At this moment, however, she is not Antigone, her given name is SARAH BURNS. A man in his mid thirties walks up to Sarah. He is a mildly attractive person wearing a cheap, grey business suit and his hair is less than coiffed. This is CHUCK ERICSON.

CHUCK

Hey Sarah.

INT-OFFICE: Sarah doesn't hear him the first time for she is in a slight daze.

CHUCK

Sarah?

SARAH

Wha... Oh morning Chuck.

CHUCK

Actually, its evening.

SARAH

Word to the wise, never sleep in a cubical. Wicked bad stiff neck.

CHUCK

MMM, Well, nothing I can do.

SARAH

Chuck, tell me something.

CHUCK

What's that?

SARAH

How do you tell the differance between the dream world and the real world?

CHUCK

Sarah, could this wait until after tonight?

SARAH

What's tonight?

CHUCK

Drinks, you, me, Tammy and Jeff.

SARAH

Oh shit. Chuck, I'm sorry, I forgot.

CHUCK

Oh, fuck Sarah.

SARAH

Sorry. I've got something else going on.

CHUCK (Quietly)

I would have made a move tonight.

SARAH

Pardon?

CHUCK

Nothing.

SARAH

What?

CHUCK

I said nothing, have fun tonight.

INT-OFFICE: Chuck leaves. Sarah pokes her head out of the cubicle.

SARAH

I said I'm sorry.

CHUCK (shouting)

I know!

INT-OFFICE: Sarah recedes to her cubicle. She rests her head down on to her keyboard. She wakes up her computer which was still online. She looks at the screen. It shows a stock market report. She puts her head back down. The screen switches to black. Green text begins to appear. It reads, "Antigone. We know you, and you are not alone."

Sarah looks up at the screen. She looks behind her to make sure that no one is coming up behind her. She goes back to the screen. She quickly types, "Who are you?"

She waits about five seconds for the response, "I am the answer to the question that is your life."

Sarah types, "What question?"

Response is quick, "The question that drove all of us. What is The Matrix?

Sarah looks flabbergasted as she types, "So, what is The Matrix?"

"The Matrix is a lie. You want to know the truth?"

"Yes."

"Then risk everything. For The Matrix is beyond any explaination, you must see it for yourself. Can you take that plunge?"

Sarah ponders her response. She finally comes up with, "Maybe."

"Yes or no Antigone. Time is against us."

The computer shuts down. Sarah is left with a bewildered look on her face.

X-FADE TO.INT-APARTMENT, NIGHT: Sarah enters through a red door. This is her place. The apartment is medium in size and sparsely decorated. Over the door is a wooden plaque on which is written in Latin, "Know Thyself". Sarah looks at it with longing eyes.

SARAH

I wish I could.

CUT TO.INT-BEDROOM, NIGHT: Sarah lays on her bed. She is waring black silk pants and a white tank top. She looks at the only piece of decoration in her room, a small picture of her family on her bedside table.

X-FADE TO. EXT-SUBERBS, NIGHT, CHRISTMAS TIME: The house on the blocks are carbon copies of eachother. The only differances are in the Christmas lighting. Close on one front yard. Two children are playing in the snow. One is a girl of about five and the other is a boy of about eight. They are in the middle of a heated snowball fight, nothing serious, just innocent fun. The girl is SARAH and the boy is TIM.

SARAH

Hey Tim, give up?

TIM

Not on your life brat!

EXT-YARD: Tim sneaks around behind Sarah. He takes aim. Sarah turns to see him. She bold up as he throws. She runs down the pathway in front of the house. She spins around to throw her snowball but looses her footing on the ice.

She slips on to her back and smack her head. Tim rushes to her side.

TIM

Sarah!

EXT-YARD: Sarah is lying on her back, no crying just moaning and muttering something.

TIM

Sarah you okay?

SARAH

Stars, I see stars.

TIM

What?

SARAH

Green stars. I see green stars.

CUT TO. FIRST PERSON POV, SARAH: The world around her has changed. Now all she sees are streams of green code. Everything is code, the sky, snow, house even Tim.

SARAH

I see stars.

X-FADE TO. INT-BEDROOM, NIGHT: Sarah is stirring in her bed she is muttering something.

SARAH

Stars, green stars.

INT-BEDROOM: Sarah quietly, but suddenly wakes. She looks around the room. Nothing. She looks out the window over her head. Across the way in the building next door she can see men in dark suits filling every window. They are all staring at her through pairs of dark sunglasses. Sarah stands on her bed. She turns back into the room which has now filled with two dozen carbon copies of the men in the windows. One breaks from the group and move to her.

MAN

Do you know the story of Antigone? Essentially its about a woman who dies for what she belived in. You serve no purpose with a name like that.

INT-BEDROOM: The man thrusts out his right arm into Sarah's abdomen.

CUT TO: Sarah waking up in her room with a start. She franticlly looks around for the man in sunglasses, nothing. She jumps a little when the door buzzer goes off. She gets out of bed and heads for the door. She arrives and looks through a peep hole. Standing in the hallway are three leather clad people, two men and one woman. The men are CUTTER and NASH. The woman is JADA.

JADA

Come on! We know you're in there!

SARAH

I know you know! Gimmie a second.

INT-APARTMENT: Sarah unlocks the door. She looks at the trio with a look of displeasure.

SARAH

Where were you?

CUTTER

Getting out stuff. Ready to go?

SARAH

Hold on.

INT-APARTMENT: Sarah closes the door. She move to a closet and pulls out a pair of black shoes and a long black coat. She goes to a table and reaches under. She pulls out three black discs.

CUT TO. INT-HALLWAY, NIGHT: Sarah closes the door and looks to the trio. She smiles.

SARAH

Alright, let's get this trainwreck moving.