INT. NEBACHANEZZER COCKPIT

 

The NEB is slung between the two HOVERCRAFT, with the cockpit facing

backwards. TRINITY, MORPHEUS, TANK, and NEO, the former Thomas

Anderson, crowd the cockpit. Helpless, the landscape speeds away from

them, while a wall of red-eyed SQUIDDIES speeds to them.

 

It's been a mere TWO DAYS since the realization of NEO’S POWERS and

the defeat of AGENT SMITH. The slipstream whistles violently into the

interior of the ship, and the crew is cold, tired, haggard, and

stressed beyond belief as they can only watch the action in their

knocked-out ship.

 

                 MORPHEUS is on a headset.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

                 " Niobe, they’re closing."

 

                           NIOBE

 

                        " How many? "

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

         " Just a few. Maybe two or three. Hundred."

 

 

INT. SEPHORA COCKPIT

 

NIOBE, as regal as she is beautiful, sits at the controls of her ship

with her co-pilot, a younger female. All visible dials are redlined as

they streak over the dark surface.

 

                           NIOBE

 

          " You’ve got a gift for understatement."

 

 

INT. FREEDOM COCKPIT

 

THE FREEDOM’S CAPTAIN, a silhouette in a dark cockpit, is flying

blind. His cockpit is awash in the blue flares from NIOBE’S ship.

 

His lieutenant, a shadowy female figure, reaches for the radar screen.

As she does, we see her bare shoulder fall into view, a WHITE RABBIT

tattoo is conspicuous.

 

They switch their screens to the radar, squiddies right on their ass.

 

                            MAN

 

  " Oh shit, we’re screwed. We gotta set down and EMP ‘em."

 

                        NIOBE (V.O.)

 

                        " Too many! "

 

 

EXT. FREEDOM HULL

 

A racing SQUIDDIES reaches the hull and latches on, striking up its

cutting laser and ripping into the hull.

 

 

INT. SEPHORA COCKPIT

 

                         MAN (V.O.)

 

            " They’re on me! Shit! Losing power! "

 

NIOBE’S Lieutenant, a muscular Asian woman, Circa, notes something on

a console.

 

                           CIRCA

 

                 " Multiple bogies closing! "

 

                           NIOBE

 

                         " No shit."

 

                           CIRCA

 

                     " From the front! "

 

Niobe is grim faced as she peers into the sky ahead. Several objects

are closing in fast.

 

                           CIRCA

 

                       " Are they - "

 

She doesn't have time to finish the question, as the oncoming fighters

launch a massive volley of missiles. From afar, they look like dark

irises surrounded by a corona of flame. At first, we can't tell

exactly what they are, until their fiery trails rip straight at the

SEPHORA cockpit.

 

CIRCA DUCKS as the missiles harmlessly streak by.

 

 

INT. NEB COCKPIT

 

A massive swarm off missiles blasts by the cockpit. The individual

warheads swerve at the last second, blowing SQUIDDIES apart, or

casting them to the ground aflame.

 

 

INT. SEPHORA COCKPIT

 

Niobe breathes a sigh of relief. Her lieutenant looks back up to see a

wing of HOVER FIGHTERS - 'DEFENDERS' fly past their ship. Sleek, with

huge blue flares from their engines, they're gunship fighters armed to

the teeth with missiles and laser turrets studding the fuselage.

 

                           NIOBE

 

                        " They're ours."

 

                    DEFENDER ONE (V.O.)

 

     " Hold on, folks, you're in for a little cleaning."

 

 

EXT. THE SURFACE

 

The wing of DEFENDERS makes short work of the squiddies. The half

dozen clinging to FREEDOM'S hull are picked off by well-placed laser

shots that turn the squiddies into curdling balls of slag. The

squiddies that survive turn tail and run.

 

 

INT. NEB COCKPIT

 

The crew of the Neb breathe a collective sigh of relief as they leave

the scene of aerial carnage behind them.

 

NEO has been gripping an oh-shit handle on the edge of the cockpit. He

relaxes his grip as their escape is clear. Their ship suddenly enters

a cave, and starts to descend. The blue wash of the ship shows rock

walls and pipes. The ships are slowing down as they descend back into

the earth.

 

TANK'S shoulders drop, and he leans back into his chair.

 

                            TANK

 

                       " We're home."

 

                          TRINITY

 

     " Well, not yet, but we're in the defense screen."

 

                            NEO

 

                       " What's that? "

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

 " A concentric ring of defenses that shields Zion. The fighters that

         just saved us constitute the first ring."

 

                        NIOBE (V.O.)

 

               " Neb crew, you can relax now."

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

  " For the moment, perhaps. Its still a long drive home."

 

                                                         FADE OUT

 

and

 

FADE INTO:

 

TRINITY'S CABIN. At first we see only stars twinkling, faraway

diamonds on a black velvet background. The camera descends through the

darkness, to a sunset, dark blue, as if just after sunset. The artwork

terminates in the metal ring going around her room. It's a much more

hospitable place than the rest of the dreary hovercraft. The articles

she's collected during her time in the resistance dot the cabin. An

unfinished sweatshirt sits on a loom. There are charcoal portraits of

loved ones.

 

Softly lit, the cabin sways slightly. The NEB is still in tow. NEO is

sitting against the wall on Trin's bed, with her curled up beside him

with her head on his lap.

 

Neo can’t sleep. He stares at the wall opposite him. There's a photo

of the crew of the NEB, sans Trin, in better days. Smiling, laughing

as they are seated around the table. Morpeus, Tank, Dozer, Switch,

Epoch, Mouse. Neo stops on the image of a smiling CYPHER. There's an

unknown Asian man in the photo, looking withdrawn and a bit lonely.

 

Gently, placing Trinity's head down, NEO stands and examines the

photo.

 

                        She awakens.

 

                          TRINITY

 

      " I'll have to take that one down now. Cypher..."

 

                            NEO

 

                     " Who is this guy? "

 

                          TRINITY

 

                           " Who? "

 

               NEO points to the mystery man.

 

                          TRINITY

 

             " That was... I... forgot his name."

 

                            NEO

 

                  " What happened to him? "

 

                     TRINITY is sullen.

 

                    " He didn’t make it."

 

NEO returns to the bed and sits down, disturbed. Trinity sits up,

                         awakening.

 

                            NEO

 

                     " Was he like me? "

 

                       TRINITY nods.

 

                          TRINITY

 

" Not you, though. Like you. There have been others, Neo."

 

                    " Aren't you tired? "

 

                            NEO

 

            " No. I've never been a big sleeper."

 

                          TRINITY

 

" I know. I used to watch you hacking without sleeping for days."

 

          He turns to her, questions in his eyes.

 

                            NEO

 

             " How many 'ones' have there been? "

 

                          TRINITY

 

                  " That's not the point."

 

                   NEO may not think so.

 

                          TRINITY

 

                " You are him. You’re mine."

 

                            NEO

 

          " But what does it mean, to be The One? "

 

                          TRINITY

 

     " I don't know, Neo. Our mission was to find you."

 

                            NEO

 

                      " So, now what? "

 

                          TRINITY

 

          " Now, Zion will give us a new mission."

 

         The hatch swings open. MORPHEUS peers in.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

  " We're almost home. We'll need a detail. Five minutes."

 

            HE closes the hatch and disappears.

 

                            NEO

 

                   " Does he ever knock? "

 

                          TRINITY

 

                     " Not on his ship."

 

                                                          CUT TO:

 

INT. MAIN DECK, NEB

 

The crew grips the bulkhead and fixtures as the swaying ship comes to

a rest. Outside, the sounds of hover engines fade away. Tank unlocks

the main hatch, then jumps as it drops, unpowered, slamming into the

tarmac with a resounding smash.

 

                                                          CUT TO:

 

EXT. ZION TARMAC

 

The tarmac is a busy, crowded military airport, with hovercraft of

different sizes spread across the lot. Its housed poorly lit,

houses in a cave so huge the ceiling is out of site. Crewpersons run

around, servicing battle-damaged vehicles. Munitions are carted

across the tarmac on robot rolling racks. No one pays the NEB and

its battered crew any mind.

 

Nearby, the SEPHORA and FREEDOM are parked. Their engines shut down,

and their powered hatches are open. The crewmembers are spilling out.

 

NIOBE hurries to MORPHEUS' side, and he steps toward her, smiling, but

their military manner is quickly restored, though they can barely

contain their grins.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

                         " Niobe..."

 

         SHE shakes his hand, the shake slows down.

 

                            " M."

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

                  " Thanks for the rescue."

 

THEY close for a kiss, when the FREEDOM'S captain suddenly jumps

                       between them.

 

It's CHOI - the NEO's supposed neighbor and hacking financier.

Exhuberant and oblivious, he joyfully gets in MORPHEUS' face.

 

                            CHOI

 

 " Brough, you us your asses! We saved you so hard core you don't even

                           know! "

 

NIOBE smiles at Morpheus and fades back as BOOTH shouts his own

         praises. Morpheus turns to his less-mature peer.

 

                            CHOI

 

" So, you think you finally found The One, huh? Another One? "

 

DUJOUR, CHOI'S LIEUTENANT, pushes into their conversation, looking

                         offscreen.

 

                           DUJOUR

 

     " Idiot, we helped him find him. Hello, Morpheus."

 

                            CHOI

 

                           " Huh? "

 

He looks at what she's seeing. His gaze halts on NEO. He's

concentrating on TANK and his apparent girlfriend, who seems to be

 consoling him. He turns to see CHOI and DUJOUR, does a double-take,

                  and his jaw drops open.

 

                            NEO

 

                           " You? "

 

             CHOI is quick to resume his cool.

 

                            CHOI

 

                " In the flesh, so to speak."

 

                           DUJOUR

 

  " Welcome to the real world, Neo. I'm glad you're here."

 

                            CHOI

 

  " What do you think, Dujour? Should we take him with us? "

 

                           DUJOUR

 

                       " Definitely."

 

                            CHOI

 

                        " Morpheus? "

 

 MORPHEUS turns from Niobe and a Zion officer. He addresses Trinity,

 glancing at the others.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

" Go on ship's liberty. Meet me in the Dead Duck at 21: 00 hours, drunk

                         or sober."

 

 

EXT. ZION STREET

 

It's like a valley floor running between two gigantic walls of rock

that are nearly vertical, coming together in an elongated archway.

Carved into the street level are innumerable stores and shops, above

them, apartments and balconies that rise to the top of the arch.

People flow through the street. Their clothes are homespun wool,

denim, and leather. Dyes and color are absent. Carved into the solid

granite walls, between homes and around windows and doors, are

intricate and beautiful carvings.

 

NEO is lead down the street by CHOI, DUJOUR, and TRINITY, and a few

other rebels. The push through a mult-culti crowd of people, humanity

melting into one race.

 

                            CHOI

 

" See, man? This is home. This is the main street. One of ‘em, anyway.

  Almost everyone is a fighter. Sometimes, even the kids.

 

 THEY pass an outdoor workshop where youngsters are assembling small

                         machines.

 

                            CHOI

 

 " Our energy as a people is directed toward liberation. Check it out,

                 here are some newcomers."

 

A group of frail, buzz-cut androgonites pass by them. They look at

     NEO, recognizing him as one of them, a new comer.

 

                            NEO

 

                " Where did they come from? "

 

                            CHOI

 

" Energy plant we raided on our last mission. There were some

                        survivors."

 

                            NEO

 

        " How are their minds freed from the Matrix? "

 

                          TRINITY

 

                     " With difficulty."

 

                           DUJOUR

 

                        " If at all."

 

They step into a club, Dead Duck. It’s a sailor joint. Lots of wood,

beer on tap, and rum. Crewmembers of other ships recognize the rebels,

greeting them, as they eye Neo. They take a booth in the corner. The

waitress arrives.

 

                          WAITRESS

 

   " Welcome home, brothers and sisters. First day back? "

 

                            CHOI

 

                       " Yes, lovely."

 

                          WAITRESS

 

              " On the house, then. Four rums? "

 

                          TRINITY

 

                      " Make it eight."

 

   The waitress smirks and leaves. TRINITY turns to CHOI.

 

                          TRINITY

 

                     " Any casualties? "

 

              CHOI lights up and takes a drag.

 

                            CHOI

 

             " Two. Sidewinder and Left-right."

 

                           DUJOUR

 

         " I can’t believe Cypher turned. Bastard."

 

                            CHOI

 

                   " He who loses faith..."

 

                           DUJOUR

 

" Neo, we monitored your fight. Did you really gain enlightenment? "

 

                        NEO shrugs.

 

                            NEO

 

           " All I know is I kicked Smith’s ass."

 

                            CHOI

 

" Fuckin’ finally, Jesus Christ. It’s about time we iced that bastard."

 

                           DUJOUR

 

          " Yeah, we finally won against an agent? "

 

                            CHOI

 

        " I guess 1 ‘n 298 isn’t a bed record, huh? "

 

          The drinks arrive. Tall glasses of rum.

 

CHOI holds his glass aloft. They raise their glasses to toast.

 

                            CHOI

 

                    " Live free or die."

 

                       ALL (save NEO)

 

                        " Live free."

 

They slam the rum back, and slam empty glasses on the table. NEO can

barely manage to sip his.

 

                            NEO

 

                 " God, how do you do that? "

 

                          TRINITY

 

                " You’ve never drank before."

 

                           DUJOUR

 

                      " Not for real."

 

                            CHOI

 

        " You want to know what being The One means? "

 

                            NEO

 

                          " What? "

 

                            CHOI

 

               " One drink and you’re toast."

 

                           DUJOUR

 

 

        " Neo, you know what else you’ve never done? "

 

She glances at Trinity, who falls back against the seat, turning to

suppress a smile. Choi cracks up.

 

                            NEO

 

                          " Yeah."

 

                           DUJOUR

 

               " Yeah, you’ve never done it."

 

                            CHOI

 

  " And virtual doesn’t count, man, doesn’t fucking count."

 

                            NEO

 

                " Well. I’ll drink to that."

 

                            CHOI

 

                       " Here, here."

 

This time, NEO follows the others and slams back the entire glass. He

coughs and sputters as his friends and bar patrons cheer him on."

 

 

EXT. MAIN STREET, ZION

 

The lights are dim, and only a few late night revelers stagger through

the streets on their way back home. Walking straight and calmly

through the stragglers are MORPHEUS and NIOBE.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

       " So, how do you like having your own command? "

 

                           NIOBE

 

        " It’s good. But trying. The responsibility..."

 

      THEY stop before the entrance to the DEAD DUCK.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

     " You must be both mother and father to your crew."

 

NIOBE nods, and looks into the bar. Inside, the crews are raging drunk

and loud.

 

                           NIOBE

 

     " Who will you be now? The mother, or the father? "

 

         MORPHEUS peers in on the scene and grins.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

" As long as they don’t get out of line, I’ll just be a brother."

 

 

INT. DEAD DUCK

 

NEO is out of it, while the others are merely comfortably in the bag.

He’s acting like a kid who broke into his father’s liquor cabinet.

 

                            CHOI

 

   " So, you went back in, and you two pulled him out? "

 

TRINITY nods, herself in disbelief. NEO picks his head up off the

table.

 

                            NEO

 

               " Kicked... kicked Smith’s ass."

 

      CHOI eyes MORPHES and NIOBE coming toward them.

 

                            CHOI

 

" Hey, did you kick anybody else’s ass, Neo? Like Morpheus? "

 

                            NEO

 

        " Morpheus? Yeah, I smacked him around, too."

 

MORPHEUS arrives just in time to hear the last part. He stands and

grins down at NEO.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

            " So, you can smack me around, Neo? "

 

                            NEO

 

                    " Oh yeah. Anytime."

 

MORPHEUS taps him on the forehead. NEO blinks and falls back into the

booth. He stands before them.

 

                          TRINITY

 

                       " How’s Tank? "

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

 " He’s on bereavement leave with his mother. Dozer was the second son

                  she’s lost in this war."

 

               His comments set a sober tone.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

" The Nebechanezzer is out of commission for at least a month. But,

               that’s not giving us a rest."

 

                          TRINITY

 

    " Let me guess. We’ve been ordered back out anyway."

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

 " Yes. This is another special op. I’m in command, Niobe and Trinity

        are team leaders. Neo is our secret weapon."

 

FLASH TO: NEO, passed out with his mouth open on the couch.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

 " We don’t know exactly what he’s capable of. He may be just tapping

his potential, or he may have already reached it. We are to learn from

                 him, as he does from us."

 

                            CHOI

 

" Why are we always getting screwed? Not only do I have to go straight

      back into the shit, but I lose my command, too? "

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

" You’ve been assigned to this mission because you’re the best, Choi."

 

                           DUJOUR

 

 " Yeah, and headquarters thinks you might be able to whine the agents

                         to death."

 

                            CHOI

 

 " Oh my God that’s so funny. My point is, don’t we need some r-and-r?

Unwind a little? We lost two crew on the last one, you lost like five,

right? Shit. I’m glad we found Mr. Invincible, here, but Jesus..."

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

       " You don’t have to go, Choi. Volunteers only."

 

                          TRINITY

 

   " He’s got a point, M. I have faith, but why so quick? "

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

 " We have a chance, here, but the window of opportunity is brief. Our

 ships say the Matrix is already upgrading and re-coding to block our

                     entry. And Neo’s."

 

                            CHOI

 

" Fuck. Every fucking time we get another ‘one, ’ this is what they do."

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

                    " He is the One."

 

                           DUJOUR

 

        " You haven’t lost the faith, have you Choi? "

 

   CHOI grabs a half-filled rum glass and swigs it down.

 

                            CHOI

 

 " Well, these are the times that try men’s souls. Here’s to victory."

 

 

EXT. TUNNEL

 

The FREEDOM hovers slowly, silently, like a submarine as it cruises

through the murky depths. It suddenly comes to a quiet stop, and

descends. The engines fade out, and the vessel rests, darkened, on the

cave.

 

A quartet of SQUIDDIES slips by. We follow as they worm their ways

through the twisted passageway, watching as they pass the bubble

cockpit by mere feet.

 

FREEZE on the cockpit. Within the shadows we see Morpheus and Choi at

the controls.

 

 

INT. FREEDOM COCKPIT

 

      They watch the SQUIDDIES fade into the distance.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

                  " Power up. Sleep mode."

 

                            CHOI

 

                    " Aye aye, capitano."

 

MINIMAL cockpit displays turn on, and the cabin remains dark.

 

 

INT. MAIN DECK

 

The ship’s OPERATOR, a lean Asian kid with a gaze like a laser scan,

sits behind NEO, who’s sitting at the operator’s console with his

hands on the abbreviated keyboard. Trinity sits with them, her feet up

as she observes.

 

NEO stares at the screen. It’s a huge syllabus of Matrix code

characters. He struggles to learn the complex code.

 

                            NEO

 

     " Ka equals 9. But reverse Ka is point-nine, right?

 

                        RAZOR nods.

 

                           RAZOR

 

                  " You catch on quick, man."

 

                            NEO

 

" I know these symbols from the hacking trainer. But how come it’s so

            hard to find them on the keyboard? "

 

                          TRINITY

 

" Your brain knows what to do. But it has to associate characters with

                        your body."

 

                           RAZOR

 

" It’s muscle memory, Neo. Think of the space bar and your thumbs nail

it. Because your thumbs have hit the space bar millions of times. But

think about reverse ‘ka, ’ and your fingers don’t hit automatically hit

       the reverse key and the ‘ka’ key in one shot."

 

                            NEO

 

        " Where did these symbols come from, anyway? "

 

                           RAZOR

 

" Most of it is from the old Japanese. It’s Katakana. See, the machines

 aren’t binary. No zero and one. They’re quantum-based, so instead of

an open-close base of zero or one, open or closed, they use all

               numbers between zero and one."

 

                            NEO

 

" All numbers between zero and one. That could be an infinite number of

                         numbers."

 

                           RAZOR

 

                   " Not could be, it is."

 

                     NEO is astounded.

 

                            NEO

 

       " Holy shit. How many calculations per second? "

 

                           RAZOR

 

" How many CPS? Well, that’s kind of hard to estimate. Put it this way:

 picture all the particles in the known universe. Not just atoms, but

         sub-atomic particles that compose atoms."

 

                            NEO

 

" OK. At last count that was what, a gazillion, right? Two gazillion? "

 

              RAZOR barely smiles at the joke.

 

                           RAZOR

 

" Well, it’s up there. In any case, the number of calculations per

second the Matrix can perform is greater than the estimated number of

             particles in the known universe."

 

                            NEO

 

                          " Woah."

 

                          TRINITY

 

" That’s how they have the operating power to create entire worlds

                     within their PCs."

 

                            NEO

 

 " OK. That’s why it looks like reality. They have the computing power

                 to create entire worlds."

 

                           RAZOR

 

                          " Right."

 

                            NEO

 

" So, if we hack into the Matrix, why can’t we just change the code

                    while we’re at it? "

 

                           RAZOR

 

 " No, no. See, it’s not that simple. The machines, the programs that

 code, create, and maintain the Matrix, the agents, they are code.

There are different types of agents, many work unseen with no

interaction in the matrix. Then, there are the enforcers, the ones we

                    know all too well."

 

                            NEO

 

                          " Right."

 

                           RAZOR

 

 " Well, my point is, the machines code and recode the Matrix by pure

will. Interaction with the Matrix, the physical act of being there,

 by default, allows people to change their environment - the Matrix.

       They move objects, make sound, affect cause."

 

                            NEO

 

                      " Like reality."

 

                          TRINITY

 

" Almost. Reality is unalterable. But the fabric of reality in the

Matrix can be rewoven. Some can reach beyond normal cause. Their

 affects on the Matrix are deeper than average. They have learned to

change it according to their needs. But they don’t have total control.

That’s why we need operators like Razor here. But you, you go further

                    than any of us can."

 

                            NEO

 

 

                           " How? "

 

RAZOR stands and taps Neo’s skull. He stretches, grabs a Japanese

style wooden sword, and, out of boredom, starts performing slow,

precise Kendo moves around the main deck as he talks.

 

                           RAZOR

 

" The equipment you carry up here. You’re a freak. A good freak. You’re

neural kinetics blast past those of average humans. This, combined

with your ability to suspend disbelief, allow you to change the

                  reality of the Matrix."

 

                            NEO

 

              " How did I end up as... a freak? "

 

        RAZOR practices the same strike a few times.

 

                           RAZOR

 

" Good question. The Machines create people through cloning, since,

obviously, no coppertops have physical sex. Theoretically, all clones

in the Matrix are exactly the same as when the first clones. They

    shouldn’t be any different from normal, homegrowns."

 

                            NEO

 

              " OK, so how do you explain me? "

 

                          TRINITY

 

" Not just you. Morpheus, myself. We were all born inside.

 

                            NEO

 

           " Well, what separates us from others? "

 

                          TRINITY

 

" For the past 50 years or so, something has been happening to children

 in the Matrix. They’ve been mutating, changing in ways the machines

never predicted. Some seem to gain faster reflexes and strength.

            Others seem to have psychic powers."

 

RAZOR looks up to see MORPHEUS, hanging back as he listens. He comes

forward.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

" And others are able to change the reality of the Matrix itself."

 

                     HE points to Neo.

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

               " Discussing history, are we? "

 

                   RAZOR shakes his head.

 

                           RAZOR

 

 " I’m trying to teach this fool some programming, man. He’s stuck in

the 20^th century. He’s got no skills, man. Without us, he’s

                         helpless."

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

       " In the Matrix, without him, we’re helpless."

 

                          TRINITY

 

    " Morpheus, can you tell us what the mission is now? "

 

                          MORPHEUS

 

" Not until we reach broadcast depth. It’s slow going out there. I

guess they know we’re coming back, so they’re patrolling. We have time

                    to rest and ready."

 

 

123456789Следующая ⇒

Поделиться: