'Yeah,' said Owen. 'There's got to be a catch. You don't get powers like ours without paying some kind of price.'
'That's human thinking,' said Random. 'Limited thinking. You're not human anymore, so why should you have human limits?'
'There has to be limits,' said Giles. 'There are always limits eventually. We may not be strictly human anymore, but we're not gods.'
'I wouldn't mind being a god,' said Ruby. 'Having bronzed young acolytes bringing me gold and jewels for tribute. I could get behind that.'
'There's more to it than that,' said Owen. 'The link that binds us isn't just a glorified comm channel. It's changing us, bringing us together. Have any of you noticed we're starting to talk like each other?'
'Yeah,' said Hazel. 'We all sound a lot more alike than we used to. We're using the same phrases, sharing the same concepts, developing similar ways of looking at things.'
'If you'd noticed all this,' said Random, 'why didn't you say something?'
'I was hoping it was just me. I mean, this is pretty damn spooky when you think about it. It's not just speech patterns, either. We're using each other's skills, without having to learn them first. Even augmented skills, like Owen's boost.'
'Sometimes one of you will say what I've been thinking,' said Owen. 'And I get feelings about where people are and what they're doing, even when I've no way of knowing it. Are we becoming a gestalt, do you think? A group mind?'
'I don't think so,' said Giles. 'We're still capable of keeping secrets from each other. Isn't that right, Hazel?'
Her heart jumped, but she kept her face relaxed. 'What are you talking about?'
'Perhaps you'd care to tell us why you've been spending so much time in the Hadenman city,' said Giles.
'That's my business,' said Hazel flatly.
'We're all entitled to our private lives,' said Owen.
'I want to know,' said Giles.
'She's been seeing Tobias Moon, all right?' said Owen. 'If she didn't want to tell us, that was her business. Just because we're close now, it doesn't mean we have to open up our souls to each other.'
'We may not have any choice,' said Giles. 'If the link continues to grow and strengthen.'
'Which sounds to me like a damn good reason for splitting up and putting some distance between us,' said Random. 'No offense, people, but the only person I want in my head is me.'
'Right,' said Hazel. 'And besides, I don't think humanity's ready to cope with Ruby Journey the god.'
'You have no ambition,' said Ruby calmly.
'But we're a lot more powerful together,' said Owen. 'Remember the force shield we raised against Silence's troops? They couldn't touch us with anything they had. I don't think any of us could do that separately. There might be other things we could learn to do together. Powerful things. Don't we have a responsibility to the rebellion to become as powerful as possible? We're the rebellion's secret weapon, the ace in the hole; we're the one thing that might tip the coming war in our favor. Are we being selfish in valuing our own individuality over the rebellion's needs?'
'Perhaps some of what we're fighting for is everyone's right to be an individual,' said Random. 'We can't save humanity by becoming inhuman. The only other people to survive passing through the Madness Maze were the scientists who created the Hadenmen. Do we want something like that as our legacy?'
'He's right,' said Giles. 'We all have monsters within us. What if our growing power let them out, let them run loose? Who knows what we might become?'
They all sat and thought about that for a while. Owen thought how easy it had been for him to kill the Blood Runner, halfway across the Empire, in the Obeah systems. Finally, Random sighed and leaned forward. 'This is all irrelevant. We can't stay together. We're needed on three separate planets, right now. We'll be leaving as soon as the Hadenmen have ships ready. Everything else will have to wait till we return. Now, is there anything else we need to discuss? I don't mind admitting I've found today's business exhausting. Somewhere there is a bed with a thick mattress and heavy covers calling my name.'
'There is one thing,' Owen said reluctantly. 'You remember my personal AI, Ozymandius? He turned out to be an Empire spy, and I had to destroy him with my new powers before he destroyed us. Well… he's back. He talks to me, but I'm the only one that can hear him. The odds are I'm just cracking up from the pressure, but it might be something more sinister…'
'You never mentioned this before,' said Ruby.
'He was scared we'd think he was crazy,' said Hazel. 'We wouldn't have thought that, Owen. We all understand about pressure and what it does to people.'
'Besides,' said Random, 'if you were going crazy, we'd have felt it through the link long before now.'
'Does Oz still have the control words he planted in your mind and Hazel's?' said Giles, frowning.
'He says not,' said Owen. 'But I have no way of knowing whether he's lying or not. He hasn't tried to use them. So far.'
'Talk to him now,' said Random. 'We'll try and listen in. Everyone crack their comms wide open and concentrate on the link as well. Go ahead, Owen.'
'All right,' said Owen, just a little self-consciously. 'Oz, are you there?'
'Of course I'm still here,' said the AI. 'Where else would I be? You told me to shut up, remember? Personally, I'm amazed you've been able to stagger through your days without my assistance. I could have given you all kinds of advice during the Council meeting. Still, with all these new magic tricks of yours, I suppose you're too grand for me now. I mean, I'm just a class-seven AI with access to more information than you could wade through in a lifetime…'
'Shut up, Oz,' said Owen. He looked around the table. 'Well? Did you catch any of that?'
'Not a thing,' said Random, and the others shook their heads. Random looked thoughtfully at Owen. 'Do you think it's your AI?'
'No,' said Owen. 'It can't be. I killed Oz in the Madness Maze; I destroyed his mind completely with my new powers. I felt him die.'
'Then, who is it?' said Hazel.
'I don't know!' said Owen.
'It could be some aftereffect of the Madness Maze,' said Random.
'Oh, that's really comforting,' said Ruby. 'You mean we could all end up hearing things?'
'If you can't think of anything helpful to say, button it,' said Hazel. 'No wonder Owen didn't like to talk to us about this.'
'I have to say I don't see what we can do to help, Owen,' said Random. 'Keep us apprised of any new developments, though. That goes for all of us. But I think we'd do better to leave this for another time, after we return from our various missions. They have to take precedence. In the time before we go, Owen, I suggest you run a few diagnostics on your comm implants, see if that turns up anything. Anyone else been having problems they'd like to talk about?'
Everyone looked around the table at everyone else. Hazel kept her mouth shut. She couldn't tell them about the Blood. They wouldn't understand. It was her problem, she'd beat it herself. She'd beaten it before in Mistport, and that was where she was going. It was a sign. It had to be. The silence dragged on, until finally Random pushed back his chair and got to his feet.
'Good night, people. My left foot has gone to sleep, and I'd like to catch up with it as soon as possible. Get as much rest as you can before we have to leave. I have a strong feeling it'll be some time before we get another chance to rest.'
He nodded to them vaguely, turned, and left the kitchen. Ruby Journey grabbed a half-full bottle of wine and went after him. Hazel nodded briefly to Owen and left as quickly as she could without it seeming strange. She didn't dare talk to him. She might blurt out the truth. If anyone would understand, it would be Owen. But she couldn't take the chance, and so she left the kitchen without looking back and went to her quarters alone. Giles and Owen sat looking at each other across the table.
'I'm sorry we're having to part so soon, ancestor,' said Owen. 'We've hardly had a chance to get to know each other.'
