O’Melissokomos
The Bee Keeper

Kingdom Come

by dymondbolt

He felt weird, being so big. His coworkers had all taken it in stride. It had happened over two years. And besides it wasn't as if he was a giant. Right?

Yeah right. Reall was someone who looked at the world as it was. Then he put his own spin on things. Reall grew up a thin kid and it didn't change when he got older. Now at twenty he was six foot six and weighed over three hundred and twenty pounds. And that from five foot nine and one fifty only three years ago.

It was a shock when he hacked his own program and learned the truth. Every single human being was in a pod. They were all being fed from some nutritional goo and exercised so they could power the system that ran the pods.

Every single real human was plugged into some kind of matrix that let them think they interacted in the real world. But they never really touched each other. The closest anyone could be was about fifteen feet away from each other.

Reall was a computer genius. He could hack anything. It was like the systems loved him. They would play any tune he wanted them to play, so to speak. And he never got caught. Ever.

And he was very respectful of all the systems he went into. He never made any viruses or Trojan horses to hurt anything. How could you do something like that when you felt like the systems were your friends. Would you deliberately infect your friends? Of course not. And they loved him for that.

He had discovered the truth accidentally when he had discovered an outside feed. The very idea of something that showed to be alien to all systems was the first real shock. Then he got in communication with the robot system that was feeding the video input of a beautiful garden.

The Robot didn't have a name and Reall told it to give it's self one. It picked Gabe. It said that name fit the situation. Reall never questioned it's choice. That was to be a very important piece of information that Reall missed completely.

Reall became friends with Gabe and the robot told him the truth about where Reall was and what was really going on in the world. Reall didn't touch the computer for three days after he got a security feed of his own body in a pod.

He thought he looked thin in the mirror. But he looked worse in the pod. He hacked all the maintenance programs and discovered am upgrade program that would augment the size of the pod and add exercise systems. Then he searched out experimental systems that could cause the body in a pod to become very big. Reall went a little overboard in the planning stages, but came to his senses before he implemented them.

The next few years were strange for Reall. He had intercepted some communications with real people outside the system. He heard names like Neo and Trinity and Morpheus. But then just two months ago the whole system rebooted. And right after a nightmare that seemed to grip everyone in the Matrix.

Then when he tried to find out about those people he had heard of he discovered Neo and Trinity were dead. That was sort of sad. They sounded like they were too young to die. Then he reminded himself that death comes at every age.

Reall stretched and noticed his friend was staring at his body again. He smiled and said " Didn't we have this discussion last week?"

Trent smiled and said " Yeah, but that was before I found out where you got that body of yours." Trent's smile was not as friendly as Reall would have liked.

Reall said " And where do you think I got this body?"

Trent pulled out a piece of paper with the word MATRIX written on it.

Reall stood up with a frown on it. He loomed over Trent who started to cower back into his cubicle. Real looked very angry as he took the piece of paper out of Trent's hand and slowly tore it to pieces.

Reall then smiled a cheesy smile and said " Good thing I'm in charge of our group today. Let's take lunch early. we need to talk." Reall didn't give Trent a choice as he lifted him out of his chair by his arm with one hand. Trent was just fast enough to get his jacket as he tried to walk in front of Reall.

When they got in the elevator, Trent said " You're not going to hurt me are you Reall?"

Reall didn't look at him as he said " Not if you're smart."

They walked to a little mom and pop Italian restaurant. Reall was greeted warmly and he responded in kind. He had let Trent go when they got inside the restaurant.

The heavy-set middle aged lady at the front said " Your usual table Reall?"

Reall said " Thanks Mona, that'll be fine." Just as they were about to sit down Reall said " I'd like you to meet my friend, Trent McCarthy. Trent, this is Mona Di Noble. "

Mona said " Any friend of Reall's is a friend of ours."

Trent visibly relaxed as he said " A pleasure to meet you Mona."

Trent and Reall sat down as Mona handed Trent a menu. She said " Your usual?"

Reall said " That'd be great Mona."

Trent shrugged and said " I'll have what Reall's having." Mona and Reall looked at him and then at each other.

Mona smiled and said " I'll cut it in half for him."

Reall smiled and said " Thanks Mona."

Trent said " Nice place."

Reall got a hard look on his face and frowned.

Trent said " Your scaring me again Reall."

Reall lightened up and whispered " Good, because the first time I found out the truth, I was scared for days."

Trent said " What truth. You have a machine that builds up your body."

Reall whispered " No you idiot. I'm in a machine. We all are. Right now our minds are connected by a machine that lets us think we're in the real world. What you did could get us all killed. Everyone connected to me could be killed by the machines and we would never be missed."

Trent looked at Reall like he was crazy.

Reall looked at the other patrons in the restaurant and lifted his hand and then twisted as he shoved it at the table. A console appeared when he lifted his hand. Trent's eyes got real big.

Real said " No it's not magic and it's not a trick. It's me hacking into the main programs and asking for some extra stuff. The systems like me for some reason. I guess because I don't abuse the privilege. And I don't threaten people either. So just realize that if you try that you'll just get us all killed."

Trent calmed down enough and asked " What's that thing do?"

Reall said " It does minor modifications. Like Mona, for instance. "

Reall and Trent looked at Mona and then at the console. Reall said " I've been trying to get her to loose some weight so she's healthier. Her husband goes to the gym but she won't do it. So nows the time I'm gonna shave a few pounds off her weight."

Suddenly as Reall twisted a knob on the console Mona's weight dropped by about thirty pounds. No one noticed. Except for Trent and Real.

Trent looked at the console and then into Real's eye's. Trent said " Then you could make me as big as you."

Real said " Sure. And I could wipe your memory of this whole day and how you found out about me."

Trent looked at the console with a touch of fear.

Reall said " But I really am your friend, so that's not going to happen."

Trent didn't realize he was holding his breath. Then he looked up and said
" So?"

Reall looked frustrated and punched a few buttons. Trent didn't get any taller, but his muscles did swell up a bit. He was forty pounds heavier than he was when he came in.

Trent said " Oh, my God! "

Real pushed the console into the table before anyone could see it and said
"Try and keep it down. That is one reason I didn't just start changing things left and right. There are agents of the machine world in the Matrix and they don't like organics playing with the machine. They don't notice little changes. So you being bigger isn't going to be noticed. IF and I say if you start going to the gym with me and actually work to keep those muscles. It won't set off a red flag that way. So now you and I are really going to be good friends. "

Trent smiled real big and said " Does that mean I can tell you I'm gay now."

Reall said " What?!"

Trent said " Don't get angry Big Guy. I just didn't feel like I could keep up if I told you I was gay when you came out to me."

Reall said " Keep up? Keep up with what?"

Trent said " I just felt so wimpy next to you. I've had a crush on you for a while now. But I kept on thinking you could have anybody you wanted. Why would you want me?"

Real still had a frown on his face as he reached over and grabbed Trent's shoulder. Then he pulled him close enough to be able to kiss him on the cheek.

Real said " That's all you get for lying to me for all this time. You may get more tomorrow. If you stop hacking into my private stuff."

Trent was smiling and didn't say anything. Mona's teenage son brought the plates over and there were a lot of them. The kid looked pretty buff for seventeen.

Reall said " Thanks Tony. Hey, are you going to be able to meet me at the gym tonight?"

Tony smiled and said " Yeah Gloria said it was cool for an hour and a half. She said I get too moody if I don't work out. Can you imagine. Me moody. But she's a sweetheart ninety nine percent of the time so I let it slide. Five o'clock OK with you, Reall?"

Reall said " Sure. And we're going to have my friend here joining us from now on."

Tony grabbed Trent's arm and said " Looks like he can keep up. Howdy, I'm Tony. Tony Di Noble.

Trent stuck out his hand and shook Tony's. Trent said" Trent McCarthy."

Tony said " Oh, a good Irish boy. Cool. We got a Wop a Mik and a Mutt."

Reall frowned for a second and said " That's one way of looking at it."

Tony said a bit softer " Ok how about a straight a bi and a gay?"

Trent was shocked and said " How did you know I was bi?"

Tony leaned in with a smile and said " For a straight guy I seem to have perfect gaydar. When you walked in and saw my mom's hourglass figure, you threw wood. But when you were checking me out you did it too. No problem with me. Reall's shown me the gentleman side of gay men. People are people. Love em or hate em. But you can't blame them for something they don't have any control over. Enjoy your meal. If you need anything let me know. I'll check in with you in a little while. And I will be seeing you both tonight."

Reall said " Thanks Tony."

Trent started to eat. He kept his head down but noticed that Reall didn't start eating right away. He looked up and saw a small frown on Reall's face.

Reall smiled and said " Anything more you'd like to tell me Mr I'm gay?"

Trent's look of being trapped stopped Reall from going any further. He put his hand on Trent's much beefier arm and said
"I can understand if you're still a bit confused. I just need to know my friends tell me the truth. I don't want to be feared, or lied to, or tricked, or used anymore than anybody else." Trent sat up straight through all of Reall's speech. He nodded at the end.

Real said " Are you bisexual?"

Trent said "Yes." Then he looked like he was gonna get his puppy dog taken away from him.

Reall smiled and said " Do you really have a crush on me? You can tell me the truth if it's just lust. Or I just make you horny. I'd rather know the truth, if your heart isn't involved. It will hurt less when you find someone you really love."

Now it was Reall who had a hard time looking at Trent. Reall's hand hadn't moved. Trent looked down at it. And he smiled because of the extra muscle that wrapped around his bones. He put his hand on Reall's hand and said " That's not where you should be checking."

Trent pulled Reall's hand to Trent's chest and he looked into Reall's eyes. Trent said " This is the right spot."

Trent looked down at Reall's hand and said " It's how you share your smiles with everybody. You stand tall and still don't make us feel small." He looked back into Reall's eyes and said "It wasn't your muscles that made me want to know more about you. It was the man behind the eyes."

Reall pulled his hand free and wrapped in back of Trent's neck to pull him into a long kiss. They both had goofy grins on their faces when they went back to eating. Reall twisted his hand and the console disappeared. Real and Trent started looking at each other and getting the giggles.

Trent had a mouth full of Lasagna when Reall said " I've had a crush on you for a while, too."

Trent swallowed real hard and pulled Reall's head into another long kiss.

There was a throat clearing sound and they broke the kiss. Tony said " You two seem to get longer lunches than most businessmen." Tony refilled their drinks and bussed the appetizer plates. He said " I really didn't want to break up a cool kiss. It's just that that sort of thing wasn't doing anything for me."

Reall said " I'll let Gloria know that next time I come over."

Tony said " Thanks. "

Trent said " I guess we really should get back so the others have someone to blame when the higher ups change their minds and complain about the work."

Reall smiled and said " When you get up, try not to look too hard at the tables in the back and to the left."

Trent's frown got Reall to continue. He said " The higher ups learned about this place from me. And I think I saw our boss come in with the new Accounting VP. Ms. Novato is a ball breaker when it comes to finances, but a honey when you complement her wardrobe. Our boss noticed how I was able to get a smile on her face about three months ago. And she really likes Italian."

They finished their food and Reall decided to give Trent a break and let him get the tip while Reall paid the bill.

Trent started to try to put his jacket on and his arms wouldn't fit in it. Reall noticed and handed his own over to Trent. He said " Sorry, man. You're lucky I got the clothes your wearing up to the right size."

Trent smiled and said " You don't see me crying do you?"

Reall smiled and noticed a bright red dress peeking out of one of the booths in the very back. Ms Novato liked wearing her Suzy Wong dress at least once a month. Gray Michaels, their boss, was a lucky guy.

They got back to work with out noticing Gray observing the change in Trent. If Trent had hacked a bit around the office he would have found out that Gray Michaels web name was Morpheus.

To be continued

I hope you liked that. Please let me know.

So whaddya think? Type in the code
Reset code