Since the collapse of the Synchronized Empire, his overall purpose hadn’t changed, but because he was the last independent robot, his need to understand humanity had taken on a personal urgency.
After centuries of research with the vast resources available in the machine capital of Corrin, Erasmus once thought he had conducted every possible test. But after the barbaric execution of Gilbertus, he had finally experienced a true breakthrough.
With his perfect memory, he could replay the images of Anari Idaho’s brutal sword strike, how the blade sliced smoothly into Gilbertus’s bowed neck and decapitated him. The robot struggled each time he reviewed the images, and most of all he couldn’t comprehend the strange look of calmness on Gilbertus’s face in the final seconds, the beatific acceptance that his life would end.
What had he seen in those final moments? What had he known?
That mystery posed an even more compelling question, making Erasmus desperate to experience what was missing inside him … a level of nobility and perception that all humans possessed even without trying. Perhaps with a perfect biological body he would experience the secret by feeling his nerves, his heart, all his senses. As a sentient biological organism — or as close as he could get to becoming one — he would know what it was like for warm tears to stream down his fleshy cheeks. He would absorb existence … the mysteries of life … in the same way that even strange, confused Anna did.
And once he assessed his new sensations, he wondered if he would be able to detect something so esoteric as the soul. It seemed possible to him, and he intended to look for it with all due diligence.
27
I am driven by cold hatred, my emotions encased in ice.
The supply shipment to the Sisterhood school brought an unexpected message from Lankiveil, a panicked recording from Danvis. Valya was consumed with planning the long-term growth of the order, yet a part of her mind always remained focused on restoring her Great House to glory … and completing her revenge against Vorian Atreides.
But now the Atreides had come to her own family home! They’d gone there hunting for Tula, and threatened her parents, as well as Danvis! Shock and anger burned bright inside Valya.
Her sister had stayed on Lankiveil for a brief time before slipping away to Chusuk, as if running away from something. Maybe she had known Vorian Atreides would come after her. The Mother Superior’s operatives had discreetly followed Tula, continued to watch her, and they had secretly arrived on Chusuk as well. Valya was confident that the young woman would come to her senses eventually.
But now Vorian Atreides was after her! He and Orry’s brother Willem had shown bloody images of the revenge Tula had achieved for her family honor. Valya understood the implied threat — what would stop Vorian Atreides from murdering her family for revenge? Fortunately, Tula was long gone before they arrived, but the Atreides men had been in her family home!
In his message, Danvis sounded angry and frightened, but he clearly didn’t comprehend the magnitude of the threat Vorian posed. Her sister was unaware of the grave danger she was in on Chusuk, and Valya needed to help her. The Harkonnens had to protect their own. The Sisterhood had to protect its own. She would send more watchers to guard Tula.
As Valya felt a knot of tension tightening inside her, she needed physical exertion to burn off her restlessness. She hiked away from the main school complex and climbed the rugged escarpment of Laojin Cliff, from which old Raquella had threatened to leap if the feuding Sisters did not resolve their differences. Valya had an entirely different kind of resolution in mind now.
Her mind swirling, she made her way up the steep path to the rough training ground at the rocky summit. She could sense danger in the air as the dedicated women took risks.
On the summit a group of advanced Sisters in white robes — all elite daughters of Rossak who carried ancient Sorceress blood — sparred and tested themselves. Most of the Sorceresses had been killed in the long Jihad against the thinking machines, and more had died afterward when Emperor Salvador attacked the old Rossak School. The few remaining Sorceresses in front of her were special assets with strong mental powers, and they trained in ways more rigorous than other Sisters would dare attempt.
They practiced edgy, over-the-top fighting techniques developed long ago in the Rossak jungles, and Mother Superior Valya encouraged them to continue their training so they could instruct other women. In her vision for the Sisterhood, Valya wanted to synthesize many different combat methods into a new way of fighting that no one else could practice. Someday, Valya might find herself pitted against Vorian Atreides. Her lips curved into a grim, hard smile. She intended to be ready.
On the rugged ridge, she also saw three white-robed trainees stationed on ledges below the lip of the cliff. Sister Deborah, a lean and angular Sorceress, stood watching them. “Mother Superior, welcome. Have you come to participate in the exercises?”
“Not today. I just want to observe.” She was still preoccupied with Danvis’s report and hoped the sparring would settle her. Valya stepped close to the precipice to see the Sorceress trainees conducting their hazardous routines near the sheer drop-off. The three Sisters seemed to be showing off for her, engaging in dramatic leaps and practice attacks, landing on narrow ledges. They used nudges of telekinesis to balance themselves on the tiniest spaces.
“Impressive,” Valya said to Deborah, “but these feats are impractical for Acolytes who do not have the Sorceress bloodline or abilities.”
The white-robed woman smiled. “We have a less demanding practice ground on the other side of the slope. Follow me.”
Deborah led her along the crest trail to where a line of Acolytes waited at the verge, ready to tumble down a steep slope. Though it was not a sheer cliff, the practice slope still looked treacherous; this was not just a test of physical ability but agility, balance, and swift reflexes. Valya had undergone this herself, and expected nothing less from her initiates. If a young woman used her training, conditioning, and intelligence during the fall, she would reach the bottom with little or no injury. If not, she would be broken.…
The first two Acolytes had already plunged over the edge, rolling and springing back to balance on the ledges, dodging boulders, and continuing to the bottom as swiftly as they could. Somehow, both trainees managed to survive and even show grace, ultimately landing on their feet at the base of the sheer rock wall.
The third Acolyte, however, experienced trouble shortly after she tumbled over the verge. She made it neatly to the first ledge on the course, then lost her footing when a loose rock broke away. As the trainee tumbled out of control, a Sorceress observer sprang into the air and used telekinesis to cushion and guide her plunge. With her white robe and long, flowing hair, the Sorceress plucked the Acolyte off the slope just as she was about to smash into a jagged rock outcropping. Together, they reached the bottom, where the shaken and bruised Acolyte stood on unsteady feet.
Valya turned to observe the rest of the young women who were lined up for their tests. When she saw the next Acolyte hesitate before throwing herself over the edge, she snapped, “What are you worried about? Your enemy is fear, not the fall. I have ensured that someone will rescue you if you lose control.”