[ The last thing Neo remembers is being shot in the body and pressing flat against a wall, everything going dark as he slid down and over to his right side. After that, the voice of a man-- it's okay, everything is going to be all right-- and when he opened his eyes, the man was nowhere to be found.
Now he's here, at a party. His arms cross over his torso-- still defensive, still feeling vulnerable-- and he watches as people eat and be merry, watches as they line up for jobs and hobbies and yeah, no, this can't be fucking real, not when he's sure he never made it out of the Matrix to begin with.
He's looking at whatever you're holding, the food undoubtedly bizarre. Neo's lips are turned into a frown. ] How's that even taste? [ Maybe the reason chicken tastes like everything is because they never figured out what to make it taste like.
This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real.
But it's not like you know that. ]
Is it... good? [ Because it looks disgusting. ]
WELCOME X3 - RESTRICTED
[ Turnips. It's a stupid password. But then most everything here is stupid, he thinks (and truthfully it's only stupid because Neo doesn't understand what's going on, and he hates every bit about the vulnerability associated with uncertainty).
People keep offering him bizarre things-- mainframe codes to Zion (can't be real), a machine that emits an electromagnetic pulse (can't be real), a pair of sunglasses without any legs to hold them up (can't be real, and it's not like Neo deserves to wear anything like that). He isn't interested in any of these wares, not for any reasons, but he is interested in where these people get their information.
So he starts tailing one of those merchants as they leave their stall, his arms still wrapped around himself and his brows tight and furrowed. They turn to walk down an alley and Neo is quick to follow, walking diagonally from where he stands to make his way there too--
--and trips over something or other instead.
Maybe it's your foot. Maybe he's just literally bumped into you. Maybe something fell on the ground and he didn't notice. Either way, he's losing his balance, his hand is reaching out to grip, and his fingers curl into the first thing he can reach: your clothes.
He lets go quickly, of course, falling down onto his back. ] Sorry! [ Neo sounds frantic for all his status as a culprit, but he's turning onto his elbows and watching that alleyway and swearing under his breath. ]
Sorry, I'll make it up to you, [ he scrambles up to his feet, ready and raring to go ] I just have to catch up with that man--
NIGHTMARE
[ All these people are frantic. To be fair, however, so is Neo-- his heart feels heavy in his chest and his breathing is laboured, and it feels like everything there is has gone horribly, terribly wrong.
But pain is only real when your mind makes it real, he remembers. And while he keeps seeing it in his mind-- Morpheus, his friend and mentor, left alone in a torture chamber because Neo couldn't save him-- he knows that that isn't true. He'd saved him; the touch of Morpheus' hand when Neo pulled him to safety had been the most real anything had ever felt in the Matrix.
It doesn't make his chest hurt any less, though. And it doesn't make him feel any more like he isn't going to cry from the sheer loss of it.
He pushes on. He has to be better than this, stronger than this-- it's got to wear off somehow. There has to be a way.
This is what he tries to tell you, gaze serious and piercing as it meets your own. ] This [ a gasp ] isn't real. Whatever it's making you think, or feel-- it's not real. It isn't. I promise.
[ But is he comforting you or himself? ]
NETWORK ( AUDIO ) | UN: NEO
[ The voice in your head is very calm and very clear in its enunciation. It's undoubtedly male. It speaks with purpose. ]
Hello. If you can hear this, my name is Neo and I'm leaving a message on what I'm guessing is a universal channel.
The last memory I have before waking up here is getting shot multiple times. After that, I heard a friend of mine named Morpheus when I woke up, but he wasn't there when I opened my eyes. As far as I can tell, he isn't anywhere here.
What about you, whoever's listening? Who are you? What's your story?
neo ( the matrix )
[ The last thing Neo remembers is being shot in the body and pressing flat against a wall, everything going dark as he slid down and over to his right side. After that, the voice of a man-- it's okay, everything is going to be all right-- and when he opened his eyes, the man was nowhere to be found.
Now he's here, at a party. His arms cross over his torso-- still defensive, still feeling vulnerable-- and he watches as people eat and be merry, watches as they line up for jobs and hobbies and yeah, no, this can't be fucking real, not when he's sure he never made it out of the Matrix to begin with.
He's looking at whatever you're holding, the food undoubtedly bizarre. Neo's lips are turned into a frown. ] How's that even taste? [ Maybe the reason chicken tastes like everything is because they never figured out what to make it taste like.
This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real.
But it's not like you know that. ]
Is it... good? [ Because it looks disgusting. ]
WELCOME X3 - RESTRICTED
[ Turnips. It's a stupid password. But then most everything here is stupid, he thinks (and truthfully it's only stupid because Neo doesn't understand what's going on, and he hates every bit about the vulnerability associated with uncertainty).
People keep offering him bizarre things-- mainframe codes to Zion (can't be real), a machine that emits an electromagnetic pulse (can't be real), a pair of sunglasses without any legs to hold them up (can't be real, and it's not like Neo deserves to wear anything like that). He isn't interested in any of these wares, not for any reasons, but he is interested in where these people get their information.
So he starts tailing one of those merchants as they leave their stall, his arms still wrapped around himself and his brows tight and furrowed. They turn to walk down an alley and Neo is quick to follow, walking diagonally from where he stands to make his way there too--
--and trips over something or other instead.
Maybe it's your foot. Maybe he's just literally bumped into you. Maybe something fell on the ground and he didn't notice. Either way, he's losing his balance, his hand is reaching out to grip, and his fingers curl into the first thing he can reach: your clothes.
He lets go quickly, of course, falling down onto his back. ] Sorry! [ Neo sounds frantic for all his status as a culprit, but he's turning onto his elbows and watching that alleyway and swearing under his breath. ]
Sorry, I'll make it up to you, [ he scrambles up to his feet, ready and raring to go ] I just have to catch up with that man--
NIGHTMARE
[ All these people are frantic. To be fair, however, so is Neo-- his heart feels heavy in his chest and his breathing is laboured, and it feels like everything there is has gone horribly, terribly wrong.
But pain is only real when your mind makes it real, he remembers. And while he keeps seeing it in his mind-- Morpheus, his friend and mentor, left alone in a torture chamber because Neo couldn't save him-- he knows that that isn't true. He'd saved him; the touch of Morpheus' hand when Neo pulled him to safety had been the most real anything had ever felt in the Matrix.
It doesn't make his chest hurt any less, though. And it doesn't make him feel any more like he isn't going to cry from the sheer loss of it.
He pushes on. He has to be better than this, stronger than this-- it's got to wear off somehow. There has to be a way.
This is what he tries to tell you, gaze serious and piercing as it meets your own. ] This [ a gasp ] isn't real. Whatever it's making you think, or feel-- it's not real. It isn't. I promise.
[ But is he comforting you or himself? ]
NETWORK ( AUDIO ) | UN: NEO
[ The voice in your head is very calm and very clear in its enunciation. It's undoubtedly male. It speaks with purpose. ]
Hello. If you can hear this, my name is Neo and I'm leaving a message on what I'm guessing is a universal channel.
The last memory I have before waking up here is getting shot multiple times. After that, I heard a friend of mine named Morpheus when I woke up, but he wasn't there when I opened my eyes. As far as I can tell, he isn't anywhere here.
What about you, whoever's listening? Who are you? What's your story?