"Hey Link, welcome aboard." Neo shook Link's hand, smiling gently.
"Glad to be here. Hey Trinity."
"Link." Trinity nodded before continuing further into the ship, Neo trailing behind her.
"Wow, this ship is so much bigger than the Gloria." Link looked around, his eyes wide.
"Let me show you around so you don't get too lost." Morpheus closed the ramp, moving Link forward. Walking deeper into the ship, Morpheus guided Link towards the consoles and plug in chairs. "This is the main deck. The consoles and plug-in chairs are here. Down that corridor and off to the left is the med bay. Up one level on the ladder will bring you to the cockpit and down the ladder one level will bring you to the sleeping quarters. Come." Morpheus motioned for Link to follow him.
Climbing down, Morpheus moved down the corridor. Stopping at an unmarked door, he opened it, revealing an empty room.
"This was Dozer's room. You can stay here. If you continue on down the hall, you will come to the mess hall. Don't get lost." Morpheus smiled gently before turning to leave.
"Wait, sir, is there anything you need me to do?" Link asked, dropping his bag onto the bed.
"No, not right now. I'm going to get us out of here, and then everyone will be meeting in the core. Get yourself situated, have a look around. I do caution you on one thing, though."
"What's that sir?" Link inquired.
Morpheus gestured for Link to come out into the hall.
"Always knock before entering that room." Morpheus pointed to Trinity and Neo' cabin, several doors down on the opposite side of the hall. "Do that, and you will be able to live out the day."
"Trinity's quarters?" Link asked, smirking.
"Trinity and Neo's quarters." Morpheus corrected, watching Link's eyes widen before understanding. "Go and get yourself settled."
"Thank you sir."
"Hello, who is this?" Neo leaned forward in the operator's chair, squinting his eyes at a specific code. Leaning back in realization, Neo pressed a button, "Morpheus, you might want to come check this out."
Neo didn't have to wait long before his captain climbed up the ladder, entering the core.
"What is it?" Morpheus asked, obviously woken from sleep.
"I'm sorry to wake you, but I thought you might find this interesting." Neo pressed a few monitors, pulling up exactly what he was looking at. "Some kid is randomly typing questions into his computer."
"Hack in, answer back. This boy obviously will be in danger soon, he's too aware."
"All right." Neo typed quickly into the computer, hacking through the kid's firewalls. Morpheus watched silently as Neo began a cryptic conversation with the boy. When the boy asked "Am I alone?" Neo pulled out, not wanting to answer that question just yet. Turning to look up at Morpheus, Neo arched an eyebrow in question.
"Get him out soon. Tomorrow at the earliest."
"Get out. Get out now." The kid heard Neo speak into his phone. Pausing only a moment to think about it, he jumped across desks and climbed out a window into the halls.
Neo was already inside the Matrix, flying quickly to where the boy was. Trinity and Morpheus were on either side of Link at the consoles, watching the scene play out before them. The kid was quite a good skateboarder, and was putting his skills to good use. Trinity only let out a frustrated sigh when they watched the boy let go, falling to his death. Neo's code was so close, but didn't reach him in time, though that wasn't what upset the viewers. The moment the kid's code hit the ground, it disappeared, much like a coppertop's when they are unplugged.
"What the hell?" Link typed quickly, his fingers flying across the board before pressing a button. "Operator. No I have no clue what happened. He's not there? As in totally gone? Yeah, hold on. Sir?" Link looked up at Morpheus. "Neo wants to know if you can get a lock on this kid in the real world. Find where his pod is."
Morpheus's eyes flicked to Trinity's before back to Link's. "Yes. Start a search and get Neo an exit."
"Right on it."
"I've never actually witnessed self-substantiation before." Trinity stood over the kid's body, Neo on the other side.
The boy opened his eyes, regaining consciousness for a moment. "Neo, you saved me."
"You saved yourself." Neo replied, looking down at the kid as he slipped back into unconsciousness.
Trinity smiled softly as Neo sat at the consoles, hacking into the kid's computer one last time. The boy had left his computer on from the first contact Neo had made with him. The question, "Am I alone?" still had the cursor blinking next to it. Neo pressed enter.
Not anymore.
"Hey Kid, how are you feeling today?" Link asked upon seeing the boy's eyes open.
"Tired."
"Understandable. You got yourself a name?"
"Not one I care to keep. Kid sounds fine for now." The boy tried to sit up, but found it only made his head hurt more and lay back down.
"Kid it is. Well, so I don't startle you, today you become a human pincushion."
"What does that mean?" Kid closed his eyes, confused.
"You can't move too well can you? It's because you've never used your muscles before. We need to rebuild them." Link explained.
"Oh."
"Get some rest." Link placed his hand upon Kid's forehead even as he fell back asleep.
"Is this one going to stay with us?" Neo asked Morpheus during breakfast.
"No. He's too young." Morpheus shook his head.
"That didn't seem to stop you from keeping Mouse on." Trinity argued.
"Mouse could hack programs and design sims better than anyone I've ever seen. That's why I kept him. Besides, I'm getting the feeling he won't leave Neo alone." Morpheus sighed, explaining in such a way as to show that he'd done it many times before.
"I get that too, but he's only a kid." Neo reasoned.
"That seems to be his name now." Link added, entering the mess hall. "He told me that he didn't want to keep his Matrix name and said 'Kid' was fine."
"All right. I'm assuming the needles have been placed in him?" Morpheus asked.
"Yes sir."
"Good, I'd better go down there now. Trinity, when you are done, feel free to enter the dojo. I'm sure you want to get out some frustrations from being on crutches for two weeks." Morpheus smiled before leaving.
"Want to be my partner?" Trinity asked, looking at Neo.
"When wouldn't I?" Neo asked back, smirking before standing to rinse his dish out.
"Link, I'm warning you now, if you see something that isn't fighting break out between us, kindly find a pipeline to stare at." Trinity spoke, her eyes looking up at the ceiling.
"Got it." Link replied, his voice bouncing around the dojo. "Just don't kill each other."
Neo smirked at the comment before getting into a defensive stance, reminding himself not to use his powers. Trinity came forward, dropping her shoulder in a fake before slamming a fist into Neo's side. Neo hopped back at the pain before blocking her next fake. Twisting her around, Neo tripped her up and knocked her to the ground. One thing about fighting Trinity, Neo had learned, was that if he got a big ego from beating her, she would quickly punch him, deflating his ego. A lesson that kept him from getting cocky.
Trinity quickly kicked out, tripping Neo up before flipping herself up. Neo rolled away and flipped over, propelling himself into a standing position. As he turned towards Trinity, he let out a punch. Trinity ducked it and elbowed him in the ribs before rolling out from him. He watched as she ran towards the wall and flipped sideways and backwards off of it. Sending a foot into Neo's head, Trinity landed in a crouch, almost catlike. Neo shook his head before moving towards her.
Deflecting each punch and fake sent towards him, Neo pushed down her arms before grabbing her shoulders and pushing himself up and over her, missing her sweep. As he landed, Neo kicked her in the back, sending Trinity stumbling forward into a roll before popping back up, facing him. Neo charged Trinity, only to be sent flying by a roundhouse kick. He could already feel his cheek swelling as he stood up, readying himself to meet another onslaught from her.
As her arm flashed out, Neo blocked it away, sending an uppercut into her jaw. Trinity backed up a step and landed a solid kick to Neo's thigh as he moved forward. Stumbling, Neo practically collapsed into Trinity, the pain from the kick sending tingles shooting through his leg. Groaning, Neo flipped his head up, again hitting Trinity in the jaw and backed up a step. Trinity rubbed her sore chin, her eyes watering from the double hit. Blinking back the tears of pain, Trinity faked into his arms and landed an elbow to his jaw.
"Now you know how I feel." Trinity bit out, hearing him groan as he stumbled backwards.
Neo shook his head, watching Trinity as she again moved closer. Grabbing her punching arm, Neo locked his right leg around hers and slammed her to the floor, collapsing on top of her. Trinity felt his head drop next to hers, and tensed when his breathe tickled her ear. Lifting his head up so he could look into her eyes, Neo saw fury and unbridled passion glaring back at him.
"That was good. I'm going to have quite a few bruises."
"My jaw is going to need ice thanks to you." Trinity replied hotly.
"I'm sorry." Neo murmured, his eyes already expressing guilt. Lowering his head, Neo placed a gentle trail of kisses along her jaw before dipping further and kissing her neck.
Trinity gasped softly, allowing her hands to find their way to his back, gripping him tightly. Scrunching her head into her chest, Trinity brought Neo's lips up to hers, kissing him feverishly. Pulling back after a moment to breathe, Trinity called out to Link.
"Get us out of here."
They were greeted with the white of the Construct before opening their eyes to the real world. Neo groaned quietly after Link had taken the needle from his head. Lifting a hand to his cheek, Neo felt the tender bruise forming there. As he stood up, he could feel the bruises along his side and arms and the last one Trinity had given him on his jaw. Turning to look at Trinity, he again felt a pang of guilt. Most of her jaw was turning black and blue and she was bent slightly from the kick he'd landed on her spine. The feeling was mutual as he limped beside her from the kick she'd slammed into his thigh. Link watched as the bruised pair exited, most likely to their room until Morpheus needed them.
Neo dumped his boots next to Trinity's as he pulled off his shirt and lay down on her. Kissing her gently, Neo slid his hand down her side, feeling her tense when he moved over a bruise, before reaching the hem of her shirt and lifting it up. Pulling it off in one swift movement, Neo lowered his head to the plugs above her breasts, and moved upwards. Trinity's hands danced up and down his back, igniting rivers of fire along the way. Brushing her lips gently against his, Trinity felt him flick out his tongue and quickly followed suit. Tracing his bottom lip with her tongue, Trinity felt him lift his lips slightly before pulling her top lip into his mouth. Sighing at the range of sensations, Trinity unintentionally shifted herself against Neo, who let out a startled gasp.
The fiery rendezvous was interrupted unfortunately when Morpheus rapped on the door. He had heard the sounds from the other side, but needed them out in the core as soon as possible and couldn't wait until they had finished. Morpheus heard the sounds of movement before Neo called out.
"Yeah?"
"I need you two in the core."
"We'll be right down." Trinity replied, slightly short of breath, much to Morpheus's amusement. Nodding to himself, he left, knowing they would hear his footfalls.