4. Talk with Morpheus
"Oracle, what's the meaning of this?" The door crashed open in a jangle as Morpheus stalked in with Niobe following a moment later. His eyes swept the parlor taking in the dark Victorian furniture, the round table with a crystal ball sitting in the center. The windows had frilly curtains, keeping the morning sun out. Against one window a figure stood, a silhouette in the dimness of the house.
It looked like a clichéd version of a medium's room. Morpheus hated it.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light, and when it did, he stared at the lone occupant. The woman was thin, younger than expected, and drew a shocked grasp from Niobe. For a second Morpheus thought her a stranger, until he saw the easy stance she had, the way she took a drag from the cigarette, the slight smile that graced her features.
A familiar stranger, until he looked into her eyes.
"Who… Oracle?" his voice rasped hoarsely. It was---her---her original face, and impossibly young. A stab of grief followed sudden recognition and he stared wordlessly.
"Morpheus," she answered with a slight nod. "I have changed more times than my name, but at least I'm always me, thank goodness." The moment stretched uncomfortably. "Like the new look? Or rather the old look minus thirty years." Wearing dark slacks with a lime green blouse, she was the image of their first encounter, a lifetime ago.
"It is a surprise," he answered numbly, looking at a face near his own age. "This is the second time---"
"The second time I've changed?" she said, wreathed in smoke, holding the cigarette in one hand. "You've always suspected what I was. Still, knowing the truth and believing it can be two different things." She faintly smiled. "I'm sorry you hate my new looks, Morpheus, but there's more, isn't there?"
Seeing the smile, Morpheus felt something within him shatter. He had hoped to distance himself from the whole situation, trying to find a balance and inner peace on meeting her again. But staring at the Oracle brought to the surface how he had once considered her his guide and mentor in the quest to find the One. Seeing her again made one fact clear.
He felt betrayed.
More, there was some inner warning that he could not focus on, that made him feel adrift, lost in a dark and treacherous world. And knowing the feeling involved her.
"Being made a fool is enough without being reminded of it, Oracle," he answered bleakly. "But to find you're now selling your talent, your predictions? How can you do this?"
"There was no choice, Morpheus," the Oracle said sadly. "With the arrival of the One, the matrix had changed. The balance of power has changed and I changed with it. Now that the war's over, I had to change more."
"Meaning?"
"The war's end comes with a price. The greatest price is change, whether you want it or not. And change can sometimes leave you unrecognizable to others," she said, indicating herself. "Unrecognizable even to yourself some days."
"Perhaps," said Morpheus, subdued.
"I hope you do understand that, Morpheus otherwise the future will soon be very bleak. Now have a seat and let me tell your future," she offered, indicating the table with the crystal ball. She sat on a chair at the table and looked expectantly at him.
"No, never again," he said with distant formality. And held himself still.
"Know something? You'll wish you'd broken that promise." the Oracle said, her head tilted and slight smile lighting up her face. Seeing the smile, one that an older face always used to give her predictions, Morpheus' emotion of betrayal was consumed by something darker.
"Never! Don't try your tricks on me again, you charlatan! You-you damned machine!"
"Morpheus!" said Niobe grabbing one arm in warning. He realized with a sense of shock that he was at the table, his hands resting on its surface and arms supporting him as he leaned to glare down at the Oracle. Her face was inches away, so close that he could smell the cigarettes, and the peppermint candies on her breath.
"It's all right. Let him speak his mind," the Oracle said, unruffled.
Morpheus held his pose a second longer, then moved a few steps away. It was only when he moved away, that Niobe let his arm go. Stifling his anger, Morpheus clasped his hands rigidly behind his back as he turned to the Oracle.
"I said, never again." Morpheus repeated softly, coldly. "Once I found out that the Prophesy was a lie, I realized I was a puppet to machines again, and I'll be damned if I let some…program do that to me a third time."
"All I ever said was what you needed to hear. And I never told you what to do, Morpheus. I only told you what would happen given those decisions."
"No, I admit you said what I needed to hear, and more, gave help that I willingly received. I also admit you never outright lied to me, Oracle. For that I thank you. But what I can't accept is the way you presented the truth. All choices were mapped and sculpted by you. In the end, all our actions---all my actions were planned by you."
"And the worst thing about it is, I saw it and still trusted you. I trusted you." Morpheus then took a deep breath. "I only came here for one reason. Neo. What happened to him? We found Trinity on the Logos, but---"
"You already know what happened, Morpheus. Especially once you found Trinity's body." The Oracle's voice was soft, pitying.
"Neo's dead. Smith killed him." Morpheus closed his eyes, feeling a hope die. He kept his eyes closed as he listened to her reply.
"Yes. Neo is dead, like before."
"If only I went with them, maybe I---"
"You would have also died Morpheus, and nothing would have changed their fate," interrupted the Oracle. "But that's not what's truly troubling you, is it?"
"No."
"Go on. Speak your mind."
"Why?"
"Why what, Morpheus?"
"Why didn't you tell us the Prophesy was of machine origin? That it was only a way for the machines to control us?" he whispered, his throat dry.
"You never asked."
"What?" Morpheus' eyes snapped opened and he glared at the Oracle. She stared back with unflappable calm.
"The one thing that man and machine have in common is the blindness beyond their stated objective or purpose. Their mission if you will. You had all the clues in front of you, but you never asked the right questions. Remember that, Morpheus. You must ask the right question." Morpheus could almost see the original Oracle, her old, wise face looking out of the younger version.
"If I had asked the right question, then I never would have trusted you, Oracle," Morpheus replied bitterly.
"Which, in the end, was the best for all concerned," said the Oracle, her eyes turning cool, remote. Smoke drifted lazily from her cigarette.
"Except for Trinity. And Neo. And all the others who died for your lie. And my beautiful, false belief." Morpheus turned to leave, but stopped at her voice.
"Do you know what machines think mankind's one great weakness is, Morpheus? It's that emotions rule your perception and your lives. That man's history of war had been caused by the emotions of greed and lust for power."
"And the machine's one greatest weakness is ignoring those said emotions which are what make humanity great, that drives us to do the impossible, Oracle," Morpheus snapped back, turning to glare at her. "It is emotions that drives us---and keeps us going when everything else says otherwise."
"Now that's where you're wrong Morpheus," the Oracle said, raising her finger admonishingly. "The machines had realized that it is your strength --- though not mankind's greatest strength, and that's why I was created. I was created to understand emotions and in that comprehension utilize it."
"Utilize it for what purpose?" Morpheus said indifferently.
"To create the One."
"Neo." Morpheus replied, his voice quiet. "But in the end, it doesn't matter anymore, since he's dead. And so is nearly everyone else I knew during the war. And Trinity, when I found her---" He swallowed painfully and turned away again.
"Morpheus---"
He stopped, but didn't turn around. "No, Oracle. I don't want to hear any more," he said quietly.
"Remember what I said. When you need answers, find me," she answered. "If you can."
"Niobe?" Morpheus realized that she wasn't following him, and in fact was still near the Oracle.
"I'll be with you in a minute, Morpheus. After I talk to the Oracle," she said.
He frowned but left the parlor, closing the door behind him.
tbc
Next: Why Not Truth?
