New Zion (The Matrix)

New Zion is the first city to be built by mankind following The Truce during the events of The Matrix Online.

Construction

With the Machines no longer patrolling the transportation tunnels, Zion sent large amounts of construction materials and heavy machinery to the building site without fear of attack or discovery by Machines. The construction, nevertheless, was made top secret from the majority of the population (primarily due to the Cypherite activity).

The reasons behind its construction was primarily to replace the older, more dilapadated and war-torn Zion (the majority of its defenses having been destroyed by the Machines' sixth offensive on the city). Other reasons included trying to solve the overpopulation problem caused when large numbers of humans were freed from the Matrix and heightened paranoia of rogue Machines re-imprisoning humans in the Matrix (following Niobe's capture by Anome).

Defenses

New Zion is far more defendable than Old Zion, as the city is encased by layers of the Earth's NATURAL strata rock, making it impenetrable. The only entrance is that of a deep shaft at the top of the city, leading to a large cavern defended by stationary EMP devices, making it incredibly dangerous for Machines to go even near the entrance. The cavern and city are also defended by an impenatrable EMP forcefield, and the city itself has brand-new EMP shielding, making it a true harbor for human safety. Other defenses have been constantly added since Niobe's imprisonment, but these haven't been further elaborated upon.

Discovery

When the rogue Cypherites found suspected Zion was up to something, they helped the Machines discover where Zion was moving its materials and equipment. A Cypherite hovercraft sent to investigate finds the cavern, and by extension the city. When told, the Machines cited this as a breach of The Truce, and war was redeclared, although now the Machines, because of New Zion's existence, can no longer fight them as easily in the real world (and even in the Matrix humans had safe areas from Agents, such as the Richland District, and humans have more advanced strengths and powers to defend themselves in the Matrix).