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| "Go Therefore and Make Disciples" Part 2 |
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"Go Therefore and Make Disciples" Part 2 By: Gershom Wetzel I remember when I was unplugged. I was far younger than these two girls, only five. You might be wondering how I knew I was going to become a preacher at so young an age. At the age of five, memories are so few. And memories within the Matrix often cannot be trusted. But for all the impressions I have jettisoned over the last two decades in the Real World, only one has remained intact, unmarred. I would say it haunts me, but not in a horrific or malicious way. My "father" was very involved in church, himself at one time a missionary. His heart was very intuned to the Message of Hope that Jesus is. And as my father's son, I was raised under the canopy of my father's beliefs. One Sunday afternoon on the playground, I was scolded for hitting one of my playmates. My father took me aside and looked deep into my eyes. Not with the sword of anger coloring his hazel intensity. It was more like glass. I could see into him. "Son, you are an example. Your friends are watching you." He took a breathe. "Be a good example to them." As I stood in the little warehouse room, I wondered, what shall I teach Mystic and Flash first? "Okay, they're out." Laz began closing out his scopes. Core was already on a phone to Tap on the other side. "Operator." "Take us home," Core said. The phone on the desk rang and we logged off one at a time. In minutes my team had exited. I was last out. When my eyes opened, I was aboard my ship, "The Solomon." Mark III hovercrafts were the vehicle of choice among the ranks of the resistance. I was fortunate, no, blessed enough to be dealt one in as good a working order as it was. In the cockpit, Wrench had already brought us around to intercept the trace signal of the first of the girls. We found Flash floating in an opal cesspool far beneath the power plant. We would likely find Mystic nearby. I wrapped a headset around my ear. "Tap, how we doing?" "A little lower." Wrench brought The Solomon down. A moment later, Tap reported, "Got her. Where's the other one?" "Gimme a minute," Wrench replied, checking his instruments. "Time is running out," Tap said. "Rushing me won't save her any quicker." Wrench had a point. "Electro-magnteic pulse on-line," Star said as she joined us. I heard the familiar snap of the cover as she armed the weapon. The Sentinels that patrol the network of tunnels and sewers rarely ventured into their own structures. They obviously had humans figured for a bunch of cowards. But I preferred not to under-estimate the enemy. Better safe than sorry. In no time at all, we'd spotted her and brought her aboard. "Take care of things here," I said to Star as I passed the EMP station. "I'll see to our guests." Tap and Core had carried them to the medical room and already begun to doctor them up. Laz came below and dimmed the lighting over the tables. As with all other humans that have come from a power plant, their heads were bald and their bodies riddled with life support and construct interface ports on the arms, along the spines, and most importantly at theback of the skull. Tap worked fast to disinfect the skin around the ports, while Core bandaged their eyes with a flimsey gauze. Intense light was required to finish the more meticulous work, and unfortunately, it could be damaging to their frail eyes. Once they were shielded properly, Laz brought the worklights up again. Finch had a seat on an empty table. "I had to give them a sedative for the trauma." Tap fixed me with a brutal stare. "What have we done?" "Exactly what we were supposed to do." My voice held up an edge of determination, of belief. "They will be fine." He shook his head and went back to work. I saw Mystic's right hand twitch and trace the table at her fingertips. She mumbled something unintelligable. "It won't be overnight," Core said. "I know," I replied, barely above a whisper. I stepped away from the tables and cupped a hand over my ear as I spoke into the headset. "Wrench, status." "We're clear." "Good work. See if you can find us a haven for the night." "Roger that." "Finch, come with me. We'll give them Vec and Pandora's old cabin." On the fourth day, Mystic was strong enought to sit up. I insisted that her eyes remained bandaged. She wasn't too happy. "What for?!" "It's better if you take it slow." "Where are we? What did you do to us?!" She was still very weak, but there was no mistaking the will of her spirit. "Patience. I will explain everything in due time. Right now, you're only concern is to rest. The next few days will be very tiring for you." "But, I, I have things to do tomorrow at-" "Not anymore, hun," Finch said flatly. "Dair ain't no gowin' back wunce yuh unplug." I shushed him with a hand on his shoulder and eye contact. I leaned close to Mystic's face and took a breathe to let her know I was there. "Mystic, what Finch means is your old life does not exist anymore. There's too much to explain right now, but if you'll wait, I can show you soon enough. Are you hungry?" There was no response. She appeared to have died in the time it took my to explain Finch's statement, but that was not the case. What I was saying made no sense to her, especially blinded as she was by the gauze. Faith was something Mystic was not accustomed to. Her connection to reality was fully reliant on her senses to feed her information. Learning to trust would be difficult for her. I was about to turn to Flash when I saw the gauze around Mystic's eyes dampen slightly. My heart ached with her's and I slid my hand over the fist she had balled up. Flash recovered surprisingly faster than Mystic. By a couple days. So I took her into the construct program first. By the time Mystic was strong enough to leave the medical bed, Flash had already begun her operator's training. To this day I thank God it happened this way. Seeing Flash actively engaging herself in our daily routine must have been like chicken soup to Mystic, enough that she was able to filter through her emotions to the new world that unfolded around her. "So why don't the machines kill us off instead of flushing us. You know, liquify us and recycle us?" "You were only part way through the process. We intercepted you before you got that far." "Oh." The shock and relief that attacked Flash's expression were clearly visible. She smiled weakly. "Thanks, I think." "Are you ready to try again?" "Yeah." We stood atop a skyscraper overlooking a forest of glass and steel that spanned to the horizon in all directions. A simulation of Los Angeles. "Remember, gravity doesn't have to exist in the Matrix...if you don't want it to." Flash took three of the most meticulous steps I have ever beheld, then her body dipped, and she launched herself off the edge of the building. Into a high arc. And landed on another rooftop a good twenty meters away. "Bravo!" The others must have been cheering too. "Preach, Mystic's coming down." "Good." Moments later, Mystic stepped up to her first "jump program" experience. I took a few moments coaching her, then joined Flash on the rooftop across the street. Flash leaned my way slightly. "Think she'll make it?" "She'll be fine if she doesn't. You?" She shrugged. Ah, the running start. Classic first option for the novice. Mystic fell a full fifty stories to land on a cartoony rubber road as so many have done before. Flash and I stepped off the edge and joined our fallen companion below. Mystic was spewing curses into the air that we heard long before we reached her. "You knew!" Flash was chuckling behind a pinched grin. "Stop it! Its not funny!" "You wish to try again then?" Mystic shut up. She glanced at Flash who in turn steered her gaze over to me. "Well, no. Not really. I mean, I guess I could." I looked up. "Reload." We were on the rooftop yet again. "The key here, Mystic, is believing in what you believe to be impossible. You don't believe anyone could make this jump. But I tell you it happens all the time around here. Show her, Flash." Without a word, and with as much grace as wordlessness is silent, Flash bounded over the previous building to a lower landing. Mystic gasped. The amazement of the young has always fascinated me. They respond like children. Children can believe anything. The impossible. The improbable. There is no difference to a child. Once they are amazed, they become invincible. "Believe...like a child believes, Mysty." She fell again. And again. And many more times after that. Weeks passed. While Flash climbed to the upper echilons in the jump program, succeeding through rain, gunfire, and many other challenges, Mystic grew in her operator's training and pilot skills. Both of them progressed comparably in hand-to-hand combat and firearms, to the point that Core was begging me to have them both on his fireteam as alternates so he could do more field work with Finch. Which brought other agendas to light from the rest of the crew. Wrench wanted a back-up pilot so he could train more often. Star had her sights set on a sparing partner or two. But once my decision was made, it all boiled down to one question: "Why not?" "I didn't say no. I said, 'we'll see,' and we'll leave it at that for now. Core, I don't know yet where they will fit in, and my mind is not made up about any one position at this time. That answer is the same for any of you. We are very blessed to have Mystic and Flash in our ranks. They will be a great benefit to our Cause and to this crew." I stood in the operations deck in front of the others. In front of my flock. My small church. "Remember that we are committed to extend the Hope of Zion to others. Even our own, whom we work alongside. We are a team. A family. What you do to one, you do to the rest of us. My actions, yours. Every one of them makes a difference. On this ship, we will serve each other for Zion's sake. Anyone who wishes to do otherwise can pack up. We'll drop you at the nearest sewage junction. Time is short. And we need to be together on this." Solemn nods all around sent a wave of commitment through the ship. Later that same day, Wrench called me to the cockpit. "What is it?" "Another ship." "It's one of ours." I hunched over the radar globe. "Looks that way. The Nebuchad-" "-Nezzar." "They're hailing us." "...is the Nebuchadnezzar, identify yourself. Repeat, this is..." I switched on the recognizer beacon and the com. "This is the Solomon. That you, Morpheus?" "Yes. Good to hear your voice, my friend." I couldn't help but smile. I felt a surge of anticipation charge through my nerves. But I tried to remain casual as I spoke. "Word has it you've found...him." I watched through the viewplate as the other hovercraft thrummed into view. "Indeed." A few minutes later, Morpheus came aboard. I met him at an aft hatchway, and embraced my successful friend. "Good to see you. Its been too long." "You seem well." "I am. Let me introduce you to my newest crew." Morpheus was quite taken by Mystic and Flash, with the confidence they projected so openly. "A pleasure to meet you both." He turned to me. "I'm afraid we have little time for pleasantries, Preacher. Neo is ready to move against the machines now. But there is much that needs to be done before we can have any hope of success." I nodded in agreement. "Suggestions." "We need to find a way to move in and out of the system as easily as Sentient Agents do. And we need to rectify the limitations that our EMPs pose on our dial-up to the Matrix. Neo is working from within. He needs us to be working from without." "You have our full resources at your disposal." "I knew you would be ready." He allowed himself a hint of a smile, tempering his expression, but I knew Morpheus better than the others. His eyes betrayed his nonchalant manner. He was about as fired up as they get. I turned to my crew. "Alright, people. The order has been given. Its time to turn the tide in our favor." (to be continued) Click here to go on to "Go Therefore and Make Disciples-Part 3" |
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