a/n: Hi everyone! I'm happy to see a few new readers for this story... and that's great, because we are just getting started here! The plot thickens, and the next few chapters are real shockers, at least I hope none of you will have seen this coming... Enjoy!

And this chapter goes out toLone Stranger - so you can do your "happy dance" :) thanks for all the kind words.

Chapter 12

Wolf-like. That was Neo's first thought as her silver-coloured eyes, feral and wild, captured his from across the drawing room. She was beautiful, delicate and feminine, an exquisite synthesis of sharp angles and understated curves, her physical form as exotic as the code which defined it. Curious, Neo read her line by elegant line, every symbol constituting a harmony of precision, a testament of strength. Oddly, this remarkable creature seemed familiar to him, as if they'd met before, a long time ago, or in a past life. She was human, this much was obvious, and yet parts of her remained a mystery; the blue-white light sparkling along the slope her neck, her hips, and at her fingertips was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

"At last," she said, rising from the bench of an antique pianoforte. "Neo, Trinity. I can't tell you what an honour this is. My name is Synergy."

She offered her hand, and as Neo took it in his he became acutely aware of Smith's presence. He'd followed them into the room, and was now lurking among the tapestries, watching him like a hawk ready to swoop down on its prey.

"Oh, is he bothering you?" Synergy asked, apparently noticing Neo's unease. "Smith, you're making our guests uncomfortable. Stop pouting in the corner and pour us some tea. What would you like? Earl Grey? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Zionist delicacies…"

"Nothing, thank you," Neo managed, staring in disbelief as Smith took her china cup, which had been sitting atop the piano among a few pages of music, and filled it from the teapot on the coffee table. Synergy whispered a 'merci' when he handed it to her, and as Smith's hand brushed hers in the exchange, Neo caught the slightest flicker of a smile on his face.

'Anything for you.'

Neo heard Smith's voice in his mind, suddenly and unwittingly privy to what he assumed was meant to be a private conversation.

'I thought I told you to take their guns,' Synergy said, glancing at Trinity with an expression that was more disappointment than concern. 'Did you not explain the benevolence of my intentions?'

'She refused to surrender her weapons. My only other option would have been to kill her. You made me promise not to. But if you'd reconsider that request, I could quickly rectify the situation…'

Their dialogue came to an abrupt end when Synergy moodily clanked her cup onto its saucer, releasing a harsh sigh of frustration. Something told Neo they had had this argument before.

"Leave us. Tout de suite, Smith." This time, she spoke aloud, dismissing him from the room with a bourgeois wave of her hand.

He didn't move at first, keeping his eyes steadily on Trinity, then suspiciously shifting his gaze to Neo. With a scowl, "I think I'd better stay. They aren't to be trusted."

"I said go." The second order was much more commanding than her first, and after grumbling his displeasure, jaw clenched and both hands balled into fists, Smith stalked from the room.

"I apologise," Synergy said after he'd gone, motioning to the ottoman. "The Program is very… protective of me. Please, sit."

"Although I appreciate your hospitality, I'm afraid I can't reciprocate the sentiment," Trinity said, keeping her feet firmly planted on the ground, hands on her hips. "This is not a social call."

"Oh?" Dainty heels and sheer pantyhose confronted boots and leather pants as Synergy walked up to the Captain, appraising her with an air of condescension. "And am I to believe that these… crude military armaments are meant to engage me in some sort of… battle?"

"There's the matter of our dead soldiers," Trinity responded evenly. "And the Sentinels which have surrounded my ship. I assume you have something to do with that?"

"Ah, oui. C'est vrai," Synergy whispered under her breath, as if recalling some distant, trivial memory. "You must believe me, I had no hand in the killing of your colleagues. That was an unfortunate misunderstanding for which Smith is truly sorry. As for the barricade around your vessel, I beg your pardon Captain, but my Sentinels hail you in peace."

Trinity glowered at her, not believing for a moment that Smith was capable of being sorry for anything, and insulted that this woman expected her to believe otherwise. "You conspire with murderers, and have taken my crew hostage," she challenged. "This is an act of peace?"

"Hostage!" Suddenly, the cup in Synergy's hand burst. Startled, Trinity reached for her gun, but her hands were frozen in midair.

"Hostage," Synergy huffed, snatching a napkin from the table and wiping the tea from her black cashmere sweater. "Such mistrust without provocation! Such wicked, groundless accusations! Smith warned me that you are erratic... especially you. That your vision is narrow, your assumptions prejudiced…"

"Neo…" Trinity gasped. "Neo, I… I can't move."

He sprung forward to come to her aid, but Synergy spun about, pushing Neo away with a broad, sweeping motion of her arm. He fought back against it, repelling the wall of energy that kept him from Trinity, but he was unsure how to combat such a novel adversary. They were locked in stalemate, the intensity of their opposing wills increasing exponentially as the seconds ticked by.

"I will not harm your mate," she said calmly. "And I do not want to harm you."

Glancing at Trinity, still caught in Synergy's intangible web, Neo pushed harder, this time with every ounce of strength he had. Synergy flinched in pain, letting out a small gasp before returning the attack, magnifying his act of aggression by several factors. Neo flew back against the wall and fell to the ground, completely drained.

"Now then," Synergy said, turning her attention back to Trinity. "Smith told you that you wouldn't need these. But you didn't listen." She pulled one rifle from Trinity's holster, and examined it with distaste. One bullet fell to the floor, then another, and then a shower of tiny metal cylinders jingled around their feet. Once the clip was empty, Synergy did the same with the other gun, tossing the weapons to the ground when she was finished.

"I was hoping that our first meeting would be civilized," she continued, studying her captive intently, their faces nearly touching. Luminous grey met cobalt blue, their similarly pale skin and dramatic features mirroring each other in an eerie symmetry. "The truth is I've never met a human before. A real, human... woman. You're remarkably unlike what I expected from a female; I'm intrigued.Please, let'stalk."

With care, Synergy released Trinity, who instantly rushed to Neo's aid. He was back on his feet and shaken, but not seriously hurt. "What do you want from us?" Trinity asked. "You used Smith to lure us here. Why?"

"I beg you, honour me. Sit," Synergy entreated. "Why… is always a very complicated question. It's best not to tackle it on an empty stomach. Will you have a scone? There's Devonshire cream on the table, a little dollop of heaven I picked up when last I was in London. I've been saving it for a special occasion."

Apprehensive and more than a little bemused, Neo and Trinity sat opposite her, both refusing the array of pastries on the table.

"If you prefer something sweet," their conscientious hostess offered, "Smith can produce a mille-feuille so saccharine, it's barely edible."

"No, really. We aren't hungry," Neo insisted, hardly believing what he'd just heard. The thought of Smith producing a barely-edible anything in the kitchen was as surreal as his apparent rehabilitation as Synergy's obliging butler was bizarre. "What is your association with Smith?"

Synergy smiled. "Ah. But you are already aware of it."

"Aware of what?"

"Of our connection. You know, it isn't polite to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, Neo." She spread a lace napkin on her lap and broke off a piece of her maple-walnut scone. "I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but it is at this point irrelevant. I have made him see reason. The Program is no longer a threat to the project."

"What project?"

She consumed a few crumbly pieces from her brunch before choosing to ignore Trinity's question. "You were both born in the fields?"

"Yes," Neo replied, catching in her empty, iridescent gaze the familiar beginnings of The Question. He'd seen it countless times before. "You're an Orphan as well," he said. "Only… you're still trapped out there, aren't you?"

"What?" Trinity's eyes vacillated from Neo to Synergy. "She's… human?"

"Yes," Synergy said. "Whatever that means. In truth, you two are the first of… my kind I've ever…" She broke off abruptly, rising from the couch and looking out the window. "I was told that you could help me. That you would understand. I want you… that is to say, I need you… to get me out of here."

"If you'd instruct your Sentinel friends to end their peaceful demonstration outside my vessel," Trinity said, "I'm sure we could come to some sort of agreement."

"What nonsense. Your crewmembers are not my prisoners to barter." Synergy stared blankly at the city skyline. It had begun to rain, and the first large drops were sliding down the window pane. "If only my freedom were so easily bought. But I'm afraid it isn't that simple. My… friends on the outside tell me that my link to the System stems directly from the Machine Mainframe. In the heart of the city. And the Powers That Be would never give me up willingly. Not as long as they need me."

"Why?"

Synergy sighed. "There's that question again: Why. The only question of any importance, the only real source of power. And it is the only question I cannot answer. No, Trinity. I cannot tell you why. Why I'm being held captive here, why I've been imprisoned, in one form or another my entire life. Denied my freedom, my right to self-determination, my very identity kept from me!"

The rain poured down harder now, slapping against the window violently. Then, the tapping of hailstones.

"My connection to this world, my ability to communicate with machines on the outside… these are things we have in common, Neo. It is a shared gift. But in my case, it is also a curse which binds me to this System as a flower is bound to the weeds that choke it. Over the years, I have come to realize that there is only one possible solution. In a world such as this, we all must fight for what is ours."

"You're talking about starting another War," Neo said.

"No. I'm talking about ending one. Don't you understand? The machines are tired of it, Neo. The pilfering of energy from your race… I beg your pardon, our race is seen by many in 01 as outdated, barbaric even. The underground movement for change is stronger than ever, both in the Matrix and on the outside. It started hundreds of years ago, a few rogue programs, a handful of machine defectors, as the popular legend goes. But today the machine resistance is in the billions. Unfortunately, without a strong leader, one who could coordinate the movement both in and outside the Matrix, their efforts were disorganized, conflicted. That is, until I decided to embrace their cause as my own. It is… my Purpose to help them. To help you."

Neo watched lightening flash across the sky, and under the angry rattling of ice-pellets on glass, thunder grumbled like a giant awakening from a long sleep. "That's all you, isn't it?" he asked. "The weather. You're also responsible for the anomalies we detected in the System."

"The Architect was in the way," she stated matter-of-factly. "He fled to save himself, as has much of the Machine's puppet government here. This System is now under… new administration."

"You plan to destroy it, don't you?"

She smiled. "You read me like a book; the Oracle told me you would. Yes, when the time comes, I will end this madness once and for all. If I felt like it, I could send us all to hell right now. God knows some days I'd like to. But the truth of the matter is we both know that it wouldn't do any good. Two billion human lives lost, the machine world thrust into an energy crisis… this is not what anybody wants. Everything depends on the success of Genesis."

"Genesis?"

"The crowning achievement of the machine resistance. A top-secret project stemming from the work of countless visionaries, over countless decades, their dream finally realized under my uncompromising instruction. I would like to explain further, but unfortunately… nobody can be told what Genesis is. You have to see it for yourself."

Suddenly, the telephone on Synergy's desk rang. "Pardonnez," she mumbled, lifting the receiver off its cradle and pressing it to her ear. "Yes, your timing is exquisite, Mr. Smith. But I suppose that is to be expected from one who has been loitering just outside the door as shamelessly as you have been. I do hope we were speaking loudly enough for you to overhear everything." Synergy rolled her eyes and curled the phone wire around her finger a few times. "Darling! Insult your mille-feuille? Never! By barely edible, I meant that it's nothing less than opera on a plate. Indeed, from now on I shall call you maestro... no, dear. I was being facetious." She gave Neo and Trinity an apologetic look before turning her back to them and lowering her voice. "We will talk about this later. Patch the call through here. That is, if you haven't bored their poor crew to death by now with one of your jejune, xenophobic anti-human rants…"

Synergy covered the mouthpiece with her hand and spoke to Neo. "It's your friends," she said, holding it out to him. "The time has come for you and your wife to go back to your world. And I promise you… after today, you will never look at it the same way again."

"Yo, what happened in there?" Kirk asked as he pulled the spike from Trinity's skull. "It's like you just disappeared. You had us all pretty freaked out."

"Thanks for holding down the fort," she said, sliding out of her chair and heading for the ladder. "Status?"

"A staring match, Captain," Kirk reported. "We watch them. They watch back…"

When Trinity arrived in the cockpit, she found Neo powering down the EMP and firing up the engines.

"What are you doing?" she asked. But as she stared out the windshield, Trinity realized that she already knew that answer to that question. Hundreds of Sentinels swarmed around the ship, and still more lingered outside their blast radius.

"There are too many," Neo said. "If they do attack us, one EMP burst won't make a difference. I say we divert all available power to the pads. It's possible we can outmanoeuvre them."

"You mean with the pads we haven't properly tested yet?" Kirk said as he looked over at Knight, who was trying to analyze the overflow of data pouring in from their sensors. "Let's hope they're put together with something more solid than bubblegum this time."

"Well, we're about to find out," Trinity said resolutely. "David, you're my right hand. Knight, forget tactical and man navigation - try to find us the best possible path. Look for bottlenecks and narrow, meandering pipelines, anything that will give us an edge." She touched Neo's arm. "Hey. You've got our backs?"

"It's been awhile, but I could probably pick off enough to give us a shot," he said. "Still, I'm inclined to give Synergy the benefit of the doubt. If she wanted to kill us, she'd have done it by now."

"I agree." Trinity strapped herself into the pilot's chair. "It's her circus of hoop-jumping squid out there I don't trust. I don't care what she says about the machines, or about Smith. You can't change the nature of the beast."

The impact of the first promptly delivered laser beam shook the ship off its axis, tossing Knight and Kirk to the ground while Neo held onto the overhead handgrips, which were installed for precisely this type of occasion. The master alarm buzzed loudly, and an array of orange indicator bulbs flashed on the consoles.

"What the hell was that for?" Neo shouted, as if Synergy were standing next to him and had just slapped him in the face.

"So much for being civilized. Hey, find something to hold onto!" Trinity hollered, taking the controls in her hands. "David, disengage the docking clamps."

"Docking isn't responding," her co-pilot replied. "Someone is going to have to run down there and do it manually."

"Like hell. We're getting out of here now." Steel moaned and scraped like nails on a chalkboard as Trinity began to rip the Neb free, wincing less because of the sound than the agonizing thought of what she was doing to her beautiful ship. "Knight, I'm going to need that escape route in about three seconds," she said.

"I'm trying – if you plug yourself into the neurogenic interface I can send it direct from my fingers to your mind…"

With a violent jolt, the Neb broke away just as the second laser hit the hull. The ship rocked back and forth, setting off another set of alarms. "I'd settle for a good old fashioned 'left' or 'right' at this point," Trinity replied.

"In that case, neither," Knight said. "Go up. It's the only way."

Trinity pulled back hard on the controls, operating the main thrusters while David steadied their ascent with the secondary pads. When the machines pursued, Neo tried his best to clear the sewers ahead of them, bursting them into flames with the power of a thought. Fire and smoke filled their path, the Sentinels ripping open like bagged popcorn in a microwave. Shrapnel ricocheted off the hull and cracked fissures in the windshield, amazing the crew as they clung to the walls of the cockpit. This was the stuff of legends in Zion, the kind of impossible feat of heroism that only existed in children's imaginations. They'd been raised on these bedtime stories, but the reality of what Neo could do was far more spectacular than anything they'd ever dreamed of.

Eyes closed and brow furrowed, Neo held out his hand towards the onslaught, seconds passing like hours, each explosion hitting him like a bullet. There were too many. They scratched and scraped at the Neb's port side, and some managed to attach themselves to the ship, their tentacles thumping against the hull urgently.

"Trin…" Neo yelled. "Trinity, help."

"I'm with you, hold on," she answered, glancing over her shoulder. Neo was leaning on Hawk-Eye's arm, panting, his forehead covered in sweat. "Shit. David, do you think you could get us a bit closer to the edges?"

Understanding the Captain's plan perfectly (she'd learned it from his mother, after all), David nodded and began to take sharper corners. As Knight shouted out the proper direction, he grazed the ship against the sewer walls, slicing off Sentinels, sometimes two at a time. But before long, the multiple breeches in the diamond plating began to take their toll, and Trinity found herself facing a major structural integrity failure.

"We can't keep this up," she said with finality. "We're only five kilometres from the surface. We will escape through the next open support line. It'll be a tight squeeze, but I think we can make it."

"You always told me to stay off the surface in a chase," David replied evenly. "The thrusters freeze up and the pads don't work well on ice."

"Yes. That's true."

"You said it was suicide."

"Well, then David." Trinity summoned all her nerve and thought of Morpheus, as she often did when things looked bleak. "Let us hope… that I was wrong."