It's a small room, the interrogation room. Teresa sits at a table, waiting. Tick tock, tick tock. Then the door opens and Agent Valgarv enters the little room. The other two Dragons flank their captive, standing in the corners of the small room behind her. The green-haired Agent sits down across from Teresa, a thick manila envelope 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 made 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, the other 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, who calls himself Xelloss. Whatever you think you know about this man is irrelevant. He is considered by the 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, 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 firey young woman before putting his glasses back on and sitting up.
"You disappoint me, Ms. Anderson."
"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 Valgarv pulls up her shirt. "You're going to help us, Ms. Anderson, whether you want to or not."
He pulls a small probe out of his pocket and holds it over Teresa's exposed abdomen. The red-head watches, horrified as the probe animates, becoming a scorpion-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. In bed. At home. Slowly she realizes it must've been a dream. Her mouth is normal, her stomach looks fine. She starts to take a deep, "everything is okay" breath when the phone rings.
It continues ringing 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 underestimated how important you are. If they knew what I knew, you'd 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 hung up. She closes her eyes, unsure of what she's done.
Teresa stands under the bridge, looking around nervously. It's raining, adding to the mood. An old car 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 passanger 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 red-head.
"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 red-head 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 dim as Seraya looks back at Teresa. "Lie back, lift up your shirt." She pulls out a strange device as the taller girl does as she's told. It looks like a strange combination of things, a round 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 seems 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. "Try to relax." Easy for her to say as she peers through the viewport, adjusting the device.
"Come on... come on..."
"It's on the move," Eris points out.
"Oh shit," the blond whispers as Teresa convulses in pain.
"You're gonna lose it!"
"No I'm not," she answers coolly, activating the thing. "Clear!" Teresa cries out weakly as the device shocks her with electricity, then the bug is sucked out of her bellybutton and into the container of the device with a wet sucking sound.
"Jesus Christ, that thing's real?!" Seraya opens the window and tosses the small glass jar out onto the pavement. The scorpion bug then reverts to it's original probe form, powerless.
"It's alright, Lina, it's over now," Seraya whispers, holding Teresa's trembling shoulders. "It's alright now..."
Seraya leads the red-head 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 possibly imagine."
Inside, Teresa looks around a moment then stops. In the middle are two large burgandy-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 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-It's an honor to meet you." The small smile widens a little.
"No... the honor is mine. Please, sit," he indicates a chair and Teresa sits, 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 and turns it in his hands as he replies to Teresa.
"I know exactly how you feel. 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 you're 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 brought you here. Do you know what I'm talking about?" Teresa stares at the purple-haired legend.
"The Matrix?" Xel leans forward.
"Do you want to know what it is? 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 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.
"What truth?"
"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. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is." He sits back again. "You have to see it for yourself."
Xel opens the small case, pulling out two pills. One is red, the other blue. He holds them out in front of Teresa, one in each hand. "This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back." He opens his left hand, revealing one pill. "You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to." Then 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, 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 seems to grow a little. "Follow me."
Part 4 | Fanfiction