Tyndall: Recording beginning now.
Tyndall: Mission debriefing, Operative Ghost. Ghost, please tell us in your own words, the events of the last few weeks in the Matrix.

Ghost: We were originally sent in on orders from Zion Command, to investigate reports from other operatives that Captain Morpheus had been seen inside the Matrix. He had been missing from Zion for a time, so we were sent in to try and make contact. As soon as we jacked in, we received multiple reports that Captain Morpheus had been contacting operatives inside the Matrix. We sent word of this back to Zion Command, and received in return directives from Commander Lock to find and arrest Morpheus, and to discover what information he had been spreading.

A source in Zion, who reached me via confidential frequency, informed me that there are many in Zion who did not agree with Lock. They thought the orders were unfounded, and it was whispered that the decision was driven by jealousy more then evidence.

Tyndall: What was your opinion about that?

Ghost: While I understood their objections, I remained of the opinion that Morpheus should be found, if only to learn what was behind his recent erratic behavior. He definitely seemed to be riding a thin line with his recent antics. Every man, woman, and child here has bled for Zion at some point, but no one has ever experienced what he did. At the time, I did not think that his behavior warranted an arrest, but we did need to contact him.

Very soon after we received those orders though, the bombs began to go off. While Morpheus had been threatening to do something drastic, none of us wanted to believe that he was behind it. We discovered that when the bombs detonated, they would reveal the underlying code of the nearby Matrix, infecting any operatives in the area with a strange green code. They seemed to do no real damage though. Morpheus was seen planting the bombs, and telling operatives of all organizations that these bombs must be set off to awaken the bluepills.

Tyndall: Yes, but unfortunately it seems he did more harm then good. It seems many bluepills could not handle the stress and died as a direct result.

Ghost: Indeed. Soon after, the bombs began to be protected by Simulacra. As redpills began to destroy the Simulacra, they discovered bits of code that were left over, and that by combining these bits of code they could disarm the bombs. More operatives were sent to defuse the bombs, as Commander Lock emphasized that Morpheus must be stopped. Niobe and I began the search in earnest then, determining that Morpheus must be found.

As we searched, other crews began to report that Morpheus had been ambushed by a group of masked attackers in Magog while he addressed a group of operatives. When Morpheus escaped, the masked men then turned on the watching operatives. They seemed to attack any redpills that they saw, regardless of affiliation. The strange thing about this is that they seemed to be redpills themselves. We defiantly needed more information.

As we were pursuing the masked attackers, we received an update via Sparks that Commander Lock had ordered all operatives to cease communications with Morpheus; the Commander also stated that Zion had sent crews to “prevent Morpheus’ on-going threat to all mankind.” As soon as that message went out, Morpheus disappeared. After all of his activities in the past few days, his sudden disappearance left us all a little in shock. We thought maybe he had finally jacked out. He did have a strong following among operatives in all organizations, those who recognized him for his contributions during the war.

We also began to receive reports that the masked attackers that I mentioned before were now attacking several neighborhoods en mass. As we watched the reports pile in, Niobe decided that we needed more, much more information, so she asked me to call a meeting with our loyal Zion operatives.

Tyndall: And where was this meeting? What did you learn?

Ghost: I’m getting to that. Have patience. I decided to have the meeting in a deserted club called Parallaxis in the Uriah Industrial Park. As our operatives gathered, I began to question them on the events of that day, what information they had learned about these masked people, and how had they gotten it. The answers I got were disturbing. The masked attackers seem to be composed of people from all of the organizations that have turned traitor. They want all redpills, including themselves, to be reinserted into the Matrix and have their memories wiped. The reports are that some of them are highly placed in their respective organizations, which means we may have traitors close to home.

Tyndall: What? Are you saying Zion Command has been infiltrated?

Ghost: I am only reporting what I was told.

Tyndall: Understood. Please continue.

Ghost: The next time Captain Niobe and I jacked in to try to find some more information, we were blindsided. We ran headfirst into the news that Morpheus was dead. A video steam was intercepted from one of the Machines’ datalines showing a masked man, one our operatives have previously reported as the Assassin, killing Morpheus. It seemed too much to believe. It still does. Everyone, our crew included, was hit very deeply by this news, none more then Niobe.

I personally was not convinced. We did not have his body; we didn’t even know where he was broadcasting from. Nevertheless, darkness and panic had descended upon all operatives. From the wives waiting for the return of their husbands deep inside the caves of Zion, to the noble members of the council, signs of deep sorrow were evident in every face of the Children of Zion. But we had to persevere, we had a duty to do, and we needed to do it, anything to keep from dwelling on the tragedy.

We then got the news, through a Machine contact, that Agent Skinner seemed to have been permanently deleted by the same Assassin. Something needs to be done about that thing. Never before have I heard of an Agent being permanently deleted.

Since there were many operatives within the Matrix when the news of Morpheus’ death broke, the church in Camon Heights was designated as a place for fellow Zionites to gather. I felt that I needed to say something in this dark hour. As I was saying a few words, an operative by the name of Tsuru informed me that the corpse of Morpheus had appeared at the church in Sobra Shores. I was conflicted at first, as seeing his corpse would force us all to admit his death. But I had to see it. Though death falls evenly upon all those alive, I felt somewhere that Morpheus was immune, as he was protected from death by his charismatic strength. It only took me seconds to decide, however, and I was ninth out the door.

What I saw in Sobra Shores will haunt my dreams for many nights. I do not know if it was an illusion, or if it was actually the remains of Morpheus, that the Assassin wanted to taunt us with. It was definitely not the way to treat the corpse of a man who had fought so hard, risking everything he had fighting for his ideals, and giving many a reason to stay alive... The assassin is blamed for this as well. He has much to answer for.

I needed some time to think, to collect myself, to examine the evidence. I traveled to a favorite Teahouse garden in the International district in order to sit down and ponder these events. I had been there only minutes when I was attacked by some… things… that I had never seen before. At first they seemed to be bluepills, but even as I unloaded on them, their bodies burst into a swarm of flies. Much like Morpheus’ corpse. As soon as they were destroyed I sent an alert to all Zionite operatives. I also got reports of attacks by Machine SWAT teams on our operatives. This only added to the thinning of our forces within the Matrix, due to recent orders by Commander Lock to fight the Merovingian forces. At that point we received new orders from the Commander to realign our forces, and defend against the SWAT teams.

Tyndall: This all seems much more chaotic that we heard here.

Ghost: It’s not over yet.
These fly creatures, the Corrupted, began to drop clues as they were killed. Orders were sent to all operatives to collect further information on the things. As I was transmitting orders in Mara Central, I noticed that the Hypercube Monument seemed… decayed. I had been there only a few days earlier, and, aside from the graffiti, it had looked fine. Well, fine for a piece of metal that isn’t actually metal, or even real, for that matter. My first thought was that it might be a glitch by the Machines in that area of the Matrix. Or was it actually caused by someone else? I felt like we were running blind into a cave filled with tigers.

Those were not even the strangest events. The next day, we began to get reports that were unlikely, to say the least. Operatives were reporting seeing gigantic fly creatures, nearly twenty feet tall, but otherwise not unlike the Corrupted I had encountered earlier. They were seen in multiple areas around the Matrix and were attacking anything that came near them. We entered the Matrix as fast as we could, to assist in destroying the abominations. By the time I arrived at the first site, the creature was hurt badly. The operatives that were gathering to fight it had quickly learned that it was vulnerable to an Insecticide code, and went to work obtaining and using that code. Many brave operatives were knocked out of the fight by the creature’s green lighting, but we fought until the creatures fell. It was a long battle, but the Complete Corrupters, as they were called, were finally gassed into oblivion. As the news was announced to all operatives, the decay on the monuments began to fade away. After that we jacked out and headed back here to Zion.

Tyndall: That’s quite a report. Strange happenings in the Matrix these days. Did you ever find out more about the Assassin? It seems we should concentrate on learning about him now.

Ghost: Indeed. I have a few things I would like to beat out of that creature.

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