Tranquil blue skies heralded a new week in a fatigued but relieved Mega City today. The malignant red glow of eyes indelibly burned onto the inner walls of mankind’s collective skull is a lingering reminder of the danger engendered by man’s lust for power. Weary citizens of the Mega City wander around in a reflective stupor, still incapable of grasping how close mankind had brought itself to ultimate destruction. The chaos and fog of battle still obscure the true nature of recent events; however, as reports continue to pour in, a coherent picture begins to emerge.

It was a standard Tuesday night in the Matrix. Warriors of Zion were fighting that midweek malaise at local bars, occasionally eyeing an insignificant mid-season bluepill ball game. Merovingian “hipsters” lounged disinterestedly about local clubs smoking cigarettes in the midst of another night of drinking and excess. Machinists were already in bed, tucked in and dreaming of the meticulously organized week ahead. Just another Tuesday night in the Mega City, when suddenly, a mysterious transmission shattered the complacent air of normalcy.

## Relay Initialized ##
## Attention: Prepare for new orders ##

# System resources indicate the presence of illegal fragments.
# Humans cannot be permitted to possess this contraband.
# You will comply with the following directives.
# Cease all activities.
# Immediately travel to the nearest hardline.
# Surrender all contraband fragments.
# Jack out.
# Humans are no longer welcome in the Matrix.
# We will be disabling hardlines.
# We will neutralize your auto-jackout. Opposing these directives will result in permanent death.
# If you do not surrender all contraband fragments, and remove yourself from the Matrix…
# You will be destroyed.
# You have exactly twelve hours to comply with these directives.
# Resistance is useless.
# Platoon leaders will be deployed to ensure your compliance.
# There is nowhere you can hide your contraband from the system.

## End Transmission ##
## Relay Termintaed ##

At the heels of this transmission, a force of mysterious red-eyed Agents spread through the City, wildly attacking any human alleged to possess a fragment. Chaos ensued. All humans were targets, regardless of Organizational affiliation or level. Violence continued through the night and into the morning. When the initial shock wore off, Organization leaders regrouped and started a campaign of concerted rumor-mongering. The Merovingians sobered up and cast a suspicious eye at the Machinist faction. Zionites brashly implicated the Frenchman, citing his power-hungry inclinations. The Machinists, concerned only with maintaining the truce, kept their composure and exerted their energy in finding the source of this destabilizing force.

Later that day, each Organization issued an official denial of responsibility for the red-eyed Agents. Although some in the Matrix remained incredulous, the notion of a new, fourth party captured the popular attention of the Mega City. The Organizations turned their attention to killing red-eyed Agents and collecting fragments. The nature of these fragments was uncertain but there was no shortage of wild theories to explain them. The Merovingians, with uncharacteristic physical exertion, jumped out to a commanding lead in the race to collect fragments.

On the dawn of the third day, players received “Neo’s Insight” for their efforts in collecting fragments. The gift brought toughness to those in the leading Organization on their given server, toughness that would be needed to meet the challenge of a greater influx of red-eyed Agents.

This new motivation for fragment collection sparked even greater concern from the Organizational leadership. Frustrated with the lackluster efforts of the Zionites, Niobe traveled through the Matrix giving “fire and brimstone” speeches to goad her people into action. The Zionites heeded her message, and a fury of Zionite fragment accumulation ensued.

Instead of uniting against a powerful outside force, the Organizations bickered amongst themselves and fought over control of the fragments. At the close of the third day, Zion had wrenched the lead from the hands of the complacent Merovingian Organization.

As tough as Thursday seemed, it proved to be the calm before the storm. Friday signaled a drastic increase of red-eyed Agents in both number and effectiveness. An elite brigade of the Agents ran roughshod through the Matrix killing scores of redpills. Organization leaders, more interested in winning the inter-Organization pissing match, failed to see or even question the larger implications of this new threat. Flood savagely lashed out at the Merovingian redpills for conceding the lead to the Zionites. Meanwhile Morpheus, having discovered the relation between the fragments and Neo’s RSI, gave a series of speeches attempting to unite all of humanity under the aegis of Zion. His speeches were punctuated by a mesmerizing display of what was later confirmed to be a partial image of Neo’s shattered RSI.

Despite the message of unity contained in Morpheus’ speech, it insinuated the dissolution of other Organizations and the ascendance of Zion as the only refuge for humanity. Naturally, this didn’t sit well with the other leaders, particularly the Merovingian.

Late Friday evening, Morpheus addressed the Zionites, the Architect addressed the Machines, and Persephone addressed the Merovingians. After the speeches were heard, one local wag glossed the three speech givers as the Mentor, the Creator, and the Seductress. The speeches all consisted of a cryptic message encoded within some of the mysterious fragments carried by the red-eyed agents. These speeches catalyzed a frantic but uncertain effort to decipher the coded messages.

The Matrix was tormented by these enigmatic speeches for the next two days as players scrambled to break the code. In the midst of a search for the answer to an extremely complicated puzzle, warriors also organized fierce resistance movements to oppose the marauding bands of elite Agents. The end of this day saw fleeting moments of inter-Organization cooperation, as all humanity battled to stay alive. However, the Organizations remained divided and fiercely competitive as they selfishly continued to gather fragments. Flood’s inflammatory speech filled his minions with a berserker-like rage, galvanizing them into a bestial flurry of fragment gathering. As Friday drew to a close, the Merovingians reclaimed the lead in fragment collection with blood-smeared faces (which they later claimed was lipstick).

It is still uncertain precisely when the code was broken, but it opened a line of communication with The Oracle. The Oracle’s desperation in contacting humanity in such a democratic fashion betrayed the gravity of the situation.

Once the riddle was solved, her message was transmitted throughout the Matrix for all mankind to hear. She explicitly instructed all of humanity to work together to gather Neo’s fragments. The Oracle also explained that a mysterious sect, known only as Shapers, possessed the knowledge and power to recombine the fragments into a coherent form.

Unfortunately, the Oracle’s message fell on deaf ears. Organizational leaders, drunk with the notion of possessing the power of The One, greedily set out to grab power for themselves instead of heeding the Oracle’s warning. Organizations hoarded Shapers for themselves, and in the end, the Oracle’s harmonious speech only set mankind more viciously against itself. On Sunday, the Oracle’s worst fears were realized. Distracted by inter-Organizational bickering, humanity allowed the Intruders to capture a Shaper. Using the Shaper to augment their power, the Intruders unleashed an awesome force of lightning Agents.

These new lightning-wielding Agents stormed through Mega City, leaving destruction in their wake. Mankind, confronted with annihilation, grudgingly conceded a need for unity. Mortal enemies just days before, Merovingians, Machinists and Zionites took collective aim at the red-eyed Agents. “We got them in our sights, and we took them down. Then I gave em’ a little shiv in the neck just for good measure,” explains the founder of ZAP (Zionite Activists for Pacifism).

As the last lightning Agent perished, it became clear that the motivation for human accord died with him. As the smoke of battle began to clear a Mexican standoff emerged: Merovingians warily eyed Zionites over the barrels of their still smoking guns, Zionites addressed Machines with still clenched fists, and Machinists coldly monitored the Merovingian movements. Tension and distrust quickly replaced feelings of fellowship and cooperation.

The Oracle once again addressed the residents of the Mega City.

Well would you look at that, when you all choose to work together... Things tend to work out alright. I know how tired you must be. The last couple of days have been hard on us all. But there are a couple of things we should discuss while everything's fresh in your minds.

First. You ought to be proud of yourselves. You did good today. But if you go back to bickering then next time it might not turn out as well.  You humans have a funny way of heaping trouble upon yourselves and there is going to be trouble enough ahead without you all making it worse.

Oh, I know mischief is in your nature. But so is survival.

Now is the time to choose which you value more. Remember, Neo sacrificed himself for your freedom and now it’s up to all of you to take care of yourselves and each other. You get some rest now. There's going to be plenty for you to do in the near future.

The next cinematic episode of Chapter One should release early next week with the new Critical Mission Pack. Cinematic 1.2 will also directly relate to our next Global Event scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Posted by MxO Events Team