Programs VS. Machines

I watched the first matrix again to try and get some clues about the second. I know many people think about the matrix inside the matrix, layered matrix whatever.

I wonder if there is a difference between machines and programs. In the first Matrix Agent Smith says to morpheous, something like "if zion is destroyed then there is no need for me to be here anymore." and in the second matrix the oracle says that a "program can either face deletion or go into exile."

Based on those comments it seems one of two things, smith is saying that once zion is destroyed that he will be deleted, ie suicide, which does not seem to carry the meaning of what he's saying.

The other is that smith and the agents are machines, outside of the matrix plugged into it just as the humans are. The other programs (miriovigian, vampires, ghosts, keymaker, etc) all face deletion or exile, they have no escape.

This would explain why the agents are chasing the keymaker, to them he is a foriegn object like the humans that need to be removed from the matrix.

If the real world does in fact exisit machines with physical forms and programs within the matrix must both exisit. Could the machines be reliant on programs just as humans were once reliant on machines.

Don't know if any of this makes sense, but maybe one of you can tell me if this may hold water or not

You bring up great points.

Maybe Smith has a machine body outside the matrix, that is interfaced with the matrix much like how humans are.

Maybe machines are drafted to work in the matrix, various duties. His is MP duty.

Once fulfilled, he gets to go home to his AI machine wife and kids.

Going along this route, that means that Smith has gone insane, forgot about his 'real' world existance and is focused solely on his plugged existance. Not far from possibility, given that humans do the same (everquest, online chat).

Should make for an interesting M3.

-WC-

Yes, your ideas certainly make sense BH08685, but I believe that it wouldn't make sense for the machines to use actual 'robots' to be plugged into the Matrix. Using programs (that have no corporeal form) would make much more sense. Why would you use something (or someone), that has all this extra programming to move around actuators and to accept all this input from sensors and such? It'd be very (unnecessarily) bulky. That's why I think he (and perhaps the other ones) are programs, specifically written for inside the Matrix. It also explains why the real Agents have these 'body-takeover'-powers. The Merovingian (and others) certainly don't have these things ;)

But you do certainly raise the interesting point: Where would Smith have gone (before he went 'nuts' :p ) if Zion was destroyed? Perhaps he would see suicide as salvation? (I don't believe so.)