Card 2: Jack of Spades
In the building of Metacortex, inside the main city, next to the other building companies Neo was standing in front of his boss of the computer company, he looks out at the men that were cleaning off the windows outside and Mr. Rhinehart, reading over his file, tosses it to the side, types a few things into his computer and leans back as Neo turns his head to him. "You have a problem with authority, Mr. Anderson. You believe you're special, that somehow the rules don't apply to you." his boss informs him.
Neo said nothing to him, "Obviously, you are mistaken." he informs him, Neo kept his mouth shut as the wiper squeaks. Then Mr. Rhineheart turns to the window looking out at the world "This company is one of the top software companies in the world because every signal employee understands that they are apart of the whole." he informs him as Neo shifts and looks out the window. "This if an employee has a problem, the company has a problem," he tells as he turns back to Neo.
Then he leans forward, against his arms as Neo then looks back at him, "The time has come to make a choice, Mr. Anderson. Either you chose to be at your desk on time for this day forth, or you chose to find yourself another job. Do I make myself clear?" he threatens him, Neo nods his head at him "Yes, Mr. Rhineheart. Perfectly clear."
~8~8~8~
Neo sat in front of his desk as he was looking at his screen, he sighs as he hated his boss, then he looks over at the frame of him and Riley as they were both sleeping in a bed, cuddled together, Neo had one eye open as he took the photo, Riley was so much different from when he met her in the club.
Someone must of happened when she found the answer, something in that answer changed her or was that all just a dream too? He exhales to himself than someone steps in front of his cubicle. "Thomas Anderson?" the man calls out. "Neo turns to him and leans back in his chair. "Yeah, that's me." he calls out and the delivery man walks into his cubical "Ok." the man states as he handed Neo the form to sign off on.
Then the delivery man scans the package and handed to him as Neo gave back the form, "Have a nice day." the man tells him, Neo just watches him leave, then he looks around as he opens up the package and he tilts it down and what drops in his hand was a cellphone, and a contact of his hand, the phone immediately rings, it was unnerving, to say the least, but he opens the phone and answers the call. "Hello?" he asks. "Hello, Neo. Do you know who this is?" the man on the line answers. Neo turns from his computer as his attention was caught. "Morpheus," he whispers in shock. "Yes. I've been looking for you, Neo. I don't know if you're ready to see what I want to show you. But fortunately, you and I have run out of time." Morpheus informs him.
Neo exhales as he lowers his head. "They're coming for you, Neo and I don't know what they're going to do." he warns him "Who's coming for me?" Neo asks. "Stand up and see for yourself." Morpheus informs him, "What, right now?" Neo asks. "Yes, now," he answers, then Neo moves out from his chair. "Do it slowly. The elevator." Morpheus advises him. Then Neo slowly stood up and looks out, seeing three agents, then a woman points over at him and the agents looked at him. Neo quickly ducks down "Oh Shit!" he whispers as he leans back against his desk. "Yes." Morpheus agrees with him.
Then agents Smith and Jones walk through the labyrinth of cubicles, with police officers behind them. "What the hell do they want from me?" Neo asks him as he paces keeping his head low. "I don't know, but if you don't want to find out. I suggest you get out of there." Morpheus advises him. "How?" Neo asks him. "I can guide you, but you must do exactly what I say." Morpheus informs him, "Ok." Neo agrees as he peeks back out, "The cubical across from you is empty." Morpheus informs him. "What if they--?" Neo asks. "Go. Now." Morpheus orders and Neo quickly moves across and into the next cubical.
As he did, Agent Smith and Jones arrived at his cubical and found it-empty, Neo leans back against the walls of the cubical as he moves the phone over towards his other ear. "Stay here for a moment," Morpheus tells him as Neo remained in place as Agent's Smith and Jones look at one another and walk down the rows. Neo exhales as he looks away "When I tell you, go to the end of the row. To the office at the end of the hall stay as low as you can." Morpheus informs him.
Neo nods his head and leans out, waiting, "Go now." he orders and Neo quickly pops out of the cubical, seeing the officer in front of him, then quietly walks away and verse right, he hurries staying low, he passes the printer and hurried down the space, close to the wall then opens the door up.
He hurries inside the office and quickly closes the door behind him. "Good. Now, outside there is a scaffold." Morpheus informs him, Neo stood up and looks outside the window and saw the scaffold. "How do you know all this?" he questions him. "We don't have time, Neo. To your left there's a window, go to it." Morpheus informs him. Neo looks to his left and walks over towards the window. "Open it. You can use the scaffold to get to the roof." Morpheus informs him as Neo opens the window but then pulls back as it realizes what Morpheus wanted him to do. "No way! No way! This is crazy!" Neo snaps at him as he paces. "There are 2 ways of getting out of this building. One is a scaffold, the other in their custody. You take a chance either way. I leave it to you." Morpheus informs him then he hung up.
Neo pulls the phone away, then looks around the room, "This is insane!" he mutters then turns back to the window. "Why is this happening to me? What did I do?" Neo questions himself as he steps into the window "I'm a nobody. I didn't do anything." he mutters on and steps onto the small ledge. "I'm gonna die," he mutters, then pressed his back to the wall and peers down at the long, long, way down. He turns white and pulls back to the window. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" he mutters to himself. But he works up the courage and walks along the window ledge, keeping himself close to the window as the gushing winds were strong. Then Neo came to the frame that was separating him from the scaffold. He grips onto the frame and looks down at the height he was at.
I'll just say, it was a very long way down, but the winds gushed again, knocking the phone out from his hand, "Oh, shit!" he shouts as the phone plummeted down and lost from his sight. He recoils and grips tighter onto the frame, panting from fear then shook his head. "I can't do this," he mutters then pulls away and headed back into the office.
~8~8~8~
The officer steps out of the building with the agents that held Neo in toil with his hands cuffed behind his back. A woman on a motorcycle watches in her review mirror as the agents shoved Neo into the car.
She grips the rubber on the handle of the bike tightly as Agents Brown and Jones enter the car as well. But Agent Smith stops and turns, looking at the woman, Zelda grits her teeth as she growls. "Fuck," she mutters then looks over at Trinity, who was on the other side of the street. She nods at her and they both took off down the road, driving side by side. "They have him, we need to fall back to plan B," Zelda informs her.
Trinity just looks at her, "Are you sure you're you for it?" she asks her, Zelda just looks at her, "I won't let those bastards use him like they almost did me." she informs her, Trinity nods at her and they both make a left turn.
~8~8~8~
Neo sat in the interrogation room, alone at the table as he looks around the white room. Then the door opens and Neo looks over to see the agents walk into the room, Neo sat up straight as Brown and Smith circle him, Neo just rubs his hands against his pants as Jones closes the door behind them.
A thick file was dropped down onto the desk as Smith sat down, then he unravels the string and opens the file, looking through the papers of Neo's life. Neo just watched as the found this... other life. He sighs, looking away as Smith then looks at him. "As you can see, we've had our eye on you for some time now, Mr. Anderson," Smith informs him, Neo just looks back at him. "It seems that you've been living 2 lives. In one life, you're Thomas A. Anderson, program writer for a respectable software company. You have a social security number, you pay your taxes, and you... help your landlady carry out her garbage." Smith informs.
Then he inhales, then looks down at the file and flips over to Neo's second life. "The other life is lived in computers where you go by the hacker alias Neo. And are guilty of virtually every computer crime we have a law for. One of these lives has a future... and one of them does not." Smith informs him as he then closes the file. Neo exhales as he sat up in his chair, "I am going to be as forthcoming as I can be, Mr. Anderson. You're here because we need your help." Smith informs him then removes his shades.
Neo just glares at the man "We know that you've been contacted by a certain individual, a man who calls himself Morpheus." Smith informs him as Brown glares down at Neo. "Whatever you think you know about this man is irrelevant. He is considered by many authorities to be the most dangerous man alive." Smith states and Neo just looks at him as Agent Smith leans against the table, folding his hands over the file. "My colleagues believe that I am wasting my time with you, but I believe you wish to do the right thing. We're willing to wipe the slate clean." Smith states as he shoves the file over to the side. "Give you a fresh start. All that we're asking in return is your cooperation in bringing a known terrorist to justice." Smith states.
Neo nods his head, "Yeah." he mutters, then looks at him as he leans forward, "Wow, that sounds like a really good deal." he states and sat back, "But I think I got a better one. How about... I give you the finger." he said, flipping him off, Smith just hums at him, "And you give me my phone call." Neo tells him and Smith grabs a hold of his shades. "Oh, Mr. Anderson..." he states and places his shades on, "You disappoint me," he states. "You can scare me with this Gestapo crap. I know my rights. I want my phone call." Neo throws at him.
But Smith arches his eyebrows at him "Tell me, Mr. Anderson... what do is a phone call if you're unable to speak?" Smith asks him as he leaned forward. Neo just looks at him, confused at first, but then something, something was wrong with his mouth, Smith grins as Neo tries to open his mouth but it molds together, shutting completely. Neo started to panic as he shot out from his chair, it stumbles to the ground as he launched himself into the corner, hands covering the spot where his mouth should be. Jones calmly picks up the chair, placing it to the side.
Smith smirks as he leans back as agents Brown and Jones grabs a hold of Neo, he struggles against the two of them as they rip open his shirt and moves his tie out of the way. Then Smith stood up and walks over towards the side, then the two agents threw Neo onto the table, he sat up and went to fight against them, but then grab a hold of his arms and held him down. "You're going to help us, Mr. Anderson..." Smith states as he pulls out a small box and took out a little device. "Whether you want to or not," he states, then presses a button on the side of the device, turning it on, Neo looks over at the thing in Smith's hands. It then molds into saliva then took the form of a cocoon, it then wiggles as it was alive, then cocoon then burst to a machine tracker with tentacles.
Neo then lets out muffled screams as he struggles even harder as Smith gently places the tracker on Neo's body, Neo struggled to remove the thing off of him, but it makes way to his belly button, uses it's little tentacles and slithers inside of him.
~8~8~8~
With a scream Neo shot awake in his bed, panting like crazy as he found himself in his apartment, he wipes his hand over his mouth, finding it wasn't molded shut, thunder roars outside as it was pouring down rain, then he lifts his shirt and saw no little monster thing was in his belly button. "Oh!" he sighs with relief as he collapsed onto the bed, thinking it was all just a terrible dream, hoping it was all just a terrible dream.
But then he shot up as his home phone was ringing, he got up from his bed, walks over towards his phone, picks it up and answers it. "This line is tapped, so I must be brief. They got to you first, but the underestimated how important you are. If they knew what I know, you would probably be dead." Morpheus informs him, but Neo was just confused. "What are you talking about? Wh- What is happening to me?" he asks him. "You are The One, Neo. You see, you may have spent the last few years looking for me, but I've spent my entire life looking for you." Morpheus informs him.
Neo was shocked, most confused. "Now, do you still wish to meet?" Morpheus asks him, Neo needed answers to what was happening and he was not going to let this chance slip. "Yes," he answers. "Wait for the knock, she will take you to the Adams Street bridge," Morpheus informs her and hung up. Neo looks down at his phone, then there was a knock on his door. Neo looks over at it, placing his phone down, then walks over towards the door, then opens it to reveal Zelda dressed in black leather. "Hello Neo," she said to him and he looks at her in shock. "Riley?" he asks her. "Get dressed, we have to hurry," she tells him as thunder roars out, flashing at the both of them.
~8~8~8~
They stood under the bridge, waiting for their arrivals, Neo just watches the rain pour down from the bridge as Zelda was slowly pacing with her arms crossed. She then stops as she saw the car coming towards them. "They're here," she calls out to him, he turns to her, seeing the car pull up, Zelda waves over at the car and they pull up towards her.
She opens the door and looks at Neo, "Get in." she orders, Neo just looks at her then walks towards the car, sliding into the back and Zelda follows in after him, she closes the door shut and the car then drives off. Trinity looks over at Zelda and she nods her head as she removes her coat, then Switch turns in the front seat and aims her gun at him. He looks at her gun in shock as he froze, "Whoa. What is this?" Neo questions. "It's necessary, Neo, for our protection." Trinity informs him and he looks at her, "From what?" he asks, "From you." Zelda answers and he looks at her, "Lay down and take off your shirt." Switch orders him and he was confused. "What?" he asks her.
She just glares at him, "Stop the car." she tells Apoc, he nods and pulls the car right over. Zelda and Trinity looked at her, "Listen to me, Coppertop. We don't have time for 20 questions and Zelda is sticking her neck out for you." she snaps and Neo shot a look over at Zelda for a moment. "Right now there's only one rule-- our way or the highway." she offers him, he looks sighs. "Fine," he mutters then went to reach for the door, but Zelda pressed her hand into his chest. "Tom, please." she asks and he looks at her, "We wouldn't be doing this if we weren't scared," she states and he just listens. "All I am asking is for you to trust me." she states, "Why?" he questions her.
She just looks at him, "You've been down that road with those agents and you knew how it turned out." she states and this got his attention. "I know you, Neo. And I know you hating following the rules, but please. Just this once, follow these ones." she tells him. He just looks at her, sighs and pulls away. She exhales then nods at Apocs, he nods and drives off again "Apcos, lights." Trinity tells him and he hits the lights. Then she moves as Neo laies down and lifts his shirt. Then Zelda moves out, so he could stretch his legs out, then she saddles him, making him jump. "The hell?" he questions her, "Relax." she tells him as she places her hands on his body "Hold him down." she orders and Trinity held onto Neo's shoulders.
He just looks at them, "What are you doing?" he asks them, "We think you're bugged." Trinity informs him as Apoc presses the light in and the turns it on. Then Neo looks up at Trinity as he grips her arms, "Try and relax." she informs him, then he looks at Zelda "This is going to hurt." she warns him as her markings were glowing, he was taken back then she looks down at his body as her hands glide over his belly button, she exhales as she shot digital vines from her fingers then into his belly button. He jerks as he could feel them slithering through his body. Switch kept her eyes on Neo as he switches from the pain. "Where are you?" Zelda mutters as she kept looking through his body. "It's on the move." Switch warns her. "I know," Zelda informs her as her nose was bleeding. "Zelda..." Trinity warns her. "I got this," Zelda assures her.
Then Switch looks at her, "You're going to lose it, stop." she informs her, "Stop talking." Zelda snaps as she then felt a tug on her digital vines. "Gotcha." she mutters "Clear!" she calls out, then clutches her fingers and electricity course through into him, making him gasp in pain and cry out in pain as the bug was then ripped out of Neo's body and he growls in pain as the bug wiggles in its restraint. "Jesus that thing is real?!" he shouts as Zelda clutches her fingers, destroying its form. "Trinity," she calls out and Trinity pulls the window and Zelda grabs a hold of the bug and threw it out of the car.
They drove away as the metallic tracker was left on the road, it flashes the red dot as it was buzzing, but thanks to the rain, it short-circuits and the red light fades.
~8~8~8~
The drove downtown, onto a deserted alley of an abandoned, the car drove up as it pulls over to the side and then the door opens up and out steps Zelda, followed by Neo and Trinity as they walk into the hotel.
Lights flicker as they walk up the stairs, he looks up the stairs as the two kept their face neutral, but Zelda leans against the rails as she scrunches her face and bends over a little, they stop and looks at her. Neo took a step closer, as Trinity places her hand on her shoulder. "Zelda..." she asks her as Zelda rubs her temple. "I'm alright, just weak." she informs her, "We'll ask Tank to bring you back so you can rest," she tells her. But Zelda shook her head, "No, I need to be here so I know he's safe." she informs "Until who's save?" Neo asks them and they looked at him. "You'll understand when you meet Morpheus," Zelda informs her as she pulls away from rails and they continued up the stairs.
Then they make it to the 13th floor, then they came to a stop as they stood in front of the door 1313. "This is it," Trinity tells him as the two women stop and turn to him. Neo exhales anxiously as he looks at the door. "Let me give you one piece of advice. Be honest. He knows more than you can imagine." Trinity tells him, then she looks at Zelda, nodding at her. Zelda nods at her and walks towards the doors and pushes them open. "Come on, Neo," Zelda tells her and he follows her into the room.
She steps over the side as Neo walks into the room thunder roars out, flashing as dark-skinned man, his arms folded behind his back turns he turns and smiles at Neo. "At last," he states as Trinity closes the door as they walk up and meet him halfway. "Welcome, Neo. As you no doubt have guessed... I am Morpheus." Morpheus informs him. Neo held his hand out to him "It's an honor to meet you." Neo tells him, Morpheus shook his hand. "No... the honor is mine." he states then pulls his hand away, "Please, come. Sit." he tells him then Neo moves over and sat in their chair.
Morpheus nods at him then he looks at Zelda as she was a little pale, then he places his hand on her shoulder. "I'm alright, I'm seeing this through," she informs him. He nods and the three walks over towards the side door, Trinity and Zelda open the doors and Morpheus closes them behind them. Neo looks up at Morpheus as the man looks down at him. "I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice... tumbling down the rabbit hole, hmm?" Morpheus asks as he steps over towards Neo. "You could say that," Neo answers him. "I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up." Morpheus states as he walks past the couch from behind. "Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?" Morpheus asks of him.
Neo just looks at him, "No." he answers "Why not?" Morpheus asks him, "Because I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life." Neo answers and Morpheus nods at him "I know what exactly what you mean." Morpheus states as he stood a seat then he leans back as he frigates with the small case in his hand. "Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something, what you know, can't explain, but you feel it. You felt it you're entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in the back of your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me." Morpheus informs him.
Turning the small case in his hands, Neo just looks at him, confused but Morpheus was right on the mark. "Do you know what I'm talking about?" Morpheus asks him. "The Matrix?" Neo answers and Morpheus just looks at him. "Do you want to know what it is?" Morpheus asks him. Neo nods his head at him, "The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you got to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that's been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth." Morpheus tells him.
Neo leans for as he was confused. "What truth?" he asks him, then Morpheus leans forward. "That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, born in bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A person... for your mind." Morpheus states as he exhales and leans back into the chair. "Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is," he states as he opens the small case in his hands and looks at Neo. "You have to see it for yourself," he states then dumps the two pills in his hand, placing the small case on the table and took one in each hand as he scooted forward.
Making Neo lean back, "This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back." Morpheus warns him then he opens his left hand to reveal a blue pill. "You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your head and believe whatever you want to believe," Morpheus tells him and Neo just looks at him. Then Morpheus opens his right hand "You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." Morpheus tells him.
Neo looks down at the two-colored pills in front of him, he takes the blue one and he won't remember what happened the last few hours, he won't remember meeting Zelda in the underground club, he won't remember agents arresting him, making his mouth mold shut and implanting a stranger tracker on him. He won't remember seeing his best friend ever again. But if he takes the red pill, he'll wake up, finding what the matrix is, finding the answer he was looking for and understand why Riley vanished.
He then reaches for the red pill, "Remember..." Morpheus calls out, making him stop and look at him, "All I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more." Morpheus reminds him, but Neo took the red pill from him, then took the glass of water, taking down gulps of water, swallowing the red pill. Morpheus smiles at him as Neo places the glass down and Morpheus closes his hand over blue pill. "Follow me," Morpheus tells him, then they stood up and walk towards the side doors, then he pushes them open. "Apoc, are we on-line?" Morpheus asks him, "Almost." Apoc answers as Cypher places the cell in Morpheus's hand as his eyes were Neo.
Neo walks past as Cypher stood next to Apoc as he took a seat in front of computers. "Time is always against us," Morpheus calls out as he stood in front of the three women. Then he turns to Neo "Please, Take a seat there." Morpheus tells him and Neo walks over, Switch removes his coat and he sat down on the chair.
Then Zelda places on the electrically wired disks on Neo arms and temples and Trinity walks over next to Switch. Apoc types away at the keyboard, Cypher looks through the tech scope, then Morpheus pick up the phone and places on the tech hook. Then Neo looks at Zelda. "You did all this?" he asks her, she shook her head. "No, Trinity did this, I just kept the heat of her back." she answers him "Did the same thing happen to you?" he asks her, she looks at him and shook her head. "No. Morpheus didn't help me escape the Matrix." she answers him, "Then how did you escape?" he asks again, but she smiles at him "Another time." she answers and pulls away. "The pill you took is part of a trace program," Morpheus calls out as Zelda places the last one on the back of his neck. "It's designed to disrupt your input/output carrier signal so we can pinpoint your location," Morpheus informs him as Trinity walks over towards the computer, and hits enter as Zelda pulls up another chair and sat next to Neo. "What does that mean?" Neo asks him.
Then Cypher pulls away from the goggles, "It means buckle your seat belt, Dorthy, 'cause Kansas is going bye-bye." he informs him, making Neo look over at him. The thunder roars outside as Switch smirks over at him. Neo then looks over at Trinity as she a momentarily look at him, he exhales and tries to relax. But then he felt his hand being gripped and he looks over at Zelda, she smiles at him, making him relax in seconds and returns the grip. He nods and looks away from her and relaxes, but out of the corner of his eye gets his attention.
He then slowly turns his head and looks at the broken mirror and felt that... something was off. "Is something wrong, Neo?" Zelda asks him, he licks his lips. "Um... does... does that mirror seem a little off to you?" he asks her, she looks over at the cracked mirror. "It does, doesn't it?" she states, then he gasped as the cracks in the mirror recede and repair the broken mirror. "Did you just..." he asks, looking at Zelda, she nods at him. Trinity kept watch over his electric pulses as Zelda was keeping him calm "I saw." she states and they both looked back at the mirror.
Then Neo slowly reaches out and touches the mirror, but as he did. The surface of the mirror dipped in from the pressure of his fingers and ripples, but as he recoils back his hand, his fingers were stuck in the mirror liquid. "Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real?" Morpheus asks him as he steps closer and Zelda slowly stood up. Neo then pulls free his fingers, but some of the mirror liquid was stuck to him. "What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?" Morpheus asks him, Neo just glanced up at him.
But then his eyes went back down to the liquid as he slowly travels up his body, "This can't be..." Neo mutters "Be what? Be real?" Morpheus asks him as he consumes his hand and travels up his arm. Neo started to slowly hyperventilate then Zelda leans in close to his ear, "Remember when I had the episode back in college?" she asks him, he nods at her. "That was my mind rejecting the matrix it was much like this," she whispers to him. "It's going into replication." Trinity warns Morpheus, "Apoc?" he calls out, looking over at the man, "Still nothing." he answers.
Zelda exhales as she grips Neo's shoulders, feeling him shiver "It's cold..." "It was like this, pounding heart, hyperventilate, scared out of your mind. I've been there and right now I need you to breathe." she tells him as the liquid crawls up his shoulder and Neo tries to pull away from it, then Morpheus pulls out his cell, "Tank, we're going to need a signal soon." Morpheus informs him. Then the alarms went off. "I got fibrillation." Trinity calls out as Zelda moves in front of Neo and towers over him, "Neo, look at him." she tells him gripping his face. He just hyperventilates, looking at her, "I know, I know." she tells him, stroking his face. "Apoc, location," Morpheus calls out. "Targeting almost there," he calls out as he was getting closer.
Neo gasps as it was crawling up his chin and under Zelda's hands. "Thomas... hang on," she tells him. "He's going into arrest." Trinity calls out, "No! He can make it, I know he can." Zelda objects. "Lock. I got him." Apoc calls out. "Now. Tank. Now." Morpheus orders as the liquid inched towards his mouth. "No," Zelda calls out and he looks at her, seeing her smile. "Time to wake up. I'll see you soon," she tells him, then he closes his eyes tightly, crying out in pain, but his screams became dissociated, static and faded out as everything went to black.