MISC: The Girl Who Saved the World Part 46

[George Phillies]

“We should,” Starsmasher agreed, “except for the minor detail of finding 
her.  Assuming it is actually a her and not a cleverly disguised him. 
The resources of most of the League, though less than that guiding 
genius Dreikirch thinks, are behind this search.  Surely it will bye and 
bye succeed? My resources are devoted to this issue, though I have 
another so-to-speak problem.  Have any of you been following the 
screaming and raving between Argentina and Brazil over the giant sky 
octopi?”

“Giant sky octopi?” Prince Mong-ku asked. He perched his chin on his 
long fingers.  “Did I sleep through those, too?  I have been elsewise 
occupied, casting the runes for the return of the three whose names are 
not to be spoken. There seems to be no change over the past century, or 
even the past millennium.”

“Do tell,” Plasmatrix said.  “I’ve been busy with other matters, too.”
Starsmasher forced a smile.  The Lords of Eternity were undoubtedly the 
most powerful personae in the world, not to mention having access to 
technologies and libraries undrempt of by normal men, but sometimes they 
seemed a bit distracted from reality.

“I’ve seen press reports,” Colonel Pi said. Starsmasher bit his tongue. 
Pi resented meetings as events that took him away from his important 
tasks, notably advancing the security of the House That Is Forever. If 
he was also perpetually trying to gain a deeper understanding of gifts 
and their mechanisms,  one could either say that he knew more than 
anyone else, or that he had made almost no progress. “The photographs 
are very strange indeed. Shall I try reassembling them?”

“Reassemble?” Plasmatrix asked.  “Aren’t honest photographs good enough, 
well, up to image enhancement?”

“The images don’t make sense,” Starsmasher said.  “Solid bodies can’t do 
those things, and holograms can’t bite holes in buildings. The concern 
is that the Argentines claim the octopi are some Brazilian construct, 
and are lapsing toward war.”

“We are too close to a polar conjunction,” Prince Mong-Ku responded. 
“The runes are very clear. We cannot afford to have a major commotion 
when one of those who are not to be named returns. Perhaps a war between 
Argentina and Brazil is not so bad?”

“The Argentines are not alone,” Starsmasher said.  “They have solid 
American backing.  After centuries of isolationism, the American 
Republic is emerging from its tortise shell, not at the most helpful 
possible moment. The Brazilians have Portuguese and hence English 
backing, and the IncoAztecan Empire may well see an opportunity to 
improve its northern border, so soon as the Americans appear to have 
entangled themselves in a foreign altercation.”

“How convenient,” Plasmatrix said. She sounded unconvinced.

“I glanced at the photos,” Colonel Pi said. His beard ruffled the 
uppermost corners of his laboratory coat.  The garment was royal blue, 
with rows of arcane symbols stitched into every seam.  His seal, the 
variant pi character in dark blue on a light blue  circle, was 
emblazoned on his  lapels. “If they are real, the object -- sky octopus 
or whatever -- is clearly at least quadridimensional.  That’s assuming 
that the images are not a clever fake.”

“If you want fake evidence to start a war, “ Solara said, “why fake 
evidence of something completely crazy? Why not fake evidence of the 
other side’s Persona Corps conducting atrocities?”

“See,” Plasmatrix said, “the evidence has been planned to be so crazy 
that people can only think that the photographs must be real.”

Prince Mong-Ku buried his face in his hands. “Plasmatrix? You have 
another one of those espionage schemes, one in which absolutely anything 
might be true and facts lose all meaning? Yes, I know you solve these 
puzzles.  Still! “

“There are also the combat troops that appear with the sky octopi,” 
Starsmasher said.  “They appear to have very strange gifts, ones that do 
not match anything we routinely distribute to the hoi polloi.  Indeed, 
some of the apparent gifts don’t resemble anything that I can identify.”

Prince Mong-Ku tried to sound patient. “In any event, Colonel Pi might 
usefully try to reassemble the images of the sky octopi, and someone 
might stand ready to be teleported to the scene of the next event, to 
capture a few of the perpetrators. Are we good with this?” Heads nodded. 
“Is there anything else on our plate? Anything that can’t wait until the 
next meeting?” Heads shook.  In that case, I believe that we have 
reached my breakfast time, so we must be adjourned.”