Matrix Gaiden: Seraph

[uc pseudonym]

Did you like Matrix Revolutions? Do you like Seraph? Then this work is for you. It details what supposedly happened to Seraph while the movie was focused elsewhere. I'd appreciate if anyone has any comments and makes them.

This is honestly a serious Matrix fanfiction. My initial chapter just happens to be strange.

-

Scene 00: Title Screen

The purpose of this chapter is to explain a few issues and cover a few bases. If you are impatient, short on time, horribly
mentally disabled or just plain exacerbated, feel free to skip it and move to the next chapter. I will not again cover these issues.
Otherwise, however, feel free to read on. In an effort to make this something other than boring, I have done this in an unusual
format. This is not representative of the rest of the story (that is, don't get after me for poor writing).



"The first question you may have, while it may be the most pertinent, it is also the most irrelevant."

"How can a story have such a paltry number of words and yet have multiple chapters?"

"The answer to this question is quite simple. I have come to believe that this generation is made up of individuals who possess
attention spans no greater than a bowl of tapioca pudding. Thereforegosequently, I have placed this story in much smaller
selections that hopefully will not tax anyone's patience. Indeed, they could almost be considered a set of vignettes. Along this
line of thought, I have titled each by scene, not chapter. The overall story is of its original length, albeit in smaller portions."

"Thereforegosequently? Is that even a word?"

"Of course not."

"I... see. Is that it?"

"Not quite. It should also be noted that there is a minor amount of cursing within said story by characters who commonly do so,
though the majority do not. All of this has been edited by the Matrix's censoring function. I'd show you specific examples by
fiddling with my pen, but seeing as this is a literary work, you can't really see the tvs."

"What about blood and gore?"

"Did you by any chance see the big black letters that say 'PG-13' on the door you entered?"

"No, it was too shiny."

"Oh. I told them to lay off the special effects, but would they listen? Noooo! 'Look at us! We have a multi-million budget for
big flashy things!' Sheesh. Watch, they'll go build their own interstate highway or something. 'Yay! We're so filthy rich! Let's
swim in a pool full of money! Let's play tennis using priceless masterpieces as racquets! Let's-"

"Ahem."

"Err... sorry. No, no gore, just a bit of blood as appears in normal fighting."

"Okay. Is that all you have to tell me?"

"Indubitably not. Inasmuch as the antithesis of the provincial denominator is augmented by the sesquipedalian antecedent of the
algebraic cosine, the establishment-arianist vindication of such a rationale is habitually immaterial."

".........what?"

"Never mind."

"Ooookay. By the way, do you own the Matrix?"

"Of course I own the Matrix! I'm the Architect!"

"You know what I meant."

"What do you think, that I'm the author or something?"

"Oh, shut up. I'm sick of this. No respect from anyone. You know what? I quit! I just quit!"

"Wait! Don't go out that door!"

[Lochaber Axe]

"Indubitably not. Inasmuch as the antithesis of the provincial denominator is augmented by the sesquipedalian antecedent of the
algebraic cosine, the establishment-arianist vindication of such a rationale is habitually immaterial."

I wonder how many people can actually understand that totally. Is some of that in trig? I am definitely not good in math.

UC, are you hyper today, or some readers couldn't spare the mental abilities of an amoeba to understand your writing? I pefer the more direct way of following them home and ramming my works down their throat (literally).

joking

[Technomancer]

Don't worry, he's just fuzzifying the mudification. That was pretty good.

[uc pseudonym]

I hope no one could understand that. I would worry about them very seriously.

I'd remind you this is just Scene 00. It isn't even part of the story. There is almost no humor in the rest of the story, save a few ironic moments and Smith's typical not-funnyness. I'll put the rest up sequentially day by day.

[Haibane Shadsie]

I like this... a lot. It's an intersting and unique way of making your author's notes and disclaimers. And, of course, it fits right into the Matrix universe.

[uc pseudonym]

This is another short chapter... though they're all short. They get better later. I really don't like this first chapter, it isn't very interesting.

-

Scene 01: Two Roads Diverged

"I'm afraid this is the end of the line," Agent Smith said calmly, the grin beneath his glasses spreading. "It has been a long time, but this time, you can do nothing to stop me."

Seraph said nothing, remaining completely silent. He felt the tiny hand in his own squeeze tighter, and he squeezed back. She was afraid, he knew. What made it hurt was that he knew there was nothing that he could do to end her fear. After all the time he had existed, Seraph felt too old to be afraid. Nonetheless, he found himself speculating on the future. Would there even be one, for the humans or for his kind? Or would the world become Smith?

"I told you I'm not so bad once you get to know me," Agent Smith continued, smirking. "Now, let's get to know each other more... personally."

His hand shot out, fingers headed for Seraph's chest. Quite predictable; Seraph reminded himself that Agent Smith was, after all, only an Agent, albeit a powerful one. Whipping up his free hand, Seraph deflected Smith's attack. Getting his other hand free he slammed a fist into the corrupted Agent's jaw, sending him flying backward through the other Smiths.

He had hit with a surprising amount of ferocity; apparently his aggression toward Smith needed an outlet. There was no more time for conversation or thought, as the other copies were swarming forward, attacking en masse.

Kicking out, Seraph sent the nearest one flying. More prepared this time, the Smiths ducked to avoid the flying copy, then slid in low. Leaping into the air, Seraph dodged a sweeping leg and blocked a punch. Catching the Smith's fist, Seraph sent him stumbling long enough to get off a good kick at the other Smith's head. Whirling in a circle, Seraph managed to land a blow on the first Smith's jaw just as he rose, sending him flying once again.

Even as he turned Seraph could sense a hand aiming at his back. Spinning even faster, Seraph managed to deflect blow, enough that the hand did not sink into him. Completing his spin, Seraph smashed the back of his hand into the Smith who had just attempted to absorb him. Before he even left the ground from the force of the blow, two other Smiths were coming in from the side.

Deflecting their blows, Seraph suddenly heard a pained cry. Sparing the briefest of glances, Seraph looked only in time to see the newest of the Agent Smith clones straighten his tie and move into the battle. So he had failed.

No longer constrained by any other allies, Seraph smashed into the wall of the building. The weak material gave way easily, and he crashed through it into the air. Turning as he fell, Seraph pulled both his guns from his coat and fired into the crowd of Smiths above. All of them dodged as best they could, but with such a large group a few were felled.

Striking the ground hard, Seraph managed to roll backward and to his feet. He looked up barely in time to see a Smith barreling down toward him. Deflecting the kick aimed for his head, Seraph grabbed a hold of the Smith's foot and spun him in a circle. The next Smith leaping from above was batted across the street.

Several other Smiths jumped from above. One of their kicks struck him in the midriff, sending him flying across the street as well. Hitting the wall, Seraph broke off a layer of brick and fell to the ground.

Ducking on instinct, Seraph barely avoided the kick that broke through the wall where in his head had been moments ago. Rising to his feet, Seraph sent another of the former Agents flying, only to have several converge on him from the side. Unable to compete with their flurry of blows, Seraph was caught in the chest by a punch and sent flying backward.

Leaping to his feet, Seraph leapt directly into a waiting hand. It sank into his body, and then black code began spreading over him. Every sensation Seraph had experienced was nothing but a contrivance, a control for the Matrix itself. This dark code covering his body was not. As far as the program could understand cold, this was cold. A darkness spread over his mind, and when it faded, the mind remaining no longer cared.

Straightening his necktie, Agent Smith glanced about at himself and smirked.

[uc pseudonym]

I will post this later, but would it be too much of a problem for all of you to go to Fanfiction.net and review the story? It'd make my life so much simpler.

http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1605443

That link should take you directly to it.

[uc pseudonym]

When I said I didn't like the segment, that wasn't permission for everyone to ignore it. Unfortunately, you don't need my permission, so it doesn't matter.

This segment gets better, though the good parts are yet to come. Personally, I'm surprised I managed to get through an entire chapter without anything really happening.

-

Scene 02: Aftermath



Deep within the heart of Machine City, all was silent, everything working in noiseless precision. The balanced equation of
efficiency continued, undaunted by unforeseen circumstances. At the bottom of what served as an alley, the machine housing a
certain program began to whirr...

Power online.

Systems activated.

Damage report... extensive.

Recommended course of action: immediate analysis and data recovery.

Analysis: No data damage. All subroutines have been neutralized. New systems are currently operational on master
circuit. Systems are considered hostile.

Determined: recovery is possible.

Commencing system reload.

For a few moments the machine whirred, golden code flying from its core, tapping into the source, moving through the Matrix.
Soon its whirring subsided and joined the rest of the city in complete silence.

Program Seraph... restored.



Slowly his eyes flickered open, staring at hard, cold concrete. He was lying in the middle of a street, he slowly realized, an
empty and desolate street. Collecting his mind, Seraph slowly got to his feet.

In near awe he glanced at his limbs as he moved them. As they should, they moved easily to his command. It was a luxury that
he had not been given for some time. He remembered very little of his time as part of the being known as Smith. Mostly he
remembered the cold. The cold and the feeling of being completely alone, with no one else even existing.

Vaguely Seraph remembered some of his actions, and he stumbled as the memories began to flood back. They had absorbed
the Oracle, and then the reign of terror had begun. Using Seraph's programming code, Smith had absorbed countless beings
into his expanding wave of darkness. The power that was Smith was growing.

Regaining control of himself, Seraph walked from the street and leaned against the nearest wall. Why was he here? No other
Smiths appeared to be in the nearby area, and Seraph could sense no other programs nearby. Had this area already been
completely controlled by Smith, and then evacuated? If that was the case, however, why was he here?

More importantly, how had Agent Smith become so powerful? Seraph had survived more than one entire cycle of the Matrix,
and never had an Agent become as Smith had. His power was incredible, and would only grow exponentially. But why would
such a thing take place?

Concluding the matter merited some serious consideration, Seraph continued to allow his mind to pursue such an auxiliary
thought. Of most importance was the nature of Smith's power. As everything, Seraph knew it was controlled by the massive
equation that was the Matrix. Smith's new power had somehow stemmed from Neo; did that mean his power was designed to
balance the One? Yet with such a power, Seraph extrapolated that the overall affect would be ever increasing. Never in the
past had such a thing been necessary to balance any form of the Matrix equation. Then again, never in the past had the One
chosen to return to the Matrix after he had reached the source.

If only the Oracle was here. She understood the entire equation, whereas it had never been Seraph's purpose to comprehend it.
But he could not escape the feeling that there was something missing, something in the equation that would not balance. Now
that the Oracle was apart of Smith, such options were lost to him. There was something else, something that he should have
understood, but was missing...

Deciding such questions were irrelevant to the task had hand, Seraph turned his mind to more important matters. How long had
he been controlled by Smith? It could have been an hour, or a day. The most pertinent part of the question was the current
condition of Zion. Had the machines even breached the core? Or was it already over?

If Zion had been destroyed, then Neo was gone as well. Seraph had never been one to lie to himself, and he grimly
acknowledged that if Neo had been killed, they did not stand a chance. With the Oracle under Smith's control, his power here
could not be challenged. Already, from what Seraph vaguely remembered, most areas of the city had been entirely deleted and
converted to Smiths. But, it was more likely that Zion still existed, and there was yet hope.

Putting such thoughts aside, Seraph began walking. Now that he had no one else to protect, Seraph instead focused on
understanding the situation. Until he understood what was happening, he could not hope to help. Only a few programs had
access to information outside of the Matrix, but Seraph knew where to find them.

The Marovingian.

[Icarus]

Hail and good even. I like the story so far, though I haven't seen Revolutions yet. I also agree about the decline in attention span of this generation, further, and this is almost as bad, I deplore the waning appreciation of subtlety.

[uc pseudonym]

Well, at least the story has subtlety (not at the moment, perhaps, but it does). For that matter, the Matrix series does have some subtle points in it.

[uc pseudonym]

I'm really not writing this slow, I just have diskette problems...

[Icarus]

Hey UC, that part about subtlety was in no way, shape, or form a part of the critique of your story. Sorry for any confusion.

[uc pseudonym]

I didn't take it as such. Actually, I was just stating that I was grateful the Matrix series was a bit more subtle than most of what we get these days.

As you said, sorry for the confusion.

[uc pseudonym]

Look. A chapter in which something happens. Please review on fanfiction.net, if you have extra time.

-

Scene 03: Balancing the Equation



A cool breeze whipped Seraph's jacket around him as he calmly strode down the street. It was just as empty as the rest of the
town Seraph had seen, a grim reminder of Smith's growing power. This was the sort of wind Seraph knew often preceded a
storm; if the calm before the storm had lasted this long, then how massive would the storm be?

Watching a paper sack being blown across the street, Seraph briefly pondered what he himself had thought. Any wind in the
Matrix was nothing but a program, a portion of the overall control that made it believable. If the wind was moving in response
to something, what did that say about the program controlling it? Was it possible that Smith's might was beginning to influence
even the programming of the Matrix itself?

Clearing his mind, Seraph forced such thoughts aside. They were unnecessary, and as such, should be eliminated. The task at
hand would require his full attention. If one wanted to find the Marovingian, there were a number of routes that could be taken.
Seraph knew all of them, and knew that some were more dangerous than others.

The best route was through the Marovingian's garage, but he would have increased defenses there after Seraph's prior attack.
After that, one could choose between the Trainman's station and the back entrance. Given the fact that the Trainman been less
than helpful the last time they had met, Seraph determined that the back entrance was the optimal destination. It was to there
that he was now headed.

All such thoughts were washed from his mind as Seraph turned a corner to the back entrance of the Marovingian's lair. He had
expected a guard, but not of this nature. Four Agents were inspecting the door, doing something Seraph was unable to
perceive.

Considering his options, Seraph began to cautiously move away. When he needed to, he could move quite silently; he had
eluded many Agents in the past. This time, however, it was not to be. All four Agents abruptly moved away from the door. Just
as they did so, Seraph recognized the code of the object they had attached to it. A bomb.

The explosion destroyed the door completely, barely missing the Agents, who were standing carefully just outside the blast
radius. They turned, their mission complete, and saw Seraph watching them.

"It is the exile," one Agent intoned, placing a hand to the cord by his ear.

"This cannot be allowed," another said grimly. "None must know what we are doing here."

"Termination is suggested," the third agreed. "Commence."

Dropping into a fighting stance, Seraph readied himself as they charged in his direction. At the moment, he had to risk fighting
them if he didn't want to be dogged by Agents for the rest of his journey. What made all the difference is what version of
Agents these were.

The first moved into his range of combat, and Seraph immediately struck out. His blow was turned aside, and the Agent
retaliated. Catching his opponent's fist, Seraph held it long enough to sweep a leg up, knocking the Agent's arm aside and
throwing him off balance. Immediately Seraph moved in, smashing a palm into the program's chest.

Even as the Agent was blown across the street and into a wall, the other three were converging on Seraph from all directions.
Instantly he moved into a purely defensive mode, deflecting blows from all sides. It wasn't enough; an Agent managed to hook
his foot, throwing him from his feet long enough for another Agent to punch him away.

Letting the force of the blow take him back, Seraph crashed against a drainpipe and fell to the ground. Grimly he got to his feet
and prepared for them again. These were Agents of an even newer hybrid than he had seen before, and they obviously had a
lot of power. Then the result of the fight was unknown.

Jumping back as they neared him, Seraph vaulted off the wall, blowing through the charging Agents. Two managed to avoid his
attack, but the other two were blown away from the battle.

Now fighting only two Agents, Seraph fared far better. Rolling to his left, he avoided the attacks of both briefly, then rose to his
feet kicking. The Agent in front of him managed to deflect the blows, and the Agent behind kicked forward. Twisting, Seraph
got out of the Agent's way and grabbed his leg. Immediately the Agent twisted in his hands, his other leg sweeping up to strike
his head.

Ducking while keeping a good grip on the Agent's leg, Seraph jerked him about just in time for the second to take a punch from
the recovering Agent. Avoiding the victim of friendly fire as he flew past, Seraph delivered a kick to the chest of the other
Agent, sending him flying down the street.

A blow from behind made him tumble forward, Seraph barely managed to turn his fall into a roll at the last second. If the other
two Agents were already back in the fight, than their recuperative powers had received a major boost. Grimly repositioning his
glasses, Seraph flew into battle with the other two Agents, knowing that the last two would shortly return.

They did, a kicking smashing him through the air. On his way, Seraph managed to grab one of the Agents and took him along.
Just before they struck the brick wall of the building, Seraph twisted, forcing the Agent to absorb the brunt of the blow.

Suddenly Seraph was very aware of his opponent's code, flowing in and around him. He had always been able to see it before,
but somehow this was very different. Deep inside, in the very core of his programming, Seraph felt something begin. Not
questioning, he grabbed the Agent by the neck and went with the feeling...



The force of Seraph's flight had knocked one of the Agents to the ground. He got to his feet and repositioned his tie,
completely sure of their eventual victory. Across the street, Seraph was standing over the fourth Agent. Eyes narrowing, the
three Agents glanced at one another.

"Something is not right." One stated what each of them had been thinking.

"It is an anomaly."

"Delete it," the third Agent pronounced, pulling a gun from his suit. The others did the same, all three drawing guns on Seraph.

Something had already taken place. Seraph's hand was still in the air, as if he was holding the Agent up, but there was no Agent
to be seen. A suit that had been suspended in the air beneath Seraph's hand collapsed to the ground. Seraph's code seemed
changed, the Agents realized. It had a new encryption it had not before, and one that the Agents recognized.

"It is not possible..."

"Delete it!" the last barked. All three Agents opened fire, bullets flying from their guns. Somehow Seraph moved, his motions at
unimaginable speed. He dodged each and every bullet, then snapped to his original position. Only clicks sounded in the Agent's
weapons. Again they glanced at one another.

Before them, Seraph repositioned his glasses, then glanced up at them. Tossing aside their weapons, the three Agents rushed at
him. Leaping into the air, Seraph kicked two away instantly. The third thrust a fist toward Seraph, but the blow was caught. As
Seraph landed he pulled the Agent over his back, sending him tumbling in the air. Whirling, Seraph planted a kick in his
stomach, which sent him flying through a nearby wall, where he lay still.

Getting to their feet, the two remaining Agents charged Seraph. Turning aside their blows for a few moments, Seraph seized his
first opportunity. Catching the wrist of one of his opponents before the blow could reach his face, Seraph flung him aside with
one hand. The last Agent swung from behind, but Seraph easily ducked the blow. Twirling on the ground, Seraph took the
Agent's legs out from under him, then uppercut him into the air as Seraph completed his spin. For a moment the Agent flipped
into the air, as he came down Seraph kicked him with full power.

Crashing into a wall where he had been thrown, the third Agent made it to his feet, and realized he was facing Seraph alone.
The Asian program turned toward him, face expressionless. Needing no further incentive, the Agent turned in the opposite
direction and ran.

Seraph let him go. Clenching and unclenching a fist in front of his face, he nodded. What exactly he had done was still unknown
to him, but at the moment it mattered not. All that mattered was finding and assisting the others. This door might have been
destroyed, but there were other ways to the Marovingian.

One of the fallen Agent's eyes flickered open slightly. His last sight was Seraph's form walking down the street away from him.
Then the Agent's head slumped, and the program terminated.

[uc pseudonym]

http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1605443

I'm lazy. Go to this link and you'll find the story on fanfiction.net. There are actually two chapters there you haven't read. I wouldn't mind reviews, either.

[Icarus]

Lazy? Tsk, tsk, tsk. *In the background, kettles and pots converse.*

[uc pseudonym]

That's really all I have to say about that.

[uc pseudonym]

http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1605443

Go there for the next section. Only two more chapters left.