Lango's body floated there, quietly watching it all.
He could not intervene to stop it, because Lei'an's "betrayal" had been perfectly timed.
If he used the contract to annihilate Lei'an now, not only would the Light Spirit continue pouring into Neo's body, but his final seal would also break.
After all, Lei'an had helped and participated in the seals he had placed on himself.
If that seal broke too, he would be permanently confined to the level of strength he had possessed during his earlier fight with Neo. Originally, he could have gradually thawed and absorbed his immense soul power by continually improving this body's adaptation to the real world.
Neo felt comfortable now, extraordinarily comfortable, so comfortable that his body and soul both felt warm, as if he were soaking in a hot spring, steam curling around him, everything just right.
Then he heard flowing water.
Opening his eyes, he saw a white membrane, with what seemed to be moving images on the other side.
This membrane was the instinctive defense of Neo's consciousness.
Yet Neo stepped out of his own accord and entered the scene.
A stream flowed past. Neo saw an old man in white robes sitting on the grass, telling stories about the light to the children seated around him.
These "people"-people, for now, at least-had a peculiar sheen to their skin, and their bodies wobbled a little whenever they moved.
Neo knew these were the soul bodies of the Inner Gate World. Kallen had described their appearance to him before: like a kind of gel.
"This was where I first came to understand the light."
Lei'an's voice came from behind Neo. Then he himself walked up beside Neo, dressed in white robes, his hair silver. He looked middle-aged and very plain in his whiteness, yet