Finally, just when it seemed that at least one death would be imminent, they arrived at the Merovingian's Chateau. The Twins got out veeeerrryyy slowly, and seemed to be holding off entering as long as possible. While everyone else walked around the lawn to stretch, they huddled together to have a frantic mind-link conversation.
'This no longer seems like a good idea.' Adrian moaned. 'It never did to begin with...' 'Yes, well, now it really doesn't. Isn't there a way out?' 'No, not any more. It's too late now, we'll just have to go.'
Their discussion came to an abrupt halt when they were both poked by Trinity and Niobe. "Come on! Stop stalling! If we hang around out here, the Agents will come and shoot us."
***
Speaking of Agents...
Back at the hotel, Agents Johnson, Thomson, Jackson, Jones and Brown had all converged on room 606, and had just finished a search, confirming that the room was empty.
"They got out," Brown said, looking worriedly at Jackson, who was in charge.
"That doesn't matter. The Backup is programmed with a tracer. We can find her. Besides, she can't phase." Jackson looked coolly at the others.
"No, we can't track her. It's against the rules. If we lose the Backup, all Agents and other system programs cannot pursue her, or even track her." Johnson said.
"What about a program who is no longer part of the system?" Jackson said, looking thoughtful. "I think it's time to find Smith."
"How? His tracer was removed when he was deleted." Thomson said, emotionlessly.
"Easily. We know that the Merovingian has a contact who knows the location of every exiled program. We go to the Merovingian, he tells us where to find Smith, and we use him to find the Backup." Jackson sounded confidant.
"What if he won't cooperate?" Johnson asked, reasonably.
"We'll offer to restore him to full Agent powers." Jackson returned.
"And will we?" Jones asked.
"No! But we need to send someone to the Merovingian..." Jackson stated. All the Agents looked at Brown, the shortest. He looked at the others, nodded, and the Agents dispersed...
***
The Twins and their companions entered the reception area of the restaurant. If Morpheus hadn't known better, he would have sworn the pale programs were nervous.
'Oh damn. Bad idea.' 'Uh huh. Deletion, here we come...'
The little guy in the little box thing at the entrance of the restaurant recognized the Twins, of course, and was about to wave them through when he noticed who was with them. He smirked and opened the door for them.
"Wait here, all of you." Aidenn commanded. "No, Antoine, you come with us." The Twins entered the restaurant with Antoine between them, a knife at her throat. She was in her Sari and about twenty. They strode forward to meet their employer.
"Ah, look who has returned at last! Les grand Twins! See, Persephone, and they have their target as well!" Persephone glared at the young lioness before her. "Well done. Sit, Cain and Abel will take her..."
"Well, about that..." Adrian began.
"Yes? Is there a problem?" The Merovingian's smile had become decidedly fixed.
"We're not-" Aidenn started "-The only ones interested in her." "The Agents-"
"Stop finishing each other's sentences and tell me what is going on!" The Merovingian yelled.
The Twins didn't flinch. Aidenn tried to explain. "The Oracle overheard the message from your informant, and relayed it to Zion. We encountered... resistance."
"But you killed them, right? That's taken care of, right?" He sounded calmer. The Twins had never failed yet.
"No, not exactly... The Agents came before we could, and we had to leave..." Adrian stammered.
"But you left them there, right?"
"No, we had to... take them with us..." Aidenn finished off whispering.
"What was that? You can't possibly have said what I think you did."
"We - had - to - take - them - with - us! They're here now... Just outside..." Adrian now sounded panicked, and Aidenn looked close to running away.
"WHAT?!" The Merovingian's face was now so red, he looked like he was about to explode. People were beginning to sneak out of the restaurant without paying. But even if they had wanted to pay, the waiters were already gone. "Non! C'est impossible! C'est ne vrai pas!" He was howling by the end.
"We're afraid so..." Adrian muttered.
Suddenly the Merovingian pulled a knife from beneath the tablecloth and hurled it at the Twins, rage contorting his features. Adrian managed to duck, but Aidenn was trying, frantically, to ghost, and it hit him in the shoulder. There was no sound in the restaurant except the slow dripping of blood from Aidenn's shoulder. The Merovingian looked stunned.
"Y-you... Why didn't you... Phase?!" he choked, "You were supposed to... phase! I didn't..." He broke off, eyes bulging.
"That's what we were about to say. The Agents have a new weapon. It inhibits gh - er - phasing. We can't do it anymore." At just that moment Aidenn began to shriek, and Adrian ran over to comfort him.
The Merovingian muttered something to Abel and Cain, who was standing near him, and he ran off to the door. Antoine was just standing in the middle of the room, looking utterly confused. She finally approached the Twins, who were currently muttering to each other. Aidenn was stretched out on the floor, and Adrian was kneeling near him. Aidenn looked as if he expected to fall dead at any second, and Adrian looked unsure as to whether he should laugh or cry. "Uh, is it usually this crazy?" she asked Adrian. "Oh no, this is nothing. Usually it's much crazier..." Just then his Twin moaned again, so he turned back to him.
Cain opened the door. If they hadn't been distracted, the Twins probably would have laughed at the sight of the Merovingian's eyes getting larger and larger as each new person entered. Morpheus led the little group, head held high, looking unafraid. He was followed by Neo and Trinity, and Niobe brought up the rear. When she saw that Aidenn was injured, she suddenly looked quite joyful.
"Ah, Morpheus, you have returned to my humble abode. How - wonderful! - to see you!" His eyes conveyed the opposite meaning. He looked ready to kill someone. Anyone. Cain and Abel began to back away.
"We are sorry to intrude like this, but we needed a place to escape to, and we refused to leave without taking Antoine with us."
"Antoine? Ah, you must mean the Backup." He pointed to Antoine, who glowered at him. She was fifteen again, and in her Twin garb. The Merovingian blinked at the change, but returned his attention to Morpheus, after snapping his fingers. Cain and Abel ran over to Antoine and began trying to drag her away. Both Twins leapt up and hurled themselves at the other guards, surprising everyone including themselves.
"Well well well... You seem rather - attached - to her. How interesting. Very well, she may stay for now." Cain and Abel retreated to the Merovingian's side. "Now then, Morpheus... I really think that I must kill you now, as she is mine to do what I want with..."
"No!" Adrian yelled, startling everyone again, "No, don't... They might be useful in drawing out your old enemy, the Oracle. She will surely come after them, then..." He left the rest to his employer's broad imagination.
"Very well. But they are your responsibility. As is the Backup. Now, leave my sight. I don't want to see any of you for several hours."
As Antoine left, she shouted "It's Antoine! Not 'the Backup'!" And with that, she left the room...
The Twins lead the group down a vast maze of halls until they finally reached a white door. Adrian shoved it open, revealing a modern room, full of cream couches, chairs and sheep rugs. Off in one corner was a white desk with a silver computer, and by the couches was a platinum TV. Another door was half hidden on a dark wall, and Aidenn disappeared into this door, presumably to clean up and dress his wound.
"Welcome to our suite. Here are the rules: A) for everyone's good, no one leaves here without my permission or Aidenn's. B) For your own good, none of you goes into that door over there. Ever. Don't worry about permission, you won't get it. C) Don't talk too loudly. It may attract unwanted attention, which we really don't need. That's about it. Other than that, do pretty much anything except bleed on or in another way stain any of the furniture." Adrian then disappeared into the other room after his Twin.
"Well, that's not so bad!" Antoine said, and she promptly headed to the computer. At that moment Adrian poked his head back out and yelled,
"And don't go near the computer! The TV is fine..."
Antoine glared, but flopped on the couch and started flipping channels. The first one was all big pictures of guns, called 'Big, Shiny Guns'. She yawned and kept going. The next was called 'Killing People in Various Slow and Painful ways' and seemed to be discussing about Medieval torture. She yawned again and kept flipping. The next called was 'Knives. Lots of Knives.' Antoine finally stopped flipping and stared at the pictures of knives flashing over the screen. Only Trinity sat down. The others looked disgusted and turned some chairs away from the TV.
After a few minutes the Twins returned, Aidenn wearing new clothes and looking slightly high on whatever painkillers his Twin had given him. They looked at what Antoine was watching and nodded their approval in unison. Antoine seemed to have noticed their arrival and she looked up. "Oh, hi! Feeling better, Aidenn?"
"Yup! Better is me!" Adrian looked slightly disgusted with his alternate.
"Um... What did you give him?" Antoine looked scared.
"Just Advil... Nothing major..."
Antoine groaned. "Oh. Great. Yeah, that stuff isn't major for HUMANS, but do you know what it does to programs? It's not good... You'd better lay him down, quick... Oh, by the way, do you have some knives I could borrow?"
Adrian, who had just laid his Twin on the couch, looked up at her and smirked. "Yeah, butter knives are in the kitchen, down the h-."
"Ha ha. That was so witty. I was thinking more along the lines of a switchblade, a hunting knife, and at least two throwing knives."
"We see. Why, exactly, would you need those?"
"Agents, for one thing, and for another, I don't know or trust anyone but you two in this place. I'd feel a lot more comfortable with some knives, but unfortunately we left my place too quickly for me to grab mine."
"Fine. We keep our knives in - the bedroom." He sighed. "We suppose you'll just have to come in with us, to pick some out." Aidenn, who was quickly recovering on the couch, snickered evilly. Antoine could have sworn she heard him say "Oh, is THAT all..." She shuddered and followed Adrian into the bedroom.
What will Antoine find in the Twins' bedroom?
Do we really want to know? (Fangirls, don't answer that!)
What are Niobe/Morpheus and Neo/Trinity doing all this time?
What are commercials like on the knife channel?
Will there be any Persephone attacks?
What about poor Aidenn?
What will they all do all evening?
Do we really want to know? (See above, fangirls, [or fanboys as the case may be])
Stay tuned for the answers!
'This no longer seems like a good idea.' Adrian moaned. 'It never did to begin with...' 'Yes, well, now it really doesn't. Isn't there a way out?' 'No, not any more. It's too late now, we'll just have to go.'
Their discussion came to an abrupt halt when they were both poked by Trinity and Niobe. "Come on! Stop stalling! If we hang around out here, the Agents will come and shoot us."
***
Speaking of Agents...
Back at the hotel, Agents Johnson, Thomson, Jackson, Jones and Brown had all converged on room 606, and had just finished a search, confirming that the room was empty.
"They got out," Brown said, looking worriedly at Jackson, who was in charge.
"That doesn't matter. The Backup is programmed with a tracer. We can find her. Besides, she can't phase." Jackson looked coolly at the others.
"No, we can't track her. It's against the rules. If we lose the Backup, all Agents and other system programs cannot pursue her, or even track her." Johnson said.
"What about a program who is no longer part of the system?" Jackson said, looking thoughtful. "I think it's time to find Smith."
"How? His tracer was removed when he was deleted." Thomson said, emotionlessly.
"Easily. We know that the Merovingian has a contact who knows the location of every exiled program. We go to the Merovingian, he tells us where to find Smith, and we use him to find the Backup." Jackson sounded confidant.
"What if he won't cooperate?" Johnson asked, reasonably.
"We'll offer to restore him to full Agent powers." Jackson returned.
"And will we?" Jones asked.
"No! But we need to send someone to the Merovingian..." Jackson stated. All the Agents looked at Brown, the shortest. He looked at the others, nodded, and the Agents dispersed...
***
The Twins and their companions entered the reception area of the restaurant. If Morpheus hadn't known better, he would have sworn the pale programs were nervous.
'Oh damn. Bad idea.' 'Uh huh. Deletion, here we come...'
The little guy in the little box thing at the entrance of the restaurant recognized the Twins, of course, and was about to wave them through when he noticed who was with them. He smirked and opened the door for them.
"Wait here, all of you." Aidenn commanded. "No, Antoine, you come with us." The Twins entered the restaurant with Antoine between them, a knife at her throat. She was in her Sari and about twenty. They strode forward to meet their employer.
"Ah, look who has returned at last! Les grand Twins! See, Persephone, and they have their target as well!" Persephone glared at the young lioness before her. "Well done. Sit, Cain and Abel will take her..."
"Well, about that..." Adrian began.
"Yes? Is there a problem?" The Merovingian's smile had become decidedly fixed.
"We're not-" Aidenn started "-The only ones interested in her." "The Agents-"
"Stop finishing each other's sentences and tell me what is going on!" The Merovingian yelled.
The Twins didn't flinch. Aidenn tried to explain. "The Oracle overheard the message from your informant, and relayed it to Zion. We encountered... resistance."
"But you killed them, right? That's taken care of, right?" He sounded calmer. The Twins had never failed yet.
"No, not exactly... The Agents came before we could, and we had to leave..." Adrian stammered.
"But you left them there, right?"
"No, we had to... take them with us..." Aidenn finished off whispering.
"What was that? You can't possibly have said what I think you did."
"We - had - to - take - them - with - us! They're here now... Just outside..." Adrian now sounded panicked, and Aidenn looked close to running away.
"WHAT?!" The Merovingian's face was now so red, he looked like he was about to explode. People were beginning to sneak out of the restaurant without paying. But even if they had wanted to pay, the waiters were already gone. "Non! C'est impossible! C'est ne vrai pas!" He was howling by the end.
"We're afraid so..." Adrian muttered.
Suddenly the Merovingian pulled a knife from beneath the tablecloth and hurled it at the Twins, rage contorting his features. Adrian managed to duck, but Aidenn was trying, frantically, to ghost, and it hit him in the shoulder. There was no sound in the restaurant except the slow dripping of blood from Aidenn's shoulder. The Merovingian looked stunned.
"Y-you... Why didn't you... Phase?!" he choked, "You were supposed to... phase! I didn't..." He broke off, eyes bulging.
"That's what we were about to say. The Agents have a new weapon. It inhibits gh - er - phasing. We can't do it anymore." At just that moment Aidenn began to shriek, and Adrian ran over to comfort him.
The Merovingian muttered something to Abel and Cain, who was standing near him, and he ran off to the door. Antoine was just standing in the middle of the room, looking utterly confused. She finally approached the Twins, who were currently muttering to each other. Aidenn was stretched out on the floor, and Adrian was kneeling near him. Aidenn looked as if he expected to fall dead at any second, and Adrian looked unsure as to whether he should laugh or cry. "Uh, is it usually this crazy?" she asked Adrian. "Oh no, this is nothing. Usually it's much crazier..." Just then his Twin moaned again, so he turned back to him.
Cain opened the door. If they hadn't been distracted, the Twins probably would have laughed at the sight of the Merovingian's eyes getting larger and larger as each new person entered. Morpheus led the little group, head held high, looking unafraid. He was followed by Neo and Trinity, and Niobe brought up the rear. When she saw that Aidenn was injured, she suddenly looked quite joyful.
"Ah, Morpheus, you have returned to my humble abode. How - wonderful! - to see you!" His eyes conveyed the opposite meaning. He looked ready to kill someone. Anyone. Cain and Abel began to back away.
"We are sorry to intrude like this, but we needed a place to escape to, and we refused to leave without taking Antoine with us."
"Antoine? Ah, you must mean the Backup." He pointed to Antoine, who glowered at him. She was fifteen again, and in her Twin garb. The Merovingian blinked at the change, but returned his attention to Morpheus, after snapping his fingers. Cain and Abel ran over to Antoine and began trying to drag her away. Both Twins leapt up and hurled themselves at the other guards, surprising everyone including themselves.
"Well well well... You seem rather - attached - to her. How interesting. Very well, she may stay for now." Cain and Abel retreated to the Merovingian's side. "Now then, Morpheus... I really think that I must kill you now, as she is mine to do what I want with..."
"No!" Adrian yelled, startling everyone again, "No, don't... They might be useful in drawing out your old enemy, the Oracle. She will surely come after them, then..." He left the rest to his employer's broad imagination.
"Very well. But they are your responsibility. As is the Backup. Now, leave my sight. I don't want to see any of you for several hours."
As Antoine left, she shouted "It's Antoine! Not 'the Backup'!" And with that, she left the room...
The Twins lead the group down a vast maze of halls until they finally reached a white door. Adrian shoved it open, revealing a modern room, full of cream couches, chairs and sheep rugs. Off in one corner was a white desk with a silver computer, and by the couches was a platinum TV. Another door was half hidden on a dark wall, and Aidenn disappeared into this door, presumably to clean up and dress his wound.
"Welcome to our suite. Here are the rules: A) for everyone's good, no one leaves here without my permission or Aidenn's. B) For your own good, none of you goes into that door over there. Ever. Don't worry about permission, you won't get it. C) Don't talk too loudly. It may attract unwanted attention, which we really don't need. That's about it. Other than that, do pretty much anything except bleed on or in another way stain any of the furniture." Adrian then disappeared into the other room after his Twin.
"Well, that's not so bad!" Antoine said, and she promptly headed to the computer. At that moment Adrian poked his head back out and yelled,
"And don't go near the computer! The TV is fine..."
Antoine glared, but flopped on the couch and started flipping channels. The first one was all big pictures of guns, called 'Big, Shiny Guns'. She yawned and kept going. The next was called 'Killing People in Various Slow and Painful ways' and seemed to be discussing about Medieval torture. She yawned again and kept flipping. The next called was 'Knives. Lots of Knives.' Antoine finally stopped flipping and stared at the pictures of knives flashing over the screen. Only Trinity sat down. The others looked disgusted and turned some chairs away from the TV.
After a few minutes the Twins returned, Aidenn wearing new clothes and looking slightly high on whatever painkillers his Twin had given him. They looked at what Antoine was watching and nodded their approval in unison. Antoine seemed to have noticed their arrival and she looked up. "Oh, hi! Feeling better, Aidenn?"
"Yup! Better is me!" Adrian looked slightly disgusted with his alternate.
"Um... What did you give him?" Antoine looked scared.
"Just Advil... Nothing major..."
Antoine groaned. "Oh. Great. Yeah, that stuff isn't major for HUMANS, but do you know what it does to programs? It's not good... You'd better lay him down, quick... Oh, by the way, do you have some knives I could borrow?"
Adrian, who had just laid his Twin on the couch, looked up at her and smirked. "Yeah, butter knives are in the kitchen, down the h-."
"Ha ha. That was so witty. I was thinking more along the lines of a switchblade, a hunting knife, and at least two throwing knives."
"We see. Why, exactly, would you need those?"
"Agents, for one thing, and for another, I don't know or trust anyone but you two in this place. I'd feel a lot more comfortable with some knives, but unfortunately we left my place too quickly for me to grab mine."
"Fine. We keep our knives in - the bedroom." He sighed. "We suppose you'll just have to come in with us, to pick some out." Aidenn, who was quickly recovering on the couch, snickered evilly. Antoine could have sworn she heard him say "Oh, is THAT all..." She shuddered and followed Adrian into the bedroom.
What will Antoine find in the Twins' bedroom?
Do we really want to know? (Fangirls, don't answer that!)
What are Niobe/Morpheus and Neo/Trinity doing all this time?
What are commercials like on the knife channel?
Will there be any Persephone attacks?
What about poor Aidenn?
What will they all do all evening?
Do we really want to know? (See above, fangirls, [or fanboys as the case may be])
Stay tuned for the answers!
