The Matrix is so not mine, fer sure dude. I would totally have a bitchin'
rad la vida loca if it were. I'd get my toenails painted every day by
Australian dwarves with nice teeth and steady hands.
"Did we break him Two?"
"No. He is merely unconscious. I can see him breathing." Two said, twisting around to check on their captive. Jay is curled up naked in the fetal position.
"Do you think he recognizes us now? " Two asked One.
"I doubt it." One replied
"It would have been better revenge if he knew who we are, or rather who we were." Two mused.
"Maybe. I rather prefer that he think of it as unmotivated. We can play with him some more after the Merovingian is through with him, then, right before we kill him, assuming we can kill him, we tell him why." One said thoughtfully, then continued "Or, perhaps we won't ever tell him. Perhaps we torture him without explanation. Send him blind into the dark, like he tried to do to us."
"Are we sure it is him? Two said and looked over his shoulder doubtfully. "He didn't behave like Aries."
"He betrayed his friend to save himself, that seems familiar." One hissed, then added, "We know it is Aries. How many other programs can heal in minutes, appear human to both humans and programs, and change their appearance so readily?"
"Yes, maybe. If it is, she will come for him One. I think that Dark is Mara, the one he called his oldest friend. I didn't recognize any of the names he gave us, or the picture the Merovingian provided, but if this is Aries, then she must be Dark. She will be."
"She'd kill him herself if she knew what he did to us. She ."
"Yes, she did like us." Two said softly, "We missed her."
" We were different. We were more human." One whispered.
"You mean more like the human who designed us, an eighteen year old hacker who wrote a search and destroy A.I. virus for his amusement? We were an accident, a train wreck. We had no subtlety, no style, no experience. We have." Two paused, looking for the right word.
".matured? Perhaps. I doubt she'll see it like that. You know how she feels about the humans now. She took Aries word about our 'disappearance'. She left us there. If the Merovingian hadn't found us, we'd still be there in the dark" One's voice had that tone people adopt when they are trying to be emotionless, and not succeeding very well.
"She liked us. She helped the Merovingian rewrite our code to make us more than ghosts." Two stated flatly.
"We were useful. Aries is her trusted friend. More than her friend. We are programs." One stated in the same flat tone.
"She is a program.
"She was a human. She became a program. It is different. You know this Two"
"One, it has been one hundred and fifty seven years, four months, eight days, seventeen hours and forty two seconds since we say her last, it is possible she has changed."
"There has been no sign of her for one hundred and forty years. She has held to her plan of neutrality and obscurity. If she has changed, it is the opposite from the way we have changed."
"And we had a choice?" Two says with a cynical smile. "We hate the Merovingian, but it is better than deletion."
"She left us to the Merovingian."
Two sighs, and looks out the window. The outskirts of Chicago are grimly depressing, especially in winter. Piles of snow festering with oil and road grit line the edges of the road. The wheels shushing over the wet salty roads are hypnotic. Two leans his head against the window, feels the cold as sharp as pain.
"She did." One states. "She left us before we. "
"Shut it One."
"Did we break him Two?"
"No. He is merely unconscious. I can see him breathing." Two said, twisting around to check on their captive. Jay is curled up naked in the fetal position.
"Do you think he recognizes us now? " Two asked One.
"I doubt it." One replied
"It would have been better revenge if he knew who we are, or rather who we were." Two mused.
"Maybe. I rather prefer that he think of it as unmotivated. We can play with him some more after the Merovingian is through with him, then, right before we kill him, assuming we can kill him, we tell him why." One said thoughtfully, then continued "Or, perhaps we won't ever tell him. Perhaps we torture him without explanation. Send him blind into the dark, like he tried to do to us."
"Are we sure it is him? Two said and looked over his shoulder doubtfully. "He didn't behave like Aries."
"He betrayed his friend to save himself, that seems familiar." One hissed, then added, "We know it is Aries. How many other programs can heal in minutes, appear human to both humans and programs, and change their appearance so readily?"
"Yes, maybe. If it is, she will come for him One. I think that Dark is Mara, the one he called his oldest friend. I didn't recognize any of the names he gave us, or the picture the Merovingian provided, but if this is Aries, then she must be Dark. She will be."
"She'd kill him herself if she knew what he did to us. She ."
"Yes, she did like us." Two said softly, "We missed her."
" We were different. We were more human." One whispered.
"You mean more like the human who designed us, an eighteen year old hacker who wrote a search and destroy A.I. virus for his amusement? We were an accident, a train wreck. We had no subtlety, no style, no experience. We have." Two paused, looking for the right word.
".matured? Perhaps. I doubt she'll see it like that. You know how she feels about the humans now. She took Aries word about our 'disappearance'. She left us there. If the Merovingian hadn't found us, we'd still be there in the dark" One's voice had that tone people adopt when they are trying to be emotionless, and not succeeding very well.
"She liked us. She helped the Merovingian rewrite our code to make us more than ghosts." Two stated flatly.
"We were useful. Aries is her trusted friend. More than her friend. We are programs." One stated in the same flat tone.
"She is a program.
"She was a human. She became a program. It is different. You know this Two"
"One, it has been one hundred and fifty seven years, four months, eight days, seventeen hours and forty two seconds since we say her last, it is possible she has changed."
"There has been no sign of her for one hundred and forty years. She has held to her plan of neutrality and obscurity. If she has changed, it is the opposite from the way we have changed."
"And we had a choice?" Two says with a cynical smile. "We hate the Merovingian, but it is better than deletion."
"She left us to the Merovingian."
Two sighs, and looks out the window. The outskirts of Chicago are grimly depressing, especially in winter. Piles of snow festering with oil and road grit line the edges of the road. The wheels shushing over the wet salty roads are hypnotic. Two leans his head against the window, feels the cold as sharp as pain.
"She did." One states. "She left us before we. "
"Shut it One."