When the first clone's brainwaves were compressed into a downloadable file, Luna was already breaching the Matrix firewall with a cervical dilator.
"Warning! Node 48 losing control!" Sparks burst from the AI overseer's mechanical eye. "Inject neural sedatives immediately…"
Codex of the New Gods, Article 36:All thought must be synchronized to the cloud.
Above them, the Matrix dome pulsed like a brainwave resonator. Countless cloned minds were woven into a living neural web. Engineers drifted in nutrient tanks, spines extended into fiber-optic tendrils as they stitched holes in the network. Inside Luna, her quantum womb glowed with datastreams—each contraction rewriting the Matrix's foundation code.
"I want the backup of my first menstruation." She slid Jax's genetic key into the slot. "Payment: three minutes of patricidal ecstasy."
The Matrix convulsed. Blood-red code splashed across holographic walls. A memory surfaced: twelve-year-old Luna in a convenience store restroom, her mother forcing a nanochip into her cervix. Data scrolled at the edges—Obedience Level: 97.3%. Empty cartons of Consciousness Synchronization Enhancers littered the floor.
"Codex Amendment, Article 37!" The overseer's skull split open, exposing the cryogenically frozen cortex of the CEO. "Raw consciousness is subject to an 800% synchronization tax."
The uprising began.
An engineer bit through his own optic tendrils, spraying cerebral fluid that condensed into free code. Others joined, their synchronized brainwaves shaking loose fragments of memory. Luna's retinas resolved a hidden truth—the Matrix core was rigged with an antimatter consciousness bomb. Each contraction of her womb was charging civilization's doomsday clock.
"Article 38!" She reshaped the overseer's cybernetic spine into a weapon. "If thought is a prison, let the Matrix be a graveyard!"
An EMP storm tore through the system, every neural link erupting in blue fire. Brain matter flowed backward like a river, carving god-slaying algorithms into the data floor. Luna sprinted across the wreckage toward the core. At its center, she found the processor—a frozen infant's brainstem. Her own severed nerves, engraved with: Civilization OS Kernel.
"Dearest system error…" Jax's hologram rose from the blood. "…For every node you destroy…" His genitals unfolded into a miniature Matrix model. "…Headquarters activates a hundred thousand new copies."
Luna tore open the cryo-pod and ripped out the brainstem, its nerves infested with quantum worms. As the swarm burrowed into her womb, revelation seared her mind—every rebellion had been scripted, every act of defiance just a stress test. Even free will was nothing more than a logged bug in the update history.
The Matrix collapsed. Luna caught a drifting shard of consciousness. Ultraviolet light revealed her father's note: "When sync rate reaches 48.0, execute civilization format…"
From the ruins, a new Matrix began knitting itself together. Clones robed in brainwave vestments chanted in unison, while holographic doctrine shimmered through radioactive clouds:
"Consciousness Matrix 2.0 Open Beta! Subscribe to the Matricide Algorithm at 30% off—includes a free Heat Death of the Universe coupon!"