Part 3
RHINEHEART
The time has come to make a
choice, Mr. Anderson. Either you
choose to be at your desk on time
from this day forth, or you choose
to find yourself another job. Do
I make myself clear?
NEO
Yes, Mr. Rhineheart. Perfectly
clear.
INT. NEO'S CUBICLE
The entire floor looks like a human honeycomb, with a
labyrinth of cubicles structured around a core of
elevators.
Neo slumps down into his chair. A TALL EMPLOYEE stands
up in the adjacent cubicle, leaning over the partition.
TALL EMPLOYEE
What did he say?
NEO
If I was late again, I'm going to
be fired.
He smirks.
TALL EMPLOYEE
Well, it was nice working with
you.
Neo glares at him, as he sinks down.
VOICE (O.S.)
Thomas Anderson?
Neo turns and finds a FEDERAL EXPRESS MAN at his cubicle
door.
NEO
Yeah. That's me.
Neo signs the electronic pad and the Fedex guy hands him
the softpak.
FEDEX
Have a nice day.
He opens the bag. Inside is a CELLULAR PHONE. It seems
the instant it is in his hand, it RINGS. Unnerved, he
flips it open.
NEO
Hello?
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Hello, Neo. This is Morpheus.
Neo's knees give and he falls into his chair.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
I had hoped for this conversation
to take place under less adverse
conditions, but you can never
count on hope, can you, Neo?
NEO
... no.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
I've been watching you, Neo, and I
want to meet you. I don't know if
you're ready to see what I want to
show you, but unfortunately, we
have run out of time. They're
coming for you, Neo. And I'm not
sure what they're going to do.
NEO
Who's coming for me?
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Stand up and see for yourself.
NEO
Right now?
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Yes. Now.
Neo starts to stand.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Do it slowly. Slowly. The elevator.
His head slowly peeks up over the partition.
At the elevator, he sees Agent Brown and Agent Jones
leading a group of cops. A female employee turns and
points out Neo's cubicle.
Neo ducks.
NEO
Holy fuckin' shit!
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Yes.
One cop stays at the elevator, the others follow the
agents.
NEO
What the fuck do they want with
me?!
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
I'm not sure. But, if you don't
want to find out, you better get
out of there.
NEO
How?!
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
I can guide you out, but you have
to do exactly what I say.
The agents are moving quickly towards the cubicle.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
The cubicle across from you is
empty.
NEO
But what if...?
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Go! Now!
Neo lunges across the hall, diving into the other cubicle
just as the agents turn into his row.
Neo crams himself into a dark corner, clutching the phone
tightly to him.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Stay here for a moment.
The agents enter Neo's empty cubicle. A cop is sent to
search the bathroom.
Morpheus' voice is a whisper in Neo's ear.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
A little longer...
Brown is talking to the tall employee.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
When I tell you, go to the end of
the row to the first office on the
left, stay.as low as you can.
Sweat trickles down his forehead.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Now.
Neo rolls out of the cubicle, his eyes popping as he
freezes right behind a cop who has just turned around.
Staying crouched, he sneaks away, down the row, SHOOTING
across the opening to the first office on the left.
The room is empty.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Good. Now there is a window.
Open it.
NEO
How do you know all this?
Morpheus laughs quietly.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
The answer is coming, Neo.
He opens the window. The window howls into the room.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Outside, there's a scaffold. You
can use it to get to the roof.
Leaning out the window, he sees that the scaffold is
several offices away.
NEO
No! It's too far away.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
There's a small ledge. It's a
short climb. You can make it.
Neo looks down; the building's glass wall vertigos into a
concrete chasm.
NEO
No way, no way, this is crazy.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Don't be controlled by your fear,
Neo. There are only two ways out
of this building. One is that
scaffold. The other is in their
custody. You take a chance either
way. I leave it to you.
CLICK. He hangs up. Neo looks at the door, then back at
the scaffold.
NEO
This is insane! Why is this
happening to me? What did I do?
I'm nobody. I didn't do anything.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
He climbs up onto the window ledge. Hanging onto the
frame, he steps onto the small ledge.
The scaffold seems even farther away.
NEO
I'm going to die.
The WIND suddenly BLASTS up the face of the building,
knocking Neo off balance. Recoiling, he clings harder to
the frame, and the phone falls out of his hand.
He watches as it is swallowed by the distance beneath him.
NEO
This is insane. I can't do this!
Forget it!
He climbs back into the office just as a cop opens the
door.
NEO
I didn't do anything!
EXT. SKYSCRAPER
The agents lead a handcuffed Neo out of the revolving
doors, forcing his head down as they push him into the
dark sedan.
Trinity watches in the rear view mirror of her
motorcycle.
TRINITY
Shit.
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - CLOSE ON CAMERA MONITOR
A wide angle view of a white roon, where Neo is sitting at
a table alone.
We MOVE INTO the monitor, ENTERING the room as if the
monitor were a window.
At the same moment, the door opens and the agents enter.
Smith sits down across from Neo. A thick manila envelope
slaps down on the table between them.
Neo glances at the name on the file: "Anderson, Thomas
A."
AGENT SMITH
As you can see, we've had our eye
on you for some time now, Mr.
Anderson.
He opens the file. Paper rattle marks the silence as he
flips several pages. Neo cannot tell if he is looking at
the file or at him.
AGENT SMITH
It seems that you have been living
two lives. In one life, you are
Thomas A. Anderson, program writer
for a respectable software
company. You have a social
security number, you pay your
taxes and you help your land lady
carry out her garbage.
The pages continue to turn.
AGENT SMITH
The other life is lived in
computers where you go by the
hacker alias Neo, and are guilty
of virtually every computer crime
we have a law for, including the
unauthorized use of the D.M.V.
system for the removal of
automobile boots.
Neo feels himself sinking into a pit of shit.
AGENT SMITH
One of these,lives has a future.
One of them does not.
He closes the file.
AGENT SMITH
I'm going to be as forthcoming as
I can be, Mr. Anderson. You are
here because we need your help.
He removes his sunglasses; his eyes are an unnatural ice-
blue.
AGENT SMITH
We know that you have been
contacted by a certain individual.
A man who calls himself Morpheus.
Whatever you think you know about
this man is irrelevant to the fact
that he is wanted for acts of
terrorism in more countries than
any other man in the world. He is
considered by many authorities to
be the most dangerous man alive.
He leans closer.
AGENT SMITH
My colleagues believe that I am
wasting my time with you, but I
believe you want to do the right
thing. It is obvious that you are
an intelligent man, Mr. Anderson,
and that you are interested in the
future. That is why I believe you
are ready to put your past
mistakes behind you and get on
with your life.
Neo tries to match his stare.
AGENT SMITH
We are willing to wipe the slate
clean, to give you a fresh start
and all we are asking in return is
your cooperation in bringing a
known terrorist to justice.
Neo nods to himself.
NEO
Yeah. Wow. That sounds like a
real good deal. But I think I
have a better one. How about I
give you the finger --
He does.
NEO
And you can cram that file up your
Secret Service sphincter.
Agent Smith puts his glasses back on.
AGENT SMITH
You disappoint me, Mr. Anderson.
NEO
You ain't seen nothing yet.
AGENT SMITH
The irony of your situation is
that you have no choice.
NEO
You can't scare me with this
gestapo crap. I know my rights.
I want my phone call.
Agent Smith smiles.
AGENT SMITH
And tell me, Mr. Anderson, what
good is a phone call iy you are
unable to speak?
The question unnerves Neo and strangely, he begins to
feel the muscles in his jaw tighten.
The standing agents snicker, watching Neo's confusion
grow into panic.
Neo feels his lips grow soft and sticky as they slowly
seal shut, melding into each other until all trace of his
mouth is gone.
Wild with fear, he lunges for the door but the agents
restrain him holding him in the chair.
AGENT SMITH
You are going to help us, Mr.
Anderson, whether you want to or
not.
Smith nods and the other two rip open his shirt.
From a case taken out of his suit coat, Smith removes a
long, fiber-optic wire tap.
Neo struggles helplessly as Smith dangles the wire over
his exposed abdomen. Horrified, he watches as the
electronic device animates, become an organic creature
that resembles a hybrid of an insect and a fluke worm.
Thin, whisker-like tendrils reach out and probe into
Neo's navel. He bucks wildly as Smith drops the creature
which looks for a moment like an uncut umbilical cord --
Before it begins to burrow its, tail thrashing as it
worms its way inside.
INT. NEO'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Screaming, Neo bolts upright in bed.
He realizes that he is home. Was it a dream? His mouth
is normal. His stomach looks fine. He starts to take a
deep, everything-is-okay breath, when --
The PHONE RINGS.
It almost stops his heart. It CONTINUES RINGING,
building pressure in the room, forcing him up out of bed,
sucking him in with an almost gravitational force.
He answers it, saying nothing.
MORPHEUS (V.O.).
This line is tapped, so I must be
brief.
NEO
The agents --
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
They got to you first, but they've
underestimated how important you
are. If they knew what I know,
you would probably be dead.
Neo feels sick.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
I don't know what you are thinking
right now but I want you to
understand that I will not give up
on you until you give up on me.
Neo's throat cracks, dry as the Sahara.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Do you still want to meet?
NEO
... Yes.
MORPHEUS (V.O.)
Take the Howard line south.
CLICK. He closes his eyes, unsure of what he has done.
EXT. EL TRAIN
An EL TRAIN RAGES against its metal rails.
INT. TRAIN
It is three a.m., and the train carries the usual urban
night crawlers. Neo sits alone, eyes shifting, watching
everything nervously.
There is a METAL BANG and TRAIN CLATTER fills the car as
the door is opened.
Neo turns and sees a large man enter. He is wearing
sunglasses and a black leather jacket. His name is APOC
and he walks straight at Neo.
APOC
Come with me.
Neo stands just as the door at the opposite end opens and
two police officers rush in, drawing their guns.
Apoc grabs Neo, muscling him to the nearest exit. There
is no upcoming station.
Apoc yanks the emergency brake and the train buckles
against its own speed. The cops are thrown back. Neo
slams against the metal rail.
The doors open onto nothing and just when Neo regains his
balance, Apoc shoves him backwards --
He flies out from the train, arms windrilling as he falls
from, the raised tracks --
Hurtling towards a busy city street when, out of nowhere,
a truck races under him and --
He crashes into a large dumpster-bed filled with empty
boxes.
INT. TRUCK BED
Still shaking his head, Neo realizes he is not alone. A
man named Cabie is aiming a big gun at him. Trinity is
next to him, talking into a cellular phone.
TRINITY
We got him. Call the chop-shop.
She hangs up.
TRINITY
Listen to me, Neo. You have to,
trust us.
She tears off a long strip of black duct-tape and reaches
for his face.
NEO
What are you doing?
TRINITY
This has to be done for your
protection and ours.
She seals his eyes shut with the tape.
TRINITY
You can't understand right now,
but if you're not one of us,
you're one of them.
EXT. LOWER WACKER
A featureless black van glides up to a staircase that
curls down from the city's surface.
trinity guides the blind Neo down the steps. The back of
the van slaps open, revealing a young, skinny man who
looks to be still in his teens, wearing an outfit that is
a cross between a surgeon and a telephone repair man.
His name is GIZMO and he smiles lewdly at Trinity,
exposing his teeth that are wired with weird-looking
braces.
GIZMO
Va va va voom. Still the hottest
software around.
TRINITY
Hello, Gizmo.
Neo hears the voices around him.
GIZMO
This is really the guy? The guy
that Morpheus thinks --
TRINITY
Yeah.
GIZMO
But he's so old.
TRINITY
Are you going to help us or aren't
you?
GIZMO
Hacksaw. Load up the copper-top
and let's get the hell outta here.
Hacksaw is a huge man in a leather welder's apron. He
shoulders Neo and hauls him into the van.
A moment later the green lights of Lower Wacker curve
over the tinted windshield as the van rushes through the
underworld.
INT. VAN
The chop-shop is filled with electronic gadgets, wired to
meters and monitors. There are shelves lined with
medical supplies and rows of hanging tools, knives,
cleavers, and stainless steel clamps.
Neo is strapped down to an ambulance cart, listening
nervously as Gizmo gets to work.
GIZMO
Okay, first we take a little look
under the hood.
He pulls up the goggles hanging at his neck and they
blink to life with tiny halogen lights and lenses irising
to varying levels of magnification.
GIZMO
You're going to feel a little
prick.
He inserts acupuncture-like needles into Neo's lower
abdomen. The needles are wired to video monitors.
Hacksaw pilots the fiber-optic lens.
NEO
What are you doing?
TRINITY
We think you're bugged. We can't
take you to Morpheus until you're
clean.
GIZMO
There it is.
On a monitor, we see the bug nestled in among Neols large
intestines.
GIZMO
Hit him with 10 ccs of local.
Hacksaw loads a hypodermic needle and pumps an anesthetic
around Neols navel.
Using a device that looks like a miniature speculum,
Gizmo inserts a knuckled dental pick. Typing into a
calculator keypad wired to the pick, he automates the
tip.
On the monitor, we watch it telescope out and the end
separate into a tiny hooked, metal claw.
GIZMO
Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.
The claw snags hold of the bug.
GIZMO
Gotcha!
But the bug reacts violently. Neo screams as it wraps
itself around the soft tissue web of intestine.
GIZMO
Shit.
TRINITY
What's happening?
GIZMO
I don't know. They've never done
that before.
Neo writhes in pain.
GIZMO
Hold him down.
NEO
Jesus! God!
TRINITY
Do something!
GIZMO
I got it! Maybe we can stun it.
TRINITY
Are you crazy? That will kill
him.
We watch Neo, who can't see what they are talking about.
GIZMO
It'll work. Come on, do it or
Hacksaw will.
NEO
Do what?
The instant he hears the word, he knows.
TRINITY
Clear.
NEO
Oh, shit --
The cry is frozen in his mouth as the paddles hit his
chest. Gizmo wrestles with the bug.
GIZMO
Hit him again!
Again, the electricity convulses through him as Gizmo
yanks the speculum out.
GIZMO
Got it!
Trinity touches Neo, who is just beginning to breathe.
She eases the tape off his eyes.
TRINITY
Neo, are you okay?
He nods.
TRINITY
It's over. We got it.
Hanging from the claw pick is the inanimate metal wire-
tap.
GIZMO
Nasty little bugger, ain't it?
INT. HOTEL LAFAYETTE
The van stops in a deserted alley behind a forgotten
hotel. The doors open and Trinity helps Neo get out.
TRINITY
Thanks for your help, Gizmo.
GIZMO
I just hope the man knows what
he's doing.
She nods then climbs out of the van. Gizmo ogles the
tight leather pants.
GIZMO
Goddamn, what I wouldn't give for
a copy of that software.
Trinity turns around.
TRINITY
Gizmo, you don't have the hardware
to handle this software.
He howls with adolescent laughter as the van pulls away.
Trinity turns to Neo.
TRINITY
Let's go. He's waiting.
INT. HOTEL LAFAYETTE
It is a place of putrefying elegance, a rotting host of
urban maggotry.
Trinity leads Neo from the stairwell down the hall of the
thirteenth floor. They stop outside room 1313.
TRINITY
This is it.
Neo can hear his own heart pounding.
TRINITY
Let me give one piece of advice.
Be honest. He knows more than you
can possibly imagine.
Home
Part 3
