We obviously couldn't start any construction while in Zion, thanks to my new popularity. So, I messaged my family and Captain Malachi to let them know I was available for our shift in the Matrix. I also told them I had made it to the ship successfully without being mobbed and would wait for them there.
There was a day left to the layover, so Dragon and I had a great time spending most of it hanging out inside the Construct. We also spent a short amount of time retooling a couple of the mechanical arms in the cargo bay for rebuilding her mech suit. I would drop copies of the three compromised ones for her to wipe the altered programming from and would make a copy of her current mech for the internal components.
The others arrived first thing in the morning and looked really happy. This would be the first time Saga and Akira would be going in with Malachi and I, because they had passed the tests and training programs. It hadn't been a difficult decision to let them come along, even with how eager Saga was to try out her grapple hook mod officially.
She had been warned several times to not just head off right away to use them, either. We would have to find a good area for her to have fun, even if the hooks were pretty versatile. Akira on the other hand, was glad she had passed the stringent learning programs after only failing one of them.
It wasn't Akira's fault she had been successfully distracted by Mouse's retooled Agent Training Program. He was a sneaky coder and had somehow slipped in an altered copy of Malachi's avatar with him dressed to the nines in a tuxedo and carrying a bundle of roses. It blatantly revealed her growing feelings for the man and it embarrassed her how she had reacted to seeing him like that.
Akira had let loose on Mouse for revealing things she told him in confidence, letting everyone know it was true instead of playing it off as a joke that Mouse was playing on her. Thankfully, Malachi admitted he liked her a lot; but, she was still a little young and he would wait for her for a couple of years. If she still felt the same after that, he would be willing to give it a try.
That had been such a relief for her that she had asked him to run her through the fixed program instead of having me do it again. Malachi had agreed to supervise it and she had retaken it and passed with flying colors, because she had been solely focused on him and didn't let anything distract her.
I handled the communications with Zion Control and flew the ship out through Gate 3. We weren't going to waste any time and flew right up towards broadcast depth and didn't bother trying to pick up any salvage along the way. The route had been picked over fairly well and there was nothing but scrap left.
We would have to make a detour between sessions inside the Matrix or have to wait to do it on the way back to Zion. If that wasn't possible, then our plans would have to wait for another week or so when we were assigned to salvage again.
Although, we knew it wasn't going to be a quick process for Dragon to recreate one of her better Dragon suits and it could be several weeks as we worked up the proper plans and adjusted them as she figured out how to reintegrate the different systems from the three mech suits. Each one had certain parts she needed and she also used a copy of my cell phone from back then to help her with the coding.
In fact, she pulled the thing apart slightly and integrated it into her new computer core to become one of her main processors. It was just too versatile to not do that, especially with how robust it was and how it was leagues better than the current world's technology and slightly better than her own.
At least that part was both the easiest and hardest for her to work on, since it was all systems integration and making everything compatible. The difficult part would be redesigning the moving parts and the appendages if she wanted to go that route.
Figuring out if she wanted to have the thing transform from a walking suit into a flight craft, or start with the flight craft first and then figure out how to make it into a walking suit she could use, was a fairly difficult decision. Both had bonuses and drawbacks, so putting it off for a while was the best decision.
Despite loading the others in first and then logging in myself, I was the first to arrive into the Construct. I changed my appearance to look like my previous self instead of my Atlas persona, and dressed in normal clothes over top of my supersuit, since I was going to visit my landlady today.
That reminded me to load in copies of my normal takeout order and I used the interface Mouse made to create a large table to put it on. I also loaded in Saga's grapple hook mods and a laser watch, as well as a few other spy gadgets to spread out over the table. Cell phones were a must add-on, too.
I loaded in stun guns instead of normal guns, because I wanted to curb any urges to shoot to kill as a first option. Malachi, Saga, and Akira appeared as their digital selves and I wasn't surprised Saga was wearing a modified version of my hero costume. I chuckled at her grin and I loaded in an appropriate dress for her to put on over top of it to cover it up.
Before Saga could complain about it, I opened my shirt to show off I was doing it, too. She reluctantly put the dress on and then she was at the table to stare at everything available. Her fingers caressed the modded grappling hooks and I wordlessly offered to help her put the holsters on. She nodded and I helped her secure the nice belt around her hips and adjusted it to let her easily draw both guns.
I loaded in a small bag for her to put the stun gun and cell phone in, then secured it over her shoulder. I turned to help Akira and she already had a back holster attached, had the stun gun stored there, and she had the laser watch on. She wasn't fiddling with it, though. She knew better.
"By the way, I learned a new trick." I said and grabbed the bag of food before I used the interface to load in my Hummer.
I assigned the IDs to the seats and hit enter. The four of us, Malachi, Akira, Saga, and myself, disappeared from standing beside the table to sitting inside the Hummer. I was in the driver's seat, Malachi in the passenger seat, and the two girls were in the backseats.
"Go ahead and jack us in, Mouse." I said and a moment later, the entire vehicle, with us still inside of it, appeared beside the guard shack at the edge of the park.
"Wicked!" Saga gasped from behind me.
"It is." Malachi said and gave me a look.
"I'd need to calculate the loading coordinates from each landline loading area to share this with anyone else." I responded to his unasked question and he sighed. "On the plus side, I do have them for the RV Apoc uses inside the Matrix if he uses it in this location."
Malachi nodded at the concession and motioned towards the traffic nearby. I smiled and started the vehicle, then stepped on the gas and we shot across the park and into the street. I cut the wheel hard and skidded the tires as we took the corner and sped off down the street.
"WEEEE!" Saga squealed and then she laughed.
"Speed demon." Akira said, fondly.
"I am totally going to ask dad to code me a sports car when I turn 16!" Saga said, happily.
"I thought you wanted your own mech like Dragon's?" Akira asked her.
"I do!" Saga answered with enthusiasm. "One's for real life and one's for the Matrix!"
"Which one?" Malachi asked, just to tease her.
"That's up to dad, since he's the best dad in the world." Saga said, as if giving sage advice.
I had to chuckle at that. "Do you really think I can make you a sports car in the real world?"
"Sure! You made the family car that's riding on the back of the ship for emergencies. Why can't you make a sports model?" Saga asked with a huge grin.
"Ha! She's got you there, Neo." Malachi said and lightly punched me on the arm.
"A sports model hovercar?" I asked and a few ideas entered my head.
"Oh, now you've done it." Akira admonished them. "Neo's in thinking mode."
"You're working out how that'll change the hover-bike races, aren't you?" Malachi asked.
"Kind of. It's more about adding a separate car division to keep things fair." I contemplated. "We'd have to add different kinds of jumps and obstacles to the various tracks, since they are much heavier than the bikes, even with two extra hoverpads to lift them."
"That sounds awesome!" Saga exclaimed.
Akira shook her head. "You're both incorrigible."
"That's why you loooooove uuuus!" Saga teased and then laughed.
Akira lightly slapped her arm and her face was slightly red.
I chuckled and took another corner. "I'm briefly stopping at my landlady's to drop off the food and to show you guys off. After that, we can head to the industrial sector and then we can have some fun testing out your new gadgets."
"Yes!" Saga cheered and pumped her fist into the air.
"On the way back, if we haven't drawn anyone's attention and it's safe, I'll bring you to visit the Oracle." I said and the three of them nodded.
The stop at my landlady's place really was brief. She looked a little surprised that I had adopted a daughter, had a niece, and a brother that wasn't able to come this time. She hugged Saga like a mother should and Saga let out a soft sigh and hugged her back.
"You make sure you behave for Tom, okay? He's a really nice man and does everything he can for the people in his life." My landlady told her and let her out of the embrace.
"I will." Saga said and stepped back from her.
I handed the bag of takeout food to the older woman. "I really would stay if we didn't already have plans to visit the industrial sector." I said and didn't tell her about going to visit the Oracle afterwards. How would I phrase that? Was it possible I could claim she was Saga's grandmother or something?
"No, no. You've been really busy with your new career. I appreciate that you still want to come back here to visit me when you clearly don't have to." The landlady responded with a warm smile.
That was when I remembered wanting to make the place into a safehouse. "I'll be back, either tomorrow or the next day, to clean up the apartment and to fix things up a bit, now that I've got some good money coming in."
Her smile brightened and she looked happy. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do with the place."
"Me, too." I said and stepped close to give her my own hug. "I'll see you soon."
"Bye, Tom." She said and waved to Malachi, whom had stayed in the Hummer. He waved back and I ushered Akira and Saga back to the vehicle and helped them climb back in. We all waved and I drove out of the alleyway and around the building towards the large industrial sector.
"Are you sure it's safe to play around here?" Saga asked as the tenement buildings slowly changed to warehouses and factories.
"I'll set up some precautions before letting you loose on the place." I promised and both she and Akira looked relieved. "There are a few abandoned warehouses around and we can start inside one of them."
It didn't take long to find the more rundown area in the industrial sector and I pulled to a stop in front of a warehouse that was locked up tight and looked like it hadn't been used in a very long time.
"How are we going to get inside?" Saga asked as we all stepped out of the Hummer.
I gave Akira an encouraging look and she looked surprised, then she blushed slightly and nodded. I motioned for them to follow me and we walked down the street a little to reach the corner of the building, then walked down a small alleyway between two buildings and came out onto a small access road behind it. A steel door with a chained padlock was there and I pointed at it.
"We'll cover you." I whispered and Malachi, Saga, and I formed a perimeter around the door.
Akira took several breaths before she slipped between us and put herself next to the door. She primed the watch and set the intensity, aimed, and hit the activation button. A thin red laser came out of the watch and it started cutting through the chain link that held the lock.
"Smart girl." Malachi whispered when he glanced back to see what she was doing.
Akira blushed and surprisingly didn't fumble it as the laser finally cut through the link. Malachi helped her remove the chain and then handed her a small toolkit and a hammer. Akira knew what to do with both and used the hammer to knock the doorhandle off and then used a few of the tools to pop out the center of the doorhandle and then used a screwdriver to turn the mechanism inside to undo the lock.
"If it had a deadbolt lock, you'd need a small drill to gain access to its innards and then you'd do the same thing to it." Malachi whispered to her and Akira smiled at him and handed the tools back.
The door opened and I picked up the chain and we entered the dark inside and I dropped the chain on the floor. I pulled the door shut using the hole where the doorhandle used to be and thought about how to secure it, then shrugged and waved a hand over the edge of the door and welded it together.
"That's handy." Malachi whispered with a chuckle.
I nodded and took out my cell phone to turn the bright screen on and used it like a flashlight. "It's usually not this dark inside places like this."
"All the windows are boarded up." Akira said and pointed to where peeks of sunlight were coming through the coverings.
"Then we don't have to worry if we turn the lights on." Malachi said and walked over to where the office was. It held what we needed and he opened the electrical panel and read the connections, then nodded. "...aaaand let there be light!" He said dramatically and flipped the switch on the main breaker.
There was a whine sound, as if power was charging up, then half of the large industrial lights lit up brightly, making the place well lit. I turned off the bright light on my cell phone and was about to say it was time to have fun, then every light flickered twice and then all the bulbs in the place blew and pieces of glass rained down onto the concrete floor as we were plunged into darkness.
A soft giggle and a demure laugh echoed off the walls of the office. Neither Malachi nor I had any trouble guessing who the giggle was from. I turned my cell phone light back on and dialed.
"Operator." Mouse answered.
"Hey, Mouse. Could you load up a crate of freestanding industrial lights, cabling, my generator, and a stack of mattresses? We've had a slight problem with the local power grid's performance." I said while giving Malachi a crooked smile.
"Aw, geez." Malachi grumbled and rubbed a hand over his face.
Saga laughed and Akira put a hand on Malachi's shoulder to give it a little rub.
Mouse laughed, too. "I saw. I'll have you loaded up in a sec."
"Thanks, Mouse." I said and the stuff formed around us. I hung up and put the cell phone away. "Let's get this set up and we'll see what we have to work with in here."
It didn't take long with the four of us working to get the whole place lit up and it was a parkour runner's dream. High stacked crates, defunct industrial machines of various sizes, and many catwalks to swing or jump from.
Saga's eyes were almost glittering as she slowly turned around in a circle in the middle of the floor and stared at everything with the biggest smile on her face.
"We're never getting her out of here, are we?" Malachi asked.
"Not until she's either too tired to move or unconscious." Akira answered.
"That's just wonderful." Malachi said with a sigh.
I chuckled and walked over to Saga. I waited for her to finish another spin before I grabbed her shoulder and caught her attention. "First lesson! Where's the closest place to catch a hook to swing?"
"Above the third crate over from the door to the office. The catwalk has a rail that's strong enough for the hook to grab." Saga answered and the smile never left her face.
I gave her a huge smile in return and reached behind my back to pull out my own grappling hook gun. "First person to the other side of the warehouse gets ice cream."
Saga laughed, kicked my shin to distract me, then she drew one of her guns in a smooth motion as she turned and shot it at the very rail she said was the closest one. She kept laughing as it pulled her away with a swish.
"That's totally cheating!" I said and had to wait for her to use her other gun before I could follow her. I shot my gun and darted after her and she kept laughing as I barely stayed close enough to be on her heels after her great headstart.
Akira and Malachi stood there by the office and watched us having a ball.
"I've changed my mind. They aren't going to leave until they have to." Akira said.
Malachi nodded. "Do you want to search the office for a safe or something that you can use your watch on?"
"Yes, please." Akira said and boldly took his hand and pulled him into the office and shut the door.