A/N: Thank you to my reviewers! Glad you appreciated it :) I've tried to put some more spaces in this chapter, last one looked a bit squashed up. Tell me what you think.
Disclaimer: The Matrix is not mine. It belongs to the Wachowski Brothers and no infringement of copyright is intended.
Chapter 2 – DiscoveryTrinity awoke to the sound of footsteps, passing her door with a faint metallic clang. A man. Dozer. No one else on the ship walked so heavily. Apoc was quieter, and Mouse never walked anywhere, he always ran, true to his name.
Slowly returning to consciousness, she opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling above her.
512 rivets. She had forgotten that. Now she remembered the first nights she had been here, too confused to sleep, too numb to understand what was happening. She went through each day mechanically, doing what was expected of her, not feeling anything but numbness inside. But gradually, she had come to understand what was happening, and to realise why she was here. Why was she thinking like this?
Fluidly twisting from beneath the thin covers, she sat on the edge of the bed, simultaneously lacing her thick boots while looking around the room. Every now and then she really wished for a comfortable bed, like she used to have in the Matrix. But then again, "technically she had never slept in a comfortable bed", as Switch would say. All that was in her cold metal room was a low bed with thin and patched sheets, a chair with splayed metal legs and a few clothes folded neatly in the corner. Trinity smiled, lending an unexpected light to her pale face. It may not have been the Ritz, but it was home.
Most of the crew was already awake, and sitting at the grey metal table in the centre of the room. As she entered the room, some looked up and murmured greetings or smiled, but most were intent on their food. Or rather, trying to pretend the off-white substance in their bowls was food. Suppressing a smile at the look on Mouse's face (faint disgust mixed with incredulity), she grabbed a bowl, filled it up and swung onto the low bench. Placing the metal bowl onto the uneven surface she began to eat with rapid movements. The woman with chalky blonde hair sitting opposite was Switch, ice blue eyes bent in concentration on her bowl. Apoc, the bulky man sitting to her left, was murmuring something in a low tone, and every now and then she would give a short nod. Looking up, she met Trinity's gaze and smiled.
"Trinity. So glad you decided to join us". She tilted her head to the side and arched an eyebrow.
"Shouldn't you be on duty, crew member?"
"Not for approximately, " Switch pulled a thoughtful expression, "02 minutes, Officer. It's lucky that some of us don't take 10 minutes to eat a meal in the morning."
"Nice to see you too, Switch", Trinity said with a grin as she returned to her food.
At the foot of the table, Dozer shook his head with a smile. Switch and Trinity, the two opposites, black and white. Their over-breakfast bickering had become a tradition on the ship, since their first meeting. Began with a blazing argument, ended with firm friends. The other crew members still hadn't quite worked it out.
Finishing her meal hurriedly, Trinity pushed back her chair with a metallic scrape. She had to find Morpheus and tell him about the mistake. It was pointless to waste any more time on a girl who meant nothing. And efficiency was something that Trinity prized very highly.
Morpheus was sitting in operator's chair, facing away from the door, hands steepled. As she raised her hand to knock on the open door, he turned around to face her.
"Trinity". His expression seemed to give away nothing, but from long observation, she could tell he was both interested and amused. He knew exactly what she was going to say, so she plunged right in.
"Morpheus, I've found a…mistake in the system. A 15- year old girl's come up as a Potential but she's got nothing we want. Need" she corrected herself.
Morpheus was watching her intently. What did he want from her? What was he expecting to see?
Seeing he was not going to say anything more, Trinity continued, hands joined behind her back. "The girl is not aware at all of the Matrix. I believe she has no rejection of the system. I suggest that she be deleted from the system. Sir", she added as an afterthought. Morpheus was silent for a moment, then shook his head slowly, spreading his hands.
"No, I see no mistake. Only providence."
"Morpheus…" she cut in, but he continued, rising from the chair to pace around the room.
"There is something about her, is there not? You have seen it. There is an…" He paused, as if searching for a word.
"…Anomaly. Perhaps she does not yet become curious about the Matrix. But she feels trapped, she does not know yet what by. But it is building inside of her. Building into something."
"What?", Trinity spoke bluntly. They had known each other too long to mince words.
"I do not yet know, but the Oracle told me…She told me that I would find the One - "
Trinity cut in again, growing impatient. "So you think she's the One?"
"No. She told me that I would find the One, but first another would be found, and not by me. By you, Trinity."
Trinity raised an eyebrow. "Morpheus, you of all people know that I don't believe in this 'fate' crap".
She didn't like the feeling that she didn't control her own life. Especially in matters of the heart, she thought to herself.
"You may not believe it now, but I know you have felt it. She has the power to help us, Trinity, whether she knows it or not."
Later that day, sitting in her room alone, Trinity felt her thoughts whirling around her head. What Morpheus had said didn't make sense. Shouldn't make sense. It had to be a mistake. All of this fortune-telling was just the ramblings of an old woman who had nothing better to do. Yes, she assured herself as she lay flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. It's just a mistake.
But then sometimes, it was comforting. You did what you did, and it couldn't have happened any other way. Rolling onto her side, her last conscious thought was that next shift, she would find that girl and prove Morpheus wrong.