Steppe

'Every moment of the whole part—two-and-a-half people were watching me, listening to me?'

'Incorrect. That is the standard spread. Your personal figures differ, as shown by your Audience Quotient.'

Alp pondered this. He had had no idea he was being watched! Other players must have known the system, however, and been restrained by it. Perhaps his ignorance had even contributed to his success.

No, that wasn't right. Uga and Pei-li would never have gone along with the search for the document... 'If the Galactics know about this, why—?'

'They do not know when participating. That aspect is blocked from their awareness for the duration of each part. This is to prevent players from being unduly influenced by the knowledge and playing incorrectly.'

That made sense. Uga had been as ignorant as Alp, despite his seeming knowledge. 'Would you give me my own figures again, please? With a running explanation, even if I am going to forget it all the moment I enter a new part!'

'You will remember it when the next part terminates,' the Machine said. 'Your average Daily Spread was 574- 92. This means that on a typical day you were surveyed by 574 spectators, while 92 watched you at any given moment. A favorable Spectation ratio.'

'Not two-and-a-half watching me all the time, but ninety-two,' Alp said, musingly. 'What was so interesting about me?'

'The manner in which you dealt with Uga at the outset. He was a player of some competence, yet you managed favorable terms. This alerted the viewers to your potential, and you picked up a number of fanatics.'

'Fanatics? What are they?'

'Enthusiasts who follow a particular part exclusively, watching it for many hours a day. The number of such fans a given player accumulates is another indication of the depth of his popular appeal. Your total increased steadily to 105 by the time your part terminated.'

'A hundred-and-five? But if only ninety-two were watching—'

'You still do not understand the basic mathematics. Even fans must sleep, if nothing else. Normally it requires four or five fans to maintain a steady figure of one. Your 105 fans constituted only 22 steady watchers, statistically. The rest were partial fans and random viewers. Also, we are speaking of averages; the actual figures are variable—'

'That's enough,' Alp said. 'Mathematics is not my strong point. When was this 'peak' you mentioned? I mean, when in the Game?'

'Your peak spread of 1,029-395 was achieved during your dialogue with Kokachin; this fell off sharply when she left the Game.'

'Why? What did they expect?' That episode still hurt; Alp had held himself aloof from emotional concerns of the male-female type but had been vulnerable to that childish innocence.

'Spectators are notably lascivious in their tastes.'

'A nine-year-old girl? She would not be marriageable for three or four years.'

'Many things happen in the course of the Games that would not be legitimate in normal society, though the Galactic is more liberal than that you have known.'

Something about that statement alarmed him, so Alp smiled disarmingly. 'Because they think of it as a primitive situation... and don't realize they're being watched...' Then something else occurred to him. 'If people are watching all the time—you must be watching too. To put them in touch.'

'The Game Machine necessarily keeps track of all players,' it agreed.

'Then you know—' Alp halted. Did it know about the document?

'The Game Machine maintains a complete record.'

'Then why didn't you stop—?'

'The Game Machine does not interfere with individual parts so long as they are played within specification and no complaints are lodged.'

Which was one difference between Machine and man! 'None of the spectators complained?'

'None. They appreciate illicit excitement of any type. Your spread had a secondary peak at the time you appear to be considering of 988-450—an unusual ratio.'

Interesting the way the Machine never referred to itself as 'I' or jumped to a conclusion. It seemed truly neutral. Meanwhile, Alp found he understood the ratio. It meant that about one of every two people who surveyed him in that period stayed to watch steadily, skipping meals and sleep if need be. Complain? Not if that meant the termination of their vicarious lawbreaking! He had known the type in life...

'But the police,' he said. 'Why didn't they catch me when they had the chance?'

'Cross references between citizens and players are not routinely provided by the Game Machine, as this is deemed a legal invasion of privacy. The police were not at that time aware of your identity.'

Invasion of privacy! Galactics didn't seem to mind having their most intimate personal acts in the Game exposed to public view... yet balked at having their Galactic identities known. What a demonic set of values!

Alp shook his head. Neither Machine nor Galactic logic was his own—but he suspected that the Game Machine was tacitly collaborating as much as those spectators who had known he was breaking the rules, yet concealed that fact from the authorities. Why should the Machine assist him in such indirect yet effective manner?

He decided not to ask.

Chapter 13

TEMUJIN

Alp entered a minor Khitan part, reserving most of his credit for future emergencies. No sign of Khitan dominance appeared, and there were no characters named Jenghiz or Tata-tunga. He lost track of Uga and Pei-li; as the Machine had explained, cross-references were not