Part One - Exit ?
When the world ends ...
- Tadahh , meine erste Matrix-fanfiction ! Hoffe , Ju ist jetzt stolz auf mich *smile* Ist zwar nicht an unsere Story gekoppelt , aber egal . Das Ganze war einfach schon eine Weile in mir drin und ich bin etwas frustriert , dass ich so lange brauche , um alles niederzuschreiben . Beeil mich auch mit dem Rest . Die Inspiration fuer die Geschichte war " When the world ends .." von The Dave Matthews Band ausm Reloaded-soundtrack . Wenn Ihr irgendwelche Ideen habt , schreibt mir einfach und bitte bitte ein paar Kommis ^.^" Biiiitte !
There is only one way to enter The Matrix : Answer the bloody telephone !!!
Mizu aka Vica
" Collect your things , you're coming with me . The defense wall has fallen ."
I stared at Niobe , unable to move . The city defence wall has fallen . How could this have happened ? The wall the Senat had been debatting over as long as I can remeber , truely remeber my life , which is six years . The wall Commander Zorrin was absolutely proud of . It was the last hope when things were looking grim . It was an important part of the city , if it fell ..
Impatiently Niobe stared at me , her dark skin shimmering in the difuse light of the Hong Kong nightlife . Some guys at the bar where raking her closely , a kind of desire burning in their eyes I knew only too well . But she didn't so much as notice them , a strict look on her face . Niobe never regarded people who fell for her completly . A challenge was her thing , not the easy seduce . And of course , that wasn't only in terms of love . Since she had become my captain , I had groveled more then ever , even in my non-exsistant life as a silver-medal winner at the Olympics 2004 . She really knew how to get at you , let you work it and make you wish you were still in ignorant bliss inside the Matrix . Still , Niobe was also damn hot , smart and serious . And she could kick ass , which made me feel resigned. So much for my chances to spend my evening flirting with Hong Kongs delirious Nightlife .
I stood up , snatching my coat and my glass of Champagne and followed her to the exit , draining the last of the alcohol quickly . As we passed the bar , a slick chinese smiled tentaitively at Niobe , stood up and asked : " Hey , sweet , are you leaving allready ? I've been waiting for you my whole life .." Niobe didn't even bother to respond .
As we stepped out into the busy streets of Wanchai , away from the unearthly bass of the club music , the impact of what she had said truely hit me for the first time . If the wall would fall , Zion was bare . And if it had fallen , that would mean ..
Suddenly I felt hollow and my throat seemed clenched . That would mean that soon every free human would be dead . My new friends , my make-shift family , Niobe , Morpheus , Me . Maybe in just a second Niobe and I would suddenly break down together , our bodies dead before we'd hit the ground . A cold wave of fear washed over me , crunching the virtual air from my lungs . If the wall had fallen , Zion would fall and I would die .
I wanted to live . Ever since my brother had died because he had walked into a gunfight , life had ment nothing to me . My life was something wrong , something twisted , something that wasn't right . All around me was The Lie . I had sensed it , sensed it long before I had heard of Morpheus or of the Matrix . After Rob's death I had flung myself into the run , the quest for speed , for victory , for freedom , the run that had brought me to the Olympics and to Morpheus . He had noticed my mind slashing inside this forced life as in a cage and he had shown me the exit . I died and came to life for the first time , my birth place the Nebukadnezar , Morpheus ship . Every day , every second in Zion made me feel more alive , strengthened the desire to live . Zion was my home and this was my life , and I could not bear the thought of losing everything again . Death scared me now , as life had scared me once . I wanted to live , but if Zion was under attack ...
Yet Niobe didn't seem to act as if we and all of free mankind were in immediate , mortal danger . She was briskly walking along the road that lead down to Victoria Harbour and to the place we had come from . Our entrance to the Matrix , the most unsuspicious thing you could think of : Nian Hao , a tacky chinese restaurant . It was well past midnight , but the traffic was still high at Victoria harbour , where the ferries were leaving to the mainland . The restaurant itself was closed - due to family vacation . I opened the door easily .
The room was dark and the lights of the many taxis flashed over the white walls , looking like spots of a disco ball . We walked through the empty rstaurant room and past the kitchen door into the back room to find Ghost and Drive standing next to an abandoned-looking desk . They had been waiting for us , cleaning everything up so there would not even be the slightest hint of our stay . Given Drive's worried face and Ghosts hollow stare , I felt the icy wave of fear again , but there was no time to think about that now . Either we returned to our ship , the Vigilant , now and possibly arrive just to die , or we would die here . None of the possibilities seemed very appealing .
I watched silently as Drive nodded to Niobe and reached for her cell phone . We waited as she quickly talked to the Operator . Obviously Sill was still alive , which meant that Zion or the ships on patroll hadn't fallen - yet . The snap of Drive shutting the phone startled me . I didn't quite understand what was going on . The defence wall had fallen , but apparently Zion was not in ruins and the Vigilant had not been destroyed by triumphant squiddeys .
I wanted to speak , but I couldn't .
We were all staring at the simple black telephone on the table in front of us and I saw Ghost's tense face loosen slightly as it started to ring . He took the reciever and vanished in a rush of Bites .
Through the open doors that lead to the front room , I could see straight out the front where red taxis lined up to swallow the mass of people queuing . A begger sat on a bench , deeply asleep , his feeble hands stuffed into threadbare pockets . Next to him , a man in an Armani suit hesitantly talked into his cell phone . A taxi came and Armani suit was gone . Without thinking , I closed the door , blocking us from view . Again , the telephone rang . It's ring was shrill and loud in the darkness , hurting my ears ever so slightly . The defence wall had fallen . Driver vanished .
Suddenly we two were alone , the distant sound of the water licking at the harbor posts very far away . Niobe stared into space , her eyes dark and empty . Although I often cursed her - every time she had beaten me in the sparing program - and claimed there could be no worse , inhuman captain , I needed Niobe . She was part of my life , one of the people I trusted . She was my friend .
" Niobe ."
She didn't look at me , still staring at the oposite wall , her gaze on the poster of some plushy blonde singer and also nowhere .
" What happened ? If the wall fell , why are .. why are we .."
"Still alive ?" she finished my sentence for me . " Because .. because they are waiting ."
She suddenly looked tired and very young .
" Why are they waiting ?"
She finally turned to me and regarded me with one of those looks I knew so well . " I don't know ."
The telephone rang again , and we both wheeled around to stare at it . It rang twice before we finally moved . " You go ." she said , nodding towards the reciever .
" No , you go ."
I couldn't help me . The thought of leaving the Matrix made sense , yet I felt a rush of pain when I thought of it . My mind knew that there was nothing , I was still living , after all , and I had better chances to survive outside of virtual reality , but my body didn't feel like moving at all . She shook her head impatiently . " As the one with the responsibility I have to be the last to leave ."
I looked at her silently , then reached for the reciever . She was right , why should I be scared ? As my fingertips brushed against the cold material of the telephone , it's ringing died . The silence closed in on us like a hawk on his prey .
