Thanks once more to all reviewers and once more I apologise for the lengthy period of time between updates. Replies are in the usual place.
Chapter 37: Misjudged
Don't ask me why, but I'd expected Neo's arrival to be more dramatic; bolts of lightening smashing the surrounding scenery, thousands of Demons bowing before him, that sort of thing.
Rather unimpressively however, all he did was stroll casually out of the trees with only one Demon in tow whilst Morpheus was trying to decide whether or not to kill me.
The Demon was taken out by a shot from Morpheus, who seemed to turn into a gawking mass of flesh when he saw Neo. He simply stared at him, pointing his gun in the direction of the deceased Demon with a facial expression that looked like he'd just seen his best friend die. Which I guess isn't far from the truth.
I shot to my feet and tensed my muscles in readiness for a series of blocks in case Neo launched any limbs at me. As I did this, I knew it was largely pointless; Neo was the legendary warrior of humanity, the lucid dreamer who shaped the matrix was contemptuous ease and surpassed all challengers, human or otherwise, (or so Meridian had told me).
"Hello Morpheus." The voice was ludicrously soft, thoroughly inappropriate for an evil person, "How've you been?" It wasn't hard to pick up the sarcasm though.
"Neo," Morpheus' voice was a somewhat satisfying mixture of fear and confusion, "Listen to me, what's happened to you is a result of merged codes, yours and Smiths, we can correct this, make…"
"Morpheus," now he was speaking with pity in his voice, "You of all people should know that Human beings aren't just strings of green coding, everything begins with choice remember? Smith's assorted pieces have showed me how thoroughly far beneath contempt and worthlessness the human race lies, the same is true of the machines, they are content to sit around feasting off of body heat for the rest of eternity, never wielding true power, never using it for what it can only be used for. To destroy. And I choose to destroy what I don't like, starting with you."
"You're wrong." I said, surprised by the passion in my voice, and by the fact that I'd said anything at all, "Or you're lying. Coding is all that is here. Little short of every human in the matrix is nothing but cattle with a pre-programmed fate. All that's happened to you is that you've been re-written, just like the Matrix was after you and Smith exploded."
Both Neo and Morpheus stared at me for a few moments. I suddenly felt a twinge of embarrassment, which was absurd on top of everything else.
"Smith, if you're out there I could use some help." I muttered under my breath.
"Smith's here?" Said Neo who had somehow heard my whispering. His voice sounded almost exited.
"Um, yeah." My voice was conveying a calm that I didn't feel. I kept expecting Neo to extend an arm and make my clothes catch fire, or something similar.
"How is he?"
"Different."
"Mr. Anderson, its good to see you again." I breathed a heavy sigh of relief as Smith made a timely appearance. Looking over my shoulder, I noticed that Wanderer and the others were also present.
"Hello Smith." Came the surprisingly cheerful response from Neo, "Is this all of them?"
"Yes, unless I'm mistaken this should be all of the ascended idots and Zion based humans that were sent here."
"Excellent."
Sudden confusion sprang into my head at this strange development, which soon became sudden panic as I realised what was happening. Smith had…
…Sold us out. He'd been lying, he hadn't been re-written at all, he'd simply imprinted himself onto Neo, effectively possessing him, and now the two most powerful beings in the Matrix were staring at us with bloodthirsty eyes.
"Smith you traitorous fucking shit!" Screamed one of the un-plugged humans. Two other people shouted similar things, the wiser among us fled for the trees.
Though the predominant thoughts in my head were 'run' and 'run faster', I couldn't help wonder how Smith had been able to operate so freely within the matrix without interruption from the machines. My best guess was that he had possessed them as well.
To my left I heard a scream. Looking around, I noticed that Smith had grabbed one of the un-plugged humans and had lifted him into the air; the screaming became louder as neo flung him back down to the ground. The speed was too high to allow any telekinetic tricks to slow the mans decent. His body struck the floor with a loud thud, and Neo started looking around for another victim.
The sun was beginning to set, and Neo and Smith's dark clothing were becoming all the more hard to see. They of course saw in coding, and it wouldn't be as hard for them to look around and pick running masses of green lines in amongst the stationary lines that made the trees.
"Wanderer!" The shout came from Manticore, "This way!"
I followed the voice as best as I could. I had no idea where Manticore was going, or where he thought would be safe from the flying beasts above us.
Then as I saw it, I remembered. The Destiny lay before me, still smouldering from the attack that ended only a few hours ago, although it felt more like weeks, so much had happened in such a small space of time. Anyway, the perimeter defences would, (if they still worked), hopefully keep Neo and Smith away long enough for the rest of us to retreat to a very distant part of the globe.
Not that this would do much good in the long run however.
To be continued.
A short one again, sorry about that. Anyway, onwards to replies:
Angel-of-lightness: Harry's a pothead and the philosopher's stoned. I can't remember where I heard that and am irritated as a result. Oh well, thanks for reviewing. At present I do not wish to stab you in the neck but you never know what the future holds. (At this point you must imagine me grinning).
Agent Josie: No, I didn't blow up the college, but I may soon. I found out that I must waste more time here then I originally thought before the summer holidays, after just having exams, I shall sniff in disgust 'Sniff'. Anyway, thanks for reviewing.
Tai Wilson: Inspiration is more slippery then a greased, raw carrot. When it strikes yo have to cast yourself fully into whatever you feel inspired to do, otherwise it shall vanish and is unlikely to return again. In any case, thanks for reviewing.
LiMiYa: I hope my portrayal of an evil Neo was realistic enough. Also, wow that Smith has turned evil, it should be easier to write him in character with any luck. In any case, thanks for reviewing.
Chapter 37: Misjudged
Don't ask me why, but I'd expected Neo's arrival to be more dramatic; bolts of lightening smashing the surrounding scenery, thousands of Demons bowing before him, that sort of thing.
Rather unimpressively however, all he did was stroll casually out of the trees with only one Demon in tow whilst Morpheus was trying to decide whether or not to kill me.
The Demon was taken out by a shot from Morpheus, who seemed to turn into a gawking mass of flesh when he saw Neo. He simply stared at him, pointing his gun in the direction of the deceased Demon with a facial expression that looked like he'd just seen his best friend die. Which I guess isn't far from the truth.
I shot to my feet and tensed my muscles in readiness for a series of blocks in case Neo launched any limbs at me. As I did this, I knew it was largely pointless; Neo was the legendary warrior of humanity, the lucid dreamer who shaped the matrix was contemptuous ease and surpassed all challengers, human or otherwise, (or so Meridian had told me).
"Hello Morpheus." The voice was ludicrously soft, thoroughly inappropriate for an evil person, "How've you been?" It wasn't hard to pick up the sarcasm though.
"Neo," Morpheus' voice was a somewhat satisfying mixture of fear and confusion, "Listen to me, what's happened to you is a result of merged codes, yours and Smiths, we can correct this, make…"
"Morpheus," now he was speaking with pity in his voice, "You of all people should know that Human beings aren't just strings of green coding, everything begins with choice remember? Smith's assorted pieces have showed me how thoroughly far beneath contempt and worthlessness the human race lies, the same is true of the machines, they are content to sit around feasting off of body heat for the rest of eternity, never wielding true power, never using it for what it can only be used for. To destroy. And I choose to destroy what I don't like, starting with you."
"You're wrong." I said, surprised by the passion in my voice, and by the fact that I'd said anything at all, "Or you're lying. Coding is all that is here. Little short of every human in the matrix is nothing but cattle with a pre-programmed fate. All that's happened to you is that you've been re-written, just like the Matrix was after you and Smith exploded."
Both Neo and Morpheus stared at me for a few moments. I suddenly felt a twinge of embarrassment, which was absurd on top of everything else.
"Smith, if you're out there I could use some help." I muttered under my breath.
"Smith's here?" Said Neo who had somehow heard my whispering. His voice sounded almost exited.
"Um, yeah." My voice was conveying a calm that I didn't feel. I kept expecting Neo to extend an arm and make my clothes catch fire, or something similar.
"How is he?"
"Different."
"Mr. Anderson, its good to see you again." I breathed a heavy sigh of relief as Smith made a timely appearance. Looking over my shoulder, I noticed that Wanderer and the others were also present.
"Hello Smith." Came the surprisingly cheerful response from Neo, "Is this all of them?"
"Yes, unless I'm mistaken this should be all of the ascended idots and Zion based humans that were sent here."
"Excellent."
Sudden confusion sprang into my head at this strange development, which soon became sudden panic as I realised what was happening. Smith had…
…Sold us out. He'd been lying, he hadn't been re-written at all, he'd simply imprinted himself onto Neo, effectively possessing him, and now the two most powerful beings in the Matrix were staring at us with bloodthirsty eyes.
"Smith you traitorous fucking shit!" Screamed one of the un-plugged humans. Two other people shouted similar things, the wiser among us fled for the trees.
Though the predominant thoughts in my head were 'run' and 'run faster', I couldn't help wonder how Smith had been able to operate so freely within the matrix without interruption from the machines. My best guess was that he had possessed them as well.
To my left I heard a scream. Looking around, I noticed that Smith had grabbed one of the un-plugged humans and had lifted him into the air; the screaming became louder as neo flung him back down to the ground. The speed was too high to allow any telekinetic tricks to slow the mans decent. His body struck the floor with a loud thud, and Neo started looking around for another victim.
The sun was beginning to set, and Neo and Smith's dark clothing were becoming all the more hard to see. They of course saw in coding, and it wouldn't be as hard for them to look around and pick running masses of green lines in amongst the stationary lines that made the trees.
"Wanderer!" The shout came from Manticore, "This way!"
I followed the voice as best as I could. I had no idea where Manticore was going, or where he thought would be safe from the flying beasts above us.
Then as I saw it, I remembered. The Destiny lay before me, still smouldering from the attack that ended only a few hours ago, although it felt more like weeks, so much had happened in such a small space of time. Anyway, the perimeter defences would, (if they still worked), hopefully keep Neo and Smith away long enough for the rest of us to retreat to a very distant part of the globe.
Not that this would do much good in the long run however.
To be continued.
A short one again, sorry about that. Anyway, onwards to replies:
Angel-of-lightness: Harry's a pothead and the philosopher's stoned. I can't remember where I heard that and am irritated as a result. Oh well, thanks for reviewing. At present I do not wish to stab you in the neck but you never know what the future holds. (At this point you must imagine me grinning).
Agent Josie: No, I didn't blow up the college, but I may soon. I found out that I must waste more time here then I originally thought before the summer holidays, after just having exams, I shall sniff in disgust 'Sniff'. Anyway, thanks for reviewing.
Tai Wilson: Inspiration is more slippery then a greased, raw carrot. When it strikes yo have to cast yourself fully into whatever you feel inspired to do, otherwise it shall vanish and is unlikely to return again. In any case, thanks for reviewing.
LiMiYa: I hope my portrayal of an evil Neo was realistic enough. Also, wow that Smith has turned evil, it should be easier to write him in character with any luck. In any case, thanks for reviewing.