author's note: I wrote this quite a while ago, I'd say maybe six months ago. The style, the point of view, was inspired by Chuck Palahniuk's Diary. If you've read the book, you know what I'm talking about when I say 'the point of view.' I think it's very interesting when the third-person, first-person, and second-person are all connected. I wanted to do that with this scene, because I think it makes a very interesting connection in a sort of out-of-one's-body way (no pun intended).
to disclaim: I obviously do not own the Matrix or any of its characters, concepts, etc.
the Question that Drives Us
Awkward and out of place, the story of his life. Standing in the club, Thomas A. Anderson comes to the conclusion that tonight he stands in the very parable, the archetype of his life, and that coming here tonight was a mistake. Much like every moment of his life, he stands by the wall, watching others dancing, enjoying themselves.
The story of my life.
Thomas doesn't even try to fit in.
I simply never tried.
Hello, Neo, a voice says. He is brought back from his reverie to see a woman standing in front of him. A beautiful, mysterious woman.
Your voice says.
How do you know that name? he asks. No one knows to connect his online alter ego with his given name. Thomas is a slave name, he had always thought. How could parents properly name a child who has yet to form a distinct personality? How many other Thomas Andersons must there be in the world?
She says she knows a lot about him.
You know a lot about me.
His gaze caught looking at her ice blue eyes, and then at the milky white skin between her shoulder and neck. Who are you? he asks.
Her name is Trinity.
Your name.
When Neo says that he always thought that Trinity, the Trinity who cracked the IRS d-base, was a guy, she says that most guys do.
Neo wants to say that he's not most guys, that he's different, unique. He doesn't want to be put into a category with most guys, because most guys probably fit in, most guys are much more confident.
I am not most guys.
But she says it before he gets the chance. He's in danger, she says. She came to warn him. She says someone's watching him.
I know why you're here, Neo. I know what you've been doing. I know why you hardly sleep, and why night after night you sit at your computer. You're looking for him. I know, because I was once looking for the same thing. And when he found me, he told me I wasn't really looking for him, I was looking for an answer. It's the question that drives us, Neo. It's the question that brought you here. You know the question, just as I did...
I know the question, just as you did.
What is the Matrix?
The answer is out there, Neo. It's looking for you, and it will find you, if you want it to...
The answer will find me, if I want it to.
I want it to.
I'm intrigued; my curiosity won't let me turn back. It's the question that drives me.