AN: Hiya everyone! Well, New York City is now, officially, the Big Frozen Apple. Winter's finally decided to rear its ugly head here in the city. We've had some snow but, much to my mother's chagrin, not enough to get her out of school. It's enough just to make things very icy and slippery. Not always a good thing to say the least! The cold weather is definitely making me look forward to spring and to the start of baseball season. At least, then, it won't be cold anymore! Anywho…enough about the weather! I hope everyone's having a good time doing whatever it is all of you are doing now, whether that be school, work, or something else! I'm happy to see people reading this little misadventure of mine. I only wrote this to pass time in college and to get an idea out of my head. Please, keep on reading and letting me know what you think! I'm open to any opinions- good, bad, or indifferent!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the characters I made up and their Real World alter egos. I don't own The Matrix, The Animatrix, or any of that cool stuff. I'm broke and in graduate school studying biology. All I own are my Pointe shoes.

"I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling your puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress…" (from "The Scientist" by Coldplay)

Pixie had only been present for the actual freeing of one mind, technically speaking. Then again, it was her own freeing and her eyes hadn't exactly been working properly. If one wanted to be extremely technical, her eyes hadn't worked well at all- She'd always worn glasses in the Matrix so her eyesight had been weaker than normal upon her freeing- so she really hadn't seen anything. Just blurs that might have been people but that was entirely arguable.

Since she'd decided that her own freeing didn't count, part of Pixie was excited to see the Real World aspect of a person's freeing. It was that sort of excitement brought on by extreme curiosity. Something that was both interesting and exciting was about to take place, in Pixie's opinion anyway, and she wanted to watch the entire process just to see what was going on.

The rest of Pixie- The parts that weren't excited by what was going on around her- was more than a little nervous. Upon her return to the ship she called home, Pixie had been informed by Morpheus that she'd be helping to rebuild Eurisko. Despite the fact she'd learned all about rebuildings from her days as a student in the Zion Academy and from a few downloads during her early days on the ship, Morpheus insisted that it was more something one had to experience rather than just learn in a lecture or from a download. More practical, hands on, knowledge was needed.

Though she was going to be taught by two older individuals- Morpheus and Dozer- Pixie was still nervous. She was going to be responsible for putting someone together in order to prepare them for living in Zion. Her nerves were made worse by the fact that she'd been working on someone she knew relatively well. After all, she was the person who'd led Eurisko into the situation he was going to find himself in.

Her musings were interrupted, however, by the actions going on around her and the sound of rusty gears being worked. Pixie shook her head, clearing out the cobwebs and getting herself focused in the here and now. It wouldn't do anyone any good for her to be drifting off. She could do that later when she wasn't about to learn something new.

With an unceremonious plop- Tank was running the giant claw that plucked newly freed individuals from the sewers- Erusiko was dropped onto the cold metal grate that acted as the floor on the Nebuchadnezzar. Pixie averted her eyes, blushing ever so slightly, when it registered that the newly unplugged young man was completely naked. The young woman did realize that every newly unplugged person was lacking in the clothing department but the reality of it, the fact it was staring right in the face so to speak, made her a bit uncomfortable.

"Some medic I'm going to be," she, mentally, chided, "I can't even look at the person I'm supposed to be taking care of without blushing. Definitely something I'm going to have to work on."

Hawk, standing just off Pixie's left shoulder, watched as the young woman's cheeks turned a slight shade of pink and her head turn to stare someplace else in the sparse space. He snickered just loud enough for Pixie to hear but quiet enough that no one else did.

"I guess you're not as tough as you think you are, huh Pixie Sticks?" Hawk, dryly, commented, speaking to the blushing medic-in-training.

Pixie had something like a sharp retort for Hawk but the words never left her mouth. The young woman spotted Morpheus gesturing for her to follow him, Dozer, and the draped figure they carried between them. Doing as she was told, Pixie followed but decided to keep back at what she deemed a "respectable" distance. She knew she was suppose to be "helping" but, without the exact knowledge of what she was suppose to be doing; Pixie did not want to get in the way.

The strange looking parade stopped at the medical bay, Pixie's unofficial home away from home away from home. She'd spent countless hours- or what seemed like countless hours- in said space learning from the more experienced members of the crew she worked with. At the moment, though, Pixie hung back, observing the bald and discreetly covered figure that was Eurisko.

"Pixie, come here," Morpheus called, spotting the medic-in-training trying her best not to be noticed as she stood against a wall.

Quietly and tentatively, Pixie walked over to the metallic operating table. Without his lank hair, Eurisko looked like a totally different person. His face looked thinner, older maybe, and his skin was the color of potato flakes held together with white paste. "Computer tan" or not, at least before he had something akin to color. Not he looked like a ghost that had the life scared out of him.

Pixie was almost tempted to ask if they'd picked up the wrong person but she held herself in check. Such a question was not only inappropriate but silly sounding. There was no, feasible, way for them to pick up the wrong person. Tank was too good at his job for that to happen.

"Yes, sir," she responded, speaking in a hushed voice and staring at her hands, feet, anywhere but the figure on the table.

"Are you prepared to help us or not?" Morpheus asked, giving Pixie a curious look.

He wanted Pixie to take part in Eurisko's rebuilding because the hands on experience would be beneficial for her but he wanted to be sure she wanted to help. Morpheus knew that, if he ordered her to, Pixie would jump right in to do her part. He wanted to give her the choice to help first, before giving Pixie any orders.

Pushing her jitters aside and making an attempt to be confident in her skills, Pixie nodded and replied, "Of course, sir. It's my job, isn't it?"

Pixie waited to be told what to do next, standing at the side of the metallic operating table like a dutiful little medical student. She watched Morpheus and Dozer, studying their movements with a careful eye lest she be asked to repeat something later. Pixie didn't want to make any mistakes later on since she didn't want to be the cause of something bad happening to Eurisko because of her ineptitude.

The way things were looking, it was going to be a long few days…or weeks.