As he broke the surface, the spell that had been on him abated, and he breathed air instead of water. Still waist-deep in the water, he turned to peer down and wave at her. He thought he saw her wave back, but it was hard to be sure.
Then he moved the rest of the way out, carrying the fish. There was a large serpent guarding the land-path; he showed it the fish, and it slithered away, letting him pass unchallenged. The Translucent Adept seemed to be as good as his word.
Bane's clothing was completely dry, despite his recent immersion. He walked up the path, proceeding east. He knew that he was at the western coast of Phaze, not far from the West Pole; he had a long way to go to reach the Blue Demesnes. There would be no problem, of course; he would simply conjure himself there. He had not dared to try that, when in the Adverse Demesnes, but now that he was free, it was feasible.
But he hesitated. He could go – but what of Mach and Agape in Proton? What would his father, Stile, say to the news that he was in love with an alien creature of the other frame?
Love? Could that be true?
He thought of all the females he had known in Phaze, human and werewolf and vampire and other. He had liked a number of them, and some had been excellent playmates. Suchevane…
But none of them had moved into his awareness in the manner Agape had. She was more truly alien than any of them physically, and yet perhaps more truly human too, in her personality. He had not known her long, as his life went, but their acquaintance had been intense.
He wanted to be with her again. He wanted to share more experience with her, whether it was simply a walk down a hall or a talk about other frames or other planets. To be with her by day and by night, just to know she was beside him. She could be in human form, or in protoplasmic form; it hardly mattered. Just so long as it was
Was that love? He didn't know. He simply knew that he wanted to go back to Proton, because she was there.
And he could do so, by returning voluntarily to the Translucent Adept. If he returned to his father, and told of this…
Bane shook his head, in deep doubt. He was not at all sure how Stile would react to this. Did he really want to go home and find out?
13. Agape
Agape waited till the lights dimmed for night, then dissolved. But she did not sleep; she spread herself out deliberately thin, so that she could flow beneath the heavy glass barrier that formed the front of the cell. The connection was supposed to be hermetically tight, but the floor was not precisely even, so there was not a perfect fit. The crevice was only a fraction of a centimeter, but she could navigate it.
She did so. Then she formed herself, outside the cell, into the likeness of one of the attending serfs she had studied for this purpose. She walked down the hall toward the nearest maintenance service outlet, and tapped the pattern Mach had told her to.
For a moment nothing happened. Then a floor-cleaner trundled toward her, its brushes working. She got out of its way, but it stopped beside her. 'Follow me,' its speaker said. Then it resumed its work.
She followed it down the hall and into a maintenance closet. The door panel closed on them, and it was dark.
'How came you by that code?' a speaker inquired at the level of her head.
'Mach gave it to me,' she said nervously.
'Why?'
'He said you would help me escape from here.'
'What else?'
'He said to trust the machines.'
The panel opened. Now a mobile food dispenser was there. Its top access port opened, revealing a large empty tank within it. 'Enter,' its grille said.
She put her hands and head into its hopper and melted them so that they flowed down inside. Then she melted the rest of her body, setting up a siphon so that all of it could flow in. Finally she drew in the remaining mass of herself, and settled into the tank.
The lid closed. The food machine moved. She formed an ear so that she could hear anything that might be said to her, and attuned herself to the motion, so that she had some notion where they were going.
They went down the passage toward a service ramp. But before the machine could exit on this ramp, a serf approached. 'Hey, foodmach – wait a minute,' the serf said.
The unit halted. 'This unit is out of service,' its grille said.
'All I want is a pseudobeer,' the serf said. He started pushing the buttons.
Agape was appalled. If the machine started serving out portions of herself – !
It did not. 'Inoperative,' the grille said. 'Being taken for restoration.'
The serf muttered an imprecation and moved on. The machine resumed its motion. Agape relaxed.
The machine rolled down the service ramp to the main service area. The top access port opened. 'Emerge.'
Agape formed arms and reached up and out, hauling herself along as she solidified. In due course she stood on the floor in her human form.
She was before the computer that coordinated the estate service network. 'Why did Mach put you into our power for help?' its speaker asked.
'I was to be tortured or killed, as a lever against Mach or Bane,' she explained.
'We know. Why did he put you into our power for help?'
Machines were more literal than living creatures! 'He must have believed you could best do the job.'
'We can. Why did he put you into our power for help?'
She tried again. 'I think because his other self cares for me.'
'Explain other self.'
'Mach is a robot, a self-willed machine like yourselves, but programmed to have human reactions. He exchanged places with his other self in the frame of Phaze, called Bane, who is alive there. So Bane was a living person using Mach's machine body.'
'There is no contact with the other frame. Explain.'
'There is contact now – only through Mach and Bane. Their minds exchange, but not their bodies.'
'How do you react to Mach?'
'I like him. He was kind to me, he helped me.'
'How do you react to Bane?'
'I think I love him.'
'You do not know?'
'I am not human. I do not properly understand human emotion. But I think this conforms to the description.'
'Place your appendage on the panel.' A panel beside the speaker grille lighted.
She put her left hand there. A disk extended on a flexible support and came to touch the back of her hand. 'Would you reproduce with Bane?' the grille asked.
'If I could.'
'Would you give up your planet for him?'
'Yes.'
'Would you die for him?' 'I would.'
The disk withdrew. 'Withdraw your appendage,' the grille said.
Agape obeyed. She waited while the machine was silent.
'Diagnosis confirmed,' it said. 'We shall free you.'
'Oh, I don't want to be freed of love!'
