A/N: Well, finally! *face palm* This update took way too long. Sorry it's short, but I have more planned, I promise...to the three of you reading, that is :p

Enjoy and expect more.

Chapter 3: Old Enemies, New Tricks

The door was kicked down easily, the wood chips flying through virtual space in an explosion of power. The cookie was effectively knocked out of Morpheus' hand and out the near window, tumbling to its untimely waste. Morpheus guessed that the two had been given upgrades, also guessing that their intent had been to make him hypothesize such things. Best not to overthink this, however.

"Knock—"

"—Knock"

Their voices were just as mockingly toneless as usual.

"Who's there?" Morpheus replied in a low, assertive, slightly mocking tone. His back was to them as he glanced at them sideways, gun firmly in hand and ready to fire, round black sunglasses shining in the light from outside. Although, he had no idea exactly how much damage he could inflict with such a weapon, remembering the difficulty he had had in eliminating them last time.

"Your future." One said.

"Yes, your demise." The other said.

Morpheus nodded. "I do not believe you to be the bringers of such fate. Though, I know it is not me you are after."

The two looked at each other, then back at Morpheus and said in unison; "Oh really?"

…

"Oracle." Seraph walked in, having been warned by Morpheus about the Twins.

"I know. Don't rush me." She replied, getting up from her seat without haste. "Relax, I'm getting old."

Neo turned to Dessa. "Go with them."

Dessa put one hand on her hip and met his line of vision. "Dad." Her tone implied just how ridiculous she found his request to be.

He tried to smile, knowing the potential fatality of the situation as well as the impossibility of dissuading his daughter from running away from a fight. "Well, Trin won't approve, but I'm sure you wouldn't mind taking a step into our past."

"You've met these guys before?"

"Oh yeah." He said, smirking at the memory of a door being shut in his face, then ending up in the mountains. Just then, he heard gunfire and the sound of shattering glass. "Yeah, Trin's not going to be happy about this."

He immediately took the lead by stepping into the other room.

…

"What are they doing?" Trinity exclaimed, her voice louder than she'd wanted it to be. Shosti jumped in slight surprise, but recovered before she looked his way. Link was now at the ready, his eyes on the feed, analyzing the crew's location.

"Strength in numbers." Shosti shrugged, earning a halfhearted glare from Trinity.

"Dessa has never met anyone like these henchmen. And since they were probably illegally reloaded, they most likely have upgrades."

"They have upgrades." Link confirmed, typing away.

"You saying you don't have faith in your own kid? You just said you trusted her." Shosti said, half of him regretting he'd said it the instant he did, the other half wanting to know the answer, especially from a loving mother he knew her to be.

"That's different." was her quick and sharp reply. "My amount of faith in her doesn't matter here. When it comes to her, faith has nothing to do with my worry. I've lost her once, and almost lost her more times than I wish to count." Looking at him, her voice softened. "It's a complicated love to explain. Though, it's not complicated at all, to us."

"To you and Neo?"

"To parents."

His head dropped, shame reaching him again. "Is it like that every time she's in there?"

"Yes." She answered evenly, knowing why he was so down cast, her eyes staring at the codes she knew to be Dessa and Neo. "I'm sorry."

"You…"he started, his eyes darting back up to the feed. "…of all people should not be apologizing, least of all to me. You and Neo were the people who showed me that people actually matters. That family matters. But by then, it was too late."

Trinity honestly sympathized with him. They'd pulled him out at 18 years old, and by then, he'd sired an illegitimate child. He hadn't cared about her then. He hadn't cared about love or life or other people, but he was brilliant and knew that there was more to life than the world he'd been raised in. She was flattered that she and Neo had influenced such a person; made him believe in love so much that he mourned the separation between he and his unknowing child.

Trinity put a hand to his shoulder, neither looking at each other, both intensely watching the feed as impossible acts unfurled before them.

…

Once they entered the living room, it was evident that Morpheus and the Twins had jumped out the window in chase. Neo instructed Dessa to follow his lead as he jumped, easily landing four stories below. Neo pulled out his phone.

"Link?"

"Yeah, Neo."

"I need a car, they're heading toward Blue Party territory, you know how it is."

Lately, they'd have to be careful when run-ins like this lay in Blue barriers, unrest among the Matrix the exact opposite of what they were after. The police and military were, however, on their side, had been since the revolution-somewhat of an effect from the Virus infestation of years past.

"Roger that." Link replied. "Waitin' for you in the garage."

With Neo driving, though Dessa was now more than qualified to do so, they followed the sound of gunfire, and soon, police sirens. Once they caught up, just the sight of Neo warded them of a greater fight. They stayed close, oftentimes helpful in the aftermath of such supernatural events.

Though policemen around this area were already used to things, missions like these were rare now, old enemies having faded into the depths of artificial freedom, manipulating the laws of the Matrix for their own protection-which hardly caused any problems if they kept to themselves. This mainly applied to the Merovingian, who hadn't actively attacked any member of the fleet or the general human public since the revolution. These goons were a complete mystery.

"So, these guys worked for that rich guy whose wife you were forced to kiss once? In front of mom?" Dessa asked as they parked rather abruptly, having reached the general area of the now grounded chase, Morpheus and his pursuers having entered a building.

"Yes." Neo said evenly, almost completely in an untouchable mood, his sights on getting Morpheus out of danger. Just then, he saw Morpheus jump across the street from the roof of a building, the Twins just starting to glide their way over to him.

"And you killed these guys during the revolution?" Dessa pressed on.

"Thought we did. Morpheus blew them up. I've never fought them before." They both got out of the car. "This should be fun."

...

Morpheus couldn't deny that he was at a loss. He could dodge their blows and even take a hit without much recoil, but making a direct hit was now increasingly more difficult than it had been the last time they'd encountered. He couldn't decide whether the cause of his disadvantage was their upgrades or his advancing age. It may well be both.

The option of running had been smart in the beginning, getting them away from the Oracle an automatic priority. The notion that they were likely after him surprised him immensely. Unknown plans of their apparent reconstructor was obviously something to fear if one feared anything, especially the unknown. But fear was not something Morpheus cared to succum to often, especially not when it concerned his own life. There were better thing to worry about. All he could do was wonder as he let fate decide his future, letting himself make up his own mind about the present.

He needed a new plan.

Never did panic set in; never did his faith in Neo as well as his own abilities waver, even in the face of such challengers. He came up to the roof and ran to the edge, looking down ten stories, then glancing up to the next building an entire block away. Before the Twins ghosted their way through the ceiling and onto the roof, he jumped, making a thud of a landing on the next roof, though keeping on both feet and rising gracefully. He looked back, the henchmen quickly gliding their way to him. Poised, he jumped again once they were halfway across to him.

They spun around, realizing that he had them trapped in a pickle, having realized that they could only glide so fast.

"Should we test something new, brother?" One twin asked the other.

"Yes, I believe it is time."

Just as Morpheus believed he had confused them, they vanished from thin air. His eyes widened in disbelief. Were they invisible? Were they code jumping?-an art that he knew only Tomb and Dessa were capable of, Tomb being a human agent, his counterpart having invented the ability, and Dessa able to do so using her superior genetics.

They appeared before him as solid beings, tackling him to the ground with a knife before they were thrust back by Neo. Having never fought them, Neo was surprised when they ghosted through his assault halfway to the ground. He broke his fall by landing on his hands and twisting back to his feet in one swift move. He looked over to Morpheus, wounded and unable to stand. Dessa flew up in turn, eyeing the ghosted figures.

"Cool trick." She said, vanishing from sight. They did the same, leaving Neo and Morpheus to stand in silent suspense. They could only imagine what could possibly be happening in the hidden realm of the Matrix. Neo walked over to Morpheus and kneeled next to him as Morpheus took out his phone and calling Link, knowing the sheer and tentative worry Neo possessed for his daughter.

"Link, are you seeing this?"

"Yes and no, sir. I saw them vanish, but I lost them."

Morpheus suppressed a curse. "Look for them and call me if you see anything unusual." He hung up.

…

Minutes past since they'd last seen Dessa and the doppelgangers disappear. Trinity sat unnerved while Link tried to locate possible areas where they could have transported to. Tomb had just emerged from the hanger, having just met with the recently landed Logos II. He immediately noticed the distressed look on Trinity's face, going to her without a word.

"Tomb," she said, her hand reaching for his shoulder, her eyes remaining on the feed for a moment before glancing up at his eyes. "We're going in." She looked at Shosti. "If we can't help find Dessa, we'll consult with the Detectives. Maybe they'll have a lead on who the ghosts were reconstructed."

"Or a lead on what Ciricia's brother knows. How much she was involved." Shosti said, nodding them to the chairs as he got up to help jack them in. "Or what that sentinel thing was about."

"They won't know anything about the sentinels." Trinity said, typing away at the control panel. "Though I know one person who might be able to patch us through to 01."

Shosti nodded knowingly. "Well, at least Smith's on our side now."