When the world ends ...

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 .

Part Two - Caution ?

Part Two - Caution ?
 

- Hier ist der zweite Teil .. *umschau* Irgendwer interessiert ? Das chinesische Restaurant gibts wirklich , leckeres Essen uebrigens , aber es heisst anders ^.^ Wollte nicht einen Einbruch im "Chin-Fuu" begehen , also taufte ich es um , in Anlehnung an Tobis Lieblingsrestaurant in Berlin und an Shampoo ^.^

Die Hauptperson ( hah , ich verrat noch nicht wer ER/SIE ist !!!) reflektiert ungewoehnlich viel , aber nach mehreren Champagnerglaesern ist man wohl in der passenden Stimmung . Ausserdem liegt so eine gewisse Spannung in der Luft . (Hier floss auch etwas von Matchbox20's Lied " You're so real " ein) Die einzelnen Teile sind ausserdem ungewoehnlich kurz fuer mich , sind eher Szenen als Kapitel ..

PS Wer findet die Liedzitate ? ^ - ^ -
 

For some seconds , we stood in the darkness , unmoving , hardly breathing , then Niobe looked at me and raised her hand to form a fist . She signaled me to split up for a quick raid . I nodded , silently biting my lips , thinking , Just you and me . Sill was daring , the only reason someone would not get picked up by him was that he couldn't . He only cut a connection if it wasn't safe to hold it . With one sweeping move , I stepped towards the door to the front room , my fingers closing around the cold shaft of my gun . It was not really much use against an Agent , but it was better then nothing . Niobe nodded , her face set , and we both opened our doors , hers leading into the kitchen , mine up front .
 

The restaurant room was filled with the half-muffled sounds and smells of the Harbour , a mix of seaweed , motor oil , roasted chicken and car pollution . Outside the traffic had slowed down a bit . I didn't check my watch , but I knew that it had to be around two in the morning , the time of sleep for normal people , and even the party scene paused a bit after two . But Agents never slept , which meant we had to be awake too .

As soon as I had thought that , a heavy tiredness fell upon me , wrapping me in it like in a fishermens net . I tried to shake it of as good as I could , but my fingers were prickling uncomfortable and my head seemed to be made out of lead .

Outside a group of australian teenagers were loudly singing some crude song I almost recognized . My own study time seemed centuries apart from me . A sad feeling settled in my chest as I thought of endless campus partys with Beer-drinking-contests and great loud music , the after-lecture meetings and life in university . How far away all that was , how far , how unreal . None of those things had really happened .
 

Although I had left the cage over six years ago , I still was a captured bird , singing the songs I had learned in my prison . I could not let all those wrong memories slip away , they meant too much to me . Although they were treacherous and deciving , I needed them as badly as I hated my desire to need them .

I needed the image of my little dog Snoopy , the image of my first kiss , the image of Rob . They had formed my personality , had been my old life , and even though I had left that far behind , parts of my character and personality couldn't just vanish . I clinged to them and they staid with me wherever I went , inside the Matrix and outside in the Real World .
 

Niobe didn't like it and neither did Ghost or any of my friends , but sometimes I had the feeling Morpheus understood . He looked at me with something like sympathy in his eyes , and I felt a deep sense of trusting whenever he was near , although I didn't really believe his idea of The One . But Morpheus was something like a sanctuary , he seemed to be out of stone , nothing made him waver or doubt . I was never quite sure if Niobe loved him because he knew what he was doing or wether there was another reason . He was different from her , and yet somehow he wasn't . I surpressed a sigh . He was so different from me .
 

The teens left for some club downtown and I slowly stepped into the shadows that clouded the restaurant . It took me longer then usual to adjust to the darkness , but even before I saw the outlines of a giant dragon-arc appear in front of me , my senses started tingeling . The little hairs in the back of my neck stood on end , which was the surest sign : Someone was here .
 

I swallowed , thingking hard . The room spread out in front of me , the section at the door slightly lower then the rest , with lots of arches , half-high counters and pillars , dragons winding around every piece of furniture possible . Apart from about fifty tables and chairs there were giant jade vases , delicate silk frames , great mirrors blank in the darkness and little trees in pots with what looked like small oranges on them . Chinese New Year wasn't long ago , and there were Good-Luck-cards hanging from the ceiling everywhere . My grip around my gun tightened . That's all that I needed . Nian Hao was the worst place imaginable to track down an enemy .
 

One , two , three seconds passed , as I stood at the brushed-up bar , scanning the room . After some quick thinking I saw that I had three possibilities : I could start from my left side and work my way up to the front to return to the back . I could start from my right side , taking the same way just around the other side . I could take the middle , straight through the middle of the room to the front . It was the quickest way , but it was the one which made me the most vulnerable . There was a small path that lead through the tables and there were only a few frames and pillars which I could use as hiding places . Oh man .
 

This was not something I was good at . Everybody , from my trainer back in my past , non exsistant life to Niobe , just shakes their head at my decisions when it comes to a situation like this one . While my testing as a soldier , I got pretty bad marks for taking too high risks . I usually got away quicker then anybody else , but while the other left the track through the marked exit , I prefered taking the shortcut through walls or windows . The Testers didn't like my style of work , but I passed .

" One day you're going to run headlong into a wall , and then you'll be in trouble !" Ghost keeps telling me whenever I take great risks for some little reason . Sill isn't that subtle . " You mess the fuck up , you get the fuck shot down ." I'm not lightheaded or blind to danger , I do feel fear . A fight scares the living hell out of me sometimes , but I just don't see why I have to be hesitant when I know exactly what to do . So far , I have never been shot down and I hope it will never happen , but this here seemed to be a pretty possible situation .
 

A bright light blinded me for just a short second , but it cleared my mind from any doubt . I dived towards the next table, hiding behind its white table cloth within a second . Instinctively I had chosen the middle path . The difficult one , but that didn't matter anymore , the only thing inside my head was adrenaline . It pumped through my veins like gasoline , making me almost dizzy with energy . I was crouched down on the floor , my head low beneath the table , already planning my next step .

In danger , my body seemed to shift into auto-pilot . I didn't have to comand my muscles to move , they easily moved on their own , in perfect synchronism with my thoughts . They were a living being , undeniable part of me , part of my mind . It all came down to this , my mind . Nothing existed if my mind didn't process it . It was an exhilarating fact , like diving into emptiness .
 

I released my energy and felt my body whirl down towards a pillar more then ten feet away from the table . I softly landed behind it's polished dark mahagoni , leaning against it's smooth surface , crouching down again . Distance was nothing . I almost laughed when I remebered where I had said that before : the press conference after the Olympics . But then I thought of that blinding light and Niobes empty gaze . I was now fairly in the middle of the upper section , yet I saw nothing move . My eyes flew through the room , and then I had to blink again .
 

Two bright headlights dazzled outside of the restaurant . I eged a little further behind the pillar , carefull that I wouldn't cast a shadow . A car stood outside , it's headlights blinking slowly , the purring sound of the engine almost indistinctable through the bustle outside . Maybe a buisness man coming home late from a meeting in Kowloon told his chauffeur to wait for him here .

One , two heartbeats passed , and my fingers still didn't loosen around my gun . The place in front of Nian Hao was a strict Non-parking area except for taxis . There were lots of free parking spaces right at the ferry entrance , so much closer and easier to reach . The cars front was aimed directly at the restaurant .
 

My mind raced . Was there any other explanation ? No . Someone was here . The connection had been delibaretly cut off . I bit my lips and leaned forward to have another quick look when I heard the soft swishing sound . The pillar splittered under the force of the two bullets , the great carved dragon breaking apart like a house of cards . A piece of wood hit my ellbow , but I was already gone before the dragons head hit the place where I had been and several more bullets pierced the floor .

Part Three - Fight ?

Part Three - Fight ?
 

Part Three ! Yaaay ! Der hat ganz schon gezappelt , bis ich ihn hatte . Ich wollte immer verraten , wer die Hauptperson ist *was ja sowieso ziemlich offentsichtlich ist -.-"* Zwischendurch hing ich immer in einer Art ThePatriot-Tavington-Stimmung fest , was meine Planung total durcheinander brachte . This Part is dedicated to André / Pitti , der davon sowieso nie was merkt wie ich ihn kenne , Shadow_Gaia , weil ihr die Story anscheinend gefaellt , to all Matrixfans XD und der Person , die mir fuer den Agenten ( es ist uebrigens Brown ) Model stand und das wahrscheinlich auch nicht weiss . Der Humor sollte eigentlich gar nicht lustig sein -.-" Irgendwie ist das Ganze eine einzige Selbstreflektion geworden - untypisch fuer die Hauptperson - , aber da ich grad dringend Psychoanalyse brauche , faerbt das auf meine FFs ab . Und er ist zu lang .. Ach , eigentlich ist er ueberhaupt schrecklich XD
 

" Surrender ."
 

The voice was expressionless . Not cold , but like a blank piece of paper , frightening because of all the possible words that were yet to be written on it . It had not the faintest trace of any emotion in it , which made it even colder , the words like iciles in the dark room . The voice of an Agent .

I shifted very slightly and at once three bullets came whirling through the darkness , hitting nothing but air . Hesitantly I resisted the great urge to comment on the Agents poor shots and ducked deeper .
 

What was it with sarkasm ? This was clearly not the right time for it - even my shallow breathing could easily give away my position , not to mention what a little joke could do - yet it seemed oddly attracting . Maybe it was because of me holding on to my old life and likes . In any good action-movie , the person in my situation would easily drop one ironic line after the other and since I love , no , had loved humorous action flicks , my mind obviously wanted to fill the silence . I was not the person to go for flat humor , so there was no point in hitting on the Agent in any stupid remark , I told myself again .
 

" Surrender , human ."
 

I hadn't even seen the Agent and he was already getting heavily on my nerves . Once the first feeling of immediate doom had faded , I never felt very intimidated by Agents . Another thing my Testers had not liked . Agents were dangerous , of course , possibly lethal , but not daunting . More like a big Dobermann , waiting to rip you apart . Or your school director , waiting to kick you out of school . Perhaps even a bit silly , come to think of it . I bit back a snort as I had a sudden vision of an Agent in a Drag-Queen-costume . Now that was what I wanted to have as an enemy !
 

" Surrender ."
 

Couldn't he say something that made sense and was actually true ? Something he really meant to say ? Like , " I'm going to kill you anyway , so how about you quit the dodging and the bullet-wasting ? Because if we go on like this , the chance of you escaping is growing , not much , it will stay almost zero , but still . I'm a machine , I like to be precise . So sue me or fuck of ."
 

Immediatly , I saw Niobes face looming in front of me and her reaction to these thoughts . She'd probably groan and bury her head in her hands . I was facing combat with an Agent of the System , and all I could think of were sarcastic remarks . Bad enough that I was thinking so much already ..
 

Sometimes I felt guilty for being such a bad protegé . I didn't often show my feelings or even my thoughts , I did what had to be done - and what I wanted to do - , but occasionly , they slipped out of me . Feelings only burdened you down . The stupid thing is , even though I know I shouldn't be all emotional

- because an Agent is never emotional , so we can't be - , I am . As I said , I don't show it , but I have feelings . My strong fear for Niobe , Ghost , Drive and all of Zion proved it .

Ghost had been freed on the same day as me . While he had quickly given up everything that bound him to the Matrix , I had had a very hard time . He had always helped me and I knew I could rely on him , no matter what . Ghost was my brother . We had many things in common , like the calmness and reserve towards others . I did not want to loose a brother again . But he was gone now , beyond my reach like Drive and everybody else on the Vigilant . Drive and I had not hit off well the first time we met , but our aversion had soon vanished as I had gotten to know Drive more closely . We were not the best friends , but friends at least .
 

Sometimes I wondered how my life would look if I had not chosen the path of a soldier for Zion . I would have been safe , leading a normal life - well , define normal , I told myself ironicaly - , I probably would have found somebody to love , started a family .. but I would never have visited the Matrix again . Inside it , I always was in danger , more then once close to death , but I felt right . Something made me crave for the hacks , the rush inside my head as I got connected , the superior and yet sorry feelings I had towards the captured humans . Every trip was contributing to these feelings and each time I returned to the Vigilant , I felt as if I had missed the chance of seing more , of learning about something I needed to know , of meeting someone I missed desperately . No one knew about these feelings , but it had become a common joke between the soldiers how I was something like a Matrix-junkie .
 

" Surrender , human ."
 

Why the hell was he repeating himself ? Did the System think that if it repeated one message over and over , people would be more willing to follow the orders ? I grinned wrily and moved my weight from one knee to the other . Ah , so thats where the whole advertiment idea comes from !

Another shot , this time even further away , rippled through the room . My back started aching . I was pressed against a half-high wall , which was serving as a counter . For all I knew , I could be here the whole night , the Agent going into repeat-mode and giving an occaisonal shot . Great . Just the thing to do on a Friday night in Hong Kong , the party metropole .
 

Suddenly I wondered why I was taking this so easy . If the situation staid like this , I would indeed be here all night and dead by the time the sun rose over the Harbour . My muscles tightened . Very very slowly , I got up from my crouching position , keeping my head just below the countertop . If I got close enough to have a good shot , I would have about two or three minutes before the system's replacement arrived , maybe a lot less . It takes me one minute to reach Princess Building , another 40 seconds to get to the phone booth at the west entrance , and perhaps ten seconds to get The Call . About two minutes . It was the best I could think of anyway .
 

" Surrender ."
 

" Oh , Fuck you ." I muttered and made a clear jump for a lucious silk frame opposite of me . The main thing I needed to do was pinpoint the Agents location . The shots had come from the far corner of the room , close to the door . Each time , they had been roughly aimed at the opposite corner , which meant the Agent was facing the room square . I was not sure how far he was away from the middle of the room , but he could not be very close . I cursed wordlessly at my missing ability to see properly in the dark . My eyes had adjusted to the shadows , but that was nothing compared to the night-sight of an Agent . I stood still , waiting for the uncurable Surrender-call , and tried to imagine how quickly I would have to sprint to get to the phone booth before mayhem erupted . The fact that Sill was watching every one of my moves felt reassuring. He was going to be ready to get me out . Niobe had trusted her life to Sill very often and he had never let her down , so .. Niobe .

I had totally forgotten about her . Getting her would add an extra ten seconds , plus she would slow me down . Niobe was very fast , but nobody caught up with me . Oh well , that would make two and a half minutes then . At least we could give each over cover-up-fire . I started to get impatient . It was time for another repeating of " Surrender." and I wanted to get going .
 

I did not hear the first bullet . It pierced through the soft silk , grazed my right shoulder silently and vanished into the emptyness of the room . A slight stinging raced down my right arm and I automatically rolled over . First rule of combat , Never stay put . The second one I heard coming and was able to avoid it . I recognized the dim outlines of the Agent behind the frame a second before he threw it across the room . I jumped up and began to move fast .

" Never stay put , never !" I heard Morpheus voice inside my head . Another bullet came speeding toward me and I felt the soft swish of air as it missed my neck only by a few milimeters . I gathered speed and kicked myself of the wall , hurtling myself towards him like a human canonball .
 

Slowly , I felt that my right arm was hurting , but I did not pay attention to it . We crashed and fell to the ground , tangeled in a flight of arms and kicking legs . He was stronger than me , but I had the moment of surprise

- although , Agents don't have emotions , so I guess it was more like a Server-error-moment - . I wanted to hit every spot of him I could reach , but I quickly dispelled that desire . Instead , I pulled the trigger of my gun , hoping I would cause some lethal injuries . But his grip did not loosen and I felt myself being pushed of . I crashed into one of the tables , my head hitting hard against one of the legs . For a second , my eyes blurred and something like a hot iron was pushed down my brain . At least , that was how it felt . My mind reeled over , but I could not pass out , no matter how welcome it would have been . I pushed myself of the ground and instantly felt a bit better . I was a Soldier , I would not give up in a fight . I had my pride and I would kill this bastard . Oh no , I couldn't kill him , my mind told me numbly , I'd just kill his body . Whatever .
 

A trickle of blood was dripping from my fingers . Virtual blood . My gun was heavy in my aching right hand , but I raised it . I was too late . Never stay put .
 

At first , I didn't feel anything and thought he had missed . Then suddenly , an enormous heat soared up my upper left leg into my back and with it came a biting pain . I gasped , strangely aware of the hot metal of the bullet burning into my flesh . A wave of nausea crashed down on me , knocking me down on my knees . It hurt . I felt my blood spilling from the wound down my legs onto the carpet floor . The defense wall has fallen . Zion is in danger . They needed me , they would die . A dizzy feeling filled me as I raised my head to stare at the Agent , slowly walking towards me . He pressed his gun against my forehead and I was surprised at how cool the metal was compared to the flaming bullet in my flesh .
 

I thought of Niobe , of Ghost , Drive and the others . I thought of Zion and the Vigilant , the Nebuchadnezzar and the other ships . I thought of Morpheus , of his determination . Don't give up . I could just hear him , his deep voice . Don't give up . That' s what he would say .

A sudden rush of anger erupted inside me . I was going to be killed . No , not like this . Not on my knees . I will not die here , I will die when the world ends . I will not give up .

With this thought , something changed inside me . It was as though all my pain had been taken and wrapped inside a blanket . It was there , but I could think clearly . All my anger , my remaining strength now aimed at one goal : Not to die .
 

A faint clicking sound told me the Agent was out of bullets . He threw his gun aside carelessly and reached for mine . My fingers were wrapped around the shaft thightly , slippery from all the blood , but I refused to let go . He squeezed my hand so hard I nearly screamed , but I held on . And then I felt my fingertips softly brush against the trigger . I pulled it instinctively . I heard the sickening sound of a bullet hitting its target and shot again and again until I had no more .
 

Seconds passed . My muscles started shaking because of their rigidness . I breathed shallowly , my vision obscured by a strange dark cloud . Don't give up now , I heard again , but it took a while for those words to make sense . I won . The empty body of the Agent was half lying on me , heavy upon my hurting legs . I pushed him off of me , commanding my muscles to obey me . I won . Absentmindedly I shook my head to clear it .
 

Gingerly I rose and stood up , biting my lips as not to scream out with pain . A few deep breaths later , I felt able to walk again . This is virtual , I told myself over and over , dragging myself towards the entrance . I could already see the harbor lights and a phone booth . It was too open to use it in normal situations , but I didn't have a choice . I would never make it to Princess Building , no matter how well hidden the booth there was .
 

A noise behind me made me whirl around as quickly as I could . It had come from the kitchen . My heart missed a beat as a horrible picture of Niobe struggling with an Agent rose to my eyes . Outside the stars disappeared to nothing ...