"When I arrived at the carnival, we were stationed in a world called the Matrix. It was another digital world, much like the Mainframe, though the residents there did not realize they were in a digital world. That world had no magic, but you could tap into a force from the Matrix to do things like magic. The world was policed by people called Agents. The Agents had this way of enthralling people, warping them to their side and changing their thought process entirely. The bastards enthralled a few carnival members and, during an attack on the carnival, one of our number shot me."

It was Childermass who shot him but Rita doesn't need to know that much, does she. As he mentions being shot, Strange reaches up to idly scratch at his shoulder, where one of his mirrored coverings would be if he was himself and not a fuzzy cat person.

Based on Strange's tone of voice, he still thinks the Matrix absolutely sucks. It was a terrible introduction and he's got no love lost for that world. The Matrix was awful, confusing, ridiculous, and he'd really not like to see or hear of it ever again.

"And don't ask me how they enthralled people without magic," Strange butts in. "I wasn't entirely sane that first month. And even if I was, the culture shock of going from my world to a faerie carnival to a different world entirely all in the span of a week or so would be enough to confuse anyone."