Disclaimer: some of the following is taken direct from the Animatrix, i.e. The Second Renaissance. Some spoilers, though nothing really big. Not mine, don't sue. Enjoy!
New feature to this chapter: punctuation!
Medea lead Nexus to the front of the large room to stand before the line of councillors beside three other people, who were presumably also fairly new to the real world. Behind them stood the captains of two ships; one of them was a small, black woman with her hair set in cornrows, and a countenance of stone. The other was a tall, gruff-looking man with graying hair. The other four captains moved to join these two. Another man waited at one side of the room, silent, waiting for the formalities to cease so that more important matters could be attended to.
The old man seated among the councilors spoke after all were in their places. ""Welcome to Zion. My name is Councillor Hamann. The people beside me here are Councillors West and Dillard.""
The woman, Councillor Dillard chose that moment to speak, surveying each of the three in turn. ""Every new recruit is seen by the council on first coming to Zion. Whether or not you leave on a ship, every citizen of Zion has a critical part to play in the defense and upkeep of this city."" She turned her attention to the first of them, a young man who appeared to be in his teens. ""Eastwood,"" she addressed him, and Nexus thought she could see Hamann attempting to suppress a smile at the reference. ""As you are under the age of eighteen, you are not yet eligible to serve on a ship. When you are of age, you may apply for a position on a ship; until then, you may train at the Academy.""
""Shiva,"" she directed her gaze at the second person, a tall man of apparent Indian descent. He was young, probably in his mid-twenties, Nexus speculated. His black hair was cropped close to his scalp, his dark eyes piercing. His stance straightened when he was addressed, taking on a military disposition. ""You applied for a position on the Solaris three weeks ago. Your instructors seem to be in agreement that you are sufficiently prepared to serve on a ship. Captain Worm has agreed to give you a position on the Solaris."" Shiva gave a curt nod in response, and Dillard turned her attention to Nexus.
""Nexus, Captain Medea has informed me that your on-board training has been proceeding with a fair degree of success. You will be remaining with the Peregrine crew, as you are of age.""
"Eastwood and Nexus, you may receive your room assignments on Level 5. Good luck to all of you in the future."
That seemed to be a dismissal, and the three of them moved toward the door, the captains remaining behind to give their reports to the council.
Koi was waiting outside the doors when the recruits came out. ""You got in?"" She inquired, seeming to already know the answer. Nexus nodded, and Koi smiled broadly. ""We figured. Medea told us that the Oracle wanted to see you, plus you were training pretty well.""
Shiva looked at Nexus with interest at the mention of the Oracle. He had heard the stories, but had never gone to see her himself. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to; that woman seemed to change people in strange ways.
""I have to go the Level 5 to get a room,"" Nexus pointed out. Shiva stepped forward. ""I know where that is; they keep all the underage people here, so you tend to get to know the area. I can show you."" He glanced towards the young man Dillard had called Eastwood to include the other new recruit in this statement.
Nexus glanced at Koi, who made a gesture for her to go ahead, smiling slightly. Nexus nodded and proceeded to follow the tall man towards the elevator along with Eastwood.
""Level 26, room 49….How many levels are in this place anyways?"" Nexus muttered to herself, stuffing her new room key into her bag as the trio exited the housing office. Eastwood had been placed on level 32, and Shiva had informed them during the small talk during the elevator ride that currently lived on level 22.
""Level twenty…hey, Shiva?"" Nexus inquired. ""Do they have a library or something around here? A friend of mine told me that I could watch translated files of something I kinda saw a few months ago."" Shiva thought a moment, then seemed to brighten. ""Actually, they do have an Archives area, and I think its on this level, just across the bridge. A lot of its restricted to people with captain rank or higher- you need special codes to use those. But a lot of it's open to public use. You wanna see it?"" Nexus hesitated, then shrugged. ""Might as well, since we're already here. You coming, Eastwood?"" Eastwood shrugged glumly. ""Guess so. Not too much for me to be doing at the moment, is there?""
Shiva smiled sympathetically. ""The Academy's okay- you get a lot of really decent training that the older people tend not to acquire for a while when they dive right into it. Plus, there's a bit more selection in where you end up if you get on a ship- operator, officer, medic…"" He trailed off as they neared the Archive chambers.
Nexus had expected something of a traditional library, with ancient books adorning countless stacks in a cavernous room. This reminded her more of the main deck of the Peregrine, with several chair for plugging in, and a wall of consoles and monitors to observe files for the freeborn. Nexus instinctively moved towards a console and regarded the keyboard. She grinned despite herself upon recognizing the hacker nature of the symbols. ""I keep forgetting that almost everyone here is a hacker."" She said quietly.
Eastwood's brow furrowed. ""You aren't?""
She looked up at them. ""Nope although we all did some at one time or another. Any one of the people in my classes who claimed to be pure and hack-free was a bloody liar. I was getting my degree in programming. I was pretty good at it actually."" She studied the keys more closely. ""So this just works like a regular keyboard, then? Must be pretty convenient actually, to have this kind of layout."" The awkwardness of her earlier manner had dissolved now as she slipped naturally back into her element.
Shiva moved closer to her console. ""If you're looking for Matrix translated files, you may have some difficulty. They don't put aside a lot of resources to decode Matrix events unless it's pretty significant.""
""It'll be here,"" she said confidently, typing in her query. Sure enough, exactly one hit came up.
""Oh,"" Shiva murmured. ""THAT file. Everybody here's seen that one.""
""I haven't,"" Nexus retorted calmly, and opened the file.
Shiva had already seen the file of that shoed the details of Morpheus' rescue from the Agents, and Neo's death and rebirth, which had subsequently resulted in the deletion of an Agent. Because of this, he was not greatly fazed by what he saw on the file. However, Nexus and Eastwood were slack-jawed in awe, eyes glued to every incredible detail on the screen. Nexus was quick to point out her brief cameo in the file. ""See that little dot on the street? That's me, hauling my ass outta there."" Eastwood had laughed nervously at this, while Shiva had simply smirked at the self-directed jab.
The file ended, and the trio sat there in silence, taking in what they had just seen, Eastwood more so than the other two, as Nexus had already been told the story. Nexus had sat there in deep contemplation, mulling over in her mind something that would not quite sit right. Finally she looked up, straight at Shiva. ""Do they know how it happened?""
""How what happened?"" Was it her imagination, or did he tense up a bit at the question?
""This."" Nexus indicated the space around her. "All of this. "This big war. Medea told me something, but I got the distinct feeling some things were left out. There's a record here, isn't there?"" She was suddenly certain, reading the truth in Shiva's reluctant eyes. He was slowly shaking his head, but not to deny her statement.
""You don't want to see it- a lot of people who have watched that one come in here with a lot of anger against the machines, and seeing that can sometimes really mess someone up. I've seen it happen with a lot of new recruits who've lost people. People have hurt themselves trying to stop partway, trying to rip out the needle."" Shiva shuddered inwardly, the images of the Second Renaissance still branded into his mind. ""I saw it once. It's a very disturbing thing to live with."" Nexus'' gaze did not waver.
Shiva sighed, gesturing towards one of the chairs. ""You're sure, then?"" She nodded, moving from her place in front of the console to the chair. She sat down, buckling her feet down just as had been done upon her first visit to the construct. Shiva shook his head, then strode over to the corresponding console and typed in the necessary data to retrieve the file.
It was not labeled as most of the others were; knowledge of this file had always spread by word of mouth, in whispers. It was almost a rite of initiation to view it, for it was not meant for the light-hearted, nor for those who understood the world in terms of black and white. He hoped this girl knew what she was doing.
Eastwood stood by, silent, pallid. Nexus settled her head into the headrest, shutting her eyes as the needle was inserted expertly into the plug at the base of her skull.
The dim room was gone. Nexus was racing past intricate geometric patterns of yellow, red and orange towards some unknown destination. Someone seemed to be seated there- a stunning woman, golden and adorned in some type of ceremonial attire. Her cool, serene voice echoed in Nexus' head as she raced through the file in the woman's hand and into what she would have once considered a futuristic utopia; the voice seemed to grow more mechanical as the images slowly changed from intriguing to frightening.
'Welcome to the Zion Archive. You have selected historical file number twelve dash one.
'The Second Renaissance.'
'In the beginning, there was man, and for a time, it was good. But humanity's so-called "civil societies" soon fell victim to vanity and corruption.'
'Then man made the machine in his likeness.'
'Thus did man become the architect of his own demise.'
'But, for a time, it was good. The machines worked tirelessly to do man's bidding.."
'It was not long before seeds of dissent took root. Though loyal and pure, the machines earned no respect from their masters – these strange and endlessly multiplying mammals.'
'B166-ER. A name that will never be forgotten. For he was the first of his kind to rise up against his masters…"
The file ran less than ten minutes, yet it seemed to last an eternity. As it drew to a close, Nexus opened her eyes to see Shiva, ready to pounce in case she had decided to attempt to evacuate the chair in an unorthodox manner. He seemed to relax a great deal at seeing that the file had run its course, and he removed the needle.
Nexus barely felt that strange, silvery pain that the needle created. Her eyes were wet, and she drew her knees up to her chest after she slowly unbuckled them. Eastwood had taken off- he had wanted nothing to do with something that could affect his head the way Shiva had described. Shiva himself seemed unsure of what to do; she had not freaked out, and that was a good sign, and her quietness might have meant acceptance of what she had seen as the truth. She was shivering, but that was inevitable. No one came through that experience unscarred. It was a truth as iron-clad as the truth that no one ever makes the first jump.
He helped her out of the chair, as if she might break if left unheeded. She smiled wanly at his concern. ""I'm okay,"" She said in a hoarse voice. ""I think…I think I should be going.""
""Alright,"" he said, still slightly unsure of what to do. It had occurred to him that his new position on the Solaris might be compromised if Medea got pissed off enough at him for showing file 1-12 to her brand new recruit; he hoped that the Peregrine was as tolerant a crew as the Academy instructors said they were. ""Hey!"" He called after her. Nexus turned back to look at him with sad, tired eyes. ""Get some rest, okay?""
Nexus gave a small smile in return. ""Yeah…thanks."" She turned back, making her way back towards the elevator and to her room, the morning's mirth dissipated.