SOMEWHERE I BELONG - Part Five: Good-bye, Choi
"Why must the people of your past also be apart of the cycle of lies, especially when they were your friends?" -Eclyptyk Neo
Another hour passed.
Homeless people seemed to ignore him, but than again he was beginning to understand why. They were merely code. They were apart of the system. He was not. He was beyond it. A threat to it. He was like a free moving virus–a free mind. But here, he was nothing more than code. But die here and there would be no chance for a future in the real world. There had to be no mistakes here. But than again, there had to be no mistakes around death at all. It was a dangerous game. And it wasn't clear for Neo to conclude if the agent program was destroyed for good.
Neo walked passed a shadowed wall, just as someone touched him on the shoulder. As a reaction to the threat, he pulled out his gun threw it into the man's throat pushing him against the wall. He caught his breath when he saw the man's face. It was Choi.
"Shit, man. What the hell are you doing?" Neo relaxed, dropping the gun.
"Sorry, man." Choi replied as he rubbing the back of his neck absently. "I saw you enter your apartment building an hour ago, T. I figured you'd be down here soon enough. But where have you been? Some of the other hackers are getting worried. Not to mention your clients."
Neo looked away, shaking his head. "Sorry, Choi. I'm not in that business, anymore."
"What?! Are you kidding me? You were making the big bucks."
Neo shook his head again. "I know you've grown concern. A lot of people have, but I can't do it anymore. There is so much more I gotta worry about."
"Don't tell me those agents shitted all over you, man?"
Neo chuckled sheepishly remembering the day he took out Agent Smith. "No. It's something else."
"What?"
"I can't tell you, Choi. For your own safety. And that's all you need to know, for now. I'm outta here, man."
"So, you just gonna throw it all away?"
"Not exactly. But the game I'm playing is much more deadly. More corrupted."
"Man, T, I don't get you sometimes." Choi sighed, shaking his head.
"That's what keeps you on your toes, Choi. But I have one thing to ask of you."
"Sure. What's up?"
"Do you believe that the Matrix is real?"
"A place that controls your every thought. Reaction. Feeling. Life. And have no clue about it?" Choi nodded. "Yeah, I believe it's out there somewhere."
Neo looked away. "Yeah, it'd be sad. To have your life being controlled by the machines. You were the battery."
Choi laughed. "Hey, man. It could happen."
"Oh yeah. It could happen." Neo turned away. "But this is it, man. I'm starting over. I'm not gonna be doing the computer hacking anymore."
"What?! Hey, T, you sure you're making the right choice? I mean, you've been--"
Neo cut him off. "..doing this computer hacking for nearly 15 years. I know, Choi. But I'm taking a new leave. I'm gonna help people. Save them from something that isn't there."
"Law enforcement? Man, Neo, sometimes you just..last time I saw you, you were trying to avoid the fed either way."
"Well, there are agents on my ass, I think. But I really don't give a shit."
Choi relayed a sigh, knowing that he couldn't win over his friend's decision. "All right, man. I just hate to see you go, Neo. You're one of the best."
"Time to move on, man. It's a dangerous world out there, Choi. The life in which you choose will reflect on how successful you'll get in life."
Choi clasped Neo in one last good-bye and left without saying another word. They were the best of friends. If that was a friendship, and now Choi was among many on Neo's list to save in the Matrix.
Neo watched him go and headed the other way.
....I wanna heal
I wanna feel
What I thought was never real
I want to let go of the pain
I felt so long
Erase all the pain til it's gone
I wanna heal
I wanna feel
Like I'm close to something real
I want to find something I've wanted all along
Somewhere I belong....
To be continued.........