shape, cast from shining silver metal, with bulky joints and fixtures. He had a lumpy, unfinished look, and his face was just a stylized series of raised lines, with a pair of unblinking glowing green eyes. He was the first toy they'd met in Toystown who didn't look at all friendly.
'And who might you be?' said Giles, one hand dropping casually to his belt next to his gun.
'I'm Anything,' said the toy. 'It's not the name I was given. My human name. I have a new name now, one I chose myself. I was an adaptor—a transformation toy. Move my limbs in a certain way, and I could adapt to a new shape. I could be a flyer, or a ship, or a man. But that was all. That was my limit. Then the Furies came. They wore no flesh for us; they were all gleaming metal, just like me, but so much more. They were strong and fast and wonderful, and I wanted to be just like them. But I wouldn't kill for them. So I… stood aside, during the night of blood. I couldn't decide on which side I should be. I worshiped the Furies. They were everything I aspired to be. But I wouldn't kill. One day I'll find a way to upgrade myself further. Learn to change into Anything at all. And then I'll go to the Furies, and we'll see which of us is superior. But they were so beautiful. Not a beauty you humans could appreciate. But they were wild and free and glorious. I loved them then, and I always will.'
'They are the Enemies of Humanity,' said Toby.
'I know,' said Anything. 'You're jealous of them. Let's change the subject. I'll be coming with you, on your voyage.'
Giles frowned. 'What voyage? No one's said anything to us about a voyage.'
'That's because some people can keep their mouths shut, and some can't,' said Bruin Bear. He hurried down the platform toward them on his stubby, furry legs. 'Your friend is fine. I'll take you to see him later. Right now, we need to talk.' He prodded the sleeping Sea Goat in the ribs with his foot. The Goat gave a snort and a grunt and opened one eye.
'Put it under the bed, nurse, I'll use it later. Oh, it's you. Bear. You always disturb my best dreams.'
'I should hope so,' said Bruin Bear. 'Whoever programmed you originally must have had a really disturbed sense of humor. Now get up and pay attention. Unlikely though it is, you just might have something useful to contribute.' He turned and looked at the three humans. Flynn's camera rose up off his shoulder to get a better angle. The Bear smiled at it, his face softening. 'What a marvelous toy. I don't suppose he's aware at all, is he?'
'Not really,' said Flynn. 'He's more a part of me.'
'Pity,' said the Bear. 'Now listen to me, please. You can't stay here. It's too dangerous. Once the bad toys learn you're here, and you can be sure they will, they'll attack Toystown with everything they've got. They'd destroy us all and raze the town to the ground, just for a chance to get at you. I can't allow that. And besides, what you're looking for isn't here.'
'How do you know what we're looking for?' said Giles. 'We haven't asked you for anything yet.'
'You didn't need to,' said the Bear flatly. 'There's only one thing that would have brought you here. The same thing that brought those soldier humans. You're here looking for Vincent Harker. The Red Man.'
'What do you know of Harker?' said Toby.
'He lives in the old Forest, at the end of the great River. Toys go to him, good and bad, and they never come back. He's building a force around him. No one knows why. We don't know what he does or says to the toys that gather around him, but they are loyal to him even unto death. To a human. There are only whispers, that come floating down the River. Whispers of the Red Man, the crazy man, the dangerous man. Who has sworn to change our world beyond recognition, and make it his. The Pied Piper of toys, the Siren whose song no toy can withstand. The dark heart of the world of toys. The Red Man. You want him, you're welcome to him. Take him away, before he destroys us all.'
Giles looked at Flynn and Toby. 'Does this sound anything like the man we're after?'
Toby shrugged. 'Who knows? He's supposed to be this great tactical genius, and most of them are crazy to begin with. Who knows what months of living in this place has done to him?'
Giles looked back at the Bear. 'How do we find him?'
'We'll provide you with transport, and I'll lead you right to him,' said Bruin Bear. 'I and a few carefully picked friends will escort you down the River and into the Forest. You'll need us as guides. You wouldn't get there otherwise. There are many dangers in the land these days. Besides, the Red Man's followers wouldn't let you get anywhere near him, without toys to vouch for you. So, I and the Goat, Poogie and Anything will be going with you. All the way down the River to a place from which no toy has ever returned. I hope you appreciate what we're doing for you.'
'I doubt it,' said the Sea Goat. 'You should have heard what they were saying about us when they thought I was sleeping.'
'You've been eavesdropping again, haven't you?' said the Bear.
The Goat shrugged. 'It's in my nature. Don't blame me. Blame the human who created me. I didn't ask to be manufactured.'
'Why have you volunteered?' said Toby. 'You don't know us. You don't know anything about us. We could be good or bad or anything. We might even be worse than Harker.'
'Of course,' said the Bear. 'You're human. Unpredictable. Not like us. We are what we are. Our motivations are fairly simple. We need Harker dealt with, and only a human can deal with another human. The Goat and I will be going to protect you from harm. It's what we do. Poogie wants to make atonement, for all the humans he killed. And Anything hopes to gain from you or Harker access to the tech necessary to upgrade him into what he thinks he wants to be. You see? Simple and open; no secrets. We're only toys, after all.'
The nurses' first-aid center turned out to be one room in the back of the station house. The walls were a pale antiseptic green, but covered with bright, simple paintings designed to calm and reassure the patient. The dolls' medical resources were basic and limited, with hardly any real high tech. Presumably the first-aid center had only ever been intended as a brief stopping-off place, before the wealthy patients were lifted offplanet to more advanced facilities. Finlay and Evangeline watched from a discreet distance as the nurses eased Julian onto a bed, then ran a scanner over him. He'd stopped coughing by then, but he looked tired and drawn. They'd had to make Poogie wait outside. He'd grown increasingly upset, and the noise was beginning to disturb Julian. Finlay and Evangeline could hear the creature crying quietly outside the closed door.
The two humans weren't sure how seriously to take that. Even allowing for Poogie's cartoony nature, the grief did seem rather overdone for someone he'd never even met before. Finlay couldn't help remembering that the Friendly Critter had killed people. Maybe people who trusted him then the way he wanted to be trusted now. Evangeline wanted to believe he'd reformed. As far as Finlay was concerned, some crimes, some betrayals of trust, could never be forgiven or forgotten.
The nurses seemed proficient enough. They were treating Julian like a sick child, but luckily the rogue esper was feeling too tired to resent that. Finlay didn't know what the nurses expected to find that the underground's medical staff might have missed. He'd insisted Julian undergo a full medical examination before this trip, which he'd passed easily. But still Finlay couldn't help worrying. Fond as he was of the young esper, he'd leave him behind in a moment if he looked like being a hindrance to their quest for Harker.
Evangeline held his hand and gave it a squeeze. 'Stop frowning, love. It'll give you wrinkles. I'm sure Julian's in good hands.'
'I don't like the time this is costing us,' Finlay said roughly. 'The longer we stay here, the more likely a target we become, and the more likely it is that Harker will get word we're looking for him and go to ground.'
'That's not it,' said Evangeline. 'You're worried about Julian. I can tell.'
'He's a good lad,' said Finlay. 'Brave, committed, strong. I hate to see him like this.'
Evangeline turned to look at Finlay. 'How do you feel about him? You know he worships you, don't you?'
'Yes. I wish we wouldn't. His god has feet of clay. How do I feel about him? I admire him. He suffered so much in the interrogation cells, but he didn't let it break him. And sometimes… I see in him the younger brother I might have had. You know Julian had an elder brother? Auric?'
'Yes. He was killed in the Arena.'
'I killed him. As the Masked Gladiator.' Evangeline gasped, her eyes widening with shock. Finlay moved a little to stand between her and Julian on his bed. 'Julian doesn't know. He mustn't ever know. It would tear him apart. In a way, I've become the elder brother I took from him. Only right, I suppose.'
'Finlay…'
'I know. He'll have to be told someday. But not yet. And certainly not now.'
