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"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends; you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth… Nothing more…"

The words echoed in Neo's mind. The truth, he thought to himself… Do I really want to know the truth? Even if it's just something this crazy guy's making up? He kept quiet a moment longer, considering his options. No. I don't trust the look of this guy. He moved to the edge of the chair. The eyes of Morpheus bore down on him, anticipating his next move. "I'm sorry," Neo said. "I'm not ready to buy whatever crazy idea you're selling." He grabbed the blue pill and swallowed it hastily. The cool trickle of the pill gliding down his throat made him flinch. He couldn't read the expression on Morpheus' face, the sunglasses blocking any sort of emotion. Neo shifted nervously. His instinct was screaming at him to leave, to run away from the strange man in the strange building. He got up slowly. Morpheus followed suit. Neo turned, then sprinted out of the room, breaking through the door. He made to the stairs before he started feeling the effects of the pill. Shit. He tripped and landed hard on the stairs. No…Not now… Thomas thought desperately before he felt his consciousness deserting him…

Thomas A. Anderson woke in bed, sweating. I have got to stop having these whacked-out dreams. He got up slowly. His left side screamed with the effort. Thomas ignored it. He was a restless sleeper, anything could've happened in the night. His thoughts drifted to the dream he had had. It had all seemed so real… the debugging… Morpheus… everything. But all dreams seem real when you're having them, he reminded himself. He banished the thought to the back of his mind. He looked at the clock. At least I won't be late today. Slowly, he stood up and went on with his morning ritual.

It was 9:00AM exact when he arrived in his office at the Metacortex Software Company building. He had just sat down when his boss came up to him. "Mr. Anderson," he began. "I am pleased to see you are on time today. I'm glad to see you made the right choice. Keep up the good work Anderson." The boss smiled, then left Thomas to his work. Thomas smiled as he started to type, pleased by his boss' praise. It's about time I straightened up my act. No more Matrix. No more hacking. No more Neo. My curiosity has cost me too much already. As these thoughts passed through his head, Thomas felt years of burden release from his shoulders. He straightened. Yes, he thought. It's time for change…

Three men in dark suits stood by a monitor. "So, they failed to convince him," one stated. He looked at his colleagues. "It is time to pay another visit to Mr. Anderson." The men beside him smiled, their scheming minds turning.

"Mr. Anderson?" a secretary called as Thomas was about to leave for the day. He paused in front of her desk. He gave her a questioning look. "The boss has asked you to meet him briefly in Room 1239. He said it would be short." Thomas sighed. He obediently made his way back towards the elevator. As he walked into the elevator, he was overcome by an ominous feeling not to continue onward. He disregarded it. It's only a meeting with the boss…But the feeling was strangely familiar, causing him to become doubtful. Nonetheless, he entered the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.

The elevator ride was long and slow. Thomas watched the numbers slowly change. 2…3… His eyes drifted to the walls that confined him. They had the look of marble, only much darker, consisting of shades of black and dark grey. He was surprised that he was paying this much attention to detail. Normally his mind would be preoccupied with other things, but not today. He kept staring at the wall. The glossy wall reflected an image of him. He looked into the reflected eyes when he saw it. A quick jolt of green amidst a sea of darkness. He shook himself, making sure he wasn't in another one of his crazy dreams. He put his hand against the cool surface. Nothing unusual could be seen. Great… now I'm hallucinating. Perfect before a meeting with the boss. Thomas heard a faint ding and the elevator doors opened. He looked and found a familiar man staring into his eyes. "We meet again Mr. Anderson," a cool voice stated. Thomas took a step back. This was a man from one of his dreams… the one who had arrested him. The Agent. Smith. "Come now Mr. Anderson, I'm not that intimidating am I?" The elevator door began to close, but Smith blocked it. "Let us have a talk, like the civilized people I know we are…" he smirked. "Now, come along. You wouldn't want to be resistant, would you?" Thomas shook his head wearily. He knew that it was useless to even try to escape. "Very good. You have learned well Mr. Anderson. Now follow me…" Thomas stepped out of the elevator and followed Smith through the corridors of the deserted floor.

The office was plain, non-descript. It had belonged to a former employee who had died in a shooting a few weeks before. The family had taken all of the belongings and personal touches out of the room. All that was left was white walls and a simple desk and chair. The two wide glass windows flanked the end of the room. Two other agents were in the office when Smith and Thomas entered. They surrounded the single chair in the room. "Sit down Mr. Anderson," commanded Smith. "We have a few questions for you." Thomas obediently sat, not wanting to think of what might happen should he disobey them. He was still shaken by his dream. He was afraid that these men might actually seal his mouth shut and put a bug into his system. The metal arms of the chair were deathly cold. The room was on the west-end of the building, infamous for never being heated properly. Employees joked that the boss gave offices that were on the west-end to employees he didn't like. Thomas had been one of those people.

Smith had crouched down before him. He stared into Thomas' face. Thomas tried to hold his stare, but Smith was too strong. He looked down. Only then did Smith begin to speak again. "We understand that you have met the infamous Morpheus. Like our last meeting, we are willing to clear all of the computer crimes that you have committed off your record, in exchange for information about him. Do we have a deal this time?" the agent left his voice echoing in the small office.

Last meeting? Thomas was confused. My dream actually happened? His thoughts must've been reflected on his face, as Smith smirked.

"Yes… our last meeting DID happen Anderson. There's no denying it. We can and will do the same things and more if you prove to be uncooperative. Now, tell us about Morpheus," Smith's voice was quiet, yet commanding. He kept staring into Thomas' eyes, intimidating him further.

Thomas' thoughts were elsewhere. He was trying to get over the reality of their last meeting. His forehead began to sweat. A clean slate… sounds promising, but how do I know they won't attack me anyways…

"Time's up Anderson. I will not say it again. Tell us about Morpheus or suffer the consequences."

Thomas cleared his throat. "Last night I…" his sentence was cut off by a shattering of glass. Thomas instinctively ducked and covered his face. He heard glass crunching near the end of the room. It was quiet for half a second before gunfire tore through the air. He heard the agents move from his sides. He lifted his head. What he saw shocked him. One of the agents was lying against the wall, clutching his side. Many bullets had hit him. Out of the corner of his eye, Thomas saw dark leather jackets. In front of him, he watched the agent die. The air was tense with pressure. Thomas felt something around his stomach. He looked down.

His skin looked like something was stretching it, trying to get into him. He recoiled in fear. Suddenly the world went black. Thomas was thrust into a void of nothingness. Where the hell am I? Thomas' mind panicked. He tried to move but he couldn't feel anything. It was pitch-black. He tried to scream but no sound came. He was alone in the void. What happened? Is anyone here? HELP! Thomas' mind screamed. GET ME OUT OF HERE!

Bright light seared into his eyes. Thomas jumped up. In front of him were two familiar characters: Morpheus and Trinity. Trinity stepped forward. Thomas gave her a questioning look. He looked around and saw the bodies of three police officers littering the floor, their blood leaking onto the carpet. The stench was almost too much for Thomas, but Trinity grabbed his arm and pulled. He yanked his arm back. "What the hell are you doing?" he cried.

"There's no time. Come with us, NOW," her voice had a level of authority that Thomas couldn't disobey. Morpheus motioned to the window and Trinity, followed by Neo walked to the edge. A helicopter rose in front of the broken window. "Grab onto me," Trinity ordered. "Ready, JUMP." Thomas clutched onto Trinity as he felt himself be launched into open air. He looked down. The height terrified him. Suddenly he felt his feet touch solid ground. They had landed on the helicopter pad, Morpheus behind them.

"Now Apok!" Morpheus barked. In the distance, Thomas could hear gunfire. He saw three guns being aimed at them from the window, but Apok moved the helicopter just in time.

Trinity coughed. Thomas looked at her and saw he was still clutching her. He let go quickly, causing the rest of the crew to chuckle. He blushed. He quickly regained his composure to ask the question that was burning in his mind: "What happened back there?" The crew looked at each other. Morpheus stepped forward.

"We have been tracking you ever since you took the blue pill…"

"Because Morpheus couldn't believe you rejected his offer…" interrupted Apok slyly from the cockpit.

"As I was saying, we have been tracking you Neo. We believe you can be a very valuable asset to our crew and we…" A cough from Apok. "I mean I didn't want to lose you to the agents. We saw the trap they laid for you, and planned to rescue you, which as you can tell was very successful. We burst into the room and killed one of the agents. What we didn't plan for was the agent assuming your body to attack us." Morpheus paused.

"The void…" Thomas' voice was distant.

"We were unsure what would happen to you, but we knew we could not kill that agent, which proved to be a challenge. Out of luck we killed the other two agents and the only one that was left was the one that controlled your body. Luck was with us, there was no one else on the floor and we didn't have to kill the last agent…"

"You didn't!"

"No Neo… you did that yourself."

Thomas stared. The void… the darkness… the bright light at the end… It makes no sense.

Morpheus was speaking again. "We are unsure how you did it, but you managed to drive the Agent out of your body. We might never know. All I know is that I believe you are the One, Neo and you must come with us now. I know everything has changed in your world in the past day and nothing makes any sense. All I ask is that you trust me, then all will be explained," Morpheus concluded. Everyone aboard the aircraft was staring at Neo, waiting for his decision.

They want me to be Neo, not Thomas Anderson, thought Thomas. Am I ready to give up this world? He stared out into the air that lay a few inches away from him. He closed his eyes. For the first time in a while, Thomas A. Anderson looked inside himself, truly and deeply. He was ready to listen, to find out what he was supposed to do. The crew was silent as he did this. The only noise was the roar of the helicopter blades above them. Moments passed. The helicopter was now passing over many buildings, the gems of the development of mankind. But Thomas didn't see them, his trance too deep.

An eternity later, he opened his eyes again. There was a new fire in them, a passion. Determination shone through. He cleared his throat. "I will."

The End