From a distance, the tower called the Deck looked almost slender. As one approached, its magnitude became clear: It was not only over 1.4 kilometers high, but 90 meters wide across its 12-sided main body. This was further magnified by the 24-meter square structures that buttressed every other side for 176 of its 330 stories, each one containing 1,200 apartments for the workers employed in the building and the 8 km industrial park that it stood in the center of. The roadways that crossed the wider complex were lined with factories, office buildings and apartments, themselves up to 40 stories high, but also with trees, parks, and whole fields and tracks for all manner of sports and recreation. The streets were patrolled by armed men, strange anthropoid mechs, and menacing vehicles on the ground and overhead, yet men, women and even children happily wandered the grounds.

The main road ran east to west, aligned with the primary entrances to the tower core. At the western gateway, a figure silently came down, clad in armor the indigo color of the twilight sky. Four men brought their weapons to bear. Then a visor lifted, revealing the stern face of Loid Forger. "You know who I am," he said. "Do you intend to oppose me?"

"Look, we're members of the armed forces of Baltica, assigned to perimeter security for a strategic installation," the leader said. "For now, our only orders are to keep the people you're here for from leaving the complex, and keep civilians from going in. So far, they've been satisfied to stop at the halfway point. We have orders to stop you if we see you, but I'll leave that up to you."

The figure strode down the avenue, drawing many glances and a smattering of cheers. As he passed between the buttresses on either side, the forces around him finally gathered to bar his path, first men, then mechs, and finally a light tank at the foot of the steps that led to the building entrance. A pair of automated turrets rose from beneath the pavement on either side. The tank brought two weapons pods on either side of its small turret to bear. A man wearing the uniform of the Baltican Self-Defense Force and the colors of a colonel leaned on the ring of the cupola. "I'll give you this, you make a good entrance," he said.

"I am here to speak with the one who summoned me," Loid said. He looked up at a huge shade canopy that overhung the doors. There was no surprise when the cream-colored canvas lit up with the image of the masked Ice Queen. His expression did become a sterner frown as his son was carried to her by her attendant, a thin girl with a headscarf that concealed her hair. His eyes narrowed at the sight of a new toy the boy juggled in his small hands, a toy gun made of dented tin plate and worn plastic.

"Hello, dear Loid, or should I say Twilight," the Queen said as she received Loidy into her lap. She waved her free right hand, which bore something like a claw on each finger. "As you can see, your son is safe, for now. He even has a new playmate, and a new toy. Your instructions were to come unarmed and without armor. Did you think there would be no repercussions if you defied me?"

"I come with my own terms," he said. "You already have my son. What can you do to him, that will not cost you what leverage you have? But for what it is worth, I give up my primary weapons." The two shoulder pods both dropped to the concrete. The larger pod fell at the foot of the north turret.

"Very well, what terms would you offer?" the figure said. "Do consider your words; the children can both see and hear you."

"Papa!" the boy called out in affirmation. The girl gazed back with no sign of emotion beyond vague curiosity.

"I will surrender, in exchange for the release of my son and Damian Desmond," Loid said. He pointed to the tank. "I know that vehicle can carry troops. I will enter the building, in my armor, and wait for both of them to arrive. You will load them aboard, then I will ascend while the vehicle drives to the west gate. A platoon of exotroopers is already prepared to advance to meet them. You will surrender the hostages and the vehicle. Then I give my word that I will power down my armor and surrender."

The Queen laughed. "How valiant! How noble! How honorable!" she said. "I could almost believe that I am really speaking to the great Twilight! Colonel, remove his helmet so I can see who is really under the mask!"

At a gesture from the colonel, a squad of men stepped forward. They froze as the figure before them removed his helmet of his own accord. "You see my face," he said, turning his head at several angles. "You see my hair." He ran his hand through his locks, a sandy blonde going to gray. "If you still think this is a mask, consider this." He extended a climbing claw from one finger and drew it across one cheek. Blood trickled down from the cut.

"Very well, perhaps you are Twilight," the Queen said. The main entrance opened, revealing an atrium. On either side of the doors were pairs of elevators that ran up glass-lined shafts. "I propose a compromise. I will release little Loid, and then young Mr. Desmond. It will take time for an elevator to descend, and I am sure you would prefer for your son to remain visible from outside. I will personally take Loid down to the 200th floor mezzanine, while you ascend to meet me there. Mr. Desmond will follow. Then the prisoners will board an elevator for the ground floor."

"It is acceptable," Loid said. "But I have one more condition. You will ride in a separate elevator from my son." He pointed to the girl. "And she will accompany him, all the way down."

"Why, Loid, how cold-hearted do you think I am?" the Queen said. "Just remember, you chose to put another child in harm's way."

"Why must we do this?" Loid shouted. "This is not for any cause. This is personal. But I do not know nor can I guess who you are or what I could have done to make you believe I have wronged you. Why not come down yourself? Remove the mask and speak your grievance to my face!"

"Ah, dear, dear Twilight!" the Queen said. "Have you already forgotten the man you were? You ask who I am, but who might I not be? How many women did you seduce and then abandon for your missions? How many of them did you turn against their husbands and lovers and fathers? How many more did you shun who wanted your love, because you thought it your duty to dally with a stranger?"

"I did what I did in the line of duty," Loid said. "I still never broke a promise. And if you truly know of the work I did, then you can hardly be innocent yourself!"

"I never said I was," the Queen answered. "But come to me, dear Twilight, and find out just how much I know of you." As she spoke, the nearest elevator on the right opened. Loid sighed and stepped inside.

And the Ice Queen stroked the chin of the child at her side. "And what do you say, darling? Want to go ride the elevator again?" The girl shrugged, and gave just a trace of a smile.