Nanu's Story - First Run
Nanu
She stands in the construct, her head no longer hurting. Trinity is still being set up, and Neo isn't here yet. Nanu looks around aimlessly, then pauses. Her clothes have changed. She wears a fawn sleeveless top under a sharp three-quarter grey jacket, and her black jeans sit low on her hips, flaring out over her knee-high Airwalk boots. Her dark hair is up, no longer in a messy braid. She allows herself a smile.
Cool.
Another breath in the silence. Trinity is in.
"I can't believe Neo is letting you run this early."
"Neither can I."
A third breath, Neo. He pulls out his mobile and orders, "The usual Tank."
Racks of weapons turn up out of nowhere, and Neo tosses her a holster set to buckle on.
"Remember your firearms training Nanu?" Trin asks, strapping on a knife belt.
"Yes."
"Pray you won't have to use it."
***
They're in a small, dim room. A black rotary phone is ringing insistently. Neo moves forward, picks it up.
"We're in," he confirms. Nanu checks her watch. It's five to seven. There is a clunk as Neo cradles the receiver.
"You two wait here, I'm going out the front. I'll call you when Biosa comes."
Trin nods and he leaves, silent as a fading shadow.
And the room is loud in quiet.
"He ran you through the jump yesterday, didn't he?"
"Yes, captain." Why the title?
"And what happened?"
Nanu shrugs, nervous. "I ignored it, nothing happened." There is suddenly something different about Trinity. She's even more alert, even more guarded. Clad all in black leather, she looks once more like the woman who held a gun to Nanu's head. She's dangerous.
"That program had never been tested before. Did you know that?" her voice is cold.
"No," (captain).
"I don't hold it against you, but it worries me that Neo should risk himself for you."
That fear again, fear for Neo. "Risk? I don't understand."
"Anything could have happened. There could have been a glitch in the program, it could have stalled; any number of things could have gone wrong. You, or Neo, could have been killed."
Nanu doesn't say anything. What can she say to something like that? Trinity leans against the wall, folding her arms.
Dismissed.
Nanu goes to the window. She stands in quiet for a minute, feeling what the Matrix tells her. It's cool, and she can hear traffic from a few blocks away. This part of the City is old, dirty, and halfway to forgotten. She used to be scared, yet fascinated, by this type of place, where things are different and the rules are strange. But she'd always been too timid to seek them out.
Leaving home that night had been the most daring thing she had ever done in her sheltered and cowardly life.
How long ago was that? A week? A month? Forever?
Trin's cell phone rings. She clicks it open, listens. In the quietness Nanu can hear Neo's voice.
"We're coming up."
Trinity pockets the phone and pushes herself away from the wall. "In here."
They move into another room where four red leather armchairs are arranged facing each other.
"Do you often meet people like this?" Nanu asks.
"Almost never."
There are only a few moments for Nanu to take in the room; torn wallpaper, red velvet curtains, cold empty fireplace with a dim mirror above the elaborately dusty mantelpiece. The place is like a castle now gone to ruin.
The door opens as Neo comes in with another woman. Biosa has light brown hair and eyes, and a sharp expression. She's about thirty, Trinity's age.
"Hey Trinity," she says, not taking her eyes from Nanu. "And who the hell is this?"
"This is the newest addition to the resistance," Neo says quietly. "This is Nanu."
"You're Biosa." Nanu buries her hands in her pockets.
The woman doesn't answer and instead sits down. After a split second of awkwardness, Neo and Trinity follow suit. Nanu moves to the window and stands with her back to the room. Biosa's cold shoulder bruises.
"Would you mind telling me what this is all about?" the other captain sounds annoyed.
"We're worried," Neo begins, "about how you were caught yesterday."
"I figured it was a coppertop tip-off, no big deal."
"But there is the possibility there is a traitor on your crew."
"What? Are you crazy? Who on my crew would - ?"
"That's what we thought about Cypher," Trinity's voice is very soft. "No one guessed he would do . . . what he did."
"I remember that," Biosa is quieter now. "But Cypher was only one. How long had the Resistance lasted without anyone defecting?"
"But it still happened," Neo again. "And we need to consider the possibility of it happening again. Are you sure there isn't any member of your crew who may regret choosing the red pill?"
"No - "
"Think about it."
"Of course not Wren or Cadel, they're Zion-born. Radar I've known for eight years - "
"I knew Cypher for nine."
"Dammit Trinity, this isn't easy. I trust these guys okay?" her words come out in an angry rush. "Now you're telling me one of them has done a Judas and I have to suspect them all - "
"Look Biosa, it may not be like that, but it's a possibility." Neo tries to calm her down, after a breath he changes the subject. "Are you still going forward with Wraith?"
"Yes," Bios runs a hand through her short hair. "I was going to contact her this afternoon or tonight. She's at work right now."
"Do you want to check on her? Just for interest's sake?"
"Sure, if you've got the time." She stands as Nanu turns around. "This your first run kid?"
"Yes."
"So you're doing some sight-seeing?"
"I wouldn't put it like that," and Nanu follows Trinity out the door before Biosa can say anything else.
***
They pile into an old black sedan parked in the loading dock, Biosa in the front seat, Trinity driving.
Nanu looks out the window as they go, seeing shops, office blocks, cafes . . .
So many people, just living one day to the next with no thought of the broader scheme of things. Most of them don't even wonder what it means to be alive.
She finds herself thinking of Noah. She'd talked to him a lot, he'd almost been a friend, even though she had never known his real name or even what country he lived in. other names come to mind, people she's known from sci-fi and fantasy sites all over the net. People whose faces were the letters of their aliases; bish, Lexi, hellraiser. People whose expressions were no more than semicolon winks and parenthesis grins. ;)
All of them are gone now. She wonders if she'll ever talk to any of them again. She wonders if any of them will ever be unplugged.
The car slows and Trinity pulls over; "We're here."
They get out of the car one by one. Nanu looks around. The world seems murky and green, and everything moves in slow motion, sluggish and very unreal.
"Come on Nanu," she turns to follow Neo, and has to look again. His hair is longer, and he has a shadow of a beard along his jaw. He has altered his appearance to avoid being recognised. His unkempt look is now at odds with his sharp black coat. It's hard not to smile.
The four of them walk down the footpath, single file with Biosa in the lead and Trinity at the back. Suddenly Biosa stops in front of an office building entrance, she moves into the foyer and pauses just inside the glass doors. Nanu stays close to Neo, trying not to look suspicious. People in suits with briefcases move about with a kind of urgency, although they don't seem to accomplish much. Nanu sees a young Asian woman leave one of the elevators and make her way to the door, carrying a large pile of manilla folders she has to deliver to someone important. Nanu can't help but notice she is very attractive.
"Is that her?" she asks Biosa.
"Yeah. That's her."
Wraith walks closer toward them on her way to the doors, her eyes on the floor and her mind somewhere else.
"We should go," Neo murmurs.
They follow her out into the street, turning right toward the car as the woman turns left. As Nanu opens the car door, she sees Wraith pause and look over her shoulder. It seems their eyes meet. Then the girl ducks into the old sedan and the rebels are gone.
***
They drop Biosa off at the exit, a payphone in a narrow side street. When she's gone, Neo looks to Nanu, he's now dropped the disguise.
"So, what do you think?"
"About what?"
"The Matrix." When he says it the words have colour, shape. Power.
"I can't believe I believed it for so long. It's scary how many people are in here."
"Do you want to leave now?"
"Yes." Anxiousness crawls at the back of her neck. They've been here for too long.
Trin pulls out her cell phone and calls Tank to set up their exit. Neo leans on the bonnet of the car with her. They talk, stiltedly, about Biosa's tracing.
Nanu moves away, down the street. Sounds come to her of distant traffic, growling motors and beeping horns. The sounds of blood flowing through the veins of the City.
She checks her watch, 9 am. The morning air is cool and shadows fill the alley. It feels a lot later than 9 am.
The payphone rings, and she turns around. Neo is waving for her to come and get it, he hold the receiver in his hand. Suddenly he freezes, and Trinity yells,
"Nanu, run!"
Stupidly, Nanu looks behind her. A tall man in a dark brown suit is moving quickly toward them from the other side of the main street.
An Agent!
She sprints forward as Neo grabs Trin's arm. He holds the phone to her ear and she dissolves in a glimmer like mercury.
"Faster!" he calls, and Nanu grits her teeth.
Not real not real not real not real not real NOT REAL!
She catches up to Neo, he takes her hand and they take off.
Wind tears as they slice through the sky. Nanu hears bullets erupt from the street below and they whistle shrilly past her as Neo swoops to dodge them, then they go up again. They land atop the MMI building, Neo smoothly on his feet and Nanu stumbling, falling, rolling with the momentum then climbing to her feet.
Neo pulls out his mobile, punches the speed dial.
"Tank, we need out fast, we're on the corner of State and Crown," a pause, "Can you get the Balboa subway open?" he swears at the negative reply, then listens. "Right." He shoves the phone away then reaches for her hand. "Franklin and Eirie, you okay to go?"
"I'm fine."
Fingers interlace and they're off again.
Trinity
She paces, restless and worried, back and forth behind Tank as he gives a running commentary.
"They're coming through the back of the shop, back office, Nanu's got the phone, she's out." He nods to Achi who hits a button on Nanu's screen then pulls her plug. Nanu doesn't move.
"Neo's out."
Trinity is already at his side, she touches the supplement drive button and Neo's eyes snap open. She eases the plug out of his head, unbuckles his feet, and lowers the chair as he sits up.
"Nanu?" he asks.
"She's out of it," Achi check's the girl's pulse. "Fainted."
"That's twice now," Neo stands carefully. "Take her back to the infirmary. Tank, you'd better get Key." The two Zion-born leave, Achi carrying Nanu.
"Why did you get me out first?" Trinity asks, folding her arms. Neo shrugs, uncomfortable.
"You were close to the phone."
"And I can't fly."
He looks away.
"Just warn me next time, okay?"
"You're not angry?"
"Of course I'm angry," she hears her voice drop several degrees. Tense, she paces, stalking back and forth in the confined space. "Do you know how much I hate you being in there without me? I know you can do whatever you want but I can't help being worried about you." He opens his mouth to speak but she raises her hand to cut him off. She speaks quietly, so that no one else can possibly hear her.
"Nothing you can say can make me feel any different. I just wish this war were over. And you are the most important thing in deciding who's going to win." She stops. "You know that."
"Yes I know that," he speaks in monotone.
"And once Nanu comes round she has to finish her training. She doesn't even know how Agents work yet."
"Alright," he avoids her gaze.
"And, thank you Neo."
"What for?" he looks up.
She gives him the faintest smile; nothing more than a warming in her eyes. There is silence on the empty deck. Trin reaches out, touches his cheek.
"For saving my life again." Then she turns and leaves.
***
Coming soon - The Infirmary