'Intuitive evaluation? Perhaps empirical data are needed as well?'
'Huh? Um…
I was smiling at Carl. He noticed and returned a sheepish grin. 'Hell, I couldn't resist.'
'What're you going to do when they present you with the bill?'
'The bill. Oh.'
I chuckled.
The foreman spoke delicately. 'Remuneration can be forgone. We compliment designer on high esthetic factor of overall concept. Inspired, and truly beautiful in result. Congratulations. When may we begin production?'
'Yeah, Carl,' I said. 'When can these nice people turn out fifty million units for you?'
'Jesus. I don't know.'
'Production is not contemplated?' the foreman asked sadly.
'Well… Jake, what do I tell them?'
I said, 'The artist would like time to ponder the philosophical ramifications of his creation before considering sharing it with the universe at large.'
'Of course. Commendable. Please contact us when time is proper.'
'Oh, yeah,' Carl said, nodding emphatically. 'Sure. And thanks a lot.'
'Extreme pleasure has been taken in assisting a consummate artist such as yourself.' Carl looked embarrassed.
We got back to the receiving bay as the robots were delivering the Chevy. We had taken the long route-the foreman had insisted that we see the Submicron Fractionating Assembly. Whatever it was, it was pretty.
I didn't see Prime's arrival. I was inspecting what was left of the starboard stabilizer foil when I happened to glance up at Darla, who was staring open-mouthed at something out on the floor. I straightened up, walked around her…
And there was Prime, standing near our miniature spaceship, conversing with Arthur.
He turned a smiled at me. 'Hello, Jake,' he called.
'You're hard to get hold of,' I said, walking over. 'But you seem to get around.'
Prime glanced around. 'Wonderful facility. Have you toured the place?'
'Endlessly.'
He laughed. 'Odd that you should wind up here.'
'Actually, we never intended to leave Emerald City.'
'Really?' He seemed pleased to hear it. 'I assumed that you were on your way home.'
'Without Sam? Hardly.'
'No, I suppose not. But it was my intention to give your father some voice in the matter.'
'He's not my father. He's an Artificial Intelligence program.'
Prime nodded. 'And a remarkable one. His Entelechy Matrix was manufactured by the Vlathu, was it not?'
'Yes.'
'We know of the Vlathu. They possessed techniques unknown even in the time of the Culmination. The Vlathu attained a very high degree of spirituality for a primitive race.'
I thought about that for a moment before saying, 'If you consider the Vlathu primitive, what does that make us? We humans, I mean?'
'Humans are one of the ancestral races of the Culmination itself. One of the tributary races. I have told you many times that I am partly human. I meant by that, that the Culmination is in some part composed of human elements.'
'I'm not sure I understand,' I said. 'You may be descended from human beings, but after ten billion years of evolution…'
He laughed. 'Evolution. Odd concept. The process isn't automatic, you know. If there is no good reason for a species to evolve, it won't. But let's set that aside. The elements I referred to aren't genetic remnants, but the minds of actual living human beings. Their very soul and substance. They are a vital part of the Culmination. Some of them are your friends.'
Darla, Carl, and Lori had gathered behind me. I turned my head toward them, and Darla looked at me gravely. I turned back to Prime.
'What do you mean? Who?'
'Well, Susan D'Archangelo, for one. She has consented to contribute to the project. So has Yuri Voloshin, Sean Fitzgore, Roland Yee, and Liam Flaherty.'
'I can't believe you.'
'I'll leave it to them to convince you. There has been no coercion. None, Jake. You must believe that.'
I was silent for a moment, my mind churning and churning. Then: 'I still can't believe it.'
Prime's hands went out in a helpless shrug. 'I'm sorry.'
'What about the others? Zoya, Oni, Ragna, John…?'
'They have declined. They will join you on your journey home.' Prime chuckled. 'Incidentally, you've forgotten one person. Sam has declined as well.'
'Sam never went to church.'
Prime laughed. 'I dare say he didn't.'
Darla asked, 'Aren't you forgetting Winnie and George?'
'My dear, they are part of the Culmination. They always were. They are members of one of the Guide Races. Think of how you got here.'
'We were kidnapped,' I said.
'Your case was special, of course. But what prompted all these quests to find the end of the Skyway?'
He was right. Winnie's map lay behind it all. 'About Sam,' I said. 'You'll return him to me?'
'He will return. Everything will be returned to you.'
I stared at him. What was this form I saw? What? What did it represent? I shook my head. 'Maybe I'm just slow, but there are a hell of a lot of things I don't understand about all this.'
'Then lay yourself open to the dream-teaching. You need not join the project to do that. You will learn.'
I was suddenly irked. 'To hear you talk, everything's just going along swimmingly. But it isn't. The Goddess has other ideas. Doesn't she?'
He turned and stepped away, halted, then slowly wheeled about, his eyes on the floor, his lips drawn into a wry smile. 'Other ideas. No. There is only One Idea, with variations.'
'But she's opposed in some fundamental way.'
'No.'
'Then the dream last night… what was all that about?'
'Dream and find out. Don't fight it. Don't be afraid.'
I considered it. 'Maybe I will.'
'Good. And keep this in mind. Conflict is part of the warp and woof of existence: That which contains no tension is static. If this is true, can any attempt to reach the ultimate be free of conflict? Do not think that the Culmination must be a success from the start. That was a fundamental error of those who conceived it. Yet that mistake did not necessarily lead to a fundamental flaw. The question is, what ultimately happened? Since the Culmination is outside of time, that question can be answered. And you will find the answer if you choose to seek it.'
'Doesn't the Goddess know it, too?'
'Of course.'
'It doesn't make sense,' I said.
He turned and walked away a few steps, stopped, turned about. 'I must leave you now. Jake, I have a sense that you must suffer further. I can help to some degree, but I am inhibited by circumstances you might find difficult to understand.' He smiled again. 'I shouldn't worry. You are well suited to overcoming adversity. I think that is why whatever forces are at work behind you chose you as their instrument. You are the archetypal hero, Jake.' He raised his right hand. 'Be well.'
And he vanished, leaving behind the smell of ozone. The Goddess' exit had had more panache, but his