Robot Adept

She whirled to face it. There he was, back in his normal guise. Still, it was only a picture, and she was coming to distrust those. “How do I know—”

He smiled. “When we first met, in Phaze, I was rescued from the swamp by a unicorn. She took me to a dead volcano crater, where I encountered a lovely young woman. It took me some time to realize that the two were the same, and that I was in love with an animal. But of course I was only a machine myself.” He eyed her body. “It is almost as difficult to realize now that this stranger is that same bubbly nymph whose foal I mean to sire, when we return to Phaze.”

It was Mach, all right! “I qualified for the Tourney!” she exclaimed gladly.

“I know. So you are being confined until it starts, so that no one can get at you. Now you can revert to your own girlform, and I will join you soon.”

“They are not watching you?”

“They are watching me, but I am not in danger. They lost their chance when they lost you.”

“Then we need fear them no longer?”

He grimaced. “Not so. They have our cooperation, in Phaze; we resist them here only because we are standing in lieu of Bane and Agape. Similarly Bane and Agape in Phaze may have a different status; the Adverse Adepts may be trying to capture them and convert them now. We must preserve their independence, by protecting yours. It’s a funny situation, but this is the way I interpret the truce. In Proton we are against the Citizens, until the situation changes, if it does.”

“I wish we were against the Adverse Adepts, too,” she said.

“Had Bane’s folks only been able to accept our love—”

“They want an heir,” she said.

“And they shall have it!” he said. “I have been thinking about that, and researching genetics here in Proton. I believe the Book of Spells now in the Red Adept’s possession will have information on the magical meshing of species, and I am going to research there the moment I return.”

“Then willst thou need not to support the Adverse Adepts!” she exclaimed, lapsing into her natural dialect.

“That does not follow. We made a deal, and I must deliver what I promised, unless the truce is modified. But perhaps the objectives of Stile and the Adepts are not mutually exclusive. If we could somehow forge a compromise—”

“A compromise!” she repeated. “A mating of their differing desires!”

“Yes. Therein lies our true hope. Now you get some rest; I have further research to do before I join you.”

“Do thy research!” she exclaimed, gladly. “An it mean our foal—”

“This is one advantage of exchanging between the frames,” he said. “I have the advantage of pursuing both lines of research. If I can’t see it through, I doubt anyone else can.”

Then he faded out, and she, relieved, melted onto the bed and slept, feeling exhilarated.

There were no challenges in the two days. Mach joined her, and now they were free of the need to hide or to conceal their identities; they had found temporary sanctuary here at the Game Annex. Now, for the first time, they were able to make love in these other bodies.

Then she learned that Mach had not really been talking to her, before their physical reunion. He had set up what he called a responsive emulation. “Damn thee!” she cried, furious at this deception. It had fooled her completely.

“But I could not approach you,” he protested. “It would have been dangerous for you. Then I had some trouble, so I went to Moeba.”

Curiosity caused her to rein her fury for the moment. “Agape’s planet? What did you there?” And by the time he explained, she had decided to forgive him.

“So when Bane returns, my research may help him,” he concluded.

“I like Phaze better,” Fleta said.

“So do I,” he agreed. Then he looked at her, becoming grave. “We have been assuming that we will return together. But if you wash out of the Tourney, and go to Moeba, will exchange be possible for you?”

She was stricken. “If I be not with thee, and they two together, how can we exchange?”

“I think we cannot. Therefore we must be sure that all four are together. If not, we must not exchange.”

“We cannot search for them, as we did in Phaze,” she said. “Needs must I remain in the Annex.”

“Yes, they must come to us. But when Bane contacts me, I will make this clear.”

“Aye.” She pondered a moment more. “Meanwhile, methinks I had best stay here until then. I must win my games.”

“Fleta, you are not trained in the games! You were lucky, and your opponents were selected, for the qualifying ladder. The Tourney is different; you will be up against experienced players, each of whom is desperate to win.”

“And I lose thee, and Phaze, if I lose. I too be desperate to win,” she said quietly.

“I’d better drill you in strategy.”

“Aye.”

So for most of their waking time, he indoctrinated her in the ways of the Tourney, trying to prepare her for a competent performance. The object was not to win the Tourney and become a Citizen, but to remain uneliminated long enough for Bane and Agape to come and make the exchange.