Outbox

Sender: unknown
Origin: unknown
Received: 30 November, Monday

Decrypted message reads:

Dear Mother and Father,

The contract has been signed, and as of 11:00 this morning the building is mine! It is such a relief to have a center for my operations, even if this does now mean the beginning of the long and arduous task of reorganizing everything.

As I mentioned, the top floor is already laid out as a luxurious home for the type of businessman who would rather be in constant contact with his operations than have any human contact. That suits me well enough, as it ensures a degree of privacy that I will certainly treasure as soon as the conclave starts inspecting my business and lifestyle.

I fear they will begin intruding sooner than I would like. It seems that the lower-caste members wish to induct me into their quorum as soon as possible, convinced that I will side with them. The more reactionary members, meanwhile, are determined to find fault with me and thus hope to thoroughly examine my life before I have a chance to gather my bearings in my new position. Of course, I hear all of this information by hearsay, and you surely know at least as much if not more than I do about the situation.

After signing the papers I was able to find half an hour in which to survey my new holdings. The residence was very thoughtfully appointed, and it will require minimal alterations to make it entirely suited to my needs. I am anxious to get started, so I have already contracted builders to work at a hasty schedule. I may be able to move into the master bedroom as early as next week. Though the personal effects of the previous owner were all taken by his next of kin, the lawyers gave me the option to buy the place furnished—and I happily accepted. I am content not to burden myself with such considerations at this time.

I suspect it will still be at least a month or two before I can comfortably invite you to come and stay with me. In the meantime, I am heartened to know that you are both doing well. I look forward to hearing your voices when I call tonight.

It is a pleasant feeling to know that the secrets and subterfuges that brought me to this position are slowly melting into the past, and I hope that I will soon be able to bring perfect honesty to all of my dealings. And I look forward to the not-too-distant date when I have your examples of honor and goodness always before me, to guide my choices.

Ever yours,

Da’ashalenne

(Continue.)

Outbox: Keeping in touch

Sender: David Ages
To: Brook Haupenstaat
Subject: Keeping in touch

Dear Brook,

I hope this message does not feel out of the blue, coming as it does nearly a month since our last correspondence. I wish to give you a sense of how things have progressed on my end, what changes have occurred in my life and what I hope to see in the future.

First of all, if I have not communicated my gratitude in strong enough terms, please allow me to take a moment now and state that I could not possibly have regained my dignity and my good name in the eyes of my people so quickly and completely without your assistance. Your most thorough description on the events on the 12^th of October did much to convince the conclave to clear me of any wrongdoing. While some of them had entertained doubts about Darcy’s intentions, the extremes to which she went were beyond even what they found readily believable.

In the time since we last parted company I have, as you may have heard, become heir to the marketing empire that Darcy and her parents so skillfully developed. Though it is not my chosen field, I do acknowledge that there is a great deal of power in controlling the words and messages that people hear. I am very busy with the work of learning this trade, and repairing the damage that was done when Darcy’s headquarters was destroyed.

I hope it is not too forward of me, but I wish to emphasize how very taxing this work has been—and state most emphatically that this has been a major deterrent to contacting you. I should like to become more closely acquainted with you Brook, to learn of your interests and opinions over candlelight and wine. At a time like this, when I could not possibly ignore my work for even the span of an evening, I choose not to contact you because I dislike the concept of approaching you in half measure.

Our time together has been not only brief but also strained by overpowering circumstances. Still, I sense I am not amiss in my sensation that you would respond favorably to a romantic overture. When the time is right, I do hope that you will accept my invitation.

I must go now and respond to some of my innumerable duties. Again, thank you for the vital role you played in last month’s circumstances. I look forward to the day when I can contact you in earnest.

Yours,

David Ages

(Reaction?)

Encrypted message

Sender: unknown
Origin: unknown
Received: 20 October, Tuesday

Decrypted message reads:


My dear Mother and Father,

It has been too long since we have last spoken. I am glad you are in good spirits, and that Father’s health has been improving. I look forward to the day when I can invite you out here to live with me in Minneapolis, my newly adopted home. This city has much to recommend it, and I am certain you will find it as pleasant as I do.

Unfortunately, I do think it will be a while yet before I can officially welcome you. For one thing, I do not currently have a permanent residence. I have been looking for a suitable place, both to live and to set up the new ReginaPro offices, but it is slow going. Faced with the choice of living in the home of my recently departed wife or moving long-term into a hotel, I have chosen the hotel. I find that I sleep more soundly when not surrounded by somewhat oppressive memories of her.

The complications with the insurance company are close to being fully resolved. My attorneys are confident that I will receive the full settlement, since the inspectors have blamed the building explosion on a gas leak. The state of Minnesota is actually changing its inspection policies to ensure that such a disaster does not occur again. Once the financial end is complete, I will begin searching in earnest for an appropriate new property.

I shall now switch to news of a more delicate nature. I have finalized my meeting plans with the two former Waking Guardians, the mentors of the girls who suffered in the crossfire of my altercation with my wife. They have agreed to meet me, alone but in a public space, four days hence.

I have given long thought to what I wish to say and to ask them about the history of their organization in the millennia since you and your generation went into its deep sleep. I will ask them some of the questions you suggested, but not all. I hesitate to say this, but I believe that some of the questions you would like the Waking Guardians to answer would be appropriate to their forebears but not to them. Remember, although you were there at the time of the appointing of the original Waking Guard, hundreds of generations have passed in the interim since. Even as the world has changed, so too I expect that the Waking Guard is very little like what you remember it to be.

I remain very busy here, but it is good to be in command of my own destiny and able to make choices about the direction of my life. I will try to find time to call at a reasonable hour, soon.

Stay safe, and find strength in my love for you.

Your only one,
Da’ashalenne


(Continue to Brook's outbox.)

Encrypted message

Sender: unknown
Origin: unknown
Received: 15 October, Thursday

Decrypted message reads:


My dear Mother and Father,

I am sorry I could only speak briefly when you called earlier. Although I am happily in good health and mainly good spirits, I am heavily overextended at present. I look forward to speaking at length when time permits.

You have surely read both my account and Ms. Haupenstaat’s version of the events of this past Monday. I am writing to you now in strict confidence to tell you of the one element of the story in which she and I both lied to the conclave. I would not burden you with this knowledge except that I anticipate needing your advice in the near future. Destroy this message after you have read it.

The Waking Guardians whom Darcy had captured were not killed in the building collapse. Brook and I were able to free them from their bonds and bring them into the protective shield with us. I have omitted this fact from my retelling for a variety of reasons.

First of all (and this is a development that the human bard would have described and an “improbable fiction”), one of the girls was, much to both my and Brook’s amazement, Brook’s own younger sister. I learned in the course of events that Brook’s sister—Chelsea Haupenstaat—had been acting strangely and secretively for the past two months, but Brook had misinterpreted the cause of her conduct.

Apparently, with so many thousands of their descendants populating the world, the Waking Guard long ago ceased passing their responsibilities parent to child in preference for seeking out worthy individuals who showed particular strength. Chelsea and her classmate Deena Markowitz (both sixteen years old) were chosen by an ageing pair of guardians—a married couple who teach biology and Russian at their high school. After judging the girls worthy, the two guardians awakened the latent powers within their young protégées. The girls were of course inexperienced and untried, but when the threat from Darcy’s power play became evident it was they who held the scepters of guardianship. Thus, they considered it their duty to stop her. I do not know what the Waking Guard believes its precise role to be in this strange new world order, but I am convinced that their intentions are at least benevolent.

These two girls were reluctant to speak to me about the Waking Guard (understandable, after their reception from my fiancé), but I negotiated a meeting in the near future with one of their mentors—on the condition that I not alert “the rest of my kind” of their presence. I agreed. If news of my indiscretion comes to light I dearly hope that the conclave considers this deception a necessary step in the useful enterprise of learning the truth about our erstwhile protectors.

As you know, the conclave decided this morning to confer upon me the title of head of household. How very strange it seems, to be indirectly responsible for the demise of my… my wife, since we had spoken vows before she died… of my wife and my in-laws, and yet to nonetheless inherit their lofty position. Obviously, the evidence that the three of us have collected, plus Brook’s testimony, have made it very clear to the conclave that my actions most likely saved them their own positions of power.

I am most relieved to be alive, and no longer subject to the whims of that woman. However, I am surprised by how complicated and potentially dangerous my position remains. I will come to you for advice at my first opportunity. For now there is much to do as I rebuild my holdings.

I remain only yours,
Da’ashalenne


(Continue to Brook's blog.)

Encrypted message

Sender: Senior VP’s office
Origin: ReginaPro satellite office
Received: 12 October, Monday

To the lords and ladies of the Conclave,

You will be hearing some very disturbing reports about the ReginaPro building here in Minneapolis over the next few days. I must first of all urge you not to panic; I have everything under control here, and I will make certain that the humans have no reason to suspect that they are not the only intelligent race upon this planet. I swear on my family’s honor that I will keep our secret safe. Please trust me enough to allow me the freedom to control the flow of information here so long as the media are investigating the destruction of the ReginaPro building. Outside interference will most likely make my deception of the humans all the more complicated.

Secondly, I understand that you must have many questions and suspicions of your own about this disaster. I will answer all of your questions to the best of my abilities in the days and weeks to come. My parents know some of it, and I am sending them a message as well asking them to cooperate with your investigation and to convey all of the private suspicions and fears I have harbored in recent months.

The lord and lady of the city, as well as their heir apparent, are dead. I am sorry to tell you this, and I wish it were not so. I wish that I could have saved them, but I was ultimately forced to choose between allowing them to die or witnessing the destruction of millions of human lives. Again, as soon as it is possible I will submit to questioning. I have also commanded the only other survivor to send you a thorough and complete telling of the event as she remembers it.

I know that I am asking much of you. I promise that within a week—two at most—I will prove myself entirely worthy of the trust for which I plead.

I remain ever loyal to your will,
Da’ashalenne


(Continue to Brook's response to Ira.)

Encrypted message

Sender: unknown
Origin: unknown
Received: 9 October, Friday

Decrypted message reads:


Dear Mother and Father,

Please call soon. Even with everything going on here, I will find time to speak with you. I need to know the truth of Father’s condition—I understand your desire to protect me, but not knowing the extent of his illness puts me in terrible doubt. Is it the same weakness that plagues all of your generation, or is he truly ill? I beg you to let me know.

I hope this will be the last message that I must send you in secret. Once the wedding has occurred I am certain that, for good or ill, all will be resolved and I will be keeping no secrets from my fiancé. For now though things seem to be growing more dangerous with every passing day. Yesterday I believe I came within a hairsbreadth of my fiancé discovering the truth of how I am molding the human assistant for my own ends in the coming struggle. The girl came into the office at an inopportune time, while the two of us were arguing about the implications of the changed wedding date. I have placed a great burden onto the girl’s unknowing shoulders.

I am glad she is ignorant of her role, for even uninformed she is in such grave danger. Things will be bad for her in the coming weeks; I cannot imagine how much worse they would be if she had any inkling of how I plan to use her.

However, I have also decided (after a long period of contemplation) that I must take the risk of contacting the Waking Guard to seek their help. If they ignore my entreaty and then later my attempt to contact them comes to light, the repercussions can be no worse than what I already expect to face if my plan fails. They are potential allies though, and I believe it is worth the risk to seek their help. I sent a message two days ago in the ancient codes, asking them to meet with me. I am certain they will find the message. The only question is whether or not they will believe that I write in good faith.

Time speeds forward. By the end of this month all will be resolved.
But in the meantime, Mother and Father, care for yourselves. Knowing that you are safe and comfortable will put me greatly at ease and free my attention for what I need to do.

With love,
Da’ashalenne


(Continue to status updates.)

Encrypted message

Sender: unknown
Origin: unknown
Received: 2 October, Friday

Decrypted message reads:

Dear Mother and Father,

I do not know how much information the conclave has decided to pass along to the families, but I am sure you have at least heard on the human news that lightning struck our building three times—and it is believed to be the work of “rogue supers.”

The facilities under the building were unaffected by the attack, but given their concentration on our building and the nature of the attack, all of us are confident that these so-called rogues are in fact members of the Waking Guard.

I do not know how I feel about this development, but of course I must pretend to be outraged and worried about how it will affect “our” plans. Truly though, I do not think I am pleased. There were already too many variables in play before this.

I remind myself that the Waking Guard was loyal to their oath to protect us all when we still slept beneath the ice, even though they did not wake us at the appointed time or in the millennia that followed. This attack seems to provide proof that their order still exists, but in what form? Would they even be like us, ore are the “super” humans living in every corner of the world lingering proof that they have interbred and now see themselves as more similar to the humans than to their proud ancestors?

I realize that we have all speculated endlessly on these and similar questions. But with this new development, the situation takes on a new urgency. I suspect that these attackers want the same thing that you and I do—to put an end to the insanity and to depose the reigning family before they destroy the whole city. I wish there were some way to contact these new players.

In the meantime, I must appear to echo the sentiments of the others around me. It won’t be difficult—I do still have grave doubts about the attackers, and this does complicate matters. And I fear that I have grown adept at lying in recent months.

So many elements in play.

So many possibilities for a fatal misstep.

Whatever happens, I will do all in my power to make you proud.


(Continue to status updates.)

Outbox: Next steps

To: RP-all staff
From: Darcy Ages
Subject: Next steps


Dear friends,

From the preliminary information I’ve gathered from you all and from the police, it doesn’t seem that anyone is seriously injured. I am so relieved that you are all safe, but if you or anyone around you starts to exhibit symptoms of trauma, please seek aid ASAP. We will have an onsite doctor in room 907 for the next week—walk-ins welcome.

Thank you all for your hard work since the attack earlier today. Yes, I used the word “attack.” Many bystanders, I’m sure you know, noticed suspicious activity just before the freak storm, and the police do not believe that the three bolts of lightning that struck the building were natural occurrences. They are investigating the possibility of rogue supers.

Rogue supers. If those words send a chill down your spine, you aren’t the only one. Even the youngest employees here are ReginaPro are old enough to clearly remember the Firestorm Siege, and some of you were already adults in the days jut after the Great Awakening, when it was almost commonplace for supers with newly discovered powers to break laws and endanger those around them for their own selfish benefit. I for one am very grateful for the work of the National Super Coalition, which has successfully prevented such attacks for many years, and I look forward to cooperating with them in every way possible as they investigate this dangerous behavior.

The police still have no idea why any rogue supers would attack us, though. W may just be the random victims of a deranged mind. However, if anyone can think of a possible motive (or, even better, suspects for this crime) email me directly and I will be in immediate contact.

Until we know more we will be continuing with business as usual. However, our chief of security will be implementing emergency protocols and regular drills in the next two weeks. We will all do our best to cooperate with his plans.

Again, I thank you for your loyalty. I know we can get past this together.

Darcy Ages


(Continue to Brook's blog.)

Outbox

Sender: Senior VP’s office
Origin: ReginaPro, Minneapolis office
Received: 20 September, Sunday

Dear Mother and Father,

It was a delight to speak to you yesterday. Again, I apologize for the timing—it was an ugly enough hour even without taking the time difference into account, and despite your assurances to the contrary I do feel confident that we disturbed you at an inopportune time. Of course, I am sure you understand that I called on one of the few occasions when we were both available to make the transmission.

I can hardly overstate how busy I have kept myself since I arrived here! Between the business reorganization and planning for this wedding, my every waking hour is accounted for. I wish frequently for your advice and insights, but it is quite the learning process to manage so much on my own, and in conjuncture with my fiancé. Luckily, most organizations I deal with among the humans seem quite well-managed and efficient.

I miss you both terribly, but it won’t be long until the wedding and I look forward to seeing you then. It will be such a momentous experience—I am counting the days until the joyful event. Until then I remain

Yours only,
Da’arshlenne


(Embedded encrypted message reads:)

Mother, I saw how weakened Father was when we spoke. I hope he isn’t storing up an excess of his strength on my account. I chose to honor the betrothal with full knowledge of the dangers I might face from my future in-laws. Father knows full well that he cannot, cannot do anything traceable to help me. I know how protective he is, how it pains him to leave me to my own defenses, but he must—and I am far from helpless.

I fear saying too much, even here in secret, but I have discovered a tool that may very well be the key to our family’s survival and allow me to save this city from terrible destruction. I regret that my plan puts an innocent human at great risk—though a human whose ancestors share our lineage, at least. Using her stores of power (which are deeply buried but significant) will give me an advantage that might propel this conflict into my favor.

The ends justify the means—I remind myself of this constantly—but I worry terribly about the kind of person I am becoming, using such tactics.

I also fear my plan being discovered, for if any in my fiancé’s family suspect that I have found a way to foil their plans—indeed, if they even suspect that I am trying to work against them—so much more than our good name will be forfeit.

I fear, but you need not. I will not fail you.
Your only one.


(Continue to Brook's status update.)

Encrypted message

Sender: unknown
Origin: unknown
Received: 11 September, Sunday

Decrypted message reads:

Mother and Father,

I am sorry it has taken me so long to write you. I hope that the cursory, guarded messages I have sent since I arrived assured you at least that I am safe and have been treated well. I have been under heavy supervision since I last left your presence three long weeks ago. In that time I have tried to establish a fixed enough pattern to make my watchers lose interest, and this was the first time I felt confident that I could write honestly to you.

It is even worse than we feared. The whole city is in terrible danger, and they will be in a position to act even sooner than we thought. We cannot wait for the conclave—it will be too late then.

If I have to act alone, do not fear that I know which risks are worth taking and which are not. I will seek out tools that I can use against this threat, and I will not needlessly sacrifice myself. Still, the lives of millions of our human cousins may be forfeit if I do nothing.

All I can do now to alleviate your fears is to ask you to trust me as you have so faithfully in these past few years. Rest assured that I will come to you if I can think of any help that is within your means to provide.

Spies and traitors surround me. I must make all choices with great care, but I am ever on the lookout for any tools or aids that might assist me in the inevitable coming struggle.

For now, I am safe. I am being well cared for and so heavily pampered that I might go mad. I miss you both, and in my heart I shine only for you.


(Continue with Chelsea's post.)

Outbox: Re: Introduction

To: Brook Haupenstaat
From: Darcy Ages
Subject: Re: Introduction

Hi Brook.

I must say, I am very impressed with your qualifications! Your resume looks like a perfect fit for ReginaPro.

For my personal intern, I’m looking for someone I can bounce ideas off of, someone able to give me a fresh but professional view. My assistant may be privy to an unusually high level of proprietary information and the job will sometimes be physically demanding (you have a current passport, right?), so I have some very high standards. In past years I have left the position unfilled rather than make do with anyone “almost right.”

With all this in mind, I hope it seems reasonable to you that I require a background check and a physical for all applicants to the position. I am attaching all of the documents you will need to fill out and return to the firm, as well as the contact info for my personal physician. If you still wish to complete the process, call to make an appointment with him asap and send the completed forms to HR by close of business tomorrow.

I look forward to meeting you as well, and I promise that even if you do not have all the characteristics I am looking for in an assistant, I will still be very excited to welcome you into the ReginaPro family.

Thanks,
Darcy Ages

Attached: backgroundchecktemplate.pdf, personalinfotemplate.pdf, drtyler.doc,



(Read the email from Chelsea and Brook's father.)

Inbox: Introduction

To: Darcy Ages
From: Brook Haupenstaat
Subject: Introduction

Dear Ms Ages,

I wanted to write in and introduce myself. I’m Brook Haupenstaat, one of the interns who will be working for ReginaPro Marketing this fall. HR called earlier today to say that having looked over my resume, they had decided that I was one of three possible applicants for the position of your personal assistant. I hope that by telling you a little bit about myself, I can give you a sense of my qualifications for the position.

First of all, I am very excited about the prospect of working for ReginaPro. I am a junior at the University of Minnesota working on a fine arts major with a minor in business management. My long-term goal is to become an art dealer and own my own gallery. My grandfather is a collector, and my fondest memories from childhood were of going with him to private collections and gallery viewings and listening to the experts identifying and discussing the merits of certain pieces, the telltale signs of great art.

Over the years this interest has allowed me to acquire a sharp eye for subtleties and aesthetics, which I believe would make me a valued assistant to someone who is frequently making final and semifinal decisions about high profile ad campaigns.

But I understand that designing product for mass media is a very different skill from collecting great art. My father is the photographer Henri Haupenstaat. He frequently produces works for National Geographic, and his photos have also appeared in Vogue and In Style, among other noteworthy publications. Last summer I accompanied him on a month-long publicity shoot for Alaska Cruise Lines, and from that experience I understand some of the great effort and deep thought that go into the seemingly simple choices that make up an advertising agency’s approaches.

On top of all those other qualifications Ms Ages, I am also enthusiastic, proactive, responsible and professional. I am a full-time student, but rest assured that your needs and the needs of ReginaPro Marketing will be of very high priority to me in this upcoming year. I am certain that HR has already sent you my resume, but I am attaching another copy to save you the trouble of looking through your inbox. I will be coming in on Tuesday for the general orientation, and I look forward to meeting you some time shortly thereafter.

If you have any questions or desire further information, please feel free to email me or call me directly.

Regards,
Brook Haupenstaat
555-555-5555
brookhaupenstaat()gmail.com

Attatched: bhaupenstaat-resume.doc


(Story continues with a text message.)