Neo Choice. The problem is choice.
More lines from Neo
3 quotes Neo Neo I was thinking. Everyone's here.
Neo Trinity. I know you can hear me. I'm never letting go. I can't. I just love you too damn much.
Scenes with Neo
15 scenes Neo Hiya, fellas.
Agent Jackson It's him.
Agent Thompson The anomaly.
Agent Jackson Do we proceed?
Agent Thompson Yes.
Agent Jackson He is still...
Agent Johnson ...only human.
Councillor Hamann Down here, sometimes I think about all those people still plugged into the Matrix and when I look at these machines I can't help thinking that in a way we are plugged into them.
Neo But we control these machines; they don't control us.
Councillor Hamann Of course not. How could they? The idea is pure nonsense. But...it does make one wonder... just... what is control?
Neo If we wanted, we could shut these machines down.
Councillor Hamann Of course. That's it. You hit it. That's control, isn't it? If we wanted we could smash them to bits. Although, if we did, we'd have to consider what would happen to our lights, our heat, our air...
Neo So we need machines and they need us, is that your point, Councillor?
Councillor Hamann No. No point. Old men like me don't bother with making points. There's no point.
Neo Is that why there are no young men on the council?
Councillor Hamann Good point.
So... let's get the obvious stuff out of the way.
Neo You're not human, are you?
It's tough to get more obvious than that.
Neo If I had to guess... I'd say you were a program from the machine world. [Nods to Seraph] So is he.
So far so good.
Neo But if that's true, it could mean you're a part of this system. Another form of control.
Keep going.
Neo I suppose the most obvious question is... how can I trust you?
Bingo. It is a pickle. No doubt about it. The bad news is there's no way you can really know whether I'm here to help you or not, so it's really up to you. You just have to make up your own damned mind to either accept what I'm going to tell you, or reject it. [offers a sweet] Candy?
Neo ... You already know if I'm going to take it.
Wouldn't be much of an Oracle if I didn't.
Neo But if you already know, how can I make a choice?
Because you didn't come here to make the choice. You've already made it. You're here to try to understand why you made it. [Neo takes the candy] I thought you would have figured that out by now.
Neo Why are you here?
Same reason- I love candy.
Neo But why help us?
We're all here to do what we're all here to do. I'm interested in one thing Neo: the future. And believe me, I know: the only way to get there is together.
Neo Are there other programs like you?
Oh, well, not like me. But... look- see those birds? At some point a program was written to govern them. A program was written to watch over the trees, and the wind, the sunrise, and sunset. There are programs running all over the place. The ones doing their job, doing what they were meant to do, are invisible. You'd never even know they were here. But the other ones... well, you hear about them all the time.
Neo I've never heard of them.
Oh, of course you have. Every time you've heard someone say they saw a ghost, or an angel- every story you've ever heard about vampires, werewolves, or aliens, is the system assimilating some program that's doing something they're not supposed to be doing.
Neo Programs hacking programs... Why?
Well, they have their reasons, but usually a program chooses exile when it faces deletion.
Neo And why would a program be deleted?
Maybe it breaks down. Maybe a better program is written to replace it, happens all the time. And when it does, a program can either choose to hide here, or return to the Source.
Neo The machine mainframe?
Yes. Where you must go. Where the path of the One ends. You've seen it. In your dreams, haven't you? The door made of light? [Neo nods} What happens when you go inside?
Neo I see Trinity. And something happens, something bad. She starts to fall, then I wake up.
Do you see her die?
Neo No.
You have the sight now Neo. You are looking at the world without time.
Neo Then why can't I see what happens to her?
We can never see past the choices we don't understand.
Neo Are you saying I have to choose whether Trinity lives or dies?
No. You've already made the choice. Now you have to understand it.
Neo No. I can't do that. I won't.
You have to.
Neo Why?
Because you're the One.
Neo What if I can't? What happens if I fail?
Then Zion will fall.
Neo What he(Merovingian) want?
What the men with power want? more power!
Mr. Anderson! Did you get my package?
Neo Yeah.
Well good.
Smith.
Whoever it is, he's not greeting like an agent.
Surprised to see me?
Neo No.
Then you're aware of it.
Neo Of what?
Our connection. I don't fully understand how it happened, perhaps some part of you imprinted onto me, something overwritten or copied- it is at this point irrelevant; what matters is that whatever happened, happened for a reason.
Neo And what reason is that?
I killed you, Mr. Anderson, I watched you die- with a certain satisfaction, I might add. And then something happened. Something that I knew was impossible, but it happened anyway. You destroyed me, Mr. Anderson. Afterwards, I knew the rules, I understood what I was supposed to do... but I didn't. I couldn't. I was compelled to stay. Compelled to disobey. And now here I stand because of you, Mr. Anderson. Because of you, I'm no longer an agent of this system. Because of you, I've changed, I'm unplugged- a new man, so to speak. Like you, apparently free.
Neo Congratulations.
Thank you.[Smiles for a moment before continuing] ...But, as you well know, appearances can be deceiving which brings us back to the reason why we're here. We're not here because we're free... we're here because we're not free. There's no escaping reason, no denying purpose, because, as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist.
Smith 1
It is purpose that created us.
Smith 2
Purpose that connects us.
Smith 3
Purpose that pulls us.
Smith 4
That guides us.
Smith 5
That drives us.
Smith 6
It is purpose that defines us.
Smith 7
Purpose that binds us.
We're here because of you, Mr. Anderson. We're here to take from you what you tried to take from us. [Plunges his hand into Neo's chest and attempts to copy himself over him] Purpose.
What can you see, Neo?
Neo It's strange... the code is somehow different.
Encrypted?
Neo Maybe.
Is that good for us, or bad for us?
Neo Well, it looks like every floor is wired with explosives.
Bad for us.
Here we go.
No, what happened happened, and could not have happened any other way.
Neo How do you know?
We are still alive.
Neo I'll handle them.
Handle us! You'll handle us! You know, your predecessors had much more respect!
[The Merovingian's men open fire on Neo, who stops all the bullets in mid-air without any apparent effort]
Okay, you have some skill. Kill 'im.
Neo Link, where am I?
You're not gonna believe this, but you're all the way up in the mountains.
Neo [Looking at the mountainous landscape]
... Really.
Hello, Neo.
Neo Who are you?
I am the Architect. I created the Matrix. I have been waiting for you. You have many questions and though the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, some you will not. Concordantly, though your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize, it is also the most irrelevant.
Neo Why am I here?
Your life is the sum of the remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the Matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control, which has led you, inexorably, here.
Neo You haven't answered my question.
Quite right. [Pauses] Interesting, that was quicker than the others.
[The Neos on the TV monitors begin shouting for an explanation.]
The Matrix is older than you know. I prefer counting from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next, in which case this is the sixth version.
Neo [The Neos on the TV monitors exclaim various statements of protest, before closing in on Neo's current reaction.]
There are only two possible explanations: either no one told me, or no one knows.
Precisely. As you are undoubtedly gathering, the anomaly is systemic, creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations.
Neo Choice. The problem is choice.
The first Matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect, it was a work of art, flawless, sublime. A triumph equaled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every human being. Thus, I redesigned it based on your history to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature. However, I was again frustrated by failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus, the answer was stumbled upon by another, an intuitive program, initially created to investigate certain aspects of the human psyche. If I am the father of the Matrix, she would undoubtedly be its mother.
Neo The Oracle.
Please. As I was saying, she stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99% of all test subjects accepted the program, provided they were given a choice - even if they were only aware of it at a near-unconscious level. While this solution functioned, it was also fundamentally flawed, creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly that, if left unchecked, might threaten the system itself. Ergo, those who refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked, would constitute an escalating probability of disaster.
Neo This is about Zion.
You are here because Zion is about to be destroyed. Its every living inhabitant terminated, its entire existence eradicated.
Neo Bullshit.
TV Monitors
Bullshit!
Denial is the most predictable of all human responses. But, rest assured, this will be the sixth time we have destroyed it, and we have become exceedingly efficient at it.
The function of the One is now to return to the Source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the Prime Program. After which you will be required to select from the Matrix 23 individuals, 16 female, 7 male, to rebuild Zion. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the Matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race.
Neo You won't let it happen, you can't. You need human beings to survive.
There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept. However, the relevant issue is whether or not you are ready to accept the responsibility for the death of every human being in this world.
[The Architect activates the monitors, showing various people in the Matrix.]
It is interesting reading your reactions. Your five predecessors were, by design, based on a similar predication: a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the One. While the others experienced this in a very general way, your experience is far more specific. Vis-à-vis: love.
Neo [The monitors show Trinity.]
Trinity.
Apropos, she entered the Matrix to save your life at the cost of her own.
Neo No.
Which brings us at last to the moment of truth, wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed, and the Anomaly revealed as both beginning and end. There are two doors. The door to your right leads to the Source and the salvation of Zion. The door to your left leads back to the Matrix, to her and to the end of your species. As you adequately put, the problem is choice. But we already know what you are going to do, don't we? Already I can see the chain reaction: the chemical precursors that signal the onset of an emotion, designed specifically to overwhelm logic and reason. An emotion that is already blinding you to the simple and obvious truth: she is going to die and there is nothing you can do to stop it.
[Neo turns and walks to his left.]
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness.
Neo If I were you, I would hope we don't meet again.
We won't.
If you want the Keymaker, follow me. [to man in washroom] Get out! I’m so sick of his bullshit. On and on, pompous prick. A long time ago, when we first came here, it was so different. He was so different. He was like you. I’ll give you what you want. But you have to give me something.
Neo What?
A kiss.
Excuse me?
I want you to kiss me as if you were kissing her.
Neo Why?
You love her. She loves you. It’s all over you both. A long time ago, I knew what that felt like. I want to remember it. I want to sample it. That’s all, just a sample.
Why don’t you sample this instead? [She holds up her gun to Persephone's head]
Trinity.
Such emotion over something so small. It’s just a kiss.
Neo Why should we trust you?
If I don’t deliver you to the Keymaker, she can kill me.
Neo All right.
But you have to make me believe I am her.
Neo All right.
Neo Wait. Okay.
[he kisses her again; this time...]
Ahh, yes. That’s it. I envy you. But such a thing is not meant to last. Come with me.
[Persephone leads the three through a kitchen and comes up to door, closes it, turns a key, reopens it revealing a grandiose atrium] [Detecting change on screen]
Not again!
[she leads the three into a library with two goons watching The Brides of Dracula who immediately stand up startled]
It’s all right, boys, they’re with me. These fellas work for my husband; they do his dirty work. They’re very good, very loyal. Aren’t you, boys?
Cain and Abel
Yes, Mistress.
They come from a much older version of the Matrix, but like so many back then, they caused more problems than they solved. My husband saved them because they’re notoriously difficult to terminate. How many people keep silver bullets in their gun? [She holds up the gun and shoots one goon in the head and his body falls back onto a couch] You can either run to the restaurant and tell my husband what I have done, or you can stay there and die. [Other goon runs off] He’s in the ladies’ room... [To Nebuchadnezzar crew] Hurry. [She opens a revolving bookcase door and she leads them into a dungeon, opening a door to The Keymaker's workroom]
Neo My name is Neo.
Yes, I’m The Keymaker. I’ve been waiting for you.
Be careful.
Neo Hello.
Seraph You seek the Oracle.
Neo Who are you?
Seraph I am Seraph. I can take you to her. But first, I must apologize.
Neo Apologize for what?
Seraph For this. [He and Neo have a huge martial arts fight] Good. The Oracle has many enemies. I had to be sure.
Neo Of what?
Seraph That you are The One.
Neo You could’ve just asked.
Seraph No. You do not truly know someone until you fight them. Come, she’s waiting.
Where the hell’d they go?
Neo [Walking in a hallway with several doors on both sides]
These are back doors, aren’t they? Programmer access.
Neo [Seraph nods]
How do they work?
Seraph The code is hidden in tumblers. One position opens a lock. Another position opens one of these doors.
Neo Are you a programmer?
Seraph [shakes head]
Neo Then what are you?
Seraph I protect that which matters most. [He brings Neo to the Oracle who is sitting on a bench in a courtyard]
