Magdalena stepped from the Sangreal hurriedly, even before the metal gangplank had touched down and the ship's magnetic plates had ceased to crackle with fading static. This was no normal, regular home-coming, though that was exciting enough, especially since Rock carried the newest liberated mind-- the little girl who had been successfully and wonderfully easily freed from the Matrix just four days before-- in his capable arms. Today, though, Magdalena would finally meet her old friend who she hadn't seen in far too long, and who she was very curious about what had happened to. So many strange rumors were flying about, and only Derfegertz could tell her the truth of them.

The young blonde hurried down the metal corridors, towards the main cavern system Zion inhabited. Derf's message had said she would meet her by the drums in the temple, a safe enough meeting place, and a familiar one. Still carrying her knapsack, Magdalena paced into the temple cave, looking around for her friend.

Derfegertz was exactly where she said she'd be. Perched on a small ledge beside the drums in that birdlike way that she'd mastered, the sixteen-year-old watched for her friend with about the widest grin on her face a human being could. Quick eyes caught Magdalena's entrance, and with the supreme confidence of youth Derf stood up on the thin ledge and waved broadly. "Mags!" she hollered, never mind the indignant echoes that chased back to her.

Madgalena jumped at the loud greeting, but her eyes quickly found Derf and sped up, heading directly for her. "Get down from there!" she called back, half laughing and half scolding. "You'll fall and break your head open! Or worse, break the drum!" Of course, the latter being "worse" was hardly serious. Madgalena would be much more upset if Derf hurt herself than if she hurt a drum. Unless, of course, the hurt to Derf wasn't very bad and the drum was ruined. Those things were expensive.

Monkeylike, Derf obliged, setting down on the rocky floor behind the massive drums on cat-light feet. "Wow, I never knew," she drawled, full well understanding the joke. "You love your drums more than you love me!"

"Of course I don't," Magdalena said casually, reaching the stairs and starting the climb up. "Drums are just more expensive!" You can't put a price on a good friend, after all. At the top she grinned, dropping her bag and approaching her friend, holding out her hands for her to take or even as an invitation for a hug. Derf took up one of the offered hands and shook solemnly for a moment, then broke into snickers and tugged her old friend close in an enthusiastic, back-slapping hug. Magdalena surrendered, having expected and even welcomed the affection, smiling even though she wasn't the back-slapping type. Then Derf's arms tightened, and she gave a powerful heave, lifting the much lighter Magdalena a good inch or two off the floor before Derf's strength gave out again and Magdalena was jolted back down again, laughing breathlessly. Impressive, that, even though Magdalena was hardly heavy. She rubbed a bit at her ribs as she was released, chuckling.

Up close, there seemed to be something peculiar about the way the younger girl moved, something different than the last time Magdalena had spoken to her. Before she'd run off she'd been full of nervous, impulsive energy and overeager to put herself into a dangerous ship-side life, idealistic fantasies and a strong but naive sense of duty ruling her life. Now she seemed older in more than just body, and though jerky and strident as ever in movements, she seemed to at least look before she leapt. "You look like you've done some growing up, Derf," Magdalena commented amiably. Taking in her old friend's change from antsy teenager to young adult, Magdalena could only wonder how different she looked. Probably not much; Magdalena had always been something of a miniature adult, one of the many things Derf and her other friends from childhood had teased her about. In the year and a half since they'd seen each other, Magdalena didn't even think she'd gotten any taller, though she might have gotten thinner. Ship food didn't always agree with her.

Pulling back, Derfegertz flapped her fingers as if to ward off the complement. "Yeah, yeah. You're still older, but I think I'm getting wiser."

"Getting being the operative word," Magdalena pointed out, teasing.

Derf giggled, but then her face blossomed into a wide, eager grin, and she almost began to bounce right there. "Didja hear? I'm an operator now! Yana took me in, she taught me some stuff, I leave all the mechanical junk to her 'cause that's what she's good at, but she says I'm a real good operator, almost as good as her old one... but anyways! How's life been treating you? I haven't heard from you in ages!"

Derf's enthusiastic chatter felt almost as familiar and comforting as Saul's soft baritone or her mother's affectionate scolding, though the words were strange and not quite what Magdalena had expected. "Operator!" she exclaimed, impressed. "And here I thought I was the youngest operator so far! No, I hadn't heard. All I knew is you had joined a minor ship called Dragonchaser-- a ship there are a lot of rumors about, mind you!"

Before answering Derf's question, Magdalena hopped up to sit on the ledge above the drums, feet dangling but in no danger of falling and possibly damaging her precious drums. "Life for me has been pretty good, actually. I'm an operator, too, only on the Sangreal. I've only been doing it for a few months so far, but I like it. I'm learning some programming, even, though I have to make one of the other crew members test it for me." Ah, the trials of being Zion-born.

"Yeah, about the same here." Derf's grimace was empathetic as she pulled herself up to sit by her friend. "I hate not being able to go in, but at least I can watch Tech and Coder do their thing. But I mean, really! Even the--" There she stopped herself, curiously enough, and a thoughtful look drifted across her face, fleeting as a sunray. "So," she starts again, changing tracks quickly, "What have you heard about my ship?"

Magdalena eyed Derf curiously. Even the what? "All sorts of things," she answered carefully, "Rumors going all the way from you being tricked into changing sides by the machines, to you're running some kind of undercover mission for the One."

The oddest sound came from Derfegertz then, something of a snort or a laugh that she quickly smothered under one spider-like hand. "Jeee-bus!" she drawled, loudly, rolling her eyes. "I shouldn't be surprised; actually, I'm not. Anything more specific than that?"

"How much do you want me to tell you?" Magdalena said with a little amusement in her voice; only a little, though. She was finally going to learn the truth about the Dragonchaser, she knew it. "There's a lot out there. You know how it is here: people talk a lot. The most talked about rumors are the ones that say you've switched sides because of some mechanical monsters you adopted, and the ones that say you're following a pair of psychos who think they're from some different Matrix."

Derfie shrieked with laughter and clapped her hands, a sure sign of unholy delight from the vocal youngster, and Magdalena jumped, unprepared for the loud noise. "Well, they're about a quarter right!" Derf exclaimed. "But Tech and Coder ain't psycho, and the lizards are only a bit mechanical."

Madgalena stared at Derf. There really are people who say they're from another Matrix? And what does she mean by "lizards"? Surely not. Surely the rumors couldn't be right. Derfegertz would never switch sides, and she didn't seem wrong in the head. At least, not any more than usual. There was something going on here that the rest of Zion didn't understand, that could only be the answer. Only that didn't make sense, either; Magdalena had heard of the so-called dragons, and dismissed the rumor as so unlikely as to be impossible. The machines had no reason to do such a thing.

There was a pause, and for a moment Derf looked as if she were seeing her friend for the first time, assessing her in a different light. Then, apparently on impulse, the blonde girl hopped down from the ledge, grinning up challengingly at her friend. "You wanna see what's really going on?"

"Yeah," Magdalena managed, still feeling a bit lost. "Yeah, I think I would." Sliding down to the ground in a slower manner than Derf had, Magdalena retrieved her knapsack from the top of the stairs and turned back to Derf with a bewildered look. "As long as you promise I won't end up mechanical lizard food."

Derf's giggle was wicked. "They don't eat humans. Now come on!" She patted Mag's shoulder, then took off, loping with her long-legged stride and chortling to herself. "Oh, Cell's going to be delighted..."