Rise of the Phoenix King (Shadowrun/Exalted)

[Erenthia]

AN:

Special thanks to Cerilian for the concept behind this story and for running the tabletop game that inspired it. This story bears little resemblance to that game, but this story wouldn't exist without it.

While this story is a crossover, getting into the crossover elements will take some time. Exalted fans may recognize this as a "mortal prologue" which it absolutely is.

Further, I'm not the world's greatest expert on Shadowrun lore, but I've done my best. Please consider any errors to be intentional divergences from canon for...you know...story purposes....or something.

Now on to the show!

(This is not going to go the way you think)

---

My name is Miho Tanaka-McWellan and this is my story. Of course, when you really think about it, there's no such thing. We all share our stories with those closest to us and I'm certainly no exception. The thing is, in the last 300 years my husband's life has already been dissected a thousand times and in a thousand different ways. I'm sure everyone reading this is quite aware of my husband's great rivalry with Lofwyr, his subjugation of the Yama Kings, and - of course - his victory over the Horrors. There are endless depictions of these stories, as trideos, books, and even a few plays.

And to be honest, I can't complain about how I was treated in those works. Really, if anything, my flaws and shortcomings were overlooked to an excessive degree. I may no longer be truly mortal, but I am anything but infallible. Nor was I always as supportive of my husband as I should have been, but we met when we were both very young and we both made exactly the kinds of mistakes you might expect. So here, I will set the record straight about a great many things. And one of those things is that I will do what no one in the last 200 years has dared to do.

I will lay bare the mistakes of the Great Miho Tanaka.

To begin, you will have to understand the world as it was 300 years ago. It was not the kind and gentle place we live in today. No, the world of the mid-21st century was a dark and brutal place. It was a place ruled by corporations rather than nations. Everyone was a number back then, and I mean literally. If you didn't have a System Identification Number, you had no protections under the law. A "real" person could gun you down in the street and be guilty of nothing more than littering. The wealthy had all the power and those without wanted nothing more than to climb to the top of that ladder and be one of the important people, though first, they'd have to figure out how to survive the day and from where their next meal was coming.

As above, so below. What was true for the individual was just as true for groups and areas. If you grew up in a wealthy area life was relatively peaceful. Almost idyllic. The vast majority, however, lived in corporate housing toiling away at jobs working excessively long hours and were paid barely enough to survive. And then there were the really unlucky ones. People who lived in places like Redmond, Seattle where both governments and corporations had given up. These were the places of total anarchy. You had to protect yourself or cozy up to someone who could and be their sycophant. Little wonder that gangs ruled unopposed.

I was born in Redmond. Oh, it wasn't all bad. Like anywhere else there were good people and bad. There were certainly people trying to make things better. Trying to help. My father had been such a man. He never joined any gangs directly. Even the least oppressive and avaricious of the gangs had to make compromises and the Code of Bushido (at least as my father interpreted it) just wasn't compatible with that. But he helped. He was even on good terms with the most powerful gang where we lived due to having trained a number of their members. That's also how he died.

I think I'll have to come back to that story later, but suffice it to say he and my little brother were caught in the crossfire of some pretty major gang violence. It wasn't the first time our family dojo had been attacked. It wasn't even the first time that anyone died in the process. But it was the time I lost my family. It was a dark time for me, but I wasn't alone. My friends and my father's friends and so many of the people he'd helped came together for me and helped me figure out how to keep going.

I even drew the attention of the most mysterious Fixer in Redmond. A 'fixer' for those of you who don't know, is a person with connections. Someone who can get things done, even if they aren't legal. Not just a drug dealer or an arms dealer, but a person who knew dozens those kinds of people and could get you whatever you needed for a price. This particular fixer went by the name of "Gnostic Lucifer" though most people just called him "Lucifer". He never showed his face. He never appeared anywhere in person. And to the people of Redmond, it seemed like he could literally do anything. It wasn't just weapons or drugs that he could make appear out of nowhere - pretty much any fixer could do that. No, he was the one you went to when you didn't even know what you needed. For most, you just described your problem to him and a military-grade prototype found its way to your doorstep. And that's when he felt like being boring. More often, your problem just went away and you didn't even know how.

Lucifer never took money for his favors. He did a favor for you? Now you're doing a favor for him. It was completely unlike the way a fixer normally did business and there was no end to the theories about who he was and why he operated that way. And as time went on, things got even more mysterious. Because Lucifer wouldn't work with just anyone, though he'd never say why. It became more apparent when people started talking about the favors they'd done for him. Guard duty for Hollywood Hospital, courier work to bring meds for the kids in Rat's Nest, massacring Tamanous organ thieves...it was all what people back then called "Hooding". Doing good deeds.

Oh, Lucifer had made people disappear all right. People had inevitably crossed him because that always happens eventually. And when he took them out, it was downright theatrical. They never found any bodies, but at least one person who'd bragged about crossing him - Frankie Tripod - had his safehouse filled with about 80 liters of blood. It was a positive match for Frankie, who was nowhere to be found. On the flip side, Lucifer was never known to break a promise. And he took a dim view of people saying that he had.

So when my father and little brother died and after all the family friends and well-wishers had finally said their goodbyes, I found myself alone. Not two seconds later my comlink started ringing. Not everyone who lived in Redmond even had a commlink, but due to my father's work, we were doing better than most. I was. I was alone now. So I answered.

"Who is this?" I demanded. The commlink's display had been blank. Not a difficult feat to pull off, but it left me in the dark.

"My name is Gnostic Lucifer," the computer-generated voice replied, "And I have heard about your situation. I'm willing to help if you like."

I froze. The idea of being on the radar of someone like Lucifer had never crossed my mind. I knew his reputation, but I wasn't naive. Everything comes with a price.

"What are you offering, and what do you want?" My negotiation tactics weren't great back then. But then, I was 14 at the time.

"What I am offering depends on what you need. Perhaps you'd like to continue your father's work? Or perhaps you'd like to move on to something else? Whatever it is, I'm sure I can help you along your way."

The computer voice was light and airy. Almost angelic. But he'd skipped the part I was most interested in.

"And what will it cost me?" I demanded.

"You know how this works. A favor for a favor. And before you say it, I promise not to ask anything of you that would force you to violate the Code of Bushido. If you want a more specific answer, then I'm sorry but I can't help you. I don't have any particular needs at the moment. Nor do I expect to have need of your services any time in the next several months. Now that I have answered your question, I'd like you to answer mine. What do you desire?"

It was suspicious as hell, but I was all on my own now. And it was a better offer than most fixers would give. Still, I wanted to stand my ground.

"First, I want you to make it known that you promised you wouldn't ask me to violate the Code."

"So let it be written. So let it be done. What else?"

"I...." I hesitated. "I do want to continue my father's work. But even as a Physical Adept I..."

Unlike my father, I wasn't just a Samurai. My soul had awakened at a young age to the magic of the Sixth World. My father had been so proud of me. My little brother had looked up to me like some kind of a god. But even as my magic had made me more than a match for my father at the tender age of twelve, it hadn't let me save their lives. I hadn't even been there at the time. And it sure as drek didn't help me run a dojo on my own.

Okay, I should unpack that a little. I did know how to run it mostly. I'd been helping run the place since I was six years old. But there was more to running that kind of enterprise than just running people through kata, moderating sparring matches, and cleaning up after. My father maintained a complex network of relationships that kept most of the nastier elements off our backs. And on top of that, I'd be living alone now. If I'd wanted to join a gang I had multiple offers already- and several of them were of the 'offer you can't refuse' variety. But the thing I wanted most was to continue my father's work and for that I needed protection. Even if all Lucifer did was to tell people I was off-limits, it would be a tremendous help.

"I understand your situation, Tanaka-san. That is why I called. So, I will see that you are protected. And further, you will have whatever supplies you need. Anything necessary to run your business with some niceties for yourself thrown in from time to time. And for all this, I ask only that you do me the occasional favor. Is this acceptable to you?"

I froze. Again. This was dangerous territory, but at the same time, safety wasn't an option when you lived in Redmond Barrens. This was the closest I was going to get to what I wanted. What else could I do?

"Alright. I'm in. But this agreement doesn't begin until people know you promised I wouldn't have to violate the Code of Bushido."

I could almost hear his smile, "By your command."

Two years passed, and they were two of the best years of my life. Lucifer had been true to his word. For the most part, he only asked me to do things that seemed relatively minor. I'd train someone who was obviously not from Redmond Barrens, sit on a package for a few days without looking at it, he even had me take care of a few kids for a few weeks. And as his star continued to rise in the Barrens, so did mine. I was one of the vaunted "Agents of Lucifer" which frankly seemed ridiculous to me. I hardly did anything for him. But I was connected to him. And people would occasionally ask me to intercede with him on their behalf. I declined at first. Not because I had any particular dislike for them, but because I didn't think that would go over very well with The Man Downstairs.

Eventually, though, I did tell him about those requests and he encouraged me to take them up on it. Further, he told me I should be charging for the service. (And of course, he suggested I ask to be paid in favors)

And my dojo became a rather prestigious institution, if such a thing could be said about anything in the Barrens. I was almost making a decent living. My students were highly sought after - even if the people doing the seeking were gangs. But Lucifer had begun to have an impact even on some of the gangs. One, in particular, Crimson Crush, which had always been a bit easier to deal with than most gangs had started to turn into something resembling a reasonable government. At least as much as they could given the circumstances. I didn't know how Lucifer had done it, but they were actually starting to be respectable.

But getting more famous had downsides. Now I was starting to get tourists. My dojo was getting to be almost as well known outside the Barrens as The Seamstresses Union. Usually, it was harmless, but every once in a while I'd get some stupid kid who thought he was clever and wanted to "challenge my dojo" It always ended the same way of course. I'd embarrass them without hurting them too badly and it wouldn't be worth it to anyone to come this deep into Redmond to make an issue out of it. The day that changed, I didn't even know it had happened. Not until a few days later.

An expensive-looking drone descended out of the sky near my home, all chrome and glitter. I had already gone for cover but the fact that it hadn't already opened up on me was a good sign.

"Ms Tanaka? I would speak with you." the voice was as erudite as it was commanding. A woman's voice with a commanding tone that might have made God snap to.

I ducked my head out from cover. The drone had lowered an oddly proportioned vid-screen. Two meters tall and maybe 60 centimeters wide, like some kind of old-fashioned mirror. And she was the evil spirit standing on the other side. It was strange that she wasn't using a hologram projector. It had to have been a deliberate decision, but for the life of me, I couldn't guess what the reasoning behind it was.

It was hard to judge her age. She could have been anywhere from 35 to a well-kept 50. She was blonde-haired and blue-eyed and had cheekbones that could have cut glass. And she wore only white. I literally noticed the color before it even registered as a business suit. She held her hands together in front of her and her chin just slightly higher than was natural, waiting in a mock imitation of patience.

"And you are?" my diplomacy skills had improved in the last two years, but not by much.

"My name is Tabitha McWellan. And I regret to inform you that you have made a powerful enemy. You perhaps remember a young Mr. Lawrence who attempted to humiliate you in front of your students just three days ago?"

I stepped more completely out of cover and approached the 'magic mirror' folding my arms and scowling.

"Yeah? What about him?"

Tabitha winced almost imperceptibly, but I caught it. There was no small amount of disgust behind those eyes but I wasn't sure if it was meant for me or not.

"Mr. Lawrence ran afoul of some debt collectors not long after his defeat at your hands and was rather severely injured. However, since the nature of that debt was...not something he was inclined to admit to, he has blamed you for his injuries. And, as you might imagine, his parents are rather wealthy."

That was an understatement. The dumb kid had walked into my dojo with what could only have been half-a-million nuyen in cyberware at least. I hadn't hurt him too bad. At least, I was pretty sure the tears were just a matter of wounded pride. Okay, I admit it. Putting the rich asshole in his place felt really good at the time. And I wasn't particularly sorry he'd gotten his ass handed to him afterward either. But if he was gonna blame that one me...that could be something I wasn't immune to. Still, these were just words out of the mouth of a stranger. And I had to be careful.

"How do you know any of this?"

"His mother is a friend of mine. She told me about the incident and I found the matter curious. Certainly, someone in a position such as yours would have had the sense not to do such a foolish thing. It was little surprise when young Johnathan turned out to be lying."

"And...what? She didn't believe you?"

Tabitha smiled, "I neglected to tell her. Though I could be convinced to do so eventually. You see, I have a particular need. One that can only be met by a person in your position."

I glared at her, but it wasn't like I could do anything to her. And this kind of behavior was hardly unexpected from her kind. (And something about the way she'd phrased that reminded me of something I couldn't place)

"You see," she continued, placing her hands behind her back. And as she did so the drone started to drift as if she were pacing, "while young Johnathan has the freedom to gallavant about Redmond, my own son's situation is rather more dire. There have been three attempts on his life in the last six months alone. And I have been unable to track the source of these threats."

That softened my expression. A little at least. She was still screwing me over for her own purposes, but at least she was being honest enough to admit it. And she had some fairly decent reasons - assuming any of this was true.

"You need someone you know for a fact no-one has gotten to. Someone you're sure you can trust." it was a summary on my part not a question.

"Quite right, Ms Tanaka. And since my son's life is at stake and trustworthiness is the most precious of qualifications, you will be compensated quite handomly."

Something about this still felt off, but since she wasn't here in person, I couldn't use my adept powers to smell the truth of her words. Oh, I haven't gotten to that part yet, have I? Physical Adepts have many potential powers beyond better punching. And the very first power I developed was the power to smell lies. No use to me here though.

"I have a life here. An actual career. Do you know how much your asking me to give up?"

"If this is a negotiation tactic, I did say that you would be well compensated. If you're concerned about those you are leaving behind, I can do something for them as well. Either name your price or deal with the Lawrences with your own resources."

And there I was. Haggling over my soul with what I would soon discover was one of the top 50 richest people in the world. Tabitha McWellan was not only a the CFO of Horizon, but a major shareholder and a member of the Horizon's Board of Directors. But it was more than that. She had a major stake in all of the Big Ten with a portfolio that competed with the likes of the Shiawases and the Villiers.

I didn't know any of that at the time. All I knew was this rich lady thought she could get anything she wanted and I intended to make her pay through the nose.

"So...in summary," she began, "Sixty thousand nuyen a year plus expenses, all medical expenses, room and board, and one hundred thousand nuyen to be distributed to such persons and institutions within Redmond to be determined by you. Is that correct?"

Hey, leave me alone! I was sixteen and grew up in the Barrens. I didn't even know what a hundred thousands nuyen looked like back then. But yeah. I was dumb.

"And tell your son to keep his paws off me. And make sure he knows he has to do what I tell him."

Tabitha sighed and I could see the tiredness in her eyes.

"Theodore is quite aware of the necessity of complying with his security detail. And you will find him to be quite a gentleman."

That caught my attention.

"Security detail? Am I working for someone? Or are they working for me?"

"Not directly. Oh little Theo had a security detail. They've all been fired. There will be a new one eventually, but you won't be part of that particular chain of command. It'll just be the two of you."

Something about the twinkle in her eye made me wonder if she was trying to buy her son a girlfriend. I considered asking for more money just then, but she beat me to the punch.

"A car will arrive for you outside the Seamstresses Union tomorrow at 6:00 am. If you have such possession as are worth bringing then bring them, but you will have ample opportunities to purchases superior replacements."

She looked me up and down one final time.

"And maybe take a shower. If such things exist in your world."

I responded to her sneer with a sneer of my own. She cut the feed and the drone flew back up into the sky. I had mixed feelings about the whole thing, because of course I did. Some of you will think I gave up on my life a bit too quickly, but the truth was there was never any negotiating with her kind. They always got what they wanted and if you got anything out of the deal you were lucky. I didn't know yet just how poorly I'd negotiated or how much more I could have gotten, but I knew saying 'no' wasn't on the table.

At least she'd given me enough time to say goodbye.

 

[Erenthia]

Standing under the stars beneath the veil of the night sky I could tell immediately that something was off. When I looked around, there were no buildings or lights. Actually there was no Earth. Oh, I was standing on something alright. The grass felt alive and moist beneath my bare feet (where had my shoes gone?) but the edge of the world was only a meter away or so, and I could see still more stars below where the horizon should have been. And yet somehow I felt safe. Even warm.

"I think your world has better stars," an effeminate male voice came from behind me.

I turned and saw what I normally would have assumed was an elf were it not for the round ears, sitting just a couple of meters behind me. His clothes seemed archaic and strange and his shirt didn't even close to cover his chest. Instead there was a giant V-shaped gap of flesh that went down to his stomach. His hair - the color hard to gauge in the starlight - went down past his neck and his eyes....his eyes seemed to have stars in them as well.

"I like how the stars here are actual things you know? Giant and impossibly far away. Back when my world used to exist they were just a...what do you kids call it? A read out? A Display? They were useful but they weren't interesting. Do sit down my dear."

His gesture was somehow both flamboyant and graceful at the same time. His hand swept in the direction of the other chair - and old fashion wooden one - on the other side of the small table, also wooden, that he was sitting next to. When I sat down, however, I suddenly realized that the person sitting across the table from me was an old woman, barely more than a meter tall. She had round spectacles but the same eyes underneath.

"Well..." she began, her voice creaking, "let's get the obvious out of the way."

She seemed to want me to ask something, but I didn't know what to say. This was obviously a dream, but it didn't feel like one. I knew enough about magic and spirits to know this was probably some kind of visitation, but from the texts I'd managed to get my hands on, those were usually a bit more abstract.

"I...I don't know where to begin." I said.

"Sure you do, honey." the old woman replied, "your problem is that you've got too many expectations - stupid ideas people pretending to be smarter than you have put in your head. Ignore all that. Go with your gut, that's what I always say."

It sounded like good advice, so I took a second to center myself and pretended this was any other conversation.

"So...who are you, where are we, and what the frag is this all about?" I listed out my questions trying to sound neutral. She'd told me to put my preconception aside, but being rude still seemed stupid. Also, was this a 'she'? I wasn't sure I wanted to ask.

"Hehehehe, that's better!" the little girl now sitting across from me replied, she couldn't have been older than six, "And for the question you didn't ask: I am He and She and all things both between and beyond. You literally can't misgender me, so don't worry about it."

Aaaaand she was reading my thoughts too. Great. The little girl took a sip of tea from a teaset that was now sitting on the table in front of us. It hadn't just magically appeared. It had just magically always been there. Freaky

"As for the rest. Where we are is a more complicated question than is worth answering. I could spend weeks or months giving you the arcane details and in the end you would be no wiser. But now to the real question..."

I was now sitting across from what might have been the most beautiful woman imaginable. She sat back in her chair and I couldn't help but marvel over features. She had all the austere grace of and older woman but with all the classical beauty of a younger one. Indeed it might not be possible for a mortal to ever approach this kind of majesty. She placed a golden ring in the table.

"This is all that remains of my husband." she explained.

The ring was thick like a college class ring but with no stone. And somehow, part of me instinctively knew that what I had assumed was gold was in fact, something Greater. Perhaps Orichalcum. Perhaps something greater still. And something about it still felt allive...and yet not.

"These are his remains?" I had absolutely no idea of what to say, but I didn't want to sound stupid so I tried to keep the conversation going at least.

She smiled, "More or less, yes. You see, once upon a time in a far away land, my husband and I - and a few others - liked to grant divine powers to mortals. To uplift them as champions to better their world and maintain it. And, I'm loath to admit, for our own greater glory. For you see...I am no mere spirit."

Her last words struck hard, but I couldn't tell you if it was merely a matter of the realization, or if she'd put some kind of occult force behind them. I suppose it didn't matter. Whoever this...changing lady was, she was a literal god and I knew at once it was true. I just didn't know what she wanted me to do about it. How she wanted me to respond.

"My husband is dead. But this world of yours certainly seems like it could use one of his champions. That's not you, I'm afraid. But for all that I've been around since what you would call the First World and long before, I can't say that I understand this place very well. And if I'm being honest, my husband and I never did a perfect job of choosing in the first place. Maybe if it we had, things wouldn't have turned out like this. Who knows? So I give you this task: find someone. Find someone worthy to bear this mantle. Find someone who can be trusted with phenomenal cosmic power. Find someone who will make the world a better place. And then place my husbands remains on that persons finger."

I reach out for the ring but stopped midway. I looked up at the changing lady who merely nodded her assent. So I took it. I could feel the power of the ring heatlessly burning my hand, through skin, deeper than bone, down to the core of my soul. Or I guess the part of my soul that was in my hand? But I didn't flinch and drop the thing. Something about it was...good and right and almost friendly.

"Will you do this thing for me, Miho Tanaka? Will you find a Champion and upon him, bestow greatness and glory, receiving none for yourself?"

I nodded.

"Say the words, girl"

"I will do this thing for you." I replied.

She smiled and leaned in towards me with an aching slowness.

"There's a question you forgot to ask." she teased.

And then I was awake.

My commlink was blaring as the alarm clock app I'd set to be as annoying as possible kept trying to wake me up. I had slept in, but fortunately I'd gone the extra kilometer and given myself an extra hour. An extra hour I'd almost entirely used up, but how was I to know I'd have an encounter with an ancient god and....

I checked my pockets. It took me a second, but there it was in my right pants pocket. As I held the ring in my hand, I couldn't feel it's divine power penetrating my soul, but perhaps that was because we were back on the mortal plane. Or whatever. I took a quick peek at the ring with my astral senses, but nothing. Well, no. Not quite nothing. The ring was definitely a little more visible than other non-magical items when viewed through the lens of assensing, but it didn't rise to the level of a focus or a alchemical preparation. I was tempted to put it on. Not to claim the power for myself, but just to see what would happen. Still, I didn't want my actions to be misinterpreted as trying to do the very thing I promised I wouldn't. And there was no point in being stupid.

I put the ring back in my pocket.

It didnt' take long to get to the Seamstresses Union from my dojo. And as I'd already said all the goodbyes I cared to the night before, I set out immediately. It wasn't quite 6:00 am but there was already a limousine parked out front. Only now that I was here, I suddenly realized that Tabitha hadn't given me any means of identifying which car was supposed to pick me up. It flashed its headlights at me, so I walked up to the drivers side window. The window rolled down and behind it I saw a red-headed gnome in a seat adjusted for his size. His clothes seemed relatively casual - not a suit or anything but they were certainly cleaner than mine.

"Hey! You Miho? I'm Bruce." he reached his right hand out the window, stretching to accomplish the feat.

I shook his hand.

"Uh...yeah. Look this is all a little bit new to me."

He waved me off, "Nah, no need to worry about that. You got everything you need? Wanna make any stops before we go see the Big Man?"

"I uh...don't really know my options." I replied.

He gesturded behind him with an over-the-should thumb point, "Hop in then. We can talk about it on the way."

The back of the limo was not, in fact, empty. Oh, I was the only person there, but sitting conspicously on the seat when I opend the door was an old fashioned paper envelope. (I think it was called, "manilla" or something?)
Inside was a commlink. I didn't recognize the model but it said "Fairlight Caliban" on the side. Looked pretty expensive actually. There was a set of trodes as well - an external brain-computer interface designed for those unwilling or unable to get the necessary hole drilled into our skulls for a standard interface. This set was your basic headband. Subtle. Unabstrusive. I put them aside for the moment.

There was a also a credstick. Which was a little odd, because if I was getting a real SIN then what did I need one of those for? I could just have a regular bank account. I put them aside and turned on the commlink.

"Congrats!" Bruce shouted from up front, "you're a solid citizen now!"

His words didn't smell like deception - or even irony for that matter. For all that I could tell, he was actually happy about the whole thing. I didn't know how to take that, so I ignored him.

And as I went through the irritating-but-familiar process of setting up a new commlink, I snuck a peak at the credstick.

250,000 nuyen.

What the drek? This wasn't part of the deal. Was it a test? A trap?

Bruce must have seen my expression.

"Oh yeah, little sign on bonus from the Big Man." Bruce told me, "Don't worry, it's all yours. No strings. Hey, you had breakfast yet?"

I didn't smell any lies coming from him, but that only meant he thought it was true. Anyone who knew about my ability could counter it fairly easily by lying to someone else and then having them repeat the lie to me. Or by talking to me via a drone. Or commlink. My ability was far from an infallible defense, but I understood it better than others and I wasn't about to fall for the obvious. Still, Bruce seemed like a nice guy.

"Nope. You have any suggestions?" I replied.

While growing up in the Barrens does in fact mean not having much of an education - usually - it does not mean being unfamiliar with electricity or running water. And in my case, I actually did have a decent education. My father had spent an absurd - for the Barrens - amount of money on tutorsofts for me and my little brother. Automated software programs designed for teaching weren't exactly the best form of education, but they weren't exactly bad either. And for that matter, we also had Matrix access. Not much, but enough to watch trideos, play games, and generally be almost normal. I knew as much about the outside world as the average person, but I didn't know what my options were, so I was relying on Bruce.

And likewise, he didn't know me that well either, so after we left the Barrens we drove around in circles for a while and talked. It took me a while to be sure of it, but Bruce was a nice guy. He had a wife and 3 kids and job he actually liked. Which made him one of the luckier people in the world even if he wasn't exactly super-rich. Eventually we found a fast-food place that served sushi and sashimi. I'd always wanted to try those. Father had said they were his favorites.

"So tell me about this quote-unquote Big Man. What am I in for?" I said, finally turning the conversation back around to business.

We had opted to go inside and grab a table. Bruce had grabbed a booster seat and was managing to use chop-sticks better than I ever could.

"Hmm....nah. You'd never believe me." he said, smirking.

"Oh, come on! You're not gonna let me walk in their blind are you?"

"Alright, alright. But I warned you okay? Theo's a good kid. Like a really good kid. Like, I wish my kids were half as good as him."

"Wait, how old are we talking here?" I'd assumed he was my age. Older and Tabitha probably wouldn't have picked me. I mean, maybe a year or two older if she was, in fact, buying him a girlfriend. Something seemed odd.

"He's twelve...uh...as of today actually." Bruce tried to keep the wince off his face but only mostly succeeded.

Great. I was a birthday present. But twelve? Something felt off.

"But seriously. He's the best kid I've ever had the pleasure to be around. He put all the staff's kids through college, or at least all the ones who wanted to go. He got Meela's son out of Crimson Crush. He helped Vincient's wife get off BTLs. Kid's the real thing. You'll see."

BTL's were bad news. Computer chips designed to get you higher than any drug, and eventually burned out your ability to feel whatever it was they made you feel. Rehab for that was expensive.

"But why? Why do any of that?"

"Like I said. He's a good kid. It's a shame what's been happening. He really doesn't deserve it."

"Are people really trying to kill him? Wouldn't it make more sense to kidnap him and hold him for ransom?" I asked.

Bruce shrugged, "It's a difficult question to answer. People do weird drek for all kinds of weird reasons. All I can say is, whoever is behind it is a real psycho."

The whole line of questioning was probably a waste. Surely Tabitha was putting more money into the investigation than everyone in Redmond had combined. Something about his answer seemed strange but I couldn't place it, so I decided to drop the whole thing.

"So when do we need to get there?" I changed the subject.

"No big hurry." Bruce replied, "If you want, we could do some shopping so you could get some new clothes. Maybe stop by a gym or a coffin hotel, let you get a shower. Whatever you want."

I glared at him, but I knew he was right.

"Yeah, fine. Whatever."

I got my shopping done via my new commlink and trodes. I didn't exactly know what was appropriate, but Bruce was kind enough to point me in the direction of business-casual. I decided to go with something that looked vaguely like what Tabitha had worn, but black rather than white (or whatever "charcoal gray" was supposed to mean). I got that shower that everyone seemed to think I needed and finally we made it to Bellevue.

It was ridiculous. I'd seen gated neighborboods in trideos but this whole place was llike another planet. Kids playing in small patches of grass that seemed to be in front of every house. Drones for every conceivable convenience. But the real difference was that no one seemed particularly stressed. They weren't looking over their shoulders. They weren't wearing body armor or carrying side-arms. Part of me hated them for how easy their lives seemed to be. But mostly that was because I was envious. Then again, wasn't I one of them now? Or would I ever be.

I knew we'd arrived when Bruce started playing this silly music over the limo's sound system.

The place wasn't like the others I'd seen. It was a gated community inside a gated community. Sitting on the border that Bellevue shared with Redmond, the place was a palace. Three stories tall any maybe a hundred meters wide, though I couldn't tell how far back it went. If Bruce had told me that it was a museum or a government building I would have believed him. The outside was all marble with greek pillars - so maybe temple would have been a more appropriate term.

I couldn't put off dealing with this in my mind anymore. It was time to enter the dungeon and confront the dragon.

I was ready.

 

[Erenthia]

If I had thought the outside looked opulent, the inside put that to shame, although it continued the 'museum' aesthetic. There were austere-looking paintings on the wall, stands holding odd-looking sculptures or vases that, to my eye, didn't look like much but probably were worth more than I would make in a year. I didn't see anyone but the cleaning staff though, and something about the atmosphere felt like this wasn't a place where anyone actually lived.

"I guess Tabitha's at work, right?" I asked Bruce, who had come in just behind me.

"Nah, she doesn't live here. She's in LA where the action is. Sorry can't stay but I have other work to do. James here can show you around. And you'll probably want to talk to Meela. Theo probably is working though. Poor kid barely ever gets a break. I'll see you around though."

Bruce turned to go just as a dwarf in a suit whom I assumed was 'James' approached me.

"Ms. Tanaka? If you'll allow I'll take your luggage to your room. And Mrs. Jenkins would like a word."

I didn't exactly have luggage. Just my katana and a single suitcase. And I'd bought the suitcase on the way over and filled it with the barest of essentials. Not that I didn't think I'd be provided with any, but it seemed silly not to show up with anything. As for my katana, well I wish I could say it was my father's but he wasn't a physical adept, so having a weapon focus like mine wouldn't have been worth the massive expense that it must have been. I still don't know how he got his hands on it. Nevertheless, I handed them over and followed James through the maze of hallways until finally coming to an office. I would call it a small office today, but I didn't have any concept of such things at that age.

James opened the door for me and I saw a severe-looking orc woman who, if she had been human, I would have assumed was in her late 60s. But she was an orc, so that probably meant early 40s at the latest.

"Please sit down, Miss Tanaka." the elderly orc woman gestured to the seat across from her desk.

I did as I was bid.

"My name is Meela Jenkins. I'm the team lead for the cleaning staff. I'm not your boss, but I am the employee with the most seniority. You're from Redmond, so I won't beat around the bush. I need to know whose side you're on."

I blinked. I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Come again?" I replied.

She took a deep breath, but it did nothing to relieve her tension, "Maybe you mean that. Maybe you don't. If you're hiding something, I will find out about it. If you're not...well, you're going to have to pick a side eventually. And you better do it soon."

"What are you talking about? Tabitha hired me to protect her son and that's what I'm here to do. Doesn't that put us all on the same side?"

She smirked, "I wish it did. Well, if you're lying you already know all of this. If not, for your own safety you need to understand a few things. Here, there's two sides. Team Tabitha and Team Theodore. You're going to need to sort out your loyalties and quickly."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. Because among other things, there were a lot of different things that that could mean.

"Look...I'm here because Tabitha McWellan told me her son's life was in danger. Did she lie to me?" I wasn't going to make any decisions without having some idea of what was going on. I didn't smell the slightest deception coming from Meela, but I wasn't about to get complacent.

Meela's cynical harrumph was not exactly comforting, "Oh I'm sure she did at some point. But the only danger here is Tabitha McWellan herself. I don't know if little Theo's life has ever been in real jeopardy, but if it was then it would be from her. She's an absolute monster and you can't trust anything she says. Especially if it's the truth."

Not long after I first Awakened, I asked my father why the world smelled so incredibly true every morning. It took us a while to investigate but eventually, we discovered that it was the smell of morning dew at dawn. Normal, everyday truths didn't smell like anything to me, but the deepest, most absolute inner truth, apparently did have a special smell to them. That's what I was smelling now.

Morning dew at dawn.

Meela's hatred for Tabitha, her belief that Theo's only real danger came from his mother, and her belief that Tabitha was an irredeemable monster weren't just her real opinions. They were some of her most closely held beliefs. Which said a lot about her relationship to Theo. He mattered to her. Maybe it was because he'd gotten her son out of the grip of a gang. Maybe it was more than that. But she cared about him. And it was no small thing.

"So why am I really here?" I asked after a moment.

She shifted uncomfortably, "I'm not sure. Maybe you're a spy. A young, pretty girl whose job is to get close to Theo, get him wrapped around your little finger and then push him to become what his mother wants him to become."

"What does she want him to become?"

"Her" Meela replied, flatly.

I took a breath. That was reasonable-sounding enough.

"What if I'm not a spy?" I asked.

Meela got noticeably more uncomfortable.

"We'll talk about that once I'm sure you're not. For your sake, I almost hope you are."

"And why is that?" I pressed. All her words had been true, but none of this had been making much sense.

"Because if you are what you appear to be, just an innocent bystander who got caught up in all of this...then I'm sorry to say that it's permanent. You're never getting away from this. Not with your life intact. If you don't have a special side deal going with Tabitha McWellan, that means she owns you. Just like she owns all of us, Theo included...Theo most of all."

It wasn't a huge surprise. The uber-megaelites were famous for treating people like pawns at best. I never felt I had a choice to begin with, but now it was a lot more real. And I'd be lying if I said it didn't scare me. Really at this point I didn't know what to do or say. And it seemed Meela didn't either.

"James, please take Miss Tanaka to her room." Meela turned back to me, "Theo will see you shortly. Please don't bother him while he's working."

James took me to the center of what I was now realizing was the biggest building I'd ever been in, if you didn't count Squatters Mall. He didn't have a lot to say, but his facial expressions said a lot. He wasn't sure about any of this. Was I a spy? Was I an innocent bystander to be pitied? He did that smart thing when you aren't sure what's going on. He kept his mouth shut.

"Here you are, ma'am" he said as we stopped, gesturing towards a door.

"So...I guess I don't get to pick?" I didn't have a lot to say at this point, but I'd be damned if I was gonna let that stop me.

"Theo's room is adjacent to yours. And his has to be in the center in case of a missle attack. That's why we're on the second floor and not the third. I'm sure you'll find it acceptable." the droll, annoyed tone spoke volumes. I was a Barrens Rat and I'd just moved to Heaven-on-Earth. I should be grateful for whatever I got. As least in his eyes.

Although, if I was his only security at the moment - was that even true? - then it made sense for our rooms to be adjacent. I opened the door and found not a bedroom, but an entire apartment. The dining room table had my one suitcase and my katana sitting neatly on top. I had a kitchen, a bedroom, a...I think it was called a 'den'? The place had to be 100 square meters at least.

"Oh...." I said, feeling more than a little sheepish.

"Yes, quite." James replied, rolling his eyes.

"If you need anything, " he continued, "please refer to the estate's app on your comlink. It has an integrated mapsoft, a spreadsheet for the various employees and their roles, as well as access information for the estates Host. If there's nothing else, I'll return to my other duties."

He had a mapsoft for his house? Okay, this place was pretty big but wasn't that a security risk? Maybe I should talk to him about that. But what did he need a Host for? Virtual reality environments made sense for a business, but what exactly did he get out of having one connected to his home? Was his porn stash so freaky he couldn't risk it being on a rented server? Or was it just another flex? Hard to say.

"Thank you for your help." I replied trying to keep my tone even and formal.

James took off and I tried to settle in. Not that I had much settling to do. I realized pretty quickly I was going to need more stuff, especially clothes. Turns out, the estate's app had it's own integrated shopsoft as well...and I had an expense account! I tried not to go too crazy, but before the hour was up I'd ordered a sword stand - not that I had a wakizashi or tanto to go with my katana, but you know early days - a wardrobe worth of clothes, some security armor - not the milspec stuff, but still worth more money then I'd ever seen in my life - and a few other bits and bobs that looked like they'd be fun to have.

I hadn't even made a dent in the account either. In fact, I was thinking of remedying the whole wakizashi and tanto situation sooner rather than later when I heard shouting coming from the other room. Was it Theo? And how stupid of an idea would it be to evesdrop? I was about to find out.

I crept up to the wall were the sound was coming from and focused my ki on my ears. Enhanced hearing could be a lifesaver in Redmond so I'd made sure to train it up as one of earliest Adept Powers.

"Robin, no!" I heard a young boys voice, "No one wants you to go back. I said that I was here to help you and I am. Please don't do anything drastic."

He must have been on a comlink because I didn't hear anyone else.

"Then I'll protect you. You know I'm capable of doing that. If the Yakuza want to make an issue of that, they'll have to deal with me."

Okay, I knew he was super-rich and everything, but that was an awfully big promise to be making for a twelve-year-old. But it seemed he certainly believed he could. Hubris? Or was he as dangerous as his mother?

"I could certainly use someone like you in my operation. It'll be an investment on my part, but nothing is more valuable than loyalty"

The first part was a total lie. The second was true though. So he was trying to recruit someone...that he didn't have any use for? Why would he do that?

"There's no rush. I understand what you've been through and that you'll need training and equipment before you can be of use to me. I'm also willing to find you a therapist if you have any use for such a thing."

Oddly formal for a child, but I suppose it shouldn't come as any surprise given his upbringing.

He let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Robin. I'll have some initial supplies and funds sent to your location shortly. And Robin...thank you for not hurting yourself."

I heard the clank of something - probably a headset come to think of it - hitting the wood of a desk, followed by some heavy breathing. His reprieve didn't last long.

"Yes? No, I just finished. What? She's here? But...nevermind. Where is she? No, I'll go to her. Thank you, Jeremy."

That was my cue. I disengaged my enhanced hearing just seconds before the knock came at my door. I walked up to it but took a second to keep from seeming like I was rushing.

The boy really did look like his mother. Blonde hair, blue eyes, although softer cheekbones. He was tall for his age, but still shorter than me. And he apparently wore a business suit around the house. And maybe it was just all the hype, but something in his eyes really did seem kind.

He bowed a full 60-degrees.

"Hajimemashite, Tanaka-sensei." he rose, "I'm Theodore McWellan. I hope you had a pleasant journey."

I bowed in turn, not as low but if he was going to observe protocol to that degree I couldn't just...not bow. I mean, I could be pretty formal in the dojo, but in everyday life? Not so much. Not to this extent anyway.

"I...yes, yes I did." what else was I supposed to say?

"May I come in?" he asked.

I waved him in, "Of course. I mean it's your house."

He was about to enter but then stopped, "Oh no. This..." he gestured to my apartment, "this is your home. I'd like you to feel secure in that."

That took me back. As much as he looked like his mother, his behavior couldn't have been further from hers.

"Oh...well um...thank you. But please come in."

He entered.

"I have to say, I'm surprised you took the job. I know Redmond isn't the safest place to live, but I heard you were quite well connected there."

He knew about Lucifer? No, of course he did. Before I could say anything though, he continued.

"Did you get the package I left for you?"

"Oh...yes. Yes I did. It was very generous. Frankly, I was surprised to see you'd set up an expense account for me on top of that."

His brow wrinkled and his eyes darted back and forth. Something about my answer had confused him.

"I hope everything was there. Five items, correct?"

I flinched. Someone had intercepted something he'd intended for me. And I didn't know why.

"Uh...no. Three. A comlink, a set of trodes and a credstick."

He clenched his teeth and balled his fists, but quickly put his hands behind his back to hide the gesture. He was angry, but not at me.

"Oh, well no matter. Have you seen the dojo? When I heard Mother had hired you I had one of the multipurpose rooms converted."

"I...I don't see how I can continue being a sensei living here. Unless you want me to train you." I really did want to continue that part of my life, but it's not like my former students could come here.

"That's what I was hoping for, yes." he replied.

And his words smelled strange. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. Half-truths had their own particular sent as well and I could usually distinguish them. This was more like a complete lie and a complete truth told at the same time. I didn't know what to make of that, so I let it pass.

"Well...I suppose making you a harder target would make my job easier. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. About the dojo I mean."

He held out a hand, gesturing for the door, "Right this - "

His comlink started beeping a shrill tone. He sighed and checked the display.

"I'm sorry, Tanaka-sensei. I have to take this. The estate mapsoft has it listed though. I'll be down when I can."

He didn't wait for me to respond. In fact, he left in a bit of a rush for someone wearing a business suit.

"Huh...." I said to the empty air.

It took me five minutes to find the dojo, even with the mapsofts help. Did I mention this place was huge? And what I found made me more than a bit nervous. Oh, I was familiar with the equipment...most of it. But, well how do I put this? When I was a little girl, I used to stay up at night on my comlink sometimes, looking up all the crazy drek that I wanted to one day have in our family dojo. I never bothered looking at the prices because it was all just a silly dream.

This dojo put my dream dojo to shame. I now understood what people meant by the phrase, "Beyond the dreams of avarice"

Part of me knew I shouldn't, but frankly I was a little scared. Meela's speech about picking a side was more unsettling now than it had been when she'd made it. I found Tabitha's number in the estate app.

"Ms. Tanaka." well didn't she seem upbeat, "How are you settling in? Theo every bit the gentleman that I promised?"

"Uh...yes ma'am. That's not why I'm calling. Um, well...Theo seems to have set up a dojo for me and has asked me to train him. Which I don't mind, but uh...it looks like he's gone a little overboard with the purchases and...well to be honest, I didn't want you thinking I was responsible for that."

"Oh, that's no problem dear. I tell you what. Let me connect you to someone who can do a little oversight. Just give him a description of everything in Theo's new little playroom and we'll make sure everything's above board, shall we?"

She was...not this cheery the last time we spoke. It gave me hives. But I didn't know what else to do. The man she transferred me to had a voice deep enough to be a troll, but was probably just an orc. I gave him a detailed list of everything in the dojo. He made me go over the list three times to make sure I hadn't left anything out. Once I was done, he thanked me and ended the call.

Less than two minutes later, every light in the place turned red and an alarm klaxon went off.

That....that couldn't be because of me....could it?

Oh frag.

 

[Erenthia]

For several seconds I was frozen like a prey animal under the eyes of a predator. I didn't know that I had done...whatever this was, but I had a strong suspicion. And like a child who had just broken something valuable, I wanted very much for this to all go away.

Except nothing was really happening. Oh yeah, there was an alarm going off and the lights had all turned red, but no one was around to blame me for it. So after a few seconds, I went from panicked to confused. I didn't really know what I should be doing at this point. There was no one to ask. Then it hit me.

I checked the app.

[Security Compromised. CODE BLACK. Employee MIHO TANAKA please report to the following coordinates:]

Beneath the warning message, the integrated mapsoft displayed a location. I wouldn't have recognized it, were it not for the helpful labeling.

Theo's room.

It may have taken me a few minutes to get here from there, but that's because I was distracted and trying to be careful. (And I may have taken an elevator ride for the sheer novelty of it) Now I took the hallways at full speed and ran up and across the walls at corners. Stairs were nice, but handrails were faster. And if I destroyed any priceless works of art I didn't have time to notice it. My new surroundings had made me hesitate because I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. Now, with an objective, everything felt more natural. For the moment, I knew what I was doing. I was responding to danger.

Must be Tuesday.

Around thirty seconds later I was at Theo's door. It hung wide open, so without giving it a moment's thought I barreled through it. The inner appartment didn't actually look much different than mine really. Except for the giant portion of wall slid back to reveal a hidden vault of some kind. There were five shelves along the walls, floor to ceiling all filled with black duffle bags and each with a tag on it. Most people wouldn't have been able to parse what those tags were in an instant, and it wasn't any adept power that let me do that. Growing up in Redmond, you develop quite a number of skills necessary for survival there and being able to keep your head and process information in a crisis is near the top. So, in the fraction of a second since I'd entered, I'd already read several of the tags.

They were the names of staff. And as many of those bags as were there, I immediately developed the suspicion that there was one for each of us.

"Miho! You're here! Thank God!" Theo shouted.

He tried to toss me one of the duffle bags, but his arms strength couldn't get it even halfway.

"Take that to Vincent. Hurry!" He added.

"Where?" I practically shouted. Unmistakable and fast communication was also a survival skill.

"Updating now! The app!" he replied while typing furiously on his commlink.

I dove for the bag, rolled as I grabbed it and came back to my feet, package in hand but now facing back the way I came. I grabbed Theo by the arm.

"Leave me! Just GO!" he shouted, but I wasn't having any of it. It wasn't that I was being paid to protect him. It was that I was Samurai and I had accepted the duty of protecting him. But I knew the whole reason he wanted me to go instead of him was that I'd be far faster without him. So I heaved him up into the air and caught him on my back. I'd be slower that way, of course, but still faster than he would be on his own, so it was a net positive.

Catching on quickly, he put his arms around me, keeping his weight on my shoulders as I bolted down the hallways.

"No, wait!" he shouted as I passed one of the elevators. I turned to look at where he was pointing and saw that the doors had opened, but with no elevator inside. Clever boy.

I dove inside, sliding down one wall until I lost enough sideways momentum that friction wasn't slowing me down much anymore. Then I kicked off to the opposing wall and slid down that one, having to repeat the trick a few times before we made it to the basement.

I would have checked the app but there was no need. I could hear the voices around the corner and darted around only to find two people – one of them Meela – pointing guns at me that they clearly didn't know how to use. I raised my hands and let Theo down off my back slowly and carefully. They lowered their guns when they saw him.

"You brought her?" Meela asked, "This is her first day. You don't know where her loyalties lie!"

"It's fine." he replied, grabbing the duffle bag from me and handing it over to an older-looking human who, by his clothes, seemed like he was probably the cook. I presumed he was Vincent and he didn't look too certain about taking it.

"Your kids have already been picked up at school and your wife is with them. Bruce turned so I had to get a new contractor. I vetted him. Come on, the coyote's waiting."

Meela spoke for him, "She had her hands on it. She could have planted a tracker or God knows what else. Really, Theo, I thought you were beyond these kinds of mistakes."

"I've known her for two years! We're trusting her! Now take the package and run!" he shouted.

It was all true. How the frag could that be true? No, time for that later. I didn't understand the nature of this emergency, but I was starting to get the impression that it wasn't my fault after all. Bruce, the gnome driver, he had to be the one behind this. Apparently, he'd intercepted something Theo had meant for me. Maybe if he hadn't I'd know what was going on.

Vincent took what I was now realizing was a bug-out bag and pulled a portion of the wall open revealing a hidden tunnel. And it was also dawning on me what sort of life I was in for that all the employees had pre-made bug-out bags and the house had an escape tunnel. Actually, when I thought about it, the escape tunnel might not be so uncommon, but everyone down to the cook having a bug-out bag? Well, I wasn't going to push yet. But I sure as drek wasn't going to let this stay a mystery for long.

"I hope you're right about her," Meela said when it was all over.

Except it wasn't over.

A man in heavy milspec armor rounded the corner and I could see the dawning horror coming over Theo. My body went on automatic. I'd already landed over half-a-dozen blows before I realized I'd attacked. He staggered back in a vain attempt to maintain his balance but I pressed the attack and before anyone there knew what was happening he was already on the ground. He tried to raise his gun, but it was mine before he could pull the trigger. Even in that state of frenzy though, I knew better than to try to shoot him with it. Milspec gear came with all sorts of precautions against just such a thing.

But it made an excellent club.

"Miho stop!" Theo screamed, but he wasn't in the same place as before. Now he was standing between me and several other similarly armored men who I now understood to be a Lone Star SWAT team. Theo's arms were stretched out like some kind of old-fashioned anime character protecting someone.

"She's my bodyguard, but she's new." Theo explained to them.

Fortunately, they didn't shoot. I raised my hands immediately and backed away slowly. The Lone Star officer I'd brought down wasn't getting up any time soon, but at least I was no longer giving them an excuse to shoot me.

"Sir, we've had a credible threat against your life." the officer in front spoke.

"I know, it was Vincent. He's already escaped. I think we're safe here." Theo replied.

Vincent? The guy we just helped escape? I had expected something fishy to be going on, but I couldn't quite see where this was going. Although naming him was probably an attempt by Theo to start catching me up. Or at least make sure I didn't frag anything up by spilling the beans. I stayed quiet.

"That may very well be, sir, but I have instructions from your mother to escort you to the panic room." the officer replied.

Theo flinched and I could see the terror in his eyes.

"Now you listen here, young man." Meela started, her gun having seemingly disappeared, but the officer wasn't having any of it.

"Ma'am you are not part of this conversation." he replied.

"I'll go with him." I interjected, "I'm his bodyguard. Wherever he's going he'll be safer if I'm there."

I could hear the officer sigh behind his mask, "One moment"

He started typing onto what was apparently an integrated commlink on his suit's left forearm. It didn't take long for him to get a response.

"Ms. McWellan has authorized this action. Please come with me."

It turned out the panic room was also in the basement and we only had to round a few corners. The panic room wasn't just another room in the house. It looked like a walk-in vault, similar to the one in Theo's room, only maybe smaller. It was maybe two and a half meters by three meters, the exact proportions of a jail cell.

And it was literally labeled, The "Panic" Room. Scare quotes included.

It took me a second to get the pun. Dear God, what kind of monster was Tabitha McWellan, and what horrors had she been subjecting her son to in there? Whatever it was, I knew I'd had to protect Theo. Whatever Bruce may have done, he had been right about one thing. Theo was a good kid.

And he was shaking. So I took his hand and that seemed to help. He let out a breath I hadn't known he was holding and his shaking died down a little. The officers escorted us inside and sealed us in.

Everything in the room was what I was suddenly realizing was Tabitha's favorite color. Gleaming white. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, the cot...even the bottles of what I could only guess was some kind of soy-based liquid meal replacement...all made worse under the hard glare of fluorescent lights.

"So...how long are we gonna be in here?" I asked after a second.

"We don't get to know." he replied, immediately, "Sometimes it's days"

I took a deep breath and let it out. Deciding to settle in, I sat down on the cot and faced him.

"Well, I guess that means you have plenty of time to explain all this drek. I'm ready any time you are." I told him.

The tension returned to him and he started to pace. At least as much as he could in the confined space. Eventually, he spoke.

"Look first I need you to understand that I tried to keep you out of this." he began.

"The two things Bruce stole from the package you left for me?" I asked.

He nodded, "One was a fake SIN of the highest caliber, with an associated passport."

"And the other?" I asked.

"A note that said RUN." he answered.

Damn. Although that did explain the credstick. Well, no it didn't. But it put it in context.

"Look, I wasn't gonna blame you for any of this anyway. You're mom's the type that always gets what she wants. Even if I had run, I don't know how far I would have gotten. So what's all this about? What's really happening here?"

He sighed, "I wouldn't normally say, but Mother's plans for you are pretty clear at this point. Especially considering that she let you come in here with me. I'll try to make it up to you, but this is your life now. Forever. Or at least until she dies."

"Just tell me." I was getting tired of the foreplay.

"Okay, look. I know you have a lot of questions, but if you really want all the answers I'm gonna have to start at the beginning. When I was six years old Mother made me the estate manager here. I sign all the paychecks, manage acquisitions, oversee maintenance, and generally handle all the day-to-day stuff."

He took a breath, "But that's not all. After my first week, Mother introduced me to The Game. I have a quota of nuyen I have to 'embezzle' every month while a team of forensic accountants watches me like a hawk."

It was certainly the truth as he understood it but that wasn't clearing up much.

"Uh...maybe you didn't go back far enough...'cause that doesn't make any goddamn sense"

He lowered his head, "Oh...yeah. Right."

He looked pretty dejected actually, staring down at the floor like that. He pulled over a plastic chair – can you guess what color it was? - and sat down and faced me.

"I'm not...exactly human," he explained.

I didn't really have anything to say to that so I just gave him my best go on look.

"Do you know what a Prototype Transhuman is?" he asked.

I sat up straight. There were stories about those. Some were more believable than others, but they were all told in whispers rather than out loud. Human beings – usually not other metatypes – grown in a vat with perfected DNA and bioware integrated all the way down to the genome itself. Generally, these stories were about super-soldier killing machines, but Theo didn't seem the type.

"I see that you do." he continued, "but Mother wasn't trying to create a perfect killing machine when she made me. She wanted the perfect heir."

"Oh…." I felt stupid saying it, but honestly what else could I have said in that moment?

"But, of course, giving me expanded potential wouldn't have meant anything if I wasn't pushed to develop it. I think that's the real reason behind The Game. I mean, how could I really need to embezzle anything given my family's wealth? And even if I'm supposed to learn how to catch people who are embezzling from me how often can she really expect me to be doing that as an adult? My only guess is that the point is for me to develop general skills, and she's using this as a frame."

"How is that related to what happened?" I asked.

"What do you think the penalty is for getting caught?" he replied.

It took me a second, "Wait...she burns one of the staff?"

"At least. But she's done worse. I…" he trailed off and I could see the look of shame and disgust on his face, "I'd really rather not get into it now. But yes. When you reported my purchases for the dojo and they didn't match my expense reports, well….Vincent was next on the list."

I hung my head. Part of me knew I shouldn't have done that, but I was afraid of getting in trouble.

"It's not your fault. It's my fault," he replied, "I should have predicted that you'd see the dojo and worry about a stupid rich kid spending too much and then getting blamed for it."

"There's no way you could have seen that coming!" I protested.

He gave me a withering look, "How do you think I know about it now? The moment I saw Mother's text message saying Vincent was burned I knew immediately what had happened! If I could think of it then then I could have thought of it when we were talking!"

"Listen. Kid. You can't blame yourself for your mom being a monster. And it looks like you've handled the situation pretty well. Escape routes, bug-out bags. Not bad for kid your age. But where are you getting all the fake SINs?"

He took a deep breath, obviously building up to something.

"After the first time I lost someone, I realized I didn't have any way to respond. So I started getting involved in the Shadows. I knew I needed to know how to get fake SINs but I also knew that there were plenty of things I probably didn't know. So I started reading. I started paying people for interviews. Oh, I forgot to mention, anything I embezzle I get to keep. I have my own Black Funds. So I used them. And then I realized all the possibilities in the Shadows."

He stopped for a moment and broke eye contact looking instead at the floor once again, "That's how we know each other. You see, when I got started, I eventually reached the point where I wanted to participate. I started with stuff that was easy, at least for someone in my position. Mostly black-market currency exchange, since I could just run it through my accounts and the banks go the extra mile when looking the other way for someone like me. Then I started doing favors for people."

Something about that sounded familiar.

"But I was doing it all completely anonymously. I'd even managed to get myself a blank user name for when I posted online. Then one day someone asked me what they should call me…"

He looked at me, searching for recognition in my eyes, but there was none to be found.

He sighed.

"Mother named me Theodore. It literally means 'Gift of God' which, I suppose for most parents, means that they think of their child as a gift from God to them. But you've met Mother. Clearly, she thinks of herself as the one doing the giving."

I shook my head, "Look you're going to have to spell this out for me, kid"

He swallowed. I'd assumed originally that he was being dramatic, but I could see now that he was nervous.

"Well, if Mother is God, then I decided I'd be Lucifer. I'm Gnostic Lucifer. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

I couldn't stop staring.

 

[Erenthia]

Now I was the one who was pacing. And the close quarters weren't helping. Theo, for his part, was being patient with me. Finally, I spoke.

"Are you sure you're not just...funding Lucifer?" I pleaded with him.

"No...well I mean, technically it is my money, but no. Not in the sense you mean. There is no one else with a greater claim to the name 'Gnostic Lucifer' than me."

From the way he spoke, it sounded like he knew about my lie-detection abilities. Which made me a little suspicious, but I'd talked to Lucifer about them many times.

I paced back and forth a few times more before working up the courage to ask another question.

"And you're doing this all by yourself?" I asked.

"Oh, heavens no. I have executive assistants, advisors, outside contractors, and of course, agents. You were one of them. But it's nothing more than a typical executive would have.

I folded my arms. Even now I can't tell you why I didn't believe him, aside from the fact that he would have been ten years old when we first spoke and the thought of having been so unnerved by a ten-year-old wounded my pride pretty severely.

"Alright, tell me about the assignments you gave me." I challenged him.

He sighed, "You think I found a way to defeat your lie-detection power but couldn't get a list of your activities? Especially when, in the counterfactual world where I'm not Lucifer, the most likely case - one that you yourself brought up - was that I'm funding him? Or at least working with him?"

Fragging transhumans.

But this was just too much. I knew it was obvious, but I just couldn't let it be unsaid.

"YOU'RE TWELVE!"

He smirked, "From what I've heard, you were my age when you first bested your own father in martial arts."

"I'm a physical adept..." my expression soured, "and you're about to say, 'and I'm a transhuman'" I added the last part in a mocking, childlike tone.

"I am a transhuman. But that's not all of it. I've had the best education money can buy, and I've had gene therapies and nanite injections to improve my learning speed. I literally understood the English language at one week old, not that I personally remember. I'm told, I couldn't talk very well, but I knew how. At least at about a 4th-grade level. Meela said I was a very convenient baby to look after. "

"You've had people killed." I said, as if I was just now realizing it. Because in a way, I was.

He looked away, "Not...not as many as you think. I mean, aside from Tamanous, Yakuzas running Bunraku parlors, and Mafiosos running child brothels, most of the people I 'disappeared' are actually people who came to me asking for my help disappearing."

"Frankie Tripod?" I asked.

"Gambling debts. The blood was his idea," he replied.

"Johnny Falcon?"

"Accidentally slept with an Oyabun's daughter."

"Cherry Bomb?"

That got his attention, "What? Did something happen to Cherry? Last I heard she was doing an excellent job of running the Seamstresses Union. Is she okay?"

I smirked, "Just testing you."

He groaned. I smirked, but inside I felt a tension building up. There was a question I was afraid to ask. But my father's voice rang out in my head. If there was something I feared, I had to face that fear. That didn't mean I needed to jump off a building with no parachute. But, for this, there was really no reason not to ask except fear.

I swallowed it down and went for it, "What...what are your mother's plans for me."

Theo withdrew into himself. Physically. He pulled his arms around his stomach, drew in his legs, and pulled his neck to his chest. Part of me felt so bad I wanted to withdraw the question, but this was my life we were talking about. Finally, he answered.

"You're Meela's replacement."

"Uh...unpack that for me a little? Cause I know you don't mean as a maid."

He shook his head but didn't lift his gaze or leave his partial-fetal position.

"As...her nuclear option." I didn't press, but I needed more than that. So I just waited.

"Meela is...." his breathing was ragged and part of me longed to relieve him of whatever pain he was experiencing, but I needed this

"She's the closest thing I have to a mom. As long as she's been around, there was one thing Mother knew she could use against me if I went completely off the rails. One thing I couldn't bear to lose. But...she's getting old."

Oh. Oh wow.

"That's why she let you in here." he said, finally looking at me again, "she...she intends for us to be close."

My eyes flickered to the single cot in the room.

"NO! I mean, I don't think...I mean, she knows about what happened to Sarutobi." he explained.

I hadn't heard my little brother's name in a very long time. I hadn't even thought it. It hurt that much.

And this bitch wanted to manipulate my feelings using that pain? But I knew. I understood that there were some people in this world, and not just Social Adepts, who could look you in the eye and say, 'I'm about to manipulate you. Ready?' and still pull it off. If the person was good. If they really knew what they were doing and what your levers were, they could do it. And looking at this boy, and remembering my brother...and realizing just how much this woman was torturing her son, just to squeeze more productivity out of him?

Yeah. Team Theodore all the way.

I sat back down on the cot. Part of me desperately wanted to fill the silence, but the weight of all these shocks was starting to be a little too much. Even for me. So we sat there, enduring the silence together for what felt like an eternity. I couldn't think of anymore important questions at the moment. Or maybe I didn't want to. But then something came to mind. Something fairly trivial, but something I was still kinda curious about.

"So...I sort of overheard your conversation with someone named Robin. Or at least the tail end of it. And before you get mad, it's your fault for not properly soundproofing your own room."

Another withering look, "Put soundproofing between my room and my bodyguard's room? So the person responsible for protecting me can't hear me getting kidnapped?"

Oh....

"But to answer your question, I have a special team of agents...I mean they're basically shadowrunners at this point, but full time Hoods and I fund everything they do...but anyway, I recently had them liberating another Bunraku parlor. S.O.P is for them to return the victims to their homes - at least the ones who have homes to go back to - and deliver the rest to one of my safehouses while I figure out how to help them. Robin was one of the puppets with no place to go. According to the Yakuza's records, she'd been there since she was six. That was ten years ago. Little wonder she assumed that wherever she was going, it was going to be worse. When my team caught up to her, she was about to jump off the tallest building she could find. I'm just lucky I was able to talk her out of it. There's a reason I put so much effort into protecting Lucifer's reputation - and yes, that means my reputation."

I started rubbing my arms. It was getting a bit cold in here.

"But, " I began, "I heard you offer her a job. And I could tell you were lying when you said you could use someone like her. Why offer a job to someone you can't use?"

He looked me dead in the eyes and said, "Sometimes people tell you how to lie to them. I guess you didn't hear Robin's side of the conversation, but she made it clear that the only reasons she thought someone would do anything for her is if she was useful to them. So I went with it. I don't know if I'll ever have any real use for her, but it got her off that ledge. And I've been wrong before."

Theo started rubbing his own arms. It really was getting chilly in here.

"Do you do that a lot? Disguised charity?"

Something about the question made him nervous. Wait.

"Wait! You mean when you recruited me...?" I asked, and it was indeed an accusation.

He looked away, "It's...one of the main reasons I trade in favors to begin with."

I jumped to my feet "You fragging bastard! I can pull my own weight! I don't need your fragging charity!"

He looked back at me, and his gaze was both stern and sad, "My choosing to he-...to contact you had the direct result of putting you on Mother's radar. She's reminding me I have no secrets from her. So you are paying for that help. For two years of independence, you are paying with your freedom for the rest of your life. That's not charity. That's price gouging."

I was angry enough to be panting, but that rage shut off instantly when I noticed I could see my breath.

"Why is it so cold in here?" I couldn't keep the anxiety out of my voice.

Theo's eyes widened. He started looking around as if searching for attackers even though it was utterly absurd in this context, but I understood the instinct.

"Oh god." he said, "That's new. New is bad."

Instinct born of surviving sixteen winters in Redmond gripped me in my gut. All the psychic exhaustion, wounded pride, and confusion melted away as I landed back in familiar territory. Responding to danger.

"How do you pee in this thing?" It was as much and order to respond as it was question, and Theo, while confused, caught my tone and didn't question me.

"Uh...there's a button over there. You press it and the toilet comes up out of the floor." he answered.

We were about to be in a very bad situation. Tabitha was turning the temperature down on us. If Theo was right about her wanting us to be close, and I had no reason to doubt him at this point, then she wanted us to survive a near-death experience together. And there was not a single goddamn thing about that woman that made you want to play chicken with her, so just not responding was right out. So, huddling for warmth is was. All night. On a cot with only a single thin bedsheet. Having to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of that could, quite literally, be life threatening. And just pissing on each other wasn't any less dangerous. Wet clothing can kill you in that kind of a situation.

So we took care of all that as quickly as we could, Theo literally covering his eyes with his hand even while sitting in a chair facing away from me when it was my turn. And as we did, the intensity of the cold ramped up even faster. Quickly enough though, we were in the tiny cot together. All our clothes were on, of course, because that's how huddling for warmth actually works. For prevention anyway. When one person has hypothermia and the other one doesn't and your in a position where transferring body heat can be done safely, that's where the clothes come off. I had no intention of letting things get that far, though.

Theo had put his back to me. Trying to be the little spoon? Strange, but I didn't bother bringing it up. I held on to him, but the cold didn't abate. It just got worse and worse.

"Ugh...okay, " I broke the silence, "I have an adept power for this. I guess your mom knows about it. Gimme a second."

I focused my ki through my whole body, finding various chakra points one at a time. As I did, my body got warmer and warmer. During training, I'd managed to get my body up to 45 degrees, just for a personal record. I wasn't going that high here and now, because I was a little afraid of cooking the kid. But I got it high enough that he stopped shivering. It wasn't the first time I'd used this power to save my own life or someone else's for that matter. It was basically a must have for living in the Barrens full time.

The silence was back. It was hard to know what to say in that moment. We'd been forced into an intimate position with each other and not by random chance. Maybe speaking would have felt like accepting it. Like going along with it. Like letting her win. I mean, really, what kind of person does this? Not just an evil person, but like...one of those villains from a spy-themed flatvid. The really over the top, ridiculous ones. No, Mister Dinklage. I expect you to die! I couldn't help myself. I started laughing.

"What's funny?" Theo sounded amused, but also hopeful. Having anything to laugh about in this situation was a mercy.

"You're mom is. God, she's such a hack! The 'huddle together for warmth' trope? Really? I would have thought she'd come up with something more sophisticated. This is so dumb."

It wasn't. She wasn't just playing out a scene from a flatvid or cheesy romance novel. She was pulling on primal animal instincts. Life and Death. Surviving the Environment. Trauma Bonding. But I sure as drek wasn't going to admit it.

Theo laughed too.

And that lead into us sharing silly stories instead of sad ones. And we talked about our perspectives on the Barrens and the better things we'd found there. Stories about people we'd found who were helping. Times when things had gone right for a change. We spent the rest of the night lifting each other's spirits up. Telling jokes. Even making plans for the future. It turned out, a lot of what Theo-as-Lucifer had been doing was laying the groundwork for some pretty ambitious changes to Redmond. I didn't know anything about business or economics, but they sounded good. And it made him happy and excited to tell me about them. Apparently even Meela didn't know about his identity as Redmond's most mysterious fixer. Outside this intimate little hell that we were dutifully ignoring, Tabitha was the only other person who knew. I'd be lying if I said that didn't make me feel a little special. And then I noticed that Theo was falling asleep. I decided to let him, except there was one last thing I wanted to make sure I told him before the day was over.

"Hey kid," I said, with the first smile I'd felt on my face in a long time.

"Happy birthday,"

 

[Erenthia]

AN: So here we are at the time-skip. I've managed to eyeball how much longer it will take for the crossover elements to come into full swing. It's looking like somewhere between chapters 10-12. There are just two critical things that need to happen before anyone can get their 'Second Breath' and they can't be rushed. Then I intend to slow the plot down a little.
​

---

My first five years at the McWellan estate were nothing like I would have imagined before coming here. Oh, there were certainly aspects, bits and pieces that I would have gotten right. We certainly lived in luxury there. And by 'we' I mean Theo and the entire staff. Which isn't to say that most of the staff lived on-site, most didn't. He treated them all like family and in a way, they were the only family he had. Apparently, Tabitha was the last living McWellan, other than Theo, and they'd spent less than an hour in the same room with one another over the course of his entire life. I think Tabitha liked it that way. It made him more attached to her hostages. So he doted on them - and me - at every opportunity. That...had caused some friction between us at first. It wasn't really about suspicion at that point. But I had my pride. If Theo had opted to treat me as Lord treated his Retainer, I would have been fine with that. It would have made me feel proud, in fact. Being a part of something like that. Having a place I understood.

He literally couldn't treat me like that. And it took me years to understand it. Prototype Transhuman or not, he wasn't immune to emotional scars or psychological damage. And as much as Meela and the others had been there for him, there was just no way he could trust a therapist. How could he possibly find one that Mother hadn't already gotten to? (Or would get to very quickly) But, as it turned out, he already had some psychographic profiling software for use in his Redmond Operations. He just hadn't dared to use it on himself, at least not until I'd been there to hold his hand and be the first to look at the results. That's when I found out what Codependence was. The boy had a messiah complex 10 kilometers tall. And no wonder. Mother had put the lives of dozens of adults on his shoulders from the time he was six years old. And, I later discovered, forced him to keep an ordered list to decide who would get burned when he failed, just - in my estimation - to make him feel more responsible when he inevitably did.

He was decently high-functioning. It's just that he understood the agency of others the way I understood math. Which is to say, he grasped it on a theoretical level but not at all in his gut. He could adjust for it. Remind himself to take it into account. But deep in his soul, the people around him were nothing but ants. We just happened to be ants he really cared about. That took me longer to understand. A lot longer. Looking back on it, I think my fundamental disconnect came from the fact that, in the Barrens, Power made you Valuable. You used it to survive, and you used it as leverage to get the things you wanted. To me, though, my Power had made me Sacred. That's why I never joined a gang. That's why I continued my father's work. I had done it in the pursuit of something Higher and I'd come to see my power as a holy thing because of that.

Theo didn't see himself as sacred. Theo saw himself as a function. He was A-Thing-That-Helped-People. And it was an addiction every bit as real as an addiction to chips or chems.

And it was irritating and confusing, but mostly just for me. When I first realized I was going to be rubbing shoulders with the uber-elites, I knew I was in for being patronized and condescended to. And part of me was looking forward to it. I wanted to show those arrogant frags that I wasn't to be stepped on. I wanted to strike a blow and validate my father's and brother's beliefs in me. I wanted to validate my pride. And there was a degree to which Theo absolutely embodied everything I hated about those with power. But it was all tinged deeply with the neuroses of a mental illness I knew for a fact affected him deeply. Where those like Tabitha saw me as a tool or implement - a means to an end - Theo saw me as a child to be cared for and doted on. Where those like Tabitha would try to manipulate me for their own ends, regardless of the damage it did me, Theo tried "steering" me in directions he legitimately thought was best for me. I had to establish boundaries rather quickly and defend them vociferously - which I had expected - but I'd been unprepared for the nature in which my boundaries would be attacked. And it was more than a little annoying how often he was right.

It wasn't as if Theo didn't know he had a problem, but I didn't know if he actually wanted to get better for himself, or just because he thought it would make me and Meela happy. And for that matter, it wasn't as if helping people was any kind of bad thing. Lucifer had had a very positive impact on Redmond just as much as Theo had had a positive impact on the lives of the estate staff and their families. And he was, in fact, learning to respect people's boundaries, although it was the one thing he wasn't an instant genius at. At first, he'd responded to my drawing in lines in the sand as an optimization problem. How do you improve Miho's life without offending her? He'd do things like ordering me to take security training courses to get my qualifications up to par with others who had my position, and then triple my salary when I did. It's not as if there was anything wrong with that, but in a way, that was the problem. He was really good at finding ways to indulge himself like that, no matter how many roadblocks or ethical injunctions I threw at him.

So eventually Meela and I sat him down and explained that he was missing the point of what we were trying to do. We changed strategies that day. Instead of trying to limit what Theo was allowed to do for others any further, we decided that he needed to actively do things for himself. We stayed away from the idea of a 'quota' but Meela had the idea to set up rewards for him for meeting certain benchmarks. The two of us wrote up a list of things we'd be okay with him doing for us as long as he was making progress. And it started to work. It felt like he was starting to make real progress.

That's what made this situation so disappointing.

After five years of training under the Great Miho Tanaka and with his own brand of omni-polymathery he'd come far further as a martial artist than I'd ever predicted. So I enrolled him in the All-Seattle Under-18 Mixed Martial Arts Tournament (non-Awakened division). There was a scholarship prize for the winner, but I was already prepared to make a compromise on that. I talked to the judges and they were adamant about the scholarship being nontransferable, but really it was just money, after all, and Theo had a trust fund that even Lofwyr would have found respectable. So Meela and I promised him that he could give his own scholarship to anyone he wanted in the tournament, even if they never made it to the final round. He didn't even have to win. He just had to do his absolute best.

He made it all the way to the finals. I didn't care if he won or lost. I only cared if he tried to win or tried to lose. And when I saw who his opponent would be, I knew it was going to be a struggle.

Becky Cartwright from Everette. I didn't know much about her, but she was obviously incredibly talented. And it was equally obvious that she was poor. And then things got worse still, when I received an alert on my commlink that Theo had used some of our resources as Lucifer to get further information on her. I was Lucifer's strong right hand now and had access to everything on that side of his life. Including the report on Becky. Her father had suffered a work-related injury and couldn't do his construction job anymore and had been forced to work over the Matrix in a job he didn't have much talent for. Her mother had lost her license to practice medicine around the same time, likely due to false accusations from an employer angry she wouldn't sleep with him. They'd been doing quite well once. They even had their own house. Now they were underwater on their mortgage, unable to send any of their kids to college, and were probably going to starve when they were too old to work.

And I think, in that moment, I would have given Theo my blessing to drop all the money and favors on them that he wanted if only he could muster the intestinal fortitude to put all of that aside for one moment and bring his otherwise rather intense killer instinct down on her. I wanted him to want to win, even against her.

But he couldn't.

He hadn't even done it on purpose. That was the real tragedy. If he'd intentionally dropped his guard at a critical moment I could have at least been angry at him. The truth was more subtle. His heart just wasn't in it. Because it wasn't just about the money. Becky's story of rising from nothing to be the hero her family needed her to be would be entirely ruined if he came in and not only beat her in the tournament, but then proceeded to fix all her family's problems for her. He had tried to try, but in the end he couldn't bring himself to give it his all against her.

And he looked so goddamn relieved when she beat him.

We walked back to our Mitsubishi Nightsky in silence, under the watchful eyes of more than a dozen hidden members of his security detail. And one that was literally invisible. I wasn't exactly mad at him. Part of me wondered if I'd pushed him too hard. It was a strange experience, walking next to him now. Over the last five years, he'd caught up to and passed my height. Though even at 1.9 meters, he hadn't lost his boyish grin or those penetrating eyes. He had half-a-dozen centimeters on me now, but even as he towered over me, he felt small. Like he was still the little boy I'd met years ago. Awaiting punishment.

"Why?" a deep but obviously feminine voice called out, before either of us had worked up the courage to speak to each other.

It was Becky. She'd waited for a moment she could catch us in private, and I could see the suspicion on her face. Looking at her was like looking at myself from five years ago, if I were an ork. She clearly thought Theo had thrown the match intentionally. He was very obviously better than her and she probably thought he was trying to squeeze something out of her.

"Are you sure you're ready hear it?" Theo was on automatic. Playing into other people's suspicions had become second nature for him, although I think it still got to him deep down, what other people thought about him. What they thought he was.

Becky folded her arms, "What do you want from me? I know you could have taken me back there. Why didn't you?"

Theo pulled out his commlink and unslotted a data chip. He held it out to her in his palm. She glared at it for a moment but finally took it. Much like my first encounter with Tabitha, deep down she didn't think she had a choice.

"What's on it?" Becky asked, trying to sound brave.

"The reason you won the fight. And also, everything I want from you." the second part was Theo-speak. There were, in fact, no demands on that datachip. Not that I'd ever laid eyes on it before. But I knew Theo. He'd said it that way for emphasis, even if it made things more confusing. As for the first part, well you couldn't put nuyen on a datachip - unless Theo had gotten an R&D team to make him one while I wasn't looking. And since Theo had been learning to manage his condition better and better over the years, I doubted it was something the Cartwrights could have handled on their own with sufficient effort. Which only left one thing. He'd just given her the evidence necessary to get her mother's medical license back. And probably the number of a few lawyers and journalists.

"What makes you think I'll do anything for you?" Becky demanded. But it was hollow. I'd lived where she was standing. I knew.

Theo, however, was just done. He didn't have the emotional energy for this, and frankly neither did I. So he just climbed into the Nightsky with no more comment other than, "Just read the damn thing."

I wanted to say something to her to explain, but I didn't have the words. Even after all this time, for people like Becky and me, Theo had to be seen to be believed. I climbed in after him and we sat in silence for a moment.

The inside of the Nightsky was luxurious as always. Top of the line armored limousines always were, although Theo hadn't stocked the thing with alcohol. There was plenty of space to stretch out and Theo and I took our customary places opposite of one another, though we weren't looking each other in the eye yet.

"Didn't go so well, huh?" Bruce asked. It had turned out that Bruce hadn't betrayed us. Mother had sent a mage with various mind-control spells to intercept him and make sure Bruce told me what Tabitha had wanted me to hear. Almost everything had been the actual truth, though. Everything except the part about the sign-on bonus. It had taken quite some time to verify his story, but that was far in the past now.

Now we were here. In the muck. Dealing with a very different kind of failure than an outside observer would have been able to understand.

"Just take us home, Bruce," Theo replied.

"Sure thing, boss. But uh...your Mother called. She told me to tell you to call her immediately."

From bad to worse.

"What time did she call?" Theo asked, his tone now anxious and hurried. Disappointing me wasn't an 'active shooter' level of danger the way disappointing Mother was.

"9:57 pm. Just three minutes ago." Bruce replied. Three minutes ago we were already halfway to the Nightsky. Theo had already changed back from his gi and gotten his commlink back by then. Why had she called Bruce?

I put a hand on Theo's shoulder and he took a moment to steel himself.

"Eliza, " he said, addressing the Nightsky's voice controls, "Call Tabitha McWellan."

A large vidscreen flipped down from the roof of the Nightsky with an agonizing mechanical grace. And the moment Tabitha McWellan - always in white - appeared on the screen we were suddenly in her domain, and we were he subjects. Her face and shoulders filled the screen.

"Hello there, little one. I heard you accorded yourself well in the tournament. Congratulations." there wasn't a hint of irony in her voice. I didn't think she'd care about Theo only taking second place, and she knew well enough that a tyrant who didn't make their demands clear ahead of time was an ineffective tyrant at best. She'd literally told us that once. And this was the first evidence we had that she even knew about the tournament.

"I suppose I did rather well. Though I think next year I can do better." Theo was pleading with her in his standard roundabout way.

Tabitha smirked, "Displeased you couldn't take first place on your first try? Well, perhaps I can brighten your day"

We both glared at the screen in naked fear.

"Oh don't look at me like that you two!" she said, smiling, "Your failure in the tournament brings me no great displeasure. It does, however, demonstrate that you've reached the limits of your current training. Therefore, it is time to move on to bigger and better things. More difficult, perhaps, but then that's life, is it not? And I don't believe you'll be displeased with what I have decided for you next. You see...I've filed the necessary paperwork to have you declared a legal adult."

For those of you that don't know, the megacorps were essentially nations in their own right. Long ago, they'd lobbied the failing governments of the time to extend to them the same legal protections as embassies: Extraterritoriality. So when you were in a building owned by, say, Horizon you were literally in a different country. Theo and I weren't citizens of the United Canadian and American States. We were citizens of Horizon. Well, Theo was more than me. My limited SIN meant there was a hard cap on how far I could rise in the company. I was less of a "citizen" than a "civilian". I was in the door, but I wasn't part of the in-crowd. All that said, Tabitha could, with the stroke of a pen - so to speak - just decide things that would normally have been considered matters of law. And she just did.

We just stared at her, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"And furthermore, " she began again, "I have decided to approve your 'Squatters Mall Refurbishment Pilot Project' and made you the Project Director. You will have the funds requested in your prospectus and access to the Horizon general labor pool. If you can show profitability within a year, I will allow the project to continue and may even, at some point, allow you to expand it into your Redmond Economic Restoration Program that you've been working on so long."

I saw Theo clench his teeth. He was angry, but he wasn't as angry as he was afraid.

"I never submitted those plans to you, Mother. They were drafts. I was still working on them!"

"And yet I found them to be quite sufficient. There's no need to quibble over such minor details. This is a day of celebration. My little boy has become a man."

I could see Theo squirming as he wracked his brain, trying to find the screw job.

"And The Game?" he asked.

"You're an adult now!" she said as if stating the obvious, "The Game is over. You have won. Congratulations on that as well."

Theodore drummed his fingers on his knee several times as he built up the courage to ask the obvious.

"Why am I being rewarded for failure?" he said, finally.

Tabitha made of show of her annoyance with an exaggerated sigh, "I told you, little one, I care nothing for trophies or any such artificial victories. My concerns for you are how you operate in the real world. I did however notice that you were unable to put forth your best efforts against that girl from Everette, and it showed me a weakness in you that needs to be remediated with prejudice. Miho will understand what I mean. Because, as part of your little pilot project, you will be living in Redmond."

This time it was my turn to freak the frag out, "WHAT?" I shouted.

Her gaze turned hard, and yet I could see that she was more amused than ever, "Our little Theo seems to have a soft spot for the economically disadvantaged. It comes as no surprise, of course, but that he has an inability to bring his full power to bear against them is unacceptable. I imagine nearly losing his life to them a few dozen times should be a sufficient cure. Don't you think, Ms. Tanaka?"

The Squatter's Mall project was bait. And it was such powerful bait, that she didn't even need to disguise the hook. She had just straight up told us what the hook was to our faces. And I knew there was no talking Theo out of it. We'd discussed that particular project dozens of times over the past five years. It was his baby.

"We...we need time to prepare," I said. Because stalling was all I had left at that point.

"Certainly. But the two of you must be in Redmond full-time by the end of the week. And once you are there, you will not leave its borders without my permission. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Mother," Theo responded immediately. I could see how excited he was, even knowing as we both did she wasn't just going to leave us to our work in peace. She'd be fragging with us the whole time.

"That is all," Tabitha said with finality, "Congratulations once again, my boy. You're a man now. Go...throw yourself a party or something. "

The screen blacked out, and immediately I could see Theo's eyes light up like stars.

"It's happening!" he practically shouted, "It's finally happening!"

And as Theo typed furiously on his commlink, horror and joy fought for dominance inside me. Theo knew more about Redmond than anyone who didn't live there. In fact, he knew more about it than a lot of people who did. But he'd never been there before. And I was terrified to find out how that place would treat him, no matter how heavily he leaned on his Lucifer persona.

And part of me knew that I would have to bear witness to the death of what little remained of his innocence.

But I knew he would get out of it alive because I would kill absolutely anyone and everyone that it took to make sure that happened.
​

---

More AN:

An earlier draft of this story (in notebooks scattered all over my house) had enough plot details for the Squatters Mall Arc to last a dozen chapters. I've trimmed that significantly. Part of me regrets this, but I think a lot of people are very curious about how I'm going to implement Exalted into the Sixth World and may be worried I will fuck it up royally. And it's certainly the case that Exalted is a hard thing to handle. At a macro level, the story will continue much as it has thus far. Only with larger stakes.​

 

[Erenthia]

Theo had taken Mother's advice. He'd thrown himself a party. Actually, he'd thrown himself a concert. The estate contained a ballroom that hadn't been used since before Theo was born. He'd had it cleared out and set up in record time. Theo would probably have preferred it to have been a more exclusive party, just the estate staff, but he had plans. He always had plans. I mean, why accomplish one objective with an action when you could accomplish three or four or seven? So he'd invited a number of his wealthy friends as well and turned his "graduation" party into a fundraiser and simulcast it on the Matrix as well. And who was the entertainment for this little shindig you might ask? What famous band or singer had he snapped up for this occasion?

Why, the omni-talented Theodore McWellan, of course. And he was more than up to the task.

It...honestly made me kind of happy. For someone else, it would have been narcissistic self-indulgence. For Theo, being willing to grab the spotlight and be the center of attention was actually a critical step in the right direction. It was healthy, and I was proud of him. Even if I knew he was going to be doing his Santa Clause thing a little extra hard today at some point. Meela and I had decided that special occasions were times when it was appropriate for him to be a little extra giving and this occasion was more than a little special. Not only was he now a legal adult now, but he'd become a Project Director on a project that was near and dear to his heart. So I was gearing up for something extreme. As long as he didn't just...give me the entire estate or something, I thought I could handle it.

Theo's taste in music was a little old-fashioned for my tastes, but I could see where he was going with this one. And it was sure as drek bringing in the donations. Really, it shouldn't have been surprising how many people were attending online. The Persona 2.0 social network, or Pito as people called it back then, was still a little new at the time, but already extremely influential. Especially if you were near the top of it like Theo was. You see, Pito had several metrics to go by. There were the ones you might expect, like the M-Score, which basically just counted how many mutual friends you had. Then there was the subscriber count, which had previously been zero for him, but that was one of the things this graduation party had been designed to fix. I didn't know what his plan for that was at the time, but it apparently did factor into the Squatter's Mall project somehow. But anyway, the real metric for Pito, the one that mattered most, was your Centrality score. Done up as a joke, based on a silly game for the cinephiles of the 20th century, your C-Score was effectively your social caste, at least if you were a Horizon employee. It measured how far removed you were in the network from Gary Cline, Horizon's CEO and Chairman of the Board. Tabitha worked with Cline personally and on a daily basis, which gave her a C-Score of 1. Now that Theo was an adult, his C-Score of 2 meant he could make or break people's careers by adding or removing them from his friends list. Metaphorically speaking, a C-Score of 3 wasn't a King or Queen, but it was a Duke. Or so Theo had described it to me.

So, of course, people were trying to curry favor with him.

Donations were still pouring in like offerings to a pagan god. Everyone wanted to be in Theo's good graces, apparently. His subscriber count was going up by thousands per minute too.

The music scratched to a halt.

"Ladies and Gentleman!" Theo called out to the crowd, and I could hear genuine surprise under all that pandering to the crowd he was doing, "We have a surprise guest! I...I didn't really expect this to happen, but uh...Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Mr. Gary Cline!"

A hologram of the world's most famous ork appeared on the stage and the crowd went wild. Cline smiled and waved. He'd started his career as an actor, so playing to a crowd was probably pretty automatic for him. Eventually, he motioned for the crowd to quiet down and turned to address Theo directly.

"Hey, Theo. Thanks for inviting me to your party. I don't have long, but I just wanted to drop by say a few words. When your mother told me about your new project I have to say, I was curious. It sounded...well a little crazy. But the more I looked at it, the more impressed I was. You've really internalized the Horizon Principles. Social Consciousness, Workplace Synergy, and most of all Philanthropic Profitability are all critical elements of everything we do here at Horizon, and the fact that your very first project exemplifies such a deep understanding of these principles makes me proud. So from now on, call me Uncle Gary."

Everyone laughed, but I could see the hunger in Theo's eyes. Cline continued.

"And so, to support you in your efforts, I am donating half-a-million nuyen of my own money to help support your project, and in addition, I'm going to make certain experts and other resources available to you should you need them. The people of Redmond deserve our best efforts and I'm glad to see someone finally stepping up. Good luck, kid. You're gonna need it."

People chuckled at that, but I couldn't. I was too busy being annoyed. The money was chump-change. The "experts and other resources" could be anything from extremely helpful to empty promises and I strongly expected it to be the latter. But even at this distance, I could see the scheming going on behind Theo's eyes, and I couldn't wait to see how Theo would twist this to his advantage.

"Gosh, Uncle Gary," Theo began, "That's incredibly generous of you, and I promise to put every drop of those resources to good use. But, if it's not too much to ask, there's one thing that would mean the world to me and would do a lot to help the people of Redmond and push my project forward. I hope it's not asking too much but uh..."

Theo waved a hand, and an Augmented Reality Icon appeared in it. It wasn't a hologram, so I wouldn't have been able to see it without my trodes. He floated it over to Cline, who immediately started laughing.

"Hahahahaha, oh man. Kid....your good." Cline replied.

It was a friend request. Cline could have absolutely have denied it. He could have said something about Theo needing to prove himself or it being a lot of responsibility for a newly minted adult. He wouldn't have even looked like a hypocrite. But he would have been a spoil-sport. He would have brought the party down. And he could always unfriend Theo later if it became necessary.

Cline's hologram tapped the icon, which turned green and said, "accepted" and the crowd went wild again.

"Careful with that thing though, kid. It's loaded." Cline's hologram winked and saluted before disappearing altogether.

The concert went on for a while longer, but I could tell Theo was getting tired. But as long as the donations were coming in, he pushed himself to keep going. Eventually, though things dropped off and Theo called it quits. The after-party, however, was only for family. And that meant estate staff and their families. The children had been banned by Tabitha since before I'd been onboarded. Some incident or another with one of them breaking a 500-year-old Chinese vase or something. That, it turned out, was the reason for him having his own Host - at least initially. He'd set it up for them. A private virtual playground so he could stay connected to them. Of course, once his Lucifer operations got going in earnest, he'd cordoned off a private section of it for that in a vain attempt to keep Mother from learning his secrets.

The after-party went well. His failure at the tournament notwithstanding, he had made a lot of progress over the years. And it was nice to see him happy. For once, he was just spending time socializing and talking. He wasn't trying to dump hundreds of thousands of nuyen on anyone or offering them anything other than his commcode. He was just...being part of the community. Loving and being loved in return. It was the calm before the storm, but I was enjoying it as much as he was. Finally, though, everyone had gone home. It was just the three of us now. Theo, Meela, and myself. And we all knew what was coming next.

Theo led us into the dining hall, where two fantastically ornate boxes sat on the enormous and rarely used table. Everything about them was gold, down to the ribbons which I think might have actually been actual gold foil. One had my name on it, the other had Meela's. Theo trembled visibly, but before I could reach out to place a comforting hand on my shoulder he stepped forward and grabbed the box with my name on it and handed it to me.

"I um...I got you this. I hope you'll like it." he said, although was he really meant was I hope you'll accept it.

I slid the top off and found a datapad. People rarely used them anymore these days. They were basically just commlinks with larger screens. There were only a few documents, but before I could read any of it Theo jumped in.

"I called in a few favors and got your SIN upgraded to full corporate status. And uh...transferred 10,000 Horizon voting shares to it. It'll give you access to certain executive perks...free flights on Horizon commuter transports, free room and board at any Horizon burbclave, and um...I sent you an invite and friend request on Pito."

It took me a second to realize what he was really giving me. I could go anywhere, do anything. And with a Pito C-Score of 3...wait 2 now...people would be falling all over themselves to get in my good graces. I could have any job at Horizon I could reasonably do and probably several I couldn't.

He was giving me my freedom. It had been so long, I'd forgotten I'd lost it.

"Theo, I..." I started, but he wasn't ready to hear me.

"I know it's a lot," he jumped in, "It's just...you and Meela are the most important people in my life. I don't know how I could have survived the last five years without you. And...really, I'm just giving you back what Mother took from you. You could open up your own dojo again if you want. We might even be able to find some of your old students..."

"Theo! It's okay." I stopped him and put a hand on his shoulder, "I accept. You didn't have to go this far, but I understand what you're trying to do. But you're not getting rid of me any time soon. Especially not with you getting shipped off to Redmond. You need me now more than ever."

He threw his arms around me in a bear hug and I could hear him sniffing back the tears.

"Oh, Theo. " Meela said, after her turn finally came, "I...I don't know about this."

I glanced at Theo who was clearly straining to not go into full Sales-Pitch-Mode.

"I know, " he replied, "but your husband is human. You should talk it over with him."

I glanced back and forth between them, not really sure what was going on. Meela's box had also contained a datapad, but apparently, she'd gotten something entirely different from me. Seeing my confusion, Meela turned the pad around and showed me.

"What's Leónization?" I asked.

Theo explained, "It's a complex process of nanite-based genetic therapies and other forms of cellular repair. The process takes months and there are outpatient treatments after that for several years, but...in the end, it returns someone to the prime of their youth. For a human, it makes them biologically 18 again."

"That exists?" I asked, not trying to hide my shock, "Why isn't everyone doing it?"

"Because, " Meela explained, "It has a negative impact on a person's essence, much like cyberware or other upgrades. And it costs millions. Theo and I have talked about it before. I thought I'd talked him out of it."

Theo shook his head, "It's just...just an offer. You don't have to take it. But your husband is a human and the same chronological age as you. He'll outlive you by decades."

Meela sighed, "We knew that when we got married, Theo. But I'll take this to him and we'll talk about it. But even if we decide not to, it means the world to me that you would do this,"

It was Meela's turn for a bear-hug, and this one lasted noticeably longer than mine. After that, we said our goodbyes and Theo and I headed outside to find Bruce waiting for us in the Nightsky. It was well into the afternoon by now, but there was still plenty of time for what we needed to do. Theo still seemed giddy, despite Meela's decision being up in the air. And yet, somehow relaxed as well.

"I got it right this time, didn't I?" he asked, but there was confidence in his tone.

"Yeah, kid," I replied, "You got it right."

Bruce decided to chime in from the front, "So, what are the rest of us gonna be doing when you're camping out in a post-apocalyptic wasteland?"

"Any goddamn thing you want, buddy. Any goddamn thing. Oh and Bruce? Play my song." Theo answered.

"You got it, boss," he replied, and the Nightsky's sound system immediately erupted into another song older than my grandfather as we drove off into the sunset.

The next several days were pretty hectic, and we had to do a lot of our work separately. Theo had to handle the above-board portions of our little endeavor mostly by himself. Most of that consisted of meetings with the vestiges of the Redmond City Council and the Mayor, Sonya Scholl. Theo had been a major donor to Mayor Scholl's "campaign fund" since before I came to Bellevue as well as almost all the city councilmen. I doubt they had any idea what he wanted in all that time. Despite their titles, these were not people with the kind of power that attracted much in the way of bribes. Frankly, I didn't know exactly why they even bothered, except maybe for the salary. No governments operated police forces anymore, and none of the private police corps would go anywhere near Redmond, except maybe into the Touristville. They had no real authority to get anything done which meant they got neither bribes nor threats from any of the gangs or syndicates. Still, if Theo was going to get official legitimacy in his ownership of Squatter's Mall, he had to go through them. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with any of that.

Meanwhile, I was dealing with the Shadows end of the operation. Squatter's Mall was deep inside Crimson Crush territory, which had been the main reason Theo had been cultivating a relationship with them, and some of the members still remembered me. They weren't too keen on the idea of letting it go, though. The people who lived there weren't any better off than anyone else in Redmond, but there were about 5,000 of them, which meant the protection money Crimson Crush collected was still pretty significant. Although, unlike other gangs, they did provide actual protection for their services. Negotiations got pretty intense there for a minute, but in the end we came to an arrangement. "Lucifer" agreed to give Crimson Crush a 20% stake in the project in return for acknowledging "his" ownership of the building and a two-kilometer area around it. On top of that, they'd get a holding company for those funds and help moving the entire operation into legitimate areas. Theo's plans had always involved bringing the less recalcitrant and more redeemable gangs into the fold as his own little version of Lone Star. Apparently, there was a long tradition of recruiting brigands and highwaymen into legitimate service back in medieval times. Though we weren't telling Crimson Crush about that just yet.

Now I just had to recruit an entirely new security detail. Theo's security had, quite predictably, all quit immediately rather than set foot that deep in Redmond. But we'd been planning this for years, and we knew exactly who we wanted.

So here I was, at the Seamstresses Union, the most popular and well-known hotspot in Touristville, at least with those not from Redmond. Touristville was the portion of Redmond outsiders liked to visit when they wanted to feel like they were doing something dangerous. On the surface, the Seamstress Union was a bar, precisely to cater to that impulse, but there was quite a thriving black market in the basement. The current owner, Cherry Bomb, had apparently worked there as a waitress for quite a long time and got the favor of the previous owner. Cherry Bomb had had pretensions of getting an education and getting out of Redmond, but the Barrens don't release their grip on you quite so easily. Still, Cherry Bomb was an elf, and she was taking to job quite well. She'd even had the excellent idea of installing high-security privacy in some of the unused rooms in the back, like more expensive and respectable places like the 77 Club. That's where I was setting up in anticipation of our new friends.

Robin and her group walked in the door before I was quite ready, but I wasn't about to show weakness by complaining. Yes, it was the same Robin that Theo had talked down from a literal ledge five year before. And she was now the leader of the very group of Lucifer's agents that had rescued her. Once she'd realized that someone out there had actually wanted to help her rather than use her, she had devoted herself to Lucifer's service with all the fanatical zeal of a religious cult member. She threw herself into any and every kind of training she thought would make herself useful and didn't stop pushing herself. In five years, she'd gone from a sex-slave meat puppet owned by the Yakuza, to someone who could compete favorably with some of the best shadowrunners in Seattle. She wasn't quite what you'd call a Street Samurai. She didn't even pretend to follow the Code of Bushido. But with the cyberware and training Lucifer had provided for her over the years, she could break the average Street Samurai in half. Even I wasn't sure I could take her.

The previous leader of the team, Gregor, was a ghoul mage. Apparently, his codename was based on some old piece of literature but honestly, those kinds of references were above my paygrade. At least back then. In any case, Gregor had stepped aside pretty gracefully when it became apparent that Robin had developed a rather keen mind for the kinds of tactics their team needed. But he had no intention of leaving the team. They were all in Lucifer's debt in one way or another and not in the sense of nuyen. Theo had developed a keen insight over the years of what people really needed, deep down, to feel like a decent person again. To feel whole. And his generosity had touched many over the years. But these people, these were the ones most devoted to him. And maybe, just maybe, if it could be done safely, they'd get to learn his name one day.

It was a pretty well-balanced group too. There were Gregor and Robin, of course, but also Opticon, the male dwarf decker/rigger who specialized in masses of drones and surveillance. Then there was Fabio, the elven Social Adept who was the group's Face and specialized in seduction. And finally, there was Thug, a male troll who wasn't anywhere near as stupid as he pretended to be. He and Fabio liked to play off each other since an out-of-control troll was something most people wanted to avoid, and Fabio had gotten his foot in a lot of doors by "talking the angry troll down" in conflicts they'd prearranged. Which, in a way, made Thug the backup Face.

Robin waited for the door to close, but not a second longer, "Look, I know you've got this whole presentation thing or whatever, but lemme skip to the end for a second. We're in."

It wasn't really any kind of surprise. Theo had always treated these people honorably, and Robin wasn't the only one who owed her life to him, and then some.

I tried not to smile. I wanted to be professional. But in a world where people routinely got stabbed in the back by those they thought were their friends, Theo - and I to an extent - had built this. I was proud.

"I appreciate that. Lucifer does too. But if you'll take a seat for a few minutes, I'll explain what you just agreed to." I replied.

I put my commlink down on the table and engaged the holographic display. A 50-centimeter tall image of Theo materialized just above it.

"This is Theodore McWellan. For the past five years, Lucifer has had me in deep cover as his bodyguard. In that time, I've been assessing Mr, McWellan's suitability as an ally to Lucifer's operation."

"Wait," Gregor interrupted, "the Theodore McWellan? The Corporate Prince? Didn't Gary Cline show up to his birthday party a few days ago?"

"It wasn't a birthday party. It was a celebration of his early emancipation. But yes. Mr McWellan is incredibly well connected and wealthy. That's why we're treating him like an ally rather than an agent." I replied.

Robin wolf-whistled "What's he like in bed?"

It wasn't her fault, really. As a bunraku puppet, she'd been loaded up with personafix chips to please her customers. They were chips that changed her overall personality to whatever template the chip had on it. But p-fix chips were only the most common means of 'customer service'. BTLs were a close second. And Robin's fate had been worse than most. Not only had she managed to survive far far longer than most people in that unfortunate position, but the BTLs most commonly used on her were shame and fear. She'd been overexposed to those emotions so often and so intensely that she literally couldn't feel them anymore. In fact, Theo had had to custom order a few skillsofts, just to route around the problem and give her the ability to understand how to act in society, even to a small degree.

"I wouldn't know, " I replied and moved on quickly, "Getting back to the topic at hand, Mr. McWellan and Lucifer have been working closely on a project that may be able to revitalize Redmond Barrens beyond any of our wildest dreams. However, due to certain circumstances with his Mother, he's been forced to live in Redmond full time while the project is underway. We believe this is a tactic to get him to give up on the project, especially since his security detail has refused to go with him."

Really, the cover story just wrote itself.

"You want use to be his security?" Robin asked.

I nodded.

"What part of Redmond?" Gregor asked.

"Squatter's Mall. The idea behind the project is to divert funds from outside into Redmond and create a path to legitimacy and SINs for the residents, and do so profitably."

Fabio laughed, "Are you kidding? Do you know how many times the corps have tried to gentrify Redmond? It's never worked and it never will."

I turned a heavy gaze in his direction, "We're not just trying to gentrify the area. We're going to gentrify the people as well."

"Uh..." Opticon decided it was his turn, "What exactly does that mean?"

I took a sharp breath, "Normally gentrification refers to buying a distressed property or properties, doing some development, then kicking out the existing residents and bringing in ones who can pay more. We're not doing that. We're going to be doing job training and other forms of upskilling on the existing residents while making physical improvements to the building itself. "

"Yeah...okay, sure," Fabio replied, "But how are you gonna manage the gangs? Has Crimson Crush signed off on this?"

"In fact, they have," I smirked, "And as for the other gangs..we are anticipating friction, but Lucifer is prepared to use the full force of all his resources and connections into this project. He's been building up to this for years. Everything he's had you doing, everything he's had me doing, all of it has been leading to this project. People will eventually move against us, and we'll have to make examples of them."

"You're talking about full-scale war," Gregor explained.

"Maybe," I replied, "But hopefully it won't come to that. Lucifer is working on means to cut the legs out from under his enemies before they can act. Hopefully, we'll be able to keep them on the backfoot and away from Squatter's Mall itself,"

"You're talking about full-scale war," came Fabio.

I sighed and nodded, "Yeah...yeah probably."

They all looked around at each other for a surprisingly short time before Robin locked eyes with me.

"We're in."

 

[Erenthia]

Theo and I had had to get rooms at the Seamstresses Union. Not that it was any kind of Hotel, but our deadline to be in Remond full-time had come before we could really get things going on Squatter's Mall. And, like anyone else running a business in the Barrens, Cherry Bomb didn't worry about silly things like convention when there was money to be made. It wasn't cheap, and not just by the standards of the Barrens either, but we weren't exactly low on money, even here. There were two main things holding us up. First, getting legally recognized as the owners of Squatter's Mall had run into some hiccups. There was already an existing legal battle between multiple entities over who should be recognized as its existing owner, only it was going in reverse from a typical legal battle of that kind. No one wanted to be saddled with it, because not only was it worthless in most people's eyes, but it came with decades of "back taxes". So it was like a race, where the first person across the line loses. Everyone involved was doing their best to put forward the case that it was someone else's problem.

You'd think that would have made it easy, but no. Because the moment it became clear that someone actually wanted it, things would have changed drastically and immediately. Everyone would have been trying to hold Theo up with their hand out looking for their cut. So Theo had had to arrange things very carefully. And he'd found a way to do it, alright. Robin's team had infiltrated Redmond's government servers and placed data there that proved quite definitively that none of the parties involved in the current legal battle were the rightful owners, instead, placing the burden of ownership on a dead man. He'd even gotten them all to owe him a few favors in the process. There was just one snag.

And it was the reason I was currently yelling at him.

"YOU INVOLVED MY FATHER'S NAME IN THIS?!?!" I shouted.

He raised his hands in a placative gesture, "Look, Miho - "

NO. I was not about to let him try to smooth this over.

"Do you have any idea how many compromises I've already made for you!? How many lies I've told? How many times I've put aside the principles of Bushido? For you! " my heart was pounding in my ears.

His eyes went to the floor and he whispered, "Yes...I do."

"Then why?" I growled.

He said nothing, which was wise. Instead, he took out his commlink and sent me an email. What I saw on the screen made me groan, but Theo beat me to the punch.

"This isn't just about you. Or us. We talked about this. You don't go outside the circle of trust for anything you don't have to. And for this, I didn't have to."

The email was a sales contract. Because of course if my father had been the legal owner, then it had passed to me on his death. And now, Theo was going to buy Squatter's Mall from me. For 5 million nuyen.

I wouldn't even be able to pretend to be a Barrens Rat anymore. And if I was being honest, I probably should have stopped trying years ago. But it would be decades before I understood the Identity Crisis that this was inducing in me. A full corporate SIN was nice to have, but it didn't mean much to me on a visceral level. Voting shares even less so, although the perks were certainly nice. The Pito stuff...well what little my gut was able to grasp about that didn't feel any different than just having the relationship with Theo that I already had. But this? This was a lot more real. I couldn't see it though, not back then. All I could focus on was my family's honor and my suspicion that Theo had done this for himself more than for me.

"Tell me there wasn't another reason. Look at me and tell me that, deep down, you weren't just trying to dump money on me to make yourself feel like a hero," I commanded.

Theo turned a surprisingly hard gaze in my direction, "You don't know all my secrets yet, Miho Tanaka. But you will. One day, when the time comes, you'll know why I did this. And you'll realize it wasn't for the reasons you think."

That set me on the backfoot. It was all true. And I wasn't sure what shocked me more, that he apparently hadn't done this to quell his codependent urges, or that he still had secrets from me.

I folded my arms, "Fine. But I need your word you won't involve my family's legacy in anything else, ever."

He folded his arms in return, "I promise only to ask your permission first. And that I'll abide by your decision."

"Fine. Whatever."

We sat down facing away from each other. I knew I had overreacted, but I was too proud to apologize. It wasn't that being the owner of Squatter's Mall on paper was any kind of dishonor to my family. Even my father, whose interpretation of Bushido was - at least in practice - much stricter than my own, would have shrugged at it. Though if he had known the larger deception around the issue, it probably would have bothered him. No, my real issue - at least the one I was aware of at the time - was what had slipped out while I was yelling at him. I'd compromised a lot over the years. I'd spent a lot of nights staring up at the ceiling in my luxurious bedroom in Bellevue, wondering what my father would think of me now. On the one hand, I had a Lord who it was my duty as a Samurai to protect. And he was a good and just Lord, but he wasn't exactly honest. I didn't have any problem with Theo having a fake identity. The principle of Makoto didn't preclude you from having secrets any more than not backing down from fear meant you had to go base-jumping without a parachute.

And I was...sort of okay with lying to Mother, even if that never really seemed to work for very long. And, in a crisis, I had no problem lying to save someone's life. My father had been flat-out wrong about that one. But...Theo didn't just lie as a last resort. In fact, sometimes it seemed like he had given up on the truth. He had accepted that people saw him a certain way and rather than try to disabuse them of that notion, he played into it. Every time. Lying was just...another tool in his toolbox. And sometimes it seemed like it was his favorite one.

Father wouldn't have liked that. Especially considering how much I'd got wrapped up in his schemes and had been lying for him. Even lying to Robin and her team. And that was probably what had been the most confusing. If Robin and her team knew the truth, they wouldn't have been offended. It was just basic information security. I'd studied that in the security courses I'd taken over the years. I knew the importance of information control, why it was necessary, and how to implement it. But a lot of that clashed with the values I'd been raised with. And that left me floundering. Wondering what was really true.

Theo's commlink beeped and he sighed.

"Robin's team is here. They have Chief Delucca," he said.

That had been the second thing holding us up. For things to get started, we needed more than a security team. Robin's team and I could manage Theo's personal safety, but we needed someone with law enforcement experience to train Lucifer's other Agents - and some of the residents - into an effective police force. We'd done our research, obviously, and there were people there doing something approximating that job, but they weren't exactly doing the whole protect and serve thing. Some were. There were always good people around but they didn't have much power.

If only the wicked seek power then only the wicked will have power. Theo had once told me.

So, Theo had had some of Lucifer's lieutenants do some digging, and eventually, they'd found Simon Delucca. A Lone Star Sergeant stuck on desk duty. He'd been on the fast track to Lieutenant until he'd pursued a sexual assault investigation just a little too far. Even after it became clear that the perpetrator was the son of someone wealthy and powerful, Delucca had pursued the case until it had destroyed his career. He was exactly the kind of man we were looking for. One of the ones who hadn't given up. And he wasn't afraid to dive deep into the black heart of Redmond if it meant he'd have people to help. But even voluntary extractions weren't always easy. Still, Robin's team had been up to the job.

So now we had our own Chief of Police for Squatter's Mall. Things were in motion now. Taking shape. I couldn't deny the excitement I was feeling. This was going to work.

We made our way outside to find six armored vans. All filled with Agents of Lucifer. Honestly, we were still a little light on manpower, but Theo didn't want to overplay his hand just yet. We hopped into the van with Chief Delucca and Robin's team in it. I took the opportunity to check on our forward agents while Theo gave Delucca a last minute briefing on his new job and our expectations for him. The community leaders knew we were on our way, and that we wanted to meet with them immediately. And that meant we needed to be on high alert for our approach. Inevitably some of them wouldn't want us to ever arrive and some of those would be stupid enough to do something drastic to make that happen. But even a stupid attack could be dangerous.

"Missile inbound!" Optitron shouted from the drivers seat, "acoutistic sensors only! Not on radar!"

"I'm on it!" Gregor called out.

Gregor, who was seated next to the van's optical periscope, pulled the viewfinder up to his face and started whirling his chair around. It had to be optical because line of sight spells couldn't translate through a digital medium. And if someone had, say, cast an Improved Invisibility spell on a missle, he'd still be able see its astral aura. Of course, there were other ways to defeat radar, but it was generally impossible to combine radar absorbant material and optical camouflage. Unless, you know, someone had figured out how to do that and not told anyone...which happened from time to time back then. I knew that if that was the case, we were dead.

An explosion range out in the distance.

"Got it!" Gregor exclaimed in victory.

"Let's hope they could only afford to do that once," Theo said, pulling his collar away from his neck.

"Not seeing anything, " Gregor replied, still spinning in his seat, "and Daisey say's we're clear."

"Daisey?" Delucca asked. The shock in is gravelly voice made me smirk. He was every bit the overweight, world-weary police officer the trideos had trained me to believe all cops were.

"Gregor's ally spirit," I explained, "She's actually quite formidable. Force 8, I believe?"

"Nine, " Gregor corrected.

"Jesus. If she's that powerful, how'd she miss the first one then?" Delucca asked.

"Don't fragging jinx us!" Thug complained. I imagine he was feeling pretty uncomfortable, squeezed into the corner like that. Not to mention powerless. He wasn't actually superstitious, but implying another missile might be coming wasn't doing anything for his disposition.

"Nah, Daisey's great!" Optitron ignored him, and I could hear the smirk in his voice, "I'm just better."

We made it the rest of the way without incident. Standing in front of the entrance to Squatter's Mall reminded me, in no small way, of the time five years ago, when I was standing in front of the McWellan estate about to embark on a new journey. But where, in that situation, I'd been...concerned...about going into the unknown and all the dangers I'd face that I had never dealt with before, this situation was quite the opposite. I'd lived in Redmond most of my life and I knew its horrors intimately. And I had escaped. I may not have been free in Bellevue, but I'd certainly been comfortable. And safe, to a degree. I had been almost all the way down at the bottom of the list Tabitha had forced Theo to make. The one that determined who got their SIN burned. (Or who got fed to the Tamanos or given to the Yakuza to be a Bunraku, or other even worse fates. Tabitha had quite an imagination). Only Meela had been below me on that list. Oh I'd never seen the list myself, but I knew where I stood.

In this moment, though, part of me wanted Theo to call the whole thing off and decide that a vacation to Hawai'i was a better use of our time. And that maybe - just maybe - lounging around in a bikini feeding him grapes wasn't as degrading as I'd thought.

It was an unworthy thought. This was a fear I could face and the cause was just. I'd see it through.

(We could always do Hawai'i later. Probably without the bikini and grapes thing. Maybe if he was a good boy)

Where the frag did that thought come from?

The Agents of Lucifer had all gathered now and we were getting ready to make our grand entrance. And all in shiny new hardened milspec armor with Lucifer's Sigil on their left pectoral. Even Robin's team changed into theirs while I was lost in my musings. I of course had to maintain my maneuverability, not to mention demonstrate air of authority. Officially I was no longer Theo's bodyguard, but his executive assistant (although having a dual role like that wasn't entirely uncommon). So Theo had gotten me an armored women's business suit. It managed to provide surprisingly good protection while still looking like something you'd wear to a board meeting. Elegant and tasteful. Frankly, I was a little surprised. It's not that Theo was the type to force me to dress in something tasteless and slutty, but...I mean, he was still a teenage boy. Maybe he had Robin for that. She'd long ago decided that retreating into prudish celibacy was "letting them win" and had instead chosen to distinguish her new life from her old one by becoming a sex godess rather than a sex slave. Her armor still covered everything armor was supposed to - she wasn't an idiot - but it accentuated every curve to the point where she looked a bit like a sex robot. We had managed, thank God, to talk her out of adding artificial nipples and a camel toe to the armor's aesthetics. Theo himself also worse armored clothing, but in the understated and subtle style of Old Money rather than the Corporate Executive style he'd chosen for me.

It was nearly time.

Theo had very mixed feelings about this, but I'd been adamant. We'd run through as many alternatives as we could think of, but the simple truth was that we had to make a show of strength in the beginning. We could show kindness and mercy later, but only from a position of power. Theo didn't even know what it was like for people to not know he was powerful. It had been so ubiquitous throughout his life, he wasn't even aware that he was unaware of it. And sure, the people here would know that he was rich and powerful out there but bringing that to bear here was another matter entirely. I'd comforted him by reminding him that every single person we'd brought with us was a known Agent of Lucifer, and that would not be missed by anyone.

The outside of Squatter's Mall would have held no surprises for anyone. Just a big blocky building, worn down by time. But at five stories tall, it loomed over us like a mountain ready to fall. It was certainly old enough for that. The glass doors had been shattered long ago and replaced with steel plates by the mall's residents. Really, if you looked, you could see talent and ingenuity everywhere here, only hampered by a lack of resources. Finally, we embarked. Our entrance, thankfully, proceeded uneventfully. People got out of our way with a quickness. Part of me expected something dramatic to happen. Maybe a child would trip into our path and Theo would get to show people his true colors by being kind and gentle. No such luck. We'd have to rely on our own choices here, not the vicissitudes of fate.

The stores of Squatter's Mall had, without exception, all been converted into something. Mostly sleeping areas. There were shops occasionally, but a lot of those were out in the main thoroughfare. Someone actually had the guts to try to hawk some goods to us, so much to my annoyance Theo stopped and did a little shopping. Would you believe that someone had the balls to try to sell clothes to Theodore McWellan in that place? And they succeeded. He bought a Hawaiian shirt of all things and didn't bother to haggle. Maybe he did it just to reward the shopkeeper's bravery, but I think he did it to make a connection. To start getting it out there that he was approachable and friendly - or at least could be.

Finally, we made it to our destination. On the third floor, in what used to be one of the larger department stores, the community leaders had set up a sort of council where they figured out how to...well govern to be honest. This was effectively a town and they were the elders. Though many of them weren't what you'd call old. And half of them were gang leaders, although the definition of "gang" could get a little loose out here. Imam Ibrahim and Father Forthill sat next to each other whispering between themselves. Colm O'brien, with his bushy hair and grease stained clothes stood out as well. He ran a team of people who maintained the mall's systems as best they could. There was little in the way of Matrix access, but there was just enough heat to keep people alive in the winter without having to burn trash indoors and some of the lights and toilets even worked. Annu Wu, a petite asian woman - barely over 1.5 meters - ran the local brothel, although we had surprisingly little information about her. She'd just showed up one day, apparently, and practically overnight gained control over all the sex work in Squatter's Mall. It had been a massive improvement too. One of the only things we knew about her was that she protected her girls (and boys) quite fiercly. She got them off drugs and BTLs, made sure they got proper medical care, and made damn sure that everyone knew what happened to people who mistreated them.

I knew their names, and everyone else's here, because Lucifer had files on all of them. You don't spend years planning a project like this without doing your research.

That's how I knew one of these people was about to die.

 

[Erenthia]

The beginning is a very delicate time, Theo often liked to say when beginning a new venture. And this particular new beginning had to go exactly right. So many years of preparation had gone into this that pressure was at an all-time high. We were threading a needle here and the consequences for failure were enormous. It would have been trivial to cow them. With everything we knew, could place enormous pressures on them of various kinds and their cooperation would have been a nonfactor. Of course, even if he had come here with nothing but selfish motives that could be problematic in the long term. People have a tendency to look for ways out when you trap them, and it's hard to think of everything. Someone, somewhere would eventually find a crack and slip through.

On the other hand, just giving them everything they wanted for nothing wouldn't have worked out for anyone either. Not only would it make them trust us less, but it would make them dependent or result in them using whatever we gave them for harmful purposes. And it would also mean we wouldn't get to stay. Tabitha had given us a year to show profitability and that wasn't a lot of time in the best of circumstances. We had backup plans, of course, but they were all strictly inferior to main plan. I mean, if one of them had been better it would have been the main plan from the start. This had to go right.

"You're all wondering why I'm here," Theo began. He had taken a position seated at the head of a conference table the leaders of Squatter's Mall had long ago repurposed for their meetings. They kept the room clean, but signs of decay were everywhere and the aesthetics had been the first to go, dying a forgotten death before anyone here had been born. Instead, the place had a spartan energy to it, which suited me just fine. I had taken up a position standing at Theo's right hand, standing at the ready though just a pace behind him. Robin had done the same on the left, although she'd removed her helmet to reveal her artificially green eyes and synthetically perfect auburn hair. Lucifer had spared no expense when it came to any and every alteration Robin had wanted to make to her body. Just so she could make it feel like hers again.

"...and what this means for you. Some of you are even concerned for the welfare of others. Those are the ones who will do the best under me while I'm here, but I don't expect you to believe that now." he continued.

"Cut the drek, " Anna interjected, "We don't need you to hold our hands and tell us we look pretty before you frag us in the ass. Just get this over with."

Theo smirked. So did Robin. Actually, I was having trouble avoiding it myself.

"Well, I suppose there's a lot to go over, so it wouldn't hurt to jump right in." Theo spared a brief glance at his commlink, "I have a presentation in the works for you, but it's not quite ready yet. So, to start, I should tell you I've done a lot of research on this place, or rather Lucifer has and he's shared it with me. But while I know generally what I'm getting into it's never wise to take control over a new office and make sweeping changes right away. At least not when you can avoid it. Things will generally continue for the next two to three weeks as they always have been, just with oversight from me and Lucifer's people after which time I will begin to take a more active role in day-to-day operations."

Theo leaned forward and placed his hands forward on the table, fingers interlaced together, "But I can already tell you some of the structural changes. First, you will be my advisory board. I'll need your recommendations with regard to policy changes and personnel recommendations. Which - "

Anna interrupted again, "Why should we help you with anything,"

"Because, Wu-měinǚ, I can be extremely accommodating," every once in a while - very rarely - Theo would remind me he was still Tabitha's son. Only the McWellans could make a bribe sound like a threat, or a threat sound like a bribe, "For instance, I've been authorized to issue as many time-limited SINs as I want. And if this project succeeds, they will automatically convert into permanent limited SINs after a year. That's not bad for a start, is it?"

"It's Anna. Just Anna," she replied, "and...I guess it isn't."

I was getting that itching feeling of something being not quite as expected. We'd anticipated some hesitancy on the part of most of the mall's leadership to engage in a dialogue with us, but Anna wasn't pulling her punches. It could be that since she was the most junior member, the others had forced or maneuvered her into position to be the fall guy. To test the waters to see what would happen and if Theo didn't like her tone, well she was just the newest among them and didn't represent the others.

Something about that explanation didn't feel complete.

"How, exactly are you ensuring compliance? If everything people are saying about this Lucifer guy is true, his men won't exactly follow your every order. I assume you've got some kind of major bribe for the rank and file on its way? Something to build goodwill? Pallets of MREs or something?"

And that's when I noticed it. Anna Wu wasn't just putting on a good show. She was certainly nervous but she wasn't instinctively afraid the way the others were. Even BladeJob, head of the 9-to-5ers, the most vicious gang in Squatter's Mall, wasn't willing to just jump into the ring with Theodore McWellan, fists flying, expecting to be treated like an equal. Speaking of the devil...

"Hey, yeah," BladeJob entered the fray. The wirey but tall black-haired human had sunken eyes from too many brain-benders and - in fact - looked like he might be high right now. "That'll certainly get you what you need from my guys. Might want to throw in some guns too. Just to make sure we're able to get things done for ya,"

Theo's eyes flickered BladeJob's way, just to acknowledge he'd been heard, and then moved back to Anna.

"Two shipping containers of officer-grade Loan Star MREs, 7 maintenance and repair drones, 500 square meters of Sun-Cells, an emergency Matrix node, and 15 autodocs. Also, 5 coffin hotels...mostly for their integrated showers."

Anna nodded, her eyes unfocused for a moment as she calculated, "Not a bad start I guess..."

And that's what did it for me. Theo probably figured it out before I did, but I suddenly realized what made her different from the others. She lacked instinctive fear, had no small degree of entitlement, was educated and charismatic enough to get the Squatter's Mall sex industry under her thumb in record time, and even her posture was authoritative. I'd met dozens or hundreds just like her at every fancy party Tabitha had forced Theo and I to go to growing up. She wasn't just rich. She was Old Money. And she was slumming.

"Uh..." Doctor Fadil, found his voice He was an older man of Mediterranean descent. Lucifer's files on him were also woefully incomplete, but unlike Anna he was practically an institution at Squatter's Mall. He'd been here since before I was born.

"Autodocs? What kind? I can't afford much, but we could really use them," Fadil asked.

"He's not selling them to you, " Anna interjected, and I couldn't tell if she was angry or not. Something about the tension in her voice, "He's going to charge you per use."

"Not at all, " Theo corrected her, "Healthy workers are productive workers. Just the cost of doing business, really."

That got everyone's attention with a quickness. He was giving them free medical care. No one did that. Ever.

Theo's commlink beeped.

"Ah! Looks like my presentation's ready." he smiled, "but first, I need to address some issues with regards to how order is kept here. Lucifer has informed me that this is largely handled by you, Mr Bladejob, and your 9-to-5-ers"

Bladejob nodded, "Oh yeah, boss. You keep us in guns, booze, and ammo and we'll keep the peace for you."

Theo's gaze started to harden, ever so slowly.

"He also informed me that you have a thriving side business making custom BTLs? I'm curious, could you tell me what kind? Or how they're made?" those last four words came out hard enough to remind me of Tabitha again.

Bladejob blanched and his eyes split wide. He hadn't expected a corporate executive of all people to care about his little side business of recording a child's first experience with hard drugs. And...other things. The people of Squatter's Mall did try to protect their children, but it was still Redmond. Kids became orphaned every day, and the 9-to-5ers were the most powerful gang in the mall, due to the money they brought in and the protection it allowed them to buy from Crimson Crush. The ork gang had become more respectable over the years, but they were still a gang and could still be convinced to turn a blind eye for the right price. Especially if the victims weren't orks.

Theo pressed a button on his commlink and a holographic image sprang to life above it. All 43 members of the 9-to-5ers were on their knees with black bags over their heads. All surrounded by Robin's team and other Agents of Lucifer, ready to do what was right.

"Hey, what the frag!" Bladejob went for his gun, but Robin was on him in flash. His weapon clattered to the floor and he suddenly found himself with his face pinned to the table, and his arm twisted around his back.

Everyone here knew what Bladejob had been doing. What they were all doing. Knowing what I now knew about Anna, she might have been building up to something, but no one had said anything at all during the meeting. The Barrens was a place of abject desperation and people had their limits.

"I take a dim view of people who hurt children, " Theo was addressing the others. Bladejob was a thing now rather than a person. His opinion, of no consequence. He screamed anyway.

"Can any of you speak for them? For any of them? Can you tell me if even one of them isn't guilty?" Theo asked.

Silence. And then...

"Siddig," said Imam Ibrahim, "He involved himself with them recently, but he's just a low-level enforcer. He's hurt no children."

"Jason, " Father Forthill added immediately afterward, "his situation is much the same. You have to understand, Mr. McWellan, life is very hard here. Often you have to make compromises just to survive. Please, have mercy."

Theo relayed the two names to Gregor, who released them.

"Anyone else?" Theo asked.

Silence

Theo gave the word and 41 people died in an instant. Robin let Bladejob linger just a second longer than the others so he could watch. Then she snapped his neck like a twig. She hoisted his limp corpse over her armored shoulder and took it out of the room where it wouldn't be a distraction.

"So it looks like we're going to need volunteers for a new police force. On that note...allow me to introduce Simon Delucca, our new police chief."

As you might imagine, things went fairly smoothly for the next couple of weeks. It's not that there wasn't friction, but between Theo, Robin and her team, and myself, we managed to put the right image of hard-but-fair into the minds of the community leaders, which trickled down to the rest of the population. And it didn't hurt that Theo was tossing out SINs like candy at a parade, or that he was bringing in supplies by the literal tonne. The resources Theo had brought in were relatively minimal compared to what the place really needed, but he had cargo helicopters coming in twice a week with more. The maintenance and repair drones also managed to save Mr. Obrien and his people a fair amount of time which they paid for with mandatory study to gain the licenses they'd need to do that work professionally. Not that that took very long. The vast majority of it was stuff they'd been doing for years without the burden of corporate legitimacy. But legitimacy had its uses. Once the most desperate of Squatter's Mall's structural and electronic issues were dealt with, Mr. Obrien's team was suddenly overstaffed.

That had been all part of the plan. Theo issued them Rigger Control Consoles and put them in the Horizon General Labor pool, and they quickly found jobs doing similar work all over the world via the Matrix. He took a 15% cut from their pay, but that money went into the general project fund and paid for things like general maintenance, security training and guard salaries, and routine maintenance on the autodocs. It wasn't a lot, but the jobs were essentially marketing aimed at the residents. The corps had a long history of predatory practices towards their laborers so Theo had quite a lot of trust to build. Still, when people saw how O'brien's team had been treated, it softened them up for what came next. One of those predatory practices I mentioned was loaning people money for cybersurgeries mandatory for their job. Predatory, but common and fairly accepted. And Theo was doing much the same to balance the books, but the loans were tied to their temporary SINs. If the Project went up in smoke, then so did their debt. He was offering only skilljacks, the hardware necessary to utilize Knowsofts and Linguasofts. It would let people be fairly decent at most tasks they could get the software for. And of course, Theo had purchased numerous skillsofts and placed them in Squatter's Mall's new digital public library.

But he never took more than 15% of anyone's base pay. And within two months, 20% of Squatter's Mall was gainfully employed via the general labor pool. If you've heard of trickle-down economics, well...this was hail economics. One in five people now had more money than they'd ever had in their lives. More than they knew what to do with. And the internal market of Squatter's Mall was struggling to keep up with demand. Theo was willing to bring in additional consumer goods in his twice-weekly shipments, but he didn't want to be the sole bottleneck for the Market. He wanted it to thrive on its own, but for now, there weren't many other options. And the people were hiring each other as well. It wasn't exactly Bellevue, but we were coming up on Everette at least. Just on an extremely small scale.

Two weeks into that, I was in my own personal coffin hotel, pleasure reading and getting ready to sleep the sleep of the just, when I heard approaching footsteps. I glanced at the monitor on the wall and noticed Robin creeping up on Theo's coffin hotel, immediately next to mine. She was wearing some kind of bathrobe, but not for long. She dropped it to the ground revealing lingerie - a classic Teddy in fact - and it reminded me just how much she'd altered her body over the years. Both legs and one arm entirely replaced, but with the best synthskin on the market. Both her eyes were entirely robotic, and - because it was Robin - she'd had a boob-job as well. Thankfully her friends managed to convince her not to take it to cartoonish levels, but she was uh...voluptuous. She pulled the rounded verticle door of Theo's coffin open, blatantly abusing her clearance codes, and jumped inside.

This was going to be hilarious.

I couldn't help myself. I activated my enhanced hearing and found myself wishing I had some popcorn. But I wouldn't have needed it to hear Theo's sharp shriek.

"Robin! What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" it was a stupid question in her eyes. Which reminded me that maybe I shouldn't be finding this so funny. Robin wasn't going to hurt Theo, and he wouldn't hurt her. It was just a funny mixup, or so I'd thought at first. But I was quickly reminded of Robin's cognitive impairment and realized I'd been a bit of a dick. It was not the case that Robin couldn't consent to sex or anything. She wasn't that far gone. Not at all. But knowing what was appropriate was difficult for her. That's what the custom knowsofts he'd commissioned for her were for, but it seemed like she wasn't using them.

"Look, Robin, if you want to get laid, there's plenty of other options out there." Theo pleaded with her.

"I didn't come here to get laid. I came here so you could get laid." she explained.

What?

"What?" Theo asked.

I heard the shuffling sounds of uncomfortable movement - the only kind of movement in a coffin hotel - before she explained. Sort of explained.

"So did you take your shot and she shot you down? Or did you never have the balls to even try?"

Wait? Did Theo have some kind of crush on someone? How had I missed that one?

"Robin please, not now. It's late and I'm really very - " Theo began, but she cut him off.

"I know you're Lucifer." she said flatly.

Silence.

"Listen, Robin - " Theo tried, but she wasn't having it.

"Don't. We've talked almost every day for the past five years. I know you. And you know I'm loyal. There's no one more loyal to you than me. Not even her. I'd die for you and you should fragging know that by now." it wasn't quite an accusation, but it was close. I should have been up and out and giving Theo an excuse to escape the conversation, but there was something I was missing and I didn't even know what it was.

I heard Theo's breathing increase just slightly, "Robin...I..."

"Look....kid, " Robin took over, "I don't care if you don't love me or about any stupid drek like being the silver medal. I don't care if you're thinking about her the whole time. Drek, close your eyes and scream out her name for all I care. But I see how lonely you are. And she doesn't."

A dawning horror came over me as the realization of knowledge I didn't want threatened to crash down into my awareness.

"Why?" Theo whispered.

Now it was Robin's turn for her heart to beat a little faster and breath a little heavier, "I don't even...there aren't words to describe what you did for me. It doesn't even fit in my head. Do you know what that's like? To owe someone so much that the weight of it smothers you alive day and night? To be so desperate to do something anything just to try to acknowledge it, even if you know nothing could ever be enough?"

That was the moment I realized this was going to happen. I hadn't thought she had a chance. Plenty of women had tried to hit on Theo before and I had derived no small pleasure from watching them fail. But Robin wasn't going to fail. On the contrary, she'd already succeeded.

"Yeah...yeah, I know that feeling," Theo replied. I knew that tone. There was a distance in his voice and a sadness at the other end of that distance. There were parts of him I just couldn't reach, but maybe Robin could. Maybe this was good for him. Maybe he needed this.

I didn't want to hear the rest, and I'm not just talking about the sex. I crept out of the coffin hotel as quietly as I could and made my way up to the roof. There were security drones patrolling the perimeter but no people. I leaned up against a ledge and stared up a the moon...contemplating.

So Theodore McWellan was in love with me. Somehow it didn't come as a surprise. Nor was it a surprise that he hadn't said anything. Theo was very aware of power dynamics and knew the position that would place me in if I didn't return his feelings. Maybe that was what the five million nuyen was about. Maybe he needed me to be totally and completely independent before he could feel secure enough to admit his feelings without having to worry about the pressure that would place me under.

No, something about that didn't feel right. Theo knew I was a Samurai and how important my integrity was. He knew that wouldn't be an issue for me, surely. Suddenly the money didn't seem so interesting. It was a curiosity, but not related to the matter at hand.

How did I feel about him?

Relationships....weren't exactly my specialty. Growing up in the Barrens, most guys...weren't really interested. I was decent-looking enough, I supposed, but the thing about guys is that they liked to be needed. As a physical adept, there wasn't a lot most guys could offer me from a utilitarian perspective. And the thing about people is that if they see rejection coming, most don't even try. Most guys just assumed I'd see them as having nothing to offer me so they stayed away. That didn't mean I didn't have to deal with creeps or people trying to manipulate me or guys looking for one-night stands. But I'd never had a real relationship. At least female Street Samurai occasionally hooked up with their mechanics.

I'd been on the roof for a little more than an hour when I heard familiar footsteps approaching. It was Robin and she'd even remembered to put clothes on. She snapped her fingers and a small flame sparked to life above her thumb. She lit herself a cigarette, took a deep drag, and blew it straight up into the air.

"I'm not here to brag. I'm not like that. Really I don't get why anyone does that kinda thing. You have a second?" Robin's weird pseudo-innocence on display.

"I'm tired, Robin," I told her, but I knew it wouldn't make any difference.

"You should join us, next time," she said.

Robin and I were both born Barrens Rats, so for us, polyamory was a normal and accepted thing. Well, mostly. A lot of people try to get away from that kinda thing when and if they made it out. Because in Redmond, it was exploitative as often as not. If you were lucky enough to be the third bitch of some Yakuza foot soldier, you get to eat every single day, and if you were a good girl he probably wouldn't even beat you that much. That's not to say it never happened for love. It certainly did. But I was already out of my depth thinking about the more conventional sort.

I almost made the mistake of saying something, but that would have continued the conversation, so I just kept looking at the moon.

"I knew you were there, " Robin kept going, "but he didn't. Well, he knew but he was sort of distracted. Didn't think about it until after. He got all...uh...what's the word?"

"Embarrassed?" I asked.

"Right, yeah. That thing. Says he's sorry. "

"Tell him...not to mention it. At all. "

Robin nodded.

"So uh...what's the hold up with you two? He's hot, rich, and punch-drunk in love with you. I know it's not all about fragging, but come on. What are you, waiting for marriage? " Robin laughed.

"Now's, not a good time, Robin," and the strain in my voice was only a fraction of what I was feeling.

She held her hands up, "Alright, alright. I'll go. But just so you know, I'm not standing in your way. You found him first and I've got no problem being the side-bitch. And I think you know why."

Robin turned to go, but...I don't know why I felt the need to do this but I did.

"I didn't." Robin turned back to look at me, obviously not knowing what I was talking about, "find him first, I mean. You beat me to him by a few minutes. I even overheard the last few minutes of his conversation with you."

"When I was on the ledge?" Robin said, not quite wistfully, but it seems I'd certainly taken her back in time with my words.

It wasn't really a question, but I nodded anyway. And for a moment, there was silence. Robin stepped down the stairs and disappeared. And then I was alone again.

Oh god, I was alone again.

 

[Erenthia]

AN:

The last chapter came out in a bit of a rush and was poorly edited as a result. I usually don't call out edits, but there was a mistake this time that affected the story enough that I'm calling it out here. Theo's little economic miracle did not take two weeks. It took two months. There are a bunch of other little edits here and there but that's the big one. I probably need to clean up previous chapters as well, but that won't affect the story. it's just me being neurotic.

---

I had to admit it. Theo and Robin were a cute couple, and at this point, they were practically inseparable. Part of me, in a far corner deep inside, raged at the feeling that Robin had taken my place. But her offer echoed in my mind every time I felt that way. She'd even offered to take a subordinate role in the hypothetical triad and that made it painfully obvious that if I was indeed missing out on something, it was for no other reason than my own cowardice. And that made me rage even more.

So, I focused on the job. 90% of our efforts had been on the backup plan because that was the harder part. Demonstrating how to create a functioning economy - proving that it worked and could be done - didn't really require corporate legitimacy. Everything we'd done could in theory be done without Theo's involvement. Fake SINs and fake licenses weren't that difficult to get in the Shadows. Theo had made the process enormously faster, but it wasn't a requirement. But people needed more than just an explanation of how to do it. They needed a demonstration. They needed hope. And that's what we gave them. Of course, not everyone had the skills to reasonably do any kind of online job even if they had the skills to survive in the Barrens.

So we made a school. A big chunk of that was just Theo dropping yet more money on a simply absurd number of tutorsofts. This again was something that could have been done without him or his money. You just needed a decker to break the DRM and it got a lot cheaper. The school wasn't free but it didn't charge upfront. You paid with an extra 5% deduction on whatever wage you brought in once Theo and his executive assistants found you a job. It wasn't a perfect solution. Plenty of people in the Barrens in general and Squatter's Mall specifically had turned to brain-benders to deal with the hopelessness and stress. Plenty more were just obstreperous. So not everyone could function in the outside world.

But it didn't have to be perfect. Squatter's Mall was its own economy and culture and knew how to deal with and integrate those kinds of people. Chief Delucca had had to adapt, but that wasn't exactly a surprise to him. We'd been training locals to act as a police force as quickly as possible. The Agents of Lucifer did their best, but even if most of them were from Redmond they weren't from here. We needed people who understood this place to properly govern it. And it didn't hurt to have another vector for injecting money into the system. We paid our police officers well but expected a lot from them. Integrity most of all. Again it wasn't perfect but it was working.

None of this was the main plan.

Because you see, none of this was making any money. That wasn't any surprise, mind you, because any business required investing large amounts of money and effort in order to build it into an abstract machine for wealth creation. Reinvesting profits into expansion had been traditional once, according to Theo. Now it was a lost art. That was the reason, according to Theo anyway, that we hadn't had much in the way of corporate dickery to deal with. And, with the exception of Tabitha, Theo didn't expect any. None of the mid-level execs who we'd normally have to worry about had any fragging clue what was going on or why we were doing what we were doing. Oh, we'd had our share of shadowrunner infiltrations, but they'd been strictly recon only. We knew this because of the number of times our computer systems had been infiltrated with no apparent damage. And from the number of runners who straight-up admitted that they'd done it. Many had taken the job because they didn't like someone fragging with the Barrens and wanted to know what we were up to and how to punish us. Not everyone trusted Lucifer.

We earned a lot of allies that way, even if they weren't ready to sign on as Agents. But corporate malfeasance wasn't our only problem. The Mafia and the Yakuza hated Lucifer for his interference in their sex trade. And there were plenty of minor gangs in Redmond who might take offense at a megacorp intruding one of the few place they felt they could be free of them, even if that freedom cost them everything. The smaller gangs weren't much of an issue, but the Mafia and the Yakuza were only too happy to frag with us at every opportunity. And we'd suffered losses. Good people died, both civilians and police. Agents of Lucifer and otherwise. But they didn't die in vain.

Because the main plan, our true source of income, was Social Media.

We were from Horizon after all.

And it wasn't just charity concerts like the one Theo threw at the beginning of all of this, although those continued. We couldn't leave the Barrens, but with the Matrix that wasn't any kind of limitation for someone with a god-tier Pito score like Theo. But that was just the tip of the spear. You see, the restoration of Squatter's Mall was a story. And people loved stories. So Theo had turned everything we'd been doing, at least everything that wasn't privileged information, into a reality show. Anna and the rest of the Advisory Board helped point us in the direction of people with the necessary charisma and we issued them whatever they needed to get started live vlogging the restoration, the attacks, everything. Stories of hope and despair and love and loss and renewal were pouring out of Squatter's Mall nonstop via the Matrix. And people were eating it up. Viewership was beyond all expectations. So were the sponsorship offers. Theo and I even got in on the action ourselves. His new relationship with Robin made teenage girls everywhere swoon, and people especially loved my rags to riches to giving back story.

But it was the funerals that really brought in the superchats. I had some pretty mixed feelings about that. We all did, even Theo. But this was the Barrens, a place where if your mother died from exposure to the cold the night before and you sold her for parts to the Tamanous just to be able to eat for another day, most people weren't going to judge you. So, much like Anna, we were giving our 'whores' as much dignity and respect and care as we could possibly manage. But we were still whoring them out. It was just another way to survive the Barrens.

And people understood, mostly. Theo and I had done everything we could to be approachable while maintaining the understanding that we were the ones who were In Charge. But even if the residents were cooperating, it had still taken them months to realize that we weren't here to squeeze them. Slowly at first, people started to realize who Theo really was, and I don't mean his identity as Lucifer. It crept up on us slowly but surely until one day I realized as Theo, Robin, and I were walking down the main thoroughfare that everyone was smiling at us. No one flinched when they saw us or rushed to get out of our way. They looked relaxed.

It was a goddamn miracle.

And just in time for Christmas. Oh did I say, 'Christmas'? Sorry, I meant Horizon's Multicultural Winter Solstice Celebration! But where most corp holidays were sterile affairs to placate the masses and encourage consumerism, Theo had used the empty corporate pandering as an opportunity to further unify the community. Rather than hide from the multiplicity of faiths and belief systems, we'd embraced them. We put together a festival to show off everyone's faiths and cultures, their food and their histories, in a collaborative way rather than a competitive one. We celebrated each other.

And afterward, there was a feast. At least by local standards. While the top one percent of Squatter's Mall residents had an income of 50,000 nuyen a year, our real success was in getting the median income up to 6,000 a year. That may not sound like much, but it was a very significant step. And we were celebrating that as much as anything else. On top of that, it looked like we were well on our way to showing profitability by the end of the fiscal year.

I should have known things were going too well. Remember what I said about the profitability of live streaming funerals? Well...we were about to make a lot of money.

The lights all went red and an alarm klaxon sounded. It was the exact same klaxon Theo had used back in Bellevue.

"Brace for impacts!" Chief Delucca's voice came over the mall-wide intercom not two seconds before a series of explosions rang out from the west side of the building. I checked my commlink.

Six missiles had hit the west side of the building and two had hit the roof. They'd taken out the Matrix node, our new water tower, and the external sensors. Casualty reports hadn't even started coming in yet, but I knew dozens were dead at least, although it would have been worse if the attack hadn't come during the feast with everyone near the center of the building. You might think that in a place as violent and dangerous as the Barrens, people might not panic, but you'd be wrong. These people had lived with frayed nerves all their lives and the fact that their lives had gotten better recently only meant that their guards were down. Oh, we'd had attacks in the past, but nothing like this. Still, Delucca's men did their best and soon people were making their way to the basement where we'd set up a shelter for just such an occasion.

Robin and I were already escorting Theo out of the situation as he directed the response via commlink. The basement also contained a war room and everyone in the leadership who wasn't needed for their physical presence was already on their way. We'd almost made it too. The machine-gun turrets outside the front entrance fired briefly before being silenced by an explosion that blew the entire wall open two stories high and let in a stream of go-gangers, all laughing maniacally.

They were all dwarfs of various types and all in baseball caps.

The Red Hot Nukes.

And that meant a lot of them would be physical adepts. Their leader, Grinder, certainly was, though I wasn't seeing him yet. I wish I could tell you about the battle that ensued. I'm sure it would have made an exciting story. I did hear about it later and watched the footage like everyone else, but I had a job to do. And Theo wasn't making it easy. I saw the intention in his eyes before he acted on it and grabbed him just as he rushed in their direction.

"They won't hurt me!" he screamed.

I knew what he was thinking. Because I was thinking it too. Mother had decided we'd had it too easy and arranged this. Maybe he thought he could talk them out of it. Maybe he thought he could make them a better offer. But it was just as likely this attack was genuine. The Red Hot Nukes were famous for their hatred of the corporations and their leader's neo-anarchist ideology. And if there was one thing they wouldn't be able to stand, even more than the depredations of the megas, it would be an example of capitalism that helped people. A good corporate prince was anathema to their entire ideology and could not be allowed to exist. So even if Mother was behind this attack, they'd kill him no matter what.

Fortunately for me, Theo hadn't had much time to stay in practice on his martial arts, so I subdued him quickly and dragged him down the narrow hall that led to the public restrooms. He fought me the whole way. He couldn't keep it up forever, but then neither could I, so I pressed my forearm against his carotid artery restricting the blood to his brain and he passed out. I stayed and watched over him until the all-clear sounded. When this had all started, I'd sworn to myself that I would kill anyone I had to if it meant keeping him alive. Sitting on the sidelines while innocents died was only a little harder.

When we finally staggered out, things weren't as bad as I'd feared. Less than a hundred people had died and only just over five hundred had been injured. Damage to infrastructure wouldn't be known for a while but we'd eventually discover that was in excess of three million nuyen. All in all, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Theo wasn't seeing it that way. He'd tried to help out with clearing away the rubble, but the migraine I'd left him with by choking him out made that impossible, so he excused himself. To say he wasn't happy with me would have been an understatement so I decided to give him some space.

That turned out to be a mistake.

"People of Redmond Barrens," Lucifer's angelic computerized voice spilled out not only from the loudspeakers but every commlink around me and immediately I knew this was going to be bad, "As many of you know, I have made an arrangement with Crimson Crush for territory rights for Squatter's Mall and its associated lands. Until today, that claim has gone unchallenged by all, save for the occasional fool. But this night, the Red Hot Nukes have chosen to insult me. So I will show the world the consequences."

A video streaming link appeared on my commlink and though I wanted to ignore it, I knew that failing to look wouldn't change anything. I'd learn what Theo had done eventually and I couldn't change anything by being a coward. The video showed an empty field in Redmond, not all that far from Squatter's Mall in fact. And it was filled with crosses. Dwarfs of various types had been nailed to those crosses through the wrist and feet.

Theo had had every member of the Red Hot Nukes crucified.

 

[Erenthia]

AN: This chapter is extra long because I'm absolutely committed to the next chapter being the last chapter of the mortal prologue. It's taken me a lot of effort and I'm tired now, so I'm posting it with almost no editing. I will edit it later though. Hopefully there aren't any narrative-breaking typos.

---

I closed the door to Theo's office behind me. There hadn't been much of a reason to rush and my veins felt like they had cold water running through them. Also, my stomach was churning. Theo was sitting at his mahogany desk with Robin standing behind his chair massaging his temples. If this situation bothered her, you couldn't tell it by looking at her.

"Theo..." I said in a low tone that was almost a whisper, "what the frag did you do?"

It wasn't the killing. The 9-to-5ers had been more numerous, despite being significantly less powerful or influential, but their deaths had been clean. It wasn't even the manner of the Nuke's death. I'd seen worse in the Barrens and more than once. It was the fact that it had been Theo that had done it. He'd crossed a line I never wanted to see him cross.

"I showed Mother that I've learned my lesson," he quipped.

"No!" I shouted, "You don't get to blame this one on her! Maybe she sent them, maybe she didn't, but you still decided how to respond!"

Theo looked me dead in the eye and didn't blink, "Didn't we say we'd have to make examples out of some people? I may have crossed a line, but these people are safer because I did."

I took a deep breath to keep myself calm and moved forward into the room. As I did, Theo waved for Robin to stop and she pulled back. She leaned up against the far wall and folded her arms, not really having a dog in the fight apparently. I put my hands on his desk and leaned in.

"You think I give a frag about the Nukes? I don't. But doing these kinds of things will change you. Do this enough and you'll become someone you don't recognize. Someone I don't recognize. Are you really ready to lose your soul over this?"

Theo sneered but I could see the fear in his eyes. My words were reaching him, but he wasn't out of the dark yet.

"I will become whatever I have to to take care of these people."

I slammed my fist into his desk so hard the whole thing shook, "NO! You won't! You'll become whatever your Mother wants. You let her change you like this and eventually she'll make you into someone who doesn't care about them at all. Or me. Or Robin."

Robin unfolded her arms and started to take notice of the conversation. Theo looked at me, still with a hardness in his eyes, but also a desperation. He turned in his chair and fixed his gaze on the wall.

"I couldn't...I just..." he swallowed hard and his breathing became heavy and ragged, and I knew the tears weren't far, "I didn't want these people to think no-one cared about them. That I didn't care. If I had done anything less..."

He bowed his head and shook it, but never completed his thought. Robin moved from her place at the wall and got down on one knee in front of him so she could look up at him.

"You really don't know, do you?" she said.

"Know what?" he asked, looking back and forth between me and Robin.

"These people already love you. I don't know if Miho's right or not about you changing, but I can tell you that if you thought you had to do this to prove yourself, you didn't. "

Robin had given me an opening. I had to strike now.

"If you want to protect these people, you have to protect them from yourself too. If the world isn't going to enforce any consequences on you - and you know it won't - then you'll have to struggle a lot harder than most people to maintain your morals and your ethics."

Theo....smiled?

"There's going to be consequences for me. You're going to find out very soon now, " he looked up at me, "I have one last secret left to share. "

I waited, but it didn't seem he had anything to add. Until...

"We need to work out the funeral arrangements."

The Squatter's Mall graveyard had doubled in size. We lost more people to the Christmas Day Massacre than everyone other attack leading up to it. Not everyone had lost someone, but everyone knew someone who did. So we'd had to restrict in-person attendance. With help from the Advisory Board, we planned out the most tasteful ceremony we could to honor those we'd lost. And then we broadcast it to the world for clicks and superchats. I stared at the numbers on my commlink. I thought I'd become numb to this kind of disgust until the donations hit three million nuyen without slowing down. My stomach filled with bile as I realized it.

We were going to make a profit on the massacre.

I wanted to throw up.

So I focused on Imam Ibrahim and Father Forthill. They'd been working side by side for a long time now. Since long before we came here. And they'd long since worked out the logistics of a multi-faith funeral. I wanted to hear their words and internalize and be comforted by them. But I couldn't. I didn't really know what was coming next, but I had an ominous feeling in the pit of my gut. When it was all finally over, I got a text message from Theo asking everyone in the leadership to meet by the front entrance. When I arrived, the two story tall hole had been covered tarp and the machine-gun turrents had been replaced, but that was as far as we could get in so little time.

Finally we were all there.

"I'll get straight to the point, " Theo began, "I've invited a friend of mine to come by and lend us a hand for a while. It'll only be a few days but until we get our defenses back up we're vulnerable. We need all the help we can get."

"Who's coming?" Anna asked. She wasn't any like as confrontational as she used to be, but she was still the first speak up in almost any situation.

"Alexander Knight," he replied.

Anna's eyes widened slightly, but then her entire body was wrenched back under the tight control of her will. Apparently this was bad for her somehow. Maybe she knew Alex.

"Damien Knight's son?" Doctor Fadil asked.

Damien Knight was the CEO and Chairman of Ares Macrotechnologies, one of the Big Ten megacorps that rules the world. Which made Alex another corporate prince.

Theo nodded, "We uh...used to play Dungeons and Dragons together. In any case, I'd like you all to get ready to show him around the place. We may be getting a new investor in our community. Also, Anna could I speak with your for a second. You too, Miho."

We retreated a dozen meters or so for privacy. Anna's poker face slipped just slightly and I knew she was dreading what came next.

"Miho, could you take Anna someplace private and have the talk with her?" Theo's orders were polite, but they were orders nonetheless.

Anna's mask was slipping even more but she was no coward. Even so, I felt the need to comfort her.

"It's not a bad talk, Anna. Don't worry," that seemed to mollify her a bit, but only just.

I decided to move things to Anna's turf for the sake of her sanity. The brothel, far and away, had the best rooms in the mall for privacy. So we went to her office and sat down.

"Let's rip off the bandaid. Theo and I know next to nothing about you. But we had you pegged as Old Money basically the first time you opened your mouth. And since you've been a help and not a hindrance we decided to let you have your secrets. But if there's anything we need to know, anything that can affect us, you should tell us now. Do you know Alex?"

Anna nodded, "He...he would recognize me, yeah."

"Is there anything else we need to know?"

Anna paused looking away. She had that same look of shame I'd seen on Theo's face so many times.

"You should know that, if someone comes to extract me, you should let them."

I responded on automatic, "Anna, we're not going to do that,"

She let out a sharp, hopeless laugh, "Look, I respect you guys for what you did here. You've help us build something great. But I don't think Delucca and his boys are up to dealing with Red Samurai,"

Frag.

The Renraku Red Samurai were among the worlds deadliest special forces. I doubted I was even on par with a single one of them. If a team of Red Samurai came to Squatter's Mall they'd go through us like a wet paper wall. But I wasn't ready to roll over and surrender just yet.

"Anna, you're a valued part of this community. You're a leader here. We may not have the military strength to hold off Red Samurai, but we'll protect you in any way we can. But are you saying we can't trust, Alex? Because I'm telling you I've met him and he seems like a pretty decent guy."

I'd first met Alex Knight at one of those fancy parties I mentioned before. I was still 16 at the time and freshly out of the Barrens. So when I thought an entitled rich kid was hitting on me, of course, I slammed his face into a tray of European white truffles. His security detail nearly killed me, but Alex laughed it off. Then he apologized to me.

Anna shook her head, "No, Alex is great. But you can't unring a bell, you know? And I think you know as well as I do that even a corporate prince isn't immune to being pressured into things. He can't tell anyone what he doesn't know."

I nodded. And then we sat in silence for a few moments. I could see the pain on Anna's face so I did what little for her I could. I knew well how holding on to secrets could damage a person's soul. Theo wasn't the only example I had of that, but he was certainly the prime example.

"Look, " I began, "I'm not asking you to give me any identifying details. But if there's anything you do want to talk about. I'm here."

Anna took a deep breath and stared at the wall for almost a full minute before turning her gaze to me, "Yeah. Yeah I think I do."

She steadied herself and began, "There was...a guy. A lot like Robin actually. Born in the local equivalent to Redmond around where I grew up. He lived the same kind of hard life as everyone here. I can't tell you how we met - too many details - but I loved him. God, I loved him so much. I doted on him so much at first it hurt his pride. It was a difficult relationship to navigate at first, but eventually I learned to respect his pride and he learned to let me love him. And for a while, things were beautiful."

She paused for a moment to take a breath, and I knew what was coming next, "Then my father found out and had him killed. Predictable, I know. Almost a cliche in this day-and-age. But I...I did not handle it well. I didn't bother fighting with my father. I knew there was no point. So I went down to our version of Touristville, found our version of the Seamstresses Union and got very publicly drunk while being very obviously alone."

My eyes widened and my mouth fell open. It's not that I was unfamiliar with the idea of wanting to be punished, but acting out to a suicidal degree wasn't something I could personally relate to.

"What, were you trying to get raped?" my tone was accusatory and I regretted it the moment it came out of my mouth

"Of course, " she replied, "But it didn't work out. Not the way I wanted it to anyway. Eventually a group of ork go-gangers hit on me and all I could think about was how disgusted and humiliated my father would be if I fragged them all. So I did. The next morning I woke up with a credstick in my mouth and the orks nowhere to be found. I didn't get it at first, but I eventually realized they thought I was a whore. And I thought, you know what?"

She focused her eyes on me, sadness and bitterness behind them, "Why not?"

"But first, " she continued, "I knew I needed to be on an entirely different side of the planet as my father, so I got a fake SIN with a passport and started flying to different cities not knowing where I was going to stop. Then one day I stopped here in Seattle. I'm sure Lucifer's records told you what came next. I started picking up on the downsides of my new lifestyle pretty quickly, but I adapted. I even liked the work, in a way. Every time I spread my legs for a John, it was like spitting in my father's face. I even started taking other working-girls - and boys - under my wing. And things were going well. Until I had a close call with a private eye sent by my father. So I came to Redmond rather than go home. And I started it all over here, at Squatter's Mall. "

For all the horror and pain I'd seen over the years, it never failed to shock me when people chose Redmond. I guess it made sense in a pragmatic way. And perhaps I was biased. I always associated Redmond with Hell. But this conversation wasn't about me.

"So you don't need to waste any resources on me. I'm just a tourist." Anna ended her story.

There was a song I used to love growing up. It think it was called, Common People. I remember it making me feel special. Like there was something I had that none of those people could ever have. Imagine my surprise when I found Theo, back in the first year we met, curled up in his bed after Mother had burned her latest victim, crying while listening to that song. It too me a long time to get it, but I now understood what that song meant to people like Theo and Anna.

Because they had never thought that Poor was Cool.

I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what. Then, like divine inspiration, I remembered an old flatvid. One of Theo's favorites. So I got up out of my chair, walked over to Anna and placed a hand on her shoulder and borrowed one of the lines that never failed to bring Theo to tears.

"You walk our earth, Anna. You breathe our air. You are one of us."

The tears were streaming down her face now, but she wasn't sobbing. She just looked at me. I wouldn't call her expression shock or disbelief exactly. Surprise, certainly. And maybe a little hope.

"Yes, I mean it," I reiterated.

"Thank you," she whispered.

We shred a moment of silence, but finally my commlink beeped out a notification.

"What's up?" Anna asked. The pain wasn't quite out of her voice yet, but she was working on it.

"It's time for the Elephant Walk," I replied.

Alexander Knight had brought an army. Six Mack Hellhounds, those absurd semi-trucks converted into mobile heavy weapons platforms or drone carriers, two GMC Gryphons (basically giant flyng gun platforms) and 500 Ares JHI-65 anthropomorphic construction worker drones, but carrying AK-97s rather than jackhammers. Not that anyone could tell the difference with the milspec armor they'd stuffed them into. Alex wasn't being cheap. Officially this was a commercial. Remember this was a reality show, and the official excuse for them being here was as a sponsorship deal. Alex had snuck in the construction drones for our benefit. Because as long as the damage to the building persisted our guts were splayed open and our organs were spilling out.

So the Hellhounds took up a circular perimeter around the building while the Gryphons patrolled the skies. The construction work would have to wait a bit. Theo would have to "explain" on camera that they needed help putting the building back together and Alex would break down their soldiers versatility. Like I said it was a commercial. And we got all this, albeit temporarily, without having to pay for it. The Ares forces would stick around for a few weeks and rebuild the building for us in exchange for the publicity they would get. Sponsorship deals could be pretty fragging convenient.

And even after they left, it would be a reminder to everyone of the resources we could bring to bear if necessary.

"Hey, kid! How's it going?" Alex called out to Theo from the airstair of his private VTOL jet as we approached, the Squatter's Mall advisory board, sans Anna, following not far behind.

Alex wasn't especially good looking. It's not that he was ugly, he was just well...basic. But he made up for it with a killer dress sense, a soul-penetrating smile, and confidence born of his corporate royalty status. And like Anna had said, he was one of the good ones. He was also several years older than Theo, making him about my age.

"Hey Alex, glad you could make it. I'm sure you remember Miho," Theo replied.

He smiled, "Are you kidding? I think about her every time I see a tray of white truffles."

Never living that down, I see.

"Oh!" he added, "this is my girlfriend, Izara Tesfeye."

A bald African woman dressed in the finest that western fashion had to offer existed the plane behind him. I could sense an aura of power so I decided to assense her. I could see immediately that she was Awakened and that her magic was almost as powerful as mine. And from the way she carried herself, I doubted she was an adept. She didn't have any of the little tells people had when they were confident they could win any physical confrontation.

"A pleasure to meet you all," Izara said with only the slightest hint of an African accent, "Tanaka-san? If you could come with me?"

That was unexpected. I looked at Theo who nodded. Apparently this was no surprise to him.

Your going to find out very soon now. I have one last secret left to share his words from earlier echoed in my mind. I waited for Alex to finish coming down the airstair and then followed Izara in.

The hatch sealed itself behind us and I found myself in your basic private jet. God, I was starting to think like a rich asshole wasn't I? She led me over to a table with two ornate wooden chairs on either side and gestured to one of them. I sat down and, still without speaking, pulled out a pair of commlinks with associated trode and some kind of dull grey metal bracer with a fluid vial fixed to the outside.

"Theodore McWellan trusts you," she began, "That's speaks well for you. But we do not know you. So before we begin, you will wear this." she slid the bracer across the table.

"What is it?" I asked.

"An autoinjector. The drug is Laés. If things do not go well, you cannot be allowed to remember what happened. There are safeguards beyond safeguards and secrets beneath secrets. If you are found worthy, you will be allowed to remember."

Under other circumstances I never would have done this. Under other circumstances, I would have made some kinds of demands or asked for some kinds of assurances. But Theo was involved in something. And this was my chance to find out what. And he was, at least in part, behind all this. And for all his flaws, he was the person I trusted most in this world.

I put on the bracer.

Izara placed the trodes on head. These looked more like a hairnet than the unassuming headband Theo had giving me back in the day. She donned a duplicate herself and suddenly we were in the Matrix. Except I was somehow blind. Izara led my by the hand for quite a while, maybe as much as twenty minutes. When she finally deinged to give me my sight back, we were already in a Host of some kind. And they'd spared no expense. It wasn't a UV Host or anything. I could tell it wasn't real. But the environment was significantly more realistic than the one Theo had thrown together for his childhood friends.

I was in some kind of reading room. Warm colors and bookshelves dominated the aesthetic, while two antique recliners sat facing each other at an angle near a roaring fireplace. If there was an exit to this place I wasn't seeing it, but maybe I wasn't allowed to yet. She gestured to the chairs and once again we sat down.

The moment I did, the entire "world" around us shifted. The chairs were still there, but we were now on the stage of an auditorium with hundreds of onlookers in the audience all of various metatypes and ethnicities, though the avatars were largely blurred around the face.

"Welcome Tanaka-san, " Izara began, "to The Deliberative. A secret society of which Theodore McWellan is a member. Although some of us prefer the term, 'community'. Depending on how this goes, you may learn more details later. For now, understand this. He has been a member for three years now and until recently, he has been in good standing. A paragon, some would say. That has changed, and I think you know to what I refer."

I took a "breath" and answered, "The Red Hot Nukes,"

Izaya nodded, "We are aware, of course, of the execution of the 9-to-5ers and we are not concerned with it. I tell you this so that you will have some context regarding how we will judge him. And why. Will you speak for Theodore McWellan?"

"Perhaps," I began, "But first..."

I stood up and faced the crowd, "Before I participate in any of this, I need to know if any of you here have any right to judge Theodore. How many of you are doing what he is doing? How many are you living your lives the way he has been? How many of you have faced the same stresses and pushed yourself to keep going for the benefit of others? How many have dedicated your every waking moment to building a better world in a genuine way for the good of all? How many of you are actually trying to help?"

A moment passed as my accusation hung in the air.

And then every single person in the room raised a hand. Every goddamn one of them.

"Tanaka-san," Izaya said smiling all the way to her eyes, "that is who we are. It is the Deliberative's very purpose. So you see, Theodore McWellan is not so unique after all."

"This is impossible," the words escaped my mouth without my explicit permission, coming out as a half-whisper.

"Perhaps, Tanaka-san, the world is not so empty of light as you thought. If you will take your seat, we will begin,"

I wasn't sure if I should believe them, but surely if I was going to face some kind of major deception here, Theo would have told me. And if Theo was going to join a secret society, well...one like this suited him.

So I sat down, and at some point the people had lowered their hands when I wasn't looking.

"Please tell us your first reaction to see what Theo had done to the Nukes in his guise as Lucifer? How did you feel?"

That was not the first question I'd hope they'd ask, but I was Samurai. I would speak the truth, "I was horrified. I've seen things like that in the Barrens and worse, but I never thought Theo would stoop to it."

"And what was your first action?" Izaya moved on.

"I challenged him. We argued. I think I reached him, at least to a degree."

"How would you have handled the situation?" Izaya asked.

"What does that have to do with - " but I wasn't allowed to finish,

"Please answer the question," Izaya insisted.

Out of sheet force of habit I took a breath before responding, "That's hard to say. My gut instinct is that I would gathered up a force I thought could handle them and attacked them."

"Would you have tortured them?" Izaya pressed.

"Absolutely not. But I would have killed them. Every goddamn one of them," I explained.

"Tell me about your relationship to Mr. McWellan. Do your loyalties extend to compromising your ethics?"

I grit my teeth, but answered honestly, "I've lied to keep his secrets. So yes. But nothing more,"

"What if he asked you to do something more objectionable? Like murder an innocent for utilitarian reasons. How far would you go for him?"

I raised an eyebrow, "That would never happen. But since I know you'll press I'll just say it. I wouldn't do it. The Code of Bushido as my father taught me is sacred to me."

"Tell us more about your ethical framework. We'd like to be better able to put your answers in context,"

I sighed, "I'm a Samurai who grew up in the Barrens and then spent the last five and a half years as Theodore McWellan's closest friend and confidant. Is there something you want to know that that doesn't cover?"

She smiled, "Do you have a plan for the world? Any ideas by which it may be improved independent of Mr. McWellan's? Anything he's missing?"

That took me a second. But then it was obvious.

"Theo's focus right now is on improving conditions from the perspective of material conditions. And for a place like the Barrens, that's very important. But if I had..." I had to stop myself because I did in fact have the resources to get started, "...rather, if I wasn't already working on the Squatter's Mall project, I'd be working on teaching morality and ethics."

She drummed her fingers on her chair a few times.

"I believe we are done here. Please begin voting." Izaya called to the crowd.

A window opened up and a stream of numbers appeared that I couldn't parse until they stopped moving.

[ADMIT - 686, REJECT - 0, ABSTAIN - 14]

Izaya turned back to me, "Congratulations, Tanaka-san. Welcome to The Deliberative"

 

[Erenthia]

AN

Fair warning. I may be taking a day or two off after this.

---

"So the five million was their idea?" I asked.

I was now as far from 'Barrens Rat' as it was possible to be. At least without dying and being reincarnated as a McWellan. (Did I mention their family wealth went back to the Dutch East India Company?) Because I wasn't just a well-connected millionaire with a god-tier Pito score and a few minor executive privileges anymore. I'd gone full Skull-and-Bones. I was a junior member, but that was an entirely unofficial designation. Officially, I was a peer. A peer in a secret society made up of people like Theo and others, like me, they'd uplifted to be their equals.

Theo nodded. He knew immediately the results of the vote when he saw me upright and not lacking several hours of my memories. So we were now in his office, just the four of us. Theo, Alex, Izaya and I were all lounging around like the hyper-elites we were. The only thing that could have made this more complete for me would have been a cocktail and a fucking hand-rolled cigar from another country.

"Theo put your name in just after his emancipation," Alex said, "But we weren't content with the measures he'd taken to ensure your independence. Your commitment to Bushido notwithstanding it was vital that he not have undue influence on you when the Deliberative calls for a vote."

"Make no mistake, " Izaya added, "A few million nuyen is...not an asset we intend to call upon. For external matters, your Pito score is significantly more valuable to us. For internal matters, we are more interested in your commitment to morality and ethics."

I winced. Because that reminded me...

"So...what about the Nukes issue?" I asked.

Alex looked my way.

"Eighteen months suspension, a 20 million nuyen fine, and indefinite probation. Also, mandatory therapy," Alex explained.

"Punishment for the sake of retribution serves no purpose, " Izaya added, "It is more important to us that this behavior be remediated than avenged."

And her mouth split into a sad smile, but I could see pride in her eyes.

Alex sat forward, looking at me, "And...since Theo's rights and privileges are temporarily revoked, someone else is going to have to take responsibility for Squatter's Mall,"

I looked back and forth at everyone else in the room, "Err...what?"

Theo jumped in finally, "I'll still be running the day-to-day because as far as Mother knows, nothing's happened. But the Deliberative's been helping out a lot behind the scenes. They've kept a lot of corporate shenanigans off our backs. But as far as our friends are concerned, you're in charge now, Miho. And if I don't defer to your authority from now on, I'm basically never getting back into their good graces,"

A horrible thought crossed my mind. So I stared Theo in the eyes and made my demands.

"Tell me you didn't do that on purpose. Tell me you weren't thinking about that when you did it."

"It was the furthest thing from my mind," he replied, and I smelled no deception from him.

"Also, " he continued, "I would never do that to you,"

Morning dew at dawn.

I exhaled my relief and nodded.

"Speaking of which, " Alex said, "Now that the boss is here, we should discuss how we're going to do the transition."

I looked around at each of them, but it was Theo who answered.

"The Squatter's Mall Refurbishment Pilot Project was never in any danger of not meeting its profitability goals. Our friends were laundering money through superchats and other donations the entire time. Not to mention helping us get sponsorship deals, paying us for product placement, and a whole host of other things. So the Redmond Economic Restoration Program was always going to happen. But...we've got a lot of details to hash out."

They told me the plan, but it was my choice whether or not to sign off on it. My definition of the word, 'responsibility' changed that day. They laid it all out, the benefits and the risks, but it was my job to do the deciding. There wasn't any hiding behind a lack of competency or passing the buck. I understood the plan and its risks, but I was the one who had to decide if it was worth the risk. And I couldn't just fall back on Theo's opinion, not just for The Deliberative, but for myself. I had accepted the role and now I had to live it. There were 5,456 people living in Squatter's Mall (even with the massacre we'd had some immigration. And even being careful with who we let in, we'd still more than made up for our losses) and I had to decide for all of them. It was a pretty big decision for being my very first, but that's what life is like sometimes. And it felt right to me that someone from the Barrens was making the call.

I gave them the go-ahead.

Time seemed to fly by after that. It was January and the fiscal year didn't end until the end of June, but we had a lot of preparations to make. Alex and O'brien got the critical repairs taken care of before Ares was scheduled to pull out. Alex even left a couple of the Hellhounds behind, though whether he paid for them himself or just talked his father into it, I never bothered to ask. Not that the structural work on the building ever really ended. But there was a critical safety level and we were back above it.

And life was getting back to normal in other ways. Robin was making Theo a very happy man and I'm not just talking about sex. She never had my hangups. I guess being neurologically incapable of shame meant that she didn't get caught up in vices like pride. She saw that it made Theo happy to dote on her so she let him. And boy did he ever. He never forced his gifts on her, though, and she never asked for anything he didn't offer, but in those months I got to see what my principles had held me back from. They couldn't leave Redmond and there were limits to what he could bring to her. But this was Theodore McWellan we're talking about. And if there was one thing that defined him more than anything else, it was that he shared his power. So it wasn't just toys and trinkets that could be bought with mere nuyen that he got for her, though there was no end of those, but also things like facetime - via the Matrix - with her favorite Urban Brawl players. She was even scheduled to join the Seattle Screamers for a scrimmage or two once this was all over and he could leave Redmond.

Also, he bought her a puppy.

And then the day finally came. The numbers were looking good, both the financials and the ratings, so we'd gotten provisional approval for the Redmond Program, but it was all conditional on getting the most influential gangs in Redmond to all sit at the same table and agree to let us take our work to a larger scale. And some of them hated each other. We'd gotten no small amount of help from The Deliberative though. There were, quite literally, over fifty shadowruns planned against Yakuza and Mafia assets in the days leading up to the peace conference. It was a pretty hefty expenditure from them, though not in terms of money. The Deliberative was a secret society, and big moves like that were dangerous because they risked exposure. Still, no one in the Deliberative had had that guts to do something on this scale before Theo and they - or rather we - were heavily invested.

Our major asset, the thing that got everyone in the door, was the fact that Crimson Crush had made truly insane amounts of money from their deal with us. They had a 20% stake after all and all the other gangs were getting left in the dust. Crimson Crush didn't even both charging protection money most of the time these days. It literally wasn't worth their time. They did still protect their communities, though they were mostly focused on protecting orks and other trogs from racist attacks. Still, the massive success had gotten the other gangs attention and they knew they either had to get on board or make this all go away. Which meant that everyone had an incentive to show up, even if some of them might have been showing up to blow the thing sky high.

So Theo had reached out to Alex and Izaya and gotten them to put in a reappearance. Izaya and Gregor were handling astral security, along with a few non-local mages we'd paid to summon up some spirits and send our way. Alex brought in an even bigger army this time to handle physical security. And Theo had had to get surgery.

You see, I was in charge of this operation, and I'd categorically refused to play the part of Lucifer. It's not that I didn't feel up to it. I'd actually been the voice behind Lucifer on many occasions. But deep down, in my heart of hearts, my first priority was Theo's safety. I wasn't willing to leave his side, even knowing Robin would be there. And that meant Theo had to play the part while in front of everyone, so an internal commlink was the only way to go.

It was time.

Theo had insisted that for occasions such as these that round tables were not just traditional but mandatory. The seating arrangements had been preplanned just as you might imagine, to keep people inclined not to get along away from each other. And as expected, just about everyone was here, except for the Yakuza and Mafia who were too busy licking their wounds and sustaining new ones even as this conference was in progress. The Brain Eaters showed up first. A mixed-raced gang that had suffered significant losses at the hands of the Red Hot Nukes, they were among the most likely to be well disposed towards us, even if they'd had an alliance of convenience with the Yakuza in the past. And since they were tech-based in their black market activities, they knew we'd find them useful.

The Spyders showed up next. On the surface, the Spyders seemed like the kind of gang you'd want to have around. They focused almost the entirety of their efforts on hunting down and massacring bug spirits, those nasty hostile spirits that took over your body, made it half-bug, and then tried to spread. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? Well...almost. The truth is, we did see the Spyders as potential allies, but we also knew they were going to be profoundly suspicious of us. Why?

Lemme tell you a little story about something called the Universal Brotherhood.

You see, back in the day, the Universal Brotherhood was this charitable organization trying to help the poor on a large scale. Their methods were very different - mostly just feeding people and preaching the good news at them - but they had an energy to them that was extremely similar to Theo's Shiny Happy People vibe.

Except they were all monsters. It was a front for insect shamans to try to summon up enough spirits to establish a beachhead in our reality. And every member of the Spyders had, at one point or another, been a victim of the Universal Brotherhood, so it was a good bet that Theo personally and Squatter's Mall, in general, was triggering their literal PTSD pretty fragging hard.

Did I mention they were all violent and crazy?

Of course, we hadn't invited quite everyone. The Rusted Stilettos, those crazed mutants living in the irradiated section of Redmond called 'Glow City' simply weren't relevant outside their territory and their territory wasn't really habitable, even if people were actually living there. Beyond that, the 162s were persona non grata, not because they were ghouls, but because they worked for the Tamanous. Our plans for them involved bullets rather than bribes.

And it wasn't just gang leaders we'd invited. There were, contrary to popular belief, legitimate business owners in Redmond like Cherry Bomb of the Seamstresses Union and Eddy Kosky the ork who owned Crusher 495 probably the oldest club in Redmond. Eddie had a real head for business and was pretty socially responsible to boot. If we could convince him that we were actually doing what it looked like we were doing, he'd be on board in a heartbeat.

There were other gangs that operated in Redmond, the ones that operated literally everywhere in Seattle, but this was a local matter, and if we could get the locals on board, we could make it very hard to operate in Redmond without playing ball. It wasn't a matter of force either. It was a matter of Cost-Benefit Analysis. We'd have to make it more profitable to do what we wanted and make it so they wouldn't lose face when they did, but this had a real chance of working.

But it could go down like a plane crash if a single thing went wrong.

That's why I hadn't been listening to Theo's speech or the back and forth from any of the delegates. I registered the tone of what was being said, but only because it was a potential indicator of danger. The truth was, I'd never been this on-edge in my life.

My commlink vibrated.

Everyone I could think of that had this number knew what was going on so I assumed it had to be important. And since I wasn't actually seated at the table, but several paces back with Robin, like the other security personnel with the other delegates, I figured I could risk it if I whispered.

"This better be important," I said in hushed but angry tones.

"Miho?" came Robin's voice. Like Theo, she too had an internal commlink and so no need to whisper. But she was also standing right next to me, giving me a confused look.

"Ahh, ladies, thank you for taking my call," came the last voice in the entire world I wanted to hear right now.

Tabitha McWellan.

"I just thought the two of you might be interested to know something. You see that ork sitting next to Theo? Mr. Kosky, I believe his name is? Well, I have it on good authority that last night he was accosted, dosed with Laés, and then implanted with an Area Cortex Bomb."

Tabitha had put the equivalent of a grenade in Eddy's head. And he was sitting right next to her son.

"And it's going to go off. In shall we say....two seconds?"

I dropped my commlink and burst into a sprint, but even so Robin was faster. She wasn't headed for Theo though. She was headed for Eddy. I knew what she was doing, but I didn't have time to acknowledge it emotionally. Looking back on it, I wish I'd thought of shouting Fire In The Hole or something. If people had at least known we weren't behind it, It might have saved a lot of lives. If not Eddy's.

If not Robin's.

Just as I threw myself on top of Theo, she threw herself on top of Eddy, taking as much of the blast as possible. Literally throwing herself on the grenade. When their relationship began, Robin said she would do anything for Theo, even die for him.

And she'd kept her word.

I didn't exactly get out of it unscathed either. I felt the explosion on my back. Heat and metal tore through me and I could feel my body shattering in ways I knew I'd never come back from. This was it. This was the end. Robin had gone first, but I wasn't far behind. I didn't have much of a sense of my surroundings at this point. I knew I was laying on my back looking up at Theo and the ceiling beyond, but I struggled with anything else.

"No no, Miho no!" Theo screamed.

"I'm sorry...." I whispered, "God I'm so sorry,"

"Miho, no! No this can't be happening! Miho, I love you!"

Morning dew at dawn.

"God...I wasted so much time, didn't I?" I knew he loved me. And I knew I loved him. It was a waste. It was all a waste.

Then, I felt a piece of metal in my right hand. Something about that prickled my awareness more than it should have and I rolled it around in my fingers, immediately recognizing it as a ring. The Ring. It was supposed to be in a safety deposit box in downtown Seattle. But here it was, likely of its own accord.

This was my last chance.

Rallying myself I clenched my jaw, grabbed Theo by the wrist with my other hand, and locked eyes with him.

"Theo...I have one last secret to share too." my words must have sounded like a crazed whisper.

He just stared at me, dumbfounded. So I continued. I'd already wasted too much time over the last six years.

"The night before I came to Bellevue, I was visited by a spirit. She gave me a quest. She told me to find a good man. Someone who could be trusted with power. Someone who wanted to help the world. And that when I did, I should do this."

I struggled to get my hand up and over my body, but with every ounce of everything I had left, I managed to get my other hand to his and put the ring on his finger.

The whole world erupted into golden light.

The gunfire stopped.

The shouting stopped.

I could see the symbol of golden energy on his forehead, but I didn't know what it meant. All I knew is that I had done a good thing. So I closed my eyes and decided to rest.

I felt myself fall into blackness. Deeper and further. And I was at peace. I knew that Theo would grieve for me and for Robin. But I knew that he would be whole again someday. And he would shape the world around him for the better.

And he would slay the vile monster whose only good deed in her entire life was to bring him into the world.

"No." Theo's voice came in sharp denial and as if from a great distance, "Not like this. Not now. Thou shalt not!"

And I heard music. Like the chorus of a thousand spirits singing in response to his command. The most beautiful music I'd ever heard. It surrounded me. Penetrated me. It told me of things to come.

Then, piercing the darkness, came yet more golden light. And that light was a claw. Not the sinister form of something like a demon claw, but the birdlike claw of a falcon or eagle. It grabbed me by the soul and began lifting me back up. Back to the land of the living. And then, at the end, I heard Theo's voice again. And he spoke the words that ended my mortal existence.

"SOUL-ENLIGHTENING BENEFICENCE!"

---

AN:

Astute readers will have noticed that my writing sometimes goes dark places. I want you to understand that I don't do this to be an edgelord, or because Dark is easy-mode for drama, or because I like making my readers feel despair. I do it to give the Heroes something to CAST FIST at.

So beware, for a Chosen of Ignis Divine, Exalted of the Unconquered Sun, Reborn God-King and Reincarnation of a member of the Impossible Army which brought low the creators of the cosmos themselves, now walks the lands of the Sixth World.

Welcome to CASTING FIST at the Darkness.

 

[Erenthia]

So this is not a chapter, but it's no accident that I put this in the Index rather than as an Extra. Music is very important to this story and for multiple reasons. I've included titles and authors just in case the links break.

Theodore McWellan's Theme
Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson


Miho Tanaka's Theme
Warrior - Tren


Meela Jenkin's Theme
Gold - Jeff Williams


Robin's Theme
Disgust Me - New Year's Day


Anna's Theme
Common People - Pulp
(Somewhat Ironically)

---

Also, I really love talking to you guys. It's the whole reason I'm posting this here rather than other places. I'm still a little new here so while I've read the rules I don't know all the etiquette, but please consider this thread to double as an AMA. I won't answer questions that would be plot spoilers, but anything else is fair game as long as it doesn't violate the site's rules.

And that's the end of my vacation. Back to the salt mines. Expect a chapter in the next 24 hours.

 

[Erenthia]

AN: So there's a concept I'm introducing here which is not canon to Exalted, but is a house rule I've always used whenever I ran an Exalted game. It's called, "Exaltation Surge" The explanation is in the text.

Also, the link in the text to the summary of Exalted Lore is not a word-for-word transcript of anything Theo said. But you know Theo, so it's not that far off. (also, "Wyld" is pronounced the same as "Wild")

---

Drifting through the comforting, cottony smoothness of unconsciousness, I almost didn't want to wake up. I'm not sure I'd ever slept as well or as deeply before that time. And I'm sure I would have slept a lot longer, but I was aroused by an invigorating beauty that I needed my conscious mind to identify and appreciate.

Theo was singing to me.

My eyes opened and I found myself awake without the groggy transition between sleep and wakefulness that mortals have to deal with, not that I was thinking in those terms just yet. I was fully asleep one moment and then fully awake the next and without the shock normally necessary to produce that kind of effect. Theo was at my side, still singing his heart out but with his eyes closed, so he hadn't quite noticed yet. I realized at once I was in my bedroom at Squatter's Mall (we'd transitioned away from using personal coffin hotels long before). I thought it was strange I wasn't in the infirmary, but then I noticed I didn't seem to be wounded. In fact, I felt great. My whole body burned with an energy I didn't recognize at first but then placed as exactly the feeling I'd had in my hand when I held The Ring in the Changling Lady's presence. Only this time I felt it throughout my entire body. It was good and right and powerful.

"That was beautiful," I said to Theo after he finished.

He hadn't opened his eyes, which left him startled. It was pretty cute actually.

In fact, he almost fell out of his chair, "Ah! Miho! Oh, thank god. You're alright"

His face showed me the intense worry he'd been feeling along with an equally powerful relief. He'd never held up walls around me, at least not when we were alone, but I'd still never seen him this vulnerable.

I sat up and took a deep breath.

"I...don't know how. But yes. I guess you had something to do with that?" I asked.

He nodded and a little more worry crept onto his face. He rubbed his mouth with his left hand and I could see The Ring still there so I knew I hadn't dreamed the whole thing. He looked like he was trying to figure out how to say something,

"How long was I out?" I asked.

He shook his head, "Just for the night. Dr. Fadil said...well he didn't understand any of it, but by the time he got to you he said your body was recovering like a slow version of Immortal Flower. He didn't know how full of a recovery you would make but he didn't think there was anything else he could do for you."

Immortal Flower? The magical drug that grants vampire-like regeneration? Did that have something to do with this feeling? I wasn't sure I wanted to address it just yet so I just nodded and exhaled. Something big had happened and we were going to have to talk about it. Fortunately, I could think of at least one more thing to let us put that off.

"How bad did it get afterward?" I asked.

Theo pulled the left side of his mouth down, "Uh...it went surprisingly well all things considered. I managed to parlay the explosion into a symbol of the outside world's fear of our unity. And fortunately for me, someone cut the feed before I went all glowy. Everyone's on board,"

Holy hell, how had he pulled that off?

"So..." I started.

"Miho, I'm sorry!" Theo blurted out.

I turned to face him and I could see the fear of judgment clear as day on his face. I just stared for a second.

"Theo...you just brought me back from the dead. Whatever it is, don't worry about it." I told him.

He looked away from me, which worried me. Whatever was on his mind, he was worried it might actually outweigh a literal resurrection.

He swallowed hard, "I um...I did something to you. When I brought you back I mean. I didn't..."

He looked down clearly afraid to finish.

"I know," I said gently, "I can feel it. But it doesn't seem bad. Were you able to do the same for Robin?"

His expression went from fear to despair. He shook his head.

"When it happened...in those first few moments after you gave me His power..." he said, but then stopped to take a breath.

Theo turned to look at me, still as vulnerable as I'd ever seen him, "From what He explained to me, the first few moments after receiving your Second Breath - err I mean when this kind of power is bestowed on you, you go to full strength immediately but temporarily. It's called the 'Exaltation Surge'. For a few moments, I experienced almost limitless power. It even turned my internal commlink into some kind of magical artifact. But it was limited by what I already knew how to do. I was able to bring you back because, in metaphysical terms, that just required raw strength. Robin..."

He looked back down at the floor, "I didn't know how to put her back together this time..."

I nodded, "I'm sorry. But she did what she did because she loved you. And if you could talk her now, I don't think she'd regret it."

Theo turned his gaze back to me and there was more than just pain on his face. He looked disgusted.

"I know....and I hate it." and I could feel the shame radiating off him in waves.

I sat up. Time to change tactics.

"Whatever you did to me, it's okay."

He leaned back in his chair, fright and hope fighting for control over his face.

"Miho. I don't know how to tell you this...but you're not exactly mortal anymore,"

I blinked, "Run that by me, again?"

"I mean, you can still be killed - although I'm working on some possibilities there - but you're fundament nature is...well I changed it...."

I knew the Changing Lady said she and her husband granted Divine Power to Champions, but...I don't know, I guess as a physical adept my thoughts came out in the shape of better punching. Or spells or something. And I could tell he was right. I was different. I was still me but...more.

"Just rip off the bandaid, please," I hoped sounding annoyed rather than horrified would help.

"You're a demigod," he blurted out.

My eyes widened, "I'm sorry what?"

He started wringing his hands, "Okay look...the metaphysics is...not what I think most people would expect. It looks like the Asian cultures remembered things a little more accurately. Not all gods were arbitrarily powerful. So you're not halfway to being Zeus or anything. But your essential nature is equal parts human and divine. "

I stared. And stared. And then I started to worry.

"Oh...uh...that might be bad. When I accepted the quest, I promised the spirit I wouldn't take any of the power for myself. Is there any way you can undo it?" I asked.

He shook his head, "Don't worry. He told me about the conversation you had with Luna - er, that's her name - and this doesn't apply. You didn't take the power. I gave it to you,"

Uh...wait a second, "Hold on, who told you?"

His eyes went up and I could see him relax now that we were on a different subject, "Oh! Yeah! The Ring contained more than just power. Remember when I said the metaphysics were weird? Well...the power you gave me came from a god called The Unconquered Sun and he's not what we would call dead"

Then Theo turned his head and spoke almost like he was on his internal commlink, "Ugh okay fine." he turned back to me, "He doesn't like me using that name for him because he finally lost a single fight. He's also called Ignis Divine. And his mind is in The Ring. He considers himself to be dead though because He doesn't have any power left, even though he's still talking, so Luna wasn't lying to you. Gods are just weird."

I took a breath, partially to calm myself and partially to stall for time. What do you say to all that?

"I...honestly I didn't expect...I mean I knew you'd be getting crazy powers, but after what she made me promise I didn't think..."

Theo smiled with a warmth that reached all the way to his eyes. If I had had no clue he was in love with me before, that look would have been all it took.

"Miho, you know me. I'm sorry I did this without your permission, but come on. What did you think would be the first thing I'd want to do with these powers?"

Theo was someone who shared his power. Especially with me. It was obvious in retrospect.

I slid my legs around so I could face him, "What does this all mean? What comes next? What's it all for?"

"Well, first I need to tell you a story,"

I'd never actually been to Sunday School, but in spite of Theo's cavalier manner and trivializing tone, I couldn't help but wonder if this is what that would have felt like as a child. And I could tell he was trying to make the story entertaining in order to distract from the fact that he was literally laying the secrets of the universe on me. The origin of everything. My father had never been particularly religious so I wasn't steeped in any particular mythological paradigm, but this was definitely the 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth' stuff. Only I was apparently only one degree removed from someone who was there. My Divine Pito score was the same as my regular one.

"But obviously the prison that was Malfeas was eventually breached and obviously the Ebon Dragon screwed over his fellow Yozi and was the only one to get out. A lot of other stuff happened, but the headline is that the Ebon Dragon fought The Unconquered Sun and the big guy went down. After that...well, he doesn't know. What happened to Creation and how our reality got created was after his time. Although I'll point out that I have heard of the Elemental Pole of Water, but whether that's the same thing or not is something we'll have to investigate when we have time."

I took a deep breath.

"That is the craziest bulldrek I've ever heard,"

Theo smiled, "I know, right?"

I couldn't help but smile back at him, "Okay, but what does that mean for us? Right now, in this moment?"

Theo shrugged, "Well, I spent a lot of time with Gregor last night trying to make my astral signature calm the frag down. Didn't get it to work, but I sorta accidentally Awakened myself as a Magician in the process. And an Adept."

My eyes went wide, "That's not poss - wait, no. Of course, it's possible. This is all a bunch of crazy bulldrek, so why not?"

Theo smiled, "Yeah, I'm officially naming these new powers 'bulldrek supermagic' and also...I'm pretty sure you can become a full Magician on top of being an Adept too."

I felt a hunger stirring inside me. More exciting words, I'd never heard, "Are you sure?"

Theo just smiled and nodded, "It'll take some training, but yeah. There's a lot of paths available to both of us now. I mean...me a bit more than you, but you're beyond the limits of mortality just as surely as I am. There are all kinds of things you can learn now. I just have to learn it from the big guy first and then I can teach it to you. Things like Ancient Sorcery beyond the scope of all mortal magic. Supernatural Martial Arts. And Spirit Charms, although those are a little harder for me to learn, so it might be better for you to just borrow The Ring and learn from the big guy himself. I can pick those up, but it's harder for me since my bulldrek supermagic has a different character to it entirely beyond just being...bigger."

"Borrow...Theo, I don't know. I...."

He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder, which was something he didn't do a lot. Ever since he'd read an article that said wealthy people were more likely to initiate physical contact during a conversation like that he'd gone out of his way to break himself of the habit. Which meant he was emphasizing whatever he was about to say pretty hard.

"Everything that is mine is yours. You don't know that by now?"

Morning dew at dawn.

It almost shamed me how open and generous and loving he was with me. I loved him, but I didn't know if I knew how to love him back as intensely as he loved me.

But I was going to try.

I hopped out of the bed and faced him. We were doing this and we were doing it together. He'd gotten a much larger chunk of this bulldrek supermagic, but in a sense he'd always been profoundly more powerful than me. All I ever had on him was better punching and even though it seemed like he'd be surpassing me on that front pretty soon, I'd find a way to be useful.

"So where do we start?" I asked.

"Oh!" he added, "I think we can find a way to tolerate augmentations too. Sort of. Effectively. I already undid the damage my internal commlink caused me after explaining it to the big guy. Err, not undid but...I guess the best way to explain it is that if cyberware erodes your soul from the left you can grow it out further to the right to make up for it. Or something like that. I'll have to do some more studying. But that should be one of the easiest things for us to do."

"You want me to get augs?" I asked.

He rubbed his chin, "Not just for the sake of having them no. But you should know it's an option for when we have our strategy meeting after Robin's funeral."

"Strategy meeting?"

His eyes turned cold, but thankfully no evil smile spread across his face, "Gregor and the others have agreed to help me kill Mother,"

 

[Erenthia]

We'd gathered.

Opticon's drones had dug out Robin's plot and what little there were of her remains sat in a closed coffin. She'd left instruction behind to sell her cyberware and donate the proceeds. She hadn't left instructions on to whom it should be donated other than Oh hell if I know. I'm sure you guys can figure it out.

So in the end, the casket weighed less than five kilograms more than when it was empty.

And Theo had gotten some kind of top for the casket that had some kind of 2D depth illusion to make it look like she was lying peacefully in the casket. So we could pretend she hadn't been blown to bits.

There were no priests there. No Imams. Just Theo, Gregor, Fabio, Opticon, Thug, and myself. Theo hadn't been sure about whether or not to live-stream the funeral. It wasn't about making money. Robin's life, to Theo, had been and still was important. Part of him felt like she deserved to be grieved by untold multitudes, that the whole world should be reminded one last time that she existed and that her life mattered. But at the same time, he wanted to respect her and her friends. So in the end he left it up to her team, and they'd chosen to keep the ceremony off the Matrix. She could have an online memorial later.

But without the religious leaders, we weren't exactly sure what to do. Robin had never been the type for formal ceremonies, but in the end, funerals were for the living. Fabio had brought a fifth of single malt scotch for everyone (and a bottle for Thug).

Gregor, now the leader once again, did have a few words to say. As the drones lowered the casket, he stood at the end and read from his commlink.

"The tide recedes but leaves behind
bright seashells on the sand.
The sun goes down, but gentle
warmth still lingers on the land.
The music stops, and yet it echoes
on in sweet refrains.....
For every joy that passes, something beautiful remains."

Theo took that as his cue. He sat down in the folding chair he'd brought, pulled his acoustic guitar into his lap, and then took a breath.

And he sang for her.



And as he sang, I couldn't take my eyes off the tombstone:

Robin McWellan
A Bright Shining Light in the Darkness

They'd never married of course. And he hadn't posthumously adopted her or anything. It wasn't about that. But Robin's past meant that she didn't even remember her last name. So he'd ask her friend's permission and they'd granted it. It was the last gift he could give her.

And we told stories about her. We remembered the good times and the hard ones, the things we loved about her, and the things that had driven us up the walls.

"...I always hated it when she did that drek, " Thug said at the end of yet another story about her bawdy behavior, "Even with the brain damage stuff I never knew why she had to...had to..."

His voice turned haggard and I could practically feel the heartbreak tearing its way from his chest as his face screwed up in pain, "...god I want her back so much,"

The dam broke and he began to sob.

Finally, Gregor turned to Theo, "You should say something too,"

Theo winced, "I don't want to be disrespectful. I cared about her a lot, but I didn't know her anything like as long as you guys did,"

"Yeah, you did," Gregor responded.

Theo and I both took a sharp breath at exactly the same time.

"Look..." Gregor continued, "this isn't exactly the best place to talk about it. But you did more for her than any of us. We know. You should say something,"

Theo pondered it for a long moment but finally stepped forward.

"Robin..." he stopped to think. Finally, he continued, but as did his voice cracked and sputtered, "Robin did more for me than I ever did for her. I only wish she'd known that. I only wish...I could have done more. She deserved more. She deserved...better.

"Yeah," Thug added, "Yeah, she did,"

They all nodded.

And while the drones had dug the plot and had lowered her in, none of us found it appropriate to have them do what came next. We all grabbed shovels - Theo even had a troll-sized one for Thug - and begin filling in the dirt onto her casket. Each shovel-full of dirt she got further away. Each shovel-full was a goodbye.

Ten minutes later we were in our impromptu war-room. We took some time to go over the room's security one last time. Even then it wasn't exactly easy to start the conversation. But Theo pulled it off eventually.

"How did you guys figure it out?" he asked.

"Well for starters, " Fabio answered first, "you put yourself 100% at 'Lucifer's' mercy. I mean, come on man, who dives head first into Redmon without security forces that are loyal to them personally?"

"Nobody, that's who." Thug finished the thought.

Theo and I looked at each other, "That was it?" I asked.

Gregor shook his head, "No, but it got our attention."

"And then," Opticon jumped in, "when it became clear that you and Robin had an actual relationship we started paying even closer attention."

"Robin was never exactly picky about who she a bed with. But she usually forgot their names by the next day. But you? She was fanatically devoted to you." Gregor explained.

"She only ever showed that level of devotion to one person. Ever." Fabio added, "And then she threw herself on a fragging grenade for you."

"And," Thug said, "You treated her a lot like Lucifer did. You gave her stuff but didn't treat her like a pet. And you already knew how to deal with all her weird drek. None of that even surprised you. And..."

"And we knew she was keeping secrets from us...for you." Gregor added, "Eventually...well it was hard not to see it."

Theo took a deep breath and took his time exhaling it, "I...really have to up my game."

Fabio shrugged, "Yeah well...it's different doing this stuff in person than over the Matrix. Believe me, I know. If it's any consolation I'm pretty sure we're the only ones who know."

I decided it was time for me to enter the conversation.

"So what now? Is that why you decided to help? Because killing Tabitha McWellan is not exactly an easy job."

"Wait!" Fabio interjected, "Robin was killed by your mom?"

I looked at Theo, "I thought you said they already agreed!"

Gregor was the one who answered, "We agreed to take revenge on Robin's killer. You never said it was your mother,"

Theo's face twisted in frustration, "I was going to address that here and now."

Robin's friends all looked back and forth between each other in much the way they had when I'd first offered them this job. Finally, Gregor looked back at Theo.

"Then we can't do this anything like as quickly as you said when you first brought this up. This is going to take time."

"No!" Theo shouted in an uncharacteristically childish display, "My Awakening means I have something Mother doesn't know about. The longer we wait the more we lose the Element of Surprise!"

Gregor leaned toward's Theo. It wasn't something you usually saw a ghoul do unless they were trying to be threatening. They were all quite contagious.

"A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser," Gregor seemed to be quoting something

"It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong," Theo responded almost snarling. And yeah, they were definitely quoting something. Gregor had been some kind of college professor or teacher or something in his pre-ghoul life. So it wasn't a big surprise.

"And I agree with that part. But that doesn't imply a quick turnaround. Montressor took exquisite prepa - " Gregor didn't get the chance to finish.

"Look guys," Fabio jumped in, "can you put your literature-penises away for a second? We need to discuss the how before we can talk about when. If we can do it fast, we do it fast. If not, we don't. Fair enough?"

Theo folded his arms but said nothing. So I said it for him, "Absolutely."

This was going to take a while.

The bickering ebbed and flowed. Escalating. Deescalating. Escalating again. Most of the friction was between Theo and Gregor with me and Fabio trying to calm things down. Thug and Opticon both helped and hindered based on whomever they thought was wrong in the moment. Or their mood. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore.

"Theo, " I interrupted him, "you're wrong. You're just wrong. We don't know enough about your mother's estate. We don't know enough about her security detail or her schedule and we can't get that information quickly without arousing suspicion. Even if we use a meeting with her as a cover to case the place, we'll still have to analyze the information, and based on this conversation, I'm not convinced you won't just fly off the handle and attack her off schedule."

Because with his newfound power, he might think he could get away with it. And maybe he could, but I wasn't willing to risk it without being sure. And being sure took time.

Theo slammed a fist on to the table and it shook noticeably more than it should have for a human his size, but he didn't say anything. And from his expression, I knew he wouldn't press the issue further. I always took his orders when I knew they didn't present a danger to him, but I never hesitated to put my foot down if I thought he was being stupid with his own safety. And the last thing he wanted to be was a stupid rich kid who didn't know how to take 'No' for an answer.

"We'll get her," Gregor promised, "And we'll keep your Awakening as secret as we can,"

Theo sneered, "Even if it wasn't broadcast live on the Matrix, loads of people saw it. Someone will talk, and sooner rather than later,"

"Then we'll use that," Thug said, and everyone turned to look at him.

"Look, " Thug continued, "it might be stupid to try to use your Magic as our clinch, but if people think you're being stupid when you're not...well, it's worked out for me. A lot,"

Theo sat forward, his interest in the conversation suddenly restored, "That's not a bad point at all. You mean our plan should look like it relies on my new magic but only to use it as a distraction? Did you have something in mind?"

Thug shrugged, "Nah. Not yet anyway. But we can't do this now. Or even soon. So we have time to figure that out. Besides we haven't even talked about hacking into wherever she keeps her Will. No point just leaving cash on the table, right?"

Theo probably hadn't forgotten. Just ignored the issue. Between his open contacts, The Deliberative, and his new bulldrek supermagic he'd be fine. But having Tabitha's assets - particularly her voting shares - would be huge. Theo put his elbows on the table - something he rarely ever did - and started rubbing his forehead with both hands. Finally he spoke.

"So, training huh?" he said.

"Training, " Gregor echoed.

I put my hand on Theo's shoulder, "It doesn't mean you didn't love her. It just means you're doing it right."

He leaned back in his chair and put his hands around his stomach grabbing his elbows in a self-comforting gesture.

"I need to talk to Anna," he said, finally.

An hour later we were in her office. Yes, she had an office. Even madams have to do paperwork sometimes. Also Anna needed to place to hide out during large chunks of the day. Streamers had been everywhere in Squatter's Mall for the past year and she couldn't get caught on camera. It had been an enormous chore for her, but we'd done what we could to make it easier. It would have been more convenient if she could have used some kind of Altskin or Nanopaste disguise, but that would have alerted all the locals and that would have filtered out to the rest of the world eventually anyway. And while she did sometimes wear a kabuki mask and played it off for the mystique - a way to drive ratings - , it wasn't a perfect solution by any means. So we did what we could. We made a mapsoft with real-time data showing where every broadcaster was at any given time so she could dodge them. We hadn't actually told her that's what it was for in the beginning but after Alex showed up she probably figured it out pretty quickly.

"I need you to take over Squatter's Mall for a while, " Theo told her, not two seconds after we entered her office.

She looked up at us and, to her credit, skipped right over the dumbfounded part and went straight to the obvious, "What's wrong?"

"Look, " I answered first, "we were going to make this offer to you anyway. The plan was always for Theo to move from Project Manager to Program Manager and replace himself with someone we trusted. There's a short list and you're at the top of it. But right now we can't take no for an answer, but it doesn't have to be permanent. Even if we'd like it to be."

Anna didn't miss a beat, "You didn't answer my question,"

Theo looked at her with a measuring glance. I did not expect what came next, "My mother killed Robin. And we're going to kill her."

I just stared at him with naked shock. What made him think he could trust her with that? Or was his bulldrek supermagic telling him something I couldn't see?

Anna sat back and fixed him with a steady gaze for a long moment, "I'm in." she said, finally.

Maybe it was. Or maybe he was being extremely sloppy. I couldn't tell in that moment and I sure as drek couldn't ask. So I waited. Finally we were down in the basement again, setting up a training area all on our own to minimize information leaks. It wasn't much. Just a space for he and I to spar and for Gregor to bring in some training equipment or whatever Magicians use to teach newer, younger Magicians. I still had no idea what Theo would need to teach me whatever he'd be teaching me, but he seemed satisfied with our efforts.

"Are you sure you should have told Anna all that?" I said as we surved our finished work.

Theo nodded, "I know what you're thinking, but I seem to be better at reading people now. A lot better. It's like...almost everything I'm already good at, I can push myself to be enormously better for brief moments. But a few seconds of godlike competence goes a long way. Something about her told me that she wished she killed one of her parents a long time ago. Probably her father. I can't remember what it was now, but at the time it was written all over her face. And I was absolutely certain that she wouldn't betray us on that."

I nodded. I had no way of knowing if he was right but at least he wasn't just gambling.

"So..." I said, moving on, "What do we work on first?

Theo rubbed his chin, "I've been thinking about that, but we should probably discuss it. I imagine you'll want to go full Magician first, right?"

I nodded a little too quickly. Theo smiled.

"That shouldn't take too long. The big guy told me that there are some teaching charms I could pick up to speed up the process for both of us. At least for smaller things like that. But we really need to talk about what to do afterward. The spells and related magical skills should be easy compared to spirit charms. And those are gonna be easy compared to Sorcery - real sorcery - and magical martial arts. There's a bunch of mobility charms which could all be insanely useful. But there's also charms that have broader effects, and one or two that are especially good if you want to start focusing on Magician stuff."

"And...what's a charm?" I asked pointedly.

He turned to look at me in confusion, and then he realized, "Oh. Sorry. Charms are like...I want to say spells but there's some really significant differences. They aren't things you learn with your mind. They're things you learn with your soul. Like training your instincts only on a much much deeper level. Also, they don't interface with the manasphere, but come from your own internal essence. In a way you're sort of crafting part of your soul into a kind of abstract magical item that does things for you when you access it. Although, looked at another way, charms don't even exist. They're just...things you do. Did I mention the metaphysics of it all was really weird?"

I nodded. Not because any of that made sense, but because it made sense that it didn't make sense.

"I do want to focus on becoming Magician training, but I don't know if that will help in the short term. You're going to be studying that with Gregor. I can focus on fighting and mobility stuff for now."

Theo looked down, "No...I don't want you to do that for me. I know I...got a little heated back there and to be honest this whole thing with Robin and Mother is weighing on me, but you guys were right. We shouldn't rush into this."

"Thank you," I told him.

He clapped his hands together and started rubbing them back and forth, "Alright, if you're not comfortable wearing The Ring, then we'll study together. And after we unlock your Magician abilities I'll introduce you to a little something the big guy calls, 'Affinity Mana Control'"

---

AN:

I'm a little unsure how well this chapter came out, but I gave up on figuring out what to change. Lemme know if I'm just over-thinking it.

 

[Erenthia]

AN:

So, while I do not consider myself beholden to game mechanics in general, as an analogy my character's have a tendency to progress along the lines of "milestone leveling". That is to say, when the power level jumps, it jumps by a considerable margin. That does not imply that the level of advancement seen in the opening of this chapter will continue from now on in each and every chapter. But Theo and Miho just got phenomenal cosmic power, and it bears dwelling upon for a bit.

Also it's fun.

---

It hadn't really registered when Theo had told me that becoming a Magician in addition to being a Physical Adept was the least of the options available to me. Not until he explained exactly what "Affinity Mana Control" meant. You see, as it turned out, the Charm that he had used on me had done considerably more than it was supposed to, undoubtedly because he'd done it in the throws of his Exaltation Surge. Normally it would have just opened my soul to the deeper mysteries of the universe, making me "Enlightened". But because he'd been surging at the time, it went a bit further than that.

That's how I ended up becoming a full-on god-blooded, which was apparently the term. Like Theo had said, the god-blooded were normally the offspring of a divine being and a mortal, back when that kind of drek used to happen. In fact, there were even certain types of god-blooded, called "Solar Half-Caste" that came about from the union of a Solar and a mortal, which said quite a lot about just what it meant to be a Solar. Thing was, because I was a god-blooded without a divine parent, my divine nature wasn't preset. If I'd been the daughter of Ares, the Greek god of war, I would have automatically had War as my Domain. I didn't have a particular Divine Domain, but that didn't mean I couldn't have one. But I had to act fast or I'd lose the opportunity entirely.

And Theo had known I would need to act fast, so he'd done some investigating on the options. And since he knew me very well (and was profoundly more ambitious than I was) he'd strongly recommended that I become the demigoddess of the entire fragging manaphere!

That didn't mean I'd ever be able to fully control the whole manaphere or even much of it - not if I didn't step over the threshold and become a full-on goddess. That was something that was possible in the medium term apparently, with Theo's help at least. And I found myself more than a little suspicious that he wasn't pushing me to consider that. But as it turned out, if I went that far, if I crossed that threshold then my souls (yes, Hun and Po, just like the Chinese said) would fuse and become subsumed into a larger divine nature and how much of me would remain would be the kind of things philosophers could argue over for eternity without ever coming to a conclusion on. And on top of that, the process could also change who I was based on my Domain, so the philosophical part might end up being moot anyway. Also, Theo would be able to make gods later anyway.

You heard that right, folks.

The fragger would eventually have the power to Make Gods.

I tried not to think about that much. I did try to think of other things I could select as a Divine Domain, but I was on a time limit, and being the demigoddess of the manasphere certainly had a nice ring to it. So I went with Theo's recommendation in the end as I often did in these situations. By picking up Affinity Mana Control, I solidified the manasphere as my Domain and holy hell was it cool. I had control over the stuff of mana itself. I could raise or lower the background count in small areas, not by much but my power was sure to grow, and I could buff my own spells and adept powers in small ways or weaken those of others. I could attack or defend myself with raw mana, create small mana storms (about the size of a large room and not all that intense) and we believed I might even be able to purify toxic regions although we hadn't had a chance to test it. Also at my current level of power I could only affect an area less than ten meters in radius, but still.

That was one charm.

There were others.

Most of them, by default, were beyond what I'd ever naturally be able to do without stepping into full godhood, but Theo thought he should be able to make a magical artifact to get round that. Or other kinds of artifacts for me if that didn't work. But that was another thing. Most items imbued with what I was only slowly becoming more comfortable calling 'mortal magic' were fairly minor by comparison. Alchemical preparations, various foci for enhancing an existing magic users' abilities, etc. Magical Artifacts were more like magic items from trideo games or stories of legend - which I guessed we were now. Theo's internal commlink, for instance, had spontaneously converted itself into one such an artifact through the raw power of the Exaltation Surge. I didn't know what it could do yet, but Theo had carved out some time from his non-stop training schedule to learn computer science skills just to see what would happen.

And don't think I neglected my studies of "mortal magic" either. I quickly discovered I could learn new spells about ten times faster than a..sigh...a mortal. So I started snatching them up like they were going out of style. Augmentations...were a murkier subject. A lot of the basic cyberware were redundant with my Adept powers. Or just disturbing to me. I wasn't a fan of metal in my body no matter how well it had worked out for Robin. I was thinking about maybe getting an internal commlink for security reasons, but that was about it. Bioware was another story. There were plenty of basic upgrades that would be compatible with or complementary to my magic. Bone density augmentations to be tougher, Muscle toners to be stronger, and Synthacardium to improve my aerobics and therefore athletic ability. And they didn't squick me out. So those were high on the list. In fact, I was leaning towards pulling the trigger on those sooner rather than later.

Cultured Bioware was where it got especially murky. My "nice to have" list was longer than my arm when it came to those but I didn't see anything critical. I'd spent the last six years jealous of Theo's integrated Sleep Regulation which made it so he didn't need more than three hours of sleep a night. There was an Adept power vaguely similar to that, but it wasn't anything like as convenient. Then there were the mental upgrades. I might never be able to get my hands on the insane custom stuff Theo had built in, like his fragging Rating 5 Cerebral Boosters, but honestly Rating 3 would probably be enough. There were a lot of things like that, but they were all cultured bioware. That meant they had to be custom made for my genome and took considerably longer to get. And if, God forbid, Tabitha discovered I was getting augs she'd know something was up. And I wanted to be careful, so that would have to wait.

All in all, the two weeks following Theo's Exaltation were a blast. That's not to say I wasn't still grieving for Robin. But I was still managing to revel in the excitement of the new world that had opened itself up before me, and I knew Robin would approve. A more bittersweet time in my life I had never known, except perhaps after my father and brother had died and Lucifer had extended his hand of protection over me. I would never forget Robin, but I was still managing to have the time of my life.

That's why I missed it.

Completely beneath my notice, Theo had become more reserved, more distant, and bitter. To my everlasting shame, I didn't see what was going on with him. I didn't see where putting off dealing with Mother was taking him. And it wasn't a good place. He'd given over the day-to-day control of Lucifer's operations to Robin's team (they'd decided to keep calling themselves that) just as he'd done with the daily operations of Squatter's Mall with Anna. And he was training 21 hours a day. Even when he was teaching me how to use my new abilities or magical skills, he found ways to work in his own training as well. I should have seen it in those moments if nothing else. Looking back all the signs were there. The hardness in his eyes, the emptiness in his voice, the edge to his movements...they all painted a clear picture of a man who had been swallowed whole by the need for revenge, even if I'd been oblivious to them. If you've ever wondered why people sometimes rush off and do stupid things when it would make more sense to slow down and prepare, now you know why.

Sometimes, there are negative consequences to doing things the smart way.

"Hey, have you seen Theo?" Fabio asked me.

He'd crept up on me while I was training which had startled me, but I quickly recovered. Fabio looked a bit haggard, like he hadn't gotten enough sleep lately, and - contrary to his typical behavior - he was wearing plain clothes and didn't smell like cheap cologne. I checked my commlink for the time.

"It's 3:00 am so probably in his room. Is he not there?" I replied.

"No, and he's not answering his commlink. I had Opticon check for his internal commlink signal and he's not getting anything, but there's plenty of high security zones all around the mall. Most of them are uh..." Fabio came up short.

"In Anna's territory, I know." I finished for him, "Which isn't his thing, by the way. I figured you'd know that by now. Not that it would bother me if it was,"

I'd promised myself I would stop wasting time with him when I came back from the dead, but we hadn't really progressed our relationship at all since Robin's funeral. I didn't think I was hesitating. I just wasn't sure how to go about that kind of thing and there never seemed to be a moment where it was appropriate to bring it up. And for that matter, my instincts weren't making an monogamus noises at me. Robin had been good for Theo, and he'd never stopped loving me in the process of that. If he wanted a little sexual healing with one of Anna's girls well...I knew I was supposed to care, but the thought of it didn't seem very disturbing. Although that could have been because I literally couldn't imagine it happening. Theo's obsession with power dynamics meant he hadn't even told me about his feelings. Even after making me a millionare executive. One of Anna's girls? I couldn't see him letting himself do that.

But he wasn't there. Anna hadn't seen him for days. And the more calls I made, the more worried I got. I got Opticon to run a trace on both his regular commlink and his internal one. Nothing. So I went to his room and used my emergency clearance to get in. He'd be notified about it the moment he turned one of his commlinks back on, but for now I was starting to get worried. So, I finally broke down and dipped into Deliberative resources. Theo's new powers had a bit of a quirk to them. When he exerted himself to a significant degree sometimes - only sometimes - that golden light would come back. He'd said it had something to do with having two wells of power rather than the one that I had, and the larger one was also less efficient and would 'leak'. But the especially weird thing was, unlike most astral displays his "Anima Banner" as he called it, was visible to technology. Some magic was like that, but most were by intention.

So I had the exact frequency of light put out by his anima banner and a satellite constellation owned wholesale by the Deliberative. If he flared his Anima Banner anywhere in Seattle I'd be alerted. On the other hand, I had a fair number of false positives to deal with, but not as many as you'd think. And crossing them off the list was a nice distraction from thoughts of him having been extracted by Mother or having gone off by himself to kill her. In the mean time, Robin's team was checking all the surveillance logs, but not a single camera in Squatter's Mall had caught him leaving or even anything that could have been him leaving.

I got a match on the scan for Theo's Anima Banner. He'd gone full "bonfire" somewhere in Renton. I could get there quickly via astral travel but I couldn't have any technological assistance in finding the place so I had to study the map pretty carefully. Then I went to my room, locked the door, and projected my soul from my body.

And let me tell you, Astral Travel is fast. I overshot several times. Once I almost ended up in the NAN territory - the border with the Native American Nations was right next to Seattle after all - but eventually I nailed down the spot where the satellite had found Theo: an abandoned building in a largely disused portion of town.

And there were dead bodies everywhere.

It didn't take me long to identify them either. Being vice-Lucifer had left me even more knowledgeable about Seattle's gangs than I ever would have been had I stayed in Redmond. Every corpse was cybered up as much as Robin had been or more. And they all wore same symbol, either as a tattoo, on a jacket, or even as rings: a silver taloned hand slashing across a full moon.

Night Hunters.

The Night Hunters weren't really a gang but they were a plague. The loved augmentations almost as much as they hated metahumans. And they had this twisted ideology based around embracing animal nature. That made them less organized - which was a mercy - but also harder to pin down. They literally hunted metahumans like a pack of wolves hunting prey animals. Remembering what had happened to the Red Hot Nukes, I did what I could to check for signs they'd been tortured, but I was no medical expert. They certainly hadn't been restrained or anything. As far as I could tell, they'd died fighting. Some had burns, but most had slash marks all over their bodies. The Manablade and Powerblade spells had been among the very first spells Theo and I had learned and these wounds certainly could have come from those kinds of spells - at least from what my extremely limited knowledge could tell me.

How long had he been doing this? How long had he be letting out his rage for his Mother onto Seattle's enemies? Oh make no mistake, as long as he was just killing them in combat, Theo could kill every Night Hunter in Renton for all I cared. But it still worried me. Because that wasn't the point. Was he losing control? How far would this escalate? And why hadn't I seen this coming?

As I drifted along through the corpses, I mulled over my options. I could try to find him and have this out now. I could go back and talk this over when he got back. Or I could pretend it never happened.

The third option was cowardly, so I wasn't doing that. The second option seemed more prudent. He wasn't going to go from freeing the world from a bunch of human-shaped animals to slaughtering anyone who ever smiled at a member of Humanis in a single night. Escalation was certainly something to pay attention to, but as far as I was concerned, he hadn't actually done anything bad yet. Massacring Night Hunters was practically a public service. And if it gave him some measure of peace and let him bide his time until we could bring down his Mother with impunity, well I was pretty inclined to let him.

Until I saw a giant golden bird manifesting in the air about ten kilometers to the north on my way out of the building. By it's proper name, a 'Garda Bird' but it was apparently the origin behind the Legend of the Phoenix. And as the shape of Theo's Iconic Anima, it was in a very real way, his deepest inner truth. And even as I knew that it meant he was drawing on the deepest parts of his power, and even as I knew that it was a massive security risk, I couldn't help but be taken aback for a moment by its beauty. Especially the beautiful meaning it had for Theo as a person. He couldn't physically return from death, but life was full of little deaths. Losing Robin had been one for all of us. But Theo's innermost truth was that he could die a thousand deaths, but he would always return. Always stand back up. Always be reborn.

But in this situation, I also knew that seeing it here and now and under these circumstance meant that he was in danger of suffering one of those deaths, even as I sat staring like an idiot.

I rushed towards the terrifying beauty as fast as my astral body would go.

---

Edit: AN a previous version of this chapter had Miho's astral form noticing an AR tag. As that is impossible it has been removed and replaced.

 

[Erenthia]

I managed to not overshoot this time. Of course, with Theo's twenty-meter tall iconic anima banner, I had a really easy landmark to guide me. And as I only had about ten kilometers to go, I made it in a few seconds with the speed afforded to me by my astral form. And since I hadn't gone far, the area I now found myself in wasn't in much better shape than where the group of Night Hunters Theo had wiped out had been. Just a series of run-down tenements. There wasn't much distinguishing the place except for an upside-down American flag someone had run up a pole. That wasn't a good sign.

In general, the old United States was mostly a forgotten memory now, although anyone with any sense of history understood that the ol' US of A was a cautionary tale about the destructive power of the inability to let go of the past. The people of the United States had fractured along racial and ideological lines and lost the ability to see their neighbors as being part of a larger whole with them. Choosing instead to focus on old hatreds and grudges from the past. But, while flying the flag upsidedown had originally been a sign that the nation was in distress - after events like the attack on Pearl Harbor or the September 11th attacks - by the time of the nation's collapse it had largely been co-opted by racist groups to express their fears that they themselves would soon become the subjects of genocide. And now, in this day and age, about the only time you saw that flag was in the configuration I now saw it. It had become an unofficial symbol for the Humanis policlub, the anti-metahuman political advocacy group for unAwakened humans.

And there were spirits of every kind here, hanging still in the air. Dozens of them, but they were just sitting back and watching. On rare occasions, Humanis and their ilk did get odd the Awakened or two. Sometimes someone already affiliated with them would Awaken and swear to use their powers for "good". Some would join just because they couldn't find anyone to protect them. Very rarely, they even tried recruiting Awakened - I had even gotten a few offers back when I lived in the Barrens. But if anyone here had summoned them they would have been helping try to fight Theo off. And in his current state of mind, I didn't think he would have wanted any help. Which meant that they had just shown up to watch. I supposed they understood more about the kind of divine power being thrown around and didn't want to miss the show or something.

I didn't see any children or signs that this was any kind of community but Humanis-affiliated gangs often took over places like this to use as a headquarters. I didn't have access to my commlink at the moment, but I was willing to bet that our database as Lucifer had plenty of information about these people and their activities. And that none of it would be particularly nice. But that wasn't the point. The point was Theo's state of mind and my fears about how quickly he would escalate if I let this go unchecked.

Because as I watched from a good 50 meters up, Theo in his light milspec armor, was striding down the middle of the street brawling with anyone who dared approach. They'd apparently given up shooting him, which between his armor and the powerful defensive spells he could throw up, the light arms they had at their disposal would do much. He probably didn't even need Charms for this. But that wasn't all. Picking a fight with a Humanis gang member (or in this case, an entire gang) that you knew you could beat was a time-honored method of relieving tension for a lot of people. Even if that did end up just becoming another recruitment tool for them in the end ("look how violent they are! They did this to me for no reason and they'll do the same to you!"). No, it wasn't just the fight.

Theo was taunting them with a song.



And as I descended and saw that the downed gang members were still breathing I knew he hadn't come here to commit slaughter. He'd come to terrorize them. And as much as that might sound better, this was Tabitha McWellan's son. He didn't need to lay a finger on you to torture you, especially not with fear. And as he strode through poorly trained gang members and cold-blooded killers alike he made it clear in no uncertain terms just how powerless they all were before him, because he didn't even need to stop singing.

I caught up to him just as he had caught up to the man who was apparently their leader, a human of African descent but dressed in the same street clothes his foot soldiers wore. I only knew he was the leader because Theo had chosen to focus on him.

"Baaarrrrryyyyyy" Theo sang his name out, "You've been a naughty boy, Barry. And it's time to face the music." he manifested a Powerblade, just a translucent blue stick made of magic really, but he was dragging its tip along the ground creating a shower of sparks and leaving a thin line of molten asphalt in his wake.

"Samael stop!" I shouted as I manifested into the material plane while using what magical skills I had to give myself an entirely blank face. I hadn't wanted to out him either as Lucifer or use his real name. And over the years we'd both become more and more conversant in Christian mythology to sate Theo's incessant need for theatricality while staying on brand. The angel Samiel was sometimes associated with Satan and by extension sometimes even mistaken in popular culture as an alternate name for Lucifer. Either way, he was the accuser and destroyer of sinners, only unlike Satan, he was on God's payroll. The important thing though, was just that he'd recognize me and that I was speaking to him. And fortunately, he did.

He turned to regard me, "Leave me alone, Raphael. I don't feel like being healed right now."

"You'll make things worse if you do this. You know this!"

And I could feel the vicious smirk under his helmet, "I'm God's chemotherapy, remember? Is it really so wrong if I enjoy my work?"

"That's not what this is about! Besides, if the kind of thing you're doing now could fix anything the world's problems would have all been solved a long time ago! You're not doing this to help anyone. You're not doing this for her. You're doing this for yourself!"

His voice turned cold, "I won't deny that. But you know what? I've been through a lot lately. And I think I deserve something nice."

I floated to his side and stared him down for a moment, but then I turned to the gang leader, "Tell me why you do what you do. Don't lie. I'll know."

It took Barry a few moments to collect himself, "We - we have to protect humanity! Everyone hates us! Without us, there'd be genocide!"

Morning dew at dawn.

That might surprise some of you. So let me educate you. Bigotry might end in hate, but it always began with fear. And there was no shortage of things to fear in the Sixth World. Because no matter who you were, what you looked like, who you liked to frag, what genitals you had, or what the color of your skin was there was someone somewhere out there who hated you for nothing more than the way you were born. And they wanted to kill you and everyone like you. Or worse. So naturally, people would group together for protection. They formed tribes. And for some people, it stopped there. Back in those days, there were multitudes of people who would sit around drinking with their buddies trading racist jokes who would go to work the next day and get along just fine with their co-workers, no matter their race, sexuality or metatype. Some of these people were pretending to be tolerant, but a lot of them weren't. But they knew they needed protection in case the Sons of Sauron or Humanis came around and they knew they couldn't afford to alienate people who could protect them.

But it didn't stop there for some. Those who were truly terrified got in deeper and deeper. They'd join race-gangs as foot soldiers if they could. And they really honestly did, in their heart of hearts believe they were protecting their people. If you ever heard a story about a footsoldier from one of those gangs leaving a child alone when they could have killed them even after they killed one or both of their parents, then you've seen it in action. That's not to say that they weren't rubbing shoulders with truly cruel and evil people, but the real irony? Many of those cruel and evil people weren't even racist. They were psychopaths and sadists who would have done those things to anyone if they could. But they couldn't get away with doing it all willy-nilly. So they joined groups where violence was celebrated, because even if you had to confine your violence to just metahumans, well at least you got to get it out of your system. And metahumans were as good a target as any for them.

And it didn't end there either. Because once you were in deep you'd start to think, "What kind of person wants to kill my children just because they're human?" and you'd quickly come to the conclusion that your enemies weren't people at all. So you'd have no problems accepting psychopaths and sadists into your group as long as they confined themselves to the right targets. Because you needed their help if you had any chance of keeping your people from getting wiped off the face of the earth. And once you were there, it wasn't that big of a leap to think that maybe there was just something inside metahumans that predisposed them to that. Maybe they were all like that deep down to some degree or another.

Maybe the world would be better off without them, even if some of them weren't as big a problem as others.

It was all about fear.

Theo knew that, and he'd come here anyway.

"Tell me, Samael, " I said turning back to Theo, "what do you think will happen if you put more fear into the world? Do you think it'll make things better? Or will you feed the fires that create men like him? But you already know the answer. Strike him down like this and ten more will take his place and you will be the one who created them. You know this!"

I could see the deep breaths he was taking even under all that armor. Several long seconds passed, but finally, he dismissed his Powerblade.

"I've made a mistake." his tone was emotionless but disciplined, so I knew I'd reached him. His brain at least, but his heart would come along for the ride eventually. Right now I just needed to get him out of this place.

"Let's get out of here," I told him.

"No, not yet," he replied.

He walked up to Barry, squatted down, and poked him in the chest, "You are Mr. Barry Stackhouse and Mr. Stackhouse? I know everything there is to know about you. I know where you live. I know who you're friends are. I even know every time you take a drek. You want to defend humans? You stay on defense. Am I understood?"

"No," said the surprisingly brave racist, even as his voice shook, "I can't. That's suicide. If the Sons of Sauron hit us and we don't hit back they'll know we're weak. You might as well kill us all right here."

Theo stared him down, but Barry wasn't budging. So Theo stood up, reached out a hand to the nearest tenement building and I could feel the raw power of the manasphere bending to his will as he carved words into the face of the building.

VENGEANCE IS MINE, SAYETH THE LORD. I WILL REPAY

That too might bear some explaining. Like Hammurabi's "eye for an eye" it's dramatically misunderstood in the modern-day. For just as Hammurabi's famous law was actually about limiting retribution - if someone knocked out one of your teeth you were only allowed to do the same to them - Yahweh's famous "Vengence is mine" quote was actually about taking revenge out of mortal hands entirely. Vengeance belongs to God. He'd take care of that drek for you. Don't get your hands dirty.

He was making quite a promise there.

Then, in a shower of golden sparks, I watched as Theo transitioned his entire body into the manasphere. He flew up about a hundred meters and paused, clearly waiting for me. But I had one last thing to say. Because fear wasn't always bad. It could turn toxic, sure, but it had its uses. Theo may have started off doing it wrong, but he'd ended well and I wanted to add my piece.

"Kick out the psychos, harm no innocents, and make what restitution you can. Do those things and you won't have to deal with him again. And you should know...."

I floated towards him, "There are forces in this world that would oppose the genocide of humans. You don't see them, because you have made them your enemies. But this world is not as empty of light as you believe,"

Barry sat up, "Are you...are you really the Archangel Raphael?"

I took a moment to glance down at my Astral Form for the first time. I'd been in such a hurry that I just hadn't paid attention. But I now realized it was over two meters tall and glowed with a brighter light than I'd seen from any spirit or other Astral Form during my limited period of study. It only made sense, I supposed since I was half-god now. And I'd find out later that I had some manner of aura that made my divine nature more obvious, even to mortals, at least when I was manifesting like this. Not unlike the Changing Lady in a way, if on a much much smaller scale.

"If I have told you the truth," I replied, "then what does it matter?"

I stopped manifesting, disappearing from the mortal world, and joined Theo high in the air. I knew his emotions would be a mess. Frustration from having not been able to complete the kill, embarrassment from having done all this in the first place, shame from having disappointed me...they'd all be fighting for dominance in his head, and really neither one of us wanted to deal with that drek out in the open right now. So I made sure to speak first.

"Come with me, " I ordered him.

He followed in silence and I lead him to Hollywood Hospital, one of the last real institutions of medicine in Redmond and maybe the only one that was actually trying to help. Theo had poured millions of nuyen into the place over the years, both as Theodore McWellan and as Lucifer, so it was doing pretty well these days, at least compared to what it was like before. Still, they were chronically understaffed and still a little underfunded. We appeared in an out-of-the-way alley nearby. Theo's anima banner had calmed down, but we couldn't just appear out of nowhere where people could see. I informed him of my intentions and he sent an email as Lucifer to Chief Administrator Olszewski that two Agents were coming and should be put to work as soon as possible.

We didn't talk about what happened for a while, but not out of cowardice. I was giving us both time to cool off while we put real good into the world. Health spells had been the first ones we'd started learning because obviously. And while we weren't completely immune to the Drain that comes from using magic, we were both highly resistant to it. So we spent the next several hours healing those we could. We even ran into a little orc girl - probably a third grader - with leukemia and Theo whipped out some Solar healing Charms to eradicate the cancer from her body.

That felt good for both of us.

By the time we were done, the doctors didn't have a lot left to do, and what they did have to do was well within their abilities, so we left. Reappearing in my bedroom it was finally time to talk. Of course, it might not have been the most comforting place. I kept a spartan aesthetic, at least visually. The only decorations were the digital frames on the walls displaying the good and happy times we'd had here, at Squatter's Mall in the last year. There were other mementos like that, but I hadn't gone in for conspicuous consumption. Well, not for the sake of saying 'look how wealthy I am' anyway. The main exception was the 50,000 nuyen mattress because frankly, once you've slept on something like that, you'd never judge me. Otherwise, the place was all business and right angles.

"Time for the talk, huh?" Theo began after taking his helmet off.

I motioned for him to sit on my bed while I pulled up a chair for myself. We sat.

"I'm not sure what's left to say, " I replied, "I get what you're going through. I really do. And I don't think it would be helpful to shout you down when you made the right call in the end. All I want to say now is, Theo...please don't let yourself change. Not like this. Not for the worse."

He nodded, eyes once again on the floor.

"It was easier though...back before there was anything I could do about it. Back when I was powerless. Well, powerless against her at least. Now...now all I want is to storm into her office and cut her in half while everyone watches and then tell the world just how much she deserved it."

I put both my hands on Theo's shoulders, "Theo...you know you've always been careful with how you've helped people? Because you've seen how many rags-to-riches stories end in tragedy. Well...you're on the other side of that now. You didn't have a single spark of magic before and now you're literally divine. You're going to have to be careful and not just about this situation with your Mother."

He sighed and nodded. It seemed like he was about to say something when his commlink beeped. I'd had him clear things up as much as possible with Robin's teams before we got started in earnest at Hollywood Hospital, so whatever this was it was new.

Theo's face turned white when he saw the screen.

"What is it?" I asked, as his fear became my own.

He turned the commlink screen to face me and I saw the last thing on earth I expected. Theo had gotten an untraceable email, but that was nothing new. But it had gone to his public Horizon account and not any of his Lucifer accounts. There was no text, only a series of images. Because the language the message was in wasn't one that any commlink had a font for. Because it wasn't any earthly language. The language I saw on his commlink was, in fact, the language of the gods and the creators of the cosmos themselves.

Old Realm.

I was still in the process of learning Old Realm, but what little I knew sufficed for this. It was a question, simple and direct. And yet terrifying for its implication.

"ARE YOU THE RETURN OF GLORY?"

 

[Erenthia]

AN

So, because I've made such a big deal out of the importance of music to this story, I feel the need to point out for clarity that no one in this chapter is literally singing.

---

"What do we do?" Theo asked me as if I'd have a fragging clue. So, of course, I had to come up with something.

"Send back something noncommittal. Something that works whether you understood him or not." He held his commlink sideways so I could watch.

[Who is this?] Theo wrote back. The reply was instant and still in Old Realm.

[ONE WHO WOULD SERVE THE CHOSEN LOYALLY]

We both took a second to breathe and look at each other. That was something but it wasn't necessarily the truth. I couldn't think of anything so I stayed silent. Moments passed without regard for our preferences and the tension oppressed us like Tabitha herself. Eventually, Theo sent another message.

[Identify yourself]

The reply, while still in Old Realm, was less comprehensible. Although it struck a chord with me. There were three symbols. One for "Victory" another for "Gentleness" and the last meant "Intelligent" Again they were good signs, but they were just words on a screen, even if they did have divine significance.

And something about those three words meant something to me, but I didn't know what. It was on the tip of my tongue, but...I just couldn't place where I'd heard those three words used together before even if I knew for a fact I had.

"I can't think of anything else to say that wouldn't tip our hand that we can read this. You think I should?" Theo said after a while.

The being on the other end made the choice for us. Two more Old Realm sigils appeared. The first meant, "I approach" but I couldn't read the second one.

"What's the second one say?" I asked.

Theo winced, "Uh...pretty sure it's a unit of time but I'm not exactly sure. Help me out here, big guy?" Theo paused for a moment and then groaned, "Ugh...about 47 minutes. Do we run?"

I honestly wasn't sure. Then I remembered the obvious. I was Theo's bodyguard. It was my job to protect him, and I spoke Old Realm at least well enough to ask where the bathroom was, and whoever this was clearly understood English and knew how to use a commlink. I would meet whoever this was head-on and keep Theo out of danger.

"I'll meet him. You watch from a distance." I said.

"Miho!" Theo began, but I cut him off.

"I'm your bodyguard, Theo. This is my job,"

Theo took a moment to compose himself and then said, "Miho...when you were dying in front of me...I didn't just say what I said out of shock or pain. I love you. I don't want you to be my bodyguard anymore. My life is not more important than yours,"

The moment had come. I had to look him in the eye and tell him the truth. And on my honor as a Samurai, nothing would stop me. I put a hand on his shoulder again.

"I know, Theo. I've known for a while even if I didn't admit it to myself at first. And I love you too. And not just as a friend or a brother. I love you all the way. But Theo? Your life is more important than mine. For Squatter's Mall, for Redmond, and for the world. I swore to protect you and I will. Always."

Theo blanched and started to quiver. It wasn't the reaction I was hoping for.

"Miho...I just lost Robin. Please don't ask me to risk that again,"

I sighed. Because he was right, "I guess there is more than one type of danger I need to protect you from. But we need to do this safely. Does the big guy have any ideas how - "

This time it was both our commlinks that interrupted us. It was frustrating but in this type of operation ignoring alerts could mean people died. This one came from the General Operations Department.

[ALERT: Flight Plan filed with Squatter's Mall landing pad as the destination. ETA 47 minutes. Management please advise]

I called Anna immediately and told her, in as genuinely a polite way as I could, to stay out of this and that it was above her pay grade. Then Theo and I made our way to the roof. We weren't going to just stand outside and wait the whole time like mouth-breathing sniper bait, but we waited. We spent most of the time trying to get what information we could about who was coming. The craft was a converted Mitsubishi Nightsky with aerial capabilities, but it was registered to a holding company that led to an obviously fake identity. That was interesting in itself though. Whoever set that up must have had some serious pull to get the authorities to just overlook it. Which often happened when people with serious clout - like you know, Theodore McWellan or people of similar stature - needed to travel without announcing where they were going. Whoever we were about to meet, they were a Big Deal.

We'd decided to pretend, at least at first, to not have any clue about what was going on. And then later, if we survived, to pick the big guy's brains about charms that could help us out in situations like these in the future. In fact, we were getting an early start on that when I heard the propellers of the Nightsky in the distance, because of course I kept my advanced hearing on and augmented it as best I could with my divine control over mana itself. Even with that, this Nightsky had some pretty impressive stealth systems, actually. It would have to for flying over Redmond. We'd eventually discovered that the missile that had been aimed our way back on that first day when this all began was not, in fact, the Red Hot Nukes as we'd come to suspect, but rather just some assholes having some fun. They didn't even know what we'd been coming there to do or who we were. We were moving so we were a target. It didn't even look like Tabitha had been involved in that one.

Finally, the Nightsky landed and Theo and I went out, just the two of us to greet the Unknown and shake its hand. The door opened and a young Asian man stepped out.

"Mr. McWellan," he said in a philippine accent, "thank you for receiving me."

He offered his hand and Theo shook it, "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met,"

The man smiled and spoke with sincere kindness in his eyes, "I see that you do not recognize my face. I will try not to take that as an insult, but I imagine you've heard my name. I am Masaru,"

Victory. Gentleness. Intelligent. A fairly common Japanese name actually. I wanted to smack my own forehead so hard I probably would have knocked myself out if I'd done it. But there wasn't time for that.

Because we were standing less than two meters from a Great Dragon. And as much power as we'd gained in the last two weeks and for all that Masaru was the youngest of the Great Dragons he was still the youngest of the Great Dragons. Half-a-month of divine power probably wasn't gonna stack up very well against that. Well I mean, I didn't actually know that, but I wasn't sanguine about rolling that particular set of dice.

"Did you receive my messages?" he asked.

Theo froze for a fraction of a second, but it wasn't the kind of thing you'd expect one of their kind to miss.

"I...received something. Though I admit I wasn't sure what to make of it," Theo responded.

Masaru smiled and it went all the way to his eyes, "I assure you, they were quite sincere. Although if you had trouble reading them I would be quite understanding,"

I didn't smell any deception, but before becoming partially divine I would have laughed at the thought of assuming my powers would work on a being like him. Now, well...just another crapshoot really.

Then I felt something coming from Theo. Not the occult stirrings of the manasphere, but something deeper. Something far more primal. Something I'd felt a few times before. It had passed beneath my notice when he'd used his Charms to read Anna, and I'd been too distracted to pay attention when I was talking him down out of murdering Barry (or whatever more horrendous fate he might have had planned for him). But I was putting the pieces together now. Learning to recognize when he was calling on his True Power.

"What if I told you the answer was Yes?" Theo asked.

"Then I would ask for confirmation," Masaru replied immediately.

"And if I provided it?" Theo asked.

Masaru switched to Old Realm, "Then I would swear an oath of fealty to you and count myself in your service for all time."

Theo looked at me, uncertainty in his eyes, but I had no wisdom to offer him. Masaru noted the exchange with polite disinterest for a moment but then spoke again in Old Realm.

"Or is it her?"

I shook my head vigorously, showing enough fear that I could feel my father's disappointment from beyond the grave.

"But you speak the language of the gods?" Masaru asked, continuing in Old Realm.

I nodded rather than spoke because honestly I really didn't want his attention right then. For all that Masaru was, by all accounts, the scrappy young kid version of Dunkelzahn himself - which was about as Good Guy as you could get - he was still a Great Dragon, and my pretensions of non-mortality felt pretty pretentious in that moment.

Theo interjected to save me, "Well we certainly can't do this here. Come, let me give you the tour,"

Theo somehow managed to treat the situation like he was receiving any other foreign dignitary, giving Masaru a history of our accomplishments in the past year. Masaru for his part sounded pretty impressed, but it was pretty hard to gauge his level of sincerity. Or maybe I just didn't trust myself to be able to pull that off. The tour only lasted about twenty minutes, but it was the most agonizing twenty minutes of my life. At one point Anna made her presence known, but when she saw the look in my eye she made a hasty, but somehow graceful withdrawal.

[Why is HE here?] she texted me.

[Can't talk about it. Maybe ever. Still friends?] I replied.

Anna hadn't seemed to recognize him, but I guessed that my demeanor had made her curious enough to subtly grab a photo and do a Matrix search. It wouldn't have taken her long to get the answer.

[Just let me know if I can help] she added.

[Yeah. Definitely. Can you keep people out of our way? Without it backfiring?] I asked.

[On it] she replied.

The tour went smoothly but as it dragged on, the tension inside me made it feel like I was being slowly pulled apart by the chakras. Of course, when it was finally over and we were all standing in Theo's office, I suddenly found myself wishing we were back out there stalling for yet more time.

Theo closed the door behind us and took a deep breath. Masaru, to my surprise, had not immediately taken a seat without even being bid to do so. Instead, he stood facing Theo while, mercifully, ignoring my presence entirely.

"I mean no disrespect, great Masaru, but...in the hypothetical situation where I am what you believe I am, I have no way of knowing that providing confirmation of that to you would not place me in...a precarious situation."

Masaru nodded, "I understand completely. And if you had some means to absolutely verify my intentions you certainly would have used them by now. I'm afraid I can only ask you to have faith in me."

Theo glanced in my direction, and I placed a hand on the hilt of my sword. Masaru might take that as a grave insult, I knew, but if this went sideways I wasn't going down without a fight. But he still seemed to take no notice of me.

Theo's caste mark flared to life. It was a tiny disk of golden light surrounded by a circle of the same. The mark of the Eclipse Caste. Called the Harmonious Voices, the Quicksilver Falcons, the Crowned Suns, and the Quills of Heaven, it was given to them to be the diplomats and peacemakers of the Solar Exalted. They could walk amongst demons without fear, protected by ancient forms of...well..diplomatic immunity essentially. More than any other caste of the Solars it was they who reached beyond humanity into the realms of spirits and things further still. They could even learn the powers of such things so as to better understand them.

Masaru dropped to one knee immediately and without hesitation. He placed a forearm over his unbent knee and bowed his head.

"My hoard is yours my liege and my life as well!" he shouted in Old Realm.

I didn't know what to make of that. Neither did Theo, either.

"Would you consider it an insult, if I asked you to swear a Sacred Oath to that effect?" Theo asked finally and in English.

Masaru, his head still bowed, replied immediately though still in Old Realm, "Not at all my liege."

The ability to seal a Sacred Oath was the last power unique to the Eclipse Caste. They could sanctify any promise made in their presence, though I wasn't clear on whether or not it worked on ones made as a joke. It even worked between two parties that didn't include him. It didn't take away your free will or anything, but the curse you'd bring down upon yourself if you broke it would make a spirit's Accident power look like a papercut by comparison.

He raised his head and I could see the fire in his eyes, "Hear my oath, Lord, and bind it well! My fealty and loyalty are yours now and forever! Protego Sanctus Causa!"

He'd said all but the last three words in Old Realm, and while I recognized the rest as Latin I didn't know what they meant or what their significance was. It was then that Theo's caste mark flared just a little brighter and the words of Masaru's Oath appeared like a hologram or magic phantasm and yet with no visible connection to the manasphere.

Theo stepped forward.

"You will accord Miho Tanaka with the same dignity and respect with which you would show me. Her words are my words. Her orders are my orders. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my liege." he nodded, and with some enthusiasm, I might add.

"Then rise."

I. Did not. Understand. Any of this drek. What the fragging frag was I fragging watching? What was happening? Dragons just...didn't do this. They didn't act like this. EVER.

Fragging EVER!

Fortunately, no participation was required from me at this particular juncture, so when Theo sat in his chair behind his desk and gestured for Masaru to sit across from him, I just stood next to Theo's chair with my hands behind my back like a good little retainer and I fragging preferred it that way.

"Now, " Theo began after Masaru had been seated, "I have quite a lot of questions for you. But I'm wondering if maybe it would be wiser to simply let you explain things at your own pace. Because all this is very new to me. I am curious how you knew...well any of this."

And much to my relief, he finally switched to English...though he did sound slightly exasperated.

"My liege, the reverberations of your Exaltation were felt throughout the manasphere. Even the land beneath our feet still bears the mark of it having been transmuted into a Solar Aspected Demesne. Most Awakened mortals have been theorizing about what little of it they could perceive for the past two weeks with little success. A scant few have noted the similarities in the timing with the attack on your person but nearly all have dismissed the connection. But we Greats remember Creation and things as they were Before. Unlocking such memories are a critical part of the Ascension from mere dragon to true Great Dragon status."

Theo's back straightened and I could feel the tensions in him rising.

"They all know about me. All the Great Dragons. They know what I am, that I'm here, and who I am. Do I understand you correctly?"

Masaru winced, "I cannot say, my liege. They all certainly know that a Lawgiver once again walks the Earth, but they seemed oddly disinterested when I broached the topic with them. It could be that they were deceiving me. Hoping that I would act as I have that they might learn something without risking exposure. And if I may, my liege, I have questions for you as well, if you are willing. My memories of Creation are fragmented and shattered. It will be many centuries before I can piece them together on my own or so I am told. But I know for certain that you stand at the top of the Celestial Hierarchy, as well as many other details about my people's history but I have yet to understand much of the context,"

I could feel Theo's disappointment. It would have been awfully nice to get a little more information than we already had about what happened to Creation and what all of that meant. Still, Masaru would probably be able to get us up to speed on more modern affairs, which was more pressing anyway. But still...

"I may be able to help you to a degree, but my knowledge of the universe before this one is also limited. And there are more pressing matters at the moment. I take it most other Great Dragons are unlikely to acknowledge me as their superior?"

Masaru nodded, "I am afraid so. Though while some, such as Lofwyr will likely never acknowledge your authority, others such as Hestaby seem willing to be persuaded. When I spoke to her of your return she said that your people had many failings and that it would be foolish to subordinate ourselves to you without testing your character and resolve..."

I saw him lock eyes with Theo and I saw in those eyes a deeper reverence than I'd ever seen - even deeper than when Theo looked at me, "...but my memories told me otherwise. For while I do not remember everything, the glory of the Solar Exalted is burned into my very souls. And I know that there can be no higher calling than serving you."

Theo paused to let that sink in. I knew that because I needed to let it sink in as well. Before this moment, I'd accepted the whole "Divine Power" thing...but I'd sorta been thinking about it in the sense of "Sacred Power" or "Really really powerful power" rather than in the sense of, "We are now beings deserving of worship." Frankly, I didn't know how I felt about that, and I'm pretty sure Theo was about a hundred times as ambivalent about the whole thing as I was. So it was no surprise when he diverted the conversation back to practical matters.

"But how did you know it was me?" he asked.

"I sent a spirit to watch for the signs. It saw your battle with the human supremacists and while you did not show your face, it heard your voice and recognized it from the recordings I played for it. You were one of a very small number of suspects. I also interviewed many of those present who witnessed your Exaltation, but I did not consider their testimonies authoritative. Memories are so easy to alter for those with the power to do so, but I knew that you were a strong candidate," Masaru explained.

Oh. Oh frag.

I put a hand on Theo's shoulder because I didn't want to interrupt.

"Miho?" Theo asked.

"Theo...there were...there were dozens of spirits there watching. If each one of them represents someone investigating you..." I trailed off.

Theo nodded, "Then we may have a problem,"

 

[Erenthia]

AN

So the next few chapters might come a little slower. I've stepped outside the garden path of my outline. It should be a temporary condition.

---

I shouldn't have done it, but I eventually excused myself from the conversation. Theo and Masaru were gettting deep into a lot of issues and talking about how the Great Dragons would respond from here on out, and as someone who considered herself Theo's guardian and protector, I should have stuck around so I wouldn't miss anything tactically relevant. But it seemed pretty clear that we'd be okay for the time being at least. The Great Dragons weren't incapable of acting quickly but they never acted hastily. And the more we talked about it, the more convinced Theo and I became that they'd been holding back with what they'd been willing to share with Masaru. Just as I'd suspected with Anna on the day I'd met her, they were sacrificing their youngest and newest member for information. It was the smart thing, after all. Letting someone else try first.

And between Masaru and the big guy, we estimated that Theo wouldn't become more powerful than a Great Dragon for another year or so unless he pushed himself really hard. And it could potentially be significantly longer depending on how things went. We hadn't let Masaru in on the big guy's existence, of course, because just as Anna hadn't wanted Alex to know of her existence, the practicalities of trust were about more than intention. And it was still possible that we were being fooled. For all we knew, Masaru might have a way around the Sacred Oath.

Eventually, we got around to the part where Theo gave Masaru the same story about the origin of the cosmos and the building of Creation that he'd given me. Masaru sat in rapt attention, hanging on Theo's every word - right up until he'd gotten to the part about the Usurpation. Masaru couldn't fathom how Theo could paint the lesser Exalted's betrayal in a sympathetic light. The facts seemed plain as day to Theo and me though. The power had gone to their heads and they lost touch with reality. If left unchecked the Solars would have destroyed everything and caused immeasurable suffering on the way down. We had the word of The Unconquered Sun himself on that. Masaru couldn't see it though. As polite as he was being about it, he kept trying to encourage Theo to see himself as a God-King with authority that overrode silly little things like morality or ethics.

I didn't have any fear that Theo would let a stranger convince him to throw away everything Meela and I had taught him over the years in a single conversation, so that's when I excused myself. The whole thing was profoundly disturbing. It's not that Masaru was actively trying to corrupt Theo. But he was a True Believer. Theo was his god and could do no wrong. He and I would talk about what to do about that later but for now, I needed to get my head together.

So I found myself back on the roof where I often went to think, although I was a good couple hundred meters from Masaru's flying limo. I found myself leaning up against the water tower that supplied the section of the building I was over and staring up at the moon again, wishing I could talk to the Changing Lady.

Because I was Divine too, even if I was barely above mortals in the Celestial Hierarchy. And I was starting to get a sense of what that meant. And I didn't particularly care for it. It might come as a surprise since I'd spent so many years trying to teach Theo about honorable behavior and correcting him when he went off the rails, but...this was very different. When it came to Theo's behavior, I was just the messenger. I didn't invent Bushido or Honor or Morality or Ethics. And having grown up in the Barrens, I had a very clear view of what Might Makes Right looks like when left unchecked. Really most people did, especially those packed in tight, living in burbclaves and toiling away long hours, living their lives trapped in a single building almost entirely at the mercy of their immediate superiors. But in the Barrens, the violent oppression had all been raw and unfiltered. Unsanitized. Naked.

And now it was starting to feel like the Universe Itself was signing off on me and Theo being whatever kinds of tyrants we wanted to be. Theo especially. He was a Lawgiver. The One Who Makes The Rules. I didn't like either of us being in this position. But I didn't exactly know what to do about it. And it got worse. Because apparently both Theo and I could gain real, actual, tangible power from being worshipped. Masaru had even offered to help him start getting a cult established. One for me too. And while Theo had politely maneuvered around a lot of Masaru's...expectations, he'd shot down that idea with a quickness. I'd been relieved. Not that I would have expected anything else. I was just happy for that idea to not be around anymore.

Because the world being the way it was, we might end up needing all the power we could get at some point. Sooner or later the temptation would arise, but I just couldn't handle it right then and there. And who knows, maybe Theo would work out some kind of genius workaround that didn't involve us being literally worshipped.

No. I finally decided that would just never happen. I didn't even know that I'd come up here for that, but now that the decision was made, I realized it. No matter how powerful or wise I ever became, I never wanted worshippers. If I wanted anything from people it was for them to stop being stupid and doing all the obvious bulldrek that caused so much pain and strife in the world. I'd already been gearing up for being a teacher of morality and ethics within The Deliberative. I could do that on a larger scale if it ever came up. But no worshippers. Not ever.

But that wasn't the only issue. There was also the issue of Mother. Before all this nonsense, killing her just seemed like taking out the garbage. For all my intense need to behave honorably and morally, killing her seemed like it had all the moral ramifications of passing the salt. Now we had the eyes of every Great Dragon in the world on us, but it was more than even that. Our actions had consequences beyond our own lives. We were no stranger to the concept, of course. We'd taken on the responsibility of all the lives at Squatter's Mall after all. And we'd made mistakes along the way. Some of those mistakes had gotten people killed. But we soldiered on, taking comfort in the knowledge that we had helped more than we had harmed. And that we'd had the best of intentions. I don't think either one of those two thoughts alone would have been enough, but together they formed a powerful shield. We were doing things right in both a Utilitarian and Deolontological sense.

But as Divine Beings, the scale had increased dramatically. It wasn't just that we had literally no idea how the Great Dragons would interpret our actions if we killed her - even Masaru could only offer us limited help there. It was that we would then live in a world where Divine Beings did that kind of thing. It would be easier if we could frame it as a sacrifice. If Theo loved his mother but loved the world more and just couldn't tolerate allowing her evil to persist...maybe that could make it okay. But the truth was, we were doing it for ourselves even more than for others. I just hadn't had a problem with it before.

And yeah, I know what you're thinking. In all the legends of all the divine beings in history, they did awful things all the time. Surely removing one human-shaped monster from the world isn't that big of a deal just because they share some of your DNA. And maybe that was true. Maybe I was blowing this all out of proportion - although we still needed to factor in how the Great Dragons would perceive it, which we currently couldn't. But that was a tactical decision not a moral one. I'd been out of my depth from the day this all started, but I was only really feeling it now. Even if, in the end, killing Tabitha McWellan was justifiable, doing it without carefully measuring our actions wasn't. Even if we decided to do it, I wouldn't feel silly for having agonized over it.

Would Gregor and the others understand? That could honestly go either way. Tabitha was the kind of person that wouldn't normally be in reach for them anyway. If Theo told them he couldn't bring himself to do it, I didn't know how they'd respond.

And then there was Theo himself. Robin had not been the first person Mother had murdered over the years. She'd killed or ruined the lives of a lot of people he cared about. And as much as I was sure that this new sense of responsibility was settling over him just as it was me, I couldn't see him giving up on this. He might change tactics or gain a little more patience, but I didn't see him ever letting this go. And I wasn't sure I wanted him to.

But I wasn't sure I didn't either. Maybe we should talk about it.

We needed more time. That's what it came down to. It wasn't just about training anymore. It wasn't even just about morality and ethics. We started this without any understanding of this Power and it was only just starting to dawn on us what it really meant to have it. Maybe we could come to terms with the Great Dragons. Find a way to live in peace. Maybe we could get Tabitha put in prison. Hell, if Theo's powers made him better at everything he was already good at, maybe he could convince the Board of Horizon and the Corporate Court to actually do something about her.

But did we have enough time? Would the Greats allow for that? Just because Squatter's Mall hadn't been literally nuked five minutes after his Exaltation didn't mean something big wasn't coming.

And it occurred to me that we could just run. We could put Masaru in charge of the Redmond Program, not tell him where we were going and just disappear for a while. Then, when we were ready, when Theo was powerful enough to stand up to the forces currently threatening to align against him, we could choose the time and the place and the means of...well...whatever we decided was the right thing to do in that time.

If we could, and It was a pretty big 'If'. But at least I knew what I wanted to talk about with him next.

"Trouble sleeping, little sister?" a female voice said.

I snapped to attention, my body instantly read for a fight, but the woman who'd somehow snuck up on me was not in any kind of aggressive stance. Instead she was leaning in a relaxed stance with her shoulder up against the wall of the water tower barely more than a meter from me. Theo got daily reports on changes in fashion from all over the world (really he just paid people to read fashion blogs for him and summarize them) and I'd quickly taken up the practice of reading them when it became clear that Tabitha would be sending me along to every stupid party Theo had to go to. Letting a twelve-year-old dress me had just been too much for me back then and I'd maintained the practice. That's how I knew this woman wasn't just middle eastern, but specifically Egyptian. Or at least wanted to be perceived that way. Modern Egyptian fashion tried to blend the trappings of the past with the displays of wealth associated with The West. And it did so with mixed results, at least in my opinion.

That the woman standing before me was Divine was without question. It wasn't just that she'd managed to sneak up on me. I could feel it. Whether it was a matter of my own divine senses, her projecting something or just a matter of like recognizing like I couldn't say. So I relaxed my stance and tried to keep my shock from being too evident.

"Um...Hello. And you are?" because beneath my surprise, I was really quite annoyed.

The woman smiled and it went all the way to her eyes, "In this day and age I am most commonly known as Isis. And I thought you could use someone to talk to."

I blinked. And then the anger and frustration started to build up in me, though as a Samurai I refused to let them compromise my discipline.

"There's a lot of people who could use someone to talk to in this world," I left the implication unstated.

She kept smiling, "And there are a lot of people we talk to. But while, by mortal standards, we are well into this new era of magic, from the divine perspective it has only just begun. You've never been groggy in the morning?"

I twitched as small portion of my frustration escaped my control. It was an annoyingly plausible answer, "Alright...but I doubt you just came to chat."

She shrugged, "On the contrary, we can do just that if you like. But I sensed that you were struggling with the implications of your divinity and I thought to offer you the guidance of your elders."

I leaned back up against the wall of the water tower with my shoulder so I could face her and thought for a moment, "As I understand the Celestial Heirarchy, aren't I still beneath you?"

She took a deep breath that I could only assume was for show and spoke, "The Celestial Heirarchy ruled Creation. Much of it still remains, of course, but mostly by virtue of inertia. And besides, your husband is a Solar Exalted. And he has commanded that you be treated in all ways as his equal. Not every divine being is ready to throw themselves at his feet just yet but you shouldn't be surprised to know that we are watching."

I paused for a moment, but then I realized what she'd said, "Theo isn't...I mean we aren't married."

She smiled again but said nothing.

I turned and leaned on the water tower with my back so I wouldn't have to look at her, "So literally every supernatural eye is on us. Great."

She shook her head, "Well...it depends on how you count I suppose, but the mortal Awakened still know nothing and there are plenty of unintelligent supernatural creatures, but to a large degree, yes. Though I would be quite surprised if any of the Immortals knew anything yet."

I turned to look at her, a single eyebrow raised, "Immortals?"

"Vampires, Immortal Elves, unascended dragons...those sorts of creatures. They surely felt something upon your husband's Exaltation, but I doubt any of them have tracked it to its source or have any understanding of its implications. But that's only a small part of what's troubling you. Do I speak falsely?"

I took a deep breath, "No. It's - hang on, Immortals Elves are real? No forget I said anything," I shook my head to clear it, "I guess the most pressing issue is what to do about all the eyes on us. Especially the Great Dragons. I don't suppose you have a clear, unamigious answer for me?"

She laughed, "Ha! In our defense, we do not speak cryptically because we wish to. There are rules and forbiddances even for our kind. Oh, you don't have to worry about them yet. But know that most of us don't play those sorts of games to enhance our mystique or out of a sense of mischievousness. Though some certainly do. But sometimes we have to talk around certain things. To answer your question though, I recommend ignoring those overgrown lizards for now. There are forces in play which will keep them in check for the time being,"

I smirked, "And you're not going to tell me what those are, I suppose?"

She smirked back, "Well one such force is their own nature, but if you really want to know...while some of us are more hesitant than others, some feel much as Masaru does. Some still remember,"

There were gods ready to bend the knee to Theodore McWellan.

I pushed myself off the wall with my back and started pacing. This was all too much. I remembered finding out that Gnostic Lucifer was really a little boy but the weight of that didn't compare.

Finally I turned to her, "Are you really worthy of being worshipped? Am I? Is he? Because if I'm being completely honest I don't see how that leads anywhere good,"

She moved towards me with such grace that I couldn't tell if she was actually walking or not, placed a hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes like she was comforting a small child. Because I suppose from her perspective she was.

"Miho, there are many things yet that you do not understand. And those are certainly questions worth grappling with. But don't try to grow up too quickly. The days ahead of you, for you and your husband, should be happy ones, full of adventure and discovery. I urge you to leave the hard questions for later. There is time. I promise you that,"

I wanted to be indignant, but frankly? She was probably right. And yet there was one last question I needed to ask.

"What about Tabitha?" I asked.

Her face fell. She took her hand from my shoulder and looked away, "I suggest you ignore her for now,"

"Why?" I asked, "Are you saying it's wrong?"

She locked eyes with me and I could see the fear in them, "As I said, we have our own forbiddances. All I am permitted to say is that I hope you do not move forward with your plans,"

Let me emphasize that. Isis, the Egyptian Goddess looked afraid. And when a Goddess of Wisdom tells you something's a bad idea, you should probably listen.

"I'm not sure I'll be able to get Theo to go along with that," I told her.

She swallowed hard, "Try,"

 

[Erenthia]

AN

So, reading through some older chapters it's become apparent that I'm in desperate need of editing help. Any volunteers?

Also, I should be back on track for more regular releases. I didn't so much paint myself into a corner as realized I was getting close to doing so and needed time to figure out how to steer things back to where I'd originally planned.

And lastly, this Part should be complete in 2-3 more chapters. Plus maybe an epilogue.

---

Just as I'd predicted, Theo was as unnerved by Masaru's unwavering devotion to him as I was. And he'd given more attention to Isis's warning than I'd thought, although he wasn't quite ready to abandon the whole idea of killing Mother just yet. We slowed down our training regime a bit to give us more time to talk the issue through. We poured over every word of my conversation with the Goddess, and it really didn't seem it was a moral issue for her. She'd expressed only fear and that didn't bode well. Instead, she had suggested that we take some time off and just enjoy life for a while. And given everything we knew, it certainly made sense that we were going to be getting caught up in a lot before too long. Meddling in the affairs of dragons and gods and who knew what else.

We'd done a little digging on the Matrix too, just to get an idea of who Isis was, but that turned out to be supremely unhelpful. There were just too many stories, too many theories, and very little in the way of hard data. Some modern scholars were even coming around to the idea that the ancient gods had been Magicians rather than spirits, which I knew to be untrue, just by standing in her presence. That put the flaws in the mortal perspective into sharp focus and cast doubt on the rest. We'd also discussed the possibility that, since one of her Domains was Motherhood, we could be doing some damage to her by going through with our plan. Or that she was mystically biased against the idea in general. But that wouldn't explain the fear. Even the big guy couldn't give us a definite answer.

Then something profoundly suspicious happened. Tabitha gave us an opening. She invited us to one of her vacation homes out in the Mojave Desert - the super-rich really value their privacy at times - ostensibly to discuss Theo's future education. And while that particular property obviously still had security, it was small enough to not have much staff there. And being out in the middle of nowhere meant that if we could handle whatever onsite security she had, response times from Knight Errant would be easily manageable. Furthermore, with her only access to the Matrix being wireless, it wouldn't even be that hard to cut off.

"You can't tell me this doesn't smell like a trap," I told Theo, "No one in her position is that light on security. Even on vacation,"

Ever the efficiency expert, Theo had insisted we have this conversation during our regular sparring matches. The training area we'd set up left a lot to be desired. Basically just mats an little else. I'd been teaching him some of my more basic Adept powers, and he'd initiated me into one of the more "basic" mystical martial arts forms, known to the ancients as Five Dragon Style, and I'd definitely gotten the better end of that deal. We seemed more or less on par at this point, in terms of our raw ability, although he never brought his True Power to bear against me. And for all that Five Dragon Style was basic I appreciated it for being straightforward, even if I could only perform a couple of it's Charms. And it was equally useable unarmed or with my katana weapon focus.

And I hit hard now. Combined with my Killing Hands power, I could ignore anything less than hardened milspec armor. Not that we were wearing hardened milspec armor. With our slow regeneration, training accidents weren't something to worry about but we both wanted something to get us in the mood, so we'd opted for Jinbei.

"Sure, but she can't possibly know what we have access to now." Theo said, as he dodged under and around my attacks before launching a few of his own.

I bobbed and weaved and blocked as I replied, "I'm still not hearing a plan,"

Without warning, I felt the manasphere reverberate at Theo's command and I knew what he was doing before I even saw the Manablade manifest in his hand. He brought it down in a direct MEN strike against me, which I blocked with my own Manablade, held in my right while also manifesting a Powerblade in my left and counterstriking with a TSUKI thrust. Theo spun out of the way and manifested a second Manablade as he did, swiping at my back in the process. I brought my Powerblade spinning down into a blocking position for that strike while ducking under the higher strike I knew was coming.

"How about this for a plan? We kill her, destroy the evidence, alter everyone's memories and make it look like she was kidnapped. I don't need her drek. I can get my own!"

I backed off slightly on my attacks, just to see if he was patronizing me, but it seemed he saw through that because he turned up the heat pretty hard after that. We didn't have a "ring out" rule but getting cornered up against a wall usually meant death, so when I found myself approaching one, I leapt into the air, bounced off the wall, and took a few swipes at Theo while I was above him, though mostly only to keep him from doing the same.

"But she knows we're going to try something. She'll have a backup plan or an ace in the hole or something. Can't you use your bulldrek supermagic to help you figure out what that is?"

His caste-mark flared as he fought and he began to glow, but his fighting didn't improve so I assumed he was doing just as I'd suggested, "Yeah, she's definitely inviting an attack. And probably expecting me to bring several aces in the hole. She knows about Lucifer so she knows about Robin's team. She probably wants to crush my new-found dreams of independence and show me what real power is. She'll bring something to bear that's out of left field. They'll be magicians there to protect her, of course, and also probably someone superior to every member of Robin's team in their chosen field. And you, or so she'll think. But the cherry on top will probably something over the top and crazy, like a cyberzombie."

I was back to holding my own against him, the spinning lights of our spellblades almost reminding me of a rave. And the flawless perfection of his movements reminded me that while we had declared our love for each other, we'd yet to move beyond words. I knew he was waiting on me, but seeing him like this...I was starting to wish he wouldn't.

"But she knows you know all that. Plus, what if she has hostages? What if we get there and she has a live feed from a sniper aiming at Meela?"

He stopped and I didn't press him. The benefit to having two nuclear options in this case was that she could actually use one of them without losing control over Theo.

"She might not go for the obvious play like that though. There's plenty of other people she could use as a hostage. Ones that I wouldn't think to set up defense for in advance. Including people here in Squatter's Mall. But letting myself be blackmailed is how I got into this mess. If she does something like that...well it's the last time she'll be able to hurt anyone. "

My eyes widened, "Are you really ready to let that happen to Meela? I mean...I get the logic of it, but...Theo that's pretty cold. Do you think maybe you could use your Power to try to talk her into not being such a monster?"

His mouth dropped open as our sparring match abruptly came to a halt, "Huh...I guess it says something that that thought never occurred to me. I guess I could do the same thing to Robin's team to get them to give up on the idea of revenge, but...at what point does hypercompetent persuasion become mind control?"

We were clearly done sparring, so I dismissed my spellblades and walked over to grab a towel from the stack and started wiping the sweat off. I even stripped down to my sports bra in the process, mostly just testing the waters but part of me might have been hoping he'd make a move.

"Are you really worried about that? Or are you just coming up with excuses to do what you want?" I asked.

I felt his eyes pass over me and I could feel a hunger in them but no moves were made.

"I suppose I could tell them about the opportunity and see what they say..." he responded after only a slight delay.

"Atta boy," I replied while snagging my water bottle from the floor and then taking a swig from it.

A hour later we were in the war room with Robin's team. Masaru had returned to wherever he was staying in Seattle but we had his commcode if we decided we needed him for this. If we decided to trust him. Theo and I had showered - separately - and we were back in our business attire. Robin team had upgraded their fashion choices as well. Gregor had even stopped wearing a helmet 24/7 although he still wore gloves most of the time. They, collectively, were now Lucifer and their more professional clothing choices showed that they were integrating that into their self-perception. Even Thug now sported a button down shirt, though none of them had descended into anything ridiculous like wearing a tie.

"Alright, so...an update," Theo began, "My training has been coming along pretty well, but we've got some bigger things to discuss. I hope you're not too upset that I waited this long to tell you, but...well...about a week ago Miho and I were both contacted by beings of significant power. I won't beat around the bush here. Miho had a powerful spirit approach her and tell her that our plans against Mother...might be ill advised."

Gregor spoke first, "What manner of spirit? And what reasons did it give?"

Theo looked to me and I responded, "A Spirit of Man, I think. Or maybe a Guidance Spirit. She took the form of a human woman and from our conversation I gathered that she was some kind of Great Mother type. She said that she was forbidden from giving details but I could tell that our plans frightened her,"

"She didn't say why?" Fabio asked.

But it was Gregor who answered, "They rarely do," he turned back to me, "but did she say that we should abandon it completely? Or just wait?"

My mouth fell open slightly. I hadn't thought to ask.

"I...well she didn't say explicitly. Instead she said that Theo and I should focus more on living our lives and not try to 'grow up too quickly'"

Gregor nodded, "Sounds more like a temporary injunction then, if she didn't make the permanent nature of her request or demand excruciatingly clear. For the record, it doesn't mean that moving against your mother would be immediate, inescapable doom. But there may be unforeseen consequences for us. And they probably involve whatever that particular spirit views as 'growing up too quickly'"

I thought of Meela with a targeting reticle over her head.

"What was the other one?" Thug asked, looking at Theo.

Theo raised his eyebrows, but then quickly understood, "Oh...uh...well. The being that contacted me was....a dragon,"

Gregor leaned back in his seat and tilted his head back as he groaned.

"I knew there was something bizarre about your Awakening. You're a drake aren't you?"

Drake's hadn't quite entered the public consciousness at that time, but they were essentially metahumans with a dragon-ish alternate form. No one quite knew where they came from, but dragons had a tendency to snap them up whenever possible and massively preferred them as retainers to more typical metahumans.

Theo flinched, an affectation I knew. He clearly wanted Gregor and the others to believe it, but without explicitly lying to them.

"Look, kid," Gregor continued, "I can probably already tell you how that conversation went. It offered you help with your Mother, right? But Robin wouldn't want you to sell your soul over this. Tell it to go frag itself."

Theo writhed a bit, and I couldn't help but mimicking the gesture a tad, "That's...not exactly how the conversation went. I think we could get his help without a long term commitment on our part. Like they always say, the first one's always free,"

Fabio sneered, "Yeah, there's a reason the first one's always free. You're telling yourself it'll just be this one time, but life never slows down, kid. Even if you tell yourself it's just this once...there's a reason you never make a deal with a dragon,"

Theo and I looked at each other. We knew we had no way of convincing them that we could get Masaru's help without him putting the screws to us later without essentially telling them everything and we still weren't quite sure we wanted to do that. Also we weren't 100% sure we could trust Masaru yet. Even if he did turn out to be 100% sincere - which to be honest seemed likely - we weren't sure he wouldn't go from loyal retainer to creepy Yandere obsessive and do so without warning.

"Listen, guys," Theo began, "I know what you're saying and I'm taking it seriously. But it's my life. If I have to spend some time as a valet to some big lizard to get this done...well...Robin isn't the only person I ever cared about that Mother's hurt. I'll live with the consequences,"

"Buddy..." Thug replied, "You know you didn't just help Robin, right? There's not a single one of us here you didn't dig up out of the ground,"

Thug's story was more subtle than most. You don't usually find depressed trolls. Not to sound racist, but mostly they aren't contemplative enough for that. They live in the moment. But Thug had given up on life when Lucifer found him. In one way or another all of them had. But Thug had been betrayed by people he thought were his friends one too many times and it had become clear to him that he just wasn't smart enough to see it coming. And he knew that would never change. He'd convinced himself he was doomed. And he'd been on the verge of suicide when Theo discovered him. He'd stopped eating. He was sleeping almost 18 hours a day. Wasting away in Rat's Nest, most people just left him alone because they hardly knew what to do when people they knew and cared about were depressed. And the truth is, back then, most people didn't give a drek about anyone they didn't know personally or wasn't useful to them.

Thug had come centimeters from having become yet another victim of the Tamanous. But Theo found Thug's situation curious rather than confounding and had an Agent or two tailing him at the time, trying to gain information. So a few bullets later, with the Tamanous dealt with, Theo decided it was time to make contact.

They say money can't solve your problems or bring you happiness. But it can sure as drek help. Theo had offered Thug cognitive enhancements and some rather significant ones. In exchange, Thug became one of Lucifer's Agents and he took to it with a reckless abandon. Even starting from a lower baseline, Thug was now smarter and more perceptive than about 80% of humans which did wonders for his self-esteem. And the more honorably Theo treated him the more devoted he became.

They all had stories like that.

"So, " Fabio interjected, "when you inevitably regret this stupid drek, we'll be here to drag your ass out of the fire,"

Theo smiled, but it didn't hide the sadness in his eyes, "Thank you,"

"But there's one last thing, " I added.

And all eyes were on me.

"Tabitha has...invited Theo out to one of her vacation homes to have a discussion about the future of his education. And it's absurdly insecure. It's almost certainly a trap," I told them.

Several pairs of eyes were on Opticon now.

"Oh! Right, yeah. Sorry, I've been meaning to ask, but you two seemed so busy lately. So uh...do you have a sister?" he asked, addressing Theo.

The look of bewildered shock on Theo's face must have been a mirror image of my own.

"I...I mean I don't think so. Mother always said she and I were the last McWellans,"

Opticon winced, "Yeah, I don't know about that. I found your mother's will. Wasn't able to make any changes, but it looks like she left absolutely everything to someone named Serena McWellan. I checked though and the SIN is almost completely blank. It's got no biometric data or images or anything. It's a full Corporate SIN but other than that? Almost nothing,"

"Who does it say her parents are?" Theo asked.

"Uh...well, according to the records, the same as yours. Johnathan and Tabitha McWellan," Opticon shrugged.

Theo and I stared at each others. If Tabitha could make one Theo, what's to say she could make more? Maybe she was about to pit her creations against each other to see who was more worthy. Or maybe show this Serena off to Theo as the obviously better version of him before killing him. None of that really seemed like a real threat at the moment, but the possibility of Theo having family was big.

And believe it or not, Johnathan McWellan had indeed existed at one point, but Theo had none of his DNA. He was likely just a cover story since his relationship to Tabitha had only latest a year or two. They'd had a whirlwind romance, or so it was to be believed, ending in his tragic death not long after Theo had been "conceived".

Having his name on her birth certificate was practically advertising to us that Serena was another Prototype Transhuman which meant it could be some kind of attempt at manipulation, but I couldn't figure out what she was trying to manipulate us into. And I didn't think Theo did either.

We broke our gaze and looked back at them, but it was Theo who spoke first, "I...I think we'll have to figure out what to do about that later. For now, it's time for Strategy Meeting part 2,"

Gregor folded his arms, but he smiled, "Oh yeah? Ready to wow us with everything you've learned, magic boy?"

He smiled, "Prepare to be amazed,"

 

[Erenthia]

While Robin's team had been quite impressed with Theo's demonstration, Isis apparently wasn't happy with my efforts to dissuade Theo from his plans. She'd appeared in Theo's office when we were alone together to try to take the matter up with him directly. He'd tried to be diplomatic at first, as always, but the more she insisted, the firmer he got.

"Very well then, " she said, "You are a businessman are you not? What if I offered you an exchange?"

Theo and I looked at each other for a moment before he responded, "What are you offering?"

Isis took several steps towards his desk. She was shorter than him but had no lack of gravitas.

"I know things, Theodore McWellan. The depth of my knowledge far outstrips that of young Masaru. Would you be interested to know that you are not the first Solar to walk this strange round world? You are, in fact, the second."

That got our attention.

"What?" he asked.

She placed her hands on his desk as she leaned in towards him, "Foreswear Tabitha McWellan, and I will tell you all that I know," she replied.

Theo folded his arms and looked away, "I...acknowledge that that's valuable information but...I'm sorry it's out of the question,"

She stood back up, "If your price is yet higher, perhaps I can find another way to accommodate you."

She proceeded a few paces to our right and began writing with her finger on the wall. The text glowed in golden light. She'd written out some GPS coordinates to six decimal places, a time - 9:25 am - and a name.

Jeremy

"Be there, at that exact time tomorrow, and you will see what I have to offer you,"

And that's how we found ourselves standing invisibly in a 15-year-old human boy's bedroom. He wasn't that much younger than Theo really. We had, of course, checked out the place ahead of time and made plenty of preparations. In particular, we'd gotten nanopaste disguises and some fairly nondescript clothing. The Everette home had been rented out to a Joseph Delle, a human, who had been raising his son alone after a divorce from his wife Wanda a year and a half ago. To say that Jeremy was a troubled young man would have been an understatement. He'd been forced to repeat a grade in middle school, dabbled in drugs and BTLs, and had three suicide attempts on record. His social media was also full of dark ramblings and ominous threats directed at no one in particular. Also, he'd just broken up with his girlfriend.

July hadn't quite ended, which meant school wasn't in session yet. So when his father finally left for work and he pulled an Ares Predator out of his drawer, neither of us were particularly surprised.

"Jeremy," Theo spoke in a soft tone but without dismissing his invisibility.

"What the frag? I've got a gun!" the boy shouted, turning the weapon away from himself and pointing it in several different directions in sequence.

"I know," Theo replied, "but you don't need it. There are other ways to solve your problems. Let me help you,"

Jeremy relaxed his stance a little too much, the gun dangling from his hand carelessly. He laughed.

"Oh god, this again? Please, I've heard all this drek before!" Jeremy replied.

Theo dropped his invisibility spell and Jeremy had the gun pointed at him instantly. Theo ignored him and dragged the room's one chair over to him and sat in it.

"Look, kid, I know what you're thinking. Everyone always says the same drek but nobody ever does anything. You're angry, and you don't really know why. And you're pretty sure nobody would really care if you did it anyway. Life would go on the same just fine without you, right? Stop me if I'm getting any of this wrong,"

Jeremy continued pointing the gun at Theo. He must have understood that this wasn't any kind of home invasion, but he only looked angrier for it.

"And you're gonna tell me that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem and life gets better and blah blah blah. Go frag yourself,"

Theo leaned forward, "I have a better idea. You're life's such a drekhole? Let's change your life."

Jeremy sneered, "Oh yeah? How?"

Theo shrugged, "How do you want it to change?"

The boy's expression only got darker and angrier, "No! I mean how can you make anything different? Nobody else can. Just 'cause your some pedo magician who sneaks into kids' rooms doesn't make you special,"

Theo leaned back and sighed, and I felt him reach out to me via a Mindnet spell, <Help me out here a bit?>

Using my control over mana I created a light whirlwind in the room which spilled over into a visible cloud of phantasms complete with miniature lightning. It wasn't something a traditional magician couldn't do with the right spell, of course, except for my divine aura which I was slowly beginning to get control over.

"Kid, I can accomplish quite a bit. So how about this, you tell me what you need for life to be a little more tolerable and I'll see what I can do?"

Jeremy had already lowered his gun and hadn't taken his eyes off the display even as Theo spoke. Finally, he tore his eyes away and sneered at Theo yet again.

"Why do you care?" he replied, and I took that as my cue to end the display.

Theo sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Kid...'why' isn't always as important as you think. When you see a tidal wave approaching, you might not know what caused it, but that doesn't change the brute fact of its existence. But you're a smart kid. You know that. So I'm gonna go ahead and assume you're real reason for asking that is because you don't want to answer my question. Because you don't know the answer,"

Jeremy turned his gaze from Theo and the expression of pain and humiliation almost outweighed his anger.

Theo continued, "But I've been reading your blog posts. You're terrible at poetry by the way, but I got the gist. You don't think you're important to anyone. You feel small. Everything hurts and everything makes you angry. But are you sure you want to be important? I mean, how would you know if people really cared about you or if they just cared about what you could do for them?"

"Heard it," Jeremy said with the truly excessive disdain that only teenagers are capable of.

"Sure, " Theo replied, unperturbed, "but not from someone who could make you pretty important. I've gotta ask these things, kid. Because buyer's remorse is a thing. So say I do something to make you more important to people. How do you know that'll fix anything? How do you know it won't be worse?"

Jeremy raised his gun and waggled it back and forth, "I've got a backup plan,"

Theo sighed, "Yeah, no see that's not acceptable. But here's a better question. If I gave you power how much of a piece of drek would you become?"

That, finally, seemed to catch him off guard, "What? What do you mean?"

Theo shrugged, "Same old story. Older than dirt and still going strong. Power corrupts. If you became a Physical Adept, say, then why not take a huge steaming drek on everyone who ever messed with you?"

Jeremy finally seemed to understand where this conversation was going. He'd talked repeatedly on his blog about wishing he could Awaken, "N-no! No, I wouldn't do that!"

But his words smelled like raw sewage, <Yeah, no. He's lying and he knows he's lying>

Theo sighed, "You really think you can lie to me, kid? Buddy, you're not the only person in the world who's suffering. Now I get that that's hard to see over your own pain, but fragging look around, kid! It's everywhere. And I'm not gonna help you make it worse. But I will help you make it better. But I'm gonna need a commitment from you. And don't think you can cheat me on this. If I do this for you, then that means you have a job to do. And that job is making the world around you a better place. Not right away. You have to learn first. But in the end, you need to understand that you're not the only person who deserves help. And I'm gonna need a magically binding oath to that effect,"

"You can't...you can't just make someone magic. Everyone knows that," Jeremy replied, but there wasn't a lot of conviction in his voice.

Theo smiled, "Yeah, you probably shouldn't tell anyone about me. I don't exactly fall into the 'mortal man' category. And I really don't want people to start attempting suicide to see if I'll show up and give them magic. You'll have to swear to that too,"

Jeremy started to writhe, "You...you could be lying,"

Theo shrugged, "Then make the wording conditional. Try starting with something like, 'I swear that if I become a Magician in the next five minutes...' or something like that. Which reminds me, what flavor of magic are you looking for?"

"Mystic Adept! It's the best!" Jeremy said without hesitation. I tried not to be annoyed. People were always saying that.

"Alright then," Theo began, "Do you swear that, if you become a Mystic Adept before I leave, you will do your best to put real good into the world, that you'll never choose to use your powers for corrupt purposes and that you won't tell anyone what happened here today?"

Jeremy nodded and Theo's caste mark flared immediately, the text of the Sacred Oath spelled out just as it was with Masaru.

"Careful now, kid. You just make a sacred oath, and the universe itself has heard you and will enforce it. Not even my death can stop that now. My love, if you would,"

We were, essentially, under cover so Theo was using the opportunity to test the waters and see how things felt. I didn't know quite how he felt about it at the time, but honestly...I did kinda like it. You might think we were being silly. We had both openly admitted our love for each other a while back, but in real life things get complicated. Also we'd been too busy for anything conventional like a date. It occurred to me that maybe I should take the lead on that one. A creeping fear settled over me in that moment and I remembered how it felt to lay dying with your last regret being how much time you wasted. But I didn't have time to dwell on it.

I dropped my invisibility spell. I'd been practically on top of Jeremy this whole time. Theo had kept his distance but I'd been on overwatch, ready to jump in if Theo's words weren't reaching him. Jeremy flinched, but I only held out my hand, palm up.

"Give me the gun, and I'll give you what you've asked for," I told him.

"Wait...but I thought..." Jeremy stammered.

"Oh, I never said I had the power to do it myself. But she does," Theo explained.

Technically he could learn any of my Charms, but Theo had a much broader focus that he had to worry about so it had seemed like something for backburner.

Jeremy took a second, probably to think over the Oath he'd just sworn to see if it was a screw job, but it wasn't and eventually he seemed to figure that out. He handed over the gun, and I put the safety back on and tucked it in behind my back. Then I leaned in and kissed him on the forehead, releasing my own Divine Essence into his body in the process.

Mind Knife Sacrement.

When Theo had suggested I make my Domain the manasphere I'd never considered the possibility that I could just...dole out magic. But Theo had. In fact, with the Charm I was now using, I could do other things as well. His whole mind was open to me and I could see the rage and the despair and the hopelessness and I did what I could to ease it, but I didn't want to fundamentally change who he was. I did mark him as my Priest though, which made him integrally part of my Domain. It would make it significantly easier for me to keep an eye on him. I'd even be able to hear his prayers.

I had to catch him, as the process, which only took a fraction of a second, had the side-effect of knocking him out. We hadn't actually predicted that part, but it wasn't a huge problem. We laid him in his bed, reestablished our invisibility and then Theo did something neither of us had planned. At least he hadn't discussed it with me. He started singing.



But it wasn't just a song. I could feel Theo's true power pouring out from him and in no small amounts. And since Jeremy was now part of my Domain I could feel the powerful effect it was having on him almost - not quite but almost - like it was happening to myself. And even at this metaphysical distance it brought me to tears. I could rewrite Jeremy's mind, but providing him with significant spiritual healing without fragging him up was beyond what I could do at this point. Theo apparently didn't have that problem. There wasn't much to say after that. I'd wanted to ask him what precisely he'd done but speaking at all in that moment felt like a sacrilege so we ended up leaving in silence.

Isis was there, just outside, and our Improved Invisibility spells apparently meant nothing to her. And I strongly suspected that, even though we could see her, no one else could.

"Do you understand now, what it is I am offering you? Do as I have asked and I can fill your days and nights with such opportunities. There are many ways to hold back the darkness," she told us.

"And why aren't your kind doing this? Isn't that what you're for?" Theo growled at her.

Isis folder her arms, "Most of us are still asleep and thus can do little more than act as Mentors. You're Exaltation woke but few of us and we have been busy working for your benefit and for the world's,"

This was one of those rare occasions when I had to be the diplomat, "I don't believe our current plans will result in Theo becoming a monster,"

"I do not believe so either, " Isis replied.

Theo and I looked at each other. We knew...or rather we believed her when she said she was forbidden from speaking her true fears, but we had assumed that at least part of it was the horrifying reality represented by a Solar falling the same way they did in the First Age of Creation, but with no Dragon-blooded or Sidereals to take him down when things got out of hand. But the obvious next question was one we knew she couldn't answer, which left us largely dumbstruck. So she continued.

"But it is of little utility to discuss such matters at this point. Would you, Solar, perhaps be tempted by the prospect of having my tutelage for your beloved? We share a Domain and I could teach her much,"

I didn't need to see him to know it was tempting for him. Because it was tempting for me and he'd know that.

"I can't help but notice that this is an awfully hard sell," Theo replied after a moment.

"To borrow from modern vernacular, Do The Math,"

"I'll think about it," Theo said, eventually.

Isis sighed, "Then I shall leave you to it. I hope that you will find the wisdom to heed my words,"

We'd actually borrowed Masaru's flying limo for this occasion, so we weren't entirely certain how much talking we should do while we were in it. A much easier prospect on the way back, considering just how much Isis had offered us, and how unnerving her warnings had been. I'd known Theo long enough to know that he was giving the offer real consideration, but when we finally reached his office, I wasn't surprised by his answer.

"I can't. I'm sorry, I can't give this up,"

I nodded, "Yeah...I know,"

Whatever price there was to be paid. We'd pay it together.

Or so I thought.

---

AN: in case of links becoming broken in the future, Theo's song is "Heal the World" by Michael Jackson

 

[Erenthia]

If you really understood war, if you really understood death, if you really understood hate and horror and pain and fear then how far would you go stop it? And what would that knowledge do to you? Who would you become if the suffering of untold billions weighed on you in a tangible, visceral way and wasn't some theoretical abstraction? And if that crushing weight refused to give you a single moment of peace for thousands of years and if you somehow managed to stand your ground throughout all that, what would you do if you were betrayed? How far would you fall? What would be left of you? And what kind of monster would look out through your eyes and wear your face after it was all said and done?

I'd had similar fears in the past. I knew when we went to Redmond together that Theo would face opposition from those who didn't trust his motives. I knew that the very people he had come to help might show their ingratitude through violence and murder and even attempts on his life. It had been a pleasant surprise when he'd gracefully danced around a sizeable portion of those problems with charisma, intellect, and forethought. I never thought he'd become a monster but I worried that he'd become embittered, lose his heart for helping those less fortunate, and turn inward.

It wasn't Theo I should have been worried about.

We'd taken a t-bird from Squatter's Mall to the Bellevue estate, for the sake of speed. The staff was mostly still there - Theo wasn't about to put any of his family out of a job - so almost half of them met us at the landing pad. We stopped for a short breakfast while we waited for Theo's private jet to pick us up. Theo and I spent some time marveling over the strange sensation of being in a place so familiar and yet so different. Our life in Bellevue seemed like a dream sometimes, and as much as we'd done to improve conditions at Squatter's Mall, it still didn't compare to this.

"Hot damn, kid," Thug began, as usual saying what others wouldn't, "What the frag made you want to come to Redmond after growing up like this?"

We were in one of the smaller dining rooms, not the huge ones that rarely saw use, but the more intimate variety that we'd actually felt comfortable in. No chandeliers or sculptures or century-old paintings, just a few relatively inexpensive furnishings making up a middle-class island in a sea of opulence. Not that Thug had been talking about this room in particular. We'd had to cross the sea to get here, but Robin's team had been fairly quiet during the voyage. They weren't yet in their security armor, but they'd made enough money to dress themselves appropriately for the world outside Redmond. Even then I'm sure they felt like imposters. I still remembered my first few months here and how long it took me to even begin getting comfortable. And that was with young Theo going very far out of his way every day to assist me in that.

Theo smiled but I could see the melancholy in his eyes, "You guys did...and Robin...and well, Miho of course. Really the more I learned about Redmond the more I developed the unshakeable conviction that it deserved to be saved. And I don't mean to sound like some places are unworthy of help it's just...the more I read about it, the more people I talked to, and the more I learned in general the more I began to see just how amazing the place was when you looked at it the right way. And yeah, I know what you guys will say, but there's a lot of ingenuity and raw will and just plain brilliance that I just kept seeing. So many people still trying to help, still trying to make things better. I would never have been able to recruit so many Agents if there weren't so many people who wanted to do real good,"

But his words smelled like cheap cologne, not that I needed my Adept powers to recognize that particular half-truth, but now probably wasn't the time to get into Theo's history of mental illness.

Fabio sighed as the food was finally delivered, "You know, I still remember the days when I would try to worm my way into a place like this, pretend to be your best friend, and live high on the hog until the day you wised up and kicked me out,"

Theo smirked, "Yes, because that never got you into any trouble,"

We all shared a chuckle for a moment, then Theo continued, "So...what do you guys want to do after this is all over?"

A round of shrugs. Then Thug answered first, "I dunno. I was thinking maybe Aztlanner food?"

Thug rarely made jokes like that unless he was either playing the part of a stupid troll or among friends who knew him well. Because what he was really getting at is that Tabitha's McWellan's death didn't or at least shouldn't register as any kind of important event. She didn't deserve that honor. But coming from a troll, most people wouldn't look for too much depth in those words.

Theo smirked, "Sounds good to me. But I was just wondering if you'd all like to become fantastically wealthy?"

Opticon got to it first, "Uh...you know I still haven't been able to alter your mother's will, right? Or even figure out who this 'Serena McWellan' is?"

"Let's pretend for a second that's not an issue. And for the record, Squatter's Mall and Redmond and Lucifer's operations...that's all still going to continue. But if you want a permanent luxurious vacation for the rest of your lives...well you've earned it. Or you will have," Theo explained.

"Yeah, no," Fabio replied

"Frag that, " Thug came next.

"A temporary vacation might be called for, but the work everyone at this table is engaging in is too important to abandon," said Gregor.

"Yeah...being able to buy all the toys doesn't mean anything if you don't have anything to do with them," Opticon explained.

Theo drummed his fingers on the table in a tell I'd learned to decode over the years. He was nervous. Which meant he was building up to something.

"What if I asked you guys to take over as Lucifer on a permanent basis?" Theo said, finally.

Thug stopped eating, a spoonful of food hovering in the air. He turned to face Theo, "You going somewhere, kid?"

Theo shrugged, "Maybe a lot of places. There are even places in the world worse off than Redmond. Chicago for starters. Lagos. Bogata."

Everyone got quiet. Eventually, it was Gregor who asked the obvious question, "Is there something you're not telling us? Or are these the demands of your new dragon overlord?"

Theo nodded, "If things go well, by the end of the day I might very well be able to explain some things to you that, currently, I don't feel I can. For now, let's just say that options have opened up for me that I didn't have before. And if I'm busy with other things, I want to make sure I leave Redmond in good hands,"

And now they were looking at me.

"Where Theo goes, I go," I told them, earning an especially irritating smirk from Fabio.

Gregor nodded, "It would be an honor to serve the people of Redmond in such a fashion. And I assume Anna's new position will be permanent as well? But who will take over as Program Manager?"

"It depends on how today goes, really. But I have someone in mind," Theo replied.

James poked his head in the door, "Excuse me, Mr. McWellan? The courier is here,"

Theo jumped up from his chair in obvious excitement, "Ah! Gimme a few minutes, guys. Be right back,"

The moment he was out of the room, they were on me like sharks. Gregor went first, "So what do we need to do to get him out from under whatever he owes this dragon?"

I sighed and shook my head, "I can't talk about any of that,"

"Oh come on!" Fabio replied, "You know we've got his back. Let us know how we can help him!"

I sighed again, and made sure to do it louder this time, "I am a Samurai. He's my Lord. And for now, he doesn't want you to know. But..."

The tension in the room skyrocketed in anticipation of even the slightest drop of a secret from me.

"...the dragon owes him something," I finished.

They all started searching each other's faces for signs of understanding, but with none to be found.

I smirked, "He's Lucifer, remember? Favors are his thing,"

And technically none of that was a lie.

Theo reentered the room with a small box in his hand, "So uh...I got you this. It's for the mission," and he placed it on the table just to the left of my plate.

I opened the box and found a moonsilver amulet with a seven-point star pentacle on it. A Heptagram. And I could feel its active presence in the manasphere without even needing to actively assense it. And there were half-a-dozen other similar pieces of jewelry in the box with it. All moonsilver.

"They're Qi foci," Theo explained, although I felt a slight whiff of sulfur which told me that while most of them probably were, one certainly wasn't.

<There's a Power Focus in there too. It's the simple moonsilver band> Theo informed me telepathically.

I'd long gotten over my residual self-image as a Barren's Rat, but this was still quite a lot. Still, I managed to accept it all gracefully.

"Thank you, Theo. I know that this is probably mostly for our mission, but still, I really appreciate all this,"

"Hey, where're my shinies?" Fabio joked earning an immediate elbow from Opticon sitting next to him.

"I should probably go figure out which of these I should bond to before the mission gets underway," and I exited the room as gracefully as I could.

Normally it could take hours to bond to a single focus depending on how powerful it was, for a mortal anyway. These, I bonded to as I put them on and slowly came to the understanding that they really had nothing to do with our mission at all. Which made sense in a way as I already had pretty much every combat-related Adept power I knew existed and would do me any good. The Analytics power was one I'd always been curious about but never felt I could justify. It mostly just made you smarter but in the classic book-smart sense, and as I bonded to it I could feel my mind becoming sharper in a way that made me understand why the word 'sharp' was used for intelligence in the first place. My thoughts actually felt, in a way, more blade-like. Like I could cut through problems with ease that before would have stumped me.

But things got really curious when I discovered a Qi focus for Improved Business Skill and Improved Academics. Oh sure, the ones for Visual Magnification and Eidetic Sense Memory made a kind of sense, but improved book learning and business skills? If I hadn't bonded to the focus with the Analytics power first I might have shrugged those off but now they worried me. Because I could guess what they were for.

<Please don't go off on your own,> I sent him over the Mindnet spell he'd clearly cast.

<I don't intend to. But with Isis's warnings, I figured we could use a backup plan,> he sent back.

<Which is?> I asked.

<I don't actually remember. I think that must have been on purpose. It's probably better that way>

I'd slipped the Power Focus on while he was talking and it made my head swim. Instinctively I began to worry about Focus Addiction, that nasty and pernicious dependence the Awaken could develop when using a focus that, frankly, was probably too powerful for them to begin with. Suddenly though, it occurred to me that, like with Drain from spellcasting, we might not be entirely immune but it seemed likely we'd be just as resistant. Oh, wow. Analytics was nice. Hopefully, Theo had already done the math because this focus felt significant.

<You get anything for yourself?> I asked him

<Similar Power Focus, some Qi foci here and there. Nothing particularly special. Analytics is nice though>

Oh god. As sharp as I now was, I didn't even want to think about what he was now capable of.

<Masaru's here> he told me.

Well...it was time to see how this part would go. I rendezvoused with our coterie atop the modern castle and stood before the opulence that was Theodore's personal flying chariot. Okay, I'll stop. I promise. In any case, Masaru was already on board and had clearly used magic to give himself the appearance of a mid-40s caucasian male with a decidedly bulkier frame than he'd had when last I saw him. It didn't take Gregor long to guess who this newcomer was.

"I don't know what you hope to gain from this, dragon, but understand this. Theodore McWellan is our friend and ally. He's earned our loyalty and you should think twice and thrice again before doing him any great harm. Not even your kind are invincible," Gregor said, although if he'd known he was addressing a Great Dragon, rather than the more common variety, he might not have.

Masaru smiled, and his now gravelly voice reminded me vaguely of Delucca's, "Your loyalty to Mr. McWellan does you credit. I will think more highly of you for it in the future. And I certainly take no insult. For he has my loyalty as well,"

None of them quite knew what to make of that, so they said nothing. We'd included some accommodations for Thug, mostly seating sized appropriately for him so in his typical phlegmatic manner, he slumped lazily into his seat and, as usual, cut through the conversational gordian knot and said what no one else dared say.

"Welp, this is gonna be a long flight,"

He wasn't wrong. Theo certainly tried to keep things from getting too awkward, and I did what I could to help him, but Robin's team just wasn't comfortable making casual conversation with a dragon. Even if they thought Theo was a Drake, which was more or less half-dragon in a social context, he was Lucifer first, Robin's boyfriend second, probably a bunch of other things, and a dracoform dead last.

We couldn't even move the conversation towards strategy, because we'd beaten that horse to death, raised its corpse, and beaten it to death again before ever setting foot on Theo's private jet. At least Opticon got an excuse to not be involved since he was flying the damned thing. Finally though, after what felt like several days even if, in reality, it was less than 2 hours, the Mojave Desert came into view. I wouldn't have felt this nervous if it hadn't been for Isis. Hell, we might not even have bothered bringing Masaru. The only reason Robin's team was here was that they had a stake in seeing justice done for Robin's killer.

"Uh...Theo," Opticon's voice came over the intercom, "There's uh...there's no traffic control messages coming in. I've got the coordinates, but no one's giving me instructions on how to land or any warnings about shooting us down if we deviate from our flight plan. Is that...is that normal?"

"I've uh," Theo began, "I've never actually been to this particular estate of hers. Just proceed to the landing coordinates but keep your eyes open,"

As if things weren't tense enough. And they got worse after we landed.

"What the frag?" Opticon said.

"Yeah I feel it too, " Theo responded.

"Feel what?" I asked him.

"There's no wireless. At all," he explained, "And I have no idea why,"

Masaru looked around, and by his expression, he didn't seem to know why this bothered any of us so eventually, he decided to take point deploying the airstair and descending it.

"Wait what do you mean feel?" Opticon asked as Theo followed Masaru's lead, but he never got an answer.

There was no one there to meet us. No servants. No drones. The limestone spackled ranch house, done up in imitation of an old Mexican mission, was similarly empty. It also had no electric lights or any other modern convenience we could find. Opticon had deployed several surveillance drones the moment we'd exited the jet, mostly to keep an eye out for missile strikes. It could very well have been the case that Tabitha never intended to show up and instead planned to blow us all up. But while they didn't find any sign of inbound attack, they did eventually find Tabitha.

Several hundred meters from the house, there sat a truly enormous Zen rock garden, easily 50 meters on a side, and some kind of deck or topless gazebo in the center. She was just sitting out there, in the heat of the day lounging around while wearing a man's business suit and stiletto heels - all white of course - as if the temperature didn't bother her in the slightest, which probably meant some kind of outdoor air conditioning because she was just that rich. Her blonde hair was uncharacteristically free which made her look oddly relaxed. So we made our way out there.

The heat was oppressive, and as much as I would have expected the tension to override that, it didn't. I could feel beads of sweat falling down my skin in various places until I felt Theo cast a spell that cooled the air around us.

"What was that?" Gregor asked.

"Oh yeah, I uh...found an air conditioning spell. Seemed like something worth having," Theo explained and to my surprise, it was entirely true.

And then we were standing before Her. She was just as the drones had told us, her arms spread wide along the back of the wooden bench, but with her legs crossed.

"Hello, Theodore. Since I haven't had the opportunity to say it before, congratulations. The Squatter's Mall Project was a resounding success. You should be proud,"

Theo's flat affect spoke volumes, "Thank you, Mother."

"But I believe it's time for you to step back. A conventional education is important and not merely for the prestige. So I have enrolled you at MIT&T for the upcoming fall semester. And you will have to take a step back from the Redmond Program, though I will allow you to remain on as Program Sponsor,"

A moment of silence.

"You brought me all the way out here, just to tell me something you could have said over a commlink?" his anger was beginning to show through and I knew we were getting close.

Tabitha smiled but her eyes were hard enough to crush diamonds, "I thought privacy was in order in case you decided to do something regrettable. After all, you certainly demonstrated your newfound resolve against those filly dwarf gang members you crucified. I have to say I was impressed. I knew you had the ability to contact the Order of Aurelius, but I didn't think you'd do such a thing so soon,"

A wave of nausea hit me, and it wasn't any magic.

"The Order of Aurelius?" I said without thinking or even paying any attention to the circumstance we found ourselves in, "My god Theo, what were you thinking?"

The Order was a group of shockingly powerful vampire mercenaries. And while most mercenaries were flexible in their morality to say the least, the Order was who you called when cruelty and horror were the point. Frankly, crucifixion was uninspired by their standards, but then I was just now realizing that Lucifer had to stay on brand. Thanks a lot, Analytics.

"Dude," Thug spoke up next, "What the frag, man?"

Theo turned to regard us both with an annoyed distaste, "Now? Really? We're doing this now?"

"Did it truly not surprise any of you how quickly that transpired?" Tabitha asked sounding even more superior than normal, "Clearly young Theodore had them stationed nearby in preparation. I wonder how he fed them?"

All eyes were on Theo now, except Masaru who didn't seem to understand why any of us were bothered by this. Theo for his part wasn't defending his actions.

"Later, alright? Please!" he begged.

Masaru's jaw clenched visibly as he addressed Tabitha, "You're words are of no consequence,"

And then he turned to Theo, "I ask that you make me your executioner,"

Theo and I had long since agreed, even before Robin's death, that even if we were ever to do something like this, he would not be the one to strike the final blow. I'd been prepared to do it myself but I was just as happy to pass that off to Masaru at least there in that moment.

Theo shook his head and I could feel him pour his True Power into the manasphere, conjuring a Powerblade that my favorite new Adept power was telling me could probably cut through a tank. He stepped forward.

"Are you sure this is how you want this to go, Theodore?" Tabitha asked as she stood, "Did you really think I made no preparations for this? What plans do you suppose my death will put into motion? What consequences for those you love? This isn't something you can take back, boy,"

Theo stared her down for a long moment and said, "I'm sure it'll hurt. But in the end? I'll live with it," .

Theo rushed forward bringing the blade down in an overhead strike...

...only for it to be blocked by the largest sword I'd ever seen. The blade compared favorably in size to the average surfboard and both hilt and blade were covered in Old Realm runes. And the entire thing had just materialized into position to block Theo's strike. It just floated there.

Tabitha smiled.

At once she was engulted in a bonfire of divine flame.

And a symbol of light appeared on her forehead, which I recognized immediately as the symbol of the Zenith caste.

But they were green.

 

[Erenthia]

Tabitha's evil smirk and crazy eyes left me wondering if perhaps she was actually happy about this turn of events, but her actions made the point moot.

"All me to demonstrate the scope of your mistake," she said.

And the giant sword - a Diaklave I suddenly remembered - began spitting out copies of itself, twirling into the air above them. Soon there were a dozen. And then two dozen. And more. And more. A hundred strong. Even as sparks began to fly from the point of contact between Theo's powerblade and the instance of her Daiklave that blocked it. I flinched, not at the display before me, but rather at the sharp intake of breath from Masaru. The absolute last thing we needed right now was a Great Dragon flying off the handle and doing something crazy.

"Fiend! You do not belong in this world! Return from whence you came!" Masaru roared.

Some of the twirling copies of Tabitha's Daiklave had taken up a sort of collection of orbits around her in what felt a bit like a defensive pattern, but Masaru's words still reached her. Theo continued in a series of expert strikes, attempting to penetrate her defenses and moving as quickly now in combat as I could, but to no avail. Theo darted in and out of the manasphere to try to take her from a surprise angle, but the floating Daiklaves spun and twisted too quickly for him to bypass and they blocked and parried his every move. Tabitha simply stood there as if nothing important was happening as she answered.

"Fiend? Well, someone's memories are still a little foggy I see. But no, you needn't worry, little lizard. The ancient pacts still stand. It's simply that they do not apply to me. For I am no Prince of the Green Sun, although I admit I do bear some resemblance. An intentional choice of fashion you might say,"

Theo finally got the message that a direct assault would go nowhere, and paused his attack. His breathing now heavy enough to cause his chest to heave, he glared at her with a hate that even made me take a half-step back.

"What are you?" he growled.

Tabitha raised an eyebrow, "Really? I'd assumed your first question would have been, 'Why did you do it?' or 'Why her?' or something similarly inane. It's too bad, I suppose. I had such a good answer prepared for you,"

Theo lept back several meters, but I could feel the manasphere bending to his will before he even landed. I knew he'd switch to Direct attack spells in an effort to bypass her daiklaves but before he'd even landed, every member of Robin's team opened up on Tabitha in a veritable hail of bullets. Thug, in particular, had brought what was normally a vehicle mounted machine gun with him.

The bullets never reached her. Instead, the blades of two of the daiklaves in her orbit flicked back and forth too fast to be seen, blocking every single one.

And I felt tidalwave of mana pour from Theo in Tabitha's direction, but if it had any effect she made no sign. Instead she ignored him and decided to address Robin's team.

"Oh? Are you children participating as well? In that case..."

Several of the idle daiklaves overhead stopped spinning and pointed in our direction, tiny green balls of energy appearing at their tips before firing beams of energy in our direction. I hadn't sensed any interaction from the manasphere in them, so I raised a hand in their direction and conjured together the strongest Physical Barrier spell I could in wall-form between us. And much to my surprise, the barrier held.

Tabitha raised an eyebrow, "Interesting," she purred, and tripled her efforts.

"Run!" I shouted, and all except Masaru scattered immediately.

"My liege, if I may?" he said.

Theo growled loud enough that it doubled as a shout, "Fine! Cover me!" and he closed his eyes and burst immediately into a golden bonfire of his own.

Half-a-dozen more of Tabitha's floating daiklaves began taking pot-shots at the members of Robin's team as they scurried around the rock garden taking the occasional shot at her even as they were forced to put the bulk of their efforts into trying to avoid Tabitha's energy blasts. I got the distinct impression she wasn't even trying to hit them though, just humiliate them, like a villain from a old western flatvid shouting, 'dance!' and firing at his victim's feet. In particular, she hadn't fired a single shot at Theo or Masaru. Even so, I still rolled out of the way when my Barrier spell finally went down.

My theory proved true when Masaru took his true form, an Eastern style dragon of course with a body and tail about 35 meters long taken together, and half of Robin's team stopped dumb struck for several seconds before a few blasts hit the ground near them and refocused their attentions. Masaru's body was black although fading to a dark blue on his underbelly contrasting starkly with his white horns.

Gregor beat him to the punch. I could feel the manasphere welling up near him just before a jet of white hot flame tore through the air in Tabitha's direction before taking a sharp bend as if ricocheting off an unseen wall and missing her entirely.

Tabitha turned to regard him, disgust evident on her face, "Are you still here? Well, perhaps then you'd like to see a what a real spell looks like, hmm?"

She raised her left hand and I felt nothing in the manasphere, but rather I could feel the very essence of the universe respond to her. Not quite like when Theo called on his power, though I could certainly feel him doing that now, but almost as if she was reshaping the universe itself on some fundamental level.

A bird of pure fire three meters across appeared about ten meters above her head, though it bore little resemblance to Theo's Iconic Aniima. This was more like a pterodactyl but made of crimson flame.

"Flight of the Thermobaric Raptor," she intoned with a mechanically precise enunciation.

And that's when I discovered that study and contemplation were not the only ways to undercover the hidden truths of the universe. And really, that's what Spirit Charms were on a fundamental level when you thought about it. Desperation and Need also serve when the moment is right. And I was in desperate need. So it was in that moment when one of the fundamental truths of the universe opened up to me like a blooming flower. And I understood the Principle of Motion.

With an act of raw will, I poured my Divine Essence into my flesh and the world itself seemed to slow to a crawl. I raced to Gregor, outrunning Tabitha's spell as it flew towards him, fluidly hoisting him up into a fireman's carry - infection be damned - and raced as hard as I could to get out of the spells blast range.

I didn't make it.

The explosion sent us flying. But my accelerated perception persisted and I could see the horrifying burns covering Gregor as we tumbled in apparent slow motion through the air. I didn't waste any time. I reached out and grabbed him by his chest armor pulling him back into my grip and channeling the most powerful healing spell I could and I could feel it take root in his body. And much to my surprise, my speed still persisted, so I looked around and saw Opticon and Fabio also flying through the air. In another moment of combat satori, I kicked off the manasphere itself and managed to grab Fabio, who'd been closer and repeated the process for Opticon and bringing the three of them safely to the ground.

Just in time to see Masaru do the dragon equivalent of a spinning "kick" swiping at Tabitha with his tail. Great Dragons had been known to kill metahumans on accident with an absent flick of the tail so this would have left a mortal with fewer remains than even Robin. The attack came in from Tabitha's left.

So obviously she caught it in her right hand. What did you think would happen?

"Did your elders really never warn you about meddling in the affairs of our kind? Here, perhaps I can provide you with an education," she lectured.

With an overhand swing of her arm, Masaru went flying in an arc over her head, with a landing that probably registered on seismographs over a hundred kilometers away. None of us lost our balance, but the earth shook in terror at Tabitha's power. And so did we.

But he'd given Theo enough time apparently. I could feel the well of power radiating from him as his anima banner took its iconic form and heard its eagle-cry.

"Spirits of the Netherworld! Hear my call!" he shouted, "Know the voice of your true master! And flock to the banner of the Phoenix-King!"

A dozen spirits manifested immediately. And a dozen more. A constant influx of spiritual reinforcements swarming above and about us and of every kind, save any dark manifestions. An army of spirits a hundred strong to counter Tabitha's army of swords. And the very air around us erupted into a terrifying battle hymn.



I saw Masaru rallying, so I decided it was time for me to go on the offensive. I reached out to the manasphere and caused as much chaos as I possibly could, pouring divine energy into the area around Tabitha. Etheric clouds formed above her immediately out to a range of about ten meters, sparking electricity, and other random elemental manifestations coalesced in unpredictable ways and places though some certainly targeted her. It was the biggest manastorm I could make.

Tabitha leaned back and cackled like a goddamn witch. Like she'd conjured the thing herself.

But Theo's spirits were keeping her daiklaves off our backs and I could feel Masaru building up to something. For all we knew she was posturing and we were winning.

Yeah...I knew it was bulldrek the second I'd thought it.

"A good effort, my son. I'm surprised to see you come so far so quickly. Who knows? If Miho hadn't drug her feet in bestowing Luna's Treasure on you, you might have grown enough by now to have a real chance. I certainly wouldn't have felt the need to force the issue. That, incidentally, is why your dear Robin had to die. Your precious Miho was simply wasting too much of my valuable time,"

Before Theo could answer, Masaru threw wide his jaw and an enormous cone of flame burst forth engulfing Tabitha entirely and for several seconds.

When the flames finally cleared it was like it never happened. Tabitha just glared at him and a dozen of her daiklaves fell from the sky at speed, burying themselves in his back. His roar of pain forced Robin's team to cover their ears and I could see blood trickle from one of Fabio's elven lobes.

"You should show more deference before a Solar, you insignificant bug," she spat.

What?

Wait, no. Wrong reaction. Tabitha had actually responded to that attack in a way that wasn't just a sadistic game. He'd put real pressure on her. And if God could bleed, she could die.

"You are no Solar!" Masaru groaned.

Tabitha shrugged, "The reality is more complicated than you believe. I certainly was a Solar,"

"Liar!" Theo screamed with such hate that it seemed to affect her even more than Masaru's flames, "There was never anything in you that ever cared for anyone other than yourself! You're a monster! That's all you've ever been!"

Tabitha's wrathful sneer matched the black bitterness in her eyes and I could see as she lost all control. In a blur she had left her protective shell and now had Theo by the throat, tilting him in such a way as to be half-way into a fall onto his back and only held up by her grip on his neck. And the unhinged madness in her voice chilled me to the bone.

"You know nothing you ungrateful child! I stood at the border of this world for untold ages holding back the darkness! Only to be stabbed in the back! My only allies were clowns and wretches and wyrmlings who betrayed their every promise to me! "

She tossed him to the ground and seemed to master herself. And I got the distinct impression that she was embarrassed...or something like it.

"Enough of this. I grow bored," and another wicked smile spread across her face, "You know, this may surprise you, but your inclination towards music and singing was not something I needed to engineer into you. You got that from me quite naturally. So I will sing you a song. And before it is over, you will either have bent the knee or everyone else here will be dead."

With only a relatively minor fluctuation in the manasphere Tabitha rose into air. Theo's spirits attacked her or attempted to, but her daiklaves came to the rescue and sliced any in half before they could reach her.

"Tell me if you've heard this one, little one. It's called the Cantata of Empty Voices," she called out.

There were no words to Tabitha's storm song. Her voice...her terrible voice - just ripped away at everything, body and soul. I can't describe the experience except as emptiness and pain. And I shudder to think how Robin's team must have experienced it. At least Masaru and I had some protection from it due to our natures, but they took the full brunt of the assault. So did the scenery. No winds blew, but the song acted on the land around us like a tornado, ripping and tearing. And for the first time since I Awakened, I was utterly powerless.

The song cut off abruptly and I immediately felt sick. Theo's spirit army faded from the world shortly followed by Tabitha's sword army as well as my mana storm. I was on my back, I suddenly realized. My face felt slick with blood that had poured from my eyes, ears and nose. I didn't want to sit up. I didn't want to see it. I had a perfect excuse after all. My body ached worse than any time I could remember. My soul ached. And I knew that Theo wouldn't want me to see him bowing before his mother. But there was simply no other way we were still alive. Assuming any of Robin's team had survived.

Finally though, with a truly herculean effort, I pulled myself into a sitting position. And what I saw was even worse than what I'd feared.

Nothing.

They were gone.

I'd never prayed before that moment, but it seemed appropriate.

Isis...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know we should have listened...but please...please help.

And with that, my strength failed me. I felt my torso falling, but mercifully, the darkness took me before my head hit the ground.

 

[Erenthia]

I awoke in our Bellevue estate's infirmary lying in a hospital bed. We'd never really needed the infirmary, certainly not one this large, but it had been an opportunity for Theo to 'launder' money for The Game which he'd turned into an excuse to provide the estate staff with an added benefit. I was wearing a hospital gown but with no I.V. or monitors attached to me. My body still ached though not as much as it should have. I had dozens of burns and bruises and cuts that I didn't remember receiving and I could feel the lingering effects of a powerful healing spell, probably to block the pain.

Robin's team shared the room with me, though none of them were awake. Thug looked to be in particularly bad shape. I hadn't been able to save him from Tabitha's first super-spell and he'd taken the brunt of it so he was lucky to be alive at all. If you could call it 'lucky'. The outer layer of his skin had been turned black like overcooked meat. I couldn't see much of the others under their blankets, but at least they looked like they were resting peacefully. Still, I dragged myself out of bed to check their charts. I didn't really understand what I was reading, but apparently, neither had the doctors. They didn't look awful - except for Thug. Based on what I was reading, it seemed like they were waiting for me to wake up to discuss whether or not to risk dosing him with Immortal Flower.

Because while Immortal Flower certainly could cure most forms of damage, if you gave it too much work to do it would shred your essence as surely as any cyberware.

"This isn't your fault," came a voice from behind me. The room had been empty except for Robin's team and I hadn't heard anyone come in, so even if I hadn't recognized the voice I wouldn't have been surprised when I turned around to see Isis.

"We should have listened to you. I should have listened to you. I should have pushed him harder not to do it,"

Isis put a hand on my shoulder, "This, or something like it, was always going to happen. I only sought to delay the inevitable,"

I turned back around to regard Thug. I didn't want to be comforted right now, "I don't suppose you can tell me where he is? Or if he's ever coming back?"

Isis stepped forward to stand beside me, "I cannot reveal the secrets of the Celestials. But I can repeat what she already told you. You will see him again,"

I turned to look at her in shock, "She said that?"

Isis smiled, "She said she enrolled him in a university, did she not? That was no lie. You can check for yourself soon,"

I looked back at Thug, but I was thinking about Theo. What horrors would he endure? Even in only a couple of months, I didn't put anything past Tabitha. But there was nothing I could do about it. I wasn't even sure what I could do about any of this.

"How did we get back?" I asked after a moment.

Isis smiled, "You asked for my help. I bore you no malice for ignoring my warnings. Those were for your benefit. And now that you have awakened, I have returned to provide you with my guidance,"

I shook my head but without meeting her gaze, "I don't know what to do. But I've learned my lesson. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it,"

Isis reached out and placed a hand on my chin and gently pulled my gaze to her, "No, Miho. That isn't how this works. One of my Domains is Wisdom and simply giving you a list of instructions would not increase the amount of Wisdom in the world and there is already so little. You must ask the right questions,"

"Where do I even start?" I asked after a moment.

"Where one always begins: where you can," she replied.

I looked down at Thug, "Would you be willing to heal him? Or all of them?"

Isis smiled again, "I would, but I can do better than that. Reach higher, little sister,"

I looked at her in confusion for a moment, but after being around Theo for six years I was starting to learn a few things about ambition, "You mean...you'd teach me how to do it?"

Isis nodded, "I will teach you the Touch of Eternity. And with the Domain we share, it will be far more effective,"

It's hard to explain in words how it went. Isis demonstrated for me how to manipulate my Divine energies to infuse mortal flesh with strength and resilience. And further, how to integrate mana itself into the process. The teaching process went far faster than learning such things on my own had, but I suppose one of her Domains being Wisdom had something to do with it. I could now grant powers normally associated with magical creatures as blessings, though only ones that bolstered the flesh or healed.

So I gave him the Regeneration power, though I couldn't let him keep it for long. He had some considerable enhancements, most notably the intelligence enhancements that Theo had gotten for him all those years ago, and I didn't want them to get rejected. But it was safe enough in the short term, especially since having the power 'naturally' rather than via Immortal Flower posed no risk to his essence. And Isis was more than willing to provide assistance with the timing. I ran out of energy pretty quickly though and Isis had to finish the job on the others.

"Thank you for this," I told her when we were done.

"There is more yet that I can do for you, but as I said, you must ask the right questions,"

I didn't say anything at first. I'd been too quick with my last question, but I had been in a place of desperation. Now with the worst possibilities off the table, I could focus. Theo would be coming back in a couple of months and Robin's team would be fine, at least physically. They'd have questions though, but I could handle that. Or maybe just have Masaru do it.

My eyes went wide, "Did Masaru survive?"

Isis nodded, "I delivered him to those most loyal to him. He will make a full recovery in time, but do not expect his aid before your husband's return,"

I shrugged, "I mean, couldn't I go help him?"

"I would advise that you do not," Isis said, flatly, and I knew well enough by now not to argue with a Goddess of Wisdom.

So what should I be doing? Anna had Squatter's Mall under control, though the wider Redmond Program was currently without a manager, but I wasn't sure what I could do about that. Robin's team would be taking over as Lucifer soon, at least hopefully. There were probably plenty of preparations I could be making for Theo's upcoming move to Boston, but I didn't need Isis's help with that. What did I need her help with?

"Is there any more help you'd be willing to provide me with? And I don't mean to be impertinent but...may I ask what your help will cost me?"

Isis smiled, "I seek to put good into the world, it's true, but there are things I could use your help with, certainly. The number of my faithful has dwindled as I slept, but I'm willing to wait on that. I have priests of my own, after all, and they will prove sufficient for the time being. You, on the other hand, have but one worshipper, and I would see you increase that number,"

I shook my head, "Oh no...Isis, I don't know about that. I'm not fit for that sort of thing. And I'm afraid of how it would change me. You've probably always been a god, so maybe you don't have to worry about that, but I'm still a mortal under all the strange powers. I don't think I could handle that without becoming corrupt,"

Isis sighed, "No, little sister, you are not just a mortal with strange powers. You are divine. But if the thought unnerves you so, then I suggest you ask Gregor's advice. But I must leave you now. Call to me when you are in great need and I will always answer,"

And she was gone. No fanfare or flash of light. She was just there one moment and not there the next.

The door opened and I instinctively reached to hold the back of my hospital gown closed. A man entered, a tall caucasian elf in a business suit with black hair and blue eyes, and he carried a high-security metal suitcase with him.

"Oh...Miss - err, Tanaka-san, I didn't expect to find you out of bed. I have a package for you if you'll sign for it,"

Some colloquialisms never went out of fashion. I 'signed' by pressing my thumb to his commlink and he gave me the suitcase. And he was gone as quickly as he arrived. Couriers never stayed to chat.

With Robin's team still sleeping, I opened the suitcase to find a vidscreen on the upper portion, an envelope, and a small metal box. The vidscreen started playing immediately.

It was Theo.

"Hey, Miho. If you're seeing this, then things went bad. With everything our Egyptian friend kept saying, we both knew this could happen and I'm sorry. Because if you're seeing this, then that means I should have listened. But I did the next best thing. I gave her a call and talked to her on my own. I couldn't let go of this, but I asked her for some advice on something else. I asked her to help me come up with one final backup plan, should everything else fail. And she told me that I should prepare you for my absence. So that's what I did,"

He looked down for a moment, then back at the camera, "So it's yours now. Everything. I've set up a time delay, but by the time you're reading this my will should have been updated to make you my sole beneficiary and - if I'm not dead - I've also granted you power of attorney. You have access and legal rights to all my accounts and properties, my social media, everything. Congratulations, you're now Theodore McWellan. I hope you enjoy it more than I did. Of course, I'm not going to remember this plan but it's still legally binding. Oh and one more thing..."

He held up his hand with Luna's Treasure on it, "I'm getting a counterfeit copy made. Not for you. For me. Check the box. And Miho? I love you,"

The screen went blank. And my eyes went to the metal box, staring at it the way people stare at a spider or wasp that had snuck into their room. He couldn't have. But...certainly, if he'd made himself forget the plan he would have noticed the big guy not talking to him, wouldn't he? Had he found a way around that? How?

I checked the envelope first. It contained a plastic card the same general size and shape as the kind used by people a hundred years ago to pay for things. The very wealthy sometimes still used them to hold important datachips. I couldn't slot it now, without my commlink, but I knew it must have been the paperwork certifying me as Theo-on-paper-at-least. Which pretty much solved the Redmond Program Manager problem. That was me now, which explained the Improved Business Skill focus.

And that left me with no more excuses. I opened the ornate metal box and sure enough, Luna's Treasure was inside. Even after Theo had told me it would be okay, I still had some reservations about putting it on. But I was following my Lord's command, so there was no reason to think the big guy would be opposed to it. Or Luna.

But still...

With no small amount of trepidation, I put the ring on. Nothing happened at first. There were no giant golden bonfires or reverberations throughout the global manasphere, and for a moment I thought maybe it just wouldn't work for anyone but Theo.

"Hello, Miho-san. Theodore said we'd be meeting soon. I am all that remains of Ignis Divine and I am happy to finally meet you,"

I flinched, "Um...hello. Listen I uh...I don't really know what Theo wants out of this, or how I should address you or...anything,"

help​

"Be at peace, Miho-san. Theodore said you would be nervous but there is no need. I am here to assist you in any way I can. How may I be of service?"

And then it all came in like a flood, "Theodore's been taken by his Mother and I don't know where. She's some kind of Exalt but I don't know anything about her or what she can do. She said she used to be a Solar but her anima was Green. Do you know what that means?"

"Hmm...interesting. A green anima banner usually indicated an Infernal in my time. But I am given to understand that at least 13.77 billion years have passed since then. Still, a former Solar with an Anima like unto an Infernal sounds very similar to an Akuma. In my time the process of becoming Akuma did not result in a change to one's Anima, but perhaps the Yozi no longer have any need for subterfuge. Unfortunately, I have no means of tracking Theodore. Do you have any knowledge of why she took him?"

That...why hadn't I thought of that?

"I don't..." then a thought occurred, "but she knew about you, or at least the ring. She said I took too much time giving it to him. That means she wanted him to have your power. If she used to be a Solar...could she be training him?"

"That could very well be the case. In which case she likely would have taken him somewhere to facilitate that process. Theodore told me that time operates differently in the metaplanes. Perhaps she took him to one,"

Great. Could I even find him then? I suppose I didn't have to if she was really bringing him back for the start of the semester - but I couldn't help but feel that was just ridiculous. Why did she even want him to go?

"I spoke to a local goddess. She seems to believe that his Mother will bring him back in a couple of months. But I'm not sure what I should be doing in that time. I have some things I know I need to do...mostly cover for his absence. But none of that seems important compared to everything else that's going on,"

"Do you have reason to trust this goddess?"

"Yes. Absolutely," I replied.

"Then I would say to you that life is not about the great but the small. If you would make preparations, then prepare yourself to be a comfort to him when he returns. If this Tabitha is anything like the Infernals or Akuma of my era, he is in for a difficult time. The power of Solar Exaltation will undoubtedly sustain him, but his mind and heart are not invulnerable. Yet his love for you is strong and I have no doubt you will be able to mend him,"

"That's all?" I asked.

"As I said, though you may feel you are doing no great thing, what truly matters is the quiet moments of pure truth, not the great battles. Though you do not possess the power of a Solar, your deeds are no less impactful. For who saves one life, saves the whole world,"

Wow.

"I...thank you," I said.

I'd been expecting some Great Golden Judge, but I'd been a fool. Theo had told me a story about how The Unconquered Sun had, at one point, given himself over to his enemies during the Primordial War to save a single mortal hostage. I'd thought that was bulldrek, but now that I'd spoken to him, I could believe it. He was like an older and more mature version of Theo. And at the same time, he reminded me of my father in a way. All that kind masculine wisdom.

"You are most welcome, Miho-san. But if I may draw your attention to those you share the room with. I believe they are waking up,"

"Miho?" Fabio asked in a groggy tone and through half-opened eyes, "who are you talking to?"

I took a deep breath, but I knew immediately I'd tell them the whole truth. Theo would want them to know, even if he wouldn't admit it. He needed people he could share himself with, and I needed to have things in place for him when he came back.

"It's a long story, Fabio. But don't worry. I'm going to tell you everything,"

 

[Erenthia]

Again, this is in the Index on purpose. I explained why in part 1

Tabitha McWellan's Theme
I Have The Power - All Good Things


Masaru's Theme
Lacrimosa Dominae - Imperativa


Gregor's Theme
Wrong Side of Heaven - Five Finger Death Punch


Rise of the Phoenix-King Theme
The Phoenix - Fall Out Boy


Theo and Miho's Relationship Theme
Rather Be - Pentatonix cover

 

[Erenthia]

Even with the magical regeneration I'd been able to provide them with, it took Robin's team a few days to get back on their feet to the point where they were ready to hear what I had to say. Oh they certainly knew they'd gotten in deep with something extra extra crazy, but they still needed some time to convalesce. Gregor spent a lot of time communing with his ally spirit, Daisey. I wanted to ask him why he never called her in during the fight with Tabitha, but I decided to save it for later. If at all. Everything had by gone so quickly, and I'd spent so much time on defense, I never tried using Five Dragon Style against her, although based on what the big guy was telling me, it wouldn't have made much difference.

So while they were getting their heads together, I'd been talking with the big guy and sliding into my new role as Program Manager. And I wouldn't have had a snowball's chance in hell without the business focus that Theo had gotten for me. Even then it was a struggle. I eventually got desperate enough to buy an Improved Logic spell and cast it at a high enough force to risk actually hurting myself. And let me tell you, that was a strange experience. Analytics was great, but being significantly smarter than you normally are all the way around is something else entirely. The world seemed somehow smaller. I threw together ideas for five new reality shows for our expansion efforts, all in the edutainment category. In particular, I wanted to focus on Plastic Jungle, a major source of locally grown food in the Barrens. I'd sent out emails to dozens of experts on farming techniques and potential show hosts while sending out a few of Lucifer's agents to touch base with the movers and shakers of Plastic Jungle to see if they'd be willing to participate.

And I'd finally ordered my cultured bioware. Tabitha McWellan was an unstoppable godmonster and I was done holding back. So while I was waiting for my Cerebral Boosters, Cerebellum Boosters, Sleep Regulator, and Mnemonic Enhancers to cook, I went under the knife for an Internal Commlink, Skilljacks, and Skillwires. Hell, I even considered getting a Control Rig, but I wasn't quite there yet. I hadn't dismissed the idea either, but I just didn't know how much use drones would be to me personally in the future. Right now I was focusing on productivity and understanding. I needed a broader understanding of what was possible to bring to bear against Tabitha. Not a deeper one. Not yet.

And I'd even eeked out some time to have a few in-dept discussions with the big guy. One issue came up rather quickly: why didn't Tabitha McWellan rule the world? If she could throw around Great Dragons like she did with Masaru and apparently do so without significant preparation, what was holding her back? Only two possibilities seemed reasonable. The first was that she hasn't been on Earth nearly so long as she claimed so I did some digging.

In March of 2058, there had been a total of 43 members of the McWellan family. But the end of the year it was down to 19. All random tragedies and the occasional suicide. By the end of the next year it was six. The year after that? Just one. According to the official records, Tabitha McWellan had been born in May of 2041, so she'd have been 17 when it all started. I couldn't find any records of major manasphere disturbances in that time, at least nothing out of the ordinary enough to seem like an Exaltation Surge. On the other hand, if she had, in fact been telling the truth about being thousands of years old, then she was certainly no McWellan. She'd just taken the real Tabitha's place. It was speculation, but it did provide an explanation of what "Serena McWellan' was: Tabitha's next identity. Eventually people would notice her not getting older, and she'd need to switch identities. Which did seem to indicate that she felt the need to keep hidden, but who exactly was she hiding from? That thought sent shivers down my spine.

Of course, the other possibility was that she just didn't give a drek about ruling the world.

So what was Theo for? What function did he serve in Tabitha's mind? According to the big guy, it would take at least a century before he'd be able to go head to head with her without some kind of trick up his sleeve. So whatever that function was, it didn't have anything to do with power. According to the big guy, Status was the next major feature in line. Particularly among divine entities. Tabitha was tainted and even if being an Infernal-but-not-really let her skate by whatever ancient packs kept the Green Sun Princes from coming here, that didn't mean they'd listen to her. But even with that being the case, what couldn't she get by just bullying them? Of course, it could always be the case that even if she was the most powerful being on Earth, she couldn't stand up to a concerted effort united against her. She could handle one Great Dragon. Could she handle them all?

But even if she couldn't, couldn't she just stealthily assassinate them one by one? Or was that not practical? No, the real question was, what did she want? I might have been able to dig into some of her personal projects or even bribe a few people to get a peek at her black projects, but that was far too risky. Theo had always given explicit instructions to anyone who worked for him to accept all bribes for that kind of information and then give then a bunch of fake drek and then report the inquiry to him later. Occasionally he even ordered them to tell the truth. If Theo could think of that, so could she. So I had no way of knowing if I'd gotten real information or alerted Tabitha to my interest and gotten nothing in the process. I could put some deckers on it, but that would take time. In the mean time, all I knew was that Tabitha wanted her own pet Solar, and I had no idea why.

Except I knew what she had done to him. And if I looked at it with a clinical eye, it really looked like she was trying to create some kind of perfect altruist. The Game had left Theo with not just the skills to be Lucifer, even as a mortal, but with an unrelenting compulsion to help people as much as possible. She'd gone way overboard on that...but that's when she brought me into the picture, and I had bent him back towards being a more complete person. So whatever it was that she needed him for, it had as much to do with who he was as the fact that he was a Solar.

[We're ready] Gregor texted me.

I'd been avoiding Robin's team for the past several days, mostly as a courtesy. Frankly, part of me was surprised that they hadn't up and disappeared. They'd had every opportunity. But they'd stuck it out and I didn't really know why. I'd been working in Theo's office, not that I really needed one at this point with my Internal Commlink, but it helped me feel close to him. I'd even found the hidden stash of nudes that Robin had been sending him since he was 13 on his cyberterminal. I laughed at first. Then I cried. I'd been more that a little overwhelmed by her offer to form a triad with her and Theo, but I think if she and Theo walked in the door right now, I wouldn't hesitate.

But it was time to have The Talk, so I locked up Theo's office behind me with a thought and made my way to the secure briefing room on the third floor. Like most such places, it had multiple redundant security features. A biofiber mesh and warding, wifi-blocking paint and a faraday cage built into the walls, plus about a dozen others. The room itself looked like a typical briefing room. Conference chairs in neat little rows, a podium at the front, and an integrated holoprojector on an air-gapped system with no connection to the outside...all examples of how corporate Theo could still be, at least in terms of aesthetics.

Robin's team were all there, and they'd taken the opportunity to buy themselves some nicer looking clothes. I'd set up temporary expense accounts for them while they were here and while they didn't go wild with it, they now all looked surprisingly respectable. More middle-management than executive, but it was still an improvement. I closed the door behind me, and it suddenly occurred me that I was now in a closed off room with them with no way of communicating with the outside. Silly, I know, but some instincts never go away.

They'd pulled their chairs into a semi-circle, and apparently someone had gotten a troll-appropriate chair for Thug, so I dragged a chair of my own and sat down in front of them. They said nothing, only waiting.

"I'm gonna try not to be too corporate about this. The thing is, there's really two stories to tell. And if you want me to start from the beginning, you're going to have to be patient," I began

"We've been here for days," Fabio said and it came out a bit harsh, though maybe a bit harsher than he'd intended.

And briefly, my mind went back to that first day with Theo in the Panic Room.

"Alright. Quick spoiler though, none of the really crazy stuff started happening until Robin died," I explained.

"We figured as much," Gregor interjected, "just begin at the beginning,"

I shrugged, "Alright. About 18 years ago, Tabitha McWellan completed a major bioscience project to create a Prototype Transhuman. You know that transhuman as Theodore McWellan...."

And I spared no detail, save one. I told them about The Game and the people we'd lost to it. I told them about my increasing involvement as co-Lucifer. I even told them about Theo's mental health issues. But most of all, I told them about Luna and her Treasure and how Tabitha used Robin's murder as a way to motivate me to select Theo for Exaltation. I told them what I was and what I could now do. Hell, I even told them about Isis.

I just failed to mention the part where the mind of the Unconquered Sun was resting on my finger. I had a hard time reading that particular room as I went along, but apparently there was a good reason for that.

"I have absolutely no idea what to say to any of that, " Gregor said, finally, "especially since, according to my magic, every single word of it was true,"

Thug spoke next, "I'd ask you to check her for mind control or memory alteration, but with what we saw back there? Seems legit,"

"I wouldn't say no to a demonstration, however," Gregor added.

I shrugged. Going over the events of the last six years drained me in no small ways, but I remembered my own demands for proof from Theo for a significantly less outlandish story.

I dropped the mana level in the room as low as I could and then raised it as high as I could.

"Please stop!" Gregor shouted, "That's enough, I believe you!"

The rest of Robin's team stared at him, except for Fabio was looking a little queezy as well, and he finally responded, "She...absolutely has control over the stuff of mana itself,"

Fabio nodded and made no attempt to mask his anxiety, "Hell yeah,"

Opticon finally spoke up, "And Theo's really some kind of...super god?"

I shrugged, "As I understand it, he's less powerful than a major god or a Great Dragon for the moment. But there's a sort of caste system and he's at the very top,"

"This is so far above my paygrade, I don't even have words for it. Why are we even here? Why are you telling us all this? What do you want from us?" Fabio asked.

I took a breath, "My best guess is that Theo and his Mother are on another metaplane - "

Gregor interrupted, "Wait, you mean physically?"

I nodded, "My best guess is that she's using the time differential to her advantage, perhaps to train him. If she really does intend for him to attend MIT&T he'll be back in a couple of months, but there's no telling how much time will have passed for him. Or what he'll have been through. But it won't have been pleasant. He's going to need people he cares about, and ones he doesn't have to keep secrets from,"

"And you don't think the batdrek crazy psycho-mom from literally-Hell is going to kill us all for knowing this?" Fabio growled.

I shook my head, "No, I don't. She's always been very explicit about her orders. If she didn't order us to be quiet about all this or use some kind of divine magic to enforce that...it means she doesn't care,"

An uncomfortable silence came over the room for an agonizingly long moment.

Fabio spoke up again, "So that's it? That's all we're for? Group therapy?"

I shook my head, "It doesn't matter how powerful you are. It doesn't matter how rich you are. The only thing that matters in this world are the connections we share. Life is about people,"

And I saw tears welling up in Gregor as he turned his face away, but they remained unshed. I hadn't meant to aim that at him, but I should have known.

"And...what will we be doing," Gregor began, his voice shaking, "until the second coming of Mr. McWellan?"

"We continue the Redmond Program. I'll take over as Program Manager and you'll continue as Lucifer. And hopefully on a permanent basis,"

They all looked around at each other, but eventually nodded.

"And after that?" Opticon asked.

I shrugged, "We'll have to play it by ear. We don't really know what's going on. We'll have to figure it out as we go along,"

"I can't help but feel like there's more that we should be asking. I mean...you think he'd make us demigods? Or cure Gregor?" Fabio asked.

"I have no interest in a cure, " Gregor responded before I could.

"I don't know all the details, but I don't believe the same process would be as effective without The Exaltation Surge. You'd gain a level of mystical enlightenment and I could give you magic or expand your existing magic if you really wanted. You could certainly pick up my own slow regeneration as an Enlightened Mortal and probably Magical Martial Arts and Ancient Sorcery. But we should probably have a separate briefing for that. For now, we need to get back to Squatter's Mall and get back to work. I've schedule a direct flight for tomorrow morning at 7:00 am. Please be ready by then. Unless you have any questions, that's all I have for you right now,"

They nodded and got up to leave, all except for Gregor. The others gave him a few glances but said nothing. Once we were alone he spoke.

"I suppose I should feel honored or humbled at having been singled out by a divine being. But even with Isis's reputation all I can feel is profound anxiety,"

I chucked, "Believe me, I know the feeling,"

He raised an eyebrow, "Do you? You're something of a divine being yourself, as you said,"

I smirked, "There's divine and then there's divine. I'm about as low on the celestial ladder as it's possible to be. And Theo's at the very top,"

Gregor raised an eyebrow, "And yet you are on the ladder, unlike us mere mortals,"

I took a breath, "Yeah, I guess that's fair. But you and I have the same relationship we've always had. Being a demigod doesn't change that. And yeah, after six years of standing next to Theodore McWellan, I know that's not the same as being divine yourself. But now that I'm standing where Theo was standing, I realize I was never as far away as I thought I was. You're my friend Gregor, and I'll never abandon you,"

Gregor had been intentionally infected by another ghoul back when he was college professor, because his entire extended family had all drunk the Humanis cool-aid. So had he at the time. And it wasn't any misguided attempt to teach them to see non-humans in a more accepting light. The ghoul who'd done it knew exactly how they'd respond and done it for the sole purpose of causing pain. And he'd lost everyone. Family, friends, and most of his co-workers. They all rejected him outright and immediately. Even his wife and son. He'd nearly committed suicide. He'd nearly infected the rest of his family. He very nearly went feral. And he would have, if Theo hadn't found him and pulled him up out of the dark, like he always did with everyone. Theo had found Gregor in a sewer starving to death, unwilling to eat what his body now required. Theo wasn't there in person of course, he had drones and agents for that. I remember watching the footage. Gregor nearly attacked when he caught the smell of the 'food' they'd brought, but Theo promised him he could simply have it if he did one thing and one thing only.

He had the agents set up a table with a chair and plate, and Theo told him he could have as much to eat as he wanted, but he had to eat it with a knife and fork.

Slowly, over the weeks that followed, Gregor came back to his senses, and Theo offered to get him his Professorship back, but Gregor declined. Because over those weeks, Theo showed him true kindness, never even mentioning his previous history with Humanis even though practically anyone else would have. So Gregor had opted to become an Agent of Lucifer and had served him loyally ever since.

That was the story that made me understand what Theo meant when he said, Screw jobs are just leaving money on the table. You get more in the long run, even for yourself, by actually helping. Which had reminded me immediately of my father's wake. Even in death, people were still looking to repay him.

Gregor bowed his head for a moment, but then looked back up at me, "I believe I understand what She meant by sending you my way regarding the ethical conundrum of direct worship. I've done extensive research on preawakeing conceptions of Energy Work. Most modern scholars took it to be a scrap of memory regarding the manipulation of mana, but I've never held to that theory. I'm sure you're familiar with group rituals and their ability to target those at a distance?"

"Well, of course, but I'm not sure what you're getting at?"

"Rituals have always been associated with worship. And the main problem you are trying to avoid is the corrupting element at both ends, both for those worshipping and worshipped. I don't know the arcane details or mechanics of worshipping the divine, but whatever process is involved should be something that can be contextualized as participation in a magic ritual designed to aid him without the morally corrupting elements of absolute authority,"

I blinked. Even with the Tabitha Problem I had still been prepared to leave that particular pile of cash on the table.

"Are you sure it will work?"

Gregor shrugged, "We will have to test it of course. And since we don't have access to Theo, there's really only one way to know if it's working. Still, if we can get it right, it's the only aid we can offer him now, wherever he is,"

And that pretty much sealed the deal. I'd have to put together some kind of not-a-cult but wherever Theo was, if I could offer him the slightest help without turning people into mindless fanatics who'd do anything he wanted without a second thought then, I was willing to give it a shot.

"Put something together for me, and we'll try,"

Gregor nodded.

Ten minutes later I was in Theo's office working again when I felt something strange happening. I took a quick peek at the local manasphere, but everything looked as it always did. But the feeling kept getting stronger and stronger to the point where I could start to put it into words. If felt like watching someone you love in terrible pain. And then I heard a voice in my mind.

Please, I need your help! I don't know your name, you never told me. But you gave me magic! Are you there? It's me Jeremy.

 

[Erenthia]

Jeremy was in no small amount of trouble. I could feel it. If I had a way to communicate back to him I didn't know it, so my only chance was to astral project and hope that my connection to him could guide me to his location. So as he continued to pray to me, I focused on his words and slid out of my body...only to find myself somewhere else entirely. There, with Jeremy, I found myself in a dark room. He literally sat there on his knees, palms pressed together, fingers interlaced, calling out in his mind for my assistance. It looked like we were in some kind of janitorial closet, but one that looked like it hadn't been used in years. Not that I could see much. It was nearly pitch black.

But I could tell he'd been beaten, though more from his aura than anything else. I wanted to heal him but I couldn't, though now that I'd thought of it, it would probably be possible for me to learn to cast spells from the physical plane to the astral realm or vice-versa. Maybe even to Materialize like a spirit. Except I had never trained in any of that, or practiced, or even thought of it before that moment. So, all I could do at this point was manifest.

My astral form, I noticed, was fainter and smaller now, I guessed it was due to the damage I'd done to my mortal essence, and therefore my magic, from my recent cyberware upgrades. Which was odd because I was pretty sure that that's not how drek works for mortal mages. Now my astral form was the size of my human form and I imagined it would stay that way until my essence and magic healed.

"I'm here, Jeremy," I whispered.

"Oh thank God!" He whispered back, "or...you or whatever,"

"Just call me 'sensei' for now. Where are we, and how did you get here?" I asked.

I could see him writhe and rub the back of his neck, but that particular tell was nothing compared to the embarrassment and fear I could plainly see in his aura.

"I...I'm sorry. I did something really stupid,"

I folded my astral arms, "Go on..."

He hung his head and whispered, "I tried buying a spell on the black market. I wasn't going to do anything...you know...corrupt with it. I just wanted to have some fun before I registered as a magic-user,"

I didn't smell any deception, and according to Theo the Sacred Oath did give at least some warning before you crossed the line - which was the whole reason we were willing to use it on a teenager - so it wasn't that unlikely.

I sighed, "And then whoever you tried to buy the spell from tried to recruit you. And then you said no. And then they informed you that 'no' wasn't an option. How am I doing?"

Jeremy winced, "Uh...yeah. Pretty much,"

"So what are they called?" I asked.

Jeremy looked away and muttered something I couldn't hear.

"Jeremy, I need to know if I'm gonna get you out of here," I prodded.

"The...the Ciarniellos..."

I instinctively grit my astral teeth, although it wasn't quite as satisfying as the real thing, "You tried to buy spells from the Mafia?"

I'd kept my voice down, but it was a struggle.

Jeremy still looked at the floor as he shrugged, "I...never had any trouble with them before..."

Oh no...

"Jeremy..." I made no effort to hide my dread, "what have you been doing for them?"

And I saw the shame in his aura flare so bright, it broke my heart before he even opened his mouth.

"I'm a...I mean I was...it was sex work," he said, his eyes downcast.

He slumped down and I found myself desperately wishing I could throw my arms around him and hug him, "Oh Jeremy...I'm so sorry,"

He shook his head but the shame in his aura didn't abate, "I didn't really care before. About anything really. I wanted money for something...don't even remember what...so I gave myself to them. That's how I got on brainbenders and BTLs. The first time anyway. I thought maybe they'd put a p-fix in me like a bunraku or something so I could sleep my life away, but for some reason they let me go home after. I guess it was cheaper than feeding me. That's how I was able to buy that gun,"

"Jeremy...not all personafix chips work like that. A lot of them don't. And I knew a bunraku who got loaded up with some pretty nasty BTLs on top of that. They forced her to feel some pretty horrible drek while she was...working. But I'm not here to judge you. We'll get you out of here, and then we'll talk. Is there anything else I need to know right now? Any thing that would help getting you out of here?"

He shook his head, "I think they're just waiting on a magician to get here. But I heard them talking and I don't think that's 'till tomorrow. I think there's only a couple guys out there right now,"

As far as he knew anyway. It was more likely that there were more guards elsewhere. Theo and I had liberated so many of these kinds of "safehouses" over the years I'd lost count, and they usually had 5-10 people. More if it was a particularly important one.

"Alright, I'm going to do some recon. Don't worry, I'm not leaving you here,"

Jeremy nodded and I floated up through the ceiling, releasing my manifestation to no longer by visible as I did. I could see immediately that we'd been in run-down warehouse that probably would have been condemned if it had been worth anyone's time to bother. And it sat in the middle of a rundown industrial park full of other nonresidential buildings, some in better repair and some worse. So in other words I saw nothing that could narrow down my location from 90% of anywhere else in Everette. I came down on the other side of the building looking for windows, and found several broken ones without having to search very long. I could have floated through the walls, but I wanted to be careful. As much of a piece of drek as this place looked there could always been dangers, even for an astral form. I found a total of 6 guards, but no magical security and no other prisoners. Apparently the place wasn't normally used for keeping detainees, because I found several pallets of chemicals - probably precursors for some kind of drug - and a simsense studio. Some pretty expensive stuff too. Having worked with Theo so long, I could estimate the value of the damage I could do here fairly accurately. Only about 200k but a respectable hit, and I'd definitely be bringing this whole place down. Probably literally.

I returned to Jeremy.

"Alright look, I can get you out of here, but I can't protect you directly. There are some rules of magic I haven't learned how to break yet. So I'm gonna need you to lie down on the floor on your stomach until I tell you it's safe to get up, okay?"

He nodded and then whispered back, "What are you gonna do?"

I smirked, "I'm going to make you regret picking Mystic Adept is what I'm gonna do,"

I started pulling in mana and raising the background count even as I attuned it to myself. As I said, my magic was still damaged but I could more than make up for it with my control over mana itself. At my peak I could almost get to triple my mortal strength, but in this situation, double was about all I could do, even with my power focus. But it would be more than sufficient.

"Spirits of Man, if any of you would take vengeance for the crimes done to this boy, heed my call."

Unlike Theo, I couldn't summon more than one spirit at a time, although I'd spent some time talking to the big guy about it. Apparently Theo had been teaching the big guy everything he'd been learning about mortal magic and they'd put together some "Magical Arts Charms" along the same lines as Martial Arts Charms, and the big guy thought I'd be able to learn them to a degree. I hadn't really started in on that though. I figured I'd wait for my magic to heal.

A Spirit of Man dressed in Samurai lamellar armor but with a straw hat instead of a helmet appeared immediately, his daisho at his hip. He kept his head tilted so the hat covered most of his face. The Drain I felt from the effort felt like an enormous, painful ache all over my astral form and I knew I'd be feeling it in the morning, even with my exceptional healing abilities. But for a Force 12 spirit, it was more than worth it.

<I heed your call, Great One. Show me your enemies and I shall replace them with corpses> the spirit's voice appeared in my mind.

"Time to get down, Jeremy," I told him and he did as he was bid without comment.

<Follow me> I told the spirit, unmanifested, and passed through the door of Jeremy's cell.

The slaughter that followed was intensely satisfying. There were two guards immediately outside the closet, playing some kind of AR game with each other, so I had the spirit manifest on the opposite side of the table from Jeremy just in case one of them managed to get a shot off. And one did of course, just as his partner was getting cut into six pieces in the span of a second. He lived a single second longer but no more. My spirit sliced in him half from top to bottom in a single strike.

But I knew the gunfire would draw the others and while there was never any doubt about the outcome of this battle, I needed to make sure they got off as few shots as possible, not just for Jeremy but any other innocents who might be in the area. So I ordered the spirit to use its Concealment power and entirely lost sight of it. Two more guards showed up and did the predictable thing. They'd already had their weapons out, of course, but with no-one in sight, they only had one suspect: Jeremy himself. So as they approached the door, I had my spirit drop Concealment behind them, to ensure their guns would be pointing the way I wanted. My spirit decapitated one before he even knew he was in danger, and like before, his partner got a single shot off before losing his gun arm, and then his life.

The problem now was making sure no messages got out. It took me a second - literally - to find the other two again. They'd taken up shelter in the building's office. One of them held a commlink to his ear, but he wasn't talking, so that meant there was still time, hopefully. With a mental command relayed to my spirit, it came through the wall to my left and cut the arm of the man with a commlink before burying his katana into his chest. The guard had time to fire off a few rounds this time, but I'd instructed my spirit to let any gunshots hit it in an effort to keep collateral damage to a minimum. Which it did, before cutting the last guard in half at the waste.

We returned to Jeremy and took him out the back in an effort to avoid being spotted. Then I had my spirit burn the building down with repeated casting of Fireball. Jeremy and I watched the building burn as we talked.

"Tomorrow morning, you are going to get registered," I told him, "I will check on you by lunch. If you are not a registered magic user by then you will be in serious trouble, do you understand?"

He nodded.

"It's just...I'm actually gonna miss my friends, you know? I never thought I'd say that, but whatever you and that other guy did to me...it...well it really helped,"

A thought occurred to me, "How did you know praying to me would work?"

Jeremy smirked, "Well...I knew I couldn't tell anyone about what happened, so I went on a creative writing forum and told people I was working on a story. I asked them what kind of being could just turn someone into a magic user. A few people said that the Great Dragons might be believable, but most said it would have to be some kind of a god. So when I wound up in the closet...I figured I'd try praying,"

I smiled, "Smart work, kid. Now it's time to get you home. Regret leaving conjuring on the table yet?"

Jeremy smiled back and shrugged, "I mean, I figure once I get trained I should be able to do that stuff myself and that would have been a lot more fun. So no,"

I smirked, "Oh yeah? Let's see what I can do about that,"

<spirit, heal this boy's wounds and then fly him back home under Concealment,> I commanded, and it was a command that would automatically release the spirit immediately afterwards. Bound spirits could be sent on distant tasks and still remain in your service, but regular old summoned ones got to go home after being sent on a remote task.

"Holy Drek!" he shouted as he disappeared into the sky.

Theo was still whever he was, suffering whatever he was suffering, but in this moment, I'd done a good thing so I allowed myself a moment of both pride and joy.

I'd had to send Robin's Team on ahead of me, but the next day I showed up at Jeremy's house in the flesh at noon sharp. His father was at work and he was expecting me, but he still didn't answer the door right away.

"Who are you?" he asked over the intercom.

"Your sensei," I replied. I hadn't changed my face on our second meeting, but with the neighborhood he lived in Operational Security was second nature for anyone living there.

He opened the door and rushed out, throwing his arms around me. I hugged him back. We shared a moment, but then he pulled away.

"Hey! Okay, look I'm only preregistered. I have to get tested in person for it to be official, but that's what you meant right?"

I nodded but then pointed with my head back to the Nightsky, "You wanna get something to eat? We should talk,"

His eyes went wide when he saw the limo. Then he turned back to me, "Frag Yes!"

Jeremy locked up his house and we slipped into the Nightsky.

"Jeremy this is Bruce. Bruce, Jeremy," I said.

"Hey, kid! What's up?" Bruce said, smiling.

"Oh uh...hi. Wow...this is...wow," Jeremy got lost in his reply.

I couldn't blame him. I remembered quite clearly the first time I'd gotten into this particular vehicle. I had been just as overwhelmed, if not more. I don't know if I have the words to explain how happy it made me to be on this end though. This poor kid had been through a lot and I had an unending panoply of ways to blow his mind with all the things I could do to make his life better. It gave me a much better perspective on how and why Theo had chosen to ease the pain his Mother caused him in such a way. I'd always known that doing nice things for people felt good, but this was a heady experience. The possibilities just wouldn't stop pouring into my head. But I had to focus.

"So...I know you said you just wanted to have some fun before having to change schools, but you also said you were going to miss your friends too, right? Were you maybe hoping to wait to register until you graduated high school?"

Jeremy flinched, "I...I mean I wasn't trying to lie to you or anything!"

I smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I know. And I'm not mad about it. So, what if I arranged for you to have private instruction and stay in your current school?"

His eyes went wide, "You can do that?"

I shrugged, "Sure. It might make things complicated for you at school and at home. Given your school record, most of the teachers there are going to have a conniption fit at the thought of it, so you'll have to be extremely convincing about having turned over a new leaf. And you'll have to do it without magic. But I'll make sure you have the opportunity to try,"

Jeremy leaned back into the seat cushion behind him, momentarily speechless.

"Why...why are you doing all this for me?" he asked in a bewildered tone.

I triggered the security mode which locked Bruce out of the conversation and turned on over a dozen anti-evesdropping devices.

"Lot's of reasons, kid. For starters, I didn't just unfrag your mind a little when I made you a Mystic Adept. I also made you my Priest,"

He leaned in and spoke in a hushed whisper, "So you...you really are...?"

I smirked a classic Theo-smirk, "More or less, yeah. Less Zeus, more Hercules. But close enough for this,"

His eyes went wide and I could see him trembling, not with fear, but awe.

"But I have something way more important than that to tell you,"

He sat up straight and his face turned a few shades whiter.

"A much bigger reason that I helped you is because something very bad happened to me and someone I love, and helping you eased my pain,"

His frozen awe turned to confusion, "I...I don't...really get it,"

I leaned towards him, "I just told you one of the most important secrets of the universe, kid. If you find you're feeling truly awful then help some one. Really help them. Not just like doing their homework for them. Help them in as important of a way as you can, and in a way you know for a fact they will appreciate. That last part can be tricky, but if you get it right, no anti-depressant or BTL can compare. But there was an even bigger reason I helped you. Are you listening?"

He nodded his head in obvious enthusiasm, so I drew the moment out staring him in the eyes to build the anticipation.

"Because you needed it. Because it was the right thing to do. Because honor and decency demanded it. And since you're my Priest, I expect the same from you,"

He sat back more slowly this time as the meaning of my words seemed to slowly dawn on him, "....oh,"

"But don't worry. I was never going to throw you out into the world with all expectations and no support. You just got into trouble way faster than I expected. I'm not infallible, and I don't expect you to be. But I do expect you to be honorable, but I'll teach you that too. Now my schedule's pretty booked these days, but we'll work something out. Maybe even take you out and get you on an episode,"

"Episode?" Jeremy asked, clearly jarred by the sudden transition.

"What, you've never watched This Old Mall?" I said, with Theo's smirk back on my face.

His eyes went wide. Again. God I never got bored of seeing that. He literally pointed a shaking finger at me. God it was so adorable, "Y-You're Miho Tanaka!"

My drek-eating grin could not have been wider as I leaned back, with my arms spread out, "The one and only,"

We spent the rest of the day together, until well past sunset. I even let him introduce me to a few of his friends, and they watched on the sidelines while I gave him his very first magic lesson. I made sure his first Adept Power was the same as mine. I even stayed long enough to introduce myself to his father, who recognized me immediately. I explained some of the situation to him, even if I did have to make up a few details here and there, and he agreed to take a day off work so he could take his son to get tested personally, not that I had to twist his arm or anything.

I did a good thing that day, and even in his absence I felt like I'd come to understand Theo better by stepping into his shoes, than I ever had by standing next to him.

When he got back, no matter how bad it was, I knew I could make it better.

 

[Erenthia]

AN: This chapter will NOT be crossing into NSFW territory, don't worry.

---

In all the craziness, I'd gotten out of the habit of practicing daily meditation, but after my cultured bioware finally got installed, I'd felt the need to take it back up. Why, you might ask? Well, honestly I was starting to feel like I was losing my identity. With the damage to my magic and mortal essence from my cyberware installation healed, I'd gone straight for the cultured bioware the moment it became available. Thing is, with the exception of the Internal Commlink, I hadn't been using them very much. Oh sure, I'd slot a knowsoft here and there while I was working when I came across a topic I didn't feel competent enough in, but I hadn't even tried an Activesoft even once. Dumping a little extra knowledge into my brain temporarily only seemed natural since my new job required so much of me, but I'd only picked up the ability to grant myself new physical skills via software just in case. Okay, if I'm being honest, I still remembered that time Tabitha had sent Theo and me to a ballroom dance with less than an hour of prep time and he had to give me a crash course. I made it through without utterly embarrassing myself but still if I could have become a competent dancer in the time it took to download an activesoft, I would have felt a lot better.

So the basic cyberware hadn't challenged my self-identity much, even if they were convenient. But frankly, somebody should put a warning label on these mental augs. Something like: Warning: too many mental upgrades too quickly can leave you wondering if you're still you. That bizarre feeling I got from the Improved Logic spell? That was all the time now, even if it wasn't as intense. And the combination of the Cerebral Boosters and Cerebellum Boosters created an almost gestalt effect. I understood things more instinctively now and formed connections far more easily, which meant together I was forming connections between multiple things I would never have noticed. And one of the first things I noticed was how inefficiently I'd been using my resources. Ten minutes after I left the clinic I got myself a Platinum Subscription to a wireless skillsoft network, which gave me access to essentially any skillsoft imaginable and I could swap them on the fly. And then I noticed immediately, that I could do even better. Because there were simply too many skillsofts to keep track of. Oh sure, my Mnemonic Enhancers meant I could memorize a list of them all, but frankly that was beneath me at this point. So I commissioned a custom knowsoft to function as a catalog of all known skillsofts along with the ability to recognize which skills would be useful in which situations, and then licensed it back to the subscription company, which brought in significantly more money than the platinum subscription level cost. Yes, it was that popular. Especially with executives, it turned out, because it helped them figure out what sorts of experts they needed on a project. How had no one thought of that?

I kept that one loaded at all times, which meant as I walked around in my everyday life I could immediately know which skillsofts would be useful for a particular task that needed doing and switch to them in a handful of seconds. From an outside perspective, I essentially had a Master's degree in everything and could competently perform any physical task. Skillsofts for explicitly magical skills like Conjuring or Enchanting simply couldn't be made, but they had one for the kind of magical knowledge you could learn in a classroom called, 'Arcana' which served to help direct me in how I should develop my magic and augs as well as giving me a decent understanding of where to focus my energies on developing my divine power. But then I hit a dead end. Not a technical one, but an emotional one.

Because I was starting to forget who I was. I loaded up some psychology and therapy skillsofts and immediately realized the problem. Boundaries provide definition. And while it's heroic to struggle against your boundaries, not having them at all can lead to serious identity crises. No wonder rich kids ended up as BTL addicts all the time. It wasn't always that they were spoiled. For many, without boundaries, they didn't know who they were and it was literally killing them. Theo had never had that problem because Tabitha had constantly pushed him to the limits of his abilities, and quite often, beyond them. He had developed other neuroses of course, but I was becoming increasingly suspicious that they had been intentional on Tabitha's part. His desperate need to help and to give and to share were things she'd programmed into him, even if I still couldn't guess why. My problems laid along a different path. I'd had boundaries, but almost all of them had gone up in smoke. I was rich, connected, my magic broke every conceivable rule, and now I was a borderline genius and had access to literally all the skills. I could, if I wanted, just change my entire life and become a security decker or a librarian, or a bartender or a rocket scientist or a poet or...well just about anything. I was still better at punching and I was making good progress on my magic, but that was entirely beside the point. The limitations that had defined my identity didn't exist anymore. And the more I thought about it, the more ways I could think of to push myself even higher.

So I'd gone back to meditation. I couldn't afford to impose artificial limits on myself, at least in terms of practical ability. The stakes were too high now. But I needed something. I needed an anchor. I focused on a physical image of myself or imagined doing various tasks. Eventually, I started a roving mantra starting with, "Miho Tanaka is not..." and then trying to fill in the blank with as many things as possible. A pattern quickly emerged. Most of my boundaries were now ethical or moral or couched in the traditions of Bushido. Oh, I'd probably never be the world's greatest cook or fashion designer, but as much as skillsofts had hard limits in terms of depth their limitless breadth was far more of an issue.

<Miho-san? I've completed the work you've requested> the big guy interrupted my thoughts telepathically.

We'd had our very first conversation out loud, but telepathy was far safer. And after the installation of my cultured bioware, the second thing I'd thought of was seeing if I could put the big guy to work.

<I appreciate you're hard work, Ignis Divine. I don't know what I would do without you> I replied.

Because while he had no physical form, he still had a mind and knowledge and the ability to process information and learn. And the Redmond Program needed as many sources of income as possible. So I taught him everything I could about modern magic - and he'd already learned a lot from Theo - and put him to work designing new spells. With Theo's access, it was trivial to put together a fake R&D department staffed with fake people. And we'd be collecting royalties for the Redmond Program indefinitely if it paid off.

<I require no flattery nor am I quick to offense. Further, I am aware that you and Theodore refer to me as 'The Big Guy' and I find it quite amusing,>

I exhaled, <I appreciate that...big guy. I'm sure I'll adjust soon. So how many did you finish?>

<As I said, my work is complete. All twelve spells are ready for initial testing>

I can't tell you why I was so surprised. And really, I was starting to not be. I'd come up with a list of spells that my Arcana skillsoft said should be relatively possible and that my enhanced business skills told me would be quite profitable. And then I'd come up with a second list of spells that I thought I might be able to cast even if others couldn't. That second list included a spell for materializing my astral form and temporarily pushing my body into the manasphere the way Theo could, while the first included things like a Heal spell useable at range, a permanent Alleviate Addiction spell, and a permanent Alleviate Allergy spell. We couldn't know if any of them would work until we tested them, but if even half of the for-profit spells worked out, we'd never have to worry about funding ever again.

<Again, thank you. Umm...are you physically capable of not listening in on my conversations?>

<Technically no, but if you wish, I can proceed as if I heard nothing. And if it is your intention to return me to Theodore, I'm sure he will respect your privacy,>

I sighed. It's not that I didn't trust the big guy to be discreet, it's just that the conversation I was about to have would be profoundly more awkward if I knew someone was listening in. And I didn't dare just put Luna's Treasure in a box or a safe, at least not for so trivial a reason.

<I appreciate that. Also if you could uh...>

<I will not interject my thoughts unless directly asked,>

The knock came at my office door and I didn't even need to check the time. Anna was to-the-minute prompt so the very fact that she was here told me what time it was. I sent the Open command to the door over my internal commlink and sure enough, it was Anna. She dressed less like a Madam now and more like an executive, at least most of the time. She still wore her kabuki mask when going through any public areas though. I could see it in her left hand right now, which meant she'd worn it on the way over.

"You wanted to see me?" Anna asked.

I'd told her it was a personal matter and not an emergency, but also something important. That seemed to leave her a little confused, but we'd grown closer over the year-and-change we'd known each other.

I stood up and moved to my office's sofa and gestured for her to do the same.

"So uh..." I began, not really sure how to begin. And immediately my index-knowsoft brought to mind skillsofts for Etiquette, Leadership, and even Con Artistry...and I kinda didn't want that. I considered using one, but then I realized my reason for doing so was fear, and then I couldn't.

"Is this about sex?" Anna asked.

My eyes went wide, but she didn't give me time to respond.

"Oh uh...I was joking there. Look, I'll tell you the same thing I told Robin. I know you want to do something special for Theo when he gets back, but I never frag guys if there's the slightest chance my father might approve of them, and Theo - "

"What?" I shouted.

She looked at me in obvious confusion, "You mean you weren't looking to...?"

"NO! I...wait, you mean Robin...no what am I saying of course she did," I rubbed my forehead for a minute then turned back to her, "What...about your girls? Did she try to hire any of them?"

Anna smirked, "Pretty sure it's in my contract that I can't talk about that...." then she leaned in and looked both ways before saying, "but yeah, she totally did. He didn't like the idea at first, but then they came up with the idea of him co-domming Robin with them and he seemed to like it, but he never actually fragged them,"

I sat back. I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear this, but I also really really wanted to hear it.

"I...I mean, Robin would never shut up about how kinky Theo was. And honestly, that's mostly why I asked you here,"

Anna tilted her head slightly, "Wait...you and Theo never..."

I winched, "Actually..."

"Holy drek you're a virgin!" Anna shouted, and I struggled not to punch her in her goddamn face out of sheer embarrassment.

"You remember I'm a physical adept, right?" I said through clenched teeth.

And yet she still seemed to be struggling not to laugh, "No no no, I'm not laughing. It's not funny at all!"

And yet the smell of raw sewage...

"I. Can. Smell. Lies."

"Okay okay okay, sorry," and she started to calm down a little, "So you want, what? First-timer advice? Something more personal than you could get off the matrix? Something specific to Theo?" Anna asked.

I shrugged, "I...don't actually know. Honestly, if Robin could have just kept her mouth shut this probably wouldn't be so difficult,"

"You mean the 'Theo's a saint because he keeps all his evil in his penis' line? God, she thought that was so clever,"

God, I missed her. We all did.

"Yeah...that. And about a million other things. As long as I've known him, I never would have pegged Theo for a sadist," I told her.

"I mean, I was pretty relieved actually," Anna said learning back and placing her arm along the back of the sofa, "I mean, that he was a sadist in the kinkster sense. Made me stop worrying he was hiding something awful,"

I raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Oh yeah. I mean, my first worry was that he was your standard corporate prince douchebag. Then I worried he was super repressed, which frankly can end up a lot worse. But when I found out he had an outlet that was safe, controlled, and ethical, I realized he had a decent handle on himself,"

"Huh..." I said and paused for a minute thinking.

"So...you're worried both about either jumping into the deep end of the pool when your feet have never even touched the water, or about not making him happy. Am I right?"

I took a deep breath, "Yeah...that's...yeah,"

Anna leaned back in and put one of her hands on top of one of mine, "Don't worry, this one's easy. He's your sensei,"

I felt my brow furrow as I said, "Uh...what?"

"Just like you were his martial arts sensei. He's your sex-sensei. And you're welcome," and something about Anna's big goofy grin actually made me feel reassured, even if I didn't quite catch her meaning.

"So where is he anyway? If you're allowed to say. I assume his absence has something to do with your project?" Anna continued.

Oh that's right. I hadn't told her.

I squirmed, "No uh...we already took our shot. It went south pretty hard. Now he's with his mother,"

Anna froze, and I mean like Paralysis spell froze.

"Anna?" I asked.

Her tone shift scared me even more. Every word that came out of her mouth sounded like tightly controlled terror, "Do you know where they went? How long they'll be there?"

"I don't know where but she said she'd enrolled Theo in the upcoming semester at MIT&T so...about a month and a half at the latest at this point. Anna, what's wrong?"

"Miho...do you know what ASIST is?" Anna asked with a tone like she was getting ready to tell a horror story.

My index-knowsoft brought to mind a number of skillsofts which I loaded immediately.

Artificial Sensory Induction Systems Technology was the underlying technology that led to simsense recordings, and by extension BTLs, and even the skilljacks I was using to know about it, along with lots of other technologies but it was more than that. Because there was also Programmable ASIST Biofeedback which allowed for terrifyingly precise forms of brainwashing.

That wasn't the real issue at all, of course, but it did serve as an analogy for the real problem. I didn't know for a fact whether or not Theo could resist the PAB process, but it was irrelevant. Because Tabitha McWellan could just as easily have her hands on some kind of Divine equivalent.

<Big Guy?>

<Yes, I'm afraid there are many such possibilities. The Saphhire Circle Spell Three-fold Binding of the Heart comes immediately to mind. And there has been a great deal of time for more such things to be invented, however I will point out that she has had ample time to use such things already and has not. There may be no need to worry,>

"I mean...don't you think she would have done that already if she was going to?" I asked Anna.

She gave me the most diminutive shrug I've ever see. I'd never seen her this lacking in confidence, "Maybe. It depends on how bad it went. Did she seemed surprised by his...misbehavior?"

I sighed in relief and shook my head, "Oh...uh, no. Not at all. In fact she seemed to have factored it into her plans,"

Anna winced and scratched the back of her head, "That...might just mean she decided to do it earlier. Look, I can't tell you one way or another if you need to worry. Just...just keep your eyes open when he gets back,"

I nodded. I needed to get Anna out of here so I could concentrate on my conversation with the big guy.

"I um...might want to check a few things now that you mentioned it. See what I can find,"

"Yeah. Definitely. I'll get out of your hair," and she was gone, even without a formal goodbye.

<Hey, so uh...did you and Theo ever talk about spells like that and ways to get around them?> I asked.

<I believe I mentioned that one in particular during a general overview of Exalted Sorcery.>

<What and he didn't jump on it immediately? It's definitely the kind of thing he'd want to know more about. How to defend against it. If it had ethical implementations. I'm sure he would have wanted to spend a lot of time on it,>

<Hmm...interesting>

<What? What is it?>

<There appears to be a gap in my memory,>

 

[Erenthia]

It was all starting to be too much. Again. Even with all my divine power and new augmentations, this just wasn't my field. There was this one time, on Theo's 15th birthday in fact, after Tabitha had burned someone and we'd failed to save them, Theo had suggested we run off and become shadowrunners. He could be 'Theseus' and I'd be 'Selina'. But I just wasn't built for that and neither was he. And it wasn't just a matter of spending your life looking over your shoulder and never knowing who to trust. Theo and I were both the type to put down roots and get involved in a community. And as shadowrunners we'd not only have to stay anonymous, but we'd also have to overlook too many of the world's ills just to stay off Tabitha's radar. We couldn't get involved. That wasn't who either one of us was.

And as much as my abilities and capacities had expanded, I'd spent too much time internalizing the Code of Bushido to wrap my head around all this devious plotting. The big guy and I were fairly confident that the gaps in his memories were Theo's doing, directly or indirectly, but we weren't sure why. It could have been that he was doing something he knew I wouldn't approve of or it could be that knowing his plan could be dangerous or it could even be that he did it because he wanted me to investigate for some reason. I needed help, but before that I needed rest. Eventually, I knew, I would get help from Robin's Team, and even seek out Isis's wisdom. Maybe I'd even invite Anna into the circle of trust. After all, they came from similar spheres and she could have critical insights into Theo's motivations that even I wouldn't have.

But first: rest. And by 'rest' I meant getting back to work I knew how to do. And today's task consisted of one of Theo's pet projects: The Infrastructure-In-A-Can Megamachine. Theo had gotten a design team working on the thing years ago in hopes of one day getting the Redmond Program going. In concept, the Megamachine seemed pretty simple. You take an unfolding array of Sun-Cells, as big as you can get, an industrial water purifier with a rain capture system, a campus scale satnet uplink and a drone rack for some lighter-than-air drones (we'd gone with Horizon Mini-Zeps for obvious reasons) to act as range extenders and stuff them all into a shipping container. In practice, that had taken some time and research to get just right. It didn't provide anyone with food or shelter, but it was a big step up for large swaths of the Barrens. And it also acted as a means of concentrating authority. Whoever we gave them to would have a much greater ability to get people behind them, and they would owe us.

Combine that with a few shipping containers of inflatable semi-permanent emergency shelters and desktop aeroponics chambers and you could really get something going. It wouldn't be as productive as the industrial aquaponics facility we'd set up on the first floor of Squatters Mall for producing fish and real coffee, but for most of the people of the Barrens it was a major step up. The Agents of Lucifer had been in talks with leaders of The Plastic Jungle, that haphazard pseudo-farm that had started out as a series of kilometers wide mega-tents built by some wealthy industrialist but had long since been overtaken by neoprimitive human-skeptics. Lucifer, of course, had never revealed what metatype he was, and plenty of our agents weren't human so getting in the door hadn't been the hard part.

No, the hard part was that they were neo-primitives and thus, wanted to avoid technology wherever possible. It's not that they didn't use guns, of course, but they preferred to avoid using tech wherever possible. To be fair to them, that mostly meant not using commlinks even if they could, in principle, get their hands on them. Or other forms of entertainment tech. Depravation and Pain have ways of making people practical, but ideology isn't so easily defeated. Convincing them to make use of our tech wouldn't be impossible, but it was proving to be a hard sell. Trading more old-fashioned farming equipment had gotten things started though, and since they'd suffered almost continuous raids on their food stores practically since the place had gotten started, they were interested in surveillance drones for security purposes, even if they didn't like that they were interested.

So I pulled a Theo. I got them to agree to microtransmitters instead of commlinks, and stationed a Rigger there full time to do the surveillance and act as front line deterrance. That way they didn't have to get their hands dirty with tech directly but could still benefit from it. In return, they agreed to grow some cash crops for us. It wasn't everything we'd been hoping for, but it was progress.

The Rats Nest was...a different kind of problem entirely. As a community of a thousand people living on an old landfill where toxic chemical had been seeping into the ground for nearly a hundred years and eking out a living through scavenging, the leaders there were more than happy to accept any assistance, especially if it had Lucifer's stamp of approval on it. But much like Squatter's Mall, their leadership had some significant corruption to it. I didn't have the time to focus on it, the way Theo and I had at the beginning of the Squatter's Mall project, and we were stretched too thin to just go in and kill whoever we had to and replace them. (Although I was looking into it). In return for our assistance, the people there owed us their time and we put them to work educating themselves. Also they had to let in a film crew. While Plastic Jungle had turned out to be a non-starter on that front, the people of the Rats Nest were mostly happy for the attention. As Theo's stand-in legally speaking, I had full editorial control over all these trideos now, and I made damn sure people were getting a real look at what life in the Barrens was really like.

Also, the Mafia and Yakuza were starting to put out peace-feelers. In Theo's absence, I had stepped up operations against them personally. You might have heard things about the Yakuza being sort of "street heroes" and that could be true from time to time. So I went out of my way to leave those who were known to help alone. But I absolutely crushed the rest of them. Anything of theirs in Redmond was fair game and I was bringing down buildings every day. Force 12 spirits were nice like that. They retaliated here and there, but everytime they did, I'd show up at an Oyabun's or Don's house, rip through their magical security like it was nothing and show them just how vulnerable they were. Our analysts projected they would go bankrupt in a year at this rate, and they must have known it because they pulled absolutely everything out of Redmond.

It was mine now.

But it had been a clever play on their part. Because pulling out so quickly left a huge power vacuum. Oh we were certainly poised to fill it, but that required extensive resources and our actions against the nastier portions of their sex industries, the Bunraku parlors and child brothels, suffered a significant slow-down. And while we would be working to solidify our hold on Redmond, they could rebuild their assets outside it with less interference. And on top of that, they'd doubled down on Pullyap Barrens, Seattle's other, slightly less famous post-apocalyptic wasteland. Plus they could send in assets to disrupt and slow down our efforts.

It was shaping up to be a long war, so they'd offered us an arrangement. In an uncharacteristic display of unity, all the Mafia families and Yakuza gumi in Seattle got together and promised they'd acknowledge our claim over Redmond if we - or rather Lucifer - would halt all actions against them outside of Redmond. We'd still be able to send deniable assets against each other, that was a given, but it would bring down the level of hostility and the amount of destruction to the "cost of doing business" levels for both of us.

There wasn't a single skillsoft that could make this decision obvious. I needed truly expert multidisciplinary advice, so I called in The Deliberative.

So, now I was sitting in the Deliberative's secret Host, in a private virtual room designed to look like a comfortable study. A fireplace spread virtual warmth throughout the room and bookshelves covered every wall. But unlike a study, it had a fairly basic conference table instead of a desk and I was sitting at the head. To my left were Alex and Izaya and to my right were three members of The Deliberative I'd never met.

"Hello again, Tanaka-san. Any word on Theodore's return?" Izaya asked.

Theo's mandated therapy had meant there was no hiding his departure from them, not that I would have wanted to anyway. Just a few days after Tabitha had taken him, I'd gotten a call asking if everything was okay. Theo's no-call no-show for his scheduled therapy didn't match his usual behavior and they were worried something was up.

I shook my head, "No, nothing. But there's still time before the upcoming semester at MIT&T so I'm hoping to hear from him soon,"

Alex nodded, "I did some digging myself. Apparently Tabitha is listed as on sebatical with an expected return date compatible with that theory. Also, we've gotten our hands on some portable scanners that you should be able to use on Theo to see if she's used PAB to mess with his head,"

I nodded, "Thank you,"

It wasn't any kind of relief, but I wasn't quite ready to loop in the The Deliberative on Tabitha's true nature. I'd leave that one up to Theo.

Alex continued, "Oh and this is Derick Cox from Evo, Jonas Durst of Saeder-Krupp and Nobutada Saji of Renraku,"

He gestured to each in turn. I'd never met them before, but I had a knowsoft for public figures. Derick was a dwarf whose family had bought into Evo in the early days and rode the lightning to fame and fortune. He'd focused most of his public life on pushing a transhumanist agenda with a specific focus on things like ending disease, aging, and starvation. One of his more notable projects involved gene therapies to give the body the ability to manufacture it's own vitamins. Jonas, a human, descended from nobility, but his ancestors had caught on to the fact that corporations were the future and had no intentions of being left out of that. In fact, one of his ancestors had personally negotiated with Lofwyr back in those early days when the Great Dragon had first awakened. Saji, another human, didn't come from ancestral wealth, but had been hand picked by another Deliberative member, just as I had been by Theo, so the Deliberative could gain a member in Renraku. He wasn't on the board, but he was the COO, which was still rather significant. More significant than my position in Horizon, even with my vaunted Pito score.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," I began, "have you all been briefed about the nature of this meeting?"

A round of nods told me to continue.

"So as you know, the various Mafia Dons and Yakuza Oyabun have offered me - or rather Lucifer - a treaty. They'll stay out of Redmond and we will leave their operations outside of Redmond in peace. And I find I'm having some difficulty is parsing all of the strategic and ethical implications. Further, with Theo being MIA, I don't have anyone to work through this with. So I appreciate all of your help in coming here today,"

Saji smiled, "We are glad to provide you with whatever assistance we may, Tanaka-san. But first, if I might ask, what have Lucifer's advisors suggested. Surely, they've been able to advise you on the strategic elements?"

I nodded, "We believe the offer is genuine, but there are concerns. First, it will result in a major build-up in their Pullyap operations, which is an area we had been planning on expanding into. Secondly, there's the issue of uniting the Yakuza and Mafia, and although our actions have led to that to a degree, we're not entirely certain whether a temporary peace will unite them more or less than pursuing conflict. But it can't be denied that having them out of Redmond entirely would almost entirely cement our control over the area,"

Jonas raised an eyebrow, "What about the Triads? The Ancients or the Seoulpa Ring? Seattle has no shortage of criminal organizations."

I tried not to laugh. Not that he was wrong, oh no. It's just that that was a good candidate for Understatement Of The Year.

"We've been doing this for a long time, Mr Durst. Most of the other Seattle-wide gangs or syndicates don't bother trying to make a profit in Redmond. They tend to use it primarily for warehousing and headquarters, although they certainly do snatch people off the streets for sex work or unskilled labor manufacturing drugs or BTLs. But they've seen our war with the Yakuza and Mafia and if we do choose to make peace, they'll know they're next if they don't stop. We'll allow them to operate in our territory so long as they leave the people who live there alone,"

Saji raised an eyebrow, "Interesting. Is that not the Yakuza way? At least the Yakuza I am familiar with already tend not to involve themselves with those who do not involve themselves first. Furthermore, do they not provide services to the common man that cannot be acquired through other means?"

I cringed slightly, "It's been my experience that the honor of the Yakuza has been largely overstated, though I admit that my experience is limited to Seattle. And Theo and I find Bunraku parlors to be a blight on the metahuman races only surpassed by child prostitution. Whatever help they do provide, is far beneath what we have been able to do,"

Saji seemed shocked with his mouth hanging slack-jawed like that. It was a very undignified expression for a person of his station. And something in his eyes looked...hurt?

Derick stepped in to fill the silence, "It almost sounds like you've already made your decision,"

"Not at all," I responded immediately, "I can't overlook the good we can do in Redmond by making peace with them, but it could sacrifice our long term prospects in the greater Seattle area if we do. And that's to say nothing of turning a blind eye to sexual slavery, particularly of children. And yet if we don't, I can't guarantee that this program has any long term prospects at all,"

"I recommend you take the deal, " Izaya said, "If necessary, we can always fabricate a new player in the Seattle arena once your position there is more secure, and have that fictional gang leader apply pressure in Pullyap and beyond. In the mean time, we can work on bringing the costs down for realistic sex robots. Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't put more effort into that. Theodore should know that to a destroy a market, you must attack both supply and demand,"

I sat up slightly, "I...yes I suppose we should have. But in our defense, we've had our hands full with our existing operations,"

Derrick shrugged, "It's a hard project to defend. No-one wants to publicly cater to the pedophile market, in particular. Terrible PR. But if it saves even a few children, it's worth doing if you ask me,"

"I...believe I can assist with market penetration efforts, at least in the Japanese Imperial States where I reside," Saji replied, though he seemed fairly distracted. Had I offended him that much? As a C-Suite member of Renraku, he was surely in deep with the Yakuza, but surely he didn't have any illusions about what they were. Did he?

Jonas frowned and nodded, "It's not like a robot can't run a p-fix, and the corps have used the 'more real than real' line in marketing so often people hardly question it anymore. But I believe we gotten off topic. Tanaka-san, if this were an easy decision, you would not have come to us. I'm afraid, at least on ethical grounds, all I can say is that none of us will judge you harshly no matter what you choose, but Izaya is right. The best plan, strategically is to solidify your grip on Redmond. This is a long game we play, here in the Deliberative, and you have to adjust your thinking accordingly,"

I nodded, but said nothing. It didn't feel right leaving the people of Pullyap and the wider Seattle area to the tender mercies of the syndicates, but we had to solidify our position. And we could help them in other ways once we were secure.

"But if I may ask a question, Tanaka-san," Saji said after a moment, "Are the gumi of Seattle truly so despicable?"

I took a breath and tried to keep an even tone, "I had a friend named Robin. She didn't die at the hands of the Yakuza, but she did live under them. They took her off the streets of Redmond at the age of six to work in their Bunraku parlors. They loaded her up with shame and fear BTLs so often she lost the ability to experience those emotions. She lived that way for ten years until Theo freed her and made her one of his Agents. I've certainly known individual Yakuza who did the occasional nice thing for people. Even an Oyabun or two. But mostly only for Japanese people. And even then, mostly only to soothe their consciences. Which, in the end, just makes them another corp. At least to me. But since I have answered you're question, I would like you to answer one of mine. What are they to you? Beyond useful puppets from time to time?"

Saji sat up and took a deep breath and held it for a moment, "The Yakuza saved my life as a young man. I will not lie to you, Tanaka-san. When I was with them, I did many things I now regret. Many things I regretted even as I did them. But at the time, they were the only ones who would accept a Burakumin into their ranks, or treat our families with respect or protect us at all, even for pay,"

My eyes went wide. Saji's past would have had to have been a complete fabrication for that to be true. The Burakumin were the decendents of the Eta, the Japanese untouchable class from fuedal times. And we Japanese? We have long memories. There was simply no way the Japanacorps would let a Burakumin that high up the corporate ladder.

What made matters worse, at least for me and in this situation, was that I was Samurai. I was descendant of the highest caste of fuedal Japan, regardless of being born a Barrens Rat. My thoughts flickered to Theo for a moment and I thought I felt a tiny glimmer of the shame he must have felt every time he had to face the fact that society said he was a higher order of being entirely from those born in the Barrens. My god, no wonder he turned out the way he did. I knew now how desperate he must have been for people to know he didn't feel that way, because I was feeling it now.

"I..." I began, but hesitated. I had absolutely no idea what to say except, "I'm sorry,"

Saji smiled, but I saw the pain in his eyes, "I hold you no animus, Samurai-sama. I know the Yakuza make many compromises. And I will use what connections I have to gentle the gumi of Seattle. I can make no promises, of course, but my voice still has sway even as far away as the UCAS."

And there had been no bitterness or irony in his voice when he'd referred to me as a Samurai.

"Uh...thank you...Nobutada-dono," I replied.

He smiled and waved me off, "No, Tanaka-san. The only Samurai I let call me that is my wife,"

I smiled and I saw Izaya take Alex's hand. Jonas and Derrick seemed a little uncomfortable, but we were basically done here. The ethics were a coin flip and the strategy seemed clear. I knew which way to go. So we said our overly formal goodbyes. I exited VR and jacked out...

...only to find Squatter's Mall in bedlam.

 

[Erenthia]

I heard gunfire and screaming and ran towards them. I had been in Emergency Only mode on my commlink while in the Deliberative's Host, but emergency texts should have still gotten through. By the time I'd gotten to the main area outside my office, I'd already figured out why. All wireless matrix communication had been jammed. And while the various floors of Squatter's Mall were mostly cut off from one another, each floor a ceiling and each ceiling a floor, the central area was open all the way to the skylights above. So from my current position, I could look down and see a small platoon of soldiers firing indiscriminately into shops while standing in a field of shattered glass. At least half a dozen residents were dead.

It's hard to explain my state of mind in that moment. A small but distant part of me noted that an attack like this was almost certainly a distraction and that the main action - their real reason for coming here - would be somewhere else. But most of me was panicking. I'd never responded to danger quite like that before. I had this deep sense of dread and horror unlike anything I'd ever felt and I didn't know why. But I didn't have time for introspection.

So I jumped.

As I fell, I called on the manasphere to protect me with the most powerful Armor spell I dared, coming right up to the limits of where I'd be risking myself real harm. I contemplated using an area spell, but I didn't know for a fact that the people on the ground at their feet were dead yet, so I switched to Astral Perception and discovered I'd been right to be conservative. Several of them were centimeters away from death but if I could get to them in time, I could still save some of them.

Three stories later I hit the ground with my katana drawn and the armor spell taking the majority of the impact. That's when I realized just who I was dealing with. In retrospect, I should have used the Visual Magnification power that I'd gotten from the collection of foci Theo had given me, but I simply hadn't had cause to use it much and so it hadn't occurred to me. Or maybe it's better that I didn't. I might have hesitated to jump into the middle of 20 Red Samurai.

This was about Anna.

I remembered thinking that I wasn't a match for even one of them back when Anna had first brought them up. But I'd still been mortal at the time. Now I was going to rip these assholes apart. You come into my town and start shooting up the place? You don't walk out alive.

Principle of Motion

I slipped in and out slicing off limbs and heads but the carnage did nothing to alleviate my rage. In fact, it only grew. Killing them wasn't enough. I needed to humiliate and terrorize them. So I started getting fancy. I saw one of them raising his assault rifle towards me. I could have reached him before he got off his shot, but instead, I pulled one of his friends between us to take the burst fire, then pushed him into the gunman and ran both of them through with a single thrust. That left me in a bit of a vulnerable position, but it didn't matter. I released my grip on my katana and somersaulted into the middle of them, manifesting a Powerblade as I did. They tried switching to their own katanas...the morons, but it meant less than nothing. I couldn't manifest a tank-destroying blade the way Theo could, but my magic was more than enough for this. They hesitated, which gave me enough time for a second Powerblade and I was off to the races. I spun in circles while tracing out a larger circle along the floor like I was rolling along inside it, my strikes going both low and high as I ducked and jumped to dodge their return strikes. I was a blender. I was the Storm. And as my enemies fell to literal pieces before me, I felt no satisfaction. I needed more.

They'd fought me to the last man. In another situation, I would have called that bravery, but now it only seemed like they'd done me a convenient favor. It took me a moment to realize the fight was over, which is often how it feels when you win a fight, especially against multiple opponents. Then I remembered.

Looking around, I suddenly realized to my horror that those who had been hanging on to life when the fight started were now well and truly gone. Some had been hit by bullets that had been meant for me. Some simply faded away in the background, unable to hold on while I was busy showboating and indulging my wrath. I put a hand over my mouth in shock. They were all dead.

They were dead and I had killed them as surely as if I had pulled the trigger myself.

Because I could have ended that fight a lot quicker. I could have used area affect spells carefully enough to avoid innocents. I could have slipped in a healing spell or two into the middle of my assault. I could have summoned a spirit. And probably a lot of other things. But no, I had seen red and indulged myself and people were dead now because of it. I had lost students before. And it wasn't the first time since coming to Squatter's Mall that people had died. But I hadn't been running the place at the time. And even back when I ran my dojo, some of my students sometimes died, but it had never been because of me.

And there, in that moment, I felt a deeper shame than I had ever known. It wasn't guilt. I wasn't mopping. Instead, I felt an overwhelming wrath made of pure flame the size of Squatter's Mall itself all compressed into my heart and gut, and every last bit of it was directed at myself. I couldn't take it. I could handle that. I desperately, desperately needed to point that flame at someone else. So I focused on the attackers. These had only been distractions, so surely some were left. And then there was whoever ordered this...probably Anna's father. And I felt my heart turn from shame to a dark resolution.

And for the first time in my life, I understood what it was like to want to have someone crucified.

The wireless came back on as I extracted my katana from the corpses I'd made. Delucca told me what I already knew. While I had been with The Deliberative an armored transport aircraft had landed on the roof, taking out our anti-aircraft turrets out in a single volley, while simultaneously jamming all our wireless I asked, but no one knew where Anna was.

But I knew where she was going.

I cast a Levitate spell on myself to take me up through the hole in the skylight where the Red Samurai had come through. I didn't recognize the style of the aircraft, so it was probably something custom. Half-a-dozen Red Samurai were trailing behind an Eastern Drake - a humanoid dragon lacking any wings. And he was dragging Anna behind him. The Red Samurai opened up on me, but I wasn't going to waste time with them. I dismissed my Powerblades and hit them with a Manaball hard enough to get through my Drain resistance and wrack me with pain that very nearly made me pass out. But I endured. The Red Samurai on the other hand simply fell down dead in their tracks.

That got the drake's attention. I felt a huge surge in the manasphere as he conjured a ball of white fire and lobbed it at me.

"No," I said and backhanded the fireball off into the horizon.

His eyes widened and he grabbed Anna by the neck, but it was an empty threat. I knew precisely who sent him. So I floated myself closer but didn't quite land.

"I will leave this place now, and she is coming with me!" The drake growled.

"Thou shalt not," the theatricality was the only thing that let me contain my rage at this point.

"Miho!" Anna shouted while still trying to pull away from him, "he's my brother!"

I growled in loud frustration. That complicated things. I couldn't just kill him. I took a second to breathe. That's when I noticed he had a full daisho at his waist.

"A duel then," I offered.

The drake sneered, "Deception. The moment I release her she will run,"

"I won't!" Anna said and finally stilled herself.

The drake turned to her, "If you are deceiving me, I will kill many more people here before leaving to track you down again. You understand this?"

Anna nodded.

The drake let released her, "Then I agree, but we will fight unarmed."

I smirked as I landed. I couldn't help myself. He probably thought that was some kind of advantage for him.

"Agreed,"

I felt the manasphere moving and knew immediately he was casting a spell or two on himself, so I did the same. I canceled my Levitation and put everything I dared into an Improved Strength spell. I had every intention of making this fight a short one.

The drake took a tiger stance, which even for me as someone who likes things that are straightforward, seemed a little obvious to me. I took a horse stance, my right arm extended and my left arm chambered, both fists unclenched.

"Begin!" he shouted and rushed towards me.

I ducked under his first strike, and dove passed him while landing a body blow, "FIVE DRAGON FORCE BLOW!"

He flew into the air and sailed a couple of dozen meters before landing and skidding several more. I checked his aura to see if I'd killed him, but drakes were actually quite hardy. Still, he was out like a light though. Anna rushed to his side but quickly came to the same conclusion. Then she rushed to me and threw her arms around me.

I felt the rage drain out of me, slowly and incompletely, but I no longer felt the desperate need to destroy. I put my arms around her.

"Thank you for not killing him," she said.

I could see the intense shame in her aura, and that had put my own shame into context, "Anna, this isn't your fault. You can still stay and be part of this community. We just need to work quickly,"

She looked away, "How many people died?"

I sighed, "I don't know yet, but it looks like the evacuation protocols did their job. I'd be surprised if it was more than ten. Not counting the Red Samurai of course,"

She looked back at the group I'd taken out with a manaball before looking back at me, "I...what are you?"

And something about the possibility of sharing my secrets with her drained the last of my shame and even gave me a little hope.

"Promise you'll stay and I'll tell you,"

There'd been no one else on the aircraft, so we confiscated it and Robin's team started looking into having it auctioned on the black market. Anna's brother Daitan took some difficulty to restrain. We had jails of course, but nothing specifically for the Awakened and certainly nothing for a drake. So we had to rely on modern medicine. Dr. Fadil kept him unconscious for the moment while we figured out what to do. It hadn't been difficult for Opticon to extract the commcodes from Daitan's commlink, so we could contact Anna's father if we wanted to. But did we?

"Do you think he'd agree to a trade?" I asked Anna when we finally made it back to my office.

Anna shook her head, "Give back Daitan in exchange for letting me stay? I doubt that would work. You could probably get reparations for the Mall though,"

The casualty reports had finally come in. Delucca had managed to sound the alarm pretty quickly and Theo had been arranging escape routes since he was a little boy. And on top of all that, we'd been running drills almost since we got here. People hadn't really taken them seriously until after the Christmas Massacre, but by now everyone knew where to run when the alarms went off. Fewer than a dozen people had died.

I sighed. This was looking like one of those situations with no good options.

"What does your father really want from you? Just to control you? Or does he want an heir or something?"

Then Anna sighed, "Probably both,"

A wicked grin spread across my face, "And didn't you say he'd approve of Theo?"

Anna's eyes went wide, "You're kidding, right? Tell me you're kidding."

I shrugged, "Blame Robin, but no. But it doesn't have to be real. But we can use it to stall for time, can't we?"

"But Theo's not here!"

I smirked again, "Before he left he gave me power of attorney and access codes to...well everything,"

Anna's mouth dropped but she said nothing.

"So yeah, I can enter into a formal engagement on his behalf,"

Anna leaned in, "Miho that's not...that's not something to do lightly. If my father believes I'm engaged to Theo, we might not be able to get out of it. What about the two of you?"

It was like Robin's spirit had returned from the grave to possess me, "Horizon allows for polyamorous marriage contracts. We'll make it a three-way wedding,"

Anna sat back and paused, "I...I mean, does Theo even like me?"

I shrugged with only my left shoulder, "Worst comes to worst, he can just politely ignore any relationship you choose to have in the future. But I imagine he probably does find you attractive. I have it on good authority he has a thing for Asian women," I smiled.

Anna looked off, with that unfocused calculating expression she sometimes wore, "I mean...I could make it extremely difficult for my father to find me a husband. All I have to do is be open about my past,"

"Do it now," I offered.

"What?"

"Look, you're a known character in our ongoing reality series. Just get on a stream right now and reveal your identity. Leave out the part about your father killing the man you loved, but tell the whole world just how much of a whore you've been. It'll make our negotiating position stronger,"

Anna smiled for the first time I'd seen in a long while, "You're getting pretty good at this,"

I emailed her a link to the Squatter's Mall main streaming portal and I saw her take a deep breath. Then she put on her Kabuki mask, looked into her commlink and got started.

"Hello everyone. You all know me as Anna Wu. I've tended to stay behind the scenes and a lot of you have speculated on why. Well, today I'm going to tell you,"

She took off her mask, "My real name is Julia Ling. I'm a citizen of Renraku. And this is my story..."