Protector Ch 15

Zandra was clueless, and fidgety. Should she go back outside and see if the last directions would re-upload into her? Again she wondered if she had done something wrong. She walked over to the door she came in through and jiggled the handle. It was still locked. She tried to bang it open, but it didn't work. She kicked it with a force much larger than any normal door would be able to withstand, but it still did not open.

She turned back around to survey the room around her once more. No doors, no windows, wait – a door? Zandra could have sworn that there was nothing there before, or else she wouldn't have had to fight the agent…

It was the same color of the walls, the same greenish-gray that pervaded the room and made her feel almost claustrophobic. But there was a handle, and there were definitely lines forming the silhouette of the door. She walked over to it, curious. She jiggled the handle with her free hand, and it opened. Through the door was another dimly lit room that she now entered.

"Hello, Zandra," said a voice from the shadows. She steadied her gun.

"There are no agents here," the voice said. A man walked out from behind the shadows and sat in a chair. He motioned for her to sit across from him. She briefly looked around; this somewhat reminded her of the place she and Shade had sparred in. There was the same old-world feel here as the upload.

Kesia was dumbfounded. A second earlier Zandra had been in the room with the agent, and now she was nowhere to be seen. Kesia immediately alerted Cover, who had been walking back to his car.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Zandra's just disappeared."

"You can't find her code?"

"No, she was just fighting an agent."

Cover became very interested. "How did she do?"

"Well, I guess – she's alive, and she was able to kill him."

"Is she ok?"

"She got shaved, but she's okay. She was allright last I checked, but now…"

"She's resourceful."

"Right."

"An exit?"

"Neo?" Zandra asked, squinting in an attempt to discern the dim figure in front of her.

"Yes. I'm sorry about the agent, but I had to make sure that you were the right person."

"I see." Zandra came closer, and Neo's body came into the dim light. She was almost startled. He looked tall, dark hair that fell into his eyes, slim yet powerfully built… He didn't look like an informant.

"You're hit," he said, looking closely at her side. Zandra looked down and sure enough, the blood was still there. She had almost forgotten about it with everything, but now that she was reminded of it, the pain seeped back.

"It's just a clip, I'll survive."

"Wait." Neo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Everything was unnaturally silent. Zandra felt the stinging subside, replaced by a tingling feeling. Neo opened his eyes again, and the tingling stopped. Zandra looked down at herself, somewhat bewildered. The blood was still there, but she wasn't in pain anymore.

"What?" she whispered, almost to herself. She looked at Neo, asking how, but he either did not recognize her look, or didn't wish to answer it.

"You were told to come here?"

Zandra tried to get her mind back on track, and blinked a few times.

"By a man named Emory."

"Good," Neo said, settling back into his chair.

"Why are you hiding here?" she asked. She wasn't sure if her question was valid, but went ahead anyway.

"I am hiding from the system," he replied. Zandra stared at him confusedly. She wouldn't understand yet, and Neo was a little worried that she wouldn't be able to take what he had to give her. But, if this was what Emory had to give him, he had to at least try.

"You haven't answered my question."

Neo paused for a moment. Her comment sounded familiar, like something he had said before. A lifetime ago. But now was not the time to reminisce.

"Right," he said slowly, "But only because I'm not sure you can take the answer."

"Try me."

Neo sighed. If that's what she wanted, he might as well go for it.

"I come from an older version of the Matrix."

"Bullshit," was Zandra's immediate reply, half in joking disbelief, and half in doubt. Again Neo felt the odd memory, he had said this before, he had gone through this before...

"There is only one version," she continued, staring him down. Inside Zandra's mind was running overdrive, there was only one… right? Another Zion? Maybe this guy was just another liar… another program? This was too radical to believe, though lately it seemed like every moment was dedicated to a new epiphany.

"How would you know otherwise?" Neo countered. He had to be careful not to sound condescending while explaining the truth; there was so much the rest of the world didn't know, and it was hard to stay humble when knowledge was the only thing he possessed.

"We would."

"It's been done before. All of this."

"How would you know?"

"I was in your situation. They called me the One too-"

"The one?"

Neo was confused, and momentarily off-track. Could it be possible that Emory sent someone other than the One? Obviously she manifested traits of one-ness, but had the Oracle not contacted them yet? "I could see the code," he replied in explanation, "I could do anything. They told me I would end the war."

"They haven't said anything about a 'one'." Zandra was almost triumphant.

"They will if they haven't already."

Zandra still didn't believe him. "How do you know?"

"The programs have every form of control, the Oracle will contact you and tell you you're the one."

"How can I trust you?"

Neo was caught with the question that he had hoped she would not ask.

"I guess it's hard to tell."

"Yeah."

"You should know though," he started again, "That if I lead you astray, I have everything to lose."

He sighed inwardly.

"Why are you hiding?" Zandra repeated.

"I was supposed to die, supposed to be deleted. But I decided to hide instead."

"How long have you been here?"

"Thirty years, about."

Zandra suddenly noticed the connection. "Zion," she whispered. Though the connection could have easily been fabricated, it struck her as genuine.

"Yeah," he said, noticing her epiphany, "It's been thirty or so years since it was founded, hasn't it."

She knew that he could have lied, but took his word. Neo seemed pensive, sad perhaps. Why would a machine tell her so much without a purpose?

"Was there another Zion?"

"Seven, now."

They were both silent. Memories of Zion began trickling back, memories that he had tried so hard to forget. The floodgates were leaking and threatened to finally burst after all these years of nothingness. He remembered the people he had saved, the people he couldn't, everyone who had believed in him… And he had failed. Where was he now? In a corner of the Matrix that he had locked up for himself. No contact at all, just his little marooned island of living. And it wasn't even living; it was merely a technicality of existence. Sometimes he almost wished he were dead, maybe he could be with Trinity, if there was such a thing as an afterlife. It hurt him to even think about it. He had let her die; he had let her fall to the ground and die without even trying to save her. Why? So that he could start the matrix and Zion anew. He thought he was being humane; letting his love go for the survival of all… but it was all for nothing. She was his lifeline – she was his reason for fighting, for living. He had only truly lived when he was with her. What had he been thinking? And now it was all going to happen the way it had before. All over again. It already was.

Zandra broke the long silence. "How could we have not known?"

"How could you?"

Zandra paused, nodding. "But why contact us?"

"Maybe knowing the past can help us win the war." You. You win the war. No matter what happened, he knew that there would be no way for him to get out of the matrix. If the matrix was destroyed, he would be exterminated as well. But he was willing to make the sacrifice.

"So what do I do now?"

"Don't let on that anything is different," he replied. Neo was glad to think about moving forward.

"You mean don't tell anyone."

"Right. If the system finds out you know-"

"Then it's already over."

"Right." Again, back to death. Back to Neo's assimilation into the program. He wondered if it felt anything like dying did, or if it was more of a meltdown… he wasn't sure. Did programs feel pain?

Of course, that was a pointless question. His existence now consisted solely of it.

Zandra sighed. "So what do I do?"

"Learn as much as you can," he offered, "Free as many as you can."

Zandra nodded, but she still was not sure. "How do I know you're not a program?"

Neo looked downwards, his face blank and emotionless.

"You can't."

Zandra was quiet. But for some reason, she still trusted him – he just seemed too human, too lonely to be a machine.

Neo stood up. It was probably time for her to go – it had been at least twenty minutes since she had first come in. He watched her closely, curious to see how she would react, but didn't worry. Emory would not have sent someone unless they were qualified to know the truth. Zandra stood up too now, pulling her shirt down as she did. He had been somewhat surprised by her appearance – he had expected not only a man, but an older man. She seemed so young, so fragile, so beautiful. Of course, he should have been used to strong women. But no, Neo could never think of another woman as beautiful, not after Trinity…. Neo's heart dropped again as he thought of her.

"Can I come back?" Zandra asked, again breaking the silence. Neo realized that he had been staring at her, and quickly shook his head a few times to clear his brain.

"Yeah," he replied, "Keep me informed."

Zandra nodded as he began to walk to the door she had come through. He didn't want her to leave; he wanted to talk, to see how things were going, to have contact, but knew that she had to go. It had been almost a half-hour since she had come. And she had learned a lot; she probably needed time to let everything sink in. He gestured for her to open the door.

"I can't go out," he said. Zandra nodded slowly, opening the door. A rushing sound accompanied the creak of the door, as if air was flowing out of the room. She smiled, and closed the door behind her. Neo was alone again, and retreated back into the darkness of his fortress.