Goldstein sat in the cockpit of the Liberty Bell as he flew the ship through the lower tunnels to Zion, the last refuge of humanity. Zion had been found by the initial members of the Resistance, who had been fleeing from the Machines. With hard work, they had built a major network of defenses to protect the city, and had rebuilt humanity.

As he approached, he activated the ships radio. "Zion Command, this is the Liberty Bell, we are on final approach."

"Roger that, Liberty Bell. Welcome back to Zion."

Inside the white control room of the Construct, the controllers operated the virtual computers that controlled Zion's defense mainframe. On the screens, the Liberty Bell could be seen approaching the defense lines. One by one, those defenses were directed to not regard the Liberty Bell as a threat.

Inside the Liberty Bell, Goldstein watched the defense line as it reconfigured to let his ship through. The heavy machine guns moved into resting positions, the missile launchers closed their storage flaps, and the electro-coils ceased humming.

Over the comm came the voice of Zion Command "Liberty Bell, you are cleared for Dock 4."

"Thank you Zion Command," responded Goldstein.

The Liberty Bell flew through the space where the heavy metal gate had been a minute or so before and entered Zion. The city was massive, extending for miles underground and containing the last free remnants of the human race. Powered by geothermal energy, this city was a work of human engineering that was unsurpassed in the old world. The only mystery was how the city had come to exist, as the historical records they had acces to made no mention of it. It seemed that it had almost appeared out of thin air. But whether it was some governments doomsday plan or just a great engineering project, its origins no longer mattered. The city had been added to by the Resistance, but the basic structure was still the same.

The Liberty Bell settled into the available dock that had been assigned to it at the top of the city. The repulsors which kept the ship afloat shut off as the vessel settled into its berth. Shutting everything down, Goldstein made his way to exit the ship with his crew.

Walking down the exit ramp, he was confronted by three guards. "So General Gates doesn't trust me to come of my own free will," asked Goldstein as he walked up to the lead guard, who stiffened to attention.

The guard replied uncertainly, "With all due respect sir, you have a reputation."

Golstein smiled at that. "That I do. Alright," he said, looking back at his crew. "Get the ship ready to go ASAP. I don't want to be out of the fight too long."

"Right sir," replied Iceberg.

Golstein turned back to face the lead guard. "Okay, lets go." The guard nodded and they headed off into the city, with Goldstein in the middle of a triangle formation.

Entering the cities military command center, Goldstein found it bustling with activity as it usually was. The banks of computers showed maps of the surrounding tunnels with the locations of Sentinel packs marked on them. In the middle of the room was a circle of chairs that held the people who were manning the city defenses in the Construct.

Ignoring all that, Goldstein and his escort headed directly to General Gates's office. Upon entering, Goldstein looked around and saw that it was the exact same as the last time he had been there, with the pseudo-wood desk, the sword mounted on the wall, and the picture of the planet from space which must have been taken before the war with the Machines.

Gates glanced up at Goldstein as he entered. Gates was of a moderate height, and American in ancestry. He had an eyepatch from when he had decided to have a swordfight with a Sentinel. Like Goldstein, Gates had been with the Resistance from the beginning. Unlike Goldstein, he was better at knowing when the appropriate time was for risky strategies. THis had resulted in his promotion to commander of all the Resistance military forces while Goldstein had stayed a Captain.

Gates stayed seated as Goldstein walked up to his desk. "Captain Goldstein."

Goldstein glanced down emotionlessly. "General Gates."

Gates motioned to the chair on the other side of the desk. "Please, sit down."

Goldstein slid the chair out and sat down in it. Gates put aside the paper he was reading, folded his hands, and looked at Goldstein.

"So Captain, lets talk about your recent actions in the Matrix. I understand that you and your network have launched several attacks on government installations within Airstrip One in recent days."

"Thats correct."

"You do recall that it has been our policy for the past year to not attack, so as to not provoke the Machines into destroying us once and for all."

"I do."

"So why are you jeopardizing the current detente, which is providing us with a chance to expand our fleet and increase our numbers?"

"Because they'll never let us live in have to make them remember that we re here, and that we will always be trying to free humanity from their grip. There is no detente, merely a waiting period before the Machines strike again. Sure, we can build some more ships, and increase the size of our forces a bit, but they can build thousands of Sentinels in the same time. This is just the calm before the storm."

"Regardless of what your opinion is, you have violated our policies. So why shouldn't I strip you of your rank and throw you in a penal battalion now?"

Goldstein smiled. "Because you owe me."

gates sighed. "You're never going to let me live the Battle of Zero One down, are you?"

Goldstein shook his head. "Nope. That was a dumb idea, even by my standards. I mean, have essentially our entire fleet attack the Machine City, betting on the fact that they wouldn't expect us to do something so suicidal? That takes a special kind of crazy. And we both know that I'm the reason that as many ships got out of there as there were."

"Fine," conceded Gates. "I suppose I have to listen to you for once. Not that I think you're wrong, but the Council likes the current situation. I can cover for you for a bit..."

"I don't need you to."

"Ah, it's not trouble. Just try not to do anything too stupid, okay?"

Goldstein stood back up. "Yes sir," he said as he saluted the General.

Gates stood up and returned the salute. "Dismissed."

Without another word, Goldstein turned around and left the office as Gates went back to his paperwork.

Winston floated in a sea of dreams and memories. It was pleasant, not at all what he expected a medically induced coma to feel like. He saw his mother, Julia, and the images of his entire life until that point flashing before his eyes. He knew he wasn't in any imminent danger of dying, but this helped him to cope with the events of recent days.

Then, something truly strange and terrifying happened. His eyes flew open, as if he was awake, but instead of seeing the grey walls of the bunker, he found himself floating in a red, liquid filled tube. A breathing apparatus was attached to his face, and numerous wires were connected to different points in his body. But before he could panic, he closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he could only see darkness.

"Smith, are you awake," asked a familiar voice.

Winston blinked, but he still couldn't see anything. Reaching up to his face, he felt a cloth over his eyes. when he moved to take it off, he was stopped by the person who had spoken on his left side.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Your last operation included a retinal transplant. Taking the bandage off may cause complications, such as permanent blindness."

Winston nodded imperceptibly, it being painful to move his head. "So, Talia, is it done?"

"Yes. No one will recognize you. It was a bit hard for me, in fact. We'll need to keep the bandages on for a week or so until you've healed from the surgery."

Winston laid on the bed for a bit, then asked, "So what next?"

"Well, once you're ready, we're going to move you out of here. Despite the surgery, we can't risk anyone recognizing you. Fortunately for us, the different parts of Oceania don't talk much."

Winston's eyes widened underneath the bandages. "You mean..."

"Yes, you're going to America. The Northern half. You'll meet another cell there and they'll have you do jobs for us."

"How'm I going to get to America?"

"we've worked out a way to get you across on a transport. It leaves in three days."

"But...the bandages."

"They wont matter. we're passing you off for a wounded veteran. too injured for the front, but the wound isn't life threatening. you're returning to your hometown to help make war materials. The cell on the other end will help you get assimilated."

Winston was silent for a couple minutes, then spoke up. "Thanks."

"Eh, its nothing. Helping you helps us. We're just working to bring about the revolution that will take this place down."

"Right," mumbled Winston, and he fell back into peaceful sleep.

The next time he woke up, he felt the surface that he was resting on tilting and rocking. He figured out quickly that he must be on the boat that they were using to send him to America.

Winston groaned. "Wha..What?"

Someone commented from off to the side, "Hey, the wounded warrior is awake." Winston could hear rustling as the person moved around.

"Apparently they've kept you drugged for the pain. You must be important, I haven't seen them do that for anyone else I've shipped."

"I didn't do that much, just my duty to Big Brother and Oceania," lied Winston.

"Of course," grunted the man. Winston heard a cap coming off of a bottle of what Winston assumed was Victory Gin. The man poured himself a cup before he continued. "So, where you headed?"

Winston paused before answering. He wasn't sure how much the man had been told, or the names of places in America, for that matter. "Industrial Region 3, formerly the Great Lakes region."

"Okay, well, I hope you enjoy it there."

"Thanks."

The man walked over to Winston and placed a cup in his hands. "So heres a drink. To big Brother!"

"To Big Brother," echoed Winston weakly, and he took a sip from the cup. the victory gin must have reacted with some of the drugs left in his system, as shortly after he lapsed back into sleep.

After some turbulent dreams, he was woken up by the man from before. Winston noticed that he still had the bandages on.

"C'mon. Get up. We're here."

Winston cautiously stood up, but he had to stop himself because of the dizziness from the blood flowing out of his head. Then the man grabbed his arm.

"Here. Lets go."

Walking in tandem with the man, Winston slowly made his way off of the boat. the scariest and hardest part was walking down the creaking wooden gangplank. the man had to lead him, and Winston had to trust his balance to keep from falling off. Eventually he did make it down and moved out of everyone elses way.

"Well, here's goodbye then," commented the man who tromped off leaving Winston quite alone.

Blind, Winston just had to trust that someone from the Brotherhood would show up here. while he was waiting, he he noticed that his hearing had improved from the lack of eyesight. this allowed him to hear more of the bustle of the docks and the movement of people. He was becoming lost in the sounds when he heard someone approach.

"Winston Smith?"

Winston nodded.

"Good. I was sent to get you by a mutual friend. He welcomes you to America. Now, come with me, if you please."

Winston nodded while holding out his hand. the other man grabbed hold of it, and together, they made their way into the bustling city.

As Winston walked through the city, he could hear people all around him, hurrying as they headed to destinations around the city. It was so much different from London, where people suffered under fear from the daily rocket bomb attacks. Without sight, it seemed like a city that might have existed before the revolution. Of course, he knew that it wasn't, knew that only the Inner Party and the military drove the cars that he occasionally heard, but he could imagine.

He felt them duck off the main road into an alley. They went down it a bit of a ways, then stopped. The man moved and rapped on the door, The man muttered darkly when the door went unanswered.

"Typical. He knew we had a dropoff today, so of course he isn't here."

Winston listened as the man pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He was then led inside and sat down in a chair. In the background he could hear the dim sound of a telescreen, presumably another fake one.

"Alright, lets take these bandages off," said the man, who walked up behind Winston and carefully cut the bandages then slowly lifted them off. Winston was blinded by the sudden influx of light to his eyes, and he had to slowly adjust to being able to see again.

When he could see again, he found himself in a room that looked very much like his own back in London, except this one was a bit less dirty. On the telescreen, industrial reports of exceeded quota's were being shown.

"Welcome to main Oceania Mr. Smith. I'm John. John Preston," said the man as he walked back around from the table where he had returned the scissors, and pulled out a mirror. "I bet you're anxious to see your new face. Most people are."

Winston grabbed the mirror with shaking hands and was stunned by his new face. He ran his hand down his left cheek, which was adorned by an impressive scar, and past his altered nose. In addition, his hair had been subtly dyed black to make him look a tad younger. The most disturbing change though, were his eyes. They were now a dark green, where before they had been blue. If he had had a full body mirror to look in, he was sure he would not have recognized himself.

"Thank you," said Winston as he handed back the mirror.

"No problem," replied Preston as he took it back and returned it to the drawer he had gotten it from. "There's a fresh set of clothes on the table. You can change in the bathroom."

Winston nodded as he went over to the table and picked up the clothes that Preston had for him. They looked much like his own, except they were subtly different, probably due to the different location. He put them on after a bit of difficulty, mostly with regards to his altered height.

When he was ready, he walked back to the kitchen where Preston was cooking something. "alright, I suppose you're hungry after that long trip."

"Now that you mention it..."

Preston smiled and slid over a plate with pancakes and a sausage. Winston dug in, his hunger recovering from the drugs that had kept him asleep and free of pain. The food tasted great, even though he knew that it was basically the same as the food back in Airstrip One.

When he had finished, Preston took the plate and put it on the counter. As Winston washed the food down with some Victory Coffee, he heard a knock on the door.

Preston walked over and yanked the door open. He spoke softly to the person who had knocked, but Winston couldn't see who it was from his vantage point. Then, as Preston came walking back with his visitor, Winston's eyes widened in surprise.

"Goldstein."

Goldstein smiled and shook Winston's hand. "Hello Mr. Smith, we finally meet in person."

Winston nodded with a stunned expression on his face. He never thought he would actually meet the head of the Resistance. "It's an honor."

"I'm sure. Mr. Preston, watch the door if you would be so kind."

"Yes sir." Preston took a pistol out of another drawer, and went to sit in the main room.

"Preston is one of my lieutenants," said Goldstein as he sat down opposite Winston. "He's very good at what he does."

"Isn't it dangerous for you to be here? What if the Thought Police catch you?"

"Everywhere is dangerous for me, but I have many ways of getting around. Now, I wanted to meet you in person and see how you were doing. You certainly had one of the most traumatic entrances into the resistance I've seen. So, how are you doing?"

"Well, I'm in a new place, and I've had surgery to alter my face. It's going to take some getting used to."

"That it will. You'll be staying here for a bit so you can get adjusted to the surgical changes and so you can learn everything you need to know about where you are going. Once we think you are ready, we will send you out to help the Resistance. You probably wont do much, of course. Some recruitment, maybe a bit of sabotage. Enough to show the Resistance is still around while not bringing a crushing response down on yourself by the Thought Police."

Winston nodded in acceptance. "Sounds fine. But I want to make a major impact in the fight."

"I know, you wish to avenge Julia. The time will come when this tyranny comes crashing down and people will be free again. But it will not be for many years. Every action you take against them, every person you turn, brings that day a bit closer. Even if the triumph does not come in your lifetime, rest assured that what you do for us will bring about justice for Julia and the countless others that have been killed by the Party."

Winston sighed. He wasn't satisfied by Goldstein's answer, but he understood the point the man was trying to make. "Alright."

Goldstein stood up. "Nevertheless, I am glad to have you with us. Now, I have very little time left, so I must be going." As he walked out, he looked over at Preston. "See you in the near future Mr. Preston."

Preston closed the door behind Goldstein and put the gun back in its drawer. He then walked over to Winston. "You're a lucky man Mr. Smith. Goldstein doesn't visit just everyone."

"I bet, but why does he think I'm so important?"

"We'll find out in time, I suppose."

A/N: Find the movie reference, get a cookie.