Chapter 32: The Angel

The meditation chamber was made of stone, vaulted, with medieval ornamentation that clashed with the eastern palace outside. Gargoyles, representations of the Catholic god and of hell. On the floor, a labyrinth was traced into the cold stone tiles.

The arches multiplied the echoes, and Cass knelt to meditate.

A considerable fatigue weighed upon her. Normally, using the Armor, she would only feel the pressure of sleep after one or two months of continuous wakefulness-sometimes three-but this time, it had only been a few days. The layers of abstraction-Armor, After, and Trust-weighed heavily on her psyche. Something to note, to fix for next time. But she couldn’t afford to sleep, even in the game: if she did, her dreams of Empty Eyes Omega would come to torment-and perhaps kill-innocent citizens of Orion Prime and the surrounding ships. She could disconnect to reach the Hypnos ... but who knew if the AIs would notice her absence? Perhaps the door would be closed to her afterward.

Closing her eyes, a plan for conquering Trust took shape. Intrusive thoughts urged her to focus on the slaves and the Cartel, or to dedicate herself to more useful missions like the Scalar Balance, but she wanted to follow this trail to the end, whether it was fruitful or not.

A sound behind her, and she sprang like a cat, ready to defend herself. A stone statue-an angel, sword in hand-had taken a step forward. It spoke to her in a deep voice: - “Stella Nori, you cheated in Trust. Tell me how, and I will reset your game. Refuse to answer, and you will be banned for one hundred years.”

- “What are you? A program? Are you the designer?”

- “SPEAK!”

The angel raised its sword. Stone hands emerged from the floor tiles and seized Cass’s ankles. She summoned a superhuman effort and broke them, leaping out of the angel’s reach.

- “How do you escape the stone hands? How do you run so fast? How did you modify the Trust program?”

- “Lower your sword, and I’ll tell you.”

Rather politely, and in a remarkably human posture, the angel laid its sword on the ground and waited. She brought up her statistics.

- “Look at the scores given by the After to my metabolism.”

- “Ah,” said the angel, perplexed. “A transfer error? That would be a first in five hundred years.”

- “I don’t think so,” Cass admitted. “I have a body ... I had a genetically enhanced body, through injections.”

- “I’ve never heard of that...”

- “I’m the product of an experiment, let’s say.”

The angel had bowed its head and was still thinking.

- “Are you Julia Prahi?” Cass asked. “I can bring you a solution. I came to ask Julia Prahi a question. I know she’s here, and I imagine she’s on the throne of the gods. If she answers my question, I will leave, and I will no longer destabilize the game.”

- “A question? What question?”

- “I’m sorry, but I can only ask that question to Julia.”

- “She is listening.”

Now it was Cass’s turn to be cautious. After all, the Transients heard everything. She opened her mind-box and quickly swept away the sensitive data. The dangerous elements would only register as faint tremors in the planetary servers and the powerful magnetic fields they emitted.

- “A very dear friend named David sent you a long message before he disappeared, and we only received part of it. I would like to have the rest.”

- “Damn David,” the Angel cursed. “Even here he continues to make me suffer.”

- “Make you suffer?”

- “By his absence.”

The angel paused so long that Cass thought the soul inhabiting it had left. But then it added: - “I was angry because I thought you were cheating. But that cheating doesn’t matter: Trust is a game of negotiation, not an Olympic competition. You were right-the person you’re looking for, and the answers she holds, are indeed at the foot of the Throne of the Gods. So come and claim them, if you feel up to it.”

- “Julia, Trust is important to many people-including you. If you play this little game, I’ll be on the throne in less than ten days. That would be a shame for all those people. For their hopes. Their investment.”

- “That’s what every claimant to the throne proclaims when they conquer their first hamlet. Trust is not that simple. There are many magical objects here that exceed even augmented human capability, and they’re in the hands of the great players. You may win, but like everyone else, it will take you ten years. See you in ten years, then.”

The Angel stepped back into its alcove and froze. A meager result, but Cass now knew where to find what she was seeking. Better yet, the excitement of the encounter had stimulated her mind, and a plan had begun to form. Ten years? she smiled. Ten days would be more than enough.