The sky was a rolling, angry mass of ionization and heavy storms where the Enforcers’ Hovercraft moved into Broadcast Depth on the outskirts of what was once known as West Germany. Sentinels, the enormous, squid-like guardians of the Machines’ interest in the Real World, moved with a deft determination as they undulated through the thick atmosphere. Moving slowly around the vessel in a reconnaissance pattern, they took measure of its position and active systems to report back to Zero-One. Although the Truce remained in effect, the Machines were nothing if not pragmatic. It was only a matter of time before they could move once again. And, as always, they would be prepared.
Deep inside the protective shell of the vessel, however, there were greater concerns than the morbid curiosity of a few robotic investigators.
Staticzero, Captain of the ship and Field Coordinator for the Fleet known as Consequence, narrowed his eyes as he scanned the encrypted transmission from Harpalos aboard the La Crypte. Pursing his lips, his mind racing, he nodded to himself and rose from his chair.
“The Sentinels are moving on, Captain. Heading North by North-West.”
“That’s fine,” Staticzero replied dismissively. “For the time being, they aren’t our concern. But we now have something that might be.” Drawing himself up to his full height, he clasped his hands behind his back and addressed his crew. “I just got a communiqué from the La Crypte. Looks like we may finally have something worth looking into for a change, so expect a slight alteration to our plans. I will update your new insertion points once I meet with the other Captains and find out exactly what is going on. In the meantime, stick to the normal routes, and I’ll see you all in the inside.”
Staticzero didn’t wait for their replies as he turned on his heel and moved towards the Loading Platforms.
“ I want all Channels clear,” he said, as the Operator moved into position just behind his head. “And watch the area closely.”
The Operator feigned indifference, but the slight increase in respiration told Staticzero otherwise. “What are you expecting to happen?” The Operator asked.
“I’m not exactly sure. Harpalos’ message wasn’t entirely clear. Just a bit . . . intense.”
The Operator didn’t reply as he inserted the Neural Interface into the jack in the back of Staticzero’s skull.
A quick falling sensation . . . a grating on the skin as if by artic winds . . .A blast of intense heat to follow . . . then . . .there!
Staticzero unlocked the front door and stepped out of the small television repair shop. It was night in The Matrix, the full moon only partially obscured by the thick fog that seemed to cover the place ever since Neo’s Sacrifice. He drew a deep breath and released it, twice. Then, quickly surveying his surroundings to get his bearing, Staticzero turned left and started making his way to the rendezvous point.
Security wasn’t a problem as Staticzero made his way into the office building that served as one of the clandestine staging areas for the Consequence Fleet within The Matrix. Taking the elevator to the 11th floor, Staticzero opened the doors to the conference room and found Harpalos, ZaneZavin, Bosatsu, and ThreeD seated around the large, oak table.
“Nice of you to finally grace us with your presence,” Bosatsu commented as Staticzero closed the doors behind him.
Ignoring Bosatsu, he turned his attention to Harpalos. “So, what’s going on? Your message didn’t give me a hell of a lot to go on.”
“That’s because I don’t really know what it is I found,” ZaneZavin cut in.
“Huh?” Staticzero replied, more confused than ever.
ZaneZavin sighed. “I was running our routine scans of The Matrix . . . you know . . . the normal hum-drum, when I came upon one seriously weird Anomaly.”
“Weird, how?”
“I don’t know. It wasn’t a Redpill, and it sure wasn’t an Exile. But certain things about its readings reminded me of both. So, I approached it.”
“You made contact without first alerting the Fleet?” Staticzero asked, a mixture of irritation and shock.
ZaneZavin shrugged. ‘Like I said, the thing was weird.” Then, seeing the expression on Staticzero’s face: “Hey, what would’ve you preferred, that I didn’t and the thing turned out to be some Doomsday Virus we let get away?”
“All right,” Staticzero sighed. “So, what did you learn?”
“Not much, only that it calls itself Avatar.”
“Avatar?” Bosatsu repeated.
ZaneZavin nodded. “Now . . . what the heck is an Avatar?”
Bosatsu started to open his mouth, but Harpalos beat him to it. “Bon,” he began. “I conducted some research into the meaning of the word Avatar.”
“I could have saved you the time,” Bosatsu said dryly, but Harpalos ignored him and continued.
“Nothing in the Matrix is here without a purpose, and a name like that for a program surely must have a reason. In Hinduism,” and Harpalos cast a quick glance at Bosatsu, who just nodded, “an avatar is the bodily incarnation of an Immortal Being. For example, Vishnu, the supreme God, had avatars like Rama and Krishna to act as interfaces with humans.” Harpalos looked around the table carefully and considered everyone’s expression. “The word actually derives from the Saskrit word for ‘descent’, and usually implies a deliberate descent into mortal realms for special purposes. Now what relation the academic and theological definitions have with a program, I do not know. I'm good in semantic, but without knowing our subject, we can't really learn more. I think it would be useful to study it. If this anomaly was revealed to us, it could be because it actually has a message to tell us.”
“That’s just great,” Bosatsu commented. “As if we don’t have enough to worry about, not we have something calling itself an Avatar running around.”
“I agree,” Staticzero responded. “This is a concern.”
“No. You don’t understand. We already know many things in The Matrix represent the myths and dark places of the Human Psyche. Vampire, Ghosts, Lycanthropes, et cetera. We already know it is possible for some . . . programs . . . even Exiles, to survive the various reboots The Matrix has suffered. Take Merovingian, for instance. Not to mention the discovery of the Archivists and the existence of bits and pieces of previous incarnations of The Matrix. My concern is that this thing could actually represent something of potent power, something representative of another aspect of . . . a Higher Power.”
“Well, it seemed a bit scared and confused,” ZaneZavin pointed out.
“Forgive me if I am not completely convinced,” Bosatsu retorted.
“Then we definitely need to find this thing,” Staticzero agreed.
“And let me make one thing perfectly clear to everyone present, “Bosatsu continued. “Yes, we are going to track down this . . . Avatar. But regardless of whether or not the Professor,” he nodded towards Harpalos, “wants to dissect the thing or not. If it is a danger, I am going to annihilate it.” And he looked into the eyes of the other Captains. “No matter what.”
ThreeD merely nodded in acquiescence. Everyone knew her loyalties began and ended with Bosatsu and The Ascension.
“Your feelings are duly noted, Bosatsu,” Staticzero replied, maintaining control over his own, growing irritation. “But let’s take this one step at a time. We don’t know what it is, or what it represents. So, the first thing we are going to do is track it down and get some answers. Now, Harpalos, I want you to . . . .”
Staticzero began outlining the plan for how they would once again find the Avatar.
