K cut the cliches...I've just changed a few things in the story to make it fit with the rest:

Part 2: Rise before the fall

 

A few hours ago Oranos had been woken up abruptly. Agent Gray had called a meeting, and asked for a volunteer for an investigation mission. With little hesitation Oranos volunteered. He was now waking up for the second time in the day. The dark and dank rooms of the hoverbarges were not very comfortable to live or sleep in but they were home nonetheless. The gruel they were forced to eat was unpleasant but satisfied their hunger. There was a time when this was different, but it’s now just portrayed through the virtual world of the Matrix.

   Oranos is captain of The Chaotic Order. A crew within the faction called the Guardians. Their full name is The Guardians Of the 7th Gate, but they are usually referred to as the Guardians or “g7g”. Oranos, being a rank 1 captain has been given a lot of responsibility throughout his time as a machinist, and Guardian, but most feel this was deserved as he helped create what is considered to be the strongest machinist force. Nevertheless, Oranos was showing signs of aging, despite being at such a young age. Heavy bags were under his eyes, and there were small signs of premature wrinkling on his face. On many occasions Oranos had been called “hot-headed”, a pun to do with his moods, and also his bright red hair. Oranos was average height, and in fairly decent shape. Despite the stress showing up physically, Oranos never seemed to be losing it. Although he had a tendency of getting angry, or even hysteric at times, this was natural for Oranos, even before he was made a leader, yet he still maintained a sense of humor, often being sarcastic.

  He quickly got himself up, and dressed. And went down to where the main computers were. He was expecting files from the machines containing his mission briefing. Sure enough there it was. He began to browse through the file, learning what was going to be in this mission. Agent Gray mentioned strange deaths located in Uriah and SobraShores. The file mentioned a little about what was known about these deaths.

 

“In each death the blue pill was found in a state of decay. Not decaying flesh, but rather decaying code. It appeared as though their Residual Self Image had been destabilizing. On areas of their body that had not yet experienced this, there were odd wounds; the most prominent being on the neck. The areas they were found in seem particularly filthy but currently, we are not sure if this means anything.”

 

   Oranos found there circumstances for death very disturbing. The ability to destroy someone’s Residual Self Image could be very dangerous to both blue pills, and red pills. Although unsure how he would be able to find anything, that the machines missed, he decided he would give the locations a thorough inspection. For now however, he would continue to look through the file, and see if he could think of any theories on the matter.

   Meanwhile, in the dining room, Sius and Kratos were eating whilst discussing some new programs, and constructs. “I call it The Woman without the Red Dress” said Kratos half laughing. “She’s not much for conversation but ah well.”

  Sius laughed and replied “You have too much time on your hands. If you spent as much time training as you did making useless programs you could beat Seraph!”

  “You really think so?!” Kratos stammered, shocked.

  “No of course not. I’m being sarcastic, but you’d at least be able to stand up to those Lupines”. Sius started laughing.

  “Sius, sius, you forgot about last week when I saved your **bleep** from that Zionist”. Kratos shook his head in a shameful manner.

   “Heh, I could have taken him. I’m surprised he managed to hit air with those knives.”

   “Maybe so, but could you have finished him off before his 10 friends arrive?”

   Sius, could not be bothered to press the argument on even though it was not serious. “I’m going to go check see if there have been any broadcasts on the computers. I’ll see you later!”

    “Ah, bye”. Kratos looked slightly disappointed, but soon went back to eating his gruel. The hoverbarge was pretty quiet that day. Most of the Guardians either off in the Matrix, or in there separate hovercrafts outside of the hoverbarge.

    As he was walking down the corridor to the computer rooms, Sius overheard a heated conversation, obviously coming from his current destination. He recognized the 2 voices as Oranos, and his younger brother Sonaro. The voices sounded similar, but Oranos’ commanding tone of voice, gained from leading such a huge group, was very distinct. The 2 brothers were obviously arguing about something, so Sius decided to listen in to see whether it was something he should walk in on or not.

    “I don’t care! You’re not supposed to be here! Now go away!” Oranos commanded, sounding extremely annoyed. More so, than Sius was used to, although it was a known fact that Oranos found his brother annoying. Sonaro was rarely seen on the hoverbarge. It was an in-faction joke that Oranos’ locked them in his hovercraft out of embarrassment, but nobody really believed he would be that cruel. He just insisted that they were often wandering around the Matrix, or sleeping.

    “I’m here because you need me!” an equally annoyed Sonaro replied.

    “I’m too busy for you now, and I don’t need your help! As I said you’re not supposed to be here!”

   Sius walked closer to the room, and noticed the door was slightly open. He could see Oranos gesturing angrily while he spoke, but the door was blocking Sonaro out of view. At first Sius wondered what they were arguing about but then realized it must be because Sonaro was out on the hoverbarge hindering Oranos instead of doing work within the Matrix. Not wanting to intrude he turned around and left the corridor.

   “Fine! I’ll leave, oh great leader!” sneered Sonaro.

   Oranos shut the door behind him, and went back to browsing the file. After giving it one last look he decided he would go and make a start. He got up, and went to the jack-in room. Not surprised to see many of his faction mates already jacked in. Since the truce was made, and hoverbarges were created, jacking in had become a much more simple procedure. Not only could this be done from hovercrafts, but hoverbarges too, and although it was encouraged to have an Operator watching the Matrix during periods jacked in, it was not necessary and it was now even possible for it to be done on your own. Oranos found an empty seat, and sat down. He felt the cold metal port at the back of his head and shuddered. Despite being a red pill for so long, he had never gotten used to this. The idea of having something in his head disturbed him. Without trying to think about he grabbed the jack, and inserted it into head, closing his eyes. He felt a sharp spark of pain, and when he reopened his eyes he was standing in currently different surroundings.

Part 3 – Decay

 

Oranos opened his eyes to find himself on a roof under a sunlit sky. Looking around to make sure he had not been seen, he checked his PDA for his location. “**bleep**” he thought. “Mara!” Although nowhere in the Matrix was truly safe, compared to these Mara was a war zone. Not for any particular reason, or at least one no side can remember, Mara was constantly being fought over for possession. Luckily he was not at the central hardline, though he was pretty close; just northeast to it, at a hardline next to a small shop. Deciding it better to move out of the area, he chose to go to Uriah, which luckily was next to Mara.

   He turned away from the hardline, when without warning he felt a sharp pain to the side of his face, knocking him to the ground. He looked up to see the redpill who had just punched him in the face, though not recognizing him, but it was obvious his intentions were not the same. “Oranos, isn’t it? The higher-ups in Zion have been looking to arrest you for some time. Your constant violations of the truce have given us cause for conce..” His words were stopped as he was knocked to his feet by Oranos, who still lying on the ground who managed to sidesweep him.

   “Cause for concern? I hear the stories of Zion catching machine operatives on their own in alleyways, beating them up three on one. You all make me sick” Oranos sneered, wiping the blood from his mouth. He began to withdraw his handgun, as the Zionist began to get up. He pointed his gun at the Zionist who quickly kicked the gun out of Oranos’ hand, disarming him. It was going to be a hand-to-hand fight. Oranos, though well trained in 3 martial arts preferred Karate, and quickly got into the correct stance. It appeared however his opponent preferred the use of Aikido. Oranos struck the first blow but it was blocked. The Zionist tried to return the blow but Oranos did the same. The fight began as they danced back and forth, exchanging blows, each one of them being blocked. Oranos was the first to slip up, and his opponent grabbed his arm and tossed him to the floor. He quickly got back up, and kicked his opponent to the stomach. The Zionist reached into his pocket for his gun and pulled it out, but Oranos thinking fast grabbed him by the wrist and threw him to the ground. As his back hit the hard concrete he coughed up blood, the shattering sound very distinct. Oranos spotted his handgun on the ground. He reached down for it and picked it up. He pointed it at the Zion, lying on the ground broken, and bleeding. With a look of malice on his face, he spat at the Zion and said “I would have asked your name, but you’re all the same to me”. The next sound was a gunshot. By the time the other Zionists came running, as well as bluepills who heard the shot, there was only a bloody body. Oranos was gone.

    Above the scene of death, on a nearby roof, Oranos sat watching them. He was smiling. “Why do they look so sad?” he thought to himself. He could understand the bluepills being shocked and sad, but not the other Zionists. They, just like him know that their friend is not really dead, and that when they go back to their hovercraft he will be waiting for them. “Perhaps they just don’t like losing” a voice answered in Oranos head. To Oranos the Matrix is just a game. Death is a nuisance, but “it’s not the end of the world”. He knows the auto-jackout will save him and any other redpill who suffers a death in the Matrix, except for Morpheus of course. Oranos had experienced death in the Matrix before. He had been shot, knifed, beaten into a bloody mess, and his RSI hacked.

     On at least one occasion he even killed himself. He and a few other members of the Guardians were carrying out a mission. Some Zionists attempted to stop them and find out what they were doing. Oranos got caught, but the rest of the Guardians escaped. They threatened to torture him, and kill him if he did not tell them. Oranos laughed and broke free from their grasp. Grabbed the nearest Zionist’s gun, and pointed it at his own face. He told them to give Zion his regards before pulling the trigger, and disappearing from their grasp. Some call him insane, but others just say he has a better understanding of the Matrix.

   As, he sat there staring at the Zionists with loathing and disgust he remembered why he was in the Matrix. With one last look at them, he set off into the sky towards Uriah. He had uploaded the mission information to his PDA, and was now heading for the location of the first murder. Oranos arrived at a dank looking building, used for storing large boxes, most likely to go on boats. He lock picked the door, and stepped in cautiously. He walked down a corridor and into a large room where everything was stored. At this point he was overwhelmed with a strong, disgusting smell. It was a mix of rotting, and something Oranos could not quite work out. He immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out a black bandana, wrapping it around his face. Their in the corner he spotted a leg peering out from behind a box. Although the corpse was clearly just that; a corpse, Oranos reached for his handgun and pulled it out, and kept it at the ready as he stepped closer to the body.

    There lay a mutilated body of a worker, bites and marks all over his body, and just as he was shown, the RSI’s code seemed to be decaying in some places. As Oranos’ eyes followed down one of the arms of the body he saw that the code was becoming increasingly visible until it reached the corpse’s wrist where no hand was visible, but a mess of green code on the floor. Holding the bandana against his nose tightly, Oranos knelt down to get a closer look. The marks, and wounds on his body were obviously bites, but what could have caused the code decay? After deciding he could do no more in this area, he decided to head off to Sobra to investigate the other body.

    Oranos reached the area with little difficulty, and faced no trouble on the way, unlike his previous trip to Uriah. When he reached the location he saw that the building was a broken down and desolate apartment building, no different from the rest in the area. Though the area looked fairly safe, except for the obvious dangers of walking into a building that looked like it was ready to fall apart, Oranos knew from experience that Exiles used these buildings as hideouts. In fact, it would not surprise him if there turned out to be an Exile in every building. His mission information told him that the body would be found on floor 4. He entered the building cautiously, taking the stairs rather than the elevator. When he reached the 4th floor and entered it, he was overwhelmed with that horrid smell again. He once again put his bandana on, and began to search the area. There had obviously been a lot more violence this time around. Blood could be seen across the walls, some of the blood patches in the shape of handprints. He entered a nearby room, in which the door appeared to have been kicked down, and there he saw another dead body. The victim was an old tramp, Oranos gathered from his appearance. The man must have been using the building as a home. He had obviously died in the same way; the bite marks, the decaying code, the smell.

     He was examining a particularly nasty wound on the neck of the victim when he heard a spluttering cough coming from another room. Startled, but retaining a calm voice “Hello?” Oranos said. He got no reply. “Who’s there?” He once again requested but to no avail. He pulled out his gun and stood up, ready for whatever was lurking. As the coughing continued, Oranos followed the sound into another room. At the end of this dark room, Oranos could see a figure. It was obviously a man, and he sounded very ill. He coughed again, and Oranos heard something splatter against the floor. “What’s wrong?” Oranos asked, once again trying to communicate with the man. Oranos edged closer, very cautiously, trying to get a look of the man, when suddenly came an inhuman roar, and the being charged at Oranos knocking him over, his head hitting a wall.

Part 4 – Loyal Disciple

 

Oranos looked up. His vision blurry after his head slamming into a wall. From what he could see of the man who just speared him to the floor, he was pale, extremely pale, with scruffy black hair, dressed in rags. Without warning the man, creature, whatever the thing was let out another inhuman roar, and bit Oranos neck. The shock from this brought Oranos back into reality, his eyes focused; He threw the creature off of him, so that it landed across the other side of the room with a loud crash.

           Oranos stood up. Now realizing that his attacker was a vampire exile, he pulled out a wooden stake. The force of Oranos’ throw caused the floor the vampire landed on to collapse. Oranos edged closer to it, stake in hand. He looked down, but could not move out of the way quick enough as the pale being jumped through the hole delivering an uppercut to Oranos’ face. As Oranos was getting back up, the vampire started to cough and splutter again. It was quite obvious to Oranos there was something wrong with this vampire, as it was behaving as though it was ill. He looked down at the floor, to see that the vampire had coughed up…

           “Flies?!” Oranos said shocked. What could this mean? Oranos did not know but in order to find out he would have to end this fight. While the vampire was still coughing and spluttering flies violently, Oranos run towards him stake in hand, shoving it into his chest, and through his heart. The creature fell to the floor, dead. Many thoughts were running through Oranos’ head. Why was a vampire coughing flies? Had it been the one to cause the victim’s codes to decay? As that thought ran through his mind, he was overwhelmed with worry. His hand moved onto his neck, and he felt the wound the vampire had left there. If the vampire had caused the code decay, would he be next? He put his hands in front of his face, but they looked normal. He breathed a sigh of relief, and decided to put any worries out of his head as he seemed to be suffering no effects. He focused back onto the mission. He had solved who had been killing the blue pills, but he could not help think there was more to this. He had never seen a vampire cough flies out before, and that inhuman noise the vampire was obviously a noise of pain. He looked down to the vampire for clues. Oranos found what he needed when his vision landed on the neck of the vampire. He was wearing a chain, which had the mark of the Disciples, a gang of vampires who reside in Mannsen. Oranos decided he would need to go to Mannsen, and discover what had caused this vampire to behave in such a way.

           Now Oranos knew where to go next, his thoughts drifted back onto himself. He was hurt more than he thought. His face was bleeding from the uppercut he had been given, and his neck wound still hurt. He also felt like he had broken ribs, from his first spear, not to mention the nasty head wound he received from the wall. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small red and white pill. He swallowed it and breathed another sigh of relief. The flow of blood stopped, and he seemed to move with ease a little more. Now that he was once again aware of his surroundings, he also noticed that terrible smell of decay again. Not wanting to be in this building any longer, he left swiftly, his Direwolf swinging behind him. When he got outside he realized it was already night-time. “Perfect time to go to Mannsen” he muttered to himself sarcastically. He looked around to see if anyone was watching, and when he realized he was alone, he jumped into the air, setting off for his next destination.

Part 5: The Impending

 

It had only been five minutes since Oranos had been in his latest fight, and was now making his way towards Mannsen. He was jumping over Stamos when he saw some action on the ground. Though he had a mission to do, he had to go and help. It was Kursion and Cognoscente, surrounded by redpills. He landed on a building above the fight, and using his concentration, quickly coded up a sniper rifle. He walked to the edge of the building and took his aim. He could clearly see, six redpills, beating Kursion and Cognoscente into the ground. He aimed at the head of the first, and pulled the trigger. One down. The next attacker took a bullet to the back of the neck. Two down. He shot a final bullet into the face of a redpill who pulled a gun out on his two friends. Oranos threw his sniper rifle to the side, and dived off the building towards the action. As he fell through the sky towards the fight, he stuck out his leg ready to kick. His foot connected with one of the fighter’s heads. Oranos’ foot charged the enemy’s face into the concrete, smashing the floor. This left two of them. Cognoscente and Kursion were back on their feet, no longer outnumbered. Kursion delivered a flurry of kicks to the body of one of the red pills, and then with one final kick, sent him into a wall nearby. Cognoscente threw his opponent backwards, pulled out his SMGs, and sent several bullets into the body of his enemy.

 

    The three of them stood there for a moment, before coming back to reality. During fights, everything seemed to slow down, and for Oranos at least, it seemed to take a few moments to realize where he was again. “Oranos thanks. We were lucky you were in the area.” Kursion said, holding out his hand to shake.

    “It was no problem. What were they? Zions? Mervs?” Oranos replied, shaking his hand.

    “They were Zionists. Listen man, we can’t stay long. Before trying to kill us, these fools let it slip that they got g7g surrounded in a building. We were having a meeting, with some of the other machine factions; to discuss some stuff…well I’ll explain later. Anyway they left, but we remained behind, to discuss some other things. I, and Kursion left early to help Lesona, who was on the run from these guys. By the time we got there they had already killed her. Thank god for the auto-jackout.” Cognoscente explained, though out of breath.

    “**bleep**. You guys better run. I can’t help because I’m carrying that mission out for Gray. You’ll all be ok though…like you said, thank god for the auto-jackout. Give ‘em hell!” said Oranos. They looked at him a little angry, for not coming to help, but nodded, and ran towards the hardline near them.

    

Oranos watched as they disappeared through the hardline in a flash of green light. As he turned away from the hardline, his eyes averted back to it. There were three more flashes of green light, as three of the previous six Zionists appeared out of the hardline. The three Oranos killed with the sniper rifle. He was not expecting this, and before he could move they had their guns pointed at him. “You’re the one Gray sent on the mission!” one of them exclaimed.

    This comment startled Oranos as he replied “What?!” How could they know about his secret assignment?

    “I spied on your meeting. We assumed your friends meeting tonight was something to do with this. We have been tracking down any Guardians, we can find for your whereabouts. Now tell us…what is it you have discovered on your mission?” the same Zionist asked.

    Oranos started laughing. He had nothing to lose. This is the Matrix; He will not die. “What will you do if I don’t tell you? Shoot me?! This place isn’t real. I won’t die. I can’t wait till the machines get tired of Zion. The sentinels will mutilate you all.” said Oranos, and he spat at them as he did so.

    The middle Zionist charged at him, spearing him into a wall shouting “You stupid piece of **bleep**! Those **bleep** squiddies killed my friends!” Oranos threw a right hook at him, but he blocked it, and slammed his hand into the wall.

    

Something was not right. Oranos felt no pain as his hand smashed into the wall. He felt nothing, but there was a sound. The same sound made when someone appears out of a hardline. The same crackling, and fizzling sound. As he looked at the Zionists they were all in awe, looking down at his side. Oranos slowly looked down at his hand, but there was no hand. Along the wall and on the floor, pieces of visible code were seen. It took him less than a second to realize what had happened. The part of his RSI making up his hand had shattered. He was now wearing a look of horror and revulsion. He pushed the Zionist off him, and moved to the side, backing away from them slowly, before falling over his own feet. This had never happened before, and for the first time in so long, Oranos was afraid of death within the Matrix. He looked up at the Zionists. Their surprised faces had disappeared, replaced with sneering smiles, and a look of triumph. “Hmmm well that’s different isn’t it?” said the Zionist who attacked him, smirking. “You don’t seem as **bleep**y now. I wonder…how many more limbs can I smash apart before you tell me what you found out on your mission?”

    “If you don’t tell us, I’ll shatter your leg, and make you hop around on one foot.” Snickered one of the other Zionists.

    Oranos was scared, but still was not prepared to tell them anything. Despite being scared he was still stubborn. “Okay, okay. I’ll make a deal with you guys. If you don’t hurt me, I’ll tell you…I’ll tell you how to play hide and go **bleep** yourselves.” Oranos started laughing, but it was not a **bleep**y laugh. It was maniacal.

    “Very well then.” Said the middle Zionist in a voice of mock regret. All three of them slowly advanced towards him.

Part 7 – Crimson Liquor

 

My name is Joe. I’m an accountant, and I have a wife and a child. I live an everyday life, which some would call boring, but I enjoy my life. One time I was approached by a group of youths, must have been no older than 20. They wore trench coats, and sunglasses and were obviously part of this redpill cult I’ve heard so much about. Odd bunch of people these redpills. They behave as though they know more than the rest of us. They speak as though this life is nothing but a dream. Sometimes they even speak of killing people…multiple times. I know that sounds odd but they say it as though they believe it. I don’t know what they are taking, but I know I never want any. Anyway, these redpill guys said to me “Haven’t you ever thought there was more to life?”

   I replied with a rather pompous tone “No, not really. Now if you don’t mind I’ll be getting to work.” I turned and started to walk away from them.

   The one who spoke to me snorted and said “Pfft. Bluepills.”

   “I assure you, unlike yourselves, I am not taking any pills. Good day to you!” I continued to walk away, but I am sure I heard them mumble something about “Agents” and “Zion”, though I have no idea what they have to do with the law, or that they were religious. They are not the only strange things in MegaCity of course. The local street gangs are very strange. I live in Stamos, but the gangs in Mannsen are extremely strange. Gothic types; make me cringe, but I guess aslong as their not pushing their lifestyle on anyone else.

 

   It’s a Friday, and as I’ve finished work I decided to go for a drink at a bar. This bar seems quite a strange place. I must already be a little drunk, because I can’t quite remember coming here, and I feel quite light headed. But as I was saying, strange place this bar. It’s dark here. Not dark as in no light at all, just very dim. The walls have strange red patterns on the wall, though it seemed kind of a mess to me. Guess I’m just not with the times. The people in the bar also seem kind of odd. Very pale, and their clothes were tattered. Some of those Mannsen gang types I’d seen before. I’m guessing they are the only ones here because they scared everyone away though. I’m not moving though. I have as much right to be here as anyone. That’s strange. The bartender is also one of these pail faced youths. Well, even they have to have jobs I guess. He was pouring a girl at the bar a deep red drink. I’ve never seen it before, but saying that I can’t even remember what I’ve drank today. How drunk am I? Heh, ah well. It is a Friday after all.

 

   If things weren’t strange enough another man walked in. He was wearing a long trench with a hood that covered his face. He only had one hand. I felt sorry for the guy. On his only hand he was wearing a glove.. None of his body was remotely visible, almost as though he was scared of the sunlight, or being seen. He walked in slowly, and sat at the bar. When the barman got to him, he didn’t speak or look up; he simply pointed at a drink, quite randomly in my opinion. While the barman went to make the drink, he didn’t move. He just sat there. Though, I’m sure every now and then he shuffled closer to a group in the corner to hear what they were saying. “I don’t know either!” one of the youths said, halfway through an obviously heated conversation. The hooded figure leaned in closer, without being noticed by the others.

   “We need to know what’s making our brethren ill” replied another youth, the leader, I gathered from the way everyone was looking at him, and agreeing with him. “Is there not anything you noticed?”

 

   The barman put another deep red drink down next to the hooded figure. He lifted it up to his hood, and it seemed like he took a sip. However when he put his drink back down it looked to me as though he had drank none. He was obviously more interested in that conversation, “Look, like I said, he went to the church, and later when he came back he started to seem ill. He vomited some pretty nasty stuff up. He knocked me out, then I don’t know where he went. But in-between leaving me and going to the church and back he could have been stopped anywhere along the way.” Explained a particularly pale youth, which was sporting a black eye. The hooded figure shuffled uncomfortably.

   “Hmm, the others also said the ill disciples had been to the church first. For now I think everyone should stay away from there.” Said the leader, and the others murmured in agreement.

 

    The hooded figure rises out of his seat, and turns to walk out of the bar. His glass full of crimson liquid still full. He starts to walk but then stops and faces me. For the first time his face is visible. It is hard to see his features in the dim light, but he has red hair, and looks like someone who is young but has aged in a short space of time. He looks at me as though he felt sorry for me, shaking his head. I assume this is because I am drunk. Without saying a word the man leaves. One of the youths look at me. He starts to walk towards me. My neck starts to tingle. It hurts. I look down, but all I see is crimson…

Part 8 – Say Your Prayers

 

That poor man...He’s probably dead by now. Couldn’t be helped though; I have a mission to complete, and I’m not really in any condition to fight anyway.Oranos walked up to the run-down church, still cloaked after infiltrating the Disciples moments ago. The Church of the Disciples was an eerie place even when there wasn’t a looming threat around.Oranos could remember this place from when he had tried to infiltrate Invalesco’s inner circle. The door creaked as he opened it. He walked inside, examining the cobweb filled ceiling, and walls with faint, dry blood stains. He was looking for something, but he didn’t know what it was, though he would be certain he had found it if he saw it.

   

Then it caught his eye. Dead flies surrounding the pedestal containing Holy Water, if anything in this wretched place could be holy that is. He walked up to it and began to check around the base of the pedestal. To his surprise, the pedestal moved when he leaned on it, revealing a slight hole in the floor. He started to push the pedestal, showing the hole in the floor in its entirety. How long had the passage been here? Oranos wondered to himself.

 

He heard a noise. Someone was coming! He looked around to see several Disciples entering the church, and looking at him angrily. They obviously had no good intentions whatsoever. Oranos reached into his trench and pulled out his handgun. He had nowhere to run, and he didn’t intend on jumping into that hole just yet. He began to shoot them. One fell. Two fell…But for every one that fell, more would appear from the door. He continued to lay bullets into them, and the bodies continued to fall. His last bullet hit a Disciple directly in the forehead. As it hit the ground several more appeared in its place. Oranos had no chance. He would not go without a fight though. He threw his cloak at the oncoming Disciples, and in the confusion followed through with a kick, sending the closest one flying. He continued to punch with his only arm, and kick, sending every Disciple flying. Then he felt a knee to the stomach. He fell to his knees. The last thing Oranos feels before falling unconscious is a boot hitting him forcibly in the jaw. The last thing Oranos hears before falling unconscious is a cracking, fizzing sound. The last thing Oranos sees before falling unconscious is a mix of green code and blood…

 

Part 10 – Showdown

 

The first bullet missed and hit the floor. Oranos dived to the side and let out his own stream of bullets. The Assassin displayed extreme speed and dodged almost every bullet. When it was impossible to dodge a bullet his body would curl, and change shape so that the bullet would phase right through him. Oranos ran forward, dodging a flurry of bullets and punched the Assassin in the stomach, if it had such a thing. The gun flew out of his hands, and hit the floor behind him. Oranos landed a hook using his only fist on the Assassin’s mask covered face. The mask didn’t even crack.

 

They began exchanging blows. Oranos could block the Assassin’s flurries, though due to his current disability he could not fight back while blocking. He took a roll backwards, and then jumped up. He then lunged at the Assassin, foot first to deliver a flying kick. The Assassin’s body contorted and twisted, wrapping around Oranos foot like a snake. His foot was trapped. The Assassin began to walk forward through his foot and up his leg, while it pierced his chest. It landed a right hook right to where Oranos’ jaw should have been. Oranos flew backwards several feet. The bandana had fallen off, and there was green code and blood dripping all over him. He needed a new plan.

 

Oranos stood up, and began to make some distance between him and the Assassin. He was running out of ideas, but he still had a trick or two up his sleeve. He began to hack the code around the Assassin. He was attempting a difficult but effective hacking program called a Logic Cannon. If successful he would have damaged the Assassin, and hopefully stalled him enough to deliver a gunshot or two. As he continued to hack the Assassin approached. It wasn’t running. It was walking towards him, slowly, as though the outcome of the fight was already decided and he was in no danger. He executed the Logic Cannon, but it simply deflected off the Assassin. It broke into a run and charged at him. The charge was so fast, and unexpected that Oranos had no time to dodge. He got knocked several more feet backwards.

 

Oranos had no chance. It had taken dozens of redpills in order to take down the Assassin, and he managed to survive even that. How was one redpill supposed to take him down? A voice began to speak inside of Oranos’ head. You’re weak! If only they could see the other Guardians could see their leader. You need me! If he could, he would have screamed. He stood up and lunged at the Assassin, in an insane fury. This caught the Assassin unawares clearly, as he had no time to counter the attack. Oranos delivered fists to the stomach of the Assassin, as fast as a machine gun, even though he was only able to use one hand, followed by a flurry of kicks at an even faster speed. To finish the attack he delivered a kick to the Assassin’s face sending him across to the other side of the room where the fight had started.

 

The bout of anger had cleared Oranos’ head. He realized what he was doing wrong. When I attacked him just, I had lost any sense of survival. I concentrated only on attack and it worked. It looks like I’m dying anyway. Hopefully the auto-jackout procedure works even with this…illness. I’m going to take him out, even if it means I go with him! Oranos pulled his handgun back out, and began to walk towards the Assassin. He broke into a run as the Assassin got up. Hopefully I’ll live long enough to make sure this story gets told. I’d hate to disappear completely. He began to fire bullets as he ran towards the Assassin. It had landed right next to its own handgun and was now pointing it at Oranos. Back to where we started. How ironic. The Assassin shot once at Oranos, and he dived to the left. He wasn’t quick enough this time though, as the bullet pierced his leg. This didn’t stop him though. As he landed the dive turned into a roll, And Oranos lunged at the Assassin again. He landed right next to it. His gun pointed straight for the side of the Assassin’s head, unprotected by the mask. As he pulled the trigger he felt a pain in his stomach. The Assassin had his gun pressed into Oranos’ stomach. The guns both fired at the same time.

 

The Assassin exploded into a swarm of flies. Each of them slowly died, because of his weakened condition. The Assassin might have survived at full strength, but he was too weak to take a shot like that. The mask fell to the floor, shattering.

 

Oranos stumbled backwards. Clutching his stomach with his remaining hand. The gun had already fallen to the floor. His hand was now covered in blood, and code. He fell to his knees. I needed nothing. This was Oranos’ last thought. He had left consciousness before his face hit the floor. His knees began to give way, and he fell forward. As his head hit the ground it shattered. His whole body then erupted into green code, as his dead body became nothing more than random code.

Part 11 – Aftermath

 

“What the hell is up with him?!” Aggie demanded as he burst into the medical room. Inside the room was Cognoscente, Bayamos, Reaper, and lying unconscious on the medical bed was Oranos. An hour ago the auto-jackout procedure executed on Oranos, but he would not wake up after. He began to bleed out of his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Since then the bleeding had stopped but he had not woke up yet.

   “He’s in a coma. We don’t know why. I can assume one of two things took place. Either something happened during his mission, or something went wrong with his auto-jackout.” Replied a worried looking Cognoscente. He was the first to find Oranos in that state and got him to the medical area. “I guess it’s a good thing we lost that fight with Zion. If we had been stuck in the Matrix while this happened he might have died. He seems stable at the moment. We really should inform the rest of the faction. What do you think?” He turned to Bayamos.

   “Yeah, they should know. I’ll go and call everyone.” Bayamos hurried out of the room.

   “I’ll stay here for now, and keep an eye on him.” Said Reaper. “If anything is up, I’ll come and tell you guys.”

 

An hour later, they were all gathered in one of the biggest rooms of the hoverbarge. It was crowded because there were so many Guardians here, although some were off on other errands and couldn’t be there. Aggie, Cognoscente and Bayamos were standing in the middle of the crowd. Aggie was the first to speak. “Okay, you’ve been called here because Oranos is in serious danger. Somehow, either through his mission, or a malfunction in the auto-jackout procedure, he was injured, and he’s now in a coma.” There were gasps throughout the crowd. A moment later there were silent whispers. Aggie continued over these. “We’ve stabilized him and he’s in a better condition than before, but we still don’t know what caused it, and if he’s going to recover anytime soon. It is important that I ask you to all check if the auto-jackout procedure is working before going into the Matrix. Until we know what has happened, we must be extra careful. This meeting is adjourned.” The crowd of Guardians left, still whispering to each other, but more animatedly than before. A moment later Aggie turned to Bayamos. “Has Sonaro been informed? I didn’t see him in the crowd.”

   “I couldn’t find him. I searched all over for him but it’s like he isn’t on the hoverbarge. I checked Oranos hovercraft too” Bayamos answered.

   “This isn’t good. We’ll need to find him and inform him.” Aggie sighed. “It really hasn’t been a good day. First we lose to the cave monkeys, and now this.

   “Don’t worry. He’s a fighter! Always has been” stated Cognoscente.

 

You gotta wake up soon buddy. The voice was Reapers. The faction won’t be the same without you! His voice sounded faint. “Ignore that. He’s irrelevant. We need to talk.” Hold in there. Reapers voice faded, and then disappeared, leaving Oranos with himself, and his demons.