These men are strange. They must have something to do with what I can see.
They are my only visitors. I sit one side of the glass and pick up the
phone. They do the same on the other.
"My name is Smith," says the central man. "This is Jones," he indicates the man on his left, "and this is Brown." He nods at the man on his right. I try to smile weakly at them, but they just placidly look back. It gets very unnerving after a while. I recognise Smith from somewhere.
"We are Agents. We have come for your protection and the protection of others. We understand that you have been having strange visions."
His manner doesn't change. His voice is a monotone. There is no emotion or feeling to him. There is no metal in him either.
"The visions aren't my fault." I say, before I can stop myself. "I don't want to have them. They scare me. They seem so real. They can't be real. Tell me they're not real."
The men exchange glances.
"What do you mean you have come for my protection? I don't need protecting. I just need a decent night's sleep." I continue. "What do you want from me? Why me? Everyone in this place has visions. Why have you picked on me?"
"We have picked on you - Miss Fairfax - because what you see is different. You know that it is different. You can feel it. You are not fooled, and that is entirely our fault. A mistake, an error. You have heard that computers do not make mistakes. Evidently we do."
This is a dream. This has to be a dream
"No this is not a dream Miss Fairfax and you know it."
Did I say that out loud?
"No you did not say that out loud. Humans are so easy to understand. I can follow your train of thought easier than if you had a glass head."
Okay this is really scaring me now. I press the little red button to call for the nurse. Smith just smiles. A sardonic, empty, ironic smile.
"The nurse will not come. We have dealt with her. You have nothing to fear from us. We want to stop these visions."
He stands up and with a thrill of terror I see he has a gun by his side. He raises it and points it at the glass. I drop the phone and dive to the ground. The bullet seems to take an eternity to hit the glass. I raise my head in slow motion and see the bullet ricochet back off the surface and straight at Smith.
He dodged it.
He dodged a goddamn bullet! A bullet! Oh my god what the hell has happened to me? I really am seeing things now! I. I. I.
I let out a scream as he releases a wave of bullets onto the glass, eventually shattering it. They jump up onto the desk, step through the broken pane and pull me up from the ground.
"You don't need to scream." Smith said. "We want to sort out this malfunction. Your connection to The Matrix is faulty."
Those words again. What the hell are they talking about? What is the Matrix?
"You don't need to know what the Matrix is. You have lived without that knowledge for 28 years. You can continue that way for the rest of your life."
How do they know what I am thinking? How the hell do they do that?
"We do not know why the connection is faulty. Try to relax your muscle tissues, it will be less painful."
He pulls out a small metallic box and removes what looks like a tiny silver spider. He presses a button and it begins to wriggle and squirm in his fingertips. As it breaks free of its slimy cocoon, Jones and Brown pull up my jumper. What the hell are they going to do to me? Images flash through my mind. Beating? Abuse? Rape? Murder? Smith advances towards me, lowering the shrimp-like probe towards my stomach. I writhe in terror and agony on the floor, held down by the strong, unforgiving, unrelenting hands. As the probe is released on my abdomen, in crawls towards my navel and proceeds to bury it's way into me. I feel so helpless.
Suddenly I'm not in the white room. I'm in a room full of metal instruments, being laid down by a huge squid like thing. The metal is being removed. New metal placed in me. My vision is clearer than ever before
A face looms down at me, and I realise I'm back in the hospital. Smith smiles again.
I awake with a scream, and nurse rushes in with more injections to calm me. As she administers the drug I let out a small sob. I understand. I know my dreams and reality have merged into one, but I don't know which is which. One thing I do know however is that the answer lies within The Matrix. I also remember. I remember a time when I was a small girl. I had a dream then. It was about a man. I battle with my brain to remember. It was in a subway. A man fought with another man. That's when it hits me. I recognise Smith from my dream. He was beaten by the other man. Suddenly the last part clicks into place. The victor gave me a message.
"You are different. You may not know it yet, but you will understand one day. I will come for you. You will see this man. Do not trust him. Trust me. I will show you truth. Remember my name."
I do remember his name. His name was Neo.
"My name is Smith," says the central man. "This is Jones," he indicates the man on his left, "and this is Brown." He nods at the man on his right. I try to smile weakly at them, but they just placidly look back. It gets very unnerving after a while. I recognise Smith from somewhere.
"We are Agents. We have come for your protection and the protection of others. We understand that you have been having strange visions."
His manner doesn't change. His voice is a monotone. There is no emotion or feeling to him. There is no metal in him either.
"The visions aren't my fault." I say, before I can stop myself. "I don't want to have them. They scare me. They seem so real. They can't be real. Tell me they're not real."
The men exchange glances.
"What do you mean you have come for my protection? I don't need protecting. I just need a decent night's sleep." I continue. "What do you want from me? Why me? Everyone in this place has visions. Why have you picked on me?"
"We have picked on you - Miss Fairfax - because what you see is different. You know that it is different. You can feel it. You are not fooled, and that is entirely our fault. A mistake, an error. You have heard that computers do not make mistakes. Evidently we do."
This is a dream. This has to be a dream
"No this is not a dream Miss Fairfax and you know it."
Did I say that out loud?
"No you did not say that out loud. Humans are so easy to understand. I can follow your train of thought easier than if you had a glass head."
Okay this is really scaring me now. I press the little red button to call for the nurse. Smith just smiles. A sardonic, empty, ironic smile.
"The nurse will not come. We have dealt with her. You have nothing to fear from us. We want to stop these visions."
He stands up and with a thrill of terror I see he has a gun by his side. He raises it and points it at the glass. I drop the phone and dive to the ground. The bullet seems to take an eternity to hit the glass. I raise my head in slow motion and see the bullet ricochet back off the surface and straight at Smith.
He dodged it.
He dodged a goddamn bullet! A bullet! Oh my god what the hell has happened to me? I really am seeing things now! I. I. I.
I let out a scream as he releases a wave of bullets onto the glass, eventually shattering it. They jump up onto the desk, step through the broken pane and pull me up from the ground.
"You don't need to scream." Smith said. "We want to sort out this malfunction. Your connection to The Matrix is faulty."
Those words again. What the hell are they talking about? What is the Matrix?
"You don't need to know what the Matrix is. You have lived without that knowledge for 28 years. You can continue that way for the rest of your life."
How do they know what I am thinking? How the hell do they do that?
"We do not know why the connection is faulty. Try to relax your muscle tissues, it will be less painful."
He pulls out a small metallic box and removes what looks like a tiny silver spider. He presses a button and it begins to wriggle and squirm in his fingertips. As it breaks free of its slimy cocoon, Jones and Brown pull up my jumper. What the hell are they going to do to me? Images flash through my mind. Beating? Abuse? Rape? Murder? Smith advances towards me, lowering the shrimp-like probe towards my stomach. I writhe in terror and agony on the floor, held down by the strong, unforgiving, unrelenting hands. As the probe is released on my abdomen, in crawls towards my navel and proceeds to bury it's way into me. I feel so helpless.
Suddenly I'm not in the white room. I'm in a room full of metal instruments, being laid down by a huge squid like thing. The metal is being removed. New metal placed in me. My vision is clearer than ever before
A face looms down at me, and I realise I'm back in the hospital. Smith smiles again.
I awake with a scream, and nurse rushes in with more injections to calm me. As she administers the drug I let out a small sob. I understand. I know my dreams and reality have merged into one, but I don't know which is which. One thing I do know however is that the answer lies within The Matrix. I also remember. I remember a time when I was a small girl. I had a dream then. It was about a man. I battle with my brain to remember. It was in a subway. A man fought with another man. That's when it hits me. I recognise Smith from my dream. He was beaten by the other man. Suddenly the last part clicks into place. The victor gave me a message.
"You are different. You may not know it yet, but you will understand one day. I will come for you. You will see this man. Do not trust him. Trust me. I will show you truth. Remember my name."
I do remember his name. His name was Neo.