A ring perforated the silence, shattering the
tranquility of emptiness with the entropy of a raucous
buzz.
Two rings...
Three rings...
A click followed as a clear, feminine voice answered.
"Trinity here."
"You're early." A raspy voice answered on the other
end, betraying a hint of cynicism in its mocking
tones.
"I thought I'd give you a break." Trinity wasn't ready
to deal with Cypher's antics today.
"You like him, don't you?"
"No, Not really. He's weird."
"There's been some weird stuff going on lately. I'll
leave the files for you."
Click.
"What was that?"
Click.
"What was what?"
"That clicking noise. Are you sure this line's
secure?"
Click.
Click.
"I'd better go. Let's switch now." Trinity hung up and
leaned back into her seat. Something was up.

***

Agent Sumisu straightened his collar as he stepped
heavily out of the town-car that had brought him to
the old building in outskirts Tokyo.
"Who would have figured?" he remarked in flawless
Japanese. "A run-down warehouse in the middle of
Tokyo."
A police mini pulled up behind Sumisu, screeching to a
halt.
"What's the big idea?" A Japanese officer stepped out
of the car. "People could have been hurt! You were
going more than double the speed limit!"
"It was a good cause, I assure you, officer." Sumisu
turned around and faced the now daunted Japanese
police officer. "This woman is one of the most
dangerous criminals in the world. She was the cause of
billions of dollars in damage back in the 80's"
The Japanese officer nodded. He had to be polite to
this man. The government had ordered him to cooperate
with him.
"We'll go in and take her." He waved the other three
officers out of the mini and directed them into the
building.
"I wouldn't recommend it, Sergeant." Sumisu grinned,
but it was too late for the policemen to notice. They
had already entered the building.
 
***

Trinity heard the police officers coming long before
they arrived, and thus had ample time to prepare. 
When the first novice officer to arrive finally made
it through the doorway she was sitting quietly at the
chair in front of her phone, arms folded obediently
behind her head.
The novice, one officer Ikeda, smirked as he filed
into the room and surveyed his capture. He was sure to
get a raise for this.
"I've got her guys! She wasn't that bad! Some
supercrimin-agggh!" Ikeda's screams descended into a
faint, sickening gurgle as Trinity's throwing knife
buried itself to the hilt in his throat.
The other officers had only fractions of a second to
react before Trinity was upon them, attacking in full
force. In three seconds, three more men were on the
ground, small knives buried deep within their organs,
and Trinity was gone.

***

Sumisu surveyed the brutal scene only minutes later,
and allowed himself a half-smile. "I told you so."
"You told me so?" The lieutenant was nearly foaming at
the mouth. "Four of my men are dead and you told me
so?"
Sumisu ignored him and bent over, examining the bodies
of the men, and the knives. Suddenly a flash of red
caught his eye.
"Damn..."

***

Trinity smiled as she walked down the street,
detonator in hand. Tank's new toys had worked rather
well!
Not allowing herself much more than that, Trinity made
a break for the nearest hard-line, in a gym
dangerously close to Him. Even as Trinity broke into
her run she heard the sirens and screeches that
notified her of the presence of a pursuit squad.
Trouble.

***

Ranma Saotome put up her towel in the gym and began to
hurriedly get dressed so that she might have a chance
to get some decent sleep tonight. "The things I do for
survival..." She flashed a lopsided grin at the Gym's
clerk as she charged out the sliding doors and made a
beeline for the alley that concealed the fire escape
that was the easiest way into her apartment.
This evening seemed to be going pretty well so far.
"Ranko Tendo" had, after three years of loneliness,
finally managed to secure herself not only an "real"
identity but also a secure job and even her own
apartment. If only she could have done that as the man
she was...
	Ranma was so lost in thought that she almost
completely failed to notice the ethereally beautiful,
black-haired Gaijin until she ran straight into her.
The woman, easily topping Ranko's height by a full
head, began to register true fear as she stared into
Ranma's eyes, transfixed. Ranko gave her a good shake
to try to get some sense out of her.
"What's wrong?" Ranko tried to speak to the woman.
Surprisingly, the woman's voice seemed to be in
perfect control.
"You should run. I've got some bad people after me,
and if they find you they'll kill you."
It seemed to Ranma that she was suddenly back to her
old ways. Perhaps this was a good thing, so long as
she didn't have to see Them again. This may be the
spot of chaos that she was waiting for. She turned
towards the sound of tires screeching to a halt to
find an American town car stopped a few yards away and
two clean-cut men who could have been Yakuza, except
for the absence of tattoos stepped out.
"You needn't get into this mess, miss." A third thug
stepped out of the car, wearing a dark pair of
sunglasses. "Step away now and you'll be perfectly
safe." The woman, now nearly cowering in fear behind
Ranma, tried to pull on her sleeve in agreement, but
Ranma drew her arm away.
"It looks like you men are harassing this poor woman.
I'd suggest you stop. Thugs aren't my type." Ranma
took a stance and faced the men, who seemed to be
getting ready to have the time of their lives. Boy did
they have a thing or two to learn about Ranma Saotome.

***

Trinity watched in awe at the petite redhead's courage
as she took a stance that showed her obvious intent to
fight the agents. This girl either had no idea what
she was getting herself into or was very, very good.
As the agents took their usual methodical attack
stances the redhead...blurred. Her small body becoming
a whirlwind if fists, the redhead barrelled at the
startled agents, her body going through gyrations that
should not have been possible at a speed that was
flat-out inconceivable.
Jolting Trinity from her reverie as she watched the
beauty of the redhead's small war, the phone rang.
"Trin here." She was unable to disguise the fear and
elation in her voice as the redhead begin to actually
beat the agents.
"It's Tank. Where the hell are you? Tokyo seems to
have become a hot spot for all of the agents in Asia.
They're morphing in like crazy!"
Trinity noticed the first agent's broken body fall
lifeless to the ground with a smile on its face,
morphing back into the salarymen that had been
unfortunate enough to be nearby. "I think I know why,
Tank. You should see this girl. She's moving even
faster than they do!"
"What girl, Trin? You're not making any sense! How can
anybody move faster than they d-...holy shi-"
The line went dead.
The redhead finished off the last of the agents with a
satisfied smile and surveyed the three salarymen who
remained. As Trinity had seen a thousand times before,
the smile quickly turned into a confused frown as she
clenched her arms around her stomach as if to comfort
herself.
"How did they...?" 
Trinity silenced the girl with a finger. "Where's your
home? We have to hide." 
The girl nodded and broke into a run, taking easy
herself but nearly running trinity out of breath with
her sheer speed. Within minutes they were on the fifth
floor of a nearby building and seemingly safe.
The girl?s apartment was undeniably seedy, barely
having enough space to fit a couch, much less the
seemingly endless array of martial arts equipment that
leaned against the wall. Despite this, the living room
was spotless, having not only no dirt, but no
furniture to mark the floor.
As if on cue by the sudden air of relaxation, the girl
collapsed, allowing her arms to fall free of her
bruised midriff. In a state of panic, Trinity quickly
found the girl's bathroom and dumped her
unceremoniously into the tub, turning on the hot water
in one fluid motion.
The girl was no longer such. It was Him.
Trinity turned to the nearby porcelain bowl, tried,
and failed to accept the impossible as she lost what
surreal lunch she?d had that day.
After a healthy ejection of imaginary fluids, Trinity
gathered herself and sat down and pulled out her cell
phone.
It seemed like ages before Tank picked up the line.
?Op, here.?
?Tank, something?s up. The Matrix has gone wild, and
I?m about to lose it myself. Find me a hard-line so I
can get the hell out of here.
 
***

Ranma awoke in his bathtub with a start. What had
happened? Those thugs had fought him while he was a
her and lost, she brought that lady home, and
then...she must have blacked out.
Not knowing what else to do, and having a distinct
sense of Deja Vu, Ranma stood up in the tub and walked
out into his living-room to find...nothing. The girl
was gone. The only trace that another person had ever
been in Ranma?s small home at all was the small black
laptop that sat in the middle of the floor.
As if on cue with Ranma?s thoughts, the laptop began
to hum to life. After a few seconds, a small speaker
spouted out a deep voice, incongruous with the tiny
machine that was generating it.
?Open up the laptop, because we do not have much
time.?
Cautiously, Ranma flipped the catches on either side
of the small computer and unfolded it. On the monitor
was a picture of a large man of muscular build wearing
a perplexingly crystalline pair of sunglasses that
seemed to be reflecting Ranma?s living-room through
the very computer and smiling as if his life had just
suddenly become to make sense.
Noticing the microphone pickup on the laptop?s
monitor, Ranma began to speak.
?Who are you??
The man?s smile grew. ?That?s not important right now,
but what I need to tell you is very important. You?ve
been living a lie.
-Have they found me?- There was no way. Ranma?s trail
was flawless. There was no way that the Tendoes and
the old man could have...
?I want you to walk out of you front door as quickly
as you can. Don?t worry about the computer, but you?re
in danger. You have to leave now.
Ranma stood and clasped his collar, looking around
nervously, and made for the door.
At the door, he came face to face with two of the
thugs from before.
?Sorry, sir. We seem to have the wrong place.? The
head thug from before, from behind sunglasses, smiled
smugly. ?We don?t suppose you have a redheaded woman
in there with you??
Ranma shook his head and exited his house, closing his
front door behind him making for the exit. As he came
down the first flight of stairs, he heard the sound of
wood splintering as if a door was being busted in. He
broke into a run and arrived at the front exit to the
small building as the woman from before came up on a
motorcycle that looked so new that it must have been
just out of the paintshop.
?Get on.? She didn?t even give him a second glance.
?We have to get you before they do.?
Ranma was about to speak when an explosion seemed to
rock the very pavement. A looming fireball burst from
Ranma?s outside window, three floors up, and yielded a
single body, discarding it on the pavement behind the
motorcycle.
?Get on now!? Trinity grabbed Ranma?s arm and gunned
the engine of the bike even as the charred mass of
flesh that lay behind them began to stir and draw a
gun. Weighing the alternative, Ranma hopped onto the
back of the bike even as Trinity brought it into gear,
speeding away from the flaming thug as quickly as
possible.

***

It was two hours towards Kyoto and quite a few toll
roads before Trinity spoke.
?How do you move that quickly??
?I?ve been practicing for a very long time.? She could
almost feel the kid smirking behind her.
?I?ve mastered every art that?s known,? Trinity took
her own turn to smile, but switched back to being
serious soon after. ?I could never beat an agent,
though, and you just beat three of them while barely
breaking a sweat.?
?Agent?? Ranma asked confusedly. ?You mean those
thugs??
?You?ll see.? Trinity?s voice suddenly became cold,
thoughtful.
There was no more conversation during the ride until
they came up to a run-down office building and Trinity
opened the front door for Ranma.
?Morpheus needs to speak to you. He?ll tell you what?s
going on if you really wish to know.?
Ranma paused before walking through the door.
?And what do I call you, o daughter to the weaver of
dreams??
Trinity smiled for the first time since earlier that
day when Ranma had saved her from the agents. ?I?m
Trinity.?

***

As Ranma entered the building, a door down the hall
creaked open, shedding light on the floorspace between
Ranma and the room that the door had concealed. Not
wasting any time, Ranma hurried over to the Room and
entered to find the same man who he had seen on his
laptop reclining in a comfortable-looking red leather
chair.
?Welcome, Ranma.? His Japanese was perfect, like the
dialect that the Agents had spoken, though there was
also a warmth to his voice. ?Take a seat, because I
have something important to tell you,?
Ranma remained standing. He wasn?t ready to trust this
man.
?Very well,? the man sighed. ?We shall start with the
basics. I am Morpheus, and I?m here to give you the
chance to see what the world is really like.? He
tossed a small silver box into Ranma?s lap and made
for a door in the side of the room. ?Take the red one
if you want to see what I mean. I know you know what
I?m talking about. If you take the blue one, you?ll
forget everything and this will end. Make a choice and
come into the next room, where I will be waiting, if
you take the red one.?
Ranma sat down in the red chair after Morpheus made
his exit and opened the box. In it were two pills, one
red and one blue. Did Morpheus know who Ranma really
was?
He couldn't. He must have been baiting him, thinking
that Ranma did not have the courage.
That was it. Ranma Saotome never backed down from a
challenge! He quickly downed the red pill and entered
the next room, stepping into a scene out of some
cheesy sci-fi movie. 
Morpheus stood in front of Ranma, smiling, flanked by
Trinity, a woman with short blonde hair, a man who
looked Mexican, though Ranma was not sure, and a
short, bald Italian man who was grinning triumphantly.
"I need you to sit here," Morpheus motioned to a chair
that was currently the only normal-looking thing in
the room. "The pill contained a trace program that
allows us to determine your exact coordinates.
Confused, Ranma sat down as the women placed
electrodes on his arms which were connected to some
odd gadgets and, interestingly enough, an old rotary
telephone.
"Welcome to the club, kid. What do we call you?" The
Italian man extended a hand of friendship.
"Rank-err...Ranma." Ranma took the hand, and then felt
a sudden wrenching. 
Suddenly, it was as if Ranma was seeing double. The
world took on a distinctly flat look and tore itself
in two. Everything seemed to grow silent as Ranma's
strange new 'friends' hustled to see what was wrong. 
"What did you do to me!?" Ranma fell from his chair in
a spasm and lurched towards Morpheus.
"Morpheus, we're getting two trace signals!" Trinity
frantically checked readouts so that she could define
the problem.
Ranma noticed an uncharacteristic look on the large
man's face. Fear.
"Which one is nearest? Get him! We can't afford to
lose him!" Morpheus rushed behind the consoles to help
and then Ranma's world inverted.

***

Cherry blossoms lined Ranma's vision as he awoke from
a terrible dream into a nightmare. There was something
down his throat!! There was something inside of his
arms! Where was he? Unhesitating, he quickly executed
a Moko Takabisha.
Nothing happened, Absolutely nothing.
Ranma finally lashed out with all his strength,
feeling feeble, and felt his hands pierce some sort of
membrane and cold so biting that it hurt touch his
skin. He glanced around and found that, though his
vision was too blurry to make out any details his
depth perception still functioned, and he was very,
very high up.
As Ranma attempted to focus something black grabbed
him with iron claws and gave him pain, spinning
something in the back of his neck, and left. Ranma
perversely enjoyed the solace until the small
explosions seemed to rack his body 
and, once again, stopped.
Ranma was given no rest this time as the tank that he
found himself him emptied itself, dumping itself, warm
goo and Ranma in all, into the tube that seemed to be
holding it up.

***

Trinity wrapped the cloth tightly about herself,
watching as Tank and Dozer operated the winch that was
pulling the boy's inert form up into the
Nebudchanezzar. He looked so different, without that
hair. Trinity had been like that once herself. It was
so long ago when Morpheus had come to her, a young
hacker showing what she could do, and shown her what
the world could be like. He had shown her the lie that
she was perceiving and then he had shocked her awake
by showing her the truth.
She watched silently as Tank wrapped a blanket that
was similar to her own around Ranma and lifted him up
as if he were a small child. Had Trinity ever been
that young? Nineteen years old, Morpheus had said.
Nineteen and he had that kind of power...
Trinity shivered to herself as the unconscious boy was
taken by Tank into the medical room, where he would
undergo the seemingly miraculous treatments that would
help his body grow.

***

Ranma woke up and rubbed her head, looking at what was
left of the gadgets that had littered the room where
she had sat, awaiting the revelation that did not
come.
"So much for that." Ranma got up and exited the
slightly charred room, kicking the remains of the
complicated machines aside.
Having an odd feeling as she passed the table where
she had left the box with the blue pill, Ranma broke
into a run and quickly made her way out onto the
street.
"Oh shit." Ranma looked around at the relatively rural
area that was the trademark of Hokkaido. "How am I
going to get back home?"
Ranma smiled as she looked at the southward-facing
fence post that lined her building. "Well...old ways
are the best ways." She hopped up with a flourish and
began the long run home to Tokyo.
To Ranma?s surprise, she almost immediately fell off
of the top of the fence, landing hard on the ground
and bruising herself. She quickly tried again, but got
the same results. With a grumble Ranma began a walk to
Tokyo, hoping that she might see a friendly face along
the way.

***

Bright. It was so bright! It felt as if the sun had
suddenly increased in its intensity a thousand times
over. It burned! It felt as if a thousand needles were
making their ways into Ranma?s brain! Something was
missing. Ranma heard a presence with the only part of
him that seemed to be working, his ears.
?Who?s there?? Ranma hoped dearly for an answer and
shut his eyes when none came, isolating himself from
half of that painful light. The presence left, only to
be replaced by another after what seemed like hours.
?How do you feel?? It was Morpheus, but he sounded so
much less confident. He sounded like he had been
through a war.
?I feel like I?ve died and gone to Hell.? Ranma took
this chance to be blunt. ?What did you do to me? Did
you poison me??
Morpheus laughed, a sound which Ranma could imagine
less stalwart men fearing. ?Far from it. I?ve brought
you life.?
Ranma welcomed the blackness that came as he felt
sedative coursing throughout his body, another
pinprick among thousands.
After what seemed like sheer seconds Ranma opened his
eyes once more to Morpheus?s kind eyes and hear his
deep, soothing voice. ?Are you ready?? 
Ranma blinked the rest of the sleep out of his eyes
and sat up, feeling weak.
?Ready for what??
?To see the real world.?

***

Ranma lurched out of the constraints of the chair and
found that there were hands holding him down as the
impossibly long needle was removed from his spine. He
made for the door that led out of the control room and
ended up falling to the floor, making every attempt to
catch his breath.
?He?s gonna pop,? Someone in the deep background said.
He wouldn?t though. Ranma wouldn?t give them that
pleasure. Not them. They wouldn?t see his weakness!
He swallowed and got up.
?Why did you bring me here, assuming you?ve been
truthful.?
?Come with me and I?ll speak of it to you, alone.?
Morpheus gently grabbed Ranma?s arm and hefted him up
as if he were a child, leading him to his small room.
?I have to apologize to you, Ranma. I usually wouldn?t
pull someone this late in his lifespan, but I believe
that I was justified in taking you.? Ranma sat and
listened, knowing that Morpheus would be speaking for
a while. ?You see, there is legend that when the
Matrix was built, there was a person born inside who
could actually edit it freely. The oracle foretold
that the one would be reborn. many of us have been
searching for that one in recent years because we
believe that the time of the one?s return is nigh. I
believe that search is over, Ranma.?
Ranma looked morpheus directly in the eyes. ?What if
you?re wrong??
For the first time since he had met Morpheus, which,
despite that it was only a few hours ago, seemed like
years already, the large man flinched. Without another
word Morpheus got up and left the small room, leaving
Ranma to his thoughts.

***

Hours later, Ranma was greeted by one of the two men
on the ship who he had not been introduced to. ?Hey
kid. I?m tank. I?ll be your op today. Didja sleep
okay?? When given an affirmative nod from Ranma, the
man paused for a moment, and then nodded to himself.
?Well then, let?s get going.
?For what?? Ranma was curious. There didn?t seem to be
much on this ship to do, after all.
?Combat training.? The man smiled for the first time
Ranma had seen since meeting him.
?I don?t need combat training,? Ranma was momentarily
indignant. ?I?m already the best.?
?Really?? Morpheus?s voice telegraphed his presence
behind Ranma. ?We?ll see about that.?

***

Fin. Chapter 1.

Thanx to Fall-Away for the title and to Figment,
Dilandu, Fall, and Riyousha for prereading.
Author?s Note: This work is an adaptation from the
Matrix, a film by the Wachowski brothers, and Ranma
1/2, an Anime by Takahashi Rumiko. All rights are held
respectively by those two people. The Author made
absolutely no money from this fic. He?s good enough at
it to make a profit.

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