Authour's Note: Before we get onto the fun this time, I just wanted to pop in here and say that judging by some of my reviews, some of you are not clear on the fact that this is an anthology sereis; a set of disconnected short stories, not a chaptered fic. My apologies for not making this clear in the Sysnopsis; that should be fixed now.
...Though I have to say, kudos to those of you who managed to discern a "plot" out of this; I'm impressed!
Fandom: Matrix
Character: Smith
Rating: G
Synopsis: He hesitated. Right before plunging his fist into the heart of his foe, with the purpose of annihilating him forever, he hesitated. A take on the end of Revolutions.
Spoliers: For Everything
Authour's Note, Part 2: This fic was originally written in fifteen minutes in response to a challange on 15 Minute Ficlets ). It was improved a great deal by the changing of a single sentence, thanks to the suggestion of Danny Barefoot. If you feel this chapter has improved, please go and read his work as a way of saying thank you, it's quite good.
Belated Dedication: The influence of The Chosen Shadow on this work is undeniable. If you've enjoyed my trips into the minds of the agents, you should probably head over to her profile page and take a look at her many Agent fics. You won't be dissapointed.
Inevitability
He hesitated.
Right before plunging his fist into the heart of his foe, with the purpose of annihilating him forever, he hesitated.
Why, Mr. Anderson, why?
Do you know?
Ah, but you do know. You know why you're fighting, you know why you keep fighting, you know why you're here. You've stopped doubting. You're not Thomas anymore. He doesn't call you "Mr. Anderson" anymore, after you answer his question, because at last, you're not Thomas A. Anderson, the Doubting Son of Man anymore. Up to that point, you still doubted, you know. Still refused to see. There are none so blind, Neo....
At any rate, the real question is, does he know why?
If he looked deep within himself, would he know why he went ahead and and "did what he was there to do"? Why he accepted Neo's sacrifice?
He didn't have to, you know. He could have snapped the little virus' neck. "Woah".
He knew better. He knew the cookies were set there, deliberately, purposefully, just like Neo was standing there, deliberately, purposefully.
In the end (and everything that has a beginning has an end, Neo), he leaned forward and completed what had been started. Neo was overwritten and copied, just like he had been.
Action, reaction; Cause, effect. Purpose was fulfilled. An equation was balanced.
But was a choice made?
Yes.
He knew why, Neo told him. He knew before Neo told him, of course.
He was right. It was inevitable.
Because he chose to.
Because he'd already made the choice. He was just there to understand it.
Everything that has a beginning has an end, Smith.
requiset in pacem