text: [Themes: Espionage]
  
  > Go downward
  I make my way back down to the lounge, past rows of uninteresting
  guest rooms.
  
  The hotel's lounge is a maze of overstuffed leather chairs. Next to each one is a narrow table with an ashtray and an occasional discarded newspaper or magazine on it. A trolley with drinks sits at the ready against the far wall. Passages lie in all four cardinal directions. In addition, an ornate, sweeping staircase leads upward into the part of the hotel for guests. While the human guests are of little interest,
  my predecessor also kept a room here on one of the upper floors.
  
  The tourist sits off to one side.
  
  > go to the south
  At the center of the hotel is this wide atrium, a plaza of orange
  brick dotted with flowerboxes and ornamental bushes. The ceiling of
  the lobby is made of glass, and so the sunset outside gives an unnatural hue to the hibiscus vines adorning the open doors to the south. Despite the location, it's mostly quiet here. Even the rattan chairs overlooking the garden to the east are empty.
  
  The hotel reception is to the west, and a corridor to the north leads deeper into the hotel.
  
  A thermostat is located unobtrusively in a corner.
  
  The drunk sprawls nearby.
  
  The bellhop stands near the entrance, looking nervous.
  
  The guest is loitering off to one side.
  
  I can also see a large puddle here.
  
  The detector vibrates faintly in my hand, and a magnetic force is pulling it north.
  
  > go to the north
  The hotel's lounge is a maze of overstuffed leather chairs. Next to each one is a narrow table with an ashtray and an occasional discarded newspaper or magazine on it. A trolley with drinks sits at the ready against the far wall. Passages lie in all four cardinal directions. In addition, an ornate, sweeping staircase leads upward into the part of the hotel for guests. While the human guests are of little interest,
  my predecessor also kept a room here on one of the upper floors.
  
  The tourist sits off to one side.
  
  The detector vibrates faintly in my hand, and a magnetic force is pulling it north.
  
  > go north
  Bookshelves line the walls of this small, wood-paneled room, mixing
  the smell of paper with that of cigarette smoke. There are some high-backed chairs arranged in front of the shelves, clustered around tables topped with small but bright wrought-iron lamps. A passageway, above which sits an oil painting of a tropical seascape, leads south.
  
  A thin package is cunningly concealed among the books on the shelves. It's a clever hiding place; I wouldn't even have noticed it myself if
  I weren't looking for it.
  
  The detector buzzes insistently.
  
  > get the package
  I rip apart the package. Nestled inside is a translation receiver, which I carefully prize out of its packing material. Beneath it is a thin dossier with "P-18" stenciled on its cover. Whiptail has
  encrypted this copy with a one-time pad, but its key is burned into my mind (footnote 14), and I methodically decipher it. Leafing through
  it, I'm grimly satisfied that my suspicions are confirmed: The dossier has been updated recently to note renewed activity on MARMOSET, and it specifically lists Cardinal and Kingfisher as attached to it. There's another entity mentioned as connected with the project: Warbler.
  That's the first time I've heard the name; I should look into it. As I mull it over, the package conveniently self-destructs, leaving no
  trace for enemy agents to find.
  
  The dossier goes into detail about the attempts at MARMOSET over the decades, but it emphasizes one particular incarnation of it that the Other Side reportedly found promising. Their research indicated that certain kinds of electromagnetic fields could potentially disrupt our alarms and allow Hell's perimeter to be broached without triggering
  our literal and metaphorical scorched-earth response; there was just the logistical difficulty of setting up a field with that much
  strength and coverage.
  
  The summit! That's why Kingfisher's here! Humans have been
  sending up communications satellites for the last few years. Those satellites would definitely have enough strength to pull it off, and even a dozen of them in orbit would have the coverage necessary to surround and push through the grid. Normally they would be
  transmitting at different times and toward different places, but this summit is worldwide news. They're all going to be in sync,
  broadcasting the summit together and spewing whatever payload Kingfisher convinced their engineers to install into our defense grid.
  
  I've got to stop him. The summit itself isn't big news; nobody wants
  to watch a bunch of diplomats make painful small-talk and eat canap??s. What is big news, and what would make the communication
  satellites all link up, is the pact that would come at its end: the perfect photo op of a handshake between bitter rivals. The summit's already begun, but I can still save Hell if I can derail it and
  prevent a peace treaty from being signed. If I want peace between Heaven and Hell, I'm going to have to delay peace on Earth for just a bit longer.
  
  > Footnote 14
  (14) ...burned into my mind: That's not a metaphor.
  
  > look up Warbler in almanach
  The almanach has a brief entry on Warbler, which turns out be a cryptonym for an angel on the Other Side. Skimming through his biography, I realize with a start that I know him. We met briefly at some human diplomatic function, where he couldn't stop bragging, to what turned out to be one of our agents, about some new cryptography research project he was working on. It was a clever idea, but digging into it exposed some critical flaws I assumed his side eventually figured it out too, or else he was just spreading disinformation. If they wound up using it, then???
  
  Of course, the keypad in the Rotunda! That must have been his handiwork. The mechanism he uses rotates keys daily, but we found a flaw in the update scheme that would allow us to predict it based on???
  
  ...My editor has just politely informed me that readers don't want to go through the twelve pages of math I did to figure out the keypad code. It's a shame, because there was some really clever stuff in there. Oh well. I'll just say that I did some brilliant and inspired derivation, completely off the top of my head and based on a half-remembered conversation I had at a party about a century ago, of the passcode for a lock about which I had no concrete information. It turns out to be 750400, but that's just the punchline to a much more interesting story about math.
  
  > go east
  The detector blinks briefly, indicating that I've moved into a new region of the compound.
  
  Humans flitter across this wide hallway, clumping into and breaking
  out of knots of intense, whispered intrigue. A table next to the
  double doors to the west is laden with delicate champagne flutes,
  which some of the humans stalking around the room are also
  brandishing. Nondescript oil paintings hang at regular intervals
  around the room. A small hallway leads south, and a wider passage
  leads east.
  
  There's a set of open double doors here leading west.
  
  The brute mutters something into its earpiece.
  
  The burglar stands off to one side of the room, looking around carefully.
  
  The reporter asks one of the dignitaries some pointed questions.
  
  > go east
  This spacious gallery is empty, though murmurs of conversation from
  the room to the west echo throughout the chamber. High, narrow windows around the circumference of the room cast orange light on the marble floor. An ornately carved archway leads east, next to which is a conspicuous black keypad. Plainer exits lead north and south.
  
  An ornate chandelier hangs from the ceiling.
  
  The hacker lounges aimlessly.
  
  > Type 750400
  (on the keypad)
  The spiritual field inside the archway abruptly shuts off with an ethereal sound like a shattering teacup. A few vicious bolts of energy spark off and smolder briefly on the ground, and then the archway is quiet and empty.
  
  The hacker lounges aimlessly.
  
  > Go east
  The detector blinks briefly, indicating that I've moved into a new region of the compound.
  
  This hallway is a literal corridor of power, connecting the main complex with a restricted area for the most elite dignitaries. The space is narrow, and the walls on either side are bare concrete.
  Thick, insulated cables run down the hallway, presumably part of the telecommunications apparatus for the summit. The passage widens into a larger hall to the east; to the west, it ends abruptly in an ornately carved archway, roiling with supernatural energy, with a conspicuous black keypad next to it.
  
  > Spin detector
  The detector is silent. There must not be any unattained codebooks nearby.
  
  > go east
  Unlike the plain corridor to the west, this auditorium is designed to impress the audience???not the fidgety crowd of half-interested reporters and minor officials physically present here, but the
  audience for the mass of television cameras perched above them.
  They're pointed toward the northern stage, where a couple of summit representatives and their entourages face toward the assembly. Their features are hard to make out in the bright spotlights, but their
  bland voices fill the room.
  
  > go to the west
  This hallway is a literal corridor of power, connecting the main complex with a restricted area for the most elite dignitaries. The space is narrow, and the walls on either side are bare concrete.
  Thick, insulated cables run down the hallway, presumably part of the telecommunications apparatus for the summit. The passage widens into a larger hall to the east; to the west, it ends abruptly in an ornately carved archway, roiling with supernatural energy, with a conspicuous black keypad next to it.
  
  > examine the crowd
  A mixture of excitement and boredom pervades the audience.
  
  > examine the spotlights
  The spotlights suffuse the assembled dignitaries on stage with a halo of light that, if my experience with politicians is any indication, is a bit of false advertising.
  
  > go north
  From this viewpoint, the auditorium's stage is smaller and emptier
  than it appeared from the audience. Nevertheless, its heavy blue curtains and and gold-edged insignia give it a certain gravitas. Two scrupulously identical banks of seats have been placed on either side, exactly equidistant from a center podium. The spotlights above are intense, and it's difficult to make out any details in the audience to the south. Passages to the northwest and northeast, concealed behind the folds of the curtain, lead backstage.
  
  The western politician speaks: "We stand at the precipice of the dawning of a new era. As we climb up to our new prosperity, let us proceed with caution. The road ahead is a new one, and we are the
  first ones to explore it. We will do so together. Let us embark on our mission with caution but not fear, with vision but not illusions, and with prudence but not timidity."
  
  The western politician glances down at his podium. "Now, let us
  address how we can move with all due haste toward the peace we have envisioned here."
  
  An eastern politician and an unaligned politician stand nearby, listening with practiced politeness.
  
  > look at the western
  With most humans, convincing them to take even a modest bit of initiative is an uphill battle. They simply have no motivation. This particular human, though, is one of a rare sort that actually has some internal drive. Politicians and those of that ilk aspire to be men of wealth and taste like us and, also like us, manipulate their hapless inferiors to achieve their goals. Unlike us, they rely on smarmy glad-handling and sycophancy instead of subtlety and talent.
  
  To that end, the western politician is wearing an expensive but tasteful suit, its hair is slightly greying, and it has a carefully constructed expression of reserved thoughtfulness. Its voice has the careful modulation of one for whom every action is a performance its audience is expected to appreciate.
  
  The western politician speaks: "In preparing for the new challenges that await us in the future, we have to be quick. We can only win the future and forge a new, more secure peace between our nations if we proceed rapidly, using our agreements here to accelerate our efforts not towards arming ourselves for war, but for building trust and establishing peace. We have established a road map that will lead us into the next decades, but the highway of progress we're on has no speed limit. The engine of progress is strong. We will not allow ourselves to quiet that engine because of fear or suspicion."
  
  The western politician glances down at his podium. "Of course,
  improved relations between our two nations would generate a tremendous peace dividend. How should we use it most effectively?"
  
  The eastern politician and the unaligned politician stand nearby, listening with practiced politeness.
  
  > examine unaligned
  Most politicians are self-serving creatures, which makes them refreshingly straightforward to work with; it's easy to give a human what it wants when it already knows what it wants. An annoying few, however, insist on attaching a moral dimension to petty human intrigues. If a human wants money, it's usually easy enough to push it to grab it out of a conveniently open safe. It a human wants money but has moral qualms about stealing, it can be annoyingly difficult to get it to do the thing we both want it to do. The upside of working with these rare people is that their inertia becomes momentum once they finally start moving. Once you get the ball rolling, they'll fervently apply themselves to the task and, fueled by self-righteousness, keep pushing themselves for you.
  
  I consider myself a competent judge of humans at this point in my career, and the unaligned politician strikes me as exactly this sort. Its attire isn't as expensive as its opposite numbers', which is a warning sign. Its manner is one of prim condescension, and it keeps glancing at its colleagues for approval and support.
  
  The western politician speaks: "Our nations have both entered an unprecedented era of prosperity. Most of our people have never had it so good. As we move forward, let us not forget those of us around the world who are not so fortunate. We have an obligation to use our great wealth to help out other nations and to be good neighbors to our
  fellow man. Forging ties of peace and comity with the other nations around the world will ensure a steady path forward for our two countries to thrive. Our preeminence on the world stage gives us an extraordinary chance to share our resources and our peace with the world and to lead by example."
  
  The western politician glances down at his podium. "Let me now outline how we can de-escalate tensions between our two nations."
  
  The eastern politician and the unaligned politician stand nearby, listening with practiced politeness.
  
  > examine the eastern
  Politicians are an odd sort. The frightening about humans is that most of them simply have no motivation. If you ask them what they want, they'll probably come back with some desultory remark about being rich or famous, but that's not truly what drives them; if it were, they'd spend all their time trying to drum up money and recognition???in short,
  what politicians do. The rest idealize a life of idleness???not a life of leisure, which is one without obligations, but rather one without any activity at all.
  
  who actually possess ambition. It complicates my job, though, if
  humans start to get goals of their own. I have no fear of hard work, but I don't like complexity; it introduces uncertainty and risk. This particular politician carries itself with a mildly pompous and defensive air, occasionally giving its comrades quick, suspicious glances.
  
  The western politician speaks: "With this summit, we are moving
  towards a more peaceful d??tente. Our nations are not so different; one day we may see each other as friends. Until then, we can at least work together to earn each other's trust, establish lines of communication, and build a framework for a thawing of relations in which we can at least work together on our mutually beneficial goals. Let us move beyond the conflicts of the past. Even if we're not there yet, we can at least look forward to the day when we beat our swords into plowshares and plant the seeds of a new, more peaceful future."
  
  The western politician glances down at his podium. "This summit is a unique opportunity for our two nations. Let us discuss what we can do with it."
  
  The eastern politician and the unaligned politician stand nearby, listening with practiced politeness.
  
  > check your inventory
  Intentions:
  the open intent
  the explore intent
  the clean up intent
  the fold intent
  the play intent
  the serve intent
  the defend intent
  the drink intent
  the take intent
  the select intent
  the read intent
  the block intent
  the wait intent
  the sell intent
  the buy intent
  the warm intent
  
  Manners:
  the aggressively manner
  the recklessly manner
  the seriously manner
  the greedily manner
  the generously manner
  the slowly manner
  the lazily manner
  
  Codebooks:
  three confidential codebooks
  three secret codebooks
  two top secret codebooks
  
  Other possessions:
  a detector
  an intercepted communiqu??
  a bell
  the almanach
  a candle
  an universal translator
  the dossier
  a wiretap
  
  > go to the north-west
  Green Room (West)
  This narrow alcove is deep within the theater, the thick concrete
  walls blocking out the noise from the stage. A couch with threadbare cushions occupies one side of the room. At a table in the corner, a human sits in front of a machine resembling a typewriter, but with a profusion of wires running out of it and into a large suitcase at its feet. An empty coffee cup is next to it on the table, with a cigarette smoldering in it. A staircase to the southeast leads upward.
  
  A speechwriter sits nearby.
  
  The speechwriter scribbles some notes and, frowning, feeds them into the contraption.
  
  > examine the speechwriter
  A human with rolled-up sleeves and ink-stained hands.
  
  > WRITE
  notes for the western politician.
  
  The speechwriter scribbles some notes and confidently feeds them into the contraption.
  
  > get write
  I extract the write intent from the speechwriter.
  
  The speechwriter looks anxiously at the contraption, but it doesn't feed anything into it.
  
  > look at the typewriter
  The contraption comprises a mass of electrical parts squashed into a compact Bakelite case whose exterior is studded with various dials and gauges. It's currently closed up and off. The components inside are shiny and free of dust.
  
  The speechwriter looks anxiously at the contraption, but it doesn't feed anything into it.
  
  > look at the cup
  The coffee cup is now being used as a makeshift ashtray, with a cigarette smoldering in it.
  
  The speechwriter looks anxiously at the contraption, but it doesn't feed anything into it.
  
  > examine the cigarette
  The neglected cigarette continues to burn within the coffee cup.
  
  The speechwriter looks anxiously at the contraption, but it doesn't feed anything into it.
  
  The tepid applause from the direction of the stage tells me that the western politician has run out of things to say. I rush over there to survey the damage.
  
  The speech is over, and the politicians there slither together in a knot on the center of the stage, patting each other on the back and exchanging overwrought handshakes. Flashbulbs explode around the stage as the journalists surge forward to the base of the stage. A massive table with three identical leather-bound proclamations is wheeled out to the center of the stage, and the politicians take their positions around it. Preparing to sign, they take up three identical pens to
  pose for the cameras. With the historical conclusion of the summit finally at hand, the telecommunication equipment begins its transmission. The satellite uplinks Kingfisher tampered with activate, and a vast light???
  
  You know what happened next. We did our best to avoid it, but we failed. Mistakes were made. No one could be blamed, though the demons who wound up being blamed anyway were summarily dismissed, to
  encourage the others. In the end, our defense grid turned out to be more resilient than any of us expected. Hell survived, severely weakened but still strong enough to repel an invasion from Heaven. Our operations in the remnants of the mortal realm were curtailed, but there were far fewer humans left afterward anyway. Heaven and Hell divided up the dead and redoubled our efforts to influence the few living souls.
  
  As for me, I managed to weather the fallout and keep my job. I even
  got a perfunctory commendation out of it, presumably to keep me quiet. I'm still faithfully working to advance the interests of our empire, even as we rebuild and prepare for the next war. The Great Game continues???on a very different board with very different pieces, but it
  continues. We'll meet again.
  
  > Go northeast
  Green Room (East)
  This cramped alcove is deep within the theater, the massive concrete walls blocking out the noise from the stage. A couch with fraying cushions occupies one side of the room. At a table in the corner, several humans sit around an open portfolio full of loose typewritten papers, methodically scribbling notes in green pencil. A staircase to the southwest leads upward.
  
  > put greedily on the speechwriter
  I give the greedily manner to the speechwriter, who now intends to greedily write notes encouraging selfishness.
  
  The speechwriter scribbles some notes and, via some mechanism that I can't make out, feeds them into the contraption.
  
  > go southeast
  From this viewpoint, the auditorium's stage is smaller and emptier
  than it appeared from the audience. Nevertheless, its heavy blue curtains and and gold-edged insignia give it a certain gravitas. Two scrupulously identical banks of seats have been placed on either side, exactly equidistant from a center podium. The spotlights above are intense, and it's difficult to make out any details in the audience to the south. Passages to the northwest and northeast, concealed behind the folds of the curtain, lead backstage.
  
  The western politician speaks: "In preparing for the new challenges that await us in the future, we have to be quick. We can only win the future and forge a new, more secure peace between our nations if we proceed rapidly, using our agreements here to accelerate our efforts not towards arming ourselves for war, but for building trust and establishing peace. We have established a road map that will lead us into the next decades, but the highway of progress we're on has no speed limit. The engine of progress is strong. We will not allow ourselves to quiet that engine because of fear or suspicion."
  
  The western politician glances down at his podium. "Let me now outline how we can de-escalate tensions between our two nations."
  
  The eastern politician and the unaligned politician stand nearby, listening with practiced politeness.
  
  > Go northwest
  Green Room (West)
  This narrow alcove is deep within the theater, the thick concrete
  walls blocking out the noise from the stage. A couch with threadbare cushions occupies one side of the room. At a table in the corner, a human sits in front of a machine resembling a typewriter, but with a profusion of wires running out of it and into a large suitcase at its feet. An empty coffee cup is next to it on the table, with a cigarette smoldering in it. A staircase to the southeast leads upward.
  
  The speechwriter sits nearby.
  
  The speechwriter scribbles some notes and feeds them into the contraption.
  
  > Go up
  From this viewpoint, the auditorium's stage is smaller and emptier
  than it appeared from the audience. Nevertheless, its heavy blue curtains and and gold-edged insignia give it a certain gravitas. Two scrupulously identical banks of seats have been placed on either side, exactly equidistant from a center podium. The spotlights above are intense, and it's difficult to make out any details in the audience to the south. Passages to the northwest and northeast, concealed behind the folds of the curtain, lead backstage.
  
  The western politician speaks: "We stand at the precipice of the dawning of a new era. As we climb up to our new prosperity, let us proceed with caution. The road ahead is a new one, and we are the
  first ones to explore it. We will do so together. Let us embark on our mission with caution but not fear, with vision but not illusions, and with prudence but not timidity."
  
  The western politician glances down at his podium. "Of course,
  improved relations between our two nations would generate a tremendous peace dividend. How should we use it most effectively?"
  
  The eastern politician and the unaligned politician stand nearby, listening with practiced politeness.
  
  > wait a while
  Time passes.
  
  The western politician speaks: "My nation has entered an unprecedented era of prosperity. Most of our people have never had it so good. To start moving that wealth out of my nation, when we've worked so hard
  to achieve it, would be a disservice to our loyal citizens. By showing the rest of the world how wealthy we are, we can lead by example and give them an ideal to aspire to. We hope that you will be motivated by this display as well and, one day, share in our prosperity."
  
  My sharp, if technically nonexistent, ears pick up some faint
  murmuring even through the muffled reception of the wireless contraption.
  
  The western politician glances down at his podium. "This summit is a unique opportunity for our two nations. Let us discuss what we can do with it."
  
  The eastern politician and the unaligned politician stand nearby, listening with practiced politeness.
  
  > put the block on eastern
  I give the block intent to the eastern politician, but it's focused on the speech and shows little reaction.
  
  The western politician speaks: "This is the time for action. This summit has taken years, if not decades, to arrange. It will all have been worth it if we can take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity. The time for the future is now. Let us strike while the iron is hot and forge a peace together. We cannot wait, or we will
  lose our special moment in history. We must act, decisively and confidently, to secure a peaceful and prosperous future."
  
  crowd, who are now leaning back in comfortable boredom. Even the wary politicians on stage next to it relax.
  The western politician glances down at his podium. "Now, let us
  address how we can move with all due haste toward the peace we have envisioned here."
  
  The eastern politician and the unaligned politician stand nearby, listening with practiced politeness.
  
  > put the block on unaligned
  (first taking the block intent from the eastern politician)
  I give the block intent to the unaligned politician, but it's focused on the speech and shows little reaction.
  
  The western politician speaks: "In preparing for the new challenges that await us in the future, we have to be quick. We can only win the future and forge a new, more secure peace between our nations if we proceed rapidly, using our agreements here to accelerate our efforts not towards arming ourselves for war, but for building trust and establishing peace. We have established a road map that will lead us into the next decades, but the highway of progress we're on has no speed limit. The engine of progress is strong. We will not allow ourselves to quiet that engine because of fear or suspicion."
  
  The western politician glances down at his podium. "Of course,
  improved relations between our two nations would generate a tremendous peace dividend. How should we use it most effectively?"
  
  The eastern politician and the unaligned politician stand nearby, listening with practiced politeness.
  
  > go northwest
  Green Room (West)
  This narrow alcove is deep within the theater, the thick concrete
  walls blocking out the noise from the stage. A couch with threadbare cushions occupies one side of the room. At a table in the corner, a human sits in front of a machine resembling a typewriter, but with a profusion of wires running out of it and into a large suitcase at its feet. An empty coffee cup is next to it on the table, with a cigarette smoldering in it. A staircase to the southeast leads upward.
  
  The speechwriter sits nearby.
  
  The speechwriter scribbles some notes and confidently feeds them into the contraption.
  
  > put recklessly on the speechwriter
  I give the recklessly manner to the speechwriter, taking the greedily manner in exchange. It now intends to recklessly write notes encouraging immediate action.
  
  The speechwriter scribbles some notes and feeds them into the contraption.
  
  > Go up
  From this viewpoint, the auditorium's stage is smaller and emptier
  than it appeared from the audience. Nevertheless, its heavy blue curtains and and gold-edged insignia give it a certain gravitas. Two scrupulously identical banks of seats have been placed on either side, exactly equidistant from a center podium. The spotlights above are intense, and it's difficult to make out any details in the audience to the south. Passages to the northwest and northeast, concealed behind the folds of the curtain, lead backstage.
  
  The western politician speaks: "This is the time for action. This summit has taken years, if not decades, to arrange. It will all have been worth it if we can take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity. The time for the future is now. Let us strike while the iron is hot and forge a peace together. We cannot wait, or we will
  lose our special moment in history. We must act, decisively and confidently, to secure a peaceful and prosperous future."
  
  The western politician glances down at his podium. "Of course,
  improved relations between our two nations would generate a tremendous peace di