Horizon went to the kitchen and got a glass of water. She came back
to where Tank was and sat down. "I don't think I can go back to sleep
tonight. I'll just stay and talk to you."
"It's not that exciting here..."
"I'm not looking for excitement. I'm just trying to find peace of mind. I feel overwhelmed with all of this, it's all just one big mind trip. I miss being in the Matrix sometimes, being oblivious. And that first jump thing... how was I to do that when the man everyone calls 'the One' could not?"
"Not all the questions in the world need answers. It is best to just let some be unanswered. Besides, everyone fails the first jump, you failed it."
"But I was close, too close."
"Just calm down about it, girl. You're getting worked up about it and it's not making things better."
They sat in silence for a half hour or so, Tank just watching the coded Matrix and drinking some weird substance. Horizon finished her glass of water, but she was afraid of sleep now. She went and got some more water and sat back down. Tank began coughing these raspy, hacking coughs. "Are you okay? Here, take this." Horizon offered him her water. He declined.
"Oh, I'll be fine."
He went back to his job, but Horizon studied him. There was a rip in his shirt and she could see, through it, a terrible wound trying to heal. "What's that?" She asked and pointed to it.
"Well, a former crewmember here, Cypher. He killed my brother, Dozer, and did this to me."
"Yeah, I heard about that. Trinity told me. I think it's very lucky you could survive. If you hadn't, everyone here would be dead."
"I guess you could say that."
"That injury doesn't look like it's healing well."
"No, it's probably not. We don't have very good medicine on the ship, but Zion has medicine to cure everything."
"What about AIDS or cancer?"
"We developed a cure for cancer a hundred years or so ago, but AIDS doesn't exist anymore. It finally disappeared a few decades ago."
"That's very interesting, but what are you going to do about your injury?"
"It's most likely infected because of the lack of medicine here, but we'll be able to get to Zion in time to get it the proper care. I'll be fine."
"How long to we have until we get to Zion?"
"We got knocked off course into your world, and we had to remain there because we had problems with our ship. If we hadn't had problems, we would have freed all of you sooner. We just got out of your world a few hours ago, in fact. So, if I'm right, we'll be at Zion in a little over a week."
"That's great. I can't wait to see Zion."
"Me either. I think I've spent more time on this ship than in Zion my entire life, and I was born there!"
"Is Zion nice?"
"As nice as it gets in this earth. It's not what you're used to. What can you expect when you're living underground? Truthfully, I've never seen the sky."
"Do you have a family?"
Tank looked away. He seemed saddened by the thought. "Well, my father was freed from the Matrix when he was twenty years old. He used to be a captain of this ship. Then, with his crew, he helped free Morpheus in childhood, and later Trinity. He met my mother in Zion, she was born there. Then they married and had my brother Dozer, my sister Zee, and me. My father died when this ship was attacked by squiddies one time."
"Squiddies?"
"You know those sentinel things people talk about? Those look like squid, so thus we call them squiddies."
"Oh yeah! I saw one when I awoke in my Matrix womb!"
"So you know... Anyways, my father died, and it was devastating. My mother eventually died because she couldn't go on anymore. So it was just my siblings and I. Dozer and I became part of the crew on this ship while Zee stayed in Zion, and you know what happened after that."
"That's very sad, Tank."
"Well, life is never really that happy, Horizon. But when we finally beat those machines, we'll all be rejoicing. All we have to do is try to get through the next day."
"It's not that exciting here..."
"I'm not looking for excitement. I'm just trying to find peace of mind. I feel overwhelmed with all of this, it's all just one big mind trip. I miss being in the Matrix sometimes, being oblivious. And that first jump thing... how was I to do that when the man everyone calls 'the One' could not?"
"Not all the questions in the world need answers. It is best to just let some be unanswered. Besides, everyone fails the first jump, you failed it."
"But I was close, too close."
"Just calm down about it, girl. You're getting worked up about it and it's not making things better."
They sat in silence for a half hour or so, Tank just watching the coded Matrix and drinking some weird substance. Horizon finished her glass of water, but she was afraid of sleep now. She went and got some more water and sat back down. Tank began coughing these raspy, hacking coughs. "Are you okay? Here, take this." Horizon offered him her water. He declined.
"Oh, I'll be fine."
He went back to his job, but Horizon studied him. There was a rip in his shirt and she could see, through it, a terrible wound trying to heal. "What's that?" She asked and pointed to it.
"Well, a former crewmember here, Cypher. He killed my brother, Dozer, and did this to me."
"Yeah, I heard about that. Trinity told me. I think it's very lucky you could survive. If you hadn't, everyone here would be dead."
"I guess you could say that."
"That injury doesn't look like it's healing well."
"No, it's probably not. We don't have very good medicine on the ship, but Zion has medicine to cure everything."
"What about AIDS or cancer?"
"We developed a cure for cancer a hundred years or so ago, but AIDS doesn't exist anymore. It finally disappeared a few decades ago."
"That's very interesting, but what are you going to do about your injury?"
"It's most likely infected because of the lack of medicine here, but we'll be able to get to Zion in time to get it the proper care. I'll be fine."
"How long to we have until we get to Zion?"
"We got knocked off course into your world, and we had to remain there because we had problems with our ship. If we hadn't had problems, we would have freed all of you sooner. We just got out of your world a few hours ago, in fact. So, if I'm right, we'll be at Zion in a little over a week."
"That's great. I can't wait to see Zion."
"Me either. I think I've spent more time on this ship than in Zion my entire life, and I was born there!"
"Is Zion nice?"
"As nice as it gets in this earth. It's not what you're used to. What can you expect when you're living underground? Truthfully, I've never seen the sky."
"Do you have a family?"
Tank looked away. He seemed saddened by the thought. "Well, my father was freed from the Matrix when he was twenty years old. He used to be a captain of this ship. Then, with his crew, he helped free Morpheus in childhood, and later Trinity. He met my mother in Zion, she was born there. Then they married and had my brother Dozer, my sister Zee, and me. My father died when this ship was attacked by squiddies one time."
"Squiddies?"
"You know those sentinel things people talk about? Those look like squid, so thus we call them squiddies."
"Oh yeah! I saw one when I awoke in my Matrix womb!"
"So you know... Anyways, my father died, and it was devastating. My mother eventually died because she couldn't go on anymore. So it was just my siblings and I. Dozer and I became part of the crew on this ship while Zee stayed in Zion, and you know what happened after that."
"That's very sad, Tank."
"Well, life is never really that happy, Horizon. But when we finally beat those machines, we'll all be rejoicing. All we have to do is try to get through the next day."