From the Mind of a Machinist. - Part 1
Written by Ray Bayly - In Game "CYL0N"
...And suddenly there was light, and then pain. It was familiar in that far off way, like being born again and again. He explained it once to a young recruit before he was jacked back into the matrix. Going in was always easier then coming out, your brain needed time to adjust and instantly WHAM back to reality, your brain can't quite adjust fast enough", no more jumping over buildings in a single bound as in the old vids he watched. Sliding out of the control chair and testing his legs, Yup still there he thought as he put on his Jacket to protect from the chill emanating from the ship. Damn heat must be on the fritz, need to have someone check that when we get back to base.
Base, he thought with a sardonic grin, nothing more then a hole deep in the bowels of the Sewer System unknown to even the rat crawling Zionists. Having been exiled from Zion for his beliefs he drifted to where most men with his ideals do. This place had no name but those that lived there simply had one word to describe it, Purgatory. It was a place not of man and not of machine exactly, sure men had built it, maintained it and cared for it, but that was long ago it had since gone into disarray. All that was left was a central pumping command station used as HQ, some makeshift barracks made of debris found within the tunnels themselves and a bay that once held water and now was used to house ships. Settling into his seat he flipped the command channel on and Captain Xavier Hawk, before being cast out of My Home and once on the Learned Council of Elders on Zion and now nothing more then a puppet for the machines, waited to tell his commanding officer of the day's "Good Work" for the toasters, a word he commonly used when referring to his new masters when not jacked in.
"Vex to Cylon, come in HVC Azreal, do you read me". Crap he thought, another day wasted playing patsy for the toasters, I hope the end is worth all this, and smiled at the sad ironic joke, of machines running man. The Speaker resounded again with calls to the Azreal, his "commandeered" hovercraft, a gift from the machines delivered fully outfitted and state of the art. "Hey Cap, you gonna answer that call, asked Asyn his first mate.� Why not he thought, as he flipped the talk switch on, what was one life anyway compared to the freedom of man kind, "This is the Azreal, and Cylon speaking how's the fort Vex". Vex5 was a good man, and was one of the original 5 along with himself that were cast out for speaking there thoughts at a council meeting, many years ago. And as Vex began to answer Xavier felt him drifting back, to a better time and place.
when younger I was so excited that as a council apprentice I met the "Zion Hero" Neo, he thought as he tuned out the world and sank deeper into his thoughts, I knew what Morpheus and most of the council believed and was horrified at the thought of what there plans would bring, but at that time Jesus, I had no power to anything other then bite his tongue and wait, and watch And then they came , the droves of hundreds or thousands of sentinels entered the city like the horsemen of the apocalypse, the screaming of metal joints echoed throughout the dome like the screams of bloodthirsty wraiths as they became to tear people limb from limb, there were only two choices he reflected as a grimace shown on his face, fight or do and lord did I fight I did it for the freedom of the city I loved the city I called home. My life before Zion was nothing; all that mattered was that humanity persevered.
A few months after the destruction of Zion I was appointed to the council, oh what a proud day to wear those white robes and sit among the most brilliant Zion had to offer, it was an honor, He met many proud and smart people some were warriors and others thinkers. All had previously been in the Matrix as Blue Pills and then had served proudly as Red Pills, we called ourselves the Shadow Syndicate, A kind of joke between us, led by Vex we began to formulate a new approach to save our city, the city we all loved. Using Battle Tactics from Warriors and the Guile of some of Zion's best minds we came up with what we believed to be the only solution.
At a weekly council meeting I presented to my council brethren and requested that they listen to the words within the plane before judging.
"Fellow Council Members and honored guests, I present to you the only true way to save Zion. We have felt the breath of the beast as its jaws opened to swallow us whole , we have experienced the power that the Machine world can wield in its assault against the remains of Humanity and yet still you cling to the belief that the one lives and will save us should this happen again. I call this believe stupid and ignorant". Looking around the room it looked as if I had slapped the entire council, there mouths agape and anger in there eyes, even Morpheus who usually remained calm and collected looked angered and stung at my words. I had gotten there attention and now had to make them see the error of their ways. "Because of the actions of Morpheus and the so called beliefs of this council our city, the city we all work hard to protect was almost destroyed, This is intolerable and cannot be allowed to continue, The Machine world wields greater power then we can ever hope to control, the Matrix is home to billions of sentient beings both human and code yet here in this very chamber we discuss bringing down the Matrix and raising up humanity, I ask you where is the humanity in Genocide whether planned or instigated, instigated by the belief we can win, Where is the humanity in destroying that which can save us and make mankind great again. I say we deal with the machines become agents of the machines to learn there inner workings and to gain there trust. The answer is not in destruction but in control, Right now the machines hold the power, they can destroy us at anytime, we would fight bravely and die for our cause but why shed innocent blood when there is a better way. We as humans were once in control we had the ability to harness the power of machines as we to even today in the bowels of Zion."
Morpheus had all he was going to take and walked with such force and presence to the opposing podium it caused me to stutter my words for a second, but this was it the eternal battle of mankind faith against logic, isnt that what it boiled down too , those with belief against those with none. "Revered Council, may I speak" ask the man whose name was legend both in Zion and in the Matrix itself. With a nod the council submitted to Morpheus and then I realized that the true battle was about to begin, not against the will of the council but the will of this harbinger of the profit, this would be priest of the new religion. "Cylon, I am outraged that you could even entertain such a though when you yourself were subject to the manipulations of those very same machines you ask us to befriend, in this place built and dedicated to the destruction of that very same power you wish to harness" Staring with such intensity even I was in awe of his ability to control a room. I could not, no I would not let him win too much was at stake to leave it to faith or chance. "Morpheus, you the true believer of the one and the reluctant priest of this religion even you have to agree that this is madness to believe that Neo could save us a second time, you cannot expect us to sit here and just pray" My voice raised as I finished the sentence , I was angered , here was the core of this lunacy standing in front of me and I could not hold back my disdain for such a belief "You the great Morpheus hunted in the matrix and revered in Zion as a hero and a prophet, cannot expect us to do nothing as we sit on the brink of a truce that could end at any minute, did you not see the devastation and power those machines carried with it when they violated our City" Morpheus stared into my soul he saw my anger and disdain this mentor of mine , this friend, this enemy As he stared I saw something that angered me even more, something I could never expect to see , I saw pity and disappointment in the eyes of this man who took me from the matrix and taught me about the machines and that angered me even more, how dare he pity me he was the one with the hopeless belief in the one how dare he pity me. My face began to get red as the anger swelled into my every being “You would kill every woman, man and child over a ridiculous belief in the one, this is ... is madness I can't believe you would wage the entire existence of humanity on this a second time. We have no choice in order to save Zion we need an alliance with the machine, then and only then would we be able to live life a little safer as we plotted and planned with real tangible intelligence".
Morpheus stepped back from the podium and turned to the council and in a voice that flowed with confidence and dedication I myself could never imitate he spoke, he spoke those words that still ring in my head today as the beginning of my end in Zion.
"Learned Council, the words he speaks will surely get us killed an alliance with the machines would be lunacy. We have to dedicate ourselves to the short term task of return Neo's remains so that they may be placed in a holy sanctuary within the city then we may begin to... I letting my anger get the best of me broke in yelling accusations that I still to this day, believe and regret "YOU , you were the one who let our only hope die, his ability to control the code could have been our saving grace , but not as a hero or Martyr but as a teacher, we could have had an army with that ability the matrix would have been ours , but you and your damn prophet thought better, didn't you" I shook my fist towards Morpheus as I unleash all those pent up emotions of watching those I loved torn apart , my wife , my daughter, my life....
Suddenly realizing that tears were hitting the paper before me I wiped my eyes and took a step back to gain composure. Morpheus seeing this change walked over to me, He knew what was in my heart, he always did and such kindness in his voice reminded me of the love he felt for all man. "You blame me for your wife and for zia your daughter, yet you wish to befriend those that sent there killers here, this my friend is your madness im sorry for you and for all that you lost, but bringing Zion down this road would be wrong", as he stood there in front of me, with his hand on my should I had never felt such love, such hate for my savoir and my destroyer.
The Charge was treason and within a day I was cast out of the council and then the 5 of us, the "Shadow Syndicate" was exiled
leaning back in the chair I thought of my hate and my love for the man who ended me... still it surprised me I found more love then hate, maybe that is what you needed to be the rock of belief that was Morpheus, to be able to command such loyalty and reverence from your crew and friends. Im sure sooner or later I will get to ask him, but until then its business as usual..
"Vex, Mission accomplished request permission to return to base"
"Vex to Azreal, permission denied Agent Gray has requested your presence on an urgent matter, he asked for your crew personally your getting quite popular with the toasters these days old friend".
"Azreal to Vex, mission received, we will comply"
--------------------------------------------------------------
