The slumbering giant of Renraku Computer Systems has awakened hungry. In the last year, Renraku has shown amazing growth and innovation in the production of computer hardware and software systems. Always a leader in computer architecture, Renraku has moved into the software and hardware fields with a vengeance, grabbing up market share with their cutting-edge developments in optics, program algorithms, adaptive systems, and other new technologies. The corporation's surge of success has clearly proven attractive to Renraku CEO Inazo Aneki, who continues to turn down opportunities for retirement to remain at the helm of the corporation. The seventy-year-old Aneki has guided Renraku since the founding of the corporation some thirty years ago and has "no intention of stepping down until Renraku secures its position as the leader in computer and Matrix innovation." The corporation's sudden success came as a surprise to market analysts, who were predicting troubled waters for Renraku due to the corporation's heavy investment in their Artificial Intelligence Project, which to date has still shown no results. -"Profile: Renraku Computer Systems," excerpted from the online magazine Corpwatch, 3 May 3059 Inazo Aneki sat and studied the print on the wall of his office in Renraku corporate Headquarters in Chiba, Japan, contemplating the news he had just heard and the meetings he was about to have. The windows behind him afforded a

view of the streets and buildings of Chiba and the sparkling waters of the Pacific in the distance through the afternoon haze that hung over the city. The painting was entitled "The Wave of the Future," and was based on the famous wood block print known as Kanagawa oki namiura by Katsushika Hokusai. It showed a great wave cresting in the sea off of Kanagawa, with the white cone of Mount Fuji rising in the background. A twentieth-century artist had scanned the original painting and altered it so that the graceful woodcut curves of the tidal wave morphed into a pattern of colorful computer-graphics against a black sky. A twenty-first-century artist had further altered the painting. He had added a woodcut design of a serpentine dragon coiling around the peak of Mount Fuji, its body twisting around the mountain, a sleek-scaled, photorealistic representation of the great eastern dragon Ryumyo as he had first appeared, flying above Mount Fuji, in late December of 2011, the herald of a new age of magic and myth. Aneki had admired the print from the day he first became CEO of Renraku. He liked to think of the company in much the same way: ancient and honorable tradition adapting to a world of high technology and rapid change, where nothing was certain apart from the company and the need for the company to provide its workers with a solid center to their lives. Renraku had always done that for as long as Aneki had been involved with it, and he intended to ensure the prosperity of his company and its community for a very, very long time. Long after he was gone, if karma would allow. Inazo Aneki was not a young man, but he had the finest medicine both science and sorcery of the twenty-first century could provide, so it was likely he would live a good many more years still. Perhaps he would one day take his retirement on board the Zurich-Orbital station. Perhaps the zero-gravity environment would add a few more precious years of life for him to make sure his company would always be there, which was all the immortality Aneki wished for himself.

A musical tone from the telecom screen on one side of Aneki's desk brought him out of his reverie. He touched the illuminated button on one side of the display screen to acknowledge his assistant's page. "Yes?" he said into the air, and a voice, chosen for its soothing and professional quality, replied. "Chairman Watanabe to see you, Aneki-sama." Aneki gave his assent and a moment later the door of his office was opened by his secretary to admit the Chairman of the Renraku Computer Systems Board of Directors, Yukio Watanabe. The secretary executed a flawless bow and withdrew, closing the door behind her. Watanabe walked smoothly to a respectful distance from Aneki's desk and executed a slight bow that was little more than a nod, as befitted her status as Chairman. Aneki returned the gesture and motioned for her to take one of the comfortable chairs in front of his desk. In Aneki's father's time, it would have been unthinkable for a woman to be involved in business affairs, much less to rise to a position of power as great as Yukio Watanabe. But times are different now, Aneki thought with a glance at the print on his wall. Women in the business world of Japan were a small change by comparison to things such as the rise of magic, the twisting of a tenth of the world's population into creatures like orks and trolls, and the world-spanning influence of the Matrix. Still, women such as Watanabe-scwza had to work hard to prove themselves in the traditionally male-dominated world of business. They had to be more capable, confident, and efficient than their male counterparts in order to achieve the same results. That meant, Aneki had learned, that women in business, especially successful women, were people to be respected. He had watched Watanabe's rise to her current position and, even though he and the Chairman didn't see eye to eye on every issue, he respected her opinion and her skills as a businesswoman. Under their mutual guidance, Renraku Computer Systems had prospered. It only remains to be seen, Aneki thought, whether our efforts will secure the company's future or seal its fate.

"So?" she asked without preamble. Her brusqueness was not offensive, considering the circumstances. "Napoli-san says Osborne is handling the case. He thinks she is stalling for time, but she also claims to have evidence that we have violated the concords." Watanabe took the news stoically, without any outward sign of concern. "When will he make contact?" she asked. Aneki did not have to ask to whom she referred. It was the sole reason they were both present in his office this afternoon. "Soon," he said. "Provided he can be bothered to do so at all this time." Watanabe's face darkened. "I hope he has been informed of the importance of this matter." She clearly could not imagine why anyone would not take the affairs of Renraku as seriously as she. "He has been informed, but it remains to be seen if he has decided to understand." Aneki knew from experience that most people were caught up in their own little worlds, believing their own concerns to be primary and wondering why everyone else did not share their opinion. The individual they awaited was more prone to such behavior than most. Renraku Computer Systems was no more concern to him than the affairs of tribesmen in the Siberian steppes, perhaps less. Even as Watanabe was about to retort, Aneki raised a hand to interrupt. "Every effort has been made to ensure he will understand, Yuki. His obsession might blind him to the everyday concerns of life, but he knows he needs Renraku’s patronage to continue his work. I instructed for that to be made clear to him." Watanabe nodded in approval of the veiled threat issued in the company's name. Matters were too grave to play around with needless diplomacy, and she understood well that fine words were best backed up by a sharp sword. Aneki's assistant entered the room like a silent shadow, carrying a tea service. She set it down and then proceeded to pour for the CEO and the Chairman, moving with quiet grace and efficiency. Another tone sounded from Aneki's desktop console, this one different from the signal from his assistant's desk. With a wave of his hand, Aneki dismissed the assistant from the room and ordered that there be no disturbances whatsoever. He knew she would efficiently field any problems, allowing him to concentrate fully on the matter at hand. Aneki touched the Receive key on the telecom, and a window opened to reveal a complex, fractal encryption image. It was like an electronic lotus of incredible complexity and surpassing beauty, and Aneki found himself impressed as always with the way the code's creator combined brilliant functionality with aesthetics. Aneki manipulated a few keys to make sure the systems were linked and the encryption secure before hitting the final acceptance key to open the link. An image shimmered into place in the chair across from the one where Watanabe sat. The sheer resolution of the image was such that anyone would have sworn a spirit had manifested in the office, but Aneki and Watanabe knew it to be only a simulacrum, created by the state-of-the-art holographic projectors discreetly built into the office. Still, the technology was so sophisticated one could almost reach out and touch the figure sitting in the chair. He was tall and thin, with long, dark hair swept back from a high forehead and sharp, aristocratic features. Hands with long, slim fingers were steepled in front of him in a casual gesture. His eyes were dark and impossibly deep, and Aneki always marveled at them. He often wondered if their incredible ageless quality was real or merely a creation of the image the man behind them projected. The long hair covered the delicately pointed ears that were the clearest mark that their visitor was an elf. Elves were just one of the many metatypes that had appeared with the return of magic, new races that had thrown off their human guises and, according to many, then- human rights. "Welcome, Leonardo-san," Aneki said with a slight nod of his head and Watanabe followed suit. The seated elven figure gave a slight smile and echoed the gesture.