Notes: I made the mistake of writing ahead of myself again and writing something separate about Nyx and Lys. Erm, is anyone actually interested in this fic anymore? Because I'd rather I just e-mailed it to those who want to know how it ends over making an idiot of myself by continuing here for no reason. For anyone who wants to know, the crew mentioned later in this chapter are the Isis Crew that I and some friends RP, so the characters are theirs, all credit to them. Plus, Mouse Tales is a book I remember from being younger than Nyx and Lys. ^^ Oh, and Agent Josey, this is set after the first Matrix movie. ^^
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"Niobe says you're going looking for the twins," Athene stood at the door to Morpheus' quarters, "Take me with you."
Morpheus frowned, "I-"
"I know you haven't filled all your crew positions, you're running with half of what you should have. I care about those kids, I've known them since they were tiny," she stressed, "Please. Take me with you."
He paused, "You're not trained. You've never been into the Matrix."
"I'm young enough to learn, I'm healthy and I want to help," Athene answered, "Isn't that enough?" she met his gaze, "Train me."
"In two days? It cannot be done," he stated.
"Then teach me, or download, whatever you have to do, however much you can in those two days. If I'm not ready, I wont go Inside, I'll learn whatever you want me to en-route," she stared back at him stubbornly, "Please, Morpheus. If I didn't care about the twins I wouldn't be asking. They mean a lot to me…more than you might realise…" she finished softly and looked away.
Morpheus sighed, "What do you already know?"
"I can hack as well as I could when I was unplugged…" she trailed off, "…but I admit, that's all."
He should have refused point blank, stopped her from hoping. As it was, she was probably one of the least qualified people he knew. She had never been back into the Matrix, she had never desired to, and here she was pleading with him to train her. But she was closely connected with Nyx and Lys. Whatever she was lacking in, it was possible she could make up for it with that alone…and she was right. He hadn't filled the other crew positions, "…One hour. Meet me down at the tech core. We'll test your reflexes…then we'll see how you'll spend the next two days."
-
Neo awoke after very few hours sleep, closing his eyes immediately when he saw what time it is. Somehow, he knew he wasn't going to get any more sleep as it was. He never 'slept' well before he was unplugged and the trait of surviving daily on four hours sleep had followed him to the Real World. He slowly sat up, seeing Trinity sleeping peacefully for the first time in nearly a week. He smiled and headed off to find some clothes, hoping she'd stay asleep for as long as she could, to catch up on what she'd lost. Then again, if he used that philosophy, she'd have to sleep for a good two days. He'd just managed to locate a clean pair of trousers when she stirred, yawning and reaching for him, eyes snapping open when her hand met with nothing.
"I'm over here," Neo called.
She blinked several times, adjusting her eyes to the light, "…Cant sleep?"
"Never can," he grinned ruefully.
Trinity yawned again and lay back down, head resting on her arm, "…I'd say 'come back to bed' but I don't think either of us are going to get any more sleep…"
He shrugged a jumper over his shoulders, "I agree it's a nice thought though."
She smiled before getting out of bed herself, "We should go work on the Neb. Its in pretty bad shape…" as she stepped into one of the darker parts of the room, the shadow only helped to make the look of pain that passed across her face stand out.
Neo caught her arm as she walked past him, "We'll find them, Trin."
Trinity looked up at him and tried a smile, "…I hope you're right. By everything and anything we both believe in, I hope you're right."
-
"You've never shown any interest or desire to go back into the Matrix," Morpheus stated, "I hear from the Captain of the ship that unplugged you that you didn't even want basic training."
"No," Athene shook her head, "I didn't. Once everything was explained to me, I thought I wasn't able for it. All I wanted to do was see this 'Zion' and get my new life in order."
"And now you want to become a member of a crew? My crew?"
"I want to find Nyx and Lys. Even I can tell the circumstances of their 'deaths' are more than suspicious. All I want to do is help. If I don't even get past this stage, I know I tried."
Morpheus considered this for a second, "Are you certain?"
She nodded, "Yes."
He gestured to one of the seats in a small semi-circle, positioned around one mass of technical equipment, "There is no danger of entering the Matrix. All we can load is the Construct. No direct pirate signal to hack in can be broadcast."
"Construct?"
Silently, he sighed. This was going to be a long first session.
-
"At least most of the tech equipment survived," Sparks commented, glancing around and stepping over another piece of mangled metal.
"Shame most of the ship got ripped apart," Link muttered, kicking a tangle of wires out of his path and seating himself in the chair that had strangely survived with a dejected sigh, "You guys shipping out with us?"
"Two days?"
"Yeah."
"Then yes we are," Sparks used the sleeve of his jumper to wipe away some of the dust from one of the monitors, "Or so Niobe says. We're all out to find the twins."
"What about Nefertiti? She's gonna be pretty mad you've shipped out already," Link raised an eyebrow.
"She's only got one more day than we have…" Sparks grinned, "And I can argue with the Captain I work for or the captain I love and neither will get me anywhere!"
"They're still pretty shaken up after the last run in with agents, aren't they?"
Sparks nodded, "She's angry she couldn't do anything about it. He was trying to get the information back to her. August and Cosmos are creating a new training program whilst they're here, Mayfly's testing it. Not sure what Destiny and Zero are up to," he grinned again, "Which leaves Nefertiti all to me."
"And I'm sure you know how to 'distract' her-" Link trailed off, seeing Neo enter the Core and duck to avoid a torn piece of ceiling, "Neo, Trinity. Didn't expect to see you today," he greeted.
"We decided to lend a hand," Trinity answered, "If you could do with some."
"Can always do with a hand when repairing," Link nodded, "If you're up to it…" he paused.
"We are," they replied, almost in perfect unison.
"What about the Logos?" Neo continued.
"Few patches here and there. Nothing major," Sparks would have added 'compared to this' but managed to stop himself.
"Well, we've got two days, so we'd better get moving," Trinity gave a curt nod.
Link blinked a couple of times. She'd sure changed her attitude. Yesterday she was a complete wreck…!
"Wait," Neo frowned, "We need to see Morpheus."
"He's with that girl…." Link frowned, trying to retrieve her name.
"…Athena…?" Sparks clicked his fingers, "Athene!"
"Athene?" Trinity's eyes widened slightly, "Why?"
"…Wants to be trained or something…" he answered.
"Why?" Neo threw his own confusion into the mix.
"…The twins…" she realised.
"She's never set foot back in the Matrix."
"Cant hurt to let her try, right?" Link shrugged, before turning his attention back to the Operator station, "Right. The search for broken connections begins…"
-
He'd been watching over her for three hours, whilst she downloaded the majority of the fighting techniques directly, having started with several more advanced hacking programs to add to the knowledge she already possessed. By now, the girl was pale and sweating and appearing totally exhausted. And that was only after three hours.
"Am I supposed to feel like this?" Athene exhaled sharply.
"Most likely," Morpheus replied. He glanced at her readings on the monitor above her, then back down to her, "Are you ready to use what you've learned so far?"
She shut her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath, "…Alright. How?"
The Captain gestured for one of the nearby technicians to assist, "Enter the Construct."
"To do what?"
"Spar."
"You!?" her eyes widened significantly.
"Me," he was already seated and restrained, his eyes falling shut without another word as the individual inserted the port at the back of his head.
"…Shit!" Athene swore, looking desperately around her.
"Are you ready, Miss?" the operator at the mass of monitors questioned.
She glanced around her again, somehow hoping for some sort of reprieve, "…Nothing else for it…okay," she nodded to the man beside her, who checked the port, but didn't touch it, nodding to the operator.
"Good to go."
And the Real World vanished from her sight.
-
"Hey," a familiar voice make Sparks jump as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He stood up, wrapping his arms around the dark haired woman and spinning her round.
"Sparks, don't you dare!"
He whirled her around again.
"Don't make me get all authoritative on you!"
He deposited her back on the ground, "Not exactly a threat…"
Nefertiti smiled slightly, "You need a hobby…"
"I have a hobby," Sparks insisted, "I just have to wait until the Isis docks at the same time as the Logos until I can continue it," he smirked.
She kissed him, briefly, "How're the repairs going?"
"Nearly all done here. Should be done by this evening…"
"Sparks…" she warned.
"Alright! Serious," he tried, "We'll be lucky if we get the Neb fixed properly by tomorrow evening. And that's with two crews working on it."
Nefertiti winced, "I'd offer you guys a hand, but we took a pretty bad beating ourselves."
"Its alright," the Operator answered, "The thought is appreciated. How're your lot doing?"
This time, the Captain grimaced, "Destiny wants the revenge we all know we cant have, Zero's mulling over the past, Cosmos and August are channelling their energy into this new program, whilst Kay, Jamie and Mayfly work on the hull…" she paused, "…I should get back. I cant leave all the work to them."
"You only just got here," Sparks protested.
She detached herself from him and started to walk slowly away, glancing back over her shoulder, "Like you said…there's always the evening…"
-
She hit the mat for what seemed like the hundredth time, using her fall to try and bring his legs out from underneath him, giving a low growl of frustration when he easily evaded her.
"What are you trying to do?" Morpheus questioned.
"Beat you?" Athene answered, adopting a fighting stance opposite him.
"Wrong again. You're trying to free your mind. This is not Zion, this is not reality. The same rules do not apply. Keep that in your mind at all-"
She tried another stream of continuous punches, all of which were blocked, having to flip backward to avoid being knocked to the floor again, "…I'm just a beginner!" she protested.
Morpheus stopped, "Are you going to say that when an Agent finds you?"
Athene gritted her teeth, dashing forward again, trying to make contact with several well aimed kicks, ducking to avoid a punch, jumping to avoid a swipe at her ankles and springing again to dodge a shot at her stomach. She managed, somehow, to jump clean over him, staying in the air for longer than she had expected to and landing full force behind him, on all fours. Athene peered back at Morpheus, rolling out of the way as he aimed another hit at her, only just pulling back to prevent himself from hitting one of the dojo's wooden beams.
Morpheus tilted his head and nodded, looking down at her, "So you have learnt something after all."
She broke into a smile, "…I guess so…"
"Not enough…" he added, "…But continue in such a manner and I may see fit to taking you with us."
The young woman nodded and stood, drawing back into a defensive posture again, "…Alright. Teach me."
-
Trinity stopped dead when she pulled a mangled, ancient, rectangular wad of paper from underneath one of the mangled beds. She slid to the floor, staring at it, running a finger along the title, 'Mouse Tales'. She smiled softly; despite claiming to want to read better and more complicated books, both Nyx and Lys had loved this one. Wanted her to read it to them over and over, even though they probably knew every word.
"Trin?" Neo stood over her, looking down, concerned.
She held up the book with a gentle smile, "Mouse Tales."
He couldn't stop the brief laugh that escaped him, offering her a hand to stand up, which she took, "They'll be back. If only to retrieve this."
"'The Mouse who wore out his feet'" she quipped.
"And had to buy roller skates. And even new feet," he answered, smiling.
"But he still got home."
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