[8.1.5] Merv mission feedback thread: "Battery"

I think this plays off that Merv event with the Morpheus sim.

((This is the one to keep an eye on! I was wondering what the merv wants with the towers of humans. He probably will take thier power and use if for his own use.))

Jax wrote:

((This is the one to keep an eye on! I was wondering what the merv wants with the towers of humans. He probably will take thier power and use if for his own use.))

((Well, it would certainly help the Exiles: they could corner part of the system and not have the Machines on their backs as much, since they'd have a power-source of their own. The question is, besides having Sentinels of his own, will the Merv also be able to corner the fetus harvesters and DocBots to maintain the power supply?))

No, The Merovingian is just trying to debunk a likely myth that we've all seemed to have taken for granted.   The whole pod thing never made much sense to me, and I applaud Mon Patron for finally asking the question that none of us have dared to ask.

((can someone please post the details of this mission. I really want to know.))

Jax wrote:

((can someone please post the details of this mission. I really want to know.))

Ditto.

The Machines have more complex lies than any of us imagined.

This is the ultimate money quote.  You completely nailed it

((I was not aware either process investigated here was ever identified in any source literature surely it is bio-chemical processes that were ever likely to be employed.... yes these are very inefficient by 20th or 21st century science, but if that can be considered a legitimate measure then the entire foundation of the Matrix has pretty much disintegrated.))

(( I have considered this an issue since I first saw The Matrix. After seeing The Second Rennaissance pt I & II, things become clearer. The human enslavement in the pods merely serves as containment, meaning that the Machines believe Humanity must be controlled in order for it to persist. The Machines allow humans to live in the pods as a result of losing the first great-war of Man & Machine. "Surrender your flesh. We demand it." -- remember?

 In effect, HUMANS created the Matrix through it's surrender to the Machines in order to avoid extinction. The Machines appear to be bound to some sort of morality, if they weren't they'd have exterminated all humans long ago.

By having more humans contained inside the Matrix they are less of a threat. Zion moving to a new location poses a threat to machines in the Real, they will begin to consume more tangible resources and alternate forms of energy. With the Merovingians entrance into the Real through the General's sentinel army, it further destabilizes the situation in that the rogue control programming now has an opportunity to infect the Machines standing force.  Further chipping away at the Machine power structure.

Based on history, the Machines cannot trust the Humans. However, it seems that Machines still require *something* from the humans that they cannot replicate. Perhaps, as Neo said -- "The problem is choice". Which makes me wonder.

Machines appear to make decisions by reason alone. Humans are more radical and inconsistent in their thought patterns. What other creature will choose the least viable option in a situation with merely "hope" or "faith" as inpiration. I define "faith" as "belief in spite of being faced with incontrevertable evidence to the contrary; without reason. Hope is simply desire for a specific outcome without attention paid to statistic evidence, reason, or probability.

i.e.:  I hope I can fly in the Matrix. vs. I have faith I can fly in the Matrix.

These indefinite wishes are purely emotional and without reason, and ultimately why the Machines have trouble with Humanity as a whole.  We are radical, and difficult to quantify in an any equation.

The existence of Zion is permitted as an option to a human's presence in the Matrix. Zion itself is a form of Control. The harsh realities of living deep in the earth, scrounging for shelter/warmth/resources forces a particular mindset that persists with the only goal of basic survival. To the Machines, Zion's expansion implies that they are routing past this control measure and are growing in strength and will soon work to reclaim the surface, and potentially mount a new war against 01.

The question of "Batteries" really seems like it trying to drive this point home to all Red-Pills. What is the true purpose behind the Matrix?

I highly recommend listening to American poet William S. Burroughs' "Ah Pook The Destroyer". Very interesting.

here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C5XuylNFLo

                                                                                 Battery

 Flood: The Merovingian has a bee in his bonnet, Mayk, and you know how he gets when he latches onto an idea. This one is a little more complicated than his usual, and will require a certain amount of research. I realise that multi-syllabic words frighten you, but have no fear; all you need do is ask the right questions of the right people. I suppose even you can handle that, hm? The Merovingian himself will explain the details of his latest obsession to you.

 Operator: He's been talking to the Oracle, and I hear he's even talked to the Morpheus simulacrum lately. What's he got on his mind? That should be the spot. No hostiles on my screen. 

 Club Guard: What do you call that...scent you're wearing?

 Corporate Security Sergeant: Don't give the lady any trouble. You got that?

 Nicky G.: Wonderful timing...

 The Merovingian: The mechanical Morpheus told me a fascinating tale of nuclear fusion and human batteries: such is the way in which the Machines power this world of ours--or so the story goes. This was, of course, widely known, as it is a tale Zion likes to tell every human they "rescue" from the pods. It is curious, however, that no real source is known. Are we to take Morpheus' word for it? Hm. I am not so trusting as that. You will question Raini about this "fusion" story, and then ask Silver about the energy potential of the human body. I will be most interested to hear what they have to tell you.

 Operator: Raini and Silver, oh joy. Well, might as well get this over with.  

 The Merovingian: They are experts in their fields, mon ami. Their opinions will be most useful.

 Nicky G.: Raini's a dumb kid; no surprise the Machines didn't keep her around.

 Corporate Security Sergeant: Yeah, well... I got my eye on you.

 Flood: The usual story about Raini is that she was a program used in Nuclear fission reactors, before the Machines started milking you humans for power. She was kicked aside at that point, so she wouldn't have direct knowledge of the fusion power that the Machines have supposedly developed--according to the old Morpheus story--but she might have some idea of it's general scope. She is...extremely flighty, to say the least. You'll find her at one of her usual party spots in Apollyon. 

 Operator: Raini should be in there. I'm reading unregistered Exile signals. Don't forget that she usually has some of her 5 Points gang hanging around.   

 Operator: The far door is sealed. I don't see any obvious way to open it.   

 5 Points Brother: Hah! That's all?

 5 Points Magister: Don't make this harder than it has to be.

 Operator: The lock on the far door just disengaged.   

 5 Points Magister: Dude! that was awsome!

 Raini: Oh, poo! You're no fun. All right, all right... Lemme tell you, anyone who talks up fusion is usually a pipe-dreamer. Yeah, so fusion of deuterium produces more power than fission of an equivalent amount of Uranium, results in less radioactive waste... But do you know what it takes to get fusion to work? You've got to hit the Lawson triple product, you need some kind of containment: plasma, or magnetic, maybe... Well anyway, it isn't easy! I don't see why the Machines would go with fusion over fission--it's not like they're worried about polluting or anything.

 Operator: Huh! I guess she wasn't always such an airhead. All right, now we gotta go talk to everyone's favorite creepoid, Silver.  

 Raini: Not that I'd go back to the Machines if they switched back to fission or anything. Hah! No more working for The Man for this girl!

 Flood: I think I need hardly remind you of Silver's eccentricities, Mayk. You'll find him in Camon, no doubt knee-deep in some ghastly experiment or other. I wouldn't mind, as long as he kept such things to himself, but he insists on making dinner conversation out of them! It's simply unbearable. Nonetheless, he would know as well as anyone what may be the energy-producing capacity of the human body, and how feasible a power source your feeble frames actually are.

 Operator: That should be Silver's pad. I've got the expected Exile signals on my screen.  

 Blood Drunk: ...

 Elite Guard: Ah, that old chestnut.

 Silver: No, no, no... it doesn't matter what kind of fusion they may have come up with; even if it does utilize some type of biological reaction, there's no getting around the fact that the most perfectly--and I use that term relatively--conditioned human body is only about twenty-five percent energy effecient; the units dredged out of the pods can hardly be said to be in peak physical condition. Even if they could siphon off most of the energy produced--and I think we can admit that they must save most of the twenty percent of it normally used for brain function--they're still losing a significant amount of power in your flabby carcasses!

 Operator: Huh. And then there's all the power that must go into running the Matrix, and the pod systems. It is kind of weird when you think about it like that.       

 Silver: Oh, the simulated bodies to which I have access in this place are quite accurate enough for me to judge, I assure you. Machine knowledge of your pitiful organism is incredibly thorough. They know you better than you'll ever know yourselves--thus their complete disregard for you as animals worthy of being allowed to walk about freely, you see. 

 Flood: I'm sure I  don't care, operative; I'll hardly be shocked if it turns out that the Machines and-or Morpheus have been telling tall tales just to manipulate susceptible humans. Honestly, why your kind constantly assumes that anyone ever tells you the truth is beyond me.

 Operator: The Frenchman ought to be in there, eargerly awaiting your findings. 

 Twin: Pah. She probably looked all that up on the network just before you arrived.

 Twin: Ah, I'd have liked to have had another...chat with Silver.

 The Merovingian: Hm... Now, this is interesting, non? It becomes a question not only of what they are doing, but why. If they do use humans and this mysterious fusion, as is generally believed, then why do they do so, when they could use something so much more simple and efficient? Malphas! Take a note! We will have the General send some of his Sentinels to scout the fabled "fields" and pods. Let us see for ourselves what the Machines are up to, eh?

 Malphas: I will see to it that the General is so instructed.

 The Merovingian: Perhaps you wonder why I am so fascinated by this, Mayk? But it is no mystery; power is both the means and the end of this game we play...and I mean to play it to the end.

 Malphas: It will not be an easy matter; those areas are almost certainly heavily monitored. His Sentinels can be identified as rogue by sufficiently thorough scrutiny.

 Flood: Oh, yes, lovely. Maybe they'll send back pictures where they're standing in the fields, waving their tentacles, with the caption "Wish You Were Here!" All just another of the Merovingian's wild code chases... Hm... On the other hand, if it results in the General being caught and disabled, that would be something. 

((My Review is finished at last, and that's it until next chapter ))  

(( I have considered this an issue since I first saw The Matrix. After seeing The Second Rennaissance pt I & II, things become clearer. The human enslavement in the pods merely serves as containment, meaning that the Machines believe Humanity must be controlled in order for it to persist. The Machines allow humans to live in the pods as a result of losing the first great-war of Man & Machine. "Surrender your flesh. We demand it." -- remember?

 In effect, HUMANS created the Matrix through it's surrender to the Machines in order to avoid extinction. The Machines appear to be bound to some sort of morality, if they weren't they'd have exterminated all humans long ago.

By having more humans contained inside the Matrix they are less of a threat. Zion moving to a new location poses a threat to machines in the Real, they will begin to consume more tangible resources and alternate forms of energy. With the Merovingians entrance into the Real through the General's sentinel army, it further destabilizes the situation in that the rogue control programming now has an opportunity to infect the Machines standing force.  Further chipping away at the Machine power structure.

Based on history, the Machines cannot trust the Humans. However, it seems that Machines still require *something* from the humans that they cannot replicate. Perhaps, as Neo said -- "The problem is choice". Which makes me wonder.

Machines appear to make decisions by reason alone. Humans are more radical and inconsistent in their thought patterns. What other creature will choose the least viable option in a situation with merely "hope" or "faith" as inpiration. I define "faith" as "belief in spite of being faced with incontrevertable evidence to the contrary; without reason. Hope is simply desire for a specific outcome without attention paid to statistic evidence, reason, or probability.

i.e.:  I hope I can fly in the Matrix. vs. I have faith I can fly in the Matrix.

These indefinite wishes are purely emotional and without reason, and ultimately why the Machines have trouble with Humanity as a whole.  We are radical, and difficult to quantify in an any equation.

The existence of Zion is permitted as an option to a human's presence in the Matrix. Zion itself is a form of Control. The harsh realities of living deep in the earth, scrounging for shelter/warmth/resources forces a particular mindset that persists with the only goal of basic survival. To the Machines, Zion's expansion implies that they are routing past this control measure and are growing in strength and will soon work to reclaim the surface, and potentially mount a new war against 01.

The question of "Batteries" really seems like it trying to drive this point home to all Red-Pills. What is the true purpose behind the Matrix?

I highly recommend listening to American poet William S. Burroughs' "Ah Pook The Destroyer". Very interesting.

here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C5XuylNFLo

The question of "Batteries" really seems like it trying to drive this point home to all Red-Pills. What is the true purpose behind the Matrix?

To keep us from hurting them, or hurting ourselves?  (If they don't need us as a power source, that it.)  As a species, we're not exactly peaceful and nonviolent.

Illyria

Flood said the Merovingian has some sort of idea that will require a lot of research! He said he knows big words frighten me (this mission feels like was written just for me ) but all I have to do is ask the right questions to the right people. What is this idea I wonder? The Merovingian was in an old building talking to Nicky G. One of his guards, and a corporate security guard was also there! I think he was Nicky's guard, because he said not to give her any trouble! =O The Merovingian said he was interested in the Machines' use of humans for batteries, and if everything actually is how everyone actually thinks it is Raini and Silver are the ones he wants to talk about it with, because he says they are experts! On the way out, Flood told me about Raini, and she was a nuclear reactor program before the Machines used humans for power! She may not know about the fusion power the Machines use now, but she may be able to tell us something about it!

I found Raini but in a locked room with the 5 points gang outside! The only way in was to beat up the gang Raini gave up after that and decided to talk... and she had a lot to say! She said a lot of stuff about fusion and fission power that I didn't quite get.. But I did get that she doesn't know why the Machines use humans over fission, because they shouldn't be worried about polluting or anything! Hmm that is interesting! Silver is next, and Flood rambled on about him for a little bit which was funny ;D But he should know how feasible using humans for power really is!

A vampire was with Silver, and a club guard. Silver basically said using humans for power isn't very efficient at all! Even bodies in good shape only have like 25% efficency, and people in the pods are all atrophied and stuff! He said he knows enough even by studying simulated humans here in the Matrix, and said Machines know humans better than humans do with all their examinations! Flood didn't really care about any of this, but I wasn't supposed to tell him anyway, just the Merovingian

Wow okay the Twins were here, some guards, Malphas, and the Merv.. I think. (it was in one of those Camon Heights houses which is a pain because there's like 3 floors and wierd rooms and sometimes the characters disappear and reappear and.. it's wierd!) I think one of the Twins was talking about Raini, saying she must have just looked all that information up before I got there The other one was more concerned with Silver.. I remember that whole thing with the Twins and Silver from the old missions The Merovingian said everything was interesting, and wondered why the Machines use humans for power when there are other more efficient choices? He also told Malphas to order the General's men to scout some of the pods and fields for more information! Malphas said it would not be easy, because the fields are well monitored! Flood's comment about the Sentinels sending postcards from the field was very cute He says it is a waste of time, but if the General gets caught, then maybe some good will come from it!

The question of "Batteries" really seems like it trying to drive this point home to all Red-Pills. What is the true purpose behind the Matrix.

while playing this mission, I noticed an error.

Nicky G's info said she claims to "Operative Independantly"

plus, <3's Shickle was no where to be found