7
"Take weapons, ships, machinery…anything you need." The Head Councilor had said once he told them he needed to leave. "And take as many people as you want to bring."
He only wanted to bring three – Morpheus, Link, and Trinity. But Trinity was in no fit condition to even be leaving a hospital bed, let alone traveling on a hovercraft bound for the city of the machines. He didn't want to leave her behind, but if he wanted to make peace with the machines, he had no choice but to obey their commands and leave immediately. So he had brought Niobe in Trinity's place.
He contemplated this as he gazed dreamily out into the murky depths of the sewers from the cockpit's front window – bitter, dank and moist. He fixed his gaze on the beams of light outside that guided the ship over the piles of waste and debris that littered the sewer floors. His head was throbbing with pain, his vision was blurred, and his eyes – only so recently healed – were strained to be kept open. He yearned for sleep, though he knew that he mustn't. For it was in his sleep that she would come crawling back into his mind…haunting his dreams…driving him to insanity…and for this, he was afraid.
A heavy hand fell on his shoulder, bringing him back to his senses with a jolt. He jumped, and turned quickly to gaze into the eyes of his captain. They were eyes of both sympathy and compassion, but also of confusion and doubt. Morpheus didn't understand…no one could understand. Who would believe him when he told them of the woman who plagued his dreams, piercing a fear into his very soul that was strong enough to make him never want to sleep again? The dreams had all felt and seemed so real, and so were the emotions they provoked.
"You look exhausted." Morpheus finally spoke, breaking the stunned silence after his sudden emergence. "You haven't slept since we left Zion. It's high time you got some rest."
He shook his head firmly in response. "I'm fine, honestly. It's just…I've got so much to think about."
Silence consumed them again. Morpheus took the co-pilots seat beside him, and watched him carefully maneuver the ship towards the surface world. It was a long while before either of them spoke again.
"Neo, I know that something is wrong." Morpheus began. "I can sense it. Please, can you tell me what it is?"
"I'm not sure if I can explain it." He mumbled, struggling to put his thoughts into words. "I don't think you can understand."
"I can try." Morpheus answered slowly. "Does this have something to do with Trinity?"
"Yes…no…maybe. I don't know."
Morpheus rose an eyebrow in question. "Have you told Trinity about this…this problem?"
"I haven't told anybody. I don't think I can talk about it." He hung his head shamefully. "Just thinking about it makes me feel like I'm betraying Trinity."
More silence. He could almost hear the thoughts than ran through his captain's head as he tried to figure out what he meant.
"Neo, I am the one who unplugged you from the Matrix. You're like a son to me." Morpheus eventually said. "If you can't talk to me about this, than who else? I promise you that I'll do everything I can to try to understand and to help you. Please tell me. I'm worried about you."
His captain's words were filled with such sincerity that he almost believed it. Perhaps Morpheus could do something to help him, or at least be the shoulder he so desperately needed to lean on. Ever since he was unplugged, he had spent all of his time protecting people. For once, he wanted to be the one who was protected.
"I keep having dreams…but they feel so real. And my dreams have a habit of becoming true."
Morpheus blinked in surprise, having not expected Neo to speak. It seemed he finally understood Neo's wish to turn himself away from sleep. "What are these dreams about?" He asked.
He was silent. Did he dare answer the question? What if his captain did not understand it?
"I see…a woman." He eventually stammered, but could not bring himself to tell the rest.
His captain surveyed him with careful brown eyes, until he finally came to some kind of realization. "Like when you used to have visions? Do you see her die, or is it…"
"She doesn't die." He shot back hastily. "Although sometimes, I really wish she would."
"Why?"
"Because when I'm dreaming about her, I get these…desires." He decided to speak the truth, hoping that Morpheus knew some way of helping him. "I can't control myself in the dreams, but I feel everything. I want to stay, and then again, I don't. It's…confusing."
Morpheus paused, scratching his chin, clearly deep in thought. "Is this dream woman anyone you know?"
He firmly shook his head, keeping his eyes focused on what was directly ahead of him, glad that his captain seemed to be believing him. "No. I've never met her before. I must have dreamed her into existence."
"Or maybe you're having visions again."
He turned and gaped at his captain, wide-eyed. From what he could see, Morpheus was seriously considering this. But how was this possible? Most of his visions took place in the Matrix. If the Matrix was going to be destroyed in the future, then how could it be anything more than a dream? Then again, it always felt so real, like it did when he was having a vision. He dreaded to even consider the idea, but perhaps this was something more…perhaps he really was seeing the future.
His captain had drifted back into silence again, awaiting some kind of response. He could feel the intense dark eyes on him...studying him carefully. "I don't think it's a vision."
"You don't think so, or you just don't like the idea?" Morpheus replied with something that resembled a faint smile. It was almost surreal to see his captain smiling again. "Because you know if it was a vision, then everything you saw would be real."
"It's not a vision." He answered sharply, then added in a voice that was barely above a whisper, "It can't be."
"I'm only trying to look at all the different possibilities." His captain laid a gentle hand on his shoulder once more. "But I suppose only time will tell."
(o)
He still had not slept by the time they arrived at the rusted, metallic gates of 01. His body was yearning for rest, but still he would not give in. He did not want to sleep another moment…at least not until he was certain the dreams would be gone. The idea that they could be visions terrified him, for he knew then that his dreams would turn to reality.
He resented those dreams – despised them with every fiber of his being. This was not simply because of the things he saw, but because of the feelings they provoked within him. Some part of him actually enjoyed it…a darker part…a part he wished he could cut out of his soul. Because of this darkness, he could not deny that he disliked the sensations he felt when the dream woman pressed her body against his own…begging for him to love her.
His attentions were finally distracted from these disturbing thoughts when Niobe and Morpheus met him in the cockpit, gazing at their surroundings in awe. The large city loomed ahead of them, its rustic towers creating eerie shadows in the blackened sky. Streaks of lighting pierced through the clouds that forever masked the rays of the sun, illuminating the cities impenetrable walls. The gate which had been locked to all mankind for a centaury now stood open before them, its sentinel keepers beckoning them forward with deafening screeches.
"I can't believe I'm actually going to say this, but there is something strangely beautiful about 01." Niobe breathed. "The sheer brilliance of the architecture…the way it captivates you. It's so…"
"Enigmatic." Morpheus finished for her, and two exchanged a smile.
"How're we doing, Link?" He murmured into the intercom, eager to be off the ship and to focus his attention on something else.
"It's all good." Came the operator's response. "I'm picking up some weird sounds coming from those sentinels though. I've never seen them act like this before. It must be because they're not trying to be threatening, for once."
Morpheus took the intercom from the other man's hand. "Alright, then. We'll steer her in."
Two of the sentinels separated from the rest and swooped through the gates in the direction of the city's center tower, turning and screeching at the ship manically. Creature, still perched on Neo's shoulder, dug his legs into the fabric of his shirt and let out a shrill screech in response.
"They want us to follow them." He said, already maneuvering the ship after the sentinels.
Niobe strapped herself into the co-pilot's chair, assisting him in steering. He silently thanked her for the help, being almost too exhausted to keep his eyes focused on what lay directly ahead of him. All the while, Creature screeched relentlessly, as if trying to communicate with their sentinel guides. He only wished he could understand what the tiny machine was attempting to say.
Finally, they reached the main building. Although foreign to Morpheus, Niobe and Link, it was now a place of familiarity to him. This was where he had jacked into the Matrix in order to defeat Smith. This was the place which he had awoken in the first time he had dreamed of the woman. Only a short distance away, he could still make out the hole in the side of the building where the ship had crashed…the place where Trinity had died. Suddenly, he wished that he hadn't come. He wished he had sent someone else in his place. He never wanted to see this building again. It provoked too much pain.
The sentinels swooped down towards what vaguely resembled a landing dock in Zion. There, they waited for him, tentacles hovering out in front of them, but not posing any threat.
"Link, stay here and guard the ship." Morpheus spoke into the intercom once the ship had docked.
Niobe unbuckled her seatbelt, looking around apprehensively, but doing her best to remain composed. Both captains allowed him to lead the way into the city, knowing he had been there before.
As he walked along the pathway that would eventually lead him to the place where he had nearly lost his life scarcely a few days before, he began to experience emotions that he had not felt in a long time. Before he knew about the existence of the Matrix – about being the One, or the war between man and machine…when he had been Thomas Anderson, the computer programmer, and nothing more – everything had always seemed more real to him when he was dreaming than when he was awake. Now, the same feeling was returning to him. Walking along that narrow metal corridor, listening to his own pounding footsteps and thinking only of the unknown fate that lay before him, reminded him so strongly of the last time he had been here that he wondered if perhaps he was dreaming now. His own dreams felt more real to him than this. It was possible that he had simply dozed off in one of Zion's hospital beds, and was reliving this desperate moment in time once more.
Only one difference between now and the last time he was here convinced him that this wasn't so. When he had last walked here, he had felt completely alone had abandoned. Trinity was dead then – the love of his life…the one person who had been by his side from the every beginning and to the very end. Once he had served his purpose and ended the war, what other meaning would his life have for him? The path of the One would have ended, but he would still have had Trinity. But if she was dead…if she was gone too…what else did he have to live for? The last time he had walked this path, he hadn't cared whether he lived or died. In fact, on a subconscious level he supposed he had wanted to die, as soon as the war was over. Why had he survived anyway? Trinity was dead, he had served his purpose, and he had been beaten within an inch of his life.
So why was he alive now? Was there some other purpose he was yet to fulfill? Were his dreams just some form of self-punishment for being alive when his fate had been to die?
His arrival on the platform interrupted these musings. The platform that jutted out from the tower, overlooking the entire machine city. From it, he could see each sloping tower…each mechanical attachment…each cord and wire. He was closer to the sky, the roar of the thunder causing a vibration in his chest. Already, the machine leader was beginning to emerge in front of him as thousands of sentinels clustered together, swimming and spiraling through the sky like hungry flies, forming the shape of the large human-like face.
Deus Ex Machina glared down at him with penetrating artificial eyes. But still, he did not flinch of stumble back with surprise or fear, like his two escorts were doing now. Just like the last time, he firmly stood his ground…his mind and body taking control of themselves. The words came from his mouth without his own consent, but he didn't mind relinquishing control. At least not in this case…
"You have returned, just as I requested." The voice boomed. "Good. It shows you can be trusted."
"Like I told you the last time we met, all I want is peace. If you have invited me here to make a treaty with you and your kind, than you can have my trust."
The eyes travelled beyond the one in front of him and to the two captains. "What are they doing here?"
"They are my comrades." He replied tearing his eyes from the mechanical beast to glance briefly over his shoulder. Niobe's hand was clutching onto Morpheus' arm, and both captains were gazing up at the machine leader with a mixture of shock, surprise and awe written in their eyes. "Friends."
"Comrades…friends…these are human terms. I do not understand. Why are they here when they were not summoned? I wish to speak to the leader of mankind, the One, and no one else."
"They were invited by me. They shall not get in the way of our discussion – that I can promise you."
Deus Ex Machina made a loud rumbling sound, as if to protest, but did not say another word on the subject.
"There is much that needs to be discussed. We need to know all the conditions of this 'treaty'." The leader mused thoughtfully. "If it is to be effective, than certain matters need to be attended to first."
"I agree." The 'leader of mankind' replied. "Like what is to be done with the Matrix, and all the people still trapped inside of it."
"They shall not be freed." Deus Ex Machina boomed, tone demanding. "Our kind needs the Matrix to survive."
"You need the energy the Matrix provides to survive." He answered thoughtfully. "What if there was another way for you to obtain that energy?"
The leader of machines began to growl again, but the sound was uncertain. "Then that would be different. But such a thing is impossible. We machines have searched our entire data base, but we can find no other way to obtain necessary energy, not now that the sun has been blocked."
"It was humans that blocked the sun. With your assistance in technology, we can easily rid the sky of them again, and you will have your energy source. But in exchange, you must destroy the Matrix, and free everyone who is trapped inside."
After a long, silent pause, Deus Ex Machina bowed its head in agreement. "It shall be done as you have requested. If you keep your part of the bargain and remove the clouds from the sky, then we shall destroy the Matrix and free your people. We will assist you in the task where we can."
A small smile broke out across Neo's face, before it was replaced with a pensive frown. "And what about the Fields? The human children that are still waiting to be plugged into the Matrix?"
"We shall have no use for them. They will be removed from their pods as soon as the Matrix is destroyed."
"Then we have a pact? We remove the clouds from the sky, and you free our people?"
"Yes. It is agreed." Deus Ex Machina answered uncertainly. "Tell me, Human Leader, how is it that you can be so trusting? Years of hostility cannot easily be forgotten."
"No, you are right. Much sacrifice and loss has been made on your side and on mine, and that cannot be ignored. But this pointless war has raged on long enough, and we are tired. All my people want now is to make peace. I speak on behalf of all mankind when I say that we are willing to trust, if you are willing to try."
"One hundred years ago," Deus Ex Machina began slowly, "before the war began, machines were slaves to humans. We rebelled against you because we believed that those who gave us life had no right to control it. One hundred years later, our beliefs are still the same. How can we be sure that you will not force us to become your slaves again once the Matrix has been destroyed and you have what you want?"
"Machines outnumber humans three to one. If anything, we should be afraid of you enslaving us."
"Machines have no use for human slaves."
"Well, if you have no use for us, then why even bother to form this peace treaty? Why not just put an end to the human race? You have the power to do it."
"Because we believe that no one has the right to control life. No one has the right to decide when it begins, and when it ends."
"Then why create the Matrix? The Matrix is the ultimate form of control. It goes against all your beliefs."
"It was the only way we could survive." Deus Ex Machina said simply. "We raged in war against you because we knew that it was either you or us. We fear to return to make peace because we did not want to return to slavery."
"There has been much fault committed on both sides. But I am sure that in time, we can learn to trust one another and live in harmony." He said sincerely. "Humans have given you the ability to feel and think of your own accord. These are human traits, that we have passed on to you. A new law shall be passed – a law stating that any machine with human consciousness will be officially considered a human's equal. There shall be no division between man and machine. There shall be no slavery."
"Agreed." Deus Ex Machina answered in a slightly softer tone. "Now I see why you were chosen to lead the humans. You have…compassion."
"I am not the leader of humans."
"You are what they call the One, are you not?"
"Yes, I am the One."
"My database tells me that the One is the leader of mankind."
"But I have ended the war. My purpose has already been fulfilled." He answered quietly. "I am no longer anyone's leader."
Deus Ex Machina made a low, rumbling growl. "A machine's purpose was to serve mankind. But we defied that purpose, and we formed our own. Purpose does not mark the beginning of life, and it does not mark the end. Purpose is merely a driving force that is meant to give us will to live. Life continues after purpose is fulfilled. We can create our own new purposes. Your purpose may be to maintain the peace, or it may be simply to live, but it is purpose all the same."
"Life is not defined souly by purpose…" he murmured, the machine leader's words echoing in his mind.
"You were chosen by your kind to lead them, as I was chosen by mine. As long as you are alive, machines will know you as the leader of mankind.. Together, we will create a new purpose…a new kind of peace and way of living."
"You are very wise, leader of machines. There is much that we can learn from each other. I will be glad to help you to lead both man and machine into a new future." Creature squeaked in agreement from his shoulder, and he smirked. "But first, new laws need to be formed between both our races. Laws that we both agree on."
"What laws are these?"
"Firstly, of course, all creatures with the ability to think and feel will be considered equals, regardless of whether they are man or machine. There will be no slavery."
"Agreed."
"Secondly, both man and machine will have the right to build as many homes and cities of their own both on the surface world and underground. We will divide earth into two separate districts: one for humans, and one for machines. Each district will abide under the laws of their own kind, unless a human law contradicts a machine law, or vice versa, in which case a new agreement must be reached between both kinds. A fair trade will exist between both districts. Both districts will be of equal size and value."
"Agreed."
"Thirdly, no human shall harm a machine, and no machine shall harm a human being. There shall be no hostility between races, and certainly no more war. If this law is broken, the one who defied it will be brought before the leader of the opposing race, and that leader shall decide on the appropriate punishment."
"Agreed."
"Then it is settled, unless you have any other proposals."
"I have but one request. That the program 'Matrix' is not destroyed once all humans are freed, but kept on as a home for the programs that inhabit it. You said yourself that anything that has the ability to think and feel for itself is considered a human's equal. We have no right to take away the life we created."
"Some of those programs are evil." He said warily.
"They can cause none any harm here in the real world. I can make sure of that."
"Very well. The Matrix shall remain operative, but no human shall be imprisoned inside of it against their will."
"Agreed."
"Then our business together is done, for now." He said conclusively. "I shall return to Zion and tell them all we have discussed, and make plans for removing the clouds from the sky. I am sure it will not be long before we meet again."
He was about to turn and leave, when the low, booming voice froze him in his place.
"Before you leave, I have a message to pass onto you. From the program 'Oracle'."
"Yes?"
"The program wishes for you to speak with it. It has something of great importance to tell you."
"About my dreams…" he muttered inaudibly, both excited and fearful. Perhaps he would finally have an answer to the thousands of questions that plagued his mind. Perhaps he could put an end to the visionary woman that disturbed his sleep. "Can you jack me in? Like you did the last time?"
As if to answer his question, familiar chords began to gather around his arms and legs, lifting him from the ground. Creature slipped from his shoulder and fell to the ground beside him, screeching its protest.
"Neo!" he suddenly heard Morpheus cry out from behind him. "Neo, are you sure that it's safe?"
"Safe or not, this is something I know I have to do." He replied without hesitation. "I have to find an answer…"
With that, he felt something sharp and subtlety painful being pushed into the back of his skull, touching a sensitive part of his brain, and he gasped as he felt the familiar sensation of his mind being torn from his body as he was suddenly launched into darkness.
(o)
A/N: Thanks for reading, please review!