Chapter 2: Recovery and Revelations
Standing near the infirmary window, blanket draped over his shoulders, Morpheus continued to keep watch over the two sleeping people inside. He kept seeing the interior of the Logos, the wicked-looking cables and metallic debris that had torn through the front of the ship so easily, only stopping when momentum and living flesh had brought everything to a sudden, final halt.
Except that it hadn't been final. Somehow, two of Zion's lost children had been returned. They lay resting now, a seemingly peaceful slumber but Morpheus knew better, could see pain shadowing his crewmates' features. The medic's initial report replayed itself in Morpheus' mind: shock, dehydration, and--in Trinity's case--severe blood loss. Neo had been electrocuted by a power surge of incredible strength, but far worse was the damage to his eyes. He would never be able to see again. Trinity had been impaled by three heavy cables and carried dozens of welts and bruises from what Morpheus surmised had been a fight with Bane.
The Nebuchadnezzar's captain sighed silently, wishing he had more answers. But they would have to wait. Pulling a chair up, Morpheus sat and tugged the blanket closer, wondering once again what had happened out beyond Zion, miles away in the heart of a living metropolis powered by dreams.
He was flying.
The sun was his backdrop this time, rather than the moon, and Neo hovered for just a moment, soaking in the warmth before diving back into the clouds. Endless banks of white abruptly bloomed with gray and dark, steely blue.
Thunderheads, Neo thought, turning to avoid the storm front as rain stung his face. But the ominous weather seemed to be enveloping him on all angles now, except beneath. Neo dove again. The rain grew thicker, almost painful, and so cold! The city far below wasn't the orderly, precise creation of the Matrix, but a haphazard, sharp-angled nightmare that no human could have built.
Neo came to an abrupt stop as something jerked hard on the back of his coat. Startled, the One reached back to free himself--and the rainy horizon spun as he was forcibly turned, Neo's shocked expression mirrored in dark glasses.
Smith.
"Hello, Mr. Anderson." Lightning snapped through the air, close enough for Neo to feel its heat. He grabbed Smith's hand, trying to break the former Agent's hold, but he had no strength.
"I told you before, you're going to help me whether you want to or not. This is my world--" Smith pulled back his free arm, shoving his hand into Neo's chest. The One could only gasp as agony shot through him, the invading fist catching something--
"--and you, you are only human." Neo felt the pain leave as quickly as it had flared to life. Smith was holding his prize, fingers clenched around a tightly-wound knot of Matrix code, the characters blazing bright green-white as they pulsed with energy. Smith studied the small tangle briefly, then yanked out one of the buzzing code chains. Neo felt a wave of nausea surge over him and the world began to tilt. Smith flashed a triumphant smile at his adversary, then frowned again.
"Goodbye, Mr. Anderson." Smith released Neo, who immediately began to fall. Instantly he tried to halt himself in midair.
Nothing happened.
The city below rushed up at Neo, far too quickly, and he was falling, spires and clawlike structures growing larger. Neo closed his eyes, not wanting to see the last seconds of his final landing as he was only a few meters from hitting a tower. . .then feet. . .then inches--
Neo sat up on the infirmary bed with a choking gasp, still seeing the dark city in his mind's eye as he clutched at his chest, fabric bunching in his fists.
"Trinity!" Hands caught his shoulders as Neo struggled, the world dark to his ruined eyes.
"You're safe, Neo. Back in Zion. Trinity is resting beside you."
The One stopped fighting against the strong but gentle grip, recognizing Morpheus' calm voice.
"She's alive?" Neo had been afraid that their arrival in the dock had been a pain-induced hallucination, a fever-dream that he had wanted so badly to be real.
"Yes."
Neo let out a relieved sigh, Morpheus supporting his friend as the younger man ran a hand along the fresh bandages covering his eyes.
"Do you need anything for pain?" Neo shook his head, determined to ignore his own discomfort for the moment.
"I'll live." Steadying himself, Neo pulled the blankets from his body and inched his feet then legs over the edge of the bed. The effort left him weary but he didn't fall.
"Neo--"
"I want to be with her. Please." The One reached out a hand. Morpheus took it, understanding. The ship captain helped Neo to stand and make his way to the opposite side of Trinity's bed. A vacant chair was found and Neo sat down gratefully, drained from the brief walk. He felt warmth nearby and lightly ran his fingers across soft fabric, then the familiar coarse weave of a sweater. His hand brushed against hair he knew instantly, framing a strong jawline.
Neo buried his face against Trinity's side, shaking as a muffled sob escaped him. Morpheus headed for the door, wanting to give the pair some privacy, but Neo's voice stopped him.
"He tried to kill her." The One looked over where he'd heard Morpheus' footsteps. Tears were sliding down Neo's face, each one stained crimson. "He had a knife at her throat and I couldn't do anything."
"Bane?" Morpheus paused.
"No, not--not exactly. Smith."
"Outside of the Matrix? But how?"
Neo was shaking his head. "I don't know. But it was him." Neo wiped away the bloody tears.
"What happened after you left us in the tunnels?"
Neo took one of Trinity's hands in both of his. "We'd just started out when a fuse blew. Trin went to check on it and that's when he found her. He was hiding in the lower deck." A pause. "I heard the fight. . .went to go help her and Bane was there. All it took was one look at his eyes and something just felt...wrong, but I didn't know what. He pushed Trinity down into the breaker room and locked the hatch. I had a plasma cutter. . . Smith blasted the power cables overhead and shoved one of them into my face."
Morpheus continued to listen to Neo's recounting, not wanting to interrupt.
"Somehow, I could see Smith, even though everything else was dark to me. I had to kill Bane to stop him. After--after that, we went on to the city. One of the AIs jacked me into the Matrix. Smith had downloaded himself into everything that was connected to the mainframe. The only way I could delete him was to let him absorb me too. When I did, it gave the AI a link to Smith. All I can remember is this huge burst of energy. . .then arriving here." Neo lay his head back down, suddenly feeling drained. Morpheus draped his blanket over Neo's back, resting a hand on the One's arm.
"Get some sleep. We'll have time to talk more later."
Neo made a brief sound of acknowledgment, already half-asleep as his mentor left.
"Okay--stand clear!"
The Hammer rattled with a deep echo as its front end was blown loose from the debris keeping it wedged into the dock floor. Scattered applause celebrated the ship's newest step towards life. Morale had jumped upwards considerably since the Logos' return, and repairs to both ships had gone a bit more smoothly.
"Good job, people. Now we can start on the repulsor pads." Roland hopped down from the scaffolding he'd been standing on while overseeing the placement of the explosives. The Logos was also undergoing restoration, although the machines had taken care of the worst-hit areas on the hull. Inside, Sparks was checking over his operator's station with help from Link and AK.
"Got some loose wires over here, guys." Link snatched up his tools and squeezed into a corner. Sparks routed power back into his station, watching the numerous flat-screen monitors as they flickered and stabilized.
"Wish we were at broadcast level so we could test the Matrix feed," Sparks said as he stared at generic log-in messages on each screen. "Wonder if it's still showing all of that screwy messed-up stuff in the code."
"Neo could probably tell us, if he was here." AK began uploading programs to the operator's main console, a small pile of disks in hand. The three friends fell silent, thoughts on recent events. Link finished his task and moved to the two reclining chairs used for Matrix runs, rebooting their monitors and checking the data-spikes for damage.
"Can he really destroy sentinels just by thinking about it?" Sparks took some of the program disks and slipped them into other drives.
"Yeah. From what Trinity told Morpheus, he nailed five of the things just before the Hammer showed up."
Link shook his head, still amazed at what Neo was capable of. "That's nothing compared to what he did when--shit!" The operator backed away from the far wall. His two companions were up and moving instantly.
"What is it?"
"This wall, where the machines patched it. It just moved!"
Sparks and AK both got odd looks on their faces.
"Great," Sparks said dryly, "we pissed off the ship."
"Look, it's doing it again." Link pointed out the affected area. The three humans watched as a small, mercury-like mass bubbled up around the rent Link had been examining. The living metal warped and stretched enough to fill the tear, threading itself throughout the hole repeatedly like a rigidly geometric cobweb being built in seconds. Once the patch was repaired, the shiny metal halted its movement and dulled, matching the Logos' coloring. AK gently prodded the spot with the handle of Link's wire cutters. Nothing happened.
"That explains how the machines can build and repair things so quickly," Link said.
"Or make armies of sentinels," Sparks muttered. He went back to his program loading, and minutes later his comrades were busy as well, all three of them deep in thought.
Kid wove a path through the main marketplace in one of Zion's lower levels, gingerly touching the side of his face. He'd had the tattoo done just that morning, a flowing design that was the Zion infantry's unofficial mark of courage, bravery, and everything else in between. For Kid it also doubled as a permanent tribute to Captain Mifune and the fallen members of the APU corps.
Cathedral-like arches of metal piping filled Kid's vision as he reached the cavern that led to the temple cave, but instead of continuing in that direction he took a side path. Glittering veins of minerals were interlaced within the rocky walls of the tunnel and they caught the last of the main pathway's lighting as the tunnel curved, silent guides to the Gardens.
Kid stopped outside the entrance long enough to remove his boots, stuffing his socks into them. Like the temple cavern, the Gardens were a sacred place and nobody was allowed in unless they were barefoot. The priestess at the head of the Garden pathway nodded to Kid as he walked in, and an enveloping, almost haunting, silence fell. A few other people were farther up the path, offering prayers at the numerous gravesites dotting the cavern. Kid felt the soft, cool touch of moss beneath his feet and as he turned past a column of stone, he found the grave he was looking for.
Captain Mifune's burial site was already surrounded by dozens of offerings: candles, prayer flags, handmade streamers and small banners with the names of his ancestors reverently painted among tribal spirals and designs patterned after the Maori of pre-war Earth.
Crouching down beside the grave, Kid took his own offering from a pocket. Unrolling the miniature banner, Kid carefully laid out his gift alongside the others.
"I'll finish the corps training for both of us," Kid said quietly. Standing, he looked out at the silent Garden, and for the first time since the end of the war, the true reality--the hugeness--of what had been lost hit Kid full-on and his view of the cavern suddenly blurred. Breathing was suddenly a challenge and Kid shook his head, returning to the entryway at a fast walk. Shoving on his boots, he went to the training rooms where those who were pod-born learned to twist the false reality of the Matrix. Kid had been through dozens of downloading sessions and simulations, and knew exactly what he wanted.
Since there wasn't an operator or one of their trainees present, Kid powered up one of the personal processing units. Entirely automated, all you had to do was set a time limit for yourself and the machine would disconnect you once the limit had been reached or you manually instructed the program to stop. Settling into the chair, Kid locked his feet into the footrests and lay down, closing his eyes. The data-spike slid into his head--
--and Kid found himself in a very large dome-capped arena, dim "sunlight" from above illuminating dozens of weapon racks along the curving wall: swords, polearms, axes, chains, spears, and numerous other items used for combat. No guns. Kid wanted this to be up close and quite personal. His residual self-image was intact: black jeans and boots, dark gray t-shirt, and a few inches of brown hair. A black canvas duster and round-lensed sunglasses completed the look. Kid shrugged off the coat and put the glasses down with it. Going up to the wall, Kid picked up a broadsword, ramming the hilt against a nearby switch that would begin the program.
"Let's go," Kid muttered.
The sentinel came diving out of the darkened ceiling, landing with a solid thump even as most of its tentacles came darting in. Kid swung, lopping off two sets of sharp mandibles before slicing into the machine creature's multiple eyes. Kid was on to the next opponent, leaving the sword imbedded in circuits. Next was a long polearm, tipped with a diamond-sharp blade. Kid cut down one direction and back the other, crisscrossing the new sentinel's face with several X-shaped rents.
Strike, step back, strike again. Kid felt and heard the spear snap in two, and he tossed the pieces aside. Running back for another weapon, Kid grabbed a battleaxe that would've been impossible for him to lift in real life. The next sentinel was cut in half before it had even reached the ground. Hurling the axe across the battlefield, Kid roared out a cry of victory as the axe smashed through two sentinels before burying itself in the wall halfway down its handle.
The simulation ran on, sentinels dropping as Kid channeled his anger and frustration, seeing his friends in every glowing red optic turned his way. Run fast, up the wall, focus your thoughts and--leap! Kid landed atop a sentinel's head, warhammer arcing down with enough force to crumple the machine's casing. Somewhere in the background a soft chime sounded, signaling the imminent end of the training sim.
Kid pulled a long chain from the wall rack, one end weighted with a dangerously heavy--and spiked--metal sphere. Swinging the chain faster with each step, Kid built up momentum, the chain blurring. He let it go with a surge of satisfaction. The joined links wrapped themselves repeatedly around the appendages of two sentinels, forcibly tying the creatures together before the spiked weight shattered the face of one, sinking in.
Breathing hard, Kid stared at the multitudes of piled sentinels where they lay in varying states of ruin--
--and was back in Zion, the simulation over. Feeling the processing unit remove the data-spike, Kid sat up, blinking as his mind refocused on his surroundings. Sliding from the chair, Kid slowly made his way back to the APU he'd privately claimed as his own and took down the banner hanging from the machine. Wrapping himself up in it, Kid curled up beside the APU's feet and lay staring up at the cracked ceiling of the dock, wondering what Zion would face next.
Neo was pulled from the edges of sleep by a slight tugging motion beneath his head. Looking up, he paused, disoriented, then remembered falling asleep in the chair beside Trinity. Stiff muscles protested as Neo moved.
". . .Neo?" Barely audible, but it was her voice through the sedatives and painkillers.
"I'm here, Trin." Neo reclaimed his gentle hold on her hand, their fingers lacing together almost subconsciously. "We're home, back in Zion."
"How? I remember the crash. . ."
"They saved us. I stopped Smith and the machines brought us back. The war's over." Neo found Trinity's face by touch, brushing aside the lock of hair that always seemed to find its way into her eyes.
"Knew you could do it." Trinity smiled faintly, turning her head towards the hand that Neo was gently running through her hair. He kissed her cheek, wishing that he could see Trinity's cerulean eyes again, if only for a few seconds. She slid back into sleep, comforted by Neo's touch. He nestled back beside her, finally able to truly rest, but a peaceful sleep was a long time in coming for Neo, his thoughts plagued with shreds of code.
Sunlight dappled the grass in the park, warming the cool air. Life in the Matrix was settling back into a normal routine after the current resetting.
And let's hope it's the last. Seated on a bench, her ever-alert guardian standing nearby, the Oracle watched the child-program Sati playing at the base of a tall oak. Dolls were scattered about the girl's feet as she held a pretend tea party.
"Is this truly the final cycle?" Seraph echoed the Oracle's own thoughts.
"We can only wait and see what choices are made this time." The Oracle lit one of her cigarettes. "This cycle is still too new to me to read anything clearly." Smoke drifted past. "But if Neo truly has been restored, then perhaps the path we've wanted for so long can finally be made."
"There is always hope," Seraph said quietly.
Over in the shade of the oak tree, Sati finished setting up her dolls, surrounded by button eyes and yarn smiles.
"We need some flowers!" Sati looked around, but saw none. Thinking for a minute, the girl stood, scuffing one shoe in the grass. "I know where we can find some! Wait right here," Sati told her toys. Crouching down on the other side of the tree, the young program reached through the solid trunk, small hand emerging with a brightly shining mass of knotted code. Smiling, Sati carefully tugged at the end of a code chain, retying it with a different set of alphanumerics on the cluster's other side. The grass surrounding the dolls was instantly in bloom with tiny, bright flowers in all colors. Carefully returning the code cluster where she had found it, Sati stood and went back to her toys, passing out teacups.
"I think we're ready now."
NEXT: Chapter 3: Coping
