The Demi-Monde: Summer Read online

  First published in Great Britain in 2013 by

  Quercus

  55 Baker Street

  7th Floor, South Block

  London

  W1U 8EW

  Copyright © 2013 by Rod Rees

  Artwork copyright © 2013 by Nigel Robinson

  The moral right of Rod Rees to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  A CIP catalogue reference for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978 1 84916 505 1 (HB)

  ISBN 978 1 84916 506 8 (TPB)

  ISBN 978 1 84916 663 8 (EBOOK)

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  You can find this and many other great books at:

  www.quercusbooks.co.uk and

  www.jofletcherbooks.com

  Rod Rees has spent his life travelling throughout Africa, the Middle East, Bangladesh and Russia, and consequently found himself living in Qatar, Tehran and Moscow. He has built pharmaceutical factories in Dhaka, set up a satellite communication network in Moscow, and conceived and designed a jazz-themed hotel in the UK.

  Now a full-time writer, Rod lives near Derby, England, with his wife Nelli and their two children.

  Also by Rod Rees

  The Demi Monde:

  Winter

  Spring

  Contents

  Report to the Grand Council

  The Demi-Monde: The Novel

  Prologue

  Part One: Summer Comes

  Part Two: The Forbidding Palace

  Part Three: The Column of Loci

  Part Four: The Battle for the Coven

  Part Five: The Séance and the Rise of Duke William

  Part Six: The Escape from the Forbidding City

  Part Seven: Victory in the Coven and in the ForthRight

  Part Eight: Lammas Eve

  Epilogue 1

  Epilogue 2

  Glossary 1: The Demi-Monde

  Glossary 2: The Real World

  Appendix

  The Most Secret Order of Grigori

  1 November 2018

  I have been asked to report regarding the difficulties currently being experienced with the Demi–Monde Project and the impact these difficulties might present vis–à–vis the achieving of the Final Solution.

  As the Grand Council knows, using the world’s first quantum computer, ABBA, an engine of immense processing power, we have developed the Demi–Monde, the most sophisticated virtual world ever conceived. Recognising that such an ambitious undertaking would be extraordinarily difficult to conceal – especially as it involved the clandestine accessing of DNA data – we chose to disguise the Demi–Monde’s true purpose by persuading the US military to adopt the simulation as a training ground for their neoFights.

  Using this subterfuge we have populated the Demi–Monde with thirty million digital duplicates of living people – Dupes – six million of whom possess the genetic signature identifying them as proto–Grigorian. In the five years since the initiation of the Demi–Monde Project these Dupes have been subject to intense conditioning, notably regarding their appetite for blood and their living in a high–stress environment. The final step in producing the desired level of genetic mutation will however require them to be exposed to a level of Cavoritic radiation similar in magnitude to that experienced during the meteor strike of 1795, and, as it has proved impossible to fabricate Cavorite in quantity in the Real World, to achieve this intensity it has been necessary to recreate this singular element virtually in the Demi–Monde. To this end a Cavorite (or Mantle–ite, as it is known in the Demi–Monde) reactor – the Great Pyramid – has been built in the region of the Demi–Monde known as Terror Incognita. Unfortunately the triggering device – the Column of Loci – designed to activate this reactor has been waylaid by the Dupe known as Ella Thomas.

  Ella Thomas was introduced into the Demi–Monde ostensibly to rescue Norma Williams, the daughter of the US President, herself lured into the Demi–Monde to prevent the US military closing down the Project. To ensure this rescue mission failed, we made strenuous efforts to have a wholly ineffectual individual selected for the task, but as we have belatedly discovered, Thomas is a Lilithi, the most powerful and dangerous enemy of the Grigori. During her sojourn in the Demi–Monde the girl’s dormant Lilithian abilities were resuscitated, and thus empowered she has taken control of Venice, her intention now being to ally Venice with NoirVille (the vehemently misogynistic Afro-Arabic Sector of the Demi–Monde), such a move having the potential to fundamentally change the Demi–Monde’s politico–military status quo. But worse, Venice is also where the Column of Loci is being held, the upshot being that Ella Thomas (or Doge IMmanual as she is now known) has control of the Column, a wholly unacceptable situation.

  (En passant, it should be noted that the one positive aspect of the rise of Ella Thomas is that her relationship with the Dupe known as Vanka Maykov, a glib Russian psychic, seems to be over. Maykov was seen as a disruptive influence in the Demi–Monde but now it appears he has been forced to flee to the JAD, the homeland of the Demi–Monde’s faux–Jewish diaspora, the nuJus.)

  Compounding these difficulties, Norma Williams has also proven to be more capable than her Real World reputation had led us to expect. Aided and abetted by Burlesque Bandstand, an amoral petty criminal, and Odette Aroca, a truculent French dissident, she has been proselytising the virtues of non-violence and passive resistance, a philosophy known as Normalism. This has had an unsettling effect on the Dupes inhabiting the Demi–Monde, though now Williams has been abducted by Empress Wu and taken to the Coven (the rabidly feminist Sino–Japanese Sector of the Demi–Monde) it is hoped that her baleful influence has been terminated.

  Finally, I must report my disappointment with Reinhard Heydrich, the PreLived Singularity (über–psychopath) seeded into the Demi–Monde to take control of the world on our behalf. Despite his early promise (his taking control of two of the Demi–Monde’s five Sectors to form the Anglo-Russian empire known as the ForthRight being a prime example), of late he has faltered. This is most marked in his failure to motivate the team of scientists we have provided him with to perfect the Plague weapon which is so vital to the successful implementation of the Final Solution, an incompetence also signalled by his StormTroopers being discomfited by the rebel aristo Trixie Dashwood in the Battle for Warsaw. As Dashwood has now been appointed head of the Covenite army, it is hoped that Heydrich is more effective in his handling of her during the forthcoming invasion of the Coven by the ForthRight.

  I acknowledge that a superficial perusal of the above could lead to the conclusion that the setbacks suffered by the Grigori have been many and grievous, but this is not the case. Progress in the Real World has been rapid. Aaliz Heydrich, the daughter of Reinhard Heydrich, has replaced Norma Williams here in the Real World, the Fun/Funs organisation she established goes from strength to strength, and arrangements for the Gathering, the bringing together of all the Fun/Fun members and their parents – the individuals the proto–Grigorian Dupes were based upon – in order that they might be genetically reprogrammed, are well in hand. And with respect to the situation in the Demi–Monde the Grand Council should be aware that I will be personally interv
ening in the affairs of that virtual world to ensure that remedial action is taken to resolve the minor reverses we have suffered. This being the case, I most strenuously request that the Grand Council does NOT see fit to order a Temporal Modulation to retro–remedy the situation: as we have learned to our cost, the finessing of Temporal Modulations is very difficult and it may be that rather than alleviating the situation it serves only to exacerbate it.

  In sum, I do not believe there has been any material impact on the timetable set for the Final Solution which proceeds inexorably towards the planned execution date of 30 April 2019.

  I remain Your Humble Servant,

  Professor Septimus Bole

  Prologue

  Rangoon, the Coven The Demi-Monde: 1st Day of Summer, 1005 … a few minutes after midnight

  Of all the opponents of HerEticalism, perhaps the most dogged and the most troublesome has been the SheTong, a rebel group which seeks to overthrow Her Divine Majesty Empress Wu; subvert the One True Religion, HerEticalism; and prevent Demi-Mondian Femmes entering the glorious state of MostBien. The SheTong is led by Su Xiaoxiao – former concubine of that arch-paternalist and enemy of all Femmes, the pigEmperor Qin Shi Huang, may his soul roast in Hel – a demented and unbalanced Femme unable to throw off the shackles of the specious sociocultural misogynist construct that is heterosexual sex. All members of the ChangGang Security Force are urged to make every effort to locate and destroy Su Xiaoxiao – who has been classified as the Coven’s Public Enemy Number One – and her pernicious and destructive organisation.

  Circular to all Officers of the ChangGang Security Force signed by Imperial Secretary, NoN Mao ZeDong

  Those who would kill must nurture patience.

  Su Xiaoxiao waited.

  Serene.

  Silent.

  Still.

  Standing formless as smoke, merging into the emptiness of the night.

  All her will was concentrated on gauging the correct moment to move. And to do this, she had to have perfect control of her Qi, channelling the energy of the Living until she became one with the Nothingness. As she had been trained, she regulated her breathing, slowing the beat of her body clock, allowing wu wei – the effortless inaction of the enlightened soul – to suffuse her mind and her body. She felt herself relax as her body remembered that the harder one tries, the more resistance one creates for oneself.

  And as she always did before battle, she found comfort in the words of her great mentor, Sun Tzu.

  The Superior Warrior imitates the cobra and lies motionless until the time of striking.

  So she stood, swathed from head to toe in her skin-tight black silk shinobu shzoku, invisible in the darkness, indifferent to the monsoon rain that pummelled down on her, oblivious to everything but the study of her prey, waiting until the Amazon turned her back. She was wise to be cautious: the soldierFemme was a dangerous adversary, tall and powerful, her oiled musculature arrogantly displayed by the sleeveless pink jerkin that announced her to be a soldier of the Fifth Legion of Amazons, one of the best fighting units in the whole of the Coven. But this strength, which made Amazons such formidable soldierFemmes, was also their weakness.

  Beware hubris: overconfidence makes a warrior contemptuous and contempt of an enemy is the first step towards defeat.

  The Amazon turned. Now she had her back to them.

  This was the moment. In one fluid motion Su Xiaoxiao adjusted her black scarf – her tenugui – so that it covered her face. Now when she moved out of the shadows, only her eyes were uncovered.

  Like a black ghost, she drifted through the darkness, avoiding the oases of light spread by the gas lanterns that lined the alleyway, avoiding the puddles of rainwater that patinated the cobbles. She knew to be careful; though they had seen only this one sentry, there might be others. Soon there would be war with the ForthRight and, in anticipation of an invasion, Rangoon’s docks had become a military zone, swarming with soldiers day and night as the Coven prepared to resist the onslaught of the ForthRight army.

  A sudden movement by the Amazon caused Su Xiaoxiao to flinch back into the night-shrouded safety of a door well, motioning her three kunoichi to do likewise. Still as statues, they stood watching as the Amazon moved towards them, rattling the gates of the warehouses as she walked, checking that everything was secure. Satisfied, she began to stroll – blithely negligent of the fate awaiting her – along the alleyway towards the spot where Death was hiding.

  Fifteen metres.

  Ten metres.

  Five metres.

  With a touch to the fighter’s shoulder, Su Xiaoxiao signalled that the Amazon should be eliminated by Mochizuki Chiyome, her deputy in the SheTong. The girl’s black-bladed tant sighed out of its scabbard and for an instant the short steel blade of the knife shimmered in the moonlight. Then Mochizuki oiled forward. A moment later there was a barely audible gasp as she made a kubi strike, her tant piercing the Amazon’s throat, simultaneously killing her and preventing her from crying out. The soldierFemme crumpled to the cobbles, and Mochizuki dragged her flaccid, lifeless body deeper into the darkness.

  The enemy must be dispatched swiftly and without feeling. Terrible surprise is the way of the SheTong.

  Wait.

  Listen.

  Nothing.

  The killing had gone unnoticed. There were no shouts of warning, no alarms being sounded, nothing to indicate that a soul had passed to the Nothingness. An uncaring world was oblivious to the death of the Amazon, the only sound accompanying her demise being the distant grumble of the early morning traffic moving through Rangoon’s docks. Confident now that no one stood between them and their objective, Su Xiaoxiao ushered her fighters forward and together the four of them crept towards the Anichkov Bridge, their footsteps deadened by the thick crêpe soles of their black canvas boots. And as she stole along, Su Xiaoxiao glanced up towards the Moon, gauging the time. Soon the boat bringing Norma Williams from the WarJunk would be landing in Rangoon and then, for a brief moment, she would hold the fate of the Demi-Monde in her hands. Soon she would decide if it was the destiny of the Demi-Monde to embrace Yin or Yang, darkness or light, salvation or destruction, good or evil. And just for an instant she felt that terrible responsibility resting heavy on her slim shoulders as she remembered the words of the Epigram the iChing had cited in answer to her question as to whether Norma Williams was indeed the true Messiah.

  The Flood comes,

  Irresistible.

  To wash clean the wounds

  Sustained by the warrior.

  But beware, just as water supports the boat

  So in its fury it may swamp it.

  Water is the giver of life,

  But oft-times

  It is the bringer of death.

  Yes, the Flood – the Messiah – approached, and her coming heralded the Time of the Cleansing but there were many who would seek to thwart her, many who would seek to kill her. She was the delicate flower that had to be shielded from the harsh winds of hatred and the savage frosts of ambition. That was the responsibility ABBA had charged Su Xiaoxiao with: to protect the Messiah … and then to plunge her back into harm’s way. A paradox, but such was the Way.

  Reaching the end of the alleyway, she paused. She could see the deserted warehouse where she and her fighters would wait for the arrival of the Messiah. Now all they had to do was cross the wide and crowded Maha Bandoola Street unchallenged, a task fraught with danger. Even though it was after midnight, Rangoon’s docks bustled; steamer lorries puffed and panted along the road bringing coal to the huge and ominous WarJunks that rocked low and brooding at their moorings; horse-drawn carts dragging artillery pieces rumbled along, the carts’ metalshod wheels snarling and clacking on the cobbles as they made their way to the redoubts that were being built so hurriedly along the banks of the Volga River; and coolieNoNs pushed handcarts laden with boxes of ammunition, their wooden clogs click-clacking as they went. A coffle of slaves covered from head to toe in mud shuffled grumpily al
ong, making their sleepy way back to their barracks after a long day spent digging trenches. And through the whole muddle darted rickshaws bearing officerFemmes and their painted geishas, the rickshaws ducking and weaving through the maelstrom of traffic that had crammed itself into Maha Bandoola Street.

  But most dangerous for Su Xiaoxiao and her kunoichi was that everywhere there were hundreds upon hundreds of pink-jacketed soldierFemmes marching to take up their positions in the fortified buildings, in the redoubts and in the already flooded trenches, ready to repel the expected assault of the ForthRight Army.

  She took a deep breath, reminding herself that at midnight few people were fully awake, most minds were fogged by fatigue or by Solution, then slipped out of the shadows and raced as fast as she could across the street. By the Grace of ABBA, she and her fighters reached the darkness of the opposite side unnoticed and unchallenged. There they settled down in the warehouse to wait. But even as Su Xiaoxiao unslung her M4 and checked its magazine, her eyes were never still, they continually flicked back and forth searching the night for danger.

  The Superior Warrior always expects the unexpected.

  And then kills it …

  Part One

  Summer Comes

  Living & More is the dietary and life-style manta of un fun DaMentalism designed to detoxify the body and by doing so purify the solidified Astral ether. Fashions are therefore modest and all-enveloping, designed to conceal, harness and contain the instinctive libidinous nature of men and (more importantly) of women.

  1

  New York City

  The Real World: 29 October 2018

  Whilst I applaud the work of the Fun-Loving Fundamentalists – or, as most people call them, the Fun/Funs – in helping to ameliorate the drug addiction that is rife amongst America’s teen population, I remain deeply suspicious of both the organisation and its methods. Sure, the Fun/Funs’ Get-Me-Straighter Meter has achieved miraculous results in freeing addicts from their habit, but the question remains: what else is being altered when the GMS Meter is connected to an addict’s brain? Sure, Norma Williams talks persuasively about being ‘inspired by God’, but what is her ultimate ambition? Sure, ParaDigm CyberResearch has been generous in funding the Fun/Funs’ work, but is ParaDigm’s largesse entirely selfless? Until these questions have been satisfactorily answered, the jury is still out as to whether the Fun/Funs are a force for good or for evil. But let me tell you a secret: my money is on it being the latter.