"I understand now that boundaries between noise & sound are conventions. All boundaries are conventions, waiting to be transcended. One may transcend any convention, if only one can first conceive of doing so."

- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell


16. Love And Karma

A woman around 30-ish stands on a top building. She had blue hair and brown eyes, observing while speaking to a man with high tech. "If that's supposed to be Trinity, that's not what happens," the man stated.

"Maybe this isn't the story we think it is," the bluenette concluded, looking equally confused as well...

A robot similar to Sentinal speaks in front of many people in the United Nations building. "Your flesh is a relic, a mere vessel," it stated coldly. "Hand over your flesh and a new world awaits you. We demand it."

From the outside, the building explodes like nuclear...

"His vitals are good," Trinity read the scanner, checking Michael Karl Popper's condition. "He's gonna make it."

Neo nods as Enigma prepares medical equipment.

"It's unbelievable. I didn't think self-substantiation was possible," she admitted.

Neo shrugs. "Apparently it is."

"Neo... Enigma..."

"Hey," Enigma greeted Michael with a smile. "Don't you worry. You'll be okay."

He smiles. "I knew… You two'd save me."

Neo leans closer. "We didn't save you, kid," he told him. "You saved yourself."

"Just sleep," Enigma suggested, humming White Rabbit while closing his eyes...

Neo slowly walks, looking around him. So many Smith staring at him. He can feel the Matrix slowly destroyed by the dark sky and the rain that pour wildly...

"Everything that has a beginning has an end."

Enigma slowly opens her eyes, her head dizzy by those dreams she had just now.

"Good morning," a girl's voice said. Enigma turns around, finding an Indian girl around her age standing close to her with a kind smile. Slowly, Enigma's sat up, looking at her location. It seems she's inside a train station. She spots 'Mobil Ave' at the wall. Probably the name of the station itself.

Her eyes catch Neo beside her, slowly sits up. She helps him, ignoring some migraine and how itches her body is. "Who are you?" Enigma wondered.

"My name is Sati. His name is Neo. While your name is Enigma. My papa says you're not supposed to be here. He says you two must be lost. Are you lost, Neo, Enigma?"

Neo looks around. "Where are we?"

"This is the train station," Sati replied.

Enigma gestures toward the sign so he understands. "This isn't the Matrix?"

"That's where the train goes. That's where we're going. But you two cannot go with us."

That statement confuses Enigma. "Why not, Sati?"

"He won't let you."

"Who won't let us?"

"The Trainman," she leans closer while whispering. "I don't like him, but my Papa says we have to do what the Trainman says or he will leave us here forever and ever." She observes them. "Are you two from the Matrix?"

"Yes. No. I mean, we were," Neo tries to clarify.

"Why did you leave?"

Enigma rubs her forehead, still feeling dizzy. Notices this, Neo gently wraps his hand around her. "We had to," she replied.

Sati nods. "I had to leave my home too."

"Sati!" A man called. Enigma looks behind, finding a man and a woman sitting down. Several suitcases stand in a line next to the bench. The man looks familiar. "Come here, darling. Leave the poor man and his daughter in peace."

"Yes, papa," she responded and walks to her parents. Both Neo and Enigma stand up, approaching the small family.

"I'm sorry, she is still very curious," he apologized to them.

Enigma quickly realizes why she feels familiar with this man. "You're that man in the restaurant," she pointed out.

He nods. "Yes. I am Rama-Kandra," he introduced. "This is my wife Kamala, my daughter Sati. We are most honored to meet you two."

Neo read their codes. "You're programs."

"Oh, yes. I'm the power plant systems manager for recycling operations. My wife is an interactive software programmer, she is highly creative."

"What are you two doing here?" Kamala asked. "You two do not belong here."

"Kamala!" Rama-Kandra nudges her before giving a nervous laugh. "Goodness, I apologize. My wife can be very direct."

"I can be very direct too," Enigma confessed, which makes Sati giggle and Rama-Kandra laughs lightly.

"It's okay," Neo replied him, patting his child's hair. "I don't have an answer. I don't even know where 'here' is."

"This place is nowhere. It is between your world and our world."

"Who's the Trainman?" Enigma questioned, recalling Sati's words before.

"He works for the Frenchman."

"Why'd I know you were going to say that?" Neo grumbled.

"The Frenchman does not forget and he does not forgive."

His words make Enigma gets a vision. A weird one, in fact. She, Neo, and some strangers inside an old factory. Merovingian was also there, looking worn and dirty like homeless. He looks half-crazy. "You two stole my life!" He accused them before blabbering in French.

"You know him?" Her father asked, snapping Enigma back.

"I know only what I need to know. I know that if you want to take something from our world into your world that does not belong there, you must go to the Frenchman."

"Is that what you're doing here?" Neo concluded.

"Rama, please!" Kamala interrupted, sounding scared.

"I do not want to be cruel, Kamala," her husband insisted, looking at his wife with a guilty expression. "He and his daughter may never see another face for the rest of their life."

"Please. You don't have to answer," Enigma suggested, not wanting to upset them.

Rama-Kandra shook his head. "No. I don't mind. The answer is simple." He looks down at Sati, his expression changes to proud before looking at them again. "I love my daughter very much. I find her to be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. But where we are from, that is not enough. Every program that is created must have a purpose. If it does not, it is deleted. I went to the Frenchman to save my daughter." He spots how Neo frowns while Enigma tugs her left earlobe. "You two do not understand."

Neo seems to struggle to say. "I just have never..."

"...heard a program speak of love?"

"I mean," Enigma tilts her head, trying to think of a better respond. "It's... a human emotion. This is very new to us."

Rama-Kandra smiles as if he understand their reasoning. Enigma likes how he smiles. Somehow, that smile reminds her of Neo. "No, it is a word. What matters is the connection the word implies," he explained, looking at them for a moment. "I see that you are in love," he alluded to Neo. "Can you tell me what you would give to hold on to that connection?"

Neo gently gazes at Enigma, who looks at him with her big sunshine smile. "Anything," he answered sincerely. Because truthfully, he would do anything to hold his love for Trinity and Enigma. For the woman he loves romanticly and the girl he loves in a fatherhood way.

"Then perhaps the reason you're here is not so different from the reason I'm here."

She receives another scene. This time, she sees Ghost speaking to the Oracle. Well, the woman looks nothing like the Oracle she knows. She doesn't know why she knows the old woman is the Oracle she cares to talk to. Maybe it's the way she gazes or how soft her voice is.

"Can you tell me what happened to you?" Ghost asked.

"Two programs that I trusted sold the termination code of my original shell to the Merovingian," the Oracle revealed.

"Why did they do that?"

"For love, and for the life of their child."

"You knew about it, and yet you let it happen?"

"I had to."

"Why?"

"Because the child is important. I can't tell you why, but I believe that one day, the child will change both our world and your world forever." The Oracle looks down. "Just like Enigma."

She quickly shook her head.

"Are you okay?" Sati asked, looking worried as they both already sat down on the bench. Kamala straightens her hair. "You look lost."

"Just deep in thought," the blonde girl assured her. "I wonder..."

"Wonder what?"

"If that man also arrived here."

Kamala seems to know who she referred to. But Sati doesn't as she frowns. "Who?"

"The bad man," Enigma alluded, thinking of Smith, her hands squeeze tight, staring at both men near the rail.

"When is the train due?" Neo asked Rama-Kandra as he checks his watch.

"It's already late. It's not like the Trainman to be late."

"You think it has something to do with us?"

"I cannot say. Who knows such things?" Rama-Kandra shrugs. "Only the Oracle."

"You know the Oracle?"

"Everyone knows the Oracle. I consulted with her before I met with the Frenchman. She promised she would look after Sati after we said goodbye."

"Goodbye?" Neo frowns, glances at Sati worriedly. "You're not staying with her?"

Rama-Kandra shook his head. "It is not possible. Our arrangement with the Frenchman was for our daughter only. My wife and I must return to our world."

So neither he nor Kamala can see their daughter again. That must be hard for them. He can't imagine him and Trinity being separated from Enigma. Or worse, them three separated from each other. The idea of that already pain him so much. "Why?"

"That is our karma."

"You believe in karma?"

"Karma's a word. Like love. A way of saying, 'what I am here to do,'" he shared. "I do not resent my karma. I'm grateful for it. Grateful for my wonderful wife, for my beautiful daughter. They are gifts. And so I do what I must do to honor them."

The station begins to rumble. "Papa, the train!" Sati noticed.

"Yes! Get your bags, quickly!" He suggested.

"Can we carry your stuff?" Enigma asked Rama-Kandra. "Maybe he'll let us pass."

Rama-Kandra pauses before nodding. "All right."

The Train stops with the doors clamber open. A man with a hideous look steps out. She can guess he's the Trainman. "Hurry it up, I'm late!" He insisted. Enigma grabs one small suitcase while Neo grabs a big one. While he let Rama-Kandra, Kamala, and Sati enter, he stops Neo and Enigma. "Who are you?"

"They're our friends," Rama-Kandra explained while his wife calls him, sounds afraid.

"I know you," he grinned. "So that's what they wanted."

"We need to get back," Neo stated. "I'll pay you anything you want."

"Oh?"

"One way or another we're getting on this train."

"Oh, no, no, no. You and that brat are gonna stay right here until the Merovingian says different. If I know him, you're gonna be here for a long, long time."

"I don't want to hurt you," Neo warned him. He rather not use violence now.

"You don't get it. I built this place. Down here, I make the rules. Down here, I make the threats. Down here, I'm God," he declared and punches Neo in his stomach, sending him into the wall. Enigma gasps, kneeling while holding her stomach, sensing the pain. She gives a quick shook of her head when Sati takes a step, warning her to stay inside as the Trainman glares Rama-Kandra. "Get on the train, or you'll stay here with them."

"Go," Enigma whispered to him. Despite guilt can be seen in his eyes, Rama-Kandra gets on the train.

She silently watches the family leave.


Note: Revisited Revolutions after watched Resurrections was quite fun myself. One of those with Rama-Kandra Neo's conversation (Rama's position foreshadow his creation of Anomaleum & the discussion of love will be important, both at M3 & M4)

Also, I can't help myself to put so many foreshadowing in this fic.