Virtual Mode

by Piers Anthony

  He stepped his icon there, and immediately arrived, his gut further wrenched. But now he had another problem: he did not know where to go. Pwer had told him that there should be a feel to the right direction, and he had felt it at first. Now he did not. He had gone off the path.

  But he should be able to pick it up again. He turned slowly around, concentrating, and felt a faint tingle in one direction. That should be the way to go.

  He stepped in that direction. Nothing seemed to change. He continued, and saw an animal: a big reptile, one of the dragons that roamed this region. Some of them could do enough magic to blow fire, but they were no threat to a man who could do magic to douse fire, or simply conjure the creatures elsewhere.

  He continued walking, and the feeling of rightness grew stronger. Good enough; he could reach the proper path without having to struggle with the impassable terrain in the vicinity of the daises.

  Could he conjure himself along the path across Modes? A moment's thought made him decide not to try. Probably he had done that when he conjured himself before, which was why he had the gut wrenches. The Modes were close together; Pwer had indicated that about three paces should take him from one to another. He had conjured himself many leagues, so must have crossed hundreds of Modes. In so doing, he had almost lost the path. As he progressed on the path, his magic would fade, so it was best not to depend on it.

  Were it otherwise, he might have conjured himself all the way to Colene's Mode, and fetched her back immediately. But he knew he could do no magic there. He needed to forge a path by foot, so he could bring her back the same way.

  He continued until he reached the strongest sense of the path. As he did, the terrain changed around him. The plain became a ragged slope, but not as rough as in his home Mode. He could manage.

  He had been traveling slantwise, as it were, across Modes. Now he crossed them directly, following the path, and Pwer was right: about three paces took him across. He could tell because though the terrain did not change much if at all, the vegetation changed somewhat and the animal life could shift abruptly, as the first plume-bird had shown.

  He passed a pair of ridges between which nestled a small clear lake. He approached it cautiously, alert for danger, because such water was apt to be a drinking hole for animals. Indeed, odd creatures did appear and disappear as he crossed Modes, while the lake remained constant. This brought home to him the fact that though for him each Mode was only three paces wide, he saw the whole of it while he was in it. The lake was in each Mode, so appeared constant, but every three paces it was actually a different lake he saw. He was not approaching the lake he saw, but the lake in the Mode he would stand in when he got there.

  He did get there, and there were no animals. There were fish in the water, however, so it was probably clean. He lay down and drank deeply, then filled his water bag. Water was precious!

  He stepped into the next Mode. There was a wrenching in his stomach and a lightening of his water bag. What had happened?

  He stepped back. There were two wet places on the ground beside the lake where water had evidently been recently spilled. And his bag was low, and he was thirsty.

  Then he remembered Pwer's warning: he could not assimilate the stuff of other Modes. Not rapidly. He could not carry anything with him across Modes except what was of his own Mode or the Mode of one of the other anchors. He could eat or drink the substance of another Mode, but it would not remain with him when he departed it, unless he gave it time to be assimilated by his body. It seemed that it was the isolation of the molecules amidst many more of his own molecules that caused them to become detached from their Mode and to join his. This could happen fairly rapidly with water, and more slowly with food.

  He drank again, more moderately, and waited an hour. Then he resumed his journey, and the water did not disappear from his stomach. It had already done that, to be distributed elsewhere in his body, and was captive.

  Suppose he ran out of water? Then he would have to remain in a single Mode long enough to drink a lot of it, urinate it out, and filter it through sand to make it pure. That pure water would be of his system, and could travel with him in his bag. It was not the most pleasant mechanism, but necessary. Food was harder; he would not have time to excrete it and grow new plants from it, so he carried what he needed with him. He could mix it with water, expanding its mass, and it would last a good length of time.

  He moved on, and now the lake was left behind him, as constant as before, while plants and animals flickered in and out of sight with each change of Modes. The animals he understood, but why the variation in plants? Probably because the animals grazed on them, so changes in animal life meant changes in plant life. Since adjacent Modes tended to be similar, if he saw a dramatic shift in plant life, he would have to be extremely cautious about the animal life, even if he didn't see it. Because it was probably nearby and the next Mode might put him abruptly face to face with it.

  The glimpses he got of animals were not reassuring. There seemed to be an increasing number of dragons, and they were getting larger. They seemed to be squeezing other animals out, almost as if—

  Suddenly he was caught in a net. He struggled to get free of it, but it hauled him into the air and held him. It was an animal trap, triggered by touching. He hadn't seen it because it had not existed until he stepped into its Mode, moving swiftly.

  He drew his sword and started cutting the threads of it. Who could have set up this trap, and why? The second question was readily answered: it was to snare wildlife alive, probably for domestication or later slaughter. The setters of the snare had not figured on a Mode traveler passing through.

  He completed his cuts, sheathed the sword, and let himself down through the hole he had made. He landed on the ground—and discovered himself facing a dragon. A big one. A maneater.

  The creature had evidently come up while Darius was cutting himself free. He decided to risk a conjuration, because this one was big enough to eat him. He activated his icon and moved it back away.

  There was a bit of wrenching in the gut, but his body did not move. He had passed beyond the range of magic already.

  Well, he could escape the monster simply by stepping into the next Mode; that was what he should have done first. He started to move—and the dragon leaped.

  Darius found himself on his back, with the dragon's snoot at his face. The monster could bite off his head in a moment!

  Then a monkey appeared. The creature had another net, a smaller one. It put this net over Darius' head, then yanked it up as the dragon backed off. Darius had to sit up, then stand, with the net covering him from head to knees. The monkeys were in charge of this Mode?

  The monkey held a cord connected to the net and walked to the side. When Darius tried to step toward the next Mode, the dragon growled and breathed down the back of his neck. That monster could snap him up in an instant; dragons had hunting reflexes. He had to walk exactly where the monkey indicated.

  The path veered to the side, but the monkey guided him in a straight though not level line up a bank and into a forest of giant ferns. The dragon followed slowly. The way was marked by dabs of color on the ferns or ground.

  They knew! They knew he was crossing Modes, and they were keeping him in this one!

  He figured it out as he was required to scramble across the irregular terrain, hewing to the line that was this Mode's intersection with his route. They had set out nets to snare wild creatures, but also to catch Mode travelers. They could recognize the latter by their odd clothing or alien nature. Then they brought the captives in, confining them to the narrow channel. As long as they were alert, they could do it.

  And what did they do with their special captives? He was surely about to find out! He doubted he was the first one; the marked special path showed that. It wasn't regularly used. Probably there were many such, so that they could bring in captives from whatever nets they were found in. With ordinary captures, they used the ordinary paths. So this wasn't a common
occurrence, but neither was it unknown.

  In due course they traveled down a sloping field and to a collection of artificial structures. They weren't exactly houses, but they weren't exactly anything else. They had sloping upper surfaces, and walls made of bars.

  Most of them were empty, but some did contain creatures. It was hard to see well, because one structure tended to obscure his view of another, but there seemed to be a wide variety of animals and birds. One animal had eight legs and long antennae, but also a cowlike udder, which suggested that it was a mammal, not a huge insect. One bird had four wings, translucent and extended like those of a dragonfly, but it also had a beak and feathers.

  This divergence of animal creatures intrigued him despite his present peril. As far as he knew, the animals of Colene's Mode were similar to those of his own, so he had assumed that they differed no more than did the people. He had evidently been mistaken, because he was only pan of the way between their two Modes, and had seen no people and a wide divergence of animals.

  Certainly it smelled of animals! The odor thickened as they approached the structures, becoming stifling. But he had no way to escape it. He did his best to tune it out. After all, it had not smelled nice in Colene's shed, because of the presence of the fecal pot, but that had not bothered him or apparently her when they were together.

  Colene: how he hoped he would reach her! Whether he lived or died was less important to him than whether he was reunited with her. If only he had brought her with him! But he had been put off by the realization of her youth and her depressive nature, and had blundered terribly.

  He was brought along his straight line until it intersected one of the structures. Now he saw that the thing was fairly large. Indeed, large enough for him to step inside. The monkey put him in, took his pack, sword, and all his clothing, and carried them out to the dragon. The bars slammed down, sealing him in. This was a cage!

  Dragon and monkey departed. Darius looked around. He was now naked, but the air was warm and he wasn't in physical discomfort. There was straw or the equivalent on the floor, and a pot whose function he recognized from recent experience. That was all.

  He checked the bars of his cage. They were set close enough together so that he could not get past them, and were firmly anchored in the floor. They seemed to be of wood or something similarly hard, perhaps cut from the stems of the big ferns. The floor under the hay was of the same substance, seamless. So was the roof. Whatever it was, it was too strong for him to bend or break. His sword might have chopped through it, but they had been smart enough to deprive him of that, as well as his food.

  He tried to peer beyond his cage, but all he could see was other cages, all empty. Evidently recent trapping in this particular slice of the Mode had not been good.

  But he had been caught! What was he to do? If he didn't get out of here soon, not being able to complete his mission might be the least of his problems. The monkeys could be building the fires for a roast.

  He sat on the straw. If he got any chance, he would dive out of the cage and into the next Mode. Better to be naked and free than risk recapture by trying to recover his clothes. But he doubted that he would get the chance.

  At least now he had a notion why so few ever returned from the Modes! It wasn't that they got lost, but that they were caught and dispatched. It had not occurred to him that there could be predators among the Modes, but it was all too clear now.

  There was a stir beyond the cages. He peered out, and saw a figure approaching, followed by a dragon. It was a human being!

  Indeed, it turned out to be a woman. She seemed to be about forty and not unhandsome, but there were deep lines of sadness or weariness on her face. She wore what might once have been a good conventional shirt, its buttons crossing from left shoulder to right hip in the style for the unmarried, but its color had long since faded to gray and it had been patched many times. Her skirt was evidently homemade from native material, puffing out from her hips and extending to the calves; her original one must have worn out. Her feet were in sandals, and were filthy, the toenails growing down and around in a'manner that might be practical in a wilderness for protection against abrasions, but was detestable aesthetically. Her hair was long and somewhat unkempt. As if maintaining appearances was pointless here. Surely that was true!

  She carried his clothing, which was in a tangle. She came to stand outside his cell, staring at him. Darius would have been uneasy about this at the best of times; he was even less at ease now.

  "Ung," she said, and passed the wad of clothing through the bars. She set his pack on the ground beside her. "Ung, ung!" She made motions as of dressing.

  Human but not of his culture, obviously. Darius said nothing because it seemed pointless. He untangled his clothing and quickly put it on.

  "Ung," she said. "Ung pretend ung you ung ung don't ung understand."

  It was his turn to stare. Words came through clearly amidst the nonsense syllables. There was no doubt: she spoke his language, and wanted to conceal that fact from the captors. That probably meant she was on his side!

  "Ung?" he asked, scratching his head.

  The woman turned to the dragon and said something. The dragon exhaled steamy breath and settled down for a snooze.

  "Play dumb," the woman said. "Look blank. I am testing you for responses to see whether we can learn to communicate. The dragon doesn't understand the words, but he is watching you. If you give me away, we both are dead."

  Darius shook his head in feigned bafflement. "Ung?"

  "You are from my Mode, or close to it," she said. "I can tell by your clothing and supplies. Look to my right if you mean yes, and to my left to indicate no. Make no other responses, except obvious ones." She twitched her right and left hands as she spoke, clarifying the signals. "Do you understand?"

  "Ung?" he said, looking to her right.

  "That is agreement. Now indicate disagreement." He did not move his body, but he glanced to her left.

  "Good." She stood straight and made a grand gesture of pointing to herself. "Me Prima."

  Darius had to grab onto the bars for support. Prima! The would-be female Cyng of Hlahtar he had promised to look for! Just like this he had found her!

  Actually it made sense. She would have been trapped the same way he had been, and probably many others. She must have proved useful to her captors, so they had kept her alive.

  "Me Prima," she repeated, touching herself again.

  This time he responded more appropriately. "Me Darius," he said, touching himself. Establishing names was elementary; he had done it with Colene. But he realized that it was important not to let the captors know that he was from the same Mode as she, and that he knew of her.

  "Listen closely. The dragons govern this Mode. They have hunted most other species to extinction and are desperate for new creatures to prey upon, because this is their nature. They know about the Modes, but can not travel between them. They are hoping to capture a Mode traveler who can give them the secret. Failing that, they will do what they can to restock this Mode with prey. We must work together to escape. If we do not, they will breed you to me to produce prey they hope will be more of a challenge to hunt. Will you cooperate with me?"

  Darius looked firmly to the right.

  "They will not let you have your sword. They will let you have your food. Magic is not operative here. Do you have anything that might be used as a weapon that is not obvious as such?"

  Darius had to think about that. Then he got a bright notion.

  He glanced right.

  She squatted and began drawing things out from his pack. "Identify the things in your language," she told him. "I have to appear to be making progress. Let your eyes tell me what your weapon is."

  She held up a package of beans. "Beans," he said.

  "Beans," she repeated, and set the package down. She brought out a loaf of bread.

  "Bread." He remembered how he had been confused by what had turned out to be white (not brown) sliced
(not whole) bread in Colene's Mode.

  "Bread," she repeated. So it went, item after item. Then, near the bottom, there was a tiny box with slivers of wood inside.

  "Matches," he said, looking to the right. This was the box he had gotten from Colene and brought back with him Matches were much like magic, but were actually science, and they fascinated him.

  "Matches," she repeated, this time truly unfamiliar with the term. "What are they?"

  "Ung," he said, holding out his hand. The watching dragon made a warning puff of steam.

  She handed him one match.

  Darius held it by the business end and poked into his mouth with the bare-wood end. He was using it to pick his teeth!

  Both the woman and the dragon looked disgusted. Evidently they had anticipated something more significant.

  He reached, signaling for another. The woman gave him one more match. He stuck this in the other side of his mouth.

  "This is a weapon?" she asked as she rummaged in his pack for what remained.

  He glanced again to the right. Then he put the matches in a pocket.

  After the woman completed the pack inventory, Darius risked telling her. "Ung. Kublai. Ung ung."

  Now she was the one who reeled. Oh, yes, she knew that name! She had loved Kublai, twenty years ago.

  She recovered. "When can you use your weapon?" she asked. "At any time?"

  He looked to the right.

  "Can it kill dragons?"

  He looked left.

  "Better in privacy?"

  He looked right.

  "I will come to you at night, to feed you. I can not open the cage; only a dragon can do that. But they will put me in with you if I ask, because they are aware that breeding is not instantaneous with strangers. Can you use your weapon then?"

  He looked right.

  She verified some words, holding up things they had identified from the pack. Then she departed. The dragon glanced at him, then settled back to sleep.

  Darius lay on the straw and closed his own eyes. He had a lot to assimilate!