The Matrix Page #6

THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 31.

29 CONTINUED:
29

Distantly, through the ear phones, he hears Apoc POUNDINGon a KEYBOARD. Sweat beads his face. His eyes blink andtwitch when he notices the mirror.

Wide-eyed, he stares as it begins to heal itself, awebwork of cracks that slowly run together as though themirror were becoming liquid.

NEO:

Did you...?

Cypher works with Apoc, checking reams of phosphorescentdata. Trinity monitors Neo's electric vital signs. Neo

reaches out to touch the mirror and his fingers disappearbeneath the rippling surface.

Quickly, he tries to pull his fingers out but the mirrorstretches in long rubbery strands like mirrored taffystuck to his fingertips.

MORPHEUS:

Have you ever had a dream, Neo,

that you were so sure was real?

A flash of lightning flickers white hot against Neo.

NEO:

This can't be...

MORPHEUS:

Be what? Be real?

The strands thin like rubber cement as he pulls away,

until the fragile wisps of mirror thread break.

MORPHEUS:

What if you were unable to wake

from that dream, Neo? How would

you know the difference between

the dreamworld and the real world?

Neo looks at his hand; fingers distended into mirroredicicles that begin to melt rapidly, dripping, runninglike wax down his fingers, spreading across his palmwhere he sees his face reflected.

NEO:

Uh-oh...

TRINITY:

It's going into replication.

MORPHEUS:

Apoc?

(CONTINUED)

THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 32.

29 CONTINUED:
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APOC:

Still nothing.

Morpheus takes out a cellular phone and dials a number.

MORPHEUS:

Tank, we're going to need the

signal soon.

The mirror gel seems to come to life, racing, crawling uphis arms like hundreds of insects.

The mirror creeps up his neck as Neo begins to panic,

tipping his head as though he were sinking into themirror, trying to keep his mouth up.

NEO:

It's cold.

TRINITY:

I got fibrillation!

MORPHEUS:

Sh*t! Apoc?

Streams of mercury run from Neo's nose.

APOC:

Targeting... almost there.

An ALARM on Trinity's monitor ERUPTS.

TRINITY:

He's going into arrest!

APOC:

Lock! I got him!

MORPHEUS:

Now, Tank, now!

His eyes tear with mirror, rolling up and closing as aHIGH-PITCHED ELECTRIC SCREAM erupts in the HEADPHONES.

It is a piercing shriek like a computer calling toanother computer -

Neo's body arches in agony and we are PULLED like we werepulled INTO the holes of the phone, sucked into his screamand swallowed by darkness.

30 INT. POWER PLANT - CLOSE ON MAN'S BODY 30

floating in a magenta amnion.

(CONTINUED)

THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98 33.

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30

His body spasms, fighting against the thick gelatin.

Metal tubes, surreal versions of hospital tubes, obscurehis face. Other lines like IVs are connected to limbs

and cover his genitals.

He is struggling desperately now. Air bubbles into the

Jell-O but does not break the surface. Pressing up, thesurface distends, stretching like a red rubber cocoon.

Unable to breathe, he fights wildly to stand, clawing atthe thinning elastic shroud, until it ruptures, a holewidening around his mouth as he sucks for air. Tearinghimself free, he emerges from the cell.

It is Neo.

He is bald and naked, his body slick with gelatin.

Dizzy, nauseous, he waits for his vision to focus.

He is standing in an oval capsule of clear alloy filledwith magenta gelatin, the surface of which has solidifiedlike curdled milk. The IVs in his arms are plugged intooutlets that appear to be grafted to his flesh.

He feels the weight of another cable and reaches to theback of his head where he finds an enormous coaxial

plugged and locked into the base of his skull. He tries

to pull it out but it would be easier to pull off afinger.

To either side he sees other tube-shaped pods filled withmagenta gelatin; beneath the wax-like surface, pale andmotionless, he sees other human beings.

Fanning out in a circle, there are more. All connected

to a center core, each capsule like a red, dimly-glowingpetal attached to a black metal stem.

Above him, level after level, the stem rises seeminglyforever. He moves to the foot of the capsule and looks

out. The image assaults his mind.

Towers of glowing petals spiral up to incomprehensibleheights, disappearing down into a dim murk like anunderwater abyss.

His sight is blurred and warped, exaggerating theintensity of the vision. The sound of the plant is likethe sound of the ocean heard from inside the belly ofLeviathan.

(CONTINUED)

34.

30 CONTINUED:
(2)

From above, a machine drops directly in front of Neo. He

swallows his scream as it seems to stare at him. It is

almost insect-like in its design; beautiful housings ofalloyed metal covering organic-like systems of hard andsoft polymers.

The machine seizes hold of Neo, paralyzing him as thecable lock at the back of his neck spins and opens.

The cable disengages itself. A long, clear plasticneedle and cerebrum-chip slides from the anterior ofNeo's skull with an ooze of blood and spinal fluid. The

other connective hoses snap free and snake away as themachine lets Neo go.

Suddenly, the back of the unit opens and a tremendousvacuum, like an airplane door opening, sucks the gelatinand then Neo into a black hole.

30

31 INT. WASTE LINE 31

The pipe is a waste disposal system and Neo falls,

sliding with the clot of gelatin.

Banking through pipe spirals and elbows, flushing upthrough grease traps clogged with oily clumps ofcellulite.

32 INT. SEWER MAIN 32

Neo begins to drown when he is suddenly snatched from theflow of waste.

The metallic cable then lifts, pulling him up into thebelly of the futuristic flying machine hovering insidethe sewer main.

33 INT. HOVERCRAFT 33

The metal harness opens and drops the half-conscious Neoonto the floor. Human hands and arms help him up as hefinds himself looking straight at Morpheus.

He smiles.

MORPHEUS:

Welcome to the real world, Neo.

Neo passes out.

FADE TO BLACK.

THE MATRIX - Rev. 3/9/98

FADE IN:

35.

34 INT. HOVERCRAFT 34

We have no sense of time. We hear voices whispering.

MORPHEUS (O.S.)

We've done it, Trinity. We found

him.

TRINITY (O.S.)

I hope you're right.

MORPHEUS (O.S.)

I don't have to hope it. I know

it.

Neo's eyes flutter open. We see Morpheus' face above us,

angelic in the fluorescent glow of a light stick.

NEO (O.S.)

... am I dead?

Far from it.

MORPHEUS:

FADE TO BLACK.

35 INT. HOVERCRAFT - INFIRMARY 35

He opens his eyes again, something tingling through him.

He focuses and sees his body pierced with dozens ofacupuncture-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)

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