Protector of Men Ch 82

Upon entering the mess room, Cover had told Zandra what their plans for the day were. It turned out that Columbus had been on the line, and she had informed them that the Oracle wanted to see her. More specifically, she wanted to see her and Shade. Columbus had said that the Oracle was impatient, so they were going in soon. Within the hour they were all briefed, and within two they were in the matrix again.

She hadn't spent long with the woman before she was ushered in to see Neo. Zandra was surprised that the Oracle had suggested it herself. With a smile and an attempted telling glance, Zandra left Shade for Neo's recluse. He smiled back, but didn't catch her innuendo that attempted to convey her mistrust. All the same, he felt exposed without her.

"You're back again," Neo observed, sitting in the same chair that he had rested in before. Zandra wondered if he had moved at all since she left.

"The Oracle wanted me to speak with you," she said, now wondering too if he knew that she was coming at all.

"How have things been going?" he asked, leaning forward.

"We haven't made much progress."

"What have you done?" he pressed, "Tell me what happened."

Zandra paused. What happened?

"We contacted an old professor of mine who knew about my project-"

"Your physics project."

"Did I tell you?"

"No," he answered, "But I could surmise as much."

Zandra watched him warily – he could surmise as much? Her look must have been obvious, because he soon picked up on it and explained himself.

"I still have the connection," he said, "I can still read what's going on." He paused. "But something's happening out there that I can't read."

"I didn't do anything."

"You contacted someone?"

"My old professor. I told him to look at Orion's Belt."

"Why?" Neo realized that drawing information out of Zandra was harder than expected. She was unsure… untrusting. Of course, that was to be expected. Neo was dully saddened again with the recollection that she had a right to distrust him. He was a machine, after all. A rain of code without a source. A true anomaly in the matrix.

"The anomaly I found was located near there. I thought he might remember the presentation if he saw another glitch."

"You found an anomaly that alerted you to the matrix."

"Yes," she answered, sounding more formal than she had intended, "Constants fluctuated every time the matrix glitched."

Neo nodded, clearly deep in thought. Certainly this girl was the key to their success… but perhaps he only thought so because it was so different from his own approach, which had definitely failed.

"Things are changing in Libertas," the Oracle told him, "You're going to have to play a different role than you expected."

Shade was silent.

"Cover's made you next in command after himself," she continued, "He has as much faith in you as he does in her."

He was still quiet, and she paused for a moment, a smile creeping across her wizened face.

"Your feelings for her are deeper than you realize," she said, staring at him as if she were looking into his soul. "At some point you'll have to act on those feelings, or else they'll be lost completely." Her sentence ended with a casual shrug of the shoulders, as if to say 'it's not my responsibility…'.

Shade was again silent.

"You don't know why you're here," she said, almost a question. Shade shook his head minutely.

"I won't tell you, because you have to figure it out for yourself. If you don't already know, you won't."

She paused.

"But you do."

Shade's eyes darted the room, suddenly uncomfortable.

"She needs support, Shade. No hero can survive without a sidekick – even you know that. She's gonna need you soon, and you're gonna have to help her.

"Things are gonna get tough, but you have to remember one thing: This is a war. And sometimes, crazy things happen. You gotta know, kid, that everyone is vital to the conclusion."

"Why were you imprisoned?"

"I went there to hide. It wasn't safe for me anymore."

"Then why did you try to escape?"

"Things happened that I didn't like. A lot of things."

They paused again. The Chateau had taught Neo a lot about the life of a program. It was then that he first questioned his humanity. The Merovingian had offered him a job; offered him a place next to his own in his world of trafficking and death. He had done a good enough job downplaying his talents and acting as unsure as possible. The Merovingian had laughed, had called him ungrateful, but it had worked. Persephone had offered herself to him, and every day presented another situation to evade with as much tact as possible. It had repulsed him, but at the same time he accepted it as his culture. The Matrix was his life, and that was all that was left.

"Why was Smith chasing you?"

Neo sighed, and looked to the ground. This answer wasn't going to be easy: everything lay in the memories.

"That's what he was made to do. He'll never stop."

The words sounded foreign in his mouth, as if someone had spoken them for him. But no, it was only he and Zandra in the room. Memories haunted him like spirits, and now it was harder than ever to discern the real from the imaginary. Well, at least the fictitious from imaginary.

But her path seemed clear enough to him. It was already manifesting in the present. She would expose her project, and the walls would fall down. Perhaps they'd even win the battle for Zion, but Neo wouldn't know. Zion had only been an infrequent recluse for him… and for Trinity. Neo sighed again as her memory began to attack.

Zandra stood up. The conversation was over.

"I need a plan, Neo," she said, "And I have to figure that out."

"You have one," he answered. Zandra stood where she was.

"Expose the glitch, and the walls will come down."

Zandra nodded, and left. Finally, something had gotten done.

Shade and the Oracle stopped talking once Zandra came back in. She had expected as much, and soon they were off again and to their phone. The Oracle smiled as they left; a casual 'good luck' was tossed their way before the door was closed.

They didn't say anything on their way to the phone. They were silent and stealthy; reaching the phone quickly, and leaving without a trace. The agents would have no idea that they were even there.

But Smith was watching. He was always watching. Whether it was one, or three, or ten, he was always watching. Looking for Mr. Anderson. And he wouldn't stop until he was dead. He had come so close before – so close he could hear his voice, feel his clothing – but it was gone again. It was getting harder to evade the agents, too. Now that there were multiple agents, Smith was easily overwhelmed. He was having to eliminate his clones more often, and was having to revert to less obtrusive methods of transportation. It was an embarrassment, but it was necessary.

Many things were changing, both in and out of the Matrix.

A/N – So much work! Aggh. May be a while before I update again – trip to D.C. to sing at the White House Christmas party (!!!), and so I'll be gone. Anyway! Getting this story beta-read by an AWESEOME beta-reader (Zephyr on the construct – www.constructfic.com), so reprise is getting redone. Check out the construct! It's my guilty pleasure. Don't forget to check out the hardline too – I'm veritas.