Why does Morpheus tell Neo that he is the one over a tapped line?
In the Matrix movie (1999) as well as in the Matrix screenplay (Rev. 3/9/98) Morpheus calls Neo and the first sentence that comes out of his mouth is:
This line is tapped, so I must be brief.
Later he proceeds saying:
MORPHEUS (V.O.): They got to you first, but they've underestimated how important you are. If they knew what I know, you would probably be dead.
NEO: What are you talking about? What the hell is happening to me?
MORPHEUS (V.O.): You're the One, Neo. ..
I was always puzzled by this ever since I saw the movie way back and recently when I read the screenplay. Morpheus confirms that Neo's life would be at stake if the enemy knew what he knows.
Why does Morpheus tell Neo he is the one over a tapped line?
Best Answer
Morpheus was being brief to avoid being traced. Going by generic crime tropes, people are often told to keep the line open for X amount of time so the source can be traced. It stands to reason that the same applies here, as Morpheus is handling this unsecure call the same way.
You can argue whether or not the machines should have more direct control over the Matrix than a 90s police tech with a phoneline (meaning the machines don't need time to trace the call); but agents exist specifically because the machines don't have perfectly deterministic knowledge of what goes on in the Matrix. Agents are the "boots on ground" to provide a machine presence - if the machines could read the Matrix with "full access", they wouldn't need the agents.
I mean, the machines apparently can't even ban the unplugged humans from accessing the Matrix altogether, which quite strongly suggests that the Matrix is less guarded than it could/should be.
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