1          Soul Bound

1.2        Taking Control

1.2.2      An Awakening Epiphany

1.2.2.25   Spy rings

To Kafana it felt that she was on the brink of an epiphany; that with just a few undistracted moments more, she would be holding a piece of eternal truth like a landed fish kept safely in net of tight knotted twine - a truth no longer able to slip away from her mind once grasped firmly inside a cage of words.

Heather: {Bringing in Wellington.}

Heather's voice broke in, like a Porlockian door-knock of doom, and Nadine's resulting anguish rivalled that of any fishermen watching the final dismissive tail flip of the one that got away. Prokletstvo!

Wellington’s anonymously suited figure appeared in the overlay, standing by the barn door. He watched the latest iteration of the dance with interest, and waited for it to finish before speaking, which was fortunate as it gave her time to school her features. He hadn't known, had it?

Wellington: {Are you feeling better and ready to discuss arlife security around your village?}

Hmm, it was a bit of a coincidence, his turning up just when she was starting to feel positive again. She looked at him suspiciously.

Nadine: {Yes, but how did you know? Were you spying on me?}

Wellington held up his hands in placation. {I just asked Minion to pick a suitable time slot and notify me.}

She looked at them grumpily. {For two advocates of freedom and privacy, you both seem to run roughshod over others if not watched like a hawk.}

Heather: {You can’t force someone to retain their freedom or to keep their data private. The best you can do is offer them the tools to guard it if they wish to guard it.}

Nadine: {Sounds like double-talk to me. You’ve got an expensive tiara that can inform you when you’re under surveillance. How’s someone like Vedad going to afford not only the tiara but also the expert systems and the bots needed to collect the required data for those expert systems?}

Wellington: {Data isn’t that big an issue. Crowd source the collection of it, distribute the storage and processing, have a group pay collectively for any commercial sources needed for their area, and use microtransactions to pay for the trivial processing needed to calculate lines of sight and sound transmission profiles to that specific customer.}

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Heather: {You don’t need a full tiara. I could put a microphone and fish-eye lens in an object the size of the DDF insignia rings I’m creating for the Dwarven Defence Force, together with an inducer to give a few coded warning signals to the finger. Tie it into the surveillance network I’m creating anyway for this area.}

Wellington: {Can you add MASINT sensors, and a CID transponder for classifying friend, enemy, neutral or unknown?}

Heather: {Easily. EDA and PDU?}

Nadine tuned out the conversation as it swiftly grew too technical for her. Time to tag an expert to replace her. She contacted the system she’d created to be her majordomo, who counted all matters pertaining to her arlife protection among his responsibilities.

Nadine: {Terah, please send your avatar to join in my current orglife call with Heather and Wellington. I want to make sure they take into account the character of the village and the welfare of the inhabitants.}

The crotchety old man appeared wearing traditional local clothing and holding a shepherd’s crook. He banged over to stand with Heather and Wellington, who looked a little surprised but made room for him. Good.

Nadine: {Balthazar, how’s the meditation room going.}

Balthazar: {Wellington was extremely helpful. I have a prototype which some volunteers are alpha-testing now. It should be ready for you to use in about half an hour.}

The three-way conversation between Heather, Wellington and Terah was going strong now, with virtual maps, item specifications and scenario plans floating in the air around them. Terah nodded along or occasionally banged his crook and used it to point at the virtual windows when he felt they needed to take something into account. It looked like she’d have a bit of time; she might as well check in with the rest of her family of expert systems, starting with her expert of the game.

Nadine: {Dinah, how’s my other Self doing?}

Dinah: {All the vessels are in the university library, flicking through books. It’s been extended so much over the years that it’s now quite a labyrinth - hard to find books, easy to get lost. They’re being helped by the chancellor himself, Lord Enzo Zeno, the Count of Libri. He’s a friendly old coot, amazingly learned. He’s a high level bibliomancer and offered to give Vessel-Wellington some direct training, but Vessel-Wellington wouldn’t agree to temporarily putting away his athame and it blocked the training.}

Nadine: {Dinah, do you have any recommendations for my in-game character development?}

Dinah: {Skill wise, I think you should keep an eye out for opportunities to practice your weather magic. On Morob, active elemental powers like throwing fireballs or walls of ice are common. On Covob, those abilities need much higher attunements - fewer than 1 in a million people have weather magic. You might be able to turn it into a crowd-control skill for combat situations, or even a physical defence. I suggest also picking one debuff and raising it to level 10. Other than that, make the most of your current boost to reputation gains. Given the damage reflection on your Peaceful Pearl of Storms depends upon social status, you should consider visiting Palazzo Landi and asking about how people gain social rank in Torello.}

She chatted with each of the other new systems in turn, and was talking with Melchior about her arlife finances when the trio finished their conversation and waved her back over to join them.