The wind blew through the teenager's hair, ruffling it slightly. The young man could see for forever, it seemed, from his vantage point high atop a high-rise office building. The ocean stretched out into infinity, toward the horizon, where the edge met a setting sun. The sea was on fire, sending vivid streams of light into his eyes. He squinted his eyes, but was ever watchful for something that might breach the water. Though he was unsure of what, he was certain something would happen sometime soon.

Minutes passed as if they were hours. The boy sighed and turned. He began to walk away from the building's edge. A great rumble blasted from the ocean and the boy's heart swelled with joy and he faced it again. The water rippled, the only sign of a submerged behemoth. What sea creature surfaced, he could not tell. He slowly sat down near the exit to the stairs. It must have been a whale he thought, only a whale. He chuckled. There were only whales in the sea. He sighed. Only a fool expects something more in these waters.
Strange winds began to swirl, his shirt flapping, buffeted by tiny whirlwinds. He felt something peculiar in the air, as if something or someone were watching him.

"Hello, Mr. Martin…"

"What?! Who said that?!?"

"I've wanted to speak with you for some time now, Mr. Martin."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Now, now, Mr. Martin, there is no need for that. There are important matters to discuss, matters that affect your very life. I am here to save you, Mr. Martin."

"Yeah? Who the hell are you? Who sent you?" the boy replied.

"My name is inconsequential. All you need to know is that your life is in danger and I have been assigned to escort you to a safe location, where you will be fully updated."

"What the hell?"

The boy turned in the direction in which he thought the exit to the stairs was located.

“Where do you think you are going, Mr. Martin?”

“Away from you, whom ever the hell you are.”

“I am afraid you can’t really do that, Mr. Martin. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“Well, I am going to leave no matter what. You can’t make me stay. It is a free country.”

With that last comment, he flicked off the air from which the voice came and started to walk toward the exit. The strange winds picked up yet again, but they were a lot stronger this time. The wind was so strong that it pushed the seventeen-year-old boy closer to the edge. He tripped on the ledge and started to fall.

The boy sat up quickly, perspiration soaking his t-shirt all the way through. There were beads of sweat resting on his face. He was breathing rather hard. “What the hell?” he told himself. “That was some messed up dream.”
He pulled off the covers and walked across the bedroom. The bedroom was dark; the only light seeping through the cracks of the blinds.
The boy pulled up his baggy pants hastily and buttoned them up. He pulled off his wet shirt and tossed in the hamper full of dirty clothes. He grabbed his towel that was lying on his doorknob. He dried himself off and put on another clean t-shirt, from his closet. He snatched his jacket and went out the door without saying a word.

He met up with a few of his friends at the arcade. Upon arriving there, the boy noticed an extremely beautiful, yet mysterious woman in a black leather trench coat leaning against the wall.

He paid no attention to the woman for a while as he and his friends played a few video games. After a round of Dance Dance Revolution, the boy noticed the woman staring directly at him. She started to leave the arcade. The boy followed her. He didn’t seem to notice his friends calling after him to come back as the woman elegantly walked out the door and down the busy sidewalk. The boy could not keep his gaze off her. It seemed like he was afraid to lose sight of her and never see her again. All the while, he kept on bumping into other pedestrians and hot dog stands; he even knocked an old man down to the ground! But that didn’t stop him, and he continued on. The woman crossed the street and walked through the door of a big office building. The boy launched into a run. A car or two almost ran over him, stopping abruptly to let him pass and honking their horns in protest. He rushed into the office building, but once inside, he looked everywhere nervously for a trace of the mysterious woman.

Right then, he heard the elevator door open. He turned his head toward the sound. There, right in front of the elevator, now stepping into it was the woman! He ran toward the elevator at full speed. The door to the elevator closed. He banged angrily on the door. The boy pushed the elevator button several times. Finally the door opened and he rushed in. He pushed the button for the upper-most floor and waited, as the elevator music played gaily.
The door opened and he rushed up the last flight of stairs and on to the roof. He just had a feeling that the mysterious woman would be up there. Sure enough, there she was. She was standing on the ledge and it seemed as though she was calmly waiting for something. She leaned over the edge and fell off the building.

“WAIT!” The boy yelled to the woman loudly.

He ran toward the ledge and jumped off the building. She disappeared.

-

The wailing of the ambulance could be heard as the paramedics rushed through the anxious and shocked crowd.

“Excuse me! Paramedics here are trying to get through. Out of the way please,” said a policeman who seemed to be on duty at the time.
The crowd quickly broke apart to let them through.

“Can someone please tell me how the hell this kid died?” asked the policemen.

A small girl about the age of six pointed to one of the office buildings, and answered, “He jumped off of that big building.”
The policeman turned around and looked up to where the girl pointed. He shaded his eyes from the bright sun. Another policeman walked up to the officer who was already there.

“How do you think it happened?” asked the second policeman.

“I don’t really know actually,” replied the first, “It seems that this is little more than a simple suicide. There is no other answer.

Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed across the sky. The lightning illuminated the desolate sky. Millions upon millions of red liquid-filled pods appeared.
People of all ages became distinguishable in the pods. All of them seemed to be in a deep hibernation. Though, in reality, they were trapped in the Matrix.

In a nearby pod, bubbles started to ascend from beneath the surface of the liquid within. The body bolted all of a sudden. It seemed to snap out of its deep trance. The hands started to detach all of the wires that were connected to him. The body seemed to be frantically trying to escape. More and more bubbles surfaced. The body began to move freely now, with an awareness lacking in the countless other neighboring vessels. Finally the last wire was removed. The individual opened his eyes. His body and soul were now withdrawn from the Matrix. The boy was free.