DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Matrix or any characters and events therein.

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This is a lovely (not really) little background story to Trinity's life. I know it's been done a million times, but so what? I'm the millionth-and-one writer.

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It was Trinity's turn to clean up after dinner on the Neb. Each crew member switched off on clean up nights. Trinity didn't mind doing this kind of work. Sometimes your mind just needed a break.

The mindless task of clearing plates and disinfecting them in the darkened and empty kitchen was soothing.

Trinity almost dropped a plate as her instinct to defend kicked in; she had head a sound at the door. She relaxed, telling her brain that she was on the Neb, and it was only a crew member.

It was indeed.

The rookie, Neo, stood at the door. She gave a small nod as to acknowledge is presence and he returned it formally. She said nothing and turned away, back to the plate holding trays.

"Do you like it here?" Neo asked quietly, moving across the room towards her.

"I like it better here than as a toy for some computer hybrid program." she responded dryly, not caring to talk right now. "I have a part here. I have training and knowledge and skill. I had none of that in the Matrix."

"If you had no skills, what were you brought here for? Why were any of us brought here? Hell, this still seems warped to me. I don't even know if this is right." Neo raged quietly.

"Hey Kid." Trinity said, putting down the last dish and motioning for Neo to sit down at the long narrow table. She sat down across from him. "I'm going to tell you a story. Rookies like you have no idea… do you? You were taken out of the Matrix at the age of, what, 28? Good for you."

She paused, watching his eyes for a moment. They roamed around the room, focusing on anything but Trinity.

"Once, a long time ago, I used to know a little girl named Lauren. Lauren Engle. She lived in a small city just north of New York City. She was poor. She was lonely. And when she was only eight years old, she discovered the world of computers and found that that world was much better than her own.

"Her world consisted of what? An asshole father who beat her and treated her like a dog and a shitbag mother who was stoned most of the time. There was nothing to look forward to for her. No Sunday dinners or trips to the movies. Nothing.

Trinity paused again, pushing back the tears and the sadness she felt for this girl she once knew.

"Lauren was 10 years old when she had hacked more than 15 major government databases under her alias. It was a game to her. She wasn't hacking to prove a point, or to get information. She was merely hacking because it was something to do.

"And finally, Lauren was 11 when she was told the truth. That everything she knew was a lie, was an illusion. He had come to her and given her the choice. She accepted."

Both Trinity and Neo knew there was no need to state who "he" was. It could only be one person.

Neo looked at Trinity now, wondering if this was the end of her tale. It, apparently, wasn't.

Trinity signed and shook her head, "So you see, some things that should never have happened did. Like machines using us as power. Or a war that never seems to end. Or a little girl, no matter how unhappy, brought here. But this stuff all has a purpose. If it didn't, it wouldn't happen."

Trinity got up slowly, still shaking her head. Neo caught her arm, "What happened to Lauren?" he asked gently, and he watched as Trinity's eyes fill with sorrow and regret.

"I don't know her anymore, but I do know what she has become; Me." Trinity said, her voice cold, and she pulled away, leaving Neo alone.

~fin~