DISCLAIMER: The Matrix and all its characters belong to WB or the Wachowski brothers. Characters not in the original movie belong to me. I'm not making any money of this, yadda yadda, and so on.
Thanks to all the people who reviewed the first chapter and I hope I answered any questions or doubts you guys had.
Also, I'm sorry it's taken me so damn long to get this up but, well, I forgot to post. :P And then when I remembered it was the 11th so… my mind wasn't exactly on the Matrix.
Anyway, it's up now and I promise to be quicker with my updates and not to forget
* * * * * * *
Maria's first impression of the real world was that of colour. The unplugged could often be heard complaining bitterly that the real world was dull and drab and cold, but Maria privately disagreed.
The first thing she had seen when she had opened her eyes for the first time was red. Everywhere she looked, she could see red and black spilling out from the machines. Occasionally streaks of blue lightening flickered over her.
She knew that she should have been afraid, but the light dazzled her. True, there were not many colours, but they were bright and vibrant, and she took some comfort in it. It was better than the darkness.
Before she could get used to this new vision of illumination, she was pulled away from it back into the darkness.
She had screamed, of course, and her mouth was filled with the putrid liquid that had initially surrounded her. It was icy cold, and just when she was sure that she would die, something grabbed her harshly and slowly pulled her towards another light.
She was shaking with cold and a thousand other feelings she could not place. She noticed vaguely that the man who had flown was picking her up, but he looked slightly different now. He glanced down at her.
"Go to sleep Maria… It's alright."
Gratefully, Maria slipped out of consciousness, wanting nothing more than to sleep and forget.
* * * * * * *
Trinity watched Neo as he placed the girl, who looked so much younger than she had done in the Matrix, on the table and stepped away, letting Morpheus and Phoenix swarm over her tiny form.
Only two new crewmembers had been recruited since the Betrayal. Phoenix had been a nurse back in Zion, who had felt she could be more use helping the ships than the city's people. They had to smuggle her on board – obtaining the necessary licences needed to allow a new crewmember from Zion to join would have taken too long. She had been on board for two months now, and had only just been legally allowed.
Neo walked out the room staring at his feet in thought. Trinity rushed to catch him.
"Neo." He carried on walking. Annoyed, Trinity grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around.
"Neo! Don't ignore me."
"Trin, please, I don't want this conversation." He refused to meet her gaze.
"Neo, what happened back there?" she asked, her voice still hard. She wasn't ready to take any bullshit, poor-me excuses from him this time. He had seriously jeopardised a mission, and the soldier in her was angry. If an agent had seen him fly… they could have morphed into Maria… anything could have happened. Because the One had got cold feet.
"I don't think we should have pulled her out. She's only eleven – "
"Mouse was younger when Morpheus unplugged him!"
"Yeah, and look what happened to him!"
The silence after that statement was solid and echoed down the ship until the very engines seemed to pause in remembrance.
Trinity took a deep breath.
"Neo, she is ready. You know that. You watched her, you saw how unhappy she was –"
"And I also saw her play with her friends," he snapped suddenly, his eyes blazing up to meet hers. "I saw her hug her parents, play with her toys – I saw her being a kid!"
"And I saw her suffering! Is this world so much harsher than her living her life in the Matrix, afraid?"
"She's just a kid, Trinity," he said bitterly.
"She is a child in pain. We can help her – "
"Um, 'scuse me guys?"
Neo and Trinity whipped around to find a scared looking boy trying to edge his way past the corridor they had blocked. Trinity glared at both men and stormed down the corridor. She could feel them gazing at her back, but squashed the feeling of sympathy she felt for Neo.
It had been his first mission…
"No," she muttered to herself. "He's not getting off that easily. If he were just an ordinary soldier…"
She sighed. That was precisely the problem. He wasn't just an ordinary soldier; he was the One and therefore certain allowances had been made for him inside the Matrix. No one quite knew what he was capable of, and Trinity had a sneaking suspicion that Neo didn't know either.
But more than that, he was Neo. The man she loved. And that made everything so much harder. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop the way she felt about him interfering with missions.
Maybe that's not such a problem, she pondered to herself. Maybe I'm just making it into a problem; he doesn't seem to have any problem with it…
She rubbed her forehead in thought and realised that she had wandered back to the recovery room. Morpheus had gone, leaving Phoenix alone with her patient. Trinity stood by the bed and looked down at the child's still form. She realised helplessly that she couldn't stay mad at Neo – she could understand his reasons. They were the same doubts she had originally had when Morpheus told her about the new potential. The same ones she had had when Mouse came aboard. But he had accepted the truth so easily…
And so will Maria. She is ready, or Morpheus wouldn't have unplugged her.
They had all been certain that Maria was ready when they had been watching her; she had all the signs of a 'splintered mind'. But no one ever knew how the unplugged would react once in the real world. Trinity had first assumed that Neo wouldn't have lasted more than a few weeks in the real world: he was too old. She had got that one very wrong…
Trinity folded her arms and tried to make her mind go blank. Unfortunately, it was the one thing she had never succeeded in doing.
* * * * * * *
Neo and Auriga watched Trinity storm down the corridor. Auriga swallowed nervously.
"Don't worry Auriga," sighed Neo, patting him on the back. "I pissed her off, not you."
"Oh," said Auriga in relief, pushing his glasses back up his nose. Neo felt sorry for the poor kid. He'd spent most of his life surrounded bullies and had trouble getting used to this way of life. He had settled in with everyone except Trinity. He seemed to be slightly afraid of her.
I don't blame him, thought Neo glumly, hurrying after his lover. She's a frightening lady when she wants to be…
It took a while for Neo to trace her back to the recovery room. Phoenix was quietly tinkering with various needles in the background. Phoenix looked up when Neo entered and smiled. Sensing the strain of an unfinished argument, she quickly finished what she was doing and left, winking at Neo as she passed him.
Trinity was watching over the unconscious girl, arms folded. Neo stood beside her. They were both silent for a while, staring at Maria. Finally, Neo took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "About what I said about Mouse and… the other stuff. I know I endangered the mission –"
"Damn right."
Neo sighed. "I just feel that we're not letting her have a proper childhood."
"She wasn't having a proper childhood, Neo. To all intents and purposes, she knew the truth. She would have gone mad if she'd stayed there much longer. Did you want that?"
"Of course not. I –" he paused, searching for the right words. Trinity was silent.
"We've taken her innocence from her. She won't be a child anymore, she can't be. She's a soldier now. For the rest of her life…"
Trinity reached down and took hold of his hand and squeezed it.
"I know," she whispered. They were silent again, holding hands tightly.
"And what about her parents, Trin? They must be panicking by now…"
Trinity shut her eyes tightly, as if trying to block out a mental picture
"It's for the best, Neo." She sounded unconvinced at her own words.
"But what if it was our kid?"
"What?" said Trinity, looking at him in surprise.
Before he could repeat, Morpheus appeared in the doorway. "Neo. A word with you."
Neo looked at his mentor and knew he was in for yet another bollocking. He let go of Trinity's hand and followed Morpheus out the door.
"Neo…" He heard Trinity's voice behind him and turned. She was smiling softly. "I'd want our child to know the truth."
Neo nodded, half-smiling. "I know you would."
They looked at each other a moment longer, and then he left.
* * * * * * *
Trinity watched Neo leave with Morpheus, then turned back to the child on the table, her thoughts whirling.
We've talked about everything under the sun and yet we've never spoken of commitment...
Commitment was not spoken of much in the real world. Life was too hard and short for such promises. Fidelity was seen as the short cut to heartbreak, and such a weakness could not be tolerated in a war. Many people thought that Neo and Trinity's relationship was destined for a painful and messy end. Either they would get sick of each other and cause unneeded tension, or one would die, leaving the other a broken shell.
Both Neo and Trinity ignored these people. Life was too short to worry about how it was going to end.
And now he's thinking about our child…
Stop it, Trinity, she scolded herself. It was just a passing comment… He's still upset about Maria… She couldn't help the rush of love she felt for that man. It was something she had never expected to happen to her, and she knew she was blessed every time she woke up in his arms. Even when his snores were the reason she had woken.
She touched the child's forehead and nodded at Phoenix, who had discreetly returned.
"Take care of her," she whispered.
Phoenix nodded. "Of course."
Trinity left the room, bumping into Auriga.
"Oh, um, sorry, Trin –"
"Don't worry," she said brightly and slid past him. Auriga watched her go in confusion. He shook his head. He would never understand women… men had far fewer mood swings… He smiled at Phoenix and wondered where Tank was.
* * * * * * *
Morpheus led Neo to the empty mess room and sat across from him. As soon as the door closed, Neo started to speak.
"I know what you're going to say. I endangered the mission, I let my emotions get the better of me, I left Trinity and Maria alone, I – "
Morpheus held up his hand to silence Neo.
"I wasn't going to tell you what you did wrong. I suspected that Trinity already told you that much." He stopped and looked at Neo, a smile playing in his eyes, if not his lips. Neo half-smiled sheepishly.
"I had thought that you might… freak out slightly about this, Neo. That's why I asked Trinity to take you. I thought it would help you to understand that Maria is ready."
Neo blinked at him.
"Do you… do you believe that she is?" Neo asked hesitantly.
"Yes, I do. I never pull anyone out unless I think they're ready. And Neo, you watched her more closely than any of us. You know that she was ready."
"I know, it's just that…" Neo paused, running a hand over his head. He started again. "When I look at the Matrix all I see is a code. I know it's not real, I know that technically, she wasn't living but… I just realised when I saw her standing there, that to her, it was real. She really thought that her life was… a life." He looked at his hands helplessly.
"Then you should understand that we are helping her to live. She has been given a chance to live her life knowing the truth."
"But she's just a child – "
"She is just a child, but she is just as ready as you were. To be honest, I had first thought that the One would be a young child – they accept the truth much more easily." He looked up at Neo and grinned ruefully. "Look at how wrong I was."
Neo ignored the jibe at his age and put both his hands on the table, leaning forward. "That's my point! What if we're wrong about this? What if she's not ready for all this?"
"I know what I'm doing, Neo," Morpheus replied sharply. "I don't pull anyone unless I know they can make it. Most of the crew thought unplugging you was a mistake, and I won't pretend that I didn't have my doubts."
"So why did you do it?" asked Neo sourly.
"Because I realised that age didn't have anything to do with it. The reason it had taken us so long to find you was because we had been looking in the wrong places. We were looking at the children. We should have just been looking."
Neo sat back and looked at his hands. What would he have done if he hadn't have been pulled? Would he still be at Metacortex, wasting his life away? He shuddered inwardly. Morpheus leaned forward, apparently reading Neo's thoughts.
"Now do you see why we had to take her?"
Neo nodded.
"She won't have much of a childhood here, though," he said sadly.
"Do you honestly think that she would have had a childhood back in the Matrix?" Morpheus asked, raising one eyebrow.
"No."
Morpheus nodded, then got up. He patted Neo's shoulder absently.
"Don't let yourself get so attached – just let her be. She'll find her own path. Just as you did."
Neo looked up at his friend and nodded. Morpheus smiled briefly, then left, leaving Neo to his thoughts.
* * * * * * *
Maria yawned sleepily and turned over in her bed. She frowned at its unyielding mattress and considered calling to her mother –
Her eyes snapped open. Instead of her familiar messy bedside table, she saw dark metal.
She sat up and looked around bewilderedly. Her memories of how she had got to this place were vague and hazy. She could remember walking into the church with the woman… she had said some things that Maria had not understand, and then everything went cold and dark.
She remembered the pods… someone had taken her from there… the man who flew. He had told her to sleep. Then the woman had touched her forehead and smiled.
Maria shook her head… Everything was so confusing… She jumped when the door opened loudly. The man who flew smiled down at her. She saw why he had looked different when he had carried her. His hair was much shorter, and he looked paler, more fragile. In a strange way, he looked more real.
"Morning, Maria. Sleep well?"
"Um."
She felt foolish. She had meant to ask him where she was, what had happened to her, and who these people were, but her brain had momentarily shut down. The man nodded though, as if he understood her thoughts. He stepped into the room.
"I'm Neo."
"Neo?"
"Yes."
"Is… is that your real name?"
He grinned. "It's the name I gave myself. When I came here, I changed my name permanently."
"Why?" she asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"I felt like I had been reborn." He laughed dryly. "Thomas didn't seem to suit me here." He dropped to look at her face. "If you want, you can change your name."
"Why would I want to?" She hadn't meant her tone to be so snide, but she couldn't help it. He didn't seem to notice though and just shrugged.
"Sometimes it's easier to let go if you have a new name. You don't feel like the same person." His voice grew quiet and a strange expression flickered across his face. It quickly passed. "Well, you'll have plenty of time to think about it later. It's time for you to meet our captain."
He held out a hand to pull her up, and she noticed for the first time that something was missing... She tentatively touched the side of her head.
"Did you cut my hair off?" she demanded, her fingers pressing against the downy fuzz that covered her head.
"No. You never had any."
This answer confused her so much that she decided not to pursue it anymore. Instead, she looked down at what she was wearing.
"Where did these come from?" she asked in surprise, plucking at the loose thread on her sleeve.
"Zion. The last human city."
"Oh," she said absently, pulling the thread and watching the end of her sleeve quickly unravel. Neo looked down at her in amazement at her acceptance.
Maybe this won't be so bad, he pondered as he lead her down the corridor. She is just a child; maybe she'll accept all this easily.
They reached the core. Usually it was buzzing with activity, but it was still early. Only Morpheus and Tank were up, looking at the console. Morpheus looked up and smiled when he saw them.
"Welcome, Maria," he said, patting Tank's shoulder. "This is the core of my hovercraft – the Nebuchadnezzar.
Morpheus glanced at Neo, who was watching as Tank adjusted the footrests to suit Maria's smaller figure. Tank said something that Neo couldn't hear, and Maria giggled. Neo jumped at the hand on his shoulder.
"Go have breakfast Neo," he said quietly. Neo started to protest but gave up at the older man's expression. He sighed, remembering Morpheus' words.
She is just a child, but she is just as ready as you were. To be honest, I had first thought that the One would be a young child – they accept the truth much more easily… I know what I'm doing, Neo. I don't pull anyone unless I know they can make it… Don't let yourself get so attached – just let her be.
As Neo left, he could hear Morpheus telling Maria to be brave – this might hurt a little. Neo paused when he heard Maria's cry. It only lasted an instant – had he cried out like that? – then Tank spoke.
"She's in."
* * * * * * *
As always, feedback is greatly appreciated and wanted