Robot Adept

“No. The imbalance exists. It must be redressed before the connection is severed, or mischief to both frames can result.”

“So thou dost seek to correct it, then cut the line?”

“That would be the sensible thing to do.”

“And thou dost expect Mach and me to help thee cut us off from our loves?”

This time the Oracle paused before answering. “I perceive that that could be awkward.”

“Awkward, hell, thou stinking golem thing! It be unacceptable.”

The Oracle was unmoved by his invective. “What would you find acceptable?”

“Do thou find a way to fix the imbalance and preserve contact between the frames, that I may remain with Agape and Mach with Fleta.”

“This may be a difficult thing to accomplish.”

“An thou dost wish to work with me longer, needs must thou bide by it.”

“As I understand it, the frames must either be completely separated, with no interaction between them, or completely overlapped, so that any imbalance corrects instantly. You evidently prefer the latter course.”

“Aye,” Bane agreed grimly.

“Since I need your active cooperation, I am constrained to accede to your terms.”

“An thou find a way to work without my cooperation, thou dost mean to renege?”

“I am reluctant to be bound to a fixed course in a changing situation.”

“Then work without me, machine!” Bane said, and faced the exit.

“But without the knowledge and training I offer, you will most certainly lose your contest with Mach.”

“And with what result?” Bane retorted rhetorically. “We keep our loves!”

“Perhaps it is unrealistic to expect mature behavior from juveniles.”

“Aye, thou calculating device!”

“Perhaps a compromise?”

Bane had learned the advantage of dealing. “Make thine offer.”

“I am supposed to train you for your encounter with Mach. Because he is long conversant with the Game procedures to be employed, and has trained in many of the games, you are at a severe disadvantage. I can at one stroke restore parity. I will do this for you now, if you will accede to a partial commitment on the handling of the frames.”

Bane considered. He would do his side little good if he went into the contest unprepared and lost badly. Despite his angry words, he did intend to do his best for his father. He did need the Oracle. “In what manner partial?”

“I will make my primary effort the unification of the frames. Only if that proves to be impossible will I seek to separate them completely.”

“Unification—”

“Means that you would be able to join Agape physically—in your own body, and Mach would join Fleta in his own body.”

That seemed so good as to be suspicious. In a moment Bane saw the flaw. “But with unification, all alternate selves would unite. Stile and Blue would be but one person, and Mach and me. That be no solution!”

“I think not. You have had time to develop separate identities despite your initial cloning. Identical twins are the parts of a single person, but their lives make them separate. In addition, there are formidable distinctions between the bodies: Mach’s is machine, while yours is flesh; Stile’s is golem, while Blue’s is flesh. I doubt there would be mergence of that nature, this time, though there could certainly be formidable disruptions as individuals are replaced by pairs of selves in a common framework. This is why I regard this as the less desirable alternative. Nevertheless—”

“Agreed,” Bane said quickly. He was ready to handle the awkwardness of individual duplication, for the sake of interacting with Agape in his own, living body.

“Then restore the connection, and I will activate Mach’s experience.”

“Wait. I want to know exactly how thou dost mean to make me equal to Mach, in an instant.”

“You occupy his body. Your personality has taken over his general functions, but does not invoke his total experience. I shall activate the remaining circuits, that contain his complete knowledge of Proton and the Game, and his expertise as a player. You will then be able to utilize any or all of it at will.”

Something nagged at him. In a moment he realized what it was. “But an thou restore the whole of Mach, then will not I be Mach, not Bane?”

“I can alleviate any such effect by excluding the region that establishes your personal identity. Your consciousness is largely random-access memory, evoked from a file that does not exist in this host: your living body in Phaze. Similarly, your personality and awareness and memories are damped out by Mach’s awareness. It is fortunate that your two systems are compatible—but perhaps this is not coincidence, because of the parallelism of the frames.”

Bane considered. “Very well—but do thou do it carefully. Methinks there be treachery in the likes of this.” He plugged the cable back into his ear.

There was a soundless click. Nothing obvious changed, but his awareness of his situation seemed to clarify. He knew exactly where he was, and how to get anywhere else.

“That be it?” he asked.

“Try remembering Mach’s Game experience,” the Oracle suggested.