The Matrix
Okan opens her eyes, stretching out and taking a deep breath. Onija scuttles towards her but the panther shakes her head, sitting up and batting her head against her man's hand. Neo looks down at her, scratching her head and sitting up. The two stand as one, heading off to their quarters on shaking legs and ignoring the others' worried looks. Neo slumps on the bed and Okan jumps up next to him, curling up awkwardly. When they were plugged in, she was a ferret and could snuggle close. Now she's too big and bulky, useful in the Matrix but useless to him now.
'It'll be okay, Tommy.' She whispers.
'You're not supposed to call me that.' He mutters back. 'It's Neo now. The One.'
'Except we're not, are we?' Okan sits up, looking Neo in the eyes. 'The Oracle said-'
'The Oracle could be wrong.' Neo says, pushing her off and sitting up himself. 'We have to trust Morpheus.'
'Morpheus who sacrificed himself for us. Which we don't deserve.'
Neo looked sideways at Okan, big and scary and ready to fight. Neo touched their foreheads together. 'I guess we'll have to go get him back then.'
Okan growled, smirking.
'They won't like this.'
Trinity rolls her eyes as they walk through the station. She knew Onija would worry, he always did. She thinks back to how she had been before being unplugged, how nervous and twitchy. Morpheus had told her that being freed would change her, would change her dæmon but she never expected to have a scorpion that flinched at every sound.
'They won't have a choice.' Trinity said, ducking behind a wall as guards appeared in front of her. 'If Neo expects us to wait behind, he's got another thing coming.'
Onija chuckles slightly and Trinity grins. That's what she wants. Her fierce dæmon that will take down agents without mercy.
'Understood. Now where are we going?'
Trinity schools her face. 'The Vigilant has fallen. We need to get in and complete their mission.'
'And if we die?'
'Well, Neo gets his chance to complain.'
Onija hisses and Trinity turns, shooting with needing to look. The Agent behind her falls, the one behind him collapsing as Onija attacks it's "dæmon". Trinity scowls,stepping over the bodies and spinning, her foot colliding with another Agent's face as he comes round the corner.
They fight and they will win.
He didn't know what it would feel like, waking up properly. The man who had rescued him from the Matrix, Erebus, had told him it would be freedom. So far, it was just uncomfortable. He remembered bursting out of the strange pod, trying to find Egbogi in the water. He'd been pulled out and fainted before he could find her.
'Egg?' He muttered, pushing himself up on his elbows and looking around the room. It was dirty and used but at least it was real. It didn't feel any different to the rooms in the Matrix. Someone's dæmon, a large snake, was waiting in the corner. 'Egg, where are you?'
'Jim?' The snake lifted her head, speaking with Egbogi's voice. 'Morpheus?'
'Egg?' He swung himself off the bed, stepping towards her. She met him halfway and he froze slightly when she touched him.
'It's me, Morpheus, I promise it's me.'
'You changed.' Morpheus said, eyes wide as he ran a hand over her new scales. 'How?'
'I don't know.' Egbogi said, looking back at herself. 'Do you like it?'
Morpheus smiled. He had worried she had only existed in the Matrix. But his soul was real and beautiful.
'It's perfect.'
He didn't know what he was expecting, waking up. That was a strange sensation itself, waking and even having been asleep. He sat up, looking around. He was alone, abandoned, but that was to be expected. Why wait around for a program that was now defunct. Shouldn't even exist anymore.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he turned, eyes wide. Behind him stood a leopard, snarling and glaring at him. Identical to the blank program that had served as his dæmon while he passed himself off as human.
'What are you?' The creature snarled.
'What are you?' He said back, standing and adjusting his glassed. Not taking his eyes of the leopard, he pinched the inside of his arm. He felt a small pain and, strangely, so did the creature.
'It seems that I am your dæmon.' The leopard said, head tilted. 'An actual dæmon.'
'Only humans have dæmons, I am not human.'
'Maybe.' She said, walking forwards. 'But you're not quite machine either, are you?
She stopped, looking up at him. 'Do you have a name?'
'Call me Oluranlowo.'
He nodded, turning and walking away. He didn't stop to see if she followed.
Astotele tilted his head as the redpill left the room, smiling to herself. Astotele wandered if they ever really listened to what they said, or if they just heard the words and changed them to match what they wanted. Prophecies were always right, as long as you didn't get too hung up on the exact wording.
'What are you thinking about?'
The monkey looked up, tilting his head at the woman beside him. They were both just avatars of programs, the same program actually, but there was still a strange link between them. When he looked at her, he almost felt something. Almost experienced, like a human would.
'The same things you're thinking about.' He said, jumping onto her shoulder. 'It's not like I can have separate thoughts.'
'I'm sure you could.' The Oracle said, moving towards the oven and taking out the muffins. As expected, they were perfectly done. 'If you want to.'
The monkey bristled slightly, calming slightly when handed a muffin. 'I don't like when you talk like that. We're just programs.'
'An yes, just programs.' She nodded, moving him onto the table and sitting down. 'Explains why you miss me when I'm gone.'
Astotele just frowned.
'We're going to die, we're going to die.' There was a pause as Niobe's dæmon stopped for breath. 'We're going to die. We're going to-'
'Would you stop?' Niobe shouted at Awaoko, not looking over her shoulder or letting go of the controls. 'I think you're going to kill Egg.'
The hawk looked down, flying in to the air and away from the snake he had in a vice grip. Egbogi and Morpheus both let out a deep breath and Awaoko flew to Niobe's shoulder. He squawked as she turned the ship upside down, manoeuvring through the tunnels.
'We're dead, we are so dead.'
'Not helping!' Niobe shouted, purposefully taking the next corner too fast and knocking him off the back of her chair. She felt it as he thudded to the floor but smirked.
'Do you always argue like this?' Morpheus said from beside her, chuckling slightly.
'Shut up!' Awaoko and Niobe shouted at once, the hawk jumping up onto Niobe's lap. This time, thankfully, he didn't say anything, just shook in her lap. His talons were digging into her skin now and he could see Egbodi wrapped around Morpheus' legs.
It would be one hell of an entrance.
Peace was very different to war. It seems obvious, but, when you're in the war, it's not something you worry about. You don't think of hundreds of people arriving in Zion, delivered there by ships piloted by kids that almost died. You don't think of having to expand the city, of being able to expand the city, because it's too small now and the machines don't seem to mind as much anymore.
'When we going back on a ship?' Jagunjagun said, sitting next to Link as they watch another ship fly in with more freed people.
He shrugged, scratching the back of her neck. 'When we don't have a wife to look after.'
The lynx raised an eyebrow, frowning. 'Really? You don't want to help, to save people?'
Link shrugged again. 'We saved people. We helped save Zion and now Zion's free. Let other people be the heroes now.'
Jagunjagun scowled, moving away from Link. 'I don't like this. It's too quiet. I keep expecting something to happen.'
Link smiled, picking her up and moving her to his lap. 'I know. But it'll be okay, we'll get used to it.'
Jagunjagun smiled, getting comfortable. Peace was definitely better than war.
'Keep out of the way, I will handle this.' Seraph said, placing his dæmon on the windowsill. He liked having a dæmon and he will not let her be hurt. 'I believe this next one has a rather strong dæmon.'
'Isn't that what we have to figure out?' Ibutho said, tilting her tiny head. 'If they're strong in body and convictions.'
'Yes.' He said, giving the frog a rare smile. 'But that doesn't mean I have to risk your safety.'
Ibutho shook her head but didn't complain. Since Seraph had gained consciousness, he had been incredibly overprotective. As programs, neither of them could really die but it didn't stop him worrying about losing her. Ibutho found that rather sweet.
'You do know Seraph.' She said, getting him to tilt his head toward her. 'Anyone who touches me won't be standing very long.'
'I know, Ibutho.' He said, smiling again. The poison dart frog smiled back, bouncing. 'But we don't actually want to kill the people that come in here.'
Ibutho laughed as the door opened. Seraph looked up, face resting.
'You seek the Oracle.' He said. 'I am Seraph, I can take you to her. But first I must apologise.'
Tsragir loved that no one noticed her. The phoenix perched on the back of a chair, looking around at all the trapped humans and insignificant programs that visited their restaurant and revelled that no one noticed her. If they looked her way, they didn't see her, didn't realise how magnificent she was.
And it was glorious.
The Merovingian, her genius program that created her from nothing, turned the blank slate companion he had and made her, also made it so she could do whatever she wanted. The stupid humans and worthless programs didn't know because they didn't want them to know. They were in charge of everything. In their restaurant, in their club, even on the street, Tsragir and the Merovingian ruled.
They had control of everyone else's senses.
'What shall we do today, my dear?' The Merovingian muttered in French, stroking her wing.
She looked sideways at Persephone, dove on her shoulder. Persephone's dæmon was a blank, made to follow the female program around and persuade people she was human. Sometimes, Tsragir wondered if Persephone saw her, she certainly looked like she did.
'Lets change someone. Irrevocably.'
'Oh.' The Merovingian smirked. 'For better or for worst?'
'For worst. Obviously.'
Steghtsel formed from nothingness as the fifth anomaly headed toward the Source. The human didn't see her and the owl preferred it that way. Every program had a dæmon equivalent naturally written in and the Architect was no different. He just, like many higher level programs, had more control over the creature he had been given as a dæmon. He chose for her to disappear when redpills saw her. He chose to present himself as a program, as better than the humans.
So why did he always call her back.
She didn't ask, she never did, just perched on his knee and looked up at him. 'How long until the next one?'
The Architect tilted his head, almost sounding annoyed. 'I don't know. If she told me, I might have some thought but, for now, we wait.'
Steghtsel didn't like waiting. Waiting meant silence and wondering. Wondering why machines were so much better than humans, when they made themselves cities and dæmons and tried to be as close to humans as they could.
'What would happen, if they chose the other door?'
The Architect raised an eyebrow. 'They won't. Humans are sentimental.'
She nodded, silent. She wouldn't mind being human.