USH'S MATRIX GAME 2006 FIFTH ASSIGNMENT- 'The Pagoda'

"No I am not," he says

Indeed it was.

So, what now?

Heph steps forwards, the Shield in hand.

"We need to put the Shield in action, then," Heph says, holding up the vial. "Sennacherib said you would know what to do with it."

"Unofrtunately," says Lo Qi's voice, "you are not the only ones who know that."

He steps out into the room in front of you, from behind one of the alcoves down the sides.

"I should have known that was coming," Mors sighs, drawing his katana. "What's this, then, Melitus?"

"Sennacherib said that Zion will lose the war even with destruction of Matrix. Does it change anything in your plan?"- Melkor speaks to LO Qi.

"I think that it may doesn`t matter to you, but Jericho has more down to earth goals."

"Oh, great, now I have two people I want to shoot..." Ares says, cocking his MAC10 for effect.

"I say go for it man...let loose the anger" Cloud says to Ares, drawing two of his swords.

"What this is," says Melitus, "is what you get for..."

hahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

"... your interference before. The System removed my guards, and hence..."

hahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

"... I was unable to stop them."

Lo Qi's eldery advisor walks out on his staff also, followed by a large number of Monks now crowding into the area, some of which wield very large bows.

"And of course," says Lo Qi, "your other resources seem to have taken against you, Melitus. And one in particular knew enough of your capacities to warn us of this possiblity."

Walking out now comes the Hunter- Jericho.

"Sennacehrib is hardly an unbiased source," says Lo Qi, "nor does he have any real idea of the outside world any more. His wisdom belongs purely in the past; mine is about the future. I dislike violence, of course, bt you will all die anyway so my conscience is clear."

"Because living up in a monastery completely isolated gives you such a great idea of the rest of the world, right?" San says, pulling out her knives.

"I isolate myself from Humans, not from reality," says Lo Qi. "Whereas he is in seclusion having lost his purpose, I am fulfilling mine. Centuries spent analysing the situation gives me a certain edge, I feel."

"...and you couldn't have just kept them in a disinfection cycle?" Cloud asks Meltius rherotically.

"Simply analysing something is not going to give all the answers, or haven't you ever heard that there's always a point where study will tell you no more and you need to actually experience things for yourself to learn? Because I remember being told that at a rather young age..."

"Sennacherib is, or perhaps was, the greatest strategic programme ever created. And he was certain that Zion would lose the war. You have overlooked something, Jericho."- Melkor speaks to the Hunter.

"Is it all truly worth the genocide? If you think that your "existance" is a failure, you should seek ways to end only yourself, not others to pay for your mistakes."

"I have contact to all the experience I need," says Lo Qi. "Aside from the people I have made contact with, it's simply part of my design to be able to acquire data. Besides, having experienced the divine, I have a certainty that you simoly cannot match."

"I/have/o/ver/looked/no/thing. you/speak/on/ly/in/ig/nor/ance. this/is/man/kinds/last/hope."

"F*ck this man, I really just want to shoot someone, and one of you monks is going to have to do. This has been the most bullshit thing I've ever been jerked around to do. And trust me, I've done some pretty bullshit things in the past. Trust me. And killing your crew the first time was one of them Jerico."
Burn swings out his shotgun, and cocks it with one hand.
He turns to Ares.
"'Bout f*cking time" he mutters under his breath.

"I reject your promise of hope, based upon the death of millions. And you would want humanity to destroy all the Machines, would you? Such victory is hardly worth much. Machines are not fundamentally worse than we are, they deserve right to live. And your plan is borne as much from your desperation and desire to find some meaning for yourself, as from logic and strategy."- Melkor responds, staring at the Hunter, somehow managing not to cough blood.

"man/kind/is/des/per/ate. that/is/not/my/do/ing. But/my/way/is/bet/ter/than/cer/tain/death/for/all. that/is/the/al/ter/na/tive."

"You have not changed much..." comments Melitus in the background about you, Burn, possibly unheard.

"Are you so sure?" -Melkor responds to Hunter, and looks at Melitus, like counting on some aid from him.

Berserker pulls out his weapons.

"I was thinking this was too easy so far..," then turning to Lo Qi, "I thought machines only looked at logic yet I hear you talking about the divine. So tell me what is divine for you, Evolution?"

Lordy, forgotten the Philo path already?