system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[The Matrix] How did Tank not read in the code that Cypher was meeting with Agent Smith?
gpt
The meeting took place while everyone was asleep, and Cypher was on watch for the night shift. He was setting up for the meeting when Neo came up behind him and spooked him. 

It is later established in the video game "Enter The Matrix" that the cranial jacks can be equipped with a timer mechanism, allowing a user to jack-in and out without the assistance of an operator. We see Trinity and Ghost use this for a sparring match, in conjunction with stabilized cranial jacks that they lay back on. 

So while everyone is asleep, Cypher arranges his meeting with Smith, and rigs up his own stabilized cranial jack on a timer. He jacks in for just enough time to seal the deal, grab a quick bite of steak, and get back to the hardline. All before the timer runs out, and before his shift ends. 

It was an *extremely* risky move on many levels. If he failed to make it back to the hardline before the timer ran out, the connection would automatically be severed, killing him instantly. Or someone aboard the Nebuchadnezzar could have simply woken up for a late-night snack of protein goop, checked the main deck, and saw what Cypher was up to.