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The Matrix
"System Freeze"
Short story
Written by Poppy Z. Brite
Illustrations by Dave Dorman
2003 |
A fatally injured climber on Mt.
Everest is offered a second chance.
Read the story
(with Kaluta illustrations) at
the Internet Archive
Didja Know?
This illustrated text story originally appeared with
illustrations by Michael Kaluta on the official Matrix
website in 2002. It was later printed in
The Matrix Comics, Vol. 2 published by
Burlyman
Entertainment, a comic book publisher founded by the Wachowskis,
with new illustrations by Dave Dorman. Why the illustrations
were replaced has not been revealed by the publisher.
Characters appearing or mentioned in this story
Fria Canning
Japanese climber (corpse only)
Agent John Fine
coroner
Didja Notice?
Fria says a prayer to Chomolungma for the dead man's body
she finds on the slope of Mount Everest. Chomolungma is the
Tibetan name for the mountain, meaning "Holy Mother". It is
the highest mountain above sea level on Earth at 29,029
feet.
When Agent Fine appears to her after her fall into a
crevasse, Fria muses that he's dressed like a CIA spook.
The CIA is the
Central Intelligence Agency,
one of the major intelligence agencies of the United States
government.
This story is the first time we
encounter an Agent who identifies himself with both a first
and last name, Agent John Fine. Normally only a last name is
given, such as Agent Smith.
Returning home after scaling Mount Everest, Fria's path
takes her through Namche Bazaar (a town in Nepal popular
with mountain climbers),
Kathmandu,
London,
and New York.
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