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Yay! New fans!

Jarno, you're probably right, but I sucketh at grammar...

sorry about the long time I've been gone..."House" fanfiction has been consuming me for a while...I hope to have more updates soon...

(sorry about the long absence..I've been involved with "House" fanfic mostly, and I've been fairly prolific...but a few days ago, I just had to go back to this story...)


The Ansible, opposite of "sensible" is one of those  peculiar oddities of Quantum Physics that seem to exist solely to drive physicists insane. The phenomena that forms the basis for the Ansible has been known for over a hundred and fifty years.  A beam of light aimed at a inert block of steel according to common sense is simply blocked by the opaque material.  After all, that's what opaque means, right?  Yet highly sensitive photometers at the other end of the block still keep tripping, despite the generations of physics students who have sworn at the impossibility of it.  Even more contrary to common sense, the light beam as it passes through the block has been timed at many times the speed of light.  Physicists back in the early twenty first century explained this as an example of quantum tunneling, or proof of  the multiple universe theory.   With modern Quantum Physics, we know both explanations are completely wrong, the light doesn't change states and tunnel through the block, re-materializing at a different position, nor does the light disappear from our universe, and light from a different quantum state universe appear in its stead.  We have NO idea why the Ansible works, just that it does.  What we do know is that the phenomena obeys the Heisenberg Uncertainty principle, happening only if an observer is present, to collapse the wave function.  We also know that a single piece of ionized yttrium separated into two halves, and given to two observers, allow almost instantaneous communication over any distance.  You can send radio signals into to one, and it will come out of the other one without any delay.  This communication system can't be tapped or blocked, and contrary to causality, is not limited by the Speed of Light.  It does have some peculiarities, however.  Only a part of a transmission is ever understandable, no matter how much of the signal is received.  This seems also to be some expression of Heisenberg Uncertainty principle. This requires sending multiple messages, that the recipient can assemble to receive the entire message.  Also, the device, as mentioned, requires an observer at both ends as part of the process, making it "psionic" in that it requires a living mind to work.  Since message speed is limited to what a human can scan and interpret, Ansibles can't be used for high speed data communications, but it works fine for slow, plodding human dialog.

Encyclopedia Britannica; 2148 edition


"So, about the Paladins and Druids?" Asked Nalia desperately.  Way to go.  Everyone already knows I'm infatuated.  This was so embarrassing!

"Nice seguay, Nals.  So, do you have a tattoo or not? Don't lie, you suck at it."

"Come on, Im.  Stop teasing Nalia.  I want to hear what Keldorn knows about the Order's cyborgs."  Imoen grinned to herself.  Defending Nalia from being teased to death?  Oh, Jessie liked Nalia!  Considering how much Nalia likes free-fall chocolate, smearing Jessie in chocolate sauce and pushing her into Nalia's room should work... Imoen rubbed the back of Jessie's neck, as her older sister leaned against her shoulder.  The whiskey had done its work, and though Jessie didn't get hazy from booze, the jagged spikes of pain Imoen had felt from her sister earlier were cushioned by the booze.

"What I know is mostly about the Paladins of the Order of Marduk.  We're all recruited at an early age by the Order, and in Randolf and my case, by your foster father.  We're trained from an early age, then we get the operations to install our implants.  We mostly have much the same type of implants as you or Imoen, strength, speed, and armor.  Jessie's are much more efficient and advanced, but the Paladin's aren't front line troops, like the Druids.  We do have a lot of defenses, though not nearly as much as a DeathStalker or DeathBringer.  I'm resistant to electricity, poison gas, most hazardous chemicals and thermal shock.  My thermal shield implant would have protected me at least in part from that plasma mace..." Keldorn's voice trailed off.  He was a bit puzzled by Jessie getting hurt.  As far as he knew, the DeathBringers were all designed for combat, able to shrug off most conventional weapons without damage?

"Jessie doesn't have armor under her skin.  She's got...other gear." Imoen's look didn't invite further inquiry.  Jessie was practically undetectable with deep radar, the special layers under her epidermis absorbing electromagnetic energy.  She could cool her skin down to ambient room temperature, defeating thermal sensors. (She could only do that for a short time, before her internal heat buildup became bad.  For longer duration, she had to slow down her metabolism, actually reducing her core body temperature.  This allowed her to wait with perfect stillness in ambush, or make an insertion so slow and stealthy, she could only be detected by pure chance.  But reducing her metabolism also slowed down her reflexes and speed, made her thoughts sluggish and left her body weak, making her vulnerable to attack if she was detected.)  She could even defeat sonic sensors, generating an artificial "hush" field, electrostatically charging the air surrounding her body.  Finally, her skin's pigmentation cells could be controlled by Jessie at will, allowing her to duplicate her stealth suit to a certain extent, creating her own camouflage pattern on her bare skin.  In some of their commissions, where they had to penetrate high security installations, and absolute stealth the priority, Jessie had stripped herself naked, and ghosted in.  Without any artificial equipment, and the Spindizzy to defeat pressure sensors, she was the next thing to completely invisible.  She had, after all, been designed as an assassin.  The tradeoff, of course, was defense.  Unlike Sarevok or Yaga-Shura, who could take pointblank auto cannon fire without flinching, she lacked implanted defensive mods.  These consisted of several subcutaneous layers including anti-laser reflective/ablative, thermal barrier, chemical barrier, electrical barrier, and most importantly, the anti-kinetic layer of woven Eternium mesh.  Eternium, a synthetic material created by the Bhaal, was almost as strong as collapsium, yet weighed only a fraction of the ultimate metal.  All the Bhaalspawn have collapsium weapons, they're the only effective means of defeating the Eternium armor of their own kin.  Little good did Sarevok's armor do for him, though.  In the end, it wasn't Jessie's sword that killed him, but a simple patch of low friction grease.  One slip, and he fell off the roof of the "Baldur", as Imoen shouted "Watch out for that first step, sucker!"  All the Bhaalspawn, DeathBringer and DeathStalker alike have Eternium skeletons, and most of the combat models have Eternium implant armor.  Jessie, being an assassin had stealth layers, instead of defensive layers.  She had to rely on cunning and speed to keep her skin intact.  "Armor is for sissies, anyhow."

Illasera, the only other purpose built assassin among the DeathBringers, had some of the armor layers of the combat models, but she took a different approach to stealth.  At rest, she looked rather plain and unremarkable.  Exceedingly so.  Illasera was...forgettable, having almost no distinguishing facial characteristics to single her out from any other woman.  However, in the field, she could use the morphing cartilage in her face to mimic any facial structure, and the changeable pigmentation cells in her eyes, skin and hair allowed her to look like anyone she wanted. She was a Faceshifter.  This chameleon like ability was actually much more sophisticated than Jessie's, because to mimic natural eyes, hair and skin is actually very hard to do.  Illasera had a much higher density of the artificial pigmentation nano machines imbedded under her skin, and present in her eyes and hair. Her hair follicles could extrude and retract hair on command, each strand custom colored on demand.  Telescopic bones in her arms and legs, a variable length spine allowed her to duplicate almost any physique, tall, fat, short or skinny with some minor equipment, like padding to replicate obesity. She could look like anyone, female or male (at least with clothes on) and this allowed her to approach her targets undetected, and extract with almost perfect safety.(her favorite trick was to dress like the security force that would respond after an attack, ambush one of them when they reacted, and walk out using his or her face)  Illasera supported herself after the fall of the Brotherhood of Bhaal by doing what she was best at.  She is the highest paid assassin in the world.  Her skill with a projectile weapon was legendary, and it was rumored that she never missed a target.  Of course, her Sigil meant that she didn't really need her marksmanship skills.  The Unerring Eye was a telekinetic ability, that only worked on low mass, moving objects.  Using low speed bolts or arrows (from magnetic-bows), so she could visually track them in flight, she could guide the projectile the last few dozen meters before it reached her target.  Illasera's "bullets" really did have your name on them.

"...And then of course, we all drank from the Crimson Chalice." Keldorn finished.

"The Crimson Chalice? What's that?" asked Nalia.

"The Chalice is one of the original artifacts of the Bhaal.  It's a cup shaped like a skull with ruby eyes, gripped by three iron talons, that forms a sort of hood.  It only obeys one of the Council of Six, and at command it contains either the Blood of Bhaal, or the Balm of Marduk.  The Blood is a tailored nano neuro toxin, that stays in your system forever.  It kills you after about three or four years.  The Balm is the antidote.  It only makes the toxin dormant, however,  so you have to take it on a regular basis.  Once a year or so, a Druid or Paladin has to return to the Order, and after renewing his or her vows to serve the Six, they're allowed to drink.  Of course, if the Council of Six have doubts about a particular Paladin or Druid, the Crimson Chalice simply contained a quick acting poison that looks and tastes like the Balm.  The Chalice can enslave, kill, or give life.  It's called the Crimson Chalice because the Blood of Bhaal looks like...well, blood.  Darned medieval poets called it 'Sangreal', or the Holy Grail."

"The Holy Grail! You mean that's the basis for the legends?" asked Nalia in disbelief.

"Yep.  A cup that can enslave anyone, not just the Druids and Paladins, give them life or take it away, is sufficiently 'magical' was sufficiently magical to become the stuff of folklore and legends.  The Brotherhood of Bhaal used something completely different to ensure our obedience.  The Five had Tears of Bhaal to keep the Bhaalspawn in line.  It's an implant in our brainstem, all of them controlled by a device called the Throne of Bhaal, that was destroyed sixteen years ago.  Each Tear is basically an Ansible, which can monitor what a Bhaalspawn sees or hears, and allow communications with the one who sits on the Throne.  Whoever controls the Throne can also punish, or kill at the press of a button."  Imoen recited the facts flatly.  To say that a Paladin or DeathStalker hates the Crimson Chalice or the Throne of Bhaal was an understatement.  Inside the Creche, the Teachers had painstiks, which duplicated what a Tear did, when it punished its bearer. Painstiks tortured the victim by direct neural stimulation...each stroke of the neuronic whip felt like the kiss of a glowing, red hot bar of iron. In fact it was worse, because unlike being burned for real, the nerves aren't destroyed, so each second of agony was felt in full. Imoen remembered in detail all the times that Jessie had taken strikes from a painstik for her, sparing her little sister. Imoen took Jessie's hand again, the old memories did that to her.  

Jessie snuggled closer against Imoen.  She too remembered those times, particularly the last time.  Imoen and Jessie had been outside, along with about a hundred other Children in a punishment run.  They had been required to run over 50 miles, through the jungle and over the razor sharp rocks and sea shells on the beach, barefoot.  Imoen, her feet bleeding and her body scratched, had come in last.  The Teacher had advanced on the young, 10 year old girl with an evil sneer and the painstik poised to strike in her hand.  She was so going to enjoy this...

(Flashback)

"Like torturing little girls, do you?" mocked Jessie.

The Teacher had wheeled away from the younger, and struck the elder sister on the cheek with the painstik.  Jessie had gasped, but somehow managed to keep standing. Teacher, enraged at her defiance, had struck her again and again.  Through it all, Jessie refused to cringe, refused to fall to her knees, refused to even cry out.  The Teacher had backed away, suddenly frightened.  Jessie had passed her Trial of the Nine Hells, and if she was damaged or killed now, it would mean that SHE would be the one punished by the elders...  Once a Deathbringer had passed the Nine Hells, until the Time of Ascention, merely weeks away, he or she was sacrosant.  Jessie walked tword the suddenly fearful adult, each step agony...

"You won't hurt my sister anymore.  Do you understand?  Do it again, and I will kill you." Each word was cold and emotionless, and the Teacher was suddenly terrified of this ten year old girl, her weapon limp in her hand.  Jessie struck like a striking cobra, and the painstik was in HER hand.  She raised it against the suddenly horrified and terrified Initiate of Bhaal...

"Get out of my sight."  The Teacher tore her scarlet robes in her haste to run away from Jessie...

Jessie snapped the tough plastic and alloy painstik with her hands, and finally, only now let her sister take her in her arms, and lower her to the ground.  None of the other Children had bothered Jessie and Imoen since they had been 6 years old, and newly arrived at the Creche, because Jessie had taken on anyone who tried to hurt them, or steal their food, and pounded on them until they lay bleeding on the floor.  But after this incident, even more of the younger and weaker Children sought out Jessie for protection, offering the siblings portions of their rations, or any other gift that they could think of.  Of course, two weeks later, the Order had made their assault on the Creche, and everything changed...

(End Flashback)

"Uncle Keldorn, does that mean..." began Nalia hesitantly.

"In return for his help in the final assault on Spidermonkey Island, where the Creche was located, Gorion demanded the full and unconditional release of ten people.  Your father, myself, and a young Druid named Jaheira, no longer need the Crimson Chalice.  I don't really know the others, Gorion never told me who they are.  But that's why Randolf and I've always felt indebted and tried to do what we could to help you both.  Like when the Director of the CIA ordered Imoen's kidnapping..." began Keldorn, looking horribly embarressed.

"But Jes and I took care of it ourselves, without problems."  Imoen had allowed herself be kidnapped, and Director Witherspoon had made the monumental mistake of talking to Imoen in person.  Jessie had been nearby, close enough to telepathically receive her instructions.  Jessie had broken into the CIA's ultra security data vaults (using the information Imoen had lifted off of Witherspoon's mind), and had stolen the "Knock List", the list and contact information on all their active field agents.  Imoen had giggled helplessly when Jes had told her later that as she ghosted out, she had been humming the "Mission Impossible" theme music in her mind.  (They both loved old fashioned classic flatscreen movies.)  Imoen was released, with the two hundred and fifty million ransom payment, and President Jacobson had found the "Knock List" on his chair, in the Oval Office.  Witherspoon had been fired for running a completely illegal and unauthorized mission, and it was the last time that any agency, in any country had tried to "recruit" Jessie without her consent.  Almost a third of the three hundred or so remaining DeathStalkers had been recruited into intelligence agencies all over the world, and the CIA had REALLY wanted a DeathBringer agent.  The United States of North America, highly desirious of avoiding public knowledge of how two young ladies had humilated and outwitted them, had hushed up the entire affair. But this was why Jessie and Imoen refused to operate in the USNA.  Or took American clients.  Until Nalia...

"And?  What happened?" Nalia was naturally curious.

"Sorry Nals, but if I told you...." began Jessie.

"...I'd have to kill you.  Ok, I give up."  Oh well, maybe she'd hear the whole story later.

"No, I'd have to tickle you. Tickle, Tickle, Tickle!" grinned Jessie as she advanced on a smiling and mock-cowering Nalia.

"Can you guys stop with the foreplay?  Ok, Agent Firecam, what about the Druids? What do you know about them?" said Aerie with a smirk.  She now realized why Imoen was teasing Nalia and Jessie, as they both blushed charmingly.  Heh.

"What little I know about the Druids is from Jaheira.  The Druids are like Techno-Ninjas, in that they're almost completely cyborged.  They swear the Oath to the Earth Mother, and vow to sacrifice their humanity for her sake.  They're all heavily armed and armored, with a huge array of implanted weapons.  I know Jaheira packs a x-laser, and a highly illegal maser.  In an effort to counter the supercharged nervous system and combat reflexes of the DeathStalkers, Druids have implanted combat computers that control their bodies when activated by the Druid."

"But battle computer initiated reflexes, attack or defense patterns can't quite match the flexibility and skills of a DeathStalker trained in hand-to-hand.  Anyhu, Jessie can actually move a bit faster than a Druid."

"Wait a second, Uncle Keldorn, you said this Jaheira had an implanted x-laser?  How is that possible?"

In the twenty second century, they had the laser weapons popularized in science fiction movies and books.  But they're not portable weapons.  While a small ring of room temperature superconductor could hold a high enough electrical charge to power such energy hungry devices like a laser, the efficency of the lasing emitter, peaks at around 83% efficiency.  17% of the power was converted into waste heat.  That doesn't sound like much, but when you're talking about a megawatt throughput or greater, after a few shots, the weapon would melt or explode.  So the only way to use lasers in combat is mounted on something like a suit of powered armor, with the ability to unfurl huge heat dissipating vanes, or in fixed installations, with access to a water supply, pumped in to cool the weapon down after each shot.  Masers were another story. Using far less power, a coherent beam of microwaves could be "tuned" to the most efficent frequency to heat water, just like a domestic maser oven.  Highly effective against unprotected troops, a person masered usually died instantly due to shock.  The pain inflicted on someone who's being parboiled from the inside had made masers illegal in almost every civilized country, and outlawed by the Geneva Convention.  Besides, since a simple layer of highly conductive foil defeated most masers, and since this was part of the standard design in most suits of battle armor, it is fairly rare to find a functioning maser weapon in the military today.

"The Order has a laser that produces practically no heat.  Jaheira has a megawatt x-laser and a 300 kilowatt maser built into her left and right hands."

Nalia leaned back and bit her lip.  Wow. Talk about having your entire worldview changed in a few hours.  She really wanted to curl up with a bowl of ice cream, to just sit and think, and organize her questions.  Boy, did she have a lot of them.

I made my first million today, using some of the money we got from our last job.  I researched carefully, made my plans, and when the time came to buy the stocks that were being artificially inflated, I didn't hesitate.  When the time came to sell, I sold the shares just before the bottom dropped out, and  I made a killing!  Then, just to collect the reward money, I made an anonymous call to the International Securities and Exchanges Commission to turn in that bunch of crooks who's caper I had just hijacked.  It was SO much fun!  Jes always says that our fee from our jobs is half my effort, but I've always known better.  It's her that our clients want, her skill, her ability and her sheer guts that has always brought about a successfully completed commission.  Now I'm finally pulling my own weight, I just doubled our assets in a single day. Jessie told me she so proud of me!

There's nothing I wouldn't do for Jes, nothing at all.  Because I love my sister more than anything else.  Our father had always taught us that to be Bhaalspawn and survive, you need two things, money, and powerful friends.  Money is power, and it provides security.  We need powerful friends to shield us from the inevitable enemies.  Some of our brothers and sisters have turned to crime to survive, and they're doing quite well.  But Gorion was right, you can't let down your guard for a moment in that kind of a life, you always have to sleep with one eye open.  Others have sold out to various intelligence agencies or merc groups for protection, but we're not going to do that.  We'll carve out our own way in the world, we're not going to put the slave collar back on, not now, not ever.

January 3, 2150 : From the personal diary of Imoen Gorionova Suvarov

...the best estimate of their personal fortune is at least half a billion to two billion.  They are in fact richer than many of the wealtiest men and women on Earth.  So why do they still accept commissions?  As you all know, the details of a commission are private, but just by looking at their Client list, we know they've pulled some very highly placed asses out of the fire.  Dozens of very large companies, whole countries have personal obligations to Jessie and Imoen Gorionova, above and beyond their fees.  Those powerful and influential Clients know beyond a shadow of a doubt that absolutely no one else could have solved their problem so quickly, effectively and discretely.  To the men and women in the highest corridors of power that's worth far more than mere money.  In fact, I know that you, the reader of this confidential report, are aware of the favors owed to the sisters Gorionova by the Guild itself.  What then is the purpose of this report?  The motivation behind their actions?  Well, that's rather obvious.  By being indebted by so many of the wealthy and powerful, they buy themselves security, and influence.  We know they're not interested in acumulating political power, so our conclusion is that they're just interested in being left alone.  By having powerful friends they insure that any action taken against them through conventional channels is doomed to fail.  Don't antagonize them, and don't mess with them.  That is our unanimous conclusion.

Jessie and Imoen Gorionova Suvarov. A Confidential Assessment: by Michael Hoare, prepared for the Mercenary Guild, Classification X-Ray Black.


?Hey, Jes, your turn to jabber your head off.  I need to get some work done, ?kay?? said Imoen after the laughter (finally) died down.  Jessie nodded, as Imoen headed off to the back of the plane.  She knew that look, and the look she returned to Imoen was a warning to at least TRY to avoid breaking any laws on international commerce.

?Ok, where were we?? asked Jessie.

?Urm, Jessie, you were unconscious, weren?t you?? asked Nalia, perplexed.

?Yeah, but I've been fading in and out for a while now.  Been listening to you guys.  Nally, did you know you whistle between your teeth when you?re concentrating??

?I do not!? replied Nalia indignantly.  She smiled back when she saw Jessie?s grin.  Jessie Gorionova pushed all her buttons.  Little Nalia, who on her tippie toes reached five feet four inches, realized she was going all to pieces around Jessie.  It really wasn?t like she had no experience in crushes, or beautiful women.  Nalia De?Arnise was?not a virgin.  She had run through about half a dozen girlfriends in her twenty two years of life, and about three times that many casual encounters.  The slightly bored socialite, spoilt rich girl with a giggle-for-every-occasion image she had so carefully cultivated had gotten her into the pants of more women than anyone would believe. Of course, a rich, famous father helped.  But all her carefully constructed tricks and techniques she had devised to seduce women who would normally be beyond her reach, she just didn?t want to play the games anymore.  Jessie Gorionova just made them all seem silly.  She found herself actually feeling awkward and tongue-tied around her, and the prattle she had learned from the husband-hunting young women she had grown up with seemed incredibly insipid and stupid right here and now.

In truth, Nalia was quite charming, a little naive and highly cute.  She was a terrible actress, and an even worse liar, so when she tried to pretend to be the giggly, brainless, easy-lay socialite, most people saw through after a while.  The girls that Nalia had dated could never quite figure out why Nalia adopted such a pose, because the real Nalia was quite adorable.  When she forgot herself and dropped the act, she was such a totally cute nerd, friendly, disarmingly honest and almost irresistible when she smiled. Toss in her playful enthusiasm for sex, and it was no wonder that Nalia got so much "action".  One of her ex-girlfriends, a physics major, had called her ?Little Miss Quark Panties? because like a quark, Nalia?s underthings were always spinning, (Nalia undressed quickly, and tended to toss her clothes all over the place.) and colorful, like a quark.(Quarks have a third property, besides "Spin" and "Color", which had made Nalia blush when she had learned of her new nickname among her college friends.  She had only worn edible undies only once in her life! Quarks have "Flavor".)  Nalia had pretended to like that risqué nickname, but in reality it embarrassed her.  That relationship didn?t last very long, though inevitably, after at most a few months, Nalia would have broken it off herself.  She just couldn?t stay with one girl for very long, despite often wistfully wishing that she could.

Nalia had lived her whole life inside the ?Masquerade? and she could never fully trust a lover with the knowledge that she was probably the last living Gibson. Only her family, and Uncle Keldorn?s knew her true identity.  When the Gibson massacres happened, it shocked and horrified the world.  The survivors were hunted down, and?exterminated.  But Jessie and Imoen and the rest, they simply didn?t care what she was. Of course the Bhaalspawn had a reputation almost as bad as the Gibsons.  Bhaalspawn was synonymous with major crime figures.  But everyone knew that Gibsons were insane, homicidal monsters who would chop up friend or family without turning a hair, giggling insanely all the while. In a world where almost all mental diseases were treated with a simple implant delivering tailored doses of smart drugs that fixed the problem without side effects, the Gibsons were the stuff of nightmares. So even among other rich kids, who also lived in the Masquerade, she could never reveal the truth.  She settled for brief physical intimacy, and never dared to let them get in close enough to learn the truth.  She couldn?t bear to see the horror and repugnance in their eyes.

Jessie on the other hand was quite charmed by Nalia De?Arnise.  She was brainy, and ballsy, and without the pretense that drove her wild.  She was precisely who she seemed to be, without trying to tailor her personality to whatever she thought Jessie would want.  She was a cute and charming little girl.   Emphasis on little.  Jessie decided that there was no way in the world she was going to screw up Nalia?s life by letting her get too close. It had been almost six years since Jessie had lost Samantha Sutherland. It still hurt after all this time, and though intellectually she knew it wasn't her fault, her heart still didn't know better. The wounds were still fresh in her soul, and Nalia didn't deserve anyone that damaged.  She was too cute and gentle for that.  And she was an excellent kisser, though she had ended their smooch back in Japan before Jessie had a chance to relax and enjoy it.  And she had a wonderful smile, which kinda reminded her of the happy times, early in their relationship, when Samantha's entire face would light up at seeing Jessie.  Nalia was really quite adorable.

Imoen smiled evilly in the small office built near the cockpit.  She flicked with her fingernail the small datachip she had grabbed out of the security console.  It contained the footage from her sister's wardrobe disaster, and she tried to figure out a plausible way to get it into Nalia's hot little hands.  Imoen didn't telepathically scan her sister's mind, unless it was necessary to communicate without speaking or to rapidly exchange lots of information in a tactical situation.  But there was always a deep empathic link between the two of them that allowed Imoen to feel Jessie's emotions and vice versa. Her sister needed to get laid, and it was obviously the duty of Jessie's little sister to do whatever was necessary, including stripping Nalia naked, pouring warm massage oil all over her body and tossing her into Jessie's room.  Handcuffed, maybe?  Her beloved sister had mourned enough, it was getting annoying, and boring.  A cute twenty-ish nymphet like Nalia was just what she needed to get rid of those dark moods that Jessie had when she was alone.  Those moods scared Imoen. The number of them had decreased in the years after that no-good bitch had killed herself, and good riddance, but here were still too many of them for Imoen's peace of mind. Well, if Jessie's fabulous body and innate sex appeal didn't work, she was going to have to take steps.  Back to those shares...

Imoen's fingers blurred over the old fashioned keyboard as she bought shares of Nippon Electric.  Nippon Products, the parent company for Nippon Electric was playing the badger game with a vengence.  If a company wanted people to believe that they had made a major technological development, when they HADN'T, they would hire a high reputation security consulting firm like Troubleshooters to upgrade their security, to keep out industrial spies.  When word got out, this would artificially raise the price of their stock, allowing them to make a killing when they sold shares on the international stock exchanges. If they had made a genuine breakthrough, they'd do things extremely quietly, sequestering the scientists in a deep cover "black" facility, like the Nippon Product's Hokkaido facility, and do their best to brush out their tracks. This would allow a company to buy back shares on the quiet, and make a killing later.  Nippon Products had not done things quietly, and analysts had already speculated that this was yet another fake out from a company already deep in financial trouble.  But the new room temperature superconductor fabrication process was real, and because the major players had already begun to sell out large portions of their holdings, Nippon Products had already made major purchases quietly.  When the news got out that the X-56-C spec. was real, there was going to be a major run on Nippon Products stock.  Imoen began to instruct her anonymous proxys to start buying shares.  This was going to at least triple her and Jessie's fortune, and an evil, faintly satanic grin lit up her face as her fingers started tapping away, as millions of Neo-Euros began to change hands.  Best of all, it wasn't even illegal...so why was it so much fun?  

Oh wait, it was illegal to trade on insider information.  Ok, Imoen felt better, as she finished buying about four hundred million in public shares.  She leaned back in her chair.  That was about a third of their assets, but that's what she liked to do, bet on sure things.  Imoen's tummy rumbled.  Her concern over Jessie had kept her from noticing that her stomach was protesting over her neglect.  Ok, they won, and no one was dead.  That made them Big. Damned. Heroes.  And heroes get good grub and the guys...ok, in Jessie's case, the girls.  Not that she ever had any problem before.  Not only was she aesthetically PERFECT, she projected...desirability.  She couldn't help it, her projective empathic ability continually broadcast...want.  People wanted her, people desired her, people loved her.  They couldn't help themselves.  And Jessie couldn't stop it, it was practically hardwired into her brain.  An assassin with the ability to make anyone she had ever met want to be her friend, want her as a lover could penetrate any defenses, any security force.  And Jessie had been designed as the ultimate assassin...but what does Jessie want?  

What Jessie needed  was a good meal. (Disregarding any deeply introspective thoughts on her sister's emotional needs, Imoen knew her sister was starving.)  No, an exceptional meal.  Every time they returned from a long job, Vicky would make for them a feast.  This time though...

"Hey Vicky, how's things? Yeah, things got just a bit scary for a while...Yep, as usual we kicked their asses...but Jessie got hurt, and she's healing which means she's really hungry...crottled greeps?  How many?  How much?  No prob, buy them all.  And giant lobster?  Alright! Knock yourself out, Vicks.  Buy whatever you want!  Guest list is just two.  And desert? Yay!  Break out the good wine, Vicks.  All right, three and a half hours.  Good, thanks!"

Imoen stuck her head out the entrance of her small office, and saw Nalia looking at Jessie's Totem.  Jessie had modesty covered up her legs with a blanket, and pulled down her sweatpants and her panties just enough for Nalia to look.  Five of the seven Deathbringers had a Totem and all seven had a Sigil.  Jessie's Totem was the Spindizzy, and her Sigil was the Mirror Maze.  Spindizzy was represented by the image on Jessie's left thigh of a whirligig pattern of black lines. When she was given Spindizzy, once the implant was inserted into her body and the device had sent out parts of itself to integrate fully with the nervous system of its new host, the tatoo-like design formed itself over the Totem, on her left hip. Spindizzy didn't have the flash and impact of the other Totems, like the Chaos Shield of the late Saravok Anchev, or Illasera's Huntress, but used by Jessie, it was incredibly powerful.  The Spindizzy allowed her to control localized gravity and inertia.  She could reduce her weight to almost nothing, or increase it to five times normal.  She hadn't needed the tether-jump equipment to penetrate Nippon Electric's Kyoto Research Facility, she had used it merely to hide her ability, something that both sisters did instinctively.  She could jump hundreds of yards into the air, effortlessly, and tricks like instantly changing her center of gravity came easily to her.  That last ability didn't sound like much, but to a martial artist, that was...indecently effective.  Certainly the most underestimated Totem, it proved decisive against the powerful Chaos Shield of Sarevok.  The Chaos Shield gave Sarevok 9 seconds of a focused gravity plane at full charge, with over a million G gradient from center to edge.  It was the ultimate shield, capable of deflecting even laser weapons, and vaporizing any material projectile that came in contact with the circular field.  It could be used offensively, the tidal forces shredding any enemy Sarevok could reach. When they had hunted down Sarevok, it was only Jessie's unpredicable movement, completely ignoring the laws of inertia and balance, that confused and threw off Sarevok's attacks long enough for her to maneuver him to step on a small, precisely positioned puddle of grease, causing him to slip off the roof of the zeppelin transport "Baldur" at twenty thousand feet.  All five of the Totems were tremendously powerful.  They had been recovered from the bodies of the last Bhaal aliens, each implant created by a science that even the Order could barely understand.  

The Sigil was the psychic power that each of the Deathbringers were designed for.  Once again, like her Totem, Jessie's Sigil was perceived as being weaker than the others.  Mirror Maze was very powerful, it had a tremendous area of coverage, it was highly effective against those trained in combat, and the insidiously subtle nature made it very effective.  It was the only Power that wasn't immediately detectable in use unlike the others, allowing her to use it without a foe realizing that his/her alertness and focus had been silently leeched away. Certainly, for example the Blood Dragon of Abazigal was more impressive...the snivelling little coward.  Like Jessie, Abazigal was a projective empath, and he could broadcast fear. But Abazigal had to at least partially feel the emotion he projected...the more afraid he was, the more it enhanced his Power.  The Iron Throne of Sarevok had made him a commander to fear...his troops were drawn to Saravok's immense charisma, a general born and bred to lead. Of the surviving Deathbringers, neither Abazigal nor Sendai had Totems, they had never undergone the Rite of the Nine Hells.  But Abazigal had looted the last suit of Dragon Armor left in existence from the ruins of the Creche, and Sendai had the last Star Sword. Both devices were as powerful as a Totem, and like the Totems, made at the Bhaal homeworld, using manufacturing techniques and parts unduplicatable on Earth.

Imoen shut down her terminal, and reaching for the hidden drawer in her desk, pulled out a bar of free fall chocholate and a flask of smoke whiskey.  The chocolate was her private stash, the flask Jessie's, and Imoen broke off a hunk, to fool her stomach.  Jessie had finished off most of the snacks Jan had gathered, and the remainder was inedible even in her state of hunger.  Her face was a bit tight, and Imoen could feel her pain.  She didn't show it of course, her sister was always a bit too brave for her own good.  Most normal painkillers didn't work on the Children of Bhaal, nor did most poisons.  But alcohol did.

"Hey, Nalia, go ahead and kiss it." Imoen smirked.  Unlike Spindizzy, which was only four inches wide, the "tattoo" for Mirror Maze covered most of Jessie's lower back, and half her buttocks. The intricate whirligig of fractal designs and mandalas drew the eye, the hypnotic fascination it exerted was difficult to break.  But she could tell that the view of Jessie's butt was what was really making Nalia look closely at her sister's body...

Jessie pulled up her sweatpants, and glared at her sister.  Imoen handed over the bar of freefall chocolate to a furiously blushing Nalia, and sitting down next to Jes, opened up the flask.  Freefall chocolate and smoke whiskey was expensive, even to the rich, and a treat.  Orbital facilities selectively flipped the isomers and soluble lipids in both products, producing the wonderful, distinctive taste.  Nalia looked blankly at the bar, then finally getting her mind past the breathtaking view of Jessie's panties, broke off a piece, passed the rest to Aerie.  She chewed the dark confection with a look of utter bliss.  Jessie leaned against Imoen, and drained most of the flask in several gulps.  Everyone else shook their heads as she held out the flask, to Imoen's disapproving look.  Jan and Minsc were aware that Jessie was in discomfort, and so was Keldorn.  Jes finished off the flask, to Imoen's approval.

"Ok, Nalia, did you get a good chance to oogle my sister?  Good.  Heh...um...Nalia, do you have a tattoo?  Come on, really? Liar."  Imoen liked teasing Nalia.  It was so easy to get her to blush...

Nalia shook her head violently.  In fact, unknown to her "uncle" Keldorn and her father, she did have a tattoo, one of the latest programmable ones.  She had been very drunk, and Kathy had promised her a wonderful time afterwards if she got one. She did, and it was. It covered her lower back, in fact it was approximately the same size as Mirror Maze.  But the implanted color changing crystals could download any graphic, and right now....right now it was showing Jessie's face and torso, and those perfect breasts in all their glory.  Revealing to Imoen that all she could think about was her sister topless was not good.