War
Flood: Zion and the Machines have decided to start throwing stones at each other again; not that they needed much excuse to end that long farce of a "truce" they so loved to argue over, but apparently it's something to do with the monkeys deciding to move to a new cave where the toasters can't reach them quite so easily: "New Zion," or something like that, they're so creatively calling it. The only part of this you need to grasp, Mayk, is that we stand to make a great deal of profit off of this "war" of theirs. Malphas has a few larger and more belabored words for you on that topic.
Operator: So Zion and the Machines are back at it... Well that's a hell of a thing. That's where you're supposed to meet Malphas. I'm reading some of our programs in there.
Blood Noble: There is little danger of the cave-dwellers endangering this place, but it will be amusing to see them try.
Lupine lieutenant: Long as the info keeps flowing, I could care less.
Ookami: The streets will run red with blood... and we will have the survivors at our mercy. Hraha-ha!
Ookami: Hrr... I have hunting to do...
Malphas: The resumption of Zion/Machine hostilities presents us with a profoundly exploitable situation. For instance, the Zionites have been holding a collection of code, stolen from the General's systems, at one of their bases nearby. The Machines have just raided the place, and the ensuing mutual slaughter has left the door wide open for us to liberate the data. You should have no difficulty in retrieving it, operative.
Operator: "Should have no difficulty": how many times have we heard that line? Oh, well, I guess war doesn't mean vacation.
Malphas: Just do not linger too long picking over the corpses. One of the two sides will doubtless regroup and send more soldiers to the place.
Flood: Don't dawdle getting that data, operative. We've got bigger and badder things to get to, you know.
Operator: I'm not reading anything that looks like Zionites or Machines in there... I've got a couple fuzzy signals, but I have a hunch we know who they are.
Twin: This just isn't right.
Twin: Where's the fun if they've already offed themselves?
Twin: There should be a law...
Twin: Downright rude, I say.
Operator: Ah, the Machine in that room looks like it has what we're after.
Operator: Is it really going to be this easy? Upload that chunk of digits to me at a hardline.
Flood: That went stunningly well. ... I'm not even sure that was sarcasm. We've arranged for you to meet with Dame White and her ball and chain, Mr. Black. The two of them constitute major business interests in the city--after the Merovingian, of course. Black and White will have some opinion by now of the news of the day, and we wish to know which way the wind is blowing before we commit ourselves.
Operator: The Dame and Mr. Black aren't known as models of marital bliss, so keep a sharp eye out in there.
Ebony: ...
Onyx: Nobody's gonna touch the Dame.
Dame White: A war can be a useful thing as long as you can keep yourself off the front lines--something your boss knows very well. We've been through this before, and know how to handle ourselves. I'm sure my business won't suffer any; tell the Frenchman to watch out that he doesn't lose his own shirt--with my kind regards, of course.
Operator: Oh, very nice. She's gung-ho, anyway. Let's see what her hubbins thinks.
Mr. Black: I run things quietly. People don't bother me, I don't bother them. Stay sharp, stay at it long enough, and you'll be successful. Now, in a shooting war, you never know what idiot is going to get an idea to come mess with you. It's an unstable situation, and that's bad for business. If the Merovingian's smart, he'll invest in calming the two sides down.
Operator: Hm... I think we'd have to say that opinions are mixed, then.
Mr. Black: I know my wife has other ideas, but that's why we run our halves of the business separately. I'm currently worth more than she is. You've heard my advice, and I practice what I preach.
Dame White: I'm a realist; people want to fight, and you'll just get hit if you try to get in the way. Sit back, sell guns and bandages to both of them, and everybody wins...except those too complacent to take the initiative.
Flood: Shh! Don't bore me with the opinions of others, Mayk. It's the Merovingian who wants to know, so you can very well go tell him yourself. Personally, I don't give a frag. We're number one, and I see no reason why we should care what the less successful think about anything.
Operator: Nice to see this hasn't spoiled Flood's sunny disposition. I wonder how the Merv is taking it?
Elite Guard: Eh. Happened before, and it'll happen again.
Elite Guard: We should help the Machines. Now's as good a time as any to get rid of those pests.
Elite Guard: Now the Agents will be shooting at the cave-dwellers instead of us. Delightful!
Twin: Sixty days, no more--unless we step in, you know.
Twin: Sixty? Fah! They lasted longer than that last time, even before you-know-who showed up.
Twin: Well, I don't see how they intend to manage it, new city or otherwise.
Twin: They'd better make a decent go of it. I couldn't stand another of these dreadful truces again.
The Merovingian: Ah, yes: the exploitive and the conservative. Mm... I tell you, mon ami, that at this time I prefer to look for, shall we say...opportunities. Let others deal to either side, or try to carry on business as usual. No, I believe that this is truly the perfect time for the unexpected--and it is so much more interesting, n'est-ce pas?
Persephone: I know that tone... You are up to something already. What is it?
The Merovingian: Ah, well... Let her worry, eh? But worrying, my friend, has never yet carried the day.
Persephone: He is a schemer; that will never change. He will not be happy with what we have; he will risk it all on a roll of the dice.
Flood: Yes, yes; "into the unknown," et cetera. Just so long as we're all clear that I have no intention of "roughing it." I'm sure we'll have something new and wonderful for you to bungle very soon then, Mayk. Try not to cast yourself off a convenient precipice in all the excitement.
((Thats it for now))
