Chapter 5 – Revelation
Disclaimer: see Chapter 2
A/n: From now on, I am going to do reviewer responses. I've decided it's only fair. So although there is only 1 this time, they will be at the bottom in future…
Slamming the front door hastily behind her, Ana entered her house after a long and tiring day at school. Coming out of the kitchen, all her mother Niamh saw was a flash of brown hair as her daughter swiftly disappeared up the stairs, calling "Hi, Mum". Niamh sighed. Ana was becoming more and more reclusive lately, staying in her room most of the time, only coming out for school, meals, or long walks that lasted late into the evening. Dearly hoping it was just a phase, she swung the kitchen door back open and returned to the cloud of steam above the stove.
Up in her room, Ana swiftly shed her bag, shoes and tie, and swung into the black revolving chair in front of her computer. There was only one way to relieve this pressure. She only hoped it would work, as it had before in times of stress and uncertainty. Flexing her long fingers, she began to type, the melody filling her head as the words poured out.
See the world in black and white,
Sweep the colours from your eyes,
The choice is yours to decide,
See it.
Taste the colour of the sky,
Drink the nectar from a sigh,
Can you trust the truth to lie?
Taste it.
Feel the flicker of an eye,
Touch a strobing beam of light,
Will you follow, will you fight?
Feel it.
Smell the sadness of a life,
Aromas sweet before you find,
The air is still, inside your mind,
Smell it.
Hear the truth inside a lie,
Find a light before it dies,
Speak from what you know inside,
Hear it.
Why do dreams cross over time?
Are my senses truth or lie?
Is this new sense truly mine?
Is it?
Brushing back her hair from her eyes, Ana clicked 'Print' and sat back, blinking at what she had written. The steady chug of the printer soothed her as the lines slowly emerged, like muddy footprints in the snow. With a long squeal, the page slid out. For a long moment, she stared at it, lying there so innocently, a white rectangle of clarity. Suddenly, she snatched it up and tore it in half, then again, and again, and again, until all that were left were small, drifting flakes. Scooping the pile into the bin, she jabbed at the power button and retreated to her bed as the screen went black.
In the Core, Trinity glared at Morpheus, irritation boiling inside her.
"Morpheus", she forced from between clenched teeth. "I've already seen all this. She's a borderline nutcase as far as I'm concerned."
Morpheus gave a deep sigh, and looked Trinity over, as if sizing her up.
"The facts of the matter are, Ana Gardner is coming of age. They may not observe the traditions in the Matrix world any more, but once a child becomes 16, a powerful change comes about. The child is no longer a child, they become an adult. That may not mean much to you, but it will mean a lot to Ana. For the first time, all of her abilities will converge on her at once. She will either be able to handle this, or she will not. She will either live…"
"…Or she will die", finished Trinity, a grim look on her face.
"That is, unless we unplug her first. However, because of her talents, there becomes a curious situation in which we must unplug her no more than an hour before this change, and no more than an hour after."
"What talents?", interrupted Trinity, cutting straight to the heart of the conversation.
Again Morpheus paused. His eyes fixed upon a distant point, past Trinity's head.
"Long ago, I was told a story. And the story was this. Deep in the heart of the mountains, and the Matrix, a pod-child would be born. And this child would be special. She would be the key to unlocking the unsolvable conundrum, which has riddled both the humans and the machines for years. But she would not know it. She would live in blissful ignorance of this until the time when she would come of age. And at this time, all of the moments she had felt in the womb, in the cradle, in the classroom, in the crowds, these moments would join together like the infinite pieces of a puzzle. These moments would join together into a picture of inconstant yet perfect clarity. She would be able to see the whole of the Matrix, as a beautiful and shifting thing. And Trinity, I believe we have found that one."
Trinity stood frozen, confused and stunned. For a rare moment, she was completely lost for words. She opened her mouth, then shut it again, registering the faint, wickedly amused gleam in Morpheus' eyes.
"So you think…you mean…"
She cleared her throat, and began again.
"So you think that this girl can actually see the Matrix? How is that possible? It's just code. How can you just see code?"
Her dark eyebrows contracted into a frown, forming faint lines on her porcelain forehead.
Morpheus nodded, acknowledging that he himself had followed this same pattern of thought.
"It is my belief that she will not be able to see the code as such, as you and I see this screen." He gestured at the computer screen in front of them. "Instead I believe that it will be more feeling than seeing, more of an instinctive knowledge and ability to sense the Matrix, and the subtle changes within it."
"So she's like… another Oracle or something?"
"No, they are not the same. The Oracle sees single choices of individual people, and what they will lead to. She sees the future, to put it crudely. This girl, or woman as she is to become, cannot see why the Matrix changes, but she can see how. She can discover some of what will happen from the signs within the Matrix, but only a general view. No, her real use to us is not to see the future; it is to see the present. I believe that, with her abilities, she can help to lead us to the One."
"But…" Trinity broke off abruptly.
"But what?", said Morpheus, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "But it can't be possible?"
"But I don't believe all this fate and Oracle crap anyway. Do I?"
Unable to bear the atmosphere in the room any longer, Trinity turned abruptly on her heel and almost ran from the room. Hurrying through the corridors without knowing where she was going, she found herself suddenly in front of her door. Slamming it behind her, she sank down onto her bed.
Reviewer responses:
LiMiYa: Glad to know someone is reading. Thank you!