MORPHEUS IN THE UNDERGROUND, Chapter 5

Morpheus and Niobe persuaded Hoggle to help Sarah, and have helped him to the top of the wall around the Goblin City.

On the hovership there was a eureka moment. "Link, I've solved it!"

"Not now, the Captains are close to Jareth's castle."

"Link, that second piece of code – I know what it does. It could be important!"

"Ok, ok, I'm listening – but I have to keep watching the screens too."

"That code ejects someone from the Labyrinth. It sends them back to the Matrix, just like that." He clicked his fingers.

"So Morpheus and Niobe could suddenly find themselves back on that back porch?"

"You got it! And it would work for agents too – anyone or anything that crossed from the Matrix into the Labyrinth. Except, well, there are a lot of limitations on its use; I'm still puzzling those out."

"Hm, it looks as though the Captains have reached the gate of the Goblin City." Link concentrated on the displays in front of him. He waved the youngster to be quiet and wait, and spoke over the phone to Kid, who was still guarding the nexus. "Hey, Kid, stay awake, can't you. Try and contact Morpheus, we need to hear what's going on."

The Captains had indeed reached the great gate; it was open and deserted: no goblins or other denizens to be seen. Morpheus and Niobe entered cautiously, expecting some hidden defence, but others had broken all the defences before them. They stepped over the gigantic metal Guardian lying prone and inert, and were in the Goblin City itself; the way to the castle lay straight before them. They had heard shouts and explosions on their way to the gate; now all was quiet. There was rubble and wreckage aplenty, but there was no sign of any goblins; a few chickens wandered the streets, but that was all.

The city was small, more like a village; its ways were narrow and the buildings small and crude. Beyond and towering above it was the castle; they could see steps leading up to the castle doors and they were open. Morpheus and Niobe advanced warily, expecting some trick at every step. But they reached and climbed the steps without hindrance. When they reached the open doorway they paused; should they go left or right or take the narrow passageway straight ahead?

They heard voices to the right and turned that way. In a large, messy room littered with all sorts of things they found Hoggle and a hulking great creature which from Hoggle's earlier description they knew to be Ludo. Hoggle shushed them to be still and quiet, saying, "Count the clock strikes."

Silently looking round, the two captains saw the small figure of Sir Didymus sitting on his canine charger; nobody moved, apart from a few chickens. As chimes sounded out Hoggle and Ludo solemnly counted them. They stopped on twelve.

"What does that mean, is it good?" cried out Sir Didymus; the tiny knight looked anxious, and Ludo looked puzzled. Everyone looked to Hoggle for an explanation. "Twelve strokes is good! Thirteen would mean that Jareth had won."

"Won what?" asked Morpheus.

"Sarah has beaten Jareth: she has come through the Labyrinth, past through the Goblin City and into the castle, this castle, his castle, to confront Jareth. And she must have spoken the pass phrase to his face and won back the child!"

"Where are they?" asked Niobe.

"Sarah and the child will be back where they started, back in their home, both of them." He shook his great head in amazement at Sarah's achievement.

"And Jareth, where is he?" asked Morpheus.

"I dunno. But this is his throne room; hang around if you want him; he'll be back all too soon! Right now I'm not keen to face him!" With that he ran from the room and was followed by Ludo and Sir Didymus, leaving Morpheus and Niobe alone.

They had not come this far to turn back. They stayed where they were and spent the time checking through their kit: their guns were toys still; Niobe's knife remained a deadly weapon; the flashlight worked well; both cell phones displayed 'No signal'; and the walkie-talkie was showing 'low battery'. Morpheus tried it anyway; it shrieked, crackled and died. "Next time," he said, "we need something better."

"Next time?" said a quiet voice, "I don't think there will be a 'next time.'" Jareth was there and they had not seen or heard him arrive. "Did I startle you? I would have done more than that before now if that girl had not distracted me." He settled himself down into the chair which served as his throne. "My courtiers have made themselves scarce: they believe – correctly – that I am not pleased with them. If you are interested in goblins then hang around: they will come crawling back, trying to ingratiate themselves."

"We are more interested in you," Morpheus said.

"Flattering, I suppose. But who or what are you, Morpheus?"

"We are from Zion."

"That little huddle of 'free' humans? Then you are far from home. I would have thought you had more urgent concerns than making yourselves a nuisance here."

"We are explorers."

"Explorers? Spies, you mean. I shall be generous and consider you emissaries – emissaries to the Court of the Goblin King! You must be desperate to come to me. Neither I, nor all the varied inhabitants of the Labyrinth can avail you against the machines. We have no influence there."

Morpheus glared. "Is not the very existence of the Labyrinth a slap in the face of the machines? It is a finger raised in defiance of the Matrix and its Agents."

"It is all that and more: it is a great work of art, and a product of machine-human cooperation. It was created for my amusement, but it is also a token of what is to come."

"Machine-human cooperation!" Niobe exclaimed. "Is that what you call taking babies from their beds?"

Jareth merely smiled. "It was Sarah I was interested in. I lured her in and showed her my kingdom. I had hoped to recruit her, I still might: she now has strong links with the Labyrinth – Hoggle and the others will see to that."

"Recruit?"

"As an artist, a designer: I want her for her imagination, her creativity. The mental abilities of programmes like myself and Persephone – or the Trainman even - go beyond those of you humans. But your inquiring, creative, artistic minds have their uses. People like Sarah designed the Labyrinth and many of the creatures in it, like that sublimely ridiculous Ludo."

Morpheus was intrigued. "And if you did recruit her, what then?"

"She would become like many others: her body would be tended by the machines as it is now, but her mind would be freed, it would be in the Matrix with the knowledge of what it is, just as yours are. More than that, she would be able to create new worlds, populate them, and enter them if she wished. Much of the Labyrinth was created by humans; future worlds will be far more sophisticated."

Niobe was unimpressed. "We in Zion reject that as the future of the human race. We refuse to serve the machines."

Jareth smiled. "Suit yourselves, but your intransigence may cost you dear. That is your problem; it matters little if you are wiped out; there are other colonies of wild humans, should we need them."

Morpheus stiffened, surprised. "What do you mean, 'other wild humans'?"

"That is what you are: wild humans skulking in your underground bunker. But you are here too; Zion is not enough for you is it? You have to meddle. There are other humans in other hideaways who do not have to fight for their lives. Some are totally isolated, others have some dealings with the Source; they helped to create me."

Niobe and Morpheus stared at each other, staggered by this revelation. Morpheus asked "Why should we believe you?"

For the first time Jareth showed anger. "Why should I lie? Go back to the Labyrinth, ask Persephone or the Merovingian. Press them, if you dare, and they will tell you the same. It would cost you your lives of course, but for a little while you would know."

He rose to his feet. "Your audience it at an end; you may leave. GO!"

The room seemed to wobble, and Niobe and Morpheus found themselves looking out towards the Labyrinth from the back porch where they had left Kid several hours ago.

Kid looked surprised and pleased to see them. "Captains, I didn't see you coming. I've being trying to contact you with the walkie-talkie for ages. Please, what do goblins look like?"

Morpheus grinned. "We never did see even one. But we did talk with Jareth in his castle, and we have some startling news for the Council. Let us find a 'phone and get back to Zion as soon as maybe."

THE END