14 Rabbit Hole Realities
In the shadow I realized what Smith had done. He severed my connection to the matrix.
Within the dark, I felt my sorrow, not recede but change in texture, and sensed that somehow my link to the matrix had magnified that single emotion to unmanageable proportions. It had created a escalating feedback loop and the emotions had been reflected in the matrix along with rain. The moment I touched the matrix, I had felt my sorrow magnified, and had unconsciously shoved it away continuing the loop, and caused the storm, magnifying it to where the power of it threatened to destroy the matrix.
In moments, my emotions quieted, as another feeling took its place.
Escape. I hate the dark.
>>>>>>>>
Smith grabbed Neo's wrist, and at that point of contact, darkness swept over Zion's savior like a shroud. Seconds later Smith held onto a shadow that was only vaguely manlike.
Morpheus, heedless of his own injury, threw a side kick at Smith, trying to break the link between them by shattering the ex-agent's arm. Smith's free hand caught his boot, then shoved him away, with the result of Morpheus tumbling to the street, a few yards away. Pain exploded from his dislocated shoulder, and for a few seconds he laid on the street, until driven by the desperate need to rescue Neo he staggered to his feet.
"I told you that I would take care of the problem, Morpheus," Smith said, his voice remote. Inside the dark, a dimly seen form of Neo could be seen, shaded with various intensities of charcoal.
Morpheus glared with icy fury. "What have you done to him?"
"Mr. Anderson's connection to the matrix must be reset. As mine was." Smith said.
"He's not a damned machine---" Morpheus started until he noticed movement affecting the world around him.
The matrix warped and left change in their wake. Ripples like a heat wave crawled along the landscape, changing damp ground to bone dry dirt. Where puddles shone in the sun, moments later they were gone, leaving a dry sunny morning.
Agent Brown's hair moved softly in the breeze, untouched by rain, while Agent Jones, his jacket once a sodden mess was now only rumpled looking as the program laid quietly on the ground.
Oddly enough, Morpheus noticed neither himself or Smith were touched by the change, and both their clothes stayed soaking wet. Looking down at his feet, he saw water drop on the dry street from his leather overcoat.
Smith followed his stare and said. "The matrix has also been reset. The mainframe is repairing the damage Zion's savior caused. It is surprising the mainframe did not delete this whole sector, its standard procedure with discontinuity glitches."
In the distance, police sirens wailed.
Within the dark a bright golden light surrounded Neo's form. A sharp crack sounded as a fine white line etched itself on the dark surface, a line that spread into fractures around the object, as the light within intensified and turned pure white.
The dark exploded soundlessly, immediately disappearing in the bright sunlight. In its place Neo stood quietly, yet the look in his eyes made Morpheus involuntarily step back.
"I really hate the dark." Neo blinked his eyes, and the wild, intensity faded. Looking down at his arm, he waited until Smith released his wrist, then started to absently rub it with his other hand.
"Are you all right?" Morpheus said tentatively.
"Yeah, but---" he stopped, then looking at the older man, his eyes turned vague and Neo staggered and dropped face forward to the ground.
Morpheus lifted his eyes, seeing that with Neo's fall, another was exposed, standing behind him.
An agent. Agent Brown. Morpheus and the program stared at each other for a timeless instant, then the agent shifted and leaped for Smith.
Brown threw a left at Smith's chin, causing the shades that covered Smith's eyes to fly off, and revealed icy blue eyes. Brown continued his attack by a jab to the stomach with his right, and then paused his attack.
Smith straight-armed Brown to the chest, the power of the blow sending the agent a dozen yards away, to the opposite side of the street. Brown tumbled roughly on a manicured lawn, to land in a crouching position, his suit disarrayed and face predatory as he glared at Smith.
"Brown, your attack was very inefficient. You should not have stopped after the second blow, but rather followed through to keep me off balance, if you could." Smith said, his eyebrows raised and frowning.
"There was no need. My objective was achieved."
Smith's eyes opened wide, then looked down.
A syringe was imbedded in his shirt, in his belly area. Slowly, suddenly unsteady, his hand pulled out the object to stare at it in disbelief, and dread started to crack his impassive features.
"No…It can't be…"
"The Architect awaits you, Smith. You and Neo Anderson. It was foreseen that you would contact the One and attempt to free him, making it a perfect opportunity to recapture you." Agent Brown stood up fluidly, and slowly walked forward toward a visibly weaving Smith.
Morpheus looked down and noted without surprise that a syringe was in Neo's back. Made of orange and clear plastic, the object was starkly visible against the black overcoat Neo wore. Green coding flared around Neo for one instant, and Morpheus watched as Neo turned transparent and quietly faded away. Afterward, only an empty syringe laid on the street. Only a syringe. He stared at it, and felt dizzy, numb.
"Brown, why----"
"It was further calculated that no agent, either upgraded or not, could defeat you, so other means were deemed necessary. A code was created to disrupt the One's connection to the matrix and send him directly to the Architect. It was also known you would see and disregard its danger, believing it would only affect Neo. Especially after dealing with the more obvious danger of the knives."
"Brown…"
"I'm sorry, Smith." Brown said quietly. "My purpose was clear when I learned you destroyed all those other agents." Brown paused his motion, and Morpheus realized they were next to each other, with Smith only a few feet before them. Smith's eyes were turning dull, unfocused just like Neo's had before he collapsed and disappeared.
Just like Neo. Morpheus realized that he now held a gun in his mobile hand, and watched it as it slowly rose toward Brown.
"I did not destroy any agents."
"What?"
Whirling around Brown kicked the gun out of Morpheus' hand, then continued his forward stalk to Smith. The agent grabbed the front of Smith's shirt, and dragged his former leader closer toward him.
"You lie, Smith. There are no active agents in the matrix except for Jones and myself." Brown's rage was cold, a fury all the more lethal because of his control. "Every agent that had been sent after you had been deleted after the encounter. Every. Single. One."
"Because I altered their code, Agent Brown. I freed the agent's compulsion to obey the mainframe's call for deletion. What happened next would be completely up to them. Their choice. Their call."
Brown released Smith as if burned. He took a step backward and shook his head, his expression dissipating into shocked blankness.
"Neither you or Jones required it because it is only a light compulsion in our programming, and one you could break, if you chose. The upgraded agent's however…" Smith slurred his last words, and crumpled to his knees. "Needed a chance to choose."
"Smith…" Brown whispered.
Smith collapsed on the street, still.
Brown's attention focused on Morpheus. "The One is finally where he belongs, within the matrix and under the Architect's control. Any further attempts to obtain Neo Anderson will be regarded as an act of war."
Morpheus stared at Smith's collapsed form, then said, "And what of Smith?"
"That is not your concern." Brown's face was blank, alertly watching him.
"No, I think it is." He drew his breath in deeply, gathering his depleted resources, feeling a bitter irony race through his mind as he calculated the odds, and readied himself to strike. "The machine mainframe risked a great deal in capturing Smith. Why? Is it because Smith holds information you don't want humanity to know?"
"Too late, Morpheus. Your questions are too late." Brown said.
Morpheus saw with a sinking heart a blue light glowed around Smith, a light that was changing slowly into green coding.
The police sirens were loud in the air, as another noise joined them. The savage roar of racing engines and squealing tires erupted in the air as a car turned and sped down the street. The car, a red Ford Mustang charged down the road as if to ram into them, then the sound of screeching breaks filled the air as its speed slowed and it swerved sideways on the street, until it stopped within a few feet of Morpheus, its passenger side door directly in front of him.
The car door opened.
"Morpheus, get in!" Niobe said.
He glanced back at Brown who stared at an empty spot Smith had occupied.
"Hurry!" Niobe snapped.
>>>>>>>>
"And Seraph led me out of another door to a nearby neighborhood where I had Link upload a car. I drove back to the Oracle's like crazy and found you. Looks like just in time, too." Niobe finished. She stole a sidelong glance at Morpheus on the passenger side of the car, his face serene behind his spectacles, his right arm framing the car's window, fingers touching the roof. Only the awkward position of his left arm hinted at any injury.
"You always did have the ability to help save me in the nick of time, Captain. Thank you." Morpheus faintly smiled.
"Are you going to tell me what happened? Or do I have to drag it out of you, just like old times?" Niobe said. Despite her words, she felt a sense of relief that the old Morpheus was back; it had been unsettling for her to see the barely leased rage in him during the mission, a despair that made him lash out in unexpected ways.
"Forgive me, Niobe. I've just been thinking about what you told me concerning the Oracle. What just happened to me is… disturbing in its implications, especially with the information you've supplied." Morpheus said, watching the traffic as Niobe deftly turned a right corner, the turn so tight that he could have easily reached out to touch a child standing on the street corner.
"So was your injury caused by those two agents that you were with? One of them looked worse off than you do, which is surprising. How did you do it?" Niobe said lightly. Driving on the left side of a two-lane street, she signaled a left turn at the light, waiting for it to turn green.
"No. The agent along with myself was injured by the same individual. By Smith," said Morpheus.
"What? Smith?" Niobe stared in momentary disbelief, then ignoring the red light, her foot slammed on the accelerator, as with a screech of tires her car swerved into the turn with reckless abandon. The car narrowly missing being totaled by cross traffic, and Niobe drove with one hand on the wheel while the other whipped out her cell phone.
"Link, find me the closest hardline, secured or not, and check the area to see if we've been tailed by Smith. You heard me, Smith!"
"Niobe, there's no danger, at least none from Smith," Morpheus said calmly as he watched the scenery whirl by with alarming speed.
"I'll be the judge of that. You're injured, Morpheus. Let me help." She said, her right shoulder cradling the cell phone. She frowned. "That's surprising, Link. Keep me informed of any changes." The car immediately slowed down to a reasonable speed, and Morpheus let out a relieved sigh.
"No Smith, right? I didn't expect it, but I had hoped…" his voice faded.
"Morpheus, what the hell is going on?" Midday in the suburbia, the traffic was light on the wide streets, giving Niobe a strange sense of isolation as she divided her attention between driving and the conversation.
He started to tell her of his meeting with Smith, ending with the moment of the disappearance of the Oracle's house.
"I have to admit, Morpheus, I never thought you were crazy enough to take on Smith again, especially after your last encounter. What's more amazing is that you survived it." She shook her head.
"It's not important. What happened next is," Morpheus begins to tell of Neo's arrival and the events that followed.
"I missed seeing Neo by just a minute? Just like the Oracle said," Niobe whispered as Morpheus finished his tale.
Morpheus looked at her questioningly.
"The Oracle said that the next time I see him, he'd be the machine's One." Seeing his shock, she added quickly, "But only if the Architect has his way, whatever that means."
"Let's hope her prediction never comes true. For all our sake's. Especially Neo's." said Morpheus grimly.
Hearing a strange note in his voice, Niobe said, "Morpheus, are you all right? About the Oracle—"
"No. I'm not fine, Niobe. I made a foolish, and worse--- prideful blunder. It is difficult to face the reality that much of my actions was influenced by a…program. I should have confronted the Oracle when I had the chance. It took a conversation with Smith to point out my mistake. I need to ask questions of her, questions about her motives, and goals."
"More, I need to find out who this Architect is." He then added, "And why Neo is the final payment demanded by the machines for peace."
"Considering the way Neo was affecting the matrix, don't you think he would be safer with the machines?" Niobe said.
"No!" Morpheus snapped. Niobe jerked her head toward him, and watched him take a deep breath to continue. "The machines only buried his pain---they never confronted it. I doubt that his reaction would have been so bad, if he had the time to deal with Trinity's death. No one should ever have to deal with a loved one's death alone. Or feel responsible for her death." Unconsciously he tightened his fingers into fists, and his injured shoulder responded with a bolt of pain. He grimaced.
"No one ever mourns alone in Zion. We all mourn and miss her. And don't you forget it, either." Niobe said, and hoped her voice showed concern.
He nodded briefly at her words, keeping his face turned forward as he said, "When I told Neo that the rabbit hole was deeper than he knew, I didn't realize that it was deeper than even I knew. It's deeper and with far more twists than I could have ever foreseen."
"The same is true of everybody. Life's like that."
A long silence followed.
"Morpheus." A small silence followed. "Spit it out."
Morpheus' eyebrows lift, and he turned his head to study her profile.
"The only time you ever use your Alice quotes is when you're planning to do something either extremely perilous or stupid, usually both. So, what is it?" she said, her eyes on the road, with her peripheral vision watching him carefully.
"I am going to ask Roland if the Hammer could stay another week monitoring the matrix," Morpheus said, after a significant pause.
"What for?" She sensed he spoke the truth, but not all of it. What was he hiding?
"A belief—no, a hope—that somehow, someway we will hear from Neo. That he will fight his way free from the Architect's power and return to Zion. And when he does escape, the certainty that he'll need help to succeed. Someone must wait and watch for him. And I have to be that person." The intensity of his gaze burned as his voice darkened.
"And if you're wrong, Morpheus?" Niobe said, giving him a sidelong glance. "What if Neo doesn't escape the Architect?"
"Then I'm afraid that we must face the possibility that the next time we see Neo, he'll be the enemy of humanity and of Zion." Morpheus said remotely.
The silence that followed was deafening.
tbc
Next: The Architect's Question
