The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.: A Novel

by Neal Stephenson

  Are you doing anything to mitigate the problem?

  From Dr. Blevins:

  We have a young MUON here who I am sure you will remember since she is the one who crashed the ribbon-cutting party by materializing in the ODEC. Rachel is her name. She is now one of our most experienced witches, and is obviously an expert on 1203 Constantinople since it’s where she was born and raised. I have a meeting scheduled with her in which I will explore some options for cleaning up the mess that LTC Lyons has left in his wake.

  From LTG Frink:

  How’s it going with the portable ODEC and so on? Knowing how your mind works, Blev, I can see where all of this is leading: a de-emphasis on diachronic operations per se, in favor of C/COD psy-ops centered on witches in mobile units.

  From Dr. Blevins:

  You know me well, Okie. Yes. The ATTO, as we call the portable ODEC, is shaping up quite well. To develop the psy-ops wing of the organization, we are getting ready to bring forward Gráinne, who is, after all is said and done, still the most powerful witch we have ever encountered.

  From LTG Frink:

  The Irish super-witch?

  From Dr. Blevins:

  That terminology is deprecated. We have been calling them Wenders for their superior ability to navigate between Strands while maintaining an unbroken thread of consciousness. In the entire history of DODO we have only encountered three of them. Gráinne has been by far the most loyal and it’s time we rewarded her with a promotion.

  LETTER FROM

  GRÁINNE to GRACE O’MALLEY

  A Tuesday of High Summer, 1602

  Auspiciousness and prosperity to you, milady!

  It’s a brief but timely warning I’m writing you with, Your Grace, and no action does it require on your part, but only alertness. Sir Francis Bacon, the gentleman whose demeanor does command this fleet of thinkers and doers of the age, including Monsieur Cardigan my benefactor . . . he urges the nobles of the court to redouble their efforts in Ireland. He would have the crown take over our entire island as a means to “honor.” Therefore if any courtier from England do come courting you, it’s wise to be testing the waters of their acquaintanceship with Sir Francis. If they are even indirectly under his sway or in his circles, then surely it’s disingenuous they’re being.

  And meanwhile merely to keep you apprised of my circumstances, they continue apace with some fascinating developments (more fascinating to myself than to you, I warrant). It’s Norwich we’re spending the summer in, and here I’ve come to know three witches, something older than myself, and sisters to each other . . . all of them half-nieces of Sir Francis Bacon himself! For isn’t their father Nathaniel his half-brother. But this isn’t the only peculiar thing about them, there being three other facts of note:

  First, being that they know of Tristan’s guild and likewise work to abet them on occasion (not so oft as I do). Of course I knew that there are many other witches working for them (their term for us, collective, is KCW), but I had not realized I had contemporaries.

  A second and stranger fact of note being that they were never recruited, but rather raised in a tradition of service to Tristan’s crew, for sure their mother Anne and before that her mother Winnifred worked with Tristan’s people, although there is nothing in the family history of working with Tristan himself. ’Twas Winnifred was won over to the work by an agent named Esme, forty years ago. Here again, a minor detail Tristan’s not telling me about how his guild be doing their business.

  But here’s the final and most interesting note, and might even be of direct interest to Your Grace: besides their connection to Sir Francis, these weird sisters are the granddaughters of none other than Sir Thomas Gresham, who as you know was an associate of the Fugger banking family . . . who, despite their unholy religion, have long financed your resistance on occasion, for the sheer joy of causing headaches to Queen Bess. I’m thinking it must be no coincidence that all of these particular lineages and associations twine together through time in some way that Tristan sees more clearly than I do, and surely it’s use he’s getting out of it in ways that I’m not seeing yet. But I will. Oh yes, Your Grace, it’s soon enough I’ll see as clear as he does.

  Whether I be near or far, may I hear only good things of you, My Lady Gráinne! Your Gráinne now of Norwich

  TRANSCRIPT (EXCERPT)

  INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY DR. ROGER BLEVINS (RB)

  WITH MUON RACHEL BAT AVRAHAM (RA)

  11:00, DAY 1807 (10 JULY, YEAR 5)

  NOTES: Video recording was made automatically by a motion-activated security camera system in Conference Room #2 at DODO HQ, Cambridge, MA. In the wake of subsequent events, the file was salvaged from a secure server by DODO personnel and transferred to the ad hoc GRIMNIR backup system, where it was later transcribed. Excerpt below begins at approximately 11:15 local time.

  RB: In preparing for this meeting, I took the routine step of reviewing your file. I see you have once again started asking the DOers you Send back to your native DTAP to get word to your family that you’re safe.

  RA: Yes, I am sure they are worried about me. It has been nearly three years. I want to reassure them.

  RB: You signed a nondisclosure agreement. That means nothing can be disclosed. To anyone.

  RA: Except God, you mean. You cannot tell me to keep anything from God.

  RB: Ask God to tell your family how you’re doing.

  RA: I do, of course. But I am a good daughter, and so I must make the effort as well.

  RB: No, you mustn’t. In fact, you signed a paper swearing you would not.

  RA: The commandments come before any pledge I make to a worldly regime, and the commandments say honor your father and—

  RB: You ran off. You abandoned them.

  RA: No, my mother is the one who Sent me! [weeping] I had her blessing! She said she would make it all right with my father. I am the fastest Sender of all the witches, and the most precise. I am a benefit to you because my mother sent me here. It is okay that I send reassurances to her.

  RB: You can’t. If you insist on attempting it, we will assign you to other DEDEs and you will never Send anyone back to Constantinople.

  RA: Will you lame yourselves out of spite? I am the best witch for Constantinople.

  RB: Security is our first priority. If you will not cooperate with us, then we cannot cooperate with you. I will have to reassign you to the Antwerp and London DTAPs. We will need additional help there when we bring Gráinne forward.

  RA: But I am Tristan’s preferred Sender for Constantinople.

  RB: Lieutenant Colonel Lyons is subordinate to me and all of his decisions are subject to my review.

  RA: I understand.

  RB: In any case, his habit of disappearing into remote DTAPs for weeks at a time leaves an operational void, obliging colleagues to fill in for him.

  RA: Constantinople is not remote, it is the most cosmopolitan city in the world!

  RB: Not for long.

  RA: What does that mean?

  RB: After what happens next, everything looks so different that it doesn’t matter how well you know the city, it’ll be completely rebuilt.

  RA: What do you mean by these words, “what happens next”?

  RB: I have reason to believe that by going back to 1203 Constantinople, Tristan has blundered into a trap of his own devising. Unwittingly, of course. But he is still culpable, because of his arrogance, his lack of accountability.

  RA: What sort of trap?

  RB: The details are complicated. There’s not time to explain them here. The point is that he needs to be evacuated. If he were a commando on some kind of raid, we’d be sending in the helicopters right now, the SEAL team, to extract him from the mess he has made. But since he’s a DOer and he’s been deployed to a DTAP, instead we need to Send someone who knows the territory and who can get to him and Home him with extreme prejudice, as the saying goes.

  RA: You want me to Send another DOer to rescue him?

  RB: You’re not list
ening, Rachel. The person we Send back on this rescue mission can’t just be any ordinary DOer. It must be a MUON, a witch who has the capability of Homing him as soon as he is found. One who is intimately familiar with every byway of the city, every nuance of its languages.

  RA: You’re asking . . . me to be Sent back?

  RB: ODEC #4 has been made ready for action. One of our other MUONs is there waiting for you. I have provided her with cover—with plausible deniability. You can be back home in ten minutes, if that is what you really want. But you can never come back. You must decide now.

  URGENT BULLETIN

  MISSING: RACHEL BAT AVRAHAM

  MISSING SINCE: TODAY, 11:25, July 10

  MISSING FROM: Conference Room #2, top floor

  DETAILS: During interview with Dr. Blevins, became combative, removed pepper spray device from purse, discharged it toward Dr. Blevins, fled the room; when he had finished washing the residue from his eyes, she was gone. Security reports she has not exited the building, however, her whereabouts are unknown.

  APPEARANCE: Long dark hair, pale skin, dark eyes. Dressed in gray sweater-dress and jodhpur boots, lots of eye makeup and bangles. Late teens. Speaks heavily accented English.

  Security is currently searching the building, which is in lockdown. Rachel lives in the MUON residence. We have contacted or left word with the off-shift MUONs there. Also sending word to local precincts and hospitals. Likeliest that she is hiding in the building somewhere waiting for somebody else to leave so that she can sneak out.

  Journal Entry of

  Rebecca East-Oda

  JULY 10

  Temperature 79F, dry, still. Barometer steady.

  Faring well: cucumber, squash, chard. Starting to harvest basil leaves. Re-seeding salad greens.

  Frank called from the DODO offices to say he will not be home for dinner: the building is in lockdown because the witch Rachel assaulted Blevins (how very satisfying that must have been) and disappeared. Surprised it took this long for somebody to snap.

  Exchange of posts between

  Dr. Melisande Stokes and Mortimer Shore

  on private ODIN channel

  DAY 1807

  Mel: Where’s Rachel?

  Mortimer: idk. Checking her calendar . . .

  Mel: NVM. Calling her. 1 sec.

  Mortimer: looks like she had an 11:00 with Blev.

  Mel: Went to vm.

  Mortimer: Conf rm 2

  Mel: I know but something crazy happened, Blev called security—medics are there. No Rachel.

  Mortimer: Where r u?

  Mel: OMW down to ODECs. WHT Rachel?

  Mortimer: CU down there.

  Mel: Bio breach!

  Mortimer: ?

  Mel: Rachel ran through decon area, didn’t follow protocol.

  Mortimer: ICU through glass wall now.

  Mel: FUCK. Whole place will have to be scrubbed. Going in to check ODECs.

  Mortimer: Someone’s in #4. Check that first.

  Mel: OK

  Mortimer: Not on calendar.

  Mel: It’s Nadja.

  Mortimer: ?

  Mel: New MUON.

  Mortimer: Rachel?

  Mel: Gone.

  Mortimer: Never there? Or . . .

  Mel: Nadja’s confused, says she just Homed Rachel.

  URGENT BULLETIN: UPDATE

  OK, everyone, Mortimer here, there’s a lot of confusion and so I’ve been asked to post a temporary status update:

  – Rachel bat Avraham was Homed back to 1203 Constantinople from ODEC #4 at about 11:25.

  – This was an unauthorized operation. The MUON who performed the Homing was using the ODEC for routine training when Rachel showed up and demanded to be let in to the ODEC. Once inside, Rachel employed psy-ops [magical] techniques to induce the other MUON to effect the Homing spell.

  – Unless you hear otherwise, RIP Rachel bat Avraham.

  – There’s going to be a lot of wiki confusion over the next hour or so. Please just stay away from all Constantinople-related entries until end of day tomorrow or you’ll get even more confused. Tomorrow you may find references to a conflagration or explosion or firestorm around Galata Tower in Constantinople July 1203. If you are one of the Byzantine DOers or historians, it might not match your memories of the battle for Galata Tower. Those memories are now out of date.

  – Lieutenant Colonel Tristan Lyons remains on active DEDE in that DTAP.

  Meanwhile I’ve also been asked to share a little bit of information about Diachronic Shear since most of us weren’t on the scene yet the last time it happened. What I’ve got below is a helpful mnemonic to bide you over, until one of the real pros has time to write up something more detailed. Feel free to print this out and post it in break rooms, etc. More TK soon.

  Peace out, Mortimer

  DIACHRONIC SHEAR

  YOU CRINGE, YOU SINGE!

  RAFSTIQUORDOT!

  Run

  A common mistake at the onset of a Diachronic Shear event is to reflexively shield oneself from eruptions of bodily fluids and flaming gobbets, thus losing precious moments that could be spent putting distance between yourself and the epicenter. A rift between universes is no place to be fussy—you can always clean up later.

  Amputate

  Body parts that unfortunately found themselves on the wrong side of the rift may seem to remain attached. Intense GLAAMR and general disorientation may hide their misshapen form. Many victims will be unwilling to believe in the reality of what has happened to them. The temptation may be strong to leave these attached and hope for the best. Don’t do it! Think of it as being like gangrene, except faster.

  Fires (extinguish)

  Most Diachronic Shear events are recorded in the history books as epic fires of unknown origin. That’s because, after the Shear itself is over and done with, fires remain, and find plentiful fuel in destroyed structures. Nipping these in the bud may prevent enormous loss of life in the coming hours.

  Shore up crumbling structures

  Buildings may have lost primary structural members during the Shear. Ones that haven’t collapsed already may be prevented from doing so with stopgap measures. When in doubt, get out!

  Tourniquets (apply as needed)

  This is an elementary first-aid procedure that may save the lives of some who were caught along the boundary of the Shear.

  Intimidate witnesses

  Rumors spawned by a Shear event may trigger a cascade of aftershocks, as well as compromising your cover story. Do whatever it takes to discourage witnesses from saying anything to their friends and loved ones about what they have seen. Given the nature of what goes on during a Shear, this will commonly involve some sort of appeal to whatever gods, demons, or other supernatural forces figure in to the locals’ belief system.

  Quell civil disturbances

  Panicked bystanders may react in a way that will only inflict further human suffering—as well as making it difficult for you to get Homed.

  Use your pre-established alibi

  As part of Standard Operating Procedures, DOers should always have alibis and explanations handy for any discrepancies that may be called to their attention by curious and meddlesome locals. Anything you can do to place yourself far from the scene of the Shear will help you get home.

  Observe

  This one’s far down the list because it’s a lower priority. But it’s still a priority! DODO is always eager to gather more data on what happens during a Diachronic Shear, and so any observations that can be committed to memory will be welcome once you get home.

  Return to the twenty-first century

  This is self-explanatory! Find your KCW and get Homed as soon as possible—if a Shear has occurred in your DTAP, it means that your operation has been “blown” and there is no point in your staying around.

  Document

  Get to a debriefing room as quickly as possible and record everything you remember while it’s fresh in your mind.

  Opiates


  Medical research conducted during the Iraq War has confirmed that immediate administration of morphine following a traumatic event can prevent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Our medicine cabinet is well stocked and we have personnel standing by trained in the prompt and proper administration of this therapy.

  Therapy

  As all DOers will be aware from their HR portfolios, the benefits package includes state-of-the-art health care, with no arbitrary distinctions made between physical and mental health. These benefits are your right—don’t hesitate to use them!

  Post by Dr. Roger Blevins on

  “Department Heads” ODIN channel

  DAY 1808

  cc: LTG Octavian K. Frink

  General Frink has asked to present an account of the confusing and regrettable events preceding and following the disappearance of one of our MUONs: Rachel bat Avraham. Please note that this is a confidential and privileged communication for senior management only. You may disseminate relevant facts to your subordinates on a need-to-know basis.