For 80sHoe, who's comments give me life XD

Neo gently rolled me into a room with a small table. The others were gathered around it already, eating what looked like soggy oats in milk. Neo pushed me right up to a cleared out spot on the edge of the table so I didn't have to transfer from my chair.

He took the empty seat to my right.

On my left was a young man, probably a bit younger than me, and he grinned. I smiled shyly and looked down at the wet food in front of me.

Although there were only about 10 people in the room, it still felt very crowded, and I didn't feel like talking much. It felt like they were all looking at my chair, like they knew it was going to be a hindrance.

Besides, dining with total strangers is scary stuff. There was one time, what felt like a lifetime ago, when my boyfriend had invited me to a dinner and it turned out to be an entire family reunion. Neither of us had a clue, and even though he knew everyone there, I didn't, and they all insisted on talking to me.

That was how it felt now, where everyone wanted to make stupid small talk about life, and the only things I could try and comment on was the weather.

So I gulped down my bland breakfast and tried to make myself invisible.

Luckily ten minutes had passed and no one had asked me what I wanted to do with my life, which is more than what I could usually say.

No one even tried to explain to me what the Matrix was, and I was pretty glad. One mind trip per day was enough.

But they did tell me about training.

Training, great, a way to completely embarrass myself in front of everyone.

"Great," I responded, not looking up, "But won't there be a bit of an obstacle? I mean, not to point at the elephant in the room, but I can't walk." I muttered dejectedly.

"Oh, don't worry abut that," said Coda, the young one sitting next to me. "You'll be able to walk in The Matrix. Since humans are grown, not born, and used for power, we thought it was strange that you couldn't walk. I mean, I guess it doesn't matter much to them, since the machines didn't anticipate anyone walking... but I suppose that with every crop, there's a few bad seeds. I guess you're just one of 'em."

Coda had to be about 16 or 17. His hair had really grown in since he'd been taken out of the Matrix, because it was almost to his eyebrows in a light brown. It suited him, fit his face nicely. He had that young innocence to him still.

I liked Coda already. He said everything as it was. He was confident, but not cocky about it, and when Morpheus agreed with his analogy, he ducked his head shyly with the praise.

I stifled a little laugh; that's exactly what I do.

Neo touched my arm once to get my attention again.

"Your physical abilities should not discourage you. Soon, you'll realize that the Matrix can be manipulated, and rules can be broken. I never thought I could do half the things I'm able to...,"

I found myself flustered under the eyes of everyone in the room--again-- and looked over at Coda. He smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

I swallowed the rest of my soggy breakfast and folded my arms across my chest.

"Well, I guess it's now or never. May as well embarrass myself before you all care about me too much," I declared. Trinity gave me one of those good-for-you-for-trying looks, which I returned in mock enthusiasm. The room chuckled.

***
Coda was controlling my training programs, and Neo was going to be showing me what to do. Morpheus rolled me over to a chair and gently picked me up and situated me onto it. All I could really do to help was hold on with my arms around his neck and hope for the best.

I was settled in and strapped down, and a tall man we called Bit plugged a wire into the port on my head.

"Ready?" Coda asked, looking over his shoulder at me with nervous excitement.

I braced for it. It hurt a bit, but kinda felt good. I was embarrassed by the noise of shock I made when it was over.

"You okay?" Bit asked me.

My eyes fluttered open, rolling back into place.
"Y-Yeah... oh yeah... what was that?"

"Karate," Coda called to me, "You're a blackbelt, congratulations." He seemed really proud of himself.

This went on for a half hour: half asleep, half awake, downloading different fighting styles into my mind.

At the half hour mark, Neo made Coda call it quits.

"Stop for a minute," he said, "and pull up the jump. I want to see how she does."

"She might not be ready for the jump," Trinity cautioned.

"That's why I'll go in with her," Neo stated, "Bit, hook me up."

In a mere moment, Neo and I were standing on the top of a building. Key word being standing.

I immediately touched my legs, relieved by the sensation of standing. Glancing down at myself, I also noticed that my wardrobe had changed. Gone were my baggy pants and oversized shirt; I was in all black. A black tank top, black pants, and my blonde hair had returned and was in my face again. I couldn't stop touching my legs though, not caring about the change of clothes.

Neo had changed as well. His hair was longer by a couple inches, and he was wearing a long black coat and tight black shirt. Wow. Um... that's very well fitting.

Focus. It's just aerodynamic, calm your jets, Kate.

I coughed awkwardly, realizing I was staring right at his chest. Funny, usually it's the guy doing that to the girl. My eyes lifted up to his. Big and brown and friendly.

"So... uh... what are we doing?"

His hand was on my shoulder again. Stop doing that if you ever actually want me to pay attention to you.

"You need to learn that the Matrix can be easily manipulated, given that it's a concept developed by computers. And since it's not real, you can do amazing things. This is a test to help you free your mind,"

Sorry, were you saying something? Your hand was on my shoulder and I zoned out.

So what I was gathering was that he wanted me to manipulate the laws of physics.

"Why?" I found myself saying.

"Hm?"

"Why me? Why did you guys want me so bad? I'm not a computer genius like the rest of you, heck, I go to college as an English major. I write and draw for a living. I work at a freaking mini-mart. Why did you want me for this, for any of it?"

"Your skills should not deter you. Think of this as a chance to start fresh," Neo smirked. "Let me show you."

He inhaled slowly, then took off in a run. He reached the edge of the building and kicked off, soaring 20, 30, 40, 50 feet through the air and landing easily on the next rooftop.

Okay. So he wants me to die. Nice.

I wandered to the edge and stared straight down at the concrete below. Must be at least 100 feet, which means certain death if I were to miss.

Just don't miss, then.

I gulped. I hated heights. Hated them. And even though it wasn't real, it sure looked real. My knees were trembling at the idea of being so close to a precarious edge. I know, I could feel them.

I thanked The Matrix for its high buildings, not because I was looking forward to leaping off it, but because I could feel my legs again.

"Free your mind!" Neo called from across the way. I quickly backed away from the edge, being startled from his cry and almost falling.

Okay. Okay. You can do this. This isn't real. None of it is real. You're sitting in a chair right now with wires in your brain, not on top of a building. This building is fake.

I set off at a run.
Not real, not real, not real....

I pushed off the ledge.
Not real, not real.

Except it all felt real. Any progress I'd made as far as accepting the truth went out the window. I was falling. Falling, falling, falling, and that ground looked pretty freaking real to me.

I increased in speed, arms flailing in an attempt to brace for impact.... then I didn't. The ground gave way underneath my body and shot me back up. I still landed on my face and messed up my wrist pretty bad, but I was on the ground. Alive.

Neo was at my side chuckling a little. He offered me a hand before I got unplugged.

I asked him what was so funny.

Apparently I had screamed. And I will never live this down.

I screamed "Neo."

***
Author's Note: That story about the boyfriend taking me to a dinner/family reunion? Yeah, that actually happened. It was awkward. :P

Hope you liked the chapter! Leave me a comment if you did, as well as any predictions you may have. :)