The
Matrix
Regenesis
Panning a large city park, a middle-aged woman sits on a bench humming quietly to her self. She seems concentrated on something beyond what is seen amidst the scenic gardens and graceful trees. Presently, a little girl of East Indian descent runs excitedly towards her, with a tall oriental man following. The girl reaches the lady and hugs her as they both smile.
Before they start talking, and elderly gentleman approaches from behind some trees. He is dressed in a white three-piece suit and his hair is bright white. Unlike the threesome aforementioned, he wears a serious frown on his face. The old lady rises to confront him.
"You really believe this was all fate?" The man says, motioning towards the beautiful sunrise across the city skyline.
The African-American woman stared strongly at him as if she was ready to fight. "I believe in more than equations and anomalies deciding one's destiny."
The man's frown grew deeper. "How long do think this peace is actually going to last?" He asked in a challenging tone.
The lady stood defiant and stared out among the beauty. "As long as it can." she said. Then turning back to the man; "I have your word you will free the rest of those who wish to be free?"
"Of course." The man huffed as he turned away, "What do you think I am, Human?"
When the man in the three piece suit disappeared, the girl and the oriental returned to the lady's side. Together they strolled through the park in a leisurely manner under the beautiful, colorful sunrise.
The little girl asked the lady a question.
"Do you think we'll ever see Neo again?" she asked.
"Oh," the lady smiled, "I imagine we'll see him again."
"Get on those pumps now, Davik!"
Hurtling through a large underground cavern of steel and concrete, a massive hover ship weaved this way and that, trying desperately to avoid a fatal collision with the narrowing passage way. Beams and pipes of varying sizes jutted out from the walls; smaller ones being obliterated by the ship's mass and bigger ones scraping its side and causing its course to veer all directions.
At the helm of this monstrosity, a blond-haired man in his early forties fought with his life to keep his ship on track without sustaining a great deal of structural damage, a task that was quickly becoming increasingly harder to accomplish.
He shouted through the intercom once more.
"Davik! The pumps! Now!"
Davik, a short Latino man, ran in zigzags pattern to the back of the ship, passing a carbon block that read: "The Jasper: Made in the USA, 2199". Using all his weight, he worked open a hydraulic door leading to the pump room. The ship's pumps were malfunctioning. These pumps were responsible for maintaining the hydraulics that moved the hovercraft's engine nacelles. An explosion had occurred earlier in the pump room that caused the ship to rock and the pilot to lose control of maneuvering and acceleration. No one knew what had caused the accident, but the entire crew was working as fast as they could fix the problem, as it was getting increasingly worse.
"Davik! Hurry up, I'm running out of tunnel!"
Davik used a nearby intercom switch.
"Sir, this will take a while. Just give me more time!"
"I don't have time! There's no more room!"
"Go up! Out of the tunnels and above the ground!"
"That's suicide!"
"The war's over, remember?"
"I guess I don't have a choice." the pilot said reluctantly.
Taking a difficult turn sideways, the hovercraft's nose pointed skyward as it went up a ventilation shaft. Soon, a black and grey dismal sky came into view, followed by the loud noises of thunder and tall, black buildings that soared above the ground. They had finally surfaced.
Being amidst the strange cityscape made maneuvering harder. The ship bucked wildly, throwing its occupants against walls and other obstacles if they were not secured. Periodically, lights flashed on and off until they were replaced by the orange emergency beams.
Outside, the buildings passed by quickly as squid-type machines came along side The Jasper as if in curiosity, swimming closer to the ship and constantly scanning it.
Inside the pump room a violent jolt sent Davik forwards into a pipe that had been thrust through the hull of ship. The pipe impaled him upon impact, sending splats of blood on the nearby walls.
Suddenly, without warning, two the right side stabilizers crackled apart, sending bursts of electricity out from its wounds. The Jasper careened sideways towards an onslaught of skyscrapers.
"NOOOOO!" the pilot screamed as the ship made impact.
The impact was so severe, The Jasper was thrust a few hundred yards into the structure before halting, upon which time the fuel had ignited. The explosion rocked the building, destroying most of the surrounding sentinels in the wake.
The tall building buckled as it collapsed sideways, striking other such structures as it continued its descent. When it came to rest all had caught fire and burned incessantly. The orange glow of the fire could be visible from miles around, though no human eye would ever see it. A surveying sentinel let out a loud and shrill shriek.
RIIIIIIINGGGG! RIIIIIIINGGGG! A telephone sounded, signaling anyone nearby that a call was ready and waiting. For the moment, that someone was Nicholas Steel. He wearily drudged himself out of bed, sweeping off covers in the process. Dressed in a white t-shirt and black shorts, he stumbled towards the noisy phone, knocking over a pile of books lying on a nearby table.
Nick's one-room apartment was small but comfortable. After all, he was its only occupant. His hobby of reading books was definitely obvious. Most, if not all of the books, were by famous psychologists and spiritual leaders and contained religious-themed material.
He picked up the phone and before he could speak, a gruff voice on the other end beat him to it.
"Nick, are you coming, man?"
"James?" Nick answered groggily, glancing at his wall clock. It read 5:03 a.m. "Do you know what time it is?"
"Yes. And if you want your share, you'd better get going."
"Alright, I'm coming."
"Be at the Adam Street Bridge in exactly twenty minutes."
Before Nick had a chance to reply, the phone line went dead. He slipped the phone back on the receiver and smelled his shirt. Phew! I'd better get a quick shower.
"Order! Order in the session!" The old man known as Councilor West addressed the noisy throng of people, mostly pilots and soldiers, as they clamored to find seats in the auditorium. The Zion Council had called a special emergency meeting to discuss an unforeseen accident that could cost everyone their safety. Eventually, everyone had found a place in the rows of metallic benches and among the industrial and rusty walls.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Councilor West began, "As you all know, this is a very serious event that has occurred. Approximately three hours ago, one of our ships, The Jasper, experienced pump problems as it patrolled the eastern corridors. The malfunction caused its stabilizers to go haywire and made the ship extremely difficult to maneuver. The Jasper crashed head-on into a machine control building." then turning his attention to a tall, African-American consoler he said, "Councilor Morpheus, please."
Morpheus rose. "It seems that machines do not take accidents into consideration." he said gravely, "No doubt they think what happened is an act of war against them. As we speak, the machines are gathering sentinels at tunnel passageways and organizing a plot to attack Zion. Without a doubt, we are prepared to meet their assault, but this does pose serious concern."
The gathered murmured and whispered amongst themselves.
"Order!" Councilor West demanded. "Let him finish."
"I would ask that all pilots be on patrols at all times, working in shifts if necessary."
One man stood up. "What about freeing minds? Do we put that on hold?" Others agreed.
"No," Morpheus explained, "If anything, we should continue with more fervor than ever. I believe that Neo's job is not yet done but that he will soon conquer the machines as prophesied."
That brought loud applause and cheering from the auditorium as Morpheus sat back down. Then Councilor West adjourned the meeting and the pilots and soldiers dispersed.
Morpheus made his way up the stairs leading out of the large room and met up with Niobe, captain of the ship Logos II. Morpheus looked gravely at her.
"Niobe," he started, "I wouldn't ask you this unless I believed it was absolutely necessary..."
But Niobe interrupted him, "Whatever you say, Morpheus. It makes sense to me now." she leaned closer, "I believe."
Morpheus gave a smile.
"Thank you. I think that Neo is still out there."
"Where? The machine city?"
"No. Somewhere in the matrix. I want you to keep a presence in their as often as you possibly can."
"What makes you think this?"
"Some disturbing news from those in charge of freeing minds."
Niobe was puzzled, "How? I thought the One was prophesied to bring peace to both worlds."
"Yes, and the presence of peace eradicated the need for agents. It's just that the machines sent out sentinels as an act of war, but I believe they are only an effect of the true problem..."
"Which is?"
"If the machines are sending out sentinels to find Zion, they could also be sending out sentinel agent programs back into the Matrix. Some sort of parallel in both realms."
"That's crazy. Unless..."
"Unless they are looking for something." Morpheus contemplated, "Something that threatens their existence."
"Looking for..."
"The only thing that ever really posed a threat to them, and the only answer to the end of the war."
Making his way steadily through traffic, Nick carefully guided his grey foreign SUV around a sharp turn leading to an alleyway. It was a shortcut to the Adam St. Bridge, the place Nick had to meet up with James for an exchange of some kind. Passing down the dark road, careful not run his car against dumpsters, trashcans, and other vehicles, he made his way to a small intersection.
Down another dark tunnel, the Logos II flew steadily on its patrol course. Inside the industrial-looking ship, crew members kept their various assigned positions; some at turrets, some at the helm, and one at the control center.
Link stood by at the controls of the operator's post. His eyes were constantly scanning the matrix feed, a series of basic characters mixed with some eastern symbols. The green code cascaded down the screen like a slow motion rainstorm. To untrained eyes, that was what it appeared as; but Link had grown accustomed to deciphering the cryptic strains. Its messages read like a book to him.
Then it happened. Link blinked, trying to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
There! It happened again. A sort of lightening flash interrupted the lines of code and replaced it with some characters Link hadn't seen since...
"Captain Niobe!" he hollered as bolted from his chair and ran straight to the cockpit.
Up at the helm, Niobe spun around in her chair, removing her headset. She looked quizzically at the operator, she had not seen him so alert like this.
"Calm down, Link." she said, "What is it?"
"The Matrix," Link huffed, "It's the code."
"What about the code?" asked Ghost, an Asian man who served as Niobe's copilot. He had joined Niobe on many missions inside the matrix, most under instructions from Morpheus.
"It's back again." Link said.
"What's back?" Niobe inquired.
Link seemed contemplating something. "It's a strain I haven't seen since..."
"Let's have a look." Ghost said.
Making their way back to the control center, the threesome looked at each other with puzzled glances. When arriving at the screens, the strange lightening disturbance stopped before their eyes.
"It was just there!" Link shouted.
"I saw it." Niobe confirmed, "Let's get in and check it out. Ghost, come on."
"I can only get one of you in at the moment." Link said.
"Alright," Niobe spoke, "Ghost, go in without me. Link, get him as close as you can." Then something caught her eye. "Link, what's that?"
"It's just some guy driving his car down an alley. Wait, he was closest to that weird disturbance."
"Does he have a phone?"
Link strained his eyes, "Yes."
"Good, Ghost will need some transportation."
By the time Link had prepped the connection, other crew members had already gotten Ghost settled into a chair. Then one procured the jack needed for connection and slipped it into the appropriate plug in the back of his head. Ghost's eyes closed as the reality took effect.
First he saw a shimmer of brilliant green code swirling around him and millions of small strains of information found their designated routes. Within seconds, the spectacle faded. Ghost found himself on a busy city sidewalk in the middle of the mega city. Glancing around to get his bearings, he spied a street sign: Adams St. Bridge.
Ghost picked up his pace and started running.
HONNNNNNNNNKKK! A huge garbage truck let its horn blow loudly, echoing resoundingly in the small alley intersection. Nick nearly had a heart attack. He was not paying attention and almost got T-boned by the giant vehicle. He backed up and waited for it to pass.
Presently, his cell phone rang. Nick stared at it for a moment. He wasn't expecting any calls. Lifting it from its charger, he glanced at the caller ID. It read: "Restricted Call". Hesitantly, he flipped the receiver down and put the phone to his ear.
"Hello?" he asked questioningly.
"Nicholas Steel?" the voice on the other end sounded female.
"Yes how'd know my name?"
"I know a lot, Nick." the voice said, "But right now we don't have time for that. Drive to the corner of Adam Street and Parkway Boulevard."
"Why should I?" Nick demanded.
"Because we have answers."
Nick pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it as if waiting for direction. Then he put it back to his mouth.
"Alright," Nick said, "I guess I'll play along.
"Good. I call back in a few minutes." The line went dead.
After a few minutes, Nick found himself driving towards the location that the mystery caller had specified. Then the phone chirped again.
"What now?"
"Do you see the man standing at the corner?" the voice said.
Nick scanned the area aforementioned carefully. He spotted an Asian man wearing a black trench coat, leather gloves, and dark sunglasses waiting by the street sign. He was also carrying a suitcase.
"Yeah, I see him." Nick said.
"Good, drive to the corner and pick him up. He'll give you further instructions when you get there."
"How'd you know that he-"
"I said later." The line went dead once more.
Nick took a deep breath.
"Okay," he said to himself, "Might as well."
Slowly, he edged his SUV across the street to his target. Then he noticed one, two, three black sedans pulling up closely behind him. The men inside had no distinguishing features. All of them, as far a Nick could tell, wore the same black suit, the same tie, the same sunglasses, and the same motionless expression.
Back on the Logos II, Link stared disbelievingly at the screen. He felt like he was hallucinating and someone should shake him out of it. The code was changing again. But this time, it was all too familiar.
"I've gotta call Ghost!" he said, looking up from the screens, "Niobe! We have a problem here!"
"What is it?" she answered as Link pointed to the code raining down. Her eyes deciphered what his had.
"Oh no!" she cried, "Get me in there now!"
Nick arrived cautiously at the curb side next to the street sign. The Asian man opened the left rear door. He threw his suitcase in and then found himself a seat. He leaned forward.
"Drive towards the city bank." He said, "We'll make the drop-off there."
"Listen," Nick said slowly as the man answered his cell phone, "I was supposed to meet someone at the Adam Street Bridge in only-"
The man held up his hand to silence him. "Forget about your contact. They are most likely already dead."
"What are you talking about?"
"Just drive to the bank if don't want the same fate. Go!"
Nick decided it was all or nothing. He floored the gas pedal and the grey SUV lurched forward, its tires screeching under the stress. By now the black sedans had caught up. Red, rotating lights on the dashboards indicated they were far from retiring the chase. They followed suit with Nick's SUV and started accelerating down the crowded city streets. The red lights reflected of Nick's rearview mirror.
"What are those guys? Cops?"
"No. Much more dangerous."
It was rush hour in the mega city and Nick had a difficult time guiding his car through the traffic safely. He quickly turned left onto a less crowded street in an attempt to shake his pursuers. The Asian man turned backwards in his seat to see the three sedans make the sharp left turn in almost perfect unison and then continue on. He pulled his suitcase up beside himself and unlatched it.
As the top of the suitcase flipped up, Nick could see its contents.
"Guns?" he yelled, "You've got guns in there?"
But the Asian man was in no listening mood. He picked up two 9mm Uzi Semi-Automatics and promptly loaded each one. Then he pushed back the sunroof and thrust his upper torso through the opening. Training his weapons on the first sedan he fired upon it relentlessly. The bullets riddled the hood with holes and shattered the windshield.
Within seconds, one of the men in the first car responded. Sliding down the passenger side window of the sedan, he stuck out a Silver Talon handgun and fired one shot after another at the grey SUV. The bullets planted themselves squarely in the back hatch of Nick's car.
"Shoot!" Nick muttered as they he dodged another slew of slow-moving vehicles. His SUV dodged a small, red compact that had turned in front of him, barely missing the rear quarter panels. The black sedan directly behind him, however, struck the vehicle dead-on. The impact forced the compact into the air and left heavy damage to the front of the black car.
Back on top, the Asian man emptied the last of the rounds in his Uzi's. The weapons emitted distinct "ping" sounds as the clips dropped from underneath. Tossing them aside, he reached down for another gun.
Presently, the black sedan that had obliterated the red compact came along side the right of Nick's SUV. The driver raised his gun and fired in their direction. Both occupants of the grey car ducked. When they had risen, three small holes had been placed in the SUV's window.
Without a moment's notice, the Asian man loaded a 12-gauge sawed off shotgun. Using the butt of the gun to clear away the damaged window, he took aim and fired the weapon one-handed at the opposing vehicle. The buckshot shredded the front tires. Losing control, the sedan flipped sideways and then tumbled end over end. The spectacle ended when the black car exploded in a ball of fire.
Nick and the Asian were jolted forwards in their seats. One of the remaining sedans rammed them hard from behind. One of them men inside pushed open his door and ripped from its hinges. He then hurled the door towards the grey SUV. The piece struck the left side and tore away the side mirror.
Then the suited man climbed out an around the windshield and planted his feet on the hood of the car. Rearing back as if ready to pounce, he leapt from the black car's hood and landed on the back of Nick's SUV. It was an impossible feat; the distance jumped was nearly twelve feet!
Pulling his head away from the smashed window, the man glared up at Nick. Nick saw his expression in the rearview mirror. Even through the dark sunglasses, he could see the man's eyes glowing with rage.
The Asian wasted no time in rearing around and taking aim with the shotgun. He fired three times at the attacker. Nick almost ducked to avoid the eminent gore. To his surprise, not one drop of blood came forth. Nick turned around again to see the man seemingly rip into pieces and then phase back together. The buckshot had totally missed him even from point-blank range!
The Asian man spun around, hopped over the seats, and crawled up through the sunroof. The other man followed suit, planting both feet firmly on the top of the SUV. He then removed his sunglasses to reveal hollow-looking eyes that looked straight at the Asian.
"Another one." The man said with an equally hollow sounding voice, "You need to be terminated." He lunged at the Ghost with a fast punch. The Asian man knew it was coming and he instinctively dodged backwards; his back arching a full ninety degrees until Nick could see his head through the windshield.