Our Lady of the Nets

"The floor was white marble, reflections dancing in its polished surface. Bright, intricate stained-glass windows rose a hundred meters or more, supported by star-flecked granite columns carved in the shapes of Brobdingnagian elephants, turtles, crocodiles, and oxen. As she watched, Penylle realized that the patterns of stained glass were slowly moving, changing, one design imperceptibly morphing into another.

"Above all, seeming kilometers away at least, an obsidian dome was inlaid with gems, hundreds -- thousands -- of them, in every hue, forming a vast galactic whirlpool reaching from one end of the vaulted space to the other."

The Shangri-la of cyberspace, Our Lady of the Nets is the ultimate hacker hangout. Here, under the supervision of the legendary Sister Rheostat, information is traded, alliances are made, and everything...everything...can be had for the right price.

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Sister Rheostat

Today, the good Sister manifests as a bearded, middle-aged Anglo man in a black leather habit and matching wimple. It is rumored that Sister Rheostat never appears in the same form twice.

"Bless you, my child," the Sister says, holding out a hairy-knuckled hand. On the third finger is a gold ring with a diamond the size of a golf ball. Penylle bends and kisses the ring. "May the good Lords keep and bless you. May Krishna smile upon you. May your bits be always true, may the Nets rise up to meet you, and may you be in Paradise a half hour before InfoPol knows you're online. What can I do for you, my little pretty?"

Sister Rheostat, the owner, architect, and Mother Superior of the hacker hideout Our Lady of the Nets, is the world's foremost information broker. There is little that Sister Rheostat does not know, and much that she is willing to tell...if you can meet her terms.

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copyright (c) 2008, Don Sakers

Find out more in Dance for the Ivory Madonna

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