A/N: Sorry about the delay in getting up the other chapters you've already read. I've changed

them up a bit, as you probably noticed. Basically I merged the first two chapters, and from here

on its different. I'm starting over! (If you haven't already, you might wanna check out the AN in

the first chapter, which has been slightly altered)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Matrix. Do you?

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Chapter Two

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Two ships, two crews. Providence, Morpheus would call it. Destiny, fate, whatever. In

any case, the Nebuchadnezzar and the Logos arrived in Zion only hours apart, the latter being the

first to dock.

Niobe led her two-man crew off the ship, stopping momentarily to glance at the

mechanics already moving in on her "baby." Carrying supplies with evident carelessness, they

dropped their tool boxes just inside the door, and started dumping the parts they'd need onto the

floor.

"Hey watch that!" Niobe called, glaring at the repairmen who had been waiting for their

arrival, "That thing ain't a toy."

Ghost and Sparks exchanged knowing smiles, amused by their captain's protectiveness

when it came to the Logos. She refused to let anyone else fix anything in the cockpit, and was

nervous enough when Sparks had to repair something ANYwhere- no matter how minor. Now

that she left her ship in the hands of strangers, it was clear that she didn't want to leave.

"Niobe," Ghost drew her attention away from the ship, "Didn't the Commander want to

speak with you?"

She nodded silently, turning around hesitantly and putting her back to the mechanics, "I

just don't want to leave her with those idiots," she glowered, referring to the Logos once again as

a person.

After one final glance over her shoulder, Niobe turned and began walking down the

bustling docks, her crew following behind.

"So what does Dead- er, the "Commander" want?" Sparks asked slyly, smirking when he

nearly let Locke's nickname "deadbolt" slip out.

"I guess we'll find out, now won't we?" Niobe answered, shooting a look of death at her

operator, which he cheerfully ignored. Sparks had been operating onboard the Logos for three

long years and he'd always had trouble controlling his sarcasm. Niobe loved him like family, but

often wondered how he survived her for three years with a mouth like his.

Perhaps it was the tranquility her first mate seemed to bring. More than once had Ghost

mediated an argument or appeased some feelings of...annoyance. After all, if Niobe and Ghost

had to enter the Matrix, they needed to trust Sparks with their very lives. They had to stay on

good terms.

The Matrix was what brought Niobe's thoughts back to Jason Locke, her commander/

boyfriend. She wasn't sure what exactly he wanted to talk about, but knowing him, it was strictly

business. No romantic surprises with Jason.

She wondered if it was concerning the tunnel accident, though Niobe had a feeling he

wouldn't consider such a thing relevant. Sure, her safety was involved, but what did Locke care

about safety? He was probably just upset that the maps they'd set out to make of the tunnel

weren't completed.

Niobe sighed inwardly and picked up her pace. Too many things were going wrong; the

small sentinel attack was at the bottom of a large list. The top priority would be the growing exile

problem in the Matrix, which she feared would be what Locke wanted to talk about.

Seven rebels were dead at the hands of the Merovingian and his band of exiles: programs

now freed from the system and running rampant across the Matrix. This was a problem Niobe

had heard her fair share of- she had known and befriended one of the seven freedom-fighters

killed, and it had been nagging at her ever since she first heard the news.

Something had to be done, and Niobe had a feeling that in the Commander's eyes, SHE

was the one who'd have to do it.

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A/N: Be patient with me, please.