Chapter 20-4 Players and Pawns (I)

Chapter 20-4 Players and Pawns (I)

Getting yourself out of a tight spot requires some counterintuitive tactics at times.

Lets use an ambush for example. Most people tend to break, turn, run. Try a fighting retreat. Thats what gets most people killed. Youre reacting, burning all your capacity to keep the current problem at bay while the bastards about to snuff you are free to pull more tricks out of their asses.

What you need to do is find the weakest section of their assault and turn into it. Now, theres no guarantee that things will work and youll come out alive, but reacting is delaying action and best, and youll definitely get ground down at some point.

You want to live? You need to stop behaving like a piece and be a player. They gave you a dilemma, give them one back. Cause problems. Break some shit. Force them to spend mental bandwidth trying to put out their own fires before they can deal with you.

Thatll strain them and give you the time you need to solve your own problems.

Ultimately, the math is simple. You want your plate to be as close to zero as possible in the shit I have to react to box. You want their plates to be piled so high the table is flipping over to give them the nice kiss on their heads they never got from daddy.

You're not gonna win a fight by just taking a punch, you need to shit in their bed, you need to set their house on fire.

Remember: be a player, dont be a pawn. Otherwise, save yourself some time and just wrap your lips around a gun.

-Quail Tavers, The School of the Warrens

20-4

Players and Pawns (I)

By the time Avo finished Chambers recounting, Tavers was squinting at him in disbelief via a simulated face constructed from phantoms. Have him check in with the Sang again. Ask her if she has true confirmation if its actually Naeko. Hard to believe that lazy half-strand finally got off his ass, stopped playing his game, and decided to hit the ground running with his police work. Hes been down and out for practically half my life. This is a little too drastic after years of nothing.

Probably is him, Avo replied, digging through the mem-data Chambers provided. Immediately after Green Rivers sync, the Nether came alive with screaming activity. Lobbies public and private surged with roaring traffic as sequences and memories pertaining to Naekos departure from his long hibernation circled the networks. Mass memory dump connected to him. Multiple sightings across the city. Hes visiting grafters everywhere. Trying to build a trail.

[Oh, the Mirrors are not going to like this,] Benhata sighed. [We have an entire division meant to monitor the Paladins. Once, we even had an entire strike cell dedicated to shadowing the Chief Paladin, but after years of inaction, the members were disbanded and reassigned.] The fallen Mirror sighed. [The outer council is going to come down with a conniption over this.]

A sensation of genuine disbelief came from Abrel. [What? All that for Naeko?]

Her answer came as a quiet chuckle, Paladin Kassamon clucking his tongue in faux pity for the Instrument. [Before your time, back over some two centuries ago, the Paladins were all feared. We were the cream. We were the crop. We were Jaus hounds, and the Exorcists, our ravens. Sure, the Guilds were pillars of the eight great cultures that remained in our world. Sure they outnumbered us. But our ranks were composed of Godclads all, and under the guidance of Chief Osjane Thousand, New Vultun was an anvil to be broken in. Naeko, however, was our motherfucking hammer.]

[You cant imagine how many people that man has killed. And how he killed them.] Corner laughed, and his memories became windows into the vicarities he once experienceda secondhand internalization of the world that once was. [Samir Naeko was godsdamned monster that walked out of the Godsfall more pissed than he started. His name sits next to Veylis Avandaer. Zein Thousandhand. Osjon Thousand. Stormsparrow. Legends all. Bleak fucking legends. But of the bunch, Naeko was the odd one out. Slave. Sacrifice turned saboteur. Then slayer of the gods that used him.]

[Wait, were those memories compiled from the Siege of Vnueid Falls?] Kassamon sounded awed. [Holy shit, I thought those recollections were lost.]

[No,] Corner said. [Just damn rare. Not so many survivors from those times. I won that in a game of roulette. Heh. Poor bastards looked like they wanted to shoot me again after I resurrected. Too bad they didnt say being a Godclad was against the rules.]

Tavers, Avo said, finally emerging from his own thoughts, tell White-Rab hes going to be getting a new job soon. An interesting one.

A drip of apprehension escaped the squires mind. Not sure if hes going to be all that receptive to a dive like this, consang. Therell be a lot of eyes on Naeko. And the Chief Paladins probably got more than a few nasty tricks up his sleeve.

Avo anticipated this and had just the means of encouragement. Tell him Ill pay with a Heaven. Or a cycler. His choice. Will also expedite matters relating to our mutual consang.

Alright, Tavers said, still sounding dubious.

As threads of ghosts cascaded along the accretion of her Metamind, Avo turned his attention back to the other members of his cadre. The new development gave him things to consider, and not just alone.

They had already moved beyond the borders of New Vultunestablished a forward operating base, even. But there was still much to be done. Essus needed to be seeded back among the refugees to ingrain himself in the sanctuaries and prime himself for future operations. Dice still had a home to reclaim and an enclave to reestablish. Yet, with every second they left Naeko unattended, the threat to their operations back in the city grew.

Thousands upon thousands of templates began to converse and chatter. With a subtle command, Avo adjusted their behaviors, accelerating the streams of dialogue within him to their final conclusions and stacking the summarized information into separate parties based on each suggestion. The Conflagration became a front in an instant. A kind of single-ego gestalt-based parliament unique in its inception.

Calvino gave a slight scoff. {Avo. To reduce the swelling size of your ego no. You are not that unique. Submind collectives and ID-stacked data democracies were things established by the late twenty-third century. Youre merely a more aberrant expression of the same design.}

+Can they twist the fabric of reality?+ Avo asked.

{No, but they also didnt live in a world where the market value of a life was less than that of a soft drink.}

+Dont see what our financial insolvency has to do with anything.+

{...There are times I forget that I accompany a monster in a world long swallowed by nightmares.}

+Should look outside right about now. Got front-row seats.+

Filtering through the different motions, the action conservatives consisting of Benhata, Lip, Osjon, most the Incubi, and several thousand other technical-logistical personnel were inclined for him to return to the city. The kill yourself party headed by Abrel and more than a few bitter Syndicate types wanted Avo to attack Naeko head-on in the hopes that he would die a long and horrible death. The action aggressors like Draus and Corner demanded Avo press on. Ensure fruits are borne of his current task while keeping Naekos movements in his periphery.

Ten other groups offered additional suggestions on what executive actions he could take, but Avo found them to be little more than variations for the first three. He eliminated Abrels suggestion as he didnt need Naeko to help him with any suicides, and measured the conservatives against the aggressors.

Well, no, not yet. But she sure as shit hates the Guilds something bad, and I think we can have her do some unaware outsourcing, anyhow.

Another thing that Chambers could handle. It might be useful for him to deal with more propaganda and outward-facing projects. He had the flair and desire for it. And he was effectively the face of their little group by this point.

The thought made Avo consider other things he could do with Chambers. Including some that might be able to distract Naeko. Focused rash outbreaks targeting only Syndicates. Or false threats to divert attention.

Chambers chuckled. [You know, when I was growing up, I was thinking vicarity star more than terrorist, but Im not gonna lie some of this attention is doing it for me.]

+I know,+ Avo replied.

This child is MENTALLY WRONG, the Techplaguer chimed, taking a break from screaming at the Woundmother to disparage Chambers. Recommend putting him into RE-EDUCATION!

Ah, the Woundmother followed. A point of rare agreement between us.

The Fardrifter chuffed in disappointment. So much spent on governing anothers life. You words are little more than aspirations of cages. How pointless to disparage someone from the life they seek.

[Exactly!] Chambers said. [Fuck you, period spire. And you too, tech-cock. Youre only real consang among the bunch, horse-head.]

Oh, look, the Woundmother sneered. Rubble calls to rubble. Waste calls to waste.

Connect her to Chambers, Avo told Tavers. Have him monitor her as well. She can amplify his presence. Hell be doing some things soon. To draw Naekos attention away from me. Have him chase smoke and mirrors. Might need your help setting that up too.

Right, Tavers said. We just gotta fool the Chief Paladin without him tapping any of us with his super powerful Heaven.

Glad youre confident, Avo replied.

He had the feeling the squire was glaring at him now. Avo. Has anyone told you that you ask the world of people sometimes?

No, Avo said.

You ask the world of people sometimes.

He nodded, accepting her words. Will probably do it again.

...When I run into one of the Low Masters, Im going to tell them to include shame for the next batch of ghouls.

Avo hissed a low laugh.

Alright, Draus said. Shits sorted. Lets get movin. Essus. You know the way over. Youve done this before. Dont get snuffed. Dont get nulled. And dont break yourself doin this. Her gaze got as close to soft as she could muster, but it still seemed like she was trying to gaze through the mans skull. Youre no killer. You dont got it in you. So you act the scout and do your part. Aint no ones gonna respect you for gettin done in for good tryin to make worth of yourself. Least of all your boy. All thats left is the memory. And that goes too once you do.

Essus bit his lip at her final words, and despite the hurt pulling at his face, he nodded. Turn, he turned and strode through the eldritch vegetation, moving carefully around a patch of snake-like grass as he made for caravans. Tavers, likewise, was going for the Manta, standing over glass hidden by soil and grass.

The Simulacra appeared briefly, reaching out with a crystalline hand and pulling Tavers down.

Beside Avo, Draus was looking in the same direction as Dice now, staring out into the mangled horizon, careful not to look too high, but facing the roiling chaos nonetheless.

So, the Regular said. Either of you two fancy a bit of a race? Like in the Grand Prix?

A mechanical whine sounded as Dices tetrahedral scanner module shifted over to look at Draus. Never saw one.

Thats fine, Draus said. Be ahead of the other half-strand. Dont be behind. Get to where youre goin first. Win. Get assassinated maybe because some other Guild cant take that shit lying down. Might not do the last part. She shot Avo a brief glance. Or maybe we will. See how were feelin once we get there. You know the way, right?

Yes, Avo and Dice both said. The ghoul and girl were of a mind literally. What she remembered, he long knew.

Going to be a hard race, Avo said, sensing the brittleness and instability in existence around him. So much was on the verge of breaking. Rutpuring further. All it would take is a push. Risky too.

Heh, Draus snorted. Careful, rotlick. Think that canon you stole from Moon mightve grafted a pussy onto you without you knowin.

{...There are also other times I forget that you arent the only person on Idheim who would benefit from extreme sensitivity training,} Calvino muttered.

Fine, Avo said, suddenly feeling the spirit of Bright-Wealth come over him. Going to make you two the same offer I gave White-Rab. Win. Ill give you a new ontologic. Heaven. Cycler. Next one goes to the winner.

But what about you? Dice asked, sounding confused. What do you get if you win?

Dont know. Maybe Ill just eat Draus.

The Regular grinned viciously at him. Yeah, and maybe Ill give you an imp-free view of what your insides look like when I pull your head and spine out from your ass.

Dice went impossibly still for a beat before her sheaths servos sounded again, turning to look first at Draus and then at Avo. I dont understand How is that a reward?