“Partitions?”
“Yes. They’re sort of road blocks at certain points along the network. For example, there’s one such partition surrounding this town. We don’t really have control of it, but if we observe certain protocols and don’t generate too much traffic, we can send messages to points outside, and generally speaking the partition will keep harmful data out.”
“Do all of the Tainted have implants?”
“Not all. There are other ways to use the strand, tactile interfaces and such. But most people want at least a small one eventually. The issue is cost. It takes a lot of effort to find strand suitable for cleaning, then re-functionalize it for use in an implant. That’s part of my job, to scout the wilds for samples of strand which could be useful.”
“I see. So Ono must belong to a wealthy tri
