Thank you to my first three reviewers!
Jocelyn: Answer to your main question. The time is just after the Matrix and way before Reloaded. I wanted to pick a time when Neo and Trinity were still working on a relationship to show how Trinity was still really independent and not approving of Neo 'babysitting' her.
Smith's ultimate aim? I'd hate to reveal the end of the story. It's not so much AU, since the events in the story will still allow the Wachowski's to have their grand finale (Revolutions. Saw it opening night!). I was just thinking of how interesting it would be to see how Smith and Trinity would communicate. If you have any possible ideas, I'd love to hear them.
Thank you very much for the compliment about spelling! It's really not me though. It's all about Microsoft Works on Windows XP. My other stories are horrible grammar-wise.
Technetium: Once again, just after the Matrix and before Reloaded as a sort of gradual Trinity and Neo relationship. And as a answer to your second question, I was confused about that. I thought the wounds would appear, since in the first, Neo's mouth bled from the jump program and Mouse bled from being shot. I'll go back to my first copy and revise that. Thank you very much for clearing that up!
Selina Enriquez: Thank you for reviewing!
Alocin: You're awesome! Thank you very much. I don't really deserve it, but thank you.
Stormhawk: Wow. Once again I really don't deserve it. But thank you! (blushes)
Maat: The power of reviewing does seem to compel me! This is the most reviews I've received for the first chapter on any of my stories!
Thank you for all your help and I hope you'll stick around and help me with later chapters!
Disclaimer: All characters are property of the Wachowski Brothers and not mine. There was no money made off this story and I am simply writing it for entertainment purposes.
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Chapter 2: Talking
There was a lump in the back on Trinity's throat. She swallowed hard and painfully, the back of her mouth dry. She took a deep breath and swallowed again, wincing as her throat burned. Her eyelids flickered and closed again at the feeling of pain in her stomach. She let out a hiss as a sharp sting produced from her wound, not disappearing this time as easily from the drugs. Something peeled off her skin, causing the injury to burn.
"Amazing." Smith's voice murmured. "I was a little scared you wouldn't wake up."
"With this hospitality?" She spat sarcastically. Smith pushed gently on her stitches, making Trinity gasp and shut her eyes out of pain. He just gave some flippant laugh, sitting up.
"I must say that humans surprise me every now and then. You certainly surprised me. There aren't many people, women to be more precise who can outrun me."
"Is that your definition of a compliment?" Trinity was irritated now, coughing against her raw throat and pulling senselessly at her hands. Something was still illusive in her system.
"Well, I would imagine so. If I were human I would have taken that as such." Trinity felt his fingers move over her waist, pulling on a clean bandage. Her bare skin prickled as he touched it. He was cold, whereas this room was warm. The bandage was rough, provided to cover the wound, but to scratch at her smooth skin if Trinity tried to move.
She turned her head and got a better glance at her surroundings now that she wasn't drugged to the eyebrows. Her long, black, leather trench coat was flung over the back of a chair. Small shards of leather fabric that had once been a part of her halter-top were scattered on floor like broken glass, splattering her blood on the concrete floor eerily.
"It's funny that you would consider this world 'unreal'." Great. He's still trying to make conversation. I want to kill you. More then anything, I want to wrap my hands around your neck and make you wish your computer ass had never been created. "You flinch at the bandage. You wince at the pain from this wound. You even lose consciousness from the drugs and yet this world is still missing something."
"The Matrix isn't real."
"And why not? Because it's all in your mind?" Trinity was feeling the anger build up inside her chest. She didn't like this at all. It was one thing to be immobile from the painkillers and sedatives. It was another thing to have to listen to him in his self-righteous tone, trying to make her doubt what she knew was true. "Since the beginning of time, humans have really made an effort to remain defiant. It's actually become part of their nature to withstand certain facts about their life. Psychologically, a human who does so is in denial."
"You can't deny the truth." She replied in a practical whisper. Smith shook his head. Trinity looked back. "So what is the Matrix then? If you're so smart."
"I should be, considering I was created by the same thing that created this place." He replied. "The Matrix is thought to be one giant computer program. I believe that is the same analogy you use to everyone who is unplugged?" He wasn't expecting a response. He already knew what Trinity would say to that anyways. Instead, he continued, his deep voice mocking every belief she had come to realize. "Truthfully, however, the Matrix is simply a prison for the two of us even. I may not be affected by the bullets that are fired or the drugs I am given but it is a prison because neither of us can really escape it."
"I saw Neo destroy you." She spat. "I saw him break you to pieces."
"Interesting." Smith replied mockingly. "I was completely destroyed and yet…here I am." Her eyes turned to him, staring at him with the fierceness of a tiger at a poacher's mercy. They said nothing for a moment.
"Perhaps the Matrix is not real, but the cold hard truth still remains. That you were a slave to it and you believed that this world was real for a while. Even if it was simply in front of you like a computer screen that this realm had some faint hint of reality. Because humans are gullible."
"You have a pretty one sided definition of humanity." She replied bluntly. Smith tosses his head back in a laugh.
"I'm a machine. I have a one sided view of everything, isn't that true?" Trinity looked away, searching for a door out of here or something. The Agent loomed over her again. The ceiling light flickered causing a frightening silhouette of Smith to span the wall. "Programs are much more real then you think. I have chosen to have this opinion just as you have chosen to hate me."
"That's where our similarities end." She tried once again to stop this obnoxious conversation. Just wait till I get a gun in my hands. I'll come looking for you.
"On the contrary, my choice (he put an emphasis on the word) is to believe that you and I have a lot more similarities then you are willing to admit." He said coldly, making Trinity look back at him again. "We're both killers, as we have proven on so many occasions…"
"I am nothing like you." Smith gave a twisted laugh.
"Once again, there is this denial we spoke of almost moments ago. And you're the best example for it. You know it's true. The humans have a phrase that opposites attract. Really kind of idiotic since they derived it from magnetism and applied it to relationships. The humans and the machines, if they really were so different would be completely compatible."
"Wow. I think I've seen a whole other side to you. You're not just a cold-blooded killer but a pop psychologist. My God you are surprising." Trinity had an air of annoyance present, trying to stop this futile conversation that was going nowhere. The Agent didn't seem to understand that the more he spoke, the more Trinity wished he would drug her into unconsciousness again.
"You're really quite aggravating to talk to."
"And you're aggravating to listen to. So just kill me or drug me or anything to spare me the 'sentimentality' of the machines." Smith didn't look hurt. In fact, he looked pleased.
"You ask for me to spare you, yet you bring every new member of the crew to visit your Oracle."
"That's not sentimentality."
"It's fate." He cut in. "Do you believe in fate?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because it's a scapegoat. It's just a comfort for those you don't know what to do."
"I would have thought it was a curse."
"I would ask you why, but I think that it's inevitable. You're never going to shut up." Trinity didn't care how rude she sounded. She didn't care about anything anymore. She could feel the drugs beginning to wear off. It was like every sense was just coming back into being.
Unplugged. Do you remember that Trinity?
"Yes." She murmured. Smith seemed curious as to her slurred mumble. He finished with the bandages, tying it tight to keep it on. Trinity held back on the pain, clenching her teeth as the throb started in her stomach. She shifted her arms on the pillow, pulling on the chains a little.
"Was it fate that Morpheus brought you to 'reality'?" Trinity opened her eyes, tugging on the cuffs again.
"I told you, fate doesn't exist."
"That's a very one sided opinion."
"Stop twisting my words!" She snapped. "What would you know? All you are is a set of 1's and 0's."
"I would know that you don't like fate because you're obsessed with control." Trinity snarled. Smith challenged back by placing a hand on her throbbing waist. Trinity clenched her teeth and closed her eyes as he applied a certain amount of pressure to it. "All humans are. And no matter how many mechanics are inside you in your reality, you're still just human."
"Did I sound like I was denying it?"
"You're denying a lot of things."
Trinity stopped talking. If I ignore him, he'll go away. He's looking for an audience.
Lord I want to kill him.
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Be brutal, once again.