~6~
~This Year - 1999 - Age 37~
Can't bear to face the truth
So sick he cannot move
And when it hurts he takes it out on you
Lately, I'm not the only one
I say, Never trust anyone
Always the one who has to drag her down
Maybe you'll get what you want this time around
The trick is to keep breathing
The trick is to keep breathing
-- From the song "The Trick Is To Keep Breathing," the album "Version 2.0" (1998) by Garbage
Neo sat beside Trinity in the back of the black car. His identity as Thomas Alexander Anderson had been abandoned. Abandoned a lifetime ago. It felt like a lifetime ago. He couldn't help it. He couldn't help but stare as the simple images of the urban street blurred past his window like an endless stream of data rushing across a computer screen.
That used to be me.
"Almost unbelievable, isn't it?" Morpheus observed.
Neo nodded as the car continued to wind through the crowded city.
"God," he suddenly uttered as he caught the storefront of Phil's Noodle House.
Trinity was curious, "What?"
"I used to eat there," Neo recalled softly, almost sadly. "Really good noodles."
The best noodles in the city. Barbecue pork noodles. Shrimp noodles. Good noodles. Really good noodles.
Trinity smiled from behind her black glasses, quietly appreciating his nostalgia.
Almost as if he was talking to himself, Neo whispered, "I have these memories from my entire life, but... none of them really happened."
Memories of his mom Michelle, his dad John, and his best friend Willie Preston. Memories of his landlady Mrs. Jankowski, and the Chinese cashier at Phil's Noodle House. Memories of his first computer, his first car, his first apartment, his first real job, and his first hacking party. Memories of the infamous Knights Technoir, the ponytailed Levi Stevens, and the red-horned Katie DeVille. Chevalier Premier. Memories that never happened. None of them really happened...
Neo turned to Trinity, "What does that mean?"
What's the point?
"That the Matrix cannot tell you who you are."
END