"I do not see coincidence, I see providence, I see purpose. I believe it is our fate to be here. It is our destiny. I believe this night holds for each and every one of us the very meaning of our lives."
Chapter One: Causality
Myst was on her hands and knees, panting. Seraph knelt down beside her.
"You have seen a vision. The Oracle gave up her code for it to happen. You must be worthy of her last gift."
"The Oracle gave up her code? What does that mean?"
"It means she was deleted."
"No!"
"She knew it would happen. She also knew her code would be recycled into two lesser programs that are needed to help Neo return to the real world."
Morpheus rubbed his eyes and stared in shock at Neo's dead body.
"He's gone…It can't be. He is the One!"
From behind Morpheus, Phoenix watched the code spiral down the screen. He hit the button, bringing up the view of Trinity strapped to a chair inside the Matrix.
"Morpheus, I know you're in shock, but you have to send me back in."
"Alright."
"Damn it, sir, I have to get back…did you say alright?"
Morpheus nodded.
"Thank you, sir. I'll bring them back…I'll bring them all back. Load me up."
"Already started."
"No," Myst said. "We need her."
"There is very little left she could have done," Seraph explained. "Her purpose has been fulfilled. She set into motion the events that may break the cycle. Neo is the most powerful rebel there has ever been, and he has the ability to stop it all. But he will need help."
"So Neo is alive?"
"No."
"What happened?"
"I do not know."
The man who had been Neo in a former life looked around the entrance to the Chateau before.
"I've been here before…" he said.
"Actually," the woman said, "you haven't."
"I remember it so clearly."
"Patience. All will be told in due time."
"Who are you?" the man who had been Neo asked. "I know you."
"You do know us," the second man said. "In a former life we were part of the Oracle, but now she is dead. I am Samsara. My female companion here is Mukti."
"Who am I?" asked the man who had been Neo.
"You were once a human," Mukti said. "A human of great power. But Smith tracked you down and killed you when you were most vulnerable. You died, but as the Matrix restarted it accidentally recycled your code and made a program of you."
Samsara took up the tale. "When you were killed, you touched the Source. You took on the aspects of every One before you. You have their memories and their personalities inside you, Neo."
The man shook his head, as if trying to clear it. The mention of his name seemed to brighten his face a little.
"Forgive me," he said. "I am…a little confused."
"That is understandable," Mukti said. "But the two of us have found a way to get around the memory wipe you were given."
"What way would that be?" the man asked.
"It is just a name: Trinity."
- lips pressed against lips, a hand against flesh, the sweet smell –
Neo gasped. "I remember her," he said, smiling.
"I thought you might," Samsara said, also smiling. "Welcome to the world of the dead, Neo."
Lynx looked around in shock. The Smith copies had vanished.
"What the hell is happening?" she said to herself. On the horizon she saw a bright flash of green coding as the sun rose on a new day.
"This place gets weirder every time I come in," she lamented. "I need to find an exit."
Her phone rang.
"Captain?"
"Yes. Trinity has been captured by Agents. I've sent Phoenix in to help, and I am about to call Myst. The three of you will meet at the Adams Street bridge. Then you must save her."
"Sir, what happened?"
"As far as I can tell, the Matrix has been restarted. Smith is gone, clear off the map. Neo is nowhere to be found as well. Ghost has been taken by the Merovingian."
"Shit."
"We need to get Trinity out so she can help you rescue Ghost."
"Yes, sir."
"You said that before. What, exactly, does it mean?" Neo asked.
"You are now dead," Mukti explained. "You have lost contact with everyone you once knew and cherished. They believe you dead, as do the machines. Only we Exiles know the truth, that you have been reborn as a program."
"So I am alive?"
"In the technical sense of the word, no. Your body has stopped functioning. Even now, as the false sky begins to poor an unending rain, Morpheus lays you under the funeral shroud while a tear falls from his eye."
"And in the mental sense of the word?"
"Yes. Your mind lives on inside the Matrix."
"Can I ever see the outside again?"
"Why?"
"What?"
"Why? Why would you want to? Why not stay here, with us, and study? Is it not better then a life of unending war and conflict?"
Neo thought for a long moment.
"I have duty," he explained. "Duty to those still alive. I must fulfill that duty."
Samsara smiled. "Exactly."
"Why are you two leading me along?" Neo asked in a sudden burst of rage.
"We are here because it is our purpose," Mukti said. "We are here to train you so that when your friends come for you, you will be ready."
"My friends? They will find me?"
"Maybe. If they do, you must be ready."
Phoenix stood under the bridge in the relative dryness, looking outward. At the far end of the street, Lynx appeared, walking towards him. She raised a hand in a tired greeting. He smiled slightly.
Myst and Seraph appeared under the bridge.
"Phoenix!" Myst said, flinging her arms around him. He looked surprise and then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. Lynx coughed discreetly.
"Right," said Phoenix, breaking apart from Myst. "We still have a job to do."
"And where exactly am I here?" Neo asked, waving his hand around him.
"Haven't you guessed yet?" Samsara said incredulously. "We're in the Chateau."
"I have never been here," Neo said.
"You haven't," Mukti said, "but she has. Look inside yourself. Find the softest voice within."
The Merovingian laughs. Laughter is a luxury I cannot afford. I roll sideways and fire my weapon at him twice. He lifts a hand and stops the bullets.
Impossible! He yanks out a gun and points it at me, firing. Pain in my side. Hard to breath. Blood pouring out of my wound. It's all going black.
No! Must…not…fail…lifting my head now. He sees me. I see him. He fears me! I see his fear. Power flowing through me, enveloping him in fire. we both burn. I pass from this world.
They are safe.
Neo blinked his eyes. "What was that?"
"That was the voice of your memory," Samsara said. "Specifically, the voice of a young woman known as Dagger. She was an anomaly three emersions before you. She died in the Chateau before ever reaching the Source, died to save her lover. It was a disaster. The whole system almost crashed. One Agent, however, managed to save it."
"Smith," Neo said with utter conviction.
"Exactly," Mukti said. "But he gathered to himself a failsafe against deletion in that time, so if an anomaly ever defeated him he would survive to get revenge. And now that is his only goal."
"There is a weak point in the Mainframe building here," Phoenix explained, pointing to a spot on the blueprint.
"One bomb there could bring this whole section of the building down," he explained. "Myst, that will be your part.
"After the section goes down," he continued, "Lynx and I will go to find Trinity. She's somewhere on the thirteenth floor. Seraph and Myst will distract the Agents."
They both nodded. Seraph stood in the corner, silent. Phoenix looked around.
"Let's go."
Myst nodded to Seraph as they approached the metal detectors. She reached inside her bag and pulled the pin on the grenade inside, sliding the bag into the x-ray machine. The she grabbed Seraph and ran backwards.
A guard looked up when the x-ray buzzed.
"Oh, shit," he said as the grenade exploded. Myst opened fire, cutting down the other two guards.
"That was easy," she said. "Let's go."
She led Seraph down a long hallway, the programming following behind with both guns drawn. Myst looked cautiously down another path and stepped out into the open.
"This is almost too easy," she whispered to herself. From down the hallway, two Agents stepped out of a door.
"Shit," said Myst, turning around. "We'll have to find another way."
Seraph shook his head and stepped forward. The Agents looked at him.
"Destroy him," ordered the first. The second Agent stepped forward and swung a fist at Seraph. Seraph grabbed the fist and twisted it, hearing bones snap. He pulled the Agent in and leapt into the air, kicking the program in the head. He stumbled backwards and crashed into the other Agent. They both rose.
They rushed forward and attack at the same time. Seraph ducked under a fist and hit one in the stomach, sending him into a wall. He slammed a kick into the other one's side, knocking him to the ground. The Agents lay motionless.
"How are you so powerful?" Myst asked.
"Don't you believe in angels?" Seraph asked, continuing down the hallway.
"What is Smith?" Neo asked. "He can't just be an Agent."
"He never was just an Agent. He was the first Agent. The most powerful. But while they updated his software, they never updated his driver. He grew to hate the humans, and let those emotions rule his actions. It made him the most successful, and the Motherboard was afraid to cut back on his programming. He destroyed himself."
"What is he doing with his copies?"
"He seeks to control the Matrix. Once he controls everyone inside, he will bring it down and spread out into the real world like a fire. Nothing will be able to stand in his way."
"He must be stopped."
"Yes."
Myst slapped a bomb onto a support pillar and started running. Seraph slammed into a door, knocking it off its hinges and out of the way. The two fighters made it to the lobby as the countdown reached zero. A wave of fire spread through the hallway, shooting out of the doorway and filling the lobby. The building groaned and began to collapse.
Phoenix and Lynx watched the building fall from across the street. When the dust settled, a corner of the office building was missing.
"It's time," he said. Lynx nodded and ran across the street. Phoenix followed her. She leapt up and grabbed the bottom rung, pulling herself up the fire escape and onto the second floor. Then she helped Phoenix up.
"Eleven more," she said, beginning up the stairs.
They reached the thirteenth floor. Lynx kicked open the door and pointed her two pistols inside.
"Clear. They must have fallen for it."
"Let's not waste time," Phoenix urged. The two ran down the hallway, reaching the room where Trinity was held.
"One…two…three…" Lynx said, kicking open the door. Phoenix instantly targeted one Agent with each gun and started firing. They moved to dodge his bullets and he shifted his aim, firing at their bodies. Lynx turned her guns on them, and the combined firepower took them out.
Lynx rushed forward and pointed her gun at Trinity's handcuffs, squeezing the trigger. The cuffs came off and Trinity stood up, rubbing her wrists.
"Thanks," she said.
"Don't mention it," Phoenix said.
"Neo?"
Lynx shook her head. Trinity closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. The other two rebels waited in silence a few moments.
"Let's get out of here," the woman said. Lynx nodded in agreement.
"Morpheus, where's the nearest hard line?" Myst asked.
"Far," the captain answered. "You're inside the core network."
"Which way?"
"Left. You need to get three miles to the south."
"That will take a while," Myst said. She slowed down as a particular vehicle at the nearby hospital caught her eye.
"Do you see that, sir?"
"Yes. Can you drive it?"
"Not yet."
Supported between Phoenix and Lynx, Trinity limped out of the Mainframe building. They heard a sharp, cutting sound in the sky above them and looked up. A helicopter descended to land in front of them. Seraph waved them on. They gratefully piled into the craft as Myst took off again.
"Which way?" she shouted. She waited for an answer, and then turned the helicopter to the south. They flew in relative silence for a few minutes, and then the helicopter descended and set down next to a pay phone. They were finally out.