Cypher Scores a Zero

I may have only seen this particular movie once -- once being enough for me, really -- but I recognize this scene easily enough. The traitorous Cypher is already bringing his big ugly gun to bear on his "friend." He hesitates for a split second, though, as he realizes that the people who should still be hooked up to the Matrix (and thus completely unaware of the supposedly-real world around them) begin to sit up and blink their eyes. In that split second, I come up behind Cypher and take him down with one quick chop to the neck.

"Yeah," I say, looking down at his unconscious form. "I know kung fu, too."

The others are gaping at me. "Who are you?" says a voice. "Where did you come from?" I look up at the speaker's face, and, even though I've partially braced myself for it, the sight of Morpheus still gives me a pang. Like myself, my brother's human form was fashioned in the likeness of a human actor, and, in one of those odd quirks of multiverse, Morpheus here happens to look just like the actor who played him in the movie...

They're all still staring at me with expressions of relief mixed with distrust and confusion, and I force myself to shake off the emotion that's gripped me. My brother is dead, and this isn't him. There's no point in dwelling on it just now. I manage to force a smile.

1. "No need to thank me," I say. "Just passing through. Thought I'd help."

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