We watched him for two years. From time to time we sent the man Aaron
Stevenson on small errands for us. Most of them were set up by our
operatives, but a few times he actually did something to help the
resistance. We needed to know what he was capable of, and we needed to be
able to ease him away from the Matrix.
Aaron Stevenson was just one of half a dozen potential operatives that were being actively trained from inside the Matrix. The Oracle told us that the One would be here soon, and we knew we needed to prepare. So we went about recruiting several men and women, all skilled in evasion and combat as well as technology. They would become our Enforcers someday, when the war truly began we would need them.
Of all the potentials, we had the easiest time detaching Aaron from the Matrix. His mind was open, rebellious, questioning. As we began to reveal to him the nature of the Matrix, he did no shy away from it, he took it all in, considering it, turning it over and over in his mind. Two years after Trinity first contacted him, he was ready.
***
I don't remember exactly what day it was. None of the details matter anymore. I know that it was a few months after the news channels began reporting a massive attack on a security firm. They suspected a team of terrorists, but I had my own suspicions. Suspicions that were later confirmed and have changed my life.
It was raining again. Looking back, I think it was always raining when she called. I was standing in front of the window, watching the rain and the endless pattern of city lights below. The sound of my computers running through a search was a pleasant hum in the back of my mind. I remember what they were searching for, because it was always the same thing. The Matrix.
The phone rang. The harsh tones of it sprung me from my reverie, and I somehow knew it was her. Bringing the phone to my ear seemed a decisive action then; a choice of some sort; and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. Her voice was cold and clear, a knife cutting with grim precision.
"It's time. I need you to meet me. He wants to talk to you."
The words seemed dead, as they always did. She spoke without emotion, with a machine-like monotone that shook my bones and sent strange shivers down my spine. It was like she wasn't. real.
The word confused me, seeming to ring around inside my head, echoing on forever as I trudged through the rain towards the Cage. How could she not be real? I had seen her, had felt her warm breath on my ear when she leaned forward to speak to me. She was as real as anything I had ever felt, as real as the buildings above and the people around me. I don't know what it was about that thought, but I found myself staring hard at the buildings, looking for a flaw, something to show that they were not real. I shook myself, mentally slapping myself. This was reality, here and now, it was all solid and stable.
And for the thousandth time since I first met Trinity, two years ago, I whispered to myself, "the Matrix is out there." I had read it somewhere, perhaps on one of the files I had stolen, perhaps in one of Trinity's emails, but it had stuck in my brain and had festered. The Matrix haunted my mind now, crept subtly around my dreams, dreams I could never quite remember.
"The Matrix is out there."
The words were like a death sentence. They were the first words she spoke as if she meant them, the first words that had any life in them. As she stepped back, wearing the same leather dress I had first seen her in, the deadness in her blue eyes was gone. I found I couldn't breath. The air simply wouldn't come; the words were blocking my throat. She held up her hand to stop anything I might say.
"You know what I'm talking about. If you want to learn more Aaron, you need to come with me. He can tell you everything."
I followed her. What else could I do? For two years the question had been sliding about my head, attached to my brain on some strange level I couldn't comprehend. It had burned at my mind for two years, had been present every moment. Numbly, I walked out of the Cage, suddenly unaware of the rain or the people passing around me. It was all a blur. The only thing that was in focus was her dark form as she led me to a car.
I didn't get a good look at the driver, but I know now who he was. I don't recall much about the drive, I couldn't tell you what direction we went, how many lights there were. I couldn't even tell you the color of the cloth covering the seats. All I remember seeing was a single word, seemingly tattooed onto the front of my eyes in glowing green script. "Real?" I spent the ride struggling to regain composure and collect my wildly scattered thoughts. When we got out of the car, the driver had to help me out, I was so dazed.
They led me up several flights of stairs; they were in a terrible hurry. We stopped in front of a large, rotting, wooden door. The air in front of the wood seemed to tingle with energy, and I shivered, suddenly cold. Trinity's hand came up, roughly grabbing my cheek and staring deep into my eyes. I was lost in the steely depths of those eyes, but her sharp voice pulled me back without fail.
"He is waiting for you, through this door. Answer all of his questions Aaron, he knows more than you can imagine."
Then she opened the door and fairly shoved me through.
It felt like I was falling, and then the white and black checkered floor rushed up to stop my fall. Outside the tall, old-fashioned window across the room, a tendril of lightening lit up the sky. The room was empty, bleak and cold, except for two cushioned red, high-backed chairs, and a small table. And of course, he was there.
He was looking out the window, hands behind his back. He was wearing a black leather coat that glistened even in the weak light of the room. As he turned to me, I felt as though I was being reborn.
"I've been waiting for you. My name is Morpheus."
His face was pockmarked and rimless dark glasses obscured his eyes. He smiled at me, his teeth slightly crooked. He wasn't particularly tall of heavy, but he carried himself as though he ruled the world.
"Come, sit, there are some things that I need to tell you. I imagine that, by now, you know some things about the Matrix. What you perhaps do not know, is that it is real. It is, all around us Aaron, it is in this room, outside that window, the Matrix is in your lungs when you breathe, your stomach when you eat. You cannot escape it, you cannot run, there is, no where to go. For the longest time Aaron, I thought the same thing you must be thinking right at this instant. 'It can't be real, it cannot be real because I already know what is real'. All I can tell you is that, it is real, and someday you may come to understand this, as I do. Now" he smiled crookedly and opened up a small silver container he had been holding, "my time is short. They will find us soon. What you have to decide, Aaron, is this: can you open up your mind enough to see what I want to show you? That is all I ask, an answer to that single question, nothing more."
I didn't hesitate, there was no question in my mind, I just nodded. "I want to learn." Those were probably the four most important words I have ever uttered, and I do not regret them, not for a second.
Morpheus nodded and reached into the silver container, pulling out a red pill and handing it too me. I put it on my tongue, reached for the glass of water sitting on the table, and swallowed.
They've since told me that what happened next had never happened before. As I swallowed that pill, the others, the one looking for us, threw a switch and knocked me unconscious. They were just an instant too slow, a moment earlier and they would have prevented me from swallowing that pill. But they weren't fast enough and when my eyes opened next; they opened for the first time.
Aaron Stevenson was just one of half a dozen potential operatives that were being actively trained from inside the Matrix. The Oracle told us that the One would be here soon, and we knew we needed to prepare. So we went about recruiting several men and women, all skilled in evasion and combat as well as technology. They would become our Enforcers someday, when the war truly began we would need them.
Of all the potentials, we had the easiest time detaching Aaron from the Matrix. His mind was open, rebellious, questioning. As we began to reveal to him the nature of the Matrix, he did no shy away from it, he took it all in, considering it, turning it over and over in his mind. Two years after Trinity first contacted him, he was ready.
***
I don't remember exactly what day it was. None of the details matter anymore. I know that it was a few months after the news channels began reporting a massive attack on a security firm. They suspected a team of terrorists, but I had my own suspicions. Suspicions that were later confirmed and have changed my life.
It was raining again. Looking back, I think it was always raining when she called. I was standing in front of the window, watching the rain and the endless pattern of city lights below. The sound of my computers running through a search was a pleasant hum in the back of my mind. I remember what they were searching for, because it was always the same thing. The Matrix.
The phone rang. The harsh tones of it sprung me from my reverie, and I somehow knew it was her. Bringing the phone to my ear seemed a decisive action then; a choice of some sort; and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. Her voice was cold and clear, a knife cutting with grim precision.
"It's time. I need you to meet me. He wants to talk to you."
The words seemed dead, as they always did. She spoke without emotion, with a machine-like monotone that shook my bones and sent strange shivers down my spine. It was like she wasn't. real.
The word confused me, seeming to ring around inside my head, echoing on forever as I trudged through the rain towards the Cage. How could she not be real? I had seen her, had felt her warm breath on my ear when she leaned forward to speak to me. She was as real as anything I had ever felt, as real as the buildings above and the people around me. I don't know what it was about that thought, but I found myself staring hard at the buildings, looking for a flaw, something to show that they were not real. I shook myself, mentally slapping myself. This was reality, here and now, it was all solid and stable.
And for the thousandth time since I first met Trinity, two years ago, I whispered to myself, "the Matrix is out there." I had read it somewhere, perhaps on one of the files I had stolen, perhaps in one of Trinity's emails, but it had stuck in my brain and had festered. The Matrix haunted my mind now, crept subtly around my dreams, dreams I could never quite remember.
"The Matrix is out there."
The words were like a death sentence. They were the first words she spoke as if she meant them, the first words that had any life in them. As she stepped back, wearing the same leather dress I had first seen her in, the deadness in her blue eyes was gone. I found I couldn't breath. The air simply wouldn't come; the words were blocking my throat. She held up her hand to stop anything I might say.
"You know what I'm talking about. If you want to learn more Aaron, you need to come with me. He can tell you everything."
I followed her. What else could I do? For two years the question had been sliding about my head, attached to my brain on some strange level I couldn't comprehend. It had burned at my mind for two years, had been present every moment. Numbly, I walked out of the Cage, suddenly unaware of the rain or the people passing around me. It was all a blur. The only thing that was in focus was her dark form as she led me to a car.
I didn't get a good look at the driver, but I know now who he was. I don't recall much about the drive, I couldn't tell you what direction we went, how many lights there were. I couldn't even tell you the color of the cloth covering the seats. All I remember seeing was a single word, seemingly tattooed onto the front of my eyes in glowing green script. "Real?" I spent the ride struggling to regain composure and collect my wildly scattered thoughts. When we got out of the car, the driver had to help me out, I was so dazed.
They led me up several flights of stairs; they were in a terrible hurry. We stopped in front of a large, rotting, wooden door. The air in front of the wood seemed to tingle with energy, and I shivered, suddenly cold. Trinity's hand came up, roughly grabbing my cheek and staring deep into my eyes. I was lost in the steely depths of those eyes, but her sharp voice pulled me back without fail.
"He is waiting for you, through this door. Answer all of his questions Aaron, he knows more than you can imagine."
Then she opened the door and fairly shoved me through.
It felt like I was falling, and then the white and black checkered floor rushed up to stop my fall. Outside the tall, old-fashioned window across the room, a tendril of lightening lit up the sky. The room was empty, bleak and cold, except for two cushioned red, high-backed chairs, and a small table. And of course, he was there.
He was looking out the window, hands behind his back. He was wearing a black leather coat that glistened even in the weak light of the room. As he turned to me, I felt as though I was being reborn.
"I've been waiting for you. My name is Morpheus."
His face was pockmarked and rimless dark glasses obscured his eyes. He smiled at me, his teeth slightly crooked. He wasn't particularly tall of heavy, but he carried himself as though he ruled the world.
"Come, sit, there are some things that I need to tell you. I imagine that, by now, you know some things about the Matrix. What you perhaps do not know, is that it is real. It is, all around us Aaron, it is in this room, outside that window, the Matrix is in your lungs when you breathe, your stomach when you eat. You cannot escape it, you cannot run, there is, no where to go. For the longest time Aaron, I thought the same thing you must be thinking right at this instant. 'It can't be real, it cannot be real because I already know what is real'. All I can tell you is that, it is real, and someday you may come to understand this, as I do. Now" he smiled crookedly and opened up a small silver container he had been holding, "my time is short. They will find us soon. What you have to decide, Aaron, is this: can you open up your mind enough to see what I want to show you? That is all I ask, an answer to that single question, nothing more."
I didn't hesitate, there was no question in my mind, I just nodded. "I want to learn." Those were probably the four most important words I have ever uttered, and I do not regret them, not for a second.
Morpheus nodded and reached into the silver container, pulling out a red pill and handing it too me. I put it on my tongue, reached for the glass of water sitting on the table, and swallowed.
They've since told me that what happened next had never happened before. As I swallowed that pill, the others, the one looking for us, threw a switch and knocked me unconscious. They were just an instant too slow, a moment earlier and they would have prevented me from swallowing that pill. But they weren't fast enough and when my eyes opened next; they opened for the first time.