The Matrix

The Matrix

[Neo finds himself with Morpheus in a very much blank white room upon being jacked in for the first time]

Morpheus:
This is the Construct. It's our loading program. We can load anything, from clothing, to equipment, weapons, training simulations, anything we need.

Neo:
Right now we're inside a computer program?

Morpheus:
Is it really so hard to believe. Your clothes are different. The plugs in your arms and head are gone. Your hair has changed. Your appearance now is what we call "residual self-image." It is the mental projection of your digital self.

Neo:
This...This isn't real?

Morpheus:
What is "real"? How do you define "real"? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, taste and see, then "real" is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. [picks up a TV remote and turns on the TV to show images of the world as Neo saw it] This is the world that you know. The world as it was at the end of the 20th century. It exists now only as part of a neural-interactive simulation...that we call the Matrix. [turns off the TV] You've been living in a dream world, Neo. This is the world as it exists today. [The landscape shifts; now Morpheus and Neo sit in a devastated Earth] Welcome to the desert of the real. We have only bits and pieces of information. But what we know for certain is that at some point in the early 21st century all of mankind was united in celebration. We marveled at our own magnificence as we gave birth to A.I.

Neo:
A.I...You mean artificial intelligence.

Morpheus:
A singular consciousness that spawned an entire race of machines. We don't know who struck first, us or them. But we know that it was us that scorched the sky. At the time they were dependent on solar power and it was believed that they would be unable to survive without an energy source as abundant as the sun. Throughout human history, we have been dependent on machines to survive. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony. The human body generates more bioelectricity than a 120-volt battery. And over 25,000 BTUs of body heat. Combined with a form of fusion. The machines had found all the energy they would ever need. There are fields, Neo, endless fields, where human beings are no longer born. We are grown. For the longest time, I wouldn't believe it. And then I saw the fields with my own eyes. Watched them liquefy the dead so they could be fed intravenously to the living. And standing there, facing the pure, horrifying precision. I came to realize the obviousness of the truth. "What is the Matrix?" Control. The Matrix is a computer-generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this. [holds up a Duracell battery]

Neo:
No, I don't believe it. It's not possible.

Morpheus:
I didn't say it would be easy, Neo. I just said it would be the truth.

Neo:
Stop! Let me out! LET ME OUT! I WANT OUT!

[Neo and Morpheus are walking down what appears to be a street in the Matrix]

Morpheus:
The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Business men, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it. [Neo's attention is drawn to a passing attractive woman wearing a red dress] Were you listening to me, Neo, or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?

Neo:
I was…

Morpheus:
Look again. [Neo looks again; the woman has instantly turned into Agent Smith, pointing a gun at his head] Freeze it. [everything on the screen freezes in time]

Neo:
This…this isn't the Matrix?

Morpheus:
No. It's another training program designed to teach you one thing: if you are not one of us, you are one of them.

Neo:
What are they?

Morpheus:
Sentient programs. They can move in and out of any software still hard-wired to their system. That means that anyone we haven't unplugged is potentially an Agent. Inside the Matrix, they are everyone and they are no one. We have survived by hiding from them, by running from them, but they are the gatekeepers. They are guarding all the doors, they are holding all the keys, which means that sooner or later, someone is going to have to fight them.

Neo:
Someone?

Morpheus:
I won't lie to you, Neo. Every single man or woman who has stood their ground, everyone who has fought an agent has died. But where they have failed, you will succeed.

Neo:
Why?

Morpheus:
I've seen an agent punch through a concrete wall. Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air. Yet their strength and their speed are still based in a world that is built on rules. Because of that, they will never be as strong or as fast as you can be.

Neo:
What are you trying to tell me, that I can dodge bullets?

Morpheus:
No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready, you won't have to.

[After Cypher blasts Tank and Dozer with a lightning rifle]

Cypher:
Hello, Trinity.

Trinity:
Cypher? Where's Tank?

Cypher:
[leaning over her plugged body] You know, for a long time, I thought I was in love with you. I used to dream about you. You're a beautiful woman, Trinity. Too bad things had to turn out this way.

Trinity:
You killed them.

Apoc:
What?

Switch:
Oh God...

Cypher:
I'm tired, Trinity. Tired of this war, tired of fighting, tired of this ship, being cold, eatin’ the same goddamn goop every day. But most of all, I'm tired of that jackoff and all of his bullshit. [climbs onto the plugged Morpheus] Surprise, a**hole! I betcha never saw this comin’, did ya? God, I wish I could be there, when they break ya. I wish I could be there just when it happens, so right then, you'd know it was me.

Trinity:
You gave them Morpheus.

Cypher:
He lied to us, Trinity! He tricked us! If you woulda told us the truth, we woulda told you to shove that red pill right up your ass!

Trinity:
That is not true, Cypher, he set us free.

Cypher:
"Free"? You call this "free"? All I do is what he tells me to do. If I had to choose between that and the Matrix, I'd choose the Matrix.

Trinity:
The Matrix isn't real!

Cypher:
I disagree, Trinity. I think that the Matrix can be more real than this world. All I do is pull the plug here, but there... you have to watch Apoc die.

Apoc:
[as Trinity looks at him in horror] Trinity... [Cypher pulls his plug and he falls, dead]

Switch:
[running to Apoc's body] No!

Cypher:
Welcome to the real world, huh, baby?

Trinity:
But you're out, Cypher, you can't go back.

Cypher:
Oh no, that's what you think. They're gonna reinsert my body, I go back to sleep, and when I wake up, I won't remember a goddamn thing. By the way, if you have something terribly important to say to Switch, I suggest you say it now.

Trinity:
Oh no, please don't...

Switch:
Not like this. Not like this. [dies as Cypher pulls her plug]

Cypher:
Too late.

Trinity:
Goddamn you, Cypher!

Cypher:
Don't hate me, Trinity. I'm just a messenger. And right now, I'm gonna prove it to you. [walking to the plugged Neo] If Morpheus was right, then there's no way I can pull this plug. I mean if Neo is the One, then there'd have to be some kind of a miracle to stop me. Right? I mean, how can he be the One if he's dead? You never did answer me before. You bought into Morpheus' bullshit. Come on. All I want is a little yes or no. Look into his eyes, those big pretty eyes, and tell me - yes or no?

Trinity:
[looks at Neo, tears slightly visible in her eyes] Yes.

Cypher:
No! I don't believe it!

[A recovering Tank is aiming the lightning rifle at him]

Tank:
Believe it or not, you piece of sh*t, you're still gonna burn! [blasts Cypher, killing him]


Share your thoughts on The Matrix's quotes with the community:

1 Comment
  • David Catherson
    David Catherson
    The second of the triligy failed sadly.
    LikeReply 24 years ago
    • Twin Flames
      Twin Flames
      how so? did you get the msg?
      LikeReply 13 years ago
    • David Catherson
      David Catherson
      Twin Flames I got this one.
      LikeReply 23 years ago

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