Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Matrix ❯ The Matrix- Part 8 ( Chapter 8 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Cut To:

Int. Nebuchadnezzer Gallery

On the ship, Tails pours slop from the tabs then gives it to manic.

Tails: There you go. Breakfast of champions.

Manic: (takes it)

Ray: If you close your eyes, it almost feels like you're eating runny eggs.

Trevor: Yeah, or a bowl of snot.

Ray: Do you know what it really reminds me of? Tastee Wheat. Did you ever eat tastee wheat?

Hershey: No, but technically, neither did you.

Ray: That's exactly my point. Exactly.Because you have to wonder now...how do the machines really know what tastee wheat tasted like, huh? Maybe they got it wrong. Maybe what I think tastee wheat tasted like actually tasted like, uh, oatmeal or, uh...or tuna fish. That makes you wonder about a lot of things. You take chicken, for example. Maybe they couldn't figure it out what to make chicken taste like, which is why chicken taste like everything. And maybe that could figure out--

Trevor: (cuts him off) Shut up, ray.

Cyrus: It's a single-celled protein combined with synthetic aminos, -- vitamins, and minerals -- everything the body needs.

Ray: It doesn't have everything the body needs. (looks at manic) So I understand that, uh, you've run through the agent training program. You know, I, um...I wrote that program.

Trevor: Here it comes.

Ray: So what did you think of her?

Manic: Of who?

Ray: The female furry in the red dress. I designed her.See, um...well, she doesn't talk very much , but-but if you'd like to meet her, I can arrange a much more personalized milieu.

Hershey: The digital pimp hard at work.

Ray: Pay no attention to these hypocrites, manic. To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us mobian.

Shadow enters.

Shadow: Cyrus, when you're done, bring the ship up to broadcast depth. We're going in. I'm taking manic to see her.

Bunnie and Nack eyes manic, who turns to tails.

Manic: See who?

Tails: Aleena.

Cut To:

Int. Core

Later, tails sits in front of 3 monitors that flash codes.

Tails: Everyone, please observe. (types) The fasten seat belts and no smoking signs has been turned on. Sit back and enjoy the flight.

Int. The Matrix

(Ring)

A phone rings in a hotel room.

Int.

On the ship, the crew sit in chairs wearing tattered clothing.

Int.

Now, their well-dressed digital selves appear in the hotel room by the ringing phone. Wearinf a black suit, manic glances at bunnie who wears a black leather dress. Supporting his long leathered coat and sunglasses, shadow answers the phone.

Shadow: (on phone) We're in.

Cut To:

Ext.

Now, nack steps out of the hotel's delivery entrance followed by the rest of the crew. Manic stares at hershey dressed in a white suit with a gun holstered under her jacket. Shadow stands by trevor.

Shadow: We'll be back in an hour.

Nack: (clicks open cell phone)

Nack drops a cell phone in a trashcan as he walks to a black lincoln continental.

(Cell Phone Rings)

(Click)

Cut To:

Int.

Later, Manic and Bunnie ride in the back of a car staring at pedestrians on a city streets.

Shadow: Unbelievable...isn't it?

Shadow looks back at manic from the front seat.

Manic: God.

Bunnie: What?

Manic: (points) I used to eat there. Really good noodles. (long pause) I have these memories from my life. None of them happened. What does that mean?

Bunnie: That the matrix cannot tell you who you are.

Manic: But aleena can?

Bunnie: That's different.

Manic looks at shadow who turns his gaze away and stares straight ahead.

Manic: Did you go to her?

Bunnie: Yes.

Manic: What did she tell you?

Bunnie: (looks at manic, smiles) She told me...

Manic: What?

Bunnie turns her gaze to the window.

Shadow: We're here. Manic, come with me.

Shadow gets out.

Int. Apartment Lobby

In an apartment lobby with graffiti on its tile walls, a blind furry sits holding a cane. He lift his head and nods as shadow and manic heads into an elevator. Shadow presses a button and the door closes.

Manic: So, is this the same aleena that made the, uh...the prophecy?

Shadow: Yes. She's very old. She's been with us since the beginning.

Manic: The beginning?

Shadow: Of the resistance.

Manic: (nods) And she knows what, everything?

Shadow: She would say she knows enough.

Manic: And she's never wrong.

Shadow: (pause) Try not to think of it in terms of right and wrong. She is a guide, manic. She can help you to find the path.

Manic: She helped you?

Shadow: Yes.

Manic: What did she tell you?

Shadow smiles as the door opens.

Shadow: That I would find the one.

Manic hesitates and follows him down a hallway.

They stopped and stands outside a door with a crack of light glowing at the bottom. Graffiti stains the cinder block walls.

Shadow: I told you I could only show you the door. You have to walk through it.

Manic reaches for the door knob and a furry opens the door. The furry was Lupe.

Lupe: Hello, manic. You're right on time.

The elegantly dressed Lupe step out of the way and gestures them inside. She closes the door behind them.

Lupe: Make yourself at home, shadow. Manic, come with me.

He follows her into a room where a female two-tailed kitsune reading brail and a female hedgehog works on a laptop.

Lupe: These are the other potentials. You can wait here.

Lupe bows her head and leaves manic in the hall.

Int.

In the living room, two female echidnas sit on the floor and levitates blocks. Twirling them in the air above their hands. Manic turns his gaze to a small foxboy who sits in lotus position behind a row of bent spoons. The foxboy holds a straight spoon in his hand and stares at it. The spoon curves lazily. The bowl hanging lently from the handle. The foxboy looks up at manic and the spoon snaps back into shape. He holds the spoon out to manic. Manic takes it, then sits across from the foxboy.

Foxboy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth.

Manic: What truth?

Foxboy: There is no spoon.

Manic: (pause) There is no spoon?

Foxboy: Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends. It is only yourself.

Manic holds the spoon out in front of his face and stares at it. The foxboy watches as manic tilts his head to one side. The bowl of the spoon droops mirroring his movement.

Lupe: Aleena will see you now.

Manic glances up, then back down at the straighten spoon.

Int. Kitchen

Now, manic walks into a kitchen where a hedgehog sits in front of an oven.

Aleena: I know you're manic. Be right with you.

Manic: You're aleena?

Aleena: Bingo. (looks at him) Not quite what you were expecting, right? (turns to stove) Almost done.

Aleena puts on an oven mit.

Aleena: Smells good, don't they?

Manic: Yeah.

Aleena: I'd ask you to sit down, but you're not going to anyway. And don't worry about the vase.

Manic: What vase?

He knocks over a vase. It shattered on the ground.

Aleena: That vase.

Manic: I'm sorry.

Aleena: I said don't worry about it. I'll get one of the kids to fix this.

Manic: How did you know?

Aleena: Ohhh...what's really going to bake your noodle later on is...would you still have broken it if I hadn't said anything. (lights cigarette) You're cuter than I thought. I can see why she likes you.

Manic: Who?

Aleena: Not too bright, though. (smiles) You know why shadow brought you to see me?

Manic: (pause, slight nod)

Aleena: So, what do you think? Do you think you are the one?

Manic: Honestly, I don't know.

She points to an inscription under the door.

Aleena: You know what that means? It's latin. It means "Know Thyself." I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Being the one is just like being in love. No one can tell you you're in love. You just know it...through and through...balls to bones. (paused) Well...(puts on glasses) I'd better have a look at you.

She stands in front of manic.

Aleena: Open your mouth. Say "Ah."

Manic: (opens mouth) Ahhhh.

Aleena glances inside manic's mouth than checks behind his ears. She looks up at his face through a pair of eye glasses. Aleena takes manic's hand with hers and studies his palm.

Aleena: Ok...Now I'm supposed to say "Mmm...that's interesting...but..." Then you say,

Manic: But what?

Aleena: But you already know what I'm going to tell you.

Manic: (paused) I'm not the one.

Aleena: Sorry, kid. You got the gift...but it looks like you're waiting for something.

Manic: (paused) What?

Aleena: Your next life, matbe. Who knows? That's the way these things go.

Manic: (chuckles)

Aleena: (noticed) What's funny?

Manic: Shadow. He, uh...he almost had me convinced.

Aleena: I know. Poor Shadow. Without him...w're lost.

Manic: What do you mean...without him?

Aleena: (paused) Are you sure you want to hear this?

Manic: (nods)

Aleena: Shadow believes in you, manic. And no one, not you, not even me, can convince him otherwise. He believes it so blindly that he's going to sacrifice his life to save yours.

Manic: What?

Aleena: And you're going to have to make a choice. In the one hand, you'll have shadow's life. And in the other hand, you'll have your own. One of you is going to die. Which one...will be up to you. I'm sorry, kiddo. I really am. You have a good soul. And I hate giving good furries bad news. Oh...don't worry about it. As soon as you step outside that door, you'll start feeling better. You'll remember you don't believe in any of this fate crap. You're in control of your own life. Remember. Here. (carries tray) Take a cookie. I promise by the time you're done eating it...(manic takes cookie) you'll feel right as rain.

Int.

Manic walks through the door. He looks down at shadow. Then, at the cookie. Shadow smiles and stands.

Shadow: What was said...was for you...and you alone.

Shadow clips his sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose. Manic looks down. His brow furrowed. He takes a bite of the cookie.

Cut To:

Int. Hotel

(Percussion plays bouncy beats)

Ray unrolls a magazine centerfold of the furry in red. She wears a red bra, stockings, and high heels.

(Ring)

Ray sits up and answers the cell phone.

On Tails

Tails: (on headphone) They're on thier way,