AN: Oh my god, I'm SOOO sorry I couldn't get this up for you guys. Hence I'm in a hurry so I'm skipping normal disclaimers and comments. I'll put them up in the next chapter which is going up tomorrow.

Dedicated to the Forlown Legions, which was disbanded 12/21/03, and in memory of Thrious Forlown.

Happy New Year, too, btw.

Dual Biography

Chapter XXIV: Adapt to Exist

My mind swarms with mine and One's questions, "Why aren't the agents after you?" I remember Thompson as I speak, wondering of her fate as well.

"I made a deal with them."

"What about the MI?"

"Irii?" She raises an eyebrow, probably naming one of his other forms; "I've seen him once. I don't think he even cares."

//"He told us he has no interest in Exile or hardwired, only those who help the rebels…."//

//"You're right, One."//

"So do you guys really want to teach here?" She asks, walking back into the office and motioning for us to come, "Don't programs have better things to do?"

"We're Exiled."

"I know that," Raikan sighs as she sits down in the chair behind the desk. We sit in two of the other chairs in the room, "I mean, don't you have better thing to do, anyway, then teach humans?"

I chuckle faintly; One smirks as well. When neither of us answer, she continues, a smug look on her face, "Wait, how did you not know I was a program originally?"

"Why would we?" One asks with a raised eyebrow.

Raikan laughs and pulls out a business card, "Fallen Agent. Really now, do Exiles degenerate when they reach a certain age? And regardless…you can see my programming. I can see yours. Why didn't you look?"

Silence echoes in our mind(s?) and I turn to One, mottled confusion and amazement in my eyes. Only One

//"Why didn't we think of it before? How could we have missed it?!"// I mumble telepathically.

//"Have we truly become that obsolete to not even think of precautionary measures? She could have been the MI and it would have slipped right by us!"// He half-shouts back.

//"We must be more on guard……"//

//"Yes."//.

"Hello?"

I turn sharply from One and look back at Raikan, "What?"

"I asked you if you wanted to work here."

"Oh, what, sure," I responded with a shrug, feeling One's stare bore into the back of my head.

//"What?"//

//"Why is SHE teaching humans?"//

"You asked us why we wanted to work here…but our question is, why did you start it?"

"I made a deal with some Agents, and they don't come after me." She responds, "I told them I would lead a perfectly normal life and would immediately report all children that showed signs of extraordinary ability to them. So that is that. As for Irii, he doesn't care."

"His name is….Thompson now."

"Thompson?" Raikan bows off the mat, and beckons for us to follow, sitting down at her desk, "Which program was that?"

"Another Exile who he was on bad terms with." One comments, biting his lip.

"You didn't like him?"

"Her."

"I thought Thompson was a male Agent, the latest bunch of them." She shifts through more papers and scribbles as we talk.

"It turns out there was another, older female Agent Thompson who had gotten a bit off in the head originally, so she was Exiled rather quickly, and was a hacker that helped us with our………deals with people."

She looks up, "eh?"

"What?" One asks.

"What kind of deals with what kind of people."

"People that involved us have two run-ins with the MI."

"Ah, helping rebels now are we? Not good for your lifespan."

"We'd rather not speak of it."

"Understood, it can be nasty when it wants to be."

One and I glance at each other before opening my moth to say something, but I lapse into uneasy silence as Raikan continues to scribble, the only sound heard.

"What are you waiting for?" She asks after a few moments of silence, "Oh yes, here." She opens a draw and throws clothes at us, "Get changed."

"Pardon?" One sputters.

"You think I'm going to let you teach my class in that?! Get changed into a gi!" She shouts sternly at us.

"We don't listen to you." I comment coldly in response.

"You are working for me," She growls, "That means you have to listen to me when I comes to working. Which means I told you to get on a gi, so you have too. otherwise I can fire you. Get it?"

I gape at her for several moments, "I'll hurl a sword at you if you don't your asses into that changing room and put on a gi."

"It's black!" I protest weakly.

"No shit! Put it on!"

"But it's black. We don't wear black." One glares.

"You do now! You want to work in a normal life! Newsflash, humans wear more then silver and white. And they don't spar with rings and trench coats, and say 'we' when they mean 'I'. If you want to work here, at least TRY and act human, alright? I don't even care if you speak in plural. But no more strutting around in silver! And be humble for a change, while you're at it, and no beating the humans because they don't catch on! Show some compassion! Be human. You'll get used of it."

I blink in surprise, pulling back slightly. One looks at me and looks genuinely surprised, and then we both walk out, trying to figure out what that was about.

//"Compassion?"// I can hear the confusion in my own voice as I speak to One.

One's silence gives me the answer.

The two of us enter the dressing room. In a hasty sort of way, we both begin to strip off our clothing and put on the gis. One looks at me through his sunglasses, and his expression puzzeles me.

"What?" I ask him with a raised eyebrow.

"Just different," He responds, tying his belt around his waist in a knot as I do the same, "Not used of it."

"We don't like change." I say indisputably.

"But we will adapt."

"We said we would start living lives."

"And so we will."

In both our voices, there is determination. There is a steely confidence that neither of us will let break.

We need peace, and this seems to be the only place to get it, despite whatever change may happen.