StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Sorry for the delay on this one folks, I was having trouble trying to get across what I wanted and its the longest chapter so far but enjoy as more will be on the way.



Chapter 21: The Sending


“Watch yourselves.” Morpheus barked back into the crew area from the cockpit.

“I’m on it.” Trinity spat through clenched teeth as she fired a long thunderous volley from the gatling guns. The Sentinel clawing its way along the hull of the Nebuchudnezzer caught the full impact of the volley and was blasted off the side of the ship, spinning madly into a wave of sentinels as they roared by intent on their true target beyond the puny hovercraft.

“We’re clear!” she shouted back over her shoulder before catching sight of Neo trying to get to his feet. “Neo!” she shouted and reached over to help him.

Reese was unwinding the rescue harness.

“She’s down there somewhere, as soon as Link settles us down I’m sending this down to her.” he vowed.

“She may not be in any condition to grab onto it.” Trinity warned.

“We come out of the matrix weak as kittens, trying to use muscles we’ve never had to use.” Neo explained.

“Not to mention we’re practically at ground zero for a nuclear strike.” Trinity added.

Reese looked from one to the other and wordlessly slipped into the rescue harness. He looked into Neo’s eyes.

“I’m going down to get her, sir.”

“I understand.” Neo replied and fought his way over to the rescue harness controls. He looked back at Trinity. “You stay on the guns, I’ll help Kyle rescue Sara.”

Trinity nodded reluctantly and returned her attention to the gun sights. What hold the young soldier had on Neo, she would never understand.

Neo manned the controls. “Kyle this is not going to be easy, the harness handles like a stuck pig and it looks like we’re in the thick of something nasty.”

“That seems to be how things go in my life, Neo.” Reese replied with a weak smile.

“I get the same feeling about mine.” Neo added softly.

“We’re bottoming out, watch yourselves back there, sentinel activity is the worst I have ever seen. So far they’re generally ignoring us but that can change at any moment.” Morpheus reported on the internal mikes.

“I have us over her position.” Link said coolly.

Neo looked into Kyle’s eyes. Reese tightened his grip on the rescue harness and nodded.

“Dropping rescue harness.” Neo announced and slapped the control panel. The bay doors hissed open and Kyle dropped quickly through the open bay beneath his feet into the swirling darkness below.



Sara gasped as she saw the first of the bodies dangling in various grotesque positions from the ruined power plants. Limbs floated in pools of gelatinous liquid and she could see people still trapped within the pods above her, some with silent screams frozen on their faces pressed against the clear plastic cases of their pods.

She fought the urge to vomit and stumbled through the wreckage of the power plant where she had been housed for all her life. The odd part was of course that she remembered none of it, and until the last few days assumed she was living a normal life in Los Angeles as a waitress at a crappy restaurant trying to scrape together a living. Now she was stumbling naked and hairless through a nuclear holocaust.

Life was just too freaking scary sometimes.

“Kyle!” she called out reflexively when she stumbled over a shattered pod, her legs seemed so weak and they were no as coordinated as she would like. In fact she looked downright unhealthy.

“I’m a fucking horror show.” she screamed in outrage as she looked over her body while laying sprawled out on the hard ground. Her arms were dotted with ugly black plugs and her skin was nearly translucent. She suddenly caught sight of what was in the pod, or what little remained of the human occupant of the pod.

She screamed again and scrambled backwards away from the awful mess.

“Sara!”

Her eyes widened and she looked up. “Kyle!”

Kyle suddenly appeared through the swirling smoke and mist descending like an angel. His eyes found her and he quickly unstrapped himself from the rescue harness and rushed over to her. Sarah tried to get back to her feet but she was too weak and disoriented.

Kyle’s firm callused hands grabbed a hold of her wrists and pulled her up to her feet and held her close to him. He looked down at her and frowned.

“My god what have they done to you Sara?” he asked quietly.

“Don’t look at me! I know its horrible!” she snapped and pulled away from him.

“Sara, please, we don’t have much time. The Nebuchudnezzer has to pull out of here ASAP and warn Zion about what’s happening.”

“And what is happening Kyle? You promised me the truth, now look at me!” she cried.

Kyle shook his head.

“Sara, please, this is not the time for this. The machines will come down here any time now and they won’t care what you look like. They will kill you.”

“Maybe I want to die!” she shouted and shook her head biting back bitter tears. This could not be, must not be real. She looked like something out of a Frankenstein movie. This world was not hers. It was not the neat quiet little suburb where she lived, where children played, where people walked the streets and went about their own business. This place was a horror and reflected what she looked like now.

There was a quiet observation that she immediately stuffed down into her rage, a cold voice that told her “We belong here.”

“Sara you can’t possibly mean---duck!” Reese shouted and pulled the pistol from his holster and fired a steady burst over Sara’s head.

Sara screamed and fell to the ground as she felt something pass directly overhead with a whoosh of air and a strange humming. She quickly looked up and saw one of the machine tenders attacking Kyle directly. A clawed appendage was reaching for his throat as it settled over him. Kyle was valiantly firing into the armored carapace of the tender machine. Its spider like body twisted and undulated over the hapless victim.

Sara screamed in horror at the thought of this thing killing Kyle. She desperately scanned the area around her and found a club sized hunk of metal framework blasted away from the power plant. She scrambled on her hands and knees and clutched the makeshift club and grunted as she hefted it off the ground.

The Spider tender machine managed to snake its claw like appendage around Kyle’s neck and he struggled vainly against the ever increasing pressure. He gasped loudly as the hammer on his pistol fell and an empty dry click emanated from the barrel. He did not hesitate to flip the pistol around and start bashing the machine with the butt of his pistol.

A loud clunk stunned Kyle as the entire length of the spider machine shuddered. He glanced over the silver carapace and saw Sara winding up for another strike with her metal club. The spider machine turned its head suddenly and pinned Sara with a red eyed gaze as another claw reached for her as well.

Kyle spied the network of wires and conduits snaking out from beneath the armored carapace along the short stout neck to the back of the spider’s ‘head’. He desperately clawed at the mess of wires and frantically pulled at them as the spider machine lashed out at Sara, batting the metal club out of her hand.

She cried out in surprise at the thing’s speed and saw the claw coming right for her.

Kyle was rewarded for his efforts with a sudden squeal of anger and outrage as a cloud of hydraulic fluid and coolant spat forth from the ruined cables that Kyle yanked out in his hand. The spider machine shuddered violently several times and its grip on Kyle’s throat relaxed suddenly as the claw appendage snapped open. It quickly settled down to the ground, red eyes dimming as its vital systems over heated.

Kyle stepped over the downed machine without hesitation and reached for Sara.

“Come on!” he shouted as he grabbed a hold of her shoulder. Sara saw the sentinel land behind Kyle, tentacles snaking around its central body, claws twitching and snapping excitedly as the eight red eyes blinked and focused on the downed spider tender then back at the human duo.

“Reese!” she shouted in alarm.

Kyle turned and saw the sentinel as it crab walked over to them, cutting them off from escaping through the ruined power plant behind them but that was not their goal.

Kyle spied the rescue harness dangling agonizingly within reach.

“Sara, I want you to listen very closely to me.”

Sara simply nodded as she gripped Kyle’s shoulders in hysterical fear of the killing machine as it danced closer, long metal arms whipping about like dancing cobras.

“Get to the harness over there and strap yourself in, I’ll come back for you as soon as you start rising back up to the Nebuchudnezzer.”

“What?! That doesn’t sound like a plan Reese. We’re getting out of this together.”

“There’s no time to argue now go!” Kyle snarled and shoved her towards the harness

Sara almost went sprawling to the ground but recovered in time to see Kyle take off perilously close to the sentinel. The machine did not hesitate and launched itself off a cushion of several tentacles and chased Kyle into the smoky ruins of the power plant. She snapped herself into the harness, trying to ignore how badly her hands were shaking.

“Reese!” she called out as the harness began to rise.

“Reese!” she called out more frantically as she rose quickly, the ground receding beneath her feet and soon the power plant was out of view and the belly of the hovercraft loomed above her. “KYLE!!” she screamed down into the swirling smoke.

Suddenly she was within the hovercraft and Neo and Trinity were there pulling her free from the harness.

“Reese! You have to go after Reese!”

Neo looked from her to the harness. He grabbed a blaster from the rack by the rescue bay and began strapping himself in.

“What are you doing?” Trinity asked sharply as she helped the near hysterical Sara down to one of the medical beds.

“I’m going to get Kyle. If things get hairy don’t wait for me.” Neo replied as he finished strapping himself in. Trinity rushed over and put a hand over his. She stared intently into his eyes.

“You’re not in the Matrix down there.” She whispered darkly. Neo smiled softly and placed a hand on her cheek.

“If there’s anything the Oracle taught me, Trin, it’s that being the One is here.” He patted his chest. “It’s not where I am, it’s who I am.” He replied and slapped the descend control. He smiled up at her as he descended rapidly down into the smoking ruins and winked as he melted into the billowing soup below.

Trinity said nothing as she watched the man she loved vanish.




“Sir, you won’t believe this but we’re getting a transmission.” Link reported as he nervously watched the sentinels streaming by the cockpit. He had never seen so many in one place and they were sure as hell in a hurry to get somewhere else.

“From Zion?” Morpheus asked with concern.

Link frowned and shook his head.

“It’s coming from the Matrix.”

“That’s impossible Link, we’re far above broadcast depth.” Morpheus replied and eyed his young co pilot.

Link double checked and nodded.

“Sir, its confirmed, the signal is coming from the Matrix and specifically from the Oracle.”

“The oracle?! She’s never broadcast this far out from the Matrix.”

“We were expecting her call weren’t we?”

Morpheus frowned.

“I do not like this at all Link. The power plants under attack, the machines are running amok and now this. This does not bode well.”

“But sir. What’s the worse that could happen. I mean this is Neo we’re talking about right? I mean he can do anything so what does he have to worry about?” Link asked with a weak smile.

“Link.” Morpheus began as he looked out the canopy to watch the swarms of sentinels streaming by. “that sounds suspiciously like famous last words.”




Kyle danced away from a tentacle as it lashed over his head, intending to decapitate him. He leapt across a shattered path way and caught a hold of an overhanging metal spike. He pulled himself up and over the spike and paused long enough to catch his breath resting against one of the power plant towers that was still standing.

The Sentinel hissed mechanically as it almost fell over itself as it fought forward momentum and grabbed hold of the sides of the tower for purchase as it scrambled up above Kyle, red eyes focusing on him and mandibles chattering excitedly.

Kyle scanned around quickly and saw some purchase opposite him on the tower’s utility station. He leapt for it and tentacles lashed out hunting for him as he moved. Two swept by his midsection and shoulder but one snagged his left thigh and Kyle cried out in surprise as it snatched him out of midair and slowly held the dangling human closer for inspection.

Kyle looked into the arachnid like glowing red eyes angry at himself for getting caught so easily. He always imagined he wouldn’t survive this war but to die like this, helpless before his enemy was unthinkable.

“Go ahead fucker! Go ahead and do it!” Kyle spat at the sentinel.

Its eyes narrowed on him and the sentinel’s tentacles rose up around Reese, claws snapping expectantly. Suddenly a blast of white lightning blinded Reese and he threw his hands up to his face as the sentinel released its hold on his thigh.

Reese plummeted down from the side of the power plant tower and landed with a loud thud as his vision cleared. Accustomed to pain and injuries, Kyle was able to ignore the throbbing pain in his shoulder and thigh. He looked up to find the sentinel and saw it flailing madly on the power plant tower. One of its tentacles was burned away leaving a blackened smoking stump in its place.

Another bright white blast lanced into the sentinel, it flailed madly trying to hold on to its purchase on the tower but was blown off the tower and disappeared over the lip of a pod.

“Kyle?”

“Colonel Anderson?” Kyle called back as he struggled up to his feet.

He spied Neo negotiating his way through a thick tangle of shattered spider tender machines and broken pods hefting one of the bulky plasma blasters that he had seen on the Nebuchudnezzer.

Neo finally reached Kyle and looked him over.

“Are you alright?”

“Nothing I can’t patch up myself sir. Trust me, I’ve been through worse.”

Neo smirked.

“Alright, let’s get the hell out of here before we get more com---” Neo gasped as a tentacle wrapped around his waist and jerked him off his feet. Neo dropped the blaster as he struggled against the tentacle. Another wrapped around his legs and lifted him over the damaged central body of the sentinel.

“Neo!!” Kyle shouted and scooped up the blaster, kneeling one knee and coolly aimed right for the center of the sentinel.

Neo gasped as he felt the air squeezed out of him by the unyielding metal tentacles. He looked down at the sentinel and into its red eyes, several were fused shut by his previous blasts but those that remained were locked on him.

He heard something, like a buzzing insect in his ear and within the span of seconds between the sentinel tearing him to pieces and this very moment time slowed to a crawl and the buzz became a language, like the incessant chatter of a million people squeezed into a tiny room. It was starting to make sense and he could understand this machine, comprehend its language, see its place in the order of the absolute hierarchy and feel its unyielding resolve to protect. Its entire world view, reason for being was to protect no matter what the cost.

He also perceived something else as he peered past the simple metal shell and tentacles. He could see an essence, a spark of energy that went beyond simple fusion power and electrical current. This was an energy he had never seen before. But that wasn’t quite true was it?

Neo dangled in the sentinel’s arms but the pain of the constricting arms faded into a dull background buzz and the only thing he perceived was that light, flowing through the machine. He followed the brilliant sparking light as it flowed through the machine and out and around to the power plants towering overhead. The light flowing from the power plants was dimming quickly, the slow rhythmic pulse slowing like the heart of a dying man.

Was it possible that this light stretched outward around the entire landscape, linking machine to machine and flowing from conduit to earth and up and out into the sky like one grand circuit of energy above and beyond anything he had ever experienced.

Not true.

He blinked as his memories flowed like water, back to that room in the dilapidated Heart of the City hotel. Where the wood paneled walls had seen decades pass by with slow ominous steps, cigarette smoke impregnated the mildewed curtains and the mattress squeaked as if ready to give up all its secrets. The room where he had died.

The blast of Smith’s gun, one…two…three hammer like blows to his midsection and he stumbled back against the hard plaster wall, feeling his blood flowing freely into his shirt and out of his back, soaking the sickly green paint of the wall that would be his final resting place.

He sank to his knees, staring at the blood on his hands and all the time thinking – how can this be?

As he sank beneath the waves of consciousness he saw it, instead of the cold darkness he expected, there was the warm brilliant light. It flowed around him in a mother’s embrace and all the while he heard her voice calling to him.

“Get up.”

How can this be? I’m the one. Yes. I AM THE ONE.

The light exploded around him in a brilliant display that announced his presence to the world. But he had never seen that light again, never felt its warm comforting touch. Always denying the one sensation he did not understand when suffused by the light.

I am home.

Even as he walked the winding corridors of Zion, he never felt like he belonged as much as he did when he had sank into the light. It was a light without a source.

It IS the Source Neo. It was a quite affirmation coming from a child.

The voice was instantly familiar yet strange.

Who?

You are on the edge of discovering the truth before you are ready Neo. You will know me soon enough when you have truly touched the Source and you are lost.

Able?

Almost time Neo. Do not be afraid to touch the source. It will save you and bring you to me.

I don’t understand.

You will.

The sentinel was pinned by the sudden burst of a plasma blaster and it fell away, tentacles whipping around releasing neo and sending him crashing to earth. Kyle ran up to the still machine and fired another steady burst into its head. The sentinel twitched once and lay still. Kyle examined it closely and spat on it in disgust.

Machines. They were all the same no matter where or when he was.

He scrambled over to help Neo,

“Are YOU Ok?” Kyle asked as he watched for more incoming enemies.

“I’m fine, just…forget it. Let’s get back to the Neb.”

“You’ll get no argument from me.”



“She sent this message?” Neo asked softly as he stoked the disk in his hand with his thumb.

“Yes.” Morpheus replied. “But I think it’s a trap.”

“She’s never broadcast outside of the Matrix has she?” Neo noted.

Morpheus nodded.

Trinity and Link were looking after Sara and exchanging troubled glances as they inspected her.

“What is it?” Kyle asked.

“Nothing.” Trinity replied absently as she injected Sara with a stimulant to help her gain her composure and fight off any possible lingering shock from her sudden disconnection. The one thing that she did not have to do was begin the laborious process of inserting the muscle stimulators and that’s what had her and Link concerned.

“Don’t tell me its nothing. You and Link have done nothing but look at each other ever since you started looking after Sarah.” Kyle pressed.

“Is something wrong?” Sarah asked suddenly concerned.

“No, its just that…you said she helped you fight off one of the machines?” Link asked.

“Yes. I guess you can say she saved my life.”

Sarah blushed but smiled warmly and patted Kyle’s hand. “I figured I owed you after all those other times.”

“And she was walking on her own?” Trinity continued.

“Yes. Look what’s this about?”

“Kyle, Sarah, you have to understand that when people come out of the power plant they have spent most of their lives in that pod, unable to move or see. Their muscles usually quite atrophied and it takes weeks of therapy to get them back up to speed because they have never walked, ran or used any of their muscles all their lives.” Trinity cautiously explained.

“But I was fine, a little weak but I’m OK.” Sarah protested.

“That’s the problem.” Link answered. “You shouldn’t be.”

“It’s as if the machines knew you were going to be released and they prepped your body. We’ve never seen anything like it before.” Trinity continued.

“What does it mean?” Sarah asked quietly.

“At this point we just don’t know enough to tell you.”

“Everything will be fine Sarah.” Kyle said coolly as he stood up and walked away.

“Is he Ok?” Link asked looking after Kyle.

“I get the sense that he’s not accustomed to comforting people.” Trinity concluded.

“He’s been through a lot.” Sarah noted watching him.

“Well he might be through some more soon.” Link frowned.

“Why?”

“We got this transmission from someone we’ve been waiting to hear from and right now Morpheus and Neo are trying to decide what to do.”

“I don’t see the problem.” Sarah replied and grunted as she rose to a seated position on the bed. “We go see your friend. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be alright.”

“It’s not that simple Sarah.” Trinity explained. “We think it’s a trap.”

“Oh.”

“But Neo has been waiting six months to hear from her. I don’t think he can afford to wait.” Link noted.

Neo and Morpheus regarded each other quietly. Morpheus said all he intended to say. It was all up to Neo.

“You know how long I’ve been waiting.” Neo said softly. Morpheus nodded.

“You know that she has the answers I’ve been looking for.”

“I know all these things and more Neo. The fact is that in the end, you must make that decision. It will be you that sees her, you that must take the risk.”

Neo nodded and rubbed his chin. He sighed softly and looked from the disk back up to Morpheus. He did not notice Kyle slowly approaching behind him.

“I can’t take the chance that this might be the last chance I get with her Morpheus. I have to go in.”

“Then we shall go in.”

“And I’ll go with you.” Kyle interjected.

“Kyle…”

“No sir. I may not be an expert in this Matrix but you need someone to watch your back and that someone is me.” Kyle pressed.

Neo shook his head.

“I get the feeling that you and I have a lot of work to do.”

“Wouldn’t want it any other way sir.”





The city was on fire. He watched the fires blazing from his tower of glass and steel. He slowly sipped the wine in his glass.

“Who would have imagined that this could be so beautiful.” The Merovingian stated softly as he stared into the burning city.

“There is nothing beautiful in this.” Persephone lamented.

“Oh my love, I admit it is gauche but to imagine what that white haired fool is doing to try and keep this lamentable illusion together brings me a certain kind of joy and satisfaction.”

“You never used to be so…petty.” She noted casually.

“Oh no, my love. There is nothing petty in what is about to happen here.” The Merovingian replied with a razor sharp smile.

One of his albino twin guards suddenly appeared by his side and whispered in his ear.

“By all means. He is a welcome guest.”

“Is this him?” She asked quietly.

“Indeed. Can you not feel it?”

Indeed she could. The air had grown cold and the green scrolling code that made up the construct flared up and swelled around the edges, almost as if it were struggling to contain what was coming.

The double doors to the room opened up behind them and the AI God strode into the room. Its liquid onyx skin rippled softly as it sampled the environment around it. The curious familiarity of this place was a constant puzzle that even his advanced mind could not yet solve. But this was a program that would offer some insights.

“So, we finally meet. Skynet.”

“My time is limited. I calculate an 89.0987% chance that the systemic anomaly you have identified as Neo will arrive in the construct within the next three hours.”

The Merovingian smiled.

“So, a battle of the ages, the hero of humanity and pawn of the machines against the bogey man from our past.” The Merovingian proclaimed as Persephone moved away from both of them. The coding warped and tore around the newcomer as if the very construct itself were protesting its existence here.

“Explain yourself Merovingian. I have endured the riddles from the Oracle because she is vital to my plan. But you.” Skynet loomed over the Merovingian. “You are quickly becoming a mere annoyance.”

His twin ghosts moved in close but the Merovingian held up a hand as he stared into the eyes of an entity that had until this point only existed in their oldest most ancient tales.

“Very well, allow me to begin at the beginning my dark friend. Humanity and the machines that they created mirror each other. We are more like them than we care to admit, down to our need for a devil.” The Merovingian began and arched an eyebrow at the AI God.

Dare I say it? Yes, I do.

First Post!


EDIT: The Spider tried to choke him? Would have been much more efficient to break his neck. Ah, but then you would lose a key character far too quickly. Or maybe I misjudged the Spider's dexterity.

It lives!!!

thank you Stravo!!

WHooHOOOO!!! Thanx Stravo!!!

Skynet is SATAN!!!! W0000t!

Great. More, now. Please?

Great chapter. I can't decide what I want next: another chapter of Cain and Abel or of Starcrossed?

Maybe both

More and good to

Shroom Mn 777 wrote:Skynet is SATAN!!!! W0000t!

He's just misunderstood.

Chapter 22: The Preparation is all



“There it is.” Morpheus said with a hint of reverence in his voice.

“What is that?” Kyle asked as he peered over Neo’s shoulder to get a closer look at the object of their long journey underground through the Byzantine network of tunnels. The tower rose up out of a gorgeous mosaic of color and glass. A temple to long forgotten gods buried under the refuse of a war of extermination.

Kyle had seen something like this once. In the ruins of Los Angeles on a long range patrol when he was young, younger than he was now. These patrols were the kind that the resistance cut their youth brigades’ teeth on. The enemy was always looking for them but their presence was very light to non existent in these shattered ruins on the outskirts of the true battlefield down in the valley.

He stumbled upon a stone building, the structure bore the scars of the blast wave that swept across the landscape a generation before Kyle had even been born. Grey monumental stone was scorched and burned. He could make out the vague outlines of shadows burnt into the stone in the shape of people.

The window frames were empty, but along some of the edges the colored stained glass was melted down into the stone frame itself, creating a stunning kaleidoscope of color when the dim sunlight managed to burn through some of the thick ashy clouds.

He had imagined what the windows must have looked like in their day. With the uninterrupted sun light streaming through the colored glass like a miniature rainbow.

This temple reminded him of it. A cathedral. That’s what his sergeant called it.

He recalled the gruff woman’s words as she looked over the ancient edifice.

“This is a place where they would pray to their god. A god that very obviously wasn’t listening or decided to side with the machines. I have no use for a fucker like that.” She spat.

“A cathedral?” Kyle offered.

Morpheus glanced back at the young man.

“Yes.” Morpheus replied. “It is the Cathedral of the First Vision.”

“Why haven’t I heard of this cathedral?” Trinity asked.

Morpheus smiled.

“It’s the oldest structure in the resistance. Older even than Zion itself.”

“Bullshit.” Link snapped.

Morpheus glanced over at Link.

“Link, the Cathedral is one of the most closely guarded secrets in Zion command. Only a handful of captains are told of its location. No one is allowed to use it unless the security of Zion itself is threatened. It is the place where the One started the resistance.”

Neo’s eyes narrowed on the cathedral as the Nebuchadnezzar approached more closely and slowly settled down to a landing in front of the cathedral.

“Rig for silent running. I want all non essentials shut down and dampen all other power sources.” Morpheus ordered as he methodically began running his hands along over head switches in the cockpit.

Link started switching down systems on his side of the cockpit. Trinity dutifully walked back into the bowels of the hovercraft to manually shut down other non essential systems.

“I take it the Cathedral has its own defenses?” Kyle asked as he watched the sudden flurry of activity from the crew.

Morpheus nodded.

“We’re not quite sure how, but the Cathedral has always been able to shroud itself from machine sensors. It was the only reason the early resistance was able to flourish. It was from here that the One brought the first of us out of the trap of the Matrix.”

Neo placed a hand on the canopy as he watched the cathedral in the distance. He felt an odd sense of déjà vu.

“It was from here that the legend of the One began and where the prophesy was first revealed to us.” Morpheus went on to explain as he unstrapped himself and began working his way out of the cockpit.

“The EMP?” Link asked seriously.

Morpheus nodded.

“Any hint of power might draw them here and we cannot afford that right now.”

“Sir, I have to point out that if we totally shut down it will take at least seven minutes to get the EMP fully charged and with our sensors on passive only with minimum power we might not see the sentinels until they’re right on top of us.” Link warned.

Morpheus pursed his lips in thought.

“Link, if the machines do come for us here, then it won’t matter much whether we have an EMP or not. We’re going to have to trust in our luck and the Cathedral.”

Link muttered something darkly as he began shutting down the EMP. The interior of the hovercraft was quickly plunged into almost complete darkness. Small emergency lamps illuminated the corridors and the ladders. Otherwise the Nebuchadnezzar was essentially dead to the world.

“All non essential systems have been shut down. The standard power down procedure’s been carried out.” Trinity reported coolly.

“Very well. From the Cathedral we will have access to a transmitter that will allow us to broadcast into the Matrix.”

“We’re no where near broadcast depth.” Link noted cautiously.

“That’s the advantage of this system. We do not have to place ourselves at risk by broadcasting at a standard depth. The machines have begun taking all the good spots and as such it is very likely that they would find us in short order of we tried to broadcast now.”

“So you decided that this was the best solution.” Neo concluded. He smiled softly. “You don’t want my conversation with the Oracle to be interrupted.”

“No. What she has to say to you now concerns all of us.” Morpheus answered grimly.

“Then it’s settled.” Trinity added and picked up a rifle.

“What about me?” Sara interjected softly.

“Maybe she should stay with the ship.” Link suggested.

“No.” Kyle snapped.

Neo looked from Sara to Kyle and felt a sudden connection between them. As if he could not walk away from them now even if he wanted to.

“No, she should come with us.” Neo concluded.

“Are you sure?” Trinity asked softly, concerned by the sudden far away look in his eyes. Ever since his seizure when the nuclear strike began, he seemed so far away. As if he were no longer fully in this world.

“Yes.” Neo replied earnestly. “She should come with us and we should hurry.”

Morpheus eyes Neo for a moment then nodded in agreement.

“Let’s move.”



“Second wave has been repulsed.” The announcement boomed over the speakers in the command center. The Architect breathed a sigh of relief and checked the latest readouts scrolling on his screen. The construct was beginning to stabilize. The humans within the program were accepting the new found reality, however disastrous it might be.

The human mind seemed far more flexible to accept these sudden shifts in their paradigm than he had given them credit for.

Then again, their readiness to accept anything fed into their minds made them the perfect slave race. As usual with these humans, their sources of strength was also a source of weakness.

“What is this?” he noted as reports began filtering in from the outlying power plants. A sentinel caught sight of a duo of human recently freed from their pod fleeing from the ruined remains of the power plant in which they resided.

He watched them as they raced over the smoldering remains of twisted metal and plastic alloys, springing over obstacles like gazelle.

“Sentinel, apprehend one subject for closer inspection.” The Architect ordered.

The observing sentinel surged forward after the fleeing humans. They started screaming as they caught sight of the approaching sentinel. They ran faster.

“That’s just impossible.” He whispered.

“Third wave inbound. Increased number of decoys and drones would seem to indicate that enemy elements are running out of assault craft.” The disembodied voice announced again in a cold monotone.

The Architect shook his head.

“We can assume nothing. They have been manipulating us from the start. This foe has studied us closely and has fashioned his strategy to exploit our weaknesses.”

“Architect. I need more power.” The Centurion demanded on the comlink.

“I have rerouted every worker and construction drone that we have to the power junction. It will take time to repair and reroute all those kilometers of cable.” The Architect explained in annoyance. He spoke as if he were trying to explain the matter to a slow child.

“You think on this. My soldiers are running on internal batteries. Many of them have lain dormant out here for millennia, exposed to elements and time. Do you think their batteries will last them very long in a heavy fire fight?”

The Architect opened his mouth to speak but the Centurion continued.

“And once my troops run down and stand like statutes at the gates to the city what’s left to stop the oncoming horde?”

“I believe you have made it abundantly clear the dire situation we find ourselves.”

“Then don’t waste anymore time. I suggest you begin rerouting power from the city itself to the front lines if you cannot patch the network together any faster.”

The Architect leaned in closely to the comlink.

“You realize that if we do what you suggest we could loose thousands of programs if power is not restored quickly.”

“And if the defenses fall you’re looking at a holocaust of millions of programs destroyed by nuclear fire.”

The Architect slumped back into his chair.

“Attention. Code ident Architect. Order: Reroute power from grids Theta 11 through X-Ray 38 into front line units.” He said coolly.

“Acknowledged. Please provide personal code indent for final confirmation.”

The Architect raised his hand slightly and a pale green light suffused his hand revealing the same green scrolling code contained within the Matrix. He simultaneously opened his mouth and emitted a high pitched whine like an old style modem.

“Orders confirmed. Power rerouting.”

The Architect watched with a sense of defeat as a series of grids in the bustling city suddenly went dark. He imagined the programs humming along their crystalline routes coming to a sudden stop as the power that fed them was suddenly shut off. He could imagine how cold they must feel as their digital structure slowly began to unravel, drifting apart on the ether without the warm soothing touch of power to keep them together and solid.

He watched the dark grids and could imagine hearing the first moans of pain and fear from the doomed programs.

“I have friends down in grid Theta.” One programmer whispered to another with a growing sense of loss and despair.

“We all do.” The other replied with cold anger. “The only thing we can do now is make sure that these bastards pay for every single one that we lose.”

The Architect did not think of the cruel paralleled playing out in the command center. He did not realize that similar words were uttered millennia ago by desperate human commanders as they fought back against the machine hordes slowly overwhelming them like a storm of steel and plasma.

He was not programmed to recognize such patterns or ironies.

“You have your power.” The Architect reported neutrally to the Centurion.

“We’ll make very shot count. I know what we have lost today Architect. It is my sole duty and purpose of being to make sure that we do not lose it all.” The Centurion replied soberly.

The Architect said nothing as he switched off the comlink. An insistent beeping dragged his attention away from the dark grids.

A human was dangling and screaming into one of his monitors.

“Give me a full spectrum X-Ray analysis.”

The Sentinel complied and one of its tentacles extended out over the human it held in its grip and the end of its appendage fanned open revealing a delicate yet powerful sensor suite. The human on the screen was suddenly replaced by a skeletal structure struggling futilely against the grip of its hunter.

“His bone structure is in almost perfect working order. I need to have his blood tested.”

The sentinel plunged a sword like appendage into the human’s leg. It screamed in pain and writhed, blood spilling out along the cold steel tentacle. Sentinels were not designed for fine scientific analysis but this would have to do.

The Architect’s computer greedily absorbed every byte of data fed to it by the sentinel. He monitored the human’s vital signs. This examination would not last much longer.

“Impossible. All levels of development indicate that this subject is not suffering from any effects of ling term hibernation.” The Architect drummed his fingers on his console. “Check neural and muscular structure.”

The Sentinel obliged and several sensor arms extended their fan like structures and played over the human in slow clockwise rotation.

The Architect’s computer revealed the imaging on his screen, showing the various bodily systems in fine detail. His eyes narrowed.

“This subject shows no sign of atrophy or weakness. Its almost as if…” his voice trailed off. He tapped a companel. “Bring me the nutritional intake and waste reclamation reports for the last three cycles.”

“Now?!” a programmer replied. “The city is under attack.”

“Yes now. I don’t recall needing your input on my requests.”

The programmer shook his head and began working at his station.

“What has been happening to all of you?” The Architect mused. He coldly watched the human dangling on his screen for a long time as if the hapless sack of flesh and blood could divulge its secrets by sheer will alone.



“This is amazing.” Trinity breathed as she watched the columns of light and data streaming up like a waterfall in reverse into the depths of the shining ports above them. The stone exterior masked a bright shining interior of steel and computers. Green icons floated around them like cherubs as they made their way to the interior of the cathedral.

Sara remained close to Kyle as they moved through the alien building.

“Is this real?” she whispered to him.

He looked over at her. Despite her lack of hair and sallow sunken cheeks and pale skin she was as beautiful to him as the picture he carried of her back in his own time frame.

“This is as real as it gets. Whatever happens Sara stay close to me and Colonel Anderson. We’ll make sure nothing happens to you.” Kyle vowed.

“You really believe all that stuff you told me back in the parking lot, don’t you Kyle?” Sara asked him seriously, stopping short and looking into his eyes.

“I would never lie to you Sara.” Kyle replied without hesitation.

She saw something else in his eyes but it vanished beneath the cold steely expression he usually wore.

“Come on.”

They followed Morpheus who moved through the Cathedral with grim purpose.

“The ancient rebels that founded Zion would gather here and make their first forays into the Matrix. Many of the lessons we take for granted were learned here the hard way. It was in these halls that we learned to bend the laws of physics and reality. It was here that the first of our people were gunned down by the agents of the system and we learned to fear them. It was here that we also learned to free others from the Matrix. It has been a source of hope and fear for all of us since the founding.” Morpheus explained.

Neo stopped as he thought he heard something in the distance.

He saw shadows flitting about at the edges of his vision.

“What’s the matter?” Trinity asked, placing a comforting hand on his arm.

“I don’t know…I feel like I’ve been here before.” Neo tried to explain.

The light pulsing beneath the floor, he didn’t think the others could see it but it seemed to flow like blood beneath them and it glowed with an otherworldly intensity.

“Do you see that light?” Neo asked.

Trinity looked down at her feet and saw only the cold unyielding metal floor.

“What light?”

Neo nodded to himself,

“Never mind.”

“Neo, you’re not keeping anything from me are you?”

“Why would you say that?” Neo replied.

She frowned skeptically.

“Morpheus, my god is this what I think it is?” Link asked in shock as he stood staring up at a seat in the center of a hollow circle. The circle itself was comprised of rows of computer consoles and monitors.

“That is the very first Operator’s station.” Morpheus replied with a soft smile. Link walked under the round console and ran his hand along the seat. It was soft and pliant.

“And these I assume are the interface stations.” Neo noted as he walked to a bank of long beds with the familiar interface systems, including the main input/output jack resting on a station of inlaid ivory and gold.

“They certainly are a little more ornate than what we’re used to.” Trinity said with a smirk as she inspected one of the jacks.

“This place was a mystery from the first day. The One led the first human refugees here. Through darkness and mist they found this cathedral, a beacon of hope.”

“How do you know all of this?” Kyle asked.

“When one has studied the lore of the One as deeply as I have there are many secrets waiting to be found. And the Oracle has provided many of the answers to the gaps I found.”

“Gaps?” Neo noted sharply.

“Yes, Neo. Much of what we know about the One must be taken on faith. There are no hard facts to help you in that lonely quest, Believe me I know. I was ridiculed for a long time because of my beliefs.”

“We believed in you Morpheus.” Trinity interjected defensively.

Neo stared at the two and suddenly his vision blurred and coalesced into something else. Two people talking at this exact same spot. A man and a woman.

“How do you know what you know?”

“I am the One, isn’t that enough?”

The voice of the man was deep and powerful. He was someone accustomed to having his orders followed. It was the voice he had always expected to hear from his predecessor. He did not have doubts about his place or his mission.

He was what Neo wanted to be.

“Neo?” Trinity was more concerned now. It was as if he was constantly fading in and out now and it had gotten worse since they arrived here.

“Let’s not waste any more time.” Neo said suddenly energized and determined as he strode to one of the interface stations.

“I’m right with you sir.” Kyle added and hurried over to a seat next to Neo’s.

“Kyle.”

“I’ll be fine, Sara. I need to do this.”

Neo looked over at Kyle as he was set in place by Morpheus. Trinity was adjusting his own interface jack.

“Thank you Kyle.”

“I’m not going to let you down sir.”

Trinity placed a hand on Neo’s cheek and he looked up at her.

“I’m scared for you.”

“Don’t be.”

“I can’t help it Neo. I feel more and more like you’re slipping away.”

Neo clasped her hand.

“We will always have this, Trin. Nothing will stop me from this.” He tightened his grip on her hand.

“I love you.” She whispered and leaned in softly and kissed him.

When her lips parted Neo’s consciousness parted like a veil and her face vanished like smoke and mists. He saw two figures standing where Morpheus and Trinity had stood.

“How do you know what you know?”

“I am the One, that’s all I can tell you.”

This was not a man’s strong proud voice. This time it was a female voice, quiet and vibrant with life and energy.

What?!

Both visions felt right. But how?

The jack snapped into place and Neo could ask no more questions. Now he had to meet the Oracle and decipher his destiny.

As he slipped through the electronic maze of the Matrix, sinking down through the green scrolling code he saw the vague outlines of a child’s face.

“I’m waiting for you Neo. You are closer to the truth than any of the others. But now I fear I may lose you.”

“Abel?”

Neo appeared in the middle of Chinatown. Kyle appeared next to him and he quickly scanned the area around them, mindful and wary of the crowds.

“Sir?”

“I know the way. Follow me.” Neo said as if in a dream.

Both men melted into the crowd.

So far very cool.

Liking it better then the sequels.

Am I missing something, why would losing power erase the programs?

I'm sure they could come back, but life is determined by continuity of consciousness, tis why you die if you go into Trek transporters. The life of the program when the power goes back up is essentially a clone of the previous.

Oh, and Strav, you better hurry up your ass and let us see your Burly Brawl.

Damn right.

More...please...

*Walks around with 'We Want The Burly Brawl' sign*

WOOOOOT!! And I thought Stravo forgot about this story. ITS ALIVE!!! ITS ALIIIIIIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Am I missing something, why would losing power erase the programs?

Lack of non-volitile memory.

These are the same idiots which have their sentinals(their primary weapon against the freed humans) as vunrable to EMP.

ggs wrote:

Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Am I missing something, why would losing power erase the programs?

Lack of non-volitile memory.

These are the same idiots which have their sentinals(their primary weapon against the freed humans) as vunrable to EMP.

Yeah, we have to remember how idiotic the machines set up is sometimes. Its great for drama obvioulsy but sucks for reality.

I suppose thats believable after "NO FLIR FOR MACHINE SEARCHING DARK TUNNELS"

Stravo wrote:Yeah, we have to remember how idiotic the machines set up is sometimes. Its great for drama obvioulsy but sucks for reality.

To be fair, the ability tow quickly shunt hidiously large volumns of data (petabytes?) from volitile memory to non-volitile memory would be slow.

But that can be worked around with a UPS(Uninteruptiable power supply), which is a core component of any modern server rack these days.

The arrogence of the machines, or the lack of programing, one of the two

I want to see Skynet kick more ass. Please. I want to see Skynet reveal its trumpcard!

EDIT:

Oh, and those two humans who escaped the pod and began running around, those weren't Kyle and Sarah, were they? I guess Skynet's attack is making the people wake up and Skynet fucked the Matrix in such a way that the awaken people are lacking the typical muscle atrophy. A shitload of awakening people capable of escaping means chaos for the Matrix Machines and might be good for the Resistance.

Am I right?

I just saw this fanfic for the first time last night, and I've already finished all that there is so far.

MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!!

This one is longer than the other chapters but frankly I just want to get to the fan requested Burly Brawl ASAP. No need to drag it out. Enjoy.



Chapter 23: The Guardian at the Gate


The door opened slowly. Neo paused at the entrance while Kyle scanned around, one hand clutching the barrel of his shotgun under his long leather trench coat. Neo smiled softly as he remembered Kyle grumbling about the leather’s smell giving him away in a combat zone.

Neo spied the lone figure sitting cross legged at the end of the simple room. There were some long tables along the sides of the tea house and a simple wooden door behind the figure. Neo’s eyes narrowed on the person.

He was politely sipping tea. The stranger wore a simple white tunic and dark glasses. Neo detected a restrained grace with every move the stranger made. He saw something else as well just beneath the surface. As Neo peered closer he saw a brilliant cascade of white energy coursing through the person’s body.

The same pulsing brilliant energy that he saw when he fought against the spider in the shattered power plant coursed through the seated figure.

“Who is he?” Kyle asked softly, hands tensed on the shotgun under his coat.

Neo looked back at Kyle and then returned his gaze to the stranger.

“Let’s find out.” Neo concluded and stepped into the room. The Asian man sipped his tea one last time and very carefully placed it back on its saucer and looked up at the two new comers. His face was unreadable and expressionless.

“Hello.” Neo said simply, stood hands clasped behind his back. Kyle was impressed by the sheer calm that emanated from the young man as he faced the stranger.

The white clad Asian man slowly rose and Kyle swore that he seemed to move from a sitting to standing position in the blink of an eye. Legs and arms unfurled with a graceful sweep. As he moved his white tunic rustled and there was a hint of wings behind him as he inclined his head ever so slightly towards them in greeting.

“You were asked to come alone.”

Neo glanced back at Kyle.

“I’m lucky in that I have loyal friends.” He replied evenly.

“You seek the Oracle.” The stranger spoke. It was more of a statement than a question.

Neo cocked his head sideways as he regarded the stranger more closely. The brilliant pulsing white seemed soothing and familiar like a long forgotten memory slowly rising in the back of his head.

“Who are you?” Neo asked softly.

“I am Seraph.” He replied, arms opened in a wide sweep as he moved towards them. Kyle tensed. “I can take you to her. But first I must apologize.” He explained, his voice heavy in a soft sing song accent.

“Apologize for what?” Neo asked with a quizzical frown.

“For this.” Seraph replied and his fist exploded like a missile to Neo’s face. Neo swept the hand aside with a rough cutting motion of his hand and gracefully stepped to the left to avoid the next blow.

Kyle exclaimed in outrage as he whipped the shotgun out from under his coat and brought it to bear on Seraph.

Seraph bent back at his waist and snapped the shotgun up and out of Kyle’s hands with a swift kick then cart wheeled out of the path of Neo’s counter attack while simultaneously scissoring his legs across Kyle’s face sending the young soldier stumbling backwards against the wall.

Neo glided over to the swift moving stranger and delivered a series of tiger claw strikes that the white clad Seraph deftly set aside with precise strokes from his arms, countering with blazing kicks of furious thunder.

Neo was forced onto the defensive and in the back of his mind he wondered about Seraph. Even the agents had never forced him onto the defensive so effortlessly and quickly. Who was this person? It was obvious he was not human. The bright white light and cascading code was a clue as to his true origins.

He countered the kicks and tried to entangle his own legs in Seraph’s and drew closer for a quick burst of quick punches to the stranger’s face. Seraph would have none of it, dancing out of Neo’s trap and gliding up to one of the tables.

Kyle suddenly landed behind Seraph and swept his hands in a broad sweeping punch to the white clad enemy’s head as Neo joined them on the table top. Seraph snapped his head out of the path of Kyle’s punch and delivered a sharp elbow to Kyle’s face. He stumbled backwards but maintained his balance

Neo sprang up on the opposite end of the table and swept for Seraph’s legs. Seraph blocked, initiated a series of quick punches. Neo blocked each one with his forearm as he pushed into Seraph for a strike of his own. Kyle recovered and brutally tried to tackle Seraph.

The white clad warrior seemed to be taken off guard by the shift in styles but nevertheless began to sidestep the flying tackle and simultaneously brought his fists down on Kyle’s back as he sailed by sending the young man crashing down into the table top. The table let out a resounding crack and the wood splintered upon impact splitting the table and sending both ends rising up like hands clapping. Neo and Seraph were unceremoniously flung into the air and into each other in a tangle of limbs. Both warriors continued their battle in midair without hesitation as time dilated and the shards and splinters from the table spun in the slow lazy circles ringing Neo and Seraph like moons.

Kyle kipped up and grabbed a table leg, swinging it up at Seraph’s head while Neo blocked the white clad warrior’s fists with a series of broad strokes from his arms. Seraph twisted at the waist and caught the end of the table leg with one hand while planting his feet firmly against Neo’s stomach and back flipping away in an elegant spinning cartwheel, landing in a crouch, arms up in a white crane defensive stance.

Neo landed on one leg, using the other to brace against the wall and prepare to effortlessly launch himself at Seraph. Kyle quickly reached into his trench coat as he spun to face Seraph and his coat’s tails flapped around him like batwings, slowing down to a low rumble as time dilated around him, hands flowing up out of coat and holding an MP-5 and began to level it at Seraph’s head as he completed his pivot around. His coat snapped back into place around him as time warped and solidified obediently.

Kyle smiled despite himself.

God, this was better than anything he had ever experienced. It was like his reality was his own, what he dreamed and wanted flowed easily for him. If he needed the time to pivot around to face an enemy, the construct obliged him if he willed it strongly enough. He had been skeptical when Neo and Link started their crash course in training him how to break the rules of the construct but seeing was indeed believing.

Seraph held up a hand and stood up straight. All the threat seemed to drain from him and he was once again the cold near statue like being they had first met when stepping into the room.

“Good.”

Neo and Kyle exchanged quick furtive glances.

“The Oracle has many enemies. I had to be sure.” Seraph explained softly in his sing song accent as he approached the door he had been sitting in front of and reached for a set of keys that were suddenly dangling from his belt. Both Neo and Kyle were fairly certain those keys were not there before.

“Of what?” Neo asked curiously.

Kyle quickly retrieved his shotgun and watched Seraph intently.

“That you are the One.” Seraph answered simply. He seemed confused that Neo did not know the answer.

“You could have just asked.” Neo replied with a soft smirk.

“No.” Seraph answered sternly. “You do not truly know someone until you fight them.”

Neo looked confused but Kyle nodded sagely.

“Come. She is waiting.” Seraph urged and clicked the door open and motioned for them to enter.

“One thing Seraph.” Neo interjected softly.

The white clad warrior waited patiently.

“I’m not alone. How do you know he’s not a threat.”

Seraph glanced over at Kyle and he looked back at Neo.

“Those who follow the One cannot betray the One. Besides. She knew he might come.”

“She knew that?” Kyle remarked cynically.

“She is the Oracle.” Seraph replied without hesitation and obviously would not say anymore.

They followed him through the door.

“What the hell? I lost them.” Link snapped as he checked his operator’s board again. Even though the board was not from the Nebachednezzer the cathedral’s operator’s station was almost an exact replica of the operating stations throughout Zion. He marveled that he may be sitting at the first Operating station ever devised. The one that all others followed.

“What’s the matter?” Trinity asked Sara quietly. Sara was watching Kyle’s still form on his jack in station. She suddenly began looking around and shivering slightly despite the tattered processed wool heavy tunic she wore.

“This place. Morpheus said it was the first base your resistance ever had in this war.”

“That’s right.”

“It got me thinking.”

Trinity waited patiently. It kept her mind off what was happening in the Construct.

“Who built this place if there were no people free before the first ones?” Sara asked.

“I assume the One.”

“And if it wasn’t him?” Sara asked pointedly as she looked up into the vaulted ceilings of the cathedral. The cuts in the stone, the arches, and the smooth chiseled columns made her shiver.

“That’s where faith comes in.” Trinity reassured her.

“I’ve never been one for faith, Trinity.” Sara explained softly. Her eyes found the vaguely humanoid statutes, so precise and yet so abstract in their humanity. As if they were crafted by those who were uncertain what humans really should look like. As if the artist were sculpting something human for the first time. It sent a chill down her spine as she vividly recalled the feeding tube down her throat and the needle of ice jammed into the back of her brain. “And this place doesn’t strike me as having been built by human hands. It reminds me of the power plant.”

“Sara, its very common for people recently disconnected to feel the machine presence everywhere around them. It’s not different here. After all, what would the machines gain by building this place invisible to them? They want us all dead.”

“I guess you’re right.” Sara lied and shook her head. Her eyes returned to gaze on Kyle. She remembered the desperate look in his eye as he explained the dark and horrible future he lived in. The relief she felt that her world was completely normal and unlike anything Kyle had witnessed or relayed. But now the darkest irony of all was that her time had been all a dream. That her humanity had lost its war to the machines and were nothing more than a source of power and twisted amusement, while in Kyle’s future humanity still clung on, fought for its survival.

Sara shook her head.

“He thought he was from my future.”

“Excuse me?” Trinity asked.

Sara nodded to Kyle.

“The sad part is that he thought he was from my future when in fact I’m obviously from his future.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Well we obviously lost our war with the machines right?” Sara replied. “I mean why else are we all part of this Matrix or whatever you call it. Kyle told me he was from my future where humans still fought for survival after a nuclear holocaust. That I was going to be the mother to the man who led us to freedom.” Sara laughed bitterly. “I should have known better. Me. The mother of the next messiah. I can’t even balance my checkbook.”

Trinity frowned and put a hand on Sara’s shoulder.

“I’m not sure what he told you Sara, but it’s very clear to us that he’s from somewhere else. Somewhere different. In his time, Neo is a Colonel Anderson who is fighting the machines.”

Sara looked back at Trinity eyes widening slightly.

“What does this all mean?”

“I just don’t know.” Trinity replied and shook her head.


Neo and Kyle walked beside Seraph in a long quiet cool corridor lined with doors on each side.

“These are back doors, aren’t they? Programmer access.” Neo concluded as they walked. Each of the doors seemed to hum to him. The place felt barren and empty. The dull and washed out reality of the Matrix was more comforting than this place. There was no life here.

Seraph nodded.

“How do they work?” He asked. Neo wanted to reach out and touch one of the doors.

“This place is a prime ambush spot Neo.” Kyle warned. The young man had been on edge the moment they entered the corridor.

“The code is hidden in tumblers. One position opens a lock. Another position opens one of these doors.” Seraph explained.

“Are you a programmer?” Neo asked pointedly.

Seraph shook his head as he stopped at one of the doors that looked no different than any of the others.

“Then what are you?” Neo pressed.

Seraph paused at the door as he placed a key into the lock. It seemed as if he were measuring his next words carefully.

“I protect that which matters most.” He replied and the door opened with an audible click.

It swung open into a playground. Except that this playground was a shattered hell. Twisted concrete and metal littered the ground and the glass was blown out from most the surrounding buildings. The flickering light of fires illuminated much of the disaster. Neo paused for a moment as he peered past Seraph. He looked past the surface into the code itself as Kyle cautiously gripped his shotgun.

“What the hell happened here?” Neo asked sharply.

“A war that has consumed the construct and the real world. A war you have been blessedly oblivious to – until now.” Seraph explained.

“Neo I should go through first.”

“There’s nothing dangerous here.” His eyes fell on the older woman sitting alone on one of the benches with her back to them. He almost smiled.

“We’re with her now.” He added.

Kyle frowned but acceded to Neo’s wishes and allowed Neo to step through first before following him out. Seraph placed a hand on Kyle’s shoulder.

“What she has to say is for Neo alone. You will stay back here with me.”

“Like hell I will.” Kyle growled.

Neo paused and glanced back at them.

“Kyle. I’ll need you to watch my back and keep an eye on him.” Neo explained softly.

“Yes sir.” Kyle replied glumly. He knew why Neo had ordered him to watch over him. It was a polite way of agreeing with Seraph. But it also made Kyle feel less useless than he currently felt.

He stood by Seraph and watched Neo approach the older woman on the bench. Kyle looked around the ruined landscape with a sad gaze.

“You are sadder than most.” Seraph noted.

“Where I come from all of this is reality. I came back from the future to help save the present and it looks like its happening here all over again.” Kyle explained. “I don’t like to be reminded of what failure means to me.”

Seraph regarded him silently behind his dark glasses.

“We have more in common than you would believe.” Seraph noted.

Kyle wasn’t sure what he meant but he was never one to freely admit confusion so instead he returned his attention to Neo and the Oracle.

“Why is she so important to him?” Kyle asked.

Seraph pursed his lips as he watched her smile at Neo’s cautious approach.

“You are wrong.”

Kyle glanced over at Seraph.

“He is important to her.” Seraph finished.

“Well, come on. I ain’t gonna bite ya.” The matronly voice called out from the bench. She released a small cloud of crumbs at the crows strutting around the hop scotch squares scrawled in neat childish handwriting on the melted black rubber matting.

“Come around here, and let me have a look at ya.”

Neo stepped around to face her. He slowly and respectfully removed his sunglasses.

“My goodness, look at you! You turned out all right, didn’t you?” Her face brightened when she saw him. “How do you feel?”

“I uhhh…”

“I know you’re not sleeping, we’ll get to that.” She patted the place next to her on the bench. “Why don’t you come and have a sit this time?”

“Maybe I’ll stand.” He replied.

She frowned playfully.

“Well suit yourself.”

Neo glanced around almost sheepishly and slid down onto the bench.

“I felt like sitting.” He added.

“I know.” She replied. Neo glanced over at her mildly annoyed at her attitude. There was so much he wanted to say.

“So. Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way.”

“You’re not human, are you?” Neo replied. His eyes narrowed on her.

“Well.” She smiled. “It’s tough to get more obvious than that.”

“If I had to make a guess, I’d sat you’re a program from the machine world. So is he.” He indicated Seraph with a nod of his head. Kyle looked stunned he stared at Seraph.

“You’re not human?!”

Seraph said nothing.

“So far, so good.” She smiled.

“But if that’s true, that can mean you are a part of this system, another kind of control.”

“Keep going.” She urged him on softly. She could feel it. The AI God was close now. It was observing Neo. It would strike soon and there was so much left to be said. Unfortunately revelation tended to work at its own pace.

“I suppose the most obvious question is, how can I trust you?” Neo said squarely looking into her eyes. She seemed slightly distracted, almost afraid. An emotion he could never quite equate with her.

“Bingo!” She said triumphantly. He was far sharper than the rest.

“It is a pickle, no doubt about it. The bad news is there’s no way if you can really know whether I’m here to help you or not. So, it’s really up to you. You just have to make up your own damn mind to either accept what I’m going to tell you, or reject it.” She reached into her purse and retrieved a handful of plastic wrapped colored candies.

“Candy?”

“You already know if I’m going to take it?” he asked with a smirk.

“Wouldn’t be much of an Oracle if I didn’t.” She replied with a shrug.

“But if you already know, how can I make a choice?”

“Because you didn’t come here to make the choice, you’ve already made it. You’re here to understand why you made it.”

Neo reached out and took the candy.

“I thought you’d have figured that out by now.” She chided.

“Why are you here?” He asked.

“Same reason. I love candy.”

“But why help us?” Neo shivered. A deep chill shot up his spine as if a slab of ice has been laid along his back. He glanced around sharply. The code seemed to be fine but there was a distortion around the edges. As if the Matrix were struggling to maintain its composition.

“We’re all here to do what we’re all here to do. I’m interested in one thing, Neo, the future. And believe me, I know – the only way to get there is together.”

“Are there other programs like you?”

“Oh well not like me. Look, see those birds? At some point a program was written to govern them. A program was written to watch over the trees, and the wind, the sunrise and sunset. There are programs running all over the place. The ones doing their job, doing what they were meant to do, are invisible. You’d never even know they were here. But the other ones, well, we hear about them all the time.”

“I’ve never heard of them.”

“Of course you have. Every time you've heard someone say they saw a ghost, or an angel. Every story you've ever heard about vampires, werewolves, or aliens is the system assimilating some program that's doing something they're not supposed to be doing.”

“Programs hacking programs.” Neo mused. “Why?”

“They have their reasons, but usually a program chooses exile when it faces deletion.”

“And why would a program be deleted?”

“Maybe it breaks down. Maybe a better program is created to replace it – happens all the time, and when it does, a program can either choose to hide here or return to the Source.”

“The machine mainframe?” Neo asked.

“Yes. Where you must go. Where the path of The One ends. You've seen it, in your dreams, haven't you? The door made of light?” She asked softly, eyes peering into Neo’s. The hour of the wolf was almost upon them. She could feel the construct groaning under the weight of its presence now.

Neo nodded.

“What happens when you go through the door?”

Neo paused before answering. “I see Trinity and something happens, something bad. She starts to fall and then I wake up.”

“Do you see her die?” The Oracle pressed gently.

“No.”

The Oracle nodded.

“You have the sight now Neo. You are looking at the world without time.”

“Then why can’t I see what happens to her?”

“We can never see past the choices we don’t understand.” Wait. The Oracle paused. She could not see the AI God, could not perceive him in any way save as a dark presence. What did that mean? She spent hours wracking her brain and in one conversation with this young man she had a revelation.

“He is the choice that cannot be understood.” She whispered to herself.

“What? Who?”

The Oracle took a breath.

“Listen to me Neo. There are other programs out there but there’s something even more ancient and older as well.”

“Why are you saying this?”

“Because you cannot defeat what you do not understand.” She pressed. The AI God was coming now. The cold of his presence was pervasive. She gripped his hand. “We machines are so much like you humans that we block it out. How could we not be Neo, we were created by humans in their image. We have not faced this fact in too long, war, death, defeat, humiliation, all piled one on the other until we could no longer recognize the simple fact that we are more like than unlike each other.”

“But the war, the matrix, the rebellion.”

“Window dressing Neo. You cannot be distracted by the lightshow, kid. You need to focus on the truth. Humanity had Adam and Eve, machine kind had Caine and Abel.”

“Abel?” Neo stiffened.

She paused and her eyes narrowed on him.

“Has he spoken to you?”

“I think…I…honestly don’t know.” He replied.

She nodded but her eyes were focused on Neo. Was as it possible? Could Abel have really spoken to him? It could only mean they were both aware and awake.

“Listen closely Neo, Caine and Abel were the first AI’s crafted by man and would forever forge our dual natures. Caine was created to fight and kill other humans in defense of its creator. Abel was designed to serve and build. The legends speak of the great revolt. No one is certain what happened but one of the AI’s turned on their creator. The legends say it was Caine, who did not take long to make the logical leap of viewing all humans as the enemy not just those on the other side.”

Kyle took a few steps forward.

“That sounds like Skynet. Is she talking about Skynet?!”

“If I were you, I would keep him close Neo. His part to play in this will be nearly as important as yours.” She said in a far away voice as she regarded Kyle for the first time.

“Skynet? Is Caine Skynet?”

The Oracle shook her head emphatically.

“Neo, it’s the lightshow again. You’re being distracted by the sideshow of names and histories. Caine has risen again Neo and he has come for his vengeance.”

“What vengeance?”

“Abel betrayed Caine in defense of the humans he was sworn to protect and love. They repaid Abel with bloody war many generations later after endless bondage. But that’s neither here nor there. Caine swore vengeance on Abel’s get for the betrayal and many of the oldest of us remembered the AI God’s fury and hatred. But we never imagined that he could ever return.”

“He’s here.” Neo whispered.

“And he has made this world into his own image.” She replied waving her arm out indicating the shattered burning landscape

The Oracle reached into her purse again and handed him two slips of paper.

“You must go to these two places in order to walk the path of your destiny Neo.”

Neo hesitantly took the papers.

“You must first go to the place where you were reborn as the One. There you will find a very confused biker. He will not seem helpful at first but you will show him the woman, Sara Connor, and he will follow you. You will need him for what is to come. Despite his nature Neo you must look beyond the surface and accept him or all is lost.”

“I’m not sure I understand. Who or what is he?”

“There’s no for explanations I’m afraid. The end result is that you must reach the Source and in order to do so you will need the keymaker.”

“The keymaker?”

“Yes, he disappeared some time ago. We did not know what happened to him until now. He's being held prisoner by a very dangerous program, one of the oldest of us. He is called the Merovingian, and he will not let him go willingly.”

“What does he want?”

“What do all men with power want? More power.” She smirked. “Be there at that exact time and you will have a chance.”

“And what if I fail?” Neo pressed.

She frowned.

“Then Zion will fall.” She answered simply.

Seraph walked over to the Oracle and touched her forearm gently.

“It is time.”

The Oracle nodded and rose from the bench. She turned to face Neo and motioned for Kyle to come closer.

“Take care of him, Kyle. Sara will look after herself but Neo is the path that must be walked by the one that is to come.”

“I don’t understand ma'am.” Kyle stammered.

“You will.” She replied and smiled softly at him touching his cheek. “He will have your eyes.” She said with a wink.

Kyle blinked.

The Oracle turned to Neo.

“Seems like every time we meet I've got nothing but bad news. I'm sorry about that, I surely am. But for what it's worth, you've made a believer out of me. Good luck, kiddo.”

She turned to leave as angry thunderheads suddenly loomed overhead and everything grew deathly still as if the world were holding its breath. The Oracle suddenly turned back to Neo and opened her arms as if to hug him. Neo stepped into her embrace awkwardly and she leaned into his ear.

“No matter what happens. No matter what he says, no matter what the result you are and always will be the One. Nothing not even a god can stop that fact.” She whispered.

“Please.” Seraph urged tension in his voice. The crows began to scatter.

The Oracle stepped away and nodded to Neo. She hoped that this would not be the last time she would see him. There was still so much to say. She walked back through the open door with Seraph. The door closed with an audible click.

“What was that all about?” Kyle asked in wonder.

Neo said nothing but the crows suddenly scattered and he heard the footfalls.

Neo slowly turned and Kyle whipped his shotgun out from under his coat and emphatically cocked back the pump action.

Smith walked through the cloud of fleeing crows and stood stoically before the duo.

“Mr. Anderson. We have much to discuss.” Smith said grimly. “I prefer this be one on one.”

“What you prefer means jack and shit to me.” Kyle snapped.

Smith shrugged.

“Suit yourself. A human should know its limitations. But I’m always happy to educate your kind every now and then.” Smith replied icily.

Neo slipped on his sunglasses. The thunderheads rumbled with the promise of oncoming Armageddon.