The Redpills

By Michael Weyer

I don't own the Matrix or its characters so don't sue.

This is based on the recent game "The Matrix: Path of Neo." Specifically, the section taking place between the first and second films as Neo is sent to rescue five "redpills," individuals who have discovered something…off about the world around them. All comments welcomed.

One: The Healer

My name is Xiang Chiang.

I live in Chinatown, my second home. My first was in the old country, where I grew up learning our special trade. I am a healer as was my father and his father before him and so on, back nearly eight generations.

I have been taught to know not just the physical world around me but the world that exists just below it. The world that most ignore but that has greater significance than the mere flesh and blood. It is the world that contains the energies I use for my work.

I am aware Westerners sniff at me and my methods. They believe their educations make them surer of how the mind and body work. My ancestors were performing seemingly impossible healing centuries before these universities and their devices came. Thus the people of this neighborhood are more willing to turn to me for aid than these doctors that charge too much.

There is a price for what I do however. A price that comes with age and my abilities. I see things. Things that no one else does, sights that do not congeal with the world around us.

I have seen the world tinged in green where others see only bright sun. I have watched when a sudden storm comes into the city, one that seems to appear without warning. I see something happen in such a time, a flash of green, of symbols that almost resemble Chinese but…not quite.

I have kept these observations to myself. Somehow, I know that others will not see what I see. Or rather that they will not accept seeing them. One thing a man learns when he lives as long as I is that people (particularly Westerners) will only see what they want to see and have a difficult time accepting the world is not the way they believe it is.

Despite what I see (or perhaps because of it) I understand there are rules and laws to this world. I know that there are illnesses man was not meant to heal, that attempting to do so will incur the wrath of the gods and bring demons down upon you.

But when one's loved ones are ill…when one's only child is on the brink of death…then a man may do anything to save her. As I have. I knew the risks and I would not hesitate to do so once more. I love her. She is my life. But the gods make no concessions. And so I wait for what I know is to come.

It comes in a way I did not expect.

I feel him before I see him. I feel the shift in the world as the door opens and the bell rings. I have felt it sometimes, fleeting but always recognizable. The feel of one who is not of this earth, who is not truly human. And I know this is my time.

I turn to face him. I am at first struck that he does not look like a demon. He looks like a rather handsome man, dressed in a black cloak that flows around him and dark glasses. But then, I should expect a demon not to look like a demon. That is their way.

He stares at me and I slowly nod back at him. "You have come for me."

"I have," he says in a deep voice.

"I felt it," I reply. "It is my fate, I know." I slowly make my way around the counter, heading to the rows of jars along the shelves. "I am prepared. Shall we go?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Just like that?"

"Yes."

"No arguments? No fight?"

I frown. "You have many questions for a demon."

"Demon?" He sounds confused and for a brief moment, I actually think it's genuine. But then I brush those thoughts away. A demon relies on trickery, after all. "There is no need to lie to me. As I said, I have expected your coming."

"I'm no demon," he says as he comes forward and once more seems to mean it. Perhaps when one accepts deceit as part of life, he can even fool himself.

I make a small smile. "It is no matter. Not anymore." I look over the shop once more before facing him. "I am ready. Lead me on, demon."

"I'm not…" He stops and shakes his head. "Never mind. Follow me." He turns and makes his way toward the front of the shop. I follow him, curious as to why he does not simply take us away with his magics. Perhaps there are more rules to demons than I believed.

We exit into the street and I feel something…off. The streets are quiet, far too quiet for this time of day. It is now that I see the police cars and a large van. I see the men in uniforms scattered about with their assault rifles. I hear them yell at the demon to freeze and surrender.

I sigh. Fools. What hope do mortals have against a demon?

"Stay here," he says and then he moves. Any doubts I might have had over what he is vanish as he becomes a blur, hurling himself at the nearest two officers. Faster than my old eyes can follow, he has stripped one of his rifle and smashed it into the other's face. He opens fire, blasting away at two other men, sending both down. The rest fire their guns but he dodges their bullets, his body contorting in amazing ways.

I hear more gunfire, but this far closer and from different weapons. The door of a nearby building bursts open and several young men of the neighborhood come out. "Protect the Healer!" one yells.

I recognize them. The Red Dragons. The authorities will call them a gang but they are truly the self-proclaimed protectors of this area. It is thanks to them that the drug gangs will not peddle their filthy wares here. I have known many of them since childhood and have treated them when they needed it. I cannot help but feel a flash of pride as I see them risking their lives for mine.

The police back away under the assault, many seeking cover as some of them go down under fire. The demon continues his work, his aim seemingly truer than the Dragons', his opponents unable to fight back. He backs toward me. The Dragons continue to file onto the street and keep the police back.

"Shall we go?" I ask once more.

Once more, he seems to regard me quizzically. "You are either very wise…or totally cracked."

I cannot help but smile slightly at that. A demon with a sense of humor. How interesting. Before I can speak, a ringing sound echoes in the small alleyway. The demon reaches in and pulls out a small phone. "Yeah?" He frowns and looks across the street. "You sure?"

I follow his gaze, toward an alleyway that leads to another section of town. I see it then, the strange green flash and suddenly a wall appears out of nowhere, cutting off any avenue. I blink and gaze at the demon. I can tell somehow this is not his doing which makes me wonder if the gods are playing some sort of game with me.

He continues to speak. "Where?" He pauses and looks to me. "You know how to get to the train station from here?"

I nod. "Yes, there is a special entranceway."

He speaks into the phone once more. "I can get there. Have Trinity waiting." He hangs up and nods to me. "Lead on."

I head back into the shop as he follows. I regard him carefully as I move to the nearby shelf. It was part of the store when I bought it, I can only wonder at its original purpose. I pull a jar and a section of the shelves pulls away. "I have had wards placed upon this building," I say as I watch the shelf move. "But then, to gods and demons such as yourself, such things are merely trivial."

"Why do you keep calling me a demon?"

I shake my head. "There is no need for deceit. My choice was my own." I reach up to grab one jar and open the lid. "My time as a healer is over. It is time to move on."

I tap the jar enough to pour a small pile of powder into my palm and turn to the demon. I regard him carefully before speaking. "I do not know why you fight for me, demon. But I believe I can help you." I hold up my hands and blow and the powder sails around him, covering him.

He coughs and waves his hands before him. "What the hell!"

"You may find that beneficial," I say as I head to the exit. "Your strength and your focus will increase, which may be quite the boon."

"At least warn a fella next time," he says as he follows me into a small storeroom leading to the rear exit.

The glass windows shatter inward and two men dressed in darker uniforms swing inward on ropes. The demon does not hesitate but kicks one in mid-air, sending the man sailing right back out the window. The other lands on the ground but a pair of blows send him smashing into a nearby wall.

I do not pay attention as I know the outcome. I unlock the door and pull it open. It leads into an alleyway that connects to a side street. The demon brushes past me and heads forward. He has barely taken two steps when uniformed men burst out from either side of the alley.

Again, the demon does not hesitate. He simply pulls out a pair of large guns and begins to fire, sending the men down in bloody heaps. I do feel a twinge of pity for them, I must admit. But my soul is calm for I know my fate. This demon has come for me and nothing will stop him from his task.

"You do know they're shooting at us, right?" he calls out. "You're just going to…walk on through?"

"Why should I be afraid?" I call back as a bullet flies past my ear. "You have claim upon me."

He mutters something under his breath, something along the lines of "How does Morpheus do this?" I wonder if this is some sort of demon hierarchy I am stepping into. Perhaps I will discover that soon.

We finally exit into the street and I feel something…something wrong. It feels somewhat like the demon but…darker. Which brings to mind the question as to just what can be more evil than a demon?

I see a figure approach. He appears as normal as the demon, a man in a dark suit and glasses. But where he walks, I see the air around him charged, flashing in that strange green way. But more than that, I feel an aura of darkness, of hate, of evil. It strikes me once more that if this is evil…then what is this demon?

"Stay here," he says as he calmly strides forward. He and the suited man stare each other down for a long moment. Then they move.

All they do is move, movements I cannot follow, blows that are blurs. I see the demon leap high, stepping onto a pillar and walking up it. He leaps off and his foot smashes into the suited man's face. The suited man stumbles back and the demon is upon him, punching him in the face.

The suited man grabs the demon and throws a series of blurred punches into his midsection, each one seeming more powerful than the first. He hurls the demon away toward a wall. The demon lands feet first on the wall and sails out, his fists extended. The suited man is caught full-scale by the blow and is sent sailing away into a lamppost. A lamppost that is hanging just before a puddle of water.

The suited man lands in the puddle, dazed. The pole is literally bent in half and with a creak, comes apart, the light smashing into the puddle, the glass shattering and wires exposed. I know what is coming before the suited man does. He stands stock still, jerking about as electricity fills him. His body seems to blur, his features changing until there is a man in a police uniform. He stands there for a moment, confusion on his features. Then he falls to the ground and moves no more.

The demon turns to me. "Are you all right?" I am struck by the true concern in his tone as I nod that I am. Without a word, he leads me up a flight of stairs to the train station that awaits us.

I know the train's schedules by heart. Having a shop right underneath the tracks necessitates such knowledge. So I know that no train is scheduled to arrive for another fifteen minutes. And yet, I feel no surprise when one comes up, nor that it is empty.

The demon turns to me. "Follow this. Someone will be waiting for you when it stops. Follow them."

I frown. "You are not to take me to my final destination?"

He shakes his head. "I have…other duties. But I will see you there. Believe that."

I do as I enter the train. I sit down and it starts to move. I gaze at the window as the demon watches me, once more feeling an odd warmth in his gaze. I turn away and settle into my seat. I am content. My time has come, my fate is decided.

Little do I know that I have one more decision left to make. A decision that will show me what the world truly is like. And the truth of this demon.

Next: The Librarian