The Real Programs.

As requested by TimeMaker

Falling. Was I falling? I couldn't tell. It was so dark, so cold... Memories were slipping away from me. Not that I would come to care, I wouldn't remember anyway. Light. A light coming at me? So I was falling.

I woke up. What was that about, I wondered. I had been having strange dreams lately. Wishing the one day I could see into the light of my dreams, I left my house to head off to work.

Now I don't have a car. Seeing as I'm not old enough to legally drive. That's not saying I can't drive. I'm a perfectly good driver. The city thinks I can't handle the road. Oh well. In my garage I grabbed a helmet and my bike. Seeing as I'm a law abiding person and don't drive yet. I left my house half past 8, late again.

"Fired?! What do you mean fired?" I said. "You've been late for the past month!" my boss said "Don't give me crap about how you don't have a car!"

"But the city says I can't drive until I'm 16!"

"Screw the city, you'll be here when I say, and seeing as you're fired, don't bother showing up."

This was unfair and I knew it. I left on my bike and headed for home, just hoping for sleep. While on the road my cell phone vibrated. I pulled to the side of the road and answered it. The call was full of static. I think I head this: "I have an interest in you, come to club Avalon at 3 o'clock, no later, no earlier." Who the hell calls and puts up a message like that? Nonetheless I glanced at my watch. 2:30. I was in Hampton Green, Downtown. Avalon was over in Midian Park!

I got to club Avalon, late. Just great I've wasted my time. I walked in anyway. 10 minute wouldn't kill him if he had an interest in me. Right? A woman greeted me inside the door. She asked if I wanted to go home with her. She's wasted, I thought. I politely declined and headed down to the VIP room, I assumed he would meet me there.

"Aw, Timmy, welcome." Timmy? Who does this guy think he is? "Have a seat." he said. I took a seat next to him and he offered 2 pills. I guessed they were ecstasy and declined. "You may want one after you hear what I have to offer."

I woke up. I woke up? How was that possible? He was just about to tell me something! My cell phone started to vibrate against my oak end table. Just before it was about to fall off it stopped vibrating. It was taunting me. Should I fall or not? Just then it vibrated again, second ring. It fell off the table and on to the hardwood floor. It continued vibrating and heading towards my bed. I picked it up before it went under.

"I bet your wondering what happened, Timmy." It was that guy again. "Club Avalon, 3 o'clock." Try not to be late again. Ok?"

It was already 2. Maybe I'd make it this time. I stepped outside of my apartment. It was a nice apartment complex. Down in the Chelsea area. It would be beachfront. If we had a beach is this armpit of a city. There was a black Jetta parked in front of my complex. "Nice ride." I said to the driver. The driver smiled and lifted a Glock to my face. "Get in." She commanded. I turned to run but then 2 move guns cocked in my ears. "Get in." She said again, I happily did so. After all it was a nice car. A ride couldn't hurt. Could it? 

Once in the car the driver turned almost friendly. She offered me a mint. Was that an insult? I looked around the car. Nice leather interior. All still black, almost depressing. Even the Driver and her accomplices were dressed in black. She a black cat suit, the men, husky looking, black suits.

"You're going to meet someone who will change your life." She said. "He is nothing like the man in the club." How did she know about that? And does that make it real?  "Just try and sit back, relax, have some fun. We'll be there in about an hour." So I was going to be late at the club, again. But maybe that was the least of my worries.

Buildings flew past us. I put on my seat belt. This woman was crazy! This can't be the speed limit! How did she manage not to get hit? We arrived at a big building around 3:30. KALT CHEMICAL the sign in front read. Kalt was in the news awhile back. A couple of vials had been stolen. No one knows what happened to them. All I know is that what ever those vials did couldn't be good. Kalt was so corrupt these days.

The left door of the Jetta opened. "Get out" the man to my right said. He pointed a Glock at me, so I got out without complaint. I was escorted towards the building. The local gang, a bunch of scary looking girls, was cocking their guns. "Hide somewhere" the woman said. Gun shots erupted everywhere. All 3 of them had been hit! Yet they still stood. They weren't even dazed! How was this possible?! I must still be dreaming. Then a few of the gang members dropped their guns and started throwing punches. All the punches were dodged. The 3 retaliated. The woman used 2 handguns and shot the hell out of everything that moved. The two men used Martial Arts, they we're more amusing to watch. One of the men, taking on 3 at once, knocked all of out with a quick sweep kick. I couldn't believe it. 3 of them against more then 20. Well it wasn't 20 now; over half were on the ground. Knocked out, or worse... The rest of the gang ran.

We entered the building. We weren't greeted kindly. A Security guard, witnessing the spectacle outside told us to leave. He was shot in the head before he could say another word. Who were these people? I better stay on their good side. We went to the elevators and ascended to the 30th floor. This floor looked to be set up for a meeting. I meeting I was supposed to take place in. We entered the room, a man sat in a seat, facing the window.

"Hello there, TimeMaker."

TimeMaker? What was he talking about?

"Have a seat." he said. He was another man, dressed in a suit. But he had an ear piece and glasses. Glasses... inside? I took a seat in the chair across the table from him. He turned around to face me.

"What have they told you?"

"Who?"

"My men."

"Nothing."

"Ok then." he said. "You TimeMaker, are a program."

So, I guessed I was asleep again and said, "Look at me, flesh and bones, not code."

"Everything in this world is code, do you not remember?"

I decided to tell him what had been happening to me. "I can't remember what I did 5 minutes ago lately." This was true, and if it was a dream, could it hurt anyway? Just then he pulled out what looked to be a bomb. "Allow me to demonstrate he said." He slid the bomb looking thing across the table and it blew. No fire, no big bang, but green flowed out everywhere. Dream or no dream, there were some weird things happening.

"You are a program." he said again. "And you have been failing lately, fired from your job. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because we set a virus in you, and you lost track of time."

"But why..."

"We have a more updated version of you; we call him, 'TheWatchmaker'."

"So what option do I have in this?"

"Well, you can ether return to the Source, or die here.

Just then the man produced a gun. "What is your choice TimeMaker?" he said. I shook my head to say I wasn't sure. And then, he shot me just a few inches from my heart. "I guess you die then."

I was bleeding, but not blood. That green stuff... He just looked at me and smiled, "Believe now?"

Before he shot me again, I heard fighting behind me; the two men had taken out the woman. Then they grabbed me and ran towards the wall. Not towards it.... through it.

Holy Crap I thought to myself. Did we just go through a wall?!

We were out on the street in front of that building now. Cars were going down the street and everything looked normal, except that I was bleeding that green stuff. A few bystanders took notice of us coming out of the wall. I give them a week before they go crazy. We got to the curb and back into that car.

"Sorry about that", the men in white said, "We didn't mean to take it that far, we just had to show you what this is."

"And what is it?" I asked.

"Well it's a simulation. And we don't like it. Being programs like you we thought that the Merovingian might appeal to you."

The Merovingian? What kind of name is that? Sounded like some kind of self-centered man to me.

"We want to take you to him now that you can see what this is." I looked at my wound. It was still bleeding, but why hadn't I died yet? I couldn't have that much blood, could I?

"By the way, that's not blood, that's code."

We drove fast and far away from the Kalt towers. Within 10 minutes we were in the Hampton Green area. We turned into a garage. Funny, I don't remember this here... We got out of the car and went into an elevator.

Music was blasting. So there was a party going one eh? Maybe this "Merovingian" isn't too bad after all. Then they decided to strip search me for weapons... Never had I been so humiliated!

"Ok, you're clear. Take him down Twins."

"We will", they answered at the same time. Creepy.... We walked through heavy looking double doors. The music almost blasted me back into the elevator. People were everywhere, bumping and grinding. And, well... other things in the side areas. Noone respects themselves anymore I thought. The music stopped. People stopped dancing and looked at us. They made a path to a set of half spiral stairs. I looked to the ground, I couldn't stare these... these... sex crazed people in the face. I only wondered what I might see in their eyes. The floor in the club was surprisingly clean.

A man stood at the platform at the top of the stairs and leaned over the railing. "Hello, TimeMaker, come up and join me won't you?" The Twins pushed me to the stairs and told me to go up. I wasn't about to argue. Sitting down up there I thought the people wouldn't be able to see me, which was good.

"I am The Merovingian."

"I suppose you already know what this... simulation is.", The Merovingian said.

"Yes, I do. And what do you want me for?" I said.

"Well I want to do you a favor and hide you from the Machines."

"What's the catch?"

There is no catch, why would I do something like that to you?"

"This seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through just to get me here."

"You, TimeMaker, were worth it."

He got up and walked towards the railing. "See all of these people, TimeMaker? They work for me. Look at the fun they have!"

That didn't look like fun to me. Looked more like he was controlling them. I had no idea what drugs he had them on. Probably one of those "red pills". Whatever it was I didn't want to find out. This "Merovingian", the man in the business suit, probably wanted me to be one of them too.

"You see, TimeMaker, you WILL work for me."

"Or what?" I said, not entirely sure of what he could do to me.

"Or this!"

I blacked out.

 

   

Hello, you don't know me, but I was hoping you might want to talk.

Anna woke up. She had been having odd dreams lately... something about a Matrix.... isn't that like a math function or something? She thought about it for awhile and decided that she might need professional help if she was taking math into weird other dimension crap. She looked at her computer screen. It read, "Hello, you don't know me, but I was hoping you might want to talk."

"What the hell is this?" she said aloud. "Stupid people on AIM only want to date! What part of leave me alone don't these guys get?!" She stormed out of her messy bed room into her equally messy kitchen.

"Well, I guess threes only one thing to calm me down now isn't there..."

"Yeah, make cookies!"

She was grabbed from behind, but not in a hostile way. It was a nice warm and inviting hug. She felt better already. He was there, and that made it all better, for the time being.

"Yeah, make cookies" she said almost sarcastically. She picked up the hand held blender from the clean kitchen and turned it on, waving it in his face. "You think you'd make my cookies taste better if I blended you in?"

"Whoa now, I know you like me, but am I really that sweet?" he asked her assuming a fighting stance ready to defend himself from any on coming blender attack.

"Oh, you think you can dodge this?" She faked a throw with the blender and threw raw cookie dough at his face. The dough found its mark, right through his parted lips. "Score!"

"Hey, this stuffs pretty good! What did you change?" he asked jokingly. She looked at him almost angrily. He laughed at her; she looked so cute to him when she pretended to be angry. Now when she was angry, that was a different story. 

"Let me throw the cookies in the oven and then we can go do something else if you like."

"Mmm, what might I like to do?"

"Boys..... Boys and their toys...."

"Toys, I remember playing with toys when I was young!"

"You still do..."

"Oh.... OH THAT TOY!"

"Are you sure you're a boy?"

He thought about that for a second, checked and said, "Yep." If there was one thing he was good at, it was making her laugh, and just not so much making other people laugh.

"You're cute when you laugh, ya know?"

She blushed at him, he had tried this before, and it always worked. She didn't know why. It was like something out of a book. He was nice, loyal, kind... hot. And yet she always let him win. Her friends repetitively told her to be more assertive, little good it did her, and she loved him for this.

"Stop blushing and put those cookies in already!"

That's right! She had been holding the cookies for a few minutes with the oven still running. Oh, stupid stupid stupid! She thought. She took him over to the couch. They had a bright future to look forward to. They were engaged and they were happy. Nothing could change that. Tomorrow would always be better then the day before....

*

 

I woke up. Something I seemed to be doing a lot lately. "Ugh, my head."

"Well after that be glad it's only your head." someone said.

I looked around; no one was in the room. So I tried sitting up only to find myself bound to a concrete slab. I looked around the room. Damp, dirty, looked like a torture chamber.... Cells lined the walls, spikes where the doors and bars weren't. Chains hung from the ceiling. Maybe he was just into bondage. "Out of the frying pan and into the fire", I thought.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire you might say, eh Timey?" the voice said.

"Must you people call me TimeMaker? I think you might have the wrong guy.", I said to this mysterious voice.

"No, it's you alright Timey.", it said, "I'd know you anywhere, we we're best friends after all."

"I think I'd know my best friend, and you're not him."

"Him? Oh dear, he left the voice distorter on again..."

"I... you.... what?"

 

*

"I loved him", Anna said to the policemen, "Why would I kill him?"

She burst into tears, "We were getting married this weekend!" She was sitting on her couch, in her apartment, talking to the police. "Miss, I understand, but you need to tell us all you know." This particular policeman was not like the others. He has his hair slicked back, an ear piece and glasses. His suit looked freshly pressed. And eerie machine like quality about him. She did not want to talk to this man about him. Not him, not ever.

"Are... are you trying to pin this on me!" she said angrily, "Just get out! Get out now!"

And that's when they burst in, the last thing she remembered were gun shots.

*

The door on the wall opened up into the room. A woman walked in, she was about 5' 1'' and wearing a black cat suit. Her wood brown hair bouncing with her every step. I recognized her at once.

"Hey Timey." She said to me. I had never felt this happy to see her, despite our history.

"Get me out of here!" I asked, whining as I said so.

"Chill a cycle Timey. I've got a few questions to ask you." Her face turned from a smile into the most serious face I had ever seen her make. Her whole body seemed to turn from a preppy light, into a serious, depressing dark.

"Have you seen my current problem?" I asked with just a small taste of sarcasm. "Well not ours... mine!"

It was as if the question had never left my lips. No, never formed in my mind was more likely. She never even hinted that I had said a word. 

"So Timey, why did you take the bluepill?"

"Huh?" I didn't remember taking any pills... That one man tried to offer me a red pill... but not a blue one. "I haven't taken any pills, although, pain killers would be really nice about now. So how about you get me off of this slab?"

"Don't be like that!" She whined, "Over a year ago you left us! You left Zion! And... And you worked for the Machines."

Machines? Zion? What was she talking about? Working for a machine?! UI wasn't capable of being intelligent enough to make us work for them. So that was out the rear end of a bull. Besides, you can't work for what can't think on its own. But what was this Zion?

"Well Timey, why'd you take it?" She asked again, with a hint of impatience in her voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I snapped back.

"Oh but you do, we worked together. You 'died' just before me. We were partners."

I died?

"Timey, Timey Timey... I spend over a year looking for your bluepill butt and I get this? Man! Well, it could be worse. Oh, I didn't just say that did I?"

The door slammed shut. The expression on her face changed from charming to a solemn "oh crap" kind of face. She'd been caught by something, and now she was going to go through hell to get out of its claws. A voice came over the loud speaker, a French Accent...

"Oh no, my dear, how could you? You thought I wouldn't know about your past? I left him unguarded for a reason, and yet you never thought it was to easy? Oh well, you've failed my test by trying to free him. Now I can't have a failing grade, so die." It was the Merovingian. She screamed lost of vulgar words... none of which he could hear. We were both thinking the same thing about now.

"This won't end well.

*

 

Anna sprang to her feet. Gunshots! That was all she remembered. She checked herself to make sure she hadn't been hit. There wasn't a scratch on her body. Well, that's a good sign, she thought. She looked around. This wasn't her living room, or her apartment for that matter, she was somewhere else all together. The floor she had just gotten up from was white. So were the walls, and the ceiling for that matter. The whole room was white, and not a door in sight. What is with this white room, she thought, and where is the door? She was alone, stuck in a pure white room, if she didn't get out of there she would go crazy, and crazy people just aren't much fun. She walked over to a wall. Maybe there is a door somewhere that just blends in with the wall, she thought. She would find the door if it killed her.

She slumped onto the ground in defeat. 3 hours of searching and not a hint of a door. She was going to go crazy in here. She may even die from lack of food. But that wasn't the first thing on her mind. If she couldn't find a door, she would make her own. Reaching for the pocket knife in her back pocket she began to wonder how she would cut herself out of the room, only to realize that the pocket knife wasn't there. She frantically checked her other pockets. It has to be here! Somewhere! Another pocket maybe! She couldn't find it. It was hopeless. She began to lie down and give up when she heard a voice.

"You really want out of here don't you? It said. "Well, I can help you there..."

*

 

The floor began to rumble. A crack appeared in the middle of the floor. "Ah crap." she said, anger and fear clouding her voice. The crack began to widen "We've got to move!" She yelled. She began to run for the door. I moved to follow, only to find I was still held tight to the slab by those chains.  "Help!" I screamed, and she turned around. She looked at me for a second like I was crazy. Then she realized I was sill tied down and she had never freed me. The crack was now more of a hole then a tiny sliver. She ran to the end of the room and turned around. Sprinting towards me she jumped the gap, but only narrowly, landing 3 feet to my right. She took out a key from her pocket and leaned over me to unlock the chains that held me. I could feel her shaking, her heard beating fast with fear and adrenalin. Her breath, warm on my face, was strangely comforting. A necklace fell out of her shirt while she was unlocking the chains. I recognized it. But I couldn't remember where from. She pulled me off the slab and back into reality, away from my train of thought. "Come on! Move it!" she yelled. The gap almost spanned the entire room now; objects that had moved to the walls began to fall into the seeming endless abyss. She cleared the gap, looking as if she had floated over it. She landed with a loud slam and cracked the remaining ground on that side. Impossible! I thought to myself. No one could jump something like that! Although this was a day of impossibilities I still wouldn't believe it. How could she do something like that? She looked over at me urgently. "Come on Time! Jump! If you know you can do it you will!" This was nonsense! There was no way to get over that gap! "Remember, your TimeMaker! Nothing was impossible! Just remember darn it!" Truth was I didn't remember much of anything anymore. But that necklace was oddly familiar... How had she gotten it? I only ever gave it to one person... and she wasn't her. Was she? I looked at the ground before me, I had one foot of space before the floor disappeared into the wall and I fell into the abyss. The room was almost 20 feet across. Even Olympic jumpers can't make that! Oh well, nothing else I could do. I jumped. And failed.

 

*

 

Falling, was I falling? Still after all this time. Nothing ever changed, just darkness with out the light.... I hit the ground. How far had I fallen? I checked to make sure everything worked, it did. The room I had fallen into was a brightly lit pure white room but small all the same. Something caught my eye. Something from the room above was falling at me. I rolled out of the way just in time. BAM! It hit the ground and the whole room vibrated. It was the concrete slab. That was close, I thought. I began to look for a way out of this boring room.

I felt along the walls, nothing. Nothing to let me out of this stupid white room! I resisted the urge to scream. I looked down at the floor in defeat. There was something over by the concrete! A hole! But the slab blocked it. But could I move the slab by myself? It had to weight at least 200 pounds, and I was only skin and bone. I never use my muscles, unless the thumb is a muscle. I walked over to the slab and grabbed it. Pulling up, I fell flat on my face. I tried again, this time using my back and legs to help lift. With a loud scraping noise it actually moved! After a few more tries it had moved far enough for me to see what lay underneath it. Stairs, leading farther into the dark. Could I go farther down still?

I walked down the dimly lit stairs. All I could hear was my own foot steps. The light from the torches on the side of the wall wasn't bright enough to even see to the step below it, or maybe my eyes weren't adjusted. As I descended farther a dripping sound began to happen every so often. I pulled my shirt to my nose, knowing that where there was water, there could be mold.

*

"So you want out of here?" The voice said, "Well here, let me help you." Anna heard a creaking sound, like that of a door long closed trying to open. Then she saw it. A panel on the floor was sliding back. "And where does this lead exactly?" Her words echoed in the room, and only fell silent upon her own ears. When she was sure that the voice was not going to answer, she headed for the panel and the stairs that lay underneath it.  

The second she descended far enough to not hit the door, it closed with a resounding bang. She screamed just as the door closed, she was blind for the time being, with no light source her eyes might not be able to adjust. If she was blind she would miss a step and fall. No, she had no time to think like that, she had to move somewhere. "Oopsie-daisey, forgot the lights." Light immediately shot through the hall, so bright that it again left her blind for a moment. When she could see again she looked around. Mold covered the walls and torches lit the hallway. The floor was different, a pale never touched white. She turned around to see behind her. She had left dirt on the stairs! She checked her shoes, not a spot of dirt on them. The torches on the wall were burning fiercely enough to make her sweat. She began to run down the stairs. The farther down the stairs she got, the louder a dripping sound became.

I reached the end of the stairs. A door stood before me, slightly ajar, riddled with bullet holes. I pushed the door open and walked into a circular room. This new room was only slightly better lit then the staircase. "Holy *poop*" A piped clanged onto the floor, but it didn't distract me from what I was looking at. Bodies. Bodies littered the walls. All over the floor, oozing blood. I walked into the middle of the room out of amazement and fear. What and why? Who could do something like this? Then the smell got to me, years of rotten decaying meat. High school locker rooms were better then this! Something hit me on the head, a think warm substance... blood. What I had taken for water had been blood. I looked up to see what it had come from. Bodies hung suspended form the ceiling, by meat hooks. I almost couldn't stomach it. It was like they had been hung alive. The looks of horror on their faces matched those of my deepest, darkest, nightmares. I backed up to leave and tripped over something. "Ow" I said and went to get up only to find myself now covered completely in blood. I looked to see what had tripped me. A body lay there on the floor, covered in blood and bullets. Curiosity got the best of me. I checked the body and found a wallet. Inside the blood swollen wallet was an ID card with the name Vince on it. Vince was 22. God only knows how old he is now. I found a gun in his black overcoat, a TMP. Probably what had riddled the door with bullets. I got up and turned to leave, only to fall to my knees again and vomit.

 

*

 

Anna reached a door. Another nice, white, unused object she would probably get dirty. A smell came through the door. Smelled like her fridge the last time she left meat in there to long. She resisted the urge to vomit and considered her options, go back up and face a locked door, or go in the room in front of her and face the smell. She pushed the white door open, and walked inside. 5 bullets went past her ear. She rolled to the side of the door. Another barrage of bullets sprayed where she just was. "*poop*" more bullets assaulted her.

She looked up to face her attacker... It was a male, about 6 feet 2 inches. Wielding 2 TMPs in her general direction. "This won't end well" she said. He had a crazed look in his eyes. He pulled the trigger on both of them. 4 bullets whizzed out from both of them. She lied down flat on her stomach. She felt some warm substance on her chest. Blood, she was lying in blood! She suppressed the urge to vomit again. He shot more bullets at her, clipping her hair and her thigh. She winced in pain. She couldn't hold out like this much longer. She picked something off of the ground, someone's leg. She threw it at her attacker and it caught him off balance. She charged him and delivered a sweep kick. Where did I learn to fight like this? She wondered. She grabbed his TMPs and switched them onto full auto. He got up and began to charge her. She jammed down on both triggers, walking towards him at the same time. He fell over. A crazed smile crossed her face. He was down and defenseless. "My turn now!" She pointed both guns at him and assaulted him with the rest of the cartage.

*

            I walked back into the circular crypt. Vince still lay there, drenched in his own blood. I resisted the urge to vomit. I tried swallowing but nothing could get past the Mount Everest in my throat. Dry mouth, big lump, it couldn't... well it could get worse. I looked around the blood stained room, no other door existed to let me out. Blood from the ceiling dropped on my head again. I looked up. All the people on the meat hooks stared down at me, their eyes piercing me and seeing into my soul. I looked away. One of the meat hooks was low enough for me to climb up. Maybe I would have better luck up there. I began my ascent. The chain was sticky with drying blood, but it only proved to hinder my progress and made every inch a battle with my stomach. "Grin and bare it" I said aloud and continued my battle. When I had reached the top I looked around. There was a cat walk about halfway across the room from where I hung. But to get there I would have to climb over bodies.

*

Anna dropped to her knees in disbelief. She had killed a man. Horror swelled inside her, like a bubble ready to burst, and the rest of her with it. The gun in her left hand slid to the floor, landing in the shallow with a sort of splash and clang. She clung to the gun in her right hand out of fear of whatever else might be around.

What if more came? Did someone else hear the shots? Where was she? These thoughts swelled around her head in total chaos. Finally one thought emerged. Get out.

She looked around the room. Only the shot up door she came through, and that wasn't a way out. No other doors existed. She sighed and threw her head back in frustration, and then she saw it. A catwalk. More importantly a potential way out. She looked for a way up and found a hook. She decided to climb that.

As she climbed she began to let herself think. Questions she couldn't answer came up. So she thought of the only thing she could. Her boyfriend. Her climb continued. At the top she saw the dead horribly disfigured bodies she would have to climb over to get to her destination. She jumped from the first hook.

*

 

"Ahh!" I screamed. I had jumped from the first hook and grabbed the nearest body. I found a leg where the arm should be and part of the torso. I began to climb up the body. Something snapped and I began to fall slowly. The leg! The leg had snapped off! I screamed again, my grip on the torso was beginning to slip. Seconds mattered now. I pulled all my strength together and hoped.

A good minute later I sat up on the catwalk, breathing heavily. Amazing, I had made it up. I sighed and looked around. All those disgusting bodies hung around me. They stared out at me through gaping eyes. Their arms outstretched, welcoming me back for more torture.  I turned away.

Two options were not available to me. The dark beat up door in front of me. Or the pure white one behind me. I walked forward, I was already facing that way wasn't I? Why waste the energy to turn around? I opened the door walked through, falling into the darkness.

All sorts of thoughts ran through my head.

Why didn't I choose the other door?

Why was I here?

What was going to happen next?

All these and more. Thoughts were turning into gibberish. All I knew was fear, fear of the darkness. Every time... every time I fell I panicked, and I wasn't going to get over it this time. Times like these made me miss Anna.

Just the thought of her made my trip down better. Soon I forgot I was falling into the darkness and I felt light and warmth. All that came to an end suddenly as I hit ground. Hard.

I groaned n the ground, everything felt broken, yet I could more everything. This place was starting to have an effect on me. Maybe it was this "simulation" crap people talked about. Maybe I was starting to believe it. I got up and looked around.

I was in a dark beat up looking hallways. Even darker, creepier looking doors lined this never-ending hallway. Which door was I supposed to go through? Heck, did any lead out?!

Would I ever know?

*

Anna jumped from body to body. None of the disgusting figures below her gave way to her weight, only swinging from her momentum. When she reached the cat walk she let out a huge sigh of relief.

Two options now presented themselves to her. A white door stood in front of her, and a nasty, old black door behind her. She choose the white one. She opened the door without so much as a squeak, and was bathed in light.

*

I sat there in darkness. Perfect, twisted darkness.

"Doors and walls, doors and walls, doors and walls." I said rocking back and forth. I couldn't take much more of this horrid darkness. I thought I was stronger then this. I guess not.

            Darkness, oh glorious darkness surrounded me! These doors, these hallways... they were mine, all mine! I could go through any door I wanted to see where it led, but no! I couldn't! What if it led out? Out of my hallways! These were mine! All mine! Nothing could change that! Oh yes... all mine...

*

            The light had faded now. Anna found herself in a bizarre room. There were floors and walls in the most random places.  Emptiness separated floor from floor.

This was insane! She thought. She turned around to go back and found a brick wall where her door had been. A moan pierced the air, and it didn't sound happy. She had to get out of this place. She looked for another door. There was one on the island across from her, but she would have to jump the gap. Oh how tired she was of jumping. This place was more of a workout then any gym could have been. The moan pierced the air again.

"Time to go." She said to her self and backed up to the edge of the island for a running start. She ran as fast as she could and took her jump. Immediately she saw that she had jumped to soon. She was going to crash into the wall. "Grab it. Grab it. Grab it." She said flying towards it.

BAM

She went smack into the wall, but did manage to grab it. She pulled herself up and decided to rest on a couch in this semi-furnished room. A warm fire blew on her face, a fire coming from the middle of the room. "Oh that's nice." she said. The moan struck again, leaving her speechless. She looked up to see what it was. A red thing was flying at her. She turned to run but found herself paralyzed by its disgusting scream. As it got closer she was that it was a gargoyle. Horns coming out of its ugly, disfigured red face, and a tail that didn't look like it was for decoration, but for piercing like its voice. She reached into the small of her back, remembering the gun. She aimed and pulled the trigger at it. As soon as it saw the gun it severed to the right.

"Ugh, you little bas-"she fired more bullets at it, hitting her mark this time.  It went down with a satisfying scream.

She looked at her gun, wondering how many bullets this thing had in it. She had picked up a clip from Vince, but had no idea how many bullets there were. Turning she saw the door she had wanted to go through. She opened it and walked through.

"Whoa..." She walked out into another furnished room. This was growing more insane by the minute. Next she'd see a unicorn. She laughed at her little joke. Although it didn't seem like it wouldn't happen. She looked up to see if there were anymore, and spotted the room she was just in. "This can't be happening..."

She looked back down to find another door. There were none but there was a spiral staircase on her right. She walked to the bottom of it looking for another way. No place to go but up, and up she went.

*

            Darkness, all my darkness. "Hmm, a tour of my kingdom would be nice. I'll walk around... So it shall be written, so it shall be done!" The darkness parted to allow me through. I pranced through it, my kingdom. Turning corners, allowing silent worship.

Tick-tock.

"What has dared to speak in my presence?" Tick- "Stop!" my scream drowning it out. "I will find you and take you down!" I roared, already running through my hallways. "You can't hide in my darkness!" I followed the ticking and tocking, Turning right and left as I needed.  "Ha! I found you!"

            At a dead end hallway, up on a pedestal sat a clock. "You, you are the noise maker! But you're only a clock! A TimeMaker!" The TimeMaker stared back at me without a word, its black hands shining at me. I looked closer at it and only saw my reflection... "Am I the TimeMaker?"

At the top of the stairs Anna paused. 5 doors presented themselves in front of her, majestic and tall. They all probably led to more islands. If her experiences told her anything, it was that she wouldn't be able to go back. She looked for another option. Past each door she saw what could be the island they led to, and on each island another door. This was hopeless; she walked past the doors and sat down. Looking down in defeat she saw another door, jutting out from the island into the nothingness. She dropped to the door and opened it. The next thing she new, she was in a forest.

*

I knocked the old king from his throne. "I am the TimeMaker now!" Tickk-tick-tick... silence. He had stopped. These hallways were mind and only mine now; no one else would challenge my rule! I skipped gaily through my darkness.

*

This forest was entirely black, only the leaves pulsing light into the world. It looked like a hall of mirrors, everything was the same. No door behind her. The leaves continued to pulse at Anna. She looked around, nothing of interest in the darkness. Trees, bushes, shrubs, none had any appeal, well aside from the leaves.

            Sitting now she pondered a means of escape. Reviewing her options Anna found that all she could do was walk blindly through the Blackwood.

            A breeze swept through the forest, holding her hair up with it. How she longed for the breeze of home, but this couldn't be it, it was to dark. The leaves began to glow brighter in the breeze, that couldn't be good, not in this forest. She decided to get out of that grove as fast as she could.

            She sped through the forest as fast as she could; only running into a few trees. There was nothing that could follow her through that. She looked over the shoulder to check, just in case. "Heh, eas-" she tripped on a shrub, "-*poop*" her voice was drowned out when she went face first into the black ground, and down a hill.

            She rolled down the hill, getting faster and faster as she went. She tried screaming but every time she opened her mouth both dirt and rocks flew in, or air. Down, down, down she went, over rocks and through bushes. Finally she reached the bottom of the hill, dizzy and in white hot pain. The pain seared through her like a sword, spiked, and knocked her out.

*

            Time. Time is the great being. Giving and taking as slowly or quickly as he pleases. To your parents, he gives you, but the moment that you are brought into this world he slowly takes away the wonder and excitement. As Time lets you strive he begins to kill your friends and family, all the while not telling you. Then, and only then will he give you his greatest and only gift, love. Your lover and you are invincible against time, even after he takes you out of the world. Never-ending, unconditional love. But anything else he might give, he strips away. One gift, one chance at happiness.

            Was this who I was?

*

"Sir, was the clock really necessary?"

"Well it worked didn't it?

*

TimeMaker, that's who I had been, an operative of Zion too. That bluepill she talked about... did Zion give it to me? Did Zion cast me out? Why? Why would they do that? What did I do wrong?

            Hate. Hate of Zion was all that was on my mind now. They had thrown me back into my pod! But soon, very soon, they would all be back in theirs.

            The walls around me began to crawl. Crawl towards the sky, turning into green code as they went. This would all end soon; Zion would have a new member tonight.

*

"Sir, he's waking up."

"Good, let those Zionites know."

"Consider it done."

*

            I couldn't breath, air wouldn't come, but warm fluid would. Down my wind pipe it went, scorching as it went, I needed cool sweet air. I kicked and tried to scream with no effect but more liquid, I did learn that something held me down. I pushed at it and tried to sit up. This thing was impossibility heavy. Why, I was stronger then this, I could already see the outside world, it could only be a thin covering. Finally, with all my strength, I made it pop off.

            I sat up as fast as I could, choking down air and coughing up liquid. Sweet, sweet air went down my throat, sweeter then the finest wine. An addicting wine at that, I couldn't get enough. More, I wanted more.

            I looked around at my new surroundings and found wires, more like tubes, all over my pod. "What the hell?" They we're plugged into my chest and legs. They looked old and rusty. I pulled out every plug I could find, but something didn't feel right. I reached behind my head, and found another.

*

"Locke, we got one."

"Go get him!"

*

            I looked around me. "Whoa..." and whoa it was. Large towers sprang from the ground like trees, as far as the eyes could see. Electricity jumped from tower to tower along the pods that jutted out of the sides. These people still slept in security and safety. I'd make sure they stayed that way.

            Thunder clapped and Lightening struck from the darkened sky, a good omen for the work soon to be done. Soon a Zion hovercraft would come for me, and then, chaos.

            Freyjas hovercraft sped through the underground tunnels like a bullet. She had just received a call from Commander Locke.

"Freyja, we have a sleepwalker, play fetch."

"What am I? His *CENSORED*?" Well at least the tunnels were save with the truce and all.

"Try not to hit that wall again, ok Radar?" Freyja said.

"Oh shut up and let me drive!" Radar replied without looking up. Freyja laughed a wild and crazy laugh at his reply. The sleepwalker was in for a big surprise here in the real.

"Captain, we're almost at the surface." Radar said. "Good, get a lock on his pod."

The sleepwalker had been sitting in his pod awake for more then half an hour, soon the machines would come and send him down the garbage chute. They planned to be there when that happened.

*

My plan had been formulated, now all I had to do was wait for a hovercraft to come pick me up and deliver me back to Zion. I passed the time watching the electricity bounce up the pods around me. I looked out over my pod to get a better view of a bolt that had just started at the bottom. It was a beautiful sight to behold. It bounced around so gracefully, with the speed and agility of a small animal, now it jumped towards me like a ballet dancer, and left in a bright flash of light.

            When I could see again there was a metallic thing staring at me. This had to be one of the machines. I waved to it but it only blinked in reply. Next thing I knew I was speeding sown a chute.

*

            "He's going down now!" Radar shouted. Pure excitement had hit the ship; a new recruit was on his way down towards their hovercraft. Now all they had to do was catch him and not kill him in the process.

"Alright crew, ready?" Freyja shouted over the whirring mechanics of the ships hatch opening.

"Ready!" They replied. "Well good, because here he comes!"

*

            This was by no means a fun waterslide. It just kept twisting and twisting, and I couldn't stop myself. I felt weak and nauseous... another turn and there wouldn't be anything left inside me. Finally it went straight and I could see out through the end of it. A Zion hovercraft was sitting there waiting for me. "Perfect" I said to myself as I flew out of the hole and into the water.

            I fell with a splash into the water. This I wasn't prepared for, I thought maybe I could swim, I guess I didn't have any muscle... seeing as I had lived in a simulation all my life. I was drowning now and looked up at the Zion hovercraft. Did they know who I was and about my plan? Just before I went under I saw the hatch on the bottom of the hovercraft open, my salvation was at hand.

*

"Jesus Radar! You missed by a mile!"

"Actually it was only 20 yards..."

"I don't want excuses! He could have drowned!" Freyja said angerly.

"Yes mam, sorry mam..." Radar said, knowing not to fight with her. "And Radar?" Freyja said. "Yes'm?"

"Don't call me mam... you make me sound old. Now let's see this new kid." Freyja turned to leave the desk and walked out briskly.

"Harsh when she wants to be isn't she? But I do love being behind her!"

"Hlew!" Radar said. "Never, again... you know she's probably got the shipped bugged!"

"Probably?! She does have it bugged, and she listens to you talk in your sleep." Hlew retorted.  "I don't talk in my sleep!"

"How would you know? You can't hear yourself, but I can, you never shut up! We need another room in this hovercraft so I don't have to bunk with you."

"Love you too Hlew."

Over in another part of the hovercraft Freyja sat down beside the new recruit, or so they hoped to make him. He had thousands of needles sticking out of him, each working his muscles with small jolts of electricity. This was always a necessary part, and Freyja never liked to watch it, but she stayed with him nonetheless.  This kid could be just the crew mate she was looking for to complete her crew. He was no one special, but he was self aware.

A sleepwalker as they called them in Zion. Not still asleep, but never having taken the redpill. There were only a handful of people like him, and all of them ended up being excellent fighters. Maybe things would finally get better.

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

 

            Anna woke up on an uncomfortable concrete slab. She sat up to see where she was moaning as she went, everything hurt. A window sat above her new bed, and a cell door to her left. She stood up on her bed to look out the window, the forest sat out there in its eternal twilight.

            She slumped to the floor. She longed to be back home, or anywhere but this place, this forest. Time had completely passed her by; all sense of it had left awhile ago. She looked around the grimy, moldy room. There was no exit, the bars were to thin. No way out unless the voice popped up again.

            "Well hello there! We meet again" Someone said, almost on queue. "You certainly get stuck in a lot of problems. Can't you do anything without my help?"

            This guy was not helping his image much, but at least he was good in a pinch like this one. "So wanna get me outta here?" Anna almost begged. As if it was magic the cell door opened at her words. "Thanks, I can take it from here."

            "No, no you can't." The voice said, "Let me help you." The shadows in the corner moved and a woman walked out. The first thing Anna noticed was her necklace.

*

 

            Freyja woke up with a start; she had dozed off next to the new kid. The electric hum of the hovercraft was dead, except for the needles, those were still working. She got up from her chair and walked towards the bridge. With everything this quiet they must be back in Zion. She entered the bridge only to find her crew still there, motionless. "Radar? What's going on?" She asked.  Radar shushed her and said, "They'll hear you!" "Who will?"

"Sentinels."

Sentinels? But what about the truce? Had someone violated it?

"Radar... it's coming towards us..." Hlew whispered.

"I know... I know..." Radar replied.

"Kill it Radar!" Hlew said slightly louder.

"No, the truce could still be in place."

Fear had engulfed the entire ship, growing ever tenser as the sentinel approached them.

"Radar! If the thing dares to get within firing range of the EMP kill it." Hlew said getting louder and more scared.

"Hlew, shut up!" Radar said still whispering.

"Hlew, Radar, shove it!" Freyja retorted. If they weren't such good operatives she would have left them there in the tunnels to die.

"Sorry." They said, like well trained school boys. Both of them looked scared now, and Radar never lost his cool. The sentinel was within firing range of the EMP now.

"Activate the EMP." She said reluctantly. "Then get the ship the hell back to Zion.

            Hlew lifted a hatch on the center consol and jammed the button he found inside. A blue light immediately spread from the button. Any activated electrical equipment that it caught would be fried.

"Uh-oh." Hlew said. "What?" Radar asked. "The new kid..." Freyja remembered the needles still in him, each one about to release all the energy inside into his body when the EMP touched it. Radar began to run for him. "I got it!" he shouted back to them, chasing the blue light. All they could do was hope. Freyja followed behind him.

  

I woke up with a burning pain. Every muscle in my body felt like it was on overdrive. I picked my head up to look around. Thousands of needles stuck out of my body. What were these Zionists doing to me? I ripped needles out in pain and anger until only 5 were still in my left leg. I started on those when a blue light caught my eye. It came out of the door to the room, and soon more through the walls. It moved towards me, pulsing with life and death, an in-between. It approached and retreated, child like in its ways. I heard footsteps but didn't bother to look, the light was amazing. Someone yelled something at me but I didn't care.

Half dazed and drunk with the light, nothing could take me from where I was. The light continued to swallow creep towards me. I reached out to touch it, and it engulfed my hand, and then my entire body. Then it happened, the light pulsed through my body and left me in pain. I screamed but heard no words. The pain left as fast as it could come, numbing my left leg, the rest of me in a conscious shock.

*

Freyja came into the room listening to the sound track of pain. Radar must not have made it in to the off switch in time; her new operative could be paralyzed or even dead in just a few more seconds. She looked over at Radar who was smiling. She stared into his sea blue eyes, looking for a reason to smile. He directed her gaze to the pile of needles on the floor. "Radar, how did you remove them so fast?" Freyja questioned. "I didn't, he did." He pointed to the moaning man on the table. There were five needles still in his left leg, and that could heal, although he might have a limp for awhile at best. She laughed at her own over reaction.

            "Radar!" She commanded. "Yes mam?"

"Tell me when the pain dies; I'm going to make sure Hlew doesn't crash us."

"You... you let him pilot!"

"Yeah. Oh, and Radar?" She said with a smile, "Don't call me mam."

"Yes sir!"

She picked up a needle from the floor and threw it at him on her way out.

*

            She had laughed at me! I was cold, hungry and in pain, and all she did was laugh! The man she called Radar spoke to me realizing my reaction. "You know, she's really not that bad once you get to know her."

"Ok Sonar, whatever you say." I said crossly.

"It's Radar; you'll get it eventually,"

I disliked him already, how long did I have to put up with these people? When I get to Zion they had better let me transfer ships!

            Radar left the room, probably to get his captain. This was a perfect opportunity for sabotage, but what to play with?

*

            "Left turn here Hlew." Freyja said "Now up there. Good. Watch out for that! Now that..." Hlew reached over and slapped her.

"Ow! What was that for?" "No back seat driving." Hlew said angrily. She slapped the back of his head. The ship took a dive and Hlew tried to regain control. "Are you trying to get us killed?" Freyja screamed.

            Hlew looked ticked now. "Once we get back to Zion we had better have a long break." "Sorry hun" she said, enjoying herself "But we have to train the new recruit, so one day at best." Hlew looked like he was about to commit mutiny. "Fine, just fine"

            Radar walked in, pleased with himself. "Freyja, he can speak without screaming now." "Great." Freyja said crossly. "If he turns out like you two..." She stormed off to see the kid, leaving them with a full example of why they needed a break.

            "Hlew, what did you do?" Radar asked. "Nothing I don't normally do."

"Ah, so that's her problem."

"Not my fault."

"At least we get a long break from her."

"Yeah," Hlew said suddenly changing from anger to depression, "twenty-four hours, at the most." Radars smile fell off his face and all the way through the floor.

***

A pair of legs blocked my view of the ceiling; the legs disappeared a moment later and revealed a face. "Hey kid, what's your name?" it asked. "Tim." I said crossly.

"Tim? What, did Radar name you?"

"My mom did, why do you ask? I said angrily.

"Oh, no chosen name yet? Well you need one of those, no one is going to want to run around calling you Tim, especially not your operator; nor will I. So go ahead and pick one." She said false flowers and sunshine in every word.

"From what list?" I asked her.

"The list in your head. Just pick a name, throw letters together or pick a word that means something to you. Take Radar for instance. He used to work in a submarine, always watching the sonar. He didn't like sonar much so he went to a category name, Radar."

I thought for a second and only one name came to mind.

"TimeMaker" The name everyone else had called me, and the name I realized belonged to me.

"You can't have that one! I mean... it's taken. By um, someone else... How about Time... umm..."

I guess I hit a soft spot with that one, was I supposed to know her? I wanted to ask for more but her distress affected me.

"Um well, how about..." I had no idea what I was going to say. More time to think would have been better. Was I the TimeMaker or was I not? Maybe I could anagram TimeMaker. M I K E T A M E R. No, no way, lame.

"Well?" she asked puzzled and excited. Time was running short. Time that was it! It had to do with time. Anagrammed made it... I T E M. Nah, not enough... Ah!

"Xitem. That will do fine." I said. I pulled off a name, not something I would want to name my child, but I liked it. X, what a great letter.

"Xitem, hm, very nice, well Xitem, lets get your trained."

*

"Training? Now? What about out day off! You said we got 24 hours!" Hlew screamed.

"I said 24 hours at the most, anyway, it's not like your actually putting him back into the matrix already, he's not ready for that. Just use a construct. You're such a genius... now get going."

This got weirder and weirder as it went on. At least I was causing trouble. I wondered what I would get to do first...

"Radar!" Hlew said, trying to mimic Freyjas voice. "Plug him in and I'll love you forever!"

This didn't amuse Freyja, she exercised every ounce of self control she had, and still ended up throwing something metal in his direction. This place was crazy.

"Missed me, now don't break the equipment." Hlew said.

Radar looked like he had just been attacked by French maids with feather dusters. Without noticing Radar, Freyja stormed out, the second she was out of view Radar exploded with laughter.

"Radar, Radar, Radar, calm down. Just plug him in and help me find a program to run. Then the real fun begins, and I'll jack you in to help."

"Alright Hlew." He turned to me. "Ok kid, come over here and sit down."

"I have a name you know" I replied.

"Oh really now? Well I'm sure we'd like to know, eventually." Hlew said.

"Die in a fire, both of you." I replied.

"Well now, drown in a puddle." Hlew said, which caused Radar to laugh even harder.

I sat down in the chair, hoping to get this over with. Nothing could make this any worse.

"This is gonna feel really weird."

"What is-"

He stuck something in the back of my neck and the whole world went white.

*

"Welcome to Tahiti!" A voice said.

 

 

The light was fading and I now found a beach all around me. People walked back and forth, over beach tanners. Then I saw it... This was a nude beach!  I felt warm sun on my body and looked down at myself.

           

            This was some kind of sick joke right? I looked up and then noticed it. Everyone on this beach was a girl! And not just any girls, models. Brazilian, Spanish, Japanese, everything else a man could ever ask for.

           

            Someone came up behind me. "This is going to make things hard." To late, I thought. "What will?" I asked. The female voice rang in my ear again. "Hlew put in the one program I didn't want." It was Freyja, one of the last people I wanted to see while I stood here naked. I didn't dare turn around; if she was too... well I didn't want to see.

I blushed at once and covered myself from the rest of the world, even though, wasn't this half the point of a nude beach? "That won't be necessary." She said, walking out towards the sound of the crashing waves. I could see now that she was fully clothed, someone up there still loved me a little. Her pink dress shirt shimmered as it caught the light of the sun, un-tucked from her skirt. I could hear the sound of her blue flip flops as she walked through the sand, like she had many times before, never once faltering.

"This Xitem is the Matrix, a computer program, to say the least." I knew that. Anything new in this speech? "Now most people aren't ready to be unplugged like you. Most of the people in the simulation don't realize that this place is a prison, a curtain on the stage of a play, covering the behind the scenes work, covering the real. But you, you were special. You, like most of us discovered its existence and we're ready to be unplugged. You saw past the curtain, and pulled it back with out the choice. That is what makes you different from the rest of us. Disconnected without shutting down, if you will." I looked around the beach, the smell of the salt water intoxicating me, telling me to relax and stare at those around me. A wonderful distraction from this horrible truth. All self control was about to go. The girls looked delicious, rolling over on their backs, to tan their fronts in the sun. My mouth watered.

"Xitem, are you even listening to me? Hey X!" I looked back at her, pushing back my needs and wants. "Fine, go stare," Freyja said, "don't pay attention." She walked off and I turned to look. Every girl was now dressed in a black suit and tie, earpieces curling around their now manly faces. Guns hovered arms length from their bodies pointed at me, they still smiled, beckoning me to come forward. All triggers were pulled at once and the resounding bang left me cowering behind my hands. Seconds passed and nothing hit me. I looked out from between my fingers; bullets hovered all around me, frozen in time, and Freyja laughing.

"This is the very essence of the Matrix." She giggled. "Pay attention or die!"

"I think we should move on to combat training before he pisses himself." Hlew's voice rang out against the now empty beach.

"Good idea." Freyja said. "But upload the programs to him first, I'll be sleeping." She walked to the end of the beach to stand in the surf and let the unreal crystal blue water splash coolly onto her feet.

The world suddenly started dropping slowly around me. My head felt light and I reached up to massage it, only to find my hand turning into code. I watched in horror as it engulfed my hand and flew towards the sky, like an inverted rain shower. I tried to scream but I couldn't. The last thing I saw was Freyja staring out over the crystal blue ocean.

*

I found myself back in the reclining chair they used to jack me in. I tried to move but found myself still plugged in through the hole in the back of my head. I reached around the back of the chair to unplug it. "No, don't do that."

Radars voice floated across the room in an attempt to stop my and probably calm me. I stopped but felt no better. "What do you want to learn first? Kung Fu? Karate? Aikido? How about something more obscure?" Radar laughed, "Ninjitsu?"

"Ninjitsu is fine." I picked.

"Any order you want?"
"Whatever pops up first."

"Alrighty then, you're easy.

*

Freyja stared out over the peaceful water, listening to the rhythmic sound of the waves against the beach, like the great heart of the world. She knew it was all fake, a lie, but they had done a pretty *CENSORED* good job with it. The ocean pleaded with her to return to her ignorance, just get a house on the beach and stay up with it and listen.  Maybe even come out and listen at night and sleep. That was all it asked of her. Attention. Sail a boat on it, let the tides splash up on and over her feet. Bringing foam, salt, water, shells, and anything else it felt like sharing with her. This was why it was her favorite program, now that the Agents had been taken out, along with the beach goers. She was alone now and could reflect on her day.

The new recruit showed promise, he hadn't panicked yet either; strong will. He seemed fully capable of operation inside and out of the Matrix, well aside from that fact that he hadn't yet had combat training.

"What do you think about that kid Tim?"  A tall dark man appeared beside her with deep set blue eyes and a smile set to kill. "He'll do fine.

"I hope you're right."

Freyja took his perfect dark hand and headed off towards the end of the beach in darkness. Just off the shallows was the shimmering light that was their beach house. Both of them headed towards the bed room.