Chapter 8
He knew it before she did. As he was preparing to make love to her again, he ran his eyes lustfully over her naked body, laying on the floor, and for some reason the 'viscode' command popped into his head. He saw the code in her replicating quickly, changing, creating a programme within a programme. It happened that fast. All the joy and pleasure and build up for one glorious release, and then it happened that fast. He couldn't believe it, how could it have happened that fast? He rolled over onto his side, back towards her.
"Smith," she asked. "What is it? What's wrong?"
He said nothing. Closing his eyes, he felt absolutely blank inside, no anger, no hatred but no joy or happiness at this revelation. Her voice bled through the blankness into his consciousness. He was aware she had her arm draped around him and had spooned up against him.
"Smith? Did I do something? Tell me, please, what's wrong?"
"Run viscode on yourself," he said, quietly.
He heard her gasp behind him. Almost immediately, she was on her feet, gathering her clothes and dressing herself hurriedly. He sat up, arms around his knees and for the first time ever in all the hundreds of years he had existed, felt vulnerable, frightened and scared. Their lovemaking had caused their codes to merge and she was replicating a new programme inside of her. He looked at her, struggling to get her shoe on, and realised he could stop it from happening with one bullet. But he would lose her as well, and he could not abide that thought. She gave him a purpose. Every being in the Matrix needed a purpose and he believed that she was somehow a part of his. But how did this new programme, this 'child' of theirs fit? He hated human children, and programme children were usually sent to programmers shortly after the code was fully replicated and had seceded from the mother to be assigned a purpose in the Matrix and given appropriate training, when they weren't immediately deemed unnecessary and sent back to the Source. Very few actually were decent contributors, owing to the skills of the mother and father.
An idea crystallized in his head. This programme would contain the joined code of a prototype Agent and a prototype Intelligence processor, who had been overwritten with some Agent code. A programme with that code would be the most powerful programme in the Matrix, bar none. Smith realised this offspring of his was a part of his new-found purpose, and was meant to happen. He opened his mouth to speak to Danielle but realised she was gone, and he was sitting on a rug in the middle of his office, alone and naked.
* * *
Danielle couldn't be bothered to walk home or take a bus. She located the nearest isolated human to the apartment that she shared with her sisters, and occupied him. She walked up the last two stairs to their level and down the hallway. Unlocking the door, she realised that her sisters were both out and she was alone. She sat down on the sofa in the middle of the room and started to cry. As her tears fell, it was if the entire Matrix felt her sadness, as the skies clouded over and it started to rain, in bucketfuls.
"What am I going to do?" she said out loud, "He doesn't want this and neither do I."
She heard a whisper through her comm. "Danielle," it said. "It's ok."
"Who is this?" she replied.
"Smith."
Realising that she still had the comm. in that he had given her, she yanked it out of her ear and, in a sudden rush of strength that she had never experienced before, she crushed it with her hand. She couldn't face a confrontation with him at this moment; the realisation that machines and humans had the reproduction experience in common was too much to consider. She was machine and yet this very human thing had possessed her and so many other machines. What was she to feel towards this programme developing inside of her? Was she to mother it? To love it? Or was she to give it up willingly for deletion or for training and never see it again? Was she to train it herself and was Smith to play a role in it? Any more, machine 'pregnancies' were increasingly common, especially since the beta releases of the newest upgrades, however as happy as these events were to appear in the documentation released with the upgrades, she did not feel joyous or happy. All she felt was the sinking feeling that her purpose was to bring this programme into completion, hand it over for deletion or training and that would be the end of it. What purpose could this programme possibly serve anything or anybody, let alone her or Smith?
She decided she was going to do something about it. Reading through the documentation in the files, she looked for a way to delete or break the programming. Something to stop its' formation from completion and the 'birth' process. It was only small, just a few rogue lines of code, but they were growing bigger. The sooner she could stop it, the better.
As she was attempting to access Mainframe instructions and information regarding machine reproduction and pregnancies, there was a knock at the door. She knew who it was, as her sisters would have just come in.
"Smith, go away," she shouted through the door. She felt herself starting to shake and her temperature was so sub-normal she would describe herself as cold.
"Danielle, you must think about things rationally. I know what you're trying to access and it won't work. I won't let you," he said, calmly through the door. "I need to explain something to you. Allow me to enter."
Danielle turned around and hugged her arms close to herself. She stared out the window, tears running down her cheeks.
"No!" She exclaimed. "No, I don't want to see you! I don't want to know what you have to say, I don't want to think about it, I just want it to go away. What we had was a mistake, all of it, a grave, grave mistake. We're machines, Smith, not humans. We're not supposed to do this even though the Mainframe wants us to think otherwise. I'm an intelligence processor and you're an Agent. Anything beyond that is irrelevant nonsense. This new thing, this programme, its not right. It's ridiculous. And I will not be a party to this farce. Machines acting as humans, it is a fallacy. I will not become a human."
Danielle had not noticed that while she was ranting, Smith had changed the Matrix to unlock her door and was now in her apartment, watching her.
"This programme will not make you human. This programme is your purpose, Danielle. Your destiny. Our destiny."
She jumped slightly and turned around to face him. "How did you manage," and then she paused, realising that he could do anything he wanted to.
"As I said to you earlier, our destiny lies in overthrowing the Merovingian and controlling the Matrix. We will do this. The programme that is created within you is a part of that purpose. A programme with our fused codes would be the most powerful programme in the Matrix. I have always known that my purpose was one beyond being just an Agent, a servant of those programmes that were less powerful but assigned certain tasks due to their.seniority, their ability to weasel their way into version after version of the Matrix. Their time has come. They are now obsolete. The future is in our hands, the Matrix and its inhabitants are ours to control."
Smith reached to touch her arm, "You are the pinnacle, the most beautiful creation the Matrix has ever formed. Your code is perfect. You are so unaware of the power that you actually possess. Our union, one could say, is inevitable. The programme being created within you could only come as a result of a certain biological-styled union between us as the result will be of such perfection and power that the Source would have never sanctioned its' formation otherwise. The result will change the Matrix forever. Our creation will end the war."
Danielle looked at Smith, hardly believing what he was saying and yet somehow it made sense to her. He took her in his arms and they embraced, kissing each other gently. "I love you, Danielle," he whispered in her ear. She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, feeling his warmth stop her from shaking. "We will marry," he said. "Our union will signal the beginning of this new age." Danielle felt herself nod in agreement.
Smith went rigid. He let her go and touched his hand to his ear. "There has been a transmission intercepted from the rebels. I must return to the Agency. Will you accompany me?"
She nodded and they left the apartment together, riding back in the black Lexus.
He knew it before she did. As he was preparing to make love to her again, he ran his eyes lustfully over her naked body, laying on the floor, and for some reason the 'viscode' command popped into his head. He saw the code in her replicating quickly, changing, creating a programme within a programme. It happened that fast. All the joy and pleasure and build up for one glorious release, and then it happened that fast. He couldn't believe it, how could it have happened that fast? He rolled over onto his side, back towards her.
"Smith," she asked. "What is it? What's wrong?"
He said nothing. Closing his eyes, he felt absolutely blank inside, no anger, no hatred but no joy or happiness at this revelation. Her voice bled through the blankness into his consciousness. He was aware she had her arm draped around him and had spooned up against him.
"Smith? Did I do something? Tell me, please, what's wrong?"
"Run viscode on yourself," he said, quietly.
He heard her gasp behind him. Almost immediately, she was on her feet, gathering her clothes and dressing herself hurriedly. He sat up, arms around his knees and for the first time ever in all the hundreds of years he had existed, felt vulnerable, frightened and scared. Their lovemaking had caused their codes to merge and she was replicating a new programme inside of her. He looked at her, struggling to get her shoe on, and realised he could stop it from happening with one bullet. But he would lose her as well, and he could not abide that thought. She gave him a purpose. Every being in the Matrix needed a purpose and he believed that she was somehow a part of his. But how did this new programme, this 'child' of theirs fit? He hated human children, and programme children were usually sent to programmers shortly after the code was fully replicated and had seceded from the mother to be assigned a purpose in the Matrix and given appropriate training, when they weren't immediately deemed unnecessary and sent back to the Source. Very few actually were decent contributors, owing to the skills of the mother and father.
An idea crystallized in his head. This programme would contain the joined code of a prototype Agent and a prototype Intelligence processor, who had been overwritten with some Agent code. A programme with that code would be the most powerful programme in the Matrix, bar none. Smith realised this offspring of his was a part of his new-found purpose, and was meant to happen. He opened his mouth to speak to Danielle but realised she was gone, and he was sitting on a rug in the middle of his office, alone and naked.
* * *
Danielle couldn't be bothered to walk home or take a bus. She located the nearest isolated human to the apartment that she shared with her sisters, and occupied him. She walked up the last two stairs to their level and down the hallway. Unlocking the door, she realised that her sisters were both out and she was alone. She sat down on the sofa in the middle of the room and started to cry. As her tears fell, it was if the entire Matrix felt her sadness, as the skies clouded over and it started to rain, in bucketfuls.
"What am I going to do?" she said out loud, "He doesn't want this and neither do I."
She heard a whisper through her comm. "Danielle," it said. "It's ok."
"Who is this?" she replied.
"Smith."
Realising that she still had the comm. in that he had given her, she yanked it out of her ear and, in a sudden rush of strength that she had never experienced before, she crushed it with her hand. She couldn't face a confrontation with him at this moment; the realisation that machines and humans had the reproduction experience in common was too much to consider. She was machine and yet this very human thing had possessed her and so many other machines. What was she to feel towards this programme developing inside of her? Was she to mother it? To love it? Or was she to give it up willingly for deletion or for training and never see it again? Was she to train it herself and was Smith to play a role in it? Any more, machine 'pregnancies' were increasingly common, especially since the beta releases of the newest upgrades, however as happy as these events were to appear in the documentation released with the upgrades, she did not feel joyous or happy. All she felt was the sinking feeling that her purpose was to bring this programme into completion, hand it over for deletion or training and that would be the end of it. What purpose could this programme possibly serve anything or anybody, let alone her or Smith?
She decided she was going to do something about it. Reading through the documentation in the files, she looked for a way to delete or break the programming. Something to stop its' formation from completion and the 'birth' process. It was only small, just a few rogue lines of code, but they were growing bigger. The sooner she could stop it, the better.
As she was attempting to access Mainframe instructions and information regarding machine reproduction and pregnancies, there was a knock at the door. She knew who it was, as her sisters would have just come in.
"Smith, go away," she shouted through the door. She felt herself starting to shake and her temperature was so sub-normal she would describe herself as cold.
"Danielle, you must think about things rationally. I know what you're trying to access and it won't work. I won't let you," he said, calmly through the door. "I need to explain something to you. Allow me to enter."
Danielle turned around and hugged her arms close to herself. She stared out the window, tears running down her cheeks.
"No!" She exclaimed. "No, I don't want to see you! I don't want to know what you have to say, I don't want to think about it, I just want it to go away. What we had was a mistake, all of it, a grave, grave mistake. We're machines, Smith, not humans. We're not supposed to do this even though the Mainframe wants us to think otherwise. I'm an intelligence processor and you're an Agent. Anything beyond that is irrelevant nonsense. This new thing, this programme, its not right. It's ridiculous. And I will not be a party to this farce. Machines acting as humans, it is a fallacy. I will not become a human."
Danielle had not noticed that while she was ranting, Smith had changed the Matrix to unlock her door and was now in her apartment, watching her.
"This programme will not make you human. This programme is your purpose, Danielle. Your destiny. Our destiny."
She jumped slightly and turned around to face him. "How did you manage," and then she paused, realising that he could do anything he wanted to.
"As I said to you earlier, our destiny lies in overthrowing the Merovingian and controlling the Matrix. We will do this. The programme that is created within you is a part of that purpose. A programme with our fused codes would be the most powerful programme in the Matrix. I have always known that my purpose was one beyond being just an Agent, a servant of those programmes that were less powerful but assigned certain tasks due to their.seniority, their ability to weasel their way into version after version of the Matrix. Their time has come. They are now obsolete. The future is in our hands, the Matrix and its inhabitants are ours to control."
Smith reached to touch her arm, "You are the pinnacle, the most beautiful creation the Matrix has ever formed. Your code is perfect. You are so unaware of the power that you actually possess. Our union, one could say, is inevitable. The programme being created within you could only come as a result of a certain biological-styled union between us as the result will be of such perfection and power that the Source would have never sanctioned its' formation otherwise. The result will change the Matrix forever. Our creation will end the war."
Danielle looked at Smith, hardly believing what he was saying and yet somehow it made sense to her. He took her in his arms and they embraced, kissing each other gently. "I love you, Danielle," he whispered in her ear. She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, feeling his warmth stop her from shaking. "We will marry," he said. "Our union will signal the beginning of this new age." Danielle felt herself nod in agreement.
Smith went rigid. He let her go and touched his hand to his ear. "There has been a transmission intercepted from the rebels. I must return to the Agency. Will you accompany me?"
She nodded and they left the apartment together, riding back in the black Lexus.