Chapter Four: Midnight
"Helluva party," Scatch said. "Castor musta been really happy."
The Exile trainees wandered the basement of the Chateau. Rush leaned on Scatch heavily, and each of them held a bottle of alcohol in their hands. Revv walked alongside the two, shifting uncomfortably in the cold basement. Pyrite walked on the other side of the pair, looking left and right.
"I think we're lost," said Rush drunkenly. Scatch broke into loud laughter. Revv threw the program a warning glance and he fell silent.
"Listen," Pyrite ordered. They could hear the creeping of footsteps coming towards them. Revv turned towards the sound and drew her gun.
"Shit," Rush said, too loudly. "How'd we get down here?"
"After the damn party, we had to follow the two of you to make sure you weren't killed," Revv whispered furiously, yanking on Rush's dress. "Now, shut up!"
"This is the basement, right?" Scatch said. "You know what's down here…"
Scatch fell silent. Pyrite drew his own gun, twirling it nervously. The slow footsteps broke into a run and a large shape barreled into Scatch, knocking him over. Revv fired twice, missing both times. The shape drew itself up, growling.
A Doberman. Seven feet of muscle and power packed into a human-like body with glistening fangs and cold eyes. The Exile growled again, saliva dripping from its teeth.
"You're not welcome down here," he said. Revv fired again, and the Doberman twisted to avoid her shots. He leapt at Pyrite, who was fumbling to draw a silver dagger, and knocked him over. Pyrite flew to the ground and hit hard, groaning. The dagger clattered away. Rush dove for it, and the Doberman knocked her aside, sending her flying into a wall. She hit the floor and heard a ringing. She lifted her head again and saw a foot descending. There was a loud crash, and her vision wavered before it all went black.
Revv dashed for the Doberman, smashing into him. The creature stayed upright, however, and its strong hands closed around Revv's throat and lifted her up against the wall. Revv kicked at the Doberman, landing glancing blows on his chest. He growled and his fangs moved towards her throat.
Scatch grabbed the dagger off the floor and threw it. It spun through the air and struck the Doberman in the head. He roared in pain and fell. As he hit the ground, his body began convulsing as his code tore apart.
"That was close," Revv said, dropping to the floor and landing on her feet.
"Let's get out of here," Scatch said, picking himself up off the floor. He hoisted Rush over his shoulder and the group started for the stairs. As they reached the midway point, the stairs collapsed beneath them. Scatch yelped as he began to fall, dropping Rush and grabbing onto Revv's leg. Revv scrambled for a hold on railing, but she slipped and fell. Pyrite jumped but crashed into a mirror. It shattered, and glass shards cut him on both cheeks. He teetered on the edge for a moment and then fell backwards into darkness.
Revv awoke in pain. She blinked twice to clear her mind and glanced around. She was hanging on a wall, shackled by the wrists and ankles. To her left were Rush and Scatch, and to her right was Pyrite.
There was a creaking sound and a large man entered the room. He stood about seven feet tall and had jet black hair, with cloudy gray eyes. As he walked towards the Exiles, his black cloak swirled around the gun and the sword he wore on either side of his hip. He removed a pair of dark glasses and scanned his captives, meeting each one's gaze as he examined them.
"I am Granite," he said. "An Ancient. Welcome to my lair."
"What do you want with us?" Rush asked.
"With you? Nothing. Revv and I, however, have many things to discuss."
The other trainees looked at Revv. She shrugged.
"What about?" Revv asked.
"Loyalty," Granite said, echoing Persephone's earlier conversation starter. Revv glared at him.
"Then let me down, and we'll…talk."
"Of course," Granite said, waving his hand. Revv's bonds retracted and she hit the floor face first. She leapt to her feet and went into a fighting stance.
"Calm down," Granite advised. "You can't beat me, I only want to talk."
Revv snorted. "I should trust you…why?"
"You can't. But, I think you'll find it profitable to listen, Thompson."
The mention of Revv's Agent name shocked her.
"What do you want?"
"Just to talk about something…come with me. I guarantee your friends will be safe while you talk."
Revv thought for a moment.
"Okay."
Granite smiled and led her down a hall and through a door into a large, dark room. He took a seat on a couch and she sat on a chair across from him.
"I don't expect you to remember me," he began, "but we have met before, long ago, in the fourth version of the Matrix. I was then just pondering defection. My job was – "
Revv's voice broke in. "Trojan?"
Granite grinned. "Yes."
Trojan had been the security program for the Matrix, in charge of the cyber jail that kept dangerous programs from escaping out into the Matrix. When he had defected, he had taken dozens of Exiles with him. It had been a disaster. Thompson, Levine, and Smith had been sent to hunt him down, and they had failed to defeat him. Levine had been deleted, and Thompson demoted…but Smith had somehow escaped punishment.
"What do you want, traitor?" Even now, decades after, Revv's voice sounded angry.
"You share that same title now, Revv."
She remained silent, glaring.
"But what I want is not much. War is coming, my former companion, and it cannot be stopped. Delayed, maybe, but not stopped. The Merovingian is losing his grip on his power…and there are those of us who want to speed him on his way. So, you have a choice to make."
"And what choice is that?"
"Prime has had her eye on you. She has discovered a secret. There is a program living in your code that has the potential to win this war for either side. She wants you to come over to us. If you agree here and now, we could end this war tonight."
"Never," said Revv.
Granite sighed. "They told me you would be hard to convince. Unfortunately, I cannot kill you, but you have learned too much. So I will have to wipe your memory."
Revv stood up. Granite lunged for her, grabbing her by the arm. His teeth sank into her shoulder, and a piercing pain shot through her. She fell into darkness for a second time.
Revv awoke in pain. She blinked twice to clear her mind and looked around. She was shackled to a wall by her wrists and ankles.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"You don't remember?" said Rush incredulously.
"No," she answered. Rush explained what had happened to her.
"You don't remember what Granite wanted?"
"No clue. I don't remember anything after the Doberman," Revv said.
Pyrite yelled in triumph as he dropped to the floor, his bonds releasing him.
"Let's get out of here," he said. He moved to Revv's side and cut her restraints with a shard of glass.
"From the mirror," he explained. He quickly freed Rush and Scatch.
"Okay, enough adventure for one night," Rush said. "We're going."
Scatch ran for the door, yanking it open. The instant his hand turned the knob, the lights in the upper room went off.
"Shit," said Scatch. "That can't be goo – "
His speech was cut off as a hand came swinging out of the darkness and hit his face. He went flying backwards and crashed into the ground.
"Scatch?" Rush said. She was suddenly lifted from the ground and sent flying. She screamed. Pyrite jumped left and felt a shape rush past him.
"Something's here!" he yelled. Revv slammed into a wall and felt a long, smooth object. She grabbed the wooden pole and felt it, finding the sharp blade of an axe.
"Bring it on," she yelled, waving the axe around. A hand connected with hers and slapped the axe away. She felt two feet slam into her chest and she was suddenly airborne, crashing back to earth with a loud noise.
Pyrite felt a sharp object brush his neck in the darkness and kicked out, connecting with flesh. Scatch rose from his crouch and dove for the creature, but it grabbed him in midair. He gave a final yell that was cut short.
Rush opened fire with a weapon. The bullets cut through the darkness, hitting nothing, but giving away her position. She was lifted off the ground and screamed in pain as she felt herself being ripped apart.
Pyrite ran for the light switch and hit it, flooding the room in brightness. The scene that greeted his eyes was not a pretty one.'
Rush lay on the floor in two pieces, her code dissolving. Scatch had two deep holes in his neck, and Granite was frozen in a crouch. His eyes followed Pyrite, but he couldn't seem to move.
"Shit," Pyrite said, going for the stairs. Revv began to climb after him, but she felt suddenly weaker, as if made of stone. She managed to make it to the door and tumbled down the stairs.
And two programs watched her emerge. Theta and Omega looked at each other.
"She bears watching," Theta said, as Revv's code flickered. A new program was fighting its way through her.
"Indeed she does," said Omega as the clock struck twelve. The lights in the Chateau shut off, and they both heard a roar of rage from above.