Agatha glanced at the slim platinum chronometer that adorned her wrist to confirm that the day cycle was coming to an end at the Interspace Commerce Building in the heart of Manhattan City. With a sigh of relief she closed down the legal brief she had been reviewing and was preparing to depart when an urgent message flashed on her data sheet requesting her immediate presence in one of the Executive conference rooms ensconced at the top of the towering building.
Ten minutes later she knocked softly at the intricate detailed brass sheathed door before entering into the understated opulence of the board room itself. An irregular slab of gleaming Seeka wood served as the conference table and was illuminated by a single bright light that highlighted its rich golden color while casting the rest of the room into darkness. Agatha took her place at the single empty seat and nodding a respectful greeting to the figure seated at the far end of the table.
After several moments of meditative silence, the figure at the head of the table spoke softly from the darkness, its melodious voice contrasting sharply with the harsh syllables.
"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh wgah'nagl fhtagn."
"Ammutseba fhtagn." Agatha murmured in response.
"Welcome, Agatha and thank you for responding so swiftly to my request."
"I live to serve, Seba'an."
"As do we all, Agatha. So, to business. Our representatives have convinced the Council of Xenographic Antiquities to grant Miskatonic Technologies license to import a limited number of artifacts for, ah...scientific research." Agatha can sense the smile that accompanies these words.
"That is welcome news, Seba'an." Replies Agatha
"Indeed. However, our normal channels of acquisition have become corrupted. I had planned to contract with the Kohola to arrange the purchase and transport of these items but their recent and unfortunate interactions with the corrupted Outcasts no longer makes that a viable option. Our Hogosha contacts only have only a limited number of artifacts on hand and few from the region we seek. Any recent shipments they have acquired are quite likely tainted by the Outcast presence in the Sigma system. For these reasons we require a separate, reliable source of artifacts. You have served our cause with diligence and aptitude Agatha so I am entrusting you with this responsibility."
Agatha bowed her head "You honor me, Seba'an."
"The appropriate travel documents and vouchers have been loaded into your account as well as the details of the particular artifacts that we require. The Miskatonic office on Bonn Station has been instructed to provide you all possible support with local authorities and legalities. Our Minuet agent on Bonn will contact you once you land to provide any assistance you may require of an irregular nature and tidy up accounts. I leave the details in your capable hands."
Sensing dismissal in this statement, Agatha rose from her chair and bowed her head to the figure before turning towards the door.
"Oh, one other thing Agatha."
As Agatha turned back to the table, she glimpsed twin points of cerulean flash in the shadows as her body becomes wracked by pain. Her limbs contort and she collapses to the carpeted floor, screaming silently in her mind as her body convulsed in agony. Then, like a great wave, the pain changes its tempo through her body and she undulates on the floor as paroxysms of pleasure shockwave through her system. Her mind continues its silent scream as she moans and twitches on the floor. As quickly as it begins, it ends. She senses her mistress pause near her spent, twitching body and that melodious voice caresses her tortured mind.
"Fail me in this and your torments will be unending. Succeed and ecstasy awaits."
Returning to her office suite on the topmost floor of the IC building, Symphony took a moment to gaze out over the surrounding city, sparkling and throbbing in the darkness with the life of its human occupants.
"Human and Nomad, on the surface we're not so different." She mused silently.
"Vast legions of drones led by a select elite and protected by those designated and designed to do so. Both driven by imperatives that they could hardly control much less understand."
Running her hands down her host/sister's body, relishing the tactile sensations of warm flesh and silk, she smiled, "It is with the chosen few that fused together the genus that the eventual salvation of both species would be found in the opening of the Ng'lazt."
Watching the luminous flow of life a mile below her vantage point she continued her rumination, "The humans know so little of the Nomads and the prevailing theories pieced together from the fragments of the Dom'Kavash culture are so erroneous as to be almost humorous.
But if it makes humanity feel more secure, more superior to cast all history and alien culture in light of their own human experience in a way that they can grasp with their feeble intellects and still maintain their image of dominance well, it certainly makes my endeavors easier to accomplish. When it all comes to fruition the humans will find that the truth of the Nomads is so much more terrifying and glorious."
Turning away for the spectacular view, Symphony settled behind her gleaming slate desk and considered her reflection in its polished surface. Her host/sister possessed a certain pleasing symmetry of features that other humans found attractive.
One of the benefits of their symbiotic melding was that she would retain her youthful visage for far, far longer than those of a similar age. Symphony knew that this extended youthfulness pleased her host/sister. Another benefit of their union was the need for so little sleep which allowed the pair to keep abreast of both their corporate and Minuet activities.
Swiftly entering the access code upon the surface of her desk, her reflection was replaced by the coded missives of her agents. While those initiated into the mysteries of Minuet were few in number, they were supported and aided by a larger circle of humans who were oblivious or uncaring of the true nature of the cult but drawn to the dominant who could feed their base needs: money, sex, power. All human cravings and all so easy to fulfill and thus willingly enslave these sycophants. Collectively these humans were known as "Clefs" to their "Minuet" masters and they formed the bulk of her informants.
As she analyzed the latest updates, her fingernails beat a repaid tattoo on the surface of the desk as she issued orders. Symphony knew it was odd that someone in her position of power would interface in such a manual process but like her Minuet children she abhorred any type of augmentation or cybernetics as these destroyed the natural energy pathways of the body.
In Colorado the underground following that had sprung up around a deranged but charismatic preacher on Denver who espoused the freeing of the spirit in preparation for the end of times had finally taken the step of sacrificing several of their own. Symphony directed that the cult was to be exposed to authorities and the fragment of artifact that had corrupted the human leader was to be secured and transported to Manhattan.
The clinics sponsored by Allegro continued to collect the DNA signatures of its human attendees in the course of providing care to the dispossessed. It was a painstaking process to cross reference and categorize the results but slowly the shape of the Lineage was coming into focus. Symphony authorized the allocation of additional IC funds to support Allegro's efforts.
The search patterns flown by the Clef pilots within the sector continued to map the flow of energies throughout the systems and narrow the potential locations of the nexus. The shear volume of space made such an undertaking seemingly futile but Symphony knew that such nexus were inexorably drawn to clusters of life energy and thus were found most often in the inhabited systems. Losses to the interception patrols flown by the Order remained within acceptable tolerances.
The Order? Misguided fools but useful in their way. They wrap themselves in the arrogance and glory of their destruction of a frightened immature Queen as she flailed against her brood's exposure in the Rheinland sector. Their destruction of the corrupted queen in Kusari was a boon for Symphony's agenda, eliminating a rival and allowing her to concentrate her efforts towards her own concerns rather than having to defend against the Kusari brood.
Even after their unsuccessful actions in Rheinland and Kusari, the Order was still certain that the Nomad imperative was the consumption or destruction of humanity. This was a belief Symphony encouraged. Create a hive and send out drones and the Order responded like Pavlovian canines to the sound of a bell.
Oh, there were a few that suspected that the threat was so much greater...that she did not want to enslave humanity but free it.
These humans would have to be?
A muted chime sounded from her desk and a soft voice murmured "Director, the board meeting is in fifteen minutes."
Symphony's host /sister swiftly came to the fore as the new day cycle began. "Thank you Claire. I shall be along directly."
Agatha tucked an errant curl of raven hued hair behind her ear as she surveyed her apartment before departing. Through the doorway to her sleeping chamber she glimpsed the barely visible tousled tresses and curve of one long leg of her pet above the rucked up silken sheets of her divan. After her encounter with the Seba’an, Agatha had been aroused and inspired - both of which she had exercised upon the smooth limbed body of her pet. By the time she returned from her trip, she mused, the wounds will have healed thus adding another layer to the artwork of scars that adorned her pet’s body.
An opulent apartment suite on the exterior of the IC arcology was one of the advantages of being a member of Minuet. Having a ready sycophant who took pleasure in acceding to Agatha’s will and blades all the while knowing and rejoicing that her attentions could lead to its death was another. And yet another benefit waited patiently for her in the hallway beyond her apartment.
“Good morning ma’am. I trust you had a restful evening?”
“Good morning Mr. Sim. Indeed, it was most…refreshing.”
While Agatha was skilled in a great many things, piloting spacecraft was not one of them. Her work usually kept her on Manhattan or Newark Station. For those times when she needed to travel beyond the immediate reaches of New York, the Seba’an had arranged for the services of Mr. Sim who acted as her pilot, valet and, when necessary, her security. Like her pet, Mr. Sim existed to serve the needs of the members of Minuet.
Picking up her valise, Mr. Sim followed her to the private lift and activated the security console. An observer would find them a study in contrasts. Mr. Sim was tall and cadaverous. His skull was narrow and seemed to be composed of harsh planes and angles. Shockingly black close cropped hair contrasted sharply with his pale skin. His near colorless lips were twisted in a permanent smile that was not reflected in his blue eyes.
Agatha, on the other hand, was shorter and pleasantly round. A pet had once had dared to describe her as Rubenesque before she cut out its tongue and eyes for its insolence. Her hair was a sleek black wave that curled above her shoulders and her blue eyes sparkled with intelligence and amusement.
Both were dressed in fashionably understated couture of the finest material while discreet jewelry adorned Agatha’s ears, wrists and throat. Neither sported any obvious signs of hidden augmentation.
In the secured garage a waiting ground effect vehicle whisked them through Manhattan City’s busy streets to a private sector of the spaceport where a sleek black and silver ship stood prepped and ready on the landing pad.
Mr. Sim assisted Agatha into the passenger compartment before climbing forward to the pilot’s chair. Hatches hissed closed and lines were disengaged as the ship slowly rose through the sky to the upper atmosphere before engaging its powerful drive engines.
“I took the liberty of filing a flight plan to Bonn Station, ma’am.”
“Efficent as always, Mr. Sim.”
Reclining in her seat, Agatha scanned the latest intelligence from Rheinland.
//The script was separated into three parts but I brought it together as one. Beautifully written and terrifying, help us if players are actually going this covert into factions as Cultist agents. Original link at
http://freelancer-swwt.com/Forum/index.php?topic=3496.0
![[Order]-Kaal](https://2img.net/u/3211/14/13/76/avatars/8-8.gif)
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