Key to Chroma

by Piers Anthony

  Havoc glanced around. “Ladies Ennui, Aspect, Bijou—take the green, yellow, and translucent ikons."

  The three went to the king's box and took the green squid, yellow star, and translucent fish. They held them up—and three new figures appeared. A handsome green man, shiningly lovely yellow woman, and translucent man, all strangers. “Granted,” they said together.

  "May we know you by name?” Havoc asked.

  "Green Thumb, of the mollusks."

  "Deva, of the demons."

  "Pisca, of the fish."

  Havoc nodded as if this were routine. “On behalf of the mortal human beings of Planet Charm, I welcome you to our effort."

  Deva eyed him speculatively, causing Stevia to frown. It seemed there could be rivalries even among Glamors. “We shall try to enhance your effort."

  Symbol had finished stringing the third group of heddles. “Shall we try different colors first?” the Lady Aspect suggested.

  Havoc brought the black mobius strip. “This balked before; try it now."

  Ennui gave him her yellow star to hold as she took the black ikon. She put it in the shuttle and flung it across the shed formed by the first two sets of warp threads. It went without difficulty. She beat it up, then used the treadles to remake the shed. But when she tried to bring it back across, it balked: no thread. Exactly as the red thread had done.

  Havoc handed her the yellow star. She removed the black mobius strip and gave it to him, then put the star in the shuttle. She tried to send it across—and it went part way. That was all it would do.

  "Maybe in the other order,” Symbol suggested.

  Ennui reversed course, removing the yellow thread, which was taken neatly up by the star bobbin. She recovered the black ikon from Havoc and used it to subtract the black thread. Then she flung the yellow thread across—and it went.

  "It seems that any thread can be the first one,” the Lady Aspect said. “But not any thread can be the second."

  Ennui tried the black thread. It went part way, just as the yellow one had.

  "Could it be on the slant?” Symbol asked.

  "Perhaps,” the Lady Aspect said. “If there were a background color to support it."

  Ennui tried that, using some of the nonmagic purple thread, which went across without difficulty. Then she beat up the partial thread, changing the shed and passing the black thread back. It went. She continued, using the two colors, and soon a black line developed, angling up from one end of the yellow line. It grew to the length of the base line, then stopped. It was done.

  "What is the pattern?” Havoc asked.

  "A triangle!” Symbol exclaimed. “Only with one line missing."

  "I can undo it and try another color for the third line,” Ennui said.

  "Let's hold on that,” the Lady Aspect said. “It may be a triangle, or it may be merely an open angle. We can try the other threads first."

  They tried, but none of the other threads would go, not even the red one that had worked before.

  Then Symbol had a phenomenal notion. “Could it be a pyramid—like Triumph City?"

  They pondered that. “A picture of Triumph?” Throe asked.

  "With a side missing?” Symbol asked in turn. “I was thinking three dimensions."

  "On a loom?"

  It did sound ridiculous. “A magic loom,” she said weakly. “With extra warps."

  Ennui brought the third warp into play, the one Symbol had strung. She tried with several threads, but they balked—until she came to the invisible one. “It is working!” she exclaimed. “I can't see it, but I can feel it."

  The invisible thread built its way up from the same angle where the yellow and black threads touched. None of them could see it, but they could see her fingers fashioning it. “It is integrating!"

  What they could see was that the warp threads were passing through the existing tapestry as if it didn't exist, forming a shed so that Ennui could continue the invisible line. This was not only magic, it was weird. An invisible thread joining the material as if it didn't quite exist. But the effect extended to the neutral purple warp threads; they too were passing through the tapestry.

  The invisible thread came to an end; they could see the shuttle balk. Its unseen line was the same length as the first two. Now they had three. No more would go.

  "Another warp?” Symbol asked.

  They made another set of warp threads, the three of them who could touch the loom working together, making the work faster. Then Ennui tried new threads. This time the blue insect fitted, spinning its thread into another angling line.

  "But try the others,” Havoc suggested. “Before completing that one."

  Symbol saw Gale glance at him. Was he catching on to something? He was the smartest man Symbol had encountered, even for a changeling; only his early barbarian ignorance had masked that at first. She suspected that Gale, being another late-generation changeling, was similarly smart, but also smart enough not to show it unless she had to.

  Without much hope, Ennui tried other threads on this warp—and the green squid fitted. They had integrated five threads. No others accepted this warp, so she went ahead and wove the two. Their lines angled inward, starting from either end of the yellow line, and met at an angle—and stopped.

  "A triangle!” Symbol exclaimed.

  "And two lines poking out at odd angles,” Ennui said. “We have only part of a shape."

  The Lady Aspect sighed. “But we know what to do next."

  Symbol nodded. “Another warp."

  They got to work stringing the fifth warp.

  "Now I wonder,” Havoc said. “Could each warp be a dimension?"

  "Who ever heard of a three dimensional tapestry?” Symbol asked. “I mean, not a two dimensional one wrapped around something, but true three? It would be an object made of yarn."

  "Yet so may it be,” the Lady Aspect said thoughtfully. “As I look at what we have, that triangle resembles a plane at an angle to the other lines."

  "So perhaps the Ikons make threads that in turn make another object,” Ennui said. “Magic indeed!"

  They completed the stringing of the set of warp threads, and Ennui tried with the remaining two ikons. The translucent fish fit, but not the red nude.

  "But the red thread was the first that worked,” Gale said. She was the one who had fetched it. “Why shouldn't it work now?"

  "There must be a set order,” Throe said. “We started a different pattern, and it doesn't fit in it."

  "Yet,” Stevia said. She seemed a bit annoyed that her thread was balking.

  Ennui completed the weaving of the line. It projected in its own direction, from the juncture of four prior threads, and formed no pattern. “Five lines radiating out like a pincushion,” The Lady Aspect said. “Two of them joining with another to form a triangle. This does not make great sense to me."

  Resigned, they strung the sixth warp set. Ennui tried the red ikon, and it was accepted. Its line took off from the other end of the yellow initial line, and went nowhere.

  "Like a bar with frayed ends,” Symbol said. “Except for that one triangle."

  "The way those other lines angle, they could be forming parts of other triangles,” Ennui said. “I see that the red line and black line do not intersect; they attach to different ends of the yellow line. That explains why we could use black or red before, but not both together. We had to establish a connection first."

  "Excellent observation,” the Lady Aspect said. “They may be parts of other triangles. Yet how many triangles can there be attaching to the right end of the yellow line?"

  "Maybe even five,” Symbol said. “Each in a different dimension."

  "Five dimensions?"

  "Or maybe not,” Symbol said, seeing how foolish it was.

  "I think we need more threads,” Havoc said. “We have a partial pattern with seven; the remaining five should help complete it."

  Symbol turned to him. “Twelve in all?"

  "Each ikon is of a diff
erent Chroma,” he explained. “That should make twelve."

  "Oh. Of course.” She felt stupid.

  "We have searched,” Stevia said. “We have found no more Glamors. We doubt they exist."

  "The pattern of threads suggests to me that they do. We simply have to locate them."

  "If they do exist,” Stevia said, “they are hiding. They will not be found."

  "Disagreement. They may be found if we force them to reveal themselves."

  All the Glamors smiled. “Doubt,” Jamais said.

  Havoc looked at him. “If I took your Ikon and summoned you, could you resist?"

  "We have not had occasion to find out,” Jamais said, surprised.

  "Permission."

  "Granted."

  Havoc took the black mobius strip and held it aloft. “Black Glamor, here to me."

  And the Black Glamor was standing directly before him. He changed immediately back to Jamais Vu. “Affirmation,” he said, disgruntled.

  Stevia was not satisfied. “You would have had difficulty obtaining those ikons, without our help, despite our inability to touch them ourselves. How do you propose to obtain the missing ikons?"

  "We know their Chroma,” Havoc said. “If you Glamors will assist us again, we will go forth to locate them now, and bring them here to complete the tapestry."

  "But they could be anywhere on the planet!"

  "All of them close to their relevant Chroma cones. We have but to check each cone of the five Chroma. This can be done expeditiously if Glamors will convey mortals to those sites. It may still take time, but can be done."

  Stevia looked at Jamais, and nodded. “We shall do it,” she agreed.

  "We have four existing parties,” Havoc said. “We need one more.” He glanced around the room.

  "Volunteer,” Bijou said. “Give me a Glamor."

  "I am the one,” the Green Glamor said, appearing beside Bijou.

  Havoc glanced at Ennui. “Assignments."

  Ennui nodded. This was the kind of task the king's secretary had. “Symbol, fetch the silver ikon."

  "Agreement.” Symbol discovered Lucent standing beside her.

  "Take my arm,” the Amazon murmured.

  Bemused, Symbol touched her arm.

  Ennui probably continued making assignments, but Symbol did not hear; she and Lucent were suddenly standing at the base of a Silver Chroma volcano.

  "Impressed,” she murmured. “That's fast."

  "We may have many to check,” the Amazon said.

  "Agreement. Is the cave close by?"

  "Ignorance. We don't know which cones have caves, and which caves have Ikons."

  Symbol nodded. “I forgot. Let's walk around the cone and see whether it has a cave."

  "Idea: walk opposite sides?"

  "Negation. You may fear no evil, but I am mortal. I fear everything from monsters to an eruption, and prefer to have you close to take me swiftly away at need."

  "Agreement. Idea: fly instead of walk, for speed?"

  Symbol looked around. She saw no living thing. “If no one sees."

  "No one will see,” Lucent said. “Take my arm."

  Symbol put her hand on the Amazon's elbow. The translucent Amazon turned blue, manifesting as the Blue Glamor; then both of them became invisible. The two of them lifted into the air and flew sideways, facing the great silver cone. Symbol discovered she liked this mode of travel; she had an excellent view of the silver slope, and it was as fast and easy as she could imagine. Even so, she was relieved that the volcano was quiescent. These were huge, magical, dangerous mountains, and the aura of power fairly crackled around them. Given her own devices, she would have stayed well away from every one of them, even her native Air Chroma cone. Yet visiting them this way, in the company of an omnipotent Glamor, was a special thrill. She had seen the power of the Glamors when the Red and Black Glamors came to support King Havoc; now that power was at her own beck. Even in her heyday as mistress of King Deal she had never experienced power like this.

  It is intriguing to experience your wonder. I had largely forgotten the effect our powers have on mortals. The thought came clearly to her, startling her. She had not caught the mind reading bug herself, and wasn't used to experiencing it.

  Actually our powers themselves are not remarkable, with the exception of our general invulnerability to physical damage and our longevity. Within a Chroma, any native can perform most kinds of magic. We are different mainly in that we can perform that magic anywhere, not being confined to our native Chromas.

  Still, it seemed remarkable. Symbol was an Air Chroma native, but had not been able to do all kinds of magic at home. That required expertise and training, while her personal abilities lay more in relation to the satisfaction of men. Even as a child she had been winsome rather than magical.

  We must compare personal histories, as convenient.

  "As convenient,” Symbol agreed. Had she spoken aloud?

  Suddenly Symbol spied it: a cave in the silver slope. “Victory!” she exclaimed. But her voice made no sound; she was mute as well as invisible. Still, it was easier to focus her thoughts by speaking, so she continued. “We are fortunate; we have found the cave already."

  "Perhaps,” Lucent said. Symbol realized that the Glamor's voice was mute too; it was still her thought that was coming, but now it came across like spoken speech.

  They landed and entered. The opening of the cave was bright, because of the reflectivity of the silver, but it soon became dark inside. The magic was intense; Symbol's skin prickled with it. Then the cave brightened: Lucent was making a light. It radiated from her hands, and focused where she pointed.

  They came to the interior chamber, much like the ones she had seen before. Well, like the Red Chroma one; the Black Chroma one had necessarily been different, because of the inverse nature of that volcano. There was the altar, with its eighteen buttons.

  Lucent stood back, knowing she could not touch an ikon. But Symbol had another notion: “Either it is here or it is not here. If it is here, you can find it by repulsion; your hand will balk. If it is not here, it makes no difference. So we can both search, speeding up the process."

  "Agreement,” the Amazon agreed, surprised.

  They started from either end, lifting buttons and plunging their hands into the chambers below. Soon they knew: there was no ikon here.

  "Expletive!” Symbol swore. “I thought we had it."

  "It occurs to me that there may be caves and altars everywhere,” Lucent said. “But that only one in each Chroma has an ikon."

  "Affirmation. But why? Who made these? Why bother with empty caves and altars? It seems pointless.” It was her disappointment speaking.

  "The Blue Chroma chamber and altar I came to were without an ikon until I ascended. Perhaps I would not have been able to do it, had they not been there."

  "So there could be altars at every volcano on Charm, ready in case Glamors want to use them?"

  "Perhaps. We do not know."

  "How can we be sure that any Glamor has used a Silver Chroma cone altar? That it isn't scheduled to happen some time in the future?"

  "Ignorance. But we feel there must be a Glamor for each Chroma. It does not seem reasonable to have some without others. We have also seen evidence of Glamor activity."

  "Question?"

  "On rare occasion one of us has visited a place, exploring, and been balked from immediate inspection. We believe that only a Glamor can balk a Glamor. Once there seemed to have been a visit to our private bower, accessible only to a Glamor, but no Glamor among us had done it. So we believe there are other Glamors, but they hide from us. We do not understand why."

  "Understanding. There must be Glamors. But I still wonder who made these altars, if not Glamors. For that matter, who made that fabulous magic loom Ennui fetched?"

  "This is part of the mystery we wish to fathom. There are forces that we have not understood, and the rationale escapes us. We enlisted the help of mortals to resolve the myster
y, and now we are in that process. We suspect that whatever has been trying to kill King Havoc has a connection, and does not want the mystery resolved."

  "The origin of the changelings,” Symbol agreed. “I have a certain personal interest in that too. Maybe these several things have no connection to each other—or maybe they interrelate in some phenomenal fashion we know not."

  "Endorsement."

  "But it seems we may have many silver cones to check,” Symbol said. “We'd better get on it."

  "Take my arm."

  Symbol obliged. Then they were standing outside the silver cone. No—this was a different one. It was larger, and there was a silver building at its base. So they had again traveled instantly to a new site. Now they were flying around the volcano, as before, searching for the cave.

  "How do you do that?” Symbol asked. “I mean, I know you can float, and fly, obviously, but this seems to be instant travel. I didn't know of that."

  "Affirmation. The Orange Chroma specializes in conjuration—the immediate summoning or removal of objects or people from one spot to another. We emulate the technique."

  "Orange?"

  "Neither Gray nor Orange are in the king's official listing of Chroma, and their gems are not in his crown, but they are nevertheless valid. That is why most folk in Triumph City are not aware of the protective magic of Gray or the conjuring of Orange. He will be smart to add such gems at such time as he stops gallivanting and settles down to govern the planet."

  "If we get through this quest for Glamors, and the assassination attempts stop, I'm sure he will. I'd love to see him marry Gale and keep me as his mistress. But I fear neither will happen."

  "Question?"

  "We think the changelings are too close to each other, like almost identical siblings. Siblings don't marry, or even share sex."

  "Academic for Glamors. We don't marry each other, but do share sex, because another Glamor is the only one who can handle it with a Glamor. We also have a concern about inbreeding, so breed only with mortals, in our mortal forms. But there are many more changelings than Glamors, so we see no objection to their breeding together."

  "Similar for Gale and me with Havoc: sex but not marriage or breeding. But we both love him, and would do both with him if we could."