°` I'm not sure I follow you, old buddy,' Carl confessed in a piqued tone. 'If you're worried about the zotl's surprising me, dolt. My imp has a warning tone.'
'The enemy I'm worried about is you. You're in some kind of trance.'
'Me?' Carl was surprised. 'This is the first day since I got here that I've seen both of your eyes working together.'
'Sure, I've been chemically pummeled. But you've been adamized. You're supposed to be perfect.'
'I'm nowhere near it.'
'That's for sure. But to the urg, you're perfect. A perfect gofer. It's got you locked into its strategy, friend. You have the power, but your will has been castrated so that it won't interfere.'
'Aw, cut it out, Zee.' Carl sank back in the chair. 'Caitlin's been trying to save my soul. Sheelagh wants to make love to me. And you think I'm a will-less zombie.'
'Not a zombie, just a sleepwalker.' Zeke's bushy white eyebrows, lifted. 'And why don't you make love to Sheelagh?'
Carl sat back as if slapped. 'I'm in love, Zeebo.
Remember that feeling? It's a little ways north of lust.'
'Love has blinded you.'
'Blinded me to what?'
'To power.' Zeke's hand flashed out, and he picked up the lance -from where Carl had placed it on the coffee table.
'This is powerl' He waved it under Carl's nose: 'When are you going to use it?'
'When I have to,' Carl answered softly.
'If you don't use the power you have, the will weakens,'
Zeke said, returning the lance.
'Hey, keep in mind whose weak will uncanned you last month.'
'I'll never forget it.' Zeke smiled briefly. 'But that was last month. What've you done since?'
'What's to do? I mean, the eld skyle didn't send me after the Golden Fleece or the Grail. We're just waiting for the lynk to convert some pig stool and then we're gone. Unless the zotl stop us.'
'Forget the zotl.' Zeke's gaze pressed into him. 'If you're just waiting for the lynk, why'd you come back for me? And why'd you spill the beans to Caitlin and Sheelagh?'
'What the hell are you driving at?'
'Don't get excited.' Zeke was glad to see that Carl could get excited.
'Just what are you trying to tell me? That I'm loose-tipped?'
'That you're talking in your sleep. The urg has put you in a trance, and you're not seeing things clearly. If you're loose-tipped it's because there's some of your old self left that wonders what's going on. That's why you sought out your old friends, to connect with your past and the old meaning of your life. You've lost that, and now you don't know what's-up or down.'
'And you do?'
'I know only one thing for sure.' He leaned closer.
'We're made out of light. And light is action.'
'Huh?'
'Light is action.' Zeke looked amazed. 'Come on, Squirm, you remember quantum theory: Light is trans
mitted in whole units. Those units are called quanta of action. They're photons: Don 7t get me started on this subject. The point I'm trying to make is this: All creation acts. Continuously. There is no stillness. Even the void between galaxies buzzes with Field particles.
Action is reality. For a human, that reality is choice.
You have to act positively, and by that I mean your choices have to be creative, not historical.'
'All right, already ZeeZee. I get the idea. You think I'm lazy'
'Well, when's the last time you worked out?'
'I don't believe this.'
'The urg gave you an adamized body, but how do you expect to keep it strong without using it?'
Carl was on his feet. 'Riding a fallpath is a workout and a half, believe me.' He strode back to the window and slammed it shut.
'The only fallpath here is down.'
Carl shrugged. 'My heart isn't here, Zeke. Working out's too much of a pain. I'd just as soon wait till I get home.'
'That's a negative choice. Soon you'll be as flabby as you ever were. You've got to stop avoiding pain, and you've got to stop seeking your pleasure in some faraway future.'
'Why?'
