Alliances Part I
Farrah Ilitch, the Patrician of Iron Detroit, looked out over her city. She had practically created the city with her own two hands. She had fought off the self-replicating robots of Philip K, the psychotic drug lord; she had gotten the burnt-out, disillusioned people of the city to work together; and she had finally made peace with the Negaverse. Now all she had to do was make an ally out of Rain Tijuana and take over Crystal Tokyo, and the Iron Alliance would rule the world.
Iron Detroit was built on the ruins of Old Detroit. It was a largely industrial, self-contained city. The buildings were tall spires of iron and chrome rising out of the skyline, and the factories were perfectly functioning organisms. The center of the city was the Helix, a huge monument that rose above the skyline. The factories owned most people, making electric appliances, motor vehicles, industrial appliances, or weapons. Those few that weren't owned by the factories were either in the government, which was a factory in itself, or part of the radical underground that had grown in the city these past few years.
Farrah had no problem with the underground. It put out some interesting music and literature, and it was fun to mingle among the ravers when her duties were done with.
There were only four other major cities in the world, three of which were politically significant. The last one was neutral, favoring whichever city had the most money. People that didn't live in the cities were mostly outlaws, nomads, or living in small medieval villages.
Stone Jerusalem was part of the Iron Alliance. It was a huge city carved almost entirely out of stone, and a haven for Arabs, Jews, and Chaldeans. It was a major producing center, making most of the luxury goods and furnishings for the world. On any given day, Stone Jerusalem was a huge bazaar, ringing with the cries of merchants and craftspeople. The Shah of Stone Jerusalem was a Chaldean man named Joktan Haribu. The center of the city was the Babel Spire, a huge ziggurat that reached to the stars.
Rain Tijuana was a spread-out village in South America, part of the Crystal Alliance. The people there were highly religious. It was a farming community, and the smallest city there was. The Lady of the village was Novinha Guerrero, a Guaraní mestizo. The people were primitive and superstitious, but worked wonders with plants and animals. The center of the city was the Lograño Cathedral, an enormous basilica.
Night City was on a small island, off the coast of Australia. The outside of the island was one huge beach party, and the inside was a huge cyberpunk maze. There were actually no laws in Night City, but it was actually a very safe place to live, provided you didn't get anyone really angry or screw up a business deal. The leader was Gibson, an enigmatic computer programmer. The city's center was Spiral Castle, which housed a huge computer that ruled the entire city. It was the one neutral city.
Crystal Tokyo…Crystal Tokyo was Iron Detroit's main rival. It was a Japanese city of philosophers, mages, artists, programmers, and miscellaneous scholars. Farrah considered them to be completely useless except for the cybernetics trade. The Princess was a girl named Serena Tsukino, a blonde airhead that couldn't think rationally if her life depended on it. Farrah sincerely hated Serena.
Farrah sighed. In one hour, she would be meeting with the three other leaders of the world to determine the status of the Negaverse.
The Iron Alliance was the political faction that worked with the Negaverse. They sacrificed twenty people each year to the Negaverse in order for protection and trade.
The sacrifice wasn't really much. Each year, they picked twenty volunteers, five men and five women from each city. The twenty were kept in a special facility in an island for one year. There, they were pampered to their heart's delight while the energy was sucked out of them. At the end of the year, their remains were buried in the Helix and they were commemorated in a small ceremony.
There were certain rules. Each person had to have a kind disposition, not be able to contribute anything else to the community, fully understand what they were doing, and not be forced. There were reasons for this. Having a nice personality was important, because these people had more life energy. They couldn't be able to contribute anything else to the community because neither city could afford to lose a willing worker. They had to understand what they were doing for reasons of compassion, and they couldn't be forced into it because energy is endless only when it is given freely.
The system worked well, and for twenty people who were willing to make a sacrifice, the Negaverse left the cities alone and actually provided them with resources and knowledge. It provided protection for the city. But the Crystal Alliance only saw bad things in the Negaverse. That was why Farrah had to negotiate with the other three world leaders to keep the contract.
The summit was held in Spiral Castle. Gibson was the mediator, presiding only in proxy. He was represented by a hologram of a spiral floating above the jet-black table.
Farrah was the first to enter. She stalked into the room, a lovely mulatto woman with orange hair, green eyes, and a green leather jumpsuit. The Iron Detroit anthem, "The Iron Will," was playing.
Together, we stand united
In the center of our city
We salute the shining spire
The greatest working factory
The people of Iron Detroit
Know the value of hard work
Striving to create and build
Is a task we never shirk
Iron Detroit, Iron Detroit
To work with hammer, torch and drill
We are bound together as one
By our people's iron will
She sat down in the first chair.
Joktan Haribu entered. He was a tall Chaldean man with a beard and a moustache. He was missing two fingers from his left hand, and was usually clad in long, flowing yellow robes decorated with red moons when he attended the summits. Farrah, who knew him well, thought this rather amusing, since Joktan always wore either a suit or casual Western clothes when conducting domestic affairs. As the Stone Jerusalem anthem, "Ha Tikvah," played, Joktan salaamed and sat down.
Kol od balay vav
Pineema
Nefesh yehudi
Kol mi yah
Lee ha kofshi
Tikvatainu
Ah hartz elletz
Sh'mot al-payom
Leehart ha kofshi
Bay artzainu
B'eretz tzion
Virushalayim
Next, Novinha Guerrero entered. She was a slender woman, with dark skin and eyes, and a downcast expression. She wore a simple peasant dress and a pearl moon and cross on a gold chain. She nodded and sat down while the Rain Tijuana anthem, "Versos Sencillos," played.
Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crece la palma
Y antes de morirme quiero
Echar mis versos del alma
Yo vengo de todas partes
Y hacia todas partes voy
Arte soy entre las artes
En los montes, monte soy
Todo es hermoso y constante
Todo es música y razón
Y todo, como el diamante
Antes de luz es carbon
Mi verso es de un verde claro
Y de un carmín encendido:
Mi verso es un ciervo herido
Que busca en el monte amparo.
Finally, Serena Tsukino ran into the room, giggling. She had blonde hair, which she wore in two long ponytails, a little-girl face, and blue eyes. She was wearing a schoolgirl's outfit and a diamond tiara. Her husband, Darien, and her two cats, Luna and Artemis, accompanied her.
Farrah eyed Darien. It was an unwritten rule that leaders of cities were never married, although lovers were acceptable, if they were on the city council. Farrah was proud that she didn't need any help from magical cats to build her city. Serena needed all the help she could get.
Darien misunderstood her glance and winked at her. Farrah sighed. This was going to be a long meeting.
"This meeting will come to order," announced Gibson.
It was Serena's turn to speak first. She smoothed her skirt, stood up, and announced, "Okay…what do we want, Darien? Oh yeah. We want you in the Iron Alliance to stop doing business with the Negaverse."
Farrah leaned on the table. "The Negaverse is one of our major resources. Stopping our cooperation with the Negaverse would mean death to the Iron Alliance."
"But it goes against everything we've ever worked for," Darien explained. "The Negaverse is pure evil."
"But you can work with evil, eh?" Joktan grinned. "It doesn't matter if they're evil, as long as they get you money, no?"
Farrah kicked Joktan under the table. "Don't act like an idiot," she whispered.
Joktan shrugged. "As I was saying. They may be evil, but they're our best resource."
"We have struggled against the Negaverse our whole lives," Darien said. "They already destroyed Crystal Tokyo once before. We don't want that to happen again."
"It wouldn't happen if you'd just cooperate!" cried Farrah.
Novinha finally spoke up. "But at what cost?" she asked softly. "The Negaverse already demands human sacrifices from you, and you were compliant from the beginning. If we, their sworn enemies, joined them, what would they demand from us?"
Farrah slapped her palms on the table. "Look, we have a good relationship with the Negaverse. If you just joined us, all you'd have to do is pay ten people a year for each city. That's all."
Serena jumped up onto the table. "We cannot give up innocent people to the Negaverse!" she yelled, her eyes blazing. "We cannot drag them, kicking and screaming, to the mouth of EVIL!!!!"
Joktan gave her an incredulous look. "Serena, these people go willingly," he explained.
Serena sat down, mollified. "Oh."
"If I may jump in," said Luna, "the people of Crystal Tokyo have already learned to hate the Negaverse. None of them would go willingly, even if we did agree to cooperate with the Negaverse."
"You know," Joktan said, "that's a good point."
"But we could just supply extra people for the time it would take for a new generation to stop hating the Negaverse," Farrah said.
"Are there enough people in the city?" asked Artemis.
"Every year, there are dozens of qualified applicants," Farrah said. "There would be no trouble picking out an extra twenty for a while."
"But we cannot sacrifice people to the Negaverse, even if they go willingly," Novinha said. "The stopping of life is a mortal sin."
Joktan rounded on Novinha. "It is a worse sin to neglect the well-being of millions of people for the sake of twenty!"
Novinha shrank back from the table. "But we could defeat the Negaverse."
"The Negaverse has resources and technological knowledge that we can benefit from," explained Farrah. "Which is why we can't kill them off. Even if we got the resources, we could never handle them as efficiently. We have to learn things from the Negaverse."
"But they're evil," whined Serena. "Do you really want to be evil like the Negaverse?"
Farrah sighed. "We would use their ideas for good purposes," she explained.
"I think that this session is getting nowhere," Gibson announced. "The meeting will be adjourned and will reconvene tomorrow at noon."
The leaders filed out of the meeting room, casting glances at one another.
Farrah stood in her room in Spiral Castle, looking out at Night City. Her current lover, a young blonde servant named Alex, stood behind her, rubbing her shoulders.
"Don't be so tense," he murmured to her. "Come to bed and relax."
Farrah shook her head. "This isn't going well," she said.
Alex snaked his arms around her. "Come on," he whispered to her. "You need to relax some."
Farrah turned and glared at him. "Alex! Do you understand? I have to figure out what to do! This is no time for romance."
"It's always time for romance," Alex purred.
Farrah pushed him away from her, and he stumbled clumsily across the room. "Shut up."
Alex rubbed his head blearily. "Well, you didn't have to go and push me."
Farrah collapsed into a chair and buried her head in her hands. "The future of the Iron Alliance is in jeopardy, and all you can think of is sex?"
"It's a perfect night for love, and all you can think of is politics?" countered Alex. "We haven't done it since…" He counted on his fingers. "Since the night before last."
"That's plenty of time," Farrah grumbled.
Alex pouted. "Aw, you know you love me. Now come on. I've got the whipped cream." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Farrah turned around. "Goddamnit, Alex, I'm sick of you! You always want to have sex. Get out of here!" She pointed a trembling finger toward he door.
Alex stared at her blankly. "Wha…?"
Farrah sighed. "Must I do everything myself?" She pushed him toward the door. "Now! Go! Shoo!"
Shocked, Alex allowed himself to be pushed out of the door. Farrah slammed the door behind him. She collapsed onto the bed and sighed.
The next morning, Farrah wandered into the dining hall blearily.
Joktan had saved a seat for her. "Farrah, my dear!" he beamed, waving her down. "I got you a cup of coffee."
Farrah sipped the coffee. Her vision cleared. "Morning," she mumbled.
Joktan watched her with interest. "What happened to that young man you were with?"
"Alex?" Farrah shrugged. "I got rid of him. Why are you always so goddamn happy in the mornings?"
"I'm a morning person," Joktan explained. "Now see, I don't get rid of my lovers. My girl Noha, she takes care of me wherever I go. Isn't that right, my little almond?" He kissed Noha, a pretty, fat Muslim girl, as she sat down next to him.
Farrah sighed. "I need a bagel."
On her way to the pastry table, Darien bumped into Farrah.
"Sorry," he muttered, blushing prettily.
Farrah shook her head. "S'okay. So what's with Serena? How the hell did she get to be a leader of an entire city?" They sat down at a table.
"It's inherited," Darien explained. "It's a long story, but she was destined to be the ruler of Crystal Tokyo before she was even born. And I get to be her handsome prince." He sighed, picking at his eggs. "Lucky, lucky me."
"And here she come now," Farrah noted.
Darien straightened up as Serena bounced into the dining room. "Hi!" she squealed. "What's up?" She flounced over to where Darien and Farrah were sitting, and kissed Darien on the cheek.
Darien forced a smile. "Good morning, my love."
Farrah smiled slightly and bent her head. She knew that whenever someone called their lover "my love," it meant they were faking it.
Novinha sidled into the room, flanked by her two men, Antonio and Marcos. Antonio was a classic Latin lover, a tall, suave man with a sensual manner. Marcos was a large, hulking brute with a scar. She sat down at a table and began to delicately nibble a piece of toast that Marcos brought her. Antonio poured her coffee.
Farrah moved over to Novinha's table. Antonio leered at her, and Marcos scowled.
"Hi, Novinha," Farrah said.
Novinha nodded. "Buenos días. Como estas?"
Farrah took a moment to translate this. "I'm fine, thanks. How are you doing?"
Novinha shrugged. "I suppose I can't complain. Life is pleasant."
Farrah slid closer to her. "Look, is there something wrong?"
Novinha put down her cup of coffee. "There is always something wrong, Señora Ilitch. It is not easy, running my city. Things that do not work cannot be fixed easily. If a crop gets trampled by peccaries, or lost to a fungus, or eaten by locusts, we cannot make a few adjustments and have everything working again."
"I know," Farrah said. "I mean something personal. You seem oddly quiet."
"It has been a bad year for us," Novinha said quietly. She stared into her cup of coffee. "As the leader of my community, personal problems take second priority for civic matters. I wish it were not so, but it is the only way things can get done." She took another sip of her coffee.
Farrah nodded. "If there's anything happening…"
Novinha shrugged. "I can handle it. I do not need assistance from someone who trafficks with evil."
Serena finally finished her breakfast and skipped off merrily, acting like the immature brat she was. Darien waited politely for her to go, then went over to Farrah, who was on her third cup of coffee.
"You know," he murmured to her, "you're actually very pretty."
Farrah knew what was coming next. "Thank you," she said, "but aren't you already married?"
"Don't remind me," Darien said. "Look, you're beautiful, smart, talented, and brave. Serena is none of these things."
Farrah nodded. "I know all that already," she said. "But Darien, you have a commitment to your city."
Darien closed his eyes. "I wish I didn't."
Farrah saw an opening. "But maybe you could convince Serena to…ease up on us a little, hmm?" She twirled a piece of Darien's long hair around her finger.
Darien looked at her. His eyes were wide. "I could do that."
"Good." Farrah gave him a tiny kiss on the cheek, and left.
She felt Darien's eyes upon her, watching her leave. She knew what she had just done. She knew it was nasty, unfair, and dishonest. But if there was one thing that running a city the size of a peninsula had taught her. It was that you did what you had to. And she had.