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FOLLOW THE NOSFERATU
* CHAPTER 2 * - Lotus
* 2 * - Greetings
POST 008 / NOS / CRYSTAL:
Managing her way quickly to the dock, Crystal finally stopped in front of the huge, old hovercraft.
The dear old Nos... she raised her look at the ship, sighing with a smile. She was a member
of its crew for more than 6 years now, had become deeply attached to the ship, it was her family. A stable point of
her life. Since she had been unplugged, there were two persons that she still had around: Jayman and Nosferatu,
the brave guy. Crewmembers had come and gone, only Jay was the one who has been a stable member of the ship.
"Good morning, dear," Crystal murmured, smiling warmly, staring at the hovercraft. "Nice to see ya again."
Pushing a red lock of hair out of her face, she sighed and made her way onboard.
NOS / CORE / CRYSTAL & HITCHHIKER:
Stepping into the heart of the ship, the familiar jungle of cables, pipes and screens, she noticed a big,
black-skinned man sitting in the operator's chair, busy with some system and programs check. Assuming he might be
Hitchhiker, Kan-chiang's old crewmate and their new operator, Crystal approached him with a friendly smile.
"Hi", she greeted him. "You must be the new operator... Welcome on board. My name is Crystal,
I'm the commander and first officer of the Nos."
With a wide grin, the black man turned in his chair. "Sure am! I'm Hitchhiker, but everyone calls me
Hitch," he said, extending his hand to her.
"Okay, Hitch..." Crystal took and shook his hand, smiling. "Is everything ready to leave?"
After shaking hands, Hitchhiker adjusted his orange cap. "Just waiting for the rest of the crew...
Jayman should be in the cockpit if you need to see him..."
"Thanks," she smiled, glancing at the screens. "Noone else around yet?"
"That's right," Hitch replied. "Do you need anything?"
"Not yet, thanks. I'll consult Jayman first..." She paused for a moment, thinking. "I'm glad to have
you onboard," she noted finally. "Hope we can work together... See ya later."
"I'm sure I will," the new operator grinned.
Crystal smiled back and left to her quarters. Along the familiar, dark and cold corridors, Crystal finally
arrived at the metal door of her quarter.
Her home on the Nos. Opening the door with a squeak, she stepped into the dark, tiny cabin, and dropped her baggage
on the cot. Inhaling the yet chilly air -- the opposite of Zion's warm one -- she listened for a moment to the familiar,
murmuring noise of the engines, the heartbeat of the Nos. Apart from these reassuring hums, no voices and noises were
heard yet. Sighing slightly, Crystal smiled, and decided to see Jayman in the cockpit.
NOS / COCKPIT / CRYSTAL:
Climbing the gun-station stairs to the upper-level catwalks, she walked to the pilot-cabin. Seeing
Jayman leaning back in his chair, deep in his thoughts, she stopped in the doorway, watching him in silence for a few
moments, a smile playing in the corner of her lips.
"Daydreaming?" she asked quizzically, standing still in the doorway.
POST 009 / NOS / CORE / HITCHHIKER:
"Very good," the captain said wearing his black baseball-style cap, "I guess we'll see how it handles her
in the Matrix."
Hitchhiker welcomed the reassuring pat on his back, and grinned. He liked him. Since he first met
Captain Jayman three years ago, he liked him. While he left the Nos before Jay joined the crew, Hitch could see how
Kan-chiang would like him too.
From what Sky and Flicker used to tell Hitch on their occasional visits, Jay exhibited the same drive,
like Kan, to improve himself and help his crewmates, to reach for some so-called standard of excellence, an excellence
that sometimes bordered on obsession. Then again, all captains or future captains seemed to have a loose screw that
bordered on obsession -- the same kind of obsession or demon-possession that sustained their direction, their leadership,
and their endless and insane fight against the Machines.
At least Jay wears a cap!
Hitch smiled to himself, adjusting his own orange cap without realizing it. And over the next half hour,
he verified the new hardware connections from the Core to Miriam's attachment, and programmed the new software
protocols for the Construct to recognize Miriam's re-imaging codes.
NOS / CORE / HITCHHIKER:
"Hope we can work together..." the scarlet-haired commander said a half hour later. "Now I'll go see the
captain... See ya later."
"I'm sure I will," Hitch grinned.
Hitchhiker liked Crystal too. In fact, he was the senior operator when Kan-chiang and Million freed her
from the Matrix. A tall, statuesque, attractive red-head, Crys in many ways reminded him of his wife Million, a younger
version of Million, the Million he first met, on the crew he first joined, twelve years ago.
My first crew, unforgettable... For a couple of others on the ship, THIS will be their first crew.
Rechecking the on-screen Construct protocols, Hitch softly hummed the tune 'Sittin' on the Dock of
the Bay' to himself, just like his father used to do, and waited for the others to board the hovercraft.
POST 010 / ZION / MEDICAL REQUISITION OFFICE / AVALON:
T-MINUS 20 MINUTES
"Concerned, my ass!" Avalon fumed, adjusting her bag. The blonde clerk cowered behind the desk.
"There is a ship leaving port in twenty minutes and I need the supplies now, or there will be difficulties."
The clerk muttered a soft "Yes, ma'am," and scampered to the back to retrieve the syringes that had
been requested two weeks ago, but were not loaded onto the Nosferatu. Looking around the cluttered offices of the
medical group, Avalon reflected on how alike bureacracy was, no matter what reality you were in. She smiled ruefully,
and waited for her supplies.
T-MINUS 15 MINUTES
There were no sounds emanating from the place where the clerk had gone. There was no clerk
emanating from the place she had gone. The scowl deepened on Avalon's face, but in truth, she was grateful for the
delay.
"Oh, God, I don't want to go back on that ship. Too much death, so little life. Why, why, why can't
they just scrap that cursed ship?"
T-MINUS 10 MINUTES
Now burdened with several syringe boxes and her bag, Avalon made her way out of the medical
requisition office, and turned towards the dock.
"I don't know if I can do this anymore..."
POST 011 / ZION / MIRIAM:
Her duffle bag and tool pack slung over her right shoulder, Miriam winded her way through Zion, the last
human city, and her home for almost half of her life. She passed through the dim residential corridors, followed the busy
catwalks, and crossed the even-busier bridge to the enormous central column of elevator banks. Weaving through the
streams of pedestrians, she finally entered an elevator going upwards, and closed her dark-brown eyes.
As the elevator rose to the highest level of the city -- the hovercraft dock -- Miriam reflected on the
promise she just made to little Aaron, to come back soon.
"You promise?" Hitch's son pleaded.
"I promise," she answered and hugged him.
And Miriam remembered a similar promise she made to her twin-brother... ten years ago... as the
final orange-red rays of sunlight vanished over the distant silhouetted hilltops... as the bright fire emanated a soothing
warmth...
"What's going to happen to us?" Miriam softly asked, tucking a few frayed brown curls behind one ear.
"I don't know," Aaron replied. He carefully sprinkled a handful of berries into his sister's cupped hands.
"But if we are to survive, we must stay together... always."
"Always," she whispered.
"Promise?"
"I promise," she answered.
But how can you promise something you can't control?
SQUEAK! CLANK! CLINK! As the elevator doors opened, Miriam opened her eyes, and in the hazy
distance, quickly identified the shape from her old visual files, the familiar shape of her favorite electro-mechanical
whale -- the Nosferatu.
NOS / MIRIAM & HITCHHIKER:
Striding up the loading ramp into its gaping mouth, Miriam found one of the ladders, and climbed to
the main deck. When she turned, she found Hitch where he was born to be, sitting at the operator station.
"Wow," she gasped as she approached the complex array of monitors, "You've already established the
protocols?"
"Of course," Hitch grinned without turning, instantly recognizing her voice. "I told you I was good,
didn't I?"
"Yeah-yeah, about a million times," Miriam inspected the upper-arm attachment, "Not bad...
I just hope your connections don't fry my spinal cord."
POST 012 / ZION / LIBERTAD:
Wandering about, Libertad soon realized she had got somehow lost. She looked around. Nothing apart
from the doors of homes. All of them looked the same to her eyes. She suddenly felt so small, a foreigner in a strange city,
a little kid alone in the middle of a crowd.
"Great," she muttered in an angry way.
She kept wandering, trying to walk back to the elevator. She didn't even now the level she was on.
She felt so stupid. Three years in that city and she still didn't feel like home.
"Marķa Elena, one day you'll forget your head at home," her older sister used to tell her. She just would
go mad at her and tell her sister to shut up. She used to do that, to get angry for anything.
"Now I'm free," she thought, "free to go to that ship and enter the Matrix, where I said to myself I
wouldn't go back. Free to get killed by an agent. Free to break my promises. Who cares anyway? I'm free after all."
After a few minutes, she managed to find the docks and the Nos. She approached shyly and, for a
moment, she was about to turn around and run away. But she finally didn't and she boarded.
NOS / CORE / LIBERTAD:
Libertad climbed the ladder and looked around shyly. There were two people right there.
What to say? She swallowed and looked down.
"Hi," she muttered.
POST 013 / NOS / COCKPIT / JAYMAN:
"Daydreaming?" Crystal asked from the doorway, a slight smile curling her lips.
Gently jolted from the mesmerizing electromagnetic dance of arriving and departing ships, Jayman
blinked and quickly identified the melodic voice of his new commander and first officer, Crystal.
"Not anymore," he chuckled. Glancing at the time -- 0644 -- Jayman rose from his chair and turned to
face Crystal.
"Come on, Crys," he grinned, "it's a quarter to seven. Everyone should be onboard... Let's go meet them."
CATWALKS / JAYMAN:
His boots thumping the deck plating, Captain Jayman exited the cockpit, passed the forward gun
station, and reached the catwalk platform. Clutching the railing, he peered down at the Core and found the others.
Miriam was playing with Hitch's arm-interface contraption, while Libertad was emerging from the loading bay ladder.
For an instant, Jayman flashed back to the "Accident." He and Crystal were only steps behind, when
their captain strode onto the catwalk and in the sudden shriek of twisting metal, Kan-chiang plummeted with the
collapsing grates, crashing rails, and sparking cables.
Down on the main deck, Libertad muttered, "Hi."
And in the next instant, Jayman blinked back to the present.
"Welcome aboard, Libertad," he greeted, touching the bill of his black cap. "Nice to see you, Miriam."
And with another blink, he added, "Where's Avalon?"
POST 014 / NOS / COCKPIT / CRYSTAL:
"Not anymore," Jayman chuckled without facing her.
Crystal smiled broader, still leaning on the doorframe, wondering for a second if he meant his words as
she supposed he did. However, she was glad to hear him laughing, see him acting relaxed after the recent week's events.
It was a good sign.
"I was afraid of life... It was time for me to let go..." she recalled the words he had told her after
Fall's funeral. Now it seemed he could finally get over his previous fears and sorrows, and accept life as it was.
"Come on, Crys," he grinned, turning to her. "it's a quarter to seven. Everyone should be onboard...
Let's go meet them."
Pulling away from her thoughts, Crystal nodded with a smile, and followed him on the way to the deck
below. Reaching the railing of the catwalk platform, as Jayman peered down at the Core, Crystal could sense his sudden
stop for an instant, and knew immediately what he had in his mind.
That tragic day... that they will never forget... that had turned their lives upside-down... had
changed so many things... And had caused so much pain...
With a suppressed sigh, Crystal was almost about to ask Jayman if he was alright, but changed her mind.
She didn't want to push him deeper into the sea of hurting memories, so she rather kept her silence.
Following Jayman's look toward the loading-bay ladder, Crystal saw a young, brown-skinned girl with
long curly black hair, entering the Core.
Somehow familiar...
"Welcome aboard, Libertad," Jayman greeted the girl.
Libertad... the girl they had rescued 3 years ago... It's good to see her after so many years...
Then Jayman turned his look to the athletic-looking girl with curly shoulder-length
brown hair, beside Hitch. "Nice to see you, Miriam."
Crystal studied her for a moment. She looked nice.
If she isn't unbearable and unpredictable, we should get along well.
"Where's Avalon?" Crystal heard Jayman's voice again.
Avalon... another familiar name... returning from her brief stay on Zion... Crystal smiled,
folding her arms. Yeah, the question is sound, there are only ten minutes left till departure... Where is that girl?
POST 015 / NOS / CORE / HITCHHIKER:
As he hummed to himself, Hitch continued his protocol programming. Then from behind him, through
the familiar faint rumbling and rattling of the ship, an unfamiliar female voice filtered into his small ears.
"Hi," the voice muttered.
Turning around, Hitch saw a pleasant-looking young woman with long dark waves of hair. He was just
about to answer her when--
"Welcome aboard, Libertad," Captain Jayman greeted from the catwalks above, then looked to Hitch's
side, "Nice to see you, Miriam." And with a quick scan, he added, "Where's Avalon?"
After a brief pause, the huge operator glanced up and replied, "I haven't seen anyone else, captain.
Want me to go look for her?"
Hitch began to climb out of his chair.
I sure don't want to be in Avalon's shoes right now... whoever she is.
POST 016 / ZION / ELEVATOR / AVALON:
T-MINUS 9 MINUTES
Avalon stared at the dark-haired couple next to her in the elevator. It was like watching an octopus
mating ritual. Shifting her boxes around, Avalon thought about the last time she had engaged in such shenanigans.
How long has it been? Not since Achilles, which would make it several years. Damn. It was hard
finding someone when you're on a ship.
The elevator creaked to a stop, and the doors shuddered open. The couple began to pant. Avalon
stepped out of the elevator and onto the dock.
"If Fall had been here, what wouldn't she have said about that," Avalon said, smiling sadly. She had
liked Fall, especially for her wicked tongue lashings.
Avalon banished the sad thoughts from her mind, and began to walk towards the Nos.
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