Thanks to:
GreyElvenWarrior, another link to the pics is below. I hope you like this chapter! I know how bad it is. I can't believe how long it is till the DVD comes out! Please, can I borrow your shoulder to cry on?
leeloo-dalas-multipass84, good to see you've registered! Hope your stories are okay, but it seems your doing pretty well with them!
EmyLyii, next instalment, how is your theory doing? And yes, you are right. Sapphire is Neo and Trinity's daughter. And about Morpheus, I think you'll find out later in the chapter (smirks!)
Kal Torak, might be best you log in, but I know how annoying some computers can be. Like my school librarian said, technology is good, only when it works. And I can completely understand about calling a DOS computer 'Matrix'. Really fitting!
richard the pedantic, good to hear from you as always. Nice to know my plants are going to survive till the summer. Thanks for reviewing, it seems many people have their theories about Sapphire… Thanks for your advice about the GCSE's, I'll be sure to note that!
And on to the story!
*~*~*
Sapphire sat at the operator's station, her fingers nimbly flying over the keyboards. The was hacking into restricted files on the ships computer, every so often selecting a file and copying it to a separate discrete folder. She used only a couple of the side monitors to view the information, and every so often glanced at the three main matrix screens. She was using as little space as possible, as it meant there was less screens to look at so she could keep her attention on some other things, and of course it was less obvious if any one happened to interrupt her. Which would really only work if she knew if someone was coming in the first place.
Niobe silently entered the Core, and saw the girl. She approached from behind her, but Sapphire didn't stop what she was doing. She obviously didn't know the captain was there.
The older woman came directly behind her, planning to surprise the girl by her presence.
"Hello Niobe." Sapphire said calmly, turning the surprise onto the lady behind her instead.
"What? How-?" Niobe said, a little shocked.
"The matrix screens make perfect mirrors." She said, matter-of-factly, nodding at the screens in question. She had seen her all along.
"Oh. Right."
Niobe paused, a bit taken back by the girl's openness at what she was doing.
"You do realise that hacking into our computers most secure files is generally not found acceptable?"
"Uh-huh." Sapphire said, without even turning to look at her, still concentrating on the screens. Niobe didn't know what to say. She looked carefully at the girl's progress, and analysed her technique. Very impressive.
"You are quite a talented hacker. One of the best, I could say. You know of course most of us here have had good experience."
"Yes."
"So how come I haven't heard of you before. This type of hacking needs experience. You've only been freed for three days, and this is the first time I've ever known about you." Niobe glanced at the Matrix screens, and was sure she saw the girl give a small smile.
"I've never been caught. I'm also not one of those hackers who leave smirking messages. They are too frequently traced."
"Hmm, right," Niobe agreed, then frowned. "Never been caught?"
"Well, by the authorities anyway. I find it very hard to keep anything from my parents, though." Sapphire for some reason felt she could put complete trust in the captain.
"Your parents?!?" Niobe said astounded. Firstly, hackers never ever tell their parents, it was a bit no-no. Secondly, seeing how talented Sapphire was as a hacker, she couldn't hide her activities from those parents? And thirdly, Niobe knew who genetically were her parents - two people that had been dead since before she was born.
"Well, not my real parents, of course. In the Matrix…" she trailed off.
Niobe was intrigued at the whole girl's character. Then she remembered what the girl was doing again.
"Sapphire, as much as a good hacker you are, you should not be hacking into the Neb's most secure files!" For some reason, Niobe found she couldn't tell her off as easily as she normally could. Her usual harshness was very soft towards her.
"We've done it many a time before. There are just some things that can only be accessed from the hard-drive itself."
"What?" Niobe said confused. What was the girl talking about?
Sapphire finally stopped typing and turned round to face her at last.
"You guys seriously never knew? I knew we were good, but I didn't realise we were that good."
"What are you talking about? Who's 'we'?"
Sapphire just gave her a look.
"How do you think that the 'Matrix Angels' always know which ships have enough equipment or enough space to support an unplugging, or if they are dealing with one of their own unpluggings? We hack them, remotely, from the matrix. My parents know which ships should be okay, and then we check. We always cover our tracks, we have to, but I didn't realise you guys didn't even suspect anything."
Niobe stood there, completely astounded at the new information that had just been presented to her. She had in fact frequently thought about how the Matrix Angels knew which ships to send messages to, but hadn't ever considered hacking.
She was also surprised at how much the girl was telling her, after all those 18 years that the Matrix Angels had been helping them. She'd only been freed for two days and three full nights, and she was putting complete confidence in Niobe?
Sapphire swivelled round to face the screens again, and continued her activities. Niobe didn't specifically look to see what she was doing, but one glance told her the girl was writing a few commands into one of the construct loading programs. The Logos was very similar to the Neb', and the computer systems were almost identical, so Niobe knew what was being accessed.
After another couple of minutes, Sapphire finally finished, letting out a sigh. She turned back round again and looked at the captain.
"Niobe, I need to see the Oracle as soon as possible."
"Yes, alright. The message we got said you would." Niobe replied, a little surprised.
Sapphire gave a little laugh. "Parents! What are they like?"
Niobe smiled too. The daughter of Neo and Trinity, the girl cared for her entire life by the Matrix Angels, was commenting about parents!
"I'll tell Morpheus now" Niobe said, and turned away from Sapphire, still with a smile on her face as she went to find her lover.
~*~
Niobe came back into the core five minutes later, this time with Morpheus at her heals. She was thankful to see that Sapphire had returned the couple of screens she used to normal, and that the girl was standing completely guilt-free by one of the jack-in chairs.
Niobe hadn't told Morpheus about what Sapphire had told her yet. The girl wanted to visit the oracle, and it was unlikely that she would be able to if Niobe started the sentence with 'Hi, Honey. Your new recruit is hacking into your most secure files, and says her parents, the Matrix Angels, often hack our files before contacting us. By the way, she wants to see the Oracle, can she go?'. No, it was very unlikely.
"So, you want to see the Oracle, do you?" Morpheus said, that classic smile on his face.
"Yes, that's right. I'd like to go as soon as possible."
Morpheus nodded, and carried on.
"All right. I think it will be okay if we went in a couple of days, then."
"Couple of days? Why? Can't we go now?" Sapphire complained.
Morpheus smiled at her obvious enthusiasm.
"Sorry. The Matrix may not be as dangerous as it was twenty years ago, but you still need to know how to defend yourself. You haven't had any downloads at all yet, and they take quite a bit of time. And then, of course, I like to check your technique. Not to mention the fact that you have only been unplugged for just under three days!"
Niobe's mouth opened in shock and confusion at her lover's statement.
"Morpheus, I don't need any downloads. I already know how to 'defend myself'." Sapphire said calmly.
"You may have had some previous practice in your life, but I would like you to have the downloads. They'll just perfect your technique and give you more stability in your moves, etc."
Niobe was completely shocked at Morpheus. How can he say that? She had told him about the girl's identity only six hours ago. Either he's forgotten, or he's in denial.
"Morpheus, I mean no disrespect, but I don't need any downloads. I was raised in the Matrix by a group of programs in the Oracle's tight circle. I was taught how to fight from a very young age, by several experienced worriers, including Seraph. I don't need any downloads."
Morpheus thought for a moment.
"All right, then. Prove it."
Sapphire was startled by his sudden request.
"What? No!"
"Why not? Fight me."
"I'm not going to fight you." Sapphire said, in outrage.
"Why do you say that?" Morpheus said, the tone of his voice annoyingly calm like he always is.
Sapphire paused for a moment, a bit taken back by his question.
"I'm not going to fight you. I don't need to prove myself." She said finally.
"Then you are not going to see the Oracle." Morpheus replied, matter-of-factly.
Sapphire gave him a death glance, and gave a little growl as she climbed into the nearest jack-in chair.
"Fine. Fine. But don't hold back." She muttered darkly as Niobe slid the needle in.
"She really takes after her mother, doesn't she?" Niobe said to the other captain with a smile.
Morpheus grinned as he climbed into a chair of his own. Now this really would be interesting.
Niobe gave him a quick kiss, and then slid the spike into him too. She loaded them up into a basic sparring program and then rushed out to collect the rest of the two crews.
This would be very interesting indeed.
*~*~*
To all those suffering from Revolutions withdrawal (which could be a few, why else would you read a fanfic like this).
Okay, the link below is where someone (who I am very very grateful to) has taken 130 screen caps of the Bane/Smith fight on the Logos. The first section is from where Trinity leaves Neo to check the fuses, to where Bane has the gun on Neo, and the second section is when Neo comes down into the room with the gun, to where Trinity frees herself from where bane bound her hands. These are not my pictures, I just happened to stumble across them. The transcript for that scene is below the link. Oh, and just tell me if you want the transcript, and I'll send it to you. I also have reloaded, and the shooting script of the first Matrix. Oh, and sorry about the subtitles. As I said, they aren't my The Logos: pilot cabin. )
Trinity: Ready ?
( the lights go out. )
Trinity: Engine's still firing. Must be a fuse. I'll check it out.
Bane: I should've known he'd sent his bitch first.
Trinity: Bane ?!
Bane: No one ever got away from me as many times as you did. Every single time I thought it was the last. Every time I was sure we had you, but somehow you'd slip through our fingers. I really can't express just how aggravating that can be.
Trinity: What are you talking about ?
Bane: I think I'll might enjoy killing you as much as killing him.
Trinity: Neo! It's Bane, he's psychotic!
Bane: You're gonna pay for that.
~*~
Bane: Mr. Anderson. I see you're as predictable in this world as you are in the other.
Neo: What ?
Trinity: He's out of his mind.
Bane: It might appear that way to you, but Mr. Anderson and I know that appearances can be deceiving. It'll all become clear in a moment, now, thank you for bringing the gun. You can set it down right there.
Trinity: Don't do it. Shoot. Shoot now.
Bane: Yes, shoot, fry us, burn us alive!
Trinity: Shoot, Neo. If you don't, he'll kill us both.
Bane: He knows he should do it but he won't. He can't.
Trinity: Do it.
( Neo puts the gun down. )
Bane: Back away from the gun and turn around.
Neo: Let her go.
Bane: [Somehow familiar, isn't it ?]. We've been here before, you and I. Remember ? I do. I think of nothing else.
Neo: Who are you ?
Bane: Still don't recognize me ? I admit, it is difficult to think, encased in this rotting piece of meat. The stink of it filling every breath, a suffocating cloud you can't escape. ( spits blood ) Disgusting! Look at how pathetically fragile it is. Nothing this weak is meant to survive.
Neo: What do you want ?
Bane: I want what you want.
( Neo recognizes Smith in Bane. )
Bane: Yes. That's it, Mr. Anderson. Look past flesh, look through the soft gelatin of these dull cow eyes and see your enemy.
Neo: No.
Bane: Oh yes, Mr. Anderson.
Neo: It can't be.
Bane: There's nowhere I can't go, there's nowhere I won't find you.
Neo: It's impossible.
Bane: Not impossible. Inevitable. Goodbye, Mr. Anderson.
Trinity: This is it, it's gotta be. ( She pushes a circuit breaker, the lights go out )
( Bane/Neo fight. )
Trinity: Neo.
Bane: I wish you could see yourself, Mr. Anderson. The blind messiah. You're a symbol for all of your kind, Mr. Anderson. Helpless, pathetic. Just waiting to be put out of your misery.
Neo: I can see you.
Bane: It's not over, Mr. Anderson. It's not over.
Neo: Trinity!
Trinity: Neo. Oh no. Your eyes.
Neo: I'll be okay. It's all right, Trin. But I think you'll have to drive.
- ~*~