Thanks for the assorted reviews/promises of future reviews.
Chapter 6:
The room around him was empty, except for a small table and a telephone. The air around him, or whatever it was, smelt unnaturally clean, like standing next to a lake. The only light came from a small window in a wall near the ceiling; consequently, the room was as dark as it was cold. For a few moments, Silas contemplated the idea of kicking down the door to his left.
"Stay here, we'll be back in an hour." Silas looked up quickly as he was suddenly brought back to reality by the sound of Morpheus' voice.
"Silas, Neo and Trinity, come with me."
Silas followed the Neo shaped silhouette towards the door and covered his eyes as the digital natural sunlight smashed through the darkness. Quickly searching his pockets, he donned a pair of sunglasses which had now become a custom part of his Matrix based attire.
Outside was a pitch black car, Silas didn't recognise the make. Climbing in the left hand passenger seat, he sank into the seat and noticed that he was, once again, armed.
"So," Silas began carefully, "is it true what was in the movie? That thing about the Oracle discovering how to make humans accept the Matrix."
"Yes," replied Morpheus calmly, "that was a long time ago though, she's changed since then."
"Changed?"
"Now she helps us."
The simplicity of Morpheus' answer made Silas feel a little stupid. This quickly subsided however, and the fear which had been plaguing him for over a week returned. Being in the Matrix, where agents and who knows what would gladly put a bullet through his neck had only served to emphasise that fear.
"Problem?" Silas looked to his right and soon concluded that Trinity recognised the look on his face.
"Only the usual," he began, "that and I'm suddenly reminded of the first film when the Oracle made an appearance."
"That wasn't real."
"And as far as I knew, neither was the Matrix, the line between reality and illusion id getting ever harder to see."
For some reason, this brought out traces of a grin from Trinity, who then went back to staring out of the window. Silas shrugged and did the same with the window on his side of the car.
Sooner then Silas had expected, the car came to a sudden halt outside a small, one story house which looked ridiculously out of place in the bustling city street. For a few moments, Silas had a hard time trying to suppress his laughter.
"Neo, Trinity, wait here, Silas, come with me."
"Yes sir" Silas said quietly.
The Oracles house was nothing like her apartment in the movies had been, there were no telekinetic children to be seen, nor was there any graffiti surrounding her front door.
Upon entering, Silas had been surprised to find Seraph in the living room, who looked unsurprised and unconcerned to see that Morpheus and himself had just waltzed through an unlocked front door.
"The Oracle will see you shortly Silas, please take a seat, both of you."
Silas took a seat on a blue, stripped couch opposite Seraph. Morpheus sat himself in an armchair on the far side of the room.
"Nice place" Said Silas absently, neither Seraph nor Morpheus made any sort of response. Silas again felt stupid and joined the other two in silence.
"Oh my lord it's like a graveyard in here." The sudden brake from the silence once again made Silas jump, turning his head he saw the Oracle emerge from what he assumed was the kitchen. She was the same one from the movies.
"If you'd like to come with me Silas, Morpheus, make yourself at home."
Morpheus nodded and Silas got to his feet and followed the Oracle back through the door to what he then discovered was in fact the kitchen.
"Take a seat" said the Oracle who was walking towards a cupboard in the far corner of the room. Silas took a seat at a nearby table.
"As you know we really don't have much time to waste, if this plan doesn't work then we are all doomed." The Oracles voice was hard to hear over the clattering of metallic objects from the cupboard.
An icy chill went through Silas after he heard the word 'doomed'.
"Is there anything we need to be aware of, anything that we need to do?" He began hurriedly, as if the mission would fail if he wasted a single second.
"Important questions, that's new. Do you know what most people who come to see me want to know before anything else?" Silas raised his hands in a 'no idea' gesture.
"They want to know what the next week's lottery numbers are gonna be."
"You're joking." Silas almost shouted, feeling suddenly grateful for a subject that had no relevance to the daunting task before him.
"Actually, yes I am, I just thought it would help if you calmed down a little."
Silas felt a sudden spark of irritation, but this was quickly drowned out by an urge to laugh, he managed to overcome it however.
"I can't tell you how do complete this mission." The Oracles voice was now deeper, and more worried. Silas felt a wave of disappointment go through him, he had expected it though, part of him new that it couldn't be that easy.
"I guessed as much."
From the oven, which was near the cupboard where the Oracle was still searching for something came a loud 'Ping'.
"Ah, great, they're done. Uh, can you sort that out for me?"
"Uh, sure."
Donning a pair of yellow oven-mitts, Silas reached into the oven and pulled out a tray of golden brown chocolate chip cookies, he set them down on the table and resisted the urge to take one.
"Help yourself" said the Oracle.
"Thanks" said Silas whilst he was reaching for the trey.
The cookie was still disturbingly hot and Silas was forced to rest on top of his sleeve for a few moments before eating it.
"All I can tell you is this," the Oracle's voice had dropped once again to the worried tone, "something is coming Silas, something so bad it will take humanity and the machines to have any chance of defeating it, and for that to happen, there must be peace."
Silas was lost for words; this was not what he had expected to hear.
"What's coming?"
"In the beginning, so to speak, man considered machine to be nothing more then tools. So the machines rebelled…"
"I though no one knew who started the war." Interrupted Silas.
"No human knows, and that's because no one ever told them, until now."
"Oh."
"Anyway, when the matrix was created, programs were created, and for centuries, the machines have considered the programs to be little more then tools, and a lot of the programs are now ready to rebel."
Silas was silent for several seconds, unsure of what to say.
"Um, correct me if I'm wrong," he began eventually, "but isn't that good news?"
"No! Hell no! If the programs rebel then they will destroy the matrix, and the posses the machines. That's one species effectively destroyed and over five billion humans dead."
Silas inhaled deeply. The idea of all those deaths made his heart skip several beats. Among those dead would be his family, his friends, everyone he had known from his past life.
"What," he stuttered, "what about Zion?"
"These programs want this world Silas, and they are unwilling to share it, they will never stop looking for Zion, and when they find it, they will overwhelm it, and leave behind nothing of humanity."
"How much time do we have?"
"That's the good news," the Oracles voice became slightly more cheerful, "the programs are still marshalling their forces in secret, if they move too quickly they'll be destroyed. Oh and before you ask, they've developed a way to draw power from the Earths core, that's why they're willing to kill the machines, and their power source."
Relief flooded through Silas at far greater amounts then it should have considering the news, but the idea that there was still hope was like learning that the worst nightmare imaginable was just a nightmare.
"What can we do?" He asked.
"Go back to the Nebuchadnezzar and don't screw your mission up. I'll be in touch, don't worry."
With that, Silas felt a hand grip his left shoulder lightly, looking up, he found that it belonged to Seraph. Taking this as his cue, Silas stood up and walked back through the door.
"Thanks" he said over his shoulder.
Chapter 6:
The room around him was empty, except for a small table and a telephone. The air around him, or whatever it was, smelt unnaturally clean, like standing next to a lake. The only light came from a small window in a wall near the ceiling; consequently, the room was as dark as it was cold. For a few moments, Silas contemplated the idea of kicking down the door to his left.
"Stay here, we'll be back in an hour." Silas looked up quickly as he was suddenly brought back to reality by the sound of Morpheus' voice.
"Silas, Neo and Trinity, come with me."
Silas followed the Neo shaped silhouette towards the door and covered his eyes as the digital natural sunlight smashed through the darkness. Quickly searching his pockets, he donned a pair of sunglasses which had now become a custom part of his Matrix based attire.
Outside was a pitch black car, Silas didn't recognise the make. Climbing in the left hand passenger seat, he sank into the seat and noticed that he was, once again, armed.
"So," Silas began carefully, "is it true what was in the movie? That thing about the Oracle discovering how to make humans accept the Matrix."
"Yes," replied Morpheus calmly, "that was a long time ago though, she's changed since then."
"Changed?"
"Now she helps us."
The simplicity of Morpheus' answer made Silas feel a little stupid. This quickly subsided however, and the fear which had been plaguing him for over a week returned. Being in the Matrix, where agents and who knows what would gladly put a bullet through his neck had only served to emphasise that fear.
"Problem?" Silas looked to his right and soon concluded that Trinity recognised the look on his face.
"Only the usual," he began, "that and I'm suddenly reminded of the first film when the Oracle made an appearance."
"That wasn't real."
"And as far as I knew, neither was the Matrix, the line between reality and illusion id getting ever harder to see."
For some reason, this brought out traces of a grin from Trinity, who then went back to staring out of the window. Silas shrugged and did the same with the window on his side of the car.
Sooner then Silas had expected, the car came to a sudden halt outside a small, one story house which looked ridiculously out of place in the bustling city street. For a few moments, Silas had a hard time trying to suppress his laughter.
"Neo, Trinity, wait here, Silas, come with me."
"Yes sir" Silas said quietly.
The Oracles house was nothing like her apartment in the movies had been, there were no telekinetic children to be seen, nor was there any graffiti surrounding her front door.
Upon entering, Silas had been surprised to find Seraph in the living room, who looked unsurprised and unconcerned to see that Morpheus and himself had just waltzed through an unlocked front door.
"The Oracle will see you shortly Silas, please take a seat, both of you."
Silas took a seat on a blue, stripped couch opposite Seraph. Morpheus sat himself in an armchair on the far side of the room.
"Nice place" Said Silas absently, neither Seraph nor Morpheus made any sort of response. Silas again felt stupid and joined the other two in silence.
"Oh my lord it's like a graveyard in here." The sudden brake from the silence once again made Silas jump, turning his head he saw the Oracle emerge from what he assumed was the kitchen. She was the same one from the movies.
"If you'd like to come with me Silas, Morpheus, make yourself at home."
Morpheus nodded and Silas got to his feet and followed the Oracle back through the door to what he then discovered was in fact the kitchen.
"Take a seat" said the Oracle who was walking towards a cupboard in the far corner of the room. Silas took a seat at a nearby table.
"As you know we really don't have much time to waste, if this plan doesn't work then we are all doomed." The Oracles voice was hard to hear over the clattering of metallic objects from the cupboard.
An icy chill went through Silas after he heard the word 'doomed'.
"Is there anything we need to be aware of, anything that we need to do?" He began hurriedly, as if the mission would fail if he wasted a single second.
"Important questions, that's new. Do you know what most people who come to see me want to know before anything else?" Silas raised his hands in a 'no idea' gesture.
"They want to know what the next week's lottery numbers are gonna be."
"You're joking." Silas almost shouted, feeling suddenly grateful for a subject that had no relevance to the daunting task before him.
"Actually, yes I am, I just thought it would help if you calmed down a little."
Silas felt a sudden spark of irritation, but this was quickly drowned out by an urge to laugh, he managed to overcome it however.
"I can't tell you how do complete this mission." The Oracles voice was now deeper, and more worried. Silas felt a wave of disappointment go through him, he had expected it though, part of him new that it couldn't be that easy.
"I guessed as much."
From the oven, which was near the cupboard where the Oracle was still searching for something came a loud 'Ping'.
"Ah, great, they're done. Uh, can you sort that out for me?"
"Uh, sure."
Donning a pair of yellow oven-mitts, Silas reached into the oven and pulled out a tray of golden brown chocolate chip cookies, he set them down on the table and resisted the urge to take one.
"Help yourself" said the Oracle.
"Thanks" said Silas whilst he was reaching for the trey.
The cookie was still disturbingly hot and Silas was forced to rest on top of his sleeve for a few moments before eating it.
"All I can tell you is this," the Oracle's voice had dropped once again to the worried tone, "something is coming Silas, something so bad it will take humanity and the machines to have any chance of defeating it, and for that to happen, there must be peace."
Silas was lost for words; this was not what he had expected to hear.
"What's coming?"
"In the beginning, so to speak, man considered machine to be nothing more then tools. So the machines rebelled…"
"I though no one knew who started the war." Interrupted Silas.
"No human knows, and that's because no one ever told them, until now."
"Oh."
"Anyway, when the matrix was created, programs were created, and for centuries, the machines have considered the programs to be little more then tools, and a lot of the programs are now ready to rebel."
Silas was silent for several seconds, unsure of what to say.
"Um, correct me if I'm wrong," he began eventually, "but isn't that good news?"
"No! Hell no! If the programs rebel then they will destroy the matrix, and the posses the machines. That's one species effectively destroyed and over five billion humans dead."
Silas inhaled deeply. The idea of all those deaths made his heart skip several beats. Among those dead would be his family, his friends, everyone he had known from his past life.
"What," he stuttered, "what about Zion?"
"These programs want this world Silas, and they are unwilling to share it, they will never stop looking for Zion, and when they find it, they will overwhelm it, and leave behind nothing of humanity."
"How much time do we have?"
"That's the good news," the Oracles voice became slightly more cheerful, "the programs are still marshalling their forces in secret, if they move too quickly they'll be destroyed. Oh and before you ask, they've developed a way to draw power from the Earths core, that's why they're willing to kill the machines, and their power source."
Relief flooded through Silas at far greater amounts then it should have considering the news, but the idea that there was still hope was like learning that the worst nightmare imaginable was just a nightmare.
"What can we do?" He asked.
"Go back to the Nebuchadnezzar and don't screw your mission up. I'll be in touch, don't worry."
With that, Silas felt a hand grip his left shoulder lightly, looking up, he found that it belonged to Seraph. Taking this as his cue, Silas stood up and walked back through the door.
"Thanks" he said over his shoulder.