It was the entropy, trying to take apart the pattern, to reduce it to disorder and chaos.
“I am beginning to understand,” Veee said. “Their art is a bulwark against dissipation. If that goes, they will not survive.”
“We struggle physically,” Vanja agreed. “They struggle psychically.”
“It may seem intangible to us,” Wizard said. “But it is their deadly reality.”
Tod saw that all the distortions occurred on Sibling’s side. Bem was indeed maintaining the pattern better.
Then the wave passed, and the bems relaxed. The pattern had been damaged but not broken. The errant individually quickly returned to their proper stances.
“You held better than I did,” Sibling said. “You are stronger than I.”
“How can that be, when we are twins?”
“You have changed, as I said. I have not.”
“Team?” Bem asked.
“You are stronger,” Tod said. “I don’t know exactly how, but you are.”
Bem was no longer able to deny it. “Somehow I have gained. I don’t know why or how.”
“We need you here,” Sibling said. “When the heavier storms come, I will be swept away, and the pattern will be lost. Only you can preserve it. You must stay.”
Bem made a flashing sigh. “I must stay,” it agreed. “I will depart now, for I have another obligation, but will return to do my duty here.”
“That is good,” Sibling agreed.
Bem returned to the trail and resumed toboggan form so the others could ride. “I wish I could remain in the Amoeba,” it said. “And with the team. I have come to appreciate your qualities and desire your friendship. But now I know I must not.”
They traveled back along the trail. “We can remain friends,” Tod said. “Just not together. Maybe you can visit on occasion.”
“That may not be feasible,” Wizard said. “When Bem departs to stay, that trail will dissipate.”
“That is my expectation,” Bem said. “I am experiencing anticipatory grief.”
“At least you will save your pattern,” Vanja said.
“I am not sure of that. I preserved it from the minor storm, but that was enough to show me that I lack what is required to enable it to withstand the larger storms. We are doomed.”
“How can you say that!” Vanja protested.
“Because it is true,” Wizard said. “Scrying now, I see Bem is correct. It is not so much a defect in Bem as in the other parts of the pattern. The other participants lack the necessary resolution to survive a bad storm. They have become soft in the time since the last killer storms.”
“Then the soft ones should be replaced,” Veee said.
“There are no suitable replacements,” Bem said. “Not in our own pattern, and qualified entities in other patterns are needed where they are.”
“Then it is doom Bem is returning to!”
“Still, I must do what I can,” Bem said.
“I wish we could help,” Vanja said.
“It is off the trail,” Wizard said. “We can’t affect it.”
“Bovine turds! We have already affected it, to the extent that Bem is stronger that it used to be.”
“But we don’t know why that is,” Tod reminded her. “It may not even relate to us, but to some other aspect of the trail.”
They were silent for a while, as they knew they were not getting anywhere.
“There may be one other thing we can do for you,” Veee said. “We can try to solve the mystery of the manner you became better qualified than your sibling. Knowing that may further enhance your ability. It has to relate to your experience here.”
“That seems likely,” Bem agreed. “But I really have not contributed significantly to the group effort.”
“The hell you haven’t,” Tod said. “You have been supporting us all along, beginning with your prior knowledge of the android menace.”
“You warmed me when I was shivering ill,” Vanja said. “And Wizard, when he was depleted.”
“You saved me from the wolfkeys by carrying me up the canyon wall,” Veee said. “And Tod too.”
“Every contribution is significant, or the group would not exist” Wizard said. “It does not need to be dramatic, merely sufficient. You carried me that last stage of the journey to the pool. Without that I could not have bombed it.”
“I thank all of you for your reassurances,” Bem said. “I merely did what I could at the time. You helped me too.”
“The point at the moment,” Veee said, “is not what Bem contributed to the effort, worthy as that was, but how Bem’s participation changed it to improve its prospects in its own frame. What did Bem learn that makes a difference?”
“I love the way you zero in on relevance,” Vanja said. “That is the question.”
“I learned of the existence of the trail, and the Amoeba,” Bem said as it forged up the steep slope to the intersection with the main trail. “And of the android menace, similar to ours. But it is not a renewed android invasion we now face, but storms. I doubt my experience relates.”
“I wonder,” Tod said. “I used to play card games on the computer—never mind what a computer is, the point is the cards. The object was to put the cards in order, but often this was difficult. Sometimes the most innocent and seemingly sensible move proved to be disastrous. You had to do something else before you made that move. Bem may have had to do something before he tackled the storms. Maybe not anything obvious, but nevertheless critical. If we can figure out what that is, then we’ve got it.”
“This may be irrelevant,” Veee said. “I noticed no humanoids in your frame, Bem, yet I think you said they exist. Where were they?”
“They exist, but do manual labors,” Bem said. “They are not permitted near the fundamental pattern.”
“Why not?”
“They are animals.”
“Animals?”
“Non-sapient creatures, with no appreciation of art or pattern.”
“Yet they resemble us, don’t they?”
Bem paused. “Physically they do. But they lack intelligence. They can be trained for simple tasks, like clearing stones from a field, but that is all.”
“How do you know this?”
“It is common knowledge, and has been for millennia.”
“Have you ever verified this yourself, directly?”
“There was no need to verify the obvious. That would be a waste of effort.”
“I wonder.”
“Where are you going with this, Veee?” Tod asked.
“What Bem says about animals is true. They lack the minds to perform or appreciate art. But if these creatures look like us, they might resemble us in other ways too. Such as being smarter than animals.”
“And if they are?”
“They might be able to fill in the patterns.”
“Impossible,” Bem said.
“Think about it,” Veee said. “If we, the members of our team, could enter your realm, would be we qualified to fill those spaces?”
Again Bem considered. “Barely. You lack the ability to change colors to match the pattern shifts. But if you were placed in particular spots, such as the axles—the centers of the flowers—you would not have to change. So it is theoretically possible, because of your intelligence and application. But you are not animals.”
Tod saw what Veee was driving at. “But if your humanoids did have intelligence, and were willing to participate, could they do it?”
“If and if, yes,” Bem agreed. “But they don’t and aren’t.”
Tod addressed Wizard. “Can you scry that?”
“Yes,” Wizard replied after a moment. “They are smarter than Bem’s folk choose to believe.”
“Impossible!” Bem protested.
“In my frame this is called prejudice,” Tod said. “We have thought humanoids with a different color of skin were inferior. But it turned out they weren’t.”
“Now I see it,” Vanja said. “There
are whole cultures prejudiced against vampires, calling us walking dead, confusing us with zombies, and they won’t even try to get to know us.”
“I would not have tried, had it not been for the facilitating ambiance of the Amoeba,” Bem said. “But I am glad I came to know and appreciate you.”
“And that may be the secret of your growth,” Veee said. “Your expansion of tolerance. Now expand it some more, and maybe you can still save your people.”
“Wizard?” Bem asked.
“My scrying indicates that this is so.”
“What do you have to lose by trying it?” Tod asked. “You stand to lose anyway if you don’t get some new personnel.”
“I will try it,” Bem said. “Your logic does not appeal, but is nevertheless persuasive. I must gamble, and this may possibly enable me to save my people.”
“We sincerely hope so,” Veee said.
“When it comes to prejudice, we’re guilty too,” Tod said. “I had no use for BEMS before I met you, or for vampires before I met Vanja, and I thought wizards were silly fiction.”
“What about fifty thousand year old women?” Veee asked.
“I thought they belonged in museums. Their bones, at least.” He glanced at her. “But your bones are nice enough.”
“I thought it was my flesh you preferred.”
“That, too. When can I have at it again?”
“Tonight, when Vanja’s not looking.”
“There will be some catching up to do, when I finish with Wizard,” Vanja warned.
They all laughed, relaxing.
Chapter 9:
Source
They arrived back at the village. The villagers were returning to their regular life as the horror of the androids gradually faded.
“Tomorrow you’ll be mended,” Vanja told Wizard. “Then I’ll stop harassing you and return to making Tod miserable.”
“True,” Wizard said a trifle wistfully. He had never had any illusion about the practical basis for her attention. But he, like Tod, now had a continuing hankering for her favors. “Then we’ll go investigate your cluster of frames.”
Vanja puffed up indignantly, her breasts halfway popping out of her pseudo halter. “The androids didn’t come from there!”
“How do you know?”
She deflated. “I don’t know. We’ll investigate.” She took another deep breath. “But after we prove the innocence of my frame, we’ll go after yours.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Let’s go debate in bed.” She beckoned Bem. “Blanket duty.”
“Not a wet one, I trust.” Bem was catching on to the minor analogies of the human association.
Tod and Veee were alone together again. “I confess I am enjoying having you to myself,” she murmured. “But I also miss the verve Vanja brings to it.”
“Yes. I hope we can continue this relationship after the mission is accomplished.”
“We can. Except for that restlessness we also share. The villagers are content to live their placid lives; we are not. That’s going to be a problem.”
“It is,” he agreed. “It is the dream of any man to have two devoted women in his bed, as I do. But now I know that isn’t enough. Not for any of us.”
“Now get into me and see how long you can remain without climaxing.”
He did. She kissed him repeatedly, rubbed her breasts against him, fondled his buttocks, and clenched her vagina rhythmically around his member. He tried to hold out, but in minutes his orgasm overtook him and he jetted into her. “You win,” he gasped. “Again.”
“I love winning,” she said, kissing him once more. They were now doing it as a regular thing, both enjoying the muted competition. She always won, but he has holding out longer. She did not pretend to want continuous sex all night; she preferred to let him have it, then sleep. This was their compromise: he could have it all night if he could refrain from climaxing. The faster she made him do it, the sooner she could relax. But she did like his closeness, and did sometimes kiss him in the night.
In the morning the party headed uptrail to Vanja’s intersection. Soon enough they stood at the end of her trail and gazed out at her frame.
It was impressive. Tod was surprised to discover that it was a water world, a vast ocean extending to the horizon. But of course Vanja liked to swim and sport in the water. From that sea projected extremely tall thin round towers. They reached into the sky like monstrous straws, buttressed every so often by curving connections, so that on the larger scale they formed a lattice. Evidently they did not have storms of the kind seen in Bem’s frame, for this delicate skeleton of connections could not be expected to withstand even a moderate tempest.
“I will go to my abode to fetch an item,” Vanja said. “With luck they will not spy me. I will sniff for android stink, and let you know.”
“An item?” Tod asked.
“A breeding kit.”
“A what?” Veee asked, startled.
“We vampires are a crossbreed species. We can breed as bats or in human form, so long as we match.” She smiled. “A male bat has trouble making it with a human lady, for example. But a male human vamp has no trouble having sex with a female human vamp. The problem is when he does it with a fully human woman, not a transformed bat. The sex is fine, but it doesn’t take. So we can actually breed only if we have a breeding kit whose salve enables reproductive compatibility.”
“You’re looking to breed?” Veee asked.
“Not yet. But if I continue to associate with Tod much longer, I may elect to do it. Then I will need the kit.”
“But I want to breed with him!”
“And you can. You are fully human. You need no kit.”
“But if you do—”
“Then our offspring will be half-siblings. You have a problem?”
Veee considered. “No.”
“And I presume I have no say in this matter either,” Tod said.
“Of course you do,” Vanja said. “You can stop having sex with us.”
Tod decided not to pursue the subject. He was fascinated and somewhat chagrined to realize that Vanja was considering him for fatherhood. He had thought she meant to move on, once she had better prospects elsewhere. That might still be the case. But now she was enlarging her options. However, it might be academic, as there was no breeding on the trail unless the Amoeba allowed it.
“The Amoeba will connect us to you as it did to Bem,” Wizard said. “But try not to get in trouble, as we will not be able to rescue you only to advise you.”
“I will try,” Vanja agreed. “But trouble is a vampire’s middle name.” She approached Tod. “In case there is trouble, this to remember me by.” She wrapped her arms about him and fervently kissed him. She was a passionate creature, so this was in character, but he had the impression there was more to it this time. She really did like him.
Then she transformed, and he found himself kissing the bat as it hovered in air. She just couldn’t resist.
The bat flew out from the trail and into the water world, staying close to the surface. It dodged around the towers and soon was lost to direct physical view. But Tod could still see it via the Amoeba sight, like a camera flying beside it.
Other bats were flying to and from the towers. They ignored Vanja, or seemed to. That was surely best, if she was effectively banished from her home group. If the rival female got wind of her return, there would be mischief.
“I smell no android,” Vanja said. She actually spoke in a bat cheep, but they heard it in words. Tod was impressed again with the powers of the Amoeba. They were still discovering its capacities.
“That is good,” Wizard replied. “You don’t have to go inside.”
“Yes I do.”
Soon Vanja circled a tower, climbing to the top. Tod realized that Vanja’s abode was likely to be close to the terminus of the trail, because the Amoeba would have sought her, as it had Tod and the others.
At the top of the tower was a small aperture. The b
at dived into it, entering a dark tube large enough only for a flying bat. Tod appreciated how that could be a significant protection, because neither sea predators nor air predators of any size could navigate it. Somehow they were able to see, though there was no light.
The bat dropped down inside the tower, diving at a swift pace. Down, down, impossibly far. Then Tod realized that the tower went below the water, and that was where Vanja was going.
The bat came to a nexus, a globular joining of a number of tunnels leading to caves. Other bats were here. There was a cheep; one of them recognized her. That could be bad news.
Vanja zoomed for a particular cave. She swooped in, picked up an object, and swooped back out to the juncture.
But now several more bats were there. They flew up before her, blocking her way. Trouble indeed.
“Let me go,” Vanja cheeped. “I will not return.”
“That’s what you said before. Now you must die.”
Vanja arrowed directly for them, knocking a hole in their formation, and zoomed back up the tower corridor. They reorganized and pursued, but were unable to catch her. The shaft was not wide enough for them to overtake her, so they were limited.
Then more bats appeared above, sealing off the exit. There was no room to maneuver. She was trapped.
“I’m doomed,” she squeaked. “I love you, Veee. You too, Tod. Now I will die fighting.”
“Transform!” Tod cried.
She hovered between the bats above and below. “I can’t do that here! There’s not room. We’re conditioned.”
“The Amoeba can enable it,” Tod said. “Try!”
Vanja hesitated. “What the hell. I’ll die anyway. Might as well go out with a bang.”
She exploded into human form. It was way too big for the narrow column. The tower burst apart and collapsed; it was evidently constructed to withstand pressure from outside, not inside. Water surged in. The other bats squeaked with horror as they were immersed. Then they too transformed, becoming naked male and female humans.
Trail Mix: Amoeba Page 16