Reload (The Matrix FF)

Do a Friend a Favor

~next day; I forgot I can do this~

     "Here you go, buddy. Breakfast of champions," Tank grinned.

     "If you close your eyes it almost feels like you're eating runny eggs," Mouse recalled.

     "Yeah, or a bowl of snot," Apoc suggested unhelpfully.

     "Do you know what it really reminds me of? Tasty Wheat. Did you ever eat Tasty Wheat?" Mouse continued.

     "No, but technically, neither did you," Switch countered.

     "That's exactly my point exactly. Because you have to wonder now. How did the machines know what Tasty Wheat tasted like. huh?. Maybe they got it wrong. Maybe what I think Tasty Wheat tasted like actually tasted like oatmeal or tuna fish. That makes you wonder about a lot of things. You take chicken for example, maybe they couldn't figure out what to make chicken taste like, which is why chicken tastes like everything. Maybe couldn't figure out..." Mouse went off on a tangent.

     "Shut up, Mouse," Apoc rolled his eyes.

     "It's a single cell protein combined with synthetic aminos, vitamins, and minerals. Everything the body needs," Dozer explained.

     "It doesn't have everything the body needs. So I understand that you've run through the agent training program. You know, I wrote that program," Mouse brought up proudly.

     "Here it comes," Apoc warned.

     "So what did you think of her?" Mouse inquired.

     "Of who?" Neo asked, confused.

     "The woman in the red dress? I designed her. She, um...well she doesn't talk very much, but...but if you'd like to meet her, I can arrange a much more personalized meeting," Mouse offered.

     "Digital pimp, hard at work," Switch remarked.

     "Pay no attention to these hypocrites, Neo. To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human," Mouse defended. "But, uh, personally, there's someone that I think is better than the woman in the red dress..."

     "That's a first," Apoc commented.

     "And who's that?" Neo wondered.

     "You know that girl that's always sitting at the computers?" Mouse hinted.

     "The one with the purple and black hair?" Neo guessed.

     "Yeah," Mouse confirmed. "You wanna go talk to her for me?"

     "Talk to her? What's there to talk about?" Neo asked bewildered.

     "I don't know. That's why I need you to find that out," Mouse reasoned, his voice sounding shaky.

     "Are you scared of talking to her?" Neo teased.

     "Well, I, uhm, haven't you ever been... in love?" Mouse blushed.

     "No, I haven't. But, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get to know her," Neo decided.

     "Careful, Neo. She's kinda creepy," Apoc joked.

     "You don't know that!" Mouse protested.

     "Yeah, but you don't know otherwise," Switch countered again.

     "Look, what do you guys have against Amy?" Mouse demanded.

     "She's rude, moody, asocial," Apoc answered.

     "She's just a teenager. Deal with it," Mouse snapped.

     "Whatever, isn't she, like, sixteen?" Switch wondered.

     "No, she's eighteen. One year younger than me," Mouse said quietly.

     "And how do you know this? It's not like she'd tell you her age for no reason," Tank inquired.

     "He stalked her," Dozer laughed.

      Mouse didn't respond to that comment; instead, his blush deepened.

     "I didn't stalk her that much," Mouse admitted quietly.

     "But you did stalk her," Dozer pointed out.

     "N-not really. I only looked up her school records. Anyone could find it," Mouse tried to make an excuse.

     "But no one would even bother to look for those records. Except Amy herself,and even she wouldn't bother doing that," Tank brought up.

     Mouse remained silent. The crew was not used to Mouse being this quiet about anything. But he was a boy in love, so exceptions could be made.