A light shower cut through the heat that had set in at the beginning of May. Of course, this would only make the humidity all the more unbearable later, but Noa felt relieved anyway. She had been sitting at the small table in her kitchen, slowly sipping her coffee, when she had first noticed the soft pattering of rain from the open window behind her. Through the raindrops, she could see residents of the surrounding flats pulling in the laundry that had been drying in the sun. Two children were running through the courtyard below, seeking shelter in the void deck.
As Noa rose from the table and began to slip into her thin windbreaker, she realized that this was the first rain that she had seen since being stationed in Singapore three months prior. Hailing from a part of America where the rainy season stretched for nearly half the year, the shower's rhythm was a comforting echo of her hometown. She left her flat and took the stairs down to the underground car park that housed her scooter. It was parked in the corner of the garage, next to a small shrine. The shrine was red and gold with a simmering stick of incense poking out of a ceramic vase and small figures representing the Four Heavenly Kings. Driving out of the garage, Noa watched the grey smoke snake from the vase towards the ceiling.
By the time Noa reached the front gate of the reclaimed land complex, the weather had already cleared up. After presenting her ID, she headed down the small two-lane road to her work building. Although the reclaimed land project had been completed a little over two years ago, the land was largely unused. Aside from the DMI headquarters building where she worked and a few small annexes, the complex was barren and flat, with ankle-length grass stretching to the artificial coastline. As Noa approached her workplace, a hot orange sun began to rise over the water, and she could feel the warm rays begin to slowly dry her.
…
It was six months ago, during her fourth and final year of mandatory service that Noa was offered a position in the DMI. As part of the military police’s cyber intelligence, she was sent to the United Nations Digital Security team in France as part of a secondment program. It was there that she made an impression on her commanding officer in UNDS, Olivier Costello. Costello was well-revered among the higher-ups in the agency, regarded for his total devotion to his position and his subdued personality. Among his subordinates, he was known to be laid-back, nearly to the point of what seemed like apathy, yet savvy and caring in a subdued way. He was in his mid-forties, with tired eyes and black hair that he combed straight back. His expression almost always held a sly smile, but when he had told Noa to meet him in his office for a discussion on her future, it seemed to carry a hint of excitement.
When Noa had entered his office, it took her eyes a moment to adjust to the small, cluttered space. Olivier was standing behind his desk, pulling back the blinds to the window that overlooked the office with his index finger. Noticing her arrival, he pulled his finger back and sat in his chair.
“Thank you for stopping in, Hollywell. Why don’t you have a seat?”
Noa quietly sat down in the old plush chair that faced his desk. Olivier ran his hand over his mouth before he began to speak.
“What do you know about the November Disaster?” he asked, taking a long sip from the disposable coffee cup in his hand. Noa paused for a second before answering.
“The November Disaster was the largest cyber attack in modern history. For three days, the country of Singapore was without power, causing major disruption to the global economy and the nation itself.” Smiling, she added, “And the US maintains that Chinese hackers were responsible.”
Olivier matched her smile.
“Yes, that’s the gist of it. Although I’m sure you know that it was never officially attributed to a specific nation.”
Oliver had fallen silent again, staring directly at Noa. She had known him long enough to be able to tell when he was hoping to bait her to pry further. Still, she was curious about what he was getting at, and played along.
“Respectfully, sir, why are you asking me about this?”
Olivier’s eyes glistened.
“As you know, I was involved with the initial investigation of the disaster. When we began investigating the cause of the attack, we were unable to find any evidence of foul play from any state or nonstate actor. Even now, six years later, we have found no sign of intentionality. It seems that it was entirely accidental.”
“What kind of accident could cause something that catastrophic?”
Olivier set down the cup he was holding, and the smile faded from his face.
“We now believe the blackout was caused by an attempt to connect with the Atziluth realm.”
“I’m sorry, the what?” Noa leaned in on her chair.
“The Atziluth realm is the world of the spiritual. We do not know the specifics of what the individuals responsible for this were hoping to achieve. From what we understand, the connection was not sustained for long. Even still, however brief the connection was, it overwhelmed the power grid of Singapore, causing the November Disaster.”
Olivier was known to mess around with his team from time to time, but the demeanor that he had now showed Noa that he was not joking. Still, she couldn’t just accept an explanation like that so easily.
“The world of the spiritual? I’m sorry, sir, I don’t exactly follow.”
Pulling a packet of cigarettes from his desk drawer, Olivier took one out and lighting it, continued his explanation.
“Our understanding of it is still fairly rudimentary. It’s not an entirely accurate description, but imagine the Atziluth realm as being filled with a sort of divine energy. Prayer, rituals, alchemy- it’s all an attempt to connect with and harness the Atziluth world.”
Noa’s mouth was nearly hanging open in shock. She had never known her commanding officer to be particularly superstitious or religious. And yet, when he spoke, there was no aspect of humor in his voice. For every question that entered her head, a new one followed right after, adding to the increasing feeling of perplexity.
“Okay… so… what can they do by harnessing the Atzu- Atzaloth realm?”
Olivier ashed his cigarette into his empty coffee cup.
“If the Atziluth world is full of divine energy, channeling is a gas pump. They want to use it to fuel… well, we don’t know what they want to use it for. But it could be used in any number of ways, materializing whatever essences exist there. Creating life.”
“Materializing essences? What does that mean, summoning demons?”
“Something like that.”
Noa stilled. A feeling of dread had begun to settle inside of her- if this was true, how dangerous was it? How many people knew about this Atzo-whatever realm?
“And this was only discovered with the blackout?”
“No, much earlier than that. The UN has known about the existence of the Atziluth realm for quite some time now.”
“Since when?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
Noa was staring wordlessly at her feet, but Olivier knew that she was the type who would chase her curiosity to the end of the Earth. Reading her face, he could see the deep anxiety and confusion running around her mind. He twisted the cigarette into the bottom of his cup, putting out its flame.
“I’m leaving my post here to head a new splinter agency located in Singapore. We want to uncover the origin of this breach and prevent any further ones.” Olivier straightened up. “I know your time in mandatory service is coming to an end. You’re one of the best members of the UNDS team, and you would be an invaluable member if you were to be able to join us.”
Although Olivier often spoke with a tone of detachment, here, he was speaking earnestly. The anxiety and fear seemed to have left Noa’s body. She met his gaze and began to grin.
“Thank you for having me, sir.”
Standing from his chair, Olivier smirked and reached out to shake Noa’s hand.
“Welcome to the Digital Mandala Initiative.”
Within a month of finishing her mandatory service, she was on a plane to Singapore.