There was something… something not quite right, though Lucifer couldn’t tell what it was. If he had been human, he would have called it a gut feeling, he supposed. Raphael’s scheming, Lilith’s failure to remove Smith, the human’s delayed response; there was a certain sense of unreality about it all. Each action and reaction appeared to be almost contrived, as if there was some higher power pulling the strings, as if they were all pawns in some vast game. It made him feel helpless and Lucifer hated that.
It took only a thought and he was within the physical construct once again. While it wouldn’t be too difficult for Raphael to find him, he suspected that his Lieutenant wouldn’t actually be looking for him within the physical construct. 0.2.8 also would probably not be expecting his presence, so now all he needed to do was find the human, Anderson.
The fragmentation rate of Smith’s code had increased, Gil-Rhuven noted. Soon enough it would be noticeable and then…
The Strategic unit tapped a finger lightly against his lips, thinking. There was something about the fragmentation that was almost too ordered to be a random malfunction but Toleezu had specified only conclusive data to be reported. Yet, large sections of Agent code were going missing, intact chunks… A quick analysis revealed the obvious that had been previously overlooked: all the sections that were disappearing were sections taken directly from the Ophanim. Which meant that eventually Smith would be left with only Enforcer code, the section taken from Raphael. Then by default shouldn’t he, in fact, be turning into Raphael, or at least a minor copy? But he wasn’t.
Gil-Rhuven ran a further analysis. Several of the bots surrounding him paused to observe the Agent seemingly frozen in place, staring at the monitor in front of him, in shock.
“Mutuki?” he activated the dormant communication channels.
“Yes?”
“You’ve been authorised to access the Enforcer data sets, haven’t you?”
“Yes…”
“I need a copy of Lucifer’s base code.”
Silence.
“Mutuki? I need that copy.”
“Gil, what are you doing?”
“Something…” was all he said, closing off the channels and turning to look at the file that had just been transferred.
Advanced Agent Toleezu re-read the data that had been transferred to Lucifer. There was nothing conclusive, nothing to arouse the Enforcer’s suspicion and yet there must have been something, since said Enforcer was now present within the physical construct. Watching the monitor, Toleezu could see the section of Enforcer code moving toward Anderson, as well as an irregular unit, which must be Smith, heading in the same direction.
Having received the report from Brown, Smith moved to intercept the Enforcer. He’d hoped that Raphael would be patient and not attempt to interfere directly with the situation but there was no use in regretting that now. Now all he could do was stall the Enforcer and hope that Anderson finally made some sort of decision; preferably one that would attract Lucifer’s attention and thus prevent Anderson from being killed by Raphael. But of course, that would just be too easy, Smith thought bitterly.
Surprisingly he reached the human without any trouble. Neo was still sitting on the park bench, staring at nothing. Smith resisted the urge to step up from behind silently and rap his knuckles on the human’s head. Anderson seemed to bring a whole new level of meaning to the phrase ‘the light’s are on but nobody’s home’, figuratively speaking.
Smith sat down on the bench and observed the human.
“I don’t think I can make this decision.” Neo said, quietly, without turning. He waited for a response but received none.
“Didn’t you hear me? I’m can’t make this decision!”
“I heard you, Mr Anderson.”
“So… so now what? Are you going to try to kill me?”
Again silence.
“I’m not afraid to die.” Neo’s voice dropped again. “But I guess that means nothing to you, being a machine…”
Smith removed his sunglasses and turned to face Neo. For a moment both eyes were completely blank, devoid of both iris and pupil, then they returned to normal.
“What the fuck?”
“You would not mind your life ending? You code being extinguished?” Smith seemed angry at the suggestion.
“It’s not like you could do anything about it.” Neo said, shrugging. Wondering why he felt like he’d just said the wrong thing.
“I was wrong, Mr Anderson. I have overestimated you.” Smith said suddenly, getting up to leave.
“Wha- Wait, you can’t just leave…”
Smith turned to face him and Neo found that he’d involuntarily stepped back at the cold fury in the Agent’s gaze.
“I would advise you to leave, Mr Anderson.” Came a new voice from behind Smith.
Neo regarded the figure warily. A tall, cold looking individual: most likely the unidentified AI that had shown up on the Neb’s monitors, the one he’d previously erased…
“Lucifer.” Smith said, sounding unperturbed. He appeared not to be bothered by the apparent threat, in fact he was smiling. And though Neo didn’t know it, it was a smile reminiscent of Raphael.
Neo turned and abruptly began to walk away: ignoring the goings on behind him. He resolutely didn’t look back.
TBC…
15:06, 20/05/02