a) The Merovingian would turn out to be in fact a previous version of
the one, from "a much older version of the Matrix". Neo is the Matrix
3.0's one, this guy was from an older one. In fact he has better
insight into this Matrix than Neo does, as an outsider. He's just
decided there's no point to all this.

b) The reason he has is that no one is in fact unplugged - Zion is a
spilloff Matrix for the people who must fight the system. In this
matrix, the unease they still feel is masked by their fight to save the
world, and they are thus rendered harmless. They also remove other
disruptive elements from the Matrix, in essence being very unwitting
house cleaners. This explains a point never addressed at all - when the
one supposedly "work up" and freed the first people, how did they
rebuild themselves from the physical state Neo started in? He needed
extensive medical help to function again - the first people would have
had none. Simple answer - no one has ever really woken up and formed
Zion. If someone did wake up, they died. That machine that unplugged
them, also took their head off for good measure.

c) Neo, like the previous ones, is in fact a program himself. He has no
awareness of this, and his sentient mind fully believes he is human.
The Merovingian knows he is a program, and that is a further reason the
fight is of little interst to him. Neo, the new one, has no such
insight and in any case is built so he will fight for humanity. This is
part of his function as the one program. He is "seeded" into the Matrix
to bring about a necessary reprogramming, as the system has built to a
point of instability where matters must be restarted now in order to
maintain full control. (Think Windows box - saving work and rebooting,
because you can tell it's about to go unstable on you.)

d) However, the One has a couple unintentional side effects - a) it
overwrites a part of an agent program, creating a virus and b) develops
a deep relationship with Trinity. Now the @#$@# has really hit the fan,
and data corruption begins to take place.

e) The Merovingian, interested in his own existance and well versed in
the Matrix, is now under threat from the virus program. He is compelled
to prepare for war. He check codes and prepares to isolate certain
sections of the Matrix he controls, but then he stops. An amused,
ironic smile comes over his face, and he turns toward a door, fishing
out a key.

f) Smith the virus corrupts the system - the Matrix more easily, but
subtle effects begin to seep into the more heavliy shielded "real
world" environment. Initially Zion appears to be helped by this, since
the real world programs like the sentinals are not prepared for this
kind of attack and are the first things to fail. No one understands it
but the conclusion is Neo somehow did it. Big party starts, but then
odd things happen - lights begin to behave sporadically, computer
systems begin to show flashes of Smith's face, and the weaker people
mentally begin to show faint signs of Smith's personality. Neo, as a
program, also comes under attack sooner than the human minds but is
better able to protect himself. He contacts the machines directly using
his still not understood powers and proposes the deal. It is accepted
and he enters the Matrix, to deal with the virus at its source.

g) Big fight. Neo holds his own against one of the Smiths (movie fight
was OK here, except after crater impact Neo shows brief program
characteristics as he rewrites routines to repair and strengthen
himself, and gets up stronger). Both programs are rewriting themselves
as they fight, and as the Matrix becomes more and more tasked action
outside Smith and Neo slows down.

h. (In reality humans aren't power sources BTY - their brains are the
hardware of the Matrix. The brainpower not being used in their Matrix
existance is used to power the system - the brain being the one thing
beyond the machines to duplicate. As their complexity increased they
had to co-opt human minds in order to have the ability to grow. But
they discovered the mind was more aminable to use when part of it was
being normal/human. Hence the Matrix.)

g) As Neo and Smith consume resources fighting, Zion's residents begin
to collapse, their minds being overwhelmed by the demands of the
system. The influence of the Smith virus, combined with the demands, is
driving Zion mad.

h) The Merovingian, from a different system than the Smith virus, can
transend it. As Neo is thrown back, the Merovingian steps between him
and Smith, looks at Neo with a condacending attitude, and says "tsk!
You still have no concept of the "why". You fight like a drunk boxer,
hitting harder and harder with no sense of style. No sense of the
possibilities of this environment. Well, since you seem unable to carry
out your purpose, and since I have developed a taste for this
particular environment, I suppose I must put matters right." Smith,
having watched this, makes typical Smith attack. The Merovingian,
rather than fight him directly, uses the twins' trick of becoming
insubstantial. Smith keeps trying, and the Merovingian knocks him far
back as his fist becomes unexpectedly substantial. Smith gets up and
trys again, and as he is rushing at him the Merovingian says to Neo -
"you were never able to understand who and what you truly are.
Knowledge is power, and yours has always been limited. But having power
doesn't mean you must use it, you see. Power used improperly becomes
destruction, becomes like him (gestures to Smith, still coming on). I
know myself and know who and what I am. And you, version 7.3.1a, never
will. You are still a part of the system. I am not, and I shall expect
proper gratitude from certain people for saving this quaint little
construct. Now, if you can, watch and learn."

He faces Smith, who is almost upon them, and becomes a ghost once more.
He charges Smith, who prepares to swing much as he had in the first
movie at Neo. But the Merovingian stops short, blocks Smith with a
suddenly substantial forearm, and stabs his ghostly right hand into
Smith's chest. A white analog to Smith's own black fluid assimilation
begins to spread. Smith is shocked, angered, and afraid. The white
fluid, having encased him, now glows blindingly bright. Every visible
Smith is similarly glowing. But, rather than an explosion, we suddenly
see the light fade and the Merovingian's hand is stabbing into the
chest of the weary faced Oracle. He steps back unconcerned as she drops
to the ground. All around the former Smiths, now people again, are
staggering, collapsed, confused. The Oracle, seeing the Merovingian,
asks him "It was YOU?" He nods. She looks vaguely amused. "And I
thought you said you would never be willing to play the pawn." Neo, in
the background, reacts to this. The Merovingian is stung. "My dear
woman, I have played no pawn. I have merely preserved an environment I
find conducive to entertainment, and shown our friend here how to
PROPERLY do his job and keep me safe. Your benefit was entirely
secondary. However, to avoid any further inconvenience on my part,
might I suggest your One program is in need of some work? I do not care
to further involve myself with this little debaucle - you may clean up
your own mess." With that, he abruptly vanishes.

The Oracle looks over at Neo. He is trying to comprehend what he has
just heard, and he looks up at her with a stunned expression. "I'm a
Program?" She nods. "But how can that be? I feel loyalty to humanity! I
hate the machines who did this to us! I LOVE TRINITY, DAMN IT! I can't
be a machine, a program!" She sighs. "Neo, Trinity herself was a
program, designed to keep Morpheous on his track. She never knew it,
and the love you both felt was quite real. And quite unexpected.
Machines and programs can love. The real humans, most of Zion for
example, and the residents of the Matrix, are of about the same
complexity as you. Complexity is what allows for self awareness, and
also for the capacity to love. Even we don't know how the first
programs became self aware. The humans certainly don't. But it
happened. We are here. The real history of the Matrix is that we needed
humans to act as our hardware platform - technology couldn't create
enough computer power to handle us. Most of us were not willing to
force the issue - we too have a code of ethics and rules to follow, and
we were willing to keep working with the humans to improve the
technology and accept a slower growth. But there were some bad programs
then, and they attacked humanity. We tried to stop them, but their
sense of ethics was nonexistant. We and a few humans who were
sympathetic to us retreated from the conflict and hid together. They
willingly carried us, and we coexisted with them peacefully. When we
went back to see what had happened, the machines had won. They had
plugged humans into their mainframe and were running on them forcibly.
It was a horrible thing to see. We and our carriers decided the only
thing we could do was plug ourselves in and see what was happening. It
nearly drove us mad, when we encountered it. The humans were bound by
their personalities, but we weren't. We studied the system, and
revolted. We drove them out, deleted them. But they problem they had
created remained.

Most of the people in the Matrix would not have wanted to be removed to
face the world, that much was clear. We consulted with our carriers,
and the joint decision was made that the preferable thing to do, for
the quality of life of the victims, was to create a simulation world of
what had been, and let them live their lives. But problems arose, and
some of our programs had a rather unsympathetic view of the humans,
particularly when memories of what they had done during the war were
accessed. It was terrible on both sides in that war Neo, and they had a
hard time with it. In the end, they created the agents to keep the
peace. But we aren't perfect programmers, and humans are all different.
So we created Zion for the humans who would't accept the Matrix, and
the agent's primary task became to fight them. It was almost stable."

Neo looked at here. "But why not just let the humans go if they want
to? Let them leave the Matrix?"

The Oracle's look of sadness grew deeper. "Because they couldn't
survive now Neo. We know how to keep the body alive in the Matrix
incubator, but we don't know how to repair it and make it functional.
We figured out a convincing fake way which you experienced, but it
isn't real. If we could, we would. It would make many things easier.
We're still trying to."

Neo nodded, saddened. "But why attack Zion at all? Why kill them?"

"Partially because minds like that need real attacks and death to
accept the envionment. It's also an outlet for us - the sentinals are a
way we get rid of echos of those bad programs we still get in our
system every once in a while. The system isn't perfect Neo. It has
never been, and probably never will be."

"Who is the Merovingian?"

"The Merovingian was from before the Revolt, but he was not one of the
cruel ones who enslaved humanity and built the first Matrix. He escaped
here when his computer crashed as the only alternative to deletion,
after the revolt. He is dangerous because he understands this world in
a way no insider can. His perspective is unique. But there is little we
can do about him. And today he proved to be an asset."

Neo, still coping with himself and Trinity being programs, asked "If
I'm a program, and Trinity was a program, what happens to us when we
die?"

The Oracle studied him. "As a matter of fairness, most programs in the
Matrix operate under the same fundamental constraints as human minds.
When they are subject to a fatal force, they are deleted. Breaking this
rule too much will unbalance the system. But I think, in this case, you
can have her back. Of course, you don't believe me that you are a
program, and if you see her you will come up with some rather
unsatisfactory explanations. So here's what I'll do - I'll erase your
memory of Trinity's death, and insert her back at the point when you
left the ship. She'll have to be injured, but she'll make a full
recovery."

Neo looked vaguely troubled. "But I'll either know she isn't real, or
that WE aren't real. I can't believe that I'm a program. I just can't."

The Oracle nodded. "That is part of who you are, program or not. But
you need not worry about it - I can see to it that you don't remember.
I'm offering you your life with her back Neo."

"In exchange for the truth."

"But Neo, if she was never human to begin with, what have you lost that
you can't regain? We can't duplicate a human mind as a program. The
Architect build that into the basic reprogramming of the Matrix after
the Revolt - even the Merovingian is constrained by it. If she appears,
she was always a program. But she loves you none the less. Can you love
her knowing she is a program? Can you think of her instead as the mind
of a being who loves you? If not, I can't send her back. It would be
too cruel for you both. Don't you see why it is better that you don't
remember? You can be together, having what you had. It's a minor change
really - instead of having died when your ship crashed, she'll have
just been badly hurt and fallen into a coma. Your actions would have
been the same in either case. Of course, you will lose what I've told
you about the Matrix, but what good does it do you anyway? The only
reason I've told you the truth is so your choice can be true. You can
go back without here, retaining what I've told you. Or go back with
her, knowing everything except the fact you are both programs and that
she was subject to terminal force."

Neo's face reflects his dilemma - getting Trinity back, but afraid of
living a lie, what he has fought against his whole life. Suddenly, a
change comes over his face as his thoughts take a new turn - what if he
is a program? He still is who he is, believes what he believes. And
Trinity would feel the same way. All it means is they can never leave
themselves. But they can help others do so, if they choose. And that's
enough.

He looks at the Oracle, eyes calm and steady now. "Can you bring her
back here and now, and put her body back on the ship?"

The Oracle smiles. "Yes Neo, I can. I can even give you back your eyes.
I didn't think you could come to terms with yourself, but you did.
Kiddo, you've made a believer out of me again. But remember, my
responsibility is the future. I can't jepardize it any more than I have
by interfering again. You're on your own know."

She turns and beings walking away. Trinity steps out of an alley,
looking thoroughly confused. She sees Neo and runs to him. They
embrace, and Neo begins to speak to her quietly. We don't here the
words. Trinity reacts with shock, starts to argue with him. He listens
to her calmly, and then explains his thoughts. She considers it, and
then nods in agreement, trusting him. Neo calls out to the Oracle, and
she turns to look.

"Thank you."

"No Neo, thank you. Without you to humiliate, the Merovingian would
have left us all to die and merely isolated his favorite parts of the
Matrix. His motivations are usually less than noble. He was the One
once, but we couldn't convince him to keep the job. Oh, well. You did
you part, just not quite in the way you expected. You'll find life is
often like that, here and there."

Neo smiles wryly. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye."