Chapter II

The room was dark, save for the illumination offered from the computer screen placed precariously among a clutter of various items on the desk. The lone occupant of the dreary and unkempt apartment was slouched in a chair in front of the computer, obviously asleep despite the multiple searches running a barrage of information down the screen. He slept uneasily, though his exhaustion was apparent in the circles below his long lashes.

She couldn't help thinking how young he looked to be in such need of sleep. The unruliness of his hair and wrinkled, well-worn clothes simply added to his boyishness, though he could not be younger than twenty-five. His pale features only further accentuated the starkness of his raven black hair in the glow from the computer screen as he slept soundly.

She had to smile at the innocence of his repose, as awkward as it was. But there was something else, a frustration and searching feeling she sensed from him…

The morning found Trinity already awake, lying on her back with her knees up and feet tucked toward her body. She had slept little the previous night, though not from the terrifying memories of her jarring excursion into the Matrix.

Never had she dreamt of someone who seemed so real that she could feel him breathing and almost touch him. The recognition she felt when seeing his face and identifying with his emotions was none that could have come from someone when she was positive they had never met. She simply could not understand what was going on inside her as possibilities and unidentifiable feelings rushed through her head.

Shaking her head in a gesture that was as close as she could come to ridding herself of her confusing thoughts, she stood up and stretched her arms toward the low metal ceiling of her small cabin. Taking a step toward the door she almost tripped over the tray that had been placed on the floor beside her bed. The milky white soup-like substance in the bowl sloshed about, threatening to spill out, as the tray recovered from the contact with her foot. She smiled at the graciousness of whoever had brought her meal to her room, but realized that it probably meant she had severely over slept. After hurriedly placing the tray on the table at the head of her the bed, she threw on an extra shirt and rushed out of her room.

Tank, Dozer, and Cypher were startled at the sight of her out and about with such fervor, and their surprised looks left her slightly taken aback. She paused for a moment and swallowed hard as the memory of why she was expected to be resting came back with a sudden burst that almost caused her knees to give out. Forcing a weak smile, she said her hellos to the crew and was greeted by their warm and caring looks in return.

"Glad to see you're feeling well this morning Trin," chimed Cypher with true sincerity, despite his generally sarcastic nature.

"Hungry? I brought your breakfast into your room this morning, but it might be a little stale now that my stomach is telling me it's almost time for lunch." Tank gave a chuckle and a kind look toward his friend before turning back to his work. Wow, I guess I slept longer than I thought. Trinity did feel pretty hungry now that they mentioned it.

"Thanks Tank. What did I miss Morpheus? I didn't mean to sleep so long." With the formality of a drill sergeant, she addressed the Nebuchadnezzar's captain who had just emerged from the hull and was attempting to hide his amused grin from Trinity.

"My, my, always ready for action! Don't worry, we wouldn't do anything without you." A playful smile edged on his lips as she forcefully drew her hands onto her hips in mock irritation and glared at him indignantly.

"Well that's good, I don't need you guys gallivanting through the Matrix while I'm stuck here on the cold ship," she almost choked on the word Matrix but her persona remained cool. Sure, her experience had been frightening, but she was determined to put it behind her and, most importantly, not let her fear show.

Morpheus's smile folded from his lips into a frown of concern. "Would you please meet me in my cabin Trinity?"

When they had both entered the privacy of his room, Trinity's captain turned to face her. His eyes shone with kindness as he spoke. "Look, Trinity, I promise that you will never be left in that situation again, I'll make sure of it. And," here he lowered his voice as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "you don't have to go back there until you're ready. No one's going to force you." She shifted her eyes down to her boots, ashamed and feeling separate because of her fear. Morpheus's hand lifted her chin and he looked directly into her eyes to amplify the meaning of his words. She knew that he would do as he said, and the friendship expressed in his eyes enforced that.

"Thanks," she said, and, pushing her feelings aside, she let herself follow the familiar path to the kitchen. There, Dozer placed her meal in front of her and smiled with sympathy, despite the fact that he could not really relate. She appreciated everyone's compassion, but she was worried that her weakness had replaced the image of strength she had always tried to hold up. Sighing quietly, her thoughts drifted to her strange dream of the night before. As she pondered the mysteries of it, she ate without tasting her food, which was probably better, considering the bland taste of their staple meal. "It's a single-cell protein combined with synthetic aminos, vitamins, and minerals…" Dozer's explanation of the nutritional value in the soupy substance had all but been lost in her disgust with it the first time she ate it.

***

She lay on her side, hands resting with the palms together under her head and her legs tucked up close to her body. A piece of her short dark hair had fallen over her face and a slight smile had crept onto her lips. These things made him notice even more her striking beauty as he watched her sleep. The blanket that had been protecting her from the cold air of the ship had slipped off and she shivered involuntarily with a sudden chill. When her body had quieted she remained tense, however it now appeared more as a result from something in her dream than the actual temperature. He wanted desperately to reach out to calm her, but found himself merely an obscure observer of her world with no physical form, without the power to touch her. This realization saddened him and this feeling augmented as he saw the lovely vision of this woman fade into a memory as he awoke.

What a strange dream, Thomas Anderson thought as he rolled back the sheets and sat up with his legs hanging over the edge of the bed. Aside from the sense of recognition he had noticed at the sight of this woman whom he'd never met, something else caused him to replay the dream through his mind again. The difference, he realized, was he felt a lack of constriction in this dream world, not one that comes from the absence of a physical body, but a freedom of the mind.

He had always noticed something amiss in his life, but never had known just what it was to be without this mental obstruction. That was, until the preceding night.

***

With time, things were back to normal for Trinity as she continued to learn about living in the real world. In an effort to distract her from thoughts of her only experience in the Matrix, Morpheus offered to teach her to fly the Nebuchadnezzar. Naturally, she jumped at the chance to become absorbed in work rather than self-pity and thoughts of her strange dreams. For a time, she had even forgotten about the mysterious man that she saw through her sleeping eye, as the recurring dreams had not been as frequent in recent nights.

There he was, clad in a black business suit and perfectly groomed hair to match his clean-shaven complexion. He floated through her mind like a white dove: almost unnoticeable in its simplicity, but still more beautiful than all that surrounds it. And he was beautiful, especially compared to some of the other employees who accompanied him, she noted in her mind and with the flutter of her stomach. She smiled involuntarily at the sight of him, but quickly smothered her expression, lest she have to explain it to Tank whom was working along side her.

***

He appeared outwardly alert, but was apparently somewhere else mentally as he thoughtfully reclined in the roomy office chair pulled up to the corner of a long oak table. His position would have allowed him to participate had he desired so, but rather to his liking, it separated him enough that he wasn't really a part of the meeting. The other similarly dressed men paid him no attention as they eagerly discussed business- related topics that were of no interest to him.

His thoughts wandered to the exciting, yet unexpected development he'd made last night in his hacking endeavors, which had become the forte of his nights. He never thought it could be done, but he'd come painfully close to discovering the secret of the 'Matrix'. Simply that name held so much esteem and mystery at the same time that he was intrigued beyond any possibility of averting his thoughts away from it for long. He had found a way into the extremities of the database belonging to 'Them'. Although he didn't know who 'They' were, he knew that uncovering their secrets would lead him ever closer to his prize. The Matrix.