Chapter 3
The Truth
While Faith and Frost slept the crew went about their usual duties. After only two days Faith awoke.
"Where am I?" She croaked.
Metal clanked against metal, "Shesh, girl, you scared me." Roin sighed. "How do you feel?"
"My eyes hurt and I can't move."
"Don't try to, your eyes hurt, because you've never used them before. Now that's enough of a brainteaser for today. Go back to sleep."
"Can I know where I am?"
"You're on the Apollo's Chariot."
"Thank you," she sighed as she fell back to sleep.
A few more days passed before Faith awoke again. Everything was hazy, she rubbed her eyes and the face in front of her became clearer. It was so familiar.
"Faith."
She slid up into a sitting position. She looked down to see a wire attached to her arm. Her eyes popped open wide. "Get it out." The person's hand reached out and gently grabbed her right arm. It felt uncomfortable to have the wire taken out. Faith rubbed the plug.
"Who are you?"
"My name's Twitch. I was in the car earlier."
"The guy with the gun."
"Yeah, you want to get some breakfast?"
"Sure."
Frost awoke feeling dizzy. He sat up quickly and cursed himself for the head rush he received for doing so. The door to the room opened and a man with red hair, dressed in shabby gray clothes walked in.
"Welcome to the real world, vampire."
"Who are you, where am I?"
"My name is Oz, you're on board the Apollo's Chariot." He reached over Frost and grasped his right arm. Oz pulled the wire out. "You won't need that anymore."
"The man said doing this would give me more power, so why do I feel like crap."
"Frost, is it? Jacked in you were a vampire, but here you are human."
"No." Frost said disgustedly.
"Come on, you need to see the truth." Oz opened the door.
Frost and Faith found themselves lying in chairs that reminded Faith of the dentist, minus the straps. She heard a familiar voice fighting with Twitch as El strapped Frost down.
"He wants you to go in." Twitch said.
"Why?"
"You said you know her."
"Not in the friendly way."
"It doesn't matter."
"Fine!"
Twitch walked over and helped whoever it was on a chair.
"But you're coming too." The person said.
El leaned over Faith. "This is going to feel a little weird." Faith gasped and she opened her eyes, everything was white. Suddenly like the blink of an eye Frost appeared, then Twitch, and then Oz.
"Oz, what?"
"Hello, Faith. I was hoping to avoid you until you were more adjusted, but the captain had other plans." Oz said. "Frost, Faith, we unjacked you, because a war is coming and we need warriors to help fight. Both of you are like me, what we consider changelings. Right now we are in a computer program. This is the construct we can load everything from training programs to weapons, vehicles, and clothes. If you haven't noticed before your hair is different, the plugs are gone, your clothes…" As he spoke Faith looked herself over and touched her hair.
"We're in a fucking computer?" Frost asked interrupting Oz, and received a confused glare from Faith.
"Yes," Twitch replied. "The world you know isn't real, your life, your past, it's all a lie."
Suddenly a television appeared before them.
"This going to sound harsh, but I promise you, it is the truth." Oz said as the TV flicked on. "Sometime during the 21st century AI was created." Faith seemed confused. "AI, Artificial Intelligence, the perfect machine, too perfect, no one sure who struck first, but a war broke out. We don't know much about what happened, but we do know that we are the ones who knocked out the sun." Oz gestured upwards. The two looked around; they were surrounded by gray rocks and a dark sky overhead. "In the end we lost and became their slaves." The TV screen switched to the massive field of pods. "Humans are no longer born, we are grown. The dead is liquefied to feed the young." The screen changed to a baby in a pod covered in wires. "It's all to change human into this, (he held up a size D battery) a power source for them. What is the Matrix? Control."
Faith couldn't believe it, yet a small part of her could. She'd seen enough crap in her life to understand.
Frost started to laugh, "this is bull shit."
"Is it, how do you explain it?"
"What?"
"The fact that you can't go out in sunlight." Oz said. "They are controlling you."
"No," Frost said. "I am a vampire, the top of the food chain!" He looked around and saw white as far as the eyes could see. "Get me out! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" He yelled.
Frost jumped out of the chair the second El unstrapped him. He tackled Oz as he stood up. "I'm powerful, no one controls, Deacon Frost! No one!"
Oz pushed Frost off him so hard that Frost's head hit a piece of machinery and was knocked out. He stood and looked at Faith. "Are you okay?"
"I knew." She whispered.
"What?" Twitch asked sitting up.
"When I was in a coma after Buffy (she put her right arm over hr stomach), I saw things. When T woke up I thought it was all a nightmare, But I saw the fields. I…"
"It's okay, you don't have to talk." Twitch said.
"I need to lay down."
"I'll take you." Twitch said, as he led her away.
"I have work to do." Oz said leaving the room.
The next day Frost was awoken by El. "Hey, wake up, today is training day."
"Fuck off!" Frost said rolling over.
El slammed the door and opened it again. "You think you're so tough. I bet you can't even take me."
Frost sat up. "What?"
"Get some training, then I'll kick your ass."
Frost stood up and looked her up and down. "Who's for breakfast?"
She pushed him away. "You wish." She walked to the door. "Are you coming or what?" He followed her to the mess hall, where everyone, but Twitch are eating. "I guess you haven't met everyone yet." El said as Frost took a seat next to Faith. "That's Kale, with the cornrows and her twin, Ivy with the long braid. They both double as pilot and operator. Roin's the ship's doctor. You met Oz, he's our weapons expert in the matrix and he operates the ship's guns. Twitch is our engineer and Eyecon is the captain."
Oz put a bowl in front of Frost and another in front of Faith. He handed them each spoons.
Frost wrinkled his nose at it. "What is this?"
"All the proteins, vitamins, and fibers the body needs." Roin explained.
"Otherwise known as goop." Eyecon said walking in. "Who's operating today?"
Kale raised her right hand.
"We have to do them separately or it will crash our system."
"Well, I'll take the first and Ivy can take the second." Kale replied with Ivy nodding her head.
"I'll go second." Faith volunteered.
Kale stood and put her empty bowl in the sink. "Frost, eat up and I'll meet you down there."
He lifted the bowl to his lips and swallowed it in one gulp. "Ewgh." He said, putting the bowl down. Kale leaned over El who was sitting across from him and took his bowl. She started to lead him out.
"Kale," Oz spoke, "when he's done with the basics, give him guns and sword training."
"Cool," Kale replied as she led him out.
Oz turned to Ivy. "Iv, Faith is a slayer, so go over weapons first, if she adapts to them then give her fight styles and gun training."
"Isn't that a little much?" El asked.
"No," Oz looked over at Faith and smiled. "She'll probably eat it all up in a matter of minutes. El, in the matrix slayers are taught various fighting styles and have to be experts in al types of weapons."
Faith blinked, she hadn't expected this kind of treatment from Oz.
"I have to go, that gun needs to be fixed." Oz said, standing.
"Can I join you?" Faith asked.
"Sure," Oz replied is surprise.
When they got to the gun deck, Oz started pulling out tools and set to work as Faith watched.
"Why?" She asked after a few minutes.
"Why what?"
"Why are you being nice?"
"Last night after watching your reaction, I tracked down Giles, tapped a phone line and called him. I told him that you are with me and to tell Buffy not to worry. I asked him why you were released from jail. He told me what you did."
Faith sat back.
Can you hand me the screwdriver?" Oz asked, half bent in front of the gun.
Faith pulled one out of the toolbox and handed it to Oz. "So how long have you been here?"
"Since, (pause) 3 years, I left Sunnydale in the middle of freshman year, because of a werewolf incident. I traveled around a bit. While I was in India, I was at a temple when it was attacked by agents chasing Twitch and another. I was angered by their disrespect so much that I wolfed out. I attacked and killed the agents and every body they possessed. Twitch asked me to join them, but I was afraid. So they gave me a week to decide." Oz paused to test his handy work. The gun rotated easily.
"You went back to Sunnydale, didn't you?"
"I thought maybe if Willow and I could get back together, but…"
"Tara." Faith whispered.
"Yeah, I knew I had lost Willow forever. So I contacted Twitch and have been part of this crew ever since." Oz sat down on the chair in front of the gun and swiveled around to face Faith. "So you're a good guy, now?"
"Yeah, the Angel crew bought Angelus back and broke me out to contain him. I went for another coma trip, this time inside Angel's head. After Angel was brought back, I hightailed to Sunnyhell and helped defeat the first evil."
"Wicked."
"Yeah, I had enough of jail, wanted to fight for something."
"And Frost?"
"If El hadn't shown up, he would be ash right now. Oz, he's a master vamp."
"We can train him, but he'll always want blood. When we get to Zion, I'll introduce you to the other changelings."
"There are more of us?"