They made good progress. Not only did the scenery slowly change as they crossed it, as would be the case in any normal world, its nature changed. Trees were in different spots in each reality, but of the same type—until he saw that their species were shifting. Their leaves had been green, but they became blue. They had been of average tree height; they became taller and thinner. Then their leaves turned green again, but their height continued to grow.
Every so often there was a gap. A Mode without trees. Or with twisted and dead trees. Then the regular Modes would resume. What had happened to those treeless lands?
For a while they found themselves in jungle, and had to retreat, because Burgess couldn’t navigate it. They retreated, and moved sideways along a suitable Mode, then tried again, and managed to skirt the jungle. This, too, was a fairly abrupt change, as if a few Modes had richer plant life than their neighbors. What trace difference in their nature accounted for so large a difference in their plants?
Sometimes there were creatures. They were usually in the distance, but sometimes they were close. Once there was a suckworm, but it was much smaller than the ones in Shale, and could not harm them. This must be near the edge of their range. Any creatures appeared suddenly when the boundary was crossed, and disappeared as suddenly when the next boundary was crossed.
Then there was a halt. Not an alarm; it was just that when he crossed the boundary, the others were standing there waiting for him. Colene crossed after him, and they stood aligned sideways instead of lengthwise.
The three humans put hands on Burgess’ contact points, so that he could be completely current. “What’s up, beardface?” Colene asked Darius brightly.
“Sign of civilization,” he said.
Burgess felt the thrill of alarm that went through the others. He discovered from their surrounding thoughts that civilization meant that there was an organized society, and that could be dangerous. They preferred to travel through wild regions, because animals were less likely to bother them.
In this case the sign was a pit. It wasn’t wide or deep, so it would be easy to circle around it and proceed, but Darius was concerned that it was artificial, which meant that someone was digging it. He didn’t want to encounter such a person, if he could avoid it. Though nothing from a spot Mode could be taken across the Mode boundaries, any harm they suffered in one would remain with them. Of course Nona had the magic of healing, their thoughts clarified, but it was better not to have to use that.
The sensory line they were following indicated that they were on the route they wanted; if they deviated from it too far, it would be harder to follow. Burgess was learning to pick up the faint rightness of the direction; it indicated where there was another anchor. He could find his way back to his own anchor by tuning in on this, or forward to another anchor. It seemed that each anchor had its ambience extending across the Modes of the Virtual Mode, making it possible to travel without getting lost.
They decided to proceed with caution. Instead of maintaining a walking or floating pace, they went in what Colene termed jerks. Darius stepped across, and Seqiro waited a moment before following. That gave Darius the chance to change his mind and step back if he deemed it wise, without banging into the one behind.
They did go around the pit. It would have given Burgess trouble, though he could have gotten out of it. It was not the kind made by floaters. They seemed to be beyond the floater Modes now. Burgess felt a peculiar emotion as he realized that; now he was truly in an alien realm.
There were increasing signs of civilization as they continued. Then Nona called a conference. “This is near Julia! My Mode,” she said. “The hills are starting to assume fractal form.”
“You’re right!” Colene exclaimed. “It’s your reality we’re coming to. But do we want to stop there?”
“No,” Nona said. “They will want me to be queen.”
“And you’d still rather be hiking through nowhere with us, than queen at home?”
“Yes.” There was no doubt in Nona’s mind; the certainty came to them all.
“I suppose it’s not surprising,” Colene said. “Julia was the closest Mode to Provos’ Mode, when she let go her anchor. So maybe the anchors are in the same order. Which means the next one beyond that will be Darius’ anchor. Then—” But she did not finish either word or thought.
“Then you and Darius get off,” Nona said.
“Yeah. But what about you? When we started this, you and Burgess weren’t along. In fact, Seqiro wasn’t along. So—” Again her thought was incomplete.
“I want to explore the Virtual Mode,” Nona said. “Since my magic works on it, I feel reasonably safe. I would be satisfied to travel with Seqiro and Burgess, if they were interested.”
Colene’s shock of concern was intense. “Seqiro! How could I live without you?”
“You will have some decisions to make, Colene,” Darius said. “You know that it is no perfect life I can offer you in my Mode. I love you, but if I knew that you would be happier elsewhere with Seqiro—”
“I think I would die without you, Darius,” she said seriously. “And without you, Seqiro. But unless the others want to get off at the same anchor Mode—”
Now the horse spoke, without making any sound. I wish to remain with you, Colene. And with you, Nona. It is my nature to desire the company of human girls.
Nona smiled sadly. “It might be best if Burgess and I wanted to join you in that Mode. But if I settle down, I should do it in my own Mode. Until then, I hope to remain on the Virtual Mode. How do you feel, Burgess?”
This was a surprising and confusing question. Originally it had seemed that the four creatures were a unified hive, but now he understood that they were separate individuals, and that this group was not permanent. That made it difficult, because he needed a hive. A hive of two creatures was too small to be viable.
“Oh, that’s not a problem,” Colene said. “Whenever someone vacates an anchor, a new anchor appears, with a new anchor person. Just as you did. So there’ll always be five folk in the group, as long as this Virtual Mode exists. But look, people: here we’re off on a discussion, and we really don’t need it now. We can make our decisions when we get to Darius’ Mode. Maybe we’ll work something out by then. Right now we know we’re passing the Julia Mode, and we don’t want to stop there, so we’ll just sashay on by, and Nona’s our guide. We can pick up speed, now, because Nona’ll know when there’s danger. So let’s put her in front and move on.”
Colene had exercised her leadership again. Nona exchanged places with Darius, and they proceeded at their full walking velocity. The Modes continued to vary, the configuration of trees and grass constantly shifting. Sometimes they found themselves in the midst of rain, and then as suddenly it would be sunny again. But it was always day, and the same time of day, and the landscape shifted only slightly with each Mode, if at all. They chose a route which enabled Burgess to float across fairly level terrain, traveling, as Colene put it, along a contour. They discovered that it was possible for one of them to push him, on slopes, so that he could ascend, and he could slow his descent by diminishing his air so that his canopy dragged slightly. He was keeping the pace satisfactorily.
Until they came to a wall. It angled across their route, evidently artificial. It was twice the height of a man, and had bits of sharp stone embedded in its hard surface. They avoided it by moving to the side, where it cut off. It looked solid, extending all across the hill they were on and the gentle valley beyond, but vanished when they crossed the Mode’s boundary. Those boundaries made even the most formidable barriers easy to pass.