OK, so what have we learned?

Very little by itself, it seems... but other facts from the past may be helpful.

At the very beginning, Morpheus was taking the "jihadist" route, using viruses and code bombs to destabilize the Matrix.  His intent: To retrieve Neo's physical body and return it to Zion.  He went to The Oracle on several occasions to help him decide upon that path.  In fact, he very directly asked "Why won't they give up his remains?"  Of course, the Mervs hired the Assassin to take Morpheus down, EPN is formed, blah blah blah.

When the General created Morpheus 2.0 (or are we calling him Morpheus-sim?  Psuedo-Morpheus?  Whatever.) he used some of Morpheus's memories to create him.  Why do I say that?  It's obvious.  A simulated version of Morpheus would not be convincing without his memories or some type of thought-pattern-algorithms in the AI.  Of course, it was probably impossible for the General to get a full idea of Morpheus's every last thought and memory; the original was a redpill, after all, and didn't spend his entire life jacked in.  So the Morpheus we see here today is most likely a flawed creation.  Hell, even the Intruder saw through the ruse.

So maybe the whole black pants/purple pants thing was designed deliberately. 

But we knew that already.

Try this on for size: Morpheus 2.0 does have a collection of the original redpill's memory patterns, including the fact that Neo and Trinity died to save Mankind.  He apparently remembers Seraph; he would know that Seraph would keep an eye on current events as well.  So Seraph and Morpheus 2.0 have a little chat.  Morpheus 2.0 is directed to the Abandoned Subway where he speaks to LR.  Meanwhile, someone (can't tell who... Ghost? Some other redpill? It definitely isn't Morpheus) visits Neo's gravesite, and LR decides to go have a chat with the Trainman.

Put it all together... and it seems to me like Morpheus 2.0 is trying to find a way to revive Neo.  I still think that's impossible - the man is dead, Jim - but stranger things have happened.  If the Architect could devise a way to genetically reincarnate someone, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for Zion to do the same thing when given the correct knowledge and equipment.

(Note to self: Put in a call to LR.)

Wow.  I come back, and all the veterans start showing up.  I LOVE IT!!!!

Welcome back Montoia!!!

"Unfortunately, moving the jack implants did not have the best results...."

"Loading: 50% completed.  Estimated Completion Time: Unknown."

*sigh* "Sparks!!! The computer crashed again!!!"

"It's only a flesh wound!  Really!"

I have to agree; sounds your power supply is on the fritz.

There is something you should check before you go out and spend your money.  Try this, see if it works.

1) Unplug the power cord from your computer.

2) Look for the red switch on the back close to where you unplugged the power cord.  It should say "115V" if you're in the US or "230V" if you're abroad.

3) Pull the switch to the left or right so it reads the opposite value.  You can use a ballpoint pen to do it; it's kinda tough to get your fingers in there.  Then pull the switch back to its proper value.

4) Plug your power cord back in to your computer and try starting it up again.  If it works, you should be fine.  If not, you'll need to replace your power supply for sure.

Since your power supply is connected to *CENSORED* near everything in your computer, you should definitely check everything else inside the computer for scorching or burn marks.  Anything that has that kind of damage should also be replaced.  I hope that you won't have to replace anything else; that can get very expensive in the end.

Of course, if you heard your computer make a popping noise when it died, just ignore my advice and get a new power supply. 

ZipperQueen turned back towards Seraph.  He held his own sword, a Chinese long sword, in his right hand.  It was thin and sharp, designed for fancy slashing maneuvers and quick strikes, and a perfect companion to many styles of kung fu.  ZipperQueen preferred Japanese karate with its hard, sharp movements and powerful strikes... but from she heard about Fog's weapon, it would adapt to her particular style easily enough.  ZipperQueen stepped forward and took the weapon from Seraph.

"I can only give one last piece of advice: Even with my weapon, you will need to finish him quickly before his code recompiles.  His RSI is designed to regenerate very quickly, but he does have a weakness," Seraph instructed.  ZipperQueen wasn't listening, her eyes were focused on the sword as it began to reshape itself.

Now the sword had become a katana and wakizashi set, much more appropriate for a Japanese-trained fighter.  Both blades appeared to be of the finest craftsmanship, worthy of the ancient Masamune name.  ZipperQueen tested the blades in her hands... light, quick, and very well balanced.

"You have to take his head from his shoulders," Seraph was saying.  ZipperQueen glanced back to Seraph quickly.  "Only then will the killcodes work properly and his regeneration subroutines will cease to function."

ZipperQueen nodded and turned back towards the edge of the building.  Seraph called for her one last time; ZipperQueen looked back slightly.

"I want those back when you're done," he said evenly.  ZQ smiled in response before she leapt off of the building.  "Good luck," he also said, even though the redpill didn't hear him.

In the streets below, Agent Gray and Fog were fighting each other.  The two Agents, past and present, were fighting hand-to-hand, trading blows evenly between them.  Fog seemed uninjured while Agent Gray was already hurting.  Agent Gray had lost his sunglasses early in the fight, and his pistol was out of ammunition.  The only reason he hadn't been taken down was because Agent Pace had managed to confiscate his sword... at the cost of a bluepill's life.  Fog threw one last punch at Agent Gray, catching him in the center of his chest.  Agent Gray flew backwards, landed on his back, and did not move.  Code shimmered around his body as the program left its bluepill anchor behind to find yet another bluepill to inhabit.

As Fog turned to look for his sword, ZipperQueen ended her hyper-jump with a bone-crushing impact on the cement.  She looked up to the angel of death and felt a growl emanate from her throat.  Fog looked to his left at the armed redpill; his face showed puzzlement at first, but he quickly realized what the redpill intended to do.

"I told you, Fog," ZQ said as she rose from her crouch, "You aren't getting out of here in a human body.  Not on my watch."

Fog smiled and clenched his right hand into a fist; his sword materialized out of the ambient code and burst into flames.  "If I can't have your precious Montoia, I'll have to settle for you instead!"

The former bluepill stripper turned Merovingian assassin felt a grin spread across her face.  She felt powerful, even feral.  She could take an Agent now... perhaps even Agent Gray... or even the now-dead Agent Smith.  Fog seemed much less of a threat now than before.  ZipperQueen felt ready to take on everyone, everything.

"Bring it, *CENSORED*!!!" she screamed in response.

Oh, man.  This I GOTTA see.

Hey Broin!  Post screenies when this goes down.

This still does not answer the question on everyone's mind... what the hell is the Intruder doing here?

Or the next question: Who is this guy, anyway?

And what does he want?

Yeah, OK.  And if this were City of Heroes we were talking about, you'd want all of their "Thanks for keeping an open account" rewards too.

I beta-tested this game.  I just came back after a one-year hiatus.  If SOE were to take away the special items I received over the time I had an open account between 2005 and 2007 because "it would be fair to the newbies," I would cancel my account in protest and not come back.  A lot of people would.

I would rather have those items given to all players through some sort of in-game method.  Maybe the archive missions would serve a method to do that.

In other words... what the OP is suggesting probably won't happen.  Taking stuff away = lost customers.  SOE is in the business of making money... just like every other developer out there.

Deal with it or play whichever other game makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  /shrug

So he doesn't like the Cypherites either? What a shame.  I guess the next thing we'll hear about is how he snubs the Oracle or EPN.

And it seems no one has figured out what he is looking for yet.  No matter.  This Intruder will slip up eventually and splay open the secrets of his mind for all to see.  I just hope we do it before he finds what he seeks.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

The next time I see this Intruder I will have to dig a little bit past that innuendo-filled head of his...

Here's the thing about it.... Morpheus's RSI existed for quite some time, albeit corrupted, inside Mara Church, after the Assassin shot him.  I remember it... the body would lie there, turn into a swarm of flies, then back again.  I think I still have screenies of it.  Creepy.

Or maybe that wasn't Morpheus's RSI, just a copy created for effect.  I don't remember all the details.

Point is if that the Intruder was looking for Morpheus's RSI, the first place he would look is either where Morpheus was shot or in Mara.  I don't believe we've seen him anywhere near those areas yet.

As far as Neo is concerned... Heart O' The City is where Neo really became The One and killed Agent Smith for the first time.  (And several times before that in the cycle the Architect so fondly referred to in Reloaded.)  Those of us who have been around for a long time remember collecting RSI Frags for a live event (I think it was way back in Chapter 1 or 2); the Intruder may be after those too.

Who knows.  I don't.

WB cq!

I C WUT U DID THUR LOL

Just kidding.  It's good to be back.

Wow, ShiXin.... that's awesome of you.  I'm honored.

The story ends in Chapter 10.... coming soon!

Chapter 9: End of an Era... Or Is It?

-----

ZipperQueen performed a textbook back-flip and narrowly avoided the former agent's sword.  Her arc of travel took her twenty feet above the winged angel of death and over the edge of the building.  ZipperQueen switched back to her submachine guns and emptied yet another clip of bullets; Fog simply took the punishment as if the bullets were nothing more than raindrops falling from the sky.

"ZipperQueen, this is crazy!" the operator was screaming into her ear.  "There's no way you can take this guy!  Xeros wants you out of there NOW!!!"  Zip flew past the roof of the building; she saw Fog running and leaping into the air to pursue her.

"Negative, operator.  Tell Xeros that I need just a few more seconds..." ZipperQueen completed her flip and hit the ground; her veteran reflexes enabled to her leap to the right just as Fog landed where she was an instant before.

The operator looked back at Xeros and shook his head.  "She's lost it.  She ain't gonna give up this one."  Xeros scowled in disgust.

"Well, it looks like we'll have to save her *CENSORED*... again.  Operator, once Montoia jacks out, make sure she gets to sick bay.  And set up the rest of the chairs.  We're going in.... all of us."  With that, Xeros walked towards the rows of reclined chairs just beyond the operator. The operator switched to another keyboard and hurriedly typed in some more commands.

"Backup is incoming, ZQ.  Stay alive out there!" the operator replied to the embattled redpill.  ZipperQueen ducked to the right as Fog stabbed his sword into the building behind her.  She struck back with a flurry of punches and drove her opponent back.  However, Fog was seemingly unaffected.  He landed a fierce uppercut that lifted ZipperQueen up and sent her crashing right back down again.

"Had enough, little girl?" Fog taunted his redpill opponent as she spat blood on the ground.  "I told you - a human cannot beat an Agent.  Now you will pay the price for your arrogance."  He lifted his sword for a final killing blow.

ZipperQueen pushed herself up with her arms and leaned forward.  The sheer power in her arms allowed her to launch forward; her body slammed into Fog's and knocked him off balance.  ZipperQueen and Fog landed awkwardly on the cement just outside of the alleyway they were fighting in seconds before.

ZipperQueen rolled off of her opponent as he began to rise to his feet.  His sword was somewhere back in the alley.  The redpill smiled to herself.  Perfect.  She took up another fighting stance and waited for Fog to attack.

All around the two combatants, the Matrix began to shimmer with activity.  Digital reality seemed to rip itself apart as men and women, clothed in black business suits and sunglasses, appeared from out of thin air.  Within seconds, hundreds of Agents surrounded the fighters with weapons drawn.  Two agents - Pace and Gray - stood inside the circle.

"Stand down, program," Agent Gray intoned gravely.

"You too, Ms. Adamsdottir," was Agent Pace's contribution.

ZipperQueen smiled even more broadly.  "You're right, Fog.  A human cannot beat an Agent.  But another Agent can."  The redpill relaxed out of her fighting stance as instructed; she didn't want to end up dead.  Not yet.

Agent Gray approached slowly with his FM-1500 trained right on Fog's head.  "You are overdue for deletion.  You must rejoin with the Source," he ordered.  "Comply, or be deleted permanently."

A crowd was beginning to gather around the Agents.  Bluepills, redpills, exiles alike jockeyed for position so they could see what was happening.  Murmurs ran through the crowd like electricity: "Who is that?" "She's known as ZipperQueen." "Filthy Mervs..." "Stand back, citizen."

Agent Pace also had a bead on Fog.  Her heels scraped along the concrete as she moved to a flanking position.  Agent Gray was within point-blank range; there was no way he could miss, even with another Agent as his target.  ZipperQueen was still relaxed.  The operator spoke into ear; Les Enfants were spread out and ready to intervene if needed.  More redpills - Zionite, EPN, Merovingian, Machinist, and Cypherite - were all converging on the area.

A song, ancient in tune and word, came to ZipperQueen unbidden:

Everybody's coming to the party/Have a real good time/Dancing in the desert/Blowing up the sunshine

The operator on board the Cania felt his blood run cold.  "EVAC!!!!  EVAC NOW!!!"

Somehow, Fog had reclaimed his sword, yet he hadn't moved an inch.  ZipperQueen heard the operator scream in her ear, but it was too late.  Fog had twisted his body into a spin just as Gray and Pace began firing their weapons.  Everything went into slow-motion: Agents' guns were spouting flame and code packets of death, ZipperQueen leapt straight up into the air as bullets flew past her, and Fog let the sword go.

The bluepills and other Matrix denizens didn't have a chance.  A lot of redpills survived; their operators were on the ball and managed to prepare their redpills for the worst.  Bullets flew through the air towards two blurs of motion, one a flat disc, the second a tornado of feathery death.  Agents found themselves sliced in two or targets of devastating blows not seen or felt since the days of Neo.  And ZipperQueen continued her ascent, safe from the carnage below.  Her Bluetooth headset was pounding against her ear, relaying screams of pain and reports of massive death below.

Something slammed into her and wrenched her towards the roof of a building.  ZipperQuen saw a white trenchcoat, a serene expression, and sunglasses.  Seraph landed on a building and placed ZipperQueen back on her feet.  "What the hell are you doing, Seraph?"

"I could ask you the same question," he responded.  "Thousands of humans and Agents are dying right now thanks to your actions.  The Oracle warned you that this could happen."

"I know that!" ZQ turned away and began moving back to the edge of the building.  "I have to put a stop to it."  She heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed behind her.  Seraph had drawn his own blade, a perfect copy of the killcode generator she had stolen from her own master just a day before.

"You will need this."

Guess what... I'm back!  And it's high time to get this story rolling again.  So, without any further ado... here it is.

-----

Seventeen hours had passed since Spadz's suit was ruined.  Seventeen hours of trial and error, code crunching, pain, and frustration.  Spadz had given up, but ZipperQueen wasn't so easily driven away from her goals.  So she sat in the loading construct, alone with her thoughts.  Montoia laid still, floating in the air level with ZQ's eyes.  A computer - which was really a code compiler program - sat behind the patient redpill, awaiting another set of instructions.

"Operator, what is Montoia's status?" Zip asked aloud.  The operator came back with the response she had expected: Not good.

The sword AI was attempting to integrate itself into Montoia's head.  Needless to say, the human brain just wasn't made for two.  Her body was taking the worst of it, fighting the intrusion like it was the Black Plague.  But she was failing, dying a silent, unconscious death... and ZipperQueen just couldn't figure out how to stop it.

"Don't die on me, Monty," she whispered.  Zip stood back up and began to pace around the construct for the umpteenth time today.  Think, Zip.  There has to be a way.  What haven't you tried yet....?

"You haven't tried talking to me," a disembodied voice replied.  ZipperQueen spun around in surprise.  In the hoverbarge, the operator's eyes went wide.  "Holy *CENSORED*!  Boss, the AI is active again."

The blue fire and code surrounding Montoia had coalesced into a cloud of billowing smoke.  At the top of this cloud, a humanoid shape - male, shirtless, with blue skin and a goatee - floated effortlessly.  Zip straightened herself out of her instinctive fighting stance.  "Who, or what, are you?" she asked.

"I... am the avatar of the program you have commandeered.  During my time as an Agent of the System, I was known as Fog.  Who, might I ask, are you?" the blue-skinned man replied.

"My name is ZipperQueen.  I... fight against the System, against those that would destroy you."

Fog's brows furrowed in anger and confusion.  "You lie.  My masters would never see me destroyed.  I am the perfect killing machine, the perfect enforcer they have been trying to create for hundreds of years.  I am not some human refuse, destined to be tossed aside like yesterday's garbage!"

ZQ crossed her arms.  "Right now, you are in no position to bargain.  We have extracted your code from the Matrix.  The software you reside in has only two exits: the Matrix itself, and a human body.  I'm not going to let you have Montoia, so that only leaves you one viable exit.  And I control the key for that door.

"So, Fog, I suggest you stop whatever you are doing... or we will delete you right here and now."

Xeros and Mavrix were rushing back and forth, pumping adrenaline and bags of IV fluids into Montoia.  The operator was recording and analyzing data, trying desperately to get something he could use against this intruder.  Everyone else stayed out of the way and watched the drama unfold on a monitor.

Fog floated closer to ZipperQueen and stopped right in front of her face.  "And you intend to stop me how, exactly?  You are only human, ZipperQueen.  A human cannot stop an agent.  Lesser programs cannot stop an agent.  I will continue the combination process, and your precious Montoia will become my new avatar within the Matrix.  She will be gone, and only I will remain."

ZipperQueen frowned slightly.  "Maybe you will, Fog.  Maybe you will."  She looked up for a second.  "Operator, execute program ZipperQueen 4-Zulu."

The operator pressed two keys on his keyboard, which loaded the program Zip had requested.  He looked at the description of the program and felt his blood run cold.  "ZQ, if you do this, we will lose control of Monty!"

"That's an order!  DO IT NOW!" ZQ barked.  Fog's arms reared back as he prepared to strike.

The loading construct shredded itself into a cloud of code fragments as everyone and everything was forcefully pushed into the Matrix.  ZipperQueen 4-Zulu did its job and terminated itself in a puff of code smoke.  ZipperQueen found herself face down on the roof of an apartment building.  She smiled as she stood up and turned to face where Fog/Montoia should be.

That smile faded quickly.  Montoia, no, two Montoias were standing there on the building with her.  One of them looked thoroughly confused, the other looked angry.  Angry Montoia turned towards Confused Montoia and licked her lips.  "Finally.... you're mine..."

A burst of submachine gun fire tore through Angry Montoia, knocking her to the ground.  ZipperQueen's Nishiki Fury smoked as its report echoed through Richland.  "Wrong answer, Fog," she hissed.  "She's coming with me.  As for you..."

Confused Montoia looked over to ZipperQueen; her face changed from confused to pleading.  "Please," she whispered, "finish him off.  Quickly..."

Angry Montoia/Fog was up on her/his feet in an instant.  Her/his form seemed to melt away and reshape itself.  ZQ pulled out her second gun and pulled both triggers; bullets spun and flew towards the amorphous mass of code.  Pieces of code, clothing, blood, and other materials flew away in every direction.  After a few seconds, the submachine guns had emptied their clips; ZipperQueen dropped them in disgust.

The agent known as Fog had reshaped himself fully.  The holes in his body were shrinking, healing, right before ZipperQueen's eyes.  A pair of white feathered wings flexed and flapped lazily from the agent's back.  In his right hand, Fog held an impossibly long, slightly curved sword as if it were a toy.

ZQ had gambled Montoia's life and won.  The program she had created did it's job perfectly.  Zip knew that Montoia and the sword/Fog were completely seperate individuals here in the Matrix.  It wasn't until Montoia tried to jack out that things got complicated.  So, the theory was simple: Get Montoia and Fog back in the Matrix and physically separate them, and that should break the connection between them.

Unfortunately, ZQ hadn't counted on pissing the AI off.

"Monty, get your *CENSORED* back to the Cania," ZipperQueen ordered.  "I've got this fool."  Montoia needed no more urging; she quickly activated a stealth subroutine and disappeared from view.  With that done, ZipperQueen drew her custom assassination blade from her hip and settled into a fighting stance.

"This ends now!" Fog yelled as he charged forward....

Chapter 8
Surgically Attached at the Hip... and the Spinal Cord

"We have a problem."

Back on the HvBrg Cania, everyone was resting and pulling themselves out of their jack-in terminals.  Everyone except Montoia.  She was still jacked in; her eyes were racing left and right underneath her eyelids.  The Cania's operator, Xeros, and ZipperQueen were standing over her terminal, checking her life signs.

"This is amazing.  It reminds me of the archive tapes we got when Bane was absorbed by Agent Smith.  The only real difference is that the sword's AI and personality algorithms aren't overwriting Montoia's... it's like they're almost merging together," the operator was explaining with a mad scientist's glee.  "Truly amazing!"

"Whatever, Spock," was ZipperQueen's terse reply.  "Can we stop it?"

"Stop it?  I doubt that.  At best I can slow it down with some firewalls and port blocks.  It's too late to stop it," the operator said with a sad smile.  "Then again, why would we want to stop it?  We were supposed to copy this thing, right?  We need to understand--"

ZipperQueen slapped the operator across his face, stopping his dreams of experimenting with Montoia and this rogue AI.  "Would you like to be the one in there getting your soul re-written by some program?  No?  Good.  Shut the hell up," ZQ growled to the operator.

"Enough, you two," Xeros ordered.  Zip helpd the operator back on his feet.  "As long as the sword is trying to merge with its owner, we can't copy it.  Am I right?"  The operator nodded and winced as his left cheek began to redden.

"Operator, get Montoia into the loading area.  Zip, you and Spadz jack in and see what you can do about this."  ZipperQueen nodded and headed back to her terminal.  "One more thing, Zip... if you fail, you know what we'll have to do."

ZQ nodded, rubbed her sore neck, and headed back to her chair to jack back in.  Spadz walked by her to the next chair.  Within a few seconds, they were both jacked in and inside the loading area.

-----

Montoia was lying on her back in the white purity that represented the loading area.  She knew that something was wrong, but she couldn't seem to do anything about it.  It was almost... pleasurable.  She felt like she was dreaming about sex in the middle of the night.

She remembered killing one of the Twins... being yanked from the chateau into Club Duality... hurriedly stowing the sword inside her coat... and trying to jack out.  After that, things got kinda blurry.  Now she was here... in the loading area.

Two bursts of code caught her attention even though she couldn't turn her head to acknowledge them.  Spadz and ZipperQueen saw Montoia lying on her back, clutching the sword tightly in one hand.  The sword was covered in blue fire and code that streamed up Montoia's arm, shoulder, and neck.

Spadz moved forward to Montoia and reached for her head.  An arc of blue energy snapped from the sword like a whip, slashed across Spadz's torso, and sent him sprawling out on the floor.  Zip was just about to say something, but it would have come too late.

"Ow."  Spadz sat himself up and looked down at his suit... completely ruined.  He sighed and began taking off his jacket.  "You coulda warned me, Zip."

"Hey, I didn't know.  Don't worry about it; you got two more copies of that suit in storage," ZQ said with a stifled giggle.  "Let's concentrate on the matter at hand, shall we?"

Wow... nice screenies as always Tseng.

As for the comment about how Tseng is at every live event... let's just say that the members of Les Enfants Terribles have our finger on the pulse of the Matrix.  Something happens, and we most likely know about it or were there.

There are a couple shots in there of a girl who looks a lot like me... dressed in white but without the gray/white hair.  Anyone get her redpill & faction name?  Just curious... looks like I might have a cave-dwelling twin out there.  :womantongue:

Agreed.  I did manage to beat the mission (finally!) with my usual Karate build, but it took a lot of health pills, quick runs out of the mission area, and a lot more misery than I had hoped for.  Those NPC's were fragging useless.

I certainly hope that this was a bug... or the Merv will have a lot of pissed off redpills on his hands.

Still.... the fact that Tytyana was able to plant one of her boots up his arse is very impressive.  Of course, the cave monkeys aren't gonna be too happy about that.

Me?  I'm practically beaming.

Montoia wasted no time; neither did the Twins.  As Montoia charged towards her two opponents, the Twins quickly phased out and began dropping through the floor again.  Their descent was too slow, and Montoia managed to slash upwards through Twin 1's chest and head.

Why she did it, she couldn't recall later; she knew that no physical object could harm the Twins when they were in their ghostly forms.  She didn't know (at the time) how deadly this sword was when it had generated a killcode.  The Twins did know - they were both former intelligence gathering programs that knew the Matrix inside and out; they worked with the first iteration's angelic Agents.

Back in the present, Twin 1 was split cleanly in half from his sternum upwards.  Wispy puffs of blood and code flew everywhere as the first Twin began to dissipate into nothingness.  Twin 2 saw this and somehow disappeared completely before Montoia could turn around to finish the job.

"Holy.... " Montoia couldn't believe it.  She had just killed one of the Twins, one of the Merovingian's untouchable henchmen!  The other one got away... but at least she was still alive.  "Team 1, this is Montoia... I'm clear, and I have the sword.  Request immediate evac, over," she said quickly as she began running for the stairs.

-----

"Roger that, Montoia.  Operator, mission complete.  Begin extraction now," ZipperQueen said over her Bluetooth headset.

One by one, members of both teams began to wink out of existence, pulled through the Matrix code back to a secure location somewhere in Mega City.  Montoia went first, naturally.  Then Xeros began to summon members of Team 2.  QforQ and Tseng added their skills to the extraction process when they arrived.

ZipperQueen was the last to be extracted.  She held up her hands in surrender as a phalanx of Exiles came running up to her.  A shouted voice in the distance stopped them from mowing her down; the Merovingian himself came around the corner a few seconds later.  When ZQ met her employer's eyes, she could see the absolute confusion and fury within them.  For the first time, she thought the Merovingian had been caught with his pants down.... but not literally.

"You?  Why... why did you do this nonsense?  ANSWER ME!" he demanded.

ZipperQueen shrugged.  "This is bigger than you, bigger than me, bigger than Neo ever was," she explained.  "I will explain it all to you... but now is not the time."

Both of the Frenchman's weapons came up at that last statement.  Their laser sights bored through the air towards ZipperQueen's forehead.  "You will explain now, or I will kill you where you stand, ZipperQueen.  You know what I have in these guns will do exactly that."

In her ear, ZQ heard the operator saying that everyone else was extracted and that her turn would be coming shortly.  The Merovingian redpill smiled broadly in response.

"You'll have to find me first, boss.  See ya around."

The Frenchman's face screwed up in anger.  "KILL THAT **bleep**!!!"  As guns began to blaze from all directions, the extraction program Xeros was running kicked in.  ZipperQueen felt her gut pull violently up through the ceiling as her vision went dark.  Silence, darkness, and cold followed for a few seconds before she rematerialized inside another familiar building.

ZipperQueen breathed a sigh of relief and dropped to the ground.  She had taken more than a few bullets before she was fully pulled out of the area... nothing life threatening, but she would be hurting for a couple of hours after she jacked out.  Xeros helped her back on her feet and towards the nearby hardline.

Message Edited by ZipperQueen on 05-17-2006 07:57 PM

---

Dezreki wrote:

Ugh, Mercenaries just can't seem to get the job done...I'll have to take this into my own hands. Be ready for us, Malphas, the Holy Warrriors. We will remove your kind from the Matrix.

---

Wow.  Sounds like Furious Angels has created a recruiting faction for all the wannabes. :smileytongue: And major Kudos to my faction, Les Enfants Terribles, for getting hip-deep in Commandos, and to Vtech01, for landing the killing blow.

P.S.: Entropi - you never call, you never write... whassup with that?

Wow... so many screenies with me in them... I was so late to the party but I still managed to get some face time with the boss.  Gotta love it.

Although I wish I had the honor in being in Montoia's place in the first couple of them...

Ah well.

Big props to Les Enfants Terribles for another successful party!

Oh, and thanks for the cake.  Can't forget the cake.

I ran into Baelroth at the L.E.T. party at Club Hel on 8 May.  He's... a little reserved when he isn't going about his duties.  Nonetheless, it seems that the Merovingian and Flood have picked another good program for the job.

As much as I enjoyed teaching Entropi what little I could, I especially look forward to learning from Baelroth's experience.

Hell yeah people!  Club Hel will be the spot to party at next Monday!

Too bad I can't be there.  RL issues 4TL.

Beta player for the Matrix, Enumerator by choice, Merv for a reason, and LET for life.

Nuff said.

Your destiny has a second side.

I am ZipperQueen, and I know what my double destiny is.

Come find out exactly what it holds...

What's Your Double Destiny?

Set yourself free... unzip.

Everything was falling apart.

ininja was the first to react to the lupine's question.  "Huh?" he said in a monotone.  The lupine looked back at ininja quizzically, and that slightest hesitation gave ZipperQueen enough time to throw a silver-plated knife into the lupine's eye.

As the lupine fell, the four redpills began to pull out all kinds of weapons, preparing themselves for the battle ahead.  ininja began throwing beneficial program routines towards the others, as did Villemar.  Zip had her hand up to her Bluetooth headset: "Montoia?  Montoia, report.  Dammit!  Operator, send in the contingency team, situation critical.  Prep an extraction team as well."

"Roger that, ZQ.  Contingency team, you have a go.  Zone is hot; I repeat, zone is hot," the operator said into his microphone.  He turned to his left and let the person standing behind him know that things just went south.  Xeros nodded and headed back to the rows of jack-in chairs behind him.

-----

Montoia was beside herself.  Literally.  It was almost if the sword had generated a proxy-like copy of her RSI.  Montoia and Montoia-Copy looked at each other for a few seconds in silence.  "What the hell?"  Montoia asked in disbelief.

"What the hell yourself," Montoia-Copy replied.

"I picked up a sword, not a copy of Exact Copy Proxy 0.9," Montoia joked half-heartedly.

"You still picked up a sword," her copy replied.  "But I am much more than that.  You see, I detected your RSI's basic code structure when you touched me.  You are not my Master Fog.  In fact... you are no Agent... and you are no program, either.  What is going on here?"

"No time to explain," Montoia shot back.  "Right now, you're in danger - I can't believe I'm talking to a sword!  Ahem.  I'm here to get you out of here."

Montoia-Copy nodded in understanding and motioned towards the door.  "Lead the way."

-----

The contingency team was built around the assumption that things would just go wrong.  Mavrix led the team along with Elome, Ambrosine, Tseng, and QforQ.  All five were accomplished Matrix hackers and gun-fighters.  It was QforQ that burst the chateau's double doors wide open with a devastation field attack.  As the doors splintered and shredded into the lobby, Tseng and Mavrix came in with weapons raised.  Elome threw a smoke grenade in after them as Ambrosine walked in; her twin silenced sub-machine guns were already slicing through the smoke, laser sights looking for a target.  QforQ brought up the rear.

"Operator, the contingency team is in the house," Mavrix said with a smile.

-----

The devastation field startled everyone in the chateau.  The security guards dropped their dying bluepill prey and saw two lights blinking on their console.  The first was the chateau's lobby breach warning light.  The second was for the catacombs' security system.  Both areas had been compromised.  One of the blooddrinkers cursed; fresh blood dripped off of his lower lip as he activated the alarm.

The Merovingian was talking to his wife, Persephone, but it wasn't about any recent escapades with beautiful bluepills or more exotic fare.  When the chateau's front doors were torn to shreds, the Merovingian stopped in mid-sentence and squinted.  "What in ze hell?"  A few seconds later, the alarm went off, and the Merovingian knew that his chateau had been breached for the third time in a year.

"Dammit!  Can't those idiot vampires do anything right?!  *CENSORED*!"  As he walked towards the door, he grabbed a pair of submachine guns.  As he kicked open the doors from his bedroom, he began barking orders to the running lupines, nightmares, and blooddrinkers around him: "Secure the catacombs!  Close off the east and west wings!  Leave no intruder alive!"

-----

Montoia and her copy were already out the door when the alarm went off, moving quickly through the catacombs.  Montoia-Copy was looking around, trying to see if she had ever seen such a place before, while the original Montoia stayed in a crouch, cautiously looking for anything that may get in the way.

The two assassins - Montoia guessed her copy had an assassin loadout - rounded the corner and saw their first obstacle approaching.  In fact, as Montoia would describe it later, it didn't approach; it rose out from the ground.  Two ghost-like figures seemed to coalesce and rise out of the stone floor.  Their angry features and wispy clothing were unmistakable and exact copies of each other.

The Twins resumed their solid forms; they looked like they did when Morpheus and Neo first encountered them nearly one year ago.  Their pasty white skin and sunglasses regarded the twin Montoias before them.  "Who the hell are these guys?" Montoia-Copy asked aloud.

Montoia was surprised and, to be honest, a little scared.  "The Twins.  The original Twins.  I thought Morpheus took them out!"

"That's right," Twin 1 whispered just loud enough for them to hear.  "You thought.  You've been a naughty girl."

"And you know what happens to naughty girls," Twin 2 whispered in perfect time.

-----

Meanwhile, ZipperQueen and the original team were making their way towards the catacombs.  Bursts of sub-machine gun fire punctuated their path of travel, as did dead bodies.  Silver casings, wood splinters, and broken bottles of holy water lay scattered like old trash in the Richland slums.

A blooddrinker made the mistake of dropping down upon the group.  ZipperQueen was in the middle of the group; she felt the danger approaching before anyone else did.  ZQ planted her front foot in the ground and leaned forward.  Her back leg extended straight up and caught the dropping vampire squarely in the gut; he folded neatly in half and literally bounced back up in the air.

As ZipperQueen felt the weight on her leg reduce, she spun down to the ground and drew a wooden stake from her coat.  When her feet were both on the ground, she leapt up towards the still-airborne vampire, grabbed the vampire's neck and skewered it on the elongated stake.  A final drop-kick punctuated the fight and sent the vampire skittering along the polished stone floor.  ZQ landed after a graceful back-flip and a flourish of her trenchcoat.

Spadz whistled approvingly at this few seconds of action.  Zip looked back at him and smiled coyly.  "Learned from the best, babe," she said in approval.

"Come on, people," Villemar told the group.  "We still have to get Montoia and the sword out of here before things get really dicey."

Zip looped her gray and white hair behind her ear and touched her Bluetooth headset.  "Team 2, this is Team 1.  What's your 20?"

-----

Mavrix leveled her rifle and put another three bullets into a charging lupine.  The lupine kept coming, of course - lead bullets didn't work too well on werewolves.  Mavrix pivoted to the left and brought her rifle off of her shoulder.  The lupine shot right past her; Mavrix finished the spinning maneuver and butt-stroked the lupine right in the back of his hairy head.  She kept the motion going and slashed the lupine with her silver bayonet.

QforQ and Elome were busily tossing area hacks down a long hallway that lead to the west wing of the chateau; beyond the Exiles' hasty defensive position was ZipperQueen's team and the catacombs.  Red code explosions and purple raining code distorted the reality around them; Exile bodies littered the hallway before them.

"Switch!" QforQ commanded.  At that, Tseng and Ambrosine took Q and Elome's place.  The new combatants opened fire with pistols and sub-machine guns, laying down covering fire so the two hackers could recover their energy reserves.  A blooddrinker was caught in the crossfire and simply exploded into a cloud of blood and code.

"Team 1, Team 2," Mavrix responded.  "We got held up at the entrance to the west wing.  You're on your own, Zip."  Mavrix took a knee and launched a wooden stake into another vampire, dropping it with one shot.  As she reloaded her pneumatic stake gun, she hoped that ZipperQueen could find another way out, as this path was the only way in or out of the west wing and the catacombs.

-----

ZipperQueen sighed in frustration.  Mavrix's team was behind ZQ's team and Montoia was somewhere below Team 1.  The entrance to the catacombs was very close by... so that made the only choice very obvious.

"Montoia, what's your status?" Zip asked.

-----

"A little BUSY HERE!!!!" Montoia yelled in frustration.

In a normal two-on-two fight, Montoia could wipe the floor with both opponents without much help.  The Twins, however, were dead-on in their own timing, phasing out as Montoia's knives flew through the air and moving just out of position so she couldn't bring them down quickly.  Montoia-Copy was trying to do the same thing and having no luck as well.

"If you've got an idea, I'd definitely like to hear it!" Montoia yelled at her clone.  Montoia-Copy leaped over Twin 2 (or was it Twin 1?) and spun around to look at the redpill that rescued her.  Copy's face was unmistakably frustrated.

"I can't touch them!" Montoia-Copy blocked another kick and tried for a takedown, but the Twin simply phased out again.  This time, Montoia-Copy followed through her spinning sweep and managed to plant an elbow squarely in this Twin's back.  A flash  of code resulted, and suddenly Twin 2 found himself sprawled on his face.

"Ow," Twin 1 whispered.  "You'll pay for that, little girl."

Montoia-Copy had a broad smile on her face now.  "Now you can take them down, my friend," she told Montoia.  Montoia-Copy faded into a bright blue ball of code that streamed into Montoia's right hand.  Montoia stood there as the code ball coalesced and stretched back out into a sword-like shape.  Twin 2 managed to regain his footing as the sword solidified.

Montoia now held what looked like a twisted version of a scimitar.  Extra barbs poked out from both sides of the hilt-less blade, which was already four feet long without the extra jagged points and sweeping curve.  The blade itself was jet black, as was its handle and pommel.

On board the hoverbarge Cania, the operator leaned forward and felt his buys widen in surprise.  The code on his screen looked like an Agent had just entered the area... but it was different somehow.  It wasn't like the Agents he was used to seeing.  "What the bloody---"

Montoia felt the sword in her hand; it was light and balanced.  She whipped it around once or twice to get a better feel for it as the Twins stood there, realizing exactly what was happening for the first time.

"Oh."

"Crap."

Message Edited by ZipperQueen on 05-02-2006 11:38 AM

Message Edited by ZipperQueen on 05-02-2006 11:39 AM

Who says that a Zionist is going to be opening those vials?

Who says that they actually have THE key?

There is still the possibility that particularly valuable items are going to change hands.

You think the current opening song for BLEACH is cool.... try seeing the band that performs it LIVE and in-person for their first ever US concert!!

:smileyvery-happy::smileyvery-happy::smileyvery-happy::smileyvery-happy::smileyvery-happy::smileyvery-happy::smileyvery-happy::smileyvery-happy:

So there's a major Accuracy nerf if you use, say, an SMG, without having SMG Specialist loaded???

Great.

Congratulations, SOE, you just nerfed practically everyone in the game.  Especially hackers and proxy users.