RAINBOWS
It was a beautiful day to be alive. The city’s vast skyline stretched for miles. Sidewalks clamored with pedestrians. Streets flowed with vehicles. Parks bustled with vendors of all kinds. In a tall apartment building was a fancy restroom with a full-body mirror. This mirror would become a portal linking this world and the real one together.
The first person through was a young male carrying a briefcase. Decked out from head to toe in a flashy maroon-colored suit and glasses, he looked as if he’d arrived at a photo shoot. Directly behind him was Neo, then Trinity.
Including dark-colored glasses, Neo and Trinity wore all-black clothing akin to something you might see on a holy person. Both were looking fantastic, their DSI resembling what they looked like years before, in their prime.
“Empty,” Neo said. “Just like the scans said.”
Trinity reached out to touch the man’s shoulder. “Lead the way, Bodhi.” She said.
Neo stepped forward and looked over to Bodhi. “You absolutely sure about this?” he asked
Bodhi removed his glasses and put them in one of his suit’s inside pockets. He turned back to Trinity and then gave Neo a solid nod. “Ready,” he said. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Trinity followed close behind. “Think of it like ripping a band-aid off,” she said. “The quicker, the better. Afterward, you can come with us and we’ll take care of you.”
Now in the lobby, Neo and Trinity veered away to sit on a couch with a nice view outside to the front of the building. Bodhi headed for the elevator only yards away.
“Bodhi,” Neo called. “I’m sorry if you feel like we lied.”
Bodhi looked back and smiled. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “It’s the cold, hard truth. Reality may be just about surviving, but at least here they have a future to look forward to.”
“That’s one way of looking at it,” Trinity said.
Bodhi entered the elevator, continuing to smile. “Ignorance is bliss, right?” he said, as the doors closed.
Trinity sighed and said. “You know, this whole ‘change’ thing is going a lot slower than I thought.”
Neo nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Every time we do something. The Analyst just resets everything and makes everyone think it was a dream.”
“Except for Bodhi,” Trinity chuckled. “He turned into one of those guys who go around preaching about how nothing is real.”
Neo snickered. “Remember when we found him,” he asked. “He had one of those signs around his neck, and was going up and down the streets with a megaphone.”
“It certainly helped to find him,” Trinity added. “Too bad we can’t just walk up to anyone with the truth.”
Neo looked up toward Bodhi. “I almost feel bad for the man,” he said. “For him, the lie is more comforting than the truth.”
“Can’t blame him,” Trinity replied. “Would you want to wake someone from a dream to a harsh reality, especially when you love’em?”
Neo sighed. “It’ll only be a matter of time.” He assured.
“Time,” Trinity said. “Have you ever wondered how long it’ll take before the Matrix loses enough energy to collapse? I mean, it needed us to stabilize it right, so far all we’ve seen are small glitches here and there.”
Neo shrugged and said. “Beats me.”
Trinity stood up and adjusted her collar, rubbing her neck, as she began pacing back and forth. “I don’t like this, Neo,” she said. “How many times are we gonna auto jack in? It’s not safe. That is why we always used operators.”
“We’ll be fine,” Neo replied. “We have a squid connected to the warning system. If it goes off, we get pulled out and go.”
Trinity crossed her arms. “I just can’t get used to the idea of putting my life in a machine’s hands.” She said.
“As long as we don’t make any changes,” Neo said. “No more rainbows. The Matrix can’t find us. It won’t even know we’re here. Besides, Niobe said we can do this as long as don’t risk the people of Io.”
Trinity looked at Neo. “Io has what, almost three million people?” she asked.
“Give or take about a few hundred thousand,” Neo answered. “It can hold about just as many more with the new construction going on.”
“By the way,” Trinity said. “Your RSI or DSI or whatever the hell it’s called. Looks good, too bad we’re actually lying to ourselves.”
As Trinity then stretched, that was when Neo spotted her stomach sporting a noticeable bulge.
“Thanks,” Neo replied. “Yours is…if I’m being honest, is looking a little rough around the edges. How do you feel?”
Trinity saw Neo gesture to her stomach and immediately looked down at it. She caressed it for a moment. “You really think it’s bigger than normal?” she asked.
Neo reached out to rub Trinity’s stomach. “Considering the fact even without an operator, we haven’t messed around,” he responded. “ Not in here, but I’d say yeah, somethings up.”
“Well, that rules out pregnancy,” Trinity said. “I can’t even get pregnant in the real world. Hate to say I missed that train years ago.”
“I have no idea what that could be,” Neo said. “From what I can see with my eyes, it looks like a pregnancy, but as you said, I don’t see how it’s possible. Best I can come up with is it’s a manifestation of your unconscious desire. You did say you hated missing that train.”
Holding her stomach, Trinity looked around for the restroom. “This is ridiculous,” she said, walking off. “It’s not an unconscious desire…”
Neo shook his head and lightly chuckled as Trinity left.
When the elevator reached its destination, its doors opened. Bodhi stepped out to head for his former apartment. Along the way was a piece of décor, a table which he used to place the briefcase. Opening it revealed it was full of cash.
Bodhi ran a hand across the money and began to weep as thoughts of his family raced across his mind. After a minute of sobbing, he wiped away any tears he had and composed himself before closing the case back up. His apartment was just a few doors away. He knocked on the door several times and waited as the sounds of locks being undone could be heard.
The door opened. “Bodhi!” said the woman now standing in front of him in total shock.
“Sandra,” Bodhi replied, as he stepped forward to give her a big hug and kiss on the lips.
“Bodhi,” Sandra cried breathlessly. “It’s been almost a month, What happened, are you ok?”
“I’m fine,” Bodhi answered as he stepped in and closed the door behind him. “Are the kids around?”
Sandra couldn’t let go of Bodhi’s hands as she backpedaled into the apartment. “Tyler and Johnny are in the living room, watching TV,” She replied.
Bodhi motioned to stay silent, and then guided Sandra to the table, where he set the briefcase. He opened it and gave it a slight push to his wife.
Sandra was more confused than taken aback. “What’s this?” she asked.
“Ten million dollars,” Bodhi answered. “You and the kids are set for life. I want you to be happy.”
Sandra became even more confused and grew wide-eyed. “Why are you talking like that,” she asked. “What about you, is there someone else, and why are you dressed like that, is it for her?”
Bodhi sat with Sandra and placed both hands on her shoulders as tears filled her eyes.
“Did I do something wrong?” Sandra tearfully asked.
“Oh God no,” Bodhi replied. “You didn’t do anything wrong, and there’s no other woman, I swear. I have to go away and I don’t know when I’ll come back, if ever. I just want you all taken care of.”
Sandra sobbed. “How can you do this to your family,” she asked. “Forget the money, I want my husband back. Does this have anything to do with those crazy dreams you had?”
Bodhi then held Sanda’s face. He sighed as he considered telling her about the Matrix. At that moment, his family’s happiness was all that mattered to him. He’d been to Io and as marvelous as it was, it wasn’t the place or situation, he wanted for his family. With another sigh, he stood and began to walk slowly down a hall.
Sandra remained seated and continued to sob.
The end of the hall ended at a closed door. Bodhi cracked it open only enough to see his daughter, Tyler, and son, Johnny laughing as they watched cartoons. A sudden sadness filled him, forcing his head away to bury itself in an arm as he silently sobbed. The desire to speak with his kids was almost unbearable, but he knew that to do so would break him completely and set him down a road he didn’t want to travel.
It was with a great sense of pain that Bodhi closed the door and turned back down the hall. He passed his crying wife, barely caressing her shoulder along the way out. Outside his apartment, he closed the door and stopped again as he began to weep more. After a few seconds, he slowly walked back to the elevator, wiping away tears to place his glasses back on as he entered.
The elevator went down several floors before coming to a stop for someone else. When the doors opened, Bodhi found himself looking at something odd.
It was a person covered in code as if Bodhi had suddenly gained a particular ability of Neo to see the Matrix for what it really was. Only it was just this being. Everything else was visually normal. Appearance-wise, it didn’t seem to be wearing anything, not even an agent’s suit. More mannequin-like, it was covered from head to toe in this Matrix code. If he had to assign it a gender, only the slightest sign of having the shape of breasts indicated a female.
Before Bodhi could fully comprehend what he was looking at, It suddenly grabbed him and tossed him out of the elevator. He slammed against the wall and barely had time to collect himself before eating a roundhouse kick that sent him reeling down the hall.
Whatever this thing was, it was unbelievably fast and strong and was now walking toward him.
