Somewhere in the IXIBIAC nodes

Editor's Note: I've simply dropped you here with a start. The identities of you, your boss, and any reports or contacts you have are up to you! This is a branching story based on the multiverse of the Adriksehn:Skipper story on MagicMystique.com. If you're super lost, or unsure where to start in adding something, check that out first. If you're just here to read, read on! I might actually entertain you without totally losing you (probably neither).

Though I'm very wordy with the guidelines, I am happy to help with any questions you might have. What's Ischarisla [IXIBIAC-335-R4U0902] like? It's like our world, but the lunar cycle is a little longer, the planet is a little fatter around the middle, and you'd do well to think of it as a cyberpunkish world with a strong decentralization tendencies, a state in relative fear of its expansive, educated, and laborious middle-class, and a sense of distrust for any level of vertical or horizontal control by any monolithic institution. So, like, imagine our world, but the internet DIDN'T make us a bunch of lunatics. The upside? A blend of populist-socialism in consistently simmering debate has kept state-sponsored corruption and corporate and trust domination in a holding pattern where excesses create physical and social infrastructure. The down-side? [Not really for your employer, but] Ischarislan cities are something of legal havens for those who do most of their business outside this dimension. Ischarisla's PRIME status under IDOX charter means that many extradimensional bodies happily pay Ischarislan taxes in exchange for an operational opacity that most high-technological paths would never allow.*

*TL;DR, 1. What you do in private in Ischarisla is pretty AOK as long as you don't upset the locals. If you GATEOUT of Ischarisla to do dirty work, try not to drag it back in through the gate with you! 2. You need not include any of the political satire dynamic I mention above, I only point it out so that it's there for you in case you'd like to get all Niven or Pratchett and play with it. Remember, corrupt intelligence agents are often attractive people with relatively tepid intelligence and principles, so they absolutely don't need to consider the dynamics above to have a good time fucking! ENJOY!

High above the Temponis Superior streets and tramways, Ytras' hold glows like a lantern over the box shaped building housing the Central Education Center. The only curves in the structure belong to the repeating eyebrow-dormers in the pyramidal section of roof and the alternating stacked balconies leading to the tower, a cold grey-and-white spire at the peak of this pyramidical section, made of reinforced steel and Ischarislan Zircon. The spire houses two personnel elevators, two cargo elevators and a spiral stair longer than anyone would have fun climbing.

The high-security of the spire is subtle, and minimal in any form of anti-personnel defenses that pose a direct physical threat to an intruders. Would-be unwanted visitors are typically recognized in the elevators and taken on an excruciatingly boring "aero-tour" of Ischarisla until said riders verbally beg to be let off in the education center, or until their vital signs indicate physiological stress levels of a particular threshold. Posing damage to the elevators activates an anti-vandalism measure that drops the shaft to the lowest floor of the education center, where the offenders are met by on-site Education Center security.

To the Ischarislan Public, Ytras' hold is a highly exclusive and incredibly boring think-tank-for-hire, specializing in transdimensional distribution and trade law. Because the section of the education center that houses the base of the spire also specializes in economics, law, marketing, and social sciences, Ytras' hold is officially recorded as a legitimate private extension of the Central Education Center's Economics Wing. Public talk surrounding its construction was mired in ridicule when it was built, but never suspicion. The more humorous version of the story went that "Ytras" is the anonymous nonsense-signatory of a wealthy former alumnus, some self-serving public official fattened by questionable profits who erected in the city what he could not erect between his legs.

To those in the know in the Economic Wing, Ytras' hold specializes in Economic and Trade Intelligence. It is managed by Erga Candymaker, an Aristotian prodigy of international trade due to direct experience in business with his father (whose own grandfather began in business with actual Candy making). Erga expanded his trade expertise interdimensionally before teaching trade and economics at IDOX (The Inter[D]imensional Organization of Xenoskippers), turning over control of his great-grandfather's company to his niece. Later, his professorship would take him to Ischarisla's Central Education Center. Later still, he would retire from his head-professorship in interdimensional diplomacy and accept Emeritus status that would free him to found his own trade and diplomacy firm. This, ultimately, is your boss' boss' boss. You may never meet him directly, and you may never speak to him, but he runs the show.

To you, Ytras' hold is home. It is your headquarters and the only unburnable safe house on your list. Compromising it isn't an option, but your natural allies at the Central Education Center mean that you usually count on the support staff to have you covered in a tough situation if you are SUFFICIENTLY DISCREET. This means that with rare exception, Ytras' hold is home-free for you, no matter what you get yourself into outside (though it would be advisible to at least GATEOUT of Temponis Superior or even all of Ischarisla if you're going to pull something crazy). Bailey Bridgman, the hold's director, is your boss' boss. She's a gorgeous woman that you guess to be in her late-30s. She's fond of skirtsuits and stockings, and though her presence is warm, she opens herself to her staff very little. As a result, you don't know much about her except that having her on your side moves you up in the company, and that the only way to get her on your side is to be a successful representative of CANDYMAKER HOLDINGS. A major part of your fear of disappointing your own boss is in knowing that Director Bridgman will learn about your mistakes through their own reports to her.

After a month of vacation leave, you return to your digs in Ytras' hold to find a message from your boss on the digital-door to your room:

Immediate debrief. If you need sleep, you can sleep before departure, but not before briefing. It can't wait; the client needs a staff confirmation. Use the alternate screening room alone and I'll catch you up. This one is going to be more fun than the last one, I promise!!!