A/N In case you haven't guessed from the story, I'm a huge Gloria Gaynor fan. Someone emailed me and asked for some music so I put in a teensy bit here and there over the story. I probably won't be able to post this for WEEKS as my server is down.
********************
Trinity woke up later that night. Judging by the chill in he air, she guessed that there was at least five more hours until the lights turned on. Feeling thirsty, she rose and went to the mess. When she entered, she saw that Alpha was sitting at the table, a tin cup in his hand, looking very tired.
"Hey, what are you doing up?" she greeted him with a question.
"I'm on a double shift. Just takin' a break", he replied. "You?"
"Just thirsty"
"Oh. Well, I guess I'd better get back. Night"
"Night, Alpha".
Trinity sat down as Alpha left the room. She sat in silence for a while before finishing her drink, washing the cup and leaving. She walked into the Med. Bay and looked down at Neo as he slept, still heavily sedated. He looked so innocent and boy like, it was hard to imagine how much destruction he could cause when he was in the Matrix. She stood looking at him for a long time before turning around and heading back to bed.
**
"Hence: Like A Virgin" Alpha was getting into his, frankly bizarre, explanation of 'Like A Virgin'
"Personally, I prefer Gloria Gaynor" Pedróvna was sticking to her point on soul.
"My God, does it actually matter? The music isn't real anymore!" After half an hour, the conversation was getting to Morpheus.
**
Trinity walked to the mess hall from the Med. Bay. Neo would be awake in a few hours, after she got back from the Matrix. She wasn't really hungry, but knew she would have to force the gloop down her throat if she was to last the day. Trips to the Oracle were always stressful.
"-real anymore!". Morpheus' voice. Alpha and Pedróvna must be having a music conversation again.
"Mornin'" Alpha greeted her as she walked in the door. He was way to cheery for someone who had just completed a double night shift.
"Yeah" She was too tired to reply properly. She hadn't slept much. She walked over to the back of the Mess and filled a bowl with the protein slop. She smiled softly as she remembered Tank calling it 'the breakfast of champions' the morning before Neo went on his trip to the Oracle.
"What are you so happy about?" Alpha asked.
"Nothing, just remembered something Tank had said about this stuff. He called it the 'breakfast of champions' the day Neo went to the Or - " she stopped as the events that had followed after came rushing back to her. Her smile faded quickly. She and Morpheus bowed their heads slightly and fell silent. After a few minutes, their heads rose and they began to eat.
Morpheus noticed Pedróvna and Alpha's confused looks and decided that she would have to explain.
"After Neo went to the Oracle, one of our own decided to sell us out to the Agents. I was taken under arrest while the others escaped."
"After we left the safe house", Trinity continued as Morpheus didn't know exactly what had gone on. "We all thought Cypher had been shot. We called Tank, he was our operator back then, and he told us that Cypher was out. We thought nothing of it so we went to the exit he had specified. Before any of us could get out the line had gone dead. Cypher had killed Dozer and wounded Tank, although he thought he was dead. I rang the operator and Cypher picked up. He began talking a load of crazy bullshit, but it seemed to make sense to him. By the end, we had realised that he had sold us out. I tried to talk sense into him but he seemed convinced that they would reinsert him back into the Matrix. Near the end, he wanted to prove that the Matrix was real as well, and so he began pulling the plug on the crewmates still inside. We lost Switch and Apoc, and very nearly Neo, before Tank killed him. After that, we stopped using safe houses. We use regular exits. That way Agents can't ambush us"
"Jesus", Pedróvna breathed. Alpha just looked at the table and was quiet.
"Does stuff like that happen a lot?" he asked.
"I've been doing this for almost twenty years, and that was the first time it had happened."
"Twenty years? Your poor parents"
"My parents? They're not real. They didn't care about when I was still plugged in anyway, so why should they care now?"
"So, you were freed in like, 1979?" Pedróvna asked
"Something like that. The police said I went missing after cracking IRS. They said so ran away so as not to get caught." Trinity laughed before continuing. "They can cook up some bullshit, can't they? I was contacted by Morpheus hours after cracking IRS. I took the red pill and never looked back."
"How can you talk about cracking IRS like that? Like it doesn't really matter? Don't you realise that you're almost a God to hackers?"
"Because it doesn't matter anymore. IRS never existed. Well, it might have at one point, but now it's just a pile of green code to me"
"Then why crack FBI?"
"I had to. The Agents and International Governments had collected a lot of information on Resistance fighters. Dangerous information. When any Resistance member is captured, nine times out of ten, they get killed. However, most non-national Resistance fighters got away because its difficult to kill a citizen of another country and get away with it, 'terrorist' or not. With the files, even non- Americans can be killed. They're not so much files as permission to kill us. Most of the files were in the FBI data-base, so Zion decided that, since I had cracked IRS, I could do it."
"So you went in and deleted the files?"
"I only managed to delete about three. Morpheus', Neo's and Ghost's."
"Ghost?"
"He's a fighter on another ship. Trinity's kinda close to him", Alpha said.
"Oh, right." Pedróvna ran her fingers through the short fuzz of her hair.
"Come on, we'd better get going. The Oracle won't wait forever"
"Yeah, but she'll probably live forever", Alpha mumbled into the last of his gloop.
"What's The Oracle like?" Pedróvna asked.
"You'll find out soon enough. Just... don't expect the Temple of Delphi." Trinity replied as they followed Morpheus out the door, with Alpha bringing up the rear.
**
"Hey, Alpha, you OK? You look kinda nauseous. Not to mention pale", Trinity said as she looked into the rear-view mirror before starting the car.
"Yeah, I'm grand", he said, pulling on the collar of his dark purple shirt to allow himself breathe a bit.
"OK" she said, turning on the window wipers. It had begun to drizzle.
They drove on in silence until Trinity pulled up beside an apartment block.
"I'll take her in" she said and got out. "Come on"
Pedróvna followed her into the building, where there was a lone man sitting on a chair destroyed with graffiti. He nodded to Trinity, and she nodded back. Funny, she could have sworn he was blind. Trinity called the lift and stood back.
"What did she tell you?" Pedróvna asked, as they waited for the lift.
"A lot of things" was the only answer she received as the door opened and the two women stepped inside. Pedróvna stood in corner as Trinity pressed one of the buttons, her leather trench coat reflecting some of the light from the flickering light bulb. Pedróvna began fidgeting with the lapel of her suit jacket. They stood quietly until the doors opened and they walked out. Trinity led Pedróvna to a door in the middle of the hallway.
"This is it. Don't be afraid, she's actually quite nice"
Pedróvna looked back at Trinity before moving her hand forward to knock on the door. Before she could, however, it opened to reveal a pretty dark skinned woman dressed in white robes.
"Hello, Pedróvna, you're late"
"Are you the -"
"The Oracle? No, dear, I'm not. Come inside", she said with a movement of her arm. "Hello Trinity, Nice to see you. Make yourself comfortable. Pedróvna, the Oracle will see you straight away". She led Pedróvna through the hall by the arm. As Trinity watched her go through the beaded veil, she caught the petrified expression on her face. Smirking, she leaned against the wall, inhaled the rich smell of fresh baking and prepared to wait.
**
Pedróvna really didn't know what to think. She had only just left the Oracle's room and was reeling from the news she had received. She gripped her cookie tightly as she walked out through the beads. She saw Trinity squatting on the floor next to a small bald kid with a spoon. She winced as she remembered the Oracles words about Trinity. She wouldn't believe it. It wasn't believable. She watched as the kid bend the spoon just by looking at. She moved slightly and knocked against a chair. Trinity turned around.
"You don't have to tell anyone what the Oracle said, Pedróvna", she told her while rising to her feet. She smiled at the boy with the spoon before heading towards the door.
"Come on". Pedróvna followed wordlessly.
**
Trinity and Pedróvna slid into their seats quietly, brushing raindrops from their clothes. The rain had gotten heavier. They had been driving towards the agreed exit for a few minutes before Trinity's cell phone rang.
"Yeah?" she said, driving with one hand.
"Get out of there! Turn back and get to another exit. I'm reading six Agents heading towards you now. There's an exit at Lane and 6th, outside of the populated places."
"Shit" she swore and hung up. Looking around, she saw that where they were now was crawling with coppertops. She turned in an abrupt U-turn seconds before gunshots sounded in the distance behind her. She sped up and had almost reached Lane and 6th when the rear window shattered. Looking in the rear-view mirror, she watched as Pedróvna slumped forward in her seat, bleeding heavily from the head. Trinity braked suddenly as she saw the sign for Lake and 6th. Looking around, she saw a payphone.
"Get to the exit, Morpheus". It had become common practice to let Morpheus out first since his capture. Trinity ran to the back of the car.
"Is she dead?" she asked Alpha. He just nodded numbly, his hand covered in her blood.
"Shit." Trinity reached forward and shut Pedróvna eyes. "Come on, we gotta get out of here, before the Agents find us."
Alpha nodded again and went with Trinity to the payphone. As they reached it, the phone began to ring. Morpheus extended his hand, took the phone, and pressed it to his ear. Within seconds, he was gone, the phone dangling from its cord. Alpha reached out and replaced it. As it began to ring a second time, Trinity heard a gunshot. The receiver split in two from the force of impact from the bullet.
"Come on!" Trinity grabbed Alpha's hand and began to run. She reached into her pocket and grabbed her cell.
"Link, we need another exit!"
"There's no exits near you. Turn the corner; there'll be a black motorbike waiting for you. Use it to get to the Barnes and Noble exit"
"Right". Trinity hung up. Sure enough, when she turned the corner, there was a sleek black motorcycle waiting at the footpath. She sat at the front with Alpha sitting behind her, holding on to her tightly around the waist. As she started the engine, she heard sirens. Looking behind her, she saw eight squad cars turning the corner and along with them one impossibly clean black car. Agents. Shit. She pulled away from the footpath and began speeding down the street towards the exit. The rain was getting so heavy that she could barely see what was in front of her. She sped sown street after street, always with the police and the Agents close behind her. Eventually, after what seemed like hours of riding, but in reality (A/N What a contradiction) couldn't have been more than thirty minutes, the sirens began to fade away. Thank God.
"Trinity, I think you'd better get off of the motorcycle" Alphas voice sounded eerily calm.
"What?" Her hand gripped the handlebars so tightly; her knuckles began to turn white.
"I said, you'll have to get off of the motorbike. They're almost here" Suddenly, Alpha's grip around her waist became painfully tight.
"Who are?" Trinity asked, unable to breathe.
"I think you know," he whispered softly. He was beginning to sound crazy. Then, without warning, he gripped her waist even tighter and flung himself off of the motorcycle, taking Trinity along with him. They landed painfully on the wet ground. The motorcycle skidded on the slick roads and careered into a wall. Trinity looked up from her place on the ground to see Alpha looming above her, gun pointed directly at her.
"What the FUCK do you think you're doing?" she shouted at him.
"Don't you see, Trinity?" he asked her, sandy blonde hair sticking to the top of his head and his pale blue eyes wide and shining wildly. "Don't you? The war is over, and we've lost. Did you really think that humans could beat the machines? You've been deceived, Trinity, we all have. But now I know the truth." He began to whisper again. "Oh yes, I've been shown the truth. Not by your precious Morpheus, oh no." Suddenly his hand began shaking violently. One minute the gun was pointed directly at her head, then over heart, then back again. He struggled to regain control. He clenched his teeth and grabbed his shaking hand with the other. Trinity, who had by now figured out what he was thinking, began trying to edge away. She accidentally kicked a stone. It clattered noisily down the empty street until it disappeared, and with it, Trinity's only hope of escaping Alpha. He heard the noise and directed the gun at her throat. He may have been standing metres above her but she knew he would still hit. After all, she trained him. His hand was still shaking slightly. "You're all they need. Once they have you, Neo will come walking right into their arms. And then where will your glorious Morpheus be?"
"You're crazy!" She tried to reason with him, but knew it was pointless. He was too far-gone.
"I think you're the ones that are crazy. Why spend twenty miserable years in that cold dump, eating nothing but that goddamn gloop every single fucking day? We'll lose the war anyway. We've already lost it. Why bother anymore? I've been given the perfect solution. Once you go, Neo goes and I'll spend the rest of my life in here"
"The Matrix isn't real! You'll know that for the rest of your life!"
"Not real? If I was to shoot you right now, will it hurt? Yes, of course it will. Anyways, I won't remember anything." He looked away as a car drew near. "Here they are now. Great knowing you, Trin," he said, calling her by Neo's nickname for her. She watched as three Agents stepped out of the car. "Here she is!" he shouted to the Agents. "This is you're way to the One".
"Thank you Mr. Joyce", one of the Agents said. "Your services are no longer required." With that he pulled out a gun and shot Alpha directly through the head. The Agent walked past Alpha's body and stood in front of her.
"Well, well, well" he said. "The great Trinity. I think you'd better come with us". He bent down and picked her up by the arm. He dragged her to the black car, still immaculate despite having been driven through muddy puddles. He shoved her into the backseat, beside one of the Agents.
"Don't even think about trying to get out," the Agent beside her said, handcuffing one of her slender ivory wrists and one of his own together. Trinity looked out of the tinted windows at the rain falling steadily on a world so beautiful, and yet so false. She turned her head and looked at the Agents in the car with her. They all faced forward. She glanced down at her handcuffed wrist and realised that she was well and truly trapped.
********************
A/N OK, there you go. Way longer than I expected. Two chapter killed with one stone, actually. I know, I know, Barnes and Noble but I have no imagination. I'll write my next chapter in the coming days and post it after. So, not long, promise.
********************
Trinity woke up later that night. Judging by the chill in he air, she guessed that there was at least five more hours until the lights turned on. Feeling thirsty, she rose and went to the mess. When she entered, she saw that Alpha was sitting at the table, a tin cup in his hand, looking very tired.
"Hey, what are you doing up?" she greeted him with a question.
"I'm on a double shift. Just takin' a break", he replied. "You?"
"Just thirsty"
"Oh. Well, I guess I'd better get back. Night"
"Night, Alpha".
Trinity sat down as Alpha left the room. She sat in silence for a while before finishing her drink, washing the cup and leaving. She walked into the Med. Bay and looked down at Neo as he slept, still heavily sedated. He looked so innocent and boy like, it was hard to imagine how much destruction he could cause when he was in the Matrix. She stood looking at him for a long time before turning around and heading back to bed.
**
"Hence: Like A Virgin" Alpha was getting into his, frankly bizarre, explanation of 'Like A Virgin'
"Personally, I prefer Gloria Gaynor" Pedróvna was sticking to her point on soul.
"My God, does it actually matter? The music isn't real anymore!" After half an hour, the conversation was getting to Morpheus.
**
Trinity walked to the mess hall from the Med. Bay. Neo would be awake in a few hours, after she got back from the Matrix. She wasn't really hungry, but knew she would have to force the gloop down her throat if she was to last the day. Trips to the Oracle were always stressful.
"-real anymore!". Morpheus' voice. Alpha and Pedróvna must be having a music conversation again.
"Mornin'" Alpha greeted her as she walked in the door. He was way to cheery for someone who had just completed a double night shift.
"Yeah" She was too tired to reply properly. She hadn't slept much. She walked over to the back of the Mess and filled a bowl with the protein slop. She smiled softly as she remembered Tank calling it 'the breakfast of champions' the morning before Neo went on his trip to the Oracle.
"What are you so happy about?" Alpha asked.
"Nothing, just remembered something Tank had said about this stuff. He called it the 'breakfast of champions' the day Neo went to the Or - " she stopped as the events that had followed after came rushing back to her. Her smile faded quickly. She and Morpheus bowed their heads slightly and fell silent. After a few minutes, their heads rose and they began to eat.
Morpheus noticed Pedróvna and Alpha's confused looks and decided that she would have to explain.
"After Neo went to the Oracle, one of our own decided to sell us out to the Agents. I was taken under arrest while the others escaped."
"After we left the safe house", Trinity continued as Morpheus didn't know exactly what had gone on. "We all thought Cypher had been shot. We called Tank, he was our operator back then, and he told us that Cypher was out. We thought nothing of it so we went to the exit he had specified. Before any of us could get out the line had gone dead. Cypher had killed Dozer and wounded Tank, although he thought he was dead. I rang the operator and Cypher picked up. He began talking a load of crazy bullshit, but it seemed to make sense to him. By the end, we had realised that he had sold us out. I tried to talk sense into him but he seemed convinced that they would reinsert him back into the Matrix. Near the end, he wanted to prove that the Matrix was real as well, and so he began pulling the plug on the crewmates still inside. We lost Switch and Apoc, and very nearly Neo, before Tank killed him. After that, we stopped using safe houses. We use regular exits. That way Agents can't ambush us"
"Jesus", Pedróvna breathed. Alpha just looked at the table and was quiet.
"Does stuff like that happen a lot?" he asked.
"I've been doing this for almost twenty years, and that was the first time it had happened."
"Twenty years? Your poor parents"
"My parents? They're not real. They didn't care about when I was still plugged in anyway, so why should they care now?"
"So, you were freed in like, 1979?" Pedróvna asked
"Something like that. The police said I went missing after cracking IRS. They said so ran away so as not to get caught." Trinity laughed before continuing. "They can cook up some bullshit, can't they? I was contacted by Morpheus hours after cracking IRS. I took the red pill and never looked back."
"How can you talk about cracking IRS like that? Like it doesn't really matter? Don't you realise that you're almost a God to hackers?"
"Because it doesn't matter anymore. IRS never existed. Well, it might have at one point, but now it's just a pile of green code to me"
"Then why crack FBI?"
"I had to. The Agents and International Governments had collected a lot of information on Resistance fighters. Dangerous information. When any Resistance member is captured, nine times out of ten, they get killed. However, most non-national Resistance fighters got away because its difficult to kill a citizen of another country and get away with it, 'terrorist' or not. With the files, even non- Americans can be killed. They're not so much files as permission to kill us. Most of the files were in the FBI data-base, so Zion decided that, since I had cracked IRS, I could do it."
"So you went in and deleted the files?"
"I only managed to delete about three. Morpheus', Neo's and Ghost's."
"Ghost?"
"He's a fighter on another ship. Trinity's kinda close to him", Alpha said.
"Oh, right." Pedróvna ran her fingers through the short fuzz of her hair.
"Come on, we'd better get going. The Oracle won't wait forever"
"Yeah, but she'll probably live forever", Alpha mumbled into the last of his gloop.
"What's The Oracle like?" Pedróvna asked.
"You'll find out soon enough. Just... don't expect the Temple of Delphi." Trinity replied as they followed Morpheus out the door, with Alpha bringing up the rear.
**
"Hey, Alpha, you OK? You look kinda nauseous. Not to mention pale", Trinity said as she looked into the rear-view mirror before starting the car.
"Yeah, I'm grand", he said, pulling on the collar of his dark purple shirt to allow himself breathe a bit.
"OK" she said, turning on the window wipers. It had begun to drizzle.
They drove on in silence until Trinity pulled up beside an apartment block.
"I'll take her in" she said and got out. "Come on"
Pedróvna followed her into the building, where there was a lone man sitting on a chair destroyed with graffiti. He nodded to Trinity, and she nodded back. Funny, she could have sworn he was blind. Trinity called the lift and stood back.
"What did she tell you?" Pedróvna asked, as they waited for the lift.
"A lot of things" was the only answer she received as the door opened and the two women stepped inside. Pedróvna stood in corner as Trinity pressed one of the buttons, her leather trench coat reflecting some of the light from the flickering light bulb. Pedróvna began fidgeting with the lapel of her suit jacket. They stood quietly until the doors opened and they walked out. Trinity led Pedróvna to a door in the middle of the hallway.
"This is it. Don't be afraid, she's actually quite nice"
Pedróvna looked back at Trinity before moving her hand forward to knock on the door. Before she could, however, it opened to reveal a pretty dark skinned woman dressed in white robes.
"Hello, Pedróvna, you're late"
"Are you the -"
"The Oracle? No, dear, I'm not. Come inside", she said with a movement of her arm. "Hello Trinity, Nice to see you. Make yourself comfortable. Pedróvna, the Oracle will see you straight away". She led Pedróvna through the hall by the arm. As Trinity watched her go through the beaded veil, she caught the petrified expression on her face. Smirking, she leaned against the wall, inhaled the rich smell of fresh baking and prepared to wait.
**
Pedróvna really didn't know what to think. She had only just left the Oracle's room and was reeling from the news she had received. She gripped her cookie tightly as she walked out through the beads. She saw Trinity squatting on the floor next to a small bald kid with a spoon. She winced as she remembered the Oracles words about Trinity. She wouldn't believe it. It wasn't believable. She watched as the kid bend the spoon just by looking at. She moved slightly and knocked against a chair. Trinity turned around.
"You don't have to tell anyone what the Oracle said, Pedróvna", she told her while rising to her feet. She smiled at the boy with the spoon before heading towards the door.
"Come on". Pedróvna followed wordlessly.
**
Trinity and Pedróvna slid into their seats quietly, brushing raindrops from their clothes. The rain had gotten heavier. They had been driving towards the agreed exit for a few minutes before Trinity's cell phone rang.
"Yeah?" she said, driving with one hand.
"Get out of there! Turn back and get to another exit. I'm reading six Agents heading towards you now. There's an exit at Lane and 6th, outside of the populated places."
"Shit" she swore and hung up. Looking around, she saw that where they were now was crawling with coppertops. She turned in an abrupt U-turn seconds before gunshots sounded in the distance behind her. She sped up and had almost reached Lane and 6th when the rear window shattered. Looking in the rear-view mirror, she watched as Pedróvna slumped forward in her seat, bleeding heavily from the head. Trinity braked suddenly as she saw the sign for Lake and 6th. Looking around, she saw a payphone.
"Get to the exit, Morpheus". It had become common practice to let Morpheus out first since his capture. Trinity ran to the back of the car.
"Is she dead?" she asked Alpha. He just nodded numbly, his hand covered in her blood.
"Shit." Trinity reached forward and shut Pedróvna eyes. "Come on, we gotta get out of here, before the Agents find us."
Alpha nodded again and went with Trinity to the payphone. As they reached it, the phone began to ring. Morpheus extended his hand, took the phone, and pressed it to his ear. Within seconds, he was gone, the phone dangling from its cord. Alpha reached out and replaced it. As it began to ring a second time, Trinity heard a gunshot. The receiver split in two from the force of impact from the bullet.
"Come on!" Trinity grabbed Alpha's hand and began to run. She reached into her pocket and grabbed her cell.
"Link, we need another exit!"
"There's no exits near you. Turn the corner; there'll be a black motorbike waiting for you. Use it to get to the Barnes and Noble exit"
"Right". Trinity hung up. Sure enough, when she turned the corner, there was a sleek black motorcycle waiting at the footpath. She sat at the front with Alpha sitting behind her, holding on to her tightly around the waist. As she started the engine, she heard sirens. Looking behind her, she saw eight squad cars turning the corner and along with them one impossibly clean black car. Agents. Shit. She pulled away from the footpath and began speeding down the street towards the exit. The rain was getting so heavy that she could barely see what was in front of her. She sped sown street after street, always with the police and the Agents close behind her. Eventually, after what seemed like hours of riding, but in reality (A/N What a contradiction) couldn't have been more than thirty minutes, the sirens began to fade away. Thank God.
"Trinity, I think you'd better get off of the motorcycle" Alphas voice sounded eerily calm.
"What?" Her hand gripped the handlebars so tightly; her knuckles began to turn white.
"I said, you'll have to get off of the motorbike. They're almost here" Suddenly, Alpha's grip around her waist became painfully tight.
"Who are?" Trinity asked, unable to breathe.
"I think you know," he whispered softly. He was beginning to sound crazy. Then, without warning, he gripped her waist even tighter and flung himself off of the motorcycle, taking Trinity along with him. They landed painfully on the wet ground. The motorcycle skidded on the slick roads and careered into a wall. Trinity looked up from her place on the ground to see Alpha looming above her, gun pointed directly at her.
"What the FUCK do you think you're doing?" she shouted at him.
"Don't you see, Trinity?" he asked her, sandy blonde hair sticking to the top of his head and his pale blue eyes wide and shining wildly. "Don't you? The war is over, and we've lost. Did you really think that humans could beat the machines? You've been deceived, Trinity, we all have. But now I know the truth." He began to whisper again. "Oh yes, I've been shown the truth. Not by your precious Morpheus, oh no." Suddenly his hand began shaking violently. One minute the gun was pointed directly at her head, then over heart, then back again. He struggled to regain control. He clenched his teeth and grabbed his shaking hand with the other. Trinity, who had by now figured out what he was thinking, began trying to edge away. She accidentally kicked a stone. It clattered noisily down the empty street until it disappeared, and with it, Trinity's only hope of escaping Alpha. He heard the noise and directed the gun at her throat. He may have been standing metres above her but she knew he would still hit. After all, she trained him. His hand was still shaking slightly. "You're all they need. Once they have you, Neo will come walking right into their arms. And then where will your glorious Morpheus be?"
"You're crazy!" She tried to reason with him, but knew it was pointless. He was too far-gone.
"I think you're the ones that are crazy. Why spend twenty miserable years in that cold dump, eating nothing but that goddamn gloop every single fucking day? We'll lose the war anyway. We've already lost it. Why bother anymore? I've been given the perfect solution. Once you go, Neo goes and I'll spend the rest of my life in here"
"The Matrix isn't real! You'll know that for the rest of your life!"
"Not real? If I was to shoot you right now, will it hurt? Yes, of course it will. Anyways, I won't remember anything." He looked away as a car drew near. "Here they are now. Great knowing you, Trin," he said, calling her by Neo's nickname for her. She watched as three Agents stepped out of the car. "Here she is!" he shouted to the Agents. "This is you're way to the One".
"Thank you Mr. Joyce", one of the Agents said. "Your services are no longer required." With that he pulled out a gun and shot Alpha directly through the head. The Agent walked past Alpha's body and stood in front of her.
"Well, well, well" he said. "The great Trinity. I think you'd better come with us". He bent down and picked her up by the arm. He dragged her to the black car, still immaculate despite having been driven through muddy puddles. He shoved her into the backseat, beside one of the Agents.
"Don't even think about trying to get out," the Agent beside her said, handcuffing one of her slender ivory wrists and one of his own together. Trinity looked out of the tinted windows at the rain falling steadily on a world so beautiful, and yet so false. She turned her head and looked at the Agents in the car with her. They all faced forward. She glanced down at her handcuffed wrist and realised that she was well and truly trapped.
********************
A/N OK, there you go. Way longer than I expected. Two chapter killed with one stone, actually. I know, I know, Barnes and Noble but I have no imagination. I'll write my next chapter in the coming days and post it after. So, not long, promise.