Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-13488655-20160724065302/@comment-5999656-20160729193404

Fen pocketed all the Scrolls but said nothing. She had very little idea of what the Daybreak Syndicate did, their methods of cyberdefense. Zanipher had told Fen herself: The Syndicate didn't need another spy. What they did need was for the Suzhen Corporation to remain allied with the Dragons. That was Fen's role.

Zanipher and Gala specialized in intelligence and counter-intelligence, respectively. Zan could find out pretty much everything about anyone, Gala could make someone disappear from all records. It was a dangerous combination, and Fen was pretty certain two organizations with these specialties couldn't be broken into that easily, not when they paid so much attention to their own databases while scouring that of others. None of the names in Kurai's list were familiar to Fen. It could be that she just hadn't met them before, but it was equally likely that the Syndicate was feeding false information to the Realm under the pretense of being hacked. Like she'd said, The Dragons knew exactly how to lock someone out of the loop.

As for Master himself? The Dragons were tentative about expansion precisely because their network was so secure. Despite all his strength and brainwashing, Master was was only powerful enough to get the rank of seventh Dragon. If he thought he stood a chance against all the other Heads combined... well, then he didn't much value his life, did he? The Heads hated being forced to take risks when they hadn't calculated all the possible vulnerabilities. And there was the basic fact.

Nobody tells the Nine Dragons what to do. They can compromise, negotiate, debate their way into a solution acceptable for both sides. But they do not take orders from anyone trying to force the entire network to move as one. Kurai was asking for too much.

Fen walked back to her two friends.

"What the hell was that all about?"

"The gang leader recognized me as the heiress to the Suzhen Corporation. He thought I might have enough connections to help him stop his former boss. I told him I didn't have the authority, nor was I interested in getting involved," Fen replied, hiding the truth among half-lies. One day she would let them know what was really up, but that day hadn't come yet.

'And what about the dragon symbols?" Automne quipped.

"A lure. He wasn't drawing me specifically, but he knows that symbol has significance to my family. I don't know too much about it, but you know my emblem?" Fen pointed up at the snake pattern embroidered on her beanie. The dragon logo resembled a fancier, black version of her emblem.

"We call upon a network that uses that symbol when one of the family members is put in grave danger. I used it to save Platinum, remember? Well, they usually maintain top secrecy, so it's bad when someone else starts plastering the dragon all over the place."

Fen's alibi was secure; it aligned with events that had happened previously. She would give the information to Zanipher, cripple the side arms of Master's Realm like she said. But it was going to be up to a more heroic organization to actually charge the realm head on.

(We done?)