Chapter V
Gulping down her rising anxiousness, she opened the laptop and pressed a small button at the upper right corner of the keyboard that caused it to come alive with processing code and numbers as it booted up. Why did she always have to be so nerve-wracked about this whole thing? She glanced around the empty room in the run-down vacated building nervously and unconsciously bit her lower lip to ease her overwhelming tension.
On top of her uneasiness was the paranoia stemming from her previous experiences with the agents. She had sharpened her combat skills and was now quite adept at self defense, should it ever become necessary while in the Matrix, but that didn't lessen her apprehensions about having to use those skills. If she hadn't been so determined that this was right, she would've quit merely from nerves long before this. As soon as the screen loaded she felt immediately better. Soon enough, she was absorbed in her routine of scanning, checks, updates, and simply watching and thus forgot any of her aforementioned tensions.
She had quickly settled into a rhythm of sleeping, eating, and watching. Initially she wasn't quite sure if she would be able to handle it, but her previous astonishment had diminished some. It was now replaced by a sense of urgency, as though she might suddenly lose everything she had gained in such a short time if she wasn't constantly on vigil. She did not understand any of the emotions that mingled in her head as she sat at her computer everyday and most nights. Disregarding the internal struggles that her occupation caused her, the interest and intrigue in her subject never waned.
Feeling just a bit nostalgic, she thought back to the last time she could remember feeling so completely overwhelmed by emotions as she was now. Memories came flooding back until she could even inhale the scent of exactly what the dank building smelled of those three years ago…
Morpheus maintained a slight smile even as they ascended in the decrepit but still functional elevator to the seventh floor of the aging and well-kept, apartment building. His sunglasses remained poised on his nose despite the minimal light provided in the elevator. She had removed hers and clung to them as though she might fall apart if she let them go. The looming steel doors slid apart with an all-too-cheerful ding that seemed oblivious to the torture going on inside her abdomen. The butterflies in her stomach were replaced with a knot of the unknown as they strode down the hall towards apartment number 206. The door opened before her tightly clenched fist could come into contact with the aged wood to knock on it.
"Come in Trinity." With a warm smile the woman extended her arm in a welcoming gesture.
"Are you…" her voice just above an incredulous whisper, Trinity was cut off by the soft tone of the matron standing before her.
"Oh no, I'm not the Oracle! She's inside dear." As the woman laughed heartily at her mistaken identity, her generously fringed shawl swayed in rhythm with her shaking shoulders.
With the woman's comforting hand on her shoulder, Trinity was guided down a short hallway and nudged towards the close but cozy living room of the well-furnished apartment. On the far wall of the room was a sofa, which was in useable condition though it had obviously seen better days. Seated on it was a woman who looked completely comfortable while at the same time being starkly out of place. She was prone for action, should any come her way, but was evidently content to remain amongst the plush pillows and afghan draped around the couch while she held her lit cigarette in her upright left hand. The smoke, too, appeared fitting while drifting up from the tip of the rolled paper filled with tobacco held in her strong, well worn fingers, but did not suit itself so well when exhaled from between her thin lips.
The Oracle and everything about her abode, Trinity had quickly noticed, were seeping with irony. It did not seem possible for so many extremes to coexist peacefully, though somehow everything was a possibility for this woman.
For a moment she did not speak as her visitor was allowed to take in everything before her. Her head tilted slightly to one side and mahogany brown eyes curious, she sized up Trinity, though she had not needed to. Her eyes narrowed and the soft skin on her cheeks wrinkled as her lips spread into a divine smile. When her lips parted to speak, she noticed the thin and yet lithe young woman standing before her cringe inwardly. It was only a slight movement, but noticeable to someone wise in the ways of people.
"I've heard a lot about you Trinity." Her head nodded with the internal rhythm of the words she uttered. She spoke slowly and deliberately as though all the time in the world belonged simply to her. Trinity did not doubt that it did. She sank back into the cushions of the sofa as she reclined and pointed decisively with her cigarette to the dusty brown armchair that faced the seat she occupied at present. "Have a seat." Her words were soft, but seemed to bounce off Trinity rather than sink in as the younger woman walked stiffly towards the offered seat.
She was grateful for the large presence of the chair, which somehow sheltered her, but she remained on guard even though there was nothing menacing about the older woman seated across from her. It was then that Trinity realized that this Oracle, despite her advancing age, looked far too young to have been with the resistance since its beginning. She considered inquiring about this odd notion, but thought it better to not make reference to a woman's age.
"I'm not as young as I may look, you know. In fact, it's the resistance itself that keeps me young." Acknowledging the surprised look present in Trinity's blue eyes with only a slight nod, the Oracle continued. "Yes, after the passing of the first leader, the hope for the prospect of his reincarnation has kept us all going." She sighed, reminiscing about days gone by, but did not stroll down memory lane for long.
"I think our wait is almost over, though. Sure, it won't be long now… And that's where you come in doll." Her small, rectangular glasses, which had been held resting at the corner of her mouth by her free hand, were held out with an upright palm. It was a gesture that seemed to be welcoming Trinity into the conversation which so far had been pointedly one-sided.
Trinity had barely spoken since entering the Matrix on this day, but was suddenly filled with questions at the Oracle's surprising statement. Nerves got the best of her though, as she only managed to weakly croak out, "Me…?"
Her smile widening and her posture softening so she appeared less threatening, the Oracle spoke with certainty, "Yes dear, you'll be a big part in his life. Once you overcome your fears that is." Now her look intensified as she saw the dread behind the cool exterior of the leather-clad woman facing her. Trinity knew exactly what fears she spoke of as anxiety rose in her throat. She knew the Oracle knew it too.
"You will not only be a big part in his life… you will BE his life. Your strength is going to be greatly tested in his time of need, but it will be yours as well. For love is stronger than even death itself and my dear, you will be in love."
It was Trinity's turn to speak as she gathered her courage and willed her voice to work, "In love? With HIM… The One?" She was incredulous. She had merely hoped to know of The One in her lifetime, but never expected to actually meet him or be involved with him, no less.
"Yes. But listen to me now, he will need your help because he doubts his own worth."
Her interest fully captured, Trinity forgot her apprehensions, "The One doesn't think he is The One?" Her brow furrowed in curiosity and wonder.
"Like I said, you are going to have to be strong for him - which means being strong for yourself. I mean stronger than you will ever be in this place," her arm arced above her head in a sweeping gesture, "this place that is not real. You will never know you could possess such strength. But when the time comes, you will know. If you feel it… and you know what that "it" is… then it is time for your strength." She took a drag of her cigarette so Trinity had time to think about what she had just been told. It was time enough only for her to reach the brink of confusion and take one step over the edge before the Oracle began to speak again.
"This latter part - being strong for yourself - you already seem to be good at doing outwardly, but I know that what I'm telling you scares you more than anything, even if you don't show it." The Oracle paused, noticing the affirmation of her statement in Trinity's eyes. Her own eyes, on the other hand, were glistening with radiance as she looked kindly on the scared and increasingly uncomfortable girl in the oversized brown chair. With a quiet, but purposeful tone she allayed the building tension of her anxious listener. "But do not let this overwhelm you, just remember that I am merely a guide: here to direct you and offer what insight I can." Her kind words did not seem to calm Trinity.
"Oh don't worry about it dear, things will be fine," she let out a sound that was half laugh, half sigh. " You will have some hardships, if I told you otherwise I would be doing you a terrible disservice, but take it from me, falling in love with The One is by no means bad!" She hesitated then, which struck Trinity as odd. It was as though she was struggling with her past and at the same time debating whether or not to say something out loud. Finally she sighed, suddenly looking old, save for the ever-present luster in her eyes. "Well, that's for some other time," she said simply.
Something in her look and sincerity eased Trinity's taught muscles that had been tense ever since exiting the ship on this day. She allowed herself to relax into the cushions of her protective chair while unconsciously a small but happy smile crept onto her lips. Somehow things didn't seem quite as formidable anymore.
The Oracle had not moved or provided any visible indication that she was done, but something told Trinity that their meeting had come to an end. Her emotions confused her as she had an urge to never leave the compassionate feeling this Oracle offered but was overwhelmed with a need to return to the comfortable familiarity of the Nebuchadnezzar. It suddenly felt as though she had been in that selfsame room for many hours while simultaneously she had a feeling of only having just entered the apartment.
The irony seeped from her very pores. And confusion held irony's hand as Trinity's mind reeled.
"Thank you," she said, with a tired voice as her eyes were hazed with a film of the unfamiliar. She truly meant it, though, and saw that the Oracle understood when their eyes met and the older woman rose with a benevolent smile to escort her out.
She was glad when Morpheus merely smiled but said nothing as they followed the same directions back that they'd taken on their way to the Oracle – on the way to forever changing Trinity's life.
The One… In love… with The One. The words continued to float through her mind at a dizzying pace. Her heart rose with insurmountable anticipation at the same time that her stomach dropped into a sick knot in her belly. She wanted to spill everything to Morpheus, but knew just as well as he did that it was none of his business and for her alone to sort through. Well, it was hers alone until she would not need to be alone anymore…
Now that time was soon at hand, Trinity realized as the blaring horn from a passing truck (which ironically didn't even exist) snapped her back to the present moment. She let out her breath when she found she'd been holding it and her heart began to race from the memory of her visit to the Oracle. The words that had been spoken to her that day had never ceased to be in her mind, but now their pertinence seemed to overcome her.
Blinking her eyes and stretching her arms she noticed that she'd completely forgotten about the task she was supposed to be performing at the laptop computer that sat on the desk in front of her at present. To her surprise there was some unusual activity commencing on the screen. Checking her watch she realized that 2:36 in the morning was hardly any time for someone to be having what appeared to be a rather relaxed, informal conversation with a posse of suspicious looking people.