Always the outcast. Always that slight unease - the itch she could not
reach to scratch. Always sombre, always melancholy. No amount of
medication or therapy held salvation. Only Erebus had been able to
alleviate her suffering, by opening her eyes to the real world.
He had opened her eyes, and yet, she remained shrouded in the darkness.
---|=-
They sat crouched in the rain, heads held high just high enough to see down through the open window two stories below. The boy was dedicated, without a doubt. Six hours he had been working at it, without pause. The light was off, the only illumination coming from the monitor before him, giving his mocha-toned skin a sickly green glow. Even at this distance they could occasionally make out Morpheous, Ballard or one of the many others flashing up alongside condemnatory headlines as he trawled through the interweb.
He was making progress. Forming the links, connecting the events and hints. Dedicated.
"He is not ready." Erebus rose, striding behind the stairwell access alcove for cover as he did so. With a final quick glance downwards, she followed his example.
"I disagree. He's as far ahead as the others we've rescued, Erebus. I think we should contact him." He frowned at her, his forehead wrinkling above the titanium-coloured sunglasses, with their deep scarlet lenses. The light rain splashed gently across his dirty blond hair - kept short like the beard - and trickled down his face but he ignored it. The damp made his high-collared, full-length, blood-red coat seem almost as black as his mood appeared to be. "Anyone can spend an evening playing with a search engine, Jocasta." "But he's had the realisation, Erebus. He's following Hummingbird's path as best he can, even though he's no hacker like many of you were. He knows much more than I did." "You were a unique case, Jocasta; any comparisons are irrelevant. My decision stands for now. Things are changing; we free more minds now than ever before. I have no doubt that someone more.worthwhile will appear sooner or later. Let us go." He turned his back to her.
"Worthwhile? This isn't about how 'worthy' anyone is, Erebus. We seek to free everyone, regardless of how useful they can be to us." He looked back across his shoulder, his face expressionless.
"I am your Captain, Jocasta, and I gave you an order. We go."
Not bothering to await an answer, he leapt deftly off of the building's edge and fell the twenty feet to the building opposite. He landed hard enough to crack the concrete, and in his room, Chris Lennix paused briefly in his search for The Answer to glance at his roof with a frown. Repressing a sigh, she followed more cautiously and rolled as she made contact. He did not wait, walking briskly across the plank adjoining the rooftop with the next. He swung himself astride the ladder and slid to the fire escape below. She followed him down to the silver car below, which they both climbed into. Dante sat at the wheel, his Over the Top sunglasses reflecting the flickering fluorescent glow of the street lights.
"So, do we have another future child of Zion, or what?" Erebus ignored the question.
"Drive, Dante. Take us to the same ex." He was cut off by the ringing of his phone. "Operator?" He listened for a few moments before hanging up and replacing the phone with a slight sigh. "Head east, Dante. Perhaps yesterday's training session will not have been in vain after all."
---|=-
An invisible tumour. One neurologist seemed almost ready to consider the idea - she showed all the symptoms - except for the presence of any cancerous growth. So they declared it was a psychological condition and her ineffective therapy was stepped up a notch. She retreated further into her own world, suffering now from the headaches as well the depression. Then she saw the hints, saw the hidden signs that pointed towards the rabbit hole. She followed them, because she had no other options left. Erebus was her white rabbit with a pocket watch; her white man with a crimson coat and blood-red sunglasses. He presented her with the 'choice', but the decision had already been made for her. The red pill was her only chance to pry the splinter from her mind. To scratch that itch.
For that brief moment she was at absolute peace. She was back in the womb. And then she was choking and suffocating, the gag reflex and throat muscles suddenly working for the first time. She flailed her arms and tore through something. It felt as thin as cling-wrap but it took all her strength. Then the horrible screeching and whirring, but then she could breath. But the darkness remained, even as she wiped her eyes with weak hands.
"The body can see truths that are hidden from the mind." The first spoken words she had heard in her 20 years of life.
He had opened her eyes, and yet, she remained shrouded in the darkness.
---|=-
They sat crouched in the rain, heads held high just high enough to see down through the open window two stories below. The boy was dedicated, without a doubt. Six hours he had been working at it, without pause. The light was off, the only illumination coming from the monitor before him, giving his mocha-toned skin a sickly green glow. Even at this distance they could occasionally make out Morpheous, Ballard or one of the many others flashing up alongside condemnatory headlines as he trawled through the interweb.
He was making progress. Forming the links, connecting the events and hints. Dedicated.
"He is not ready." Erebus rose, striding behind the stairwell access alcove for cover as he did so. With a final quick glance downwards, she followed his example.
"I disagree. He's as far ahead as the others we've rescued, Erebus. I think we should contact him." He frowned at her, his forehead wrinkling above the titanium-coloured sunglasses, with their deep scarlet lenses. The light rain splashed gently across his dirty blond hair - kept short like the beard - and trickled down his face but he ignored it. The damp made his high-collared, full-length, blood-red coat seem almost as black as his mood appeared to be. "Anyone can spend an evening playing with a search engine, Jocasta." "But he's had the realisation, Erebus. He's following Hummingbird's path as best he can, even though he's no hacker like many of you were. He knows much more than I did." "You were a unique case, Jocasta; any comparisons are irrelevant. My decision stands for now. Things are changing; we free more minds now than ever before. I have no doubt that someone more.worthwhile will appear sooner or later. Let us go." He turned his back to her.
"Worthwhile? This isn't about how 'worthy' anyone is, Erebus. We seek to free everyone, regardless of how useful they can be to us." He looked back across his shoulder, his face expressionless.
"I am your Captain, Jocasta, and I gave you an order. We go."
Not bothering to await an answer, he leapt deftly off of the building's edge and fell the twenty feet to the building opposite. He landed hard enough to crack the concrete, and in his room, Chris Lennix paused briefly in his search for The Answer to glance at his roof with a frown. Repressing a sigh, she followed more cautiously and rolled as she made contact. He did not wait, walking briskly across the plank adjoining the rooftop with the next. He swung himself astride the ladder and slid to the fire escape below. She followed him down to the silver car below, which they both climbed into. Dante sat at the wheel, his Over the Top sunglasses reflecting the flickering fluorescent glow of the street lights.
"So, do we have another future child of Zion, or what?" Erebus ignored the question.
"Drive, Dante. Take us to the same ex." He was cut off by the ringing of his phone. "Operator?" He listened for a few moments before hanging up and replacing the phone with a slight sigh. "Head east, Dante. Perhaps yesterday's training session will not have been in vain after all."
---|=-
An invisible tumour. One neurologist seemed almost ready to consider the idea - she showed all the symptoms - except for the presence of any cancerous growth. So they declared it was a psychological condition and her ineffective therapy was stepped up a notch. She retreated further into her own world, suffering now from the headaches as well the depression. Then she saw the hints, saw the hidden signs that pointed towards the rabbit hole. She followed them, because she had no other options left. Erebus was her white rabbit with a pocket watch; her white man with a crimson coat and blood-red sunglasses. He presented her with the 'choice', but the decision had already been made for her. The red pill was her only chance to pry the splinter from her mind. To scratch that itch.
For that brief moment she was at absolute peace. She was back in the womb. And then she was choking and suffocating, the gag reflex and throat muscles suddenly working for the first time. She flailed her arms and tore through something. It felt as thin as cling-wrap but it took all her strength. Then the horrible screeching and whirring, but then she could breath. But the darkness remained, even as she wiped her eyes with weak hands.
"The body can see truths that are hidden from the mind." The first spoken words she had heard in her 20 years of life.