Bob Schroeck Wrote:...Rob, did I miss/forget existing backstory somewhere, or did you just do a magnificent job of pulling that out of your hat as you wrote it? (Either way I applaud, mind you. Just wondering.)
And by fatwah you mean literally? As in by a Muslim cleric somewhere, as opposed to a figurative one by the US government? Because that may not be a stable situation in the long run. Someone is going nervous about the economic health of the Mideast being utterly dependent upon the good graces of a handful of infidels in space, and will try to do something about it. Since this is Fenspace, after all, such attempts will probably work out to be Arab-flavored Three Stooges sketches, but still...
Given the information network managed by Buckaroo, that's distinctly possible. Anything that hits the Internet or passes near a member of the Global Frequency collective will make it's way back to Buckaroo, who will then share it with the Institute and the Underweb (roughly in that order, although it may happen fast enough to be considered simultaneously for non-AIs). From there, some subtle social engineering would take place, leaving anyone who wanted to do something about the unbelievers who have all the oil being forced to actually talk to the Fen, rather than blow them up. It's difficult to build bombs when the supplies that keep trying to get through your black market contacts keep getting rerouted to the Hague and other locations through "computer error."
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com
"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."