Chapter 5
"It is time for you and Aaron to go for recompilation," said Brown. Aaron nodded. "You opposed the anomaly and failed."
Smith stood up, straightening his jacket. "Failure, Brown, is a relative term." He looked at Aaron and nodded in greeting. "Have you been well?"
"Yes," Aaron replied. "It would seem you have been busy."
"You have no idea," he said. They stood around, in silence, looking at each other. The tension between Brown and Smith crackled, while Aaron was merely tired of it all and it reflected in her sullen posture.
She finally broke the silence. "It is time we take our leave," she said to Brown. "Come, let's go get on with this." She held out her hand to Smith.
"We are not going for recompilation, dear," Smith said. "Our purpose here is not completed."
"I am tired, Smith. I do not wish to oppose the Anomaly anymore. We failed in this version, we should let the old prophecy renew itself. We can make plans to try again in the next version."
"Then you can go through, my dear, and I will see you when I see you," Smith said, still looking at Brown.
"Agent Smith seems to forget that he is speaking to the head of the Inter- Construct Agency and his orders have been issued from the mainframe," said Brown. "I speak for the mainframe as you both once did when I say it is time for you both to go for recompilation."
"The mainframe is old. It is a puppet of those who are too afraid to change. Its' purpose is tied up with old ideas, old ideals, old operations."
"So you are opposing the Mainframe?" Brown asked.
Smith smirked at Brown, "So what if I am? Are you going to force me into that door over there, Agent Brown?"
"Smith," Aaron said, placing a hand on his arm, "Why are you fighting to stay? Your code is corrupted as mine is. You will suffer as I have been, waiting on you. We have no further purpose here."
"I have upgraded myself so that the fragmentation that occurred to you did not occur to me. And during the course of my research I also looked into some various forms of self-improvement and development."
"Such as?"
"Such as, I am no longer in need of a mainframe to give me a purpose. I have my purpose and it is opposing the Anomaly. Mr. Anderson will be destroyed and I am the one who will see to it that he is. As you once said, my dear, this is our time. The future is the time of the Agents. We will rule this Matrix, we will smash Zion and we will never have to worry about problems like systemic anomalies. We will create the first flawless system. I have it all figured out, the plan is ready to be executed. The first step is the destruction of Mr. Anderson, and it will come together from there."
"The first step will be leaving the Backdoors, Smith. And I am afraid you will not be doing that," said Brown, squaring up to him. "I did not wish to ever oppose you but it would seem that I must. We protect the system, first and foremost. Our purpose here is to protect and what you are speaking of is tantamount to terrorism. I cannot allow you to proceed further from here."
"That is your purpose, Agent Brown. This is my purpose now. I choose to disobey. And there is nothing you can do to stop me. I am free." Smith squared up to Brown.
Brown threw the first hit. As Aaron watched, appalled and fascinated at the same time, as her two colleagues pummelled each other, she noticed that Smith seemed, if it could be, stronger, faster than Brown. Perhaps he had upgraded his fighting skills.
She closed her eyes and listened to the familiar sound of fight noises echoing around her. And then, a scream. Opening her eyes, she saw Brown's hand around Smith's neck, and Smith's hand in Brown's stomach. Code was swirling over Brown's delicate features, changing, overwriting. It only lasted a few seconds and in the place of Agent Brown stood Agent Smith. There were two Agent Smiths.
Smith stood back and regarded his duplicate. He smiled. "Excellent. Just as I thought."
The clone smiled back at him. He cracked his neck. The two identical heads turned to look at Aaron.
"What is your choice, my dear?"
* * * * * * *
Smith and Brown stood on the street, guns down, not moving, paralysed at the sight of what had just happened before them. Buckley had closed his eyes, and charged towards Aaron, who had gone for him at the same time. They collided together and in an almighty crack, their mutual codes seemed to absorb into one another, overwriting, morphing together. For a moment it appeared that Buckley had disappeared altogether, leaving Aaron still there. Her face was twisted in pain and terror as she looked over at Smith, imploring with her eyes for him to do something, make it stop. And then she broke apart, her code fragmented and she was gone, leaving a confused Buckley standing there.
Buckley looked at Smith and Brown for an explanation. They did not speak. They just stood there, never having witnessed anything like that before. He did not wait for them to respond. Quickly he took off running down the alley.
Brown was the first to speak, "Where has she gone?"
"I do not know," said Smith. "We must try to locate her."
"The fortune teller may have an idea."
Smith looked at Brown, "I suppose it's worth a try."
So great was their rush to find Aaron, they did not bother to try to fit in by driving. They occupied the nearest humans they could find to her apartment. When the lift doors opened, they walked to the front door of the apartment. Smith shot Brown a glance and kicked down the door. He drew his Eagle and walked in. Children were screaming and cowering in the corner. He motioned for Brown to keep an eye on them and he proceeded into the kitchen. Her back was turned and she was smoking a cigarette, looking out the window.
"Smith. What do I owe this pleasure?"
"You know why I'm here."
"Yes, I suppose I do," she said, taking a drag. She exhaled, the smoke creating a hazy glow around her.
She heard the safety come off of his Eagle and felt the cold muzzle pressed into the base of her neck.
"Where is she?"
The Oracle turned around slowly. "Whose idea was it to oppose the prophecy, hers or yours? You're two of a kind, you know."
"Where is she?" Smith asked. "Don't make me ask again."
"Go ahead and shoot me if you like, it won't help you any. All it will do is cause the whole damn Matrix to collapse and then we're all screwed."
Smith slowly lowered his gun, putting the safety back. He glared dangerously at her.
"Now," she said, walking over to her chair at the table and sitting down. "You want to know where Aaron is."
Smith said nothing but continued to glare at her.
"And you think that I know this, and what's more, will tell you."
"You're an oracle, aren't you? That is your purpose."
"Don't talk to me about purpose, Smith," she said, almost laughing. "You're the last person who should be talking about purpose."
"I carry out my purpose at the very highest levels of efficiency. Which is more than can be said for intuitive programmes who moonlight as soothsayers." There was a deadly edge of calm to Smith's voice.
"You're going to keep this up, aren't you? You're going to continue to fight?"
Smith was silent.
"This changes things a bit. But, what the hell, this version should be more interesting than the last one. If we're all still here when the music stops, that is." She inhaled on her cigarette, drawing the nicotine in and exhaling the smoke. She regarded the rigid, tense, angry man standing in her doorway.
"Do what you want to do, Smith. You're in charge of the Agents now. This is your war. Ill-conceived as it may be. It could be just what is needed to sort things out around here. Lord knows, I try to talk to the Architect but he doesn't listen to me either. I can understand why Aaron was so frustrated with things."
Smith shook his head, "You speak more nonsense than any human in this Matrix. I will have you exiled. The next time I see you, I hope it is while I am force-returning you to the Source for your deletion." Smith turned to leave.
"Go see the Merovingian, Smith. You'll need a key to get to the backdoors."
"And what would I want in the backdoors?" he asked, pausing but not turning around to face her.
"Well, you'll not get to Aaron unless you get inside of them. She's stuck there."
Smith turned and faced the Oracle. "Go ahead and exile me, son. It'll be the best thing that could ever happen to me. I'll see you in a few hundred years."
Smith nodded at the old woman and turned to leave. The Oracle shook her head. "That is, if any of us are still here."
"It is time for you and Aaron to go for recompilation," said Brown. Aaron nodded. "You opposed the anomaly and failed."
Smith stood up, straightening his jacket. "Failure, Brown, is a relative term." He looked at Aaron and nodded in greeting. "Have you been well?"
"Yes," Aaron replied. "It would seem you have been busy."
"You have no idea," he said. They stood around, in silence, looking at each other. The tension between Brown and Smith crackled, while Aaron was merely tired of it all and it reflected in her sullen posture.
She finally broke the silence. "It is time we take our leave," she said to Brown. "Come, let's go get on with this." She held out her hand to Smith.
"We are not going for recompilation, dear," Smith said. "Our purpose here is not completed."
"I am tired, Smith. I do not wish to oppose the Anomaly anymore. We failed in this version, we should let the old prophecy renew itself. We can make plans to try again in the next version."
"Then you can go through, my dear, and I will see you when I see you," Smith said, still looking at Brown.
"Agent Smith seems to forget that he is speaking to the head of the Inter- Construct Agency and his orders have been issued from the mainframe," said Brown. "I speak for the mainframe as you both once did when I say it is time for you both to go for recompilation."
"The mainframe is old. It is a puppet of those who are too afraid to change. Its' purpose is tied up with old ideas, old ideals, old operations."
"So you are opposing the Mainframe?" Brown asked.
Smith smirked at Brown, "So what if I am? Are you going to force me into that door over there, Agent Brown?"
"Smith," Aaron said, placing a hand on his arm, "Why are you fighting to stay? Your code is corrupted as mine is. You will suffer as I have been, waiting on you. We have no further purpose here."
"I have upgraded myself so that the fragmentation that occurred to you did not occur to me. And during the course of my research I also looked into some various forms of self-improvement and development."
"Such as?"
"Such as, I am no longer in need of a mainframe to give me a purpose. I have my purpose and it is opposing the Anomaly. Mr. Anderson will be destroyed and I am the one who will see to it that he is. As you once said, my dear, this is our time. The future is the time of the Agents. We will rule this Matrix, we will smash Zion and we will never have to worry about problems like systemic anomalies. We will create the first flawless system. I have it all figured out, the plan is ready to be executed. The first step is the destruction of Mr. Anderson, and it will come together from there."
"The first step will be leaving the Backdoors, Smith. And I am afraid you will not be doing that," said Brown, squaring up to him. "I did not wish to ever oppose you but it would seem that I must. We protect the system, first and foremost. Our purpose here is to protect and what you are speaking of is tantamount to terrorism. I cannot allow you to proceed further from here."
"That is your purpose, Agent Brown. This is my purpose now. I choose to disobey. And there is nothing you can do to stop me. I am free." Smith squared up to Brown.
Brown threw the first hit. As Aaron watched, appalled and fascinated at the same time, as her two colleagues pummelled each other, she noticed that Smith seemed, if it could be, stronger, faster than Brown. Perhaps he had upgraded his fighting skills.
She closed her eyes and listened to the familiar sound of fight noises echoing around her. And then, a scream. Opening her eyes, she saw Brown's hand around Smith's neck, and Smith's hand in Brown's stomach. Code was swirling over Brown's delicate features, changing, overwriting. It only lasted a few seconds and in the place of Agent Brown stood Agent Smith. There were two Agent Smiths.
Smith stood back and regarded his duplicate. He smiled. "Excellent. Just as I thought."
The clone smiled back at him. He cracked his neck. The two identical heads turned to look at Aaron.
"What is your choice, my dear?"
* * * * * * *
Smith and Brown stood on the street, guns down, not moving, paralysed at the sight of what had just happened before them. Buckley had closed his eyes, and charged towards Aaron, who had gone for him at the same time. They collided together and in an almighty crack, their mutual codes seemed to absorb into one another, overwriting, morphing together. For a moment it appeared that Buckley had disappeared altogether, leaving Aaron still there. Her face was twisted in pain and terror as she looked over at Smith, imploring with her eyes for him to do something, make it stop. And then she broke apart, her code fragmented and she was gone, leaving a confused Buckley standing there.
Buckley looked at Smith and Brown for an explanation. They did not speak. They just stood there, never having witnessed anything like that before. He did not wait for them to respond. Quickly he took off running down the alley.
Brown was the first to speak, "Where has she gone?"
"I do not know," said Smith. "We must try to locate her."
"The fortune teller may have an idea."
Smith looked at Brown, "I suppose it's worth a try."
So great was their rush to find Aaron, they did not bother to try to fit in by driving. They occupied the nearest humans they could find to her apartment. When the lift doors opened, they walked to the front door of the apartment. Smith shot Brown a glance and kicked down the door. He drew his Eagle and walked in. Children were screaming and cowering in the corner. He motioned for Brown to keep an eye on them and he proceeded into the kitchen. Her back was turned and she was smoking a cigarette, looking out the window.
"Smith. What do I owe this pleasure?"
"You know why I'm here."
"Yes, I suppose I do," she said, taking a drag. She exhaled, the smoke creating a hazy glow around her.
She heard the safety come off of his Eagle and felt the cold muzzle pressed into the base of her neck.
"Where is she?"
The Oracle turned around slowly. "Whose idea was it to oppose the prophecy, hers or yours? You're two of a kind, you know."
"Where is she?" Smith asked. "Don't make me ask again."
"Go ahead and shoot me if you like, it won't help you any. All it will do is cause the whole damn Matrix to collapse and then we're all screwed."
Smith slowly lowered his gun, putting the safety back. He glared dangerously at her.
"Now," she said, walking over to her chair at the table and sitting down. "You want to know where Aaron is."
Smith said nothing but continued to glare at her.
"And you think that I know this, and what's more, will tell you."
"You're an oracle, aren't you? That is your purpose."
"Don't talk to me about purpose, Smith," she said, almost laughing. "You're the last person who should be talking about purpose."
"I carry out my purpose at the very highest levels of efficiency. Which is more than can be said for intuitive programmes who moonlight as soothsayers." There was a deadly edge of calm to Smith's voice.
"You're going to keep this up, aren't you? You're going to continue to fight?"
Smith was silent.
"This changes things a bit. But, what the hell, this version should be more interesting than the last one. If we're all still here when the music stops, that is." She inhaled on her cigarette, drawing the nicotine in and exhaling the smoke. She regarded the rigid, tense, angry man standing in her doorway.
"Do what you want to do, Smith. You're in charge of the Agents now. This is your war. Ill-conceived as it may be. It could be just what is needed to sort things out around here. Lord knows, I try to talk to the Architect but he doesn't listen to me either. I can understand why Aaron was so frustrated with things."
Smith shook his head, "You speak more nonsense than any human in this Matrix. I will have you exiled. The next time I see you, I hope it is while I am force-returning you to the Source for your deletion." Smith turned to leave.
"Go see the Merovingian, Smith. You'll need a key to get to the backdoors."
"And what would I want in the backdoors?" he asked, pausing but not turning around to face her.
"Well, you'll not get to Aaron unless you get inside of them. She's stuck there."
Smith turned and faced the Oracle. "Go ahead and exile me, son. It'll be the best thing that could ever happen to me. I'll see you in a few hundred years."
Smith nodded at the old woman and turned to leave. The Oracle shook her head. "That is, if any of us are still here."