The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees

they all speak French. The Chaudians, as those who live in the Quartier are called, have a staunchly hedonistic outlook, they believe the pursuit of pleasure is the primary duty of mankind. Their religion is called ImPuritanism.’
    ‘Who’s in charge there?’ Ella asked.
    ‘Maximilien Robespierre, the guy who ran the French Revolution, aided and abetted by a Singularity called Tomas de Torquemada who, when he was alive, was head of the Inquisition and tortured people on behalf of the Catholic Church. But the real power in the Quartier is in the hands of the Doge of Venice, Catherine-Sophia, who seems to be giving our Singularities a run for their money. There’s been something of a schism in the Quartier Chaud of late: for some reason Venice and the rest of the Quartier Chaud are at each other’s throats.’
    ‘Not a holiday destination then,’ observed Ella drily.
    ‘Well, funnily, for the sexually liberated, it is. The ImPuritans have a pretty free-and-easy attitude and as almost anything goes in the Quartier … well, it did until …’
    There was a cough from the General, who obviously thought there wasn’t any need for the Captain to elaborate. ‘Moving on. The fourth Sector is NoirVille: the population here is mostly a mix of Arabs and Africans. The religion followed in this Sector is HimPerialism and the language Arabic.’
    ‘HimPerialism?’
    ‘Yes, it’s a religion based on male supremacy and the subjugation of women … terribly misogynistic, I’m afraid to say.’ He ignored the look of disgust on Ella’s face. ‘We believe this developed because the gender mix in NoirVille is skewed towards men: NoirVillian men outnumber NoirVillian women by two to one. There are some very strong characters in this Sector. ShakaZulu …’ He paused. ‘Have you ever heard of him, Miss Thomas?’
    Ella shook her head.
    ‘He was the man who created the Zulu nation at the back end of the eighteenth century. A remarkable man. It is his HimPis – his regiments – who have taken control of the black market in blood.’
    ‘Blood?’
    ‘We’ll come to that in a moment, Miss Thomas. NoirVille is also home for the WhoDoo religious cult, which the sociologists studying the Demi-Monde have been getting a real kick out of. They’re into …’
    Another cough from the General. The guy must be consumptive.
    ‘The last Sector …’ said the Captain hurriedly.
    ‘Lemme guess,’ said Ella, ‘we ain’t gonna be meeting Benny the Bouncy Bunny in this next place, are we?’
    ‘I’m afraid not. The fifth Sector is the Coven. The Coven is largely Sino-Japanese, with the gender mix skewed in favour of females. The religion of the Coven is called HerEticalism, which teaches that peace and prosperity will only come to the DemiMonde when men accept a subordinate position to females within society.’
    ‘Sounds sensible to me.’
    The Captain ignored Ella’s aside. ‘Unfortunately this feminist bias has been taken to extremes: the Coven is a virulently anti-male Sector and avowedly pro-lesbian. As you might appreciate, HerEticalism is the antipode to HimPerialism: the two hate each other. HerEticalism has spawned a radically feminist terror wing called Suffer-O-Gettism – or to give it its full title, Make-Men-Suffer-O-Gettism – which is dedicated to the use of violence to achieve the triumph of women in the Demi-Monde. Funnily enough, despite this vehement gender bias, the Coven, underthe tutelage of the Empress Wu – a very strong-willed woman and the only woman ever to be Emperor of China – has become a hotbed of radical thought. Most of the more unorthodox thinkers in the Demi-Monde have made the Coven their home, Karl Marx being one of them.’ The Captain clicked off his laser-pen. ‘And that, Miss Thomas, concludes my ten-cent tour of the Demi-Monde.’
    ‘You’ve forgotten the nuJus, Captain,’ the Professor observed. ‘On top of the various peoples that the Captain has described we also introduced