Story plays a very important part of The Matrix Online. The Machines and Zion hold to the truce, and a shaky peace holds sway. However, many organizations vie for power inside of The Matrix, and you, as a redpill, will shape the future for both men and machine.

Not as long as we remember him.

Many individuals certainly hope so.

They’re ghosts.

The Truce has prevented all out war from continuing, but that doesn’t mean Zion and the Machines are the best of friends. The two factions still disagree strongly on a great many things. There are people in both organizations, as well as several independent groups in the Matrix, who would like nothing more than to see the conflict resume. Zion still wants to subvert the Matrix and free humanity, the Machines still want to maintain the status quo, but now the activities of both groups have gone into a “cold war” state.

There have always been Exile gangs in the Matrix, but with the influx of new redpills keeping the Agents busy, these gangs have simply become bolder in their activities.

The Machines have an excellent tech support staff.

There are three Organizations at the opening of The Matrix Online story:

• Zion: Zion’s stated goals are to preserve humanity and to work toward bringing more humans out of the Matrix and into the real world.
  
• The Machine Civilization: The Machines wish to preserve the status quo, in which they control the Matrix and benefit from the energy produced by the humans who occupy it.
  
• The Merovingian: The Merovingian strives for a greater share of control and resources within the Matrix. He is also a hedonist who pursues fulfillment of his own personal desires.
  
• Other Organizations will be introduced later in the story, and players will have the chance to switch sides to work for some of them.

Players will be able to play key roles in the ongoing evolution of the Matrix story, including permanently slaying major antagonists and participating in averting disastrous events. Some player characters will even be featured in the cinematics of later updates that chronicle these events.

When you’re ready.

Maybe in your next life.

Absolutely. Players will have the opportunity to meet and interact with many characters from the Matrix films, voiced by the original actors who played them. Of course the path to that opportunity will not be easy.

Each server will have its own continuity, meaning that when a player character succeeds in a major event, the history of the Matrix on that server will always reflect that character’s deeds.

Machines and Exiles are artificially intelligent programs. They are as capable of independent thought and motivation as any human being. However, they are not human beings, so their reasoning and their desires can sometimes be quite alien. Working for them will be just as challenging and rewarding as working for Zion.