Ok, sorry about the wait, I have been very busy with schoolwork. It is very likely that I will not be updating this story very quickly. The story is not over, and it is no way abandoned. I have to revise for very important exams at the moment, and do not have enough time to write chapters like I used to. I will probably be adding chapters occasionally in the near future till my exams come up, so you will not have to wait months till I next update. But I won't be updating anything quickly until the exams are over.
Thanks to the startling number or reviewers of this chapter! That includes:
Trialia, yep, so many 'maybes'! You'll find out!
kurtcobain01, hi! Thanks so much! And don't worry about the review thing, ff.net was having trouble with its server. Thanks for reviewing!
GreyElvenWarrior, I will keep it up, but as I said, it won't be anything resembling frequent. I have the next chapters planned out, and that includes one of the characters meeting Neo and Trinity, so don't worry!
EmyLyii, thanks, I hope this one is okay. It was kinda hurried, using stuff I wrote from before, but I hope it meets my usual standards. Then next few definitely will!
Kate- I've put thanks at the bottom.
Furious Angel303, thanks for your review! Yes I will be writing about Sapphire's life prior to this, thanks to you, and to another reviewer for the suggestion!
Kal Torak, look, I'm really really sorry! I'll try not to finish on a cliff-hanger, but I cant promice anything. Infact, I think the next few ones are cliff-hangers! Sorry! Ps, please keep bowing down to me, I like that!
richard the pedantic, hey, don't worry about how long it takes you to review, it's the fact that you do that is nice. Now, read closely. I want you to look at the author's note at the top of the page really carefully… Stop being pedantic!
Loctavious, Thank you so much for reviewing! I can't believe that you find my fiction good as well as my theories! I put a few theories here, but its mostly story. I'm glad you think it's worth reviewing!
(Thanks GreyElvenWarrior, Kal Torak, EmyLyii and Da Buffster for reviewing this chapter!
*~*~*
"You said the girl hacked like Trinity, and has definitely got her mother's fighting style, and that those things can only be taught. What if it wasn't intentional that she adopted Trinity's style? What if she was just taught how to fight by the best person she knew, and she retained most of the style of that person. What if she was taught to hack by one of the most notorious hackers of them all? I mean, she's living with the Matrix Angels you say, what if they are her real parents?"~*~
Niobe sighed. She glanced downwards before speaking.
"As fascinating as the idea is, how is it possible. They're bodies are buried in Zion, we know that. We know they were dead for a couple of days before they were returned to us with my ship, and there was no way they could have survived those injuries given any help anyway. If they are alive, then they would have tried to contact us." Niobe stated sadly, ashamed to have to reject the theory.
"They're machines. They can do pretty much anything with a human body. We all know how advanced they are, with their direct neural interfaces, and the whole harvesting energy from us. What is to say they found a way to keep them alive, in some form that isn't necessarily in a living, breathing body?" Link stated, getting carried away by even the thought of the possibilities.
"Why would they ever do that, or even agree to it? It doesn't make sense. How could they even do that?"
"Niobe, apart from humans living in denial, what else makes up the population in the Matrix?" Link questioned.
"Are you saying they're programs? How? Why?"
"We don't know. But we don't even know what happened at Zero One for sure. We get the bloody and disfigured broken bodies of our long time good friends and heroes returned to us, and we're expected to pick up the pieces. We weren't even told fully the conditions of the peace. All we know is that Neo managed to negotiate for our survival."
"You know, that's a very good point. We don't know anything that happened. They made their way to the Machine City, and they didn't survive to make their way back." Zee stated, catching on to her husband's line of thought.
"It had to be something to do with destroying Smith. We know Neo succeeded, at the cost of his life, but there must be some other part in the bargain, which leads on to something that seems completely illogical. Personally, I do not believe that Trinity was killed by the machines in Zero One, that would not make sense. Neo had obviously found a way to negotiate, and to kill Trinity would have broken any terms of agreement. It would be totally illogical. Like it or not, they still needed the peace as much as we did. If Trinity was lost on the arrival at Zero One, then it is likely that Neo was so distressed that he didn't make his terms clear. To a logic bound machine, with two dead negotiators that had laid uncertain terms, it would do everything that it could think of that would be part of the laid terms so eradicate any 'errors' or misunderstandings."
"Yeah, but would that stretch to keeping them alive in another form? Or giving them a child?" Zee asked.
"It depends what Neo asked for. We can assume he asked for peace, but for sure, we don't know."
"Wait a minute. Did any of you find out Sapphire's real name?" Link asked, on a seemingly unrelated topic.
"Real name? What do you mean, her name's Sapphire."
"No, I mean, she's a hacker, right? And the Matrix Angels always give us the hacker names of the ones we unplug. If Sapphire is just a hacker name, she must have a real one."
"Link, if she did grow up with her parents, would they give her two names? I mean, everyone unplugged knows each other by their hacker names and nothing else normally. The other name is part of a false life that everyone wants to forget, especially Trinity." Niobe stated, fading off at the end as she remembered what the woman had to live through before her unplugging.
"Possibly. But what if Trinity was pregnant when they set off, maybe not even long enough to be noticed by our records or examinations. If Neo asked for 'Peace', then that could mean anything. It could mean a name. Sapphire's real name. Peace Anderson."
~*~
Several hours later, they got a call from the matrix. Luckily, the crew was already awake as the time was considered as 'morning', and so Link was at the operator's station when the call was received. His eyebrows rose a little as he regarded the flashing light for a few seconds, before answering the call.
"Operator. You ready to come back to us?"
There was a small sound of laughter from the other end of the line, and Sapphire replied.
"Yes, Link. I'm coming back. Can't leave you lot too long without me being there to see those confused looks on your faces, can I?"
Link laughed with her. "No, I guess you can't!"
"Yeah. I will be coming back soon. Just give me a bit. I'll phone you in about half an hour. An hour tops. Then you can ring up an exit."
"Okay, then. By the way, what have you been doing in the matrix since you went for a visit to the Oracle yesterday?"
All he received was more chuckles over the other end, before Sapphire hung up. Link sighed. Yep, another one to add onto the list. She's been taught her mothers annoying habit of cryptic clues and half-answered questions. No one did it better than Trinity.
He turned to look at Sapphire's sleeping body for a few moments before turning back and continuing on with his duties as operator.
~*~
Link looked backwards at Niobe when the second call came ¾ hours later. He answered immediately, while Niobe called back down to get Morpheus.
"Hello, Sapphire. Ready to come back to your second home?" Link said, smile on his face. Suddenly remembering, he anxiously glanced back at Niobe preparing to get an annoyed comment about protocol, but was relieved to see a similar smile on her lips.
He quickly replied to Sapphire again before disconnecting. Just then Morpheus entered the core, trying to hide a yawn. To Niobe's knowledge, he had gone to sleep at the usual time. However, he had spent the latter half of the night and early morning awake doing various captain-y jobs. Or, as Niobe suspected, trying to figure out the whole Sapphire mystery himself.
Link typed a few more commands into the computer, ordering an exit call. Morpheus walked back round behind Sapphire ready to withdraw the spike whilst Niobe moved in front of her to help Sapphire out of the chair.
Her eyes flew open. Morpheus withdrew the spike.
"Well," Niobe said carefully, watching Sapphire's reaction as the needle was removed from her head. "It looks like we have Peace at home at last."
Morpheus looked at Niobe curiously. Sapphire was staring at the woman in total surprise and disbelief. Niobe's face grew into a small sly smile, unrecognised by Morpheus, but completely focused on by Sapphire. She had figured it out.
"Come on, let's get you some breakfast." Niobe said, taking the girls elbow and steering her out of the core. Sapphire hastily glanced out behind her, only to see Morpheus still with a confused expression on his face, and Link give her an encouraging thumbs-up. She calmed herself down, and let Niobe led her to the mess hall.
"Don't worry, Sapphire. Everyone has their story. And it doesn't matter what it is, or how trivial or great it is, we all help and protect each other. It is always a big transaction coming from the Matrix, whatever the background. I will be here if you ever need help, or if you need a friend. So will Link, and Zee. We all will. If you have any problems, just ask. Okay?" Niobe said kindly as she led the girl forwards. They stopped as they came to the door.
"How did you know, about 'Peace'?" Sapphire questioned.
"What else would Neo have asked for?" Niobe said simply, smiling whilst opening the mess hall door for the dumbfounded girl.
The ship could be felt to have a slight lurch as the engines started to propel them out of broadcast depth and towards Zion. The Logos followed silently behind them, piloted by Ghost. Sparks accompanied him, being professionally irritating.
*~*~*
AN- Niobe is not being that friendly to Sapphire because of her parents. She is being like that cus she realises just how alone she must feel, and how shocking circumstances in Zion might be to her- you'll find out in the next few chapters. When they come. Aren't I mean!
Oh, and thanks to Kate for reviewing my other fic, 'Thrice'. I'm glad you like it so much! You really think it's that realistic? Thanks! If you are reading this, than I hope you like this one as well! (If you're wondering, I put reviews for other fics at the bottom of my current one.)