The Fertile Crescent
Morpheus didn't drink alcohol in the real world.
He barely drunk it in simulations either. Granted, the opportunity didn't present itself much – crew members were entitled to leisure simulations, but only to a certain point, lest they become too attracted to the escapism of digital worlds rather than the real world they fought for. But even then, he barely drank, and he certainly didn't drink alcohol when he was awake. Alcohol dulled the mind. His mind had been dulled for the first seven years of his life, and he was in no hurry to dull it by his own accord. Here, in the real world, serving onboard the Solomon, he was free. And as such, he was free to make his own choices and not damage his mind or body.
So instead he was drinking water. Water that was mostly recycled piss per the Solomon's recycling system, but water all the same. Taking a sip, he reflected that if nothing else, water tasted the same in the real world as it did in the Matrix. Tasteless. Odourless. Kind of like the septic interior of this hovercraft.
"Hey there Morpheus."
He didn't look up at Soren as he walked into the galley.
"You alright?"
He let out a grunt.
"What's that you've got there?"
This time, Morpheus looked up at his fellow crew member. "What's what there?"
"There. Right in front of you."
So Soren did have eyes. Still, he'd hoped that Soren had taken the hint that he wanted to be alone. Keeping silent, he hoped that his fellow crewman would take the hint now, if not earlier. Still, as Soren sat down, a cup of herbal tea in his hands…it appeared that solitude wasn't a luxury afforded to him right now.
"Athena's going to be pissed with you."
Morpheus said nothing. He just sat there.
"But I mean, you saw them right?" Soren asked. "Like, you believe the truth now?"
Morpheus met Soren's gaze. Within the man's eyes was a mix of mirth, sympathy, and sadness.
"I saw them," Morpheus murmured. He traced a finger on the spreadsheet he had out. "I looked to the north and I saw them. I looked to the south and I saw them. To the west and east I saw them."
"And that's how far you think they extend?"
Morpheus said nothing. He just let the spreadsheet speak for itself.
Specifically, the spreadsheet was a map of the world – not a common commodity in the real world, as there was simply no need for them. The map of the world's surface was irrelevant – the maps of the tunnels beneath the surface was what Zion and its fleet of hovercraft needed. Still, he'd procured it from the Solomon's archives. He'd dusted it off and begun to draw. A black dot for the site of Zero-One. A blue dot for the power plant. And around them both, a sea of red for the fields.
"Can I see?" Soren asked.
Morpheus said nothing, but let his crewmate take it. Soren let out a whistle.
"Think I went too far?" Morpheus asked.
"What I think?" Soren asked. He put the map down on the table between them. "I guess if you're growing billions of humans, you're going to need to space for it."
Morpheus said nothing.
"Listen, a few minutes from now Athena's going to bust your balls," Soren said, leaning forward. "But, I mean, you know now right? The truth?"
"The truth," Morpheus mused. He took a sip before continuing. "I never believed it you know. I could believe everything Apollo told me, but the fields? The liquefaction? I thought…"
"That it wasn't real?"
Morpheus didn't say anything.
"Well, look on the bright side," Soren said. "I mean, you may be put in the stockade for your little stunt, but I think you must be the first human in over a decade who's ever walked through the fields and lived."
"First in twelve years," said a voice.
Both Morpheus and Soren turned to find the source of the voice. Both recognised it. Neither welcomed it.
"Jason," Soren said.
"Locke," Morpheus murmured.
"And a fine morning to you too," Locke said as he walked into the room. He was also sipping tea, and looking far too smug for Morpheus's liking. "Last time anyone went to the fields was about twelve years ago. A mission to try and sabotage the harvesters. Any idea how that went?"
Neither red pill said anything.
"Badly." He took another sip and gave Morpheus a playful punch. "But good on you for making it there and back. I mean, it was for nothing, and could have compromised our position, and-"
"You done?" Soren asked.
"No," Locke said. "Morpheus on the other hand? He is, or he should be. I mean, Jesus Christ Morpheus, what were you thinking?"
Morpheus said nothing.
"Hello?" Locke said, clicking his fingers in front of Morpheus's eyes. "Morpheus?"
"You wouldn't understand," Morpheus murmured.
"I…" He sighed. "Fine I wouldn't understand. I wouldn't understand why you'd take a skimmer out to the fields because you needed proof about what everyone knows about the fields. They exist. They've got floating foetuses in them."
"Jesus you're a piece of work," Soren murmured.
"Pardon me for caring more about the living and the free, than a bunch of drones who don't know they're drones." He sipped the tea again. "Maybe someone should have found your pod Morpheus. Saved us all a lot of trouble and just burst it and-"
Soren grabbed Locke and slammed him against the wall. The cup he was holding dropped. Soren shouted something. Locke shouted something back. Morpheus remained seated, thinking.
He'd been in one of those pods once. Unborn. Unaware. Born into bondage, unable to comprehend the shackles around his body and mind.
"Soren! Locke!"
Morpheus sprung to his feet. The two men beside him stopped fighting. Whatever tensions existed between them, all three men knew their place, and that was below Captain Athena in the chain of command.
She walked into the room slowly. Her gaze lingered on Morpheus and he lowered it. Out of the corner of his eye however, he could see her eyes shift to the two other men in the room.
"Not interrupting anything am I?"
"No ma'am," Soren and Locke murmured.
"Good. Because we're getting our next blue pill out. Which means Soren's getting a plug in his head, and Locke's on operating duty." She paused. "I won't have a problem with that will I?"
"No ma'am."
"Of course not ma'am."
"Good." She nodded her head to the room's exit. "Now beat it."
Soren and Locke walked out. Morpheus remained put. Raising his gaze, he saw Athena standing there. Looking at him like a mother would over a disappointing child.
"Well?" Athena asked.
"Well what?"
"I'm waiting for it," she said. "The part where you explain why I shouldn't put you in chains. The part where you insist you have to jack into the Matrix to get our latest blue pill out."
"I've offered the pills before," Morpheus murmured.
"You have. But that was before you decided to take a skimmer out onto the surface and into the fields because…" Athena swore under her breath. "Seriously, what the hell were you thinking?"
"I had to know."
"Know? Know what every child in Zion already knows? That most humans on this planet aren't born like them?"
"We were born into one world and awoke in another," Morpheus said. "You know as well as I do that some things have to be beheld with our own eyes."
"And you know as well as I do that by all rights I should strip you of your rank and have you sent back to Zion."
Morpheus scoffed and turned around.
"Do you find that funny?"
"Locke wants to be back at Zion. You don't take it out on him."
"Locke thinks operator duty is beneath him," Athena said. "And like it or not, it is."
Morpheus glared at her. "What?"
"Locke's intelligent. He's an arsehole, but still, intelligent. Give him a few decade, maybe two, he'll be running all of our defence system."
"And me?" Morpheus asked.
"Can't say," Athena said. "A lot of that depends on what happens over the next few minutes." Her eyes lingered on the map. "What's that?"
Morpheus said nothing. He just sat back down at the table, looking at his handiwork. Athena picked it up.
"The Fertile Crescent," she murmured.
"Pardon?"
"The Fertile Crescent. You've basically drawn it."
"I…what?"
"You know the term, don't you? A region in what was once called Mesopotamia? Where human civilization began through the development of agriculture?"
"I know the stories."
"Not stories Morpheus, history." Athena sat down at the table opposite him. "The machines have taken most of those things from us, but not all of it. We know where human civilization began. We don't even need the Matrix to tell us that."
Morpheus looked aside.
"What?"
"Fate, then," he said.
"The hell you on about?"
Morpheus looked back at Athena. "The machines built their city in the cradle of human civilization. Now they're growing us where farmers tended their crops thousands of years ago."
"One of fate's ironies then?" Athena asked.
"I wonder if they even know," Morpheus murmured. "If they care."
"Probably even less than the average citizen of Zion," Athena said.
"I don't think-"
"You think people are going to care about what happened thousands of years ago when they're living in a world where history could end in an instant?"
"What are we fighting for if not our history?"
"Our lives," Athena said. "Our loved ones. Our freedoms. Even before the machines, humans could fight each other for any number of reasons."
Morpheus couldn't help but smile.
"What?"
"I'm reminded of when you told me why you chose the name Athena. The goddess of wisdom, the name so taken after you learnt the truth."
Athena didn't say anything.
"It's funny. I always thought that Jane was-"
"Mention my slave name again and I'll have you fed to the Sentinels."
"Sentinels don't eat," Morpheus murmured.
"And I don't bluff."
He conceded the point, thinking of when he'd first started serving on the Solomon under her. A hovercraft named after a wise king of old. A captain who named herself after a goddess of wisdom. Many red pills used different names from the ones in their old lives, but Athena had only ever taken a new name after being unplugged. She'd only been six when she'd opened her eyes for the first time – far too young to even understand what a pseudonym was.
He remembered his old name. He didn't use it of course. But he remembered it.
"Let's get to the point," Athena said. "You endangered us all. You took a stupid risk, and chances are you'll do so again. So before I decide what to do with you, I'm going to let you give me a reason why I should let you stay on my ship."
For a moment, Morpheus remained in silence. In his mind's eye, he could still see the pods. In the larger ones, he could see fully developed infants. Their eyes closed. Eyes that for billions, would never be opened.
"Morpheus?"
He opened his eyes. He'd opened them fifteen years ago. And by whatever god or gods might exist, he would never shut them again.
"I've seen the truth," Morpheus said. "I've accepted the truth."
"And?"
"So you know that I have all the more reason to save them," Morpheus said. "The people in those pods. The eyes of the young and the old. You know that I can't go back now."
Athena said nothing.
"And you also know that when Soren and I jack into the Matrix, you'll want me to offer the red pill."
"Really? Why?"
"Because you have a prophet that now fully believes his own words. Who can see the chains of the enslaved clearer than ever."
Athena leant back in her chair, putting a hand to her chin.
"And you also know that I'll never stop fighting."
"Oh I do," Athena said. "It's also why I know that you'll make captain one day."
Morpheus said nothing, too intent on trying to hide his pride in hearing that.
"Fine," Athena said, getting to her feet. "I'll let you do your thing. Get the blue pill out, I may let you stay on my ship."
Morpheus got to her feet. "Thank you ma'am."
"Don't thank me. Just get in there."
Morpheus nodded and began to head up to the command deck. Ready to jack in. To shatter the chains.
He just hoped the blue pill, the one with the alias of Niobe, would let him.
A/N
It's pretty much an established irony that Zero-One is situated near Mesopotamia, a region generally regarded as the birth of human civilization. I think it's safe to say that it's an intentional irony from an out of universe standpoint. Still, it occurred to be before writing this that there's potentially a double irony, in that the region is generally regarded as being the birthplace of agriculture. So not only do you have the machines building their city in the "cradle of human civilization" (said city leading to humanity's downfall), but also practicing widespread 'agriculture' in the region as well. Just with, y'know, humans as the crops in question.
Anyway, drabbled this up.