He knew full well it'd be more dangerous to leave though. Charybdis was stronger by far than any Agent - he'd seen what she could do to them if they pissed her off. So Singh crawled into the second story window into the restaurant's higher class dining room - and where Charybdis sat.

"There are Agents," Singh said, "and I've got some information."

Charybdis nodded once, staring at the place where the Agents' car was. Her tentacle hair drifted carefully as though a current of water directed it, swaying gently. One of them tugged on Singh's hand, and he followed it to a chair behind Chary. She said, "don't move and don't speak, they're listening."

He nodded, and then leaned back into the chair to sleep. He trusted her, she wouldn't let anything bad happen.

***

It was later morning when Singh woke, Charybdis wasn't in the chair near by but he could hear her laughter downstairs. He took the old stairs down and saw her sitting with two young children who Singh could tell were Awakened like himself. Chary was teaching them to turn invisible.

"You'd better teach them how to disguise their code while you're at it, that stands out even more than being visible," Singh commented when they were taking a break. Charybdis pursed her lips and nodded.

"You're right, but I don't know if they can really grasp that yet. They'll be flying around next week if they keep it up..."

Charybdis was obviously trying to stall finding out the results of Wiretap's snooping. But he was ready to talk, so they sat in one of the booths nearby.

"Charybdis, the Merovingian does have some information that he and Persephone both seem to think is pretty important, he said something about it being in your past and made it sound like you ought to remember it."

Though she remained mostly unemotional, her tentacles drifted around in a bit of agitation. "Go on... How is Persephone?"

He was about to say 'gorgeous' but wound up saying, "Concerned, about you. I think she misses you. You didn't tell me that you knew them... Or that you'd been a captive of his."

Charybdis looked away, "that is one of the things I wish I could forget."

"Obviously," Wiretap said. "But he has the information and he's willing to barter it. I offered to do something for him, and I haven't taken the assignment yet because I wanted to ask you about it first."

"Humans shouldn't deal with him," Charybdis said flatly. "I shouldn't have sent you."

"Well it's actually got me kind of intrigued," Singh said. "He said something about 'dragons'. He says it's a rumor, that it's something that one or two of the newest Exiles have been mentioning, but they don't know more than that. He wants to know whether there's substance to the rumors."

Charybdis tilted her head. "Dragons?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too, but he was really serious. He got all snidely whiplash, you know?" He emulated the greedy look that crossed Merovingian's face when he spoke of things he didn't have yet. Charybdis laughed at that, brightening.

"Well at least it's something that I'm interested in now, too," she said. "If you can then, we'll try and get you some news. The new Exiles, huh."

"Then I'm going to tell him I'll take the job, and if he doesn't come through on his end I'll make sure to send those Agents after his pansy ass."

***

The first Exile that Singh tried to speak with refused to deal with him at all, but that wasn't a surprise. She was so new that her feelings of culture shock were still too strong. Singh directed her toward Charybdis and told her to relax.

Moving on to the next, Singh encountered probably the weirdest personage that he thought existed in the Matrix, and he'd met quite a few. This one... was Plaid. Or something. The Exile appeared to be an older Irish man, crotchety and slightly bent. But one of those old dudes that could whip his ass in half a second with a broken bottle and a golf club.

"Aye, the dragons..." he said, one eye kind of drifting. He had on a badly worn plaid flanel shirt, and Singh was convinced that if he had access to a kilt he'd have been in one. Bloody weird. The old program muttered to himself - something about being loved one decade and hated the next 'sure sure come to me when you need something, but out with the old when it's out of fashion', and then turned on Singh with a book in his hands.

Though the book binding looked old, it was all for show - whatever it was, he'd just simply whipped it up right then and there almost like magic. Bright yellow-green code spilled off it, and Singh took it from the program half-blinded.

He flipped through it, it looked like a kind of fan-boy book for some fantasy tv show. It had drawings of dragons in it, with people gathering around them and eggs or something. "So they ride the dragons, huh?"

"Yes, there are ceremonies and formalities." The program said. "Y'don't believe in dragons do ye."

"No sir, I do not," Singh said, "but someone does. Where is this supposed to be, anyway? It's pretty detailed." He flipped through the rest of the book, and there were some notes scribbled on the pages in what must have been the old program's handwriting.

"It's a place, boy, named Vere. Another matrix."

With that, Singh froze in place. His gut twisted, and his head spun a little.

".... What?"

"Another matrix, is that so hard to believe? Ye already know you're in a  matrix..."

Singh swallowed hard. Could he tell Merovingian this? That there was another Matrix out there and he wasn't in it?"

"Thank you, sir," Singh said. "You've been really helpful. I ... wish you good luck, stay clear of Agents."

"That's right, boy, stay clear of those." He nodded and turned away. "Keep the book, you may need it."

Singh bolted from the shoddy apartment where the plaid-program lived. He wanted to show this to Charybdis, she seemed as interested in the theory as anyone. Plus, she'd be able to make a duplicate of this book more easily than Wiretap could.

***

Charybdis almost went ballistic when she saw the information in the book. "You know what this means? They've been moving from here to there! I finally get it! The missing piece... Oh Singh this is wonderful!"

He smiled and nodded, trying to keep his own cool while she got all girly. She did make a copy of the book, it was weird seeing the code flowing between her hands, exactly like the original.

"Here, you should... I guess, give this to Merovingian. He'll spooge all over himself. You get bonus points, Singh. This really explains a lot."

"So... you believe  it?" He said.

She looked at him aghast. "Of course I believe it. There are codewords... you probably wouldn't know them, but there is clearly another Matrix, with dragons. You know I've helped dozens of humans out of the matrix, but sometimes... I feel them out there. In the power plant. I think I ought to take a trip outside, see if I can find this other city."

"Well, how about you do it when I'm not counting on you to set me up with my next assignment, okay?"

***

Because he didn't want to show up to Club Hel again, just because it weirded him out, Singh decided to drop in on LeVrai, the daytime spot where Persephone and Merovingian held court.

It was all the way up, floor 101, how pretentious. The place was packed, a typical daytime retreat for ultra-rich businessmen and their mistresses. The food - if anyone could call it that - was more packaging and display than nutrition: one dish was actually a woman's 6-inch heeled shoe, filled with snails or something.

Wiretap didn't bother asking at the front, the maitre'd had that pencilled on mustache and flimsy jaw and just let him walk right on in. He heard the man lilting in a painfully French accent, "he ees expecteeng you."

"Of course he's expecting me, you idiot," Wiretap muttered while weaving around the many busy tables of LeVrai, "that's what happens when you tell someone 'expect me soon'."

Singh hadn't bothered wearing anything more complicated than his dance club clothing, snug black jeans and a shiny blue shirt. He'd tucked in the shirt in the elevator, at least, and hid his backpack with that same sort of invisibility that Chary was teaching the new kids. No one but the Merovingian and his bunch would be able to see it at all, none of the patrons of this exclusive restaurant were Awakened that Singh could tell.

Finally aproaching the long table that sat on a slightly raised area at the end of the dining hall, the huge stained glass window behind him illuminating the lunch party with red, yellow and dapples of green light. There were half a dozen of the 'werewolves' that attended the pair, seated at the ends of the table and watching intently. If Singh made any stupid moves, they'd descend like the pack of wolves they emulated. But even wolves could be tamed.

Merovingian looked at the boy with a mix of surprise and amusement, but then when Singh opened the backpack it was clear the program saw the code shining like a beacon out of it.

"What is this?" Merovingian said carefully, quietly and with enough curiosity that Singh knew he had a captive audience. "Come closer, boy, don't stand in the waiters' way." He flickered his long fingers at Singh who stood closer to the table, he'd want to be there anyway. He sat down unbidden, and hadn't taken his blue glasses off.

"I found something to your rumors," Wiretap announced with pride. "I would like to have whatever information to pass to Charybdis before it comes out. You can see it, I'm not fooling and I don't want to waste your time, I just want to know that the deal's done."

The shocked mask of the handsome man's face became almost jolly. The crinkles around his dark eyes grew and then without warning, a genuine gleam of adoration appeared on the Merovingian's face. He chuckled, then laughed loudly. "What a mercenary we have here!" He proclaimed. "I believe I will want to do business with you again, boy, you have panache."

"I have a book," Singh said, tilting his head toward the still-open backpack. "I don't know if I'll want to take any more offers from you, but we'll see. I work for Charybdis and I don't see why I'd want to change that arrangement."

"Because of course I pay far better than the octopus, don't I?" Merovingian said around a sip of wine. "What book?"

"Charybdis' information." Wiretap sat and looked steadily at Merovingian, didn't even wince.

Merovingian blinked and sighed, "there," he flicked his hand at one of the wolves, who hesitated and then brought a small object that looked like a cigarette case. There was a code-laden object in it, and though it was hard to determine, Wiretap could see that Charybdis' distinct code was part of it. He knew it was no virus, he knew what any of those looked like.

Singh pulled the book free from the backpack, and watched the results across the table. Persephone in her white-glitter halter topped dress allowed her eyes to grow quite wide and her mouth formed a beautiful 'O'. The wolves grunted to each other - they were little more aware of their coded surroundings than the matrix meat humans.

Merovingian's face went blank, purposefully so, as he held his hand out to take the book. The tome was heavy but that was clearly not the reason why Merovingian's hand shook as he grasped it. The whole mood at the table changed from one of light hearted jibes and flippant commentary, to a focused, tunnel-visioned attention. It was as though the whole restaurant went into a brief lull all at once.

"This is... very ... interesting..." Merovingian said as he turned the pages carefully. His wife looked over his arm, her own expression changing when they saw images or just a bunch of text. "Indeed, you have brought me... exactly what I needed to know. It is a pity that I am not in your debt, we have already exchanged our information have we not?"

"We have," Wiretap said. "So... if you need me to find anything more out, I may be interested. But this time it'll be my  deal. Have a nice day, sir, ma'am." He nodded to the pair and excused himself. They sat staring at this book and didn't even bother bidding him good bye.

***