Prologue

The hoverbarge shook and vibrated as it lifted off. Its passengers had trekked for an hour to the smaller docking enclaves that surrounded Zion's main dock. The machines hadn't bothered with them during the attack - or didn't know they existed.

In the weeks following the destruction of the dock, engineers had been working frenetically, outfitting the barges with equipment salvaged from the wreckage of hovercrafts, to enable operatives to jack into the Matrix again.

As the heavily-laden vessel navigated slowly and painfully through the tunnels, one of its passengers lurched down a walkway feeling decidedly ill. LostProphet was used to the smooth and controlled hovercrafts. His recent recuperation in Zion plus the instability of the barge wasn't doing anything for his stomach, or his head.
He finally made it to one of the small cargo bays that hadn't been turned into a jack-in point and threw himself onto the floor.
The faces of those around him were uneasy. A few people spoke between themselves in hushed whispers.

"Hey dude." said a voice beside him. LostProphet turned and saw a smiling face, a rarity of late. It was framed with mid-length brown dreadlocks.
"You heard about the Agents?"
"Yeah. Killing people." Prophet replied sullenly. Agents had caused him serious problems in the past.
"Bastards put restrictions on us, part of the truce."

Prophet nodded and pulled his knees up to his chest as the hoverbarge lurched violently to one side for the nth time.
Another passenger entered the cabin and joined them.

"Agent talk?" the newcomer asked quietly. The other guy nodded.
"From what I've been able to find out, they're monitoring us more closely now. If we go into a restricted area our code flags up a warning and they come to get us. But there's a way around it."
Prophet was suddenly interested, "What? How?"
"Access nodes. Some say they were almost impossible to find before, but since the reset they've been spotted in more prominent locations. They help mask our code signature from the machines."

Prophet nodded. He had been involved in hunts for Access Nodes in the past - they were notoriously difficult to locate.

His train of thought was shaken off track as the hoverbarge lurched upwards, then fell still. A voice came over the intercom.

"OK folks, we're at broadcast depth. Your operator will be contacting you when it's time to go. Remember, stay safe, gather what information you can, don't attract attention."

Prophet and his two new friends walked to the main cargo bay, to the rows of chairs there. Two operators went up and down the rows, plugging people in as they sat down.

"So, who are you guys?" Prophet asked as he sat down and lay back.
"The name's Baku. Pleased to meet you man." said the dreadlocked one, leaning over and offering a handshake.
The other looked over and smiled, "My name is LostCause. See you on the inside."

There was the strange sensation of the needle being inserted, then the real world winked out of existence.