The Sixth Matrix

The Sixth Matrix

Part 1: Enter Neo

Chapter 2

Neo leaned forward in the chair. He looked around him and saw Trinity, Morpheus, Cadge, and a few other people. Before he could say or do anything else, the ship rocked and he flew out of his chair. He hit the ground and rolled on the floor. Blood gushed from an open wound in his shoulder.

Morpheus shouted, "Use the pulse, no-," he couldn't finish as the ship was rocked again. Neo rolled around, trying to get to his feet. He left a trail of blood on the floor. His head banged on a piece of machinery as the ship rocked again and…everything went dark…

Tank jammed his finger on the pulse button and the weapon was released, the shock wave rocking the nearby area. After a few seconds, everything was still. Tank sighed and shook his head. They were moving to fast.

Getting too many people too fast.

He got to his feet and cut off the connection with the Matrix and sighed. Another day done. Got another recruit, but now the ship was damaged. They had six new people, including Traa. Tank got to his feet and walked around the ship.

Let's see, he thought, how the others are. He walked along the catwalk and after two minutes reached the first new recruit's quarters. We're also going to run out of spare rooms at this rate; we've only got two more.

Tank knocked on the door, which was labeled 'Caneen'. Caneen (Cu-neen) opened it after a few seconds and said, "Oh, hi Tank. Are you all right? What happened?" Her voice

Tank sighed. Caneen was like that, all nice and perky. It was obvious mask that she was scared. "I'm fine, I was just here to check on you. Are you alright?" She nodded and replied, "Thanks for asking." Tank nodded and said, "The same."

He turned and continued down the hallway. One door was open and-

"Frain," he shouted and ran to her door. She was lying down in her room, her arm hanging outside the door. She was unconscious, her head bleeding from a gash behind the ear. "Caneen, help me," he yelled, started to lift Frain's limp body off the ground.

Caneen looked down the hall and when she saw Frain, ran down to help Tank. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," Caneen kept saying. Tank rolled his eyes. "She'll be alright, Caneen. Just help me take her to the Lab."

They shuttled her down to the lab and Tank called for Trinity. When she got there, Tank asked, "Can you fix this?" Trinity had medical info downloaded into her a week or two ago. She walked over to Frain's body, which was now on top of an operating table.

Caneen was sitting in a chair, her hands covering her face. She and Frain had become good friends since they were brought to reality. They had connected and helped each other realize what was really happening.

Now, Caneen was scared that Frain might die.

"She'll be alright," Trinity said. "But she has a small piece of metal stuck in that gash. Tank, hand me some tweezers." Tank did so.

Trinity bent down so she could see Frain's head better. Slowly and carefully, she got the tweezers into the gash. "Put some 'focals' on me," she said to Tank, without looking at him. Tank got some magnifying glasses that were made for surgery and put them around Trinity's head. Her vision was magnified a few times and she could see the piece of metal clearly.

She heard Caneen quietly crying for her friend. "Don't worry Caneen," Trinity said in a soothing voice as she clamped the tweezers around the metal. "She'll be okay." Trinity carefully pulled it out. It was about a square-inch long, and as thing as a piece of paper. "Tank, put some 'liquid' on the wound and then bandage it."

Tank nodded and Trinity hurried out of the room. She had to go help Neo to the Lab so she could fix his shoulder wound.

As Tank bandaged the gash, Frain slowly woke up. Tank gently held her down so she wouldn't jerk away. "What happened Tank," she asked. Caneen jumped up and let out a…some kind of happy shriek. She ran over to Frain's side and asked, "Are you okay?"

Frain asked Tank again, "What happened?"

"We were traced. They sent machines after us…something new, while Neo and Morpheus were in the Matrix…they're, all done. Don't run for a few days okay? We don't want the blood to start bleeding again."

"Thanks Tank," Frain said. Her voice was gentle, very calm, as if she didn't have any energy.

Caneen and Frain started talking on their way back to Frain's room. Tank was about to leave the Lab when Trinity and Morpheus rushed in, carrying Neo's unconscious body. What the, Tank started to think when Trinity suddenly shouted, "Tank, we've got more of those things coming our way. Get the ship out of here and then pulse them."

Tank nodded and ran for the pilot seat. It was on the-

BOOSHUUKKK!

Tank flew forward into a wall…his thoughts beginning to fade. His last thought was, that was the sound of the engine…

Down the hallway a teenage boy, about 13 years of age, stepped out of his room and saw Tank's unconscious body. The boy had been there for about a month, and he was Tank's substitute. Immediately, the boy ran down the hallway. The ship rolled from another explosion. The boy kept running.

He reached the cockpit and jumped into the lead chair. He activated the engines…they were off. He heard a girl scream from behind. He looked behind him and saw Caneen, running toward him. "Get to your room," he yelled and she turned and ran for her room.

Zone turned back to the controls. "Think Zone," he told himself. He hit the 'engine' button again. They didn't respond. "This isn't good," he said, then looked through the cockpit's window. A huge machine was shooting toward the ship. It was different than the other machines. This one was shaped like a serpent, flying through the tunnels straight at him.

It was obviously armed with all sorts of weapons.

"This isn't good," Zone said again and starting flipping various levers and switches. "Come on, come on," he said as he flipped more. Then he heard a deep voice from behind him. Morpheus. "Move over Zone."

Zone jumped out of the chair and Morpheus slid into it. Morpheus hit a few more buttons and then punched the engine button. The engines fired up, and they burst toward the serpent-thing at a tremendous acceleration. "Whoa," cried Zone as he fell back, flying out of his chair.

Morpheus flew straight for the robot, then at the last second, yanked the controls up and away before the serpent could fire its torpedoes. Morpheus maneuvered down the sewers, heading deep for the magnetized area.

The serpent turned around and pursued them. "Just a few more seconds," Morpheus whispered as he turned down another tunnel. He flew down and the ship started shaking violently. Taking hits, thought Morpheus. Then he turned through another tunnel and yelled out, "Ha, ha! We made it!"

The serpent tried to follow but it was repelled. Magnetism. The whole area was magnetized. Only certain metals, or ships, could get in. Morpheus looked at Zone and said, "Good job. If you didn't think that quick, we all might've died." With that, Morpheus got out of the seat and went back to the Lab to help Trinity with Neo.

Zone smiled.

Zone

Age: 13 Hair: Brownish/Blackish Eyes: Brown Height: 5'7" Weight: 103

9:45 PM

They were in the 'rest place'. It was a new room, added a couple weeks ago. It used to be weapon storage but…lately they've needed a lot of weapons.

Morpheus had called a meeting there tonight. Everyone was there; the six new people, Morpheus, Neo, Trinity, and Tank. Anybody that wasn't there had watch in the main cockpit.

Zone was a little anxious. He was afraid that he had messed up when he tried to handle the situation earlier in the day. Hopefully it would be something good about him…he also hoped Frain would be okay…

"Listen up everyone," said Morpheus, snapping Zone out of his deep thought. "This is Traa," he said, gesturing at the new bald guy. He wouldn't be bald for long, Zone thought. Trinity had discovered recently that if you use an EMP pulse pistol on someone's head, the hair would grow very fast for two days. She discovered it by accident.

"He used to be a gang leader," Morpheus said. A gang leader? What is Morpheus doing?, thought Zone. He noticed Caneen's face darken. "But with his skills, his experience-," Caneen snorted, "-he will be a valuable ally."

"Traa, this is Neo, as you have met." Neo nodded at Traa and Traa's eyes widened. He started to say something but Morpheus continued introducing, "That is Zone. This is Caneen-," Caneen glared at him, "-she is Frain, this guy here is Jakek, and last but not least, this young man here is Ronin." Ronin nodded so lightly that Zone couldn't tell if he did.

"Traa, we realize that…this is a…shock," Morpheus continued. "Ask Zone, ask Caneen, Frain, Jakek, or Ronin. They were just brought back to reality in the past two months. Zone was the first of you young people." Zone smiled. He remembered the Matrix. He hated it, he wished that he was born with the truth.

But he wasn't.

Another few minutes went by as Morpheus talked about his plans for the next few weeks and precautions about the new equipment that a scout ship from Zion would be delivering soon. Morpheus wished so bad that he could go to Zion but…Zion didn't want any more attention to be attracted to it. After all, thought Zone, Zion is under siege at the moment.

The meeting broke up and Traa/Cadge left the room. He went straight to his room, closed the door, and just laid down on the bed.

Zone had followed him but hadn't had a chance to really meet him. He put his ear to the door and heard him…crying? Zone nodded to himself; it was definitely crying. But then again, you couldn't blame him. He had just found out his whole life was a fake, a fake while his body was producing thousands of watts of energy…

Zone remembered crying the first time he found out he was a fake too. It wasn't the best feeling…Zone went to his room and tried to sleep…but couldn't for a long time, for fear of nightmares…

Frain

Age: 13 Hair: Blonde Eyes: Hazel Height: 5'5" Weight: 86

11:56 PM

Frain said goodnight to Caneen and entered her room and shut the door behind her. This 'Traa' boy…he couldn't be trusted she thought. No way.

Frain winced as an ache that had been bothering her all day returned to her head.

She shivered when she remembered what a gang had done to Caneen once…no doubt Caneen wouldn't be sleeping tonight. Hopefully Traa will go into the Matrix and never want to come back…hopefully.

Frain shrugged and started changing into her nightwear (extra long, thin cloth-pants and a huge, thin cloth-shirt) and tried to change the subject. Caneen told me that Zone had saved her life earlier. Frain frowned and paused. I hope not; Zone is kinda' cute.

Frain giggled at her thoughts and finished changing.

She got into bed and tried to think of happy and quiet thoughts…thoughts that would help her go to sleep…but all she could think of was Caneen. She was probably crying and trying not to think about Traa.

After a few minutes, Frain silently got out of bed and walked through the darkened hallways to Caneen's room. Frain nodded when she heard quiet sobs from inside the room. Frain softly knocked and heard a muffled 'go 'way' from inside. Instead, Frain entered and closed the door behind her.

There was Caneen, her head hiding in her arms as she lay on the bed, crying. Frain felt an immediate dagger of sorrow enter her heart. She and Caneen had been best friends since they were pulled from the Matrix and it hurt to see Caneen crying like this.

Frain went and sat on the edge of the bed, softly whispering, "It's okay Caneen. Traa isn't pure evil like…otherwise Morpheus wouldn't have brought him back. Don't worry."

After that, silence filled the room. There was a hollow emptiness in Caneen; one that Frain couldn't quite reach. She had known that something bad had happened to Caneen in the Matrix before she was brought back to reality…but she could never say it.

Frain softly ran her hand through Caneen's hair, humming a soft tune that her 'mother' used to sing to her. In about an hour, Caneen had cried herself to sleep, leaving Frain to cry with her sadness, because when a best friend is hurt, so is the other.

Frain, after awhile, left Caneen and went back to her own room.

Once there, she lay down on her bed and fell asleep almost instantly…

It seemed like only a few minutes later that she had gotten back. Rubbing her eyes, she felt tired and she had the urge to use the bathroom. Frain got to her feet and left her room, slowly walking down the hallway. She was about halfway there when she ran into somebody taller than her, a man.

No, not a man. Traa.

Frain gulped and said, "Excuse me," then tried to get by him. He blocked her way, an impure grin on his face. Frain tried to relax as panic began to come over her. "I need to go to the bathroom," she whispered.

Traa looked at her face in a strange way, then sidestepped, letting her pass. Frain silently breathed a sigh of relief and walked past him, very fast. She didn't see him on the way back…

Caneen

Age: 14 Hair: Black Eyes: Blue Height: 5' 6" Weight: 106

10:10

"Well, here goes," Caneen said nervously.

Frain giggled for no reason. "Our first trip into the Matrix."

Morpheus was almost smiling. Almost. "Are you sure you understand, Frain and Caneen?" They nodded. "Okay. In that case, Tank, put us in—," Morpheus turned to Zone, "—and you make sure that you listen to every word Tank says. Okay?" Neo came in and sat down in one of the chairs.

Zone nodded and Frain smiled. He was so…cute when determined.

Morpheus turned back around, sat in his chair and said to Frain and Caneen, "Try to relax." Frain tensed and Caneen closed her eyes.

It seemed like a second later that a sudden knife stabbed into her back and she opened her eyes to scream but the pain was gone and she wasn't on the ship…she was in an old room. An old hotel room from the looks of it.

Caneen raised an eyebrow and then it hit her. I'm in the Matrix. She walked over to a bed and put her hand on it. It felt so real, so soft. "Wow," she whispered.

"It's amazing, isn't it," came Morpheus' voice from behind her. She jumped and whirled around to find Frain and Morpheus watching her.

She nodded. "Yes. It feels just like the one back on the ship, only softer. And—," Caneen sat on the bed, "—I feel the same feelings too. As if it were real."

Morpheus nodded. "And so do all the other people that are forever stuck in the Matrix. It is a sad thing, isn't it? That they don't know the real world, that they don't know the truth in which they haven't been told."

Frain was looking out the window that Caneen had missed. "And what year is this? In the Matrix?"

Morpheus thought for a second and said, "Year 1999. Shouldn't you know that? The end of the millennium is coming…at that time, we will take as many people as we can. Because soon—very soon—the farms are going to start dying. Many of the people that are in the farms were bred in a certain year-to-two years. When this begins, many people will die. I want to take those people, that aren't aware they are going to die, and tell them the truth and awake them…but until then, no more."

Caneen listened with marvel at Morphues's plan. He continued, "Until then, we are going to begin to remodel our ship and add to it, adding more weapons and pulses, but at the same time increasing the space."

Frain groaned and Morpheus grinned his teeth-gapped grin. "I believe Frain realized what that meant. It means: work."

Caneen rolled her eyes. "Great. I thought we get out of the Matrix so we can stop working."

Morpheus laughed. "But what you do now will help us later. Help us a lot. So anyway, enough talk and let's get to work. I'm to show you what an Agent looks like, for future reference."

Caneen froze. "I thought that…I thought that we were coming in to learn how to manipulate the Matrix!"

Morpheus smiled again. "Exactly."

Caneen's breathing started to get a little panicked. She'd seen Trinity screw around with agents…and Trinity was a master. She had also seen Neo do it, but he shouldn't count since he was a chosen one.

Morpheus, in his all black clothes and trench coat, led them out of the room and to an elevator. As he walked he was saying, "An Agent will and can take the form of everyone. And that means that everyone is your enemy. Not an enemy in which you hurt, but an enemy in which you are aware of."

They passed another hallway in which there was a man that looked drunk was in.

Caneen listened to Morpheus. She had heard the lecture before…but something didn't feel right.

Suddenly, Morpheus's cell phone rang. Morpheus immediately stopped and reached into his pocket, pulling the phone from its place. "Hello?"

Caneen strained to here but couldn't make out what they were saying. Morpheus suddenly yelled, "WHAT?!" Then he whirled around and yelled at Caneen, "Duck!"

Caneen instinctively dropped to the floor.

She felt wind over her and she looked up to see a man in a suit flying over her in a jump-kick that probably would have broke her back. Morpheus said something into the phone and then put it away.

"Caneen, Frain, RUN!"

Caneen turned to run but something hit her, air was knocked from her lungs. She stumbled to the floor, aware that Frain had fell on top of. Caneen struggled to get up, hearing grunts and rough 'bams' of contact. A fight was going on behind her. Caneen looked back as she got to her feet, just in time to see Morpheus get blown back by a huge hit. Morpheus flew through a half-broken wall behind him and the Agent turned.

Caneen screamed and started running, Frain was already, somehow ahead of her. Caneen saw the hall turn ahead of her but she couldn't slow down in time—

CRASH!

Caneen flew through the wall, her momentum driving her through two walls. She fell into another room, someone watching TV was yelling 'get out'. Caneen got to her feet and ran. She didn't look back…and when she did, the Agent grabbed her arm and whipped her around. Caneen's feet got tangled and she fell to the ground.

"Leave me ALONE," she screamed. She started to get up but gunfire sounded and she stayed on the floor. She looked ahead of her and saw Neo, two guns at his side blowing smoke. Caneen looked back at the Agent and saw the mixed look of fear and determination.

The Agent hesitated and Neo took advantage.

Neo dove forward, jump-kicking the Agent. The Agent started to move out of the way—and did—but Neo clotheslined the Agent. He fell to the ground and Neo fell to the ground and rolled. Neo jumped up to his feet while the Agent was just getting up.

Caneen was speechless. Neo had done all that in about two seconds…, "How…?"

Neo smiled and kicked the Agent in the face. The Agent flew up from the impact, not back, but up…into the ceiling. After a second in the ceiling he fell back to the floor. Caneen was on her feet now, ready to run.

Morpheus.

She turned around to go and see if was okay. "Caneen," came Neo's call from behind. She turned just in time to see him throw something at her. She caught, almost dropping it…it being a gun. A nine-millimeter Swiss & Wesson…

She looked up at Neo; he was blocking the Agents' moves. As he jumped up and kicked him he yelled, "Just in case!"

"Right," she said and turned to run…

Neo watched her go. "Just you and me, Agent." The Agent was on his knees, his nose gushing with blood, the mouth the same. The Agent mumbled something about death and Neo shook his head. "Nope, I'm not going to die…you are!" With that Neo grabbed the AI's hair on the back of his head and smashed his knee into his head.

The Agent fell back, parts of his skull causing multiple brain bleeds. Neo looked down at him with no visible emotion. No visible emotions except hate…and no regret. Neo walked past the Agents' dying body and called out for Caneen.

"I'm in here," came a muffled reply. Neo followed the sound of her voice into a room, where she was being held very roughly by an Agent…the same Agent he had just disabled.

Neo sighed. "Let go of the girl and we can fight."

The Agent snorted and said, "Make any rash moves and her neck is snapped."

Caneen had tears running down her cheeks. She wasn't making any noise but the tears flowed freely. She was scared to death and closer to death than she thought. "Neo, hel—," she started but the Agent choked her for a few seconds and she was quiet.

Neo slowly raised his hands, revealing the empty palms. "Unarmed Agent. Kill me, as long as you let her live."
The Agent smiled and said, "Turn around, slowly, and put your hands on the back of your head."

Neo did. The Agent smiled his evil, but blank smile and drew a gun. He threw Caneen off to the side and she shrieked, "No! Neo don't!"

Neo did. The Agent took aim. Caneen had to stop him but she couldn't physically fight him; he was too strong…DAMN! WHAT THE HELL DO I

Her eyes fell on the gun that Neo had given her a few seconds ago. It was on the floor a few feet away. She dove for it, grabbed it, raised it and two gunshots rang at the same time. The Agent fell back, dead. Neo wasn't anywhere…Neo walked into the room, examining his shoulder. It had a small cut, where the bullet had grazed him.

He looked at her and she dropped the gun, crying. The Agent wasn't there anymore, the Agents body replaced by an older man's body. She had killed that man. I'm a murderer…just like that damned Traa!

Neo gently brought her to her feet and walked her back to the room where they had entered the Matrix. Morpheus was in there looking at his rib cage; it was severely bruised, its purplish color looking strange on his skin.

Morpheus didn't say anything, just raised his cell phone and talked into it.

Caneen didn't hear the words, didn't even notice that Frain was in the room. All she could think about was the fact that she had pulled the trigger………