Program 3: The Shutting Door

It was later in the evening, out in the Chinatown district of Mega City. Jake Manson, Resa Loewy, Sati and Seraph were eating in the park after ordering their food to go. Sati and Resa sat on the grass on a picnic blanket they brought while Seraph and Jake sat on a bench overlooking the water. The sun had almost finished setting as they continued eating.

Jake's mind, however, was not on the food he was eating. It was the question he had asked several hours before and knew that the answer to that question was also the answer to his dreams:

"What is the Matrix?"

"What?" Seraph asked.

Jake didn't know he had asked the question out loud. He turned to his mentor, put down his food and asked him directly. "Sensei, have you ever heard of 'the Matrix'?"

"…yes."

"Really?" Jake wondered. His teacher knew about the Matrix, but he never told Jake? Why? He asked, hoping for an answer, "What is the Matrix?"

"I can't tell you," he said simply.

"Why?" Jake asked.

"It's too…complicated."

"Complicated? The answer's too complicated? My dreams are complicated! My life is complicated! You know the possible answer to my dreams and you won't tell me because it's complicated! I want an answer; I deserve an answer, Seraph. Please, tell me. What is the Matrix?"

"…it's…very complicated…"

"…"

Both were silent for a while as they returned to eating their food. Jake was ticked at Seraph for not telling him about the Matrix. How long had his teacher held out on him about this? Maybe Sati would have answers.

Yeah, that's it. Sati!

Jake put down his food and went over to where Resa and Oracle sat. He took a seat on the blanket next to Resa.

"Magna!" Resa cried, "Isn't the sky pretty?" She pointed up as she talked.

"Yeah, Resa, beautiful," Jake said half-heartedly and turned to Oracle, "Sati, what is the Matrix?"

Oracle seemed to ignore his question and went on eating.

"Sati, what is the Matrix?" Jake repeated, "Seraph won't tell me. You have to know something about it since you're the 'Oracle'."

"I do know about it…" she said slowly, "Partly because I'm part of it…"

"What…? You're part of the Matrix?"

"In a way…so is Seraph and Resa…and even you…"

"Me…? How's that possible?"

"It just is."

"That's bull. I want a straight answer, Sati."

"I told you her name's not Sati, it's 'Oracle'!" Resa came in, reminding Jake of his mistake.

"I don't care anymore, Resa. Just give me an answer, Sati."

"If I did, we'd be here until the next year."

"I don't give a crap! Just tell me, and I'll listen! I want this answer!"

"I don't think I can explain it to you in a way you'd understand."

"I want the answer, Sati! I want it bad!" Jake screamed, "I can't take these dreams anymore! And now with the code showing up in the dojo, and that weird message on my computer, I can't stand it any longer! If you won't tell me the answers, I'll find someone who will!"

After screaming that out Magna ran away from the park, ignoring his 'family's' cries for him to come back.

They've known all along and they didn't tell me? Jake thought as he ran out into the street, And I called them my family! Families don't keep secrets from each other! But then again we're not a real family, are we?

He heard a loud screeching sound and realized he was standing right in the middle of the road. The tires of a speeding car screeched as it tried to stop before running over the boy. Jake looked like a deer caught in the headlights as the car came closer and closer to him. Without even thinking about it, Jake leapt over the car in a kind of somersault in midair. Time seemed to freeze as he did so. While he was moving quickly, everything else around him seemed to slow down.

Wh-what! How the heck…?

As he landed in a strange crouching position on his left leg and his right leg extended, Jake suddenly marveled at the feat he had just done. He had never done something like that in his martial arts training. He had never even come close! Why could he suddenly do something that astounding? People in the street stared at him in shock. He should've by all means died!

Jake snapped back to reality when he realized that he had just leapt over a police car. The doors opened to reveal three smartly dressed men with earplugs in their right ears. All had brown hair that was cut short, a pair of reflective sunglasses and were all dressed in attire that one would wear at a formal outing. One of them stepped forward.

"Mr. Manson," the one called Agent Johnathan began.

"Yeah, that's me," Jake nodded.

"Mr. Manson, we'd like you to come with us."

"Why?" Jake asked with a sense of dread in his voice. Something about these men just didn't feel right to him, especially the one talking to him.

"We'd like to ask you some questions about your computer life. Also, we'd like to ask you about your connections to Morpheus."

Morpheus. There was that name again.

"If I refuse?" Jake asked as he took a step back.

"You don't really have a choice in the matter," Agent Johnathan warned as he reached into his jacket, "You either come with us or…"

"Or what?"

"Accidents do happen, Mr. Manson," he said as he briefly revealed the gun from his dress jacket.

Jake suddenly realized that the man who was talking to him was the same man in his dream. The one that tried to swallow him whole. He couldn't go with that man! He'd probably kill Jake! Agent Johnathan took another step forward while Jake took another back.

"We wouldn't want to resort to extreme force. It gets too…messy…"

"Too bad for you, then." Jake bolted down the street, dodging people as he ran from the authorities.

Just perfect. They knew about his online activities! And they knew he was searching for Morpheus! All Jake knew was that he was supposed to run from them, and run like hell.

Running into an alley, Jake climbed a nearby fire escape ladder up a building. After climbing up to the roof, he turned to see the Agents hot on his tail. Looking around in desperation, Jake leapt to the closest roof next to him. He jumped several roofs close together and found a door leading downwards on one. Shooting through the door, Jake ran down the stairs and through a hallway. Taking a door labeled 'EXIT', Jake flew down a large flight of stairs to the bottom floor.

Rushing outside the building, he found Seraph waiting for him in the car they took to Chinatown. Oracle and Resa were inside too, in the back seat.

"Seraph! Agents are after me!" Jake cried.

"I know. Hop in," Seraph told him. Jake complied and the four drove off into the street. There seemed to be less traffic today in the district which was odd, but a good thing for Jake. It meant more time to put between him and the Agents after him.

"They know about my hacking! And one of them is one of the men in my dreams!" Jake panted, "Seraph, what's going on!"

"Here," Oracle said as she handed him a cell phone from her purse, "I knew this day would come eventually."

"What day? This has to do with the Matrix, right?"

"Yes."

"I want an answer, Sati! I need the answer, NOW!" Jake screamed.

At that moment, the phone in his hand began to ring.

"What now?"

"It's for you," Oracle said.

"Why? It's not important, is it? It's a call I can miss?"

"No…It's the call to your destiny, Magna."

"What…?"

"Answer it," Seraph instructed. Jake pressed the button to answer it. His hand was shaking, but he didn't know why. All he knew was that this call could change everything. It was the most important phone call of his life.

"But what about the Agents?" Jake asked.

"I'll take care of it. Just answer!"

Jake nervously gulped and put the phone to his face.

"Hello…?" he whispered.

"Hello, Magna," a deep voice answered, "You know who I am?"

Of course Jake knew. He had somehow known it all along.

"Morpheus?"

"Yes. I've spent some time looking for you, Magna. Just as you have been looking for me. You're not really looking for me. You're looking for the answer to the question. You know which question."

"What is the Matrix?"

"Yes. I'd like to have more time to show you, but time is working against us right now."

"Agents are coming after me. This is complete bullshit. I want a straight answer to why this is happening."

"Are you willing to trust me?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

"You cannot just automatically answer. You must mean it as well."

Jake took a moment to calm himself down and put as much trust and feeling into his next word: "Yes."

"Good. Take the next left you pass."

"Morpheus says to turn left on the next intersection," Jake relayed to Seraph. Seraph did as Jake said.

"Now go on until you reach Port Ave."

"Go to Port Ave," Jake said as he looked in the rear view mirror and saw the police car right behind Seraph's car. Seraph sped up a bit and came to Port Ave.

"Turn right and go straight for fifteen blocks."

"Turn right, fifteen blocks straight."

"There should be a small park inside. When you get there, get out of the car."

"What?"

"Get out of the car and go to the storehouse at the edge of the park. Seraph will take it from there."

"What do you mean Seraph will take it from there?"

"You said you'd trust me. Do so."

Jake told Seraph what to do and Seraph complied. As soon as they reached the park, they got out of the car and ran towards the storehouse at the park's edge.

"Perfect. What now?" Jake asked.

"Leave that to me," Seraph said simply as he reached into his martial arts jacket and pulled out a ring of keys. Searching for the one he needed, Seraph took it and unlocked the storehouse door. Opening it, Jake saw another door in a room of white straight ahead.

"What the hell…?"

"Go. Now."

"Hurry, Resa, honey," Oracle told a frightened Resa as they hurried inside the door, "We don't have much time."

"Seraph? What's going on?" Jake questioned.

"They'll be time to explain soon. Just get in the door," Seraph said as the Agents got out of their car and rushed toward Seraph and Jake.

"But Sensei-"

"Go!"

Jake went through the door as his mentor instructed. Seraph followed and shut the door just as the Agents reached them. There was a click of the door and now Jake, Seraph, Oracle and Resa was now in an infinite hallway of doors. Jake gasped for breath, trying to shake everything that had just happened. It was all happening so fast Jake couldn't keep up. All because of his searching for Morpheus…

Jake suddenly remembered the phone and reached it up to his face again.

"Morpheus? Are you still there?" Jake asked.

"Of course. I never left. Are you safe?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'm…in an infinite white hallway of doors," Jake paused, looking around at his surroundings.

"Seraph is still with you?"

"Yeah, he's here."

"May I speak with him?"

Jake handed the phone to Seraph, who immediately took it and listened to Morpheus.

"Yes…yes…" Seraph said in-between gasps, "Of course…I understand…We'll be there shortly."

Seraph ended the call and gave the phone back to Oracle.

"Oracle, what's going on?" Resa asked with a hint of timidity and fear in her small voice, "I'm afraid…"

"It's okay, honey," Oracle leaned down to give Resa a hug, "It's all okay. We're safe for now."

"Why were those men after Magna?"

"It's because he has a…"

"A what?" Jake asked, "I have a what?"

"Follow me," Seraph said and the small group pushed forward through the hallway.

"Sati, what's going on? How long have you kept all this from me?"

"…" was Oracle's only reply.

"Sati…I want an answer…I deserve it…"

"You'll find out soon enough, Magna."

After roughly a minute of walking through the hall of doors, they stopped as Seraph searched for the right key. Finding it, he unlocked the door on the left of the group. Opening the door, Jake saw a strange hotel room that had a mysterious look to it. A painting or two hung from the wall as two chairs sat facing each other with only a coffee table with a glass of water on top separating them. Jake's group stepped through the door and after Seraph exited, he closed the door behind them. Jake looked around with the room in both awe and excitement. He knew that whatever would happen here was important.

Jake suddenly noticed a bald, black man standing at a window in a leather trench-coat. It was now total night outside and the city looked somewhat beautiful as the lights twinkled through its windows. Jake knew who it was before he laid eyes on him.

"Morpheus?"

The man turned around and smiled, walking forward to the group.

"Hello, Magna. We meet at last," he said simply.

At last, Jake was going to get the answers he deserved. "It's an honour, sir," Jake said as he shook his hand.

"No, the honour is mine. Come, sit," Morpheus said as they took their respective chairs. Jake looked back at Seraph, Oracle and Resa.

"What about them? Can they sit, too?"

"We're fine standing," Oracle told Jake. Jake turned back to face Morpheus.

"I imagine how confusing this is for you, Magna," Morpheus began, "How you're being tracked down by Agents, how you could leap over a car and seem to stop time as you moved, how everything you grew up to know is a lie."

"Lie?"

"Yes, lie. This world is all a lie, Magna. You know it. It's there in your mind, you've know it all along. You wanted to deny it, so you focused on martial arts. You wanted to know the truth, so you looked for me and became an astounding hacker. You wanted to find the answer, so you risked your life to find it. It is this feeling that the world is somehow wrong that has brought you to me."

"Partly…It's also the dreams…"

"The dreams that foretell your future."

"Future?"

"Yes. The dreams that were not supposed to exist, but do."

"How do you know this?"

"Because I've had similar dreams to yours, Magna. And we both dream about the same thing."

"The Matrix," Jake said simply.

Morpheus nodded. "Do you want to know what it is?"

"Yes. More than anything."

"Then look around you."

Jake looked around at the room, searching for something out of the ordinary. He found nothing.

"I don't see anything," Jake said.

"Look harder. Really focus on what you're looking at," Morpheus told him.

Jake took a look at the coffee table that was separating him from Morpheus. Focusing on what Morpheus said Jake stared at the coffee table, concentrating on it with all his sight. Leaning closer to the table, Jake suddenly saw it. The same green code that he saw in his dreams and earlier in the dojo. It was a giant stream of it, flowing in the shape of the table. Reaching out to touch it, it disappeared as quickly as it appeared to him. Jake looked up at Morpheus, in shock of what he saw.

"Yes, Magna," Morpheus told him, "But it's not just the coffee table. This entire room, this entire building, this entire city. It is all the same as you just saw now. Welcome to the Matrix."

"You've trained him well, old friend," Morpheus turned to face Seraph.

"He still has much to learn," Seraph replied, "Not much more from a program like me."

"Program?" Jake gasped, turning to face his teacher, "You're a program? As in a…"

"A computer program," Seraph nodded and gestured at Oracle, "So is she."

"What…? And Resa?"

"No, she's just like you, Magna."

"What are you talking about?" Resa asked. This conversation was way over the little girl's head, "I'm all confused."

"It's not important," Oracle reassured Resa, "It's just that we're talking to Magna."

Then, it suddenly hit Jake.

"If they're computer programs…then this is a…"

"Correct. A computer program. A simulation of the world you have grown up to know," Morpheus said, "To cover up the truth."

"Truth…?"

"That as soon as you were born, you were put into this prison. The worst kind of prison; one where you can't touch, or smell, or see, or taste, or hear. This is a prison for your mind so that they can farm you."

"They? Who are 'they'?"

"I imagine you feel a bit like Alice right now; tumbling down the Rabbit Hole, leaving everything you know behind," Morpheus seemed to ignore his question, "This world was created to be a kind of Wonderland, an escape from the bitter reality for those who cannot bear it."

Wonderland? Alice? Where was Morpheus going with this? And what about all Jake's questions about the Matrix? He decided to ask again about what it was, but before he could get a word out of his mouth Morpheus said:

"But that is not all."

"What else is there?" Jake asked.

"I cannot tell you anymore about it."

"Why?"

"Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself," Morpheus said as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small silver case. Opening it, he tapped out two small objects and placed one in each hand, "Now, this is your last chance. After you make this choice, you cannot turn back."

"Take this blue pill," Morpheus said, opening up his right hand to reveal a blue pill, "This all ends as nothing but a bad dream. You wake up in bed and go back to what life you were living. You will again try to search for me, but I will not appear again."

"Take this red pill," Morpheus said, opening up his left hand to reveal a red pill, "You'll stay in Wonderland. And I will not tell you the truth. But I will show you how deep the Rabbit Hole goes."

Jake's head was beginning to swim. Here was the most important choice of his life: go back to what he knew which was a lie and remember none of it or learn the truth behind the Matrix and, possibly, his dreams. Either way he knew that his life would never be the same again, should he choose either pill.

"Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more. But I can only show you the door. You have to walk through it yourself," Morpheus warned him.

This is too much, he thought as he reached for the blue pill with a trembling hand. Taking it from Morpheus, Jake lifted it to his mouth. Then, he paused, thinking over what he was about to do. Looking down at the pill between his fingers, then back at what he considered his family, then back to the pill. He recalled what he had just learned. Morpheus was offering the truth, and nothing more. It was Jake's choice whether to accept that or not.

Walking over to Seraph and the others, he threw away the blue pill.

He suddenly got the feeling that he wasn't going to see them again for a long time.

He bent down to face the little girl. "Resa, I think I'm going to have to go away for a while."

"No, Magna. You can't go! We're family!" Resa cried, joining her hands with Jake's, Oracle's and Seraph's, "Me, you, Seraph and Oracle! One big happy family!"

"Resa…" Jake said, "I have to go away."

"I don't want you to," Resa said with tears in her eyes, "I want you to stay with me."

"I wish I could…" Jake said, giving her a hug which she returned, "I really do…"

"'Bye Magna…" she cried into his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Oracle and Seraph will take care of you," Jake assured her and then turned to Sati, "Won't you, Sati?"

"Of course we will," Oracle said, "But we'll miss you, Jake."

"Same here, Sati. Same here," Jake said as he hugged Sati. Then, after he was done hugging her, he turned to face Seraph. His mentor. His father. His friend.

"Sensei…I…" Jake began, but couldn't find the words to say goodbye to Seraph.

"I know," Seraph said, trying to keep his emotions down, "I'll miss you, too."

Jake could feel some tears escaping, but quickly wiped them away and bowed to his master. Seraph returned the bow before Jake turned to go back to the coffee table. Taking the red pill out of Morpheus' hand, Jake took it into his mouth and used the glass of water that was sitting on the table to wash it down.

"All right," Jake said to Morpheus, "Show me the truth. Show me the Matrix."

Morpheus smiled. "Follow me."

Morpheus got up from where he was and went over to a door on the far side of the room. Jake followed and as Morpheus opened the door, they both walked through it. Jake turned to face the ones who cared for him for so long. The ones who were sad to see him go and would be the only ones who would know just where he'd gone.

Resa was crying into Oracle's dress. Oracle was trying to comfort her while looking sad at Jake's departure herself. Seraph was keeping his composure, but one could sense an air of sadness around him. They were all so sad to seem him go.

"Don't worry," Morpheus told them as the door behind them began to close, "I'll take good care of him."

"I will come back," Jake stated as he swallowed to calm himself, trying to reassure his family or himself.

Or both.

The door continued to close, not only shutting itself on the ones close to him, but also everything he knew.

"I will come back," Jake repeated, louder than before.

Then, as the door shut, he said with great emotion and meaning:

"I will come back!"

With a 'CLICK', the door shut.