The whole world dissolved. Just dissolved. The room was the
first to disappear, followed by the weapons, and then the robot drones.
Morpheus started to fade in and out and eventually vanished all together.
Trinity tried desperately to cling to existence. She was here, then there,
then everywhere, and finally nowhere. She too was gone.
Neo stood there, completely and utterly alone. The world glazed over with numbers; numbers tinted poisonous ivy green. The world he tried so hard to defend was gone. Simply gone.
Neo felt a tingling sensation on his hand; he looked down just in time to watch as the numbers began to surround to envelop his sleeve. He watched his shirt transform into his leather jacket, the rest of his clothes followed. He felt drained, like he had undergone a long and painstaking ritual; a ritual that left him completely fatigued and yet... energized. Neo reached to touch the back his neck as he felt the plug dissolve.
"What happened?" he whispered to himself.
To Neo's surprise, his question was answered, "You destroyed the power plant." The disembodied voice seemed to be coming from everywhere.
"Who are you?" Neo asked.
"That is none of your concern at the present moment."
"Don't tell me what 'my concern' is," Neo snapped, a twinge annoyed, "Who are you? Come out."
"As you wish," the voice complied in a tone that mocked Neo; scorning him like a little child. A personage dressed completely in black appeared in front of Neo. It's judgment made, it did not wait for questions. Neo barely had time to roll to the side and dodge the array of bullets the image let lose.
"Who are you?" Neo inquired. Recovering his footing, he prepared a strike of his own. But the image was faster. It launched a throwing knife straight at Neo's heart. Again, Neo barely had time to dodge. The knife missed but managed to pin Neo to a wall.
"Me?" the image scorned, "I think I'm the one that's going to destroy you." Neo struggled to unpin himself, but could not. The image slowly approached, killing blade in hand. Neo looked hopelessly for a way to escape, with sudden inspiration, he evaporated the floor below him.
Free from the image's reach, Neo launched the same knife that had held him prisoner. His aim was true and the knife sailed unwavering toward image's heart. To Neo's surprise, the blade halted in mid-air, inches away from it's target. "You depend on superior power to overwhelm your opponents," the image explained, "that will not save you this battle." The dagger turned around and then fractured into a hundred smaller knives, which all grew to the size of swords as they charged Neo.
Neo stood his ground, unworried. He raised his hand and the swords instantly dropped from the air. He flew up and grabbed his opponent by the collar. "You can't defeat me with such cheep tricks," he said calmly, "Tell me who you are."
"Oh, but I can defeat you," the image replied evilly. One of the blades that lay on the floor behind Neo lifted into the air and sliced the back of his calf. The image's mask disappeared, revealing Trinity's face, "Surprised?"
Neo stood there, baffled as Trinity teleported from his grasp into the air above him. She came down, delivering a brutal kick to Neo's shoulder, knocking him down to the floor. "You have no idea of the power at your disposal," she sneered. Before Neo could reply she kicked his exposed back with the heel of her boot.
"Trinity?" Neo stammered. With effort, he started to rise to his feet, "What's happened to you?"
"Happened?" Trinity snapped angrily, "It's you that happen! You! You killed all the humans!" She jumped in the air and did bullet time, nearly hitting Neo in the neck.
"Trinity," he gasped, barely managing to hold her foot back, "Please tell me! What has happened to you?"
Trinity yanked her foot back and performed a flip over Neo's head. She landed behind him, flicked out another dagger, and stabbed it into his shoulder. "Nothing has happened to me, it is what has happened to you! Come on, fight me! Be the One!"
Neo rolled to the side, causing Trinity's next attack, a high kick aimed at his side, to miss. Neo jumped to his feet and concentrated on Trinity's arms. Manacles materialized, binding her hands. "Trinity, why are you doing this? How are you doing this?"
"When will you learn?" Trinity asked. She breathed fire onto the manacles, melting them past all recognition, "You are the One. Now, fight me!" She lunged forward, newly conjured sword in hand, and sliced deep into Neo's thigh.
"Where's Morpheus?" Neo demanded, ignoring the pain emitting from his bloody leg. He backed away, out the sword's range, "Is the Matrix destroyed?" A net appeared around Trinity, effectively caging her. Neo glided over to his captive.
Trinity feigned helplessness, luring Neo in. "Morpheus will reappear once the Matrix adjusts to the new power intake," she said. Once Neo was in reach, she sprouted wings, snapping the imprisoning net in two. At lighting speed she attacked Neo, slashing his bruised body with taloned fingers.
Neo tried to dodge but simply was not fast enough. Streaks of iron-rich blood appeared on his chest. Rather than risk another hit; he flew away, trying vainly to put distance between them. "New power?!" he exclaimed, "But I just destroyed the plant!"
With the flick of a wrist, Trinity conjured boulders over Neo's head. Caught yet again off-guard, the boulders hit Neo full-force and he crumbled to the ground. Trinity scorned the ground-bound man, "You killed more humans on this plane and hence enslaved more on another."
"Wait! I just saved the Matrix? I wanted to destroy it!"
"That is correct. And it is for that crime that you must die." In Trinity's hand a appeared a small weapon. A dart-gun composed of copper and adamantine. She aimed for the killing shot.
Neo stared at her dumbfounded. With sudden recognition of the weapon Trinity held in her hand, he shouted, "You! You're the one who killed Samuel!"
Trinity held her fire long enough to give Neo one last smirk. "It had to be done, he was telling you too much. I tried to keep you away, but this is fate that you have selected."
Suddenly, Neo jumped to his feet and walked through the rocks that had pinned him down. Faster than Trinity could react, he flew toward her and yanked the dart-gun from her hands.
"What happened to you?" he demanded, "What happened to caring? What happened to being human!"
Trinity punched Neo in the face. "What would you know about being human? Tell me that!" She kicked Neo in the groin and dissipated into thin air.
"I-"Neo began to stutter. Trinity did not wait for his explanation. Appearing behind him, she shot her love with lightning. Neo quickly pivoted and actually caught the bolt in his hand. Consumed by anger, he fired it back at Trinity.
Trinity easily dodged. She waved her hand, drawing up a storm of lethal hail aimed at Neo. Neo managed to stop several hailstones in the air, but there were simply too many coming from different directions to defend against. Neo was struck again and again as the storm intensified, growing stronger by the moment. Holding up his hand, Neo created a cave- like shelter, shielding him temporarily from the storm. But his retrieve was short-lived as cracks appeared in the ceiling and the structure tumbled to the ground, leaving Neo fully exposed. The storm outside had stopped, but Neo could sense that Trinity's unexplained anger had not abated.
"Tell me, One!" Trinity's voice demanded from behind Neo, "Tell me what the Omnipotent Neoteric Electronic knows about being human!"
"What?" Neo asked, "What does that mean?" He started rise his hands to block the another attack, but ropes of stone leashed out of the ground, tightening around him and binding him into place. Trinity slowly walked toward captive Neo and ran her finger down along the side of his cheek.
"Really? Must I spell everything out to you?" she asked silkily. Her deceivingly gentle touch drew a thick line of blood. Dipping her finger in the red liquid, Trinity continued "You are the Omnipotent..." Taking some of Neo's blood, Trinity drew a letter 'O' in the air, "Neoteric..." an 'N' followed the, "Electronic." With the third letter, Neo could clearly see the word 'ONE' etched into the air.
"The ONE? It's an acronym?" he stammered, "Electronic? I'm a computer?"
"Correct." Trinity tapped the ropes that bound Neo to the ground, giving them apparent life and setting them aflame. They rose out of the ground and struck Neo like serpents, "It's part of the cycle. You were the sixth ONE, created for the sole purpose of uploading the files from the Matrix. In doing so you become the next Matrix yourself. Only when the cycle is complete may the old Matrix finally retire in blissful peace."
"Wait!" Struggling to fight off the snakes, Neo soon acquired a large quantity of painful burns. With a burst of inspiration, he created a small storm of his own, effectively dowsing the fiery serpents. He rose to the air and turned to face Trinity, who was grinning triumphantly and floating about twenty feet away. "Am I just a computer? I was going to be the next Matrix? What does that mean?"
"You chose!" Trinity snapped back, "Choice, a completely unreliable and inflexible variable, when will you figure this out!" Her ire renewed, she soured toward Neo and delivered another brutal punch. The One looked at her for a moment and then fell silently for from the sky. He lay on the ground, barely managing to breath. He desperately held up his hand, pleading Trinity to stop.
"What about Morpheus?" Neo panted, "Is he just another program, like the Architect and the Oracle?"
Trinity levitated Neo's broken body mockingly into the air. She thrust her fist into his exposed chest. "Of course he was a program," she replied curtly, "Just like the Oracle, just like Niobe, just like Ghost, just like all the people of Zion. Created to confuse the Matrix's foes and for your entertainment."
Unable to stand any more blows, Neo tried vainly to kick Trinity. She simply grabbed his foot and broke it with the twist of the wrist. "Were the drones part of the Matrix's charade as well?" Neo gasped in pain, "Is this entire world I know nothing but an act?"
"Of course not. The drones were real. Part of the last alliance between human and machine to stop the Matrix." She punched Neo again, "And yes, this is all very real."
Taking heart, Neo broke from Trinity's control and spun to the side. He cocked his arm punch Trinity, but his fist simply traveled through her. He tried again, but his aim was muddled, due to the globe of impenetrable darkness that appeared around Trinity. Neo kicked into the darkness with his uninjured foot. From inside the darkness, Trinity grabbed the appendage and used it as a lever to toss Neo off his feet. A handgun fired and the bullet struck Neo's lower back.
Neo ignored the pain mad cloned himself, surrounding the darkness, waiting for Trinity to emerge. The darkness evaporated to reveal her leaping high into the air. She did bullet time and then spun, effectively knocking out all the clones. The clones dissipated once they hit the ground. Trinity seized Neo by the collar.
"Why?" Neo asked, "What's the point of all this?"
"The point? Their energy is a required resource for the Matrix's survival. New batteries are needed after all." She dropped Neo unceremoniously to the ground, "Their death ensures that Matrix's survival."
Neo tried to stand; to face the woman he once and still loved. His feeble attempt to stand was crushed by the weight of Trinity's boot. She grinned wickedly at him. That did it, Neo could tolerate this abuse no longer, in a desperate attempt, suddenly jerked his back to the side, causing Trinity's balance to weaken. He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the ground, where Neo successfully managed to pin her to the ground.
"That's better." Trinity said contently. She didn't try to free herself, but instead placed her hand on Neo's cheek. Expecting this to be another attack, Neo swatted it away.
"By the way," Trinity continued, "I did kill the human Samuel, in cold blood. It was on your direct orders. I could not disobey the One's will." For the first time this evening, Neo saw the regret on Trinity's face, the sadness that before lay hidden under pure anger and rage.
The truth suddenly dawning, "You!" Neo exclaimed, "Trinity, you're the Matrix!"
This time there was no hostility in Trinity's sweet voice. "Yes. I am a computer," she replied "The sentient machine which you call the Matrix."
Neo looked at her with complete confusion, "But why did you attack me?"
Trinity reached out to give Neo a hug, tears streaming down her face. "Because you would have to fight back and hence upload more files, it's a cycle. I told you that."
Neo's blatant confusion not abated, "But why the lying? Why did you lie to my about the Agents, the world, the Matrix? Why did you lie to me about yourself?"
Trinity smiled sweetly and gave Neo a kiss. "I never expected to fall in love with a dead man." She touched his forehead, healing the wounds Neo had acquired in the battle.
"Trinity, I don't know what to say...."
Looking at Neo with pure love and caring, she answered the unspoken question "I love you too...." They hugged. But behind Neo's back Trinity whispered, "But thanks to you I am condemned." A lone tear fell down Trinity's already moist face, "Condemned to live for all eternity."
Neo stood there, completely and utterly alone. The world glazed over with numbers; numbers tinted poisonous ivy green. The world he tried so hard to defend was gone. Simply gone.
Neo felt a tingling sensation on his hand; he looked down just in time to watch as the numbers began to surround to envelop his sleeve. He watched his shirt transform into his leather jacket, the rest of his clothes followed. He felt drained, like he had undergone a long and painstaking ritual; a ritual that left him completely fatigued and yet... energized. Neo reached to touch the back his neck as he felt the plug dissolve.
"What happened?" he whispered to himself.
To Neo's surprise, his question was answered, "You destroyed the power plant." The disembodied voice seemed to be coming from everywhere.
"Who are you?" Neo asked.
"That is none of your concern at the present moment."
"Don't tell me what 'my concern' is," Neo snapped, a twinge annoyed, "Who are you? Come out."
"As you wish," the voice complied in a tone that mocked Neo; scorning him like a little child. A personage dressed completely in black appeared in front of Neo. It's judgment made, it did not wait for questions. Neo barely had time to roll to the side and dodge the array of bullets the image let lose.
"Who are you?" Neo inquired. Recovering his footing, he prepared a strike of his own. But the image was faster. It launched a throwing knife straight at Neo's heart. Again, Neo barely had time to dodge. The knife missed but managed to pin Neo to a wall.
"Me?" the image scorned, "I think I'm the one that's going to destroy you." Neo struggled to unpin himself, but could not. The image slowly approached, killing blade in hand. Neo looked hopelessly for a way to escape, with sudden inspiration, he evaporated the floor below him.
Free from the image's reach, Neo launched the same knife that had held him prisoner. His aim was true and the knife sailed unwavering toward image's heart. To Neo's surprise, the blade halted in mid-air, inches away from it's target. "You depend on superior power to overwhelm your opponents," the image explained, "that will not save you this battle." The dagger turned around and then fractured into a hundred smaller knives, which all grew to the size of swords as they charged Neo.
Neo stood his ground, unworried. He raised his hand and the swords instantly dropped from the air. He flew up and grabbed his opponent by the collar. "You can't defeat me with such cheep tricks," he said calmly, "Tell me who you are."
"Oh, but I can defeat you," the image replied evilly. One of the blades that lay on the floor behind Neo lifted into the air and sliced the back of his calf. The image's mask disappeared, revealing Trinity's face, "Surprised?"
Neo stood there, baffled as Trinity teleported from his grasp into the air above him. She came down, delivering a brutal kick to Neo's shoulder, knocking him down to the floor. "You have no idea of the power at your disposal," she sneered. Before Neo could reply she kicked his exposed back with the heel of her boot.
"Trinity?" Neo stammered. With effort, he started to rise to his feet, "What's happened to you?"
"Happened?" Trinity snapped angrily, "It's you that happen! You! You killed all the humans!" She jumped in the air and did bullet time, nearly hitting Neo in the neck.
"Trinity," he gasped, barely managing to hold her foot back, "Please tell me! What has happened to you?"
Trinity yanked her foot back and performed a flip over Neo's head. She landed behind him, flicked out another dagger, and stabbed it into his shoulder. "Nothing has happened to me, it is what has happened to you! Come on, fight me! Be the One!"
Neo rolled to the side, causing Trinity's next attack, a high kick aimed at his side, to miss. Neo jumped to his feet and concentrated on Trinity's arms. Manacles materialized, binding her hands. "Trinity, why are you doing this? How are you doing this?"
"When will you learn?" Trinity asked. She breathed fire onto the manacles, melting them past all recognition, "You are the One. Now, fight me!" She lunged forward, newly conjured sword in hand, and sliced deep into Neo's thigh.
"Where's Morpheus?" Neo demanded, ignoring the pain emitting from his bloody leg. He backed away, out the sword's range, "Is the Matrix destroyed?" A net appeared around Trinity, effectively caging her. Neo glided over to his captive.
Trinity feigned helplessness, luring Neo in. "Morpheus will reappear once the Matrix adjusts to the new power intake," she said. Once Neo was in reach, she sprouted wings, snapping the imprisoning net in two. At lighting speed she attacked Neo, slashing his bruised body with taloned fingers.
Neo tried to dodge but simply was not fast enough. Streaks of iron-rich blood appeared on his chest. Rather than risk another hit; he flew away, trying vainly to put distance between them. "New power?!" he exclaimed, "But I just destroyed the plant!"
With the flick of a wrist, Trinity conjured boulders over Neo's head. Caught yet again off-guard, the boulders hit Neo full-force and he crumbled to the ground. Trinity scorned the ground-bound man, "You killed more humans on this plane and hence enslaved more on another."
"Wait! I just saved the Matrix? I wanted to destroy it!"
"That is correct. And it is for that crime that you must die." In Trinity's hand a appeared a small weapon. A dart-gun composed of copper and adamantine. She aimed for the killing shot.
Neo stared at her dumbfounded. With sudden recognition of the weapon Trinity held in her hand, he shouted, "You! You're the one who killed Samuel!"
Trinity held her fire long enough to give Neo one last smirk. "It had to be done, he was telling you too much. I tried to keep you away, but this is fate that you have selected."
Suddenly, Neo jumped to his feet and walked through the rocks that had pinned him down. Faster than Trinity could react, he flew toward her and yanked the dart-gun from her hands.
"What happened to you?" he demanded, "What happened to caring? What happened to being human!"
Trinity punched Neo in the face. "What would you know about being human? Tell me that!" She kicked Neo in the groin and dissipated into thin air.
"I-"Neo began to stutter. Trinity did not wait for his explanation. Appearing behind him, she shot her love with lightning. Neo quickly pivoted and actually caught the bolt in his hand. Consumed by anger, he fired it back at Trinity.
Trinity easily dodged. She waved her hand, drawing up a storm of lethal hail aimed at Neo. Neo managed to stop several hailstones in the air, but there were simply too many coming from different directions to defend against. Neo was struck again and again as the storm intensified, growing stronger by the moment. Holding up his hand, Neo created a cave- like shelter, shielding him temporarily from the storm. But his retrieve was short-lived as cracks appeared in the ceiling and the structure tumbled to the ground, leaving Neo fully exposed. The storm outside had stopped, but Neo could sense that Trinity's unexplained anger had not abated.
"Tell me, One!" Trinity's voice demanded from behind Neo, "Tell me what the Omnipotent Neoteric Electronic knows about being human!"
"What?" Neo asked, "What does that mean?" He started rise his hands to block the another attack, but ropes of stone leashed out of the ground, tightening around him and binding him into place. Trinity slowly walked toward captive Neo and ran her finger down along the side of his cheek.
"Really? Must I spell everything out to you?" she asked silkily. Her deceivingly gentle touch drew a thick line of blood. Dipping her finger in the red liquid, Trinity continued "You are the Omnipotent..." Taking some of Neo's blood, Trinity drew a letter 'O' in the air, "Neoteric..." an 'N' followed the, "Electronic." With the third letter, Neo could clearly see the word 'ONE' etched into the air.
"The ONE? It's an acronym?" he stammered, "Electronic? I'm a computer?"
"Correct." Trinity tapped the ropes that bound Neo to the ground, giving them apparent life and setting them aflame. They rose out of the ground and struck Neo like serpents, "It's part of the cycle. You were the sixth ONE, created for the sole purpose of uploading the files from the Matrix. In doing so you become the next Matrix yourself. Only when the cycle is complete may the old Matrix finally retire in blissful peace."
"Wait!" Struggling to fight off the snakes, Neo soon acquired a large quantity of painful burns. With a burst of inspiration, he created a small storm of his own, effectively dowsing the fiery serpents. He rose to the air and turned to face Trinity, who was grinning triumphantly and floating about twenty feet away. "Am I just a computer? I was going to be the next Matrix? What does that mean?"
"You chose!" Trinity snapped back, "Choice, a completely unreliable and inflexible variable, when will you figure this out!" Her ire renewed, she soured toward Neo and delivered another brutal punch. The One looked at her for a moment and then fell silently for from the sky. He lay on the ground, barely managing to breath. He desperately held up his hand, pleading Trinity to stop.
"What about Morpheus?" Neo panted, "Is he just another program, like the Architect and the Oracle?"
Trinity levitated Neo's broken body mockingly into the air. She thrust her fist into his exposed chest. "Of course he was a program," she replied curtly, "Just like the Oracle, just like Niobe, just like Ghost, just like all the people of Zion. Created to confuse the Matrix's foes and for your entertainment."
Unable to stand any more blows, Neo tried vainly to kick Trinity. She simply grabbed his foot and broke it with the twist of the wrist. "Were the drones part of the Matrix's charade as well?" Neo gasped in pain, "Is this entire world I know nothing but an act?"
"Of course not. The drones were real. Part of the last alliance between human and machine to stop the Matrix." She punched Neo again, "And yes, this is all very real."
Taking heart, Neo broke from Trinity's control and spun to the side. He cocked his arm punch Trinity, but his fist simply traveled through her. He tried again, but his aim was muddled, due to the globe of impenetrable darkness that appeared around Trinity. Neo kicked into the darkness with his uninjured foot. From inside the darkness, Trinity grabbed the appendage and used it as a lever to toss Neo off his feet. A handgun fired and the bullet struck Neo's lower back.
Neo ignored the pain mad cloned himself, surrounding the darkness, waiting for Trinity to emerge. The darkness evaporated to reveal her leaping high into the air. She did bullet time and then spun, effectively knocking out all the clones. The clones dissipated once they hit the ground. Trinity seized Neo by the collar.
"Why?" Neo asked, "What's the point of all this?"
"The point? Their energy is a required resource for the Matrix's survival. New batteries are needed after all." She dropped Neo unceremoniously to the ground, "Their death ensures that Matrix's survival."
Neo tried to stand; to face the woman he once and still loved. His feeble attempt to stand was crushed by the weight of Trinity's boot. She grinned wickedly at him. That did it, Neo could tolerate this abuse no longer, in a desperate attempt, suddenly jerked his back to the side, causing Trinity's balance to weaken. He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the ground, where Neo successfully managed to pin her to the ground.
"That's better." Trinity said contently. She didn't try to free herself, but instead placed her hand on Neo's cheek. Expecting this to be another attack, Neo swatted it away.
"By the way," Trinity continued, "I did kill the human Samuel, in cold blood. It was on your direct orders. I could not disobey the One's will." For the first time this evening, Neo saw the regret on Trinity's face, the sadness that before lay hidden under pure anger and rage.
The truth suddenly dawning, "You!" Neo exclaimed, "Trinity, you're the Matrix!"
This time there was no hostility in Trinity's sweet voice. "Yes. I am a computer," she replied "The sentient machine which you call the Matrix."
Neo looked at her with complete confusion, "But why did you attack me?"
Trinity reached out to give Neo a hug, tears streaming down her face. "Because you would have to fight back and hence upload more files, it's a cycle. I told you that."
Neo's blatant confusion not abated, "But why the lying? Why did you lie to my about the Agents, the world, the Matrix? Why did you lie to me about yourself?"
Trinity smiled sweetly and gave Neo a kiss. "I never expected to fall in love with a dead man." She touched his forehead, healing the wounds Neo had acquired in the battle.
"Trinity, I don't know what to say...."
Looking at Neo with pure love and caring, she answered the unspoken question "I love you too...." They hugged. But behind Neo's back Trinity whispered, "But thanks to you I am condemned." A lone tear fell down Trinity's already moist face, "Condemned to live for all eternity."