The light comes in through the slight windows, the gaps in the wall really, the infirmary has no real windows, like the rest of Zion I suppose. Mercury isn't here, I can't feel him. Oh gods, what has she done to him? The room is silent, bar my breathing and the background noise that accompanies the running of our city. Oh gods, where is he? Take a deep breath, just try to relax, focus on what's important, what I know for sure. I know that I'm in the infirmary, presumably I haven't left it. I know this is the Real World because of the smell, it smells different from those strange dreams. I know that Mercury isn't here because I can't see, here or feel him. The air is the same as it was before I fell asleep and I know that I can find a drink on the table beside my bed. But that will make me sleep and that means that I won't know if Mercury has left yet. But we're supposed to be on the same ship, with the captain Thanatos. What does that mean? I know it means something. There are footsteps and voices beyond my wall.
"So, do you think she's ready to start onboard?"
"If you take it easy with her and let her complete her basic training at her own pace I don't see why she can't leave tomorrow." That's the nice lady; she is talking to a man.
"That's wonderful Clemency, you've done a brilliant job with her."
"She's a lovely girl and I would hate to see her hurt again."
"I'll take care of her." The man must be Thanatos, my new captain. I wonder if he is as nice as his words.
"Good, why don't you go in and have a chat to her and see if you can get her to open up a bit."
"Where is the boy, Mercury?"
"He's completing final phase training so he'll be useful on the mission." Why does that feel like a bad thing?
"I'll make sure to tell her." There is silence; I think she must be smiling because she rarely is silent, even when there is no need for speech. The door is opening and in he comes. He isn't that scary really.
"Hello Herse."
"Hello Sir."
"Please, call me Thanatos." His smile is kind, but there is something in him that I don't trust, something dark, not like Her, but dark anyway. He smiles a little more.
"Thanatos." The name sounds funny in my voice.
"I see that you've already guessed there is something more to me than this smiling visage you've been presented with." He is not angry, merely acknowledging what we both know. I nod slightly, frowning. He is silent still.
"Sir, Thanatos, why are you here?"
"Cuts right to the chase, as I have been warned." He is laughing at me again, but not mocking, amused instead. This man is very strange. "I need to make sure that you understand why you have been assigned to my ship and not to the Shadow."
"I don't." Surprisingly my voice is steady, my eyes are on his. This is a strong man.
"There have been fears raised about your previous captain and the lengths she is willing to go to for purposes that are not in the best interest of Zion and her citizens." An honest man, good, he might help me.
"You want to know why she kills people."
"Basically, yes. And what she does to those who defy her. You see, you are the first to step forward about her behaviour in the ten years she has been captain. Many other girls have died rather than speak against her. She thinks you're on the Shadow, Mercury too." The truth fails to register for a moment. Why should it profit Zion to make her believe that I'm on the ship of my family? Oh gods, no!
"What have you done?" It comes out as a screeching noise and I can't stay here any longer, I have to get a pack together and get on the next ship out of here. Oh where oh where is Mercury?
"Calm down, everything is going to be alright."
"No it isn't! She's going after them! Don't you see? You've put my family in danger, all bar Mercury, and I am the only one who can save them. Arcane. Oh gods, what's happened to Arcane?"
"Herse, you aren't making sense." He wants to shake me but I don't have time, the floor is cold beneath my feet and the clothes I have are already in a bag. Which ones can I wear out of here? Those will do, best to put them on now, I have no time to spare.
"She's going to get them all, trap them inside and feed them to Agents, one by one, to lure me out. I have to stop her."
"Who are you talking about Herse? Who is 'she'?"
"Helen! Who else would want my father dead?"
"Your father?" He has stopped trying to stop me, standing back and watching. Finally, I can get the last few things.
"He isn't really my father, he's just the only person who has looked out for me like a father should. And Maralah is my sister, or best friend and the others are my siblings too, and I know they are in danger. She is going to kill them unless I do something."
"How do you know this?" Oh dear, he's going to lock me up when he hears this one.
"I've been having dreams that are too real to dismiss, they happen every time I have that nice drink the nice lady brings me and I know what is going to happen and it's always a little further on from the last time I dreamt and I know it sounds crazy, but somehow she is going to get Mercury and we're going to get Arcane and he and I must find a way to save them. He knows it too."
"Who?" This man is very stupid sometimes, especially in times when action is the only course.
"Arcane. He has the dreams too."
"How do you know?"
"His eyes told me when I met him. Just like yours told me there is something dark about you that I don't want to get on the wrong side of." I need to breathe, appear calm. "Can we go now?"
"No."
"But there is no time to spare!"
"In a few hours, yes, but not this instant. Your records need to be transferred, Mercury needs to finish his training…"
"What training?"
"The final stage of simulations."
"What does that involve?" Oh gods, please let this sinking feeling be miss-placed…
"It's an almost identical system to the Matrix, just without the connection to the machine mainframe." No!
"Can it be accessed from broadcast or close to it?"
"Only with the right codes. Where are you going with this?" Rational, calm, that is what this man respects.
"It's too late to save Mercury, she's already got to him. Your techs will find that there isn't a way to safely bring him out, that an outside connection has done something to seal all activation codes for anything involved with the exit or entry of any cerebral connections. That means that something has happened on the Shadow…" A piercing noise comes through the PA system.
"All ship captains report to the committee room, repeat, all captains to the committee room, urgent." His eyes are startled but now he seems to believe me. Please don't let us be too late.
"Once this meeting is over, you need to be ready to leave. What you've said puts you in more danger than we could possibly have imagined. It sounds as though you've seen this before…"
"I would be lying if I made any claims to the contrary. Although, in complete truth, I only heard the dying screams."
"What?"
"She made an adaptation to the standard equipment. There is a sound processor that allows certain ranges of frequency to be broadcast on the ship. It was designed for the human voice and various weapons. A very effective tool."
"Hate is not the strongest weapon," he quotes softly, making his way to the door, eyes still on mine. "People say it is, but it isn't. Fear is much stronger and less fragile." I only nod, knowing that my face is a mask of complete distress, but utter calmness. I wonder how this Thanatos will explain what I have said to Locke. I am undecided whether to drink or not. On one side, I would have more knowledge, on the other, I need to know how right I am and there are still some final things to do before I can go. Like bathe, I feel grimy and there is lovely bathing water here. Mayhap after that I will have some more to drink. But somehow I think that I'll be gone before I get the chance. I am very glad my name is not Cassandra.
A/N: That was a really fun chapter to write, I hope you enjoy your part in the continuation of this story as I do mine! :D
LiMiYa: You are spot on, Herse is dealing with two levels. But since she has already had the experience dealing with the Matrix, she is not so inclined to ask why, thankfully. She's a pretty clever kind of girl, so we'll just have to see how she goes and if she really wants to know where the dreams came from. Truth can be scarier that fiction after all…
AbsolutelyNoSoliciting: Hey there! I wish your computer would stop dying so you didn't need to steal other computers. It really is most inconvenient :p Sorry about the fast pace, but things happen pretty quick in Zion and just because Herse is close enough to comatose most of the time doesn't mean her world stops. I'm very glad you like my story so much, it makes it so much easier to write more. Oh and Harregale has asked me to ask you if you would mind not squeezing so hard, she's still a little tender after discovering that she dies in the epilogue of her story. She was not impressed, but she agreed that if I mentioned her in other stories, like this one, she would forgive me and not riddle my computers with viruses. Isn't she sweet? /Smiles at the girl dressed in Matrix style attire, who glares back/ Anyway, I hope this chapter wasn't too full and you enjoyed it.