Chapter 9
Author's Note: As a sidenote: The first part of this chapter was written to the wonderful tunes of " In the wee small hours" by Chris Botti & Sting.
Morning came fast, like it always did.
In days when you knew you needed your rest, when you knew that you just wanted to sleep the whole day through- or at least spend it in bed- you also always knew with a certainty that it was never going to happen.
As the artificial light spread through the room she thought of how it resembled real sunlight, and when she reached out with her arm into the air in front of her, she could imagine feeling the heat from the sunrays.
As she played with her fingers in the light, she could feel another hand trace her arm, light feather brushes taking their time to reach their goal… her own palm.
He entwined his fingers with hers, letting them play together, sending sensations running through their bodies. They were both fresh awake, and the cosiness and surrealness to the situation struck them both, in the tempo of the morning.
He used the opportunity and moved closer to her, placing kisses just as light as their hand touches to her neck, and he could feel her shiver from underneath him.
And he couldn't help but grin at the effects he had at her.
" Good morning, " she greeted him. He murmured his response into her neck and she smiled as she looked at their hands. She thought it funny, how she had heard so much about relationships inside the Matrix, as well as in the Real World, and about how they all had that sting, that undeniable flame… but just in the beginning. After a while- for some it took months, for some weeks- it would eventually die out, even though the love would perhaps always be there… it had just changed. Perhaps evolved into a state of sureness, but it could be a state of no loving at all as well…
But with Neo and her, it had never been like that.
In the beginning, everything had been new. All the feelings scared them, as they were new to the both of them. But after they had gotten past that first stage of un-certainty, which hadn't lasted very long anyways for them, they had remained the same. It had been a butterflies-in-stomach, passion-to-the-brim, laugh-til-your-stomach-hurts and just a lovely kind of feeling… from the beginning and now, months later, it still remained the same.
And she just knew within her heart, that it would always remain the same between them as well.
And she smiled, and turned to give her companion a morning kiss for that.
" What is left, other than that?"
The technician looked through his notepad in front of him, then at the ship. Morpheus watched him ask one of his helpers something, then he looked at the ship and finally back at Morpheus. The man's ignorance, although probably not intended to be displayed, irritated Morpheus but he disregarded it instead.
" There are some updates that need to be done on the engineering level, such as a replacement of the heater. It grows old now, seeing the year model, and we have got better one in store as it is now, " he technician went on and Morpheus nodded, moving his feet.
" The ship only contains a small crew, regardless its size. We do not use much heat, " Morpheus said, in an effort to persuade the technician not to install a new heater. He new it would take additional time, and he wanted to get back to the outside again, no matter how much he loved being in Zion… he had a responsibility, one that he wanted to keep up to.
" It's orders from the Commander's office, sir. All ships should be updated with the best equipment when given the chance, no exceptions, " the technician explained, but was cut off by another voice cutting through the air.
" If that is indeed so, then I guess you and your boys wouldn't mind looking through the Logos engine level?"
Morpheus turned around and saw Niobe approaching them, the same stern look as always plastered upon her features. It made her almost impossible to read, but to someone that knew her as well as Morpheus, he knew that she did it with an undertone of humour, even though it would go un-passed by anyone that did not know her very well.
" No Mam, we'll look through it as soon as we're done here." Niobe nodded towards the technician, dismissing him. He went away with his helpers and they all started on various tasks, repairing and updating the ships that were docked were they main target now, it would seem.
Morpheus turned to Niobe and nodded to her, his way of greeting her. She curtly nodded back, and he took the opportunity to ask; " Commander Lock is eager to update all the ships. Something must be going on, I guess?" Niobe shook her shoulder, keeping her arms crossed in front of Morpheus.
" Nothing I would know about, " she answered and he knew she was telling the truth. Lock usually did not share too much of the details with anyone else than his staff around him, the only thing he usually talked with Niobe about regarding the ships were complaint and other degrading comments… comments Niobe had learned to handle over time.
She looked over at the Nebuchadnezzar and nodded towards it, motioning for Morpheus. They regarded the people working on it for some moments, then Niobe spoke up. " What are they going to update on her?" Morpheus sighed, letting his own arms out as his sides, looking at his sides. Niobe instantly knew Morpheus was frustrated with all this, but he knew he could not do much either.
" The hydraulic compressor, the carburettor between the invert engines, some new drive systems for the hard drives, better medical equipment, the heater… and more, " he answered, sighing. Niobe chuckled, half smiling at him. " I thought she was just out together again, new systems and all? After that Sentinel incident?"
Morpheus nodded, looking into his hands again.
" I thought she was equipped with all the newest additions then… but the technology has obviously leaped forward here in the last months, " he commented and Niobe nodded.
" I guess so… so, for how long will you be here?" Morpheus looked at her, as he went over and touched his ships side, gazing lovingly at it. Niobe knew how it felt; that love and responsibility for a thing, a material… it was like a child, and it needed their tending to.
" The technicians guessed that she'll be ready in 72 hours, counted from today. The recharging is planned into those hours… but he also recommended me to stop by here tomorrow for another update." Niobe approached him and smiled, keeping her arms crossed.
" Looks like you'll stick around for a while then?" Morpheus looked down at her petite form and nodded…
" It would seem so."