When the world ends ... von abgemeldet (Matrix) ================================================================================ Kapitel 2: Part Two - Caution ? ---------------------------------- Part Two - Caution ? - Hier ist der zweite Teil .. *umschau* Irgendwer interessiert ? Das chinesische Restaurant gibts wirklich , leckeres Essen uebrigens , aber es heisst anders ^.^ Wollte nicht einen Einbruch im "Chin-Fuu" begehen , also taufte ich es um , in Anlehnung an Tobis Lieblingsrestaurant in Berlin und an Shampoo ^.^ Die Hauptperson ( hah , ich verrat noch nicht wer ER/SIE ist !!!) reflektiert ungewoehnlich viel , aber nach mehreren Champagnerglaesern ist man wohl in der passenden Stimmung . Ausserdem liegt so eine gewisse Spannung in der Luft . (Hier floss auch etwas von Matchbox20's Lied " You're so real " ein) Die einzelnen Teile sind ausserdem ungewoehnlich kurz fuer mich , sind eher Szenen als Kapitel .. PS Wer findet die Liedzitate ? ^ - ^ - For some seconds , we stood in the darkness , unmoving , hardly breathing , then Niobe looked at me and raised her hand to form a fist . She signaled me to split up for a quick raid . I nodded , silently biting my lips , thinking , Just you and me . Sill was daring , the only reason someone would not get picked up by him was that he couldn't . He only cut a connection if it wasn't safe to hold it . With one sweeping move , I stepped towards the door to the front room , my fingers closing around the cold shaft of my gun . It was not really much use against an Agent , but it was better then nothing . Niobe nodded , her face set , and we both opened our doors , hers leading into the kitchen , mine up front . The restaurant room was filled with the half-muffled sounds and smells of the Harbour , a mix of seaweed , motor oil , roasted chicken and car pollution . Outside the traffic had slowed down a bit . I didn't check my watch , but I knew that it had to be around two in the morning , the time of sleep for normal people , and even the party scene paused a bit after two . But Agents never slept , which meant we had to be awake too . As soon as I had thought that , a heavy tiredness fell upon me , wrapping me in it like in a fishermens net . I tried to shake it of as good as I could , but my fingers were prickling uncomfortable and my head seemed to be made out of lead . Outside a group of australian teenagers were loudly singing some crude song I almost recognized . My own study time seemed centuries apart from me . A sad feeling settled in my chest as I thought of endless campus partys with Beer-drinking-contests and great loud music , the after-lecture meetings and life in university . How far away all that was , how far , how unreal . None of those things had really happened . Although I had left the cage over six years ago , I still was a captured bird , singing the songs I had learned in my prison . I could not let all those wrong memories slip away , they meant too much to me . Although they were treacherous and deciving , I needed them as badly as I hated my desire to need them . I needed the image of my little dog Snoopy , the image of my first kiss , the image of Rob . They had formed my personality , had been my old life , and even though I had left that far behind , parts of my character and personality couldn't just vanish . I clinged to them and they staid with me wherever I went , inside the Matrix and outside in the Real World . Niobe didn't like it and neither did Ghost or any of my friends , but sometimes I had the feeling Morpheus understood . He looked at me with something like sympathy in his eyes , and I felt a deep sense of trusting whenever he was near , although I didn't really believe his idea of The One . But Morpheus was something like a sanctuary , he seemed to be out of stone , nothing made him waver or doubt . I was never quite sure if Niobe loved him because he knew what he was doing or wether there was another reason . He was different from her , and yet somehow he wasn't . I surpressed a sigh . He was so different from me . The teens left for some club downtown and I slowly stepped into the shadows that clouded the restaurant . It took me longer then usual to adjust to the darkness , but even before I saw the outlines of a giant dragon-arc appear in front of me , my senses started tingeling . The little hairs in the back of my neck stood on end , which was the surest sign : Someone was here . I swallowed , thingking hard . The room spread out in front of me , the section at the door slightly lower then the rest , with lots of arches , half-high counters and pillars , dragons winding around every piece of furniture possible . Apart from about fifty tables and chairs there were giant jade vases , delicate silk frames , great mirrors blank in the darkness and little trees in pots with what looked like small oranges on them . Chinese New Year wasn't long ago , and there were Good-Luck-cards hanging from the ceiling everywhere . My grip around my gun tightened . That's all that I needed . Nian Hao was the worst place imaginable to track down an enemy . One , two , three seconds passed , as I stood at the brushed-up bar , scanning the room . After some quick thinking I saw that I had three possibilities : I could start from my left side and work my way up to the front to return to the back . I could start from my right side , taking the same way just around the other side . I could take the middle , straight through the middle of the room to the front . It was the quickest way , but it was the one which made me the most vulnerable . There was a small path that lead through the tables and there were only a few frames and pillars which I could use as hiding places . Oh man . This was not something I was good at . Everybody , from my trainer back in my past , non exsistant life to Niobe , just shakes their head at my decisions when it comes to a situation like this one . While my testing as a soldier , I got pretty bad marks for taking too high risks . I usually got away quicker then anybody else , but while the other left the track through the marked exit , I prefered taking the shortcut through walls or windows . The Testers didn't like my style of work , but I passed . " One day you're going to run headlong into a wall , and then you'll be in trouble !" Ghost keeps telling me whenever I take great risks for some little reason . Sill isn't that subtle . " You mess the fuck up , you get the fuck shot down ." I'm not lightheaded or blind to danger , I do feel fear . A fight scares the living hell out of me sometimes , but I just don't see why I have to be hesitant when I know exactly what to do . So far , I have never been shot down and I hope it will never happen , but this here seemed to be a pretty possible situation . A bright light blinded me for just a short second , but it cleared my mind from any doubt . I dived towards the next table, hiding behind its white table cloth within a second . Instinctively I had chosen the middle path . The difficult one , but that didn't matter anymore , the only thing inside my head was adrenaline . It pumped through my veins like gasoline , making me almost dizzy with energy . I was crouched down on the floor , my head low beneath the table , already planning my next step . In danger , my body seemed to shift into auto-pilot . I didn't have to comand my muscles to move , they easily moved on their own , in perfect synchronism with my thoughts . They were a living being , undeniable part of me , part of my mind . It all came down to this , my mind . Nothing existed if my mind didn't process it . It was an exhilarating fact , like diving into emptiness . I released my energy and felt my body whirl down towards a pillar more then ten feet away from the table . I softly landed behind it's polished dark mahagoni , leaning against it's smooth surface , crouching down again . Distance was nothing . I almost laughed when I remebered where I had said that before : the press conference after the Olympics . But then I thought of that blinding light and Niobes empty gaze . I was now fairly in the middle of the upper section , yet I saw nothing move . My eyes flew through the room , and then I had to blink again . Two bright headlights dazzled outside of the restaurant . I eged a little further behind the pillar , carefull that I wouldn't cast a shadow . A car stood outside , it's headlights blinking slowly , the purring sound of the engine almost indistinctable through the bustle outside . Maybe a buisness man coming home late from a meeting in Kowloon told his chauffeur to wait for him here . One , two heartbeats passed , and my fingers still didn't loosen around my gun . The place in front of Nian Hao was a strict Non-parking area except for taxis . There were lots of free parking spaces right at the ferry entrance , so much closer and easier to reach . The cars front was aimed directly at the restaurant . My mind raced . Was there any other explanation ? No . Someone was here . The connection had been delibaretly cut off . I bit my lips and leaned forward to have another quick look when I heard the soft swishing sound . The pillar splittered under the force of the two bullets , the great carved dragon breaking apart like a house of cards . A piece of wood hit my ellbow , but I was already gone before the dragons head hit the place where I had been and several more bullets pierced the floor . Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)