By Jake Newman and based on the Matrix Trilogy by the Wachowski Brothers. Characters in this story which appear in the Matrix Trilogy do not belong to me. Some dialogue may be similar to that found in the official Trilogy.
Chapter 7: A New Beginning (Matrix Revolutions spoiler)
The rain became heavier and heavier. The sky was shrouded with dark, threatening rain clouds that would soon cover the expanse of the whole Matrix and would look down upon the most important event in human and machine history. The wind grew too; ripping the leaves off trees and viciously dancing them around in small tornados at ground level, as if controlled by invisible puppeteers.
Within the spiralling leaves a clear mist began to form, distorting, reflecting and refracting the surroundings; like a water droplet. From the mist a figure began to emerge, giving reason to the strange path that the leaves were taking to avoid it. Slowly and smoothly the figure completed its transformation and lost its ghost-like appearance. The figure was Chris.
The leaves calmed around him and settled to the floor. Chris relaxed too, he was relieved. Relieved that he had spoken to Smith or relieved from ending the physical exertion required to perform his metamorphoses? He didn't even know the extent of his own powers. It was impossible for him to try to discover them, they just appeared when he needed them most. As he began to walk his legs felt lighter, until he felt no resistance against them at all. He looked down at his legs and saw them vanishing into orange code, each line falling to the ground and then passing straight through it. Chris, unable to feel his legs or control them, lost his balance and fell, head first, towards the ground. Rapidly, the rest of his body became weightless too and soon joined his joined his legs in the swarm of orange code floating through the Earth's crust.
The code re-emerged and efficiently began to rebuild line by line until Chris had been completely reassembled.
Chris: It's been a long time…you look different to how I remember you.
Oracle: It's been too long, but I told you we'd meet again. My appearance has changed many times since I saw you last, there was nothing I could do about it.
Chris: I understand.
Oracle: You've done pretty well for yourself, haven't you?
The ping of a cooking timer sounds. The Oracle walks over to her oven and cautiously removes a tray from it and places the contents on a plate.
Oracle: I've just baked some cookies. Want one?
The Oracle extends her hands, offering Chris the plate of freshly baked cookies. Chris takes a bite of one and savours the taste.
Chris: I've done as you instructed, Oracle. Smith knows who you are now. He's coming to find you. I feel like I've betrayed you.
Oracle: I know. You haven't betrayed me; you've only done what was needed. You only did what I asked
Chris: What happens now?
Oracle: We wait.
Chris: For what?
Oracle: Smith is out of control. He believes that his purpose is to kill Neo. He believes that to do that he must control everyone in the Matrix, the machine world and Zion too. The closer he gets to reaching that goal the closer he gets to the truth.
Chris: The truth?
Oracle: He has no purpose. The more he begins to realise this, the more insane he will become. Unfortunately, for him, if he does do what he's trying to do, he will kill himself. There's a fine balance between life and death. While programs like you, Neo and me are around to stop him he is as dangerous as he will ever be. But when we're gone he'll be no longer part of an unbalanced equation…He will be an incomplete equation and he will die.
Chris: I don't understand what you mean.
Oracle: We must sacrifice ourselves to destroy him…except you. You've already done what you need to; you've reinserted your code into him. The balance is starting to change already.
Chris: How do you know all this?
Oracle: I don't, but I sure hope I'm right.
Chris: Will the machines reach Zion?
Oracle: We'll find out in time.
Chris: Will the Merovingian try to find me?
Oracle: He has no power, he thinks he has but he hasn't. You have no need to worry about him or anyone else. The biggest threat is Smith, and as you know, he can't destroy you.
Chris: Why don't I destroy Smith?
Oracle: Because Neo is the only one that can choose to reset the Matrix, and resetting the Matrix is the only way that both worlds can be saved.
Chris: What will happen after its reset?
Oracle: I can't tell you more than you know already. You just have to trust your instincts.
Chris: Where should I go now?
Oracle: You have to hide and wait for it to end.
Chris: There's still one thing I don't understand.
Oracle: Go on…
Chris: After I spoke with you for the first time, before Agent Brown killed me, I spoke with someone…He called himself "The Kernel". Who is he?
Oracle: He is the most important of us all. Without him the Matrix would not exist at all. The Kernel can reset the Matrix but only when the One chooses too. If Neo can destroy Smith, then he will meet the Kernel.
Seraph enters the room swiftly. "You must go now. It is time". Chris, still holding the plate of cookies, looks around the room for a place to put it down.
Chris: Where do you want me to put these?
Oracle: Oh, on that table. I don't think I'll be eating them.
Chris turned around and carefully placed the plate of cookies on the table. As he started to turn back round his mind froze, his senses blanked and he heard the piercing sound of smashing glass…yet no glass had been smashed. Chris was confused. He turned to face the Oracle. She looked straight back at him and her facial expression changed to one of sad acceptance. She walked over to him and slightly adjusted the plate's position on the table. "It's the only way", she added.
As Chris left the building his attention was caught by the sound of footsteps in the distance. He examined the horizon, scouring from left to right. He saw the unmistakeable sight of a barrage of Smiths heading towards him. A chill ran down his spine. He continued to watch, mesmerised by the regimental marching of the incoming attack force. Suddenly, it dawned on him, "I have to hide", he thought. But soon he realised that the Smiths were ignoring him, they were looking straight through him, they didn't even know he was there. Chris held his hand in front of him but he couldn't see it, he had become invisible. He stayed, breathing slowly and quietly and tracked the progress of the Smiths until they reached the entrance to the tower block in which the Oracle resided. Chris felt helpless. He knew they what they were going to do to her, to Seraph, but he knew he couldn't intervene. The sound of Chris' footsteps walking away melded with those of Smith's entering the tower block to kill the Oracle.
Chris hid for hours under the porch of a deserted city scraper. He sat and watched as the rain ferociously pelted to the ground and with less ferocity was propelled back up to where his heals lay. Then…Chris watched as green lines of code, stretching as far as the eye could see, undulated across every terrain in the Matrix; buildings, cars, roads, streetlamps. Each line left clarity and change in its wake and removed the rain clouds from above. The code rippled past Chris and he felt a tingling sensation as the ground below him repaired itself. The Matrix had been reset.
As Chris sat, a vision appeared before him. It was mysterious, inexplicable yet encapsulatingly beautiful. It glowed a bright gold, so bright its edges were indefinable, but Chris recognised it.
Chris: Neo, is that you?
Neo: Yes Chris.
Chris: Is the war over now?
Neo: Yes, Zion is safe.
Chris: And what of the Matrix?
Neo: There is still a war to fight.
Chris: Against who?
Neo: Against programs. People will have the choice now. The choice to stay in the Matrix or leave. There are programs in the Matrix that'll resist change, and they are who you have to fight.
Chris: What's happens to you?
Neo: You don't need to know that now. I'm just here to tell you what you need to do.
Chris: What?
Neo: You have to set them free Chris. You have to help those that want to be freed and fight the programs that try to stop you. That is your purpose.
As quickly as he'd appeared, Neo was gone. Chris stood up and started to walk along the newly regenerated street. He walked until he came to the water's edge at the far side of the city. As he rested against the low iron railings separating the water from the land, he looked across the water and was temporarily blinded by the reflection of an oddly timed sunrise. As the sunlight swamped the city and his eyes adjusted to the brightness, just as they'd done before his first encounter with the Architect, he focussed upon four people on the opposite side of the water. They were on a grassy verge around a bench that overlooked the city in which Chris was standing. Two men, one child and a woman; The Architect, Seraph, Sati and the Oracle.