Chapter 3
Link walks into a room with a made bunk and Keitaro sitting down on the floor, hugging his knees.
"Did you sleep?"
Keitaro shakes his head.
"You will tonight. I guarantee it."
He walks over to Keitaro.
"I'm Link. I'll be your operator for today. Are you ready to get training?"
Link sticks out his hand as if to help Keitaro up, but he doesn't respond.
"What's up? Still can't take everything that's happened to you since yesterday?"
Keitaro finally speaks.
"No, it's just I'm kind of worried about the girls back at the Hinata-sou"
"Aww, don't worry about them, you'll see them, in time. I got a wife back home. I promised her I'd be back"
"Where do you live?"
"In a city called Zion"
"I thought all the cities on the earths surface were overran by machines"
"They are. Zion is a city underground. In fact, it's the last human city left"
"Are we far from it now?"
"Only about six or seven kilometers from here, but its located near the earth's core, where it's still warm"
Remebering back to his conversation with Morpheus, Keitaro asks Link.
"What about those sentinel thingies? Have they found Zion yet?"
"They have. It's only a matter of time before they launch an attack upon the city. It should be the humans' last stand on this war. We are very likely to lose. If those sentinels hack into Zion's mainframe, then the actual sentinel machines could enter the Matrix and destroy that world. Right now, only the programmed sentinels known as agents are able to access the Matrix from this world."
"That's where we come in right?"
"Yup, our job is to police the actions of the agents done in the Matrix. Even though we don't stand a chance against them in combat, we do create a bump in their path to domination of this world and the Matrix. With Neo, we might even have a chance to save humanity. With you trained, our odds may be better. So let's get this training over with shall we?"
Keitaro stood up.
"Sure"
They walk out of the room, and into another area of the ship. As they walk, Keitaro asks Link.
"So, what about the girls-"
"Oh! Forgot to tell you. They are doing fine! In fact, your accomplice has informed them that you went on a short excavation trip to China for a few days. Of course, that's just an excuse"
"What? Excavation? Then ... that must mean my accomplice is ..."
"Yup, his name is Toriyashi Seta. We unplugged him one day before we unplugged you, so he's already been through his training."
"WHAT? Seta's here too?!? And he's already trained?!?"
"Yup, in fact if you want, you can spar with him before the day ends, what do think?"
"So, where is he now?"
They arrive in a room with a chair that reminds Keitaro of the dentist. Then he sees all the computer screens around another chair in the corner of the deck.
"He's with Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo. They went to see the Oracle"
"Trinity? Oracle? I want to talk to Seta!"
"Don't worry, you will soon. Go ahead and sit down over there"
Keitaro nervously sits down in the chair and slowly leans his head back. He looks over at the many computer screens around the other chair.
"That chair looks more comfortable than this one"
"Relax man! You're not entering the Matrix just yet. First we have to load the training programs into you."
"Load? How?"
"This may feel ... a little weird"
Link grabs the needle with a 10 inch long metal tube, and slowly sticks it into the back of Keitaro's neck where the hole is. (Editor's note: If you have seen the Matrix, then you know what this is, I can't really describe it, since they don't call it anything and you can barely see it in the movie)
Link quickly sits down in the other chair and starts tapping on the computer screens. Keitaro continues to lie in the other chair and looks at Link.
"What was that?"
Link continues to tap the computer screens and his keyboard.
"Here goes!"
Link presses the Load button. Keitaro wenches as if in pain, opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. After a few seconds, Keitaro's wenched look on his face goes away.
"How did you like that?"
"That was ... a program?"
"Yup, you now know the basics to self defense"
"I do?"
"Hehe ... you want more?"
Slowly but surely, Keitaro nods his head and closes his eyes. Link continues to load programs into his brain, for the next 10 hours. Morpheus and the rest have returned, and Morpheus goes to check up on Link.
"How is he?"
"10 hours straight. He's ... a machine"
Morpheus walks over to the chair and notices the sweating Keitaro's closed eyes and open mouth. Keitaro no longer wenches at the pain of loading a program, since he is used to it now. Keitaro opens his eyes.
"I know kung fu"
Morpheus leans in closer to Keitaro.
"Show me"
Morpheus and Keitaro end up in a small dojo.
"This is not the Matrix. This is a program simulated and created only for sparring. It has the same basic rules of the Matrix, rules such as gravity. These rules can be bent accordingly, with all the technique you now possess, but it does take practice. That is why we are here"
Keitaro studies the environment calmly. He seems reassured of himself that he can beat Morpheus. He walks around carelessly and turns his back on him. Morpheus tempts Keitaro's skills.
"Why don't you try and hit me?"
Keitaro stops walking around, and looks left as his left shoulder faces Morpheus. Keitaro now uses a defensive stance with his arm stretched out towards Morpheus, with a knifed hand. His right arm comes across his chest, knifed hand near his left arm. He charges at him and tries to backhand his head, but Morpheus ducks without hesitation. Keeping his right foot down, Keitaro then roundhouses his left leg up to heel Morpheus' head but this time he just leans back to avoid it. As he lands his foot, Morpheus delivers a right jab which Keitaro deflects with his arm successfully. Keitaro tries to use the palm of his hand to deliver a chest blow, but Morpheus blocks it with his fist and jumps a step back. Keitaro then jumps towards him to try a double kick in mid-air, but Morpheus catches his slow first kick with both hands and throws him into a wooden pillar which breaks. Keitaro gets up quickly and dashes towards Morpheus and jumps, attempting a triple kick this time. Morpheus blocks them effortlessly with his palms stepping backwards, but Keitaro's kicks are quick enough this time to where he can't catch them. When Keitaro lands, Morpheus attempts a grab and gets both hands on his shoulders. Morpheus leans back on to the floor and uses his foot to propel Keitaro behind him. Keitaro lands on his head and rolls to recover. He recovers before Morpheus can get back up. When Morpheus gets up, he stops the fight.
"Good! I see you have learned a lot. You recover very quickly and efficiently ... but you need to speed up your moves.You still haven't hit me yet!"
Keitaro now gets furious and rushes towards Morpheus. Keitaro intentionally uses his right hand to jab next to Morpheus' face, which he deflects with wrist with ease. This was the start of a combo Keitaro was trying to pull off. Using the same hand he jabbed with, while Morpheus still had his deflecting hand up, he quickly places that hand on the floor to maintain his balance while he shifts his weight to his upper torso to get both of his feet up, attempting to kick him. Morpheus is able to block one of his kicks with is free arm, but his other foot lands successfully on his leg next to his knee. (The whole combo took about 2 seconds to pull off, describing it was hard!) Still balancing one hand, Keitaro tries to follow up his kick with another one from the successful leg to Morpheus' ankle. This time, Morpheus reacts by stepping on Keitaro's ankle and kick his open chest with his other foot. This sends Keitaro flying a few inches above the ground, for about seven feet. He lands on his shoulder and rolls a few times. Keitaro gets up on one knee and holds his chest with one hand. Morpheus holds up his hand to stop the fight.
"Alright, that's enough. You did well. You hit me successfully with your foot"
Keitaro gets up, and straightens out his uniform, a little pissed off. Then he sighs relief and feels a little glad.
"Heh, I never knew I could do that."
"You can do a lot more than just that. We haven't even bent the rules yet"
A familiar voice from behind Keitaro then speaks.
"That was pretty good Keitaro!"
Keitaro turns around. He sees a man dressed in a white karate robe.
"Seta?"
"Hey part-timer! It's been a while hasn't it?"
Morpheus looks up as if talking to someone else. Then looks back at Seta
"Jack me out ... you spar with him for a while ... you'll get a workout with his newfound abilities"
Seta nods his head, and Morpheus disappears. Keitaro doesn't even notice Morpheus' departure.
"So how did you get here? How did they find you?"
"You see that's the strangest thing. I was just driving in my van and then suddenly I saw a high speed motorcycle pass me with a woman wearing all black leather as the driver. Then two other motorcycles passed me, except these two were men driving, and they had white on them from head to toe. Their hair was white also, dreadlocks. They were strange looking ..."
Keitaro was always interested in what Seta had to say.
"So what happened next?"
"Oh, so then I decided to keep up with these motorcycles in my van. Boy, that sure was tough! I stayed behind them until one of them pulled a gun out on a passing by car that lost control and smacked into me. The girl on the bike then turned on a dime and when I walked out of my van, even though my head felt a little weird, she zoomed past the twins and told me to get on her bike. After we lost them again going against moderately heavy traffic at about sixty miles per hour, she told me that she though I had died in that crash, that I miraculously survived, and my purpose in the Matrix was clear, I needed to know the truth. I'm still not sure what that truth is, even after being unplugged, but oh well! Haha!"
Keitaro just sat there blinking his wide eyes in amazement.
"Wow, so now you're here, and you've been through training?"
"Yea, you want me to show you my stuff?"
Keitaro stands up and forms a defensive stance.
"Sure! I challenge you, Seta"
Seta forms his stance.
"Okay then part-timer! I accept! We never got to finish our duel back at the Hinata summer Tea House, remember?"
"Yea, lets finish that!"
Link walks into a room with a made bunk and Keitaro sitting down on the floor, hugging his knees.
"Did you sleep?"
Keitaro shakes his head.
"You will tonight. I guarantee it."
He walks over to Keitaro.
"I'm Link. I'll be your operator for today. Are you ready to get training?"
Link sticks out his hand as if to help Keitaro up, but he doesn't respond.
"What's up? Still can't take everything that's happened to you since yesterday?"
Keitaro finally speaks.
"No, it's just I'm kind of worried about the girls back at the Hinata-sou"
"Aww, don't worry about them, you'll see them, in time. I got a wife back home. I promised her I'd be back"
"Where do you live?"
"In a city called Zion"
"I thought all the cities on the earths surface were overran by machines"
"They are. Zion is a city underground. In fact, it's the last human city left"
"Are we far from it now?"
"Only about six or seven kilometers from here, but its located near the earth's core, where it's still warm"
Remebering back to his conversation with Morpheus, Keitaro asks Link.
"What about those sentinel thingies? Have they found Zion yet?"
"They have. It's only a matter of time before they launch an attack upon the city. It should be the humans' last stand on this war. We are very likely to lose. If those sentinels hack into Zion's mainframe, then the actual sentinel machines could enter the Matrix and destroy that world. Right now, only the programmed sentinels known as agents are able to access the Matrix from this world."
"That's where we come in right?"
"Yup, our job is to police the actions of the agents done in the Matrix. Even though we don't stand a chance against them in combat, we do create a bump in their path to domination of this world and the Matrix. With Neo, we might even have a chance to save humanity. With you trained, our odds may be better. So let's get this training over with shall we?"
Keitaro stood up.
"Sure"
They walk out of the room, and into another area of the ship. As they walk, Keitaro asks Link.
"So, what about the girls-"
"Oh! Forgot to tell you. They are doing fine! In fact, your accomplice has informed them that you went on a short excavation trip to China for a few days. Of course, that's just an excuse"
"What? Excavation? Then ... that must mean my accomplice is ..."
"Yup, his name is Toriyashi Seta. We unplugged him one day before we unplugged you, so he's already been through his training."
"WHAT? Seta's here too?!? And he's already trained?!?"
"Yup, in fact if you want, you can spar with him before the day ends, what do think?"
"So, where is he now?"
They arrive in a room with a chair that reminds Keitaro of the dentist. Then he sees all the computer screens around another chair in the corner of the deck.
"He's with Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo. They went to see the Oracle"
"Trinity? Oracle? I want to talk to Seta!"
"Don't worry, you will soon. Go ahead and sit down over there"
Keitaro nervously sits down in the chair and slowly leans his head back. He looks over at the many computer screens around the other chair.
"That chair looks more comfortable than this one"
"Relax man! You're not entering the Matrix just yet. First we have to load the training programs into you."
"Load? How?"
"This may feel ... a little weird"
Link grabs the needle with a 10 inch long metal tube, and slowly sticks it into the back of Keitaro's neck where the hole is. (Editor's note: If you have seen the Matrix, then you know what this is, I can't really describe it, since they don't call it anything and you can barely see it in the movie)
Link quickly sits down in the other chair and starts tapping on the computer screens. Keitaro continues to lie in the other chair and looks at Link.
"What was that?"
Link continues to tap the computer screens and his keyboard.
"Here goes!"
Link presses the Load button. Keitaro wenches as if in pain, opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. After a few seconds, Keitaro's wenched look on his face goes away.
"How did you like that?"
"That was ... a program?"
"Yup, you now know the basics to self defense"
"I do?"
"Hehe ... you want more?"
Slowly but surely, Keitaro nods his head and closes his eyes. Link continues to load programs into his brain, for the next 10 hours. Morpheus and the rest have returned, and Morpheus goes to check up on Link.
"How is he?"
"10 hours straight. He's ... a machine"
Morpheus walks over to the chair and notices the sweating Keitaro's closed eyes and open mouth. Keitaro no longer wenches at the pain of loading a program, since he is used to it now. Keitaro opens his eyes.
"I know kung fu"
Morpheus leans in closer to Keitaro.
"Show me"
Morpheus and Keitaro end up in a small dojo.
"This is not the Matrix. This is a program simulated and created only for sparring. It has the same basic rules of the Matrix, rules such as gravity. These rules can be bent accordingly, with all the technique you now possess, but it does take practice. That is why we are here"
Keitaro studies the environment calmly. He seems reassured of himself that he can beat Morpheus. He walks around carelessly and turns his back on him. Morpheus tempts Keitaro's skills.
"Why don't you try and hit me?"
Keitaro stops walking around, and looks left as his left shoulder faces Morpheus. Keitaro now uses a defensive stance with his arm stretched out towards Morpheus, with a knifed hand. His right arm comes across his chest, knifed hand near his left arm. He charges at him and tries to backhand his head, but Morpheus ducks without hesitation. Keeping his right foot down, Keitaro then roundhouses his left leg up to heel Morpheus' head but this time he just leans back to avoid it. As he lands his foot, Morpheus delivers a right jab which Keitaro deflects with his arm successfully. Keitaro tries to use the palm of his hand to deliver a chest blow, but Morpheus blocks it with his fist and jumps a step back. Keitaro then jumps towards him to try a double kick in mid-air, but Morpheus catches his slow first kick with both hands and throws him into a wooden pillar which breaks. Keitaro gets up quickly and dashes towards Morpheus and jumps, attempting a triple kick this time. Morpheus blocks them effortlessly with his palms stepping backwards, but Keitaro's kicks are quick enough this time to where he can't catch them. When Keitaro lands, Morpheus attempts a grab and gets both hands on his shoulders. Morpheus leans back on to the floor and uses his foot to propel Keitaro behind him. Keitaro lands on his head and rolls to recover. He recovers before Morpheus can get back up. When Morpheus gets up, he stops the fight.
"Good! I see you have learned a lot. You recover very quickly and efficiently ... but you need to speed up your moves.You still haven't hit me yet!"
Keitaro now gets furious and rushes towards Morpheus. Keitaro intentionally uses his right hand to jab next to Morpheus' face, which he deflects with wrist with ease. This was the start of a combo Keitaro was trying to pull off. Using the same hand he jabbed with, while Morpheus still had his deflecting hand up, he quickly places that hand on the floor to maintain his balance while he shifts his weight to his upper torso to get both of his feet up, attempting to kick him. Morpheus is able to block one of his kicks with is free arm, but his other foot lands successfully on his leg next to his knee. (The whole combo took about 2 seconds to pull off, describing it was hard!) Still balancing one hand, Keitaro tries to follow up his kick with another one from the successful leg to Morpheus' ankle. This time, Morpheus reacts by stepping on Keitaro's ankle and kick his open chest with his other foot. This sends Keitaro flying a few inches above the ground, for about seven feet. He lands on his shoulder and rolls a few times. Keitaro gets up on one knee and holds his chest with one hand. Morpheus holds up his hand to stop the fight.
"Alright, that's enough. You did well. You hit me successfully with your foot"
Keitaro gets up, and straightens out his uniform, a little pissed off. Then he sighs relief and feels a little glad.
"Heh, I never knew I could do that."
"You can do a lot more than just that. We haven't even bent the rules yet"
A familiar voice from behind Keitaro then speaks.
"That was pretty good Keitaro!"
Keitaro turns around. He sees a man dressed in a white karate robe.
"Seta?"
"Hey part-timer! It's been a while hasn't it?"
Morpheus looks up as if talking to someone else. Then looks back at Seta
"Jack me out ... you spar with him for a while ... you'll get a workout with his newfound abilities"
Seta nods his head, and Morpheus disappears. Keitaro doesn't even notice Morpheus' departure.
"So how did you get here? How did they find you?"
"You see that's the strangest thing. I was just driving in my van and then suddenly I saw a high speed motorcycle pass me with a woman wearing all black leather as the driver. Then two other motorcycles passed me, except these two were men driving, and they had white on them from head to toe. Their hair was white also, dreadlocks. They were strange looking ..."
Keitaro was always interested in what Seta had to say.
"So what happened next?"
"Oh, so then I decided to keep up with these motorcycles in my van. Boy, that sure was tough! I stayed behind them until one of them pulled a gun out on a passing by car that lost control and smacked into me. The girl on the bike then turned on a dime and when I walked out of my van, even though my head felt a little weird, she zoomed past the twins and told me to get on her bike. After we lost them again going against moderately heavy traffic at about sixty miles per hour, she told me that she though I had died in that crash, that I miraculously survived, and my purpose in the Matrix was clear, I needed to know the truth. I'm still not sure what that truth is, even after being unplugged, but oh well! Haha!"
Keitaro just sat there blinking his wide eyes in amazement.
"Wow, so now you're here, and you've been through training?"
"Yea, you want me to show you my stuff?"
Keitaro stands up and forms a defensive stance.
"Sure! I challenge you, Seta"
Seta forms his stance.
"Okay then part-timer! I accept! We never got to finish our duel back at the Hinata summer Tea House, remember?"
"Yea, lets finish that!"
