Chapter Seven.
The seven people and programmes sat around the table at dinner sipping, a whitish grey consistency that tasted truly of nothing. Kamador, Martyn, Boone, Olivio, Boekbhav, Lorelai and Sanitea all ate in deep conversation.
"So Kamador, why were you in the matrix?" Lorelai questioned him, raising her eyebrows.
"No real reason. I just went to see if any agents were lurking around, which they seemed to be. I heard from another ship that for some strange reason they have started to occupy certain parts of the matrix more heavily. Including the building, where the old Oracle used to be situated."
"Stupid old bag! Why bother going there Kamador? She was the silliest bitch of them all and she was half the reason that this war spun out of control and killed Neo and the others in the first place." Biblioboone spat, disgusted with the mentioning of the oracle.
"Well for some reason they are guarding that building. Probably their new headquarters or something. I'm not sure. So now when ever anyone goes into the matrix, everyone be especially careful. An agent could be just under your nose."
The irony in this last sentence made Sanitea giggle under her breath. Her eyes darted this way and that. She saw her face in the spoon she was eating with and every now and then she saw the face of Smith leering back at her with his menacing eyes. She had to tell them. But then could she be sure? Was she sure? He was like a ghost haunting her ever since the crash in the control room. For now she wouldn't say anything. She finished her last mouthful of food and got gingerly up from the table and excused herself.
Suddenly she blanked out, but kept walking. She could hear a whispered song drifting through her. She peered at the monitor with the dazzling code flickering down the screen like a sheet of hail. With every lyric of this song, she shuddered. Then a soft piano entered and a clap of thunder overwrote it for a second. She saw Smith's face in the reflection of the emerald code and her skin went cold and the haunting song continued.
"Where
has my heart gone
an uneven trade for the real world
oh I...
I
want to go back to
Believing in everything and knowing nothing at
all"
She heard the ghostly whisper sing to her. The melody of the song pursued her and as she swayed this way and that, her lips curled into a crooked smile and in front of her mind, a picture of Smith flickered and no more did he seem so sinister. She embraced him and the picture stayed there.
The Titanoleon light flickered a little and failed to illuminate the room totally. Sanitea walked down the passage slowly and turned into her cabin, forever smiling as the horrific parasite, took her over, with slow pain ebbing at her mind, taking her into a world where there was no return.
Back in the dining quarters, no one had seen Sanitea quietly slip out of the room and had ceased to talk about the oracle under Boone's strict orders.
"So when will we be ready for take off?" Boekbhav asked her captain.
"Straight after dinner." Kamador replied.
"Great. Now we can really se what this puppy can do." Olivio screeched, glancing at Boone with a look that said 'now let's see who's so great.'
The group took their last mouthfuls of the meal and proceeded to the main deck, where the lights had blown.
"Oh great ship, even the basic electrics aren't working!" Olivio shouted, looking over at Boone. "This is useless, I mean, how do you expect to master inter-dimensional travel with a ship that can't even handle a few lighting circuits."
"Oh do shut up Ollie." Martyn countered. The whole deck was silent and then the group heard a quiet humming. A small tune coming from Sanitea's room. It flowed right through the deck and the lights flickered back on.
"Don't worry; she's just humming some song she probably heard." Boekbhav said.
Everyone got in his or her seats apart from Olivio, who stared down the hallway, listening to the tune, wondering where she had heard it before. A chill travelled her body and as the ship lifted off the ground, she sat down too for comfort. Although she knew she closer to home than she had been in a long time, she felt the isolation of the matrix smother her just as the soothing melody of Sanitea's hum had taken the breath from her lungs.
Titanoleon hovered off the ground and as they slowly drifted into the gate leading down to the other side of the tunnel, Sanitea's humming ceased. It was quiet on deck. Not silent. Just quiet, for the matrix that hailed down on the screen made the computers hum too, like a chorus of under-screeching that only she, Olivio, seemed to hear. She closed her eyes and the terror began.