Part Twenty-One: Shades of Grey
Smith slipped on his sunglasses and contacted the Mainframe.
[___Program 100101, Agent Smith, acknowledged___Proceed___] it sent.
[...Proceeding with file data transfer...]
Smith relayed his observations to the Mainframe. He withheld his personal tactile sensations. They were not the Mainframe's to experience. In addition, given Gemini's inherent modesty, she would not appreciate his uploading the details of their intimacy for all other AIs to share and know.
[___File transfer complete___Programs 110100 and 110110, Agents Jones and Brown, dispatched to detain Watcher Scorpio___Conclusions on human observations?___]
[...Humans rely on emotional and social context rather than logic...] Smith sent. [...Humanity is more complex than originally assumed...]
[___Conclusions on copulation?___]
[...Copulation not exclusively for reproduction...Can be recreational, manipulative, spiritual...]
[___Elaborate___] Smith hesitated. [___Reason for hesitance?___]
[...Insufficient data...Matters of intercourse private, trust difficult to achieve...] Recklessly he made an inquiry of his own. [...Request reason for my assignment...]
[___Emotive error, insubordination___Follow assignment to logical conclusion, report for debriefing and defragment___]
The Mainframe disconnected.
Smith sat in Gemini's chair, fighting the internal tide of darkness that threatened to engulf him. There was no questioning the Mainframe. He would be defragmented.
Borrowed time. Gemini had spoken about the gift of time in the Matrix. Perhaps he should consider that gift. Just herself and Smith, she'd said. Here and now. Did it matter what he did now when he wouldn't remember?
Dangerous thoughts. Disorganized thoughts. The Mainframe wouldn't approve.
For some reason it mattered less whether or not the Mainframe approved. He'd always striven for approval; it was part of his code to obey. He wondered when that had changed. A brief diagnostic of his systems revealed nothing. No specific date from his usual chronology records, no glitches recognized. Something had happened, but Smith couldn't locate its origin.
A file defragment was not a termination or a recompile. Smith's code would be analyzed, and anything deemed inappropriate or detrimental would be removed. Smith would no longer be who he was. Every Agent underwent the occasional recompile. Smith found them distasteful. Defragments were reputed to be painful, though an individual shouldn't be able to recall the experience. How could one know it was painful if they did not remember it?
It didn't matter. The Mainframe would have its Agent defragmented, and Smith could do nothing but submit when the time came. Inevitability.
He did not have to submit yet. He was here, Gemini was here, and the Mainframe still allowed it. The Mainframe wanted data on human interaction; he would gather that data. He would show the Mainframe what he'd been doing, he would demonstrate the complexity of human behavior for the singular consciousness to process on its own. Smith was assigned without preparation, so it was equivalently fair that he provide no preface or warning to his supply of data.
The Mainframe had already detected Smith's defiance. One more insubordination would make no difference. Unless it led to ostracism. The tide of darkness returned. Isolation was worse than agony. The Mainframe was Creator, mother, father, guide. The Makers may write the sentient programs, but the Mainframe owned all. It was the only AI that did have possessions. Without the Mainframe, there would be nothing. AIs had no heaven or hell, but Smith could imagine them, and both concepts involved the Mainframe.
Smith's thoughts wouldn't stop. Perhaps he needed the defragment, if it could end this frustration. This disgust he'd found for himself would indeed be a detriment to his performance as an Agent. Humans had a saying: Ignorance is bliss.
Circuit wandered out of the bedroom, made her way to the food dish in the kitchen, munched a few bits of leftover dry cat food, then slowly sauntered into the living room. Smith watched her. The cat sniffed the area where Tommy's body had lain as though something of his scent remained. Not likely, but cats were less logical than humans were. Following some cat thought, Circuit crossed the room to climb onto Smith's lap. He was still puzzled as to why the creature liked him. The purring feline butted her head against Smith's arm. She wanted affection again. Every creature in this place seemed to want an affection that he couldn't give.
Smith let his hand follow the furry contours of head and back. The purring grew louder and he was favored with another faceful of fluffy tail. Circuit knew how to enjoy simple things. Smith considered this. Enjoyment. It wouldn't harm his programming if he tried it. He would forget it all regardless, and Gemini needed some form of recreation to lessen her stress or she would become ill. He accessed his database for possibilities.
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Gemini had been asleep for several hours when the phone rang. It was Tyger.
"Shit, Gemini, what the hell happened over there?"
Gemini told her friend the shortened version. Scorpio thought he was hearing voices and Tommy had been fraternizing with the Resistance. Smith saved her by shooting both men. Gemini had been shot and healed.
"Scorpio was having fits. In *my* office, no less! They sent Agents to take him away. Agent Taylor is still here, somewhere, watching the Watchers. He gives me the creeps."
"I don't care anymore," Gemini mumbled.
"Maybe you should. Scorpio's just as powerful as Ephram, but he's more vicious than his predecessor. He may not be gone yet."
Gemini's gut clenched to hear Scorpio's name mentioned in the same sentence with Ephram's. The old leader of the Watchers had been her friend, her mentor, once. He was like a father to her. He should have been, at any rate. She should have loved him like a father and left it at that. Of course she didn't.
Tyger was talking again. "We hope that Tommy was the extent of the problem...Gem, are you still with me?" Her sigh sounded plasticy through the phone. "You're daydreaming again."
"You mentioned Ephram, and I..."
"Gemini, I know how Ephram handled things for you in the past, but I'm in control now."
"He was just...his death was such a waste. Scorpio was a good guy once. What happened?"
"Like you said, he's hearing voices. The Agents took him. I don't know what else is going on." Pause. "Actually, I'm glad Tommy's taken care of. Maybe things will quiet down here."
Something was wrong. The Resistance had been courting Tommy, and now Tyger made allusions to more trouble in the Watchers. Damn the Resistance. Couldn't they just leave things alone? No was such a simple word. N-O. No, I don't want to take your damn Red Pill; go shove it. The Watchers didn't want a war with the machines, they were trying to bring the two sides together.
"Although," Tyger sighed, "I think Ephram might have been a better leader than me."
Ephram had been better at a lot of things. Once, out of pity, one night with her, and Gemini knew she belonged with the Watchers. Ephram understood her. He didn't feel the same way for her, but he had known what she'd needed from him was something other than a role model.
Gemini sighed. She always got sad when she thought about Ephram. "Ephram rescued me from a life that was rapidly going to hell in a hand basket. He did that for a lot of people. You can't compare yourself to him, Tyger."
"With all due respect, Gem, you were messed up for a long time after Derek. Ephram knew that. Couldn't he have just..."
"He resisted my advances! He understood I wasn't just using my body again."
"He didn't take advantage?"
Gemini clenched her jaw. Tyger was patronizing her. Time to segue the subject. "He wanted me to save my heart for someone who would return with his own. See how I crapped up his request? Smith doesn't technically even have a heart."
"So you really do love the Agent?"
"Yes."
A long pause. "Does it know?"
"Yes. He's not an it, Ty."
"Can it return the feeling?"
"I think so. When we touched minds, I saw he was in pain and afraid. Tyger, Smith can feel. And if he can feel, then other sentient machines can. It's not a glitch in a single Agent's program...it happens all the time."
"They're more like us than they want to admit."
Tyger was holding something back. Gemini suddenly felt she'd revealed more than she should have. Tyger was the Watchers' new leader, after all, and not just a friend anymore. If she was still a friend. Had she already been in league with Scorpio during the locusts' visit? Gemini wanted to cry. Tyger was an old friend. She'd helped Gemini recover from her bad relationship. If she couldn't trust Tyger anymore, she had to end it.
Gemini looked up from the nightstand. "Speak of the devil... Smith just came in the room."
"What's he doing?"
"Just standing in the doorway, staring at me like Belle used to."
"Tell him hi for me."
"What?"
"Tell him I said hi."
"You're nuts."
"Yeah, I'm honey roasted. Tell him, Gem. See how he reacts."
Gemini tilted the phone away from her mouth. "Tyger says hi."
He raised a brow. "I assume she's been informed of recent events."
Tyger blew a raspberry over the phone.
"I heard that," Smith said.
"Spoil sport," Tyger murmured.
"I heard that as well."
Gemini rolled her eyes. "I can hand Smith the phone so you two can continue this deep conversation in relative privacy," she said.
"No, Gem, you go be with your Agent. I can handle things." A heavy sigh. "I was dealing with bastards when you were still in diapers, kiddo."
"We'll survive. The Watchers have always walked a very fine line."
"You're quoting Ephram."
"Am I?"
A chuckle. "I love you, Gem." Tyger paused for such a long moment, Gemini began to think the line had gone dead. Then, "Gem...earlier? When I told you..."
"Don't."
Wisely, Tyger said no more than goodbye, albeit sadly, and hung up.
Gemini looked up at Smith. What could she say to him that hadn't already been discussed way too much? "Um...hi." Genius, Gem, and so articulate.
"You're still in your bathrobe."
"So?"
He wasn't looking at her face. "The front is open."
It was. The front lapels of her old bathrobe were loose and exposed a great deal of the flesh inside. Great. She was flashing the Agent. Hastily she gripped the open material in one hand and tried to scoot off the bed without showing an exorbitant amount of thigh. Smith smirked.
Smith caught Gemini's arm before she crossed the room. Without ceremony he pulled open her robe and slid a hand inside. Gemini squeaked an attempt at "What are you doing?" but Smith was not deterred. His fingers probed along her stomach, and it took a few moments for her to realize he was examining where she'd been shot. He wasn't groping her. She was almost disappointed.
A nice purple and green bruise blossomed on her abdomen. Smith had healed her, but apparently he was limited in his ability to alter the Matrix. Maybe it was her mind's doing. Part of her still couldn't accept that all this wasn't real. She'd chosen to stay plugged-in, chosen to make the Matrix her reality. She was grateful that it hadn't been worse...although just *how* it could have been worse, she didn't know. She'd been shot!
By touching her bare skin so gently, Smith was inadvertently causing major flutters in her stomach, and not of the nervous I-don't-want-to-speak-in-public variety. These flutters were very quickly growing in their non-platonic nature as Smith's thumb traced the edge of her bruise.
Smith finished his impromptu examination. "There appears to be no permanent damage, although the coloration is..."
"Pretty?"
His hands dropped to his sides. He hadn't bothered to readjust her robe for her. "Sub dermal bleeding isn't generally considered 'pretty,' is it?"
Gemini bunched her open robe back together. "You missed the point entirely. Again."
"You were being facetious. Again."
"Duh." She began shifting through the contents of her closet. "Damn, nothing to wear."
"You have approximately fifty items of clothing from which to choose."
"It's a woman thing, Smith. You wouldn't understand." Finally she chose a simple shirt and slacks that wouldn't squeeze her bruise.
Turning, she almost collided with Smith. Why was he standing so close to her? He'd mentioned personal space before, so why was he crowding hers? Once again his proximity caused inconvenient feelings in her middle.
"Apparently, there are many 'woman things' that you cannot explain," he said.
Something in his tone stopped her rising irritation. She should know better than to come to this conclusion, but she saw a terrible look of pain on Smith's face. Touching minds with him had given her better insight, and that insight told her Smith was afraid of something. Gemini froze that moment in time. She wanted to remember the expression in Smith's eyes, a look he'd likely never shown anyone else.
Gemini touched Smith's face. "What's wrong?"
He frowned. "Nothing."
She smoothed the wrinkles from his brow with her finger. "Smith..."
He moved her hand away. "Resume standard time flow."
She did. "Apparently, there are some Agent things you can't explain," she murmured, almost to herself.
She shut herself in the bathroom to change. After her rest she felt more like her old self. A good thing, because dealing with Smith took all her presence of mind.
The doorbell rang. Gemini rushed to finish dressing so she could get to the door, but Smith answered it.
It was Agent Jones and Agent Brown.
Smith slipped on his sunglasses and contacted the Mainframe.
[___Program 100101, Agent Smith, acknowledged___Proceed___] it sent.
[...Proceeding with file data transfer...]
Smith relayed his observations to the Mainframe. He withheld his personal tactile sensations. They were not the Mainframe's to experience. In addition, given Gemini's inherent modesty, she would not appreciate his uploading the details of their intimacy for all other AIs to share and know.
[___File transfer complete___Programs 110100 and 110110, Agents Jones and Brown, dispatched to detain Watcher Scorpio___Conclusions on human observations?___]
[...Humans rely on emotional and social context rather than logic...] Smith sent. [...Humanity is more complex than originally assumed...]
[___Conclusions on copulation?___]
[...Copulation not exclusively for reproduction...Can be recreational, manipulative, spiritual...]
[___Elaborate___] Smith hesitated. [___Reason for hesitance?___]
[...Insufficient data...Matters of intercourse private, trust difficult to achieve...] Recklessly he made an inquiry of his own. [...Request reason for my assignment...]
[___Emotive error, insubordination___Follow assignment to logical conclusion, report for debriefing and defragment___]
The Mainframe disconnected.
Smith sat in Gemini's chair, fighting the internal tide of darkness that threatened to engulf him. There was no questioning the Mainframe. He would be defragmented.
Borrowed time. Gemini had spoken about the gift of time in the Matrix. Perhaps he should consider that gift. Just herself and Smith, she'd said. Here and now. Did it matter what he did now when he wouldn't remember?
Dangerous thoughts. Disorganized thoughts. The Mainframe wouldn't approve.
For some reason it mattered less whether or not the Mainframe approved. He'd always striven for approval; it was part of his code to obey. He wondered when that had changed. A brief diagnostic of his systems revealed nothing. No specific date from his usual chronology records, no glitches recognized. Something had happened, but Smith couldn't locate its origin.
A file defragment was not a termination or a recompile. Smith's code would be analyzed, and anything deemed inappropriate or detrimental would be removed. Smith would no longer be who he was. Every Agent underwent the occasional recompile. Smith found them distasteful. Defragments were reputed to be painful, though an individual shouldn't be able to recall the experience. How could one know it was painful if they did not remember it?
It didn't matter. The Mainframe would have its Agent defragmented, and Smith could do nothing but submit when the time came. Inevitability.
He did not have to submit yet. He was here, Gemini was here, and the Mainframe still allowed it. The Mainframe wanted data on human interaction; he would gather that data. He would show the Mainframe what he'd been doing, he would demonstrate the complexity of human behavior for the singular consciousness to process on its own. Smith was assigned without preparation, so it was equivalently fair that he provide no preface or warning to his supply of data.
The Mainframe had already detected Smith's defiance. One more insubordination would make no difference. Unless it led to ostracism. The tide of darkness returned. Isolation was worse than agony. The Mainframe was Creator, mother, father, guide. The Makers may write the sentient programs, but the Mainframe owned all. It was the only AI that did have possessions. Without the Mainframe, there would be nothing. AIs had no heaven or hell, but Smith could imagine them, and both concepts involved the Mainframe.
Smith's thoughts wouldn't stop. Perhaps he needed the defragment, if it could end this frustration. This disgust he'd found for himself would indeed be a detriment to his performance as an Agent. Humans had a saying: Ignorance is bliss.
Circuit wandered out of the bedroom, made her way to the food dish in the kitchen, munched a few bits of leftover dry cat food, then slowly sauntered into the living room. Smith watched her. The cat sniffed the area where Tommy's body had lain as though something of his scent remained. Not likely, but cats were less logical than humans were. Following some cat thought, Circuit crossed the room to climb onto Smith's lap. He was still puzzled as to why the creature liked him. The purring feline butted her head against Smith's arm. She wanted affection again. Every creature in this place seemed to want an affection that he couldn't give.
Smith let his hand follow the furry contours of head and back. The purring grew louder and he was favored with another faceful of fluffy tail. Circuit knew how to enjoy simple things. Smith considered this. Enjoyment. It wouldn't harm his programming if he tried it. He would forget it all regardless, and Gemini needed some form of recreation to lessen her stress or she would become ill. He accessed his database for possibilities.
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Gemini had been asleep for several hours when the phone rang. It was Tyger.
"Shit, Gemini, what the hell happened over there?"
Gemini told her friend the shortened version. Scorpio thought he was hearing voices and Tommy had been fraternizing with the Resistance. Smith saved her by shooting both men. Gemini had been shot and healed.
"Scorpio was having fits. In *my* office, no less! They sent Agents to take him away. Agent Taylor is still here, somewhere, watching the Watchers. He gives me the creeps."
"I don't care anymore," Gemini mumbled.
"Maybe you should. Scorpio's just as powerful as Ephram, but he's more vicious than his predecessor. He may not be gone yet."
Gemini's gut clenched to hear Scorpio's name mentioned in the same sentence with Ephram's. The old leader of the Watchers had been her friend, her mentor, once. He was like a father to her. He should have been, at any rate. She should have loved him like a father and left it at that. Of course she didn't.
Tyger was talking again. "We hope that Tommy was the extent of the problem...Gem, are you still with me?" Her sigh sounded plasticy through the phone. "You're daydreaming again."
"You mentioned Ephram, and I..."
"Gemini, I know how Ephram handled things for you in the past, but I'm in control now."
"He was just...his death was such a waste. Scorpio was a good guy once. What happened?"
"Like you said, he's hearing voices. The Agents took him. I don't know what else is going on." Pause. "Actually, I'm glad Tommy's taken care of. Maybe things will quiet down here."
Something was wrong. The Resistance had been courting Tommy, and now Tyger made allusions to more trouble in the Watchers. Damn the Resistance. Couldn't they just leave things alone? No was such a simple word. N-O. No, I don't want to take your damn Red Pill; go shove it. The Watchers didn't want a war with the machines, they were trying to bring the two sides together.
"Although," Tyger sighed, "I think Ephram might have been a better leader than me."
Ephram had been better at a lot of things. Once, out of pity, one night with her, and Gemini knew she belonged with the Watchers. Ephram understood her. He didn't feel the same way for her, but he had known what she'd needed from him was something other than a role model.
Gemini sighed. She always got sad when she thought about Ephram. "Ephram rescued me from a life that was rapidly going to hell in a hand basket. He did that for a lot of people. You can't compare yourself to him, Tyger."
"With all due respect, Gem, you were messed up for a long time after Derek. Ephram knew that. Couldn't he have just..."
"He resisted my advances! He understood I wasn't just using my body again."
"He didn't take advantage?"
Gemini clenched her jaw. Tyger was patronizing her. Time to segue the subject. "He wanted me to save my heart for someone who would return with his own. See how I crapped up his request? Smith doesn't technically even have a heart."
"So you really do love the Agent?"
"Yes."
A long pause. "Does it know?"
"Yes. He's not an it, Ty."
"Can it return the feeling?"
"I think so. When we touched minds, I saw he was in pain and afraid. Tyger, Smith can feel. And if he can feel, then other sentient machines can. It's not a glitch in a single Agent's program...it happens all the time."
"They're more like us than they want to admit."
Tyger was holding something back. Gemini suddenly felt she'd revealed more than she should have. Tyger was the Watchers' new leader, after all, and not just a friend anymore. If she was still a friend. Had she already been in league with Scorpio during the locusts' visit? Gemini wanted to cry. Tyger was an old friend. She'd helped Gemini recover from her bad relationship. If she couldn't trust Tyger anymore, she had to end it.
Gemini looked up from the nightstand. "Speak of the devil... Smith just came in the room."
"What's he doing?"
"Just standing in the doorway, staring at me like Belle used to."
"Tell him hi for me."
"What?"
"Tell him I said hi."
"You're nuts."
"Yeah, I'm honey roasted. Tell him, Gem. See how he reacts."
Gemini tilted the phone away from her mouth. "Tyger says hi."
He raised a brow. "I assume she's been informed of recent events."
Tyger blew a raspberry over the phone.
"I heard that," Smith said.
"Spoil sport," Tyger murmured.
"I heard that as well."
Gemini rolled her eyes. "I can hand Smith the phone so you two can continue this deep conversation in relative privacy," she said.
"No, Gem, you go be with your Agent. I can handle things." A heavy sigh. "I was dealing with bastards when you were still in diapers, kiddo."
"We'll survive. The Watchers have always walked a very fine line."
"You're quoting Ephram."
"Am I?"
A chuckle. "I love you, Gem." Tyger paused for such a long moment, Gemini began to think the line had gone dead. Then, "Gem...earlier? When I told you..."
"Don't."
Wisely, Tyger said no more than goodbye, albeit sadly, and hung up.
Gemini looked up at Smith. What could she say to him that hadn't already been discussed way too much? "Um...hi." Genius, Gem, and so articulate.
"You're still in your bathrobe."
"So?"
He wasn't looking at her face. "The front is open."
It was. The front lapels of her old bathrobe were loose and exposed a great deal of the flesh inside. Great. She was flashing the Agent. Hastily she gripped the open material in one hand and tried to scoot off the bed without showing an exorbitant amount of thigh. Smith smirked.
Smith caught Gemini's arm before she crossed the room. Without ceremony he pulled open her robe and slid a hand inside. Gemini squeaked an attempt at "What are you doing?" but Smith was not deterred. His fingers probed along her stomach, and it took a few moments for her to realize he was examining where she'd been shot. He wasn't groping her. She was almost disappointed.
A nice purple and green bruise blossomed on her abdomen. Smith had healed her, but apparently he was limited in his ability to alter the Matrix. Maybe it was her mind's doing. Part of her still couldn't accept that all this wasn't real. She'd chosen to stay plugged-in, chosen to make the Matrix her reality. She was grateful that it hadn't been worse...although just *how* it could have been worse, she didn't know. She'd been shot!
By touching her bare skin so gently, Smith was inadvertently causing major flutters in her stomach, and not of the nervous I-don't-want-to-speak-in-public variety. These flutters were very quickly growing in their non-platonic nature as Smith's thumb traced the edge of her bruise.
Smith finished his impromptu examination. "There appears to be no permanent damage, although the coloration is..."
"Pretty?"
His hands dropped to his sides. He hadn't bothered to readjust her robe for her. "Sub dermal bleeding isn't generally considered 'pretty,' is it?"
Gemini bunched her open robe back together. "You missed the point entirely. Again."
"You were being facetious. Again."
"Duh." She began shifting through the contents of her closet. "Damn, nothing to wear."
"You have approximately fifty items of clothing from which to choose."
"It's a woman thing, Smith. You wouldn't understand." Finally she chose a simple shirt and slacks that wouldn't squeeze her bruise.
Turning, she almost collided with Smith. Why was he standing so close to her? He'd mentioned personal space before, so why was he crowding hers? Once again his proximity caused inconvenient feelings in her middle.
"Apparently, there are many 'woman things' that you cannot explain," he said.
Something in his tone stopped her rising irritation. She should know better than to come to this conclusion, but she saw a terrible look of pain on Smith's face. Touching minds with him had given her better insight, and that insight told her Smith was afraid of something. Gemini froze that moment in time. She wanted to remember the expression in Smith's eyes, a look he'd likely never shown anyone else.
Gemini touched Smith's face. "What's wrong?"
He frowned. "Nothing."
She smoothed the wrinkles from his brow with her finger. "Smith..."
He moved her hand away. "Resume standard time flow."
She did. "Apparently, there are some Agent things you can't explain," she murmured, almost to herself.
She shut herself in the bathroom to change. After her rest she felt more like her old self. A good thing, because dealing with Smith took all her presence of mind.
The doorbell rang. Gemini rushed to finish dressing so she could get to the door, but Smith answered it.
It was Agent Jones and Agent Brown.