The girl, not much more than 18, walked with a purpose toward the two people watching the street below the building roof. They were looking for someone and that someone wasn't her. She smiled slightly, tossing her blonde-brown hair over her shoulder with a flick of her head. She was still far enough away that the keen senses of the warriors in black wouldn't know she was there, with or without the powers they each possessed, different but equally important. They turned at her footsteps, both ready to run, or fight.
"I'm looking for Trinity." Her voice was calm, almost cold and with the steel of someone hunted, someone looking for answers. The street cleared and a phone rang, shattering the silence. The woman reached into her coat, not breaking eye contact with the girl.
"Yes?" The woman said quickly, the man looked at his partner out of the corner of his eye and the girl smiled again. She knew that she had appeared suddenly on the operator's monitor and no warning had been given. It was a skill she was trying to enhance; it meant her survival at the moment.
"Tell your Op not to worry about not being able to see me, I'm hiding from some other Ops and I figured out how to avoid their eagle eyes." The woman raised a dark eyebrow, tilted her head and relayed the information to her contact. The phone was closed with a snap and a gun barrel leveled quickly at the girl's forehead.
"Give me one good reason not to kill you?" The woman demanded in her quietly deadly voice.
"The Oracle said you were the only one who could save me. She warned me that you wouldn't be willing at first but I don't have any other options. I'd rather you pulled the trigger than Locke getting his hands on me." For a moment neither spoke,
"You have seen the Oracle?" He sounded amazed, stunned in fact. The girl laughed.
"Yeah, she told me to find Trinity and ask her for help." Her focus again became the woman who had remained silent. " Apparently you went through a traitor situation before, but you knew who the culprit was. I don't."
"We don't have time for this. Tell me why you found me." She was curt and the gun was stilled aimed at the girl's head.
"I found you because I've been accused of murdering four members of the crew of the ship I was on. Three recruits and one seasoned member. The captain is still under medical observation and my little brother is missing, presumed dead. They think I did it, and I didn't, someone set us up." They looked at her in almost shock, their expressions closed and covered well. The girl titled her head to the side and suddenly spoke in a hushed whisper. "Agents are coming, you have to get out, find an exit and go. I'll be fine, they can't see me and if they do they don't care. If you want to help me meet with the Oracle, she'll know where I am." Her expression softened and her child-like features radiated fear and isolation. "Please Trinity. I need you." Without a word more she vanished, just as the sounds of heavy Agent footwear echoed on the concrete roof. Trinity cursed, matching strides with Neo as they prepared to leap to the next building top, heading for an exit not too far away.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Trinity, she appeared from nowhere and sounded like a program. I won't let you go in there."
"I'm the ranking officer here Neo, I won't let a girl who needs me die because of someone like Cypher! You would have told me if she was a program, you read her code." The pair were in the construct, they needed the space to argue this one out. Normally they talked in low tones and didn't need to inform others of their battles, but this time they could barely hold their temper, agreeing when Morpheus offered to let them use the construct to sort out their problem. The rest of the crew were avoiding them studiously. Trinity began to pace the quiet room, the walls bare plaster.
"You can't blame yourself for what Cypher did," Neo said, remembering with a sense of guilt, heavy as lead in his stomach, the taste of iron in his mouth, the day the Neb had lost so many.
"I'm not going to let an innocent die for something like that. The only reason Cypher wasn't punished was because he was dead Neo, they were looking for someone to blame, we were lucky Tank verified who the real culprit was. They might have wanted your blood, or mine, or even Morpheus'." He ran a hand through his dark hair, watching her, memorizing every detail.
"Whatever you decide we can't get her out. She's on another ship and one that won't give her up." In a moment she was on the phone to Link, the new operator,
"I need to talk to Morpheus." The captain appeared in the room, sunglasses on, face calm. "What ship is she on?"
"The Argive. Neo is right, they will not give her to you." Trinity swore softly, beginning to pace again. "But there is a way," He paused looking at Neo, the One, who he believed would save them all.
"Tell me." She said calmly now, if her captain was going to offer a suggestion then there was a way.
"Unfortunately Trinity, you cannot be the one to approach the Argive, they don't trust women and no matter how good a fighter you are, you are still a woman and therefore in great danger. I will not send you to them but I will get the girl here without bloodshed. Trust me Trinity." Her face had closed up like a steel door; devoid of all expression she nodded slightly and told Link to get her out. Morpheus placed a hand on Neo's arm when the other man would have followed a second after.
"She's upset Morpheus, I have to be there for her. I promised."
"You are the One Neo, those on the Argive will allow you to take the girl from their ship provided you can get her to an exit and we transfer her to the Neb."
"We? We're going to the Argive and bringing the girl back here, body and all?"
"Yes, I am going with you. I have been meaning to check on the ship in question for some time now." He smiled and vanished from the program, Neo pausing for a moment, swearing and shaking his head. But then, Morpheus was hardly ever wrong about anything. Link unplugged him a moment later. Opening his eyes he pondered what his captain had said before going to find Trinity. She was sitting on her bed glaring at the wall when he came in.
"Trin I…"
"What do you want Neo?" Her voice was colder than ice causing him to frown for a moment.
"Morpheus and I are going on a mission, we'll be away for a few days at the most. You're ranking officer." His smile wasn't humorous, it was a saddened version, repeating her words. He left her room silently, hating that he couldn't find a way to penetrate the shield she still carried with her. She didn't move until he had closed the door and the turning handle had fully shut. She looked up, took a deep breath and followed, going to get some of the goop they had to eat. For a brief second she thought she saw the girl sitting across from her, arms resting on the table with a smile on her face and laughter in her eyes. But it was only her imagination. She wasn't able to save her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The streets were cold and bare as she walked towards the house, which had become a comfort to her. A woman opened the door as she approached, smiling and showing her in. She would have to wait a few minutes before she could see the lady of the house so she watched as children played with floating blocks, bent spoons and arranged each other's hair without any products. She smiled slightly, wondering who would take care of them when they made it to the real world. She was called in.
"Ah, Trinity such a nice surprise." She smiled.
"You're not surprised I'm here." The other woman laughed,
"True, but I'm still glad you are. Take a seat, I just have to give these to the children." The tray was laden with cookies, the Oracle returned a few minutes later and sat down opposite her, smiling and looking like a grandmother.
"I came because…"
"Because you met Harregale, I know. Neo doesn't want you to risk yourself for the girl does he? I always knew he would fall in love in a very strong way." Trinity blushed slightly.
"He doesn't know I'm here, I have to help her, Harregale you said. She isn't dangerous."
"Not to you or others who will take care of her, no. But if you don't keep a promise then you're fair game. I suppose they forbid you to help her, silly of them, but then that's what men do to protect the ones they love."
"Morpheus should know better, I hate being treated like a child."
"I know, and so does he. All I can tell you is that she's safe. Such a small conciliation I know, but my last visitors were interested in her too. She moved quick as a fox when she heard them." A smile crossed the Oracle's lips. "I never knew a girl could cause so many problems. Ah well, you will see her soon Trinity. But be warned, you mustn't let Neo handle this alone, he doesn't realize what she is. No, she's not a program, just a very scared and independent girl. I think you'll like her. Why don't you make a bed up and see what the cat drags in?" Trinity raised an eyebrow silently.
"You're not going to tell me any more are you?" The Oracle laughed.
"No, I think you need to be surprised sometime dear. After all, you have your own decisions to make. Just don't let Neo go alone, he will try and you must stop him. We need him after this you know." Trinity smiled a little. "Yes, you know that. Sometimes I wish it could have been you but there you go, things don't always happen the way we plan do they?" She stood, offering the tray of cookies. "Here, have a cookie," The small smile stayed in place as Trinity completed the next part of the phrase.
"I promise by the time you're done eating it, you'll feel right as rain."
"That's my girl. Now you go and give my regards to that man of yours, I never have any good news for that boy do I?" Trinity didn't answer; there was no need for one, the question answering itself. She left silently, the same way she had come. Something caught her attention, flashing out of the corner of her vision, black and dark purple with blonde-brown hair. She turned quickly to see if she could catch the girl, but there was no one on the street bar her. Shaking her head she made her way to the exit already arranged. For once no Agents bothered her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"She's almost at the exit, you better hurry before she sees you." Link said over his shoulder. They nodded and moved silently down the ship's corridors. A door of a former crewmember was opened and the bed was, remarkably, made and waiting. A ghost of a smile past over the lips of the older man as they delivered their cargo and went back to their posts. They knew they couldn't hide things from her for long but she had been jacked in when they arrived, searching for an elusive programmer who was being tailed by Agents. She would be a little preoccupied with that for the next few days. The other man volunteered to unplug her, knowing that she would be glad to see him. She reached the exit when it happened. Sudden gunfire shattered the glass of the phone booth, the earpiece separated from the rest of the receiver. She swore and so did the others.
"How the hell did that happen?"
"They're not Agents, they're snipers."
"Someone still plugged in did that?" Trinity was running, hiding in the shadows. She hadn't used her phone yet.
"Got a trace on them, they're on her tail."
"I'm going in."
"No Neo, let her handle this herself. She will be alright." Morpheus was directing the operator to the nearest exit he could think of, Neo gripping the armrest to stop himself charging into the Matrix without a plan. The girl screamed from her room.
"I'll go." He dragged himself away quickly, knowing that he had only a moment to think of a plausible plan. The girl was lying perfectly still, blankets covering her completely. She was barely breathing, stopping when the door opened and he stepped in. "It's alright Arre, it's Neo." Her head appeared from amongst the scrappy covers.
"I didn't mean to scream." She murmured.
"It's alright, I'm just making sure you're ok. Trin would kill me if anything happened to you now."
"She doesn't know I'm here yet." She paused, assessing his expression. "Something's happened hasn't it?" The girl struggled out of bed, trying to stand on shaky legs. He offered his arm as support but she leaned on the wall, stumbling out of the door and down the hallway without assistance. Link looked up quickly before going back to the screens.
"How is she?"
"So far you have nothing bar a sniper to worry about, the cops haven't come to investigate and the Agents are busy elsewhere. She got hit in the shoulder though, that guy is going to be dead as soon as she finds him." The shooter appeared in code and the girl covered a scream with her hand.
"What is it Harregale?" The captain asked.
"It's my brother, my little brother is shooting at her." Neo almost snapped. The phone finally rang.
"Got an exit all set up," Link gave her the coordinates and monitored her progress on the screens. Morpheus was sitting with the girl.
"Tell me about your brother."
"His name in the Matrix was David, but he loved the Knights of the Round table so now he's Tristan, a little known of knight. He loves to play video games and pretend he's part of them. He's the class clown and makes people laugh. He was in grade 5, he was born 2 months early and he's 10 years old, 8 years younger than me. He was grabbed by this woman, black hair, brown eyes, medium height. I couldn't stop her and I haven't seen him since it happened." No one breathed as Trinity reached for the ringing phone.
"I think it's time you went back to bed." Morpheus said quietly, lifting her with the ease of someone picking up a child. "You need to sleep so you're strong enough to help us find your brother." He nodded to Neo as he passed; making sure the other man realized the girl had nothing to do with the attack. She said nothing, falling asleep before being tucked into the bed and being plugged into an IV drip. Link stood at the doorway.
"I sure hope you know what you're doing, I don't think Neo wants to help anymore."
"He will. It's not the girl's fault and indeed we have more of a need to help her. If we discover who has her brother then we may find the one who killed the others." Link sighed, following the captain as he stepped out of the room and shut the door.
"You're the captain." The other man smiled.
"Yes, and you are my Operator. I'm glad you're still part of the crew."
"I made a promise Sir, I won't be breaking that." It was acknowledged with a nod and they stepped back into the lighted section of the ship. Neo and Trinity were gone, the bloodstain covered with a grubby piece of fabric. Link sighed and he and Morpheus cleaned the chair, allowing the other two members of their ship to communicate without them.