Chapter 3: And So It Begins
About one and a half weeks after he was freed. Dopp was initiated as a new representative to the council. Jord made her way back towards the ship as Dopp held his first meeting, the subject of which was to make sure that he was clean enough that he would not re insert himself. In a show of emotion, Dopp grabbed a knife and placed it against his wrists and said, "I would rather kill myself than to live inside a fake reality while my brothers are dying." Dopp's popularity grew amazingly quick. Jord was just getting used to The Matrix training programs again, this time she would work with Bacchus and Cross.
Loud clanks rang out along the floor. His breath running short, Dopp sprinted towards the Archeron. Dauphin and Frey were leaning outside the ship as he caught up with them. Frey glanced towards Dopp and with a small smirk on his face asked, "Don't you ever die?". Dopp grinned and flexed his arms like a madman, he had been working out and his muscles had somewhat grown, "As long as your around to annoy, no". Dauphin chuckled and began to motion back towards the ship. Frey and Dopp followed in silence. Finally Dopp piped up, "Listen guys, I wanna learn some new moves too". Dauphin's head immediately drooped and Frey slapped his hands against his forehead, "Does the training never stop?" He asked. Dopp looked up again. Dauphin glanced back at him, "If your going to learn, your going to learn the old way buddy".
"What's the old way?" Dopp asked. Frey led him to where Echo was seated and placed him in one of the seats. "The old way," Frey said, "Is we jack you into the Matrix here, and you are uploaded the new moves." Frey stopped, "The Matrix is code my friend, just code, billions of little letters streaming across the screen at once. It is like a computer, and your brain is like a floppy disc or cd-rom. You download things onto it, and it is saved. Do you understand?"
Dopp nodded and Frey jacked him in. Echo glanced over to Frey and asked, "What should he learn?". Dauphin piped up from across the room now, "Teach him Tang Soo Do." Echo typed with the force of a hurricane and on the screen Dopp appeared and began to learn Tang Soo Do as it was downloaded into his brain. Dopp was throwing punches and kicks like baseballs. Frey watched over the screen until he was finally done. Dopp got up, "Wow".
Frey rushed him off the ship and kicked back for awhile. He closed his eyes. Dauphin headed back to his room.
About 15 minutes later Dopp's face appeared on the screen, "Guys!" He shouted. All of a sudden the entire crew sprinted for the screen, "Guys, there's an emergency meeting about to happen right now inside of the matrix, I highly suggest you leave here and haul ass to that meeting!".
At once, Dauphin, Frey, Cross, and Bacchus jacked into the Matrix. The cell phone rang and Frey answered, "Yello? Ah, okay, thanks Echo". Frey pointed down the road that they were on, "Meeting is supposed to take place in there."
Dauphin led the crew down the road. They got to a metal door and Dauphin hammered on it. A small slit opened up, "Evening sir," Dauphin said, "We heard there was cake". The door opened up and a skinny dude and a tall guy rushed them in, "Cut the shit and get moving, it's about to start!" The skinny one said to Dauphin. Frey followed in step behind him as they walked down a small hallway.
Dauphin leaned up against a cracked wall in the back. Frey stood next to him with his arms crossed over his chest. Bacchus stood to the right of Dauphin. Cross crouched down over in a chair. The chair fell apart on him. "Fuck" He mumbled. Dauphin and Frey both laughed at him and immediately leaned back against the wall that they were against.
Other people began filing into the room and soon Dauphin discovered he couldn't see anything. Neither could Frey or Bacchus. Cross was just attempting to ignore it all. Finally the lead presenter of the meeting arrived. It was Niobe, a strong woman who wore a red jacket and red pants, high heels and some extremely weird looking shades. Niobe began to have quick conversation with a few of the captains, Dauphin ignored most of it. He was more worried about his bruised ego from the broken chair than anything else at that point. Dauphin smacked him in the back of the head,"Kid, your part of a team now. You pay attention to what the team does, we are like a family". Finally Niobe slammed her fist on the table and spread out the papers in front of everyone, "These confirm the last transmission of the Osiris."
"Oh….fuck" Bacchus mumbled under her breath. Dauphin glanced over to her, "Jue, huh?". Frey nudged Dauphin in the shoulder, "Who's Jue?". Dauphin, quick to end the subject, "She was one of Bacchus' friends from Zion, she was on the Osiris crew. Now don't ask anymore".
"The Machines are digging" Continued Niobe. This sentence sent a jolt through everyone. "They are boring from the surface straight down to Zion.". A woman in black with brown hair spoke up from the hush, "How fast are they moving?" She asked. Niobe glanced up with a hardline focus on everyone, "Control estimates they are digging at a rate of 100 meters an hour."
Another man spoke up, Dauphin couldn't see him, "How far are they?"
"Two thousand meters" Niobe replied.
"FUCK" Frey mumbled.
"They can't be accurate" Mumbled another man.
"Guys a fucking hopeless lunatic" Dauphin whispered, "The Osiris was probably one of the best scout ships we had".
"They may be" Niobe said.
"That would mean there are a quarter million sentinels up there!" A woman exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
"Right" Niobe said matter of factly.
"That CANT BE RIGHT!" A man pleaded.
And then a voice that could have been recognized miles away appeared, it sent a second jolt through everyone. His walk was slow and methodic, "Why not?". His shades glared off of the lights, "A sentinal for every man, woman and child in Zion. That sounds exactly like the thinking of a machine to me."
"Morpheus…"Frey whispered.
"Morpheus, Glad you could join us" Niobe greeted him.
Morpheus nodded towards Niobe, "Niobe. My apologies to all, as you are undoubtedly aware that it is becoming increasingly difficult to locate a secure broadcast signal"
"The lane lines are crawling with sentinels," The woman in black proclaimed.
"I think that's due in part to the fact that she's a dipshit" Dauphin said to Frey.
"The woman is like bait," Bacchus piped up
"I feel sorry for her crew" Frey shook his head.
"I think Niobe's right, in seventy two hours there is going to be a quarter million of em" Ghost, Niobe's first mate said. He was in a tuxedo and shades, he had clean cut hair. He was known for razor precision with weapons.
"What are we gonna do about it?" Another person said. "We're gonna do what Commander Loch ordered us to do, we'll evacuate broadcast level and return to Zion" Niobe said.
"And does the commander have a plan to stop 250,000 sentinels?" Morpheus asked.
Niobe shot him a glare, " A strategy is still being formulated,". Morpehus smirked, "I'm sure it is"
Dauphin tapped his hands against the wall and began to make his way towards an exit. Frey and Cross followed. Bacchus stayed where she was. Dauphin stopped, "Bacchus, lets go" He whispered. "No" She said. Morpheus' voice was fading out to all of them, Dauphin nor Frey could hear and so they stood by the exit.
All of a sudden the two men that had been guarding the door burst in, "It's the feds! Get to your escapes now!!". Dauphin, Frey, Bacchus and Cross all walked out of the exit and to a car. Frey slammed his fist through the window and Cross climbed in. He started it and opened the door. They all jumped into the car. Cross slammed his foot down on the gas and the tires spun so fast that they began to embed themselves into the ground. Smoke flew up and they sped away. Frey's fingers began to slam onto the cell phone buttons as he dialed, "Echo, no time to kid around. Agents nearby, quick. We need an exit desperately!" Cross was roaring around the turns. Finally Dauphin leaned forward and smacked him in the back of the head, "DO YOU WANT THEM TO COME AFTER US?!!" He shouted. Cross slowed down to a normal speed and tried to fit in on the road.
"Alright, thanks a lot." Frey said as he hung up the phone. "We have a payphone exit ladies and gentlemen, outside of that crappy supermarket on Howe Avenue".
"Always been one of great taste for exits," Bacchus smirked. Finally Cross pulled into the parking lot of a small grocery store. Dauphin glanced around, the phone began ringing. "Someone get it, quick" Dauphin cocked his head towards the phone. Cross made a mad dash for it and picked it up, he immideately broke down into code and disappeared.
Then the wind began to pick up, "Strange" Frey mumbled. Dauphin flicked his head in his direction, "What's strange?". Frey held his finger up and then pointed at Dauphin's jacket, "Just a couple of seconds ago, we were in the middle of a beautiful clear night, and now we have about 15 mph winds".
"Pretty quick with the math" Dauphin mumbled.
"It's a rough estimate, give or take ninety miles" Frey grinned.
Dauphin glanced around to look at the neighborhood. The shop was more or less a shack, pretty much obliterated. He was surprised anyone could keep the place open. Around it were small bushes, something the neighborhood had planted there in a vain attempt to "beautify" the neighborhood. Across the street was another store, a big super market. The parking lot for the super market was huge, it looked like it would engulf a chunk of the street.
"Echo takes a while with that phone" Bacchus grumbled as she began to lean against the back wall. She crouched down and took a seat against it.
Frey reached into his pocket and the phone began to ring, "Could explain why" Frey mumbled, "Piece of shit". After fumbling around with the buttons he pressed the phone against his ear, it was Echo, "Frey" She said in a hushed voice.
"Yeah?" He replied.
"You have an extremely weird thing coming towards you guys right now, it's kicking up wind like a hurricane, I'm gonna see if I can get you guys out quick enough, but right now I'll be able to get maybe one other out before this thing hits" Echo warned.
"Fine, hurry it up though" Frey sighed.
"Oh shit, hold on, it's moving quicker now, I'm gonna try and get someone out" Echo shouted. Frey hung up the phone as to not impede the operator any longer. The wind around them began to pick up. "Bacchus! Get up, somethings coming towards us. Dauphin, it's huge, Echo says the thing is kicking up wind like a hurricane".
Dauphin nodded towards him and backed up towards the phone. He waved for Bacchus to get over there. She jumped up and sprinted with all her might to the phone. Dauphin placed his hand on her shoulder as the phone began to ring, she tensed up and picked up the phone. She took fell away from the matrix. Dauphin quickly clicked the phone. "Frey! You know the order of things! Get over here!" Dauphin shouted. Frey began backing up towards the phone. He had his fists out.
"I know somethings coming, I can almost feel it" Frey grit through his teeth.
Then a new voice wafted through the air. It was almost like a snakes hiss. It seemed like a whisper and then slowly became more of a mans voice, it sounded sophisticated and deep, but still had a hiss to it.
"You wish to kill me" the words floated through the air.
"What?!" Frey shouted into the wind.
"You wish….to destroy me" Came the reply.
The wind began to pick up, it was like a thunder storm. The bushes began swaying back and forth.
"Where are you?!" Frey asked, shouting to get up the wind.
"Simple, look up".
The moon has a shadow across it, that of a man as it came downward. He appeared almost transparent. He then began heading towards Frey and Dauphin. The wind picked up even more now. At the rate he was going it looked like he was going to fly into Frey and Dauphin. Frey began walking backwards.
The hovering man began to chant, "You wish to DESTROY ME!!"
As it ripped through the air it came closer and closer to Frey. He was heading right towards him. Frey brought out his sword and the creature/man kept moving. It came closer and closer until Frey got full vision of who it was.
The man had long white hair, and scars down both the left and right side of his face. His eyes were green and his lips were black. He was in a long white coat with a black shirt. He pants were the size of a parachute and his fists both had red gloves on. His shoes were small, like something he would wear with a tuxedo. The man grinned a he flew towards Frey. Frey immediately swung the sword vertically into the air and brought it down as the man screamed, "YOU ARE TRYING TO DESTROY ME!!".
And then the sword flew through him. It passed right through him. Did not hit him at all, Frey's sword slammed into the ground and made sparks as the man began to fly off into the night, laughing.
Frey dropped his sword and began breathing hard.
"That was fucking weird," Dauphin mumbled. The phone began to ring, "It's your turn" Dauphin said, offering Frey his hand to help him up. Frey took his hand and pulled, steadying himself and he walked over to the phone. Frey picked it up and disappeared. Dauphin glanced around with his hands in his pockets, waiting for the next ring. When it finally did, he reached for it and glanced up to the roof, where some new graffiti had been placed, it was written in dark red and said, "You wish to destroy me". Dauphin shook his head and picked up the phone and in a flash he was out. He twitched and awoke in the metal ship known as the Archeron.
"Were really ought to spice this place up, you know? A little bit of the tropical theme to it. We should kind of get some palm trees in here…ya know, place a tiki god over there, get a huge barbeque pit and then we can all hula around it, ya know. No sentinal is gonna come after a bunch of people on a luau, are they?" Dauphin said with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm getting sick of the rust almost burning through the bottom of my chair," Frey said.
"Well guys, you can speak with the superior man with the stick up his ass Captain Loch about that" Echo smirked.
"Nah, I'd rather avoid that bastard like the plague" Dauphin grumbled.
"That bad?" Frey asked.
"Oh yes, you would not believe, the guy just reeks of arrogance. He's one of those that you would want to punch in the face repeatedly and fire, but you won't cause he's doing a better job than you would" Dauphin said.
"Yuck" Bacchus said as she entered the room with Cross in tow. "What the hell did you guys run into back there?" She asked.
"The most bizarre thing I have ever seen in my life," Frey mumbled, "It was this man in a white long coat, kept saying something about you want to….
"Destroy me," Dauphin finished.
"Anyway, the guy could hover and he sounded like a snake, and his eyes literally glowed Green! And he turned transparent when I tried to attack him!" Frey gasped. He was moving his hands around.
"Yeah, he showed up rather strange on the monitor…" Echo added.
"So, was anyone actually listening to what Niobe said after she mentioned Loch?" Dauphin asked. Cross smirked and said, "I caught we need to go back to Zion, but it's not like we were gonna stay out in this shithole without an assignment anyway, especially with that big thing coming up". Frey let out a small huff of air, "No shit now".
"Alright guys, let's call it a night, Im gonna head to my room" Dauphin said.
"I'll get the ship into Zion then" Echo grinned.
Dauphin strolled from the bridge back to his room and leaned down onto his rusty bed and fell asleep. Frey also went to bed. Cross went back to his room and would stay awake all night staring at the roof.
Late at night Dauphin woke up to a figure walking into his room, He couldn't recognize who was there. Then the figure turned around and left. Dauphin went back to sleep.
A jolt rushed through the ship, "Shit! Sorry guys for the rough landing! We're here though!" Echo called back into the rooms. The ship suddenly became a flurry of activity. Dauphin and Frey both grabbed their bags and headed towards the front. The bottom of the ship opened up and a bridge unfolded and they began to walk out. Dauphin got a wind of metallic air, "Ah yes!" He called out and stretched, "It is good to be home!". About five feet away from him was a tall tan skinned woman. She had long black hair and her shirt clung to her figure. Her pants had been cut short so that they were a little higher than the knees. She walked towards Dauphin and hugged him, "Welcome back" she said.
"Good evening Corydon, you look great. Frey should be out soon" Dauphin said as they ended the quick hug.
Frey soon stumbled out of the ship. He dropped his bags and ran over to Corydon. They hugged and their lips met in a kiss. Dauphin walked over to his bags and picked them up. He then picked up Frey's bags and tossed them to Frey as Frey kissed Corydon. They hit Frey in the shoulder and caused it to break off the kiss.
Dauphin sat down on his bags, "It's in about four hours, right?"
Frey smirked, "Yeah, and your wasting time I could be spending with my lady friend".
"And likewise, I think she is thanking me for wasting your time" Dauphin laughed.
Corydon waved her hand in dismissal, "Are you going with Bacchus?"
Dauphin glanced up, "Why?"
"She is gonna be rather lonely," Frey said as his voice trailed off, ending the sentence. Dauphin placed his hands on his knees as he began to stand up, "That my friends, is going to remain to be seen". Dauphin walked off towards the small apartments where everyone in Zion stayed. Corydon sighed, "He may be a great friend and all, but when it comes to women, the boy is dumb as a brick".
"Yeah…" Frey agreed. Frey and Corydon clasped their hands together and they both picked up a bag. They walked across the long metal bridge at where the ship had been set down.
Dauphin continued down the bridge until he was all of a sudden tackled down. "Holy shit! Are you alright?!" He heard someone call out. The person walked up to him, he was about seventeen years old, and bald. "Yeah, im fine" Dauphin stated as he picked up his bags, "How's it goin Kid?". The kid was out of breath, "Fine, Fine, Has the Neb came in yet?". Dauphin smirked, "No way, Neb should be here soon though, I think it'll land around bays 3-5, I have no idea which one". The kid took off like lightning.
"Weird" Dauphin heard Cross mumble. Dauphin whirled around, "Do I ever get a break from you guys?". Cross smiled and took off down the halls. Dauphin finally reached his room and opened the door. It was a pretty basic metal room with a big window that had no glass. In the center was a bed and he had a picture of himself with a couple of his friends from training. On his left in the photo was Frey, on his right was a bald man known as Skull. And leaning on his shoulders was Bacchus. Dauphin lay back in his bed and closed his eyes, the world changed from colors to black, and he was out like a light.
Bacchus seemed to be in her own little world. She looked dazed. She didn't speak to anybody as she walked straight to her room. She opened the door and before she could make it to her bed, she fell onto the couch. "I love doing that, these missions are tiring…" and then she dozed off.
Cross was inside his room. He didn't plan to go to sleep. Cross was one of the lucky ones to have a room with a window, it allowed him to overlook Zion. He decided to sit by the window and just stare. Zion was huge, it was like a giant metallic tube. There was a row of rooms, per floor. Down in the left corner was where most of the machinery was. The upper section was where most of the ships could be found. It was actually located in the middle, but most of Dauphin's crew was located in the rooms underneath the bridges where the ships landed. So it would seem like the upper section. Across from him was a humongous hallway, there was one on each floor, it was where the elevators stopped. On the upper floors, there was another hallway. That one lead to a humongous cavern, where tonights events would be held.
Echo was the only one on the crew who would stay above the ships. She had a room that was extremely small, but Echo felt she was a minimalist, and didn't need too much room. She too fell asleep. .
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Drum rhythms echoed off in the distance, Dauphin shot up like a bullet. "Shit! You have got to be kidding me," He mumbled to himself as he ran towards the door. He tore down the long metal hallways. Absolutely no one seemed to be around. Dauphin found the elevator and jumped into it, and hammered on the button that led up to the ship deck. He itched his forearm out of nervousness. The floors passed by at what seemed like the speed of light. Finally the elevator doors opened up and Dauphin sprinted across the ship decks. His legs burned, and he noticed a metal wing in front of him. He ducked and slid under it. He immediately jumped up and ran. He finally reached a set of stairs and walked into a humongous cavern. He threw his shoes off and walked in.
Dauphin stumbled around once he got inside of the cavern. It was batehd in a red glow and people were dancing all over. Drums now echoed in the back of Dauphin's head. He slowed his walk down and he glaned around. People had their hands in the air and it seemed as if they all landed on one unanimous STOMP! Around him people were writhing like snakes. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he saw a woman standing behind him, she gestered her hand towards him in an offer to dance. He took her hand and kissed the top of it and continued on. "Madmouselle, I apologize, but I must find someone" He mumbled to himself. He was now at the point of squeezing through groups of people. Dauphin glanced around for a face he recognized. He spotted no one around him. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Dauphin shouted. He bumped into someone and glanced at them. It was a man with blonde long hair. He had tattoos down the side of his arm. Dauphin stopped in silence. He finally spotted a familiar face with a woman with long black hair.
'Duh, Frey" Dauphin mumbled. Frey was leaned up against the wall with Corydon in his arms. She had her back pressed to him as he laid kisses on her neck down to her shoulder. "Frey!" Dauphin shouted out. Frey didn't notice as he held Corydon close to him. 'Frey!" Dauphin shouted out louder. Frey still din't notice. "Fucker must be deaf" Dauphin walked towards him. He finally got up to Frey to notice his eyes closed. Dauphin gave a small wave to Frey, "DICKWEED!!" He shouted. Frey's eyes shot wide open. "Oh, hey Dauphin" Frey said, "You missed Morpheus' speech man".
"Anything important?" Dauphin asked. "Basically he said we're fucked" Frey replied. "Oh, well… nothing new then" Dauphin smirked. "Absolutely nothing" Frey said.
Dauphin began to blush, " Where's Bacchus?" He asked. Frey laughed to himself and pointed to his left, "I last spotted her over there". "Oh, great, well, I'll catch you guys later" Dauphin said as he walked off. Frey looked at Corydon with wild eyes, "Can we leave now?". Corydon smirked, "Sure". They both moved off of the wall of the huge cave and began to walk towards the door, hand in hand. "Think he's gonna do anything?" Frey asked. "Doubt it" Corydon replied. Frey and Corydon stepped outside of the cave and immediately were blasted with a taste of metallic air, "Gah! It's cold out here!" Frey shouted.
Frey and Corydon walked slowly back to their room. No one was outside, they were all located inside the cave. Frey slowly twirled Corydon around in a circle. She spun and they continued walking. They reached their room. Frey embraced Corydon and kissed her again, they both walked to the bed, hugged and fell onto it. Then……
(now do you seriously think I would go any farther?)
Dauphin finally spotted her. Her bleached white hair was bouncing on her shoulders. Her body moved to the beat of the drum. Then she was bumped into from behind. She jumped forward a little bit. Dauphin walked towards her, when he finally reached her, he spoke up, "Having fun?".
Bacchus laughed and was bumped into again, she tripped forwards and crashed into Dauphin. "Yeah! A lot of it! Camas is kicking my ass in the dancing!" She laughed. Dauphin glanced around to see a short haired man in a black t-shirt, he had on shorts. He thrust his hand out. Dauphin shook his hand, "Camas?".
The man smiled, "Yep, you bet."
"Hi, I'm Dauphin.".
Camas smiled again, "Yes, we've all heard about you. Morpheus, You and Niobe are all the hugest pains in the neck for Lock."
"We hate each other, it can't be any more basic" Dauphin laughed.
"No wonder why you have a representative, unlike any other ship. Lock would probably kill you guys" Camas laughed too. Dauphin turned his attention to Bacchus, who was now just standing there looking at the two talking. Dauphin turned back to Camas and noticed that he had left. Bacchus grabbed him and threw him back into the dance that was going.
"I can't dance!" He shouted.
"WHAT?!!!" She laughed.
"I CAN'T DANCE!!" Dauphin screamed.
"OH!!" She shouted in his ear.
Dauphin twirled her out of the dancing group as she laughed. Dauphin made a move for the door with her hand in his, "IT'S TOO LOUD IN HERE!!" he shouted. "YES! I KNOW YOU CAN'T DANCE!" Bacchus shouted. Dauphin stopped to smack his forehead. Bacchus smiled, "Look, this rave is gonna be over soon. Let's just go".
Dauphin and Bacchus head out of the cave. Once they reached the elevator Dauphin turned left and Bacchus turned right. Dauphin grabbed her shoulder and she began to follow him, he winked to her, "I have the window, it might be extremely hot tonight". Bacchus laughed at him, "Riiiight". Dauphin laughed too. It seemed strange to him that they would be laughing with each other. They had been friends for a while, but this is the first time she had ever left her own room at night. They stepped into the elevator as it buzzed. He pressed a button and they soomed up. The door opened again and they walked out and turned right towards Dauphin's room. Dauphin opened the door and flicked the light on.
"Honey! I'm hoooome!" Dauphin rang out. Bacchus ran into the room, dove into the air and bounced onto the small mattress and flew right off it.
"Holy crap!" She shouted as she flew into the air. She landed on her back and she laughed again. "Babe, the rules of the real world actually exist, unlike our "Former" real world" Dauphin laughed. Dauphin leaned into the window. The window was curved and had a small wood setting inward, allowing for him to sit in the window and watch everything that happened to the outside. Bacchus came over and leaned against him and Dauphin wrapped his arms around her stomach.
"Strange" he mumbled.
"Hmm?" She whispered. Bacchus had her eyes closed.
"I'm just overwhelmed, so much has happened lately" Dauphin sighed. "This war has been raging for years, and we haven't made that many accomplishments. It seems like now we're finally getting somewhere. But I just don't know how it's gonna end. We're one of nine ship teams, get that? Nine! And over a quarter million people place their lives in our hands. All in a hope that Neo will end this war. It's just all strange, right?"
Bacchus was asleep in Dauphin's arms. Dauphin laughed to himself, "I think way too much for my own good."
Dauphin closed his eyes and sang to himself. Soon he too could only see black, and was asleep.
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"Dauphin!!!" Came a rumbling on the door. "Get your ass up man!". Dauphin opened his eyes and moved his arms. No one was there. He jumped up to see Bacchus a the door. Dopp was standing there. Dauphin scratched his back and walked to his door.
"Dude, Dauphin. You won't believe what I just did" Dopp shouted. "Jesus christ man, calm down, your gonna wake up everyone on this floor." Dauphin said. "Dauphin, look. I spent last night speaking with one of our councellors. They have this weird idea, but your going to have to launch now."
"What is it?" Dauphin sighed.
"Look man, he said, think of the Matrix as a computer. He thinks theres some way for us to destroy something from inside the matrix. Like a disease ripping him up from the inside out, ya know? Anyway, he wants our ship to go in and investigate. Lock will never notice your gone since he ignores you anyway."
"Bacchus, round up everyone" Dauphin said. Bacchus took off down the hallway in a sprint.
"Okay Dopp, you can go now" Dauphin said. Dopp turned around and walked away from Dauphin's room. Dauphin picked up some stuff and placed them into the bags he usually took. He never had emptied them out. After a while Dauphin took the long trip down the hall to the ship. He got in to see everyone there already. Cross was telling Frey how awesome it was to play the drums during the rave. Echo was listening to Bacchus explain the speech that Morpheus had given. And then He felt someone poke him in the back. He turned around to see Jord.
"Your back!" He shouted. Jord nodded with a smile, "Yeah, I'll be with you guys now."
Everyone rushed over to Jord to welcome her back. Frey seemed all too happy to have her back and Bacchus was laughing the entire time.
Echo nodded towards Dauphin. "Ladies and gentlemen!" Dauphin shouted, "We are going to leave now. We have a mission, which I'm sure Bacchus has explained to you already. Remember, we have people depending on us now. We can not fail. We will win, for the good of the human race, Understand!".
"yes Sir!" Shouted Frey with a mock salute.
"Thank you for volunteering to make Breakfast Frey!" Dauphin smiled. "NOW LETS GO!".
And with that the ship took off through and open gate. The gate shut behind them and they began to decend to broadcats level.
"Fuck, here we go again…." mumbled Cross.
About one and a half weeks after he was freed. Dopp was initiated as a new representative to the council. Jord made her way back towards the ship as Dopp held his first meeting, the subject of which was to make sure that he was clean enough that he would not re insert himself. In a show of emotion, Dopp grabbed a knife and placed it against his wrists and said, "I would rather kill myself than to live inside a fake reality while my brothers are dying." Dopp's popularity grew amazingly quick. Jord was just getting used to The Matrix training programs again, this time she would work with Bacchus and Cross.
Loud clanks rang out along the floor. His breath running short, Dopp sprinted towards the Archeron. Dauphin and Frey were leaning outside the ship as he caught up with them. Frey glanced towards Dopp and with a small smirk on his face asked, "Don't you ever die?". Dopp grinned and flexed his arms like a madman, he had been working out and his muscles had somewhat grown, "As long as your around to annoy, no". Dauphin chuckled and began to motion back towards the ship. Frey and Dopp followed in silence. Finally Dopp piped up, "Listen guys, I wanna learn some new moves too". Dauphin's head immediately drooped and Frey slapped his hands against his forehead, "Does the training never stop?" He asked. Dopp looked up again. Dauphin glanced back at him, "If your going to learn, your going to learn the old way buddy".
"What's the old way?" Dopp asked. Frey led him to where Echo was seated and placed him in one of the seats. "The old way," Frey said, "Is we jack you into the Matrix here, and you are uploaded the new moves." Frey stopped, "The Matrix is code my friend, just code, billions of little letters streaming across the screen at once. It is like a computer, and your brain is like a floppy disc or cd-rom. You download things onto it, and it is saved. Do you understand?"
Dopp nodded and Frey jacked him in. Echo glanced over to Frey and asked, "What should he learn?". Dauphin piped up from across the room now, "Teach him Tang Soo Do." Echo typed with the force of a hurricane and on the screen Dopp appeared and began to learn Tang Soo Do as it was downloaded into his brain. Dopp was throwing punches and kicks like baseballs. Frey watched over the screen until he was finally done. Dopp got up, "Wow".
Frey rushed him off the ship and kicked back for awhile. He closed his eyes. Dauphin headed back to his room.
About 15 minutes later Dopp's face appeared on the screen, "Guys!" He shouted. All of a sudden the entire crew sprinted for the screen, "Guys, there's an emergency meeting about to happen right now inside of the matrix, I highly suggest you leave here and haul ass to that meeting!".
At once, Dauphin, Frey, Cross, and Bacchus jacked into the Matrix. The cell phone rang and Frey answered, "Yello? Ah, okay, thanks Echo". Frey pointed down the road that they were on, "Meeting is supposed to take place in there."
Dauphin led the crew down the road. They got to a metal door and Dauphin hammered on it. A small slit opened up, "Evening sir," Dauphin said, "We heard there was cake". The door opened up and a skinny dude and a tall guy rushed them in, "Cut the shit and get moving, it's about to start!" The skinny one said to Dauphin. Frey followed in step behind him as they walked down a small hallway.
Dauphin leaned up against a cracked wall in the back. Frey stood next to him with his arms crossed over his chest. Bacchus stood to the right of Dauphin. Cross crouched down over in a chair. The chair fell apart on him. "Fuck" He mumbled. Dauphin and Frey both laughed at him and immediately leaned back against the wall that they were against.
Other people began filing into the room and soon Dauphin discovered he couldn't see anything. Neither could Frey or Bacchus. Cross was just attempting to ignore it all. Finally the lead presenter of the meeting arrived. It was Niobe, a strong woman who wore a red jacket and red pants, high heels and some extremely weird looking shades. Niobe began to have quick conversation with a few of the captains, Dauphin ignored most of it. He was more worried about his bruised ego from the broken chair than anything else at that point. Dauphin smacked him in the back of the head,"Kid, your part of a team now. You pay attention to what the team does, we are like a family". Finally Niobe slammed her fist on the table and spread out the papers in front of everyone, "These confirm the last transmission of the Osiris."
"Oh….fuck" Bacchus mumbled under her breath. Dauphin glanced over to her, "Jue, huh?". Frey nudged Dauphin in the shoulder, "Who's Jue?". Dauphin, quick to end the subject, "She was one of Bacchus' friends from Zion, she was on the Osiris crew. Now don't ask anymore".
"The Machines are digging" Continued Niobe. This sentence sent a jolt through everyone. "They are boring from the surface straight down to Zion.". A woman in black with brown hair spoke up from the hush, "How fast are they moving?" She asked. Niobe glanced up with a hardline focus on everyone, "Control estimates they are digging at a rate of 100 meters an hour."
Another man spoke up, Dauphin couldn't see him, "How far are they?"
"Two thousand meters" Niobe replied.
"FUCK" Frey mumbled.
"They can't be accurate" Mumbled another man.
"Guys a fucking hopeless lunatic" Dauphin whispered, "The Osiris was probably one of the best scout ships we had".
"They may be" Niobe said.
"That would mean there are a quarter million sentinels up there!" A woman exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
"Right" Niobe said matter of factly.
"That CANT BE RIGHT!" A man pleaded.
And then a voice that could have been recognized miles away appeared, it sent a second jolt through everyone. His walk was slow and methodic, "Why not?". His shades glared off of the lights, "A sentinal for every man, woman and child in Zion. That sounds exactly like the thinking of a machine to me."
"Morpheus…"Frey whispered.
"Morpheus, Glad you could join us" Niobe greeted him.
Morpheus nodded towards Niobe, "Niobe. My apologies to all, as you are undoubtedly aware that it is becoming increasingly difficult to locate a secure broadcast signal"
"The lane lines are crawling with sentinels," The woman in black proclaimed.
"I think that's due in part to the fact that she's a dipshit" Dauphin said to Frey.
"The woman is like bait," Bacchus piped up
"I feel sorry for her crew" Frey shook his head.
"I think Niobe's right, in seventy two hours there is going to be a quarter million of em" Ghost, Niobe's first mate said. He was in a tuxedo and shades, he had clean cut hair. He was known for razor precision with weapons.
"What are we gonna do about it?" Another person said. "We're gonna do what Commander Loch ordered us to do, we'll evacuate broadcast level and return to Zion" Niobe said.
"And does the commander have a plan to stop 250,000 sentinels?" Morpheus asked.
Niobe shot him a glare, " A strategy is still being formulated,". Morpehus smirked, "I'm sure it is"
Dauphin tapped his hands against the wall and began to make his way towards an exit. Frey and Cross followed. Bacchus stayed where she was. Dauphin stopped, "Bacchus, lets go" He whispered. "No" She said. Morpheus' voice was fading out to all of them, Dauphin nor Frey could hear and so they stood by the exit.
All of a sudden the two men that had been guarding the door burst in, "It's the feds! Get to your escapes now!!". Dauphin, Frey, Bacchus and Cross all walked out of the exit and to a car. Frey slammed his fist through the window and Cross climbed in. He started it and opened the door. They all jumped into the car. Cross slammed his foot down on the gas and the tires spun so fast that they began to embed themselves into the ground. Smoke flew up and they sped away. Frey's fingers began to slam onto the cell phone buttons as he dialed, "Echo, no time to kid around. Agents nearby, quick. We need an exit desperately!" Cross was roaring around the turns. Finally Dauphin leaned forward and smacked him in the back of the head, "DO YOU WANT THEM TO COME AFTER US?!!" He shouted. Cross slowed down to a normal speed and tried to fit in on the road.
"Alright, thanks a lot." Frey said as he hung up the phone. "We have a payphone exit ladies and gentlemen, outside of that crappy supermarket on Howe Avenue".
"Always been one of great taste for exits," Bacchus smirked. Finally Cross pulled into the parking lot of a small grocery store. Dauphin glanced around, the phone began ringing. "Someone get it, quick" Dauphin cocked his head towards the phone. Cross made a mad dash for it and picked it up, he immideately broke down into code and disappeared.
Then the wind began to pick up, "Strange" Frey mumbled. Dauphin flicked his head in his direction, "What's strange?". Frey held his finger up and then pointed at Dauphin's jacket, "Just a couple of seconds ago, we were in the middle of a beautiful clear night, and now we have about 15 mph winds".
"Pretty quick with the math" Dauphin mumbled.
"It's a rough estimate, give or take ninety miles" Frey grinned.
Dauphin glanced around to look at the neighborhood. The shop was more or less a shack, pretty much obliterated. He was surprised anyone could keep the place open. Around it were small bushes, something the neighborhood had planted there in a vain attempt to "beautify" the neighborhood. Across the street was another store, a big super market. The parking lot for the super market was huge, it looked like it would engulf a chunk of the street.
"Echo takes a while with that phone" Bacchus grumbled as she began to lean against the back wall. She crouched down and took a seat against it.
Frey reached into his pocket and the phone began to ring, "Could explain why" Frey mumbled, "Piece of shit". After fumbling around with the buttons he pressed the phone against his ear, it was Echo, "Frey" She said in a hushed voice.
"Yeah?" He replied.
"You have an extremely weird thing coming towards you guys right now, it's kicking up wind like a hurricane, I'm gonna see if I can get you guys out quick enough, but right now I'll be able to get maybe one other out before this thing hits" Echo warned.
"Fine, hurry it up though" Frey sighed.
"Oh shit, hold on, it's moving quicker now, I'm gonna try and get someone out" Echo shouted. Frey hung up the phone as to not impede the operator any longer. The wind around them began to pick up. "Bacchus! Get up, somethings coming towards us. Dauphin, it's huge, Echo says the thing is kicking up wind like a hurricane".
Dauphin nodded towards him and backed up towards the phone. He waved for Bacchus to get over there. She jumped up and sprinted with all her might to the phone. Dauphin placed his hand on her shoulder as the phone began to ring, she tensed up and picked up the phone. She took fell away from the matrix. Dauphin quickly clicked the phone. "Frey! You know the order of things! Get over here!" Dauphin shouted. Frey began backing up towards the phone. He had his fists out.
"I know somethings coming, I can almost feel it" Frey grit through his teeth.
Then a new voice wafted through the air. It was almost like a snakes hiss. It seemed like a whisper and then slowly became more of a mans voice, it sounded sophisticated and deep, but still had a hiss to it.
"You wish to kill me" the words floated through the air.
"What?!" Frey shouted into the wind.
"You wish….to destroy me" Came the reply.
The wind began to pick up, it was like a thunder storm. The bushes began swaying back and forth.
"Where are you?!" Frey asked, shouting to get up the wind.
"Simple, look up".
The moon has a shadow across it, that of a man as it came downward. He appeared almost transparent. He then began heading towards Frey and Dauphin. The wind picked up even more now. At the rate he was going it looked like he was going to fly into Frey and Dauphin. Frey began walking backwards.
The hovering man began to chant, "You wish to DESTROY ME!!"
As it ripped through the air it came closer and closer to Frey. He was heading right towards him. Frey brought out his sword and the creature/man kept moving. It came closer and closer until Frey got full vision of who it was.
The man had long white hair, and scars down both the left and right side of his face. His eyes were green and his lips were black. He was in a long white coat with a black shirt. He pants were the size of a parachute and his fists both had red gloves on. His shoes were small, like something he would wear with a tuxedo. The man grinned a he flew towards Frey. Frey immediately swung the sword vertically into the air and brought it down as the man screamed, "YOU ARE TRYING TO DESTROY ME!!".
And then the sword flew through him. It passed right through him. Did not hit him at all, Frey's sword slammed into the ground and made sparks as the man began to fly off into the night, laughing.
Frey dropped his sword and began breathing hard.
"That was fucking weird," Dauphin mumbled. The phone began to ring, "It's your turn" Dauphin said, offering Frey his hand to help him up. Frey took his hand and pulled, steadying himself and he walked over to the phone. Frey picked it up and disappeared. Dauphin glanced around with his hands in his pockets, waiting for the next ring. When it finally did, he reached for it and glanced up to the roof, where some new graffiti had been placed, it was written in dark red and said, "You wish to destroy me". Dauphin shook his head and picked up the phone and in a flash he was out. He twitched and awoke in the metal ship known as the Archeron.
"Were really ought to spice this place up, you know? A little bit of the tropical theme to it. We should kind of get some palm trees in here…ya know, place a tiki god over there, get a huge barbeque pit and then we can all hula around it, ya know. No sentinal is gonna come after a bunch of people on a luau, are they?" Dauphin said with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm getting sick of the rust almost burning through the bottom of my chair," Frey said.
"Well guys, you can speak with the superior man with the stick up his ass Captain Loch about that" Echo smirked.
"Nah, I'd rather avoid that bastard like the plague" Dauphin grumbled.
"That bad?" Frey asked.
"Oh yes, you would not believe, the guy just reeks of arrogance. He's one of those that you would want to punch in the face repeatedly and fire, but you won't cause he's doing a better job than you would" Dauphin said.
"Yuck" Bacchus said as she entered the room with Cross in tow. "What the hell did you guys run into back there?" She asked.
"The most bizarre thing I have ever seen in my life," Frey mumbled, "It was this man in a white long coat, kept saying something about you want to….
"Destroy me," Dauphin finished.
"Anyway, the guy could hover and he sounded like a snake, and his eyes literally glowed Green! And he turned transparent when I tried to attack him!" Frey gasped. He was moving his hands around.
"Yeah, he showed up rather strange on the monitor…" Echo added.
"So, was anyone actually listening to what Niobe said after she mentioned Loch?" Dauphin asked. Cross smirked and said, "I caught we need to go back to Zion, but it's not like we were gonna stay out in this shithole without an assignment anyway, especially with that big thing coming up". Frey let out a small huff of air, "No shit now".
"Alright guys, let's call it a night, Im gonna head to my room" Dauphin said.
"I'll get the ship into Zion then" Echo grinned.
Dauphin strolled from the bridge back to his room and leaned down onto his rusty bed and fell asleep. Frey also went to bed. Cross went back to his room and would stay awake all night staring at the roof.
Late at night Dauphin woke up to a figure walking into his room, He couldn't recognize who was there. Then the figure turned around and left. Dauphin went back to sleep.
A jolt rushed through the ship, "Shit! Sorry guys for the rough landing! We're here though!" Echo called back into the rooms. The ship suddenly became a flurry of activity. Dauphin and Frey both grabbed their bags and headed towards the front. The bottom of the ship opened up and a bridge unfolded and they began to walk out. Dauphin got a wind of metallic air, "Ah yes!" He called out and stretched, "It is good to be home!". About five feet away from him was a tall tan skinned woman. She had long black hair and her shirt clung to her figure. Her pants had been cut short so that they were a little higher than the knees. She walked towards Dauphin and hugged him, "Welcome back" she said.
"Good evening Corydon, you look great. Frey should be out soon" Dauphin said as they ended the quick hug.
Frey soon stumbled out of the ship. He dropped his bags and ran over to Corydon. They hugged and their lips met in a kiss. Dauphin walked over to his bags and picked them up. He then picked up Frey's bags and tossed them to Frey as Frey kissed Corydon. They hit Frey in the shoulder and caused it to break off the kiss.
Dauphin sat down on his bags, "It's in about four hours, right?"
Frey smirked, "Yeah, and your wasting time I could be spending with my lady friend".
"And likewise, I think she is thanking me for wasting your time" Dauphin laughed.
Corydon waved her hand in dismissal, "Are you going with Bacchus?"
Dauphin glanced up, "Why?"
"She is gonna be rather lonely," Frey said as his voice trailed off, ending the sentence. Dauphin placed his hands on his knees as he began to stand up, "That my friends, is going to remain to be seen". Dauphin walked off towards the small apartments where everyone in Zion stayed. Corydon sighed, "He may be a great friend and all, but when it comes to women, the boy is dumb as a brick".
"Yeah…" Frey agreed. Frey and Corydon clasped their hands together and they both picked up a bag. They walked across the long metal bridge at where the ship had been set down.
Dauphin continued down the bridge until he was all of a sudden tackled down. "Holy shit! Are you alright?!" He heard someone call out. The person walked up to him, he was about seventeen years old, and bald. "Yeah, im fine" Dauphin stated as he picked up his bags, "How's it goin Kid?". The kid was out of breath, "Fine, Fine, Has the Neb came in yet?". Dauphin smirked, "No way, Neb should be here soon though, I think it'll land around bays 3-5, I have no idea which one". The kid took off like lightning.
"Weird" Dauphin heard Cross mumble. Dauphin whirled around, "Do I ever get a break from you guys?". Cross smiled and took off down the halls. Dauphin finally reached his room and opened the door. It was a pretty basic metal room with a big window that had no glass. In the center was a bed and he had a picture of himself with a couple of his friends from training. On his left in the photo was Frey, on his right was a bald man known as Skull. And leaning on his shoulders was Bacchus. Dauphin lay back in his bed and closed his eyes, the world changed from colors to black, and he was out like a light.
Bacchus seemed to be in her own little world. She looked dazed. She didn't speak to anybody as she walked straight to her room. She opened the door and before she could make it to her bed, she fell onto the couch. "I love doing that, these missions are tiring…" and then she dozed off.
Cross was inside his room. He didn't plan to go to sleep. Cross was one of the lucky ones to have a room with a window, it allowed him to overlook Zion. He decided to sit by the window and just stare. Zion was huge, it was like a giant metallic tube. There was a row of rooms, per floor. Down in the left corner was where most of the machinery was. The upper section was where most of the ships could be found. It was actually located in the middle, but most of Dauphin's crew was located in the rooms underneath the bridges where the ships landed. So it would seem like the upper section. Across from him was a humongous hallway, there was one on each floor, it was where the elevators stopped. On the upper floors, there was another hallway. That one lead to a humongous cavern, where tonights events would be held.
Echo was the only one on the crew who would stay above the ships. She had a room that was extremely small, but Echo felt she was a minimalist, and didn't need too much room. She too fell asleep. .
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Drum rhythms echoed off in the distance, Dauphin shot up like a bullet. "Shit! You have got to be kidding me," He mumbled to himself as he ran towards the door. He tore down the long metal hallways. Absolutely no one seemed to be around. Dauphin found the elevator and jumped into it, and hammered on the button that led up to the ship deck. He itched his forearm out of nervousness. The floors passed by at what seemed like the speed of light. Finally the elevator doors opened up and Dauphin sprinted across the ship decks. His legs burned, and he noticed a metal wing in front of him. He ducked and slid under it. He immediately jumped up and ran. He finally reached a set of stairs and walked into a humongous cavern. He threw his shoes off and walked in.
Dauphin stumbled around once he got inside of the cavern. It was batehd in a red glow and people were dancing all over. Drums now echoed in the back of Dauphin's head. He slowed his walk down and he glaned around. People had their hands in the air and it seemed as if they all landed on one unanimous STOMP! Around him people were writhing like snakes. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he saw a woman standing behind him, she gestered her hand towards him in an offer to dance. He took her hand and kissed the top of it and continued on. "Madmouselle, I apologize, but I must find someone" He mumbled to himself. He was now at the point of squeezing through groups of people. Dauphin glanced around for a face he recognized. He spotted no one around him. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Dauphin shouted. He bumped into someone and glanced at them. It was a man with blonde long hair. He had tattoos down the side of his arm. Dauphin stopped in silence. He finally spotted a familiar face with a woman with long black hair.
'Duh, Frey" Dauphin mumbled. Frey was leaned up against the wall with Corydon in his arms. She had her back pressed to him as he laid kisses on her neck down to her shoulder. "Frey!" Dauphin shouted out. Frey didn't notice as he held Corydon close to him. 'Frey!" Dauphin shouted out louder. Frey still din't notice. "Fucker must be deaf" Dauphin walked towards him. He finally got up to Frey to notice his eyes closed. Dauphin gave a small wave to Frey, "DICKWEED!!" He shouted. Frey's eyes shot wide open. "Oh, hey Dauphin" Frey said, "You missed Morpheus' speech man".
"Anything important?" Dauphin asked. "Basically he said we're fucked" Frey replied. "Oh, well… nothing new then" Dauphin smirked. "Absolutely nothing" Frey said.
Dauphin began to blush, " Where's Bacchus?" He asked. Frey laughed to himself and pointed to his left, "I last spotted her over there". "Oh, great, well, I'll catch you guys later" Dauphin said as he walked off. Frey looked at Corydon with wild eyes, "Can we leave now?". Corydon smirked, "Sure". They both moved off of the wall of the huge cave and began to walk towards the door, hand in hand. "Think he's gonna do anything?" Frey asked. "Doubt it" Corydon replied. Frey and Corydon stepped outside of the cave and immediately were blasted with a taste of metallic air, "Gah! It's cold out here!" Frey shouted.
Frey and Corydon walked slowly back to their room. No one was outside, they were all located inside the cave. Frey slowly twirled Corydon around in a circle. She spun and they continued walking. They reached their room. Frey embraced Corydon and kissed her again, they both walked to the bed, hugged and fell onto it. Then……
(now do you seriously think I would go any farther?)
Dauphin finally spotted her. Her bleached white hair was bouncing on her shoulders. Her body moved to the beat of the drum. Then she was bumped into from behind. She jumped forward a little bit. Dauphin walked towards her, when he finally reached her, he spoke up, "Having fun?".
Bacchus laughed and was bumped into again, she tripped forwards and crashed into Dauphin. "Yeah! A lot of it! Camas is kicking my ass in the dancing!" She laughed. Dauphin glanced around to see a short haired man in a black t-shirt, he had on shorts. He thrust his hand out. Dauphin shook his hand, "Camas?".
The man smiled, "Yep, you bet."
"Hi, I'm Dauphin.".
Camas smiled again, "Yes, we've all heard about you. Morpheus, You and Niobe are all the hugest pains in the neck for Lock."
"We hate each other, it can't be any more basic" Dauphin laughed.
"No wonder why you have a representative, unlike any other ship. Lock would probably kill you guys" Camas laughed too. Dauphin turned his attention to Bacchus, who was now just standing there looking at the two talking. Dauphin turned back to Camas and noticed that he had left. Bacchus grabbed him and threw him back into the dance that was going.
"I can't dance!" He shouted.
"WHAT?!!!" She laughed.
"I CAN'T DANCE!!" Dauphin screamed.
"OH!!" She shouted in his ear.
Dauphin twirled her out of the dancing group as she laughed. Dauphin made a move for the door with her hand in his, "IT'S TOO LOUD IN HERE!!" he shouted. "YES! I KNOW YOU CAN'T DANCE!" Bacchus shouted. Dauphin stopped to smack his forehead. Bacchus smiled, "Look, this rave is gonna be over soon. Let's just go".
Dauphin and Bacchus head out of the cave. Once they reached the elevator Dauphin turned left and Bacchus turned right. Dauphin grabbed her shoulder and she began to follow him, he winked to her, "I have the window, it might be extremely hot tonight". Bacchus laughed at him, "Riiiight". Dauphin laughed too. It seemed strange to him that they would be laughing with each other. They had been friends for a while, but this is the first time she had ever left her own room at night. They stepped into the elevator as it buzzed. He pressed a button and they soomed up. The door opened again and they walked out and turned right towards Dauphin's room. Dauphin opened the door and flicked the light on.
"Honey! I'm hoooome!" Dauphin rang out. Bacchus ran into the room, dove into the air and bounced onto the small mattress and flew right off it.
"Holy crap!" She shouted as she flew into the air. She landed on her back and she laughed again. "Babe, the rules of the real world actually exist, unlike our "Former" real world" Dauphin laughed. Dauphin leaned into the window. The window was curved and had a small wood setting inward, allowing for him to sit in the window and watch everything that happened to the outside. Bacchus came over and leaned against him and Dauphin wrapped his arms around her stomach.
"Strange" he mumbled.
"Hmm?" She whispered. Bacchus had her eyes closed.
"I'm just overwhelmed, so much has happened lately" Dauphin sighed. "This war has been raging for years, and we haven't made that many accomplishments. It seems like now we're finally getting somewhere. But I just don't know how it's gonna end. We're one of nine ship teams, get that? Nine! And over a quarter million people place their lives in our hands. All in a hope that Neo will end this war. It's just all strange, right?"
Bacchus was asleep in Dauphin's arms. Dauphin laughed to himself, "I think way too much for my own good."
Dauphin closed his eyes and sang to himself. Soon he too could only see black, and was asleep.
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"Dauphin!!!" Came a rumbling on the door. "Get your ass up man!". Dauphin opened his eyes and moved his arms. No one was there. He jumped up to see Bacchus a the door. Dopp was standing there. Dauphin scratched his back and walked to his door.
"Dude, Dauphin. You won't believe what I just did" Dopp shouted. "Jesus christ man, calm down, your gonna wake up everyone on this floor." Dauphin said. "Dauphin, look. I spent last night speaking with one of our councellors. They have this weird idea, but your going to have to launch now."
"What is it?" Dauphin sighed.
"Look man, he said, think of the Matrix as a computer. He thinks theres some way for us to destroy something from inside the matrix. Like a disease ripping him up from the inside out, ya know? Anyway, he wants our ship to go in and investigate. Lock will never notice your gone since he ignores you anyway."
"Bacchus, round up everyone" Dauphin said. Bacchus took off down the hallway in a sprint.
"Okay Dopp, you can go now" Dauphin said. Dopp turned around and walked away from Dauphin's room. Dauphin picked up some stuff and placed them into the bags he usually took. He never had emptied them out. After a while Dauphin took the long trip down the hall to the ship. He got in to see everyone there already. Cross was telling Frey how awesome it was to play the drums during the rave. Echo was listening to Bacchus explain the speech that Morpheus had given. And then He felt someone poke him in the back. He turned around to see Jord.
"Your back!" He shouted. Jord nodded with a smile, "Yeah, I'll be with you guys now."
Everyone rushed over to Jord to welcome her back. Frey seemed all too happy to have her back and Bacchus was laughing the entire time.
Echo nodded towards Dauphin. "Ladies and gentlemen!" Dauphin shouted, "We are going to leave now. We have a mission, which I'm sure Bacchus has explained to you already. Remember, we have people depending on us now. We can not fail. We will win, for the good of the human race, Understand!".
"yes Sir!" Shouted Frey with a mock salute.
"Thank you for volunteering to make Breakfast Frey!" Dauphin smiled. "NOW LETS GO!".
And with that the ship took off through and open gate. The gate shut behind them and they began to decend to broadcats level.
"Fuck, here we go again…." mumbled Cross.