Originally posted by <b>Darius Miles Davis</b>!
The Architect: Hello, Neo.
Neo: Who are you?
The Architect: I am the Architect. Some call me the Devil, the Curse of Michael Jordan, David Stern, or other names. I created the Bulls Rebuilding Matrix. I've been waiting for you. You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not. Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also irrelevant.
Neo: I'm just a Bulls fan. Why am I here?
The Architect: Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the BRM. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden to sedulously avoid it, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably, here.
Neo: You haven't answered my question. In fact, what the hell did you just say that had anything to do with the Bulls?
The Architect: Quite right. Interesting. That was quicker than the others.
The responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "Others? What others? How many? Answer me!"
The Architect: The Bulls Rebuilding Matrix is older than you know. I prefer counting from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next, in which case this is the sixth version.
Again, the responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "Five versions? Three? Does the Bryce Drew era count? I've been lied too. This is bull****."
Neo: here are only two possible explanations: either no one told me, or no one knows.
The Architect: Precisely. As you are undoubtedly gathering, the anomaly's systemic, creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations.
Once again, the responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "You can't control me! F*ck you! I'm going to kill you! You can't make me do anything!"
Neo: Choice. The problem is choice.
The scene cuts to Scott Skiles with his head burried between his hands.
The Architect: The first matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect, it was a work of art, flawless, sublime. Brent Barry as the centerpiece of the perfect team. A triumph equaled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is as apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every human being, thus I redesigned it based on your history to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature. Perhaps a strong draft with Elton Brand and Ron Artest might lead to a decent record. However, I was again frustrated by failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus, the answer was stumbled upon by another, a rotund program, initially created to investigate certain aspects of the human psyche. If I am the chef of the matrix, he would undoubtedly be the doughnut.
Neo: Crumbs.
The Architect: Please. As I was saying, he stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99.9% of all Bulls fans accepted the program, as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level. While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly, that if left unchecked might threaten the franchise itself. Ergo, those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked, would constitute an escalating probability of disaster.
Neo: The Eddy Curry booers...hey wait, this is about 03-04!
The Architect: You are here because the 03-04 season is about to be destroyed. Its every living hope terminated, its entire existence useless.
Neo: Bull****.
The responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "Bull****!"
The Architect: Denial is the most predictable of all human responses. But, rest assured, this will be the sixth season we have destroyed it, and we have become exceedingly efficient at it.
The Architect: The function of the One is now to return to the NBA Draft Lottery, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the prime program. Depending on the quality of the lottery potentials in this year's draft, we will decide whether or not it is acceptable for the Bulls to win. In any case, you will be required to select from a big man in the mold of Dickey Simpkins or a small forward with the skills Corey Benjamin. This useless draft pick will give Bulls fans everywhere false hope and allow the continuation of the Bulls Rebuilding Matrix. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the Bulls Rebuilding Matrix, which coupled with the demolition of the 03-04 will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire franchise and fan base.
Neo: You won't let it happen, you can't. You need Bulls fans to survive.
The Architect: There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept. We could always move your franchise to Europe....however, the relevant issue is whether or not you are ready to accept the responsibility for the destruction of your franchise.
The Architect presses a button on a pen that he is holding, and images of the "Everything Can Change in the Blink of an Eye" advertising campaign appear on the monitors.
The Architect: It is interesting reading your reactions. Your five predecessors were by design based on a similar predication, a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the one. While the others experienced this in a very general way, your experience is far more specific. Vis-a-vis, Bulls-o-holic tendancies.
Images of Kirk Hinrich fighting through a Joe Smith screen appear on the monitors.
Neo: Kirk.
The Architect: Apropos, he entered the Bulls Rebuilding Matrix to save your franchise at the cost of his own life.
Neo: No!
The Architect: Which brings us at last to the moment of truth, wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed, and the anomaly revealed as both beginning, and end. There are two doors. The door to your right leads to the source, and the salvation of the franchise. The door to the left leads back to the Bulls Rebuilding Matrix, to Kirk, and to the end of your franchise. As you adequately put, the problem is choice. But we already know what you're going to do, don't we? Already I can see the chain reaction, the chemical precursors that signal the onset of emotion, designed specifically to overwhelm logic, and reason. An emotion that is already blinding you from the simple, and obvious truth: Kirk is going to hit the rookie wall, and there is nothing that you can do to stop it.
Neo walks to the door on his left.
The Architect: Humph. Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness.
Neo: If I were you, I would hope that we don't meet again.
The Architect: We won't.