Zion Archive file No. 234118:

During the time of the sixth Matrix, a new phenomenon occurred. Many in Zion were baffled to find that a young boy named Kid was freed from the Matrix by his own will. This process is now known as self-substantiation. Since Kid, there have been at least 12 confirmed cases. Some experts have suggested that this was a sign that the war would end soon, and the imprisoned minds would be liberated. After the sixth conquest of Zion, the second mind to experience self-substantiation occurred almost immediately after. Most Zion scientists believe that the process is determined by the subconscious will. The few who have this kind of ability rarely ever demonstrate it in self-substantiation. Most of them overcome fatal injury or illness.

Here is the complete roster of known cases of self-substantiation:

1. Kid, while searching for Neo, jumped off the top of a building, which many considered his suicide. The Nebuchadnezzer later picked him up

2. Equus found a list of Matrix symbols and how they were linked to images, sounds, etc. An exile program most likely produced the information. When agents got to Equus, he passed out and woke again in the pods.

3. Helen, the first female self-substantiation case, was hit by a car while walking to work. Her Real World body heartbeat did not stop. The Splendor later rescued her

4. Joash, one of the few elderly freed minds, had a deep interest in meditation. One day, he had a vision of sentinels during meditation. He panicked, and later found himself in the pods. He does not remember what happened between the panic attack and awakening.

5. Lyle, a presumed schizophrenic, believed the world he knew was fake. He jumped of a bridge and his mind transported to his Real World body.

6. Abdullah was a Muslim obsessed with urban legends. He was accepted into Harvard with a major in psychology. During his first year, he studied a report by a psychiatrist who had a patient who hallucinated, seeing images of big machines with red eyes. While leaving the campus library that night, Abdullah, already drowsy and perplexed by the report, tripped over another student's backpack. His next memory was seeing the machines with red eyes, the sentinels.

7. Perhaps the strangest case is that of Quentin, who was a member of a metal band. He fell off the stage during a show, and nobody noticed at first. The crowd trampled him, and while on the way to the hospital, he slipped into a coma. When awakening from the coma, he told the doctors he had seen strange green lights falling from the sky. He later died in his sleep, and awoke in the pods.

8. Harvey was a comedian whose career was going well. While at a show, he had noticed that three men in black suits escorted a young woman out the door. He made a joke about it, and the men weren't too pleased that he had drawn attention. After it was over, one of them cornered Harvey in the alley and fired a shot right to his head. Harvey's next memory was falling down the drain. The woman he had seen was Niobe, who was on a mission to meet an informant.

9. Karla, the second female case, was giving birth to her third child and died. The Achilles recovered her body. The baby survived, and Karla plans to contact the entire family when he gets older.

10. A computer technician, who went by the hacker alias Ichabod, was electrocuted by a monitor, due to faulty manufacturing. His mind went through the wires and somehow connected to his body.

11. Cyst had developed several theories about computers and their links to quantum physics and the expansion of the universe. He posted several articles on the Internet supporting them. He was also developing a software program that helped 3D models render easier. While working late on the program, he fell asleep in front of the computer. He awoke in the drain.

12. Reese was involved in a shoot-out in Harlem. He had barely survived and pulled himself to a pay phone to call for help. He had picked up the phone and heard, "Operator." By then, the gang members had found him and he was beaten to death. The same ship on the phone recovered his body. Reese's next memory was meeting Morpheus.

Self-substantiation is still be researched by the Zion labs.