Dream Drive Ch. 05

"Looks can be deceiving," Jackson said. "Anyway, here we go." He punched something on his keyboard.

A black box appeared on the screen. It was by far the most unapproachable instance of anything she'd seen concerning his electronic adventures. The field filled with white text that scrolled up rapidly. Another graphical overlay appeared next to it, somehow transforming the churning numbers and symbols into something more intelligible – for Jackson, at least.

The scrolling of the black box halted. The graphical display fell flat. Jackson frowned. "That's weird." He tried a few keys. Nothing changed.

"What is it?" Chaki asked.

"It's not done, but the program stopped. Maybe it crashed?" He entered in a combination of keys pressed together. Nothing happened.

The box began to scroll up, one line at a time.

You
shouldn't have
done that.

Now feel
the malign suggestiveness
of fabulous
Yog-Sothoth

"Holy fuck," Jackson said. He grabbed a desk drawer with both hands and dragged it open.

Meanwhile, the black box was churning again. The monitor flickered and jumped erratically. The steady organization of Jackson's developing program was transformed into some sort of raging beast beating on the inside of the electronics. "What's going on!?"

"I'm getting counter-hacked!" Jackson shouted. He came up for air; a small piece of metal clenched in his fist. "This better fucking work or I am so writing that cock-sucker a bad review." Jackson jammed the metal into a waiting port on the side of the computer.

The white pointer that indicated the position of the mouse turned into an hourglass. It flipped over once. Jackson's fingers rapped against the desk like the sticks of a mad drummer. "Come on, come on!"

A second black box appeared in front of the chaos – empty, silent. Jackson bent over his keyboard and typed so rapidly that his mechanical speed seemed to compete with the computer's fury. Chaki had no concept of what was happening; she could only watch as some vague sort of electric warfare took place in the mysterious eldritch realm Jackson called cyberspace.

After a time, the counter-hacking program froze in place. Jackson sighed and slumped back into his chair. "Holy shit. That almost destroyed my whole computer."

"Can I find out what happened now?" Chaki asked.

Jackson gestured to the strewn wires and plates of his computer. "Basically, I found a security hole in Rachel's public info card. It turns out that was a trap set to lure people in. I stumbled across the tripwire, and it almost annihilated my computer." Jackson tapped the side of his machine fondly. "Luckily, it's not a normal computer."

Chaki looked at his messy construct. "It does have a sort of disorganized charm."

Jackson chuckled. "It's messy because it's more like 27 computers hooked together to share workload. I built it so that they can all operate independently, which is a little less efficient, but more useful. Basically, while the attack was busy taking over the front line, I was able to work from and save the ones in the back."

"How many?" Chaki asked.

"...three."

"So, this Rachel just took over 24 of your computers," Chaki said. "She must be a powerful foe."

"You could say that," Jackson said. "I can clear her influence out eventually. This bad boy just needs to run for a while." Jackson tapped the small nugget he'd plugged in at the last moment.

"What's that?"

"It creates a second security partition between each node in my system," Jackson said. "I already have one, but Rachel's virus was moving like it wasn't even there. This guy is a lot tougher, but it also slows down communication between the nodes as a result."

"It isn't so complicated when you explain it like that," Chaki said. "Just don't start talking about atoms again."

Jackson snorted. "I think I'm good on that for a little while." he slowly swiveled in his chair until he was facing his computer. "More importantly...she must have made that thing herself. I've never seen anything work that fast on something I built. It identified and adjusted itself to my system's architecture."

"What significance does that have?" Chaki asked.

"Computers are all different," Jackson said. "Well, there are the mass-produced ones that most people have, but mine is a custom from-scratch job, so it has all its own little nuances and bugs. Getting it to talk to other computers, so to speak, is a project in and of itself." He looked up at her. "Her virus was better than that. It didn't just figure out how to talk to my computer – it figured out how to break in and take over. Automatically."

Chaki was able to follow the main points. She frowned at Jackson's recovering machine. "Who is she, exactly?"

"No freaking clue," Jackson said. He made a wry expression. "Now I'm paranoid. Maybe she really is related to Charles."

"So," Chaki said. "What now?"

"Normally, I'd want to fix this." Jackson stood. He grabbed Chaki by the shoulders and pulled her into a kiss. Chaki hungrily ate up his attention. His tongue fought to have hers; she turned her head to the side and opened her mouth.

They broke away from each other. Chaki realized she was smiling. "But it's not normally, is it?"

"Nope," Jackson said. "So I'm going to kiss you for a while, because Shaka's not here to hit me with her stick. And then...we're going home."

"Home?" Chaki asked.

"I'm Tatanka Ska, remember?" Jackson said.

Chaki rubbed his shoulders. "I remember."

"Good."

"So," Chaki said, "are you going to stand there, or are you going to kiss me?"

Jackson was on her again in an instant. Their lips locked together. Chaki felt herself being pushed. The back of her legs hit his bedding; she fell onto the mattress. Jackson climbed on top of her and pinned her to the sheets with kisses.

She felt him in their bond, a combination of ice-steel, marked with rust, and a core of glowing lava. And the heat kept increasing, and coldness was washed away, until the steel glowed red and looked about to swallow her up.

His hands were under her baggy hoodie. One of them rubbed her stomach; the other clawed for a grip on her clothes. He started to tug it up over her head.

"Jackson."

He paused. "Yeah?"

"I thought...we were going to wait."

"...then what's with your leg?" he asked.

Chaki blinked for a moment, and then she realized that one of her legs was up and wrapped around his waist. When had she done that? "Um...well. Shaka –"

"Isn't here."

"It's not proper."

"I still gotta punish you for all that teasing."

Chaki flashed him a tight smile, but it faded fast. "...no, it didn't. But you aren't sure if you'll marry me, yet. I should say, Jackson, that I was wrong to push that on you. To consider it some sort of forgone conclusion without first really knowing how you felt..." Chaki felt a pained frown on her face. "When I say it like that, I feel like such a fool."

Jackson's face sobered. He shifted above her slightly, putting his weight on his elbows. His green eyes watched her, looking for something. She didn't know what.

"I'm not sure that either of us are in the right state of mind for a relationship, anymore," he said. Jackson's words started slow, and then built in force. "But I'm really, really tired of trying to figure myself out. I'm tired to being stuck in my head. I want you, I want to be with you, and if for some reason you're crazy enough to want me back when you pretty much know me then I'm just going to run with it."

Chaki felt the strangest lump in her throat. She tried to swallow, but she could only smile; she was stuck in a smile, trapped by how happy she felt. She couldn't have made another expression if she tried.

Jackson trailed the back of his fingers down her cheek. "We have to exchange gifts, right?"

Chaki nodded. She was still smiling.

"I don't know what to get you."

"You already gave me my life and my freedom," she said. "There isn't much more to give."

"I guess not." Jackson kissed her forehead, then let himself drop onto the bed next to her. "Want to go?"

"Mmm. I don't dislike your room, but I miss the sky."

Jackson reached over and grabbed his shiny red helmet. He raised it in his hands. "You know..."

"What?"

Jackson smiled to himself, shrugged, and shook his head. "Nah. Nevermind."

He fit the helmet over his head. It clamped into place, and he lay back. He went as silent and still as a statue.

And then Chaki's vision left her. She felt a pull on her body, as if a dozen arms had grabbed her wrists and ankles, and she was being dragged through the darkness at an incredible speed. Her stomach dropped out from under her, and her heart fluttered.

And then the world slammed back into place, and she was sitting in the tent right where she had been. Jackson was next to her. He opened his eyes and blinked. "Home sweet home."

"It is about time," Shaka said. They both turned. Shaka was sitting almost in the same spot she had been, legs folded under her, staring at the embers of the fire in the center of her tipi. She looked up. "What on earth are you two wearing?"

Chaki glanced down at her hoodie, and then started laughing. "We forgot to change!"

"Dammit," Jackson said. "Do you have another dress?"

"No." They both burst out laughing.

Shaka just made a face. "By the One-Above, what is the matter with you two?"

"I dunno," Jackson said. He caught his breath. "Just in a good mood, I guess."

"Me too," Chaki said. "But I do know."

After dealing with Shaka's grumpiness, they made a brief return trip to change back into their real clothes, then jumped back to what Jackson called Isis – her world. They had spent four or five hours on Earth, but it was still the middle of the night on the prairie.

Jackson left the tent to head for the creek and draw water for himself. Chaki decided to spend the night in Shaka's tent, so as not to disturb her family by entering late. It was something she had done many times before, when their lessons went into the night.

"I'm surprised you're still awake, Shaka," Chaki mentioned.

"So am I." Shaka groaned, stretched her legs, and started ruffling up a fur blanket for herself. "I am not as resilient as you two, and the walking goes on tomorrow. Ah well. I have suffered worse."

"...you could have slept," Chaki said. A smile crept up on her. "Oh, I see. You were worried about us."

"You are my student. You can handle yourself." Shaka laid herself out and drew the blanket over her body. "Him, I might have been worried about. Did he try to take advantage of you?"

"...he kissed me some."

"That much was to be expected. I will not mention it to your mother."

"Thank you." Chaki hesitated. "...but that isn't what you meant, is it?"

Shaka was turned away, encapsulated in fur; Chaki couldn't see her face. She said nothing.

"Shaka?"

"What would you have from me, Chaki?" Shaka said. "Tell me. Do you pity him?"

"I...sometimes," Chaki said. "I met his mother. She...is not a good person."

Shaka chuckled darkly. "I could have told you that. Yes, Jackson's situation is pitiable. But what he needs is not pity."

"How do you know?" Chaki asked. "Maybe he does need pity. Is it not right to be empathetic?"

"Those are different things," Shaka said.

Chaki nodded. "They are. But -"

"But nothing," Shaka said. She finally rolled over, facing Chaki fully. "Do not give him the false charity of pity. Pity makes you feel better in exchange for crippling and disparaging the pitied. Jackson is a human. Treat him like that, Chaki – as a simple man - and he will love you, yet."

"...I feel like what you say makes sense, Shaka," Chaki said. "You always make sense. But I don't understand why."

"My spirit guide did not show me pity, either," Shaka said.

Shaka did not talk about her past much; that was as much detail as Chaki had learned in weeks. It was a quiet subject for the Windseekers. Shaka was one of the oldest people in the tribe, and few remembered that far back. Those that did held their tongues.

Chaki wanted to know more about the woman that was her mentor. She leaned forward on her knees. "Why might she have considered offering it?"

Shaka rolled back over. One of her hands flopped vaguely. "It is not of importance."

And that was that. Asking for more would be like trying to pry bark off an oak tree with her bare hands. Chaki made a little sigh, and then settled back to try and take in the sleepless dozing that the bond granted her.

Jackson brushed in a few moments later. Shaka's voice cracked over the tent. "Jackson!"

He practically jumped out of his skin. "Shaka?"

"I hope you spent some of that time in your world memorizing runes. Don't think you'll get a break tomorrow because I'm tired."

Jackson put a hand on his eyes and sighed. "If you keep hitting my hands, I swear I'm going to start losing functionality."

"Then I suggest you start thinking about how to avoid further injury."

Jackson looked equal parts fearful and annoyed. He moved to take up his spear, which was sticking into an exposed bit of dirt at the wall of the tipi.

"Don't go out there tonight," Shaka said. "Just rest."

"I don't need sleep," Jackson said. "I need to keep improving."

"Rest," Shaka said.

"Shaka –"

"It was not a suggestion, Tatanka Ska."

Jackson sighed again. "Yes, Shaka."

He found a blanket, then wisely moved to sleep apart from Chaki. He curled up facing her, though. They shared a gaze, and a smile, and then he shut his eyes.

Chaki was glad Shaka had been forceful. That was what had set Jackson on edge – the constant push, the worry, the people. No breaks, no time for him to recuperate. He could operate under pressure, but the pressure also stopped him from recognizing when he'd gone past his limits.

Maybe that was one way she could guide him, as his wife. If they got married.

In the solitude of the tipi, she felt the bond more keenly; it flickered. Jackson's ice-steel wasn't so cold. She opened her eyes again, and found him watching her.

She felt her cheeks heat slightly. His eyes squinted as he made a small, warm smile, and then he shifted slightly, so he was turned a bit away.

Chaki let her thoughts drift away, holding inside her a bright contentment.

Author's Other Note:

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