command in place before she did this to herself. I know she would have.' 'There is no such command.'
Phaethon turned toward the queenly figure representing Eveningstar. 'Wake her up for only a moment, so I can tell her I am here. If she wishes later to drown herself again and redact the memory, she may; but I must be given a chance to speak with her....'
'There is no provision in her living will for any such a waking, long or short.'
'Generate an extrapolation from her memories and consult that for orders....'
'We had done so since the moment Phaethon appeared here; our extrapolated version of Daphne is crimson with rage and grief; her only instruction is to deliver a curse upon you for your treason, your betrayal of your marriage vows, your selfishness. We consider this to be an accurate representation of what Daphne Prime would say were she to wake. Would Phaethon care to hear the entire text of the message?'
Phaethon gritted his teeth. If he wanted to hear a copy of his wife, he could have stayed with the Daphne doll, or downloaded his own dreams from his marriage album's memory.
Besides, he had argued violently with his wife on many occasions in real life-?she never would come with him when he went to the Outer Solar System on long-term engineering projects. To he.ar a mere ghost or reconstruction berating him in her voice, copying her words, while he stood above her coffin, would have destroyed him. 'I do not care to hear the text, thank you ... but you must tell me if there is an explanation for this?for what she has done to herself. What is the reason for this?this horrible?for?' Phaethon found he could not speak.
'Our sorrow is great. Phaethon has fooiishly agreed, at Lakshmi, on Venus, where our parent system rests, not to be told this reason.'
'Did she leave a message for me? She must have left a note. Everyone leaves a note.'
'There is no note. A copy of her living will and all instructions are available for your examination.' The figure seemed to produce a parchment, which she handed to Phaethon. When his fingers touched it, a circuit in the Middle Dreaming put
the text of Daphne's final instructions into his memory.
It was an accountancy program, and details about the disposition of her property while she slept. There was nothing about him; nothing about any provision, under any circumstances, which would allow him to wake her again. No one was listed as agent or attorney, aside from her own thought-properties in the Red Eveningstar. If there were words to wake his wife, only his wife knew them.
Many dreamers kept open a channel, so that outside messages, even if translated to fit into the background and story line of the dream universe, could somehow filter into the dream. He saw no evidence of any such provision here.
It was not clear from the document what program she was running. But the document held mention of a transitional end-program Daphne Prime had inflicted on herself: were she ever to wake again, a virus in her thoughts would continue to have her believe that reality was false, an hallucination or deception, and that the dreamworld was a higher or inner reality, whose certainty could never be questioned. The same sensations in brain chemistry that produced the sensation of distance, disbelief, and unreality one had, upon waking, of dream- memories, would be applied to any thoughts or memories she had about the real world.
This was a mind virus developed by the Red Manorials. Phaethon now knew why Daphne had come here to drown herself. No other mansion could allow one to destroy so thoroughly one's own sense of reality. Even if she were to wake up again, she would still be lost. The living provision specifically prohibited the unrequested removal of that mind virus.
'Why won't you let me save her?'
'If you may do so without violence, proceed. But her life is her own, to live or to destroy howsoever she sees fit.'
'Why did she ... do this ... ? Why did she ...' And he could not force the words aloud. Why did she leave me ? Why did she betray me? Why didn't she love me as she should have done?
'You knew the answer at one time and have made yourself forget it. Phaethon has instructed us, at Lakshmi, not to an-
swer that question. Those instructions are still in force.'
Phaethon's head had bowed forward till his forehead was resting against the cool glassy surface of the coffin. All he had to do was call Rhadamanthus and order the memory box to open. This horrible uncertainty, this battle with ghosts, would be over. He would suffer the Hortator's exile. But if Daphne, his Daphne, the woman who made his life into a heroic adventure, the woman who gave his life meaning, if she were gone, what use would the rest of his life do him?
Then he straightened up. He must refuse to surrender to despair. He would find a way. His pride was still running high.
'I am involved in a law case which requires that I prove my identity. I intend to subpoena her as a witness. No matter what her right to her privacy, she must answer a lawful subpoena.'
'Phaethon may certainly apply for such a subpoena. If it is submitted to us, we will release her. However, we have run two thousand extrapolations of the outcome of such a request before the Curia, and all of them agree that you will not prevail.'
'You cannot know that.'
'Phaethon may hold to delusive hope if he wishes; we criticize nothing which gives you pleasure, provided the pleasure is true and lasting. But such hope will not last. The determinations of the Curia have been made as predictable as justice and policy permit, so that reasonable men will know to what standard to arrange their conduct. Determining the outcome of Curia decisions therefore is no different from determining the outcome of a game of tic-tac-toe or of chess; it may seem mysterious to Phaethon, but not to us. The Judges will conduct a Noetic examination and will see you intend the subpoena process only to invade the rights of your wife; her testimony will have no bearing whatever on the question of your identity, Helion's inheritance, or any of the other issues in the case.'
Phaethon drew a breath and tried again. 'I have a communion circuit giving me the right to examine her mental
