I did not save my post as SimpleTest, so I'm going to re-type my post. Here goes.

> Everyone who exists and interacts in the Matrix
> also exists in the Real World. The
> artificial intelligences have machine bodies
> that house their minds, while within the Matrix
> they manifest themselves as humans.

Even with other sentient programs such as the Oracle, Seraph, and the Twins? I thought they were just software.

> In the Real World, Bane is no longer
> Bane; his mind now houses a copy of Smith's
> consciousness instead of his own. The
> machines in the Real World are apparently
> aware of this, since they left Bane alive while
> killing everyone else aboard his ship.

But the machines are *against* Smith, aren't they? So the sentinels would have killed Bane/Smith. My hunch is that Smith still had some control over the sentinels (Remember that sentinel control was an ability of the agents). This would also explain how Neo could stop the attacking sentinels near the near of the movie, what with his connection to Smith and all.
>
> What do all these different people want? I see
> three, or possibly four separate factions here:
>
> I'm still contemplating how the Architect (and
> his unnamed female counterpart) fit into all
> this. I think he's a program too, but he must
> exist *outside* of the Matrix... how could he
> have built it or have any control over it if he was
> part of it? His little room is still part of a virtual
> reality world, but separate from the Matrix. After
> all, how could he learn from previous versions'
> failures and incorporate the data into the new
> one if he was rebooted along with the rest of
> it? The Architect's most obvious goal is to
> perfect the Matrix so that the maximum
> number of humans are plugged in and
> providing power while the minimum number
> are free to fight the machines. He gave Neo a
> precise number of people with a specific male
> to female ratio that he could found a new Zion
> with... it seems to me that he is experimenting,
> attempting to perfect a formula that will allow
> his construct to run as smoothly as possible.
> (Thought: the Architect is obviously in charge
> of the Matrix, a position of great power and
> responsibilty in the machine world. He is
> responsible for making sure their power
> supply doesn't get cut off. In the first film
> Morhpeus told Neo about the original AI,
> created by mankind, that spawned the entire
> machine race. Is the Architect that AI, or is
> there a higher power than him?)

I believe that the Architect represents the "singular consciousness." The room is outside the Matrix, though obviously still in Virtual World (Remember how the Architect said that the door on the left led "back to the Matrix"). The white-bearded guy that you see is simply what the "singular consciousness" is portrayed as inside Virtual World.

On another note, the "original AI" that you refer to is still the single, dominating intelligence that governs the vast majority of the machines. The machine race is like an ant colony, and the intelligence that the Architect represents is like the queen. Barring Smith, all machines and agents are controlled by this one consciousness.
>
> Writing this post is spawning all kinds of
> questions in my mind. How does Smith fit into
> all this? He's acting like a rogue program, yet
> he still has agent-like abilities, only enhanced.
> I've read articles that referred to him as a virus,
> but I don't remember that term being used in
> the movie. At times he seemed to be following
> his own agenda, yet at other times seemed to
> be working with the agents.

Smith, I believe, as an individual, actually has not enhanced fighting abilities. In fact, one on one, a single agent Smith is actually weaker than an agent of the system. Remember, the new agents are upgrades. Now, if Smith can copy himself endlessly and when you put 500 bajazillion Smiths together, *that's* a force to be reckoned with.

Smith himself is also somewhat of an anomaly. He is a sentient program, like the other agents, a program that was self-aware and self-conscious. In the first movie, he was mostly subservient to the main AI. However, it becomes apparent that he has some beefs with the system ("I hate this place. This...zoo. This prison, this reality; whatever you want to call it, I can't stand it any longer."), In the Reloaded, he has rebelled aginst the system and has his own agenda.

Smith is a virus in that he copies himself and kills the host. While not a perfect analogy, it is a good way of thinking about it.

When did Smith appear to work with the other agents? I don't remember any such instance, at least not in Reloaded. Remember, Smith is supposed to have been deleted, so he is an exile. The agents of the system would like to have him dead just as much as they'd like to kill the Keytmaker.

> And why did the
> agents want to kill the Keymaker? The
> Keymaker was an essential part of the plan to
> bring Neo to the Architect, so are the agents
> working for the Architect or against him?
> Maybe it's all part of the Architect's plan, to
> make Neo *work* to get to the Source so he
> doesn't realize he's being manipulated.

The agents, while subservient to the main AI, are still discrete beings. They and the main AI are not one and the same, and they probably do not know the Architect's main plan. They don't know about the Prophecy or the purpose of the One or what happens if the One reaches the Source. All they care about is keeping the peace, which includes finding and killing free humans and exiles. The Keymaker is an exile, and so is targeted by the agents for deletion.

knivetsil