THE TRINITY
...
Author's alert:
1. I don't own these characters but I love Neo and Trinity and their unique love story. This is my alternative version of the trilogy so I decided to mix parts of the original script (that I practically know by heart by now) with my personal 'what if instead' and with some sort of 'missing scenes' here and there... well, I hope you'll like.
2. More love than action in here, so, if you don't like it, please forgive me, but maybe you should choose another story.
3. This story includes adult contents so, if you don't like sexual explicit topics, please forgive me, but you should better choose another story.
4. Unfortunately I'm not a native English speaker, so, please be patient with both grammatical and syntax mistakes.
...
PART 1
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Chapter 1
.
"Operator,"
"Tank. It's me"
"Is Morfeus alive?"
"Is Morpheus still alive, Tank?"
"Yes. They're moving him. I don't know where yet."
"He's alive"
"We need an exit!"
"You're not far from Cypher"
"Cypher?"
.
"Franklin and Erie. I got it" Trinity audibly repeats closing the call and speeding her pace.
"Trin, turn left!" Switch says to her from behind "there's a shortcut, just right there"
A TV repair shop in a deserted alley. They step onto a dumpster in front of a small boarded-up window.
Dead machines, eviscerated and shrouded with dust, lie on metal shelves like bodies in a morgue. The plywood covering a small window has been ripped off and they can hear a phone ringing inside.
"C'mon. Cypher was ahead of us,"
Trinity doesn't turn to look at Neo, but she knows he's right behind her. Swith follows behind him. Apoc closes the row, covering her.
The four of them crawl through the window that Cypher's opened and hurry in the hallway as deep in the back room, the phone is still ringing.
Trinity meets Cypher's look just for a moment as he picks up the dusty receiver and approaches it to his ear. A smirk plays on his lips as he runs his tongue on his lips, then he closes his eyes and disappears.
Silence fills the room for a moment, then the ringing begins again.
"Neo, you first " Trinity orders nodding toward Neo.
He shakes his head.
"Not before you" he replies in a firm tone as she sighs.
"There's not chivalry in here" she says in a serious and authoritative tone "I'm the ranking officer, I'm the last who leave"
And with these words she hands him the phone again. He reluctantly stares at her, but he takes the receiver from her hand and disappears a second later.
Trinity watches as Switch and Apoc follow Neo in turn, then she picks up the receiver. But there's just a click and then the line goes dead.
No signal.
Trinity listens to the dead line and takes out her cellular.
"Shit!" She swears, trying to dial the number again.
She passes a hand through her hair as a bad feeling fills her stomach together with the dark thoughts that twirl in her mind. Every unanswered ring wrings her guts a little tighter.
What's going on?
Something on the Neb has to be wrong.
And the only plausible option is that... they has to be under attack.
A sentinels attack.
If squids are around , close enough to breach the ship, the crew needs to use the EMI, no matter if she's still jacked in or not. They would have to choose between saving the ship and themselves, letting both her and Morpheus dying, or risking dying themselves.
As ranking officer she would order them to arm and blow it. She wouldn't allow her crew sacrificing for saving her life.
But the cold military part of her crashes with the human one, cracking the perfect armor she built around herself in fifteen years.
She swallows trying to control her heart rate from speeding, failing miserably while her suprarenal glands push an inevitable high level of adrenaline right in her arteries.
The tough woman in a tight-fitting black tank top she can see reflected in the window glass is not real, she knows it's just the digital image of the woman she is, but she can anyway feel the incipient tingling numbing her fingers, a clear sign that none of her crew is monitoring the alarms which surely are ringing on the monitor above her seat on the Neb. Now, the increasing paleness of her shoulders skinand face are even more in contrast with the shiny black polyvinyl bodysuit.
Trinity inhales deeply, knowing she isn't really taking a deep intake of air, but that she has to convince her own mind that she can manage it.
"What...?"
Suddenly a strong vertigo throws her off balance and she falls on all fours. She moans in the silence of the room, trying to stand up, but falling on her knees again, as her fingers leaves trails on the dusty floor.
She gasps and her hand moves on her own nape at the sharp pain spreading from the back of her head.
As nausea fills her throat she knows it can just mean that her plug has been hit hard, and the severing of her mind from her body will happen soon after.
And then, once again, pain hits her and it's like something is weighing her down, like if something has hit her body hard, taking her breath away. Again it's just a few seconds and then the feeling of oppression disappears, though letting her on the floor, coughing and catching for air.
She didn't imagine it like this. Her own death. She thought it would have happened fighting. In the Matrix, on the Neb, maybe even in Zion... but fighting. Not like this. Not being injured as she's totally defenseless.
There's no point in putting on her usual armor anymore, her tough facade. It doesn't matter how strong and unstoppable she can show everyone she is... now she's just a vulnerable and helpless body waiting for being severed from the mind.
Time is somehow dilated in there. She has probably been there just for a few minutes, but it seems hours to her.
Neo...
That is the exact moment in which she clearly knows it. Or better, the exact moment in which she clearly admits it to herself.
Kneeled on the floor, having an hard time in breathing, she isn't thinking to Zion, nor to her friends, nor her brother... all she can think about is...him. Neo. The man she watched for months during endless night shifts. The man she still denies she's in love with, shamelessly lying to herself.
... ... "You like him, don't you? You like watching him?"
... ... "Don't be ridiculous."
Her heart feels a different kind of pang at the thought that what she barely dared to dream isn't going to happen. Touching him. Kissing him. Maybe... making love to him either.
...Making love... she somehow smiles at the thought of how many times Switch made fun of her in recent days.
"Admit it, sweetheart. You want to fuck him so badly. I'll be up myself for a one night stand with the rookie!"
She had given her best friend a jab, then they had exchanged a smirk and Trinity had reminded Switch that she already had a man to be screwed by. Switch had pushed the subject again and she had denied shamelessly. Again. Not that her friend had fallen for it. She knows her better than anyone else, except her brother maybe.
A small sad smile appears on Trinity's lips at the reminding of how many times people in Zion had allude to some sort of sexual relation between the two of them instead. Herself and her best friend.
Trinity's cellular suddenly rings and the old phone on the table follows a second later.
She gasps, crawling on the floor and reaching out to take the call from her mobile.
"Trinity"
She leans on the table in order to succeed in standing up.
"Neo... Where's Tank?"
"Later. Now, just take the call" he says in an unusual bossy tone, so in contrast with the worried voice who's called her name just a second ahead.
She doesn't need to be called twice, she would follow him to hell.
A sense of relief surges through her at the sight of the ship as soon as her blue eyes snap open and Neo unplugs her. Even more as she meets his dark eyes.
Trinity's look immediately goes to the blood stains on Neo's sweater.
"You're hurt" she whispers as her heart skips a beat. She sits up, taking his arm as her eyes move back in his.
"Nothing to worry about" he says taking instead her forearm to prevent her from getting up "How about you?" He asks as his tone can't hide his concern "Your alarms went crazy," he says glancing at the monitor above Trinity's seat and then back into her blue eyes.
"I'm fine" she just says. Her look gets lost in his stare for a few seconds, then she alarmingly looks around.
It has no sense. There's blood all around. On the floor. On the monitors. Blood stains are on her own sweater too. All around there are upside down equipments and furniture. No pieces of dead squid though. So... it hasn't been a sentinels attack.
Trinity doesn't complain at Neo's attempt to support her as she stand up, his arm grips hers like he's afraid she's going to collapse at any moment.
She opens her mouth to speak, but Neo answers her question before she can ask something aloud.
"Cypher"
Big blue eyes meet Neo's dark ones.
"Cypher?"
He just nods.
"He almost killed us all"
"A-almost?" She stammers.
Another nod.
Almost. Almost is enough for now.
"I'm sorry," he just says leading her where Switch is still on the floor "but if you have any medical knowing we need it"
She isn't hearing him anymore.
"Switch" Trinity's eyes scans Switch's beaten body, lingering in her swollen eye and in the clotted blood on her lip and eyebrow "my God..."
Trinity's hand finds Switch's and she holds it as the woman squeezes back. She hurries to lift her friend's sweater. She has a burn on her arm, but there're no deep wounds on her chest, just a few superficial cuts and yet she's struggling to breathe. She doesn't need to be a doctor to know that the violet shade of her lips is not a good sign. Trinity's fingers trace Switch's skin, under the visible bruises. She can clearly recognize the purplish boot print on the white skin. There are at least a couple of broken ribs, maybe more. She doesn't need to ask to know she's been kicked hard directly in her chest.
... ... Kick the sternum as hard as you can and you can give a cardiac arrest to your attacker.
She remembers training Cypher. It was supposed to be a Defense Course...
Trinity swallows hard trying to erase that thought and the sickness coming from her stomach. Thanks God he hadn't been such a good pupil. The asshole had always been more interested to catch glimpse of her skin under her clothes than listening to her words.
"Neo" Trinity gestures him to take the first aid kit.
"The others?" She asks as soon as Neo comes back, clearly referring to the rest of the crew.
"Apoc is treating Dozer" he says "but he'll need to be medicated too. And Tank the same" Neo's tone is low and she notices he doesn't mention Cypher, but she doesn't care asking.
"Shit," she says looking down at Switch "Switch has a collapsed lung" she meets Neo's eyes again, fear clearly visible in her blue eyes despite her attempt to look calm.
"How bad is Dozer? " Trinity asks without looking at Neo. She needs Dozer. She fucking need Dozer. She can't fix Switch alone, it's not just a bruise for Christ's sake!
... ... I can't do this alone ... I never...
"Bad burns on his left arm. But he says they look worse than they are. He's the doc. Hope he's right" Neo's eyes don't leave Trinity's even when she looks down.
Switch's grip loosens and her breathing worsens. There's no time for questions or fears, there's no time for doubts. She's done it once. Inserting a thoracic drainage. Just... on a training mannequin.
"Pass me a 14 Gauge needle" She orders turning to watch Neo as he looks for the right one into the box "the orange one"
No time for second thoughts.
She finds the second intercostal space, right under the collarbone and in the middle. She inhales deeply and closes her eyes, then she opens them again and watches the needle between her fingers.
...Goddamn Cypher!
She pushes the needle through Switch's skin as deeply as she can, then she unconsciously holds her breathing.
She exhales just when Switch finally does the same, and they both can hear the acute whistle of the air exiting from the needle.
"Fuck!"
Neo watches as Trinity slowly moves from her kneeled posture to a sitting one. She leans her back against the cold metal wall behind her and she tilts her head back too, her eyes stare at the ceiling. She closes her shaking hands in fists and swallows.
"You'd been great" Neo says as his low and warm voice brings her back to reality. The admiration in his tone is so clear that in any other moment she would have reddened.
"Please, help me to take her in the infirmary" she says instead standing up "I need to check on the rest of the crew"
He just nods.
...
"Dozer, try to move again and I'm gonna tie you to this cot" Trinity says fixing his bandage again as the Doc rolls his eyes.
"You know it can be count as sexual harassment, Lieutenant, don't you?" He replies with a chuckle as she smiles back to him.
"You behave and I'll give Cas some ideas for your welcome back home" She teases him with a smirk as he closes his eyes and nods "Now. Stay still. Couldn't you have just a useful plug in your arm, you genuine son of Zion?" She says, concentrating in looking for his vein . She bits on her lower lip as she inserts the needle, releasing it just when it's in, then she attaches the drip.
"Best pupil ever" Dozer whispers.
"Best teacher ever" she replies giving a squeeze to his hand.
Trinity meets Neo's eyes, realizing just then that his look has been fixed on her all the time.
"Is there something you can't do?" Neo asks with admiration as, again, his deep voice gives her a shiver along her back.
... Saying that I love you, for example.
Her eyes don't betray that thought, but she has to fight the warm filling her chest, preventing it from colouring her cheeks.
"She can't take a call in time for example" Tank says from behind them, putting an arm around Trinity's shoulders "and, believe me, Trin, I'm happy you 're safe" He kisses her temple and she smiles back.
"Cypher?" Neo asks staring to Tank.
"He's unable to hurt anymore now" He replies with a serious look, massaging his fist. From the blood on his knuckles it's clear that he has emptied part of his own inner tension against the bald betrayer.
"Sure you're alright?" Trinity asks looking at Tank's injured arm.
"I'm like a bread toast, baby" he jokes "A little seared I'm tastier. Wanna a bite?" he smirks as she rolls her eyes at him.
"How's your head, Messiah?" Tank asks watching Neo "I really thought he'd kill you"
... ... How can you be the One if you're dead?
"Just passed out ingloriously" Neo replies lightly shaking his head and passing a hand through his still short hair "Hard head luckily"
Trinity's alarmed eyes immediately go from Tank to Neo's, widening. She grabs Neo's arm before he can reply and pushes him on the nearest chair as he doesn't really try to oppose actually.
"Trinity. I'm fine" he tries in a calm tone.
She gives him a piercing 'Shut-up!-I-decide-if-you-are-fine' stare.
"Take off your sweater" she firmly says as this time Neo looks at her reluctantly. But he just does it, pulling the sweater over his head and on the floor.
The tips of Trinity's fingers check Neo's chest and move up to his neck, turning it right and left. She moves behind him and he stiffs a little as she touches again the side of his nape. There's a dark bruise on the left of his cervical column. She swallows and looks up, meeting Tank's eyes.
"Shit, that bastard's gone right for the atlas," she whispers in disbelief as her fingers touches Neo's first cervical vertebra "A good punch bottom-up would have been enough to kill you" her fingers shiver against his skin and she moves them on the side of his neck "he missed it and hit the side of your nape instead, and you just crashed on the floor, probably passing out for a few seconds"
... Enough for him for almost killing you.
... Enough for touching you.
Neo doesn't say it aloud and instead just picks up his sweater from the floor.
... ... You know... for a long time, I thought I was in love with you. I used to dream about you. You're a beautiful woman, Trinity. Too bad things had to turn...
... ... Cypher staring down at Trinity's body, hanging in its coma-like stillness. His face nuzzling against hers, feeling the softness of it.
"Want a painkiller?" Trinity asks taking Neo away from that memory. He shakes his head, putting his sweater back on.
He watches as she walks to Apoc, checking his drip and then Switch's again.
Switch's hand reaches out and takes Trinity's before she can move away. Her free hand reaches for the mask pumping oxygen in her lungs, and she moves it a little from her face to be heard by her friend.
She chuckles, still close-eyed, as the little effort is enough to have her coughing and struggling in breathing properly.
Trinity gives her friend a reprimand look and she tries to put the mask back on Switch's nose and mouth, but the blonde woman stops Trinity's hand midair instead.
"You know" she whispers, again not opening her eyes "Your 'One' did saw my tits before than yours"
Trinity's eyes closes and she licks her lips. There's a chance Neo couldn't hear that 'your'.
"Yours can't be count as tits, sweetheart" Trinity teases as Switch giggles and then coughs again.
They use to joke about that. About how, in the Matrix, Switch uses to wear tight-fitting white shirt just to emphasize her nonexistent breast.
Trinity strokes her fair hair affectionately, then putting the mask back on her face.
"You're high on meds" She gives her a little smile even if she can't see it "Get some rest, baby"
...
"Thank you for your help" Trinity says to Neo as they both leave the infirmary.
Trinity massages the side of her neck and closes her eyes for a second.
Most of the crew has been injured by an asshole who was ready to end the life of all of them just to be back to be a human battery. Morpheus has been caught by the agents. How is that they ate at the same table practically every day, and she didn't get to notice it coming?
"You haven't ask about Cypher yet" Neo says waiting for her reaction. Trinity's shoulders stiffen and she sighs.
"Did he attack each one of you from behind, didn't he?" she asks already knowing the answer as Neo just nods. She gives a nod in turn and inhales deeply "I never really trusted him," she says "there was something about him I couldn't tell... the way he looked at me... I don't know..." She shakes her head "and I always thought he's a coward but... not like this. Not like this" Trinity whispers meeting briefly Neo's eyes again, then looking at the floor, fighting the lump in her throat.
"You should get changed," Neo's eyes glance shyly at Trinity's chest "the blood on your sweater... it's Cypher's" he specifies as Trinity's mouth opens and she looks down at her own breast in turn. She hadn't had time to look at that. At the finger prints right on her left breast and up to her collar.
... ... You know... for a long time, I thought I was in love with you. I used to dream about you. You're a beautiful woman, Trinity. Too bad things had to turn...
Neo feels the bile raising again at that memory.
Cypher beside Trinity's body. His hand caressing her from her cheek to her breast. The other one which takes hold of the cable in her neck.
A twist and a yank and it would all be over.
Adrenaline blows away both pain and dizziness. And it's Cypher's turn to be caught from behind.
He loses the grip on Trinity's plug, but his arm hits it hard in an attempt to stay on his feet.
Neo swallows as he relives that moment.
Trinity's body giving a start. All the alarms on her monitor going on.
Panic runs through his veins.
He looks away from her at the image that fills his mind. Then his features tense.
His own hand which grips Cypher's sweater and slams him against the wall behind Trinity's seat.
Kicks. Punches.
The gasp from Trinity's throat as soon as the asshole loses his balance and falls backward on her chest, almost crushing her body.
And again kicking and punching... till the last kick which leaves the fucking bastard motionless on the floor.
Trinity doesn't ask, but her hand moves on the plug on her nape at Neo's look.
She can read it in his eyes, in a clear succession. Panic... rage... fury... relief.
She thinks she's going to throw up at the bare thought of Cypher's hands on herself. His fingers touching her skin, his nose smelling her, his mouth an inch from hers... or on hers maybe. It's probably just her imagination but she can now smelling him on herself.
She suddenly takes off her coarse grey sweater so fast that it's Neo's turn to swallow at the sight of her in just a worn-out white tank-top. It's so form-fitting that it looks like a second pale skin. He looks away before blushing.
"Why none of you shot him?" Trinity asks as Neo's eyes try their best in not lingering in the sight of her toned naked shoulders. His eyes move briefly on the plugs he can now see on her chest, just above the line of her breasts, than he looks away as soon as he realizes he can catch a glimpse of her nipples under the thin cotton fabric.
"Because he's both a coward and a smart guy, in his own way. Every time we tried to shot him, one of us was on the shot trajectory"
She nods and bites hard on her lower lip.
"We succeeded in disarming him and rendering him harmless" He says as she nods again "Tank locked him in the safety cell"
Trinity suddenly turns and walks straight to that sector of the ship.
"Where...? What? No. Trinity. What do you want to do?"
Neo hurries to follow her as Trinity speeds her pace, moving with agility like a feline and quickly dodging dangerous steel pipes along her way. One moment later she unlocks and opens the cell door wide.
Cypher's on the floor, his hands are tied behind his back and his ankle are locked to the wall with a chain. His nose's clearly broken, he got a swollen eye and clotted blood all over his clothes.
"'Missing me, Sweetheart" he welcomes her with bright eyes despite his awful aspect "Did your bitch friend die at last? Or did she just need cardiopulmonary resuscitation?" He pushes the subject with a chuckle.
Trinity just swallows still staring at him, but her hands close in fists. The image of Switch struggling for breathing appears in front of her eyes and she inhales deeply, her pupils tightening in the blue of her eyes.
"Anyway, now that you're here," he gives her a smutty look and licks his lips "why don't you try a mouth-to-mouth breathing on my cock instead, ma'am"
She's so fast that Neo doesn't see it coming. Her leg moves quick and agile, kicking the bald man right in his face. He gasps and spews a blot of blood on the metal floor.
"You, bitch" he curses cleaning his mouth on his shoulder since he can't use his hands "I should have killed you".
"Did he tell you he shield you with his body?" Cypher says again giving a look at Neo beyond Trinity's shoulders "Was it because of chivalry, Messiah?" He teases him "or because our Second in Command here spread her legs wide to you?"
Another kick hits him in the side of his neck, making him crashing on the floor. He spews again but gives her another smut look.
Trinity's kick reaches his balls this time leaving him speechless and breathless. Then she kicks again. And again.
"Trinity, don't!"
Neo's arms grab her from behind. He wraps her chest and pulls her away as she gives another kick hitting just the air this time.
She tries to wiggle out of his grip but can't succeed. Neo's arms are strong and she can't move an inch as he's lifting her like she's weightless.
"Leave him at the martial court. They'll take away that stupid smirk of him" He talks in her ear walking backwards till they're out of the cell.
"Put me down, Neo. I'm not asking. It's an order!"
He ignores her orders and turns so she can't see Cypher anymore. He waits till she calms down and just then he puts her down. She just lets him do. Letting him calm her down. Actually she could wiggle out of his grip if she wants. She just doesn't. And she knows he's right.
Trinity watches Neo as he glances at Cypher one more time instead, then he goes to lock the door.
"T-the cunt ordering you around, such a turn on, right?" Cypher stammers as Neo doesn't reply, but his hands close in fists.
He approaches the prisoner again and a kick hits Cypher's face one more time. Neo squats down, a step from him.
"This one for having touched her, you piece of shit" he whispers in a so low tone that Trinity can hear just a swish. Then he stands up, leaving the bastard writhing in pain on the cell floor.
Neo meets Trinity's eyes as soon as he locks the door and turns toward her. A part of her feels guilty. Her behavior has gone definitely far from professional. They never attack unarmed prisoners. And yet the other part of her just wants to kick him even harder instead, breaking that jerk's head and sending him to hell, literally. If it hadn't been for Neo, she probably would have done it. For Mouse. For Morpheus. For her friends and crew. Neo's silence doesn't help. She looks down, biting her lower lip.
"You're probably regretting being here with me right now," Trinity whispers looking up at him and turning to go back in the core of the ship "what you just saw, it's not exactly what they teach us in the Academy,"
"Honestly, I regret not having been the one who's made him swallow his balls, Trinity" he replied instead as she turns her head toward him "but, better for me to be careful not annoying you in the future, Ma'am. For the sake of my balls." He teases her with a smirk which is enough to warm her skin, bringing back a little color on her pale cheeks.
And she smirks back.
...
Unplugging Morpheus is the only thing they can do. An agent with the codes to Zion's mainframe computer can go inside and destroy them all. And Tank is right.
"We can't let that happen, Trinity. Zion is more important than me. Or you, or even Morpheus"
Trinity watches as Tank stands beside Morpheus's body but she can't bear watching more. She closes her eyes still trying to fight her tears from flowing free.
"Morpheus, you were more than our leader. You were... a father. We will miss you, always"
Tank closes his eyes and takes hold of Morpheus's plug as suddenly something is perfectly clear in Neo's mind, fate rushing at him like an oncoming train.
Both Tank and Trinity look at him as a 'stop!' comes from Neo's voice.
"The Oracle. She told me this would happen. She told me... that I would have to make a choice... "
He turns and walks to his chair as Trinity tries to stop him.
"Morpheus did what he did because he believed that I'm something I'm not. I'm not the One, Trinity. The Oracle hit me with that, too."
She's unable to tell him what she would, and uncertainty swallows her words.
So confident, so strong, somehow unstoppable in front of everyone's eyes and yet... fear has the best on her... what if she misunderstood ...what if...
Love is an unexplored field... she doesn't know anything about love. Sex is easy... physical attraction, hormones, a mix of chemical impulses. But love... everything she knows about love is that it makes her feel vulnerable, somehow weak and most of the time, unable to speech either.
And then...Trinity stares at him. It's like hovering on the edge that he has just jumped off. Her jaw sets and she starts climbing into the chair beside him.
"I'm coming with you".
"No you're not."
"No? Let me tell you what I believe. I believe Morpheus means more to me than he does to you. I believe that if you are serious about saving him then you are going to need my help and since I am the ranking officer on this ship, if you don't like it then I believe that you can go to hell, because you aren't going anywhere else."
Trinity puts her sunglasses on, once again putting her armor on together with her shiny black vinyl clothes. Again on her confident, strong, unstoppable mode. She meets Neo's eyes hiding everything else deep down herself. She's good in that. It's what she's been doing for fifteen years.
What comes later is a rush of events.
A military controlled building. Three agents holding Morpheus. The fight on the roof. The helicopter. Agent Smith. The fight. The run. The shot. Another one. A dozen.
Trinity's eyes watches in disbelief as Neo's body jerks and his life signs goes wild till the line on the screen goes flat.
He's letting go. His body's surrendering to his mind. Suddenly everything is perfectly clear in Trinity's mind as fate rushes at her. She isn't letting him go. She's never letting go.
She moves closer to him, her lips a few inches from his.
"Neo, I'm not afraid anymore."
"The Oracle told me that I would fall in love, and that the man I loved would be The One. So you see? You can't be dead, because I love you. You hear me? I love you!"
Her eyes close and she kisses him, believing in all her heart that he can feel her lips. He does. And they do. Neo's eyes snap open in the Matrix again, as on the Neb his monitors jump back to life.
"Neo! "
He hears her. Again.
A blinding shock of white light floods the chamber and he feels her body on his, as she tries to shield him from the cold metal carcasses falling all around and filling the pit.
Everything goes dark and silent, except for the light sound of their breathing.