Jacing

"You've gotta be kidding me," Tags stared at the captain, then he started glancing back and forth between her and the screens, desperately hoping he was seeing things, that he'd just

forgotten

how to read the code.

"Nope, that's our new target," She didn't seem bothered by the cramp in his brain. "S'why I called you up right away, you know him, right? He's that one you ran into on that one op?"

Of course.

Tags thought,

of course she already knows that.

He broke eye contact with her and just stared at the screen, at JD. "I... that's... that's why it's a bad idea... can't we just give it to another ship?"

"Either you don't handle it and it's a bad idea, or you

do

handle it and it's a good idea. I trust you to make sure you take the second option. Besides, there

isn't

another ship," she said, plainly, like his discomfort wasn't obvious. The truth was, she just didn't care; if the CO giving instructions wasn't enough to get through to someone having an attack of the awkwards,

then

she would deal with it directly, and Tags was still listening to her. "The only other ships at broadcast depth are the

Caduceus

and the

Neb

. The age rule is gospel as far as Ballard cares, he won't do it. Morpheus is already tracking a target, thinks he's found the One, because of course he does."

That distracted Tags for a second, making him think if Morpheus' bullshit was actually real, JD would be saved soon anyway. Tags knew not to rely on bullshit, though; he had no way of knowing if it was real or not, so he would assume 'not' instead of relying on it. He kept his eyes on the screen, because watching JD on his treadmill at the gym made it easier to come up with more excuses than making eye contact. "He

is

too old..."

"So were you," she shrugged, the idea that Tags had turned out fine was left unsaid, but it was clear. "Besides, even if we could pass it off, he's not looking for information about the Matrix. He's not a hacker trying to figure out what the government is covering up. He's looking for

you.

He wants to find

you,

he's making noise with

your

name. It won't be long before the Agents notice, and even if we just ignored him, who knows if they figure out some way of using him. Besides, we're down a man. If he can handle it and he can handle serving, we need him. We have a small window here to do this fast, and the fact that he trusts you makes it easier."

Tags had served on the ship long enough to know everyone well, as they knew him in turn. He knew when the captain was giving him an order even if she didn't say the word.

"Okay," said Tags. "Okay... let's do it." He leaned closer to the screen so he could clearly see the code and figure out everything going on around JD right that second, wondering what the best way to make contact with him would be. He said to himself, "Guess the Oracle was wrong..."

"Tags," the captain had started walking away to get ready, but she'd turned back.

"Yeah?" He looked up at her.

"'Fast' doesn't mean 'sloppy,'" she said, "He still has to choose for himself. Make sure he knows how big the consequences are if he makes the choice we did."

"Yeah," Tags just nodded.

"So you're the Oracle," Tags tried not to sound dismissive, but he couldn't help it. After the time he'd spent on the ship, after learning the truth, after being on his second week eating the food... the smell of the brownies coming out of the oven was more than a little distracting.

"Sure am," the old lady scootched over to the table and put the pan of brownies down. She took her pot-holders off, sat down, and lit a cigarette. "You can say this isn't what you expected, but you won't. Still thinking too hard about the idea of there just being an Oracle in the middle of everything you've been through?"

"Well," Tags was going to deny it at first, before he realized there really wasn't a point.

Her cigarette was worse than the brownies, too, giving a serious craving he hadn't felt since he'd woken up after being fixed. "Uh... yeah... is that strange?"

"Why would it be strange," the Oracle shrugged. "Because you recently learned reality as you know it isn't real? Because there was a blur and when you opened your eyes, all the mundane things were gone and you're part of a war you never could've imagined? Maybe it should open your mind to what kinds of things are possible, sure, but one extraordinary thing doesn't just necessarily follow from the other."

"So you're not for real then, is what you're saying," Tags mostly blurted it out, suddenly feeling bad for being rude. "You don't see the future?"

"No, I'm just saying one doesn't necessarily follow the other

,

" the Oracle took another drag from her cigarette and grinned up at him. "Not like I can convince you right here, you just have to decide what you want to believe yourself. Downside of choice is, just because you don't know what the right choice is doesn't mean you can take a pass on the consequences."

Shoving his hands into his coat pockets, Tags focused on his own breathing, making each breath deep and slow. "Guess I'd just choose whatever choice doesn't have consequences in the first place."

"Oh, now you're just being silly,

all

choices have consequences, we just don't bother thinking of them," she gestured at him with her cigarette and, that done, she put it down on the ashtray. She picked up the knife on the table and started cutting into the brownies. "I could choose to let these cool off a little before cutting in, but there wouldn't be time for me to give you one." She didn't look up until she was. "Would your life have gone the way it did if you'd made different choices? Maybe you reenlist, but still end up here... or still end up in the studio, just later on."

"Oh god," Tags looked down at his boots, and tried to shove his hands further into his pockets. The Oracle being a lovely old lady to such a disarming degree made this worse than his parents finding out, or his last girlfriend. "Of course you know that," He briefly glanced at the refrigerator before looking back at the Oracle, desperately wishing it was so interesting he would never have a reason to turn away.

"Don't need to be an oracle to know who you were in your last life, kid, just need to know how to use the Internet." She finished fishing one of the brownies out of the pan with a spatula, put it on a small plate already on the table, and slid it over towards the other side. "And I'm not judging, just giving you an example. Have a seat, take a bite. Don't worry, I only put the strong stuff in my cookies."

The plan was set, the crew was in position, the ship was ready to go for a fast pickup. Tags went over all of that in his head, because all he needed to do now was knock on JD's door, and he didn't want to.

If Tags could say anything about himself, however, it was that he'd get things done, so, he knocked.

It took a few seconds; JD was pulling on a pair of pants as he answered his door, and the way he froze once he looked at Tags meant he probably hadn't bothered looking through the peephole. "Holy shit!"

"Hey," Tags said, plainly, dumbly.

"Fuck, man, don't just stand there," he stepped back, "Come in-"

"No!" Tags interrupted him. "There's no time. Just," he forced himself to calm down, raising one hand, awkwardly. "Just... hang on."

"I don't understand," JD stood there, practically broadcasting his confusion.

"I know you've been looking for me," Tags blurted out.

Taking a second to process his thoughts, JD slowly nodded. "Yeah, you said I'd have to find you if I wanted to know what the hell happened." When the awkward pause started, he added, "I... kinda took it as a challenge."

"Oh." Tags glanced away, lowering his hand. "Fuck, guess I said the wrong thing..."

"You just... came to me again though," JD prodded, holding onto the side of his door like an anchor. "I couldn't find you."

"Yeah, looking and finding were interchangeable, in this case," Tags said. "Do you still wanna know?"

"

Hell

yes," JD didn't hesitate now.

"Alright, come with me." When Tags saw JD lean down to grab his sneakers, he said, "Don't bother, we're not going outside, and we don't have time, just.... come on. Please."

Staring at Tags for a few seconds. He was definitely starting to realize things were even weirder than he already thought, but he walked out into the hallway with Tags and closed his door behind him.

"This way," Tags said, and he led JD down the hallway towards the elevator. His stride broke halfway when they reached the vending machine in the hall, where Tags quickly shoved in a few quarters and pushed the button for a bottle of water. Once he had it, he handed it to JD and moved again without a word.

"If we're not going outside," JD had to jog a few steps to catch up; he wasn't expecting a fast walk. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"One floor up," Tags answered, not turning his head. He hit the 'up' button for the elevator when they reached it and it opened instantly, as if it were waiting. "The apartment above yours is vacant."

"Okay," JD let the world drag out, hoping it would prompt Tags to tell him more. When it didn't, he stayed silent for the moment, and just followed Tags out when the elevator opened again.

Tags stopped in front of the door for the apartment above JD's and turned to him. Taking a prescription pill bottle out of his pocket, he started playing with it, rolling it between both hands. He rolled once on the heels of his boots, and took a deep breath. He wanted to continue, he really did, but his apprehension won out for a moment. "You look tired."

"Yeah, long day." JD just twisted the cap off and took a gulp, seeing no reason not to. "Had to do a scene with that asshole Vadim, decided he didn't want to bottom at the last minute, so much drama..."

"Yeah," Tags looked down at the bottle, briefly thinking of work, then back up at JD. "You need to understand something, and it's not easy because I can't tell you

shit

, but you need to try to understand this."

"Okay," JD said again. "Hit me."

"If you go through with this, there's no going back." Tags squeezed the bottle harder between both hands. "And I mean

no

going back to anything.

Anything.

I don't know if you're happy with your life, but going forward means you're done with it. You're done with everything you hate, you're also done with everything you love. Everyone important to you, they won't be important to you anymore. There's no fucking way I can make you understand how serious I am about this, and normally we... 'talk' with potential recr- with

people

for longer than this, but you have to choose, and you have to do it now."

"Choose," JD repeated, "Choose what? How?"

Tags emptied the two pills in the bottle into his left hand. He tossed the pill bottle down the hallway, kept the blue pill in his left hand when he held it up to JD, and held the red one up in his right. He shook his left hand, drawing JD's attention to it. "You take this one, you turn around, you go back to your place. Tomorrow, you won't be sure you even really saw me. The life you're living now goes on, sooner or later you'll forget anything weird ever happened to you. You never find out the answers to the questions you have." He drew JD's attention to his right hand. "You take this one, you accept all the consequences I just warned you about. You get all the answers. You go through what I went through. You learn everything I learned. It's not easy. Hell, it's fucking

insane,

but you'll

know.

"

JD's eyes shifted between the two pills. "This, uh," he sounded worried, "This is kinda... it's starting to sound like you got your head screwed with by some kind of bullshit cult, like Scientology or some shit."

"I know, it can't be helped," Tags said. "Actually, it's usually way worse, most of the people who find us are looking because they think there's something wrong with the world." Stopping himself before he went into full-on babbling, Tags shook the pills in his hands again. "I don't know how much you trust me right now, but if what I say means anything, there's one thing I

can

tell you, and it's that I'm not bringing you to a loud dude behind a cheap podium who's gonna tell you why it's a good idea to drink bad Kool-Aid."

Pondering the pills again, JD slowly reached... and his hand moved for the blue pill. Tags actually felt relief, and he hadn't been expecting to, he really had no idea what he was hoping for but at least JD wouldn't have to go through any of it...

Then, JD stopped, his hand balling into a fist before he took the pill. "Was it worth it," he looked Tags in the eye, "Getting the answers, I mean."

Tags' eyes went wide. It really hadn't been a question he'd expected JD to ask, and it threw him for a loop. He glanced at the red pill he held, his own choice flashing before his eyes. "I... I shouldn't tell you that... you... you need to choose for yourself..."

With Tags stuttering off, JD cracked his knuckles, his hand still closer to the blue pill in Tags' left hand. "I can't tell if you're saying that because you don't think it was but you still want me to go along with this," he focused hard on that pill, "Or if you're saying that because you

do

think it was, but you're worried I won't."

The moment stretched from that thought, until JD finally made his decision. He took the red pill from Tags' right hand, popped it into his mouth, and gulped it down with some water. He barely had the bottle away from his mouth before he coughed and drank more to clear his throat.

It's done, then,

Tags looked JD over, somehow expecting something to be different already, even though he knew he wouldn't be. He motioned for JD to hand him the water bottle; when JD did so, Tags said, "Come on," and finally opened the door.

Walking in, Tags put the water bottle down on the desk he passed by, stopping at a chair and motioning for JD to follow. JD got the message that Tags wanted him to sit down, but he moved slowly, busy looking around at the paraphernalia that had been moved into the otherwise vacant apartment.

He saw a rack of servers, but the cables running to and from them were thick and black, not networking cables. A woman sat at a table with a pair of blacked-out goggles resting on her forehead as she worked what looked for all the world like a really old joystick. She didn't look up when he walked into the room, but when she spoke, she was definitely talking to Tags. "Are we a go?"

"We're a go," Tags confirmed, motioning again for JD to sit in the chair.

As JD sat down, he noticed another person, a man, smaller than Tags with an expensive suit and equally expensive sunglasses sitting at the desk Tags had put the water bottle on, looking around a bank of small mismatched TV-screens. Once JD sat down, the man picked up a phone, set it down onto a modem that looked even older than the woman's Atari controller, and set it dialing a sequence.

He had to cough again, harder, and without water anymore he stuck his face into the crook of his elbow to hack up a few breaths. Once that was over and done with, he looked around more, seeing a cable from the old modem running to the ground, across to the table and to the goggles on the woman's head, ending in a hodgepodge of copper wiring reaching out from one side.

Shortly thereafter, she pulled them down over her eyes. JD only noticed that Tags had strapped his arms to the chair after it was done but he decided not to say anything yet, he'd already decided to trust him, after all.

"Thought you'd need me to come check on you, Tags," the man at the desk said.

"Actually worried about me?" Tags glanced over to him.

"Nah, I knew you'd be quick," the man answered. "I just pretend you're incompetent so I can give you grief."

When Tags grabbed what looked like a sensor for an EKG machine with one hand and silently flipped the man off with his other, JD's focus went back to him. He didn't sense any real animosity so the apparent medical equipment held his interest. As Tags stuck it to the side of his head, JD said, "You really went through all this too?"

"All of it," Tags answered. He stuck another sensor on JD, and several more after that. A leather band with wires attached to it from who knew what was next, going on around the top of JD's head. Getting it on was a little awkward when JD coughed more, but Tags was done soon enough.

"Ty, is this

safe?

" JD asked. Having electronics attached to him certainly wasn't what he'd expected when he'd made his choice.

"The way you mean? Yes," Tags sat down in the next closest chair and went to work at his own collection of retro electronics, glancing between JD and his readouts.

It was probably the wrong thing to say, because JD turned his head to keep him in sight and spoke with more than a little shock. "How many ways

are

there?"

Before Tags could answer, the woman with the goggles glanced over to them, even though she couldn't see them. "Oh don't worry, hon. Usually, what I'm doing is your friend's job, but I'm plenty good at it. We just figured it would be better if he was the one who made contact, since you already know each other."

"Huh," JD nodded. The confidence she spoke with made him feel better, enough that he didn't even notice she had not, at all, answered his question.

"Tags," she said, "Make sure we're ready on the outside."

"Right," Tags pulled his phone from his jacket while JD watched him, the words he spoke through it making no sense. "We're locking on now, ready on the signal."

The woman smiled, the goggles making it look a little weird. "Piece of cake, this is an easy one."

JD thought of another pertinent question. "Is this gonna hurt?" In a whisper, he added, "And why the hell are they calling you 'Tags?'"

Tags ignored the second question. "It's... uncomfortable, but mostly it's just scary as hell," He didn't bother looking at JD as he said this. He'd held the phone down away from his head and he almost moved it back up to get back to business, then he paused long enough to look JD in the eye. "JD, you're gonna see some shit in the next few minutes... whatever you feel, whatever you see, I promise you, we're on our way. We're coming for you."

"But," JD coughed, "You're... you're already here. With me." He coughed again and the scratch in his throat was more overwhelming than he was expecting this time... but on the third cough, he wretched without realizing something was coming up. What felt like the biggest loogie in the world came out and landed right on his lap. Except, as JD stared down, he realized he'd actually just coughed up what looked like a blob of quicksilver... and it was spreading further across his lap, more than could have possibly been in his throat. "What..."

"That's the thing, JD," Tags told him, "We're

not.

"

JD watched as it covered more and more of him, turning him into a chrome mirror. He wasn't sure if he should've been fascinated or horrified as it crawled up his chest, if it kept going it would be in his mouth soon. "Ty..."

It didn't get that far before the woman moved the joystick one last time and pressed the single button. "Found him, got it!"

Never looking away from JD, Tags put the phone back up to his head. "Now!"

JD couldn't tell if the liquid chrome just shot the rest of the way over him or if the world had gone black, but he didn't have much time to think about it before awareness of

anything

just... left.

Tags didn't want to leave JD's side once they picked him up from the drains, so he started helping on JD's reconstruction as soon as he was cleaned up on the table, and just hoped everyone understood that he had every intention of spending every free minute he had doing so.