"Not wanting to sound downbeat," says Ariadne, "but that didn't go well just now. How much worse will it be without surprise, AND with Jericho being backed by Melitus' goons?"
Meanwhile, Finn has contacted the Shez, and the coding routine to observe Melitus' lair is being transmitted to that ship.
-
"Trouble is, we can't rescue any of them without their help," Marduk is saying to Barb, San and Cloud.
"It will be a lot worse, I am sure, Ariadne," Mors replies. "We need a good plan to get our friends out of there. It would be easier if our allies knew we were coming for them. They think we are dead, since Dallas told them so in order to trick Captain Jericho. That is a factor."
"We should somehow try to communicate with them..."
"Bad idea," says Dallas. "They are in extreme danger right now and we need to hold off talking to them as long as possible.
(The Shez and Percy are now linked over the comm so everyone can talk as if in the same group)
"At some point we'll have to talk to them otherwise no rescue is possible," says Marduk. "But it is hard to know who to trust. Ariadne, I think you should brief those who just returned on the nature of Melitus' lair."
"Well, as for the others..." says Ariadne. "That's... hard to tell. Castor, Rade and Azrael are in the most trouble. Go see."
You can check their physical bodies on the ships. Their neurokinetics are off the scale. Their physiological readings are near maximum- as if they are currently sprinting a marathon. And their actual bodies are ever so slightly convulsing, almost vibrating, as if being electrocuted.
"Ain't normal, whatever it is," says Dallas.
Ariadne spins around in her chair.
"I have identified where you went when you disappeared out of view after going through that door," she says. "Technically speaking, you remained inside the factory. Thing is, the inside of that factory doesn't actually correspond to its outside analogue. The code is seriously screwed over; it is pretty much dimensionally trascendental."
"She means it is bigger on the inside than the outside," says Dallas.
"Yeah," says Ariadne. "So the inside of most of that factory doesn't really conenct with any other part of it. Or really with each other. Umm... it's kinda complex. But the most important thing is the interface that takes you in and out of there- the door on the upper level that leads inside, that we lost contact with you when you went through? Well, that's the transcendental interface. Ypu perceive it like a door, but it isn't really one- even less so than a normal Matrix door. You could break it down, but there would be nothing behind it. It is the protusion into the mainstream of the Matrix of a link into Melitus' area that can ONLY be established internally."
"Which is to say..." says Dallas. "That door can only be opened from the inside."