Virtual Mode

by Piers Anthony

  "I had not pictured it that way, but it is true. However you picture it, it may be the way to do what you desire. However, the complications—"

  Darius was abruptly certain. "Describe them."

  "Because it would entail some time away from this Mode, you can not go without finding another Cyng of Hlahtar to serve in your stead, at least temporarily. One as competent as you."

  "There is none!"

  "Not among those who have not yet served."

  Now Darius understood his reference. "A retired Hlahtar? But none of them would serve again!"

  "Not unless the inducement were considerable."

  "What possible inducement could there be? They have wealth and power and respect already; they need nothing. None would wish to suffer the agonies of depletion and wife discarding again."

  "You might inquire."

  "And if I can get one to serve, you will set up the Virtual Mode?"

  "After this warning: no person who has gone this route has returned. We do not know whether each has found what he sought and been satisfied, or has died. We know nothing, except that we shall wait with no expectation for your return."

  That was why another Hlahtar had to serve in his stead.

  DARIUS was at the moment poorly acclimated to his native Mode, having been so long unable to do any magic, but he did not wait. He did not know how long Colene would linger before letting the rest of her blood drain away.

  He walked into the forest and found several twigs and bits of vine. He bound these together into a crude man-figure. Then he pulled out five hairs from his head and tucked them into the two legs, two arms, and one head of the figurine.

  Now he had made an icon of himself. It was crude, but it should do.

  He touched his tongue to it, anointing it with his saliva. Now it was twice tuned to him, to his solid and his liquid. All it required was his air.

  He breathed on it. "You are the icon of the Cyng of Hlahtar," he murmured, activating it and tuning it in. Then he set it on the ground and marked a circle around it. He also marked several irregular shapes, and a wavy line. "You are here, among these trees, and near this river." He marked a square a short distance away, with several points beside it. "The Castle of Hlahtar is there, beside the mountains." Then he jumped the figure from the circle to the edge of the square.

  The world around him wrenched. He caught his balance, almost falling. Yes, he was clumsy after the layoff! But he was here before his castle, having conjured himself here by the use of sympathetic magic. It was good to be able to travel normally again!

  He lifted the icon to his mouth. "You are inert," he breathed on it. It wouldn't do to carry an active personal icon around with him, its feedback from his motions interfering with his activities! He put it in his pocket—and realized that he was not in his normal attire, but in the odd clothing of Colene's Mode. It was a good thing he had decided to come home before visiting the former Hlahtars!

  A maid spied him and shrieked. "A strange man-form!" she cried.

  "No, a familiar one, in strange attire," he called. "You know me, Ella!"

  She shrieked again. "It's the Cyng!" She ran out to come to him, her breasts bobbing, and flung herself into his arms. "Did you find a wife?"

  "Not exactly."

  "Oh, too bad! Then you must settle for me in your bed a while longer."

  "That is no chore," he said, patting her shapely derriere.

  Indeed, it was late, and he needed to rest. He would have to wait until tomorrow to visit the retired Cyngs.

  THAT night, after celebrating his return with a minor feast, he came to his bed. Ella was there, moving over so he could have the spot she had warmed for him. She had always been thoughtful in such little ways, and often forgetful in big ways. She was cheerful, buxom, and pretty, but not phenomenally smart, and she had not the slightest ability to multiply joy. Therefore she would never be other than a servant and in due course a servant's wife. She could be very pleasant as a nocturnal companion.

  But tonight he found himself unmoved. "Please, do not expect more of me than sleep," he said.

  "You are annoyed with me?" she asked, hurt.

  "No, Ella, merely indisposed."

  "Why?" This was not a proper question, but part of her delight was her social naivete.

  "I have another woman on my mind."

  "Who?"

  "The one I wished to marry. But I could not."

  "Oh. Why not?"

  "Because she is depressive."

  "But you could have her in bed as a servant, same as me."

  "Somehow I forgot that. I wanted to marry her."

  "Well, you could, if you weren't Cyng."

  It was a foolish statement, readily dismissed. But somehow it struck home. If he were not Cyng of Hlahtar.

  But he could not just step down. He was the only one who could serve the post with the necessary expertise. Except for the former Cyngs, who would not resume the post any longer than absolutely necessary. If he could step down, without having completed his term, he would be no better than a servant himself, and Colene might not have liked that. No, the only way was to complete his term and retire; then he could have the blessing of marriage for love and permanence.

  But if he could use the Virtual Mode to find Colene, and bring her back, and keep her here in servant status until he retired, then he could marry her, and their love would never have been sacrificed. Colene had said she would be willing to endure something of the kind; he just hadn't quite listened. It was feasible. He just had to get her back.

  "Thank you, Ella," he said, and kissed her.

  "Oooo," she exclaimed, thrilled to have pleased him. She clasped him to her, and didn't mind that all he did was fall asleep.

  IN the morning he used one of his established icons to travel to the castle of the Cyng of Hlahtar who had preceded him. This was Kublai, a huge red-bearded man. The man's dais was extremely high, so that the trees on it could feed from the higher level, before other plants depleted the nutrients. As a result, the trees were impressive, their trunks brilliant green and their foliage extensive.

  Darius stood at the edge of the dais, in the region reserved for visitors. "I am Darius," he said, "Cyng of Hlahtar, come for a dealing." Again he remembered Colene, who had spoken of dealing for the Mode key. She had done so much for him, considering her unbelief, and he had done nothing for her.

  Kublai appeared. "Welcome, Darius! Come into my house!"

  With that invitation, Darius stepped out of the visitors' area and walked the path to the castle. Had he tried to do it uninvited, he would have invoked the dais defenses, which could be of any nature. He would not have attempted to breach courtesy even if prepared for the defenses; a man's castle was his home.

  Kublai's young and pretty wife served them condensed cloudfruit while they talked. Her name was Koren. She was evidently happy; there had been no depletion of her joy. That was the delight of retirement. Gazing at her, Darius knew his mission here was lost; Kublai would not give up his love-marriage to resume the post.

  "News has spread of your concern," Kublai said. "Not widely, but I believe I know how you feel."

  "Surely you do!" Darius agreed. "I have divorced my second wife, and she was a good woman, and loyal. I could have loved her, but never dared."

  "I divorced ten," Kublai said. "Each one was painful. Some I did love. But it was a great relief when you came of age and displaced me."

  "I did not truly appreciate the onus, until I saw my first wife depleted," Darius said. "We had known it would happen from the start, and there was no blame, no rancor. But her joy was gone, and I think even now she can not take pleasure in the good life she has as a retired wife."

  "She will recover her joy in time," Kublai said. "She may remarry a normal man, and have offspring. Several of mine did."

  "But the flower of her youth will be gone in depression."

  "It is an unkind price," Kublai agreed.

  "I think this is hopeless, but I m
ust ask," Darius said. "I can not allow any person to take my place who can not perform as well as I would. Only former Cyngs of Hlahtar can do that."

  "Tell me of the need that brings you to this pass." Darius described his visit to the other Mode, and his encounter with Colene. "I hoped she would be a multiplier," he said. "The Chip was tuned to such. But she was depressive. She would have multiplied a negative balance."

  "But you love her," Kublai said.

  "I love her. I thought it was just my expectation, and would fade when I realized that I was mistaken about her. But I hadn't realized that she was doomed to die. Here, at least, perhaps she could live. If not, at least we could try for some happiness before it happened. Pwer says he can institute a Virtual Mode that will enable me to seek her. Perhaps I can bring her here, and if it is suicide she contemplates, she may postpone it while we love. But—"

  "But you need a substitute for the post."

  "That is the case. So I come to inquire whether there is anything I can offer you that would incline you to do this for me, and I fear there is not."

  Kublai nodded. "I am in a position to know exactly how much you are asking of me. Not only would I have to resume the burden of Hlahtar, I would have to divorce my lovely love-wife Koren and marry another for other than love. That is not a thing I would do lightly."

  "You would risk much, while I would have no guarantee of accomplishing my mission."

  "You would have no guarantee of surviving yourself!" Kublai said. "I well might be stuck with a full term, until some other prospect matured. That might be a decade!"

  "And even if I succeed, and find her, and bring her back here safely, I will not be able to marry her—unless there is someone else to assume the post," Darius said. "So I can not even promise that your loss would be my gain; probably I would gain less than you lost, even with full success."

  "You are candid."

  "I am desperate. I made a terrible mistake. I will do whatever I must to ameliorate it to the extent I can. Is there a price that will tempt you?"

  Kublai was silent. He gazed at Koren. She had of course overheard their conversation, and now stood with tears flowing down her cheeks.

  Suddenly Darius understood the significance of those tears. There was a price!

  "There is a price," Kublai agreed gravely.

  "Tell me." He did not want to evince unseemly eagerness, but that was what he felt. At the same time he felt guilty, seeing the dawning misery of Kublai's wife. This was the classic Hlahtar trade-off: joy for many at the expense of a few. But in this case it was joy for one at the expense of one: not a suitable ratio.

  Kublai glanced at Koren. "Come here, my love; this is not the disaster you envision; I am not about to cast you aside. This is something it is best that you also know."

  She went to him and cast herself into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder. He looked at Darius over her shoulder, holding her, stroking her lustrous black hair as he talked.

  "When I was young, I encountered a woman. She called herself Prima. I was attracted to her not for her beauty or personality, for she was not remarkable in these respects, but for her ability to multiply. Her power was on a par with my own—"

  "With yours?" Darius asked, startled. "But no woman—"

  Kublai smiled. "In general, women are not as capable as men in this respect, so that while a man may multiply by a factor of a thousand, a woman may do it by a factor of three. But there is no absolute limitation. It may be that women would be as capable as men, were this encouraged in our culture. Certainly Prima was in this respect. She was fiercely independent and assertive, which of course did not endear her to others. She wanted to be the Cyng of Hlahtar, but of course this was not allowed. When I appeared, she asked me why I should assume the post simply because I was male, my talent being no greater than hers. I had not before considered the matter, but I was persuaded by her, and agreed that it was not right. Indeed, I came to love her, and she loved me, for we were one in our ability.

  "We went to the council of Cyngs and asked that she be allowed to assume the post. I agreed to marry her and support her in that post, for my talent feeding into hers would make us the most effective and enduring Hlahtar our Mode has known. But they would not allow a woman to be dominant.

  "Then we asked whether we could assume the post as co-equals, taking turns being the lead, one supporting the other. But they would not allow this either. They would allow only my own assumption of the post. I could marry her, but she would be only my wife, supporting me. She would never be Cyng herself.

  "Neither of us was willing to do that, at this point. We discussed the matter at length, and finally she decided to explore the realms of the Chips. So the Cyng of Pwer set up what you have termed a Virtual Mode, and she went there to seek some suitable situation. Perhaps there was a realm in which women were equal to men, and she could assume the post there without quarrel, and they would appreciate what she was able to do for them.

  "So Prima departed, and I became Hlahtar. We agreed that if she did not find her situation, and returned, she would marry me and accept secondary status. I hoped privately that this would be the case, for I could ask no better support than hers. But she had to do it of her own will." Kublai paused.

  "And she never returned," Darius said.

  "She never returned," Kublai agreed. "I married ten wives in succession, depleting each, and retired when you appeared. Now I have love, and it is sweet." He patted Keren's shoulder. "But always I have wondered what became of Prima. Did she find her situation, or did she die, or is she still searching? My curiosity has become overwhelming. But I lack the incentive to explore the alternate realms myself, now that I have a good life here. So I would ask two things of you: first, that you seek Prima, or news of her, so that I may finally know the truth. If you should find her, and she is ready to return, bring her back. If you did that, I would be happy to maintain the post indefinitely, for with her support it would represent no burden."

  "If you enabled me to search for my love, and bring her back, I would be glad to search also for yours, and bring her back too," Darius said. "Once I know the way, any who are with me can come along."

  "But you will cast me aside!" Kublai's wife protested, her voice buried in his shoulder.

  "No, my love," he said reassuringly. "I would have to divorce you and keep you as my love-companion, but that would be little other than a matter of legality. You would remain my love, as you are now. What I felt for Prima has faded in twenty years, and certainly she is no longer young, and never was she winsome. It would be a business relationship, based on my respect for her talent, and the enormous power that talent would provide me. You would remain my love, and you would not be depleted."

  "I still would rather be your wife," she said.

  "The chances are that Darius will return without her," Kublai said. "Then he will resume the post, and I will remarry you. I think this is a fair gamble."

  "But you mentioned two things you would ask of me," Darius said. The second was likely to be the crusher.

  "The second is both larger and perhaps easier," Kublai said. "I have developed a curiosity not only about Prima's situation, but about the alternate realms themselves. I wish to know the nature of ultimate reality. I would ask you to explore these alternate realms, seeking to understand them, and to formulate and test an explanation for the way things are. Who made the Chips and left them here? Who made it possible for Modes to be crossed? Why? I would like, before I die, to have that explanation."

  "But my mind may not be good enough to compass such knowledge," Darius protested. "I hardly understand the one other Mode I have seen, and I did not understand the nature of the young woman I came to love there."

  "Yet you would make the effort, and tell me all you learn. It might be considerable, and certainly it would be far more than I know now—discovered at no risk to me."

  "But no one has returned!" Darius pointed out. "I may be unable to honor any part of such an ag
reement."

  "That is why I ask for two favors: the news on Prima, and the nature of the Modes. If I win, I win all that I have wanted to know. If I lose, I am Cyng until another suitable prospect appears. I am experienced; it is not the worst of fates. In fact, I find myself bored with retirement. Oh, not with you, my dear," he added quickly as his wife lifted her head. "You are my perpetual delight! But the rest of it—there is only so much ease and luxury a man can tolerate. I think I am ready to resume useful activity—and keep my love with me."

  She settled back, mollified.

  "I can only agree," Darius said. "If you will take my place, I will seek what you wish."

  In this manner it was agreed. Darius and Kublai had merged their hopes, and it would be done.

  IT took time to set up the Virtual Mode and to arrange for the temporary resumption of the post by Kublai. Darius had to do a tour, for the need was growing. The public had to be served.

  But he lacked a wife. He did not want to marry for just one tour, but it would not be wise to deplete himself immediately before embarking on the treacherous journey that was the Virtual Mode. What was he to do?

  Kublai came up with the answer. "Borrow Koren."

  "What?"

  "My wife Koren. She has it in her pretty head that she wants to remain married to me, even as I resume the post. This is foolish."

  "Of course it is! But—"

  "I need to persuade her to step down, and to allow me to marry a woman suitable for that office. But I do not wish to hurt or offend her. However, if she went with you on the tour, she would quickly learn the cost, and I think that would be more persuasive than anything I could say."

  "Surely it would!" Darius agreed. "But the intimacy of the borrowing—"

  "I would rather have you do it, than do it to her myself. I prefer to convince her without instituting that barrier between us."

  "But she is you,r wife!" Darius said, at a loss.