Protector of Men Ch 43
She was taken out soon after that. Cover had decided that her combat was definitely sufficient. She wouldn't need any more – she didn't even need any to begin with. Cover had seen Zandra shot at, and unscathed. He saw her defeat the first agents. He trusted in her. She'd win. She was the One, she had to. Zandra had left fairly quietly, but was stopped by Trim before she could retreat to her bunk.
"Hey, can you do me a favor?" he asked meekly. Zandra considered it before answering.
"Yeah, what?"
"I need someone to hold up my stuff while I check out the heater," he answered, picking up a toolbox from the ground. Zandra accepted it with a grunt – it was a heavy box. She was hastily reminded that in the real world, she wasn't strong. In fact, she was probably weaker than almost anyone else on the ship. But she shouldered the weight, not wanting to be embarrassed. Trim led her down the dark hallways of the ship, and through a door labeled 'Mechanical'.
"If you can just stay down there," he asked politely, pointing to a spot on the ground, "I'll be up there." He then pointed up the wall to a large machine, next to it was a ladder that Trim started to clamber up.
"Okay," Zandra answered, a little confused. What was he doing again?
"Ah, can you hand me a two-load wrench?" he asked, taking a panel off of the big machine. It was fairly big, and Trim had to shift all of his weight to be able to hoist it off of the wall. He dropped it off the platform he stood on, and it landed with a loud clunk.
"What was that?"
"Two load wrench?" he repeated, "It's silver with a rectangle handle."
Zandra rummaged through the box, looking for the tool. It took her a few moments, and Trim was about to describe it again when she pulled it out in triumph.
"Here," she said slowly, getting up to hand it to him. He thanked her and went to pulling off the second layer of the machine's protection.
"What have you done today?" he asked, meddling with the wrench.
"Ah," she replied, "More agent training."
Trim nodded in silence while continuing to work. "Why?"
"New agents," she replied.
"Hell," he continued, "If you're getting training for them, I should just stop going in."
Zandra snorted. "I just wasn't sure."
Trim was quiet as he continued to work. Zandra's comment had struck a nasty chord that reverberated in his mind. She didn't feel comfortable? He was suddenly getting the feeling that maybe going into the matrix wasn't as great as he originally thought. His enjoyment of it had been fleeting enough – he was only allowed to go in once Alias had been injured, and now – only a few weeks later – it was so dangerous that he might not want to go in. He was back to feeling almost useless again, but at least he could work on the ship.
He finished taking off the inner protection and pushed it aside, revealing the inner workings of Purgatory's heaters. Trim looked around for a second, then recoiled in surprise.
"There's nothing wrong with this," he commented, scratching his neck with his wrench.
"What?"
"The coils are fine," he told her, a look of confusion on his face.
"She did say the coils were fried, didn't she?"
"Alias?"
"Yeah."
Zandra was having trouble recalling what she had said.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Hm." Trim tapped the wrench against his chin in thought.
"I guess it could have been an easy mistake," he added with a shrug. He rummaged around some more, and recoiled again.
"What?" Zandra asked. Trim looked at her in wonder.
"It's still been on, too," he answered. Zandra blinked.
"I guess it hasn't been that cold," she said quietly, halfway to herself. Trim nodded.
"Well I guess that's it then," he said, putting on the covers again. He came down from the ladder and took the toolbox from Zandra.
"I'll put these away, can you tell Cover that heat is on?"
"Yeah,"
"Thanks," he replied with a gracious smile, and left. Zandra went off to find Cover. He was in the cockpit.
"Trim says heat is up," she told him. He gave her a look of confusion.
"He said it was never down to begin with," she continued. Cover sighed, then nodded.
"Keep that quiet," he told her. Zandra knew what he meant. He sighed again.
"Did the Oracle see you?" he asked, turning towards her. She nodded. He motioned for her to sit down next to him, and she took his offer. The seat was unforgiving.
"What did she say?" he asked. Zandra waited a second before responding.
"She was very cryptic."
"She tends to be, I hear."
Zandra took a second again to regroup. Even she wasn't quite sure what the Oracle had told her.
"She mainly talked about Stephen. Tevy. How it changed things."
It was Cover's turn to digest the words that now hung in the air. They both looked down for a moment, but then Cover looked back up.
"She talked about something else?"
"Merovingian," she said, almost posing it as a question. Cover's brows furrowed in thought.
"She said he would contact us, but that we shouldn't listen. She said he was dangerous."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"That was all?"
"Yeah…" came her slow reply. She was staring off into space, and Cover knew that something more was on her mind.
"What?" he asked her, curious.
"Nothing," she replied slowly, still staring off into space, "It just seemed very strange. I don't know if I believe her."
Cover nodded again, but didn't respond. He was a little bit suspicious that the reason why Zandra didn't trust the lady was only because of Tevy's death. Zandra suddenly spoke again.
"I wish," she started, shaking her head in frustration, "I wish Neo would show up."
Cover was quiet. Again.
"I want to search for him," She told him, now looking him fiercely in the eye. Cover held her gaze, and nodded once. He then got up and led her into the main deck again, where Kesia was at the computers. She smiled when they entered, though it was weak.
"Zandra's going in for the informant," Cover told her, a hand on Zandra's shoulder. It was a fatherly thing to do, and neither of them realized the meaning of it. Kesia nodded, and Cover turned to Zandra.
"You are going in for direction, but nothing more," he told her, "Don't lose your life for it."
Zandra nodded, a bit perplexed by his sudden seriousness. Nonetheless, she went to her chair and strapped herself in for the trip.
"Same place?" Kesia asked. Zandra nodded.
"Be careful then," she added before turning back to the computers. Zandra sighed. She didn't even flinch when the needle went in. Everything went dark, and then faded back in. She was all the way back in the slums. Zandra had the feeling that she was beginning to go in circles – Neo, the Oracle, death, the Oracle, Neo…
"I'm in."
