had him as <strong>the</strong>ir objective, only firstly <strong>the</strong>y were having trouble identifying him and secondly <strong>the</strong>y didn'teven know if he was still alive.Down by Alex's body, a woman was sobbing. The wr<strong>is</strong>t tag hadn't been sufficient; Kate had needed tobe completely sure; finding h<strong>is</strong> wallet, flipping it open, driver's licence, ID, and a small photo of <strong>the</strong> threeof <strong>the</strong>m – Alex, Kate, and <strong>the</strong>ir young son smiling at <strong>the</strong> camera. That had been all <strong>the</strong> confirmation sheneeded. She sat <strong>the</strong>re against <strong>the</strong> wall, cradling h<strong>is</strong> head and crying.Jack caught sight of her face and couldn't stop staring. And he couldn't bring himself to tell her that ithad been h<strong>is</strong> gun.Things were slowly quietening down. Those who weren't friends were friends of friends, or friends offriends of friends, or friends of friends of friends of friends.Six degrees of separation <strong>is</strong> a beautiful thing.**Everything had settled. Jack – having somewhat regained h<strong>is</strong> composure – climbed up to stand on <strong>the</strong>sofa, using it as h<strong>is</strong> own personal soapbox as he tried to get people's attention over <strong>the</strong> no<strong>is</strong>e."We can get out of here," he said from h<strong>is</strong> soapsofa. "There are exits from <strong>the</strong> roofs. Go to <strong>the</strong> topfloor, break through <strong>the</strong> ceiling and get out-"Someone randomly threw a megaphone at Jack. They m<strong>is</strong>sed and hit <strong>the</strong> sofa instead."Ow," thought <strong>the</strong> sofa sadly."There are stairs on top of <strong>the</strong> roofs that lead out of th<strong>is</strong> place," Jack continued, ignoring <strong>the</strong>megaphone."How would that help us get home?" someone asked."It's better than starving to death in here," someone else said."Which of you <strong>is</strong> Reeves?" asked some guy whom we shall call Jeff, though h<strong>is</strong> really name veryprobably <strong>is</strong>n't Jeff.Several of <strong>the</strong> Keanu-spawn pointed. <strong>Not</strong>-Tim winced, remembered names, and made a mental note tomake sequels in which bad things happened to <strong>the</strong>m."Please leave," not-Jeff told not-Tim."What good would that do?" Perry cut in. "Do you want to stay here forever?""If it means I'm alive, <strong>the</strong>n sure!" not-Jeff said. "How can we survive out <strong>the</strong>re? We have no jobs, nohomes, no identification, no money. It'll come down to ei<strong>the</strong>r a life of crime, or death.""<strong>Not</strong> if all of us get out <strong>the</strong>re," someone else said. "There are about 20,000 of us in total. They can't justignore us like that.""Uh," said <strong>the</strong> voice from <strong>the</strong> speaker, "what's going on in <strong>the</strong>re?""Everybody, just leave," not-Tim said. "Get out of th<strong>is</strong> place while you can. Tell everyone else to go.We can work things out later. It's not safe in here. I'll talk to <strong>the</strong>m and see if I can stall <strong>the</strong>m a little."No one was moving much, save several half-hearted attempts out <strong>the</strong> stairwell door.Jack picked up <strong>the</strong> megaphone. "YOU HEARD THE HOSTAGE!" he yelled. "MOVE! GET OFF OURFLOOR!"Back in Neo's room, not-Tim sat down by <strong>the</strong> computer and picked up <strong>the</strong> communicator. "Hi," he saidinto it."WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON THERE?" <strong>the</strong> Kenselton Hotel representative bellowed.Perry grabbed Nelson's arm as <strong>the</strong> latter made to leave. "<strong>Not</strong> you," he said. "We stay here."
"What?"A sudden telepathic message broke into all <strong>the</strong>ir minds, courtesy of a helpful resident of KenseltonHotel: "We don't leave until he leaves," Perry continued, gesturing at <strong>the</strong> room in which not-Tim sat."Well," not-Tim was saying into <strong>the</strong> communicator, "several people died, for starters, thanks to you. Oh;and I think some furniture got broken..."The KH rep struggled to regain some semblance of h<strong>is</strong> dignity. "Is <strong>the</strong> hostage still alive?" he asked."...Yeah, uh, we're not too sure about that," not-Tim said, randomly checking h<strong>is</strong> pulse just for fun. "Lotsof bodies lying around, and apparently some of <strong>the</strong>m aren't even dead. What's <strong>the</strong> hostage look like?""Er. Six foot one, black hair, br- DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME! THIS IS SERI-" The voice broke offas it was interrupted by a fainter one in <strong>the</strong> d<strong>is</strong>tance. "What? ...WHAT D'YOU MEAN, THEY'REBREAKING OUT? ...Well, if it's just <strong>the</strong> Hulk, that's not really- wait, THEY AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BEABLE TO GET OUT OF THERE"Rants about some moronic architect filled <strong>the</strong> speakers. <strong>Not</strong>-Tim put down <strong>the</strong> communicator andlooked up as a handful of Keanu-spawn wandered in to see what was happening."Why're you all still here?" he asked quietly."Moral support," said Johnny in a way that suggested he would ra<strong>the</strong>r be escaping with everyone else."All of you?"Johnny shrugged. "Most. Some blond kid dragged Ted away before anyone could stop <strong>the</strong>m."The KH rep hadn't turned off <strong>the</strong> connection in h<strong>is</strong> d<strong>is</strong>tress, and as he made a private phone call to <strong>the</strong>moronic architect he had been ranting about, everyone in Kenselton Hotel got to hear <strong>the</strong> conversation:"I SAID THAT THERE WASN'T TO BE ANY WAY OUT, YOU SON OF A-""Yeah, I know," came a lazy drawl from <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r side. "But, well, fire regulations, you know. Apparentlyyou need quite a few of those for a facility that size, and <strong>the</strong>re must have been some fire somewhere in<strong>the</strong> hotel that activated <strong>the</strong> escape system-"Loud swearing filled <strong>the</strong> speakers. Several kids in Kenselton Hotel learnt some interesting new wordsthat day."Also," <strong>the</strong> architect calmly continued, "<strong>the</strong>re's also <strong>the</strong> matter of that little affair you had with my wife-""YOU TWO WERE ON A BREAK!"<strong>Not</strong>-Tim got up from <strong>the</strong> desk and went out into <strong>the</strong> corridor. Several in <strong>the</strong> room followed him out, with<strong>the</strong> notable exception of Neo, who headed straight for <strong>the</strong> computer and sat <strong>the</strong>re, just looking at <strong>the</strong>screen.He placed h<strong>is</strong> hand on <strong>the</strong> keyboard and hit several keys. A final 'Enter' shut down <strong>the</strong> computer for <strong>the</strong>last time; and The One continued sitting <strong>the</strong>re, hand gently gripping <strong>the</strong> mouse, looking somehow asthough he were fighting back tears.Kate Forster was still <strong>the</strong>re outside, quiet now as she sat by dead!Alex. <strong>Not</strong>-Tim crouched down next toher."I'm sorry.""It's not your fault."Several seconds of silence."We've got to get out of th<strong>is</strong> place," not-Tim said. "They might find a way to cut off-""Okay."
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"Your behaviour these past few mont
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Neo sank down on the sofa.He looked
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"By a friend of one of the others w
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Next morning62nd Floor. Arrival Lob
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It is in fact at the cafeteria that
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'There is no exit here', read the h
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Back from his breakfast, Griffin sa
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Griffin glanced back at the three p
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Alex looked up."...That's Paul, tha
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The floor hackers stared at their l
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First Combined MeetingThomas Ludlow
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- Reeves clears throat.- Utah shuts
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Griffin isn't the only one in the r
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He realised that he was not standin
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Ludlow smirked. "Thank you. Now I k
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Seventeen suspicious-looking, mostl
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Scott emerged from the alley he had
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Julian finished the stitches, close
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Stuck in House: Chris Townsend, Mat
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Loose in Kenselton Holding Facility
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Paul and the kids stared back at hi
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"Arctor, Robert," Dem said. "Get on
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With measured reluctance he tries t
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0704270/006/GRA"There are two kinds