Chapter 1: Chapter 1

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.”    

K. Dick 

  

She moved everything to the side; she didn’t need all of those office supplies. Printer, papers, paper clips, pens, record-keeping supplies... Hell, she didn’t even need the shitty computer that they had provided her with. In seconds, everything that was on the desk before her found itself on the floor. Instead, she placed her trusted, carefully configured laptop on the now empty desk and pulled out her own notebook and a single black pen. Alongside this, she placed her little cactus, blind pricklypear, at the far corner.  

* “Opuntia rufida.” the Agent said in a cold voice, looking through the file opened in front of him, making her feel extremely uneasy; “Hackers like yourself usually settle for easy-to-remember aliases. Do you think that you are different, perhaps special?” his voice vibrated in an empty, cold room.   

“Opu.” she said carefully after a moment of silence where she took the time to observe the two other Agents standing behind her; “That is the easy-to-remember alias you’re looking for. That’s the alias of the hacker that you’re looking for. That’s what they’re known as.” she said and turned to face him again.   

“Perhaps to some.” the Agent lifted his head from the file, slowly taking his deep greenish-blackish sunglasses off in a smooth, calculated and almost theatrical motion, allowing his piercing blue eyes to find her green ones; “Not to us.” he said; “We know who you are.”. *

She shook her head to shoo away any further thoughts and the uncomfortable feeling that had started to settle in her lower abdomen.   

Instead, she looked over her new working space, placing her hands on her hips: “That’ll do. That’s all that Opu needs to rock.” she said, hints of pride building up in her chest.  

She was lucky to get the job. After all, she should have gone to prison. That’s what usually happened to the enemies of the government. This was the last place she had imagined herself ending at after being caught and she didn’t even imagine herself being caught in the first place. She was good at what she did, one of the best, so how they got to her... It still remained a great mystery.  

“You will need that printer, Miss Marshall.” a cold voice called behind her and she quickly turned around.  

* ‘We know who you are’ - echoed in her head.   

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say.” she said defiantly although she knew very well that she was done for; “I’m no one.”.   

What was supposed to be a cheeky smile appeared on the Agent's face. However, the smile didn’t remain on his face for long. Instead, his already sharp features sharpened even more when he gritted his teeth, his hand darting to the earpiece in his right ear.   

“There is no need to be shy, Miss Marshall.” he spoke through his teeth: “You ought to take the credit for your hard work.” he made a pause and his eyes burned through her very soul.   

Panic started to get to her. No one was supposed to know that Opu came from Opuntia rufida. She had never told anyone and had used simple Opu as her alias from the very start. Her love for the cacti was her own little guilty pleasure that not many knew of. It had little to do with her career of being the Anonymous.   

No one was supposed to know.   

How in the hell did they know? *

Agent Jones’ presence still made shivers go down her spine. Actually, all the Agents that were present in the interrogation room that day made her feel uneasy and uneasy was perhaps a bit of a soft word for how they actually made her feel.  

Scared.   

She stopped what she was doing and observed the Agent's face for a moment. It was still as blank as it was back in the interrogation room; no emotions played on it whatsoever. If anything, he just seemed...  

Bored? Angry? Fed up?   

She didn’t have an answer.  

A small smile appeared on her face. She knew that she was caught and pretending that she didn’t know anything on the matter wouldn’t make much difference. The fat file sitting on the table before her with her name on it made it very clear. Perhaps the Agent was right. Perhaps she should claim the victories she'd had throughout her career as Opu, especially since that was probably the last opportunity that she'd have to praise her own achievements before she was going to be locked away and forever forgotten.   

* “I’m far from shy, my dear Agent.” she said sweetly; “In fact, may I say how lavish your suit is? I didn’t have the chance.” her smile broadened and she remained silent for a long moment, observing the surprised expression on the Agent’s face; “I wish that I had the same sense of style as you.” she chuckled.   

The Agent’s eyes widened for a short moment before they turned into slits: “I see that you are finding this amusing.” he said; “Perhaps not as amusing as I am about to find it.”.   

To this, her own eyes widened: “Pardon me?” she asked. *

“I don’t want to connect it to my PC.” she said; “In fact, I don’t want to connect anything to my PC at all.”.  

Agent Jones regarded her for a moment before he spoke: “You cannot work without it.” he said simply.  

Sam studied his cold face for a moment longer before she spoke in defeat: “Okay. I’ll make it work. Cutie.” she added.  

Agent Jones nodded and, in a moment, he crossed the office room, passing by a few cubicles to enter the office of his boss, of their boss, not having any reaction to what she had said at all.  

* “It is always a pleasure to find one of you. In fact, we have been searching for you, watching you for a long time now.” the Agent said in a cold, but slightly amused voice; “You are done.”.   

She looked deep into his cold, blue eyes, feeling the warmth rising in her cheeks.   

“You have been caught.”.   

She considered the Agent for a moment before she spoke: “It seems so. You got me.” she said and lifted her hands in the air theatrically, defiant smile playing on her lips; “And what now, gentlemen?”.   

“There are two possibilities - “ the Agent started, but she cut him off.   

“Oho. And here I thought that I was done for, like, all the way.” she smirked.   

He pretended that he didn’t hear her: “You either give us Morpheus, or you get locked away.”.   

She stopped her eyes from widening in surprise and, instead, she turned them into slits: “What gives you the idea that I know where Morpheus is?”. *

Sam shook her head. She didn’t want to be where she was, but she had no other option. It was this, or prison. The Agents were clear enough about it.  

Damnit.    

She gritted her teeth and took a moment to observe the cubicles before her. There were ten cubicles in total, but only six were filled, including her own. The four men and a woman were hard at work, typing away on their computers vigorously.   

Sam sighed. She crossed the room and approached the large pinboard and the whiteboard that were placed at the top of the room, just before the glass office of her new boss, or should she say, the man who held the key to her freedom. A large map of the State was placed on the pinboard and, alongside it, there were many pictures of different code clippings, pinned to the areas where they were discovered at. The whiteboard contained a list of names.  

Apoc, Morpheus, Trinity, Link, Ballard, Neo – Sam read – My name is not on the list.   

She sighed.   

She'd thought that this was all about her, but, apparently, she was wrong. No matter how good she was, Morpheus was always better.   

* The Agent didn’t say anything, his gaze remained glued to her eyes, his face remaining expressionless.   

Silence remained for a long while, reminding Sam of just how cold the room actually was. She pulled her sleeves over her hands and her fingertips, almost shivering in the cold. The Agents, however, didn’t seem to mind the cool air at all.   

They didn’t answer her question and, before she spoke again, she thought about her possibilities carefully. They thought that she knew who Morpheus was. Yes, she had worked with whoever Morpheus was on some Anonymous projects a good few times and Morpheus was an amazing, even magnificent hacker, but who Morpheus was still remained a mystery. On the other hand, Morpheus didn’t know who she was either. Both of them could be anybody and they could be anywhere.   

“The clock is ticking, Miss Marshall.” the Agent spoke, his deep voice bringing her back to reality. *

She observed the complicated codes on the pinboard and the names they were connected to. Some of the codes were extremely imaginative, something that even she perhaps wouldn’t think of. Her eye got caught to one particular part of the code connected to the name Neo. She observed it carefully and for a long time, thinking about it.  

“What is it?” came a question in a male voice from behind her.  

“I would’ve done it better myself.” she muttered more to herself than to whoever was standing there.  

She forgot for a moment that someone was still there while her eyes remained glued to the clipping of the code. A slight cough drew her attention.  

“Sorry.” she managed, turning her head around only to notice a tallish middle-aged man with a bald head and a short red beard looking at her with a soft smile on his face.  

“Rodney.” he said and offered her his hand.  

“Sam.” she said and accepted it, shaking it firmly.  

“Nice to meet you, Sam.” he said; “Welcome to the Code Analysis Unit.”.  

She smiled a small smile; “So, how long have you been here?”.  

“At the CAU?” Rodney said; “For six years. Before, I was just a cadet trying to get into the FBI, but the boss recognised my capabilities and recruited me. I’m forever grateful.” he said and touched his heart with his hand.  

“Not again, Rod.” a middle-aged man’s head appeared above one of the cubicles; “You need to stop having a crush on him.”.  

Sam’s wide eyes found the newcomer’s and he laughed before he spoke: “Adam.” he said “Nice to have you here, Sam. We’ve heard a lot about you.”.  

“Have you now?” she asked suspiciously, her eyebrows rising high on her forehead.  

“Heard about you is perhaps a wrong choice of words.” a female voice came over and Sam turned to face a curvy woman with short black hair; “We’re the ones who have been collecting information on you for a while now.” she said and Sam’s eyebrows rose even higher; “Sorry.” she added and shrugged her shoulders.  

She gritted her teeth for a moment before she answered him: “I don’t know who Morpheus is.”.   

* “Do you want to go to prison then, Miss Marshall?” he asked in a cold voice; “We have more than enough to lock you away for a long, long time. After all, you are an enemy of the State.”.   

“Of course not.” she said, feeling aghast and proud of herself at the same time; “Who would want that, my dear Agent?”   

“Then it is an easy choice for you. All you need to do is to give us Morpheus.” something odd played on the Agent’s face.   

She thought about it for a moment. Did she really want to help these assholes to get to one of the most prolific hackers that has ever existed?    

Of course not.   

“Says you.” she finally managed through a huff; “My dear Agent, I don’t have Morpheus, but perhaps...”.   

The Agent sat up in his chair, fixing his tie, his eyes not leaving hers, not even for a moment.   

“Perhaps... I could help you find him.”.   

The Agent smiled a satisfied smile, his eyes not reflecting the emotion at all. *

“That’s OK.” Sam managed before she took in a deep breath and relaxed her whole body; “I’m Sam, by the way.”.  

“Olivia.” she pushed through a sincere smile; “You’ll be a great asset to our team. We've seen how much you can do, it’s most intriguing.”.  

“Yeah, how you managed to break into the government's security system is beyond me.” Adam said while he nervously brushed his fingers through his brown curls; “You’re a dangerous one, or so says the boss.”.  

Sam opened her mouth to say something, but Rodney cut her off: “Yes, you and Morpheus are a devilish combination.”.  

She was about to speak, her mouth hanging open, before she was cut off yet again: “Guys, go back to work. You know that the boss doesn’t like chit chattering.” but no face appeared above the cubicle where the deep voice came from.  

Rodney, Adam and Olivia looked at each other and then at Sam before they all shrug their shoulders.  

“Come.” Olivia told her; “I’ll show you what we’re doing.”.  

Sam looked at Adam and Rodney who both nodded and smiled politely at her before they both disappeared behind their cubicle’s walls. She sighed and turned to look at the pinboard one more time, her eyes trailing off to the glass office’s walls of the asshole who got her in this position. The blinds were closed, but they were old and there were some areas through which you could see through to the inside of the office. This, along with the setting sun, allowed her to see both Agent Jones and Agent Brown standing in the middle of the room, talking quietly to the boss whose back was turned to them, his hands cupped behind his back and his whole attention turned to the setting sun.  

* Lack of emotions gave her creeps. She didn’t understand it. Although the Agent indeed had facial expressions, his eyes remained just cold, empty and dark, despite their piercing blue colour. Perhaps it came with their training? That ability to distance themselves from everything?   

“That is what we like to hear, Miss Marshall.” the Agent spoke; “If you deliver, we will be able to help you keep your freedom.”.   

“And if I don’t?”.   

“Then it is a prison for you. Simple, I would dare to say.” the Agent said.   

“Yeah, sure, let’s call it simple, dear Agent.” she said, feeling uncertain about her position in all of this; “I’ll need it in writing, though.”.   

“Of course.” the Agent said before he flipped the file with her name on it to the very end and pulled out a paper, slowly glancing over it before he laid it down on the table and pushed it towards her.   

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“What’s your name, by the way?” she asked him while she picked up the paper, understanding very well that they obviously had everything planned and that they knew that she would settle for their proposal.   

“These are Agents Jones and Brown. I am Agent Smith.” he said. *   

“Sam?” came from Olivia.  

Sam shook her head and turned to follow after her.  

In only a few steps they were in Olivia’s cubicle: “We’re all collecting data on the aliases you saw on the whiteboard and pinboard, each one of us is searching for one of them, and all of us are searching for Morpheus. You’re our Morpheus' lead now, so you’ll be searching for him and only him. If you want, I can show you how we do it?”.  

“No, that’s quite alright.” Sam said; “You can just send me everything you gathered on him collectively so far and I’ll take it from there.”.  

“Sure. Do you need help with setting up the printer? I’ve heard that you’ve got your own laptop here”.  

“No, thanks. I’ll manage.” Sam said although she already knew that she wasn’t going to be printing shit.  

If they wanted her to print the stuff out, then the asshole Agents were the ones who would have to show her what exactly they wanted from her. Meanwhile, she would continue to do what she knew how to do the best – hacking. While she did that, she would try and figure out how to go about trying to get to Morpheus. After all, she had to warn him somehow. He needed to know that CAU was after him and those similar to him.  

“OK then. I’ll email you everything that you need to know. You have your login info, don’t you?”.  

“No, actually, I don’t.” she answered.  

“Oh. You ought to go and ask Mr. Smith to give you all that. You better do it straight away. He won’t be pleased that you’re here for some hours now and not doing what you came here to do.” Olivia gave her a sympathetic look.  

“What’s up with him anyway?” Sam asked, not really thinking much about the implications of her own question.  

This was a government organisation, and her boss and other two were Special Agents, the best of what they did in the State. Olivia’s face told her that perhaps she shouldn’t be so rude towards them, but in all honesty, Sam didn’t care too much.  

There was little that could ruin her day. She loved way too many things way too much. Even when she got caught, she didn’t dread too hard. It was what it was, and she was okay with it. She understood the consequences that her actions could bring her and she went with it anyway. All that she wanted to do was to make the world a little bit of a better place for those in need. The government disgusted her. All the politicians, greedy, lying bastards... The world had too much of that. She just wanted to bring out some balance and to show the good people that everything was not as bad as they had thought.   

“What do you mean?” Olivia answered her question with another question.  

Sam knew that this meant that she was supposed to say – never mind – or something among those lines and get on with it, but she just wouldn’t. So what that he was their boss? So what that he was the government’s Special Agent? Despite her distaste for government officials, she wanted to know more about him. So far, she knew him as an asshole. Perhaps she could try and understand him a bit better before she drew her conclusions. He was still just a man, right?  

“What I asked. Sup with him? Why is he so...?” Sam realised that she lacked a word to use.  

“I’m unsure what you’re asking me, Sam.” Olivia said; “Look, get to work now and you’re more than welcome to join us for some drinks after the work hours. All our colleagues are excited to meet you properly.” she said and smiled.  

Sam nodded her head: “Thanks. I’ll go and get the login info then.”.  

* “So, Smith. Smithy. May I call you Smithy?” she asked while she read through the paper he had given her; “Would you be a good sport and fetch me a pen so that I can sign this?”.   

Only moments after she had said it, one of the Agents behind her left the room, the heavy door locking when it closed behind him.   

“I asked you.” she directed her words towards Agent Smith who sat silently before her in his neatly pressed dark green, almost black suit with golden lining and white dress shirt.    

“It hardly matters who brings you the pen, Miss Marshall.” he said.   

“Oh, I was asking you cause I wanted to see your butt.” she said and giggled, happiness not reaching her eyes.   

She didn’t care much about anything in general. It was just her personality. If nothing else, she could make them suffer in one way or another just for making her suffer through this too. Tit for tat. It was a simple life rule that she had lived by for the majority of her life.   

Agent Smith was not amused. *

She crossed the gray office carpet with defiance. A small smile playing on her lips. If nothing else, she could annoy the hell out of those Agents.   

Why?  

Well, just because she could.  

She stopped in front of the big glass door with dark oak frame and knocked loudly just below where it said Special Agent Mr. Smith in big gray writing.  

“Come in.” came an already familiar, deep and leveled voice.  

She walked into the room with a big smile on her face, her eyes instantly landing on the sunglasses of Agents Jones and Brown who were just getting ready to leave her presence. Agent Smith still stood at the bottom of the room in front of the big window, looking down on the darkening city below. The sun was already almost set all the way down behind the tall buildings and it was getting darker and darker with each passing moment.   

“Miss Marshall.” both Agents Jones and Brown said in unison and were closing the door behind them only mere moments later.  

She observed them leave before she turned to face Agent Smith, only to find that he was already turned to her. His hands expertly fixed the node of his tie and he gritted his teeth when he moved his head slightly to the side to allow the tie to sit comfortably around his neck.  

“Miss Marshall.” he said and took a few steps towards the center of the room.  

“Bossman!” she exclaimed and her grin got even bigger.  

Despite knowing why exactly she was there and despite wanting to leave his presence as soon as possible, she found her eyes darting around the room. Apart from the dark brown desk and some files neatly placed on it, some metal file cabinets and couple of dark brown armchairs, the room was completely empty. There were no photos, no plants, no personal items, no nothing. Just basics that one would need to do their job.  

Odd.   

“Aww, your office is so, so bland!” Sam exclaimed in displeasure; “It looks worse than - “ she stopped herself when she noticed Agent Smith’s facial expression.  

He was not amused.  

“I guess it suits you. You and your big, bland suit, working in your big, bland office...”.  

Agent Smith quirked his eyebrow.  

“I mean, did you look around recently, or are those sunglasses preventing you from seeing your surroundings?” she asked him jokingly, pointing at his face.  

“Miss Marshall.” Agent Smith said, slowly removing his sunglasses from his face; “What can I do for you?”.  

“You could add some life to this place for a start.” she said and crossed her arms, once again looking around the office.  

Agent Smith remained silent.  

“I mean, I guess it suits your eyes too. Cold and lifeless...” she found herself saying before she could think better of it.  

She bit her tongue.  

Shit! What the hell is wrong with you?   

“I am aware of your distaste for government officials, Miss Marshall.” Agent Smith finally spoke in that voice of his; “However, this is not professional.”.  

Sam considered him for a moment: “Professional, you say? You’re aware that I’m not a professional? At least not in your sort of sense and term.”.  

Agent Smith remained silent for a moment before he sighed: “What do you need?”.  

“Oh.” she uncrossed her arms and allowed them to fall next to her sides; “I need the login info. I can’t start working without it.”.  

Agent Smith slightly nodded his head before he took a few big steps across the room towards his desk. There he pulled a piece of paper from the pile of papers and walked towards her slowly, slowly lifting the paper for her to take it into her hands.  

“You may get to work, Miss Marshall.”.  

“Wait, that’s not all.” she said; “I was thinking...”.  

Silence fell while she averted her gaze to the side of the room. How did she tell him this? The only way for her to get in contact with Morpheus again was to start another Anonymous operation that might interest him. Also, Morpheus was mostly interested in direct attacks on the government.  

“Yes, Miss Marshall?”.  

“It’s Sam.” she told him, not really liking the idea of someone using just her last name, especially not now when they were working together; “I have an idea on how to attract Morpheus.” she said simply.  

Agent Smith watched her for a moment before he nodded his head: “I’m listening.”.  

“I need to continue to do what I’m good at in order to conceal that anything weird has happened. After that, I’ll need to conjure up another attack on the government files.”.  

She clenched her fists in discomfort while she observed his face. Only a maniac would suggest to a government official that what he needs to do is to help the criminal to be, well, a criminal to attract more criminals.  

He spoke before any emotion had the time to play out on his face: “I know.”.  

* Not long passed before the Agent who had left returned with a shiny pen in his hand. He gave it to her and she accepted it readily.   

“I sign here, right?” she asked no one in particular, turning the page to find the empty black line.   

“Yes, Miss Marshall.” Agent Smith said patiently.    

She brought the pen above the paper and stopped for a moment. She didn’t really have any other choice but to sign it. It was Morpheus or her.   

With a shaky hand, she scribbled her signature and a date, passing the paper and the pen to Agent Smith after.   

“It’s your turn, Smithy.” She said defiantly.   

Agent Smith ignored her words and took the pen in his hand, quickly signing the deal himself: “Welcome aboard, Miss Marshall.” He said and let the silence hang in the air for a moment; “Welcome to the CAU.”.   

“Great.” She said sarcastically; “When do I start.”   

“Oh, right now, Miss Marshall, right now.”. *

Sam’s mouth parted in surprise but she was quick to close it and to speak up: “Really? Just like that?”.  

“Of course. We will help you, Miss Marshall.”.  

“It’s Sam.” she said; “And thank you, I guess?”.  

“For now, you will go over the data that your colleagues have sent you. We will speak more on this matter tomorrow. I need you to take this paper and get going, Miss Marshall. I have work to do.” he said and waved the paper before her face.  

Sam sighed and accepted what she was given before she turned on her heels and started marching out.  

She stopped when she reached for the door knob: “What’s your name, Smith?” she asked him all of a sudden.  

“It is Agent Smith or Mr. Smith for you, Miss Marshall.”.  

She shrugged her shoulders and quickly left the room.  

As soon as the door closed behind her, she took a deep breath in. The encounter with her new boss was awkward enough and she better get to work.  

Soon, she was sitting in an uncomfortable office chair and was adjusting her laptop to connect to the office network. From there, she used her login information to access her work email and to scan through what everyone had sent her.  

Fucking hell. Here I go, I guess.    

She lifted her gaze to the top of the cubicle before she sighed and looked at her cactus: “I know sweetie, I know. You’ll get some water in a few days, today is too soon.”.  

With that, she cracked her finger joints and started typing on her laptop, her eyes constantly drawn to the printer that still sat on the floor.  

Why, oh, why didn’t I get her to fix me the printer?

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