"What took you so long?" Commander Locke raised his eyebrows and waited for Morpheus' answer.
"I apologize, sire. We rescued two men. One, who we've unplugged and trained, has proven himself to very likely be The One. I believe he is. The other, we found yesterday in the same spot. Indeed, Link and Tank tell me that they've pinpointed where his pod was. These two men, they were right next to each other. Neighbors on the same power tower."
"Odd coincidence. How were you able to find his pod?"
"When the machines insert someone into a new pod, it sends out a brief but distinct signal."
"I see. Like I said, odd coincidence."
"Like I've said, sir, I do not believe in coincidence. I ask you to take the boy and make him a soldier. I believe he is special."
"Why? What's so special about him?"
"He self-substantiated."
~
Kid woke with a start. It still gave him nightmares. Sometimes he regretted not letting, what were they called again? Agents. Sometimes he regretted not letting the agents catch him. My God. We're at war with machines. I can be loaded into a computer program. It made him giddy to think of it. That was one reason why he was always in trouble. His whole life, in the matrix, he had loved computers. Just as he was about to fall back asleep, the door opened.
"Commander Locke wants to see you." With that, the messenger turned and left. Commander Locke? Who the Hell is that?
~
So, Kid, you can either come with me, and help me stop him, or you can stay here and train for the APU corps." Morpheus leaned back in his chair. Kid could imagine himself being offered two pills, like he was told most 'unplugged' were. However, instead of choosing whether to really live or not, he was choosing how to live. Right now, all Kid could think about was Neo, how he had saved him by telling him the truth and training him. It was only a little bit of kung fu, and I can't let Morpheus know I know it. He didn't know why Neo didn't want to take credit for it, though.
"I want to go with Neo." He said.
"Okay. We leave in two days." Morpheus Looked at Commander Locke, with a look that asked if he wanted to add anything.
"Congratulations on your recruitment, soldier."