It's a small room, the interrogation room. Teresa sits at a
table, waiting alone. Then the door opens and Agent Valgarv enters the
little room. The other two Dragons flank their captive, standing in
the corner of the small room behind her. The green-haired Agent sits
down across from Teresa, a thick folder packed with papers slapping
down on the table. She glances at the name of the file, ‘Anderson,
Teresa F.’
"As you can see, we've had our eye on you for some time
now, Ms. Anderson." He opens the file and begins flipping through
pages. Behind those glasses, Teresa can't tell if the Agent's looking
at the file or at her. "It seems that you've been living two lives. In
one life, you're Teresa F. Anderson, program writer for a respectable
software company. You have a social security number, you pay your
taxes, and you... help your landlady carry out her garbage." The look
of disgust on his face only makes Teresa roll her eyes.
"The other life is lived in computers, where you go by the
hacker alias Lina, and are guilty of virtually every computer crime we
have a law for. One of these lives has a future, and one of them does
not." The Agent closes the file. "I'm going to be as forthcoming as I
can be, Ms. Anderson. You're here because we need your help." Agent
Valgarv removes his sunglasses revealing a pair of yellow eyes.
"We know that you've been contacted by a certain
individual, a man who calls himself Xelloss. Whatever you think you
know about this man is irrelevant. He is considered by many
authorities to be the most dangerous man alive." The Agent leans
closer, making sure Teresa's listening.
"My colleagues believe that I am wasting my time with you,
but I believe you wish to do the right thing. We're willing to wipe
the slate clean," he says, pushing the file aside, "give you a fresh
start. All that we're asking in return is your cooperation in bringing
a known terrorist to justice." Teresa nods to herself.
"Yeah. Well, that sounds like a pretty good deal. But I
think I may have a better one. How about I give you the finger..." She
does. "And you give me my phone call." The Agent glares at the fiery
young woman before putting his glasses back on and sitting up.
"Ms. Anderson, you disappoint me."
"You can't scare me with this Gestapo crap. I know my
rights. I want my phone call." A shadow of a smirk appears on the
Agent's face.
"And tell me, Ms. Anderson, what good is a phone call... if
you're unable to speak?" Teresa blinks, a bit unnerved by the
question. Then she feels the muscles in her jaw tighten.
From confusion to panic, her eyes grow wide as her lips
slowly seal shut, melding into each other until her mouth is
completely gone. Wild with fear, she jumps back from the chair,
thudding against the far wall. The other Agents restrain her and throw
her onto the table on her back. Agent Filia pulls up her shirt.
"You're going to help us, Ms. Anderson, whether you want to
or not." Valgarv pulls a small metal case out of his pocket and opens
it. He takes one of the small devices, hits a switch so the red light
on it glows, and holds it over Teresa's exposed abdomen. The redhead
watches, horrified as the probe comes to life and becoming a
long-legged spider-like machine. She struggles more as the Agent drops
the thing onto her, and it starts burrowing into her bellybutton.
---
Teresa screams and sits up, breathing hard. In bed. At
home. Slowly she realizes it must've been a dream. Her mouth feels
normal; her stomach looks fine. Rain gently patters against her
apartment window. She lays back and starts to take a deep, "everything
is okay" breath when the phone rings.
It rings several times as she stares at it until finally
she stands and walks over, answering it silently. "This line is
tapped, so I must be brief." Xelloss. "They got to you first, but
they’ve underestimated how important you are. If they knew what I
know, you would probably be dead."
"...What are you talking about, what is happening to me,"
she asks quietly.
"You are the One, Lina. You see, you may have spent the
last few years looking for me, but I've spent my entire life looking
for you. Now, do you still want to meet?" Teresa swallows, trying to
help the dryness in her throat.
"Yes."
"Then go to the Adams Street Bridge," and he hangs up. She
closes her eyes, unsure of what she's done.
---
Teresa stands under the bridge, looking around nervously.
It's raining harder, adding to the mood. A black Lincoln Continental
pulls up and the back door opens. Inside is Seraya. "Get in." Teresa
glances around then slides into the back beside the blond girl.
Driving is a man with long red hair and in the passenger seat is a
woman with short black hair. She aims a gun at Teresa.
"What the hell is this?"
"It's necessary, Lina, for our protection." Teresa frowns,
never taking her eyes off the weapon aimed at her.
"From what?"
"From you." Eris eyes the redhead.
"Take off your shirt." Teresa blinks, a bit surprised at
the request.
"What?" Eris sighs.
"Stop the car," she says to Garv and the vehicle comes to a
halt. "Listen to me, coppertop, we don't have time for 20 Questions.
Right now, there's only one rule: our way, or the highway." Teresa
looks between the three others.
"Fine," and opens the door, stepping out into the rain.
Seraya slides over.
"Please, Lina, you have to trust me." The redhead pauses
and looks over her shoulder.
"Why?"
"Because you have been down there, Lina. You know that
road. You know exactly where it ends, and I know that's not where you
want to be." Teresa turns, looking at Seraya. "Please," she whispers.
A moment passes between them; red eyes on blue, then Teresa
nods and gets back into car. It starts off again as if nothing
happened.
"Garv, lights." The lights in the car come on as Seraya
looks back at Teresa. "Lie back, lift up your shirt." She pulls a
strange device off the floor as the taller girl does as she's told. It
looks like a strange combination of things, a large metal ring at the
bottom, a glass tube at the top and a small computer monitor as a
viewing screen. The controls include a few buttons and seem to be a
handle along with two rings for a pair of fingers.
"What is that thing?"
"I think you're bugged," Ser answers vaguely as she places
the ring of the strange tool against Teresa's stomach. Garv plugs the
device’s power supply into the cigarette lighter and flips a switch,
turning it on. "Try to relax." That’s easy for her to say as she peers
through the view port, adjusting the device.
"Come on... come on..."
"It's on the move," Eris points out. A small bump wriggles
under the surface of Teresa’s stomach, causing her to wince.
"Come on, you shit," the blond whispers as Teresa convulses
in pain.
"You're going to lose it!"
"No I'm not," she answers coolly, activating the device’s
electrical system. "Clear!" Teresa cries out weakly as she’s shocked,
then the bug is sucked out of her bellybutton and into the glass tube
with a wet splattering sound.
"Jesus Christ, that thing's real?!" Seraya opens the window
and empties the small glass jar out onto the pavement. The robotic bug
reverts to its original probe form, powerless.
"It's all right, Lina, it's over now," Seraya whispers,
holding Teresa's trembling shoulders. "It's all right now..."
---
Seraya leads the redhead up a stairwell down a hall. They
stop outside a double-doored room. "This is it." Teresa swallows,
hearing her own heart pounding. Ser looks up at her, blue eyes
shining. "Let me give you one piece of advice... be honest. He knows
more than you can imagine."
Inside, Teresa looks around a moment then stops. In the
middle are two large burgundy-leather chairs facing each other with a
table between them, a full glass of water sitting on it. Across the
room, a dark figure stares out the window. She sees he has
shoulder-length purple hair as he turns, a slight smile appearing on
his face. "At last." He wears a closed long black coat and a pair of
circular mirrored glasses. "Welcome Lina. As you no doubt have
guessed, I am Xelloss."
Red eyes widen. "It's an honor to meet you." Lina offers
her hand to Xelloss. The small smile widens a little and he shakes her
hand.
"No... The honor is mine. Please, come. Sit," he indicates
a chair and Teresa sits uncomfortably on the edge, Seraya disappearing
into an adjacent room. "I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit
like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?"
"You could say that," she replies, nodding weakly.
"I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a woman
who accepts what she sees, because she is expecting to wake up." That
small smile remains on his face as he walks around behind the second
chair. "Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in
fate, Lina?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of
my life." Xel's sunglasses reflect Teresa's image back at her as he
continues to smile secretly. He nods, seemingly agreeing with the
woman as he sits in the chair across from her. Xelloss conjures a
small container seemingly from thin air and turns it in his hands as
he replies to Teresa.
"I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you're
here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't
explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that
there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but
it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this
feeling that has brought you to me." He stops turning the container in
his hands. "Do you know what I'm talking about?" Teresa stares at the
purple-haired legend.
"The Matrix?"
"Do you want to know what it is?" She nods. "The Matrix is
everywhere. It is all around us, even now, in this very room. You can
see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your
television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to
church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled
over your eyes to blind you to the truth." Teresa blinks and leans
forward.
"What truth?" Xelloss leans forward as well.
"That you are a slave, Lina. Like everyone else, you were
born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste
or touch. A prison for your mind." He sits back again with a sigh.
"Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is." Xel opens the
small case. "You have to see it for yourself."
He empties the case’s contents into his hands then puts it
on the table. He leans forward once more with two fists. Lina
straightens a bit. "This is your last chance. After this, there is no
turning back." He opens his left hand, revealing the first pill. "You
take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and
believe whatever you want to." He opens his right hand, revealing the
second pill. "You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I
show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
Teresa looks at the reflection of the two pills in those
mirror glasses, and then she starts to reach for one. "Remember, all
I'm offering is the truth, nothing more." Teresa watches Xel a moment,
then takes the red pill and places it in her mouth, drinking water
from the glass that was almost forgotten between herself and Xelloss.
His smile grows as she swallows the pill and half the water, and then
puts the glass back down. "Follow me."
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