The Hidden Code
Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me. The story and ideas do but the rest belong to the Wachowski brothers (maybe that isn't how you spell it, but so what?)
I put this up a while ago, but I figured it probably isn't getting many hits any more so I've decided to renew it. It only has one chapter and it isn't very long, but tell me what you think anyway.
"Come on, Trin!" I called. "If we don't go now, we won't have time to go at all!"
Trinity hastily appeared out of the bedroom we shared together and practically flung herself into her Matrix chair. Within thirty seconds we were both inside the Matrix.
Trin and I were going to the Den, a hidden place in the park where we, erm, to put it politely, `did stuff'. But we always went in separately. We didn't want the agents to know we were together, you know, as an ITEM. Our love for each other made us stronger, and we wanted them to think we were weak.
Trin went in first. She disappeared into the bushes while I kept a close eye out for agents. I hoped to God there wouldn't be any. Erasing agents from the Matrix is my least favourite bit of my job. I like altering things to suit me, yes. But erasing agents, no.
After a few minutes, I moved to follow Trin into our little spot. (Although it was just grass, we had taken some rugs in and now it was really cosy.) But something caught my eye.
There was a single digit of code glowing brighter than the rest over in THAT direction (I gestured with my hands as if I was showing someone). Distance didn't make a lot of difference when you were looking at code. You saw things in perspective, sure, but you couldn't tell how far away things were.
Although every muscle in my RSI body screamed at me to follow Trin, I moved towards that digit. It was, after all, my duty to make the Matrix safe for us, and that meant investigating strange code.
When I got close enough to this digit - it was a zero - I reached out and touched it.
I remember my finger actually going through the centre of the zero, and not stopping. It went through faster and suddenly my whole hand was in that thing! I tried to pull it out but the force on that thing was amazing. It pulled my body right through this tiny hole in the middle of a number!
And in that moment, when I was being pulled through, I had a flash of understanding. I suddenly knew what this was.
Earlier that month, Morpheus and I had been discussing what we call coderas. A codera is a small group or even a single digit of Matrix code that leads to a whole other section of the Matrix. Basically, it's the other side of the wall of code you see when you look at it. It's got a huge force, and while you're going through any electrical system you happen to have shrivels up into something the size of a pinhead, but very heavy. For this reason, agents can't go through coderas.
When I came out at the other end of the codera, I looked around. And gasped in horror.
I wasn't in the Matrix any more! I was in a cavern, and around me were wires, pipes, and . . . pods. Pods containing humans. Like what I had been in.
I wasn't even seeing it in code.
As I stood looking around the cavern in horror and growing fear, a movement way above me caught my eye. I quickly jerked my head up, and saw a machine `swimming' down. It was a typical real world squid like I had seen so many times. The words `search and destroy' came into my head . . .
I knew I had to hide. Quickly, I ducked under one of the pods and lay still. I could feel the heartbeat of the person in the pod above me.
And then it hit me. That I was feeling the heartbeat of a person who didn't even know they existed here in the real world. Tears filled my eyes as I sympathised mentally with that person. Then I shook myself. Come on, Neo, get your ass together.
I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone. Then I cursed myself for forgetting. I didn't have a phone any more. At least, not one which I could see or that worked.
If only I was still in the Matrix. In there I could create phones out of thin air. I could even make a hard line for myself. I couldn't do that here.
Suddenly I wanted Trinity. God, I missed her. I just hoped she was okay. And I hoped the people on the Neb still had me. You could lose people when they went through coderas, because they were relocated to a totally different part, even layer, of the Matrix.
I think that's when I realised it. If I wasn't in the Matrix any more, I would have been transported in the real world from my chair in the Neb to where I was crouching under this pod. Because I couldn't exist twice in the real world.
But that was impossible. At least it was in the real world.
So if I couldn't exist twice in the real world, and I could not have been translocated in the real world, logic would follow that I was still in the Matrix, right?
Yes.
It seems silly now, but at the time it seemed the most logical thing to do. I wanted to go check if I was right. And the only way to do that? To go and see myself lying in my chair. On the Neb.
I jumped into the air and tried to hover. The first couple of times I tried it, I couldn't do it. I wasn't seeing in code, so my ways of doing things were a little different. I had to think of it philosophically, rather than being able to see it in front of me.
The squid was coming closer, and it had seen me. I knew I had to hurry. I knew I needed to get the hang of this strange Matrix, or the squid would get to me before he could fly out. (No, I couldn't erase its code - I couldn't see it, remember?)
Suddenly I had it. My eyes shifted subtly, and then there it was: the code. I blinked a few times to make sure it wouldn't go away, and then quickly erased the squid. Then I flew up to the top of the cavern.
Morpheus had shown me these caverns a couple of months ago - he had a training program designed to teach more advanced crew members about the real world. I knew that this cavern was below the sewer systems, so I obviously flew up.
When I reached the top, I looked around. There were a few passages leading into the darkness, but one looked like - and smelt of - sewers. Naturally, I took this one.
I can't tell you how long I flew around the sewers. I saw the occasional ship. They didn't see me, of course. I was, well, a hologram, I suppose. They thought they were in the real world already, so they didn't see me.
Finally I found the Neb. It was still, and all the lights were off. This could only mean one thing: the EMP.
But I was still in that chair! They couldn't use the EMP unless I was out. This place was obviously an exact copy of the real world, and anything that happened back there, happened in this layer of the Matrix. And as far as I knew, I wasn't out. So why were they using the EMP?
I flew in through the walls. sigh Yes, I can do that. I can change code. I can fly, I can delete things. Why wouldn't I be able to fly through walls? Use your head.
I saw Trin, Morpheus, Tank and . . . myself. I was in the chair, but something was wrong. I couldn't quite put my finger on it until I saw the heart monitor: it was running flat.
That codera must have disrupted my input/output signals! They had lost trace of me, and going through that tiny zero had obviously done something to my heartbeat. They thought I was dead. And if they pressed that button, I soon would be.
I thought quickly. They needed to know I was alive. I needed to get out. Therefore, I needed two things: a cell phone and a hard line.
The cell phone came first. I quickly dialled the number and waited. The line rang in the Neb, and after a startled silence, Tank picked it up.
"Operator?"
"Tank, it's me, Neo. I know you think I'm dead, but please just listen to me."
"Neo? How did you do this? How did you-"
"Tank, listen!" I snapped. "Don't use the EMP. You've got to find me. Here - I'll try and give you a signal."
I racked my brains hurriedly. They would be able to pick up any major changes in the code, wouldn't they?
Without even bothering to think it over, I deleted a huge amount of code somewhere outside the Neb. It made quite a noise, I'll admit.
"JESUS, Neo! Did you just do that?"
"Yes, that's me. Have you found me?"
"Of course we have," snapped Tank. "You didn't think we could miss that, did you?"
"Calm down. Now, I'm going to make a hard line. I want you to ring it when I tell you, ok?"
"I guess so." Tank didn't sound so sure, but I knew it would work. I was the one (or One) who was doing it, after all.
Then I heard a noise behind me. A fleet (*is that what u call them?*) of squids was heading directly for the ship. Now I knew why they had charged the EMP.
"Tank! If I don't do it now, you're all going to die. Are you ok with it?"
"Yeah! Just do it, Neo. It can't really harm us if it goes wrong, anyway."
Rolling my eyes at his stubbornness, I quickly created a hard line for myself. After a few seconds, it started ringing.
I picked it up. (Well, what did you think I would have done?)
Within seconds, I was back in the Neb. The crew members clustered around me, asking me questions, hugging me, yelling happily.
Finally Morpheus remembered to press the EMP button. We didn't want a repeat of four months ago. The squids fell lifeless (or currentless) to the sewer floor, and I lay back and closed my eyes.
In a few hours, I would be forced to answer those questions. Until then, I was going to sleep. I was tired, man.
A few hours later, I had finally related my story in detail to them. Eight times. Tank and Morpheus left me, satisfied, but Trin stayed.
"Neo . . . I was so scared. I didn't think I would ever see you again," she said quietly.
"I missed you," I replied. She blushed.
Suddenly I grabbed her and held her close, kissing her gently. "I love you," I whispered.
"I know. I love you too."
Then she drew back. "What was it like going through that codera?"
I laughed softly. "Hell. Absolute hell."
And then I kissed her again.
Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me. The story and ideas do but the rest belong to the Wachowski brothers (maybe that isn't how you spell it, but so what?)
I put this up a while ago, but I figured it probably isn't getting many hits any more so I've decided to renew it. It only has one chapter and it isn't very long, but tell me what you think anyway.
"Come on, Trin!" I called. "If we don't go now, we won't have time to go at all!"
Trinity hastily appeared out of the bedroom we shared together and practically flung herself into her Matrix chair. Within thirty seconds we were both inside the Matrix.
Trin and I were going to the Den, a hidden place in the park where we, erm, to put it politely, `did stuff'. But we always went in separately. We didn't want the agents to know we were together, you know, as an ITEM. Our love for each other made us stronger, and we wanted them to think we were weak.
Trin went in first. She disappeared into the bushes while I kept a close eye out for agents. I hoped to God there wouldn't be any. Erasing agents from the Matrix is my least favourite bit of my job. I like altering things to suit me, yes. But erasing agents, no.
After a few minutes, I moved to follow Trin into our little spot. (Although it was just grass, we had taken some rugs in and now it was really cosy.) But something caught my eye.
There was a single digit of code glowing brighter than the rest over in THAT direction (I gestured with my hands as if I was showing someone). Distance didn't make a lot of difference when you were looking at code. You saw things in perspective, sure, but you couldn't tell how far away things were.
Although every muscle in my RSI body screamed at me to follow Trin, I moved towards that digit. It was, after all, my duty to make the Matrix safe for us, and that meant investigating strange code.
When I got close enough to this digit - it was a zero - I reached out and touched it.
I remember my finger actually going through the centre of the zero, and not stopping. It went through faster and suddenly my whole hand was in that thing! I tried to pull it out but the force on that thing was amazing. It pulled my body right through this tiny hole in the middle of a number!
And in that moment, when I was being pulled through, I had a flash of understanding. I suddenly knew what this was.
Earlier that month, Morpheus and I had been discussing what we call coderas. A codera is a small group or even a single digit of Matrix code that leads to a whole other section of the Matrix. Basically, it's the other side of the wall of code you see when you look at it. It's got a huge force, and while you're going through any electrical system you happen to have shrivels up into something the size of a pinhead, but very heavy. For this reason, agents can't go through coderas.
When I came out at the other end of the codera, I looked around. And gasped in horror.
I wasn't in the Matrix any more! I was in a cavern, and around me were wires, pipes, and . . . pods. Pods containing humans. Like what I had been in.
I wasn't even seeing it in code.
As I stood looking around the cavern in horror and growing fear, a movement way above me caught my eye. I quickly jerked my head up, and saw a machine `swimming' down. It was a typical real world squid like I had seen so many times. The words `search and destroy' came into my head . . .
I knew I had to hide. Quickly, I ducked under one of the pods and lay still. I could feel the heartbeat of the person in the pod above me.
And then it hit me. That I was feeling the heartbeat of a person who didn't even know they existed here in the real world. Tears filled my eyes as I sympathised mentally with that person. Then I shook myself. Come on, Neo, get your ass together.
I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone. Then I cursed myself for forgetting. I didn't have a phone any more. At least, not one which I could see or that worked.
If only I was still in the Matrix. In there I could create phones out of thin air. I could even make a hard line for myself. I couldn't do that here.
Suddenly I wanted Trinity. God, I missed her. I just hoped she was okay. And I hoped the people on the Neb still had me. You could lose people when they went through coderas, because they were relocated to a totally different part, even layer, of the Matrix.
I think that's when I realised it. If I wasn't in the Matrix any more, I would have been transported in the real world from my chair in the Neb to where I was crouching under this pod. Because I couldn't exist twice in the real world.
But that was impossible. At least it was in the real world.
So if I couldn't exist twice in the real world, and I could not have been translocated in the real world, logic would follow that I was still in the Matrix, right?
Yes.
It seems silly now, but at the time it seemed the most logical thing to do. I wanted to go check if I was right. And the only way to do that? To go and see myself lying in my chair. On the Neb.
I jumped into the air and tried to hover. The first couple of times I tried it, I couldn't do it. I wasn't seeing in code, so my ways of doing things were a little different. I had to think of it philosophically, rather than being able to see it in front of me.
The squid was coming closer, and it had seen me. I knew I had to hurry. I knew I needed to get the hang of this strange Matrix, or the squid would get to me before he could fly out. (No, I couldn't erase its code - I couldn't see it, remember?)
Suddenly I had it. My eyes shifted subtly, and then there it was: the code. I blinked a few times to make sure it wouldn't go away, and then quickly erased the squid. Then I flew up to the top of the cavern.
Morpheus had shown me these caverns a couple of months ago - he had a training program designed to teach more advanced crew members about the real world. I knew that this cavern was below the sewer systems, so I obviously flew up.
When I reached the top, I looked around. There were a few passages leading into the darkness, but one looked like - and smelt of - sewers. Naturally, I took this one.
I can't tell you how long I flew around the sewers. I saw the occasional ship. They didn't see me, of course. I was, well, a hologram, I suppose. They thought they were in the real world already, so they didn't see me.
Finally I found the Neb. It was still, and all the lights were off. This could only mean one thing: the EMP.
But I was still in that chair! They couldn't use the EMP unless I was out. This place was obviously an exact copy of the real world, and anything that happened back there, happened in this layer of the Matrix. And as far as I knew, I wasn't out. So why were they using the EMP?
I flew in through the walls. sigh Yes, I can do that. I can change code. I can fly, I can delete things. Why wouldn't I be able to fly through walls? Use your head.
I saw Trin, Morpheus, Tank and . . . myself. I was in the chair, but something was wrong. I couldn't quite put my finger on it until I saw the heart monitor: it was running flat.
That codera must have disrupted my input/output signals! They had lost trace of me, and going through that tiny zero had obviously done something to my heartbeat. They thought I was dead. And if they pressed that button, I soon would be.
I thought quickly. They needed to know I was alive. I needed to get out. Therefore, I needed two things: a cell phone and a hard line.
The cell phone came first. I quickly dialled the number and waited. The line rang in the Neb, and after a startled silence, Tank picked it up.
"Operator?"
"Tank, it's me, Neo. I know you think I'm dead, but please just listen to me."
"Neo? How did you do this? How did you-"
"Tank, listen!" I snapped. "Don't use the EMP. You've got to find me. Here - I'll try and give you a signal."
I racked my brains hurriedly. They would be able to pick up any major changes in the code, wouldn't they?
Without even bothering to think it over, I deleted a huge amount of code somewhere outside the Neb. It made quite a noise, I'll admit.
"JESUS, Neo! Did you just do that?"
"Yes, that's me. Have you found me?"
"Of course we have," snapped Tank. "You didn't think we could miss that, did you?"
"Calm down. Now, I'm going to make a hard line. I want you to ring it when I tell you, ok?"
"I guess so." Tank didn't sound so sure, but I knew it would work. I was the one (or One) who was doing it, after all.
Then I heard a noise behind me. A fleet (*is that what u call them?*) of squids was heading directly for the ship. Now I knew why they had charged the EMP.
"Tank! If I don't do it now, you're all going to die. Are you ok with it?"
"Yeah! Just do it, Neo. It can't really harm us if it goes wrong, anyway."
Rolling my eyes at his stubbornness, I quickly created a hard line for myself. After a few seconds, it started ringing.
I picked it up. (Well, what did you think I would have done?)
Within seconds, I was back in the Neb. The crew members clustered around me, asking me questions, hugging me, yelling happily.
Finally Morpheus remembered to press the EMP button. We didn't want a repeat of four months ago. The squids fell lifeless (or currentless) to the sewer floor, and I lay back and closed my eyes.
In a few hours, I would be forced to answer those questions. Until then, I was going to sleep. I was tired, man.
A few hours later, I had finally related my story in detail to them. Eight times. Tank and Morpheus left me, satisfied, but Trin stayed.
"Neo . . . I was so scared. I didn't think I would ever see you again," she said quietly.
"I missed you," I replied. She blushed.
Suddenly I grabbed her and held her close, kissing her gently. "I love you," I whispered.
"I know. I love you too."
Then she drew back. "What was it like going through that codera?"
I laughed softly. "Hell. Absolute hell."
And then I kissed her again.