For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? -Mark 8:36 Miles Lanier sat looking out the window of his office in the Fuchi Industrial Electronics headquarters in New York City. Known as The Black Towers, the six spires of the complex rose high above the city skyline, offering a view of the city and the distant Jersey shore. Lanier watched the shimmering lights of the sprawl and considered the lives of the millions of people teeming in its streets and the millions more in other metroplexes where the drama between the corporate giants straddling the world was played out on a daily basis. One game ended while elsewhere another one was just beginning. Babel… no, Ronin had been as good as his word. The Hammermen had taken Lanier to another Fuchi facility in Boston where he was able to use the priority codes he and Villiers had arranged months ago to access and arrange for transportation to New York. His arrival was followed by an in-depth briefing with Villiers and the CEO's top staff, those who could be trusted, at any rate. Villiers listened to Lanier's entire story about the Renraku operation to gain access to the secrets of the otaku. About how Babel, not Ronin, had turned against his former employers and put an end to the otaku project, which appeared to have damaged many Renraku cutting-edge technologies being readied for the marketplace. Speculation was rife among the Fuchi execs whether or not Renraku had acquired some of those developments from the otaku and whether they might have been wiped out by the virus by accident. Lanier voiced the opinion that the mysterious "Leonardo" decker allied with Renraku was himself an otaku who passed information on to the corporation in exchange for the money Renraku supposedly poured into his "research and development." If it was true, then the otaku themselves had dealt with Leonardo's indiscretions through Ronin and his virus. It was unlikely any other otaku would be breaking ranks in the future to aid the megacorporations. That sat just fine with Villiers, who knew first-hand how much trouble rogue Matrix elements could be. It was better not to have bit players mucking up the actions of the megacorporations. Renraku was set back by the damage done by the Babel Virus (as it quickly became known in Fuchi circles). The corp was not out of the game by any means, but the playing field had been leveled quite a bit. Fuchi was still Renraku's biggest competitor, but they had a better chance working against a Renraku stripped of the advances provided by the otaku Leonardo. While Renraku scrambled with damage control, Fuchi was working on getting some new competitive products out on the market. They were still the number one computer corporation, and Richard Villiers would see to it they remained that way. Dumping Lanier's stock on the Zurich Gemeinschaft Bank would also serve as a firewall against Renraku's expansion for a while. Already the stock markets were getting the first hints of a shift in the higher ranks of Renraku Computer Systems, and word of the stock transfer was spreading out from Tokyo and London to the exchange in Boston where it all began, just like a virus making its way through the body of the world, spreading information and making changes where it passed. Soon enough the world would know something big had happened to Renraku even if they -would never really know the whole story behind it. The corporate spin-doctors would see to that. Of more immediate concern was the trouble brewing within Fuchi. The Japanese families still simmered over the increased power Villiers had gained. Lanier's return to the fold did nothing to improve the Japanese faction's opinion of Villiers. Accusations of grand-standing covert operations concealed from the shareholders were flying fast and furious. The only thing keeping the Yamanas and the Nakatomis from trying to have Villiers removed outright was Lanier's success in putting the brakes on Renraku. As far as everyone else was concerned, Villiers and Lanier were heroes who'd pulled off a masterful scam against Renraku and got away with it. The Japanese were not going to remain idle for long. They would have to respond to Villiers' increased control over the corporation before he gained the leverage he needed to force them out entirely. Lanier knew from experience that there was nothing more dangerous than an opponent forced into a corner. In desperate straits, people were willing to do almost anything to survive. Ronin was proof of that. He had boasted to Lanier that he'd won his freedom, but Lanier didn't think so. Whatever it was Ronin talked to in the Matrix-the voice he spoke of in his visions that showed him how to be a technoshaman- it had used Ronin just as much, if not more, than his corporate employers ever did. Ronin had been turned into a weapon to be used against Renraku. He would teach them not to frag with the otaku, then be discarded like a spent gun. Lanier doubted that it mattered little to whoever or whatever was pulling the strings whether or not Ronin survived the experience so long as he did what he was supposed to do. Lanier had seen the technique a hundred times before in his career, and had used such people more times than he cared to count. He knew the signs when he saw them. Let Ronin think what he likes, he thought. The kid was young and ignorant of the way the world worked, but he would learn about it soon enough. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he could. There was no freedom in the world. People simply went from the service of one employer to another, even if the employer was themselves or their own desires for success, challenge, or luxury. The only freedom in the world is in knowing it's all just a game, Lanier thought. And in knowing how to use the rules to your own advantage. Speaking of which… He touched a panel on the flat, black top of his desk and a display lit up, providing touch controls for the sophisticated suite of electronics and communications gear built into the desk. A bowl-shaped depression on the left side of the desk glowed darkly, and the translucent holographic image of Lanier's assistant shimmered into being above it. "Yes, Mr. Lanier?" she asked. "Rhonda, get me Smedley Pembrenton on the line. I need to speak to him immediately. There's work to be done." "Right away, sir." Lanier closed the connection and waited for his call to go through. Pembrenton was a good fixer and knew Boston like the back of his giant hand. Lanier was sure the troll could meet his needs. I wonder if the Hammermen are available for some additional work? Lanier thought. He would need a lot of good people if he was going to handle the Japanese and Renraku at the same time. It would require subtlety, but he was sure he could pull it off. He sat back and started planning how he was going to do it while Rhonda put the call through. Of one thing Miles Lanier was totally certain. Sacrifices would have to be made.