A/N) OODLES of thanks to (alphabetically) Beat, Centaur, Danascully and Juliet :) you all rock SO much for reading things for me and putting up with my rants at my uncooperative Muse. Ch6 took a bit longer to write, but it's longer than other chaps I think. Enjoy!

Chapter the 6th

~*~*~

The Merovingian leaned against the railing overlooking the chateau's massive atrium. His wife was directing a group of confused looking delivery men through the front door. They were carrying in a large crate containing some priceless painting or other Persephone had decided to acquire. The crate was manipulated around and carefully pulled to the floor. The movers took a couple crowbars to the crate and lifted the front off, exposing the painting.

"Papa." The Merovingian looked over his shoulder with a slight hesitation- he was still unused to the moniker. His son (and that was still very strange to him, too) was entering the house from the Binary club. The club was one of his newer acquisitions and he had sent the young program to speak with the pod-bound human manager. The Merovingian stepped away from the railing, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Proteus. How was the club?" he asked as the small group stopped before him. Proteus unconsciously assumed a stance much like the Merovingian, looking like a much smaller, darker copy. The werewolves and vampire present shifted somewhat uncomfortably. This new program was still much of an unknown factor in the Chateau and the Merovingian's men were treading cautiously, unsure which they feared more- the parents or this eerie child program.

"Everything is in order, though I think the human thought it strange you sent me." The child shrugged. "Papa, there were unplugged humans there." The father arched a questioning eyebrow. "These two," Proteus indicated Vlad and Lycaos, "recognized them. Apparently they fought here."

"So they have returned to the Matrix," the Merovingian mused, "Did you see any Agents?" he asked.

"No."

"You are dismissed," he waved the other programs away. "Walk with me," he commanded to the young program. "Let us go see what your Maman has brought home."

"Oui, Papa." The two descended the marble staircase and continued further into the mansion.

"So the disconnected humans have returned and there were no Agents to apprehend them? Interesting," the Merovingian mused aloud. "The machines outside have a peace going with the humans there. But has that peace extended here, or were the Agents simply not alerted to their presence. Tell me, what were they doing?"

"They appeared to be talking with one another. There was a third on the first floor. They were acting like the rest of the patrons."

"And in doing so did not alert the System to their presence here. Most likely they were trailing someone they wanted to unplug." The Merovingian noted the curious look on the boy's face and explained. He found he was doing a lot of explaining to the boy. But rather than be irritated, he found it a way to reexamine old information. "That is the main reason they return to the Matrix. They wish to remove more humans. They also come here to consult the fortune teller," he scoffed. The old woman had such control over the humans and they didn't even realize it.

"Ah," Proteus said, filing that information away. He knew much about the history of the Matrix, about the recent conflict and that there were unplugged humans - but these had been the first he had actually seen. They arrived in the eastern sitting room. Persephone was dressed in a well tailored and highly expensive business suit, her dark hair swept into an intricate arrangement of braids set close to her head. She was directing two werewolves hanging the painting.

"A little to the left," she eyed the minute shift, "A little more. No, back right. Stop. Well?" she turned to her husband. He regarded the painting for a moment.

"Melted clocks?" he asked.

"I liked it," she defended, uncaring if he liked it or not. She dismissed the weres and nonchalantly pulled off the fine leather gloves she'd been wearing and crossed her arms. "I felt it was somehow appropriate."

"I like it much better than those water-lilies you brought back before," he commented.

"The lilies fit the decor of that room," Persephone sniffed. The Merovingian shrugged.

"I think I like the smiling woman better. The DaVinci one," Proteus commented, "but I like this as well. Is this from the outside, before the war?" he asked. Persephone nodded and uncrossed her arms to place a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Yes it is. The physical painting is probably ash and ruin now." She grimaced. The outside world was so ugly it was offensive. She'd seen a video stream of what the world looked like and had been appalled. There was no sky and barely any plants or animals. Just clouds and ruins: all black and gray - devoid of color and anything elegant. It was depressingly boring too. She supposed the human city had to be more interesting than the desert above, but had little desire to see any of that place.

"Well, that's a waste," the young program commented before leaving the room. He was only half-way through the Mansion's extensive library and had plans to be finished reading everything there by the end of the week. The older programs watched him go.

"Unplugged humans have returned," the Merovingian informed her.

"I wondered if they would come back," Persephone said. "They risk further antagonizing the machines outside if they come here. It is curious that they should return at all. It is..." she paused to find the human term, "Tempting fate?"

"Oui. But they have returned anyway. The System did not send its Agent programs after them either. According to the boy, they were not doing anything to warrant attention however."

"You think the peace outside has extended here." It was not a question. He nodded and extended his arm. She took it and they walked through the grand hallways of the mansion, every inch the Lord and Lady. "If that is so then the Agents may no longer be chasing the humans. Will they be deleted, or will they chase us?"

"I have yet to learn the exact nature of the peace, but I will find out." He assured her. Knowledge and its gathering was his domain and he was very good at it. Their stroll brought them to the mansion's expansive library. The child program was reading through the books at an inhumanly fast pace, absorbing the information as quickly as he could. He seemed to have an insatiable curiosity and the Merovingian supposed that was due to his own programming. The quiet way he went about learning everything was much like Persephone. His wife was...calculating if anything. The boy was obedient and seemed not to care about taking power of his own, but the Merovingian wondered if that would always be so. The various facets of the new AI were still manifesting. So far the experience was proving to be as interesting as they'd hoped it to be.

The introduction of an entirely new exile program had shaken his somewhat complacent underlings. Most interesting had been the confrontation between the werewolf who called himself Marcus and Proteus. Marcus had actually challenged the new program, knowing full well where he had come from. Persephone had been furious, taking personal affront and the Merovingian hadn't had time to interfere. The werewolf had attacked, shifting the appearance of his shell into a more impressive and violent half beast form. But the younger program had done the most remarkable thing and had changed his shell's appearance as well, matching the irate werewolf in shape but dominating him easily in strength and size. Marcus had capitulated then and there and as a result of his actions had sunk quite low in the pack's pecking order. Since then Proteus had learned how to change the appearance of his shell to look like other things. It had become rapidly apparent that he was what the humans called a 'shape shifter' and his parents thought it was terribly amusing. It would be quite interesting to see what else he could do.

"I'm going to change and then we are going to the Hel club," Persephone told the younger program. Proteus looked up from the book he'd been speed reading, "Would you like to come?" The child shook his head no and bent over the book again. He didn't speak much either, the Merovingian noted.

Persephone nodded. "You have a key if you would like to come. Don't get into to much trouble."

"Oui, Maman." He finished the book he was reading and picked up another. Proteus continued to read until he heard the loud music of the Hel Club waft through the doors as they left with their entourage. He set down the book he'd just finished. He was into the fictional novels as he'd finished all the more academic books. Proteus had been compiled with a great deal of knowledge: who and what he was, who his parents were, languages, emotions, intuitive knowledge of his own code and what he could do (like shifting the appearance of his shell). What he didn't already know he asked about. He had always gotten an answer of some type: Where had he come from? Compiled from their combined code. Why? They thought it would be interesting. Why did they think that? They'd met another program like him.

Proteus wanted to meet this other program. He knew she was called Sati and that she lived with the program called the Oracle and the ex-angel Seraph. In some ways he owed his existence to her. He knew the history of this place and knew the role the Oracle played in it and what her goal was. He knew Seraph's goal as well and the Architect's though he had yet to meet any of them. Proteus also knew he only had his parent's opinions to go on. He'd been warned about the fortune teller and had been given an explanation for the warning, his parents having realized he would have asked for one if they hadn't explained the situation entirely. Don't go to her, they had said. Well, he wasn't. He didn't care to speak with her. No, he wanted to speak with this Sati program they didn't quite understand.

The boy stacked the books he'd read into a neat pile and exited the library, heading for the nearest doorway. He turned the key and entered Hel. He wove his way through the leather-clad throng to where his parents were currently holding an audience. The human sputtered when Proteus arrived at their side. The overweight and over-dressed man mopped at his forehead, eyes bulging.

"What is a child doing here?" the man demanded. A sharp look from the Merovingian both silenced him and reminded the human who was in charge.

"Senator, I do not believe you have met our son," Persephone purred dangerously. The fat human's eyes rolled from the adults to the child and back.

"No. No I don't believe I have. Lovely boy. It's a pleasure to meet you, son," the man said, sticking out a pudgy yet well manicured hand. Proteus looked at it disdainfully for a moment. He knew human social niceties required that he shake it, but he didn't want to. The senator uncomfortably retracted the offer of a hand shake and resumed mopping his brow. "Er, I will have your request by the end of the week, Monsieur," the fat mad said, utterly butchering the French. The man shifted in his seat again. The child was odd but given the parents he really had no chance of being normal, the Senator thought. The intent stare was unnerving and he wished the boy would stop.

"You're lying," Proteus stated after a moment. The human's RSI's body language and coded physiology radiated, changing the Matrix code around him. It was quite faint but he knew the man was lying. The human began to sweat profusely. Now he was scared. "Now you're frightened," Proteus informed him. The fear spiked into terror.

Persephone had felt the man's emotions quite clearly from the start. As an intuitive program it had been one of her primary functions after all: the sampling of human emotion and psychology in the Matrix. Shifting the shape of one's shell a great deal and almost obsessive information gathering were attributes Proteus shared with her husband. This was the first time Proteus had shown he shared any of her abilities. The thought was inexplicably pleasing. Her husband chuckled and the human reacted with another wave of fear.

The Merovingian spared a look at his wife. Persephone looked absolutely smug. He decided to let the human stew for a bit and addressed Proteus.

"Did you want something?" he asked. The boy turned from his contemplation of the human.

"Yes. I have decided I would like to meet Sati."

"Oh have you?" The older program asked. Proteus nodded.

"I do not wish to speak with the others she is with, just her."

"Why?" Persephone asked.

"I'm curious." His parents exchanged a look. Persephone shrugged minutely.

"Fine then. You two." He gestured at the ghost twins lounging in the corner. "Go with him."

"They do not need to go. I know I would be able to avoid Seraph."

"He is not who I am concerned about. You do not fully realize how manipulative she is." The Merovingian replied.

"You are manipulative," Proteus pointed out, frowning as he tried to understand.

"Oui," the Merovingian laughed, "but you know that. She is foolish but she is not to be taken lightly. You will go with them." The boy sighed.

"Oui." The twins dutifully followed the boy towards the club's exit, pausing only briefly to punch a smirky werewolf in the gut, once each.

"Monsieur Senator," The Merovingian redirected his attention to the human sitting across from him. The human's eyes darted around the room before finally settling on the Merovingian. "I believe we were discussing something?" Persephone smiled dangerously.


~*~*~

Trinity stood as Kid approached, following Neo. He shook her hand formally, the slightly shaky and sweaty palm giving away his nervousness. Neo retreated to sit in one of the slightly more comfy couches at the side of the room.

"Kid," Trinity greeted then gestured for him to take a seat across from her. The officer's mess was empty right now specifically so captains could interview candidates. Not that there were many officers to fill it currently.

Across the room, captain Prometheus of the half completed Whitestar, was chatting with a confident looking girl. Captain Hexadecimal (Hex) entered through the door near where Neo was sitting. The kid following along behind him like a puppy looked absurdly young to Trinity. But then, all the kids did.

"So, Kid. I know you put this application in months ago. Morpheus forwarded it on to me when I was promoted." Kid nodded understanding. "A lot of things have happened since then," she understated. Kid gritted his teeth and nodded again. a hell of a lot had happened, and not all of it good. "So, my question to you is, is this what you want?"

Kid looked from the application active on the screen of the data-pad, then to Trinity and back again a few times. Did he want to join the crew? Had he been asked before the war had come to its rather bloody end, he would have said 'yes' and never looked back. After all, these were the people who had freed him (no matter what they and everyone else said). He looked up to them all, especially Neo. Though after hearing some thing about what actually went down at the machine city, his estimation of Trinity had actually risen above Morpheus to a not-quite Neo level.

He'd been doing a lot with the Corps since the end of the war. Only much more recently was there anything to do with the fleet, and maybe he did feel like he owed something to Mifune. But again, Neo had saved him from the Matrix and then the machines. Being on the Neb was what he wanted, wasn't it?

"I know you were at the Docks helping the loaders," Trinity said, drawing his eyes from where they had come to rest on the tabletop. "Even if you are too young." He thought he caught a brief half smile, but it was gone so quickly he was left doubting he'd seen anything. Trinity was infamous for never smiling.

"I'm not trying to sway you in any direction," Trinity told him, "But I know you wanted to join the crew before, and that you've been very active with the corps. You would do well no matter where you decide to go. But I think you should go where you want to." Kid nodded silently. "Don't feel obligated to stay with us just because we were the ones who pulled you from the sewers."

Kid nodded again. He didn't feel like Trinity was pushing him one way or the other, though that might have made it easier for him he thought. A few months ago he wouldn't have felt as...conflicted as he did now. He met her patient gaze again and wondered what she was thinking, since he wasn't sure of his own thoughts. She'd said do what he wanted to do. He'd been so sure he wanted to join the Neb, but now he had to face the truth. If he still wanted that, would he feel so torn? No.

What would Neo do? Well, join the Neb, that was obvious. Trinity was there and he was a living God in the Matrix. Well, then, what would Mifune do? Probably smack him upside his pod-fuzzy head for being so indecisive. Kid closed his eyes and Mifune's face flashed before him, whole and stern, then proud but bloody. He opened them again. Was he feeling torn because he wanted to join the Neb, or because he had wanted to join. Honestly, he knew it was the latter. He looked up at Trinity. Maybe her eyes were a little softer just now, blue skies rather than hard ice. She understood. Kid smiled.

"I think I'm going to stick with the Corps, Trin- er, Captain. I think everyone might fall over in shock, but I know where I need to be. I was with them at the Docks. I needed to be there then, and that is where I need to be now." Trinity nodded and stood. Kid stood with her and shook her hand. He felt...happy. He thought he might feel disappointed, but he didn't.

"You know where you need to be," She agreed. Trinity smiled then, a small smile which barely turned the corners of her lips. Kid grinned back. Today was a good day, he decided. He turned around and marched out of the mess, head high.

That had gone better than expected, Trinity thought. Chiron had wandered in about halfway through and Neo had left with him. That was also good. He had looked a little bored sitting around. She'd find him later, now she had to go chat with Spike.


******

Neo followed behind the commandant of the academy, trying to make out landmarks so he'd be able to find his way back. Like most people who had been unplugged later, he hadn't spent much time here, though his case had been a bit more extreme.

"Are you sure you don't mind doing this?" Chiron asked as he led Neo towards one of the training rooms.

"No," Neo replied with a shrug. "I wasn't doing all that much while Trinity is interviewing," He explained. He also couldn't help that much with what they were doing on the ship right now since they had the Neb completely powered down until later that day. Trying to 'see' the ship in that state the last time had given him a massive headache.

"Well, thank you again all the same. I have some hotshots who need a dose of reality," the big man chuckled. Chiron was possibly the tallest human Neo had ever met in the real world. He had to be close to seven feet tall and consequently had to duck through a lot of doorways. Chiron, according to Trinity, only used his fearsome appearance to cow hot-shot students into line. Neo hated to use the term "gentle giant", but so far, the man's bark was worse than his bite. Still, the students listened.

One of the training cores was already full of students when they got there. Neo and Chiron hung in the doorway watching the students. They ranged from the fuzzy ones, fresh from their pods, to older students getting closer to Neo's own age. The freeborn were fewer, but seemed to run the full age gamut as well. The class settled at the direction of an older freeborn. Chiron waved to the man and the old operator's face split into a mischievous grin.

"Today we're going to do some more training in the sims. I've noticed a lot of you seem to be getting a bit cocky. The moment you do that is the moment you find an Agent's bullet in your gut. Or worse." The class murmured and he waved them to silence. "So in order to teach you all a lesson, our Commandant has arranged for a guest lecturer." The class groaned. They didn't want lecture, they wanted to fight! Neo was about to ask what he was supposed to lecture about when the taller man leaned down.

"Don't worry, you won't have to say a thing. Just kick their asses." The older man winked

"Right," Neo replied, now understanding. He wasn't entirely sure about knocking about a group of kids, but he guessed he was the most powerful opponent they'd face.

"Ah, here he is," the teacher waved them forward. Neo stepped into the room and the kids erupted into a cheer. Neo paused for a moment. He hadn't expected that reaction. Chiron patted his shoulder as he passed Neo and waved the kids to silence.

"This is going to be a practical lecture, so everyone into the Construct. Zebedee, a word?" the teacher strode over as the kids settled into their chairs, their operators standing by. Neo took the nearest chair and the girl sitting next to him giggled. The older men ended their discussion with huge grins and Chiron took the empty chair beside Neo's. Zebedee plugged the officers in as the student operators plugged in their own charges. The operator and then loaded up the Construct from his machine.

The world was disconcertingly white, making Neo blink rapidly. True color was a shock to his system after not seeing the world this way for so long. He hadn't been in the construct much since the end of the war, and the return of real vision always was a great relief even if it took a moment of adjustment. The kids all wore white Gis, while Neo wore his customary long coat and sunglasses. Chiron appeared wearing a toga edged in purple. The world rushed around them and they were in the center of a great coliseum. The students' clothing changed with the scenery, matching the theme. Now they wore the garb of gladiators.

"Why aren't we in the dojo?" one surprised girl whined as she picked at the rough tunic under her studded, leather chest plate.

"I got bored with the Dojo," Chiron said. The girl backed down a little. "Besides, you all just did weapons downloads. Now is the time to practice those skills," he gestured to the walls of the arena. Weapons of all shapes and sizes were hung on the wall. Tridents, netting, maces, clubs, bows, arrows, bolas, swords, spears, everything. It reminded Neo of the Merovingian's mansion. "Go pick something," the Commandant ordered. The kids looked at one another then dashed off.

"Should I change my clothing too?" Neo asked. Chiron shrugged with a grin.

"If you want to. All you need to do is teach them a little lesson." He winked. "Now, I don't want to impose on you, but possibly later in the semester, would you mind showing them how you stop bullets? They need to know that as good as they are, when they face an Agent, they need to run like hell. And since you're better than an agent, I can't think of a better opponent for them to train against." Neo nodded.

"I don't know if I can show them how I do it. I just...do." Neo shrugged. He hadn't been able to teach Trinity or Morpheus either. Neo thought Trinity might have slowed them down just a little, but then again, his judgment was probably biased. In any case, both Morpheus and Trinity had left the Construct with massive headaches.

"I meant more just show them that you can. Actually, Tiger-lily and Honor just picked up composite bows; you might be showing off how you stop things in midair today," Chiron commented wryly.

"I can fly too," Neo grinned, "do you want me to show them that?"

"Neo," the man put a hand on the One's shoulder, "that is so cool, I want you to show me that," Chiron laughed with Neo. "And here they come. Oh, ho! Nets!" Chiron rubbed his hands together "no doubt they've heard tale of your Superman-like talents. Not that I think it'd going to stop you, but they get an A for effort." Chiron appraised. Neo smiled. This was actually fun so far. He knew he would have no problem beating an entire class of half trained students; he'd beaten 300 or so copies of Agent Smith after all. To be beaten by a bunch of kids would just be embarrassing.

"Think you could have the operators load a new set of clothes? I feel overdressed," Neo pulled at the collar of his coat jokingly. Chiron laughed and slapped him on the back, causing Neo to stagger a half step.

"Zeb! Can you dress our man properly?" he called into the air.

"Rodger that!" the Operator replied. Suddenly Neo was dressed like a Roman general; steel-worked greaves over leather boots, leather pants, a segmented and studded leather kilt and ornate breastplate over a fine tunic with a heavy, fur-lined cloak. Neo examined the his new outfit and thought he'd be able to fight in this easily.

"How come he gets the cool clothes?" one boy asked.

"He's the ONE you ninny," another replied and whapped the first with the flat side of his sword. Neo unclipped the heavy fur-lined cape attached to his outfit and examined the sword he'd been issued.

"Ready?" Chiron asked. Neo nodded.

"Time to test those skills. Your only objective is to try and beat Neo. And I wish you all luck, because you're really going to need it!" A quick conference was held by a group of students off to one side. They turned as one and saluted Chiron, fist to chest.

"Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant!" Chiron laughed and returned the salute.

"Ok you bunch of geeks, have at it!"

*******

Trinity stood up from the table and stretched a little, working a kink out of her lower back. She had another one between her shoulders and hoped Neo would work that one out. The interviews had gone much faster than she'd anticipated and she knew with fair certainty who she was going to ask to join the crew. Now it was time to go find Neo and then Morpheus.

Given that Chiron had been the one to lead Neo away, she guessed he might be in one of the training rooms, showing off for the students. The officers had been (not subtly) hinting that The One should, if he wasn't able to teach his abilities, show them off. His mind was so free, perhaps the young would follow his lead, unhampered by years of knowing that flight was impossible. Trinity smiled inwardly. Either Neo would fly circles around his hapless opponent or kick the shit out them then apologize profusely. Neo didn't mind sparring with the adults, but he had never really liked sparring with the kids. He'd teach firearms, jumping, acrobatics and weapons just fine, but when it came to kicking ass in hand to hand combat? He felt guilty since he was leaps and bounds ahead of the best and most experienced fighters in the fleet.

Trinity found him in the third room she looked into. The operators were all glued to their screens and didn't see her enter. As one they groaned then hissed, reacting to something they saw in the code, then cheered but stopped short and groaned.

Yeah, Neo was kicking ass. Zebedee saw her and winked. She walked over to his station, and watched the video stream from the Construct over his shoulder. A gladiator arena? That was a nice change from the dojo, and it looked much better than that Degobah swamp Sim XOR had been so fond of when she'd been Commandant.

"Want to go play?" Zebedee asked. Trinity thought about that for a moment. She and Neo hadn't been in the construct together yet. They'd been plugged in once, individually, to be sure everything worked, but since then had been too busy to do any sparring. His RSI still retained his undamaged eyes, he'd told her with a huge amount of relief.

"Maybe just to watch. I think Neo alone is more than any of them can handle."

"Right. Have a seat." Trinity sat into the last open seat and settled back. She wasn't selfishly wasting time just so she could see Neo's eyes again. No, this was important evaluation of a crew member, she reasoned. A small part of her began laughing; sure it was evaluation. Uh huh. Yeah. You believe it. Riiiiiiiight. "Want theme clothing?" Zeb asked. Trinity's lips curled slightly.

*******

The boy wearing the heavy gladiator mask fell on his face and spat dirt. His classmate hauled him to his feet and the two leaned against one another. The class was dirty, bruised and sweaty, but he actually looked like he was having fun!

"How'd he get so good? I've been unplugged longer than he has!" the boy spat more dirt to the ground. His friend hefted his sword and watched Neo shatter a classmate's shield with a scimitar.

"He's the One," a girl muttered as she dusted herself off. Her trident attack had been most unsuccessful and she's landed a good 10 feet away, trident split in half.

"Why isn't he a Captain then?" the first boy muttered loudly. "I mean he's the One. Why is Trinity Captain.?"

"Hey, yeah!" the second agreed. The first boy snorted and rolled his eyes.

"I mean it's not like she has to sleep her way to the top anymore. She's fucking the ONE. He'd give her a place on his crew."

"Heh, yeah. 'Official bed warmer', right?" the second nudged his friend. The girl stared at them, eyes wide, mouth working in incoherent rage and shock. The battle had taken Neo in their general direction and he'd had the misfortune of overhearing the last bit. Neo used the mace he was carrying to knock the boy valiantly trying to stab him with a broadsword, away. He tossed the mace away and used a toe to kick a discarded Bo into the air. His jaw set a little as he twirled the staff expertly. No more mister nice guy.

The boys realized that Neo had overheard their conversation and gulped. Neo didn't look like he was having fun anymore.

The girl turned to her classmates and glared. "Thanks," she spat. "Now we're all going to be royally owned." She cuffed both boys as she passed on her way to get a new weapon.

Neo didn't have any qualms about playing nice anymore. His fury was calm and clear, burning like ice. Chiron was right, these kids needed to be taught a few lesions- respect for one. He stepped forward and the rest of the class held back as he faced the boys. They looked like they wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Good. The fight began anew. The class had thought fighting the One was hard before, but they quickly found out he'd been holding back.

Two if the girls were trying to double team Neo with fancy Bo work, but the One was having no trouble defending himself with a matching weapon. One of the girls tripped as Neo's Bo swept her feet from under her. The upswing cleanly knocked her partner's own weapon clear across the arena. Neo took a few light steps back and leaned against the wood pole, waiting the next challenger. Two boys ran at him from either side, heavy broadswords held at the ready. Neo stepped aside at the last moment and the two collided like in some cartoon. It was disgusting.

"How the hell can we beat him? He's got superpowers!" someone complained. Chiron stood up from his seat and found the malcontent. Alien, as usual, was the vocal one.

"My dear extra terrestrial, Neo hasn't once done anything that I couldn't do. Nice!" Chiron shouted as Neo easily disarmed another opponent, sending them into the dirt. "Why don't you all take a moment to regroup," he shooed them off to the far side of the arena. The kids trudged along, looking displeased.

"Are they ok?" Neo asked. Chiron leaned down on the broad marble railing and grinned.

"They're fine. They just happen to be among the top students, and they know it. They aren't used to having their asses handed to them." Chiron explained, "There are only so many of us who can go in and give them one on one instruction," she shook his head, serious now. "They have been fighting against one another and the other students mostly. Occasionally they will fight someone older and more experienced, but they aren't doing it enough that they have a good idea about just how deadly Agents are."

"They seem like they're fairly good," Neo said. They weren't anywhere near Trinity or Morpheus, but then the kids didn't have more than a decade of actual experience.

"No, they're top rate, I'll give them that. Coyote over there nearly beat Ghost in hand to hand. Ghost smoked him on weapons, of course, but..." Chiron shrugged again. The group was now moving back across the arena with defiant new energy. "Looks like our little warrior Einstein's came up with a plan," Chiron mused, busy brows racing for his hairline. Neo strode out to meet them, idly twirling the Bo in one hand. The kids fanned into a semicircle and Neo stopped, facing the middle of the group. He set one end of the staff on the ground and casually leaned against it, waiting for them to make a move.

They rushed forward with assorted war cries and weapons, leaping at him like a pack of wolves. Neo held up a hand and they froze in mid air, surprise halting their yells. There was a moment of absolute silence. Chiron got over his shock and roared with laughter, wiping a tear from his eye. Zebedee chimed in with his own chuckle as the other operators burst into excited chatter and the suspended kids into complaints. Neo pushed his hand forward and everyone was sent into the air and back a good 30 feet or so. A number of the students managed to land on their feet, but a few weren't so lucky and ended up on their asses.

"Think they get the point now?" Trinity asked wryly. She'd arrived just as Neo had left to rejoin the fighting

"No. Mwahahaha," Chiron stroked his short beard, cackling like a classic villain for a moment "He's been easy on them. I hate to use the cliché, but really the only thing he's bruised is their egos." Trinity nodded and watched as a group of five tried to hack at Neo with swords. Another group sprinted for the wall and retrieved a net. They raced back and flung it over Neo's head. The kids he'd been sparring with back out of the way just in time and dove for the net, trying to pull Neo down. Two of the larger guys leapt on his back and were followed by three more. The kids yelled in triumph, but the celebration died as soon as it began.

Neo launched himself into the air, sending the kids on his back flying away. The net rose with him, seven students or so clinging to it. Trinity stifled a laugh when she saw their expressions. Neo stopped when he was fifty feet or so from the arena floor; high enough the kids weren't entirely sure they wanted to let go. Their old fears from their days in the Matrix reasserted themselves. Neo extended a hand through a hole in the netting and a saber flew from the ground to it. Neo cut the net and then caught it. He wondered why they didn't just drop down for a moment, and then realized they probably had forgotten this was all a simulation. The students on the group were gaping openly, eyes huge. He looked over at Chiron standing in the Emperor's box with a grin and froze

Trinity was standing next to the grey-bearded officer, dressed like a goddess of war. She wore a form-fitting, gold breast-plate over her short white tunic. A swath of blue cloth was draped over one shoulder, setting off her eyes even from this distance. Jet black hair curled around the edge of her golden helmet and long ebony feathers flowed from the ridge at the top. She smiled ever so slightly and leaned against her spear, her other hand holding a broad aegis

Her heart fluttered just a little as Neo flew over, warm brown eyes locked onto hers. She hadn't seen them in so long. Trinity felt like she'd forgotten how deep they were. She could tell Neo felt the same way. He stopped in the air and they looked at one another for a long moment. A slow smile spread across Neo's face. Trinity felt herself smile a little in response. Damn, the man was handsome. She leaned on the spear and arched a brow.

"Having fun?" Neo was more preoccupied with her outfit and arched his own brow,

"Athena?" he asked in the same wry tone she'd used.

"Minerva actually. We're in Rome."

"Right. Minerva."

One of the kids on the net decided to try and crawl up, jostling the others who protested. The distracted officers were suddenly reminded the kids where even there. Neo looked at the net in his hand with a fleeing expression of surprise which quickly turned into something much more mischievous. He shook the net and the kids yelped.

"You know you could probably drop down," he told them. They glared back and then dropped one by one.

"Ok, I think that's enough for one day," Chiron called. "Everyone up here!"

Neo dropped the net and landed lightly on the marble balcony before Trinity. She set the shield and spear to one side and set her hands on his hips even as he placed his own hands on hers. Neo leaned forward letting his forehead rest against Trinity's, eyes locked. Trinity, not one for public displays couldn't help by reach up and lightly touch his temple. Neo's hands moved from her hips to cup her face as he burned the image into memory.

"I missed you," he whispered for her ears only.

"I missed you too," she replied, drawing her thumb across his cheek. He turned his head and kissed her palm, letting his hands fall to her shoulders. The gradually became aware of the noisy students dragging their sorry selves up the stairs and broke away slowly.

One spied them, and grumbled. "Good thing He wasn't so distracted by her when he had to go save the world." Neo looked up sharply and saw the speaker was the same snotty kid who'd made the inexcusable comments earlier. This time instead of fury, Neo felt a stab of guilt. Trinity didn't know what was wrong with Neo, but she'd heard the comment also. She turned and fixed a hard stare at the kid.

"Will someone well me what just happened?" Chiron asked, breaking the tense moment.

"We got our asses kicked, six ways from Sunday," one of the girls replied.

"Correct! And why?"

"He's the One," another boy replied.

"Yeah! He's got superpowers!"

"Alien, you seem fixated on the superpowers. Yes he does, but he was kicking your asses before then!"

"We could have beaten someone else though!" Alien responded. Trinity rolled her eyes. There was one in every class. Her eyes stopped mid-roll when the kid continued. "We could have beaten Trinity!"

Neo and Chiron snorted, that was unlikely.

"First it's Captain Trinity. And second, I doubt you could have. The captain here has the best record in the entire resistance when it comes to escaping Agents. Better than me, better than Commander Morpheus, better than Captain Roland, Captain Niobe or any of us. Remember that and speak to your superiors with respect." Chiron rumbled. The kid backed off, chastised. Chiron turned to the couple. "Thank you for showing them up so spectacularly."

"Anytime," Neo replied.

"Zeb!" Chiron called out. Neo turned and took the vision of Trinity into his real world body.

~*~*~


Deep in the bowels of 01 a command reached the lowest ranked machines, the last true robots on the planet. The hulking humanoid forms were 20 feet tall and performed menial tasks befitting their insignificance. Many thousands had been made for the purpose of fighting, but only a fraction of the original number remained, the rest lost to the ravages of war or time. Still, there were a surprising number left. By all rights they should have been recycled into more useful, less human machines, but somehow these had survived. The robots turned as one towards the west, then simultaneously began their long march.

~*~*~


"How'd the interviews go?" Morpheus asked with a small knowing smile. Trinity and Neo stepped into his office, Neo closing the door behind him part way before leaning against the wall. Trinity sank into the seat across from Morpheus and tossed three data-pads onto his desk.

"They went well. I think I've decided but I would like to sleep on it one more day." Trinity said. Morpheus nodded and slid another pad from a neat stack on his desk.

"Good. There is something I would like you to consider." Trinity arched an eyebrow as she took the pad from his outstretched hand. "This is the list of hopeful operators. I've been going over the numbers with Chiron and Locke and we're going to need more operators as the fleet grows. Now Link would be the one primarily responsible for training a new operator and I know you said you'd think about taking on a third new crewmember so..." Morpheus trailed off. Trinity thought for a moment, tapping the pad against the palm of her other hand as she did so. She turned it on and too a quick glance at the names listed there then switched it off again.

"I'll have to talk to Link about it," Trinity said. Morpheus nodded; he'd expected she would want to talk with Link first. "I decided to take Spike and Syzygy on since they're familiar and they wouldn't take as long to train. I think if Link if up to it, we can take an operator too."

"Good! Good."

"Can you run this back to the ship?" Trinity turned in her seat and held the pad towards Neo. Her first officer pushed himself away from the wall and took the pad. "Tell Link the situation and ask him to look over the list. I'll be up in a bit."

"Sure." Neo nodded and slipped from the room. After a moment Trinity got up and shut the door. Morpheus leaned forward on his desk attentively as Trinity took he seat again.

"I'm concerned about Neo," Trinity told him, "Recently he's been having these... bizarre nightmares."

"Lots of people have nightmares about being unplugged, or the machine world and he's been through a lot," Morpheus tried to reason, but she was already shaking her head.

"No, they aren't about that. Morpheus, right before the end of the war, Neo started having dreams." Trinity admitted. She looked off into space, either collecting her thoughts or remembering. "He never said anything, but they bothered him. That day, he asked me to stay out of the Matrix." Morpheus nodded. He hadn't understood then and he wasn't sure he understood now, why Neo had asked her not to go in. His jaw clenched just a little as he remembered the chaos of that day and the days that followed.
"I think he was having visions of something happening to me in the Matrix. And, " Trinity paused to regain complete control of her emotions, "and something did happen to me." She swallowed back rising bile. "Later he told me he was having visions of the machine city," Trinity added. I- I can't help but wonder if this is the same thing, if he's seeing things which will happen."

Silence lingered in the room for a long moment. Trinity wondered if she was being silly. If, perhaps, she was letting her feelings for Neo somehow cloud her judgment in some way. She hadn't planned on telling Morpheus when she'd walked into the officer, but a feeling of unease had been flitting about at the back of her mind all day. She looked up and met Morpheus' eyes when he finally spoke.

"He is the One." Trinity nodded, she damn well knew that, possibly better than other people. "No one has any idea how he can see, it's a miracle. If he was having visions of the machine city I believe it. And if he was having visions in dreams before, then you are right in being concerned." Morpheus said gravely. Trinity felt a little relieved, but at the same time she felt slightly guilty for telling Morpheus. "Niobe told me he knew your names from before." Trinity nodded slowly. "I thought that perhaps that was an isolated incident, or was somehow related to his ability to read the code of the Matrix directly, or... Trinity I don't know. Neo doesn't even know how he can do half the things he can do. He just does them," Morpheus sighed. "But maybe-"

"The dreams are more visions." Trinity said. Morpheus nodded.

"May I ask," Morpheus began tentatively, "what his last dream was about?"

Trinity paused for a moment considering. Niobe had been told the first one and Morpheus was much closer to the both of them than Niobe was. Trinity took a breath and quickly told Morpheus everything she had been told. Morpheus sat back and listened, eyebrow racing straight up when Trinity began to tell him about Smith reciting the pill speech he had given Neo.

"That is strange." Trinity nodded agreement. "I guess time will tell if these are visions or nightmares. Thank you for telling me Trinity. Neo isn't just the One, he's my friend too." Trinity nodded again and rose.

"I should get to the ship or Neo will wonder what is keeping me."

"Ok." Morpheus rose and saw her out the door then returned to his desk and surveyed the work he had left with a heavy sigh. He picked up the first data pad on the pile and began reading. Two hours later there was a soft knock at his door.

"Sir?" Morpheus looked up. His aid was standing in his office doorway carrying a data-chip.

"Yes Qwerty?" Morpheus asked. The young man approached the desk, holding out the data chip.

"This just came in from the docks, sir. It's a communication from the Logos." Morpheus took the chip and nodded thanks to his aide who retreated back to the outer office. Morpheus set the chip into the reader and played the message back.

"This is captain Niobe of the Logos to Zion command. We have just returned from the Matrix with important news. Included with this message is a data file containing the details and terms of how the peace will work in the Matrix." Niobe paused for a moment then the recording continued.
"The System has decided it will no longer stop us from unplugging people who reject the Matrix. They've made a few stipulations and have outlined what is acceptable and what is not. They said they already calculated how actual negotiations would have gone and came up with these terms. It's apparently been approved by the Oracle and Seraph was the one who told us." Niobe paused again. "An Agent was actually the one to tell us the terms, but it's apparently all true. We are continuing to monitor our potential target. I guess we'll se how well this agreement works out, first hand. Logos Out."

Morpheus sank back in his chair, lost in a thousand swirling thoughts, each vying for his full attention. His mind had been completely blank as he listened to her message and the enormity of what it meant sank in. Now thoughts and ideas seemed to crash back into his mind as if a dam had broken.

"Sir?" Qwerty prompted, "This is good news isn't it?" Morpheus shook himself free of the thoughts concerning Neo and his prophetic dreams for the moment. This was news that council should be made aware of, immediately. Once that was done, he could address other issues; namely sending the Neb back to broadcast level to seek out the Oracle as soon as humanly possible.

"Yes, yes it is. Very good news. I want you to make a copy of this. I am going to take this to Dillard's office personally."

"Yes, sir," The young man said and quickly ran off with the chip back to his desk to make a copy. Morpheus allowed himself to think on Neo for a moment while his aide copied the data.

Did he know? How did he know? Was it the dream? Was in coincidence? Morpheus shook himself free of the thoughts and strode into the outer office. His aid removed the ship from the reader/writer and handed it to him.

"Thank you," he said, accepting the chip. "I'm off to go bring some good news to Councilor Dillard. Then I will probably be heading back Dock side to speak with the captains there." The young man nodded. Morpheus turned and left, thoughts of Neo temporarily shelved.

~*~*~
Trinity quickly climbed up the ladder to the core of her ship. Neo and Link were holding a large panel in place while one of the dockhands tack-welded it into place.

"Ok, that should do it," the workman said, voice muffled by the mask. Neo and Link nodded and stepped out of the way as the worker began making more permanent welds.

"How is it going?" Trinity asked.

"So far so good," Link shrugged. He went back over to his half assembled station and picked up the pad Neo dropped off. "I haven't had a chance to look at this yet," he told her. "But I think I could handle teaching someone if you want me to." Trinity nodded.

"Neo and I can deal with Spike and Syz. A new operator will mostly be your responsibility."

"We're taking those two?" Link asked. Trinity nodded.

"Since we unplugged them, I didn't have a problem with Morpheus asking me to take on an operator as well. Look over the list and tell me what you've decided. I think any of them would work well just based on their performance, but you're the one who will be doing most of the training."

"Right, I'll do that right now."

"Thank you," Trinity said, "Neo? Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," Neo followed her back down the ladder and through the ship, wondering what she wanted to talk about. She stopped in front of their new cabin and opened the hatch, closing it behind him. "Is something wrong?" Neo asked, placing a tentative hand on her shoulder.

"I told Morpheus about your dream," she admitted. "He already knows about the first one." Neo took his hand off her shoulder and ran it through his hair, turning from her slightly. Trinity felt awful, like she'd betrayed his trust. "Neo." Now it was her turn to place a tentative hand on his shoulder. "Neo I told him because I care and because I'm worried about you. These aren't the first nightmares you've had, are they?" she asked him. He froze under her hand and she knew she had guessed correctly. He turned to face her slowly but said nothing. "Are they?"

"No," he shook his head. Trinity took his hands and rubbed her thumbs over the back of them.

"It was only after you asked me to stay out of the Matrix that I thought your dreams might be about me. Were they?" she asked. He nodded silently, hands turning in her grasp so they could hold her tightly. It almost hurt. "Neo, I knew you had problems sleeping. I know you left a number of times and I know you stayed in bed awake even more than that. It hurt a little that you didn't tell me what was wrong, but I trusted you. You told me this time though, which is why I feel so awful for telling Morpheus. But it seemed important somehow, and I love you."

"In the ones before...I saw you fall," he said so softly she though she'd heard wrong. He'd seen her falling from that building? "A couple times a week. At night. I'd see the agent shoot you. And then when it happened, I- I tried to get there, but I couldn't stop him. I wasn't fast enough."

"You caught me," Trinity insisted, calm voice belying her inner turmoil. He'd seen her fall. Had known to come and catch her. Had known she'd been shot. She'd always assumed that Link had filled him in. But he'd known it was going to happen. It was chilling.

"I can't lose you," he said, "and don't say I won't. I've lost you twice." She reached out and hugged him tightly and he returned the embrace, shaking slightly.

"But you saved me," she brushed her fingers through his hair and waited for him to calm a little. "Neo, what else are you seeing now? Are they visions like before?"

"No. Those dreams were so clear. These... These are confusing. They're not like normal nightmares, but they're not like when I saw you falling, thank god. I still can't help but wonder if they do mean something? And then if they do, what do they mean?" He paused a moment and held her while he tried to decide how much else to tell her. He felt awful for not telling her before, but he'd been terrified that if he said anything that might be the catalyst for her fall; a self fulfilling prophecy. Which, he noted ruefully, it almost was. He finally decided to tell her a little more.

"I was back in that perfect house from the first dream."

"Yeah?"

"It felt real. I was convinced I was somehow back in the Matrix."

"I had that nightmare a few times," Trinity admitted, hoping he'd feel better knowing he wasn't alone in that fear.

"I- walked out of the bedroom into the hall. I didn't know what to do. And then the mirror started talking to me."

"The mirror?"

"He said I was in a dream. He started saying some things, which...I guess may be true on some level. I don't know if I want them to be or not."

"What did he say?" Trinity asked. Neo squeezed her tightly, hugging her closer.

"Can I just...not tell you right now? I- Its confusing and I just don't know. It sort of frightened me."

"Telling me won't help?"

"No. It might make it worse. I promise I'll tell you. I will."

"I believe you. So you saw this mirror of yourself and he said some unnerving things?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask what they were about generally?" she asked. Neo sighed.

"I don't want you to wonder."

"I already am," Trinity pointed out.

"He said lots of things, but some of those things were about us."

"I love you," Trinity said with fervor. "That will never change." He kissed her in reply.

"I know. You know I love you like that too, right? I would never do anything to hurt you."

"I know. God, Neo..."Trinity wondered what the hell had him so cagey. She wanted to take the hurt away, slay his monsters, send them back to hell where they could burn with Smith.

"Can we talk about something else for a little while?" Neo asked. Trinity thought about pursuing his dream further, but knew she shouldn't. He promised to tell her, and she believed him.

"You seemed a little spooked when that kid was mouthing off. You ok?" Trinity felt sorry she'd asked when she felt Neo's physical response. His jaw clenched and relaxed a few times. She placed a gentle hand against his cheek.

"Should we leave that for another conversation as well?" she questioned. Neo nodded.

"Please?" he pleaded. She nodded and let her hand trail down his face and neck to his chest. Neo tightened his grip on her and buried his face in her neck. She held him for a long moment, feeling him calm.

"We should get back and see if Link has chosen our new apprentice operator."

"Did you tell Spike and Syzygy yet?" Neo asked as their embrace finally loosened.

"No. After Morpheus asked us to take on a third, I decided to send them out-"

"Trinity!" Both Neo and Trinity looked towards the cabin hatch and then at one another. What was Morpheus doing on the Neb? They quickly left their cabin to see what was going on.

"Morpheus what is it?" Trinity asked as she gave him a hand up onto the deck from the ladder.

"This." He held up a data chip in his hands. "It's a message from the Logos. You need to hear this. Both of you."

"Did something happen?" Trinity asked as they made their way to the core and the closest chip reader currently working on the ship.

"Nothing happened to the Logos. In short, they were contacted and told how the peace agreement would work out in the Matrix." Morpheus said as they climbed the ladder into the Core. Link looked up from the data-pad of candidates when he heard Morpheus and Trinity in the ladder well. Morpheus climbed onto the deck first, quickly followed by Trinity and Neo. "Read this," he said, hading the chip to Link. The operator slid it into the drive and booted up the contents. An audio file from the Logos?

"This is captain Niobe of the Logos to Zion command. We have just returned from the Matrix with important news..."

Neo felt queasy as the message began playing: had something he'd done hurt their chances of unplugging anyone ever again? The feeling quickly stopped and was replaced with a leaden feeling.

"What about the others?"
"What others?"
"The ones that want out,"
"Obviously, they will be freed..."

Niobe's report sounded eerily like the dream Neo has most recently had

"The council is discussing this now," Morpheus said. "Their first reading of the terms and conditions seem reasonable, but we really aren't in a position to re-negotiate. At least not now." Morpheus gestured towards the reader and Link popped the disk out and handed it back. "Trinity, as soon as your ship is able to go, your first task once you get back to broadcast level is to contact the Oracle." Trinity nodded silently, understanding. "Now I," Morpheus shook the disk in his hand, "am going to tell the other captains personally." He started to leave then stopped and turned. "Have you come to a decision about another operator?"

"Link is looking over the list," Trinity said, then looked over in her operator's direction, "Unless you finished looking them over?"

"Oh, uh," Link grabbed the data-pad and held it out. Trinity took it and looked at the application active on the screen. "I was thinking we could take Munin. She's a little bit older than the other kids, she's had some shipboard experience and she's also doing her medic training." Trinity quickly read the application then looked up.

"Ok. We'll take Munin." She handed the data-pad back to Morpheus.

"I think you have some visits to make then." Trinity replied only with a ghost of a smile. Morpheus left and Trinity followed him out. Neo stayed behind in the Core with Link, helping the operator weld the new server brackets to the internal support struts. After a few minutes Link stood back and took off the welder's mask.

"Man, can you believe it?"

"What?" Neo asked.

"Niobe's message!" Link exclaimed.

"Oh. Yeah," Neo replied. He still felt weird about the whole thing.

"That's all you can say? Neo, you did that man." The operator gently prodded Neo's shoulder. "You can be too humble sometimes. Anyway, I'm not sure I trust the machines entirely, but they could have killed us all ten times, heck, a hundred times over since you came back from their city." Link's tone turned serious. "Do you think they're legit?" Neo thought about that.

"Yeah. I think they'll hold up their end if we hold up ours." Neo said. He'd gotten that impression from the Oracle when he had woken in the Matrix. And then that dream... Trinity appeared at the ladder then.

"I need to go tell our new crewmembers. Do you want to come along?" She asked them both. Link grinned.

"Sure! The sooner we get them over here, the sooner they can start helping."

"Neo?" she asked. He nodded, smiling just a little.

"Yeah."

"Lets go."

******


The crew of the Neb made their way down into the dorms near the academy. Neo followed along behind Trinity, using her and the glowing power-lines attached to the rock walls as guides. Link strolled beside him, enjoying himself and looking forward to not only having more hands working on the Neb, but to telling the new crew. He remembered how damn excited he'd been when Chiron had been captain of the Manticore and had come down to knock on his door. They turned a corner and walked away from the vast Well, and into the honeycombed dorm area carved deeper into the rock. Groups of students looked up and fell silent or scurried out of the way as they passed, the names of the officers said in awed whispers. A bold girl reached out to touch Neo's sleeve. Neo noticed the movement and turned to see what it was. The girl 'eep'ed and backed away, nearly falling over her own feet.

"You ok?" Neo asked as the small group paused. She nodded silently, eyes huge. Link bit his tongue trying to keep from laughing out loud and embarrassing the girl further. "Ok, then." Neo looked at Trinity, shrugged and they continued on. They turned another corner and the room behind them erupted into excited chatter and a few girly squeals. Link did laugh then, and continued to until they finally approached their destination.

The loud sound of music and cheering teenagers spilled out of the common area into the main hallway a little down the way. Trinity paused by an open door and peered inside. Seeing no one, she looked at the door itself. A list of names and, presumably where those people currently were, was scribbled in a message area. Most of the guys, including Spike were "Lounge Gaming!" Trinity jerked her thumb towards the yelling students and then headed in that direction.

The music grew louder as they approached. A small crowd was gathered in the common area between three of the hallways. A digital projector was focused on a large, smooth section of rock which had been painted white. A smaller monitor on a low table mirrored the images. Little arrows floated up the screen in time to the music, in incredible combinations. One of the guys missed a step and the crowd groaned in sympathy.

Neo smiled a little bit. He couldn't see the projected screen, but he could see the monitor and the dancing students. He looked down and sure enough, they had cobbled together hard, arcade style pads. Someone had 'ported Dance Dance Revolution into the real world. Trinity smirked for a second then tapped the nearest student on the shoulder. The kid did a double take, eyes growing very wide.

"Is Spike here?" Trinity asked. The kid nodded slowly then turned to perform a frenzied visual search of the crowd before pointing to the couch. "Thank you." Trinity said. By now the students immediately around them had stopped cheering and others were peering over to see who had arrived. The silence spread through the room and finally someone shut off the volume on the game, making the rest of the group, including the dancers, turn around. Trinity picked her way through the crowd, but they parted before her, eyes wide. Spike stood up from the couch as Trinity approached.

"Hello Spike," she greeted.

"Uhm. Hi Trinity. Er, ma'am, er Captain. Hi." His eyes darted back to Neo and Link and then to Trinity. "Can I do something for you?" he asked, feeling lame.

"Would you like to join my crew?" Trinity asked. Spike's heart froze for one tenth of a second before it restarted. He grinned.

"Hell yeah! Er I mean," he tried to look more serious, older, mature. "It would be an honor, captain." The corner of Trinity's mouth twitched into a small smile and she held out her hand. Spike looked at it for an eternal second before grasping and shaking it.

"Good," she said. "Welcome aboard. Find us at the docks at ten tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Trinity turned and made her way towards Neo and Link in the silence of the room. At the edge of the crow she turned and called back.

"Ten am comes a lot sooner than you think, so don't party too hard." Then she left, Neo and Link following behind. They got to the next junction in the halls before the roar of congratulations began behind them. Trinity fell back into step between Neo and Link and grabbed Neo's hand for a second, squeezing it. He returned the gesture and they separated.

"Syzygy should be around her room as well," Trinity said. They made their way back through the large common area by the entrance to the dorm caves. "She's on the second level, so we'll take the stairs," she informed the others. Link and Neo nodded. They made their away across the room and Trinity felt Neo slow his stride as they approached the stairs. She immediately saw the staircase was only rock and some concrete repair work and surmised that he couldn't see much of anything except the people walking on it. She silently took his elbow and walked a little ahead of him. Link continued on ahead of both of them, either unaware of Neo's hesitancy, or not wanting to call attention to it. He'd been the one to help Neo around when they had first returned from 01 and Trinity was still in the hospital ward. Link was actually the one to give Trinity a few pointers on how to assist Neo with areas of Zion he couldn't 'see', noting that his father had gone blind in a squid attack when Link was himself learning to be an operator.

"Step here," she said with a squeeze as they reached the first one. He put his hand over hers and let her subtly guide him up, using Link as a reference as well. They reached the top and then Trinity took the lead again, somehow knowing which hall was which in the twisting warren of rooms. Neo hadn't seen a difference even when he'd been able to see.
She stopped at a door and rapped on the worn metal. A girl with frizzy blonde fuzz answered.

"Oh, Holy Fuck!" she exclaimed, gawking for a second.

"What?" A semi annoyed voice asked. "Who is it, Lotus?" an older, Asian girl asked. Her hair was much longer that her roommate's, indicating she'd been in the real world for some time. The girl nearly dropped the data-pad she'd been reading when she saw Trinity standing there with Neo and Link. She ran over to prod the lumpy form sprawled on the bed in the corner. "Wake up!"

"No. I set my alarm. Go away Nova." Syzygy muttered back.

"Get up!" the girl hit Syzygy with her data-pad, eliciting a sharp cry from under the blankets. "There are important people here to see you!"

"Like who," the blankets muttered back.

"Like The One! Like Captain Trinity!"

"Oh shit!" Syzygy sprang from her bed, falling on her face as she got tangled in the blankets. She scrambled to her feet and ran to the door, brushing aside the still silently gawking girl. "Hi," Syzygy said nervously.

"Hi," Trinity greeted. "Did we disturb you?" she asked. "I can come back later I guess," Trinity turned to leave. The younger girl reached forward and grabbed her arm, eyes bulging a little.

"No! No! No, I was going to get up soon." Trinity turned back to Syzygy. Link was once again trying desperately to keep a straight face. Neo was having a hard time as well. "Uhm, can I do something for you?" Syzygy asked. Link sputtered and covered it with a cough. Neo patted him on the back, maybe a little harder than needed. But it was funny that Spike and Syz had nearly said the same thing.

"I've come to invite you to join my crew." Sharp gasps from both Syzygy's roommates were followed by a giggling squeal from the pod-fuzzy one.

"Yes! Thank you! Uhm, now?" Syzygy asked, unsure what happened once someone was actually accepted to work on one of the fleet ships. Trinity shook her head.

"No. Show up at ten am tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do on the Neb before she's ready to head out and we're on an accelerated schedule as of tomorrow."

"Ok. Anything else?"

"Just don't stay up too late," Trinity told her. She shook the girl's hand.

"Right. Thank you."

The three adults weren't even ten feet away before Syzygy's roommates started yelling. The younger one dashed out of their room and began knocking on the doors of their neighbors.

"And so it starts," Link chuckled, "By tomorrow every kid in Zion will know who the newbies on the Neb's crew are."

"And they're just the first," Trinity added. "Morpheus said the Council wants the captains to start taking their new crews as soon as possible given what's happened in the Matrix."

"I bet that news will be all over Zion by tomorrow night," Link predicted. Trinity nodded agreement. They made their way out towards the Well, heading for the elevator.

"To the last kid next?" Link asked. Trinity nodded.

"She's not in the dorms?" Neo asked, noting they were leaving that area of Zion.

"Nope." Link punched the elevator call button.

"Where then?"

"Zionist quarter." Trinity replied. Neo felt like groaning.

"It won't be so bad," she reassured, the unspoken 'I hope,' lingering between them. The elevator arrived and the group stepped inside.