The Kimmatrix: Matrix Resurrections
A Fan Fiction Fusion By
Classic Cowboy and Turles
Chapter 3: The Truth
"Only in their dreams are men truly free. Twas always thus and always will be."
Robin Williams
"Dead Poets Society"
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In the real world, Ron and Kim were lying down on dirty, gray operating tables. After being brought out of those…those things that they were in, it was hard for their minds to truly grasp what was going on around them. The only thing that kept them going or at least gave them enough patience to deal with the frightening world around them was that there was a logical explanation for all of it.
At least that's what Ron thought to himself as he continued to lay there upon that cold table. In his blurry vision, Ron looked up to a blinding light above him; it had an unusual hum to it like the florescent lights that were constantly on at school. In his mind, he went back to when things seemed to be a little simpler and a little easier. Of course there were some complaints to be had, but then again who doesn't in their own life? It certainly was a lot better than what was going on right now.
He felt himself drift in and out of sleep, even though it was hard to sleep in such a place, especially without the knowledge of what was going on around him. He wanted to get up from where he was, but every inch of his body ached like nothing he had ever felt before, and he felt hungrier than he ever had been in his whole life. Thinking about his hunger, Ron wished for something from Bueno Nacho, even just a Chimmerito would be nice with a little Diablo Sauce; anything to fill that void in his stomach.
He opened his eyes again, and felt a prickling sensation on his skin, just like when he was pulled out of that place with the pink liquid. They stung him like nothing else he ever felt before, but he wanted to know. He wanted to know what was going on. He tilted his head up to see two men standing over him, one he recognized as Morpheus, but the other one he didn't recognize. He had long black hair and a goatee and he was doing something with needles. That was when Ron looked down at and saw himself covered with needles like some kind of extreme acupuncture.
"What are you doing to me…?" Ron asked, his throat still aching and voice still sounding wheezy.
"You're muscles have atrophied." Morpheus explained, "We're rebuilding them."
"Why do my eyes hurt?" Ron moaned.
"Because…" Morpheus said softly, "You've never used them before."
Ron laid his head back down onto the operating table feeling Morpheus' large, gentle hand patting his head. Ron realized how bald he was when that hand touched the skin of his scalp.
"Rest, Ronald." Morpheus advised, "The answers are coming."
Ron closed his sore eyes and began to dream. For the first part, he dreamt that he was back in Middleton where his biggest concern of the day was what he would get from Bueno Nacho. Most of all, Kim, the one person who seemed to make everyday life moderately bearable in a cruel world where bullies are popular and nice guys finish sixth in a five man race. Thoughts of Kim seemed to creep back up into his mind, and yet, at the same time, Ron was thinking to himself that she seemed to be more than just his best friend.
The second part of the dream Ron had was about that different place and different time, that place where he could change the world around him. It felt like those things that he heard about… lucid dreams, that's what they were called. Those dreams where a person realizes he or she is in a dream and can control everything around them. Then there was that woman, that woman with the black hair, black body suit, wonderful body, and that look in her eyes when she looked at Ron. There was even a small flash that Ron had where he was with her; she didn't have that body suit on, and he knew that she was naked. Yet, she had her arms around him; she felt warm; there was such a soft, yellow glow everywhere and Ron felt as if he was on top of her.
It was a good dream.
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Ron had awakened in a different location. It was dingy and squalid with the metal all around him rusting and showing its signs of age. The only thing that was even remotely soft was the thin mattress he was laying upon. He sat up, and saw that his clothes were very different; they were devoid of all color, just gray, oily, unclean, and torn. They looked as though they used to be oil rags that mechanics would use around the shop. As he sat up, he looked down at his arm to see something very strange; he saw a…a…plug. That was the only way to describe it; it was a black, round plug in his arm that bulged as if there was something connected to it.
He followed the black line from the plug in his arm to an IV bag that hung over his bed. It was just like the ones that were at the hospital where Kim's mom worked. He reached out and could feel the metal of the plug underneath his skin, and as he did, he reached around the back of his head and felt another plug there. This one felt so much larger than the one in his arm. The one in his arm was the size of a quarter, while the one in the back of his head felt like the size of a half-dollar or a dollar coin.
As he looked around at the place he was in, a rusted creak sounded sharply from his right. A door that looked much like a hatch on a submarine opened and in walked Morpheus dressed in similar clothes as he was.
"Morpheus." Ron said, glad to see him and hoping he could answer his questions, "What's going on here?"
"As I said before, Ronald." Morpheus pointed out, "The answers are coming, but first of all let's see how your motor skills are. Can you stand?"
Ron was quick in his response as he got up to his feet, he then saw that he had on a pair of boots that clamped all the way up to his calves. He cradled his arm that had that plug connected to the IV bag.
"Good. Now can you walk?" Morpheus asked again.
Ron did just as Morpheus asked. He took a few steps and amazingly, to Ron anyway, he could move, when…when he thought about it, he couldn't exactly grasp when his time at that operating table was. Still, he knew that he could walk, but seemed tired, low on energy. Even though Ron was filled with questions beyond anything he ever wanted to know, there was only one that he had to know the answer to right there.
"Good." Morpheus smiled.
"What about KP?" Ron asked, "Where is she?"
"She's with Niobe." Morpheus answered, "Now, come. There's something you should see."
Morpheus wrapped Ron in a blanket and brought him through a small hallway filled with those hatch-like doorways to a ladder still so similar to that of a submarine. Morpheus was the first to climb up with Ron following behind with the blanket still wrapped around him. He looked up until Morpheus stepped off the ladder, waiting for Ron to join him wherever he was.
"This is my ship, the Nebuchadnezzar II." Morpheus explained, "And this is the main deck."
Ron looked around the large room, seeing it wasn't that much different from the room he woke up in. It was still the same gray and rusted walls, but this room had a lot of monitors, wires, keyboards, and chairs, and all of it seemingly arranged to serve some purpose. As Ron came around the mess of wires and whatever other equipment there was, he was shocked to see another person that he waited to see for so long. He saw Kim Possible. She was much like Ron, in those same tattered clothes and covering herself in the blanket, with just a shadow of red hair covering her scalp as opposed to the long, flowing mane he was used to seeing. Underneath the blanket, Kim was wearing an old one strap tank top that showed off her slightly toned midriff and a pair of faded jeans tucked into her combat boots.
"Kim." Ron smiled.
"This is your fault." Kim stated hoarsely, narrowing her exhausted eyes at him.
"My fault?" Ron asked, taken back by the death glare that Kim gave him.
"You can trust him, KP." Kim said, mocking Ron's voice with her hoarseness making it even worse.
"Is it really that bad?" Ron asked, blinking at how tired and weak she seemed. He knew that she must feel the same way he did: so tired, run down, and out of energy. It was comforting to know that he wasn't the only one to feel that way.
Kim ran her hand over her bare scalp before glaring at Ron again, "If I had the energy right now, I'd kick your sorry ass from here to home and back."
"Perhaps you'll have the chance later, Kimberly." Morpheus spoke up, breaking Kim's glare at her best friend, "Both of you wanted to know what the Matrix is. So come with me."
He led Kim and Ron to a small semi-circle of chairs, each one seemed to be setup like dentist chairs in the way they were leaned back. Each one had a set of monitors in the back of it, though it was hard to figure out what they were for. Still, the long awaited explanation that Morpheus promised was coming.
"Before I show either of you the truth," Morpheus began, "I'd like you to meet Link, our ship's operator."
From behind a set of equipment popped up a dark-skinned, African American man with long black hair and a goatee who had on a headset that looked like a hands-free set from a cell phone. Though it just seemed so old and messy with the way the wires were connected to it, all tangled and messed up.
"Hello." Link smiled back at the two of them.
Morpheus led Kim and Ron to the dentist chair semi-circle, "Please, have a seat and relax."
The second that Kim heard that phrase from Morpheus, her mind went into automatic defense mode. She looked at the chair, huddled the blanket close to her body, and shook her head rapidly. She seemed almost child-like in her refusal with the fear showed on her face.
"No way." She declared openly, "I'm not falling for that again."
From behind came Ron's warm hands and he placed them on her shoulders. Kim looked at him, seeing those big, brown eyes of his, and, with that one look, she felt calm once again and forgot her fears about the chair and its implications.
"It's alright, Kim." Ron whispered to her, "I'll be right here beside you, ok?"
Kim continued to look at Ron, and saw that same seriousness in his eyes that she was seeing more and more of in the last few days. Still, how could she not believe him with that look on his face? It was even more potent than her patented 'Puppy Dog Pout'. With that, Kim took Ron's hand, dropped their blankets, and the two of them went to the chairs. They watched as they were 'strapped' in, clamps securing their feet, shackles restraining their arms, and they instinctively gripped the handlebars that sat at the edge of the armrests.
As Kim lay back in that chair, she looked up at Niobe, who had placed her hand on Kim's collarbone as if she were expecting something to happen.
"Ok, you guys." She started, looking at Kim and Ron, "This will feel a little weird, so just relax and try not to jump, Ok?"
Kim nodded her head, and, at that very instant, she felt something come from behind her. More specifically, she felt that something come up from behind her head. It felt a little like a needle at the doctor's office, but it felt so much longer than a normal needle as it kept pushing into the base of her skull. Kim gasped as the sharp sting hit her full force and all went black again until she saw a blinding flash of white light.
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The sharp sting that Kim felt in the back of her head was suddenly gone, and she opened her eyes quickly. She looked around and saw nothing but an empty, white void stretching out in every direction above and below her. It was as if she were in some kind of limbo, but she could feel solid ground beneath her feet.
"W…what happened?" Kim asked softly to herself as she looked around the white emptiness when she felt something very familiar around her shoulders. She looked around and nearly let out a sharp squeal when she saw her long, ginger hair flowing down to her hips again. It was as if a part of her that she felt was missing had come back since she came to that very odd world of dinginess and gray steel. She pulled the hair over her shoulder and hugged it lovingly as if it was one of her cuddle buddies that she kept on her bed and never told anyone about. She then looked at the rest of herself and found everything was different and yet, it was as it was before. She had on her green tank top, blue jeans, and leather trench coat that Ron had gotten her.
"Ok." She mused to herself, "Something is definitely up…"
"Booyah!" She heard a voice boom out from behind her. She spun around and found Ron standing there in the blinding, white abyss; her eyes widened at what she saw on him. He was wearing a black duster style trench coat over a blood red shirt with gold trim around his collar, a pair of form fitting black jeans, a pair of black buckled combat boots, and a pair of sunglasses that were very similar in style to those of the Agents who attacked them at Drakken's base.
"Ron?" Kim asked, her voice sounding very stunned.
"You were expecting Colin Farrell?" Ron asked as he smiled at her and pulled off his sunglasses. "Wonder where these came from?" He asked as he looked at his sunglasses and set them in his inner coat pocket. As the sunglasses slipped down into the pocket, they hit an obstruction.
"Watch it!" A squeaky voice barked out from his pocket.
Ron, immediately recognizing the voice, reached into his pocket. He pulled out the sunglasses and set them in a different pocket, leaving his hand free to explore his hunch of what else was in there. He reached in, felt something very warm and smooth, gripped around it softly and pulled it back out as his eyes lit up when he saw the very familiar creature that he had pulled out of his pocket.
"Rufus!" Ron cheered with the greatest of glee when the naked mole rat jumped from his hand and hugged Ron's face, "I was worried about you, ol' buddy!"
"Hmmm, this is very unusual." An older voice called out.
Both teens jumped when they heard the third voice; they looked around and saw Morpheus standing in the white emptiness. He was dressed in that same alligator skin trench coat and armless sunglasses he wore when they met him in that alleyway.
"What'd you mean?" Kim asked of him, "And what is this place?
"I was saying that it was unusual about that animal." Morpheus explained, "It seems that Ron is so attached to it that it has become part of what we call Residual Self Image, but this is something that I haven't quite seen before."
"Um…" Ron uttered as he scratched his head, "You lost me at the part where you said that it was unusual…"
"Residual Self Image, Ronald." Morpheus stated, "It's the mental projection of your digital self."
"Alright, what's the bit?" Kim asked, "Where are we?"
"This is the Construct." Morpheus said as he presented the white nothingness around him, "It's our loading program. From here we can load anything from clothing, equipment, weapons, training simulations, anything we need."
As Morpheus made his explanation, a set of chairs and an old TV set appeared out of nowhere. The thing that was even more eerie to both Kim and Ron was that the chairs, a red leather chair and love seat, were just like the ones that they saw back at that apartment building where they were given the choice of the red or blue pills. The TV set was an old model, the kind that Ron would see in those old TV shows on that TV Trash channel where he first saw The Fearless Ferret.
"A computer program." Ron stated with that sense of déjà vu coming back to him full force as if it was a lost childhood memory that he was forced to relive.
Kim walked over to the red leather love seat and ran her hands across it, feeling its smoothness as well as its years of age. Everything about it was registering in her mind; it seemed as real as it could be. Just like anything else that she had touched in the past. Yet, her mind just couldn't grasp what was going on around her: the world of gray and dinginess, the white emptiness, and those chairs appearing out of nowhere.
"You mean… right now… we're inside a computer program?" Kim said, looking more shocked by the second.
"Is it really so hard to believe? Your clothes are different; the plugs in your arms and head are gone, and your hair has changed." Morpheus stated matter-of-factly.
"This can't…" She stammered, "It just… it just can't be real."
"What is 'real'?" Morpheus questioned like a philosopher, "How do you define 'real'? If you are talking about what you can see, smell, feel, and taste, then 'real' is only electrical signals interpreted by your brain."
"He's got you there, KP." Ron said as he approached Kim and the back of the red leather love seat.
"Please, have a seat, both of you." Morpheus asked of the teens.
"You've been asking us to do that a lot." Ron observed.
"Yes." Morpheus nodded as he sat down in the red leather seat and picked up the remote control sitting on the chair's armrest. "This is the world as you know it." Morpheus said as he turned on the television while Kim and Ron sat down to look at it. They half-expected the TV to be in black and white, but, amazingly enough, it was in full and complete color. They saw the sights of Middleton as well as sights from around the world: New York, San Francisco, Paris, London, Venice, Tokyo, and Berlin. All of them with life going on as it always, not a single worry in the world except the ones in their own little micro-cosmos.
"The world as it was at the start of the twenty-first century." Morpheus continued as he flipped through the channels, showing the different sights within each city as if he was channel surfing. "It exists now only as a massive, world-wide, neural interactive simulation, that we call the Matrix. This is the world as it exists today…"
He changed the channel again. Kim and Ron looked in horror and disbelief at what they saw. Every city in the world that was once teeming with life and people going from home to work and back again, cars going to and from their various destinations, all of it simply lay in ruin with the sky dark and gray above them. The buildings were as black as charcoal; the windows were cracked and falling out, and not a single person could be seen anywhere. Then the channel on that old television changed, and they saw Middleton once again. Their hometown, a place that was once a verdant utopia, was like all the other cities that they saw: dark, bleak, and broken down.
"As you both know," Morpheus continued his explanation, "Middleton, Colorado was home to the Global Justice Network. It, as well as all other threats, was quickly annihilated."
Kim and Ron looked at one another, while Ron gripped the armrests of the loveseat with a fearful, yet knowing expression on his face as if the truth was hiding behind a misty cloud in his mind, and the cloud was beginning to clear away. With his other hand, he reached out and took Kim's into his as if silently reassuring her that he was still at her side.
"We only have bits and pieces of information. You believe that the year is 2004, when it is actually closer to 2215. I can't telly ou exactly what year it is because we honestly don't know." Morpheus said, "What we do know is that sometime in the early twenty-first century, all of mankind was united in celebration. We marveled at our own magnificence as we gave birth to A.I."
"A.I.?" Kim asked, "You mean Artificial Intelligence?"
Morpheus nodded, "A singular consciousness that spawned an entire race of machines. We don't know who struck first, us or them, but we do know that it was us that scorched the sky." Morpheus pointed upward as if telling them that he wanted them to see something.
Kim and Ron looked up and saw clouds, black clouds like no storm that the two of them had ever seen in their entire lives. The only source of light was the sparks of lightning that would arc from one cloud to another, and even that wasn't enough to illuminate much of anything. They looked around and saw themselves surrounded by the picture that had filled the TV.
"Welcome to the Desert of the Real." Morpheus continued, "At the time, they were dependant upon solar energy, and it was believed that they wouldn't be able to survive without an energy source as abundant as the sun. Throughout human history, we've been dependent upon machines to survive." Morpheus smirked, "Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony."
As the lightning sparked overhead, Kim and Ron looked back at the television and saw the screen start to turn a bright reddish pink. As it started to zoom out, they could see some kind of shape behind it as Morpheus continued his answers to their questions.
"The human body," he said as the screen continued to zoom out, "generates more bioelectricity than a one-hundred-twenty volt battery and over twenty five thousand BTUs of body heat. Combined with a form of fusion, the machines had found all the energy that they would ever need."
Kim and Ron looked beyond the television screen and saw a black field with thousands upon thousands of pillars with those little pods containing human infants suspended in that red-pink fluid. It reminded them both of that thing that they came out of as if they were being born in some very bizarre way.
"There are fields," Morpheus said, his voice starting to take a very sad and frightened tone, "Endless fields where human beings are no longer born; we are grown."
Kim and Ron saw the machines that floated above the fields, taking the little pods containing human infants into their massive bodies. It was such a surrealistic nightmare that human beings were being treated like livestock…even livestock seemed too high of a distinction. They were treated more like crops.
"For the longest time," Morpheus reminisced about his own past; about the whole experience that Kim and Ron were having, "I wouldn't believe it, and then I saw the fields with my own eyes; I watched them liquefy the dead so that they could be fed intravenously to the living, and standing there facing the horrifying precision, I came to realize the obviousness of truth."
Everything around Kim and Ron returned to that white void that held only the chairs and that old television set. They watched as Morpheus came around with that remote control in his hand.
"What is the Matrix?" He asked again as he turned off the television, which showed a human infant with all those wire and plugs all over its body, sleeping there not realizing everything that was going on in the world around it.
"Control." Ron picked up the answer to Morpheus' question.
"Exactly, Ronald." Morpheus said, "The Matrix is a computer generated dream world built by the machines to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this:" He said as he held up a small C-cell battery in front of Kim and Ron's face and simplifying everything in such a simple gesture.
"The machines had many means of control." Morpheus continued as the white void around them changed instantly as if they were changing between programs on a computer screen. They watched as they found themselves on a rooftop, and on the rooftop was a man that resembled Ron, only he was older, he had dark, blackish brown hair, smaller ears, and a more matured face with no freckles. He wore a long trench coat and a pair of oval sunglasses. He was fighting the same men that attacked Kim and Ron at Drakken's lair; the men in the suits. "This man was quite possibly their biggest mistake. He, too, was a method of control…The One."
Kim and Ron saw one of the men in suits try to shoot this older man, and they watched in amazement as he leaned back, making the bullets miss him almost entirely, only grazing different parts of his body.
"The One," Morpheus continued, "had the ability to control the Matrix, change whatever he wanted, remake the Matrix as he saw fit, but that gift came at a monumental price."
They watched as the scene around them changed once again to a long hallway that they assumed was part of an apartment complex or some kind of hotel. The place, like so many others that Kim and Ron had been to recently, seemed very run down with all the wires hanging from the ceiling, the walls needing paint, and the floors needing carpeting, but it wasn't those things that caught their attention. It was the man who stood at one end of the hallway and, strangely enough, who had several bullet holes in his chest. He should have been dead, but he wasn't. He just stood there as if he was waiting for something, then he looked down the hallway as Kim and Ron heard gunshots.
"No." The man said as the bullets flew down the hallway. He held out his hand and it looked as though time was slowing down around those bullets as their speed decreased from a blur to crawl, until they stopped completely in mid-air. He lowered his hand and the bullets fell to the ground as if they were dropped instead of being fired out.
There were six 'Ones'," Morpheus stated, "The first five did as they were meant to do."
The room around them changed once again. This time to a place that was similar to that "Construct" as Morpheus called it. Yet the room was smaller, it felt smaller with the circular enclosure of small television screens. They saw that same man, the one who had stopped the bullets in mid-air, but he was dressed differently, he was dressed in a long duster that was fully buttoned up, almost like a priest's robe with a pair of oval sunglasses on as well. Sitting in front of this man was an older man, who had white hair and beard that seemed to blend very nicely with his white suit.
"When their time had come," Morpheus explained, "when Zion, the last human city, was destroyed, each version of the One chose a group of humans from the Matrix, and released them with the purpose of rebuilding Zion, and aiding the machines in reloading the Matrix, but the last version was different; the One was given a choice, and he chose to fight instead of surrender."
"Neo…" Ron uttered softly with his eyes widening in realization,
"Yes, that was his name." Morpheus nodded as the scene around them changed once again, to where they saw this man named Neo leaving that TV enclosed room and was flying. Yes, the man was flying around as if he was some kind of superhero straight out of the comic books, until he came under a woman falling to the ground; he caught her and brought her to the top of a roof.
"His death," Morpheus continued, "Is the reason you are here today, both of you. We are at peace now. While some programs, machines, and even some humans long to continue the war, we are at peace nonetheless. Mankind is slowly being awoken from its long slumber, as you both have been."
Morpheus grabbed the remote and turned off the TV again, and everything around them became white once again, just that white void with those chairs and that TV set. The truth began to sink in for Kim and Ron, though Kim seemed to take it the hardest. It seemed that it was much like losing one's innocence as a child and finding out that the world truly isn't a happy place; that it is filled with pain, misery, and suffering.
"So we've been…dreaming?" Kim choked out, "It's all been fake…all of it…"
"That's not true, KP." Ron tried to reason with his best friend as he squeezed her hand in his.
"No, Ron, it isn't real!" Kim yelled, standing up and backing away from both Ron and Morpheus, "How can you be taking this so easily, Ron! Are you fake too? Is anything real?" She screamed as her body beginning to tremble.
"I didn't say it would be easy, Kimberly." Morpheus said soothingly, "I just said it would be the truth."
Ron tried to approach his best friend, hoping that he could comfort her in some way.
"STOP! Don't touch me!" Kim spat, slapping Ron's hands away from her, "I want to go home! I want to get out of here! LET ME OUT! I WANT OUT!"
Everything went black for a moment, and then Kim opened her eyes with a gasp as if she had awakened from a terrible nightmare, but then she quickly realized that it was real; ironic how the truth can be so terribly different from the dream. She tried to get out of the jack chair, but was being held down by two pairs of hands.
"Get this thing out of me!" She cried out, her voice very ragged and feeling the weight of the jack that was in the back of her head, until, at last, the jack was out of her head and she tore through the pairs of hands that held her to the chair.
"I don't want to be here!" She wheezed, "I want to go home…" She sobbed and began to tremble as if she was having a seizure.
"She's gonna pop!" Niobe called to Morpheus.
"Breathe, Kimberly." Morpheus called out, "Just breathe."
She couldn't hold back any longer and fell on her hands and knees to the grated floor, depositing her last meal through the metal grid that lay underneath her. With that last spout, she passed out on that floor.
"Kim!" Ron gasped, jumping out of his jack chair and going straight to her side. He grabbed a rag from beside one of the chairs, took Kim in his arms and, feeling how limp she was after she had thrown up her last meal…whatever it was, took the rag and cleaned off of her face. He hugged her tight, hoping that she would awaken, but she didn't. He placed his head on her shoulder and softly sobbed while her body hung lifeless in his arms.
"That's enough for today." Morpheus stated, walking towards them, "Niobe, take them to their quarters."
"I'm staying with her." Ron said as Morpheus gave his order while reluctantly allowing Niobe to pick up the unconscious Kim in her arms.
Niobe looked at Ron and then back at Morpheus, wondering if this should be allowed. Morpheus nodded, saying that it was perfectly alright.
"Ok, kid," Niobe said as she picked up Kim, "Let's get her in bed."
Niobe carried the passed out teen and led her friend out of the jack room and down through the decks of the Nebuchadnezzar II back to their room.
As the three of them left, the others had a very odd feeling about them. Sure, this sort of thing happened whenever a just-released person found out the truth, but there was something very, very different about all of it, and Link was the first one to say something about it.
"I've never seen that before." He stated.
"You've been an operator how long and never seen someone pop before?" Ghost asked, cocking an eyebrow at his friend. He was right after all. Everyone who had been freed from the Matrix had the same reaction to it, which is always understandable when one finds out that everything in their entire life was fabricated.
"No, not that." Link stated as he shook his head at Ghost, "I'm talking about the boy. He took the news and didn't pop. That just doesn't happen."
Ghost tried to take a guess at what Link meant, "A lot?" He asked, very interested about where Link was going with this train of thought.
"Ever." Morpheus finished with a proud smile as he gazed at the door that Ron, Kim, and Niobe left through. He knew that everything he had hoped for was riding on that boy, even though so much about the situation was different from the last time.
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The truth was hard for Kim to swallow, especially after she had lost whatever it was she ate all over the floor of the Neb II. She dreamt as she slept off the shock from all that had happened to her. She dreamt about being home, being with her family, with her mom the neurosurgeon, her father the rocket scientist, the tweebs Jim and Tim, Monique, and the squad. Even though she despised Bonnie, she missed her on a certain level. It was her entire world. Even though she had traveled all over the place, she felt her true home was in Middleton, and she missed everything about it, and then the dream ended.
Kim's eyes slowly opened. The world was blurry all around her until a familiar shape and voice came through. She felt herself being propped up and the voice reaching her.
"Kim." The voice called to her.
The world became clearer and sharper to Kim's eyes and ears, "R…Ron?" She asked unsteadily.
She saw a small banged up cup being held in front of her face with its lip being held in front of hers.
"Right here, KP." Ron said, bringing the cup closer to Kim's mouth, "It's water. It might taste a little funky, but it's definitely drinkable."
She took a few sips and found out how right Ron was about the taste of the water; it was rather funky. It was kind of stale and old as if it had been sitting in the cup for days. There were even a few impurities in the metal of the cup itself that gave it a kind of metallic taste. As soon as she took the sips, she looked back up at Ron.
"What time is it?" She asked.
"Three fifteen in the morning…I think." Ron said with a sleepy smile.
"You've stayed up with me this late?" Kim asked, rather surprised at Ron for doing something like that, "You should be sleeping or at least resting." She said it in that same way that she had in the times before: being her bossy self. It reminded Ron of when Kim was asked to be the soccer coach of Jim and Tim's soccer team. Her "Kim-ness" (as Ron called it) seemed to take away the fun of the game. She was just being bossy, demanding, and asking more of the team than they could give. After all, it was just a game to the children, as Ron so poignantly tried to make Kim realize.
"I'm ok." He replied, "Besides, I'm sure you can understand me having a lot on my mind, after what we both found out."
"I can't go back, can I?"
"I don't think so. But if you could, would you really want to?"
Kim nodded, flinching slightly at the thought.
"Hey, it can't be that bad, KP." Ron smiled, trying to help Kim feel a little better about such a bleak situation, "We'll get through this together. We're a team, remember? No matter where we go, that isn't going to change, right?"
"Right." Kim nodded again and even smiled a little bit, feeling a little braver just like she used to be, "But it'll take a lot of getting used to…"
"Yeah, I guess so." Ron said as he looked at the door warily. He got back to his feet and was about to head to the door, but something stopped him.
"Ron?" Kim spoke up softly.
Ron turned back around to look at his best friend, "Yeah, KP?" he asked, wondering what she would need of him.
"Sleep with me?" Kim asked, scooting over on the cot leaving a wide enough space for Ron to crawl into.
Ron looked down and then back at Kim. His face then turned a very deep, scarlet red color. After all, he tried to get women to go out with him and he never kissed a woman before, and now his best friend, of all people, was asking him to sleep with her. His pulse raced and blood rushed into his ears until he could hear his heartbeat.
Kim recognized what exactly Ron was thinking about. "Not like that, you goof!" she shouted as she took her pillow and slapped Ron with it across his midsection. Ron mildly recovered from the shock of Kim's proposal and she set the pillow back into place and she said, "I just meant I don't want to be alone tonight, ok?"
Ron nodded in understanding, though still blushing a little bit; he sat down on the bed, took off his boots, and curled up beside her, while Kim did the same, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Thanks, Ron." She sighed getting comfortable, "I don't know what I'd do without you as my best friend." She said it as if she were on the verge of crying.
Ron smiled and with one free arm he pulled the blanket around himself and Kim, "You'll never have to worry 'bout that, Kim. I'm not going anywhere." He said softly before kissing her forehead and tried to sleep beside her.
It still felt a little strange for Ron to sleep next to a girl, and his best friend, on top of that. Yet, Ron understood something about Kim. He knew a secret of hers that she would never tell anyone else, or at least not under her own power. Ron remembered that time Kim was hit by Drakken's truth ray and it made her spill the beans left and right about herself. One such truth was about her Cuddle Buddies: that she could never get to sleep without her Pandaroo. Perhaps that's what it was, as Ron thought about it, that she missed so much of home and the old life that she wanted to be with something or someone that reminded her of that life.
"Ron?" Kim whispered, "Are you asleep yet?"
"No, KP." Ron answered back.
"Can you sing that song for me?" She asked.
"What song?" Ron asked.
"The one you sang to me as a kid."
Ron began to smile as he thought about that song and the events surrounding it. Kim and Ron did have sleepovers as kids, but then the dynamics of such a situation usually changes when a boy and a girl hit puberty. Such events can't be done anymore, probably because the parents say that it would be too awkward, plus the fact that…it's just different that when a boy and a girl get to a certain age, sleeping in the same room is no longer an innocent thing to do. Perhaps that's where Ron and Kim seemed to separate on such a level.
Though there was one night that was special. It was during one summer when they were ten…or maybe it was eleven, during a weekend in July that Kim and Ron were having a sleep over weekend at her house. They did all kinds of stuff together while her father worked at the lab and her mother took care of the twins. There were such fond memories, such as an old tire swing that the two of them shared, even a small skinny dipping trip with the sun setting on that warm July day, such innocence that they had. Later on that night, a storm blew in out of nowhere, and inside, Kim was huddled in her bed and curling herself tighter with each flash of lightning… until Ron came in. He slipped under the covers with her and held her in his arms and sang a song to her. It was a song that Ron had heard on an old, country radio station that he loved so much, and it was something that he sang to himself to help him relax. He whispered the song into Kim's ears, and as he sang that song to her, it calmed her down enough for her to sleep in Ron's arms.
It was there on that cold mattress on the Nebuchadnezzar II that the song and Ron's soothing voice was called into action once again. Ron took Kim in his arms and began to sing. The song was called, "Whenever You Come Around" by Vince Gill. He began the song by imitating the guitar chords that the song began with.
Face of an angel
Pretty eyes that shine
I lie awake at night wishing you were mine
I'm standing here holding the biggest heartache in town
Whenever you come around
I get weak in the knees
And I lose my breath
Oh, I try to speak but the words won't come, I'm so scared to death
And when you smile that smile
The world turns upside down
Whenever you come around
Ron thought about the words to the song and then realized that he really didn't understand the meaning of it all as a boy. He only enjoyed it because of how it sounded, yet hearing the words coming from his own lips, he started to understand all of it so very, very well. Kim wrapped her arms tighter around Ron's neck, and Ron did feel as if he were Kim's Cuddlebuddy, but a plush doll could not do what he was doing for Kim. He was comforting her in one of their bleakest hours. Even the second verse to the song felt so much like Ron's life that he couldn't help putting his own emotions into it.
I feel so helpless
I feel just like a kid
What is it about you
That makes me keep my feelings hid
Wish I could tell you
But the words can't be found
Whenever you come around
I get weak in the knees
And I lose my breath
Oh, I try to speak but the words won't come, I'm so scared to death
And when you smile that smile
The world turns upside down
Whenever you come around
Whenever you come around
Just like that warm July weekend, Ron felt Kim's body start to relax in his arms and as she did, Ron began to feel himself start to drift away into sleep as well.
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Ron and Kim were fast asleep in each others arms. The two of them looked downright peaceful there in their bed. Despite all that had happened, they just slept there as if nothing incredible had happened to them. Yet, all that changed instantly when the two of them jerked awake to the sound of pounding at the metal door of their room. The two of them got up quickly as the door opened and in walked Morpheus.
"Good morning." He said sitting down on bed across from them, "I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I know that the truth can be a hard thing to hear, comprehend, and take in. I too was newly freed from the Matrix like you, but then the times were much bleaker. We have peace now. We do not have to hide as much as we did before."
As Kim sat up, she wanted to know something, "Morpheus, sir." She spoke up politely, "I was wondering, if there's peace now, why were the… Agents… after Ron yesterday?"
"Do you recall when I spoke about the One?" Morpheus asked looking at Ron, "The One is an anomaly, the remainder of an unbalanced equation that the creator of the Matrix could never work out. I guess you could draw its similarity to Pi. There have been six Ones, including Neo. But now, I believe the seventh has come earlier than usual."
Morpheus then looked over at Ron and gave him a smile, "Ron, lately have you been able to see things others can't? Have you noticed items that didn't look as if they belong, or noticed the world around you appear to change into something you can't describe properly? I did witness you disarming the Agents yesterday and only one other person could have done that."
"Are you saying I'm the newest One?" Ron asked as a strange nervousness started to grow in his stomach, probably the same kind of feeling that Kim had when she had learned of the truth.
"No, I have been informed that the One only comes every one hundred years, and Neo fell sixteen years ago." Morpheus stated, his eyes growing sad for his lost friend, "You hold traits of the One, but I am not fit to determine if you are or not."
"Then who is?" Kim asked.
"That is something to be saved for later." Morpheus explained, hoping that the issue would be placed aside for the moment, "Now then, are you two ready for some lessons?" He asked as if the lessons were to be likened to a day at a water park.
Ron threw his head back, tapping it lightly against the metal bulkheads of the Neb II and said with a loud sigh, "You're telling us that we have to go to school out here?"
"I think you'll find these lessons different than what you are accustomed to, Ronald." Morpheus smiled, "Get dressed and follow me."
Both Kim and Ron followed Morpheus' instructions, though there wasn't that much to getting dressed since they slept in their clothes. All that they would really need to do is just put on their boots, and they'd be ready to go anywhere. With boots firmly laced and latched up, they followed Morpheus back up to the main deck to the Jack Chairs; where Kim and Ron learned the truth about the Matrix.
At one end of the semi-circle of jack chairs was Link, who popped out from behind his wall of half-a-dozen monitors filled with code and keyboards similar and so dissimilar to those that Kim and Ron had used before.
"Morning, guys and doll." Link smiled as if he was about ready to serve them coffee, "Sleep good?"
Kim and Ron didn't answer Link's question.
"You will tonight; I guarantee you it. I'm gonna make you two STRONG!"
"What does he mean?" Kim asked Morpheus.
Morpheus smiled, "You'll see very shortly." He then turned to address Link, "I trust you know what to do at this point, Link?"
"Yes, sir, I do, sir." Link nodded.
"I'll be back to check on you both." Morpheus said as he left Kim and Ron in Link's care. Link took both Kim and Ron over to the jack chairs, set them both in place, inserted the data plug into the back of their heads and then went back to his station. At his operator's station, he was going through disks just like a little kid going through his Yu-Gi-Oh card collection trying to find that one card that they treasured over all the others.
"Let's see." Link smiled, "The standard procedure is to go through operational programs, but that's major boring shit…" He flipped through the disks, making the same comment about each of them, "Shit…shit…shit…shit…shit…ah, here we go…how about this?" He held up the disk to show Kim and Ron, but from where they were they couldn't see the scratched on label that said combat training on it.
As Link loaded the disk into his station, Kim and Ron looked up to the small monitor above their heads. On it they saw a rather strange arrangement, a figure was standing in one corner and was taking different martial arts positions, in the other corner was a human brain, and at the bottom was a title.
"Ju-jitsu?" Ron asked, "We're going to learn Ju-jitsu?"
Kim looked confused and asked, "Wait a sec, how are we going to learn Ju-jitsu while we're sitting in these chairs? And no offense, but I already know sixteen styles of Kung-Fu."
Link just smiled and winked at the two teens as he returned back to his station and pressed a few buttons. Then, Kim and Ron felt something prick them in the back of their heads. It was like that feeling they had when they were brought into the Construct, except this time it felt very, very different. It was as if something had opened in their heads; a floodgate of information flowed into their minds. It was only for a few seconds, but it was the longest few seconds that the two of them had ever experienced. They both gripped onto the handles of their respective armrests. Then it ended, and both Kim and Ron were gasping for breath, and yet, they couldn't help being amazed at what happened. It was only a few seconds ago that neither one knew a thing about Ju-jitsu, and now they knew everything there was to know about it.
"So, that's how he did that." Ron said with a smile on his lips as he looked over at Kim.
"Holy shit." Kim said like a woman coming down from the high of her greatest orgasm.
"Yeah." Ron agreed, "Where was this stuff when I needed it for school?"
"Hey Mikey, I think they like it." Link laughed for a moment to himself, "How 'bout some more?"
Kim sat back with a great smile on her face, "Bring it on, Link."
"Hell yes!" Ron uttered once again as he sat back and let the déjà vu from that one sentence and the feeling of more knowledge being uploaded into his brain overtake him.
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The hours had passed rather swiftly for Kim and Ron, though for Link it was more like a wade through almost frozen molasses. Then again, Kim and Ron were the ones having all the fun, soaking up all the information that he could dish out. He was looking at their progress for the combat program on Kung Fu, or at least one of the many styles of Kung Fu that he had in his disk library. As he continued to watch, Morpheus came up from behind him.
"How are they doing, Link?" He asked looking at the screens and then at the two teenagers.
"Six hours so far." Link smiled in his report to Morpheus, "They're playing chicken right now. First one to say they've had enough loses, and I'm running out of disks to give them."
Morpheus smiled along with Link. It was just like Neo when he first came out of the Matrix. He couldn't help absorbing all that information that he could. Morpheus then walked around Link's workstation and over to the two teens in their jack chairs. He could already see that the aforementioned six hours was showing itself on their bodies with the sheens of sweat they had developed. The information had already gone through for them both and Ron looked up at Morpheus with a smile on his face.
"I know Kung Fu." He laughed as he looked up at Morpheus.
"Oh yeah, Ron?" Kim asked with that cocky slyness in her voice, "So do I, along with my other sixteen styles of Kung Fu."
"But you don't know Monkey Kung Fu, now do ya, KP?" Ron shot back at Kim.
"Hmmm, sounds like a challenge," a voice called out. Morpheus, Kim and Ron looked and saw Niobe walking into the room "Doesn't it, Morpheus?"
"Indeed, it does." Morpheus agreed and addressed both Kim and Ron, "Let's see what you two have learned."
Kim and Ron watched as Morpheus and Niobe, with a little bit of help from Link, got into two of the empty jack chairs. It was pretty obvious what he was doing, Kim and Ron had already figured out that he was plugging them in with the data cable that connected to that hole in the back of their heads. Kim and Ron waited with great anticipation like they were going to their favorite event. Of course the two teens differed in what that event might be. In Kim's case, it would have been a boy band concert. For Ron, the experience would have been tantamount to ringside tickets to the GWA Summerslam event. But this was ten times more exciting than either because they would have a chance to see what they could do.
"I am furiously psyched, KP!" Ron said as Link was connecting Niobe and Morpheus into their jack chairs.
"Me too, Ron." Kim smiled, "Me too, I mean, I'm already good at martial arts in the Matrix, but who knows what kinds of things I can do now."
"You'll see soon enough." Morpheus answered back.
The moment was drawing closer as soon as Link took his seat behind his terminals. There were a few clicks of fingers hitting buttons, and Kim and Ron knew what to expect next. Just like before with the loading of the construct, the two of them felt themselves fall into darkness as their eyes closed. There was a flash of light and, even though they were lying back in those chairs, the next sensation that they felt was that they were standing up. They opened their eyes and couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Kim and Ron found themselves in a karate dojo, all wood and rice paper construction, with Japanese kanji at one end over racks of spears, swords, sais, and staves. While along the walls of the high ceiling were vertical banners that had green print on them that seemed to resemble the code on the screens that Link was looking at. Kim and Ron immediately looked at one another, seeing the new martial arts uniforms that they had. Kim's was black, which contrasted against her ginger hair that she was running her hands lovingly through once again. Ron's, on the other hand, was red yet both of them had black belts tied around their waist. Then again, why not? They had learned nearly every martial arts style that Link could give them. Ron couldn't help staring into the somewhat open top of Kim's uniform, but Kim caught on right away.
"Ron!" She gasped and closed her top tighter to show less cleavage, "Grow up!"
"This is a sparring program." Morpheus stated, unfazed by the exchange of the two teens as he walked into the room with Niobe. Both were in similar uniforms to Ron's and Kim's, though Morpheus' was black and Niobe's was red, "It's a training program similar to the programmed reality of the Matrix. It has the same rules, like gravity. What you two must learn is that these rules are no different than the rules of a computer system. Some rules can be bent, while others can be broken. I have often heard, from recently freed people, and also from some inside the Matrix that Team Possible is the most formidable fighting force one can go up against. I wish to learn if this is a fact."
"So, ya wanna play with the Ron-dawg, huh?" Ron asked very confidently in that buffoonish tone that he always had when he never took anything seriously.
"Ms. Fashion Nightmare's mine" Kim smirked as she popped her knuckles and her eyes set upon Niobe, "You can take Mr. Clean."
"I heard that." Morpheus stated in his captain's tone.
"Kim." Ron said with the tone of his voice changing drastically to an uncharacteristic seriousness just like he had so many times before in recent days. "Remember what Morpheus said: this isn't real. We're not really here, so just think of a video game where you can cheat if you want to. You can bet these two will."
"How do you know about all this?" Kim asked, taken aback by all the seriousness that emanated from Ron. Sure, he may have learned all those martial arts in only a few hours, but it seemed so… un-Ron to be serious.
Ron paused a moment as he thought about Kim's question, "I don't know." He said sounding surprised at himself as well, "I just do." He shook his head trying to shake off the feeling of déjà vu all over again, "Just remember: Don't try. Do."
"Whatever you say, Master Yoda." Kim smirked before running directly at Niobe. Her eyes were set on the red-garbed lady like a cat to a mouse. She dashed across the dojo floor with speeds that she never thought she could achieve, even with those super speed shoes that she had borrowed that one time. With her new speed, she came within only a foot of Niobe and dropped down to the floor giving her a quick leg sweep. Niobe easily jumped over Kim's attack. Kim looked up at Niobe and saw how high she had jumped. It seemed impossible that Niobe could jump nearly fifteen feet straight up, but that wasn't the wild part of it; what struck Kim the hardest was the fact that it looked like Niobe was floating, at least for a moment. She then came back down with quick and brutal strike, slamming her foot down into Kim's chest, which knocked her across the room.
While this happened, Morpheus and Ron seemed to be having a staring contest. "Let us see what you can do," Morpheus said as he ran towards Ron and threw a punch at his chest. It seemed trivial to Morpheus that Ron would have easily have blocked or at least dodged it like Neo did when they first sparred together. To his surprise, as soon as his fist was about to make contact with Ron's nose, he vanished. Morpheus looked around surprised, and turned to glace behind him only to see a flash of someone's foot before he flew across the dojo against one of the pillars that broke in half upon Morpheus' impact with it.
"You're too slow, old man." Ron smirked, completely unaware of how fast he was truly moving. Morpheus was surprised at the speed that Ron had grasped the reality of this fabricated reality. Even Neo didn't exactly catch on that quick. He had to have Morpheus knock him around a few times before he got the hang of things.
While Morpheus was getting used to how fast Ron had adapted to the reality of the Matrix, Kim was starting to get the hang of things as well in her fight with Niobe. She took a deep breath, dodged a punch from Niobe, reached over and grabbed Niobe's arm and leaned forward in a scorpion kick. As her foot made contact with Niobe's face, she had let go of her arm and then jumped up into a crane kick. Her hips were at eye level to Niobe and she held it there for a half a second before kicking Niobe across the dojo.
On the other side of the dojo, the fight between Morpheus and Ron continued. Their punches were being exchanged as quickly as the firing of synapses in a human brain. It seemed almost inhuman that they would be moving so fast that their limbs would become blurs. Of course, it had all happened before, at least from Morpheus' perspective; Ron was still fuzzy on how he was able to do all of it. Then again, he was just too excited that he was able to do all of it period.
"Come on! Try to stop me!" Morpheus ordered before running toward the teen and diving at him. Ron stepped back and held out his hands, only thinking to himself that he should try to stop Morpheus before he could make his next attack. That time, he didn't close his eyes as he had before and he witnessed something that only had happened by accident the last time. As Morpheus was making his dive for Ron, he stopped in mid-air just like Shego had when she tried the same tactic. Morpheus smiled while still in mid-air before Ron had let go of his hold on him, and the old man dropped to the floor with a very sickening thud.
"Very good." Morpheus laughed as Ron helped him off of the floor.
Morpheus and Ron looked over to the other side of the dojo to see that Kim and Niobe had also stopped their little fight.
"You know, if you can't beat us, you could always join us." Ron replied smugly, but lost the smile on his face when he saw Morpheus wasn't laughing. Ron wanted to know what he had said or done to make Morpheus look at him like that, but Niobe beat him to the punch.
"Is something wrong, Morpheus?" Niobe asked worriedly as she and Kim walked over to them.
"Let's try something else." Morpheus said to the group, shaking off the feeling that he had once before. He looked up to the ceiling of the dojo and called out as if he was speaking with God, "Link, load the next program."
With that request, Kim and Ron saw the dojo fade into white as if a contrasting setting had been turned up too high. That was when they had realized that the sparring program had faded back to the Construct program, and from the whiteness came the scene of a busy city with people walking around and going from place to place. Ron and Kim saw that theirs as well as Niobe's and Morpheus' clothes had changed into those fashionable clothes of snakeskin leather, plastic, and PVC. All around them they saw all different kinds of people wearing nothing but colors of black or white. Not a single ounce of color was in sight, as far as clothes went. It was as if they had stepped into the movie 'Pleasantville'.
"Come along, you two." Morpheus stated as he and Niobe walked down the streets with Kim and Ron trying to follow behind without being pushed back by the bustle of people going in the opposite direction.
"Look around you." Morpheus said to Ron and Kim, "There are a quarter of a million people still plugged into the Matrix. Many of which are not ready to accept the truth of the world around them. Because of the peace treaty and the sky clean-up, we are freeing close to fifty a month. Zion is now not the only human city any longer. The human race is slowly starting to repopulate the earth once again, but we are not ready to free everyone, and many of those that remain in the Matrix will probably not accept the truth so easily or at all. Some of them are so inert, so helplessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it."
As Kim and Ron tried to keep up with Morpheus amongst all the busy people, Ron noticed something. It was coming out of the crowd with a radiance to it like a white light in a dark room. It became clearer to Ron when he saw it passing by; it was a beautiful woman in a red dress. She was blonde-haired and blue-eyed like Tara from the old cheerleading squad, but this woman was so much more alluring to Ron's teenage eyes and it seemed like everything around him slowed down as she swaggered past him before melting back into the crowd of bi-chromatically dressed people.
"Ronald," Morpheus spoke, grabbing the boy's attention, "Were you listening to me? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?"
Ron felt stunned when Morpheus asked that. It was as if he knew what was going on in his head and so he tried to answer, "I…um…" He stuttered as he tried to look back to see if she was still there.
"Look again." Morpheus said, pointing to what was behind him. Ron looked and saw an agent with a gun pointed at his head. Ron ducked down as Morpheus gave the next command.
"Freeze it!" He called out.
Ron looked up and saw the world around him frozen in place almost like a snapshot. Everything from the birds that flew overhead to the water in the fountains in front of the business buildings, and even the people were frozen in their step. Ron stood back up to see Kim very red-faced and upset with him.
"Pig." She hissed as she punched Ron hard in the shoulder.
Ron looked back at Morpheus and Niobe and the world around him, "This isn't real?" He asked
"No, it's another training program." Morpheus answered, "It is designed to teach you both one simple thing: If you are not one of us, then you are one of them. Agents are out there and they seem to want you, Ronald. We have not seen them in sixteen years, so we know not of what kinds of upgrades they could have been given, which means that you must constantly be on your guard while inside the Matrix. In here, they are everyone and they are no one; they are everywhere, but they are also nowhere. That means that anyone we haven't unplugged; ANYONE who is still hardwired to the Matrix is potentially an Agent."
"We can't do anything about them either, can we?" Kim asked, sounding more than just a little afraid and remembering what happened at Drakken's Upperton lair.
Morpheus sighed and looked wistful before he answered, "Kimberly, I have seen Agents punch through concrete walls. Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air. However, their strength and their speed are still based in a world that is built on rules. Because of that, they will never be as strong or as fast as you can be. That goes double for you, Ronald."
There was a moment of silence amongst them, especially with Ron, who looked at the gun that was pointed at his head and then at the face of the Agent. There was something very oddly scary and vaguely familiar about that guy as if Ron had seen his face before, but he tried to shake all the déjà vu off when Morpheus made his next command.
"Now, one last test for you both." He stated as he looked up once again, "Link, load the Jump Program."
Once again, the busy and frozen street of the Agent Program faded away back to the whiteness of the Construct. Then from below their feet, Ron and Kim found themselves falling, well maybe falling isn't the right word, it felt more like they were on solid ground and the cityscape was actually rising to meet them. They found themselves standing on top of a tall skyscraper with the closest building a good hundred feet away at the same exact height. Kim and Ron looked at Morpheus, who was again wearing his mirrored sunglasses that allowed them to see their reflections.
"Now, I want you two to jump to the other building." He stated, pointing to the rooftop on the other side of the street.
Already it seemed ludicrous as Kim came to the edge, leaned over, and saw the great height that they were at. Even though she knew the world around her wasn't real, there was still the very real danger that she could die if she fell from that rooftop or even attempted to make the jump.
"That's impossible!" Kim barked as her voice echoed down into the canyon of glass and steel, "Even with my hair dryer grappler, I couldn't make it."
"I thought nothing was impossible for Kim Possible." Niobe smirked with a smug attitude, earning a glare from Kim. That attitude of Niobe's reminded Kim of someone with the same attitude on her cheerleading squad. An equally bossy girl named Bonnie Rockwaller, who had gone missing a few months back. Of course the squad did somewhat miss her, but not Kim. She didn't miss Bonnie at all. With her gone, it was as if a load had been lifted off of her shoulders.
"Nothing is impossible in the Matrix, my young friends." Morpheus smiled at Kim and Ron, "You both have to let it all go…fear…doubt…and disbelief. Free your mind." With that last sentence, Morpheus gave himself a running start before leaping up high into the air as he made his jump all the way across the gap and landed on the other rooftop with ease as if he was a kid playing hopscotch on the sidewalk.
Ron was amazed by what he had seen that he could only utter one word, "…whoa…"
"You go first, Ron." Niobe nodded.
Ron gulped as he came over to the edge of the building, still feeling that déjà vu in the back of his mind. Just like Kim, he felt the very real danger that he could die in trying to pull off such a stunt. Still, he tried to remind himself that none of it was real. He took a few good steps back, swinging his arms back and forth and building up his own momentum as he tried to give himself a small positive affirmation.
"This shouldn't be too hard." He muttered to himself, "This should be easy…ok…free my mind."
With that affirmation, Ron made his running start. He pushed and pushed all his might into his legs as hard and fast as he could. He came to the ledge and began his jump and he felt just like an Olympic long jumper trying to get as far on the sand as possible, but the ever-present Stoppable family luck finally caught up with him. As Ron was making his jump, his belt buckle came undone and his pants slid down to his knees causing him to trip and tumble in mid air until he started to fall to the asphalt below.
"RON!" Kim cried out, running towards the edge and hoping that in some small way she could save him, "NO!" she yelled as she watched Ron fall further and faster down to the asphalt below. Then, she watched in unusual shock as Ron hit the pavement and literally sank into it until it threw him back up into the air like a rubber band before gravity caught him and brought him back down to the solid asphalt where he made a sickening 'thud' sound.
All of this was witnessed by Kim and Niobe, who were looking at the event over the edge of the building like tourists at Niagara Falls seeing the water pour down into the valley below them.
"He might need a 'lil more work…" Niobe shook her head before looking over at Kim. "Ok, Kimmie, you're next."
Kim nodded, very nervous about whether she could make the jump when Ron couldn't. Still, like Ron before her, she tried a positive affirmation and said the family motto to herself: 'anything's possible for a Possible'; as well as what Morpheus told her: free your mind. She relaxed her whole body, hoping that it may help her in some small way to get to the building on the other side. She then opened her green eyes, focusing only on the other building and not on how far it was to the ground. With the building's edge in sight, she sprinted from her position and ran as hard and as fast as her legs could send her. She reached the ledge and jumped as hard as she could. Her mind was only on landing on the other side. She pushed out all thoughts about landing on the asphalt like Ron did. With her eyes closed, she didn't even notice that she was flying through the air like some kind of superhero. She then felt her feet, ankles, and legs absorb the impact of her hitting the side of the building. Her hands reached out and gripped the edge of the building clinging to it like the kudzu of the deep south before scampering up the side and dropping to the rooftop safe and sound, letting out breaths of relief. She made it.
"Not bad." Morpheus stated as he helped the girl to her feet, "Not bad at all."
Back in the real world, Morpheus, Ron, Kim, and Niobe were all starting to wake up from their training programs. As they did Ron and Kim felt very, very sore. It was as if all those things had actually happened to them even though it was all just digital data that they were interacting with. As the four of them came back to the real world, Link and Ghost were still trying to wrap their minds around what they had just witnessed on the screens.
"She made the jump." Link said in awe and still not believing what his eyes had told him, "No one's ever made the jump on the first try. No one!"
"No." Ghost disagreed with the operator, "One other person made that jump on the very first try."
"Who?" Link asked looking up at Ghost, whose eyes were starting to water as if he was on the verge of crying.
"Trinity." Ghost said in a low wheeze.
Morpheus got out of his jack chair and instructed the two teens, "Go and get a bite to eat, and then get some sleep. We're going to get up bright and early tomorrow morning."
"What for?" Ron asked wondering if there was more training, "We've gotten all the info that Link has on those disk thingies."
"This won't be for training." Morpheus answered, "It's time that you met an old friend of mine."
To Be Continued…