Let's watch this city burn,
from the sky lines on top of the world,
Till there's nothing left in her,
Let's watch this city burn the world.

Let's watch it burn, let's watch it burn
Let's watch it burn, let's watch it burn
Let's watch this city burn the world...

In before apocalypse.

Hi guys.

I didn't even know you still played.  Probably because I don't (much lulz).

You were one of the finest examples of a Merovingian operative, Dridien.  You'll be back.

~V

My lack of money strongly disagrees with that Vanil...

Chapter 0.3, a.k.a. Matrix Revolutions, was the last chapter the Wachowskis did.  They then handed it over to Paul Chadwick, father of great ideas like the Unlimits and lazer pew pew.  Chadwick's contract expired, so now Rarebit is handling the story.  The only bad thing about this is the loss of the cinematics.  However, I'll sacrifice cinematics for good story anyday.  I think Rarebit's got a good hold on how to keep things "Matrixy", so we'll just have to see how he does.

Sorry to see you go, Dridien.  I thought you had stopped playing over a year ago, though.

I stopped playing on Dridien but I played around on a character that no one really knew about it, it was fun then I finally got Dridien revived and eh just lost the will/time to play again and also lost the money ;p lol

Well now I know I swore to never do this and even though I haven't actually played the game in some time, I am regretably forced to close down my SOE Subscription! To those of you who knew me, fare well! It was a blast while it lasted and I'll always consider MxO my #1 MMORPG but money has gotten tight and I cant afford it! lawl.

That and I've actually gotten a bit bummed..it sounds like MxO the game it's self is drawing to an end...Chapter 9 was the last chapter the Wachowski's did or something like that and then the story telling dude buggered off and yeah..Anyways.

Great playin with ya! Shall maybe return some day!

 -Dridien

"Do you know what the difference between you and I is dear Satyricon...? I have better makeup..." ~ Rose

The other's eyebrow would twitch first before arching, she hated these little games that her Mistress played, there was alot that could be different about them but fundamentally, at the core, they were the same, bred of the same code and coded by the same one "What..?" She responded once more.

With a giggle and a flutter of her eyelashes she tilted her glasses down, revealing her eyes for the first time in awhile "I have better makeup.." The Irises of her eyes had already taken the change, now a crimson color rather then their normal pleasant hue. It wasn't all together un-expected, she knew the change would come sooner or later. It was, afterall, her blood...

But then she heard it, a startling noise as with a wush and a thud the body had hit the ground. She knew what it was without turning around, the code told her no lies as the glove was slowly slipped back upon her hand and her head tilted back over her shoulder. There crouched a woman with black sunglasses and an ear-piece attached to her ear, it had taken them long enough to come out with a new model but she had to say that it bore a good resemblance to her at the least.

"GK00134 You are scheduled for deletion!" Her voice was monotonic, void of emotion or such a thing as anger. So they had removed her 'flaw' afterall, but if it was as she had known it to be...it would be an easy task, to make one such as her self fall. She gave a chuckle as her body had turned around, there the woman remained crouched black leather boots and gloves upon her hands. She looked so much like she used to, so much like she did.

The exile grinned, her teeth appearing visible plainly "You do know, I wont comply..." She mused outloud, taking a step forward even as the program of the system rose her self up. They would be an even match, they had afterall, put her diaries to good use. The Program simply nodded it's head as they charged forth and clashed against each other, fist to fist, blow to blow, the two programs pummeled away at each other each ones digital body weaving and rolling out of the way of blows just in time.

Rose had the upperhand, she had so much that the other did not, could not, have. Her fist had lurched forwards, like all others this one had been bound to the rules of the system. Rules which she no longed had to follow, rules which she had been liberated from. But of course she was not free from all rules, her fist had remained jammed into the torso of the program as the wall behind her had begun to crack and with a smile the Ghost rose her finger, it was an ever delicate thing as her nail pierced the soft digital flesh and allowed the blood to be freed, yes, even programs would bleed.

She was beaten, her eyes wide with what could be described as a fear she could not even recognize, for everything had known desire for it's own existence, desire not to be terminated. Her arms were limp, hanging loosely at their side as the woman leaned softly in and whispered into the programs ear "When I'm done...you'll beg me to kill you..."It was a soft whisper even as the program had whimpered, slowly feeling her own existence being drained away as programming was over-written.

She was hers now, nothing they could do could change it....Afterall, she 'had' made her....for they had played with something which was not theirs, and as such had created another 'error' in the system. She smiled now, sometime after the fight the two nearly identical figures stood upon the rooftop their eyes scanning the distance. One seemed quiet, frigid to say the least, for she had visited the Ivory Tower, and would ever single night...

"I simply want what is mine.. " ~ Rose

Her breathing tensed, but only for a second, as did her very muscles that did not even exist. It was not real, yet, it was realer to her then anything else could be. Her glove had slid from her hand and revealed it, the small mark which had made it's self apparent on her otherwise flawless skin, bits of red and old looking code seemed to drop from her hand. It wouldn't be long, no, not at all. With a wince and a frown she pulled the fabric back on, the leather sending the shockwave of pain through her body...but of course it was not real.

The door would be busted open delicately, they had been expecting her, of course, the final tier of security personal had lined up in the hallway of the large corporation which she was in the process of invading. They had information here, stored away, information that she desired; information that she needed "Hello boys~" her voice rang, the noose was closing in and it was around her neck. Several had already been lost, the last could not be allowed to be severed.

[OOC: Thusly you can post in reply to things that you see in this topic, but you cannot actually stop or prevent any of it, mkay?]

It was a day like any other within the Matrix, the bluepills going about their business blisfully unaware of the war or anything around them. How stupid they were, how foolish they were. But it had been a day unlike any other, for it was the day that 'she' would earn her fifteen minutes of fame...even if no one 'knew' who she was. That mattered not, anyone would be able to tell as the report came over the televisions and radios "And the police still have no leads on the brutal shooting which left twenty-three dead and dozens other injured last night at the popular night club 'Club Jade' an eye witness recounts "It was terrifying, she just came out of no where a black trench-coat flowing behind her firing two pistols at anyone who moved, people freaked out, they ran straight for the door and got out...we didn't get a good look at her..." police have also confirmed that they are unsure what the Rose left at the scene of the crime has to do with anything.."

They were foolish to have ever gotten in her way, to have been there at that very critical moment of searching. She would have what she was looking for, one way or another, her body moving gracefully through the mega-city with heels clicking away at the pavement when she had actually taken time to walk rather then leap and bound over the cities, completely oblivious to the bluepills that stopped and stared. They were irelevant to her. She had gotten her first lead. She would get her answers, the very source of her code tingled, her tongue tracing across those beautifully painted lips of her. It was all coming together again....

We have a lock

It was a mostly anonymous tip that had come in that sent the Hovercraft barreling down the tunnels of the underbelly of the City, they had been passed the information on the location of a Hovercraft that had been long since thought lost. It's decayed ruins remained upon the surface of the tunnel, using only just enough power to keep it running, to keep him alive.

Machines skittered around as the Zion Hovercraft blasted it's way down the tunnel, machine guns blazing from the side as bits and pieces of the Machines exploded and flew off as they fell lifeless around the ship. They had never thought that the rumor would be true when they had heard it from a Merovingian of all people. There was hope yet, as the crew unloaded into the ship they were surprised at what they saw. Dead bodies littered the Hovercraft and the Operator monitors had long since gone dead with static and in one of the chairs sat the Captain, facial hair having grown long and his clothes were dirty. It was apparent that he had not been removed in sometime, apparent that this was indeed him...he was alive...but how to get him out?

"We've got him!" A voice echoed as the coord slipped from the back of the man's head and he gave a gasp, wide eyed his body jerked straight up and looked around at all the strange faces. The bodies, the bodies of his friends that had been left to decay. What had happened? What had he missed? All would be revealed in time as he was escorted aboard the other ship.

Upon his own request, he was jacked back into the simulation, against the wills and recommendations of the medical officer.

## Broadcast depth
## Transmission Interception...
## HvCFT Uno Cuore
## RELAY Initialized

Ces imbéciles! Do try and keep in mind you over zealous fools that he is not a bluepill! He is simply having some...mm....memory...issues....He is alive, He is out there. He is stuck in the simulation and does not even know it. Mon Amis giving him the redpill will not work if you find him and I honestly do not want to see the outcome! It is within my interest that he..well...survives. You do not need to know anything further then that. We do not have any more information on his where abouts or his name.

Given the nature, he may revisit the places which had touched his life. Mara, Moriah, Magog, Midian, Tabor Park, Camon Heights. All likely places.




## End Transmission...

So...I was wondering if someone could tell me what the RP Community is like on Vector? I'm wondering because I know I had some fun RP on Enumerator when I played there for a bit and not sure how it carried over (I always heard RP would prolly be better on the hostile server because of the realism of being able to be attacked).

 So...it any good?

## Broadcast depth
## Transmission Interception...
## UNKNOWN
## RELAY Initialized
010101100100100001001010001100010110001100110011010100010110011101100010011011010011100100110000010010
01010010000101001001101111010110100101001101000010011101000101100101010111010
01110011011110110000101010111001101010110110001100011011110010011010000111101

The report finally came in from the autposy, and guess what, you were right. It wasn't him. They're more clever then people like to admit but they really pulled one over on us. You know what this means? He's still alive out there somewhere.....But where?

## End Transmission...

 [OOC: I've decided to do a little RP since I'm coming back to the game (Now that SOE fixed the issue with my character name..Thanks guys) so yeah....feel free to jump in if you knew Dridien.]

phi wrote:

So many here that would betray their humanity... sad really.

We are not free, no where were we granted freedom. We were granted continued existence and a very uneasy peace by the Machines. How many lives were lost before the truce? How many operatives were killed by Agents? What about now? In richland as we stand together around a hardline undisturbed complaining that we do not have freedom?

What of the days before the truce? Where every moment inside of the Matrix was a physical threat to your health? We are not free, we did not win any war against the Machines, Neo saw that Zion would be destroyed and instead he made a deal to save Zion.

There are things more important then truth and freedom....like the continued existence of humanity.

Emergency Jackout Protocol - Does anyone really consider this canon?  Or just an MMO tool?  To me, it seems kind of unrealistic that operatives cannot die in the Matrix.  Obviously, with our own characters, we've got it.  But do all operatives have it?  Would anyone find it ridiculous that operatives could get shot and killed in the Matrix nowadays?  It seems that with the EJP in place, operatives are now invincible and thus, makes it rather hard to kill a character off without some crazy killcode or something.

--------------------------------

Well I believe that some ships have them, but not all. If everyone had them your controllers would not be sending you out on assassination missions, and you wouldn't see any Redpills actually dying inside of the Matrix or anything like that.

It'd make Assassinations completely pointless unless everyone and their brother these days uses programs.

A story
A man fires a rifle for many years; And he goes to war. And afterward he turns the rifle in at the armoury; And he believes he's finished with the rifle. But no matter what else he might do with his hands.... love a woman.... build a house.... change his son's diaper. His hands still remember the rifle.

Beep....Beep...Beep
"Woah..."

A hand rose up, slamming down upon the blaring alarm clock, the mans eyes shot open wide as he looked around the room to find that he was safe and comfortable in his apartment. He heaved a heavy sigh, dragging him self out of bed his feet hit the ground next to the bed as he stumbled into the bathroom, ready to take his shower.

Soon the hotwater was pouring over his body, the man stood there with his arms pressed up against the showerwall and his head hanging down his long black hair clinging to his face from the water, smirking he could only shake his head.

"What a *CENSORED* up dream..."

Slapping the water off and quickly drying him self off he began to pull his uniform on, staring into the mirror as he put his ID Card on around his neck the name on the card read "Marcus LaFae, Head of Research & Development; Hajime Inc."

The door to the nicely sized apartment  slammed closed and Marcus went about with his life, unaware of the possible meaning of his strange dream....

Dance Dance...

The rain poured over the city, the fists clashed as the black trench coats waved effortlessly in the high wind. Below them the city carried out it's day-to-day life, the sounds of thunder drowning out that of gunfire, the man in the blacksuit bent backwards, avoiding a clean kick from the woman.

Jumping back up quickly he spun to the side, aiming and firing his pistol. The bullet grazed across Rose's cheek as she also fired her own sidearm, the bullet struck the man in the leg causing him to topple backwards. Lightening struck down behind her, the rain soaking her face and body as she glared down upon the figure of the man.

She had met him before....She held nothing but spite for him, nothing but disgust for who he was. Snarling she pointed her gun down at him, only to have her legs kicked out from beneath her. In the process of loosing her balance her pistol slid away from her but she would not stay down, her leg shot upwards and hit the man in the hand knocking his gun away as well before she lunged back up to her feet.

She let an almost feral growl escape her, baring her fangs as she lunged forward at the man who slammed his fist into her chest knocking her backwards, the two continued to exchange blows for awhile as the dance continued on.

They knew each other, and yet they did not. Deep within their souls something drove them both on, driving them to want to kill the other as finally she got the upper hand. Catching his leg she spun around and tossed him into the entrance of the staircase.

Gathering her pistol up off the ground she slowly stepped forward, the rain flowing over her body and onto the ground. She heard a click and instantly reacted, running quickly to the side was bullets struck the roof around her. She spun around several rounds striking into her trench coat and darted forward.

She could not see her foe in the darkness of the rain but as another bolt of lightening struck down from the sky the cool barrel of her pistol had pressed against the other womans head as they came face-to-face for the first time, she stared into the eyes of her self, the feeling of the cold steel pressed against her head brought her senses back

"Is this some kind of sick joke?"
"Oh you wish it were..."

There they stood, one woman staring into the face of what used to be her. Both had pistols drawn, the hard steel pushed against the others head but as the moment drew ever closer she found that she could not bring her self to fire. Staring into those indentical eyes, the memories flooding through her mind and finally it happened. There was a click, and a bang her body toppled over the blood pouring through the air as she hit the floor and her RSI disappeared.

The confused looking program looked turned her head toward the man, lowering the firearm she put it away and walked over toward him. He was still on the ground, his own blood spilt upon his suit and pooling on the roof with the water.

Her hand reached out and helped him to his feet, she gave a little smile and nodded her head toward him "This exile is rather hard to terminate..."

And with those words, the two had jumped away.

Who IS he?
"Who is this guy? It's insane, his kinetic levels are way to high to be just any rookie. The roster says he has just been awakened but it's like he's done it all before..." - Treize, Operator of the Exodus II

"So...Your ship was destroyed by Cypherites?"
"Yes."
"And you survived?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"There was an explosion, I was thrown several hundred feet out of the ship and lost conciousness. From what I was told the ship it's self exploded shortly afterwards."
"Interesting.." The woman commented, pulling the dark stalkings up her slendor legs as the man struck a match and held the flame to the cigarette in his mouth. The two had been forced to work together for an entire night, stuck in the simulation on orders from their respective commanding officers.

Agent Gray had told him that he would have to work with a zionite but he nearly jumped for joy when the woman had left the building, the entire night she would not shut the hell up. The rest of the job was up to him as he sat down at the desk, the laptop flickered on and he set to work.

He would have found it earlier, had he not been distracted by that womans non-stop babbling and disturbances but in the end he had found it, several hours after the woman had left, but he had found it none the less. A Merovingian database was in a business near-by, he would have to work quickly if he was going to get in and out before anyone noticed he was away from his duty post.

What he was doing was not exactly sanctioned by his current employers but he did not care, what did it matter to him? Ever since he had heard about it he had been drawn to it, the mystery of it's existence and now he was on the verge of discovering the truth.

Just give me what I want, and no one gets hurt

The data flowed into the computer screen, his head was leaned back now as laughter escaped him. He had found it, two hours after he went to the Merovingian base, killed everybody, and stole the data he had managed to decode it and find the information that he wanted.

Pulling the disc from the laptop and switching it off he rose to his feet. It was only a matter of time now, slowly opening the door he stepped outside the sunlight flooding over his darkly clad body. A grin was spread upon his face as he disappeared into the crowd of bluepills.

It was not so much a mystery as it was a myth, a legend, a rumor. One that was spread through the ranks of Machine Operatives and some had even claimed to of met the object in question personally. He however had a personal interest in it, he felt compelled to find it. For he felt that if he discovered it, the answers to his own questions would be answered..........

Awaken...

One should be absolutely careful where one leaves their most valueable possessions, for you can never be entirely to sure who it is that will find that which you hide.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?"
"Oh you wish it were..."

There they stood, one woman staring into the face of what used to be her. Both had pistols drawn, the hard steel pushed against the others head but as the moment drew ever closer she found that she could not bring her self to fire. Staring into those indentical eyes, the memories flooding through her mind and finally it happened. There was a click, and a bang.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

"THAT SON OF A *CENSORED*!" A voice bellowed from within the decks of a hovercraft, she had been jerked back into reality as the body of the sixteen year old woman twitched rather violently, Mataru had been startled by the sudden outburst of her crewmate and lover, she at first thought that Vanil had once more done something to *CENSORED* Rose off and she gave a simple sigh, but upon further inspection she came to realize that the other girl was actually shaking.

Tears were flowing down the sides of her cheeks as she had bolted up from the chair and ran, slamming the hard door behind her as she had ran into the bedroom. Of course she had not  locked the door or made much of an attempt to make sure that the door had stayed close, in truth the door had slammed so hard that it had slowly re-opened it's self.

And there she sat, in her tattered rag like clothing running the long sleave across her face only adding to the burning in her eyes as the oil mixed in with the salt of her tears and she cursed loudly slamming her hands down on the bed, there were times that she hated being human.

She had not realized it, or noticed when it had happened. But Mataru had walked into the cold room, and now she felt a pair of strong arms around her holding onto her as her face burried into the other woman's neck, still crying.

It wasn't just the fact of what she had seen that had her so shaken up, it was the combined shame of loosing to someone so...so..inferior to her! She had hesitated in pulling the trigger, yet she had not. In her fit of anger she had left all that important data aboard that cursed Hovercraft, and now someone else had it and someone else had activated it.

A low groan escaped her as after what felt like hours of crying passed, her head was pounding and her eyes still stung her head pulled away from Mataru's neck and she stared up at her. Biting down on her quivering lip  she finally broke the silence

"You're going to be pissed off....." Rose finally whispered out......

Awaken...

One should be absolutely careful where one leaves their most valueable possessions, for you can never be entirely to sure who it is that will find that which you hide.

The Hovercraft sparked from the electrionical equipment left onboard, the ship had been completely abandoned by it's previous owners. But there was still something of value stored aboard this ship, something that was important enough to someone that they actually braved the hazards of the real looking for this one specific ship.

The man gave a sly smile, his fingers danced across the controls as the ship powered up. It was still in pristine condition and everything was still operational. Hard to believe that they would simply just leave an entire hovercraft laying in the real.

But he had found what he was searching for, his fingers tapping on the keyboard was he entered password after password until finally he had access to that which he wanted most. The ships mainframe was now his, but more importantly this ship would serve as his base of operations. Smiling after making certain adjustments to certain files he sat down in the chair, the ships newly activated A.I System coming to life and he felt the sharp pain as he was thrusted into the Matrix

Now she must bear the wounds
That memories bleed

The AI systems came to life, from the work of this skilled man was she awakened, a sound familiar to that of agents could be heard as her body was pulled from the darkness and into existence and then finally that ear-splitting noise ceased, and she was there on hands and knees coughing franticly as she gasped for air her glasses had fallen off of her face and shattered.

She could hear a laugh, the chuckle of a man as he extended his hand down toward her. Carefully she peered up from behind her hair, staring questioningly at the man asessing the threat level of the one that stood infront of her she reached up and took his hand, pulling her self into a standing position.

It was very awkward for her,  she opened her mouth but suddenly found she could not think or process any words to speak. Her eyebrow only arched as a pair of sunglasses were put upon her face, and then she giggled before falling silent. Her eyes seemed to go blank as the second process began, the memories flooding into her mind along with thought and behavior patterns.

Both of her eyebrows arched as she stared up at the considerably taller man, he was wearing a blacksuit  and her head only tilted to the side, a small smile crossed her lips as she felt the gust of wind flow past her. She had just now realized that they were standing ontop of a tower

"Hello, sir." She finally chirped out, in a half-giggly half-professional, very girlish and somewhat cutsie, voice "What is on today's agenda..?" The man before her's face twisted into a small smirk as his hand reached down and patted the woman on the head, suddenly to his noticeable surprise the womans size adjusted and she was once more at eye-level with him.

She burst out in laughter, seeing the face of the man as she suddenly grew right before his eyes. She smiled and the two turned their backs, staring off at the city below them. But something felt strange inside of her....Did she really know this man?

Welcome My Son...

"Good Afternoon....Mr.LaFae....It would seem that you were the victim of a terrorist attack, we asure you that you are quite alright apart from some minor injuries that were incured upon your person we however are quite worried about your mental state, you see you have been in acoma for several months now...."

Welcome to the Machine...

He sat in the dim room, his eyes blurred and his hair hanging around his face. The once perfect white suit was torn and ripped, he was the enemy to them and would be shown no mercy, no restraint. He did not know for how long he had been inside this construct, how he had gotten there or why they were even keeping him alive.

"What is your name...?"
".....Xa-...."

A pulse of pain shot through his body suddenly as the electricity jolted through them, it was a painful experience but he gritted his teeth. He would have to bear through this if he wanted to survive, he had suffered much worse but the stress was wearing thin on his body. Suddenly he lost conciousness, the Agent's only smirked.

"It is only a matter of time before he caves in..."
"We have the location of the infection, we will remove it and finish the process."

The next time he awoke the men in suits had doubled in number, his head darted around the room trying to figure out what was going on and before he realized it his vision faded to white as a searing hot pain rushed through his body, smoke rose from his clothing as his body bore burn marks.

His head fell downwards, the pain had ended and his conciousness slowly faded as he felt him self being dragged away from the room.

What did you dream?

"We thank you for your co-operation Mr.LaFae, we have taken the liberty of informing your employer that you will be able to return to work this week, since there are no medical or mental complications we see no further reason to detain you, you have a clean criminial record and are so far an outstanding citizen. You will find that the Government has made perfectly sure that your job and properties remained in your name during your...accident...you are to be awarded in helping thwart those terrorists."

It's alright we told you what to dream.

Where am I?

There was darkness all around, the decaying code gave way as my vision had slowly focused back in onto reality. It was strange, the building was on the verge of existence and non-existence. It was one that had been seen before, one that looked as if it had seen better days. It held the familiarity of a mansion with it's large walls and staircases, atop the staircase stood a woman. Clad in a black dress she gave the faintest of smiles, and there I stood in a grand ball-room. All around lights flickered and people danced, it was becoming stranger....

"I...Don't want to die..." The words echoed in the darkness, his body was bound and all that remained around him was gone. The code had decayed beyond repair, all the remained of the area which he had entered was a simple wooden hallway and the wooden beams which he was currently restrained to.

The exile of a woman gave a shrill laugh, her clawed hand reaching up to his cheek slowly slidding the sharp nail along his skin, the man wore a white suit that was stained red with blood. It was his own fault that he had arrived to this place, by his own will that his life would end. And he heard her speak, those beautifully red lips donned upon the palest skin he had ever seen

"It is your fault that we are in the position we are, you have broken the seals and lead them to me. I do not have long left for this world...But I can grant you life, for a price..." She whispered out, her face dangerously close to his as he cried out "Anything! Just spare me!"

And Darkness swallowed the two alive, the man never to be seen again

Who are you?

For awhile she had spent some time watching a strange man, his life was a familiar routine and he lived what could be considered the blissful dream. Something was all to familiar about him, the way he had placed value in the objects he surrounded him self with. It was no surprised that she had become fascinated with this strange being, so overly calm about everything around him. He was totally unaware but at the same time it seemed as if he knew this all was just a game, and he was playing to win. She had stopped watching him after awhile....

But one question remained, just who the hell was he!?

It was a quiet thing, to watch another die. To watch the life of another being slip away from them as quickly as it had came, and thats what she did now, watching the bluepills as they formed a circle below a playful giggle passed from her mouth as they stared at the poor man that she had dropped from nearly ten stories up. He made a delightful splatter on the ground as the life had been long since drained from him she highly doubted that he even felt his death, but still it was fun for her to watch as the simpletons crowded around, their day to day lives disrupted and thrown into chaos, some would be fired for being late. She revelled in the chaos that she could create with such a simple action, the blood slowly trickled from the corner of her mouth her tongue collecting it up skillfully.

But her eyes were brought somewhere else, from across the street she heard an alarm wailing and a man simply fall from the twenty-third floor of a building. Her head twisted and turned sideways, her eyebrow arched watching as he disappeared.

"Well...That was interesting..?" She cooed out, an eyebrow arched ever so elegantly on her tanned skin, her black clothes shimmering in the sunlight. She would investigate it more later, but for now she was bored.

I've seen you before...

She had seen him before, but she just could not put a finger upon it. The man who simply fell from the window of the 23rd building that day, it would never cease to bother her as the twisted one spent that night pacing back and forth in her tower of Ivory. Though she had been able to catch a glance at the strange man, it was only for a few seconds.

She was a watcher, it was of her nature to watch. But something very strange had been happening lately, something she couldn't even begin to understand. It was an awkward time in her life and she was finding that the drawbacks of being at least partially human was that her memories were slipping.

Oh how it was annoying, to have a thought clawing at the back of your skull and having it screaming to be released but you just can't bring it back....

How...Odd.

Who am I?

A question we have all as human beings asked our selves at one point in time, who are we? Are we defined by the actions that we take? By the people that we meet? By the objects we posess or the titles that we hold? Are we defined by the memories we have left upon other people, by the interactions we have shared with other living beings?

It is this desperate need to be defined in which we seek out a purpose, whether this purpose is to conform to a standard or to rise above obstacles put infront of you. It is the desire to be defined in which we, human beings, have lived our entire lives blissfully unaware of the bigger picture at work around us.

Shuffling around from day-to-day jobs, trying to buy the latest and greatest in technology, the nicest cars, the fanciest suits, and the best jobs. It is this very same desire in which man turns upon one another, friends becoming foes in the struggle to gain supremecy over each other in a life that doesn't even matter.

It is because of this deep seated desire that wars are waged, that crimes are commited. There is always somebody who is better then another, someone who has more then another. There are those that are jealous and those that are greedy.

It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything

The sky was clear that day, below thousands of people walked and drove around, carrying out their day-to-day activities. Unbeknownst to them someone was stalking them, someone was watching them. From atop a perch, high in a tower office building a man clad in a simple black suit stood in the darkened room.

The office building he was in had tinted windows and the lights were all turned off, behind him the room would occasionaly light up with the crackle of electricity as a computer system sparked up. Upon further inspection of the simple office building signs of a disturbance could be seen, computers destroyed and papers thrown everywhere, bullets littered the walls and bodies would give the occasional twitch from the ground.

And the man stood, and watched, striking up a match and raising it up to the thin white stick in his mouth the glow of the match illuminated his simple business suit, his hands covered with leather clothes tinted red with the blood of those that had died that day.

And he watched them, unbeknownst to them as they scurried about as ants. Opening the window the man slammed his hand down on a fire alarm and he was gone. Several minutes later the authorities arrived to the seen of a masscre to discover that a computer system had been hacked and all of it's files missing, security officers and office workers alike were found dead in the building.

Who am I?

He was once just like them, another ant, another pawn in the day-to-day hustle that was life. He had done well for him self so far in life, he had a decent ammount of money, a nice car, a good paying job in some top-shot company and more importantly he had a purpose, a definition, he was Marcus LaFae, head of research & development for Hajime Inc, some local technology company based out of the International District. But that would all come crashing down one day, for you see, his purpose was much greater then that of most. He would soon be pulled from the sweet comfort of his well-paying, defined life, taken away from his Expensive Clothes, New Cars, and fine dining.

His bank account would soon mean very little to him anymore, he would become non-existent. He would not have an identity anymore, from that day on he would be recongized only as simple Deja Vu, his name surrendered and a new one would be taken up.

You have to realize that someday you will die
Until you know that, you are useless

(To be continued.)

(Cuore Nero is a new and smallish Merovingian Faction dedicated to Roleplaying. I intend for the faction to be a 100% RP faction offering in-house RP lessons at first for those interested into diving into the world of Matrix RP and later on offering open RP lessons for any that wish to attend, assuming we get large enough.

Cuore Nero in it's essence is basically just a 'social' club to Blue Pills of Redpills and Exiles from all over the Matrix and from all different walks of life from powerful mobsters to successful business men and women. The purpose of Cuore Nero is basically the very core of the Merovingian essence, to party and live life as if every day were your last. To celebrate life it's self, to sin, to party, to do bad deeds, the likes.

If you want a roleplaying faction with a general family atmosphere full of people who are accepting and open minded to new things then please do look us up, we treat each other as equals and the major decisions with the factions are done by a vote. I ask only that the members respect each other.

If you are interested in Cuore Nero feel free to contact me on Xfire (GateKeeper00134) or through the in-game email system. Thank you.)

Authorities remain baffled by the posters or their meanings, evidence would lead to believe multiple pranksters are involved in this plot. The subjects show a disregard for other people as well as the clubs they leave their mark, leaving the posters all over and even posting them over legitament postings.

Since the posters began to be put up throughout the clubs local authorities have been working under the supervision of government officals to quickly remove the images, this has also spurred more gang related violence in some distracts of the cities.

In clubs all around the Mega City local authorities have been working around the clock to remove posters of questionable intent, these posters appeared over night throughout various clubs in the city before the authorities had time to react.

When the authorities were asked why they were removing the posters they refused to comment to the local media. The posters seem to indicate a gathering of some type, a local religious leader in the community of Moriah commented that these posters belonged to Devil worshippers and should be destroyed at once.

Regression-

 My first stint of roleplaying in the church at Mara Central where I dueled The Lady Return who had called out all of her Devils Advocates to come watch the fight while I had Eclipses encouraging me as the two of us fought one another...Yeah...those were the good old days.

Rogers Way

[This is a story based on the history of Roger's Way as described in both the city guide and the Atlas in game.  Enjoy. -Trikraft]

It had been 48 hours since Roger had slept.  He was tiring.  He had been fighting non-stop since then.  They knew now the prophecy to be true, Strike was The One, and they knew they had to get him to the Source.  The Source, Roger had never even heard of it until yesterday, nor did he still know what it is, but he knew Strike had to get there to end the war.  It had been a gauntlet, pure hell.  They had lost men from their ship, the hovercraft Linenoise, they lost Wilco when he stood against an army of Lupines blocking the way to the hardline in Downtown.  There were so many of them, hundreds.  They lost Nove and Echo to Agents while retrieving the key to the door that Strike had to enter.  It began to rain that night, thick, heavy drops that stung the top of you head when they hit.  The rain kept coming, flooding the streets, forcing a populace indoors.  The streets were empty, the water rose to the ankles on Roger's boots, the sky was black.

Roger sighed heavily as he stood in the alleyway, Strike close behind.

"How much farther Strike?", Roger said, out of breath.  Strike walked out into the open street, which was illuminated with a ghostly glow, the streetlights making halos in the rain.

"From what she told me, its just there, that building", Strike said, pointing to a tall office building 15 blocks down.  Its lights were dim in the hammering downpour, but it was there.  It rose above the squat houses in this place, standing out among the rest, the elevated freeway passed overhead, shielding the street below from the rain, and leading.  Strike and Roger walked under the elevated highway, slogging their way to the building. 

"15 blocks", Roger thought to himself, "only 15 blocks, that ain't nothin'...nothin' at all.  We can make it, we can....."  It was then that Roger heard the sound he dreaded coming from the hotel lobby behind them.  The loud screesching, echoed screaming, and horrific crunching as a human host was taken over by an Agent program.  The hotel doors revolved, their gold trim catching the subdued light, and a trio of Agents stepped on to the road.  Roger and Strike stopped where they were, and turned slowly.  There they stood, in their full length leather trenchcoats, subdued class hidden under layers of kevlar and leather.  They wore their sunglasses, even in this darkness.  The Agent at the center of the blackened V walked forward and spoke.

"Mr. Walker...Mr. Devlin...I am...impressed that you have made it this far.  Not an easy feat", the Agent stopped for a moment to smirk before speaking again, "however, this is where you stand now, drawing your last breath.  You shall go no farther, this, is where your trip ends."  Roger and Strike stood, staring down the trio of Agents.  Roger reached under his coat, and silently flicked a switch before turning to Strike.

"Go Strike, get to the building, get to the Source.", Roger told Strike, his face grim.  Strike's face grew concerned.

"What do you mean?  I can take these guys, easy.", Strike said with confidence, slightly concerned.

"We don't have time Strike, the timer is running short.  You can't delay while trying to take down these clowns, let me do it."

Strike looked saddened, "Roger, you'll die, you can't face them down, everyone has died, and I don't want to lose you as well.  You're my last link to the Real."

Roger smirked, "I'm beyond that now, there are more important things than me, I know this.  I want you to know something though...I never believed the One myth...never.  Until now.  I believe, Strike, I believe......now.....run."  Roger turned and ran at the Agents, Strike turned and sprinted as fast as he could toward the building, he was a blur as he crossed block after block.  Roger continued toward the Agents, who had drawn their guns, and were firing at Roger in short bursts.  Their bullets kicked up spouts of water all around Roger as he closed the gap.  The lead Agent smirked, aimed his weapon, and cut Roger down at the knees.

Roger grimaced in pain, and toppled over, sprawling head over heels several times, landing prone on his back 15m from the Agents.  The lead Agent slowly approached with an amused smirk on his face.  The sky lit up brightly from a blinding white light from down the street...Strike had done it, he had reached the Source.

Roger coughed, producing crimson blood from his mouth, he was dying, but slowly the cough turned into a laugh as the Agent drew ever closer.
"You did it brother, you did it."

The Agent loomed over Roger's head, pointing his submachine gun down, focusing on Roger's head.

"Perhaps an introduction is in order.  My name is Agent Park.  My associates are Agent Mills, and Agent Smith.  We already know who you are Mr. Devlin, so no introduction necessary."  The Agent stretched slightly before levelling the gun again.  "This, I believe, Mr. Devlin is the end of your time here.  So sorry it had to be this way."

Roger looked up at the Agent, beckoning him to come closer, as if he had something to tell him.  The Agent, amused by all of this, bent slowly forward allowing Roger private audience with him.

"I believe.....you can go to hell."  Roger punched the detonator in his hand, and there was another bright flash as the nuclear device detonated.  The heated shockwave blasted the support struts away from the freeway, sending it crashing down on himself and the agents.  The facade of buildings were blown away as the world disentegrated into code, swirling symbols as the world was torn apart.  It was the Reload.

Strike had made it.

Strike had returned to the Source.

And Roger?

Roger had his way.

He made a stand.