#41 - Willing To Play The Game
He's sat there, trying to see the way forward, and all he can think about is what has come before. Tommy to Thomas to Neo to the One. It's like Go. Entering endgame, unable to determine who has won or lost. Counting spaces among patterns of control and influence. Such simple rules, such complex outcomes.
And he thinks of Trinity; Trinity for whom he refused death, conquered it; Trinity who brings him back, who pushes him on; Trinity who is positioned by the Oracle to fulfil a function necessitated by his nature, a nature which is the inevitable consequence of the Architect's programs. The Architect's move. The Oracle's countermove. New position, same as the old.
And he thinks of Morpheus; Morpheus who sacrificing himself in the name of belief created the situation that lead to Neo's acceptance of those beliefs; Morpheus who believes he has been told the future when it is merely the past, endlessly repeating; it is the question that connects Neo to Morpheus, that drives them together, their dance an inevitable consequence of their nature. The Architect creates the situation. The Oracle drives it. New position, same as the old.
And he thinks of Smith; Smith who, absent duty, becomes the virus he accuses humanity of being of; Smith who, like Neo, trades purpose for purpose, changes yet remains the same; Smith is his Other, his reflected self; binary opposition; they destroy and recreate each other over and over in messy patterns of violence and mayhem, combining inevitably to reset the game. Prisoner game. New position, same as the old.
Trinity, Morpheus, Smith. The Oracle, The Architect. And Neo: counting to none.
(But zero just circles back to the beginning and, when he looks down, he can see the board.)
And he thinks of Trinity; Trinity for whom he refused death, conquered it; Trinity who brings him back, who pushes him on; Trinity who is positioned by the Oracle to fulfil a function necessitated by his nature, a nature which is the inevitable consequence of the Architect's programs. The Architect's move. The Oracle's countermove. New position, same as the old.
And he thinks of Morpheus; Morpheus who sacrificing himself in the name of belief created the situation that lead to Neo's acceptance of those beliefs; Morpheus who believes he has been told the future when it is merely the past, endlessly repeating; it is the question that connects Neo to Morpheus, that drives them together, their dance an inevitable consequence of their nature. The Architect creates the situation. The Oracle drives it. New position, same as the old.
And he thinks of Smith; Smith who, absent duty, becomes the virus he accuses humanity of being of; Smith who, like Neo, trades purpose for purpose, changes yet remains the same; Smith is his Other, his reflected self; binary opposition; they destroy and recreate each other over and over in messy patterns of violence and mayhem, combining inevitably to reset the game. Prisoner game. New position, same as the old.
Trinity, Morpheus, Smith. The Oracle, The Architect. And Neo: counting to none.
(But zero just circles back to the beginning and, when he looks down, he can see the board.)