"What's that noise?"
"It started around five this morning…it hasn't stopped…"
Smith waited a moment, listening to the endless quiet noise, trying to figure out what was making it.
"What's that noise?" Smith asked again.
Smith was lying on his side, his back turned to Neo and the window. He was just waking up from sleep as he heard this noise. This noise that wouldn't stop, wouldn't falter. It was relentless, yet sounded gentle and soft. What was it? What could it be? This noise that he could hear just outside the window, little bangs hitting on the bulletproof glass.
"What's that noise?" Smith's voice rose with fear.
Neo smiled for a moment without saying anything.
"I don't think it's ever going to stop." Neo said.
"What is it?"
"Turn around, Smith."
"No."
Neo smiled, kicking out his leg back and forth, for he was sitting on the flimsy desk, resting on his side looking out the window. He breathed out with his mouth, and watched as he spread a fog across the window. He pressed his finger across the fog, making a mark, he smiled and began to draw on the window itself.
"What is it!" Smith asked again.
"It's rain."
And there was a moment where it was silent, and all that was left was the rain. That rhythm it made, the constant noise that never faulted, never stopped, continue as it was, as it had always been. Rain, little drops of water produced from hydrogen and oxygen in the sky and clouds. Rain, real rain.
"It's like the sky is crying." Neo commented. "But that would be silly."
Crying?
Smith cautiously and slowly turns to his other side to face Neo and the window. Neo looks down at him from the table and smiles. Smith's mouth slightly opens as he strains his neck to look up at the window, with the faintest amount of light creeping onto his face, and he sees it. The rain, the rain splattering against the window again and again, the constant noise. Smith rises to his feet, joining Neo on the table, slowly and cautiously he looks and inspects the rain. He looks up and to the right and left, and slowly, very slowly he places the palm of his hand on the window.
Smith frowns for a moment, looking around his hand as it is pushed against the glass. There's a new expression on Smith's face, Neo hasn't had much pleasure of seeing. But Neo watches Smith, with that face, and smiles. It the face of utter amazement.
Smith smiles the most sincere smile he's ever had, and looks at Neo.
"It's cold." Smith says blissfully.
Neo nods.
"It's very cold." Smith adds.
Smith looks closer at the rain through the window, breathing through his mouth and discovering the fog on the window it makes. He backs his head away for a second to see the fog, then breathes on it again to make more.
"It's beautiful." Smith says.
"I thought you would like it." Neo said.
Neo watched him, and Neo smiled.
---------------
There wasn't much speaking on Smith's part throughout the morning. He was constantly looking up though, Neo held his wrist, guiding him a bit so he wouldn't run into anything. The rain seemed to have some kind of effect on everyone at the Asylum, mad and sane alike. Like a sixth sense that the animals sometimes have…
It was like there was a calmly blanket wrapped around them all, and in fact seemed to have put some to sleep. Madmen did not scream, the fidgeting rubbed their hands calmly, the cutters washed their wounds, and delusions did not come. Everyone seemed so quiet, as if they all wanted to hear the rain. Almost eerily quiet, maybe something was wrong, maybe this was the silence heard before the destruction. But such thoughts were quickly put away in the peace.
And at times the rain could be heard beating down the hardest on the rooftops.
Neo himself felt changed, he recognized it, and enjoyed it for the time. Everything seemed a bit clearer, easy to understand, his mind was clean, and he was somehow content all of the sudden. His face seemed happy without him even having to try to express any emotion, he would sit next to Smith, with a somehow new found intuition that told him, it is okay today, relax on this day, it is okay. So Neo did so, he rested his head on the wall as they sat and ate what breakfast they never eat, next to the window as Smith insisted so he could watch the rain.
It was a strange feeling for Neo, he wasn't sure if he liked it yet. But the strangest thing is, as soon as it began raining, Neo stopped dreaming those horrible dreams.
Neo was now the observer of Smith, their roles nearly switched as Smith grew with excitement and curiosity constantly staring out the rain. It was quite an enjoyable thing to see.
Somewhere far off and deep into the Asylum, even the criminals seemed to have been soothed by the rain, the crying and screaming had suddenly stopped to witness it. Armel sat in his cell, gulping down some wine, with a rather sad look on his face.
"What's wrong boss?" Enoch peaks out of his window.
"Yeah, come on, it's raining! Raining boss! When was the last time it rained!" Enosh says.
Armel sips his wine.
"It is too quiet, and there are no demons." Armel says. "Something is wrong."
"Aw boss, come on, no talk of demons today." Enoch said.
Armel stared out his window in a daze and hang over.
"They are planning something I know it…they've left to go seek something out. They're coming back greater than they left…God help me." Armel whispers.
And a rather pale man in the neighboring cell looks over at Armel, his mad king, and then the rain, and sighs. After all, it happened in the rain.
-----------------
"God it hasn't rained in so long." Aaron said walking through the halls.
"Seems like years, to me." Tank agreed.
"We've only had drizzled the last few seasons haven't we? Oh yes, I can't seem to recall rain like this. You can hear it on the rooftops."
"Reminds me of home."
"Oh, where'd you grow up?"
"Washington state. Rained there everyday of my life! And we had these giant slugs that would come out too! Banana slugs! They'd always come out, eat away and my mother's garden, she finally just would drown them in a big bucket, and I'd have to dump the little bastards out."
"…Ew."
"They were really big, hence their name, they were also yellow too."
"All right, I got you. Please, spare me."
"No! Everyone must suffer as I have suffered from this horrible creatures!" Tank laughed.
Neo overheard Aaron's little conversation with Tank as they passed by the halls. Smith was a few feet away looking out a window, and Neo followed them for a second.
"When has it last rained like this, Aaron?" Neo asked.
"Oh, hey there Neo! Haven't see you in a while." Aaron beamed.
"Hey I still want some of those lessons." Tank smiled.
Neo nodded, but was rather interested only in the answer.
"When did it last rain like this?" Neo repeated.
"Oh, um, a long time ago, Neo. Just like this one too. Probably years ago, we don't get a lot of rain in the city you know. But it'll probably only last a day, storms like these." Aaron said.
"Thank you, Aaron." Neo smiled, walking away.
Neo went towards Smith, tugging on his shoulder, and slightly pushing him over so he could stand next to him at the window.
"It hasn't rained like this in a long time." Neo says.
"I know." Smith replies in monotony.
"How?"
"I just…do."
"Oh…all right."
Neo just look onward at the rain, breathing fog onto the glass, being rather amused by it.
It was silent then, the calming quiet the rain took them over. Like it was whispering something to them, and they had to be very quiet in order to hear it. Smith just stared at the rain, almost fixed on it for some reason.
"I have to get out there, Mr. Anderson." Smith spoke softly.
"What?"
"The rain…I have to feel the rain."
"But they won't let us out on rainy days."
"I don't care." Smith said with some aggression. "I have to get out there."
"But…how?"
"It doesn't matter, Mr. Anderson. I just have to get out there."
Smith's voice was stuck in a monotony, Neo wasn't sure if it was Smith's own doing, or something that was taking hold of Smith, a fixation on the rain. Neo knew this would be a bad thing to do, they'd have to disobey some orders, not that they hadn't broken the rules before. Overall the regular Neo took over, and saw no reason to object, but only to carry out and do so, so that Smith may be pleased.
"Well, okay." Neo nodded, and started looking around.
Smith slowly rose his hand and pointed.
"Up there." He continued in his monotony.
And he pointed to a slightly opened window, opened to circulate the warmth the heaters were making. Too many bodies, too much heat, there needed to be something cold to balance it. Neo looked around, seeing Tank and Aaron leaving the room to where only the sane go, and he saw now cameras could really see that area. Smith still looked out his window, and Neo tugged him away from it. Neo walked Smith towards the open window which seemed roughly ten feet above the ground. Neo put Smith right below the window.
"How tall are you, Smith?"
Neo asked, putting his thumb up and closing one eye, as if he really could measure a foot by just sight. He really couldn't but felt this was the most logical way to figure something out, no matter what it was.
"We're the same height…." Smith looked up.
"We are?"
Smith nodded.
"You haven't noticed?" Smith asked.
Neo shook his head.
"We are both six foot, two inches." Smith sighed.
"Oh…well then okay!" Neo smiled. "You want to get outside, you get on my shoulders, and I'll push you out."
"You can jump that high?"
"Well…we'll see. You're the one that wants to go out anyway. I just hope you don't catch a cold, or something nasty like that."
Neo stopped himself before he went any further where he would've talked about a fake memory he had made up about his first cold and how he saw "NEO" spelled in his chicken soup his mom made him. But that was just pretend after all, only made for his own contentment, he shouldn't be spreading it around like lies, the sane will take it badly. He looked around for a moment, surveying the area as it were. All the sane were gone calmed and fooled by the rain, and all the insane were looking out windows. No one thought this would be a day for mischievous, and especially not from them. All the cameras looked away, and all eyes were gone. Neo simply bent down so his back was reachable, and looked up at Smith.
"Go ahead." Neo urged.
Smith narrowed his eyebrows, thinking about this for a moment. Not really in a mood to think he stepped on Neo's back and was lifted up to twice his height. He quickly grabbed the window, pushing himself through, and falling, landing straight onto the muddy ground.
He fell as if he were being born from the sky, as if he were a raindrop himself.
And Neo backed away from the window, looking around again, then running at it, only able to grab the sill with his fingers. He grind his teeth and rolled his eyes, climbing up the wall, and finally getting his torso through the narrow window, and before he could stop himself, Neo fell and landed on his head, rolling onto his back.
"Ow!" He yelled. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Neo kicked the ground. "Ow, Smith! Ow! …Smith?"
Neo looked up from the muddy ground but saw no Smith. He rose up to his feet, slipping on the ground, and saw him, just standing there, blending with the rain and rest of the world, like a lost puzzle piece that finally found it's place. He seemed home.
Neo smiled that child smile of his, and despite all the mud that was now clogging his shoes, and smearing his nice white Asylum clothes he started to run in the mud towards Smith. And there was something in the rain, they both could feel it. Something pushing them.
Neo slid as he stopped towards Smith and he laughed.
"This is great!" Neo yelled to the sky, spreading out his arms and looking up.
That is when the lightning began.
And something snaps.
There was something in the rain, and Neo seemed almost oblivious to it. But Smith was not. He could hear it. It was trying to tell him something, whispering in between its gasps. Smith just stood there, with his hands held out to feel as the rain fell to its end onto him. His mouth slightly hung open and he just stood absolutely still, allowing the rain to claim him as its own. Allowing him to be engulfed by it, to the point where he was soaking wet, and he could watch the water drip from his brow.
Something happened, Smith tells himself. There's something in the rain. Something that calls to him, a distant memory he wasn't aware of.
"It hasn't rained here in so long…" a voice echoes throughout his head.
Something happened here, in the rain. Something important.
Smith knows this, but he can't…grasp it. Something…happened. Something…happened, the rain. Something happened in the rain. And the rain, the memory, it's coming out, but it…he can't…get his head around it.
He just let's the rain engulf him, take him over, take him away from this horrible place. He just let's the rain take him over, let him become part it. Make the rain wash everything horrible away…
This is when an emotion is sparked, and a memory takes form.
Smith turns to Neo, as Neo smiles.
Smith punches him in the chest.
"Ow!" Neo yells backing up. "Ow! Ow! …Ow!"
Neo holds his chest, and bends down.
"Smith! Why did you do that! Ow! It really hurt!"
Smith stands frozen in the rain, and again the lightning sounds. Neo looks up at Smith, his arm still stretched out, and his hand still in a fist.
"My head, and my chest! Ow!" Neo says one more time. "Why'd you do that?" Neo asks, calming down.
"It…It feels familiar." Smith whispers.
"Familiar?"
Neo looks up, suddenly realizing he may be missing something. Something that he should be seeing, something familiar. He begins to look around in urgency but sees nothing that brings up any memory.
"I don't see anything!" Neo yells.
Smith was still frozen, with his fist still hanging in a punch, and he looked over at Neo.
No, of course you can't see it. Only I can see what is hidden in the rain. Only the rain will allow me it's knowledge, only I can learn how to be part of it, control it. No matter how hard you look, no matter how hard you try, you are not me.
You cannot see what I see.
Smith grabbed Neo by his hand, and raised it to his own chest.
You are not like me.
"Hit me here." Smith said.
"Smith…"
"Do it. Hit me as hard as you can."
Neo gave in and nodded, taking a step back, and throwing a punch right into Smith's chest. And Smith fell back onto his back, where immediately got up and looked at Neo. Neo didn't know if he had somehow done it wrong, with that look on Smith's face. But Smith just stood there.
The lightning came, and Smith punched Neo in the face.
Neo back flipped, finding this to be difficult not to slip, he decided not to do that again, rather just allow Smith to slip first, having to find his center of gravity. Smith took the offensive, charging Neo as he regained balance. Neo blocked another punch, twisting Smith's arms aside, and punching with his palm at the center of Smith's chest. Smith took a step back, and Neo charged. Smith slightly ducked, punching Neo in the ribs, and pushing him back. Neo dazed, Smith punched him with a right hook. Neo fell onto his back, quickly regaining himself, he kicked Smith in the knees. Smith feel forward onto Neo. Smith pushed down on Neo, and they slightly sunk in the mud. Neo head banged Smith, flipping him off, and rolling onto his side, spinning up.
The lightning flashed. They moved as fast as it did.
Smith was on his hands and knees, Neo came in for a kick, Smith grabbed his foot, flipping him back onto the ground. Smith quickly got up, with Neo close behind. Neo went in for a high kick, Smith blocked. Smith punched at him, Neo blocked, slicing a palm at Smith's neck. Smith blocked, grabbing his entire hand, and squeezing it. Neo gasped in a bit of surprise, but nonetheless managed with a kick to free himself.
And by then they were soaking wet, and covered in mud. Neo was dirtier, having his third dip in mud. The mud had somehow spread across his hair and cheek, but he still fought not even noticing.
"Yes…that's it…kill that god damn demon." Armel grinned.
Standing at the glass doors Armel had his hand placed on the glass, and a wine glass in the other hand. And he pressed his face close to it, and he could see two little white figures in the dark landscape, fighting. He held back laughing at it all. But Armel watched, and moved as he saw the punches were thrown.
"Kill the demon…take it from this world…protect me from it by Blacksmith! Behold, I have created the Smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy."
Neo backed away for a moment, before lunging himself at Smith, it was really a foolish move that could have only worked to his greater advantage if he could fly, but perhaps in these moments he thought he could. They both fell once again into the mud. Smith finally got on top of Neo, pushing him into the mud, and holding him by the neck once again.
And the thoughts, "You aren't like me," lingered in the air.
The lightning flashed, and Smith still held Neo by the neck, with his arm raised for a punishing blow.
This is the part where time goes slow, and things become silent. There was only pure fear in Neo's eyes now, and pure hate in Smith's. Both looks would go unnoticed by each other.
But it was only because…there was something in the rain…
"Neo! Smith! Stop it!" Called a voice that boomed like Aaron's.
"What the hell do you think you guys are doing!" Called a voice like Tank's.
"Neo!" Called a woman Neo like to call Trinity.
Smith blinked and stared down at Neo, slowly lowering his fist. Neo looked up at Smith, blinking from all the raindrops collecting in his eyes, and he smiled. Smith pulled Neo closer to him.
"Don't let them take me from the rain." Smith told Neo.
"Like a game." Neo said, nodding.
Smith let Neo go, and Neo ran off, buying Smith an extra five minutes as part of the rain.
Some more time for Smith to be where he always wanted to be. Where Smith felt something, and no matter how cold the rain was, he felt warm.
----------------
Neo was shaking from the cold, and his nose had grown red. He grew a bit paler, and sniffled, and coughed. The sane wrapped the two in heated blankets and towels, getting new clothes for them, and gave them warm soup. They sat next to each other in a cut off room, with the sane circled around.
Neo sneezed.
"It was totally worth it." Neo nudged Smith, and slowly Smith nodded.
"Now explain it again." Aaron said.
Tank, Trinity, and Aaron all stood in a circle around the two mad men.
"We just wanted to fight in the rain." Neo said happily. "That's all, nothing bad, honest, Morpheus, I mean Aaron! Sorry…"
"You know it's against the rules." Aaron said.
"Yeah…but…we saw something that was worth breaking the rules…It was our first rain…our first rain!"
"Well why did you run away?" Tank asked.
"Uh…Smith was chasing me?"
Smith said nothing.
-------------------
They said they'd keep an eye on them for a while, so they decided they shouldn't leave their cell that night. The rain continued throughout the night, and the mad men were quieted the entire time. Armel would bear witness to all these events, and like the suave Frenchman he is, he slicked back to his cell without much notice.
"Did you drive in the rain?" Neo asked.
Michelle, Trinity smiled.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"What's that like?"
"Like driving in the rain!"
"Wait. How do you drive?"
She laughs.
"Neo!" Trinity says.
"I'm serious!"
Smith watches them laugh.
Michelle, Trinity walked them back to their room, and she hasn't left. Neo wanted her to sit next to him and she did. Smith watches them from his bed, sitting on his bed, leaning on the wall, watching them. They smile at each other, happy eyes, and she continues to explain driving to Neo with the aid of a pillow as a steering wheel.
Neo holds the pillow in front of him, with a look of intense focus on what would be the road. Michelle, Trinity laughs for a moment, and then points to his feet.
"Okay, now, here are the pedals. There are two main ones. One for going, one for stopping." She explains.
"Okay." Neo nodded.
And pressed his foot down on what would be the gas pedal.
"No, no, no, you're flooring it. If you drive like that, you'll kill somebody!" Trinity laughs.
Neo like the madman he is, starts moving what is the steering wheel in all sorts of directions.
"Get out of the way, I don't know how to stop!" Neo yells at what would be pedestrians. "No, the other way, the other way!"
Trinity laughs, and Neo shoves the pillow towards her.
"I think you're going to have to drive." Neo says to her.
And Smith watches them. Smith turns his head towards the window, and watches it rain, draining out all the noise of laughter, so he can only hear the rain. He watches it now, knowing for a little while he was part of it. He was part of the rain, he was the tears the skies had cried. He was washing away the world into purity.
Him, not Neo, not anyone else. No one saw, what he saw. No one felt like he felt. He felt warmth, he felt goodness, he felt…divinity in the rain as it cleansed him of anything remotely vile. Whatever were sins were now washed away from the rain, and it bathed him in warmth. Rain was not water, but light, and for a time he was part of it.
Smith frowned at himself, stepping back from these thoughts and finding them to be slightly mad. But still, it was the truth.
What he felt, he is unsure of still. But…it was…heartwarming. Somewhere inside him, he knew he was happy because of the rain. There was something in it. Something that called to him. Something…he felt in the rain. He felt in the rain. He felt like this is where he was supposed to be. The rain…the rain made him happy, like Michelle made Neo happy.
The lightning struck and Smith twitched.
"Smith." Came a female voice.
Smith looked up to see Neo's Trinity approaching him. She bent down, and invited herself on his bed. She sat next to him, with a compassionate smile. Smith looked over at Neo, who had a worried look on his face. And he looked back at her in a rather panic, scooting away from her almost.
"I don't want you to be upset with me." Michelle, Trinity said.
"I'm not upset." Smith said defensively.
"Well…then I don't want you to not like me."
Smith looked over at Neo, who with his eyes urged him to listen to her. Smith looked back at Michelle, Trinity.
"So please, Smith…let me help you. Let me…get to know you." Michelle, Trinity smiled.
But it wasn't a happy smile, there was something alien in her new smile. Something…she was…she was forcing herself to smile at him. And it took a moment of silence for Smith to look at her and figure out what it was.
"You're afraid of me." Smith said.
"What?" She smiled that forced smile.
"You're afraid of me."
She forced a laugh.
"No I'm not." She smiled again.
Smith looked over at Neo, and Trinity leaned towards him.
"Yes you are. Ms. Michelle you are afraid of me." Smith said, crawling away from her.
She came closer, she reached towards him.
"Don't touch me!" Smith yelled.
Michelle, Trinity, immediately fell back, scooting down the bed, and away from him.
"Trinity." Neo called, reaching out his hand.
Michelle, Trinity walked back over to Neo.
"I better go, I'm sorry." Michelle, Trinity said looking at Neo.
And with that Michelle, Trinity walked out the door, locking it to where the sane only tread.
Smith stared out, nearly panting in panic in the corner of his bed. Neo looked over at Smith, and frowned.
"Why'd you do that!" Neo yelled at Smith. "She was only trying to help you!"
"Help me with what, Mr. Anderson! Help me with what!" Smith yelled back.
Neo looked away and bit his lip.
"She just doesn't want you to always be so angry." Neo whispered.
"I'm not angry, Mr. Anderson! I am sorry that I have a low tolerance for these people, but they're our keepers, and no matter how much she laughs with you, Mr. Anderson, she still sees you and below her! You're sick to her! Just like I'm sick! She wouldn't understand, our truth is their lie! She is bound like they all are, by what they are made to see and what they are told!" Smith yelled at him.
Neo shook his head.
"Mr. Anderson…" Smith began.
"No! Don't call me that! I know what it means, but I don't like it! My name is Neo, Smith! Neo!"
Smith stood up.
"I like these people Smith! They've done nothing to us, and yet you hate them!"
"I don't hate them!"
"You don't think you do, but you do! You resent them for something they haven't even done! Michelle has done nothing to us, but keep me company and given us pills! She just wanted to try and make you happy for once, and you rejected it!"
"They've done things to me! My resentment is not unjustified!"
"What have they done to you, Smith! What have they done to deserve your hate!" Neo yelled.
And then came something Neo was not used to seeing in Smith. Confusion. Smith's eyes slightly opened, and his mouth fell open, and he just stood there silent. He always had things together, he knew things and how they worked, but this…this question he seemed to come to no answer.
Neo saw that fear and confusion in Smith's eyes, and immediately stood up and put his hands on Smith's shoulders.
"I'm sorry!" Neo said. "I'm so sorry! I know it's harder for you, Smith! You didn't need to be yelled at! I'm sorry! I just…I just thought…It's only harder for you Smith because you just won't accept some things…if you…just…"
Smith returned to his emotionless stare, his backdoor to get out of these difficult situations, and Neo lowered his head, still grasping onto Smith. Smith removed Neo's hands, and laid down on his bed, his back towards Neo. Neo went to bed as well, laying there in guilt.
Smith laid in his bed, staring at his hand and the wall. He closed his eyes and whispered so quietly he could barely hear himself, and he knew Neo would never hear.
"Those people, out there, they are living happily. And that is what they have done to me. Lived happily, without me." Smith said.
He said it, no one heard but himself. But he knew he said it, he knew somewhere on that Earth, at some time, he had spoken it. He had told the world, perhaps the rain, what people have done to deserve his hate.
They smile, they laugh, all without even glancing at him. They live, they feel, they have enormous accomplishments, and great downfalls.
Those people, all of those people in the world, they have lived. They have lived happily, without even considering his existence. Happy people laugh and smile as they pass him by, taunting the joy he does not feel at him. Showing him something that he does not and doesn't know how to possess. Mocking him and his inability to feel this joy. Showing him how defective he really is.
The entire world is laughing at him.
And it was the rain that washed away these pains, and it was the rain that brought him happiness. But now as he drifts into a scheduled sleep, he can hear the rain die down, and with it what joy he could ever have gained.
But…Joshua Daniels was not happy…
If nothing else, at least Smith had Neo. No matter how apart they seemed to drift from each other, no matter how different they were, there was still a possession over each other, a constant respect and ownership. If nothing in this world, there was still Neo, who was happy, and was the only one to stay with him.
That night, to the beating of the dying rain, Smith and Neo dreamed.
-----------------
Next Chapter: Ask the Question
Sorry for the delay, everyone, I had midterms and a lot of homework lately. Along with my focus diverted to other projects.
Anyone catch the little Neo Trinity line from Revolutions?
I got the new video game, The Path of Neo, I recommend it for any fan into video games, I assure you this one does not disappoint like Enter the Matrix and the Matrix Online do. This one is the real deal, and besides, who doesn't want to be Neo? Even if you're a fan of Smith, you get to be is equal, you get to be the closest to Smith anyone ever gets, his opposite.
Next Chapter is going to be fun, I have already written it in my head. We'll be visiting the Library of the Asylum, where Neo finds a little book about Yin and Yang. Oh, and remember, there is no Spork.