Sorry it took me so long to get a new chapter finished but I was elsewhere. Anyway, thanks for any and all reviews and so forth. Also you'll be pleased to hear that I remembered to give this chapter a name, and get the chapter number right.
My number of fans has risen to an almighty 4, whoo! 'Ahem', actually, make that 3 and a half. As soon as I get six I can finally remove the cobwebs from my ceiling. Anyway, enough of my senseless ramblings, onwards to chapter eight.
Chapter 8: Nothing worth doing is easy
Silas opened his eyes and once more found himself onboard the Nebuchadnezzar. Expecting to hear the scrapping noise that accompanied the spike being removed from his head, he instead found that a number of faces had begun to surround him.
"Well?" Asked Cypher.
Silas blinked several times before answering, he had found that leaving the Matrix or the construct had always left him feeling disorientated, this time was no different.
"Well," he groaned, "take this thing out of my head and I'll tell you."
Necromancer disappeared from Silas' view and moments later he felt the spike being removed from his brain. Those around him stepped back slightly as he pulled himself to his feet.
"She said she couldn't help us with the mission, only that it was imperative that we succeed."
Silas scanned the faces before him to try and read some reaction from them, many of the faces continued to stare at him however, except for Links, which looked understandably disappointed.
"What happens if we fail?" This question had come from Orion who had somehow positioned himself behind Silas without his knowledge.
"Well that's not exactly clear, either our fleet will be destroyed, or…"
"Or what?" Said Trinity quickly.
"The Oracle said that something was coming, she said that a lot of the programs that the machines have created were ready to rebel against the machines."
Silas paused for a few moments, as he noticed confusion show itself in some of the crew's expressions, and what looked like hope in others.
"It's not good news, from what she said it looks like these programs hate us as much as the machines do."
"Why?" Interrupted Gemini,
"She wasn't to clear on that, the point is, from what she told me, if these programmes rebel, it will destroy the machines, the matrix, and humanity."
Someone gasped, although Silas couldn't see who it was. There was another silent pause as the rest of the crew accepted this unexpected information.
"So how will it be any different if we succeed?" Asked Neo.
"She said it would take both humanity and the machines to defeat them, and it doesn't look like that will happen so long as we're at war."
"You mean we're gonna have to work with the machines?"
Silas turned his head to face Cypher; the look on his face was one of anger.
"That's what it looks like."
"Bullshit! That will never work, the machines don't…"
"Cypher." The single quiet word uttered by Morpheus silenced Cypher almost immediately.
"Did the Oracle say anything else?" Asked Morpheus.
"Uh, no, I don't think so; she did say that it was the machines that started the war."
"Really?" Shouted Gemini, causing several heads to turn in her direction.
"Yes" said Silas who was fighting an urge to laugh.
Apart from Gemini, no one else appeared to be all that surprised by this news. This was somewhat surprising to Silas who had expected a reaction as energetic as Gemini's from almost everyone.
"Link, how long until we reach the surface?"
"Just over one hour sir."
"Any sign of hostile activity?"
"No sir."
"Alright, you all know what to do, remember, Zion, and from what Silas has said, everything is depending on us, let's get this right."
"No pressure huh?" Uttered Necromancer to Silas as the crew dispersed.
Silas walked back to his cabin, the pipe which had woken him so many times since his arrival was blissfully silent at present, and his pillow had fallen to the floor.
The fear which had plagued him for most of his un-plugged life was at an all-time high. He was only an hour away from the final battle which would most likely end his life. And even if it didn't, there was the Oracle's cheery premonition of genocide which he would have to deal with.
A sudden knock on the door interrupted Silas' train of thought.
"Come in" he half-shouted, moments later the door creaked open and Gemini walked through.
"I thought I'd find you here." She said in a tone of voice which sounded surprisingly calm, Silas doubted that Gemini was in fact as calm as her voice suggested however.
"Yep, here I am, wallowing in fear."
"That's pretty much what everyone's doing, well, either that or they're taunting me about my reaction to your news about who started the war."
"It was pretty funny."
At this, Gemini picked up the pillow on Silas' floor and threw it at him. Silas raised his arms too late and the pillow struck him on the side of his face. The humour and light relief which accompanied this lasted for so short an amount of time that they were barely noticeable, the fear returned shortly thereafter.
"Well," he began after a moment of silence, "if we're about to die let's at least do it on a full stomach."
"Ever the optimist eh?"
"Alright let me rephrase that, if we're about to end the war and bring about the only peace that mankind has known in a century then let's do it on a full stomach."
The corridors leading to the mess hall were, as per usual, cold. The lighting was not up to much either; many of the light bulbs had long since fizzled out of a bright, glowing existence into a dark, lifeless one.
"Tell me something;" Silas said, and then paused as he heard his voice echo in the corridor, "were you un-plugged before or after the trilogy came out?"
"After," replied Gemini, "I was a surgeon working in Madrid, one day the patient I was operating on transformed into an agent and charged out of the door."
"That must have been a shock."
"I almost fainted, anyway, I'm not sure what happened to the others who were with me in surgery, but Morpheus and Neo got me out before any agents got to me."
Silas nodded as the two turned a corner; all of a sudden he felt a hand tug lightly at his arm, he stopped suddenly and turned around.
"Silas, there's…"
A series of red flashing lights and alarms stopped Gemini in mid sentence. Both her and Silas were motionless for a second, after that the realisation of the situation sank in and the two charged back down the corridor.
To be concluded, maybe, I'm not sure how many more chapters to add, to be continued or concluded.
My number of fans has risen to an almighty 4, whoo! 'Ahem', actually, make that 3 and a half. As soon as I get six I can finally remove the cobwebs from my ceiling. Anyway, enough of my senseless ramblings, onwards to chapter eight.
Chapter 8: Nothing worth doing is easy
Silas opened his eyes and once more found himself onboard the Nebuchadnezzar. Expecting to hear the scrapping noise that accompanied the spike being removed from his head, he instead found that a number of faces had begun to surround him.
"Well?" Asked Cypher.
Silas blinked several times before answering, he had found that leaving the Matrix or the construct had always left him feeling disorientated, this time was no different.
"Well," he groaned, "take this thing out of my head and I'll tell you."
Necromancer disappeared from Silas' view and moments later he felt the spike being removed from his brain. Those around him stepped back slightly as he pulled himself to his feet.
"She said she couldn't help us with the mission, only that it was imperative that we succeed."
Silas scanned the faces before him to try and read some reaction from them, many of the faces continued to stare at him however, except for Links, which looked understandably disappointed.
"What happens if we fail?" This question had come from Orion who had somehow positioned himself behind Silas without his knowledge.
"Well that's not exactly clear, either our fleet will be destroyed, or…"
"Or what?" Said Trinity quickly.
"The Oracle said that something was coming, she said that a lot of the programs that the machines have created were ready to rebel against the machines."
Silas paused for a few moments, as he noticed confusion show itself in some of the crew's expressions, and what looked like hope in others.
"It's not good news, from what she said it looks like these programs hate us as much as the machines do."
"Why?" Interrupted Gemini,
"She wasn't to clear on that, the point is, from what she told me, if these programmes rebel, it will destroy the machines, the matrix, and humanity."
Someone gasped, although Silas couldn't see who it was. There was another silent pause as the rest of the crew accepted this unexpected information.
"So how will it be any different if we succeed?" Asked Neo.
"She said it would take both humanity and the machines to defeat them, and it doesn't look like that will happen so long as we're at war."
"You mean we're gonna have to work with the machines?"
Silas turned his head to face Cypher; the look on his face was one of anger.
"That's what it looks like."
"Bullshit! That will never work, the machines don't…"
"Cypher." The single quiet word uttered by Morpheus silenced Cypher almost immediately.
"Did the Oracle say anything else?" Asked Morpheus.
"Uh, no, I don't think so; she did say that it was the machines that started the war."
"Really?" Shouted Gemini, causing several heads to turn in her direction.
"Yes" said Silas who was fighting an urge to laugh.
Apart from Gemini, no one else appeared to be all that surprised by this news. This was somewhat surprising to Silas who had expected a reaction as energetic as Gemini's from almost everyone.
"Link, how long until we reach the surface?"
"Just over one hour sir."
"Any sign of hostile activity?"
"No sir."
"Alright, you all know what to do, remember, Zion, and from what Silas has said, everything is depending on us, let's get this right."
"No pressure huh?" Uttered Necromancer to Silas as the crew dispersed.
Silas walked back to his cabin, the pipe which had woken him so many times since his arrival was blissfully silent at present, and his pillow had fallen to the floor.
The fear which had plagued him for most of his un-plugged life was at an all-time high. He was only an hour away from the final battle which would most likely end his life. And even if it didn't, there was the Oracle's cheery premonition of genocide which he would have to deal with.
A sudden knock on the door interrupted Silas' train of thought.
"Come in" he half-shouted, moments later the door creaked open and Gemini walked through.
"I thought I'd find you here." She said in a tone of voice which sounded surprisingly calm, Silas doubted that Gemini was in fact as calm as her voice suggested however.
"Yep, here I am, wallowing in fear."
"That's pretty much what everyone's doing, well, either that or they're taunting me about my reaction to your news about who started the war."
"It was pretty funny."
At this, Gemini picked up the pillow on Silas' floor and threw it at him. Silas raised his arms too late and the pillow struck him on the side of his face. The humour and light relief which accompanied this lasted for so short an amount of time that they were barely noticeable, the fear returned shortly thereafter.
"Well," he began after a moment of silence, "if we're about to die let's at least do it on a full stomach."
"Ever the optimist eh?"
"Alright let me rephrase that, if we're about to end the war and bring about the only peace that mankind has known in a century then let's do it on a full stomach."
The corridors leading to the mess hall were, as per usual, cold. The lighting was not up to much either; many of the light bulbs had long since fizzled out of a bright, glowing existence into a dark, lifeless one.
"Tell me something;" Silas said, and then paused as he heard his voice echo in the corridor, "were you un-plugged before or after the trilogy came out?"
"After," replied Gemini, "I was a surgeon working in Madrid, one day the patient I was operating on transformed into an agent and charged out of the door."
"That must have been a shock."
"I almost fainted, anyway, I'm not sure what happened to the others who were with me in surgery, but Morpheus and Neo got me out before any agents got to me."
Silas nodded as the two turned a corner; all of a sudden he felt a hand tug lightly at his arm, he stopped suddenly and turned around.
"Silas, there's…"
A series of red flashing lights and alarms stopped Gemini in mid sentence. Both her and Silas were motionless for a second, after that the realisation of the situation sank in and the two charged back down the corridor.
To be concluded, maybe, I'm not sure how many more chapters to add, to be continued or concluded.