Cloud, sat up, slouching against the wall. “I can’t fight like this…” he said, referring not only to his condition, but also to his techniques.
“There you are!” San and Ares rushed over to him. They helped him to his feet. Cloud looked out at the doorway and spat out some blood, watching several of his comrades shoving Ni Zahn along.
”Good,” Cloud thought, walking slowly forwards. ”At least they caught that b******.”
----------
The teams had each split up into several different cars. Apparently two more of the crew had been sent in to the Matrix as back-up. One of them a crewmate, and very good friend of Cloud’s. His name was Azrael. A good fighter, but he was more philosophical than Cloud could be.
They were on their way to meet some person who supposedly knew Jericho, named Meltius, in the industrial district of the city. Cloud’s head still throbbed, he still wasn’t entirely sure of what was going on. All he knew was that the building before them was a very obscure warehouse compared to the usual variety.
"Woah there pretty-boy. How do we know you are not leading us into a trap." Cloud could hear Burn ask.
Cloud rubbed the back of his head, listening to Ni Zahn’s reply of, "Same reason I know you aren't just going to shoot me anyway when we are done. As in you don't. I guess we will just have to trust each other. I suspect I have more to lose."
He could see Fire calling someone on his phone. Cloud sighed.
“You OK, buddy?” Azrael asked him, seeing how rough Cloud was looking.
“Yeah, the sooner we get out of here the better. Just a little reminder not to be too careless on the battlefield.”
"What the hell do you want?" A guard asked walking up to the group. He looked like a stereotypical criminal.
"I have brought some friends of mine to see Melitus." Ni Zahn replied, cautiously.
The guards looked at the group, and snorted in a kind of 'Yeah, right!' fashion, still, he indicated for the group to follow him inside.
Just inside the entrance there was a pick-up truck. A blonde man was climbing onto it. Armed guards stood by his side. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a cigarette. One of the guards took out a lighter and lit it for him.
"What the hell is this shit, Ni Zhan?" he asked. Eying the group suspiciously.
"Ah, honourable sir, I bring these people to... umm..." says Ni Zhan, as half a dozen guards grouped around him and dragged him away into the darkness of the warehouse.
The blonde man never took his eyes off the group.
"Who the hell are you then? And what do you want here?" said it taking a drag of his cigarette.
"We are looking for Jericho" Fire responded, speaking for the whole group.
"Jericho?" he snorted. "And what business could you possibly have with him?"
"We have some questions for him actually" Fire spoke again, taking command of the situation.
"Oh really?" He asked rhetorically, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I..." The man was then interrupted by his mobile phone ringing. He picked it up.
"Yup? Yup, that's right. Well, ok." Slowly he put the phone away, looking slightly annoyed.
"You guys are to come on up," he said, obviously disappointed that someone had pissed on his fire. "Come with me.”
The building was a huge steelworks, with great machines clattering all around, pouring molten lead, turning out sheets of metal, and bars.
Leading the team across this noisy floor, the blonde man took everyone to a cargo elevator with a grill blocking the entrance, slowly he drew it back, entered, and waited for everyone to follow him in.
"Let's go people" Fire said.
“If you all wish to come…” The man said, everyone followed him in.
As the lift went up Cloud blocked out all outside noise and focused his mind. He pushed back the pain and let out a long breath, taking control of the situation in his own way.
When he opened his eyes again he almost died of shock. He appeared to be in a mansion, the walls and roof were all nicely decorated, such a contrast from where he had just been. He first thought it to be a trick from his head injury, but soon saw everyone else react the same way.
Slowly, the group moved forwards, none of them trusting the strange environment.
They moved into another room, better decorated, the walls were covered in mahogany panels. The door behind them shut and a voice said, "Good evening sirs,"
A man stood before them, quite plainly, a butler, in smart black formalwear, immaculately pressed, with starched white collar.
And on his face, obscuring all his features, was a plain white harlequin mask. His voice sounded somewhat hollow behind it.
"I trust you had a comfortable journey?"
"Journey? Where are we?" Azrael asked.
"Why, you are at the factory, sirs," The Butler replied, "After your journey from Chinatown. I understand you suffered considerable discomfort at the hands of Ni Zhan. On behalf on my master, I apologise profusely."
"Thank you, now can we speak with Jericho?" Fire said.
"Jericho, sirs?" asked the Butler. "I am afraid that Mr. Jericho is not currently on the premises."
“What about Meltius then?” Fire asked
"Of course," said the Butler bowing, "My employer, Melitus. If it would please you to accompany me, I shall take you to him."
The butler led them through a variety of rooms, each better decorated than the last until…they arrived at a pure white room…
"If you would mind waiting here for a few moments," said the butler, moving to the far side of the room.. "The process will be very short."
“Process…?” Cloud asked.
“Yes, my master doesn’t like germs…he is in a very fragile state anyway, so you must all be decontaminated.”
A slow humming sound came on for about a minute and stopped.
“There we are, all done. Now if you’ll follow me.”
They walked through more rooms, Cloud could hear music somewhere close.
“Beethoven?” Burn asked.
“No……….” Cloud said, trying to place it. He had heard it before, just before he had been freed… “Boccherini's Minuet”
As they walked, there was a small string quartet in an alcove playing it. They all wore white face masks. At the far side of the room, four men in green outfits stood, crowded around someone working with some sort of machine. They seemed to be doctors, working on a large metal object…an iron lung.
The doctors moved aside, revealing Meltius. He was affixed to the iron lung. Cloud was surprised, the iron lung was an outdated piece of machinery, used in the early part of the 20th century.
"Ah," The man said. "You are here. Please. if you would...sssssssshhhhhhhhh... move to a place where I can more easily see you, that would be appreciated."
The group moved closer, “Thank you…ssshhhhhhh….Though I am sure my butler has already done so, I must apologise for the actions of Ni Zhan. It was exactly for such reasons that I... sssshhhhhhhh…ceased having dealings with him…”
"Wise decision, if I do say so myself. You seem to be a well informed man, you possibly tell us about Jericho?" Burn asked.
"If you do not mind, before we talk...sssssssssshhhhhhh...business, I shall ask for this to be a private audience.”
His eyes flicked to the Doctors.
"Please leave," he requested. The Doctors gathered up their tools and head for the door.
"All of you," he said. The musicians stopped playing, to Clouds disappointment, packed their instruments, and alongside the Butler left.
"Now, first things first. My name is Melitus. And whom is it I am addressing, may I ask?" he asked, saving his breath until the end of the sentence.
The group each introduced themselves.
"Very well. Now then, what was it you gentlemen wanted to...sssssssshhhhhh...talk to me about?"
“Jericho” Rade stated flatly.