Authors note:

So first off, apologies for the delay, I have absolutely no idea where the last 2 months have gone!

Elven Star Angel – I haven't seen the news about it but a new Matrix movie does sound exciting! Hopefully a new movie will bring new/more fanfic writers to the site and give the Matrix thread a new lease of life! It's a shame Hugo Weaving wont be in it but I suppose they would need someone a bit younger to play the part of an agent.

I am probably going to change the name from 'Songfic prompts' to something more suitable as it's no longer a one shot type of fic now but an actual full blown story so don't worry if you don't see the old title/summary.

River of Darkness – The Midnight

The morning after…

Two hours, two whole sodding hours she had lain in her bunk trying to sleep. No matter which way she tossed or turned Trinity found she could not get comfy or relax in her trusty old bunk onboard the Neb.

Of course she knew it had nothing to do with the bed itself, her insomnia was due to the events of the previous evening racing through her mind.

The offer that had been made to her…

FLASHBACK

'And what…exactly is this offer?'

'What if I told you, that you could have a second chance at a normal life?'

'A chance for you to live the life you should have had, before all of…this…happened'

'You have the next seven days to think over what you want to do'

END OF FLASHBACK

Sighing quite loudly she sat up, readjusted her pillow and lay back trying to get into a more comfortable position. Turning to glance at the small makeshift table at the side of her bed, Trinity turned her phone on to check the time, noting with dismay that the digital face glared back a harsh '03:27' at her.

'Urgh!' She groaned again; this was ridiculous!

From the moment she had climbed into bed she had expected to fall straight asleep no problem, she was still exhausted from the previous full day spent out in the city, yet her mind was racing and not allowing her to rest until she thought more on her current situation.

Pushing herself up into a seated position, she pulled the covers up under her chin whilst she rested her back against the wall. Trinity had pretty much given up on sleep for the time being.

'So what am I going to do?' She asked herself tiredly for what seemed like the hundredth time.

'This is my golden opportunity to get the one thing I have wanted the most for the last few years…my actual life back, there should be no question in my mind, I should be jumping for joy!'

Rubbing her hands over her face slowly she then ran her fingers through her short dark hair.

'So why am I so…hesitant?

Scared?

Unsure of myself?

This is what I want…isn't it?'

Of course it was! The thought of actually being able to lead a normal life again had of course been her dream for a long time, but the actual reality of doing it was not so simple as she had once thought.

For every decision made there were consequences. A flashback to a time of red and blue pills raced through her memory.

Trinity would have to come to terms with the fact that she would never see her friends from the Neb again, they may have got on her nerves at times and frustrated her to no end but there had been some good times shared, they were like her little family and it would not be easy to say goodbye to them. A thought struck Trinity… 'Should I actually tell them or just go?' she paused momentarily to consider this.

'I could just disappear off into the matrix as if on a mission as usual, they wouldn't suspect anything and by the time they realised something was not right I would be long gone'

Although it would hurt them once they realised that Trinity was gone, maybe they would even blame the agents for her disappearance. Assume that Smith had captured Trinity and taken her into custody, which would undoubtedly spark off another war amongst the rebels and the agents and would definitely destroy the truce once and for all. She couldn't do that to either party.

'I could leave a note telling them what I was doing'

Trinity shook her head, 'no, who's going to believe that I was offered the chance to go back in time to my former life? That sounds absolutely absurd! Mad In fact!'

She'd have to say goodbye to the agents too…

A strange sadness swept over Trinity at that thought, why did it seem harder to imagine saying goodbye to them than the Neb crew? She'd only known them properly a fraction of the time she'd known Morpheus, Neo etc and yet the possibility of never again laughing at Brown acting silly or being able to chat easily with Jones made her feel absolutely gutted. They had become like friends just as much as the Neb crew and she was now so very much emotionally invested in helping them develop their own personalities and quirks, as well as watching them as they grew into their own individual identities. She was actually quite proud of them and the way they had handled such a huge transformation to become actually quite decent people!

And as for Smith…

Out of the three agents, Smith appeared to have gone through the biggest change of all of them whilst trying to not outwardly show it. His demeanour seemed to remain the same as before (eg his temper and general stubbornness) however Trinity noticed little changes here and there that amounted to quite a large change in behaviour for him! For instance he had gradually reduced the amount of snarky little negative comments he'd make towards the human race (something that used to really annoy Trinity) until one day she realised he hadn't said anything negative about humans in several weeks!

There was also the small matter of whenever Trinity had teased him good-naturedly in the past, he would have responded with a blank expression and in a confused almost robotic monotone like way, now he responded back with good humour and a smirk which delighted her and made her laugh out loud at the whole unexpected nature of it all.

She had also noticed the more civilised way he interacted with other humans whilst they were out and about in the city, he no longer glared angrily or spoke nastily to them, he was more patient, more calm in the way he spoke and generally a lot more civil than she ever expected the once feared agent to ever be.

Even on those odd occasions when she watched in shock as he (along with Jones and Brown) had to deal with drunken idiots in town shouting obscenities in their faces and using threatening behaviour, he had really tried his best to keep his temper in check and never once lashed out in anger at any of them (even though he would have been forgiven in this instance if he did!) But no, he had stayed calm, spoke authoritatively as he and the other agents broke up fights, arrested troublemakers and maintained the peace in the City.

It was time for Trinity to face facts and finally admit to herself something that she had been trying to deny for a while now. After all these months of carrying out this ridiculously dangerous mission to befriend and spy on the agents for the rebels…she had slowly developed a soft spot for the stubborn senior agent. In fact if Trinity was being completely honest with herself, she had progressed from what would have been just a harmless stupid little crush to the beginnings of real feelings towards him.

So when had this all happened then…and how?

Trinity thought back, she knew the exact moment when she realised these feelings ran deeper than a mere crush…

It was that day in the café a few weeks back when Jones and Brown had been tinkering with her phone and she had found out via the two junior agents that it had been Smith's idea all along to modify her phone so that she could contact them whenever she needed them. He was offering her their protection even though potentially it could put the agents at risk should any of the other rebels find out and get hold of her phone…

Smith was placing a lot of trust in her…a rebel, something that wouldn't have been easy for the lead agent.

And the moment when her eyes connected with his across the café for the briefest of moments and she had for the first time ever saw that unguarded look on his face and the undeniable spark of human life and understanding in his eyes.

That was the moment right there, the moment she realised she had begun to look at the senior agent in a completely different and surprising light. For Trinity those feelings had only continued to grow as the days spent in his company went on.

She couldn't help but close her eyes as she thought about him.

The reality of never being able to just be near him again, to never feel his eyes watch over her, to talk and open up in a way she could not with anyone else, to never again feel that sense of pride in knowing that she was the one he had eventually opened up to and accepted into their closely guarded group. No one else, but her!

The thought that she would never experience that again…hurt and saddened her.

So ultimately she had a choice to make, what would she pick?

Her second chance at leading a normal life…or the people she cared about the most.

Reaching slowly over she grabbed her phone again.

Meanwhile somewhere in the city…

The rain continued to pour and hammer against the sleek black Audi currently navigating the dark city streets. The driver seemed to handle the car on the wet road surface with expert skill and ease as he sped through the lower east side of the city. The bright lights of the city lit the way for the car through the shadows cast by the buildings.

Thankfully the roads were quiet at this time of night, well morning? The driver was not aware of what the time was, it was late or early depending on who you asked really, it was still dark anyway and the rain helped to keep the usual late night party goers indoors, which allowed the car to pass through the streets with more ease than normal. He was in no mood to deal with city traffic tonight.

It had been roughly 2 or so hours since the driver had seen or heard from the rebel named Trinity.

The last he had seen her, they had just had that strange encounter with the two 'travellers' with the big blue phone box, Smith grimaced and groaned slightly as he gently pressed his hand against his side, his body still ached from being thrown across the damn parking lot! He noted that Trinity had remained strangely quiet for a while afterwards and had quickly mumbled her 'goodnight' as she hastily made her way to the exit point with a very confused and wary Smith observing her walk away from him in the dimly lit deserted parking lot.

'She could barely look at me' Smith thought warily.

'I know she was confused and shocked by the offer the two travellers made, but…was she also mad at me? Was that why she barely spoke to me afterward? Did I respond the right way? I didn't lose my temper, I just wanted the man in black to drop the weapon'

'Why is this even bothering me as much as it is?'

'Why do I care what she thinks of me? It never bothered me before'

Out of the blue Smith's phone beeped twice to notify of a message, the small device vibrating vigorously against his side causing him to frown as the phone vibrated against his injured ribs.

Slowing down to pull the car over, Smith found a free space on a quiet street, parked up and cut the engine.

Pulling the phone out of the inside pocket of his jacket, Smith slowly unlocked the device to read the message.

'Probably just Jones' He thought tiredly.

Smith was surprised to see that the sender of the unopened message was not his junior agent after all, but the woman he had been thinking about for the last 2 hours…

He read the message:

To: Smith

Sender: Trinity

Message: You awake?

Smith was confused but quickly began typing out his reply.

To: Trinity

Sender: Smith

Message: Yes, but I don't understand are you still in the Matrix?

BACK ON THE NEB

Trinity was glad that he had responded but she was nervous as this was the first time she had used her phone to contact any of the agents since Brown had modded it up to the max, she hoped Smith was ok with her contacting him like this.

'Am I still in the matrix? Why would he think that?' pondered a frowning Trinity.

To: Smith

Sender: Trinity

Message: No I'm back on the Neb, why would I be in the matrix? You took me to the exit point remember?

Trinity was confused as to why he thought she would be in the matrix.

BACK IN THE CITY

Smith read the reply he had got back from Trinity although it didn't make sense, how was she able to contact him if he was here in the matrix and she was out of the matrix? He knew Brown had reconfigured her phone to allow her to contact them whenever she needed, but he never thought it would be possible for them to communicate whilst she was outside the matrix!

To: Trinity

Sender: Smith

Message: I'm just surprised your phone was able to connect with our communications system whilst you're outside the matrix. Brown must have done some serious work on your phone.

BACK ON THE NEB

Realisation finally dawned on Trinity.

To: Smith

Sender: Trinity

Message: Oh my god I never even thought about that or realised! Will this cause any problems or be monitored anywhere?

To: Trinity

Sender: Smith

Message: No I don't think so, the matrix wouldn't have allowed it to happen if it was going to cause any problems plus I don't think anyone actually cares enough to monitor a low level communications network like the one I think Brown has linked your phone to.

To: Smith

Sender: Trinity

Message: Phew! So we're all good?

Smith couldn't help but smirk as he read her message, he was relieved that she did not appear to be angry with him for the way he acted the previous evening.

To: Trinity

Sender: Smith

Message: We're all good, as you strange humans would say.

BACK ON THE NEB

Trinity shook her head and smiled as she read Smith's last message, he seemed to have a way with putting her mind at ease with only a few words, even if he was also teasing her!

Beep beep!

She decided to turn her volume down so as not to disturb anyone else that might be within earshot and wondering who she was messaging at that time of the morning.

Smith had sent her another message.

To: Trinity

Sender: Smith

Message: Why are you still awake anyway? Thought you'd be exhausted after yesterday.

Smith had purposefully avoided mentioning the events of last night and tried to stay as generic and vague as possible. He remembered the way Trinity had been after meeting the two travellers and he didn't want to upset her or bring it up until she mentioned it. Also he didn't want to admit even to himself that he was avoiding the possibility that she was actually going to leave.

BACK IN THE CITY

Smith slowly looked up from his phone and just sat and observed the city street whilst he waited for Trinity to respond. There was not much going on outside, the rain had kept most of the revellers indoors and the only traffic going about at the moment were the yellow taxis ferrying tired and drunk partygoers home.

Beep beep!

Smith's attention was taken by the sound of his phone alerting him to a new message.

To: Smith

Sender: Trinity

Message: Couldn't sleep, just too much on my mind at the moment I guess. Why are you still awake? In fact do agents even sleep?

Once again Smith found himself quite amused at Trinity's questions, once upon a time he would have found these continuous human message exchanges quite pointless and highly irritating, now however he found he actually quite enjoyed them…at least with this strange human anyway!

BACK ON THE NEB

To: Trinity

Sender: Smith

Message: In the past agents did not require sleep or rest as we were kind of just 'activated' if we were ever needed. Now however with the changes that have been happening to our programming recently we have found that we do now need to rest and sleep just like a human would.

Trinity was surprised to read that the agents now had to rest and sleep like everyone else, although it did make sense with everything else that was changing within them that they would need this too.

Conveniently it had lead on quite well for her to ask her next question.

Steeling herself for what she was about to ask, Trinity hoped he wouldn't be mad or get offended. She began to type.

To: Smith

Sender: Trinity

Message: There's something I have to ask but you need to promise not to get offended or angry.

BACK IN THE CITY

Well that certainly caught Smith's attention, he had a feeling he knew what she was about to ask.

To: Trinity

Sender: Smith

Message: Ask away

Smith waited several minutes to get Trinity's reply back, she must have been nervous about sending this message, he opened it up.

To: Smith

Sender: Trinity

Message: Are you becoming human?

He was right, it was exactly what he thought she was going to ask.

If he was being honest with himself then yes he was pretty sure his programming was evolving drastically and he was gradually becoming human and he'd been aware of it for a while, how else could he explain his recent behaviour? The same with Brown and Jones, they were changing too. However seeing the question wrote down in black and white message format right in front of him certainly hit him hard.

It took him several minutes of just staring at the screen before slowly lifting his head up to look around at the street outside before he could think of replying. He needed a few minutes to gather his thoughts.

BACK ON THE NEB

It had been several minutes since Trinity had sent her last message and he still hadn't responded.

'I shouldn't have asked that' she thought to herself anxiously as she drew the covers back up to her chin. She knew how he felt about humans and his deep-rooted hatred for the species, but she honestly felt like they had made a breakthrough in their…friendship? and achieved a certain level of understanding where they could talk about this sort of thing, plus his recent behaviour led her to believe that he maybe didn't harbour those same feelings of hatred any longer. Well he certainly didn't appear to hate her that's for sure!

Fidgeting slightly with her phone in her hand, Trinity tried her best not to let her worry run away with her.

Even with all the history and trouble the rebels had with the agents in the past, surely Trinity and Smith had managed to reach a point within the last few months where they could at least be comfortable with one another to talk like this?

Like friends?

'Are we friends?' Trinity's mind pondered wearily.

'After everything that has happened can I honestly call him a friend? He has tried to capture and kill the rebels including myself many times before…'

Trinity's mind raced with numerous flashbacks of times past when she and the other rebels had been chased by the agents and had only narrowly escaped their clutches.

'But…that was before the glitch…before the agents began to evolve'

'Ok then Trinity, answer this…' she began to ask herself.

'Do you want to be friends with him?'

Trinity closed her eyes and thought of the Agent that had been occupying her mind for a while now, she thought of him and the way he looked at her when he had his shades off and his face seemed unguarded and completely open to her.

'Yes I want to be friends with him' she whispered quietly to herself, as if the act of telling herself this somehow reaffirmed her feelings.

'Smith is not the same…person…he once was, he has changed and he has evolved, it's obvious he has! The same for Jones and Brown and…well I like the people that they are becoming! The Matrix has for some reason decided in its infinite wisdom to change these beings from programmes to humans, no doubt another sub-chapter in its never ending plan'

Another thought crept sneakily into Trinity's mind, a dark thought she knew she shouldn't really be thinking about and at the same time she felt the slight flutter of nerves flow though her.

'Would you ever want to be…'

Trinity felt herself shiver.

'…more than friends?'

Beep beep!

The low volume notification tone alerted Trinity and almost made her jump out of her skin!

Lifting the phone up quickly to read, she felt nervous to see his reply.

To: Trinity

Sender: Smith

Message: I believe that is what's happening to me, yes.

'Well at least he doesn't seem angry, I guess' Trinity read his response to her, although she felt relieved she hadn't angered him, she did feel a little deflated that he hadn't said anymore, she was hoping for a bit more information.

BACK IN THE CITY

Smith watched as the phone message status changed from 'sending' to 'sent' as his reply to Trinity was messaged off to her via circuits, ions and airwaves.

He knew his response had been brief and that she was probably hoping for more information but the fact was…he was pretty much just as clueless as she was!

Add to the fact…he had no idea what being 'human' really meant and he was maybe a little ashamed by that. Of course he understood human biology, flesh, blood and how living beings are genetically structured but he knew it went further than that.

He had always had strong negative feelings towards the human race, in fact 'disgusting filthy apes' were words he once used to describe them and these feelings were often aimed at the rebels themselves. But now that he had found himself in the extremely unfamiliar and daunting position of transitioning to human himself, he realised that he actually had no idea whatsoever what it meant to truly be 'human'.

And because of this he felt foolish and ashamed at some of his past behaviour and ignorance, towards the rebels, the human race but especially towards her. He had hurt her in the past, he knew it and he had recently started to hate himself for it. Was this what humans called having a conscience? Was that what he was experiencing?

'How do humans deal with all of these strange thoughts, feelings and emotions? They are confusing and almost in a sense illogical!' Smith thought wearily.

It had been a few minutes since his last message, Smith sat and stared at his phone, willing…hoping for her to reply to him, to ask him another question, to just say something…anything! He had teased her several times in recent weeks about these silly human conversations, however he had (secretly) started to enjoy them! And now he just wanted her to talk to him for a while longer like all those other silly humans.

He wanted her to keep talking to him, the same way other humans conversed.

It was a strange feeling; it felt like he was craving to hear the 'Beep Beep' notification sound, like he felt anxious waiting for her to message him again. He felt almost powerless sat there constantly checking for her response.

It felt like it had become almost like an addiction for him.

He liked her, it was a strange concept for Smith to acknowledge having never been affected by emotions before, to now have all these human thoughts, feelings and emotions to contend with and figure out. The best way Smith could accurately describe what was going through his head was that out of all the beings within this world they existed in, Trinity stood out…there was no one else like her and he liked being with her, he felt different around her to how he felt around others.

Smith looked at his phone again, she still hadn't replied.

'I should have said more in my last message, but what should I have put? Should I message back or leave it? She may be asleep now' he thought a little annoyed with himself, resisting the urge to throw his phone against the dashboard in anger, he slid the phone back into his jacket pocket.

The rain continued to fall across the city as Smith rested his head back and listened to the gentle pitter patter of raindrops hit the car around him. Sighing within himself he continued to just stare out the window for a few moments more.

A thought occurred to him as he pulled out his phone once again…

BACK ON THE NEB

Trinity was once again lying back down in bed, but she had kept her phone held close to her chest. She had a million questions she wanted to ask Smith, especially now that he had pretty much confirmed that he was in fact becoming human. The problem was his last message had been quite short and she had gotten the feeling that maybe he didn't want to discuss it, so she hadn't responded.

Looking back at her phone she knew she should respond with something but she didn't know what, she didn't want to annoy him, she knew he wasn't keen on these stupid text message chats. Pity, she really liked talking to him like this, no one else with them, no other agents, no other rebels, just…him and her talking…alone.

There was something quite exciting about having this man's full attention focused on her…and her alone.

Sighing sadly she opened her phone up to begin typing out a standard 'Goodnight' ending message to end their conversation properly.

Beep Beep!

The low notification tone once again succeeded in making her jump!

'Jesus Christ!' Trinity whispered to herself as her hand flew to her chest, her pulse beating rapidly from the fright.

She quickly tapped her phone to open the message…

To: Trinity

Sender: Smith

Message: Are you tired right now?

Trinity blinked several times as she read the message over and then once more again…she was confused! Was this a subtle hint for her to leave him alone and go to bed?

She sent him her response.

To: Smith

Sender: Trinity

Message: Not really, I still have a lot on my mind but if you want me to stop texting then fine I was actually away to say goodnight

To: Trinity

Sender: Smith

Message: Meet me?

Trinity's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets as she read his message. That familiar flutter of nerves in her stomach once again reappeared, but with a vengeance!

To: Smith

Sender: Trinity

Message: What…now?!

To: Trinity

Sender: Smith

Message: Only if you want to, we can wait till your next visit if you'd prefer

To: Smith

Sender: Trinity

Message: wait for what?

To: Trinity

Sender: Smith

Message: The question you asked me, I don't think I can give you the answer it deserves over this type of communication, it would be better face to face. Of course I understand if you wish to wait until another day.

'Not a chance!' Trinity thought as she began to quickly send Smith a reply, she knew that this extremely guarded man never freely gave out information, built bridges or extended an olive branch to anyone! But here he was willing to try and do just that so that he could explain himself to her face to face.

To: Smith

Sender: Trinity

Message: Parking lot, twenty minutes

Trinity sent her final message then quickly got out of her bunk and began getting dressed again, she hoped no one else was awake on the ship and caught her leaving to go back into the Matrix, she wasn't sure how she would explain her reasons for going back in at this ridiculous time of the morning!

BACK IN THE CITY

Smith read the last message Trinity sent him, replaced his phone back into his jacket pocket and started the engine back up and drove off in the direction of Trinity's usual entry/exit point where he had just dropped her off a few hours ago.

As the car made it's way through the rain soaked neon streets, Smith felt a mixture of new strange emotions flood him all at once…

First off it felt good knowing that he was about to see Trinity again quite soon, secondly he was relieved she hadn't got offended by his short answers to her in his messages and rejected his request to meet and lastly he was nervous as hell!

He wanted to explain to Trinity about his lack of knowledge and fears regarding being human, but he was wary of how she would react to this admission, would she laugh? Would she inform the other rebels about it, ultimately bringing about the agents downfall? Would she look at him as if he was stupid? Also, would she still want to spend time with him once she knew how completely lost he was?

Smith knew he had to trust that Trinity would not do any of these things, the problem was he had no experience of trusting someone the way he was wanting to trust her.

AT THE PARKING LOT

It had taken Smith maybe fifteen minutes to once again reach the dark, deserted parking lot next to where the entry/exit point was that Trinity always used.

Once he had parked in a space, Smith cut the engine and turned the lights off as the vehicle once again fell silent.

His eyes instinctively scanned the surrounding area to check for any dangers before being drawn to the payphone Trinity would be using to enter, he was still a few minutes early so he didn't expect her to be here just yet.

The looming and out of place blue shape of the Dr's police box remained in the same place and position as it had been before several hours ago. Smith felt a twinge of annoyance at the sight of the strange blue ship, he hoped they didn't have anymore run ins with the travellers again, he wanted to be able to talk with Trinity without the Dr butting in and calling him 'Trigger' and making him look and feel stupid!

It was because of this 'Dr' that both he and Trinity were about to meet, here in this deserted High School parking lot…at almost 4 in the morning!

If it hadn't been for this Dr and his offer, Trinity would be back onboard the Neb safe and sound, sleeping away as normal and he would probably be back at headquarters trying to figure out how the hell he was supposed to rest as a new human!

A slight hint of movement caught Smith's eye as he turned his head slightly towards the payphone Trinity used as an entry point, she had arrived and was walking slowly towards the car.

Upon arriving, Trinity quickly scoped her surroundings, as was her habit of many years as a rebel, when her eyes found the reassuring sight of the Audi parked a few spaces away from the entry point and the great hulking blue structure of the travellers phone box just to the left of her. She pulled her jacket closed tight around her to fend off the chill in the night air as she made her way towards the car keeping a vigilant eye out for anyone nearby or any trouble, also the last thing she wanted was for someone to call the cops thinking Smith and her were up to something rude in the car, that would be incredibly embarrassing!

Taking a hold of the handle, Trinity took one final glance around slowly before opening the car door and climbing into the front passenger seat.

'Any sign from them over there?' She asked whilst indicating to the blue phone box in the distance.

Smith shook his head slightly as he glanced over in the same direction 'No nothing, but I only got here a few minutes before you'.

Nodding slowly, Trinity was finally able to relax slightly as she got comfortable in the front seat, she noted that Smith must have had the heating on prior to arriving as the car was lovely and warm, a complete contrast to the temperature outside the car, the rain still fell lightly on the car around them.

The both of them just sat in silence, watching and waiting for something to happen outside, but thankfully all was quiet and still. Trinity knew something was up as she could feel the tension from the moment she got in the car, she was nervous but so was he it seemed.

'So what was it you wanted to explain to me?' She impressed herself by getting right to the point, she had no idea where that strange courage had come from!

It was like her sudden question had snapped him out of whatever trance he had been in as he appeared to take a moment to consider his answer.

'You asked if I was becoming human' he responded.

'I did and you said yes' Trinity replied

'That's right, but can I ask you something, do you think I'm human?'

This made Trinity pause for a moment, why was he asking her this? Was he confused about what was happening? Was it about them becoming human or something else?

'Well, I think so…I mean after everything that has happened to you and the guys over the last few months...you guys are changing…you have changed…so much, all three of you. You must be able to see that for yourself Smith surely?'

'I…think so…'

'Ok let me ask you this, how do you know that you've changed?'

Smith turned to look at Trinity, unsure if this was the right thing to do or not. He wanted to trust her but ultimately he knew he was essentially putting his existence in danger by allowing her – a rebel, to know what he was about to tell her.

'Give me your hand' He asked as he held his own out to her.

Trinity gazed down at his hand awaiting hers in invitation, she was unsure as this had taken a different turn to what she had expected him to say.

'Trust me'

Looking up into his eyes she decided to throw caution to the wind and placed her hand in his.

Pulling her hand softly towards him, Smith turned slightly in his seat so he was almost facing her as he gently placed her hand over his left inner wrist.

Trinity watched him in confusion not really registering or understanding what he was doing.

Then she realised…

A pulse!

Trinity's eyes widened in shock as she shifted over in her seat to move closer to him and gently pressed her hand more firmly into the area again.

And there it was, a strong consistent pulse!

'That is how I know I am physically human' Smith spoke quietly, the faint hint of nerves was not lost on Trinity as she quickly glanced up to see him watching her.

'You really are human!' she gasped in wonder. The Matrix had done it! It had succeeded in turning a programme into a real live human being!

Trinity noticed a strange look wash over his face, it was like she could see him closing himself off from her.

'What's wrong? I know this is something you probably didn't want to happen but after everything that has happened to you, Jones and Brown over the last year, it can't be that big a surprise now is it?' She asked curiously.

'It's not that it's…' He started but couldn't quite find the words.

Trinity kept her hand pressed against his wrist, his pulse still beating strong under her fingertips, she was still surprised to have the confirmation that he was indeed alive and not merely existing!

'I…don't know, how to…be human' he struggled to get the words out.

'It's one thing to live within the physical shell of a human but to actually be human…that is not a concept I fully understand'.

She realised then and there exactly what he was trying to say to her.

He had become an entirely different species; a whole new person and he had no idea how to be that person!

Smith was - for want of a better explanation- going through somewhat of an identity crisis!

For the first time ever in his existence the confident, tough, indestructible leader of the agents was lost and had no idea what to do. He was trying his best to learn and understand as quickly as possible for the sake of his survival but was obviously struggling with a lot of things that most folk would take for granted.

She felt a pang of sympathy for him, she was born human so had a good thirty odd years or so of constant learning on how to be a fully functioning human. Smith on the other hand did not have the luxury of learning as he grew up – he had instantly found himself to be an adult human male with absolutely no years of experience to back that up!

The same for Jones and Brown, they had no clue how to navigate the world as humans, of course they were tough and some what intimidating when they needed to be so there was no worry about anyone giving them trouble but they had no idea about living and surviving in a human world where they would not be able to rely on their agent powers.

Trinity felt herself begin to worry for them.

'I'll help you' she spoke softly as she gazed down at her hand still hovering over his wrist with feather light touches.

Smith felt as if he couldn't move as she spoke those words and continued to touch his wrist softly; she had a hold over him without even realizing and her spoken reassurance had helped to lift a small fraction of the heavy burden he had been carrying around the last few weeks.

Clearing his throat he asked the one question he had been dreading to ask but needed to know.

'Have you thought more on what you're going to do?' He asked indicating towards the blue phone box.

Trinity smiled sadly and shook her head.

'No idea, any advice?'

Smith replied with a smirk 'I don't even know how to function as a human, do you really want advice from me Miss Edwards?'

Trinity laughed lightly at his deadpan response, she liked that he was no longer so serious and was able to make fun of himself. It seemed so far away from the bitter and angry agent he once was.

'I'll take whatever advice I can get'

Smith turned his head to look at the strange blue phone box again.

'You should do whatever you feel is right'.