The Trip of a Life (Death) Time
Author: Quin Firefrorefiddle
Chapter 3
Neo's alive.
Don't ask me how, don't ask me why, but he's alive.
Well, of course I know why, he's the One. But that doesn't make it easier to understand, it's an explanation that explains everything but that you can't understand. I can't get my mind around it. Morpheus can't get his mind around it. For Zion's sake, NEO doesn't understand it.
But now, he's getting used to being alive, to his powers, trying to understand more and more of the Matrix. Tank's mourning Dozer. Morpheus is, in his own and very screwed up way, mourning Cypher. Not his death, but his life.
And I'm helping Neo, who isn't comfortable around the rest of us because we're grieving for our friends that he never really got to know that well. But while I do that, I'm in mourning myself.
For Switch, the only person who could really understand what I was going through any day of the week. Sure, the guys, for the most part, were great, but wow do they just not get PMS. If we had more women scientists, we'd have ibuprofen pills by now. Lots of them.
But on a more serious note, she went through the stuff with Apoc that I ended up going through with Neo. Plus more crap than I would ever want to go through.
Apoc and Switch, quite simply, saved each other's souls. Switch was with us first, she and I had just enough time to form a slight friendship before it was time for Apoc to be freed. Switch was given more shifts of watching the Matrix so that Morpheus and Dozer could work on Apoc. She almost never trained with him. It was like they were staying away from each other.
We had been having a lot of trouble with Sentinels and therefore we had to take Apoc and Switch to the Oracle at the same time. Usually that only happened on one of the rare days when she was unplugged so she could see freeborns, like when we took Dozer and Tank to see her.
Switch went in first, she had been with us longer. She came out a few minutes later, looking pale. She glanced at Apoc for moment, then stared at her shoes. She didn't say a word, just absentmindedly ate the saltwater taffy that the Oracle had given her. Apoc went in, and came out several minutes later, thoughtful. He stared at Switch for several moments, and then we left.
Things were quiet onboard ship for several days. Too quiet. Finally, about a week later, Switch, Apoc and I were eating our daily allowance of goop in the mess. And one or the other of them made a comment, and the fight started.
"Why would you care what the Oracle told me? Why would you give a crap about me at all?"
"What, did I ask you for something you didn't feel like saying, Switch, did I break your precious little mysterious aura or something? What, you too scared to answer?"
"You want to know what the Oracle told me, Apoc? Well, she told me exactly what I'm not. That I didn't know who I was and that I was lost! That I needed to find someone else to find myself! When I'm the most stable person I know. I don't need anybody, and certainly not you!"
Switch stopped in horror at what she had said. She just stood there, chair tipped over behind her from when she had shoved it back in the beginning of the fight. Her face was a mask of fear. She didn't seem to notice I was in the room, but Apoc did. He took the few steps he needed to get close to her and took her chin in his hand. He stared at her for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close for a moment. She stayed stiff at first, but he whispered quietly to her and she relaxed. They left.
They had been the other's other half ever since. They were a perfect soldiering team, knowing exactly what the other was about to do.
Lucky the Oracle had told Apoc exactly what Switch had needed to hear, exactly what it would take to get her to open up. Lucky it had worked.
Lucky I didn't have to go through the same crap with Neo. I had problems admitting it, yes, but I did, when it mattered. He took it better than I ever could have dreamed, he lived.
I guess I'm not really mourning for Switch or Apoc, they had exactly what they needed and wanted from the other. They were happy. As happy as I am now.
And Mouse? Mouse was just a kid. Who lost his opportunity to grow up. Mouse's death was just sad. But he died bravely, too bravely for a kid. He stood his ground. He could have been great one day.
Wonder what the Oracle told him?
I'm okay, but what about Tank, about Morpheus? What can this be doing to Neo? I guess I'll never know, I can't get inside their heads.
THE END
Author's Note: No, I won't be doing any more of these, at least not in this series. I know this one wasn't like the other two, but I wrote what I thought needed to be written. Trinity wasn't as introverted as Tank and Morpheus, at least she didn't seem so to me. I didn't do one for Neo and I won't be doing one for him because I CAN'T get inside his head. In the movie he was more of a reaction character, we didn't see much of his personality or his pain. Keanu Reeves was great and is an excellent actor, but I couldn't see his soul in his eyes as much as Trinity, and certainly not as much as Morpheus or Tank. And the others? They're dead, how could I do them? Have a wonderful day. -Quin
Author: Quin Firefrorefiddle
Chapter 3
Neo's alive.
Don't ask me how, don't ask me why, but he's alive.
Well, of course I know why, he's the One. But that doesn't make it easier to understand, it's an explanation that explains everything but that you can't understand. I can't get my mind around it. Morpheus can't get his mind around it. For Zion's sake, NEO doesn't understand it.
But now, he's getting used to being alive, to his powers, trying to understand more and more of the Matrix. Tank's mourning Dozer. Morpheus is, in his own and very screwed up way, mourning Cypher. Not his death, but his life.
And I'm helping Neo, who isn't comfortable around the rest of us because we're grieving for our friends that he never really got to know that well. But while I do that, I'm in mourning myself.
For Switch, the only person who could really understand what I was going through any day of the week. Sure, the guys, for the most part, were great, but wow do they just not get PMS. If we had more women scientists, we'd have ibuprofen pills by now. Lots of them.
But on a more serious note, she went through the stuff with Apoc that I ended up going through with Neo. Plus more crap than I would ever want to go through.
Apoc and Switch, quite simply, saved each other's souls. Switch was with us first, she and I had just enough time to form a slight friendship before it was time for Apoc to be freed. Switch was given more shifts of watching the Matrix so that Morpheus and Dozer could work on Apoc. She almost never trained with him. It was like they were staying away from each other.
We had been having a lot of trouble with Sentinels and therefore we had to take Apoc and Switch to the Oracle at the same time. Usually that only happened on one of the rare days when she was unplugged so she could see freeborns, like when we took Dozer and Tank to see her.
Switch went in first, she had been with us longer. She came out a few minutes later, looking pale. She glanced at Apoc for moment, then stared at her shoes. She didn't say a word, just absentmindedly ate the saltwater taffy that the Oracle had given her. Apoc went in, and came out several minutes later, thoughtful. He stared at Switch for several moments, and then we left.
Things were quiet onboard ship for several days. Too quiet. Finally, about a week later, Switch, Apoc and I were eating our daily allowance of goop in the mess. And one or the other of them made a comment, and the fight started.
"Why would you care what the Oracle told me? Why would you give a crap about me at all?"
"What, did I ask you for something you didn't feel like saying, Switch, did I break your precious little mysterious aura or something? What, you too scared to answer?"
"You want to know what the Oracle told me, Apoc? Well, she told me exactly what I'm not. That I didn't know who I was and that I was lost! That I needed to find someone else to find myself! When I'm the most stable person I know. I don't need anybody, and certainly not you!"
Switch stopped in horror at what she had said. She just stood there, chair tipped over behind her from when she had shoved it back in the beginning of the fight. Her face was a mask of fear. She didn't seem to notice I was in the room, but Apoc did. He took the few steps he needed to get close to her and took her chin in his hand. He stared at her for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close for a moment. She stayed stiff at first, but he whispered quietly to her and she relaxed. They left.
They had been the other's other half ever since. They were a perfect soldiering team, knowing exactly what the other was about to do.
Lucky the Oracle had told Apoc exactly what Switch had needed to hear, exactly what it would take to get her to open up. Lucky it had worked.
Lucky I didn't have to go through the same crap with Neo. I had problems admitting it, yes, but I did, when it mattered. He took it better than I ever could have dreamed, he lived.
I guess I'm not really mourning for Switch or Apoc, they had exactly what they needed and wanted from the other. They were happy. As happy as I am now.
And Mouse? Mouse was just a kid. Who lost his opportunity to grow up. Mouse's death was just sad. But he died bravely, too bravely for a kid. He stood his ground. He could have been great one day.
Wonder what the Oracle told him?
I'm okay, but what about Tank, about Morpheus? What can this be doing to Neo? I guess I'll never know, I can't get inside their heads.
THE END
Author's Note: No, I won't be doing any more of these, at least not in this series. I know this one wasn't like the other two, but I wrote what I thought needed to be written. Trinity wasn't as introverted as Tank and Morpheus, at least she didn't seem so to me. I didn't do one for Neo and I won't be doing one for him because I CAN'T get inside his head. In the movie he was more of a reaction character, we didn't see much of his personality or his pain. Keanu Reeves was great and is an excellent actor, but I couldn't see his soul in his eyes as much as Trinity, and certainly not as much as Morpheus or Tank. And the others? They're dead, how could I do them? Have a wonderful day. -Quin
