Author's Note: All right… I've taken way too long to update this fic… Sorry… Many, many apologies! Oh, by the way, this chapter has a spoiler for The Matrix Reloaded.

Title: Memories of Times Past

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Some later, maybe. Of course, it's a movie, so you should have seen it before reading about it...

Summary: Switch and Apoc's lives before and after they were freed—before Neo.

Disclaimer: If I owned the movie, do you think I'd be wasting my time doing this?

Setting: This story is set before the movie, of course.

*** = setting change

italics = thoughts

~Reality~

*Switch's Point of View*

I woke up, finding myself in a bunch of gooey stuff. What the…? There were all these tubes sticking into me. Suddenly, they released me, and I struggled to breathe.

Then, somehow, I got sucked into a tube or something. Before I could even scream or anything, I went whooshing around who-knows-where. Then—

***

I woke up (again). I looked at myself and saw that I was wearing raggedy clothes. I looked around.

There was a guy about my age sitting a few feet away from me. He was the one who had told me to get into the car that took me to Morpheus, but he looked different. His clothes were of much poorer quality than the clothes he had been wearing before.

"Where are we?" I asked him.

"Morpheus will explain everything to you. He's busy right now. I was just supposed to be watching you until you woke up," he replied.

"Oh." My head hurt. I reached up a hand to touch it, and realized that I was bald. "What happened to my hair?"

"Don't worry. It'll grow." He gestured to the top of his own head.

I nodded. It didn't matter about my hair, really. I was glad it was gone, just like my mother was. I put a hand behind my neck. A metal hole was there… This is one crazy situation I've gotten yourself into, I thought. I glanced at the guy. Might as well make the best of this. "I'm… Switch."

"Apoc." He had been looking at the floor, but now he was looking at me.

I asked, "So what is the Matrix, really?"

"I'm not the right person to ask. I don't understand it too well yet."

I nodded. The two of us were silent for a few minutes.

Then the door opened, and Morpheus came into the room.

"Switch?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"How do you feel?"

"Not that great."

Apoc stood up. "That's how we all feel," he said.

"Come with me, Switch," Morpheus said.

I got up and followed him as he showed me around the ship, introducing me to people. I met Trinity, who had been "unplugged" from the Matrix about a year ago. I discovered that Apoc had only been freed about two or three months ago. I met Tank and Dozer, the brothers who had been born in the real world. I met many people that day, most of them like me, with holes in their bodies.

After the introductions, Morpheus talked to me alone. He tried to explain what the Matrix was and what he and his comrades did. They wanted to free the people in the Matrix so that they would understand the truth. I still wasn't entirely sure what he was talking about, but he said that was okay. I would understand soon enough.

After a while, I got hungry. Morpheus took me to the mess hall.

"What the hell is this?" I asked, referring to the colorless goop on the table in front of me.

Dozer gave me his scientific explanation. I was not impressed. And I was beginning to think that maybe it hadn't been such a great idea to take the red pill.

***

I started training the next day. I learned all the boring stuff first. Then Tank started me on combat training. I wasn't that good at it, but I wasn't terrible at it either. Still, I didn't feel competent at anything until I experienced a training simulation in which I had a gun.

Morpheus wanted to see how I handled myself with a gun, so the two of us entered the simulation together. I was rather good at it, I think. I was able to hit stationary targets, moving targets, swift targets, everything. I guess Morpheus thought so too, because he said to me, "You're a natural with a firearm."

"Thanks."

"Freeze it."

The program froze.

Morpheus looked at me. "You have an aptitude for this. Just like Apoc."

"Apoc?" I echoed.

"Yes, he has the same talent that you have." He studied me. "I think you'll make a good lookout."

***

A week later, I was in my quarters, not doing much of anything, when I heard my name being called.

"Switch."

I looked up. Apoc was standing just outside the chamber. "What do you want?" I asked.

"You busy?" he asked, not put off at all.

"No. Why?" I answered coldly.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to eat with me."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it's no fun eating in the mess all alone," he said. "Better to have company, don't you think?"

I wanted to tell him off, but I stopped myself. This was a strange new reality. Who knew when I might need friends? "Fine," I said, walking toward him. "But don't except me to say much. I hate small talk."

Apoc just nodded and smiled slightly.

***

Trinity came into the mess hall just as Apoc and I finished our "lunch."

"Hey." She sat down next to me, across from Apoc.

"Hey."

"We have to report to Morpheus," she said.

"Now?" Apoc asked.

"Soon. Finish eating first. You'll need your energy." Trinity looked significantly at the two of us. "We're going into the Matrix."

***

Once we were assembled, Morpheus filled us in. The target was a teenage girl whom Morpheus had been in contact with for a few days.

Niobe came with us. She and Morpheus had an argument about it first, but she won.

Once we were all there, we set out in search of the girl, who was on the run. The agents were on her tail, and we needed to get to her before they did.

When we got to the building where the girl was hiding, Niobe gave us instructions. "I'll go in and talk to her," she said. "Switch and Apoc, you stay here and keep a lookout. Trinity, come with me."

Trinity followed her inside.

I turned my head away from Apoc to watch for any signs of danger. When I glanced back in his direction, however, I found that he was staring at me. "What?" I asked, slightly irritated.

"Are you always this professional?" he asked mildly.

"I try to be," I answered shortly.

He made another attempt at conversation. "What made you pick the name Switch?"

I thought about it. "I guess I just wanted to switch my life off and get a better one." I paused. "Plus, the people I used to hang out with said that when I was at a computer, I would just switch into another mode."

Addressing my earlier comment, he asked, "What was so terrible in your life?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but I didn't get a chance to, because the door behind us suddenly flew open. Trinity, Niobe, and the girl, Dysk, came out.

"Let's go," Niobe said.

***

Two minutes later, the five of us were running our tails off.

"What—what's going on?" Dysk asked, panting. "Who—what are—?"

"Agents," Niobe replied. "Let's just say they're not very nice."

"This place is too damn crowded!" Trinity yelled. "They could be anywhere!"

"Just run!"

I heard gunshots.

"Hell," Apoc said, turning his head quickly to look behind him. "Switch!"

I glanced at him.

"Behind that dumpster," he said. "Turn and shoot."

We made an abrupt turn and began firing at the agents. After we'd gotten them, we caught up to Trinity, Niobe, and Dysk.

Dysk must have been getting tired, because after a little while, she began lagging behind.

I turned to see how she was doing and saw an agent right behind her! He was off to her right a little bit, so I took my chances and fired. My aim was off, though, and I didn't hit him. "Damn," I muttered. "Missed."

Before I could call for assistance or do anything else, the agent snapped the girl's neck.

I kept running. I told the others what happened, and we ran to where we were supposed to meet Morpheus. We burst into the room where Morpheus and some of the other crewmembers were waiting.

"What happened?" Morpheus demanded. "Where is she?"

"We lost her," Trinity gasped. "We have to get out of here. They're coming."

One by one, we each left the Matrix and awoke on the Nebuchadnezzar.

Niobe went to her quarters in silence. Trinity looked down at the floor, also very quiet. Apoc stared at the back of Tank's head. And I, not knowing where else to look, looked at Morpheus.

"It was my fault," I said. "If I hadn't missed—"

"Switch, in this line of work, some people are bound to be lost," Morpheus said. "It's saddening, but we have to accept it and move on. Blaming yourself—or anyone else—isn't going to help."

***

A few weeks later, Morpheus called us once again to enter the Matrix.

"Switch, Apoc." Morpheus stood before us. "I'm taking you to see the Oracle." He looked at Trinity. "Trinity, you'll come along too, in case there's any trouble."

Trinity nodded, glancing at me and Apoc.

***

So we went to see the Oracle. Apoc went in first. Trinity, Morpheus, and I seated ourselves in the waiting room.

I asked Trinity, "The Oracle—did you see her too?"

"Yes," she replied.

"What did she tell you?"

"I'd rather not say."

From the other side of her, Morpheus said, "The Oracle is very wise. You'll see that when you meet her."

We were silent until Apoc came out. He looked at me a little strangely as I got up and he took my place.

"Hello, Switch," said the old woman as I entered the room.

"You're the Oracle."

"My, but you're observant, aren't you?" She nodded toward the chair in front of me. "Care to sit down?"

I sat. "Why am I here?" I asked.

"You know why you're here," she answered. "You hope that I'll say something profound that will make your life less miserable. Sorry, hon." She smiled apologetically.

"Just tell me what you have to say."

"Love hasn't done anything but hurt you," she said. "You don't have much faith in its power. You and he are very alike when it comes to love."

"He?" I asked, puzzled.

The Oracle grinned. "Don't worry. You'll figure it out. Look, you and I both know that you aren't the most important person in the world. You won't be as appreciated as much as you should be. Still, you'll make a difference. One person in particular will be greatly affected by your presence."

"Who?" I asked.

She lit a cigarette. "If I told you, that would ruin the surprise, now wouldn't it?"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: I hope that was good…