And so, drunk on a cocktail of whiskey and regret
It wasn't difficult for our erstwhile quartet of psychos
To snatch a cracked and sagging Ulysses to be dragged down here
Lightless depths of the City
Some rusted out under passage lit only by a neon sign
Glowing over the door to a long forgotten vault
A sign that reads "Penelope"
Bam! The biggest of the Suits slams his fist
Into Ulysses' face again and repeats the question
"What's the code to the vault, asshole?"
Ulysses just bleeds at the fucker
So the big guy's fist comes down again
This continues for some time
"Why is it labelled Penelope? Who is she?"
This question from a pale, thin young man at the back
Altogether unsuited to the rough company he's running with
He's answered by an old motherfucker off to the corner
Dark glasses hiding blind eyes
"She's not living anywhere in the City
And you won't find any record of her in the Acheron"
And everybody knows
If you're not alive, and you're not in the Acheron, you don't exist
A stern-faced woman at the side cuts in, ending the discussion
"It doesn't matter, what matters is that we are being very well paid
To retrieve whatever is inside it
And I doubt any of you want to fail an Olympian"
At this point some words of explanation are needed
Understand, a whole planet covered with steel and wire
Needs a lot of computing power to run
And there's no processor more powerful or abundant than the brain
So you have the Acheron
A vast network of dead minds, however badly damaged
Plugged in and kicked back into a half-conscious hell to run the city
All ruled over by a mad bastard by the name of Hades
Now, when the inevitable reality of death is so unpleasant
You better believe people will do anything to avoid it
And in the City you can buy anything
If you have a wallet thick enough for what it costs
And a stomach strong enough for what it takes
So you have the Olympians
The oldest, richest and meanest families who can afford to life forever
And Ulysses managed to piss one of them off
Shortly after the war
Our hero conceived some ill thought out revenge on
Poseidon Industries, one of the architects of the conflict
Decided to steal something from them
The perfect diamond at the heart of the Cyclops
The industrial laser in Poseidon's flagship workshop
Wasn't a great plan
Just got drunk and walked in