Neo moved slowly, his hands grasping any object he could find to help him
go forward. When he figured he was about fifteen feet away from Trinity-
safe enough distance in case anything went wrong- Neo cocked his head to
listen to the sentinel.
"Hey!" Neo called out- immediately noticing the screeching had stopped. "Come here."
Neo heard the sentinel's decent, and the murmured gasps of surprise from the observers. Stretching out a hand- Neo felt one of the tentacles grip his wrist.
"Okay, if you can understand what I'm saying, squeeze my wrist gently once." Neo knew he was putting a lot of trust into this machine- hoping it knew what "gently" meant.
For a moment, nothing happened. Neo was about to ask again when the tentacle squeezed his wrist- not too hard either. Sighing in relief, Neo began his questioning. "Okay, when I ask you a question, squeeze once for 'yes' and twice for 'no', all right?"
Another squeeze.
"Are you here following orders?"
Two squeezes. Neo arched an eyebrow in confusion before continuing.
"Are you a rogue sentinel?"
One squeeze.
"Are you here because you want to help humans?"
Two squeezes. Neo couldn't stop the fear seeping into his mind.
"Are you here to kill us?"
Two squeezes. Neo dropped another question before realizing that the sentinel had no way of replying. "Then what are you here for?"
Neo didn't expect a response- but he got one. The sentinel raised another tentacle and touched him lightly on the shoulder before letting out a quiet screech. Neo thought for a moment what this could mean before it dawned on him.
"Are you here to help me and Trinity?"
One squeeze. Sighing in relief, Neo turned to the others.
"Guys, it's all right. He's here to help us. At least, he's here to help Trinity and myself. Morpheus, is there any way we can plug him into a computer and translate his screeches?"
"Maybe, I'm not sure." Morpheus replied, coming forward.
Neo felt the sentinel release it's grip on his wrist before moving in front of him to stop Morpheus' approach. Trinity saw this and immediately began moving forward. When she was in line with Morpheus, they moved as one- keeping the sentinel from doing anything.
"Hey. When I ask you a 'yes' or 'no' question, can you nod or shake your head in response?" Trinity asked the sentinel.
It paused a moment, processing the question to translate it into its language before nodding.
"Good. Neo, we can't just yell 'Hey you!' to it every time we want it's attention." Trinity turned to Neo.
Neo paused before answering. "You saying we have to name it?"
"Oh yeah, like a pet! This should be fun." Link added sarcastically as he approached.
"You have any better ideas?" Trinity asked, giving Link a glare. Link visibly shrank before shaking his head 'no'. "Good. Neo, I over heard you asking it if it was a rogue sentinel. How about that for a name?"
"What, Rogue?"
"Yeah. Seems to fit."
"All right." Neo turned to the sentinel. "Hey. We're going to call you Rogue, so when you hear that, you should respond because we're trying to get your attention. Okay?" he asked. He felt his wrist being gripped before the sentinel squeezed it once. Neo could do nothing but let the smile grace his face- fast learner.
~~*~~
"Trinity, could you come help Zee and I for a bit?" Link asked Trinity at breakfast.
"Sure. Neo, you'll be fine without me, right?" Trinity turned to Neo.
Neo sighed before responding. "Yes. I'm not incapacitated. I may not be able to see with my eyes, but I CAN see, Trinity."
Trinity glanced at him for a moment before looking at Link.
"Right. I'll meet you at my place, okay?" Link stood abruptly and left.
Trinity watched Link's retreating back for a moment before opening her mouth.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Neo replied, taking a sip of his drink.
"Something obviously is."
"Trinity, do you really think I can't get around Zion without someone always by my side? Do you think the blind always have someone to help them? No. They do everything themselves because they aren't debilitated, they have the use of four other senses and all of their limbs. I have stronger senses, I can technically 'see'. I just don't like being treated as a person who needs constant supervision." Neo sighed, his rant over.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know. I just thought- actually I don't know what I was thinking. I've never known a blind person and for the one person I love completely to be blind, it's something I need to get used to." Trinity rested her chin on her hand, explaining.
"Just because I'm blind shouldn't change the way you feel about me, or even the way you treat me. It doesn't diminish the emotions and thoughts I have. I'm still me, just, I have to look at a black abyss for the rest of my life." Neo replied, his hand moving across the table in search of Trinity's.
Trinity grasped his hand, gripping it tightly. "I love you. Nothing changes that. It's just- for the months that I watched you and these last six months, the one feature about you that always took me by surprise were your eyes. They were so expressive, windows to your mind and heart. I could look at them and feel pain transcending into me because I saw it in your eyes. Whether I knew what pained you or not, it would affect me because your eyes were so unguarded- trusting anyone who looked into them to not abuse the knowledge they drew from you."
"Well, now it'll be facial expressions and my voice. Trinity, you may feel upset about me being blind, but you aren't. You can see the whole world. I only see in the Matrix or from sound. You don't know how alone I feel being blind. I'm forever enveloped in a never-ending darkness. The only color I see is from your voice and the feel of your body against mine. You make me see things so differently when we're together at night. Thank you." Neo lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly, knowing she was either on the brink of tears or smiling. It was enough for him to know she would always be there for him.
~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, sorry for the long wait. I'm writing this HUGE fic for Neo and Trinity on the side. I have to write 50,000 words by December 31 and I'm only at about 4,500 words. Jeepers! So, if you guys have a long wait between updates, I'm sorry, I really wanna plow through this new fic. I promise, when I'm done with it, it'll be posted. MidnightBlues told me about the writing thing in the first place, and if you ask her, you'll get rave reviews of the story so far because she's my personal editor/reviewer- for-the-story. All I can say is that I really flesh out the relationship between Neo and Trinity. I'll leave you all with that. You won't see it until after December 31; consider it a present for the New Year. Anyway, tell me what you think about this chapter, and go check on a songficlet I wrote today!
"Hey!" Neo called out- immediately noticing the screeching had stopped. "Come here."
Neo heard the sentinel's decent, and the murmured gasps of surprise from the observers. Stretching out a hand- Neo felt one of the tentacles grip his wrist.
"Okay, if you can understand what I'm saying, squeeze my wrist gently once." Neo knew he was putting a lot of trust into this machine- hoping it knew what "gently" meant.
For a moment, nothing happened. Neo was about to ask again when the tentacle squeezed his wrist- not too hard either. Sighing in relief, Neo began his questioning. "Okay, when I ask you a question, squeeze once for 'yes' and twice for 'no', all right?"
Another squeeze.
"Are you here following orders?"
Two squeezes. Neo arched an eyebrow in confusion before continuing.
"Are you a rogue sentinel?"
One squeeze.
"Are you here because you want to help humans?"
Two squeezes. Neo couldn't stop the fear seeping into his mind.
"Are you here to kill us?"
Two squeezes. Neo dropped another question before realizing that the sentinel had no way of replying. "Then what are you here for?"
Neo didn't expect a response- but he got one. The sentinel raised another tentacle and touched him lightly on the shoulder before letting out a quiet screech. Neo thought for a moment what this could mean before it dawned on him.
"Are you here to help me and Trinity?"
One squeeze. Sighing in relief, Neo turned to the others.
"Guys, it's all right. He's here to help us. At least, he's here to help Trinity and myself. Morpheus, is there any way we can plug him into a computer and translate his screeches?"
"Maybe, I'm not sure." Morpheus replied, coming forward.
Neo felt the sentinel release it's grip on his wrist before moving in front of him to stop Morpheus' approach. Trinity saw this and immediately began moving forward. When she was in line with Morpheus, they moved as one- keeping the sentinel from doing anything.
"Hey. When I ask you a 'yes' or 'no' question, can you nod or shake your head in response?" Trinity asked the sentinel.
It paused a moment, processing the question to translate it into its language before nodding.
"Good. Neo, we can't just yell 'Hey you!' to it every time we want it's attention." Trinity turned to Neo.
Neo paused before answering. "You saying we have to name it?"
"Oh yeah, like a pet! This should be fun." Link added sarcastically as he approached.
"You have any better ideas?" Trinity asked, giving Link a glare. Link visibly shrank before shaking his head 'no'. "Good. Neo, I over heard you asking it if it was a rogue sentinel. How about that for a name?"
"What, Rogue?"
"Yeah. Seems to fit."
"All right." Neo turned to the sentinel. "Hey. We're going to call you Rogue, so when you hear that, you should respond because we're trying to get your attention. Okay?" he asked. He felt his wrist being gripped before the sentinel squeezed it once. Neo could do nothing but let the smile grace his face- fast learner.
~~*~~
"Trinity, could you come help Zee and I for a bit?" Link asked Trinity at breakfast.
"Sure. Neo, you'll be fine without me, right?" Trinity turned to Neo.
Neo sighed before responding. "Yes. I'm not incapacitated. I may not be able to see with my eyes, but I CAN see, Trinity."
Trinity glanced at him for a moment before looking at Link.
"Right. I'll meet you at my place, okay?" Link stood abruptly and left.
Trinity watched Link's retreating back for a moment before opening her mouth.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Neo replied, taking a sip of his drink.
"Something obviously is."
"Trinity, do you really think I can't get around Zion without someone always by my side? Do you think the blind always have someone to help them? No. They do everything themselves because they aren't debilitated, they have the use of four other senses and all of their limbs. I have stronger senses, I can technically 'see'. I just don't like being treated as a person who needs constant supervision." Neo sighed, his rant over.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know. I just thought- actually I don't know what I was thinking. I've never known a blind person and for the one person I love completely to be blind, it's something I need to get used to." Trinity rested her chin on her hand, explaining.
"Just because I'm blind shouldn't change the way you feel about me, or even the way you treat me. It doesn't diminish the emotions and thoughts I have. I'm still me, just, I have to look at a black abyss for the rest of my life." Neo replied, his hand moving across the table in search of Trinity's.
Trinity grasped his hand, gripping it tightly. "I love you. Nothing changes that. It's just- for the months that I watched you and these last six months, the one feature about you that always took me by surprise were your eyes. They were so expressive, windows to your mind and heart. I could look at them and feel pain transcending into me because I saw it in your eyes. Whether I knew what pained you or not, it would affect me because your eyes were so unguarded- trusting anyone who looked into them to not abuse the knowledge they drew from you."
"Well, now it'll be facial expressions and my voice. Trinity, you may feel upset about me being blind, but you aren't. You can see the whole world. I only see in the Matrix or from sound. You don't know how alone I feel being blind. I'm forever enveloped in a never-ending darkness. The only color I see is from your voice and the feel of your body against mine. You make me see things so differently when we're together at night. Thank you." Neo lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly, knowing she was either on the brink of tears or smiling. It was enough for him to know she would always be there for him.
~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, sorry for the long wait. I'm writing this HUGE fic for Neo and Trinity on the side. I have to write 50,000 words by December 31 and I'm only at about 4,500 words. Jeepers! So, if you guys have a long wait between updates, I'm sorry, I really wanna plow through this new fic. I promise, when I'm done with it, it'll be posted. MidnightBlues told me about the writing thing in the first place, and if you ask her, you'll get rave reviews of the story so far because she's my personal editor/reviewer- for-the-story. All I can say is that I really flesh out the relationship between Neo and Trinity. I'll leave you all with that. You won't see it until after December 31; consider it a present for the New Year. Anyway, tell me what you think about this chapter, and go check on a songficlet I wrote today!