Connection

Trinity was uncharacteristically silent when she returned to the Sekhmet.
She and Cat weren't close; Trinity well knew that she could be abrasive, and Cat
hadn't exactly been forthcoming either. Still, it was a little rich to drop her
straight into the arms of the most dangerous being in the digital world. It
wasn't that she didn't trust Neo. It was just hard to understand some of the
things he did, especially these days. She thought he'd been uncommunicative
before, but that was nothing. He'd been withdrawn almost to the point of
surliness since he had come to. She would have been hurt if it weren't for the
near-desperate look in his eyes as he watched her.

"She's in," she
murmured, lacing her arms around her love. He looked preoccupied as usual these
days. Trinity sighed. "I wish you could explain this to me."

"So do I."
Neo was reluctant to admit that he had sent a crew member into a dangerous
situation based on a feeling, even if it was backed by a pronouncement from the
Oracle.

"Does this have something to do with the Oracle?" That much was
true, at least. Neo nodded. The tension in Trinity's face eased a little. "All
right." She tightened her arms. "If you wanna talk..."

"I know where to
find you." His hand crept up to cover hers. "You should get some
rest."

"Are you going to join me?"

"In a bit. I think I'll blow
off some steam in the practice program first." She slipped away, running her
fingers through his hair before retreating.

Neo felt guilty for lying to
her. Well, it hadn't precisely been a lie. He was going to plug in, and it would
relax him a little, with any luck. He'd discovered how to repeat Morpheus'
little trick with the TV. He could load up anything he'd experienced on the
screen and watch it as an outsider. It provided useful perspective, even if he
hadn't quite perfected his mental editing yet.

Neo closed his eyes as
Link loaded him up. When he opened them, he was in the familiar lank space of
the Construct with the ratty old TV in front of him. He blinked and it switched
on. A little early, that. Oh, well. Close enough.

"This came for you
while you were... asleep."

The brusque-looking woman, who Trinity had
said cared for him during whatever it was that had gone wrong, passed him the
disk. It looked like the one the Oracle had sent the last time around, but after
his chat with the Architect, Neo was reluctant to answer her summons.

For
one thing, Morpheus just wasn't the same anymore. Her prophecies had consumed
his life, and there was precious little left for him when they turned up false.
What there was went up in smoke with the Neb. Neo doubted that Morpheus would
ever set foot on a ship again, even if Lock somehow found it in himself to grant
him one. For now, the man just sat around the ship, looking like an extraneous
piece of equipment.

Trinity managed better, but Neo knew that she had
been badly shaken. After all, she'd been with the Neb almost as long as its
captain had, and that had just been one shock in a series. After all, it can't
be too calming to end up dead, then lose your home, only to find that your lover
has slipped into some sort of catatonia. Sometimes, when she looked at him, he
could see flickers of possessiveness that had never been there before. When they
were together, she was always touching him unobtrusively. Neo was sure that she
was reassuring herself that he was still there, whole, not going
anywhere.

And he... Well, there was no time to think about how he felt.
Zion was going to fall unless he did something about it, and soon. His battle
with the squids had convinced him that something had fundamentally changed. His
powers shouldn't last in the real world. Unless... he was carrying a bit of the
Matrix with him somehow.

At first he had discounted Smith's assertion of
a connection. It could have been just another threat in the Agent's arsenal.
Still, it hadn't sounded like a threat... and even Smith's most hate-filled
comments tended to have literal basis; perhaps fabrication had been left out of
his programming.

Smith had good as said that he had taken some of Neo's
essence in the bargain. It was pretty clear that it hadn't been his powers of
Matrix manipulation, either; after all, a Smith with even a bit of the
superhuman strength and speed associated with the One would have put up a better
fight. Forty of then could surely have handed him a ringing defeat.

That
must mean... Smith could operate in the real world as though it were his natural
environment in the same limited fashion that Neo could carry his powers. And the
damage that Smith could wreak unplugged...

That settled it. If the Oracle
was hinghing like her old self, she would surely know of his conversation with
the Architect. It might be useful to confront her, even if all she did was try
to justify herself. And if she were able to shed some light on the Smith
situation... He would definitely have to see this strange ship's captain about a
hack.

Neo stood up, wincing as his head throbbed. It was probably from
his injuries, but he preferred to believe that it was because had finally
started thinking for himself instead of blindly following Morpheus and the
Oracle.

"Sit down, kiddo." This time Neo did it without comment. Perhaps
if the Architect had not been able to fully predict him, the Oracle didn't know
everything about him, either. He felt much less intimidated than he had on his
earlier visits. After all, she was just a tool to steer him into the correct
behaviors.

The Oracle eyed him. "You've changed. Finally sitting like
you're comfortable with yourself." Still, Neo remained silent. The old woman
sighed. "I understand that you're a little bit angry with me. Would you have
believed me if I told you? I did what I could. You made that choice, kiddo, and
if I hadn't led you to the Keymaker you would never have had the chance to do
it."

"You knew that the Prophecy was wrong all along, and let us all go
on believing it."

"What makes you think it was wrong?"

"Zion
hasn't been saved, has it?"

"Have you been to the source?" Neo was silent
at that one. The old woman sighed. "Is there any sense offering you
candy?"

"Don't you already know the answer to that?" The bright red
wrapper crinkled as she pressed it into Neo's palm.

"We've been over this
before. You have some new questions or you wouldn't have bothered to show
up."

"Smith."

"Good. You have enough sense to put the important
things first."

Neo blinked at her. The woman really could read minds;
he'd been dying to ask her about her role in all of this, but decided the
question concerning the dangerous ex-Agent was more pressing. "He says we have a
connection."

"And you have come to believe him, for some
reason."

"Yes, I have. I think that's the reason I can feel the machines
when I'm unplugged."

"And you fear that, if your power can be dissociated
from the Matrix, so can his?" Another nod. "You've come a long way. Almost too
far."

"What do you mean?"

"You've got almost as much Sight as I
have now. It makes lookin' at you hazy." She squinted at him. "I can't tell you
much this time around. You're gonna run into someone who will help you, and you
will understand how after you meet. It won't be easy for you to accept." She
stared for a moment more. "Sorry, kiddo. That's all I've got."

"All
right." Neo stood and offered his hand to the old woman, then pulled her up as
well. "I suspect we'll just have a chat the next time we meet."

"You
might be surprised, kiddo. In fact, I'm pretty sure you will be."

"See
you." He stood, still uncertain of the etiquette.

"I do hope so." The
Oracle smiled warmly and gave him a quick hug before walking away.

Neo
sighed and turned the TV off. So much for that bright idea. The Oracle had been
just as vague as he remembered.

Still, it had been enough to make him
listen to the nagging feeling he got whenever he saw Cat. Their encounters had
seldom been friendly. Usually she'd just glared at him, plainly resentful of
something. It was kind of refreshing, actually. It was unnerving to have
offerings shoved in his face wherever he went. Cat's obvious dislike was
welcome, real, by comparison.

That nagged at him, too. Somehow or other
the strange girl's antipathy for him seemed to be the key to the whole
situation. One night it cto hto him. Smith had dealt directly with traitors in
the past, to good effect. He was sure that he could smell an obvious fake, but
maybe Cat's antipathy for her shipmates could convince him that she was the
genuine article.

The nagging had stopped then. It just... felt right. The
Oracle had said he would know, and furthermore that it wouldn't be an attractive
prospect. Whatever he thought about Cat, he certainly didn't want to send her to
her death.

The resentment that had radiated from her when Trinity had
pulled off a rescue had decided him. Smith's hatred for him bordered on
obsession. He'd likely grasp at anything he was offered, particularly something
that had worked for him in the past. Cat made a plausible traitor. And no matter
how much she disliked him, Neo was sure that she wouldn't actually sell her
shipmates to the Agent. For one thing, no crew would either join her ship or
take her on if her entire crew kicked the bucket a second time. For another, Cat
was basically a decent human being. He didn't blame her; he wouldn't have taken
kindly trangrangers taking command of the Neb while he was passed
over.

His last, guilty, thought was that Cat wasn't good for much else,
either. If his experience had taught him on e thing, it was that things happened
for a reason. It was unlikely that Cat just stumbled across his path, and her
performance in the past couple of weeks confirmed that she wasn't destined to
help him in the Matrix itself. It was no wonder that she had been her last
crew's Operator, unusual as it was for someone equipped to plug into the Matrix.
With Link around, her skills in that area were extraneous also.

This was
it. It had to be. The Oracle had told him he'd have to go with his gut on this
one, and he believed her in spite of himself.

Now, if only Cat came
through it unhurt... It was going to be a long two weeks.

It was
senseless to sit here and brood, especially with Trinity waiting. loselosed his
eyes, Link's signal to sever the connection.

"You feeling any
better?"

Neo tried to smile. He'd gotten attached to the Operator,
although no one could replace Tank in his mind. "Not really." He ran tired
fingers through his still-stubby hair. "I think I'm going to get some
rest."

"Things have got to look up tomorrow. After all, it will be good
to be back in Zion."

"Yeah."