Trinity running towards the exit, a telephone booth which is a hardline to the Real World
A hardline (also spelled hard line or hard-line) refers to the wired telephones that Redpills used in order to jack out of the old Matrix versions prior to The Analyst's version. Because jacking in and out of the Matrix involved transferring large volumes of data, there was a need for a significant portal, represented by the wired connections, to accommodate the safe and successful entry or exit from the Matrix.[1] A forceful termination of any active Redpill connection to the Matrix has historically resulted in the death of the Redpill.
Only the Hovercraft operators, who observed the Matrix from the Real World, were in the best position to prepare hardlines once the operatives had entered the Matrix. After a hardline is compromised, operators then either gave out the location of backup exits or scrambled to get another one prepared. The location of the hardlines were then crucial, specially, when facing off against Agents who were able to possess any Bluepill, making telephones in public spaces impossible to use as a hardline without risking death.
In The Analyst's version of the Matrix, it is possible to safely exit by using hacked reflective surfaces (commonly, mirrors) instead of hardlines provided that the surface is large enough for the data (i.e. the Redpill) to pass through.
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- ↑ "Sinclair: Why were they only able to jack in through hard-lines, but still able to communicate over cell? Wachowskis: Sinclair, good question! Mostly we felt that the amount of information that was being sent into the Matrix required a significant portal. Those portals, we felt, were better described with the hard lines rather than cell lines. We also felt that the rebels tried to be invisible when they hacked that’s why all the entrances and exits were sort of through decrepit and low traffic areas of the Matrix.", Wachowskis Interview Transcript, MatrixFans.net.