After wandering around for several hours, Morpheus eventually found his way to the main hangar. For some reason, he was sure Neo was not going to be there and went there anyway. Since he was there, he could check up on the maintenance of his ship, too.

Almost as soon as Morpheus stepped through the open blast doors, he noticed the commotion near where the mech detachment was stationed. Curious, he walked over to where a large gathering of people stood. It was mostly maintenance crews and mechanics, so he felt a little out of place until he saw several squads of guards approach with Captain Mifune in the lead.

The group of mechanics split apart to let them pass and the guards spread out around a loading bay door. Captain Mifune turned around at the door to face everyone gathered. He waved for silence and everyone quieted down.

“As some of you know, we've been in deep discussions with several commanders, councillors, and advisors.” Mifune said and nearly a third of the gathered people nodded their heads. “It took a lot of reworking, more than a few mistakes...”

“It was Brace's fault!” Someone shouted and everyone laughed.

“I dropped a wrench one goddamn time!” Another man shouted.

“Quiiieeet!” Mifune said and everyone hushed up. “As I was saying, it took a lot of sweat and a few tears...”

“I never knew Commander Lock had it in him to cry like that.” A man whispered nearby.

Morpheus hid his surprise at hearing that and he focused back on Captain Mifune.

“...and we're genuinely proud to present to you, the Viper Combat Unit, Mark One.” Mifune said and and waved off to the side at one of the guards. They hit the release button and Mifune walked off to the other side as the loading bay door opened.

Morpheus felt his heart stutter as a gleaming silver mech was revealed. The thing was barely half the size of the real one standing behind it, which was probably there for comparison. The new one was almost a complete redesign and it looked immensely more deadly.

The large lumbering legs were replaced with shorter and slimmer legs, the large bundles of wires, pistons, and hydraulics were gone and probably inside the square thighs and square calves of the mech. The torso was another square box that seemed to hide everything, including the pilot, and the guns it used to have on the arms were now mounted on the shoulders.

The arms no longer had those large hinges and pistons on top of the mech, making them stiff and hard to move. It also had actual hands, as basic as they were, and they worked. The pilot inside opened and closed the hands, then raised them up into a boxing pose and did several fast jabs. The crowd oo'd and aw'd appropriately, then everyone was shocked when the legs moved in a shuffle back and forth like a real fighter would.

“The head has a scanner and laser sights for eyes. The shoulder mounted guns will shoot exactly where those eyes point to and nowhere else.” Mifune said, proud that his suggestion had been accepted and used. “I know it looks like crap like this; but, we did it this way to prove it works and everything is safely contained inside the armored shell.”

“That's armor?!?” Someone shouted.

“It's half an inch thick composite metal and reinforced with as much structure support as possible.” Mifune said and walked over to knock on the chest. “Now that we've gotten the major kinks worked out, we can start production on this basic model and adding in proper squad designations and decorations. After that, we can worry about refining it to look better than a pile of squares stuck together.”

The center split down the middle and the two halves opened and showed Neo sitting inside the thing. He was strapped in and popped off the things holding him, including the things at his ankles, and he grabbed the top crossbar and hopped out without needing a ladder or help.

“Thanks for letting me try it out, Captain.” Neo said and shook the man's hand. “She's a beauty.”

Mifune smiled and clapped Neo's shoulder, then he stepped onto the knee and grabbed the top crossbar and pulled himself up and into the cockpit. He strapped his ankles in and then his belt and chest, then hit the close button. The chest closed and the head lit up with lights.

“We have a live fire demonstration set for next to Docking Platform 15.” Mifune said from inside. “Follow me.”

Everyone was shocked when the thing walked smoothly like a normal person and stayed balanced. Even the arms moved like they were supposed to and nearly everyone quickly followed the new basic mech down the side ramp and out of sight.

“Hi, Morpheus.” Neo said and the black man didn't react at first. “Are you all right?”

Morpheus blinked his eyes for a moment and then realized who he was looking at. The very man he had been trying to find for the last five days. “Please join the crew on my ship.”

Neo gave him raised eyebrows and just stared at him without responding.

“I'll explain everything right now if you have an hour or two free.” Morpheus said. “I tried calling and there's never any answer.”

Neo lost the expectant look and laughed. “I've barely spent any time there except to eat and sleep, and not necessarily in that order.”

Morpheus nodded and motioned towards where the mech and all the people went, even the guard squads. “What was that all about?”

“That was the result of me seeing those monkey suits the defense forces were using.” Neo said and nodded towards the elevator. “I need to get back to the apartment and start on supper. Why don't you join me and you can tell me all about what's going to happen when I join your crew.”

Morpheus started walking towards the elevator before he realized what Neo said. He refused to show any outward happiness about it, only he saw the knowing smirk on Neo's face when they reached the elevator.

“I won't tell anyone if you won't.” Neo said and hit the call button.

Morpheus nodded and stopped fighting the urge to smile widely. The elevator arrived and they both stepped in, Neo hit the button for Level 7, and they rode it down. Surprisingly, no one else was around, so they went down the two hallways undisturbed and Neo knocked once, waited a moment, then opened the hatch.

“Why did you do that?” Morpheus asked and followed Neo inside.

“Just in case Mouse was busy doing something outside of his room. It's only fair to give him fair warning to either cover up or hide.” Neo said and shut the hatch.

Morpheus startled slightly at the complete silence, since the machinery and water flow was quite loud in the hallway. “How did you stop the sound... wait, did you say Mouse was here?”

“You didn't know?” Neo asked, surprised. “I thought Councillor Dillard talked to you to tell you where I lived.”

“She did. She did not say Mouse was here as well.” Morpheus said. “She just said she assigned him living space that he should have had years ago.”

Neo gave him a look before he walked across the living room and entered the kitchen. “Did she berate you for how that came about?”

Morpheus sighed and followed Neo over to the kitchen and sat at the counter. “Yes, and it never occurred to me that Mouse never left the ship in the years since he was rescued.”

Neo frowned at that and opened a cabinet that looked to be colder inside than the room. “He was never told he could leave, or could ask for real food, get extra clothing for himself, or anything else.”

Morpheus looked shocked and then dropped his head into his hands. “How did I never notice any of that?”

“If you want my opinion, it was because you were too focused on finding The One to notice much of anything else.” Neo said and put a slab of something onto the counter. “It's the little things that get skipped over and forgotten when someone is too busy to notice them.”

Morpheus lifted his head and saw the slab of something. “What is that?”

“It's the single celled protein combined with amino acids, minerals, and vitamins that the body needs, only expanded, split, grown, compacted, cooled, and now it's like soy or tofu.” Neo explained and Morpheus watched as Neo sliced some of it up, chunked some, and then proceeded to make a traditional Japanese dish out of it. Ramen. It was almost mesmerizing as Neo worked and the meal was created right in front of him, including lots of homemade noodles.

“It's quite difficult to rework the basic food staple to create new things; but, it sure does come out great when it works.” Neo said and did up three large bowls when it was ready. He put one in front of Morpheus, one in front of himself, and took the third across the living room and knocked on one of the hatches. There was no answer, so he entered and placed the bowl on the small cot and came back out.

Morpheus saw what was in the room and he had no idea how Neo had gotten a personal setup like that, then remembered he had also been inside that new version of the mechs. He had many, many questions now that burned to be asked and answered, except he had promised to fill Neo in on the entire situation.

When Neo came back to the kitchen counter, Morpheus started to talk and eventually told him everything. He also enjoyed the ramen even more than he thought he would.

*

The next two days passed in a whirlwind of meetings with several councillors, rehashing of established procedures, and changing what was established to what was needed. The things Neo had introduced had long lasting implications, even if he the man himself had signed up with the defense forces and boarded the Nebuchadnezzar as a computer tech.

Neo's previous resume from Metacortex, and a record of his work as the hacker Neo, were glowing recommendations for him to continue with programs that would help with hacking into the Matrix. Morpheus himself almost glowed with pride as the crew boarded the ship and he greeted everyone like a child returning to their father.

Even Cypher didn't mind it, since both he and Trinity had shared a few meetings and talked about Neo during their week off. Their main topic of conversation? Neo wasn't what either of them expected when they recruited him. Where was the broody loner they wanted, or in fact, needed? The upbeat and surprisingly blond man was nothing like the one they had spied on previously.

Two things had come from that change. One was that Cypher wasn't jealous of the new guy, and Trinity was turned off by the difference from the man she observed to the one they had rescued. Why did his digital self change from when he was inside the Matrix to when he was freed? It didn't make sense, since it was supposed to be his residual self image and not something he could change at will.

The Nebuchadnezzar left the docking bay with a mostly happy crew and flew out of the safety of the hangar bay with a hope and a prayer to succeed in their current mission. What was it? To rescue as many people as they could without drawing the attention of the Agents. It was a delicate balance they would need to maintain to keep their movements secret.

To no one's surprise, Morpheus started training Neo in several of the operation programs they had installed in the Construct. It let him use the practical knowledge he had gained from absorbing them while training with Tank. It was one thing to learn how to do it and it was another to actually use the knowledge to help you complete a task or a mission.

One of the last ones they did was the 'Agent Could be Anyone' simulation. It started out as normal, with Morpheus pontificating about the Matrix being a system of control and how the minds they were trying to save were the very minds they needed to be afraid of, and how they would fight to protect it, with Neo trying to stay near him as almost every other person in the simulation tried to block him from walking normally.

As soon as the Woman in the Red Dress showed up among the crowd, Neo came to a stop and she did as well, while Morpheus continued to walk away.

Neo gave her a bright smile an took her into a polite hug. “Mouse really downplayed how important you are to this scenario.”

The blonde woman blushed and ducked her head a little and hugged him back.

Morpheus stopped walking and turned to look at Neo, then had to walk back over to him. “Were you listening to me, Neo? Or where you looking at the woman in the red dress?”

Neo and the Woman in the Red Dress let out similar laughs, because they hadn't let each other go. That was the difference between what could and couldn't be done with her as a distraction. If she didn't provide what was needed, then there was no chance she could become what Morpheus feared the most.

“I'm pretty sure I'm looking right at her.” Neo said and the woman giggled.

Morpheus needed a moment to comprehend what was happening, then he sighed. “Goddammit.” He said and looked up at the sky. “Mouse! Let Tank run it!”

Both Neo and the Woman in the Red Dress laughed again. A moment later, a man walking by them changed into a facsimile of Agent Smith and drew a gun to hold against Neo's head.

“Freeze it.” Morpheus said and everything stilled. “This is a training program to teach you one thing. If you are not one of us, you are one of them.”

“A sentient program.” Neo said and Morpheus nodded. What Morpheus didn't notice was that the Woman in the Red Dress was not frozen like the other generated people in the simulation. Holding onto Neo had given her limited immunity. Surprisingly, she noticed this as well and hugged him tighter.

“They can move in and out of any software still hardwired to their system.” Morpheus said and walked around Neo and the Agent. “That means that anyone we haven't unplugged is potentially an agent. Inside the Matrix, they are everyone, and they are no one.”

Neo gave the agent a look and the Woman in his arms stayed still, even if her heaving chest pressed against his. That showed a level of intelligence a little higher than what Mouse thought she had.

“We have survived by hiding and running from them; but, they are the gatekeepers. They are guarding all the doors and they are holding all the keys... which means that sooner or later, someone is going to have to fight them.”

“Someone?” Neo asked. “You mean me.”

“I won't lie to you, Neo. Every single man or woman whom has stood their ground, everyone who has fought against an agent has died. But, where they have failed, you will succeed.” Morpheus said.

“Why?” Neo asked.

“I've seen agents punch through a concrete wall and men have emptied entire magazines at them and hit nothing but air; and yet, their strength and their speed are still based in a world that is built on rules.” Morpheus explained. “Because of that, they will never be as strong or as fast as you can be.”

Neo looked at the copy of Agent Smith and looked thoughtful. “You're trying to tell me that I can dodge bullets.”

“No, Neo.” Morpheus said with a smile. “I'm saying that when you're ready, you won't have to.”

A cell phone rang and Morpheus took it out of his pocket.

“We have trouble.” Tank said and Morpheus nodded at Neo.

“See you soon.” Neo whispered to the blonde woman and she giggled and nodded. A moment later, both Neo and Morpheus were jacked out of the Construct and made their way to the cockpit. Morpheus sat in the co-pilot's chair and Neo sat behind Dozer. Mouse sat behind Morpheus and gave Neo a nod.

“Did Zion send the warning?” Morpheus asked.

“No, another ship.” Dozer said and slowed the ship down to let Morpheus scan the area. “Damn squddies are sweeping in quick.”

“Set her down right over there.” Morpheus said and showed Dozer on the map.

The ship entered a large shaft and whipped around, then backed up into a side tunnel and then set down. Dozer hit the standby mode and let the controls go.

Morpheus picked up a small CB radio microphone. “How are we doing, Tank?”

Tank hit several commands and shut everything down. “Power offline. EMP, armed and ready.”

Everyone instinctively fell silent and waited. Several Sentinels swam past the cockpit, giving the crew a scare, and one even stopped to scan their spot with a radio dish. It only stayed for a moment, then moved on.

Everyone sighed with relief and then all the tension in the ship dissipated. They stayed there for quite a while before they slowly lifted off and flew off towards the safest spot to broadcast into the Matrix was. They wouldn't go in yet, just so Neo could have a few more encounters with the training simulations before he had to face going into the Matrix once more.

*

It wasn't until two days later, while everyone was sitting down to eat my surprisingly tasty tofu ramen, that both Cypher and Trinity asked me why Morpheus hadn't taken me to visit the Oracle yet. I had been doing so well that he must want to show me off by now.

“I want to say it's because he's not ready.” Mouse said and gave me a pointed look. “It's actually because he wants to go to his apartment first before going to meet her. Morpheus and I have been trying to convince him not to.”

Switch, Apoc, Tank, Dozer, Cypher, and Trinity looked at me like I was crazy.

I chuckled at their reaction. “I want to retrieve my toilet stash, as Mouse calls it. It might not really mean anything to us in the real world; but, inside the Matrix? It could mean a lot to a lot of people.”

“Okay, he really is crazy to risk his life for nothing.” Cypher said to Trinity, and she nodded.

“It's not like that...” I started to say as the hatch to the mess hall opened and Morpheus himself stepped in.

“Dozer? When you're done, ensure the ship is in position to broadcast from.” Morpheus said to him. “We're going in. I'm taking Neo to see her.”

“I'm doing my side mission first.” I warned him and both Morpheus and Mouse sighed.

“I really wish you wouldn't.” Morpheus said, defeated.

“Don't worry, I won't put anyone else into harm's way with what I have to do.” I said and made sure to lock eyes with each of the crew that could jack into the Matrix, ending with Mouse beside me. “I'm not asking anyone to go with me, either. It's my choice to do this, not yours.”

They all seemed to relax, except Mouse.

I put a hand on his shoulder. “Trust me. I'll be fine.”

Mouse pouted at me before he huffed. “I'm going in as well, so I can't even stay out here to monitor you to make sure.”

I smiled warmly at that. “I'd do the same if it was you wanting to go off on your own.”

“What? Convince me not to go?” Mouse asked.

“No, I'd make sure you were safe as you did so.” I said and let his shoulder go. I locked eyes with each of the other people at the table, even Tank and Dozer. “I'd do the same for all of you, too.” I said and stood and drained the remains of my bowl into my mouth and swallowed. “Why? Because with my abilities, I actually can.”

All of them nodded and I walked out of the mess hall behind Morpheus. I was eager to get a couple of errands done before I had an Oracle to meet.