Vivi and Inigo worked together more than my others, as remote information/tech user combined with hands-on infiltrator made for a great team. Vivi especially had a lot more responsibilities ongoing, as she was smack dab in the middle of database management, and worked a lot with the Goldilocks teams. She was also assigned a rather hard-edged crew of combat hackers, whose whole goal was destruction of the enemy’s electronic warfare capabilities, and who were used to support Vivi and others engaged in some of the rather illegal shit that needed to be done.

I also used Inigo for a whole lot of outright robbery across the city, some commissioned, some purely for profit, and some for auction. Crews of independents were assembled for jobs, dispersed. Some fixers and arrangers tried to rope her in and keep her once they found out how good she was, and a few ended up dead with their fortunes missing before they got the hint that they’d work for her, not the other way around.

The gold standard for your rep was being willing to kill a Juris, of course, and it wasn’t all that hard to find a corrupt one, figure out who they were working for, sell that information to a competitor of said party, and then pick up the termination contract to boot. Vivi also got real good at the bounty hunter side of things, having a nose for agglomerating bounties through different parties into catches or terminations, usually the latter, and arranging to get paid several times for the same job.

Generally, underworlders were specialists, but Inigo’s capability as an all-arounder who could fly solo save for a support crew was damn useful for keeping the leaks down... and pulling off non-contract jobs that soon enhanced the legend of a new cat burglar in the city pulling off sly thefts on high Blok dwellers and those Mid- to Upspire, and never did the rep of said burglar and Inigo the reliable crew worker meet.

The girls made a lot of money pulling jobs... targeting the corrupt, of course, who could hardly complain if they were robbed of their ill-gotten gains. Most of them had money in non-electronic forms, and/or hidden accounts or safety deposit boxes here and there, and getting them in and out was a fun puzzle that meant whoever was responsible for x theft was soon issued a bounty on, and if said things were taken as aggregates, it was a considerable amount.

Yay, we were on the bounty ranking, only nobody knew it!

If necessary, I or half a dozen other Ranthas energetically pursuing the stealth op route could jump in to pull off jobs in her name while Inigo was elsewhere, totally mucking up any kind of statistical analysis of who she might be.

----

Emma was expanding our horticultural division nicely. She was also the most popular of the six among the locals in Habberblok, because there were now flowers growing on every floor along the Plunge because of her. The wonders it did for morale was great, and that was before fresh beans and peas were on the menu. There weren’t many other Ranthas with agricultural talents, so she basically ended up with top billing in that area.

Aura was working on an online law degree VERY quickly, and already handling all our marketing and contracts. She had a very sweet smile, and was waiting for Eight when she could turn on the Nereid Aura and reduce men, and more than a few women, to idiots with a knowing glance. Our supply and sales partners were already fearing her, which I thought was just wonderful. She was also the only one of the six who was into the social scene Upspire, and she definitely had the looks to fit in, and, well, there were plenty of other Ranthas with social Talents who were happy to go devastate both genders at parties and meetings and dances with her... broken hearts and drool hitting the floor in their wakes, of course.

Basically, the girls were doing very well. If I could make them truly independent when they opened their past, that would be for the best... although having independent thoughtstreams with their own bodies was very advantageous and plenty cool with all the stuff I could learn and do at the same time.

============

“Well, to start the meeting off, happy birthday, girls!”

“THANK YOU, MOM!” they all promptly laughed back.

“There’s a bunch of bullshit I have to inform you all of, and we’ll get to that. The first and most key thing is that you are all not clones. You do all have the same starting point, but as you look around, you can see that you are all different. You all have different other parents, and in your cases, those other parents are you.”

Their smiles faded somewhat, and they stared at me in interest.

“You’ve all been reborn, reincarnated, gone through that process and are new people, bless the Rantha Hag Curse. Because you used to be undead ghosts.”

Now they started looking pretty solemn.

“You are in a grimdark future world. The fate you were consigned to was damnation. I gave you the chance for a new life, and you all took it.

“Some of you were not nice people. You were all infected with negative energy, which means you were on the evil side of things when dead, which is how the Curse could grab you. When you get that Charisma to 30 and hit Eight, you’re gonna pop open the door to your last reincarnation, take a look at who you used to be, and see what was done to you.”

I let that hang there for a long minute or two. “Your older sisters had something similar happen to them... they were pslaved and damned by Amourae. You all were brainfried and became puppets of some Warp Sorcerers. To the tune of over one hundred thousand of you and your friends and neighbors.”

The surprise and delight of their birthday was now kind of lost and grimness was settling in.

“The Ranthas are here to fuck with the Warp Gods. When you see what has happened to you, this is going to stop being just a Karma race, and it’s going to become personal.

“The Rantha Curse means that even a soul can be your parent, so while there may not be any genetic material, there’s enough for the Curse to work with. I dug up what I could about who you were in your last lives, and that’s who your names are based on.” I snapped my fingers, and names popped up on their Bands. “You aren’t Sama Rantha, that’s just a shell of a name, giving you some free skills and abilities and a foundation for being a Rantha Hag.

“Now, you stand up and introduce yourselves to your sisters.” I nodded at the girl in the front rightmost, a dark-eyed, brown-haired lass with cocoa skin. She nodded and got up, turning around and waving at everyone.

“Hi, sisters, I am Raffie Rantha!”

“HI RAFFIE!” they all waved back soberly, and the second generation of Ranthas was off to start their path of doing what Ranthas did best.

---

Second generation didn’t accept a Ghost Knight quest. They just went up to Floor 159, and looked around, feeling the presence of the spirits all around... the very familiar presence of those spirits. They wandered up the floors and down them, lingering in areas which might have once been very important to them.

They all came down as Ghost Knights, with spirits who feared getting reborn attached to their Sword Foci... all of whom were fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, lovers, husbands, wives, or just good friends of who they had used to be. Freed from the cage of Habberblok, they were going to go out in the world and fuck with the Warp Gods, there was no doubt.

------------------

“Brekko, Combi, Fredder, Lisha...” I went on, naming each and every one of the Marked who were in the room with me for this meeting. It was a physical meeting, which was a bit strange for most of them, as just talking didn’t require a physical presence. If I wanted them here, that meant this was important.

“Everyone know why you are all here?” I asked calmly, looking around. Brekko, as the senior student, raised his hand promptly, the others a tad slower and looking to him to answer.

“Sensei, we’re all four-year Sources,” he replied soberly.

“That’s right.” I’d had many of these meetings with my students and Marked, and to my utter lack of surprise there was exactly no one who wanted to leave me. Something about having a Charisma 50+ Ten Mentor who actually gave a damn about them was pretty addictive psychologically. It would not be unfair to say the Loyalty of my people was through the roof, and yet exceeded by the Duty I gave in return, because none of them were Tens yet.

I took care of them, they knew it, and in return they took care of me.

99% of the people we Opened were Null Forsaken. That still meant we ran into tons of Sources, given the numbers. They tended to be either respected loners or unspoken leaders of cliques before they signed up, and they were promptly assigned groups after they joined. Even if they didn’t want to, it was their directive as Sources. Even if they didn’t want to lead, they were leaders, and denying it was simply denying themselves, who they were, and meant they’d never reach Seven or Human/3.

The fact being Sources tended to make them big, strong, and handsome/attractive didn’t hurt things, of course.

There were naturally Nulls who could lead... I was one of them, of course. But the difference between a Null leading and Source was that a Source Bent Fate to help them do what they wanted to do... a Null just ignored or was ignored by it, so the effects of what we did were minimized unless a personal touch was applied.

I was changing things through my Marked. My Sources could change things by making everyone and anyone start to follow their paths, because that is what Sources did.

I had shown and proven this to them repeatedly, simply comparing the things they could accomplish with a group to those led by Nulls. Their teams had fewer arguments, less resentment about who was in charge, greater cooperation, and were held to a more common vision and goal. They got stuff done faster, cleaner, and with higher morale, even if the other leader was smarter and technically better at their job.

They were Sources, Kings Among Men and Queens Among Women. It was what they did.

“You’ve all taken your lessons well, and I’m proud of you. You’re all at least Fours... Brekko is on the cusp of Six. You’re good, you’re smart, you’re tough. You’ve been fighting to make the world a better place, even if the world really doesn’t give a shit. You’ve done well.

“But now, it’s the next stop on your journey.” I waved at Habberblok around them. “There are others coming up who can continue the work you started. Who need to BE the ones who continue the work you started, while you blaze new roads and show them what else they can do.

“In a month, my required military service to the city is going to begin. Some of you have already signed up to follow me. That’s very good, because we’re going to need a lot of influence in the military as we grow.

“Some of you are going to stick with the corporate route, or you’re planning on starting your own businesses working off Rantha Corp, which is also great. Others want to claim a territory, and be the Zone Mayor, and you’re going to make it happen. A few of you are planning to get into entertainment and media, now that your feet are wet, and you’re working with my girls at it.

“What I’m here today to do is the assignment I gave each and every one of you a month ago. You’ve had time to think, and I’ve bugged you, and you know it is important because you’re Sources.

“So, right now, here and today, you’re going to stand up before your teacher and your peers, and you’re going to tell us all your Oath. Your promise, to yourself, your goals, not mine. Because even when Sources follow, they must Lead.”

I fixed my eyes on Brekko. “Senior Brother Brekko, lead the way.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Glossary

Loyalty and Duty are based upon Loyalty and Leadership in Asheron’s Call, the game. Loyalty affected how much xp you passed up to the person you were sworn to. Leadership affected how much of it you kept. It was something you spent xp on, so if you didn’t have followers, or your patron was a douche, you didn’t invest in it. If you did, it paid you back for being a good patron.

Loyalty and Duty work the same way. They are actual psychological changes, where you actually pay to increase your loyalty, actually changing your own mind and personality with a commitment, and you do the same for your Duty to those beneath you. Allegiance Karma flows based on these two principles.

A leader with Loyal followers and no Duty is someone who expends and exploits his followers ruthlessly, and they don’t care (a Machiavellian ideal). A leader with Duty and disloyal followers does his best for his people, and they take advantage of him for it, or don’t recognize his efforts. A politician putting in his best efforts and failing to get re-elected is an example of this. An organization with neither Loyalty nor Duty basically rules by brute strength or charisma, and has power only where the boss can reach, basically a mob or horde. An organization with both Loyalty and Duty is tremendously united and focused as they work together.

The skill of Leadership basically indicates the number of people you can control, and how powerful they are, i.e. with enough leadership your personal following can number thousands, and you can have flunkies who are Tens. Your Warlord Ranking works off this number to determine how many people you can give combat bonuses to at one time. The Performer Rating of a Bard or Minstrel would determine the same types of things for large audiences, how many die-hard fans they have, etc.

A well-run organization will naturally have leaders whose followers are leaders of their own, driving the Allegiance forward together, and multiplying their numbers, in a standard hierarchical format. When enough people are in formal Allegiance, parapsionic links can occur, and the Allegiance Monarch can start returning their Loyalty to give a flat bonus to the entire Allegiance. The more people there are, and the higher the Loyalty and Duty flowing, the more powerful that bonus can be. In addition, they can spend Allegiance Karma to make things that affect or benefit the whole Allegiance.

Most of Sama’s bonus to this effect is subsumed by the Mark and Markspace, and her ability to apply morale effects to anyone so bound to her, regardless of where they are, and the Allegiance’s ability to support one another mentally in case of telepathic attack.