Havoc dissolved the privacy sphere, and Oak returned to Opaline, smiling.
"A private protocol," Havoc said to the audience. "A valid concern I am addressing. We will proceed as planned." But privately he was in turmoil. If Oak had not changed the Prime Directive—and there was no doubt that this was the case—how was it that the machines had accepted Havoc's directive? For there was also no doubt that they had. Voila and Rafal had verified it.
Well, he had a wedding to perform. Oak and Opaline stood before him. He took their hands and put them together, the official handfasting. "You are now married," he said. He lifted their joined hands and kissed them. "Go forth and raise your four with our blessing." He smiled. "Now kiss each other."
They did, and there was more applause. Opaline's face was wet. She had had her doubts about this relationship, especially about her need to have four fourths, one by her father in law, but now she was completely satisfied to be married to Oak. He had more than proved himself.
They returned to the parents, who warmly hugged them. It was a genuinely happy occasion.
Havoc turned to Ennui. "Who is our second wedding couple?"
"Sphere and Red."
He thought he had misheard. "Question?"
"I introduced the controlling machine Sphere to the Red Glamor," Shee said. "So that she could help him search for the remnant Makers. They didn't find the remnant, but it seems that relationship worked out."
"But he's a machine!"
She eyed him. "So?"
He had to accept it. Sapient machines were now part of their culture. He turned to face the audience. "Sphere and Red."
The metal sphere rolled forward, with the Red Glamor beside him, in an elaborate wedding dress. He encountered the steps to the dais, and simply rolled up them. The two of them came to a stop before Havoc.
"I want to be sure this is not coercive," Havoc said. "Red can take care of herself, but is this your desire, Sphere?"
"Affirmation. I love her."
"But you love Gale and Shee."
"Both are taken."
"Red is a lusty, demanding creature who will work you mercilessly."
"Understanding. It will be my pleasure."
"When did you decide to marry her?"
"When she asked me, while we were on the mission."
"Before the machines agreed to serve the Glamors?"
"Agreement."
This was interesting. "You were an enemy supervisor, but you agreed to marry a Glamor?"
"The Glamors are not our enemies. We were always ready to serve them. Now they have asked."
"But you waged war against us!"
"Correction: you waged war against us. We wanted only to serve."
"To serve the Makers."
"The Glamors are akin to the Makers. We will serve both."
Havoc was beginning to catch on. "It isn't that Gale is beautiful, it's that she is a Glamor. Ditto for Shee. And for Red. You serve the one who wants to be served."
"Affirmation."
"And the same goes for the other machines?"
"For the other sentient sapient machines, affirmation."
"We didn't have to war against you, just to ask for your service?"
"Affirmation."
Havoc shook his head. "This will require some assimilation. But at the moment I have a wedding to perform. Manifest a hand."
Sphere did. Havoc took that hand and Red's hand, and put them together for the handfasting. "You are now married. Red won't be bearing any young, being long past that requirement. Kiss."
Red leaned over and kissed the top of the robot's dome. Then they departed the dais. There was a smattering of applause. The others were not absolutely sure this wasn't a joke.
Havoc was in mental turmoil. Shee, he thought. Why do you serve me? Because you were programmed to?
"No programming was necessary. I loved you from the time I learned of you.
Just like any other machine. And Ikon—
He serves Weft because she wishes him to.
But it was time for the next wedding. "Next?" he asked Ennui.
"Fifth and Flame," she answered promptly.
"Fifth and Flame," he repeated, remembering how Flame had backed off a controlling machine. Wherever Glamor had contacted machine, the machine had given way.
The two came to stand before him. Fifth was resplendent it a black suit matching his natural color. Flame was in her Amazon outfit, but had donned a veil in honor of the occasion, her concession to the expected dress.
Havoc knew that their history had been at times troubled, but this was not the occasion to rehearse it.
"Flame is my militant daughter," he said. "I love her and bless her happiness. Fifth is worthy. Give me your hands."
And so they were married. They kissed and departed the dais. Havoc elected not to notice the tears in Flame's eyes. Amazons did not cry.
Then came Ikon and Weft, another robot-human union. Havoc did not say it, of course, but one thing Red had accomplished by emulating Weft was the cauterizing of any illicit passion he might have had for his voluptuous daughter. He was glad to see her committed.
I read that, dad, she thought.
He ignored that and married them.
Next was Warp and Marionette. Then the weddings got interesting.
Voila married Rafal, the tentacular Glamor they had all come to recognize as second only to Voila in power.
Idyll had arranged a compatible spot environment for him so that he could attend personally, but he still required a tub.
Similarly, there was an environment for the couple from Lobster. Old-Tail married Click-Toe, Fifth's friend.
Indeed, Fifth and Flame were in the front row, applauding.
And the Ammonoid couple who had found employment aboard human ships, diverting the troops with marvelous color shows. Ammon Ium married Naughty Nautilus, twining tentacles for the handfasting.
Finally came the Twins, Warp and Marionette's friends. They were in human form for the occasion, two supremely handsome young men Pso and Osp, and two stunningly beautiful young women, Vra and Arv. When they kissed they seemed almost to overlap.
Maybe they were lucky there were no Makers getting married. That was another mystery that still nagged him.
The machines serving Glamors and the Makers who had become dying Dreamers.
And the revelation came. Havoc was almost lost with the wonder of it. Suddenly he had the answers.
Everything fit together at last.
"Are you all right, Havoc?" Ennui asked. "Shee has a copy of your speech if you need prompting."
"I won't be giving that speech," he said. Then he faced the audience. "I won't hold you long. I have a revelation to impart that should interest you."
They gazed at him, perhaps wondering whether he was about to belch. His reputation as the barbarian king had never quite faded.
"We have just fought a war we didn't need to," Havoc said. "Because we didn't know what we needed to do. First, a bit of background. The machines have been expanding, seeming to be on a mission to destroy all living cultures in the galaxy. Approximately one third of the galaxy has already been destroyed in this manner. What we did not know at first was that they were actually looking for an escaped contingent of the species that made them, the Makers. The machines' Prime Directive is to serve every Maker, and as long as some Makers remain unserved, the machines had to search for them.
"But it seemed this contingent of Makers did not want to be served. They were hiding, and they were very good at it. So to locate them the machines found it necessary to conquer, catalog, and understand every living culture they encountered. To be sure they were not hiding the Makers, or perhaps actually being the Makers in disguise. Once a culture was determined not to be the Makers, it was surplus and was destroyed. Our planet of Charm was studied and cataloged in a number of ways, such as by the seeded synthetic fifths, the Challenges planet, the memory evocation and listing, and destined for destruction because it is evident humans are not the missing Makers. The machines had considerable respect for the abilities of the Makers, and knew they could hide with phenomenal cleverness, so they had to verify each culture excruciatingly carefully. I think only when they got a sampling of humans on their own crafted Challenges planet could they inspect them well enough to eliminate them as a prospect. Because the machines are a type 2.5 level culture, and no living culture other than the Makers matched that, others were not able to effectively repel the dreadful program."