The Matrix Page #5

NEO:

From what?

TRINITY:

From you.

She lifts a strange steel and glass device that lookslike a cross between a rib separator, speculum and air

compressor.

SWITCH:

Take off your shirt.

He looks at the strange device and the gun still trainedon him.

NEO:

What? Why?

SWITCH:

Stop the car.

Apoc does.

SWITCH:

Listen to me, coppertop! We don't

have time for 'twenty questions.'

Right now there is only one rule.

Our way or the highway.

NEO:

Fine.

Neo opens the door.

TRINITY:

Neo, please, you have to trust me.

NEO:

Why?

(CONTINUED)

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THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98

CONTINUED:

25.

23

TRINITY:

Because you've been down there,

Neo. You already know that road.

You know exactly where it ends.

Neo stares out into the sheets of rain railing againstthe dark street beyond the open door.

TRINITY:

And I know that's not where youwant to be.

He closes the door.

A23 EXT. DARK STREET A23

A moment later the green street lights curve over thecar's tinted windshield as it rushes through the wetunderworld.

24 INT. CAR 24

Neo grudgingly strips off his T-shirt.

TRINITY:

Lie back.

Trinity aims the device at Neo, its glass snout forming aseal over his navel. Switch snaps a cable into the frontseat cigarette lighter.

NEO:

What is this thing?

TRINITY:

We think you're bugged. Try torelax.

She turns a dial and the machine bears down on Neo's

midsection, the cylinder sucking hard at his stomach.

Neo screams, squinting in pain as Trinity watches theneedle on a pressure gauge climb steadily.

TRINITY:

Come on, come on...

On a small monitor that projects an ultrasound-likeimage, we see Neo's insides begin to slither and churn.

He gasps as something wiggles beneath his skin inside hisstomach.

(CONTINUED)

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THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98

CONTINUED:

26.

24

SWITCH:

It's on the move.

Sh*t.

TRINITY:

SWITCH:

You're gonna lose it.

TRINITY:

No I'm not. Clear.

The foreboding word hangs in Neo's ear for a moment whenTrinity squeezes a trigger. Electric current hammers

into Neo and rigid convulsions take hold of him beneaththe flickering car lamp until -Something

finally rockets wetly out of Neo's stomachthrough the extractor's coils.

NEO:

Jesus Christ! It's real?!

That thing is real?!

Trinity lifts a glass cage at the end of the tubing.

Inside, the small fluke-like bug flips and squirms, itstendrils flapping against the clear walls.

She unrolls the window and dumps it out.

25 EXT. CAR 25

It hits the pavement with a metallic tink, reverted backinto a common wire tap, as the car disappears into therainy night.

26 EXT. HOTEL LAFAYETTE 26

The car stops in a deserted alley behind a forgottenhotel.

27 INT. HOTEL LAFAYETTE 27

It is a place of putrefying elegance, a rotting host ofurban maggotry.

Trinity leads Neo from the stairwell down the hall of thethirteenth floor. They stop outside room 1313.

TRINITY:

This is it.

(CONTINUED)

THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 27.

27 CONTINUED:
27

Neo can hear his own heart pounding.

TRINITY:

Let me give one piece of advice.

Be honest. He knows more than youcan possibly imagine.

28 INT. ROOM 1313 28

Across the room, a DARK FIGURE stares out the tall

windows veiled with decaying lace. He turns and his

smile lights up the room. A dull ROAR of THUNDER shakes

the old building.

At last.

MORPHEUS:

He wears a long black coat and his eyes are invisiblebehind circular mirrored glasses. He strides to Neo and

they shake hands.

MORPHEUS:

Welcome, Neo. As you no doubthave guessed, I am Morpheus.

NEO:

It's an honor.

MORPHEUS:

No, the honor is mine.

Come. Sit.

Please.

He nods to Trinity and she exits through a door to anadjacent room. They sit across from one another incracked, burgundy-leather chairs.

MORPHEUS:

I imagine, right now, you must befeeling a bit like Alice, tumblingdown the rabbit hole?

NEO:

You could say that.

MORPHEUS:

I can see it in your eyes. You

have the look of a man who acceptswhat he sees because he is

expecting to wake up.

A smile, razor-thin, curls the corner of his lips.

(CONTINUED)

28.

28 CONTINUED:
28

MORPHEUS:

Ironically, this is not far fromthe truth. But I'm getting aheadof myself. Can you tell me, Neo,

why are you here?

NEO:

You're Morpheus. You're a legend.

Most hackers would die to meet

you.

MORPHEUS:

Yes. Thank you. But I think we

both know there's more to it than

that.

Neo?

Do you believe in fate,

NEO:

No.

MORPHEUS:

Why not?

NEO:

Because I don't like the idea that

I'm not in control of my life.

MORPHEUS:

I know exactly what you mean.

Again, that smile that could cut glass.

MORPHEUS:

Let me tell you why you are here.

You have come because you knowsomething. What you know youcan't explain but you feel it.

You've felt it your whole life,

felt that something is wrong withthe world. You don't know what,

but it's there like a splinter inyour mind, driving you mad. It is

this feeling that brought you to

me. Do you know what I'm talkingabout?

NEO:

The Matrix?

MORPHEUS:

Do you want to know what it is?

Neo swallows hard and nods.

(CONTINUED)

29.

28 CONTINUED:
(2) 28

MORPHEUS:

The Matrix is everywhere, it's all

around us, here even in this room.

You can see it out your window or

on your television. You feel it

when you go to work, or go to

church or pay your taxes. It is

the world that has been pulled

over your eyes to blind you from

the truth.

NEO:

What truth?

MORPHEUS:

That you are a slave, Neo. Like

everyone else, you were born into

bondage, kept inside a prison that

you cannot smell, taste, or touch.

A prison for your mind.

The LEATHER CREAKS as he leans back.

MORPHEUS:

Unfortunately, no one can be told

what the Matrix is. You have to

see it for yourself.

Morpheus opens his hands. In the right is a red pill.

In the left, a blue pill.

MORPHEUS:

This is your last chance. After

this, there is no going back. You

take the blue pill and the story

ends. You wake in your bed and

you believe whatever you want to

believe.

The pills in his open hands are reflected in the glasses.

MORPHEUS:

You take the red pill and you stay

in Wonderland and I show you how

deep the rabbit-hole goes.

Neo feels the smooth skin of the capsules, the moisturegrowing in his palms.

MORPHEUS:

Remember that all I am offering is

the truth. Nothing more.

(CONTINUED)

THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 30.

28 CONTINUED:
(3) 28

Neo opens his mouth and swallows the red pill.

Cheshire smile returns.

The

Follow me.

MORPHEUS:

29 INT. OTHER ROOM 29

He leads Neo into the other room, which is cramped withhigh-tech equipment, glowing ash-blue and electric greenfrom the racks of monitors. Trinity, Apoc, Switch andCypher look up as they enter.

MORPHEUS:

Apoc, are we on-line?

Almost.

APOC:

He and Trinity are working quickly, hardwiring a complexsystem of monitors, modules and drives.

MORPHEUS:

Neo, time is always against us.

Will you take a seat there?

Neo sits in a chair in the center of the room and Trinitybegins gently fixing white electrode disks to him. Near

the chair is an old oval dressing mirror that is cracked.

He whispers to Trinity:

NEO:

You did all this?

She nods, placing a set of headphones over his ears.

They are wired to an old hotel phone.

MORPHEUS:

The pill you took is part of a

trace program. It's designed todisrupt your input/output carriersignal so we can pinpoint yourlocation.

NEO:

What does that mean?

CYPHER:

It means buckle up, Dorothy,

'cause Kansas is going bye-bye.

(CONTINUED)

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