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THE SUNSET - Background Notes
Author's Note - WARNING! For those who haven't finished reading
"The Sunset,"
these notes may spoil the story. --Jay
• Orange Cap - Section 1. While Zion may not have the current
technology to manufacture such a cap, this cap would have survived the Man-Machine War. Other examples
are demonstrated in "The Matrix" film, where the Nebuchadnezzar crew takes Neo to see the Oracle.
As they enter the Matrix, Mouse is wearing a single-piece aviator-type jumpsuit, and Morpheus is wearing a belt.
• Unplugged Population - Section 2. According to the following
calculations, I estimated that in the last 90 years, the rebel fleet has unplugged no more than 1000. In
"The Matrix Reloaded" film, Morpheus notes that they've saved more people in the last 6 months with Neo, than
they had in the previous 6 years without him. Assuming that the Neb saved one person every 3 days, then over
6 months, they would have saved 60. So, in the previous 6 years, the entire fleet would have saved
no more than 60, or about 10 per year. Multiply this by 90 years, and your result is 900 in 90 years.
• Cloaking the Construct - Section 3. This idea stems from "The
Matrix" where Cypher is eating steak in
Agent Smith's presence. If his entry into the Matrix wasn't cloaked, the entire crew would have known his
evil plans. Plus, when Mouse offers Neo a private meeting with the "woman in the red dress," this too
implies some sort of cloaking where others can't look into the Construct.
• Tenth-Century Virtuality - Section 4. The idea to incorporate
the tenth century in a Matrix story, sprung from several sources. The first two sources were "The
Matrix Reloaded" film and the "Enter the Matrix" video game, which depict Vamp and Doberman programs,
who were rescued from a much older version of the Matrix by the Merovingian.
(See the essay "Vampires, Werewolves, and Jesus" that I posted to the IMDb.com
"The Matrix Reloaded" message boards.) Another source was the Animatrix,
"A Detective's Story" where the story takes place in some 1950s-or-so parallel universe.
• Agents in Black - Section 5. I wrestled for some time
over whether or not the Agents should wear tenth-century attire. Ultimately, I decided that since
an Agent looks identical from body to body, he should also look identical from virtuality to virtuality.
The Animatrix, "A Detective's Story" supports this idea from the non-1990s point of view.
It also makes stylistic sense; the only ones who should stay true to the tenth-century virtuality are the
plugged-in humans. Meanwhile, the Agents and Rebels should stand out, separated from the Matrix dreamworld.
• Marks of the Matrix - Section 6. I don't remember exactly how
and where I came up with this idea. The idea for tattoo-type markings may have come from the barcodes in
the "Dark Angel" television series, or even the branding on the victims of World War II Nazi
concentration camps.
• Vamps and Dobermen - Section 6. Rescued from a much older
version of the Matrix by the Merovingian, these Exiles are found in the "Enter the Matrix" video game.
• Pistols - Section 9. The automatic pistols used by the rebels
are based on the 9mm MAC-11 30-shot pistol, and the semi-automatic pistols used by the Agents are based
on the .380 Mustang 7-shot pistol, both of which are found in the "Enter the Matrix" video game.
• Flamethrower - Section 12B. Meanwhile,
the flamethrower used by Million is based on the World War II standard U.S. Army portable flamethrower,
which could project an 60-foot flame for about 9 seconds (long burst),
where an average unit held 5 to 8 short bursts.
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