ibliniy: Hey! This is the third chapter! There will be a plot twist, and a lot of swearing...

venividivici10: Courtesy of moi.

ibliniy: Yeah... that's where I got my language from. It will mainly be from Trinity. There will also be some temporary OCs, who aren't really important to the main story line, but I'll add in a few descriptions anyway.

venividivici10: What do you think of the crew on the Shadow? You know what, I don't care, I'm just asking to give you something to review about. By the way, Aria is named in honour of PLL (the books).

ibliniy: That's how she usually is, so don't mind her. Just go check out our profiles, and if you see a story you like, read and review, K? I'll give you an internet cookie... (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)

venividivici: Piss off with the cookies. No-one likes them.

ibliniy and venividivici10 xxx

The last thing Neo remembered was darkness. He had contained Smith inside of his programming. And then he was deleted by the AI. He had been cold, and it had been dark.

And now it was light, light and warm. The ground was soft and warm as well. He kept his eyes shut, wanting to stay in his tranquil state a little longer. The wind whisked gently around him, making the hairs on his arms stand up. It was a strange-but pleasant-sensation. It felt so real.

Real. Reality. Neo's eyes snapped open. This was not real. The entire world out there was shrouded in darkness, in the middle of an everlasting electrical storm. Light and wind was not real. Needless to say, Neo panicked.

He sat up, looking around wildly. "Shit. Shit, shit, SHIT!" He cursed, scrambling off the ground. He was still dressed in the things he had when he'd died, they were still torn and ragged. He was in the Matrix-AGAIN. So he saves the world and gives up his sight...

Only to end up in the one place he hated.

Moodily, he kicked the ground, hating the reality of it. It was nothing but stupid, fucking code. Everything was code. He scoffed angrily, and went back down on his knees, at the same time plunging his hand into the soft dirt to turn it into a water bottle. He was thirsty. He closed his eyes and began concentrating, giving every fibre of his fake being into making a water bottle.

"It's not going to work." The voice was soft and calm. Neo jumped up, instantly reaching for his gun. He didn't pull it out of its holster, but rested his hands on it, reassured. He began taking in the woman standing before him.

She looked about 35, 40, slightly older than Neo. Her brown hair was tied up into a ponytail, and she was wearing a track suit. Her skin was brown, and was a stark contrast against the white sky. The way she stood, the way she was smiling at him, made her look quite motherly. Slowly, Neo loosened his grip in his gun.

"Who are you?" he asked suspiciously.

The woman smiled at him, and replied, "Maria. Head of the SS Dauntless. Do you want a drink?" She held out a bottle.

Neo looked at it with some apprehension, but Maria didn't seem offended, she just kept on smiling. "I haven't poisoned it, you know. I'm human, what would I have against you?"

She did prove a good point, and he was thirsty. But he didn't let that override his common sense yet. He took it, and opened the cap, breathing in the contents. It seemed fine, but Neo's raging thirst finally took over and he drank it all.

"Sorry," he muttered, handing the empty bottle back. "I didn't mean to drink it all."

"It's fine," Maria laughed. "Come on, you better meet the rest of the crew, Neo." She took his hand, much like how a mother might lead her child down the street, and began guiding him towards the light. He frowned against it.

"Where are we?"

"The Lost Land," she answered. "We're not inside the matrix anymore Neo."

Neo stopped. "What?"

She smiled and gestured to the world behind her. "Welcome to the world beyond the machines."

As Neo walked on the path, he realized he could see people. People everywhere, coming to greet him, congratulating him on making it there, working the land. Girls, boys, men, women, children, all laughing and talking, perfectly content and undisturbed. Even the matrix wasn't this great.

Finally, they arrived at a mansion. "This is Henkel Hall," Maria explained. "It's where we make all the decisions. The living area is just beyond that, and the industrial workers are on the west side of it. On the east we have our science and tech, making vaccines and developing new weapons."

One word caught Neo's attention. "Weapons?"

Maria smiled that motherly smile. "Yes silly! Weapons. You don't think there isn't any rebelling from the sentinels, do you? That's silly... They were built for war."

Another voice interrupted. "HEY MUM! Who you got there?" A young thin man approached.

"This is Neo, Neo this is Dante," Maria introduced. Dante stuck out a hand, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"How are you? Oh, OH! What d'you do to get here? Did you DIE?" Dante asked eagerly, pumping Neo's hand up and down. Maria hit him on the arm.

"Give him some time to adjust," she scolded playfully. "Now go find Storm and Fighter... We need them to find potential candidates." She shooed the over eager young man away, and continued leading Neo inside Henkel Hall.

"He was nice," smiled Neo. It was nice to see some happy young people, instead of the solemn faces and dead bodies he had been confronted with everyday. "What exactly am I going to do?"

"That's what we're going to decide," she replied, and pushed open the huge doors of main reception.

ibliniy: OK, I'm done for the night. If you want stuff, go somewhere else. Venividivici10 will do the stuff.

venividivici10: Who says I will?

ibliniy: Just review, yeah? Even if it just says hi, or "YOU'RE SO CRAP GET OFF THE WEBSITE!"

venividivici10: ...

Laters,

venividivici10 and ibliniy