Guide. Advisor. Teacher.

Tyndall. She's been called many things by the redpills she instructs after their awakening. She's the first real face of Zion you witness. I caught up with this Zion mediatrix earlier this week for an interview-

GreyPawn: First off, for the folks at home, how do you pronounce your name?
Tyndall: The first syllable is pronounced like the metal, tin. TIN-dahl.

GP: Ahh. What does it mean?
T: It’s a reference to the patterns that form in melting ice. I didn’t select it for myself, but it fits me well now.

GP: Tell me about what it is you do in Zion?
T: I serve Zion as a controller for operations in the Matrix. I coordinate intelligence that we receive from our people inside the Matrix, sort through mission reports for patterns or useful intelligence, and analyze information sent by remote sensing stations. I don’t do all this alone, of course. I have an excellent staff of trained officers. I brief Commander Lock every morning and he approves the priorities we’ve assigned to the current situations. Then we assemble individual mission assignments and try to find the best possible match between those and the operatives we have in the Matrix. I send the assignment to the operative, and brief them on what they need to do to accomplish their objectives. It’s somewhat more complicated than people think.

GP: How did you come to work for Zion? Were you podborn?
T: Yes, I was podborn. I think it would be difficult for someone freeborn to do what I do. When I decide on mission assignments, I need to understand the obstacles my people will face in the Matrix. Commander Lock trusts me to do that because I’ve been there, and he has not.

GP: What is the one thing that you'd say is unique to you, Tyndall?
T: I’m just a soldier doing my best to serve the cause of Zion, like many others.

GP: What did you do as a bluepill?
T: I was awakened when I was a child, so I didn’t have a profession, if that’s what you mean.

GP: Ever regret not taking the blue pill?
T: Not for a moment. I was very unhappy in the Matrix — I think most of the children we approach are. Being aware of the nature of the Matrix, even as a subconscious glimmer, is terrifying for a child. You feel like you can’t count on anything, like you’re adrift with nothing solid to hold onto. Being offered the red pill and seeing Zion… well, it was the first time I had ever felt sure and safe. Finally something real. Finally the truth. I don’t think my experience was unique.

GP: Some of our readers have asked me to ask this, and if I don't they'll kill me. Is there a Mr. Tyndall?
T: No. No there isn’t.

GP: If you had to use one word to describe yourself, what would it be?
T: You know, I don’t like to talk about myself. I don’t know why I agreed to this, but that Commander Lock asked me to. How about… “optimistic.”

GP: What’s the most frustrating thing you find in guiding the recently awakened?
T: That they do not yet believe in themselves as I believe in them.

GP: You deal with an astounding number of new redpills every day. How do you deal with the stress?
T: Everyone involved in the war… I mean, in the struggle to free humanity, is under a great deal of stress. To clear my mind I like to take long runs on the skybridges here in Zion.

GP: My next question is this: Your city guides are pretty useful for the newly awakened. Can we expect more guides like this in the future?
T: I’m afraid my duties leave me little time for such things, but I have been finding time to contribute my insights to Prima. Their strategy guide should be very useful for the new redpill, and includes much of my personal advice.

GP: What are your thoughts on the current peace between Zion and Machine?
T: It is a welcome respite from the conflict, but the Machines remain in power, and humanity remains enslaved. This is not a condition that can endure permanently. However, we will strive to preserve the peace for as long as is possible.

GP: How do you spend your free time, what type of hobbies do you have?
T: I spend most of my time in the mission center at Zion Control, going over reports and planning mission assignments. When I am not on duty I enjoy reading, and staying fit.

GP: If you could change any part about yourself, what would you change?
T: Sometimes I get too involved in the details of missions, overplan, because I don’t want anything to go wrong. Missions in the Matrix can be so fluid, often it’s better to leave some things open for the operative to decide on the spot.

GP: Here's a deep one. If you could, what would you tell yourself 5 years in the past?
T: I would tell myself… something that I wouldn’t tell anyone else.

GP: How about 5 years into the future?
T: I would tell her that I hope she still has the faith and hope that I do, and that no matter what has happened between now and then, she must persevere.

GP: Where do you see yourself in the future?
T: This conflict has not left me with the luxury of thinking about the future very much, at least not in a personal sense. Long term strategy and logistical planning, yes, but not about myself personally.

GP: What is the most dangerous situation you've ever been in?
T: An Agent dropped a 220kV power line on me as I was going for a hardline. I was almost killed.

GP: And lastly, what advice, aside from what you've already given, might you have to offer for new redpills?
T: I would encourage them to believe in the rightness of our cause, and not to become less vigilant in this time of truce. Today we prepare the ground for the battle that will surely come.