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| - Sybil and Leone were having breakfast in the dinning facilities of the Temple. For a long time they just ate and looked at each other. Leone wondered if he was in telepathic contact with Sybil. Was it possible that two people could naturally share the same telepathic "wavelength"? Bahney had learned form Frank that Sybil and Leone knew each other. Bahney entered the dinning room where Leone and Sybil were being served and watched them for a while. Since they seemed very quiet, Bahney felt free to stop by their table and said, "Good morning." Sybil looked up, struggled to remember the robot's name and smiled, "Oh, Bahney. Good morning." Sybil had briefly met Bahney when she arrived at the Temple. Leone still was not used to the color of the Temple robots. He was about to take a bite of a piece of coffee cake, but set it down again on his plate. He asked, "Will you join us?" It was unusual for a non-meal-serving robot to be in the dinning room and other people were staring at Bahney where she towered over the table of Sybil and Leone. Bahney sat down and took a less conspicuous seated position with her face turned away from most of those in the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt your meal, but I understand from what Frank told me that you two know each other." Bahney said to Leone, "I wondered if Sybil knows where Kalid is," but Bahney hoped that Sybil would respond and say what she knew of Kalid. Leone expected Sybil to reply, but she just pushed a large spoonful of chewy granola into her mouth and continued to look at Leone rather than the robot. Finally, after a long silence, Leone said, "Yes, Sybil and I are both from Sakkara. We actually met over thirty years ago, when we were still in school. It was very nice to discover that she is here....surely one of the strangest coincidences I might possibly imagine." Sybil took a swig of orange juice and said to Leone, "I'm thrilled to find you here. I was trying to learn the local Temple rituals, but frankly, they are very foreign to me...nothing like what I have practiced all my life on Sakkara. I only wish I had known the minute you arrived yesterday....my day could have been better spent helping you explore Earth history." Bahney realized that Sybil had avoided saying anything about Kalid, and from that silence the robot concluded that Sybil did know Kalid but did not want to say what she knew. Bahney reflected on her orders. She had been commanded to find out everything she could about Kalid, and there was much force behind that order. Still, Bahney knew from long experience that pushing humans for information was often not productive. It was often better to trick humans into revealing what they knew. The robot looked at Sybil and said, "Aristark was not interested in history, so he has gone to Mars. I wonder is Kalid is also more interested in government and current events rather than ancient history." Leone thought that Bahney's comment was odd. He was familiar how to interact with robots who were functioning as servants. Sakkara had some robots who functioned as user-friendly interfaces for databases, and it was expected that robots would just provide information as required by humans. Leone was puzzled by the Temple robots who seemed to have taken on administrative roles that should be for humans. If what Leone had heard was true, all of Esclangon was full of such robots. Of course, besides the green skin which seemed mandatory for all Temple robots, the librarian robots had seemed normal and had efficiently provided Leone with the information he wanted about Earth history. Somehow it seemed that Bahney had changed since the previous day when the robot had seemed very skeptical about the existence of Kalid. Now the robot seemed to be actively interested in finding Kalid. Was the machine just trying to make itself useful to Leone? Somehow Leone felt otherwise. For the first time in his life, Leone realized that he had taken a personal dislike towards a robot. Leone was mildly amused at his emotional response to this green skinned machine. He looked at the robot's ridiculously exaggerated and inappropriately exposed cleavage. He looked around at the human diners and saw that none were exposing their breasts to their friends, so doing so was not some aspect of local custom. The silence had grown uncomfortably long after Bahney's comment about Kalid's presumed interests. Still, Bahney felt compelled to keep trying to get information. Doubtless her masters from the Empire were listening to this conversation and they would be unhappy if she failed to make a good attempt to find what these two Sakkarans knew about Kalid. Bahney let her too-small silk robe fall even more open and tried to make her breasts sway and jiggle as she spoke to Leone. "I also learned from the librarians that you have an interest in ancient Egypt. You mentioned someone else to them, someone named 'Set'. In addition to Kalid, are you also trying to find this 'Set'? Leone wondered if Bahney was actively spying on him. He tried to remember mentioning Set to the librarian robots, but could not. Possibly it had come up in conversation the previous day, but if so it was just an off hand comment in the context of discussing Egyptian history and the historical 'Set' or 'Seth'. In the past week, since Leone had first learned of the mythical 'Set' of ancient Egypt he had mentioned to many people who knew the modern 'Set' of Sakkara that there was a 'Set' in Egyptian legends. Leone had a hard time remembering who all he had told that to. "I suppose I did mention yesterday that I know someone named 'Set' on Sakkara. In fact, that is the reason why I am here. In other words, were it not for Set, I would never have had a reason to come to this out-of-the-way star system." Leone felt slightly silly for trying to insult the robot by calling this an 'out-of-the-way star system', but he was now honestly irritated by this impertinent machine. Bahney asked, "Why would this 'Set of Sakkara' come to this star system?" Leone was surprised by that question and had not previously thought about the possibility that Set might come to this end-of-nowhere system. He chuckled in surprise and glanced at Sybil. She did not seem amused by the idea that Set might come to such a desolate star system. What had Kalid said to Sybil? "Someone followed Leone to this system. I'll be back when I figure out what is going on." Now Leone wondered if Set might have been following him. What had Sybil said last night? "Kalid thinks Set is responsible for the attack on Flammis." If Set had murdered all of Kalid's family, was it also possible that Set might come to this system? How had the Temple here on Esclangon been described? "....the public face of the Osiris Order. We are the designated target for all persecution against the Order." Leone wondered, was Kalid even now off in space and engaged in a mortal confrontation with Set? As Leone looked at Sybil, he imagined that such a question was what she was thinking about at that very moment. Again the silence had gone on too long. Leone looked back at the green machine and tried to think of something to say that would make it go away. Suddenly an idea from an ancient legend came to mind. Leone asked, "Maybe you can help me with a bit of ancient history...is it not the case that legend says that Set created the Moon?" Bahney was programmed to serve as an Empire spy within the Temple. Over the years Bahney had learned much about Temple lore. It was true that in some ancient legends Set created a moon by ripping out one eye of the sky god. In legend, Earth's sun was the other eye of the sky god. Bahney was having a hard time devising a logical response to Leone's question. According to legend Set did not create the moon...the moon pre-existed as an eye. But did the act of pulling out the eye transform the eye into a moon? Had a moon in fact existed before Set touched the eye? And clearly Leone was not actually asking about the legend....Leone was only making a metaphorical reference to the legend in the context of the 'Set of Sakkara'. So what was Leone trying to ask about the 'Set of Sakkara'? Bahney had been told by her human masters that Set was engaged in some kind of war against an important ally of the Empire, the Spaceship Guild. If the legendary 'Set' had fought the god of the sky and the 'Set of Sakkara' was at war with the Empire, then what was the modern equivalent of the moon? What would it mean for the 'Set of Sakkara' to rip out an eye of the Empire? Was the Spaceship Guild an eye of the Empire? Maybe the metaphorical equivalent of an eye was.... But Leone had asked the question of Sybil and did not expect the robot to reply. Leone now remembered his line of thought from just before falling asleep -for the second time- the night before. Sybil had come to his room and they had talked for hours. Finally Sybil fell asleep and Leone had picked her up and laid her on the sleep platform. He had then taken her chair and sat watching her sleep. She looked no different from the young woman he had first known thirty years before. Given medical technology, she could reasonably expect to retain the appearance of a young woman for another thirty years. Sitting there, watching Sybil sleep, his thoughts had drifted over many strange ideas as sleep approached again for himself. He thought of the fact that the fourth planet of this system was called 'Mars'. Some of the ancient legends said that the 'Mars' of Earth was not a star, but rather it was a planet that was seen from Earth by the naked eye as if it were a star. And Leone had thought about the fact that the third planet of this star system was a Green Planet. And there had been something else...just before he fell asleep...something else about the third planet... When Sybil heard Leone's question about Set and the creation of the Moon she started thinking about the Temple ceremonies she had witnessed during the past three days. In one of those ceremonies there was a re-enactment of the creation of the Moon. The sky god was depicted as striking the Earth and the Moon was formed as a fragment of the Earth. The Earth remained as the Water World and the Moon became the lesser light of the sky. Suddenly Sybil realized that the third planet of this star system was Earth. Everything she knew from Earth history, all of the legends, fit this star system. Leone was lost in thought and lost in Sybil's dark eyes. Suddenly her eyes grew very large just as he was thinking...something else about the third planet...a water world...suddenly Leone had a strange thought. Could the third planet of this system be Earth? Of course! It was exactly one astronomical unit from the star. That was the definition of an astronomical unit! And all the Earth legends said that Earth had a large airless Moon. Leone now recalled thinking about the moon of the third planet just before falling asleep. Just then one of the dinning hall servant robots came to the table. All of the manual labor robots who had nothing to do with Temple business did not have green skin. The food-serving robot asked Leone and Sybil, "May I bring you anything else?" Leone was still deep in thought, trying to remember what he had previously been thinking abut the Moon. Sybil was elated by her realization that the third planet was Earth, but she dared say nothing about her thoughts. Bahney was finally kicked out of her endless loop of trying to respond to Leone's metaphorical question. Bahney ordered the other robot, "Go away, you are interrupting our important conversation." The food-serving robot was programmed to always defer to Bahney and Frank model robots. Without another word, the food-serving robot retreated to the kitchen. Sybil was startled to see the Bahney robot dismiss the food-serving robot before either Leone or herself could state their needs. Sybil stood up and said to Leone, "I have nothing further to say to this robot except that I intend to file a complain about its rude behavior and call for it to be inactivated and scrapped." Leone was amused by Sybil's outburst since it so closely matched his own irrational emotional response to the machine's odd behavior. Leone stood up and took hold of Sybil's hand. With no further words they walked out of the dinning room.
- ..Sybil had been told that this was an ordinary Silver Tulipan Order Temple where initiates gathered for study and meditation. It was called "Kalid's Temple" because during his time as Grand Master, Kalid had gotten into the habit of using it as the place for meeting with all new initiates. Sybil wondered why Kalid would select this particular location as his favorite place on Sakkara. Sybil had to admit that the rural setting was calm and well suited for meditation, but the facilities, at least by outside appearances, seemed absolutely primitive. There was nothing but a dusty path leading from the landing field to the Temple. A temple resident approached the landing field and greeted Dorothy. They embraced each other and Dorothy introduced the man to Sybil as Matthew. He nodded politely to Sybil and led them towards the shelter of the Temple. Dorothy and Matthew knew each other from old times, back when Dorothy had just entered the Order. Matthew commented that Sybil had the same facial features as had her mother at that age and that they shared a common manner of walking that reminded Mathew of a light-footed cat. He made a joke about Kalid being an old dog and wondered if Sybil had any new tricks to teach Kalid...they all laughed and Sybil started to relax. Matthew spoke mostly to Dorothy but most of what he said was intended to diminish Sybil's visible tension; still, she could not stop biting her nails. The way along the path was a bit long and up hill. When they finally got to the old wooden building that was the Temple, Sybil was not so nervous. They entered the building and another Temple resident informed them, "Master Kalid will receive the girl as soon as he finishes his current appointment...it should not be long." Sybil knew that all the new initiates were brought here for Kalid's attention and she wondered if this might be a day during which several people like herself would be interviewed by the Master. Matthew went off and about his Temple duties, leaving Dorothy and Sybil sitting on wooden chairs and waiting for the time of Sybil's appointment to arrive. Dorothy noticed her daughter was a bit calmer now. Matthew had that gift; he was able to make people calm or happy. He was very kind and interesting man and Dorothy had known him before meeting her husband. Dorothy thought fondly of her affair with Matthew back when they had been students in the unnamed fifth circle. She had always remembered him with tenderness and maybe he had similar thoughts too, it seemed. Sybil observed the room; it was barely lit by a few candles perched on top of some high shelves. She was aware of a subtle scent that reminded her of medicinal herbs. Kalid was rumored to be some kind of shaman, and Sybil wondered if Kalid might have some appointments not for new initiates, but rather for the purpose of curing people of an illness with his own hands and his knowledge of medicine. Now that Sybil was relaxed she was impatient to meet someone as smart and wise as she had been told Kalid was. If even half the rumors were true....that he spoke more than four different languages, was a Grand Master, shaman, physical and spiritual yogi practitioner, Vichido master and who knows what else... then he was someone worth meeting, even if she was not going to be a priestess. Sybil yawned. If she could only have slept the night before things would be a bit easier now. Sybil had calmed down and now she felt a little weary. The conversation with Matthew had been very amusing, but now silence and boredom were draining her enthusiasm and strength. Sybil noticed that her mother seemed lost in thought. It was a shame her mother had lost every form of contact with people from the Order like Matthew, but that was the price she had paid to be allowed to exit the Order, marry Jeremy and have a child. If she did enter the Order, Sybil thought that it would be nice to talk to Matthew from time to time. Would she be able to see him again in the future if she was accepted? Just how many members of the Order were there anyhow? She had no idea. If she was accepted. All her thoughts came back to that one conditional. She told herself firmly that she should not worry more about that. Time would tell her destiny and besides, she would have her opportunity to meet Kalid the sage, no matter what the decision was. She would try to remember everything she saw during the meeting. She tried to escape from the swirl of her worries and come back to the peaceful reality of the here and now. She looked all around the room again and decided it was like a doctor's waiting room. Maybe patients from this district, possibly local residents like those farm workers she had seen always waited in this room before meeting with a Temple shaman. Maybe the low candle light of the room was meant to ease the thoughts and calm the spirit of patients and initiates alike. Now she was feeling as if she was going to sleep, entering a dozing state. Her lack of sleep was making her lose control of her body now. She told herself that she had to remain alert and she tried to think about what she would say to Kalid. However, she did not have a clue what to say; maybe she would just do as instructed by her mother....answer Kalid's questions while trying not to say anything silly. Suddenly a touch of her panic returned and she regained full alertness again, sensing a danger. What if Kalid tried to enter her mind? She was not prepared for that kind of invasion. But if that did happen, would she even notice it? Her head automatically turned to the right, a door was being opened. An old man was there in the doorway, thanking Kalid with many bows. Maybe he was a sick person who was receiving help with either a physical illness or even some tricky mental problem; the knowledge of a shaman was useful to help people handle stress, anxiety and other trouble caused by imbalance of the energy inside and outside the body. Some people thought that a shaman could re-open a way for the free circulation of energy, resulting in relief from illness. Sybil could hear Kalid's voice for the first time, calling out from the next room and asking who was next. It was her! Sybil entered the room where Kalid waited. She was unable to hide the fact that she was a bit scared....her hands were trembling. With one last glance at her mother, she closed the door. Now this was her time with Kalid and nobody else would hear their conversation. As instructed by Kalid she sat on a chair. "Welcome, young lady. I am Kalid and you are...?" "I am Sybil. I am here for you to choose my destiny." "Hehehe. No, my dear. I will not choose, I will just try to find out if it is good for you to follow the path of becoming a priestess in our Order. In the female part of our Order, I mean. As you know, the Silver Tulipan Order includes the Neofinetia Falcata Order, for females. I remember inviting your mother into the Circle. In the same way you would be a Priestess of Iris if we discover that it is your destiny to do that." "Oh. Well, I hope I receive that invitation." "I see you are very worried about that, and your mom too, eh? It seems you have been dreading this moment for quite some time. Did you sleep last night, young lady?" "How...? No, I could not. My mind was too busy thinking about this meeting." "You should not be afraid. Nothing wrong will happen. Just try to relax. Enough talk. Now, to help you relax, move over to that sofa and breathe thoroughly. Do one of the breathing exercises you learned in school." At first Sybil doubted that she would be able to relax, but then she thought, what could happen? She obeyed and went to the sofa. As soon as she started a controlled breathing technique the lights went off and she was left in the dark wondering why she had not even noticed how Kalid's room had been illuminated. Her eyes adapted to the dark and then she could see some faint colored lights moving towards her. Kalid explained that those were to activate her energy centers and open a way to see if her fate was inside the Order or not. Sybil worried that the lights would open her mind to him and she still did not like the idea of someone snooping in her memories. Kalid mentioned she should not be afraid, there would be no invasion of any kind and that she should concentrate on breathing. Slowly, she began relaxing. He told her that he would make a full system exploration of her energy, to see if it was flowing as it should be. He ordered her to close her eyes and imagine nothing, just put her mind in blank state, watching the blackness. With her eyelids closed, the dim lights did not reach her eyes, so it was not that hard to do. Sybil finally relaxed and Kalid approached her. She was very beautiful and similar to her mother, Kalid noticed. Trying not to lose concentration, he touched his talisman and then her forehead. "Do not be afraid, my dear. Trust me." Sybil thought that she should not trust anyone asking for trust. But Kalid's voice convinced her. Now Kalid tried to visualize her aura and all the energies around her. It seemed Sybil's mind was hypnotized now. He tried to focus and noticed that part of her mind did not like darkness and was trying to open her eyes. He told her not to do so because she would suffer a headache later and resumed his job. He could see the colors of her aura and tried to make sense of them. He could see her past and future illnesses and the weakness of the body in those places where the energy was not circulating efficiently. Now he entered a conscious REM state, in order to find out more. He would try to have remote access to her central nervous system. This was the part that required more concentration and skills. Kalid took a deep breath, prayed briefly and tried to enter her mind, in order to find out about her future. Kalid imagined a far place where he could study her mind like the terrain of a world. He saw himself there after entering the dream stage in a conscious way and remember what he was trying to achieve. He could see Sybil from far; she was running... away from him, apparently. Kalid tried to go after her but she always escaped. He had to find a way to attract her. Nothing he tried really seemed to work except for sheer persistence, as if she was getting tired of running. Now, finally he was nearer to her and was thinking whether to take the external appearance of her father, to gain her trust, but Kalid decided it would not be fair. That would just remind her of her suffering and sadness and would bring her mind back to a conscious state. So, he showed himself as he was, and some white and green glow could be seen around him. The green part was the healing energy he possessed at all times, ready to heal someone nearby. As soon as she saw him, she tried to walk away, but Kalid extended his hand and tried to calm her down. She decided she would stay there, maybe that was part of the meeting and maybe this was some test that had to be passed before entering the Order. She calmed down and said to herself that nothing evil could happen, Kalid was protecting her....although Kalid knew there could be trouble, in case some evil entity was near them and had noticed their sudden appearance. But all the Temple was shielded against those beings and there was no such problem right then. Kalid looked at Sybil's eyes, focusing on their green color, trying to mix his own color with hers. He looked right there, at the black center of her eyes and tried to enter her nervous system. At that moment, Sybil felt a strong headache and a sense of panic. Kalid immediately walked away and soon he was running. He felt as if some kind of force had struck him; he was still not sure if this had anything to do with Sybil or with another conscious entity in the dream realm, but he had felt this kind of mental assault before. He remembered he was in a created dream and that he could get out using a door he invented for that. He went there but remembered Sybil's mind was trapped in his dream. He could not abandon her that way, maybe her mind would never get to the real world again. That was a real danger in this kind of session. So, he went back again, recovering from his pain and looked at her again. He should have talked to her first, telling the way out, but he preferred to look at those eyes. When he did it, he felt instantly hypnotized by them, they filled his entire mind and pulled him in until the blackness in the center of her eyes was the only thing he could see. His mind told him that he was losing himself while trying to get inside Sybil's mind but then a small flicker of will allowed him remember why he was there and what he was trying to do, again. He decided they both had to flee, so he tried to send a telepathic message to Sybil; in that realm he could not talk anymore, for unknown reasons and he felt as if a door was closing on him. It was impossible! He did not know if Sybil received the message and now he felt repentance. He felt a sudden sadness that took control of his entire body, from his energy point up to his brain. He repented for what he had made... He immediately remembered his family which was no more. He had no family at all now, he was alone in this vast universe and did not know why. His family had been killed and now he remembered it all. He did not know how he could have forgotten that fact before. He forgot about Sybil and entered his own mind in order to explore his own suffering. He felt a sense of void, he did not want to keep on living anymore. It was a tragedy that could never be cured. His mind... he was losing it. His hope, all those things he ever cared for, even the Order... were not important at all at that moment. He could not save his relatives and now he would not even try to save his own mind. He thought of the possibility of losing his mind in a place like this, during a telepathy session. And he was not afraid of the possibility... Was he? Oh, no, he could really become mad if he did not come back fast. But why would he want to come back? Meanwhile, Sybil was escaping through the portal he had opened and her mind was trying to recover control of her body, outside. Kalid's mind was still trapped in there, crying over the death of the people he loved more... Nothing was worth it, he could just let himself sink in there and nobody would ever know or care. And now the thoughts about going mad came back again, this time making that fact true. His mind submerged itself in a kaleidoscope of weird thoughts and contradictory thinking that made him dizzy. He did not feel his imagined body now and his created dream had become a nightmare. Finally, he lost consciousness and entered the dream in a normal unconscious state. After some time, he could finally wake up and he found himself in his office. Sybil was there, also trying to wake up and they both struggled to recover from that dead-end dream experience he had placed their minds in. He concluded that when his mind entered the unconscious mode, his long years of mental training had made it possible for the unconscious foundations of his mind to order his body to wake up and then the soma had led the shattered fragments of his conscious to abandon the weird ideas from the dream. But now, he examined the path he had taken out of the dream state and remembered having a chain of interconnected dreams; in most of them Kalid had suffered many false awakenings. Now he confirmed this was reality. Somehow he had been able to save his own mind, but he could not feel any pride because all of the important work had been accomplished unconsciously. All his years of training had ingrained his unconscious mind with an advanced sense of self-preservation, apparently. Now he focused on Sybil. He called in two of the temple's monks who injected her with a special substance to help her mind come back more easily and finally she woke up, too. "What happened?" Sybil asked, when she regained consciousness. "I tried to escape, but you were there and you did not want to get out. You told me the way to get out of that dream of yours, but after some time your image got darker and darker. I called to you, but you never listened to me. I did not know what happened, the only thing I remember is some strong pain I felt in my head and then I was trying to escape. It was horrible! And you wanted to stay in there!" "Yes. It seems I imagined a powerful illusion that I believed afterward. I believed that my f... It does not matter now. The important thing is that you are safe now and I will make my decision." "Oh, no. I know what you will say to me." "What will I say to you?" "That I do not deserve to enter the Order." Sybil commented with sadness. "No! I already made my decision. Your destiny is to become a Priestess of Iris inside the Silver Tulipan Order." "What? You must be kidding." Kalid thought that that young lady was treating him as if they both were old friends. A little weird for that situation. Maybe because both of them were in danger, inside the dream... "Yes. You are now accepted inside the Silver Tulipan Order and will be able to enter the Fourth Circle as soon as your age permits. That is all." "Wow." Sybil literally jumped on the floor and then tried to embrace Kalid. Kalid hugged her and she felt very happy. "I never thought this would end up this way." Sybil thought. "Oh, and I apologize for being so emotive, it is just that this..." "Yes, it is very important for you and has been important for every member before entering. Congratulations. Now rest a few minutes while you recharge your energies in here, then you will be composed and able to exit and tell your mother about this." Sybil relaxed and fell asleep again for a few minutes. Kalid went outside and tried to relax. He decided not to tell anything to Dorothy yet, it should be her daughter who would share with her the important fact. Dorothy was waiting outside and tried to catch Kalid, but he went past her and directly to another room, to order his own thoughts. Soon Sybil was awake again. She could remember mostly everything that had happened and went towards Dorothy. "Mom... I was accepted inside the Order!" "What? Oh, my dear, just as I had thought! I am so proud of you." They hugged each other and Matthew appeared again and asked about Sybil's fate. He congratulated her. 108 ANE Sybil rose from her chair and stretched. It was now quite late and she was ready for bed. She left the study and walked down the hallway to her bedroom. The memory of that strange dream experience she had shared with Kalid and thinking of those old times made her feel stronger now, ready for this new time of uncertainty about the future. Somehow she sensed that Kalid's dream was linked to this current crisis with Set, but how?
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