Copyright 1997 Pearl Publishing
Gomez surveyed the wreckage with a discerning eye, before turning toward the mountains in the distance and fixing upon them with a penetrating stare that burned like a laser toward the chief target of his hatred, wherever they might be.
"They are finished." he said, with certainty, turning to the Commander of his Dark Forces, and instructing him, "Now finish them!"
Except that you have spent literally a lifetime involved in a world of shadows, where even those things which are not done with mirrors are resonating indeterminately and obliquely, then you have little hope of ever recognizing the true depth to which the world you live in is ruled by secrecy, subterfuge and intrigue.
Unless, of course, you are a follower of an ancient sage named
Dilbert, and are steeped in the history and lore of Office Politics,
in which case you undoubtedly already have all of the tools you
need to understand what I am about to tell you. (And could probably
even teach an old dog-foot soldier such as myself a few new tricks.)
The lineage of the Author, as well as those of d'Shauneaux and
Rom Dos, were each given information on a basis, not of 'need
to know,' but more along the lines of 'need to figure out.' (That's
'decrypt' or 'decipher' for you CypherPunks.)
The reason for this was that, at the time of the formation of
the Circle of Eunuchs, the Evil One not only had his tentacles
spread throughout society in general, and the computer industry,
in particular, but had also made great progress in 'encrypting'
Reality, so to speak. Even the Magic Circle did not fully realize
the extent or import of this for quite some time, but they did
recognize that they were playing 'catch-up' and needed not only
to learn from the past, but also to reach toward the future.
The Circle of Eunuchs, not being restrained by the need for absolute
control and coordination of their efforts, as the Dark Allies
were, made an astounding amount of penetration into the highest
levels of the computer industry, in a short period of time.
The individuals involved, working on their own or in small guerrilla
cells, were able to 'move camp' at an instant's notice, changing
the direction and focus of their entire career, if need be, which
was of great benefit in such a quickly burgeoning technology.
Despite their astounding success in placing their ersatz players
in the midst of some of the most sensitive arenas of Gomez's grand
technological game, the Circle of Eunuchs knew that they lacked
possession of the key that would unlock the doors of deceit and
allow them to expose the malfeasance underlying the technology
that was increasingly ruling both the bodies and minds of all
mankind.
Then, something extraordinary happened…
A no-name individual who would have had to raise his station in
life in order to become known as a bit-player in the computer
arena suddenly became the target of a full-scale attack by the
Dark Forces over a seemingly insignificant program called Pretty
Good Privacy.
Phil Zimmerman…