This is so great and thought provoking. EEk well maybe a bit depressing. I realize you don't have that many reviews but as long as you keep writing I'll definitely will be reading. So update when you can.

wow. this story really is so complex and it´s been such a long time since the last chapter, i think i have to read it again in its entirety. hm. this might be better for the whole story. it´s not a simple piece like a tv show, where you can easily wait until next week´s episode because the plot is well-known, the characters are familiar and anyway you get a short summary in the beginning.
btw the chapter was way too short. so there. ;-)

There's...there's more!

The great characterizations are back, the great storyline is back, the gruesome MURDERS are back... Smith's right, like a burning building or car accident, I can't look away. (Snide, bitter and intelligent, you give the character the credibility and DIGNITY he deserves.)

I mean, what's with the kid and the grave? And poor Persephone? Oh, and I love the half-parallel the whole thing takes to the mythological... too good.

Thanks so much for keeping this going, I really can't wait to hear more!

Damn. That really is bizarrely good. Just a minor thing though, when is it set? Is it before or after the film, because I keep expecting neo or someone annoying like that to pop up.

Well I finally get round to reading this chapter, sorry it took so long oqi.

One thing I must say, Smith wears Burberry? Please say it isn't so!

Ahem, any way I love your style of writing and the imagery is great. I would say more but I'm really crap at making reviews.

I don't quite see any Matrix yet, but it looks to me you're a Greek mythiac. Rosy-fingered dawn... ferryman... Whatever. Cool story so far.

This is an incredible story, Oqidaun! It's like something you have to read in a literature class. I love Kai she's kind of tragic in a way and I think the voids are some of the most original OCs around. I am looking forward to see how all of these different characters and parts of the story are going to come together. I know compared to some of the other reviews here this sounds really lame, but someone's got to say it--Write more soon! I'm on pins and needles.

You know I love it when there is a balance between questions that a story answers as it progresses and the ones that it leaves you with at the end of a chapter. So the only way I think I can write something helpful about a story which to me, is complete as it stands within each chapter, is to share with you some of the questions I have at the end of But Not Forgotten. I'm hoping the observations and questions give you something helpful as in telling you what levels I'm reading this at.

Anyway. Onward and so forth and all that.

Why is the school bus *orange*?? I mean, there is such a thing as color variation depending on who paints the depressing things, but most of the ones I have seen could be considered more of a yellow. Is this some very subtle reference to the skewing of color that occurs in the Matrix? Such as the sky and other things that would normally be blue being deliberately colored more of a greenish tinge? Like maybe the machines can't quite get it right? *giggle*

Also, when you're describing the thoughts Smith has about the old story of the missing child, why are there so many errors in his files? Does it signify an inability to remember, like you're showing us the machine version of human memory inconsistencies? Or is it more insidious, like something deliberately occured to corrupt the Agents' files? What in the world could do that? Eek. Scary thought.

You present an interesting take on the machines' idea of 'paradise'. I mean, one often wonders in Smith's speech to Morpheus in the movie what he really means when he calls the first matrix a 'paradise'. Isn't everyone's idea of such a place pretty individualized? Very weird to have paradise presented as a place that well, was pretty much a conformist ideal. Everyone living in families with 2.3 kids, white picket fences, dog, paper on the front doorstep...shiver. I am reminded of the Madeleine L'Engle story A Wrinkle in Time and how horrified I was at the boy bouncing his ball over and over...Dreadful stuff.

Another question: Why choose a starling to be slain? I mean, the poem referenced is Poe's The Raven, right? I wondered if it was a random alteration or if there was some meaning behind it, as when Dr. Lecter sermonizes on Clarice's last name and whether she is a deep roller. What does the bird represent to the killer? If he is Daedulus, who in mythology crafted the birds' wings and flew too close to the sun is it jealousy of all things that have the natural ability to fly? That is, he said he wanted to be like a person from Leave it to Beaver so does it mean he would kill all the things he wants to be like because he feels he never can? Of course I'm assuming given the clues you leave that Daedulus is the name of the killer, and that he is the one we see killing the starling. You could have confused us, since doesn't Alsace wear Italian loafers? I need to go back and make notes a la Agent Scully.

The protagonist in Poe's work has feelings of guilt and desperation, which are supposed to relate to Poe's own horror at his wife's death. Is the bird here killed because Daedulus sees it as a messenger of these emotions and he has no desire to feel the angst of Poe's protagonist? Is there something of a reference to the helplessness of the girl he's keeping drugged? What messages is the bird giving him, intended or no?

My impression is that he's a machine who wants to be human and never can because of the rules imposed by the "Leviathan". Who liked the paradise they made for humans so much he was very angry that it had to be changed because the very humans they made it for would not accept it.

I'm going to go read your stories on the website and take note of the pictures heehee as well as any other lyrics or clues I can find. I am very intrigued by where this story is going and what it means for our beloved Agent Smith and his 'nemesis' Kai. So I am in 'obsess' mode and will try to figure it all out ahead of time because darnit you take too long between chapters! Er...sorry. No pressure oqi, really. *sweatdrop*

Thanks for the comments. I sincerely appreciate it. The Hangar Hanger error has me wagging my head in shame, eek that one shouldn't have slipped by. The SPOO acronym when combined with K (for Kai) makes the nifty dandy word "Spook" which is also what the pysch agents are called as well as being a connection to my first piece "The Ghost in the Machine". Yup, it's just one of those odd little things that hangs out in the story. Additionally, I'd like to invite any of you guys reading this stuff over to my website. The format is better and you can check out the bad graphics that I make for each chapter etc... www.geocities.com/oqidaun/GhostandHecate

Thanks again for your reviews.

All right oqi!
I read through this story pretty quickly but I'll definitely be back to read through it more thoroughly as soon as I have the time.

My initial thoughts are: sublime! I love these new creatures, the Voids, the SPOO agents (although that may not be the greatest acronym in the world seeing as it's a euphemism for ... well, I'm sure you know), the various other beings that you're adding to the Matrix population. They're solidly thought-out and work well with what we already know about the world.

I am a fan of Kai already; she knows what the Voids are and what they do, yet treats them with respect, working between them and the Agents we're more familiar with. There's darkness in her, far more interesting than a heroine who's all goodness and light.

Some of the paragraphs are rather confusing - the ones where you've deliberately not mentioned the names of the characters - I'm not sure if I know what's happening to who, and I'm not sure if I should know but have missed something. This may actually be your intention. :) As I said, I'll re-read the story later, perhaps all will become clear when I do.

A couple of unimportant things: the quote I'm more familiar with is "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive". It scans better, but doesn't work so well for the scene in which it's used... Secondly, a hanger is what you put coats on, a hangar is where you store aircraft. I don't usually criticise spelling errors but this story is so good that small things like that stick out more. I couldn't help myself, apologies. :)

I'll post a fuller review later, I promise.

I am not sure what Linz is referring to about someone else saying the Matrix code is not binary but I will say this: Electrical equipment operates in two states: Off and On. One and Zero. Even though the quality of the voltage supplied to a system such as a computer can vary and not be exact (think of brownouts), the system itself is maintained so as to recognize either of these two states depending on how much voltage is actually supplied. I'm not a programmer but I study computer networks and so if there is code that isn't 'binary' out there and doesn't depend on these two states in *some* way I suspect it *would* only be in fiction. Furthermore, the details of the Matrix's code has never been given by the Wachowski Bros. as far as I have researched. In fact it seems to be a closely kept secret although they have said that it *is* an actual code they developed for purposes of the movie.
All this to say that I have no problems with your manipulation of technical information and found it very interesting that you managed to anthropomorphize in such a believable and enthralling way.
I also used classical themes in my story to a certain extent while taking extreme liberties (I think) with the material. They come up later though, and I may not actually get to put them in the story as it is posted here. After I read your stories my cheeks burned and with great humility I realized I was *not* the only one who remembered the kin of Morpheus. I feel the mythology aspect to be very important and it's a crime that so few people outside of yourself and your kind reviewers even notice the fact that classic mythology is inherent to the story of The Matrix. I'm no expert by any means on the subject, but I do recall a certain amount of mythology being included in the high school curriculum at every level of study. Sad, sad, SAD!
I'm waiting for Smith to show up in one of the scenes with Kai, burst through the door and say "Kai, you got a lotta 'splainin to do!" It'd make me laugh almost as hard as the scene with Smith bouncing in his new office chair. What is his *deal* with Jones anyway? ROFLMAO!
Oh, and isn't Argus itself a security company? heehee!
They say it's helpful to comment on an aspect of the story that can be improved when you ask to review it. At this point all I can think of constructively is to beg you to continue with the bloody misadventures of my favorite messengers of doom.

*snerk* See what I mean about big words, oqi?

uhhhhh, i dun get it
:-\
thisstoryislike sto deepanstuff dat i dun undersstan it pleasse hepl me withe hard parts

I like the dialogue in this chapter, because it portrays Alsace as an intelligent and vicious character. The vicious I expected, but the intelligence was a welcome addition. It shows through in your personification of Kai and Alsace that you genuinely like the characters.

Gorgeously written, as always. I half expected a basket of oranges to appear at Kai's feet the instant she said "Sicilian." And since I read quickly, I almost mistook Ms. Tanger for Margaret _Thatcher_. Brrr-r-r-r-r ... disturbing!

To sum up: I goggle at the imagery, I marvel at the structure and, as always, I drool over my favorite, arrogant Agent.

I hope that you don't let feeble feedback get you down. It's all about the big words ... :)