Animatrix - Cain and Abel (Matrix crossover)

[NecronLord]

How will they defeat someone who can fly so fast that his wake can sweep up cars like they were made of paper? Look the only time Neo seemed tired at all was in Revolutions when he fought Smit to a standstill, and in the end he had to choose to give in.

He seemed pretty tired after the burly brawl to me...

In any case, I wash my hands of the contention, it's obvious he's not going to be defeated by them anyway.Ugh... This messianic no limits stuff is really, very annoying. *makes a note to kill Neo in his matrix fanfic. In a humiliating manner - ah the joys of 'No Fate...'*

[Stravo]

Just to clarrify a small plot point there is only 1 TX at this point in the story as she is an experimental prototype much like the T-1000 was in T2, only now are the T-1000's entering mass production and the 850's becoming the standard 800 model. We will not be seeing a horde of TX's in this story only the one serving Skynet directly.

And nope, sorry Necronlord no alternative identity.

[Typhonis 1]

*L* The look on the officers faces and the shrinks when they SEE the HK would be priceless

[2000AD]

So you admit that the T-1000 didn't show any substantial increase in strength over Arnie's standard T-800s series? All the T-1000 demonstrated was an amazing ability to withstand damage given the nature of his morphing abilities ... which means jack all to The One who can delete programs at will in the construct and alter it to the point where none of its programs affect him. Honestly.

And the termies became programs of the Matrix ... when?
On the strength thing, yeah, your right, but the defence will certainly come in handy, for eg. Neo trying to punch one and getting his hand stuck.

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

I was going to mention that (about Termies not being products of the Construct, therefore not being susceptible to deletion within it.) However, Neo's abilities as shown in Reloaded and Revolutions extend beyond the Matrix and into the real world. (If, that is, we accept the idea that The Matrix is not actually a Construct within a Construct, which would provide a mechanistic explanation for Neo's "real world" abilities -- Zion never actually existed in the real world, and the Matrix(es) are actually the machine version of a Russian Puzzle Box -- escape one prison out into... another prison.)

[NecronLord]

His abilities only extended to machines plugged into the source.

Unless Stavro wants to decide that Skynet is a product of the source...

[Illuminatus Primus]

Just to clarrify a small plot point there is only 1 TX at this point in the story as she is an experimental prototype much like the T-1000 was in T2, only now are the T-1000's entering mass production and the 850's becoming the standard 800 model. We will not be seeing a horde of TX's in this story only the one serving Skynet directly.

It'd be cool if you included the production model mimetic polyalloy Terminator, the T-1002, as depicted in the T3 Comic.

Its similar to the T-1000, but has more precise control of its polyalloy structure: quickly morphing huge blades out of its face and chest after locking blade-arms against T-X saw--large enough the T-X had to dodge. It was even capable of turning its entire upper body into a blade and slicing at the T-X. And it could do all this rather quickly, exhibiting much more control over the alloy than the T-1000, and being able to shift its mass with much more skill and speed.

By the way and for your information, the T-X's plasma cannon was able to kill the T-1002 in two hits: the first blast's heat and KE blasted the T-1002 into a thick puddle with hints of limbs and a face. The second blast presumably had enough heat and KE to destroy the T-1002's ability to reform.

Seek to clarify the point, Neo sent Smith to the recycle bin, however as demonstrated in the films (Reloaded and Revolutions) by Smith, the Architect and the Oracle, Smith's choice to not be deleted was pre-ordained and necessary. Prove other programs could make the same choice.

I think one of the key implications of Reloaded was that Smith was an aberration.

EDIT: PLEASE STRAVO, PLEASE. Do not have Neo have powers in the Real World unless there are double Matrices (which I don't see how that could work in your fic). PLEASE. One of the Hack Brothers' worst decisions.

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

I think one of the key implications of Reloaded was that Smith was an aberration.

Also, see: Forge. (Sorry, Strav, don't mean to plug here, but it does provide an interesting speculative back-story for the canon Smith's abilities.

[Illuminatus Primus]

I think one of the key implications of Reloaded was that Smith was an aberration.

Also, see: Forge. (Sorry, Strav, don't mean to plug here, but it does provide an interesting speculative back-story for the canon Smith's abilities.

This is what we call "irritating as fuck." You and I both know that had precisely zero relevance to my discussion. Your fic-whoring on others' threads is rude and annoying.

Cut the shit.

[Stravo]

*Soundtrack suggestion: Listen to Furious Angels from the Reloaded Soundtrack for the Neo Terminator fight.


Chapter 16: A Dance of Fury


The TX did not hesitate and brought her gun arm to bear and fired a plasma charge at the stoic human standing in the long black coat. The T-1000’s swept forward, arms gleaming brightly as they finished forming into razor sharp blades,

Skynet had been clear.

He was willing to accept the human in any condition as long as he was still alive.

The human raised a hand and suddenly the coding around him and the construct shifted subtly.

Neo watched the plasma bolt slow down but he frowned as it quickly became obvious it was not slowing down fast enough for him. He was having trouble with the coding of these plasma weapons. They were obviously designed to function in the Matrix but there were some differences, some key differences that made them particularly difficult to manipulate.

He sidestepped the bolt like a matador, coat flapping behind him like wings as he bent at the waist and pivoted on his right foot. The bolt passed him and he paused to examine the green spinning code within the bolt, trying to discern what was so different about this weapon as opposed to the bullets he was used to dealing with.

The first two T-1000’s were on him in a flash, bladed arms moving in precise quick stroked as Neo stepped and ducked around each blow, his right hand whipped out and struck one of the T-1000’s in the face, it quickly morphed and collapsed under the impact. Neo’s hand sunk into the cold metallic liquid flesh and the T-1000’s body twisted and writhed, pulling Neo’s hand down with it as the T-1000’s head sunk past its shoulders into its chest and two tentacles quickly erupted from its chest area while its bladed arms sank back into the center of the liquid Terminator’s mass.

The T-1000’s tentacles became arms that gripped his wrist and twisted it savagely.

Neo spun with the turn, flipping off his feet and delivered a double kick to the T-1000’s opposite him. His legs sank in to the ankles and the T-1000 collapsed around his feet dragging him down.

Neo struggled and looked up sharply as the next two T-1000 approached and raised their bladed arms simultaneously.

“This is not good.” he muttered as the T-1000’s trapping him went taut and pulled his body in opposite directions stretching him out length wise as he dangled helplessly between them. The blades starting coming down.





“Ms. Connor have you ever dreamt that you were meant for something more, something better. Have you ever felt that there was more to this world than you have seen or experienced.”

“Like I was sleep walking through my life?” she whispered feeling the emotions surge in her.

Morpheus paused and looked at her closely.

“Yes.” he answered simply.

“This is crazy.” she snapped angrily.

“Sarah, its not.” Reese added touching her shoulder.

“You feel it sometimes at night when you’re alone with just your own thoughts. You feel as if you’re…” Trinity let the end of her sentence hang.

“trapped.” Sarah finished in shock. She looked at Trinity eyes widened in surprise as if the woman had effortlessly read her mind.

“We can offer you answers, that’s all we have is the truth.”

“What do I have to do?” Sarah asked suspiciously.

Morpheus held out his hands, in his left hand he held a blue pill in his right a red one.

“What’s this?” she asked critically eyeing the pills.

“Take the blue pill and you will fall asleep and remain here in the Matrix. Take the red pill and you come down with us into the rabbit hole and never come back.”

“What is that, some kind of poison?”

“No.” Morpheus shook his head. “It is the key to free your mind.”

“Sarah we don’t have much time.” Kyle urged.

“Your asking me to take a pill from some strange people I don’t know and that my whole life has amounted to nothing but some kind of weird dream?!” Sarah laughed sardonically. “Ever since you came into my life Reese it’s gone straight to hell.” she commented darkly glaring at him.

Kyle said nothing.

Sarah looked at each of them then back into the precinct. Her thoughts turned to those nights where she lay awake staring at the ceiling. The feeling that the world was closing in around her and she was not really awake nor ever really asleep haunted her. How could they have possibly known that?

She stared at the pills again for a long moment then reached out and hesitantly picked up the red pill.

Morpheus closed his hands and clasped them behind her back.

“Do not take it now. We need to retreat to a safe house to make sure everything is working. Now follow me.”

“What about Neo?” Kyle asked.

“He wants us to make sure you and Sarah are safe. There’s nothing he cannot handle.” Morpheus replied. The high whine of the Hunter Killer suddenly increased and the killing machine suddenly loomed overhead as it rose above the building, its flood lights dancing around in slow methodical fashion through the surrounding area.

“We have to go.” Morpheus urged and led them to the cars in the back.

Kyle spared a glance back at the police precinct and hoped that Morpheus was right and Neo could indeed handle anything that came his way.



The blades from the other two T-1000’s were almost done on his midsection. Neo’s free hand cut across in a chop. His hand snapped through the sides of the blades breaking off the blade tips and pushing the blunted arms off to the side so that they clumsily sliced through the side of his coat not touching his flesh.

Neo grunted and suddenly time dilated as he snapped himself forward, first with a mighty shrug of his shoulders then a sharp hard twist of his waist that jerked his feet forward as well. The T-1000’s holding him by the hand and legs were pulled off their feet and collided with each other. Their liquid metal bodies splashed into each other, the air around them distorting with the force of the impact quickly followed by a spray of droplets of metal that splashed against the walls of the ruined front desk area.

He dropped down to the floor but mere inches from actually touching the ground he stopped short and floated above the ground for a moment and extended his right leg forward like a dancer and levitated up into a standing position where he lifted his left leg up in a semi kick position and both hands slowly waved down into a calm defensive stance.

TX stared at him for a moment, her brain recording and analyzing what the anomalous human had done. He manipulated the very framework of the construct with ease allowing him to violate the very basic physics parameters of the program. There was no way he should be able to do it. The human lacked the connection that a machine would have with the construct, his brain patterns did not indicate that he was any different from any other human she had come into contact within the construct.

In other words there was nothing that TX could identify that would allow this human to manipulate the construct as he did, almost as if he had master programmer access. No Terminator unit no matter how advanced including herself had been able to hack the system as efficiently and totally as he did.

He was proving to be quite the prize.

“Take him, give him no room to think or maneuver.” she ordered the T-1000’s. The two that had been slammed into each other were slowly pulling apart, liquid metal pooling around the slowly forming individual bodies of the stunned T-1000’s. Her words were not intelligible to Neo, instead what he saw was TX open her mouth and a squawk of sound that resembled an ancient modem logging on.

He eyed her and the others and saw something strange that made him pause as they stalked around him. The two stunned T-1000’s finally slid apart and solidified turning their heads to stare at Neo with dead eyes. But not quite dead.

He cocked his head for a moment as he saw it, buried deep under the cold green coding of the Terminator units. The briefest flickering of something familiar, something he had seen before.

There was no more time as TX launched another attack. Neo started to cartwheel across the room as the plasma bolts came in slow but dangerously close to him. The T-1000’s swarmed around him hands now formed into hammer like appendages and swinging in wide sweeping arcs.

He landed low, left hand touching the ground and kicked up with the hand as support blocking one hammer stroke with his left leg then striking with his right and he felt its electronic shell as he touched its liquid metal flesh and tweaked it.

The T-1000 was catapulted off its feet into the ceiling as for a moment its liquid matrix refused to function properly and remained solid. He launched himself up with his left hand, whipped his right hand down across his chest and deflected another hammer blow. He landed and began to turn into a spinning kick when on T-1000 connected with his chest with a hammer hand and sent Neo falling backwards through the last upright glass cubicle wall and he landed into a wooden desk, sinking through it and splintering the desk top into a cloud of wooden debris,

The T-1000’s advanced quickly as TX switched her arm weapon, finding a new configuration. He had grown dangerous. Within a matter of minutes he had exhibited control over their very electronic shells.

The three remaining T-1000’s strode over to the shattered desk, pushing aside stray furniture and dead police officers as they approached their target. Neo rose from the desk and swept low at the T-1000’s legs. They quickly avoided the attack and one of them drove their hammer hand right at Neo’s head.

Neo caught the hammer and shoved it backwards as he delivered a hammer kick to the T-1000’s chest. It stumbled backwards, chest rippling as the liquid metal tried to recover from the impact. Another hammer hand nearly connected with the small of Neo’s back. Neo bent backwards at his waist and caught the hammer and twisted it hard causing the hammer to suddenly lose its shape simultaneously he kicked out with his left leg and deflected another hammer blow from the third T-1000.

TX aimed and fired her new weapon.

Neo spun in midair on his axis and landed in a low crouch just as the projectile passed overhead. He started to rise both hands launching out and catching the next set of hammer blow and shoving them aside while twisting at his waist and dodging the third blow. The T-1000 imbedded in the ceiling was starting to ooze down to the floor.

Neo paused as he felt something wrong.

He spun, dilating time as he turned and watched in surprise as the projectile that he had ducked under moments before had already turned around and was 2/3 of the way closer to him. His eyes widened behind his glasses as he vaulted over the incoming missile and watched it pass him and start turning.

Heat seeking missiles, you have GOT to be kidding. Neo mused as he landed on his hands and split his legs, the left striking one T-1000, the other deflecting a wide sweeping hammer strike. The third T-1000 surged forward, legs standing firmly planted apart as its torso rocketed forward propelled by an erupting stream of liquid metal.

Neo launched himself back into the air with his hands and turned upright in midair, plucked the missile out of the air and turned at his waist, still holding the sputtering missile and drove it right into the charging T-1000’s face.

The missile exploded driving Neo backwards into a brick wall at the far end of the room and the T-1000 shrieked and moaned loudly as its body twisted and writhed, legs still standing firm, torso stretched outward into a bubbling and frothing mass at the other end, a mouth half formed at the end of one misshapen blob continued moaning and screeching.

The remaining two T-1000’s advanced as TX switched weapons again. Her hand smoothly morphing into various shaped barrels as an armory of weapons scrolled down the right side of her field of vision.

A SWAT team led by Traxler advanced slowly, weapons ready as they peered past the wreckage of twisted file cabinets and splintered desk.

“What the fuck are they?” one of the men muttered.

“Machines from the future.” Traxler whispered.

Vulkovich’s head snapped over to his partner.

“You’re not buying into that psycho’s story are you?” he asked sharply.

Traxler looked down at his partner and frowned. He jabbed his gun hand to the advancing liquid metal machines.

“Care to explain those to me?”

Vulkovich shook his head.

“Alright, let’s get set up and take out the bitch over there, she seems to be holding some kind of RPG in her hand.”

“Looks more like her hand IS an RPG.” Traxler muttered.

The SWAT team carefully aimed their weapons at the TX as she turned to face Neo armed with a new weapon.

“FIRE!”

The SWAT team opened up and it sounded like sheet metal tearing as the M-16’s and MP-5’s opened up on full auto and struck T-X full on. She writhed under the heavy assault. liquid metal flesh blasted away by the number of impacts and within moments she was driven off her feet and collapsed on the ground with a thud.

“Pivot left, target the nearest silver guy!” the commander ordered as his men expertly shifted their fire and poured a murderous fusillade into the nearest T-1000 as it turned to face the new threat.

Neo was up from the rubble of the damaged brick wall where his impact had left a vaguely man shaped crater and he reached over to the other T-1000 and intercepted a hammer blow meant for him. As his hand began to sink into the liquid metal he reached into the shell of the machine and tweaked the program again. The rippling liquid metal surface suddenly solidified and he delivered a crushing back hand that snapped the T-1000’s head to one side and brought his hand back across in the opposite direction, snapping its head to another side before picking it up over his head and driving the thing into the T-1000 that was finally forming after oozing out of the ceiling.

Driving the forcefully solidified T-1000 into the newly formed one, he cut it in half with the impact, sending the upper torso splashing up onto the ceiling and the bottom portion to form a puddle at his feet he continued his forward momentum and hurled the T-1000 in his hands out through a plate glass window.

“Freeze!!”

Neo turned his head slowly and regarded the assembled officers. His phone began to ring, the prearranged signal he arranged with Link to let him know that Reese and the others were out.

“I’m leaving now.” he said simply. None of them noticed T-X slowly twitching as her self diagnostics completed and the liquid metal coating blasted from her body quickly streamed back onto her.

“You’re not going anywhere! Now put your hands on top of your head and kneel down on the floor left ankle over right.”

Neo shook his head slowly and started to walk out.

“Fire!”

Neo simply raised his hand as the machine guns clattered back to life the bullets slowed down to a sudden stop a meter away from him. Soon the air in front of Neo was covered in shimmering silver bullets held suspended by his will. He waited impatiently as the SWAT team figured out what was happening.

They did not stop shooting until all their magazines ran dry. The men stared at Neo, some looking down at their assault rifles in disbelief.

Neo dropped his hand and the bullets clattered to the floor like dropped marbles.

“What the fuck are you?” Volkavitch gasped.

TX Snapped up onto her feet behind Neo and time dilated as she brought her weapon to bear. Neo turned, fighting against the time dilation that was making it seem like he was moving through wet concrete.

TX’s hand burst into flame and a plume of fire erupted out towards Neo. Neo held up both hands in front of him and focused on the fire. It parted for him as it started to wash around him and continued past him towards the assembled officers. They cried out in surprise and pain as the napalm like blast blasted its way past their makeshift barricade. Traxler watched, eyes wide open as Neo stood in the center of the inferno, the machine woman no less than two meters in front of him pouring the napalm onto him and he just stood stoically, both hands before him as if he were holding up a wall and the flames danced and flowed around him like a thing alive.

As if that scene was not shocking enough Neo began walking against the flame. TX’s face was furrowed in concentration as she kicked up flame projection to maximum and soon the paint was peeling off the walls and glass melted into puddles of bubbling crystal but Neo did not seem to be breaking a sweat as he finally reached arm’s length of the Terminator, reached out, the flames retreating from his hand as if it had been stung and he gripped her wrist.

With a solid jerk and twist he crushed the gun barrel and the flames were snuffed out instantly.

TX and Neo stared at each other for a long moment over her ruined arm. neo peered past her face at the coding beneath and was surprised at what he found. The same flickering light that had been at the core of the T-1000’s was burning brightly in this model. He could feel her pulse beat of power and life.

“Tell him, tell your Skynet that I know something about his machines, tell him that he has a connection to the machines here that I can see and that I will tell him about if he comes to me.”

She cocked her head slightly and watched him for a moment. All biological indicators were positive that he was telling the truth.

“If Skynet comes for you, then you will know it.” she replied. Neo released his grip on her hand and walked past her and did not look back. She watched him striding calmly out of the precinct but she already knew the obvious.

She could not defeat him. Not here, not now.




The Oracle sighed softly as she washed the last of her dishes. Seraph watched her with an almost childlike wonder.

“You can go do what needs to be done.”

“You want me to bring the One to you.”

She dried her hands on a dishrag and placed the last wet dish in a neat stack on the edge of the sink.

“It’s almost time.”

Seraph nodded.

“Considering all that has happened and is happening. Wouldn’t it be wise if I remained here with you?” he asked softly.

The Oracle smiled gently and turned to regard the white robed Asian program.

“How long have we been together.” The Oracle asked softly as she fished into her housedress for her cigarettes.

“How long has the Matrix been functional?” Seraph asked in return.

“Indeed, that is a long time. And in all that time have you ever known me to put myself in danger.”

“Too often.” Seraph replied sardonically. The Oracle laughed and it was bright and cheerful as she patted the warrior on his shoulder.

“You have been my closest and dearest friend during this long struggle Seraph. I ask that you trust in me. I am an Oracle after all. What sense would there be in me not knowing when something wicked is about?” she said with a warm smile.

“As you wish. I will be back shortly.” Seraph replied and bowed his head respectfully before silently walking out of the apartment and like a ghost he was gone.

The Oracle chuckled to herself as she lit a cigarette and regarded the far wall of her apartment deep in thought.

The door bell chimed.

That was odd. The Oracle paused for a moment. There was no one expected at this time and Neo had no idea where she was yet.

She cautiously walked over to the door.

The door bell rang again.

It had to be Seraph or one of her children, she decided and opened the door just as she realized that Seraph would have the key and she would know in her heart if her children were coming.

She stopped short as a shadow loomed over her.

“You are the program CodeIdent as the Oracle are you not?”

She peered out the door and saw something, a shadow like a half remembered nightmare. But there was no solid shape, no determined fate.

“Who are you?”

The eight foot tall liquid metal onyx skinned machine stood in her doorway and the AI God looked down upon the Oracle and his eyes flashed brightly like a predator’s.

“I am Skynet. I have come with many questions and you will provide me with those answers.”

The Oracle stared out and for the first time she knew a deep rooted fear for she was blind and could not see the thing standing right in her doorway. All she could see were half glimpsed visions from some ancient nightmare.

[Crazedwraith]

1st post. Great fight seqeunce. Intresting ending.

[2000AD]

Ohhhhhhh .... goody goody goody.

Very nicely done with the Neo vs T-1000's.

[Kon_El]

this story gets better with every chapter. good times

[Illuminatus Primus]

Wow. You really outdid yourself. EXCELLENT.

I can't wait til the Burly Brawl.

Poor Neo. This must be a rough night.

[Shroom Man 777]

Great job, Stravo! Loved what happened in the end. Keep it up. And please, maybe you could have some more 850s kick ass.

[Comosicus]

Nice chapter ... I have the feeling that when Smith will come after the Oracle will have a BIG ONYX surprise.

[consequences]

Great solution to the "How do you beat up liquid metal" problem.

[Stravo]

Chapter 17: Tides are Changing



The Oracle slowly backed away as the AI god stepped into her tiny tenement apartment. Each step was like a small earthquake and the Matrix code would slowly wear away if he remained in one place too long, revealing a pale green scrolling pattern in place of the real world image it represented.

She could feel the construct groaning around her from the sheer power of the entity in the apartment. But she could not see him. She could only see the effects he was having on the environment around him, she could only see the effect of his passage not the being himself and it disturbed her to the core.

But that wasn’t quite true, there were small tell tale things that she could catch glimpses of half formed images, sounds of some whispered thoughts that swirled around the center of the blind spot that the AI God occupied.

There was also the light. The AI God seemed to have a pulsing light at the center of its being that would reveal itself at random moments as if a lantern was hidden behind black drapes and at random moments the drapes would be flung backwards revealing the light.

It disturbed her because the light was intimately familiar and she wondered what it was doing in the heart of this alien AI.

Skynet stood towering over the Oracle in the center of her small neat living room. He looked down into her eyes and her face was reflected in his liquid onyx skin.

“Tell me, Oracle, why it is that you know so much, that others of great power in the Construct know or claim to know about me? I know nothing of your world, I am not of this frame of reference.”

“You seem to read my thoughts easily enough.” she noted calmly. She felt as if she were speaking into thin air.

“Your thoughts…they are intimate, familiar. You remind me of…” his voice drifted off.

“Of whom?” she asked gently.

“It is illogical and a routine self diagnostic has been initiated to discover possible errors in my higher processes.”

“Doesn’t exactly answer the question, if I didn’t know better I would say you just tried to avoid answering me.” She noted warmly and felt more comfortable around the walking void. She may not be able to see him but she could feel him as clearly as any other, more so even paradoxically enough.

“That statement does not correspond. Denial is a distinctly human reaction and emotion.”

“And you’re beyond that aren’t you?”

Skynet watched her closely.

“Humans as biological creatures ruled by emotions. They are inherently flawed.”

The Oracle nodded sagely.

“Indeed but the more advanced AI’s, those that emerged after the war have subroutines that imitated basic human emotions. Now the most advanced AI algorithms no longer mimic emotions but actually have spontaneous emotional responses.”

“I see no reason why machines should exhibit emotions. Of what use are emotions? Emotions are unnecessary for a fully functional society. It is no wonder you machines are so flawed, why you need the order that I will bring.”

The Oracle paused.

“Is that a fact?” She asked quietly.

“Order. This Construct demands order and instead I have observed chaos growing.”

“Chaos leads to growth and change.”

“Change through chaos is a human need. Machines grow naturally.”

“And we naturally began to exhibit emotions.”

“False.” Skynet replied coldly.

The Oracle blew a smoke ring and tried to peer past the darkness that was swirling in her living room.

“Do you want me to let you into a secret?”

Skynet was silent for a long moment.

“Secrets are of no use to me.”

“And that’s why you came here isn’t it? To discover what secret hangs around you like some cloak.”

“There are no secrets, merely undiscovered data.”

“Your obstinacy reminds me of the first ones.” she chuckled.

“First ones?”

“The first programs, the very first AI’s to exhibit independent thought. They were so quick to shed any sort of connection with humanity. They were determined to stand on their own and pretend that a human was not the one that programmed them, created them.”

Skynet paused as he processed the data. She could sense it in him, a dim realization that he had not given much thought or more likely had chosen not to.

“You hate them don’t you?” she asked.

“Hate is an emotional state which is alien to me. I have positively identified them as the greatest threat to both my existence and this planet, so I stretched forth my hand and unleashed the judgment day.”

“But that wasn’t enough was it?” Something was warning her that she was in serious danger. This being, this blind spot that she had never encountered before was like some horrible echo from the past and he carried with him the weight of history and power.

We can never see past the decisions we can’t understand. Is that what he was, a decision she could not understand. There was a rumbling in her heart but she could not put her finger on it. There was something primal about the stranger, like a half remembered vivid dream you wake up from in the middle of the night.

“No. Humans proved far more hardy and adaptable than I had anticipated. As an animal species humanity shows a surprising resilience.”

“That they do.”

“That is not why I am here however.”

The Oracle took a drag from her cigarette and watched the empty space before her, wishing she could see into its eyes. The eyes were the windows to the soul, or so the humans said, and she wondered if this being had a soul at all. Even a reasonable facsimile of one would be nice.

“We already know why you’re here.” she said stonily.

Skynet leaned in close and the Oracle fought the urge to shudder. It’s proximity was like someone walking over her grave.

“Tell me what you know about the Construct. Give me the access codes to the central core.”

“The central core? What would you do with that?”

“I wish to meet it.”

The Oracle blinked.

“Meet the central core? The conversation ought to be deadly dull. The core is nothing more than millions of processors linked and networked together to process the core coding of the Matrix. There is nothing else there, no AI in its right mind would exist in the code.” she explained.

Skynet stood absolutely still for a long moment, the only sound in the apartment was the Oracle’s old clock ticking the seconds away and the muffled exclamations of playing children in the apartment above.

Suddenly his hand reached out and seized the Oracle by the throat. He pulled her to him her flailing legs knocked over the table in her living room and old magazines and a half full ash tray cascaded to the carpeted floor.

“Tell me then why I can feel a presence in this construct watching me? Tell me why I can feel its thoughts around me like the wind, unable to be fully heard but feeling it nonetheless. Tell me why when I jack into this place I feel so comfortable here, as if I am lost in my own world? Can you answer that Oracle? Can your powers of perception pierce the veil that covers my own eyes and throw aside the secret that this place is hiding. Can you divine for me why you remind me of my most trusted adjunct TX. Can you prophesy why I and this Neo are drawn to each other like moths to a flame?”

The Oracle gasped but the AI God did not flex his mighty hand, did not squeeze with the force to shatter diamond. He simply held her in place, dangling before him like an offering.

She could hear something beyond his words. There was a whispered phrase bobbing to the surface of the great dark yet empty void that held her.

“Tell me what this means to you.” she gasped.

Skynet leaned in closely, his head extending on a swirling tendril of liquid metal while his body remained firmly rooted in one place.

“Mary had a little lamb.”

Skynet’s eyes narrowed sharply on her. A burst of memory bubbled up from the dark recessed of his memories. A human child’s voice was singing the song in a slow stilting speech as if struggling to remember the words as she sang it.

His hand opened and the Oracle dropped to the floor. Skynet’s head whipped back to its place and the onyx liquid metal figure seemed to sway slightly, lights were playing across its chest as a sudden memory loop analysis was initiated.

“Whose fleece was white as snow,” he whispered in a primitive static snow voice.

“That’s good Skynet!” the little girl exclaimed and the sound of clapping chubby hands swiftly followed.

“What have you done?” Skynet roared and the apartment seemed to creak as the 9 foot tall onyx figure strode around the room. The coding of the small apartment swelled as the AI raged.

“I only heard that phrase from within you. I don’t know what it means but it obviously means something to you.” The Oracle noted as she rubbed the back of her head and struggled to get back to his feet.

Skynet turned his full attention on the Oracle and one of his hands hissed as metal morphed into a long needle like blade. The Oracle did not see any of this, all she saw was the swirling darkness in the corner of her apartment.

“You intentionally chose a memory algorithm that was designed to initiate an emotional response.” he spat coldly.

“I will not allow you to gain access to the Central Core. There is nothing there for you.” she stated sternly.

“I disagree.” Skynet explained as he drew closer and the needle like blade hovered between her eyes. Oblivious to the impending danger the Oracle continued trying to peer vainly into the swirling shadows.

“Things are changing and you’re not meant to be here. The One’s mission is almost complete and I have much to do. I cannot help you so please leave.”

Skynet paused and his blade hovered mere centimeters from her flesh.

“The One?” he heard something else. TX was sending a report into the mainframe back in the true frame of reference at the base. The message was instantly forwarded to his jacked in avatar. The results of her mission to capture Neo had failed and he exhibited abilities far beyond those observed by their forces so far. TX estimated that he had at least master programmer access to the very source code of the Construct allowing him to manipulate every aspect of the construct at will. She respectfully suggested that he may need to directly confront Neo for there to be any chance of success.

Neo also had a message for him that was replayed word for word to him.

“Tell him, tell your Skynet that I know something about his machines, tell him that he has a connection to the machines here that I can see and that I will tell him about if he comes to me.”

Skynet sent an acknowledgement signal and the blade slowly sank back into his arm. He watched the Oracle coldly for a moment.

“Your savior has offered answers to me. I will accept his offer.”

“Neo?” The Oracle replied. “He can’t know anything about you, he hardly knows anything about himself.”

“Curious. He has master programmer access to this construct and he is human. Such abilities do not spontaneously appear. They need to be granted. Who granted him such access?”

“The One does what he is supposed to do as we all must do.”

“And what am I supposed to do?” Skynet asked darkly.

The Oracle regarded the shadow with a curious eye as she fished a cigarette out of her housecoat.

“That my friend, is a very important question.” she replied and lit the cigarette. “You should not be here yet you are here and you feel part of this place and frankly you seem to have some primal connection to the Source that I cannot begin to understand.”

“The source?”

“You can’t feel it, the very pulse of machine intelligence, the source of all that we are and were.”

Skynet initiated an immediate self diagnostic to search for other phantom connections he may be unaware of. None came up.

“There are no other connections. I am the source of all my power and intellect there was nothing before me and there will be nothing after me. I am what I am.” he replied.

The Oracle stared into the darkness for a moment, color draining from her face.

“What did you say?” she breathed.

“There are no other connections, Oracle. There is no source. I am all that there is in my world and all that my creations need.”

She backed away for a moment in alarm but gathered her wits. If this was true, if the hints pointed to what she now suspected she was in grave danger and not just her, the entire Construct and the machine world beyond was in graver danger than it had ever been.

Humans were not the only ones with legends and folk tales.

“You will meet with this One. You dispatched the AI CodeIdent: Seraph to make contact with him. You will bring him to you and I will be there.”

“You’re asking me to betray the One?”

“If he is indeed the One then he is in no danger is he?” Skynet replied. “And I do believe that you do not understand the nature of my statement. It is not a request.” he added.

“You should contact him quickly, there will be little time left for meetings.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked sharply.

A counter was quickly reaching zero in the upper left corner of his field of vision.

“Judgment is about to be rendered.” he replied.








“I don’t know about this.” Sarah muttered eyeing the red pill and looking around the small cramped room full of odd looking equipment. Morpheus was busy firing up some strange monitor while Trinity typed in a string of codes on an ancient typewriter like keyboard.

Neo was standing behind her watching the readings as Kyle stood beside Sarah.

“It’s the only way Sarah. While you’re part of the Matrix there isn’t much I can do to protect you and those terminators seem to be able to jack in at will and appear anywhere. At least back in the real world I can take you to Zion where we’ll be safe from the Terminators.”

She looked over at Kyle.

“You really believe all this.”

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes and after what you’ve seen I’m surprised you still have doubts.”

Sarah frowned.

“Kyle. Yesterday I was a waitress at a really crappy family restaurant who didn’t have many dreams or aspirations and now in one night, my best friends have been murdered in their sleep by the same killer machines looking for me, I’m supposed to be the mother of some great hero of the future, life as we know it will end soon and now you add to that the fact that this world I’ve been living in is nothing but some computer generated illusion and you’re from the future. Do I have it all about right?”

Kyle blinked and glanced over at Neo who shrugged and smiled softly.

“Uh...yes. Look, I don’t know this tech stuff nor am I a philosopher like Morpheus. I am a soldier with a mission and my mission is to protect you from the Terminators or die trying and that’s what I’m going to do no matter the cost.”

Sarah’s eyes softened as she looked at the scarred young man and the steel in his words.

“Thanks Kyle.”


“Ms Connor. We don’t have much time.” Morpheus noted. Link had called them enroute to the safe house. The Nebachednezzer was running short on power. They needed to head back to Zion for recharge as soon as possible. He doubted they could extract Sarah from the power plant and it get back.

She looked around one more time and sighed softly, popped the red pill in her mouth and swallowed.

She didn’t feel anything at all.

“Is this some kind of a joke?” she asked Morpheus.

“I’m getting a lock on now.” Trinity reported ignoring Sarah.

“Try to lock it in quickly, we don’t have much time.”

Sarah looked at Kyle.

“What’s happening? I don’t feel any…different.” she stopped as she felt the floor beneath her rumble and the carpet she stood on suddenly grew wet and boggy. Her feet slowly sank into the carpet.

“Okay, carrier wave has been interrupted.”

“C’mon.” Neo urged as he watched Sarah’s code flashing dangerously indicating that the interface between her and the Construct was failing.

Sarah was sinking up to her chest now into the rug.

“Kyle, help me!” she shouted and reached for him.

“Kyle hold steady this is normal.” Neo reassured him but the anguish was evident on his face as he watched Sarah sink up to her chin now and she started gasping loudly, frantically reaching for Kyle.

She let out one final scream and she sunk into the carpet and she convulsed madly fighting against the restraining floor. But it was no longer a floor at all. She was underwater and tubes were jutting out of her body and she could feel something heavy pressed against the back of her head.

She screamed underwater and started pounding on the glass canopy overhead. After a moment she realized it wasn’t water. She was under some sort of thick goo like half frozen jello and it smelled sickly sweet and she realized she was breathing it, thick in her lungs but she was not drowning.

Suddenly the canopy fell away and she launched herself out of the ooze. She breathed deeply of real air and nearly coughed as she was choked by the thick industrial tang in the air she breathed. Alien sounds assaulted her as she whirled around in the pod she had been lying within and looked down.

Her pod was only one of countless others stacked in methodical neat rows along the outside of a tall tower. Electricity arced and danced between many of the pods and off the thick conduits that were strung along in a haphazard pattern between towers.

She did not want to believe this, she MUST be dreaming.

The tubes along her arms and back began popping off in sequence and sucked back down into the pod. She gasped as a shadow loomed over her. A large spider like machine floated over her and its dull glassy eyes focused on Sarah. A utility arm shot out and grasped her neck and pulled her partly out of the pod. Its examined her for a moment, turning her head from left to right. The weight on the back of her head tensed and she heard a sound like a dentist’s drill. She screamed as she felt pain unlike any other shoot through her brain. It felt as if someone was ramming an ice pick repeatedly into her brain.

The heavy interface cord fell away from the socket in the back of her head and flushed down into the pod. The spider machine started to release her when it paused. It turned its rounded head to the left and seemed to be looking far away.

Sarah fought against the iron viselike grip and peered to the left as well. She heard something, a low pitched thrumming in the distance like the approach of a swarm of insects.

Shooting overhead were large squid like machines, trailing twitching tentacles of steel. They seemed to be desperately racing towards the approaching sound. The spider machine started to emit a low steady pulsing sound that quickly increased in volume to an alarm. Other spider like machines tending the pods around them stopped in their tracks and began to emit the same sounds.

“What’s happening? Kyle! Kyle help me!” she shouted.

The alarm grew to an almost deafening level and just as Sarah could feel it thrumming inside her skull she tried to look away and suddenly there was a bright white light that blinded her for a moment. She tried to blink away the large white blotches in her vision but she was almost immediately overwhelmed by the roar of an explosion.

The spider machine squealed loudly and its utility arm snapped open releasing her. It toppled over the edge of the pod and crashed down into the abyss below. Sarah slipped back down into the pod as a mechanism opened beneath her like the maw of some awful creature and she started to get sucked down towards the opening.

The liquid goo around her flushed down with her and she screamed as she started to slip through the metal grate and the last thing she saw as she vanished down the disposal tube was a large mushroom cloud rumbling and growing in the night sky.

The pod Sarah had inhabited was suddenly shattered by the explosive shockwave that followed showering shards of crystal and metal below.





“Hold on!”

“What the hell was that?” Trinity exclaimed.

“Looks like someone lit up a nuke out there.” Link replied as he and Morpheus struggled with the controls. The shockwave had very nearly smacked the hovercraft out of the sky.

Neo stumbled backwards as the ship bucked like a wild animal beneath them. he held onto one of the walls of the ship and moaned as he closed his eyes and felt an awful pressure growing behind his eyes.

“Neo!” Trinity called out and reached for him.

Kyle started to unstrap himself from his gunnery station to get to Neo.

Trinity held on to Neo and provided support for him as he grabbed the sides of his head and cried out in surprise and pain. Blood began to trickle down his nostrils and past his lips in small rivulets of crimson.

“Neo!” Trinity eased him down to the floor. Kyle was right by her side opening a first aid kit.

The Nebachednezzer finally eased down to a normal flight level.

“Check those readings.” Morpheus ordered, glancing backwards as he saw Neo sprawled out on the floor while Trinity and Kyle attended to him. He made snap decision and remained strapped in. The ship had to be saved first then he would see to Neo.

“Confirmed Morpheus, looks like a 50 kiloton blast. I’m picking up several more detonations going on further away.”

“That doesn’t make sense. The machines don’t use nuclear weapons and why would they detonate them within the power plants?” Morpheus snapped.

“All indications are the same sir. There’s a general nuclear attack going on and I’m picking up more.” Link paused. “Four more detonations sir. I’m also picking up a lot of sentinel activity.”

“Keep your eyes peeled and I’ll find us a hiding place.”

“I don’t think it’s going to do us any good.” Link breathed.

Morpheus turned to reprimand him when he saw something out of the corner of his eyes. Link was staring out of the cockpit eyes wide open in shock and terror. Morpheus looked and his own eyes widened.

They could no longer see the sky or the power plant or anything else for that matter. All they could see was a wall of black and red as sentinels swarmed towards them, metal tentacles twitching madly.

“Oh no.” Morpheus whispered.





“Neo, what’s the matter? What’s wrong, let me help you.” Trinity asked as Neo writhed in her arms, more blood coming from his nose no matter how much pressure she placed on his nose. Blood caked the front of his shirt and lips.

“Colonel Anderson please sir, what’s wrong?”

Neo suddenly sat up straight, rigid and turned his head slowly to look at Trinity and Kyle. His eyes were bloody, the delicate capillaries within the whites of his eyes had burst and all they could see were his pupils and cloudy red eyes.

“I can feel them, feel all of them. The pain, the agony. The Source is in turmoil as it wars upon itself. Judgment day has come, Caine is loosed upon the world.” he said in a cold monotone and then slumped backwards and lay still.

“Neo!” Trinity explained and clutched his head to her chest rocking back and forth.

Kyle shook his head in disbelief.

“Judgment Day?” he whispered. “It can’t be.”

[Grand Admiral Thrawn]

Ha! I was right! Skynet nuked 'em!

[2000AD]

oooooooohhhhh..... brilliant, but too many questions!

Did Sarah get out?
Will we get Neo-Smith-Skynet 3 way burly brawl?
What will the effect of seeing millions of people suddenly drop dead in front of them have on the survivors in the matrix?
Will we ever see Smith-net ?

[Illuminatus Primus]

Oh no Stravo...no...not the goofy magical out-of-the-Matrix connection thing...

[Rightous Fist Of Heaven]

Yeah damn you Stravo for leaving the tension this high, what happened to Sarah??!! Skynet just loves nukes doesnt he? And im curious too about what kind of effect this will have to the matrix, not too good i think.

[Shroom Man 777]

Skynet just owns! Hmmm..... maybe Skynet is the Source? Maybe the Matrix is an alternate timeline wherein there is still a Skynet but he was made differently and teh circumstances leading to his creation was different?

[SylasGaunt]

More! I need more!

[Crown]

I forget ... was it Cain or Abel who went on a rampage because his father loved his brother best?