The speech to Zion was hard.

Every man, woman and child crowded into the temple at noon to hear him, and when they quieted down to listen, the silence was so total it scared him. He'd never spoken to a crowd before, and after months jacked in, his voice still felt strange in use. But the importance of this - of convincing them, so he had the people behind him before he met with Zion's elite - drove him on, and his his understated, lucid explanations met with nothing but warmth and support.

He told of the war's end. Of the Logos crash, the defeat of Smith, and the truce promised to Zion in return. He explained that the machines would now allow humans to leave the Matrix, should they reject the programming; that the fleet would no longer risk their lives while freeing dissenters, and that no humans would die, in trying to escape. Then, he spoke of Trinity. How terribly injured she'd been, how committed the machines to saving her, and how frail she still remained. That until she was well, he had to stay with her in the Matrix, and while they'd return as soon as they could, he didn't know how long that might be. When he'd finished, thanked them for their patience in hearing him out, they fell to their knees as one. It terrified him, but for all his hatred of drama, of attention, their immediate acceptance was welcome. This absolute faith of the people was leverage, he knew. He had power, in this mass adoration. And if Trinity needed him to, he had every intention of exploiting it.

After the speeches he tried to retreat to the military quarter, to brief Morpheus and Ghost before the Council convened, but his path was blocked. The entrance to the temple and the entirety of the main Zion concourse was filled by a sea of people, all wanting to touch him, to make offerings, to ask his blessing. He was touched to discover that many had gifts for Trinity now, too - jewelry, clothing, household goods. He knew she'd not want them, any more than he ever had, but the thoughtfulness warmed him. He spent five hours there, speaking to everyone he could, shaking hands, touching children's heads, listening to fears, hopes, thank-yous, before having to excuse himself. He had the meeting with the Council to attend.

That meeting was rather more difficult.

"I must confess that I don't understand your reasoning. Why can't you just bring her home?"

"I already told you. She's still too sick."

"But we have excellent doctors here. An excellent hospital. She would have the best care possible - I assure you, she would be treated by the most talented and experienced people; it would be a matter of priority. Surely we can care for her here?"

"No. We can't."

Morpheus looked up then. "She always hated the Matrix, Neo. You know that better than anyone - she begrudged it every time she had to send you in. So why can't we care for her at home? Where she can recover in peace, surrounded by the people who love her? Where we can all support you - both of you? Don't think we underestimate the cost to you of these weeks. Of how much you must have had to endure, and endure alone. So why not allow us to help?"

"You can't. We don't have the expertise. Think of what they can do. What they did to all of us - that technology. We can't begin to match that. She needs them. Free her now, free her too soon, and she'll die."

There was a silence, and looking around, he saw it in their faces. They believed in his belief. Their suspicion was that he was being lied to himself; that he was confused, after spending long weeks jacked in to a fantasy - that the machines had somehow inculcated a form of Stockholm syndrome. He sighed. How could he even begin to convince them? And he had to. Her life depended on it.

"I was there when she died. Died, Morpheus. Her heart stopped. And nothing we could have done could have brought her back. But they did; they saved her. They've dedicated God knows what resources to doing it, to healing her, to saving her brain as well as her body. They still are." He looked around. "My eyes were burned out by Bane. I was blinded. They regrew my eyes, do you understand me? You're telling me anyone in Zion could have saved my sight? Without the eyes there to save? They couldn't, we all know it. And yet you think we could help her, the way they can?"

The silence continued, then lengthened. Eventually he decided to lay it on the line.

"The truth is I don't care. What anyone else thinks, or wants, or believes about this. I only care that you let me decide. None of you has to live with what I do if the decision is wrong. I need you to trust me. To trust me to make the choices for her, while she can't make them herself. Please."

"Why?" Ghost asked. "Why can't she? She's surely the person who should."

"Because she doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know any of us even exist. Zion, the war, none of it. Right now, she's a bluepill."

The silence was longer this time.

"What do you mean, she doesn't know?" Niobe said eventually. "Is she..." she looked at Morpheus, then Ghost, then summoned her courage. "Neo, are you saying she's mentally deficient?"

"It's not that. But just think about all she went through, all she suffered, ever since being freed. The danger, the friends she lost. Cypher. And then that last two days of the war." He sighed. "She had to have that lifted off of her, to heal. The physical impact of that kind of emotion could be the tipping point."

"Stress, you mean?"

"Yeah. They say she can't cope with the biochemical reactions yet. Grief, fear, anger. Her organs could fail again."

The faces turned to him.

"What?" Morpheus said.

"She was impaled, Morpheus. In several places. The Logos crashed, I told you. She had rebars all through her body. Just... she shouldn't have made it at all. And the cortisol and adrenaline and all the rest of it would send her blood pressure up, stress the immune system. I don't even know, ask the medics. All I know is, they don't know how she'll react when she can remember. To having died, to seeing so many people die, to everything we all lived through. Till she's a hell of a lot stronger physically, she needs to believe she had a very peaceful life, so her body can just get on with healing. She's a successful programmer, she's never had any setbacks, education always a slam-dunk success. She was married to you," he added to Ghost. "Didn't work out, but says you're still her best friend. Nice and placid, nothing but good memories. Boring, but good. You're doing ecology work on the Great Barrier Reef since the divorce, apparently."

Ghost stared at him. "What?"

"Yeah, I know. But it's actually very clever. She's never had a single bad memory associated with you, nor any very dramatic ones, so they've taken that and put it front and center. Mixed real with fake so she's less suspicious - the emotions have a truth to them that way. Apparently she was wise to something being amiss from when she was just a toddler, she was one of the most extreme redpills they'd ever dealt with, so they need to put as much real emotion in there as they can. Using how she feels about you was how." He turned back to the council. "They're doing everything they can for her - please, you have to trust me on that. I owe them her life."

"Are you sure that she's not been damaged?" Morpheus asked. "It worries me, that they think this necessary. Trinity always coped with the challenges life set her; arguably it was her defining characteristic."

"She's completely herself. They aren't worried about her mental health, just the physical. And," his face clouded as he looked around the room, "I won't let anyone interfere. It's too important."

"Nor will I," Ghost said quietly. Neo inclined his head. He'd always known he could count on Ghost; this early capitulation didn't surprise him.

"Neo," Morpheus said, and Neo looked back. "Neo, the essential fact is, the war is over. We owe that to you. If you need to do this, then naturally we will support you."

"And if we decide otherwise?" Lock said. He'd been silent until then; Morpheus speaking on behalf of them all, without consultation, seemed to have triggered him.

"Then I stop you," Neo said.

Lock snorted. "You could stop us inside, I admit. But you aren't Superman here. Here, we call the shots."

"No. But the people support me on this."

"The people," Lock said derisively, "would support you if you read out the goddamn telephone directory. What, you're threatening revolution now?"

"I hope it won't come to that, Commander. Politics isn't my interest."

The room went very still.

"What exactly are you saying?" Lock said, voice incredulous. "You've chosen, as the single most powerful force we have in freeing minds, to lock yourself up for months on end goddamn babysitting another soldier, and now you're telling us we have no rights? What about the people still hooked up to that system, the clock ticking away? You know some won't be young enough to free by the time we get out there, get started? And you're telling us you don't give a crap about that, that you just want us to let you waste days, weeks, months, because you trust machines more than you do our own doctors?"

Neo shrugged, more tired than hostile. "I'm saying I'll do whatever I have to - whatever it takes. How far I need to go is up to you. She's died for Zion, you know. Twice. She got me to the machine city, and she got these injuries doing it. Every damn person in this room owes their life to her. Might be nice if you remembered that."

"Nobody is forgetting what Trinity did, Neo," Hamman said, his tone placatory. "The city remains nothing but grateful."

"Really? Because I've heard talk of parades and presentations and God knows what else. And the only name mentioned is mine."

"People have prayed for your return for a century or more. Many, many people died in helping you reach your destiny. Trinity is undoubtedly a brave soldier; a credit to this city, and we honor that, as we do all our fallen, all our veterans. But she is not the One. It is you that saved our people. We don't forget those who helped you, but nor can we overlook who you are."

"Great. Thanks. Gratitude much appreciated. But I don't want the ceremonies you guys have planned, or a statue, or that fancy new apartment, or the salary. None of that means a damn thing to me. This does. It's the only thing I've ever asked of Zion. Ever will, either. Is it really too much?"

"I never had you down as an orator," Ghost said.

"Me neither."

"Well, you succeeded. Nobody will go against your wishes now."

"Yeah, well." Neo paused, seemingly trying to find words. "Look, Ghost, I knew I could rely on you. I knew you'd help her. But I want to thank you, anyway."

Ghost merely smiled. "How is she?" he said. "I mean, in herself?"

Neo shook his head. "I only see her at work, in passing. I was warned to keep my distance for a while. So I don't know for sure. Probably not great, she has to know something's up."

"Keep your distance?" Ghost said, confused. "Why? I thought she didn't know you?"

"Connection's too strong, apparently. They're afraid she'd overcome the programming. Remember too soon. She would too, they're right. We've been alone a total of six times in the past few weeks, and the last time, we ended up holding hands."

"Ah."

"Yeah. She was comforting me. I was upset about her, though she didn't know it - how ironic is that? So I'm going to have to make more of an effort, when I get back. To stay away." He sighed. "It's just hard."

"It must be. I'm sorry."

"She's made friends with the only potential in the building, though. So at least she has someone to talk to."

"Well, that's something."

"Yeah. But she's getting some pretty bad headaches. Real bastards."

"She always did, if jacked in too long."

Neo nodded, and rubbed his eyes for the umpteenth time. "And she's been in for months, now."

"Your eyes okay?" Ghost asked, concerned.

"Still sore. I guess that's to be expected."

Ghost hesitated. "What you said in there - about how we couldn't have saved her. Just how badly hurt was she?"

Neo's eyes shadowed. "You don't want to know."

"But..."

"Ghost, I threw up when I found out. You don't, trust me. All that matters now is that she's getting better."

Ghost looked at him; decided not to push the point. "How old's the redpill?" he said instead, reaching for safer subjects. "What's her name?"

"His. And it's Zach. He's 26."

"Lucky."

"Just inside the window, absolutely. Lucky... well. That's more debatable."

"You don't think so?"

"Sometimes I feel like just leaving him might be kinder." He sighed, before putting his face in his hands and yawning. "Christ, I'm tired."

"Kinder? I don't follow."

"He's fallen for her. Really fallen for her, poor bastard. I think he's probably as in love with her as I was at that stage. And it's not like he'll be able to escape us when we get back, is it? Statues." He shook his head, bemused.

"Well, she's very different in the real world. He may find the appeal wanes once he's back here; gets to know her properly."

But Neo shook his head. "No. He's fallen for her, not the RSI. He understands her. Really does - just sat there, listing some of the stuff I love about her myself. So it's not like it'll wear off. In fact it'll probably get worse." Neo grimaced. "Poor guy's just... screwed. There but for the grace of God, I guess."

"Yes. You're both very lucky, to have found what you have together."

"Yeah." He looked up at Ghost then, genuine affection in his eyes. "I even get along with the in-laws. How many people can say that?"

"That works both ways," Ghost said. "You know, a lot of men wouldn't like her and me being close. You've always been wholly supportive. I'm grateful, Neo. I hope you know that."

"You give her so much. How could I be anything but happy? And I was thinking. She's lonely, and she's scared, and you're the only one she remembers. Even if the memories are wrong, the friendship's real enough. How about when that ship's ready, you pay a visit? Might give her a boost."

"You really think that's a good idea?"

Neo stretched. He still ached. "Don't see why not, as long as you're careful what you say. They gave her a past with you. If you were a problem, they'd not have been able to do that, would they? It's only extreme emotion they have to avoid. And seeing you could be just what she needs." He yawned. "I'm sorry to bail. But I have to get some more sleep. I feel half-dead."

"Well, you'd be the expert," Ghost said gently. "You, and Trin."

"What?"

"On being half-dead. There can't be many who can claim that. You both can, now."

Neo smiled suddenly. "You know the very first thing she said to me? That night, on the roof, afterwards?"

"No. Though believe me, many people have asked. Go on?"

"She said, I guess this makes us even."

Ghost laughed. "You know, I'd love to say that surprised me, but... well."

"I know," said Neo, with evident satisfaction. "Me neither."