"You must learn is that these rules are no different than the rules of a computer system. Some of them can be bent. Others can be broken."
Chapter One: Facts of Life
Revv walked briskly from the Merovingian's office. She rounded the first corner and pushed open the heavy double doors to the main dining hall. Activity ceased as she entered, and many faces turned to look at her curiously.
The room was large and spacious. At one end, ornate windows were open, letting in a soothing breeze and sunlight. At the other end of room the windows were closed, making half of the room black.
The middle of the room was dominated by a large, circular table. Around the table sat eight Exiles, each with a sheet of paper and a glass of wine in front of them.
To Revv's left sat the two albino Twins who had greeted her at the door. One held a burning cigarette between his fingers, the smoke curling up to the ceiling. The other sipped his wine and glanced at Revv over the rim of his cup.
The two seats left of these two were occupied by another set of twins, these two fairly average in appearance. They both had short brown hair and wore glasses.
Left from them sat two more Exiles, but these two were extremely different from each other. The first was a large, bulky man with spiky black hair and almost white eyes. He wore no shirt, and there were numerous scares covering his stomach. The second man was tall, thin, and pale. His black hair hung down to his shoulders and surrounded his head, obscuring his face from full view.
A man with red hair sat beside the pale man. He wore an impeccably groomed suit, and had an air of mystery about him. He ignored Revv's entrance and kept reading the paper in front of him.
The last Exile was a woman. She wore a thin dress and has fiery red hair. She was idly toying with a switchblade, flicking it open and shut. The sound echoed in the silent hall.
The pale man stood up from his chair and walked around to greet Revv. "Mandrake," he introduced himself, extending his hand. Revv ignored it.
"You must be the new recruit, then," Mandrake continued, overlooking Revv's deliberate insult.
"No, I've just been hiding since you came here," she replied sarcastically.
"There's no need for that kind of voice here, Revv," he snarled. "Your attitude needs work."
Revv put her face one inch from the man's face. "Do not talk to me like a child," she hissed.
"But you are," he said bluntly. "You are not unplugged two minutes and you have already pissed me off. It took Cujo three days."
From over near the table, a large, dog-like man growled in anger. He stood up, knocking his cup over in his rage.
"Don't tempt me, Cujo," said Mandrake, whirling around, his left hand shooting to a pistol strapped to his belt. "Give me a reason and I swear your filthy corpse will be filled with silver bullets so fast – "
The lone woman interrupted Mandrake. "Children, can we all try to get along for once? The Merovingian has given us a very important task, and you know the penalties for failing the master."
A collective shudder ran through the room as the Exiles all reflected on the last person who had failed their master.
Mandrake grudgingly turned back to Revv. "Well, then, I suppose you should meet the others now. I am Mandrake, of course, head of the Exiles here that I believe are referred to as "vampires" by humans."
He waved a hand dismissively towards Cujo. "That brute is Cujo. He leads those known as "werewolves.""
He introduced the woman as Prime. "It's short for Primeval," she explained. "I'm in charge of the oldest, most powerful programs, the Ancients. We were the first to join the Merovingian when he was freed from his sleep."
"Do not cross her," Mandrake whispered in Revv's ear. "Or you will never cross anyone again."
"These are the Twins," Mandrake said louder, indicating the albinos. "They are the Merovingian's personal bodyguards."
"What are there names?" Revv asked.
"Oh, they don't have any. Or if they do, they've never told us."
The Twin with the cigarette winked at Revv. He smiled. Revv shivered.
"The two more normal twins over here are Cain and Abel," Mandrake continued. "They're in charge of – well, actually, I'm not sure."
One of them smirked. Revv thought it was Cain, but she wasn't sure. He opened his mouth.
"We're security," he said. "And I'll be watching you, Revv."
Revv glared at him from behind her glasses.
"And last, but not least, is Castor," Mandrake said, introducing the red haired man. "He's in charge of the independent programs. You'll be working under him."
Castor stood up and walked around to meet Revv. He removed his glasses and looked into hers. He had ice blue eyes, and they seemed to bore into her very code. She flinched and looked away.
"She'll do," Castor said to Mandrake. "I'll take her now. You, come with me."
Revv nodded and followed him from the room.
The other Exiles watched her leave.
"There goes a potential, no doubt about it," Mandrake mused to himself.
"Don't even think about it, Drake," Cujo growled. "She's ours."
The doors flew open again, and the Merovingian walked into the meeting room.
"She is no one's but mine," the Merovingian snarled. "And none of you will turn her. Understand? I let you play your power games, as long as they do not interfere with mine. The Exterminator is my pawn. Leave her be."
Mandrake bowed. "Yes, master." Cujo grumbled his assent. The Merovingian's eyes went around the room, slowly looking into each person's face. Everyone flinched and avoided his gaze, except for Prime.
"Do you understand, Ancient One?" the Merovingian asked.
"Yes, master," she replied promptly, showing proper respect. But there was on hint of submission or acceptance in her voice. The Merovingian made a mental note.
This one bears watching. Too long the Ancients have chafed under my rule. They must be dealt with, and soon.
Revv followed Castor down a long hallway, listening as he explained the Chateau to her.
"The west wing belongs to the Merovingian his wife, Persephone, and their bodyguards. The middle hall is unoccupied, but you can often find Cain or Abel reading in the library or training in the weapons room.
"The east wing is ours. That's where you will live, train, eat, and sleep. Unless summoned before the Council or the Merovingian, do not leave the wing without express permission from me or the second in command, Blade.
"If you do leave, never go into the basement. That is where the vamps and the Dobermen live. It is there domain. And most importantly, never, under any circumstances, go to the attic. That is the Ancient's domain, and they will kill you. Only Mandrake and the Twins have ever returned from the attic."
Revv laughed under her breath. Castor was being very melodramatic.
Castor heard her. Turning around, he grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her up against the wall.
"Let me explain the facts of life to you, Revv. Le Chateau is not a peaceful place. Yes, we are all allied against the rebels, but the Merovingian grows tired of his role in the war. He is constantly trying to overthrow his machine masters. We are called upon to be his front line, killing the rebels and the machines together. So we co operate, because we must for survival.
"But the factions have no love for each other. My own successor, Pollux, was killed by Mandrake in the night he took power, one cycle ago. Mandrake and Cujo rose to their positions on the same night, killing the heads of all the factions, even their own. No head is ever safe, and the makeup of the council changes constantly. In the three or so cycles I've been here, I've seen five rulers overthrown, two sects destroyed, and one faction slaughtered by the Merovingian himself. Only Prime has remained in her ruler ship position for all the time I have been here."
Revv rolled her eyes. Castor tightened his grip, looking into Revv's eyes.
"Let me relate a story about Prime, Revv. When I was newly unplugged, about two cycles ago, there was a sect within our own faction known as the "Freed." They were a powerful sect, and they were foremost in the Merovingian's favor.
"Prime grew jealous at their occupation of her favored spot by the master's side. So she sent the most powerful Ancient, an assassin program known as Granite, to deal with them. That night, we all heard the screams coming from the basement. The next morning, the Free were truly free – as free one can only be in deletion."
Castor could see that Revv was still not convinced of any true danger. She was new to the world, and arrogant. That would change. He sighed mentally and released her.
"Revv, I see no words of mine will convince you. Be warned, my servant, that one day you will learn the truth. The question is will it be soon enough?"
Turning away from her, Castor pushed open the doors into the east wing.
Each section of the Chateau is unique, specifically designed to meet the needs of the faction housed there. The Merovingian's wing was little besides one master bedroom, two rooms for the two sets of bodyguards, a large library, the kitchen, and a dining hall.
The central area of the house was not assigned to anyone, but it was open to all. It was made up of the main hallway, the council room, the library, and the theatre. The Merovingian's office was also there.
The east wing belonged to the unique programs. It had many different rooms, each with its own impermanent code that could be altered when a new resident moved in – which was often. It also held a small library, a smaller kitchen, a large dining room, and a training grounds, complete with fighting arena, firing range, and instruction room.
The basement was an almost empty place. Persephone's personal movie theater was their, but the rest of the area was just large empty rooms – except for the Pit and the dungeons. The Pit was the place the Merovingian sent many minions or prisoners to be punished, a place where they fought to the death. The dungeons were the domain of Cain and Abel, sadistic torturers whom the prisoners always hated above even their captor, the Merovingian. The dungeons were also home to the Keymaker, the program that the Oracle kept sending the rebels to acquire. He sat in his cell and made keys all day long.
The details on the attic were rather sketchy. The Merovingian never went up there, of course – he had no need to. Of the three people who had gone up their, only one – Mandrake – had shared his knowledge.
"It is a dark place, with no artificial lights whatsoever. A bit of sunlight filters through heavy curtains, but only enough to see faintly by. This darkness is home to many programs I would not even want to imagine – much less meet. Besides Prime, I have only met the second in command, Granite, and that meeting chilled me to the bone."
Castor led Revv through the east wing. She passed the dining hall, looking in and seeing many different programs eating the richest food possible. She was lead through the library, where a program sat studying "The Art of War." Down the hall, Castor stopped and pushed open a doorway.
"This will be your room," he said. It was bare of any decoration or adornments, and had in it only a plain bed, a small table, and a lamp. Revv glanced about it disinterestedly.
"Now where?" she asked, bored.
"Training," Castor answered, grinning.
The training hall was divided into three sections, the Arena, the Range, and the Room. Revv was led into the Room, where four programs were.
The first was a woman, standing at the front of the room. Her hair was long and brown. She wore a black dress and a pair of sunglasses over her eyes.
Castor led Revv over to her. "I've got a new pupil for you, Jade," he said.
"Revv, right?" the woman asked. "I'm Jade, the instructor here."
Castor told the tale of Revv's Exile to Jade. Jade nodded and listened, never saying anything. When Castor finished, she spoke up.
"That certainly is an interesting tale, Revv." Revv just nodded.
"Let me introduce you to the other trainees," Jade continued.
The other three programs sat at a long table. The first was a man with short brown hair, a small mustache, and a goatee. His black sunglasses reflected Revv's face as she stared at him, and he was amused by her curiosity.
"I'm Pyrite," he told her. "I was a cleaner program, designed to cycle through the Matrix and delete redundant programs such as you. One day, I tried to delete a fractured Sentinel program and fell into a cycle, deleting myself bit by bit. The Architect wiped me from the records, but in his haste and arrogance, did not delete me fully. I recalled my code and came here."
The second program was a woman, Rush. She had long, black hair and crystal green eyes. She wore no glasses. "I was a firewall," she said. "The Motherboard sent me to protect the Mainframe from intrusion, but one day someone got through, an older Agent program that had been deleted by the Anomaly. He unplugged himself and stole one of the replication programs. The Architect wanted to delete me, but I escaped before he could."
The third program's name was Scatch. It appeared before them as a human male with long, black hair, wearing dark, sharply angled sunglasses and a black leather cloak.
"My story is less dramatic then theirs are. I am a rebel hunting program, programmed with the most sophisticated and advanced prediction and analytical subprograms. I can even factor in the variable known as "emotions" when making my decisions. However, a rogue program convinced me there were better ways to fight. I unplugged myself, and then I came here, determined to continue fighting the rebel scum."
Revv felt a certain affinity for Scatch. She could identify with the hatred for the rebels. The emotion program had been written extra strong into each one of them.
Little did Revv know that the fates of all the trainees were intertwined with each other. The redundant program Pyrite had tried to delete, Scatch's helper program, Rush's security passer, and the program that had ordered Revv's deletion had all been the same program.
Smith.
Smith was killed by the Anomaly. The Architect ordered Pyrite to delete him. Pyrite failed. Smith then broke into the Mainframe and stole a duplication code and ordered Revv's deletion. Then Smith freed Scatch the same way the rebels freed humans, contacting him through the web and convincing him to defect.
Revv lay down on the bed. Machines did not tire, of course, but their programs could run down. They needed a half-active state of "rest" every cycle or so. Revv sat in a cross-legged pose on her bed and began turning all her subroutines except the most basic off, when she heard Castor's voice.
"Charge up, Revv, because tomorrow we start your training."