“Of course not. The sapho enhanced her memories and allowed her to talk about difficult events that she had repressed. It was therapeutic, I’m sure. You saw yourself that Anna is happier, talks more. Sapho helped unlock her mind.”
“Please don’t give her any more.” Gilbertus sat down at his desk, deciding to put the other sapho samples under tighter security to keep the robot away from them.
Erasmus said, “Why don’t you use the remaining samples on other students? Study the effects. The drug enhances focus, which would be beneficial to Mentats.”
“They can achieve that through the mental disciplines I teach.”
“But sapho could create an even more intense focus. You should experiment with it.”
“One day, perhaps. Right now it is critically important that I can give a favorable report about Anna’s improvement to Roderick and Salvador Corrino. I want her cured — I want her normal.” Gilbertus knew that if Anna Corrino’s mind could be repaired, his school would forever receive the blessing — and protection — of House Corrino.
The robot remained silent for a long moment, then said, “I know how to cure her, but I have no intention of doing so. If she were to become normal, she would be far less interesting to me. I enjoy her as she is.”
Gilbertus leaned closer to the exposed memory core. “But curing her has been our priority with her from the beginning.”
The simulated voice was erudite and distant, exactly as it had been when Erasmus conducted his experiments with hundreds of human slaves at a time. “Your priority, perhaps, my son — but I see her as my very special laboratory subject, a unique window into the human mind such as I’ve never had before. Since I still have no physical body, I am unable to perform other experiments to satisfy my curiosity. I am left to conduct experiments that are within my capabilities.”
Gilbertus flared his nostrils. “Anna is far more than a laboratory subject. We want her cured, and we need to keep her safe.”
“At one time you were just my laboratory subject, but look at what you have achieved, thanks to me.”
“Yes, and I could lose it all if we make a mistake and let them glimpse who we are. The Butlerians could easily retaliate against some imagined slight. Draigo Roget’s visit affected me deeply, and I … I have always known my position is incorrect.” He paused, feeling uncomfortable to admit that. “Manford isn’t convinced that I am his ally. And I worry constantly about Anna Corrino’s safety, for fear of provoking the wrath of her powerful brothers. This school has defenses, but not nearly enough to fend off an assault by Imperial military forces.”
“I have suggested many times that we should vanish and start a new life.” Erasmus paused. “And I would like to take Anna with us.”
“We’d be hunted all over the Imperium.”
Using his spy-eyes throughout the room, Erasmus assessed the flicker of emotions on Gilbertus’s face, how he frowned, how his eyes flicked back and forth. The robot drew an obvious conclusion. “You resent how much attention I devote to Anna Corrino.”
“That’s not true,” Gilbertus said, too quickly.
Erasmus manufactured a chuckle. “Your reflexive response indicates otherwise. I watch Anna, and I converse with her. I keep track of everything she does.”
“I am not jealous, Father. Merely viewing the larger picture. We have to—”
The memory core suddenly interrupted him, blaring his words loud enough to stress his urgency. “Anna Corrino is in need of rescue. Summon your most physically capable Mentat trainees — we must save her.”
Gilbertus erupted from his desk. “Rescue? What has she done?”
“She ventured out into the dangerous swamps, unchaperoned. She is all alone out there.” The robot’s voice sounded genuinely concerned.
“Why would she do that?” Frantic to get out into the hall, the Headmaster began to shut down the security systems that safeguarded his main office. “She could be killed!”
“It is consistent with her previous patterns of behavior. She knows that her fellow trainees test themselves in the swamps. Remember that Anna Corrino consumed poison at the Rossak School because other Sister trainees did so.” As Gilbertus rushed to hide the memory core in its cabinet, Erasmus said, “My spy-eyes are widely scattered out in the swamp, but I can still see her. She has made her way deep into the sangrove thickets. I should have been monitoring her more closely. Anna Corrino cannot possibly survive out there for long.”
“I’ll send rescue teams.” Gilbertus locked away the robot core, then burst out of his office, sounding the alarm.
THE SANGROVE BRANCHES were sharp, the curved roots like knobby knees, and the bark smooth and slippery, but Anna wove her way along like a human darning needle. It was challenging and gratifying. She didn’t miss a step.
Bugs swarmed around her, some biting, others just flying in her face. Subconsciously, she counted and categorized the insects; she watched their drunken paths in the air and computed imaginary flight patterns for them. The bugs dipped and dodged aimlessly.
She worked her way through the thickets, ducking under branches, parting hairy strands of moss that dangled from above. These swamps reminded her of the fogwood tree back at the palace, Anna’s beloved sanctuary — a place where only she could go. She used her mind as she touched the sangrove roots and trunks, but these swamp trees were deaf and stupid; they didn’t respond to her thoughts as the special fogwood did.
She made her way through the thick network of roots, carefully balancing above the standing water, memorizing each step she took as well as every false path and dead end. It was simple enough to assemble her explorations into a map in her mind. When she finished, she would retrace her way to the Mentat School, and from then on she could move without additional complications.
She slipped on a smear of moss, but caught herself and breathed in a careful rhythm to restore her calm. The water beneath the sangrove roots wasn’t deep, but she saw flashes of silver like swimming shards of glass. The channels were infested by razorjaws that would devour anything that fell into the water. When Anna’s movements disturbed a nest of amphibious hoppers that leaped for other branches, some of them plopped into the water — which became a boiling fury as razorjaws devoured them.
Another person might have been frightened by the danger, but Anna wasn’t worried. As long as she didn’t fall from the roots, she had nothing to fear; therefore, she decided not to fall.
The reassuring voice of her friend reappeared in her ear. “Anna, it’s time for you to return to the Mentat School.”
“Not yet. I’m still exploring.”
“I admire that you are a seeker of knowledge.” The voice sounded like Hirondo, but she had eventually realized it wasn’t truly him. This was her secret friend on Lampadas, someone much more faithful than Hirondo. “The Headmaster is concerned about you, Anna. The Mentats are searching now. They’re coming close — you’ll hear their voices soon. Respond to them. Help them find you.”
She listened. For a moment, she could discern nothing more than the thrum of insects and faint ripples in the water, but then she heard distant shouts as Mentats worked their way through the sangroves.
“They shouldn’t come out here,” she said. “It’s dangerous for them.”
“They believe it’s also dangerous for you.”
“Then tell them I’m all right,” she said.
The voice chuckled in a strange way. “I can’t talk to anyone else the way I talk with you. And I … worry about you being alone here.”
The shouts grew louder. Anna realized that the searchers were risking their lives to rescue her, even though she hadn’t asked them to. She didn’t want them to die. She let out a sigh. “You’re right. Roderick always told me to think of other people. I’m not a selfish person.”