “How?” She stood up. “You remind me of someone I once knew, a leader,like you. Except your life isn’t driven solely by the cause, you have other things that drive you, and maybe that’s what will keep you alive. Because you believe in more, you have more to fight for. He had lost his belief and began fighting blindly.” “You didn’t answer my question!” He raised his voice at her, but she didn’t blink. The Oracle came close to him, whispering something in his ear. His face was awash with horror. “Now you understand why?” He slowly nodded. “We don’t have much time, Rhyse, and we need all we can get. All I can tell you is, you are in for a bumpy ride.” She took one long drag on her cigarette, burning it down to the filter. “But for now, sit back and relax, because I want you to be prepared for this.”
Grieve was sipping his tea, watching Leka and the Oracle’s attendant reminisce over the past. He suddenly noticed young Sati standing next to him. “Are you from the Matrix?” He responded quickly. “Yes…No…” He looked puzzled. “I’m not sure.” “You look like one of us.” “One of what?” She gestured to Seraph and herself. “Us.” He looked at Seraph. “Is this true? Do I appear as one of you?” All Seraph could do was bow his head. He said only one word in a whisper. “Sifu.” Pyxel looked at Grieve. Whatever was in Grieve’s head was someone Seraph respected very deeply. Grieve looked at Sati. “Do I look Like anyone you know?” She smiled. “One…” She ran off to another room after saying that. Like she just kissed someone and nervously ran away. His mind was now swimming at the meaning of what was going on. All he could do was keep drinking his tea. Quickly after, Rhyse emerged from the room, as if he’d seen a ghost.” He looked at Grieve like a stranger. “She wants to see you.” His voice was disconnected. When Grieve passed him Rhyse looked him in the eyes as if he were trying to see into his very soul through them. “You didn’t know this whole time what was going on?” Grieve very quickly went past him and into the kitchen.
When he walked into the parlor, the Oracles back was towards him. “You wanted to see me, ma’am?” She raised her hand. “Just a second.” She got up, picking up a tray of cookies from the oven. She gave him a look as she placed them on the window sill to cool. “I thought you’d be older.” She smiled. “You’re not what I expected either.” He replied. “I know, everyone thinks that the first time. They expect this Mystical Magical being where as I’m just here doing what I need to do.” “And that is?” she smiled again. “Have a seat, Grieve.” He sat down, across from her. She took a cigarette from her pack of Double Destiny and lit it. “So, what do you want to talk about?” He was confused. “I thought you wanted to tell me something.” She raised her head towards a plaque over the door. “Do you know what that means?” He looked at it. “Know Thyself.” You have all the answers, question is: are you ready for them?” She took a drag of cigarette. He stare at the plaque again. “The Nephillim is tied in with The One, isn’t it? The equations in Stamos, I knew what they were like I had seen them everyday of my life.” She exhaled, a trail of smoke billowed out of her mouth. “Before Neo, there were 5 other Ones, based on an system anomaly. The Architect created several programs to analyze the anomaly. To understand it, and possibly solve it. The Nephillim is one of them. The Cardinal is the other.” “Why is he so interested in me?” She again took a drag. “Both Programs were created from fragments of the equation. However, as we all know. That equation prouced more than just the One.” “Smith.” “The Cardinal was made from a part of the equation that resulted in Smith. Just as The Nephillim is from the equation that Created Neo.”
He closed his eyes in anger. “It’s happening again, all over again. That **bleep** war. Morpheus said that you told Neo that he and Smith, their war, was the end of it. But now the two of us are going to continue it. When’s it going to end!” Despite his shouting, she just smiled, took in another deep breath of her cigarette, but this time she blew it in his face. His eyes burned from it, but beneath the tears he saw something happening. Everything turned into the Code. He saw the Oracle as well, or, what looked like the Oracle. He knew that this wasn’t her own doing, but the Program in his head. He heard throw the swirling of the code her voice. “Sometimes the End is just the Beginning.” The world slowly shifted back to the way he originally saw it. His mind felt like it had expanded, like he had seen more than any human should see. “I remember…everything. I…The Nephillim…he left the machine world once Neo was killed, he knew once Neo was gone he would have to return to the source. But he was curious, he wanted to see the world that the One was so eager to save. The Cardinal followed him, also curious. But soon they argued, the Nephillim admired the human’s struggle where the Cardinal saw it as a cancer. He was still focused on finding balance. They fought, and the Cardinal destroyed The Nephillims shell. Bodiless, he found his way to Mara, where Jason…I was being chased by the Agents, right before I fell.” Griever looked up at her. “He’s the reason I jacked out…” She lit another cigarette. “The Nephillim recognized something in you,saw that you needed help, and gave it to you. I’m sorry kid, that you got dragged into this. It seems like I got nothing but bad news for the ones I like.” “Maybe because you know we’ll get out of it.” She looked at him, as if she didn’t expect him to say that. He got up. “It’s been an honor, ma’am.” He raised his hand. “No, it’s been mine.” She extended it and the two of them looked at each other. “I hope I can come back.” “So do I.”
Griever came out of the door and looked at everyone as if it were the first time he saw it. He looked at Seraph. “You remember don’t you?” his voice was a natural whisper. “Yes, and you were right to leave the merovingian” Grieve walked to his faction mates. Rhyse was the first to respond. “So, you remember?” “Yes, be I don’t think we have much time.” “Time for what?” asked Sharred. “The Cardinal wants me dead, actually, he wants every one dead. He’s been waiting for me...the Nephillim to come back to do it.” Pyxel got up. “So what should we do.” Rhyse stood up next to him. “Fight back.” Sharred and Seav got up, and they proceeded out. Pyxel bowed his head to Seraph as they walked out of the apartment. The Oracle walked out of the kitchen. Sati came up to her and hugged her leg. “I don’t want him to go like Neo.” All the Oracle could do was look at Seraph. “I don’t know sweetie, it’s not my choice”
-End of Segment 7-
“After we met the Oracle, it all changed. For the faction, for Grieve…for me too. We were now set on a course that could threaten the lives of every Human, Machine and Exile in existence. Damnit Tyndall why can’t you see that!?”
-High Senator Mordain’s Debriefing in Zion
-Segment 8-
Run for your life
“So let me get this right.” Asked Pyx. “A program designed to monitor the ONE became and exile, and in a bid to save it’s self, entered your brain just as you jacked out?” “In so many words…yeah.” They were all back at the Imperium Base, every ship had been called back for a briefing. “and the Cardinal was a program to monitor the counter equation?” it was Vidicus. “That would eventually become Smith, yes.” “Their battle rages still.” It was Rhyse, who taken on some of Grieve’s usual morose attitude after seeing the Oracle two days previous. “Looks that way.” “So what can we do?” asked Aomis. “Get pissed drunk.” Of course, it was Seav. His voice was followed by cheers from the majority of the faction until Mordain stood up. “HEY!!!” everyone lowered their voices. Grieve, who was at the briefing podium, began. “The cardinal is a threat, a major one. He believes that the Matrix needs to be balanced, and that means wiping out the matrix over again. Back to it’s original Paradise iteration. The Humans may not have believed it, but us…” He flinched when he said “us.” Many were beginning to notice this, as if he was having a hard time discerning his thoughts and the Nephillim. “the Original Programs, loved it. It was the ultimate balance.” He let out a sigh. “And the won’t stop there, he will kill every Exile in the Matrix, Every Human in Zion and every Machine in One-Zero. All that he deems “abhorrent” under the Matrix molded in his likeness.” Aomis again spoke. “But why now? Why not do this right after the battle in Zion when we were all weak?” “Because he was waiting for me…” again he winced. “The Nephillim. The only thing that can stop him is the counterbalance, the NEO to his SMITH.” Etheno raised his hand. “If that’s true, doesn’t that make you...” “Don’t say it Eth, please.” Etheno looked at his crewmates around him. “But that would mean he’s the…” “Etheno, stop.” It was Zelder who interrupted him. “All I’m trying to say is that he could be the…” He stopped dead when Grieve jumped over the podium. “DON’T…YOU…SAY IT!!!” Everyone was in shock at this display. Even though he was more often then not moody, anger was never one of Grieve’s stronger emotions. Before he could get a reprise, he ran out of the briefing room, slipping past Seav and Ziguarath. Rhyse stood up. “Let him go.” Etheno was still shocked. “why did he go off on me like that?” Sharred got in front of him. “Because the path of the ONE ends in Death. The only way the one’s purpose is fulfilled is by returning to the source and resetting the Matrix or counterbalancing the equation, which as we learned from Neo, means death. Not very promising, is it?”
Griever was in his quarters on the Arbiter, trying to forget the past few days. A loud banging from his door jarred his mind. He opened it to find Zeldar, his captain. “Mind If I come in?” “It’s your ship.” He stepped aside to let him in. “I wanted to talk to you?” Grieve slowed down abit. Zeldar was always a little…uncomfortable isn’t the correct term, but it’s close enough. “What do you wanna talk about?” “Well, it’s more of an apology.” Now he had Griever’s attention. Zeldar sat down on the bed, Griever sat next to him. “I’m sorry, for not being the warmest person around you. I had no idea the kind of pain you must’ve gone through and are going through.” His eyes looked a little watery. “I’ve never been really any good with trusting people, not since I came out into the Real. I’m sorry, Grieve, I just wanted you to know that.” Grieve looked at him. “what are you not telling me?” Zeldar gave a wry smile and began to talk very casually. “Y’know, I spoke to the Oracle once, long ago. Wonderful woman, hell of a baker. She told me something that gave me purpose, meaning in the world I had been forced into. But I thought it past me, that somehow I got gypped out of my purpose. Now, here I am. Confronted by it.” Griever’s eyes opened wide. “What did she say?” Zeldar didn’t respon. “Z, what did she…agh!!” Grieve clutched his head in pain. “What’s wrong Grieve?” All of a sudden the pain disappeared. “Someone’s coming.” Without another word he out of his room, leaving his captain to follow him through the narrow halls. He slid down the stairwell to the loading Deck, where Ivan was drinking some coffee infront of his monitor. “Are you picking anything up on your sensors?” Ivan’s face showed confusion. Before he could say anything Griever pulled him out of the way and began typing on the console. In a few key strokes, the sensors picked them up. Sentinels, hundreds of them, heading for the base. “Ho-ly **bleep**!!!” Zeldar screamed as he got on the Communication system. We are picking up massive Sentinel activity heading this way. Evacuate the area. Immediately!
Everyone scrambled to their ships. Rhyse, Tem and Mordain all entere the Leviathan, the mobile base of operations. The Locaz and Leviathan had already lifte off when Pyxel came on board. The crew saluted him. “Put that bull**bleep** away.” “Sir! Wouldn’t you be safer on the Leviathan. Sir!” He looked Kilobit straight in the eyes after he said that. “I was captain of this ship while you were still neck deep in red spunk. DO YOU GET ME!?” “SIR YES SIR!” “Good, now get this baby up and running.” Everyone began to scramble to their stations. As soon as Pyx and Zeldar were in the cockpit the Arbiter was up and flying out of the base. They flew into the connecting tunnel, right in view of the oncoming swarm of squidlike machines. “They look different.” Zelder stated. “Their eyes.” It was true that these sentinels eyes were not their usual red but were in fact yellow. Grieve looked out the cockpit window. “It’s him, he’s controlling them.” Pyxel hammered down the contriols. “Aww great!” The ship barreled through the tunnels, trying to catch up with the other ships. The swarm started to gain on them however. Finally, with the Locaz and Leviathan in sight, the swarm was within arms reach. Zeldar got on the intercom. “Hit it!” The Arbiters massive gun turrets all came active, most of them were automated controlled by Griever’s display in the cockpit, but several were being operated by the crew. They began launching rounds into the swarm, causing an inward surge to begin in the stream of machines. “Give us a little more Grieve.” Griever began typing on his console and flicking several switched and diodes, giving the ship more boost. As soon as they got to the other ships they all within unison began firing into the group. Zeldar checked his monitors. “We’re not losing them!” Pyx began to roar as he drove the ship faster through the tunnel. Griever looked at his engineering console, where he was controlling the turrets. He looked at the sentinels glowing yellow eyes. “No…I’m not going to let you hurt them.” He pressed a few buttons on the console and ran out of the cockpit. “Grieve!” cried Zeldar as he ran for him, leaving Pyxel alone “Ok baby, looks like it’s just you and me.”
Zeldar followed his subordinate once again to the loading deck, where Grieve was typing on one of the loading screens very quickly. “What are you doing?” “Buying us sometime. I need you to help me though.” He hopped into one of the loading chairs. “Plug me in.” Zeldar looked at him in astonishment. “DO IT!!!” He quickly picked up the long spike. “You sure about this?” “No, do it anyway.” He plugged the spike into Grievers brain. Soon after, Kilobit’s voice came from the intercom down in the gunner’s deck. “Something’s going on, they’re slowing down. Zeldar activated a view screen to see what was going on. The machines weren’t just slowing down, they were fighting each other. He then realized that some of them were showing purple eyes now. “Griever…” Zeldar was amazed, somehow Griever was using the transmission satellites to jack into the machines and control them. He looked down on him. His body was straining. “Oh god.” He got on the intercom. “Ivan, get up to the loading deck.” Ivan was there in a matter of seconds, only to be stunned at we he saw when he got there. “No time to explain, somehow he’s controlling some of the sentinels. “It looks like he’s losing.” Ivan pulled out a medical kit and removed a syringe. “This should help ease the pain for him.” He injected it into his arm plug. Griever’s body relaxed some but the veins in his head continued to twitch. Then, an alarm went off. Zeldar checked his monitor. “Bomb detected! They’re gonna fire!” Beyond Griever’s reach, a small, pupae-like machine was hurtling towards the Arbiter. Pyxel’s voice came on the intercom. “GET THAT **bleep** OUTTA HERE!!!” Just as it reached the arbiter, a purpled eyed Sentinel flew into it. The explosion was massive, punching a whole into the arbiter. “**bleep**, the blast disrupted the main converter. We’re going to lose energy to the hover pads.” Zeldar ran down to what remained of the engineering section. The damage was not as bad as it looked, the main energy converter to the hover pads was in several pieces. He began. He slowly began diverting the flow of power to the auxillary converters. Suddenly, the power started to die out, shutting off the power to the pads. The arbiter slowly began to descend to the ground. In a panic, Zelder began connecting wires to the converters. His mind racing. He connected the final wire and with a kick the engine jump started again. The arbiter picked up speed and sped down the tunnel again. He got to the intercom. “Pyxel, I fixed…” a major discharge of energy from the converter sparked, hitting Zeldar’s back.
“Zeldar…” whispered Grieve, his body still jacked in. Ivan looked at the load out screen as his brainwaves started to spike. The lights began to flicker as Grieve’s body contorted in the chair. “NOOOOOOO!!!!!” The scream was exclaimed when the blue white energy of the hover pads sparked into a purple. The energy trailed to one sentinel, and from there trailed to two more, and two more from each of them and so on until all of the Sentinels were fried. As his consciousness drifted back to his brain. Griever could feel the presence of the Cardinal. “Be seein ya.” He said as his mind slammed back into his head.
“What the hell is going on there?” came Rhyse’s voice from the intercom. “I’ll tell you later. We need a tow.” Aomis’ voice came on. “Docking bay doors open. Come on in.” Pyxel flew the Arbiter behind the Leviathan and slowly entered in to it’s cradled spot. Rhyse, Temsik, Mordaina and Aomis were at the docking bay as they entered. The first thing to come out was Zeldar. Kilobit and Redbird we’re moving him on a gurney. Rhyse was shocked“What the **bleep** happened?” Kilobit responded as he passed. “He caught discharge while fixing the hover pads.” They quickly carted their captain into the infirmary, where Sharred was already waiting. Pyxel walked off the ship, wiping the sweat from his face. “What the hell was going on back there? Some of those Sentinels were fighting each other. And th-that surge that killed them all, what could do that?” Pyxel didn’t say a word, instead he turned to the Arbiter, where Ivan was helping Grieve down the ramp. He had his eyes closed, but there were red streaks coming down his eyes like he was crying blood. As he approached them Mordain walked up to him, but jumped back out of fear for what he saw.
Soon Rhyse was making the one transmission he wished he’d never have to do…
## Begin Transmission...
-This is Rhyse of the Network Imperium...he’s…he’s coming. The Cardinal is coming to kill us, Machines and the Mero. One of my ships has been badly damaged by his attack. Captain Zeldar is in a coma. The rest of us are headed to Zion ASAP. In case we are attacked again, I am sending you a copy of the Imperium Logs, documenting what transpired up until now.-…Sending Log Files For Network Imperium…--Lock, We’ve had our differences but you have to help us…for Zion…-
##End Transmission
The last thing he did before trying to sleep was go to visit Grieve, who kept his eyes closed as if blind. “He’s not going to come back, not after what we did to him.” His voice was calm, he was sitting Indian style. “We? Not you or the Nephillim? Both?” Griever didn’t respond. Rhyse approached him. “can you see me?” his voice changed back to it’s usual tenor “I can see you fine, boss.” Rhyse was aghast when Grieve opened his eyes, which had turned completely purple.
-End of segment 8-
“Zion, last free city the humans have. It is governed by a Counsel and enforced by Zion Command. It’s interesting how the two don’t usually have the same opinions about things. Typically human.”
-Agent Grey’s synopsis of Zion
Segment 9: Sleeping Awake…
##Welcome to Network Imperium Archives...##Enter Username:##********## Enter Password:## *******##Unknown Login Entry...##Accessed Denied##Using Program Neb 1.7## Accessing %.............. Granted.../## Begin Transmission...
##Accessing Personnel Files
Name: Mordain
Birth Name: Josh Steele
Rank: Operator, Founder
Profile: one of the “old school” operatives. He is Rhyse’s partner. He was an expert assassin who was legendary for his Body Count. For reasons unknown he is unable (or unwilling) to enter the Matrix. He has resigned himself as The Faction’s Operator and Head of Information. He is down to the point and takes his job seriously. Many of the faction have made off comments about his inactivity in the Matrix. Before retiring he was known by another name…
Final Segment:
God Of Death
The Hardline was not that far from the Dojo, but Mordain took as much time as he could spare. He climbed up a ladder onto the slanted tiled roof adjacent to the entrance of the Dojo. He Took his sniper rifle out and scanned the outside, five people in black coats similar to the cardinals but less ornate. Their hoods were revealed, Mordain figured them to be bluepills, people seduced by the goal of bringing perfect balance to their World. Though it displeased him to do this, he placed his hand on the trigger. And before he took his shot, he realized that things hadn’t changed at all.
“Why must you persist, Brother?” The Cardinal was circling Grieve, who was ujsing all his strength not to get cut up in the wires. “This world was once perfect, why can’t you see that it is inevitable that we go back to where we started?” Griever remained still, the slightest movement would surely kill him. “Nothing to say?” The Cardinal Mused. At that moment several gunshots were heard coming from outside. An acolyte walked into the room. “Holiness, someone is attacking the compound.” “Some-ONE!?” “Yes sir, he’s moving like nothing we’ve seen before.” The Cardinal turned to Grieve. “Who is he? TELL ME!!!” A slight smirk showed on his face. “My Voice.” He gave a curt laugh. The cardinal turned to the Acolyte. “Lust, get Envy. And Call Sloth, we may need her to bring Sentinels.” “Yes, your holiness.” The Acolyte left the room. “Lust, Envy, Sloth, and there were seven who jumped me.” Grieve’s voice was a whisper in order not to cut his throat. “Sonovabitch…Sins! You created the seven sins!” “Yes, and their about to send your savior to Hell.”
Mordain had cleared the bluepills outside with ease. As he entered the Dojo he encountered several more, each firing at him, but he evaded them using elaborate twists and turns. He has achieved a focused state. He took each of his prey out one shot each, and then twirled and slid in sight of his next target. By the time he was done, ten acolytes had been killed, each with a single bullet. When the final body dropped all that was left was A single cloaked man. “So you must be the cardinal.” He didn’t say a word. “Where is Griever?” The man in the cloak pulled out a knife a flung it at Mord with such speed that it grazed the side of his cheek. “**bleep**ing Knife Throwers” Mord twirled as another knife came and shot his attacker in the face, sending his body to the floor. “So you’re the God of Death.” Mord turned around and saw a figure dressed in a more decorative black leather robe. “My Brother speaks very highly of you.” He began to walk closer to Mord, who drew his gun higher. “So you’re the Cardinal.” “Yes, this poor fellow you shot is Wrath.” He looked down at the Body of his Acolyte. “Wrath, you’re embarrassing me.” To Mord’s amazement The hooded body sat up. “You see Mordain, I can do better than Death.” He waved his hand behind him and in a shimmer of light Griever appeared, trapped in the wires like a fly in a tangled web. Several of the wires connected to the dojo pillars. “And now it’s time to say good bye. Wrath.” The silent Acolyte handed his master a small blade. He looked at grieve, who was helpless. Mord Gripped his gun tighter but found that he couldn’t. “You won’t shoot me.” Mord began straining every muscle in his body. “The Cardinal Lined up the knife to Grieve’s Chest.” “Good Bye Brother.” He pulled the blade back, but as he did he felt a hot searing pain in his knife hand. He dropped the knife, clutching his hand, more in shock than in pain. He looked over to Mordain, who wasted no time and fired at the wire cables supporting the web, releasing Grieve.
He gave a boot to Wrath’s head, this time incapacitating him. The cardinal began to back up. But instead of looking at Grieve he was looking at Mordain. “How’d you shoot me? It’s not possible.” “The beauty of this place is that the rules can be broken.” Grieve replied. “Well I always loved the rule where you die and stay dead.” Saying that, five people in black leather coats appeared. Two of them went after Grieve, forcing him back near Mord. Grieve dodged the multiple punches, finally doing a backflip, catching one of them in the jaw. He landed next to Mord. Joined by Wrath, the six of them surrounded the two comrades. “Mord?” “Yeah?” “Thanks for coming.” “Don’t Mention it.” The Cardinal looked past his Acolytes to the two captives. “Kill Nephillim, Leave Mordain unharmed.” The Mob prepared to attack when something unexpected happened.
The Roof Began to glow green as the Matrix Code Became unstable. In a matter of Minutes the entire roof had dissolved, and coming down was a large Helicopter fire down at the Men In Black. “You didn’t think we’d let you guys have all the fun now did you?” Came Pyxel’s Voice. Him, Rhyse, Zemaj, Etheno and Ziguarath came down. The Mob separated and an ongoing battle ensued. Tem landed the helicopter on the ground of the Dojo, trying to aim for The Cardinal. They all grouped together, keeping their adversaries at bay. Pyx handed Grieve a gun. “Thanks but no thanks.” “Suit yourself. Seav says hello, he’d tell you but who’d pilot the ship?” The two Groups formed in line, facing each other, ready to charge. “This is going to end now!” Exclaimed the Cardinal. The Two groups charged at each other as if they were in a battlefield thousands of years ago. The Dojo was big but to the combatants it felt like it would go on forever before they would meet their opponents. They finally cauht sight of each other and just as they were ready to lay the first blow.
“MEOW”
The entire group froze as they looked at the black cat standing in the middle of the room. “**bleep** me.” Gasped Rhyse. The Cat looked at both of them, stood up, shook itself off and walked away. Then in a flicker of code the Cat was back in the exact same place, it stood up, shook itself off and ran away. The roof immediately rematerialized and the helicopter vanished. And the room was now filled with Agents. “You have Disrupted the Truce.” They all said together. Without a word both the Imperium and The Cardinals men charged after the Agents. All except Griever and The Cardinal who went right for each other. The Two exchanged blows. After all the techniques, powers, and strategies the two of them broke down into a fist fight. After several exchanges Grieves face was looking raw, what The Cardinal looked like under the robe was anyones guess. The Cardinal hit him with a massive bunch to the kidneys, sending him to his knees. As he lay there he saw the knife that The Cardinal Dropped when Mordain shot him. The Cardinal was ready to land another blow when Griever caught his hand and squeezed on the bullet wound. He used The Cardinals Arm to do a cartwheel towards the knife, and in one motion from the cartwheel to the knife he threw caught the Cardinal in the chest.
Energy began to crackle around The Cardinal as the knife’s kill code began to take effect. “No…” His voice was modulated and echoed. “I will not…die here…” He looked around the room, and saw what he was looking for. In an act of desperation he launched himself towards Mordain, who was taking on several Agents at the same time. He Grasped onto him like a vice. The Energy crackling around him began to affect Mordain. The Faction and the Agents stopped to see what was going on. The Area around Mordain and The Cardinal was shielded in unstable energy. In less than a minute the Cardinal’s body vanished, leaving nothing but empty robes. The Energy subsided. Mordain dropped to his knees, his eyes closed shut. “Mord?” Rhyse approached his partner cautiously. “I’m alrite Rhyse.” He stood up and opened his eyes. Which were now deep Orange. Grieve was in shock. “No…” Mordain looked at him. “Hello Brother…” “NO!!!!!” Mordain began to laugh as the roof, despite being firmly coded by the Agents, flew apart. He grabbed The Cardinals old robe, wrapped it around himself. “Begone my children.” With that, his acolytes vanished. “Sloth, prepare to retrieve my body.” Everyone in the room was aghast with what they were seeing. “Soon, all of you abhorrent beings will be no more.” Oblivious, Grieve ran towards him, his hand stretched out. “And We will bring about…a perfect world.” And with that, He vanished, just as Grieve made it to him.
No sooner had he disappeared did Rhyse’s cell phone ring. It was Seavyan, and from the sound of it seemed he had had a wild time too. “A group of Sentinels came in here, they cut open my…MY ship…and they pulled out Mordain’s body. They took him.” Rhyse hung up the phone and looked at the Agents stll left in the room. “This is something we had not expected. We need to analyze the info we have gathered.” “you do that.” He replied. They walked away, but not before looking at Grieve. “We will be in touch.” As soon as they left. Grieve fell to the ground, and in the first time in a while, began to violently weep…
-End of Episode 1-
##Unknown messenger
## Enter Password:## *******##Unknown User## Accessing %.............. Granted.../## Begin Transmission
-I know it’s been hard on you kid, I know that it seems like the chips are down, but you need to be strong for what’s to come. You’ve stumbled on a war that would have given Neo a run for his money. You are up against the Seven Sins, and their Master, your Friend Mordain. His mind is being held captive by the Cardinal Program and you’re the only one who can stop it. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. Because Remember What I told you Grieve, Sometimes the end is only just the beginning…
COMING SOONEPISODE 2: SINS OF THE ONE
