Agent Chase silently eyed the two albino twins as they giggled and played with each other beside him in the back seat of the car. It was perfectly clear that they had no idea what was even happening or how close to death they were. They were just two innocent children who were still too young to understand the things going on around them. To them it was nothing more than a fun adventure.
The agent's eyes moved to view the parents, the father in the front seat next to another agent and the mother in the back seat next to the Twins. He knew that all Exiles are doomed to go back to the Source one way or another. If there's one thing that Exiles fear it's the Machines; the artificial beings that brought life to them in the first place. Being a program himself, Agent Chase felt pity for the Exile family he had just captured, although he didn't show it. Agents rarely showed any emotion at all. It wasn't within their program because their purpose doesn't require them to show emotion. Unknown to his comrades and the Machines, Agent Chase proved more than once that he felt pity towards the Exiles he was required to catch. Anyone would say that he had a difficult job. Being a bounty hunter for the Machines and tracking down fugitive Exiles before the humans see them was no easy task, but the hardest part was seeing the looks in the eyes of the programs after he caught them. Many times he saw confusion, grief, sadness, but the emotion he saw more than any of them was fear. It's difficult when your purpose is done with and you are no longer useful or needed. Agent Chase wondered more than once how long it would be until he too would have to walk the same path as do his fugitives. Maybe that's why he chose to do what he does. Maybe that's why he risks his life to save the Exiles.
Chase looked down at the Twins again when Twin Two accidentally hit his leg. The young twin nervously looked up into the blank, cold face of the agent and stared into the dark shades that hid his eyes from the outside world. A slight smile curled the edges of Chase's lips before he bent over and picked up the stuffed animal Two had dropped in the floorboard. The agent handed the toy to the child. Two was hesitant at first and then slowly reached out a hand and took his possession back, glancing at his mother sitting on the other side of his brother. The woman had as much of a perplexed look on her face as did her son.
She had never seen an agent do anything like that before.
From that point on, the car ride was long and silent. Vevina tried to keep her children quiet and calm, fearing what the agent might do if they became too rambunctious. Very soon the ride came to an end. However, they were no longer in the Matrix. They were in the Source; otherwise known as the Machine City. How they got there was something unknown to the Exile family, but they didn't care to ask questions. They've learned from past experiences that when you're in situations like this, you don't ask too many questions.
After looking around at the new and weird surroundings, the Twins ran and huddled next to their mother for protection and comfort.
"You can run and hide," Chase said, noticing the Twins' reaction. "But nothing can protect you here."
"Why can't you leave them alone?" Vevina sighed at the words the agent chose to say to her children.
"Lady, if I wanted to harm your children I would have done it before now." Chase straightened his shoulders. "It's not within my programming to do so."
Vevina eyed the agent carefully.
"I'm merely stating the truth. This is the Source, where all Exiles must go to face deletion. I see this place every day. And more than I can count, I've seen Exiles come in but never go out. There's no place to hide here where you'll be safe from the fate that waits."
The Twins' eyes grew wide and dotted around them at the horribleness of the place in which they stood. Two quickly turned and buried his face in his mother's leg. One followed his brother's idea and did the same.
The other agents walked away when Chase nodded for them to do so. He waited a short time afterwards until no one was around and then turned toward the Exile family.
"Come, we must act quickly while no one is watching." Chase motioned for Abraham and his family to follow.
Vevina grabbed one of the Twins and carried him, while Abraham grabbed the other one and together they all followed the agent as he led them through a mass of machinery and wires and other unpleasant things that made up the gruesome Machine City. After what seemed like hours of walking, Chase stopped in front of a large rusted metal door that blended in with the rest of the rubbish in that area. It was locked with a huge padlock and had discarded wires, tubes, and 'dead' Sentinels in front of it.
"This is it." Chase said, nervously looking around to see if they had been followed. Chase's voice changed remarkably from what it had been before. It was no longer cold and deep like the normal agents' voices were. Abraham and Vevina exchanged puzzled glances.
"I thought you weren't required to take us to the Merovingian." Said Abraham.
"I'm not." Chase quickly answered, pulling out a key from his suit pocket and pushing it into the lock's keyhole.
"Then why are you doing this for us?"
Agent Chase stopped and turned toward the Exiles. He leaned his head forward and moved his dark sunglasses down his nose, enough where he could peer over the rim.
"Because I've helped a great many Exiles like yourselves to have a second chance at life." Chase winked at the couple. "You're fortunate I was the one who caught you. Not very many of the other agents have pity on Exiles."
Chase playfully nudged One's arm and smiled at him. "And I have a soft spot for children."
"Won't you get exiled for what you do?" Asked Vevina, worriedly.
"Possibly." Chase shrugged. "If I get caught. That's why I must act like a true agent around the others," he turned to a dead Sentinel beside him. "And them."
Chase turned back around and finished unlocking the door and placed the key back in his pocket. He took his foot and pushed away the junk and garbage and grabbed hold of the door and opened it. Darkness filled the cavern on the other side, but a hint of cold greenish light could be seen in the distant.
"This door will lead you to Mobil Avenue. There you will wait until the train comes. Get on it and it will take you back into the Matrix and to the Merovingian."
Abraham nodded that he understood.
"Whatever you do, don't keep the Trainman waiting. He runs a tight schedule."
Vevina, clutching Twin One in one arm and a suitcase in the other, walked through the open doorway. Abraham, carrying Twin Two and a suitcase, followed her. Chase was about to close the door when the head of Vevina appeared in the dim light.
"I want to thank you for what you do." She smiled. "Forgive me for any ill feelings I might have had for you earlier."
"Think nothing more of it." Chase smiled.
"Until we meet again,"
"We won't." Chase coldly said, interrupting the woman. "Unless I meet you on the other side someday. When I'm caught."
Vevina stared at the agent and then turned to go into the blackened corridor to follow her husband. A loud slam and clank told the Exiles that the agent had closed the entrance and pushed the garbage back around it to disguise it.
Mobil Avenue was a barren and cold place to wait in. There was only one bench and over it the words, 'Mobil Ave' were written on the white tiled wall. It could have been any train station, but it wasn't. It was like the in-between of two different worlds; a secret passage between the real world and the Matrix. It was a secret passage only programs used and knew of in order to get back into the world they belonged in. Exiled programs know of Mobil Avenue all too well. Many times, Exiles like this poor Exile family have sat on the lone bench and waited until the train arrived, only to get on so that the Trainman can take them back into the Matrix and to meet the Merovingian.
The Twins looked around at the bleakness and shivered, either from fear or from an uneasy feeling. They wanted to go home. We don't have a home anymore, Vevina would tell them. That is, until they went to see the Merovingian. They all had high hopes that he would be kind enough to give them a place to stay in the chateau they heard he lives in.
Both twins cautiously and curiously walked to the edge of the platform and peered over the side. Below were the tracks of the infamous train that would come shortly and take the wandering Exile family to their new future. It was a sad yet happy time for them. Sad because they had to leave behind all of the work they did in order to make it in the world and happy because they would finally be free from running for their lives.
Abraham and Vevina seated themselves on the bench and waited. The Twins, on the other hand, proceeded to occupy themselves by getting involved in a play wrestling match in the middle of the station's floor. The Exile parents watched in silence as the Twins continued to roll over and over, laughing and giggling. Sometimes they wished they could be that cheerful and carefree.
After several hours of waiting, the train finally arrived; screeching and squealing as it pulled to a halt. The doors opened and out walked a dingy, filthy, ugly man dressed in equally filthy clothes. He greedily smiled at the couple and their children with what little teeth he still had. Not bothering to ask who this guy was, Abraham automatically assumed him to be the Trainman and picked up his luggage and waited until his wife did the same. Vevina took One by the hand and told him to take hold of his brother's hand as well. Together they all piled onto the train and the doors shut behind them.
"Have a seat." The Trainman motioned to the rows of empty seats. "Make yourselves comfortable and within a few hours we'll be at our destination."
And a few hours it was. The Twins were asleep next to their parents when the train pulled to a halt again. This time it was a few feet away from a large and tall building.
"I thought you were going to take us to see the Merovingian." Abraham turned to the Trainman.
"I did." He said, rather irritably. "He's over there in that building at the moment."
"It's a restaurant." Abraham said.
"Yes, I know. The Merovingian owns it."
The doors slammed shut and the train pulled off, leaving the exiled family to make the rest of the trip by themselves.
When Abraham and his family entered the restaurant, a young woman with long black hair and wearing a tight fitting dress greeted them with a smile.
"I am here to take your children for a little while so that you can have an uninterrupted talk with my husband." She said with a crisp Italian accent. At first the Exile couple didn't know what to say to the unusual greeting, but silently nodded to the woman that she may take the Twins with her.
Gently and lovingly she bent down and talked sweetly to the children and reached to take them by the hand. The Twins looked up at their parents in hopes that they wouldn't have to go along with this new stranger, but seeing that they would have to anyway they silently agreed to go wherever she might lead them. Abraham and his wife watched as their children walked off with the stranger while wondering if they had done the right thing. They had always been cautious with leaving the Twins with just anyone because one never knew who would turn into an agent next.
"I think we're to go over there." Vevina pointed toward a long table at the very end of the room where a single man sat alone. They walked in that direction, stopping once or twice to let a passing waiter walk by. When they approached the table, the Merovingian stared immensely at the couple.
"You are the new Exiles, I presume?" He coldly asked.
Abraham nodded.
"Ah! Welcome, then. I am the Merovingian. Please, have a seat."
"Th-That woman just took our children." Abraham pointed toward where the woman had taken the Twins.
"Calm down, calm down." The Merovingian's frown turned into an amused smile. "They'll be returned to you."
"When?" Abraham narrowed his eyes.
"When we're done with our little chat." The Merovingian gestured towards two chairs. "Now, please, sit down and make yourselves comfortable."
Abraham hesitated a moment, keeping his eyes on the Mero as if he didn't quite trust him.
"Aw, come on. Your children will be fine. She won't harm them." The Mero kept his smile. "I just hope you don't mind them having sweets. I know she's very good at spoiling children."
Vevina smiled for the first time since they entered the restaurant and shook her head in reply to the Mero, saying she didn't mind that her children were spoiled a little bit. Finally, Abraham sighed and nodded to his wife to sit. Both of them carefully sat down together across from the Mero, not knowing what to expect next. The Merovingian kindly offered a glass of wine to the couple, but they politely refused. He then offered them some of the gourmet foods that set on the table in front of them, but again they refused.
"Can't we just get down to business?" Abraham frustratingly blurted out.
The Merovingian leaned back in his chair and fingered the wine glass in his hands while swallowing the last of a bite of caviar he had placed in his mouth seconds before.
"I think I'm going to like you." He said with a smile, taking a quick sip of his wine. "I can tell that you've got a good head on your shoulders. Unfortunately it's in the wrong place." The Mero's smile dropped.
"I beg your pardon."
"Quiet!" The Merovingian's gaze narrowed. "I'm a businessman and I am greatly thrilled at your haste to get down to business. But this isn't about business, man. This determines your life; whether you live or die. This is about how much you love that wife of yours and those two children. This is about freedom!"
The Merovingian shifted his gaze from Abraham to Vevina and then back again.
"Call it what you will," he continued. "But zis is perhaps the most important decision you will ever make."
Abraham sat down in his chair again without saying another word.
"You want freedom. Am I correct?" The Merovingian bluntly asked, after a moment of silence.
Abraham nodded.
"You wish to work for me in exchange for freedom so you won't have to return to the Source?"
Again Abraham nodded.
"Consider it done then." The Merovingian lifted his glass in a toasting gesture.
"That's it?" Vevina looked surprised. "That's all we have to do?"
The Mero smiled and sniffed at his wine. "There is one little detail."
Abraham looked at him questioningly.
"Your children," The Mero took another sip. "I want them."
Vevina rose from her seat. "We're going to work for you. We can continue to care for them wherever you want us to stay."
"No, no. The children must remain with me. That ees the rules. All exile children are to be handed over to me or be returned to the Source."
"What will happen to them?"
"They will be sent to the L' Ecole de la Tour. It's a boarding school for Exile children, owned by me and my organization. There they will be schooled in a variety of subjects and one day will be able to work for me."
Vevina broke down in sobs and tears as she slowly sat down in her chair. Abraham leaned over to comfort her.
"Is there another way?" Abraham turned to the Mero. The Mero shook his head.
"I wanted us to remain a family." Vevina said through her tears. "I wanted us to be free together. I didn't want our children to become orphans and be sent to some boarding school."
"True they will be orphans, but at least they will be free and safe." Said the Merovingian.
Vevina sobbed even harder
"There, there. Everything's going to be alright." Abraham kissed his wife's cheek.
"But they're still so young. They won't understand."
"They'll have to leave you someday. Might as well be now." The Merovingian said, not helping matters any.
"Have you no heart?" Vevina angrily gazed at the Frenchman. "Doesn't family mean anything to you?"
The Merovingian remained silent and cold as if he didn't care for the feelings of the couple in front of him. Abraham soon got the feeling that the Merovingian was a cold and heartless man who cared nothing about what happened to the people around him and as long as he got what he wanted he was happy. Apparently the Merovingian thought that the way Vevina and Abraham were acting was rather silly. The Frenchman calmly continued to sip his wine while waiting for Vevina to stop crying.
"If you want your freedom, you can have it, but your children must remain in my care. You are free to spend the night in my chateau until you've made your decision." The Merovingian got up from his chair. "When you are ready to leave, my wife will give your children back to you and then escort you to the chateau and to your room."
The Merovingian, then, walked away from the table and down the walkway of the center of the room and disappeared in the main hallway.