Soul Bound

1        Soul Bound

1.2      Taking Control

1.2.5    An Idiosyncratic Interlude

1.2.5.15 Divided in matrimony

Nadine: “No more lectures for now, Rizah. Instead, please just display a document summarising the marriages, and then let me ask some questions.”

Rizah promptly complied and Nadine had to step a little closer to the wall screen, to read the writing.

William Astor (65) & Jiang Jacqueline (51)

George Astor (32)

Henry Astor (28)

Audrey Astor (22)

Benjamin Harriman (45) & Anna Yerkes (50)

Yusuf Harriman (deceased)

Serge Yerkes (25)

Edmund Harriman (5)

Albin Harriman (60) & Eunice Huttleston (47)

Aaron Harriman (15)

Patrick Huttleston (105) & Bertha Spreckels (85)

Rose Huttleston (68)

John Huttleston (67)

Arndt Spreckels (55)

Eunice Huttleston (47)

Alwyn Spreckels (85) & Jiang Christina (44)

Arndt Spreckels (55) & Amelia Harriman (46)

Ludwig Spreckels (26)

Feodor Yerkes (75) & Rose Huttleston (68)

Anna Yerkes (50)

Victoria Yerkes (50)

Brian Huttleston (42)

Serge Yerkes (25) & Audrey Astor (22)

Jiang Socrates (deceased) & Ban Zhao (77)

Jiang Aristotle (53)

Jiang Jacqueline (51)

Jiang Christina (44)

Jiang Aristotle (53) & Victoria Yerkes (50)

Glande Yerkes (31)

She studied it for a minute. “That’s weird. How come Feodor Yerkes’s son Brian is a Huttleston and Jiang Aristotle’s son Glande is a Yerkes?”

Rizah: “These inter-dynastic marriages get negotiated like international treaties, with guaranteed rights and death indemnities for the wife, and how many shares from each family a child will get and who the child will be loyal to.”

Nadine: “That works? How does it get enforced if they’re above the law?”

Rizah: “None of the dynasties can stand alone against the rest of the Hexoikos, if the others are united. And none of them want their own daughters being treated carelessly, so they take enforcing the penalty clauses very seriously, with independent verification if a complaint is made. But children don’t always do what they’re told to do. Glande is a case in point.”

Nadine: “I remember hearing that name, about a year before I had to retire from being a professional singer, but I was too caught up in my own problems to pay attention. What happened?”

Rizah: “On his 18th birthday he received a quarter share in all the Jiang and Yerkes family trusts, instantly making him one of the richest people ever to live. The day before his 19th birthday he disappeared, along with the income gained during that year converted into untraceable cryptocurrencies. Nobody’s heard from him since, or knows why he left. His father rebuilt his house to include a 20 meter tall door that’s left permanently ajar, known as the Prodigal's Gate. The budding alliance between Jiang and Yerkes did not survive.”

If this were a game, she thought, a quest would be popping up, right about now, offering skills and experience in return for locating Glande, and she’d know it was (at least in theory) possible to achieve. But arlife wasn’t convenient like that; it had no warnings of dead ends, or guarantees that you weren’t wasting your time. More’s the pity.

Nadine: “Ok, let’s look at the internal divisions and private agendas now, and I’ll work out who we’re likely to annoy after I’ve decided what needs to be done. But briefly! If I want you to expand on something, I’ll ask.”

Rizah nodded, put away the pointer then tapped her chin thoughtfully.

Rizah: “Jiang Zhao is always portrayed in the media as being a dutiful wife, mourning her husband in seclusion. But there are indications that she retains a startling amount of control over her children and that they are enacting a very coordinated long-term plan. There’s no indication that Aristotle is anything other than the spoilt small-minded narcissist he appears to be, but his sisters may well be as intelligent as their father was, and pursue their goals with a ruthless obsessiveness that cares neither for others nor their own comfort.”

Nadine: “What are their goals?”

Rizah: “Apparently to be dutiful wives to their husbands and protect Aristotle from anything ugly or complex. Jacqueline handles domestic affairs and published well-received papers on expert system design while still a teenager. Christina handles international affairs and there’s a track record of unfortunate things happening to those who look likely to upset the New Detente.”

Nadine: “Dangerous?”

Rizah: “Deadly. Write your will before crossing either of them.”

Rizah: “Next up are the Spreckels. There are tonnes of rumours about them, but little verification. Everything from pædophilia to being rapists and serial killers. What we can verify that is that each generation tends to build up a cult of personality around themselves, often using religion. Looking at the pattern of which start-up companies they buy, they seem to be trying to perfect modelling populations with the purpose of working out precisely how to make them react the way they wish to. Also, we’ve confirmed that Ludwig is interested in all aspects of tiara technology and its potential, not just Soul Bound.”

Rizah: “He’s not the only one interested. Brian Huttleston has also invested heavily in tiara companies, though his focus appears to be trying to copy an individual’s personality and memories from an organic brain to a computer emulator. Of the other Huttlestons, it’s an open secret that Patrick’s a racist and an old-fashioned eugenicist, who approved of the effect of some of the gene-targeted viruses of the Bad Years, and wished they’d wiped out Africa. There’s no hint of him actually being behind any of the plagues, but he has funded violent supremacist groups in the past. Certainly, the Huttlestons made a fortune offering medical services during those years.”

Nadine: “Wow. No wonder they hide behind brand names. Are all the dynasties secretly evil criminals?”

Rizah: “Thankfully no. The Yerkes are pretty much as they appear. The twins Anna and Victoria are highly competitive with each other, but they’re not planning to bombard the Earth or anything. The worst I’ve heard is that Feodor drove his sons pretty hard. He’s got little compassion for the lazy, stupid or weak-willed.”

Nadine: “Heather will be glad to know that. She admires him.”

Rizah: “The Astors are also a nice bunch; kind and honourable in their personal lives and idealistic in their corporate philosophy. Henry has funded a variety of the more moderate transhumanist organisations and George is a patron of Little Britain’s film industry.”

Nadine: “And they’re the people most likely to create a Terminator-style Skynet and end up wiping out humanity.”

Rizah: “Well, yes, but with good intentions.”

Nadine: “What about the Harrimans?

Rizah: “They’re deeply divided over whether to move resource extraction from Earth into space. Benjamin is in favour of space, and is backed by his wife Anna Yerkes. Albin argues to the other family shareholders that giving up the mining rights they hold on Earth will cost them money and pollution regulations can be worked around. He’s backed by his wife the Gene Queen, Eunice Huttleston. Benjamin’s heir was poisoned, and now his youngest has somehow managed to catch the same gene-targeted Sayyid virus that killed Ezra and so many other descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.”

Nadine: “So, to summarise, if we become a major player in the battle to control how tiara technology gets used, we might find ourselves up against Brian Huttleston, Ludwig Spreckels and Jiang Jacqueline. And any allies they manage to call in. Of those who might not be against us, the Harrimans will be too busy with in-fighting and the Yerkes will only help us if we can aid the expansion into space more than the other side, which leave the Astors who’re the weakest of the Hexoikos.”

Rizah looked over the top of her glasses at Nadine, no longer smiling.

Rizah: “More or less.” she sighed: “You didn’t like my briefing, did you?”

Nadine: “Let’s just say that it was a lot to take in. Given a free choice, I’d prefer to be cooking or singing. You did a good job, though. Keep watching them and come up with a proposal to do a more active investigation of Brian, Ludwig and Jacqueline. I think we’re going to need to know who is banking on being able to use tiara technology to control people, and whose interests are compatible with people being in control of their own tiaras.”

Rizah brightened: “I’ll have a chat with Aeschylus.” Then carried on, after seeing Nadine’s blank expression, “That’s Bulgaria’s public expert system - an ancient Greek playwright.”

Nadine laughed ruefully: “I should have guessed.”

There, all done! And she just had time for a long soak in her shower before she had to go back downstairs.