"It seems that there is something about the boy, Fabian, that is the key to her both in the Matrix and in this world." Morpheus said, watching the other members of the crew with interest. "I have heard of such connections but never seen them for myself. It is very much like they do not know what to do without the other, I am still trying to find the boy, he has been on a ship for a long time, not returning to Zion recently."

"The only ship like that is the Argive." Trinity said softly. "That's why she looked so confident when we met her."

"There is a problem, the Argive has disappeared, there has been no communication since we brought Harregale here." The silence was deafening.

"Load me up." Trinity said in a cold voice.

"Why?" Neo asked.

"I want to be the one to tell her we can't get her out until we know how she got in." She stood, Morpheus holding out a hand to still her.

"No Trinity. We can get her out, and we can do it at any time, the appearance of the seats and the computer indicate that things may be inserted at the discretion of the those inside. We need to find the program she mentioned, I believe it will shed light on an otherwise dark subject." With that he dismissed them, turning to walk back to his room, no doubt to find the Argive and Fabian Fleetshadow. Trinity sat down at the table where they ate, staring slightly blankly into the air around her. Morpheus had made her think. What would happen if they never found the boy, what if he was dead? The sounds that normally made her feel comfortable on the hovercraft made her skin crawl, they sounded alien, unfamiliar, unyielding. Neo sat next to her, his hand finding hers, fingers touching ever so softly. The questions changed, what if something happened to Neo? What if it was her inside that black construct and Neo so far away she couldn't feel him? What if he had been missing for 118 days? What if he was dead? She shuddered under her worn clothes, knowing his eyes were clouding, becoming darker with worry. She closed her blue-greys for a moment, just letting the contact of hands warm her. How would it feel to loose this?

"Trinity?" His voice was soft, filled with so many things she opened her eyes and looked into his.

"I have to talk to her, I have to know what she had with him." He didn't answer for a moment.

"Why?" She smiled, he asked that a lot, about everything. He had such a thirst for knowledge.

"I can see myself in her Neo, I can see the me that lost you in her eyes."

"You will never loose me."

"I used the past tense Neo. I lost you for only a few minutes, she has lost someone for over 100 days. If they were her you…" She tried to explain, the words locked in her throat. "I just have to know Neo, it's one of those things." Her eyes started to harden and he knew that she was imagining what it would feel like to be without him, she always closed up when it started to hurt. He nodded softly,

"I'll Op if you like."

"No, I want to see you when I open my eyes here." Without a word he understood. There was a truth to face in the black world, the black backdrop that hid things from view. They walked quietly to the open section of the ship; the girl still plugged in because she didn't want to leave that safety.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Trinity appeared suddenly, looking around for the girl but seeing only buildings, trashcans and empty boxes, the sky hidden from view by stairways and washing and roofs. She frowned, Neo had said there was nothing in this place. She pulled out her phone.

"Operator."

"Link, what's happened?"

"It looks like the construct is running underneath a program, the whole thing is in code, not as complicated as the Matrix, but too complicated to decode into visuals." She swore.

"Where's Arre?"

"You head straight down the street you're on you should find her." On swift feet she headed down the alley, wondering why she felt so worried. She heard the voices then, teenagers, probably around the same age as Arre.

"You want it, come and get it." A guy said, makings kissing noises.

"Give me back my plant." The voice was calm and cold, causing Trinity to almost miss a step. When had the girl ever sounded like that?

"I've already told you Anna darling, you give me a kiss, I'll give you the plant."

"Go to hell." There was a scuffle and Trinity pushed ahead faster, unable to see anything except bricks and bins. A cry, held back, touched the air.

"Stupid bitch!" The male voice screamed, "you bit me, you fucking bit me!" He seemed incredulous.

"I told you to give me back my plant." Shattering terracotta echoed in the air, along with a loud and heartfelt denial. Cruel laughter mocked the girl and then the world warped. Trinity stopped running, trying to steady herself, she swore, the buildings dissolving into the blackness she had been told about. The girl was on her knees, tears wracking her body as she cradled a depotted rose.

"Arre!" The woman called, watching as the girl raised her tear-stained face to meet her gaze.

"It's all I had left of him, Majesty, they pulled up the one at school, it's all I had left…" She trailed off, eyes dropping back to the plant. Trinity was glad she had learnt to control her features, since when had she become royalty?

"Tell me about him." She kneeled beside the girl, a hand resting on her shoulder.

"He was everything to me, especially after we started to find out about the Matrix. He was my other half, Majesty, he made me whole." She tried to explain, tried to get the words out in a way Trinity would understand. "He was my One."

"Neo is the One."

"Yes, but he's also your One, see?" She looked up, the tears stopping slowly. "I keep remembering what happened before I was unplugged and I miss him, I can't help it, I miss him so much." That was all the woman needed, the simpleness of the explaination shook her inside. Neo was the One, but he was more, he was her One. She almost swore. Sometimes being right wasn't a good thing. The shook her head, fingering the slowly dying leaves. "But I'm stronger than this, I can beat this." She took a deep breath and her hard eyes met Trinity's. "Find me an exit and I'll do what I can for you until I'm relocated. I don't think Morpheus wants to keep me forever." Her smile was wry, cynical, teasing.

"We're currently finding the program you mentioned. What did you want us to know about it?"

"It's worked itself into the construct, or atleast this version of it. I need to see the original version so I can get the mutation out of the main drives. I know you or Link or Neo or even Morpheus could do it, but it's my responsibility. If you get stuck in the program, which can happen because of a fault the programmer didn't rectify, you can die for real. I won't let that happen." The woman was slightly shocked, they had run so many system checks and diagnostics that there was no way a rogue program could have found a way to hide. Her phone rang.

"We have trouble, the Argive crew mutinied and one of the recruits is reported dead. We found him, Trinity," Neo said softly. "Fabian is dead." Her face was composed and the girl didn't suspect a thing.

"I have to go, there are sentinels in the area," it wasn't exactly a lie, "I'll get you an exit and you can help keep this ship safe." Harregale nodded, eyes lighting with the implication that they may need her help. The telephone appeared off to Trinity's right.

"Let's go." They came out quickly, and it was discovered that the dark haired warrior had been right, as soon as their feet touched the metal floor the proximity alarm triggered. All crew hurried to their respective posts and the ship was sunk in darkness, the only light the glowing red belonging to the destroyers.