Part 9: Strange Bedfellows

Getting another car turned out not to be a problem. They simply commandeered the vehicle the pair of investigative programs arrived in, leaving them with the nearly-ruined Audi. They didn't look very happy about it, but they weren't about to argue with the agents. Or Smith.

Once they were on their way back to the city, Chapman excused herself to download the latest security data from their headquarters, her face going completely blank as she communed with the mainframe. By the time they reached La Vrai they'd been updated with their headquarters' most current information…although none of it had to do with what had gone on with the highway chase or the Merovingian.

Smith and the others were greeted at the doors by three exiles of the lupine type, all large and obviously meant to look intimidating. The group was asked to check their weapons before going inside. Smith had expected the agents to put up at least some resistance to the request; but as they were ushered into La Vrai, all eyes on them, Evans told him that firearms weren't really required -- they could fight just as well barehanded, and besides, Collins could make anything into a weapon anyway.

"Now whatever you do," Smith muttered under his breath, as they approached the Merovingian's table, "Don't accept any dessert from him."

Smith, Morpheus, and the agents stood before their host. Surrounding the Frenchman was a cadre of bodyguards, including the twin programs Morpheus had mentioned earlier. Sitting on one side of the Merovingian was a dapper-looking male exile with bleached blond hair, and on the other was Persephone. She was gazing at Smith intently, and he got a flash of Neo's memory then. Of kissing her, while thinking of Trinity.

There was silence for a moment as both sides looked each other over. Then, the twins turned to Collins.

"You did it," the first said reproachfully.

"You blew up our car," the other accused.

The lead agent stared back at them blandly. "You shouldn't have rigged your car to explode."

The twins looked at each other, cocking their heads in perfect unison, and then laughed.

"You'll have to forgive my employees. The silver Jaguar was their favorite, you know," the Merovingian said, with that same forced cheerfulness he'd had on the phone. "Although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at the damage that was caused. System agents have all the subtlety of a charging rhinoceros, after all." He raised an eyebrow as he surveyed the group standing before him. "I must say, you are keeping very strange company these days, Morpheus. You, three agents…and him." He glanced pointedly at Smith. "One might think you'd switched sides."

"To an uninformed mind, it could appear that way," Morpheus countered smoothly.

"I am not a man who enjoys playing games, Morpheus," the Merovingian stated. "So I will get to the point. In the time since both our worlds were saved, there have been reports of you in the company of agents, but not Neo, although my sources tell me that Neo is still alive and living in Zion. However, the One has not been seen in the Matrix since his battle with Smith…but there have been sightings of you, Morpheus, with what appears to be the creature that nearly destroyed us all. But we all know that cannot be. Neo killed Smith, that is the sole reason that both the Matrix and Zion continue to exist." His gaze returned to the former agent, and his voice took on a deadly edge. "I believe an explanation is in order."

Smith smiled at the Frenchman -- the same sort of smile he used to give to humans he was interrogating. No wonder the Merovingian had been expending so much time and effort trying to draw him out. He was trying to figure out just what exactly Smith was. Only agents were programmed to see unplugged humans for what they really were; the Merovingian and his people had no way of doing this directly. Smith would show up on their scans as a human jacked into the Matrix, but his code would read more like a program's. All the Merovingian knew was that someone who looked like the virus that had threatened his life and his livelihood was back, in the company of a team of active agents and one of the leaders of the human resistance. It was an enigma. And for someone like the Merovingian, whose basis of power was information, this lack of knowledge was unacceptable.

"The explanation is quite simple," Smith said, taking off his sunglasses and looking the exile in the eyes. "I am exactly what I appear to be."

"You appear to be a human, a redpill, someone who is plugged into the Matrix from outside it," the Merovingian shot back. "But you also appear to be some kind of corrupted program—"

"A corrupted program would not be under the system's protection," interrupted Collins. "He is what he is. He is Smith."

"He is also the One," Morpheus said.

The Merovingian's face twisted into a snarl. "That is impossible."

"You would think so, wouldn't you," replied Smith evenly.

"He's telling the truth," said Persephone, looking extremely perturbed. The emotions she was sensing from the group had made it clear to her they weren't lying. Whatever else she was picking up, she didn't seem to want to share.

The Merovingian leaned closer to him, with an expression of disbelief. "You are Smith?"

"I am Smith."

"But how can that be, Smith was one of us, a program, how could a program be in a position to jack into the Matrix as a human would?"

"I would tell you to ask Neo, if he were still alive. He was the one responsible," Smith replied casually. "I'm still not quite sure of the mechanics that were involved."

"The downloading of Smith into Neo's physical body just as Neo died was a very complicated process," Evans stated.

The Merovingian looked utterly appalled. "And the Architect has allowed this?" he sputtered.

"He seemed to approve," replied Morpheus.

The Merovingian looked at Smith, then Morpheus, then back at Smith. He shook his head. "It seems the inmates are finally running the asylum."

"If you're concerned about your continued existence, or the existence of the Matrix, there's no need to worry. For now," said Smith. "Without a habitable surface for humanity to return to, the Matrix must remain as it is. And the only way the surface can become habitable is by clearing the sky." He raised an eyebrow, then put his shades back on. "Which means you probably won't have to deal with that for a long, long time."

"Neo understood that the construct must be preserved in some way, even if every human was freed," said Collins. "To shut it down would condemn people like the Oracle and Sati to death." She paused, looking at the Merovingian and the rest of the exiles. "Perhaps an understanding could be reached…"

The rest of the conversation mostly involved mutual assurances, the striking of a deal that the Machines would overlook some of the Merovingian's more unlawful activities in exchange for his non-interference with the project to clear the sky. And assuming the sky could be cleared -- bringing with it an unlimited source of power for the Machines -- the Matrix would continue to exist, fueled by the sun, as a testing ground for scientific and engineering simulations, and would remain a haven for the programs residing within it.

The Frenchman, after carefully considering his options, agreed to the terms that Collins had relayed from the mainframe. But at the end of the meeting, just as they were about to leave, the Merovingian stopped them.

From around his neck, the Frenchman pulled out a chain, on which hung a key. He removed it, then handed it to Smith.

"As a gesture of good faith," he said. "I had this made by the Keymaker, before his untimely death…I suspected that one day it might be useful, even though I could not use it myself. I never thought I would be giving it to someone like you."

Smith held the key up, examining it in the light. It looked like a perfectly ordinary key. "What does this key unlock?"

"You will see, my friend," the Merovingian said with a smile. "But I must warn you, you need to be the one to use it. It will only work for someone like you. That is why I cannot use this key, just as Morpheus and your lovely agents cannot."

Smith looked at the key again. Still, he found nothing unusual, not even when he examined its code.

"You will thank me, my friend," the Merovingian said, as they were leaving. "Go to the address I have given you, and remember, you must be the one to use the key -- and you must also be the first one to step inside."

"Where are we going?" asked Collins, once they were back in the car.

Smith peered at the card he'd been given. "London."