Author's note: Thanks a million to my amazing beta Sieg-Sama who stepped out of his fandome to beta this for me. Thank you so much, you're amazing.
Rob sprinted through the woods swiftly dodging every branch the forest threw his way. His footfalls went unheard of by the sounds of nature; he was like a shadow gliding onward. His pursuers seemed to have blended into the green and were nowhere to be found; not buying the false sense of security Rob kept running.
Not bothering to pace himself Rob pushed his residual body to its physical limits, his lungs were aching and on the verge of exploding but he didn't dare slow down instead with his mind cool, calm and collected Rob continued to steal through the never-ending forest. He saw a stream impeding his path ahead; any other person would have taken the time to walk around but Rob didn't have much time and he was not just any other person. Rob leapt into the air as time slowed; all of his focus was blending all the different greens of the forest together into one. While airborne his vision seemed to stretch on forever. The tall rows of trees got longer; nothing could stop him in this world he would out run them all. He hit terra firma, not breaking momentum Rob rolled and propelled himself back to his feet silently blending back among nature.
He frequently listened to the whisper of the wind for their footfalls. To no surprise he not only heard them but felt their eyes on his neck as their pursuit continued.
It's been at least two hours since Rob started meandering through the woods after escaping the interrogation room and no end seemed in sight. Moments later the feeling of being watched subsided and soon his curiosity outweighed his instinct to run so he took a look back. It would prove to be the biggest mistake of his life.
As he looked over his shoulder Rob ran right into a clearing and slammed full speed into a towering agent dressed in a black suit and shades. Recovering quickly; he rolled away from the agent and whipped out two Uzi's from behind his liquid black trench coat before emptying both clips into the machine at near point blank range.
The agent seemed to explode into four identical copies of himself in an attempt to dodge the bullets. Rob did the training simulations he knew that no matter how many rounds operatives emptied into agents they seemed to dodge each one, but he was told he was the One; he thought his, bullets would hit; however just like in training the Agent dodged all the bullets before regaining his upright position a mere second after Rob heard the inevitable click of his now empty guns. Rob stood tall and tossed his guns aside, there was no way this guy would let him reload besides what good would it do? The Agent could dodge bullets. There were only two options left fight or flee Rob already tried the ladder so he went with the latter by swiftly tossing his trench coat and sunglasses aside as well, he would need to be as free as possible if he wanted to survive the hand to hand as well.
He stood ready waiting for the Agent to make the first move, across from him the agent stood motionless as if he had the whole day to finish off the red pill. Rob knew that the other agents would catch up soon and there was no way he would win against all three of them no matter how many times he was told he was the one.
Deciding not to wait for his pursuers Rob ran up and executed a perfect round-house kick expertly aimed at to the Agent's head. The Agent blocked his kick and countered with a jab to the head, Rob also dodged and continued to fight. The agent was amazed no Red pill had ever dodged and blocked all of his attacks with lightning fast precision, but as impressive as the free mind was he could not be allowed to escape a second time. The Agent ducked and threw a well placed mega punch at the center of Rob's chest.
The force of the punch was so strong that Rob was lifted off his feet and slammed backwards right into a tree a few yards away. In training he usually got right back on his feet but this punch was unlike anything he'd ever received and rendered him incapable of continuing. Even as Rob tried to stagger to his feet the Agent somehow appeared right before him and slammed him right back down to earth.
The two pursuing Agents finally caught up and casually walked up to their comrade who stood over a motionless Rob. As soon as they came close Rob was lifted to his feet and handcuffed in one swift motion. One of the agents put a hand to his ear to listen for silent orders, then without saying anything they all looked at each other and nodded at the same time.
The two pursuing Agents took lead and started walking towards a nearby cliff, the Agent clutching the struggling captive brought up the rear. Rob watched the blood from his broken nose drip down and get absorbed by the moist soil, he knew that in a matter of minutes he like the blood droplets would cease to exist.
The group stopped by a Cliffside. The Agent brought Rob closer to the edge of it. From where he stood Rob could see the razor sharp boulders amidst the violent rapids waiting to greet him down below.
One of the other Agents stepped forward and said "I'm asking one last time, give me their coordinates."
At that moment Rob wanted to apologize to Morpheus and the rest of his crew, he brought them all false hope by believing he would be the one to end the war. Morpheus believed in him so much that somewhere along the way Rob too started to believe in his abilities. He chuckled as it all finally sunk in, I'm not the one he thought to himself.
"Give me the coordinates" the now irritated Agent repeated
Rob looked deep into the machines mirrored black shades before gathering up all his anger and spitting right into the Agent's face. Angry but controlled the Agent stepped back and nodded to the one restraining Rob. The burly Agent then shoved Rob over the edge, he flew a peaceful forty feet before the boulders and rapids claimed him.
"There will be others" The lead Agent replied as the three of them looked to each other before walking away.
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Back on the Neb Morpheus and Trinity watched in silent shock as their friend died while trying to protect their location.
Reluctantly Morpheus turned his back to the monitors and stared at the file on his desk on the far side of the ship. Trinity swiveled her chair back to her station and got her monitoring programs back online.
"He's not the one" said Morpheus in defeated regretful tone "I don't understand he met all the criteria"
Trinity turned to her captain with a forced look of control "He's not the one, but because of his sacrifice we now have time to make another search. I'm going to restart all monitoring on all failed candidates." Morpheus just nodded thoughtfully as she continued her work. Once he got over his daze Morpheus walked over to his desk and picked up the lone file.
"Don't restart anything" He called out Trinity
The ship's first mate swiveled around in disbelief, waiting for an explanation when Morpheus set a file on her lap.
"Monitor him instead"
Trinity quickly scanned the contents of the file before looking back to her captain as if he'd just lost his mind.
"He's too old, I'm not gonna waste my time on someone who won't be able to deal with the truth."
"That's exactly what I thought when I took his file out of the selection pool, but something in my gut tells me it's him. Start a month of surveillance then report back to me"
"A month? Surveillance only takes two weeks per candidate why a month for him?"
"Trinity this war is coming to an end sooner than you think we are down to eight ships in the entire fleet. In about six months I know that we will have to abandon our search and start planning our last stand. This is our last chance to find the one and end this war once and for all." Trinity looked back at the papers in her lap before softly replying.
"I just don't want another casualty like Rob. He was just sixteen Morpheus." She then swiveled back to the monitors and got to work. Morpheus laid a hand on her shoulder before leaving the bridge. Trinity activated her tracking software to monitor a man named Thomas Anderson.
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