In a moment the pretty, brown-haired, brown-eyed child dashed up to him. 'Oh, Blue,' she cried. 'I was so afraid they had hurt thee!'
Stile smiled wanly. 'I had the same fear for thee. Thou alone didst side with me, of all the Adepts.'
She scowled cutely. 'Well, they did tie me up with a magic rope or something. I was going to get a golem to loose me, but then Yellow came and let me go. She's real pretty in her potion-costume! She said all the others were after thee, and she really didn't like it but couldn't go against her own kind. Is that what I'm doing?'
'Thou art helping save Phaze from disaster,' he assured her.
'Oh, goody!' she exclaimed, clapping her hands.
Stile had a second thought about using Brown as an ally. Could a child have proper responsibility? Yet he didn't seem to have much choice. She had at least had the courage to oppose the other Adepts, which was more than Yellow had had. 'I need thy help in an important capacity,' he said. 'There may be hard work and even danger.'
'If Phaze is in trouble, I'm already in danger,' she said brightly.
'Aye. The other Adepts prefer to risk disaster later, for the sake of power now. I must do something that will make magic less effective, but will save Phaze for future centuries. Then must I leave Phaze.'
'Leave Phaze!' she exclaimed, horrified. 'I was only just getting to know thee!'
'I do not wish to leave, but a prophecy of the Oracle suggests Phaze will not be safe until I do. I love Phaze too much to hurt it by remaining.'
A soulful tear rolled down her cheek. 'Oh, Blue - I like this not!'
'I fear the Lady Blue will like it even less,' Stile said, choking somewhat himself. 'Neither will my friend Neysa the unicorn. But what must be, must be. Now must I cross the curtain before the other Adepts spot me. They tried to trap me in the goblins' demesnes, and now that I escaped, they will be attacking me anywhere they find me. In any event, there is something I must fetch in Proton-frame. So must I ask thee to be my coordinator in Phaze.'
Her young brow furrowed. 'What is this?'
'The creatures of Phaze must be warned. They must be told that the Oracle predicts disaster if certain things be not done, and that the Blue Adept is trying to do these things and may need their help. That the other Adepts are trying to prevent this program from being implemented and may attack any creatures who help me. Canst thou go to the creatures and tell them?'
'Oh, sure, I can send my golems,' she said. 'If they are not stopped by magic, they will speak the message.'
'Excellent. I have set up a spell to keep thee in touch, so that thou canst check with me across the curtain. When I have what I need, I will return.'
'I hope thy business there takes not long. This frightens me, Blue.'
'It frightens me too! But I think we can get through.' Stile played his harmonica, then sang: 'Create a crystal ball, for Brown Adept to call.'
The ball appeared. Stile presented it to her. 'Speak to this when thou must reach me. I will answer if I can.'
She smiled, her spirit rebounding quickly at the prospect of this new toy. 'That should be fun!'
'Now must I go,' Stile said. He sang a routine spell to take him to a little-used section of the curtain, then stepped across into a maintenance hall in Proton.
Soon he was in touch with Sheen and riding with her in a private Citizen capsule. 'What is the present state of my fortune?' he inquired.
'Mellon has manipulated it into about sixty kilograms.'
'Sixty kilos of Protonite? Already he's doubled it?'
'He's one of my friends,' she reminded him. That meant Mellon had access to information not generally available to others, including Citizens - such as what supposedly random numbers might be generated by the Game Computer. That would of course be an enormous advantage. Stile did not like all of the implications, but decided not to inquire about the details.
'However,' she said, 'several things are disturbing the Citizens and making mischief for you. It may be difficult in the next few hours.'
'It may indeed,' he agreed. 'The countdown for the juxtaposition of frames has commenced. I've already set most of the other Adepts against me, and soon the same will happen with most of the Citizens.'
'Yes. First there is the matter of your rapid increase in fortune. They are concerned where it will stop, understandably. Second, they don't like your designating me as your heir. The panel approved it, but now many more Citizens are becoming aware of it. A robot with such a fortune would be awkward. Third, there is a rumor you mean to destroy the society of Proton. That notion is not at all popular.'
'I should think not,' Stile agreed. 'As it happens, they are not far wrong.'
'Will you update me, briefly? I fear things will complicate rapidly, now that you have reappeared, and I lack the living capacity to adapt to totally changed situations. Some Citizens even expressed hope you were dead, and in that hope their action was held in abeyance.'
'So now they may seek to render me dead,' Stile said. 'I thought Citizenship would alleviate my problems somewhat, but they have only intensified. Very well - you get me to the Game Computer, and I'll fill you in.'
'What do you want with the Game Computer?'
'It has the book of magic that will make me instantly more powerful than any person in Phaze has been before. I'll need it to protect myself from the massed power of all the other Adepts and to facilitate the transfer of Phazite across the curtain. Here it will be Protonite, with scientific energy instead of magical energy. Then the frames will separate forever, and the curtain will be gone.'
She was quick to catch on. 'Which world will you be in, then, Stile?'
Stile sighed. 'You know I want to be in Phaze, with the Lady Blue. But I am of Proton, and there is a prophecy that tells me to get clear of Phaze. So I will be here.'
He thought she would be pleased, but she was not. 'The Lady Blue is to be widowed again?' she asked sharply.
'I could bring her here to Proton. But she is of Phaze; I fear it would destroy her to leave it forever. I don't think she would come here anyway, because here I am to marry you.'
'So it is my fault you have to widow her?'
How had he gotten into this? 'It is the fault of fate. I simply am not destined to be happy after my job is done.' Then he bit his tongue. What an insult he had given Sheen!
'I will put in for reprogramming, so she can come here. You do not need to marry me.'
Stile refused to take the bait. It was surely poisoned. Sheen might be less complicated than a living woman, but she did have depths. 'I will marry you. It is the way it has to be.'
'Have you informed the Lady Blue of this?' she inquired coldly.
'Not yet.'
They were silent for a while. Stile felt the weight of the harmonica in his pocket and brought it out for contemplation. 'I wish you could come out,' he said to it.
Sheen looked at him questioningly.
'My other self's soul is in this instrument,' Stile explained. 'Clef's Flute evoked it. Apparently the original Blue Adept conjured his spirit into his favorite possession. It helped me play the harmonica beyond my natural ability, and maybe won a round of the Tourney for me. So he helped me - but I can't help him. He's dead.'
'This soul - you saw it in Phaze?'
'No. In Proton.'
'But there's no magic in Proton.'
Stile nodded thoughtfully. 'I'm getting so used to magic, I'm forgetting where I am. That Platinum Flute can't evoke spirits in Proton - yet I swear it did. We thought maybe some magic leaked through, but that couldn't really happen.'
'Unless this imbalance you talk of is getting worse. The fabric is starting to tear.'
'That could be. The Flute did reach across to shake the mountains of Proton and perhaps also to give me the dream-vision of Clefs journey to the Little Folk. Juxtaposition of one kind or another is occurring; the boundaries are fogging. Which is why action is required now. I wish there were some way to restore my other self to life. Then he
