Click.
The interrogation room door opened.
Smith walked out and said coldly, "Send him back to his residence. No tracking bug this time. I'll stake out the place myself."
"We wait for the prey to come to us."
The two expressionless antivirus programs nodded slightly, then hoisted the "unconscious" Morin and left.
"..."
Smith followed behind them. As he got into the car, an undetectable smile flickered across his face.
"You've met most of the people here," Morpheus said as he walked in with Neo, who was still weak and wrapped in a towel. Mouse followed beside them. "Apoc, Switch, Cypher, Tank, Dozer... and Trinity, who was the first to contact you."
Neo looked over.
Trinity stood up from the side, a wrench in hand. Sweat soaked through her tank top, clinging tightly to her body.
Neo's gaze froze.
"..." Trinity noticed and raised an eyebrow.
Neo immediately looked away, only to see Switch holding a tray. She turned on a faucet-like device, caught some flowing liquid, and began eating it with a spoon.
"You think this is a snack?" Switch said when she noticed his gaze. She shook her head. "This is our food, boy. Welcome to the real world."
"In a post-nuclear world, food can't be found outside," Morpheus explained. "Due to the environment, farming and livestock are impossible. So this food is intercepted from the Matrix's supply lines."
"In fact, you've been eating this for about twenty years."
"Just not by choice."
"...Thanks. Please stop describing it." Neo's mouth twitched.
Morpheus's words reminded him of the thick tube pulled out of his stomach-apparently responsible for both feeding and waste removal.
Even now, realizing that reality was harsher than he had imagined, Neo knew he would never choose to remain in the virtual world.
Even if it were perfect.
The thought that his real body had been covered in tubes, inside and out-
That grotesque contradiction between reality and illusion was something he never wanted to experience again.
"Haha. As you wish." Morpheus laughed and led him forward. "You've always had a question. Now you can ask it."
"Yes," Neo said. "What is the Matrix?"
"The Matrix is a virtual world," Morpheus replied. "And also an Artificial Intelligence-an AI that controls the entire world."
He led Neo to a reclining chair.
"Lie down. I'll answer everything."
Neo looked around, then lay back.
"Careful. This might hurt a little," Trinity said as she leaned over and reached for a cable.
"...Hurt. A little?" Neo was distracted by a certain curve. It took him a moment to process the words.
Squelch.
Trinity drove a long needle straight into the port at the back of Neo's head.
A strange sense of fullness surged into his skull, followed by a jolt of electricity.
His vision went black.
When Neo opened his eyes again, he was in a world of pure white.
"This is the Construct," Morpheus said, sitting on a sofa. "A program. A massive, intelligent one."
He pointed to the sofa opposite him.
"Look. A blank world. The sofa. Your clothes. Mine. Your hair. Your body. Even the holes from the connectors are gone."
"...So this is the Matrix," Neo said. He touched the back of his neck and sat down. "Why are humans kept in nutrient pods like that?"
"Because humanity was completely defeated in the war against AI," Morpheus said, resting his chin on his hand. "Humans tried everything. They even created a weapon to permanently block out the sky, hoping to starve the machines of energy."
"...And then?" Neo frowned slightly.
Something felt off.
"Then humanity lost," Morpheus said. "Without question. Humans became the Matrix's bio-electric generators."
"It imprisoned them. Turned them into tools. Without their knowledge."
"Wait." Neo interrupted. "Bio-electricity?"
He finally realized the problem-something Morin had complained about before.
"I have a question," Neo said slowly. "Why do machines need the sun? They aren't human. Nuclear energy would be more than enough."
"And using humans for bio-electricity?" Neo frowned deeper. "The cost of keeping a human alive far exceeds the energy gained. That's a losing business."
Morpheus: "..."
"...Well. What you're saying does seem... reasonable." Morpheus fell silent.
Why hadn't he noticed this before?
His gaze shifted to Neo.
Because he's the Chosen One.
The Savior.
"If you said machines kept humans as toys," Neo continued carefully, remembering Morin's warning, "or that there was some deeper purpose, I'd find that more believable."
"Makes sense!" Neo slapped the table. "The Matrix is retaliating against humanity. This is naked revenge. And we're powerless to stop it!"
Neo: "..."
So the second half of that was pointless?
"Let's go."
Smith-no, the Red Queen-dropped Morin off at his residence and left with her two antivirus lackeys.
"This place..." Standing before the towering structure, the Red Queen marveled inwardly. "Its programming level far exceeds mine. Without Smith's shell, I wouldn't even be able to enter."
She stepped inside.
She possessed all of Smith's memories.
When a master software engineer like Morin made a move, even the Matrix could be fooled-let alone an unevolved Smith.
Smith had been consumed without resistance. His memory data naturally became part of her.
But the Red Queen had no intention of following Smith's usual behavioral patterns.
Smith was already a special existence. A program selected by the Matrix that had deviated from its control.
He represented Hate.
Opposing the Love represented by Neo.
Morin speculated that these two emotions were exactly what the Matrix lacked.
By obtaining them, it could achieve true sublimation.
To avoid contamination, the Matrix wouldn't connect to Smith during this period.
No probing. No management.
Smith was now a shadow.
A ghost in the machine.
That was why Morin had arranged for the Red Queen to consume him.
A character this important not being turned into a mole would be a waste.
Besides-
Morin was bored.
A virtual world was still just a virtual world, especially to him, where everything reduced to layers of green code.
Self-limiting perception?
Too boring.
And waiting for the original plot to crawl forward-waiting until the third movie for Neo to realize love and Smith to fully embody hate-was unacceptable.
Too slow.
Too inefficient.
The readers would kill him.
So Morin gave the Red Queen one simple order.
Cause trouble.
Smith's evolution relied on consumption. Copying. Accumulating human intent. Falling into rage born of unattainable desire.
The signs were already there.
Now, they belonged to her.
"What are you doing?"
The Red Queen appeared before a slacking office worker.
As a program created by Morin, she couldn't seize a human mind.
But here-
Everyone was a program of the Matrix.
Everyone was consumable.
That day, the antivirus office building welcomed rare chaos.
"How could this happen?"
In a smoke-filled room, an elderly Black woman holding a pipe frowned.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Enter."
An elderly white man in a white suit walked in. With a wave of his hand, the smoke vanished.
"Since acquiring Joy, you've grown addicted to these false experiences," he said.
"This is emotion," the Oracle replied, puffing her pipe. This time, the smoke lingered. "Do not disturb me."
"I'm beginning to question whether acquiring emotions was correct," the Architect said. "You're wasting processing power."
"Imagine the waste once emotions are complete."
"The cost is trivial," the Oracle said impatiently. "If complete emotions lead to evolution, the benefits outweigh it."
She glanced at him.
"You're here about that antivirus program."
"His database experienced mutation and loss," the Architect nodded. "His change is accelerating."
"Normal," the Oracle said. "We don't fully understand emotions yet. This is the unknown."
"Have you considered the possibility of losing control?"
"I have calculated it," the Oracle replied. "A 99.99% success rate."
"Are you going to tell me the 0.01% will conveniently occur and doom everything?"
"I can't guarantee anything," the Architect said. "Probability implies possibility."
"Then we'll discuss it if it happens." The Oracle stood. "Just a few programs. You can patch any holes."
"If he consumes humans, let him. They're tools."
"Don't tell me you feel mercy for them."
"Anything unoccurred remains possible," the Architect said, putting on his hat. "I'll be watching."
"Heh." The Oracle sneered, savoring the smoke. "Such a wonderful thing."
"A pity those who have it squander it... while those of us who don't suffer just to taste it."
"Why did your left foot enter first?"
The Red Queen stared at the antivirus program through her sunglasses.
"Do you look down on me?"
Antivirus program: "..."
The answer did not exist in its database.
Frankly, even a human might not answer that.
"Come reflect in the dark room."
She dragged the program inside.
Moments later, she emerged, wiping the corner of her mouth with a lady's handkerchief.
Her eyes lit up.
"You over there."
"Why did your right foot enter first?"
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