"We've found another potential," Morpheus said, his eyes lit with enthusiasm. "I think he might really be 'The One'"
Trinity stifled her eye roll and eyed her other crew members. They too looked disbelieving, Morpheus found a new potential every other week and they always turned out the same, dead or just another ordinary red pill who managed to escape the Matrix. With every passing year that Trinity had worked with Morpheus her belief had decreased. Whenever he used to mention another candidate she used to feel a thrill run through her, only to be disappointed when she finally laid eyes on them. Now she knew better, there was no point in getting her hopes up because it was likely that 'The One' didn't actually exist. Even if the Oracle had told her that she would help Morpheus find him. In fact, the Oracle's words had caused her to lose faith like nothing else would have done. She could clearly remember every moment of that meeting. The nerves as she had stood in the Oracle's kitchen, not really sure if she believed in the older woman's abilities but trusting Morpheus enough that she was worried about what she might have to say. Never in a million years had Trinity thought that she would be told about a great romance in her future. It had made the whole meeting almost comical, like the old fortune tellers in the Matrix who would predict a tall, dark and handsome stranger in whoever happened to be paying's future. Not only that but Trinity cared too much about her job, about the future of the human race for her to worry about relationships. Then the Oracle and revealed that this man also happened to be 'The One'. The man that was to save all of them. Trinity had left that meeting, determined to forget all about it. She was in control of her own damn fate and no one could tell her what her future would be. Then the other predictions had started to come true, and she had started to believe that maybe there was something to it after all. As she had gotten older, and the candidates that Morpheus had found had become younger, Trinity had realised that either, the Oracle had been mistaken, or they had already missed their chance. Anyone that Trinity could realistically love would now be too old to be released from the Matrix, too dependent on the system that if they tried he was likely to die in the attempt. So she had stopped helping Morpheus look, instead waiting for him to find the candidates that she would dutifully watch until they knew for sure. Sometimes she considered telling Morpheus what the Oracle had told her, but she always felt that it was too personal and she didn't want to ruin Morpheus's faith. It was all he had.
"What makes you think that?" Apoc asked when the silence had started to become uncomfortable.
Morpheus grinned, his teeth flashing in the artificial light of the Neb's dingy kitchen. "He is looking for me, asking questions about the Matrix. I watched him hack his way into an FBI database to find a story about me. It was impressive."
Trinity swallowed her mouthful, "There are plenty of good hacker's out there Morpheus who aren't the One. Plenty asking about the Matrix too." Her gaze swept around the room, the rest of her crew looking as unimpressed by Morpheus's theory as she felt.
Shaking his head, Morpheus continued to smile. He believed so strongly in his role in this war that he had never cared in other people's opinions. It had cost him a lot of friends, and Niobe. "You will see Trinity, once we have watched him for a while. There is something about him."
Trinity squared her shoulder's, though she didn't believe in the One anymore, she did believe in Morpheus and would do everything in her power to support him. He had saved her from the Matrix, had shown her the truth and given her a home on this ship and in Zion. He had even made her his second-in-command on this ship when she had been ready, much to the annoyance of a lot of people in Zion. "Ok, has tank got his file? I'll read through it and sort out a rota for us to watch him."
Morpheus nodded his head, "It's all in the construct, ready to go. Mouse has already volunteered to take the first watch, he is with Tank and Dozer now."
It was Trinity's turn to nod. She stood quickly, taking her bowl with her to the sink where she washed it, before heading out of the room. Switch followed her out the room, leaving her own bowl for Apoc to clean out. Trinity didn't stop the eye roll this time, "Could you be anymore subtle Switch?"
Switch shrugged, "Morpheus knows that we all talk about every potential anyway. Why try to hide it?"
Trinity took in her best friend. She had been working with Switch for the last 8 years and trusted her more than anyone else, though she still hadn't told her about the Oracle's prediction. Trinity was taking that secret to the grave with her.
"So, want to have a small wager? A weeks worth of washing up if this one turns out to be a false alarm?" Switch continued, her white blonde hair turning slightly blue in the light of the core that they were passing.
Trinity gave a rare smile, "No deal."
Switch snorted, "It could happen. According to the Oracle it is a guarantee, Morpheus is going to find him. He is going to save us in the war against the machines. Blah blah blah."
"You used to believe it," Trinity said quietly as they headed towards a bank of computers.
"So did you. It's been too long, too many potentials have come and gone and we aren't any closer to anything. I'm starting to feel like we are wasting our time." Switch half whispered, not wanting Tank, Dozer of Mouse to hear them.
Trinity didn't reply, though she definitely agreed. She strode up to Tank who was watching the monitors in front of him closely. Checking for any danger that could threaten Mouse who was jacked into the Matrix. "How long has he been in there?" Trinity asked softly. Mouse was their newest recruit and having him plugged into the Matrix without anyone else there to watch over him made her feel uncomfortable. He was barely 18 and acted even younger.
"About 30 minutes," Tank replied, not taking his eyes off the screen, "He is in the same room as an exit. If anything goes wrong I can get him out in less than 10 seconds."
Trinity nodded, turning her own attention to the screen to watch Mouse. Trinity no longer even saw the green code that ran down the screen, it had taken her a few years to get used to but now she could read it easily. Mouse was sat in a room in a quiet building, a computer in front of him which he was watching avidly. There was a phone next to him, presumably the exit that Tank had mentioned. "Get me hooked up. I need the information we have on this new potential and then I will take over for Mouse."
"You got it. Though Mouse will be pissed that you pulled him early," Tank said with a laugh. Loading up the information that Trinity would need as he spoke.
Trinity smiled grimly, "Until he has more training and experience he will have to deal with it." She headed towards her usual pod. Turning on the computed next to the chair that closely resembled that of a dentist's chair that you would find in the Matrix. She sat down into it, strapping in her own feet as Dozer worked behind her. Once strapped in she laid back, relaxing herself as Dozer came into view.
"You ready?" he asked with a kind smile. Even though Dozer was huge, he was the gentlest person that Trinity had ever met. She often wondered why he had wanted to come on the Neb with the rest of the crew. He had a beautiful family in Zion who he missed every day. Trinity glanced towards Tank, he was Dozer's brother but clearly loved the work that he did. Even if it was hard and sometimes lonely. Trinity suspected that Tank was the reason that Dozer had come to work on a ship rather than work in Zion, though she would never bring that up with either of them.
"As I'll ever be," she said seriously and shut her eyes and Dozer injected the jack into her head port.
The transfer of information only took a couple of seconds but it felt much longer to Trinity, she was able to analyse everything as it was transferred. She could see everything that Morpheus and Tank had discovered about this new candidate, whose name was Thomas Anderson, though he went by the hacker alias of Neo. There was a picture that was downloaded straight into Trinity's head and as she first laid hers on him her heart stuttered. He was handsome, very handsome. He had dark brown hair, deep chocolate coloured eyes and a strong jaw. He was tall and lean, though not skinny. He was also pale, like all hackers who spent too much time in the world of computers. Trinity was so lost in staring at him that it took her a second to realise how much older he was than normal. He was 32. Way too old to be released from the Matrix and survive it.
Once the download was complete Trinity opened her eyes, and glared at Tank in fury. "He is 32! He is too old. We will kill him," she said angrily, shaken to her core. This had been the last thing she expected. The oldest candidate they had looked at before had been 22, and that had been pushing it. "What is Morpheus thinking?"
"32?" Switch asked, mouth gaping wide in shock.
Tank shrugged sheepishly, "Morpheus really believes he is the One. If he is there is no way that he will die during extraction, it's impossible."
Trinity gritted her teeth, "And if he isn't the One? What's to stop him from dying then?"
Tank flushed guiltily, "I don't think Morpheus has considered that possibility."
"Of course I have considered it," Morpheus interrupted casually as he strode into the core, "We won't do anything until we are sure. For now we will watch him, give him a few hints to help guide his search. Only when we are sure will we contact him."
Trinity closed her eyes in irritation, "Is there any point in actually following him? The extraction won't work, he will reject it. You've seen what that does to people. It happens to those much younger than he is." She opened her eyes again, focusing on Morpheus.
He met Trinity's stare head on, "I believe in him. If he is the One the extraction will not kill him. It might be harder than normal but he will survive it."
Trinity stared at Morpheus, he was so calm and sure that she knew that nothing would change his mind. Instead she nodded shakily, turning to Tank at the computers, "Get Mouse out, I'll take over."
Tank smiled in relief, glad that the worst was over and quickly started typing on the computer, making the necessary call to Mouse and hacking Trinity into the system.
She closed her eyes, and when she next opened them she was stood inside the room that she had seen Mouse in earlier. It was small and rundown. Paper was peeling from the walls and the only chair in the room was chipped. Trinity sat down on the chair, ignoring the dank smell, and turned her attention to the computer screens in front of her. On one she could see a search running and knew instantly that she was watching Neo's search through the web. It was fascinating to see the way that his mind worked. Morpheus hadn't been wrong about that, Neo was talented. Though given his age it wasn't too surprising that he was better than the teenagers they normally watched. Trinity thought back to that picture of Neo she had seen and compared it to the image on the other screen. The picture must have been recent, it was almost identical to the man that she was looking at. He was staring avidly at the screen in front of him, typing almost continuously, only stopping to read something of interest. Most stories were centered around Morpheus, though every so often her own name would crop up and a small thrill ran through her, knowing that he was reading about her as well.
Trinity didn't notice the passage of time. She was so focused on the screens, watching every move that he made, that she didn't get bored like she normally did. She was enjoying the slight crease that would appear when Neo came across a particularly difficult code to hack, only for it to clear a couple of seconds later when the answer came to him. Every so often Trinity would guide his search, dropping a small breadcrumb here and there which he followed eagerly. It was something she was adept at now, she had to walk a fine line between giving him the answers and letting him work out things for himself. She could only give hints that he had to sort through. Though she did somethings throw a hard bit of coding at him, something she normally didn't do, to see that little crease again. Every time it appeared she struggled not to smile and every time he managed to break through it she was impressed. So lost was she in what she was doing, she jumped when the phone next to her rang. She glanced at the time on the computer screen, shocked when she realised that she had been watching him for nearly five hours. Without taking her eyes from Neo, who looked like he was about to fall asleep at any second, she reached for the phone and brought it to her ear.
Her eyes opened in the real world, Cyther removing the jack from her head. She sat up quickly, eager not to let Cyther linger over her and glanced quickly to her left. Apoc had taken over.
"What do you think then?" Cyther asked quickly, hovering too close to Trinity's chair.
She stood up quickly, putting some space between them and shrugged. "Morpheus was right about the hacking, he is talented."
Cyther eyed her shrewdly, noting the distance now between them, "And about the other thing?"
"You know my thoughts on the One, Cyther." She said giving another shrug. Even if she had found Neo to be attractive, it didn't mean that he was the One. She had found plenty of people to be attractive in the past. Whenever she had gotten to know those people the attraction had died pretty quickly, she normally ended up befriending them instead. Of course, this was the first time since she was a teenager herself that a potential had been the right age for her. She pushed the thought out of her head quickly. She didn't believe in the One anymore and it would take a lot more than a pretty face to change that. Though she did believe that she was going to enjoy watching him more than any other past potential.