"All right, we are going to send you two back into the Matrix. We received a message from the Logos late last night to meet us." Morpheus informed the pair once they had sat down to their breakfast.
"How come you didn't wake me for a night shift?" Trinity asked, momentarily forgetting how lucky she'd been that she wasn't.
"Well, I decided not to after I found that Neo had not slept in his room." The captain replied, watching in amusement at the expressions on his second-in-command and the One's faces.
"Oh." Where was a trap door when you wanted one? Neo thought, feeling the burning on his neck. "Well-"
"No need to explain, Neo. At least, not right now. I will need to talk to the two of you before we arrive in Zion, however." Morpheus waved his hand, dismissing the explanation from being spoken. "When you two are done, I'll meet you in the core."
Neo and Trinity looked at each other once he had left before quickly finishing their food and exiting. Arriving shortly thereafter in the core, Neo and Trinity set up their respective chairs and plugged in. Trinity looked around her as she materialized in a shut down café, Neo next to her. Picking up the ringing pay phone, Tank gave her the directions to the meeting place before disconnecting the call.
"Come on, it's right down the block." Trinity turned and walked out the door, not waiting for Neo to catch up with her.
Trinity paused outside, giving Neo the time to slide up next to her. Moving as one, Neo and Trinity strode down the sidewalk, eyes scanning the crowd for agents. It had become almost routine for Trinity, but was something Neo was just adjusting to: If you want to survive in the Matrix, you have to cover your ass at all times, no matter how serene the surroundings are- or seem to be. As they turned the corner, Trinity nudged Neo in the side, before gesturing to the sitting Niobe and Ghost across the street at the café.
As they sat down, Niobe didn't waste any time before beginning.
"What the hell happened to you guys?"
"Long story. We'll go into the details when you come and get us. Right now, all we can tell you is that we had a sentinel attack and we were unable to turn off the ship's power before throwing the EMP." Trinity quickly explained.
"All right. What are your coordinates?" Niobe leaned back slightly as Trinity pulled a sheet of paper out of her jacket and placed it on the table. Niobe picked it up and glanced at it a moment before handing it to Ghost. "We'll be there in about thirty minutes."
"Can you try to get there as fast as possible? We have no way of protecting ourselves from another sentinel attack, should one occur." Neo asked quietly.
Niobe and Ghost cast a glance at each other and then Trinity before Niobe spoke.
"May I ask just why this newbie is-" Before she could finish however, Trinity cut her off.
"This newbie just so happens to be-"
"Trinity, why don't we save this conversation for the Neb?" Neo interrupted softly.
Ghost and Niobe both watched in silent amazement as Trinity didn't glare at the newbie or even deck him but instead nodded her head in agreement.
"Right. We'll see you when you get there."
As the pair stood and left in unison, Ghost turned to Niobe. "Trinity seems much more tranquil around him than anyone else I've ever known."
"I agree. It is most unlike her to allow someone that isn't ranked higher than her to be able to interrupt her without a price to be paid. I wonder what makes this guy so special?" Niobe gazed at the retreating backs of the tall, black clad soldiers.
"Maybe she likes him." Ghost glanced at Niobe for a moment, catching the look of shock that graced her face before he smiled softly, almost sadly.
"How long until they arrive?" Morpheus asked once Neo and Trinity were both safely back on the Nebuchadnezzar.
"She said about half an hour. Oh and Morpheus," Trinity paused before he could completely turn away. "I think you're going to have to tell her about Neo. They are wondering why I didn't flatten him to the ground when he interrupted me."
"Well, I guess we can't keep it to ourselves, no matter how much we may want to protect him."
"Hello? I'm standing right here. Protect me from what?" Neo asked, sliding in next to Trinity.
"Zion." Morpheus answered simply.
"Zion? But, aren't they the human's last city? I should have no problem there, right? Right?"
"Well, no. The fact that you exist is going to cause the doctors and council to closely scrutinize you. Many people will worship you, while others will scoff at your every move. Needless to say, you won't be able to find peace immediately." Morpheus explained, sighing sadly.
"They may even try to take you from us." Trinity added.
"I won't let that happen, not if I can help it." Morpheus answered, looking straight at Neo.
"Neither will I!" Tank yelled from the console, causing the rest of the crew to laugh.
"Captain Morpheus, I see you've had a rough time of it." Niobe commented upon sitting down in the mess hall with the remaining crew. "Can I gather what happened?"
"Probably not. Cypher betrayed us all. After Neo was unplugged, he sold me to the agents and killed Switch, Apoc, Dozer, and had cops kill Mouse. The only reason I'm standing here at all is because of Neo and Trinity, and the only reason Neo's standing here is because Trinity told him that the Oracle said she would love the One. She proclaimed that she loved him, so he had to be the One. A short but direct explanation, but if you would like a more in-depth one, you may ask either one of them, preferably if the other is within hearing distance." Morpheus paused for a moment, allowing the information to sink in.
Trinity squirmed under the sudden scrutiny both Sparks and Ghost were giving her and then Neo. Niobe rose slowly before holding out her hand to Neo. Neo looked at it for a moment before shaking it.
"Captain Niobe of the Logos. This is my crew, second-in-command Ghost, and Sparks, our operator."
"I'm Neo." Trinity nudged Neo in the ribs. "The One."
"Nice to meet you Neo." Niobe smiled tightly before turning her attention back to Morpheus. "So, where do we start?"
"I think we should be able to attach a cable to the Neb. If we give you a bit of our stored power, we should be able to bring you into Zion without causing any further damage to the hull." Niobe mused, leaning on one of the chairs in the Nebuchadnezzar's core.
"We'll transfer anything that is absolutely necessary to keep with us until our arrival at Zion." Morpheus agreed with a nod of his head. "Once we're on our way, Neo, Trinity, I would like to have a word with the two of you." Morpheus glanced at the pair before standing and exiting down the ladder.
As two crews worked together to haul a large cable down from the Logos and over the remains of some now nameless city to the Nebuchadnezzar, Tank and Sparks- who were in their respective chairs on both ships- kept watch for any signs of sentinel activity. Neo reached up to connect the cable to a hook near the exit ramp of the hovercraft before jumping down several feet from his high perch. Ghost and Trinity made a grab for his arms and torso after he landed to ensure he didn't fall and end up accidentally impaling himself on torn pipes. Everyone turned to Niobe who turned on her two-way radio.
"Sparks, turn it on. Let's see what a little juice can do to this heavy weight."
"Nothing I enjoy better than making a fat lady jump." Sparks commented back, flipping several switches.
A thundering of electricity was heard shooting through the cable as the crews moved to a safer distance. Neo had never seen the Nebuchadnezzar from the outside before, and Trinity didn't want to miss one second of his reaction. His eyes grew as he watched in amazement as the Neb shuddered to life and lifted itself ten feet from where it had been sitting for the past week. The calm throbbing sound from its energy pads only added to the effect as little bolts of electricity shot out from them onto the rubbish. Five pairs of eyes watched silently as the exit ramp descended, revealing Tank. As he walked over to the group, the ramp rose up into the ship, closing the only entrance that the sentinels didn't make.
"All right, she seems well enough intact. Let's get going." Niobe proclaimed before turning and walking towards the Logos.
As soon as everyone was in either the core or the cockpit, the Logos rose up and began to pull the larger Nebuchadnezzar. Neo turned to Trinity once they had been sitting in the core for some time, a question etched across his features.
"Trinity, what does Zion look like?"
Trinity kept silent for a moment, and noticed how much both Tank and Sparks wanted to answer it, but decided to tell him anyway.
"It's a mix of earth, metal and humanity. It's a rich blend of what was here before we came and what we brought with us. I can't explain it well, but Sparks and Tank can. They're Zion-born." Trinity gestured in their rather excited direction.
"Neo, it's like nothing you've ever seen before." Tank began.
"I've only been unplugged a month, Tank, there isn't much that I have seen. Thus almost everything is something I haven't seen before." Neo tilted his head, sarcasm dripping from his mouth.
"Ooooh, it seems you've got a new sarcastic crewmate." Sparks commented, laughing.
"Well, anyway, it's amazing. Just think, all of humanity that isn't out on a ship, is living there. All of humanity, right there. It's great to walk in the early evening. You get to see what you are really fighting for. Little kids running to dinner, anyone without a meal is brought into another home to eat, adults talking late into the night. It gives you a completely different perspective of why we can't take anything for granted." Tank was practically bouncing at the explanation.
"Because it's humanity at it's most stripped. No gold, no shiny objects, no tantalizing cuisine, no differentiation between rich and poor. No one is better than anyone else. They survive by sticking together and fighting for the same thing." Sparks continued.
"What's that?" Neo asked out of habit.
"A chance to see the next day." Trinity replied, locking her eyes with Neo's.
"We're almost there, everyone get your bags." Niobe's voiced cut through on the intercom.