Chapter 7
He was standing in what looked like an endless white room. Only it was hard to tell where the walls were, if there were any at all. It seemed to just go on and on and on. There was nothing else anywhere near him. He turned around a few times to make sure. There was also no sound. It was like he had been transported into the science fiction world of Limbo.
"Welcome to the construct, Hunter."
Hunter whirled around. There, standing directly behind him, was Neo, looking for all the world as if he had been there the whole time.
"Very smooth," Hunter said.
"What?" Neo asked.
"The whole, 'appear right behind me to intimidate me' or whatever it was you just did."
"Actually, it wasn't intentionally, but OK," Neo replied with a shrug.
"So this is the construct, huh?" Hunter asked.
"What were you expecting?"
"Not this."
He looked around for a few more moments before returning his attention to the only place that wasn't solid white.
"So, what do you want to know?" Hunter asked Neo.
"Any number of things. Not the least of which is why you look so much like my brother."
"Well then," Hunter said, "we can start right there. The reason I look so much like your brother is that, for all intents and purposes, I am your brother."
"How's that possible?"
"AI decided that in order to defeat you, a human was needed. Or at least a program that could think like a human. AI believed that the reason you could alter the Matrix at will had something to do with the fact that you don't have organized, precise thought patterns. Human thought is much more abstract and random than that of any that AI has come up with thus far. The theory behind my creation was that if an Agent had human thoughts inserted into their programming, then they would be able to do what you do. My mind was chosen as the pattern because they wanted as close a match to your mind as they could get. It was also believed that your brother's appearance would keep you from being able to kill me. Guess they got the wrong idea about that."
"Defiantly," Neo replied.
"The critical mistake was that the transfer was almost an exact copy of thought patterns. This led to all old loyalties being preserved. So despite the fact that they inserted lines of code that were supposed to make me subservient to Agents, they were overwhelmed by they other thought processes by the time I was taken out for my first 'trial run' yesterday when you met me."
"By the way, what was the little disappearing act you did yesterday?"
"New transportation protocols. I'm a completely independent program, so I don't require a 'host' within the Matrix, like Agents do. The process basically involves me dispersing my code, moving it through the various other lines of code in the environment, and reassembling it when it all reaches my destination."
"Can you just stay in the code?"
"Yes, for a given amount of time."
"How long is that?"
"It depends. It's not a definite process. It the amount of time involves the amount of risk. The longer I stay dispersed, the higher the risk that some of my code won't be retrievable. The longest I've ever gone is about 20 seconds."
Neo seemed to think for a moment.
"You think you can survive a shutdown here?"
"Probably," Hunter replied. "AI had no way of testing it, but it was assumed that I could return just fine from that."
"Good, because we don't want to have to insert you back into the Matrix every time we power down. Now, let's see what you can do."
Hunter wasn't sure what Neo was talking about. But he didn't have to wonder long.
Looking up, Neo said, "Tank, load the sparring chamber."
He was standing in what looked like an endless white room. Only it was hard to tell where the walls were, if there were any at all. It seemed to just go on and on and on. There was nothing else anywhere near him. He turned around a few times to make sure. There was also no sound. It was like he had been transported into the science fiction world of Limbo.
"Welcome to the construct, Hunter."
Hunter whirled around. There, standing directly behind him, was Neo, looking for all the world as if he had been there the whole time.
"Very smooth," Hunter said.
"What?" Neo asked.
"The whole, 'appear right behind me to intimidate me' or whatever it was you just did."
"Actually, it wasn't intentionally, but OK," Neo replied with a shrug.
"So this is the construct, huh?" Hunter asked.
"What were you expecting?"
"Not this."
He looked around for a few more moments before returning his attention to the only place that wasn't solid white.
"So, what do you want to know?" Hunter asked Neo.
"Any number of things. Not the least of which is why you look so much like my brother."
"Well then," Hunter said, "we can start right there. The reason I look so much like your brother is that, for all intents and purposes, I am your brother."
"How's that possible?"
"AI decided that in order to defeat you, a human was needed. Or at least a program that could think like a human. AI believed that the reason you could alter the Matrix at will had something to do with the fact that you don't have organized, precise thought patterns. Human thought is much more abstract and random than that of any that AI has come up with thus far. The theory behind my creation was that if an Agent had human thoughts inserted into their programming, then they would be able to do what you do. My mind was chosen as the pattern because they wanted as close a match to your mind as they could get. It was also believed that your brother's appearance would keep you from being able to kill me. Guess they got the wrong idea about that."
"Defiantly," Neo replied.
"The critical mistake was that the transfer was almost an exact copy of thought patterns. This led to all old loyalties being preserved. So despite the fact that they inserted lines of code that were supposed to make me subservient to Agents, they were overwhelmed by they other thought processes by the time I was taken out for my first 'trial run' yesterday when you met me."
"By the way, what was the little disappearing act you did yesterday?"
"New transportation protocols. I'm a completely independent program, so I don't require a 'host' within the Matrix, like Agents do. The process basically involves me dispersing my code, moving it through the various other lines of code in the environment, and reassembling it when it all reaches my destination."
"Can you just stay in the code?"
"Yes, for a given amount of time."
"How long is that?"
"It depends. It's not a definite process. It the amount of time involves the amount of risk. The longer I stay dispersed, the higher the risk that some of my code won't be retrievable. The longest I've ever gone is about 20 seconds."
Neo seemed to think for a moment.
"You think you can survive a shutdown here?"
"Probably," Hunter replied. "AI had no way of testing it, but it was assumed that I could return just fine from that."
"Good, because we don't want to have to insert you back into the Matrix every time we power down. Now, let's see what you can do."
Hunter wasn't sure what Neo was talking about. But he didn't have to wonder long.
Looking up, Neo said, "Tank, load the sparring chamber."