Well, no action in this section, but calm scenes will be in short supply, later on. After this point, we move into the real plot. For those of you who are big Seraph fans, you get a lot of Seraph thinking. You'll get to see Seraph action next time.
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Scene 02: Aftermath
Deep within the heart of Machine City, all was silent, everything working in noiseless precision. The balanced equation of efficiency continued, undaunted by unforeseen circumstances. At the bottom of what served as an alley, the machine housing a certain program began to whirr...
Power online.
Systems activated.
Damage report... extensive.
Recommended course of action: immediate analysis and data recovery.
Analysis: No data damage. All subroutines have been neutralized. New systems are currently operational on master circuit. Systems are considered hostile.
Determined: recovery is possible.
Commencing system reload.
For a few moments the machine whirred, golden code flying from its core, tapping into the source, moving through the Matrix. Soon its whirring subsided and joined the rest of the city in complete silence.
Program Seraph... restored.
Slowly his eyes flickered open, staring at hard, cold concrete. He was lying in the middle of a street, he slowly realized, an empty and desolate street. Collecting his mind, Seraph slowly got to his feet.
In near awe he glanced at his limbs as he moved them. As they should, they moved easily to his command. It was a luxury that he had not been given for some time. He remembered very little of his time as part of the being known as Smith. Mostly he remembered the cold. The cold and the feeling of being completely alone, with no one else even existing.
Vaguely Seraph remembered some of his actions, and he stumbled as the memories began to flood back. They had absorbed the Oracle, and then the reign of terror had begun. Using Seraph's programming code, Smith had absorbed countless beings into his expanding wave of darkness. The power that was Smith was growing.
Regaining control of himself, Seraph walked from the street and leaned against the nearest wall. Why was he here? No other Smiths appeared to be in the nearby area, and Seraph could sense no other programs nearby. Had this area already been completely controlled by Smith, and then evacuated? If that was the case, however, why was he here?
More importantly, how had Agent Smith become so powerful? Seraph had survived more than one entire cycle of the Matrix, and never had an Agent become as Smith had. His power was incredible, and would only grow exponentially. But why would such a thing take place?
Concluding the matter merited some serious consideration, Seraph continued to allow his mind to pursue such an auxiliary thought. Of most importance was the nature of Smith's power. As everything, Seraph knew it was controlled by the massive equation that was the Matrix. Smith's new power had somehow stemmed from Neo; did that mean his power was designed to balance the One? Yet with such a power, Seraph extrapolated that the overall affect would be ever increasing. Never in the past had such a thing been necessary to balance any form of the Matrix equation. Then again, never in the past had the One chosen to return to the Matrix after he had reached the source.
If only the Oracle was here. She understood the entire equation, whereas it had never been Seraph's purpose to comprehend it. But he could not escape the feeling that there was something missing, something in the equation that would not balance. Now that the Oracle was a part of Smith, such options were lost to him. There was something else, something that he should have understood, but was missing...
Deciding such questions were irrelevant to the task had hand, Seraph turned his mind to more important matters. How long had he been controlled by Smith? It could have been an hour, or a day. The most pertinent part of the question was the current condition of Zion. Had the machines even breached the core? Or was it already over?
If Zion had been destroyed, then Neo was gone as well. Seraph had never been one to lie to himself, and he grimly acknowledged that if Neo had been killed, they did not stand a chance. With the Oracle under Smith's control, his power here could not be challenged. Already, from what Seraph vaguely remembered, most areas of the city had been entirely deleted and converted to Smiths. But, it was more likely that Zion still existed, and there was yet hope.
Putting such thoughts aside, Seraph began walking. Now that he had no one else to protect, Seraph instead focused on understanding the situation. Until he understood what was happening, he could not hope to help. Only a few programs had access to information outside of the Matrix, but Seraph knew where to find them.
The Marovingian.
