@ Della C: Well, I like using names 'cause it's different. And, dunno... Sorry, brain gone... Glad you like that line! BTW: That part of the story was an actual conversation my friend and I had at a restaurant... And the part about being cornered by Persephone was another one that we had in a swimming pool! I get so much of this from our conversations, it's almost like cheating... Woah, weird conversations, huh?
@ Lord Squidgee Moot: LOL! Much LOL!
Awww, I love all my reviewers, and you know what they say: Reviews make the fingers type faster!
After about half an hour, Aidenn and Adrian reappeared. Aidenn looked a lot calmer, and almost back to his usual strength. His usual sarcastic expression was also back. Antoine appeared to be the only one who noticed their return.
"So," she asked, breaking the silence that had descended with the Twins' departure. "What are we going to do all evening, besides sit around staring at each other? And after that, what about sleeping arrangements?"
"Programs sleep?" Trinity asked, cautiously.
The Twins and Antoine all gave her identical, pitying looks that clearly said 'Yeah, obviously!'. "Yes." Antoine said. "They do. Or at least I do, dunno about them." The Twins nodded.
"As to entertainment, Adrian and I have been discussing that matter, and we have decided that, unless you all have some bizarre passion for old werewolf and vampire movies, one or more of us needs to go out and get a movie." The others nodded agreement. "As well, we know we're hungry, so said party would also go get some food, unless you all have some bizarre passion for cold French leftovers. We thought pizza was in order..."
Antoine, who hadn't eaten since about noon, and was after all a growing program, nodded vigorously. "Oh yeah! I'm starved!"
"Programs eat?" asked Niobe, very delicately.
"Yes. They do." Adrian sighed. "Now, we were thinking that it would be best if we went, along with Antoine."
"Uh, no we didn't!" Aidenn cried. "We want to go! We always get 'Dragon Heart'. We liked it for the first thousand times, but..."
"Aidenn, please, just once! Don't argue! We need to stay here and rest!"
"Why does she get to go?" Aidenn sounded sulky.
"Because, we think she's safer out of here with one of us than here with one of us, ok?"
"Fine."
Antoine's clothes changed again. She was now wearing a gold spaghetti strap, sandals, and shorts, because it was still only about 8:00 and still warm. She was also wearing a necklace made out of what appeared to be mousetrap springs, and now appeared about nineteen. The others pointedly ignored it (the necklace, that is!). She followed Adrian out to the waiting Escalade, and they drove back towards Metropolis. Adrian didn't talk at all, and it was making Antoine nervous. She kept patting herself, to make sure all her knives were in place, until finally Adrian seemed to get the message, and asked,
"So, you mentioned a ritual that involves you and the Agents. What is that, exactly?"
She paused a minute before answering. "Well, from what I can gather, the Backup is created fifteen days before the One makes his or her choice in the Source. If he chooses the 'right' or accepted option, and chooses the seventeen people, then the Backup dissolves back into the code of the Matrix, unneeded. However, if the One chooses the other option, the Backup, who is usually female, as the One is usually male, just an interesting note, is told by her programming to seek out the Agents. They take her to a special part of the current Matrix, designed solely for this single purpose. She is placed on a sort of altar, and the Agents stand in a ring around her, and the chief Agent... mounts... her, for lack of a better word. His seed is implanted within her, and she gives birth to a new life, a kind of Superagent. After this, she is no longer necessary, and she is dissolved back into the main code. Her offspring, however, goes on to fight to the death with the One, who also always dies."
"Lovely. So, you're sort of an Agent sex toy?" Adrian smirked at her.
"Yes. At least, that was my intended purpose. But I knew, as soon as I was created and learned what I've just told you, that that was not how it was going to be for me. I refused. I rebelled."
"So, you're free now?"
"No. The Agents cannot come after the Backup if they lose her from her home ground, but a program who is no longer a part of the system, such as you and your Twin, can."
"Uh. Well, we'll pass on the Agent-sex, thanks ever-so-much..."
"That's why I'm with you."
They drove in thoughtful silence until they came to the movie store.
***
Meanwhile, back at the chateau, Aidenn was getting aggravated. He was sick of hearing Trinity and Neo spout cute nonsense at each other. He was tired of watching Morpheus and Niobe stare at each other. He was tired of being in pain. He was hungry. He HAD to get out of that room. Fast.
"I'm leaving!" He yelled. No one heard, or else they were ignoring him. He tried again, louder. Niobe jumped and looked up.
"What was that?"
"I - am - going - to - the -kitchen - for - food. I - will - be - back - soon. Do - not - leave - while - I - am - gone. O - kay?"
"O - kay!" They all answered. And immediately went back to what they had been doing before.
'Humans!' He thought, disgusted. He wandered off towards the kitchens, not seeing Persephone coming up behind him, herding him subtly into a corner.
She pressed a button on her anti-ghosting thing, and then, just when she had her quarry where she wanted him, she spoke. "Ah ha! I have you now! Just as I caught your Twin!" Aidenn screamed in panic, spun around, and tried to ghost. It didn't work, although he wasn't sure if it was because of her or the Agents. He began to panic. His worst, no, his only fear, was of being cornered. Trapped. Especially by Persephone... Feeling utterly dejected and hopeless, he lowered his head, and Persephone was able to lead the now docile Twin to her bedroom...
***
All was going well at the movie store. They picked out a selection of movies that were more or less mutually agreed upon, with only some arguing. (Antoine refused to let them get any James Bond, because she found their sexism offensive, and Adrian refused Legally Blonde, saying it was against his religion.) They finally settled on The Mask of Zorro, which had some of every genre, and Titanic for Neo and Trinity once everyone else was asleep. They both laughed at the other gagging as they realized they had to take it.
No, it wasn't until they were standing in line in front of some teenage boys when the problems began. If only those boys had known how close to death they would come that night...
The first thing that our heroes heard was "Huh, look at those loser clothes! Who wears a white suit?"
"Yeah, 'specially to a movie store?"
"God, that guy looks dead!" His friends were still laughing at his zombie imitations when Adrian spun around, a knife in his hand, and held it to the imitator's throat. His eyes bulged, and his friends ran for cover behind the display of chips. Their abandoned compatriot had turned, if possible, as white as Adrian.
"Now who looks dead? Soon you won't just look dead, you'll be dead!"
At the sound of Adrian's evil, possessed laughter, Antoine turned from the Jaws DVD collection she had been examining to the scene that lay before her. She remained very calm, a credit to her. She stepped forward, placed one foot firmly on Adrian's, and said, coolly, to the astonished customers and till-person "Oh, don't mind my boyfriend! He just got out of prison for drug-related reasons, and he's still a little paranoid. But he wouldn't hurt a fly, would you, honey..." She dragged out the last word, and at the same time she ground her foot into his boot.
Adrian was so stunned; he let his knife-wielding hand drop, as well as his jaw. Antoine placed her arm around him in what appeared to be a tender embrace, and steered him to the waiting cashier. The cashier rang them through as quickly as he could, and they left the store. Adrian still remained in his original stunned position until they reached the Escalade. Then his eyes narrowed in fury. He reached toward her, grabbed her mousetrap collar, pulled her toward him, and bellowed,
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? You - we - we've never, EVER been so INSULTED OR HUMILIATED in our LIFE! You-"
"Just saved you a lot of trouble! What the hell were YOU thinking, pulling a knife like that? We'd have been lucky if the Police had shown up, let alone an F-ing SWAT TEAM! DAMMIT!"
"You know, we think we might have changed our mind about the Agents! They can have you! Let them ƒû(k you all they want, for all we care!"
They both glowered at each other for the remainder of the trip, and neither said a word. When they showed up back at the Chateau, about forty-five minutes later, they found everyone in pretty much the same position they had been in when they had left. Except-
"Where's Aidenn?" Adrian had just emerged from the bedroom, looking for his Twin.
"Oh yeah! He left a couple minutes after you did. Said he wanted a snack..." Trinity looked briefly up from Neo's big, pretty eyes.
"WHAT?! We've been gone that long and you didn't even look for us?!" He shrieked. "What is WRONG with you people?!"
"Well, you told us not to leave without permission!" Niobe said, sensibly.
Adrian fumed, but was forced to admit that she was right. "Alright. We're going to look for him. All of you, stay here, and follow the rules. Those who don't will be personally used for knife target practice by us." Antoine got up and started to follow him. "Weren't you just listening at all to what we just said?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"But what? You have a death wish?" He countered.
"No... But you said before that you thought I was safer with you than alone..." This was more or less the truth.
"Yes, well, that's probably still true, but! A) We couldn't give less of a §hï± what happens to you, because we're still Þî§Šéd at you. B) We're going somewhere that is a potential - no, is a huge embarrassment for both us and our Twin, and C) Aidenn is already attached enough to you now, let alone if you 'save' us..." This last took Adrian completely by surprise. He hadn't meant to say it. He hadn't even known he had been thinking it. But now that he did think about it, it was completely true. He stormed off, his trench coat billowing behind him like fog...
@ Lord Squidgee Moot: LOL! Much LOL!
Awww, I love all my reviewers, and you know what they say: Reviews make the fingers type faster!
After about half an hour, Aidenn and Adrian reappeared. Aidenn looked a lot calmer, and almost back to his usual strength. His usual sarcastic expression was also back. Antoine appeared to be the only one who noticed their return.
"So," she asked, breaking the silence that had descended with the Twins' departure. "What are we going to do all evening, besides sit around staring at each other? And after that, what about sleeping arrangements?"
"Programs sleep?" Trinity asked, cautiously.
The Twins and Antoine all gave her identical, pitying looks that clearly said 'Yeah, obviously!'. "Yes." Antoine said. "They do. Or at least I do, dunno about them." The Twins nodded.
"As to entertainment, Adrian and I have been discussing that matter, and we have decided that, unless you all have some bizarre passion for old werewolf and vampire movies, one or more of us needs to go out and get a movie." The others nodded agreement. "As well, we know we're hungry, so said party would also go get some food, unless you all have some bizarre passion for cold French leftovers. We thought pizza was in order..."
Antoine, who hadn't eaten since about noon, and was after all a growing program, nodded vigorously. "Oh yeah! I'm starved!"
"Programs eat?" asked Niobe, very delicately.
"Yes. They do." Adrian sighed. "Now, we were thinking that it would be best if we went, along with Antoine."
"Uh, no we didn't!" Aidenn cried. "We want to go! We always get 'Dragon Heart'. We liked it for the first thousand times, but..."
"Aidenn, please, just once! Don't argue! We need to stay here and rest!"
"Why does she get to go?" Aidenn sounded sulky.
"Because, we think she's safer out of here with one of us than here with one of us, ok?"
"Fine."
Antoine's clothes changed again. She was now wearing a gold spaghetti strap, sandals, and shorts, because it was still only about 8:00 and still warm. She was also wearing a necklace made out of what appeared to be mousetrap springs, and now appeared about nineteen. The others pointedly ignored it (the necklace, that is!). She followed Adrian out to the waiting Escalade, and they drove back towards Metropolis. Adrian didn't talk at all, and it was making Antoine nervous. She kept patting herself, to make sure all her knives were in place, until finally Adrian seemed to get the message, and asked,
"So, you mentioned a ritual that involves you and the Agents. What is that, exactly?"
She paused a minute before answering. "Well, from what I can gather, the Backup is created fifteen days before the One makes his or her choice in the Source. If he chooses the 'right' or accepted option, and chooses the seventeen people, then the Backup dissolves back into the code of the Matrix, unneeded. However, if the One chooses the other option, the Backup, who is usually female, as the One is usually male, just an interesting note, is told by her programming to seek out the Agents. They take her to a special part of the current Matrix, designed solely for this single purpose. She is placed on a sort of altar, and the Agents stand in a ring around her, and the chief Agent... mounts... her, for lack of a better word. His seed is implanted within her, and she gives birth to a new life, a kind of Superagent. After this, she is no longer necessary, and she is dissolved back into the main code. Her offspring, however, goes on to fight to the death with the One, who also always dies."
"Lovely. So, you're sort of an Agent sex toy?" Adrian smirked at her.
"Yes. At least, that was my intended purpose. But I knew, as soon as I was created and learned what I've just told you, that that was not how it was going to be for me. I refused. I rebelled."
"So, you're free now?"
"No. The Agents cannot come after the Backup if they lose her from her home ground, but a program who is no longer a part of the system, such as you and your Twin, can."
"Uh. Well, we'll pass on the Agent-sex, thanks ever-so-much..."
"That's why I'm with you."
They drove in thoughtful silence until they came to the movie store.
***
Meanwhile, back at the chateau, Aidenn was getting aggravated. He was sick of hearing Trinity and Neo spout cute nonsense at each other. He was tired of watching Morpheus and Niobe stare at each other. He was tired of being in pain. He was hungry. He HAD to get out of that room. Fast.
"I'm leaving!" He yelled. No one heard, or else they were ignoring him. He tried again, louder. Niobe jumped and looked up.
"What was that?"
"I - am - going - to - the -kitchen - for - food. I - will - be - back - soon. Do - not - leave - while - I - am - gone. O - kay?"
"O - kay!" They all answered. And immediately went back to what they had been doing before.
'Humans!' He thought, disgusted. He wandered off towards the kitchens, not seeing Persephone coming up behind him, herding him subtly into a corner.
She pressed a button on her anti-ghosting thing, and then, just when she had her quarry where she wanted him, she spoke. "Ah ha! I have you now! Just as I caught your Twin!" Aidenn screamed in panic, spun around, and tried to ghost. It didn't work, although he wasn't sure if it was because of her or the Agents. He began to panic. His worst, no, his only fear, was of being cornered. Trapped. Especially by Persephone... Feeling utterly dejected and hopeless, he lowered his head, and Persephone was able to lead the now docile Twin to her bedroom...
***
All was going well at the movie store. They picked out a selection of movies that were more or less mutually agreed upon, with only some arguing. (Antoine refused to let them get any James Bond, because she found their sexism offensive, and Adrian refused Legally Blonde, saying it was against his religion.) They finally settled on The Mask of Zorro, which had some of every genre, and Titanic for Neo and Trinity once everyone else was asleep. They both laughed at the other gagging as they realized they had to take it.
No, it wasn't until they were standing in line in front of some teenage boys when the problems began. If only those boys had known how close to death they would come that night...
The first thing that our heroes heard was "Huh, look at those loser clothes! Who wears a white suit?"
"Yeah, 'specially to a movie store?"
"God, that guy looks dead!" His friends were still laughing at his zombie imitations when Adrian spun around, a knife in his hand, and held it to the imitator's throat. His eyes bulged, and his friends ran for cover behind the display of chips. Their abandoned compatriot had turned, if possible, as white as Adrian.
"Now who looks dead? Soon you won't just look dead, you'll be dead!"
At the sound of Adrian's evil, possessed laughter, Antoine turned from the Jaws DVD collection she had been examining to the scene that lay before her. She remained very calm, a credit to her. She stepped forward, placed one foot firmly on Adrian's, and said, coolly, to the astonished customers and till-person "Oh, don't mind my boyfriend! He just got out of prison for drug-related reasons, and he's still a little paranoid. But he wouldn't hurt a fly, would you, honey..." She dragged out the last word, and at the same time she ground her foot into his boot.
Adrian was so stunned; he let his knife-wielding hand drop, as well as his jaw. Antoine placed her arm around him in what appeared to be a tender embrace, and steered him to the waiting cashier. The cashier rang them through as quickly as he could, and they left the store. Adrian still remained in his original stunned position until they reached the Escalade. Then his eyes narrowed in fury. He reached toward her, grabbed her mousetrap collar, pulled her toward him, and bellowed,
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? You - we - we've never, EVER been so INSULTED OR HUMILIATED in our LIFE! You-"
"Just saved you a lot of trouble! What the hell were YOU thinking, pulling a knife like that? We'd have been lucky if the Police had shown up, let alone an F-ing SWAT TEAM! DAMMIT!"
"You know, we think we might have changed our mind about the Agents! They can have you! Let them ƒû(k you all they want, for all we care!"
They both glowered at each other for the remainder of the trip, and neither said a word. When they showed up back at the Chateau, about forty-five minutes later, they found everyone in pretty much the same position they had been in when they had left. Except-
"Where's Aidenn?" Adrian had just emerged from the bedroom, looking for his Twin.
"Oh yeah! He left a couple minutes after you did. Said he wanted a snack..." Trinity looked briefly up from Neo's big, pretty eyes.
"WHAT?! We've been gone that long and you didn't even look for us?!" He shrieked. "What is WRONG with you people?!"
"Well, you told us not to leave without permission!" Niobe said, sensibly.
Adrian fumed, but was forced to admit that she was right. "Alright. We're going to look for him. All of you, stay here, and follow the rules. Those who don't will be personally used for knife target practice by us." Antoine got up and started to follow him. "Weren't you just listening at all to what we just said?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"But what? You have a death wish?" He countered.
"No... But you said before that you thought I was safer with you than alone..." This was more or less the truth.
"Yes, well, that's probably still true, but! A) We couldn't give less of a §hï± what happens to you, because we're still Þî§Šéd at you. B) We're going somewhere that is a potential - no, is a huge embarrassment for both us and our Twin, and C) Aidenn is already attached enough to you now, let alone if you 'save' us..." This last took Adrian completely by surprise. He hadn't meant to say it. He hadn't even known he had been thinking it. But now that he did think about it, it was completely true. He stormed off, his trench coat billowing behind him like fog...
