Generic disclaimer- Things I don't own: The Matrix, its sequels, spin- offs, characters
Things I do own: This specific story, characters who were not in the original Matrix movie but are in this story.
Specific disclaimer- Like Sues? Tough! Dislike Sues? Tough! Oh well, I can't make everyone happy. If you have any questions about the references (usually lit) just ask.
Veritas
People will do anything to protect themselves from the truth. That's why so few escape. We delude ourselves with lies and ignore the obvious just to keep ourselves safe. I don't want to be safe. I'm like John the savage in Brave New World. I want to escape this mechanical emptiness. I want the grit and blood of reality. I'm an angry brain, and I want out of my vat. I want to immerge from the waters of lies and take my first real breath, ah, the air of reality in my lungs. I want to breathe. I want to dance. I want to move. I want to be.
She through down her journal, flicked off her flashlight, and pulled the covers over her body in feigned sleep. She tried to control her breathing as she waited for her mother to continue down the hall to her own bedroom. It was two in the morning, and Jane knew she'd be grounded if her mother caught her awake. Grounded, hah, she'd been grounded since the day she was born. She didn't know how or why, but she knew it was true. Something in the very fabric of reality had always held her back, kept her powerless, waiting passively for an escape. Still she waited; she waited to be left alone in the dark and brought out of it. She waited with her mind open but only half conscious. She waited for her own invitation to the real world.
She stared with a vacant expression and full mind at her computer screen until she didn't even notice how much her eyes burned. Websites, search engines, chatrooms, live journals, she read all that she could find, but none of them helped. The night seemed to drag through countless hours. Jane slipped in and out of sleep, and thus found herself either forgetting what she had just seen or reading words that had never been written.
"None of these words are really there, just like the desk, the computer, this house, this very world. I know it. I just know it!" Her whispered words were swallowed by the eerie stillness that surrounded her.
Text appeared on her screen. "Hello seeker."
She typed madly. "Help me. I knew you would find me. I just knew it. Tell me the truth. I know I'm ready."
"I will not tell you anything."
"Yeah, I know; I have to see it. Well, show me."
"You may later regret your haste."
"I won't, promise. Where can I meet you?"
"I'll find you."
The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel! I see it, so close. I'm getting out of here; no more lies, no more illusions, no more average Jane. I wonder what the real world is like... Will it feel any different? Will I be able to tell beyond any doubt that it's reality? Will I ever know?
"Janey, hello? You're dazing again." Her best friend waved her hand in front of Jane's face. "Wake up..."
"I am; I'm more awake then I've ever been in my life. They're coming for me. Gah, waiting is horrible."
"Who's coming for you?"
"And they'll let me out of this place, this..."
"Jane, stop. Who's coming for you?"
"Morpheus, Neo, and Trinity."
"Jane..." she sighed, "it's just a movie.
"No, and I'll prove it to you."
"How?"
"I'll come back and free you too some day, when you're ready. Then, you'll see the world as it really is and me as I really am. Think about it Beth, to see the real world, to be the real you."
"No one's coming for you. I'm getting really worried."
"I'm gonna miss you, even if you are too damn logical. I don't know when I'm leaving. They'll take me away like a thief in the night like the Bible says. You'll wake up one morning, and I'll be gone. I'll be awake while you're still sleeping."
"Look at me. Do I look asleep to you?"
"Can't you feel it? The world has some immeasurable flaw that we can't see or touch, but I know it's there. Please, try and doubt; try and see. The Matrix has you Beth, and I don't know how to help you," Jane pleaded, the volume of her voice slightly rising with every word.
"Hey, Matrix Girl, you at it again?" shouted someone from across the cafeteria.
"Keep teasing me all you want you damn coppertop. Damned, that's what you are."
"Jane, please, you're the one who needs help, not me.
Gah, it's so aggravating to see only the shadows of the world but have full knowledge of their reality. I only know the light outside the cave through hearsay, but I know it's there just the same. I know the agony of Cassandra and of the poor soul who was blinded by the light and ridiculed by those who had never seen. Over 99% of the world's population accepts the Matrix. Does that make me special? Blessed or cursed? Did I choose or was I chosen? Which would make me more special?
She was walking to her car in the school parking lot later that afternoon as she did every day. Even with the knowledge that she would be freed she still felt as if she were living in constant de ja vu. School, homework, Internet; everyday was exactly the same except for the occasional nights when she actually slept. Her life just felt so boring, so ordinary as she watched shadows move around her.
Jane's phone rang. Stopping to answer it, she fished it out of the bottom of her purse.
"Don't scream."
She knew the voice immediately, "Morpheus?"
The next thing she knew, she had been pulled into a passing car. She hit the leather seat and tried to contain her excitement as she reoriented herself. She frantically looked back and forth between the woman driving and the man who had pulled her into the car. She recognized them at once behind their dark sunglasses that gave them both a dark, mysterious look that Jane would kill to have. She tried to keep her cool, to be worthy of their presence. She failed.
"Oh my God! Is that really you guys? I knew you were real, but nobody believed me. Trin, you gotta spar with me. It'll be a cat fight" Her grin grew another mile. "I bet it would really turn on ol' Neo hear"
"Damn that movie," Trinity swore without taking her eyes off the road.
Ashamed, Jane decided to keep to herself from then on. Bitterly she turned to the window and let her gaze wander through the traffic. Hidden by tinted windows, she peered into the cars around her. Teens in their Abercrombie T-shirts, housewives in their minivans and SUVs, a few business people in suits on late lunch breaks; she watched them, studied them.
Drones, all of them... They never stop to think. If they thought at all, their faces wouldn't look nearly so vacant. All those unexamined lives, none of them are worth living isn't that right, Socrates? Should I feel sorry for them and their mundane lives? They probably just don't bother to question; they're probably too lazy to think. I'll never be like them. The world has been pressing down on me to make me conform, but I never will. I'm getting out, but if I weren't, how long would I last before becoming one of them?
Things I do own: This specific story, characters who were not in the original Matrix movie but are in this story.
Specific disclaimer- Like Sues? Tough! Dislike Sues? Tough! Oh well, I can't make everyone happy. If you have any questions about the references (usually lit) just ask.
Veritas
People will do anything to protect themselves from the truth. That's why so few escape. We delude ourselves with lies and ignore the obvious just to keep ourselves safe. I don't want to be safe. I'm like John the savage in Brave New World. I want to escape this mechanical emptiness. I want the grit and blood of reality. I'm an angry brain, and I want out of my vat. I want to immerge from the waters of lies and take my first real breath, ah, the air of reality in my lungs. I want to breathe. I want to dance. I want to move. I want to be.
She through down her journal, flicked off her flashlight, and pulled the covers over her body in feigned sleep. She tried to control her breathing as she waited for her mother to continue down the hall to her own bedroom. It was two in the morning, and Jane knew she'd be grounded if her mother caught her awake. Grounded, hah, she'd been grounded since the day she was born. She didn't know how or why, but she knew it was true. Something in the very fabric of reality had always held her back, kept her powerless, waiting passively for an escape. Still she waited; she waited to be left alone in the dark and brought out of it. She waited with her mind open but only half conscious. She waited for her own invitation to the real world.
She stared with a vacant expression and full mind at her computer screen until she didn't even notice how much her eyes burned. Websites, search engines, chatrooms, live journals, she read all that she could find, but none of them helped. The night seemed to drag through countless hours. Jane slipped in and out of sleep, and thus found herself either forgetting what she had just seen or reading words that had never been written.
"None of these words are really there, just like the desk, the computer, this house, this very world. I know it. I just know it!" Her whispered words were swallowed by the eerie stillness that surrounded her.
Text appeared on her screen. "Hello seeker."
She typed madly. "Help me. I knew you would find me. I just knew it. Tell me the truth. I know I'm ready."
"I will not tell you anything."
"Yeah, I know; I have to see it. Well, show me."
"You may later regret your haste."
"I won't, promise. Where can I meet you?"
"I'll find you."
The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel! I see it, so close. I'm getting out of here; no more lies, no more illusions, no more average Jane. I wonder what the real world is like... Will it feel any different? Will I be able to tell beyond any doubt that it's reality? Will I ever know?
"Janey, hello? You're dazing again." Her best friend waved her hand in front of Jane's face. "Wake up..."
"I am; I'm more awake then I've ever been in my life. They're coming for me. Gah, waiting is horrible."
"Who's coming for you?"
"And they'll let me out of this place, this..."
"Jane, stop. Who's coming for you?"
"Morpheus, Neo, and Trinity."
"Jane..." she sighed, "it's just a movie.
"No, and I'll prove it to you."
"How?"
"I'll come back and free you too some day, when you're ready. Then, you'll see the world as it really is and me as I really am. Think about it Beth, to see the real world, to be the real you."
"No one's coming for you. I'm getting really worried."
"I'm gonna miss you, even if you are too damn logical. I don't know when I'm leaving. They'll take me away like a thief in the night like the Bible says. You'll wake up one morning, and I'll be gone. I'll be awake while you're still sleeping."
"Look at me. Do I look asleep to you?"
"Can't you feel it? The world has some immeasurable flaw that we can't see or touch, but I know it's there. Please, try and doubt; try and see. The Matrix has you Beth, and I don't know how to help you," Jane pleaded, the volume of her voice slightly rising with every word.
"Hey, Matrix Girl, you at it again?" shouted someone from across the cafeteria.
"Keep teasing me all you want you damn coppertop. Damned, that's what you are."
"Jane, please, you're the one who needs help, not me.
Gah, it's so aggravating to see only the shadows of the world but have full knowledge of their reality. I only know the light outside the cave through hearsay, but I know it's there just the same. I know the agony of Cassandra and of the poor soul who was blinded by the light and ridiculed by those who had never seen. Over 99% of the world's population accepts the Matrix. Does that make me special? Blessed or cursed? Did I choose or was I chosen? Which would make me more special?
She was walking to her car in the school parking lot later that afternoon as she did every day. Even with the knowledge that she would be freed she still felt as if she were living in constant de ja vu. School, homework, Internet; everyday was exactly the same except for the occasional nights when she actually slept. Her life just felt so boring, so ordinary as she watched shadows move around her.
Jane's phone rang. Stopping to answer it, she fished it out of the bottom of her purse.
"Don't scream."
She knew the voice immediately, "Morpheus?"
The next thing she knew, she had been pulled into a passing car. She hit the leather seat and tried to contain her excitement as she reoriented herself. She frantically looked back and forth between the woman driving and the man who had pulled her into the car. She recognized them at once behind their dark sunglasses that gave them both a dark, mysterious look that Jane would kill to have. She tried to keep her cool, to be worthy of their presence. She failed.
"Oh my God! Is that really you guys? I knew you were real, but nobody believed me. Trin, you gotta spar with me. It'll be a cat fight" Her grin grew another mile. "I bet it would really turn on ol' Neo hear"
"Damn that movie," Trinity swore without taking her eyes off the road.
Ashamed, Jane decided to keep to herself from then on. Bitterly she turned to the window and let her gaze wander through the traffic. Hidden by tinted windows, she peered into the cars around her. Teens in their Abercrombie T-shirts, housewives in their minivans and SUVs, a few business people in suits on late lunch breaks; she watched them, studied them.
Drones, all of them... They never stop to think. If they thought at all, their faces wouldn't look nearly so vacant. All those unexamined lives, none of them are worth living isn't that right, Socrates? Should I feel sorry for them and their mundane lives? They probably just don't bother to question; they're probably too lazy to think. I'll never be like them. The world has been pressing down on me to make me conform, but I never will. I'm getting out, but if I weren't, how long would I last before becoming one of them?