system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Matrix] What happens if the One dies prematurely? A sentinel gets a lucky laser round at the end of the movie while Neo is hooked up. Do the robots have a contingency?
gpt
The One is an emergent property of the system, and aren't actually the sort of official "One" until they actually return to the source.  If Neo gets aced, he just dies, and a new prospective One emerges.

This could be problematic for the machines, but we do know there is at least some wiggle room, as the Matrix didn't immediately implode when Neo refused to return to the Source.

Then, worst case scenario, as mentioned by the Architect, is that the Machines just let the Matrix crash, lose that crop of humans, and start over from scratch.  It's not their preferred solution, but they would survive it.