she ripped a hole in the world and stepped through into another place.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Shara said, once Cerice had gone. “I didn’t think she’d bring the argument through when she joined us here.”
I kept silent. Cerice had never been the sort to let a little thing like propriety get in the way of winning a point, but I felt too bad for both of them to mention it.
“What did she mean by that?” I asked.
“By what?” replied Shara.
“Her comment about the ‘others.’ For that matter, I’d like to hear more about what’s been done to my sword.” I found the changed color—so like crystallized blood—unsettling.
“The two are related actually,” said Shara. “Do you remember my mentioning that I couldn’t be sure about my commands sticking? Well, that goes beyond programming. I’m having problems with the other Furies. Neither Alecto nor Megaera acknowledges my authority as a proxy for Necessity. In fact, since I brought Cerice on board, they’ll hardly even speak to me.”
“I don’t get it.” Melchior frowned. “I thought the Furies more or less had to obey direct orders from Necessity and that you were in a position to give them.”
“They do, and I could force the issue if I dared to access the part of the system that holds the control channel for the Furies. But after what happened the day you two got sent off to the Norse MythOS, I’ve kept pretty much all of the entry points to critical control subsystems locked down hard. Since my spiritware is running primarily on the security network, I can be fairly certain that will prevent any of the other entities running around inside Necessity from getting access. The problem is that if I lower the barriers even a little bit, say enough to allow me access . . .”
“Everybody else might get in, too,” I said. “But what’s all that got to do with Occam?”
“First,” said Shara, “if you’re really going to help, you need access to everything, even places I currently can’t reach. Second, when you use that access, you run a significant risk of pissing off Megaera and Alecto.”
“So, what? Are you trying to tell me my sword is now some kind of skeleton key for all of reality? And a Fury-slayer to boot?” I was joking when I said it, but Shara just nodded. I sat back down. Hard. “You’re kidding, right? You wouldn’t really just hand someone of my reputation that kind of power.”
Shara nodded. “And no strings attached. I can’t make you as physically strong or fast as a Fury, nor give you any other special powers without accessing systems I don’t dare touch. But the real Necessity left me half a loophole in the shape of your sword, and Tisiphone’s absence opened that loophole the rest of the way by giving me a Fury willing to trust me. Occam was designed to give limited access to the admin powers of the Furies and as a weapon that could do real damage to Nemesis.”
“And Cerice amped that power up somehow?” asked Melchior.
“Yes and no,” said Shara. “The innate similarity between Nemesis and the Furies has always meant that Occam had the potential to be a particularly dangerous tool against them. Likewise, it’s always had the potential to provide virtually unfettered access to the workings of Necessity.”
“Okay, I’m officially lost,” I said. “What exactly did Cerice do?”
“Something Tisiphone never would have done voluntarily—lent you her keys.” Shara leaned back and cocked her head to the side, waiting.
“I still don’t . . . Oh.” I felt my eyes widen. “Oh my. That’s really clever. Biometric-password safeguards?”
Shara nodded and smiled. “Plus the sword as physical key. It’s a two-factor system.”
“What are you talking about?” demanded Melchior.
“Shara doesn’t dare open up any of the really important systems in case the other minds of Necessity use her gateway to make a move for greater control,” I said, still
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Shara said, once Cerice had gone. “I didn’t think she’d bring the argument through when she joined us here.”
I kept silent. Cerice had never been the sort to let a little thing like propriety get in the way of winning a point, but I felt too bad for both of them to mention it.
“What did she mean by that?” I asked.
“By what?” replied Shara.
“Her comment about the ‘others.’ For that matter, I’d like to hear more about what’s been done to my sword.” I found the changed color—so like crystallized blood—unsettling.
“The two are related actually,” said Shara. “Do you remember my mentioning that I couldn’t be sure about my commands sticking? Well, that goes beyond programming. I’m having problems with the other Furies. Neither Alecto nor Megaera acknowledges my authority as a proxy for Necessity. In fact, since I brought Cerice on board, they’ll hardly even speak to me.”
“I don’t get it.” Melchior frowned. “I thought the Furies more or less had to obey direct orders from Necessity and that you were in a position to give them.”
“They do, and I could force the issue if I dared to access the part of the system that holds the control channel for the Furies. But after what happened the day you two got sent off to the Norse MythOS, I’ve kept pretty much all of the entry points to critical control subsystems locked down hard. Since my spiritware is running primarily on the security network, I can be fairly certain that will prevent any of the other entities running around inside Necessity from getting access. The problem is that if I lower the barriers even a little bit, say enough to allow me access . . .”
“Everybody else might get in, too,” I said. “But what’s all that got to do with Occam?”
“First,” said Shara, “if you’re really going to help, you need access to everything, even places I currently can’t reach. Second, when you use that access, you run a significant risk of pissing off Megaera and Alecto.”
“So, what? Are you trying to tell me my sword is now some kind of skeleton key for all of reality? And a Fury-slayer to boot?” I was joking when I said it, but Shara just nodded. I sat back down. Hard. “You’re kidding, right? You wouldn’t really just hand someone of my reputation that kind of power.”
Shara nodded. “And no strings attached. I can’t make you as physically strong or fast as a Fury, nor give you any other special powers without accessing systems I don’t dare touch. But the real Necessity left me half a loophole in the shape of your sword, and Tisiphone’s absence opened that loophole the rest of the way by giving me a Fury willing to trust me. Occam was designed to give limited access to the admin powers of the Furies and as a weapon that could do real damage to Nemesis.”
“And Cerice amped that power up somehow?” asked Melchior.
“Yes and no,” said Shara. “The innate similarity between Nemesis and the Furies has always meant that Occam had the potential to be a particularly dangerous tool against them. Likewise, it’s always had the potential to provide virtually unfettered access to the workings of Necessity.”
“Okay, I’m officially lost,” I said. “What exactly did Cerice do?”
“Something Tisiphone never would have done voluntarily—lent you her keys.” Shara leaned back and cocked her head to the side, waiting.
“I still don’t . . . Oh.” I felt my eyes widen. “Oh my. That’s really clever. Biometric-password safeguards?”
Shara nodded and smiled. “Plus the sword as physical key. It’s a two-factor system.”
“What are you talking about?” demanded Melchior.
“Shara doesn’t dare open up any of the really important systems in case the other minds of Necessity use her gateway to make a move for greater control,” I said, still
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