When Neo awoke the next morning, he found everyone but Morpheus eating breakfast. He wasn't sure if he himself wanted any, but watching them proved to be rather entertaining. Trinity ate slowly, watching Lith with a curious aura while Link wolfed down his food in his usual hurried manner. Lith was eating the best he could, and managed to only use the wrong side of the spoon a few times. "So you mean to tell me you spent all that time," Link pointed his spoon at Lith. "with a voice telling you how to live outside the machine, and it never taught you how to eat? Don't you think it was missing something kind of important? I mean, it sounds like it was teaching you to prepare for something, and I think eating is a top priority."

            "Neo taught me to eat…" he said quietly, accidentally dropping the spoon.

            "Guess that explains why you can't do it very well." Link glanced up at Neo with a chortle.

            "Hey, lay off him." Neo scolded.

            Link did make an interesting point, however…Why would the 'voice' be teaching Lith how to do things outside a life of seclusion? Just what the hell was it preparing him for…?

            "Just trying to get him to lighten up a little." Link shrugged.

            Neo took a seat next to Trinity, eyeing Lith. "How you doing?" he asked cracking his neck.

            Lith did not know how to answer, so he merely continued eating with a nod. He seemed standoffish with the others, keeping his head low.

            "So I found out some things about our friend here." Link said.

            Trinity nodded in agreement.

            "And what's that?" Neo rested his elbows on the table, suppressing a yawn.

            "Like he's never played a hand before." Link shrugged, pulling a playing card from a deck sitting at the edge of the table.

            "…So?" Neo sighed.

            Link's shoulders dropped and he tossed the card at Lith, who reached clumsily to catch it, but instead it fell to the table. "A man's gotta know how to play, Neo." He informed.

            "Really…" he was not amused.

            "Also found out our buddy is color blind." Link added nonchalantly.

            "He was confused when Link said something about red cards." Trinity explained. "It seems that he most likely can't see any color at all."

            "Are you sure…?" Neo asked.

            "Check it out." Link produced two pens from his pocket, one blue and one black. "Tell me, what's the difference?" he held them in front of the cyborg.

            "Can you see any difference at all?" Neo chided.

            Lith looked from the pens to Neo. "…They are identical…" he looked around the room, apparently confused as to what difference they wanted him to see.

            "There you have it, ladies and gentlemen." Link verified, shoving the pens back into his front pocket and dealing a few cards to Lith. "See here, ace, jack, king, queen, then the numbers."

            Lith stared down at the numbers with recognition. "And…spade…clover, heart…diamond?" he looked to Link for approval, who nodded.

            "You're teaching him to play cards…" Neo raised an eyebrow.

            "You got any better ideas? What else is he supposed to do?" he collected the cards and shuffled the deck.

            Neo turned to Trinity, who smirked. "Don't look at me. This insanity started all on its own."

            "No, man, don't show me that cards…"

            Neo shook his head.

            "How are you, Neo?" Trinity asked lightly, putting a hand on his arm. "You seem tense…ever since last night."

            "Things like this do that to you." He said casually. "Don't worry, I'll be fine…" he put his face in his hand and attempted to rub the tiredness away.

            "There's something else on your mind." She pressed, pushing away her bowl. "I don't suppose you'd like to talk about it."

            "It's not that, it's just…" he averted his eyes, trying to sort things out. "Well, can we talk about this…somewhere else?"

            "Of course." She nodded. They both stood and gave a passing glance to Lith and Link before they headed out the door.

            "You know, I can't say for sure." Neo muttered, scratching his face. "It's just a feeling, that's all…"

            "Since when is it just to dismiss a feeling?" Trinity folded her arms, walking along side him. "A feeling led you to find that cyborg…a feeling brought you back from the dead for that matter."

            "Okay, okay." He sighed. "I'm just…concerned…"

            "About Lith?"

            "Yes…more or less."

            "Oh really?" she awaited an answer with a regal patience. "Do you…think he may be dangerous?"

            "Maybe…I don't know, it's just a…uh, well, you know how a rabbit looks timid and innocent…but the damn thing'll bite you if you touch it...and he…" He explained poorly, gesturing his hands.

            "So you don't trust him?"

            "I don't know." He shook his head. "I don't really…think it's that. Not exactly, anyway."

            "I don't understand."

            "Mm…" Neo took a breath in and looked up. "He doesn't seem…strange to you?"

            "I think that goes without saying." Trinity replied, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "But…in his situation, wouldn't-"

            " 'Wouldn't I be?', I know…" he waited for a moment. "It's not just that he shies away or that he doesn't understand a lot of things we say or do…it's…it's something else. Something I can't place."

            "What are you thinking?" she propped herself against the wall.

            "His…in his head…" Neo grumbled something, trying to think of a way to clarify.

            "His head." Trinity repeated bluntly.

            "You know…how Morpheus said that there was an implant just under a lobe of his brain?"

            She suddenly lifted her head in understanding. "You're worried that it could be something dangerous."

            "Either to him or to us." Neo nodded. "But it's also…it's also his mind. Like sometimes he freaks out. Last night, he started rambling. Ranting and raving."

            "And you think he could have a psychotic meltdown."

            "Yeah, maybe, something like that." He chuckled. "Am I being paranoid?"

            She shrugged, standing straight again. "That all depends, Neo. Do you think you're being paranoid?"

            "I'm not sure…all I know is that there is something in the back of his mind…not just physically, I mean psychologically."

            "And you feel bad because you know that he trusts you." She mused. "Even depends on you."

            Neo's head snapped up. "I…well yeah, I guess so." He bit down on his lip. "I don't want to see anything happen to the guy. It's been tough for him. But I don't want anything to happen to anyone else, either. He's…in a way, he's my responsibility. I just don't know how I feel about that."

            "I see." She met his gaze. "It's definitely something to be concerned about. But as for an outburst like you say he had last night…well we all might be at out wit's end in his position."

            "In his position…" Neo looked down. "That's just it, Trin. If I were in his position…if you were in his position, what would you do?"

            "I'm not sure. Fear makes people do crazy things." She pointed out.

            "Yeah…"

            "But what if he doesn't feel that way? He is part android…perhaps these thoughts wouldn't cross his mind."

            "Hm…" Neo looked down. "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't hurt anyone intentionally…too much of a pushover…but I'm just worried about that weird…anxiety I feel in him."

            Trinity sighed, kissing him briefly. "I see what you mean, Neo. You're just going to have to trust what you feel…" she turned, heading off to find where Morpheus had gone to. "In these times, that is the only thing we have." She added before disappearing.

            Neo groaned and hit his head against the wall. Trinity was right…damn, she was usually right. There wasn't really any logical solution he could think his way to, he had to go with what he felt inside. But he had no idea what he felt. He felt empathy for the abandoned cyborg, but he couldn't let that mask his responsibility to the crew. There were just too many questions, and no one to answer them. So was he forced to wait for something to happen?

            He trudged back, walking in to find Link explaining some aspect of card playing to Lith. "See now, this card, the ace, can either be at the top of the line, or the bottom."

            "…Why?" Lith took it in his hands and examined it.

            "Well it depends on what game you're playing or how you want to play it." He cleared his throat, looking up at Neo. "What's up?"

            "Nothing." He shrugged, sitting down.

            "Well he's not getting much from this." Link said, setting down the cards and turned back to his opponent. "So what did you do for fun, anyhow?"

            Lith stared blankly, something he did more than often. "I don't…know…I was being taught only to function." He looked down, but looked quickly up again upon producing an answer. "I-I was taught to paint." He nodded.

            Neo snorted. "Paint? Why?"

            "Taught the basic principles…and forms…but I've never done it." He fiddled with the card in his hands.

            "Paint, huh?" Link thought aloud.

            "So I guess you've never done anything for the hell of it, have you?" Neo said dryly, recalling in his life the random things he had done for a thrill. Mostly stupid, but at least they were amusing at the time.

            Lith was feeling his left arm, running his fingers over where the tattoos underneath the sleeve lay.

            "It's not like there's much fun on this ship, anyway." Link folded his arms and leaned back.

            "So can you…draw things?" Neo asked.

            "I don't know." Lith stated, touching his white hair curiously.

            Searching around the room, Neo found a torn piece of paper. "Give it a try." He urged, setting it in front of him. Link offered up a blue pen.

            "I-I don't think-" Lith drew away from the items as though they may lash out at him.

            "Come on, I'm not asking Picasso here." Neo insisted. "Just draw something. Anything." He leaned down, hands resting on the corners of the table.

            Lith stared at Neo for a long time before shakily picking up the pen in his left mechanical arm. With another glance to Neo, the arm began to graze the paper at a jerking speed. Neo looked over at Link who was observing the scene with a wondering expression.

            Lith's hand stroked the paper repeatedly, creating pen lines that were invisible at first, but came into view with another delicate network of inked streaks. In a matter of minutes, he dropped the pen, flexing his hand. Neo blinked rapidly at the drawing, gently grasping it by a corner and studying it in amazement. It was an exact portrait of Neo himself, looking precisely the same as he must have looked moment's ago from Lith's point of view. It was as though someone had merely photographed him underneath a blue light. Swallowing hard, he set the drawing down and looked at Link.

            "That uh…well that's no Picasso, that's for sure…" Link uttered, shocked. Lith recoiled, turning the drawing over.

            "The voice…it taught you to do that?" Neo asked. He was now no better off in his opinions. Neo had asked Lith to draw in order to prove to himself that Lith had human qualities as such, but his idea backfired. The drawing was so free of human error that it seemed the product of a refined machine and nothing more.

            "Yes…" Lith confirmed, prodding the pen idly.

            "Well uh…" Neo looked away. "So we found at what you're good at."

            "Did I…do something wrong?" he switched frantically between Link and Neo.

            "No, it's fine." Neo assured, patting his shoulder. "It's uh, just that I've never seen anyone draw like that."

            "Okay." He nodded, pushing the pen and paper away.

            "…Has Morpheus said anything to you lately?" Neo queried.

            "I have only spoken to him once." Lith said.

            "Huh." Neo cracked his knuckles. "Have you even seen him since the first time?"

            "No, I don't think so…" for a moment there was an awkward silence.

            "Maybe it's better that way." Link suggested. "That guy is all metaphors. I get a headache listening to him sometimes."

            "I get a headache listening to you sometimes." Neo jested.

            "Oh yeah?" Link huffed. "And like you're any better?"

            "I like to think so." Neo retorted, straightening up.

            "Man, shut up." He cracked up into a short laughter.

            Neo looked over at Lith, who, oddly enough, was smiling, purely at the amiability in the room. For the first time since he was here, perhaps. Neo grinned as well and chortled, making for the door. "Don't corrupt him, Link. We don't want him turning out like you."

            "Hey…At least he's learnin' something from me."

            "That's what scares me."