The Matrix: Revisited

by Classic Cowboy

Rewrite of The Kimmatrix Trilogy with Turles. Everything that has a beginning has an end. I see the end coming, I see the darkness spreading. I see death... and you are all that stands in his way. But for every end ... there is a beginning. The Oracle

21. Shutdown Chapter 6

The Kimmatrix: Matrix Shutdown

A Fan Fiction Fusion By

Classic Cowboy and Turles

Chapter 6: Neodammerung Part 3 – Armageddon's Eve

This is my life

It's not what it was before

All these feelings I've shared

And these are my dreams

That I'd never lived before

Someday shake me

Cause I

I must be sleeping

Now that we're here

It's so far away

All the struggle we thought was in vain

All in the mistakes

One life contained

They all finally start to go away

Now that we're here it's so far away

And I feel like I can face the day

I can forgive

And I'm not ashamed to be the person that I am today

These are my words

That I've never said before

I think I'm doing okay

And this is the smile

That I've never shown before.

Somebody shake me cause I

I must be sleeping

Now that we're here

It's so far away

All the struggle we thought was in vain

All in the mistakes

One life contained

They all finally start to go away

Now that we're here it's so far away

And I feel like I can face the day

I can forgive

And I'm not ashamed to be the person that I am today

I'm so afraid of waking

Please don't shake me

Afraid of waking

Please don't shake me

Now that we're here,

It's so far away

All the struggle we thought was in vain

All in the mistakes

One life contained

They all finally start to go away

Now that we're here it's so far away

And I feel like I can face the day

I can forgive

And I'm not ashamed to be the person that I am today

- "So Far Away"

Stained

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"I can't believe it's almost over," Morpheus said as he looked out the window to the mountains. The sun was casting its rays down and for the first time, he felt warm from something that wasn't artificial or volcanic. As Morpheus gazed at the beautiful sapphire sky dotted with white clouds, his wife Niobe came up beside him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I know, Morpheus," She said as she too looked to the far horizon and the sky above it, "This time tomorrow, it will be either us or them."

"Let us hope that it is not them," Morpheus stated, his eyes moving from the horizon to his hands that sat upon the window ledge.

"Ron won't let us down," Niobe reassured her husband without a single ounce of doubt in her voice.

"I have no doubt in his leadership," Morpheus answered in agreement, "But the machines have had control for so long, I can only fear that they will expect this."

"You worry too much, honey," Niobe leaned up and kissed Morpheus softly before adding, "now…let's go rescue Ron from the Fleet Captains, it's almost time for Kim's appointment."

Morpheus nodded and they left the observation deck with the glorious sun continuing to rise over the mountains, spreading its rays of warmth and light for this new world.

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Ron "Neo" Stoppable stood around a table that had a paper map of the machine's perimeter with the few human cities scattered around the edge. Each city marked with their names beside them, there was Jericho, New Salem, New Babylon, and so on. All of the cities had ships docked and ready to follow the orders of the One.

Around the table were the seven Fleet Captains who would relay the One's orders to the other ships. There was Captain Dante of the Inferno, who was a young man in his mid-twenties with black hair and a goatee with a usually morose look about him. Captain Ezekiel of the Merkobah, whose advanced age belied his youthful energy and exuberance, and he was especially mouthy about certain subjects. Next to him was Captain Harold of the Nimbus, another young man nearing thirty who possessed the deepest green eyes anyone had ever seen and a shock of inky black hair that just barely covered a small scar on his forehead. Captain Roland of the Dark Tower, an old friend of Morpheus' who was once in command of the Hammer during the end of the last war with the Machines. Unfortunately, the Hammer had been beyond repair so he took command of a new ship. Then there was Captain Sita of the Ramayana, a dark skinned woman whose patience was legendary, then again being around so many men, it had better be. Next to her was Aries of the Galileo, a forty-ish looking man with red hair a few shades lighter than Kim's staring at the map, trying to find the most logical course of action to take in this battle. Last of all, there was Captain Beowulf of the Grendel, who had a very gruff looking beard, long blonde hair, and a very muscular build such that some wondered if he had not stepped out of old Viking stories.

As the planning went on, Captain Morpheus walked into the debriefing room and heard the discussion going on between the Fleet Captains and Neo.

"No," Ron shook his head, "the machines will be expecting that."

He looked up at the other Fleet Captains, feeling the pressure mount upon his shoulders like stones being piled onto him. He felt frightened and intimidated at the same time, because he knew for a fact that these captains had seen more battles in one week than what he had seen in his eight months of freedom. Just being in their presence was intimidating, as if Ron was some kind of minor league player meeting those in the majors. Seeing their looks, Ron knew that what he was about to say should really be impressive or his entire leadership capability would be in jeopardy. He took one hard swallow before going on with his plan, but as he looked down at the map, he remembered that he had no plan, even though he shot down Captain Aries idea.

"W…what if…" Ron gulped again before clearing his throat, "what if we just send a line forward, three fourths of the fleet. It will draw their fire, and while the machines are distracted with them, we'll send the remaining ships around the side and hit them while their backs turned."

"Three fourths of the fleet for a decoy?" Captain Aries had asked scoffing at the idea, "That's just not logical."

"Exactly," Morpheus abruptly added, announcing his presence and scaring half of the Fleet Captains in the process as he stepped closer to the table with the map laid out, "Logic…is what the machines have an overabundance of. They don't understand illogical choices. It's an excellent plan I say."

Ron smiled at his mentor and surrogate father before turning to the Fleet Captains with a renewed sense of self-confidence.

"Also," Ron added, "It would be best to have the slower moving, more heavily armed group to do the sucker punch, while the faster ships play decoy, that way they can slip out of the line of fire and counter attack."

"I think it'll work," Captain Harold put in his voice of confidence into Ron's plan, which seemed to give it some level of authority since he was said to be a master strategist.

A few moments later, Captain Aries, no slouch in the strategy department himself, had agreed, "Yes, it can work."

Though whether he agreed on his own or because of his fellow strategist and best friend, Captain Harold, would remain a mystery for years to come. While all around the map table, the other captains were nodding in agreement with this new plan by Ron.

"May I suggest that we recess this meeting," Morpheus requested as he stepped behind Ron and placed his hands on his shoulders, "The One has other matters to attend to that are just as important as the battle plans."

"Very well," Captain Roland agreed, "We'll reconvene this meeting tomorrow at oh-nine-hundred hours."

"Take care of Misses Stoppable and the kids, Neo," Captain Sita had advised to the young man.

"Still can't get used to calling KP by that name," Ron smiled as he walked with Morpheus.

The Fleet Captains left the briefing room along with Morpheus and Ron, who were going a completely separate direction than the others. As they went along, Ron seemed to have a very different way of carrying himself. To the eyes of Morpheus, he seemed to have that same stance and posture as Neo. After all, Ron had grown a couple of inches, but then again that was due to the fact that before, he used to slouch.

"She seems more than happy to bear your name, my friend," Morpheus said as the two of them strolled their way to Ron's and Kim's quarters.

Ron went silent, but had a look on his face as if he was quietly disagreeing with something.

"What is it, Ronald?" Morpheus asked, concerned about the boy.

"She should be leading the attack," Ron shook his head, "She's the hero, without my powers…I'm just the sidekick…the decoy."

"You sell yourself short," Morpheus smiled at the young man, "you have come a long way in a very short time. When we pulled you and Kim from the tanks, you were a boy with low self-esteem, afraid to step out of Kim's shadow, but that boy is no longer here."

The two of them continued to walk along the hallway, but Ron was silent, still doubting whether he should really be the one leading the troops into battle.

Morpheus stopped, placed his hands onto Ron's shoulders, and turned him in order to face the boy eye to eye.

"Did you not hear yourself in there?" Morpheus asked, using that meeting as the example of Ron's growth, "That was genius."

Ron shrugged his shoulders, "That was Harry and Aries; they have this thing for chess and strategy."

That much was true since Harry and Aries had a tendency to play chess for hours, sometimes days, and even once a solid two weeks on a single game.

"But you used the knowledge they had brought to formulate a plan that could actually win," Morpheus reiterated firmly, "you, a man whom everyone in the city and in the ships docked to it are willing to follow all the way to hell, if it comes to that…Ronald, when will you realize that you are no longer in Kim's shadow, if anything she is now standing behind you."

Ron was silent as he heard such encouraging words from his adoptive father, while Morpheus gave Ron's shoulders a light squeeze.

"Ronald…Neo…" Morpheus smiled, "I believe in you, our fighters believe in you, and Kimberly believes in you. Don't you think it is about time to believe in yourself as we do?"

Ron smiled at Morpheus as he thought to himself that it really was time to let go, to let go of the self doubt that had been instilled in him ever since he was a little boy, shy and frightened of monkeys. He wasn't that anymore, he was brave, strong, and he had KP.

"Thanks, Morpheus," Ron smiled at his mentor.

"No," Morpheus answered back, "it is I who should be thanking you, my friend…now, come, the mother of your future children awaits, and you know how her mood swings have been lately."

"Should I tell her that?" Ron smiled as he and Morpheus continued on their way to their quarters.

"Should I tell Niobe about the photos you made in the construct for Trin?" Morpheus replied knowingly.

Ron gasped at what Morpheus knew, because his daughter, Trinity, came to Ron asking for pictures of the man she had a crush upon. Ron was surprised but didn't laugh at the girl when he found out that she was 'crushing' on Brick "Tater Salad" Flagg. So, after a small trip into the construct, Ron had managed to make some pictures of Brick for Trinity. Though, the two of them had promised to keep it as 'their little secret'.

"You know about that?" Ron gulped nervously.

"I shall remain silent, if you do the same."

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Kim sighed as she was drying her hair, but before she began to get dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes looked straight to her belly that was already starting to bulge with the children growing inside her. Though, when Kim had gotten a doctor's opinion, she was already a couple months along. Of course, Kim did think it was suspicious that she didn't have her period, but such a thing wasn't important when she was fighting and running for her life. Still, it seemed so unreal that she would be a mother, yet as her hands ran over her bulging belly, she started to allow the reality of it to set in and she smiled at the possibilities. She smiled and hummed to herself as she got dressed thinking about the possibilities of her children's future. As she was bending over to buckle her boots, she realized something.

"In just a little while," she thought, still with a new motherly smile, "I won't be able to do this…"

She then smiled even more and actually found herself giggling as she had thoughts about her husband, Ron, buckling her boots for her, but then her blue fox nature had thought;

"Maybe I should invest in some new, easier to tie shoes."

After she finished dressing herself in loose fitting, gray pants and her usual, gray one strap tank top that exposed her swelling belly. She went back to the mirror and looked at herself from the side running her hands over her stomach. She was caressing it like it was an actual baby. She then looked back at the clock without even thinking about it and she saw that she was running late.

Panicked, Kim dashed out of the apartment and headed to the medical ward of Jericho. As she was starting her dash down the hall, she heard a voice calling out to her:

"Where you off to in such a hurry, KP?"

Kim immediately stopped, her feet digging into the interior of her books like brakes screeching trying to bring the car to a stop. She quickly turned to the voice behind her. The voice had sent so many chills up and down her spine, especially how that voice called her by that pet name that only Ron could call her by. She looked to find the face of Josh "Ares" Mankey, seeing him, and hearing him call her that, she grew furious.

"I've asked you once," Kim snarled at him, annoyed that she would be late for her appointment and that he still called her by that name, "and I've told you countless times…don't call me that!"

"It's a free world. Misses Stoppable," Josh smirked and shrugged arrogantly and used Kim's title with such thick sarcasm. "That is…unless that husband of yours fails."

"Ron won't fail," Kim continued to growl in her irritation at Josh, "I believe in him and I know he won't let us down."

"Oh! So, he knocks you up and then you believe in him all of a sudden?" Josh asked while he was only an arms distance away from Kim.

The anger and contempt that Kim had for Mankey quickly built up in that less than one minute conversation. So much that in one swift and hard motion she reached up and slapped Josh across his face. The sound of the slap had echoed throughout the hallways and Kim didn't even look at Josh's face, she simply turned and stomped her way down the hallway.

Josh, on the other hand, turned to look at the stomping Kim; he didn't have any amount of surprise when Kim had slapped him. If anything, it was more like a bee sting to him, he didn't even reach up to the searing pain in his face. He called out to Kim as she stomped away:

"He may have you now but I have what he can never have!"

When Josh said that, Kim had stopped dead in her tracks.

"I had you first," Josh had proudly stated, "I was the first to see you in pure pleasure…and I know that one way or another, you'll always compare him to me!"

Kim immediately turned around, stomped her way back and gave a look at Josh that would make the battle ready Captain Barkin cringe. Yet, in the face of such a look, Josh didn't even flinch, not even when Kim growled quietly:

"You know nothing," she growled and hissed at Josh, her knuckles turning white from her tight fists.

"I know plenty…like the night we made love," Josh told Kim in such a smug way as if that night was his crowning achievement for Kim. He watched as he mentioned it and Kim's face turned pale from her shame of what she knew, "I knew that he was in the closet…I saw him when he came in…and I saw him leave after you fell asleep. The look on his face when he saw you sleeping on my chest…I've never seen a person look so broken in my life…it was just…priceless…"

The anger had built up once again as Kim listened to Josh gloat, he sounded as if he was enjoying making Ron suffer the way he did on that night. Except, this time, instead of an open slap, Kim curled her fist into a ball, and slammed it across Josh "Ares" Mankey's face. The force of the punch was such that Josh not only fell to the floor, but was actually pushed a few feet away. Kim wasn't done with Josh, thought, not by a long shot. She hated him so much that she forgot what she ever saw in the prick. She bent down, grabbed Josh by the collar of his raggedy, gray shirt, and started to pull him up off the floor.

"I almost forgot, KP," Josh smiled as Kim held him by his collar, "You always liked it on top, right?"

Kim's rage exploded as she punched Josh once again, allowing him to fall to the floor, but she still wasn't done. She turned him over onto his back, sat upon his chest, and began pounding the daylights out of him. All the while, Josh was laughing as his face became red and black with his own blood. His laughing seemed to suggest that he was enjoying it, as if he wanted Kim to do it and that he was getting some sort of masochistic pleasure out of being beaten up by her.

Josh's laughing and Kim's cries of rage had brought the attention of Niobe who had heard the sounds and went to check on them. She was shocked as well as horrified when she turned the corner and found Kim "Angel" Stoppable beating up Josh "Ares" Mankey.

"Kim!" She called out, but it was no use as Kim continued to beat and pound the living hell out of her former lover. "Angel" be damned, she looked more like a demon, sitting there pounding Josh's face into hamburger meat.

Niobe dashed over, grabbing Kim by the shoulders and pulling her off of the laughing and bloodied faced Mankey.

"Kim!" Niobe commanded, "Calm down!"

Seeing Niobe and being pulled away from Josh did little to calm her down as she still glared at Josh. As she was being pulled back to her feet, she had to have the last word on the matter.

"Ron's twice the man you'll ever be, Monkey!" She spat angrily, taking delight in calling Josh what Ron had called him from the beginning.

"Of course," Josh smiled, his teeth pink and dripping from his own blood while his face was red and black from his blood and bruises, "He's the One, how can I compete with that? Just goes to show you only love power, KP, which I knew all along!"

"Don't listen to him, Kim," Niobe advised as she glared at Josh, "Let's get you to your appointment."

As the two of them headed down the hall, Kim couldn't help but wonder about what Josh had said:

"Was he right?"

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"Okay, Misses Stoppable," Doctor Nightingale had started as she began to spread the gel over Kim's belly. The gel felt oddly cool and somewhat sticky as well, in fact, it reminded her of that gelatinous substance in that pod she came out of on her day of freedom. She took a sharp breath as the doctor spread it while continuing to advise, "Just lay back and relax."

Standing next to Kim Stoppable and stroking her hand was Ron who told, "It's going to be okay, KP," Even though Ron's voice was slightly trembling.

"Ron," Kim chuckled, "They're not going to hurt me, it's just an ultrasound."

"Alright, stay perfectly still," Doctor Nightingale told Kim as she laid the ultrasound applicator over her belly and their eyes looked to the monitor. It seemed oddly funny that even with such technology as holography at their disposal, they were still using a monitor to look inside Kim's womb. As the doctor ran the applicator over Kim's bulging tummy, she looked at the fuzzy images of the ultrasound. Even though Kim and Ron couldn't make sense out of the black and white imagery, the doctor did. "Ah, there they are…two growing beauties! Both girls, Mister and Misses Stoppable."

The doctor looked back at the happy couple, but only saw the smiling face of Kim Stoppable, she looked around for Ron and looked down.

"Uh oh…" She said as she set down the ultrasound applicator and went to the intercom, "We're going to need smelling salts in here."

"Why?" Kim asked as she sat up, "I'm feeling fine."

"Not for you, dear," Doctor Nightingale smiled, "It's for the father." She then pointed down to the floor.

Kim leaned over and looked down to see that Ron was lying unconscious on the floor. She smiled at him as she reached down to take his hand into hers. It was funny, after her confrontation with Josh, Ron had took Kim's hand into his own. Even though Kim was such a strong person, Ron held her hand because he felt as if she still needed such unspoken support.

"Save the majority of mankind without a flinch," Kim thought as she gently squeezed his hand, "but faints at the thought of me in pain…"

As she looked down at Ron, Kim couldn't help but think on those words that Josh had told her: just goes to show, you only love power, KP, which I knew all along. Those words did stay with Kim from the end of that encounter to when she was looking down at her unconscious husband. She did wonder if it was true that she liked guys who were high up on any kind of social strata. Yet, looking at Ron, she realized that she loved his unruly blonde hair, she loved every single freckle that decorated his cheeks, she loved the way his eyes lit up when he smiled at her, she loved the way he held her at night, and how gentle he was when they made love. She had a counter to Josh's words now; she didn't love Ron as the One; she just loved him as Ron Stoppable.

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Kim "Angel" Stoppable moaned as she slowly came back to the land of the living, but she wanted to get back to sleep, and she started to roll over onto her side. In the back of her mind, she was secretly thanking God that there wasn't anymore morning sickness, but she wasn't exactly going to say that aloud for fear that she just may jinx it. Though, she did have thoughts about why they called it "morning sickness" since she was having it in the afternoon, evening, and late at night. It did occur to her that maybe she was "mourning" for times when she wasn't sick all the time.

As she was on her side, she wanted to wrap her arm around her husband, like a kid reaching for their stuffed animal, and cuddle him. Her arm reached out but then dropped to the mattress, her hand patted the mattress to see that there was nobody there. Feeling that, Kim sat up, but did it in a slight roll since in the past few weeks since that appointment with Doctor Nightingale; her belly had grown by a few inches with the twins inside her.

"Ron?" Kim called out, hoping that Ron would just be in the bathroom and that he would come back to bed with her, but there was no response, "Ron, where are you?"

When there came no reply, Kim quickly got dressed; after all she wasn't that far along that she couldn't dress herself. As a matter of fact, when a passerby looked at Kim, it looked as if she had a very full stomach, the kind that people get after having a great night out at their favorite restaurant. As Kim got dressed she managed to get a small glimpse at the nearby clock:

"Five thirty in the morning," Kim thought, "Where could Ron be at this hour of the morning?"
After getting herself dressed, Kim walked out of the apartment and began her early morning search for Ron. Her eyes were already getting used to the dark, but daylight was soon coming through the windows in the hallways. Since Kim didn't want to wander around aimlessly, she decided to head toward Morpheus and Niobe's apartment and by the time she turned the corner she found Morpheus. He was standing at the window watching the sun rise slowly over the mountains.

Kim came closer to him, her footsteps echoing through the quiet and empty hallway.

Hearing the slight tapping of boots, Morpheus turned to see Kim walking towards him.

"Good morning, Kimberly," Morpheus said with a gentle smile and a tone that was only loud enough for Kim to hear, hoping that they wouldn't wake everyone in the hall, "How are we feeling this morning?"

"All three of us girls are feeling great," Kim smiled as she rubbed her belly before asking Morpheus, "Have you seen Ron?"

"I have in fact," Morpheus had reported as he stepped away from the window, "I saw him heading down toward the release station."

"Release Station?"

"Yes," Morpheus explained, "Before the city was built, it used to be part of the endless fields that the machines had used to grow human beings. There could be a very good chance that you and Ronald were produced here."

"As my husband would put it," Kim shuddered as she shook her head, repulsed at the idea that she was standing on the very place where she was grown in a test tube, "That is just sick and wrong…"

"Come," Morpheus asked, "let us find Ronald."

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Kim and Morpheus journeyed down beneath the city of Jericho and as Morpheus explained it was originally a release tank when people were being set free from the Matrix. The way it would work was that pods from the Machine power plants would be transported to the human cities where they would be released. Though the question of why Ron would be down there was something that Kim and Morpheus were about to find out for themselves.

It was the first time that Kim had seen the release station; then again it wasn't exactly a place that she wanted to come to willingly since her own release from the Matrix was pretty traumatic on its own. She rubbed her belly and wondered if birth would be traumatic for the twins.

She and Morpheus approached the release station and gazed at its enormity. She looked at a wall that was twenty feet high and nearly sixty feet wide and all along the wall were two rows of those very pods that were part of the Machines power plants that held human beings imprisoned.

Most of the pods were occupied, but Ron was standing near a unoccupied one. He was grunting and groaning as his arms were sunk up to his shoulders in that pink liquid. Through the transparency of the pod, Kim and Morpheus could see Ron's arms and hands and there were sparks of electricity jumping from one hand to the other as if they were a Jacob's Ladder. Kim and Morpheus were at a vantage point where they could see that Ron's eyes were no longer their usual chocolate brown, instead they were electric blue like neon signs, both cornea and iris, while sparks of electricity flew from within the eyes themselves. His body looked tired as there were spots of sweat around his armpits and down the back of his shirt.

"Almost got him," Ron grunted as sweat rolled down his face, past his electric blue eyes, off his chin, and into the pod of pink gelatinous fluid, "Just…just…a little more…"

"Ron?" Kim called to her husband, but saw that he wasn't answering; it was as if he didn't even notice that she and Morpheus were there. She called louder, "Ron! What's wrong?"

"One second!" Ron snapped, but never brining his gaze away from the tank. He was giving it his absolute and total concentration, "I'm…not…leaving…him…alone…"

As he said that, the sparks of electricity that arched from one hand to the other had intensified, and the sparks from his eyes grew more frequent. There were even sparks that had started to arc across his skin as if he was conducting electricity throughout his whole body. From his arms, up to his shoulders, all over his face, through his hair, down his back, and to his feet. He had become a literal lightning rod, until there was a burst of electricity from his whole body that made Morpheus and Kim turn away for a moment. They turned back to look and found Ron on the floor near the tank he was working at.

"Ron!" Kim called out as she dashed over to her husband, taking him in her arms and feeling the dampness of his sweaty clothes and the gelatinous pink liquid that covered his arms. He looked completely exhausted, but seemed to have just enough energy to look up at his wife and say in a slight wheeze.

"It's…done…"

"Ronald," Morpheus called as he came to Ron's and Kim's side, "What did you do?"

"Just…" Ron answered, wheezing slightly to give Morpheus his answer, "Just…brought back…an…old friend…"

"What?" Kim asked as she turned her gaze from Ron to the tank, wondering what could it have been that Ron nearly risked himself over.

"Come on…out….pal…" Ron wheezed once again as he tried to call out to what was in the tank.

From within the tank came a small figure that was covered in that pink ooze, at first it looked like a glob of gel itself until, from within it, came a pair of stubs that wiped away the muck. It revealed its face as small, round, pink, and bucked toothed. The stubby arms of this thing wiped away more of the gelatin to show its completely hairless and tiny body that had a stubby tail. At the back of its head was a cable and there was one coming from its belly. The thing was as small as a human hand and it looked out at Kim, Ron, and Morpheus with its beady, black, and glass-like eyes.

"Oh…" The little bucked toothed and black-eyed thing squeaked as it rubbed its little cable attached belly, "No feel good…"

"Rufus?" Kim asked, shocked by what she was witnessing before looking back at her husband whose eyes were wide open and chocolate brown once again.

"I think…" Ron uttered hoarsely to Kim and Morpheus, "…I found a way to make animals…using the release tanks…as birthing tanks…"

As Ron had got himself back to his feet, he came to the lip of the birthing tank, took his naked mole rat friend in his hand and disconnected him from the cables that he was connected to. He even took his shirt and wiped off the pink gelatin that covered his tiny body, and the only hair that Rufus was missing was his whiskers.

"Welcome…" Ron whispered to Rufus, "…to the real world…buddy…"

As Ron slipped the "newly born" Rufus into the raggedy pocket of his pants, Kim and Morpheus were looking at him with surprised and undisguised admiration.

"Unbelievable…" Morpheus uttered as he watched Ron.

"That's my Ron," Kim smiled as she slipped her arms around Ron, "Never underestimate him."

"Thanks, KP," Ron smiled back.

"Best get to bed you two," Morpheus advised, "tonight is the night."

Ron and Kim looked at Morpheus and quietly acknowledged that today would be their moment of truth. They needed to be rested for it, and so Kim guided Ron back to the elevator and hopefully back to their bed. As they went, Kim rubbed her belly as she looked at her husband quietly, praying that they'd live long enough to see their daughters.

To be continued…