Neo awoke to the sound of thunder. He looked up at the sky to see the dark clouds boiling overhead. He shoved himself to his feet and looked around.
The last thing he could remember was the Sentinels. And the Hunter.
Trinity.
He glanced around but didn't see the Sentinel's bodies anywhere near the caves. Come to think of it, the caves seemed somehow different, too.
Neo began to stagger back towards the wreck of the Nebuchadnezzar, climbing inside the hold and slowly making his way to the cockpit. Link's corpse was nowhere to be seen. He scanned the cockpit for anything that could help him, medical supplies or weapons so he could go and find Trinity-
Stop it. The only chance you'll have is getting help from Zion. And the only chance that'll happen is if you either repair the ship – unlikely – or call for help.
Neo had a pounding headache in behind his forehead. He rubbed it irritably, trying to relieve the pain.
He leaned forward and hit the radio button. It exploded in a shower of sparks, sputtering briefly.
"Hello? Can anyone hear me? Hello?" There was a slight burst of static, and the radio went dead. Neo waited in silence for a long time.
After a long wait, the radio crackled to life. Over the air, Neo heard a voice he had never heard before, but one that was somehow familiar to him.
"Hello? Who's there?"
Neo eagerly hit the button. "This is the Neb. We're down and the crew is dead. I'm the only survivor. Who is this?"
"Hang on," the voice said. "We'll come get you."
The man signed off before Neo could respond. Neo settled down to wait with a nagging doubt at the back of his mind.
It was minutes until he realized what was wrong. The man had never asked where he was. He had just said, "We'll come get you." Who was "we"? And how did they know where Neo was? And why didn't they seem the least bit curious about what had happened to Neo?
Neo climbed out of the wreckage and looked across the land. He saw a group of three humans approaching him, walking strangely. As they came closer, he realized they were not humans at all.
"Oh my God…" Neo said.
They were half humans on one side, but the other side was completely metal. Their left eye was a blinking red socket and their left arm was a large circuit board. The metal stretched across their chests and down their left leg to the ground.
One spotted Neo and pointed. The three broke into a loping run, going faster than Neo had ever seen any human run. Neo scrambled down the Neb and ran for the caves.
Two more of the strange creatures appeared from nearby the caves. They had cut off his retreat. Neo wheeled around, dashing back for the Neb. He hit his foot on a lose rock and fell, hitting the ground with a thud.
A large group of the creatures appeared from the other side of the ship. Neo pushed himself to his feet and felt a strong hand grab him…a metal hand. The creature pulled him close and looked into his eyes.
"Let's take him back," he said. "They'll want to question him."
The others nodded.
They dragged him over the plains back towards a large vehicle, similar to a hovercraft. Instead of hover pads spread evenly over the body, it had two wings that the pads were spaced under.
They took him aboard and their leader led him back to a small room and sat him down in a chair.
"What's your name?" the creature asked.
"My name is…" Neo began. When he paused, the creature slammed his metal hand into Neo's cheek.
"Answer!"
"Phoenix!" Neo choked out. "My name is Phoenix!"
"Very well…Phoenix. What faction are you from? And how did you get by our scouts and arrive at the Nebuchadnezzar crash site?"
Neo blinked. "Faction?"
The creature tapped a foot impatiently against the floor.
"Don't toy with me, rebel. What faction?"
Neo felt the generators begin to come online. The ship lifted into the air and began to move with startling speed.
"Answer."
"I…I was going to 01."
The creature looked shocked. "01? Why?"
"To save Zion."
The creature looked at him blankly. He opened the door and left the room, swinging it shut behind him. It bounced on the frame and stayed open. What Neo heard made his blood run cold.
The creature returned and interrogated him further. Finally, he left, allowing Neo to get some sleep.
"Wake up, human!"
Neo was yanked from his chair and forced into the cockpit. The vehicle had stopped, hovering over a large body of dark water.
"Lake Michigan," the creature said. "We're told
it's highly acidic no…too much so for human flesh. Tell us what you know or
we'll find out if that's true."
Neo had opened his mouth when another one of the half human's
interrupted.
"Sir, we have rebels on the southern shore!"
"Bring us about," the leader snapped. "Destroy them!"
The aircraft turned and shot towards the shore, arriving there quickly. It lowered to near-ground level and back slowly creaked open. Three of the half humans jumped to the ground, holding plasma guns.
"Where are they?"
"No life forms detected…must have been a false reading."
"Let's get back aboard…AH!"
The ground beneath the three beasts gave away. Humans – true humans – appeared from all around, opening fire on the aircraft with strange weapons. Three of them concentrated fire on one wing, while a fourth ran up to the ship and jumped on board.
"Go!" the creature yelled. The cockpit emptied as the remaining fighters went to combat the human. The leader grabbed the controls and turned so the cockpit faced the humans, opening the trigger. Bullets cut through the air, taking down two of the fighters.
"Interceptors!"
The leader glanced up to see two similar craft approaching. Bullets cracked into the side of the wing. The ship began to spin out of control. Neo slammed his shoulder into the leader, driving him out and through the windshield.
The ship hit the ground with a crash and everything went black.
"Hello? Hello?"
Neo groaned and looked into a human face.
"Are you Phoenix?"
"Yes," Neo said, climbing to his feet with the help of the human. They walked back outside, where six other humans stood.
"I found him, Kid," Neo's rescuer said, saluting a man older than the rest. The man looked at Neo strangely.
"Have we met?"
"I don't think so."
"I'm Raven," said a woman with black hair, reaching forward to shake his hand. "Welcome. What faction are you from?"
Neo shook his head.
"I don't know what's going on here. I don't know what those things were, or what this craft is. I don't know where I am. I don't know who you are. I have no idea what faction I'm from."
"Where are you?" Raven laughed. "Welcome to Babylon, the last human city."
"Babylon?"
"Yep."
"Have any of you ever heard of a city called Zion?"
There was scattered mutterings throughout the crowd. The older man stepped forward and stood in front of Neo, looking into his eyes.
"I was from Zion."
"Was?" Neo asked, dreading the answer.
"Phoenix, Zion was destroyed almost twenty years ago."