——AD.2156.6.5——

The Normandy did not land in Zion.

After being "disinfected" by the Leviathan and leaving the garrison with a code, its final destination is a giant space station in Zion's Earth-Moon orbit.

The shape of this space station is quite peculiar, it is gray-white as a whole, with a perfect circular structure as the base, stretching out five long "rotors" around it, at this time these five "rotors" are approaching each other, showing a closed attitude, and the inside of these rotors, there are dense streamers flashing.

"That's Citadel," Morpheus finally didn't continue to stare at the star map, but stood side by side with Anderson and looked out the porthole at the giant artificial celestial object, "the heart and capital of Zion, and the last bastion of the Matrix of Confrontations." ”

"Well, it looks a bit like ...... A tulip? Anderson commented as he looked at the Citadel.

"It's a savior, and it's good for someone who sees it for the first time to say 'like a flower.'" Link, who also has no job, quipped from the side.

"What's that 'not bad' enough?" Anderson looked at the shape of the citadel again, and for a moment could not think of an adjective other than flowers.

"Chicken feet, empty bananas, corn cobs, and so on." Link shrugged.

"......" Anderson was speechless for a moment, the guy who said these comments must have been deliberately targeted by the residents of the Divine Castle.

"To be precise, those structures are called 'Rings' and 'Guards,'" explains Trinity, who also has no responsibilities on the side: "The Rings are mainly office areas, with a diameter of 7.1 kilometers, and the Guardian Districts are mainly residential areas, with a length of 43.6 kilometers, and the population of the entire Citadel is 13.2 million according to the most recent statistics. ”

"Seven billion to ten million...... Anderson recalls the numbers he had heard earlier, "so the people who live in the Citadel are elites?" ”

"It's close, but not exact," Morpheus turned, "The Citadel has a lot of laborers looking to go further, and the various retro cities on the surface of Zion also need elites and leaders to manage. ”

This is a simple and crude definition of population, but ......

"Retro city? Could it be that—" Anderson shifted his gaze from the Citadel to the blue planet that had taken up most of the sky outside the porthole.

"That's what you think," Morpheus nodded, "Not all the 'awakened' rescued from the matrix can accept the facts, or rather, most of them can't, so the original Citadel Council decided to build a city in Zion that is exactly the same as the one in the matrix to house those who can't accept reality and let them live as usual, and define this group as 'labor', those who can accept reality and have certain abilities are 'elites', and if you want to become a 'leader', you need to look at the individual's combat effectiveness, leadership, Charisma and determination to make sacrifices for humanity. ”

Morpheus looked at Anderson with trust until the end, as if he was going to make him take a stand, which made Anderson feel a lot of pressure.

"Well, Morpheus, you are indeed a good leader." He decisively digressed from the subject.

"There are many more captains and commanders like me," Morpheus didn't insist, looking back at the Citadel that was getting closer, "Prepare to land." ”

————

The docks of the Citadel are located on the outskirts of the Circle, and there are 42 docks of all sizes, and the Normandy, with the skillful control of the mouse, has accurately docked at Dock 37 for small and ultra-small ships.

As the ship had already been poisoned by the Leviathan once, the crew left the Normandy with only a simple scan and pressure adjustment.

The rest of the crew was accustomed to the huge machinery, the shuttled ships, and the different styles of clothing worn by pedestrians, but as for Anderson, even though he was fully mentally prepared, he still showed a sluggish look from time to time.

After all, the gap between 1999 and 2199 is too big, and if there are strange aliens in his line of sight, he may not be able to hold back the expression on his face at all.

But fortunately, Trinity was by his side, explaining some common sense from time to time, so that the dignified savior did not show the appearance of a dirt bun.

"Look who's back? Our valiant Captain Morpheus! Hahaha, long time no see~"

Not far from the dock, an old man with snow-white hair and deep wrinkles on his face, dressed in a brown uniform similar to a robe, approached him, laughing and hugging Morpheus.

"Speaker Hackett, why are you here?" Morpheus's response made Anderson understand that the old man was the most powerful man in Zion at the moment, but his easy-going and unpretentious behavior surprised Anderson a little.

"Speaker Hackett is Captain Morpheus's old superior, and he has a fairly close relationship." Trinity explained quietly beside her.

"No way, I vetoed the bill of those councillors again, and it's annoying for me to stay there, so I'll just pick you up," the old man's gaze turned to Anderson: "This is Neo, the young man looks very energetic, and he should be able to take on the responsibility of a savior." ”

Is the Savior some weird job post?

"Hello, Speaker." Anderson whispered a sneer and saluted Hackett.

"Haha, alright, Morpheus, let your soldiers disband and rest, you and Neo come and have a drink with my old man," the Speaker looked at Trinity again, "Then the girl can come with you." ”

"This ......"

"I'm afraid it won't work, Mr. Speaker."

Morpheus was about to say something, but was interrupted by a cold and hard man's voice.

When Anderson turned his head to look, he saw that it was a burly and tall young man wearing armor with red edges on a black background, carrying the same helmet in his hand, with black hair and blue eyes, a solemn expression, and a slightly slender face, followed by a dozen heavily armed soldiers.

"Commander Shepard." Morpheus looked at him, only said hello, and didn't say anything more.

"LockShepard, the commander of the Citadel Defense Force, is a man who strictly follows the rules and is almost impossible to accommodate." Trinity whispered.

"According to the provisions of the Citadel Convention, if there is a betrayer on any ship in the investigation fleet, the entire crew of the ship must undergo a psychological evaluation for three to six months, during which time they must not leave the Citadel or connect to any social networks," the man turned to Anderson, "The same goes for the Awoken rescued from the Matrix, and this will not change because he has any special title." ”

Tut...... Sure enough, the difference between the words and deeds of those who believe in the Messiah and those who do not believe in the Messiah is so obvious.

"Shepard—"

"I'm sorry, Speaker, I'm not a member of the council, and this isn't a bill you can veto."

Hackett was interrupted in the middle of his sentence by Shepard, who stared at him and made a puffed out look.

"It's okay, the Normandy has no plans to sail in half a year," Morpheus took the initiative to speak: "However, since it is only a psychological evaluation, then basic personal freedom will still be guaranteed, right?" ”

"Unless there is a serious problem at the beginning of the evaluation, you will be placed under mandatory quarantine for only one week." Shepard took two steps back and motioned for the soldiers of the defense force behind him to step forward.

Seeing that Morpheus didn't say much, Anderson didn't plan to stir up trouble, and after comparing a few worried gestures to Trinity, he took the initiative to follow the guards and leave, taking advantage of this time to brush up on common sense.