The bedroom/ characterization chapter

Antoine walked into the bedroom after Adrian. There actually wasn't much to see, she thought, after she risked opening her eyes. Two beds with a curtain between them that was currently folded, a walk-in closet to one side, and two dressers. Adrian was staring at her impatiently, and she sensed that he wanted to be with his poor, hurt Twin. She looked around a little more, and saw a large glass display case full of knives of every variety.

'Gotta get me one of these!' She thought. She soon found a smallish wood handled hunting knife with a nice curve, a Medieval style dagger with a blood groove, a silver switchblade, and a pair of ultra-light throwing knives. She tested them on a convenient dartboard. Their balance was perfect. 'Wonder if I can steal them...?' She wondered. Adrian began to exit, and she followed.

Aidenn no longer looked at all happy. He looked even paler, if possible, and he was shivering slightly. None of the others had noticed. Morpheus and Niobe were still on the chairs, and appeared to be arguing about something, and Neo had gravitated towards Trinity on the couch, where he was currently engaged in editing the TV to make it play something not involving guns, knives, or Medieval torture.

At the sight of his Twin, Aidenn looked a little happier, and Adrian picked him up and carried him to the bedroom. Sobbing was soon heard, as well as comforting noises. 'Even though they fight, and even though they're programs now, they're still brothers, and they still love each other as such.' Antoine thought, sighing. 'Wish someone cared about me that much... Besides the Agents.' Her thoughts grew bitter. She drew her attention back to the Twins. 'They've never been hurt when they haven't been able to heal it right away.' "Poor Aidenn's probably traumatized by that..." She looked up and noticed everyone was staring at her. 'Oops. Must have said that out loud...'



Neo, watching her, thought 'For a program, she carries a lot of pain with her. It's like she was programmed to be human. I think that the fifteen-year-old phase is the closest to who she really is. She really does seem afraid of whatever it is the Agents are going to do to her, if they catch her. I guess this is all my fault, in a way. I had no idea...' His depressed thoughts were interrupted by Trinity putting her arm around him, and he was glad to leave his melancholy mood behind and concentrate on her, her soft hair, her warm skin...

Trinity knew, as she always did, that Neo was upset about something, and he was looking at Antoine, rather wistfully, she thought. Sometimes, she wasn't sure she had made the right decision, falling in love just because some old program had told her to. There were times she didn't know if her feelings for Neo were real, or if they were just made up by her mind because she thought she had to have them. She hated it when she thought like that, but there it was. At other times, though, she looked at him and wondered how those thoughts could ever have entered her head, how she could doubt, how she could have lived before him. Like she had just been waiting in limbo before, not really living. She knew that his feelings for her were as real as anything, in the real world, or the Matrix, or wherever. She smiled and snuggled closer to him, feeling his closeness, basking in it...



Morpheus, although he would never admit it, missed Niobe. A lot. He missed having someone around who cared about him, and not just as a leader or a surrogate father. But, even though he disliked Lock and yearned for old times, he knew that it was over, and should remain so. They had both changed. They were no longer the same people, they had new responsibilities, people depending on them. It had been different when neither of them were captains, when the only people they had had to worry about were themselves, when they had been young. No, although he might look back fondly, he would not go back to her. Could not.

Niobe, of late, had become tired of Lock. Of his nagging, his controlling, his wanting perfection, always. He never just enjoyed himself. He never just was, he was always doing. Morpheus, on the other hand, offered some of both. Besides, she had forgiven him, was ready to forget that she had only gone to Lock out of spite. In her mind, there was no doubt. They belonged together. That was the way it had been, should be, would be. So, she was doing as much as she could to rejoin him. It wasn't working...



Adrian sat on the bed next to his Twin, not saying much, just listening. His Twin was afraid. He had never been hurt before, he had always been able to heal immediately. He had never been afraid before. Not really. He had his Twin, he could always ghost out of danger. It wasn't just the pain, although there was that. It was the sudden feeling of mortality. Before, long before, when they had been human, they had always been indestructible, together, immortal. As Agents, even if their current host was killed, they could simply move on to a new one, without even looking back. They never looked back. Even their deletion, after being chosen by the Merovingian, after being made closer than any Twins had ever been, being made one, they still were never afraid. When Aidenn had had his arm shot, at their last meeting with Morpheus and Trinity, the pain had been bearable. His Twin would make them open the door, he would get through, they would be together, he would ghost and be whole. But now... nothing, nothing in his whole, extended life could ever have prepared him for this. He hated this weakness...

Aw! What a sweet little chapter! It's so cute and snugly! Ok, sorry, it's a bit of a sidetrack, but it gives everyone more character, and it was fun to write.