You've been locked up, completely cut off. Tank couldn't get you out of the Matrix in this situation, and the only way out was through the walls of the building that the pipes and cables ran through. However, in order to escape this route unnoticed, it took someone to distract the oppressors.

'Imp?' Morpheus looked at you questioningly. You nodded and ran to the stairs. You've done it more than once... for you, such subversive actions were relatively safe. Even when they caught you ... well ... it wasn't a problem anyway.

'Wait! It's suicide!' You heard Neo's voice. You smiled to yourself. He learned so quickly, it was easy to forget that he was a newbie and that he had no idea about many things yet.

'I'll be fine, Neo. But you have to run.'

Morpheus quickly chased him and the others to a hole in the wall, and you sat down in the corridor on the mezzanine and started your show.

You were sobbing softly, but not too softly. It was about being heard. After a while, a group of armed policemen appeared in front of you. They aimed their guns at you and started yelling one by one. You cried louder, recognizing the time had come and shouted 'Smithy!'

The nearest policeman began to tremble, and soon Agent Smith stood in front of you in all his menacing glory.

'Put your gun down!' He said, shouting over the screaming policemen. 'Miss, (Y/LN)...' he muttered, turning to you when they calmed down. 'Do you always have to get in trouble?'

'Well ... if a brave knight like you comes to the rescue, it's really hard to resist,' you sighed dreamily.

You saw him struggle not to smile. The policemen looked at him uncertainly.

'Where are your friends, Miss (Y/LN)?'

'And how do I know that?!' You shrugged theatrically. 'You know what they are, they do not explain to anyone.'

'Miss (Y/LN), it's no time for joking. Do you want me to stop being nice?'

'Mmmm ... don't tempt me.'

You could imagine how much fun Tank had, watching this. But you even liked it ... It was the only way to get in touch with Smith lately... So much has changed, actually almost everything, but this stays the same. He was still very dear to you.

'Miss (Y / N), I urge you to choose your words more carefully. And now I'm waiting for an answer ... where are your friends?'

You glanced at your wrist as if you were checking the time. 'Oh, it seems they sleep soundly in their cribs at this hour ...'

'Enough. You're allowing yourself too much.' He grabbed your arm and lifted you to a standing position. The gesture was very violent but gentle at the same time. 'You might have taken that bloody red pill, but that doesn't change the fact that I can still imprison you here. Without a phone call from your friends, you won't go back to them.'

'Smithy, staying with you is as nice an option as going back to them.' With this talk you were buying time for the rest, so you had to drag it as long as possible. Unfortunately, it was quite a handicap that Smith had an insight into everything.

Suddenly he pressed the earphone to his ear tighter, he gasped to one of the policemen, 'Hold her' and disappeared, leaving the body of a clearly confused policeman, holding your arm.

'NO!' You screamed, escaping the sluggish hands of the officers. You had to struggle with them for a while, but you managed to free yourself in a short time and follow Smith. You heard noises from afar. You fell into the dilapidated bathroom just in the moment to see Morpheus lying on the floor and Smith standing above him. A scream stuck in your throat as you fell to your knees next to your mentor. He tried to get up, but it was very hard for him.

'It's alright Imp,' he said weakly as you helped him sit up.

Smith grabbed your hand and lifted you off the floor. 'I have what I wanted, so I'll let you go.'

You snorted, breaking away from him. 'I do not intend to. Either I will leave with him or I'll stay!'

'Miss (Y/LN), I will not propose this to you for the second time.'

'Imp, please ...' Morpheus croaked from behind you. You knew it wasn't a request, but an order to run away immediately, however, it was so hard to obey, knowing Smith would not hurt you and would not let anyone else do it. And if you let yourself be caught together with Morpheus, maybe you could somehow get him out of this cabal.

'What exactly do you want, Smith?' You sighed heavily. 'Why are you so adamant and relentless ... Does it not tire you ...? Wasn't it nice for you to spend time together with me before it all happened ...? Couldn't we be like this forever?'

'I have no choice, Miss (Y/LN), and you know it. I have to do what is my duty, what I was made to do. Otherwise, I will be removed...'

'However, you did not always adhere to these principles so faithfully ...' You reminded him emphatically. 'There were times that you did many completely different things ...'

'Those were different times, miss (Y/LN). And you were different then, you didn't know about everything ...'

'But now I know and thanks to this knowledge I understood that everything is possible.' You looked deep into his eyes. The glasses disappeared somewhere, probably broken in the fight with Morpheus. 'There has to be a way for you to break free.'

For a moment you thought he would give in. That he will hug you like he used to and say, 'Okay, miss (Y/LN), let's try.' Unfortunately, a group of policemen, whom you escaped earlier on the stairs, came running, and he only gently moved you aside and ordered them to capture Morpheus.

Overall, it was not one, but two things that haven't changed. Smith, too, still had feelings for you ... if you could call it that. You didn't quite know what he was; it was said he was a program, but you couldn't believe that knowing him so well. What was certain was that he was not human. And that hurt you the most because it meant Smith didn't exist outside the Matrix. He could never really be free. However, freedom within the simulation was already something, in your opinion quite better than total enslavement by the system that created it.

***

You did not want to leave Morpheus, so the agents captured you too and as you assumed took both of you to their headquarters. One of the other agents very brutally grabbed your elbow and pushed you into the car, onto the back seat next to Morpheus. Smith was with you in an instant.

'If I see you touching her again, you'll be sent back ...' You didn't hear him completely as he slammed the car door, but you figured he was threatening his colleague to be thrown out of the Matrix. Wherever all unnecessary, outdated, broken, or dangerous programs go.

'You shouldn't be doing this ...' Morpheus whispered weakly. He looked really bad and apparently felt the same way. You dug an old handkerchief out of your pocket and gently wiped his bloody face.

'I couldn't leave you. Together, maybe we'll manage to escape somehow.'

'We both know I'm not the only reason why you stayed ... Imp, you have to finally pick the side. Your heart is still in the Matrix ...'

'I am and will always be on the side of freedom, freedom for all beings, but I can't ... don't expect me to stop loving him like that. Besides, you have often used the feelings that connect me and Smith for your own goals, so don't preachify.'

'Sorry. I didn't want to be so blunt. But I'm afraid I'll die soon, and I don't want to leave thinking that I haven't made you aware of a very important thing - Agent Smith is and will always be just a program, an illusion. An illusion, just like the Matrix itself. Please don't let this illusion obscure the truth, that for them there is no freedom... They even don't understand the concept.'

'Funny ... I think a lot of people, before being pulled out of the Matrix, don't understand the concept of freedom as well...'

Morpheus only smiled sadly.

'Let's not argue anymore. For now, let our only concern be saving you, okay?' You said conciliatory.

He nodded, but it looked as if he was completely at peace with his fate, as was his habit. You even liked his accepting way of being, you wanted to become like him someday.

The driver's door opened, and the brutal agent got behind the wheel, Smith took the passenger's seat. He turned to back as the car started driving and asked if it was you, not Morpheus who had been made chopped liver of. 'All right, miss (Y/LN)?'

You just nodded your head slightly because his words made you remember something. Pretty fresh memory that grabbed your heart as it stood before your eyes.

***

It was a chilly and misty March morning more than a year earlier. You were on your way to work, because Smith had some important business matters to take care of, and you, in spite of his trickery and continuously arranging your sick leaves, had to show up in the workplace from time to time.

It's been almost a month since he first took you away from your duties on this idiotic excuse that you were needed in some government matter, and then you went to this lovely clearing and kissed for the first time. From that moment on, your relationship deepened even more. You spent a lot of time with each other, giving yourself so much affection and love, but not only that. You read together, watched movies, prepared meals, went to clubs in the evenings so that you could dance, and he mainly looked after your safety. You also walked a lot, most often you went to the known forest. Once, having reached the clearing, you succumbed to your passion there, despite the cold, which chilled your bare buttocks. It was not important then, because you were all on fire inside. On fire of delightful bliss.

As you went to work that morning, you were thinking about your plans for the evening, sipping your coffee from a thermal mug, and walking bravely. Suddenly you heard an alarm siren in the building you were passing by. Surprised, you paused to look at the situation.

That building, the bank, was of course still closed at that early hour, and through the glass door you could not even see the bustling employees, but someone else was bustling with extreme violence. Someone who you could tell right away is not an employee of this institution. A woman in a long black coat, boots, and sunglasses was shoving piles of papers at her desk with one hand while the other was holding a cell phone to her ear, she was saying something quickly. She had sharp but very beautiful features, which were shown with a short, slick hairstyle.

She put the phone in her pocket, grabbed a few folders of papers, and tossed a large-sized paperweight at the glass door. To your surprise, it shattered into pieces and the woman jumped out through the hole, looking around. In the distance, you could hear the approaching police.

Then the woman saw you, the only living thing (apart from the pigeons) nearby, and in the blink of an eye, a pistol was in her hand, pointing straight at your head.

'Hey! Dear lady, take it easy! I didn't see anything at all ... I mean, I was foggy for a moment and ... you know, I'll turn around now, okay? And you will go your own way ...'

She smiled with a half-mouth and you thought she was about to lower her gun when suddenly, literally out of nowhere, Smith appeared and stood in the line of fire, shielding you with his body.

'I wouldn't/t do that.' He warned, addressing the woman who looked quite surprised. She looked at you, then at him, and at you again.

'Smithy ...' you whispered in the meantime. 'Maybe we both pretend we saw nothing ...?'

Smith ignored you and held out his hand as if he expected the woman to hand over the gun or folders of papers. Police sirens were getting closer.

The woman shifted slightly to the right, aiming at you again. Smith immediately took a new position to shield you. The smirk crossed the woman's face. She jumped left and fired, then started running away. However, Smith did not chase her. He turned and caught you just in time before you fell over.

When the bullet pierced the body, you felt a stinging pain, blood began to pour out and you thought you were shocked. The coffee cup fell on the pavement, and immediately after that your legs refused to obey.

The wound was superficial, the bullet barely rubbing against your shoulder and penetrating it maybe at three millimeters. In fact, you already knew then that Trinity had been just deliberately only scratched you. She didn't want to hurt you because she figured you were important to Smith and that you might be useful. She thought and was right, that if she hurt you, she'd have a better chance of escaping than if she hurt him instead.

When you met again, she apologized for it, but you didn't blame her anyway. You understood perfectly well what situation she found herself in.

You watched the fleeing woman for a moment, raced at superhuman speed along the street, while Smith confidently took off your jacket and put on a tourniquet ("You'll be fine, Miss (Y/LN), I promise ..."). The woman jumped almost effortlessly onto the first-floor balcony, then disappeared into the apartment.

When the police and his fellow undercover cops (at least that's what you addressed them at the time) arrived, Smith called an ambulance. You tried to argue because you can go to the hospital by yourself with so little damage, but he insisted. When the rescuers arrived and examined you closely, they decided that the wound should be stitched because it was too large and might not heal by itself.

They put you in the ambulance. Smith left his buddies in mid-sentence and joined you before the ambulance left, thankfully without running lights and siren. He sat down in the chair next to you and, taking your hand in his, asked, 'All right, Miss (Y/LN)?'

'Yes.'

'Are you sure?' He studied your face, brushing stray strands of hair from the forehead and placing his hand against it. Even though it was warm, his touch made you feel relieved.' You seem shocked.'

'Maybe so ...' You nodded. 'I've never been shot at. Smith, who was that? This woman? Looks like you knew her and she knew you.'

'I believe, Miss (Y/LN), the less you know about her, the safer you are,' he admitted frankly.

'Surprising how quickly she found out about your weak point, right?'

'What weak point again?' He was surprised.

You smiled crookedly. 'Me.'

Smith fell silent and for a long moment, clearly lost in his own thoughts.

'I must have upset you ...' you finally began, unable to bear the silence anymore.

'Sorry Miss (Y/LN) ... I was just thinking. Please do not think of yourself that way, you are not a weak point. In fact just the opposite, you're the strongest point about me. It is a great honor and privilege for me to enjoy your company and attention, and to look after and protect you when needed.' He kissed you softly.

'Thank you ...' You sighed with a smile. 'For a kiss and for kind words too.'

Smithy smiled, but under apparent satisfaction, he still looked concerned. And he had reasons for it, but you didn't find out about it until later ...

***

The memory was so clear, clear, and almost tangible, you could feel his lips on yours, his hand on your forehead, the pain in the arm where the bullet hit ... It seemed so recent ... but on the other hand like another life.

'Miss (Y/LN)?' Smith, the one at the present moment, looked almost as concerned as in your flashback. Apparently, you were so immersed in your memories that you didn't react for a long time.

'Sorry, I just remembered something.' You looked at him meaningfully. 'A certain ambulance ride.'

He knew what you were talking about, but didn't comment, although you could see he wanted to. Perhaps if there had not been a witness in the form of his companion. You did not think that the presence of Morpheus could somehow bind him, so far he was not embarrassed by the presence of any of the redpills.

Right then you missed Smith's closeness very much, your tender and unhurried touch. You missed so much the peace that always accompanied your meetings before ... Before you got the red pill and the world turned upside down.

***

Trinity has been keeping an eye on you since you first met. She quickly realized that you were important to Smith, and as she and Tank watched you in the Matrix, they were amazed seeing how much time the agent spent with you.

Morpheus took it as a gift from fate. Just as they were so close to finding the Chosen One, appeared someone, who might protect them from at least one agent. All they had to do was recruit you and get you out of the Matrix ... and they were already very skilled at that.

They were waiting for the moment when Smith was not with you, for a good amount of time, because he already felt that something was up, and from the events, at the bank, he did not leave you even for a moment. In the end, they decided to pull him away from you on their own. Cypher, Switch, and Apoc did a little shit in a neighborhood, and Morpheus, Trinity, and Mouse knocked on your door shortly after Smith rushed to do his duty to the Matrix.

'Good morning, can we take a minute?' You immediately recognized the woman standing in front of you. And although your mind told you to close the door in front of her and her companions, you listened to your heart as it prompted you to just listen to them.

They did not impose themselves. Trinity introduced everyone and, recalling your previous meeting, expressed the regret that it had ended this way. Then Morpheus exchanged with you a few sentences that you remember perfectly well:

'We are from the outside of the... system. You can say, we are just like everyone else, and yet different. We came here because we know about your relationship with an agent, and that relationship makes you special to us.

'In what sense?' you asked.

'You could help us. We are trying to recruit more and more people to our group, and your familiarity with the agent makes you one of the first on the list of candidates.

'What is this group?' You looked closely at their faces. 'What are you doing?'

'We don't have much time, so I'll be quick... we are fighting the system that imprisons everyone around. We can wake you up and show you the truth, but it is you, who will have to make the decision whether continue dreaming or live your waking life...

They didn't say more at that time. They vanished as quickly as they appeared, long before Smith returned.

For the sake of both of you, you wanted to hide that visit from him. You had a lot to think about, and you didn't want his advice to weigh in on how you assess the situation. However, you didn't know one important thing then, about Smith's insight into the Matrix. Thanks to the connection between you two, he could easily know what you are doing at any moment. It didn't matter whether you told him or not, he knew they spoke with you anyway.

When he came back he acted as nothing had happened, but you knew almost immediately, from the strange, stealthy glances, that something was wrong.

He was washing the dishes after dinner when you decided to take it up.

'You seem to guess or maybe even know who visited me?' You started carefully, leaning against the kitchen's doorframe. You watched his unfazed profile with attention. Slopping over the sink, he looked so ... ordinary, without glasses and just in his shirt with rolled-up sleeves to prevent them from getting wet.

'Yes,' he admitted.

'They didn't tell me much, but enough to make me think they had you as their enemy. Is it true?'

'We are enemies in a way.' He put the washed plate on the dryer and started washing the cutlery.

'Why? Please, Smithy, explain everything to me.' You decided that maybe it would be good to know his version of this story after all, in the end, he didn't seem angry that you were talking to Morpheus. Or he just didn't show it.

'I can't ...' Smith shook his head. 'Miss (Y/LN) ... are you unhappy?'

'Of course not.'

'In that case, this knowledge will be of no use to you anyway. Please trust me.' He put down the washed cutlery and wiped his wet hands with a cloth. 'If they try to contact you again, and surely they will, please ignore them, that's my advice. Of course, you will do as you like ... but please, remember that I always have your best interests in mind, and they ... they have different priorities.'

Suddenly, a terrible thought struck you that you had to state aloud. 'Smithy ... and if I ... if I ever joined them, would we automatically become enemies too?'

Smith didn't answer right away. He threw back the cloth, crossed the space between you, and wrapped his arms around you. 'Miss (Y/LN), no matter what happened, you will never have an enemy in me, I can confidently promise you this.'

And it was true. Although you ended up on opposite sides of the barricade, his attitude towards you has not changed.

The following days passed almost as blissfully as at the beginning, but inevitably Morpheus stood in your way again.

This time he spoke more, and even though you didn't like it he was saying ... some part of you knew his words were true. By exposing the lies and illusions of the Matrix to you, Morpheus has found fertile ground. You have already noticed the nonsense of the surrounding reality, it turned out that you correctly sensed that something was wrong. It was all as if you were waiting for it ...

Morpheus gave you a choice, which you had to make in a matter of minutes because Smith was already rushing to meet you. You did not want to leave him without saying goodbye, but Morpheus promised you that you would see him more than once and that you would be able to return to him at any moment.

Oh well. Everything sounded beautiful from your mentor's mouth, but you later learned that often the reality turned out to be quite different. You didn't see Smith until three months after the separation. It took this long because they had to get your body, your real body, right, only then you could re-enter the Matrix. You should have gone through some combat training sessions earlier, but you insisted on hurrying and Morpheus had to step down. However, at the time when you were choosing the right thing to do, you believed that your separation from Smith would only be temporary and that you could convince him to join you on the light side of the force.

Two pills, the blue one and the red one. After taking the first, you could go back to your Matrix dream, and if you chose the second, you would be totally awake. While you were pondering over the two pills, one of the companions of Morpheus, whom you didn't know then but later you knew as Cypher, asked Morpheus 'Aren't you afraid he'll just take her over and the fun will end?'

'He won't, I'm sure,' was the answer.

'What are you talking about?' you asked.

'An agent can take over the body of any person who is still connected to the Matrix,' explained Morpheus. 'So also, yours ... He must have already received the information that you are with us. He could just take you over and kill us all, however, if your relationship is what I think it is, I'm sure he won't. The takeover is some kind of violent act done on the connected mind ... and he won't use violence against you, am I right?'

You nodded, convinced Morpheus was right.

'Could ... could he not be pulled out too?' You asked hopefully. They didn't tell you the whole truth then. All in all, they did well, because if you had found out at that point that Smith was a program, the shock would probably have been too strong and you might have opted for the blue pill.

'We'll talk about it later,' Morpheus replied evasively. 'For now, the most important thing is to find the Chosen One, and you can help us with that, Imp ...'

'Imp?'

'That's your new name.' Morpheus smiled widely. 'It fits perfectly with what you did with the agent.'

'Yeah ... imp...' You even liked it. Finally, you found it enough to think about it. You grabbed a red pill, swallowed it, and washed it down with plenty of water. Morpheus nodded appreciatively, and after a while Trinity appeared and began to connect electrodes to you.

'Well, we're starting soon,' Cypher commented, fiddling with the strange device next to you

But he was wrong. You had already started.

***

You shook off those unpleasant memories of the nightmarish sensation of being "sucked" out of the Matrix. A very unpleasant experience. And even worse was waking up in a power plant ... literally like in the most terrible horror. That's just what you preferred not to think about.

You were still driving. There was an unnatural silence in the car that you decided to break. Probably motivated by memories and the quote, that it's better to do something and regret it than regret not having done it, you put your hand on Smith's shoulder and leaned in to whisper to him, 'I miss you so much, Smithy.'

He grabbed your hand, pretending to pull it away, but squeezed it gently, as if to convey that he too missed it.