Disclaimer: Sadly enough, I don't own any recognisable characters from The Matrix.
Author's Note: Hey! I'm back from Egypt! Egyptians are such beautiful people! Thank you all for reading and taking time to review!
You love the way
I look at you
While taking pleasure
In the awful things
You put me through
You take away if I give in
My life, my pride
Is broken…
- Points of Authority, Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park
'Trinity… wake up…'
'Neo?' She blinked sleepily and yawned. 'What time is it?' She sat up, running her fingers through her tangled dark mop.
'Shhh… Close your eyes and hold out your hands…'
She looked at him in puzzlement and did what she was told.
A long, slender object was placed in her waiting palms and she opened her eyes.
Her breath caught in her throat.
'My God… Neo, it's beautiful…'
Lying delicately across her palms was a single rose, carefully crafted from thin sheets of hammered metal. The bud was in full bloom, petals spread gracefully from it's center and it's leaves were twisted and shaped exactly like that of a real rose.
Trinity ran her finger down it's stem, tracing the patterns of the leaves. She stared at the magnificent gift and cradled it to her chest.
'I love you, Trin…'
She was oblivious of the tears sliding down her cheeks until she tasted them.
'I love you…'
Pain exploded from her right knee where the bullet tore through her flesh and exited through the other side and lodged into the bed stuffing.
'Trin, I…I want to ask you something…' he whispered softly into her ear. She shivered, his breathe warming her cheeks frozen from the chilly night wind.
'What is it?'
He knelt suddenly, in front of her.
'Neo? Wha… What are you doing?' She felt unsure, uncomprehending. She removed her shades slowly, hands trembling; she had finally understood.
'I… I know this is not real,' he began nervously, fiddling with something in his pocket, 'but…' he faltered, unsure, nerves failing him.
'Neo?' She prompted.
'B… But… Christ… Trinity, will you marry me?' he slid the silver ring onto her finger, the single diamond catching the shine of the streetlights.
She stared at him, unable to speak, her ears swore they heard the words.
'I… I… I…' she stammered, words unwilling to form intelligently on her wooden tongue. Trinity drew in a breath to calm herself.
'Yes, Neo, I will marry you.'
Her lips caught his in a passionate kiss.
She screamed. The pain was immense. She was afraid… afraid to die. Tears squeezed from the corner of her eyes.
She screamed until her throat was raw…
In a blurry vision clouded with pain, she saw Smith took aim…
No!
'Smith!' she screamed in desperation, 'No! Don't do it! Please!'
'Do you believe in God?' he asked, nuzzling her neck.
'Why do you ask?'
He shrugged. 'I was just wondering.'
'I don't know… I don't know what to believe…'
'I believe…'
She craned her neck and stared at his face. 'Really?'
'Yeah… I'd like to think that there's someone out there looking out for me… Don't you?'
'I guess… But I have you…'
The gunshot rang in her ears an instant before she felt the bullet, fiery hot from it's discharge, enter her one good knee.
A new wave of pain enveloped her…
Oh God!
Just kill me!
Kill me, Smith! Just kill me!
'Do you believe that I am suppose to end the war?'
'Yes.'
'Do you really? You know what the Architect told me; The One was never suppose to end anything. It's a lie. It all goes round and round in a vicious circle.'
'I believe in you, Neo. If someone is to stop it, it'll be you…'
He watched her twist and writhe emotionlessly.
'It was crucial to immobilize you, for you would have tried to escape again. I cannot allow that to happen.'
Her screams had died and sobs wrecked her frail form.
'S…Smith,' she whimpered softly, 'please… please stop…' she managed to force out before merciful darkness claimed her.
He never left her side. His hand holding hers, willing her to awake. He stared at her face, committing it to memory.
Trinity…
'Happy birthday, Trin…' he closed his eyes, tears threatening to spill.
Happy birthday…
Link appeared from behind him.
'Hey man, any changes?' he asked, checking the IV tubes feeding her.
'No… None…'
The ship's operator sighed. 'This is bad, especially if Sentinels pop up unexpectedly, and she's still in…'
Neo understood; they couldn't broadcast constantly… It was dangerous… They might have to let her go…
A mind cannot live without a body…
He guessed that the body too, could not live without a mind…
No!
He tightened his hold on her cold hand.
'Come back, Trin… We need you… I need you…'
Her hand unexpectedly clenched around his, startling him.
'Trin?'
She gasped, eyelids fluttering.
'Link?! What's happening?'
His friend was already at the screen typing furiously. 'She's in pain! Sensors shows here and here!' he said, jabbing at the image on the screen.
Neo snatched a look at the screen and grabbed at one of her kicking legs. Gingerly, he pushed the pant leg up. Her knee, once porcelain white and unblemished, was covered with big, ugly, purple bruises, bleeding in some places.
'My God…'
He very much suspected that the other knee was in a similar condition, if not worse.
'Get Morpheus!' he ordered, fighting to keep the tremor out of his voice. 'Now, Link!' he yelled, seeing that the man had not budged.
Link hurried off.
I'm so sorry, Trin! Forgive me!
The sounds of pounding footsteps heralded the coming of both Morpheus and Link.
'What was that?' Link asked suddenly, to no one in particular, eyes glued to the screen.
'What?'
Ignoring him, Link assumed his position at the screens with the scrolling codes that were the Matrix.
'There! Look!'
Neo squinted.
What?
He willed himself to focus.
What is it, damnit?!
Then he saw it.
His heart leaped to his throat, and he stared, unwavering, unbelieving.
Trinity!
There, ensnared within the jumble of running green codes, were Trinity's readings. Faint, appearing and vanishing erratically.
'Get her coordinates! Quick!' snapped Morpheus.
'Done!' cried Link but an instant later, triumphant.
'I'm going in…'
His face was a mask of calm, determination clearly apparent on his strong features.
I'm coming for you, Trin… hold on… please… please hold on…
He jerked his gaze from her unconscious form. There was a mad tingling at the base of his cranium; an instinct, if you will.
Ahhh… Mr. Anderson…
Smith sneered maliciously.
So, you have come for the captured one… For Trinity… How predictable…
And how pleasing…
He holstered his gun and strode to the door.
I'm coming for you, Mr. Anderson…
Countless times he had faced this same program. And each time, he had won. But Neo knew he could not win forever.
I must be cursed…
The Ex-Agent program stood his ground, motionless, an expression of pure hatred on his face.
Can programs hate? Neo wondered.
Why do you hate me, Smith? Why hate all living things? Jesus, you also hate the Matrix! Why?
'I have no purpose… No purpose because of you… You, Mr. Anderson…'
Purpose? Just live! Be free of the slavery of the Matrix, Smith, of the System… Just live!
'It is you, that turned my fellow Agents against me… Made me this, a virus, an Exile, running from those I once worked for… Hiding…'
Neo said nothing.
'Did you know, Mr. Anderson, that they had defragmentated both Agent Jones and Brown?'
Why do you care? You don't have feelings… do you?
Smith clenched his fists in anger. 'Answer me, Mr. Anderson, did you know?'
The rebel hesitated. 'No…'
No?
The program hissed, 'Do you know why they faced deletion? Because of you… You killed me, and as impossible as it may seem, I died. But I returned, but no longer was I an Agent; my programming rejected the System, and I was Exiled… I became a virus… Hunted… The Agent Jones and Brown were deleted because the System feared that I had contaminated them… And so we were replaced by upgrades, Agent Jackson, Thompson and Johnson…'
Smith glared.
How dare you, Mr. Anderson? How dare you?!
An emotion flickered across Neo's face.
Uncertainty? Are you uncertain, Mr. Anderson? Doubtful?
The AI attacked, seeing his chance.
You've destroyed me! Destroyed my purpose!
They fought, graceful, dancing a dangerous choreographed dance. The two bend and twisted at impossible angles.
Neo swung, trying to hit Smith. The Ex-Agent caught the Resistant Fighter's wrist in a vice grip and began the rewriting process. Neo cried out when his codes were over-written and suppressed by the other's code.
Do you feel it? The pain, Mr. Anderson? The darkness waiting for ensnare you? To consume your whole being? It is hopeless to fight it…
Neo gasped.
It hurt.
Like liquid fire, crawling and inching it's way up his elbow.
No!
He yanked his arm away.
Hurts…
His forearm was itching madly and he stared at it in horror; the Agent code has over-written him. From his wrist to his elbow, the tell-tale signs of the Agent suit showed, black and immaculate, wrinkle-free.
No…
NO!
He staggered back.
How?
How?!
'Well, well, well… Mr. Anderson…'
Neo glanced up at his name.
'You're not as invincible as you thought you were…'
TBC…
Author's Fantastically Amazing and Stunning Revelation: This came to me when I was playing The Sims PC game. Consider; the Matrix is a simulated world, designed to control humans. The Sims is also a simulated world, design to give you ultimate power over the minds of the Sims, you determine their fate. (Life? Or Death?)
So in a way, you (if you play The Sims, anyway) are sort of like the Architect, or the Machines. Ultimate control. =)
The only thing difference between the two is that the Matrix is designed to harvest human energy and The Sims is not. (Not that we know of anyway…)
But yeah… think about it…
And so, I shall go now and meditate on the meaning of Life…
Note:
I really have no idea when is her Birthday! And I know that humans have really no clue as to what date it really is, but it is reasonable to believe that they have decided on the date/day/month.
Response to Reviewers:
'It is inevitable…'
'Every new chapter, has an end. And this is the end…'
Neo rolled his eyes.
'So,' Smith said, rubbing his hands together gleefully, 'let us go to the reviews!'
Without waiting for a response, het took up his seat at the desk.
'Thank you, Jennifer Jolie and Tari Troi, you have considerably lightened the Authorette's day.'
'Oh, and don't worry, alocin and Yami Maleci, the Authorette is still alive…' Smith assured half-heartedly.
'Hey!' cried Neo, 'That's a very interesting review! Creative too! Thanks, ShvrMeTmbrs05!'
Trinity peeked over his shoulder.
'alocin!' Trinity cried, exasperated, after reading the review, 'I did not plan on running into him!'
Smith chuckled at Sleeping Awake's review. 'Yes, I d agree, Trinity does have to go through "some shit" (as you so graphically put it) for good fanfics.'
Trinity glared at the back of the Agent's head.
'Honey,' Neo crooned consolingly, 'Da Buffster seems to like you a lot! Very concerned too… Da Buffster appears to be both our fans, but not his…' Neo jerked his head towards a certain pouting program.
'For your information, Da Buffster,' began Smith coldly, 'I would not care for a pat on the head… I would be saturated by your filth…'
'Smith!' Trinity chastised.
Neo gasped. 'Selina Enriquez! Bad, bad thoughts! She's fully clothed when she ran into Smith!'
Smith turned a shade green, 'Excuse me? I feel nauseous… Is that possible? I am a program after all…'
Trinity said nothing, her lips pressed together, forming a thin line.
Shaking her anger off, she leaned forward to read some reviews. 'Thanks to SammyAngel, Matrixation02, TrinitysBitch, Xauhquia and Aneadriel for reviewing, the Authorette hopes that you liked this chapter.'
'Protectress of Dalidon,' Smith purred silkily, 'you are of course, welcomed to borrow the format of answering reviews the authorette uses, however, I don't think Zoe, your deletion program, would be much of a competition for me.' He smirked, confidence radiating magnificently in a humongous radius around him.
Neo grinned, 'You can tell that the coppertop, Heather David, has a lot of confidence in me…'
'Who wouldn't?' Trinity snuggled into his arms.
'Ah, a respectable virus, Beguile, my, my, my…' Smith preened himself, adjusting his already perfect tie, 'I am, as you presumed, smarter than humans. It is true, humans did create something smarter than themselves and then later regretted that. Machines are not to be blames entirely for the destruction and slavery of mankind, you humans brought it upon yourselves. Had you just received us, machines and man would coexist together in harmony. But you chose otherwise.'
Smith gave a curt nod, satisfied.
'Thank you all, please proceed to click on the review button.'