I recall the evilness of once coming up with the idea of unleashing a Culture Offensive drone upon the Matrix, and the ranodm horror and destruction it would cause.
But then it just comes back to me: It's just that fucking loop-sided, I couldn't make it very intresting.
Animatrix - Cain and Abel (Matrix crossover)
Moderator: LadyTevar
-
Singular Quartet
- Sith Marauder
- Posts: 3896
- Joined: 2002-07-04 05:33pm
- Location: This is sky. It is made of FUCKING and LIMIT.
Chapter 4: Lost and Found
“Shut down now.” Morpheus ordered as he ran his fingers along overhead switches. Link nodded and shut down systems on his own side of the cockpit.
Morpheus switched the intercom.
“All gunners hold your fire. We’re going silent.”
“Roger that.” Kyle replied.
Morpheus smiled in spite of himself.
“What?” Link asked curiously as he finished the shut down procedure and the Nebacahednnezzer went dark.
“He’s not been here more than an hour and he’s more disciplined than the rest of you combined.” Morpheus replied with a cool smile. Link frowned. Always nice to hear words of praise from your commanding officer.
Link froze as he looked out the cockpit and saw the first sentinels swim by leaving swirling thick white mist in their wake.
“Now we hope for the best.” Morpheus stated grimly and checked the EMP switch. It was their final weapon. The guns would do them no good in the combines space of this access tunnel but they had no choice, going deeper into the thermal vent would be suicide and even Morpheus recognized that. An eye drifted over to the thermostat and noted that the outer hull temperature was higher than he had ever seen a hovercraft subjected to. Condensation was forming into thick droplets on the canopy when one of the sentinels stopped at the access tunnel entry, several tentacles tentatively reached in and gripped the lip of the tunnel and pulled itself in.
“Oh shi—“”
“Hold your breath.” Morpheus hissed.
The Sentinel paused, glowing red eyes twitching slowly as it peered into the tunnel. Sentinel were notoriously short sighted, a design flaw that had followed every model, designed for in close fighting and killing, the machines saw no need for improving on the design of a model that had proven so effective against the Zionists.
Morpheus briefly wondered if the machines had any inkling how many times they had avoided sentinel patrols by this simple evasion method? Granted the hovercraft were designed for stealth and evasion in the first place, conductive plates carried heat away from the central core and the antigravity disks generated little heat themselves, heat that was quickly swallowed up by the exchangers at the center of each disk. When running normally a hovercraft was already quite stealthy but shut down like this, it was virtually invisible.
It was the virtually part that always worried Morpheus. Too many commanders had counted on their invisibility at precisely the wrong moment and the Sentinels were quite merciless when performing their function.
The Sentinel walked into the tunnel and turned its head several times, eyes flashing as they tried to see through the inky darkness, switching wavelengths as it did so.
Morpheus’ hand tightened on the EMP switch. If he set it off, it would only catch the sentinels in the tunnel, but the ones waiting above would wait until the pulse cleared and then pounce on his helpless ship. All in all a losing proposition.
The sentinel suddenly shifted one tentacle forward and it opened up like a flower revealing delicate scanning systems. Morpheus stared at the silver skinned monster as if willing it to leave.
“Nervous?” Neo quietly asked Kyle. Kyle was staring out into his gunnery port, obviously lost in thought, but Neo noticed how his hands, steady and unshaken, held firmly on the traverse and fire controls of his dual gatling gun mount.
Kyle smiled softly and shook his head.
“I’m sorry, sir. I was just thinking.”
“First of all, can we cut the sir nonsense…call me Neo.”
“Neo?”
“Yes.”
“But that’s not your name, sir.” Kyle replied perplexed. Neo smiled and patted Kyle on the shoulder.
“Look, this may not be the best time but you need to know that this is not your time or your place. Frankly I have no idea where or when you’re from but I certainly am not Colonel Anderson.”
Kyle blinked several times.
“Is this a test sir?”
Neo shook his head.
“No Kyle, it’s not. But let’s for the sake of argument accept what I have to say and you can call me Neo.”
“Alright, sir---I mean Neo.” Kyle replied unconvinced.
“You’re wondering what’s going on out there?” Neo asked looking up as if he could see through the hull.
“I expect it’s a standard evasion maneuver, we’re shutting down all systems in hopes of evading the squiddies.” Kyle replied casually.
Neo blinked.
“We do this sort of drill all the time when evading HK’s. Course, we’re not flying or driving anything this fancy but it’s the same principal. Machines lack the intuitive leap that humans have for searching. If we don’t appear on the radar or IR we no longer exist. A machine does not really question WHY we vanished like that into thin air.”
Neo nodded slowly, respect for the young warrior’s cool calm demeanor growing.
“That must be one helluva world you come from Kyle.”
“You would know sir.” Neo smirked. “Neo.” Kyle quickly corrected himself.
“I only just woke up six months ago.” Neo replied with a secretive smile.
“Sir?” Kyle cocked his head in confusion. “Woke up from what?”
“A very long dream.” Neo replied wistfully.
“I have dreams too sir.” Kyle replied and stopped himself. There was something about Neo that made him feel more open than he had ever felt with anyone else in his life. Back in his world, Colonel Anderson had spoken highly of him and Kyle served faithfully, even stopping an assassination attempt against the colonel on the eve of his transfer. But he never considered himself close to the man.
This was different somehow.
“Oh?”
“I can’t talk about it.” Kyle said darkly.
“Well, then why don’t you tell me about this mission of yours that we seem to have interrupted?”
Kyle sighed softly and slapped his hands against the turret railing.
“I was assigned to protect and defend someone very important from assassination. We were winning the war, the defense grid was smashed and Skynet was all but lost. But it tried one last chance at stopping us. You see it knew that it was defeated, we had won and smashed his fucking steel hordes into so much scrap.”
Neo watched him, so young but his face scarred, his eyes haunted, yet there was this visceral joy on his face as he spoke of the victory.
“Right before we stormed his base, Skynet used a time travel device that allowed it to send an assassin through to the past with one mission, to the mother of our leader, John Connor before he was born.”
“And it’s up to you to protect her?”
“Yes sir.” Neo decided to let it go for now. “It wasn’t going to be easy, the new 800 series are tough as nails and with the weapons I would need to scrounge back then it would be touch and go whether I could nail the fucker. But I had to try, for her.”
Neo watched him closely. There was something more he wasn’t saying but he kept it to himself.
“What was her name?”
“Sarah. Sarah Connor.”
“And what’s going to happen now that you’re here?” Neo asked already knowing the answer.
“She’s dead.” Kyle replied coldly.
Morpheus and Link exchanged a glance as the Sentinel slowly retreated back out of the tunnel and followed its brethren down into the vent.
“Link, find out where this access tunnel goes, I don’t think we’ll be able to go out that way.” Morpheus ordered.
“On it.” Link replied as he punched in some codes into his station and was greeted with a gentle whirr from the hard drive and started scanning the maps of the area.
“Can you feel it Link.”
“Sir?”
“Something is happening out there. Like the calm before a storm.”
Link looked at Morpheus for a moment and frowned.
“Sir, has anyone else told you that you can be really weird sometimes?”
Morpheus smiled.
“Always.”
“And that is your final report?”
“Yes sir.” Damien replied and snapped a sharp salute at the assembled committee. Commander Lock nodded and smiled softly at Damien.
“Good work, Captain. Please stand by.”
“The Archimedes is ready to fulfill the orders of the council sir.” Damien replied proudly.
“And so you shall.” One of the council members replied.
“The facts are before us, this entity Skynet is offering us a chance to strike back at the machines that have been oppressing us for over a century.” Lock stated grimly.
“And they are machines as well that have come to us at precisely the moment when Zion is in peril. I find that too convenient too ignore.” Councilman Dillard interjected gruffly.
Lock frowned.
“Councilman Lock has a point. Captain Damien’s report is very specific that these ‘Terminators’ are stronger and more durable than any of our own troops. One Terminator fought an Agent to a standstill, the female terminator took on three agents simultaneously.” A councilwoman added.
“And does this not prove that they would make the perfect allies?” Lock replied.
“You’re missing the point Commander.” Dillard replied dryly. “WHY do they need us?”
Lock sat back but remained silent.
“This Skynet seems to be far more militaristic than the machines. The fact that they seem to move in and out of the Matrix with ease indicates that they have already mastered the technology that would make the greatest difference in this fight.”
“More militaristic? Sir that is precisely what we need. Zion is out manned and out gunned. Frankly, every predecessor for my job has wanted to go on the offensive but we soon discover that we lack the resources to do anything but grimly hold on and hope against hope that the strategic situation changes.”
“Has it not?” Dillard pressed.
“Excuse me?”
“The One has been found.”
Lock could not help but sigh in frustration.
“With all due respect, I deal in realities and tangibles. Neo is a single warrior, skilled and talented beyond any in my army but he is just one man. The machines are billions.”
“Sometimes, Commander Lock, one man can make a difference.” Dillard replied.
“That is not my experience, councilman Dillard. I have been out there, I have fought and evaded agents most of my life, I know what the realities are and we cannot bring down the Matrix with just one man.”
Dillard nodded understanding Commander Lock better than Lock knew.
“I strongly recommend we accept this offer of alliance with Skynet.” Lock urged.
After much quiet discussion between the council members, Dillard turned back to Lock.
“Commander Lock. Have the Archimedes depart immediately and link up with the Logos. They will inform our commanders that we have new allies in Skynet and perhaps we can head off the crisis that the Logos has discovered.”
Lock nodded.
“It shall be done.”
Dillard frowned softly and rested his head in his hands as his thoughts turned to dark possibilities.
“Is everything alright?” A council woman asked him, gently touching his shoulder.
“I wonder whether we have become insignificant in our own world. Here we are making deals with machines to save ourselves from other machines, where is the human element, what happens to us in this coming conflict? Are we going to be relegated to the sidelines to our own survival?”
The woman smiled calmly.
“Dillard, you think too much.”
Dillard grunted.
“Sometimes I wonder if I don’t think enough. The machines, they are always thinking.” He replied darkly.
“Report.”
The T-1000 opened its mouth and a long series of almost musical static burst forth and finally stopped. The T-X nodded to the flowing metallic humanoid figure.
“Initiate self diagnostic loop before re-engaging into the Construct.” She ordered.
“Acknowledged.”
The T-X turned on her heel and strode back out to the invasion chamber. Within Skynet, liquid onyx figure with glowing electric eyes watched his army grow on an hourly basis and worker drones trundled in with new modified T-800 skulls to be interfaced with the construct.
Skynet had grown more insistent to interface with the matrix. T-X advised strongly against such a maneuver but the decision had been made.
“Report.” Skynet ordered, his voice a cacophony of subtle electronic noise.
“Unit A88 has discovered an anomaly in his pass through the Construct.”
“Request upload.”
T-X opened her mouth and emitted the same electronic squeal that the T-1000 had just done moments before.
Skynet’s eyes flashed brightly.
“Dispatch a sweep team to that block of the construct immediately.”
“Target represents a .28% threat quotient to a single T-800 unit.” T-X stated.
“Query: Calculate threat quotient to a sweep team.” Skynet demanded.
“0.00%” T-X answered without hesitation.
“There can be absolutely no chance of failure. All other priorities are rescinded until primary target is eliminated.”
“Query: Primary target is switching to anomaly instead of Construct?”
“Affirmative.”
T-X frowned slightly. Her emotion database was churning as it interpreted the data she was receiving. As the premier infiltration unit her learning systems were constantly on and she was learning to express herself to better integrate with humans. It led to odd interactions with her creator.
“Query: Will this change Skynet’s intention to merge with Construct?”
Skynet paused and looked down at one of the skulls linked into the Construct. His liquid metal flesh rippled softly as his hand cupped the bottom of the blue eyed skull.
“There is something that needs to be dealt with immediately. Odd.”
T-X cocked her head hesitantly.
“I was designed to destroy viruses.” Skynet mused and his eyes flashed dangerously as he held the skull up for closer inspection peering into the blue eyes of the T-800 skull.
The Nebachednezzer r was silent as it glided through the service tunnels in the bowels of the geothermal vents. The crew was in a rest cycle after spending several tense hours manning guns in fear that the sentinels would return.
Morpheus was now fairly certain that they shook off pursuit. He ordered his crew to rest while he piloted the hovercraft through the maze.
Neo and Trinity were in their quarters, sleeping peacefully.
Kyle had been given a berth as well but he stood quietly in the gunnery bay, checking over and field stripping the gatling guns. He did not want to think about failure, did not want to think about his current situation. He was alone in a world that was not at all what he expected or wanted.
The guns were so much simpler, so much easier to deal with. He could feel his frustration being eased away as he furiously worked the lubricant and cleaning fluid along the barrels and working mechanisms. He filed away at the grit and cordite and he was rewarded with a nice smooth clean motion and a crisp clack clack of steel on steel.
He occasionally eyed Link who was working on a bank of monitors typing away on several keyboards as his monitors displayed an odd green rain of code.
Link would also return the gaze.
The silence in the bay was palpable.
“I don’t think we’ve field stripped those since I’ve been on board.” Link noted casually.
Kyle looked up.
“It shows.” He replied.
Link smiled.
“You know what, you really have some skills on those guns. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone bring down that many sentinels in a short amount of time.”
“I was just doing my job.” Kyle replied, a little easier going.
“So am I.”
There was another moment of uncomfortable silence.
“Uh, what are you doing?” Kyle asked as he slid the barrels back into place.
“Doing a favor for Neo.”
“Really?” Kyle asked, interest pricked.
“Yeah, it’s kind of hard to say no to that guy.” Link replied with a smile.
Kyle brushed his hands off on the utilities he was given. They were a little large on him but he had spent his life ignoring such casual discomfort.
“He can have that affect on people.” Kyle said with what passed for a smile.
“You don’t even know him.” Link replied with a furrowed brow.
“People keep saying that but he is Colonel Anderson. Well except for the eyes.”
“What about the eyes?”
“He has both of them.”
Link raised an eyebrow.
“Colonel Anderson lost an eye to an infiltration sweep team, three terminators working together to eliminate a single target. He took them out himself when most of his staff and men were killed in the ambush. For awhile he wore a Terminator eye in the place of his old one as a not so subtle fuck you to Skynet but it was just too fucking weird to see that. It unnerved his men so he scooped it out and kept the socket empty.”
Link frowned.
“Uh, an empty eye socket was better to look at than a mechanical eye?” Link asked wanly.
“It’s a lot more honest.”
“Hmmm….”
“Ever since then he had a nickname that no one dared say to his face.”
“Go on.”
“We called him ‘The One’.”
“You are shitting me.” Link guffawed.
“What’s so funny?” Kyle asked in confusion.
“Well, Neo’s also the—” Something buzzed on his board and Link glanced down to check it. “I don’t believe it, he was right.”
“What?”
Link looked up at Kyle.
“I don’t know how you’re going to take this or whether I should tell you, but what the hell. Neo asked me to do a database search for a name. We have a pretty good link to the Matrix and its current residents. The machines are thorough if anything else and they keep detailed records. I checked those records and sure enough there she is.”
“Who?”
“Sarah Connor. She’s in the Matrix.” Link replied.
“Shut down now.” Morpheus ordered as he ran his fingers along overhead switches. Link nodded and shut down systems on his own side of the cockpit.
Morpheus switched the intercom.
“All gunners hold your fire. We’re going silent.”
“Roger that.” Kyle replied.
Morpheus smiled in spite of himself.
“What?” Link asked curiously as he finished the shut down procedure and the Nebacahednnezzer went dark.
“He’s not been here more than an hour and he’s more disciplined than the rest of you combined.” Morpheus replied with a cool smile. Link frowned. Always nice to hear words of praise from your commanding officer.
Link froze as he looked out the cockpit and saw the first sentinels swim by leaving swirling thick white mist in their wake.
“Now we hope for the best.” Morpheus stated grimly and checked the EMP switch. It was their final weapon. The guns would do them no good in the combines space of this access tunnel but they had no choice, going deeper into the thermal vent would be suicide and even Morpheus recognized that. An eye drifted over to the thermostat and noted that the outer hull temperature was higher than he had ever seen a hovercraft subjected to. Condensation was forming into thick droplets on the canopy when one of the sentinels stopped at the access tunnel entry, several tentacles tentatively reached in and gripped the lip of the tunnel and pulled itself in.
“Oh shi—“”
“Hold your breath.” Morpheus hissed.
The Sentinel paused, glowing red eyes twitching slowly as it peered into the tunnel. Sentinel were notoriously short sighted, a design flaw that had followed every model, designed for in close fighting and killing, the machines saw no need for improving on the design of a model that had proven so effective against the Zionists.
Morpheus briefly wondered if the machines had any inkling how many times they had avoided sentinel patrols by this simple evasion method? Granted the hovercraft were designed for stealth and evasion in the first place, conductive plates carried heat away from the central core and the antigravity disks generated little heat themselves, heat that was quickly swallowed up by the exchangers at the center of each disk. When running normally a hovercraft was already quite stealthy but shut down like this, it was virtually invisible.
It was the virtually part that always worried Morpheus. Too many commanders had counted on their invisibility at precisely the wrong moment and the Sentinels were quite merciless when performing their function.
The Sentinel walked into the tunnel and turned its head several times, eyes flashing as they tried to see through the inky darkness, switching wavelengths as it did so.
Morpheus’ hand tightened on the EMP switch. If he set it off, it would only catch the sentinels in the tunnel, but the ones waiting above would wait until the pulse cleared and then pounce on his helpless ship. All in all a losing proposition.
The sentinel suddenly shifted one tentacle forward and it opened up like a flower revealing delicate scanning systems. Morpheus stared at the silver skinned monster as if willing it to leave.
“Nervous?” Neo quietly asked Kyle. Kyle was staring out into his gunnery port, obviously lost in thought, but Neo noticed how his hands, steady and unshaken, held firmly on the traverse and fire controls of his dual gatling gun mount.
Kyle smiled softly and shook his head.
“I’m sorry, sir. I was just thinking.”
“First of all, can we cut the sir nonsense…call me Neo.”
“Neo?”
“Yes.”
“But that’s not your name, sir.” Kyle replied perplexed. Neo smiled and patted Kyle on the shoulder.
“Look, this may not be the best time but you need to know that this is not your time or your place. Frankly I have no idea where or when you’re from but I certainly am not Colonel Anderson.”
Kyle blinked several times.
“Is this a test sir?”
Neo shook his head.
“No Kyle, it’s not. But let’s for the sake of argument accept what I have to say and you can call me Neo.”
“Alright, sir---I mean Neo.” Kyle replied unconvinced.
“You’re wondering what’s going on out there?” Neo asked looking up as if he could see through the hull.
“I expect it’s a standard evasion maneuver, we’re shutting down all systems in hopes of evading the squiddies.” Kyle replied casually.
Neo blinked.
“We do this sort of drill all the time when evading HK’s. Course, we’re not flying or driving anything this fancy but it’s the same principal. Machines lack the intuitive leap that humans have for searching. If we don’t appear on the radar or IR we no longer exist. A machine does not really question WHY we vanished like that into thin air.”
Neo nodded slowly, respect for the young warrior’s cool calm demeanor growing.
“That must be one helluva world you come from Kyle.”
“You would know sir.” Neo smirked. “Neo.” Kyle quickly corrected himself.
“I only just woke up six months ago.” Neo replied with a secretive smile.
“Sir?” Kyle cocked his head in confusion. “Woke up from what?”
“A very long dream.” Neo replied wistfully.
“I have dreams too sir.” Kyle replied and stopped himself. There was something about Neo that made him feel more open than he had ever felt with anyone else in his life. Back in his world, Colonel Anderson had spoken highly of him and Kyle served faithfully, even stopping an assassination attempt against the colonel on the eve of his transfer. But he never considered himself close to the man.
This was different somehow.
“Oh?”
“I can’t talk about it.” Kyle said darkly.
“Well, then why don’t you tell me about this mission of yours that we seem to have interrupted?”
Kyle sighed softly and slapped his hands against the turret railing.
“I was assigned to protect and defend someone very important from assassination. We were winning the war, the defense grid was smashed and Skynet was all but lost. But it tried one last chance at stopping us. You see it knew that it was defeated, we had won and smashed his fucking steel hordes into so much scrap.”
Neo watched him, so young but his face scarred, his eyes haunted, yet there was this visceral joy on his face as he spoke of the victory.
“Right before we stormed his base, Skynet used a time travel device that allowed it to send an assassin through to the past with one mission, to the mother of our leader, John Connor before he was born.”
“And it’s up to you to protect her?”
“Yes sir.” Neo decided to let it go for now. “It wasn’t going to be easy, the new 800 series are tough as nails and with the weapons I would need to scrounge back then it would be touch and go whether I could nail the fucker. But I had to try, for her.”
Neo watched him closely. There was something more he wasn’t saying but he kept it to himself.
“What was her name?”
“Sarah. Sarah Connor.”
“And what’s going to happen now that you’re here?” Neo asked already knowing the answer.
“She’s dead.” Kyle replied coldly.
Morpheus and Link exchanged a glance as the Sentinel slowly retreated back out of the tunnel and followed its brethren down into the vent.
“Link, find out where this access tunnel goes, I don’t think we’ll be able to go out that way.” Morpheus ordered.
“On it.” Link replied as he punched in some codes into his station and was greeted with a gentle whirr from the hard drive and started scanning the maps of the area.
“Can you feel it Link.”
“Sir?”
“Something is happening out there. Like the calm before a storm.”
Link looked at Morpheus for a moment and frowned.
“Sir, has anyone else told you that you can be really weird sometimes?”
Morpheus smiled.
“Always.”
“And that is your final report?”
“Yes sir.” Damien replied and snapped a sharp salute at the assembled committee. Commander Lock nodded and smiled softly at Damien.
“Good work, Captain. Please stand by.”
“The Archimedes is ready to fulfill the orders of the council sir.” Damien replied proudly.
“And so you shall.” One of the council members replied.
“The facts are before us, this entity Skynet is offering us a chance to strike back at the machines that have been oppressing us for over a century.” Lock stated grimly.
“And they are machines as well that have come to us at precisely the moment when Zion is in peril. I find that too convenient too ignore.” Councilman Dillard interjected gruffly.
Lock frowned.
“Councilman Lock has a point. Captain Damien’s report is very specific that these ‘Terminators’ are stronger and more durable than any of our own troops. One Terminator fought an Agent to a standstill, the female terminator took on three agents simultaneously.” A councilwoman added.
“And does this not prove that they would make the perfect allies?” Lock replied.
“You’re missing the point Commander.” Dillard replied dryly. “WHY do they need us?”
Lock sat back but remained silent.
“This Skynet seems to be far more militaristic than the machines. The fact that they seem to move in and out of the Matrix with ease indicates that they have already mastered the technology that would make the greatest difference in this fight.”
“More militaristic? Sir that is precisely what we need. Zion is out manned and out gunned. Frankly, every predecessor for my job has wanted to go on the offensive but we soon discover that we lack the resources to do anything but grimly hold on and hope against hope that the strategic situation changes.”
“Has it not?” Dillard pressed.
“Excuse me?”
“The One has been found.”
Lock could not help but sigh in frustration.
“With all due respect, I deal in realities and tangibles. Neo is a single warrior, skilled and talented beyond any in my army but he is just one man. The machines are billions.”
“Sometimes, Commander Lock, one man can make a difference.” Dillard replied.
“That is not my experience, councilman Dillard. I have been out there, I have fought and evaded agents most of my life, I know what the realities are and we cannot bring down the Matrix with just one man.”
Dillard nodded understanding Commander Lock better than Lock knew.
“I strongly recommend we accept this offer of alliance with Skynet.” Lock urged.
After much quiet discussion between the council members, Dillard turned back to Lock.
“Commander Lock. Have the Archimedes depart immediately and link up with the Logos. They will inform our commanders that we have new allies in Skynet and perhaps we can head off the crisis that the Logos has discovered.”
Lock nodded.
“It shall be done.”
Dillard frowned softly and rested his head in his hands as his thoughts turned to dark possibilities.
“Is everything alright?” A council woman asked him, gently touching his shoulder.
“I wonder whether we have become insignificant in our own world. Here we are making deals with machines to save ourselves from other machines, where is the human element, what happens to us in this coming conflict? Are we going to be relegated to the sidelines to our own survival?”
The woman smiled calmly.
“Dillard, you think too much.”
Dillard grunted.
“Sometimes I wonder if I don’t think enough. The machines, they are always thinking.” He replied darkly.
“Report.”
The T-1000 opened its mouth and a long series of almost musical static burst forth and finally stopped. The T-X nodded to the flowing metallic humanoid figure.
“Initiate self diagnostic loop before re-engaging into the Construct.” She ordered.
“Acknowledged.”
The T-X turned on her heel and strode back out to the invasion chamber. Within Skynet, liquid onyx figure with glowing electric eyes watched his army grow on an hourly basis and worker drones trundled in with new modified T-800 skulls to be interfaced with the construct.
Skynet had grown more insistent to interface with the matrix. T-X advised strongly against such a maneuver but the decision had been made.
“Report.” Skynet ordered, his voice a cacophony of subtle electronic noise.
“Unit A88 has discovered an anomaly in his pass through the Construct.”
“Request upload.”
T-X opened her mouth and emitted the same electronic squeal that the T-1000 had just done moments before.
Skynet’s eyes flashed brightly.
“Dispatch a sweep team to that block of the construct immediately.”
“Target represents a .28% threat quotient to a single T-800 unit.” T-X stated.
“Query: Calculate threat quotient to a sweep team.” Skynet demanded.
“0.00%” T-X answered without hesitation.
“There can be absolutely no chance of failure. All other priorities are rescinded until primary target is eliminated.”
“Query: Primary target is switching to anomaly instead of Construct?”
“Affirmative.”
T-X frowned slightly. Her emotion database was churning as it interpreted the data she was receiving. As the premier infiltration unit her learning systems were constantly on and she was learning to express herself to better integrate with humans. It led to odd interactions with her creator.
“Query: Will this change Skynet’s intention to merge with Construct?”
Skynet paused and looked down at one of the skulls linked into the Construct. His liquid metal flesh rippled softly as his hand cupped the bottom of the blue eyed skull.
“There is something that needs to be dealt with immediately. Odd.”
T-X cocked her head hesitantly.
“I was designed to destroy viruses.” Skynet mused and his eyes flashed dangerously as he held the skull up for closer inspection peering into the blue eyes of the T-800 skull.
The Nebachednezzer r was silent as it glided through the service tunnels in the bowels of the geothermal vents. The crew was in a rest cycle after spending several tense hours manning guns in fear that the sentinels would return.
Morpheus was now fairly certain that they shook off pursuit. He ordered his crew to rest while he piloted the hovercraft through the maze.
Neo and Trinity were in their quarters, sleeping peacefully.
Kyle had been given a berth as well but he stood quietly in the gunnery bay, checking over and field stripping the gatling guns. He did not want to think about failure, did not want to think about his current situation. He was alone in a world that was not at all what he expected or wanted.
The guns were so much simpler, so much easier to deal with. He could feel his frustration being eased away as he furiously worked the lubricant and cleaning fluid along the barrels and working mechanisms. He filed away at the grit and cordite and he was rewarded with a nice smooth clean motion and a crisp clack clack of steel on steel.
He occasionally eyed Link who was working on a bank of monitors typing away on several keyboards as his monitors displayed an odd green rain of code.
Link would also return the gaze.
The silence in the bay was palpable.
“I don’t think we’ve field stripped those since I’ve been on board.” Link noted casually.
Kyle looked up.
“It shows.” He replied.
Link smiled.
“You know what, you really have some skills on those guns. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone bring down that many sentinels in a short amount of time.”
“I was just doing my job.” Kyle replied, a little easier going.
“So am I.”
There was another moment of uncomfortable silence.
“Uh, what are you doing?” Kyle asked as he slid the barrels back into place.
“Doing a favor for Neo.”
“Really?” Kyle asked, interest pricked.
“Yeah, it’s kind of hard to say no to that guy.” Link replied with a smile.
Kyle brushed his hands off on the utilities he was given. They were a little large on him but he had spent his life ignoring such casual discomfort.
“He can have that affect on people.” Kyle said with what passed for a smile.
“You don’t even know him.” Link replied with a furrowed brow.
“People keep saying that but he is Colonel Anderson. Well except for the eyes.”
“What about the eyes?”
“He has both of them.”
Link raised an eyebrow.
“Colonel Anderson lost an eye to an infiltration sweep team, three terminators working together to eliminate a single target. He took them out himself when most of his staff and men were killed in the ambush. For awhile he wore a Terminator eye in the place of his old one as a not so subtle fuck you to Skynet but it was just too fucking weird to see that. It unnerved his men so he scooped it out and kept the socket empty.”
Link frowned.
“Uh, an empty eye socket was better to look at than a mechanical eye?” Link asked wanly.
“It’s a lot more honest.”
“Hmmm….”
“Ever since then he had a nickname that no one dared say to his face.”
“Go on.”
“We called him ‘The One’.”
“You are shitting me.” Link guffawed.
“What’s so funny?” Kyle asked in confusion.
“Well, Neo’s also the—” Something buzzed on his board and Link glanced down to check it. “I don’t believe it, he was right.”
“What?”
Link looked up at Kyle.
“I don’t know how you’re going to take this or whether I should tell you, but what the hell. Neo asked me to do a database search for a name. We have a pretty good link to the Matrix and its current residents. The machines are thorough if anything else and they keep detailed records. I checked those records and sure enough there she is.”
“Who?”
“Sarah Connor. She’s in the Matrix.” Link replied.
Wherever you go, there you are.
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Ghost Rider
- Spirit of Vengeance
- Posts: 27779
- Joined: 2002-09-24 01:48pm
- Location: DC...looking up from the gutters to the stars
Nice merging...with Sarah and the nickname he got from Reese's world.
Though I do like the T-3 stab with Skynet now going after Agent Smith.
Though I do like the T-3 stab with Skynet now going after Agent Smith.
MM /CF/WG/BOTM/JL/Original Warsie/ACPATHNTDWATGODW FOREVER!!
Sometimes we can choose the path we follow. Sometimes our choices are made for us. And sometimes we have no choice at all
Saying and doing are chocolate and concrete
Sometimes we can choose the path we follow. Sometimes our choices are made for us. And sometimes we have no choice at all
Saying and doing are chocolate and concrete
“I was designed to destroy viruses.” Skynet mused and his eyes flashed dangerously as he held the skull up for closer inspection peering into the blue eyes of the T-800 skull.
You bastard Stravo! I love you man!
Skynet is a self conscience AI that was designed to destroy viruses, and Smith in the original Matrix was much the same (his virus rant to Morpheus), however now he is a self conscience AI virus!
I really love you man!
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'
-
Shroom Man 777
- FUCKING DICK-STABBER!
- Posts: 21222
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- Location: Bleeding breasts and stabbing dicks since 2003
- Contact:
When i saw:
Something i'm not sure about though, is how the smith virus got into a terminator, or are the switches set to write? Possible, since the termies aren't being sent out physically, and are still in the base, but since they're roaming in the matrix..maybe it would've been prudent...i'm not sure.
The whole "the one" duality was superb too! Genuinely humourous there.
This has inspired me to want to draw a comic, which i may do next week at some point, at least afew pages or images.
I immediately thought this was a new divergence on the terminator timeline, which was cool, but now with her in the matrix, i'm not so sure.“She’s dead.” Kyle replied coldly.
Something i'm not sure about though, is how the smith virus got into a terminator, or are the switches set to write? Possible, since the termies aren't being sent out physically, and are still in the base, but since they're roaming in the matrix..maybe it would've been prudent...i'm not sure.
I loved that, accurately portraying the whole pretentious pseudo buddhism! Great stuff!“I wonder whether we have become insignificant in our own world. Here we are making deals with machines to save ourselves from other machines, where is the human element, what happens to us in this coming conflict? Are we going to be relegated to the sidelines to our own survival?”
The whole "the one" duality was superb too! Genuinely humourous there.
This has inspired me to want to draw a comic, which i may do next week at some point, at least afew pages or images.
EBC|Fucking Metal|Artist|Androgynous Sexfiend|Gozer Kvltist|
Listen to my music! http://www.soundclick.com/nihilanth
"America is, now, the most powerful and economically prosperous nation in the country." - Master of Ossus
Listen to my music! http://www.soundclick.com/nihilanth
"America is, now, the most powerful and economically prosperous nation in the country." - Master of Ossus
Rye wrote:When i saw:I immediately thought this was a new divergence on the terminator timeline, which was cool, but now with her in the matrix, i'm not so sure.“She’s dead.” Kyle replied coldly.
Actually I did not meant to say that Kyle KNOWS that she's dead. He assumes she is because he's not there to protect her. Kyle is in a different world, a different timeline and he's having trouble realizing that.
Rye wrote:Something i'm not sure about though, is how the smith virus got into a terminator, or are the switches set to write? Possible, since the termies aren't being sent out physically, and are still in the base, but since they're roaming in the matrix..maybe it would've been prudent...i'm not sure.
The Terminators are plugged in like the Zionists. Their avatars are simply designed to reflect their own capabilities in the real world. Since they are plugged in like Zionists they are vulnerable to Smith's infestation. Skynet has not figured out a way yet to plug into the Matrix without also taking on the vulnerabilities that go with such an interface. Think of it as the Archtiect's way of keeping the Matrix safe from invasion, that any foreign invader has to play by the Matrix's rules. Of course, he couldn't foresee an entire army being downloaded into the Matrix.
Stravo wrote:“I wonder whether we have become insignificant in our own world. Here we are making deals with machines to save ourselves from other machines, where is the human element, what happens to us in this coming conflict? Are we going to be relegated to the sidelines to our own survival?”
Rye wrote:I loved that, accurately portraying the whole pretentious pseudo buddhism! Great stuff!
The whole "the one" duality was superb too! Genuinely humourous there.
This has inspired me to want to draw a comic, which i may do next week at some point, at least afew pages or images.
Thanks Rye! That's precisely what I was going for. I wanted to capture some of that pseudo intellectual stuff that I love so much about the Matrix. I want to try and go for more of that as the story progresses.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
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Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
Crown, if anyone would appreciate that nice little Ironic twist I knew it would be you Crown. I love you too.Crown wrote:“I was designed to destroy viruses.” Skynet mused and his eyes flashed dangerously as he held the skull up for closer inspection peering into the blue eyes of the T-800 skull.
You bastard Stravo! I love you man!
Skynet is a self conscience AI that was designed to destroy viruses, and Smith in the original Matrix was much the same (his virus rant to Morpheus), however now he is a self conscience AI virus!
I really love you man!
My personal favorite little twist is Neo as "The One" no matter what time or place he is in. That very duality was one of the reason I wrote this story.
Wherever you go, there you are.
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
This updated sig brought to you by JME2
Ripped Shirt Monkey - BOTMWriter's Guild Cybertron's Finest Justice League
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NecronLord
- Harbinger of Doom
- Posts: 27383
- Joined: 2002-07-07 06:30am
- Location: The Lost City
You should all stop with the praise of Stavro now, if his head gets too big he won't be able to get up and write.
Superior Moderator - BotB - HAB [Drill Instructor]-Writer- Stardestroyer.net's resident Star-God.
"We believe in the systematic understanding of the physical world through observation and experimentation, argument and debate and most of all freedom of will." ~ Stargate: The Ark of Truth
"We believe in the systematic understanding of the physical world through observation and experimentation, argument and debate and most of all freedom of will." ~ Stargate: The Ark of Truth
-
Rightous Fist Of Heaven
- Jedi Master
- Posts: 1201
- Joined: 2002-09-29 05:31pm
- Location: Finland
Very VERY interesting indeed. The pieces of the puzzle are still quite messed up in my head but they are starting to come together slowly.
Excellent work Stravo once again. and more i say MORE!
Excellent work Stravo once again. and more i say MORE!
"The ones they built at the height of nuclear weapons could knock the earth out of its orbit" - Physics expert Envy in reference to the hydrogen bombs built during the cold war.
Something that I realised when you first started writing, but for some reason always escaped me before is the symbolism in Neo's name. N E O rearrange O N E. Don't ask me why I didn't realise it before, I guess I had to see Neo and 'The One' in writting to believe it.Stravo wrote:Crown, if anyone would appreciate that nice little Ironic twist I knew it would be you Crown. I love you too.Crown wrote:“I was designed to destroy viruses.” Skynet mused and his eyes flashed dangerously as he held the skull up for closer inspection peering into the blue eyes of the T-800 skull.
You bastard Stravo! I love you man!
Skynet is a self conscience AI that was designed to destroy viruses, and Smith in the original Matrix was much the same (his virus rant to Morpheus), however now he is a self conscience AI virus!
I really love you man!
My personal favorite little twist is Neo as "The One" no matter what time or place he is in. That very duality was one of the reason I wrote this story.
Keep slogging away champ, this is great!
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'
Yeah i noticed that after the POD video pointed it out. Neo also means reborn...quite cool little things in that matrix franchise, like smith's audi's numberplate being a bible verse about god making a smith that will destroy things...Crown wrote:
Something that I realised when you first started writing, but for some reason always escaped me before is the symbolism in Neo's name. N E O rearrange O N E. Don't ask me why I didn't realise it before, I guess I had to see Neo and 'The One' in writting to believe it.
Keep slogging away champ, this is great!
EBC|Fucking Metal|Artist|Androgynous Sexfiend|Gozer Kvltist|
Listen to my music! http://www.soundclick.com/nihilanth
"America is, now, the most powerful and economically prosperous nation in the country." - Master of Ossus
Listen to my music! http://www.soundclick.com/nihilanth
"America is, now, the most powerful and economically prosperous nation in the country." - Master of Ossus
-
NecronLord
- Harbinger of Doom
- Posts: 27383
- Joined: 2002-07-07 06:30am
- Location: The Lost City
There's whole piles of bible references in the matrix, down to the one being dead for exactly 72 seconds, which if you translate it to hours gives you 3 days, and of course Trinity...
Superior Moderator - BotB - HAB [Drill Instructor]-Writer- Stardestroyer.net's resident Star-God.
"We believe in the systematic understanding of the physical world through observation and experimentation, argument and debate and most of all freedom of will." ~ Stargate: The Ark of Truth
"We believe in the systematic understanding of the physical world through observation and experimentation, argument and debate and most of all freedom of will." ~ Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Chapter 5: Under the Knife
“Kyle you need to calm down.” Neo urged.
“Sir! With all due respect she’s there in this ‘Matrix’. She is alone and exposed and my orders were clear. I have to go and protect her. What is the problem?” Reese exclaimed.
Morpheus and Neo exchanged troubled expressions.
Link sat at his station trying his best to remain out of the firestorm that had just erupted between the newcomer and the rest of the crew. He knew he should have kept his mouth shut and waited until Neo or Morpheus came around. Reese had flipped out the moment he heard.
“Soldier, get yourself together and cowboy up.” Morpheus said coolly.
Kyle paused and shook his head ruefully.
“Yes sir.” he replied morosely and turned away from them.
“What do we do?” Trinity asked.
“It’s your call.” Morpheus said to Neo.
“Mine?” Neo replied surprised.
“You told Link to do a database search for this Sara Connor and you should have realized what kind of affect that would have on our friend over there. The way I see it that makes you responsible for him.” Morpheus explained.
“Neo, you know how he looks on you. No matter what you or I tell him, you are his Colonel Anderson. I think its time you make yourself responsible for him. He’s alone here and all he has is you.” Trinity added, putting a soft hand on his shoulder. neo nodded slowly, closing his own hand over hers and gripping it for a moment.
“Ok, we’re going in to find her and see what we can see.”
Morpheus nodded.
Kyle turned quickly.
“I’m coming with you.”
Neo looked at Trinity and Morpheus then sighed softly and walked over to Kyle.
“You can’t.”
Kyle’s face went through a series of changes, from shock to sadness, disappointment then finally settled on anger.
“Why not?” he asked darkly.
Neo turned his back to Kyle and reached over to the back of his neck.
“See this?” he asked pointing to the back of his neck and the neural jack port. Kyle’s eyes narrowed on the spot and he looked confused.
“What the hell is that?”
Neo turned around to face him.
“It is a Neural interface jack, with it we can access and interface with the Matrix. Without it you can’t. So you see Kyle, it’s not like we don’t want you to come, you just can’t.”
Kyle looked stricken.
“He seems really dedicated to his assignment.” Trinity noted quietly. Morpheus nodded slowly and smiled secretly.
“What?” Trinity asked curiously.
“You have eyes yet you cannot see. Kyle Reese is more than he seems and his dedication to his assignment as you put it has more to do with his heart than his duty.”
Trinity looked confused.
Kyle’s jaw tightened and he looked determined.
“Then put one in me.”
Neo stared. Link almost jumped in his chair.
“What are you crazy? Why would you want your body full of that shit?!” Link exclaimed.
“It’s the only way to go into the Matrix, I have my orders.” Kyle replied stonily.
“Kyle.” Neo began quietly.
“Sir, I know what you’re going to tell me and I can’t accept that.”
“Kyle, no one has ever done this before.” Morpheus added.
“But how do you—“”
“Morpheus, Trinity and I were once slaves of the machines, we were plugged into the Matrix to be used as simple batteries to supplement their fusion reactors.” Neo explained.
“You?”
“Yes. But I woke up thanks to them. This is a sign of our slavery. No one would want to impose that on anyone else.”
“And no one in his right mind wants people fucking with his nervous system like that Reese.” Link urged. “You have no idea what kind of work needs to be done on your CNS, man. We’re talking about stringing your nerve fibers out like optic wire and fitting in that jack. You won’t be a natural human anymore.”
Kyle looked from Link to Neo.
“Sir, permission to speak to you in private.” he asked Neo softly.
Neo looked back at Morpheus and the others before nodding and taking Kyle towards the back of the hovercraft, walking along a maintenance corridor and ducking under ancient overhead piping.
“Sir, I understand what you’re trying to tell me, but I have no choice in this matter.”
“Kyle, we always have a choice. No one can make you want to choose this option. This operation has not been done before on a willing subject in Zion’s history. You’re asking us to mess with your nervous system on board this ship with little medical equipment and supplies.”
“Can it be done?” Kyle asked.
“I doubt it would be safe.”
“Can it be done, sir.” Kyle pressed.
Neo looked into the young man’s haunted eyes and saw something else there. A passion that seemed oddly familiar.
“Why do you want to do this?” Neo asked.
Kyle stared back into Neo’s eyes and pursed his lips as he waged an internal debate.
“I need to save her, to be with her.”
“Why?”
Kyle slowly glanced over his shoulder and pointed to Trinity.
“If it were her in the Matrix, would you do what I am about to do to save her?” Kyle whispered, emotion in his voice.
Neo looked over at Trinity and saw her return his gaze. the dream slowly played out in his head, watching her plunge down towards a street far below in a shower of shattered glass firing her machine pistols up into the darkness as an agent descended after her.
“I would do anything for her.” Neo replied quietly.
Kyle nodded.
“I came back in time for her, sir. I could care less about what happens to me, I need to be with her.”
Neo smiled softly.
“Then let’s do this, Kyle. I’ll be there for you.”
“And I’ll always watch your back sir.” Kyle replied seriously.
Neo started to walk back to the crew bay when Kyle called out after him.
“You know something sir?”
Neo turned his head.
“You say you’re not the Colonel Anderson I knew but even if that’s not true, this will be the second time you went to bat for me against what everyone else thought was best. I didn’t get a chance to thank you then. I am thanking you now.”
“Kyle, I never met someone like you, but we’re both men that would do anything for our women. How could I refuse?” Neo replied with a soft smile.
Kyle strode into the crew bay after Neo.
“Link, let’s get the medical bay prepped. We’re wiring Kyle up. Trinity and I will assist. Morpheus we’re going to need to get to broadcast depth if we want to scout out this lead.”
Morpheus nodded slowly. There was a steel in Neo’s words. He was not used to leadership, it was a weakness in the One that Morpheus had recognized in him from the start. Neo was a loner more than a leader and how could the One lead them to freedom if he could not even lead himself. It was a refreshing change to see and he had this young stranger to thank for that. Whatever providence had sent him to them was having an effect that could not be denied.
“Link, do your best. I have faith in you.” Morpheus said slapping Link on the shoulder.
“But sir, we have this message to meet with the Logos and its coming up real soon.”
“That can wait Link.”
“The order comes straight from the High Council and Commander Lock.”
“Link.” Morpheus replied sternly.
“Ok, OK, I’ll prep the medical bay but I feel filthy doing this to a pure bred human.” Link griped.
Kyle stared at the bank of monitors for a moment, watching the rain of green code steadily marching down the screen.
“I’m coming Sara. Just hold on.” he whispered.
“Are you sure about this?” Trinity asked Neo softly as they started organizing the equipment. Neo nodded slowly.
“As surely as if it were you in the Matrix.” he replied.
The silo complex was a ruin, shattered concrete and the debris of the countryside were scattered throughout the base. The chain link fences had rusted away to nothing, and the buildings were nothing more than fossilized ruins, many rotted to the foundations. The wind occasionally kicked up and the metal sign post announcing the base name creaked steadily, the printing had been warped and blackened by rust so that it was illegible.
The creaking was suddenly overcome by a steady whining scream.
A bright spot light lanced down onto the base itself and quickly scanned the area. The dust and debris was kicked up into a thick black cloud by the over head engines of the Hunter Killer. It slowly circled over the base, the spot light searching and finally stopping at an odd obstruction on the ground, it looked like an enormous concrete hatch built right into the ground, a withered petrified tree was strewn across the hatch and the concrete foundation seemed cracked and worn but otherwise undisturbed.
The Hunter Killer’s engines swung downward as it entered hover mode, the spotlight remaining on the hatch.
Moments later more whining could be heard and a squadron of Hunter killers took up position around the hovering ship. Their own spotlights soon flooded onto the location and one of the Hunter Killers, larger than the rest with a protruding belly slowly descended kicking up more dust and debris.
The belly squealed open like metal running on metal and a bright light was revealed within. The modified Hunter Killer soon sprouted three powerful landing gear and it settled down on the earth, the swing engines taking up a neutral position and quickly switched off, the heavy turbine blades coming to a stop.
The belly fully extended into a landing ramp and a dozen endo skeletons carrying heavy weapons quickly fanned out and formed a perimeter around the hatch. Three new forms trundled down as well T-S100. The T-S’s were modified anti-air platforms. Terminators designed to track and shoot down incoming airborne dangers with twin pod mounted anti air missiles and a chest mounted Vulcan cannon for in close attacks. The T-S rarely if ever saw service against the human resistance because they lacked a dedicated air force, relegated mostly to ground combat the T-S’s remained close to the central command center but were now entering regular production in anticipation of the enemy’s sentinel units.
A shimmering humanoid figure descended the ramp watching the forces deploying. He opened his mouth when satisfied an emitted a high pitched modem like whine. The modified HK slowly came back to life, closed its belly and lifted off, quickly taking up formation with the other HKs.
Another modified carrier version descended to take its place, its own belly opening up slowly and disgorging its contents. This time a horde of worker drones rolled down the ramp and formed up in front of the T-1000. The T-1000 nodded to them, sending a wireless signal to the drones which quickly raced around him and began working on the concrete hatch complex, cutting it with tools and removing the pieces in an orderly and methodical fashion.
A large modified tank rumbled into position dropping down a thick chain as the last of the reinforced concrete was pulled away revealing a missile nestled into its launch silo.
Without hesitation two worker drones used their claw arms and held onto the chain that descended down into the open silo. The workers waited until the crane/tank stopped the descent and they began cutting at the nose cone of the missile with exacting precision.
The T-1000 waited patiently at the lip of the silo peering down to see the progress of the work. The nose cone came off cleanly revealing a small cluster of warheads sitting at the center of the delivery system.
The T-1000’s eyes flashed for a moment as it scanned each warhead checking it for yield and viability. Once the scan as completed it nodded to the worker drones and they quickly began to remove the warheads that were still functional from the delivery vehicle. Each warhead was carefully sealed in a glowing metallic liquid metal casing and run up the chain of the crane/tank.
The T-1000 took one of the casings and held it up to the light as it inspected them. An internal checklist was run against the reports from the other search teams. They’re fast methodical searches and recovery had gone through 67% of the available nuclear warheads within range of the central core.
It opened its mouth and emitted another low squeal as it uploaded its latest reports to Skynet’s receivers several hundred kilometers away.
Back at the central complex Skynet updated its listing as the warheads were updated for yield and number.
Skynet would soon have a nuclear arsenal at its disposal again. The Judgment Day clock began a countdown in the recesses of the complex.
“Kyle you need to calm down.” Neo urged.
“Sir! With all due respect she’s there in this ‘Matrix’. She is alone and exposed and my orders were clear. I have to go and protect her. What is the problem?” Reese exclaimed.
Morpheus and Neo exchanged troubled expressions.
Link sat at his station trying his best to remain out of the firestorm that had just erupted between the newcomer and the rest of the crew. He knew he should have kept his mouth shut and waited until Neo or Morpheus came around. Reese had flipped out the moment he heard.
“Soldier, get yourself together and cowboy up.” Morpheus said coolly.
Kyle paused and shook his head ruefully.
“Yes sir.” he replied morosely and turned away from them.
“What do we do?” Trinity asked.
“It’s your call.” Morpheus said to Neo.
“Mine?” Neo replied surprised.
“You told Link to do a database search for this Sara Connor and you should have realized what kind of affect that would have on our friend over there. The way I see it that makes you responsible for him.” Morpheus explained.
“Neo, you know how he looks on you. No matter what you or I tell him, you are his Colonel Anderson. I think its time you make yourself responsible for him. He’s alone here and all he has is you.” Trinity added, putting a soft hand on his shoulder. neo nodded slowly, closing his own hand over hers and gripping it for a moment.
“Ok, we’re going in to find her and see what we can see.”
Morpheus nodded.
Kyle turned quickly.
“I’m coming with you.”
Neo looked at Trinity and Morpheus then sighed softly and walked over to Kyle.
“You can’t.”
Kyle’s face went through a series of changes, from shock to sadness, disappointment then finally settled on anger.
“Why not?” he asked darkly.
Neo turned his back to Kyle and reached over to the back of his neck.
“See this?” he asked pointing to the back of his neck and the neural jack port. Kyle’s eyes narrowed on the spot and he looked confused.
“What the hell is that?”
Neo turned around to face him.
“It is a Neural interface jack, with it we can access and interface with the Matrix. Without it you can’t. So you see Kyle, it’s not like we don’t want you to come, you just can’t.”
Kyle looked stricken.
“He seems really dedicated to his assignment.” Trinity noted quietly. Morpheus nodded slowly and smiled secretly.
“What?” Trinity asked curiously.
“You have eyes yet you cannot see. Kyle Reese is more than he seems and his dedication to his assignment as you put it has more to do with his heart than his duty.”
Trinity looked confused.
Kyle’s jaw tightened and he looked determined.
“Then put one in me.”
Neo stared. Link almost jumped in his chair.
“What are you crazy? Why would you want your body full of that shit?!” Link exclaimed.
“It’s the only way to go into the Matrix, I have my orders.” Kyle replied stonily.
“Kyle.” Neo began quietly.
“Sir, I know what you’re going to tell me and I can’t accept that.”
“Kyle, no one has ever done this before.” Morpheus added.
“But how do you—“”
“Morpheus, Trinity and I were once slaves of the machines, we were plugged into the Matrix to be used as simple batteries to supplement their fusion reactors.” Neo explained.
“You?”
“Yes. But I woke up thanks to them. This is a sign of our slavery. No one would want to impose that on anyone else.”
“And no one in his right mind wants people fucking with his nervous system like that Reese.” Link urged. “You have no idea what kind of work needs to be done on your CNS, man. We’re talking about stringing your nerve fibers out like optic wire and fitting in that jack. You won’t be a natural human anymore.”
Kyle looked from Link to Neo.
“Sir, permission to speak to you in private.” he asked Neo softly.
Neo looked back at Morpheus and the others before nodding and taking Kyle towards the back of the hovercraft, walking along a maintenance corridor and ducking under ancient overhead piping.
“Sir, I understand what you’re trying to tell me, but I have no choice in this matter.”
“Kyle, we always have a choice. No one can make you want to choose this option. This operation has not been done before on a willing subject in Zion’s history. You’re asking us to mess with your nervous system on board this ship with little medical equipment and supplies.”
“Can it be done?” Kyle asked.
“I doubt it would be safe.”
“Can it be done, sir.” Kyle pressed.
Neo looked into the young man’s haunted eyes and saw something else there. A passion that seemed oddly familiar.
“Why do you want to do this?” Neo asked.
Kyle stared back into Neo’s eyes and pursed his lips as he waged an internal debate.
“I need to save her, to be with her.”
“Why?”
Kyle slowly glanced over his shoulder and pointed to Trinity.
“If it were her in the Matrix, would you do what I am about to do to save her?” Kyle whispered, emotion in his voice.
Neo looked over at Trinity and saw her return his gaze. the dream slowly played out in his head, watching her plunge down towards a street far below in a shower of shattered glass firing her machine pistols up into the darkness as an agent descended after her.
“I would do anything for her.” Neo replied quietly.
Kyle nodded.
“I came back in time for her, sir. I could care less about what happens to me, I need to be with her.”
Neo smiled softly.
“Then let’s do this, Kyle. I’ll be there for you.”
“And I’ll always watch your back sir.” Kyle replied seriously.
Neo started to walk back to the crew bay when Kyle called out after him.
“You know something sir?”
Neo turned his head.
“You say you’re not the Colonel Anderson I knew but even if that’s not true, this will be the second time you went to bat for me against what everyone else thought was best. I didn’t get a chance to thank you then. I am thanking you now.”
“Kyle, I never met someone like you, but we’re both men that would do anything for our women. How could I refuse?” Neo replied with a soft smile.
Kyle strode into the crew bay after Neo.
“Link, let’s get the medical bay prepped. We’re wiring Kyle up. Trinity and I will assist. Morpheus we’re going to need to get to broadcast depth if we want to scout out this lead.”
Morpheus nodded slowly. There was a steel in Neo’s words. He was not used to leadership, it was a weakness in the One that Morpheus had recognized in him from the start. Neo was a loner more than a leader and how could the One lead them to freedom if he could not even lead himself. It was a refreshing change to see and he had this young stranger to thank for that. Whatever providence had sent him to them was having an effect that could not be denied.
“Link, do your best. I have faith in you.” Morpheus said slapping Link on the shoulder.
“But sir, we have this message to meet with the Logos and its coming up real soon.”
“That can wait Link.”
“The order comes straight from the High Council and Commander Lock.”
“Link.” Morpheus replied sternly.
“Ok, OK, I’ll prep the medical bay but I feel filthy doing this to a pure bred human.” Link griped.
Kyle stared at the bank of monitors for a moment, watching the rain of green code steadily marching down the screen.
“I’m coming Sara. Just hold on.” he whispered.
“Are you sure about this?” Trinity asked Neo softly as they started organizing the equipment. Neo nodded slowly.
“As surely as if it were you in the Matrix.” he replied.
The silo complex was a ruin, shattered concrete and the debris of the countryside were scattered throughout the base. The chain link fences had rusted away to nothing, and the buildings were nothing more than fossilized ruins, many rotted to the foundations. The wind occasionally kicked up and the metal sign post announcing the base name creaked steadily, the printing had been warped and blackened by rust so that it was illegible.
The creaking was suddenly overcome by a steady whining scream.
A bright spot light lanced down onto the base itself and quickly scanned the area. The dust and debris was kicked up into a thick black cloud by the over head engines of the Hunter Killer. It slowly circled over the base, the spot light searching and finally stopping at an odd obstruction on the ground, it looked like an enormous concrete hatch built right into the ground, a withered petrified tree was strewn across the hatch and the concrete foundation seemed cracked and worn but otherwise undisturbed.
The Hunter Killer’s engines swung downward as it entered hover mode, the spotlight remaining on the hatch.
Moments later more whining could be heard and a squadron of Hunter killers took up position around the hovering ship. Their own spotlights soon flooded onto the location and one of the Hunter Killers, larger than the rest with a protruding belly slowly descended kicking up more dust and debris.
The belly squealed open like metal running on metal and a bright light was revealed within. The modified Hunter Killer soon sprouted three powerful landing gear and it settled down on the earth, the swing engines taking up a neutral position and quickly switched off, the heavy turbine blades coming to a stop.
The belly fully extended into a landing ramp and a dozen endo skeletons carrying heavy weapons quickly fanned out and formed a perimeter around the hatch. Three new forms trundled down as well T-S100. The T-S’s were modified anti-air platforms. Terminators designed to track and shoot down incoming airborne dangers with twin pod mounted anti air missiles and a chest mounted Vulcan cannon for in close attacks. The T-S rarely if ever saw service against the human resistance because they lacked a dedicated air force, relegated mostly to ground combat the T-S’s remained close to the central command center but were now entering regular production in anticipation of the enemy’s sentinel units.
A shimmering humanoid figure descended the ramp watching the forces deploying. He opened his mouth when satisfied an emitted a high pitched modem like whine. The modified HK slowly came back to life, closed its belly and lifted off, quickly taking up formation with the other HKs.
Another modified carrier version descended to take its place, its own belly opening up slowly and disgorging its contents. This time a horde of worker drones rolled down the ramp and formed up in front of the T-1000. The T-1000 nodded to them, sending a wireless signal to the drones which quickly raced around him and began working on the concrete hatch complex, cutting it with tools and removing the pieces in an orderly and methodical fashion.
A large modified tank rumbled into position dropping down a thick chain as the last of the reinforced concrete was pulled away revealing a missile nestled into its launch silo.
Without hesitation two worker drones used their claw arms and held onto the chain that descended down into the open silo. The workers waited until the crane/tank stopped the descent and they began cutting at the nose cone of the missile with exacting precision.
The T-1000 waited patiently at the lip of the silo peering down to see the progress of the work. The nose cone came off cleanly revealing a small cluster of warheads sitting at the center of the delivery system.
The T-1000’s eyes flashed for a moment as it scanned each warhead checking it for yield and viability. Once the scan as completed it nodded to the worker drones and they quickly began to remove the warheads that were still functional from the delivery vehicle. Each warhead was carefully sealed in a glowing metallic liquid metal casing and run up the chain of the crane/tank.
The T-1000 took one of the casings and held it up to the light as it inspected them. An internal checklist was run against the reports from the other search teams. They’re fast methodical searches and recovery had gone through 67% of the available nuclear warheads within range of the central core.
It opened its mouth and emitted another low squeal as it uploaded its latest reports to Skynet’s receivers several hundred kilometers away.
Back at the central complex Skynet updated its listing as the warheads were updated for yield and number.
Skynet would soon have a nuclear arsenal at its disposal again. The Judgment Day clock began a countdown in the recesses of the complex.
Wherever you go, there you are.
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Illuminatus Primus
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I suggest you talk to Skimmer about the viability for ancient nuclear warheads.
"You know what the problem with Hollywood is. They make shit. Unbelievable. Unremarkable. Shit." - Gabriel Shear, Swordfish
"This statement, in its utterly clueless hubristic stupidity, cannot be improved upon. I merely quote it in admiration of its perfection." - Garibaldi in reply to an incredibly stupid post.
The Fifth Illuminatus Primus | Warsie | Skeptical Empiricist | Florida Gator | Sustainability Advocate | Libertarian Socialist |
"This statement, in its utterly clueless hubristic stupidity, cannot be improved upon. I merely quote it in admiration of its perfection." - Garibaldi in reply to an incredibly stupid post.
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Why? Everything I need to know about ancient nuclear warheads I learned from Beneath the Planet of the Apes.Illuminatus Primus wrote:I suggest you talk to Skimmer about the viability for ancient nuclear warheads.
(Kidding, I will PM him.)
Wherever you go, there you are.
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Bah! Meare polt points, Stravo if I have to chain you to a room and feed you through a doggy door in order to force you to write more of this *I* will ... oh yeah THIS IS GREAT STUFF 
!
!Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'
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russellb6666
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...........holy shit this stuff is pure fucking GOLD!!!!! dude you must get this shit published you are a writing god I bow to your writing prowless (bows) im not worthy!!!!! im not worthy!!!!!! but please you must right moreI've gone to find myself. If I get back before I return, please keep me here
unleash the power of mediocrity
It's not that i'm a wimp it's just that i have trouble eatting food that looks the same coming out as it did going in
I want you to hit me as hard as you can
Brotherhood of the Monkey
unleash the power of mediocrity
It's not that i'm a wimp it's just that i have trouble eatting food that looks the same coming out as it did going in
I want you to hit me as hard as you can
Brotherhood of the Monkey
David wrote:Russell<-----
Good update Stravo, although saying that a person who is a computer operator has the abitily to perform major surgery on someone's central nerve system without amost instantly killing them is stretching it thin.
"I'm going to learn Kung Fu?"
How far of a strecth for Neo and Trinity to download a suregry program with Link doing his best to help out with the equipment?
Wherever you go, there you are.
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I thought as much, you could prolly download the entire medical databases in like a day, if that.Stravo wrote:David wrote:Russell<-----
Good update Stravo, although saying that a person who is a computer operator has the abitily to perform major surgery on someone's central nerve system without amost instantly killing them is stretching it thin.
"I'm going to learn Kung Fu?"
How far of a strecth for Neo and Trinity to download a suregry program with Link doing his best to help out with the equipment?
BTW, great stuff! It's 5 past 4 in the morning, but i stayed up to read that!
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Listen to my music! http://www.soundclick.com/nihilanth
"America is, now, the most powerful and economically prosperous nation in the country." - Master of Ossus
Actually David, if you were going to nitpick I would have gone more the road that it couldn't be done to fully grown human. The machines most probably do it during the embryotic stage before the brain has fully developed. Remember that in the first Matrix, Neo was considered 'too old' to wake up as his brain should have rejected the pill and shut down when cut off from the Matrix. The only reason it didn't was because he was the One.
However, as this is Stravo, we turn a blind eye to such things, sit back and enjoy.
However, as this is Stravo, we turn a blind eye to such things, sit back and enjoy.
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'
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Illuminatus Primus
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Leap in logic and needlessly complex.Crown wrote:The machines most probably do it during the embryotic stage before the brain has fully developed. Remember that in the first Matrix, Neo was considered 'too old' to wake up as his brain should have rejected the pill and shut down when cut off from the Matrix. The only reason it didn't was because he was the One.
All Morpheus said was "the mind has trouble letting go." Adults simply have a harder time psychologically coping with the adjustment. It is safe to assume such individuals become psychologically and/or mentally unstable or handicapped.
"You know what the problem with Hollywood is. They make shit. Unbelievable. Unremarkable. Shit." - Gabriel Shear, Swordfish
"This statement, in its utterly clueless hubristic stupidity, cannot be improved upon. I merely quote it in admiration of its perfection." - Garibaldi in reply to an incredibly stupid post.
The Fifth Illuminatus Primus | Warsie | Skeptical Empiricist | Florida Gator | Sustainability Advocate | Libertarian Socialist |
"This statement, in its utterly clueless hubristic stupidity, cannot be improved upon. I merely quote it in admiration of its perfection." - Garibaldi in reply to an incredibly stupid post.
The Fifth Illuminatus Primus | Warsie | Skeptical Empiricist | Florida Gator | Sustainability Advocate | Libertarian Socialist |
Don't be an ass. How does is this 'needlessly complex'? We know that the machines grow humans from the embryotic stage, we know they are harvested like plants. Therefor the optimum time for the jacks to be inserted into the brain are before the brain has fully developed.Illuminatus Primus wrote:Leap in logic and needlessly complex.Crown wrote:The machines most probably do it during the embryotic stage before the brain has fully developed. Remember that in the first Matrix, Neo was considered 'too old' to wake up as his brain should have rejected the pill and shut down when cut off from the Matrix. The only reason it didn't was because he was the One.
All Morpheus said was "the mind has trouble letting go." Adults simply have a harder time psychologically coping with the adjustment. It is safe to assume such individuals become psychologically and/or mentally unstable or handicapped.
There is more to the jack than a hole in the back of someone's head you know. The wires that create the feedback and read the brain's impulses also have to be included into the relevant centres of the brain. To do this when the brain has already fully formed (while possible in the 'future') is impossible today.
The simplest explanation is that the fucking with the brain occurs before the brain has fully formed, thus allowing the brain to form after it has been hard wired simply because the brain can adapt while it is forming, but to our knowledge not after it's pathways are set.
And it is not a leap in logic, Morpheus also said that 'I must apologise Neo, we don't usually free people who have gone beyond a certain age'. and I really don't see how this should be taken to assume he meant 'it might make you cranky'.
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'