Take your typical studio apartment, and add about three
rooms' worth of computer equipment. Cables wind all over the room,
disappearing and reappearing around desks and shelves. Equipment split
apart is spread across any available flat surface, looking more like a
junkyard than a living space.
A technician's nightmare, a hacker's dream. And in the
middle of it all, Teresa Anderson sleeps in front of her computer.
Fiery red hair falls down the back of her black t-shirt, bangs framing
her closed eyes. Music streams through the headphones she's wearing.
On the screen, various newspapers and files scroll by, including a few
mentions and pictures of Xelloss. The images are of a man with
straight shoulder-length purple hair, if they're printed in color. In
any of them, however, he's wearing sunglasses.
The files stop, screen turning black. On it appears 'Wake
up, Lina...' Teresa's crimson eyes flutter open and she slowly looks
up at the computer screen. Seeing how her screen's changed, Teresa
slowly sits up. The text starts to change.
"What," she whispers to herself, taking off her headphones.
'The Matrix has you.'
"What the hell?" She glances around her room then hits the
control and x keys on her keyboard, trying to exit whatever has taken
over her computer.
'Follow the white rabbit.'
"Follow the white rabbit," she reads quietly to herself,
then frowns and hits the escape key a few times.
'Knock knock, Lina.' Teresa looks at the door, startled as
someone knocks on it.
"Who is it?" She glances back at the screen, that's now
blank.
"It's Zan," a voice outside the door replies. Teresa sighs
quietly and stands, going over to the door and opening it a little,
the door chain protecting in case someone tries to push their way in.
Outside Zangulus stands, a wide-brimmed forest green hat hiding his
eyes. Wavy dark blue hair falls just past his shoulders.
"You're two hours late," Teresa points out.
"I know, it's her fault," Zan replies, nodding to the girl
beside him. Her green hair is in long sausage curls. Behind them are
three of their friends. The redhead sighs, shaking her head slightly.
"Got the money?" Zan smirks, holding up a large bundle of
bills.
"Two grand." He hands the money to her.
"Hold on." Teresa closes the door again and goes back into
her apartment, heading for a bookshelf. She pulls down her copy of
Simulacra & Simulation and opens it, revealing a hidden compartment.
She puts the money inside and pulls out a disk. Closing the book and
putting it back, she walks back to the door and takes off the door
chain. Teresa opens the door fully and hands the disk to Zangulus.
"Hallelujah! You're my savior, my own personal Jesus
Christ!" Teresa rolls her eyes slightly.
"You get caught using that..."
"Yeah, I know, this never happened. You don't exist,"
Zangulus finishes, slipping the disk back to one of his friends to
pocket.
"Right." Zan watches her a moment.
"Something wrong? I mean you look a little whiter than
usual." Teresa glances back at the computer.
"My computer, it..." She looks back, red eyes glittering.
"You ever have that feeling, where you're not sure if you're awake or
still dreaming?" Zan closes his eyes a moment, apparently savoring a
memory.
"Mmm, all the time. It's called mescaline, it's the only
way to fly." He opens his eyes again, looking back at Teresa. "Hey, it
just sounds to me like you might need to unplug, you know? Get some R
and R?" He looks to the green-haired woman still beside him. "What do
you think, Martina? Should we take her with us?" Martina smiles
secretly, looking the red-haired girl up and down a moment.
"Definitely."
"I can't, I have, uh, work tomorrow," Teresa stammers a
moment, wondering how this subject came up.
"C'mon, it'll be fun. I promise," Martina winks and,
turning slightly to curl her arms around Zan's neck, reveals a tattoo
of a white rabbit on her left shoulder. Teresa stares at the small
tattoo a moment.
"Yeah... sure. I'll go."
---
It is dark, hot and loud. A nightclub, filled with people
dressed in black and generally grinding to the music. Waru Bad Blood
is the current song pounding out of the club's impressive sound
system.
Teresa stands against a wall, alone and watching the crowd.
She feels completely out of place and considers leaving with a form
breaks off of the large blob of dancers. The form takes shape, a long
blond-haired girl who seems to be staring directly at Teresa. The slim
girl is wearing a flattering black dress that helps to accent her
body's small curves. "Hello, Lina." Teresa blinks, surprised.
"How do you know that name?" Blue eyes seem to glow softly
as the other girl smiles slightly.
"I know a lot about you," she answers, moving closer to
Teresa.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Seraya."
"Seraya?" Dawning reaches the taller girl. "The Seraya?
That cracked the Sailoon d-base?" Ser smiles to her, glad that she's
recognized now.
"That was a long time ago."
"Damn," Teresa half-whispers quietly.
"What?" Not quietly enough.
"Uh, err... never mind, it's not important." Ser walks
closer so they can talk under the loud music.
"Tell me," the blond girl whispers in Teresa's ear.
"I just hoped, uhm... you were a guy."
"Most girls do." Teresa blinks, a little embarrassed. It's
one thing to have a little fantasy but to tell it to the object of
said fantasy?
"That was you on my computer. How did you do that?" Teresa
switches to a subject easier to talk about.
"Right now, all I can tell you is that you're in danger. I
brought you here to warn you." Teresa blinks again.
"Of what?"
"They're watching you, Lina."
"Who is," Teresa demands quietly.
"Please, just listen." Ser presses gently against the
taller girl, lips nearly touching her ear. She continues in a hushed
voice, "I know why you're here, Lina. I know what you've been doing. I
know why you hardly sleep. Why you live alone, and why night after
night, you sit at your computer. You're looking for him. I know
because I was once looking for the same thing. And when he found me,
he told me I wasn't really looking for him. I was looking for an
answer. It's the question that drives us. It's the question that
brought you here. You know the question, just as I did." Steadily
through the speech, Teresa listens more intently, concentrating look
on her face.
"...What is the Matrix?" Ser smiles lightly, standing
straight and moving back a little.
"The answer is out there, Lina. It's looking for you, and
it will find you... if you want it to." Her shining blue eyes lock
onto Teresa's, then she steps back, melting back into the mass of
dancing bodies. The redhead watches her go, thinking about what she's
said.
The music continues to be loud, pounding on her senses with
it's addictive beat. It is quite a party, after all.
---
And an alarm clock's loud buzzing drags Teresa from sleep.
She groggily looks at the display, which reads 9:18. Suddenly she's
fully awake. "Oh shit!"
---
Downtown, Teresa stands nervously before her boss's desk.
She looks out at the window at two washers, who squeegee loudly. Her
boss, Mr. Dynast Grausherra, sits at his desk. He constantly types at
his computer and lectures without looking at Teresa. "You have a
problem with authority, Ms. Anderson. You believe that you are
special, that somehow the rules don't apply to you."
He glances up with icy blue eyes at Teresa, who looks back
just in time. "Obviously, you are mistaken." He goes back to typing
and lecturing. "This company is one of the top software companies in
the world, because every single employee understands that they are
part of a whole. Thus, if an employee has a problem, the company has a
problem."
Mr. Grausherra looks back again. "The time has come to make
a choice, Ms. Anderson. Either you choose to be at your desk, on time,
from this day forth. Or you choose to find yourself another job. Do I
make myself clear?" Teresa swallows and nods.
"Yes, Mr. Grausherra, perfectly clear."
---
She slumps in her chair, familiar setting of the cubicle
around her again. One of her fellow employees stands and leans over
the wall. "So, what did he say?" Teresa shakes her head.
"If I was late again, I'm going to be fired." He smirks.
"Well, it was nice knowing you." Red eyes glare up at him
as he sits down again.
"Teresa Anderson?" She blinks and turns in her chair,
looking at the FedEx guy standing outside the cubicle door with a
package.
"Yeah, that's me." He hands her a clipboard to sign, which
she does, then a package.
"Great. Have a nice day," and leaves. Teresa stares at the
package a moment then opens it; inside is a cell phone. As soon as she
pulls it out, it rings. A bit unnerved, she answers.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Lina. Do you know who this is," a smooth voice asks
through the phone. Teresa's eyes widen and she turns back to her desk,
leaning on it.
"Xelloss."
"Yes." Her stomach tightens, listening closely. "I've been
looking for you, Lina. I don't know if you're ready to see what I want
to show you, but unfortunately, you and I have run out of time.
They're coming for you Lina, and I don't know what they're going to
do."
"Who's coming for me?"
"Stand up and see for yourself."
"What, right now?"
"Yes, now." She starts to stand. "Do it slowly. The
elevator." She peeks over the top of her cubicle and looks. Near the
elevator are Agents Filia, Milgasia and Valgarv, leading a group of
police officers. The employee they're speaking to points towards her
cubicle.
"Oh, shit," she says into the phone, ducking.
"Yes." Valgarv and Filia start walking through the maze of
cubicles, Milgasia staying at the elevator.
"What the hell do they want from me," she asks forcefully.
"I don't know, but if you don't want to find out, I suggest
you get out of there." The phone is so clear, it seems Xel is right
there beside her.
"How?"
"I can guide you, but you must do exactly as I say." The
Dragons are moving quickly towards the cubicle. Time is running out.
"The cubicle across from you is empty."
"But what if they--"
"Go! Now!" Teresa lunges across the hall, diving into the
other cubicle just as the Agents reach her row. She curls up in a dark
corner, holding the phone closely. "Stay here a moment."
The Agents look into the empty cubicle, and then send a cop
to search the bathroom. It was very close. Agent Filia talks with the
employee next to Teresa's cubicle. "When I tell you, go to the end of
the row to the office at the end of the hall. Stay as low as you can."
She bites her lip slightly and nods, nervous. "Go, now."
She ducks low and runs to the office, praying that she'll
avoid being seen. When she reaches the office, she closes the door and
holds the phone to her ear again. "Good, now, outside, there's a
scaffold."
"How do you know all this?"
"We don't have time, Lina." Xel's voice has a slight hint
of iciness. "To your left, there's a window. Go to it and open it."
Teresa does so, looking outside. The wind howls and the traffic far
below isn't as loud as it should be. "You can use the scaffold to get
to the roof."
"No way! No way! This is crazy," she says as she backs away
from the open window, shaking her head.
"There are two ways out of this building," the voice in the
phone replies, calculatingly neutral again. "One is that scaffold, the
other is in their custody. You take a chance either way. I leave it to
you," and the phone hangs up. Teresa mutters to herself.
"This is insane! Why is this happening to me, what'd I do?
I'm nobody, I didn't do anything." She goes back to the window and
looks out. "I'm going to die." Deciding to at least try, though, she
steps out onto the ledge and starts creeping towards the scaffold.
The wind blows, threatening to throw her from the building.
She makes it around the corner of the building, just a few feet from
her goal. Clutching to a support beam and the last obstacle, the wind
kicks up and knocks the phone from her hand. Teresa watches as it
plummets to the ground.
"I can't do this!" She looks at the scaffold then starts to
edge back towards the open window.
---
The Dragon Agents lead a handcuffed Teresa out of the
revolving doors of the building and force her into their dark sedan. A
few spaces down the street, Seraya watches in the side view mirror of
her motorcycle. After pushing Teresa in and the other two Dragons get
in, Valgarv pauses and looks in Seraya's direction. "Shit." She then
takes off with a roar of the engine, long hair flying behind her.
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