"There is a difference, Neo, between knowing the path, and walking it."
"So what, you know Morpheus speeches now?" Squishy rolls his eyes.
Shadow ignores him, staring at the ground passing her by. She slopes her head, and biting her lower lip. Her backpack is heavy, she wishes Squishy would carry it, but it's not like she's going to ask.
She takes long strides between footsteps, staring at the ground that has become their path. She is careful with the sidewalk, as cars drive by, and people walk on past them. This is the path; this is the path they will follow now on.
"Morpheus's speeches are full of lies." Shadow answers. "It just felt…appropriate."
They've heard the stories. The story of Neo and his first jump, the first time he ever saw Smith, the first time he plugged in, the first time… Those are Neo's stories, and they are well known. How could they not be? They're bedtime stories parents tell to their children.
That's what people do. It's not cowboys and Indians; it's Neo and Agents. It's kids going in dark trench coats for Halloween, saying they are the reincarnation of Neo, they are The One, and they will find a way to maintain peace between man and Machine. It's kids being named after him. It's Neo's name in the history books as a messiah.
It's never Smith, it's never Agents.
They say horrible things about him…Horrible things written in chronicle books in the Real World, horrible things in the history books. Neo is the hero of the entire world, Smith is the bad guy.
This is how it is. This is how it shall always be, no matter what they do.
They can walk this path for eternity and it will not change.
"Did you leave a note for your parents?" Glitch asks, lowering his head, for once in his life breaking the silence.
"Yeah." Squishy nods to him.
"No."
"Why not?" Glitch asks her.
"Cause I hate them. This will be good for us. That's what they do for bad couples right? They separate for a while." Shadow says, walking ahead of her boys.
"How far is this bus?" Squishy changes the subject.
"Not that far, plus I got an all night ticket. I guess they'll let us sleep on the bus. I've got like two hundred bucks left that should last us." Shadow told them, looking back on them.
They're leaving it behind. Following the path that leads out into the rest of the world.
"Have you ever been outside the state?" Squishy asks.
"I've been to Mexico." Shadow says.
"Oregon for me." Glitch raises his hand.
"Great." Squishy sighed.
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And so the three of them stood, leaning on the walls of the bus stop. Glitch laid himself on the ground, while Shadow and Squishy stood on the old walls of that place. They were quieter now, being so close to opening the door.
"Neo opened the door made of light, and entered into what would change the course of the war." Shadow said rather silently.
"Neo did a lot of things." Squishy told her.
"Shut up, Matt." She spat at him. "Neo saved humanity, and ended the war. Neo chose the red pill. Neo defied the Agents. Neo learned the truth. Neo become more than anyone can ever hope to be. Neo became the light the machines now thrive off of. Neo holds graves both in the Real World and in here." Shadow told him.
"Neo killed Smith, two times." Squishy said calmly.
Shadow lowered her head.
"And Smith deserved it each time." She whispered. "Look I know you don't want to go but do you have to be so pissed off? If you don't want to go, leave."
"If he leaves, I'm leaving." Glitch looked up.
"Thanks for the support, Glitch." Shadow said.
"I'm not leaving. I'm just…thinking." Squishy said, laying his head back down on the wall.
They were quiet again. On the brink of entering hundreds of years of war. As soon as they stepped on that bus, they will be part of this war, this war that has ended. They will be the children who went to rescue the Former Agent Smith. Sure, no one will know, but in a couple hundred years things have their way of slipping out into the open. As soon as they're on that bus, they will be in this war, they will see Agents, and they will know how to run from them.
Maybe in a hundred years they will join Neo's name in a history book.
The thought gives Shadow a smile.
They're just kids, and they're going to do something much like the Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus did half a decade ago. Three people, off on a rescue mission that is surely to fail. Of course, none of them were The One, none of them could hold a gun or fight with the skill of Agents, or even get shot in the chest eight times and live. But it was so simple… It seemed simple at least.
"I hope Smith's okay." Shadow said.
"He's fine, he can take care of himself. It's us you should be worrying about." Squishy told her.
"I hope he's okay too." Glitch looked up.
They hadn't really thought of what the Agents could have been doing to him or already done. Interrogation was all they knew, what forms of interrogation, well that's another story. Smith had not told them much, perhaps he didn't remember. Brown's book was not filled with much detail on the subject, supposedly he did not particularly enjoy them, watching Smith speak in ways he shouldn't have.
Shadow said it was just a small little room, how horrible small little rooms can be.
"I bet he's dead." Squishy sighed.
Shadow bit her lower lip and smacked Squishy in the back of the head, of course she had to stand on her toes, but she did it.
"Ow!" He screamed.
"Shut up, I'm going to tell him you said that." She said.
"Dude, he'll kill you." Glitch smiled a little.
"Stop hitting me!"
Shadow hit him again, without much of an expression on her face.
"We're about to become part of a war that has gone on for hundreds of years, for god's sake show some freaking dignity." She told him.
"The war is over, it's been over since Smith was killed fifty-six years ago." Squishy said, angrily.
"Fifty-six years is not that long compared to hundreds." She said.
"There is now peace between man and machine." He said.
And she hit him again, with Glitch smiling behind his back.
Soon, the bus arrived, and they were the only ones waiting for it, with their back packs full of supplies, and Squishy rubbing the back of his head. They waited amount as the door opened and squeaked before stepping on. Shadow looked at the boys, and just…Took the first step.
There were not many others on the bus, just a couple in people in the back that would soon leave. She seated herself near the middle, where Squishy and Glitch joined her, squeezing into one seat. They did not wish to separate. Shadow nudged Squishy as she scooted closer to the window. They laid their backpacks on the floor, and sat in silence. Glitch in the aisle was now looking around at the other people. Squishy was silent, and Shadow watched the rest of the unsuspecting world go by.
This was it. This is the door.
"Asato ma sad gamaya, tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, mrtyor mamrtam gamaya…" Shadow began to nod her head.
"What the hell?" Squishy looked at her annoyed.
"Dude…" Glitch said.
"It's Hindu, boys, nothing evil. The composer guy…you know the guy that did all the music of Jurassic Park, he wrote it when he was freed for Neo and the others." She told them.
"Don Davis." Squishy nodded.
"Yeah! That's the guy…He's cool. Just gives Andy competition though." Shadow smiled.
"Asotu ma sood go maya?" Squishy shook his head.
"No! No, no, no. Um… As-a-to." She said slowly. "Ma sad, ga-may-ya." She nodded her head.
"Okay…" Glitch titled his head.
"It means from delusion lead me to truth, from darkness lead me to light, and from death lead me to immortality. I wish I knew the rest but it's like a nine minute song, and they go to fast for me." She says. "It just…you know seemed appropriate."
"Asato…" Squishy nodded.
"Yeah."
"Dude, those people back there are looking at you." Glitch pointed.
Shadow looked over the seat and towards the back.
"People suck." Shadow said, falling back into her chair.
"They sure do." Squishy nodded.
And they were left to the mercy of the traffic, and their own anxiety and boredom. Shadow rested her head on the glass window, cars were usually where she thought about stories, at the moment she was running her plan in her head again…she just wanted to see Smith again. Squishy laid his head on the chair, his arms crossed, looking at Glitch playing his Gameboy.
And they were left in silence, thinking of what may happen to them in the next hours. It was as if they were waiting in their APUs for the destruction of Zion, to know it is coming, and to sit and wait. Such agonizing time is.
"Do you think Neo will ever be reincarnated?" Shadow said. "Just a thought."
"Dude, as long as I'm not him, I don't care." Squishy said.
"You're just afraid of dying." She said.
"Well duh!"
"Neo wasn't afraid."
"That's cause Neo was like forty, and had, had his life, and had nothing else to live for when his girlfriend died."
"Her name was Trinity."
"Trinity, fine." He crossed his arms tighter.
"Neo wasn't afraid of dying, because I think he knew it was inevitable for him, the messiah to give his life for the rest of his people." She said hitting her head on the glass.
"God that had to be a horrible thought. Living each day knowing you're going to die." Glitch stated, a rather deep comment
"We live each day like that, Mr. Mucci." Shadow smiled. "We may die today, but how is that different from any other day? We are soldiers, and this is a war."
"More Morpheus huh?" Squishy asked her.
She almost laughed.
"Maybe Morpheus isn't as bad as I thought." She admitted.
"Dude, Neo didn't know he was going to die." Squishy argued.
"Of course he did! You're The One, Neo, the one that will save all of humanity against an entire world full of machines! You're going to die!" Shadow yelled. "It had to be in the back of his head, you know. A splinter in his mind."
"That sucks." Glitch says.
"Neo was just some hacker guy, I doubt he was thinking about death when he had his Trinity." Squishy sighs, leaning in his chair. "I bet he was still a virgin when he met Trinity."
"Yeah, probably. Hackers don't get out often enough." Shadow bangs her head on the window again.
"Ew." Glitch squints his eyes.
"Well, Smith is a virgin right? I mean, Agent Smith wouldn't even consider such a thing." Shadow looks over at Glitch.
"Ew!" Glitch turns his head.
"Well how do know that? I mean there are many methods of interrogation." Squishy comments.
"Oh, Matt! Ew! Well actually, there are some fanfics on that…" Shadow sighs. "Dude let's just get off the subject, SexEd was really boring anyway."
"Some dignity, huh Shadow?" Squishy grins.
And she hits him, leaving him rubbing the back of his head. Yeah, some dignity.
"I hope Smith is okay." Shadow says, leaning in her chair.
And now they are quiet, with the few other people in the bus staring at them. Three little children, where on earth could they be going? It doesn't even cross their minds that these children are on their way to save the Agent Smith.
Shadow sighs, resting her head on the window. The car is where she thinks deeper about stuff, she assumes that is where everyone thinks about things deeper. Cars and buses, this is where the real magic happens. Where they aren't just kids, their honors students expressing their deep and amazing thought. Sitting in the car, watching the world go by, the world she knew where Neo once stood, and Agents fire their guns, this is where stories come in. This is where the images of stories long finished stories come back, they play in her head like a movie. While in Squishy's as the piece of paper she wrote it on with so many, many mistakes. While Glitch sees the fight scenes, and longs for the welcoming noise of his computer. This is where images of Smith falling to the ground with a bullet in his chest come into her mind. This is where images of Smith flapping his lighting wings come into her mind. This is where images of Smith being happy come into mind. It is a little pathetic really, but that's what she's thinking of. She begins to think of the plan laid out in her head, she can't wait to see Jones and Brown.
They are silent, and this time they will stay silent. Children are meant to be silent, as the old saying will go. In silence that is where children free their minds.
"He'll be okay." Squishy nudges Shadow.
"Yeah, you're just really freaked out now, and saying he's dead because you're weird like that." Shadow smile.
Squishy rolls his eyes, and looks at Glitch.
"Exactly, Shadow." He says.
"I hope he's okay." Shadow says again.
Three little children, three self-proclaimed rebels. Three friends. Three ships. Room three zero three. Trinity. Three friends, one purpose. "Find them and destroy them." As Smith once said. Well, maybe they were just find him. "Find Smith, and tackle him." That would better suite them.
They're just kids, but they are like the boy with the spoon. More enlightened than many will ever hope to be. And now they're walking the path, the path that was set by Neo, Trinity and Morpheus. They were following in their footsteps into a war, and they were ready.
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"I can't remember what happened." Smith said, leaning down in his chair.
He had forgotten how repetitive Agents were, how their minds think in circles, trying to get the answer they want to hear. Smith had woken up about six hours earlier, with a splitting headache. He's been in the Interrogation room ever since, with the new Agents hovering over him. He figured they would have left him by now, perhaps there was Rebel activity they needed to attend to. But they hadn't left, perhaps he was just much more important than some Rebels. He supposed he should have been flattered, but he wasn't.
He had been repeating the same answers to the same questions, and ignoring the same threats. He looked back at the hours he spent in that very room, it was always so much more fun on the other side, watching who ever he was interrogating squirm and panic. But he hadn't given Johnson such a pleasure yet. He still had a headache, and he was trying not to think too far ahead into the future. Bad things always happened when he looked into the future, he knew that much. He knew what may come, so he just tried not to think about it.
Smith glanced at Johnson who was speaking rather like he used to, very slowly, and he was getting rather bored. He looked over at Jackson then at Thompson, and shook his head. He had long since stopped listening to Johnson, and allowed his mind to wander. For a moment he wondered how they were going to kill him. If Johnson would allow Jackson and Thompson to do it for him. But if Johnson was like him, then he would be killed with a few bullets to the chest. Smith blinked, and tried to think of something else.
And he wondered what his kids were doing now. Yes, he thought of them as his. His three future rebels. The writer, the cow-enthusiast, and the APU pilot. Smith smiled.
"Do I amuse you somehow, Mr. Smith?" Johnson asked.
"Hm? Oh! No, I wasn't listening to you, and I was thinking of something else." Smith said quite casually.
Johnson clenched his hands on the table.
"You fail to see the seriousness in your situation, Mr. Smith." Johnson said.
"I see it perfectly, Johnson. I just don't really care. You're going to kill me, and I'm not going to spend my last hours listening to some want-to-be-me." Smith smiled, he found himself using some of the words his kids used.
"Excuse me?"
Smith sighed at his ignorance.
"You are the upgraded version of me. I can see that so plainly. It's sickening really, to watch you. It's like watching myself, watching myself from a long time ago. Ah, Agent Smith, I can barely remember him." Smith started fiddling with his thumbs.
"We want answers."
"I don't have them, you're wasting your time. Go out and kill somebody." Smith sighed.
"How did you survive all these years?"
"Look, maybe I'm not making this clear enough. I don't remember anything! Are you listening? After being blown up you tend to have a bit of amnesia! I've been sitting in that basement for all this time, because I could barely remember Neo's name much less anything else!" Smith started yelling.
And Johnson and the others stared blankly.
"Oh God was I really like you people once!?" Smith fell back in his chair.
"You are lying, Former Agent Smith. You seemed quite comfortable in your basement." Johnson lowers his head.
"How very true Johnson. Yes, I ventured out a couple times, confused and disorient. I still didn't know what the hell was going on, I just knew I couldn't be around those people, those things." Smith clenches his fist. "So I went out and stole some things to make my very long stay in that basement as comfortable as I could."
He's lying. He is surprised at hour good of a liar he is. He's lying, and not mentioning his kids, his future Rebels. His children he has grown so dependent on. He wishes he could say goodbye.
"Now leave me alone, or kill me! I'm not going to try and take over the world again! I can't really remember how I did it the first time, but I'm pretty sure I blew it. So I'm not trying again! There's no point now, I can't even defeat you three!" Smith gets impatient.
"Do you really want us to take that risk, Mr. Smith?" Johnson asks. "After what you did? Do you really want us to just…let you go? The only reason you are still alive is because we have to examine you and your connection to the anomaly. How it was formed and corrupted. How you somehow were able to surpass the system and nearly annihilate it. How you were able to survive all this time without our sensors finding you. And we have many forms of interrogation Former Agent Smith."
Smith smiles.
"You can't scare me with this Gestapo crap, I was once you remember?" Smith says quoting a man named Thomas.
"Mr. Smith…We are the upgrades. You do not disobey us." Johnson makes a fist.
"Now how about I give you the finger." Smith smiles, pointing his finger right at Johnson. "And you give me my phone."
Smith holds back a laugh, oh how the kids would love this. How they would laugh and point at Johnson, and cheer for him. Oh how Neo would have loved this too. Oh how he would have laughed and laughed, Neo never smiled at Smith, never. But he could tell, when Neo did this to him he was indeed enjoying it. And now he was enjoying it as well.
Shadow, Squishy, Glitch, I will miss you.
Johnson stared at Smith who now smiled in his chair. He wondered for a moment how on earth he could be an upgrade of such a corrupted program. Such a horrible thing. No purpose, no meaning. Just a lonesome program searching for a reason to survive, a reason to keep clinging on. Johnson was not like Smith, he never will be like Smith.
That is when Johnson punches Smith in the face, and Smith falls to the floor.
Smith grids his teeth, holding pressure to his face, lying on the floor, feeling a tears come from his eyes. It just hurt so much. He panted looking up at Johnson who stood above Smith, and smiling. Johnson put his foot near Smith's face, and rubbed his fist on his hand, and shaking it off. He really did put as much as he could into that punch, and he loved it.
"As I said, we are upgrades."
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Next Chapter: Always an Agent
