Mae-Ying Allen ~ 3-19-2029, 5:33 AM GMT
Daisy and Mae-Ying wait in the front room for Niva to arrive. Mae-Ying keeps almost reaching for her Avatar glasses, then catching herself and shoving her hands down by her sides, where she runs her thumbnail under her other fingernails. How is she supposed to survive without being able to check her messages?
"I suppose you have a few questions, considering how rapidly this all happened,” Daisy says after a brief silence.
"I have so many questions I'm not sure where to start..." Mae-Ying looks down at her wrinkled trousers in thought. "Why'd they bring me all the way to England?"
"Because we've rather made a mess of things,” Daisy says. “Under the Konigsberg Armistice we're not permitted to maintain installations in the United States."
"Why not?"
"I suppose you haven't been told anything about factional politics yet?”
“No…”
”Obviously not, why bother with trivialities like that.” Daisy sighs. "In the current ordering of the world there are four Initiate organizations that have any relevance: the Ancient Brotherhood of the Rarefied Light, the Invictus Confederacy, the Argonauts and us, the Knights of the Rose Cross."
“That explains the rings and the garden.”
"We're rather big on symbolism so blunt you could drive nails with it,” Daisy says. “At any rate, we've operated as a sort of balancing and policing force. You see, the other three factions are all somewhat more closely related to each other than we are to them. The Argonauts split off from the Light Keepers a bit under three hundred years ago. The Invictus left more recently.
“Like any family in close quarters, they have a tendency to squabble. Unfortunately, we came down on the wrong side of a particularly nasty conflict in the early twentieth century and the Keepers demanded we be kicked out of America and Canada. We've hung on to our ability to operate south of their borders."
"Was the conflict anything I would have heard of?" Mae-Ying asks.
"You might've. Most of the time historians refers to it as World War I."
Mae-Ying laughs. "Yeah, I think I read about that somewhere.”
"We were against Serbian independence, you see,” says Daisy. “The point is, we had to bring you here because this is our closest major stronghold to the States."
Mae-Ying nods. "So the Knights are kind of a police force?"
"Strictly speaking, our mandate is to promote enlightenment and morality amongst the masses and protect mankind from threats of a supernatural nature,” Daisy says. “In practice, this leads to a fair amount of self-elected policing, yes."
"And this corporation is a risk to enlightenment and morality, you think?"
"It's more of a risk to humanity as a whole,” Daisy says. “I suppose Avraham already explained the concept of Pathos?"
"Yeah."
"Yes, she's rather preoccupied with it. Pathos research is proscribed; it's the broad consensus amongst all factions that it's impossible to conduct an investigation into it without risking contamination by it. Pathos and Logos are more than energy; at their root, they're… ideas. Or even more basic than that. Primal impulses."
Mae-Ying frowns slightly, nodding.
"You may have noticed that Avraham won't even say the word properly,” Daisy continues. “She's extremely committed to the orthodoxical line on the subject--or says so, at any rate."
"You don't think she is?" Mae-Ying asks.
Daisy smiles slightly. "I don't make judgments based on lip service."
"Fair."
"At any rate, I am absolutely certain Synesis is conducting deep research into Pathos,” Daisy says. “Its uses, its sources, anything of that nature."
"I’m curious how we get from there to the military-industrial complex," Mae-Ying says.
"Everyone needs a paycheck,” Daisy says, smirking.
"You think they were selling... what, contraband magical stuff to the American military?"
"I don't think it, they are selling them," Daisy says. "I just can't prove it yet."
Mae-Ying shakes her head. "God, what a fuck up..."
"It's an Argonaut and Light Keeper job, so government involvement was a given at some point.” Daisy purses her lips. "The Argonauts, as a faction, are heavily motivated by scientific thinking, reason and order. They are also philosophically committed to the eradication of any chaotic elements within the Initiate community. For them, I’d imagine Synesis is an opportunity to bring Pathos into the fold of scientific consensus, as though such a thing were even possible. The Keepers are simply interested in maintaining a stranglehold on political power."
"Everyone keeps talking about them like they have control over the media," Mae-Ying says.
Daisy nods. "They have a powerful cadre of operatives who dictate what the public will and will not know about supernatural and Initiate activity, and their reach is functionally global."
"That's the classic conspiracy theory thing,” Mae-Ying says.
The door opens; Niva steps inside. When her eyes meet Daisy’s, she freezes up, staring awkwardly.
“Hi,” Mae-Ying says.
"Good morning, Avraham,” Daisy says. “Glad you could join us."
"Ma'am! I was--We didn't--I hope she wasn't--"
Daisy pulls her gloves on. "I thought I'd give the two of you a ride up to the Manor. I assume you walked?"
Niva nods, breathing shallowly through her nose, on the verge of hyperventilating.
"You okay?" Mae-Ying asks.
Niva turns to her and gives her a mortified look. "Fine!" she says in a hoarse squeak.
"I'll just have Randal pull the car around," Daisy says, leaving the room.
"You walked?” Mae-Ying asks. “How far is it?"
"Only five miles,” Niva says, staring after Daisy.
“Five miles?” Mae-Ying lets out a puff of air. "I really need to get a new pair of shoes."
"Yes,” Niva says vacantly. “Shoes."
#
Mae-Ying has never seen a car quite like Daisy’s, not in person, but the hood ornament tells her it’s a Rolls Royce. Two leather-upholstered benches face one another in the passenger compartment; she and Niva sit together on one, across from Daisy. Mae-Ying feels like she might leave a stain on the leather seat.
“This car is great,” she says.
Daisy smirks. "Regina and I bought some nice things when we sold our father's estate. I've tried to make sure to keep them up."
The route to the Manor is a bucolic jaunt through rolling countryside and farmland, with the occasional stand of trees here and there. Daisy regards it with the heavy-lidded look of someone who has seen it all more than a thousand times.
Mae-Ying takes her Avatar glasses out of her pocket. "Do you think it's okay if I use this?"
Daisy looks over to see what she’s talking about. Her eyes widen. "Not in the least, no."
"Shit. Okay. Uh... I did use it, yesterday,” Mae-Ying says.
"As long as you're just reading I shouldn't imagine it will cause a stir," Daisy says. "I would avoid any extended sessions. I'm not entirely clear on who wants you dead yet."
When they reach the Manor, the driver gets out and pulls open the door for them. Daisy gets out first. With Daisy out of the car, Niva apparently feels comfortable enough to speak. "There are computers in the new wing. If you need them. I can show you--"
She stops speaking abruptly, looking out the window. Mae-Ying follows her gaze. Two men are looking at Daisy--the white guy in the black turtleneck Mae-Ying saw at dinner last night, and a Latino guy she doesn’t recognize. Daisy gives them both a tight smile. The white guy puts his hands in his pockets and smirks. The Latino guy merely glares at her.
"A tour,” Daisy says. “That's a good idea, Avraham. Come with me."
Mae-Ying follows Niva out of the car, confused. Daisy leads her and Niva up a flight of stone stairs, past some men in livery and into the Manor’s enormous marble-floored foyer.
"The Manor was originally built over the site of a Benedictine monastery. It was given over to our organization, which originally operated with authority granted by a secret papal decree, and was headquartered here, starting from the twelfth century
Mae-Ying follows Daisy as she walks down a hallway at a quick clip. Her feet are killing her. Daisy’s also wearing heels, but she seems completely at ease in them. Anyone who finds themselves in her path quickly gives way. Mae-Ying finds herself spending more time admiring Daisy’s walk than listening to what she’s saying.
Daisy says as they climb a staircase to the second floor. “In 1530, Thomas Cromwell, who at the time was a leading member of the order, utilized his authority within the court to formally pull away from the Vatican and the Light Keepers, who at the time were a secret office there. Cromwell became the Grand Marshal of the order, and he also had the monastery transferred to the ownership of his son, Gregory. Gregory Cromwell later pulled it down and built much of the structure as you see it, although things have been modernized and elaborated on periodically. Still, the bones are primarily 16th century in provenance..."
"Do they still have ties to the Vatican?" Mae-Ying asks.
"Yes, though at this point the tail rather wags the dog,” Daisy says. “They also have significant ties to the Anglican church, whereas we've renounced mortal religion altogether."
"I swear this was a Nicholas Cage movie or something," Mae-Ying mutters.
"What's a Nicholas cage?" Niva asks. Mae-Ying gives her an incredulous look. Daisy ignores the question
Daisy gestures to a double door on their right. “So here we have the library. You're free to use it once your allegiance is formalized, or prior, if you're accompanied.” She sweeps on down the hall. "Most of these spaces are old offices, smoking rooms, things men used when they were plotting something or other but now no one has time for. The bulk of the power of the Knights is concentrated in Israel now, at the Masada."
"The Masada?” Mae-Ying asks. “Is that what the headquarters is called?"
Daisy nods.
"Is it actually at the fort, or...?"
Daisy laughs. "No, I'm afraid we were looking for a structure a bit more modern than what the Romans built. Not that I'd blame you for thinking otherwise, considering present surroundings."
"I was thinking maybe there was a secret underground fortress or God knows what," Mae-Ying says. "This entire thing with the Light Keepers is making me think crazy thoughts."
Niva's eyes light up with excitement. "The Masada is the most impressive structure, it is built within a mountain, you see, and there are so many people--"
"Yes, well, you're not apt to be going there anytime soon," Daisy says, leading them through a pair of doors. "And here we have the new wing, which I suppose you've already seen a portion of, since we saw fit to locate the dining room here for Lord knows what reason. At any rate, the labs are here, computer, forensics and so on, and the armory..."
It seems to Mae-Ying that Daisy is purposefully leading them on a roundabout course. Under different circumstances she might find this harmless, but right now every quirk seems like a reason for suspicion. These people used her as a human piece of cheese in a metaphorical mousetrap, and she isn’t about to forget that any time soon.
"And of course the medical center, just over there, and--"
A man with mussed brown hair comes jogging up the hallway toward them. "Oy! Miss Cockburn! Marshal wants you for the leadership meeting!"
"Oh, time simply slipped away from me! I do hope I didn't inconvenience the boys too much." Daisy smiles at Mae-Ying and Niva. "You'll have to excuse me. I'm sure you two have a busy schedule ahead of you today."
“Thanks for the tour!" Mae-Ying says, smiling.
Daisy follows the brown-haired man back the way he came. Mae-Ying waits until they’re out of earshot to look at Niva and ask, “What was that about?”
“I do not know.” Niva frowns at Daisy's back. "Come. We will go train."
Comments (1)
See all