God you made this one hurt you bastard. If it wasn't for my day-to-day I could've easily read this in one sitting, it's just so good. I love the way you break up the two concurrent stories, it fits perfectly with Anibal's enhancements.
I really like how the conflict in the past was caused by the "three is a magic number" type thing, a really ingenious way to explain why they would have to fight, avoiding any feeling of it being forced. Of course these magical technomancers show deference to numerology.
The fighting is smooth and fast and works well stretched out like this because of the story constantly switching between the two timelines.
And just like LAN, I'm obsessed with how this story is going to be continued, big +1 for the dinner yum