'First tell me this: Are you still connected to the noosphere?'
She nodded. 'Still connected. I am still its avatar, still its beacon, but it does not support me. It cannot. It is too weak. I should not be here, yet I am. Why?'
'Because you refused to leave.'
Her face reflected the shock Jack felt. 'Refused? I cannot refuse.'
'Hear me out. I began to suspect when the Fhinntmanchca didn't finish you. You winked out of existence for a few heartbeats.'
'My second death.'
'Yes, but then you returned-as an adult. You wouldn't have been an adult if the shocked and weakened noosphere had had to regenerate you. You would have returned as a child, am I right?'
She looked puzzled. 'Yes… yes, I suppose that is true.'
Jack wasn't following. 'I don't get it.'
Keeping her eyes on Glaeken, she said, 'My ability to shape-shift to different ages and races is a function of the power of the noosphere. The noosphere should have been destroyed by the Fhinntmanchca. Instead, because of the Internet, it survived in a weakened state, thrown back to an earlier level of power when I could represent myself only as a young girl. I had no shape-shifting powers back then.'
Jack said, 'Why didn't you return as a young girl?'
Wonder lit her features. 'I returned in the form I wore when the Fhinntmanchca attacked. I have been stuck in that form, unable to shift. And now, though still connected to the noosphere, I seem to be existing independent of it. How can that be?'
'Because, my dear, you have become a person.'
Weezy gave her head an emphatic shake. 'No. That's-'
'Impossible? Note I did not say 'human.' I said 'person.' There's a difference. The Lady has existed for so long that she's no longer a mere projection, she's developed a self-one with a real attachment to this world and the people who inhabit it. That self refused to leave us.'
The Lady looked confused. 'But if the noosphere isn't feeding me, how do I exist?'
Weezy's eyes lit. 'Through us! You're being fed by humanity itself-directly.'
Jack had an awful thought.
'Wait. Does this mean that Rasalom can hurt her now?'
Silence around the table until…
The Lady held out her hand to Jack. 'Your knife, please?'
Jack pulled out his Endura, opened it, and gently pushed it across the table. The Lady took it, stared at the blade a moment, then stabbed it through the back of her other hand. Jack had known this was coming, but it still made him wince. Weezy had seen this demonstration before too, but she still let out a yelp.
They all watched as the Lady pulled the blade free. No blood on the steel, and as before, the wound sealed itself in an instant.
Jack released a breath he'd been holding. 'Okay. At least we know that Rasalom can't hurt her.'
Glaeken raised a finger. 'Not by any means we know, but he's resourceful. He may find one. He will be relentless in seeking her third death. So our first priority must be to protect the Lady.'
Jack balled his fists. 'Defense again. Always defense.'
Glaeken nodded. 'Yes. Defend the Lady at all costs. But this latest development allows us a change in tactics.'
Something in his voice… Jack leaned forward.
'What have you got in mind?'
Glaeken fixed him with his blue stare. 'I'm releasing you from your promise, Jack. As you know, the only reason I've been holding you back was the fear that Rasalom would learn the truth about my condition. Well, thanks to a foolish old man, he now knows. So there's no further need for restraint. Go after him, Jack. Find him, kill him if you can.'
Jack felt as if he'd been released from a cell.
'Open season? Anything goes?'
'Anything. You may well need anything and everything. He can die, but he is something more than human now, so he will be very hard to kill. Your first strike must be decisive. You may not get a second.'
Weezy's expression turned fearful. 'Better think this over, Jack. He's dangerous, and he's so powerful.'
Jack knew. Did he ever. And that was why he wasn't going to let this rush of release take over. Yes, he was finally being allowed to do something, but he had to be careful and deliberate. When he made his moves, they'd matter.
'That's why I'll need your help,' he told her. 'Keep going through the Compendium. See if you can find a weakness, a vulnerability we can exploit.'
She looked at Glaeken. 'Isn't there anyone else?'
'You know there isn't. Jack is uniquely suited for this. And it makes you wonder, doesn't it, if perhaps his whole life has been steered toward this moment, this confrontation.'
She turned back to Jack. 'But first you've got to find him. He might not be calling himself Mister Osala anymore.'
'I'd be surprised if he were.'
But Jack had a good idea of where to start looking.
The rules of engagement had just changed, and Jack was going to take the war to Rasalom.
