Log 3-1
As the Hyperion speeds away to the tunnels beneath the earth, you catch one last sight of the huge worm-like creature engaged in battle against the many Sentinels clustered around it like ants. As though given courage by the worm, the mutant creatures swarm out of the tunnel, jumping and slashing with their claws. You see many Sentinels falling in a battle unlike anything you could imagine. Pieces of Sentinel fall as nothing more than scrap metal beneath the razor-like claws of the only predators the Sentinels know, something their circuitry was obviously unequipped to handle. Seeing hundreds of mutants, the giant worm, and probably a thousand Sentinels battle it out, you are glad to have escaped…and glad not to be a part of that battle.
Silicon, your pilot, finds the tunnels and you begin your descent into the bowels of the earth, glad to finally be returning to Zion. Jammer, the resident medic, begins patching you up. A couple hours pass as you recuperate and rest.
Locke seems to be thinking deeply. Finally, he says, “We have to harness this power. I’ve never seen anything take on the Sentinels like that.”
Sam, the only other surviving scientist of the four you went in to rescue, says, “Preserve that mutant corpse, and we’ll have to see what we can do. You have scientists who can research that type of thing?”
Locke nods, still in thought.
“Where are we going?” Elle asks.
“Zion,” X says. “Or as I like to call it…heaven.” Sam and Elle look confused, so X explains that Zion is the city of those freed from the Matrix, and the freeborn as well.
Locke begins pacing. He looks at the bodies of your friends, those killed in the last two missions. “How’s the research on the CD’s going?” he asked, indicating the data you managed to upload after the first mission.
“It’s coded really well. I’m not sure I can break it. We might have to take it back to Zion.”
Sam begins to laugh, a deep rumbling from his gut.
“What?” X asks, somewhat perturbed.
“We all programmed different parts of the code, but it’s locked in partitioned locks. We’re gonna need Vincent. He locked it with some unbreakable code he claims he invented.”
“Oh,” X says, cheeks flushing red. “Who’s that?”
“He is master of the Matrix code. Vincent Giovanni. He was working on some serious recoding that would knock your socks off. He claimed he could reprogram reality and create his own contained universe. When we started to figure out who these agents were, Vincent said he was going to escape to his own created world. He created a bubble inside the Matrix where he could live. He’s one of the only programmers who didn’t want to leave the Matrix.”
Elle comes to life. “Digital Fortress. That’s what he called it.”
“He said the agents could never get to him inside,” Sam says. “Unfortunately, that means we can’t get to him either.”
“He was a bit strange,” Elle says.
“A bit? The man hated everyone. He was in a wheelchair his whole life. Thought a debilitating disease made it okay to treat everyone like—”
“Sam!” Elle interrupts. “The guy had some serious problems. Wheelchair, cokebottle glasses, hair loss, and those growths on his skin. I mean, he was practically Stephen Hawking, ‘cept he could use both arms. But he was smarter than Hawking.”
Locke holds up a hand. “Okay, so you’re saying you need this guy to break the codes we uploaded?”
Sam nods slowly. “It was our failsafe. Different people work on different parts. No one knows everything. That way if any of us got caught, the computers couldn’t get the information from us. Of course, if anyone can break all the failsafes, it’s Vincent. But we can’t get to Vincent.”
“You’re forgetting the chain,” Elle says with a smile.
“The chain?” Locke asks.
“Yes. You see, to protect the code, if something happens to one of us, another knows how to reach the other and access his codes. That way, the code’s not lost.”
Sam throws up his arms. “But we don’t know who the link before him is. If we don’t know the link in the chain, we can’t reach him, can we?”
Elle smiles. “I know who the link is. Someone he trusted.”
Sam frowns. “Please don’t tell me it’s Ted. He just died out there on the tracks.”
“Nope,” Elle responds. “It’s me. I know how to get us into Digital Fortress.”
Locke ponders this a moment. Then he looks over at the body of Binary, whose lifesigns are still going strong. “Does this Vincent know about these agents we encountered?”
Sam nods. “More than anyone. He knew where all their hubs in the Matrix are.”
“And could he find where they took Binary?”
“Binary?”
Locke nods toward Binary’s body. “Mike’s handle outside the Matrix. The agents kidnapped him. Who knows what kind of information they’ll extract about Zion and everything else they need to know to destroy us.”
“I bet Vincent could tap into the Matrix and find out exactly where they took Mike.”
Elle chimes in, “If he can’t, no one can.”
Locke hits the intercom button. “Silly,” he calls.
Silicon, still resenting the nickname, says, “What?”
“Are we in communication range with Zion yet?”
“Only if I stop and grab a hardline.”
“Do it.”
You feel the Hyperion lurch and slow to a stop. Winches move and finally something connects up to a hardline. Locke connects with Councilman Gray. He explains the situation. “Sir, I think our only course of action is to go back immediately and find this Vincent. But we don’t have the manpower to do it after losing so many.”
Councilman Gray says, “The Freebird is only a couple hours away. I will authorize a personnel transfer. Send one of the scientists back to work on the data decryption. Also, transfer the bodies, except for Binary, and send the corpse of that mutant creature. The other scientist can help deal with this Vincent, along with any of your crew who are up to the job.”
“Agreed.”
You sit and wait, realizing that you won’t be seeing Zion today.
