Disclaimer: The Matrix and all its characters belong to Wachowski brothers.
"Oh not you" she lazily eyed him up and down as she offered him a small frown. He looked exactly as she remembered him. Controlled, sharp and dominating. Extremely arrogant.
"Yes. Me."
"By all means, I thought you were deleted."
"I thought so too. Until they brought me back."
She chew on her lower lip. "What about the One who you were so eager to kill?"
"Oh, that One is terminated. His remains are in 01."
"And yet they brought you back?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I guess I was meant for a higher purpose than mere deletion" a patronizing smirk.
She shook her head. "You've messed up the entire Matrix. You overwrote everyone, including the Oracle herself. And yet, they've decided to bring you back?"
"Apparently yes, as I stand here before you. Aren't you going to let me in?"
She paused for a moment, mentally debating with herself, but after a couple of moments, she finally opened the door and gestured for him to enter.
He analyzed his surroundings. "Not the Chateau you used to have. Your husband wanted a change of scenery?"
She turned on her heels to face him. "Ex-husband."
"Oh?"
"Let's just say that he and I.. didn't get along that well" she lowered her eyes.
He didn't press the subject further. "I see."
"So what are you now? A rouge? An exile?"
"My function remains the same" he curled his lips.
"It's impossible... They've reinserted you... You're back as an Agent?"
"Yes."
She digested this new information, placing her hands on her hips.
"A Lead Agent that is" he went on. "After reloading the Matrix, they couldn't find anyone... suitable for the job. After all, I've survived all six versions. I am the most efficient of my kind."
"Oh please, Smith" she rolled her eyes.
He ignored her comment. "Mister Anderson might have destroyed me, even twice, but I could not be destroyed entirely. They've found my back-up fragment, hidden in the Matrix. They modified it as well. Nevertheless, I have returned."
"Modified? Let me guess – you cannot destroy the world anymore? What a shame."
"I'm not what I used to be, Persephone" he shrugged. "Rest assured, I'm still the most capable Agent in the system."
"Well it seems that your services won't be needed anymore. As you might have noticed, the war is over" she smiled, arching her eyebrow.
He mirrored her, arching his eyebrow as well. "Let's see how long this peace is going to last."
She turned her back on him and proceeded inside her home. A pause in their conversation allowed him to take a better look at his surroundings. An impressive size penthouse apartment adorned with Buddha statues and Japanese furniture was a strong contrast to the crowded Chateau, overstuffed with extravagant Renaissance furniture, Baroque paintings and Gothic weapons. The simple furniture and Oriental touch created a pleasant atmosphere. The soft rain outside the large windows and the skyline of Mega City smoothly blended in with this exquisite setting.
He was suddenly left alone in the large room. "Here" a voice came from the direction of what appeared to be a kitchen.
He approached a neatly arranged room that served as a kitchen. If one wasn't prepared, it might as well have been a futuristic lifestyle exhibition. Polished metallic surfaces and soft light arrangements, he found them rather pleasing. He took note of Persephone's appearance. She abandoned her usual revealing outfits, wearing a simple black skirt and a top. Her hair was shorter and a degree lighter than her trademark midnight mane.
"Food?" he took off his sunglasses and placed them on the back of his head.
"You're hungry?" she looked up at him.
"Are you trying to feed me?" he looked at the food on the kitchen table, as if it had offended him.
"Well, don't tell me that you don't eat, Agent Smith" she produced a grape and took a small bite.
He crossed his arms, putting a sour look on his features. "Of course I don't eat, Persephone. In theory, I can. But I have no need for eating. Those functions are meant for humans, not us. We are above that."
"Oh but I beg to differ, Smith" she offered him a tiny smile. "We machines are no less, even if we make use of the gifts that we were blessed with. To feel, to taste, to smell... to touch."
"You mean burdens that we were cursed with" he cut her off. "Those are the human traits, Persephone. Just as weak and pathetic as humans themselves."
"Old habits die hard, Smith?" she sighed, pouring herself a glass of red wine. "You still hate them."
He took a step closer, invading her personal space. "Those creatures are disgusting, pathetic, self-righteous and filthy. They are parasites. They are not even animals - because animals do not multiply and spread from one area to another, like a virus. Humans are weak, useless. Those species are facing extinction. They are nothing more than a power supply for us. I cannot understand why you insist on acting like one of them. We machines think logically, as humans are supposed to do. We machines are far more 'human' than the humans, because we could have easily destroyed all humanity and simply used nuclear energy to sustain ourselves. But we didn't. By creating the Matrix, we have at least allowed humanity to survive in some form."
"Enough!" she forcefully placed her glass back on the table, spilling some wine in the process.
"I've heard it all before, Smith. Over and over again. In all six versions of the Matrix. You must renew your monologues" a sign of annoyance crossed her features. "The time has changed. The Matrix has changed. You might have defeated Neo and you are back as an Agent, but the time is different, Smith. The war is over. You have no audience anymore. You are facing extinction, Smith. And if you came here in hope of me to understand you, to applaud you or to appreciate your idiotic views on reality, then I would very much rather have you leave my home."
He stepped back.
"This is what it's all about, Smith, isn't it? You need audience" she made a step forward, too close for his comfort. "You've destroyed the world and now you're back, but the world you once knew is not the same. You are alone and alienated in a world that you once dominated and then brought to ruins. You have fallen from grace. It's no wonder that no one is welcoming you with open arms anymore. No humans, not even machines. They all remember. Nobody wants to listen to you. Nobody wants you here!"
Smith took another step back, only to find his body pinned against the wall. His unnaturally blue eyes tried to conceal a spark of uncertainty, a feeling that she never noticed in him before.
She sighed, pulling away from him and allowing him some space. "I'm sorry, Smith."
He parted his lips. "Don't be. You have the right be be angry with me. All of you have the right to be angry with me. I am no Angel."
"And yet you are no Demon, either" her expression softened. She picked up her glass and left the kitchen. He followed her, keeping a respectful distance. The rain poured harder and the artificial world outside was absorbed by a gray mist.
"Why did you come to me, Smith?" she lowered herself on the sofa, taking a sip of her wine, while he remained standing.
"I need... information."
Her eyes rested on a far spot of the room. "How so?"
"There is something... not right" he lowered his voice. "Something outside. It's affecting the Matrix. Something is happening. I cannot discuss it with Agent Gray. Or Agent Pace. Agent Skinner... forget it."
"So I was your only option? Should I feel honored?" her attention turned back at the Agent in her living room. "Alright, spill it."
He approached the sofa and took a seat, keeping a considerable distance from Persephone. "They started digging four months ago. Not here in the Fertile Crescent, but further East. In Dubai."
"Dubai?"
"Well, where Dubai would have been today" he added. "And they are not digging to find yet another human city. This time, it's pure archeology."
"Why would they waste their resources on old ruins?" she narrowed her eyes.
"My thoughts exactly. However, I didn't pay much attention to their transmissions. Until I've intercepted this one, quite recently" he produced a small chip from his pocket, handing it over to her.
She switched to code vision and her reality changed to a radiant green code, as she scanned the contents of the chip. A small sigh escaped her lips. After a few moments, her vision turned back to normal and she returned the chip to its owner. She looked away, taking a sip of her wine.
"The Genesis Project" she finally answered.
Smith furrowed his brow.
"In ancient Sumerian civilization, it was believed that the gods from the stars - or as they were called the Nephilim - will return to this planet and will once again rule over the race of men. It was believed that the Nephilim were the hybrid offspring of fallen Angels and human women. Many scripts and religions have different names for them" she paused. "It was believed in many ancient civilizations that a race of Giants ruled this planet before the occurrence of the great flood. The Aztecs called them Quetzalcoatl, the flying serpents. Greeks referred to them as Zeus, gods and titans. The Vikings referred to them as Jætter."
"There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown" he quoted.
"Genesis chapter 6, verse 4. Very good" she smiled. "It was believed that Angels were interbreeding with the human race and that this was a primary reason for God destroying most of humanity with the great flood."
"The Genesis Project went wrong."
"Exactly" she nodded. "Many archaeologists throughout history were chasing the remains of the Giants. It was believed that this very location, the Arabian Peninsula, holds the keys to many answers. This recent digging in Dubai is no exception."
"Indeed. And they've stopped digging six days ago."
She held her breath for a moment. "They've found something."
"Yes."
"And this is something they can't explain."
"No."
"It was not made by humans."
"No".
Her eyes widened. "And it was not made by us either."
"No."
She rose up from the sofa, taking a deep breath. "Are you aware of that you might be facing deletion, Smith? This information is possibly highly classified."
He repeated her motion and rose up as well. "Yes. However, this goes beyond classified, there is a bigger game unfolding. Apparently, they knew about it a long time ago. Long ago before the war, even long before Matrix was created. And now, they are going to use this knowledge against us."
"What makes you so sure?"
"A feeling."
"I thought that those functions are meant for humans, not you" she teased him, repeating his words.
He ignored her remark. "I cannot explain it otherwise, Persephone. Something has changed. Six days ago, everything was normal. But now, I detect changes. Small, almost insignificant. Codes hidden within codes. Acting as if they have a will of their own. Replicating and overwriting. Creating new patterns. I've never seen anything like it."
She crossed her arms. "It is possible that neither Oracle or Architect are aware of it" she paused.
"Neither they or humans know anything about it."
"Didn't the 01 initiated the Dubai expedition in the first place?"
"No."
"Zion?"
"No."
"Then who did?"
He shook his head. "The machines are digging, yet the orders didn't come from the Architect."
"I see. How many are aware of this present situation?"
"Me" he hesitated. "And now, you."
"Oh" a pout.
"Why, thank you for bringing me on a certain deletion list, Smith. I really appreciate" she narrowed her eyes.
"Persephone.."
"Now that you've been so kind to entwine me into your path, it's too late to retreat, isn't it" a heavy sigh. "It is possible that we must get to the bottom of this, we seem to have no choice."
He fixed her with an puzzled look. "Are you suggesting Dubai?"
"Perhaps."
"Woman, are you out of your mind?"
"That, too."
"I cannot return to 01, I'm bound to serve here as an Agent."
"Well, you must remember that my ex-husband had quite a passage between the machine world and the human world" her brown eyes sparkled.
"Even if the passage is still working, we have to fight our way through Hell to retrieve our cybernetic bodies. Assuming they are not destroyed in the first place" he grimaced. A distant memory of being in a body of human Bane, instantly made him cringe.
"Smith" she stepped closer, placing a hand on his arm. "There are ways to bend the rules. There are many possibilities. Secret doors. Right now, you must return to your duties and give me some time to do research. But be careful and watch your back. We never had this conversation."
He nodded, replacing his sunglasses. Withdrawing from her, he headed towards the door. She remained standing in the room, watching him leave.
"Agent Smith" she called him just before he made his exit. He halted, but didn't turn his head to face her.
"You never answered my question. Why did you come to me?"
"I have fallen from grace, Persephone. But you know that I am no Demon" with this words, he stepped outside in the rain.