Sorry this update wasn't as quick as I had promised, hope you enjoy it though! :) xx
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Switch forced her eyes open as the sound of knocking echoed through her room. She sat up quickly in her bed, feeling her head spin as she did so. She blinked her eyes, trying to clear her vision and stop the room spinning. The thumping on her door was relentless and too urgent to ignore. Pulling herself out of bed she staggered to the door, resting her weight against it as she pulled it open.
"Morning Sunshine." Cypher chucked, finding her disheveled appearance amusing.
"Ugh." she groaned, pushing herself off the edge of the door and standing up straighter.
"We're meeting in ten." Cypher informed her, giving her a tight smile before he walked off down the corridor.
She rubbed her face, trying to wake herself up. Slamming the door shut she stumbled over to the bedside cabinet, pulling it open she took out a change of clothes for the day. She pulled on a pair of jeans along with an undershirt and jumper, as she reached for her boots it clicked that she was going to see the Oracle today. She had so successfully pushed it from her mind that in her tired state she hadn't even thought of it. Buckling up her boots she rushed from the room, feeling suddenly nervous as she made her way towards the mess hall. She knew today was going to be difficult but was ready to face it. By the end of today she would know what she was supposed to do and why she was here. She had learnt so much already but it would be different learning about her own personal future. She didn't know what to expect but was grateful that she'd had a good nights rest, she had a feeling she was going to need it.
Walking into the mess hall she saw that everyone was already seated around the table, slowly eating their way through breakfast. There was an almost tangible excitement in the room, which was rare for an early morning breakfast. Apoc looked up when he saw her enter, a smile forming on his face. She smiled back at him, grinning from ear to ear. She hadn't seen him since dinner last night and while that wasn't very long ago she had missed their usual way of saying goodnight to each other. She would be glad when this Oracle visit was over and things could go back to normal, or as normal as they could be onboard the Neb.
Trinity tapped the bench next to her, gesturing for Switch to take a seat. She quickly crossed the room and swung herself onto the edge of the bench, seeing a bowl of slop already set at the table for her. Smiling at the small gesture she watched the others sat around the table. She looked over at Tank and Mouse who were talking animatedly about something. They were making Dozer and Apoc laugh along with them and even Cypher had a smile on his face. Morpheus looked deep in thought, his eyes on Mouse, he must be thinking about what the Oracle could say to him. Trinity sat quietly eating, occasionally looking across at Switch but other than that distant from the others. Switch remembered what Trinity had told her last night and could understand why that could be troubling her. Honestly if the Oracle was going to tell her something like that she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear it. Sometimes its easier to not know what's coming, to be able to live each day as it comes, without such a set event in your life. When she had met Apoc everything had happened so quickly but it had felt natural, something that had surprised her. She could imagine that knowing something like what Trinity knew could make it feel forced. She didn't envy her.
Morpheus cleared his throat and stood to his feet, silencing everyone at the table.
"Dozer, when you're finished bring the ship up to broadcasting depth. Tank, load up the data probes." Morpheus asked, looking at each of them in turn. "We're going in." he added, turning to look at Mouse and Switch. With that he left the room and walked out into the core, headed towards the monitors.
Tank and Dozer jumped to their feet, Tank giving Mouse an encouraging slap on the back when he saw the confused look on his face. Cypher stood up and walked out after them without looking back at any of them. Trinity climbed over the bench and stood up, turning to look at Apoc. Mouse climbing over the bench caught her attention and she looked around the now almost empty table, it appeared that everyone was eager to get to work.
"Tell Tank to load us up the usual." Trinity asked Apoc. "We'll see to these." she offered, gesturing to the collection of bowls and cups on the table.
"Sure thing." Apoc agreed as he got up from the table. He smiled at Switch before he too left the room, leaving Switch and Trinity alone.
"It'll take a while for them to load up the programing for the Matrix." Trinity explained as she collected several bowls from the table.
Switch nodded as she got up from the table. She grabbed the first few pieces of cutlery she saw and followed Trinity over to the sink. Discarding the collection of bowls and spoons into the water now filling up the sink she turned to Trinity. She was standing by the bench, her eyes on the sink, looking undecided about something.
"You okay Trin?" she asked, tilting her head to look at her.
She nodded, her eyes not meeting Switch's. "Listen… about last night, I'm, I'm glad I told you about what the Oracle said. It just that…" she trailed off, sighing as she rested her palms flat on the bench. Not making any signs of continuing what she was saying.
"Just that?" Switch questioned. She hoped Trinity didn't regret telling her about the Oracle. She had thought they were past this; surely Trinity knew she could trust her?
"Its just that, I feel so weak. I've always been alone. Taken care of myself. And to be told I'm going to fall in love… that I don't have a choice… makes me feel dependent." she replied, her eyes finally meeting Switch's, looking a little self-conscious.
"Your not weak Trin. You're the strongest woman I know-" Switch began.
"Correction, I'm the only woman you know." Trinity cut in, a smile creeping onto her face.
"Oh shush." Switch teased, swatting Trinity's arm. "That's not the point. The point is that whatever the Oracle says you still have a choice. That can never be taken from you. But more important than that is something Apoc said to me a while ago." she replied, pausing as she thought how to phrase it. "He said that, that loving someone doesn't make you weak." she continued. "I had never even thought about that before. I had always been alone so I saw love as a weakness but its not. Since meeting all of you I've realized that." she explained, giving Trinity a shy smile.
Trinity stared back at Switch, shocked that she had said that. She had never heard Switch talk about love like that. Whenever anyone even mentioned anything about her and Apoc she would immediately clam up and refuse to talk about it. And yet here she was telling her this. She gave Switch a small smile; she didn't know what to say to that.
"Come on." Switch suggested, knowing that Trinity wasn't willing to talk about this any longer.
Trinity nodded and began to walk towards the door. She stopped dead in her tracks and spun around to look at Switch. "Thank you." she mumbled, taking a deep breath. "And when you put it that way I'm not alone anyway. Not anymore." she stated. "If love makes you weak then I already am." she added, grinning at Switch.
Switch smiled when she realized what Trinity meant. Trinity turned once again to leave the room and she quickly followed her out of the room. She was glad Trinity had told her about what the Oracle had said. She hoped it would make things easier for Trinity knowing she had someone she could talk to.
As they walked out onto the main bridge Switch saw Mouse already seated at one of the data probe chairs, his legs swinging as he excitedly clasped his hands together. Someone was obviously excited. Cypher, Apoc and Morpheus were all crowding around the monitor Tank was seated in front of. Trinity made her way over to them, Switch following behind her. Switch placed her hands on Apoc's shoulders and stood up on her tiptoes to look over his shoulder at what Tank was doing.
"We're ready to go." Dozer called as he climbed down the ladder from the driving cabin.
Cypher and Morpheus walked over to the data probes, each taking a seat on either side of Mouse. Trinity followed them over and took the closest seat, next to Morpheus. Switch looked to Apoc and he took her hand, leading her over to the seat next to Cypher before taking a seat next to her. Sitting down on the cold metal she leaned back into the chair, taking a deep breath to calm herself. She looked over at Apoc and saw he was already staring, a reassuring smile on his face. She grinned back for a moment before lining her head up with the data probe.
"Alright everyone. Enjoy your trip, and don't die." Tank called, grinning at them playfully.
"Oh thanks, that's really encouraging." Trinity muttered, sitting up to give him a mock stern look.
"Okay thats enough, Tank. Load us up." Morpheus called, ending their small banter.
"Yes, sir." Tank replied, the sound of his fingers clicking across the keys filling the room.
Dozer walked over to Morpheus and plugged him in before he moved onto Trinity and then each of the others in turn. Switch closed her eyes as she heard Dozers heavy tread come up behind her. He forced the probe into her headjack and her face scrunched at the pain. She felt her mind tear from her body before it snapped into the new reality of the Matrix. It hurt less than last time. Trinity and Apoc were right, you did get used to it. She was standing in the same corridor she had found herself in when they had re-entered the Matrix to collect Mouse. She felt more at ease knowing where she was and looking down she noticed that she was wearing the same white suit as before. She could see herself getting used to this. Looking around the room she saw the others standing beside her, all looking virtually the same as last time.
"Trinity. You and I will take them. Apoc. Cypher. You two stay here and guard the exit." Morpheus instructed, ushering them all towards the stairs leading to the ground floor.
They all followed behind him without a word, as they reached the stairs Switch felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning her head around she looked over her shoulder and saw Apoc. She gave him an understanding look before she set her eyes on the stairs in front of her. Right now she needed to focus and so did he. She couldn't allow him to be sentimental. They were going to be fine. Reaching the bottom of the stairs Morpheus walked over to the main entrance and pushed open the once grand double doors. The whole place was a complete wreck, which made it the perfect entrance for them. There was no way anyone would willingly want to come in here. Switch walked through the open doors after Trinity and out into the dim early morning light. She had never been outside in the Matrix before and was hit again with the startling realness of such a fake world. She knew it wasn't even real but she couldn't help feeling better seeing the sky after being on the ship for almost a month and a half now.
"We'll be back in an hour." Morpheus said, turning around to look at Apoc and Cypher who were standing in the doorframe of the hotel.
Switch looked to Apoc, knowing that he couldn't come with her. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Trinity was ushering her over to the car. With one last parting glance at Apoc she rushed over to her. She climbed into the car through the open back door and slid onto the seat next to Mouse. As she pulled the door shut Morpheus hit the accelerator and the car took off down the road. Switch spun round in her seat and looked out the back window, her hand instinctively pressing against the glass as she watched Apoc and Cypher fade out of sight. She turned back around and sunk down into the seat, pushing any thoughts of them from her mind. They would be fine; they had to be. She needed to focus. Mouse looked at her curiously and she remembered that he was the only one who didn't know about her and Apoc, she hoped it stayed that way. She liked Mouse but didn't need another person giving her grief about their relationship.
The car ride when relatively quickly, she hardly even noticed the buildings flashing past her as the car sped along the busy city roads. They stopped at the tail of a traffic jam and she looked out the car window, immediately wishing that she hadn't. Directly across from them was a block of apartments, one of which she had lived in a long time ago. This was a place she would never forget. This was where her life had changed for the better, not by much, but still better. She looked away, not wanting to think about it. That wasn't her life anymore. She remembered what Morpheus had said; she had to let it all go. The car thankfully picked up pace but she didn't dare look out the window again. She felt the car take a sharp turn down a side road and was cast into a dark shadow from the buildings on either side of the narrow street.
"Here we are." Trinity mumbled as the car came to a stop outside an old apartment block.
Switch looked across at Mouse and returned the nervous smile he was giving her. She was just as scared as he was. She didn't know what to expect but she knew she was safe with Trinity and Morpheus. Following Trinity's lead she pushed open the side door and stepped out onto the pavement. She walked over to stand next to Trinity, giving her a small smile. Without a word they followed Morpheus along the pavement and up the steps to the front door of the building. He held the door open for the three of them as they entered into the lobby. Looking around it wasn't what she had expected. The place was a complete dump. There was graffiti on the walls, broken tiles on the floor, and a homeless looking man sitting on a row of seats bolted to the wall. As they approached the man he nodded to Morpheus who returned his greeting. Morpheus proceeded to the elevator, pressing the button before standing to wait patiently. The light of the elevator lit up and a soft dig rang as the doors slid open. Morpheus gestured for her to enter and she walked into the lift. Mouse rushed in with her, sticking as close to her as possible. Morpheus walked in after them, pressing the button for the top floor. As the doors slid closed Trinity smiled at them before the doors blocked her from their view. A moment later the doors opened again and they steeped out into a brightly lit corridor that was just as run down as the one on the bottom level. She stood and awaited Morpheus' direction. There were rows of doors after doors that looked identical; she had never seen an apartment like this before. The corridor seemed to go on forever, she couldn't even see where it ended.
"Mouse. You will go first." Morpheus said, placing an arm around his shoulder as he led him down the hall.
They stopped outside a door identical to all the others, Mouse looked up at Morpheus before he opened he door. He almost jumped with surprise when a black woman opened the door, a welcoming smile on her face.
"Come in Mouse." she said, opening the door wider for him to enter.
Taking a hesitative step forwards he entered the room, the door swinging closed behind him. Morpheus turned and walked back towards Switch, signaling for her to follow him as he sat down on one of the grey plastic seats bolted to the wall. She sat down beside him, trying to stay calm; she didn't need to get worked up over this. She knew she wouldn't have long to wait. They had told Apoc and Cypher they would be back in an hour and it had taken them about twenty minutes to get here. There really wasn't much to look at so instead she rested her head back against the tiled wall and closed her eyes. She wondered what the others were doing. She could only imagine the conversations Apoc and Cypher would be having left waiting on guard duty for a whole hour. She wished she could be there to hear it. She thought of Trinity, she could just picture her having a lovely chat with the man downstairs. Now that she thought about it did that man know about them, about the Matrix? Did the Oracle? Who was this Oracle anyway? Trinity had explained what the Oracle could say to her but not who she was or what she was. She didn't have much time to dwell on it as the door opened and Mouse staggered out into the hall, looking very down about something. He obviously hadn't received very good news. Morpheus stood to his feet and Switch did the same, reaching out to give Mouse a rub on the back as he came to stand beside them. He didn't meet her eye.
"You should go." Morpheus mumbled, looking up at Switch.
She nodded to him and slowly walked down the hall, stopping outside the door Mouse had just come out of. Taking a deep breath she turned the door handle, feeling it pull open from a force not her own. The door swung open, revealing the same woman who had greeted Mouse. She stepped forward into the room and the woman closed the door behind her.
"Come with me." she said, placing a hand on Switch's shoulder. The woman led her further into the apartment, stopping when they walked into a small lounge. "Wait here a moment." she requested, turning away from Switch and disappearing down the hall leading off the room they were in.
Switch looked around, this wasn't what she had expected. This place looked normal, what you would expect a typical family home to look like. The room was empty and the only sound to be heard was coming from the small television humming quietly in the corner.
"The Oracle will see you now." said the voice of the woman from before.
Switch jumped in surprise, not having heard the woman re-enter the room. She nodded and walked towards the woman who pointed down the hall, a friendly smile on her face. She stumbled down the hall and walked into a kitchen at the end of the hall. The kitchen was again very normal looking, nothing out of the ordinary. A plump black woman was sat at a small dinning table, a warm smile on her face. She looked at the woman, again surprised. This was nothing like what she had imagined.
"Not what you expected?" the Oracle asked, the same kind smile on her face.
Switch shook her head shyly. She didn't want to be rude but she genuinely hadn't expected this.
"Take a seat won't you dear." she asked, gesturing to the seat opposite her.
Switch slumped down into the chair, not taking her eyes off the Oracle.
"Now." the Oracle began, looking Switch over. "What would you like to know?"
Switch continued to stare, unable to think of anything to say. She hadn't even considered the Oracle asking her what she wanted to know. She honestly didn't want to know anything. To her it didn't matter if this was what she was supposed to be doing or not. She had never felt she belonged before now so this had to be where she was supposed to be. She thought about Trinity, what would she want her to ask?
"Trinity told me what you said to her." she blurted out without even thinking.
The Oracle didn't look startled by her out burst but simply nodded. "I know." she said, a small smile returning to her face. "You want to know about The One, don't you?" the Oracle asked.
Switch nodded, she knew that was what would help Trinity the most. Morpheus would also be pleased if she could give him any more information regarding The One.
"Well honey, I'm sorry to break it to you but you don't have an awful lot to do with The One." The Oracle replied, the smile fading from her face. "You will get to meet him though." she added, her face clouding over.
"What is it?" Switch asked, confused by the sudden disheartened expression on the Oracle's face.
"It's such a waste." she sighed; looking at Switch with a pained expression.
Switch simply stared at her; she couldn't work out what the Oracle was going on about. The Oracle made no attempt to continue what she was saying, containing to stare at her with the same disheartened expression.
"What is? Tell me." she almost begged.
The Oracle didn't say anything for a moment, her eyes examining the worried girl in front of her.
"Are you sure you want to hear this?" she asked quietly.
Switch froze, she wasn't sure if she did want to know. What the Oracle said had troubled Trinity, what if she said something like that to her? She remembered being asked a similar question by Morpheus the night she had left the Matrix and look where that had led her. She knew she couldn't say no, but she would rather have the truth than live knowing she was blind to something. She slowly nodded her head, preparing herself for whatever the Oracle was going to say.
"Where The One's path begins is where your path ends." she replied, her eyes never leaving Switch's face.
"What?" she asked, not understanding what the Oracle meant.
The Oracle smiled sadly at her but didn't say anything.
Oh. Her path meant her life.
"I'm going to die." she mumbled, her voice barely audible.
"I'm sorry. I hate giving good people bad news." she said kindly, reaching across the table to give Switch's arm a reassuring pat.
She felt numb. All the colour faded from her face as the realization hit her. Her life was going to be cut short and there was nothing she could do about it. She didn't have long left. Her heart started beating faster as if it knew its beats were numbered.
"Why don't you take a cookie?" she asked, gesturing to the plate on the table.
Switch shook her head, the movement bringing her back to her senses. She stood to her feet; she needed to get out of here. She didn't want to risk losing it.
"Poor Morpheus. I'm sending back two crew members with bad news." the Oracle mumbled to herself, standing up also.
Oh god. Mouse. What had she told him?
"It looks like our time is up." the Oracle said, walking round the table to stand next to Switch.
Switch nodded, unable to look at her. The Oracle placed her arm around Switch's shoulder, leading her back through the apartment and towards the front door. Switch forced herself to look at the Oracle; it wasn't her fault that she was going to die. She was just the messenger.
"Thank you." she mumbled, forcing a smile.
The Oracle smiled sadly at her before she walked through the door. She heard it quietly shut behind her and tried to push the new knowledge out of her mind. It didn't change anything. The only change was now she knew. She tried to tell herself that she should be grateful really; if her days were numbered then she wouldn't waste a moment of them.
"Switch." Morpheus called when he saw her.
She tried to smile at them but couldn't find the will to keep it. Morpheus and Mouse got to their feet as she walked over to them. Morpheus gestured for them to follow him over to the elevator. She stood beside Mouse in silence, neither wanting to say anything. As they waited for the elevator she looked sideways at Mouse and her heart went out to him. He looked so frail, even here in the Matrix. She wondered what the Oracle had said to him. Did he too know that he was going to die? She prayed he didn't, that he wouldn't. He was far too young to die.
The almost sadistically pleasant ding of the elevator doors rung through the room and Morpheus walked into the elevator, his cape swirling as he spun around to face the open doors. She steeped into the elevator, followed by Mouse. The doors slid closed, leaving them standing in an eerie silence as they waited for the doors to once again open.
Artificial light filled the small elevator and she quickly stepped out into the lobby. She felt another almost tangible stab of pain when she saw Trinity walking towards them, a smile on her face. She noted that it looked a little out of place on her dressed in a full leather suit with her face concealed by dark glasses. It was then that she realized that if she was going to die then she would die fighting. She knew that was what Trinity would do. Would want her to do. If she was going to go down then she wouldn't go down without a fight. As Trinity reached her, the same smile still on her face, she knew she could never tell her. She couldn't tell any of them.
"You okay?" Trinity asked, placing a hand on Switch's shoulder.
She hadn't realized that she was still staring at Trinity. She nodded before shaking her head softly.
"Yeah I'm fine." she replied, giving her a small smile. As she said it out loud she knew it was true. As long as she was with them she was going to be fine. She didn't care how long she had left as long as the time she did had have she could spend surrounded by the people she loved. She amazed even herself as she thought that, but it was true. She had grown to love them.
She reached out and linked arms with Trinity, who turned to look at her in surprise. She smiled at Trinity as she pulled her towards the door and they walked out, arm in arm, after Mouse and Morpheus. Switch managed to keep a smile on her face, comforted by the fact that soon she would be home and could put this whole thing behind her. She knew she would have to tell Apoc something. If she didn't he would feel a little rejected, not that he would say anything. But there was no way she could tell him the truth. The only way she could survive this was if he remained ignorant. That would be the only way she could stay sane. She felt her heart almost painfully in her chest as she tried to suppress the inevitable. She was torn between the agony she felt knowing how little time she may have left and the bitter sweet joy she felt knowing that she could spend the rest of her life surrounded by the people who meant the most to her. If she was going to meet The One then she would have to be involved in the search. That meant that she had to be able to live out the rest of her life on the Neb. As harsh as the news was at least she had that to comfort her.
They stepped out onto the porch and descended down the stairs, making their way back over to the car. She stumbled along the pavement and was glad her arm was still firmly linked with Trinity's or else she may have fallen over. When they reached the car Trinity released her arm and she climbed into the back seat next to Mouse. Once they were all seated Morpheus spun the car around and sped off down the deserted road. They all sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. The car pulled back out onto the main street and Morpheus weaved the car through the traffic, trying to get back to the exit as soon as possible. Eventually the surrounding buildings started to dwindle in number as they made their way out of town until the car finally pulled up outside the familiar abandoned hotel.
Switch couldn't keep a smile off her face when she saw Apoc standing just inside the door of the building. She kicked the side door open and jumped out of the car, rushing over to him. She almost tripped over her own feet as she sprinted up the stairs to the front door. She threw her arms around a very startled Apoc, feeling better already now that she was back with him.
"Hey." he laughed, wrapping his arms around her now that he had recovered from the shock. "I missed you too." he added, assuming that was why she was so eager to see him.
She pulled back to look at him before letting him go, realizing that the others were staring at them.
Trinity, Mouse and Morpheus had also come over to join them, each of them looking at the pair in a mixture of surprise and confusion.
A shrill ring of a phone made Switch turn to look towards the stairs.
"Right on time." Morpheus muttered as he dashed over to the stairs, not wanting to miss the first exit.
They all rushed up the stairs behind him, automatically falling into a casual formation. Walking across the hall Morpheus picked up the phone from the small side table. He held the phone out to Trinity, a small smile on his face. Trinity grasped the receiver and held it to her ear, her body dematerializing as the metal made contact with her skin.
Switch looked to Apoc as they waited for Tank to dial up again. A moment later the phone once again rang, returning Mouse safely to Matrix, then again for Cypher. The phone received its fourth call and Morpheus held the phone out to Switch. She took it, her eyes on Apoc as she disappeared from the virtual world.
Her eyes snapped open as her mind returned to reality. She sat up and looked over at Apoc's body still jacked into the Matrix. His eyes flickered open as he turned to look at her, a relieved smile on his face. They were back. Switch jumped to her feet and turned to look at Trinity who had already rushed over to Tank. Cypher and Mouse had also wandered over to the monitors. Switch looked over at Morpheus who was just getting to his feet. She wasn't sure what to do exactly, it felt odd being back in such a normal environment. Looking around the ship it looked exactly the same as it had this morning and yet everything had changed. Her whole life had been shaken up in the space of an hour.
"Dozer. Can you take the next shift?" Morpheus asked, turning to look at him.
"Sure thing." he replied, turning to look at Morpheus.
"Thank you." he replied, giving Dozer a quick nod. "Alright the rest of you into the mess hall. We need to discuss where to go from here." Morpheus instructed, gesturing for them to follow him as he walked across the main bridge.
Switch looked to Mouse and found his worried eyes in small crowd heading towards the mess hall. She weaved around Cypher and Tank and made her way over to him, slipping her arm through his she gave him a reassuring smile. He turned to look at her, clinging tighter onto her arm. If his news had been as bad as hers then he could really use the support. He had only been unplugged for a few days and this would just be another blow to him. They walked into the mess hall and Switch took a seat opposite Morpheus. Mouse sat down next to her, not releasing his hold on her arm. Apoc came and sat down next to her while Trinity seated herself on the other side of Mouse. Cypher and Tank took their places on either side of Morpheus. From the expression on Morpheus face she knew this was going to be a long talk, she just hoped he wouldn't press her or Mouse for information regarding the Oracle visit. If he wanted news of The One then he would be disappointed.
Morpheus looked at Switch and Mouse for a moment unsure what to ask them. He normally wouldn't ask his crew to reveal anything they had been told by the Oracle. That was private. But they were getting desperate for any news of The One. They hadn't found any new leads in weeks and were no closer to discovering The One than they had been months ago. Morpheus cleared his throat as he thought how to best phrase what he wanted to ask.
"How did the visit go?" Morpheus asked, deciding that a direct approach would work as well as any other.
Mouse looked to Switch, his eyes asking her to answer.
"It went okay." she mumbled, trying to side step the question. "I asked her about The One." she added so her answer didn't come across as uninterested or deliberately unhelpful.
"What did she say?" Tank asked eagerly, looking across at her expectantly.
"Well she umm…she said that…that I would get to meet him but…" she stuttered before trailing off.
"But?" Cypher pressed, trying to coax it out of her.
"But at first I wouldn't know he was The One." she replied. That was as close to the truth as she could get.
Morpheus nodded before resting his head in his hands. He looked up at Mouse, his eyes questioning him.
"She didn't tell me anything." Mouse mumbled, his words almost inaudible.
Morpheus again nodded softly, giving Mouse a sad smile. He sat up straighter and looked around the table.
"Morpheus." Trinity said, gaining the attention of everyone at the table. "We need to come to a decision about the girl." she reminded him.
Switch turned to stare at Trinity, confused as to what on earth was she going on about.
"Honestly I'm with Trin. No disrespect, but I can't see her being The One." Tank replied, giving Trinity a knowing look.
"Who?" Switch blurted out, her confusion getting the better of her.
"At the moment we are monitoring three potentials but Tank and Trinity aren't convinced on one of them." Morpheus explained.
"Neither am I." Cypher added, giving Trinity a small smile.
"Maybe letting the Novalis take her out would be a good idea." Apoc amended as Morpheus opened his mouth to object.
Trinity looked a little embarrassed but was hiding it well. Switch couldn't help but smile, if only Morpheus knew what she knew. Poor Trinity, it would must be awkward knowing that everyone here was discussing the potential love of your life.
"Very well." Morpheus sighed. "I will inform Tirant that his crew can take her out." he mumbled, looking unsure.
"Trust me Morpheus. She's not The One." Trinity assured him, giving him a small smile.
Switch suppressed a laugh, for Trinity sake. She knew how true that was. Whoever this girl was she definitely wasn't the one for Trinity.
"And then there were two…" Tank mumbled, looking across at Trinity.
So they had narrowed it down to two? That was pretty impressive, if one of them was The One that is. If they were wrong on both accounts then not so impressive.
"Hardly. There's only one real choice." Cypher noted, looking across at Tank.
"People have been ejected over the age limit before. You know that better than any of us." Tank retorted, giving Cypher a grin.
"I wouldn't recommend it." Cypher muttered.
"What age limit?" Mouse asked, looking at Tank in bewilderment.
"We never free a mind once its reached a certain age." Morpheus explained.
"Twenty-five to be exact. We usually aim for around twenty though." Trinity added.
Switch had never even thought about that before but it made sense, the longer you were inside the Matrix the more attached you would get to it.
"Yeah and if you eject someone over that it sure as hell isn't easy. For anyone." Tank replied, giving Cypher a meaningful look.
"Were you ejected over age?" Mouse asked, clueing onto what Tank was implying.
Cypher nodded. "I was almost twenty-nine when they got me out." Cypher replied, his eyes on Mouse.
"When we were monitoring him we knew he had changed his name to escape imprisonment but we didn't realize that he had changed his age too." Trinity explained, not allowing Mouse to get the wrong idea. They wouldn't purposefully eject someone who was over age.
Switch looked at Cypher in surprise, he had never mentioned anything about that before.
"Why can't you be ejected when you're older?" Mouse asked, not seeing what age had to do with being ejected.
"The mind has trouble letting go." Morpheus stated, he tone ending any further questions.
"But that's beside the point. We're running out of time. We need to do something." Morpheus added, rubbing the side of his chin.
"The younger one is our best bet." Tank suggested.
Switch looked to Trinity, she knew that when it came to The One her opinion was the only one that really mattered.
"The older one has shown more promise though." Trinity objected. She didn't know why but she felt compelled towards the older one, all she knew about him was what she could read from the streams of green code and yet even that drew her in. She wouldn't dare say anything about that to any of them though, not even Switch.
"We will continue to monitor both of them extensively but we will have to make a decision soon." Morpheus explained, looking around the table at each of them, his eyes lingering on Trinity.
It has become obvious to all of them that she was the most invested in the search, after Morpheus, but only Switch knew the real reason.
"On that note." Morpheus continued. "I am going to help Dozer set up two monitors to watch each of them continuously. From now on we must keep a close eye on them, they are far to valuable to risk being caught by agents." Morpheus explained as he stood to his feet.
"I'll give you a hand setting up the connections." Tank offered, jumping to his feet.
"I'm coming with you." Trinity added as she too got up from the table.
The three of them walked towards the door but Trinity spun around at the last second to look back at the rest of them still seated at the table.
"You two have had a tough morning. Just take it easy okay?" she asked, smiling kindly at Switch and Mouse.
Mouse nodded, giving her a small genuine smile. Trinity smiled back at him before she turned on her heel and disappeared out the door. Switch looked to Mouse sitting next to her, she needed to talk to him. But she couldn't do that with Apoc and Cypher there. She had never had to think of a way to get rid of Apoc before; it had always been him she had wanted to get alone. Then again she had never had any secrets that she had wanted to keep from him until now.
"Why don't you go with them?" she asked, turning to look at Apoc.
"They don't really need my help…" he trailed off, his eyes questioning her.
She didn't want him to feel like she was getting rid of him but right now Mouse needed her. She knew that he would want to talk with her about this; she had a feeling that they were dealing with very similar realizations.
"Okay, its up to you. I'm going to go take a shower now though." she decided, a plan forming in her mind.
"I'll go see of they need any help then. Come get me when you're ready?" he suggested. "If you want to." he added, not wanting to come across to strong. she didn't have to be around him if she didn't want to.
"Sounds good." she agreed, smiling at him before she got to her feet.
"I think a shower would be a good idea. Might help clear my head." Mouse mumbled as he also stood up.
"Lets go then." she replied, linking arms with Mouse as they walked out of the mess hall.
She looked over her shoulder as she left the room, giving Apoc a reassuring smile before Mouse pulled her from the room. They dashed across the main bridge and down into the corridor of their dormitories. By some unsaid agreement they walked straight into the bathroom, locking the door behind them. Switch turning around to look at Mouse seeing unhidden fear and anguish in his eyes. She wasn't sure what she could say to make this any better. Instead she pulled him into a hug, resting her head on his shoulder.
"What did she tell you?" he whispered into her ear, his voice breaking as he asked her.
"That I am going to die." she mumbled into his shirt. She knew they had to keep quiet, these walls weren't particularly sound proof and they didn't want there to be even a chance of them being overheard. His grip on her tightened when he heard what she said.
"So am I." he murmured, gently rubbing her back.
"We can't tell anyone." she replied, pulling away enough to look at him.
He nodded, he knew just as well as she did that telling anyone would only make everything that much more difficult. They stood there for an immeasurable amount of time, neither wanting to pull away. She felt awful about it but she was almost glad she had someone else in the same position as her. If she could save Mouse from this fate she would in a heartbeat but she couldn't. There was nothing they could do.
"We better go." Switch sighed, pulling back until she was only holding his forearms.
He nodded, still looking detached as he did so.
"Remember what I said on your fist night, my room is right next to yours if you need anything." she tried to assure him.
"Thank you." he muttered, forcing a smile. "You know this has been the best and worst week of my entire life." he chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
"It's been over a month for me and I could say the same thing." she replied, shaking her head softly.
She couldn't believe he had only been awake on the Neb for a week, so much had happened in that short amount of time. She could only image what she would have reacted like if this had been her first week in the real world. She knew for a fact she wouldn't have handled it anywhere near as well as Mouse had. She doubted whether any of them would have.
"There going to need our help. With the search and whatever that is going to lead to." she whispered, gesturing towards the door behind them. "We have to put this behind us." she suggested, even though she knew that would be almost impossible.
"It already is behind us. What happened this morning, happened, and whatever is coming is going to come. There is nothing we can do to change it." he replied, his voice more determined than it had been before.
She looked at him in a mixture of surprise and respect, she had underestimated him. He was stronger than she had given him credit for. She stood there, unable to think of anything to say back to that.
"I wasn't kidding about that shower." he added, knowing she was at a loss.
She couldn't help a smile forming on her face at his comment. "Neither was I." she chuckled.
"Ready?" he asked, gesturing towards the door. "I didn't bring my stuff with me." he explained.
She nodded softly, still smiling at him. He smiled back at her little more enthusiastically this time and took one of her hands into his own as he walked over to the door.
"By the way, that was quick thinking back in the mess hall." he said as he reached out to turn the handle of the door.
"Thanks. It was the first thing I thought of. Honestly I'm surprised we actually got away with it." she replied with a soft chuckle.
"Yeah, Apoc sure doesn't like letting you out of his sights." Mouse teased, nudging her in the ribs.
Mouse pulled the door open and stepped out into the hall, Switch's hand still held in his as he led her back to her own room. They both stopped dead in their tracks when they saw someone standing just outside the door.
Cypher stared at the pair of them in a mixture of shock and disdain. Switch immediately let go of Mouse's hand and stepped away from him, trying to keep her face calm. She mentally kicked herself for not being more careful; this could look very wrong in Cypher's eyes. She looked across the hall at Cypher, giving him a nervous smile. He raised his eyebrows at her, a questioning look on his face.
"It's not what it looks like." she mumbled, looking him dead in the eye. She knew what he would be thinking and didn't want him spreading this around.
"Of course its not…" he trailed off, giving her a knowing look.
"It isn't." Mouse protested, turning bright red when he realized what Cypher was implying.
"No need to get defensive. Don't worry, your secrets safe with me." he assured them, a smug smile on his face.
"There is no secret for you to keep. We didn't do anything." Switch retaliated, her voice rising. She was starting to get pissed with Cypher and his shrewd comments. He always seemed to be lurking around and had a way of seeing or hearing things that he shouldn't. But she was also annoyed with herself, she always seemed to get caught out by Cypher.
"Uh-Huh." he nodded, his voice becoming increasingly patronizing. His eyes flickered between Mouse and Switch before his gaze focused on the now closed bathroom door. "I know what I saw." he continued, the same smug smile on his face.
"You didn't see anything." she snapped, her eyes narrowing at him.
"Oh didn't I? Alright then. I'll just go ask Apoc what he thinks of this. That wont be a problem if this is 'nothing' then, will it?" he asked, his voice almost threatening.
"You wouldn't dare." Mouse hissed back at him.
"Watch me." he stated as he turning on his heel and slowly took a step down the corridor.
"Okay, wait." Switch sighed, knowing she would have to come up with some way to keep him quiet.
She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to begin a web of secrets, especially not with Cypher at the heart of them. But if she didn't what would Apoc think? She hadn't done anything, hadn't even thought about anything in that way. And she never would. It was a little disgusting for Cypher to even assume they had; Mouse was almost four years younger than her. But if Cypher told Apoc she would have to come up with something to explain her actions and there was no way she could tell him the truth. Not this time. This was one secret that she had to keep, not only for her own sake but also for Mouse's.
"Please don't tell him." she pleaded, her voice coming out much weaker than she had wanted it to. But she couldn't help it, if Apoc thought she had done something with Mouse it would crush him. She loved him and could bear it if something came between them. She felt salty tears prick her eyes but kept them under control.
"Alright." Cypher sighed as he turned back around to face her. "But you should tell him. You mean an awful lot to him and he should know those feeling clearly aren't returned." he suggested, his tone undecipherable.
"What?" she gasped, looking at him in horror. That was the most twisted statement she had ever heard come out of Cyphers mouth.
"You want me to stay out of this? Fine." he replied, lifting his hands in surrender. "I'll leave it up to you three." he continued as he walked down the hall. "I will however be very interested to see how this plays out." he added as he reached the end of the hall.
He gave them one final smug grin before he pushed open the door and walked out onto the main bridge. The door slammed shut and Switch turned to Mouse in complete shock.
"Shit." Mouse muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Oh god, Mouse. What the hell am I going to do?" she asked, her voice breaking as she slid down the wall. She sat with her back pressed up against the wall and pulled her knees to her chest.
"I don't know." Mouse sighed as he copied her position against the opposite wall.
His knees just touched hers as they sat in the cold corridor. She was grateful for him company, at least she wasn't alone.
"Cypher's going to hold this over us." she mumbled, looking across at Mouse.
"I can't believe this. We're really stuck now aren't we?" he asked, a small smile on his face.
She chuckled, shaking her head sadly. "We can't tell the truth and lying makes it all look so much worse. That doesn't give us any easy way out of this." she grumbled, hiding her face in her knees.
"There's nothing we can do now." he muttered, giving her arm a quick pat.
"I know. But what if Cypher tells Apoc?" she asked, lifting her head to look at him.
"I don't know. But I have a feeling that if it comes to that Apoc will trust your word over Cypher's." he tried to reassure her.
Mouse had a point; Apoc would trust her over Cypher. But that was what was bothering her the most; if she had to lie to him he would believe it. She couldn't do that to him, it would be a violation of the trust he had put in her. But she would have to, just this once. She sat there in silence, somewhat comforted by Mouse's presence. It wasn't an intrusion in anyway; they were in this mess together. She couldn't believe how quickly her problems had mounted up. She almost found this more difficult than the news the Oracle had given her, mainly because she was cause of all of this and she had dragged Mouse into it. She hadn't seen herself and Mouse becoming very good friends and yet now she couldn't see things turning out any other way. There were some things you couldn't go through with out becoming friends; coming to the realization of your eminent death was one of them.
"Switch." Mouse ventured, pulling her out of her thought.
"Yeah?" she questioned, tilting her head to look at him.
"I was, well, I was just wondering about you and Apoc… your together aren't you?" he asked, his voice coming out shaky from his nervousness, he didn't want her to think he was being rude.
She nodded quickly, giving him a reassuring smile. "We are." she confirmed, unable to keep a tone of excitement out of her voice. There was something special about being able to say she was actually with someone, that she belonged to someone. It made her feel almost important, knowing that she was important to someone.
"Apoc is very lucky to have you." Mouse noted, looking up to meet her eyes.
"Thank you, Mouse." she mumbled, lowing her eyes as her checks burned. Mouse could be so sweet at times. She wasn't sure if he was just saying that but she appreciated it anyway.
"We better have that shower or else the others might also start wondering what were up to." Mouse suggested as he hauled himself off the ground.
Switch nodded as Mouse offered his hands to her. She took his hands and he pulled her to her feet. She let go of him and took a step towards her door.
"You can go first." Mouse offered. "So you can get back to Apoc." he added, a small smile on his face.
She nodded again and returned his smile as she pushed open the door to her room. Shutting the door behind her, she smiled to herself as she walked over to her bedside cabinet. As she knelt down beside the small cabinet the events of the day played over in her mind. She could see Trinity's smile as she walked towards her after the Oracle visit. Apoc's surprised face when she had run into his arms. Tank's laugh as he had warned them not to die in the Matrix. Dozer's apologetic look as he had tried to be gentle even when plugging in her data probe. Mouse's face when they had been sitting out in the hall. She almost cried as each small memory hit her but she tried to pull herself together. She shouldn't look at them in that way, they were all happy memories. She couldn't allow this knowledge of her death to tarnish them. If she was to truly live then she couldn't allow death to shadow her life, she would attempt to live in ignorance and without fear of the inevitable. Taking out what she needed from the cupboard she stood to her feet, forcing herself to be strong. She couldn't break down, not now. She knew that her time left was going to be tough; they still had a mission to complete. She was going to help find The One if it was the last thing she did. She almost laughed at the cliché thought, there were no if's about it. This was her final act. Walking across her room she pulled open the door and walked out into the hall, leaving any thoughts of her death behind her.
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Thanks so much for reading! This chapter is the end of what I'm calling the 'development stage' coming up next is the 'action stage' where the search for The One is well and truly underway! So expect to see a lot more action coming up (and of course plenty of drama and romance). Anyway hope you enjoyed and please review, they really make my day! :) xx
