Conviction

Disclaimer: As before, owning nothing. The Matrix, and all the characters are the property of the Wachowskis. And I have no money. So suing would not be appreciated!

4. Welcome, to the real world.

Red.

Red all around her. She wriggled, but it was still there, on top of her, around her, sticking to her skin. She had a strange sensation along her spine and at the base of her skull, almost like. Jesus Christ- there was something stuck in her? She couldn't breathe. She panicked, and with the small amount of strength left in her wasted muscles, she broke through the top of the slime and sat up. She dragged the long tube out of her throat and gasped for clean air.

The pods. That was where she was. She looked around, and leaned over the edge of her slime bath, before recoiling in horror at the huge towers descending into infinity. There's so many.

Suddenly she heard a humming, buzzing noise above her, like a helicopter gone wrong, and she looked upwards to see what appeared to be a huge metal beetle descending from above. Shutters opened and there was light, blinding light. It hurt like hell on eyes that had never seen the light of day before. A mechanic arm moved forward and grabbed her head in an iron grip. She struggled with the little strength she had, but the grip was unrelenting. Something moved round to the back of her neck and unscrewed whatever the hell it was that was stuck in it. Then the real pain began. Every single tube, plug, and IV embedded in her skin began to pop out, with a feeling that a match was being lit on her skin at every point they were attached. Eve's body convulsed, she screamed, and the bottom of her pod opened up to reveal a chute, which she slid down and fell heavily into the water below.

Water. Oh God. She was drowning, her lungs filling with water, coughing, choking, but inevitably sinking down.down.

A hatch opened in the underbelly of the ship above her. A claw plunged down and pulled her naked body from the freezing waters. Eve lurched onto the ship and opened her eyes to find herself staring into Morpheus's deep brown ones.

'Welcome, to the real world.'

Then she passed out.

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She woke later- she had no idea how much later- to find herself lying on a hard surface, with harsh lighting strips again making her squint. There was a strange prickling sensation along her body, and she looked at herself to find she was covered in needles. Acupuncture. That was it. She remembered never trusting that kind of thing, sticking needles into someone to try and relieve pain. How could that work? She closed her eyes and groaned, but then heard a female voice speaking from above her.

'Its all right. Your muscles have atrophied. We're rebuilding them. Get some sleep.'

Something about that voice struck a chord in Eve's mind. Half a memory.a voice from the past. She struggled with that thought until she slipped back into sleep.

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Trinity sat in the mess room stirring her goop around with her spoon. Her brow was furrowed, and her chin was resting on her free hand. Neo sat opposite her, watching her with soft brown eyes and holding a cup of cold water between his hands. He spoke.

'Are you gonna eat that Trin, or just sit there staring at it all day?'

She glanced up at him and smiled a half smile. He was the only person on the ship who could possibly get away with a comment like that. She stared back at her food and began drawing lines, criss- crossing each other to form a grid in the thick liquid. Neo frowned, and tried to see what was on her mind.

'How's Eve?'

Trinity put her spoon down, looked up, and sighed. 'She's ok. She's probably still asleep actually. She hasn't seen me yet.'

'Do you want to take her some food?'

'Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.' She left the room, obviously distracted, and went to get Eve some food.

As for Neo, he was intrigued. He had never seen Trinity act like this around a person before. She was actually worried about what Eve would think of her. Trinity had never needed, never wanted to prove herself before, but now her sister turns up and she can't even keep her mind on a conversation. He smiled to himself, downed his drink, and left the room.

And so Eve lands up on the Neb, and I arrive at thanking my reviewers!

Agent Josey: No! Don't fall! I'm updating!! Thanks for all your reviews, and keep them coming- they make me smile :)

Isis: Here you go- the next chapter. Thanks for your compliments!

Da Buffster: You're right. This fic will be mainly about Trinity and Eve, but I may bring in some jealousy on the Neo front as well. I'm a big T/N fan as well and I really love writing about their relationship. Don't shorten your reviews- I enjoy reading them!

More to come soon, so watch this space.