Roderick scowled. “I can deal with the fanatics as soon as Venport is neutralized … but I fear something terrible has happened to General Roon’s strike force.” He slammed a fist down on the arm of the throne. “I had expected this to be over by now.”
Fielle responded with an odd, knowing smile. “There may be another way to damage Directeur Venport, without a large military investment.” He looked at her, waiting for her to speak. “As I mentioned earlier, spice is his real vulnerability, Sire. He needs it not only for his commercial enterprises, but for the creation and sustenance of his Navigators. He continues his operations on Arrakis with impunity, even though you have an Imperial force there.”
“That force is too small to be effective, and I am not in a position to prosecute a full-scale war on Arrakis.” Especially if Roon’s strike force is gone. “I’d like to know what’s really happening there, though. If Venport is expending all his resources to defend Kolhar, then does he have any vulnerabilities on Arrakis?” He feared, though, that the opposite was more likely the case — that Venport could divert his own military might and overthrow the Imperial forces. Spice, and that damned desert planet, had been at the root of this whole mess.
“Arrakis has as many opportunities as vulnerabilities, Sire. I may have suggestions that could be useful.” Fielle gave him another peculiar, mysterious smile. “With your permission, let me look into the matter before giving you a firm recommendation. Never underestimate the eyes of the Sisterhood.” The woman bowed and left the throne room.
18
The mind of a Mentat is no trivial thing.
It can become a deadly weapon.
Erasmus noted a metallic ring to his voice as it emanated from the speakers on a custom tray attached to his memory core. “Be careful not to jostle me.” The system obviously needed adjusting.
Dutifully, Anna carried his gelsphere through the large cymek assembly hangar. His memory core also had a new sensory module developed by Dr. Danebh and inspired by the work of Ptolemy, which could supposedly simulate all five human senses, though it was a poor substitute, and not at all the same as having his own body. Erasmus had been detached, inefficient, and helpless for too long.
At first, Danebh’s new sensory module had worked passably well, but the distortions and exaggerated responses had grown progressively worse over the past several days. Now, each jarring move sent a resonating feedback of signals into his core.
Anna sounded guilty. “I am so sorry. I don’t mean to hurt you.”
“Of course you don’t,” he replied, then added, “I appreciate your efforts.” The words had a soothing effect on her. He had become adept at intercepting potential emotional crises.
“What else can I do, Erasmus? I want to help.”
He had studied this young woman enough to know that she needed to help him, needed to be with him. Their relationship had come to define her existence. At first the idea had been interesting and gratifying, exactly as he had programmed her to be, but now it had become more of a challenge. He had made Anna this way, out of the wreckage of her mind, but he now realized he would have found an independent personality to be far more interesting. “Just locate Administrator Noffe so I can discuss my needs with him. Then we will go to my own laboratory, where conditions are better.”
Danebh had designed the sensory module to keep Erasmus satisfied so that he would continue to provide the Denali researchers with exhaustive information. The robot had intended to do so in any case, to help destroy the Butlerian fanatics who had killed Gilbertus, but he did not mind bargaining for something he wanted.
“This new module is inferior to anything that was available to me on Corrin. In particular, the simulated olfactory senses are extreme and distracting.” What he really wanted was a mobile and efficient new body. Perhaps even a biological one. And now it was time to ask.
Anna wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like the smells on Denali either. This building is not as well sealed as others. Stink leaks in from the outside air.”
She was so easily distractible. He reminded her of her current task. “Have you found Administrator Noffe yet, Anna? It is important to me.”
She turned around, searching among the busy scientists working on the machine walkers that were being readied for the major Lampadas strike. In the high bay, a matrix of elevated walkways granted workers access to the towering machines. Finally, she pointed to where technicians were accessing the connections inside an open armored fighting body.
A smaller, dronelike walker carried Administrator Noffe’s brain canister so that he could observe the operations. The Tlulaxa Dr. Danebh worked with him, tinkering with a walker’s thoughtrode connections.
“Take me up there,” Erasmus said. “The administrator can make the decision, and Danebh can advise.”
Carrying the memory core on a special detachable tray, Anna boarded a lift platform that raised her to the secondary catwalk, where Danebh and Noffe were discussing adjustments to the thoughtrode linkages. Danebh looked up, and Noffe’s cymek form swiveled to focus on them.
Erasmus said without preamble, “My sensory module suffers from flares, distortions, and feedback. The distractions make it difficult for me to ponder weapons concepts from the Synchronized Empire.”
Noffe said, “Your information has already been valuable. We have sent your designs back to Kolhar for large-scale manufacturing.”
“And I intend to provide even better information. I have many centuries of memories to impart, but my present form is no longer viable for optimal functionality. My memory core has been vulnerable for far too long. Therefore, I require something more appropriate from you — to benefit all of us.”
Danebh looked at the exposed gelsphere and the array of enhanced sensors. “I can make some adjustments and build an armored case around your core.”
“No need for that, Erasmus,” Anna interjected. “I’ll protect you.”
“That is not good enough! I have been a vulnerable gelsphere for eight decades, listening to one excuse after another. If I am to continue my work, I require a physical form. Surely with all the technology available on Denali, you can provide me with a useful body.”
“I would like Erasmus to have a body,” Anna added with building excitement. “I would like that very much.”
Erasmus ignored her, as did Noffe and Danebh. The cymek administrator answered in his artificial voice, “I know the simulated sensations you have are far from adequate. Perhaps we could find a standard robot body, a combat mek or worker mek to accommodate your memory core. In that form, you would be more independent and able to conduct research much more efficiently.”
“That would be an improvement, but still unsatisfactory.” Erasmus remembered when Gilbertus had given him a cumbersome old fighting robot to test, and Erasmus had been so ecstatic about the sensations that he’d ruined the machine body in the Lampadas swamps. “I prefer something more sophisticated than a robot body. I am entitled to it.” He directed his words to Dr. Danebh. “My primary body on Corrin was a marvelous flowmetal construction capable of expressions, full movement, sensitive responses to external stimuli. It would be too great a challenge to re-create something similar here. However, I have observed Tlulaxa cloning abilities. Considering the limitations, a biological tank-grown body would be my preference — a human form at long last.”