Chapter 11 Part 2
Attention High Priestess Rei Carlotta:
It is time. You know what needs to be done. Do not confuse yourself as to your purpose, as this will only waste time. In case your skepticism needs to be allayed, I already know you do not believe in the Shapers as deities, yet you respect their teachings. I also know you do not feel your job in the Conservatorium is important. Consider your dissatisfaction and non-belief as assets that pull you toward your actual purpose and awareness of the nature of who you are, and consequently the the nature of what this universe is. Visit the restricted section in the Conservatorium tomorrow. You will be permitted access. Seek the ancient text entitled the Tao Te Ching. It will be a book you will only find in physical form. Read it, and await my further correspondence. Be watching and aware of your surroundings.
Sincerely,
Reipawn
Rei did not understand the message, but yet she had been certain of its contents nearly before she opened it. She also knew that if she did not open it, it just would have found a different way to her. What was the High Priestess business? Whoever this was might know a lot of details about her that most people didn't, but apparently it had missed that she was an atheist which was about as far from high priestess as serial killer was from saint. This one detail perhaps annoyed her more than anything else in the letter. She was not fond of being told what to do, but she had to admit the information in this letter was strangely accurate, and if she did not follow up on what it suggested she would be more annoyed with the lack of clarity that would ensue.
The arrogance in this letter was high to assume she would be able to enter the restricted area of the Conservatorium. Rei had glanced at that area many times over the years, and had never seen it not under heavy security. There were no fewer than five enforcers standing there at all times, and oto make matters more complicated even IF she maanged to get past those guys, she would still have to get past Cerberus.
Cerberus was named after the dog in Greek myth who had three heads and acted as a guardian. His existence was only a holonospheric one, but that made him no less fierce. In many ways Cerberus was more dangerous than anything that would have been regarded as real in the Old World.
One story had circulated about an overly zealous scholar who had demanded to see the restricted section. Although it was strictly illegal, he had generated a neural stunner from the holonosphere and through a little bit of luck had managed to subdue some of the enforcers with it. He had caught the first enforcer in a drowsy state and he stunned him and took his uniform which was roughly his size. The second enforcer figured the man was his companion in uniform and did not have any reason to suspect an attack, and so became stunned because of his lack of alarm. The last three were hoodwinked by the cleverness of the scholar. He had managed to generate a more or less accurate holonospheric representation of the restricted section on a given normal, uneventful day. He then layered this deception over the restricted section where he intended to try to infiltrate. The only problem with his deception was that he could not hide himself within it. His actions would be visible, but so long as they were within the parameters of what an enforcer might do on a given day, or appeared to be, he should not draw any attention. The most dangerous part would be when he would physically take the book or books from the shelf as that would be highly unusual for an enforcer to do. The scholar speculated ahead of time this would be the point at which his planning could not adequately be relied upon. He was also aware of Cerberus, but supposed that his deception would probably work on what he regarded as a holonospheric artificial intelligence.
The scholar was taken by surprise when, after the two guards had been stunned, Cerberus appeared galloping and snarling out of the holonosphere. The scholar shook as the immense beast circled him.
