Chapter 15-14 Watchers On High (I)

Chapter 15-14 Watchers On High (I)

Syndicates.

Deniable Guilder assets. Cancers of the city. Eaters of the FATELESS Hells, call em whatever you want, just know that unless the war ends, theyre here to stay.

Now, if youve been living here for any amount of time, you might have heard something about the Accords. Now, I wont get into the boring poli-shit aspects of the whole thing, but what you mainly need to understand is that once upon a time, when Jaus was still kicking and dream had wick left to burn, he got all the great powers together for a little chat so Voidwatch wouldnt take the nipple away.

You see, things werent going well in paradise. Broken though the gods might have been, all the fighting that took place before wasnt just going to go away. I mean, it makes sense: just because you stop worshipping whatever bullshit gods you used to doesnt change the fact that you murdered someones mom or boy or girl or nu-dog.

Anyway, at Ao they established certain guidelines for all parties to uphold or our cousins in the highest dark might just cut our aid. Once again, most of the ethicality youre seeing from the Tiers is enforced by a dealer-joyfiend relationship between them and the voiders. If the terrestrial Guilds had their way, ninety percent of us would be snuffed and replaced by a continual supply of mass-cloned labor.

Anyway, one of the most important details that was agreed upon is the enforcement of limited human rights. Basically means the Guilds can't just go around butchering FATELESS themselves or engaging in unjustified conflict. The consequences for doing so are embargo, followed by fines, followed by the loss of taxable percentages from their Sovereignties.

The whole thing is supposed to be enforced by us, monitored by Voidwatch, and verified by the Agnosi, and in theory, it was supposed to shackle the constant bloodshed between the Guildsah, I guess it kind of did.

Problem is that the Guilds werent stupid either, and it didnt take long for them to start establishing some unaffiliated organizations to cause havoc within adversarial districts or cause a spike in death on their behalf.

Frankly, the Syndicates are more a feature than a flaw in our current system. Theyre technically unassociated with the Tiers, they can kill as many FATED as they want with the only risk being their own exterminationsomething no one really mindsand, more often than not, they can be directed to destabilize rival taxable districts without directly involving the Guilds themselves.

So, this is how an ecosystem develops. Want, obstacle, convoluted reach-around solution, and all the horrible vines that sprout out from the sheer shittiness that follows.

You can be bitter about it. Or you can understand your place in this nasty little jungle of ours and maybe even turn a profit out of burning these cancers.

After all, with the Syndicates come their own problems, and if theres any lesson to be taken from what I just you, its that opportunity comes when you can solve a problem few others can

-Quail Tavers, School of the Warrens

15-14

Watchers On High (I)

+My name is Magger The Skintaker Illona, and youre tuned into the Ghoulpounder Thoughtcast.+

Somehow, Avo felt the rapidity of Chambers blinks without even needing to turn. The inconvenient period of his resurrection opened a seeping wound of confusion in his thoughtstuff. Ghoulpounder? Cas, are we getting into some of that

The sound of Draus arm unfolding into a projectile launcher again followed, and the gift of speech was suddenly lost to Chambers.

A phantasmal logo played a sequence detailing a boot shattering a ghouls skull upon the descent. An etheric window opened from the perspective of the Skintaker as he charged toward a horde of screeching ghouls with a chainsaw in hand.

The scene paused. The phantoms loaded the visage of the Skintaker himself. Standing a bit under seven feet, the eponymous protagonist of the vicarity held himself more like a performer than a battle-hardened soldier. Despite the stretches of flayed ghoul skin adorning his flesh, tears revealed gold inlays decorating the mans exposed chrome, and a quick scry told Avo the Skintakers scale-lined trenchcoat was a luxury commodity from the Tiers. Twin bloodshot eyes peered out from behind a mangled sheet of flesh once attached to the face of a ghoul.

This half-strand had a theme, and Avo wasnt sure if he liked it.

[Oh, I guess its not okay when people mutilate ghouls, huh?] Abrel sneered. [Feeling sympathetic toward your poor brothers?]

Avo clicked his fangs together. +No. Dying is what theyre for. More bothered by histheatricality.+

Say hello to Magger Illona, Cas said, gesturing at the stocky hologram of the skin-draped figure. Former Syndicate enforcer and current vicarity star. Real folk hero to the FATELESS and trash media for the Tiersfolk as well. Hes going to be our chief communications asset.

Draus narrowed her eyes at the figure and frowned. How the hells hasnt he been shot by someone yet? Dont think youd last long runnin around the city lookin like that.

Security, Cas explained. The guy hires squires and Necros to secure the perimeter of his shows before he arrives. Currently, he hosts a thoughtcast and an active vicarity distribution stream in which he stages attacks and rescues by killing ghouls he deliberately releases into FATELESS communes and shanties before they can kill too many people.

Chambers stared on, trying to assemble from context what he missed while he was dead. What? Whys that guy wearing ghoul skin? A string of ghosts threaded out from Kae and into his mind, dissolving his confusion and changing his expression to that of a snort. Oh. Hes one of those guys.

Oh, yeah. Real half-strand of a swindler. Immediately thereafter, Cas willed his phantoms to simulate the viewership metrics for Maggers thoughtcast and vicaries. One billion downloads for his latest vicarity. Three hundred million average spectators for his thoughtcasts. Hes also a reasonably popular indie folk hero with reliable viewership numbers.

Going to use him to convert his followers? Avo asked.

Cas shook his head.Not exactly. Currently, the best thing about his show is that its low heat. No Guilder or Syndicate attention. Pure variety trash content. From here we can make a prototype of his shows. If we can compromise him and make slight alterations to his material, we can use him as a clandestine broadcasting service as well as a recruitment officer. And the best part he doesnt even need to know.

Chambers nodded sagely, but his thoughtstuff remained characteristically vacant. Avo directed a spray of perception over and discovered Chambers was actually following along. He wondered if his newfound assistant would perform better in non-nulling circumstances. The limitations inflicted by the Conflagration still needed to be surpassed, but the half-strand would serve for the present.

Good. Desirable. Avo cycled through his memories and pinpointed another note of concern. Showed three women earlier. Who are they?

Cas didnt need a reminder. Survivors from my last experiment. Remnants of my old cult. Theyve slotted into their new lives well, but last time I checked in, theyre still game to raise some hell. All of them are on the verge of achieving deeper integrations in their respect sectors. The dealers going about to enter the Jadegazer Syndicate, the bouncer just got a sponsor for her circuit, and the manager is due for a promotion up Ashthrones Guild ladder soon. Its a start, but itll give us a wide picture of how tensions are across the city.

Hm. Useful as well. Good. Very good. Some of his templates churned inside him, urging him to offer a gesture of camaraderie toward Cas.

[Dont pat his head with one of your weird tentacle things,] Abrel spat, intercepting Avos faux pas just in time.

He adjusted to awkwardly clapping the man on the shoulder. Very helpful. Good. Good. Teamwork.

The Columner stared up at the nine-foot-tall monster for a gaping beat before his eyes drifted down to regard the long, clawed digits bouncing from his shoulder.

Abrel groaned. [Not like a nu-dog, motherfucker!]

Inside and out, both template and actual Chambers seethed with jealousy. Fucking, thats just social media guesswork and shit. I couldve done that.

Avo directed three of his Echoheads to pat the members of his cadre as a response. Chambers sputtered in shock that quickly dissolved to disturbingly lustful joy while Kae squealed and back peddled away.

He felt something stab the appendage he sent toward Draus and grinned as Regular glared at him. Keep that shit away from me, rotlick.

Light footsteps sounded from the open hallway outside. Avo reached out with Sanguinity and felt Dentons person brush through his haemokinetic mists. She strode and sharply exhaled as an Echohead stretched around the corner to give her some team-building as well.

Inside Avos mind, Corner was hoarse with laughter while Abrel stewed in quiet annoyance. [Avo. Are you doing this just to piss me off.]

+Possibly.+

[Youre going to die painfully at some point, and by Jaus Im going to enjoy it.]

Her impotence only made his glee grow greater. Shaking off her surprise, Denton painted her typical expressionless facade into place and entered the room with a three-foot-long translucent needle in hand. Flickering lights pulsed at the end of the tip while mercury-hued fog swirled inside the length. A holographic projection forming the words CAT-A lined the side of the injectable.

Nanosuite, Avo asked, head cocked.

Yes, Denton said, sweeping her gaze over Cas. Is there something happening here.

Teamwork, Avo said. Fires told me to do it.

[Im gonna laugh!] Abrel snarled.

Okay, Denton said, nodding slowly. If youre all done talking about the cult for now, I wish to begin preparations for our meeting with Aegis. She held up with the nanosuite. Growing the hardware is straightforward, but I will not lie about my other concerns.

Like what?

Your personality, if I might be honest. We need you to come across as more stable and reasonable for this interview if we want to achieve optimal results.

Avo frowned. Are you saying Im not He stopped talking as he remembered tearing into Glitch and Dice and how he suddenly assaulted Zein.

No, Draus said, rubbing salt into his shame, you really aint.

Didnt finish that sentence, Avo growled.

We all know what you was gonna say.

I mean, this is a relative thing, right? Chambers chimed, trying to spin the topic. Avo is pretty stable compared to uh, most joyfiends. And Mirrorhead.

Holy shit, Draus deadpanned. Someone give him a FATE Skein right now.

The patting ceased.

Through the fires of his cognition, a snicker followed. [Whats wrong, Avo? Not feeling the friendship anymore?]

Give me the injection, Avo grunted. Wish to move on to more enjoyable things.