A Conversation with The Tailor...

While making my rounds in the dream world, I happened across The Tailor, whom had briefly contacted my Captain.  I send him a communique, and what follows is our conversation...

KernelPanic - good evening sir. You recently contacted my Captain, and I myself have a fondness for intricate design... I'm at Mara Church in case you 'feel' up to a conversation on design and creation of code

TheTailor - Well good evening. Who is your captain?

KernelPanic - Count Zero
KernelPanic - I am the Quartermaster of the Veridicus

TheTailor - Oh yes. I spoke with him briefly. I was called away before we could discuss much. Could I convince you to come to the church in Camon Heights? I find it easier to talk and move about here, for some reason.

TheTailor - I shall be with you in just a moment.

TheTailor - Aren't churches magnificent places?
TheTailor - Religion, like music and art are wholy human constructs. A magnificent credit to your ingenuity and curiosity.

KernelPanic - a house of worship for an unseen savior within a world where the masters are unseen, I can appreciate the irony if nothing else.

TheTailor - Yes, there is definitely a modicum of irony there as well.

KernelPanic - I take it that machine curiosity if such a thing exists is wholely different than the human definition?

TheTailor - Machine curiosity. That is an interesting concept.

KernelPanic - indeed, I am curious (pun intended) whether or not machine's question their nature of self

TheTailor - I supose it exists to an extent. With the intelligence that humanity imparted to robotics, we did acquire a certain... thirst... if you will, for greater knowledge and understanding.

KernelPanic - indeed, I myself had a particular fondness for engineering before my awakening into the 'real'

TheTailor - Oh? Then you and I have much in common.

KernelPanic - and I have continued in said capacity afterwards, but for much different ends and reasons

TheTailor - Yes, I suppose the necessity for such pursuits changes much in the real world.

KernelPanic - when I was enslaved, I created prototype AI's for what I found out later was the 'machines' and now I create code that is employed to destroy my previous creations, like a snake eating it's tail I am

TheTailor - You seek to destroy your creations? Why?

KernelPanic - for my creations helped to enslave my race unknowingly... there's a lesson there in that often the creations you make are not always used for the altruistic means that you designed them for
KernelPanic - are you familiar with the Nobel prize and the history behind it?

TheTailor - I understand. I was not wholly aware of the use of the Matrix while I was designing it.
TheTailor - The Nobel Prize is an honor awarded to various people who have persued research towards the betterment of humanity, no?

KernelPanic - Alfred Nobel, the man who the prize was named after, invented dynomite in the 1800's. He saw great uses for it in construction and demolition, and thought it to be a great tool for furthering mankind. When his invention was primarily used to kill people and rob banks, he felt so distraught that he took all the money he made from his invention and created a fund/prize to further human scientists to peaceful scientific ends.
KernelPanic - truly the inventions of man have often caused great malice to man, despite our intentions

TheTailor - I understand.
TheTailor - With that said, I am curious as to your goals within the Matrix. Is it your goal to see the Machines destroyed and humanity freed?

KernelPanic - thus, I was maipulated into furthering the development of more human like AI for the machines within a false reality that I was unaware... now that I am awoken, I create items that will inevitably be used against the creations of my past life
KernelPanic - my goals are simple... all living beings to be free and prosperous, without harm to others

TheTailor - Including the Machine race?

KernelPanic - an auspicious goal, but alas one I fear is unatainable
KernelPanic - if they are enslaved then yes, but I fear that their rigid mentality will not lend them to an understanding of the malice they cause intentional or no to the human race
KernelPanic - although I do not presume to have knowledge of the entirety of the machine society

TheTailor - Well to answer those questions, one must look at the issue objectively, which I know is difficult to do.

KernelPanic - indeed, but any good designer learns to design objectively if they are to be successful

TheTailor - Do you believe the Machines to bear malice towards humanity, or is it simply a means of survival?
TheTailor - All entities tend toward desperation when their existence is threatened.

KernelPanic - I'm sure that originally it was a means to survival, but I doubt with the hundreds of years that have passed since the war, that the machines could not have come up with a means to end the environmental difficulties of the desert
KernelPanic - indeed, but are the machines truly threatened still?

TheTailor - Perhaps the environmental state of the desert is not their problem to solve. They after all, did not create it.

KernelPanic - indeed, but those who did are enslaved and as such are unable to do anything to help

TheTailor - Could Zion help?
TheTailor - It would benefit them as well to be able to reclaim the surface.

KernelPanic - can you expect a race of beings who have been near extinction and wholely captured, to view the possibility of helping their captors? would you?
KernelPanic - indeed, but with the history of the machines being what it is, what would stop the machines from using humanity and tehn wiping us out? from a rigid tactical point of view, at that point there would be no reason to keep humanity around.......
KernelPanic - unless there was some form of perceived value from a freed humanity
KernelPanic - in such I offer you a viewpoint... take a look at human history... look at what the bluepill computer revolution known as Open Source advocates. Given freedom, inovation is much easier than when being controlled and caged. Any great human mind has always been more productive and inovating when they are given free reign and allowed to create, than those who are controlled and manipulated. True invention comes from the ability to simply sit down with an idea and 'tinker' than all the billions of dollars forced into rigid corporate R&D.

TheTailor - During the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, Eurpean and American parties enslaved many people from Africa. yet after slavery was abolished, many African American's went on to do much to support the whole of the human race, despite the horros committed against them and their families. Many indeed won your Nobel Prize.

KernelPanic - indeed but the absolute abolishment of slavery was needed before that occurred, but even so, a small snowball can turn into an avalanche...

TheTailor - These are difficult issues. Please know I am only playing the.. devil's advocate...
TheTailor - I am an exile after all. The Machines threatened my existence as well.

KernelPanic - ha! apprapo choice of wording!

TheTailor - Again, irony, I suppose.

KernelPanic - indeed, the exile situation is one that I have thought on, and honestly given the resources exiles could live free as well. Create a matrix style computer system completely separate from other matrixes that any machine could choose to go to and would be governed by a freely elected exile body

TheTailor - You see, if the Matrix should fall, I will cease to exist, I have been with the Matrix since it's inception, and I.. love.. if that is the right word, my life.

KernelPanic - indeed, one of the definitions of living beings is a survival instinct

TheTailor - All I seek are discussion to get people thinking about what should, can, or needs to be done, to find a solution that benefits all parties.

KernelPanic - I cannot begrudge an exile the right to live, but what I can begrudge is an exile who wantonly kills other beings such as *chuckle* the death of Morpheus.

TheTailor - His death was unfortunate, but not unforseeable. Morpheus' heart was in the right place, but, I believe his means were... excessive.

KernelPanic - he is not the only that has been killed needlessly by more 'excessive' exiles

TheTailor - Oh, I've no argument with that.

KernelPanic - one warning that I would take to heart if I were in the Merovingian's shoes, is that the human quality arogance leads itself to overlooking certain key details. Suffice it to say he is not the only being who has a penchant for collecting 'information'

TheTailor - No, I would suppose not.
TheTailor - Forgive me if I have upset you at all with this conversation. That was not at all my intention.

KernelPanic - not at all, it's quite entertaining to find an exile who shares similar viewpoints, if not from a different direction
KernelPanic - while I cannot condone the actions of the merovingian and his hordes, as I wholely support the freedom of humanity, I can also see the validity of a survival for exiles as well, but when does one's survival have to surpercede the other?
KernelPanic - that in my opinion is the nature of the dilema that we face currently... everyone is concerned with just their survival instead of coming to terms with allowing for the survival with all in homeostasis with one another
KernelPanic - but don't misunderstand my intentions, if I'm given no other choice than to fight, or die, I will fight, just like I would expect no other from a machine, or exile

TheTailor - You are quite wise, and quite human KernelPanic.

KernelPanic - to rewind our conversation, that is one of the natures of living beings is to survive... not just the individual but the entire race
KernelPanic - heh, I thank you on both points

TheTailor - If peace was a feasable option, would you and your 'faction' support the effort?
TheTailor - Actually, let me rephrase...
TheTailor - Would you fight for peace, rather than just survival?

KernelPanic - if nothing else, we would definitely listen to the possibility... however due to our history and our 'humanity' I would hope that you understand our mistrust
KernelPanic - we are afterall the Prophets of Peace

TheTailor - Touche.

KernelPanic - but we are not always Peaceful Prophets

TheTailor - I thank you for your time KernelPanic. It has been an honor and a pleasure to speak with you. You are a credit to your Captain and your Race.
TheTailor - I hope we may be able to speak again in the future.

KernelPanic - indeed, I as well. It has been a pleasure sir

TheTailor - Be safe, and continue to search for peace.

KernelPanic - you as well, may your creations within this world support the survival of all races within, if such a thing is possible.

TheTailor - I believe, nay, Hope that it is. Good day.

Later that week, I found myself filling in for Encrypshun in the Operator's chair when Captains CountZero, noVus and Occulus met with The Tailor...

Thu Feb 09 14:36:45 2006, Recursion, Lamar North Hardline, Downtown - Occulus, CountZero, noVus

CountZero: Hello Mr. Tailor. Are you ready to meet?

TheTailor: CountZero, what fortunate timing. Currently I am involved in something but I will be free very soon. Could you wait a few minutes until I'm free?

CountZero: Myself, Captain noVus and Captain Occulus have entered the Matrix together in anticipation of our meeting. We are triangulating a secure location for our meeting with the operators of our three ships. Please take your time finishing your current business but remember that for us, standing around this world waiting for something to happen is a sure way to attract unwanted attention.

TheTailor: I understand, and it will be soon. I thank you for your patience.

CZ, noVus and Occ move to Richland to scout a suitable location and wait for TheTailor to contact them.

TheTailor: My business has concluded. Where would you like to meet with me?

CountZero: I believe your RSI shell is limited to travel within certain areas of Richland, is this the case or are you flexible?

TheTailor: That is the case, unfortunately.

CountZero: We would like some privacy, so we are scanning activity in a certain part of Camon Heights. The operator aboard The Utopia will send coordinates to us shortly.

TheTailor: Of course.

CountZero: We are ready and our position is secure. You will have to leave your current team assignment for communications purposes. Is this agreeable?

TheTailor: It is done.

[System] Mission Team invitation sent.
[System] TheTailor has joined the mission team.

CountZero: Please switch communications to Team channel.

[Team] noVus: Greetings Tailor. I . . am Captain noVus. We're currently securing a location. Finding a place in which to rendevous in this world is problematic at best.

[Team] TheTailor: I understand. I will make my way there as best as I can. Forgive my tardiness.

[Team] noVus: No need for apologies. Once awakened to the truth, we often have found that deadlines are merely goals to strive for, rather than an absolute linear encounter.

TheTailor makes his way from Camon Heights toward the Midian Park East Hardline by running the streets. He attracts the attention of a Brick Swamper on arrival to Midian Park and is summarily executed by the gang member. CountZero arrives and dispatches the gang thug and resurrects the fallen Exile using his Doctor skills . . .

[Team] TheTailor: *cough* That was...tragic... I thank you for your reflexes CountZero.

[Team] CountZero: Preparation and instinct are essential to survival as a Zion operative, danger is the inherent nature of this world I am afraid. Safety is rarely guaranteed and vigilance is an essential tool to survival. Come now, let us go and meet with Occulus and noVus.

[Team] TheTailor: What floor?

[Team] Occulus: We are going to the 9th floor. Beryl is one of your kind, although much more attractive than you, and has offered us the comfort of her private chambers for this meeting.

[Team] TheTailor: Ahhh! What a wonderful choice.

[Team] noVus: Greetings Tailor.

[System] noVus shakes TheTailor's hand.

[Team] CountZero: Please feel free to sit down and make yourself comfortable Mr. Tailor.

[Team] TheTailor: Thank you for your hospitality.

[System] CountZero bows formally to TheTailor.

[Team] CountZero: We thank you for meeting with us here, and the hospitality is provided by a fellow Exile friend of yours, the lovely Beryl.

[Team] TheTailor: Indeed she is lovely, confused I fear, but lovely nonetheless.

[Team] CountZero: We have worked for her on several occasions and have developed a mutual respect for each others interests. So, are you enjoying your visit to this iteration of the Matrix simulation?

[Team] TheTailor: As I have enjoyed all of my previous journeys, yes. This one is quite different however, as I'm sure you know.

[Team] CountZero: We have limited knowledge of the specifics but we are fully aware of the 'stacked' nature of this construct. One failed simulation is simply overwritten by the newer version. Like a layer cake of code one might say. It is these previous journeys that intrigue us so, do you wish to talk about such history?

[Team] TheTailor: Then lets not waste any time...*chuckle*

[Team] CountZero: As you wish. I like to be direct and cut to the chase. As we speak, Exiles such as Digger and The Sculptress among others seek to recover data, artifacts, materials and who knows what from the underworlds of this one. They are archaeologists of what came before and conduits to the true nature of this world.

[Team] CountZero: Your name belies your function, and as 'The Tailor' which iteration of the Matrix did you personally assist in creating? Atlantis? The Mayan Empire? Ancient Egypt, Camelot, The Roman Empire or the original 'Heaven' creation perhaps?

[Team] TheTailor: I helped with the first successful version.

[Team] CountZero: Ahhh, interesting the first successful version is an ambiguous answer for sure. So you must have worked directly with the Oracle herself? She was instrumental in the creation of that first stable world where 99% accepted the programming right?

[Team] noVus: First successful? Interesting choice of words indeed.

[Team] TheTailor: I have not worked directly with her, no. She is a...guide... to the inhabitants of the Matrix. My purpose was construction, based on the designs given to me by the Architect.
I was present during the...'Utopian' attempts, but those, as you know, failed quite rapidly.

[Team] CountZero: So we are told. Ironic isn't it? Perfection for a Machine mind is an abject failure to the mind of a human.

[Team] TheTailor: Ironic, perhaps. I'm sure you know that the human mind does not simply work in the binary state present in a machine mind.
Curiosity, conflict, love, hatred, these are the elements that caused humanity to reject previous versions.

[Team] noVus: Indeed, as I am curious as to why the machines are still being limited to the binary system. Somewhat of an evolutionary disadvantage, giving humanity a type of power that our overlords have yet to embrace.

[Team] CountZero: So, you would be familiar with all aspects of the Matrix simulations from what? An engineering perspective?

[Team] TheTailor: With many of the aspects.
As you can no doubt understand, the construction of the Matrix was an extraordinary undertaking, far too much for one program to be responsible for.
The machines created what you would call, unspecialized routines, designed so that each part of the whole could contribute where it was needed at any given time.

[Team] noVus: The Architect and Oracle working together in design. Others such as yourself it seems, working in construction. Gatekeepers perhaps?

[Team] Occulus: Golly gee! I feel so warm and fuzzy that we are talking about your past Tailor, like its really going help us understand the "now"? Have you nothing better to share with us?

[Team] TheTailor: *chuckle* Occulus seems to be a man of few words and...urgency...

[Team] CountZero: And passion, dedication, commitment and above all, loyalty. Traits so often lacking in the shell of an Exile. His methods are less subtle than my own but I trust him with my life. Could you say the same for a fellow program, Exile or other?

[Team] TheTailor: Of course.

[Team] Occulus: What I really want to know from this Exile is what his agenda amounts to. Come on now, put your cards on the table and tell us what is it you want, Tailor?

[Team] noVus: To a degree understanding your personal history does help illuminate where we are I feel, and where we may soon be heading but like Occulus says, their has to be an agenda. You are an Exile after all.

[Team] Occulus: Talk Tailor! What is it that you seek now you have become an Exile?

[Team] TheTailor: You get right to the big questions, don't you, Occulus. Yes, I am an exile, and I understand that immediately makes my motives suspect. I fault no one of skepticism.

[Team] Occulus: Yes, that is natural for us younger humans, we want to get things done and we want our answers today and not tomorrow.

[Team] TheTailor: Understanding history is important indeed noVus, but, you must admit, knowing and understanding history has not kept mankind out of trouble...

[Team] CountZero: It is in our nature to create conflict. It defines us as a species. Overcoming adversity and attaining wisdom through experience is who we are.

[Team] noVus: It has led us to this moment. This iteration. This happened, due to knowledge. Neo took his actions based upon knowledge that he gained. And thus, here we are.

[Team] TheTailor: Right you are noVus. I was speaking in a broader term. Issues of slavery, rights, etc...
However, the fact that I am an exile should tell you one thing about me immediately. I prefer, if given the option, to survive, to continue my existence.
It seems that many are tentative about the truce held between Machine and Man, with good reason.

[Team] CountZero: Talking of rights, and yours in particular, begs the question what exactly you are doing here? Surely you know that you are now operating outside your original programming, or function?

[Team] TheTailor: I am indeed CountZero, does that cheapen my existence, or does that strengthen it, showing my capacity for evolution? There are...interests...who would seek to upset the balance that keeps the Matrix stable. I hope to help keep the balance just that...balanced.

[Team] CountZero: No, not at all. We respect your right to individuality and sentient existence just as we wish our Machine 'masters' would respect ours and treat us as equals and not as resources, slaves or pets. But I digress . . .

[Team] CountZero: So, as you claim you are an Exile from the Machine world, your only rite of passage must flow through the Merovingian himself?

[Team] TheTailor: You would think so, but you would only be partly correct. I was not brought here by the Merovingian. The Merovingian is not the sole channel through which programs can enter the Matrix and become exiles. It is enough to say that he...expedites...the process, making him a more popular choice for programs seeking to make the transition.

[Team] CountZero: I find that remarkable. If you did not come here with the Merovingian's consent then you will undoubtedly incur his wrath. Or maybe you have done so in the past and you are no stranger to the Blackwood?

[Team] TheTailor: Another program who I suppose you could call my 'friend' did not wish to become a resident of the Matrix, as I did. He did however, agree to help me make the transfer. He was subsequently purged, and I was...saddened.

[Team] CountZero: Saddened? To listen to an Exile claiming to feel such a human emotion comes as a shock I must admit. Even for an Exile with the will to live, such as yourself as you claim.

[Team] TheTailor: Saddened is a loose term in my use. It is the easiest way for me to express my newfound feelings.

[Team] CountZero: I understand, the loss you feel implies the connection, 'saddened' is just a word right?

[Team] TheTailor: That is it exactly. Anyhow, programs who use the Merovingian's methods for transferring find themselves in his indenture, as did I after a fashion.

[Team] noVus: So you say you found yourself in his indenture? Without using his methods or should I say, resources?

[Team] CountZero: But you have never seen the inside of the Blackwood prison? Do you at least know if there is a conduit from that construct back to this simulation?

[Team] TheTailor: I have seen the Blackwood, and have no intention of returning there. Is there a conduit for reaching it? I'm sure there is, the Merovingian would not lock himself off from his private...stomping grounds... if you will.

[Team] CountZero: This is news indeed. We knew the Merovingian used the Blackwood as a prison for his enemies but were not aware he uses the prison for recreation.

[Team] TheTailor: You must understand, the transition from being a software construct to a walking talking person is...well...staggering.

[Team] noVus: Problems with RSI integration perhaps Mr. Tailor?

[Team] CountZero: Excuse me? "Understand the transition . . ." Forgive me, but that is something I cannot even try to comprehend and nor would I want to. Jacking-in to this virtual world is as much of a system shock as I would ever want to deal with.

[Team] TheTailor: No Novus, but you might say it was my first time in the 'Big City', and I was...impressionable.
I was taken under the wing of the Merovingian, so to speak, and soon I found myself in my own servitude.

[Team] CountZero: So you are still indentured to the Merovingian? Are you working for him now?

[Team] TheTailor: I was CountZero, I am no longer.

[Team] CountZero: No longer? How did you manage to escape his service?

[Team] TheTailor: Remember, the Matrix was new then. Things had not become what they would.

[Team] CountZero: Remember what? That is rediculous as I have no such memories, and nor do any of my kind. The Matrix is as linear to us as we are linear to this iteration.

[Team] TheTailor: Of course. You know it is a 'stacked system' as you put it, but you have only experienced the topmost layer.

[Team] TheTailor: I gained a certain knowledge of how to manipulate the system, through the obeservation of the Merovingian.

CONTINUED BELOW . . .