1
Persephone sat languidly next to her husband, recalling the events that had led her to this existence as an Exile of the System. As much as she had enjoyed her time in the sky, she enjoyed her time here more, with a man who loved her enough to wed her, though as programs they did not need to form such a binding contract. However, the Merovingian's Lady and mistress of his Château found herself missing Libra, a smallish program that had served as her attendant and guardian. She had never talked much with Libra, but had simply found comfort in her quiet presence amidst the bickering and fighting of the others.
The Merovingian sat beside his new wife, a quite satisfaction emanating from his person. He was immensely satisfied at this current time. The new codes had ensured the Château's safety from the reload; his new wife was tribute to this feat. The employment of so many new programs at one time could hardly have gone better. Their old rivalries still remained, obviously - the Merovingian did not condone the process of erasing memories.
Better these young upstarts learned from their mistakes, learned to control their tempers, of which they had in abundance. All except his Persephone, that is. He had never seen her perfect features so much as frown, and he bridled inwardly at the thought of anyone causing harm to her.
He turned to her now, savouring the rush that still flickered though him at the sight of her. "Is everysing to your satisfaction, ma chérie?" The female program smiled at him and nodded. "Yes, my love." She really was quite lucky to have met him. She shouldn't spend time wondering what had become of Libra; it was quite likely the girl had been deleted by Agents.
The Frenchman studied her carefully. There it was again, a flicker across her face. He leaned slightly towards her, isolating them from the steady hum of talk from the restaurant. "There is somesing, is there not? I would not have my love discontented." He pitched the tone of his voice perfectly, encouraging and trustworthy.
She sighed. "Yes, one thing, though likely there is nothing that could be done about it. In my time as the constellation 'Virgo', I was close to another program called 'Libra'. She appointed herself my attendant and guard, but vanished in the Exodus. I just miss her, husband."
The Merovingian leaned back in his seat and motioned gracefully for more wine. He took a small sip and carefully composed his reply. At this point in time, she was all that mattered, and if she would be happier with this 'Libra' around, so be it. "I will have this program sought out for you, if you so wish. " He spread his hands benevolently. "If you would feel safer, I am sure she can be found, alzough I am also sure there is no one 'ere that will 'arm you..."
"I am not concerned for my safety, my love," she assured him. "I am simply concerned about the fate of an old friend." She kissed him on the cheek, taking one hand in hers and squeezing it in a manner that promised a further show of gratitude later that day.
The Merovingian permitted himself a half smile at the display of affection, pressing his free hand over hers. "Tomorrow, z' search will begin. In z' meantime, what are your thoughts on zis place, my beauty?" He was interested in what she felt about the elegant restaurant, and in particular, the... unique architecture of the mountain château.
Persephone's eyes lit with happy interest, and she was off, telling him what she loved about the décor and the way everything was set up, as well as passing reference to the lovely shortcut between Le Vrai and the château. Her husband had excellent taste.
The afore-mentioned husband listened with half a mind, nodding where he deemed it polite. The rest of him concentrated on the task in hand. He caught himself wondering if this lost one would be as beautiful as Persephone, but quickly quashed the thought. He was married now. With this thought his attentions went back to what she was saying, complementing the ingenious link between restaurant and château. He smiled. "It saves travel, does it not? And time is precious in our circumstances."
"Yes, and it makes it much harder for the System's Agents to catch us when we are travel between them," Persephone pointed out, eliciting a nod from the program now known as Jacob. Jacob was a strange one, quiet and observing all that went on with an emotionless mask.
"Exactement." The Merovingian paused, following his wife's eyeline to the former constellations. Gradually, his gaze swept over all nine of them, resting at last on the newly named Twins. He would have to organise them all into some sort of hierarchy if he was to halt this persistent, pointless bickering. Only this morning, "Wingless" had been forced to step in again, after the Wolf and the Hunter nearly de-fragmented each other. Those two were the worst for it.
The program again returned his gaze to his wife, and a charming smile replaced his calculating expression. "Would you care to join me in a dance, my love? My château has a splendid ballroom, which has yet to be utilised." She answered his smile with a beautiful one of her own. "Of course I would, husband," she answered, love shining in her brown eyes.
The Merovingian rose and extended a well-manicured hand to her. He had not danced for some time, and finally, he had a partner whom he truly loved. He had half a mind to change suits for something silken, but declined. Every second out of sight of his wife was painful. However, he thought, intense blue eyes sweeping her form. She might appreciate a change of attire...
Out loud he said smoothly, "I think a change of clothes is in order, don't you?" One eyebrow rose. "If we are to do zis properly, in any case." She offered him a small, coy smile. "I agree, my love. I have a... special dress I wished you to see as well."
ten years later…
The stars were fading from view as dawn light crept across the suburb. The hazy rays fell across a young man walking alone towards the town centre. It was a long walk, but Aries didn't have anything better to do. That and he'd lost Scorpius again. He was dreading finding the other program, dreading the verbal beating that was sure to follow. He pushed the rebellious fall of vibrant blond hair from his face and cast a glance upwards, easily picking out where he had once dwelt.
It was actually better down here, now that the Ram thought about it. Of course, he hadn't been continuously running from the System's Agents up there, but that in turn meant a lot more action. Nothing like a good life or death struggle, he told himself. I like running.
Not for your life, though, came the reply. Wonder what happened to Libra...
Aries squashed the thought and concentrated on the pavement beneath his boots.
Gunfire rang out ahead of him, followed by the sound of running feet heading his way. The sound was attached to a rather familiar smallish figure being pursued by an Agent of the System.
The Ram's head snapped up, squinting down the long straight road. His heart leapt, but he forced himself to look closer before he jumped to conclusions. Yes, that silhouette was unmistakable. He felt a great rush of relief: it was Libra. She had survived the Fall. The identification of the figure pursuing her brought quite a different response.
"Shit..."
Libra ran as fast as her legs could carry her, cursing the semi-darkness that made her stand out against her surroundings. Her white boots pounded against the pavement as she pushed herself to greater speed, not truly caring if any humans saw her breaking the rules of this world. Only one thought was on her mind: Survival.
Pain pierced her back, but she phased before the bullet could lodge in her programmed heart, solidifying as soon as the bullet had passed. Every time she was forced to phase, the Agent gained a little more ground. She had already spent her bullets in a futile attempt to slow her pursuer down and so was reduced to running until one of them collapsed.
From the top of a building nearby, a tall athletic figure watched with a cold grey gaze. The program also recognised the pale figure running for her life, and the other one further up the street. He narrowed his eyes in disgust. Aries was far too nice for his liking. Scorpius tossed his head, flicking the long ponytail over his shoulder and inspecting the metal tip fastened to the end. Satisfied that it was securely attached, he cast a glance around for unwary humans, then launched himself off the building, his coats flapping like wings in the headwind. The former constellation had chosen an outfit much like the characters in a Japanese anime: a loose black dress shirt and commando-like trousers tucked into multi-strapped combat boots, with a long waistcoat and trench to match. He landed horizontally: his feet planted in the Agent's chest, his arms thrown back to give Libra a good shove. He slammed into the pavement and felt ribs splinter.
Aries' head shot up as he saw the figure in black leap from the top of the building, and he recognised the silhouette instantly. "Scorpius. Perfect timing, as usual." He launched himself forward into a sprint, aiming to get Libra as far away as possible while Scorpius dealt with the Agent...
Libra was certainly not prepared for a sudden shove and tumbled forward. She turned her ungraceful fall into a forward roll, coming to her feet and turning to see none other than Scorpius lying in a hole in the ground - one he'd made. The Agent had also landed on its feet, but had been distracted by Scorpius' arrival.
Her ears caught the sound of someone running closer. She whirled, ready to fight, only to be greeted by a familiar face under a familiar mop of golden hair. "Aries…?"
"Good morning, Libra. Are you good to run?" Not waiting for a detailed answer, he grabbed her arm and began running again, as fast as he dared. A glance behind revealed Scorpius grappling with the Agent. He released Libra's pale jacket and turned, slowing to a walk.
As he watched the tussle, Scorpius swung his head and his long hair came around like a whip and slashed the Agent's face cleanly across the middle. The tall program staggered away from the Agent, taking another stance immediately. "Insane as always," Libra muttered. "I don't think he'll need our help, Aries." She drew her empty gun and reloaded it, taking advantage of the distraction Scorpius had provided.
"You're right..." Aries shook his head a little. "I must be turning human. The word 'loyalty' popped into my head." He shrugged it off and turned around again, his own gun in his left hand.
Libra stole a sidelong glance at the young-looking blond. "Do you and Stinger-Tail have somewhere to meet up? Or are we running blind?"
"Last time we got separated we met up in the meadow behind this row of houses. I was waiting there all night for him, but he didn't show. Probably Agent-hunting again..." Disgust crept into Aries' tones as they ran, his long trench coat flapping around his ankles.
Scorpius couldn't stop a confident smile seeping onto his face. The Agent had not expected the assault from his 'tail', and it seemed to be annoyed at the fact. He glanced over his shoulder to see Libra and Aries making their escape, then turned his attention back to the Agent. "Y'know, I don't think I'll ever understand you lot."
The Agent glared at him, irritated because this Exile had caused him to bleed. "Nor will I understand your insistence on disobedience," he growled.
"It's quite fun actually," grinned the Scorpion. "Like a game. Why don't we play Chase, Agent?" He leapt up in a kick, which the Agent dodged easily, and took off running into the opposite direction from the two Exiles, planning his route. The Agent growled, turning back to his target only to find that she had run off. He waited for a second to get orders from the System, then ran after Scorpius.
Scorpius turned a left and dived down a back alley. His hair snaked about behind him and scratched the bricks, dulling the razor edge. He took out his annoyance on a clump of dustbins, kicking them viciously as he passed in a blur of black fabric. The bins spilled across the passageway, obscuring the route.
To the Agent, however, the path was easy to follow. He leapt over the spilled rubbish and continued his pursuit of the brown-haired program. Why did they always run? It was a futile effort; deletion was inevitable. These so-called Exiles should just accept that as their fate and submit.
Scorpius shot down another alleyway, scaring a feral cat so its fur bushed up. He focused, found the rule for gravity, and snapped it in two, propelling himself up in a series of wall jumps. He landed easily on the flat roof of a fast food restaurant and kept running. The Agent was several feet behind him but gaining steadily, using his programming to take the leap to the restaurant in one go. He almost didn't make it, but pulled himself back up and resumed the chase.
"Shit," murmured Scorpius, a glance behind telling him exactly what he didn't want to know. A sudden playful thought entered his head, and he wondered if Agents could swim. He diverted from his course, streaking across a quiet main road, and across a playing field. The leisure centre basked in the morning sunlight, and the lower windows were hazy, revealing the still waters of a swimming pool within. Scorpius put on an extra burst of speed and leapt, throwing his arms above his head. He shot through the window like a bullet, controlling his fall and diving into the chilly water.
The Agent stopped dead, watching the program in the water. Maybe the Exile had hit its head and would drown in the pool. That would make his job much easier.
Scorpius had wisely taken a breath before his entry to the water, and he sank to the bottom, counting the seconds. His attire had soaked up the water instantly and become several pounds heavier as a result. His scorpion-tail drifted on level with his head, the barb making a strange, metallic whispering sound as it cut through the water. His chest was growing tighter with each second, and he began to space-walk through the water to the near edge, hoping the wall below the broken windows would cover him.
The Agent waited several minutes, then received word from the System that he was needed elsewhere. He abandoned his host to take one near the new scene, leaving behind a rather confused whore who had no idea how she had come to be on the opposite end of town, or why her face was bleeding.
Scorpius' breath wouldn't hold any longer, and he surfaced as slowly as he could. An alarm was throbbing, but there was nobody in sight save a scantily-clad woman bleeding from a slash across her face. Scorpius heaved a great sign of relief and pulled himself out of the pool, dripping heavily. He resisted the urge to wolf-whistle the prostitute and began walking back to the suburb.
"Follow me." Aries twisted off the pavement and vaulted a fence; the occupants of the house still asleep, in more ways than one.
Libra trailed slightly behind Aries; his legs were longer than hers. "Stinger-Tail hunts them? He is suicidal!"
"He gets bored easily. Too easily." Aries slowed to allow the smaller program to catch up, climbing the tall fence that separated the neat garden from the wild long grasses of the meadow. He dropped down and landed in a crouch, listening for sounds of pursuit.
"Yeah, that sounds like him," Libra said, kneeling beside Aries and catching her breath. "And without Sagittarius to keep him in line, he's probably wrecking all kinds of havoc, right?" She smiled at the blond.
"He certainly is." Aries stood up and started walking, taking bigger strides to compensate for the uneven terrain. A steady breeze ruffled his hair, sending the blond wisps in all directions. "There's a small woodland patch just over that hill. Agents don't seem to like the natural world very much."
"Nothing about this world is natural," Libra muttered, trotting to keep up with Aries.
"Of course... That's what I meant." Aries forced himself not to blush. Libra turned her head to flash the other program a quick grin as they continued along their path. He caught the grin, which only made his blush intensify. He coughed a little and led the way. As they crested the hill, a small copse of scrawny trees and over-zealous ferns came into view, the image stuttering very slightly. Aries made a sound of approval. "Aha! I thought it was glitched! That explains why the system doesn't like it. We'll definitely be safe here."
Libra grinned. "I love the glitches," she admitted, "especially when children discover them. It's amusing to watch them play, to see them pushing the limits without realising it."
Aries nodded, "Yeah. Do you think the humans will ever realise they are perpetually dreaming?"
Libra shrugged. "More than likely. You remember the Paradise that wasn't, right? Several humans refused the lie, so the Matrix was reconfigured to this. The System probably has a few kinks to work out still. Besides," and here she smirked, "the System has to deal with us now."
Aries' mischievous grin slipped easily onto his face. "Oh yes. Here..." He ducked under a low hanging branch, pushing the foliage out of the way to reveal a small clearing of trampled grass and soil; branches broken out of the way. "And now we wait, I'm afraid."
"Hopefully Stinger-Tail won't forget to pick you up," Libra muttered. She had never been fond of the Scorpion.
She looked over at the Ram. "So what have you been up to since the Fall?"
"What haven't we been up to, more like." He sighed quietly, sitting down cross-legged in the small clearing. "The Scorpion has always liked to cause trouble, as you know. Now we're down here, he Agent-hunts, as I said, and exploits glitches. I managed to persuade him not to set this one on fire. " Aries gestured to the image of the woodland. To illustrate the glitch, he picked up a twig and flicked either end as one would a coin, so that it revolved in mid air.
Libra knelt, watching the twig rotate, before looking into Aries' hazel eyes. "Why do you stay with him?" she asked curiously. "I don't remember you two being all that close when we were still skybound."
Aries considered the question. "Because there's no one else, I suppose. Except Sagittarius, but she's more human than program now."
Libra blinked in surprise. "What do you mean? How could she be human?"
"She's set up a horse training school in England." Aries shifted and looked directly at her. "Her shell is definitely human, and she dresses like they do and everything. Never breaks any rules. The System seems to be leaving her alone because of her lack of trouble causing."
"Only the Archer… a horse training school, huh? Certainly sounds like her."
"Always different. I wish she was here - she would have kept a better eye on Scorpius than I do." He extended his long legs and scuffed the dirt with the tips of his boots, staring up through the branches.
"It's you who needs keeping an eye on, Ram. Flirting like that! Shameless..." With a snide smile, Scorpius pushed his way roughly past the ferns and observed the two Exiles. His clothes were the deeper colour of wet fabric, and he dripped occasionally.
Libra arched a pale eyebrow at him. "Have a nice dip, Stinger-Tail?" she asked as she rose to her feet, tossing her white braid behind her. "What'd you do, drown the Agent in a lake?"
"Nearly. My theory that Agents cannot swim still lacks proof, unfortunately." He flicked his ponytail over his shoulder and wrung it out, carefully avoiding the barb. "What were you doing playing Chase, anyway?" He chose to ignore Aries closing his eyes in exasperation.
Libra shrugged. "Someone tried to mug me. I took care of the problem, but a bystander saw me phase. Next thing I know, there's an Agent telling me that deletion is my only option. I didn't agree, so I bolted."
"Yeah, they seemed to be programmed with that phrase. Wonder if there's a code for it..." His bright eyes glazed over, but he was interrupted from his thoughts by Aries.
"No way. You are not going to go extracting things from Agents. That's suicide."
"Right, like Stinger-Tail would roll over and die because of an Agent?" Libra muttered. "No way. He wouldn't be able to annoy me that way."
"What would you do with the code, anyway?" added Aries.
Scorpius stared pointedly at him. "Oh I don't know, spring it on people who annoy me, I suppose."
"Cut the scary act, Stinger-Tail," Libra yawned, "you're not intimidating anyone."
Scorpius glared at her, then snatched a falling leaf from the air and created a small sapling by blowing on it. He threw the tiny tree away, which sailed through the forest on a straight trajectory and disappeared from view. "So, Libs, what are we going to do with you?"
"Tell me if you've seen Virgo anywhere?" she suggested helpfully.
"Virgo?" Aries sat up. "Haven't seen her since the Fall."
Scorpius ran his tongue over his lips. "Aaah, Virgo..." Aries stretched out and kicked his ankle, and he snapped out of his daydream. "Ow! Didn't she tag along with the rest of them?"
"To the Mero-thingy, you mean?"
"It's Merovingian, Ram. And yeah, that's what I meant."
Libra filed the name away in her memory, then asked, "And do you know where this Merovingian is?" She smiled sweetly, hoping to coax more info from them.
Scorpius cocked a brow. "You want to find him?"
"No, I want to find Virgo," Libra answered. "If she's with him, then obviously I have to find him too, right?"
Aries eyed her, pushing his fringe out of his face for the nth time. "I think he's in the mountains somewhere."
"But there's a club in the city," put in Scorpius. "And a restaurant."
"We could take you if you're that desperate," offered Aries, hope lighting his face. Libra smiled gently at the eager young man before turning her head back to Scorpius. "Not that I'd want you to go out of your way for me, Stinger-Tail," she added, in a tone of voice that indicated that that was exactly what she wanted him to do.
Scorpius shot a seething glance at the Ram that hinted of verbal beating later on. "Okay, okay. Just don't fall behind like last time." The eyebrow rose again, directed at Aries, who glared at the leaves before standing and brushing himself off.
"Come on then."
"Not so fast, blondie. I know where we're going, and I fancy Club Hel as a meeting place." Scorpius' tone became sing-song like, as though he were addressing a child. "The club only opens at 21:00 hours, so we have a day to kill first."
Aries flopped back down onto the leaves with a loud, exasperated sigh.
And that's it for chapter one. This is a long piece QMN and I have been working on for over a year now, so don't expect to see the end any time in the near future.
As a side note, this fic will be using UK spelling, as you may have noticed. This is because QMN is British and I simply prefer UK spelling. Any reviews complaining that there is no 'u' in 'honour', for example, will be thusly ignored. Constructive criticism is strongly encouraged and certainly accepted. Liked it? Hated it? For the love of whatever deity you hold dear, please tell us why
This is Dark Puck, signing off.
Time: 0041
Music: Der Herr der Schatten, E Nomine