It was as if a black hole had formed within the Matrix. A black hole that
sucked the energy out of everything and everyone, and that black hole had
settled itself hovering somewhere over Lake Michigan, sucking the life out
of the Midwest towns and cities of North America.
Smith strained against the force that pulled him. He fought to maintain control of himself fully aware that something that did not belong was out there, and it, whatever it was, thrived on the energy growing stronger as every other surrounding entity grew weaker.
What is it? And how do I remove it? Those were the two questions that plagued his mind. There was no answer. The mainframe, the central source of all knowledge and control did not know
Fear. Fear was not something he experienced but rather something he quite gladly instilled in others. Fear had proved to be a successful motivator many times in numerous situations. He would not allow himself to feel or experience fear, because if he did, then it, that unknown thing, would have the control, and Smith would simply not allow that to happen.
More energy was supplied to Smith. The possibility of simply restarting or reloading the Matrix had occurred to Smith. A new world, however, meant massive crop losses and an even larger energy drain, not to mention the fact that he would be farther than ever from finding the Zion Mainframe codes, basically having to start over, which was wholly unacceptable. No, he decided, it would be much better to resolve this problem. There was no problem that could not be resolved, in time.
******************************************
"Mommy, I love you." Jess looked at her mom, her eyes turned blue as they always did when she was sad. Pools of tears formed in them and rolled down her cheeks. She didn't want or need to be brave when she was with her mom. "Mom, I need you, please don't leave me now."
She took her moms hand and lay down next to her and pulled Kats arm over her. She cuddled into her mother; her face turned away from her, and lay there quietly, feeling Kats breath gently exhaled on her hair. "Mommy, please come back to me." She stayed there the night, dozing off and on. Elrond checked them occasionally.
******************************************
Power was restored to the Midwest. As the sun rose on Chicago Smith stood at the shore looking over the lake. A shadow cast across the lake in front of the sunrise. A dark shadow that shifted, but not with the wind and not against it, just randomly changing form and shape.
That is the glitch. Smith attempted to contact the mainframe with his information, but he found communication difficult, garbled, disconnected. He decided he would simply leave the area and have the problem resolved from elsewhere. He had located the source, and that was the key.
******************************************
The sunrise shone on the west wall. Jess woke and looked at the children playing. Most of the walls in the apartment were painted with some kind of mural. The living room was an ocean on a summer's night. Her room was a field of wildflowers and a deep forest filled with fantasy creatures. Dragons flew overhead. Mom's room was the seasons of the earth, the seasons of life, but it was never finished. She would be distracted. She would start one day and then quit for months at a time.
Jess watched the children on the wall. They seemed to be alive in the light as it played against the wall. They moved and danced in their circle, except for the little blonde blue-eyed girl that stood outside the circle, peeking through the tall grasses. Who was that child she wondered? Was it mom? Was it her? Was it no one or everyone? She felt overwhelmed by the events of the past days and the ideas that bombarded her thoughts.
Jess heard her mother's breath even and quiet. She felt it warm and steady. It comforted her and she closed her eyes again and drifted off to sleep watching the little girl watching her.
******************************************
Smith moved west, significantly west, and contacted the mainframe, reporting his finding of the glitch.
The search and scan proved deficient. The drain on energy is unknown.
"It is a glitch over the simulation of Lake Michigan. Reload Lake Michigan."
Reload Failed.
******************************************
The Midwest shut down. No power, no phone service, no transportation, no air. People gasped and grabbed at their constricted throats.
******************************************
Crops failed.
Reload Lake Michigan.
Reload successful with exception of black hole. Unknown glitch must be resolved, cannot be deleted or refreshed successfully.
Assess losses.
Reassign Agent Smith to return to Midwest and resolve problem.
******************************************
The sunlight provided sufficient light but the power flickered off and on. The digital clocks needed to be reset again.
Elrond, Gandalf and Legolas were indifferent to the power outages. Legolas found vegetables and fruit in the kitchen and prepared some food.
"Lord Elrond, what will we do?"
"Legolas. I do not know how we arrived at this," he paused "place" he said distastefully, "however, I do believe we need the assistance of Jacqueline and JessiLee to return to our beloved home. Unfortunately, the woman seems to have slipped into some state of unconscious denial and will not wake. My hope is the child will be enough reason for her to wake."
"Master Elrond, it seems you place a great deal of confidence in the woman and the child. Perhaps it would be wise for us to find our own way. Miss JessiLee was quite distraught when I suggested I would leave and explore our surroundings, however, I think that was due to the fact that she had not warned me of Sauron. I believe it would be best if we were to leave now."
"I have always trusted your counsel Gandalf, and have no reason to alter that now. First we should eat the food Legolas has prepared."
"Or pack it and take it with?" Legolas suggested, anxious to leave the confines of the apartment.
"I am an old man Legolas and this excursion has been difficult. We will eat first, then go." Gandalf seated himself at the table and waited.
******************************************
The One Ring warmed. It scorched a dark circle on the pocket of her jeans. She felt the heat in her thigh and had the urge to put it on her finger. She sat up and felt the heat through her jeans. "Just to see if it really is the One Ring." She justified it to herself. "Just to see if it really knows Sauron, yes, and to see if Sauron is really here. I should do this; it would be the right thing to do. Sauron could be defeated if I did this, yes, I should."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring and examined it. It looked so much like the one her mom gave her when she was ten. It had always been too big for her tiny fingers, even now, and so she had worn it on a chain, like Frodo. This ring, this ring looked just the same, except, different. Warm, glowing, enticing. It should be worn, not hidden. "Yes, you need me and I need you. Together we can solve the mysteries, change the past, the present and the future." Holiness. Reverence. Awe. The ring held her eyes, her mind, her imagination. It spoke to her, not audibly, but she could hear it calling her, telling her,
"What are you doing? What is that?" Kat sat up suddenly, inexplicably, as if she had never been injured. Brilliance. The lights surged all over the Midwest. Intensity. Heat poured from everything and then quiet. Resumption of normal levels of power.
"What is that?" Kat asked again staring dumbfounded at the ring in Jess's hand. "That isn't the ring I gave you."
"Mom" Jess threw her arms around her mother's neck and buried her face in her hair. "Mom, you are okay."
Kat hugged her daughter close. They sat quietly for a while. "Then this whole terrible nightmare is real?" Kat whispered. "I didn't just wake up from it did I?"
"Mom" Jess's face was wet with tears, her eyes red and cloudy, "I'm sorry."
"Jess, honey, whatever happened, whatever this is, it's not your fault. Of that one thing I am sure. But we do need to figure out how to fix it."
"The power is back mom. I can get online now. Maybe I can get help."
"And that ring? Is it what I think it is?"
"I think so."
"You need to put that on the chain with yours. Do not wear it Jess. If it is the One Ring, who knows how it would affect you, or us, or our time."
"It talks to me mom," Jess whispered shakily.
"It can talk all it wants, but you don't have to listen. Listen to me, your mother, not that ring. Oh shit, this cannot be real. Please tell me this is not real." She stared at Jess's swollen eyes and blotchy skin. Her daughter was stressed and scared. Dammit, she was the mom, she was supposed to be the strong one. She pulled Jess close again. "Don't worry sweetie, we will figure this mess out and fix it. We will be okay." She felt her heart grow cold. Fear or indifference? Whatever it was, it would help, she was grateful for it. She would protect her daughter no matter what, just as she always had. No one would hurt her daughter again, no one, ever.
"Jess listen. You will be okay. Put the ring on the chain. If it talks to you, listen to me instead. We can get through this. We've gotten through everything else, we can get through this too. Understand?"
Jess just nodded her head and the tears started again. She leaned into Kat and Kat held her and rocked her gently. Jess had been so close to the edge before, had endured so much, and had come so far; she was not going to let this be what did her in, no fucking way. She would get her daughter through this, to the other side, and she would be stronger for it dammit, even if it was the last thing she ever did.
******************************************
Gandalf, Legolas and Elrond left through the front door and down the stairs. They stepped out into the simulated sunshine that had grown intensely bright and then evened out. Elrond shaded his eyes. Legolas examined the pavement with his feet. Gandalf looked curiously at the cars in the parking lot. The three stood staring at the 20th century simulated world and said not a word.
Smith strained against the force that pulled him. He fought to maintain control of himself fully aware that something that did not belong was out there, and it, whatever it was, thrived on the energy growing stronger as every other surrounding entity grew weaker.
What is it? And how do I remove it? Those were the two questions that plagued his mind. There was no answer. The mainframe, the central source of all knowledge and control did not know
Fear. Fear was not something he experienced but rather something he quite gladly instilled in others. Fear had proved to be a successful motivator many times in numerous situations. He would not allow himself to feel or experience fear, because if he did, then it, that unknown thing, would have the control, and Smith would simply not allow that to happen.
More energy was supplied to Smith. The possibility of simply restarting or reloading the Matrix had occurred to Smith. A new world, however, meant massive crop losses and an even larger energy drain, not to mention the fact that he would be farther than ever from finding the Zion Mainframe codes, basically having to start over, which was wholly unacceptable. No, he decided, it would be much better to resolve this problem. There was no problem that could not be resolved, in time.
******************************************
"Mommy, I love you." Jess looked at her mom, her eyes turned blue as they always did when she was sad. Pools of tears formed in them and rolled down her cheeks. She didn't want or need to be brave when she was with her mom. "Mom, I need you, please don't leave me now."
She took her moms hand and lay down next to her and pulled Kats arm over her. She cuddled into her mother; her face turned away from her, and lay there quietly, feeling Kats breath gently exhaled on her hair. "Mommy, please come back to me." She stayed there the night, dozing off and on. Elrond checked them occasionally.
******************************************
Power was restored to the Midwest. As the sun rose on Chicago Smith stood at the shore looking over the lake. A shadow cast across the lake in front of the sunrise. A dark shadow that shifted, but not with the wind and not against it, just randomly changing form and shape.
That is the glitch. Smith attempted to contact the mainframe with his information, but he found communication difficult, garbled, disconnected. He decided he would simply leave the area and have the problem resolved from elsewhere. He had located the source, and that was the key.
******************************************
The sunrise shone on the west wall. Jess woke and looked at the children playing. Most of the walls in the apartment were painted with some kind of mural. The living room was an ocean on a summer's night. Her room was a field of wildflowers and a deep forest filled with fantasy creatures. Dragons flew overhead. Mom's room was the seasons of the earth, the seasons of life, but it was never finished. She would be distracted. She would start one day and then quit for months at a time.
Jess watched the children on the wall. They seemed to be alive in the light as it played against the wall. They moved and danced in their circle, except for the little blonde blue-eyed girl that stood outside the circle, peeking through the tall grasses. Who was that child she wondered? Was it mom? Was it her? Was it no one or everyone? She felt overwhelmed by the events of the past days and the ideas that bombarded her thoughts.
Jess heard her mother's breath even and quiet. She felt it warm and steady. It comforted her and she closed her eyes again and drifted off to sleep watching the little girl watching her.
******************************************
Smith moved west, significantly west, and contacted the mainframe, reporting his finding of the glitch.
The search and scan proved deficient. The drain on energy is unknown.
"It is a glitch over the simulation of Lake Michigan. Reload Lake Michigan."
Reload Failed.
******************************************
The Midwest shut down. No power, no phone service, no transportation, no air. People gasped and grabbed at their constricted throats.
******************************************
Crops failed.
Reload Lake Michigan.
Reload successful with exception of black hole. Unknown glitch must be resolved, cannot be deleted or refreshed successfully.
Assess losses.
Reassign Agent Smith to return to Midwest and resolve problem.
******************************************
The sunlight provided sufficient light but the power flickered off and on. The digital clocks needed to be reset again.
Elrond, Gandalf and Legolas were indifferent to the power outages. Legolas found vegetables and fruit in the kitchen and prepared some food.
"Lord Elrond, what will we do?"
"Legolas. I do not know how we arrived at this," he paused "place" he said distastefully, "however, I do believe we need the assistance of Jacqueline and JessiLee to return to our beloved home. Unfortunately, the woman seems to have slipped into some state of unconscious denial and will not wake. My hope is the child will be enough reason for her to wake."
"Master Elrond, it seems you place a great deal of confidence in the woman and the child. Perhaps it would be wise for us to find our own way. Miss JessiLee was quite distraught when I suggested I would leave and explore our surroundings, however, I think that was due to the fact that she had not warned me of Sauron. I believe it would be best if we were to leave now."
"I have always trusted your counsel Gandalf, and have no reason to alter that now. First we should eat the food Legolas has prepared."
"Or pack it and take it with?" Legolas suggested, anxious to leave the confines of the apartment.
"I am an old man Legolas and this excursion has been difficult. We will eat first, then go." Gandalf seated himself at the table and waited.
******************************************
The One Ring warmed. It scorched a dark circle on the pocket of her jeans. She felt the heat in her thigh and had the urge to put it on her finger. She sat up and felt the heat through her jeans. "Just to see if it really is the One Ring." She justified it to herself. "Just to see if it really knows Sauron, yes, and to see if Sauron is really here. I should do this; it would be the right thing to do. Sauron could be defeated if I did this, yes, I should."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring and examined it. It looked so much like the one her mom gave her when she was ten. It had always been too big for her tiny fingers, even now, and so she had worn it on a chain, like Frodo. This ring, this ring looked just the same, except, different. Warm, glowing, enticing. It should be worn, not hidden. "Yes, you need me and I need you. Together we can solve the mysteries, change the past, the present and the future." Holiness. Reverence. Awe. The ring held her eyes, her mind, her imagination. It spoke to her, not audibly, but she could hear it calling her, telling her,
"What are you doing? What is that?" Kat sat up suddenly, inexplicably, as if she had never been injured. Brilliance. The lights surged all over the Midwest. Intensity. Heat poured from everything and then quiet. Resumption of normal levels of power.
"What is that?" Kat asked again staring dumbfounded at the ring in Jess's hand. "That isn't the ring I gave you."
"Mom" Jess threw her arms around her mother's neck and buried her face in her hair. "Mom, you are okay."
Kat hugged her daughter close. They sat quietly for a while. "Then this whole terrible nightmare is real?" Kat whispered. "I didn't just wake up from it did I?"
"Mom" Jess's face was wet with tears, her eyes red and cloudy, "I'm sorry."
"Jess, honey, whatever happened, whatever this is, it's not your fault. Of that one thing I am sure. But we do need to figure out how to fix it."
"The power is back mom. I can get online now. Maybe I can get help."
"And that ring? Is it what I think it is?"
"I think so."
"You need to put that on the chain with yours. Do not wear it Jess. If it is the One Ring, who knows how it would affect you, or us, or our time."
"It talks to me mom," Jess whispered shakily.
"It can talk all it wants, but you don't have to listen. Listen to me, your mother, not that ring. Oh shit, this cannot be real. Please tell me this is not real." She stared at Jess's swollen eyes and blotchy skin. Her daughter was stressed and scared. Dammit, she was the mom, she was supposed to be the strong one. She pulled Jess close again. "Don't worry sweetie, we will figure this mess out and fix it. We will be okay." She felt her heart grow cold. Fear or indifference? Whatever it was, it would help, she was grateful for it. She would protect her daughter no matter what, just as she always had. No one would hurt her daughter again, no one, ever.
"Jess listen. You will be okay. Put the ring on the chain. If it talks to you, listen to me instead. We can get through this. We've gotten through everything else, we can get through this too. Understand?"
Jess just nodded her head and the tears started again. She leaned into Kat and Kat held her and rocked her gently. Jess had been so close to the edge before, had endured so much, and had come so far; she was not going to let this be what did her in, no fucking way. She would get her daughter through this, to the other side, and she would be stronger for it dammit, even if it was the last thing she ever did.
******************************************
Gandalf, Legolas and Elrond left through the front door and down the stairs. They stepped out into the simulated sunshine that had grown intensely bright and then evened out. Elrond shaded his eyes. Legolas examined the pavement with his feet. Gandalf looked curiously at the cars in the parking lot. The three stood staring at the 20th century simulated world and said not a word.