Matrix Fanfiction Chapter 6: The City of Zion

Chapter 6: The City of Zion

I awoke from my bed in the small room that I had been assigned we had been home for a day and were given some time to relax before our next venture out into the tunnels.  Isaiah and I were in the same room as requested by both of us, there was no point in being alone in a room neither of us had anyone else.  Captain Bailen was at a captain’s meeting with Commander Locke for the next couple days they were discussing tactical matters and a new strategy to attack the machines I guess.  Isaiah still slept in the bed next to me I starred at him for a few seconds.  He looked so different from in the matrix.  I was glad that Captain Bailen let me free him I really couldn’t think of what I would’ve done if I had to be in this reality alone.  It was good to be free and all but reality is so horrible I mean who wants to live in fear for everyday that we are alive.  I got up out of the bed and stretched.

I looked around the small room very basic, washroom facilities and a small eating area was all we had.  It was kind of like a bachelor apartment downtown Fredericton but a little more compact if that were possible.  I went into the washroom for a few seconds and came back out.  Isaiah was sitting up in the bed yawning and looked over at me. 

“Did you sleep well?”  I asked. 

“Yes actually I didn’t expect to sleep as well as I did.  Sleep is so different in the real world from what it used to be.” 

“Your right I never really thought of it like that before.”  I got some clothing on and started to get ready to go out. 

“I guess Captain Mifune’ is giving a tour of the city to the new arrivals today Captain Bailen suggested that we should take it.  I don’t know I guess it would be something to do for a few hours.”  Isaiah got up out of bed and started to get dressed. 

“Sounds good to me.  When does it start?” 

“Now that he didn’t tell me.  We’ll just have to go ask someone.”  I opened the door to the room and stood in the doorway. 

I looked outside at the huge pillar that went all the way up to what looked like the sky.  The city was huge and it was all-underground.  Zion is four kilometers underground; if I’m not mistaken it is directly under the Machine civilization 001.  The walls of red rock seemed to shine with the light from the city’s lights.  I looked back inside at Isaiah. 

“You ready to go?”  He nodded and we stepped out into the city. 

There were people everywhere in the street.  An older women walked by us. 

“Um excuse me Ma’am,” said Isaiah, “Would you know where captain Mifune’ is holding the tour?”  The women smiled gently and held out small flower. 

“His tour is starting from the temple at the bottom level it starts in about an hour so you have plenty of time to get down there.  This flower is a gift to help you realize that the world we live in is not truly dead and can be revived once the machines are destroyed.” 

Isaiah took the flower from her and put in his pocket. 

“Thank you, for everything.” 

We started to walk to one of the many elevators, passing many unfamiliar faces from the city even some from the fleet.  I heard that the crew of the Neb was supposed to be around, I really wanted to meet Neo or The One as they called him.  I really wanted to spar with someone who was supposed to be the greatest human ever.  We stepped into the elevator and hit the down button to take us to the temple. 

“This city is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before it’s amazing,” said Isaiah. 

“Yes I know it’s definitely a work of art.”  The elevator suddenly stopped and the door opened.

We could see a small crowd of people from the elevator doorway Captain Mifune’ was talking to them.  Most of them were very young there was only two that looked close to Isaiah’s and my age and even they were young.  We stepped out of the elevator and Mifune’ stopped talking and looked at us. 

“If you’re here for the tour then you’re still early but you’re in the right place anyway.”  He beckoned us over with his hand. 

We walked over and sat down on the ground with the other children. 

"I feel weird sitting here with all these children," whispered Isaiah.  One of the little girls looked at us funny then turned her attention back to Mifune'. 

"I see you guys are a bit older than most of the others here." 

"Yeah why is that?  Are we the only teenagers that have been freed in the last month?" 

"Actually yes.  It is very rare for us to free someone much older than yourselves simply because younger minds are more willing to accept this reality.  Older minds have a harder time letting go of the matrix because they are often set in their ways, while a child is still learning about the world."  I looked at him kind of strangely. 

"Have you ever fought inside the matrix?"  He smiled warmly. 

"No I was born in Zion I'm the captain of the guards here."  I just nodded in acknowledgement. 

"When does the tour start?"  asked Isaiah.  Mifune looked at his watch then looked at the people that had gathered. 

"I guess this is all for today then.  Looks like we're ready, let's go."

The tour we took lasted almost all day and we went from the bottom of the city to the top of the city.  Touring the temple, the engineering level and even the shipyard.  I saw that the Neb was docked so Neo was around here somewhere.  Isaiah and I had gone back to the room where we were staying.  The bed had a connecting system in it that could send us to a training program of our choice. 

"Let's go into the agent training program.  I wanna experiment on a few new tactics I've been thinking of," said Isaiah. 

"Alright lay down I'll set us up.  How many agents do you want?"  I asked. 

"Just one for now, and make sure you set it so he can't kill us alright."  I nodded and smiled. 

"I was kinda gonna do that."  I plugged Isaiah in to the program then loaded myself in with the right modifications and we were set to go.