Okay, before we begin this chapter I have to warn you. There is the teensiest bid of naughty language in this chapter, but it is in context so I suppose it's not that bad. Also I don't recommend anyone who is sensitive about cloning or cancer (sort of) to read this, because you may not appreciate it. So on with the chapter, after I left that oh-so-mean cliff hanger for you all. lol

P.S. You better enjoy this chapter, because I spilt tea all down my best jumper while writing it. Damn it!

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Glittering white surfaces, everywhere. The entire building seemed to gleam with a well-polished ceramic. Clinical. Even the people shone white. Long sweeping coats, glossy shoes, white hat. They were all the same. A clipboard in hand, striding up and down the corridors and wards, making notes, checking, testing, examining, adjusting, checking again. No one knew (apart from the people in the building) that this medical world existed. No one realised the precision that was taking place under their feet. An underground laboratory. No one knew. That was the whole point. A secret laboratory. Imagine that. You don't have to. It's real.

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I do not remember what my first thoughts were. I didn't realise what was happening at first. I thought I was dead. I'd just fallen over 400 feet. You'd think you were dead too. The whole point is I should have been dead. But I wasn't. I didn't have a clue what to think or feel.

I remember looking up, and seeing five or six faces peering down at me, obscured by a pink goop. I felt something niggling at the back of my mind. This was far too familiar. I'd been in this position before.

Then I saw it. No. It couldn't be. I was back in a pod. I sat upright, and ripped off my mask. I looked at the people gathered around me. I took in where I was. I was back in the Matrix. How could this happen? I couldn't take it all in. I broke down and cried. I could feel my body convulsing with stress. How could this happen? I didn't understand. How? Why me? I was supposed to be dead. I'd rather be dead than back here. As I began to retch, one of the people grabbed hold of me.

"Well come on." He said. "We can't just leave her sat in this pod. Let's get her cleaned up."

Nobody moved. They were all gaping at me like a Zoo animal.

"Fine I'll do it myself." His strong arms lifted me up, and he wrapped a towel around me. "Come on, you'll be Okay."

He took me into a little side room. I was stiff and my eyes are hurting already. I gave in, as he dried me off and put a drip in me. Covering me with the clean white medical sheets he rigged me up to a heart monitor.

"Sleep Aquila." He said. "I'm going to look after you. I understand you must be feeling very confused. You have to rest before we can explain. Don't worry, this is the Real World. I know you will find it hard to believe that, but it's the truth."

I knew this is the Real World. The Matrix was like a dream for me, as was Zion, though not as much. This wasn't. Not one bit. I began to relax, sleep overwhelming me. I sank further into the pillows and drifted off.

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The girl was being monitored by CCTV. On the screen, the room seemed bare, apart from a window, a bed and her. This peaceful scene had been the same for the last week and a half, bar the few hours the doctors had entered to work on her Atrophied muscles. Now, however, that peacefulness of her slumber was about to be shattered.

Her eyes snapped open. They swept the clinical ceiling, taking in where she was. The panic dawned on her face. Where was she? What had happened? Then the realisation took over.

"I threw myself off that balcony. I've woken up here. I've just been in a coma for nearly two weeks. I have no idea why, or what's been going on in this hellhole. All I know is, this isn't normal."

She sits up and screams. Screams that are more for show than out of terror. She doesn't know how to react, because there are too great a variety of emotions taking over her body. Her screams lasted a good thirty seconds, until the clatter of running feet could be heard too.

The doctor who had carried her from her pod burst through the door, accompanied by a nurse.

"Aquila!" He shouts over the noise. "Aquila calm down! It's okay; I'm here now. Please don't make so much noise. Hush, you're fine."

He sits down on the bed and takes her in his arms, rocking gently to calm her. Eventually her cries quieten to sobs, muffled by the Doctor's shoulder.

"I understand that you must be feeling terrible. I can't begin to imagine how this has affected you. Thankfully I've never been in your position, but I know I have a lot of explaining to do. What has been going on here is top secret, no one knows about this lab. It has to stay that way. When you've calmed down I'm going to tell you what's been going on here.

After a while her tears stop, and she takes several deep breaths. Just when he thought Aquila was going to stay silent, she spoke.

"Tell me, you bastard. What the hell have you done to me?"

He looks her straight in the eye and begins to explain.

"A while ago," he says, "the Government started this laboratory. Originally we just tested on animals. Our aim was to find out more about the brain works, and which parts are used the most. This research was very important because a growing number of a certain disease was being reported. Many more people were falling prey to brain cancer than ever before. People were worried about this illness. Our results with the animals were inconclusive. Their brain patterns differed too much from human brain usage. Therefore, we finally received permission to clone a selection of people. If someone cloned a person, for bone marrow or whatever, rather than killing the clone, while they were still young they were sent here, and this is where we plugged them in."

"I'm a clone?" Aquila gasped.

The Doctor nodded and continued.

"Originally there was just The Matrix. It was designed to be exactly like this Real World. At first everything went well, but too many people refused the program. Therefore we created a second program, Zion. In the beginning Zion was just like The Matrix, but no one accepted that, because they didn't have a reason for Zion to exist. Zion didn't have a purpose that they could see. So we decided to redesign Zion to what it is today. Coupled with the explanation for its existence, people accepted the program. We figured that there was a one in 10,000 chance that someone would come along who would refuse both programs. We didn't think that anyone would be that one. The chance was too slim. Anyway, it turns out that we were wrong. Chance obviously doesn't like us."

He gives a little smile.

"But then there was you. Your mind is so resistant. Whereas others were happy for us to monitor the brain's responses, you're fought from day one. The others didn't believe me, but I knew you would be that one from day one."

The nurse looked up from checking the girl.

"Everything seems to be in order." She snapped curtly.

"Thank you, Sister." The Doctor replied. Turning back to Aquila, he continued. "So there you have it. That's why you're here, and that's what's been going on. The aim of the research was to see if any of the brain was unused, thus meaning if that area became cancerous we could remove it. It seems all of the brain is used at sometime, even just for natural reflexes. Therefore you were the last person to be plugged in, our research is being shut down."

He gives a little shrug.

"You are welcome to stay here for as long as you like. I have a spare room in my living quarters. You can live with me."

"I'd like that." Aquila's strength leaves her, and she slumps on the pillows. Within half a minute she's asleep. The Doctor leaves her there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------

I've been here for a year, with my friend the Doctor. He is just like Kid. Every time I see the Doctor a little smile comes to my lips. I can't help thinking of the program I loved as my brother.

Apart from those times, however, I feel like I'm drowning in despair. My trust in everyone and everything has been shattered. I'm constantly remembering or dreaming about my life in The Matrix or Zion. It is getting to me. I keep waking in the night, drenched in a cold sweat. The Doctor runs in after a few seconds, drawn by my screams. I hate looking at the same white clinical walls, day after day. He knows this. That's why he arranged my trip outside.

Walking past the skyscrapers I acknowledge just how much The Matrix is like this. Tears prick my eyes. I was ready to die once. I still would rather be dead than live this nightmare that tortures my mind every waking moment, and most of the time I'm asleep too. Before I know it I can't control myself. I burst into sobs and tear my arm out of the Doctor's. I'm off, running down the street. I don't know where I am, until I notice the swirling water below me. The surface of the river looks so glassy in the twilight. It looks so calm compared to my life. I clamber up onto the wall of the bridge and spread my arms, so I look like I'm about to be strapped to a cross.

I was willing to die once. Now I'm not just willing. I want to.

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"Aquila! Stop!" The Doctor's voice tears through the night. "Please stop!" The terror in it is obvious.

His pleas, however, go completely unheeded.

The girl on the bridge begins to lean forwards, and then tumbles into the river below.

This time, it was the end.