Matrix TNG Chapter 2: The Oracle

[Sithdarth]

All the particpants in the garage encounter where 2 blocks away and heading for the Oracle when they heard a defening roar. A quick look back revealed the parking garage had been replaced by a cloud of dust. What the didn't see was the lone figure burst from the rubble. Standing up with tatered and dusty cloths he let out a howl of rage that shook the nearby building even more. Then with a sharp boom he shot of into the air and towards his corner of the Matrix.
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When the humans arrived at the meeting with the Orcale they discovered she had provided her own security team. She had brought along 10 fully armed programs. Most of them trained by her to use the Matrix to it's highest potential . The meeting place she had chosen was a small out of the way resturant devoid of life, save for her and her guards. She bid them sit at a rather large table in the middle of the resturant and would say nothing of what they were here for until all had arrived.

ooc: Ok post how you got here and a little of what happened if you want. Then I'll get the ball rolling as to what she called you here for.

[Ganurath]

Insaniac pulled up to the restaurant on his motorcycle, getting off along with the Captain. He eyed the guards, then spotted the Oracle. "This looks like the place."

[Jaguar]

When Virus and Captain had attacked Whisper's cycle, the program had turned ethereal and stopped, causing Virus and the bullets to pass through him and his motorcycle. He had rematerialized and followed them at a safe distance, until they stopped. He hid his fancy white motorcycle, a gift from the extremely wealthy Merovingian, in an alley and leapt upwards to the roof. He landed effortlessly at the top of the restaurant and took off his sunglasses, revealing his unblinking, pure white, pupilless, irisless eyes. He knelt down and watched them carefully.

[The Mirror Emperor]

Bass pulled up to the resturant in his now shot-up Volvo with 2 of his guns and all of his clips gone, and a scratch across his face. He, without a word, walked in, saw the Oracle and leaned against the wall waiting for the others to show.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Virus looked back after passing through the whispy program and aimed behind him. The program was nowhere to be seen. Holstering his DSK, he pulled out his Cell Phone.

"Crypt. Any sign of that Exhile?"

As he pulled in front of the Oracle's Restaraunt, he nodded to the others in turn as he listened to Crypts response.

He looked up to out of curiosity and suspicion, but Whisper moved out of sight before Virus could spot him.

[h4x.m4g3]

Zax had found driving here normally rather boring so he had some fun going extremely fast once more forgetting the threat of cops once he had gotten with a few blocks of the meeting place. He did another stoppie as he pivoted on the front wheel he looked back quite satisfied with the black mark he had left behind him. He got off the bike and walked inside wipping off his glasses as he went.

[Jaguar]

Whisper noticed that a small storage floor was above the main restaurant. He assumed his ethereal form and floated down into it, rematerializing and peering through a small crack.

[fub]

ooc : im saving my 2 points thank you very much

ic : toad ran as fast as he could from the "encounter" towards the restaraunt where he was told the oracle was. After arriving a great 10 minutes behind any and everyone else and decided it would be smart to sneak for once and ran to the side of the restaraunt and saw a ladder. "This is going to be fun he thought" as he attempted to bring it down with his telekinesis

ooc 2 : I supposed it had multiple stories and a fire exit (might be handy considering our track record)

[Thaumaturge]

Just escaping the chaotic destruction of the garage, Adept had desperately jumped onto the back of one of the bikes. As they sped away, Adept had looked back to see Whisper behind them, renewing the attack. In truth, Adept wasn't sure whether he was happy or disappointed that Whisper had survived; he had never liked killing, but Whisper's survival was a danger to the group. There was a clash, and at some point Whisper became etherial, his human opponents passing through him. After that Adept lost sight of the program. Somehow he was certain that Whisper hadn't lost sight of them.

In time the group arrived at the Oracle's meeting point, a deserted restaurant. As he entered at the back of the group, Adept looked back and thought he saw a flicker of movement near the entrance to an alley. It was probably nothing, but Adept made a mental note to keep his eyes open.

Inside, Adept had to admit that he was impressed by the quality of the Oracle's guards. If Whisper chose to attack again, they stood a decent chance with these guys. Adept sighed. What was he into?

[Sithdarth]

"I see your all here now," the Oracle began, "although some of you prefer to make a sneaky entrance. Don't think I don't know what you two are doing," she finished in a slightly loudy tone of voice so Whisper and Toad could hear. "This story is part history and part prophecy but all true. You see the ending of the war came at a high price, as you all know. The one was lost for a while and now it seems he has found his way back to us." The Oracle paused to check the reactions of those gathered. "When the Smith program was out of control Neo allowed himself to be assimlated in order to destroy it. While he did manage free the Matrix of the rouge program traces still remain. Those traces rebuilt themself into him. The newly reformed Smith program did not know that he had also rebuilt Neo. So now we have a whole new program at war with itself and the Matrix. Your mission is to collect scraps of code that when joined by the hackers of Zion will form a weapon. This weapon will seperate Neo from Smith and end the threat he poses. You no doubt saw the raw power that this blending of program and humans contains. No this your mission will not be an easy one for the Smith half will do everything in his power to stop you." With that the Oracle fell silent waiting for the invetable questions that they all must have.

[Ganurath]

Insaniac whistles in realization. "And I was only joking when I called him Neo's evil twin..."

[Re-Glor]

When Alpha finaly reached the garage area he was dismayed yet overjoyed to see it had been turned into a big parking lot. The calmness of the slowly sifting smoke brought comfort to him. He wondered if the humans or whisper had won, if either were still alive, and the most nagging thought in the back of his mind was, if any of them are alive.. where are they now.

He wanted to relax. He had earned it. After all, he assumed, there is no way whisper could have killed all the humans, not with some many of them being awakened and at some of there skills. But his gut feeling was that whisper was still out there. If this were true his plan would have to wait. Then it hit him, it would be perfect if whisper was still with the humans. Besides, he knew where it was. He also knew the humans would now know they would have to find all the them, and that would lead whisper right to him.

He started for where he knew the humans would go, picking up a little more bounce to his steps a smile on his face and small little tune that he only sang three words too, "Revenge is sweet".

[Jaguar]

Whisper scowled at this news. The One.........back!? Impossible! He was destroyed. This could prove to be good news to the Merovingian. If we reach these scraps before the humans do, we could use them to our advantage. He exited the building and dropped down onto his motorcycle. Drawing an M16 from a holster, he revved up the engine and passed the restaurant, spraying it with bullets.

[Ganurath]

Insaniac heard Whisper's engine rev. He turned immediatly, and saw him ready his M16. "Get down!" As those who couldn't dodge dropped to the ground, Insaniac pulled out his Ingalis and opened fire at Whisper, aiming at the program's tires. He noticed out of the corner of his eye one or two of the guards protecting the Oracle from the line of fire. Two or three bullets flew in his direction, and he dodged them with only a brief lapse in fire.

OOC: Dodge 4.

[h4x.m4g3]

"Get down" Zax said dropping to the floor himself under the spray of bullets once again thankfully for the five second head start he got on them. He waited for ten seconds after the spray had ended before he asked the question that he knew had to be on everyone's mind "You asked for this crew specifically... so why us?"

[Jaguar]

Whisper continued on down the road at top speed, and the bullets fired at him missed. He soon found what he was looking for: an old, abandoned shed. He stepped inside and opened a door, leading into the programmer's maintenance passage (the white hallway from the movies). He located the door to the Merovingian's mansion andopened it, revealing the famed program's office. Whisper calmly brushed himself off and bowed low. "Greetings, my lord," he began. He proceeded to tell the Merovingian all he'd heard about the Entity and the return of The One.

[The Mirror Emperor]

"I too got a question for you, Oracle." Bass said, holding his hand in a pained yet blank expression, for his hand was hit with Whisper's gun. "How do we find these 'scraps of code' of this weapon you're talking about?"

[Re-Glor]

As Alpha came to an abanded resturant he stopped. He noticed the bullet holes in the glass and wall. Could I be to late? he thought to himself, Did i miss it?. He opened the door and walked in. He was met by two guards holding guns to his face. He stood there with a semi vacant look on his face, his sunglass broken, the left arm of his jacket stained in blood, his right hand slowly sliding into his jacket. He stopped reaching for the gun at sight of the humans. Time to play his cards right.

"Oh great luck, I've found you, and your alive. When my distraction failed I thought you might have been killed," stated Alpha with his most relieved face he could muster. "Glad to see you all made it, and what of the hunter? Did you kill the rouge program?"

[Sithdarth]

"Your first question is a rather complicated one. The short answer is you have the correct set of skills for this job." She stood and took a quick walk to one of her guards. She held out her hand and he gave her a small device. Walking back over she handed it to Captain, "This will help you find the pieces of code you need. I suggest you find a hacker to duplicate it. Now it's time we went are seperate ways, at least for now." With that she and all her guards exited through a door that should have led to the street but led to somewhere else completely. The resturant stood empty and the humans were left to contemplate what they had been told.

[Thaumaturge]

Adept got to his feet, shaking broken glass from his raincoat. The Oracle's words still echoed in his head. Smith and Neo... he had heard of Neo's final battle, his final sacrifice. He thought about the scene in the garage, the Entity warring with itself, its code churning chaotically. If there was a way to separate Smith and Neo... It looked like he had been right to come with the crew of the Morpheus. He turned to the Captain. "If you want it, my aid is yours. I don't know what I can add that the rest of your crew can't, but I will aid where I can." His eyes caught on the item in the Captain's hand. "Perhaps I could help with that..."

[Jaguar]

Whisper had been given orders from the Merovingian, and his first objective was to again fight the crew of the Morpheus, this time to retrieve one of the devices. The Merovingian had already known about these devices, so he had informed Whisper on how to aquire and use one. He rode straight back to the restaurant and stopped in front of it, holding his 50AE pistol and M16. He spat his ignited cigarette into a puddle of spilled motor oil, and it burst into flame. At the same time, he cocked his guns and opened fire.

[Thaumaturge]

Bullets once again tore the fragile pseudo-matter of the restaurant, leaving lances of light to mark their paths. Adept hit the ground just in time to avoid the spray, his hands over his head to shield himself from the rain of wood and glass shards. He belly-crawled to a crack at floor height, and peered through, hoping to discover the identity of their attacker. Whisper, he thought, catching sight of the white motorcycle. I should have known. He opened a hand, made a grasping motion. The telekinesis jerked hard on Whisper's leg, pulling him off balance, and Adept rolled hard to one side, behind a cabinet, to avoid the inevitable return fire.

[Ganurath]

Insaniac smirked as he ducked and dodged, firing at Whisper in spurts to disrupt his attack. The spray of his Ingalis was somewhat inaccurate, but he grinned as Whisper suddenly staggered into the line of one of his shots. Be too suprised to ghost out, you bastard program.

[fub]

Toad runs back around to the front and attempts to strangle whisper who almost immediatly broke and kicked toad straight into the motorcycle. Toad attempted a new little trick; telekinesis on whispers 50ae hoping to take it. Again it dosen't work. Toad last idea was a jumping boot to the head.

ooc: strength 2 telekinesis 1

[slightly aboveaverage man]

"This party is getting a little too hot for us." Virus stated as he overturned a table.

"Captain, I suggest we get to an exit. we can get Crypt to copy the program within The Construct."

Pulling his cell phone, he dialed the Morpheus. and waited for Crypt's reply.

[Re-Glor]

Stunned that none of the humans said anything Alpha stood there. He watched the Oracle walk past him and the guards leave. Wondering if he was dead or invisable he started to speak when he heard the sound of guns cocking and starting to fire. He spun around dodging a few bullets and landing on his injuried arm. He let off a small grunt of pain the reached for his Deagle and opened fire of his last three rounds at the bike of the program.

ooc: dodge 4, Acceleration 2
Edit: Acceleration is posted to show I had the reduced time to turn around

[Jaguar]

Whisper, as expected, turned ethereal. He then, however, floated backwards and through Toad. Materializing, Whisper landed 128 punches into the human's back in two seconds.

OOC: Acceleration 4

[Ganurath]

Insaniac, who had been standing by Toad, unsheathes his machete suddenly and uses the blade to slice at Whisper's punches, preventing the attacks.

(Acceleration 4)

[Jaguar]

Whisper, frustrated at the fact that he was outnumbered, unsheathed his huge hunting knife and parried Insaniac's machete. He grinned maniacally then pushed the human away, sending him flying.

OOC: Strength 4

[Ganurath]

Insaniac easily evaded the push and used the motion of the dodge to make a clean swipe at Whisper's torso with his machete, the speed of his motion making it extremely difficult to react to.

(Dodge 4: It ain't just for bullets.)

[The Mirror Emperor]

I'm not gonna let anyone die from a program, Bass thought before whipping out his last 2 guns and shooting at Whisper (at an angle so that Insaniac wouldn't be hit in the spray), not expecting it to hit but distract him from his fight with Insaniac.

[fub]

Insaniac, who had been standing by Toad, unsheathes his machete suddenly and uses the blade to slice at Whisper's punches, preventing the attacks.

(Acceleration 4)
ooc: thanks

ic: "Thanks Insaniac" said toad gratefully as he jumped up and pulled his bo staff
off of his back. Moments later toad attempted tripping Whisper and brought down the staff with all his might towards Whisper's head

[Sithdarth]

Crypt answered the phone of the Morpheus, "Three blocks down and one over. First floor on your right after you enter the door." He took a quick breath and continued, "And you better hurry too. Whatever you faced in that garage could be on it's way back."
----------------
Captain noticed that Whisper had stepped away from his bike. Perfect, he thought to himself with a smile. Pulling out his duel Glocks he unloaded two full clips into it. Both wheels deflated, the gas tank began to leak, and several other liquids began to flow from it. I quick check confirmed just enough transportation for the humans. Putting his guns away he shouted, "Everyone lets mount up and get out of here. He can only follow on foot now." He then frew his katana and game at Whisper hoping to help distract him enough so everyone could get away.

[Jaguar]

Whisper, seeing his bike get destroyed, leapt on to a car and did a split kick, kicking both Toad and Insaniac. With a deft twist of his hands, he caught Captain's katana and plunged it into the engine of the car, causing it to explode. The resulting blast knocked him forward, and he flipped in the air and landed, bringing his foot down on the hood of a second car. The car flipped over him and crashed through the resaurant windows.

(Strength 4)

[Ganurath]

Insaniac swirved in sudden motion as Whisper tried to kick him, grabbing the program's leg and using the force of the kick itself to slam him into the pavement.

(Dodge 4, Acceleration 4)

[Thaumaturge]

Adept desperately avoided the flying debris, trying to see a way to help the fight. Given Whisper's performance thus far, Adept felt that a direct attack would help little, and if the group fighting Whisper became too large, they might start to get in each others' way. As he searched for some tactic, the Captain charged into the fray, katana drawn. It didn't look like anyone was going to run this time, unless the Entity himself showed up again, or Whisper was defeated. Again Adept searched the area for some way to tip the balance. His eyes lighted on a small rock, a little way away from the melee. He gave an evil little smile. Sometimes a battle could rest on something as small as a stone. He moved carefully around, making sure that he wasn't seen - not too difficult since Whisper was preoccupied with the crew of the Morpheus. He concentrated on the stone, but did not move it. Once he had it firmly in his mind's grasp, he watched Whisper carefully. Whisper was facing away from Adept, and away from the stone. Perfect. Adept threw the stone with all of his mind's might, directly at the back of Whisper's skull.

[Jaguar]

Whisper looked behind him and saw the rock flying towards him. He leapt upward and did a backflip, biking the rock back at Adept. As Insaniac grabbed his leg and slammed him into the pavement, Whisper pushed up with his hands and flipped over the human. Elbowing Insaniac in the small of his back, Whisper leapt toward Captain and kicked him three times, ending with a backflip and a punch in the chest.

[Ganurath]

While Whisper was still in the air, Insaniac had slashing several dozen times at him using his machete. "What is it with you goddamn programs and not wanting to die?"

[fub]

Toad as he landed jumped up as quickly as he could and ran up a nearby wall quickly jumped off and tried to bring down his staff upon Whispers .50ae.

(acceleration 3)
(strength 2)
(running 4)

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Virus nodded and hung up the phone, Taking the divice from captain, he said. "I'll get this to Crypt."

as Captain acknowledged him, Virus leaped through the window and onto his bike. Reving the engine, he followed the Operators instructions. Running through the doors, he got to the hardline, saying. "There's no place like home!"

he jacked into the construct.

Ooc: My computer is down guys, I am reporting from my friends, so I will be out for about a week or more I think. Sithdarth, take over my character until I get back. Thnx.

[Sithdarth]

Captain dodged the kicks easly as well as the bunch and sent a TK blast at Whisper. He spotted his katana on the ground and lept for it. He came up facing Whisper with his sword between them. We gotta find a way out of this, he thought to himself ,none of us can fight at this level for much longer. He decided to attempt to stay out of the frey until the time was right.

ooc: Jaguar it might be a good ideal to start running now. With the amount of focus you have been using to keep us at bay your running pretty low. The rest of us are about halfway through are focus endurance as well. Anyone that might not have read the discussion thread you got 2 points to spend or save, and Saam thats no problem I'll keep you alive until you get back.

[The Mirror Emperor]

Bass threw his guns to the floor and ran towards his Volvo, spun it around to the direction of the exit and then stopped, shouting out his window, "Let's go!"

[Jaguar]

Whisper, seeing he was outnumbered, turned and ran away, turning ethereal and shooting through a church. He decide to flee. No shame in a tactical retreat.

[Ganurath]

Insaniac grabbed Toad, threw him on the back of his bicycle, and rode after Bass. "someday, ghost boy, your ass be mine." He then proceeded to rap about killing programs.

[Thaumaturge]

Adept caught the rock from the air, smashing it to the ground in frustration. Whisper was outnumbered, and knew it, and Adept smiled to see the program become ethereal and spirit through a nearby wall. We'll meet again, Whisper, thought Adept, and next time we will beat you.

A loud explosion caught Adept's attention. "We'd better get out of here!" he shouted, and, jumping onto one of the motorbikes he sped off after the others.

[Jaguar]

Watching the humans flee on bikes, Whisper floated into an 18-wheeler truck and materialized, shoving the driver out. He took the wheel and waited until the humans passed him, and then jammed down the accelerator, weaving through traffic towards Captain.

[Dante]

OOC: Not goign to have my guy make a move yet. Please disregard all that nonsense about SUVs and grenade launchers.. their time will come.

[Sithdarth]

Captain say the big truck bearing down on him. I'll give him points for determination, he thought to himself with a litte laugh, but there is no way he is going to cathc me. He took the bike he had borrowed down an alley far to small for the truck. Turning a quick corner he found himself at the back entrance to place where the hard line was. Jumping of the bike he headed in.
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Virus related the story to Crypt while he waited in the construct for the device to be recorded and copied. After Crypt had finished he brought Virus back to the real world. Virus stood up and rubbed the back of his neck then waited to help the others jack out.

ooc:Just so you know Jaguar at level one can only turn bike sized things ethereal. At level three you might be able to do that size truck with a lot of concentration. Just so you know.

[Jaguar]

OOC: I'll keep that in mind.

IC: Whisper snapped the brakes of the truck and turned ethereal. The whole truck continued moving forward and passed through him. It crashed into the alley and exploded, sending debris, rubble, and smoke everywhere. He materialized and drew his 50AE pistol. He climbed over the wreckage, and was disappointed to find no blackened corpse.

[fub]

As they were tearing down the road Toad leaned forward and asked if he could borrow a gun from Insaniac to cover their escape.

[The Mirror Emperor]

Bass pulled up near the building where the exit was. He got out and kicked down the front door and heard the phone ringing. He picked it up and in a split second he was gone.

He woke up to a metal ceiling, and got up once his plug was pulled out. He looked over Crypt's shoulder. "Where are the others?"

[Jaguar]

Whisper sat in an alley, pondering his options. Having failed to retrieve one of the tracking devices, he couldn't find the pieces of the item the Oracle had described. So, the best remaining alternative was to cooperate with the humans. Difficult, but not impossible. He contacted another ship and asked them to relay his proposal to the Morpheus.

*************************************************

The captain of the Icharus, another ship in Zion's fleet, called Crypt. "Hello," he said in a rush. "Is this the Morpheus?"

[Sithdarth]

"Crypt here," he answered thinking it might be one of the crew. "Say what, Whisper, that program that was chasing the crew wants to make a deal." He was a little stunned to say the least. Just then Captain was unplugged and looked around a little tired. He got up and walked over to Crypt wondering you he was talking to. "God to see you Captain it seems that program that you made friends with wants to talk."

"Well thats certainly an interesting turn of events," Captain mused almost to himself. "Tell him to meet us tomorrow," he contiuned, "not all of us can go without food and sleep." He turned back to the crew who had all jacked out by now. "Good news and bad news," he annouced, "Good news is that we might not have to fight that program again. Bad news is that we may have to fight him again and a few of his friends. Either way its time to grab some food and a little rest." He sent Crypt, who doubled as the ships cook, into the ships 'kitchen'. Then Captain sat at there low table motioning for everyone to relax and talk a little.

ooc: In case you haven't noticed when Captain says something it may be a direct suggestion from me as to the best course of action.

[Jaguar]

The captain frowned. "Whisper? We recieved a call from four programs that call themselves the Ghost Gang. Whisper was one of their number, and the other three are Phantom, Spectre, and Poltergeist." The captain hung up.

[Ganurath]

Insaniac pulled up to the exit building and stroled in, picking up the ringing phone.

As Insaniac became unplugged, he came out complaining. "At no time in this mission was babysitting part of my job description. I hope we have a [flipping] solution to the ghost problem."

[Thaumaturge]

Adept re-awoke to the real world and sat up, stiff. He arched an eyebrow when Crypt told the Captain that Whisper wanted to talk, but didn't say anything. His stomach growled, and he readily followed the Captain to the table. He had to admit, he was intrigued by this situation, and was unwilling to leave before it was resolved. Once everyone was seated, he leaned forward and said: "Captain, I don't think that we can trust this program. I've seen him around the Matrix, and heard a little more. He works for the Merovingian. If Whisper is interested in joining forces with us, it can only be because the Merovingian wants the device, and the pieces of code that it leads to. I don't know about you, but I don't want the Merovingian getting his nasty little hands on it."

[fub]

Toad wakes up with a jolt and hears adept and Captain talking and says "I agree with Adept on this one. I mean come on working for the merovingian just screams backstabber."

[Sithdarth]

"I agree," he said, "we can't trust these particular programs. I suggest that we get in contact with a few of Zion's programers." He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. "We'll get them to create an identical unit that will lead them to false peices that other crews will place all over the Matrix." He laughed a little than happy with his plan. "There is no way they will be able to tell the difference until it's too late."

ooc:Fub just a suggestion but it might be good to flesh out you posts a little bit more. A good sized paragraph should do.

[Jaguar]

Whisper met with the other three members of the Ghost Gang. Poltergeist was a hacker, able to break into almost any existing software. Spectre was a silver-tongued thief and gatherer of information, very skilled at bluffing, bribing, or cheating his way out of a situation. Phantom was the fastest of the four, able to dodge bullets, attacks, etc. Lastly, there was himself, the leader and main combatant. Poltergeist spoke first. "Whisper has briefed me on what he's seen, and I could conclude that they may be thinking of a plan to decieve us, so we must be on our guard." Whisper nodded. "Poltergeist, see if you can hack into the Zion mainframe computer. If you can, search for any information that could aid us, and if neccesary, plant a virus."

[Thaumaturge]

Adept nodded. "An excellent idea, Captain. However, Whisper, and therefore the Merovingian, know about the device. They also know that we're outside the Matrix; it's not unlikely that they will guess that we will take the device to Zion. If you go through with this plan, make sure that your best programmers and hackers work on this, and that they stay alert for outside hackers." He leaned back. "And what of the meanwhile? Do we just wait? I don't know about you, but I'm uncomfortable not knowing what Whisper is up to in there."

[Re-Glor]

Releaved After hiding in the corner Alpha slowly dragged himself out. He was in no shape to battling whisper even if the humans could use all the help they could get. He looked at his his arm and sighed. He knew he would have to get it looked at. Just then a big explosion happened in the background. He quickly jumped to his feat and looked outside. He saw Whisper looking over the rubage and start to make a few phone calls. He went back behind his wall of cover and bandaged his arm with a quick fix. He then proceed to try and see what Whisper was doing. Convincing himself that it was better to follow at a short distance. He could always use the cover that he did not engage Whisper so there for he was on his side. Shaking off his pain he went to do what he did best, gather infomation.

[Ganurath]

Insaniac chuckled. "I think it's pretty obvious he's hooked up with his buddies and is plotting how to keep an eye on us or pull a stunt on us. They're probably already trying to get something into our system." Insaniac got up from his seat and with a fake french accent, he says "Now if you would pardon me, I must take a piss as a superior program who has his head up his ass."

[Re-Glor]

While listening to there meeting Alpha started to drift back to his old days of glory. Remebering when runts like Whispers and others would look up to him to get the job done. Then with a sudden jerk he started to remeber the fated day that was his undoing. He remebered it like it was yesterday. His soul now burned with anger and with out thinking he began to reload the empty clip of his Deagle. In his subconcious mind he knew that they would all pay. Not the his agents, but that backstabbing program.. that most called the Merovingian.

He shook his head and remebered what he was supposed to be doing. Keeping on track with there conversations he slowly started to redraw the hate he had for himself and the "emotions" that were programed into him. He may have been made to copy humans... but it was times like this when his "human" traits did not serve him well.

[Jaguar]

Whisper, Spectre, and Phantom discussed how to take on the crew of the Morpheus while Poltergeist hacked into Zion through a laptop computer. Guns and other weapons clanked under their identical overcoats. The four programs heard a rustling in a pile of debris. They all turned in unison and Spectre, without warning, raised a gatling gun ((That's right, a friggin' gatling gun!)) and opened fire.

[Re-Glor]

Performing a nearly perfect forward flip over the area targeted by the ammo fire and landed a little to the side with both hands in the air and a smile on his face.

"Hey Whisper! Now now, is that really anyway to treat the person who tipped you off earlier today. Though I can see they are a little to much for you. At this point i think you could use all the help you can get. As for me.. i am your average information gather. I think you could use my help... For starters. Instead of hacking into there systems which they may be expecting, why not use a pass code I picked up and it would just look like one of them and they would be none the wiser?" spelled off Alpha not allowing time for them to retarget him.

He waited for them to accept his deal, he knew in the long run they would have to. For even all of them this whole thing got way beyond them once "He" joined in.

[Sithdarth]

"That's why we wont advertise this," he stated. "We're supposed to be heading in for a resupply anyway. We'll just keep all the planing in person and the coding in the a construct not attached to the Matrix or the Zion mainframe." He sat up and clasped his hands in front of him. "We'll head back to Zion and after a good rest use the ports there to sneak into the Matrix and keep an eye on those programs. I know someone that will help us stay hidden." With that he got up and paced a bit tapping on pipes and the wall as he went. This was his usual manerism while thinking. "I'd like to know who that other program was though. That will be another thing to find out. For now I think it's time we relaxed a bit and got to know our new guest. Your reputation perceeds you Adept but I would like to know more; and I'm sure you would also like to know more about my crew."

[Jaguar]

Spectre kept the gatling gun pointed straight at Alpha, and the other three all took out automatic weapons. They all began to advance silently and menacingly.

[Thaumaturge]

Adept flushed, unused to the compliment. "You flatter me, Captain. I am a wanderer of the Matrix; I have passed through all of its precincts at some time, and fought most of its foes at least once, with varying results. Other than that, you'll have to be more specific with your questions."
He paused. "I must admit, though, I am curious about you and your crew. The crew of the Morpheus is far from unknown in the precincts of the Matrix. I can see why the Oracle would choose this crew for her... mission. I am afraid, however, that I don't know much about your history, or about each of you individually. How did you become a crew, for instance?" He looked at Insaniac. "And while it is understandable, where did you get all of the anger you show towards programs?"

[Ganurath]

Insaniac chuckled. "When you get a metallic bug impanted in your naval during your formative years in the slums of a virtual city, that yields both hatred and eccentricity. Thankfully it was removed before any harm was done. After I was awakened, I adapted well. I fought in the siege, so that adds more animosity. Finally, my original crew was slaughtered by the Twins' minions during a mission, including Karma." Insaniac's eye twitched at the name. "Then I was transfered here. Get the idea?"

[Thaumaturge]

Adept winced in sympathy at the thought of the bugs. He was thankful that he had never had one implanted in him - before his awakening no agent had had a reason, and afterwards, well, agents had trouble getting things like that near him - but he had seen them. He winced again at the mental image of the death of the crew of Insaniac's original crew. When Insaniac finished he asked: "So how did you end up with the crew of the Morpheus?"

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Virus smiled.
"I was a member of the crew of the Hamurabi on the original mission to counter-attack the Digging Sentinels as they approached Zion. When Bane betrayed us and set off the EMP, our ship was disabled and attacked by the Sentinels. The Captain was knocked unconsious, so I lead the crew out of the ship and hid them from the squidies. After the war, they gave me my first command post within Zion control, then reposted me as the First Mate here aboard the Morpheus during the military's reconstruction period."

[Ganurath]

Insaniac smirked and spared a glance at the captain. "Let's just leave it I owe the Oracle a favor. But aren't you the one we're supposed to be asking questions? How'd you wind up without a crew in the first place? You must have been with a ship at one point."

[Thaumaturge]

Adept twitched an eyebrow quizzically. I wonder what sort of favour he might owe the Oracle? he thought. Aloud, he replied: "I did serve briefly with a ship. The Horus." His eyes drifted into the distance, into the past, a faint sadness touching them. "But that was a long time ago. I don't know what happened to the the ship, but I did see the crew once more, inside the Matrix..." He shook himself. After the Horus, I moved to Zion as a programmer. It didn't take me long to find reality a little... stifling. I moved away from Zion, to a place where I could leave my body for long periods while I... worked, shall we say, in the Matrix. In order that I could trade with those in Zion, and with ships passing through the tunnels, I bartered for skills and parts, eventually getting my own small ship built. And thus I sit before you."

He looked around the table. "And what of the rest of you? What are your stories?"

[The Mirror Emperor]

Bass smirked. "This is my first ship, mind you. I don't think there's much to reveal except that I was once Kid's friend. When he disappeared I looked inside his room and saw a message from someone named Neo. I'd figure he knew what happened and the next day I saw him fly. I started searching everywhere for this flying guy and recieved a phone call from him after the next 4 days. I was presented with those pills, was awakened and after a couple of years I was able to join a ship, and I chose this one." He scanned across the room. "Someone else's turn to tell their story."

[Re-Glor]

Alpha firgured it was about time to resort to his card up his sleeve.

"Fine, if you need something else to chew on. I know where one of the data streams is. Kill me and you don't get it. I doubt the humans really mean to share this major chance.. to revieve.. or permently destroy THE ONE."

Letting the group mule over that he made himself comfortable on a make shift chair of the junk pile he just jumped off. He pulled out his last little bit of the payday bar he had saved and started to much on it.

[Jaguar]

Whisper was unphased by Alpha's statement. He looked calmly at his companions. "What is your proposal?" One of the members of the Ghost Gang appeared behind Alpha and put a gun to his head. "Talk. I insist."

[Re-Glor]

"So brash," Alpha rattled off. "I have a few questions.. and a few favors I need done." He stopped for a moment to finish his candy bar. "I am on your side, if I wasn't I would shot you on the way here. You may be able to turn all ghosty, but, still can't see the future. Anyways, hows your loyalty? Thats my first question. Second, if I talk now what is keeping you from killing me." He stopped thinking about it. "Ill help you, the humans think i am on there side. Ill get them to a location where you can set your trap, after they gather some of the info. This way you collect there bounty and mucho info. The catch is, I have a personal vandeta with the frenchy. So heres the deal, you get the stuff, get teh bounty, get super rich and strong, let me finish off the french dude without you bothering me, after that.. its up to you."

[Jaguar]

Spectre, the program behind Alpha, cocked the pistol. Whisper grabbed Alpha by his coat. "We refuse." He flung Alpha away and the four of them ghosted out in different directions.

((Strength 4))

[Re-Glor]

Alpha laughed as he stood up.

Watching the ghosts move towards him, he cracked his neck. "Fine then... I guess the humans would like to know about your scheme, since I heard it all. If you reconider.. you know my number, I will be generous and wait for a whole.. three hours should be enough. Though don't count it against me if I don't anwser.. Taha ta," rattled off Alpha just as he did a very acountable thing to do against four programs. He ran knowning they can't catch him.

ooc: Edited the (()) things
(( Speed 2 ))
(( Endurance 1 ))

[Sithdarth]

ooc: New chapter coming up because this one seem finished. You all get 3 points for this one.

[Ganurath]

OOC: 3 total or 3 from this alone?

[Sithdarth]

ooc: Thats 3 points for this chapter alone. New Chapter is coming soon I promise.

Edit: I now join the 1000 post club.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Ooc: Putting all 5 points saved into "Reading the Code."