I appeared back inside the Matrix beside the compression device with my plastic bag of disks and everyone stared at me. Why? Because I had rushed back in and hadn't modified my appearance to fit in with the aesthetic. I stood there in my skintight white and gold hero uniform and my muscles were clearly defined and not hidden under clothes.

“You're a superhero?!?” Saga asked, her face almost glowing.

“Dammit! You found out my secret already?” I admitted.

“Maybe next time you won't forget to wear normal clothes to cover it up.” Saga said with a laugh.

“Hey, you can't blame me for that. I was in a rush to get back to you.” I said and walked over to her with the device.

She handed me the laptop and I set it inside, hit the encrypt button, and the laptop dissolved into code and disappeared. I loaded the bundles of my own disks in next and hit the button again. Switch reattached the mainline to the machinery to follow the trace as I set the compression device aside.

I knelt beside Saga and held her hand. “Are you ready?”

“I am now.” Saga said with a smile and Apoc was the one to put the sensors on her.

I walked her through what was going to happen after she woke up and I modified her input output signal to let Apoc find her. “I'll be right there to catch you after the slide.”

Saga gave me a smile. “I know you will be.” She said and laid back as she closed her eyes. “I'm being adopted by a superhero.”

“I've got a solid lock.” Apoc said when his laptop beeped at him.

“Tank, send the signal.” Morpheus said into his cell phone.

Saga dissolved into green code and then disappeared.

“No distress detected.” Trinity said, her tone still full of disbelief.

“That's three smooth extractions in a row.” Switch said, her tone matching Trinity's.

I didn't comment as I disconnected the mainline phone from the machine and hung it up. It rang and I grabbed the compression device before I picked the receiver up. I was logged out and hopped up, rubbed my sore jaw and saw Tank's smug look, and I ran for the ladder. I slid down it to the bottom of the ship and ran over to the hatch. I hit the release for it and the grapple hook, then hit the intercom button.

“Dozer, are we close?” I asked as the ship slowed down.

“We're there, Neo! Go for it.” Dozer replied.

I leaped out with the grapple hook and splashed into the water. I spent a moment looking for the water disturbance and it was only a few feet away. I darted back up to the surface of the water and yelled. “Move the ship ten feet to the right!”

The end of the ship swung out of the way just in time as a tiny body was flung out of a spout very high up in the tower. Apparently, this bilge water in this tower was much lower than the normal level and there was no way she wasn't going to be hurt by such a long fall.

I flew up out of the water and used telekinesis to slow her down, caught her, and she gasped when she saw me. “I got you, Saga.” I said and dropped us down into the water to rinse off the fluid covering her as I also gave her the basic upgrade package. “Don't tell anyone what I just did, okay? The others think it's only in the Matrix that I can do what I want.”

“It... will be... our secret?” Saga asked.

“I can't have my new daughter give away my biggest secret, can I?” I asked and swam us over to the grapple hook. I climbed up onto it and grabbed the cable to brace us and cradled Saga with my other arm.

Dozer's face appeared above us briefly and then the grapple pulled us out of the water and up into the ship. He handed me another blanket and ran back to the cockpit to fly the ship to a safer position. I carried Saga to the medical bay and laid her on the same medical bed with Akira.

“I'm going to put you to sleep to get a few things ready for you both. Is that okay? I won't wake you until it's time for you both to meet everyone officially.”

“Okay.” Saga said and cuddled into the blanket and pretty much disappeared from sight. “Night, dad.”

“Goodnight.” I said and gently kissed the top of her head and put her to sleep.

I left the medbay and locked the door with a spell, set a temporary ward to let me know if anyone tried to enter, and ran back to the main deck and the login stations. I joined Tank in bringing everyone out as they each took turns answering the phone. With me there, he could run the console calls and I could finish unloading them.

Once everyone was up and started stretching, as if checking they really were okay, I had to pretend I didn't receive more than a few searching looks. I didn't bother trying to read their minds to figure out why, either. I'd be an idiot if I didn't realize it was because of the things I had done inside the Matrix, both the good and the bad.

“Dozer, they're all out.” Tank said over the intercom.

“Tell him to retreat to fallback position beta, near the main junction.” Morpheus said and Tank did so. “Neo, it's going to take a while to get both girls up and operational, perhaps even longer because there are two of them... and they are not you.”

I opened my mouth to respond and stopped when Mouse ran into the main room.

“Sorry, I was busy looking something up.” Mouse said and took several deep breaths. “Neo's top tier Mass Heal spell in the Matrix healed everyone in its range. For some reason, it also counted as the eighth level spell Regeneration, so it boosted everyone's regeneration for an hour, so anyone that had badly healed breaks, old wounds, aches, and pains, are going to lose them soon, if they haven't already.”

“You're joking!” Several voices exclaimed.

“I triple checked it and even pulled out my old database from storage.” Mouse said and held up a handful of data disks. “We all know that what happens in the Matrix, we suffer the results here, so I had to check after I logged out and saw my wounds were gone here, too.”

“Wounds? What wounds?” Morpheus asked.

Mouse put the pile of disks into one hand and pulled up the sleeve of his sweater. It showed a clean wrist and everyone but me looked away. Depression was not something to be ashamed of, especially when it makes you do desperate things to get attention. I walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder in a show of support. Mouse smiled at me and pulled the sweater back down.

“After I realized what it could do, I had to show you the proof.” Mouse said, sheepishly.

“Thanks, Mouse.” I said and gave his shoulder a light squeeze.

“Tank, load the documents up into the Construct.” Morpheus said. “Mouse, come with me and fill me in on what exactly we can expect if Neo can access things like that.”

I didn't stay there to listen to the others talk about what happened or to watch as Mouse gave Morpheus a rundown on the role playing game and the rules and regulations they had to keep the game balanced. I had two girls to heal within the next hour and Mouse had given me the perfect excuse to cover up how quickly they were going to recover.

After that, I could let them sleep and redo my small compartment. I would have to unbolt the current cot and drop it to the floor to add in another bunk above it, and that would leave enough room for a hammock. I would leave it up to the girls to decide what they would prefer.

However, I had the feeling Saga would claim the hammock as soon as she saw it, because it would rock with every movement of the ship. Plus, it would put her up high and she would enjoy it for that alone.

That reminded me I needed to mock up a laptop for Akira. It should be easy, since there were several spare keyboards for the monitoring stations and a lot of spare parts to fix the monitors scattered around the ship. I'd cheat with it, of course. I couldn't give Akira a substandard device to work with, could I?

It would have both touch controls on the screen and work with the attached keyboard, so she wouldn't lack the ability to use it to its fullest potential. It would be a lot more robust than the laptop she was used to using in the Matrix as well. The connectivity alone should make her really happy.

For now, I would work on Saga's and Akira's bodies to remove all of their superfluous attachments and ports to leave only the one in the back of their head. They wouldn't need the IV one in their arms, just like I didn't. My powers would keep them healthy and I intended to keep them safe as much as possible.

*

Everyone on the Nebuchadnezzar were surprised that Mouse's words proved correct. All of them, except for Tank and Dozer, had all of their little aches and pains removed by the end of the hour. It was both startling and opened up an entirely new aspect of the powers of The One. How could Neo do what Mouse explained should only exist in a gaming system that some ancient human thought up?

The funny thing was, none of them wanted to confront him about it. His example of what he could do to them in the Matrix had been thoroughly learned by everyone. Morpheus would be discussing a few things with his superiors, as well as a few of the Councillors that were sympathetic to his way of thinking, as in their belief of The One. If Neo didn't qualify after what they saw, then no one did.

The shocking thing was, both Saga and Akira were completely healed after that hour ended. Dozer had parked the ship in a safe spot and gone to the medbay to check on them and start working on removing their excess ports. The lock was a bit stubborn and he broke it open and entered, only to see the girls were perfectly fine and only asleep.

Neo suddenly showed up and relaxed to see that it was only Dozer checking on the girls. He patted the large man on the shoulder and sat beside the bed and held the hand of the young blonde girl. Neo himself had only needed a week to recover from his extraction from the Matrix and now he had ensured the next two people only needed an hour to be in a state that they could wake up and meet the crew.

Without being prompted, Mouse showed up a short time later and carried several sets of clothing with him. He had brought a bunch with him, since he felt bad they would be left back at the apartment. Because he was so small and thin, Akira could wear his unused clothes without alteration.

Saga was a bit shorter, so the pants needed to be rolled up and the sweater sleeves bundled up or cut off. Neo thanked Mouse for the clothing and promised to replace them, and Mouse laughed and said he only had them because Neo gave them to him in the first place.

Mouse squeaked as Neo hugged him and thanked him again. He also promised to change his bedroom into another login station and they could bridge them to allow all four of them to have fun. Mouse hugged Neo back just as tightly and ran off, shouting about making the best four player program he could come up with and it would be ready in a few days when the girls woke up.

Neo made Dozer promise to lock the medbay when he was done working and left. He had things he needed to finish for the girls before they woke up. He also took the clothing to alter it for them to wear, since neither would like that they were made for a man. Some of the buttons were on the wrong side, too.

Morpheus didn't want to return to Zion so soon, even with two new passengers that would be a strain on the ship's resources when they were up and active. Not to mention, a working ship was no place for a child and a teenager. The problem was, he knew if he kicked one or both of the girls off of the ship when they returned to Zion, Neo would go with them.

That caused an existential problem for him. One, he did not want children on his ship. There was no room for them or their rambunctiousness. Two, he did not want to lose access to The One or to cause him to not return to the Matrix to help more people to escape from it. The two girls had been removed without any stress on their bodies or minds, and that had never happened before, except with Neo.

After a couple of days of floundering on his decision, the girls were woken up and proved to him, and to everyone else on the ship, how disruptive the girls would be if they were allowed to remain onboard. Morpheus was torn between going to visit the Oracle to ask for her advice and just returning to Zion and letting Neo leave without a fight.

It was Trinity that finally forced the decision to come to a head. She admitted to everyone that Neo couldn't be the one, because the Oracle had told her that she would fall in love with a man, and that man would be The One. She did not love the blond and muscled Neo, at all, and she barely liked him as a person and only tolerated his presence.

With Cypher and Apoc agreeing with her, with Switch abstaining from the vote because she adored both Neo and Saga, Tank sided with Trinity as well. Dozer on the other hand, voted to let Neo and the girls stay. Morpheus, as the captain, voted to let Neo stay and for the girls to be dropped off at Zion. The last vote was Mouse's and he squeaked and said it didn't matter what he voted, since Trinity won.

Neo walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Your vote matters to me, no matter what you chose.” He said and smiled. “Because it really is the only choice anyone has, isn't it? What their opinion is?”

Mouse nodded and made his choice. “Then I vote we stay together.” He said and spoke with authority. “Neo, Saga, Akira, and I will leave the ship for the last time when we reach Zion.”

Everyone was surprised by that, except for Neo and the two girls. They had talked only briefly, since the apartment had to be reworked for them to live there, and with Neo's promise to give them all a chance to play games and things together.

“Neo, please reconsider...” Morpheus started to say.

“There's no way you'll chose to only have Dozer and myself be your crew.” Neo said and Morpheus sighed, because Neo was right. The ship couldn't operate with only two people that could run everything. If it was smaller, yes. At the Nebuchadnezzar's current size, there was no way to keep the ship operational for very long without a full crew.

“Then we will make one last visit to the Oracle before we head back to Zion.” Morpheus said with a defeated tone.

“Don't worry, Morpheus. The Oracle told me that I wasn't The One.” Neo admitted for the first time and everyone let out sounds of surprise. “She said I was waiting for something, like my next life maybe.”

Everyone watched as Neo walked over to Saga and Akira, both of whom stood at attention when he stepped behind them and put his arm over Akira's shoulders and placed a hand on Saga's shoulder.

“I have a feeling she meant something like me becoming a father and a mentor.” Neo said and Akira blushed while Saga beamed a smile. “I might not be The One you're looking for.” He said and gave both girls a one-arm hug. “But, I can be the one they are looking for.”

Both girls nodded and Saga posed with her hands on her hips while Akira hugged the jury-rigged laptop Neo had made for her.

Morpheus took a deep breath and let it out. “Then there's not much point in going to visit her again, not if she did tell you that.”

“She did.” Neo said, honestly. “I'm just another potential, like Akira and Saga.”

Morpheus nodded and turned to Dozer. “Take us back to Zion.”

“I'll take the scenic route and give the ship a break from all the racing around we've been doing with her.” Dozer said and walked off towards the cockpit.

Morpheus patted his shoulder when he passed and gave the rest of the people on his crew a look laced with disappointment and filled with drive. “We can't give up. We'll continue our search for The One and we won't rest until we find them.”

That made them groan at the implications of working harder than before.

“What if you already found him?” Neo asked and pointedly did not look at Cypher. “You don't have to believe me, since I've been wrong before. It's just a thought I had.” He said and led the two girls away from the main deck's login stations towards his cramped quarters, with Mouse quietly following them.

Neo's words left conflicting feelings among the people still standing there. Trinity, Cypher and Apoc all felt a little relieved at his departure, though. He would no longer be a source of distraction for them. Switch just shook her head at how things were turning out and left to go back to work. She had some welding to do along the port side catwalk and needed some alone time to get her thoughts in order.