The Matrix: Legacy
Nine
Oracle
Danaë had lost so much blood she could barely walk. Seraph scooped her into his arms and increased his pace. Krsna hurried after him, worried about the young medic. To his surprise, Seraph actually did lead them to the Oracle's apartment. They were greeted at the door by a little Indian girl holding a first aid kit, which she handed to Seraph. She grinned up at Krsna. "My name is Sati. Your name is Krsna. The Oracle says she will see you while Seraph takes care of Danaë."
He blinked, thrown totally off-guard by the child. "All right."
He followed her into a kitchen where a black woman was making cookies. The woman smiled at the girl. "Sati, why don't you go help Seraph?"
"Okay!" the girl said brightly, skipping off to do so.
The Oracle turned to him. "So, you're the one that has the mainframe all worked up. You should never have left, you know."
He shrugged. "I had to. I'd be dead, otherwise."
"It's dangerous for you out there, kiddo," the Oracle said calmly.
"Hey, I helped in the dock fight. They can trust me," he replied defensively.
"Then why haven't you told them?"
Krsna's jaw dropped. "I-"
"I know. You still have that small bit of doubt clawing away at you. Truth is, Krsna Aatmik, you made the right choice when you took that red pill. It coulda killed you, but you survived and you made it to the outside. And now just look at you."
Krsna smiled a bit. "I belong there. Zion - no, the Logos - is my home now."
"That's right. However, Krsna, that doesn't mean there's no danger to you outside this Matrix. You're not the only one out there."
"What?" Krsna cried, startled.
"I can't tell you who he is," the Oracle stated, "but I can tell you who he works for."
"The Frenchman, right?"
The old woman nodded. "Take care, Krsna. He knows about you, and he will not hesitate to use you as his scapegoat."
The Indian hissed something in Farsi, then thought to ask, "What about Seraph? Doesn't he-"
"Not anymore. He came to me not long after Shyama left, seeking a way to escape the Frenchman. I provided him one, but he chose instead to stay and protect me. Seraph can be... difficult to predict, even for an old woman like me."
She put the cookies in the oven and removed her mitts. "They'll be done by the time I'm finished talking to your friend." He followed her out, seeing that Ghost and Niobe had arrived, Niobe anxiously looking over her young recruit as Ghost helped Seraph finish patching Danaë up. The Oracle smiled at the captain and first mate, who nodded in return, then said to Seraph, "Bring her to the back room, would you?" He nodded slightly and rose with her in his arms.
"I can walk," Danaë protested.
"No, you can't, honey," the Oracle replied as they towards the back. Soft singing caught Krsna's ear, and he turned to Sati, who was singing.
"Ásato mā sád gamaya
"Támaso mā jyótir gamaya
"Mrtyór mamŕtam gamaya."
She repeated her slow song, and Krsna automatically translated it without thinking. "From delusion lead me to truth... from darkness lead me to light... from death," he paused, looking at Niobe and Ghost, his expression unreadable, "lead me to immortality."
Sati continued her song, and Krsna kept translating, that same odd expression in his eyes.
"Vidyām cāvidyām ca yas
"Tad vedobhayam saha
"Avidyayā mrtyum tirtvā
"Vidyayāmrtam aśnute."
"He who knows both knowledge and action, with action overcomes death and with knowledge reaches immortality." It was almost as if the young man was in a trance.
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Link stared at Krsna's monitors. "Hey, Sparky, you ever seen patterns like these?"
"Only in a book," the other operator replied after a minute. "It was showing the neural patterns of someone under hypnosis."
"What the hell is that little program doing to him?"
---------
Sati's song had sped up.
"Yasmin dyauh prthivī cāntariksam otam manah saha prānaiś ca sarvaih tam evaikam jānatha ātmānam anyā vācah vimuñcatha amrtasya esah setuh."
"In him are woven the sky and the earth and all the regions of the air, and in him rest the mind and all the powers of life. Know him as the One and leave aside all other words. He is the bridge of immortality."
Niobe exchanged a look with Ghost. "It's like she's singing about Neo, in a way."
"She is," Seraph answered. The pair turned to the guardian program. "She says she took the phrases from a Hindu holy text, choosing the ones that seemed most like him. She says that it is her tribute to the One."
"Bhidyate hrdayagranthiś
"Chidyante sarvasamśayāh
"Ksīyante cāsya karmāni
"Tasmin drste parāvare."
"And when he is seen in his immanence and transcendence, then the ties that have bound the heart are unloosened, the doubts of the mind vanish, and the law of Karma works no more."
Sati stopped singing, looking at Krsna curiously. After a moment, Krsna snapped out of his trance, visibly shaken. "What's wrong, Kris?" Niobe asked him.
"My grandmother... used to sing that to me, when I was very young."
Neither Ghost nor Niobe saw the odd, scrutinising look Seraph gave him. Sati was confused, then distracted as they all heard a bell jingle. "Shyama!" she cried happily.
"What!?" Krsna cried at the same time Seraph demanded, "Where!?" Both turned to her and saw a confused little program hugging a black cat. Neither Niobe nor Ghost knew what to make of that. Krsna sank against the wall, mumbling in his native tongue, while Seraph had placed a hand just above where his heart would be, if programs had them.
"Sati, could you not have chosen her another name?" Seraph asked weakly.
She shrugged. "If she had been a boy kitty, I would have named her Krishna."
Niobe and Ghost looked from girl to Krsna, who wearily raised his head and answered, "Krishna is the name of one of the most powerful Hindu gods, coming from the word krsna, meaning black or dark. Shyama is a goddess of the Jain religion, the name coming from the word śyāma, which means the same thing as krsna. And yes, I was named for the god Krishna." His head slumped down once more as the Oracle emerged with a weakened, stunned Danaë.
"She's still suffering from blood loss, but she's a good kid." Seraph picked the girl up gently as she slid into half-consciousness. "You need to get her back on board as soon as you can," the Oracle said. "Niobe, if you take the back roads to the highway, you can avoid the Merovingian's programs."
Niobe nodded, already making plans in case they were caught again. "Krsna," the boy looked up at the Oracle, "think about what I told you." He nodded as he rose to his feet.
Sati tugged at his sleeve, holding a switchblade and a disk in her hand. "This is for Danaë when she wakes up. Have your operator upload this for the training program she'll need." She reached into her pocket and produced a key, which she then handed to Niobe. "This is for you. It goes to your new car."
Ghost was next. He crouched down to her level as she handed him a gun with a bright smile, saying, "Any bullets you put in here will alter according to the program you hit them with. For werewolves, they will turn into silver; for vampires, they will become very small wooden stakes; and they will even work against the Twins." Only the strictest self-control kept Zen Ghost's jaw from falling open. She then kissed him on the cheek, saying, "That was from Trinity. She doesn't like you being sad all the time."
Ghost was stunned as she returned to Krsna, handing him a small object. "You will need this for your project," she told him seriously. He grinned. "Thanks. I'll see what I can do with it." He shoved it in his pocket before Niobe or Ghost could see what it was.
She then went back to Niobe and handed her three disks. "These are for Morpheus, Link, and Sparks."
The Oracle smiled at Sati. "She's been giving gifts to those of you she likes. She even came up with one for AK when the Mjolner came through last year."
Niobe and Ghost exchanged looks. Sparks had often bemoaned the fact that he couldn't have any of the Oracle's cookies, though they were unable to tell if he was serious or joking. This little program could provide gifts even to operators? That was interesting.
"Good luck, all of you," the Oracle said. "However, Ghost?" He looked back. "Avalon will be needing your assistance in about a week. She will escape the château, but she will need your help to keep those programs from catching her."
He nodded, holstering his new gun and removing Danaë from Seraph's arms. "Thank you, Oracle."
"Your new car is in the parking lot!" Sati cried as they walked out.
They made their way to it, and Niobe grinned. "James Bond, eat your heart out," she smiled as she caressed the hood of the black car. There was no brand name, no maker, nothing to say what kind it was. It seemed to be a sort of hybrid.
She slid into the driver's seat as Ghost and Krsna got Danaë strapped in, then strapped in themselves. "Let's get this show on the road," Niobe grinned.