Hypercube Monument, Mara Central

SkyQueene stood atop the monument, staring down at the redpills fighting in front of the church. The icy wind blew through her hair, sending it out around her in a tangled mess as the snow collected within it. If it weren’t for her mind knowing that it wasn’t real, she probably would have succumbed to frostbite by this point.

The thought of reality versus simulation forced her mind to wander back to the days of her bluepill life. The photoshoots, her relationship with Brian Gauss and how she didn’t have the faith to stick with it even through the hard times. She thought of how she cheated on him with Escroc, a redpill working for the Merovingian whom had a fetish for bluepills, though she was blissfully unaware of that at the time. From there her mind went back to Brian’s fateful encounter at his job and how he became entangled in a mess that he never should have been involved in. It was a mess that eventually resulted in his death at the hands of the Algorithm and her awakening by two E Pluribus Neo operatives, Foxxdie and Archangel.

The Algorithm. She unconsciously tightened her fists at the mere thought of the exile that had forever changed the course of her life. One way or another, your time will come to an end.

Her daydreaming was interrupted as the monument shook. She looked up, startled to see that another operative had landed next to her.

“Hey, there,” spoke the operative, further breaking into her thoughts.

“Hello,” she responded, not really caring for his presence one way or the other. She sized him up, not really taking him for much of anyone based on his appearance of mismatched clothing. Just your average redpill.

“What you doing up here?” he asked, following her line of sight back down to the fighting below.

“Thinking,” she responded absent-mindedly.

The operative frowned. “Strange place to be doing that…don’t you think?”

SkyQueene simply shrugged. She really didn’t want to be having this conversation now. Especially not with some wannabe-hotshot redpill who thought he was the next One. “That depends on your perspective, I suppose.”

“Maybe,” said the operative. “What are you thinking about?”

“Another life,” she responded, hoping that the tone of her voice would indicate her lack of desire to speak with him.

“Oh,” he said, feigning understanding. “Are you newly awakened?”

Her face twisted into a look of contempt. “Hardly, I was awakened long before you were ever released from your pod, kid.”

The redpill took the condescending remark in stride. His next response was simple. “Oh. Well, if you ever need anything, give me a call.” He jumped back down to rejoin his fellow operatives in the fight below.

Thank God. SkyQueene had just settled back into her former train of thought when her phone began to ring. She glanced down at the number and flipped her phone open as she put it to her ear.

“It’s Sky. You said you had something important?”