FicWad

Smith said that he didn't feel it was safe to talk outdoors, so Smith invited Neo to come to a meeting. Smith said it was a secret meeting. Neo agreed. Neo asked who would be at the meeting. Smith said, "It's a small group of people who are like you and I, Mr. Anderson. We had amnesia, we didn't know who we were, and so we banded together to find ways to get the things we need, including food, clothing, housing, but most importantly, we banded together to find answers." Neo said, "There's only one thing I would like to ask you, Smith. Would you please stop calling me 'Mister Anderson'? My name is Neo." Smith smiled, and said, "Yes, of course, Neo. I guess that calling you 'Anderson' was programmed into me."

Smith took Neo to a part of the city where there were ruins of houses and buildings. After the underground city of Zion had been liberated, millions of people were unplugged from the Matrix, and they came to the surface, and found ruins. Some of the houses and buildings had already been refurbished by people who had been unplugged. Smith led Neo to a house, and took him inside. Inside the house, there was furniture, there was a stove, for cooking food, they even had what appeared to be a TV set. Smith introduced himself with a nod. One man turned to Neo and said, "I guess you are new here. Sometimes Smith finds people and he brings them here so they can join our little group. My name is Fuse. I've been here the longest." Neo said hello. Another man came forward and said, "My name is Firewall, welcome to our group." A woman dressed entirely in black stood up and shook hands with Neo, and said, "My name is Trinity, welcome to our group. I'm so happy we have a new member." Another man stood up and shook hands with Neo, and said, "Hi! My name is Laser! Welcome to our group."

Fuse seemed to glare at Neo as Neo sat down. Fuse spoke sarcastically, saying, "This is a little bit like 'Alcoholics Anonymous'. At an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting people sit around and talk about how alcohol ruined their lives. I guess we are a little different, we sit around and talk about how the Matrix ruined our lives." Firewall said, "Come on, Fuse, lighten up. He's new here, you should make him feel at home." Fuse sneered, saying, 'Oh yeah, I guess we all have to sit around and talk about why we don't have any belly buttons." Trinity said, "That's enough, Fuse! He hasn't even told us his name, yet!" Neo said, "My name is Neo, and although I am happy to see you, I actually cannot say why I am here. I am just trying to satisfy my curiosity, I'm looking for answers."

The people in the room were shocked when Neo told them his name. Trinity asked "Did you say your name was Neo?" Firewall said, "The real Neo? The one and only Neo?" Neo said "Yes I am Neo." Trinity said, "Smith found me wandering around a few weeks ago, I had amnesia." Trinity lifted up her shirt, and showed that her belly was completely smooth, she had no belly button. Neo said, "Yeah, I don't have one either. I was talking to Smith, and we figured that since we don't have belly buttons, we were never born. A normal baby has an umbilical cord, and when the baby is born, they cut it off, to form a belly button. Since none of us has belly buttons, I guess none of us were ever born. We were all just manufactured. Smith had a theory about it, he said we might have been made with 3-D printers, the type of machines that prints using biological material instead of ink."

Smith shook his head. Fuse said, " Our theory is that we were all in the Matrix once. Some of us, like you and Trinity, had their existence based on a real flesh and blood body, a body that was kept inside a pod, and some of us, like Smith, were merely computer-generated characters who resided in the Matrix until everybody was unplugged." Laser said, "According to our theory, after we were unplugged from the Matrix, somebody manufactured bodies for us,and implanted false memories in our brains. They left us wandering around, and somehow we found each other." Smith said, "Now, we are trying to find out who put us here, and why." Firewall said, "We come to this house from time to time, and have meetings. We patrol the area, to see if anythings unusual is going on, and we report and discuss any unusual activity. Do you want to join us?" Neo didn't hesitate, he said, "Yes."