She gazed at him with understanding. “There really is something bad,” she said.
“There really is. Please, tell me to lie. It will spare us both pain.”
“Does it affect our mission to save our world?”
“Yes.”
“Then you must tell me. Maybe the Adepts had this in mind.”
“Maybe they did,” he agreed, realizing that if the Adepts had known about Alyc, they might have learned about him too. In that case, it would be pointless to conceal his mission longer. It would be better to come out into the open. Maybe the love potion was distorting his judgment, but it did seem to make sense. “But can we wait a little? Love is new to me, and I want to savor it before it is dashed.”
“No, you had better tell me now. I was never one to postpone either the best or the worst.”
“I am an agent of the Hectare.”
She shook her head. “But if you were, why would you tell me? If I said one word to my sister harpies…” She trailed off, her thought evidently bothering her.
“I did not tell you, or anyone else, not even the local Hectare administrators, because it is essential that no one be able to betray my mission. It is my assignment to infiltrate to the heart of the resistance, and then destroy it, so that there is no further threat to Hectare dominance. No coercion could have made me tell. But now I have to tell you, because our love can not be true if what you know of me is false. I am not just an android with a borrowed living brain. I am an android with a Hectare brain.”
She stared. “How can it help your mission to reveal this to me?”
“It can not. Now, if you will, assume your harpy form and kill me. I will not resist you.”
“Your love makes you do this?”
“Yes.” He smiled briefly. “I see now that the Hectare, having no direct knowledge of love, did not condition me against it. But I am a Hectare, a bug-eyed monster, in human form. Kill me now, because if you do not, you are unlikely to do it later.”
“I love a Hectare?” she asked, dumbfounded.
“You love the form of a human being. I knew you for what you were when love took me; you knew only a lie about me. You are not bound. Do your planet the most good you can. Kill me.”
“But if you love me, won’t you join my side? Maybe that’s what the Adepts want.”
“If you love me, will you join the Hectare?”
“I can’t do that!” she protested. “My world is my nature! All that I am, even the metal and plastic—I can not be untrue to that!”
“You have answered yourself,” he pointed out. “I am Hectare. I must serve my species.”
“If I do not kill you, you will betray our last source of resistance to the enemy?”
“Yes. That is my mission.”
“You can’t want to do that! You would not have told me, if—”
“I don’t want to do it, any more than you want to love your home world. It is in my nature to do it. Can you love me, knowing my nature and my mission?”
“If I see you about to betray my world, I will try to stop you,” she said.
“Is that an answer?”
“I do love you, despite what you have told me. I will not tell anyone, I will only try to stop you, and die if I fail.”
“You have no call to keep my secret. You should at least tell the Adepts.”
“I think they know. It makes it certain that you are the one the prophecy means. So I must believe that I am helping my world by keeping silent.”
Lysander found himself both surprised and unsurprised. If the Adepts truly believed the prophecy, then he could indeed be the one—because of what he was. Yet it had to require a great deal of faith on her part to trust in that. “Now we know we are enemies, or that we serve opposite sides. Can we still love each other?”
She stood, gesturing him to do the same, and took his hands in hers. “I will answer, and so will you, together. Then we will know.”
“But—”
“Speak only your true feeling, as I speak mine. Are you ready?”
He nodded, not sure what she thought this was going to accomplish.
She squeezed his hands. “When I squeeze again, we’ll speak.”
Then she squeezed. “Yes,” they said together.
Something strange happened then. A ripple seemed to go out from them, causing the air to shimmer, and the walls of the cave. It was as if the color of reality shifted, though color wasn’t quite it. But he didn’t care. He drew her into him and embraced her. He didn’t care how it had come about; his love for her was real and complete.
She melted into him, as passionate as he. “So it is true,” she breathed in his ear.
“I don’t understand.”
“You saw the splash?”
“Do you mean the ripple in the air?”
“That was the splash of truth. It comes only when the emotion is true and strong, and only once for a situation. We spoke our love, and it is true, though we are in Proton form. Phaze is here too, and it manifests. I love you and you love me; there is no doubt.”
He found he had to believe. “Then stay with me, and when I do what I have to do, you do what you have to do.”
“Yes. But until then, let it be only love between us.”
He was satisfied with that.
It seemed a moment later that there was a scratching at the entrance, above. “They are opening the door,” Echo said. “I must see what they want.”
Lysander looked at his watch. “Five days have passed,” he said, startled. “It must be time for us to come out.”
She used the root-handholds to hoist herself up. He followed. Soon they were beside the tree. A harpy with a horrendous explosion of hair and feathers about her head hovered near. “Take thy paramour to the Brown Demesnes,” she screeched. “The Unicorn Adept has need o’ him.”
“Thank you, Phoebe,” Echo said.
“Ne’er thank a harpy, slut!” the creature screeched. But Lysander had the impression she was pleased.
“We’ll dress and start walking. I suppose you know how it stands between us now.”
“Aye, Oche! We spied the splash. Then we dispersed our guard.”
“I thought you would. Warn us if dragons come.”
“Aye!” The harpy flapped heavily away.
“Who was that?” Lysander asked.
“The chief hen of our Flock, Phoebe. She befriended the Robot Adept long ago, before I was hatched. She speaks for him.”
“Then we’d better go to the Brown Demesnes! I hope you know the way.”
“I do. It will be a fair walk, but we’ll be helped if we need it,” She climbed back into the tree and disappeared, going for the clothes.
Soon they were on their way, garbed in belted robes and sandals. The jungle looked wild, but Echo knew the paths. When on occasion she was uncertain, she changed to harpy form and flew high, spying out the way. The first time he had seen her in that form he had thought her ugly; now it didn’t bother him, though he preferred her cyborg form. During the whole five days of their time in the love nest, he had hardly remembered that her body was inanimate; it had seemed completely alive. That love potion had been strong stuff!
They passed an open range. On the horizon he could see animals grazing: unicorns, surely. Once a huge shape appeared in the sky; Echo drew him quickly under cover. “Dragon,” she explained. “We’ll be protected, but we don’t want to cause a commotion.”
He was in good physical condition, but Echo was indefatigable. That was the advantage of a robot body. By the day’s end he was glad to rest.
She opened a breast cabinet and brought out food for him. She was able to eat, but didn’t bother. There was no shelter here, and the chill of the night was settling in, but this turned out to be no problem. They simply removed their robes, spread them as blankets on the ground, and lay between them. Echo’s body turned warm, like a gentle stove, and drove away the chill.
“I am coming to appreciate your qualities,” he mu
rmured, caressing her.
“Had we had more time, we could have done this before the love,” she said. “But better in reverse order than not at all.” Then she embraced him. “However, now that I mention love—”
He tried to remind himself that her body was inanimate, but it was no good. She was all the way alive for him. Evidently he was all the way human for her, similarly. Their knowledge of each other changed nothing.
He was sorry he would have to betray this wonderful dual culture. But he knew he would do it, when the occasion came.
Next day, as they continued their walk toward the southeast, a figure abruptly appeared before them. It was Flach, the Unicorn Adept. “I need him now,” he said to Echo. “I thank thee, Echo, for thy service.”
“May I not remain with him?” she asked, alarmed.
The boy smiled. “It were unkind to deny thee, considering. Make thy way alone to the Brown Demesnes and watch; an thou see a woman emerge, take human form and go with her. We shall rejoin thee in due course.”
“Thank you, Adept,” she said. Then, quickly, she kissed Lysander. As the kiss ended, she became the harpy, and flew into the foliage of the nearest great tree.
The boy faced Lysander, and his small face was disturbingly serious. “Thou has fathomed that we know thy nature,” he said. “We like thee not, Hectare, but there be none but thee to give us victory, an thou choose. An thou not cooperate completely with me, thou willst ne’er get close to our plot, so it behooves thee to make thy move not early.”
So they had indeed known! “And if you nullify me early, your prophecy will be invalidated before it has a chance,” he replied. “Even if you can’t trust your love spell to change my mind.”
“Aye. So we fathom each other. We work together, until the moment.”
“Until the moment,” Lysander agreed.
“Now will I conjure thee to the Brown Demesnes, and make thee invisible. Keep thy silence, whate’er thou dost see.”
“Agreed.” It was an interesting situation: he was an enemy agent, and they knew it, and he knew they knew, but it changed nothing. It was analogous in its way to his love with Echo: the facts simply did not affect the situation.
Flach took his hand. With his free hand he made an odd gesture.
Then they stood in a wooden room. Manlike figures of all sizes stood against the walls, immobile. That was scarcely surprising, as all of them were fashioned of wood.
Flach squeezed his hand, and became the girl, Nepe. “We have a little while,” she said. “Kiss me.”
Remembering the boy’s caution about silence, Lysander did not reply. But he obeyed the directive. He leaned down and kissed her on the mouth.
She kissed back, with surprising vigor, but hardly with the expertise Echo had. “Do I have it right?” she asked. “Squeeze my right for yes, left for no; I can’t see you.”
He glanced down at his feet, and saw only the floor. He was invisible, as promised. But what was her concern with kissing? He extended his right hand and squeezed her left upper arm.
“Try it again,” she said. But her body was melting, and in a moment there was only a knob at the top with a pair of lips.
He shrugged and kissed those lips. This time they were more competent. He squeezed her right arm.
“Good,” the mouth said, as the blob continued to change. “After I talk with Brown, I will form a sheath over your body, and it will cover your head. There will be holes for you to breathe and it will be transparent over your eyes, but if Purp tests with a kiss it better be right. Don’t jump if he pinches your ass. Just do whatever you’re told, and I will guide you with pressure on the side I want you to turn away from, or behind the legs to make you walk forward. You’ll catch on. We’ll both be hung if Purp catches on. Now stay clear and wait.”
He did that, watching her change further, until she resembled a squat wheeled robot. What was she up to?
There was a light footstep beyond the wooden door. The seeming machine made a whirring noise. The person beyond paused, then fled.
Shortly, a brown-haired woman of about forty opened the door and entered. She glanced around, then walked straight to the Nepe-machine. “Why didst thou return?” she inquired.
“Mach said you did not betray me,” Nepe replied, without the benefit of lips. “Though you did recognize me.”
“Of course I did not betray you, you darling child!” the woman exclaimed. Obviously she knew with whom she was talking.
“But Purp will make you talk,” the form that was Nepe said. “I know how.”
Lysander saw by the woman’s reaction that something significant had been said. Evidently the Brown Adept had some personal secret, and the child was playing on that. Lysander had come to appreciate how cleverly this seeming juvenile could play on a person’s secrets! Maybe it was some embarrassment of the past, or an illicit deed; whatever it was, Purp—that would be the Purple Adept, he realized—had learned it too, and would blackmail the woman. Purple was working for the Hectare, but Lysander had no more respect for him than he did for Tan, because both were traitors to their societies. The Hectare would dispose of such quislings when their usefulness was done; the termination would come without warning or reprieve or regret. The Hectare would also dispose of diehard resistance figures. But some of the intermediate individuals, who had the sense to yield without turning traitor, like Citizen Blue—these would be treated with greater respect, because they had ability and judgment and could be trusted.
From this odd dialogue Lysander learned that while he had been distracted by Echo, two more opposition Adepts had been captured. Black and Green. Only two remained, the Robot and the Unicorn. Did that mean that Clef and Tania had also been captured? The child did not mention them, which was surely significant.
Now it seemed Nepe was going to use Brown to get back at Purple in some devious way. Lysander was as mystified as Brown about this. Apparently there was to be a game played between Purple and a Hectare, and Brown was to be there, along with her servant Tsetse. Except that it wouldn’t really be Tsetse.
“As thou sayest, dear,” Brown agreed, as baffled as Lysander.
Brown was told to hide Tsetse immediately, and make ready for Purple’s visit. She left the room.
Immediately Nepe began changing form again. Her changes were not instant, the way her alternate’s were, but they were impressive. The machine became a blob, then a pool that spread across the floor like a blanket. A mouth formed in its center. “Pick me up, drape me over you,” it said. “Remove your clothes first.”
Even if he hadn’t had a mission to perform, Lysander would have cooperated just for the continuing adventure of it, he realized as he quickly removed his robe and sandals. They became visible as he set them aside, so he hid them behind a golem. The more he learned of the child Nepe/Flach, the more he appreciated how difficult she/he would be for the Hectare to capture. This was surely the chief figure of the resistance. Yet Nepe acted as if she were only a part of a much larger plot, and it was that plot Lysander had to discover.
He stooped and put his hands to the edges of the blanket. It felt like warm plastic. He lifted, and it came up as a cohesive unit, not disintegrating like jelly. He draped it over his bare shoulders, and it formed a cloak extending down to his waist.
Then the cloak animated, drawing itself close to his body. It wrapped itself about his torso, and extended down, thinning, forming a snug wetsuit. It reached his genital region and tightened about it. Oddly, his member did not react; instead it became numb. There seemed to be an anesthetic quality to Nepe’s substance, so that wherever it touched him he felt comfortable and relaxed. That was fortunate, because otherwise the notion of being so completely enclosed by a female, even a juvenile one, could have caused an awkward reaction.
The material at his shoulder humped up and formed a hood. Then it closed over his face. He was able to breathe through his nose and his mouth, but his nostrils and lips were coated with the film of flesh. He felt activity at
the top and back of his head, and realized that the cap over his hair was growing hair of its own, extending down to his shoulders. Nepe was transforming his appearance!
There was a squeeze on his right arm. He looked at it, and saw that it was now visible: smooth and white, with silver-tinted nails. Then he remembered Nepe’s instructions: she put pressure on the side from which she wanted him to turn, guiding him in the manner of a horse. He turned, then walked forward as he felt guiding pressure at his backside.
At the side of the chamber a mirror hung on the wall. He went to it and looked at his reflection—and was amazed.
Not only was he visible now—he looked exactly like a beautiful woman! His hair was silvery, his eyes an echoing gray, long-lashed and large. His chest was a bosom, with extremely full and well-formed breasts. His waist was high and small, his hips wide, his legs well fleshed. There was no trace of his penis or testicles; he now had the dainty cleft of maidenhood. He was the image of a creature who, in other circumstances, he would have been glad to embrace.
Except that he was man-sized. As a woman, he was an Amazon. That would make others take unwanted notice.
His flesh-covering quivered. Then the image in the mirror fuzzed and re-formed—smaller. Nepe had done magic of some sort, and made him smaller—no, made him appear smaller, for only his reflection had diminished. That meant he would have to avoid contact with others as much as possible, to preserve the illusion.
Nepe—magic? No, that wasn’t the way it worked. She must have had a spell provided by Flach, maybe an amulet to be invoked. Amulets didn’t have to be like gems or dolls; one could be as small as a single hair, carried in her substance.
His respect for the child increased another notch. She had evidently prepared well for this mission of hers. If she was only a part of a larger plan of resistance, that plan must be formidable!
She guided him back to his original place, and to his clothing. He put on robe and sandals—and as he did so, they changed appearance and became feminine. He realized that he could have masqueraded as a woman much more simply by having his clothing changed and stuffed, but for some reason Nepe wanted him authentic through to the buff.