+Shitfuckshit. What’s he doing now? What’s he doing? Where is he? Make sure he fuckfuckfuck! NO! DO NOT TRY TO SPOOF YOUR WAY INTO HIS MIND! Are you stupid? Are you fucking stupid? No! You are not cleared for action–just watch him!
If you touch him with malicious intent, he will know and he will kill you. Or maybe not. Maybe you get to be one of those unlucky half-strands that Naeko has a “conversation” with. No clearance. Pull back and just watch.
I’m going Incog. Don’t contact me. Don’t even remember me. Just keep an eye on him and only report in if he does… something worrying.
What counts as worrying? I don’t know, if he flattens a Sovereignty or something. Until then, stay close but quiet.
I need to cast the Council.
[Sigh] They’re going to shit enough bricks to build a new district.+
-Mirror [REDACTED]’s response to receiving word about Chief Paladin Naeko’s return to service
20-5
Players and Pawns (II)
“Oh, so you wanted me to make some noise, did you Avo? Something to draw the Chief Paladin’s attention away? A false trail?” Chambers cackled as he stared at the glowing marker pulsing just beneath the wreckage of what used to be the Conflux megablock back at Mazza’s Junction.
A DeepNav simulation of the district was projected over the dais within the George Washington’s Command Nexus. Rubbing his hands together, Chambers kindled heat and glee in equal measure as he considered his many, many options.
"Consang, I’ve seen that expression before. Usually on the faces of half-strands about to get themselves–and a whole lot of other people killed.” Tavers was eyeing him from the back of the room, he could sense the flow of her perception spilling over his shoulders.
Synced to her Metamind was that White-Rab Necro–Avo’s sorta dad or something. Chambers wasn’t sure, and frankly, the whole family talk was confusing him.
That shit didn’t matter though. He wasn’t here to chart the Low Master to ghoul family tree. He was here to fuck some shit up and make some trouble the Chief Paladin couldn’t ignore. Trouble that wouldn’t be traced back to them.
Good thing that Avo gave Chambers free rein to plan this run however he saw fit. As long as the distraction worked, as long as Naeko was led astray, anything was on the table.
Anything.
+Make sure it works. Make sure you don’t expose yourselves. Don’t get traced. Come up with a good cover story for Green River to corroborate as well.+
Such were Avo’s only parameters.
So it was that Kae, Chambers, Tavers, and White-Rab were gathered in the heart of the George Washington. With Denton still on dispatch in the Tiers, her aid remained temporarily inaccessible. More helpful was Sunrise, already moving to shadow Naeko’s progress, certain that they were going to be detected by the Chief Paladin. The swarm morph bioform had volunteered for observational detail the moment it heard about the situation, and soon, they would get direct visuals of Naeko’s person via the bees.
Chambers and Kae, on the other hand, needed a resurrection to recover after Avo restored them to their original sheaths and extracted the proxies from their skulls. Two sinew-strewn viviante lattices composed of complex thauma-technology were stored within their new smart matter containers.
The cognitive disguise was a pretty nifty thing to have on hand. Chambers thought the experience wasn’t so bad, but maybe next time he wouldn’t need to play someone so ugly. But that run was done and this one was on–and they needed to be on their shit to handle Naeko, before he handled them.
Tension and excitement alike built within Chambers. He couldn’t lie, something about how fucking taboo the whole thing felt was getting him going. Screwing over the Chief Paladin. Pulling the wool over Samir Naeko’s eyes. Lazy shit these days or not, there was a time when the man killed millions on the reg during his afternoon strolls. The prize for success was breathing room and the penalty for failure was getting snuffed for good.
Yeah. This was some nova-squire shit.
Thankfully, Chambers thought his backup was more than enough flame to light this wick.
“It isn’t me who’s going to be getting a lot of people killed,” Chambers said, fixing Tavers–and by extension White-Rab–with a conniving look. “It’s going to be an assassin. An attempt on Chief Naeko’s life, with some planted evidence–”
“Whoa,” Tavers said, holding up her hand. “Slow down there before you run all our asses right over the edge. We don’t wanna be fucking with Naeko like that. The guy’s bread and butter was war for four centuries. Shit, all the consangs I called up earlier told me that anything violent, damaging, dangerous, or even with aggressive intent seemed to fall under the man’s influence. His Heaven is Sphere Eight. Sphere fucking Eight. Now, I’m no Agnos of high knowing like Kusanade here, but I know enough to understand that our best bet is to trouble him tangentially instead of directly.”
Kae hummed in agreement. Phantasmal threads flitted mem-data behind her eyes as her thoughtstuff spun at an intimidating speed. The Agnos was probably going through her thauma-whatevers while keeping her eyes fixed to Naeko’s position on the map. “It costs billions upon billions upon billions of lives for a Godclad to reach the Eight Sphere. The power he wields is beyond words. Or comprehension. I’m trying to recall any memories from my past. If anyone told me anything about Naeko’s ontology, or Frame, or how many ontologics he has.”
The Agnos breathed. “But once someone passes the Sixth Sphere, they become a power in their own right. Their influence spreads easily beyond a district, capable of harming and changing many concepts. Or one so deeply it might as well belong to them for good.”
“So…” Chambers said, doing his best to add his own contribution. He had a plan. He thought it was a pretty good plan. There were layers. But all these concerns his consangs were having brought the clouds of doubt down, and clouds really harshed his vibes. “I was, like, thinking, right, that White-Rab could find us some local gangers or a Syndicate or something. He’d hit a few of them with Possessors. Fill ‘em up with planted mem-data from the D’Rongo’s or something about them doing a false flag or some shit. Then… they find Naeko…”
+This is going to be stupid,+ White-Rab Muttered. +I can already feel it.+
Chambers shushed the Necro. “Then… they jump out in front of him. We steal a golem and pocket them in a demiplane or something. And then our guys–the ones White-Rab’s puppeting–they kiss each other. In front of Naeko. Boom. Controlled Rash deployment. Definite success. He’ll resurrect and be like: ‘Damn, someone’s out to get my ass. Huh? They dropped some mem-data? Sequence encrypted? That’s got to be evidence. I need to get this back to the ghost-fuckers back at Scale.’”
For a few heartbeats, no one said a word to Chambers. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Then, Kae pinched the bridge of her nose while Tavers sighed.
“You–you just got this one trick, don’t you?” Tavers said, shaking her head. A snort suddenly escaped from her, followed by a laugh that almost became a guffaw. “Hey? Hey, Raldi. You remember ‘Nukes’ Nucky? This one remind of you him?”
+A bit,+ White-Rab said. +But let’s be fair to Nucky–he''s lots more careful with the collateral damage than our friend Chambers here.+ The Necro turned his attention over to Chambers. +Also, I won’t be jacking two people into kissing each other. I don’t care how many Heavens or cyclers Avo’s prepared to offer me. You know Necrojacks get sensory-memory feedback, right? ‘Immersion dump.’ Making two random people kiss each other while I’m inside them is like I’m kissing myself too. That’s a level of hedonistic psycho-sexual trauma there I’m not ready to face, consang. Not for all the imps in the city. Also, Naeko’s definitely got Lustaway. And he’ll probably just kill himself if the Rash ever triggers in him.+
Chambers frowned. “Dammit. So, what the fuck then? Wait. Let me think…” He wrestled his thoughts away from a variety of sex-based attacks. His usual depravity and degeneracy weren’t helping him here. He needed to actually exercise some functional cunning. Dammit. What did he know? What did he know that the others didn’t?
Why was he useful? Why was he worth a Frame? Why did Avo pick him? It couldn’t all just be luck. He had to have something worthy inside him. Something of value. Otherwise, his old man would’ve been right, and that dumb-shit got dragged off and eaten by the ghouls.
A third emotion joined the currents of thrill and excitement: worry.
Worry that he wouldn’t be able to offer anything.
He couldn’t just have this one trick. He couldn’t. He needed to pull some more out from the depths of his ass.
“Fuck,” Chambers muttered, his head pulsing, unused to just how much he was trying to think.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“It will be wise to avoid any directly damaging or even threatening actions,” Kae finally added. “I pulled some memories from a book I once read. A historical accounting. There were records there about feats the Chief Paladin performed during the Siege of Iju-Hanas, while he was fighting under Zein Thouandhand’s tutelage against the remnants of the unredeemed Ori clans. It is said that no form of violence could touch his flesh. No harm settled upon his person. And every force levied upon him was returned a thousandfold without limit of distance nor direct contact.”
“And how long ago was this thing written?” Tavers asked.
“Three centuries.” Kae frowned. “He is likely far more powerful now. Especially with the advances we have made with our modern Heavens.”
“Shit,” Tavers replied, aptly. “So, there’s a good chance that if I sneezed in his general direction from half a city away, he could turn that back around me and amp it up so hard that my head’ll get blown off?” The squire wheezed. “Glad his ass was hibernating during my golden years. This is why I spent my life avoiding Godclads, not running against them. But I suppose I’m not doing so well in either of those respects these days.”
+I think what we need to focus on is simple. Information. The Nether is the only variable that no Godclad can twist directly, so we need to find a way and have Naeko encounter and accept a false trail. Something to consume his time, anyway.+ White-Rab sounded pensive. +The question is how do we get that to happen in an organic enough fashion…+
And then something clicked inside Chambers. Tavers was a squire–she lived above and away from the rules. Planning runs and doing jobs on the edge of society. White-Rab wasn’t so different either. They lived in avoidance of the Paladins. Any intersection there was just business or self-preservation. But professionally, they were light and dark. Kae, in her past life, was an Agnos. Someone meant to be protected by the Paladins. Someone they failed.
Chambers alone lived under the Paladins. He was the scum they could snuff, punish, detain, interrogate, or ignore at their own leisure. And his was the kind that had to deal with them in opposition by any means other than conflict.
Running. Hiding. Lying. Faking. Distracting. Anything to lead the Paladins away. Anything to stay out of the Exorcists’ sight.
He knew how the glassers operated. What they were looking for.
If Naeko was hunting someone with a Bone Demon sheath, it meant that ever grafter capable of performing such a modification was now under suspicion and that either Naeko–or someone under them–would be hitting up more than just the Second Fortune.
A flash of inspiration tore through Chambers as his lip shivered. “I got it.” The words left him as a whisper at first. “I–I fucking got it.”
“Ah, shit,” Tavers said, grinning as she prepared herself. “Alright. Let’s hear this one too.”
+Please don’t be scat,+ White-Rab murmured.
Chambers ignored them and began. “We don’t need to make up that much bullshit. We just need to make things really, really fucking confusing. Put out more threads for him to pull on than he can possibly investigate.”
The wry bemusement left Tavers’ face. She brushed a lock of auburn away from her eyes as she furrowed her brow, heavily modified skin adjusting to the stretch with minimal wrinkles. “Keep going.”
“So, there are grafters across the city, right? Well, most are shit in the Warrens. And even among the good ones, only a couple got that Bone Demon in their stock. So. I’m thinking we do a little diving on the Exoricts’ behalf. We cook the books of these places. Slide imps into their systems and record sheath orders listed a month back. That way–”
+That way it looks broader than a single-source procurement,+ White-Rab added.
“Yeah. That shit. Also, we do it sloppy. We leave a bit of a trail. Something that leads back to me. The, uh, Nolothi acolyte.” Chambers couldn’t help but laugh. “Make it seem like I’m trying to make an army. Fuck, we might need to snatch some ghouls or something. Have Avo make them look like how he used to and give Naeko a chance to stumble on them.”
“Yes,” Kae said. “But–but do not forget, Avo had a Metamind. He had a sophisticated set of sequences.”
“Right. Godsdammit. Maybe he stumbles on their bodies–ah, whatever, this is for later. Right now, we just need to flood him with a bunch of different threads… and Green River should reveal that I’m behind this. She almost found out, but I threatened her with a trauma bomb, and then when she tried to defy me or something, I nulled everyone in Ox-Three. Ugly, nasty picture. Implicates the Low Masters too. Because they were there. And with the Elegant-Moon thing, I also got my D’Rongo ties, which is another angle he might be interested in. We can keep that shit in reserve until he gets close or something. Right now, we just need to give him so much godsdamned stuff to follow he feels lost.”
“Then Green River shows him the way in the Bazaar. While playing something of a victim.” Tavers nursed herself on the idea. “It’s messy. There are loose threads everywhere. But maybe we can work that to our advantage–”
+I’m in,+ White-Rab said.
A beat followed.
“What?” Kae asked.
+I spoofed into one of them already,+ White-Rab said, distractedly. +Tell me what we’re changing again.+
Several sets of eyes turned to the phantasmal cumulus forming along Tavers’ accretion.
“Holy shit,” Chambers muttered. “You really are the rotlick’s brain-dad.”
***
Naeko looked up at the single, half-melted wall towering over him. Four meters tall and only one wide, the ruined plascrete slab was effectively all that remained of the Conflux megablock in the aftermath of Highflame-Stormtree flashpoint.
The media had already dubbed the events “The Breaking of Mazza’s Junction” and “Rumble in Nu-Scarrowbur.” But words failed to do the devastation justice.
When Godclads fought, things broke in ways that were beyond the material. Reality was often left torn in these battles, the fabric of the tapestry thin and weak, struggling to re-knit itself in the aftermath.
Spreading his awareness outward, Naeko buried his senses into the district and sampled the damage it suffered. Every bit of glass across Mazza’s Junction was shattered. Clumps of matter had been shunted–torn across reflective surfaces and transposed out from another regardless if the space was occupied or not. Structures and streets were dotted with missing potions while chunks of detritus jutted free beneath underpasses, inside bedrooms, and around window frames.
Across the way, over the gaps leading down to the Maw, Nu-Scarrowbur lay wide in a spill of destruction. The outer sections of the city had been unmade over little more than ten minutes of fighting, the heavily alloyed shield-shaped structures capable of enduring conventional arms as bunkers, but offering less protection than a literal tissue when faced with Godclads.
A grid of light swept over Naeko as another wing of drones shot through the air above him. Agnos Thanatechs were still looking for deaths to claim. And Jhred Greatling’s Frame for that matter. Far too many thuams remained unaccounted for.
“Jhred, Jhred, Jhred,” Naeko said, talking to the wall as he took a moment to think. “What were you doing? Why? How did you end up dead? Who triggered your golem.” The wall didn’t speak. Because it was a wall. Naeko kept talking. Because he was an idiot. “Your sister. She really loved you. You know? She burned her life trying to get whoever snuffed you. But she couldn’t do it. They got awa–”
Naeko paused. His Heaven quivered. Eight thousand and thirty-two people had died at the same time three Sovereignties away. CELL-9. Omnitech re-education district. Experiment gone wrong. He could feel the remodified voidtech deconstructor swarms eating the “volunteers” away instead of rebuilding their sheaths automatically. Naeko inverted the harm with a thought, and in an instant, the nanoswarms ate themselves out of existence.
But eight thousand were already dead. And Omnitech just wasted their time.
It was all for nothing.
Story of this city.
Naeko went back to talking with the wall.
Triggering his Cipher phantasmic again, he used his utility fog to snatch a rock from the ground as his ghosts tried to reconstruct the megablock from the last known memories infusing the local Nether. Streams of etheric river stitched their way upward into the sky from the broken slab, spreading out into new threads that formed the outline of the edifice. Then, a faint flicker of instability followed and the shape collapsed under itself. The effects of Highflame’s Thoughtwave Detonation lingered still, and not even ghosts could recall what happened during the last moments of Jhred Greatling’s life.
The Exorcists had refrained from attempting to breach Abrel Greatling’s mind. While she was nulled, her mem-data was a slurry. Now she was resurrected, her wards paired with her Heaven made her mind fortress a nightmare to access. Forcing it was a waste of time anyway. By the start of next week, she would be summoned to Scale for her trial, and the Heaven of Truth would be put to better use than wasting its miracles on some fool Fallwalker.
That, and Denton had witnesses to provide. And more information on where he could find Agnos Kae Kusanade. Now there was someone he wanted to have a personal conversation with. Especially about Dawton Morrow’s true fate, and just how much the D’Rongos had transgressed.
“Was it Chambers that got you?” Naeko said, asking the wall. “I’ve hit a lot of grafters today. The Second Fortune. The Skin Garden. Muar-Maud’s Bodychanger. The Bone Shop. Pretty much all the owners have skeletons in their closets. But who doesn’t in this city.” He rubbed at his weary eyes and sighed. “Damn, I’m rusty. I barely remember how this goes. Or how much time I spent talking to walls, trying to get the city to give me my answers. You hear me New Vultun? Would be nice if you just dropped a hint. The scoop the Sang is going to hit me with better be good.”
The wind rustled; the sound of engines formed another layer to the backdrop.
Naeko shook his head. “The hells am I doing? I got enough for a day. I should get back. Play a match or ten. Decompress. I earned it. Jaus knows I did.” But he didn’t move. He stayed in place, staring at the wall, wondering how many he let die during his time drugging himself with entertainment. “I can’t do it. And it doesn’t matter. What happens when I find it anyway? The bioform. It’s probably one of Denton’s too. Can’t use it then. Or there goes the only useful source I managed to hold onto after all these years. I don’t need to be doing this. Trial’s the thing that I should be focusing on. Yeah. Yeah. I need to get my witnesses ready. Get the others prepared for anything that might happen. That matters more than… well. Whatever it is I’m doing now.”
And then, as if the city had heard his request for answers, a session activated in his Metamind and Naeko found himself staring at the Meta identification of an Exorcist he didn’t know.
+Yeah?+ Naeko answered, half-hoping the Exorcist would hit him with a trauma so he would get someone to break.
+Sorry to disturb you, Chief Naeko. I’m Lieutant Lorner Kazahara. Nether-Sec. Some of my divers caught a trail of something interesting, and the system flagged the mem-data as essential for your current investigation. Casting data over now.+
[DOWNLOADING ENCRYPTED MEM-DATA]
Naeko frowned as the information loaded in his mind. A dozen or so new names appeared in his cog-feed. All known grafters. A few he visited today. Under them were expandable interfaces with isolated accounting details. Orders made for a specific type of sheath during the last month.
The Bone Demon.
The Paladin’s stomach did a flip. He didn’t know how to take that. Looking through the sequences again, he found the client was different each time. No lead there. Not obviously anyway.
But he felt as if he just stumbled into something bigger–that part of the truth just slammed into him without any effort on his part.
That thought gave him a funny feeling.
He wondered if Green River was going to add to this windfall.