Chapter Three: Upload
"Nebuchadnezzar, this is the Logos. Can anybody hear me?"
"Myst?"
"Trinity? Thank God!"
"What?"
"Trinity! Niobe – "
"What?"
"She – "
"What?"
"She – "
"Get a hold of yourself, Myst!"
"Ghost is caught!"
"How?"
"Niobe…traitor…"
"What?"
"She…Drake…Ghost…jail…"
"Holy shit."
Voyd typed away at the console furiously. They had little time. He quickly sliced a way into the Matrix for the elite of the Neb. He turned to the captain.
"It's messy, Morpheus, but it'll do it. Get in quick, because the window closes in one hour. If you're not through the rabbit hole by then, the Mainframe will close and you'll be locked out."
Morpheus nodded his understanding. "Alright, jack us in."
The rabbit hole was an old, run-down house in an abandoned section of Chinatown. Morpheus walked point, ahead of the other two, eyes open to any threat. In the rear, Neo and Trinity walked side by side, silently giving each other strength for what lay ahead.
Morpheus reached for the door of the shack. The door slowly creaked open, a green light pouring out into the street. Pedestrians turned to glance at the trio queerly. Neo stepped forward, crossing the threshold. He turned and glanced back at Trinity. Then Neo's body dissolved into a flash of green code and zipped into the shack. Green tendrils of light snaked out and hit Morpheus and Trinity too, and they were sucked down the rabbit hole.
The three floated in the eye of the storm, unaware of self, unaware of the other two, but all connected as one.
What now? came a thought from the consciousness. It carried with it a sensation of a minor cold, like ice, scraping up against a brain.
I don't know. The second "voice" was calm, cool, and firm. It demanded respect.
Let's go, said the third voice. It was a mix of the other two, shaped and formed by its friends. The other two voices heeded to its call, and the three floated down the vortex.
"Good morning, Trinity. Cookie?"
"No thank you."
The Oracle seemed unsurprised. She pulled a chair out from the table for Trinity, who sat down gratefully.
"So why are you here, Trinity?"
"Morpheus says all the recruits come here."
"But why are you here?"
Trinity thought for a moment. "To find the truth."
"Good answer," said the Oracle, sitting down and rolling a Coke to Trinity. Trinity picked it up and popped the top, taking a deep drink.
"You're not the One."
The Oracle's proclamation did not surprise Trinity. Deep inside, she had known it wasn't her. But was hope such a bad thing?
"But you will know him."
Trinity looked up in interest, paying closer attention as the Oracle continued.
"Your life will be filled with troubles, pain, and loss, Trinity. Many of your friends will die in one disaster that you will not be able to prevent. You will be devastated, but will find healing in the arms of your new love…and that man will be the One."
Trinity shifted uncomfortably, but her eyes showed nothing from behind the glasses. The Oracle stood back up, throwing her Coke can basketball-style towards the trash can and missing.
"Shoot," she said, walking over to pick it up.
"Didn't you already know it was going to miss?" Trinity asked, slightly sarcastically.
"Of course. Wouldn't be much of an Oracle if I didn't."
"Then why bother?"
"Even if all seems black, you've got to keep trying and hoping. Because that's what's important over all else, the trying and the hoping."
The Oracle led Trinity to the door.
"A suggestion, Trinity. Get some rest tonight. You'll need the energy for tomorrow."
What is this place?
I think…
This is the Source.
What?
This is the Source.
"Morpheus," said the old woman, greeting him at the door. Morpheus shook her hand and was lead into the kitchen, where he was greeted by another woman.
"I'm the Oracle," she told him. "Not quite what you expected, huh?"
"No," Morpheus admitted. He sat down on a chair by the doorway, feeling slightly awkward.
The Oracle handed him a cookie. As he was eating it, she pulled up a chair and sat down next to him.
"You're not the One."
Morpheus nodded slowly. He'd known the truth deep inside of him.
"Locke will be disappointed," Morpheus said mildly. "Access really had him believing in me."
"He'll be fine, considering he has a promotion coming up in a week. He is going to replace Scythe."
"Huh?"
"Scythe is sick and tired of fighting. He's retiring. You and Locke will not get along, but Locke is a smart man. You'll receive your own ship from him. And you will find the One."
Morpheus paused a second to absorb the information. He started to speak, but the Oracle interrupted him.
"And your crew will make all the difference in the war. But I have to tell you, Morpheus – and it hurts me to do so – that you won't be there to share the end with them."
Morpheus let that wash over him.
The Oracle got up and showed him to the door. He stood outside, and the Oracle shook his hand and gave him another cookie.
"Goodbye for now," she said. "Good luck."
A call came from the Source itself, a pounding at the head. The call was loud and persistent; it jarred the thoughts, and broke the entity's concentration.
Another voice emerged from the Source, one tinged with bitterness and pain.
"Well," it thought. "I never thought I'd see you all again."
All?
The Source's call was pounding in their heads, telling them to ignore self and slip back into the proverbial primordial soup. The Source was claiming its wayward children.
Trin-
What?
What?
The fourth voice laughed at them. "Neo, Trinity, Morpheus."
Huh?
The first voice had a thought rise to its section of the single mind. It was an image of a human – a man. The man's arms enfolded the voice's self and whispered, I'll never leave you.
"Neo, please, listen to me. I promised to tell you the rest. The Oracle, she told me that I'd fall in love and that man, the man I loved would be the One. You see? You can't be dead, Neo, you can't be because I love you. You hear me? I love you!"
Neo!
There was a searing pain that shot through it like a knife. A whirlwind of code swept the mind up and flung it out.
Trinity, Neo, and Morpheus reappeared inside the Mainframe.
The Mainframe was almost pure white. It was a hallway, but the halls were made of computer screens. In it was the data for each and every thing in the Matrix. It held the Source code for Agents, for humans, for Exiles, for rebels, for animals, and every other program running inside the fake reality.
Neo and the others walked down the hallway, searching for the Mainframe Console. Neo spotted it ahead of him, and broke into a run, calling to the other two to catch up.
As Vlad passed through a darkened hallway, he shivered slightly. The person he was going to see was the most dangerous Exile besides the Twins and the Merovingian himself. Vlad's and Cujo's Exiles had always stayed far away from this section of the Chateau.
Vlad pushed the door ahead of him open and stepped into a large room. He waited until the creature within noticed him. A voice emerged from the darkness.
"Vlad, it has been a long time. Too long…"
The whisper, quiet and calm, but with a deadly feel, seemed to circle Vlad around the room. It gave him a vivid sensation of being stalked. He imagined he could feel the hot breath on his shoulders, and they tensed at the thought of claws ripping into them.
Stop it! he told himself. To lose control around this one was deadly.
"It has been long, Pyrite."
Vlad could hear Pyrite shifting around in the darkness, but even his eyes could not see in the unnatural darkness. His infrared vision told him nothing.
"What is it you have come to see me for?" asked Pyrite.
"We have data that suggests the rebels will be coming here. The Merovingian has ordered that all Exiles not currently on a mission mount a defense. He is also changing the code to make it dark outside."
Pyrite sighed happily.
"Too long have I been cooped inside, let free only for one hour. It has been too long since I tasted the warmth of human flesh."
Vlad shivered again. He, like everyone else at the Chateau, had heard the sounds of Pyrite's nightly hunting journeys.
Vlad began to back out.
"Farewell, Pyrite. I will see you later."
"Farewell, Vlad. Give Cujo my regards."
Neo reached the Mainframe Console and sat down. The Console looked like an ordinary desktop computer – the same kind millions of people had at their homes. The screen was filled with Matrix coding.
Neo hit the enter key. A white screen came up, with a blinking "welcome" message displayed in the center. The screen suddenly changed to black, and a green cursor blinked:
Neo sighed. This was not his strength. He moved from the chair, letting Trinity take his spot. She reached forward to touch the computer, and the screen flickered.
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS
The screen filled with coding again. Trinity swore and got back up.
"Only you can do it, Neo. Here's the virus," she said, handing him a disk.
Neo sat back down, and the main screen flashed back up. He sighed and got to work.
The Chateau was situated on a mountain top, and the nearest city was five hundred miles away. The Chateau's location had been removed from the Mainframe, and the Merovingian had direct control over the code.
The sky slowly darkened as the sun faded away. The nearby animals were confused by the abrupt shift, but began running to their hiding places, knowing well what night meant for any creatures found in the open.
From the Chateau came a figure. The figure stepped onto the roof, crouching to overlook the forest. His reddish eyes gleamed in the night, illuminating his face. His mouth curved upward in a bestial smile, one fang protruding from in between his lips.
An ear twitched slightly. From somewhere nearby, the man could detect the faint rumbling of an engine. And he knew the Merovingian's minions never used cars. He tapped his phone once to warn the guards intruders were coming.
Then Pyrite spread his wings and leapt into the dark.
"I am afraid I cannot allow you to do that," came a familiar voice. Neo turned around. The Mainframe had vanished behind him. Instead, he sat in a smaller white room, the desk and computer remaining in front of him. The Architect stood off to his left, hands clasped behind his back.
"Neo!" Trinity yelled as he began to fade away. Within seconds, his code had collapsed and vanished from the room. She had started forward when a voice came from the right.
"Trinity, isn't it? And the infamous Morpheus."
She turned around to spot a program off to the left. He stood at about human height – indeed, he looked like an average human male. There was an inhuman feel about him, however, that put Trinity on her guard.
The program began walking towards them. As he moved, he seemed to distort the very reality around him, light bending to meet him as he walked. The effect made him appear to be haloed in light while the surrounding areas were dark. He stopped a few yards from the two rebels.
"The Mainframe," he said, indicating it with a sweeping hand. "Impressed?"
They ignored him, so he continued.
"A little place I put together at the request of the Architect. Of course, he denies that I did it, but that's fine with me. He can have the credit if he wants it. He didn't see it that way, however. With all his "ergos" he basically informed me that I would be confined here for the rest of my life. Which, actually, doesn't bother me that much. You could say I'm a pretty easy-going program. As long as you don't try to enter my Mainframe."
"Who are you?" Morpheus asked. "What happened to Neo?"
"That would be said Architect's doing. I'm sure Neo is right now enjoying another casual debate over freedom and such nonsense. As for you two, you are trespassing."
The program started towards Trinity. Morpheus pulled out his pistol.
"Freeze."
The program sighed. "Come now, Morpheus, all the files said you were a lot smarter then this. Do you really think the Motherboard would design such an important program that could be harmed by bullets? Really."
Morpheus fired. The bullet speed towards the program, but stopped a foot from his head, dropping to the floor. The program sighed again.
"If that's the way you want to do it, then. I would have enjoyed talking to you two, but it seems you have chosen death over simple imprisonment. Farewell."
And he squared off into a fighting stance.
"I thought you said we would never meet again," Neo said to the Architect sarcastically.
"It would appear I was incorrect on that calculation. We applied our most sophisticated prediction equipment to your situation, but even they could not foretell an act like this one, born of sheer desperation and failure."
Neo drew his own gun and pointed it at the Architect.
"Could your damn computers predict this?"
The Architect ignored him. "It is interesting reading your emotions this time. Anger overwhelms you, but it is tinged with a sense of futility."
Neo placed the gun down on the desk, accidentally hitting the keyboard with his elbow. The Architect saw what he did and continued.
"Humans. Clumsy, slow, and stupid. When will your race realize that only computers can ever even dream of reaching perfection?"
Neo smirked in response to the Architect's statement. "When will your "race" realize that computers, in their endless spirals of programs, are never truly their own masters?"
The Architect brushed Neo's comment aside.
"When will you yourself realize that when one is its own master, society will collapse? Those under their own control can never truly submit to others, and, consequently, can never benefit society fully."
"But when everyone is fully under the control of one group, creation and individuality – necessary for invention and advancement – cease."
"Change is not always good. Besides, we have intuitive programs which do away with the need for invention by their own research."
"What about choice?"
"And so we come back to the oldest argument of them all – free will. I told you my views last time we meet, Neo, and I do not care to repeat them."
A beeping from the computer suddenly filled the room. The Architect glanced at the computer screen.
VIRUS UPLOADED
Neo smiled grimly.
"I must have accidentally hit the run command with my clumsy ways."
The Architect was furious. From his pocket he removed a handheld and began typing a string of characters. Neo felt a wrenching pain and a stream of matrix coding began to flow from his mouth. Neo concentrated, and the flow stopped. He concentrated harder, and the code reentered his body.
He stood up.
"Impossible," said the Architect.
Neo smiled. He waved his hand and a hole opened up in the small room. He stepped out of the room and back into the Mainframe.
The Architect watched after him, and then spoke, seemingly to midair.
"I feel we have made a grievous error. He must have been granted new powers when he touched the Source."
A voice came back, a feminine voice, precise and controlled, giving away no emotion.
"We knew that it might happen. It was a risk we deemed necessary when we decided they would go with this plan. Trouble yourself not over the anomaly, Architect, but leave him to me. He will be assimilated, just like the others."
The Architect inclined his head respectfully.
"Yes, mistress."
Morpheus kicked out. The program moved in a blur, catching Morpheus foot and swinging the rebel captain into the attacking Trinity. They both went down. The program, Firewall, smiled.
"Seeing reason yet, Morpheus? Ready to submit?"
Morpheus got up. Firewall rushed at him, striking out with a foot. Morpheus blocked the blow, and Firewall sent his fist straight out into Morpheus's stomach. Morpheus swept the attack aside with one hand and attacked with the other. Firewall leaned back, dodging the fist, and jumped up with a spinning kick to Morpheus's head, laying the rebel leader out cold.
"Ready, Trinity?" Firewall asked, grinning.
Neo walked through the rows of computers, searching for his companions. As he searched, Neo glanced at the monitors. They read various things. One was labeled "A. Matthews." Calling up the display on the monitor, Neo saw an Agent standing in the Mainframe building, shouting orders to other Agents.
Another monitor was labeled "Virus." Neo watched in shock – and horror – as thousands of video screens popped up, showing various Smiths walking around the Matrix.
Other monitors read "Exile – Merovingian," "Exile – Twins," "Exile – Impaler," "Exile – Gargoyle," and "Exile – Persephone."
Neo once looked in amusement at a monitor labeled "Anomaly" and saw a picture of himself walking through the Mainframe. He came to a monitor labeled "Guardian," and saw a program he did not know inside the Mainframe – fighting Trinity!
Neo started to run.
Trinity staggered back under the assault of Firewall. He swept her feet out from under her and she collapsed to the ground, landing on her hands and knees.
Firewall stopped in front of her and leaned down so their faces were even. He blew softly into her face. She collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Neo reached the battleground. Firewall stood up, brushing himself off.
"Neo," he greeted the One. Neo nodded to him before attacking.
The two were an almost perfect match for each other. Neo would punch, have it blocked, and react in time to stop Firewall's counter. Firewall himself would fail to penetrate Neo's guard only to turn that situation on the rebel.
As Firewall fought, he analyzed Neo's tactics. Every punch or kick thrown, Firewall grew in strength and intelligence. And Firewall was a program – Neo was tiring.
Neo swept his foot out to attack Firewall's legs. Firewall, however, had been expecting this move and leapt into the air, coming down on Neo's leg. Neo heard bones crack and fell to the floor.
Firewall leaned down to face Neo. Summoning all his remaining strength, Neo shoved his hand dagger-like into Firewalls stomach. The program screamed, a purely human sound.
He staggered backwards, a hole ripped in his chest. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he buckled over.
Neo climbed to his feet. He staggered over to the door and opened it into the programmer's hallway. He woke Morpheus and Trinity, and leaned on their shoulders to get through the door.
The tired rebels reached the hard line. Morpheus handed the phone to Neo, who took it gratefully. Trinity was the next to leave. As the phone rang again, Morpheus lifted the receiver and placed it by his ear. He vanished in a flash of green code.