"No one loves the man who he fears." – Aristotle

'Ok, we've fixed the roof, but whatever machine attacked you guys, it certainly did a number on it. We had to replace a whole sheet! I hope you know that metal doesn't grow on trees, right?' The mechanic scolded him roughly.

'Yes, of course.' Morpheus answered, frowning.

'The window didn't come off any better, there was no way we could fix it as it was, so we replaced all that too.'

'The whole thing?'

'Yeah, no amount of rubber glass was going to give it a good "auto-glass" fix. That's going to cost a lot.'

'I'm pretty sure it would. Edward, I hope you're listening to this!' Morpheus turned to Edward, who was sat on the ship's ramp.

"Yeah, yeah." He mumbled. His face was still red and his eyes were somewhat puffy from the tears, but he wasn't going to admit it. He looked distantly towards Roy, who was sat at the bottom of the ramp. He wasn't talking to him. The silence was striking him with every glare that Roy could dare to shoot.

'And let me tell you about the seats,' the mechanic continued, 'those stains aren't going to come out for another century. We'd have to replace the seat covers, but I'm pretty sure that's unnecessary, isn't it?'

'Very, the seats can stay as they are.' Morpheus sighed. 'Is that all?'

'Pretty much, but if we included the door between the cock-pit and the top deck, I'd say the cost would amount to the grand total of… $200,000!' The mechanic laughed.

"What?" Edward yelped and his face went pale, "Are you sure? Didn't you misplace a decimal point somewhere?" he whimpered.

'Phew!' Morpheus laughed, 'Good thing we don't have currency!' The mechanic laughed with him.

'Yeah, otherwise you would've been financially boned to the ground!' The mechanic wiped a mirthful tear from his eye. 'But honestly, you're free to take off now.' The mechanic said, trying to straighten up seriously.

'Thank you, we'll leave soon.' Morpheus patted the man's shoulder gratefully. 'May Zion keep you safe.' He left the mechanic's side and joined Edward. 'You see, had we had a currency to begin with, we would've been eating those seat covers for rations, now do you see the trouble you've caused?' He glared at him pointedly.

"Erm…Good thing we don't have a currency…?" Edward laughed nervously, and slowly, Morpheus's face lit up.

'Yes, good thing.'

"How much does the repair cost?" Roy asked Morpheus.

'It would've cost us $200,000 had we got a currency.' Morpheus answered, and Roy smirked.

"It's not the first time that little shrimp's cost me a lot. Even while he was in hospital he was creating a large invoice for me to pay off. I would leave him here before we set off if I were you. It'll cost you otherwise."

"Good thing we don't have a currency." Edward muttered.

Neo came stepping out from inside of the ship, having brought up the last bag. 'Did I hear $200,000?'

"You did." Edward sighed, rolling his eyes. This was getting old. Neo's face pulled up into a grin.

'That's good; Mouse owes me three bowls of his ration.' Neo laughed, 'Now, are we ready to go or not?'

'Almost, we need someone to fetch Tank and Dozer.' Morpheus answered. 'Neo, Edward and Roy, how about if you three go?' Edward cast a worried look to Neo, mouthing something to him.

'Are you sure all three of us need to go? Edward and I can do it ourselves.' Neo interjected.

'You two are actually agreeing to work together for once?' Morpheus asked, astounded.

"Of course, we've got to start working together some time, right?" Edward smiled, dropping his worried gaze.

'Finally, I thought I'd never see the day. But take Roy with you anyway, he could do with the exercise.' Morpheus smiled. 'Neo, do you know the way?'

'Erm…' Neo tried to remember his way, 'Could you draw a map to remind me?'

'I'll do it anyway.' Morpheus sighed. Finding some paper in the ship, he began to draw down a map. 'There you go, that should lead you straight to them.' He smiled, passing it to them.

Footsteps came closer and they saw an old woman heading their way.

'C-Councillor Dillard!' Morpheus yelped with surprise.

Edward turned to look at her; that same familiar feeling twisted in his gut and he thought he could spot a small smile directed towards him from her lips.

'You look surprised to see me.' She frowned seriously at Morpheus.

'Yes, well, I wasn't expecting to see you.'

'Clearly; anyway, Morpheus, I have some business to discuss with you. Please, follow me.'

'Of course, Councillor. I'll see you three later.' He said turning to Neo, Edward and Roy before following the Councillor down the corridor.

-/\*_;)(-

Roy walked on ahead of them; they were already out of the corridor that led from the Dock and into the main caverns of Zion. Edward walked slowly beside Neo with slumped shoulders while Neo carried the map that Morpheus had given them.

'What's going on between you two?' Neo asked, 'What did you want to talk to me about?'

Edward sighed forlornly, "Last night, I-I… almost confessed to him." He glanced up at him, waiting for him to react. Neo's eyes held a look of calculation, until he glanced back down to him.

'About…?' He pronounced, but Edward glared hard and turned away from his gaze.

"God you're dense." Edward growled.

'Come on! Tell me! What about?'

"I'm not going to tell you anymore!"

'Why?'

"Because it's so obvious already!"

'Ok, then remind me. What did you almost confess to him?'

Edward brought his head in closer, "That I L-O-V-E him!" He hissed.

'Ooh!' Neo realised, 'So, how did that go?'

"Not well, obviously.' Edward scowled, "He basically asked me why I would willingly let loads of people die to get him out of his Matrix… and I couldn't even tell him. So, he started calling me a coward, and when I told him it was because I missed him, he said…." Tears glistened in his eyes, "That I was pathetic, and I made him sick." He sniffed; it was a conscious effort to hold the tears back. "He hates me, I know he does."

'Well, when you make such a big sacrifice to impress someone you're not even dating, it can really creep them out.'

"But I wasn't trying to impress him! I was trying to get him out! The whole sacrifices thing had nothing to do with it! I didn't think it would!"

Roy turned his head from in front of them, giving them a long side glare before looking back. "You see? He hates me!"

'Edward, if he really hated you, then he wouldn't even give you eye contact. Try not to worry about it, ok?' Neo reasoned.

"Should I really be listening to you? You're not exactly a Casanova yourself."

'Maybe, but I've been with Trinity for almost a year now, so I must be doing something right.'

Edward sighed, "I guess you're right."

'You see? And Roy is like what? You're "first"?'

Edward blushed up horrendously, "W-What? N-No he's not! I've had girlfriends!"

'How many?'

"Err… Seven!"

'Name them.'

"Ok, uh…Lucy, Julie, Uma…, Perla…Beatrix, Sophie and… Karen!"

'Perla not a name.' Neo answered bluntly.

"It's not like she liked it. Her parents were beatniks, so they were probably hopped up on something when they named her." Edward nodded.

'You're an extraordinarily good liar.' Neo smirked.

"Am not!"

'Then with that kind of experience Roy should be eating out of the palm of your hand. Either that or you really sucked at keeping a relationship going.'

"Fine, I was lying, I got them out of an old magazine." He folded his arms.

'Thought so, they're all names of the actors and characters out of Kill Bill.' Neo smiled.

"How could you tell?" His shoulders slumped.

'It was as soon as you said Uma.'

"Dang." Edward sighed.

'Just don't worry about it; everything will fall into place sooner or later.'

"You'd better be sure about that." Edward scowled.

'I'll even keep a close eye on Roy for you if you want.' Neo nodded, giving him thumbs up. Edward's face brightened.

"Thanks."

"How close are we to Tank and Dozer now?" Roy called from over his shoulder.

Neo checked the map. 'It's this building here on the left.' He pointed to the building at a long way off, and Roy audibly groaned his disdain.

"Don't be like that; you've got to keep walking you slob!" Edward grinned.

"Shut up! I only got off the table yesterday!" Roy argued back.

"Serves you right for rushing your recovery!" Edward called.

'You've even got nine flights of ladder to climb!' Neo laughed, checking the map again.

"Oh buggering HELL!" Roy screamed, he kicked the dirt and his shoe flew off into the dust cloud. Edward and Neo laughed at Roy's visible disgust, hoping that at least this would return some of the situation to normalcy.

-/\*_;)(-

"Come on, Roy! You're almost there!" Edward called. He and Neo were on the tenth floor corridor of the balconies that ran outside of the residential building, waiting for their friend to climb up the merciless ladders. With each achingly slow step, Roy ascended towards them, before finally; he collapsed on the tenth floor.

'Yeah! Way to go!' Neo cheered, trying to help him up.

"No… go on…without me." Roy huffed breathlessly as sweat rolled down his brow.

"You really are a slob, aren't you?" Edward teased.

"Don't…you start…on me…Ed! There's…a difference….between a slob…and being unfit…you know!"

"Yeah, it's your middle-age spread." Edward smirked. Roy rolled onto his front and regained his footing.

"Does this look like fat to you?" Roy yelled, pulling up his shirt.

'He sure got his breath back quick.' Neo smirked to the blushing Edward.

"What was that?" Roy growled.

"Nothing." Edward replied, turning quickly away from Roy's flat gut, hiding his mild flush. "What's the room number?" Edward asked Neo.

'248.' they trekked along the balcony before they found the number. Nervously, Neo raised his knuckle and knocked whilst Edward waited and Roy leaned against a nearby wall. The door opened and a woman stood in the doorway.

'May I help you?'

'Yes, I'm looking for Tank and Dozer.' Neo answered. 'We're ready to leave Zion.'

'So soon?' She looked up at him, a glance of hopelessness in her eyes. 'Th-they'll be with you shortly, please, come in.' She stepped aside and Neo and Edward passed into the room. They found themselves stood in a small kitchen area and behind it a small sitting room. There were other rooms besides. Two children came running in from their bedroom after the sound of visitors and they looked up at both Edward and Neo expectantly.

'New playmates?' The boy asked hopefully. He had short black hair and his skin was a light brown, supposedly like his father's. Roy stepped into the room from outside and, looking down at the boy, and felt something twinge in his gut.

"No, we're not here for that. We're actually here for Tank and Dozer." Edward smiled.

'Uncle and daddy? But they just got here!' The boy cried in distress.

'I'm sorry, but this is important business.' Neo tried to reason.

'Don't take them away again!' The girl cried, 'It's lonely without them here!' Edward flinched from her cry and tried to gulp away his developing apprehension.

Roy sighed forlornly, and stepping towards them, bent down in front of the two children. Edward and Neo stared at him in confusion.

"What's wrong little one?" He smiled reassuringly, but the boy glared at him through his tears. "Don't worry," He placed a hand on his head and rustled his hair gently, "Everything will be all right, you'll see."

'M-Mom?' He looked up to his mother with uncertainty. She yanked Roy's hand from her son's head and snatched him back into her arms, defensive and fearsome. He knew he couldn't understand her, but he understand her protective manner.

'Who are you three?' She growled, backing away as she pulled her daughter close to her, 'What are you doing here?'

The door opened behind them, and Tank and Dozer entered, laughing merrily.

'Neo, Roy, little man; what you three doin' here?' Dozer asked, chuckling.

'The Nebuchadnezzar's all fixed up and ready to go.' Neo answered.

'We're going now?' Tank asked, bemused.

" 'fraid so."

'Wait, this is the One you were talking about?' the mother asked, pointing to Neo.

'Sure is, Cas.' Dozer grinned, 'He and the little man both.'

'Him?' She pointed down to Roy.

'Nah, the kid, Edward.' He smiled, patting Edward's shoulder.

'We're supposed to place the future of Zion in the hands of that shrimp?' She shouted.

"I'm not a shrimp!" Edward screamed, "Look! I know I'm just some kid to you, and that the chances are we'll lose against the machines, but I'm going to try! No matter what, I'm going to save this city, or die trying! You can count on that!"

Cas stared at him incredulously, 'And...What do they call you...?'

"Edward Elric; Clier if you'd like." He smiled fiercely.

-/\*_;)(-

Morpheus sipped his cup quietly. Councillor Dillard looked at him, searching for a single reaction to grace his face. He placed the cup back on the table, calculating all that he heard listlessly in his mind. He ran her words through his head once again, trying to take it all in. He sighed finally.

'So it was because of the sentinel attack on the Mariner that all record of the Beta-Matrix was wiped from all connecting networks years ago.' Morpheus stated; his face hardly portrayed an emotion.

'Yes, as I have told you, it hadn't been long after its discovery in its newborn year of 1899 that all traces of its existence were lost. It's funny how quickly knowledge of your existence fades after just a few years.' She sipped her cup in contemplation.

Morpheus thought for a moment, 'I can remember now, reading the damage report of the ship; it read that there was a large hole where a machine had pierced the monitor's information base. It must have affected the connecting networks.'

'As I recall, the year then was 1904.' She remembered, 'tell me; what year would it be now?'

'I believe it would be1915.' Morpheus answered, taking another sip.

'11 years!' She sounded in an incredulous voice, 'That would indeed be long enough to forget; and Edward Elric is...16 years old, is he not?'

'Yes, he is,' Morpheus thought on it, 'then he was born in 1899?' He asked, surprised.

'It seems quite fitting for the messiah of a world to be born at the dawn of an era, is it not?' She smiled. 'Quite like the messiah of another religion that some Bluepills believe in.'

'Hm,' Morpheus frowned darkly, 'the son of god made flesh, but nowhere near perfection; he can't heal the sick, perform miracles, and I'm sure he can't walk on water. He's human like everyone else.'

'Yes, though the Mother is not; I doubt he is even aware of it. But I ask that you do not tell him of this tonight. He must know when he is ready.'

Once he had finished the contents of his cup, he stood up from his seat and bowed deeply to the councillor. 'Then I shall thank you, Councillor Dillard. I am deeply honoured that you shared this information with me.'

'Please Morpheus,' she sighed in annoyance, 'is there ever a moment where you let go of your compulsive use of etiquette? Being a Councillor, you can imagine how bored a woman can get being followed by Zionites scraping and kissing the floor with each footstep you take. Honestly, every time I cough the whole of Zion has a conniption.' Morpheus chuckled at her rare sense of humour.

'I must leave you here then, I'll have to break the news to Tank that he wasn't the first to discover the Beta-Matrix.'

'Speaking of, the crew of the Logos came in not long after you claiming that Sparks was the first to discover the Beta-Matrix and that a certain Alphonse was the first citizen to be freed from its matrix.'

'Alphonse?' Morpheus looked stunned, 'He's alive? What did he look alike?'

'Blond hair, and golden eyes, he's a lot older than when I last met him, but he doesn't look much like his older brother.'

'Please, Councillor Dillard, do not let Edward know that you've met Alphonse, and tell Niobe to do the same. Edward and Alphonse must not meet again!'

'What is the meaning of this?' she looked astounded.

'Right now, Edward's sole purpose for working with us is that he can search for his brother along the way. If he finds out that we've already found him, then he'll lose all motivation to help us.'

She stared at him with astounded wide eyes. 'Very well,' she sighed, 'I shall let Captain Niobe know of this.'

'Thank you.' He bowed before leaving the Councillor's personal room.

-/\*_;)(-

He leaned against the rail of the building's balcony, waiting for someone to arrive from the flat room. The other was sat at his side, his feet dangling over the edge.

"So, what happened in there?" Roy asked from his seat, staring down towards the sandy floor so far away at the bottom.

'You saw what happened, didn't you?'

"But I couldn't understand a word of it." Roy frowned.

'Well, the kids got upset because we said we were going to take their father and uncle away, Tank and Dozer came in and the woman wanted to know who the One was and then Edward made a big hero speech.'

"And that's it?" Roy asked in a bemused fashion, staring up at him.

'Yep, that's it.' Neo sighed.

"And everyone seemed to be getting so worked up too; you make it sound like it's nothing." Roy smirked.

'True, but their disapproval was understandable. They hadn't seen them for a while, and they only got to see them for a day. It's bound to seem unfair.'

Roy stared back down towards the drop below and chuckled, "Unfair, I'm sure everyone knows what it's like to think everything's unfair; Edward more than anyone. His father left them, and he lost his mother at a young age…"

'And his little brother is still missing.'

"Ha, missing." Roy smirked.

'And you think that's funny?' Neo stared at him with disgusted.

"It's an inside joke, don't worry about it." Roy frowned.

'Why are you so cold towards him? He's trying his best, he got you out and you're shoving all of that effort back in his face!'

"He did it at the cost of people's lives!" he tried to reason

'They weren't anyone you knew were they?'

"You don't know that!"

'But neither do you! I bet you can't even see why he's doing all of this, can you?'

"See what?" Roy scowled irritably.

'Exactly! It's so obvious; even I know what's going on!'

"I would know if he told me!"

'He tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen! Why do you think he got you out, why did he keep coming to visit you every day despite the fact you could've been angry at him? Why do you think he's doing all this for you and more?'

Roy's eyes widened, but narrowed in anger. "I don't know." He hissed through clenched teeth.

'And he calls me dense!' He kicked Roy in the back and he slid from the ledge. He screamed from the shock, only to realise he was dangling by the collar. Neo was holding on tightly.

'I could…drop you.' Neo hissed with effort, 'I could let you fall…and I wouldn't miss you…for a second. But I can't…because Ed would kill me. Now…quit the attitude…and keep an eye…on him…then tell me…what you see!'

"Please! Just get me up!" Roy screamed, he scrambled for Neo's arm.

'Will you stop acting…so cold then?'

"Alright! Whatever! Just get me up!" Neo began to drag him up by the collar. Roy grasped for the rail behind him quickly and pulled himself back over to the safer edge. He dropped onto the metal floor, gasping and shaking.

"Don't you dare…do that again!" Roy breathed.

'Then you know what you need to do, because next time, I won't hesitate to let you fall.' Neo hissed.

'What's going on?' Tank came out of the room, followed by Edward.

"Are you alright?" Edward dropped down to his knees by Roy's side, gazing into him with concern. Roy looked up to Neo, and then back to Edward before smirking.

"Nothing, I just slipped off the balcony, that's all. I was lucky Neo was here to catch me." He said the last phrase particularly through gritted teeth. Edward smiled brightly.

"I'm glad, thanks Neo." He said warmly.

'It's no problem.' Neo grinned.

'We ready to go?' Dozer asked, coming out of the room with his bags.

'Yep,' Neo replied, helping Roy to his feet, 'You ok?'

"Fine." Roy replied through gritted teeth.

Once they had made their way down the ladders and they began to walk back to the dock, Neo tugged Roy's sleeve so that they hung behind at the rear of the group.

'Do you see anything?' Neo growled.

"Not a thing." Roy replied nonchalantly and he pulled himself free from Neo's grasp before heading further into the group. He came up behind Edward and Dozer.

"So, did you explain the situation to her?" Edward asked.

'Yeah little man, it's all been taken care of.' He grinned.

"How did she take it?"

'She was upset, you know, "here today, gone tomorrow," but she understands my line of work.'

Edward sighed sadly, "But, maybe you should stay."

'Me? Stay? I couldn't.'

"But you have kids who need you." He stressed.

'That may be true, but you and Neo's what's important now.'

"But-."

'Think on it like this. I want my kids to look up to me and be proud. So, would they rather a brave daddy who was away all the time insuring their future, or a cowardly daddy who stayed at home and did nothing all day, cos I'm sure as hell they won't be proud of that.'

Edward was taken aback by his reply, and he looked down out of respect. "Of course they would want a brave dad." He gave a small smile, "that's all kids ever want, is to have a parent they're proud of." Dozer tussled his hair, and Edward looked up to his grinning face.

'Without you an' Neo, there is no future.'

Maybe you're not just my Uncle after all.

Roy looked him over curiously, but sighed finally, resigning himself to the fact that he couldn't understand because they didn't want him to. He used to be good at getting to the heart of private matters, but his skills were no good if you couldn't understand the language they were in.

'Oh, I almost forgot to tell ya!' Dozer grinned.

"What is it?" Edward asked, his mood picking up.

'Oh god, here we go.' Tank sighed.

'Our brother-in-law, Link, is going to be an operator!' He cheered.

"You're brother-in-law…?"

'Yeah, our sister Zee's man, he's going to be starting on the Pequod as of today! He'll be working for the legendary Captain Flint!'

"Th-That's great. I'm pleased for you." Edward smiled, though he didn't know the man.

'Our little Link's all grown up.' Dozer sniffed.

'Geez, he's been like this since yesterday.' Tank rolled his eyes.

"I can imagine." Edward smiled, patting the teary man's arm.

The five carried on their way, trekking the long distance to meet their comrades at the Nebuchadnezzar.

-/\*_;)(-

They made the walk down the illuminated corridor to find Morpheus stood by the ship at the end of the Dock. He nodded and smiled at their return as they came closer to the ship and all smiled in return except Roy, who drooped wearily like an under-fed flower and he dropped at Morpheus's feet as they arrived beside him.

'Good, you made it back.' Morpheus smiled.

"Please…kill me." Roy breathed in his exhaustion and his chest heaved heavily, trying earnestly to catch back the oxygen it sorely needed from the air. He hoped for some sympathy from the man, but Morpheus laughed instead.

"What did Councillor Dillard want to discuss with you?" Edward asked curiously.

'Never you mind, now come on, it's about time we left.' With his hand at his back, he led Edward up towards the ramp of the ship with Neo, Tank and Dozer following close behind. Roy was still laid out on the floor, turning his head limply towards the retreating crew.

"Hey…Wait…What about me?"

"If you think for one second I'm going to carry you up to the ship you can think again." Edward shouted back. Neo sighed and rolled his eyes.

'Fine, I'll do it.'

'Thank you Neo, we'll wait for you inside.' Morpheus nodded.

Neo made his way back down the ramp and, grasping Roy's arm, wrapped it around his neck, gripped his back and knees and picked him up, carrying him bridal style.

"Gee, my hero, whatever would I do without you?" Roy drawled, his voice dripped with endeavour and sarcasm.

'You owe me twice as much now for this.'

"What do you mean twice as much? The only reason I owe you in the first place is because you kicked me off that balcony!"

'Well, if you have the breath to complain….' Neo dropped him suddenly, and Roy fell sprawled out on his back.

"Ow! Fine, I owe you double!" He winced, rubbing his butt in mild agony.

'I thought so.' Neo smirked, picked him up again, and carried him into the ship.

As Neo and Roy stepped in through the ships entrance and the ramp closed behind them, Morpheus and Edward stared up at the pair, now presumed a couple.

"Err…Neo…?" Edward blushed faintly, his face made a bitter turn of emotion that he wanted to hide.

'Are you sure there's something you're not telling me?' Morpheus eyed him pointedly.

'No, nothing at all.' Neo stated and for the third time that day Roy became the victim of mysterious convictions and gravity.

"Ow! Stop doing that!" Roy yelped as he rubbed his butt from a familiar ache he had only felt five minutes ago.

'If anyone wants me, I'll be in the kitchen; I'm starving.' He nodded to Morpheus and with a disregard for his victim, stepped over Roy, who followed the man's trail down the metal ladder with a glare of disgust.

"Here, let me help you up." Edward sprung up from his seat at the monitor and offered his hands, but Roy never paid him a glance and helped himself up off the floor.

"I'm fine." Roy batted Edward's hands away. "Geez, what's his problem?" He scowled turning to Morpheus.

"He's a little rough round the edges if you don't know him well, but he's a good guy-." But Roy shot him a poisonous glare that made Edward hold his tongue.

'I expect you're tired from today's walking. If I were you I'd get all the rest I could, once we get a good distance away from Zion we'll be starting your induction.'

"Where will I be sleeping?" Roy asked.

'It's down to the end of this corridor, turn left and it's the second door on your right. I'll ask Edward to show you if you-.'

"No, that's fine; I can find it for myself. Thank you, and excuse me." He gave Morpheus a militaristic salute and crossed the top deck for the ladder.

"Do you want me to get you something to-?" But he was already down the ladder and reaching the end of the darkly lit corridor without paying him a look of any kind. His face dropped low, giving a forlorn sigh that wasn't audible but just as disheartening.

'Don't worry about it.' Morpheus gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, 'It will all work out.'

"I hope so." And he walked away from Morpheus, letting the hand slip from his shoulder and to the older man's side. He stepped down the ladder and followed Neo's predeceasing steps into the kitchen.

He took his place at a bench and glanced across, watching Neo spoon glop into his mouth with a hungry enthusiasm. He glanced down at the strange hands resting in his lap, their appendages laced together. He followed the glare of poor kitchen light that trailed along the plastic imitation and the pale flesh of the genuine article. He parted their bondage together and followed the outlines of the fingers, comparing the workmanship of what was inherit and what was given. He glared at them both with disgust and a tinge of disappointment. A heat began to rise at the edge of his eyes and he blinked rapidly, hoping the fresh wetness would retreat. About him he became conscious of the whirring of the engine as it began to clang and work its gears, filling him up with a gentle hum; despite it all, despite this…feeling, everything was going on, as if nothing happened. People were still working, living, eating, breathing, crying, laughing, screaming, and dying. Though no word was uttered, the silence was deafening.

'What's up with you?' Neo dropped the spoon into his bowl and the clatter brought him back from the meditation of thought whirling through his mind as well as the feeling of weightlessness that his stomach was all too conscious of.

"Nothing." He glanced up quickly at Neo and away again. He tried to wipe away some of the liquid at his eyes, frowning as his cheek felt the scratchiness of scuffed plastic.

'You want me to get you a bowl?' Neo motioned to his own.

"No thanks, I'll eat later."

'Oh,' Neo settled his happier mood and, with a decisive movement, pushed the bowl away from him. 'You and I, right now, we need to talk. I don't think Roy's a good choice for you.' He stated bluntly. Edward glared up at him, taken aback by the outburst.

"You don't like my choice in men?" He looked bemused. "I didn't think you had such an informed opinion." Edward sounded with a tinge of insult.

'I know I don't and normally this would be exactly the kind of thing I would rather not get involved in, but right now I think you're choice in men is way off.'

"What are you talking about? He's a good choice! He's got good convictions, he's ambitious and he's loyal to his subordinates!"

'But not to you!' Neo countered.

"He's a good man!" Edward shouted and the clatter of footsteps sounded outside the door.

'Keep your voice down!' Neo shushed and they waited in a resumed silence as the echoing feet passed from the door and down the corridor. Once they were inaudible, he neared his head in closer and hissed at Edward. 'The last I heard, good men didn't insult people behind their backs!'

"Then at least he's had the courage so far to insult me to my face!"

'That's not what I'm saying.' Neo cooled down his aggravation. 'Listen, Roy said that your little brother being missing was a joke.'

"As i- wait, what?" Edward's eyes widened, taken aback by it.

'When Roy and I were talking on the balcony, we started talking about you, and he laughed at your little brother being missing.'

"I'm sure he didn't mean it."

'Why are you making excuses for him?' Neo glared at him in disgust. Edward stared back down into his lap. 'I've been keeping an eye on him, like you told me,'

"I didn't ask you to, you offered, remember?"

'Well, whatever, but his mind's too set in its ways to even see you.' But Edward looked away, 'If I was you, I would give him up as a dead loss and, if it was possible, plug him back into the Beta-Matrix.'

"So, you're saying I shouldn't have brought him out of his world in the first place." Edward scowled.

'Don't you think that would've been best? I can understand what drove you to do it; you were lonely, and it's understandable, but you didn't think this through.' Neo reasoned, 'You see, the reason we try not to bring older bluepills out of the Matrix is because they are too set in their own reality, and, if they were revealed to the truth, it would be too much for them. Their minds cannot be told the answer, they have to see it, to believe it; they have trouble letting go. It's cruel and it's selfish.'

"Now look who's making excuses for him." Edward glared fiercely.

'Just look at it like this. Roy probably had everything going for him in the Beta-Matrix. He had a high rank and a well-paid job, he had friends and family and something to work up to. But he's been taken out of his world to find that reality's a hell of a lot crappier than he could think possible, and suddenly his once great life is a wasting pile of shit just like everyone else's in this hole of a world. Now what would you think if someone took you away from everything that you lived for?'

Edward sighed finally, "Of course I would hate it."

'And that's exactly what you've done to Roy.' Edward's eyes widened and cold sweat ran down his neck.

"Earlier, you told me that everything will fall into place sooner or later." Edward sounded through clenched teeth. "But how can I believe in those words, when you're already telling me to give him up like this?"

'Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all of this because I'm against the relationship. Despite what you might think, I actually care about you, but if a man like Roy is going to continue acting cold and making you feel like crap, then he's not worth your breath. But, obviously, to you, he is, and if that's truly how you feel then there's not much else I can say to change your mind.' A small smile perked up on Neo's lips.

Edward's jaw relaxed and he stared into the brown eyes that were offering him reassurance, despite the point they had tried to prove. His eyes fell back to his hands, held before him as if to receive, and with a fresher wetness in his eyes than before, they cradled his face. A lump grew in his throat and softly he whimpered and wept. He ignored the footsteps that he could hear come closer and the extra weight joining him by his side on the bench.

'Ok, come here.' Warmth stretched over the form of his back and a hard softness pressed his head tightly to a now louder beating and rhythmic existence. He slid his hands away from his face, and from the corner of his eye, Neo was no longer there. His realisation occurred when he found the texture of a familiar blue shirt pressed into his temple. Neo's long arms rocked him in a comforting motion, and he closed his eyes as more tears slid down his cheek. His breathing heaved like inaudible hiccups in his chest and slowly, with apprehension at first, his arms rose and clung to the older man's body; he'd found a well of support, his strength, his rock.

He could no longer care to comprehend how long they both sat like this, but after what seemed like a century, a hand rested on his shoulder, and he pulled himself out of that warm darkness to find Morpheus stood behind him.

'Would you like to take Roy some food?' Morpheus asked softly. He smiled down at Edward, disregarding that his eyes were red and puffy; treating him the same as he would have otherwise. Edward nodded in answer, wiping the rest of the tears away on a sleeve. As he got up weakly, Neo smiled up at him. Edward mouthed his words; thank you.

-/\*_;)(-

With the bowl and spoon in hand, he walked down the corridor and a corner to follow the hallway that Morpheus had instructed and where he remembered Roy would go. He found the door, a deep shade of peeling green and a metallic doorknob. There was a sudden surge of movement as the ship's turning caused him to fall into a wall, but he kept the bowl close.

Lucky the food's too thick to spill.

Edward smiled from this small glimmer of hope and, righting himself back onto his feet, stood before the door. His stomach churned, and a sick feeling spread through him. With a shaky fist, he raised it and gently tapped the door. No sound came from behind it and, with less apprehension, knocked louder. Still nothing, he clenched the knob and turned it free from its door-jamb.

"I-I'm coming in." He called and slowly stepped into the room. With metal walls and a flashing light, it was just as small as his. He looked to the bed positioned against the right wall by the headboard and found the man lying on his stomach; a pillow was arrested over his head by his arms. He looked back up to the flashing room light and smiled knowingly.

"Roy?" He called the pillow-head man, but he didn't stir. "Roy?" He called a little louder, but there was no success. He sighed lowly and with a sense of resignation, placed the dish and spoon together on a chair by the side of the bed. He turned to leave, but turned back, looking down on him.

Are you still in Central when you dream?

He sighed, and finally he sat down on the side of the bed, just by Roy's waist and he studied him. With a heavy heave of breath, an arm released its hold on the pillow and it sprung up to reveal the sleeper's face; the pillow-head man was a human once again. His face was stressed, his brow was damp and furrowed, his closed eyes seemed strained, and his jaw worked as if caught up in some sort of aggravation, his breathing rasped through the clamp of his teeth.

He had a high-rank and a well-paid job, he had friends and family and something to work up to. But he's been taken out of his world to find that reality's a hell of a lot crappier than he could think possible, and suddenly his once-great life is a wasting pile of shit just like everyone else's in this hole of a world.

Neo's words rang in his mind, thrumming and making them ever known in their famous routine of repetition. He raised a hand, his face forlorn and slowly it descended down upon the man. Soft fingertips caressed his cheek, his thumb stroked the base of his eyes, and in a turn of expression, his eyes uncoiled themselves from their tension and brows let go of whatever was keeping them knitted; something in his dreams must have found him peace. A smile turned up on Edward's lips. Slowly, his fingers followed the outline of the man's strong jaw and it stilled for the relaxing touch that soaked in the man's doubts and worries. A softer breathing came through and from beneath his fingertips he could feel the definition of his jaw relax and flatten; the skin no longer felt strained.

Edward's fingers travelled down to the chin of his face, his thumb followed the soft pinkness of his lower lip, staying to feel the warm sleeper's breath tickle its tip. Edward's eyebrows rose in a sad expression, something tugged at him inside, but he couldn't let himself. He couldn't. Just…couldn't. He stood up and, with slow steps, made his way towards the door. As he took hold of the knob, a distant voice called to him.

"E-Edward…?" Edward gasped and turned quickly. The man was still arrested in the sleepy holds of a naturally occurring coma, only just holding himself up by his shaking arms.

"It's on the chair." Edward murmured.

"…What?"

"Your food; Morpheus wanted me to…you must be hungry so…food; on your chair." Edward's words stumbled and tripped, and it took Roy a blurry turn of his head to realise what he meant. He turned back to Edward; a small smile creased up, but then fell as his brow tugged at something. He let his arms slowly give in to the strain of gravity, and his head dropped into the mattress. The slow heave of sleeping breath filled the room again, and sadly, Edward retreated. He shut the door quietly, turning the knob so that the lock would fall smoothly into the door-jamb. His knees shook weakly, and his back sunk down the door until his butt on the floor. The lump grew once again, and he wept softly, hoping the man behind wouldn't hear.

-/\*_;)(-

His fingers tapped at the keyboard of the monitor in a slow and languid manner, his eyes followed the writing coming up on the screen. The room was dimly lit, as were the lights of the corridor and other rooms. Everyone would be asleep by now, and so should he as Morpheus had advised he get some rest, but, with no one up, and no way of getting to sleep, he traipsed out of his room, up the ladder and sat himself in a seat that normally Tank would occupy were he not catching up on a week's worth of all-nighters.

As he typed on the keyboard, a voice rung in metallic form, 'Access denied.'

"Damn!" Edward cursed under his breath, "What is the password?" thinking for a moment, he typed again; pressing the enter button, he waited for the voice, 'Access denied.'

"Is that all you know how to say?" Edward shook the monitor in frustration, but he collected himself from his mood, "Ok, calm down, the code has to be something difficult. Otherwise I wouldn't have this problem. Come on Ed, think, you're Clier for god's sake, this should be a cake walk!" After a minute of dwelling on it, he finally started to type cautiously, making sure to enter it without mistake. '…Access Denied.'

"Oh come ON!" Edward shouted. Footsteps clanked their way up the ladder and he turned quickly to find Mouse. "Did I wake you again?" He asked.

'No, I was up anyway.' Mouse smiled, 'what are you doing?' He asked curiously.

"Can't sleep, so I'm trying to look up some information; learn something."

'Oh, right.' Mouse grinned knowingly, 'The Clier thing. Yeah, I get it.' He stood behind Edward and, reaching over, began to type into the monitor.

'Access Granted; may Zion keep you safe.' It answered in its routine way and suddenly files and folders were open to him.

"How'd you do that? Did you know the password?" looked up at him incredulously.

'Not really, but there's a default override code for all monitors used by the Resistance; once you know that then accessing any monitor isn't a problem.'

"Why's that?" Edward asked.

'Well, the default code is something only an Operator is supposed to know, so if you consider this: the password is in place for the operator on a ship. The operator of that ship is supposed to know it because it's for his and the crewmembers of that ship's use only, not everyone else's. But, should all the crew of that ship die, or an operator die, then a new operator or detective can be employed to enter the default code so that they can look through the history of information use on the monitor and/or to change the password settings to something the new operator feels most comfortable with.'

"…I see."

'You don't really understand it, do you?' Mouse smiled.

"I'm not entirely computer literate." Edward shrugged.

'But you seem to be picking up the basics pretty well.'

"I learned from watching Tank and Dozer mostly."

'Would you like me to give you the default code, in case you want to do this again?' Mouse smiled.

"Sure, why not." Edward smiled. Mouse took upon a pen and paper from a file box beneath the monitor and scribbled down the code. He folded it up and passed it back to him.

'That's all of it.'

Edward unfolded the paper and stared at the code, "So, is this code the same for all monitors, no matter what ship you're on?"

'That's right. But you'll have to keep the code safe from everyone else, because if it gets in the wrong hands, anyone could access our monitor, change our files, look through our history or change the information into something completely incorrect, so much so that our monitor will become a modern day Wikipedia site. It'll be hell sorting out the right from the wrong, and I can't be bothered with it, and I'm sure Tank and Dozer can't be either.'

"Ok, well I'm not sure what a Wikipedia site is but by the sounds of it, it sounds like hell on Earth, so I'll take your word for it." He folded it back up and placed it in his pocket.

'Good.' Mouse took up a seat next to him and slid the keyboard from beneath his fingers, tapping the keys, 'Ok, so what did you need the monitor for?' He asked.

"I'm sure I can do it myself." Edward sounded with frustration.

'But I can help you while I'm here.'

"You've done enough, thanks." The irritation in his voice was rising.

'But you wouldn't know what to do if-.'

"I've had a bad day; just go!" Edward shouted angrily, the lump was growing again, and Mouse stared down at him with a look of fear in his eyes. Edward looked downcast out of the boy's fearful gaze, hoping he wouldn't see. "I-I'm sorry." He sniffled, "I just want to b-be on my own." He pointed out towards the ladder, "Please…just go…"

Gulping, Mouse nodded and backed away down the ladder, but Edward sat there frozen, waiting until the single sound of a closing door was heard on the air. As his ears caught the sound, he turned back to the monitor and slid the keyboard back in front of him. He sniffed and wiped away the tears, sliding the mouse at the side of him and clicking on a folder.

Ok, what programs are in the Matrix…? It might be worth me knowing if I'm to take in information.

Three yellow folder icons flashed up before him, each with a name and a number in brackets. At the bottom right corner, four numbers were stated under the current year as 1999.

Current (10,102,621,964,893), Exiles (236), Defected (67).

Thinking for a moment, he manoeuvred the mouse once again.

Let's have a look at Current.

He clicked on the folder, and before him rows upon rows of file icons flashed up on the screen and he watched with daunted eyes as the sidebar at the side grew so miniscule that he doubted even his mouse arrow could grab a hold and detect it.

10,102,621,964,893 files! They weren't kidding! Ok, how do I go back on this thing?

Looking about on the screen, he found in the left-hand corner a green arrow pointing left, supposedly backwards.

That must be it!

He clicked it and the three folders were back again, along with a regular-sized sidebar, thank goodness. He breathed a sigh of relief.

What's in the Exiles folder?

He clicked on it and rows of folders came up, but at least the haul of them looked manageable. He observed their names with some interest.

Let's see. Merovingian, Werewolves, Witches, Keymaker, Vampire, Banshees, Kelpies, Ghosts…

A flash of realisation caught him.

Hang on! Most of these are just fairy tale monsters! They don't exist!

He clicked the green button a few times and was met with two folder icons.

Matrix, Beta-Matrix.

"At least my world won't have stupid fairy things on it like that one." He muttered to himself and he clicked on the folder.

Current (415,868,558,595), Exiles (115), Defected (33).There's not as many current, defected or exiled programs in here. It must be either because it's not as old as the Matrix, because it's working better or maybe because who ever made these Matrices must be working harder on it. Can't say I blame them though. Edward grinned to himself; Of course the Beta-Matrix is better than the Matrix.

A yellow folder flashed suddenly and the number changed.

Current now 415,868,558,594…? What could that be about? Does the monitor just update it then? If that's so then I don't know what Mouse was so worried about. "Someone changing the information". The monitor must be doing that for itself perfectly fine. Now, let's look in… Exiles.

He clicked the folder, and it came up. Glancing at each one, he clicked on the sidebar to scroll down and read all of the file names.

Ghosts; didn't think they would be in this folder.

Edward sighed, clicked back and spied the last folder curiously.

Defects must mean broken programs. If there are only 33, then I wonder what they are.

He opened up the folder, and his eyes immediately fell onto the first word that caught his eye.

Alchemy…? But, how is that defected…?

Edward sighed, scratching his head, puzzled. As the allocated time of night of the real world underground drew on, he sat at the monitor, learning from the folders and files that he could.

-/\*_;)(-

He felt a nudge on his shoulder, and he woke up to find Dozer standing there.

'Hey there little man, you been on here all night?' He asked, looking at the monitor. The screen light was still illuminating the room.

"Couldn't sleep." He drawled, yawning widely. "Thought I'd…learn something new."

'As part of your duty?'

"Nothing else." Edward shrugged.

'How'd you get on here, I thought I'd locked it up.'

"Mouse gave me password…thing."

'Ok, how 'bout you go for a snooze on your bed?' Dozer asked; smiling as Edward wiped his eyes sleepily.

"Nah, I'm up now; might as well eat." Edward stood up from his chair groggily and stepped towards the ladder, but in his daze he forgot to turn his back to it and there was a sudden clang as flesh, metal and plastic met with the floor. "OW!" He yelped.

'There ain't a ladder for no reason you know!' Dozer called as he took a seat up to the monitor.

"Yeah, I think I got that!" Edward called back, standing up shakily. "Wow that woke me up!" Edward rubbed his head and headed for the kitchen, leaving Dozer's chuckle to echo through the top deck.

In the kitchen, Neo, Trinity and Morpheus were sat up to the table with a bowl each.

'Oh hey, you're up.' Neo sounded through a mouthful.

'Don't talk with your mouth full.' Trinity sighed and gave him a gentle punch in the arm.

'Yes honey.' He murmured.

"And me falling off the top deck didn't give it away?" Edward grumbled as he picked up a bowl. He placed it beneath the dispenser and glop fell thickly into it. He picked up a spoon from the utensils and took a seat next to Morpheus.

'Oh yeah, I definitely heard that. I bet it would've been hilarious if I saw it.' Neo smirked.

"So what? I was tired." Edward frowned, swallowing a spoonful of glop. No matter how many times you ate this stuff a day, and no matter how many months or years you'd been eating it, the taste never got better.

'I saw you weren't in bed.' Morpheus said, 'Have you been studying all night?'

"Yeah, doing what I can for Zion and all that." Edward laughed.

'What about?' Morpheus asked with a smile.

"Exiled and defected programs mostly. There were too many current files to study."

'Why couldn't you sleep anyway?' Trinity asked as she pushed her bowl aside.

"With all that was happening yesterday, I was too frustrated to sleep, which reminds me," He turned to Neo, "Thanks for yesterday." He smiled warmly.

'No problem, my door's always open if you want to talk.' Neo stated without a smile or bad word, his eyes still concentrated on his bowl. 'But not after midnight, otherwise I'm engaged.'

"Don't remind me why." Edward grimaced, that night when he first saw them…together still haunted him to this day.

'You're saying thank you to Neo? You two talking? My, I feel like all of the Zion celebrations have come at once.' Morpheus smiled sadly, wiping a tear from his eye, 'To see you two get along, and confide in each other, I never thought I'd see the day.'

'Don't act so dramatic, Morpheus.' Neo grunted, 'We just got tired of arguing, that's all.'

'But still, it is a major breakthrough for our ship.' Morpheus chuckled.

Footsteps came in through the door and they looked up to find Roy stood there.

"Good morning Morpheus." Roy saluted.

'Morning to you too. But please, don't feel you have to salute to me. This is a relaxed ship; we don't follow rigid formal rules. Just my orders.'

"Very well, I'll keep that in mind." Roy nodded; he looked about the table to find them eating bowls of glop. "That was on my chair this morning. Is this all we eat?"

'Yes, but it's not for lack of better reserves.' Morpheus stated, 'They contain all the nutrients and minerals your body will need. It should be very nourishing for you.'

Roy nodded knowingly, and going to the dispenser, he picked up a bowl and studied it carefully, before finally asking, "Excuse me, how do you work this thing?"

"I can show you." Edward got up from his seat. "It's this small lever here. You put your bowl in here." He took the bowl from Roy and placed it beneath the nozzle, "You pull this lever round like this," He pulled round twice to fill the bowl up, "And that's all there is to it." Edward smiled, picking up a spoon and handing it to him.

Roy looked at him, not sure how to react, but finally he muttered his thanks and took a seat beside Neo. Edward returned to his seat, feeling warmer for the kind act. He couldn't help but smile as he spooned in another mouthful.

'Edward,' Neo began, 'you know; if you ever want me to talk to him then-.'

"No, it's alright, really. You've helped me enough already." Edward smiled.

'Suit yourself.' Neo shrugged and ate the last spoonful of his meal. He put down the spoon and sighed, contented that he was full.

Mouse stepped into the kitchen, yawning and scratching his head tiredly. He drifted automatically to the food dispenser and picked up a bowl.

'Nuh-uh Mouse! Not after yesterday's bet!' He pointed to his mouth like a starved child.

'We're starting now?' He stared at him in disbelief.

'Oh yes! Today's the day that all of your meals are mine!' Neo smiled with a tint of evilness.

'And I missed dinner for nothing.' Mouse sighed.

'That's right! Feel the pangs! In fact, take a seat! You can watch me devour your breakfast! Soon, my brother, soon they will come thick and fast!' Neo laughed manically. With a tense and mocking slowness he took in another mouthful while Mouse stared with a slobbering hunger, wide-eyed and horror-struck.

'Neo!' Trinity sighed with disgust, 'You just ate breakfast; you're going to make yourself sick!'

'All's fair in love and war, sweetie.' His stared intensely at Mouse, smirking evilly with each mouthful of glop that passed his gullet.

'War? Who said this was war?' Trinity frowned.

'Mouse did!' Neo stared up at Trinity, as if it was ridiculous that she should question him. 'He started this war when he declared a bet! And now that his mighty horse has fallen, I shall make him pay for daring to think that he can outmatch me! The One! And now! He shall suffer for his misjudgement and watch me eat the spoils of my victory!' He slurped down the glop until all was gone.

Roy watched from the corner of his eyes, his eyes narrowed and his mouth hung open in repulse. Sighing heavily, he put down his bowl.

"I'm done." Roy stated as he got up from the table.

"Done?" Edward picked up the bowl incredulously, "You've only eaten half of it!"

"I wasn't hungry." Roy said as he left the room.

"Thanks a lot Neo; you put him off his breakfast!" Edward scowled.

'Put him off? It's not like he could understand me anyway!' Neo countered.

"Actions speak louder than words!"

'You gave him too much!'

"Because he hardly ate yesterday!"

'Well, whatever guys, but if no one's having this bowl then it's mine!' Mouse took the bowl out of Edward's hands and started to feast on it hungrily.

'Mouse! That's cheating!'

'Hey, you said nothing about eating leftovers!' Mouse hugged the bowl tight to him. 'Who said all's fair in love and war, huh?'

'Fine!' Neo sighed, 'have the damn ration.' He scowled and Mouse slurped it down his throat.

Edward got up from his seat.

'Edward.' Morpheus tugged at his sleeve, 'If you're going near Roy's room, then tell him he's needed at the top deck. It's about time for his induction.' He let go of his sleeve and eyed him seriously.

'Right.' Edward nodded.

-/\*_;)(-

'Come on!' Sparks called from the Logos. 'You ready to go or what?'

Alphonse stood by the ship, looking back down the corridor for his last view of Zion for a long time. 'Reggie?' Sparks called again.

Alphonse sighed deeply, 'Ok, I'm coming.' He stared longingly back at Zion before stepping up the ramp into the ship.

-/\*_;)(-

"Roy?" Edward peered around the door of his room to find Roy lying on his bed. He looked up at him, waiting for a response.

"What?" He glared.

"Oh, right, Morpheus says it's time for your induction." Edward looked down out of Roy's gaze as he spoke. Roy's face hardened.

"What kind of induction?" Roy asked coldly.

"To learn the truth about the Matrix."

"Truth? There's more?" Roy said fiercely.

"More than you know, yes."

"I guess I have no choice but to go through with the induction, right?"

"You'll have to if you want to be on the same page as us." Edward looked into his eyes, holding his ground.

"Of course, just like I had to take the red pill! Like I had no choice in that!" Roy countered.

"You did have a choice." Edward spoke.

"Not the way that bastard Neo saw it." Roy growled, "He wouldn't let me let those sacrifices go to waste!"

"…I didn't mean for there to be sacrifices. I didn't know the Agents would go so far. I-I didn't know..." He clutched the door frame and gripped it tightly.

Roy sighed heavily, "Tell Morpheus I'll be out there in a minute."

"Ok." Edward nodded quickly to assure himself and turned to leave.

"Edward!" Roy called out to him and Edward quickly turned on his heel.

"Yes?"

"Is this truth…anything like the Gate you saw?"

"…You'll see soon enough." Edward replied, "Roy, when Morpheus tells you the truth, please, open your mind to it."

"Open my mind?"

"Don't let it drive you mad. I mean, I know you've had a hard time, because your mind's been too set in your convictions; it's had trouble letting go, so please, promise me you won't lose yourself."

"…I won't promise anything. Not until I hear the truth."

Edward nodded finally and shut the door.

Roy followed Edward out onto the corridor and up to the top deck; all of the crew were there, waiting around the monitor.

"I'm here for my induction." Roy spoke clearly.

'Of course you are.' Morpheus smiled.

Roy stepped up to them, "So, how does it work?"

'Firstly, you'll need to lay down in one of these chairs.' Morpheus motioned to the fur-lined seats behind the monitor. 'And once you're plugged in, I'll be taking you through the Construct; hopefully you'll understand what I'm about to tell you.'

"I've been given fair warning not to lose my mind while I'm here, so yes, I'll try to understand." Roy stepped over to the seats and lay down in one. "So I guess this is the part where you plug me in."

'You guessed correctly." Morpheus took a hold of a cable hanging at the side of the bed like an unused drip, and began to position it. 'I'll ask that you relax yourself for this one.' Morpheus smiled and he began to insert the probe in the back of his head. Roy's eyes widened, he gripped the chair arms frantically.

"No! Stop! This is-! I don't know if I want this!"

'Roy! Please relax! The more you resist, the harder it'll be!'

Edward frowned and finally stepped up to the seats and took the data probe from Morpheus.

"Edward! What are you-?"

"I know you don't like me!" Edward started, "But you chickening out is not going to make things any easier for you or for us, so I suggest you start cooperating and start relaxing!"

"As if you can tell me what to do!"

"You're right! I can't! But guess what? As hard as it is to believe, we are the same rank here, and as much as you don't want to hear it, I got you out which means I'm responsible for whatever you do on this goddamn ship, ok? You piss on the seat, I wipe it up! You kill a guy, I take the sentence! You got it?"

Roy stared at him in disbelief, a blush began to form on his cheeks and in retaliation one broke out on Edward. "S-So, just sit back and relax, ok? You'll feel it, but it won't hurt."

Roy nodded slowly and gulped as he rested back. He shut his eyes, waiting. His face screwed as the probe entered forcefully. He grunted in pain,

"I thought you told me it wouldn't hurt!" But he had already found himself within the confines of a white void.

Author's note:

This chapter was named from the song Want by Disturbed from the album Down With The Sickness. I think I chose this one because it seemed to be the most relevant, if you say that the lyrics are about Roy from Ed's point of view, of course, from the less sexual connotation that it is referred to in the original song. However, maybe the title wasn't chosen as well as it could have been. For one thing, the song is about a woman, and Edward is unaware of any feelings that Roy might have for him, as the song suggests, and the only way there has been any downright suggestion of any feelings that Roy might harbour for him have been in Chapter 2. Whether these feelings have changed so far, I won't reveal, but I will admit, as you will already have seen, they are strained. But as far as chapter titles go, this is the closest to its lyrics and the contents of the chapter.

This chapter was one I had the most trouble with, especially when my school computer decided to die part way through the chapter, so I had to rewrite what I had lost and more. Then I saved the previous file over the updated one, and that was a bugger to rewrite, especially since I was partway through the difficult conversation with Neo and Edward. I had to remember what Neo needed to say, how Edward would react and how Neo would contradict himself. It was very difficult and disconcerting. I almost gave up on rewriting the chapter all together. But that would've meant the story would've stopped, and that would've been bad news for you guys so, with that in mind, I plodded slavishly through the chapter up to the end of the conversation, rested, and thought "Yes! Now I can carry on!" And speeded through the rest.

I've heard of authors being very depressed after losing their notebooks and files, and often when you hear of it you think, "No, that'll never happen to me. I'm always careful. No one's stolen from me yet and I always save my files!" But to have it happen to you and twice no less, it's very hard to come back from it, and you just want to lie down and cry because all of your hard work has been for nothing. Very depressing, but I managed to get past it. How I managed to kick my ass and do it I don't know. Now that I've found that out though, I should apply it to my schoolwork!

The Wikipedia site gag was something that I came up with on the spot, as I do most of the plotline, but I kid when I say its hell on earth. It's actually quite a blessing for those who want to research stuff, such as myself, but the problem with it is its reliability. Even though anything on Wikipedia can be changed or added to make correct articles that are helpful and useful, there are just as many people out there who can and do change information on it to make it wrong. Especially teachers (and their friends) who change information on Wikipedia deliberately near exam time so that they can catch out who's been doing last minute revision on Wikipedia and who's been gullible enough to believe it (obviously if their students had been doing the revision a while before exams, they wouldn't need Wikipedia and they would know which parts were true and false). It's not just teachers who do this; it's those who are bored and procrastinating! If any of you guys out there do change Wikipedia articles deliberately for the giggles, then I would advise you rectify it. It's a pain for me, Mouse, Tank and Dozer to do research through the information to find that more than half of it is wrong. Thank you.

And remember, "Don't be a Procrastinator, help the Operator!"

I'll also admit this, because I got a review once about this, that there will be a lot of people who understand the Matrix franchise better than I do. I say this because a reviewer told me that s/he didn't understand the Matrix franchise anyway (not a lot do), but understood it from how I'd written the story so far (this was a review for a chapter between 1 and 7). I'll say that a lot of the research I do on the Matrix franchise (so that I understand what I'm writing myself and so that other people don't beat on me saying that this is so f***ing wrong!) is done on (a branch of Wikipedia) and the matrix scripts (particularly the first film one so far; you'll find that one of the things Neo says is from the first movie, coming from the lips of Trinity around the beginning. Prizes for guessing which bit!). That's what I mean by Wikipedia being a blessing. I trust that information, so no changing it!

News alert: This is the longest chapter yet! It totally beats chapter 6 to the ground!

Don't expect an update for a few weeks. Maybe not for another month? I would just expect a huge gap right about now.

Nah, I'm kidding. I'll update this in three weeks. This won't be a consistent thing, but it'll be me implementing a new rule. I've decided that, when a chapter reaches to or over twenty pages, you can expect to wait three weeks for an update. If it's over 10 pages then you can expect to wait two weeks. Any less and it's just one week. Since this is 21 pages, this is a three week wait. I'll give you guys a date to expect an update.

As I may have already mentioned, the reason I'm updating the chapter sooner than usual is because of a singing project I'm doing all day tomorrow. Of course, that is going to take up my time and it would've meant I wouldn't have done a very good job on the editing process, which I have done now; hopefully that comes through. Now, as my final request of the day, I would like all who read to give me a review, because as you should all know by now, I don't update until the last chapter gets a review. Now, I know the last chapter warranted reviews, because I got three! I even got a reviewer saying that chapter 11 was their favourite chapter so far, which I'm very pleased about, because it means I'm getting better as the story's going on. I'd love to hear your thoughts; which is better, chapter 11, or chapter 12? Don't delay!

But, thank you for reading this far!

Ophelia Davis

Extra note: I don't actually know if you appreciate how hard I work to write these chapters, and to be honest, I never actually gauge for myself how hard I work. That was until very recently, I suffered from symptoms of feeling faint and light-headed, the day after came the headaches and the lights in my eyes. That was my first experience of over-working, and as such I was banned from the laptop/computer for the rest of the week so that I could recuperate. I was able to work out a major plot to come in that time, but I wasn't able to finish chapter 15 in that time like I had hoped. So, now you know how much I dedicate my energy to this fan fiction.

But, on the brighter side of things, I now have a very clear idea of what I'm doing for the next chapters, maybe going as far chapter 20 and beyond. I'll admit though, I already have a vague idea of how the fiction is going to end and the plot points in between, but never the detail. Now I've taken up too much of your time. I'll let you review now and thank you for reading this far!

Watch this space! Chapter 13 will be out on the 26th March 2011 UK time! There, that's a fair fixture.