"Concern," she said.
"Question?"
"When this is done, I will need to marry and bear my four. But the only non-family man I am close to is homosexual."
"Caveat," he said, remembering the battle of Earth five years before.
"No man is my match. I dread the occasion. Advice?"
"Inadequacy!" he protested, amazed that she would even broach this subject with him. "I would not presume."
"Presume." It was a directive.
"One of the human male Glamors? Black, Green?"
"Negation. Glamors get bored with Glamors. The only Glamor couple is Havoc and Gale, and they were in love long before becoming Glamors."
"Maybe a mock marriage, for form, and you both seek love elsewhere? This is known."
"I want true love."
"Voila, you have so much power, any man other than a Glamor will be in awe of you. Surely unable to truly love you. You seem to have little choice."
"You?"
He experienced a chill. "You frighten me. I have been with Gale, Flame, and Red, and in my fashion felt their power. They are like Vivid, bright hot stars. Yours is of another magnitude. Being with you is like floating on the event horizon of Void." Then he realized that he had spoken too candidly. "Apology. Retraction."
"Negation. You have answered me. This is my problem. No man truly wishes to be with me other than professionally. I understand their reluctance. I don't want to be with them either, no affront intended."
"Concurrence. I have no useful answer for you."
An alien couple approached. These vaguely resembled nests of worms on sticklike feet.
"Pleasant occasion," one said.
"Delightful," Voila agreed.
"We trust you are satisfactory."
"We are excellent. Appreciation."
The aliens moved on.
"Purpose?" Fifth asked.
"Explanation: there are representatives of many interstellar cultures. Each has its own environment, as do we, so that we can coexist in appearance. We are not actually in a common ballroom; we are in our own isolated chamber, as are the others. Were the walls to break or leak, the alien atmosphere, gravity, and temperatures would be lethal. We interact by having the chambers align with each other, and our communications are translated. So we do not touch each other, but we exchange amenities. No business is transacted; it is purely social. That couple was the host; they maintain this facility."
"Interest!"
"We are new to this society. We have signaled our desire to participate. Socially."
He was silent. Social, hell! This was an organization of cultures opposing the onslaught of the machines. Because machine spies could be among them, nothing of strategic substance was discussed. But Voila had just made plain the human support for the effort. That had to count for a lot, because she was the machines' number one recruitment target.
The other living cultures desperately needed her on their side.
Voila touched his hand, nodding.
They danced again, and for that time he almost was able to forget that she was vastly other than the girl she seemed. But when they sat again—this was evidently a long stop—he couldn't suppress his curiosity longer. "Question."
"Speak."
"Why do you even bother with me? I am nothing."
"I love my sister."
And Flame had asked her to do this. But the test of his love for Flame could have been handled by another Glamor. "And?"
"And it is difficult for me to touch bases with reality. I am isolated by my nature, associating largely with Glamors and figures of power. I want to know how to be ordinary. You are helping me."
That perhaps made sense. But it still wasn't enough. "And?"
"And you are a nexus."
"Question?"
"The building contest with the machines is huge. They are spreading across the galaxy, destroying everything else. They see the far future. We see the near future. There are certain foci, or nexii, which are times, places, people, or situations where the future paths are channeled and the near connects to the far. The side that best understands and manages those foci will win. The coming space battle is a nexus. Shee Robot is a nexus. Opaline the village girl is a nexus." She paused. "Aside: Two months hence, when you decide to see my mother, go to intercept Opaline and travel with her. She will be going to see my father, so it will be mutually convenient."
"Confusion."
She ignored that. "I am a nexus. And you are a nexus. A vital one."
"Incredulity!"
"We do not know in what manner, but it makes you a person of interest. We need to fathom what is special about you, and how you relate."
"So you are studying me," he said, assimilating this.
"Confirmation. When paths converge, I must study them."
He spread his hands. "I know nothing of this."
"Understanding. There is nothing relevant in your mind."
"Realization!" he exclaimed. "This is why Flame wants me studied."
"Affirmation. She loves you, but she can't commit while there is this mystery about you. Perhaps it is an innocent anomaly"
"Hope."
She touched his hand again. "Concurrence."
Then they were at another site. They had moved again. This one seemed to be a warm subterranean cave. "We have half an hour here," Voila said. "Do you wish sex?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Yes, on this occasion."
"Is there reason, one way or another?"
"We are committed to have it at least fifteen times in the course of the month. After that number there will be no need for further such effort."
"You make it so appealing!"
"Apology. I am accustomed to direct statements."
"Needless. I should not have asked."
She smiled. "I will try to be more diplomatic next time."
"Question: can we make it optional? I mean, maybe get close and see whether desire arises?"
"Question?"
"To make it seem more like love. I am supposed to try to really love other women, not just have sex with them. We both know we will never be a true couple, but if we could pretend, it might be nicer."
"Sense." She took his hands and drew him close. "Fifth, I do like you." She kissed him.
Was she acting? Did it matter? "And I like you." He enfolded her.
They kissed for some time. It did not lead to sex, but it was increasingly pleasant. He knew her nature, as he had known Red's, but his feeling for her was growing.
"Question," she asked. "Do you really prefer kissing to sex?"
"Yes, on this occasion," he said, smiling.
"Even though you know my romantic interest is mostly pretense?"
"It is less obvious than your pretense of sexual interest."
She laughed. "But the pretense is diminishing." She took his hand, and they moved again.
Fifth lost track of the times they changed venue, but Voila's romantic and sexual interest steadily increased. She was getting the part down pat.
Then they were in a flooded colonnade within a rocky landscape. Voila sat on a rock, doffed her slippers, and dangled her feet in the water. In a moment there was a stirring, and an orange tentacle emerged from the water. She lifted one foot and touched the tip.
"Voila," she said.
There was a rumble. "Rafal," the nearest column replied. It was evidently a translator, though it wasn't clear to Fifth how it knew Voila's language when this was her first visit here. Oh—the Coalition would have circulated the information.
"I know you, Rafal."
"I know you, Voila."
"I am the Glamor of Amoeba."
"I am the Glamor of Plankton."
"Our constituencies overlap."
"We are compatible."
"With me is Fifth, mortal, bearing my ikon."
"Accepted. My ikon is locked at the bottom of the sea."
Fifth realized that this was the entity she was traveling to see. The #2 prospect for machine recruitment. This was a historic meeting. He sat back and watched, knowing that his participation was irrelevant.