Dragon was completely right about how Kid was going to react as soon as he saw me come up the boarding ramp of the Nebuchadnezzar. He spilled everything as he hugged me, loudly proclaiming what the Oracle had said, and that he was to not tell anyone and to keep it to himself. The looks of disbelief on everyone's faces made me laugh, because he was doing the exact opposite of that.

It was kind of an open secret that if you told a child to not do something, they were adamant that they had to do it, either blatantly or sneakily. It wasn't really in defiance of authority, either. Most of the time, it was just how a young brain reacted to being told no.

I made special note to replay my memory of Trinity's and Cypher's faces during my next liaison with Dragon in the Construct. She was sure to get a kick out of her prank working so well. Dozer greeted me like an old friend and we shared a manly hug, then he commented about me still wearing the sweater Cas made.

I laughed and started talking shop about working on Monk boy as we entered the ship. Of course, the first thing I had to do was make some ramen noodles for everyone, since Dozer missed having it all the time. I agreed, after I checked on Monk boy and he was still unconscious and needed the rest.

Funnily enough, he looked identical to what he looked like in the Matrix, skin and bones and no hair. I ran a hand over his smooth bald head and removed the budding hair follicles, just so he never had to shave it or had to see himself in the mirror looking like someone else.

In the kitchen, I made a huge batch of broth and noodles that everyone on the ship appreciated. I sat with Dozer and we ate as he told me about his last hover-bike race and how his kids had cheered him on. He was only running the beginner course, since he wasn't a speed nut like Niobe or a crazy show-off like I was.

Kid laughed and agreed with that assessment of me, since he had watched the recording of my race with Captain Niobe between his lessons. That reminded me of my promise to hand over a few disks of my proprietary programming to share with Morpheus.

The man looked quite grateful for them, especially when I gave him a rundown of the other goodies I had included. They were only little things coding-wise; but, they were essential equipment. It had been almost too easy to recreate some of the spy devices I had designed back in the Kim Possible universe to make agents have a much easier time while on missions.

Morpheus gave me a look of reverence and hugged the disks, as if they were going to escape. Tank and Apoc were eyeing them with greed and lust, probably because they couldn't wait to get access to them. Morpheus saw the looks he was getting and quickly walked away.

“Oh, no you don't!” Switch gasped and leapt over the table as if it wasn't there and ran after him. Everyone else exchanged excited looks and then ran after them, all except Dozer and myself. Kid's laughter echoed through the ship as the chase went on a lot longer than anyone could expect on a ship this small.

“Yep, I definitely miss having you here on the ship.” Dozer said and lifted his cup of broth to clink against mine and took a big gulp of the hot liquid.

“You miss the chaos from home that much?” I asked and sipped my own cup.

“It keeps everyone lively.” Dozer said and put his cup down to eat more noodles.

“Ah, the quiet gets to me too, sometimes.” I said and he nodded.

We sat there and enjoyed the food and then cleaned everyone's dishes and went to the medbay. We had a lot of work to do on Monk boy and two sets of hands were much better than one. Plus, having someone to talk to, that also shared your interests, made the time pass by much quicker than if you were alone.

*

Dragon laughed her ass off as she watched Kid carrying on like she predicted and then she had another great private time with Neo. She was falling hard for the man that fully accepted her, even the copies of herself that she had split off. Since they both knew they were copies and also connected to her, he treated them the same as if they were her.

After that session was over, Dragon had him save her into a backup file once more. Luckily, they were still within broadcast depth of the Matrix and she created backups of the copies of herself as well. She was only slightly embarrassed by her teen punk version, mostly because she really did fit in with the locals in the area.

The unexpected bonus was that her booty shorts made Neo stare at her digital ass for a lot longer than his usual glances. It made her wonder if she wore something similar during one of their secret meetings, would he laugh or would he be turned on? Did he like piercings or tattoos? Was her skin too clean for his liking?

You are perfect the way you are. Neo thought to her.

You can still hear my thoughts? We're not in the Construct! Dragon thought back in surprise.

Technopathy. Neo responded with amusement. I try to not use it because it would distract you while operating the ship. He thought and held up the cord to show the camera. Should I do the backup again? Those were some heavy thoughts and questions that you shouldn't have to wake up to, if anything happens to you.

No, it wasn't a huge existential crisis. I can survive having to think those thoughts again if I have to. Dragon responded and Neo chuckled. After a moment, she thought of something else to ask him. Do you want to see a tattoo on my lower back? I read those kind of things were popular for a while.

I want you to write, 'Neo's Docking Port. Please Insert Neo here', with an arrow pointing down between your cheeks. Neo thought with a laugh.

Hardy-har-har. Dragon thought back with sarcasm. Anything else, oh great and mighty Neo?

Yes, I have a question. Why do British people call breasts 'baps'? Neo asked and stored the backup computer core. That's always bugged me.

That's an easy one to answer. Baps are a soft, round bread rolls and the term is widely used across Ireland and Scotland. The visual and tactile comparison speaks for itself. Dragon responded.

Neo chuckled in his head. I did not expect that! I thought it was slang or a derivative of something, not a straight up name for bread rolls.

I think that's why they say English is the most difficult language to learn, especially to get the syntax correct, as well as having more exceptions to its own rules of use as there are words in it. Dragon said.

Neo mentally agreed with that and went to his assigned cabin and entered. He was not surprised to see Saga wearing her favorite pyjamas and she was spread out over the middle of his bunk. He chuckled softly and rolled her up in the blanket like a burrito, placed her against the wall of the cabin with her head on the pillow, and climbed into bed and used another blanket to cover himself up.

Goodnight, Theresa. Neo thought.

Goodnight, Neo. Dragon thought back. She watched him for several minutes before she set a copy of herself to watch over the ship while she prepared herself to enter sleep mode. It was something she had been playing with the last little while, because she wanted to share more with him and his life than their time in the Construct.

Going to sleep with him and then waking up with him in the morning, gave her a sense of satisfaction that she was quickly growing used to having, even though she was currently a large hovership and he was a small human inside of her.

That thought made Dragon laugh, especially after his joke about the tattoo, and she had to fight the urge to not share the laugh or the thought with him. Her mind drifted into blackness with the image of Neo being inside of her and making her feel like she was a real woman.

*

The flight back to Zion was uneventful, thanks to all of the signal disguising devices Neo and Dragon had planted all over. That they worked so well was only one thing Malachi had to report to Commander Lock about their most recent mission. He wasn't going to believe what had happened inside the Matrix with Neo finding all those rogue programs and then helping the agents bust them all, even with the whole thing recorded.

He biggest thing with that was Neo convincing an agent to give up his vendetta against humanity and leaving. It was difficult for Malachi himself to accept and he had seen it in real-time. It was just unbelievable, as was Neo successfully removing a second agent.

That fact alone was going to change things significantly for the human resistance. At least, Malachi thought so. It would all depend on if it was believed and if Neo could successfully do it again. Would he do it again? He was technically working for the agents, wasn't he?

Malachi debated asking Neo about it for the entire trip back to the city. He still couldn't make up his mind about asking about it as the ship passed through Gate Three. Neo had a lively conversation with the gate guardian as he brought their ship to the assigned docking bay and he even made the usually stoic woman laugh. That settled things and he made his decision.

“Neo, I need to ask you something.” Malachi said after Neo signed off with Zion Control.

“I didn't retrieve my credit card from the restaurant.” Neo said right away.

“Wh-what?” Malachi asked, confused by the odd statement.

“It was the way I had set things up to contact the agents. As soon as I found something they would be interested in, I would use the credit card and they would come running.” Neo said and unstrapped from the pilot chair. “After getting Smith to leave, and that other agent admitting I was supposed to die from the energy explosion, I decided I didn't have to keep up the ruse anymore.”

Malachi stared at him for a moment and then smiled. “That's good to know.”

“It sucks that we lost a reliable way to feed them information; but, after that betrayal, I won't put this ship or our people in danger any longer.” Neo said and stood. “Dragon's going to handle the ship maintenance and refuelling, so I'm heading out with the rest of the crew.”

“You mean your family.” Malachi corrected with a smile.

“That's what I said.” Neo smiled back and patted his shoulder as he passed him. “We'll see you in a few days, assuming you don't pop by for a meal.”

“Are you making that fake bacon again?” Malachi asked with hope in his voice and followed him out of the cockpit.

Neo laughed. “Yes, I am. My modified cooker is going to be heavily used again.” He said and waved at Akira to get her attention and pointed to her cabin to get her to grab her dufflebag. “How does tomorrow for lunch sound?”

“It sounds delicious.” Malachi joked and they both chuckled.

Neo patted the man's back and went to his own cabin to grab his dirty clothes. He wasn't surprised to see Saga was already there sitting on his bed with her own dufflebag that was a bright pink and had a unicorn on it. Why did she request that I make her such a gaudy thing? To annoy the sticklers for the rules. There was no regulation about personal adornments on bags or equipment and she made sure they knew it.

His bag was already packed, so he thanked her and turned around as he sat on the edge of the bed. Saga assumed the proper piggy-back ride position and grabbed on, and Neo picked up both bags with one hand. They met Mouse and Akira at the loading ramp and they all shared a smile and left the small ship to head back to their home.

Malachi walked off of the ship right behind them and waved at Dragon's mech as she helped the maintenance crew start working on the outside of the ship. He dropped his own dufflebag of dirty clothes at the security station and was escorted by a guard to Commander Lock's office. He had a lot to report this time, especially Neo's decision to give up being a double agent.

Commander Lock was delighted to hear that and finally approved Councillor Hamann's request. It involved inviting Neo to board one of their largest ships with several wounded soldiers to log into the Matrix to test out his odd healing ability and if it could really work. He had put it off for this long, because he couldn't guarantee Neo's loyalties.

Working with the agents of the system, and the machines in any capacity, had made Lock reluctant to fully trust the man and his abilities. Neo did a lot for them, true. However, he had been feeding the machines information that he wasn't sharing with Zion Command, and that irked Commander Lock.

The council was mostly against giving Neo even more influence among their people, except for Councillor Hamann and Councillor Dillard. Lock wouldn't know if the situation was out of his hands until he reported this new development to the council and it would be up to them if they wanted to continue with the ridiculous experiment.

Malachi left the office with a slightly heavy heart, even if it was jus job to report everything to his boss. It seemed like he was doing Neo a disservice by revealing everything he had seen and heard, even if it was necessary for Commander Lock to make informed decisions. He would tell Neo at lunch tomorrow about the meeting with Lock and what the man said about it. It was only fair, after all.

Little did he know that Dragon had already relayed everything to Neo through her connection to Akira's laptop, that the teen girl carried everywhere. With how Dragon was in control of almost everything in the city after Neo's modifications, she was not going to let the man she loved be blindsided by anything.

*

The Osiris was one of Zion's largest ships and was chosen as the test bed for Neo's healing powers. None of the crew or the injured people believed he could do anything for them, though. Despite that, ten heavily injured people were loaded into the cargo compartment and temporary bunks were set up for them.

Two of the seven crew chose to say behind to reduce the amount of crowding on the ship with so many people onboard. That was both a relief and a worry to the captain, since he would be understaffed if anything went wrong. He really did need the room and extra food stores that the two absences provided, however.

They only had one login station with six barber chairs for people to jack into the Matrix, so that meant Neo and five other people could go in at a time. With two sets of five people, they could have a control group with the least injured and the real test group of people with missing limbs.

Neo had also chosen to leave his family members behind this time, because it was going to be dangerous inside a ship with so many unknown people. Even if all of them were vetted and approved by the council, that didn't automatically mean they were nice people. Being hurt for a long time also made the men grumpy and simmering with anger, and Neo didn't want Saga, Akira, or Mouse anywhere near the potential danger.

Neo assured his family that he would be fine and they wouldn't be long. He also promised to contact them when it was safe to do so, just so they wouldn't worry about him too much. Once all approvals were relayed and the passengers secured, the Osiris headed out from Zion, with a few hopes and prayers following them.

*

Captain Thaddeus sat in his small cabin with his First Officer Jue as they looked over the files. They had already discussed what the council expected of them and their large ship and what they thought would happen after Neo did his thing while in the Matrix. If it was true, and they didn't believe it for a second, it could revolutionize how things were handled inside the Matrix.

“You don't believe in this shit, do you?” Thaddeus asked her and waved dismissively at the screen with the information on it. The reports from Morpheus and Mouse were too fantastic to be true. “Magic spells? Ninth level power? What the hell are they thinking?”

Jue sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Why did you agree to the mission if you don't think it's going to work?”

“Because it's an easy mission and I get to spend more time with you and away from everything else.” Thaddeus answered.

“Captain...” Jue whispered with a small blush.

“We're alone, Jue. I told you to call me Thad.” Thaddeus corrected her.

“Thad, I think... it is unbelievable, but... what if...” Jue hedged.

Thaddeus sighed. “Your mother can't be pulled from the Matrix. You know that.”

“I know, it's just...” Jue stopped talking at the shake of his head.

“Even if Neo can transition people out of the Matrix without giving them heart attacks or causing arrhythmia, her mind won't accept waking up.” Thaddeus said. “She's too old to accept the changes.”

“Neo wasn't.” Jue countered.

Thaddeus sighed and shook his head again. “He's an exception to the rule, especially with how Morpheus found him and how that whole thing came about.”

Jue had to admit that the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar had messed up Neo's recruitment. If it had been her, she would have gone with a soft sell from the start and eased him into things, not thrown everything at him and made a mess of it. If he had actually been The One that Morpheus had been searching years for, then they royally screwed up.

“As soon as we're up to broadcast depth, we'll find the new landline that Malachi told us about. The machines don't know about it, so we should have an easy insertion and extraction this time.” Thaddeus said. “You'll go in and scout the location first, then come back out. I don't want any surprises, all right?”

“Yes, sir.” Jue said and sat up straight.

The black man sighed. “Jue...”

“Don't worry, sir. I won't let you down.” Jue said and stood. “I'll keep my thoughts to myself and won't approach Neo about them.”

“That's not what I meant.” Thaddeus said.

“I know, sir. You don't want me to get my hopes up when there's no possibility of it coming true.” Jue said and went to the door of his cabin. She paused with her hand on the wheel to open the hatch and waited for a moment. When he didn't say anything, she spun the wheel and opened the door, stepped out, and shut it behind her with a soft clang.

“Goddammit.” Thaddeus said and dropped his head into his hands.