Card 3: King of Diamond
Neo's body jerks and he flutters his eyes open and found himself in some strange liquid. He looks at the pod he was in and saw these thick wires attached to his body, he then began to struggle against the thick liquid, desperate for air then forces his hand through the skin like rubber.
He stood up and breaks through the rubber, then grips the device on his face, ripping the tube out from his throat, he then cough as the air was sucked into his lungs panting and already exhausted as if it was his first time he ever breathed in his lift. He was slick of that thick liquid, naked and not a single island of hair on his body, he then looks down at his body and saw these wired attached to him, on his arms, his chest.
Then he reaches back and found something was plug into the back of his head, this made no sense to him, what was wrong with him, why was he like this, but he slowed his breathing as he was horrified at the sight around him. There were countless humans in pods like him and it went on for miles, his hands moved away from the plugin the back of his head as he looks down below and in front and it was the same.
Countless rows of podded humans. Towers of them, by the billion of them, there was no beginning and there was no end to the towers. Electricity pulsed between to towers as power was overflowing with energy. Neo was horrified at these pods and pods of humans, there really was no end. But then suddenly a machine drops out in front of Neo's pod. Making him look at the machine as it pulls it's arms and tentacles out. Neo hyperventilates as he tries to move away from it, but a claw shot out, gripping Neo by the neck.
He gasps and struggles against it, but his body was too weak and the light... it stung his eyes. The machine pulls it's eye out and looks out at Neo as he struggles against it, then the plugged in the base of his skull drills, making him cry out in pain as the plug was ripped out of Neo's head, making him shake from the rip-age, the machine then lets him go and he collapsed against his pod as it then flew away. Neo pants as he never felt that much pain before. He then tries to force himself up but then gasps in shock as the wires were popping right off his body, making him cry out in pain.
He collapsed back into the liquid as the back opens up and like a vacuum, he was sucked out, he tries to hold onto something, but his hands slips against the glass and he was sucked into the tube, the tube went down towards the surface, the tunnel went on for miles until he came out to the end of the tunnel. He gasps as he fell into the polluted water. Then he resurfaced, only to struggle to stay afloat, why wasn't his legs working? Why wasn't he strong enough to swim?
Neo kept paddling and paddling to stay afloat as lights were shining over him, he something open above his head, but he couldn't see because of the lights. He sinks back into the water as a claw was dropped from the ship above him and it splashes into the water, gripping hold of Neo's naked form and slowly limps his limp and cold body from the water and pulls him into the ship. Once he was in the ship the door closes and Neo was gently set on the ground as the claw was reeled in. then the crewmen walk towards him.
Morpheus and Trinity walk past the claw as one of the crewmen places as a blanket over him, covering his naked form, then helps him to his feet as the last member of the crew, Neo exhales as he flutters his eyes and his body was shivering. Then Morpheus came into view, "Welcome to the real world." he tells them and the last crew member walks up to him and cups Neo's wet, cold, and sticky face, he exhales as he looks at her, seeing it was Zelda and she smiles at him. "Neo." she states and he fell against her. He was fading into the unconscious as he felt Zelda wrap her arms around him tightly, holding him up. "I got you, Neo. I got you. And I'm never letting you go." she promises him and he faded into back.
~8~8~8~
Neo flutters his eyes as he was half-conscious. "We've done it, Trinity, Zelda. We found him, "I hope you're right." Trinity said to him. "I don't have to hope. I know it." Morpheus tells him.
He then felt that warm hand stroking his head. "I hate seeing him like this," Zelda mutters. "He'll pull through, Zelda. Have faith." Morpheus tells her. "I do have faith, Morpheus. I'm just scared." she snaps. Then Neo groans as he gathers their attention. "Am I dead?" Neo asks them, "Far from it." Morpheus answers him. Then Neo fell back into unconscious.
Hours went by as long needles were pierced against Neo's skin, mostly around the holes that the wires once hooked to. The monitor beeps as it was keeping track of his heart as he was sleeping peacefully. Zelda leans against the wall, her arms crossed as she kept watch over Neo.
Another hour went by as Neo was half awake and both Morpheus and Blazer were working on applying more needles to Neo's body. "He still needs a lot of work," Bozer informs Morpheus, Zelda bits her lip as she looks at him. "What are you doing?" Neo questions and Zelda looks down at him. "Your muscles have atrophied. We're rebuilding them." Morpheus answers him, then Neo closes his eyes to the bright light over him "Why do my eyes hurt?" Neo asks again. "You've never used them before," Morpheus answers again.
Bozer looks at Morpheus, who shot a look at him then over at Zelda as she steps up and places her hand on Neo's head. "It's okay, Neo. It will pass. Rest now, the answers you seek will wait for you when you're stronger." she informs him as he exhales and closes his eyes.
Morpheus, Bozer, and Zelda worked on repairing Neo's weak body, Zelda watches the monitors as Morpheus and Blazer gently removed the needles and they worked on the holes on his body. Within a few days, Neo's body was better and stronger now. He was placed in clothing as Zelda was standing next to the operating table, looking down at Neo's sleeping face.
Then Trinity walks into the room, looking at her, then walks up and stood next to her, "You should get some sleep." she tells her, Zelda exhales and shook her head, "No, I'm fine. I need to make sure he's okay." she answers him and Trinity places her hand on her shoulder. "You are no good to him if you're like this." Trinity tells her, Zelda looks over her shoulder at her, "I'm scared this is a dream, Trinity." she tells her then looks back at Neo. "That if I wake up, he'll be gone," she states and Trinity steps next to her. "He won't be, trust me," she tells her.
Then Zelda looks at her and sighs, "I am very tired." she states and Trinity smiles a little at her, "Come on, Let's get you to bed." she tells her and pulls her away from Neo, they both walk towards the door and steps through it, she Zelda stops as she looks back at Neo one last time, watching him sleep peacefully. "Come on." Trinity nudges her a little, then Zelda turns away and left with Trinity.
~8~8~8~
Neo laid on a bed, in regular clothing as his hair was slowly growing in, his eyebrows and eyelashes had already grown in, Neo flutters his eyes open and then he slowly sat up, swinging his feet off the bed and looks around at the strange room he found himself in.
He then looks down at his clothing and found some plug injected into his arm, it was strange where he found up in if he even knew where even was. But he looks down at the plug, grips it in his hands and slowly pulls it out from his arm, he flinches a little at the pain from the long needle and once free from it, he gasps tosses the needle over to the side. He rubs the small hole on his arm.
But then he freezes, looking away from the hole then slowly reaches behind his head to find that one big hole, right at the base of his skull, connecting the brain to the spinal cord. There it was as he could feel it against the tips of his fingers. But then he snaps away as he heard his door open, he pulls away and looks as he saw Morpheus walk into the room "Morpheus, what's happened to me? What is this place?" Neo asks him. "More important than what is when," Morpheus informs him. Neo just looks at him, "When?" he asks. "You believe it's the year 1999, when, in fact, it's closer to 2199. I can't tell you exactly what year it is because we honestly don't know." Morpheus informs him., Neo hung his head as he exhales. "There is nothing I can say that will explain it for you, Neo," he states. As Neo looks back at him "Come with me, see for yourself."
~8~8~8~
The two climb up the ladder, "This is my ship, the Nebuchadnezzar. It's a hovercraft." Morpheus informs him as they step onto the deck. "This is the main deck," Morpheus informs him and walks past one of the crewmen as he steps away at the monitors, he shot looks over a Neo as he walked past but the young boy's eyes were glued onto him.
Neo hugs the blanket closer to his body as he followed after Morpheus, looking around as the Main Deck. "This is the Core," Morpheus calls out as they pas the power source of the ship that had the name of the ship on it and the year it was made. "Where we broadcast our pirate signal and hack into the Matrix," Morpheus informs him as he looks up at the people that were working on repairing parts of the ship then down at the web connecting the monitors and the chairs that were circled around them.
He then looks at the man as he follows quietly after him, "Most of my crew you already know." he informs him as Trinity stood up, removing the safety mask off her head and Zelda places the blow-torch down as she looks down at Neo with awe. Then the crew started to line up. "This is Apoc, Switch, and Cypher," Morpheus states as he pats their shoulder. "Hi," Cypher said to him. "The ones you don't know-- Tank and his big brother Dozer." he nudges his head over at the two by the monitors, they both smile at him. "The little one behind you is Mouse," Morpheus said as Neo looks at Mouse who smiles at him. "And the one you already know," he states, Neo looks at him and on cue, Zelda jumps over the ramp and lands down onto the deck as she landed on her feet. Behind him, Neo turns around and looks at her in awe. As she stood up and exhales.
She really was different, she had a few scars showing from her neck, one across her cheek and nose, her hair was shorter as her skin as pale, like his. "Zelda." Morpheus said and Neo walks over towards her and pulls her tight into his arms, Zelda exhales as she returns the hug, "I'm so happy you're okay." she mutters at him, "Likewise." he answers, making her giggles a little. Then she pulls away and looks at Morpheus, who walks up to the two, smiling at their reunion then Neo turns to him. "You wanted to know what the Matrix is, Neo?" Morpheus asks as he gently grips his shoulders.
Neo nods at him, "Zelda." Morpheus calls out, she nods at him and grips Neo's arm and he looks at her, "Come." she tells him and she leads him over to one of the chairs, he steps over and Zelda took away his blanket, he looks down at the old and beaten up chair, Morpheus readies the monitor connected to the chair and Neo slowly sat down. He then looks at Zelda as she nods at him, he exhales as she then turns to the feet locks and locks his feet into the chair. Then she turns to Neo and places her hand on his shoulder. "Try to relax," Morpheus tells him, Neo just looks at him and lays back against the chair as he lays his head on the head relaxer.
Bozer readies the program, "This will feel a little weird." Morpheus warns him and a plug was injected into the hole behind his head, Neo arches his back as he was a grimace, Zelda grips his hand in her as Bozer hits the load button.
Neo shot his eyes open as he was relaxed as there wasn't any more pain in his head, but he looks around and found himself in a white room, that went on endlessly. "This..." Morpheus calls out, making Neo turn and saw that he was wearing a suit shades. "...is the construct. It's our loading program. We can load anything from clothing to equipment, weapons, training simulation. Anything we need." Morpheus informs him. Then he steps forwards as two chairs were facing a T.V with a small table next to one of the chairs appeared out of nowhere as Morpheus steps forward. "Right now, we're inside a computer program?" Neo asks him. "It is really so hard to believe? Your clothes are different, the plugs in your arms and head are gone," Morpheus informs him.
Then Neo looks down at his arm, pulling his sleeve back and saw no traces of plugs, then he felt the back of his head, finding no plug there either. "Your hair as changed," Morpheus informs him and Neo felt that his head was full of hair. "Your appearance now is what we call Residual Self-Image," Morpheus informs him and Neo looks at him. "It is the mental projection of your digital self." Morpheus states as Neo walks over and felt the leather of the couch underneath his hands "This... This isn't real?" he asks him. "What is real? How do you define real?" Morpheus asks as he leans against the chair. "If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain," Morpheus informs them.
Then he took the remote from the small table and looks back at Neo. "This is the world that you know," he states and turns on the T.V as it shows the city and year of 1999. "The world as it was at the end of the 20th century," he states, taking a seat and switches the channels. "It exists now only as part of a neural-interactive simulation that we call the Matrix," he states and Neo looks at him. Then Morpheus turns off the T.V and leans back in the chair, "You've been living in a dream world, Neo. This is the world as it exists today." Morpheus states and turns the T.V on and the whole scenery was different. It wasn't white, it was the aftermath of destruction and chaos, towers were half crumbled, the city grounds were reduced to rumble as the ocean itself has dried out eons again.
Thunder roars out over the black clouds, the city of New York return to nothing but a shell of itself. "Welcome to the Desert... of the Real." Morpheus tells him and Neo shot his eyes around as he frantically moves around, looking at the remains of a once-great city. "We have only bits and pieces of information. But what we know for certain is that at some point in the early 21st century all of mankind was united in celebration. We marveled at our own magnificence as we gave birth to A.I." Morpheus informs him and Neo's attention was grabbed "A.I.? you mean artificial intelligence?" he asks, "A singular consciousness that spawned an entire race of machines. We don't know who struck first, us or them, but we know that it was us that scorched the sky." Morpheus answers as Neo looks up at the dark sky as thunder roars over them. "At the time, they were dependent on solar power, and it was believed that they would be unable to survive without an energy source as abundant as the sun," Morpheus informs him.
Neo exhales as he listens to him, "Throughout human history, we have been dependent on machines to survive." Morpheus states as he chuckles a little to himself. "Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony." he said as he looks out at the clouds as the roar "The human body generates more bioelectricity than a 120-volt battery and over 25,000 BTUs of body heat. Combined with a form fusion, the machines have found all the energy they would ever need." Morpheus states.
Then he looks at Neo, "There are fields, endless fields, where humans beings were no longer born. We were grown." Morpheus states as Neo stiffens from the mere sight of what the T.V was showing him. "For the longest time, I wouldn't believe it and then I saw the fields with my own eyes, watched him liquefy the dead so they could be fed intravenously to the living. And standing there, facing the pure horrifying precision, I came to believe the obviousness of the truth." Morpheus states as they were back in the white room and Morpheus stood up, "What is the Matrix?" Morpheus states as he turns the T.V off, walking past it. "Control," he answers.
As Neo was shaking with rage, slowly shaking his head "The Matrix is a computer-generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this." he said, holding up a battery. Neo looks at him, shaking his head. "No. I don't believe it. It's not possible." Neo states as he refused to believe the truth. Freaking out that this was the real world. "I didn't say it would be easy, Neo. I just said it would be the truth." Morpheus reminds him. But Neo shook his head stepping away. "Stop! Let me out!" Neo shouts as he looks around the white room. "Let me out! I want out!"
~8~8~8~
Neo gasps as he snaps his eyes open, Bozer presses Neo back as Zelda pressed her hand to Neo's shoulder. "Easy Neo," Zelda calls out as Trinity stood next to her. "Take this thing out of me," Neo grumbles as he began to thrash around. "Neo, calm down," Trinity tells him as she grips his arm. "Take this thing..." Neo mutters as the monitor keeps up on his heartbeat and Zelda removes the jack from the plug and Neo lunges away "Don't touch me! Get away from me! Stay away from me!" he shouts as he stumbles back from the other.
His heart beating like crazy, cold sweat running down his forehead, Trinity went to stop him, but Zelda stops her "I don't believe it." Neo mutters as Zelda held up her hands and steps closer towards him, "I know, I know. The truth is hard to accept, but living a lie is no better." she tells him as he glares at her and the others ran towards him. "I don't believe it. I don't believe it." Neo mutters as he fell to a knee, feeling sick. "He's gonna pop." Cypher calls out.
Then Morpheus steps over to them, but Trinity held him back, "Neo, I need you to breathe, you're suffocating yourself." Zelda tells him as she leans forward carefully as Neo's face was red. "Neo," she calls out then Neo was on all fours, he vomits on the ground and collapsed onto his side. "Neo!" Zelda calls out as she scrambles over to his side and pulls him away from his vomit. "Neo..." she mutters as she held him in her arms.
~8~8~8~
Neo flutters his eyes open finding himself back in his bunker room, he turns his head a little but didn't need to see that Morpheus was sitting next to him, then he lays his head back down on the pillow. "I can't go back, can I?" Neo asks him. "No. but if you could, would you really want to?" Morpheus asks him.
Neo didn't answer, "I feel I owe you an apology. We have a rule-- we never free a mind once it's reached a certain age. It's dangerous. The mind has trouble letting go. I've seen it before, and I'm sorry." Morpheus tells him as Neo just listens "I did what I did because... I had to." he confesses and Neo turns his head a little as Morpheus leans forward. "When the Matrix was first built, there was a man born inside who had the ability to change whatever he wanted, to remake the Matrix as he saw fit. It was he who freed the first of us, taught us the truth." Morpheus informs him and looks over at Neo. "As long as the Matrix exists, the human race will never be free." he said and looks away from him, "After he died, the Oracle prophesied his return and that his coming would hail the destruction of the Matrix end the war, bring freedom to our people. This is why there are those of us who have spent our entire lives searching the Matrix, looking for him. I did what I did because... I believe that search is over." Morpheus states.
Then Neo turns and looks at him as Morpheus looks down at him, "Get some rest. You're going to need it." he informs him then stood up and walks towards the door, Neo sat up and looks at him, "For what?" he asks, Morpheus stops and looks at him "Your training." he answers and steps out of the room and closes the door behind him.