NIRA'S POV:

I awoke back in bed in that same room I had first regained conciousness in. "I cant go back, can I?" I whispered, sensing Morpheus's calming presence without even having to turn my head and look at him.

"No. But if you could, would you really want to?"

I thought about that. Knowing what I now knew, that the Matrix was my world, the fake world I had thought was real, did I really want to go back? I knew the answer. And I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.

"I realize what you saw and heard may have disturbed you a bit more than it was intended to. I owe you an apology for that. I have seen what the mind that has trouble letting go can do to its owner and I'm sorry for subjecting you to that dangerous possibility. I did what I did because I made a promise."

I did turn my head this time.

But Morpheus wasn't looking at me. He was gazing intensely at the ground.

"When the Matrix was first built, there was a man born inside who had the ability to change whatever he wanted. To remake the Matrix as he saw fit. It was he who freed the first of us. Taught us the truth. As long as the Matrix exists, the human race will never be free. After he died, the Oracle prophesied his return and that his coming would hail the destruction of the Matrix, end the war, bring freedom to our people. That is why there were those of us who had spent our entire lives searching the Matrix, looking for him. He was the one. And I found him. 17years ago." He looked down at me then.

I wasn't sure exactly why he was telling me this, but he seemed to be leaking tiny bits of information to me, trying to get me to understand something without having to tell me. But all I was getting were the words coming out of his mouth. I sensed no double meanings or insincerity.

He frowned at the lack of understanding in my eyes, but stood. "Get some rest. You're going to need it."

"For what?" I asked, sitting up as he reached the door.

He turned back to me, a hint of a smile on his face. "Your training."

I didn't know what the hell that was supposed to mean, but he didn't give me time to ask questions as he left the room and shut the door behind him. I passed out again pretty quickly after he left.

Oo0oO

The next morning, I stood from my bed stiffly. There were no clocks and even if there were, from what Morpheus told me, I wouldn't trust them anyway. But my body felt like it was two in the morning.

I left my room, stretching my limbs and making my way around the confusing place. I stumbled upon a place where the guy with brown hair, Siren I thought, was working on some wiring in one of the chairs.

Link, the operator, was already up and energized in his seat in front of his feeds. "Morning," he called over his shoulder.

I looked over his arm as he tapped at the keys. "You don't have any…" I trailed off, unsure whether this was considered rude or not, as well as unsure what to call them.

"Holes?" he asked, with a good-humored smile. He shook his head. "No. I wasn't born in the Matrix. I was born in the real world. In Zion."

"Zion?" I asked.

He grinned fondly, thinking of his home. "Zion is the last human city. You'll love it there. Your parents did."

"My… parents?" the word seemed unnatural and awkward coming out of my mouth.

I noticed Siren look up out of the corner of my eyes, but when I glanced back at him, he was studiously paying too much attention to his task.

Link's face lost its smile only for a moment. "They were good people. Both born in the Matrix and freed by Morpheus. Your father's name was Thomas Anderson. He went by the alias Neo. Your mother went by Trinity. You father saved Zion and ended the war."

Morpheus's words from last night sunk in. "The one," I whispered, my ears ringing. This was too much information to process in the short amount of time I had been given. "So what, you're saying my dad was some kind of legend? Some kind of hero?"

He nodded solemnly. "Your mom, too. They gave their lives to protect us. Apparently not before they had you, though. We didn't even know Trinity was pregnant."

"So w-why'd they send me to grow up in the Matrix instead of in Zion?"

"That's a good question," came a sly voice. "One I'd like to know the answer to as well." I turned to see the blond man, Zephryos, slink out from the shadows, a cocky smirk on his angular face.

Link cast him a brief glance of distaste before turning back to me and saying, "We don't know why. But Neo must've had his reasons." He looked back at the Matrix feed. "He knew what he had to do." His tone took on a faraway, dreamy lilt. "Anyway, I'm ready to see what you're capable of. Being the daughter of Neo and Trin. So let's get to it."

I was escorted by a very quiet Siren into one of the chairs he wasn't working on.

"What are we doing?" I whispered to him as he strapped my wrists in.

He barely glanced up at my face with bright blue eyes. "He's downloading training programs into your mind, so you know how to protect yourself when you go into the Matrix." His voice was pleasant, but very quiet. When he was done securing me into the chair, he went back to tinkering with the other chair.

Zephryos stood by Link, watching the green encoded symbols drifting downward on the screen. A ringing noise sounded in my ears again, and my mind seemed to tense up. My eyes squeezed closed and I grunted with the effort of not yelling. But no other sound would come out of my throat. I opened my eyes, gasping when the ringing stopped.

We repeated the process all day. Or at least I think it was all day.

Then Morpheus wandered over and said, "Show me what you've learned." He was hooked up to another chair and we were sent into what looked like a dojo.

Morpheus was wearing a black and white karate uniform. And I was wearing the same, only mine was white with black trim and mine seemed too big on me.

"This is a sparring program," he explained, sweeping his arm wide to include the whole place. "Similar to the programmed reality of the Matrix. It has the same basic rules. Like gravity. What you must learn is that these rules are no different than those of a computer system. Some of them can be bent. Others…" he gave a mischievous smirk. "Broken. Understand?"

I nodded.

"Then hit me. If you can," he ordered quietly.

I used a taunt I had learned during my training before the fight began. And Morpheus used one as well, but I'm sure his looked more graceful and well-practiced than mine.

I surged forward, striking out with my fist, aiming for his chest, his stomach, his face, anything I could reach. But he stopped me mid-blow every time.

I whirled around, my hair flying around me as I tried to lash out at his back. He blocked me again, though, swatting my hand away.

I decided to switch it up and started using my feet to attack his legs. But either his arms or his legs caught my attacks each time again. I feinted a kick at his knee and quickly change course, aiming for his stomach. He caught my foot between my hands.

My eyes widened when I realized what he would do. He twisted as I jumped up with my other foot to prevent its breaking. I spun in the air a few times before hitting the ground, knocking the breath out of me. I wasn't about to let my guard down, though. I rolled over sideways, still keeping him within my line of sight, and raised my fists to defend myself.

"Good!" he said. "Adaptation. Improvisation. But your weakness is not your technique."

I nodded, and, hoping to distract him, hopped up and kicked at his head. He ducked just in time and spun around, using the force of his turn to drive his foot outward over my own head.

The blows and blocks continued, him hitting at me, me hitting at him, and almost every time I was knocked to the ground.

I wasn't sure where my sudden flexibility came from. Maybe it was the adrenaline and anger at being beaten so much. Maybe it was the bending of those rules like gravity. And maybe it was that training I had done.

But I turned my back on Morpheus and leaned backward, throwing myself onto the palms of my hands. I flipped in an arc over him, expecting him to be surprised or caught off guard so I could get a hit in, but the moment my feet touched the floor, one of his feet slammed into my stomach and sent my flying backward until I hit the wall and fell to the floor.

"How did I beat you?" he asked with that infuriating calm.

I gasped and sat up. "You're too fast, you block every move I make."

He folded his arms. "Do you believe that my being stronger or faster has anything to do with my muscles in this place?"

I shook my head. "I guess not."

He leaned down to me. "You think that's air your breathing?"

I looked up at him, but he merely raised his brows innocently.

He straightened and turned away from me, walking forward a bit. "Again!" he called loudly.

I was still on my knees, trying to catch my breath. I stood and readied myself to fight again. I drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly as Morpheus acted out his stance.

I brought both hands in an arc around me, turning my head backward and then back to him with my hands. I made a Y with my thumb and pinkie and shook it in front of my face, giving him a cocky smirk.

His eyes widened a bit in surprise, but he came forward at me all the same. It seemed a bit easier after the deep breathing to be able to keep my focus and block more of his advances.

I took each hit he dealt me without falling over, only letting out a grunt or two. I hit out sideways with my hands, but his arm was blocking me.

Sheer anger erupted within me, seeming to make my hands blur with their movement, all over the place at once. They hit him in the stomach, knocking him back a bit and, in a flash even I could barely catch, were poised in a fist three inches from his face.

I backed off, a bit shocked at the progress I had made.

Without taking his smug eyes off my face, he called out, "Link! Load the jump program!"

And here's where things get interesting :D Please, someone review. I'm getting lonely :( Thanks for reading!