Pandora and the Preacher (Baby Blue and El Cid}

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

Preacher moves over to Pandora’s side, bows his head, folds his hands, and begins reciting the Lord’s Prayer. He then moves on to, “God of gentleness and love, We entrust to your care all those in need of any form of healing, and ask you to guide and sustain all who offer them healing and hope. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.” Preacher repeats this three times. The first time he recites this prayer, he begins to sweat. The second, he pales. On the third, he begins to sway a little on his feet.

But Pandora’s brainwaves slow a little more. Her other vitals – heart rate, respiration, oxygen level, blood pressure, temperature, etc – scarcely change at all. But Pandora’s eyes flutter open, and she mumbles weakly though rather vehemently. “What in the frag was that?” She moves as though to sit up, but barely raise her head a half an inch before it falls back to the gurney, leaving her panting. Still, her fingers quest for something… “I have to… I…”

“You have to lie back, be still, and rest, my child,” Preacher says. “You should not presume on God’s mercy by pushing yourself to undo all His good work.”

[archolewa]

{Baby Blue}

"I'm here Pandora, I'm here," says Baby Blue, her voice cracking. She takes Pandora's grasping fingers. "I got you. You're safe. Just take some deep breaths. Breathe. Relax."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“No, no,” Pandora says, squeezing Baby Blue’s fingers with one hand, but still questing with the other. “Where’s my deck, BB?” she asks, though even that much talking winds her. “I need… I don’t…" She has to pause again. "Don’t know… what that… was.” The decker has to stop to catch her breath. “Do know… what it… isn’t." She gasps for breath. "It isn’t Lone Star…” She stops, panting.

Preacher shakes his head. “The last thing you need right now, my child, is to jack back in.” He reaches for an oxygen mask and fits it over Pandora’s mouth and nose. She ineffectually tries to push his hands away with the hand Baby Blue is not holding, but to no avail. “Your friend is right, Pandora. Take some long, slow, deep breaths. The oxygen will help. That’s all this is. Oxygen.”

Pandora stops her useless attempt to fight Preacher off, and the fingers of her free hand go back to searching for her deck.

“You really should stay out of the Matrix until you’ve seen and been cleared by a neurologist, my child,” Preacher says as he adjusts the flow rate on the oxygen. “And then have your cyber-surgeon take a look at your ’ware. If nothing else, your datajack will likely have to be replaced.”

“Frag that,” Pandora argues. “I’ll run… self-diagnostics… and nano-repair…” She has to stop to breathe.

“God grant me patience,” Preacher mutters under his breath. Then, at normal volume, he says, “You are in no shape to use your ware at all, my child, even if it were in peak condition – which it isn’t.”

“Not gonna do… any real decking…” Pandora draws a few deep breaths. “Other than… to find Shadowland… still the same day…" She pauses to gasp for breath. "It’s probably… still where it was… Need to warn…" She pants. "Someone… tell Captain Chaos… at least.” She stops talking for a moment, too exhausted to say anything else.

[Tay-Dor]

[El Cid]

El Cid listens in, but doesn't have the right frame of reference to respond to Pandora's words. He continues keeping an eye on the surroundings just in case. Most of the gangs know and recognize The Preacher's wagon as neutral ground. But there's always some dumb fragger who isn't in the loop.

[archolewa]

{Baby Blue}

"So send him an e-mail," says Baby Blue. "You're not jacking in. Not until you get looked at. I will tie you to the bed if I have to."

She sighs and massages her eyes. "Hopefully by someone who treats their doctor's office like a priest does their confession booth."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“BB, you can’t keep me out of the ’Trix for two months, three weeks, thirteen hours and about 26 minutes. You can’t,” Pandora protests. “And that’s how long it will be before I can safely see a doctor who knows how to treat my condition.”

She sighs. “You just want me to send a message until I can run a diagnostic and look at my gear, fine. But at least let me jack in and do that.”

Preacher keeps out of the conversation, but he keeps a close eye on his patient’s vitals.

[archolewa]

{Baby Blue}

"For the love of God Pandora!" Baby Blue's voice rises, and her eyes get teary. "Do you have any idea what the past hour has been like? I've been a hairsbreadth from having to decide between sending you back to jail and sending you to a morgue. And now, whenever you plug back in, I'll be right back here again, reliving the past, godawful hour, over and over again forever. And that's not even the worst of it! Something weird happened in there. Something you don't understand. Something Preacher doesn't understand. Maybe God was looking after you after all because I'm thinking it's a goddamn miracle you're talking to me right now. I will walk to the Moon to deliver your message if it means you don't jack in. Do it with a computer terminal. Put a letter in the mail. Throw up smoke signals, I don't care. But don't jack in."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

Pandora squeezes Baby Blue’s hand. “You don’t… understand. BB…” the decker says. She tries to roll over onto her side to face Baby Blue, but she slumps back unable to find that much strength. “You’re right, BB… I…” She brings her free hand to her forehead and starts kneading her forehead with her thumb and middle finger. “Ghost… My head is… trying to… shove my brain… through a cheese grater…”

Preacher takes a step closer. Both Baby Blue and El Cid know the motion is probably just to let Pandora know he is there. “If you are hurting, my child,” he says gently. “I can give you something mild for pain. Nothing too strong. I want to see how your brain scans look normally before introducing anything that would impact your frontal cortex too much.”

Pandora swallows hard, as though trying to keep from vomiting. “No… Thank you… Preacher was it?”

“Yes, my child,” Preacher says. “I’m Preacher. Your friends called me to help you.”

“Nothing for pain… until I… talk to someone…” Pandora says. “BB. I… don’t know… what that was… I do know… anyone less… skilled… than me… would be dead.” She closes her unseeing eyes for a few seconds, concentrating on her breathing until her respiration is almost steady. “I’m not… one of the Big 10… I’m not even… Tier 1… Not yet… Maybe if I hadn’t…” She shakes her head, blinking her lids for a few seconds. “But I’m good, BB… Better than… most of Seattle… Frag… Better than… Most of the UCAS… That’s not… Ghost… That’s not bragging… That’s fact.”

“And I was… barely hanging on… That thing… I… Anyone less… would be… dead…. Frag, the officers… using it routinely… might be… at risk… I have to… Tell someone… good enough… to do something…. Shadowland has… a code.”

“Get me to… a terminal, then… Give me a poc sec… something… Before some… joyriding kid… trying to… wipe a parking ticket… dies… Please.”

[archolewa]

{Baby Blue}

Baby Blue sighs and squeezes Pandora's hand. "Like I said, I'll walk to the Moon if I have to to help you get your message out, so long as you don't jack in. Unless Preacher or El Cid have a pocket secretary you can borrow, just give me a second to think."

Baby Blue sifts through her memories of the local neighborhood, trying to recall the closest terminal Pandora could use.

[Charybdis Richelle]

{Baby Blue}

Baby Blue sighs and squeezes Pandora's hand. "Like I said, I'll walk to the Moon if I have to to help you get your message out, so long as you don't jack in. Unless Preacher or El Cid have a pocket secretary you can borrow, just give me a second to think."

Baby Blue sifts through her memories of the local neighborhood, trying to recall the closest terminal Pandora could use.

{GM}

Baby Blue is pretty sure that Pandora could send a message through the main telecom unit at the HQ... or the one at Pandora's apartment. Just because Pandora usually uses her deck doesn't mean she couldn't do it like the rest of you. Also, she could, technically, do it via her phone, though that might be hard to do given her blindness.

[Tay-Dor]

[El Cid]

"Sorry. I hadn't gotten around to picking a Pocket Secretary up yet." El Cid says, "But if you need a message sent to other Deckers, I know one that might be able to relay your message." El Cid shrugs his massive shoulders wishing he could do more.

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“Is he… good enough to… get into… Shadowland,” Pandora asks. “Does he know… how to find it?... If so… that would probably… be better than email… I would… appreciate that… El Cid.”

Watching Pandora’s vitals, Preacher shakes his head. “You really should rest now, my child,” he says. “Save your strength. Your oxygen levels are dropping. Stop talking and take a few deep breaths, please.”

Pandora nods, closes her eyes, and takes a few slow, deep breaths.

[Tay-Dor]

[El Cid]

"She works the shadows." El Cid replies to Pandora. "Give me the message and I'll see if she can deliver it."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“Alright, please tell her… To tell Captain Chaos… Something not… not Lone Star… is in the… Central Seattle… Lone Star well… I don’t… know what it is… It looks like… something out of… out of the Hoarfrost… Let everyone know… No one… less than… Tier 1… should approach it… Quarantine… would be best… I don’t know… if Lone Star… deckers are… at risk too… And tell Captain Chaos… The message… is from… Pandora.” The decker lays back, panting.

[archolewa]

{Baby Blue}

Baby Blue pats Pandora's hand. "Now, you rest Pandora. Don't want another word out of you until Preacher gives the ok."

She gives El Cid a bit of a side-eye. "Did you get all that? I can repeat it if you need to write it down."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{Baby Blue}

Baby Blue pats Pandora's hand. "Now, you rest Pandora. Don't want another word out of you until Preacher gives the ok."

{GM}

“Promise you’ll… wake me… if I get… a reply, BB… And I’ll even… close my eyes… and try to sleep,” Pandora says.

[archolewa]

{Baby Blue}

"I promise."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“Thanks, BB,” Pandora says. Then true to her word, the decker closes her eyes. Almost immediately, both Baby Blue and El Cid can see Pandora’s brainwave pattern on the monitor slip into the early stages of sleep.

Preacher nods. “Best thing for her right now,” he says.

[Tay-Dor]

{Baby Blue}
She gives El Cid a bit of a side-eye. "Did you get all that? I can repeat it if you need to write it down."

[El Cid]

Given the way BB has been acting towards him, El Cid can't decide if she is trying to helpful, or insulting. As tempting as it might be to play into the stereotype of the dumb trog for laughs, this is not the time or place. "I got it, hermana." He replies politely, clearly accepting it as an offer of help. "Gracias."

El Cid takes a few steps away for relative privacy, but still close enough to the others that he can render aid. Activating his wrist phone, he dials the number for Eris.

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

The scene flares to life. El Cid see Eris looks much as she did at their last meeting. Today, she sports a pastel tie-dye tank top with a Neo-A symbol at the center. Beneath that it reads, ‘Without Anarchy, the World Would Be in Chaos.’ Her hair, again, is loose save for two thin braids, one on either side of her face. Behind her, Cid sees a wall of glass behind which swim sharks, salmon, snapper, octopi, and other colorful fish.

“Hoi, El Cid,” Eris says with a bright smile. “’Sup, big guy?”