Chapter Three: [Desert of the Real]

"Such destruction…" Neo whispered.

The Nebuchadnezzar had surfaced above the fields of growing humans. The three survivors sat silently sweeping the blackened sky and ground with their eyes. Trinity's hand found Neo's in the darkness and squeezed it tight.

"Why would they ever resort to something so drastic?" Neo asked out loud.

Trinity smiled faintly. "They were desperate. Desperate people do stupid things. In fifty years, they may think the same thing about our flight here and now. But we know it's something we must do."

Neo nodded. "I know."

"Let's go," Link said, reaching for their controls. The two tore their eyes away from the land beneath them and turned their attention to piloting the hovercraft.

"The city is coming up," Link announced a while later.

"Get ready," Neo said, slipping into his seat and buckling his harness around him. Trinity followed suit, taking the seat across from Neo.

"Movement," Link warned.

A mile or so ahead, the ancient program stumbled out of its sleep-like state. Nothing had dared to come anywhere near its area of oversight for so long that the memories of it had been recycled.

It ordered the defenses to prepare. Far away, the massive weapons lifted themselves from their earthly constraints and readied their own weapons.

"What are they doing?" Trinity asked.

"Preparing to fire," Neo answered tonelessly. Millions of points of light appeared on the horizon, growing larger by the second.

"Here they come."

Link slammed the controls down, forcing the hovercraft into a dive. The Neb swerved under the first barrage of missiles and came back up on a straight heading as the weapons ahead loosed a second salvo. Link went high this time, dodging them again, but the third volley was already well on its way. Link cut the power and the Neb fell straight down, barely missing the bombs. Link hit the power again near the ground and the Neb shot forward towards the machine city.

The machines, however, had seen enough. They had analyzed the data and shot out a fourth barrage of bombs, this time over a wider spread of air. Link swerved around one but took a nick on the rear of the Neb from another. The Neb went into an out-of-control spin, tumbling wildly through the air.

It came to a slow stop just in time for the passengers to see the tow bomb heading straight for their cockpit.

Trinity groaned softly and tried to open her eyes the whole way, failing completely. She reached down and tried to untie her harness, finding the metal had completely fused together from the heat of the attack.

She fumbled under her seat for the emergency knife and cut the ropes. She fell, slamming into the floor of the cockpit. Glancing around as her vision cleared, she realized she had been hanging upside down.

Probably why my head hurt…

"Neo? Link?"

No answer. Trinity's breath came a little faster. She was trapped, alone, in the darkness of the machine's territory.

Now's not the time, Trinity. Control yourself.

She gritted her teeth and began to search through the cockpit. She found Link lying under the pilot chair. She moved it aside and checked him for signs of life. Then she turned and looked for Neo. His chair was gone.

Neo awoke on the cold stone ground of the earth. The howling wind cut through his Zion uniform, chilling him to the bone. He pushed himself off the dirt and looked around for Trinity or Link.

No sign of either of them. He did, however, spot the wreck of the Nebuchadnezzar. He hurried towards it, ignoring the faint buzzing in the back of his mind.

A silent form entered the cockpit of the Neb. Trinity squinted, trying to make it out in the darkness.

"Neo?" she asked.

No verbal answer, but she saw the figure nod. It moved towards her, and she reached out, fumbling for a grip. Her hand finally came into contact with the other being's.

She instantly realized her mistake. The hand was cold and hard metal. She screamed as more metal hands grabbed her and carried her away.

Neo pushed open the side door, which fell off its hinges with a loud clang. He dropped inside the Neb and grabbed a flashlight and a small, one-shot plasma pistol from the emergency kit.

"Trinity!" he called, hoarsely, his throat dry. "Link!"

He heard a soft groan from the cockpit and hurried that way, shinging the flashlight.

The cockpit was a disaster. Small fires still burned in what was left of the original room. The chair where Neo had been sitting was no where to be seen. Trinity's chair was still intact, though, and Neo prayed he could find her alive.

Link lay on the floor of the cockpit, groaning. A large, red, scab covered the left side of his body.

"Something gored me in the crash," Link grunted. "The fire cauterized it."

Neo examined the wound.

"There's nothing you can do for me, friend…" Link breathed, coughing up a bit of blood.

"Link, have you seen Trinity?"

"She was in here when the Hunters came."

"Hunters?"

"New type of machine, one I'd only heard rumors about. They're supposed to be the ultimate human-killers."

"What happened to her?"

"They took her, Neo. Alive. Why, I don't know, but they took her. To 01."

"Thanks, Link."

The hologram unit nearby sputtered once and let out a shower of sparks. A blue light blinked weakly and then died.

"Sentinels," Link said. "Run, Neo, and I'll take out as many as I can."

Neo hit the earth ground with a thud. He rose to his feet and began to run towards a formation of caves, glancing behind him. The Sentinels were closing in on the downed hovercraft. One scanned it and flew past, towards the fleeing human in the distance.

Shit, they're ignoring it.

One small cannon on the Neb opened up on the lead Sentinel. It exploded in a shower of flame. Neo silently cheered for Link.

The other Sentinels converged on the ship, firing their lasers into it. The cannon terminal was cut in half. It lay silent as the horde turned towards Neo.

A sudden roaring sound overtook Neo. He glanced backwards, and caught a glimpse of death before a wave of powerful wind knocked him to the ground. He sat up and wiped his lip clean of blood, looking back to where the Neb had been.

Nothing. It was gone, with most of the Sentinels.

Link! Neo thought, almost despairing. They're all gone…I'm the last…

Four of the Sentinels, however, had survived the operator's trap. They came towards Neo, buzzing and clicking.

Now's not the time for mourning. That will come later.

He broke into another run for the nearby caves.

Neo reached the caves minutes before the Sentinels. He ducked inside one and grabbed a large rock, steadying himself. The first Sentinel showed itself at the opening, reaching a long tentacle into the cave. Neo fired his holdout weapon and the Sentinel spasmed and collapsed to the ground.

Neo lay back and watched as the Sentinel was dragged away. Two more faces appeared at the mouth of his cave, pushing their way in. He shined his flashlight directly on them and threw the first rock his hand found, braining one of the Sentinels on the head. It jerked around, slamming the other Sentinel away. Another sweeping tentacle hit a pillar of stone that Neo hid behind. He heard a rumble and knew the cave was about to collapse.

He ran outside, jumping over the three downed Sentinels. The fourth snapped around and midair and flew for him, slamming into his back and knocking him over. It circled around for another pass.

"No!" Neo yelled. He held out his hand and screamed, raw power surging through his body and into the oncoming Sentinel. It collapsed to the ground, all signs of life gone.

Neo climbed to his feet and took a step forward.

"Trinity…" he whispered.

He collapsed to his knees.

"Forgive…Me…"

He fell forward and hit the ground with a thud, eyes closed.