Purity
of Essence
By Wrin Chikaya
Chapter 1 - Inception
"Your cup runneth over again..."
Matrix gripped the shaft of AndrAIa's trident hard. The viral energy leaked out between his fingers, coating them with a sticky green substance.
For Matrix, however, Megabyte's lifeblood covered him from head to toe. His insult was markedly intimidated by his hate for the virus. But now the dirt had escaped from the broom, and was about cajoling somewhere.
He didn't know where.
The insult he felt covered him like a syrup, moving was like slogging through Jell-O. He bunched his eyes shut in an attempt to force the hot tears back inside his skull. He felt the scratch across his eye begin to hurt with the pressure of the muscles in his face tensing. He reached back and...
"AUGH!" >SLAM!<
With an animal-like roar, he ran his fist squarely through the wall of the Diner. The slick substance had smeared on the wall as fingerpaints smear on paper, the puddle on the floor making Matrix leave footprints.
He had to get out of there.
The sweat poured itself down his brow and his back as he floated back towards his humble abode on his zipboard. He felt his muscles heating up. They had been tense for awhile now, and they would likely hurt in the morning.
He didn't care.
His hands clutched AndrAIa's collapsed trident, feeling the smooth scales stick to his gloves and pull briefly away from the weapon, only to collapse back again. The sensations boiled about in his head, the intensity of it all nearly making him reel with dizziness. There was a slurry of angry, aggressive thoughts swirling about in his head, and the only thing he could think about was how in hell's name he was going to get them out.
The only way he knew how wasn't going to work, he sensed, taking out physical aggression wasn't going to keep this humiliation, this self-conscious note that he had fucked up while trying to rid the system of a virus, from consuming him eventually.
"How.." he whispered softly, to himself, hoping nobody noticed his hunched shoulders, the way his body language suggested he was trying to hide himself.
The gloves creaked as he turned the knob into his apartment, and he made a beeline for the shower. The energy slicked across his back, taking away the stickiness, taking away the green, but the insult and hatred remained. The hotness of the shower almost felt as if it was making his pain bubble and boil over, and for a brief moment, Matrix believed he felt pure insanity.
No, he chided himself. He wouldn't lose it, he promised himself. Breathing deeply, trying to scrub away the humiliation. He had felt this way only once before, and surprisingly enough, it was almost the same situation that made him feel so strongly.
He was a Guardian, for User's sakes! He reprimanded himself internally. "You tried to delete Megabyte," he said in a tone as to make sure AndrAIa would not hear him, "and you managed to screw it up not once, but twice."
He shook his head, and stepped out of the shower. Unfortunately, the only things that disappeared down that drain were a few layers of skin cells and sweat. He felt the insult coat his skin, feeling almost suffocating, trying to burrow within. He shuddered.
"Hi, darling," AndrAIa grinned as Matrix toweled off his hair.
Must not let her see why I'm worried, he thought, I can take care of this myself.
He wrapped his arms around her gently. "Hi, Andi," he whispered.
She felt something off in the way he sounded, the way he touched her, the way he felt. She couldn't chalk it up to anything, and therefore decided to wait until more definitive details had been carved out.
-
Matrix tossed in bed. It was the third time he had woken up that night. He was tempted to swear, if it wasn't for the fact that he would likely wake AndrAIa up if he spoke. She always was a light sleeper if it was noisy. The bed, however, he could bounce around as much as he wanted on, and she wouldn't wake up. He would have chuckled, but the silence beckoned his sleep again...
-
Matrix sat in Floating Point, the topmost level, by the water. There was a yo-yo in his hand, and he twirled it joyfully in his palm. Suddenly, Frisket appeared and appreciated the round shape of the yo-yo in an effort to pull it from Matrix's grasp.
"No, Frisket, not ball, not now.." Matrix laughed. The dot just kept growling and pulling.
"No, Frisket!" Matrix stated, firmer this time. To his surprise, Frisket's pupils turned a bright blood red.
"Frisket?!" He gulped, more defensive now than anything. Frisket's eyes slowly turned green, his fur slowly melting purple..
"Ah, the boy," Megabyte's voice hissed from Frisket's jaws. Matrix pulled Gun from its holster, aiming it squarely at Frisket's neck. He fitted his finger into the trigger too slowly to react to the dog as it jumped on him, suffocating him..
-
Waking up panting, sweaty, red-faced and screaming was not exactly the best way to start his morning. He glanced at his alarm clock. Early morning, that is.
Matrix flopped down on the bed again. "What am I going to do..." he whispered to himself, instinctively groping over to the other side of the bed for AndrAIa's form. He was responded by a warm dip in the mattress. AndrAIa must have gotten up to make food.
Even that made him feel sick, now.
He flopped over again and pressed his face into the pillow. I need Bob's help, he thought to himself, closing his eyes again for another chunk of fitful sleep.
---
Comments, Suggestions, and Oh Do I Love Hate Mail
http://wrin.net/
[email protected]
