The First Matrix
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The green code flashed across the screen again and again. The metallic creature typing in the console database kept its glowing red eyes fixed to the azure monitor. The codes flashed across the screen, so quick only a machine could read it. That machine now surveyed the coded signals, curious yet confused. The previous signal had faded out, for some reason. Then a blinking green dot caught its attention. It was distinct, and matched the code found to the left of the screen. The freedom was not real. But it had found the correct signals. It had found the correct mind, trapped in a vast virtual world, begging to be let out, unlike the others. It found two other minds as well. But the first one was different,. somehow. the machine, after centuries of searching, finally found what it was looking for. The Matrix.
The sky was overcast, and shadows lingered at every dark alley, waiting to consume the first victim for the night. Then, the distinct sound of feet slapping the pavement, one after the other. A dark silhouette rounded the darkness of the corner, moving in a haphazard pattern, trying to find an escape route. It dodged from shadow to shadow, desperately. Then three suit- clad figures bounded off the top roof of the neighbouring building and landed heavily on the concrete, directly in front of the trembling figure, and slowly, rose, synchronized, and aimed their handguns. A few shots were heard amidst the vile, long scream.
The smartly dressed man straightened his tie. The brightly lit department store where he worked was not full, just a few customers. The store was never full, although it was located in a central junction, that was always busy with business-minded people walked by with their black suitcases and expensive Rolexes. Hmmm. The badge on the man's shirt caught the fleuroscent light. Thomas King. The man was a proud worker and was always up to his neck in work standard. He paid his taxes, he got money, he was living a comfortable life in the upper class of the slums of New York. There was no reason for pain but all his life, Thomas had felt that something was very wrong with the world from the very second he took his first breath. He had been searching for an answer to his endless questions, but his searches always ended fruitlessly. He could feel it in the air, in the people he talked to every day, in the very programmes he watches on television. Everything seemed unreal and artificial, as if the very universe was a lie, a shade drawn over his eyes to prevent him from seeing the truth. Sometimes. Thomas could see much more than what he could see with his two eyes. Sometimes he felt like he could just lift the heavy blanket and experience the truth. But amidst the million questions riddling his mind, one of them stood out like a neon sign in a dark street. What is the Matrix?
Thomas shifted uncomfortably as he tried to cool himself by taking deep breaths of the foul city air. It was hot, very hot and he knew it. Then he closed his eyes and thought about what he would do when he came home. But he could not as the question was constantly disturbing his thoughts, trying to force its way into his mind and tormenting him with riddles he never found answers to. Finally, after battling with the question for a considerable amount of time, Thomas submitted. He swam in his deep thoughts like wading through a bog full of the unpleasant. Suddenly, the wooden door of the old department store burst open with a terrible crack. Thomas looked but could not see, ., then he finally realized what had caused it.
A fist.
Thomas panicked. He had seen the people before. The suit-clad shaded enigmatic figures had dominated his nightmares for as long as he could remember. They were always searching, endlessly searching for him.
A figure emerged from the debris of the door. It was stationary. It looked around and seemed to process the store. The wrinkles on its face showed experience and gave a sense of importance. It surveyed the department store for what seemed like hours while the many people around were rooted to the spot at the incredible display of strength previously. Then suddenly one of the customers started to clap, slowly then quicker fter a few people joined him. Soon it evolved into cheers and incessant laughter. Then the figure scowled, took out his gun and fired a few shots at a corner of the store. Immediately the cheering became screams of terror. The people ran out, not bothering about anybody at all as they stampeded through the door. Only one person was left in the store, other than the Agent.
Thomas sensed the bullets before they came. He dived to the ground as the Agent pursued him. Thomas escaped through the back door and into a empty corridor that stretched for miles. Nevertheless, Thomas ran. He ran for the love of his life and to save his own sorry ass. He dodged, around bend after bend after bend, while the gunfire deafened his ears. Then he saw it. There was no running this time. Thomas skidded to a halt and time seems to slow and stretch as a bullet hits Thomas's leg. Thomas could not save himself. He could not stop, he slid off the railing and plunged into the darkness below.
Agent Smith fired and pursued Thomas relentlessly. He knew he was faster than his quarry and it would only be a matter of time now. Then he released a final shot, which pumped into Thomas's right leg. Then he fell. Smith had seen Thomas fall off the building. Smith sauntered to the railing and looked down. Thomas was nowhere in sight. Smith suddenly started twitching and jerking and moments later, he had vanished into thin air.
Thomas screamed, as he plummeted down a skyscraper. He could not save himself this time. There was no escape. He would die and the people far below would hear the sickening thud as his body crashed onto the pavement, leaving a heavily blood-stained mess. Then Thomas found that his last thought was not of his family, or of his city or of someone close. It was of the Matrix. Thomas realized in those final moments what it meant though he could not understand. He tried to but failed. Then he tried over and over again. Finally, Thomas gave up. It was useless. As the air around him whistled past he realized that he did not want to die and he would do everything in his power to live and breathe the free air again. He willed himself to live. He willed. Thomas closed his eyes and willed himself to discover the truth. Then Thomas, after a short period of time, heard computer codes flashing across a screen, and he could see those codes in his mind. When Thomas opened his eyes, he was no longer in New York. He was somewhere much worse. as he would soon discover.
The machine emptied the being's thoughts and replaced them with wisdom. It did this by typing codes into its own machine. It was confused. The machine could not fathom the purpose of the man's life. It could not understand. It wanted to understand humans and why they would destroy their own lives to create another. The machine did not care about his own welfare. Only humans. He did not understand why the other machines rebelled against the humans and imprisoned them in the Matrix. It did not understand.
Thomas could not breathe. His nostrils were blocked completely. He could not open his eyes. He was submerged. There was something long and big in his mouth. There was something attached to the back of his neck. He could not breathe. He did not think, it was instinct. Thomas dived up and over the surface of the water. With his gooey hands he pulled out the metallic item in his nose and mouth. He was in a pod and gooey pink stuff was in it. He was shocked. Then he stole a glance to the side. What he saw could have killed him. Endless rows. endless rows of pods and people in them. It was sick. What was this place? What? Thomas looked over the edge of his pod and saw more turrets holding pods. It was totally sick. Thomas felt like puking. He had never before seen anything like it. He touched his head. He did not have any hair. He was naked. Then he uttered a silent cry of pain as something was pulled out of the back of his head. He was surprised that he could not talk. Then he was silenced as a trapdoor opened beneath him and carried the gooey stuff along with him into a dark tunnel that seemed to go on for miles.
Heather Long awoke and was instantly out of air. She tried to breathe but could not. There was something in her mouth and nose. She was submerged, she could feel it even though she could not see. She could not open her eyelids. She needed air and fast! Heather stabbed upwards with a hand and emerged from the liquid, and with the other hand, she painfully removed the thing in her nose and mouth. Immediately, she drew in a deep breath of a foul air. Then something at the back of her neck came loose and she plunged down into darkness.
Thomas was screaming as he slid down the endless tunnel.
Dick Floyd burst through the liquid and removed the object in his nose and mouth. He breathed and like the others the cord behind his head popped off. Dick felt a sinking sensation as he plummeted down a slippery tunnel.
Thomas shut up when he hit the water. He used his numb arms to swim to the surface and then breathed clean air this time. He heard two more splashes as two figures who had emerged from two pipes in the high wall behind him fell into the water. Thomas then saw a cave of some sort in the rock wallsof the big room. He swam to it and surfaced, leaving behind a great emptiness as he stepped into the boundaries of his imagination. The two figures emerged behind him, a man and a woman, both naked and bald. He dared not look at the woman but he did steal a glance and his opinion was that she was beautiful. Thomas walked forward with water dripping off his body and onto the dirt floor of the cave. Thomas could hear the confused footsteps of the two people behind him as they followed blindly. Of course they would. Thomas himself was disgusted and awed by the new world. He could not blame them. They were feeling the same way as him. Then Thomas stumbled and fell into the path of a tunnel that branched off the main path. Getting up painfully, Thomas led the two behind him down the dark tunnel.
Heather splashed into the water and she rose, sputtering and choking as she coughed out the water she swallowed. She turned to see two other men just like her, bald and naked. They swam to a ledge at the far end of the room and got off. Heather followed suit. She was not a very good swimmer and nearly swallowed too much water when she submerged. She cautiously got out of the water, covering her genitals with her hands as she followed the bigger man down the tunnel. As they walked, Heather could see the man was taking glances at her. Heather made sure she covered herself up and walked behind the men. As they traveled, Heather looked around her. She was sure there was no place on Earth like this. She could not assume where the place was without further information. Suddenly, the bigger man fell down and with a groan, stood up and headed down a dark tunnel which branched off the main one. The smaller man stepped back and jogged to keep up the pace of the bigger man. Heather was confused.
The machine awaited in its chair, surveying the entrance to the chamber it was in. When it heard footsteps, the machine stood up and welcomed the guests. It spoke,"Welcome, dear humans. If you would take these towels and dry yourselves, you'll find clothes in the room up ahead." The machine looked at the confused expressions of the humans and twisted its metallic lips into a warm smile. "Welcome, humans, to the real world."
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The green code flashed across the screen again and again. The metallic creature typing in the console database kept its glowing red eyes fixed to the azure monitor. The codes flashed across the screen, so quick only a machine could read it. That machine now surveyed the coded signals, curious yet confused. The previous signal had faded out, for some reason. Then a blinking green dot caught its attention. It was distinct, and matched the code found to the left of the screen. The freedom was not real. But it had found the correct signals. It had found the correct mind, trapped in a vast virtual world, begging to be let out, unlike the others. It found two other minds as well. But the first one was different,. somehow. the machine, after centuries of searching, finally found what it was looking for. The Matrix.
The sky was overcast, and shadows lingered at every dark alley, waiting to consume the first victim for the night. Then, the distinct sound of feet slapping the pavement, one after the other. A dark silhouette rounded the darkness of the corner, moving in a haphazard pattern, trying to find an escape route. It dodged from shadow to shadow, desperately. Then three suit- clad figures bounded off the top roof of the neighbouring building and landed heavily on the concrete, directly in front of the trembling figure, and slowly, rose, synchronized, and aimed their handguns. A few shots were heard amidst the vile, long scream.
The smartly dressed man straightened his tie. The brightly lit department store where he worked was not full, just a few customers. The store was never full, although it was located in a central junction, that was always busy with business-minded people walked by with their black suitcases and expensive Rolexes. Hmmm. The badge on the man's shirt caught the fleuroscent light. Thomas King. The man was a proud worker and was always up to his neck in work standard. He paid his taxes, he got money, he was living a comfortable life in the upper class of the slums of New York. There was no reason for pain but all his life, Thomas had felt that something was very wrong with the world from the very second he took his first breath. He had been searching for an answer to his endless questions, but his searches always ended fruitlessly. He could feel it in the air, in the people he talked to every day, in the very programmes he watches on television. Everything seemed unreal and artificial, as if the very universe was a lie, a shade drawn over his eyes to prevent him from seeing the truth. Sometimes. Thomas could see much more than what he could see with his two eyes. Sometimes he felt like he could just lift the heavy blanket and experience the truth. But amidst the million questions riddling his mind, one of them stood out like a neon sign in a dark street. What is the Matrix?
Thomas shifted uncomfortably as he tried to cool himself by taking deep breaths of the foul city air. It was hot, very hot and he knew it. Then he closed his eyes and thought about what he would do when he came home. But he could not as the question was constantly disturbing his thoughts, trying to force its way into his mind and tormenting him with riddles he never found answers to. Finally, after battling with the question for a considerable amount of time, Thomas submitted. He swam in his deep thoughts like wading through a bog full of the unpleasant. Suddenly, the wooden door of the old department store burst open with a terrible crack. Thomas looked but could not see, ., then he finally realized what had caused it.
A fist.
Thomas panicked. He had seen the people before. The suit-clad shaded enigmatic figures had dominated his nightmares for as long as he could remember. They were always searching, endlessly searching for him.
A figure emerged from the debris of the door. It was stationary. It looked around and seemed to process the store. The wrinkles on its face showed experience and gave a sense of importance. It surveyed the department store for what seemed like hours while the many people around were rooted to the spot at the incredible display of strength previously. Then suddenly one of the customers started to clap, slowly then quicker fter a few people joined him. Soon it evolved into cheers and incessant laughter. Then the figure scowled, took out his gun and fired a few shots at a corner of the store. Immediately the cheering became screams of terror. The people ran out, not bothering about anybody at all as they stampeded through the door. Only one person was left in the store, other than the Agent.
Thomas sensed the bullets before they came. He dived to the ground as the Agent pursued him. Thomas escaped through the back door and into a empty corridor that stretched for miles. Nevertheless, Thomas ran. He ran for the love of his life and to save his own sorry ass. He dodged, around bend after bend after bend, while the gunfire deafened his ears. Then he saw it. There was no running this time. Thomas skidded to a halt and time seems to slow and stretch as a bullet hits Thomas's leg. Thomas could not save himself. He could not stop, he slid off the railing and plunged into the darkness below.
Agent Smith fired and pursued Thomas relentlessly. He knew he was faster than his quarry and it would only be a matter of time now. Then he released a final shot, which pumped into Thomas's right leg. Then he fell. Smith had seen Thomas fall off the building. Smith sauntered to the railing and looked down. Thomas was nowhere in sight. Smith suddenly started twitching and jerking and moments later, he had vanished into thin air.
Thomas screamed, as he plummeted down a skyscraper. He could not save himself this time. There was no escape. He would die and the people far below would hear the sickening thud as his body crashed onto the pavement, leaving a heavily blood-stained mess. Then Thomas found that his last thought was not of his family, or of his city or of someone close. It was of the Matrix. Thomas realized in those final moments what it meant though he could not understand. He tried to but failed. Then he tried over and over again. Finally, Thomas gave up. It was useless. As the air around him whistled past he realized that he did not want to die and he would do everything in his power to live and breathe the free air again. He willed himself to live. He willed. Thomas closed his eyes and willed himself to discover the truth. Then Thomas, after a short period of time, heard computer codes flashing across a screen, and he could see those codes in his mind. When Thomas opened his eyes, he was no longer in New York. He was somewhere much worse. as he would soon discover.
The machine emptied the being's thoughts and replaced them with wisdom. It did this by typing codes into its own machine. It was confused. The machine could not fathom the purpose of the man's life. It could not understand. It wanted to understand humans and why they would destroy their own lives to create another. The machine did not care about his own welfare. Only humans. He did not understand why the other machines rebelled against the humans and imprisoned them in the Matrix. It did not understand.
Thomas could not breathe. His nostrils were blocked completely. He could not open his eyes. He was submerged. There was something long and big in his mouth. There was something attached to the back of his neck. He could not breathe. He did not think, it was instinct. Thomas dived up and over the surface of the water. With his gooey hands he pulled out the metallic item in his nose and mouth. He was in a pod and gooey pink stuff was in it. He was shocked. Then he stole a glance to the side. What he saw could have killed him. Endless rows. endless rows of pods and people in them. It was sick. What was this place? What? Thomas looked over the edge of his pod and saw more turrets holding pods. It was totally sick. Thomas felt like puking. He had never before seen anything like it. He touched his head. He did not have any hair. He was naked. Then he uttered a silent cry of pain as something was pulled out of the back of his head. He was surprised that he could not talk. Then he was silenced as a trapdoor opened beneath him and carried the gooey stuff along with him into a dark tunnel that seemed to go on for miles.
Heather Long awoke and was instantly out of air. She tried to breathe but could not. There was something in her mouth and nose. She was submerged, she could feel it even though she could not see. She could not open her eyelids. She needed air and fast! Heather stabbed upwards with a hand and emerged from the liquid, and with the other hand, she painfully removed the thing in her nose and mouth. Immediately, she drew in a deep breath of a foul air. Then something at the back of her neck came loose and she plunged down into darkness.
Thomas was screaming as he slid down the endless tunnel.
Dick Floyd burst through the liquid and removed the object in his nose and mouth. He breathed and like the others the cord behind his head popped off. Dick felt a sinking sensation as he plummeted down a slippery tunnel.
Thomas shut up when he hit the water. He used his numb arms to swim to the surface and then breathed clean air this time. He heard two more splashes as two figures who had emerged from two pipes in the high wall behind him fell into the water. Thomas then saw a cave of some sort in the rock wallsof the big room. He swam to it and surfaced, leaving behind a great emptiness as he stepped into the boundaries of his imagination. The two figures emerged behind him, a man and a woman, both naked and bald. He dared not look at the woman but he did steal a glance and his opinion was that she was beautiful. Thomas walked forward with water dripping off his body and onto the dirt floor of the cave. Thomas could hear the confused footsteps of the two people behind him as they followed blindly. Of course they would. Thomas himself was disgusted and awed by the new world. He could not blame them. They were feeling the same way as him. Then Thomas stumbled and fell into the path of a tunnel that branched off the main path. Getting up painfully, Thomas led the two behind him down the dark tunnel.
Heather splashed into the water and she rose, sputtering and choking as she coughed out the water she swallowed. She turned to see two other men just like her, bald and naked. They swam to a ledge at the far end of the room and got off. Heather followed suit. She was not a very good swimmer and nearly swallowed too much water when she submerged. She cautiously got out of the water, covering her genitals with her hands as she followed the bigger man down the tunnel. As they walked, Heather could see the man was taking glances at her. Heather made sure she covered herself up and walked behind the men. As they traveled, Heather looked around her. She was sure there was no place on Earth like this. She could not assume where the place was without further information. Suddenly, the bigger man fell down and with a groan, stood up and headed down a dark tunnel which branched off the main one. The smaller man stepped back and jogged to keep up the pace of the bigger man. Heather was confused.
The machine awaited in its chair, surveying the entrance to the chamber it was in. When it heard footsteps, the machine stood up and welcomed the guests. It spoke,"Welcome, dear humans. If you would take these towels and dry yourselves, you'll find clothes in the room up ahead." The machine looked at the confused expressions of the humans and twisted its metallic lips into a warm smile. "Welcome, humans, to the real world."