Sleep and theories

Sirius finally got an hour or so of sleep just as the sun was starting to peek over the horizon. But he was up before he even knew it. Sy was nearly pressed against the wall, but Sirius was pacing. If his floor had been sand he’d be knee deep right now. He was thinking, pacing help him think. He was chewing on one of the chopsticks from an noodle cup from yesterday. Now and then using it to gesture in the air, making little words or numbers then shaking his head. “Kooks…” he muttered.

“Your sleepin’ ‘abits are fucked up, white boy,” Sy said from the bed, not without affection. She’d woken up stuffed into a corner of the bed and had spent the last five minutes observing Sirius pacing back and forth. Now she lay hands behind her head, sheet halfway up her skinny belly, her diminutive breasts on display, her sharply defined ribcage underneath. “Did ya sleep at all?” “Sleep? Some I guess. Restful, no,” he said. She sat up, crossed her legs and limberly spun to a stand before wobbling off the mattress-sized pillow onto the floor. She clapped him on the shoulder, causing him to both stiffen up and jump at the same time, and said: “Thanks again fo’ lettin’ me crash. I ain’t been sleepin’ well. Reckon I needed this.” “Your hands are cold as hell.” he said, “but you’re welcome.” The front door with its myriad of locks loomed behind him ominously. She stared at it for a moment, dropping her arm. “Think it gon’ be safer out right now, y’know, with th’sun up ‘n all?” He pulled some tacks out that were pinning a single black curtain to the wall where the window was, looking outside. “Hard to tell if it’s safe. Looters would have done their job by now and if the cops aren’t patrolling now it’s gonna be soon,” he commented. She nodded. “My thought, too. That cop job we gon’ pull, that still on?” “Maybe we wait a bit longer,” he said. “This cop ain’t going anywhere, plus with no real form of power I can’t do much with the info you’re getting me.” “Y’right about that," she said, a somber note in her voice.

She pulled on her shirt, shivering against its clamminess. “I’m gon’ check the Grid again," she said. “Not gon’ pull data willy-nilly, worrywart. Just gon’ check the activity.” She turned on Heimdall and the blue lines filled her vision, thanking her foresight to not rely on EnCorp only. The Grid seemed a smidge more active today, some power generators had been activated by the looks of it. “Some localized power here ‘n there,” she said. “Spire crawlin’ with scans… That's gon’ fuck with them Neo’s somethin’ fierce… Wait, hang on…” Something had caught her eye. A line of light flickering on and off, coming from above. Every time it hit, the connections in the Grid changed, moved, multiplied. She followed it up, up and up further, until her arm was stretched nearly straight above her. There was a bright point of light, like the brightest star in the sky, hanging directly over the city. And it was transmitting signals. She lowered her arm and turned the display off in one eye. “Somethin’s fuckin’ with the Grid. Signal’s comin’ from orbit. An’ somehow, I don’ think it’s the Hyperion.”

“Makes sense.” he said. “They ain’t the only ones out there no matter what the media tells you.” he started as he began to pace again. “Nu-madon, Black Freight, I could go on but doesn’t matter.” Sirius said. His words slow like he was on another train of thought but still working on answering her questions. “Trouble is none of them would be able to to anything like this. Most of them are just unmanned satellites.” he went on pacing mumbling things to himself. Numbers, random words, single letters. Finally he snapped his fingers. “The train… it was a distraction. Usually they have guards on the roads up to the power station. With the city in chaos people in low traffic areas were sent to help and try to prevent the rioting. Leaving those roads mostly unguarded. Fewer check-points easier to lie their way in, get past get inside, pose as workers and set up the explosives near one of the reactors power rod stations, set it to blow on a power cycle when a rod is exposed, the explosive itself didn’t do the damage...they blew up a rod, the heat would have caused the reactor casing to melt, then the trapped heat from the rods what weren’t cycling exploded. They didn’t mean to blow the whole building. They were ending a message.” Sirius rambled as he started to get dressed, “We need to go… downtown. I have to see the trains crash site.”

“You do that,” Sy said, pulling her pants on. “I got some ideas on improvin’ security on Heimdall. Think I can make the signal untraceable, but I gotta work on it at home. Can’t safely tackle anythin’ Corp related ‘til I do that, an’ we don’ know they ain’t involved in this. If we gon’ go downtown, I wanna be ready fo' anythin’.” She put her boots on and yanked the laces tight. “If ya don’ wanna go withou’ me, you gon’ have to hang round fo’ a bit. Shouldn't take more than a few hours. I’ll be in touch on the burner. Got any new numbers I might need?” “Same number.” he said, “call me as soon as you get your everything and all your stuff together. This wasn’t part of our deal but think I am going to need you on this one.” his voice that carried tones that of someone who would rather work alone but knew he was over his head trying to figure this all out.

“Aight. Thanks again, Sirius. I gon’ head out ‘n see if my buildin’s still standin’. Take care o’yoself. Keep in touch.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and bounced out the door, leaving Sirius standing alone in the uncommonly well-lit apartment.

Once the door closes Sirius re-locked it and put the pins back on the curtin making the room almost and inky black again. Giving himself a hard slap on the face. “We got this.” he mumbled a pep talk. “They can’t hide forever.”