The MATRIX (Continue)

35 INT. HOVERCRAFT - INFIRMARY 35
He opens his eyes again, something tingling through him.
He focuses and sees his body pierced with dozens of
acupuncture-like needles wired to a strange device.
DOZER
He still needs a lot of work.
DOZER and Morpheus are operating on Neo.
NEO
What are you doing?
MORPHEUS
Your muscles have atrophied.
We're rebuilding them.
Fluorescent light sticks burn unnaturally bright.
NEO
Why do my eyes hurt?
MORPHEUS
You've never used them before.
Morpheus closes Neo's eyes and Neo lays back.
(CONTINUED)
36.
35 CONTINUED: 35
MORPHEUS
Rest, Neo. The answers are
coming.
36 INT. NEO'S ROOM 36
Neo wakes up from a deep sleep, feeling better. He begins
to examine himself. There is a futuristic IV plugged into
the jack in his forearm. He pulls it out, staring at the
grafted outlet.
He runs his hand over the short hair now covering his
head. His fingers find and explore the large outlet in
the base of his skull.
Just as he starts to come unglued, Morpheus opens the
door.
NEO
Morpheus, what's happened to me?
What is this place?
MORPHEUS
More important than what is when?
NEO
When?
MORPHEUS
You believe the year is 1997 when
in fact it is much closer to 2197.
I can't say for certain what year
it is because we honestly do not
know.
The wind is knocked from Neo's chest.
MORPHEUS
There is no reason for me to try
to explain it when I can simply
show it. Come with me.
37 INT. HOVERCRAFT 37
Like a sleepwalker, Neo follows Morpheus through the
ship.
MORPHEUS
This is my ship, the
Nebuchadnezzar. It's a
hovercraft.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 37.
37 CONTINUED: 37
MORPHEUS (CONT'D)
Small like a submarine. It's
cramped and cold. But it's home.
They climb a ladder up to the main deck.
38 INT. MAIN DECK 38
Everyone is there.
MORPHEUS
This is the main deck. You know
most of my crew.
Trinity smiles and nods.
MORPHEUS
The ones you don't know. That's
Mouse, Cypher, and Switch. Those
two guys are Tank and Dozer.
The names and faces wash meaninglessly over Neo.
MORPHEUS
And this, this is the Core. This
is where we broadcast our pirate
signal and hack into the Matrix.
It is a swamp of bizarre electronic equipment. Vines of
coaxial hang and snake to and from huge monolithic
battery slabs, a black portable satellite dish and banks
of life systems and computer monitors.
At the center of the web, there are six ecto-skeleton
chairs made of a poly-alloy frame and suspension harness.
Near the circle of chairs is the control console and
operator's station where the network is monitored.
MORPHEUS
You want to know what the Matrix
is, Neo? The answer is right
here.
He touches the back of Neo's head.
MORPHEUS
Help him, Trinity.
Neo allows himself to be helped into one of the chairs.
He feels Morpheus guiding a coaxial line into the jack at
the back of his neck. The cable has the same kind of
cerebrum chip we saw inside the plant.
(CONTINUED)
38.
38 CONTINUED: 38
MORPHEUS
This will feel a little weird.
There are several disturbing noises as he works the
needle in.
We MOVE IN as Neo's shoulders bunch and his face tightens
into a grimace until a loud CLICK fires and his ears pop
like when you equalize them underwater.
He relaxes, opening his eyes as we PULL BACK to a feeling
of weightlessness inside another place --
39 INT. CONSTRUCT 39
Neo is standing in an empty, blank-white space.
MORPHEUS
This is the Construct.
Startled, Neo whips around and finds Morpheus now in the
room with him.
MORPHEUS
It is our loading program. We can
load anything from clothes, to
weapons, to training simulations.
Anything we need.
Morpheus walks past Neo and when Neo turns he sees the
two leather chairs from the Hotel Lafayette set up in
front of a large screen television.
MORPHEUS
Sit down.
Neo stands at the back of the chair as Morpheus sits.
NEO
Right now, we're inside a computer
program?
Morpheus smiles.
MORPHEUS
Is it so hard to believe? Your
clothes are different, the plugs
in your arms and head are gone.
Look at your hair, you were bald a
moment ago.
Neo touches his head.
(CONTINUED)
39.
39 CONTINUED: 39
MORPHEUS
It's what we call residual self
image. The mental projection of
your electronic self. Wild, isn't
it?
Neo's hands run over the cracked leather.
NEO
This -- This isn't real?
MORPHEUS
What is real? How do you define
real? If you're talking about
what you feel, taste, smell, or
see, then real is simply
electrical signals interpreted by
your brain.
He picks up a remote control and clicks on the
television. On the television, we see images of the
Twentieth Century city where Neo lived.
MORPHEUS
This is the world you know. The
world as it was at the end of the
Twentieth Century. It exists now
only as part of a neuralinteractive
simulation that we
call the Matrix.
He changes the channel and we see a very different city
as we enter the television.
MORPHEUS
You have been living inside a
dreamworld, Neo. As in
Baudrillard's vision, your whole
life has been spent inside the
map, not the territory. This is
the world as it exists today.
In the distance, we see the ruins of a future city
protruding from the wasteland like the blackened ribs of
a long-dead corpse.
MORPHEUS
'The desert of the real.'
Beneath us, the water is gone.
(CONTINUED)
40.
39 CONTINUED: (2) 39
We TURN AND DESCEND, SPIRALING DOWN TOWARD the lake bed
which is scorched and split like burnt flesh, where we
FIND Morpheus and Neo. Neo clings to the chair, trying
to get his bearings.
MORPHEUS
We have only bits and pieces of
information. What we know for
certain is that, at some point in
the early Twenty-first Century,
all of mankind was united in
celebration. Through the blinding
inebriation of hubris, we marveled
at our magnificence as we gave
birth to A.I.
NEO
A.I.? You mean artificial
intelligence?
MORPHEUS
Yes. A singular consciousness
that spawned an entire race of
machines. I must say I find it
almost funny to imagine the world
slapping itself on the back,
toasting the new age. I say
almost funny.
He looks up and his sunglasses reflect the obsidian
clouds roiling overhead.
MORPHEUS
We don't know who struck first.
Us or them. But we do know it was
us that scorched the sky. At the
time, they were dependent on solar
power. It was believed they would
be unable to survive without an
energy source as abundant as the
sun.
As we DESCEND INTO the circular window of his glasses,
there is a flash of lightning.
MORPHEUS
Throughout human history, we have
been dependent on machines to
survive. Fate, it seems, is not
without a sense of irony.
41.
40 EXT. FETUS FIELDS 40
On the flash, we PULL BACK from the darkness which
reveals itself to be the black eye of a fetus.
MORPHEUS
The Machines discovered a new form
of fusion. All they needed was a
small electrical charge to
initiate the reaction.
The fetus is suspended in a placenta-like husk, where its
malleable skull is already growing around the brain-jack.
MORPHEUS
The human body generates more
bioelectricity than a 120-volt
battery and over 25,000 B.T.U.'s
of body heat.
The husk hanging from a stalk is plucked by a thresherlike
farm machine.
MORPHEUS
There are fields, endless fields
where human beings are no longer
born; we are grown.
We RISE UP, the field stretching in every direction to
the horizon, lightning tearing open the sky as a
harvester sweeps past us.
A40 INT. POWER PLANT A40
From the yawning black of the waste port, we begin to
PULL BACK as it snaps shut.
Red amniotic gel flows into the pod below us, pooling
around a tiny newborn that suckles its feed tube.
MORPHEUS
For the longest time, I wouldn't
believe it. But then I saw the
fields with my own eyes, watched
them liquefy the dead so they
could be fed intravenously to the
living and standing there, facing
the efficiency, the pure,
horrifying precision, I came to
realize the obviousness of the
truth.
Still PULLING BACK, we see the image of the power plant
now on the television as we return to the white space of
the construct.
42.
41 INT. CONSTRUCT 41
Morpheus steps INTO VIEW as he clicks off the television.
MORPHEUS
What is the Matrix? Control.
He opens the back of the television remote control.
MORPHEUS
The Matrix is a computer-generated
dreamworld built to keep us under
control in order to change a human
being into this.
He holds up a coppertop battery.
NEO
No! I don't believe it! It's not
possible!
MORPHEUS
I didn't say that it would be
easy, Neo. I just said that it
would be the truth.
NEO
Stop! Let me out! I want out!
42 INT. MAIN DECK 42
His eyes snap open and he thrashes against the chair,
trying to rip the cable from the back of his neck.
NEO
Get this thing out of me!
TRINITY
Easy, Neo. Easy.
Dozer holds him while Trinity unlocks it. Once it's out,
he tears away from them, falling as he trips free of the
harness.
NEO
Don't touch me! Get away from me!
On his hands and knees, he reels as the world spins.
Sweat pours off him as a pressure builds inside his skull
as if his brain had been put into a centrifuge.
NEO
I don't believe it! I don't
believe it!
(CONTINUED)
43.
42 CONTINUED: 42
CYPHER
He's going to pop!
Vomiting violently, Neo pitches forward and blacks out.
43 INT. NEO'S ROOM 43
He blinks, regaining consciousness. The room is dark.
Neo is stretched out on his bed.
NEO
I can't go back, can I?
Morpheus is sitting like a shadow on a chair in the far
corner.
MORPHEUS
No. But if you could, would you
really want to?
Deep down, Neo knows that answer.
MORPHEUS
I feel that I owe you an apology.
There is a rule that we do not
free a mind once it reaches a
certain age. It is dangerous.
They have trouble letting go.
Their mind turns against them.
I've seen it happen. I'm sorry.
I broke the rule because I had to.
He stares into the darkness, confessing as much to
himself as to Neo.
MORPHEUS
When the Matrix was first built
there was a man born inside that
had the ability to change what he
wanted, to remake the Matrix as he
saw fit. It was this man that
freed the first of us and taught
us the truth; as long as the
Matrix exists, the human race will
never be free.
He pauses.
(CONTINUED)
44.
43 CONTINUED: 43
MORPHEUS
When he died, the Oracle
prophesied his return and
envisioned that his coming would
hail the destruction of the
Matrix, an end to the war and
freedom for our people. That is
why there are those of us that
have spent our entire lives
searching the Matrix, looking for
him.
Neo can feel his eyes on him.
MORPHEUS
I did what I did because I believe
the search is over.
He stands up.
MORPHEUS
Get some rest. You're going to
need it.
NEO
For what?
MORPHEUS
Your training.
44 INT. HOVERCRAFT 44
There is no morning; there is only darkness and then the
fluorescent light sticks flicker on.
45 INT. NEO'S ROOM 45
Neo is awake in his bed, staring up at the lights. The
door opens and TANK steps inside.
TANK
Morning. Did you sleep?
NEO
No.
TANK
You will tonight. I guarantee it.
I'm Tank. I'll be your operator.
He offers his hand and Neo shakes it. He notices that
Tank doesn't have any jacks.
(CONTINUED)
45.
45 CONTINUED: 45
NEO
You don't have...
TANK
Any holes? Nope. Me and my
brother Dozer, we are one
hundred percent pure, oldfashioned,
home-grown human.
Born free. Right here in the
real world. Genuine child
of Zion.
NEO
Zion?
TANK
If this war ended tomorrow, Zion
is where the party would be.
NEO
It's a city?
TANK
The last human city. The only
place we got left.
NEO
Where is it?
TANK
Deep underground. Near the
earth's core, where it's still
warm. You live long enough, you
might even see it.
(he smiles)
Goddamn, I got to tell you, I'm
fairly excited to see what you are
capable of. I mean if Morpheus is
right and all. We're not supposed
to talk about any of that but if
you are, well then this is an
exciting time. We got a lot to do
so let's get to it.
46 INT. MAIN DECK 46
Neo is plugged in, hanging in one of the suspension
chairs.
(CONTINUED)
46.
46 CONTINUED: 46
TANK
We're supposed to load all these
operations programs first, but
this is some major boring shit.
Why don't we start with something
a little fun?
Tank smiles as he plops into his operator's chair. He
begins flipping through a tall carousel loaded with micro
discs.
TANK
How about some combat training?
Neo reads the label on the disk.
NEO
Jujitsu? I'm going to learn
jujitsu?
Tank slides the disk into Neo's supplement drive.
NEO
No way.
Smiling, Tank punches the "load" code. His body jumps
against the harness as his eyes clamp shut. The monitors
kick wildly as his heart pounds, adrenaline surges, and
his brain sizzles. An instant later his eyes snap open.
NEO
Holy shit!
TANK
Hey, Mikey, he likes it! Ready
for more?
NEO
Hell yes!
47 INT. MAIN DECK 47
CLOSE ON a computer monitor as grey pixels slowly fill a
small, half-empty box. It is a meter displaying how much
download time is left.
The title bar reads: "Combat Series 10 of 12," file
categories flashing beneath it: "Savate, Jujitsu, Ken Po,
Drunken Boxing..."
Morpheus walks in.
(CONTINUED)
THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 47.
47 CONTINUED: 47
MORPHEUS
How is he?
TANK
Ten hours straight. He's a
machine.
Neo's body spasms and relaxes as his eyes open, breath
hissing from his lips. He looks like he just orgasmed.
NEO
This is incredible. I know kung
fu.
MORPHEUS
Show me.
48 INT. DOJO 48
They are standing in a very sparse Japanese-style dojo.
MORPHEUS
This is a sparring program,
similar to the programmed reality
of the Matrix. It has the same
basic rules. Rules like gravity.
What you must learn is that these
rules are no different than the
rules of a computer system. Some
of them can be bent. Others can
be broken. Understand?
Neo nods as Morpheus assumes a fighting stance.
MORPHEUS
Then hit me, if you can.
Neo assumes a similar stance, cautiously circling until
he gives a short cry and launches a furious attack.
It is like a Jackie Chan movie at high speed, fists and
feet striking from every angle as Neo presses his attack,
but each and every blow is blocked by effortless speed.
49 INT. MAIN DECK 49
While their minds battle in the programmed reality, the
two bodies appear quite serene, suspended in the drive
chairs.
Tank monitors their Life Systems, noticing that Neo is
wildly and chaotically lit up as opposed to the slow and
steady rhythm of Morpheus.
48.
50 INT. MESS HALL 50
MOUSE bursts into the room, interrupting dinner.
MOUSE
Morpheus is fighting Neo!
All at once, everyone bolts for the door.
51 INT. DOJO 51
Neo's face is knotted, teeth clenched, as he hurls
himself at Morpheus.
MORPHEUS
Good. Adaptation. Improvisation.
But your weakness isn't your
technique.
Morpheus attacks him and it is like nothing we have seen.
His feet and fists are everywhere, taking Neo apart. For
every blow Neo blocks, five more hit their marks until --
Neo falls.
Panting, on his hands and knees, blood spits from his
mouth, speckling the white floor of the dojo.
MORPHEUS
How did I beat you?
NEO
You -- You're too fast.
MORPHEUS
Do you think my being faster,
stronger has anything to do with
my muscles in this place?
Neo is frustrated, still unable to catch his breath.
MORPHEUS
Do you believe that's air you are
breathing now?
Neo stands, nodding slowly.
MORPHEUS
Again.
Their fists fly with pneumatic speed.
49.
52 INT. MAIN DECK 52
Everyone is gathered behind Tank, watching the fight,
like watching a game of Mortal Kombat.
MOUSE
Jeezus Keeerist! He's fast! Look
at his neural-kinetics! They're
way above normal!
53 INT. DOJO 53
Morpheus begins to press Neo, countering blows while
slipping in several stinging slaps.
MORPHEUS
Come on, Neo. What are you
waiting for? You're faster than
this. Don't think you are. Know
you are.
Whack, Morpheus cracks Neo again. Neo's face twists with
rage as the speed of the blows rises like a drum solo.
MORPHEUS
Come on! Stop trying to hit me
and just hit me.
Wham. A single blow catches Morpheus on the side of the
head, knocking off his glasses.
54 INT. MAIN DECK 54
There are several gasps.
MOUSE
I don't believe it!
55 INT. DOJO 55
Morpheus rubs his face, then smiles.
NEO
I know what you're trying to do --
MORPHEUS
I'm trying to free your mind, Neo,
but all I can do is show you the
door. You're the one that has to
step through. Tank, load the jump
program.
50.
56 INT. HOVERCRAFT 56
Apoc and Switch exchange looks as Tank grabs for the
disk.
57 INT. CONSTRUCT - ROOFTOP - DAY 57
Morpheus and Neo are again in the white space of the
Construct. Beneath their feet, we see the jump program
rush up at them until they are standing on a rooftop in a
city skyline.
MORPHEUS
Let it all go, Neo. Fear. Doubt.
Disbelief. Free your mind.
Morpheus spins, running hard at the edge of the rooftop.
And jumps. He sails through the air, his coat billowing
out behind him like a cape as he lands on the rooftop
across the street.
NEO
Shit.
Neo looks down at the street twenty floor below, then at
Morpheus an impossible fifty feet away.
NEO
Okie dokie. Free my mind. Right.
No problem.
He takes a deep breath. And starts to run.
58 INT. MAIN DECK 58
They are transfixed.
MOUSE
What if he makes it?
APOC
No way. Not possible.
TANK
No one's ever made their first
jump.
MOUSE
I know, but what if he does?
APOC
He won't.
(CONTINUED)
51.
58 CONTINUED: 58
Trinity stares at the screen, her fists clenching as she
whispers.
TRINITY
Come on.
59 EXT. ROOFTOP 59
Summoning every ounce of strength in his legs, Neo
launches himself into the air in a single maniacal
shriek!--
-- but comes up drastically short.
His eyes widen as he plummets. Stories fly by, the
ground rushing up at him, but as he hits, the ground gives
way, stretching like a trapeze net. He bounces and flips,
slowly coming to a rest, flat on his back.
He laughs, a bit unsure, wiping the windblown tears from
his face. Morpheus exits the building and helps him to
his feet.
MORPHEUS
Do you know why you didn't make
it?
NEO
Because... I didn't think I would?
Morpheus smiles and nods.
60 INT. MAIN DECK 60
They break up.
MOUSE
What does it mean?
SWITCH
It doesn't mean anything.
CYPHER
Everyone falls the first time,
right, Trinity?
But Trinity has already left.
Neo's eyes open as Tank eases the plug out. He tries to
move and groans, cradling his ribs. While Tank helps
Morpheus, Neo spits blood into his hand.
(CONTINUED)
52.
60 CONTINUED: 60
NEO
I thought it wasn't real.
MORPHEUS
Your mind makes it real.
Neo stares at the blood.
NEO
If you are killed in the Matrix,
do you die here?
MORPHEUS
The body cannot live without the
mind.
61 INT. NEO'S ROOM 61
Trinity enters from the hall, carrying a tray of food.
TRINITY
Neo, I saved you some dinner --
She sees him passed out on the bed. She sets the tray
down and pulls the blanket over him.
She pauses, her face close to his, then inhales lightly,
breathing in the scent of him before slowly pulling away.
62 INT. HALL 62
Trinity steps out of Neo's room to find Cypher watching
her.
CYPHER
I don't remember you ever bringing
me dinner.
Trinity says nothing.
CYPHER
There's something about him, isn't
there?
TRINITY
Don't tell me you're a believer
now?
(CONTINUED)
53.
62 CONTINUED: 62
CYPHER
I just keep wondering if Morpheus
is so sure, why doesn't he take
him to the Oracle? She would
know.
TRINITY
Morpheus will take him when he's
ready.
She turns and he watches her walk away.
63 EXT. CITY STREET - TRAINING PROGRAM - DAY 63
Morpheus moves effortlessly through a crowded downtown
street while Neo struggles to keep up, constantly bumped
and shouldered off the path.
MORPHEUS
The Matrix is a system, Neo, and
that system is our enemy. But
when you are inside and you look
around, what do you see;
businessmen, lawyers, teachers,
carpenters. The minds of the very
people we are trying to save. But
until we do, these people are
still a part of the system and
that makes them our enemy.
A cop writing a parking ticket stares at Neo from behind
his sunglasses.
MORPHEUS
You have to understand that most
of these people are not ready to
be unplugged and many of them are
so inured, so hopelessly dependent
on the system that they will fight
to protect it.
A beautiful woman in a red dress smiles at Neo as she
passes by.
MORPHEUS
Were you listening to me, Neo? Or
were you looking at the woman in
the red dress?
NEO
I was...
(CONTINUED)
54.
63 CONTINUED: 63
MORPHEUS
Look again.
Neo turns just as Agent Smith levels a gun at his face.
Neo screams.
MORPHEUS
Freeze it.
Everything except Morpheus and Neo freezes.
NEO
This -- this isn't the Matrix?
MORPHEUS
No, it's another training program
designed to teach you one thing;
if you are not one of us, you're
one of them.
NEO
What are they?
MORPHEUS
Sentient programs. They can move
in and out of any software still
hardwired to their system. That
means that anyone that we haven't
unplugged is potentially an Agent.
Inside the Matrix, they are
everyone and they are no one.
Neo stares at the Agent.
MORPHEUS
We've survived by hiding from
them, running from them, but they
are the gatekeepers, they're
guarding all the doors, holding
all the keys, which means that
sooner or later someone is going
to have to fight them.
NEO
Someone?
MORPHEUS
I won't lie to you, Neo. Every
single man or woman who has stood
their ground, who has fought an
Agent, has died. But where they
failed, you will succeed.
(CONTINUED)
THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 55.
63 CONTINUED: (2) 63
NEO
Why?
MORPHEUS
I've seen an Agent punch through a
concrete wall. Men have emptied
entire clips at them and hit
nothing but air. Yet their
strength and their speed are still
based on a world that is built by
rules. Because of that they will
never be as strong or as fast as
you can be.
Neo scratches his head.
NEO
What? Are you trying to tell me
that I can dodge bullets?
MORPHEUS
No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you
that when you're ready, you won't
have to.
Morpheus' cell PHONE RINGS and he flips it open.
TANK (V.O.)
We got trouble.
64 EXT. SEWER MAIN 64
The Nebuchadnezzar blisters by, trailing a swirling,
supercharged, electromagnetic wake.
65 INT. COCKPIT 65
Morpheus slides into the copilot's chair next to Dozer.
MORPHEUS
Did Zion send the warning?
DOZER
No. Another ship. Big Brother I
think, they're running a parallel
pipeline.
Morpheus scans the decayed landscape of the sewer main
that rolls by as Neo and Trinity squeeze into the cockpit
behind him. An ALARM BEGINS TO SOUND.
(CONTINUED)
THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 56.
65 CONTINUED: 65
DOZER
Shit, Squiddy's sweeping in quick.
MORPHEUS
Set it down in there.
NEO
Squiddy?
TRINITY
A Sentinel. It's a killing
machine designed for one thing.
DOZER
Search and destroy.
Neo feels the ship rock to the side as it squeezes into a
tiny supply line.
66 EXT. HOVERCRAFT 66
The Nebuchadnezzar sets down, almost wedged into a pipe
that barely accommodates its size.
67 INT. COCKPIT 67
Morpheus clicks the intercom.
MORPHEUS
How we doing, Tank?
68 INT. MAIN DECK 68
Tank works furiously at the operator's station as the
ceaseless WHIR of the ship's TURBINES GRIND TO a HALT.
The main deck is plunged into dark silence. The rest
of the screw stands behind him as he whispers.
TANK
Power off-line. E.M.P. armed and
ready.
Tank's fingers curl around a small key that glows a dim
red.
69 INT. COCKPIT 69
Neo leans into Trinity's ear.
(CONTINUED)
57.
69 CONTINUED: 69
NEO
E.M.P.?
TRINITY
An electromagnetic pulse. It
disables any electrical system in
the blast radius. It's the only
weapon we have against the
machines.
Dozer looks up.
DOZER
Now we wait.
THROUGH the cockpit's windshield, the vast cavern of the
sewer main yawns before them. Strands of green haze curl
round mossy icicles that dangle into a pool of churning
frozen waste. Neo begins to angle around Dozer but
Morpheus grabs him.
MORPHEUS
Don't move. It'll hear you.
Neo freezes and they wait. Without the Nebuchadnezzar's
heating systems, the temperature in the cockpit begins to
rapidly drop. The crew members huddle together, their
breath freezing into a uniform cloud as it gets colder
and colder.
Dozer quietly reaches to brush away the frost on the
windshield and as his hand clears a swath --
They see it.
In the darkness, a shifting shadow of mechanized death.
It is beautiful and terrifying. Black alloy skin
flickers like sequins beneath sinewy coils and skeletal
appendages.
Neo can feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise as it
silently glides over them with shark-like malevolence
until it disappears into the darkness.
In the frozen little room, everyone breathes a little
easier.
70 INT. HALL 70
The ship is quiet and dark. Everyone is asleep.
58.
71 INT. MAIN DECK 71
The core glows with monitor light. Cypher is in the
operator's chair as Neo comes up behind him.
CYPHER
Whoa! Shit, Neo, you scared the
bejeezus out of me.
NEO
Sorry.
CYPHER
No, it's all right.
Neo's eyes light up as he steps closer to the screens
that seem alive with a constant flow of data.
NEO
Is that...?
CYPHER
The Matrix? Yeah.
Neo stares at the endlessly shifting river of
information, bizarre codes and equations flowing across
the face of the monitor.
NEO
Do you always look at it encoded?
CYPHER
Have to. The image translators
sort of work for the construct
programs but there's way too much
information to decode the Matrix.
You get used to it, though. Your
brain does the translating. I
don't even see the code. All I
see is blonde, brunette, and
redhead. You want a drink?
Neo nods and he pours a clear alcohol from a plastic jug.
CYPHER
You know, I know what you're
thinking 'cause right now I'm
thinking the same thing.
Actually, to tell you the truth,
I've been thinking the same thing
ever since I got here.
He raises the glass.
(CONTINUED)
THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 59.
71 CONTINUED: 71
CYPHER
Why, oh why, didn't I take that
blue pill?
He throws the shot down his throat. Neo does the same
and it almost kills him. Smiling, Cypher slaps him on
the back.
CYPHER
Good shit, eh? Dozer makes it.
It's good for two things:
degreasing engines and killing
brain cells.
Red-faced, Neo finally stops coughing. Cypher pours him
another.
CYPHER
Can I ask you something? Did he
happen to tell you why he did it?
Neo looks up, unsure.
CYPHER
Why you're here?
NEO
... Yeah.
CYPHER
Gee-zus! What a mindjob. You're
here to save the world. You gotta
be shitting me. What do you say
to something like that?
Neo looks down at his drink.
CYPHER
I'm going to let you in on a
little secret here. Now don't
tell him I told you this, but this
ain't the first time Morpheus
thought he found the One.
NEO
Really?
CYPHER
You bet your ass. It keeps him
going. Maybe it keeps all of us
going.
NEO
How many were there?
(CONTINUED)
60.
71 CONTINUED: (2) 71
CYPHER
Five. Since I've been here.
NEO
What happened to them?
CYPHER
Dead. All dead.
NEO
How?
CYPHER
Honestly. Morpheus. He got them
all amped up believing in
bullshit. I watched each of them
take on an Agent and I watched
each of them die. Little piece of
advice: you see an Agent, you do
what we do; run. Run your ass
off.
Neo gulps down another shot.
NEO
Thanks... for the drink.
CYPHER
Anytime.
Cypher nods as Neo heads for the ladder.
CYPHER
Sweet dreams.
A71 INT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT A71
CHAMBER MUSIC and the ambiance of wealth soak the
restaurant around us as we watch a serrated knife saw
through a thick, gorgeous steak. The meat is so perfect,
charred on the outside, oozing red juice from the inside,
that it could be a dream.
We hear a voice that we recognize immediately.
AGENT SMITH
Do we have a deal, Mr. Reagan?
A fork stabs the cube of meat and we FOLLOW it UP TO the
face of Cypher.
(CONTINUED)
THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 61.
A71 CONTINUED: A71
CYPHER
You know, I know that this steak
doesn't exist. I know when I put
it in my mouth, the Matrix is
telling my brain that it is juicy
and delicious. After nine years,
do you know what I've realized?
He shoves it in, eyes rolling up, savoring the tender
beef melting in his mouth.
CYPHER
Ignorance is bliss.
Agent Smith watches him chew the steak loudly, smacking
it between his teeth.
CYPHER
Mmm so, so goddamn good.
AGENT SMITH
Then we have a deal?
CYPHER
I don't want to remember nothing.
Nothing! You understand? And I
want to be rich. Someone
important. Like an actor. You
can do that, right?
AGENT SMITH
Whatever you want, Mr. Reagan.
Cypher takes a deep drink of wine.
CYPHER
All right. You get my body back
in a power plant, reinsert me into
the Matrix and I'll get you what
you want.
AGENT SMITH
Access codes to the Zion
mainframe.
CYPHER
I told you I don't know them. But
I can give you the man who does.
AGENT SMITH
Morpheus.
THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 62.
72 INT. MESS HALL 72
CLOSE ON breakfast, a substance with a consistency
somewhere between yogurt and cellulite.
TANK
Here you go, buddy. Breakfast of
champions.
Tank slides it in front of Neo and takes a seat with the
other crew members enjoying breakfast.
APOC
You mean the breakfast, lunch, and
dinner of champions.
MOUSE
If you close your eyes, it almost
feels like you're eating runny
eggs.
APOC
Or a bowl of snot.
MOUSE
But you know what it really
reminds me of? Cream of Wheat.
Did you ever eat Cream of Wheat?
SWITCH
No, but technically neither did
you.
MOUSE
Exactly my point, because you have
to wonder, how do the machines
know what Cream of Wheat really
tasted like? Maybe they got it
wrong, maybe what I think Cream of
Wheat tasted like actually tasted
like oatmeal, or tuna fish. It
makes you wonder about a lot of
things. Take chicken for example.
Maybe they couldn't figure out
what to make chicken taste like
which is why chicken tastes like
everything. And maybe --
APOC
Shut up, Mouse.
Neo scoops up a spoonful.
(CONTINUED)
THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 63.
72 CONTINUED: 72
DOZER
It's a single-celled protein
combined with synthetic aminos,
vitamins, and minerals.
Everything your body needs. We
grow it in a vat.
MOUSE
Oh no, it doesn't have everything
the body needs.
He sidles up to Neo.
MOUSE
So I understand you've run
through the Agent training
program? You know, I wrote that
program.
APOC
Here it comes.
MOUSE
So what did you think of her?
NEO
Of who?
MOUSE
The woman in the red dress. I
designed her. She doesn't talk
much but if you'd like to, you
know, meet her, I could arrange
a more personalized milieu.
SWITCH
The digital pimp hard at work.
MOUSE
Pay no attention to these
hypocrites, Neo. To deny our
impulses is to deny the very
thing that makes us human.
Morpheus enters.
MORPHEUS
I want everyone on twelve-hour
standby. We're going in. I'm
taking Neo to see her.
With that he turns and leaves.
(CONTINUED)
THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 64.
72 CONTINUED: 72
NEO
See who?
TANK
The Oracle.
A72 INT. MAIN DECK A72
Everyone is strapped into their chairs. Tank is at the
operator's station.
TANK
All right, everyone please observe
that the no smoking and fasten
seat belt signs have been turned
on. Sit back and enjoy your
flight.
He strikes the enter key and we RUSH CLOCKWISE OVER the
chairs, each body reacting as we...
CUT TO:
B72 INT. HOTEL LAFAYETTE - ROOM 1313 B72
SPINNING COUNTER-CLOCKWISE AROUND an old PHONE that RINGS
inside the empty room until we SPIN FULL CIRCLE and FIND
everyone now standing there.
Morpheus answers the phone.
MORPHEUS
We're in.
73 EXT. HOTEL LAFAYETTE - DAY 73
The door opens and for the first time since his release,
Neo steps back into the Matrix. He squints at the sun
which seems unnaturally bright. He is the only one
without sunglasses.
Apoc and Switch remain at the door as the others enter
the alley.
MORPHEUS
We should be back in an hour.
Cypher opens the driver's door of an old car as Trinity,
Morpheus and Neo cross to the car, Cypher glances about
quickly, then drops something inside a garbage can.
(CONTINUED)
THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 64A.
73 CONTINUED: 73
It is a cellular phone and we see its blue display as the
line connects.
74 INT. CAR 74
Neo sits beside Trinity in the back. He cannot stop
staring as the simple images of the urban street blur
past his window like an endless stream of data rushing
down a computer screen.
MORPHEUS
Almost unbelievable, isn't it?
Neo nods as the car continues to wind through the crowded
city.
(CONTINUED)
65.
74 CONTINUED: 74
NEO
God...
TRINITY
What?
NEO
I used to eat there... Really good
noodles...
He is speaking in a whisper, almost as if talking to
himself.
NEO
I have these memories, from my
entire life but... none of them
really happened.
He turns to her.
NEO
What does that mean?
TRINITY
That the Matrix cannot tell you
who you are.
NEO
But an Oracle can.
TRINITY
That's different.
NEO
Obviously.
He turns to the window for a moment and then turns back.
NEO
Did you go to her?
TRINITY
Yes.
NEO
What did she tell you?
TRINITY
She told me...
She looks at him and suddenly she is unable to speak or
even breathe.
(CONTINUED)
66.
74 CONTINUED: (2) 74
NEO
What?
The car suddenly jerks to a stop.
MORPHEUS
We're here. Neo, come with me.
Neo and Morpheus get out of the car. Cypher looks into
the rearview mirror at Trinity.
CYPHER
Here we go again, eh, Trin?
He smiles as she turns to the window.
75 EXT. BUILDING 75
Tenement-like and vast, it is the kind of place where
people can disappear.
76 INT. BUILDING 76
Morpheus nods to a blind man who nods back. An elevator
opens and Neo follows Morpheus inside.
77 INT. ELEVATOR 77
The idea of learning one's fate begins to weigh upon Neo
with a steadily growing unease.
NEO
So is this the same oracle that
made the, uh, prophecy?
MORPHEUS
Yes. She's very old. She's been
with us since the beginning.
NEO
The beginning?
MORPHEUS
Of the Resistance.
NEO
And she knows what? Everything?
MORPHEUS
She would say she knows enough.
(CONTINUED)
67.
77 CONTINUED: 77
NEO
And she's never wrong.
MORPHEUS
Don't think of it in terms of
right and wrong. She is a guide,
Neo. She can help you find the
path.
NEO
She helped you?
MORPHEUS
Yes.
NEO
What did she tell you?
MORPHEUS
That I would find the One.
DING. The ELEVATOR opens.
78 INT. HALL 78
The long dark hall beckons. Neo follows Morpheus out of
the elevator and the DOORS RATTLE shut behind him. With
every step, a disturbing sense of inevitability closes in
around him.
At the end of the hall, Morpheus steps to the side of a
door.
MORPHEUS
I told you that I can only show
you the door. You have to step
through it.
Neo blows out a breath. His hand reaches but stops,
hovering over the spherical handle. He backs away.
NEO
Morpheus, I don't think this is a
good idea.
MORPHEUS
Why?
NEO
I told you I don't believe in this
stuff. No matter what she says
I'm not going to believe it, so
what's the point?
(CONTINUED)
68.
78 CONTINUED: 78
MORPHEUS
What do you believe in?
NEO
What do I believe in? Are you
kidding me? What do you think?
The world I grew up in isn't real.
My entire life was a lie. I don't
believe in anything anymore.
MORPHEUS
That's why we're here.
NEO
Why? So I can hear some old lady
tell me, what? That I'm this guy
that everybody's been waiting for?
That I'm supposed to save the
world? It sounds insane.
Unbelievable. And I don't care
who says it, it's still going to
sound insane and unbelievable.
MORPHEUS
Faith is not a matter of
reasonability. I do not believe
things with my mind. I believe
them with my heart. In my gut.
NEO
And you believe I'm the One?
MORPHEUS
Yes I do.
NEO
Yeah? What about the other five
guys? The five before me? What
about them?
Morpheus tries to hide his heart being wrenched from his
chest.
NEO
Did you believe in them too?
MORPHEUS
I believed what the Oracle told
me... no, I misunderstood what she
told me. I believed that it was
all about me.
This is difficult for Morpheus to admit.
(CONTINUED)
69.
78 CONTINUED: (2) 78

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