NationStates Jolt Archive

Josef's Office; The Corporate Spire; Chiba City; The Hack

Celina's ears tilted back slightly as she looked at the strange envelope sitting on her desk, addressed to Josef. It had no post mark, no return address, and very little other than Josef's name on it. The thing just made her uneasy. The fact that there was nothing obviously wrong with it, it still carried a general feeling of unease. She glaced to her right at the shredder/incinerator that was for classified documents and pondered just tossing the note in. Chances were, Josed would never notice or miss it. On the other hand, it disturbed her enough that whomever had sent it might -- somehow -- know. Also, she deeply trusted Josef, and knew that he wouldn't do anything to but himself or his family in danger.

She mewled in consternation, poking at the envelope as if it was a creature that might or might not be dead. It had already been scanned (twice) in the mail room, so it wasn't like there was going to be a toxin inside or anything of the sort. No, it was the data that worried her. This, of course, spawned a whole new series of concerns. What if it was a ransom note? Then he'd definately need to know. But what if it had some weird agent the sensors couldn't pick up?

Finally deciding to trust Josef's ability to handle it, she got up and gingerly picked up the envelope, trying to look casual and largely failing miserably. She gently knocked on the door to Josef's office and walked in, standing silently as she waited for him to finish his phone call.

"...er, lemmie call you back, Rachel. Celina just walked in and looks worried. Hmm? Yeah. 8 o'clock... sounds good. See you and Alice later." He set the phone down, frowning a little, "What's wrong?"

"It's this... um letter..." Her ears were almost flat on her head, "I've got a bad feeling about it." She dropped it on his desk, her eyes watching it, unblinking.

Josef smiled, "Oh, I'm sure it's noting to worry about." He picked it up with his metallic hand, the gold, silver, and platinum braided ring gleaming softly in the light, "Let's have a look." He casually ripped it open and pulled out the single sheet of paper and looked it over, his face darkening slightly.

He stood up and grabbed his coat, slipping the letter into a pocket, "There's something I need to take care of, Celina." He gave her a hug as she mewled again, "Nothing to worry about, but pressing. Tell Alice and Rachel that I'll have to cancel tonight..."

"J-Josef?"

He smiled giving her a kiss on the forehead, "I'll be fine. I'll just be back late. Take the rest of the day off, Celina-chan. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he stepped out of his office, reviewing the letter in his mind:

Doctor Specter,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/Tindalos/13above.jpg
-----


Elisa Day's Secondary Office; Gibson Spire; Tindalos Megalopolis; The Hack

Elisa hummed softly to herself as she busied herself about her office in Tindalos. It had never been used much, largely because she spent so much time in GMC or, secretly, in Eurusea. Still, she wanted to get it fully operational so that it could be used. If nothing else, it put her slightly closer to GMC and thus to her family. She wasn't sure if she was going to close up shop in Chiba or not, but the thought had crossed her mind. She giggled softly as she thought about it: if nothing else, Shino would like it as he tended to stay in Tindalos.

She poked at one of the computer terminals, wondering why it wasn't working properly and wondering why she had thought she could set the computers up and network them. She may have been one of the first Hackers to get a direct interface to the 2N, but she was no computer geek. In fact, she often tried to avoid them. She prefered dealing with people, and prefered writting letters the old fashioned way. It might have made her something of an odd bird in the Hack, but she didn't much care. Besides, she knew how she felt every time Faye or Sarah sent her a letter, and assumed that they felt the same way.

She turned off the computer in frustration, deciding to have Shino screw around with it tomorrow. She had picked up a pen, and was idlying twiddling it in her fingers, thinking about writting a letter to Faye, when a cream colored envelope was slipped under her door. She opened the door and scanned the hallway, but finding it empty, she simply closed it and opened the letter.

Ms. Day,

We have followed your professional life quite closely, and have noticed that you possess certain quality that the Sisterhood is interested in. We would like to arrange a meeting with you, and if you're agreeable to such a thing, we would like you to meet with us. There is a restaurant just down the street that you are familiar with. One of our representatives is waiting in the third private booth.

We realise that you are likely to be wary of such a request, especially considering the events at the Workhoven building. However, as you know the owner of the restaurant in question, we feel that you can trust us. And, given the... unique nature of the restaurant, you can certainly feel safe. We hope to see you.
The Fifty-Two Daughters of the Revolution

Secret societies have always existed; their roots spreading in the shadowy confines of nations or spanning nations. They range from sinister to benevolent, most residing at benign. Their ranks include well-known, and thus not terribly secret, societies, such as the Illuminated Seers of Bavaria, The Skulls, The Freemasons, or the Priory of Sion. Their ranks also include groups whose existence is not known outside of their own ranks, or only by a few people who have spent a great deal of effort learning.

Two such groups in the Hack are 'The Thirteen Above the Night' and 'The Fifty-Two Daughters of the Revolution'. They bore no connection to one another; they were simply sharing an interesting coincidence in timing. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.

The failing of most so-called secret societies is their lack of secrecy. If secrecy is breeched, the group is unable to accomplish their true goals, whatever they might be. This is also why true societies have little interest in ruling the world. Global conspiracies are fun, but they require thousands -- if not millions -- of people to succeed. Every member is a potential leak. The more spanning the conspiracy, the less likely it is to work, and if the average Joe Six-pack has heard of it, it's doomed to failure.

Needless to say, the 13 and the 52 were much more selective in their application processing, and only sought new members when an old member died. Usually the death was because of natural causes. Of course.

-----

Yon Lav Tane Booksellers; Chiba City; The Hack

Josef couldn't get his mind of the image that had comprised the entirety of the letter. The number thirteen in a pentagram was a strange brand of icon. While any fool trying to make a fake symbol could have done so, it still had a strange curiosity for him. He was no stranger to so-called "secret societies", he was still a member of The Designers, which was a global society of engineers and others who were very interested in surpassing what was commonly believed to be technologically possible. However, they weren't so much a secret society as a group of individuals who didn't broadcast their existence. Passive secrecy, as opposed to active. Occasionally, they muddled into affairs that were less than legal, such as one of the early designs for his cyber arm. At the time, it had been well beyond anything that was possible for the Hack back then. Of course, it was rather like being the first kid to get an 80286: it was amazing, but soon eclipsed. Needless to say, Josef no longer possessed that arm.

He supposed that the Oligarchy could be considered a secret society too. Their existence certainly wasn't secret (it was on his business cards, and part of the Hack's full title), but the actual workings most certainly were secret. Most people didn't know, for instance, that Elisa was actually a member of the Oligarchy, not just their voice. Of course, given the fluid nature of the Oligarchy, he could probably consider Alice a member too. Much like Faye could be considered a member; a thought that gave him no small amount of amusement.

The letter, however, had made him curious, so he went to one of the few people he knew who might be able to help him, but also would know when to keep his mouth shut. Friedrich, the proprietor of the Yon Lav Tane bookstore was a quiet old man who kept to himself, but was deeply involved in many less than respectable affairs. Nothing technically illegal, but he made a study of the esoteric, strange, and downright sinister. Friedrich had also introduced Josef to The Designers, so he figured that this would be a good place to start.

The bookshop was almost stereotypical in how it looked: it was at the 'garden' level of the building that housed it, a short stairway led down to the front door. Numerous oaken bookshelves lined the walls, each filled with books, not seeming to follow any cataloguing system known to man. Towards the back was a wrought iron, circular stairway leading up to the second floor, which was filled with more of the same. Friedrich looked up from his desk, his wizened face almost hidden by a stack of rare books from dubious sources. "Josef," his accent made it sound more like 'Yo-séf', "It is good to see you again."

Josef smiled, casually flipping the sign on the front door over to 'Closed'. "Good to see you too, Friedrich."

Friedrich grinned, leaning back in his chair and lighting a hand-rolled cigarette, "I can see that you aren't here for a casual chat, Josef. What troubles you?"

Josef chuckled at the old man's powers of perception, "This," he sad lamely, tossing the letter onto one of the books in front of Friedrich. "The symbol's vaguely familiar, but I'm not sure…"

"Ahh… I see… yes, this is curious indeed. Sit down, Josef. To explain the Thirteen to you will take quite some time."

-----

The Pinnacle Restaurant; Downtown Tindalos; the Hack

The Pinnacle was a nudity-only restaurant that tended to cater to high society and people who valued their privacy. The walls of the building were lined with scramblers that prevented recording devices from working: cameras, voice recorders, etc. Incoming calls weren't allowed (aside from setting up reservations), and outgoing calls could only be made via their phone lines. The proprietress had even hired a team of computer experts to insure that all their data lines were carefully protected. In short, the electronic security at the Pinnacle was second only to that of restricted labs and military bases.

Many nudity-only restaurants had a VIP entrance for celebrities and other people who would just assume not have their presence known. That level of privacy was standard at the Pinnacle. Exceptional VIPs received accommodations that were even more private. In the case of Elisa, she actually parked four blocks away in a tightly controlled parking garage and was driven to the Pinnacle via an underground tram. Such precautions weren't usually extended, but Elisa had grown to be something of a regular, and often brought guests with her who were also interested in keeping their exposure down.

The tram pulled up to the underground entrance, and a statuesque, stunningly beautiful Cervidine greeted Elisa. Elisa smiled as she slipped out of her business suit and checked herself in the mirror. After adjusting her hair a little, she turned to the Cervidine, "Good to see you again, Teruna. I, ah, I'm here to meet someone at booth number 3…"

Teruna cocked her head to the side, "Not here to meet Miss Faye or Miss Sarah, I assume?"

Elisa shook her head, "No, I was sent a letter. I'm not sure who I'm meeting. I was wondering if you noticed who it was that's waiting."

"I'm sorry, Miss Elisa." A slight shrug, "I haven't been on the floor at all today, so I don't know who's there. I can request that it be looked into…"

"No, no… it's okay. Not like she can have a gun under her shirt."

Teruna giggled softly, "Probably why they picked this place. It's safe for both of you, and you won't be overheard."

Elisa laughed and gave Teruna a friendly hug, "Point. Okay, I might as well head on in. Good to see you again."

Teruna nodded, leading Elisa to the booth, "Of course. Give a call some time, the girls would love to see you again some time."

Elisa smiled and nodded, "I'd love to." She glanced at the booth, "Wish me luck." With that she slipped through the curtain.

The booth was rather standard for the Pinnacle. A pair of benches covered in soft cloth faced a wooden table, the cloth designed to feel comfortable against bare skin, and was also designed to be oddly non-porous, which made cleaning easier, and made it less likely for disease to be transferred from person to person. A heavy red curtain blocked the occupants from view, granting them near-total privacy.

Sitting at the table was a middle-aged woman with dark hair and red eyes. She seemed perfectly at ease with her body and with the concept of being nude. She smiled at Elisa and gestured for the younger woman to sit down. While she looked over Elisa, it was more from curiosity than a matter of sexual attraction. Choosing a nudity-only restaurant was for practical reasons, not because she wanted to see the Speaker nude. Elisa smiled back, sitting down and noticing a small device sitting on the center of the table: it put out faint interference, making it so that it would be impossible for either to use psychic ability to gain an advantage. Everything about the set-up said 'neutrality'.

The older woman took a sip of her water, giving Elisa a friendly smile, "I didn't order you anything, because I didn't want you to think I slipped you something," she explained. Waving off Elisa's protestations, she continued, "The Fifty-Four would like to thank you for accepting our offer, first and foremost, and have done everything in our power to make you comfortable, despite our… odd… method of contacting you."

Elisa smiled thinly, looking over the woman and trying to read her body language, "Well, I've only accepted your offer of a meeting, you know."

The woman grinned broadly, "An excellent response, indeed. Allow me to tell you about the Daughters…"

Yon Lav Tane Booksellers; Chiba City; The Hack

"The Thirteen date back to long before the Hack, even to before the Union, Josef." Friedrich was leaning back a little in his chair and had offered a seat to Josef. He lit another cigarette and continued his story, the blue smoke swirling around in the air between them, forming strange patterns that almost looked like they were something, but faded away before they could be named.

"As you know, the Hyperborean civilization once ruled this island with an iron fist, under the leadership of the 'Most Graced Princess', a foul half-blood that was tainted by the influence of their daemon-Lord, Tsathoggua. Her visage was twisted and corrupt; she usually hid her face behind a veil made of spun white gold.

"She was a cruel and heartless ruler, and frequently those who displeased her were executed at the foot of her throne by her equally inhumane guards. The Alabaster Tower was deeply feared by all who were under its web of power.

"The Hyperboreans were eventually wiped out when the glaciers of the last ice age rolled over our island. They were powerful wizards, but were also decadent and unable to adapt to the changing climate. Their inability to eat anything animal-based also meant that they were unable to move and live of fish or anything like that: as their crops died, so too did they.

"Their kingdom soon descended into utter chaos as the surfs and peasants tried to rise up against their twisted sorcerer masters. According to legend, the carnage stained the Alabaster Tower red, and it stood as a beacon of utter evil for the few who survived the civil war. As they survivors turned on each other, trying to survive through cannibalism -- despite rejecting flesh – the glaciers slowly marched down from the pole and mercifully ended the Hyperborean civilization, grinding their works and their bones to dust, annihilating their apothecaries and obliterating their magical tomes. Mhu Thulan was sterilized.

"Not all of them died, however."

"Yes," Josef nodded, "Victor's Hyperborean."

Friedrich grinned, "It is said that he cheated time. Our tale does not concern him, yet."

"Cheated time?"

"Your friend is much older than you think, Josef. I will tell you his story later. You asked about the thirteen."

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. Please, continue."

"Where was I? Ah, yes. The survivors.

"Many of the survivors, you see, were barely sentient. They were like the voormis of the Hyperborean age. Oh?" He grinned at the look on Josef's face, "You didn't know? Back when humans where banging rocks together and unable to even master fire, the voormis were a proud and potent race of sorcerers. Much like they Hyperboreans, they worshiped the Toad God, Tsathoggua. They existed on this island at the same time as the lizard-beings of Khabarovsk. Indeed, the two races developed at similar times. While the lizards chose science and religion, the voormis chose magic and supplication. The voormis was primitive, but powerful sorcerers in their own right, and almost mindless in their devotion to Tsathoggua, just as the lizard-beings worshiped Yig. Myth states that the voormis had a hand in corrupting the faith of Khabarovsk, leading to its downfall, but nobody knows. Whatever caused their destruction created a backlash across the region, and all but wiped out the voormis as well. When Hyperborea ruled, they were barely intelligent; they've continued their decay. They outlasted the lizards only to lose their minds.

"However, some of the Hyperboreans survived, and retained their intelligence. Thirteen, to be exact. Their names have been forgotten, but there were six of the sorcerer class, six serfs, and one whose role has been lost to time; nobody knows what class she came from. These thirteen survivors formed the Thirteen, viewing themselves as blessed and above Tsathoggua, who dwelled in darkened N'kai, thus they called themselves the Thirteen Above the Night. They turned their back on the old faith and made their way in the world as a group who would embrace that which their predecessors hadn't: technology.

"They felt that Hyperborea had failed because it clinged to an old, outdated faith. Since Tsathoggua had turned his furry back on them, they would turn their backs on him. The woman of unknown caste felt that Khabarovsk had also fallen because of faith: faith in Yig. She became their leader, and helped them survive the ice age.

"Their numbers grew as they integrated with the humans that eventually settled the island, but there was always the core group of Thirteen. As one member died, he or she was replaced with another who shared their views. Since there were hardly any Hyperboreans, they often enlisted humans. While the majority came from the ranks of people who would become citizens of the Hack, they weren't too particular about nation of origin; however, there were never more than thirteen. Supposedly, the woman who started everything, One, is still alive and still leading the organization."

"But… that would make her ten thousand years old!"

"The Hyperboreans are a long lived people, Josef. And the Thirteen were dedicated to the development and exploitation of technology. I tend to believe the rumors, but it seems that you may find out for yourself."

Josef nodded, thinking about all the information Friedrich had told him, "How do you know all of this?"

"There are those who are members of societies, and those who help societies. And then there are crazy old men who dig deep and research societies. I've lived a long life, Josef, and I have made it my mission to learn as much as I can. Even the most secret of societies is bound to have information leak." He smiled, "Still, my information is conjecture and assumption. If you accept this invitation, you will learn far more than I ever could."

I'm living in films for the sake of Russia
A Kino Runner for the DDR
And the fifty-two daughters of the revolution
Turn the gold to chrome
Gift...nothing to lose
Stuck inside of Memphis with the mobile home
~ The Sisters of Mercy, "Dominion / Mother Russia"


The Pinnacle Restaurant; Downtown Tindalos; The Hack

"The Daughters aren't nearly as sinister or obtuse as some other societies," the older woman explained, "We're an organization of women in positions of power who use our various talents to further various goals of our own."

"That's pretty vague," Elisa mused, taking a sip from the glass of water she had ordered.

"Well, you aren't a member yet, now are you? Suffice it to say, anything we would request from you would be no more odious than the other quasi-legal activities you've already engaged in for your own purposes."

Elisa smiled thinly. Years of dealing with Mikhael had honed her skill at maintaining a poker face, "I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

The older woman smirked, "Really? So then-President Solis approved of your little excursion into Eurusea to rescue that girl? No, don't try to deny it, Elisa. Like I said, our members include women who are in positions of power: we have quite the Intel division. We also know about the current problems with Section 4, and your efforts to deal with the problem." She grinned, "You might find us to be quite helpful with that little operation, in fact."

Elisa frowned at the woman, "So, you're here to… what? Blackmail me?"

"Heaven's no! I'm not bringing this up to intimidate a member of the Oligarchy," another sly smile, "I'm simply bringing it up to show you that we're not some worthless group like the Skulls. We aren't some sorority for aging cheerleaders who still want to get drunk and fuck strangers."

"So what are you?"

"Like I said: we're an organization of important women who want to further the goals of our organization."

"Yes, but you've failed to delineate just what those goals are."

"True, true. We largely work on projects, truth be told. I'm sure you're aware of elemental recombination, right?"

"Um… sorta. I'm not really a tech, you know."

"I know. It involves pulling apart atoms and putting them together in different ways; high tech alchemy. We're working on a way to do so in a more portable fashion. We're also working on an AI body that will be able to do such a thing by touch. A Queen Midas, if you will. That is just one project. Others involve more noble goals: subtle operations to improve the rights of women in third world countries. Others are… well… they're decidedly more… involved."

Elisa laughed, "So you're the Estrogen Illuminati."

The woman smiled and giggled softly; an unexpected gesture. "No, not quite that silly. With our numbers and areas of expertise, we can have a considerable reach. We can also afford to be subtle. Of course, with our information gathering abilities, we can be heavies, if needed. It also provides us with convenient bits of information." She flashed another sly smile, "Like the fact that you're quite familiar with this establishment, and that you often frequent it with a certain ranking member of the Eurusean government."

Elisa blinked.

"Oh, don't be surprised. We haven't done anything like breaking The Pinnacle's security systems – which are quite good, by the way – it was simply a matter of one of our members being here one day when you and her were here."

Elisa pondered for a moment. The woman looked vaguely familiar, now that she thought about it. The woman smiled as realization slowly spread across Elisa's face, "Yes, I saw you. Nothing to be ashamed of, really. You knew other people would seeing you inside, and I didn't break etiquette for this establishment when I set this meeting up. I didn't tell the Daughters how I was intending on contacting you, nor did I mention seeing you here." She smiled, "While we share information with the Daughters that we wouldn't share with anyone, there are still certain… confidences… that one never breaks. And since I rather enjoy dining here, I have no intention of breaking the confidence of the owner."

"Good," Elisa grinned, having recovered a little, "She's a wonderful lil' thing, and I'd hate to have to tell her to ban you for life from here."

The woman laughed, her eyes twinkling, "See? Everyone has connections. That's how we are able to do all our lovely little projects: networking."

"So why do you want me?"

"Well, that should be rather obvious, Elisa. You're a ranking member of the Oligarchy, and the Hack is one of the premier technological powerhouses in the known world. Fractal universe. Whichever."

"Doesn't mean I know a damn thing about tech stuff. I'm not an engineer or programmer."

"True," she smiled slyly again. It was rather unsettling, "but we're interested in more than just electrical engineers. You, unlike many others, have extensive contacts. Useful contacts."

Elisa snorted, "I'm sure there are plenty of others who'd be more useful."

"Oh?"

"Well, there's Alysa. She's a programmer, her wife's part of GMC's R&D…"

"That's true. Mrs. Anderson knows a good deal of people; however, many of the people she knows are less useful. Hanshiro may be a very nice Kitsune, and the Hanshiro Special is quite possibly the best pizza ever, but it's still just a pizza. To me, your connections are much more interesting."

"Just because I know Faye?"

"Not just Faye. Let's not forget your bodyguard. Or Yuri Shirow." She smiled, "Don't forget that Yuri is quite possibly the single richest citizen in the Hack. She also has a gift for predicting the direction stock markets will go. And, of course, through Yuri, you have contact to Evam who's got more inside information than Section 3 at times. Also through Yuri, you have access to architects – Erica – and access to the owner of one of Tindalos' most popular ethnic restaurants – Kaede."

"So why don't you enlist Yuri?"

The woman smiled, "Because you're a higher level. You have the Eurusean contacts; you have Section 3 contacts; you actually know who the other members of the Oligarchy are; you have access to some very important citizens of the Hack: Dr. Specter, Mrs. Anderson, Anesca, and let's not forget that team of Kitsune you've sent stomping all over Eurusea." She grinned, "And, really, considering all the illegal activity you've pulled in their nation, it's a small miracle that you have such good relations with them." She smiled, more warmly this time, "And furthermore, I know you and your wife."

Elisa blinked again, "Excuse me?"

The woman held up her hands, "Not like that; I haven't been stalking you. As you've probably guessed, I frequent The Pinnacle too…"

A lithe dark Elf slowly pulled the curtain aside, poking her head inside, "Sorry to interrupt, but would you two like anything to eat?" She smiled at Elisa, "It's on the house."

Elisa smiled back, "Not right now, Evelyn. Maybe later though, I'll flag you down."

Evelyn frowned slightly, "You sure?"

Elisa nodded, "We're fine, hon."

The Elf nodded, "Well, okay." She smiled, "You know how to find me, Elisa." Her head vanished and the curtain closed again.

The older women smiled, "Seems I'm not as regular as you are, Elisa."

Elisa blushed softly, "I… er… I just tip really well…"

"No need to apologize," the woman said, laughing softly. Anyway, as I was saying, I come here whenever I get a chance, so I've seen you here. I've seen how you treat the staff, and how cute you are with your wife. As for Sarah, well…" She grinned a little, "I was at that lecture where you two met, I was sitting behind her." She laughed softly, "I'm guessing she didn't hear a word you said."

Elisa blinked, "Why were you at a lecture to a bunch of university students?"

"Research," she said blandly, "The Daughters take their time filling vacancies, and we've been thinking about you for quite awhile now." She smiled, "We've been quite impressed with what you have to offer, and we really hope that you'll be willing to join us."

Elisa sat back in her seat, trying to process all this information at once. On the one hand, she was very intrigued by the thought of being a member so a 'secret society', as well as the thought of possibly being able to help people. On the other hand, she was a little creeped out at how much was known about her, and wondered if this was an elaborate scam to try and get even more information out of her for less than wholesome reasons. She smiled softly; this was clearly the allure of secret societies. They played off basic human curiosity, and the insatiable desire to know more, as well as the need to improve oneself.

The woman smiled a little and nodded, "Hesitation is good, Elisa. Sleep on it." She picked up the anti-psi device that had sat quietly in the center of the table. Underneath was a small envelope. The woman smiled, "Inside, you'll find an address. If you decide to join us, simply go there. If not, don't. The paper will dissolve in about forty-eight hours. We'd like to give you as much time to think it over as we took to think about you, but… well… I'm sure you can appreciate why we can't do that." She smiled and slid out from the booth, "A pleasure to finally talk to you Elisa. I hope to do so again."

Section 89-B; Entrance to the Warrens; Chiba City; The Hack

Who's that hanging from the gallow tree
His eyes are hollow but he looks like me
Who's that swinging from the gallow tree
Up jumped the Devil and took my soul from me
~Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "Up Jumped The Devil"


Josef pulled the collar of his coat up a little, muttering at how the wind had picked up since he'd left Yon Lav Tane. It wasn't as cold as winter could get, but the weather was doing its best to be irritating if nothing else. He quickly made his way down the stairs and into the Warrens, wondering why he had to go here, of all places.

The Warrens were something of a failed experiment, and were born of desperation. Chiba had grown organically as large as it was able to manage, but the population kept growing. President Gibson had needed a place for people to live, and thus the Warrens had been born. Originally, it was called the Subterranean Dwelling Complex, but nobody had much cared for it. When a North Hack hatchet job coined the term 'Warrens', it had stuck. Most people didn't even remember the proper name, let alone used it.

The upper levels weren't all that bad, truth be told. It wasn't the best place to live, but people raised families and dwelled in relative peace, even if they weren't wealthy. As one journeyed deeper, however, things quickly went from tolerable to deadly. The levels below thirty or so were like stepping into a war zone, and they only got worse as one went deeper. Around level fifty, it stopped looking like an industrialized nation, and started looking like a third world hellhole: gangs ruled the walkways, good people kept their heads down, and murder was common. It was the Hack's dirty little secret. Since the police didn't regularly patrol at those levels (especially now that police were a rarity), the crime figures were never compiled for those levels. It was as if the government failed to recognize those levels as being a part of the country.

He sighed darkly and stepped into the empty elevator, a bare-bones affair with little to make any ride comfortable save for the fact that the muzak speaker had been annihilated by a shotgun ages ago. He fiddled around with the control panel, finding the hidden catch and flipping it open. Inside, away from vandals, was a small biometric scanner. He pressed his thumb to it and softly said, "Level 108; express." The thought of going that deep cause him no small amount of concern; he didn't even know that the Warrens went that deep. It was like taking a trip into the gaping maw of Hell. The elevator hummed to life and started its journey towards the decayed heart of the Warrens. As he rode, he idly pondered the floor level; he didn't have anything better to do.

"Two squared times three cubed..."


The Matriarch Day Spa; Tindalos; The Hack

Elisa moaned softly in appreciation, face down on a massage bed as the masseuse working the muscles in her shoulders and back. Elisa had never really had much trouble with her back, but ever since reality had been flipped on its head, she suffered from terrible stress, often causing headaches and backaches. And her shoulders were almost always sore. Normally, she'd just enlist the talented hands of Sarah or Shino, but the later was off with his family, and the former was too busy with finals to offer any kind of stress relief; the poor thing probably needed this more than Elisa did.

The masseuse was a chirpy, toxically happy young Naga whose name Elisa had forgotten and couldn't think of for the life of her. The young woman was relatively new here, and was just happy as all get-out to be working here. Elisa never imagined that it could be someone's dream to work in a day spa, but considering some of the other things people longed to do, she figured this was pretty harmless. It wasn't like this was some sleazy joint, either: the massage was completely platonic. Besides, Elisa thought with a touch of amusement, I do remember that she's straight.

As the Naga-whose-name-was-forgotten continued to work out the kinks in Elisa's shoulders and back (Whatever her name is, she's damn good…), Elisa allowed her thoughts to turn over to the Daughters. She really wasn't sure if this was a goal she wanted to pursue, or if she should run the other direction. It could even be a big joke, actually. She remembered when she was fifteen and started a local cabal of the Discordian Society, and promptly filed for tax-exempt status and started trying to demand donations from everyone who wasn't a member. It hadn't worked very well, but she always thought back to that whenever faced with something absurd; anything could be a scam.

This seemed legit, though, and that was what was bothering her to no end. A group of powerful women and leaders who try to subtly alter the world to forward the cause of women? That was certainly interesting. Elisa was hardly a 'feminist', as there was no need for such over the top nonsense in the Hack – a nation that didn't much bother with demonstrations and lobbying anyway – as women had always had suffrage; at least as long as the Hack proper existed, she wasn't sure about SU/MT. So while she had never burned her bra or fought for using tortured spellings such as 'womyn' (All the problems in the world and people have time to worry about blasted spellings?), she was still interested in helping other women achieve a level of success. Who wouldn't?

On the other hand, this could be little more than a glorified coffee klatch. That would be depressing and pointless. On the gripping hand, she really should be aware of what was going on in her own nation, and find out if this was a potential source for trouble. The last thing she needed was a subversive group. She didn't think that was too likely, inviting her to join such a group would be patently stupid. She sighed again, realizing that she had talked herself around a nice, neat circle, and hadn't decided a single thing. She found herself longing for the days of the UNC, where her biggest concern was an idiot 'ambassador' from SeOCC, and she could spend evenings toking up with Georgina. Ah, the good old days.

"Is everything okay, Speaker Day?" The Naga's voice was full of concern.

"Hmm?" Elisa snapped out of her reverie and realized that the massage had ended five minutes ago, and the girl seemed terrified that she had done a bad job. She smiled, looking up at the masseuse, "No, everything's fine, you were great. Just lost in thought." She got off the table and gave the Naga a little hug, and started pulling on her clothes, "And please, call me Elisa."

The Naga – Elia, according to her nametag – smiled happily, looking relieved, "Oh, good… I was afraid I had done something wrong."

Elisa smiled, straightening her coat, "You worry too much, Elia. Have some confidence, and you'll be even better." She smiled some more as the Naga blushed, "Tell you what, I'll take you out for coffee some time. I'd do it now, but I've got an appointment."

Elia smiled shyly, "That would be nice, but…"

Elisa giggled, "Coffee-as-friends, not coffee-as-a-first-date." She gave Elia a friendly hug and made her way out. It seemed she was going to check things out. Her burning sense of curiosity just wouldn't let her walk away and ignore something like this.


Warrens, Level 108

What a shit-hole… Josef was amazed at how bad things were this far down. Most of the lights had been smashed, apartments were missing doors or completely gutted, walls had huge holes in them, the carpet had long since been destroyed, and anything remotely related to a police call-box or alarm light had long since been annihilated. It took him a few minutes to get used to the low light before slowly making his way through the complex. At this level, the Warrens were more open in the middle, meaning he wasn't just walking down a hallway. There were spurs to other atriums, but this he had made sure that he used the right elevator so he didn't have to worry about that.

He was slowly making his way towards where the apartment he needed was supposed to be when he heard a menacing growl from behind him, and a deep baritone voice with a strange German-Russian-Hack accent, "You're on the wrong level, human." He spun around and found himself staring into a group of about ten Wolfen; the one who addressed him a mammoth Dire with malevolent red eyes.

Wolfen had come to the Hack from Hammondsburg ages ago, and, as the name implied, were anthropomorphic wolves. The concept alone wouldn't be terrible disturbing to a Hacker, but unlike many of the others, Wolfen weren't cute anime critters; they were more like werewolves. From what Josef could recall, there were three main 'breeds' of Wolfen. Grays were the shortest and lightest of the bunch, but that wasn't saying much: six feet tall was short for a Gray. Blacks were the middle of the lot, and their height tended to hover around seven feet tall, with musculature to match. And then there were the Dires, like the one in front of Josef. They regularly topped eight feet tall, and this one was a titan, looking like he was pushing almost nine feet, which had the effect of making him look even larger, as the ceiling was only about ten feet high. Not only was the leader of this gang exceptionally large for even a Dire, but he appeared to be an enhancile on top of it all. Josef felt his stomach drop as he realized that this thing could pull a tank apart, to say nothing of an administrator with no real skill in self-defense. The Dire stepped forward, literally towering over Josef and glared, a hateful growl in his throat. Josef was able to see that he had a series of tattoos on his chest and arms.

Tattoos were somewhat difficult for furred races, especially for Wolfen, which had much longer fur than other anthro- races (the females less so than the males). As such, there were two preferred methods, and this particular Dire had made liberal use of both. The first, and less dangerous, way was to bleach the fur where the tattoo was to be. This required tended to require frequent treatments until the follicle was sufficiently damaged that it produces white hair. This tended to be used for simple patterns: rings, tribal symbols, and other basic patterns. The other way was to actually destroy the follicle so that no fur grew where the tattoo was to be, the exposed skin was then often tattooed normally to make it stand out more (luminescent ink was very popular). At a glance, Josef was pretty sure that the Dire had 'destroyed the follicle' by shaving the patch and then branding himself with the pattern, making it more akin to ritual scarring than anything.

The Dire studied Josef for a moment before lowering his head to stare directly into Josef's eyes, "This is where you tell me why you've come here, ja?"

Josef blinked, feeling the Dire's eyes burning into his. He open and closed his mouth a couple times before finding his voice, "Th-the... Thirteen…"

"Really now?" The Dire pulled his head back and peered at Josef, tilting his head from side to side, much like a normal dog would – it would have been terribly amusing in most any other situation. "Show me your invite."

"Invite?" Josef blinked, all he had was a letter with his name and a symbol on it, still, that was what got him this far. With more confidence than he felt, he pulled out the letter and handed it to the massive Wolfen who snatched it up with a hand almost as large as Josef's chest.

"Tell me, Doctor Specter… 'Who lies behind closed doors?'"

Josef finally started to relax. Supposedly, this was one of the pass phrases used by the Thirteen. He looked up at the Dire, ignoring the paper for now, "'Blue Buddha'."

After several agonizing seconds, the Dire grinned and pointed to his right, "Apartment 22333."