All characters belong to their respective creators and anyone else who paid
for the rights. Suing me is a waste of effort, because I am making no money
from this. Besides -- isn't imitation the sincerest form of flattery?
Many thanks to Balto & Shades of Cyberia Cafe
(http://members.tripod.com/cyberiacafe/) whose Lain script translations I am
surreptitiously pirating.
This fic is archived at http://ugweb.cs.ualberta.ca/~joanna/prose.html
C&C is not only welcome, but encouraged.
Synthesis
---------
04
"We have a surprise for you," Sync told Chisa as she set down a bundle of
metal scraps beside the terminal.
"What is it?" Chisa asked. Sync smiled mysteriously. "I won't have to
help you and Beta disassemble some piece of junk you fished out of the
water, will I?"
"You looked like you enjoyed yourself, last time."
Chisa wordlessly held up her bandaged hand.
"Point taken. No, this surprise is really good. You'll like it," Sync
assured her, clearing the various widgets away from the terminal. She
turned to look at Beta who had silently appeared at her shoulder.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Ready for what?" Chisa countered.
"This," he said, holding a disk up to the light. The optical surface
glinted within the plastic casing. "You get to start your Matrix training
today."
"Come this way," Sync pulled her to her feet. "Beta's going to be your
operator, but I'll be watching."
"Do the others know?" Chisa asked.
"Of course. We wouldn't do it otherwise," Beta sat down at the terminal.
"Quantum's online to watch for trouble."
Sync buckled Chisa into the access chair.
"Get ready for a wild ride," she warned.
"What am I going to learn?" Chisa asked.
"Combat skills... technical skills... basic know-how on getting in and
out of the Matrix and surviving to tell the tale," Beta quipped. "Here it
comes..."
Chisa found herself standing on the roof of a building. *Where have I
seen this before?* she thought happily as she stepped off the ledge.
Although she floated in darkness, she could feel the change coming.
Ripples not of her design were washing across the Matrix and across her
own frame of reference. Still not quite awake... but not oblivious. Her
dreams had become very lucid of late.
She kicked upwards towards the wall of 'water' where she knew the Matrix
began. It was time to move.
"Where is she?" Cat asked tersely, sliding into the chair behind
Quantum.
"I don't know! One nanosecond she's in the jump program, about to hit
the asphalt, the next nanosecond she's gone! Without a trace!" Quantum
punched the keys violently.
"But she's still alive."
"Yes. She's still alive. I've got Sync watching her vital signs until
Cray gets here. Beta's still trying to run a trace on her," Quantum
scowled. "If we get sentinels..."
"I know. She's as good as dead. Keep trying," Cat sighed. She looked
towards the access chair where Chisa's body lay bonelessly. The system
should have been secure -- they hadn't even been trying to connect to the
Matrix.
What could have possibly gone wrong?
Lain's gaze suddenly jerked up from the sidewalk she had been
contemplating. Walking home. Always the same street, the same bright,
blinding light and shifting shadows. The hum of power lines.
Except, there was a small figure standing beside the thick wooden pole.
Lain squinted, trying to see it more clearly. Was that her school
uniform?
"Chisa-chan?" Lain called, her heart almost stopping in her breast.
Chisa smiled. She was surprised at how happy she was to see Lain's
face again, in the warm, bright, familiar sunlight. Her throat closed up
as she reached out to the only girl she could consider a friend.
The street vanished in a swirl of colours.
Lain watched Chisa's form spiral away, leaving only the empty street
behind.
"Wait!" she called out.
Chisa's fingers met something solid. She opened her eyes and found
herself gazing into a familiar face.
"Welcome back, young one," the Goddess said. "There is much to see,
and far too little time to absorb it all."
"Where are we going?" Chisa asked.
"There is no 'where'. But in your frame of reference, you'd call it
Cyberia."
"Cyberia..." Chisa repeated. "I've heard of it."
"Well?"
"Her brain is still working, if that's what you mean. She's out in the
Matrix somewhere." Cray shrugged as he put his instruments away.
"There's nothing I can do until her mind returns."
"How did she get out into the Matrix?" Quantum paced.
"We'll worry about it when we get her back safely," Cat said.
"I'll worry about it now, thank you," Quantum turned back to the
terminal and sat down. He resumed typing at a furious pace.
---
Joanne Wojtysiak joanna@cs.ualberta.ca
"Spam the torpedoes, full steam ahead!"
- Bill Livingston, SPAM MSTing