The team silently crisscrossed the city streets, lurking in the shadows. Even Psi in his cream-colored robes seemed to blend in with the night. Neo and Trinity both held cell phones to their ears with one hand, aimed guns at the night air with the other.

As they reached the street, the team fanned out into a V behind Neo. Trinity and Psi were on his heels, and the other four were right behind. Neo was proud of his team, he thought to himself. They may have been only kids, but they were still dangerous, every one of them. Each and every one was completely silent. If he hadn't been certain they were following, he would never have known anyone was there. Neo knew the skills they had, at bending and breaking the rules of the Matrix, at using those guns they all toted so eagerly. They had to work for those skills, and they had achieved them, and Neo felt a fatherly pride towards them all for his part in it.

"We're on the street. Where to from here?" Neo whispered into the phone. "Agents?" Trinity added, practically mouthing the word.

Psi shook his head, knew better than to speak, but it was Tank who answered on the other end of the line. "No agents, right now anyway. Brick apartment complex on your right, Neo. Apartment 12-A."

Dag added, "Be careful. There may not be agents, but there's seven potentials in that building alone."

Trinity and Neo exchanged a glance. When the Matrix had been created, it would have consumed too much time and effort to make every human's digital body capable of being transformed easily into an agent. Because of this, only about five percent were capable of turning into an agent in mere seconds. Any human could be altered to become a potential, as the aware humans called them, but making the necessary adjustments were difficult and took several minutes.

Even so, seven potentials in one building, the same building as their target, was not good. Not good at all. There was a strong possibility that the Matrix was already onto them if there were this many of them with their target. No, definitely not good at all. Trinity leaned over, rested her hand on Psi's shoulder, and whispered the new-found knowledge in his ear. She didn't tell the rest of the team. There was no need, the fact that Trinity was whispering to Psi told them all they needed to know.

Neo whirled around, turned to face his team. Every one of them was looking at him, wary of their surroundings but trusting completely in him. They always trusted in him, always trusted in The One. Neo wanted to laugh at that, but they needed a hero, and that hero happened to be him. Wonder if they knew that even HE needed a hero, Neo thought wryly to himself as he gazed fondly at his merry band.

"Okay, guys. You know the drill. We go in there, get our man out, and then high-tail it to our base, take a pill, and call home." Everyone chuckled silently at their leader's choice of words. It wasn't really funny, it was just that they all knew what was coming, and the new guy wouldn't. They all remembered when Morpheus popped The Question to them, and they all had given the same answer. Now, it was the new guy's turn. But first, they had to get him out of this apartment complex.

"Ready?" Neo asked. The team nodded once, in perfect sync, and raised their weapons at the same time. This was the bond they all shared, their minds linked by a shared lifestyle, a joint cause, an identical dream. They were going to save humanity, one person at a time. Today was just another check on the list. "Then let's move!"