This story is based upon an extremely cool series of movies, The Matrix, written by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Thank you guys for making such an awesome series! Although this story is based in The Matrix universe, it does not involve the characters from the movies like Neo and Trinity. Instead, it involves two original characters that I created. You can consult The Scary Monkey Show for information about some of the characters and ships that I included in this story.

Please email me at nathan_warford@yahoo.com and send me your feedback and constructive criticism. My most recent stories have not been receiving much feedback and I would like to know exactly how many people are actually reading my stories. A lot of research went into this story and I do not want my efforts to go to waste. I would also like to know if I have any female fans because the only feedback I have gotten from my most recent stories has been from guys.

Flight of the Ganesha, Part 1
by Nathan Warford

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At first glance, Epiphany J. Ericson was an ordinary eighteen-year-old girl, standing 5'9" with an average build, green eyes, and straight, brown hair to the chest. She got mostly Cs in her literature and history courses in school, which contrasted sharply with the A in science and the A+ in math. Epiphany was always naturally good in mathematics and logic.

Despite her good looks, Epiphany was not very popular. She was extremely shy and reserved, spending most of her free time on her computer. Unknown to the rest of the world, Epiphany had a mysterious alter ego called Athena that only emerged while she was on her computer. Athena, using her innate skills in math and logic, was able to use her computer to hack into any other computer in the world. Epiphany's main source of income was through Athena. She hacked into a computer system, downloaded material onto her hard drive, and sold it over the internet. Most of the material that Athena downloaded was full-length, DVD quality pornography.

Although Epiphany had few friends in the off-line world, Athena had many friends in chat rooms. A good friend of hers was another hacker whom she had known for about a year. This hacker went by the alias "Chikara".

One night, Athena was looking for Chikara in her usual chat room.

Athena: Chikara. Are you there?
Chikara: Yes, Athena. What's up?
Athena: I have another movie for you.
Chikara: Cool. Send it to me.

Athena opened up the file that she had downloaded. It was a large file labeled stainless_night.mpg, which was a futuristic lesbian hentai movie. Chikara was a lesbian anime fan. Athena sent the file to Chikara.

Chikara: Thanks.

Athena checked her bank account balance, and sure enough, there was a recent deposit of $15.00. The brunette smiled at the fifteen dollars that she had just made.

Chikara: Have you ever seen this?
Athena: No. I'm not a lesbian.
Chikara: Okay.

"Epiphany," the young girl's mother called. "Dinner's ready."

"Okay, Mom," Epiphany called back. "I'll be out in a minute."

Athena: Sorry, my mom's calling.
Chikara: Okay. I'm going to go watch Stainless Night now.
Athena: I hope you enjoy it.
<User "Chikara" has logged off>

With that, Epiphany exited her room and walked into the dining room to eat her dinner. It was her favorite meal, teriyaki chicken and rice. Her mother was a very good cook. Epiphany and her parents all sat down at the dining room table and started eating. Epiphany took a bite. Usually she would smile at the taste, but instead she gave a look of confusion. "Mom," she said, "did you change the recipe for this teriyaki sauce?"

"No, Epiphany," said her mother. "Why? Is something wrong with it?"

"It just tastes a little bland, that's all."

"It tastes all right to me," said Epiphany's father. Epiphany just decided to put more of the teriyaki sauce on the chicken and it helped slightly.

After Epiphany and her parents had finished their dinner, Epiphany went to the fridge, took a can of Root Beer and went back to her room. Athena logged on to find that Chikara had logged back on.

Athena: Miss me, Chikara?
Chikara: Not really.
Athena: Did you enjoy Stainless Night?
Chikara: Yes. I enjoyed it immensely!
Athena: Tell me what happened.
Chikara: I thought you weren't a lesbian.
Athena: I'm not. I just want to know what it's about.
Chikara: Maybe you should watch it and find out for yourself.
Athena: I told you, I'm not a lesbian.
Chikara: Then why are you so interested?

Athena thought for a moment.

Athena: I don't know.
Chikara: I think your subconscious is trying to say something to you.
Athena: Do you think I'm gay?
Chikara: No. I'm just saying that I think you should try it out. Just watch Stainless Night and see if you like it. If you like it, you're gay. If you don't like it, you're not gay.
Athena: I don't know.
Chikara: In my experience, if you have a feeling about something, you should explore that feeling.
Athena: Maybe I will.
Chikara: Hold on.

Athena waited for Chikara. After several seconds, Chikara got back to Athena.

Chikara: Sorry Athena, but I have to go. My boss just called, he needs me tonight.
Athena: Okay. I'll watch the movie and see if I like it.
Chikara: Sayonara.

Athena logged off. Although she had always thought of herself as straight, the brunette was having second thoughts about her sexuality. This mysterious hacker, Chikara, had sparked some curiosity in Athena. She inserted a pair of headphones into the computer and opened up the mpeg file that she had sent to Chikara about an hour before.

Athena was greatly surprised when she found exactly how much she enjoyed the movie and how much the lesbian action turned her on! However, Athena was one of the few people that possessed great mental and physical discipline and was able to resist the urge to reach into her pants and make herself cum ten times over while watching the movie.

But when the movie was over, Athena was extremely horny and wanted very much to get herself off. She put her computer into Sleep Mode and started stripping. After she had gotten out of her black tank top and blue jeans, she stripped out of her black silk bra and panties, revealing her 32C breasts and shaved pussy to the cool air. When she was naked, the brunette got into her bed and started fantasizing. She thought about the two anime girls, Sayaka and Linea, licking each other and bringing one another to orgasm.

As Athena fantasized, she brought her right hand between her legs and started fingering her pussy, which was completely drenched in her arousal. She sighed at the pleasurable feelings that were coursing throughout her body. Her other hand pinched her erect, highly sensitive nipples, adding to the pleasurable feelings that she was giving herself. She slipped two fingers into her slippery cunt and started fucking her G-spot. Unlike most girls, Athena did not feel the initial sensation of needing to pee when she stimulated her G-spot.

Using her inborn tantric discipline, Athena was able to hold off her orgasm for quite a long time. Where the average girl would have cummed within two or three minutes, Athena had the ability to fuck herself for ten minutes without cumming. However, because the orgasm had been building for that time, it was definitely going to be a powerful one when it arrived, making it well worth the wait.

The young girl moaned and writhed in her bed, her hands working frantically on her pussy and tits, bringing herself closer and closer to orgasm. Nearing her peak, she took her hand away from her breasts and brought it down between her legs to work on her engorged clit. She reached her peak, but was able to keep herself just at the edge for about fifteen seconds. When she felt that she could hold back no longer, she raised up her hips and aimed her pussy towards her face. Then, Athena started cumming powerfully. Her body convulsed violently and girl-cum ejaculated from her pee-hole. She had raised her hips to catch all of her cum-juices with her body so that it would not soak everything from the bed to the wall, where her computer was situated. Despite the raw power of her intense orgasm, Athena's sexual discipline allowed her to keep her cries of orgasmic bliss quiet enough that she would not disturb her parents in the other room. Her orgasm lasted for almost two minutes before she brought herself to a second, equally powerful, extremely wet orgasm. Athena had used her tantra to have both a status orgasm and a multiple orgasm.

After three more long, powerful orgasms after her first two, Athena's body stopped shaking and she collapsed on the bed. She inhaled the musky scent of her juices that were splattered all over her body and sighed in delight. Chikara was right, Athena was gay. "Thank you, Chikara," she said as if her hacker friend was right there with her. After she picked up a towel and cleaned her sweet girl-cum off of herself, Epiphany closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Athena's eyes shot wide open and she found herself trapped in some sort of artificial amniotic sac. Electric cables were sticking out of her body as if she was a human battery. She looked frantically around, trying to find a way out of this liquid prison bathed in a strange red light. What looked like a giant mechanical creature hovered toward the pod and Athena stared in horror as the thing stared back at her. Suddenly, her body jerked and she was pulled against the back wall of the tank. A device shot electricity through her brain.

Epiphany woke up panting and in a cold sweat. She looked around to find that she was in her own bed. The digital clock on her desk read 6:09. "It was just a dream," she told herself. However, her words were not very comforting. The dream seemed so real, almost more real than the bed she was in.

Epiphany heard an alarm going off. She looked towards her computer, which was where the sound was coming from. Athena emerged from the depths of Epiphany's mind and went over to the computer to see what the problem was. Red, flashing letters on the screen read, "WARNING! TRACE PROGRAM ACTIVATED. CARRIER SIGNAL FOUND."

"Oh, shit!" Athena cried. Someone had found her out! She immediately shut down her computer. Athena sighed in relief and went back to bed.

No sooner had Epiphany pulled the covers back over her body when there was a knock on the door. "Epiphany!" she heard her father yell in an extremely agitated voice. "Open this door right now!" The banging on the door continued. Someone tried to open the door but could not get in because the door was locked. Epiphany put on a blue bath robe. However, when she was about to open the door, a terrible feeling came over her. She did not know how, but she somehow knew that whoever had tracked her computer's signal was there to punish her for computer hacking. She knew that she had to get out of there quickly.

Athena ran to the window, opened it, and climbed out onto the fire escape. She climbed up the steel stairs toward the roof of the apartment. She heard a shattering of wood from her open window and knew that her door had been broken down. Athena got to the roof and ran toward the apartment complex across the alley. She jumped, nearly falling to her death, but was barely able to grab the side of the building and keep on running. A middle-aged man in a black suit, dark shades, and ear piece in his right ear jumped over the alley with ease.

Athena found the fire escape of this building, which was a ladder instead of a staircase, and slid down it. About half-way down the fire escape, she leaped from it into an open window on the other side of the alley. She landed on the floor of someone's bedroom. A woman in her bed screamed when she saw the intruder. Athena quickly opened the door and ran out of the room into the hallway of the apartment building she was in. She looked down the stairs to see another man in a black suit running up. As quickly as she could, Athena ran up the stairs. She found a window and opened it. She looked out of the window and saw a drain pipe next to it. She climbed out, took a hold of the drain pipe, and started climbing up. When she got to the roof, three men in black suits were surrounding her.

"Ms. Ericson," one of the men said, "come with us, please." Athena looked toward the only corner of the building that the men in black were not occupying, the one closest to the four-lane street ten stories below. The girl saw the yellow sun rising above the buildings on the other side of the street.

Then, the most amazing feeling came over her. For a moment, the laws of physics lost their meaning. The brunette started running as fast as she could toward the edge of the building. Somehow feeling able to fly, Athena jumped off of the building. The world seemed to move in slow motion as the young girl flew through the air.

Suddenly, Athena heard glass shattering from one of the rooms of the building she was jumping from. Somebody jumped from the broken window, catching Athena. The momentum from the person's jump continued to propel the person and Athena higher and farther. The person landed on one of the buildings across the street. Athena looked up at the person that was holding her and saw a tall, Asian woman in her early twenties. She had long, raven-colored hair tied back in a ponytail. She was wearing a black snake skin suit, and was wearing dark shades.

The woman let go of Athena, took out a pair of uzis, and started firing at the agents on the building that Athena was just on. However, the bullets did not hit the agents. The agents moved so fast that their entire bodies became blurs, dodging the bullets with ease. "Let's go," the woman said, taking Athena in her arms again. Although clearly of Japanese descent, the woman had no noticeable accent. This woman was incredibly fast on her feet. The woman jumped across another street, flying all the way to the roof of the building on the other side. She held Athena in one of her arms while she used her free hand to take a hold of a drain pipe and slide down it to the ground. At the exact moment that they landed, a car pulled up right in front of them. A man in his mid-thirties was driving the car. This man wore a black leather jacket and, just like the Japanese woman and the agents, a pair of black shades.

The woman opened the back passenger door and jumped in. "Get in the car," she said to Athena. The eighteen-year-old was so stunned that she could not do anything except do what she was told. She got in the car beside the woman and closed the door. As soon as the door was closed, the car blasted off, burning rubber.

"Take these," the woman said, throwing some clothes to the barely clothed girl.

"Thank you," Athena said timidly. She started dressing herself with the clothes that she was given. They were much darker than the clothes that Epiphany usually wore, but they fit perfectly.

The driver asked, "Chikara, is this her?"

"Yes, Mercutio," the woman said. "This is Athena."

"What?" Athena cried. "You're Chikara?" The car jerked as another car hit them from behind. Athena and Chikara looked through the rear window to see two agents in the car behind them. "How did they get in that car so quickly?" Athena then turned to Chikara. "How did you find me? How could you jump so far? How are--?" Athena was cut off by an extremely strange feeling that suddenly came over her. It was as if her body was churning. She felt disembodied, her mind moving back and forth between the car and someplace else. Athena had no idea what was happening to her, but Chikara did. The Asian woman hit the young girl over the head with her gun, knocking her unconscious, preventing her from transforming into an agent.

"Sorry that I had to do that," Chikara said. The car jerked again. Chikara turned and saw the two agents in the car behind them. One of them took out a gun and aimed it at her. "Mercutio!" she cried. "Get down!" Chikara and Mercutio ducked. Their windows shattered as bullets flew past them. Chikara looked back and saw the agent in the passenger's seat jump out of his open window onto the top of his car. "They're coming for us," she said.

Mercutio saw the agent on top of the car in his rear view mirror. Mercutio slammed on the brakes, the car behind them colliding, throwing the agent off of the car. He hit the ground several meters in front of Mercutio. Before the agent could get to his feet, he was run over by Mercutio's car.

The other agent was still driving the car. He sped up and started to pass Mercutio and Chikara. When the agent was side-by-side with Mercutio, he turned the car into them, trying to drive them off of the road. Chikara took out one of her uzis and started firing at the agent. Again, the agent's body became a blur and he dodged the bullets that Chikara fired. Her first uzi ran out of bullets. The agent tried to drive them off the road again. Chikara took out her second uzi and started firing at the agent's tires. The tires popped and the agent started spinning out of control. With the agent preoccupied with keeping the car steady, Chikara fired at the agent and shot him several times in the head. The agent's car swerved and crashed into a building.

Athena woke up as the car pulled up to an apartment. It was night and it was raining. "Good," Chikara said, "you're awake."

The brunette looked around for a moment. She asked, "What...What happened?"

"You were turning into an agent. I had to knock you unconscious to stop the transformation."

"Turning into an agent? What do you mean by that?"

"Time is always against us," Mercutio said, getting out of the car. "Athena, come with me and Chikara."

"It's okay, Athena," Chikara said. "We're not going to hurt you." Athena, still in stun, followed her.

The three of them walked up the stairs and into one of the rooms. The floor was tiled with alternating black and white tiles. There were two red, somewhat worn out chairs, facing one another with a small table in between them. On the table was a glass of water. Mercutio said, gesturing to one of the chairs, "Athena. Have a seat there." Athena sat down in one of the seats.

Mercutio was about to walk over and sit in the other seat when Chikara stopped him. "Mercutio," she said. "Do you mind if I tell her?"

"Why?" the man asked.

"After almost a year of being in contact with Athena, I think that we've grown to know each other. She might listen to me more easily, and I feel that she deserves to hear from me why we met and why she's here."

Mercutio thought for a moment. "Fine," he replied. He gave Chikara a small, metal case. "You know what to do."

"Thank you." Mercutio walked into the next room. Chikara walked toward the empty chair.

"Chikara?" Athena asked. "What's going on?"

"It's complicated, Athena," the Asian woman said, sitting down in the chair opposite Athena. "Do you remember how we first met? On-line, I mean?"

"I had just successfully completed my first hack."

"I found you in a hacker chat room. We struck up a conversation and I learned your field of expertise, what kinds of computers you liked to hack."

"Big company mainframes."

"I must say, I was impressed to learn that you had successfully downloaded ten gigabytes of mpeg files without getting caught by the FBI."

"They caught me this morning."

"No. That wasn't the FBI. Those were Agents, enforcers of the Matrix."

"The Matrix? What is the Matrix?"

Chikara smiled. "Everyone asks that question. You have had that question your entire life, but never knew how to put it into words. Ever since you first developed consciousness, even when you were still inside your mother's womb, you somehow knew that there was something wrong about the world. Everything seemed so artificial. Isn't that right, Athena?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"I felt the exact same things. You and I are some of the gifted few that know how to use this knowledge to our advantage. It's the reason you're so good at hacking. It's the reason that I am so good at hacking."

"So what does this have to do with anything?"

"When I learned of what you had accomplished, I felt that you were special. To make sure I wasn't wrong, I decided to test you, to make sure that the success of your first hack had not been by a fluke."

"You've been testing me?"

"Every test you passed with flying colors. Every computer you hacked, every file you sent me, I was impressed. But last night, you were given the hardest test you ever faced."

"What does that mean?"

"Last night at 5:58 am, we detected a carrier signal anomaly. You self substantiated there for a moment. It may have been only for a moment, but you did self substantiate."

"Self substantiate?"

"You freed yourself from the Matrix. Even though the Matrix took a hold of you again, we knew that you were one of us that refused the program. And I am here with you right now in this room to tell you the origins of the feelings you have about the world and to teach you the truth about your existence." Chikara took the metal case. She took out two small things from the case and put one in each hand. "Now is the time for you to make the single most important choice of your life." She opened up one of her hands, which presented a blue pill. "You take the blue pill, everything you know stays as it is, you forget about this meeting, and you keep going about your life as you always have." Chikara opened up her other hand and presented a red pill. "You take the red pill, you follow me, I teach you what I know, and you learn the truth." Athena looked at the two pills in either hand. She contemplated what to do. She had a life that she wanted to continue living, but she also wanted to know whatever "the truth" was. She reached for the red pill, but Chikara spoke before she could pick it up, "Remember, if you want to know the truth, you can never go back to how you were before now." What Chikara said was true, there was something about the world that seemed artificial. Athena felt that there was something larger behind whatever this artificiality was, and she felt that Chikara could help shed some light on what she felt. Athena picked up the red pill, put it in her mouth, picked up the water, and drank the pill down her throat. "Come with me."

Chikara stood up and walked into the room that Mercutio had walked into. Athena followed. Mercutio and a man of African descent were waiting in the room. There was equipment everywhere. The equipment was so complex that Athena did not even want to learn what it was. "How'd it go?" Mercutio asked Chikara.

"It went well," Chikara replied. "We should detect a carrier signal anomaly any second now."

"Take a seat right here," the black man said to Athena, gesturing to a chair. Athena sat in the chair. The man and Chikara attached several electrodes to Athena's head and neck. The electrodes led to one of the computer screens that was part of the equipment that these people had.

"What is all of this for?" the girl asked.

"This is to read your brainwaves," Chikara said. "That pill you took is designed to create the same carrier signal anomaly that we detected last night. We use it to pinpoint your location so that we can free your mind from the Matrix."

It was at that time that Athena noticed a mirror beside her. However, it was unlike any mirror she had ever seen. It was a liquid. Unsure that what she was seeing was real, Athena reached for the mirror and it stuck to her. She pulled away. Then, a very strange feeling came over Athena. The liquid that was stuck to her fingers started to grow and engulf her body! The world around her suddenly seemed even more artificial than it was before. She had a slight feeling of disembodiment, which was growing by the second. Athena was getting very scared. Her vision started to blur. Her breathing and heart rate became unsteady. "Do you have her, Dextera?" Mercutio said to the black man, who had gone to the computer screen.

"Almost, Sir," the man said.

"We have to get her out now!" cried Chikara.

"That's it!" Dextera said. "I got her!"

"Do it now!" said Mercutio.

Suddenly, it was as if a ton of bricks hit Athena. Her body jumped, a million colors and sounds flooded into her mind, and then, blackness. Athena opened her eyes and found herself in the same pod that she had been in in her dream. She tried to wake up, but could not. She stretched her arms and punctured the pod's surface. She emerged and coughed a few times, draining the strange amniotic fluid from her lungs. The same electric cables were sticking out of her body. She felt as if her energy was getting drained by the cables. Her muscles were so weak that it was hard for her to move.

Then, the girl looked around and saw not thousands, but millions of people in pods all around her. They were all arranged on the sides of large pillars that were at least 2,000 feet in diameter and at least a mile high.

Then, that giant mechanical creature came down towards her again. It reached an arm around Athena's body, and the young girl did not have nearly enough strength to keep the machine from doing so. Athena then felt something get pulled out from the base of her skull. She felt it so deep in her head that it practically reached inside her brain. It was an electric cable that was pulled out. It was then that Athena felt that the world she was in was no longer artificial. Despite the fantastic images that she saw before her, it was more real than where she just was.

Suddenly, the other electric cables around her body started popping out of her. It was painful, but it made Athena feel liberated somehow. Her body was flushed down some kind of chute. She slid down a long, winding tunnel until she landed in a large pool of some kind of liquid that she could not identify. It was then that the weakness of her body took over, and she lost consciousness.

When Athena awoke, she found herself in a room of some kind. She was on a bed and was fully clothed in a simple shirt, simple pants, and simple shoes. Her muscles were now just as strong as they were before her adventure had begun, and the artificiality of the world was completely gone. Then, Athena noticed what looked like electrical plugs all over her body. Athena realized that the plugs were from where the electric cables stuck out when she was in the pod. Then, the door to the room opened, and Chikara walked in. She was also wearing very simple clothes. She was no longer wearing her dark shades and her hair was no longer in a ponytail. "Chikara," Athena asked, "where am I?"

"You are on our ship, the Ganesha."

"Ship?"

"A hovercraft. The hover technology was first developed in the mid-twenty-first century, and it has been used for almost 200 years."

"Is..." Athena tried to make sense of what Chikara had just said, "Is this the future?"

"As far as you mind is concerned, yes. However, your body has always been in this time."

"Chikara, what are all of these plugs in me and..." Athena trailed off and felt the top of her head. "Chikara, where is all my hair? Did you give me a crew cut?"

"No, Athena. You never had hair before now. Don't worry, your hair will grow in time."

"Chikara, tell me what the hell is going on!"

"I apologize, but it is hard to explain. The only way to help you understand is to show you." Chikara opened the door to the room that they were in and Athena followed her.

After climbing up a ladder, Athena found herself in a large room. At one end of the room was computer consoles, which were turned off at the time. On the other end of the room was what looked like a cockpit. The window showed that the ship was moving, and at a relatively high speed. Athena was amazed that she could hardly feel the ship moving. There were two chairs in the cockpit. At the helm was a man with long, blond hair, probably in his mid to late twenties. In the copilot's chair was Mercutio. "Athena," Mercutio said, seeing the young girl awake. He got out of his seat and walked to Athena. "Glad you could join us."

Mercutio was noticeably different than he was when Athena had last seen him. Before, Mercutio had short, well-groomed hair. On the Ganesha, his hair was a little longer and not as stylish. "Mercutio," asked Athena. "Where are we? Where are we going?"

"Well," said Mercutio, "as Chikara has probably told you, this is the hovercraft Ganesha. Currently, we are approximately four kilometers below the earth's surface, traveling toward Zion."

"Zion?"

"The last human city. The only place that is safe from the machines that defeated us a hundred years ago."

"Machines?"

"Artificial intelligence," Chikara said. "First developed in the early twenty-first century. A war broke out between us and them, and they were victorious. The several thousand humans that were not killed or captured sought fefuge in the underground city of Zion."

"Captain, we are approaching Zion," said the pilot. The ship started slowing down.

"Thank you, Dorado," Mercutio said. Mercutio turned to Athena and said, "Let me introduce you to our pilot and operator, Dorado."

The pilot looked at Athena and said, "Hey there."

"Hi," Athena said timidly.

"Don't worry, Athena," he said. "You're in good hands with us."

"Are we there yet?" a male voice said, coming from behind them. Athena turned and saw Dextera. Aside from the plain clothes he was wearing, he looked much like he did when Athena had first saw him.

"Ah," Mercutio said. "This is our gunner, Dextera."

"Hi," said the eighteen-year-old, still timid.

"Damn, you're fine!" said Dextera.

"Hands off!" Chikara said fiercely. She turned to Athena and said, "Don't mind him, Athena. Dextera just goes crazy over the young ones."

"Don't talk about me behind my back!" Dextera said.

By now, the Ganesha had slowed to several meters per second. "Zion control," Dorado said, speaking into his headset, "this is the Ganesha requesting access through Gate Two."

"Ganesha, this is Zion Control" a female voice said through the headset. "Maintain present velocity and stand by."

"Roger that, Control."

The guns that protected the entrance to Gate Two deactivated to let the Ganesha by safely.

The Zion Control operator said, "Ganesha, you are clear through Gate Two to Bay Four."

"Roger that, Control," Dorado responded.

They came to a doorway, which opened for the Ganesha. Athena looked into the light and saw a vast docking bay. There were two large ships docked on some of the landing bays. Dorado piloted the Ganesha to landing Bay Four.

"Hold on to something," Chikara said to Athena. Athena grabbed one of the poles that ran from the floor of the cockpit to the ceiling.

The ship landed. After a bit of shaking, the ship was safely docked and Dorado powered down the ship. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "we have successfully docked at Bay Four, Zion."

"Thank you, Dorado," Mercutio said. "I advise all of you to get some rest. Especially you, Athena. You've had a hard day." The five of them exited the ship and made their way into Zion. Once inside the city, Mercutio, Dorado, and Dextera went their separate ways to their homes.

"We'll have to find quarters for you," Chikara said to Athena. However, the eighteen-year-old was too in awe of the enormity of her situation to listen. "Athena, I know this is a bit overwhelming for you. But you will understand in time." Chikara took Athena's hand and led her to her own quarters.

Chikara opened the door to her home and walked in, Athena following. "You can stay here with me until we find a place for you," said the older woman. She sat down on her bed and said, "Come sit with me." Athena walked to the bed and sat down next to Chikara. Chikara then pressed a button on the side of the bed. It was then that two large electrical cables extended from the head of the bed "Lie down."

Athena recognized the cables as the kind that was sticking into the base of her skull when she was in the pod. "You want me to insert one of those things into my brain?"

"It's okay. I'm just going to load a program to help you adapt. You've entered a new world and the transition is hard for many." Chikara lay down and inserted one of the cables into her head plug. She flinched slightly, but then relaxed. "It's okay, Athena," she said. Athena did not know why, but she trusted Chikara. She lay down and inserted the cable into her head. The feeling was extremely strange. She could feel the cable digging into her brain, but it was not painful. "Computer," said Chikara, "initiate Construct Program." Suddenly, Athena again experienced disembodiment. It was as if her mind was separated from her body altogether and was being transported to someplace else.

But it was no more than a second that Athena could feel her body again. However, she found herself somewhere else. All she could see was a white backdrop. She could feel her feet on a ground, but it had no noticeable texture. As the girl looked around, she saw Chikara next to her. The Asian woman's attire had reverted back to what it was when Athena had first seen her, dark clothing, her hair in a ponytail, and dark shades. "This is the Construct Program," Chikara said. "Using this program, we can load anything we need, equipment, clothes, even simulations."

"So, we're inside some kind of computer program now?"

"Yes. Look at yourself. The plugs in your body are gone, your clothes have changed, and you have hair." Athena noticed that her appearance, indeed, had changed. The electrical plugs on her muscles had disappeared, her brown hair was back to its original length down to her chest, and her clothes and changed back into the black clothes that Chikara had given her to wear. "Your appearance now is called Residual Self-Image. How you see yourself is imprinted onto your digital self."

"My digital self?" Athena repeated. "This is how I was before I was transported to the Ganesha."

"That is because this world that you are in right now is constructed in much the same way the Matrix is. The only difference is that the Matrix contains the minds of six billion people, where this program is only large enough to fit about a hundred."

Athena looked at her clothes and groaned. "These clothes don't suit me," she said.

"I'm sorry but these clothes were all we had time to produce before we got you out. Computer, change Athena's clothes. Give her a gray T-shirt and blue jeans."

Suddenly, Athena's black clothes became what Chikara had assigned her! "That's amazing!" Athena cried.

"As I said," said Chikara, smiling. "We can load anything. Computer, load two red armchairs, one meter apart, facing one another." As soon as Chikara had said the command, two red armchairs appeared, arranged exactly how Chikara had specified. Chikara walked to one of the chairs. "Please, have a seat," she said.

Athena walked to the other chair and sat down. "It's strange. This chair. It looks and feels so real. But somehow, I can sense its artificiality."

"Only a gifted few have the ability to sense that this artificial world is, indeed, artificial. That's one of the reasons we freed you from the Matrix."

"So, what exactly is the Matrix?"

"I was just getting to that. Computer, load Matrix Program One." Suddenly, the white backdrop was replaced with a setting. The invisible ground became concrete, the sky became blue, and there was a light breeze. Athena could hear cars driving somewhere nearby. It was the roof of a twentieth-century skyscraper. "This is one part of the Matrix," Chikara said. Then, the scene changed to the heart of a tropical jungle. "This is also part of the Matrix." The scene changed again to an icy area in the mountains. "And so is this." The scene changed back to the white backdrop. "None of what you just saw was real. The real world is a much darker place." The scene changed to a barren plane. There was a destroyed city nearby, and the sky was covered with black clouds. "This is what the real world looks like."

Athena was shocked and scared by what Chikara had just said. "The--The real world?" she asked slowly.

"During the war with the machines, the humans attempted to defeat them by blocking out the sun, the machines' main energy source. Without the sun, the machines turned to a new energy source: humans. Out of the billions of humans that survived, only two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand escaped to Zion. The rest were captured by the machines so that they could harvest the humans' bioelectricity and body-heat." The scene changed again to a gigantic field of crops. However, it was not plants that were growing, it was human fetuses! Large tentacled machines were taking the fetuses and transferring them to the large towers that Athena had found herself on when she was first freed from the Matrix. "The Matrix was created to fool humans into thinking that they were living normal lives. However, the cold truth is that their world is a fabrication and they are being used to feed the machines."

The scene transported back to the white backdrop. Athena was in complete shock. It was very hard for her to compile all of the information that had just been fed to her. The difficulty of accepting the truth was overwhelming for the young girl.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this, Athena," the Japanese woman said. "I know this is hard for you to accept, but it is the truth. This is what you needed to see." Chikara, seeing that Athena was in a state of shock, went to the poor girl and held her close to her, trying to comfort the frightened eighteen-year-old. Athena held Chikara as well, burying her head into the older woman's bosom. After several minutes of Athena holding onto Chikara for comfort, the Asian woman asked, "Are you okay, Athena?"

The brunette looked up at Chikara. The older woman took off her shades, letting Athena look into her deep, brown eyes. Athena nodded in response to Chikara's question. She let go of Chikara and said, "I just can't believe it. My whole life has been a lie?"

"No, Athena," said Chikara. "Don't think like that. You have always been Athena. You might have been living in a simulated reality for the past eighteen years, but the Matrix is what made you who you are. It is what has led you to us. To me. Computer, terminate program."

Athena's mind was again pulled away from her body and transported to another place. She opened her eyes and found herself back in Chikara's bed. She pulled the electrical cable out of her head and sat up. Chikara did the same. Chikara pressed the button on the side of the bed and the cables retracted. Athena asked, "So, when we first met in person, that was the Matrix?" Athena asked.

"That's right," said Chikara.

"That world wasn't real. Is that why you were able to move so fast and jump so far?"

"That's right. With proper training, anyone can learn to slightly alter the rules of the Matrix. For example, some people can move extremely fast."

"Like you."

"Well, not exactly. My ability is not speed. My ability is actually altering the properties of the virtual world. I actually can slow down time for myself, making it only appear that I'm moving faster. And my ability to jump far distances is not a result of my speed, it is a result of alteration to the laws of gravity."

"You're very powerful."

"There are others that are more powerful than I am. On the power chart of everyone known to be able to alter the rules of the virtual world, I'm probably rated number fifteen or twenty. The most powerful human is Neo. The One himself."

"The One?"

"Most people can only bend the laws of the Matrix. The One is the only human being that can actually break those laws. You see, I might be able to bend the laws of gravity, giving me the ability to jump far. But Neo. You should see that guy in action. He actually has the ability to fly."

"Well, you're the most powerful person that I know. You saved me. You showed me the truth. And for that, I thank you, Chikara." Athena embraced Chikara and the older woman embraced her back.

After several seconds, which seemed like hours to Athena, Chikara broke the embrace and looked at Athena. "You should get some rest," she said. "I'll go and see if I can get us some dinner. Why don't you lie back and sleep?"

"That does sound like a good idea," Athena said.

"Okay." Chikara stood up and walked to the door. "I'll be back soon," she said, exiting.

Athena sat there, staring at the door that had just closed. She was still making sense of all of the information that was flooding into her mind about the truth. The earth's surface was barren and void of life, she had lived for eighteen years in a fabricated reality, and the lives of billions of human beings were controlled by sentient machines. However, Athena soon realized that at that particular moment, she did not really care. The only truth that mattered to her at the moment was the truth that she was slowly but surely falling in love with Chikara. The eighteen-year-old could not help but wonder what the Asian woman looked like naked.

The thought of Chikara was making Athena wet. Her breathing became heavy, her heart started racing, and a damp spot started to form between her legs. Athena figured that Chikara would be out for a long enough time to get in some masturbation. Because her clothes were so simple, it did not take any time to get them off of her eighteen-year-old body. After taking off her black shoes, she took off her gray shirt and gray pants. Because she had only spent a day out of the pod, her pubic hair was still very sparse. Although she would have to start shaving in a day or two, Athena was pleased that her pussy was as smooth as it was.

Athena lay down on the bed, moaning and sighing in pleasure as she fondled her breasts, lightly pulling on her erect nipples. She continued exploring her naked body with her hands until she started to feel her juices starting to drip down the crack of her ass. Not wanting to get Chikara's bed wet, Athena picked up her shirt and put it under her butt to catch the juices that her pussy was producing. She brought her right hand between her legs and started rubbing her erect clit. The girl moaned loudly as she played with her hard button.

Athena's excitement was growing surprisingly fast. Athena was usually able to contain her excitement for a long while, but she was unable to contain her pleasure as easily this time. Athena did not want to cum without stimulation of her G-spot, so she plunged her index and middle fingers into her sopping wet pussy while maintaining stimulation on her clitoris with her thumb. The eighteen-year-old cried out in bliss when her fingers started pressing against her G-spot. This time, the stimulation on her G-spot did give Athena the sensation of needing to urinate. However, as she continued fingering her G-spot, the feeling passed and was replaced by feelings of pleasure deep inside her body.

Athena started fantasizing about Chikara. She imagined that the Asian was on the bed, fucking her pussy. "Oh Chikara," Athena moaned. She was surprised because she was usually able to keep her fantasies to herself. She could not understand why she could not contain her thoughts. However, she did not give it a second thought as she was getting more and more into her masturbation.

Athena's orgasm was approaching quickly. She could not understand why her excitement was so far out of her control. Somehow, Athena had lost her tantric abilities and was not able to hold back her orgasm as long as she would have wanted. Her body was writhing on the bed and her breathing had turned into loud, frequent pants. "Oh. Yes! Yes!" she cried as she neared her peak. The girl reached the point of no return, and her body tensed up, trying to hold back her orgasm as long as possible. "Chikara! I'm gonna cum!" Athena was unable to keep herself from crying out. Knowing that the stimulation on her G-spot would make her squirt across the room, soaking everything from the bed to the door, Athena raised her hips and aimed her pussy toward her face. Despite her best efforts to hold back her orgasm, Athena started cumming within seconds. Although she was unable to hold back a loud cry of ecstasy, Athena's orgasm was not as powerful as her orgasms usually were. Her body did not thrash about like it usually did, and instead of ejaculating powerfully, her girl-cum merely trickled out of her pee-hole and down her stomach.

Athena's orgasm was not that long, only about half-a-minute. She was not even able to bring herself to a multiple orgasm. When her body settled down on the bed, she cried, "What the fuck was that?" frustrated with the fact that her orgasm had hardly any power.

Although her orgasm was not very powerful, Athena did have a tiring day and was about as tired as she usually was after an orgasm. Therefore, she decided to get some sleep. Because her juices were not nearly as copious as usual, Athena's shirt was dry enough so that Chikara would probably not notice. Athena put her clothes back on and slipped under the covers.

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