"Morpheus," I say quietly. "I don't care what happens to me, but you need to tell me you won't let them get her." I say, pressing my hand tightly against hers.
"Em, please," Sherin says quietly.
"No, Sherin," I say gently, "I got you into this. I'm going to do everything to get you out, whether or not I do."
"Em." Morpheus says, his strong hand on my shoulder. "We are going to make it."
We start running again. Further, out of the stock yards and lots of warehouses and toward the docks in the harbor. As we run Morpheus's phone starts ringing. He holds up his hand and we stop running for a moment, panting. He clicks his phone open and then says deeply, "Operator?"
There's a pause.
"Only one?" He glances quickly toward us.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Alright. We'll Hurry."
He puts away his phone, and then turns to us. "Sherin," he says, taking off his glasses to look at her, "we need to get you out of here. Right now I can only take Em with us. It's hard to explain why at this moment, but will you take my word that we will come back for you?"
She swallows hard and nods.
"Very well," Morpheus says. "Sherin you need to get on a ferry that's leaving here in five minutes. It's a few docks to the left of here. Dock 5-A." He pulls out a wallet from his trench coat and hands her a few bills. "You've got to run as fast as you can to catch it. Once you're on board try not to look suspicious. Get some water, calm down. We'll contact you as soon as is humanly possible. If your parents ask you where you were, you've got to tell them that you were shopping. Pick some things up on the way home if you want to, there's enough money there for anything you'll need. Don't rush home. Act as if all you were doing was shopping. You've got to be very, very careful Sherin." He says, his hand on her shoulder. "Are you ready?" he says.
"Yes." She musters, putting on a brave face and taking my hand. "I love you." she says softly and kisses me quickly.
"I'll see you soon!" I call back as she runs into the night.
"I love you." I whisper under my breath.
"Em. Now you and I have to run."
We dash along the docks in the opposite direction of Sherin.
"Where are you taking me?" I pant as we run.
"You'll find out soon." He says. "Somewhere. Real." He adds, spurring me on and increasing his pace.
We run for a while longer. My legs feel as if they're about to give out when suddenly we slow to a walk.
"Quickly." Morpheus says. He leads me into a small shipyard warehouse. There, I'm amazed to see more computers and things set up.
Still more amazed am I, to see Switch and Apoch standing there.
"Where's Trinity?" Morpheus says, sounding, for the first time this night, afraid.
"She's back out. Got nicked by a few bullets, but she'll be alright." Switch says, handing him a small metal case.
Morpheus nods, looking relieved and then takes the metal case in his hands and sits me down in the corner of the room.
"Em." He says gravely. "We don't have much time, but in this amount of time, I need you to make a very important choice."
I nod, not fully understanding what he asks.
"Do you want to know the truth?" He says. "And not just a slight wanting," he adds. "Do you hope for it and pray for it, above all else. Does it occupy your thoughts? Does the idea of the real truth about the world fill your heart with hope?"
"It's the only hope I have." I say. Now that Sherin's gone, I think in afterthought.
Morpheus pauses. He looks at me seriously and then opens the little metal box that Switch gave him. He turns it upside down in his hand and two small objects fall out.
He closes his hands before I can glimpse them, and I look back into his eyes. "Now is the time when you make the choice, on what you will accept as your truth." He says, his hands unfolding.
Sitting, candy bright in either hand, are two pills. One is red and one blue.
