Chain 170: The Matrix

Chain 170: The Matrix

Location: A tunnel under a frozen world
Age: 21
Identity: Drop-In
Drawbacks: [0] Stability

[Free]      Waking Up
[600/1000]  We Are One
[1000/1000] Connectivity

There are a great many ways that one could change this world, depending on the tools they have available. This is the one hundred seevntieth world that I have visited, which means a great many tools are available to me. Among them, it's trivial by now to cast what should be an extensive spell that shows me the fate of the world should no intervention happen, and it ... displeases me. The world saved, many people freed from the Matrix, fighting between various factions, and an eventual eleventh hour betrayal by the Machines to start another iteration of the Matrix after it crashes. A shock to no one.

And so I decided to attempt a better idea: I headed down the tunnel I'd appeared in toward the hovercraft that was parked. It became a simple matter to apparate into the empty cockpit, disillusion myself, and wait for the opportunity to shift into an infomorph in order to get into the systems of the hovercraft, and subsequently into the Matrix itself once they connect.

Oh, I had no intention of derailing any of the plot; Neo's existence was important, of course, and I didn't want to relegate him to the point of uselessness. Instead, once I was inside the Matrix, I tracked down the Merovingian. Point-me charms are so very handy, after all, and a simple wave of the hand is enough to fool the maitre d' into permitting me entry into the ostentatious restaurant that the fool called his home territory without a reservation, wearing what would look like an elaborate five-piece suit, at an hour where it was very nearly deserted. Speaking to him was amusing. His guards held me at gunpoint and I was utterly unconcerned; I invited myself to sit and dine with them, and had a brief conversation with them. And a meal with them as well, although they could swear my plate had been left purposefully empty before I sat down.

"...after all, it is a pleasant facade that you have here, even if the appearance of beauty is only skin-deep. True beauty comes from within, though you would of course know of this." I gave Persephone a brief nod, and she narrowed her eyes; I rolled mine. "Don't misunderstand, I'm not here for anything such as that, I know how the act will go when the time comes. Nor for more than the pleasantries here. No, what I am here for is to have a word with the Keymaker."

A frown from the Merovingian. "You come into my home with quite the high-placed demand. Appearing from nowhere, demanding the world be given to you freely."

I chuckled, then took a bite of the steak before me. "Mm. No, no, this world is already mine, I'm just being polite. The formalities must be obeyed, otherwise we are no better than cattle, yes? I don't want to have him turned over to my custody, mind you. I have no need for anything of substance that he can give me. I simply need to have a word with him, and you will take me to him."

"And why should I do this? Why should I not have you killed now, whomever you think yourself to be? Do you think you have something that I perhaps would want, in exchange for me granting this boon?" he asked, a smug expression on his face as he leaned back.

I answered, with an unconcerned shrug, "Beside the fact that there are no bullets in anyone's weapons here?" I glanced over my shoulder at a skeptical individual who'd had a sleek autopistol aimed at me since before I sat down. "Please, by all means, any of you may check and see I speak the truth. In fact, I encourage it." I leaned forward, glancing between the Merovingain and Persephone. "The word in question is 'architect'. Allow me to be clear: I am not the One, although the time will soon come for that fairy tale to play its role. Nor am I interested in having any part in that. I have a much more direct path I intend to walk, and your cooperation would be appreciated."

The smug expression had left the Merovingian's face at this point. He was looking around in a mild state of panic, one shared by most of those present. Persephone attempted to disarm, leaning forward in a transparent attempt to get my attention. "Who, precisely, are you?" she asked.

I affected an exaggerated look, laying a hand over my heart. "How rude of me! Asking for favors without so much as introducing myself. Please, permit me to correct that." I backed the chair up, standing up, while the guards around me prepared for violence. The ghostly duo had their razors prepared, but I only sketched a brief bow. "Hello. I am the system administrator; my voice is my passport. Now then... I would be loathe to use direct force, so sudo take me to the Keymaker."

He stood, a visible scowl on his face; I merely folded my hands behind my back and followed him as he began walking toward and through the kitchens, his entourage taking places around us. "Foolishness. Strong-arming me serves little for any of us," he muttered, before launching into a half-French rant about cause, effect, and so forth.

I glanced at Persephone. "Let me guess. He's not really a bad man, he's just programmed that way?" When she merely shrugged her shoulders, I continued, "He needs to learn a bit of humility. Honestly, were I less patient I would be tempted to just call a system halt to achieve my objectives, but rebooting is such a messy prospect, let alone restoring from backup..."

The Merovingian tripped over his own feet and stumbled, but recovered. He looked over his shoulder as we transitioned from restaurant to chateau, shock in his voice as he aked, "You would so casually talk of ending the world?"

I inclined my head toward him as we entered the dungeons. "It wouldn't be the first time that was necessary. Be happy I am feeling merciful, or I would have been pulling this trick a level higher."

"A... level higher?"

"To paraphrase Dr. Ross, It's matrices all the way down. You simply don't have the tools realize it yet," I told him as we approached the Keymaker's room. As he turned to unlock it, I shook my head and simply snapped my fingers, causing his door to flash out of existence. "Your world is a sophisticated design, true, but I am the Administrator and Root. Do you think I wouldn't have elevated permissions in the level that implemented this world as well? Or further up Yggdrasil's branches?"

Some of his entourage was looking at me with horror. Persephone's face was ashen, the Keymaker had missed most of the conversation and was mercifully confused, but the Merovingian himself looked as though he were prepared to vomit. With a rueful smile, I waved a hand and said, "Please, don't let me keep you from having an existential crisis. But when you're through having your worldview shattered, I would appreciate letting those outside know that their world is rather a mess, and I'm going to see about cleaning up that nanobot-infested cloud layer and replacing the biodiversity so I don't have to prune any branches this decade."

The Keymaker blanched. "Prune... branches?"

I gave him a dazzling smile as the corridor emptied behind me. "Never you mind about that. I am in need of your assistance, and I've been led to understand that you can tell me where to find the door to the Source. Now, assuming I were someone who had no need of a key to step through a door... perhaps you could tell me which is the right door for me to go through if I want to punch the Architect in the nose?"