Centaur's A/N: Yeah! Finally got this thing posted. I know, I know, it took us long enough, but it's here, and it's good. I'm not
going to say anything about the parts I wrote specifically, because if I did my job properly, you won't be able to tell, which is the
whole idea. Scottishlass--I still bow down to your incredible genius. Now, on to Part III...

Scottishlass' A/N: Okay, y'all. I've been working on this for over a year, so obviously others have stumbled on the same ideas
I've had. They were original at the time of creation, as I think all of them tend to be. Thanks to Centaur for giving this piece of
work something it desperately needed: PLOT (and the motivation to keep going). As she mentioned, you shouldn't be able to
tell where we picked up and left off...strange we write alike. We're going someplace with this, folks. Hope you're along for the
ride.

Rated R for strong language. We're foul-mouthed creatures...can't help it.

The Big One

by Scottishlass and Centaur
 
 

Chapter 2
 

Neo stared at the top of the bunk. Wow. He was still numb, but also extremely relaxed and comfortable. After separating
themselves, Trinity curled right into him and fell asleep. Neo held her there, running his fingers through her hair and listening to
the beating of his own heart.

Growing restless, he kissed Trinity on the forehead and headed to the bathroom. He stared at himself in the mirror, still flushed
from their previous activities. He smiled to himself in the mirror, ignoring the little voice in his head that reminded him that deep
down he was still king of dorks. He waggled his eyebrows at himself, trying to look sexy, but only accomplished making himself
laugh.

"Oh, shut up. I'm in fucking love," he said to the mirror before stepping in the shower to clean up.

Trinity was still asleep by the time he was finished showering; he quietly stepped into the room, realizing that he'd left his clothes
back in detox. "Humph," he snorted, confused, before remembering there was a closet on the far side of their room. Opening
the left door, he found a dark pair of pants, several folded gray tee-shirts, undergarments and socks, a new pair of boots, and a
knit stocking cap. "Cool," he thought, wondering where his old clothes had disappeared to. Upon opening the right side of the
cabinet he found a new, shiny pair of dress shoes and a garment bag containing a suit.

Neo debated between casual and formal for a moment, then took out the suit and changed. He checked himself in the mirror
before heading out into the hallway. Oh, yeah.

Morpheus was outside the door waiting for him.

"Ah, you look refreshed," said Morpheus, looking calmer and more relaxed than Neo had ever thought he could ever possibly
look.

"Have you been out here long?" Neo asked casually, wondering if Morpheus, well, had heard anything out of the ordinary.

"No, just a few moments."

Neo nodded his head in silent thanks.

"Nice duds, eh?" He tugged on the jacket of his suit; it was a real-life version of the one he wore to his visit to the Oracle.

Morpheus nodded, smiling.

"You look good yourself," Neo continued, reaching out to put an arm around his mentor. "It's good to see you looking...well,
alive."

"Ditto."

"Where's Tank?"

"Detox for a true human is a relatively easy process. He was released a few hours ago. He's probably with his family. And
Trinity?"

"Napping," said Neo, trying to suppress his I've-just-had-sex grin. The older man pretended not to notice.

"Ah, well, I'm sure you're looking forward to seeing the city. She's a beautiful place."

"So I've heard."

"We're going to take a hovercraft tour this evening, before lights out. They're having a dinner tonight at the city council board in
your honor at nine. After that, you're free to do as you please for a few days."

"A dinner in my honor, huh? Word spreads fast."

"Instantaneously. I would have loved to have seen their eyes drop when you destroyed Smith."

"They watched it on the screen? In code?"

"Now you're catching on." Morpheus smiled a deep, genuine smile. "You're going to be pretty popular around here for the next
few days, you know."

"Yeah. Well, I'm not so good at that."

"Trinity will be at your side. I'm sure between the two of you, you will be just fine."

"A dinner in my honor. Probably explains the clothes."

Morpheus nodded his bald head.

"So is this a real dinner, or same old slop dressed up with dye or something?"

"No, Neo," Morpheus explained, "this is one down-home well-cooked meal. It will be delicious." He leaned in closer, "wreaks
havoc on your stomach. We haven't eaten real food for a couple of years, remember."

Neo chuckled. "Great. Maybe I'll have solid shit again."

"Don't count on it," Morpheus laughed.

In her dream she was back on her simulated beach, letting the wind blow sand into her hair. The sky was gray and dismal and
the seafoam that sprayed her face vaguely reminded her of snowflakes. Her long skirt whipped around her ankles viciously.
Feet dug into the cold sand, she stood at the crossroad of what seemed like the present and eternity.

Yet she stood smiling, happy. Deep inside her dream Trinity held onto the feeling of being loved by Neo. The seed of something
new had been planted deep inside her; she joyously awaited the blossom. She and Neo were now one. In love, and together.
She knew now that she was an integral part of Neo being the One, and it filled her with pride and sheer happiness. For a
moment she even thought she could force herself to dump the shell that she’d created over her hard years fighting for freedom.
Finally she could shed the hardness that had slowly grown around her heart.

Something caught her eye; she turned and walked away from the waves, then stooped to examine the sand. There was nothing
there, save the thousands of wet tiny grains. She dug her hands deep, loving the feel of the earth. Without reason, she began to
dig. Cold sand slipped between her fingers as she slowly moved the sand away, exposing it’s cool, wet underlayer. Gently she
scooped her hands into the cold sand.

But her smile faded abruptly.

Something was buried in the sand.

She peered closer, working her fingers around something unusual.

The dreamscape changed, the weather growing more vicious. Still she worked around the object in the sand until she realized
what lay beneath her.

Horrified, Trinity brushed wet sand away from the body, uncovering the face. It was Switch. Trinity knitted her eyebrows in
confusion, but before she could process what she’d seen the sand-covered lids snapped open.

A gravelly voice escaped crusted lips. "I’m happy for you."

Trinity screamed, both in her dream and out loud, waking herself up. She sat up abruptly, then recognized the urge to vomit and
stumbled out of bed, sill naked, and dashed to the bathroom.

After several rounds of retching, she crumpled next to the toilet, sobbing.

Tank knocked five times before even daring to step into the room that Trinity and Neo shared. Although he was fairly positive
Morpheus would have picked up Neo by now, God forbid he disrupt anything.

He heard her before he saw her, and was instantly concerned.

"Trinity? Are you in here? It’s Tank."

He saw a shadow scamper across the light that peeked through the crack in the bathroom door. The crying stopped.

"Tank? Hold on a second," came the tiny voice. A few moments later, a pale Trinity poked her head around the door. She was
a mess.

Even though they were close friends, Trinity guarded her emotions carefully. She rarely smiled or even showed grief when they
lost a crewmate. Tank had certainly never seen her cry before, not once. He was seriously concerned.

"Oh, God, Trinity. Are you all right?"

"I broke," she whimpered, trying to blink the tears from her blood-shot eyes as she stepped into the room, clutching her towel
to her chest. "I just broke."

"What’s wrong, Trinity?"

"I saw her," she sobbed. "Tank, I saw her."

"Who?" he asked desperately.

Trinity took a deep breath and tried to regain composure. "I saw Switch. I was dreaming and I was on a beach and I was
digging in the sand...she was there. Under the sand. Alive..."

"She’s gone, Trinity. She’s gone."

"She spoke to me, asked me if I was happy."

"And are you?"

"Am I supposed to be?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"Yes," came his gentle answer he pulled her to him.

"I don’t know what to feel," she sobbed. "But finally, at last, I feel. I guess that’s a step in the right direction."

"You’ll never quite understand," muttered Trinity as they slowly walked towards the housing units. "You’re completely human.
You’ve never been in the Matrix. You haven’t become what I have."

"You’re still the Trinity I know and love."

"I suppose in a way I am. But do you realize how hard we are?

"You have a right to be hard. Snatched out of the life you know and then asked to build a completely new one. It’s not like you
could even make your own choice as to what path you wanted to walk."

"Since when did you take the other side?"

"I’m not taking the other side. I just wanted you to know that your feelings are justified."

"You never lost it," she said after a moment of silence.

Tank raised his eyebrows in question.

"Your humanity."

"I wasn’t trapped in the Matrix, though. Ever. I’ve never had to harden; I’ve never been deceived."

She exhaled sharply. "It’s not an excuse. Tank, before we unplugged Neo, I didn’t ever realize how wrapped up I was in this
war. We all were. Be lived it, breathed it. I lived with them for three years and now they’re dead and I didn’t even bother to get
to know them!" She shook her head, fighting back tears. "We didn’t even take the time to get to know each other. Not really.
There was so much petty shit; we were too guarded. Think of all the times when we were together and never talked about a
damned thing! When did it all end?"

Tank nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"When did we forget to be human?" she said quietly. "We’re fighting to preserve our species but completely neglect to establish
the bonds with each other, the emotional attachment that makes us human." She wiped her nose with her sleeve. "We’re too
hard. Goddamnit, Tank, this is the first time I’ve really cried in years. There’s something wrong with that. Really wrong."

"I’ve noticed how you guys release emotion so differently," he said after a pause, referring to the Matrix-born. "You think you
can just jump into the computer and let your rage out. And you do, and you come back all refreshed and you think you’ve
gotten rid of it. But the sadness never goes away, Trinity, until you let it. You need to let it out here. Where it’s real."

"I miss them," she whispered finally, "but I’m so..."

"You’re happy," he provided for her. "For the first time since you’ve joined us, you’re truly happy."

She exhaled sadly. "Yeah. I guess I am."

"Then you need to let yourself be happy. It’s okay to feel both at once."

"Don’t you miss your brother?"

"God yes. More than I can tell you. It hurts. Damn, it hurts. But Trinity, I said my good-byes. I’ll always remember them,
especially Dozer. He was a part of me. He always will be." He looked her over, trying to find the right words. "You haven’t had
time to say good-bye, Trinity. Believe me. It’s what they’d want you to do."

Neo shook the man’s hand nervously. He’d never felt comfortable in formal situations, but this was beyond unnerving. The last
hour had been nothing but clasping hands and staring into excited eyes. "This is Neo," Morpheus would say plainly. "You are
the One," they’d say back as if entranced. Neo wondered briefly if the words were tattooed across his forehead. How did one
answer something like that? Yup, that’s me, the One. Here to save mankind. Oh, and by the way, can we eat now?

He’d felt extremely vulnerable since the incident with the machines. His performance against the agents had even stunned him,
and by the end of their fight he completely and utterly knew that he was in control of the Matrix. That he was the One. But he
hadn’t been back in the Matrix since the incident and was beginning to doubt his "special powers" after all. He’d only done
anything interesting once, anyhow. Still the stirring of the inevitable wriggled deep inside of him; there was a destiny that he was
definitely a part of. And with time, he knew that he would be a key factor in destroying the Matrix.

Yet this was not home. That was apparent in the first few hours that he was in Zion. It was too, well, normal. As he and
Morpheus walked slowly through the streets, nodding at the staring citizens, Neo saw things he thought he’d never see again:
children playing, mothers hanging laundry, and people carrying out other mundane daily tasks. It was simply too normal. He
knew as he watched them that he, Trinity, and Morpheus belonged someplace else. They were soldiers, fighters. He nearly
chuckled at that thought. For thirty years of his life he’d been a spineless, wimpy, corporate computer programming analyst. He
was just getting used to his newfound self upon the ship. But Zion, he thought, was a bit of a joke. Like Disney World, it was
the happiest fucking place on earth. He could tell they followed the war, knew its history, reveled in their small victories. But it
was something fought beyond their private microcosm, something they, most likely, would never be affected by unless they
signed up to join the resistance. From what Morpheus told him, many free-borns had no desire to leave their land of milk and
honey, and the war had become nothing more than entertainment - a never-ending episode of "Survivor". They wore their
innocence on their faces like their lives were one big masquerade gala. He supposed the only thing they knew of war was simply
what they were told of it.

Neo felt this deep within his bones as he and Morpheus made their way to the city’s center, where Neo was going to be
introduced to the free world. He knew now that there was a place for him. As much as he had a hard time believing it, he was a
rebel, a fighter. Yes, he was the One. Trinity had convinced him of that. Together, they could manipulate the Matrix, fight the
machines, win their freedom. But handshake after handshake, his heart began to fill with the dread of the inevitable: he would
have to be their savior, their messiah, whether he wanted to or not.

They walked the rest of the way to Tank’s mother’s place in silence, Tank’s muscled arm wrapped gently around his superior
officer’s shoulder.

"Why does your mother have to see me anyway?" asked Trinity after a lengthily walk in silence. It was her way of telling Tank
that she was okay now.

"A gift," he replied, his tone lightening. "There’s an assembly tonight for you guys. You’re going to be just as popular around
here the next few days as Neo."

"Oh, I seriously doubt that. They seemed to want to keep him pretty cloistered when we docked."

"Well, it’s not like you’ve been a couple long," Tank said as he fidgeted with the gate that led to his mother’s quarters. "Imagine
how many young ladies will be disappointed once they hear that the One’s already found his life partner." As Tank opened the
gate, Trinity watched a streetsweeper make his way down the walkway. He nodded amiably when he caught her gaze, but she
followed him with her eyes as he continued his task. "You coming, Trinity?" asked Tank after realizing he’d lost her.

"Yeah. Just weird, that’s all."

"What?" he asked, eyebrows furrowing.

"The most important war in human history is going on and they still never forget to keep the streets clean."

The buzz of thousands of voices filled Neo’s ears and caused his head to pound. Seated next to his captain and an open seat for
the second-in-command, Neo watched in awe as more and more people filled the dining hall. Morpheus had explained the
evening’s festivities: first, a dinner in Neo’s honor, then a briefing on the events, and finally a tour of Zion by mini-craft. Neo had
decided an hour ago that he’d much rather be back in bed with Trinity.

"Hang in there," whispered Morpheus, sensing his friend’s uneasiness. "This will be done soon enough."

"Oh, hunny, don't you just look adorable!" Tank's mother crooned.

Trinity raised her eyebrows. She was a lot of things, but adorable simply wasn't on the roster.

"Wow, Trin," Tank marveled. "Neo's jaw's gonna fall off."

"Well that would be most unfortunate," she mumbled back to him under her breath as Jolly pinched in material around her waist.

"Tank was almost right about sizing," she was saying. "He got everything right except the waist..."

"Really Jolly, you shouldn't have done this," said Trinity, trying to surpress her natural instinct to hide her emotions.

It was black, sort of. A kind of material she hadn't seen before, even in the Matrix. It was black but with an undertone of red,
so that when the light hit it right it was almost a shade of a deep merlot. Artificial textiles was a productive pastime in Zion, and
some Zioners who still carried a taste for style reveled in the possibilities. Jolly never failed to send her once-a-year package to
the Neb, filled with hand-knit pullovers and new finely-woven undergarments. They were generic and gray, of course, but
served their duty well, and were able to pass down from crew member to crew member. On extremely cold nights aboard the
Neb, Morpheus would allow the crew to use their most prized (and consequently least used) items from Jolly: blankets, thick
and woolly, to huddle together with. Trinity remembered the first time Morpheus had allowed them to open the cabinet that held
the treasure or warmth and realized whoever made such a blanket was a goddess.

Jolly did have a way with material, and this time she was able to show Trinity that she could make much more than blankets.
The top of the dress looked like it was separate from the bottom, a sleeveless shell attached to a full skirt. The top was fitting,
complete with a deep, narrow v-slit that came down to the flat spot between her breasts. The skirt was long but not full, by no
means puffy or too girlish. It was definitely sophisticated. Trinity had to admit that Jolly had done an amazing job. Here she was,
wearing a dress that she actually liked.

"Okay," said Jolly, taking Trinity by the hand, "it's time to see it for yourself. Oh, hunny, this is so perfect!"

The older woman led Trinity into her dressing area and turned on the lights.

Trinity nearly didn't recognize herself. The dress was very flattering, so flattering that she was immediately able to discard her
embarrassment and hug Jolly with true thanks.

"This is so beautiful," she whispered to the older woman, tears in her eyes.

"No, hunny, it's you who's beautiful. Just look at you!"

She stood by Trinity, beaming at her creation and at the joy it brought into the life of this young one.

"Now, dear," she said before she got too emotional, "you're missing just one thing."

"Some lipstick?" asked Trinity, suddenly embracing her long-forgotten feminine side. "I really need some."

"Well, we can get that for you, but I'm thinking of something else. You better go see Tank. He's got it for you."

"Thank you," she said earnestly.

"Oh, you get yourself on going now, you're making me cry. Go on, hun!"

Trinity walked out of the dressing room, listening closely to the light whispering of her dress as she moved. Tank stood in the
living area, now changed into a nice suit.

"Well look at you," she said, smiling. "You look great, big brother."

"And you look like a girl," he replied, obviously proud of his part in Trinity's surprise gift.

"I take it we're going somewhere," she said, eyeing Tank's suit.

"Yeah. Of course. It's not everyday the One stops in for a visit."

"Where is Neo, anyway? Have you done something with him, too?"

"Ah, that's up to Morpheus. Anyway, I got one more thing for ya."

Trinity watched dumbfounded as Tank reached behind him and pulled out something sparkly.

"Dozer found the stones when we were kids," he said sadly. "He spent a full year making it for mum, but she wanted you to
have it now. Dozer would have wanted you to have it."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she fingered the silver necklace. Three crimson faceted round stones hung from its center, one on
top of the other but separated by a thin silver chain.

He held it up for her to see before moving closer to fasten it behind her neck. It fit perfectly with the dress, the last drop hanging
directly in the center of the deep v-slit, cold against her skin.

"Thank you, Tank" she whispered, sniffing. "Thanks to Dozer, too. This is so beautiful."

"Well, ya ready?" he asked, saving the pain of talking about Dozer for later.

"I guess so. Time to face the pirhannas."

"More importantly," he said, opening the door for her, "time to eat!"

Neo couldn’t figure out what to ogle at more: the taste of solid food or the vision sitting next to him. Trinity had entered with
Tank just in time to save Neo from another barrage of well-wishers, and at her entrance he nearly forgot what he was saying
mid-sentence. Her beauty shown from within this evening; her earlier sadness dissipated to make way for the happiness of love.
She walked in slowly, tall and proud, calmly shaking the hands of the greeters and speaking with refined dignity. Few knew her
insecurities, and Neo marveled at how well she was able to push back her emotional side and once again shift from Trinity to
whom he’d recently made love, to Trinity, second-in-command of the Nebachanezzer. He realized, then, that the two were one
and the same, and he loved her even more for it.

He’d anticipated that she would take her seat next to him without sharing the status of their relationship with the masses, but she
smiled warmly at him and instantly sought out his hand under the table.

"How are you doing?" she asked quietly while she scanned the crowd.

"Honestly, I’d rather be back in our quarters," he admitted.

"I know. Me too."

"You’re beautiful, Trinity."

She sucked her lower lip in embarrassment. "Thank you."

"So what do you do at these..." Neo gestured to the crowds, wondering whether to call the gathering a ball or a meeting.

"This isn't the norm. Usually council meetings are only thirty or so in number. This is a hero's welcome, Neo. Why watch it on a
telescreen when you could see the One in person?"

Neo shrugged his shoulders and stabbed some unknown vegetable with his fork. It was an odd realization, but he realized that it
was the first fork he'd ever held, solid and shiny, unlike the standard spork of the ships' mess halls.

After dinner, Neo listened as a tall woman, presumably some head-Zionist honcho, spoke confidently to the seated crowd.
Dinner was relaxed, but he could feel the shift in the air when the meeting agendas were distributed. Neo soon found the
political side to the war tiring and learned to tune it out.

"When are they going to bury them?" Neo whispered to Morpheus as the speaker droned on.

Morpheus looked at him sorrowfully, realizing that there was so much that Neo still didn’t understand. "They’re not going to be
buried. We're already buried here. They're cremated instead."

"Well, when is the ceremony?"

"Neo," Morpheus began gently, "there is no ceremony. We are soldiers, nothing more."

Neo raised his eyebrows, waiting for Morpheus to continue. The captain leaned his head closer to Neo's and spoke as quietly
as he could. "Seems I should have informed you on Zion principals and politics." He paused momentarily. "And why I decided
to become a soldier. But now is not the time."

A jab in the ribs from Trinity caused Neo to sit up straight and notice that the room had grown hushed. "They're waiting for you,
Neo," she whispered without moving her lips from her smile.

"What am I supposed to say?" he asked seriously.

"You'll know when you get there."

As he stood from his chair, Neo was suddenly flooded with images from his past life, his life as Thomas Anderson, copper-top
slave worker, poor in social situations, poorer public speaker, subordinate little ant. An unseen hand clenched around his throat
and squeezed tighter as he made his way nervously through the tables. Pairs of pale, curious eyes followed his ungraceful
movements as he moved slowly to the stage.

It started as almost a whisper; the sound of hushed voices whispering four syllables that grew into a deafening roar as he got
closer: He is the One! He is the One! Fingers and hands snaked toward him from the mass of unknowns, clouding his vision and
stealing his oxygen. Their chants grew louder and more stifling until he could no longer breathe, until his legs failed to support
him.

Then, from somewhere behind him came the strength of his captain, holding his crumpling body and dragging him away from
public eye into the dark recesses behind the stage.

Neo's eyelids fluttered before snapping open. He was aware of the cool darkness first, then the muffled sounds of an anxious
crowd behind dense curtains.

"Oh, God," he muttered, turning to spit. "What happened?"

"You fainted," said Morpheus.

Neo sat up and put his head between his knees. "They expect the One and they get...nothing."

"You were not prepared. I apologize, I should have warned you."

"How could you have known I couldn't handle this?"

"What, solid food?" he smiled, teeth white in the dark.

"That's not funny," said Neo quietly. "You know I'm no good at this."

"You are only as good as you think you are."

"Will you stop with the bullshit?!"

Morpheus' eyebrows shot up.

"I didn't ask to be The One, Morpheus," Neo choked. "Everyone here thinks I'm some sort of god, and I'm not. I'm just me.
Just Neo. And I'm not going to get up there and pretend to be anything else!"

"No, Neo, you're something more..."

"I don't want to be something more!" he spat. "So in the Matrix, I'm The One. But here, in the real world, I'm just me."

"And what's so wrong with just you?" Morpheus exploded. "Guess what, Neo? There's a woman out there named Trinity who's
madly in love with you. Who do you think she fell in love with? You and your badass self, running around and shooting at
anything that moves? Your ability to stop bullets? I've lived with that woman for seven years now and I haven't seen her open
up to anyone except for you. Damn it, Neo, I've barely seen her smile at anyone. And you think that's nothing special?"

"I do, Morpheus, but..."

"You don't understand, Neo," said Morpheus sadly, exhaling his anger. "You have to stop thinking of this as two different
worlds. Learn to exist in both. Why do you refuse to be who you are? I thought you'd learned that by now."

 Neo sighed, frustrated.

"Embrace it, Neo," Morpheus said at length. "Weave yourself back into the fabric from which you were cut."

"Morpheus, I..."

"You must do it, Neo, and you must do it now. Find your strength. It lies not in a tangle of ones and zeros, not in lines of code.
You trust the Matrix. There, you leave behind your doubt, your disbelief. Find that within yourself. These people are followers.
Now is the time for you to lead them." He nodded his head in the direction of the stage, then walked quickly away, leaving the
chant of the crowd ringing in Neo's ears.

From somewhere in the crowd, an important woman now forgotten clenched her fist over her heart. She mouthed the words,
"Get up, Neo." And he did.

Slowly, as if he were approaching a creature with teeth, Neo stepped up to the podium and lowered his face to the microphone.
"Hi," he said to the crowd, his voice followed by an unnerving squeal of audio feedback. He adjusted the mike and stepped
back. "Um..." he began, feeling his stomach begin to knot and the sweat bead up on his forehead. For a moment he was sure
that he would faint. The crowd became a blur of color and movement and seemed to swirl around him. He grasped the podium
for support, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. Neo closed his eyes briefly, then opened them, only to reveal an empty
stare.

From somewhere in the crowd, Trinity leaned forward in concern, mentally encouraging Neo not to give up. As she moved, the
jewel at her chest caught the light. Neo saw the sparkle from within the swirling mass and concentrated on it. Trinity slowly
came into focus, her eyes pleading, urging him to continue. Give me your strength, he thought, marveling as the room came
into focus once more and his vision stabilized. Trinity relaxed. Their eyes connected between the bobbing heads of the crowd.
He nearly heard her say it. Now. Do it now. Be who you are. Tell them what you know. He inhaled deeply, relaxed his
shoulders, and let the words of a newly-born warrior pour out into the masses.

Although he was well aware of the dark, frowning faces of the supreme council, Morpheus allowed himself a smile as he saw
the people accept their new leader.

Trinity pulled off the heavy welder’s mask, then stretched her arms over her head. Her thighs and lower back were
throbbing—she had been squatting for over two hours and the muscles had cramped. She had spent most of the past three
weeks working on repairing the Nebuchadnezzar. The day after the banquet, Neo had been shuttled off by military strategists
and researchers eager to plug him into program after program to see just how far they could push him, so since then, she hardly
ever saw him except for at night.

Tank had been spending all of his time at home. Though no public service was offered for the fallen soldiers, in private, the
family grieved. He had invited Trinity to join them, but she had refused, images of her nightmare still fresh in her mind. She
grieved more easily when she was alone, and Tank understood.

Morpheus had spent the past three weeks trapped in lavish conference rooms, in meetings with officials. Being commander of
the One’s ship placed him in the awkward position of having to outline his immediate plans to the military heads. If he was to
command this priceless "resource," as they called it, he had to prove to them that he knew how he was going to do it. He hated
it, she knew, because he had never believed in planning these things too far ahead without any knowledge of available resources
or manpower. But the fact remained that he was subordinate to them, and to defy them would be cause for court-martial.

Morpheus had told her to take some time off; to visit some of the city shops or go spend some time at one of the public hot
springs, and to leave the repairs to the mechanics. She dismissed him, though, explaining that she’d taken enough time off
already and that she wanted to be productive. Trinity could only stand remaining idle for short periods of time, and she knew
that the repairs needed as many extra hands as possible.

She looked at her hands now. They were coated in thick, black engine grease; it was slimy between her fingers and curdled
under her fingernails. The actual feeling of greasy hands was remarkably similar to the way it had felt in her pre-unplugging days,
from when she used to work on her motorcycle. Ironic, she thought, they couldn’t replicate the intensity of touching
another person, or, she laughed to herself, figure out what to make chicken taste like. But damn, when it comes to engine
grease, they got it bang-on. Then, though, she had always kept a bottle of gritty mechanic’s soap around to scrub the grime
away, but here, such a thing didn’t exist. She knew she’d be trying to wash it off for the next week.

Mask under her arm and welder on her shoulder, Trinity headed for the hatch door. She wanted to keep working, but had been
hampered by, of all things, the need for a longer extension cord. The rest of the workers had left for lunch fifteen minutes ago
and she didn’t know where to find one herself, so she decided to take a short break also and come back to it later. She kept
the welder on her shoulder as she closed the hatch behind her, which is most likely why she didn’t see Neo approaching. As she
turned to walk down the gangplank, she quite literally bumped into him, and he stumbled three steps back before regaining his
balance.

She couldn’t keep from laughing.

"Nice to see you too," he retorted, jokingly, before kissing her briefly and taking the welder’s mask out of her hand. "What kind
of shape is she in?"

"Flyable, and the Core has been rebuilt. Most of what’s left to be done is just structural and architectural, nothing technical.
Rebuilding walkways and walls, and the sleeping quarters on the lower level were all destroyed, things like that. Oh, and the
med bay still needs to be fixed up." She set the welder down on a shelf in the tool storage shed at the foot of the gangway, and
motioned for Neo to set the mask down with it. Finally, with the welder out of the way, she could see him properly.

He looked exhausted.

"So how about you, Neo? Have the military brains succeeded in figuring out just what makes the legendary One tick?"

Neo gave a little smile and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "They keep asking me ‘how,’ Trinity. They want me to
explain how I deleted the Agent, how I moved so fast, how I dodged bullets, and how…" he took her hand and squeezed it
gently, "how I came back from the dead." He laughed once, quietly, and then squeezed her hand again. "That last one is the only
one I know the answer to. But I still couldn’t explain it to them. I mean, how do you tell a bunch of military officials that you just
sort of… found a new reason to live?"

Trinity stopped him right there in the middle of the sidewalk and pulled him to her, resting her head in the crook of his neck and
holding him so tightly that she could feel each of his ribs pressing into the muscles of her arms through the fabric of both their
shirts. He held her with equal strength, and kissed the top of her head. Then, unexplainably, he chuckled, once.

"What?" Trinity asked.

"You know… I can fly, now."

Trinity looked up and grimaced. "You uploaded flight? I could have taught you, and learning to fly a hovercraft is so much more
fun the old fashioned way—"

"No, no, no, that’s not what I meant," Neo laughed, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "In the Matrix, I can fly. Superman style."

Trinity’s arms fell back to her sides, and she stepped back. For a moment, her expression was unreadable. "You can fly."

"Like a bird."

"Shit… shit! Neo, that’s fantastic! Damn, I hope I’m there when—" she cut herself off mid-sentence, and now her eyes had
begun to twinkle, too. Suddenly she seized Neo’s hand and began to pull him down the street.

"Trinity—where are we going?"

"To get Tank and Morpheus."

"Why?"

"I think it’s time to give the Neb a test-drive."

It wasn’t hard to convince the captain and operator to come along for the ride. Morpheus jumped at the excuse to get away
from strategic meetings, and Tank was sold as soon as he heard that Neo could fly. Zion officials insisted on one of their own
accompanying the crew, in case something should happen and they were to find themselves short-staffed. To appease the
council, Trinity suggested Circuit, the young medic who detoxed her and Neo, come along. So an hour later, with Morpheus
and Trinity at the controls and Tank and Neo booting up the computers, the Nebuchadnezzar began its slow re-ascent to
broadcast depth. As they passed through the city boundary, Neo felt his stomach loosen and the muscles in his shoulders relax.
While he liked Zion well enough, he found it to be unnatural, somehow—exaggerated. Too perfect to be real. But now, back on
the ship, things felt right. This was home, he knew. This cramped metal ship—with its air that smelled of steel and recirculated
oxygen, its hard, narrow bunks, and its creaking platforms; with its operator that he trusted, its Captain that he respected, and
Trinity whom he loved and idolized more than he could ever have thought possible—it was home.

It took three hours to reach broadcast depth. Neo had spent most of the time sleeping. He hadn’t wanted to, at first, but Trinity
had half-jokingly pulled rank and insisted; he was completely exhausted and needed the few hours of undisturbed rest. She had
hoped, originally, that she could go lie down with him, but Morpheus had told her that they needed to talk for a few minutes. So
now, after mothering Neo into his room and closing the door behind him, she made her way back to the cockpit and sat down
in the copilot’s seat.

"This is going to be harder than I ever imagined," Morpheus said, after a pause.

Trinity said nothing, but waited for him to continue.

"Everyone has a different agenda, in Zion. And now, with Neo found," he shook his head, "everything’s even worse than usual.
They argue over whether to send Neo off to mind his own affairs, or to study him and see if his abilities can be taught; over
whether to send him off in a ship to be useful, or to protect him in Zion until a clear course of action is established... Everyone
argues but nobody makes decisions, so nothing comes of it. One man even suggested..." his voice trailed off.

"What?"

"One person suggested that the two of you be separated."

Trinity’s head shot up at that, and she turned to face her mentor, incredulous. "You’re kidding."

"I’m afraid not. They’ve always believed that emotional soldiers are slow thinkers, and nobody wants the One being killed over
that. I think I dissuaded them, though. I told them I didn’t think it would be wise to change Neo’s command patterns
considering his age, his power, and the fact that he was unplugged so recently."

"Doesn’t anybody think to ask what he wants?"

"They don’t care what he wants, Trinity. They keep their own motives, and that’s what they care about. That’s all they care
about."

Trinity turned and looked out the front window. Morpheus wove skillfully between the piles of debris, turning corners at some
junctions, and driving straight through others. It struck her, then, just how much every tunnel looked like every other one. And
since they were looking to simply rise to a certain altitude, when and where they turned was fairly irrelevant. Neither she nor
Morpheus could repeat this specific route if asked. But what if they had chosen a different one? What if, at that junction they
just passed, Morpheus had chosen to turn instead of passing straight through it? It was possible, indeed, that nothing would
have happened, and that their journey down that path would have been similar to the one they had chosen. A different path to
the same destination. But what if they had turned, and found themselves nose-to-nose with a fleet of sentinels? Who was to say
that sentinels weren’t waiting for them straight ahead now, that could have been easily avoided if they had turned earlier?

There was no code, in the real world. Nothing was predictable. You simply had to take your chances and stick with them, and
be prepared to deal with the consequences.

"They won’t separate me from Neo," Trinity said quietly, her gaze focused intently on her hands resting in her lap.

"Hmm?"

"They can’t separate us. And if they try, so help me, I’ll fight them."

"Ah, Trinity, you rest assured—the Nebuchadnezzar will not leave port without all its remaining crew on board. I had an instinct
with Neo that told me he was the One. Now, I have an instinct with the two of you that tells me you’re in this deep, together."

Trinity went to wake Neo fifteen minutes before they reached broadcast depth. He was sprawled out on his back on top of the
blankets, his mouth half-open, and—Trinity suppressed a small smile—he was snoring lightly. She cupped his cheek in her
hand, and with her thumb, gently traced the dark circle under his eye. He didn’t stop snoring. Morpheus’ words echoed in her
mind: You’re in this deep, together.

"Neo," she whispered, "time to get up." He didn’t stir.

"Neo," she said, a little louder this time. The snoring stopped, but he still didn’t move. Fine, she thought, you want to play
hardball? And without another thought, she kissed him. He jumped a little as he woke up, and then she felt his hand creep up
to hold her face.

Deep, together.

A moment later they parted, hesitantly. Neo kept his eyes closed for a moment, then opened them, slowly, and smiled at her.

"Broadcast depth, Neo. We should be about there now."

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He still needed sleep, she saw, but he looked better than he had earlier.

"Time to go scare the shit out of some Agents, eh?" He laughed. "How do you want to do this?"

"I thought you could go make them a scary phone call—you know, attract their attention—then go put on a little flying show,
and I’ll meet you by the exit. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan to me. Let’s go."

Neo and Trinity stood face-to-face in the construct. Trinity tried hard to peg her emotion at the moment, but couldn’t do it. It
wasn’t fear, really—she trusted Neo completely, and knew that he believed in himself, now. No, it wasn’t fear. She
remembered the last time they had stood there, preparing to go into the Matrix on a mission she had written off as suicide. It
was the same, now, in so many ways, just the two of them standing there in the same white space, wearing similar if not identical
clothing.

"So, Superman, what do you need?" she asked in mock-seriousness. Guns. Lots of guns. The words echoed through her
mind. She suppressed them.

"Nothing," he said simply, and shrugged. She noticed, then, that he hadn’t put his glasses on yet, and that where the skin under
his eyes had been darkened by exhaustion in the real world, now there was only white, healthy flesh.

Then, he put his glasses on, and he looked the same.

"So here’s what we’re going to do," Trinity announced. We’ll send you in first via a phone near the city centre. I’ll come in right
after through a phone a few miles away, corner of Green and First, and call you when I get there. Then you do your thing, and
I’ll be waiting for you by the exit whenever you’re ready to leave. All clear?"

"You bet. Let’s go."

Neo materialized in a phone booth at a busy city intersection. Seconds later, his cell phone rang. Trinity. He answered it. "I’m
in," came her voice, crystal clear. "Have fun."

"Yeah," he said, "see you in a few."

They hung up.

Neo tucked his cell phone into his pocket, then turned to the payphone. The receiver was cold in his palm, greasy from years of
use. But it’s never really been used, it’s not even really there. Reactions like that had become instinctive to him in programs;
he had a real need to distinguish between reality and simulation. Trinity’s voice resonated in his head: "They can’t replicate what
it feels like when my lips touch yours." He smiled to himself. No, they can’t.

He dialed, and the phone had already rung once when he realized that he didn’t know what he was going to say. He clawed for
his cellphone with his free hand, intending to call Trinity—she was so good at saying exactly what needed to be said in as few
words as possible. The phone snapped open in his hand, and his thumb reached for the speed-dial—

He caught himself. Neo, you dolt. You can do this. You can’t always run back to her. You can do this on your own. Images
of the banquet flooded his mind, and he remembered the way the jewel on her necklace had caught his eye... he remembered
the way she had looked, then, and how he had known just what to say.

The call connected.

Neo opened his mouth, and the perfect words slipped out. "I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're
afraid. You're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to
end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone and then I'm going to show these people
what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you, a world without rules and controls, without
borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you."

Neo hung up.

The Agents hung up.

And not too far away, on the corner of Green and First, an innocuous third-party eavesdropper detached a blue box from a
payphone, smiled, and hung up as well. Phreaking had never been Trinity’s specialty in her pre-unplugging days, but like most
hackers, she had dabbled. And now, for the first time, her ability had proved useful. Her decision not to help Neo prepare a
speech had been a conscious one. He had to become a leader almost overnight, and though she wanted nothing more than to
act as a buffer for him and to help make everything easier, she knew that he had to learn on his own. But with that brief phone
call, she realized that he was more ready than even he believed.

"Trinity!"

By instinct, she made an about face, scanning the empty streets for the source of the voice. A fraction of a second later she
remembered, and looked up. And there he was, hovering twenty or thirty feet above her head, laughing.

Trinity just stared. "Jesus, Neo, I--"

"Hold on," he interrupted. And before she could react, he took off again, so fast she could barely follow his movement, up into
the clouds. An instant later he reappeared, falling so fast that for an instant she was certain he wouldn’t be able to stop before
he hit the pavement of the intersection. She reached a hand out to him, "Neo!" and he screeched to a halt beside her, hovering
three feet off the ground. With a playful wink, he turned a slow, floating somersault before coming to rest, gently as air, by her
side.

Before either had a chance to move, Neo’s cell-phone rang. He cast Trinity a side-long glance before answering it—both knew
who it was, and what he had to say.

"Holy shit, man! That was fan-fuckin’-tastic!" Neo instantly drew the phone away from his ear as Tank’s excited shouts
resonated through the earpiece. "I mean, when you said you could fly, I thought that meant you could, I dunno, maybe float a
little. But this! Shit, man, that’s incredible! How do you do that?"

"I don’t know, Tank. I just do it. How about you patch the call through, and we’ll talk about it on the other side."

Tank’s voice returned to normal, and Neo brought the phone closer to his head. "No can do. That’s what I called about. We
just got a message from the Oracle—she wants to see you."

"What, now?"

"I’m afraid so."

"Jesus, Tank, I can’t see her now. Not yet. I can’t do that yet—"

Trinity’s eyes widened as she realized what was being discussed. But Neo couldn’t see the Oracle again yet, not with their last
visit so fresh in his mind. His hand was pumping furiously, clenching and releasing. She took it in both of hers and squeezed it
gently, and he squeezed back, harder.

Neo listened to something Tank was saying, then shook his head, defeated. "Fine," he said quietly, "I guess if I have to go then
I... what? Both of us?" Trinity lifted her eyes to meet Neo’s then, and saw only confusion. But she was confused, too—both of
them to the Oracle, together? She’d never heard of that happening before.

You’re in this deep, together.

"Okay, then, we’ll go." He nodded into the phone, listening to Tank’s directions. "No, I don’t know if I’m ready to carry
anybody... Why? Because I’m not fast enough to catch up to somebody falling... Yeah, great, send us whatever you usually
send." He hung up.

Trinity didn’t wait for him to speak. "So the Oracle wants to see both of us. Together. Now."

"That’s what Tank said."

"Shit." She shook her head dejectedly. "Well, all right, let’s go. Did he download us any transport?" She smiled inwardly at the
thought of riding another brand-new jet-black Speed Triple, but this time with Neo clinging to the back. One of the many small
delights she derived from the Matrix was getting to ride fancy motorcycles. The one she had owned in her old life had been a
third-hand Honda.

Neo smiled. "We’ve got a Triumph waiting around the corner. Key’s in the ignition." Trinity allowed herself a smile when she
saw the bike. She strode over to it confidently, sat down, started the engine and revved it. With a dramatic billowing of his coat,
Neo got on behind her and wrapped his arms firmly around her waist.

"Now," she said, "you get to feel my kind of flying." She tapped his mesh-toed boot with heel, "feet on the footpegs, Superman.
Let’s go."

As they flew through the city at impossible speeds on a souped-up bike, Neo was struck by how... well, how normal the
moment felt. They could have been anyone, then; just another guy riding through the city on a motorcycle with his girlfriend. He
smiled to himself as he turned the word over in his mind... girlfriend... funny, it wasn’t a word he had ever associated with
Trinity before. It was like they had skipped that part. She had been his friend, his commanding officer, and yes, the object of his
affection and infatuation for awhile, but then she had just made the jump to lover, life partner, soulmate. There was no transition.
And while he wasn’t necessarily sorry for that, this felt like a girlfriend moment, and he liked it. A normal, easy-reality moment.
Except in my old reality, he thought, I never would have had it this good. He held her tighter, and pressed his face into her
hair. Her RSI smelled of leather, hair gel, and soft soap over that essence that was unmistakably Trinity. He inhaled deeply. No,
in my old reality, I would never, ever in a million years have had it this good.

He was so lost in his reverie that he didn’t notice they had arrived until Trinity switched off the engine. They got off, together,
and Trinity pocketed the keys. As one, they turned and passed through the graffiti-tarnished door into the Oracle’s building.

"I take it you two have been getting to know each other a bit now, haven't you?"

Neo blushed slightly, Trinity stared at the floor.

"Now, now, young ones, there's nothing to be embarrassed about." She returned to chopping vegetables. It seemed to Neo that
this woman lived in her kitchen. "Has he been good to you, Trinity? Treating you like he should?" she inquired.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Oh, I know. But I like to hear it from you. Soon enough, child, he's going to be able to see right through you." She smiled
cryptically and turned to face them, knife in hand. "Have you been enjoying each other's company?"

"Well," began Neo, "we haven't gotten much of a chance to be together. I've been in and out of labs for the past two weeks."

"And how does that make you feel, Neo?"

"I don't know." He thought, eyeing the cracks in the linoleum before answering. "A bit like a hacker. Like, before. Just this time
the people asking the questions are supposedly on my side."

"A bit like Moses, you are," said the Oracle. "You've parted the seas and now they want to know exactly how you'll begin the
plagues."

"Let my people go," quipped Trinity under her breath. The Oracle arched an eyebrow at her, never missing a beat.

"You're wondering why I asked you here," she said, squinting her eyes like she was peering into their souls. Neo shrugged his
shoulders. "An old lady likes company once and awhile, you know. These kids tire me out. All I needed was for you to stay a
little while."

The Oracle eyed Trinity now in a way that she knew that the wise one was going to prophesy. "A great fire starts with a spark,"
she said, her countenance suddenly filling the room, "and all I needed to do was make sure that lightning was going to strike at
the right time."

There was a long pause while Trinity and Neo tried to make sense of her words. The serious moment ended as abruptly as it
came. "Now, now," said the Oracle gaily, "it's about the right time. You two go on and enjoy the rest of the day. And Trinity,
Neo's got a surprise for you." She winked at them, her chocolate skin crinkling, before returning to her casserole.

"Nothing like a date with the Oracle to ruin the mood," Neo thought out loud. Trinity snorted, agreeing. They were walking
halfway down the block where Trinity had parked the bike when suddenly Neo flinched, listening, sensing something out of the
usual.

"What is it?" Trinity whispered, picking up his change in attitude.

"We gotta get out of here," he whispered back, a look of panic briefly crossing his features.

"Agents?" she asked, her muscles tensing.

"No. Something different. Let's go."

"Neo, you don't need to worry... remember, you're the One."

"Trin, NOW!"

He grabbed her by the arm just as an explosion detonated beneath her feet, flinging them into the air. They landed hard on the
cement, Trinity's ankle twisting violently beneath her.

"Fuck," she sobbed as Neo steadied her.

"Don't think about it, Trin," he said, trying to disguise the panic that was now coursing through his veins. "It's not real, you're
fine..."

"Christ, Neo, it hurts..."

"Look at me."

She could barely see him through the smoke and now-settling dust. "Trinity, you're okay. You're okay."

Trinity nodded and allowed Neo to wrap his arm around her waist for balance. "We've got to go."

"What's going on?" she asked in pained gasps.

"Don't know. Something's changed. Not a cut hard line. Something...I can’t tell you what. I don’t know."

In the distance they could hear the faint jingle of the phone. Thank God for Tank.

"We've got to run, Trinity."

"I can't!"

"Trinity." He looked at her face, scratched from her dive into the concrete and beginning to bruise around her left eye. Her ankle
was bent at an impossible angle, a sharp protrusion impaled the leather of her boot. Bone.

"Oh shit," he groaned, panic beginning to surge through his body.

"Neo, please get out of here..." whimpered Trinity, the situation seeming all too similar to their last time in the Matrix.

Neo tried to calm himself, forcing his panic back where it came from.

"You know I'm not going anywhere without you." He closed his eyes and prepared for a miracle. "Trinity," he whispered, "I'm
going to try something. I don't know if this will work..." Another explosion echoed through the air."...but you've got to relax,
okay. Just relax."

"Shit..." tears began to course down her cheeks, cutting their way through the fine dust that they were both covered in.

Neo closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath, and whispered a prayer to a god he'd long forgotten. Okay, Neo, here it is. Make
it happen. And when he opened his eyes, there it was.

The Matrix. Green, cascading code, shifting, pulsating. He turned his attention to Trinity, and studied her program. It was the
first time he'd seen a human's program. The code made little sense to him; it was too intense, much more complicated than an
agent's. And there was something strange about her, something out of the ordinary that he couldn't quite pinpoint. He was
beginning to wish Tank had made him sit through the six hours it took to upload the intricate details of Matrix code.

"Fuck," he thought, eyeing the green glow of Trinity's outline. Code was continually changing, flying around her form like gnats.
"Okay, Neo, find the ankle. Where in the fuck in this program is her ankle? " As the thought came and went, the area above
Trinity's green form began to glow. Easy enough. "Think, Neo, think. Change the program. Delete the pain, fix the ankle." He
began to concentrate on changing the code, but as soon as the thought came he saw it change, reverse its pattern, subtract
characters. The green outline of her broken bones fused together before his eyes. A wave of joy spread over him, similar to the
feeling he first felt when he realized he could actually do kung fu. He did it.

"Neo?"

Trinity's voice brought him back. He blinked his eyes and the Matrix was back in its same old deceiving self. Trinity's eyes met
his with wonder.

"How in the hell..." she began.

"We've got to go. Run," he commanded, and the sprinted to the exit.

He let Trinity go first, but as she disappeared into the phone a new series of explosions came up through the sidewalk, nearly
tracing their exact steps. As they approached the phone, Neo began to get nervous. He tried to make the Matrix appear in
code again so he could see what was happening, but the explosions continued to come in their full glory. "Get me out, Tank," he
muttered just as the phone began to ring.

"I need to know what the hell is going on here," bellowed Morpheus as he frantically scanned the monitors. "What just
happened in there?"

"Just a second, sir," muttered Circuit, who was trying to figure out how to release the seat restraints and spikes from the
still-plugged-in Trinity and Neo.

"Don’t look at me," said Tank, just as confused by what had happened as his captain. He took the last few auto-saved
moments of their visit into the Matrix and replayed them on a separate screen, searching for abnormalities.

Circuit managed to unplug Trinity and quickly moved to get Neo. The second-in-command sat up in her chair, numb, as
Morpheus moved to her side to check her ankle.

"How did you do that?" asked the new medic. "I watched you. You changed her code...healed her!"

"I don’t know," replied Neo, still grimacing from the data spike removal. "I just did." He left his chair and moved to Trinity’s
side. "You okay?"

Her clear blue eyes met his. "Thank you," she mouthed.

"Neo," Morpheus interrupted, "what happened in there?"

"Don’t know. All of a sudden the ground just rocked beneath our feet. Like we stepped on a landmine or something."

"Found it!" exclaimed Tank. Their attention turned to the screens. "Here’s their last five minutes. See this?" He pointed to a
small, simple string of code. "Here’s our culprit."

"What is it?" asked Circuit, peering in closer to get a better look.

Neo studied it carefully. "Looks like a virus," he said at last.

"That’s exactly what it is," explained Tank. "I’ve seen it plenty of times before. It’s short and not very complex. It’s a search
string, really. Its task is simple. It finds something, and once it finds it, it appears to set off some type of displacement in the code
around it. Essentially, it makes a little explosion in the Matrix around whatever it is it’s found."

"Well, what was it looking for?" asked Morpheus, having seen similar mini-destruct devices before.

Tank stretched his hands out in front of him, popping his knuckles. "That’s what I can’t figure out. "It’s never bothered us
before. You know, they leave us alone, we leave them alone. It’s like the machines’ housekeeper, fixing broken code and the
like. Cleans up abnormalities in the Matrix, or something. It’s just one of those things we kind of overlook."

"Well, that’s the kind of thing that’s going to get one of us killed," said Morpheus, obviously displeased that they had not
investigated something like this earlier. He would most definitely have to Zion about it, and more than likely Neo's inability to
stop it would be the subject of much controversy.

Later that night, in the darkness of their Zion cabin, Neo flinched in his sleep. He was dreaming about what had happened in the
Matrix that day; the mysterious explosions, Trinity's ankle, and how he had fixed it. He dreamed it all again in slow motion, over
and over, as if he'd missed something the first time and his mind was making him watch it again and again until he realized what it
was.

Each time around he studied the scene differently, but the panic he'd felt continued to grow, and he felt that something seriously
wrong would happen if he didn't get what it was he was supposed to understand.

Trinity rolled over in her sleep, and Neo, as he was now accustomed to doing, rolled with her and spooned her from behind. He
snaked his arm around her waist, his hand coming to rest on her stomach.

Again the dream repeated, again and again until he forced himself out of sleep with a start. Shaking and covered with sweat,
Neo tried to calm himself down. He knew that something about the situation was more than unusual. Wrapping himself closer to
Trinity, he tried to relax and think about how comfortable it felt to hold her. He tugged her thin tank top up to touch her stomach
and began to draw lazy circles around her bellybutton.

And then it hit him.

He replayed the scene in his mind a final time, this time concentrating on Trinity. As soon as he looked at her code he could see
why he'd missed it before. Buried deep within the complicated code that was Trinity, was something else. Barely visible, a tiny
pale blue light twinkled within her abdomen.

She was pregnant.

His eyes snapped open, instantly.

"Trinity, wake up."

"Hmmm..." she mumbled, rolling over. "Neo, it's the middle of the night..."

"Trinity, when did you have your last period?"

"I've never had my period," she explained sleepily. "I was born inside the Matrix, remember?"

"So? What do you mean?"

"We're sterile. I can't have kids, Neo, that's all. None of us can. Didn't Morpheus tell you?"

He was silent. "I don't believe it," he said softly.

"Neo," she began, shaking off sleep and sitting up, "what's on your mind?"

"I think you're pregnant," he said with a soft smile.

"I'm not, believe me," she replied with a soft chuckle.

"Trinity, I really think..."

"Neo, it's impossible. I would love to have children, but it's simply impossible..."

"Trinity, listen to me," he began, gathering her in his arms, his excitement growing. "Today, when I healed your leg, I saw
something. Something that I couldn't place at first, but I remembered what it was. There's something there, inside of you..."

"Neo, there's nothing there," she said, this time more firmly. "You didn't see anything, it's impossible..."

"Why don't you believe me?" he interrupted her, his voice sounding more angry than he meant it to.

"Why don't you believe me?" she spat back. "You don't think this is already painful enough for me to deal with? Shit, we've
talked about this. Do you just want to go around breaking all the rules? You want to sit down and raise kids? Neo, it's common
knowledge. We can't have children."

She instantly regretted her words as she felt him relax his usually comforting grip.

"God, Neo, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I just can't get my hopes up...only to be let down."

"Never mind. Go back to sleep."

Trinity apologized again, and waited for Neo to curl into her side and fall back asleep.

He never did.

Eventually the tears rose up and spilled out of her eyes. She placed her hand over her stomach, wondering if there was any
possible way Neo could be right.
 
 
 

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Chapter 3