Conspiracy Practice

What had once been a very simple set of corridors giving highly limited access to the Guild Heart and an underground path up into the Palace proper had turned quite labyrinthian. Those old paths? They were more secured than ever, with layers of mechanical and magical seals, several of them hand-crafted by Hailey, and six of the Guild Hall’s Sentry Golems on permanent patrol in that inner area.

Around them sprawled a multitude of new complexes. Hailey and Delicia both had workshops down here, predating the upgrade of the Palace with its absurd internal size. Nightingale had a ballroom complex down here, still in use. More and more guest rooms had been shaped up for the special needs of various fantastical species by Aclysia and Claire. There were entire indoor facilities that had been created just because they had the space.

The raw size of the star fort really couldn’t be understated. It effectively occupied an entire square kilometre and was dozens of metres tall. It was 92 football fields in size and taller than most stadiums. It was all solid marble as well. All in all, it was a ludicrous structure that they were filling with stuff just because they could.

Hiding a burgeoning secret society in there was no problem at all.

John fished a small disk out of his inventory. It was without decorations, just a small object enchanted to create a specific aura when a certain amount of mana, his mana specifically, was channelled into it. Simple to make, difficult to falsify, a prototype for a membership token.

The Gamer traced the wall decorations, another ongoing project in these corridors, until he came across a carved representation of Undine singing. Notes flowed from her mouth. He pressed the coin into an empty circle among those notes and regulated his mana outflow until he had achieved the proper frequency. “Darktide,” he muttered.

The word in combination with the specific current of mana operated a mechanism in the walls. Powerful enchantments worked to not simply open a passage but create it. The stone was reshaped to allow them to step through and it swiftly melded again behind them, recreating the entire carving in the process.

It was expensive to get that right and to minimal benefit. Having a highly elaborate sliding mechanism was basically just as stealthy and did not require an enchantment intricate enough to store the knowledge of that entire picture. The secrecy benefit was somewhere in the 1-2% range.

Undine had insisted on taking this seriously. She didn’t want this to be a LARP, not a bored, rich lady playing pretend with a secret society. Darktide would remain secret for as long as it could and when it eventually flowed out, inevitably getting identified by other secret societies, she wanted it to be competitive, at a minimum, and one of the strongest ones, if she could at all make it work.

And she could make this work.

John was strictly necessary to her plans, because she couldn’t exactly go far without her summoner. Through Perks and raw power, they were bending just how far an elemental could distance herself from her contractor, but she broadly still needed to be in the same Illusion Barrier as him.

Ignoring that little difficulty, a much diminished one in the world of internet communication, Undine had everything on her own to put all of this together. First and foremost: the Concubine of Seas had funds. There was the monthly allowance that John paid each of his women. It was pocket money by his standards but objectively it was millions and Undine was a fiscally conservative woman. Just the money she had saved could have fuelled the founding of a secret society.

Undine had more than that money. She had a flourishing career as a musician. In the broader Abyss, Nightingale was more popular than her but in the domestic market Undine was the most popular songstress. Just recently, she had brought out an album about the sorrow and hope that followed the Lorylim War. It was part of the national recovery effort and it was a smash hit that, judging by the data, every third non-Awakened household in Fusion had a physical copy of.

In the age of Spotify, that could only be titled an incredible success.

Undine also was a workaholic. Not quite to the same degree as Momo and Lydia, but close enough. Since she also had the capability to split into multiple bodies, she got a lot of work done, which manifested in a few funny things. For example, Undine had put her heads together with Scarlett and Nathalia to create a merch store. Velka plushies sold in enormous quantities.

To make a long story short: Undine had several personal revenue streams. The second question was whether she had the mental capability to plan and execute on this scheme… which was an obvious yes. Undine was the smartest of his elementals. Salamander did not often act like it, but she did have an Intellect in the 2000s. That actually put her higher than Undine in terms of raw brainpower, but she was a bit… Wisdom-deficient. Gnome was so-so on both accounts. Siena was clever, but more in a practical sense. Sylph was… Sylph. Stirwin was definitely more learned in the ways of the world than Undine, but John doubted he was overall smarter.

The competition was diminishing the point a bit. Still, it stood that Undine was competent, extremely so. She had the funds, the ability, now the only question was whether she had the connections. A secret society ultimately was just a restricted social club of influential people. Everything else around that core-fact was just a series of reasons to remain part of that social club.

This was where Darktide was currently running into problems.

John and Nia moved their heads around, taking in the décor. All of what was around them was just a prototype, a physical manifestation of Undine testing out her ideas for what she wanted the eventual base to look like.

It was an awe-inspiring mixture of the flowing architectural style of the Lake Federation, an even more overt focus on water iconography, and gothic architecture. The fractal shapes of cresting waves formed white trims on walls of oceanic blue and deep-sea black. Every arch and every ceiling was patterned like the water breaking on a water’s surface a dozen metres up. The walls were textured like the gently waving sea, yet polished so sounds would echo.

All of it was meant to inspire a sense of grandeur and secrecy. It was slightly lost on John, who had been to so many fantastical places that he had become a bit numb to it. After seeing the new Tower of Babel in all of its eldritch horror, his definition of a ‘big’ building had been totally skewed and it had already been made absurd by being in Abyssal Rome.

But Undine didn’t need to impress him. These halls existed to impress the members of the secret society, most of which would only come to halls like this to report, to rest, to be equipped, and to be sent back out again. It was a place even members would only see in short bursts. Permanent residents would be few.

They followed the hammering sound of one of those permanent residents.

John had no strong opinion on Laurence. The smith was working away, honing his craft, using the multitude of materials Undine provided him. It was a waste in the short-term. The man had an Innate Ability that made him instrumental in creating the badges that allowed only select individuals access to the Darktide facilities, but he wasn’t a particularly talented smith beyond that.

He also wasn’t particularly untalented though. With enough money and time, he could reach a level of craftsmanship proper for his new station as armourer in this new secret society.

Undine was watching him work with one body, while another watched the first two recruits of Darktide engage in rigorous training. The two men had been selected carefully, based on data about their potential, their characters, and their looks. It was important to Undine that the foundational agents of her organization could be the inspiration of a modern-day Bond movie.

One had been recruited from Nightfall, the other was a previously unaffiliated Abyssal who was in the fairly large camp of Fusion-members that were in the Level 50-100 range, without aiming for a military career. That had been the man’s stance before the Lorylim War. Tragically, his family had been devoured by the hivemind, but Nia had managed to at least save his daughter and Delicia had since cured her scars.

In that aftermath, he was loyal to Fusion to a fault. For as long as the empire provided his daughter with a future, he would happily die for it. It was good, then, that John entirely intended to work towards exactly that.

It was remarkably easy to cultivate a loyal following when one just did… good things.

“John,” Undine greeted them with the body that had been observing Laurence. The cool, singular word was quickly followed by her lips pressed onto his. Though her motions were graceful, the parting of her deep blue lips was hungry. Only propriety kept her from prolonging the kiss. “Nia,” she said, kissing the blonde in the same way. “I did not expect you.”

“Well, that’s partially true.” John raised his left arm. The second Undine flowed over to the first, both bodies melding into one so the slime lady could attach herself wholly to his side. “I refuse to believe you weren’t keeping tabs on me a little bit.”

Undine was perhaps the most serial invader of privacy in their mental network. Aclysia, Beatrice and Claire certainly kept a constant view on his mental state, but Undine was basically always absorbing everyone’s surface thoughts.

Being called out sent a small wave of bashful acknowledgement across his mind. It receded as the gothic woman sighed. “I was aware of your coming in advance, yet I did not expect you before you made the decision to come. Is such detail truly necessary?”

“You know me.” John laughed and looked around the medium-sized hall one more time. Despite his appearance, neither the training nor the smithing had stopped. Any sense of awe about working so closely with the emperor and the Imperial Choir had been quickly drawn out of them. It was pretty easy. The two agents had already been fairly close and Laurence, as an Awakened, didn’t quite know what was supposed to be so impressive about him anyway.

Maybe he should host a harem-internal tournament just to show off?

‘That’s the Romulus talking,’ John told himself.

“What brings you here?” Undine continued the conversation. “Pure curiosity?”

“Essentially.” John squeezed her hip, enjoying the way her gelatinous body mimicked the human body with more and less dense areas. Bones were absent, but the suggestion of one was present enough to make her feel human. “How is it going?”

“Slow and steady,” Undine responded with a hint of pride. “We are far from ready to begin recruitment in earnest, but the architectural style is set.” A little pull on his waist moved him along. Once again, John was deciding the tempo of the steps but the direction was informed by his woman.

Undine showed him a few deeper parts of the complex, where flowing bands of cloth swallowed the echoes and created small gardens of secrets. John was surprised to find a hedge of sylvan lilies potted in a corner of the room. The closed flowers trembled slightly at their approach, eager to absorb the sounds of their conversation.

“How did you get your hands on those?” the Gamer asked. He had only ever seen them in Romulus’ private garden. The plants swallowed noises and digested them into small melodies, a thorough way to make sure that a conversation did not leave a certain area.

“I had Lydia help me make contact with Sol,” Undine responded.

“Sol? Not Luna?”

“I had an easier in with Sol and did not wish to owe anything to Luna.” A mysterious little smile spread on her lips. “I decided to plant seeds of suspicion in Lady Moon’s mind early so I may direct them towards the fronts that Scarlett and Nightingale so graciously provided for me.”

“Wise,” Nia commented.

Undine preened at the single-word compliment. Though Nia was no secret society-builder herself, she was quite apt at identifying and finding them both by her abilities and unorthodox methods. Granted, sometimes this took the form of her not even realizing she had stumbled upon something supposed to be secret.

“So, how big are you right now?” John had to ask. “Just those three?”

“Ignoring members of the Imperial Choir who wish to be active and supporting members,” Undine preluded, “as of now, I have two active agents, an armourer, an interior and exterior architect, and two politicians tied into Darktide.”

“Which two?” John wondered.

“Horace and the Splatterknight.”

If John had been made to guess, those would have been his choices. Horace was the foremost loyalist in parliament and was projected to be re-elected with a 90% majority. If he made a swing for it, it was likely that he could have de-throned Emrik as Speaker of Commons for at least a few years. John had personally asked him not to do that. He wanted Emrik to remain in charge of the democratic organs of the state. Since he now had the power and the trust in himself to purge actively detrimental elements, he wanted the counterweight of the loyal opposition having weight to throw around.

It was annoying, but it was for the best.

As for the Splatterknight, he was a Viceroy and that came with a lot of power – not to mention that he was a force of nature in his own right. Just with those two, Darktide had considerable power on Fusion’s internal politics. That was, if this secret society got the kind of sway over its members that could align them in a shared direction.

“Have you considered recruiting Hyozuma?” John asked. “Magnus?”

Undine gave him a long, unimpressed look. “Hyozuma would brag to impress women.”

“Very fair. Magnus?”

“Too straight-laced.”

“Also very fair,” John agreed. “Then what is your next step?”

“What would you guess?” Undine asked a question in return, interested in his answer.

John hummed and turned his mind to the political situation of the world. “I would try to gain members among those that support Lydia in Rex Germaniae,” he gave his input. “They are already positive towards us, so drafting from the most ardent supporters there will let you help Lydia with orienting her support.”

The true power of secret societies lay in making seemingly disconnected people move in a shared direction. It gave broad political decisions made in backrooms the veneer of organic legitimacy. That was, if those implementations were known at all.

“Interesting, but not my intent,” Undine responded. “Darktide is the instrument for my will to reach beyond my presence. Making its first project one in service of another does not sit right with me.”

“I would,” Nia weighed in, “send my operatives to a destabilized region. Chaos makes for chances to create not just new members but favours and bases.”

“Precisely,” Undine agreed. “I intend to send my agents to North Maluku, Ternate specifically, and begin to simply… push.”

John hummed. That was indeed the way to start building leverage in the real world. With Undine’s resources, she could weigh into the disparate state of Oceania, especially now. In Abyssal terms, there was not even the pretense of a unified Indonesia.

“May I make a suggestion to that end?” the Gamer asked.

“What is it?”

“Send your agents as part of a security detail for Eliana.”

The idea had both Undine and Nia surprised. It would surprise the Lady Sanguine as well, once she heard of it. “You want to send Eliana to Ternate?” the blank put their surprise to words.

“With adequate protection, of course,” the Gamer said. By ‘adequate’ he meant ‘enough force to intimidate a middling power’. “I think it would be good for her desire to try to enter the political realm. It’s essentially a sandbox and any mistakes she makes there won’t reflect too much on us. If she creates any more chaos, that’s more opportunities for you, right?”

“…This would again put my efforts into-“

“No, I don’t want you to be there as support for Eliana,” John interrupted, just to reassure her. “I am offering the state visit as cover. You don’t even have to inform her of this, if you don’t want to. She will attempt her open diplomacy and you will attempt your covert manipulation.”

That had the slime lady intrigued. “I trust Eliana to keep a secret,” she was quick to say, which John liked to hear.

He was willing to entertain that, just by the sheer scope of their individual reach, the Imperial Choir would start to have some secrets from each other. Willing to entertain – yes. Enthused – no. In a perfect world, all of his women would always be on the same page. Though he lived an incredibly great life, flawless it was not.

“Eliana will be there to gather experience,” John further detailed his idea. “That’s it. Your agents can remain behind after she leaves. She will provide a bright, flashing focus point of attention. Perfect for a secret society to start spreading its tendrils, wouldn’t you say?”

Undine’s hair parted into a couple of individually moving strands, one of them poking John in the cheek as punishment for the pun. All the same, the slime lady gracefully smiled. “That would work.”

Now they just had to get Eliana onboard.