Two

-

Neo shouldn't have been shocked at his first sight of Alice, but he was.

Sitting on the steel bedding she had slept in, the girl was still almost completely bald. Here and there, you could see a trace of faint brown stems returning, mostly towards the back, but for the most part the invasive plugs that covered her were completely exposed. Trinity had fetched a simple cloth dress immediately after they had recovered her from the machine city, but it still felt wrong to look at her.

Swallowing his doubt, Neo stepped in and waited for recognition to bloom on a face that was still stained with tears. "Mr. Neo…?"

"That's me. Listen. I can tell you're afraid, and I can't blame you. I just want you to know that I'll do whatever I can to make this easier for you."

Gradually, she gripped his outstretched arm in an amazingly strong grip for a little girl. "Please", she begged. "Please, Mr. Neo, let me go back home. I don't like it here! I want to go home!"

"That", he admitted sadly, "is the one thing I can't do."

"Then", she sniffed, "please just tell me why not! Trinity won't."

For a long stretch, he wondered if he would have to deny her this too. How do you explain to a ten year old kid about the Matrix, or thinking machines or computer-neural interfaces, or the Fields..." There's a reason that Trinity won't. Does she treat you all right?"

This time she nodded slowly, what had been close to panic winding down. "Yes... I guess. She's nice to me."

If money was of any value anymore, Neo would have put some down that Trinity had seen herself in Allison. He remembered hearing her speak of it on one of their first missions to free someone's mind, that she herself had beenthirteen when Morpheus had come for her. Looking at her now, one would never suspect what she had once been.

"Trinity's a very special person to me. To both of us, now. Look, once we get to Zion- that'll be a day from now- I promise things will get better."

"Zion?"

He didn't blink- this was almost live reliving when he had been unplugged, going over the basics one more time. "Zion's a city. Not… really a city like you think of, but it has a lot of people. I'll take you to meet Zee- she's Link's girlfriend, she has kids of her own. I know she'd like to meet you."

She considered that for a moment, feeling the rails on the bed around her. "Okay. One more thing- I'm hungry. When do we eat?"

He gave back a dry chuckle. "You might be sorry you asked."

-

"Turn that thing off, there's no point in reading it!"

Hearing Trinity's sharp tone- the one she always used when she was getting irked- Link just sent back a grin into the pit of greasy tools she was buried to her waist in. "Hey, it never hurts to brush up on the basics. Next time we're in the shop, I might even find hardware that could decodethis stuff."

"Better hope that's a ways off yet", her voice echoed up from the bottom level. "You know the commander."

Link's grin grew a bit sour- he'd known more about the commander's grudge with Morpheus than most even before he came aboard the Nebuchenezzar. "That goes for every ship, not just Morpheus, Trin. You'd swear to God the metal for each repair job gets plucked fromLock's skin."

She didn't laugh, and Link returned his attention to the basic streams of code slowly descending before his eyes. It was a text/audio newsfeed, and a very basic one. It was just shortly after coming aboard that he'd discovered how to hack it. Even if the news going out to the billions of humans still plugged into the Matrix wasn't exactly helpful to them, it would never hurt to check it.

Besides, he mused, it makes for great entertainment when you know it's all BS.

The feed, amusingly named 'The Sentinel', was currently displaying information regarding the construction of a new freeway joining a major industrial and commercial area. Link was inwardly surprised- the programming of such a thing would require multiple stages of construction even when sped up over several months of people's time. It would take him all day to make even one of the stages look believable.

But they have to sometime, he reasoned. Eventually, people would notice that the city they lived in never changed- no new construction, no new businesses. They would start asking questions and become a general thorn in the Agent's side. I guess you could say the Matrix turned out to be a lot more work than those mechanical bastards bargained for. They have to keep updating it with new programs, new locations… man, what a pain.

Smirking at the idea, he flipped the channel over to a different component of The Sentinel, one that he had paid closer attention to. Normally, it read like an obituary, and, out of fool's hope or superstition, he checked it every day for anyone they knew.

Right now, though, the feed was announcing the death of a relatively young woman by the name of Libby Peterson. Death by heart attack? An odd way to go, considering. Still, it was a bit depressing to learn that this woman had lived close to fifty years in the Matrix without a clue.

This wasn't what alarmed him. It was what that segment led into that caused Link to stand and nearly bang his head on the ceiling.

"Um… Morpheus?"

"Link?" That wasn't Morpheus, it was Trinity. She had climbed partway out of the gantry and poked her head out to see him. "What's wrong?"

Unable to completely describe it, he simply pointed at the screen. "Take a look. We're getting popular."

Not liking the sound of that one bit, she stood up to her full height and surveyed the code. She might not have been an officially-trained operator like Link, but experience was very helpful.

" 'Radical terrorist group Zion' ", Link muttered, staring at the code. " 'Led by Morpheus, whom authorities believe to be the most dangerous man alive. Hmmph.' "

Trinity's arms dropped to her eyes. There, right in front of their eyes, was the codified image of Mouse's final moments. Riot cops swarmed into a hideout, finding Mouse with two Tommy guns, Mouse gunning down several of them before they overwhelmed him…

" 'Recent kidnapping' ", Link was still reading, " '-of Allison Richolds. Connected to abduction of-' ", his face paled as he looked up at Trinity. "You."

Trinity stood, looking hard at the text hidden in the code like it was an Agent made manifest. "Me. That's how it looks to the public, doesn't it? That Morpheus 'kidnapped' us. Same goes for all the elder citizens of Zion. This is just pointless propaganda making Morpheus into public enemy number one… as if he wasn't there already." With a quick snarl, she moved to flip the monitor off.

Her own eyes were too quick for her, though. They stopped on the name Libby Peterson, along with confirmation of her death, and she stopped as if paralyzed at the same moment that Neo climbed down from the cabin level, immediately figuring that something had gone wrong.

" 'Libby Peterson' ", he read slowly, looking closer at Trinity. "Trin, is that…?"

Catching her breath, Trinity brushed the black oil from her cheek. "Yeah. That's my mother."

-

"As evidenced by previous encounters with authorities, the Zion group has demonstrated a common pattern of abducting, then brainwashing youths to serve as it's members. While their motives largely remain unknown, a contact recently received was recently intercepted by police…"

General Peterson looked at the television screen, even his dull stare enough to intimidate those that would usually frequent this pub. He couldn't stop staring at the screen, not after what he had heard, and what he had known.

Peterson fitted the common stereotype well- a solidly built man wearing three gold eagles on each shoulder, and his white uniform clean, spotless save for the array of medals pinned to it. Like his wife and daughter, he had completely black hair, though it was arranged into a crisp military brush cut. Many of his acquaintances in the military shared and abided his conspicuously 'confederate' accent, and his sole departure from the image was that he was completely clean-shaven, free of facial hair.

All that muscle he had built up over forty-eight years, however, was atrophying right here on the counter. He could no longer remember when exactly he had sat down for a few drinks, but it had to be longer than two hours with a single glass refilled an uncountable number of times. It had always taken him longer than his subordinates for it to take effect- and all the alcohol in the world couldn't purge his grief.

The voice of what was supposedly the sole verbal contact with a member of Zion woke him from his stupor. Zion. Morpheus. His fists clenched. Morpheus' Zion was only a myth when it had taken his daughter away from him. Now here it was, it's modus operandi blared out to him along with the rest of the world, in what sounded rather likea young man's voice instead of Morpheus':

"I know that you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid. You're afraid of us. You're afraid of change… I don't know the future. I don't know how this is going to end; I came to tell you how this is going to begin. Now, I'm going to hang up this phone, and I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you… a world without rules and controls, without borders of boundaries. A world… where anything is possible."

What followed that was an analysis between two experts over what exactly that statement meant, including just whom it was addressed to. Peterson tuned it out- he'd heard and understood enough about Zion.

What the hell were the damned spooks over there at the CIA doing? It had been their job to hound out Morpheus and the poor children he'd taken away, and so far he hadn't found a scrap of evidence that they had made any progress at all. And now this… Libby was gone, not from a heart attack, but from heartsickness. She missed their daughter even more than he did.

He still remembered that day with perfect acuity. Just like today, the kidnapping of an innocent girl had been on The Sentinel, complete with a personal statement by Libby that he had pushed for. "Morpheus. Whoever you are, and wherever you are", she had spoken into the camera in tears, "I open my heart to you. Please, if you believe in anything at all, please give me back my daughter. I'll give you anything, or do anything in return, but please…"

That escapade resulted in a tapped phone line in their household. It probably still was; he hadn't had enough time at home to check. His wife had died from heartsickness, watched by the system, unable to reach the two people she loved most in the world.

And as for their daughter… His stomach twisted. The records indicated that Morpheus and his posse of black-clad zealots went after little children, always eight to fifteen years old, took them someplace the authorities could never find, and completely changed them to suit their needs. Never once had there been record of an informant or dissenter in the group. Whatever crazy mumbo-jumbo he used to keep Zion in order, it was certainly effective- Peterson's heart went out to the now-deceased young man who's code name was identified as 'Mouse'.

That Mouse kidwas so brainwashed he was willing to forfeit his own life for Zion, for Morpheus. How can my little girl stand up to that…?

Fresh rage was beginning to boil in him, fueled by the alcohol. Brainwashed into serving a madman's cause… and now Libby… I will make you burn in Hell for this, Morpheus, if it's the last thing I do! You will regret destroying the Peterson family!

With that, he shattered the solid glass on the counter with all his considerable might, and marched off to his quarters to begin early retirement… along with the hunt.

-

Trinity opened her eyes. Before her lay an endless sea of clouds you could no longer find on the earth. For one thing, they had never found evidence of the Swiss Alps. That legendary mountain was what this program had been modeled after, a simple rearrangement of the Jump program.

The only break in the pattern was the ground beneath her feet- a precipice extending up and outward like an outstretched finger over the endless blue and white.

Striding to the edge, she spread-eagled, tipping over bit by bit until she fell. Like a professional skydiver, she carefully angled herself over into the full spread as the fall built to the program's full velocity, blowing fresh wind all the way through her bare tank top outfit. The fact that the wind was programmed did not make it any less exhilarating.

She continued to fall for miles, seeing the spire of rock pass out of sight along with the light of an artificial sun. She had taken this time to angle into a position relative to a human missile, hastening her descent. Any moment now…

There. The hard ground at the bottom was becoming visible through the clouds right on schedule. Cutting short the skydiving tricks, she angled back into a new position against the wind, remembering the one kind of training you couldn't download into your skull.

Free your mind. The rocks below were growing larger all the time, but already she felt the coding controlling the rule of velocity working on her body, and knew that with the proper exertion of will, she could control it. Gradually, she felt the searing wind leave her as her descent slowed down. By the time her feet touched the smooth rocks at the bottom, they did so delicately and precisely.

A pitched whistling noise, followed by clapping that seemed to come from everywhere at once. She didn't smile. "Thanks, Link."

"No problem, Trin. Between you and Neo, we're gonna need a bigger NK meter at the shop. You two are boss."

She didn't smile at that compliment either. Variant 'D' of the Jump Program was supposedly for training only, in theory. Yet she couldn't deny its effectiveness at working off stress. Up until now, it had worked fine in that regard.

A new voice came to her, dripping with concern. "Trinity. Are you sure you're okay for the mission today?"

Almost as if operating on a different wavelength than her thoughts, she answered without stopping for a single beat. "Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because…"

To her own private horror, her voice became stern towards the man he loved, again answering automatically. "Neo, you know me. You know I'm not an emotional tit. This is nothing to me."

"You're right. Now that I think of it, I've never seen you cry. Not once."

"You won't", she promised to thin air. "We can't afford tears when we're up against the machines. They don't cry either, so there you go. Operator, you still there? Mind loading me up the sparring program?"

"No time, Trin", Link's voice echoed back to her from the nothingness. "We're up to broadcast depth in four minutes."

"Bullshit. Load variant F and I'll tear through it in three."

"Trinity…"

"Oh, fine. Take me out then, I'll get back to it later."

-

Everything had been going smoothly until they hit the road. The target was a man named Matthew Landers, who had previously shown an uncanny winning streak at casinos all throughout the city. Either the man was a cheat, or he had seen that there was more to the games he played than simple luck.

"Shit!", Neo remarked just after Matt got into the car. "They're coming. They're onto us."

No need to question that prediction. She knew Neo could right through the code when he was inside of it. If he said they were fucked, then they were fucked. "I'll take him, you keep them busy. Operator, is there another way into the building?"

Link's voice came back to them over the headpieces, still sounding surprised. "Looks clear to- oh, shit. There they are. Try the sewer exit, up the main drain and two rights."

Without hesitating, Trinity stepped out of the car along with Matt, letting Neo take the wheel to put some distance between them. "What?", Matt shouted once he had driven away. "I might be curious, but I'm not getting in a damned sewer!"

She really didn't feel like arguing with him. "You do, or you die."

-

Leaving the car behind, Neo stepped out from beneath the bridge, into the sunlight. Beyond that, a small army of cop cars and military vehicles awaited him.

He counted fifty-three rifles and handguns aimed at him from cover. He wasn't entirely sure if the nearby tank was manned. Didn't matter.

Friendly and straightforwardas ever, Agent Brown stepped forwards, adding his gun to the arsenal. "You were anticipated. Surrender."

Just for fun, he raised his hands to reveal that he held no weapons; didn't need them. He could see absolute disbelief on several of the officer's faces.

"Where is Matthew Landers?" Brown again, straight to the point.

"Let's see", he pondered with his own deadpan. "Last time I saw him, he was with a good friend of mine, escaping in the exact opposite direction."

Now it was his turn to shocked as Brown half-smiled. "Then we'll be hearing about them from my colleague momentarily, no doubt. Fire."

Jones? Jones is waiting for them? There was no time for further thought- fifty-four streams of bullets and the tank shell flew at him… and stopped in midair. There was no way they could connect, even with rapid fire… but neither could he safely leave the trap just yet. Agent Brown had made sure of that.

-

In the end, Matthew Landers had chosen to do. Breathing hard, he could barely keep up with Trinity, but refused the indignity of having her carry him through the dull brown waste of the sewers.

She looked back, beckoning him over to the next stretch of circular pipe. He was fifteen, but Landers wasn't a bad looking guy. Slicked back hair that he had dyed red along with his eyebrows. Really, only the ring piercing on his chin marred his face. She found it amusing to recall that in the real world, Landers had more metal piercings in him than the most hardcore club bouncer. They all did, except for Link.

"This way", she said to him from the intersection. "We should come up right outside the main building. If we're lucky, no one will see us."

Still on the verge of heaving, Landers slowed down at the manhole, and peered up at with renewed confidence in his boyish grin. "Being lucky is my specialty, lady. I'll go first."

Shaking her head at the lame pun, she followed him up the ladder, thankfully not seeing a trace of the massive military blockade she knew Neo was running elsewhere in the city. Stay safe, Neo. Come back to me.

"This the one?"

Trinity looked back. Yes, Landers had picked the door that into where Morpheus and Tank were waiting for them. Hopefully after that, Neo could find an exit and get back in time for-

Matt was knocking on the barricaded door for a second time when it exploded in his face- two hands had burst directly through it, and out to grab Matt by the waist… and throw him across the four-lane road to the other side of the street!

Before Trinity could make a move, she saw the rest of the door cave in. Two muffled gunshots sounded out from the cloud of dust. Two bloody black holes appeared in Matt's forehead.

Matthew Landers simply collapsed, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He hadn't even seen the face of the Agent before he had died.

Rapidly pushing away the weight of failure, she ran down the closest alley fast as her legs could take her, across the next street and into a sandlot.

"Trinity?" the voice crackled into her headpiece, panicked. "Trinity, we just barely got out, did you see-"

"-Yeah Link. Matt's dead, can you find me an exit?"

"Corner of West and 3rd… One block away."

She offered up an impressive string of curses directed at both the Phone Company and the city planners. A city block was way too much when an Agent with a gun was closing on you. Breathing a silent prayer, she poured on the speed and ran for life.

-

To the extent he could be, program 57J was pleased. 31B's new plan was working. The anomaly had not interfered in the chase so far, kept occupied by the legion of cops and soldiers he faced. The human's target was dead, and he now had the chance to catch another one of Morpheus' little miscreants.

And to repay an old debt. Machines never forgot- Jones could never forget the absolute humiliation that had flooded the core of his being when the very same woman he was now closing on- the human who had chosen the code name 'Trinity'- had shot him in the head at point blank range, absolving his termination of the anomaly as well. He should have, could haveended him right there…

He had been careless, overconfident towards those two wretched humans, whom at that point had posed little threat to him until he had heard 'Trinity' whisper the words "dodge this!" in his ear, incomprehensible until it was too late.

Never again. The young woman had already crossed several lanes of traffic to reach the closest exit line. But the catch was that he knew she would be going for that particular phone line to escape- he had designed it that way. He had already gotten ahead, taking detours across rooftops to access the very building her Operator no doubt viewed as a safe haven. Well…

Jones was waiting at the door, but she reacted incredibly fast, knocking the gun from his hand and down a storm drain. Without missing a beat, he uppercutted her out of the little restaurant and into the vacant street on her back. Before she regained her balance, Jones picked her up by her right arm, hung by the sleeve of her trench coat, and brutally threw her into a brick wall, collapsing it along with the rest of the apartment across the way.

Shaking off her daze, Trinity managed to stand up again just in time to see Jones closing on her again. Desperate and pumped with adrenalin, she drew the handgun from her belt and emptied its clip into the furious Agent's blurred, flickering image as he crossed the distance between them. Too quick, he punched, snapped her elbow joint hard enough to knock the weapon from her hand and break the joint as well.

Completely certain now that she was defenseless, that the anomaly could not help, he loomed over Trinity's smaller figure and did his best to replicate his late colleagues' glacially slow tone. "Ah, Ms. Peterson. You know I've always found the human female to be an interesting mathematical paradox."

He punctuated that statement by slugging her across the face and picking her up again from the rubble by a single weak, broken arm, helpless.

"As we see here, you are noticeably more physically and emotionally fragile than your male counterparts, yet you are the only source of the limitlessly valued human reproduction… Your very biology demands protection by stronger creatures."

Trinity said nothing, too badly beaten up to even muster the energy to snarl at Jones. Content, his gaze absently searched the ruined building and the surrounding area for the final means to his end, and finding it in the very weapon she had just emptied at him.

Still holding Trinity by her right arm, Jones pointed the reloaded gun squarely at area where her black tank top covered her breasts, and smiled, spoke to her in the same mocking tone as before. "As intriguing a specimen as you are, it is time I allowed you to join your verminous progenitor. Good-bye, Ms. Peterson..."

Given the fact that this young woman had not yet show any sign of fight left in her, Jones was a bit shocked when her entire face- her entire body- relit with the fierce fire of life at the same time she struck him in the chest with her left leg. He was even more shocked when that leg did not merely impact where it struck, but began to phase- that was the only way he could think to describe it- with his right arm and the area around it. It all immediately went numb.

"My name", she gritted out, completely recovered, "…is Trinity."

-