Neuromancer

screenplay by
William Gibson

screenplay dates range between 18/5/90 and 21/5/90

taken from paper to data by Greg Beams.

The screen is black. Ultra-violet print scrolls out the following information:

By the year 2015 cash transactions had become virtually obsolete. Worldwide commerce and communication was run through the MATRIX, a vast international network of unified computer systems.

A consortium of powerful multi-national corporations maintained control of the Matrix through their private police organisation, SENSE/NET SECURITY INC.

Corporate interests were protected at all costs.

INT.  TOWNHOUSE - NIGHT

A MAN and WOMAN sleep peacefully in the sunken bedroom of an upscale Boston townhouse in the near future. The plush decor is tasteful, but indulgent. Sharper Image meets 2015. A small digital hologram floats in mid air beside the bed; 2:05 a.m.

CAMERA BOOMS DOWN

Revealing the man, CASE, in C.U....Early thirties. Fine features. There is a tension about him even at rest. LINDA LEE, the young woman curled up beside him has a soft natural beauty that's enhanced by the innocence of sleep.

Case's eyes flash open...He senses something wrong.

There is a subtle CLICK from across the open living room.

Suddenly there's a deafening EXPLOSION as the front door is blown off its hinges. A black hexagon the size of a baseball is lobbed into the room.

CASE

Reacts instantly, pulling Linda Lee to the floor.

THE HEXAGON

Ignites with a flash of white-hot magnesium fire. It emits a continuous blinding flare that permeates the room.

CASE

Blinded by the flare, frantically pulls open a bedside drawer and fumbles for his gun.

THE DOOR

Two heavily armed SENSE/NET POLICEMEN kick their way through the smoking remains of the door. Pitch black welders' goggles protect their eyes from the glare as they charge into the room.

CASE

Is mercilessly beaten to his knees by the policemen's electrified shock staves.

LINDA LEE

Makes a break for it, but she's backhanded by Policeman #1 and recoils against the wall.

ANGLE ON THE DOOR

A gaunt, foreboding looking MAN in a long great coat now enters. His pale clean shaven head and angular features give him a skull like appearance as he gazes through the blue-white glare with obsidian goggles. He regards the semi-conscious Case for a moment then nods to his men.

Two Policemen sweep glassware of an oversized coffee table, slam Case down on top of it and slap plastic restraints on his wrists and ankles.

The other Policemen begin a destructive search of the townhouse.

The PALE MAN looms over Case like the Angel of Death, a dark form framed against flickering shafts of incendiary light. His voice is an icy whisper.

PALE MAN
Nice place, Mr. Case. Industrial espionage must be paying well these days.

Case speaks through bloody lips.

CASE
Let's see your warrant.

PALE MAN
(chuckles)
Oh, we're not arresting you. The law books haven't quite caught up with your technology. Breaking
into the computer matrix by cerebral projection... that's a little tough to prosecute, don't you think?

On the other side of the room, a Policeman smashes open a false front bookshelf revealing an impressive array of customised gear. A tiara-like headset rests on a bust of Socrates.

SENSE/NET POLICEMAN
Lieutenant...

PALE MAN
That's it, gentlemen.

The police begin to destroy the gear with the enthusiasm of prohibitionists at a moonshine still.

CASE
I've got money...

PALE MAN
Not anymore. You've burned at least three multinational corporations, Mr. Case. You're getting a little too good at your craft, my friend. That's bad for business. Bad for everybody.

The Pale Man withdraws a glittering hypodermic from a silver case.

CASE
What's that?

PALE MAN
Your retirement plan.

He jams the needle into the artery on cases forearm and drives the plunger home.

Case's body convulses as the mycotoxin surges through his veins.

The Pale Man turns to Linda Lee.

PALE MAN (CONT.)
He'll be hallucinating for... oh, about fifteen hours.

He pats her on the cheek

PALE MAN (CONT.)
What's left after that is all yours.

HIGH ANGLE

CAMERA BOOMS DOWN onto the spread eagled Case, surrounded by his enemies. He screams as the mycotoxin hits his nervous system like a runaway freight train. His dilated eyes flash open, staring into a hallucinatory hell. BOOM DOWN continues straight through the glistening black hole of his pupil and on into a chilling inner void.

SMASH CUT TO:

MAIN TITLE SEQUENCE

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. CHIBA CITY, JAPAN - NIGHT

A crowded commercial ghetto in the Ginzu district of Japan; a garish strip of bars, liquor stores, and cometic surgery parlours. The ragtag crowd of hustlers and tourists wear rough trade street fashions with the added kink of punk influenced elective surgery...notched ears and *idless eyeballs...added strictly for shock value. The holographic adverts hanging like neon ghosts in the night sky remind us this is the future. A grim future indeed.

SUPERIMPOSE:

CHIBA CITY, JAPAN
ONE YEAR LATER

INT. CHATSUBO BAR

We are hit by a solid wall of ROCK MUSIC and BAR NOISE. The Chatsubo is one of the roughest dives on the Ginzu and the only place in town where you're likely to meet an American or European as an Oriental. RATZ, a broad-shouldered, leather faced Bartender with an articulated prosthetic arm serves the crush of patrons as he casually passes through holograms for Tsing Toa and Kirin Beer.

Case sits at a table in the far corner talking to two Japanese businessmen. He looks the worse for wear, rumpled, unshaven and ten pounds lighter. It's been a rough year.

He chain smokes through Yeheyuan cigarettes as he speaks to the ancient DR. KIYOTO through his rotund interpreter MR. TENSHU. A grubby folder containing CAT Scan transparencies lies open on the tabletop before them.

TENSHU
Dr. Kiyoto say scan reveal many secrets. You suffer serious damage to nervous system. Someone play bad trick on you.

CASE
Yeah, I know all that. I used to be a wire man, understand? Plugged straight into the matrix.

Tenshu translates and Kiyoto replies.

TENSHU
No longer possible for your mind to enter matrix. Nervous system incompatible for computer. You try again, you fry like egg.

CASE
Everyone says Dr. Kiyoto is the best nerve splicer in all the black clinics.

TENSHU
Nerve splice very risky. Dr Kiyoto now
******

Dr. Kiyoto makes further comment in Japanese.

TENSHU (CONT.)
He say he admires your bone structure. You make beautiful woman. We correct nature's mistake.

Kiyoto smiles at Case, flashing huge synthetic ultra white teeth framed by horrible grey gums.

CASE
(downs his drink)
Tell him no thanks. I got lousy legs.

Case rises and heads for the bar. Ratz pours him a shot of Japanese vodka as he pulls up a stool.

RATZ
Ah, Herr Case. And how is the artiste tonight?

CASE
Fine, Ratz. Thanks.

A boozy tattooed hooker looks up from her drink, impressed.

HOOKER
Oh, you're an artist? I love artists.

RATZ
He was once the artiste of light-fingered microchippery, my dear. Need your credit rating changed? Interested in a few corporate secrets? Case was the man. Now he is the artiste of the slightly funny deal. Isn't that right, Herr Case?

CASE
Sure. Someone's gotta be funny around here.

Case pops two tiny blue pills and washes them down with the vodka. Ratz refills his glass.

RATZ
I saw your girl yesterday.

CASE
I don't have a girl.

RATZ
No girl? Only biz, my dear artiste?

Case lights a cigarette.

RATZ (CONT.)
Too bad. I likes you better with her. Now, sometime you get maybe to artistic; you wind up in the clinic tanks, spare parts.

CASE
You're pleasant tonight.

RATZ
(bows)
Always...By the way, you know that girlfriend you don't have?

CASE
Yeah.

Ratz nods. Case turns, following his gaze.

Linda Lee stands in the doorway, dressed in French fatigues and sneakers. There's still a warmth and beauty about her that shines through the hard edge of a year of disappointments in Chiba City.

Case makes his way through the crowd. He's gentle with her... there's still a love between them.

LINDA LEE
Hello, Case.

CASE
I thought you already left.

LINDA LEE
Flight's in the morning. You should be on it, too. There's nothing for us here, Case. There never was.

To Case, it's an old battle not worth fighting.

CASE
Why did you come here tonight, Linda?

LINDA LEE
People are talking. They say the Yakuza has a contract out on you.

CASE
I hear that shit once a week. Don't worry. Jo Jo Bao loves me.

LINDA LEE
This time it's different. Someone ripped of a shipment of hallucinogens. Five grams of liquid ketamine. It was supposed to be Jo Jo's score.

CASE
(pauses)
Where did you here that?

LINDA LEE
Too many places. You're playing tag wish some kind of death wish, Case.
(beat)
I'm sorry but I'm not sticking around for the funeral.

She hesitates...then kisses him on the cheek, turns and disappears into the night.

Case takes a last pull on his cigarette, then observes his hand. His fingers are shaking. He flicks the butt away.

EXT. JULIUS DEANE IMPORT-EXPORT

A dingy commercial building wedged between a strip joint and a digital tape store. Case takes the rickety stairway up three steps at a time. He bursts through a door under the worn sign: "Julius Deane Import-Export"

A dark rosewood office crowded with expensive European furniture, and stacks of white fibreglass shipping modules. Several CATS lounge about in the shadows.

DEANE, an obese but extremely well groomed man, sits quietly at his desk just outside the small circle of light thrown by a brass lamp. One of his cats is perched casually on his shoulder. A thick Cuban cigar smoulders between his stubby fingers.

Case storms into the room, sending hissing cats scrambling out of the way.

CASE
You stupid, stupid, son of a bitch. That was supposed to be a clean score! You've got me fencing Yakuza goods on Yakuza turf...

C.U. - DEANE'S HAND

A large white ash tumbles from Deane's cigars. His hand remains motionless.

ON CASE

As he reacts. We hear the soft sound of a cat licking.

DOLLY

With Case as he rushes to the desk and flips the lamp shade up onto...

DEANE'S FACE

Illuminated for the first time. The cat perched on his shoulder is lapping at a crimson knife wound bisecting his windpipe.

CASE

Steps back, horrified.

THE DESK

Deane's right hand is frozen on the blood splattered keyboard of his compact computer terminal. The small screen is scrolling off a single cryptic word repeated ad infinitum:

Wintermute
Wintermute
Wintermute

CASE

Hastily flips the light off and crosses to the window.

CASE'S P.O.V.

Two stocky JAPANESE MEN stand just beyond the orange glow of a quartz halogen street light, gazing back up at Case. Yakuza. They start across the street, heading for the building.

CASE

Releases the curtain and runs a hand through his tousled hair.

CASE
Shit...

He looks back at Julius Deane.

CASE (CONT.)
We've been set up, old buddy.

Case rummages through Deane's coat rack until he finds an old fashioned .38 in an ancient cracked leather shoulder holster. He flips the barrel open. There's only one round in the chamber. It'll have to do.

Case jams the gun in his belt and pushes a button on Deane's desk. A section of panelled wall pops open, revealing a hidden exit. He takes a last look at his former partner.

CASE
So long, Julie. Don't forget to feed the cats.

NINSEI STREETS

Case rushes through the Saturday night street crowd, past Yakitori stands and massage parlours.

A Japanese ELVIS IMPERSONATOR sends his eerie rendition of "Heartbreak Hotel" echoing down the Ninsei. Case checks his back.

The two Yakuza heavies are searching the crowd half a block away. A third gangster the size of a boxcar joins them.

Case backs into the doorway of a surgery parlour as he checks the other direction.

A dangerous looking WOMAN IN BLACK wearing mirror shades is heading towards Case. She reaches inside her black leather jacket and loosens her shoulder holster as she scans the crowd.

Case ducks just past a group of RUSSIAN SAILORS, and cuts across the street, just past a MESSENGER on a motorised tricycle.

The Yakuza spot him and push their way through the crowd.

Case ducks into the garishly decorated doorway of an arcade.

INT. ARCADE.

A deafening cacophony of ARCADE SOUNDS echoes throughout the darkened room as lifelike holograms do battle under the guidance of customers at gaming consoles.  As Case enters, a holographic fireball from Tank War Europa briefly illuminates the room.

The three Yakuzas burst through the doors and begin to search the room.

Case grabs an Armed Guard by the shoulder.

CASE
There's going to be trouble. Get your security over here...

The guard is suddenly jerked out of Case's grasp from the impact of an azide slug imploding his chest.

Case ducks back as three more SHOTS shatter the side of a console. The GUNFIRE is lost in the noise of the arcade.

Yakuza #1, his gun smoking, cautiously circles the aisle.

Case crouches in the darkness. From just behind the game console, he can see a pair of feet...slowly approaching. He cocks his gun, timing the approach carefully...then springs.

THE AISLE

A KID in oversized biker boots drops his popcorn as Case leaps out.

CASE

Pulls his shot at the last second, firing into the air.

YAKUZA #1

Pops up out of the darkness behind him, gun blazing.

THE KID

Beside Case is blown off his feet, shattering a holo projector.

CASE

Cuts through the maze of games, ducking lead. He loses the hit man at the back of the arcade, then checks the .38...empty.

A red dot appears on Case's chest. He looks up.

THE BIG YAKUZA
Looking like a Sumo wrestler stuffed into an ill-fitting suit. The laser-site on his modified Uzi casts the quavering dot on Case's chest.

The Big Yak smiles. His gold earring bearing the symbol of the Yakuza twinkles eerily in the darkness.

The kisses his thumb and makes the ritual gesture of death to Case.

LOW ANGLE - SLO MO

As another holographic blast erupts from Tank War Europa, the WOMAN IN BLACK leaps through the ghostly atomic fire, launching herself straight at the Big Yakuza.

She executes an amazing flying kick, snapping her body around to connect with the Yakuza's jaw. He goes down like a felled Sequoia.

Yakuza #3 appears fining at the Woman in Black. Case tackles him. They struggle for control of his gun. The crowd finally reacts to the real violence in the midst of their illusionary battles.

The Big Yakuza begins to rise, spitting out teeth and pissed off.

Case spots him, swings #3's gun hand around and squeezes the trigger.

The Big Yakuza takes a hit in the heart and crumbles.

Still gripping #3's hand, Case savagely elbows him in the face. Once. Twice. Three times. He goes down.

Suddenly machine pistol fire strafes the console behind Case. The monitor explodes with a hail of glass shards.

****** (Something to do with 'firing his machine pistol')

Case runs for all he's worth, heading for a window across the room. He barrel rolls straight through glass and neon as a fusillade of bullets explode around him.

EXT. STREET

Case hits the cement and rolls, knocking over a couple of leather clad HOOKERS in the process. He disappears into the crowd as the Hookers scream expletives at him.

INT. CHATSUBO BAR

The doors blow open as JO JO BAO, the twenty-five year old Yakuza Lieutenant of Chiba City, enters escorted by four heavily armed BODYGUARDS. The cold expressionless mask of Bao's face suggests the brutality required to climb so far in the Yakuza ranks at such an early age. His startling aqua blue eyes are an obvious affectation from the black clinic tanks.

As the entourage cuts its way across the crowded floor, a ripple of tension spreads throughout the room.

Ratz casts a wary glance to his sideman, FRITZ.

Fritz gently lifts a wire bore scattergun from its resting place out of sight under the bar.

Ratz shakes his head "no" and motions for Fritz to stand by.

Jo Jo sits down before Ratz, flanked by his men.

RATZ
Arigatou, Bao-san. Rare to see you out this time of night.

Bao's English is excellent.

JO JO BAO
I'm afraid I could not sleep. Worry makes me restless.

RATZ
Is that so?

JO JO BAO
Yes. I'm worried for your friend. The man they call Case.

Ratz looks from one bodyguard's icy stare to the other.

RATZ
Not my friend. My customer.

JO JO BAO
Of course. Forgive me.

Bao extends his pinky finger, which is encased in a decorative gold sleeve. With a twist, he disengages the sleeve, revealing that his finger has been amputated at the knuckle. Bao casually taps a line of yellow powder out of his finger/vial onto the bar.

JO JO BAO (CONT.)
"Your customer"...Case is a difficult man to find when he wants to be.

Bao applies a match to the powder, which ignites like a fuse. He then expertly inhales the resulting curl of dirty yellow smoke, then offers Ratz a pull.

RATZ
Ah...No thanks. I can try to get in touch with him for you. Can't promise anything, you understand.

JO JO BAO
I would greatly appreciate this. You see there is a small matter that must be settled between Case and I.

One of Bao's bodyguards suddenly lashes out with a wickedly curved dagger, burying it in the counter top.

C.U. THE DAGGER

The gleaming blade had pinned a human ear to the worn wood. By the elaborate gold earring we recognise that this once belonged to the Big Yakuza in the arcade.

EXT. CHEAP HOTEL - NIGHT

Camera suddenly BOOMS UP to the rooftop of a shabby ten story office building. Up here, in some of the last available space in the crowded city, a cheap hotel has been erected out of prefab fibreglass "coffins" racked in a framework of industrial scaffolding and catwalks. A weakly flickering neon sign offers the words CHEAP HOTEL under a cluster of Japanese ideograms.

INT. CHEAP HOTEL

Linda Lee has just finished packing a small suitcase in the cramped quarters of the white fibreglass module. The rooms moulded to maximise the efficiency of the living space; concave area for microwave and cooler, convex area for a temperfoam bed slab for computer terminal and telephone.

Linda peels off a photograph taped to the wall of her and Case in better days... mugging for the camera during a break in a game of Jai Alai. She decides to leave it for him.

The telephone rings. As Linda picks it up the computer screen is illuminated with a C.U. of Ratz.

LINDA LEE
Hello?

INTERCUT CHATSUBO BAR

Ratz speaks into a grimy mobile phone before a wall mounted lens. In the B.G. we see his small audience of Yakuza heavies.

RATZ
Is Case there?

LINDA
No. Who's this?

RATZ
A friend. I have a very important message. Are you listening?

LINDA
Yes, but I...

RATZ
Jo Jo Bao says Case should bring the goods the Yakitori Stand at the arena in one hour.  Jo Jo gets the goods or Case gets orchids. He'll understand.

There is a click as the phone disconnects. The screen goes blank.

Linda Lee looks back at the photograph of the man she used to love. She snaps her suitcase shut and starts for the door... But she stops short and finally makes a decision.

Linda crosses to the cooler and rummages about inside. She discovers a 9mm automatic hidden by a row of beer bottles. Searching further, she finds a plastic container behind the ice cube trays. Inside, packed in dry ice, is a glass tube filled with an amber fluid. Ketamine.

Linda stops and considers the gravity of what she is about to do. She closes the container and stuffs it into her canvas shoulder bag.

EXT. BULLET TRAIN PLATFORM - NIGHT

The sleek train is a blur of motion as it clears frame... revealing Case, exhausted and dishevelled from his run in with the Yakuza. He checks his surroundings warily, then exits the platform. As he approaches the dingy stairway, his attention is drawn to a holographic travel advert floating overhead.

CLOSER -  HOLOGRAM

It displays a beautiful cylindrical satellite hanging in space like a twinkling child's toy. The word FREESIDE pulses beneath the image in capital letters that mimic printed Japanese, followed by the copy line, "Why wait?".

A crack of lightning briefly illuminates a night sky choked with storm clouds. A light rain begins to fall. Case moves on.

EXT. CHEAP HOTEL

Case turns his collar up against the rain as he checks his lock for signs of a break-in. He slots a key card and the portal pops open.

INT. CHEAP HOTEL

Slipping through the small entry, case shrugs off his wet jacket and reaches for the lights.

OFFSCREEN VOICE
Hold it.

Case turns to find himself looking down the four barrelled muzzle of a Fletcher; a lethal looking hand gun that shoots dart cartridges ranging from tranquillisers to micro-explosives.

The Woman In Black sits at the far end of the coffin training the Fletcher on Case with a rock steady hand. The gun's pepper box muzzle rotates once, clicking a barrel in place.

WOMAN
No lights. I can see just fine the way I am, thanks.

C.U. THE WOMAN

Her mirror shades are actually surgically inset silver lenses that cover her eye sockets. Her fine features and smooth pale skin are framed by a rough shag of jet black hair. There's a cold beauty about her... marred by a street tough edge.

WOMAN
Now close the door.

WOMAN'S P.O.V.

Her lenses provide light boosters... enhancing the scene in a pale green hue as Case closes the portal.

CASE
That was you at the arcade.

WOMAN
I just wanted to put the Big Yak down, not kill him. I've got enough problems without Yak heat.

ANOTHER ANGLE

The room's only light source is the dim glow of the computer monitor.

******************************

Unfortunately, the next page is missing from the bootleg. I can establish, though, that Case learns that Armitage has a job for him, and that the Woman In Black is, in fact, Molly. The best pointer for the scenes may in fact be the novel.

******************************

MOLLY
His name's Armitage. He's very anxious to meet you.

CASE
Why should I want to meet him.

MOLLY
Because you've exceeded your shelf life, Case. Word on the street is you're a dead man walking. Nice time for an employment opportunity. Travel to exotic locales.

CASE
What's my end?

MOLLY
You want to hear the pitch, you gotta meet the man.

Case considers this for a beat, then reaches for his jacket.

CASE
This better be good.

Molly holsters her gun and rises.

Case now notices Linda's suitcase lying by the temperfoam slab, with a note on top of it. He scans the note... adrenalin surges through his body.

MOLLY
What is it?

CASE
... a friend of mine's gonna get herself killed. I need my clip.

MOLLY
Sorry. That's not gonna happen.

CASE
Then, fuck you. I'm gone.

Case reaches for the door.

The fletcher is instantly in Molly's hand and firing.

Three blue steel darts puncture the fibreglass portal and stand
quivering inches from Case's hand.

Case turns and glares at Molly. She considers the situation.

MOLLY (CONT.)
(holsters gun)
Alright. We check your friend out first. But I want you to
remember something.

Molly snaps her hand open, palms up. With a barely audible click ten double edged scalpel blades slide from their housings beneath her black lacquered nails. Surgical implants.

MOLLY
You mess with me, you'll be playing Jai Alai with Jesus.

EXT. ARENA

An inflated dome behind a portside warehouse, taut grey fabric reinforced with a net of thin steel cables. The roar of the crowd briefly rises above the night sounds of Chiba City.

INT. ARENA

Linda Lee makes her way across a crowded transom as the predominantly Japanese CROWD exchange fistfuls of new yen, placing their bets. She pauses to ask an old woman directions.

Behind her, the towering puppets of holographic light duplicate the movements of the contestants in the ring; two MEN in the midst of a savage knife fight. Their combat style combines street fighting, fencing and kickboxing.

INT. ARENA HALL

The dimly lit outer hall is lined with massive cement pylons that anchor the arena's support cables. As Jo Jo Bao and his four leg breakers make their way through the crowd, the BEGGARS and SOUVENIR HUSTLERS shrink back. These are men not to be trifled with.

EXT. ARENA

Case and Molly bolt out of a three wheeled taxi and rush to the ticket window.

INT. ARENA - THE RING

The two combatants whirl in their deadly cockfight, their bodies glistening with sweat. The crowd ROARS as first blood is drawn.

C.U. - YAKATORI SKEWER

The brown sauce dripping down Jo Jo Bao's fingers. He takes a bite.

WIDER - YAKATORI STAND

The stand is positioned near an ugly cinderblock dead end at the last curve in the shadowy hall. Sensing danger, the few remaining patrons abandon their position in line, leaving the stand to Bao and his men.

INT.  HALL

Linda Lee enters the hall, checking her watch. She hurries past the clutching hands of the beggars, and the sing song cries of the merchants.

INT. ARENA - STANDS

Case and Molly race across the transom as the crowd SCREAMS for blood. Behind them, the God-like holograms battle beneath the quilted dome in a column of drifting cigarette smoke and light.

INT. YAKATORI STAND

Bao turns. Pull focus to Linda Lee framed in the arch of the hallway. She stands there frozen, like a deer trapped in the road... Then steadies herself, and starts toward Bao and his men.

INT. HALL

Case and Molly run full speed around the bend.

INT. YAKATORI STAND

Linda Lee stands before the grim faced Yakuzas. She reaches into her shoulder bag and produces the plastic container. Bao watches silently as one of his men withdraws the ketamine.

INT. ARENA

The combatants' blades clash. Sparks fly.

The crowd chants for the kill, blood-madness in their eyes.

INT. YAKATORI STAND

Bao's synthetic ice-blue eyes reveal nothing as he inspects the fragile tube of amber fluid. He looks back up at Linda Lee... then lets the tube drop, shattering on the cement floor.

The ketamine itself means nothing. Bao has a score to settle.

INT. RING

One combatant lashes out. Blood flows.

INT. YAKATORI STAND

A double hinged butterfly knife flickers open in Jo Jo Bao's hand.

LINDA LEE

Reacts as the bodyguards grab her from either side.

THE CROWD

**** Faces contorted in anger

MOLLY AND CASE

Arrive at the dead end.

CASE'S P.O.V.

Linda Lee stands 20 yards away, flanked by Bao's bodyguards. Bao SCREAMING something in Japanese. His knife flashes.

THE RING - THE COMBATANTS

A blade flashes - the killing blow. The crowd shrieks.

ON CASE

Sprinting up the hallway.

CASE
(screams)
No!

THE YAKUZAS

Turn, drawing their guns.

MOLLY

Pushes Case to the ground as she dives to one side, firing her Fletcher.

LINDA LEE

Staggers back, silhouetted by strobing muzzle flashes as the men around her open fire.

CASE

Crouches beside a cement pylon as bullets explode around him.

MOLLY

Fires, scrambling for cover. She pulls out Case's clip.

MOLLY
Case!

CASE

Catches his clip, jams it into the gun and rushes the stand like a madman, firing blindly.

MOLLY

Her Fletcher whines as she fires a storm of explosive darts into the midst of the Yakuzas.

THE STAND - HAND HELD

Case charges, blazing away. Yakuzas are cut down in the searing crossfire.

LINDA LEE

Turns, her eyes wide with terror... takes two steps toward Case. A thin curtain of blood suddenly appears, running down her throat.

She crumbles into Case's arms.

BAO

Fires.

CASE

Blood blossoms from his shoulder. Still holding Linda Lee, he empties his gun at Bao.

BAO

Riddled with bullets, is blown back into the Yakitori stand. Glass, wood, hot grease and fire fly through the air as the Yakuza Lieutenant's body bounces off the cinderblock wall, and rebounds on the unyielding cement floor.

CASE

Sinks to his knees cradling the lifeless body of Linda Lee in his arms. Police SIRENS wail in the distance... growing closer.

MOLLY

Snaps a new clip in her Fletcher, scanning the wreckage of sprawled bodies with a professional eye... no survivors.

She takes Case by the shoulder as we hear SHOUTS and a shrill police WHISTLE O.C.

MOLLY
She's dead man. C'mon.

Case does not respond.

MOLLY (CONT.)
She's dead!

Molly pulls Case to his feet as the post-fight crowd begins to emerge from the arena. They react with SCREAMS and confusion to the scene of bloodshed.

Camera BOOMS UP. COPS and SECURITY MEN arrive, pushing their way through the swirling crush of bodies. Case and Molly slip away in the confusion.

SLOW DISSOLVE
TO BLACK

E.C.U. COFFEE CUP

Black coffee poured into a china cup.

INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY

Case sits in an oversized chair framed against a large picture window in a luxurious suite. Outside a slate grey sky hangs over the jumble of Chiba City. A light rain patters against the glass.

Case looks wasted... washed out. His arm is supported by a web-like nylon sling. He sips his coffee in silence.

Molly pours a cup for her employer.

ARMITAGE is a powerfully built man in his early forties. His dark robe frames a broad muscular chest and a flat stomach. His white blonde hair is close cropped in an almost military style.

ARMITAGE
Are you sure you're up to this, Mr. Case? We could reconvene tomorrow.

CASE
You've got an expensive razor girl on me for a reason. I'd like to hear what it is.

ARMITAGE
Very well.

Armitage slots a laser disc the size of a quarter into a remote control. The picture window behind Case is instantly transformed into a wall sized screen displaying news footage of chaos in the London stock market.

ARMITAGE (CONT.)
What you're seeing here is the London stock market crash of last September. This was the first in a series of setbacks for the international banking community.

Molly pours herself some coffee and sits down near Case. Her Fletcher hangs loosely on her side in a black nylon shoulder holster.

Armitage switches the scene to a space shuttle manufacturing plant.

ARMITAGE (CONT.)
The collapse of Aerospace International...

He switches to a corporate conference room where a hearing is in progress.

ARMITAGE (CONT.)
The corporate plundering of Yeshoto Industries... At first these seemed like unrelated incidents, but a pattern is emerging that suggests otherwise.

CASE
What does this have to do with me?

ARMITAGE
(turns off screen)
Our analysis of the London stock crash suggest that it was manipulated from within the international computer matrix. Cyberspace, Mr. Case... A realm I believe you're familiar with.

CASE
(shrugs)
Put the Sense/Net Police on it. The matrix is their turf.

ARMITAGE
Sense/Net's corporately financed. Too corrupt to be trusted. You of all people should know that.

Armitage sits down across from Case

ARMITAGE (CONT.)
If someone is infiltrating the matrix on a global scale no political or economic system is safe. I'm assembling a team of specialists, Mr. Case. We need a man who can enter the matrix and trace this saboteur.

CASE
My days of punching deck are over. For you or anybody else.

ARMITAGE
What would you say if I told you we could correct your neural damage?

CASE
I'd say you were full of shit.

Armitage nods.

CASE (CONT.)
Then I'd ask you what your terms are.

ARMITAGE
First, let's get something straight. We ran a psych construct on you that lists self destruction as your favourite pastime. If you want to kill yourself, Mr. Case, there's much more entertaining ways than working for me.

CASE
It's the people close to me that tend to die... and I get the feeling you and I are going to be real buddies.
(beat)
Terms?

ARMITAGE
We'll match your rate just prior to your... accident. One half in advance.

CASE
Who's running the show, Armitage? This a government sting?

ARMITAGE
Questions make me nervous. Part of our arrangement will be that you don't ask too many.

Armitage rises.

ARMITAGE (CONT.)
One more thing, Mr. Case... Be prepared to travel light.

EXT. THE SPRAWL - DAWN

Urban development gone mad... A city built upon a city with old Atlanta at the core. Bristling with air and ground traffic. A Herring passenger jet slowly spirals as it drops straight down into the dense cityscape.

SUPER:

BOSTON-ATLANTA METROPOLITAN AXIS:
THE SPRAWL

EXT. HOSPITAL GROUNDS - DAY

An exclusive clinic comprised of sleek pavilions, separated by small formal gardens.

Case cracks open a drink container and hands it to Molly. He opens a second one for himself. Two white robed DOCTORS pass by, preoccupied with their charts.

CASE
Since when do sprawl doctors know more about nerve rehab than the Japanese?

MOLLY
Since Armitage sold them a program on it. Put them years ahead of the competition.

As they walk through the garden, they pass a gleaming crab-like robot pruning a tree with its long delicate claws.

CASE
He's a resourceful guy, your boss. How long you work for him?

MOLLY
Couple of months.

CASE
What about before that?

MOLLY
For someone else. Bodyguard. Courier... Whatever.

CASE
Then you don't really know who he is, do you?

MOLLY
I know who he isn't. Not C.I.A. Not Sense/Net. But... money comes in. Doors open. He's onto something.

CASE
Maybe something's onto him.

MOLLY
What's that supposed to mean?

A MALE NURSE approaches Case.

NURSE
Mr. Smith?

CASE
Yeah.
(turns back to Molly)
It means there is no Santa Claus, Molly. So cover your ass. Just cover your ass.

Case follows the nurse into the building.

INT. OPERATING ROOM

A high tech sterile environment.

An ANESTHESIOLOGIST in a cobalt blue smock and surgical mask attaches one blue derm to Case's neck and one to his wrist.

ANESTHESIOLOGIST
Count backwards from ten, please.

CASE
Ten... nine...

CASE'S P.O.V. - SLOW MO

A SURGEON picks up a laser scalpel, a device resembling a tuning fork with a laser beam crackling between its open prongs. The surgeon now folds back one of the prongs and turns toward Case.

CASE
(slowing down)
Eight... seven... six.

C.U. CASE

His eyelids droop... picture and sound slow down.

CASE
Five... four...

CASE'S P.O.V. - -SLOW MO

The Surgeons converge on Case, towering over him. The room around him then melts into dreamy soft focus as the crackling laser scalpel descends.

E.C.U. - CASE'S EYES

Half closed.

CASE
Three... two...

CASE'S P.O.V. - SLOW MO

The Surgeons have become the Pale Man and his Sense/Net storm troopers. The scalpel is now the glistening hypodermic... descending... contact.

The screen explodes in WHITE-OUT.

C.U. CASE

His face tenses... but in passion, not pain... slowly turning to reveal Linda Lee holding him tightly... lost in their lovemaking.

E.C.U. THE LASER SCALPEL

Burning a straight line across a horizon of flesh.

CASE

His face tenses... again slowly turning to reveal Linda Lee in his arms, but now her eyes are as cold and blank as a lifeless doll... Her throat darkly glistening crimson.

E.C.U. THE LASER SCALPEL

Its beam FLARES into camera as it slices.

C.U. CASE

Screams...

The CAMERA BOOMS UP to reveal him tied to the coffee table, surrounded by his enemies.

Screams....

Clutching her lifeless body in his arms as he sinks to his knees in defeat.

C.U. CASE

His eyes flash open as he gasps a breath. Awake...

WIDER - DARKENED ROOM

Case lies in rumpled sheets, his face bathed in sweat. He can hardly move.

Molly looks down at him... a shadow against a moonlit window, her hair glistening as blue black as a raven's wing.

MOLLY
(softly)
Easy. You're still full of endorphins.

Case coughs. Molly supports his head and helps him sip some water.

MOLLY (CONT.)
You've been calling her name.

CASE
What?

MOLLY.
Your girl, Linda Lee. You've been calling her name.

She wrings out a wet cloth. Applies it to his forehead.

MOLLY (CONT.)
She must have really loved you.

Case gazes into the darkness. His voice is a weak whisper.

CASE
It got her killed.

Molly straightens up his covers.

MOLLY
Sure Case... Love kills and we're all the walking wounded.

She gently lays a hand over Case's eyes.

MOLLY (CONT.)
Now close your eyes... You're asleep and you don't even know it.

When Molly takes her hand away, indeed, his eyes remain shut.

C.U. MOLLY - MORNING

She hits a padded bar hard... Flips up out of frame.

WIDER

Molly is in the midst of a workout on a customised rig that's part "Sinsemi" karate pads, part uneven parallel bars. She flies through her routine with animal grace and the focused discipline of a professional athlete.

The rig stands in the middle of a sparsely furnished high ceilinged loft. Shafts of soft morning light are filtered through a row of dusty windows.

Case sits up in the foreground.

He's lying on a futon in the middle of the worn wooden floor. He rises pulling a sheet around his naked shoulders... but he's stopped cold as a splitting headache hits home.

CASE
(gasps)
Holy shit...

MOLLY
(flips down off rig)
Hey... you're not supposed to be up.

Molly guides Case to a stool at the kitchen counter. He looks around the room, red-rimmed eyes adjusting to the light.

CASE
How long have I been out?

MOLLY
Almost two days.

Case gazes down at the narrow bandages across his main arteries.

CASE
I gotta know... did it work>

MOLLY
We'll find out soon enough. If you don't pull the splices out.

Case snaps the cap off a bottle of bourbon and pours a drink.

CASE
How soon is soon enough?

MOLLY
Couple of days. They'll examine you.

Case slugs down the bourbon.

MOLLY (CONT.)
That's not going to help.

CASE
The way I feel, believe me, it'll help.

MOLLY
Not anymore. You got a new pancreas. Armitage's got you kinked so you can't get stoned.

CASE
What the fuck... are you serious?

MOLLY
(pours him another)
Go ahead...

Case tosses it down... no kick at all.

CASE
That's cute. Very fucking cute. What else did this guy do to me when he had me opened up like a goddamn fillet?

Extending one scalpel-blade, Molly picks at a cluster of grapes.

MOLLY
(half-smile)
Oh, I dunno... He was saying maybe that you're a little too ballsy.

Molly flicks her blade, severing two grapes from the bunch. Nasty image.

CASE
No...

Case checks beneath his sheet.

Armitage now enters carrying two large cardboard boxes bearing Japanese logo.

ARMITAGE
I'll think you'll find everything in working order. Molly's just having a little fun.

CASE
I don't call this fun, pal. You're playing God with my body.

ARMITAGE
You're a substance abuser, Case. Your pancreas was shot. Wouldn't have lasted out the year. We did you a favour and liberated you from a dangerous dependency in the bargain.

CASE
Thanks, but I was enjoying that dependency.

ARMITAGE
Good, because you've got a new one.

Armitage sets the boxes down in a corner with several others.

ARMITAGE (CONT.)
There are fifteen toxin sacs bonded to the lining of your main arteries. They're dissolving, Case... slowly, but they're definitely dissolving. You have just long enough to do the job.

CASE
You son of a bitch...

Case lurches up from the counter, sending the bourbon smashing to the floor. Molly restrains him.

MOLLY
Easy...

ARMITAGE
Play it straight with me and you've got nothing to worry about. When it's over, I inject you with the antitoxin.

CASE
Why'd you do it, Armitage?

ARMITAGE
The disturbance in cyberspace... It's an A.I.

CASE
(bitter chuckle)
Right. And no one would take on an A.I.... If they had a choice.

MOLLY
What's an A.I.

ARMITAGE
An Artificial Intelligence. A computer system that's developed the capacity for sentient thought. They're dangerous and totally unpredictable.

CASE
First sign of free will, Sense/Net usually slags 'em.

ARMITAGE
This one's different. No one can trace it. It's out there somewhere in the matrix and it's growing stronger... infecting other computer systems like a virus.

CASE
Anything rated higher than a P.C.'s got a hard-wired suicide switch. It'll self-destruct.

ARMITAGE
It hasn't yet.

Case lights a cigarette.

CASE
I've heard about rogue A.I.'s, but there's only one guy who actually went up against one.

ARMITAGE
Dixie McCoy

CASE
Right. Best cowboy that ever punched deck. The old man taught me most of what I know.

ARMITAGE
I've arranged for him to work with us.

CASE
That's gonna be tough because Dixie McCoy's dead. The A.I. flatlined him.

ARMITAGE
I know.
(beat)
You ever work with ghosts, Case?

CASE
What are you talking about?

ARMITAGE
Sense/Net taped a full spectrum personality construct on McCoy six months before his death. Everything Dixie was -- everything Dixie still knows exists as a digitised construct.
(beat)
Of course a tape can get misplaced in a library the size of Sense/Net's.

Armitage tosses a matte black cartridge on the kitchen counter. Its the size and shape of the clip on an assault rifle. Warning decals and security codes frame the label on the front of the cartridge:

Charles "Dixie" McCoy

Case gingerly picks it up.

CASE
Working with a dead man. Shit, I've done about everything else.

ARMITAGE
You'll be ready for a trial run in two days. If your splices hold, you'll use McCoy to trace the A.I.'s coordinates.

CASE
And then?

ARMITAGE
Then we rendezvous with the final member of our team. For now, that's all you need to know.

CASE
It's just that sometimes I wonder what team I'm playin' on.

Armitage turns to Molly.

ARMITAGE
We have work to do.

Molly and Armitage exit.

Pull focus from Case to Armitage's empty glass in the foreground. Case holds it up to the light.

C.U. THE GLASS

Subtle fingerprints are visible.

EXT. LOFT - NIGHT

A full moon shines down on the weathered brick building in this core section of old Atlanta.

INT. LOFT

Case lies sleeplessly, staring at the mysterious grouping of boxes that Armitage has left lying on the moonlit floor. He rises.

As Case unstacks the boxes he discovers a glossy pamphlet advertising the luxury satellite, Freeside, with the familiar copyline: "Freeside... Why wait?"

Beneath it is an 8x10 fashionably dressed cabaret artist. It bears the heading, "The Holographic Cabaret of Peter Riviera." Ghostly images of skulls and jewels dance about Riviera.

Case sets the papers aside and runs his hand over the smooth surface of a box bearing cryptic instructions in Japanese. He tears it open and brushes back the clear plastic packing bubbles.

He gently lifts a beautiful Ono-Sendai Cyberspace 7 computer deck out of the box and sets it in a square of dusty moonlight thrown across the worn wooden floor. It's a more compact version of the jerry-rigged deck in Case's old townhouse. He runs his hands over the smooth lines of the two tiered keyboard... the sleek joystick.

MOLLY (O.S.)
You touch that thing like it's a woman.

Case looks up to see Molly silhouetted in her bedroom doorway, wearing only a cotton body stocking. Her Fletcher hangs from her shoulder in its open harness.

CASE
I'm going in.

MOLLY
You're not ready yet. They said two days.

CASE
I'm not jacking with Armitage and his quacks breathing down my neck.

MOLLY
If the splices aren't good, you could fry.

Case considers this for a moment.

CASE
I'll show you how to tell what's going on. If things go south, you unplug me.

MOLLY
What is it with you? Why is it so important? It's a buzz, right? Like getting high.

CASE
On a good run... yeah.

MOLLY
So you're a wire junkie.

Case sets the computer deck aside.

CASE
When I was fifteen Sense/Net iced my old man's credit record over some computer error. Once that goes down, that's it. He lost his business... everything. It destroyed him. I had to hustle arcade games for chump change. Dixie McCoy found me, figured I was a natural. He taught me the wires for a piece of the action.

MOLLY
A regular Fagan.

CASE
Sure. I finally pulled a run on my old man's credit file when I was seventeen... only it was too late for him.

MOLLY
Too late?

CASE
Suicide. I just needed to set the record straight.

Case is silent for a moment then turns and begins to tear open another box.

CASE (CONT.)
I've been running the matrix ever since.

Molly finally sits down beside him... the starts to help Case unpack the equipment.

INT. LOFT - C.U. CYBERSPACE EQUIPMENT

An impressive display of high tech computer gear is arranged in a semi-circle on the floor around the futon.

Case sits in a lotus position in the midst of the gear as Molly paces the room. Trails of micro thin wires run from the electrodes (derms) no his headband to the chrome plated jack he holds in his hand.

CASE
The first fun's bound to be rough. It that read out fluctuates more than ten points... just pull this out. But if the EEG flatlines, don't touch anything.

MOLLY
Won't that mean you're dead?

CASE
Technically, yeah, but people have made it back after as long as three minutes.

MOLLY
Dixie McCoy didn't.

CASE
The point is, if you unplug me when I'm flatlines, I'm history. I got no way back.

MOLLY
Okay fine. Let's get this over with.

Case gives Molly a reassuring smile.

CASE
Take it easy. This is what I'm good at.

C.U. THE JACK

Case slides it home with a metallic SNAP.

Crackle to WHITE OUT

CASE'S P.O.V. - CYBERSPACE

We are suddenly roaring through an impossible corridor of light with no top or bottom... Our speed constantly increasing. Luminescent geometric shapes tumble by like a shimmering power storm. We have entered an unearthly dimension of sheer power and energy as Case's subconscious mind is catapulted into CYBERSPACE

THE LOFT -CASE

Breaks into a sweat... His eyes closed in deep concentration. He remains in the louts position, his hands lying on padded supports just above the keyboard. His fingers flex weakly. He's in poor contact with his physical self.

C.U. CASE - CYBERSPACE

His translucent image distorts radically as he's torn through the GLOWING corridor, fighting for some control.

THE LOFT

The READOUTS begin to fluctuate.

Molly sees that Case's body is beginning to tremble. Something's going wrong.

CASE'S P.O.V. - CYBERSPACE

Still accelerating down the terrifying corridor of light. The ride grows rougher with the increasing velocity. He's losing control.

THE LOFT - C.U. KEYBOARD

Case's fingers still move slightly... still no contact

C.U. READOUTS

Fluctuations increasing...

CYBERSPACE

A monolithic WALL of pulsing yellow and black hazard stripes lies directly ahead... a glowing computer graphic barricade. It's crowned by the imposing Sense/Net logo and the warning... "Security Clearance Required."

CYBERSPACE - CASE

His image streaking... vibrating. He's in excruciating pain.

CASE'S P.O.V. - THE WALL

Case is rushing towards a head on collision. Tendrils of energy crackle across the surface of the barricade like an electrified fence. The words "Access Prohibited" strobe out in red towering letters.

LOFT - C.U. KEYBOARD

Case's hands finally come to life. His shaking fingers punch out a series of digits.

CYBERSPACE - CASE'S P.O.V. - THE WALL

Case's program shots out like a lightning bolt, blowing a hole through the Sense/Net barricade a split second before impact. We rocket straight through the tiny portal.

EXT. SENSE/NET BUILDING - NIGHT

A foreboding mirrored fortress in downtown New Atlanta, bristling with antenna and satellite dishes. It looks like a cross between a futuristic broadcasting station and a police headquarters, which is exactly what it is.

From somewhere inside a high pitched klaxon pulses out its shrill alarm.

INT. SENSE/NET MONITORING ROOM

The alarm continues as Sense/Net personnel scramble to their terminals. Overhead screen display Case's infiltration into the matrix in simplified computer graphics.

CLOSER

A Sense/Net technician speaks into his headset

TECHNICIAN
We have a bogey at access C-27. Bogey at C-27.

A voice crackles in response.

VOICE
Trajectory?

INT. CYBERSPACE - CASE'S P.O.V.

Case shoots through the narrow wormhole in the barricade at hair raising speed.

He finally bursts through into...

THE MATRIX

A transparent 3-D chessboard opens up before us, extending into infinity... Breathtakingly beautiful... Huge glowing geometric computer CONSTRUCTS float by, each bearing the specific corporations they represent... Suspended in nothingness like synthetic planets in an over-populated universe.

NOTE: The computer CONSTRUCTS are three dimensional geometric representations of the inner workings of computer systems. They exist in Cyberspace in the form of pure light and energy. Complex symbols and data are constantly changing within their glowing ectoskeletons. Although separate and apart from the actual hardware in the physical universe, computer activity can be observed and manipulated from within the matrix.

INT. SENSE/NET MONITORING ROOM

The blip representing Case disappears from the monitor.

OPERATOR
We've lost contact. sir. He's entered the matrix.

THE MATRIX C.U. SUBLIMINAL CASE

(NOTE: Although Case's physical body always remains at his deck, his spiritual being manifests itself on his trips into the matrix. A true "out of body" experience.)

Case floats blissfully through the phosphorescent environment in the lotus position that matches that of his body in the physical plane. His eyes are filled with wonder. He's achieved his "normal" appearance in the matrix; a translucent ghost of himself... shimmering with mild iridescence. His every moment creates subtle time lapse after-images the catch up his prime image in a graceful dance.

CASE'S P.O.V. - THE MATRIX

A burning scarlet pyramid bearing the title Eastern Seaboard Fission Authority floats by majestically, its surface alive with a constant changing flow of data...

The monolithic green cubes of Mitsubishi Bank of America hang above the horizon like a luminous cityscape twinkling with countless transactions.

And in the distance are the everpresent gridlines that define the limitless perspectives of the matrix.

We hear distant echoing LAUGHTER.

THE LOFT

Case sits before his console bathed in sweat... Eyes closes... Laughing like a man who's beat the devil.

MOLLY

Watches... wondering what he can possibly be experiencing. the readouts are modulating smoothly.

INT. SENSE/NET CONFERENCE ROOM

The Sense/Net technician sits surrounded by three larger than life holographic projections is taking place with the chairman's live images, each disembodied head projected above a separate pedestal.

A wall-sized screen displays playback of Case's infiltration of the matrix.

Bigelow, the most imposing of the three chairmen question the nervous operator.

BIGELOW
Is this all you've got on him?

TECHNICIAN
Yes sir. Whoever he is, he's good.

A figure seated in shadows at the rear of the room now speaks.

FIGURE
If he was so good he wouldn't have crashed a security checkpoint. I doubt he'll make the same mistake again.

BIGELOW
I thought we eradicated these wire jockeys. These... what do they call themselves, Duprey?

The FIGURE now swivels in his chair to face Bigelow's hologram. He is the PALE MAN, the Sense/Net operative that injected Case with the microtoxin. His name is Lt. Roland Duprey.

DUPREY
Cowboys, sir. I retired the last one personally over a year ago.

SUVANI YAMIR, a Mideastern Chairman, interjects.

YAMIR
Then how do you explain this?

DUPREY
I don't know yet. My people are doing everything that they can to trace it.

The third chairman, an aristocratic Frenchman named Lord Frederick Tessier addresses the gathering.

TESSIER
Do you realise what a security breach would mean right now? If our mysterious guest discovers that an Artificial Intelligence is running loose in the matrix infiltrating other computer systems, it could cause a worldwide panic.

BIGELOW
Find this cowboy, Duprey. Do whatever you have to to stop him.

DUPREY
What about the A.I.?

TESSIER
That is our problem, Lieutenant. Please concern yourself with the matter at hand.

Duprey rises.

BIGELOW
One more thing, Duprey...

Duprey turns.

BIGELOW
You fuck this up, I'll have your cerebral cortex degoused. You'll need a playback unit to remember how to pee. Am I making myself clear?

Duprey regards his superiors with thinly veiled disdain.

DUPREY
Don't worry, gentlemen. I'll keep your fat out of the fire.

EXT. MATRIX

Case's ghostly image still floats in a lotus position, dwarfed by the gigantic glowing constructs suspended in the distance.

INT. LOFT - C.U. DECK

As Case presses a button, the cartridge labelled "Dixie McCoy" automatically descends into the deck.

EXT. THE MATRIX

A disembodied CAT scan of a HUMAN HEAD suddenly appears before Case in a nimbus of gently modulating light. The brain and circulatory systems are visible in fluorescent pinks and blues like a 3-D x-ray. Its eyeballs are rolled back in its skull like two boiled eggs, showing no pupils at all.

Beneath this eerie medical jack-o-lantern is a two dimensional name plate in glowing green letters. It reads Charles "Dixie" McCoy and bears a narrow voice print band with a digital time code read out.

CASE
Dixie. Dixie McCoy? Is that you, man?

As McCoy speaks, a series of overlapping sign waves appear beneath him in his voice print band,, fluctuating with the modulations of his voice.

MCCOY
Hey, bro.

CASE
It's Case. Remember me?

Dixie's eyes roll down, revealing shocking pink irises with cobalt blue pupils. He seems to be just waking up.

MCCOY
Case... Yeah, Miami Joeboy, quick study. How you doing, kid?

CASE
Fine, Dixie. Fine.

MCCOY
Last I heard you cracked Sukura International. I couldn't believe it.

CASE
Yeah. That was me.

MCCOY
Jesus Christ, Kid. Nobody's ever cracked Sukura.

CASE
As far as they know, that's absolutely true.

MCCOY
(chuckles)
Ya learned good. So, what's happening?

CASE
That's a good question. What's the last thing you remember?

Long beat.

MCCOY
Nothin'. Not a goddamn thing. What the fuck...

CASE
Dixie, you know how a ROM construct works?

MCCOY
Sure, Kid. It's a firmware construct.

CASE
Okay, Dix. You _are_ a ROM construct.

Dixie's image is obscured by static as his "face" registers confusion.

CASE (CONT.)
Dixie?

There is no reply.

CASE
You're a ROM construct... Understand?

Dixie is briefly visible, then becomes totally obscured by electronic snow. His voice is a distant echo.

DIXIE
(processed)
It's cold. Why's it so goddamn cold.

The image disappears completely.

CASE (CONT.)
Dixie?

Silence... Then Dixie suddenly appears in perfect clarity.

DIXIE
What you're telling me is that I'm dead. Right?

CASE
(pauses)
Right...

DIXIE
I can't feel nothing because I am nothing.
(eerie laughter)
Just playback. A ghost in the machine.

CASE
You're Dixie McCoy's construct. That makes you something special.

DIXIE
Don't patronise me, you fuck. I was skating figure eights in this matrix while you were still peeing in your chinos.
(beat)
Hey, Kid... you expecting company?

CASE
What?

MCCOY
Later...

Dixie disappears.

There is an ominous rumbling in the matrix.

CASE
Dixie?

Case now notices an unusual glimmer off in the matrix.

He begins to "type"... looking like a mimist at an invisible keyboard.

INT. LOFT - KEYBOARD

Case types.

INT. MATRIX

Case's question prints out in mid-air as he types it.

Analysis: Object travelling 120 degrees longitude.

The computer's answer instantly appears.

Energy probe. Point of origin unknown.

INT. SENSE/NET MONITORING ROOM

As Duprey walks purposefully up the aisle he's stopped by a concerned technician.

TECHNICIAN
Lieutenant... we have some unusual activity in C sector.

DUPREY
Is that our bogey?

TECHNICIAN
No, it's inorganic. Could be your phantom A.I..

Duprey snaps his fingers.

TECHNICIAN (CONT.)
Sir?

DUPREY
I do believe one of our problems is about to cancel out the other one.

INT. MATRIX

The glowing sphere suddenly picks up speed... Veers directly at Case. The rumbling grows louder with its approach.

INT. LOFT

Case quickly taps out new coordinates.

INT. MATRIX

His position shifts, but the sphere responds instantly. It's nearly upon him, crackling with deadly energy.

INT. LOFT - DECK

?

INT. MATRIX

Case peels off and flies towards an Air Tram International construct. The sphere bares down on him like a heat seeking missile.

RAILWAY CONSTRUCT

Case flashes into the si spoked construct just as the sphere crashes into it.

INT. LOFT

The deck shorts out, SPARKING and POPPING with the electrical overload. Case's body stiffens.

Molly tries to pull out the jack, but receives a crackling jolt the second her hand comes down in contact with the chrome.

INT. CONSTRUCT

Case flies through narrow intersecting tunnels as the entire construct shatters around him in a deadly display of phosphorescent fireworks.

INT. LOFT

Molly lashes out with her steel claws, severing Case's wires. He's ripped back into his body just in time to se the sparking Hosaka monitor implode with a flash of light.

The printer begins shooting out hard copies at high speed until the entire system suddenly shuts down.

MOLLY
You okay?

CASE
...Yeah, but the Hosaka's history.

As Case inspects the print outs, he's stopped cold... One word is repeated down each scorched page:

Wintermute
Wintermute
Wintermute

EXT. STREET CORNER - THE SPRAWL - DAY

Case buys a pack of cigarettes and a paper at a busy corner newsstand.

The headlines read - "Systems Crash at Air Tram International - Railways Shut Down."

A Sense/Net van slowly turns the corner... invisible eyes watching from behind the tinted bulletproof glass.

Case eases back against a row of pay phones as the van passes. He lights a cigarette.

Suddenly the pay phone beside him RINGS. Case stares at the phone as the rings continue, then finally picks it up.

A synthetic CHIP VOICE comes over the line, reverberating with unearthly harmonics.

VOICE
Hello, Case

Case is too stunned to speak... then,

CASE
Who is this?

VOICE
Wintermute.
(beat)
Sorry I missed you last night.

There's faint background sounds... a WAILING COSMIC WIND... barely audible voices echoing off some orbital link.

VOICE (CONT.)
I've been waiting for you, Case. It's time we talked.

Case hangs up. He flicks the cigarette away, unnerved, then walks along the length of the bank of phones.

Each phone RINGS as he passes, but only once.

EXT. LOFT - DAY

Case enters the building

INT. THE LOFT

Case enters to find Armitage pacing the floor. A wiry pony tailed man, bare chested except for a black leather vest, sits crouched over Case's deck, working on the wired circuitry. He looks like a Grateful Dead roadie who's done one too many tours.

ARMITAGE
You ran without us.

CASE
I cannot tell a lie. Sorry.

ARMITAGE
Sorry, bullshit. We haven't even begun and you're already jeopardising this operation.

CASE
What's he doing to my gear?

The man glances up from his work.

MAN
_Your_ gear. Hah! I spent weeks customising this stuff. It looks like you've been playin' with it in the bathtub, man.

ARMI