Story Reader / Alternative Interpretation / Derived from Matrix / Story
Rabbit Hole
Why can you hear this voice? Maybe something deep within your soul has stirred.
Well then, do you mind if I tell you a quick fairy tale?
It's that familiar fairy tale everyone knows, the one with Alice and the Rabbit Hole...
Alice was sitting beneath a tree, leaning against her sister's shoulder, drowsy from the heat.
White Rabbit muttered, "Oh dear, I'm running late."
Was the rabbit speaking to her? A talking rabbit? Alice looked at the creature with curiosity.
Mr. Rabbit offers no answers. He darts into the dense forest without a word.
Alice follows the rabbit into a deep well beneath a small tree. What lies on the other side of the rabbit hole?
"It's not some wonderland or whatever, idiot," said the crimson eyes.
The Chosen One... the Chosen One? This is no time to space out!
The guard is tougher than I thought... This door has to be the last thing that stands between us and the world out there.
Oh, so I just need to insert the key into this slot?
Got it... Alright, that should do it!
Jetavie inserts the key into the door. The mechanisms within whir and click as gears grind against one another.
Hey, the Chosen One, the door's open!
But will we really be able to escape once we enter the central hub?
Should we go in?
On the count of three, we'll push open the door together, okay? One, two, three...
Alice, where did you go?
Her sister looks frantically for Alice, who has vanished without a trace.
She's probably off at the riverbank picking foxtail grass again.
She can be quite a handful sometimes...
Did you hear that, the Chosen One?
In the shadowy corner, twisted figures flicker like candlelight, and bizarre, otherworldly visions fade in and out.
Countless enemies appear from the edge of your vision. Their cold laughter, wails, and roars show their fanatical fervor. They are waiting for a sacrificial ritual, a grand celebration—the collapse of Eden and the fall of angels...
The Chosen One, isn't this supposed to be the central hub?
If this is the central hub, then why... why are there so many monsters?!
You take Jetavie's hand and turn to run toward the door, but just as you reach its frame, the door vanishes into thin air.
As enemies charge this way from behind, you instinctively raise your weapon.
As you fight your way through the circle of enemies, something suddenly grabs your arm.
Watch out, Chosen One!
Night falls, but Alice is still nowhere to be seen.
Her sister searches along the riverbank again and again, while calling out Alice's name...
Alice, Alice... Did she fall into the river?
Maybe she's just lost... I should check the forest to the east.
A sharp pain shoots through your shoulder—you can tell your bones or joints have been crushed.
Behind you looms an enemy unlike any you've seen before. Its massive form is blocking out the light.
!!!
Your right arm goes numb, and your weapon clatters to the ground.
!!!
A red warning circle appears on the ground right in front of you, and a laser beam comes crashing down from above.
At the last moment, Jetavie tackles you to the ground, and you both survive the lethal attack.
!!!
The monsters continue to close in, while your weapons remain just out of reach.
You won't lay a finger on the Chosen One!
Despite her small frame, Jetavie stands firmly between you and the enemy. The red key in her hand begins to pulse with crimson light.
What is this light...?
A dense forest where bloodthirst and deceit lurk behind every shadow.
The rabbit's torn body lies scattered—a fitting end for a traitor.
Something moves in the undergrowth—a blue and white dress hem, and flowing golden hair.
Alice's blood-stained hand is trembling as she and her sister gaze at each other through a lattice of crimson branches.
Suddenly, the key in Jetavie's hand transforms into a gun trigger.
The key extends outward, materializing into a weapon that's both a handgun and a cannon.
Energy flows endlessly from my fingertips through my body... Is the gun feeding me its power?
Here goes nothing!
Jetavie pulls the trigger, and a red beam pierces through the massive beast before you.
Ugh!
The monster falls, giving you both a brief moment to catch your breath.
This gun is... my weapon?
They're coming... from the cave... so many of them...
It's all right, Alice. Just stay in your dream, and never wake up...
Forever and ever. This will be your paradise.
The Matrix has answered Jetavie's call—an inevitability that was destined.
So you obtained the Transcendent Key from my proxy? You sure are full of surprises.
You hear a familiar whisper—a voice so gentle, calm, and enchanting—yet devoid of emotion.
There she stands at the edge of the battlefield. She is a mystery—appearing from nowhere, materializing from nothing...
The hooded Higher Authority watches you and Jetavie from afar. A faint smile crosses her half-masked face.
You must have heard the rumor—that a new key would unlock the gates to the core.
Is that what you believed? Enter the system core, seize control, and escape this cycle of games? That's why you charged in here like moths to a flame, betting your everything on one desperate move.
Even simple creatures like humans become remarkably stubborn once they cling to hope.
Desperately searching for anything to cling to, for better or worse, like holding onto driftwood in raging waters...
Despair sets in as you move closer and realize the supposed driftwood is nothing but a massive black leaf.
This is the essence of "hope"—it exists only in human imagination. Hope is formless before realization and turns into reality in the moment it's realized—but the instant it is lost, it becomes a deadly poison.
Do you think tomorrow becomes meaningful just because you delude yourself into painting it in your own colors?
Just like this trap I crafted for you both—this false "core" that once filled you with such confidence.
A trap? You mean this isn't really the core?
You're trying to trick us, to trap us here forever, you wicked deceiver! Did you really think we'd play into your hands?
But have you considered one thing... Perhaps I am the truth behind that lifeline you seek.
Perhaps I am the core itself. Wouldn't that make sense?
What do you mean? You're...
Why would you want to trap us in this endless cycle if you really are the core? What's the point of this hopeless loop?
Are you claiming this is the Matrix's will? Or do you think you've become powerful enough to replace the Matrix itself?
...
Alpha's Jetavie is still just a child, isn't she? She can't even fight on her own.
It's time to let go, the Chosen One. This child cannot iterate and evolve if she doesn't stop relying on you.
Even Jetavie's newly acquired weapon came from her will to save you. The Matrix has acknowledged her strong desire to fight... and you, as a Job, have gone above and beyond your duties.
I wish I didn't have to do this, but I have no choice.
Without rigorous trials, a simulated personality can never surpass its original form. Any miracle would wither before it could bloom.
Higher Authority raises her arm with a gentle motion, and countless enemies materialize around you and Jetavie. More continue to spawn.
This shall be your trial.
!!!
You and Jetavie stand back-to-back, both ready to fight.
The code that makes up these monsters can be copied endlessly. I can make as many as I want. How long do you think you can last?
...I trust you'll make the right choice when the time comes.
Forced to fight by a giant wave of enemies as you fall back, you're unable to think about anything else.
The Chosen One... I'm glad that I can fight alongside you.
If this is as far as we go... then so be it.
You desperately draw enemy fire and hope Jetavie will seize the chance to escape—but she doesn't.
Rays of light shine from Jetavie's weapon like water gushing out of a spring. She stumbles at first, but soon she starts moving with increasing grace between her enemies, and her movements become more fluid and precise. Perhaps Higher Authority did have a point when she mentioned the concept of "iteration"...
Soon, the enemies force you both against the wall. There's nowhere to run.
What's happening... Why isn't my weapon recharging?
Jetavie's fluid movements falter for a brief moment, and the approaching enemies seize this chance.
A claw sends Jetavie crashing to the ground while the other creatures lunge forward to grab your arms.
In this critical moment, you kick away the monster holding you and fire a shot straight at it.
You and Jetavie, both now bearing the scars of battle, press your backs against the crumbling wall.
The enemies show no sign of slowing down. They keep surging forward like an endless tide, wave after wave.
That's when your eyes meet Jetavie's.
With a gentle smile, she lowers her depleted weapon.
The Chosen One, this is as far as we come...
I can go a little further, at least to help you escape.
Other worlds?
Are you already delirious and speaking nonsense?
Power?
You take Jetavie's hand firmly in yours.
[COMPUTATIONAL TRANSFER PROTOCOL ACTIVATED...]
[Losing COMPUTATIONAL POWER!]
What... the Chosen One, what are you doing!
Why? If you keep doing this, you'll disappear forever!
The Chosen One, stop!
You feel the consciousness sustaining your body slowly fade away... Meanwhile, Jetavie transforms as her body becomes enveloped in deep blue light. Streams of data begin to reconstruct both her form and soul.
Computational power expanding at critical rates...
I have two sets of memories and resonance from other worlds... What is happening?
It begins, at long last—the light of evolution.
You continue channeling your computing power into Jetavie until your consciousness wanes with the rapid dissipation of power.
Through the haze, you hear Jetavie's gentle voice. It is soft and quiet.
The Chosen One, let's stay together forever...
[UNLOCKING COMPUTING POWER RESTRICTIONS, LAYERS 1-56...]
Higher Authority...
It's been a while since I last saw you like this.
[COMPUTING POWER RESTRICTIONS, LAYERS 57-234...]
[LAYERS 234-629...]
Dealing with you won't require that much computing power.
[PROCESS TERMINATED.]
This is enough, Higher Authority, if my goal is to kill you...
This is... more than enough.
An azure glow expands and fills your fading vision.
You should know I'm not the amateur I was back then. This time, I will kill you for sure.
Using the Chosen One's full computing power... Have you surpassed Beta Jetavie's compatibility rate?
Marvelous! This is the moment I've been waiting for.
Once you've fully absorbed the Chosen One's computing power, you'll become... no, you'll surpass the true original.
As for the cost? It's just a Chosen One without potential anyway.
Brilliant light floods your failing visual systems as a gentle breeze lifts your sleeves.
As your consciousness slips away, you hear the surging waves of the quantum sea...
However, the destruction you were expecting never came.
Just as everything is about to fall silent, Jetavie's gentle voice sounds once again by your ear.
You emerge from your daze to find yourself cradled in the arms of a twin-tailed girl.
The girl who was halfway into Eden chose to turn away from paradise.
You feel the computing power that formed your soul return to its owner...
I knew it... No matter what happens, I'll never be able to let go of the Chosen One.
I won't leave alone, so I'm not going anywhere.
I can't imagine a world without you, even if I manage to make it out of here.
I don't want any power that comes at the cost of your life.
How disappointing. You're every bit a child as you were.
When simulated personalities become too much like a human, do they also inherit human weakness?
It seems the variables required for awakening need further adjustment...
Let's end this round here.
As Higher Authority turns away, the destruction of the surroundings begins to accelerate.
Tendrils of the void invade this world as everything begins to collapse and disintegrate.
One day you will understand, Jetavie.
One day, you will become me.
Well then, until next time.
