The Matrix as "a marriage between Man and Machine". For the scene when Neo wakes up in the pod connected to the Matrix, the pod was constructed to look dirty, used, and sinister. During the testing of a breathing mechanism in the pod, the tester suffered hypothermia in under eight minutes, so the pod had to be heated. Kym Barrett, costume designer, said that she defined the characters and their environment by their costume. For example, Reeves' office costume was designed for Thomas Anderson to look uncomfortable, disheveled, and out of place. Barrett sometimes used three types of fabric for each costume,
The Matrix Online for these organizations in the future. Another of "The Matrix Online"'s defining and differentiating aspects was its inclusion and emphasis on what was called "The Continuing Story". This is to say the game itself is the official continuation of the universe, story and characters established in "The Matrix" series of fictional works including the film trilogy, "The Animatrix" short films, the "Enter The Matrix" video game and a series of officially written and produced Matrix comic books. This continuation was written by the award winning comic book writer Paul Chadwick and later collaboratively with "MxO" lead game designer, Ben "Rarebit"