Hello everybody, sorry this is a bit late - I am amazed I managed to write anything at all as I've been doing GCSE exams everyday this week and my brain is about to implode. Please review, I like to know what you think :) and thanks for all the reviews so far
See first chapter for disclaimer.
Chapter 16: The Matrix Recoded
A faint noise began to pull me into consciousness. My mind struggled to find my body until I felt a gentle hand on my arm, reminding me where to direct myself as I returned to solid form from floating in an endless dream world. From afar, a hazy voice spoke, but I couldn't make out the words. I moved my lips but wasn't sure what I was trying to say. Finally, I managed to find my eyes and half-open them.
The world was blurred and I couldn't make sense of anything. The voice was becoming clearer and I recognised it, although I couldn't quite remember whom it belonged to. My mind floundered as I tried to sort everything out, the world seeming impossibly complicated.
"Apollo? Apollo?" A bell rang somewhere at the back of my head. Oooh yes – that was my name, wasn't it?
I smiled and rubbed my eyes. Things looked a little clearer and I began to remember who I was and where I was, although what was happening was still beyond me.
"Hello Morpheus," I mumbled, feeling incapable of saying anything more sophisticated. He smiled at me reassuringly.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, setting down a cup on the bedside table. I paused, not sure how to describe it properly with my vocabulary so limited by tiredness. Hannah was the one who did the talking, not me.
"Like I've been asleep for a very, very long time," I said. He laughed softly and replied,
"That's because you have. I was wondering when you'd ever wake up."
"How long?"
"About 26 hours, I'd say. When we got back from the highway you and Artemis went straight to bed and you've been here ever since." My social conscience was telling me I ought to feel embarrassed, but the rest of my mind was advising me not to bother. I pushed myself slowly into a sitting position and looked around. Across the small capsule room, Hannah was starting to show signs of life. Morpheus followed my gaze then turned back to me.
"When you two are ready, come up onto the main deck. There's a lot we need to tell you."
OoOoO
I sat hunched on my chair, staring blankly ahead and spooning grey gloop into my mouth, my jaw moving in a continuous circular motion like a bored cow grazing absent-mindedly. Next to me, Hannah was a perfect reflection. Trinity stopped as she came in and laughed.
"I thought you were supposed to be awake," she teased. We glanced at her from beneath identically raised eyebrows. She just shook her head and sat down by the monitors, leaving the centre seat for Morpheus, who entered just as she had lowered herself into the chair. He looked grim and my concern woke me up properly. I set my bowl and spoon aside and sat up straight, trying to prepare myself for what on earth he could be about to throw at me. Knowing that he wasn't keen on awkward silences, I wasn't taken aback when he plunged straight in.
"While you were asleep we did some research and made some…rather interesting discoveries regarding the Egyptian hackers."
"Really? What did you find out?" Asked Hannah.
"Well we know the link between their names. Haroeris, Harsiesis, Re-Harakhti, Harendotes and Khentekhtay are all different forms of the god Horus. Why Horus, we don't know, but according to our research he was the earliest Egyptian god. Does that mean anything to you?"
Hannah and I shook our heads apologetically.
"We've heard of Horus, but we don't really know anything about him."
"And we can also shed some light on the message you received at school from Harsiesis. Remember, where he told you that it was important to return home before setting out on a journey, and that Romulus and Remus must return to Chiron before they could become Gemini?"
"Oh, that one!"
"Yes. Romulus and Remus are twins – the Roman names for the two stars that form the Gemini constellation. According to Roman mythology, Chiron raised them. Of course the Greeks gave them different names and origins, but they've been ignored."
"But that doesn't explain why we were being told to go home," Hannah pointed out.
"No, it doesn't. We're guessing it's some kind of suggestion that you need to in order to reach your full potential…some reference to Romulus and Remus not being a complete constellation without Chiron…but it's so dubious."
"Dammit! And what about the most recent one?"
"From Khentekhtay? We're pretty sure that when he mentions the Sphinx of Giza, he is referring to the fact that Harmakhis represents Horus on the horizon, in which the Sphinx of Giza is his aspect. We deduced from that the implication that the hackers are 'on the horizon', in other words, imminent."
"You mean they're getting closer? Like, they're gonna come and get us or something?"
"We're not entirely sure. But yes, something along those lines."
"Shit."
"Quite. And he wants to meet us in London. "Artemis' fortress" – Artemis was the Greek goddess of, among other things, the moon. And if you were to look up the meaning of the name 'London', the definition given would be 'fortress of the moon'."
We sighed identical sighs as everything fell into place.
"Of course. It all makes sense now." What had seemed like an endless stream of random information began to piece together, and give us a better view of the situation.
"But this all means that we have very little time. Now that we have interpreted the messages, we need to act upon them as soon as possible."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"What are we gonna do?" Asked Link, speaking for the first time. I hadn't even noticed he was there.
"First we need to decide what do about the message Harsiesis sent to the twins. If they are going to go 'home' we need to decide where that is and whether it's safe and useful for them to go there before we all go to London."
There was a long silence.
"We wouldn't mind going," ventured Hannah. "We could go to Salisbury and see what happens. Who knows, we might find out something useful. The implication that we would benefit was pretty clear, after all."
"Yes, that much is true," agreed Morpheus. He sighed deeply. "Well if you're confident about it, I'm willing to help. Link can keep watch on the code and Trinity and I can be on stand-by to jack in if you need us. I have a feeling it might be best for you to enter alone, something tells me uninvited guests would be unappreciated."
"Sure, yeh. Okay, so when shall we go? We want to get this over and done with as soon as possible, don't we?"
"Yes we do," Trinity suddenly said. She had been so far silent, but I knew she was becoming unbearably impatient to see Neo again. We smiled at her in the most comforting way we could manage, and Hannah added,
"Then we'll go right now."
OoOoO
It was too quiet. Our footsteps echoed noisily around the alley, reflected off the tall industrial-period buildings that closed us in.
How are they gonna know we're here at all? Hannah thought, still worried that without communication, they would never meet us, and the expedition would just prove to be a waste of time. There was a swift noise behind us; we jumped round and whipped our guns out, our eyes wildly scouring the passage for who was following us. But it was just a cat. We breathed and slipped the guns back inside our voluminous coats, feeling slightly shocked at ourselves for being so ready to use them.
Don't worry, Han. If they're that desperate and they've been watching us so closely, they'll know we're here. As if to confirm my statement, a door in the side of one of the buildings opened without warning a few metres ahead of us. We stopped and looked at each other. Shall we? This /is/ what we're here for, after all. But I had to admit, I was apprehensive. I was nervous about meeting these hackers, who had been so elusive for so long. It made us wonder what they were trying to hide.
We stepped forward purposefully, reaching the door to find it led into a very dark space. We couldn't see who had opened the door; it might as well have opened itself. Sensing Hannah's tension, I decided to be the first one in, and tentatively put one foot over the threshold. Nothing grabbed it and no one tried to trip me up so I stepped all the way inside. Hannah followed, sticking close to me, and we tried to make out the room we were in. There was no light on, but the daylight drawn in through the door showed a bare, dusty floor and no furniture to speak of. As we peered into the gloom, the door behind us slammed shut and we were plunged into complete darkness.
Hannah and I clung to each other like a pair of frightened children scared of the dark. But this was real. Somehow, we knew there actually was something evil lurking in the blackness, waiting to strike.
OoOoO
"How are they doing, Link?" Asked Morpheus, standing next to a plug-in chair, just waiting for something to go horribly wrong.
"Fine," came the reply, "they've just gone into a building but it looks safe. There are some people in there but they're in a different room, so…"
"Nothing dangerous?"
"No. Not that I can see, any way. And I can see a lot." They grinned at each other, Morpheus amused that Link still had his sense of humour even at times like these. Trinity was standing next to the desk, re-reading the information on Horus over and over again. It was clear from her face that she was thinking hard. Link looked up at her.
"Found anything new?"
She shook her head, "Not yet. But there's something not right…something I know I haven't noticed yet…I just can't figure out what it is!" She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "It's so frustrating."
There was a pause while Link turned back to the code, and Morpheus withdrew to his own thoughts while Trinity continued to puzzle over the information. Suddenly she gasped.
"I've got it!"
"What? What is it?" Morpheus strode over and stood before her expectantly.
"Oh God…Horus – he's got the Sun and Moon as eyes…"
"And?"
"And, think about it! Apollo and Artemis, the Greek goddesses of the sun and the moon!"
Link looked confused. "I don't get it – he's got the twins as eyes?"
"No, they're what he wants, what he's focused on, and I'll bet he's gonna use them for something - they're not just random people who he wants to meet. And oh shit – asking them to go to Salisbury /on their own/ must be an attempt to get them without us to protect them! Morpheus, we gotta go, it's a trap!"
