You know what’s the sign of a real Necrojack, Avo? Using someone to solve the problems they created.
Look at the dive we just did. Were we richer than the Instrument? No. Not even close. Were we smarter? I’d also say not enough for it to matter. But we knew all his habits and flaws, and he wasn’t even aware we were there.
How much did we need to modify his memories for him to do what we wanted?
Not at all. Right.
Being a Necrojack isn’t all resequencing minds and subverting wards. It’s about mastering perspectives and understanding the nature of another person’s consciousness. It’s why if you were to try and hurt me, I would be in severe danger despite the gap in our skills. We share history. We shared thoughts. There was a bridge of understanding to exploit.
Metaphors don’t do the art justice, Avo. There’s nothing like diving into the Nether. It’s more than an ocean. It’s more than a dream.
It’s like… the source from which choice flows.
And if you can make someone else think whatever you want them to think or do what you want them to do, then I don’t think there’s a single power across the all there ever was that can stop you.
-“Walton,” Low Master
12-6
Arrangements
“We think the others did the killings. The other Low Masters, I mean.” Denton slowed her words, as her eyes swung like a pendulum between Avo and Draus. There was an anticipation to her posture, as if expecting things to turn violent, or something to sour in her guests.
Instead, both ghoul and Regular mirrored an equal tension in their postures, and then contemplation consumed them.
Cas eyed Denton from the side as he shuffled uncomfortably. “Well, if we’re gonna tell them that, we should also tell them the other stuff. You know. Like how most the Column was against this? How Aegis just wanted to kill the ghoul and retrieve the Frame? How the original candidate for the Frame is still alive–Fredritch’s gonna be pissed when he finds out his Frame went to a ghoul.”
The name spurred a month-old memory within Avo. Somehow, he doubted the depths of Fredritch’s ire considering one of Walton’s lingering engrams directed him to contact the man.
“Once you get to the Easy Armistice, talk to Fredritch Three-Eye and tell him that you're with the Ninth Column, and that ‘the dream is broken.’ He’ll give you an engram containing…another itinerant of me.”
Avo replayed his father’s words using his Meta and found held himself to silence. Walton was still weaving schemes around Ninth Column even long after his death. It took skill to compromise an organization so secretive, but it took staggering foresight and skill to turn a probable rival into an asset.
+Draus,+ Avo said, feeding her the memory of Walton’s words. +Need you to try and make contact with Fredritch. Will be suspicious if I ask.+
Her mind gave an affirmative note but trailed off into a bitter apprehension. +You didn’t know nothin’ about him–+
+No,+ Avo said. The sourness of his admission bothered him as well. +Beginning to understand I don’t know much about my father at all.+
+Shit. Makes you sound almost human.+
“It’s partially why we didn’t approach you earlier. Instead utilizing an intermediary.” Denton altered her phantoms and a visual representation of Green River came into shape. The Glaive’s eye twitched. “Of course, we now know that she was compromised as well.”
“Beginning to see a theme here, right?” Cas added. “Another point to shit our pants about: Him infiltrating the Deep Bazaar. Word gets out about that and the entire Deep Nether network is going to self-mutilate. We’ll have to go back to using couriers in the Underhive for shit.”
“Do you know why I woke up in the Maw?” Avo asked. For all the successes Walton had at subterfuge, something seemed to have fundamentally gone astray during the grafting process. If there was a plan that necessitated Avo to resurrect a dismembered, discombobulated, organ-harvested, one-week-amnesic husk of a ghoul with a blank-slate Metamind, he couldn’t conceive it.
Draus spat over the terrace of their pagoda as she added her own question to the pile. “Yeah. Was the ghoul gettin’ sold to the right Crucible at the right time to run into me by design as well? To Mirrorhead?”
Chambers, unwilling to be left out, nodded along, glaring at the “opposition.”
Beside him, Essus looked too lost and tired to fully grasp the details of the discussion at all.
“Unlikely,” Denton answered. “From what we could gather, your father’s nodes were trying to graft the Heaven to you while moving around on a barge in the Maw. But something went wrong along the way. We found pieces from the barge before the ship could entirely dissolve, but neither you nor the Frame were located in the estimated impact area.”
“We were talking about hiring scavengers to dig around some more before you went loud in Burner’s Way,” Cas said.
Draus shot Avo a look. +Told you folk would be watching.+
In turn, he shifted his own glare over to Chambers. “Wasn’t much of a choice.”
“Yeah,” Chambers said, agreeing with Avo while being deliberately obtuse to the obvious implication. “How the hells were any of us supposed to know the Scalpers would be there? Would’ve taken anyone by surprise.”
“Regardless, while we were deliberating on your loyalties and observing your actions, other matters continued to develop.” Denton waved a hand over her map of profiles and from it she drew out casefile. This one was another project called Dichotomy. “Not all of Project Godshaper went into the creation of the Stillborn. Highflame applied their new knowledge and what was left of the ‘Imitators’ to restart something called Project Dichotomy on their own without Voidwatch support.”
“And then, for no related reasons at all, a dozen or so Ruptures opened up across the city,” Cas said. “Wouldn’t that big of a problem if they weren’t all somehow and omnipresently connected to a single Fallen Heaven. Like all the Ruptures are the same Rupture. And so the Rash continues to breach quarantine over and over and over. But only in Massist territory so far. Curious, right?”
“Yeah,” Draus said. “Curious. But what’s it to us? Think Highflame’s gonna use whatever they’ve got from Kae’s research to do what? Blow open the skies over the Silvers or some shit.”
A worrying pause came as a riposte from both the Columners.
Sunrise hummed in their stead. “We do not suspect all of Guild Highflame to be a party to such a plan. Just some among the faction known as the Chivalrics.”
Draus closed her eyes as a low sigh hissed out from her nostrils. “Of fuckin’ course it's them. What’s this shit? Some kind of half-strand, a first-strike or final-spite idea if they go down to force another war?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Cas scoffed. “Yeah. Something like that. Look. Zein’s whole ‘path-based frame job’ had a very specific endpoint, and that was the discrediting and disintegration of the major houses behind the Chivalrics. The way things turned out was not incredible, but not unsalvageable. Either. The problem is, with a lack of a false-flag attack on the Fire’s Height and losing the chance to smear Uthred Greatling like she wanted gives them a bit of time to think. Or get real desperate. Last we checked, the half-strand's down one son, has a daughter in the Unwhere, got another that’s more attack-dog than person, and one more being printed in the vats. He’s feeling the squeeze.”
“Which is why you wanted me,” Draus said. “‘Cause we got history. And you want me to–what–draw his focus? Distract him from scheming about fuckin’ the city to death with his gerent consangs.”
“Something like that, yeah,” Cas said. “But also the fact that they got a way to access the rash without needing to breach the pocket containing the primary Rupture and source of wombrash. If we can distract them…” He cast a meaningful look at Avo, “We might just be able to chop the legs out from under Guilds. You know, being the only ones with the Domains of Love, Lust, Fertility, and all that other shit.”
Chambers froze. “Wait, you want Avo to have control over all the fuck-powers? I…” He held up his hands in a placating gesture toward Avo. “I–I don’t mean this in a prejudicial way but… you’re a cockless people-eater, consang. I don’t know the Heaven’ll take. Why–why not Draus?”
“Regulars have their reproductive organs replaced with additional implants as an extra layer of confusion against the dragon-curse and their urges sequenced out from their minds,” Denton said. “Captain Draus and Avo are likely not so different when it comes to their nonexistent sex drives.”
“Damn it,” Chambers moaned. Avo narrowed his eyes at the man. Judging from his exaggerated expressions, he likely knew about Draus’ “condition” and was merely trying to herd the conversation toward his desired endpoint. “But the Heaven’s still gotta go to someone who knows about how to use it… Maybe…” He dramatically reached out for Essus who responded by staring at Chambers wearily. “No. No. Not my consang, Essus. He suffered enough. It’s me. I got to make this sacrifice. You guys can have all the cool Heavens like blood and glass and light and shadows and shit. I’ll take the Wombrash. I’ll be the Wombrash.”
Everyone stared. Cas shook his head. “Welp. That’s a ‘later’ category conversation. Frankly, it doesn’t matter who gets the Heaven so much as if we can access it and if we can contain it. It’s connected to a Sphere Nine Frame so…” He winced. “We might need to think about how to divert all that Rend.”
“Right now, we wish to establish a working partnership,” Denton said.
“No,” Avo said. “Had that with Zein. Regret it. Regret her. Keep her away from us.”
“Sure, no problem,” Cas muttered. “I’ll just stop Zein Thousandhand from doing what she wants.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Once another one of her selves tumbles out from the paths, she’ll be right back doing whatever it is she wants. Cherish your time right now.”
At the same time, Denton spoke over him, ignoring the words of her colleague. “We’re offering a formal partnership. You will get access to all the supplies and resources at the Column's disposal. Any Guild-level implants, arms, vehicles, or phantasmics will be at your disposal.”
Draus cast her thoughts over to Avo. +Something to consider. But if they got Voidwatch support, it’ll be hard as hell for us to tell what they got cookin’ inside a nanosuite or somethin’. They’re cooperative, I’ll give ‘em that, but nice don’t buy trust. We need our own leverage, and frankly, I just don’t think we got enough.+
He had to agree. However, there were items he was curious about. Something that could make the progress of his growing apotheosis even easier. “Can you get me golems?” Avo asked. “Heavens.”
Denton and Cas shared a look.
“It’ll take some time,” Cas said. “But yeah, we might be able to arrange some things.”
Avo considered his options. +Don’t need to trust them. Can vet their goods and services. Avoid accepting easily compromised bargains. Use them. Need to get Kae out from the Second Fortune. But Sovereignty’s going to be under heavy surveillance.+
+You got a use for ‘em?+ Draus asked.
+Could be something simple. Have smuggled official Guild-licensed aero through checkpoints without notice. You create a passage to a reflection inside. She walks through. Out of risk again.+
Draus paused. +Yeah. That would be mighty helpful of them.+ She chanced a brief glance at Denton. +The “Glaive” also got the Paladin’s eatin’ out of her palm. Won’t lie: I kinda wanna snuff her out of principle, but she’s been about as helpful as anyone I’ve met in New Vultun.+
And wasn’t that the ugly truth?
“The Easy Armistice offers accommodation frequencies as well,” Cas added. “Perfect if you want a nice place to think about things while the heat dies down. We don’t need an answer from you right–”
“Could start this ‘partnership’ of ours off with a couple of favors,” Draus said, interrupting him.
Cas leaned back and sighed, ceding the conversation over to Denton. Avo noticed the man deliberately played a different role to Denton’s hyper-competent diplomat. He greeted them with a rough casualness and approached Essus as a fellow refugee by way of suggestion.
Whether that was true or not had yet to be determined.
“State your requirements and we’ll see if your dreams can come true,” Denton replied.
“First thing: Kae. We’ve been talkin’ an awful lot about her without her bein’ present. Mighty rude. I’d like to order an official pickup for her. One with my personal touch to expedite her arrival.”
Denton nodded. Her thoughtstuff pulsed static and collapsed inward. She was making a mental note. “That can be arranged. What else?”
“I wanna know about this Fredritch who was supposed to have the Frame. Wanna know if he’s gonna be a problem.”
“I assure you–”
“You can assure me by scheduling a meetin’. Me and him. The ghoul stays out of it. Face to face. Just to clear the air.”
Cas huffed out a breath. “Well. Looks like we’ll have to ask old Three-Eyes what he wants.”
“Sure. Fine.” Draus added another request. This one Avo didn’t see coming. “And I want to see your operation. All of it.”
Denton pressed her lips together. Cas began to laugh softly.
“What?” Draus said. “Somethin’ funny.”
“Not for you,” Cas said. “Truth is you’ve already seen ‘all of our operations.’” The laughter suddenly stopped. “It’s Zein.”
“What?” Draus asked.
“Her paths. Her iterations. Echoes. Forks. They’re the ones keeping all our cells coordinated–the only reason why we’re like smoke and myth to everyone hunting for us.”
Draus blinked. “What? So Zein’s… what? Her own network?”
“She’s a lot of things,” Denton said. “Presently for us, however, she is… re-emerging out from the past. It’ll be at least a week before we’re ready to interface with the other cells. Aside from that, we are effectively similar to Incubi strike cells on the practical end. I’m sure you’re familiar with how they work.”
“Just about,” Draus drawled.
Chambers held up his hand. “Can I ask for something?”
Everyone ignored him.
Everyone except Avo. A grin spread across the ghoul’s face as he regarded Chambers. “No. Going to need you to give me something.”
“I–uh–sure, consang,” Chambers swallowed. “W-what’s the need?”
Instead of replying to him, Avo turned and addressed Denton again. “Need a few demiplanes. Someplace good for repeated Thoughtwave Detonations along with one that can let Nether flow through.”
“That’s doable,” Denton asked. “Can I ask what you’re planning?”
Avo shot Draus a look. “Ori-Thaum broke Kae's life. Created this problem. Partially anyway. Want to pluck the problem from her head. Take a closer look at it. Pattern and return it." He let out a low hiss of pleasure as he imagined possessing a phantasmic or trauma that could burn away other minds. “You’re invited to watch. See what we can all learn. Would be good start to… formal partnership.”
Denton just stared while Cas shook his head. “Fuck me,” he said. “He’s worse than the Waltons.”