Let's go

"We don't have time for this, c'mon!" You shouted, and Bill gave you a flustered look.

"C'mon!" The girl called. Was that a taunt at Bill?

He reluctantly took his gun back and nodded. You handed the informant your handgun and you started making your way back towards the elevator.

Surprisingly, or perhaps worryingly, there weren't any guards waiting. You three shuffled into the elevator, and Bill poked a button. It started heading up, the shells of the bullets you'd fired earlier rolling around.

"What's your name?" you asked the girl.

"Trinity, don't you remember me?" She replied. It had been years since you'd watched the matrix, you honestly couldn't remember what Trinity had looked like, but now you understood her role in the story.

Bill shook his head, "He has some amnesia..we don't know how severe."

Her expression became troubled hearing this, but before she could say anything the elevator came to a stop.

Ding!

The doors opened, revealing one man in company uniform.

You pointed your gun at him, he raised his hands in surrender. "I just want to talk."

You looked back at your companions, they seemed uncertain about it. There was no helicopter in sight.

"I understand you wanted information so you could achieve freedom for the people, but you have to understand, if you do this...it will mean the end of everyone's life here. Their entire experience so far will be meaningless, they'll have to start from square one, and that will be entirely your fault."

You nodded, "So be it."

He shook his head in disappointment. "I didn't want to have to do this, Neo, I thought you would understand..." and he nodded at Bill. You turned around, and he had his gun pointed at Trinity, kicking your handgun from her hands. You pointed your gun at him, "You bastard!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." the man warned, and you looked back around at him, he had his own gun drawn now, also trained in Trinity. "If you want her to leave this place alive, you've got to follow everything I say. I'm sorry it had to be like this..."

"Why are you doing this?" You demanded, and he gave you a sad smile.

"The people aren't ready for the truth, they'd rather live the lie, and we should let them do just that."

You shook your head, "I don't buy a word of it."

His smile began to turn malicious, "You are it Neo! Look at you, look at what freedom got you! You're a **** of nature now, much worse than being a **** to the matrix!"

In that moment you heard a far-off hum amongst the alarms and occasional gunshots, and saw a light in the distance. "Morpheus..."

You took aim at the man and took a deep breath. If you could just stall long enough, maybe you could make it out of this...

"Tell me, why did set up this whole thing? Why bother with the explosives of plan B or the offered flash grenade? Why didn't you kill Trinity at the very start?"

He nodded with a thoughtful frown. "A good couple questions! You see, the people have been seeking answers more than usual Neo. They have some deep-set desire for something beyond their everyday lives...something more than 9 to 5 jobs desk jobs to maintain a seemingly meaningless social mechanism that does nothing more than ensure the very boring existence they crave to end. The problem is, they don't understand what's good for them. They aren't like you and me, they're sheep on the farm who've gotten a bit itchy. We needed an event like this, something they'll remember whenever they dare think about change. Something our news stations can broadcast over and over and over again, recycling the same old trauma time after time until they're so sick of the idea that they'd rather commit suicide than try doing anything to change how we do things here. You made for the perfect opportunity to do that, and the booms and bangs you guys set off make for a perfect atmosphere. Nothing could be more colorful, more chilling and full of **** and destruction and havoc! All for what? For nothing! In the end, you will lose, and everyone will go back to their stables, content to live another couple decades selling their lives to us for pocket lent."

You looked around at the night City, gigantic fires reflecting off of the nearby skyscrapers to make for a maze of hazy orange walls. The gunshots had died down, leaving only crackling flames and the occasional scream.

"There's something else you should know, Neo." He said. "We really aren't so different. We both know this whole thing is bullshit, and we both dedicate our lives to the bullshit. I write code, you delete it. I build facades, you tear them down. I give the people what they need, and you give them what they want."

He paused, looking you over.

"We could use more people like you on our side. You know our weakness, you can ensure our system gets so good that nothing like this ever happens again. You could live the rest of your life out working alongside Trinity for the betterment of everyone through these means."

The hum grew louder.