The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the
question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth. ~ Pierre Abelard
Yes I know they probably have torches and portable lights, so that they could do stuff themselves, but go with the flow.
I woke up the next morning to total darkness, at first I thought it was just me so I slipped the goggles down around my neck. After my eyes adjusted I realised that the lights had gone out, then I thought that maybe they had turned them off to conserve energy. I got up and headed for the main deck, I could see things quite clearly now. Before I got to the top of the ladder I could hear Roland, Mauser and AK talking.
"We need that power back on now. The last thing we need is to get caught by sentinels." Roland was saying.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Power went out, everything's down." AK replied.
"I know this is probably a stupid question, but why are you all standing up here when you could be fixing it?" I asked. So sue me, I'd never had to fix anything but my own computer before.
"Because it's dark and we can't see what we need to do." Mauser replied, somewhat sarcastically.
"Oh, if you tell me where it is and how to fix...umm...whatever it is that's wrong, I'll go do it." I offered.
"How are you supposed to do that?" Roland asked.
"Because I can apparently see in the dark. That gives me a slight advantage here."
"Okay, Mauser tell her what needs to be done." Roland ordered.
"The main power is behind the Matrix monitors, it's got a cover over it that needs to be unscrewed." Mauser said. I waited for a moment.
"And...the screwdriver would be where exactly?"
"Here it is." AK held up the needed tool and I took it. Then went over to the wall and started unscrewing, the cover clanged to the floor.
"Okay, bunch of various switches and wires, what now?" I asked.
"Flick down the switch that's third from the left." Mauser said.
"Okay...nothing's happening."
"I know. There's a wire that needs replacing, there should be three tied up together. I want you to remove the yellow one and replace it." He said.
"That's not going to work, I need precise instructions, Mauser."
"What do you mean?"
"To can't tell which one is the yellow wire. To see colour you need light. I have in my hand a bunch of grey wires of varying different shades."
"It's the one tied with red and gree...oh." He paused for a moment.
"Wait yellow is a bright colour, right?"
"I suppose so, yeah." He answered.
"I need a wire cutter, or something." I said.
"There's a kit on the floor near you." Roland said. I searched through it until I found what I was looking for. I quickly cut out the light coloured wire and started working on putting in a new one.
"Okay, done it."
"Alright now flick the switch back up." Mauser said.
"Here's hoping I didn't screw up and that we're not all going to go KABOOM!" I said, and hit the switch. Bright light flooded the main deck, blinding me and even though I closed my seconds after the light came on, my eyes burned like someone had poured acid in them. I lurched away from the panel, my hands rubbing furiously at my eyes and tripping over things as I went. I crashed into someone, but because of the pain in my eyes I didn't know who it was. Whoever they were grabbed my hands and pulled them away from my watering eyes.
"Don't, Silver. That will just make them worse." AK's voice said. Worse? How the hell could it get any worse? I thought.
"AK, get her down to the infirmary." Roland said.
"Yes, sir. That looks bad." AK said.
"Thanks, AK. That makes me feel a lot better." I said painfully, as he led me away. Down in the infirmary Maggie checked my eyes, put in some eye drops and put a bandage on them.
"You'll have to leave that on for a few days." Maggie said. Great, I get to go back to being blind for a while. I thought to myself.
"AK, captain wants you back on the main deck, they're going in." Maggie said.
"Okay. I'll see you later, Silver." He said. At least one of us gets to see, I thought. Yes, I'll admit I was pissed off, even though I had to use goggles I had been getting used to seeing things again.
I now stood on the main deck, pretending that I was being useful. I didn't want to take Maggie's advice and go back to my room. So instead I hovered behind AK, listening to him tapping keys.
"Shit!" The word exploded from AK.
"Captain, you got agents after you. I have an exit, turn left next corner, it's the house on your right."
(Roland's POV)
(Note from author: Yes I love changing POV, gets you all confused...just wish I didn't confuse myself so much doing it)
We ran around the corner and then I saw the house AK meant, painted white with panelling down the side, with a wild cherry tree in the front garden. I raced across the grass, Colt right behind me, I shot the door handle and shoved the door open. We could hear the distant sound of a phone ringing upstairs, I took the stairs two at a time. As I reached the top I saw a woman come out of one room, obviously on her way to answer the phone. She obviously heard us because she turned around, I noticed she was naked from the waist up, I pulled my eyes away reluctantly from her bared chest and focused on the task at hand. I raised my gun to shoot her, but her brown eyes met mine and I couldn't bring myself to do it.
"Where's the phone?" I snapped. She pointed with one trembling hand, down the hallway.
"Move, Colt." I said. Colt slipped around from behind me, he to had a pistol in his hand and he was keeping a close watch on the woman.
"Go back into that room and lock the door." I ordered the woman. She nodded and moved off quickly, tripping over a mat on the way. The door closed quietly and I heard the click as a lock was turned. The phone sat on a small pastel pink table; Colt reached down to pick up the phone and disappeared. I moved to the table and hung the phone back in its cradle. It rang again and I was just reaching for it when a pair of feet pounded up the stairs, I whirled gun coming up again, I fired off a number of shots, but the agent moved fluidly out of their way.
"Goddammit!" I muttered, quickly slapping a new clip into the gun.
(Silvers POV)
"Just pick up the phone." AK half murmured to himself. Colt crowded in behind me.
"Shit!"
"What is it?" Colt asked.
"They got him. He's still alive, but they're moving him." AK replied.
"Fuck!" Colt snapped.
"Should we go back in?" AK asked him. Colt looked indecisive for a moment, then nodded.
"Get Maggie up here, we're going to try and get him back." He said. As soon as Maggie arrived they were both plugged back in. They were back in the same house that Colt had just left, they could hear someone; presumably the woman, muttering behind the locked door. Colt picked up the phone.
"We're in. Which way?" He said, picking up the gun that Roland had been using.
"They were moving, but now they've disappeared. Last place I picked him up was three streets over." AK told him. I tapped AK on the shoulder, trying to get his attention.
"I can help." I said.
"Not now, Silver." He said.
"No, seriously I can help. Colt has his gun, I can use that to see whatever the captains seeing, same as I could when I touched him." I told him. There was silence for a moment, and then he started speaking again.
"Colt, Silver's going in. She can tell you more about where Roland is. Over here." He grabbed my arm and started leading me in the direction of one of the chairs. I sat down and he shoved one of those spikes into my head.
"Okay, she's here." Colt's voice said. I turned my head in his direction, and held out my hand to take the gun. As soon as I had it, I could see whatever it was Roland was seeing. Come on; look at something that will tell me where you are. I thought.
"Bancroft street." I told them.
"AK, says that the Ajax and Gaze are in here, they're going to help us out." Colt said. Maggie put my hand on her elbow and we hurried in the direction of Bancroft Street, me giving them directions to where Roland was. I could hear an engine idling.
"They're here already." Maggie said.
"What's going on, Colt?" A man asked.
"Agents have the captain in there. We need to get him out, but we have to make sure we're not seen."
"He's on his own, they've just left him. Third door just inside. Now's your chance to do it." I said.
"What...? Colt, who's this?" The man asked.
"Silver this is Ajax, captain of the Icarus. Ajax this is Silver, she's the one who woke herself up from the Matrix a few days ago." Colt quickly said.
"We don't have time for this. I think they've given him some kind of drug, his vision is getting all weird." I said.
"Get in the car, Silver. Maggie go with her, have the car ready for when we get out. We'll go get him." Colt instructed.
"No problem, someone just point me in the right direction of the car." I said. Maggie guided me over and put my hands on the car.
"Right here." She said.
"Great, go have some fun." I told them as I got in, Maggie got in after me. And the others went off to play their little game of who's the toughest man. Maggie got behind the wheel, just as I heard gunshots. Maggie made an 'oof' sound.
"Maggie?" I asked. There was no answer; I reached over to where she had been supposed to be sitting next to me. I felt up her body, looking for her neck to check her pulse, feeling the wetness of blood along the way, but there was still a pulse.
"Shit!" I swore loudly. I didn't even know where the gunshots had come from. I quickly dragged her into the back seat and climbed into the front myself. Doors opened and the sound of people getting in, and dragging someone, presumably Roland with them.
"Drive!" That was Ajax, speaking from right next to me. The blind girl saves the day, I thought. Almost laughing, it was something my brother used to say to me, before he died.
"Wait, Ajax, no she-" Colt was cut off as I slammed my foot down on the pedal and the car shot forward. I turned my head slightly.
"Give me your hand." I told Ajax.
"What? Why?" He asked.
"Just do it!" I snapped. He grabbed my hand and instantly I could see the road, I veered just in time to avoid a parked car. Ajax turned to look into the back seat.
"Keep your eyes on the road!" I yelled. His head turned to look at me, then back to the road.
"I'm not sure if I want to know what's going on." He mumbled. I could hear Colt laughing from the backseat.
"You're getaway driver is blind, Ajax. Good job, Silver." He patted me on the shoulder. Was the acceptance? I wondered. From there it was a simple task of getting to the exit and back to the ship.
Yes I know they probably have torches and portable lights, so that they could do stuff themselves, but go with the flow.
I woke up the next morning to total darkness, at first I thought it was just me so I slipped the goggles down around my neck. After my eyes adjusted I realised that the lights had gone out, then I thought that maybe they had turned them off to conserve energy. I got up and headed for the main deck, I could see things quite clearly now. Before I got to the top of the ladder I could hear Roland, Mauser and AK talking.
"We need that power back on now. The last thing we need is to get caught by sentinels." Roland was saying.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Power went out, everything's down." AK replied.
"I know this is probably a stupid question, but why are you all standing up here when you could be fixing it?" I asked. So sue me, I'd never had to fix anything but my own computer before.
"Because it's dark and we can't see what we need to do." Mauser replied, somewhat sarcastically.
"Oh, if you tell me where it is and how to fix...umm...whatever it is that's wrong, I'll go do it." I offered.
"How are you supposed to do that?" Roland asked.
"Because I can apparently see in the dark. That gives me a slight advantage here."
"Okay, Mauser tell her what needs to be done." Roland ordered.
"The main power is behind the Matrix monitors, it's got a cover over it that needs to be unscrewed." Mauser said. I waited for a moment.
"And...the screwdriver would be where exactly?"
"Here it is." AK held up the needed tool and I took it. Then went over to the wall and started unscrewing, the cover clanged to the floor.
"Okay, bunch of various switches and wires, what now?" I asked.
"Flick down the switch that's third from the left." Mauser said.
"Okay...nothing's happening."
"I know. There's a wire that needs replacing, there should be three tied up together. I want you to remove the yellow one and replace it." He said.
"That's not going to work, I need precise instructions, Mauser."
"What do you mean?"
"To can't tell which one is the yellow wire. To see colour you need light. I have in my hand a bunch of grey wires of varying different shades."
"It's the one tied with red and gree...oh." He paused for a moment.
"Wait yellow is a bright colour, right?"
"I suppose so, yeah." He answered.
"I need a wire cutter, or something." I said.
"There's a kit on the floor near you." Roland said. I searched through it until I found what I was looking for. I quickly cut out the light coloured wire and started working on putting in a new one.
"Okay, done it."
"Alright now flick the switch back up." Mauser said.
"Here's hoping I didn't screw up and that we're not all going to go KABOOM!" I said, and hit the switch. Bright light flooded the main deck, blinding me and even though I closed my seconds after the light came on, my eyes burned like someone had poured acid in them. I lurched away from the panel, my hands rubbing furiously at my eyes and tripping over things as I went. I crashed into someone, but because of the pain in my eyes I didn't know who it was. Whoever they were grabbed my hands and pulled them away from my watering eyes.
"Don't, Silver. That will just make them worse." AK's voice said. Worse? How the hell could it get any worse? I thought.
"AK, get her down to the infirmary." Roland said.
"Yes, sir. That looks bad." AK said.
"Thanks, AK. That makes me feel a lot better." I said painfully, as he led me away. Down in the infirmary Maggie checked my eyes, put in some eye drops and put a bandage on them.
"You'll have to leave that on for a few days." Maggie said. Great, I get to go back to being blind for a while. I thought to myself.
"AK, captain wants you back on the main deck, they're going in." Maggie said.
"Okay. I'll see you later, Silver." He said. At least one of us gets to see, I thought. Yes, I'll admit I was pissed off, even though I had to use goggles I had been getting used to seeing things again.
I now stood on the main deck, pretending that I was being useful. I didn't want to take Maggie's advice and go back to my room. So instead I hovered behind AK, listening to him tapping keys.
"Shit!" The word exploded from AK.
"Captain, you got agents after you. I have an exit, turn left next corner, it's the house on your right."
(Roland's POV)
(Note from author: Yes I love changing POV, gets you all confused...just wish I didn't confuse myself so much doing it)
We ran around the corner and then I saw the house AK meant, painted white with panelling down the side, with a wild cherry tree in the front garden. I raced across the grass, Colt right behind me, I shot the door handle and shoved the door open. We could hear the distant sound of a phone ringing upstairs, I took the stairs two at a time. As I reached the top I saw a woman come out of one room, obviously on her way to answer the phone. She obviously heard us because she turned around, I noticed she was naked from the waist up, I pulled my eyes away reluctantly from her bared chest and focused on the task at hand. I raised my gun to shoot her, but her brown eyes met mine and I couldn't bring myself to do it.
"Where's the phone?" I snapped. She pointed with one trembling hand, down the hallway.
"Move, Colt." I said. Colt slipped around from behind me, he to had a pistol in his hand and he was keeping a close watch on the woman.
"Go back into that room and lock the door." I ordered the woman. She nodded and moved off quickly, tripping over a mat on the way. The door closed quietly and I heard the click as a lock was turned. The phone sat on a small pastel pink table; Colt reached down to pick up the phone and disappeared. I moved to the table and hung the phone back in its cradle. It rang again and I was just reaching for it when a pair of feet pounded up the stairs, I whirled gun coming up again, I fired off a number of shots, but the agent moved fluidly out of their way.
"Goddammit!" I muttered, quickly slapping a new clip into the gun.
(Silvers POV)
"Just pick up the phone." AK half murmured to himself. Colt crowded in behind me.
"Shit!"
"What is it?" Colt asked.
"They got him. He's still alive, but they're moving him." AK replied.
"Fuck!" Colt snapped.
"Should we go back in?" AK asked him. Colt looked indecisive for a moment, then nodded.
"Get Maggie up here, we're going to try and get him back." He said. As soon as Maggie arrived they were both plugged back in. They were back in the same house that Colt had just left, they could hear someone; presumably the woman, muttering behind the locked door. Colt picked up the phone.
"We're in. Which way?" He said, picking up the gun that Roland had been using.
"They were moving, but now they've disappeared. Last place I picked him up was three streets over." AK told him. I tapped AK on the shoulder, trying to get his attention.
"I can help." I said.
"Not now, Silver." He said.
"No, seriously I can help. Colt has his gun, I can use that to see whatever the captains seeing, same as I could when I touched him." I told him. There was silence for a moment, and then he started speaking again.
"Colt, Silver's going in. She can tell you more about where Roland is. Over here." He grabbed my arm and started leading me in the direction of one of the chairs. I sat down and he shoved one of those spikes into my head.
"Okay, she's here." Colt's voice said. I turned my head in his direction, and held out my hand to take the gun. As soon as I had it, I could see whatever it was Roland was seeing. Come on; look at something that will tell me where you are. I thought.
"Bancroft street." I told them.
"AK, says that the Ajax and Gaze are in here, they're going to help us out." Colt said. Maggie put my hand on her elbow and we hurried in the direction of Bancroft Street, me giving them directions to where Roland was. I could hear an engine idling.
"They're here already." Maggie said.
"What's going on, Colt?" A man asked.
"Agents have the captain in there. We need to get him out, but we have to make sure we're not seen."
"He's on his own, they've just left him. Third door just inside. Now's your chance to do it." I said.
"What...? Colt, who's this?" The man asked.
"Silver this is Ajax, captain of the Icarus. Ajax this is Silver, she's the one who woke herself up from the Matrix a few days ago." Colt quickly said.
"We don't have time for this. I think they've given him some kind of drug, his vision is getting all weird." I said.
"Get in the car, Silver. Maggie go with her, have the car ready for when we get out. We'll go get him." Colt instructed.
"No problem, someone just point me in the right direction of the car." I said. Maggie guided me over and put my hands on the car.
"Right here." She said.
"Great, go have some fun." I told them as I got in, Maggie got in after me. And the others went off to play their little game of who's the toughest man. Maggie got behind the wheel, just as I heard gunshots. Maggie made an 'oof' sound.
"Maggie?" I asked. There was no answer; I reached over to where she had been supposed to be sitting next to me. I felt up her body, looking for her neck to check her pulse, feeling the wetness of blood along the way, but there was still a pulse.
"Shit!" I swore loudly. I didn't even know where the gunshots had come from. I quickly dragged her into the back seat and climbed into the front myself. Doors opened and the sound of people getting in, and dragging someone, presumably Roland with them.
"Drive!" That was Ajax, speaking from right next to me. The blind girl saves the day, I thought. Almost laughing, it was something my brother used to say to me, before he died.
"Wait, Ajax, no she-" Colt was cut off as I slammed my foot down on the pedal and the car shot forward. I turned my head slightly.
"Give me your hand." I told Ajax.
"What? Why?" He asked.
"Just do it!" I snapped. He grabbed my hand and instantly I could see the road, I veered just in time to avoid a parked car. Ajax turned to look into the back seat.
"Keep your eyes on the road!" I yelled. His head turned to look at me, then back to the road.
"I'm not sure if I want to know what's going on." He mumbled. I could hear Colt laughing from the backseat.
"You're getaway driver is blind, Ajax. Good job, Silver." He patted me on the shoulder. Was the acceptance? I wondered. From there it was a simple task of getting to the exit and back to the ship.