Yes, that only happens in kibitzing etc. and doesn't interfere with uploading, as long as you don't do anything silly like copy-paste a post with figurines in it and submit that :)

Also, the titles "NM" and "GM" should probably be removed from the "White" and "Black" fields for the submitted version; CG's name decoder <might> well be smart enough to figure out they're not part of the name, but it's best to play safe.

Quick question: do you mean that the prefatory notes about the tournament and Kasimov's pregame strategy should all appear after 1. d4? If that's how it's done, no worries; I just want to make sure I understand you properly.

Yes; well, mostly yes. I think it's not a good idea to have 3 separate notes after a given move; normally there's only one note, and even if no programs actually choke on the presence of 3 notes (which is not something that I would bet on), there's no advantage to using 3 notes instead of one big note. I would recommend either a) combining the notes into one big note or b) keeping them as three separate notes, but giving them after different moves; the first after 1.d4, the second after 1...Nf6 and the third after 2.Nf3.

<#1> {Notes by NM Nechemia Kasimov}

<#2> {Rishon LeZion Jubilee was a big event dedicated to the State of Israel's 30 years celebration and Rishon LeZion Chess Club's 40 years Jubilee. In the main tournament twenty-six players participated. Of the top Israeli players, only GM Vladimir Liberzon was missing. This was my first individual tournament since 1964. How could I refuse the opportunity to play against the best Israeli chess players? Between all the GMs and IMs I was but a modest Candidate Master.}

<#3> {Before this tournament, GM Roman Dzindzichashvili had lost only one game in Israel since moving there in 1976. His best career performances were in 1978, when his rating placed him among the top twenty players in the world. My strategy was to avoid theoretical openings, since Roman's knowledge was profound and mine was below zero. The game was intense: it lasted six hours, starting at 7:00 p.m. and finishing at 1:00 a.m. There was no doubt in my mind that Roman was sure his superior chess skills would prove decisive in the endgame. I was willing to match him. The spectators were waiting until the end of the game to see a big surprise.}

I'm pretty sure attaching multiple notes to the same move this way is non-standard, and in any case it offers no advantage over other approaches. In this case, the alternatives would be:

a) <1.d4 {Notes by NM Nechemia Kasimov

Rishon LeZion Jubilee was a big event dedicated to the State of Israel's 30 years celebration and Rishon LeZion Chess Club's 40 years Jubilee. In the main tournament twenty-six players participated. Of the top Israeli players, only GM Vladimir Liberzon was missing. This was my first individual tournament since 1964. How could I refuse the opportunity to play against the best Israeli chess players? Between all the GMs and IMs I was but a modest Candidate Master.

Before this tournament, GM Roman Dzindzichashvili had lost only one game in Israel since moving there in 1976. His best career performances were in 1978, when his rating placed him among the top twenty players in the world. My strategy was to avoid theoretical openings, since Roman's knowledge was profound and mine was below zero. The game was intense: it lasted six hours, starting at 7:00 p.m. and finishing at 1:00 a.m. There was no doubt in my mind that Roman was sure his superior chess skills would prove decisive in the endgame. I was willing to match him. The spectators were waiting until the end of the game to see a big surprise.}>

b) <1.d4 {Notes by NM Nechemia Kasimov} Nf6 {Rishon LeZion Jubilee was a big event dedicated to the State of Israel's 30 years celebration and Rishon LeZion Chess Club's 40 years Jubilee. In the main tournament twenty-six players participated. Of the top Israeli players, only GM Vladimir Liberzon was missing. This was my first individual tournament since 1964. How could I refuse the opportunity to play against the best Israeli chess players? Between all the GMs and IMs I was but a modest Candidate Master.} 2.Nf3 {Before this tournament, GM Roman Dzindzichashvili had lost only one game in Israel since moving there in 1976. His best career performances were in 1978, when his rating placed him among the top twenty players in the world. My strategy was to avoid theoretical openings, since Roman's knowledge was profound and mine was below zero. The game was intense: it lasted six hours, starting at 7:00 p.m. and finishing at 1:00 a.m. There was no doubt in my mind that Roman was sure his superior chess skills would prove decisive in the endgame. I was willing to match him. The spectators were waiting until the end of the game to see a big surprise.}>

Yes, let's just wait for <twinlark>. Now and then, I also read parts of the draft to check for errors. I haven't made any significant changes since the last major corrections, except for Chapter 32. A Ghost Reality.

‘I don’t know if any of the guards managed to contact hotel security or the police. I have no intention of getting caught by Iladistani authorities. When we get back to Alogostan, I’ll submit the recording and an official report. It exonerates us. By WDF rules, if you can prove that a criminal is involved in such a dire crime as illegally summoning darklings, the means justify the ends. Let’s get out of here.’ Lili opened one of the room’s windows.

‘Are you buang? Crazy? That’s a long way to the bottom!’ Elam exclaimed.

Lili ignored him. ‘The fire exit is in the corridor outside. We can’t afford to run into any security that might be in the corridor right now, or coming up fast. Tahum, carry us down.’

‘Hey I thought I was in charge of this mission?’

Tukib interrupted. ‘Tahum, Lili seems to know what she’s doing. She rescued you.’

Tahum drew a breath. ’Fine. You seem to be in charge, Lili. Tukib, carry Lili. Pana you’re the strongest; carry Elam.’

Lili climbed on Tukib’s posterior, piggy back style. Without a word, Pana approached Elam, grabbed him, and slung him over her shoulders like a sack of rice. [By the Tela, she’s really strong!]

Tukib went over the open window and exited the room, Lili on his back. The shocked Elam could not eke out a single word as Pana followed suit. Hanging upside down on Pana’s shoulders, his vision swung from that of the room’s floor 5 feet below him to that of a road 20 stories down. He could see Tukib just below him sticking to the building’s side, grasping firmly on any protuberance, hopping from one handhold or foothold to the next, all the while with Lili clinging on to his back. Above him Tahum was agilely following them. Pana was using both feet but only one hand, her left arm clamped down on Elam’s waist like pliers on a bolt; yet she did not seem to have any problem. The avatars descended, swift as geckos darting down a wall.

At the bottom, Pana gently set Elam on his feet again. She grinned. ‘Now migs, wasn’t that better than a roller coaster ride?’

‘How the hell did you do that!’ Elam blurted out.

It was Tahum who replied. ‘Sorry I did not have time to warn you; security might have burst into that suite anytime. We avatars are simply several times stronger and faster than humans. Climbing up and down a building’s side is no big deal to us.’

Lili spoke to her tab com. Agent Maneho picked them up by the road. They crowded into the car.

‘And what the f__k was that!’

‘You mean Supervisor Hikap? An abomination called a libidinous troll,’ Tukib replied. ‘Father has guidelines for the behavior of House avatars. One is that we leave Abominations and Possessed alone, unless they threaten us, or witness them doing something harmful to humans. Many of them are well adjusted, so Father doesn’t want us to go around hunting them like impoverished Maestros do for rich hunter patrons. Hikap for example had a job and functioned well in his job. He did not go around murdering and raping people, even the brides in his Pier, if he could help it. It was his patron Pugos who was the initiator of that little incident up there, not him. If their relation is typical, Pugos probably warns the rich human hunters not to hunt Hikap or bribes them not to do it, and provides Hikap a false identity and his legitimate job. In return Hikap does anything Pugos wants and acts as an additional bodyguard. Abominations gain their powers from dark energy, and so avatars and Maestras like Lili can always sense them. However, they can’t sense avatars and Maestras. Apart from their specialties they can’t use dark energy as well as avatars. Avatars after all are darklings.’

‘Are you trying to defend Hikap? He was coercing the poor girls in his Pier!’ Lili joined in the discussion. ‘I’ve known many Abominations. Hikap wasn’t the worst of their lot. As for the girls in the Pier, they invariably possess lots of ambition, hopes that this is their way out of a life of poverty, and some essential naughtiness. I would not trust them with my purse, possessions, or secrets. Whatever sentimental movies you watched in your Null World, forget them. What you see is reality. The girls are not simple victims. They do not see themselves as victims. They compete with one another for grooms like sharks on mackerel. They know exactly what they came here for, and are eager to achieve it. I certainly did. If you want to see them as victims, then blame Alogostan’s system of internal colonialism. It impoverishes the Nation’s peripheral regions, where most of the girls come from. Free from a life of grinding poverty, most of them will grow up to develop what you undoubtedly will deem as healthier ambitions and hopes.’

‘Turns out that I was right in requesting Father that we bring along Pana,’ Tahum added. ‘Numerous independent sources indicate that Ngit-ngit City is experiencing a plague of these creatures. It’s probably related to the Unitemplist sects’ experimentation with dark energy and summoning over the years. If a darkling manages to bite or scratch a participant in the summoning, and he survives, he could become Possessed. If a darkling manages to mate with a participant, an Abomination could result. A Possessed can possess more. An Abomination can beget more. They usually don’t last very long though because of the hunts. Also, in Iladistan, a theocracy that secretly encourages its millionaires to hire Maestros to hunt them down, they almost always emigrate to more secular Nations like Alogostan and Dalokistan. You’d be surprised that there are big cities and isolated rural towns where they form organized clubs and societies, which bribe Maestros not to hunt them. WDF in practice usually ignores them because they are not real threats to Tera’s security.’

‘One good thing about this little incident is that we now know where the next summoning will be. Diha island.’

‘Isn’t Diha Island part of Alogistan? For that matter isn’t Duol Island? Why isn’t the Alogostani military monitoring the Sanag River Islands?’ Tukib questioned in puzzled voice.

Lili didn’t bother to answer. Instead she began punching on her tabcom’s virtual buttons. She caught Elam looking at her. ‘Don’t worry; I communicate to my agents in code. Even if the Iladistani authorities are tapping this, it would take them days to decode, and it’s going to be over by tomorrow. In fact, I think you can safely communicate to the Shield right now, and no one here will arrest you for espionage.’ Tukib and Tahum both began punching on their tabcoms.

‘At ease frogmen.’ Lili spoke in Alogostani. They sat back on various sofas and chairs in the lounge. ‘The next summoning will be in Diha Island, 0300 hours. We have lost all our inside agents in Duol Island. Thus it befalls you to install the spy video cams in the island and waters around it. Your mission is purely reconnaissance, not termination or arrest, unless I order differently. We’ll save that for the big one tomorrow.’

‘Diha Island is only a hundred meters from the Iladistani shoreline, but like all islands in and around the mouth of Sanag River, is part of Alogostan territory. Righteous Fire uses these unoccupied islands on the insistence of their patrons in the Iladistani government so they can disavow them in case their activities are discovered. There is no legal impediment for us to operate on Diha island.’

‘You are to place these monitoring devices on the shores of Diha Island.’ Lili pointed to a table full of black irregular objects that looked like rocks. It is approximately 2 hours to the summoning. Be careful, there are probably already sect members in the island.’

‘Everyone who has to go to the bathroom or drink up do so now. Let’s go.’

The commandos boarded the two vans; Lili, Elam, Tahum, Tukib, Pana their small car. All three vehicles immediately took off and split up. ‘They’re taking different routes to the river; we’re going back to Tandayag. Duro and the three Wings will rendezvous with us in the river; he’s agreed to come along just in case the sect manages to tear up the Tela once again.’

Lili looked at her tab com. ‘There’s good news. Aya has been resurrected. The energy from the two dozen darklings Pana and Bantay slew did it. She’s still in a coma though. It would take another infusion of Natural Darkling energy to wake her up, but that should not be a problem.’ Their small car reverberated with cheers and yehays.

They all began to talk about Aya, but Lili cut them off. ‘Don’t lose concentration just yet; we’re still on a dangerous mission.’ The car arrived at the Pier. ‘Here we are. Proceed to Tandayag, but walk normally; don’t attract attention. We’ll transfer to the Lumba-lumba in the river. Tukib will return the Tandayag to the Shield; it’s too slow and too visible for this operation.’

They boarded the Tandayag. Tukib immediately turned on the rear motor engine, and they took off into Sanag River. Elam saw an object shaped vaguely like a log, colored so dark that it was effectively invisible until they approached it. It was one of the Shield’s two life boats, the Lumba-lumba. It had no decks; a portion of the side wall opened down to form a boarding ramp. They clambered aboard, Tukib staying behind in the Tandayag. The fishing boat began to move toward the Shield, still docked near Duol lsland.

Professor Duro gave him a welcome hug. ‘Nice work, iho. I’m so happy to see you well Tahum, Pana.’ He ignored Lili.

Alwana was driving the lifeboat. Oisa and Bodhi stood near entrance. They smiled and waved at the newcomers, but maintained a professional silence.

‘Set course for Diha island Alwana,’ Lili ordered.

On the sides of the boat were large monitor screens. Lili pressed on her tabcom and images appeared on the monitor.

‘Those are images taken from the camouflaged video cams that my agents have placed around the shore of the island.’ People were walking, standing, or sitting all around the island, talking to each other comfortably. Most carried small electric lanterns. ‘Apparently it has not started yet. My agents have identified most of them as lower tier members of the Righteous Fire. They’ve confirmed that we still have about 30 minutes.’

Everyone turned to Elam in surprise. Elam bowed his head guiltily at having been caught.

There were several seconds of pregnant silence. Then Prof said in a grave voice, ‘I see. When the time comes, everyone here will do what he or she has to do.’ He began to study the images from the island on the monitor. The others began talking in somber murmurs.

Lili stood alone in the middle of the cabin. Nobody paid her any heed. She tentatively took a step toward the Professor. ‘Duro, please. Look at me.’

Prof did. ‘I am giving you command of this operation Lili. You can order any of the avatars and they’ll follow you as if I were the one ordering them. What more do you want?’

‘It’s not that which I want,’ Lili said.

Prof looked back at her with sadness in his face. To everyone’s surprise, he gave her a little smile. Then he turned back to studying the monitor screens.

Elam sidled up to Oisa who had gone off to the back of the boat. She looked extremely worried. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.’ Instead of reprimanding him, Oisa patted him on the cheek and gave him a reassuring smile.

‘What does it mean, our memory? Manong Duro is alive isn’t he? It must be false.’

‘It’s a reality paradox. In the quantum world, something similar happens all the time. Ever heard of the cat in the box experiment by Schrödinger, one of the greatest of pre Shift scientists?’

‘Huo, It’s vaguely familiar. Cat in the box. Radioactive substance with a one-hour half life. If an observer peeks in after an hour, he sees either a live cat or a dead cat. He has collapsed the probability wave of the cat. If he does not, the state of the cat remains in superposition, both alive and dead, neither alive nor dead.’

‘Right, that’s in the quantum world. Effects sometimes spill over to the macroworld. However, in the macroscopic world, the Tela abhors paradoxes. Sooner or later it merges them or discards one state, or turns them into ghosts. You must realize that for the Tela, past, present, and future all exist simultaneously, and all are in fluctuation- shifting, diverging, and merging. There is no predestination; and in many cases, we individuals with free will can affect these reality fluctuations or shifts.’

‘In our timeline, Father died in the Battle of the Spear, his head torn off by a Demon King; and all these,’ Oisa waved around ‘never happened. We are shades living in a ghost reality that will sooner or later get deleted in the Tela.’

<‘Huo, It’s vaguely familiar. Cat in the box. Radioactive substance with a one-hour half life. If an observer peeks in after an hour, he sees either a live cat or a dead cat. He has collapsed the probability wave of the cat. If he does not, the state of the cat remains in superposition, both alive and dead, neither alive nor dead.’

[Event "rated wild/fr match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2016.05.25"]
[Round "?"]
[White "NN"]
[Black "Quylthulg"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2177"]
[BlackElo "2209E"]
[TimeControl "120+2"]
[Variant "wild/fr"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "qrknnrbb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/QRKNNRBB w KQkq - 0 1"]

[Event "rated blitz match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2016.05.27"]
[Round "?"]
[White "NN"]
[Black "Quylthulg"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1861"]
[BlackElo "2057"]
[ECO "A01"]
[TimeControl "300"]

I've decided to make 'Darkquake' conform to such genre.

It now reads.

<Lili produced a spy video cam from one of the many pockets inside her robes. The cam protruded a thin worm-like scope that penetrated into the crack between the door and the wall. Its screen brightened up for all of them to see.

Pana and Tahum lay on two beds on the far end of the room, their left hands cuffed to their beds’ headboards. A paunchy but still husky sexagenarian lacking most of the usual everyday apparel, who could only be Pugos, and Supervisor Hikap, still in his uniformed shirt but minus his sidearm, belt holster, trousers, and boots, stood in front of the beds.

‘No extra guard it seems. Tukib break the door down and barge in. I’ll follow.’

Tukib crouched, then launched his body and hit the door with his right shoulder. Elam gasped. The door splintered and caved inward. Tukib pushed himself into the inner chamber, followed by Lili, gun held in both hands in firing position.

Lili first professionally scanned the entire room, the open adjoining bathroom, and the windows, ascertaining that there were no more guards, and then calmly shot Pugos on both knees and the groin. Red human blood spurted out. He fell forward in pain.

Lili shot Hikap on the forehead and chest. There was a ping as the first bullet bounced off his head, and a thud as the second bullet buried itself in his breast. He remained standing. Then he grinned.

‘Pana, help!’ Lili shouted in Sayabi. ‘Normal mode!’

To Elam’s horror, Hikap began to grow bigger. His shirt burst out and hung in tatters across his chest and protruding belly. His skin turned green and began erupting pustules all over, oozing purulent green ichor. His green-black tongue lolled out of a mouth full of sharp shark’s teeth. His ugly face grew even uglier. He was a seven foot tall creature of pure ugliness. He took a step forward toward Lili.

A blue arrow appeared in Pana’s right hand. She was holding it near the tip. She cut the handcuff on her left wrist with the arrow’s flaming point. She stood up.

‘Hey troll, pick someone your size,’ Pana yelled, adjusting her tube top back up with her left hand. Her bow appeared on her right hand as the arrow disappeared.

Hikap turned back to face Pana. His grin turned into a snarl. Pana sprang forward like a gymnast, landing in a crouch on the floor before him. She rapidly waved her bow’s serrated blade-like limbs like a butterfly’s fluttering wing, repeatedly transecting Hikap’s body from feet up, leaving for last his face and then his mouth. It hung snarling in midair. Hikap fell apart like strips of moldy green cheese. ‘Told you not to marry us,’ she told the pile of sliced cheese. Then she looked at the gaping Elam, frowning. ‘It’s not sausages. It’s like grated cheese, but it will do.’

In spite of the bizarreness of the situation, Elam found himself asking, ‘What happened? You won’t get pregnant and beget an Abomination?’

Pana chuckled. ‘You care for us, don’t you? No we won’t, even if something did happen. Darklings can control their reproductive functions, and we are darklings in essence. When we’re on auto mode we’re animated computer programs and in general only a command in Sayabi by someone we know can bring us out of it. My body feels but I don’t. Hmm don’t know with Tahum though.’

‘Quit philosophizing, Pana, and get this cuff off me,’ Tahum yelled at her. Pana hurriedly went over to free her.>

In Chapter 30. Promenade Hotel, I removed the explicit scene where Lili burns her assassin spouse to death. It now reads

<‘Hmm, if I may ask, how did you, hmm, free yourself from your husband?’

His bereaved Household decided to hold a lunch meeting the day the Professor died. This was at Aya’s suggestion, so everyone would have a chance to cool down.

Lili disappeared into her former house in the Hanging Gardens. Captain Sugo posted an obituary in the internet, notified the Alogostani MDE Society and the WDF, and sent personal emails and text messages to all of the persons that he found listed in Prof’s tabcom address directory. Majordomos Henloa, Tenloa, and Limpyoha and Engineer Husay led the Cleaner and Mechanic avatars in cleaning and fixing up the mess that the darkling attack left, including the Wings’ mezzanine quarters and Elam’s flight deck room. All the other avatars retired into their respective houses. Elam was visibly agitated, so Aya took his hand and led him into one of the functional hotel rooms of the Balanghay Boat. She had Elam lie down on a bed, then draped her fragrant soporific hair on his face inducing him to go to sleep. Afterward she joined Oisa, Alwana, and Bodhi in the latter’s small house in the Shield’s Museum in the Balanghay’s basement.

Aya found the other Wings sitting around a round table. Alwana was throwing dagger looks at Oisa. The latter was looking away avoiding eye contact. Bodhi sat looking uncomfortable in between them.

‘My dear sisters,’ Aya began.

‘Oh please, Aya. We don’t need your platitudes,’ Alwana snapped.

‘What do you mean sis? I was just trying to recall the events in the Battle of the Black Castle, when Oisa was marching up the citadel’s entrance.’

Bodhi perked up. ‘I was at Oisa’s left fending off darkling attacks from that flank. You were covering Oisa’s back. Can you remember where you were, Alwana?’

‘Of course. I was on Oisa’s right side.’

‘I seem to recall a battalion of darklings led by a huge Dan 151 High Demon King rushing Oisa from your side as she was fighting a Dan 173 in front of her.’

‘Yes, I remember that. I was with Bantay’s company. They sacrificed themselves in order to delay the darklings, so that Oisa could reach the castle’s entrance for her to issue her challenge to the Emperor of the One Night.’

‘Then what happened?’

‘Near the end, Bantay was the only one left standing. He was whirring his sword and mace like the Big Mov’s rotors, slicing up the darklings. The Dan 151 then knocked him out with a flying kick to the head. Bantay barely managed to avoid a direct hit which would definitely have brained him. Pana exposed her position high on one of the castle’s towers which she had infiltrated beforehand by firing an arrow at the High Demon’s left chest just as he was landing on the ground. As expected it got stuck on the High Demon’s skin, but I realized instinctively that it was just to distract it. As it reached for the arrow, I stuck my doble espada into its right temple, killing it. A platoon of darklings converged on Pana on top of the tower, and I last saw her falling off into a cleft in the Tela beside the castle. I thought that Bantay and Pana had been killed, but Bantay had merely conked out, and Pana later reoccurred with the rest of us. The Dan 173 battling Oisa was sufficiently distracted so that I was able to sneak up and skewer its heart by its side.’

Alwana gazed at Oisa, aggrieved look turned reminiscing. ‘Oisa was magnificent. She slew a hundred darklings more that blocked her way. She reached the entrance and issued her challenge. A succession of High Demons from their Central Committee was sent by the Emperor in order to test her and she slew them all in one on one duels.’

Oisa was now looking at Alwana, softly. ‘I cannot recall the battle but I do remember the feeling of gratitude toward you for rescuing my ass Alwana; and the pain of so many of dying that day, just so I could issue my challenge. Salamat.’

The four Arch Wings of the Order of the Sun and Sky fell into solemn silence, staying stock still as only avatars could.

After several hours Alwana broke in. ‘Father always wished to be buried immediately at sea, without embalmment, when it was his time to pass.’

‘So we’ll fulfill his wishes. I never could understand the Alogostani custom of holding wakes that can last two or three weeks,’ Oisa stated.

Lili fidgeted. She opened her mouth to speak, and abruptly closed it again.

‘What is it Lili?’ Bodhi asked.

‘Hmm. It might not be a good idea. You know Alogostanis hold long wakes. Perhaps we should give time for some of his colleagues to come and view him one final time. The Maestros have a tradition of attending the wake of one of their own. They’ll be expecting invitations.’

‘Are you deciding for the Household, Lili?’ Oisa asked belligerently.

‘No, of course not. I was merely suggesting,’ Lili replied quickly. ‘You do what you want.’

‘Fine. It’s settled. So we bury him this afternoon.’

‘No it’s not.’ Sugo, Captain of the Shield, walked in from the stern tower’s central staircase, together with Elam and the rest of the Veteran avatars. ‘The Alogostani MDE Society has replied. Following tradition, all Alogostani Maestros who are not engaged elsewhere are coming here for the burial. They’ll be paying for their own travel expenses and for their board and lodging here in our Balanghay Household Boat. We’ll have to wait a day or two Oisa. We can’t well antagonize them, not under these circumstances. Father would have understood.’

Oisa did not argue. They all took their seats by a long table on which Chef Luto and his Waiters were placing in their lunch. ‘Your favorite. Prawn, crab mackerel, vegetable soup, and eat-all-you-can rice,’ the Chef announced.

‘So when are we burying Manong Duro?’ Elam queried. ‘Aren’t you guys discussing it further?’

It was Oisa herself who replied. ‘Oh no, iho. We often debate with each other, but once a clear course of action presents itself, we Veterans take it without ado. Sugo is quite right.’

‘Hmm. Do you know that humans don’t just agree and act so quickly?’

Aya looked puzzled. ‘Huo. It’s another human characteristic that I have never comprehended.’

‘There’s a problem with some of the potential guests. They’re Father’s former colleagues from South Eastern Islands Provincial Academy and other Universities. A few seem to be students or new graduates, who have read some of Father’s writings in the internet about preserving minority peoples and empowering the local polities in peripheral areas. They don’t have the money to come here.’

‘Hmm, can I say something?’ Lili muttered barely audibly. Elam leaned forward to catch her words.

‘Lili what’s wrong with you? Your eyes are puffed up and Elam here can hardly hear you. Talk louder please.’

All the avatars were watching the uncharacteristically nervous Lili. ‘Ahem. I have arranged for the Department of Anti-Terrorism Affairs to prepay all travel, board, and lodging expenses of all guests. Even those cashless students can come. All you have to do is to give my tabcom number to them. Once they enter an Alogostani airport they call me. I order the airlines to accommodate them as priorities for a flight to South Eastern Islands, using my authority as a DATA level 5 agent. DATA-owned vans are waiting at Buhi City airport ready to transport them to Buhi Port. There a DATA ship is waiting to transport any guest for free to this Boat.’

‘How the hell were you able to do that? DATA is known for a lot of things, but not generosity,’ Oisa exclaimed.

Lili looked miserable. ‘I convinced Minister Kusgan over my tabcom that it’s a good opportunity to spy on any potential secessionist, Guru Duro being a known one. Please don’t get mad at me. It’s a credible ruse to help out our Household expenses.’

‘Hitting two maya birds with one arrow, eh Lili,’ Pana interrupted sarcastically. ‘Pretending to work for our Household, while still working for DATA?’ Her arrow appeared in her hand, blue fire glinting its tip. She mimed stabbing motions with it toward Lili.

‘Pana you saved me from that troll in the hotel. I thank you for it with all my heart. I owe you my life. You can take it any time you want. I admit to the murder of my Guru. I am guilty. All you have to do is report my actions collaborating with Righteous Fire to the WDF, and they’ll execute me. Or tell me to jump overboard and drown. I’m Compelled to do it. I’ll even do it without any Binding Compulsion. Maybe it’s time I leave this world.’