THE MODTRIX

EXT TEAMLIQUID.NET

AGENT MANI Moderator?

MOD Oh shit.

AGENT MANI Moderator, you were given specific orders—

MOD I'm just doing my job. You gimme that Juris-my dick-tion and you can cram it up your ass.

AGENT MANI The orders were for your protection.

The moderator laughs.

MOD I think we can handle one little punk.

Agent Mani nods to Agent Bey as they start toward the hotel.

MOD I sent two units. They’re bringing Mitsy out now.

AGENT MANI No, Moderator, your men are already banned.

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INT WEBSITE FEEDBACK FORUM

MORPHEUS We are trained in this forum to accept only what is rational and logical. Have you ever wondered why?

Mitsy shakes his head.

MORPHEUS As children, we do not separate the possible from the impossible which is why the younger a mind is the easier it is to free while a mind like yours can be very difficult.

MITSY Free from what?

MORPHEUS From the Modtrix. Do you want to know what it is, Mitsy?

Mitsy swallows and nods his head.

MORPHEUS It's that feeling you have had all your life. That feeling that something was wrong with the forum. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad, driving you to me. But what is it?

MORPHEUS The Modtrix is everywhere, it's all around us, here even in this thread. You can see it in your browser, or on your chat program. You feel it when you go to the Strategy forum, or visit the IRC channel or play on PGTour. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

MITSY What truth?

MORPHEUS That you are a slave. That you, like every other poster, was born into bondage. Kept inside a forum prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A forum prison for your mind.

MORPHEUS Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Modtrix is. You have to see it for yourself.

MITSY How?

MORPHEUS Hold out your hands.

In Mitsy's right hand, Morpheus drops a red pill.

MORPHEUS This is your last chance. After this, there is no going back.

In Mitsy’s left hand, Morpheus drops a blue pill.

MORPHEUS You take the blue pill and this thread is closed. You wake up as a normal poster and you believe whatever you want to believe.

The pills in his open hands are reflected in the glasses.

MORPHEUS You take the red pill and you stay in the Website Feedback Forum and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.

Mitsy feels the smooth skin of the capsules, with the moisture growing in his palms.

MORPHEUS Remember that all I am offering is the truth. Nothing more.

Mitsy opens his mouth and swallows the red pill.

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INT TRAINING THREAD

MORPHEUS How did I ban you?

MITSY You – You’re too fast.

MORPHEUS Do you think my being faster, stronger has anything to do with my muscles? In this place?

MORPHEUS Do you believe that’s a real thread you just created now?

Mitsy squints at him.

MORPHEUS If you can free your mind, the multiple accounts will follow.

Mitsy stands, nodding.

MORPHEUS Again.

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INT TEAMLIQUID TRAIN STATION

AGENT MANI Do you hear that? Mr. Mitsy?

The world beings to shake, rumbling as the train nears.

AGENT MANI That is the sound of inevitability.

Mitsy sees it coming and he starts to fight.

AGENT MANI That is the sound of your ban.

There is a metal screech as Agent Mani tightens his hold. Mitsy is unable to breathe.

AGENT MANI Goodbye, Mr. Mitsy.

The train roars at them, swallowing Agent Mani’s words. The veins bulge in Mitsy’s head, as he grits through the pain. He is not ready to be banned.

MITSY My name... is STIMEY.

Impossibly, he hurls himself straight up, smashing Agent Mani against the concrete ceiling of the tunnel. They fall as the sound and fury of the train explodes into the station. Stimey back-flips up off the tracks just as the train barrels over Agent Mani.

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Coming soon…

THE MODTRIX: RELOADED

MORPHEUS I believe it is our fate to post here. It is our destiny. I believe this thread holds, for each and every one of us, the very meaning of our lives. This is a forum war, and we are posters. What if tomorrow the war could be over? Isn't that worth fighting for? Isn't that worth being banned for?