Valexia looked up from her position on the floor and squinted in the dim light. The room was small, only a single door to enter and leave through, no windows, and what was left of the floral wallpaper. The light from the single bulb above her wasn't doing enough for the space; shadows were being cast all over the edges of the room.
She slowly pulled herself upright on the dirty wooden floor and looked around. Her hands were tied around behind her back and she noticed that her feet were bound as well. She felt very weak and tired, and could barely keep her head up. She saw the green code dripping from her face and falling onto her skin tight bodysuit and it forced her to blink a few more times. She was still an Unlimit... and why was she in this position?
All she could remember was guarding a base for Anome, protecting one of their many hackers as they harassed the Merovingian operatives hunting them as well as any Zionist they could track down. After that, her memory was black... she had absolutely no idea how she ended up here.
She strugged against her bonds, but it was no use, she was feeling too tired to do anything. Questions swirled in her head as she sat there, trying to figure out what was wrong with her... why she couldn't do anything... how she got there...
A scratching noise came from in front of her and she jerked her head up as quickly as she could muster. A cloud of dust swirled in front of her, being kicked off from the floor. She blinked again and felt the slight breeze against her face. "This isn't possible... there's no windows in here... no air vents... no way for a wind to get in this room..." she thought to herself.
The chucking of a female voice confirmed her thoughts. A wind couldn't get into that room, but a person could. "Who are you! Who the hell are you!" she screamed at the nothingness. The voice seemed to come from all around her, but she couldn't figure out what was going on. Her face reddened and she struggled against her bonds with renewed strength.
"That won't do you any good, dearie. They don't work like that," the voice mocked. Slowly, right in front of her, she saw a cloud of code begin to form... deep black code. It rose backwards up from the floor, collecting itself slowly as it let off an eerie black dust that coursed across the floor. Slowly the black mass began to form the outline of a woman made of ashes... a woman wearing a long dress that reached the ground but only came up to her chest and showed off her expansive bosom and well toned chest. The woman's eyes slowly cracked open, revealing two purple irises that narrowed upon Valexia's form on the floor. Slowly, the wind blew against the figure, the ashes falling slowly backwards to reveal a beautiful woman standing in front of her... the figure of Lady Return.
"You *CENSORED*! What the hell is this!" she yelled at Return. The Lady in Mourning shrugged as she moved one of her gloved hands through her hair and smirked with her deep purple lips.
"What is this? This is me retrieving a... souvenir. I found you to be quite the cute one," Return chuckled, leaning down towards her and showing off more of her chest than Valexia would have liked to see.
"Do you know who I am? I'm an unlimit! I could crash through these bonds in a second! I could kill you without even thinking about it! I can destroy you!" Valexia screamed. Return simply waved one of her gloved fingers in response and let out a "tsk tsk".
"No, no dear. I think not. Those bonds are... well... made for a girl of your calibur. And, well, your little 'unlimit' powers... I wouldn't go there darling. Those have been known to have 'accidental failures'. Or didn't Anome tell you about those yet?"
Valexia looked down at the ground, letting the code leak onto it. Return let out a small hrmph and stood back up to loom over the woman again. "I'll take your silence as a no. Let's just say that I found one of your buddies falling from the Kalt Corporation Headquarters to his death very amusing. I didn't even think redpills could be killed by falls..."
Return turned around and put her hands behind her back. She put her head down and let the one lash of her white hair fall over her right eye as she turned left to offer Valexia a profile of her posture. "I guess you 'unlimits' proved me quite wrong. Redpills can die from falls."
"You *CENSORED*... what the hell..." Valexia muttered. "What do you want with me?"
Return turned back around, keeping her hair where it was, letting her posture intimidate the lady before her. "I brought you here to tell you a story, and give you a chance at life. Very generous of me, if I do say so myself. I could have killed you back at that base... but just be glad I spared your life for the time being."
"And what story do you think I would want to hear?"
"No story at all, my dear. But, you're not in a position to choose what you want to hear... and that's the reason I brought you here. Choice."
"Choice?"
"You hear it all the time. You chose the redpill. You chose the vial. You chose Anome. You once chose Niobe. You chose your weapon. You chose your path in life. You chose your job once... You chose perhaps a love of your life. But do you really know what choice is? Hmm? Do you?"
Valexia looked up for a brief moment, looking out with her glowing green eyes from under her brown hair at Return as she paused for a moment. "That wasn't a rhetorical question... dear. Do you know what choice is?"
"Yes."
"Wrong. I doubt you could fully comprehend the power of choice. For as much as you use it... you do not fully comprehend it. The Merovingian once said that there are two people in the world. 'Those who have power, and those who do not.' I fully agree with that statement. However, the Merovingian made one fatal flaw when he made that statement, and that is, simply, choice. Choice leads to power, or it will lead you to no power.
"But once we get into choice we get into the problems of right and wrong... And that infamous expression of 'The Right'. Tell me... do I have the right to hold you hostage here?"
"Of course not."
"'Of course not.' she says... My my, aren't you just full of witty comebacks. No dear, I have the full right to hold you here. I have the right to hold you because I made the choice to hold you here."
"What the..."
"You do not understand? As I said when I began my speech... I knew you wouldn't. You use choice every day, but you do not understand it."
"...You're a freakin' psycho."
"Perhaps, but that does not change the fact that I am right. And once we get into this area of choice... we reach freedom. Freedom... it was promised to us when we were all 'freed' from the Matrix. We never escaped. We're always trapped within a system of some sort... virtual and otherwise... Society is filled with systems to instill control on those of us who cannot realize the rights we have. Some say it is for the best... and I can agree.
"Systems are brought about not to be used properly. They exist to prevent total chaos, but yet chaos will always exist. Just like good and evil will always exist. You cannot have all good. You cannot have all control. On the same hand, you cannot have all evil... you cannot have all chaos. From every system, there is a way to manipulate it to benefit you. And benefits cannot come about when there is nothing but chaos...
"So, you sit there, in your little 'unlimit society' and think you're breaking away from the Matrix. You think you're doing everything you ever wanted... you think you have untold power. And, tonight, in one blow, I have proved you wrong. You do not have the power to escape me. You do not have the power to control outside factors. You do not have the power to overthrow Anome... and you do not have the power to escape being ordered around."
"So why the hell am I here? For your crazy *CENSORED* to preach to me?" she screamed.
Return sighed and turned around, facing the door again and looking down once again. "I brought you here to show you true power. I brought you here to give you power... the power of choice... the power to control your destiny this evening. Answer my question, and I will let you free."
Valexia looked up right at Return and focused her eyes. "All right. Tell me it."
"Who has the right to decide the future? Who has the right to control what happens? Quite simply, who has the right to control fate itself?"
Valexia concentrated for a moment and smirked. "No one can control fate."
A gun barrel clicked and Valexia's eyes went wide. "Wrong dear. And here's the proof." Return turned to the side quickly and pointed her Augmented Redpill Special right at Valexia's nose.
The shot echoed throughout the empty hallways of the floor, and Valexia's body hit hard against the floor, twitching with green electricity as her eyes slowly went out. Return smirked to herself and closed her eyes. "I can control fate because I choose to control fate."
Return put her gun back into it's holster inside of her right sleeve and slowly moved her hand to her left sleeve. Slowly she pulled a Blood Rose from it, red blood trickling down her arm and onto the floor. She pressed down on one of the thorns and a sharp metal needle shot from the end of the stem, during the rose into a living dart. She unfolded a note that she was keeping in the space between her breasts and read it one last time before she stuck it to Valexia's stomach using the Rose Needle.
"Dear Anome - Your followers are just as foolish as you are. And, by the way... apparently you aren't unlimited in power. Her body proves it.
Sincerely,
Return"
Return closed her eyes and smirked as her lower half began to decompile into black ashes, black smoke, and code. "They'll never learn... none of them..." she murmured as she turned around to the door and slowly vanished into nothingness.
She slowly pulled herself upright on the dirty wooden floor and looked around. Her hands were tied around behind her back and she noticed that her feet were bound as well. She felt very weak and tired, and could barely keep her head up. She saw the green code dripping from her face and falling onto her skin tight bodysuit and it forced her to blink a few more times. She was still an Unlimit... and why was she in this position?
All she could remember was guarding a base for Anome, protecting one of their many hackers as they harassed the Merovingian operatives hunting them as well as any Zionist they could track down. After that, her memory was black... she had absolutely no idea how she ended up here.
She strugged against her bonds, but it was no use, she was feeling too tired to do anything. Questions swirled in her head as she sat there, trying to figure out what was wrong with her... why she couldn't do anything... how she got there...
A scratching noise came from in front of her and she jerked her head up as quickly as she could muster. A cloud of dust swirled in front of her, being kicked off from the floor. She blinked again and felt the slight breeze against her face. "This isn't possible... there's no windows in here... no air vents... no way for a wind to get in this room..." she thought to herself.
The chucking of a female voice confirmed her thoughts. A wind couldn't get into that room, but a person could. "Who are you! Who the hell are you!" she screamed at the nothingness. The voice seemed to come from all around her, but she couldn't figure out what was going on. Her face reddened and she struggled against her bonds with renewed strength.
"That won't do you any good, dearie. They don't work like that," the voice mocked. Slowly, right in front of her, she saw a cloud of code begin to form... deep black code. It rose backwards up from the floor, collecting itself slowly as it let off an eerie black dust that coursed across the floor. Slowly the black mass began to form the outline of a woman made of ashes... a woman wearing a long dress that reached the ground but only came up to her chest and showed off her expansive bosom and well toned chest. The woman's eyes slowly cracked open, revealing two purple irises that narrowed upon Valexia's form on the floor. Slowly, the wind blew against the figure, the ashes falling slowly backwards to reveal a beautiful woman standing in front of her... the figure of Lady Return.
"You *CENSORED*! What the hell is this!" she yelled at Return. The Lady in Mourning shrugged as she moved one of her gloved hands through her hair and smirked with her deep purple lips.
"What is this? This is me retrieving a... souvenir. I found you to be quite the cute one," Return chuckled, leaning down towards her and showing off more of her chest than Valexia would have liked to see.
"Do you know who I am? I'm an unlimit! I could crash through these bonds in a second! I could kill you without even thinking about it! I can destroy you!" Valexia screamed. Return simply waved one of her gloved fingers in response and let out a "tsk tsk".
"No, no dear. I think not. Those bonds are... well... made for a girl of your calibur. And, well, your little 'unlimit' powers... I wouldn't go there darling. Those have been known to have 'accidental failures'. Or didn't Anome tell you about those yet?"
Valexia looked down at the ground, letting the code leak onto it. Return let out a small hrmph and stood back up to loom over the woman again. "I'll take your silence as a no. Let's just say that I found one of your buddies falling from the Kalt Corporation Headquarters to his death very amusing. I didn't even think redpills could be killed by falls..."
Return turned around and put her hands behind her back. She put her head down and let the one lash of her white hair fall over her right eye as she turned left to offer Valexia a profile of her posture. "I guess you 'unlimits' proved me quite wrong. Redpills can die from falls."
"You *CENSORED*... what the hell..." Valexia muttered. "What do you want with me?"
Return turned back around, keeping her hair where it was, letting her posture intimidate the lady before her. "I brought you here to tell you a story, and give you a chance at life. Very generous of me, if I do say so myself. I could have killed you back at that base... but just be glad I spared your life for the time being."
"And what story do you think I would want to hear?"
"No story at all, my dear. But, you're not in a position to choose what you want to hear... and that's the reason I brought you here. Choice."
"Choice?"
"You hear it all the time. You chose the redpill. You chose the vial. You chose Anome. You once chose Niobe. You chose your weapon. You chose your path in life. You chose your job once... You chose perhaps a love of your life. But do you really know what choice is? Hmm? Do you?"
Valexia looked up for a brief moment, looking out with her glowing green eyes from under her brown hair at Return as she paused for a moment. "That wasn't a rhetorical question... dear. Do you know what choice is?"
"Yes."
"Wrong. I doubt you could fully comprehend the power of choice. For as much as you use it... you do not fully comprehend it. The Merovingian once said that there are two people in the world. 'Those who have power, and those who do not.' I fully agree with that statement. However, the Merovingian made one fatal flaw when he made that statement, and that is, simply, choice. Choice leads to power, or it will lead you to no power.
"But once we get into choice we get into the problems of right and wrong... And that infamous expression of 'The Right'. Tell me... do I have the right to hold you hostage here?"
"Of course not."
"'Of course not.' she says... My my, aren't you just full of witty comebacks. No dear, I have the full right to hold you here. I have the right to hold you because I made the choice to hold you here."
"What the..."
"You do not understand? As I said when I began my speech... I knew you wouldn't. You use choice every day, but you do not understand it."
"...You're a freakin' psycho."
"Perhaps, but that does not change the fact that I am right. And once we get into this area of choice... we reach freedom. Freedom... it was promised to us when we were all 'freed' from the Matrix. We never escaped. We're always trapped within a system of some sort... virtual and otherwise... Society is filled with systems to instill control on those of us who cannot realize the rights we have. Some say it is for the best... and I can agree.
"Systems are brought about not to be used properly. They exist to prevent total chaos, but yet chaos will always exist. Just like good and evil will always exist. You cannot have all good. You cannot have all control. On the same hand, you cannot have all evil... you cannot have all chaos. From every system, there is a way to manipulate it to benefit you. And benefits cannot come about when there is nothing but chaos...
"So, you sit there, in your little 'unlimit society' and think you're breaking away from the Matrix. You think you're doing everything you ever wanted... you think you have untold power. And, tonight, in one blow, I have proved you wrong. You do not have the power to escape me. You do not have the power to control outside factors. You do not have the power to overthrow Anome... and you do not have the power to escape being ordered around."
"So why the hell am I here? For your crazy *CENSORED* to preach to me?" she screamed.
Return sighed and turned around, facing the door again and looking down once again. "I brought you here to show you true power. I brought you here to give you power... the power of choice... the power to control your destiny this evening. Answer my question, and I will let you free."
Valexia looked up right at Return and focused her eyes. "All right. Tell me it."
"Who has the right to decide the future? Who has the right to control what happens? Quite simply, who has the right to control fate itself?"
Valexia concentrated for a moment and smirked. "No one can control fate."
A gun barrel clicked and Valexia's eyes went wide. "Wrong dear. And here's the proof." Return turned to the side quickly and pointed her Augmented Redpill Special right at Valexia's nose.
The shot echoed throughout the empty hallways of the floor, and Valexia's body hit hard against the floor, twitching with green electricity as her eyes slowly went out. Return smirked to herself and closed her eyes. "I can control fate because I choose to control fate."
Return put her gun back into it's holster inside of her right sleeve and slowly moved her hand to her left sleeve. Slowly she pulled a Blood Rose from it, red blood trickling down her arm and onto the floor. She pressed down on one of the thorns and a sharp metal needle shot from the end of the stem, during the rose into a living dart. She unfolded a note that she was keeping in the space between her breasts and read it one last time before she stuck it to Valexia's stomach using the Rose Needle.
"Dear Anome - Your followers are just as foolish as you are. And, by the way... apparently you aren't unlimited in power. Her body proves it.
Sincerely,
Return"
Return closed her eyes and smirked as her lower half began to decompile into black ashes, black smoke, and code. "They'll never learn... none of them..." she murmured as she turned around to the door and slowly vanished into nothingness.
