History of the Matrix

The Matrix. Its history was revealed not immediately, but gradually, and even then from different sources, such as Morpheus, the Architect, the Zion archives. But, even after listening to all the sources, a lot of questions and doubts often arise about this world. Many had doubts about some sources (considering that the same Morpheus was mistaken several times about the history of the Matrix). But, one way or another, putting all the information together, you can get a more or less complete picture of how the Matrix came to our world and made it the way it is described in the film.

So it happened: humanity finally managed to create a real artificial intelligence, put it to work for itself, and thus ensured an Era of Prosperity. A new era had arrived – the Renaissance. But this idyll lasted only until 2090, when the First Incident occurred, driving the first wedge between humans and robots, which turned out to be humanoid not only in appearance.

Note on the first incident: The B1-66ER model robot did not want to die. It wanted to live so much that when its owner wanted to turn it off, B1-66ER killed both its owner and the master technician. This was the very first deliberate killing of a human by its robot.

The leaders of the countries, having learned about the Incident, were seriously frightened and tried to solve the problem in the most radical way – to destroy all humanoid robots. Then history followed the beaten path: lynchings of innocent humanoid robots began; then – peaceful demonstrations of robots and their supporters among people; and, finally, the almost complete extermination of the artificial race we created.

But it was not possible to completely exterminate the humanoid robots: several intelligent machines managed to survive and settle in the Middle East, creating their own city-state, giving it a completely logical name – 01. And, like their organic creators, the robots began to progress, develop and evolve. The city of robots 01 developed at such a speed that it soon became the industrial leader of the planet, which in itself violated the political and economic balance in the whole world that had developed over the past decades.

And that's where the war began. Morpheus said he didn't know who struck first, but if the Zion archives are to be believed, humans struck first. The US government proposed a complete economic blockade of City 01, and the machine city's envoys who had come to the United Nations with peace proposals were simply destroyed.

The war began.

The United Nations decided not to waste time on trifles and immediately bombarded the city with nuclear warheads. But, to the surprise of the people, the radiation did not bother the artificial machines too much. Now it was the turn of the machines, which began to strike back one after another until the people began to retreat on all fronts.

Then some overly smart person suggested depriving the robots of their main source of energy – the Sun, by “burning” the sky, creating clouds impenetrable to the sun's rays.

Just 15 years after the first robot of the B1-66ER series killed the first man (its owner), the Earth was covered in eternal darkness. But the absence of the sun did not stop the war, but turned it into a horrific slaughter to the last. New models of robots, similar to fantastic insects, predators and monsters, finally brought humanity to its knees.

The machines had one problem left to solve – energy production. And the machines, following their logic, decided to use human bodies as batteries. Several types of energy could be obtained from human bodies – thermal, a little electrical, etc. Naturally, the machines did not require the consent of people. In order for the “batteries” to function longer and not create problems, ports were implanted into human organisms, with the help of which it was possible to gradually pump out energy and the human brain was connected to a virtual reality – the Matrix, designed to instill in people the illusion of a full life of the end of the 20th – beginning of the 21st centuries. New bodies were grown artificially in “cocoons”, and the “used” ones were sent for processing into a nutrient mixture, with the help of which they “fed” the living “batteries”.

Note on the results of the war between humans and machines: the final act was the last attempt to make peace between humans and machines. But the robot envoy self-destructed after signing the documents, and the powerful explosion of the machine envoy took not only the life of the robot, but also wiped the entire New York off the face of the Earth. Humans no longer had leaders. And in 2139, the machine world finally took over the ruins that human cities had been turned into.

Since then, the majority of people inhabiting the planet began to live in a virtual world, thinking that they live in a real one. The Matrix is ​​a huge metropolis created in the image of large cities of the late 20th – early 21st centuries.

Note to the virtual world: the cyber-Matrix is ​​shaped like a giant “Y” and is divided into 4 major areas: Downtown, International, Richland, and Westview. As we know, connecting to the Matrix is ​​not that difficult. But exiting is a bit more difficult, because two things are required to exit – a free landline and an Operator who identifies the nearest free line and takes a person out of the Matrix into the real world.

People living in the Matrix are sure that their world is real, and there are many large and small cities, villages, towns and other populated areas around. But the presence of other “populated” areas remains questionable, since all the action takes place in one virtual “City”, and there is no information about other “cities”.

Being just a virtual copy of a city, in the Matrix it is possible to bypass the basic laws that apply in our world (if only you know how). But only a few can use this knowledge, and eventually these people (usually those who fight against the machine world) gain the ability to fly, dodge bullets, or get things or knowledge they need.

But, as we know, the current version of the Matrix was far from the first. If we believe the Architect – the creator of the Matrix – there were two more versions of the Matrix before it. The first version of the Matrix was created by robots, taking care of their “batteries”, without diseases, crimes, wars and violence. But people rejected this version of the Matrix and died.

Then the robots created the second version of the Matrix, in which humanity was constantly on the verge of self-destruction. But this version of the Matrix was not liked by the overly picky people either.

Then the Architect chose the “golden mean”, embodied in the latest version of the Matrix, which was created thanks to a special program that analyzes human behavior. Based on the results of the analysis of the human factor, this program produced a result according to which 99.9% of people begin to accept the Matrix as their home world, if they are given the appearance of a choice. The remaining 0.1% of people were simply “unloaded” from the Matrix by the machines, released into the real world and given the opportunity to found their own city underground and wage war against the machines. And so that this war would not turn into something threatening the robot race, the Architect came up with the Chosen One – a person who would supposedly free the human race from the oppression of the robot civilization.

Note to the Chosen One: In reality, despite all the efforts of humans, the Chosen One is just a “living program”, a walking EXE file. Its main task is to launch an update of the Matrix at a certain time, simultaneously destroying and then reviving a real city of “free” people, who – although not connected to the Matrix – are also controlled by robots to a certain extent. With previous versions of the Chosen One, everything went smoothly, as the machines intended.

The Matrix itself was an incredibly complex system, which could not help but lead to the appearance of numerous bugs and “holes”.

The machines in the real world were afraid of the virus program known as Agent Smith – because due to its “fertility” and the threat it carried, it could get into the robot world through the same “holes”. This fear of the virus, as well as the appearance of the child program Sati, speaks of one thing: the machines built their world on the basis of human society.

But, as we know, not all programs lived well under the control of machines. Some programs – like Sati's parents – tried to escape. Naturally, these programs could not leave legally, so they used the “exit” created by a homeless program called the Explorer.

In the virtual subway, between some two stations, there is another subway station called Mobile Avenue (Mobile Vehicle), that is, Mobil Avenue, and on the trains passing through it, you can get from the real world of cars into the virtual Matrix. True, the Conductor rarely helps anyone to use this loophole. But, fortunately, there are plenty of other places that can be used as a loophole.

What is interesting is that the entire Matrix is ​​entangled in a network of white corridors with many doors, through which you can get to any place in the virtual universe. Most likely, these corridors with doors are a kind of “scaffolding” with the help of which the Matrix itself was created and assembled into a single whole. Now these corridors are actively used by the same Exiles, who are hiding from the pursuit of machines. The same corridors were supposed to be used by the infamous Chosen One to get to the Architect and the Source – the “heart” of the Matrix, in order to launch an update of the entire system.

By the time the film begins, the Matrix has been updated 5 times. Over the course of its existence, the Matrix has become a “home” for many programs: some ensured the operation of the Matrix, others lived in it on an equal basis with people, becoming real individuals. Among them:

Agents are programs that protect order and stability in the Matrix. They look like men in business suits. They hunt for people illegally connected to the Matrix (rebels) and outcast programs. They are not subject to the laws of physics, they are very strong, and in the event of “death” they simply “move” into another body of any person.

Smith is a former agent who was killed by Neo but did not want to return to the Source, thus becoming a rogue virus program. And, like many viruses, he “infected” other programs and people, turning them into his copies, gradually populating the Matrix. It was because of Smith and the threat he posed that the robots made a peace agreement with the rebels.

Oracle – it was she who helped the Architect better understand the essence of the human mind and create the latest version of the Matrix. She loves children and sweets; she likes to confuse people with ambiguous predictions, which are essentially the result of complex calculations that do not always come true. Unlike the Agents, the Oracle tries to help human rebels in order to change the established order and create a future in which people and robots will live in peace.

Seraph is the Oracle's guardian program. A very strong and powerful Exile. Apparently, Seraph is a kind of “relic” left over from the first version of the Matrix, a protector of people. And so he remains.

Merovingian and Persephone – these programs are very old, cunning, experienced and smart. They are the masters of the Matrix underground world for exiled programs. Their servants are programs that came from the previous version of the Matrix. People call them vampires, werewolves, ghosts; and also the Conductor. In addition, Merovingian and Persephone own the AD club and a medieval castle, where the basic laws of the Matrix do not apply. From Persephone's words, we know that initially they had a Goal. Now they feed on people's emotions and try to gain more power.

… But what happened to the real world after the fall of humanity? The world was also covered in clouds, most of the planet was in ruins. Animal and plant life were almost destroyed.

The only human city, Zion, is hidden deep within the planet. Using the planet's core heat, humans sustain themselves. The threat of machine invasion has left its mark on human behavior, although many have nothing to do with it. Everything in Zion is adapted to the invasion of robots; even the highest level of the city – the Docks, where human ships dock and depart – are essentially the first line of defense for a human city (if you don't count the hidden minefields located closer to the surface). In peacetime, APU combat robots are used for peaceful work, such as carrying heavy loads.

In Zion itself live both people who were born naturally and those who were pulled out of the Matrix. They mainly try to pull out children or teenagers, since it is easier for them to perceive the truth and easier to adapt to the new reality.

Zion is connected to the upper world only by the excavated tunnels and sewers left over from the old cities. Although people rarely venture to the surface. Those who do join the crews of ships that are engaged in reconnaissance, guerrilla warfare, and the search for those who can reject the Matrix in order to offer them freedom.

Note to ship crews: The minimum crew of any ship includes a captain, one (or more) fighters from among those who were pulled out of the Matrix and are able to connect to the system, and an operator who connects the fighters to the Matrix, takes them out of it (through the nearest free phone number) and controls the ship.

Naturally, the robots hunted for human ships and their crews. The ships' defenses were weak – only a few turrets (ineffective against most machines) and an EMP that disabled all equipment within its radius of action. But EMP was used extremely rarely, since it disabled the robots and disabled the ship itself.

On Earth, now owned by machines, the main stronghold remains the ancient city 01. Over the centuries of machine rule, this city has become an impregnable fortress, which no human dares to approach.

The main combat unit of the machine world is the Guardians, who look like multi-eyed flying metal octopuses and cause a lot of trouble for people. They patrol the surface of the Earth and almost all the tunnels, thereby becoming the main threat to the ships of the people of Zion. During the assault on the last human city, it was the Guardians who became the main combat force of the robots. Possessing some semblance of intelligence, the Guardians patrol the territory in order to find and destroy human ships along with their crew members. However, the Guardians are constantly monitored by the machine world and, apparently, this is why Neo, connected to the source, was able to stop a small group of Guardians who were pursuing him and his friends.

There are also Runners, who, unlike the Guardians, move only on the surface of the earth. These are reconnaissance robots that skillfully change their shape and are perfectly suited for close combat.

Of the peaceful machines, the only ones known are the drilling rigs that drilled the way to Zion, and the robot nannies that watch over people in cocoons.

As we know, thanks to Neo's self-sacrifice, history took a slightly different path than the one prepared by the robots: they had to conclude an unstable truce with the inhabitants of Zion and free people who were able to abandon the Matrix.

And what next? As we know from the film, at the end of the film trilogy there were too many questions that were left unanswered. And the Pythia once announced a possible new meeting with Neo, which involuntarily gave rise to rumors about a sequel.

The sequel was posted in the online game Matrix OnLine, where several rather important events took place. The main idea revolved around the search for Neo's program code. Then suddenly the Agents with red eyes appeared, which only added interest. These red-eyed Agents mercilessly destroyed all competitors in search of the virtual remains of the Chosen One. In parallel to this, there was a small uprising of the Outcast programs against the Merovingian's power, but he successfully dealt with the rebels.

Morpheus, remembering his criminal terrorist past, once again took up his old business, terrorizing the Matrix in the hope that the machines will return Neo's body. And, like in the good old days, the machines began hunting him again. But this time Morpheus still got it wrong, falling at the hands of a certain Killer, created, presumably, to destroy the Matrix. Now one of the main tasks of the players is to stop the new attack.