Card 4: Queen of Spades
Lights were flickering on the Nebuchadezzar, Neo stayed up all night, unable to sleep from everything that he learned from Morpheus. Then the sound of footsteps got his attention as they were coming towards his room. Then his door was turned and open then in steps Zelda as she smiles at him, "Can't sleep?" she asks, he shook his head at her then looks away, she frowns knowing he was upset with her.
She sighs and leans against the door, "I owe you an explanation." she states, folding her arms behind her back. "A terrifying voicemail of you crying, saying you think you were going crazy and you begging me not to come and look for you. A couple of months later you come back, telling me that the world we lived in, grew up in was fake. A lie." he snaps at her. She closes her eyes nodding her head, understanding his anger. "After I sent you that voicemail, Agent Smith found me and took me in to be interrogated, but my mind it kept flashing between encoded and normal. Then I saw Smith for what he was, a machine, just a computer. Everything was just a program to control me, I rejected it. Rejected the matrix and when I screamed, everything fell away." she states as she moves away from the door and sat down next to him.
He just looks at her, "Then I found myself in that power plant of there, something to turn into a battery. I refused it and forced the machines to free me from their power plant and from there, I survived for about a year on my own in the real world, the machine tried to take recapture me, but I always outsmarted them, remained a step ahead of them. But then I saw it." she states and he looks at her, "The Field?" he asks and she nods. "Yeah, the image has been burned into my mind, I barely escape with my life," she states then smirks. "They gave me a few scars along the way too," she states as she shows him the scars on her neck. He nods and looks away, she frowns and lets go of her shirt. "Then I stumbled upon Morpheus and his crew, they were shocked when I left the Matrix on my own, but Morpheus let me join his crew and I've been helping them ever since, for 3 years now," she informs him.
Then she looks at him, "Why didn't you contact me sooner?" he questions her, she leans back against the wall. "I wanted to, but I was afraid." she answers and he looks at her, "I thought of all the ways you would yell at me, blame me, even cut off all times with me." she admits to him, Neo just sighs at her, "So I watched from afar, making sure you were alright whenever you got back home, had to retrain myself from marching into that building you worked out and punching your boss in the face." she chuckles a little. "I never wanted you to get involved with this war between man and machine, but then I wanted to save you from becoming a battery to fuel the machines," she answers and he looks at her.
He nods and looks down at the floor, "I am sorry Neo. I never meant to hurt you, I never meant to leave. The thought of you kept me going through these three years." she tells him, he said nothing. She exhales and nods her head at him, she stood up, she went to leave the room, but then stops as she gasps as she felt the light touch of his hand, slip over her wrist and he grabs a hold of it, she yelps as she was back and stumbles onto Neo's lap. Her arms wrapped around his neck out of instinct and she looks at him, "Don't ever leave like that again." he warns her. She smiles and nods her head. "I promise," she swore and hugs him tightly in her arms and Neo returns the heartwarming hug.
They then pulled away from each other and just smiles, then someone was walking towards Neo's room and Zelda stood up from his lap and the door opens and there stood Tank. "Morning," he said to them, Zelda gave him a friendly smile. "Do you sleep?" he asks Neo, who just shook his head at him "You will tonight. I guarantee it." Tank states and walks into the room, "Neo, this is Tank, he's our operator for the Matrix." Zelda informs him and Tank shook his hand and Neo notices his arms were completely normal. "You don't-- you don't have any--" Neo asks him. "Holes? Nope." Tank answers as he lets Neo's hand go. "Me and my brother Dozer, we're both 100% pure, old-fashioned, homegrown human, born free right here in the real world." Tank answers.
Zelda rolls her eyes playfully at him as she crosses her arms "Genuine child of Zion." Tank informs him, "Zion?" Neo asks, "The last remaining human city, near the core of the planet, last place where there's any heat." Zelda answers him, Tank smirks at her "If the war is over tomorrow, Zion's where the party will be." he jokes and she shoves his shoulder a little. "You live long enough, you might even see it." Tank informs Neo. Neo just looks at him as Tank couldn't help but smile. "God damn, I-- I got to tell you, I'm-- I'm fairly excited to see what you're capable of if Morpheus is right and all." Tank states, Zelda shot a glare at him as Neo looks up at him, "We're not supposed to talk about this, but if you are it's a very exciting time. We've gotta lot to do. We gotta get to it." Tank informs him. Zelda exhales as she pushes herself off the wall.
~8~8~8~
Tank jumps into the operator chair as Zelda stood next to Neo with her hand on his shoulder "Now... we're supposed to start with these operation programs first. That's major boring shit." Tank states as he tosses a few of the program disk to the side. "Let's do something a little more fun. How about... combat training." Tank states, Zelda rolls her eyes and looks down at Neo as tank places the disk in the slide and inject it in.
Then Neo looks up at Zelda, "You'll be alright, just relax your body and open your mind." she tells him, "Got any other advice?" he jokes, making her smile a little. "Forget what you know about the rules and bend them to your will," she adds in and kisses his cheek. He was shocked at this as she pulls away. "Jujitsu? I'm going to learn Jujitsu?" Neo asks. Tank and Zelda said nothing as he loads up the program and Neo went stiff, feeling all the knowledge of the fighting style flow through his brain.
Zelda pulls back as she watches him for a moment and Neo gasps as he snaps his eyes open and was panting "Holy shit!" he gasps. Tank and Zelda smile at him. "Hey, Mikey, I think he likes it. How about some more?" Tank asks and Neo nods his head "Hell, yes. Hell yeah." he answers and lays his head back. Zelda nods as she pulls alright "All right, I'll let you boys play." she tells them, patting Neo's shoulder. "Tank care of him Tank." she calls out, "Roger that," he calls back as she left the main deck.
Hours went by as everyone was still sleeping, but Neo was still going at the training, his body was relaxed as he mind kept accepting the knowledge of information. Tank blinks his eyes a little as he tries to stay awake, downloading the combat program. Then Morpheus walks down into the main deck and strolls up next to Tank, placing his hands on Tank's shoulders. "How is he?" he asks him, "10 hours straight. He's a machine." Tank answers him.
Neo switches a little as he sweating from the cold sweat then he relaxes as he inhales, opening his eyes and pants softly then he looks over at Morpheus who was standing next to him. "I know Kung fu," he whispers and Morpheus leans in close to him. "Show me."
~8~8~8~
Both Neo and Morpheus were standing in a dojo, wearing training attires and stood in front of one another. "This is a sparring program, similar to the programmed reality of the Matrix. It has the same basic rules, rules like gravity." Morpheus informs him as Neo looks around the dojo. "What you must learn is that these rules are no different than the rules of a computer system, some of them can be bent, others can be broken. Understand?" Morpheus informs him.
Neo nods his head at him "Then hit me... if you can." Morpheus tells him and Neo stood his stance, fast and ready. Morpheus's stance was calm and centered, then Neo charges forward and strikes at Morpheus, but the man blocks his attacks. Neo grunts as he strikes, then Morpheus dodges his attack and spins away, Neo stood ready and able as Morpheus was calm and collected. Neo then pulls out, jumping a little as he smiles through his pants. Then he took his stance again, wiping his nose with his thumb. Then Morpheus waves for him to come at him.
And Neo did so, he charged at him, but Morpheus blocks his attacks and pulls away, then Neo swung his leg at him a few times then Morpheus caught Neo's foot, spins him in the air and Neo smacks down onto the ground, but he had his arms ready and looks up at Morpheus. "Good!" Morpheus states as Neo pants and pulls himself back up, "Adaptation, improvisation. But your weakness is not your technique." Morpheus informs him.
Neo nods at him as he swung his leg at him, that Morpheus then dodges, their moves were fast, each fist was blocked effortlessly as the training carried on.
~8~8~8~
Mouse jumps off the ladder ran towards the mess hall and burst through the door, everyone inside, stops and looks at him, "Morpheus is fighting Neo." he informs them.
And like that, they dropped what they were doing, scrambled onto their feet and hurried out of the mess hall.
~8~8~8~
Morpheus and Neo were blocking each other attacks, as Morpheus kicks Neo back, but he came at Morpheus again, only to be caught off guard, his foot locks in behind Neo's and slams his hand into the man's chest, sending him flying onto his back. But Neo looks at him, spins back onto his feet and charges at Morpheus again, who dodges Neo's attack, blocks his next attack then slams his fist into Neo's back sending him flying forward and Morpheus jumps high into the over towards Neo.
He looks up at Morpheus as he was right over him, then he rolls out of the way as Morpheus slams his knee onto the ground, breaking the floor in. then Neo rolls and backflips away, landing on his feet, then he shot up, turning towards Morpheus and tries to strike at him again. But Morpheus blocks his attacks, then slams his hand into Neo's chest, sending him flying onto the ground again and this time, he lands on his front side.
In the chair, Neo jerks a little, Cypher smirks to himself then looks at Zelda as Trinity had her hand on her shoulder and Zelda biting her lip worried for Neo. Cypher just looks away as he watches the fight.
Neo pulls himself back and took his stance as Morpheus moves his feet fast and took his stance as well. Then they squared off, the Morpheus strikes at him, landing a hit, but then Neo blocks his attacks as well, trying to throw Morpheus off balance, but Morpheus picks himself right back up. Then Neo dodges his attacks, then ran at the pillar, ran up and jumps off it.
He flips over Morpheus, who watches him fly over him, then as Neo lands on the ground in front of Morpheus, he was then kicked in the chest, sending him flying back and slams into the pillar, breaking it and he smacks against the ground. Panting as he was defeated. "How did I beat you?" Morpheus asks him as Neo picks himself back up and looks up at him. "You're-- you're too fast," Neo answers as he pants. "Do you believe that my being stronger or faster anything to do with my muscles in this place?" Morpheus asks as he steps over towards Neo.
Neo looks up at him and shook his head then hung it. Then Morpheus leans down in front of him "You think that's the air you're breathing now?" Morpheus asks him and Neo looks up at him, then nods his head, Morpheus arches his eyebrows at him as Neo slows his breathing as he was perfectly fine. "Hmm." Morpheus hums as he pulls away and turns from him. Neo stood up as he can control his breathing. "Again," Morpheus tells him.
~8~8~8~
Everyone stood in front of the monitors as they watched the beginning of the next round, "Come on, Neo." Zelda mutters to herself as she bites her knuckle.
~8~8~8~
Neo stood ready in his stance as did Morpheus in his stance, then Morpheus charges at him, but then Neo started to block all of his attacks, he moves in perfect sync.
The monitor at the operator's chair shows Neo starting to move faster. "Jesus Christ, he's fast. Take a look at his neuro kinetics, they're way above normal." Mouse informs them, pointing at the screen. But Tank just smirks at he places Mouse's finger down. "You got this, Neo," Zelda mutters to herself, so no one could hear.
~8~8~8~
Neo was blocking Morpheus attack, took some of them, then threw a few attacks at him, then Morpheus went to strike him, but stops his fist in front of Neo's face, making him glance at the fist, then he pulls back and took his stance, "What are you waiting for? You're faster than this." Morpheus tells him, then pulls out and stuck his hand out. Neo just looks at him. "Don't think you are, know you are," Morpheus tells him and waves for him to come at him again.
Then Neo took another stand and was ready for him, Morpheus nods and charged at Neo, but Neo blocks his attacks, then he went to strike at him, but Morpheus blocks him and locks his arms. "Come on, stop trying to hit me and hit me," Morpheus shouts at him. Neo pulls his arms out from the locks and continues to strike at Morpheus. Then Neo began to move even faster, Morpheus unable to keep up with him, he dodges one of Neo's attack, but didn't make in time to dodge the second attack as Neo hits Morpheus in the chest then Neo's fist stops in front of his face, making him free.
~8~8~8~
Mouse was stun as Neo actually beat Morpheus, "I don't believe it." he mutters, Zelda looks at the others as she looks away and hides the small smile of her.
~8~8~8~
Neo looks at Morpheus as he was calm and relaxed. "I know what you're trying to do." Neo tells him as he pulls his fist back "I'm trying to free your mind, Neo, but I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it." Morpheus informs him and Neo exhales. "Tank, load the jump program," Morpheus calls out.
~8~8~8~
Tank nods as he pulls out the jump program, everyone stood on edge as this was the hardest program to get on their first try.
They exchanged looks at Trinity looks at Zelda, who kept her eyes on the screen on the front of her. Then Tank installs the jump program and hits the load button.
~8~8~8~
Morpheus and Neo were back in different attire then found themselves on a roof inside the system city, Neo steps back as he looks around at the city around him. "You have to let it all go, Neo, fear, doubt, and disbelief." Morpheus states as Neo looks at him. "Free... your mind." Morpheus tells him.
He then turns, ran towards the edge of the roof then he lunges himself off, flying 50 feet across the gap and lands on the other roof, making a dent in the roof and turns and smiles at him. "Whoa." Neo mutters then he walks over towards the end of the roof and looks down at the 70 feet drop. "Okey-dokey. Free my mind." Neo states as he turns away and went to make a head start.
~8~8~8~
Mouse bites on his nail, "So what if he makes it?" he asks aloud. "No one's ever made their first jump." Tank reminds him. Zelda said nothing as she crosses and grips her arms "I know, I know. But what if he does?" Mouse asks him again.
Apoc shook his head at him, "He won't." he answers him, Trinity looks at Zelda as she kept her eyes glued on the screen. "Come on," she whispers to herself.
~8~8~8~
Neo claps his hands and rubs them together, "All right, no problem. Free my mind. Free my mind, no problem, right." Neo mutters to himself as he went to make a run for it "Forget what you know about the rules and bend them to your will." Zelda's voice echos in the back of his head. He thinks on it then he exhales and looks at the edge of the roof.
Then he charges forward and jumps off the roof, he makes it halfway but then cries out as he was now falling those 70 feet drop. But as soon as he came in contact with the ground, it pulls him in, like rubber and then shot him back out, then he went falling back down and smacks against the ground, groaning in pain.
~8~8~8~
Zelda exhales as she closes her eyes and lowers her head, everyone else sighs as well as Mouse was just confused. Apoc pats his shoulder as he walks away. "Wh-what does that mean?" he asks, "It doesn't mean anything." Switch answers as she too follows after him.
Trinity sighs as she too walks away, "Everybody falls the first time, right, Z?" Cypher asks as he looks over at her, but saw that she was already gone. The chairs then lower down as Neo was already awake. Then Dozer removes the jack from Morpheus's plug. Neo exhales as the jack was removed from his plug and he gasps as he felt pain in his rips.
Morpheus looks over at him as Neo tries to seat forward, gut his gasp in pain, holding his rips, then tasted something metallic in his mouth, he places his fingers in his mouth and pulls them out and looks down at the blood on his fingertips. "I thought it wasn't real," Neo asks him. "Your mind makes it real," Morpheus answers him, then Neo looks down at the blood. "If you're killed in the Matrix, you die here?" Neo asks him. Morpheus just looks at him. "The body cannot live without the mind," Morpheus informs him and Neo just looks at him.
~8~8~8~
Neo's door was open as Zelda walks in with a tray of food, "Neo, I brought you some food, though you might be--" she tells him then looks over at him, then smiles, seeing that he was asleep. His blanket scrunched up and his foot hanging off the side. "Oh Neo," she mutters then walks over to the head of the bed.
Kneels down as she sets the tray down, then grips the blanket, straightening it out to cover him and places his foot back in the bed, then she walks over and kneels back down next to him, looking at his sleeping face, she couldn't deny the feeling of warmth growing inside her chest every time she looked at him.
True the Matrix wasn't real, everything created inside the Matrix was fake, the programs created to keep every human grown contained and comfortable, but she knew the Neo was real to her, feel enough to keep her sane during her time inside the Matrix and outside in the Real World. She reaches out and strokes the side of his cheek then leans up and kisses his temple. "Sleep well, Neo," she whispers and then pulls away and walks out of his room, she closes the stood but then glares at Cypher as he was leaning against the wall.
She looks away from him and gently closes the door. "I don't remember you ever bringing me dinner." he states, "You sound jealous." she snaps at him. He smirks walks over and leans against Neo's door. "There is something about him, isn't there?" he questions her, she glares at him, "Don't tell me you're suddenly a believer," she questions him. He just looks at the door. "I just keep wondering if Morpheus is so sure... why doesn't he take him to see the Oracle?" Cypher questions her. "And you care about him?" she questions him, he said nothing and she turns away. Then Cypher watches her walk away.
~8~8~8~
The red walk light remained red for a moment then it turns green and the people were walking down the sidewalk to cross the road. Morpheus merged into the crowd as Neo follows after him "The Matrix is a system, Neo." Morpheus calls out to him as Neo bumps into a few people. "That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, Carpenters--" Morpheus informs him.
Neo was trying to avoid bumping into people as he tries to keep up. "The very minds of people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still apart of that system, and that makes them our enemy." Morpheus informs him as Neo looks over at an officer as he stops writing a ticket and glares over at Neo.
But he looks away and follows after Morpheus "You have to understand-- most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it." Morpheus informs him, then a woman in a red dress catches Neo's attention. She looks at him and smiles as he walks past her.
Morpheus stops and looks at him, "Are you listening to me, Neo?" Morpheus calls out, making Neo stop and look at him. "Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?" he asks him. "I was..." Neo tries to explain. "Look again," Morpheus tells him, then Neo turns around and saw Agent Smith aiming his gun at him and Neo flinches. "Freeze it." Morpheus orders and everyone around them froze, even agent Smith.
Neo relaxes as he stood up and looks up at Agent Smith. "This... this isn't the Matrix?" Neo asks as Morpheus walks up next to him. "No. It's another training program designed to teach you one thing-- if you are not one of us, you are one of them." Morpheus answers as he looks at Smith. "What are they?" Neo asks him. Morpheus looks at him, "Sentient Programs. They can move in and out of any software still hardwired to their system. That means that anyone we hasn't unplugged is potentially an agent. Inside the Matrix... they are everyone... and they are no one." Morpheus answers him.
Then he looks at Smith, "This one, in particular, has a personal vendetta against Zelda for these two have been battling each other ever since they first met. He even almost came close to killing her." Morpheus informs him and Neo shot his eyes over at him. "Almost?" he questions, Morpheus looks at him and smirks. "Zelda is clever enough to outrun him, thus their battle continues," he informs him and Neo looks back at Smith. "We have survived by hiding from them and by running from them. But they are the gatekeepers. They are guarding all the doors. They are holding all the keys, which means sooner or later, someone is going to have to fight back against them." Morpheus informs him.
Neo just glanced at him, "Someone?" he questions, "I won't lie to you, Neo. Every single man or woman who has stood their ground, everyone who has fought an Agent, has died. But where they have failed, you will succeed." Morpheus informs him. "Why?" Neo questions him. "I've seen an agent punch through a concrete wall. Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air. Yet their strength and their speed are stilled based in a world that is built on rules. Because of that, they will never be as strong or as fast as you can be." Morpheus informs him.
Neo licks the inside of his mouth and closes it, "What are you trying to tell me, that I can dodge bullets?" Neo questions him. Morpheus just smiles at him. "No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready... you won't have to." Morpheus answers him. Neo felt skeptical, then Morpheus' phone rings and he answers it. It was Tank on the other line "We got trouble."
~8~8~8~
The Nebuchadezzar flew through an old and rusted tunnel as it was on the move, Bozer flew the ship as Morpheus then joins him in the cockpit. Then Zelda hurries into the cockpit as the ship shook a little, Neo and Trinity kept their balance as the ship shook, then Zelda took her seat as she flips a few switches.
Neo looks around at the cockpit then watches as Trinity walks past him "Did Zion send a warning?" Morpheus asks. "No. Another ship." Bozer asks her. Trinity checks the scanners, then looks out to the front, holding onto the wires above them. Then Zelda leans out and looks at the scan of the pipes and picks up on the Sentient life form. "Damn. Squiddy's sweepin' in quick." Bozer states. "Which means more than one," Zelda states as she turns away. "Squiddy?" Neo asks. "A Sentient, a killing machine designed for one thing," Trinity answers him. "Search and destroy." Bozer answers.
Then Zelda pulls up a 3D blueprint of the layout, "Alright, we're not far from a good place to hide and power down." she calls out and Morpheus looks at her, "The network connects ahead off us, there's a pipe on the low level for us to hide, to the right below us." she answers, he nods and looks away. "Set her down over there." Morpheus orders as he points over to the right. Bozer nods at him and the entered a network of where the pipes connect to. Then once inside, Bozer flew over to the side, finding the pipe Zelda pointed out and he drove the ship inside the darkened pipe and lands the ship.
The ship shook a little as Bozer then flip a flew switches "How we doing, Tank?" Morpheus asks over the walkie. Then the whole ship began to power down "Power off-line. E.M.P. armed and ready." Tank answers him. Neo shot a look at Zelda "E.M.P?" he asks and she looks up at him, "Electromagnetic pulse. Disable any electrical system in the blast radius. The only weapon powerful enough to kill the machines." she answers him.
Then Morpheus places a hoodie on his head to keep himself warm as Neo kept his eyes out on weak mist in front of them. "Where are we?" Neo asks as he looks around. "The old service and waste systems," Zelda inform him. "Sewers." Neo answers. "Once a glorious city once stood above that stretch out for miles, these are all that's left of the ruins that are still intact," Zelda whispers to him. "Quiet," Morpheus tells them.
They watched and saw one of the Sentient killer machines flew past them into the weak mist, Neo's eyes widen as he saw another come out, then followed by another, Bozer just watches as one climbs on the side of the sewer walls, then jumps off. But they look right at them. Trinity froze as Zelda sat tall. It then pulls out a satellite scanner and scans for any electric energy, it found one and flew away, Bozer lets out a breath as he sighs and leans back in his chair. Zelda closes her eyes and sighs as well. Then they all looked at one another they were in the clear, for now.
~8~8~8~
Later as everyone was asleep, Cypher was sitting in the operator chair as he types away on the keyboard, the power comes back on as he was setting something up or trying to set something up. He planned to do something and kept to it, unaware someone was standing right next to him.
He then turns, finding Neo was standing next to him, "Whoa! Neo!" he said as he jumps, making Neo jumps as well. "You scared the bejesus out of me." Cypher states and powers down the monitors' web. "Sorry." Neo apologizes to him, "It's Ok." Cypher tells him, then Neo looks at the main computers. "Is that..." he asks. "The Matrix? Yeah." Cypher answers. "Do you always looked at it encoded?" Neo asks as he tries to make sense of it. "Well, you have to. The image translators work for the construct program. But there's way too much information to decode the Matrix, you get use to it. but Zelda obviously could read encoded Matrix, no idea how." Cypher states and Neo looks at him, "Guess that was surviving in the real world, learn to understand the language." he states and Neo nods at him. "I-- I don't even see the code. All I see is Blonde, Brunette, Redhead." Cypher mutters and Neo nods at him.
Then Cypher looks out to see no one else was awake and he looks over at Neo, "Hey. You uh... want a drink?" he asks him. "Sure," Neo mutters at him. Cypher picks up two cups, then a jug and pours the liquid inside the cup and offers it to Neo. "You know, um... I know what you're thinking... 'Cause right now I'm thinking the same thing. Actually I-- I been thinking it ever since I got here." Cypher states as he sighs to himself. "Why, oh, why didn't I take the blue pill?" Cypher states.
Neo just lets out a breathy chuckle as Cypher sips from the jug, then Neo sip from his cup, but as he swallows it, he then cough as it was rough going down. Cypher just grins at him "Good shit, huh?" he laughs, patting Neo on the back and Neo just looks at him. "Dozer makes it. It's good for 2 things-- degreasing engines and killing brain cells." Cypher states as Neo takes another drink as he exclaims from the taste. "So, uh, can I ask you something?" Cypher asks him and Neo nods at him "Did he tell you why he did it?" Cypher asks of him. Neo stops and looks at him "Why you're here?" Cypher asks. Neo pauses for a moment then looks away and nods at him. "Je...sus!" Cypher groans and shook his head. "What a mind job. So you here to save the world. What do you say to something like that?" Cypher questions.
Neo said nothing and looks down at his cup. "Little piece of advice." Cypher offers and Neo looks at him, "You see an agent, you do what we do... run. You run your ass off." Cypher offers him, Neo said nothing then finishes his drink off and places it on the side, "Thanks for the drink." Neo said and walks off. "Sweet dreams." Cypher calls out and took a sip from it.
Neo walks down the hall, then bumps into Zelda, "Sorry." Neo mutters, without even looking. "Tom." Zelda calls out, he stops and looks down at her, "You okay? I was just about to come and check up on you, to make sure you were doing okay." she informs him, he exhales and bites his lips, Zelda kept a neutral face as her heart twist at the sight of his lip biting. "Could you stay with me, just for tonight. I don't want to be alone," he asks her and she nods at him. "Of course," she answers, rubbing his shoulder. "Come on," she tells him and they both walk down the hall.
~8~8~8~
Inside the Matrix, Cypher was sitting in a fancy restaurant, cutting up a medium raw steak with his knife and fork. "Do we have a deal... Mr. Regan?" Agent Smith asks him. Cypher took a piece of that steak into his fork and he held it up looking at it. "You know... I know this steak doesn't exist. I know when I put it in my mouth... the Matrix is telling my brain that it is... juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize?" Cypher states.
As he looks at agent Smith and he stuffs the piece in his mouth and chews it and sighs to himself. "Ignorance is bliss," he states as the server takes the bottle and someone playing on the harp. "Then we have a deal," Smith states Cypher nods at him as he grips his glass of wine. "I don't wanna remember nothing. Nothing. You understand?" Cypher informs him. Smith nods at him, then Cypher inhales the smell of the wine. "And I want to be rich. You know... someone important... like an actor." he states and sips his wine.
Smith shrugs at him, "Whatever you want... Mr. Reagan." Smith states, Cypher looks at him and he nods at him. "Ok. You get my body back in the power plant. Reinsert men into the Matrix, I'll get you what you want." Cypher agrees as he lights his cigar. "Access codes to Zion Mainframe," Smith informs him. "No. I told you, I don't know them." Cypher reminds him and Smith did not like that answer. Then Cypher looks away, "I can get you the man who does." he offers. "Morpheus." Smith states. Cypher looked at him for a moment then he looks away.