Title: The Matrix: Resurrection
Author: AntipodeanOpaleye
Rating: PG-13
Summary: ~ Spoilers/Post Revolutions ~ The machines still owe Neo his peace; peace on levels he didn't intend, couldn't imagine, and had never brought himself to hope for.
Disclaimer: Everything you recognize from any other source either doesn't belong to me or is a purely coincidental occurrence. Anything that you've never seen probably belongs to me. I write for enjoyment and no copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: Just slap me. Please. I neglected this fic, and for that, I apologize profusely. Hopefully, future chapters will not be subjected to such a wait. As always, thank you to everyone who reviewed:
Adam's Jane - Thanks :D I think you'll like this chapter, judging by your review, and the next probably even more so…
the-spin - Thank you kindly. And denial is a good thing, I agree…
Kal Torak - I know not what to say except to offer my humblest thanks. I hope you enjoy.
Cruel Kindness - I am sorry for the wait! I hope you like the new chapter, though!
richard the pedantic - I got those figs you mentioned, the ones you would throw at my house should I not update. My apologies for the wait, it shan't happen again (hopefully) Hope you enjoy.
Divamercury - Continuing…. Now :D Hope you enjoy.
Firebird 13 - Thank you very much! Hope you like this new chapter.
Protectress of Dalidon - My sincerest thanks to you, and I do hope you like this chapter.
Trialia - As always, thank you :D Enjoy!
Loper - You make me smile with your compliments, not to mention you've just made my ego grow tenfold. I thank you. I hope you enjoy this most recent installment :D
This chapter might be a little out of character, a little hard to follow, and a little bit nonsensical. But it'll come together eventually. And remember, the Oracle not the most informative woman, likes to beat around the bush.
As always, enjoy, and do review, it makes me smile, and it makes me write (believe it or not)!
~AO
Chapter Four
Neo walked briskly through the long corridor. He knew it well; he suspected the Oracle to be there, or at least hoped she would be. He turned to the elevator, feeling strangely self-conscious at the strange looks he was getting from some of the other tenants in the apartment building. He hid his face from view, looking back at them with strange curiosity as the doors closed. Riding up the shaft, he turned to the moving walls and leaned casually against them, his back to the door. He felt strangely weak and powerful and the same time. It was oddly frightening. He drew his trench up over his head, but to little avail. Sighing, his hands slipped from the collar, but as they did, a hood appeared on the back. With a small, ill-placed grin he listed it over his head and resumed his wait for the end of the ride.
As the doors opened, Neo didn't turn, nor did he move. Instead he remained perfectly still. And as he heard the familiar click of the firearm at his still-turned back, one that was undoubtedly pointed directly at him, he didn't dare to flinch.
"You'll turn around slowly, if you please." The voice was unmistakable.
"Don't you know who I am?"
"Oh, I know. Believe me, I know. The thing is, I'm not quite sure that you know yourself."
"That sounds slightly familiar," Neo replied, remembering the first time he'd met the woman; back in her kitchen, baking cookies, pointing out foreign phrases on plaques above her door.
"You are yourself, then," Neo could here the smile in her voice. "With everything you've been through, you can't blame a woman for being a bit over-cautious." He spun swiftly, in time to see the Oracle, sitting casually upon a small bench in the hall, and disarming herself casually and putting aside the weapon. "Never know what we machines might cook up for you."
Neo was only slightly surprised to see that the woman in front of him was not the Oracle he had known of late; the one that plague the thoughts of his more recent endeavors, but instead the one he'd met what seemed like an eternity prior to that moment; the candy-loving, bluntly-spoken, witty, philosophical female he remembered from their first meeting so very long ago.
"Damn, is it good to be back in this skin," she said with a slightly sarcastic grin, stretching for emphasis. She reached to the black leather purse at her side, pulling out a small bag of brown, red, and white wrapped candies. "Tootsie Roll?"
Neo was unsure what compelled him to accept the offer, but he quickly uncovered one of the candies, popping in nonchalantly into his mouth and savoring the chocolate flavor as he gnawed upon the small chew.
"Might as well stop this before it starts," the Oracle mumbled to herself through a mouthful of chocolate. "I know you're looking for answers, and as much as I hate to do it, I can't give them to you."
"Why?"
The Oracle sighed deeply before continuing. "Because, frankly, I don't even know. I don't know why you're here. I don't know why I'm here. I don't know why I look like this one minute and like someone completely different the next. I don't know why my eyes can see through thought and time and then, in a second, they see just down the hall." She pointed down the corridor, as if she could see something spectacular awaiting her there, but when Neo turned to look, he saw nothing but the degradation of the worn wall at it's end. "The Merovingian hasn't been seen for some time now. He'll be hiding for a while, I suspect. It'll be some time before he can show his face again in front of us. The Agent left three days ago, had to deal with a program known as the Trainman…"
"The Agent?"
"Agent Smith, of course."
"He's here?" Neo asked incredulously.
"Well, he's not here, is he? Or else, you'd see him."
"I mean, he's alive?"
The Oracle looked up at him, unwrapping another of the candies subconsciously. "Alive is a bit of an irrelevant term for a program, isn't it? He hasn't been replaced, upgraded, exiled, or deleted, if that's what you mean."
"But," Neo was dumbfounded. "He returned to the Source." He paused. "Didn't he?"
"Didn't you?" the Oracle asked, evading the question. "The course of events which brought you here and Smith to the same destination is not one that is relevant to the situation at hand, Neo. You're not here to make the choices, remember? They've already been made. Understand why, and you'll be fine."
"But I don't understand."
The Oracle smiled. "In time. You will." She stopped, and looked out the small window to her left. "I hate to cut this short, I really do, but it seems as if I'm needed somewhere. Maybe next time you can come along, maybe have a batch of cookies." And in the blink of an eye, as Neo looked out the window to discover what had caught her attention, she was gone.
Neo didn't bother to search for her, though a small book caught his eye upon the bench she was sitting on previously. He picked it up gingerly, its old and tattered pages appearing as if they might crumble to dust in a moment. His fingers linger on the chipping, golden embossed title.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
He smiled cynically at the depiction of a white rabbit underneath the words.
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"Link, did I ever tell you that you are DAMN slow," Niobe growled at her college and friend as he continued to search the Matrix.
"About twenty-seven times in the past fifteen minutes. And counting."
"Have you found anything?"
"Come on, Niobe," Link whined mildly. "The Matrix is a huge compilation of delicate complexity. There's a way you have to go about…" he trailed off, something catching his attention on the screen. Niobe's eyes were diverted there as well within seconds.
"It's him."
Link couldn't bring himself to speak, and in so simply nodded in slack-jawed disbelief.
Another figure approached on the wide-screened view of the Matrix, moving swiftly through what seemed an endless latticework of hallways.
"And that's her."
"What's who?" Morpheus asked as he advanced towards them. Niobe looked from her lover, to Link, and back again.
"I think we found something, Morpheus. And you should have a look."
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Neo was flipping innocently through the book, marveling at how such child's play could have so many subliminal messages to send. He heard the footsteps long before they reached him, thudding desperately towards him with all haste. He never turned to await their coming; they were no threat. How he knew this, he was unsure, but he knew it all the same.
The swish of the trench coat was unmistakable. It should have been the first clue. The light breath that alternated with each deliberate footfall; the second. And the third was simply the nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him that it wasn't hopeless or impossible. That it could be true. When the steps stopped and paused at the end of the hall at his back, he knew that there was no time left for deliberation. Against his better judgement, he spoke to the figure, without turning to face it.
"Trinity?"