Virtual Mode

by Piers Anthony

  "I am."

  "This mischief is not of our doing."

  "But is it of your toleration?" Darius inquired sharply.

  "It is known that we have no power to inhibit human beings from doing what they choose."

  "Such as exporting your citizens as cuisine?"

  "This is a concern."

  "I will ask the Emperor that this be stopped. But the power is his, not mine."

  "We thank you, Captain." The snail withdrew into its shell, clearing the aisle ahead.

  Pussy lifted a hand. Darius nodded, giving her leave to speak. "Why should you do anything for the natives?"

  "Because they are feeling creatures, and deserve sympathetic treatment."

  "This is an odd concept."

  "You deserve it too."

  "That is odder yet."

  Darius smiled, not arguing the case. He tuned in on the bolus of hate, walking that way. "I suspect your weapons will not be effective," he told them both. "But have them ready. Should I fall unconscious, kill whatever creature is before us. It may be a human being."

  They nodded. They were responsive to his will.

  The snails did not use houses; their shells were sufficient. They had many slick paths through their cultivated sections; the paths branched and rebranched, becoming smaller, like the structure of trees. It was evident that there was no centralized feeding system; each snail had its own patch to graze. It seemed to be a live-and-let-live society. Unfortunately the human conquerors did not have a similar philosophy. Now they wanted to break into other Modes, so as to get new genes to revivify their stock, so they could maintain and expand their Empire. His sympathy was with whatever power had decided to confine this Empire to this one Mode.

  But if he told Ddwng no, what then? Destruction for Colene, if torture of her did not make him yield. Then probably torture of him. And in the end, if he died without yielding, Ddwng would still be able to set out on the Virtual Mode and perhaps find Darius' Mode and the Chip. He was an anchor person; he should be able to sense the right direction the same way Darius and Provos did, and as Colene surely had. He merely wanted to avoid the serious risks of traveling alone into unknown territory. But he could take them if he chose. What would defiance accomplish, in the end?

  They were coming close to the source of the hate. But there seemed only to be a snail snoozing at the end of its pathlet, having grazed its fill. It was withdrawn into its shell.

  But hiding behind that shell was a human child. "I see you," Darius said.

  The child stood, and the nucleus of hate shifted with his body. This was the monster: a boy of perhaps seven years. No wonder he had escaped detection! He was just an ordinary gamin, a neglected urchin, probably stealing food to survive. But his mind was an absolute horror.

  "In the name of the Empire, I am come to bring you to justice," Darius said, observing the ritual. "Yield, and you will not be killed."

  Both Felines looked at Darius, evidently suspecting that he had gotten severely confused. A little human boy? Hardly a monster!

  For answer, the boy unleashed his fury. It struck Darius—and was rebroadcast outward. He was unaffected. But he had learned something: the boy could direct his power. He did not strike at every mind within his range. Harnessed, this could probably be useful to the Empire.

  "Yield, and perhaps you will be granted a good life in return for the use of your power on behalf of the Empire," Darius said.

  He sensed the lad's understanding. But there was no trust there. The boy hated his own kind. He must have been rejected, cast out, orphaned. There was something strange and vulnerable about his mind, as if it had been weakened, not strengthened, and in its distress had channeled most of its force to this incubus of hate. So great was that destructive force that it could overwhelm even a "deaf" mind, such as those of this Mode. But the hammer that could shatter a stone could not do the same with a sponge or a rubber ball. The boy could not prevail against Darius.

  The lad seemed shaken by the failure of his attack on Darius. But his little face was set in a grimace of hate which echoed that of his mind. He had no intention of yielding to the Empire. But Darius tried again. "I have the means to destroy you. I ask you to yield and save yourself."

  Apparently it was a lost cause. The mind-monster would not or could not be reasonable. He would have to be stunned and taken in; perhaps the Empire super-scientists could do something with him, or at least confine him so that he could not do physical damage, such as torching granaries.

  "Dial him. Pussy," Darius said.

  The Feline lifted the dial and turned it on. Level Three discomfort struck Darius. He had never reset the device! It was tuned to him as well as to others. The Felines expected to be affected, and were prepared to endure it in order to accomplish the mission. It would surely be far more potent against the boy than against them.

  Indeed, the boy felt it. He staggered as if physically struck. Then he sent a jolt of hate directly at Pussy.

  Pussy collapsed with a little meow of pain. She could not ward off the power.

  The boy staggered forward and snatched the dial from her hand. He touched the detune switch, then turned the dial up to maximum.

  He had not understood the dial well enough. All he had done was to restore Darius' exemption—and hit himself with the maximum degree of pain. He collapsed.

  Darius stepped forward and took the dial from the boy's flaccid hand. He turned the dial down to zero.

  But it was too late. Pussy, already unconscious, was unaffected. Tom, caught by the dial, was now sprawled on the ground. And the boy was dead.

  Darius had after all killed the monster. And, in his own judgment, bungled the mission.

  BACK on the Flay with his staggering minions, Darius was the object of covert stares of awe. "The monster took out your bodyguards, sir—and you killed it alone?" Jjle inquired. "Without a weapon?"

  "Not exactly. It was the pain dial that killed him. His mind was more vulnerable to it than others. But my success was chance as much as design."

  "As you say, sir." But the awe remained.

  When he reached his chambers, the wall-screen was on. There was Colene, in her preternatural beauty. "Oh, Darius—you're all right!" she cried.

  He was taken aback. "You are speaking to me?"

  "Of course I'm speaking to you! I love you!"

  She couldn't have forgiven him! "And I love you. But—"

  "I know your culture's different. You can't be expected to—I understand that—and anyway, you're a man. Oh, Darius, please give Ddwng the Chip! It's the only way we can be together!"

  "Colene, I want to be with you more than anything. But if I—"

  "It'll be all right! Honest it will! He'll let us go, if—please, Darius!"

  Why had she turned about so completely? She should be furious with him, yet she was urging him to betray their Modes so that she could be with him. He would have to think about this.

  "I will consider," he told her.

  "Please," she repeated, and faded out.

  Darius sat in the chair and considered. He thought of the monster/boy, so recently dead. He thought of Provos, who had said he would kill the monster, and who had also said he would agree to commit to Ddwng. He thought of Colene.

  He had offered the boy the chance for a kind of amnesty: fair treatment and a chance to serve the Empire, if he turned his talent to the welfare of the Empire. He knew Ddwng would have honored that, because it made sense. Instead the boy had attacked him—and destroyed himself in the process. Utter folly.

  There was no doubt that Ddwng had power over Darius and Colene. He could make them happy together, or keep them apart, or torture them or kill them or let them go. He was no fool. If Darius tried to cross him, Darius would be destroyed. But if he cooperated, he would be rewarded. He was to the Emperor as the monster/boy was to Darius himself. What was his choice?

  Provos said he would accede. Colene had begged him to. He didn't like it, but it did seem to be his only
practical choice.

  "Get me the Emperor," he told Cat. The two other Felines were recuperating from their ordeal.

  In a moment Ddwng was on the screen. He must have been waiting for this.

  "I have destroyed the monster," Darius said to the Emperor. "I promised the natives I would seek to end the exploitation of their kind as food. I am requesting—"

  "The word of a minion of the Empire is good. That exploitation shall cease forthwith."

  That was certainly swift! Darius had promised only to ask, and here he had succeeded in changing Empire policy. But that was the minor issue. He braced himself for the major one.

  "Today I am in your Mode, sir, in your power," Darius said. "In my Mode the power will be ours. I will guide you there, but the Chip is not mine to give. I will introduce you to the Cyng of Pwer, who may elect instead to kill you. You must let Colene and her horse and Provos and me into the Virtual Mode» and we shall do you no harm there. This is the deal I proffer."

  "Agreed."

  Darius stared at the man. "No bargaining? You will risk yourself this way?"

  "You are a man of honor. You will advise me of the appropriate manner to approach your official. It is enough."

  "A man of honor? How can you know that?"

  "It is not only your words and actions we have watched. We know the physical and brain-wave patterns of deceit. You have at times withheld information, but you have not given false information. You are to be trusted, and after I possess the Chip you will be given a ranking position in the Empire, if you wish it."

  "You can not trust a person whose cooperation has been obtained under duress."

  "That depends on the man. Now relax. Captain Darius; your mission has been accomplished, and you will return to Earth." Ddwng faded out.

  So it was done. Darius did not feel uplifted. He had done it to save Colene.

  Colene. What were her feelings toward him now? She had seen him with Pussy, then called him back to plead his acquiescence to the demand of the Emperor. She did not know the threat against herself. What could account for the change?

  Was there a threat against him too, which she knew about? But if she was angry with him, she could simply let it happen. Instead she had said she loved him and wanted to be with him.

  Maybe she really did understand. But maybe she was doing what was expedient now, and there would be a reckoning later. After they were free of the DoOon. If they got free.

  CHAPTER 11

  CONSORT

  COLENE looked at her wrist. The scars had faded. She had not cut herself since meeting Darius. But now she was getting that feeling again.

  When she had come here and realized that she and Seqiro were prisoners, she had hoped they would be able to escape soon after Darius arrived. But he had been whisked away almost immediately to a distant stellar system. That prevented her from even trying to flee. She knew she would have to wait until he returned to Earth.

  Oh, Ddwng was treating her well enough. He dined with her often, and was always exceedingly polite. One might have supposed that an emperor of a galaxy would have better things to do, but apparently his staff was more than competent, and he seldom had crisis decisions to make. She had feared that his interest in her was that of a man for some wild primitive strange woman, but he seemed genuinely curious about her ways and feelings. What she would do if another type of interest manifested she didn't know. She didn't want to make him mad—not while Darius was far away—but she didn't want any more to do with him than absolutely necessary.

  She had three nulls of the Equine persuasion to tend to her every need and want. Indeed, they were compelled to do one or more services for her each day. Had she been a man, she would have had no trouble finding something for Mare each day; she was as luscious a piece of woman-flesh as could be imagined, from the neck down. But Colene was a girl, and though Stallion would have been glad to do for her what a man did, hired sex was not her interest. So she was kept busy keeping them busy.

  She was allowed information on Darius' progress, and she followed it compulsively. Unfortunately that meant being aware of the time he spent with his nulls, particularly Pussy. What an apt name for that juicy Feline!

  He called her, to her surprise; she had assumed that direct dialogue between them would be forbidden. So she tested it further by urging him not to agree to give Ddwng the Chip. Then she waited somewhat apprehensively for the Emperor's reaction.

  There was none. She did not trust that one bit.

  She was allowed access to Seqiro too. Actually she was in constant mental contact with him, but she wanted more than that. So they played the game of riding, because both agreed that his mental powers should be hidden. The people of this reality had no awareness of telepathy, treating it as a supernatural notion. Seqiro reported that their minds seemed opaque to it, not because of being guarded but because they just did not seem to be organized that way. The animals could be touched, but Seqiro did not even send the mosquitoes away. lest an attendant notice. He was being the complete dumb animal.

  She returned to the palace interior to learn from Horse that Darius had tried to call her again. "Well, call him back!" she said, her heart leaping. "Immediately!"

  It placed the call. Tom received it. "Darius is busy at the moment," the cat-head said.

  "Oh, he'll talk to we!" she said confidently.

  "As you wish." The picture changed.

  There was Darius, naked, in the process of having sex with Pussy. She was so surprised and dismayed that she couldn't think of any appropriate reaction. "I guess you're busy right now," she said lamely, and faded out. That description was appropriate: she thought she was going to faint.

  "You seem surprised at his activity," Horse said. "I should clarify that it is normal to—"

  "Oh, shut up!" she snapped. She charged to her bedroom and flung herself down among the plush pillows, sobbing.

  Your mind is in turmoil, Seqiro remarked.

  She let him have her feeling in an inchoate blast. Then, aware of his distress, she apologized. I'm sorry, Seqiro! It's just that—oh, what will I do?

  The horse pondered, using her intelligence and his objectivity. You are being polite to Ddwng, because you fear what he might otherwise do. Those watching you are under the impression that you like him. Perhaps Darius finds it similarly expedient to give others the impression that he likes his situation.

  By screwing the pussy? she demanded, her image savage.

  Yes. It would suggest that he was not acclimatizing, were he to spurn her.

  Colene struggled with that. She did know the nature of men; they were always interested in sex, and took it when they got the chance. That night with the boys—she had represented Opportunity. She had had no illusions after that. Darius was a man, and he had treated her decently, and he said he loved her. But how was he with other women? He had not tried to hide that from her: he expected to marry some other woman, and have sex with her if she wanted it, and in his castle he had mistresses. In fact, as Seqiro had read in Darius' mind in that brief time he was in the palace, he had found the perfect woman to marry, named Prima, who could greatly extend his ability to radiate joy to others. Prima was no love-match; she was twice Darius' age. The only thing distinguishing Colene from those other women was the fact that he loved her.

  Yes.

  With a woman, sex and love were aspects of the same thing. That was why the abuse of sex was so horrible; it soiled love. But with a man they were in different ballparks. A man could love one woman and have sex with another. It was part of the basic misunderstanding between the sexes. She had learned the hard way. So Darius could love Colene and have sex with Pussy. She understood that with her mind.

  Yes.

  Why, then, couldn't she understand it with her emotion?

  You do understand it with your emotion, Seqiro thought. It merely requires time for the pain of that understanding to subside.

  She did understand it. Her problem was in accepting it. When she walked
carelessly and stubbed her toe and it hurt, she understood what had happened, but the pain remained. After a while the pain faded, and she made sure not to stub her toe there again.

  Darius might not even want to dally with the cat-woman. But as Seqiro suggested, if he did not give the impression of going along with the system, he would not be trusted, and would never be given any real freedom.

  In fact, she realized something else: if the very walls of Darius' bedroom could become video screens when he didn't want it, they must have that capacity anytime. Was it possible that they were always tuning in on him, wherever he was? The four of them—Darius, the old woman Provos, Seqiro, and herself—were strangers here, and there was something Ddwng wanted from them. Why wouldn't he watch them closely? If he had thrown them in dark prison cells he wouldn't have had to watch. But not only did he keep them in excellent style, he had given Darius a significant mission to perform.

  Because Darius can show him where the Chip is.

  Yes. In order to get that Chip, Ddwng would have to trust himself to the Virtual Mode, where Darius could dump him in a deep hole in some barren reality and let him die. If Ddwng had to trust Darius, he wanted to know him well. So it figured that Darius would be watched closely, and all his actions judged. If Darius had caught on to that, he would play the role, because the alternative might be much worse than being a ship captain.

  You are forgiving him.

  She was forgiving him. Or at least finding reason not to blame him, which wasn't exactly the same thing. There was a hard core of rancor that remained, but she was good at burying such things. She was capable of accepting what had to be accepted, and moving on.

  Meanwhile she had a date with Ddwng for another meal. It was time for Mare to get her ready for it.

  Ddwng was the root of her problem. He was the one who kept her apart from Darius, and put him in the position of having to hold women other than Colene in his arms. If her core of anger needed a focus, that was where it should orient.

  Seqiro, link with me when I'm with the Emperor. I want to know what's truly on his mind.