The Marquis and its entire crew is made up by me, as well as certain other characters. The rest of it is the property of their respective owners. So here it is.
MATRIX
ACE
CHAPTER 2
UNPLUGGED
Michael Klaymoore sat on a bench in Central Park, looking out over the lake. He had a lot to think about; most of it was philosophy. There are plenty of things a software programmer can think about, and philosophy is one of the less disturbing topics.
Specifically, he was wondering about the exact definition of "real." Generally, the only idea anyone had of "real" was what they got from their senses, which by definition were imperfect, and thus the only thing one could be sure of was Renee Descartes' famous line of "I think, therefore I am."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a tall man with black hair and a few white streaks through it. The man noticed him and said, "Nice day, isn't it?"
"Yeah," said Mike. "Sometimes I wonder, though ..."
"About what?" asked the man.
Mike shrugged. "A lot of things." He chuckled. "Sorry, just thinking about philosophy and the nature of 'real.' You must think I'm crazy."
"Oh, not really," said the man. "I often find myself thinking of the same things. Though myself, I approach them, as it were, from the opposite direction. Or at least, more definitively."
"What do you mean?" asked Mike.
"Well, you start with mere doubts about what is real," said the man. He made a show of glancing at his watch and turned to leave. "I must be going now, but think about what I've said, Ace."
Mike jumped. "How do you know that name?"
"I'll be seeing you later," said Tenshi as he walked away.
And now it was later.
They sat in two chairs on either side of a small table with, oddly enough, a glass of water.
"Undoubtedly, you must have a load of questions on your mind," said Tenshi, "but I'm sure the biggest question on your mind ... is 'which question do I ask first?'"
"Pretty much, yeah," said Ace. "Let's start with: is this actually happening?"
Tenshi nodded. "You're wondering if this is all a dream, from which you will soon wake up," he said. "Ironically, this is not far from the truth. You must feel like Dorothy, suddenly finding yourself in the land of Oz, headed down the yellow brick road ..."
Another question was on Ace's mind. "How do you know so much about me, and how did you hack into the system like that, without anyone noticing?"
Tenshi smirked. "All in due time," he said. "You may have noticed strange things going on in your life, that have led you to ponder your first question in much more general terms."
"You guys have certainly helped," remarked Ace. Behind him, Styx chuckled.
"That we did," said Tenshi. "Tell me, what do you consider to be the definition of 'real'? You've certainly had some time to think about it, haven't you?"
Ace shrugged. "In my opinion," he said, "real is what your senses tell you."
Tenshi nodded. "Go on," he said.
"Therefore," continued Ace, "the only idea anyone truly has of reality, is what their senses tell them, and how their brains interpret this."
Tenshi grinned like a child discovering a delightful new toy. "And if either your brain, or your senses, or both become affected somehow?"
Ace had a feeling this was coming. "Then ... your idea of reality is wrong," he said.
"Exactly," said Tenshi with a nod. He paused. "There is, of course, one question on your mind that is the very reason you are here."
A nagging suspicion built itself in Ace's mind as to where this was really going. "What is the Matrix?"
Tenshi smiled. "And that is the whole point, isn't it?" he said. "The Matrix is all around you. It pervades ... every aspect of your existence. No matter what you do, you see it, hear it, taste it, whether you're riding a bicycle, or updating the system's database, or helping your landlady take out the garbage. The Matrix is what blinds you from one truth."
"What do you mean?" said Ace.
Tenshi leaned forward, taking a small case out of his coat. "The truth is that you are trapped, Ace, in a prison for your mind. The Matrix is that which is affecting your senses." He opened it up away from Ace, blocking the view of what was in it. "Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix truly is. You have to see it for yourself."
He placed the case on the table and held out his hands in closed fists. "And now we reach the crux of the matter, the point where you can either go the whole way, or retreat entirely. Take the blue pill --" And here he opened his left hand, revealing a small, blue, semitransparent pill. "... and you will wake up in your own bed, or at your computer, and you will believe whatever you want to believe. Take the red pill --" He opened his right hand, revealing an identical pill except that it was red. "... and you'll follow this thought to its true conclusion."
There was a long silence, with only the rain outside making a sound.
"If I pick the blue pill," said Ace, "will I get a second chance?"
"No," said Tenshi, unmoving. "This is a one shot deal. Remember, I am only showing you the truth. No more, no less."
There was a slightly shorter silence. Then Ace reached over and took the red pill from Tenshi's hand.
Tenshi grinned again as Ace swallowed the pill with a sip from the glass of water. "Try to relax," he said. "It will be much easier."
"Good thing we got the new version of the pills," muttered Jaxter. "D'you know, back in Six, they had to --"
"Jaxter," warned Fate.
"Sorry," said Jaxter.
Tenshi took out a cell phone and dialed a number. "Pylon, he took the red one. See if you can get a fix soon."
"What do you mean?" said Ace. He suddenly felt dizzy. He glanced down, and saw a faint green glow around his body. "What the ...!?"
"Just close your eyes and try to relax," said Fate.
"Yeah right!" said Ace, struggling to stand. His legs felt like rubber.
"Uh-oh, we got an Agent coming," said Tenshi, and hung up the cell phone. "They cut the hardline. Jaxter, Styx, you help move Ace. Fate, come with me."
Ace groaned as the two men helped him to his feet. "It feels ... like something's in my mouth ..."
Styx opened his mouth to comment, then closed it again as the three of them hurried out.
Ace's vision blurred. "... it's hot ... like I'm underwater ..."
"Close, but not water, exactly," said Styx, unable to stop himself.
Ace briefly opened his eyes, and saw that the green glow had now covered him completely. "... This ... can't be ... real ..."
"That's right," said Styx as they rushed down a hallway. "It isn't."
There was a strange sensation of falling up. The last thing Ace heard was Styx saying, "This is real."
Every Machine has a purpose. And the purpose of this machine was to travel through the power plant, checking to make sure all was well.
It wasn't.
Damn, it thought, as it hovered down in front of the struggling form trying to escape from its pod. It grabbed the figure's neck, disengaging the Plug and the power cords, and then let the figure fall back into the pod. It flew away, continuing its patrol of the area. In a moment, the pod would empty, letting the nude, bald human fall into the Drains.
The next thing Ace saw was Tenshi ... but without his dark glasses, and wearing an odd red uniform ...
"Welcome," said Tenshi, "to the Real World."