Disclaimer:
I really wish this was true,
But it will be a dreadful lie,
You know they don't belong to me,
And the idea was from Beguile!!
Author's note:
Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Those reviews did wonders for my ego! ;)
'What the hell just happened?' he demanded.
The operator continued staring at the screen, dumbfounded. 'Sir, she just disappeared from the screen!'
Morpheus leaned closer to take a better look, his face wrinkled in confusion.
'I'm going back in…'
'Neo, you can't! We are unable to locate her, we have no idea where she is!'
Neo swung around and glared at him, fury etched in his face. 'We have to do something! You can't just leave her there!'
'Neo!' Morpheus said sternly, 'I care about Trinity as much as you do, but this is insane, going back in after what had just happen! We locate her whereabouts first before we proceed with anything.'
Neo shook his head, the fury disappeared and was replaced by worry. 'I… I don't know what to do… She said she was right behind me… I… I should have made her go first but she made me! God damn it! Smith came out of nowhere!' He drew in a shaky breath and closed his eyes briefly.
His captain laid a hand on his shoulder, offering comfort.
He shrugged it off and stood next to Trinity and watched her. He had never felt so… helpless… watching the one he love trapped in a nightmare, unable to wake up.
'What did he want with you, Trin?' he whispered softly, reaching to squeeze her limp and unresponsive hand.
'What did he want?'
He frowned suddenly when blood started to spurt from her right shoulder and she started trashing violently, her body convulsed is spasms. 'Trin!' he cried desperately, his fear for her now doubled.
'Shit! Morpheus! She's bleeding!'
'Christ!' cried Link is shock, after taking a look at the screens displaying Trinity's condition while in the matrix. 'Visuals are shot! The pain sensors went right of the scale!'
Then, as suddenly as she started struggling, she stopped.
'Her heart rate is crazy…but it's slowing down… pain sensors are no longer off screen,' reported a shaken up Link.
'What the hell happen?!'
Morpheus caught Neo's eye.
'Smith…'
She did not recall how long she lay there, deep in thought. But now she felt a familiar pang in her stomach. It started very lightly, a slight discomfort, but it has now evolved to something that caught her notice.
She was hungry.
Over and over again, she told herself that it was not actual hunger she was experiencing, merely the matrix sending impulses to her brain as she lay jacked in the Nebuchadnezzar, but her body insisted otherwise.
And she was thirsty.
Her mouth felt dry and she believed her tongue had ballooned to twice its normal size.
'Curse him,' she thought darkly and tugged at her restrains feebly.
So immerged these thoughts that she did not realized that Smith was at her side until he cleared his throat. It was very clear that the purpose of the exercise was not to clear some troublesome itch, but rather to politely inform her that she was not alone.
'Still fighting the system?' Smith asked, a slight smirk playing across his lips.
She only tugged harder at her bonds in response.
'Ahhh…' He said, as if the gesture answered his question.
'I brought you something… I thought that perhaps, you might be a bit hungry and thirsty…'
'It's not real,' rasped Trinity.
He raised an eyebrow. 'Perhaps so, but it will simulate your brain into thinking that you have ate and drank.'
Smith placed the food tray which she did not notice he held in his hands on the table and picked up the glass of water.
He went to head of the bed and raised the upper-half of it, so that she was sitting.
'Do you want a drink, Trinity?'
She said nothing, but glared at him. Her tormentor shrugged carelessly. 'Fine, it seems that you have no wish to eat nor drink.'
He made as if to put the glass down but Trinity, whose gaze fell longingly at the water, stopped him.
'Yes…'
'Yes what?'
She closed her eyes and felt humiliation was over her in giant waves. Even though she told herself, again and again, millions of times, that all this was not real; the pain… the hunger… the thirst, she could not help but despair.
'Yes… I…I want a drink…'
'Etiquettes, Trinity, where are your manners?'
Damn him! He's trying to make me beg! I will not! I shall not! I won't!
She swallowed thickly as he continued watching her, his head cocked to the side.
I will not beg!
'P…Please?'
He smiled quite suddenly, displaying a set of perfect teeth. But there was no warmth in that smile.
'Good… Very good…' He praised her as if she was a pet.
She shut her eyes tightly, her eyes burning with both anger and humiliation this program had caused her.
A glass was pressed at her chapped lips and water slid into her willing mouth, cooling and relieving her swollen tongue and throat. The water disappeared almost instantly.
Trinity licked her cracked and bleeding lips, trying to moisten them.
'H… How many days?'
'It has been two days since your capture.'
Two days! Only two?! Oh God, it felt like an eternity!
She fought to choke down a sob that was threatening to erupt unbidden and unwanted in her throat.
Only two days and already I have begged… Weak!
Smith held a steaming bowl in his left hand and a spoon in his right. He stirred the mixture absently.
'I always thought that it would be harder to break you… You disappoint me…'
He sighed, dropped the spoon and reached for a swivel chair. He settled himself comfortably into the seat before reassuming his stirring and one-sided conversation.
The delicious aroma of the soup pulled at her senses.
Weak! I know this is not real, yet I had begged! Begged!
The Agent scooped a little of the simulated food product to feed his captive. But to his surprise, she refused.
'Get the hell away from me!' she spat venomously, her body trembling.
'So you have not lost all of your will… Not yet broken I see… Still, it is a matter of time… After all, you are still only human…'
She stared at him, her anger dissipating. He did not lunge at her, as she had expected, instead he continued to stir the soup.
'As much as I would like to deny you food and drink, I cannot…'
'Why?'
He sighed is exasperation. 'If you are starved, you would die. Hence, this mission would be a failure. I cannot allow failures.'
'They aren't real,' she pointed out.
'But your mind makes it real…'
He spooned some soup and tried feeding her again. She pressed her lips tightly together and the soup dribbled down her front onto her bloodstained front.
'It is useless to fight, Trinity.'
Damn wrong it is! This bloody place is not real! A lie!
Another spoonful trickled down her chin… and another, but a bit of soup found their way into her mouth and she swallowed before she could stop herself.
Suddenly, she did not care if it was all a lie, if the matrix was a world full of deceit.
If all this is not real, why the hell does this soup taste delicious?
Because, argued another part, the matrix is telling your brain that it is!
She sucked eagerly at the soup.
I don't give a damn anymore! I'm so sick of this fighting and running and hiding!
Another spoonful was fed to her.
Fight this! This is a lie! You've escaped from it once!
And another spoonful…
This is a lie!? Damnit! Morpheus was a lie! He lied!
And another…
He showed you the truth! He showed you that is a world that was created to blind you!
And another…
Go to hell! I don't give a shit about Morpheus! He's a liar!
And another…
Is Neo a lie? Asked the voice quietly.
She paused, about to swallow…
No…
No…
The two voices finally had a mutual agreement.
She swallowed.
Another spoon of chicken soup was held out.
She shook her head.
'No… Enough…'
The spoon wavered, then Smith nodded.
He took away the tray.
She heard the lock click metallically after him and she sighed.
No, Neo is not a lie…
Response to reviewers:
alocin: yes, the idea for this story was borrowed from Beguile. Thank you for reading and reviewing!
SummersDay24: Oo' it was scary?
SammyAngel: Hope you like this chapter!
Beguile: Thank you for reviewing! huggles
Tekno: Thankyouthankyouthankyou! flutters eyelashes modestly I'll try to focus on Smith more from now…
Yami Maleci: I really hope you like this chapter!
bigred03: Thanks for reviewing! hands over cyber-cookie
Shadow Peach: I am honoured that you have read and reviewed my fic! wipes away happy tears
Sonatte: Hehe… Yeah, I love angst too!
Matrixation02: Thank you!
Ferum Oxide: A very ego-inflating review.. ;) Love it! Thanks