Matrix-3

—eladnarra

Throughout the cavernous halls of Zion rang the cheers and shouts of joy of the celebrating humans. Some stood with tears on their faces, openly weeping in happiness, while others danced with their friends and family and comrades in arms. Neo had saved them all. The war against the machines was over and peace had begun.

In a corner, observing the partying men, women, and children, was a girl of about eight. Her hair was a shocking reddish brown and wavy. It framed a pale and slightly chubby face, the complexion of a child that has yet to lose all her baby fat and has never seen the sun. Her eyes were an odd shade that never seemed to settle; one moment they were a forest green with flecks of brown, the next a glacial blue. She wore a tattered gray skirt, a dirty white blouse, and the telltale metal plugs of those who had escaped the Matrix were imbedded in her skin.

It was the frown on her face, the slight twist of her mouth, that seemed most out of place. How could one not be happy on such a day? And yet she sat on a dark doorstep, away from the noise, her brow furrowed.

Another girl, perhaps a few years older, stopped to openly stare.

"What's wrong?"

She blinked, coming out of a reverie, and slowly focused on the world around her. It seemed as if she was only just noticing the jubilation of the others.

"Everything," was the solemn reply.

"What do you mean, everything?"

"I mean that everything is wrong."

"What?"

"Everything is wrong; it isn't over. Can't you feel it? It feels like it used to…"

"Like what?"

"Like a dream."

"You can't mean that. You saw what happened! The sentinels, they just left. They got some signal from above, and they left. You had to have seen it."

"I saw it."

"Well, what else do you need, an envoy of machines bringing a message of peace?"

"It wasn't real."

—————

Access Program Matrix-3 Information

Program Name: Matrix-3

Program Type: Encoded. Protected. Level 10 Security.

Level Needed for Access: High

Times Accessed: 2

Access Program Matrix-3

File Description: Third version of the Matrix. Created when many humans still detected the second version. Consists of two connected sets of code, a "Real World Sector" and a "Matrix Sector."
"Matrix Sector": Set of code within the Matrix. Simulates the environment of human existence at the height of their accomplishments and achievements (before AI).
"Real World Sector": Set of code within the Matrix. Simulates the environment found outside the Matrix, including the surface, underground sewers, and machines such as sentinels. Additions include the human city of Zion. Humans who detect the "Matrix Sector" of the program "escape" to the "Real World" Sector. Because they think they are free they do not detect it as they did with the second version or the "Matrix Sector."