The Song of Charity
Awakening
"She's taking it worse than I thought she would." Trinity said, worry creasing her brow.
"None of us reacted very well, Trinity. She's quite strong, she'll pull through." Neo remarked.
"True. But we didn't have as much to loose." Sighing, Trinity sat at the computer, rubbing her eyes. "Her family, friends. All gone to her. She wasn't a loner, Neo. She had a life, and now everything is gone."
Neo walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "She'll have us, to help her through this. Just give her time."
"I hope your right."
"Where's Morpheus?" Neo asked, suddenly noticing his absence.
"He's sitting with her."
"Ahh, I see. I'm going to talk to Farmer, let me know when Morpheus leaves, ok?"
Nodding her head, Trinity watched Neo leave. God, I hope your right, Neo, she thought. Because as strong as she is, she can still break. We all can.
* * * *
Charity awoke with a start, realizing that she was back in her room. Instantly knowing she wasn't alone, she rolled over, to see Morpheus sitting beside her bed, gazing down at her with concern.
Seeing he was about to speak, she held up her hand. "Don't."
Sitting up, she wrapped her arms around her legs, and rested her head on her knees. She felt hollow. As if someone opened her up, and carved out all her emotions.
"Why me, Morpheus? What can I possibly offer you?"
Morpheus took his time answering, searching for the correct words.
"All my life, I was looking for the one. The one who could destroy the Matrix. With the help of others like myself, and the guidance of the Oracle, we found him...Neo. But once Neo realized who he was, he had a revelation for us. That in order to destroy the Matrix, he needed the Key to get into it. That to open the doors of the Matrix, he needed to pick the right lock, so to speak. And so we began another search, this time with Neo's guidance. He knew where to look though. Once we discovered your computer system, and the language of your system, we knew we had found it. You have the Key, Charity, to unlock those doors."
"The Key?" she sighed. How was she going to help them? She didn't possess this key he kept talking about. Then she remembered something. "What about my family? What's to become of them?"
"I don't know. We will watch them, to see if they will be able to leave the Matrix. Some can't. Some are so dependent on the Matrix, that their minds refuse to let go. In the end, we ultimately loose them."
"My sister knows, Morpheus. Well, knows about what I did, that is." She was about to say more, but stopped herself. Not now, she thought. Maybe later, when things make more sense.
Seeing her hesitation, Morpheus decided to let that go. "Let me ask you something. Do you want to go back? Knowing what you do, now."
Jerking her head upwards, Charity stared at Morpheus wearily. "No. Because If I were to go back, I don't think I could make myself leave again."
* * * *
Charity didn't leave her room that night. After Morpheus left, she just sat there, thinking.
How was she to give them the Key, when she didn't know what the hell that was? Sure, she knew a thing or two about computers. But what help could that be, in this place? Her knowledge of computers was based on the Matrix. And what it gave her to know. So in that regard, what did she really know, then?
She was reminded of her nightmares-turned-reality. She knew that, didn't she? What else was in her mind, that had yet to show itself?
As she was pondering that disturbing thought, Tank entered. Charity noted that he was smiling, and his arms were bare. No plugs. Deciding not to ask, Charity took in his other features.
Nice tan face, good hair. Nice arms and shoulders. Great legs. Hmmm, not a bad looking man. Then she laughed at herself. She must be feeling better, if she's noticing something like good shoulders and legs.
"Tank, right?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am." Seeing her blanch at such an old lady greeting, he laughed. "Sorry." Smothering his smile, he shook her hand. "Are you ready?"
"Ready? For what?" she asked, wary. Now what? she thought.
"For your training. Run you through the standard programs. To help you learn how to take care of yourself in and out of the Matrix."
As he signaled her to follow him, Charity sighed. "Oh goodie."
She followed him through the maze of the ship, intil they reached the main deck. There, Tank carefully hooked her up to the console, and sat at the computers, looking happy as a lark.
"What are we doing now?" Charity asked, curious as he pulled out a pile of small disks.
"I'll be your operator. What we're going to do now is find out what you know, and what you don't know. Usually, Morpheus likes me to stick to the rules, and give you small stuff, then build. But I know what you can do. I've seen it. So, screw that." Tank replied, as he tossed disks and chose the ones he wanted to start with. Popping in one, he looked at her, and grinned.
Charity watched the screen in front of her, and the program he was about to upload. "Tai-Kwan Do? Karate? Drunken Boxing?" she read aloud, surprise clear in her voice.
"I already know how to fight." she murmured.
"Not to your full potential." Tank replied. "Here I can teach you anything."
At a push of a button, Charity felt her brain expand. Information sizzled into her brain, leaving her breathless.
"Oh my." she whispered.
"Ahh, like it, eh?" he teased.
"Quite."
"Good. Because we've got a lot more where that came from."
For the first time, Charity smiled, leaving Tank dazzled. Finally, he thought, we're getting somewhere. He complied, and gave her more.
* * * *
Hours later, Neo showed up, with Trinity and Morpheus in tow, all there for one reason. Charity.
"How is she?" Neo asked, while his curious eyes scanned the various screens monitoring her.
"She's worse than you." Tank snorted. "She's sucked up everything I've given her. But it was the computer writing programs that have gotten her attention." he mentioned.
They watched the image console in silence, following Charity's progress in the current training exercise. Once the program ended, Tank woke her.
Charity opened her eyes slowly, her brain unusually fuzzy.
Seeing her awake, Morpheus sat next to her. "How do you feel?"
"Full." she smiled. "Don't mind if I skip desert, do you?"
Trinity laughed. "How about we test out some of your new abilities?"
Charity saw that Tank was hooking her up to the console. "Sure, why not."
Suddenly, Charity was zapped into a program. Trinity was facing her, dressed much like she was, in a tank/short combo. With her hair pulled back, Charity could only assume they were going to fight.
"As you may have guessed, this is our sparing program." Trinity said as way of introduction.
"Where we get to kick each other's ass?" Charity asked.
Chuckling, Trinity walked towards her. "In a way, yes. Before we start, I just want to point a few things. Like the Matrix, this program runs on the same basic rules. Its up to you to figure out which ones can be bent, and which ones can be broken."
Sighing, Charity looked around her. "I guess it wouldn't matter if I told you, I didn't want to fight."
"Not at all."
"Figures."
Trinity stretched, and maneuvered herself into position. Following suit, Charity did the same. Suddenly, Trinity was on her, throwing punches so quick, that Charity barely had time to protect herself.
Thinking quickly, Charity flipped back, knocking Trinity on the chin in the process, and landed a few feet away.
"Not bad. For a beginner." Trinity tossed out, as she rubbed her chin.
Smiling crookedly, Charity didn't take the bait, and waited. So once again, it was up to Trinity to make the first move. And did so, with a vengeance.
Charity was flipped, thrown, and hit one too many times for her peace of mind. So the only thing left to do, was give some back.
Trinity tossed her backward, ran up the side of a beam, and was ready for another jab at Charity, when she was stopped by both of Charity's fists. She planted them square in the middle of Trinity's chest, throwing her into the opposite wall.
As they ran towards each other, Charity dipped, and side kicked Trinity's legs, knocking her on her ass. Doing a flip, and landing back on her feet, Trinity was about to go on the offensive again, when she saw Charity's face.
It was pearl white, and covered in sweat. Charity was also bent over, grabbing her head. Coming closer, Trinity touched her shoulder softly. "Charity?"
* * * *
"What's wrong with her?" Morpheus demanded.
"I don't know, but her scans are off the charts. Its almost as if she's going under arrest." Tank snapped.
"Get her out, now!" Morpheus commanded.
Inside, Charity felt like her skull was about to burst. Looking up at Trinity in a glaze of pain, she couldn't speak. All she could do was hold her head, and pray that her brains weren't going to start leaking from her ears.
Zapped back, Charity didn't want to open her eyes. The pain was unbearable as it was, but to have light reach her would surely kill her. Moaning, she didn't even notice when Morpheus picked her up, and carried to their infirmary.
* * * *
She didn't know how long she was out. It could've been days since that horrible episode with Trinity. The one thing she did know, was the reason she was there.
Oh God, she thought. I know what it is. Feeling the pressure in her head, she also knew that it needed out, before it killed her. Pushing herself out of the bed, she made her legs get to her the door. God, she hated feeling this damn weak. Ever since she was brought to this damn place, that's all she's felt.
Weak.
Get over it, Charity, she berated herself. Just get to a computer.
Moving down the dimly light corridor, Charity saw that no one was around. Except for Tank, sitting at the computers, as usual. Silently, she moved to his side, causing him to jump when she spoke.
"I need a computer, Tank."
"A computer? Why do you need a computer? And what are you doing out of bed?" he demanded.
"Please, no questions now. I just need to use your computer." Seeing that she was still in obvious pain, he moved aside.
"But I'm staying here with you, got that?" he grouched.
"Ok, since I will probably need you for a few things. One is, don't let anyone disrupt me. Got that? No one." Rubbing her head, Charity moaned softly. "Can you please get me a blanket? I'm freezing."
Tank nodded and went in search of one. By the time he returned, she was already immersed in what she was doing. One screen, he noticed, was the Matrix code. The other was similar, but a deep red, with characters in it that he'd never seen before. Curious, Tank kept at her side, though she never once looked away from what she was doing.
* * * *
Morpheus stood in the shadows, watching Charity as she sat in front of the computers, fingers flying over the keyboard. She looked to be in an almost trance like state.
Tank had long ago gone to bed, and Morpheus has been near her ever since. As each hour passed, he grew more concerned. He could see the sweat covering her face, and the shadows under eyes. Her shoulders hunched, and tiny shivers would cause her to shake, and yet, she kept on typing, like nothing was bothering her.
So absorbed in her, he didn't hear Neo slide up next to him, intil he spoke
"How long as it been now?" he asked softly.
"Almost 15 hours." Morpheus said, his voice tense, and his eyes never leaving Charity.
Something in Morpheus' voice caused Neo to speculate. Slipping his gaze to Charity, then back to Morpheus, Neo caught the drift. It seemed that Charity was more than a means to an end. How much more, he didn't know. But he knew he'd keep his eyes open to any new developments.
They stood there and watched for what seemed to be another hour to Neo, when Charity finally moved beyond her fingers.
Groaning, she hit a few keys, then it seemed as if she folded in on herself.
They were by her side within an instant.
She was staring at the monitor with an almost peaceful smile on her lips. "It doesn't hurt anymore." she whispered. "Its done."
Morpheus tried to help her up, but she just waved him away.
"I'm ok." Looking around, she noticed Tank was gone. "Well, since Tank isn't here, I need you to make a few copies of this. I would, but I'm too tired to move my fingers right now."
"What is this, Charity?" Neo asked, hoping this was what he thought it was.
"This, Neo, is your Key." she whispered.
"What does it do?" he asked, as hope bloomed in his chest. Both Morpheus and Neo held their breaths, waiting.
Rubbing her eyes, Charity stood. "Get the others together. I think everyone should know."
* * * *
They had all gathered around Charity, as she sat at the computer. On screen was what looked to be a Matrix code, only the characters were slightly different, and in red.
"As you all probably know by now, I'm a tad different, though I didn't know this intil now." she started, giving Morpheus a quick glare. "But it seems, that I am a half-breed. I was created, or experimented on, by some crazy machine. I don't know why, or when I was created. The purpose eludes me, and I will most likely never know. Who created me, or how I became to be in the Matrix I don't know. All I do know is that whoever did create me, decided to put this --" at this, she pointed towards the screen "-- in my head.
"What is it?" Trinity asked, her eyes glued to the screen.
"It's a computer virus." Charity answered.
"A computer virus?"
"Yes, but not your run-of-the-mill virus. This is way too complex to be simply titled as one. This has the capability to destroy the whole Matrix, within a...window of 3 hours. Once it's uploaded, there is absolutely nothing the machines can do to stop it." Charity finished, leaving her audience stunned.
It just seemed too good to be true. And Trinity said so, with skepticism.
"Yes, it does. But it's not. There are a...few problems."
"Such as?" Morpheus asked quietly.
"Well, for one, once uploaded, all the humans still trapped in the Matrix will...die. Right along with it."
Here she took a deep breath. The last 24 hours were finally catching up with her, causing her to almost fall asleep right there.
"And secondly, you can't upload the virus from an outside source. Your equipment here wouldn't be able to handle it, and if you took it to Zion, it would upload so slowly, it would take all the computers energy to do it. It will most likely trigger their systems, and they'd find Zion. That can't be allowed to happen."
"So what in the hell do we do?" asked Sid, her dark eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Well...we have to...enter the Matrix, and upload it manually."
"How?" Neo asked softly, staring.
"Well...by uploading it into...an Agent. They are all interconnected. From the lowest Agent, to the highest among the machines. It's like a spider web. Once it's uploaded into an Agent, it will multiply, and spread throughout those veins of communications."
Once said, the group began talking at once, some yelling, some to themselves.
"Can you do this, Charity?" Farmer asked, in shock and hope.
Sadly, Charity shook her head. "No, I can't. If I tried, I'd die. And I can't guarantee that I could get it uploaded before that happens. If anyone tries, they too will die. Only one person can...Neo."
That left then stunned, and in awe. The long ago prophecy seemed to be coming true. Charity looked at Neo finally.
"Here is your Key, Neo. You can now unlock the doors and destroy the Matrix." Standing, she looked at the faces around her. Bracing herself with the table, she closed her eyes.
"Ok, I think its time I passed out now."
