The city is silent. Lights are dim, and the night quite.. Neo sees the giant pillars of packed rooms. Are they safe he wonders, then suddenly..

C: I do not want to intrude if you wish to be alone (Councillor Hamann walks in, not all were sleeping after all! )

N (startled but also relieved): no I could use some company

C (smiles gently) : so could I

N (looks up the solid dark sky of earths crust and lets out a silent sigh): city is really quite

C: indeed, seems like everyone is sleeping peacfully

N: well not everyone!

C: I hate sleeping .. sometimes I feel I have slept for so long.. missed so much.

N: what do you mean

C (stares at the sky for moment then looks down the fathomless depth of zion, as if diving deep within himself): there is so much in this world Neo, that I don’t understand.. questions like why am I here, who am I, though they seem pertinent they also appear irrelevant at times, as though I would be able to do something about it if I knew..

N: knowledge gives us power to control.. its always for the better

C: is it really?! what if whole point of this orchestra of experiences, plethora of people was to learn to let go? what if bliss indeed lies in ignorance... and that knowledge is  just a cover up for what we are at the very core.

N: thats as may be.. but without control there would be total chaos

C: and whats so likeable about order.. I ask.. No one is better suited to comply with order than machines.. if to err is human, i reckon to embrace chaos is also just as much human..

N:  maybe it is, whats your point Councillor

C: (admits) I don’t know, may there isn’t any. Do you ever wish Neo that someday you would be able to peal of the pretense of existence and see once and for all what life is all about? When you would be able to remove the cloak of pleasant appearances people put on and see their real faces...., do you ever wish that someone would just snap you out of this dream of reality and you’ll see what real truly feels like? Doesn’t reality bother you Neo? are we pretending to be awake just because we are scared to admit that we are rather asleep? is Zion for real? are you?

N (is taken aback,  if Zion isn’t real, what is? ): I would like to believe it is (convincing himself as he speaks)

C: there you have it! its the belief that makes it real. Its this belief that makes you to exist. What if someday that belief gets shaken, if i were to convince you that to exist is to be perceived and that it has nothing to do with you. What would you do then?

N (questions are tormenting the already worried mind, as if the pictures from Osiris were not enough) : What are we without our beliefs counselor, aren’t those are foundation, so if those get shaken, yes we would fall.. At every step, at every moment reality bothers me, I am always forced to question its veracity, its meaning and its purpose. People bother me their pretense bothers me, When i look around i sometimes feel that all i am seeing is just a contrived existence frame after frame. How can that not trouble someone, Architect is good at his job after all, maybe even here! but you can question only so much, after that you have to start believing in something right? If what we got from Osiris is true soon there would be millions of machines trying to drill there way through this roof, would it be able to endure most definitely not. But we have to believe we can stop them, otherwise aren’t we already dead.

C(can feel the desperation in Neo's voice): I know, I know (he reassures), but what if the propensity to get free, and illusion of succeeding at it.. is just another level of control. What if the splinter is not the epicenter of reason and contemplation what if its nothing but an implant. If the only thing separating real from the unreal is a belief. I would say its a close call.

N: I know but i would take it..

C (nods):I know you would, i did too, but i just wonder we freed these people, brought them to this “real” world only to let them question their choice?

N: We brought them here to believe.. Existence is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for life. You have to add purpose to it and for that you have to believe that its all for the better..

C: of course (pauses, then nodes again) ofcourse.. then believe shouldn’t we ?! (smiles)

N: yeah  indeed (smiles back)

Both stare at the city roof over the deck and hope (even if its a quintessential human delusion!) that some how the resistance would hold, but they both know that soon the steel would give way and ammunition would run out and at that dire time perhaps only respite would be a belief in unsuccumbing human will to survive and perhaps to matter. Reality of course would be second priority.