The training session came to an end and any further training had to be delayed, because the ship finally reached Zion for refuelling, recharging, restocking of the food dispenser, and emptying the waste disposal system. A full systems check would happen after that and then again when the ship was scheduled to leave.

“This is the Nebuchadnezzar on approach.” Dozer said over the comms. “Requesting access through Gate 3.”

“Nebuchadnezzar, this is Zion control.” A soft woman's voice responded. “Maintain present velocity and stand by.”

“Roger that, Control. Standing by.” Dozer responded and let the ship float along without deviating from the path it was on.

Inside the control room deep inside the Zion hangar bay, the operators watched over the people running the control programs for everything in the city.

The woman who spoke to the ship was actually logged into a Construct and had better access to their computer systems than a normal communications operator had, thanks to being inside the system itself. She changed comm channels to the defence forces that protected the city from attacks.

“This is Zion Control, requesting immediate stand down of arms at Gate 3. We have the Nebuchadnezzar on approach.” She said and kept typing and moving icons on her virtual screen. “Let's open her up.”

“Roger that, Control.” The scruffy man assigned to the defense forces responded and entered the commands to disable the automated turrets that surrounded the gate. They powered down and turned away from the approaching ship, to everyone on the ship's relief. “Defenses are down and doors are opening.”

“Nebuchadnezzar, you're clear to enter through Gate 3 and can dock at Bay 7.” The woman told Dozer.

“Roger that, Control.” Dozer said and she could hear the relief in his voice.

The woman on the line smiled. “The door's open and the bed's made. Welcome home.”

“It's damn good to be back.” Dozer said with a grin as the ship slowly passed through the open gate.

The woman changed channels again. “The Nebuchadnezzar is clear. Go ahead and lock back up.”

“Roger that, Control.” The man in the defense control room answered and hit the close button as he switched to the all hands signal for his department. “Everyone stand by for Gate 3 lockdown.”

Giant gears spun slowly, large stone counterweights moved, and the large gates slid closed again, in a repeat of what they did to open.

Several poorly designed mech suits with completely exposed operators inside, kept their guns aimed at the opening until the doors clanged shut with a bang so loud that it echoed throughout the entire dock. They turned around and faced away from the doors as they set their mechs into standby mode to save power.

Dozer flew the ship expertly across the crowded hangar to the seventh dock at the main base in the middle of the hangar. Bay 7 was a platform barely large enough for the ship to set down on, since space was at a premium in such a crowded and constantly used hangar.

“The Nebuchadnezzar is down at Bay 7.” The woman told the dock operator.

“Understood.” The younger man said from his own station. “Locking down the location. Shift any other approaching ships to the opposite side of the dock for balance. A maintenance crew is standing by for deployment.”

“Acknowledged.” The woman said and switched back to Dozer. “Maintenance crews are ready to deploy on your captain's command.”

“Thanks, Control.” Dozer said and handed his headset to Morpheus.

“The command is given.” Morpheus told the woman.

“Roger that, relaying command. Control out.” The woman said and ended the call.

Morpheus handed the headset back and Dozer hung it on the hook above his head. He powered down most of the ship's systems and only kept the minimum needed for standby mode. As soon as the ship was refuelled and set to charge, he could shut it down fully to have the thing looked over.

Flying through old sewers and subway tunnels was dangerous enough with the ship being in top shape. If they didn't maintain it well, there was no telling how long the thing would last before it broke down.

All of the crew gathered on the main deck with their things, mostly dirty clothes that needed to be cleaned, and the loading ramp dropped down. It opened the ship up for the first time in weeks and the partially stale air inside was almost instantly replaced with air full of the smells of machines, grease, oil, steam, and everything else a busy hangar bay for hoverships had.

“Ahh, nothing beats the smell of home.” Dozer said and clapped Neo on the back. “Don't forget to stop by when you get a chance.”

“I will, if only to see the woman who thought you were a good catch.” Neo joked and Dozer laughed.

“Make sure to wear that sweater, too. She made it.” Dozer said.

“I will.” Neo promised. Unlike the others, he didn't have any other clothes to take with him as he stepped off of the ship with the other crew members leaving it. He did not miss the fact that Mouse was not one of them. “Who do I need to talk to about being assigned somewhere to live?”

“Come with me.” Morpheus ordered and started to walk away with his bag before Tank stopped him and took it from him. “Thank you.”

“I'll drop it off at your place on my way to visit my sister.” Tank said and waved to Dozer. “I'll let Cas know you'll be on the way soon.”

Dozer saluted and went back into the ship. He had work to do before he could officially leave.

Neo turned and gave Mouse a wave and made a phone call sign, which seemed to brighten the thin man's fake smile into a genuine one. Mouse waved back and followed Dozer into the ship and out of sight.

Neo followed Morpheus along the bridge walkway from the main dock to a large mechanical door that was already opened. In times of crisis, it would be closed as another form of defense to protect the people. The human guards there nodded to Morpheus and he nodded back.

An older black man with an Afro hairstyle was just inside the door and actually smiled at him. “Captain Morpheus.”

“Captain Mifune.” Morpheus said and smiled back.

“I see you managed to find yourself another crewmate.” Mifune said and gave Neo a searching look.

“If he agrees to it, he's more than welcome to crew on my ship.” Morpheus responded.

“Hold on, I have a choice?” Neo asked, surprised.

Morpheus gave him a pointed look. “You always have a choice.”

“I thought since you found me, I fell under your your authority and was your responsibility.” Neo said.

Mifune gave Morpheus a slight frown. “That's not how people are supposed to be recruited into the defense forces.” He said with a frown. “Conscription does not a reliable soldier make.”

Morpheus let out a sigh and turned to face Neo. “Yes, I did find you. It has been my life's goal since I was young to find you.”

That made Mifune's eyebrows shoot up into his hair. There was no way that Morpheus was serious about this tall muscular blond guy being The One.

“Despite that, I can't in good conscience force you to fight if you don't want to.” Morpheus said and a look of disappointment crossed his face before he blanked it. “I just hope I can convince you over the next few days that fulfilling your purpose and helping humanity finally end the war is of supreme importance.”

“What purpose?” Neo asked and looked confused.

Morpheus looked surprised and seemed at a loss for words.

Mifune slapped a hand over his own face. “Oh, for the love of god.” The older man said and dropped his hand to glare at Morpheus. “You didn't even tell him why you broke him out of the Matrix at his age or filled him in on what's been going on?”

Morpheus just stood there, stunned, because he had completely forgotten to relay any kind of information about that to the man he had rescued from his bio-pod. He did tell him that he was The One, but that was pretty much it. They had returned to Zion before he could continue their lessons about everything, including the war against the machines and what Neo's role was going to be.

“I think you broke him, Captain.” Neo said and snapped his fingers in front of Morpheus' face.

Mifune sighed and grabbed Morpheus by the arm and motioned for Neo to follow. “I assume he's taking you to have living space assigned?”

“Yes, sir.” Neo said and followed him and Morpheus along the hallway and down another to where a small office was. Inside was an old man and an old woman talking.

“Councillor Hamaan, Councillor Dillard.” Mifune said and nodded at the robed man first and then at the woman wearing a nice smock and knitted shawl.

“Captain Mifune.” Both of them said and nodded back.

“Morpheus here made a small blunder in not informing his latest rescue about the state of the world and what The One's role could potentially be in it.” Mifune said, quite pointedly.

Both the old man and old woman looked surprised and they both turned to observe the tall blond man.

“I thought I was already a part of his crew and would receive wages or rations because of that, as well as having the right of living space assigned back here in Zion.” Neo told them. “I haven't quite proven my value to the ship's crew yet...”

Morpheus sucked in a sharp breath at hearing that and it also ended the state of shock he was in.

“...and I assumed there would be some kind of courses or tests I needed to pass first to be approved to crew on a ship.” Neo finished.

“Anyone that wishes to join the defense forces will be granted certain privileges over other citizens of Zion. No matter their skills, a spot can and will be found to put them in, since every hand is useful in any capacity.” The old woman said with conviction.

The men in the room watched as she walked over to Neo, her deft movements almost commanding their attention. She was only about 5 feet tall, so she had to crane her neck to look up and meet his gaze at his 6 foot 3 inches of height.

“I am Councillor Dillard and I am in charge of personnel allotment, living areas, and resource allocation for the population.” She said as she held a hand out for him to shake.

Neo gave her a warm smile that would have made her blush if she was any younger than her already advanced years. “It's nice to meet you, Councillor Dillard.” He said and lifted her dainty and wrinkled hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “You can call me Neo.”

Councillor Hamaan let out a little laugh. “Careful, Robyn. We wouldn't want you to suffer under any undue circumstances.”

Dillard scoffed and let Neo's hand go. “I'm long past the point a good bedding would influence my decisions, Anthony.”

“So, you're not against it?” Neo asked and wagged his eyebrows.

Dillard started to shake her head no, then stopped herself, because that would mean she agreed with it. If she nodded her head yes, she would be answering the question positively. Either action would give the impression she wanted him to bed her.

“You are a lot smarter than you look, Neo.” Dillard said instead.

Neo barked a laugh and gave her a proper salute.

Dillard turned to Mifune and Morpheus. “After I assign him some appropriate living space, make an appointment with him tomorrow to properly fill him in on the situation. Do not berate him if he chooses not to join either of you since it is his choice. If you force him to do anything he does not want to do, and I will ask him about it later, you will answer to me for it.”

Both men stiffened at her commanding voice and both nodded and saluted.

“Thank you, Councillor Dillard.” Neo said. “I appreciate you genuine concern on my behalf.”

Dillard gave him a smile and walked back over to her desk and around it to sit in her chair. She let out a happy sigh at the comfort it gave and looked at Councillor Hamaan. “We can continue our off the record discussion of the botched maintenance crew schedules after supper, Anthony. I have some actual work to do right now.”

Hamaan chuckled at the clear dismissal and nodded. “It's always a delight, Robyn.” He said and walked over to Mifune and Morpheus. “Gentlemen, would you take a walk with me?”

Both captains knew a direct command when they heard it and followed the old man out of the office. Mifune closed the hatch behind them with a soft clang.

“Have a seat, Neo.” Dillard said and motioned towards the small chair.

He gave it a look and then looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

Dillard sat up a bit and peered over her desk to look at the chair and back at Neo. “That's a good point.” She said and pointed to the side of her desk. “Prop yourself against that for now.”

“Yes, ma'am.” Neo said and walked over to her desk and half-sat on the edge of the desk.

Dillard nodded and pulled out a large display monitor from the wall on a swing arm and she started typing on a virtual keyboard at the bottom of the screen. “We're fairly crowded in the main levels, so there's not a lot of space left for single occupants.”

“You can give me a double one if you want.” Neo said and she turned to give him a questioning look. “One of the guys on the ship named Mouse stays on there all the time. I don't know if he has any assigned living space or not.”

Dillard gained a determined look and started typing. She went right to the ship's registry and found the Nebuchadnezzar. A list of crew members appeared on the screen and she checked each one. Switch and Apoc had a place to themselves, Cypher had a single, as did Trinity and Tank. Dozer had one with a wife and two kids and Morpheus had a captain's cabin, which was double the size of a normal living space.

The one crew member that stood out, was Mouse. He had nothing. No living space, no allocated rations of water or food, and he wasn't on the lists for meetings that required all of a ship's crew members, for community gatherings and info sharing, or for celebrations. There was also no record of when Morpheus had found him and brought him onboard. He was just added to the crew list at some point and that was it.

“It seems I have a few things to address besides your living accommodations, Neo.” Dillard said, her voice hard.

Neo held a hand up to ask for attention and Dillard huffed and nodded at him. “He might think exactly what I thought when I was rescued, Madam Councillor.”

Dillard's face grew as hard as her voice. “That he didn't have a choice.”

Neo nodded. “I'm not saying anyone did anything wrong, either.” He said, pointedly. “If you get my meaning.”

Dillard lost the hard look and sighed. “Dammit, you're right. Everyone just assumed everyone else knew what was going on or had already dealt with it, which meant no one actually dealt with it and they thought that was how things would be handled.”

Neo nodded again and didn't say anything else.

Dillard sat there and thought about it for a few moments. “Very well. I'll make an announcement about these kinds of misunderstood events and I'll be sure to send along secured and encoded communications to the other ships, when it is safe to do so, or as soon as they are within the boundaries of Zion's hangar and before they land.”

“You would know what's best for your people.” Neo said with a smile.

“That almost sounded patronizing.” Dillard said, only she smiled as well and didn't take the comment the wrong way.

“I wouldn't dare.” Neo said with a soft chuckle. “You're about to give me a place to live, after all.”

Dillard gave him a smirk and stated typing again. “You'll be assigned married quarters...”

Neo coughed and almost choked on his own saliva.

“...as soon as you get married to a person of your choice and want to have kids.” Dillard said, smugly.

Neo cleared his throat and laughed. “Okay, you got me.”

Dillard winked at him and kept typing. “There's a half-decent sized one down on Deck 7. It's remained empty so far because it's right beside main water reclamation pipes and the sound of churning water is easily heard through the metal walls.”

“We'll take it.” Neo said.

“We?” Dillard asked with a teasing note to her voice.

“And I thought I was a shameless flirt.” Neo said with a laugh. “Yes, we. Mouse and I will share the space, as friends you damn teasing temptress.”

Dillard laughed and put Neo and Mouse into it and renamed it from an assigned apartment number to Bachelor Haven. “I'll pass along your new address to Captain Mifune and Captain Morpheus in the morning.”

Neo nodded and pointed at the thing again. “Since I'm already here, what are the citizen rations like and what perks does serving on a ship get you?”

Dillard turned the screen so he could see it better and started explaining what basic living was like and what contributing to the community earned you. She was the one that handled things like that, so Neo eventually brought up his homemade invention for a self-enclosed water recycling system for personal showers, using several gravity fed water tanks, cleaning chemicals, filters, and self-suction piping to keep the water flowing without the need for power.

Dillard immediately called Councillor West, the black man with a harmonica that was in charge of the Maintenance Department for the city. He brought an entire team with him after hearing Neo's idea and they all gathered around Dillard's desk to draw out the plans and rework what parts needed to be reworked, since they didn't have access to a twentieth century hardware store for the proper supplies.

Needless to say, by the time they were done, Neo had earned a lot of extra perks, the favor of two councillors, and the maintenance team begged for him to keep thinking of other ideas that they could use to take the strain off of the city's strained infrastructure. He also gained access to the manufacturing facilities to help produce the things they needed and was gifted three of the first models produced.

None of them noticed they had worked right through supper without eating and Dillard had been too distracted at seeing the thing work to realize she had missed her private meeting with Councillor Hamaan. She would make it up to him later by giving him the next personal shower produced and he thanked her profusely for it.