Chapter 19: The End: Part II

We had heard the shots. But felt nothing. It took a few moments for us to register that something was happening.

The warehouse was filled again with the sounds of fighting, and nervously, we looked up to see all the Smiths crowded together. The Architect was nowhere to be seen. Glancing upwards, Hannah drew my attention to the fact that there were 2 tiny new holes in the ceiling. We smiled.

We stood up shakily and stared at the seething mass of Smiths, every now and then one of them flying out of the cluster, as if being thrown.

What the hell are they doing?

The answer came from the very centre of the conglomeration, as a figure dressed entirely in black rose above all the heads, actually /flying/. He landed on the outside of the rabble, and as they turned he briefly paused and looked at us. He looked so different, and his eyes were hidden behind shades, but we still recognised our brother instantly.

"Tom!" We shouted together, and he smiled, before turning away as the Smiths reached him.

We started to run over, wanting to help, but stopped when we heard him shouting to us to stay back. We faltered, unsure what to do – we didn't want to just stand there. Suddenly we saw four Smiths breaking away from the horde and running towards us. Not wanting a repeat of what had just happened, we turned and ran for the main doors, but of course, they were chained shut.

"Shiiit!" We pulled at the chain, trying to break it off or loosen it somehow. As the Smiths caught up one of them grabbed my neck; I threw a punch over my shoulder and was blocking a kick when I felt the back of my coat being grabbed, and was lifted into the air. I heard the skylight being thrown open and craned my neck to see Tom staring straight up as we flew through the roof.

We landed on the top of a city tower block, Tom setting us down gently on the concrete. We collapsed ungracefully, panting and leaning on each other. He crouched down in front of us and all we could do was grin.

"You're good," Hannah finally managed. He laughed softly, but his face remained quite solemn.

"I didn't even ask Morpheus, but I had to come for you," he said quietly, and we looked up. "I though I'd never see you again."

"Neither did we," I replied.

"Well, somebody up there likes us," said Hannah, "the whole damned lot of us."

He reached out his arms and enveloped us in a huge embrace, and as we squeezed him back, we all began to laugh.

OoOoO

I opened my eyes and could feel blood in my mouth, but ignored it as I saw Morpheus standing by my chair. He reached out a hand to help me stand up, which I gratefully accepted and pulled myself to my feet. On his face was a smile, small but profound, and he kept hold of my hand even after I was standing. I clapped him on the shoulder, and no words were needed for us to tell each other we were glad to meet again.

Trinity was smiling at me from behind Tom's shoulder, and after nodding to her, I looked around for Link. He was sitting at the monitors looking as though he'd just had a nervous collapse.

"Sorry, Link," Hannah laughed, "Was that a bit much for you to watch?"

"He shot you…and Neo…" he muttered, and I suppressed a giggle. Morpheus motioned us all into the dining cabin where there were enough seats for us all to sit together. I scanned the deck for Niobe, hoping to thank her for her part in coming with us to meet the Architect, but she had already gone.

When we were seated, Morpheus folded his hands and addressed us.

"So the Architect wanted to kill you."

"Apparently so," confirmed Hannah, fiddling with a strand of hair, "Were you guys watching?"

"Yes, but Neo had already jacked in by the time all the Smiths arrived," Trinity replied.

"Really? Then how did you know?"

"Niobe figured it out," said Link, "'Cause she remembered how the Architect might think you were a threat to the system or something."

"Oh, is that what it is? He never explained."

"He never does," commented Trinity sardonically. Morpheus took a deep breath and continued,

"If this is the case, then I'm afraid it will be too dangerous for you to enter the Matrix again."

"What!" Hannah dropped the lock of hair and stared at him.

"In fact, it may be too dangerous for you to even enter any simulations, since he is obviously capable of inter-programme transfers."

"Shit…"

"I'm sorry, but if the Architect wants you dead, then every part of the machine world will be looking for you."

"So…we can't ever go in the Matrix? Ever? What about To- Neo?"

"He doesn't seem to want me to die," our brother said, "I only get attacked by Agents because I'm a rebel, not because I'm the One."

"Then, we've gotta stay here? In the Real World? For the rest of our lives?"

"Don't sound so put-out," joked Link – we had forgotten, he had no plugs, so he'd never been in the Matrix at all, and never would.

"Sorry, Link," said Hannah, with a smile. "It's just…we kinda wanted to be able to go back sometimes…y'know, visit places, maybe go back to Salisbury…"

Morpheus looked at us kindly.

"Even if you weren't who you were, that never would have been possible. None of us can ever go into the Matrix casually, it's too dangerous." We looked at the floor. "If you make no appearance in any programme, the Architect should figure out what you're doing and step down the search."

"Okay," said Hannah, quietly. "I guess we don't really have much of a choice then. But…" she stopped, and we looked at each other, the same mischievous idea growing in both our minds simultaneously. "Can we just make one final little hack? Something we gotta do."

OoOoO

"This is a bad idea," Trinity mumbled as she and Morpheus stood next to the exit phone impatiently. "The Virus Twins are gonna kill them…"

"No they won't," said Morpheus with quiet confidence. "They've learned that lesson. They know what they're doing this time."

OoO

There was a knock on his office door, and the Merovingian looked up with irritation from his book.

"What is it?" he spat.

"A couple of young ladies here to see you, sir," came Cain's voice. The Merovingian's face brightened.

"Ah, let zem in, let zem in," he replied, his voice considerably more amiable. When he saw the twins who had escaped him walk unaccompanied through the door, he couldn't decide which was harder to believe: his eyes or his luck.

"Apollo! Artemis! How wonderful to see you again." He rose and placed a friendly hand on Hannah's shoulder, which she shrugged off immediately and looked away.

"Veuillez cacher votre visage avant que ve vomisse," she said with genuine disgust. Please hide your face before I vomit. He stared at her in open-mouthed amazement, probably having never been talked to in such a way his entire life. I moved over to him and he looked down at me, his face turning red.

"L'impolitesse, l'insolence-" The rudeness, the insolence

I interrupted him with a sharp slap in the face. "Je suis mort quand vous avez enlevé ma jumelle. Refaisez-le, et je vous mettrai dans un mixer. I died when you abducted my twin. Do it again, and I will put you in a liquidiser."

He rubbed his cheek and tried to smile, "Je n'ai pas la /enlevé/…j'ai la /emprunté/…" I didn't /kidnap/ her, I /borrowed/ her… Hannah snorted indignantly.

"Des connieres!" Bullshit! Following my example, she strode across and kneed him swiftly where it hurts. He staggered backwards and clutched the corner of his desk, but as we began to leave he made a final attempt at retaliation,

"Quand je crie, les Jumeaux Fantômes vous tebasseront!" When I shout, the Ghost Twins will get you!

We looked over our shoulders, and Hannah gave him the most derogatory look I've ever seen her come out with.

"Aller sauter d'une falaise, branleur," she muttered. Go jump off a cliff, you wanker. And we slammed the door behind us.

OoOoO

A series of loud clanks issued from beneath us as the Nebuchadnezzar's feet snapped out, and the ship shuddered as we landed just inside Zion, Gate 5. I stumbled into the control room, trying not to lose my balance as the ship juddered around. Hannah was sitting in one of the chairs, feet up on the panel, swivelling gently from side to side. She was staring through the windscreen at the scene unfolding, appearing to be observing the city – but I could sense her detachment.

I don't want to live here for the rest of my life. I don't want to be stuck underground, I need /sunlight, even if it is only CG.

I found Zion fascinating, but unfortunately my twin didn't share my enthusiasm. It was one of the few differences we had been developing slowly over the past few days. While everything was happening, right from the first message we had received from the Architect all that time ago, we had thought we were just approaching it as our old selves. It was only now that it was over that we were starting to realise we had been changed by the ordeal. Since being forced away from me, Hannah had become more childlike, and I more protective – we had always equally looked out for each other, but recently the balance had been tipped in favour of me protecting her. I sat down next to her and put an arm round her shoulders.

It's not so bad. Who knows, we might meet some nice guys who /aren't/ covered in plugs.

She looked up at me and smiled, and I hugged her. At that moment, Morpheus appeared.

"Are you ready?"

The bay was a hive of activity as we plodded down the steps that had unfolded from the Neb's belly. We adjusted the packs on our shoulders and looked around, taking in the atmosphere of the city. Stopping in the middle of the platform we waited for Morpheus, Trinity and Neo to follow us out. Link was last, but we turned to him first when the four of them were standing together in front of us.

"Thanks, Link, you've been a great Operator," said Hannah, and we each gave him a hug. He smiled and patted our shoulders.

"My pleasure."

Trying to keep the good-byes brief, Hannah turned to Trinity and continued,

"Be nice to our brother. He may be the One, but he can be a bit of a whimp sometimes." The three of us giggled as his expense, and I noticed him look away and mumble that he would pretend he didn't hear that. "Shame we haven't had time to get to know you better, Trin. We're expecting you to come visit us next time you're here! We could have a girls' night out." She laughed again, shaking her head, as we stepped in front of Morpheus.

We paused momentarily, unsure what to say to him. In the end Hannah just said,

"Thanks Morpheus. For giving us our brother, and our freedom. It's been an honour." He smiled as we each held out a hand to be shaken.

"No, the honour is mine," he said - just as he had told our brother, who was the final person we had to say good-bye to. It was so frustrating to finally see him again, then only have a day or two with him before being parted.

"Still can't believe it's really you," commented Hannah, as we looked him up and down. "You'd better come back soon, and I don't care if you're the One, don't you dare get yourself killed by Agents." His face melted before cracking into a smile.

"I'll try to stay alive," he assured us. "Thanks for the advice, it wasn't really a priority before."

"Very funny." Hannah slapped him playfully on the arm, and before she could back away he had grabbed us both and we hugged each other. He released Hannah first and as she stepped back he whispered in my ear,

"Take care of her."

I smiled and nodded, before Hannah added,

"Bye…Neo."

He smiled and as I stepped back to join her, we inhaled deeply, taking a long look at our 4 shipmates. We knew we had to go; they had duties to attend to and we had a new life to start. We started walking backwards, not wanting to take our eyes off the only familiar faces in the entire 250,000-strong city. Finally we had to break ourselves away

"See y'around," we said together.

OoOoO

Morpheus folded his arms behind his back in his idiosyncratic way, and looked sidelong at Neo. They both knew it wasn't the last good-bye, but Morpheus understood it was still hard for him to watch his sisters go. He put a hand on Neo's shoulder, and they began to walk back to the Nebuchadnezzar, followed by Link and Trinity.

Morpheus paused on the bottom step as the other three climbed back up into the ship, and looked back, watching as hand-in-hand the twins disappeared into the crowd.