EMTERR

"I discerned that he is an EMTERR Operant. Which brings up a major concern, of course."

"So this is a three-bureau assignment -- the Opera, EMTERR, and M.I.H.O. How will we share credit?"

"Let's not fuck around. I'm Opera. You're EMTERR. What now?"

EMTERR's lost track of two negotiators? Very good to know...

"I would have thought the Opera would want to use this opportunity to find information about EMTERR's interest in Facundo Reyes' visit."

"What do EMTERR want with the Minister of Mass Culture?

"Why has EMTERR imprisoned a Luzian government official?"

EMTERR's lost track of two negotiators? Very good to know...

EMTERR and Luz, bound for intersection, united in 'secret treaty'.

"I mean the history. How did EMTERR rise to such heights?"

"EMTERR and La Luz are talking. What's on the table?"

"EMTERR's got one, doesn't it. Here, in Portofiro."

"I was recently shot by an EMTERR operant."

"I was recently electro-tortured by an EMTERR operant."

In some distant parts of the world, EMTERR is euphemistically called 'the Kindly Ones'. Using their true name directly is reserved for curses and insults.

EMTERR is normalised. Something that sane, non-conspiratorial people can complain about to each other. All is right with the world.

EMTERR haunting the city... Could be routine economical gouging. Could be something bigger.

"How dare you. EMTERR is... awash in paperwork... True, in the dark days, we had to employ a corps of bruisers to crack defaulting skulls, our first operants, if you think of it..."

"Centuries back, far before Latour-Woolgar and the vivisection of the world... EMTERR was one of the first banks ever incorporated. Of course, in those days it was simply Banque Impériale..."

"I am... Oskar Metamoto, Senior Negotiator for L'Empire de la... Empire sans de... without la..." His blinks heavily. "EMTERR."

But a department nonetheless. Further proof that EMTERR are pulling the piano wire.

"Quisach's a lonely town... when you're the only EMTERR boy... around..."

"EMTERR very short on auspices, currently."

"Tell me about EMTERR."

"I was recently shot at by an EMTERR operant."

"What's EMTERR doing in town?"

"Back to times past... We stayed invisible, mounting power over decades, over centuries... until we leapt back into the light... EMTERR, new name, new us!"

"EMTERR... has extremely siloed departments. For maximum efficiency... and plausible deniability. Major asset at the table..."

The sex payphone suckling. EMTERR through and through. Junior aura.

"This secret treaty that EMTERR has brought to Luz... it's another piece of scaffolding to prop up the decaying facade of Latour-Woolgar."

Good start. EMTERR slides their first piece across the board.

The long shadow of EMTERR -- so long that many citizens mistake it for the sky.

EMTERR, a.k.a. L'Empire sans Territoire, a.k.a. 'The Bank'. Equal parts global development fund and spy service. Linchpin of the Developed World.

"Her old man was sure EMTERR had ears on a local Renotel line." He shakes his head. "And that they were abducting people who use it."

EMTERR is all business, all the time. Lots of money to be made from people taken against their will.

Keep digging. It may be related to the secret jail. And if it isn't, an EMTERR line should not be ignored.

"Found his name in a classified document. He's been deported by EMTERR."

If EMTERR found out she worked with you, would they use these children's lives against her?

"I do not work here. I am a civil servant with the Portofiran government, ostensibly an EMTERR liason. You didn't read the dossier."

"You got played by someone from EMTERR. Another operant."

"EMTERR, the polyester hand of transnational capital."

EMTERR is sending this weird headphone man as their representative?

I understand why EMTERR seems more appealing. But I failed her, not Novessa.

"Are you EMTERR, or Opera?"

"You haven't heard about any secret treaties between EMTERR and La Luz?"

"Treaties... between EMTERR and La Luz?" A note of concern. "What does that have to do with Ignatz?"

"What does EMTERR gain by leaking the contents of their own secret negotiations?"

"Thank you, Hershel. You may have had the luxury of taking all those years off, but I've been 'on the grind' as those filthy EMTERR animals say."

"Is that also an EMTERR animal?" (Point to the cat.)

"You see before you the aftermath of a soiree organized by the owner of this place, Mr. Reno, and those leaky EMTERR animals."