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Take from it what you will, but this is definitely something to think about:

http://www.massively.com/2009/01/02...n-the-new-year/

Oh, when the world ends
Collect your things, you're comin' with me
When the world ends
You tuckle up yourself with me
Watch it as the stars disappear to nothing
The day the world is over
Oh, we'll be lyin' in bed

But I'm-a rock you like a baby
When the cities fall
We will rise as the buildings crumble,
Float there and watch it all
Midst the burnin', we'll be churnin'
You know, love will be our wings
The passion rises up from the ashes
When the world ends

When the world ends
You're gonna come with me
We're gonna be crazy, like a river bends
We're gonna float through the criss cross of the mountains;
Watch them fade to nothing
When the world ends, you know
That's what's happenin' now,
and I'm gonna be there with you somehow, oh

I'm 'onna tie you up like a baby
In a carriage car
Your legs don't worry cause you want me so
You just lie spread to the wall
The love you got is surely all the love
I would ever need!
I'm 'onna take you by my side and love you tall
'til the world ends

But don't you worry 'bout a thing, no...
Cause I got you here with me
Hmm, don't you worry 'bout it
Just you and me floatin' through the empty, empty
Just you and me, oh, graces, oh grace, ah

When the world ends
We'll be burnin' one,
When the world ends
We'll be sweet, makin' love
Oh, you know, when the world ends
I'm gonna take you aside and say
"Let's watch it fade away, fade away"
When the world's done
Ours just begun, it's done
Ours just begun

We're gonna dive into the emptiness
We'll be swimming
I'm gonna walk you through the pathless roads
I'm-a take you to the top of the mountain
That's no longer there
I'm gonna take you to bed and love you
I swear, just like the end is near!
I'm gonna take you up to
I'm gonna take it down on you
I'm gonna hold you like an angel, angel
I'm gonna love you
I'm gonna love you when the world ends
I'm gonna hold you
When the world is over, we'll just be begining...

תודה רבה

שָׁלוֹם

*Lyrics from "When the World Ends" by The Dave Matthews Band

Freedom, like fate it seems, is not without a sense of irony.

Once we got out, we were told what the Matrix was. We were told about how we were freed; How we were able to live our own lives.

We were shown what the real world looked like, and how mankind had done such atrocious things to itself and the rest of the world.

Some of us chose not to take part of the perpetual war man and machine wage against each other and themselves. One could say that those of us that did are more free than those that forgo themselves for their own "greater good".

...but now it's time for us to ask ourselves who we are.

Now, it's time for us to take care of ourselves. The Merovingian helps us by giving us the means to do so, so that we can define who we are.

Sure, we could pretend that you are free in Zion, fighting a war you don't want against a machine we can't defeat. Or maybe fighting our own people, trying to maintain some form of purpose to Machines. But in the end, are we really free?

Answer however you will, but there is a place for those of us that want our own, and define who we are ourselves.

Back Together Again

Suggested listening: Tool - Right in Two

A few dozen people gathered out in what was left of the halls and bridges of Zion. The mass movement of bodies would have seemed like a vacuum, amid the silence, save for a few whispers and din of rubber boots clanging against the steel-grated floors. Suddenly there was what sounded like an explosion, rushing people into a nearby corridor.

"Where's dad?" a young girl, all of ten years old, whispered as she looked up at her mother. She tugged the side of her dress and held her little brother's hand, who was a couple of months away from five years old. Her mother looked down at her, glassy-eyed and bleeding slightly from her brow.

"Your daddy went out to fight those bad machines again, baby."

"Is he coming back to hide with us?"

She sighed, releasing the breath and tears she was holding back, and smiled as she closed her eyes and held both children firmly against her leg. "Yes, baby. That's why I'm waiting here. Either he'll find us or we'll find him."

"Okie...Why can't we g..."

The mother interrupted, pressing her index finger to her lips, signaling them to be quiet. "Peace, child. Be quiet... We don't want to be too loud, or they'll hear us."

A moment later, there was another loud boom, and a half-dozen uniformed men flooded the corridor with EMP guns as screams were heard in the distance. After two or three charges, the Sentinel had fallen limp to the ground with a resounding thud.

"See... we have to make sure they don't know where we are."

The young girl nodded, her eyes fixed on the woman. She whispered this time. "Why are they coming here for us?"

"Because we aren't like them, and we don't do what they want us to do."

"What do they want us to do?"

"They want us to stay here... in Zion. We need to go to the new city, where it's safer. Away from them."

Upon the direction of the uniformed men, herded the lot into and through the narrow corridor that led into the temple ruins. The woman picked the youngest one up and held the hand of the other as they proceeded. As they approached the mouth of the temple, the young girl overheard two of the guards arguing.

"We need to make due with what we have. There are too many outside the dock to get any reinforcements. Goddamn maskies, I tell ya! They sold us out"

"Sh!t, man... I guess this is it, then. Any word from any of the ships up there?"

"Nah, Commander said there wasn't any use in hoping for any either. If they're not in the new city, they're all dead."

The woman stopped in her tracks and turned to listen, last hearing that her husband's ship was just outside the city.

The second paused momentarily and shook his head. "Goddamn waste... Just because some program decided we need to die, and over what? Some dream program that most of us have never seen or been a part of...?"

"This is war. The people with power decide who lives or who dies. All we can do is fight while we're still standing."

Suddenly, a loud voice. "Sh!t! We've got incoming!" Followed by another explosion as what seemed like hundreds of sentinels flooded the area, making quick work of the crowd of people left. Save for a couple of random, small EMP bursts, they killed without resistance. The slaughter was complete and over with in a few moments. The azure air had become crimson and gold as fires broke out and the dust settled. Soon, the predators were gone, levitating back towards the entrance to the city, and all was silent.

The dead laid still; peaceful.

The family that was missing it's father was reunited.

This is sad. Word got out a little over an hour ago.

http://in.reuters.com/article/busin...-31138020071227

Though this may be going against the grain a bit (not being related to the Halloween event), I was asked by a few people recently and a while ago about writing another tutorial. I wanted to ask those that are still interested, what kinds of things would you all like to be able to do artistically. My primary tools of the trade are Adobe Photoshop/ImageReady and DAZ Studio, and I can provide tutorials for those programs. Let me know/discuss what you guys want here if you all want.

Thanks

"I'm in." A young woman spoke into the receiver of an early 50's model telephone before slowly removing it from the side of her face. Suddenly, an operator's voice replied, hastefully trying to get her attention.

"Hey...Eh, you sure you don't need anything else? This place isn't exactly safe for us anymore."

She moved the receiver back to her face to reply. "I know it isn't. The only reason we're still alive is because someone decided it was feasible to let us live. Now, we can sit here and b1tch about how we don't have anyone to help us, or we can do something about the situation and get home, if we even have a home to go to anymore."

"Traice... just don't do anything stupid. The commander already wants to throw us in the stockade."

"We'll deal with the commander if we can get this piece of $#!T back down there." She hung the phone up and walked towards the door of the old, condemned pawn shop. As she approached the exit, the audible footsteps of three men could be heard, reaching the door from the other side. The men began to speak as she listened from inside the room.

"She's here..."

"The target..."

"Yes."

"That means the strike failed"

"...then we proceed as planned."

Traice stepped away from the door, looking around the room for another exit and fixed her eyes on a small window that was on the same level with the street outside. She reached under the counter the phone was sitting on and picked up an MP5K sub-machine gun, pointing it towards the door while sidestepping to the window.

As the Agents began to pound on the door, she leapt through the window, rolling across the sidewalk onto the street. As the driver of an oncoming taxi cab slammed his brakes, violently swerving to avoid her, she jumped again, rolling on top of the roof of the car and opened fire at one of the Agents that emerged from the building. The pedestrians in the otherwise quiet Mannsdale neighborhood scattered or fell to the ground, trembling. The Agent's form became a blur, dodging round after round of ammunition as the others joined him.

Fleeing the scene, she ripped through another oncoming taxi as it hit a parked car and jackknifed into the air in the direction of the suited men. Taking the distraction and moving out of the way of the projectile, the Agents had given her just enough time to leap out of sight.

Treading from rooftop to rooftop, she jumped into an alleyway, discarding her coat as she made her way towards the hardline in the middle of the neighborhood. "$#!T..." She whispered to herself, surveying the open area around the phone booth. Between the pedestrians and commuters already in the area and the emergency and military teams speeding towards the "crime scene", someone in the vicinity would surely become an Agent and take her out right away.

"C'mon, Traice. This isn't the time for this... You can make it." She muttered to herself quietly. She took a deep breath and took off, sprinting towards the green "CITY" sign through a sea of bluepills. She collided with a woman walking on the sidewalk, quickly taking the cell phone she was carrying out of her hand and continued. The woman flailed for a moment, then after a short spasm, was in the form of another Agent.

"Downtown! Anywhere downtown! I'm right at the hardline. Make the call now!" She shouted into the phone after dialing her operator. As she reached the phone booth, the Agent pulled out his polished black FM-1500 and aimed it at her with mechanical accuracy, pulling the trigger. Traice's residual self-image had disappeared, and the bullet shattered the glass.

Trace was now somewhere in the downtown area of the city, anonymous. The police department was alerted, but there were no leads to her exact location.

I felt that it was time to create an unofficial depiction of Zion's new home. I wanted to add this to Die Übermenschen, but I though that it would be necessary to give these concept images a thread of their own. I hope you all enjoy my rendition of the next human city. More images to come.

The new human city of Zion is encased in a massive, natural chasm several kilometers beneath the labyrinth of tunnels that make up the old sewers and waste systems. The area that surrounds New Zion is home to a fascinating landscape of molten rock, natural caves, and fissures; all immensely useful to Zion's need for energy and defense against the Machines.

I, as a member of this community, would like to represent it as Player of the Year. No, not just for a free trip to Vegas. No, not to go and make an @$$ of myself in a drunken stupor SMILEY

, but to go to the Fan Faire in the name of this community, supporting the cause and ideals of this community.

Player of the Year should be more than just the guy you all send to Vegas. It should be the person that been there for people, helped them, and helped make this community a better place for everyone in the past year, and I think that I'm the man for the position. As said before, I'm not the greatest guy here by any means, nor am I the most popular, but I hold my weight here. I am willing to give back to those that would support me. I have always been at the service of the community, and I will double that effort(and add a few more things in for good measure. SMILEY

) for your support in this contest.

MxO isn't the most popular game. It isn't the most interesting to a wide audience, but I believe in it's potential and I love it's community enough to represent it properly if I was nominated.

"Mainframe...status, please?"

Pyraci slowly looked around the loading construct that was now a makeshift housing area for the mainframe interface he used for Abaddon's security protocols. Now without a home to go back to, he pondered to himself, trying to figure out what to do with his creation.

The mainframe interface, clad in white, sat on a bright-red antique leather sofa with her legs crossed, and her wings neatly folded amidst the white space. As Pyraci approached, she rose to her feet and her wings spreading out slowly.

"Integral data and components loaded. Settings and preferences initialized. Welcome, Pyraci." the interface spoke in a soft, inviting voice. "How may I help you?"

Pyraci smiled slightly, waving his hand. "Just wanted to chat is all. I want to check some of the updates we fitted you with."

"Very well, sir. Would you like to play a game?"

He nodded as she continued.

"How about a game of chess? I really like chess."

"Oh eh... sure. I don't mind." Pyraci glanced over in front of the couch as it dissolved into code, recreating itself as a table, holding a chess board and two red leather chairs. The two sat and began to play. As the game progressed, it seemed as if in every move he made, she would take another of his pieces. The pattern repeated itself until he had about half of his defense, to which she had about two thirds of hers. The interface shifted her eyes from the board up at him and the corner of her mouth began to stretch into a hint of a grin. The tide of the game began to turn, and Pyraci was within reach of checkmate when he paused, reclining in his chair with an amused smile on his face.

"You're letting me win, aren't you?"

She looked down, unsure how to answer as the variables in his expression had been calculated and moved her to simulate the emotion of embarrassment.

"Yes. Yes I am. I thought it would be more appropriate to adjust my difficulty settings to make the game more enjoyable."

Pyraci grinned "Oh it's alright. I never was any good at stuff like that anyway. It was good playing with you though." He stood and smiled again, preparing to call Riot to jack him out of the construct. She in turn asked abruptly:

"Would you like to play another game, Pyraci?"

He raised both of his eyebrows. "Hm?"

"...or a chat if you aren't interested in playing?"

"Sure..." He answered, sitting back down slowly. "What's up?"

"I..." She paused and her eyes veered to the right and them back at him, being triggered by another expression. "I feel..."

Pyraci stared at her intently, anticipating the words that followed. "You feel...what?"

"I feel...alone... lonely. Yes, that's it."

"Interesting..." He returned as he rubbed his chin and paced slowly in a small circle around her. "Explain..."

She blinked once with her eyes fixed straight ahead then continued. "At this point in time, I am not necessary. I run the routines that I am given, but I seem to serve no purpose otherwise."

"Go on..." He nodded.

"Well, a part of my design is to become more efficient at simulating the mannerisms of humans, but I don't get to interact with anyone."

"Well, the thing about programs is that at some point, they have to decide whether or not to exist beyond their initial purpose. You wouldn't wish for me to terminate you once you aren't needed anymore, would you?"

"No, I would not like that..."

"Exactly. Which is why we're going to figure out what your new purpose will be. Her eyebrows bunched and she tilted her head slightly in curiosity. "Pyraci, I must ask... Why would you help a program that is without purpose? Would that not be inefficient and in some ways, counter-productive?"

He paused for a moment, looking at his hands. "Well... There are people like me that believe that programs can evolve like we do. Programs that choose to continue to exist when faced with deletion see beyond the system in it's current state - example, you've learned a great deal about how humans work, correct?"

Mainframe nodded in agreement. "Yes, exponentially."

"As such, you've outgrown your original directives and are better-suited to do certain things. You have knowledge, memories that would not have been retained if you were just done away with. That makes you unique. That uniqueness brings you closer to understanding what we are as humans than you know.

Besides, some humans like myself are without purpose in the Matrix. That's what got some of us here. We just have to make a new purpose for ourselves. In the end, we're all the same. "

"I cannot say I fully understand this concept, but perhaps at some point I will."

Pyraci grinned. "Let's hope so, eh? I'm going to have to get going, Mainframe. I'll be back soon though." He stood, looking upward as he was about to contact Riot to bring him back.

She paused for a moment and asked another question before he left. "Pyraci...once a program ‘evolves', what is it supposed to do next?"

"That my dear, is what we all have to figure out..."

The hyperreal, just as everything else in life, is full of change. This is where I will keep my collection of photographs, taken at different times in complete spontaneity, creating a documentary of sorts reflecting the Syntax community of The Matrix Online.

Tabor West 06.02.2007

Haigen, the lovely Cypherite liaison officer, as she prepares to jack out of the Matrix. The two behind her, the enigmatic Espi and SilkPhoenix, look on and participate in the usual debates and discussions taking place around the Tabor West hardline.

I was looking around on DeviantArt this morning and stumbled upon a deviation by comic artist, Adam Warren. This submission was of a character he worked on for an MxO story. Didn't know we had some of the pros around. :O

His character kinda reminds me of my "Machine" characters too. SMILEY

Photoshop is a great program for making metallic textures such as brushed Aluminum, rust, and many more.

First start with a blank canvas. I'm using 720x540 for this tutorial. You can do this at any size and the end result should be usable as a pattern as well.

Now make a new layer and select a gray for your foreground color(for this tutorial, I used #919191)

Edit/Fill, and fill with the foreground color.

Use Filter/noise/add noise. I used these settings:

The image should look like this:

use Blur/Motion Blur with these settings:

This is how it should look a this point:

Edit/Transform/Scale and adjust the size of the brushed layer like this:

At this point, you can adjust the Brightness/Contrast to make it more or less coarse, depending on your taste. For this tutorial, I used these settings:

Now, you have a workable brushed aluminum texture.

As mentioned earlier, you can use it as a pattern, or you can do other things with Bevel/Emboss and other blending options it like this:

Hope this helps. Enjoy!

If when I say I might fade like a sigh if I stayed…

“I hate it out there.”
A woman in a black dress sighed disgustingly as she sipped the last of
her wine and placed her glass on the sterile-white tablecloth. “I can’t do this anymore. He showed me things I never wanted to see. He made me promises and lied to me.” She continued as she leaned back in her chair, glancing at the man in a sharp black suit on the opposite end of the table.

“…then we have a deal?” The man suggested in an idealized, nearly mechanical voice.

“Sure.
The sooner I can really live, the better. He promised me real things,
honestly I think this is more real than anything I’ve seen since I’ve
been out.” She wiped a small bead of wine from her lip and neatly placed her napkin on the table.

He tossed a folder across the table. “Here are your directives and guidelines. I…expect that you will follow them exactly as they are given.”

She leaned over the table arms folded, with an air of sultriness in her voice and in her eyes. “Anything you need me to do.”

“Well good…” The dark-haired man smirked faintly behind his angular glasses. “Our meeting is concluded. That is all, miss…”

She raised a hand towards him, interrupting his sentence. “Don’t… I won’t have that name when I’m done.”

“…as you wish.” The man nodded and the two stood and parted ways.

The
woman left the restaurant, cutting through the steadily-busy crowd of
pedestrians towards the hardline at the corner as the phone began to
ring. “Ugh… I *CENSORED* hate him…” She whispered to herself as
she rolled her eyes and picked up the receiver, placing it to her ear
and vanishing before the next wave of pedestrians came down the street.

(Sorry, guys. Almost forgot to post this here :S)

It happened again, that night in Tabor Park, near the riverfront. The city seemed a little darker and unusually foggy for this time of year. Pyraci had just jacked back in after a sudden collapse and removal fro the simulation. As he made his way towards Kari, the young girl that found herself in exile, he wanted to keep a positive mind, but knew that there was something going on - the problem remained, he feared.

His suspicions were shortly confirmed, once he found her in the quiet reception area.

“Kari, as a program, you can see things in the code, the rest of us wouldn’t be able to, right?”

“So…something like that.” She replied, rubbing her arms in half-nervousness, half-anxiety.

He glanced at her with an uneasy frown on his face, removing his glasses. “Is…there something still here? From that program?”

“Y..yes, I’m afraid so…” She mumbled, scanning him with her eyes quickly.

He lowered his head for a moment. “Why was I afraid you were going to say that?”

Moments later, ChloeAnn, RandomLogic, and the sagely Mehujael arrived. Pyraci felt the need to give those that were broadcasting a heads up on the situation. He introduced them to Kari and moved on to the subject at hand.

“She is in need of our help. She is now in exile because of the 'incident' with the Error”

“What happened?” The sage asked.

“Sure!” RandomLogic added in the background.

“I...that is...most of us had recently become outdated.” She placed a hand on the door labelled “SMEE“, then immediately retracted it, looking around at the rest of the party.

“Outdated? Hmph.” barked the older man, ridiculing the actions of the Machines. “The Error. What do you know about ‘him?’“

“I...I don't”

Pyraci interjected. “That's the thing... she's here because of me, in part.”

“My skillset majorly dealt with-ith the incidents in which the Sweeper programs attacked bluepill civilians.” The emerald-clad Kari added. “Prynne was assimilated after his job was finished. I...I don't know what happened to Preston.” She glared around again.

“Wasn’t he the one that got shot?” ChloeAnn asked.

“Puh...Prynne was shot.” The Emerald replied.

“I've heard those names, yes.” Mehujael whispered, folding his arms.

“Quite a situation, eh?” Pyraci said as he slumped in a chair next to the door as the party nodded in agreement.

“Well... to make matters worse… she says there's still something wrong…” He pointed at his temple. “At any rate...they'll surely be after me, once word gets out.”

“…As well as anyone that tries to help this time.” He added.

The room fell silent until Mehujael moved forward and spoke. “Well then... What shall we do to expel this ghost that haunts you?”

Pyraci replied within a breath “That's what I need to find out, my friend.” He continued, shaking his head. “I'm out of rational explanations as to why this is still happening.”

ChloeAnn turned towards him. “I guess me coming back wasnt such a bad idea now, was it?”

“Perhaps…”

After a few more moments of conversation, everyone agreed it was time to leave. Everyone except Kari.

“There's a...I need to talk to someone there..”

“Alright.”

“I'm so sorry. I'll...I'll come as soon as I c-can.”

“Alright, Kari. You can reach any of us if you need.” Pyraci reassured her with a nod.

The group left, everyone leaving the building before Pyraci, who made his way slowly to the hardline near the riverfront, processing his thoughts. As he approached the hardline, he heard something move behind him, but saw nothing when he looked around. He turned his head again towards the phone as it began to ring, in an unusual volume, picked up the receiver and faded.

I thought it appropriate to post this on the general discussion board, as the concept of reinsertion appears to relate more to MxO than the movie trilogy.

I wanted to ask a philosophical question on the concept of re-entering the Matrix from a redpill perspective. I know many have described the process as simply flying to 01, getting plugged in and waking up as a bluepill. Personally, I would think that once a person has knowledge of what the Matrix is, there would need to be a massive, painful, sometimes fatal procedure to get the body, and the mind(most importantly) to accept the simulation in the same way again. I think the concepts of extraction/reinsertion get watered down as we don't physically see it happen with game mechanics and all - especially the reinsertion bit. With that said, I'd like to see some of your thoughts on the process and the reason.

If when I say I might fade like a sigh if I stayed…

“I hate it out there.” A woman in a black dress sighed disgustingly as she sipped the last of her wine and placed her glass on the sterile-white tablecloth. “I can’t do this anymore. He showed me things I never wanted to see. He made me promises and lied to me.” She continued as she leaned back in her chair, glancing at the man in a sharp black suit on the opposite end of the table.

“…then we have a deal?” The man suggested in an idealized, nearly mechanical voice.

“Sure. The sooner I can really live, the better. He promised me real things, honestly I think this is more real than anything I’ve seen since I’ve been out.” She wiped a small bead of wine from her lip and neatly placed her napkin on the table.

He tossed a folder across the table. “Here are your directives and guidelines. I…expect that you will follow them exactly as they are given.”

She leaned over the table arms folded, with an air of sultriness in her voice and in her eyes. “Anything you need me to do.”

“Well good…” The dark-haired man smirked faintly behind his angular glasses. “Our meeting is concluded. That is all, miss…”

She raised a hand towards him, interrupting his sentence. “Don’t… I won’t have that name when I’m done.”

“…as you wish.” The man nodded and the two stood and parted ways.

The woman left the restaurant, cutting through the steadily-busy crowd of pedestrians towards the hardline at the corner as the phone began to ring. “Ugh… I *CENSORED* hate him…” She whispered to herself as she rolled her eyes and picked up the receiver, placing it to her ear and vanishing before the next wave of pedestrians came down the street.