"What is it?" Trinity asked upon climbing into the core, Neo right behind her.

Morpheus turned from the consoles to look at her. "The Caduceus needs some help inside the Matrix. They were on a standard retrieval mission, but the agents found them and they are now cornered in a warehouse."

"What are the numbers?" Neo asked, moving towards his chair.

"Three against fifteen and three agents. New ones." Morpheus replied.

Neo looked up at his captain for a moment in surprise before nodding and waiting to feel the needle slide into his skull. A moment later, he was greeted with the Construct and wasted no time getting ready. Once inside the Matrix, he watched Trinity kick start her motorcycle and drive off before bending down to fly. Lifting up near the clouds, Neo flew above Trinity, arriving on the roof of the warehouse almost a minute earlier. Breaking the lock, Neo slipped in the stairwell and climbed down several flights before silently moving out onto a gangplank above the crew of the Caduceus. Neo tilted his head to one side, hearing Trinity enter on the other gangplank across from him.

Looking across at her, they locked eyes for a moment before they flipped over the edge of the walkways and landed deftly on the floor. Trinity immediately opened fire on a group of cops while Neo rolled out to begin a fight with three others. The Caduceus' crew could do nothing but stare in awe. Neo flipped around one cop, throwing him into a wall before sweeping his leg out around the other two. Once they stood back up, Neo sent one flying with a kick in his sternum and knocked out the other with a solid punch to his face.

Turning, Neo saw the last two men of the group Trinity had been attacking move around behind her. Before he could call out, Trinity spun around, a boot connecting with the first cop and continuing the spin in the other cop's face. Neo smiled as they both dropped to the floor. Trinity found Neo's gaze quickly and melted into the wall as the Caduceus' crew opened fire on the remaining cops. Within minutes, the only men left standing were the three agents. Neo slid out in front of the crew, leveling his gaze at the agents before Trinity gripped his arm, pulling him out. A quick call led them to a nearby pay phone, where they exited safely.

"Thank you Morpheus, I'm glad you were close by to help." Ballard thanked the captain over the intercom from his ship.

"Anytime Ballard. Did you get what you went in for?"

"Yes, we were getting a coppertop out. If it weren't for Trinity and Neo, more than one person would be lying unconscious in the med bay. Thank you again." Ballard smiled as he shut off the link.

"Good work you two." Morpheus nodded at Neo and Trinity before turning his head, as if listening to something. Suddenly, he looked over at Trinity. "Trinity, can you come with me to the engine room?"

Trinity nodded before leaving Neo, following her captain down the ladder. Once there, she winced at the harsh grinding from the engines before being handed a few tools. Looking down at them, Trinity followed Morpheus deeper into the ship. She immediately began to hear why Morpheus had brought her down and nodded before sitting to wait for the engines to stop so she could fix the problem. Morpheus left to shut down the ship, leaving Trinity to look around to see if there were any other malfunctions. A few moments later, Trinity saw Neo drop down the ladder. He moved silently towards her, also wincing at the sound before all went silent. Trinity felt a ringing in her ears from the sudden quiet and immediately lay on her back before wriggling under the machinery in question.

"Need some help?" Neo asked.

"Just hand me the tools when I ask for them." Trinity replied, her voice slightly muffled.

"All right." Neo sat down, his body brushing her legs as he situated himself against one of the pieces of machinery.

Neo watched as Trinity's hand popped out, feeling for a tool that was just out of her reach. Neo picked it up and placed it in her hand, hearing her quiet 'thank you' as her hand disappeared. Neo sat silently for a few more minutes until her heard a 'clank' and then a quiet hissing.

"Oh shit." Trinity murmured before attempting to wriggle out. "Neo, help me. Fucking engines."

Neo smiled at her comment as he wrapped his hands around her waist and tugged. Trinity writhed slightly in his grasp, eventually causing her body to loosen and slip out. Coughing at the smell coming from the pipe, Trinity stood up, looking at Neo before running to the ladder, climbing quickly. When she arrived in the cockpit, Morpheus turned around in question.

"You're already done?"

"No. I broke a gas line. Shut down the heat, I don't want to explode or be burned down there." Trinity explained.

"You better fix it fast or we'll freeze." Morpheus leaned over and pressed a few buttons before the quiet humming that Neo hadn't even noticed ceased. "Go on."

Trinity nodded and turned, practically pressing Neo into the wall so she could pass. Climbing back down, Trinity sighed, before almost laughing at hearing Link.

"Holy shit! It's freezing!"

Neo stopped his descent to explain before continuing on down behind Trinity. When she got back to where she had originally been, Neo grabbed her wrist, forcing her to turn and face him.

"Are you sure you want to get stuck in there again?"

"Do you see anyone on this ship with narrower shoulders?" Trinity shot back, watching Neo in silence for a moment before lying down and slipping back in. "Give me the torch."

Neo looked up in surprise before placing it onto her palm. He grabbed the mask, waiting to see her hand come out again and placed it in it when it did. A few seconds later, Neo heard the muffled sounds of Trinity putting the mask on before the torch flicked on. Silence reigned for some time before Trinity pushed the mask back out and told Neo to pull out the torch. Grabbing several other tools, Neo handed them to her, where they disappeared into the darkness where she lay. Minutes past, where barely a sound above a breath was heard.

"Trinity, can you even see what you're doing?" Neo suddenly asked. He watched her body jump at the sudden question in surprise.

"Yeah, the lights from above come down behind all of this so I can see." She replied distractedly. "All right, I think we're done. Go tell Morpheus to switch on the heat from the intercom."

Neo rose and walked the few feet to the intercom, flicking the switch. "Morpheus, turn on the heat."

A moment later, Trinity cried out. "Neo shut it off!"

Neo quickly told Morpheus to turn it off, and sighed once Trinity's painful gasp stopped. He moved back to the lower half of her body that stuck out from under the machinery. His hand fell to her thigh once he sat down.

"Not fixed?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Trinity shot sarcastically back. "Dammit, the fucking thing burned my hand. I need the torch and mask again, I must have missed a hole."

Neo silently handed the said tools to her, watching them disappear again. The hum of the torch was heard for a few moments before being shut off and handed to Neo again.

"All right, let's try this again."

"Trinity, I don't want to pull you out and have a French fry in front of me." Neo replied.

"Do you want to freeze to death, have our engines not work, and have sentinels eat us without a fight?" Trinity shot back, growing short tempered.

"Fine." Neo stood and moved to the intercom. "Try it again Morpheus."

Hearing her satisfied sigh, Neo told him that it was working. Moving back over to Trinity, Neo placed a knee on either side of her legs, his arms again encircling her waist. Pulling her out, Trinity noticed the position she was in before looking up at Neo. His eyes had already fallen to her hand, worry etched across his features.

"Come on, let's get you to the med bay." Neo helped her up, grabbing most of the tools. Trinity grabbed the rest and put them back before they went up the ladder.

Arriving in the core, Link saw the pair move towards the med bay before telling Morpheus to turn the engines back on from his headset. Neo gathered a cloth and dampened it before moving over to where Trinity sat on another table. Wrapping it gently around her hand, Neo watched her flinch before taking it from him. Determined, Neo pulled her arm back to him and tied the cloth together so she didn't have to hold it in place.

"Thanks." Trinity looked up into his face, smiling through the pain.

"Later on, we'll put some ointment on it, okay?" Neo replied.

Trinity nodded before turning to look at Kid. "He's a little older than Hunter."

"How can you tell?" Neo asked, moving next to her.

"He just looks it." Trinity answered simply before moving around the table and leaving.

"That was so cool!" Kid exclaimed after his first set of combat training. "Is that all?"

"Trust me when I say not even close. We've just begun." Link replied with a smirk.

"Great!"

Neo climbed down into the core from the cockpit as Link shoved another disk into the drive and began uploading it. Smiling gently, Neo leaned over the operator's chair.

"I'm assuming he's enjoying this." Neo remarked.

"Completely, but I can only give him so much each day. You were an exception." Link turned to look at him before the upload finished. "All right Kid, one more training program and that's it for today."

"Are you kidding? This is amazing!" Kid argued enthusiastically from his chair.

"Trust me Kid, you'll have a killer headache tomorrow if you don't take it easy." Neo cautioned, moving around the monitors.

"Heya Neo. Wanna fight me?"

Neo laughed at the question. "No, and for two reasons. One, you don't have nearly enough knowledge to spar with anyone right now, and two, you don't want to fight me. You should fight either Trinity or Morpheus."

"Why, what's wrong with you?" Kid asked, tilting his head to one side.

"Nothing Kid. You just don't want to fight me." Neo patted him on the shoulder before moving back to Link as the last upload began for the day.

"He's going to want to fight you for forever, Neo. When he's sparred one of the others, spar with him. I have a feeling he'll keep pestering you." Link advised as Neo left.

"We'll see." Neo reasoned, climbing down the ladder.

"You've got to forget everything you've ever been brought up to believe. Let your mind go." Trinity ordered Kid before launching into an offensive attack.

Kid blocked one punch but missed two others and fell backwards. Springing to his feet, he moved forward, his first kick being shoved away but landing a chop into her side. Trinity flicked her knee up into his chin, and then pushed it out, shoving him away with the heel of her foot. Moving forward, Trinity ducked down and rolled, sticking her leg out to trip him. Kid jumped back before moving forward to flip over her, his leg colliding with her shoulder as he did. Landing on the ground, Kid continued running until he came to the wooden supports and ran up it, freeing his mind to a degree.

As he flipped over Trinity, she watched, waiting until he had landed before slamming her foot into his chest, sending him flying. Every newbie started out like that. Neo did, she had, Apoc and Switch had. Everyone ran up the wooden support to flip over. Everyone. Morpheus had told her not to hold back right before she plugged in, and she didn't intend to. Kid hit the wall, denting it, before collapsing onto the floor, taking in gulps of air.

"How did I beat you?" Trinity asked, moving forward.

Kid lifted himself to rest on his knees. Shaking his head, he replied quietly. "You're way too fast. I can't keep up. Plus you're super strong, I feel like I've been plowed over."

"In this place, a programmed reality, do you really think the muscles of my real body have anything to do with my performance? This is all in your mind, Kid. Nothing to do with your body." Kid could only stare at her as she backed up. "Again."

Standing, Kid stuck out his left leg in front of him, his hands in a defensive position. Trinity moved forward, having her punches being blocked several times before finally slamming her forearms into his ribcage four times. Kid pushed her away and backed up himself, before moving towards her again. Kicks to the legs were blocked, feet slammed down to the floor as both got into a rhythm.

At the monitors, Neo stood tensely, his eyes flicking to Trinity's still form at every hit. Upon seeing her lulling Kid into a block, parry, block, block, parry movement, he had to smile. Link looked up at him.

"What's funny?"

"Trinity."

"Why do you say that?" Morpheus inquired, breaking his gaze from the spar.

"She's lulling him into a rhythm. The moment he becomes used to the rhythm, she'll flatten him." Neo explained with a shrug.

"She's done that to you in the dojo?" Link asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Not in the dojo, but she has done it to me." Neo smiled again before focusing back on the screens.

Morpheus glanced down at Link, whose mouth was open in an 'O', before looking back at the fight. Trinity suddenly faked a parry, hooked her right leg around Kid's right leg, hit him in the chest, and tripped him to the floor, ending the spar. Indeed, Neo had been right. Link pressed his headset closer to his ear before nodding to a command from Trinity and bringing them out of the dojo. Neo and Morpheus moved around the consoles, going to the separate parties. Placing a hand on Trinity's shoulder, Neo carefully pulled the needle out before looking down at her face, smiling softly.

"Oww." Kid, sat up, his hand immediately flying to his chest, pressing against it gently. "You're tough."

Trinity stood and smiled tightly. "If you think I'm tough, then I wouldn't fight Neo."

"Well, do you have a recording of one of Neo's spars?" Kid asked, rubbing his sore jaw.

"Yeah, Trinity and Neo just sparred a few days ago. It's on…" Link moved around, looking through some of the disks. "Here it is. Why don't you go get some lunch, some ice and come visit me here in about thirty minutes?"

"All right." Kid nodded before following Neo and Trinity out.