The Morphodite

by M. A. Foster

  Pternam felt a sense of danger, now as he always did when he came in here, which was seldom. But it was low tonight He glanced at the three leaders of the Underground; they looked uncomfortable. For a certainty, they would feel trapped here, totally at the mercy of a creature they couldn’t begin to understand.

  Rael said, in that same, distant, husky voice they had heard earlier, “There are chairs: please use them, that we may integrate as equitants. This is always pleasant, is it not?”

  There was a faint irony to his greeting, but the meaning was clear enough: here, now, equals would negotiate. No one would give orders. Charodei understood this in the words, and the full implications of it. He said pleasantly, “Of course. Come, my associates; be seated, We are guests.” And starting with himself, he introduced them all.

  Rael started the conversation, “We have heard somewhat of your ideas.”

  Charodei answered, “We have also heard of you through our mutual friend, here, as a teacher might speak of a student who surpassed him. We would speak with you to learn how your expertise might help us achieve our goals, if possible. We might speak of your studies; perhaps it could be that we could ask for your assistance.”

  Rael began, “I have modesty and make few claims, however, there are few who can speak well of the things I have studied, so I must needs blow my own horn, as there is no one else to blow it for me. And you should speak plainly of the things you desire, as well.”

  Yadom said, suavely, “Men came to the world Oerlikon to turn their backs on the flux and pressure of the normal human universe, to stop things as they were, or as they thought they should be. We believe they were in error, and have harmed us all, and wish to remedy that defect.”

  Lozny said, “Generations of Lisaks have worked to this aim, but therein is no accomplishment… They have built an impervious system to which we have not found a key.”

  Charodei said, “We wish to rejoin the human community, whatever it is now, which is rumored yet to exist out among the stars. To participate, to be. Our people are skilled and conscientious, and surely most of them would find a welcome.”

  To each one, Rael listened respectfully and attentively, nodding and moving his body slightly to the flow of the words. At the end, he said, “Is that all?”

  Yadom began, “The People ”

  Rad interrupted, “The People? The People will suffer more from the change you have in mind that they have suffered in all the cycles since the Rectification. Can this be a gift: suffering and death and violent change? No. Let us not speak of the people, but of ourselves, for that is what we are here about. We will do this… for ourselves.”

  Charodei asked, “Of us, then. And what will you have of it?”

  Rael answered, after a moment, “I will be free of a debt which I owe. One more transition, and then I will live out the life of the one who will come after me, innocent. Understand, I do not wish to destroy, but it is the only way I know in this mode. It is a weight.”

  “I understand. Then your cooperation is voluntary?”

  “Yes.”

  “What can you do for us?”

  “I can locate the keystone of the arch of civilization, break it and escape. I can dissolve this perfectly closed system. And they will never understand that what they find… could not have done the things they all saw me do. I will be changed.”

  Charodei said, perceptively, “There are to be witnesses, then?”

  “There must be witnesses.”

  Charodei said, “There will be phocorders which will capture the image of Rael; can he be traced? Can they backtrack to us, or to Pternam?”

  “Acceptable records are already in place for this contingency.”

  Lozny asked, “Why do you need the identity-change? Once you do it, it will all be over for the old way.”

  Rael said patiently, “There is a delay factor in time. The old will move for a time under inertia. There is a transition period which has duration. During that period, I am vulnerable. That is why the change.”

  Yadom asked, “Do you know who you will be, or is that blind to you?”

  “The process I undergo involves manipulation of the genetic code. I become an ancestor, in effect I have computed this ancestor. I know this identity, and have already had suitable papers drawn up for the contingency.”

  Porfirio Charodei could not restrain himself. “You will actually change, permanently? This grows more incredible each moment. This is a thing all our experience denies. Not even by miracle or thaumaturgy do men pervolve into women!”

  The Morphodite acknowledged his amazement and said, “The obvious differences that you perceive are simple: by a readjustment of glandular balances, a reordering of hormone progressions, and a shifting of tissue structure, the process is accomplished. There is a penalty to the act, however—I lose the ability to form reproductive cells, and so cannot perpetuate my kind. A small loss, actually, which I do not bemoan excessively.”

  Charodei said, “And you know who you will be! That is also unbelievable!”

  “I… ah, calculate the essential uniqueness of that identity in a similar manner to that by which I compute the identity of the target personality. It is a similar process,” he said, emphasizing the word similar, “but in the case of my own identity, considerably more difficult. But I did so; it would seem logical to wish to know.”

  “Of course, of course. And so, having been apprised of what we need, you already know who it must be?”

  “Of course.” Here, the Morphodite allowed his features to settle into a complacent saturnine leer, an effect which Charodei felt disconcerting and threatening. He continued, “I know who it is to be, where, when, and by what method. Indeed, I can see it. After the act of calculation, it comes to me as if it were a memory, a remembrance. I call it premembering. There are some differences, which you need not know unless you would like to enroll in Dr. Pternam’s program… I see you do not wish to, an excellent choice.”

  Charodei paused, thought, and asked delicately, “Is it permitted to ask…?”

  Rael shrugged. “One can ask anything. Anything at all, But one would not get answers. No hints, no oracles, no parables, no nothing. Absolute zero. I have been given the assay of the task, and I can do it: I know precisely what has to be done. Do you wish it done?” He paused. “It changes in time, of course, so that if too much time passes, it will have to be recalculated…”

  Yadom said, muttering, “This is a madman, and Pternam with him. How can we direct a sentence of execution when we do not know the identity of the condemned? Or when? Or how? We cannot mobilize our supporters…”

  Pternam interjected, “When we made contact, your people said that the only thing you lacked was a suitable circumstance. A key to unlock the bound gate. We have a key. This much is simple and demonstrable. Does the key have to be used at your signal? Or are you, as your people have averred, ready to rush through the door once it’s been opened? But if your resolve is in doubt, then let us await a better day, or perhaps less hesitant revolutionaries…”

  Charodei motioned Yadom to silence, and said, “You have a potent talisman here: one that could be turned to many purposes.”

  Both Rael and Pternam nodded solemnly.

  Charodei continued, “Therefore a threat to us as well, infinitely more perilous than those ham-handed clowns commanded by Chugun. But yet you risked the peril of fervent idealists to show us this. Do you understand risks?”

  Pternam was not alarmed, and yawned. “If I were sure three men could contain Rael, I would have them in here with us, and they would be armed. But no, we lock the door and surround this chamber with monoxide gas, and then oxygen and acetylene. I have no fears on that score whatsoever, and feel no anxiety.”

  Rael glanced at the three representatives and said languidly, “I am not aware of any threat you can offer to me. Here, or elsewhere. Now, or otherwhen. Perhaps you imagine to know something I do not. Perhaps. But they are not good odds upon which to gamble. I know you, b
ut you do not know me. Thereby proceed with care.”

  Charodei breathed audibly and changed the subject. “Pternam, do you know who it will be?”

  “No. Rael tells me that information contaminates the results. In fact, he tells me that the act of calculation makes the identity of the target somewhat unstable. And that to reveal anything about the execution of the mission to anyone causes a rapid shift in the identity. A tricky, slippery business! So I know nothing of who it is to be. There are, so I am told, cases in which identity shift does not occur, but the other parameters change, such as time, or place. The more that is known, the more it, the knowledge, smears the result out.”

  Lozny said, “Then this is a form of knowing the future?”

  Rael answered, “I would more properly describe it as a form of knowing the nature of things. Time as you look at it is not really a measure—in fact, you cannot do what I do because of the way you look at Time. And I cannot explain that further to you unless you become as I.”

  Lozny suddenly said, “But what if the target is one of us? We don’t know! What if it’s Pternam? Or someone else we value?”

  Rael said, “This society you wish to bring down: if I can find the one person who is essential to the upholding of that society, would you not agree to go ahead, no matter who it is? Otherwise you do not wish a change…”

  Charodei turned to Pternam. “What if we don’t take Rael?”

  Pternam leaned back in his chair and said reflectively, “Nothing. We approached your group because you seem to have the clearest alternative course, and the organization to take up where the old left off. Somebody has to make the decisions. But if you don’t want to act, then we’ll use Rael in some other way. I have no plan for using him against your group, because the way things stand now, you are locked out and represent no threat to me.” At this, Lozny glared, but Pternam added, equably, “As for normal assassins, I have quite adequate defenses.”

  “Then Rael is not for sale to the highest bidder, then?”

  “Rael is not for sale to anyone for any price, including you. It is a possibility that I could have him redirect his calculations into the contingency that we would proceed without your group, entirely, and do it anyway.”

  Rael added, “In that circumstantial pattern, this group is not only locked out, but is precluded.”

  Yadom said, “Meaning?”

  Rael explained, “When a society has a given orientation, the way it’s assembled, it makes some alternative courses or structures either difficult to attain, or even impossible. The way things are now, and here, your group and its sympathizers are effectively prevented from assuming more than a nuisance value; if I go without you, the conditions that permit your organization to exist at all will fade, and there will be no Heraclitan Society. No violence. You’ll just fade. The individuals involved won’t even know why. It just won’t work any more.”

  Charodei said, “But there’s no decision on this alternative.”

  Pternam said, “No. Certainly not now. To be frank, we did not anticipate you’d have such cold feet, so no studies have been done, other than a preliminary scan by Rael. Certainly nothing strong enough upon which to base a decision about something of this magnitude.”

  Yadom stood up. “Very well. I’m satisfied. We’ll take him. Lozny? Charodei?”

  Lozny nodded, not without dour frowns, but he nodded assent. Then he growled, “I like it not, but let’s get on with it And once he does it, it will shift to us?”

  Charodei thought that the remark was extremely perceptive for Lozny, and made an immediate reassessment of the man. He said, “Yes, I came to the same conclusion. Pternam?”

  “That is correct. This was set up, as it were, not just in the ‘What if’ mode, but, ‘To tilt in your favor.’ Rael likens the process somewhat to the chopping of a tree—one can influence the way the bole will fall, sometimes with great precision.”

  Rael said, “With defensive-mode sociodromes such as this one, the analogy is particularly apt. This one can be caused to fall in a number of directions.” Here, he paused, and smiled at Pternam. “Even to produce a successor even more defensive and highly-structured than this one.”

  Pternam said, before he had time to cut the thought off, “You never told us that!”

  Rael shrugged and said, “You never asked.”

  Charodei asked Rael, “May we know who you will be, afterwards?”

  Rael nodded. “The information affects nothing. This I will tell: In Marula, a younger woman called Damistofia Azart will come to your people for a position, after she recovers from a mysterious fever. You will see that she obtains a suitable position, not demanding, not in the public eye. She will be harmless. You have no fear of her.” Here Rael rummaged through the papers on the desk, and shortly produced a pencil drawing of a woman’s face and upper body, dressed. The picture was simply done, but skillful enough so that she could easily be recognized. “Here is something of her aspect”

  Charodei took the proffered drawing and looked intently at it, then passing it to the other two. The woman depicted was substantially younger than Rael now appeared to be, and did not resemble him in the least. This one was of slight stature and subtle figure, pleasant enough, but not beautiful. The drawing suggested dark hair and pale skin. The face was crisp and well-defined. The eyes were large, dark, and slightly protuberant, suggesting an imbalance of the thyroid. She would be nervous, active. He said, finally, “This is to be you…?”

  “Exactly. That is about as close as I can get in a drawing. Of course, like anyone else, she will shift her appearance slightly with mood and circumstance. Diet as well. And she will come to you after recovering from an unknown disease. She will be slightly disoriented, understandable after her terrible struggle, and will need care and rehabilitation.”

  Charodei understood. He said, “Damistofia won’t remember much, eh?”

  Pternam said, “Ask him now what he remembers of Jedily Tulilly.”

  Rael said, unbidden, “Nothing. I know that such a condition was, but I do not remember it. I know more about her, Damistofia, now. Premembering…”

  Charodei said, with some satisfaction, “Then it’s a one-time weapon…”

  Rael answered, “Once is all you need, isn’t it? And as for me, I don’t fancy going through Change every three months or so as your resident repairman. Once I’ll do, to earn my freedom. Not again.”

  Charodei said, “Very well. I agree. Let’s do it When does it commence?”

  Rael considered, and said, after a time, “There will be an event you can’t mistake. On that event, you move. When you see me again, you’ll know.”

  “There’s no signal…?”

  “The act itself is informative.”

  “And when?”

  “Not disclosable. I pick the time, and I don’t tell you in advance. Attempt nothing before that. Remain in your present configuration. If I sense that you are anticipating me, I’ll recompute for it, because otherwise it won’t work. And if you move too much, it can slip beyond my power to do it and influence it to your way. You understand how this is to work?”

  The three conspirators nodded, almost as if they were operated by the same will, the same brain.

  Rael said, getting to his feet, “Well, then, enjoy the remainder of the night.” He turned away from them and began manipulating the locks of the room, to let them out.

  Those inside the room shortly heard the slight sounds Avaria made, unlocking the outer locks, and afterward the door opened. Rael made no motions at all, but Pternam politely led the rest, after glancing at Rael, who made no attempt to follow them. After the door closed upon Rael, Pternam said, “Avaria can show you the way. We will not meet again, but remember how this was done.”

  They agreed, and Avaria led them away through the catacombs of Pternam’s headquarters.

  — 4 —

  Night’s Transition into Day

  Excerpt from a routine report submitted by Anibal Glist to Onplanet Ope
rations Director, Project Oerlikon, in Dorthy on Heliarcos, dated (Lisak Calendar) 3 Gul 11 Quillion Cycle Seven*:

  * In standard dating, this is approximately fifteen years prior to the events in this tale.

  Dragon: File under Games, Sports and Other Rituals.

  1. Manislav’s Conjecture states that the organization of games and sports takes an opposing structure to that of the society providing the players. Individualistic societies valuing excellence and competition favor highly structured team sports directed along military lines, while collectivist societies select sports of individual striving. With this in mind, we must consider the ramifications of the single sport known within Lisagor and Lisak-dominated areas as Dragon. (The name appears to be traditional and does not appear to have other symbolic connotations.—AG)

  2. Dragon is a member of the tag family, which is rarely observed outside children’s groups. Reflecting this relationship, it retains much of the lack of sophistication associated with children’s games. In practice in Lisagor, however, there is nothing childish about it; indeed, it is played with a violent abandonment and lack of scruple not observed elsewhere. Dragon is the only sport played by adults.

  3. Dragon is played generally in areas which have no use otherwise, or partial utility. No special areas are set aside, as arenas, coliseums, etc. The most common sites are vacant lots, dumps, junkyards, eroded and waste areas. The more irregular and broken the ground, the more it is used as a site. Places with suitable cover spots are preferred, i.e., those with small tangles of vegetation, trash piles, brush dumps, or other refuse such as might be found in junkyards (which are especially popular). A group contemplating play will come to agreement on a site, go there, and demarcate the field with great exactitude. Anyone leaving the bounds is out of the game and may not return. Next, the group divides itself into “judges,” “spectators,” and “players,” and money is collected and put up for the game, in the ratio (as listed above) 2:3:1.