AN: On the origin of the name Mnemosyne--Mnemosyne is the Greek goddess of memory. All right then, not much to say, I suppose…this all starts roughly at the beginning of the first Matrix movie, and is following the same time period as both of them, to make it easier. I'm not going to be writing too much about the original Matrix characters—i.e. Neo, Morpheus, Trinity, etc—but they will probably be mentioned, and who knows, they might show up. Also, notice how I cleverly avoided typing up too many descriptive scenes! Yay me!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own the Matrix or any concepts related to it. Even sadder, I don't own the characters FROM the Matrix. And saddest, I don't own the actors that are IN the Matrix! Woe is I! Oh well, I do own all other original characters, unless otherwise stated.
prolouge: a conversation
"Simon Donaghy. That's the one we want."
"Who the hell—oh, you mean Achilles."
"Yes. That's his online identity, which is what he uses more often. Wait. How did you know--?"
"I am the resident hacker here, Alexei. You think I wouldn't know? I mean, you have been having me track him for some time, I think…besides, I talked to him online a few times."
"Orion…I told you not to tell him anything!"
"I haven't."
"What? Haven't what?"
"I haven't told him a damn thing. He's perceptive, that's all. Believe me, it's more than my job's worth to tell him anything without your go-ahead, and I know that."
"I hope you got him thinking."
"He just better be thinking. Look at the code around him. It's having a spaz."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Mindset?"
"The Agents seem to be interested in him. The time draws near when we should free his mind. He has to get out of there. Soon."
"Yeah, yeah. Free minds. That's the whole point, isn't it?"
"I don't see what that has to do with Achilles."
"It doesn't. I'm just kind of spontaneously changing the subject."
"You do that often, Orion."
"I know. Back to Achilles. Interesting name, don't you think? Why would he choose it? I suppose the whole hero thing…"
"Maybe he's implying that nothing is indestructible."
"Not everyone thinks as philosophically as you do, Captain. Who knows, maybe he just thought the name was cool."
"That's not really relevant, anyway."
"The real question is, what's his heel? And how does it affect us? I assume you want him to join the Mnemosyne?"
"Yes. But we all have an Achilles heel, whether or not our name implies it."
"Yep. I'm in over my head here. I just navigate, man. That's what I do. Knowing about the Matrix, though, you have to get used to philosophy. Although if you don't, you can always just kick the crap out of whoever's arguing."
"That's a typical answer from you, Orion."
"I know. But hey—someone has to lighten up the mood around here."
chapter one: you aren't where you think you are
Achilles looked at the computer screen, waiting for the chat room to finish connecting. He'd spoken to someone strange there, a few times, the first being about 6 months ago…someone using the pseudonym 'Orion'. Unlike some people on the Internet, he seemed more human, due to his cynical nature. But with every sentence Orion said Achilles could see, could hear, that Orion was part of something.
Orion knew something he didn't.
He'd been trying to track Orion for months, making a lot of unsuccessful attempts to find out his true identity, but by all counts it seemed that Orion didn't exist. He'd tried to ask Orion some subtle questions, but all he got were sarcastic answers that didn't answer anything at all. He checked the chat room every night, hoping for some sign of Orion—it was, he had said, the only chat he ever went to—but he hadn't showed up for a couple weeks.
The chat signed on, but there was no sign of Orion. He watched the scrolling words for a while, rapidly appearing, searching for something that would lead him to information about that which he was looking for…because there would always be that question. He didn't know what it was. But he wanted to-had to-find an answer…because there was something out there he didn't know, and Orion was the key to it…but it didn't really seem like tonight was the night. The chat room was full of useless babble, conspiracy theories and the like…
He was about to type a few lines of profanity to spice up the monotony when suddenly the screen went black.
"What the…" he muttered. He tried a 'restore' sequence on the keyboard. The screen stayed black. He was about to shut it down and restart when white letters appeared across the screen, as if they were being typed by some invisible correspondent.
That's not going to work, Achilles.
"What the hell?" He stared at the computer, tense. "Who—"
More words appeared.
You aren't where you think you are.
And then:
You are in the Matrix.
The Matrix! thought Achilles. What the--
And then:
Trust the first stranger you see, Achilles…
What's that supposed to mean--
…because you are out of time.
The computer made an odd whirring noise and shut down. He heard a large thumping noise, as if someone was coming up the stairs of the apartment building, and loud, unintelligible voices, yelling, ordering something to be done. Then footsteps. More than one person's footsteps.
Footsteps leading up to his door.
"Oh, shit," he said under his breath. "OK. What the hell is this."
His phone rang.
"What a totally inopportune time," he muttered. He picked up the phone. "Look, whoever this is, I can't talk right now, someone's at the door—"
"I know," said a calm voice over the phone. "That is why I called. You have to get out of there. Those people at your door, they are coming for you, and the likelihood of your escape, once they have you, is slim."
"How the hell am I supposed to get out?" asked Achilles, pacing back and forth. "Who are you?"
"My name is Alexei. And don't bother with the phone line, I'm untraceable."
Something connected in his mind. "Wait a minute. You're the guy I talked to after—"
"I don't have time for this. I would suggest you get out of there. Go out the fire escape. There's not much time, soon they'll follow you out there. Do it. Now."
Click.
Swearing at the phone, he threw open the fire exit door and raced down the rickety stairs. He reached the ground and glanced around, panting. There wasn't anyone there, so he started walking quickly down the street, not knowing quite where he was going. Oddly enough, his first thought was, Somewhere with a computer. I just need to sit down and figure this out. "Damn," he swore. "What did I ever do to get into this?"
"You wanted to know something," said a quiet, almost commanding male voice from behind him. "You wanted knowledge, and it's finding you. However, what you'll come to realize is that knowledge is never quite what you wanted it to be. And sometimes, you'll wish you'd never sought that knowledge in the first place. "
Achilles turned around slowly, to see a man, average height, with short black hair and grey eyes. He guessed he was in his thirties. "Who are you?" he questioned, looking the man in the eye.
The man smiled slightly. "To you, right now, I'm a stranger. Come with me."
Achilles remembered the message.
Here goes nothing, he said silently.
I have to know.
"I'll follow you," said Achilles, and they left.
"I'm Alexei," said the man as they walked quickly down darkened streets, empty of the usual daytime crowds. "There will be time to tell you who I am later. Now—" he stopped in front of a large, yet not really conspicuous building. "there is too much to tell already, and I am sorry to say, there is never enough time." Alexei opened the door. "Let's go."
They walked down a hallway, until they reached a large wooden door, which they opened and walked through.
"Hey, people." A young-looking man with spiky blonde hair greeted them. "Alexei. You made it. I know you usually don't do that stage, but I had to monitor something…plus, I'm working on a, ahem, project…"
Alexei rolled his eyes. "A project. Meaning, you were 'testing the computer systems' again. Look, I don't have time to talk about this. Just explain. And be honest."
"What, you're leaving?" said the blonde-haired man, arching an eyebrow. "I thought—"
"I got a call from Sylph. She says that something's come up back at the Mnemosyne. Besides, you need the practice. You're at that damn computer so much, you almost never go in." Alexei left without a farewell and slammed the door.
The blonde-haired man shook his head ruefully. "That's Alexei for ya. Always abrupt. Brilliant, though. Although some people don't appreciate it."
"Who are you," said Achilles.
"What, you don't recognize me?" The man laughed. "Orion, at your service. But I'm not here to talk about me. I have to explain something to you. Or rather, explain that I can't explain. God, I suck at this. OK."
"You know what the Matrix is, don't you," said Achilles quietly.
Orion smiled crookedly. "Yes."
"You know what I'm going to ask you next, don't you."
"That I do. What is the Matrix? It's the never ending quandary, the big question, the question that throws things back in the enemy's face. And, I suspect, it's the question that brought you here, and it's the question that I bet you really wish I would answer, and just get to the point, right?"
"Yes." Achilles folded his arms, waiting. "Shoot."
"Well," replied Orion, "the Matrix is everywhere. You can see it right now, even. Hell, you always see it. You can see it, you can hear it, you can taste it, you can smell it. You can feel it, constantly. It's always there. You just never knew it before. But see, the thing about the Matrix," he continued, slightly apologetic, "is there's no point in trying to explain what it is. You just sorta have to experience it. Which sucks, by the way, but that's beside the point."
"And how do you do that?" asked Achilles, looking Orion in the eye. "How do you do that?"
Orion smiled. "Nice going. Well, you have to decide something. Like Alexei's always saying, it's a lot of knowledge. It'll change your life. Big time. But then again, sometimes you'll end up in a position where you really, really wish you hadn't asked, that you'd just left everything in place, etc. Now, do you really want to know what the Matrix is?"
Achilles glanced around, uneasy. Something was going to change, he thought. But…
"Yes."
"OK. Now, here's the last stop. Your last chance to duck out of this crazy crap." He pulled out what looked like two vials, and emptied the contents into his hand. There was a blue pill, and a red pill.
"You take one of these. You take the blue pill—you 'wake up' back in your apartment. You are left to think about what a screwed dream you had, and how it almost seemed real. You keep living your life normally. Take the red pill, and you find out what I know that you don't. Which is what you wanted, wasn't it?" Achilles stared at him. "Yep, I knew it. I'm smarter than Alexei gives me credit for, you know. I'm just too sardonic."
Achilles reached for the red pill, and picked it up. Orion handed him a glass of water. "Here."
He swallowed it.
"Cue the ominous music," laughed Orion. "Come with me." They went back out into the hallway, and went up a flight of winding stairs, which creaked as they ascended them. "As they walked down a second hallway, Orion said, "The red pill is part of this trace program we have. It's designed so we can find out where the hell you are. Because I can tell you, you're certainly not here."
"I really don't understand what you're talking about," said Achilles tersely.
Orion's grin faded. "Yeah…you will soon, though. Come on." He led him through the last doorway on the left. There were three other people in the room, but Orion didn't introduce them. "We'll all have an introduction fest later, I guess. Here. Sit down." He motioned to a chair. Achilles sat down, warily. He was tense. Here is the threshold, prepare to cross it…
Orion went over to a computer, where a dark-skinned woman with wavy shoulder-length black hair was sitting. "Got him yet, Atalanta?"
"No. This is what you're supposed to be doing," she retorted. "You do it, then." She got up and went over to Achilles. Orion sat down at the computer.
"Where is he?" he muttered. "The connection's spazzing out…"
As she quickly attached what looked like white electrode disks to his head, arms, and the back of his neck, Atalanta looked down at Achilles. "You're Achilles, right?"
"Yeah."
"Still dreaming, Achilles?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. You'll find out soon enough."
"Ever learn anything about virtual reality, Achilles?" laughed a tall, skinny woman with black hair.
Virtual reality…
Achilles looked at the metal desk in front of him. It was so shiny he could see his own reflection…
The metal rippled, like waves on the ocean.
"What—did you see—"
"It's starting to work, Orion," warned Atalanta. "Get his location fast or we're screwed."
"Almost there…"
The metal looked almost liquid…instinctively he reached out and touched it. A gooey silver substance came out, stretching, and it started to creep up and cover his arm like some sort of awful disease. He watched it in horror. "Holy shit," he said quietly. "OK, what the hell is this—"
"Just stay calm, Achilles," said Atalanta. "It's all part of our routine process, it's fine--Orion, we need the location—"
It was covering him, everywhere, it crept up towards his throat—
"This happens every time, don't panic," said Atalanta. "Orion!!"
"Got it!"
Everything went black.
--
On the ship Mnemosyne, in the north pipe, 50 miles from Zion…
"Orion got his location, Alexei," said a woman with short dark purple hair, slightly spiked up. "He's going through the process right now. Orion, Atalanta, Demetrius, and Pixel should be getting out soon."
Alexei let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God. Remember how much trouble we had getting Pixel out, Sylph?"
"God, yes…oh look, here comes Orion."
Orion walked into the steering area, and looked out the one window of the Mnemosyne. "Bit desolate out there, isn't it," he commented.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," replied Sylph tartly. "How'd it go?"
"Everything according to plan," said Orion in a fake-important voice. "Mr. Donaghy is now having a really crappy time discovering the joys of reality."
"Good," said Alexei shortly.
"I don't know about you people, but I remember how much that sucked…"
"We all do," said Sylph. "Where are Pixel, Demetrius, and Atalanta?"
"Demetrius is getting some sleep, Atalanta's talking to Psyche, and Pixel's still in."
"Why?" questioned Sylph, looking alarmed. "What's she doing?"
"Looking for a glitch. Apparently there's been some flying objects around the Oak Street area and she's checking it out. Would you excuse me? I need to go do my job." He grinned and left.
Sylph checked her watch. "Better go. They should be getting Achilles pretty soon."
"Good luck."
"Thanks."
Sylph walked into the other room. "Hey, Demetrius," she greeted him. "Thought you were getting some sleep."
"I was, but I thought that Arrow needed it more. He was going to get Achilles, but he's been awake for 48 hours straight so I thought I'd take over."
"Is he out yet?"
"Yep. One of their machines is getting him out…he's going to 'get dumped', to use Orion's terminology…"
"You've got to admit, he is direct."
"Yes…OK. Dumping has taken place. Come on, you stupid machine, pick him up…ha! Got him! OK, get ready…hope we didn't kill him in the process…"
"Why?"
"Because Orion said Alexei'd have a cow."
"Alexei having a cow. Well, I've survived it, but it causes some major damage."
--