| Note: This is an early draft of "The Matrix" - there are many differences between it and the movie. I obtained it from Movie Page at . and corrected the typos. ***WARNING*** The following script contains explicit language and violence. THE MATRIX Written by Larry and Andy Wachowski April 8, 1996 FADE IN ON: COMPUTER SCREEN So close it has no boundaries. A blinking cursor pulses in the electric darkness like a heart coursing with phosphorous light, burning beneath the derma of black-neon glass. A PHONE begins to RING, we hear it as though we were making the call. The cursor continues to throb, relentlessly patient, until -- MAN (V.O.) Hello? Data now slashes across the screen, information flashing faster than we read. SCREEN Call trans opt: received. 2-19-96 13:24:18 REC:Log WOMAN (V.O.) I'm inside. Anything to report? We listen to the phone conversation as though we were on a third line. The man's name is CYPHER. The woman, TRINITY. CYPHER (V.O.) Let's see. Target left work at 5:01 PM. SCREEN Trace program: running. The entire screen fills with racing columns of numbers. Shimmering like green-electric rivets, they rush at a 10- digit phone number in the top corner. CYPHER (V.O.) He caught the northbound Howard line. Got off at Sheridan. Stopped at 7-11. Purchased six- pack of beer and a box of Captain Crunch. Returned home. The area code is identified. The first three numbers suddenly fixed, leaving only seven flowing columns. We begin MOVING TOWARD the screen, CLOSING IN as each digit is matched, one by one, snapping into place like the wheels of a slot machine. TRINITY (V.O.) All right, you're relieved. Use the usual exit. CYPHER (V.O.) Do you know when we're going to make contact? TRINITY Soon. Only two thin digits left. CYPHER (V.O.) Just between you and me, you don't believe it, do you? You don't believe this guy is the one? TRINITY (V.O.) I think Morpheus believes he is. CYPHER (V.O.) I know. But what about you? TRINITY (V.O.) I think Morpheus knows things that I don't. CYPHER (V.O.) Yeah, but if he's wrong -- The final number pops into place -- TRINITY (V.O.) Did you hear that? CYPHER (V.O.) Hear what? SCREEN Trace complete. Call origin: #312-555-0690 TRINITY (V.O.) Are you sure this line is clean? CYPHER (V.O.) Yeah, course I'm sure. We MOVE STILL CLOSER, the ELECTRIC HUM of the green numbers GROWING INTO an OMINOUS ROAR. TRINITY (V.O.) I better go. CYPHER (V.O.) Yeah. Right. See you on the other side. She hangs up as we PASS THROUGH the numbers, entering the netherworld of the computer screen. Where gradually the sound of a police radio grows around us. RADIO (V.O.) Attention all units. Attention all units. Suddenly, a flashlight cuts open the darkness and we find ourselves in -- INT. CHASE HOTEL - NIGHT The hotel was abandoned after a fire licked its way across the polyester carpeting, destroying several rooms as it spooled soot up the walls and ceiling leaving patterns of permanent shadow. We FOLLOW four armed POLICE officers using flashlights as they creep down the blackened hall and ready themselves on either side of room 303. The biggest of them violently kicks in the door -- The other cops pour in behind him, guns thrust before them. BIG COP Police! Freeze! The room is almost devoid of furniture. There is a fold- up table and chair with a phone, a modern, and a powerbook computer. The only light in the room is the glow of the computer. Sitting there, her hands still on the keyboard, is TRINITY; a woman in black leather. BIG COP Get your hands behind your head! Trinity rises. BIG COP Hands behind your head! Now! Do it! She slowly puts her hands behind her head. EXT. CHASE HOTEL - NIGHT A black sedan with tinted windows glides in through the police cruisers. AGENT SMITH and AGENT BROWN get out of the car. They wear dark suits and sunglasses even at night. They are also always hardwired; small Secret Service earphones in one ear, its cord coiling back into their shirt collars. AGENT SMITH Lieutenant? LIEUTENANT Oh shit. AGENT SMITH Lieutenant, you were given specific orders -- LIEUTENANT I'm just doing my job. You gimme that Juris-my dick-tion and you can cram it up your ass. AGENT SMITH The orders were for your protection. The Lieutenant laughs. LIEUTENANT I think we can handle one little girl. Agent Smith nods to Agent Brown as they start toward the hotel. LIEUTENANT I sent two units. They're bringing her down now. AGENT SMITH No, Lieutenant, your men are dead. INT. CHASE HOTEL The Big Cop flicks out his cuffs, the other cops holding a bead. They've done this a hundred times, they know they've got her, until the Big Cop reaches with the cuff and Trinity moves -- It almost doesn't register, so smooth and fast, inhumanly fast. The eye blinks and Trinity's palm. snaps up and the nose explodes, blood erupting. The cop is dead before he begins to fall. And Trinity is moving again -- Seizing a wrist, misdirecting a gun, as a startled cop FIRES -- A head explodes. In blind panic, another airs his gun, the barrel, a fixed black hole -- And FIRES -- Trinity twists out of the way, the bullet missing as she reverses into a roundhouse kick, knocking the gun away. The cop begins to scream when a jump kick crushes his windpipe, killing the scream as he falls to the ground. She looks at the four bodies. TRINITY Shit. EXT. CHASE HOTEL Agent Brown enters the hotel, while Agent Smith heads for the alley. INT. CHASE HOTEL Trinity is on the phone, pacing. The other end is answered. MAN (V.O.) Operator. TRINITY Morpheus! The link was traced! I don't know how. MORPHEUS (V.O.) I know. Stay calm. TRINITY Are there any agents? MORPHEUS (V.O.) Yes. TRINITY Goddamnit! MORPHEUS (V.O.) You have to focus. There is a phone. Wells and Lake. You can make it. She takes a deep breath, centering herself. TRINITY All right -- MORPHEUS (V.O.) Go. She drops the phone. INT. HALL She bursts out of the room as Agent Brown enters the hall, leading another unit of police. Trinity races to the opposite end, exiting through a broken window onto the fire escape. EXT. FIRE E5CAPE In the alley below, Trinity sees Agent Smith staring at her. She can only go up. EXT. ROOF On the roof, Trinity is running as Agent Brown rises over the parapet, leading the cops in pursuit. Trinity begins to jump from one roof to the next, her movements so clean, gliding in and out of each jump, contrasted to the wild jumps of the cops. Agent Brown, however, has the same unnatural grace. The METAL SCREAM of an EL TRAIN is heard and Trinity turns to it, racing for the back of the building. The edge falls away into a wide back alley. The next building is over 40 feet away, but Trinity's face is perfectly calm, staring at some point beyond the other roof. The cops slow, realizing they are about to see something ugly as Trinity drives at the edge, launching herself into the air. From above, the ground seems to flow beneath her as she hangs in flight Then hitting, somersaulting up, still running hard. COP Motherfucker -- that's impossible! They stare, slack-jawed, as Agent Brown duplicates the move exactly, landing, rolling over a shoulder, up onto one knee. Just below the building are the rumbling tracks of riveted steel. The TRAIN SCREECHES beneath her, a rattling blur of gray metal. Trinity jumps, landing easily. She looks back just as Agent Brown hurls through the air barely reaching the last car. Agent Brown stands, yanking out a gun. Trinity is running hard as BULLETS WHISTLE past her head. Ahead she sees her only chance, 50 feet beyond the point where the train has begun to turn, there is -- A window; a yellow glow in the midst of a dark brick building. Trinity zeroes in on it, running as hard as she can, her speed compounded by the train. The SCREAM of the STEEL rises as she nears the edge where the train rocks into the turn. Trinity hurtles into the empty night space, her body leveling into a dive. She falls, arms covering her head as -- The whole world seems to spin on its axis -- And she crashes with an EXPLOSION of GLASS and WOOD, then falls onto a back stairwell, tumbling, bouncing down stairs bleeding, broken -- But still alive. Through the smashed window, she glimpses Agent Brown, still on the train, his tie and coat whipping in the wind; stone-faced, he touches his ear piece as the train slides him past the window. Trinity tries to move. Everything hurts. TRINITY Get up, Trinity. You're fine. Get up -- just get up! She stands and limps down the rest of the stairs. EXT. STREET Trinity emerges from the shadows of an alley and, at the end of the block, in a pool of white street light, she sees it. The telephone booth. Obviously hurt, she starts down the concrete walk, focusing in completely, her pace quickening, as the PHONE begins to RING. Across the street, a garbage truck suddenly U-turns, its TIRES SCREAMING as it accelerates. Trinity sees the headlights on the truck arcing at the telephone booth as if taking aim. Gritting through the pain, she races the truck -- Slamming into the booth, the headlights blindingly bright, bearing down on the box of Plexiglas just as -- She answers the phone. There is a frozen instant of silence before the hulking mass of dark metal lurches up onto the sidewalk -- Barreling through the booth, bulldozing it into a brick wall, smashing it to Plexiglas pulp. After a moment, a black loafer steps down from the cab of the garbage truck. Agent Smith inspects the wreckage. There is no body. Trinity is gone. His jaw sets as he grinds his molars in frustration. AGENT JONES walks up behind him. AGENT SMITH Did you get anything from the room? AGENT JONES Their next target. The name is Neo. The handset of the pay phone lays on the ground, separated in the crash like a severed limb. AGENT SMITH We'll need a search running. AGENT JONES It's already begun. We are SUCKED TOWARDS the mouthpiece of the phone, CLOSER and CLOSER, UNTIL the smooth gray plastic spreads out like a horizon and the small HOLES WIDEN until we fall through one -- Swallowed by the darkness that becomes -- A computer screen. We are on-line, inside a chat room called "The Matrix." It is an exclusive web-site where hackers hang out. SCREEN JACKON: I heard Morpheus has been on this board. SUPERASTIC: Morpheus doesn't even exist and the Matrix is nothing but an advertising gimmick 4 a new game. TIMAXE: All I want to know is Trinity really a girl? LODIII: 87% of all women on line are really men. QUARK: The Matrix is a euphemism for the government. SUPERASTIC: No, The Matrix is the system controlling our lives. TIMAXE: You mean MTV. SUPERASTIC: I mean Sega. FOS4: ALL HAIL SEGA!!! We drift back from the electric conversation entering -- INT. NEO'S APARTMENT It is a studio apartment that seems overgrown with technology. Weed-like cables coil everywhere, duct-taped into thickets that wind up and around the legs of several desks. Tabletops are filled with cannibalized equipment that lay open like an autopsied corpse. We turn towards the center of this rat-nest of technology, following the slurping and crunching of cereal. We pass an open box of Cap'n Crunch as we find -- NEO, a younger man who knows more about living inside a computer than living outside one. NEO Fuckin' idiots don't know shit. He finishes his cereal and is about to disconnect when an anonymous message slices onto the screen. SCREEN Do you want to know what the Matrix is, Neo? Neo is frozen when he reads his name. SCREEN SUPERASTIC: Who said that? JACKON: Who's Neo? GIBSON: This is a private board. If you want to know, follow the white rabbit. NEO What the hell... SCREEN TIMAXE: Someone is hacking the hackers! FOS4: It's Morpheus!!!!! JACKON: Identify yourself. Knock, knock, Neo. A chill runs down his spine and when someone KNOCKS on his door he almost jumps out of his chair. He looks at the door, then back at the computer but the message is gone. He shakes his head, not completely sure what happened. Again, someone knocks. Cautiously, Neo approaches the door. VOICE (O.S.) Hey, Tommy-boy! You in there? Recognizing the voice, he relaxes and opens it. ANTHONY, who lives down the hall, is standing outside with a group of friends. NEO What do you want, Anthony? ANTHONY I need your help, man. Desperate. They got me, man. The shackles of fascism. He holds up the red notice that accompanies the Denver boot. NEO You got the money this time? He holds up two hundred dollars and Neo opens the door. Anthony's girlfriend, DUJOUR, stops in front of Neo. DUJOUR You can really get that thing off, right now? ANTHONY I told you, honey, he may look like just another geek but this here is all we got left standing between Big Brother and the New World Order. EXT. STREET A police officer unlocks a yellow metal boot from the wheel of an enormous Oldsmobile. INT. NEO'S APARTMENT They watch from the window as the cops, silently, robotically, climb into their van. ANTHONY Look at 'em. Automatons. Don't think about what they're- doing or why. Computer tells 'em what to do and they do it. FRIEND #l Thc banality of evil. He slaps the money in Neo's hand. ANTHONY Thanks, neighbor. DUJOUR Why don't you come to the party with us? NEO I don't know. I have to work tomorrow. DUJOUR Come on. It'll be fun. He looks up at her and suddenly notices on her black leather motorcycle jacket dozens of pins: bands, symbols, slogans, military medals and -- A small white rabbit. The ROOM TILTS. NEO Yeah, yeah. Sure, I'll go. INT. APARTMENT An older Chicago apartment; a series of halls connects a chain of small high-ceilinged rooms lined with heavy casements. Smoke hangs like a veil, blurring the few lights there are. Dressed predominantly in black, people are everywhere, gathered in cliques around pieces of furniture like jungle cats around a tree. Neo stands against a wall, alone, sipping from a bottle of beer, feeling completely out of place, he is about to leave when he notices a woman staring at him. The woman is Trinity. She walks straight up to him. In the nearest room, shadow-like figures grind against each other to the pneumatic beat of INDUSTRIAL MUSIC. TRINITY Hello, Neo. NEO How did you know that -- TRINITY I know a lot about you. I've been wanting to meet you for some time. NEO Who are you? TRINITY My name is Trinity. NEO Trinity? The Trinity? The Trinity that cracked the I.R.S. Kansas City D-Base? TRINITY That was a long time ago. NEO Gee-zus. TRINITY What? NEO I just thought... you were a guy. TRINITY Most guys do. Neo is a little embarrassed. NEO Do you want to go somewhere and talk? TRINITY No. It's safe here and I don't have much time. The MUSIC is so loud they must stand very close, talking directly into each other's ear. NEO That was you on the board tonight. That was your note, wasn't it? TRINITY I had to gamble that you would see and they wouldn't. NEO Who wouldn't? TRINITY I can't explain everything to you. I'm sure that it's all going to seem very strange, but I brought you here to warn you, Neo. You are in a lot of danger. NEO What? Why? TRINITY They're watching you. Something happened and they found out about you. Normally, if our target is exposed we let it go. But this time, we can't do that. NEO I don't understand -- TRINITY You came here because you wanted to know the answer to a hacker's question. NEO The Matrix. What is the Matrix? TRINITY Twelve years ago I met a man, a great man, who said that no one could be told the answer to that question. That they had to see it, to believe it. Her body is against his; her lips very close to his ear. TRINITY He told me that no one should look for the answer unless they have to because once you see it, everything changes. Your life and the world you live in will never be the same. It's as if you wake up one morning and the sky is falling. There is a hypnotic quality to her voice and Neo feels the words like a drug, seeping into him. TRINITY The truth is out there, Neo. It's looking for you and it will find you, if you want it to. She takes hold of him with her eyes. TRINITY That's all I can tell you right now. Good-bye, Neo. And good luck. NEO Wait. Who was it? Who was the man? She leans close, her lips almost touching his ear as she whispers. TRINITY You know who. She turns and he watches her melt into the shifting wall of bodies. A SOUND RISES steadily, growing out of the music, pressing in on Neo until it is all he can hear as we -- CUT TO: INT. NEO'S APARTMENT The sound is an ALARM CLOCK, slowly dragging Neo to consciousness. He strains to read the clock face: 9:15 A.M. NEO Shitshitshit. EXT. SKYSCRAPER The downtown office of CorTechs, a software development company. INT. CORTECHS OFFICE The main offices are along each wall, the windows overlooking downtown Chicago. RHINEHEART, the ultimate company man, lectures Neo without looking at him, typing at his computer continuously. Neo stares at two window cleaners on a scaffolding outside, dragging their rubber squeegees down across the surface of the glass. RHINEHEART You have a problem, Mr. Anderson. You think that you're special. You believe that somehow the rules do not apply to you. He stops, glancing over his glasses at Neo, who turns in time. RHINEHEART Obviously, you are mistaken. His long, bony fingers resume clicking the keyboard. RHINEHEART This company is one of the top software companies in the world because every single employee understands that they are a part of a whole. Thus, if an employee has a problem, the company has a problem. He turns again. 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.) |
