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 most sincere 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 not only welcome, but encouraged.
Synthesis
---------
06
"What happened?" Quantum demanded as he paced back and forth beside the
medical slab Chisa lay on. Cray busied himself beside the table. Chisa
now recognized his thin face as one of those floating above her when she'd
first escaped the Matrix.
"I don't know. I was in the Matrix. I don't know how I got there. I
thought that there was no connection during training."
"There wasn't! We were cracked!" Beta said with some heat.
"Silence!" Quantum cut him off. "You keep quiet! I want to hear her
version of events."
"I'm telling the truth," Chisa said, suddenly tired. It was obvious
that he didn't believe her. Perhaps if she told him about the Goddess...
but no. He could easily claim the Goddess was an Agent or some other AI
construct manipulating her. He could claim that Chisa was conspiring
against them.
Ultimately, there was no way to prove that the Goddess was not using
Chisa. If they found her body, took her out of the Matrix... but somehow
Chisa didn't think the Goddess was human at all. She only knew that she
couldn't be an enemy. It had been too easy for her to crack into 'Iroul's
system. She didn't need Chisa for anything, if she was that powerful.
"All right." Quantum stood there, massaging his temples, looking as
weary as she felt. "Until we find a defense against this, no more
training runs. Perhaps they were testing a new method to bring us back to
the Matrix. The more I consider their motives, the more terrifying the
implications get. We've got to shut down until we can be assured of our
safety." He pointed a finger at Chisa.
"This means no contact with the Matrix. Understood?"
"Understood." Chisa answered, emotionless. She had the feeling that if
the Goddess wanted them back in the Matrix, simply keeping away from the
terminals wasn't going to help.
Agent Adams stood against the telephone pole, staring straight ahead.
He thought about the conversation he'd just had with Agent White. If he
truly was in contact with someone like that...
Agent Adams shivered. He'd gained much data on human mythology during
his existence in this Matrix. He wondered if Agent White had felt
anything, meeting his Creator.
So many webs... But what Agent White had said made sense. The Knights
were no longer an option. He adjusted his dark suit and peered around the
pole. The girl was walking slowly towards him. She looked up at him.
Her eyes were wide and frightened.
She ran past him without a word.
The electronic eye roved over the bridge. It cycled through the camera
modes. The picture defocused, focused again, then went to infrared.
Quantum's body suddenly glowed red and yellow against the cool metal
background.
The camera zoomed in on Chisa's face.
The electronic eye roved over the bridge. It cycled through the camera
modes. The picture defocused, focused again, then went to infrared.
Quantum's body suddenly glowed red and yellow against the cool metal
background.
The camera zoomed in on Chisa's face.
"So that really wasn't you that we saw at Cyberia last night?" Alice
asked curiously. Lain shook her head.
"Cyberia?" she asked, numb.
"We went there last night for the first time," said one of the girls
who had been walking with Alice. Lain remembered she'd been the first one
to receive mail from Chisa.
"It wasn't anything special," the third girl shrugged. She tossed her
long hair over her shoulder disdainfully.
"You were nervous," Alice said with a sly smile.
"Did you receive any more e-mail?" Lain asked the first girl. What was
her name again? Juri? Yes, that was it.
"Mail?" Juri asked, puzzled.
"From Chisa," Lain elaborated.
"Why, are you still getting that prank mail?" Alice asked.
"I was just curious..." Lain looked down.
"See, she does look just like that girl. Where were you last night,
Lain?" the third girl scrutinized her closely.
"I was..."
"Forget it, Reika! We already determined it wasn't Lain. The girl was
wearing a skimpy dress and had an awful temper," Alice interjected.
"I suppose... she didn't act like you at all, Lain," Reika said
doubtfully.
"I have an idea!" Juri smiled. "Why don't we take Lain there tonight?"
She turned back to Lain. "You never know -- you might change if you went
to the club. Scary!"
"Well... it wasn't her. She won't become some other person at the club,
she's not Dr. Jekyll," Alice said. "But I think it will be good for you,
Lain. You might become more outgoing.
"It will be fun," she added as they entered school grounds. Lain
followed, wondering if this would turn out to be such a good idea.
The boy's hands shook. He backpedalled away from her, into the shadows
of the alley, his arms automatically coming up to shield his face.
Through his Accela-modified perceptions, she moved so very slowly, almost
glowing in the over-bright light of the sun. The dull roar of traffic
receded into silence as his mind focussed on her.
"I don't want to..." he moaned.
"Come on," she said, a persuasive smile on her face. She moved towards
him and he flinched, his back suddenly flat against the cold concrete of
the wall behind him.
"I..." he collapsed and her arms snaked around him, held him close as
his body convulsed with his sobs. An eternity later, he looked up into
her face, his own stained with tears, dirt and mucus. She was smiling, as
radiant as an angel.
"Here," Lain said gently and pushed the gun into his hand.
---
Joanne Wojtysiak joanna@cs.ualberta.ca
"Before God and the bus driver we are all equal."