Even though it was dark, Hiro could tell he was in a wooden cage. There was straw in the floor poking his fur. He could heard the sound of horses. The cage was covered with canvas, the road was uneven and rocky.
At this stage, The Duchess and Lady Justine would have noticed the absence of the Gray Area. Gearhaven Security Protocols would have been activated. The Duchess was aware but Justine may not have been briefed.
The Cloning Lab in Tannhäuser was programmed to produce a clone of the Duke, if he was missing after 72 hours. The clone would have generalized memories up until the last upload date. Superficially, this Clone would have Hiro’s skills, memories and personality. However, for security reasons certain memories and knowledge was not uploaded. This was to protect the Duchy from a hack or catastrophic theft.
The Forked Hiro would think he is Hiro. There would be two entities and eventually would combine memories. The deep secrets of the house. The magic, the location of certain weapons, the strategy for the Duchy. Much of this would be vague, if not unknown, to the clone. Most importantly, the ritual of the Order, the passcodes for the caliphate--those would be unknown. Also the combination and passcodes to the ST vaults would be unknown to this clone, the memories blocked.
Hiro rolled over, looked out of the cage. There was a small gap where the canvas was tied to the cage. They were entering a city. Earthen walls and structures. Hiro tried to make out any landmarks. It was all foreign. The wagon became to roll in a smoother fashion as they moved on to a better roadway. The leopard's tail twitched slowly as he was thinking.
Elsewhere...Tannhäuser Station circles the rift. in the Cloning Lab, a display lights up, flashing red in distress. No one observes.
Tannhäuser Error Message Critical Fault@@Elsewhere...
Axolotl tanks running low.
Please renew supply prior to completing Cloning and Replication process.
@@ Tannhäuser Error Message Confirm Poison Pill Passcode to prevent proactive closing of gate.
ΦΑ : 618 ξαοθς
=:≫≫≫≫φ2900
Time for correction 72 hours.
End of transmission - GH Security Protocol 3568.φψΔΞ
The Duchess was trying to explain, for the third time, the difference between a pentacle and a pentagram to the kittens. She heard a bell sound, touching the comm device in her ear.
"Attention: ST inter dimensional fund transfers are prohibited until a routine leadership authentication is complete."
She blinked. What on earth...
"@ emilly
@ justinejohndory
All ST outposts are advised to go to lockdown local operations. ST base reality override in effect, Gearhaven Prime, the Expanse, Metropolis, Caledon, Oceanpoint, Carcosa Station, Tännhauser, No Man Sky Pharms and Mining operations in Euclid Galaxy and Armada are confirmed secure."
"Good," she murmured, mostly to herself. She stood, moving to the teleport circle in the nursery.
"The Ozian, Arrakis, Mos Eisley, Culture and Demonic Embassies are off line."
She stopped, blinking. The Sphinx-Templar Syndicate had an embassy in Oz? Since when?? And where??
Right. That's it, she decided. Tannhäuser Station it was, she needed a terminal.
By the time she arrived at the station, things were definitely...amiss. For one, it was colder than it usually was, and with a shudder, she sprouted fur, her festival batiks changed for a simpler dress. For two, Hiro was there, punching buttons on the flight deck, smiling when he saw her.
Her face lit up for a moment. "Oh! You're--" And the penny dropped. You're you, she thought. But not you. Oh, this is gonna get weird...
"Hey, so...What is a poison pill passcode? And what does that mean, 'prevent closing of gate'?" He pointed at one of the display screens.
"I--"
"Does it mean like 'THE GATE'?"
"The Gate?" She was confused by the emphasis. She was confused by the clone. Why the hell was the witch bomb activating in Stormhold? Where, in point of fact, was the Duke??
(Continued in part VI.)
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