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"Hear me!" he said "What you fear is not what you fear"

Leto liked the sound of that Sufficiently portentous for any Oracle Anteac and Luyseyal stared up at him, dutiful supplicants Behind them, an acolyte cleared her throat

That one will be identified and repriht

Anteac had now had sufficient time to ruminate on Leto&039;s words She said: "An obscure truth is not the truth"

"But I have directed your attention correctly," Leto said

"Are you telling us not to fear the machine?" Luyseyal asked

"You have the power of reason," he said "Why co to me?"

"But we do not have your powers," Anteac said

"You coossamer waves of Time You do not sense my continuum And you fear a mere machine!"

"Then you will not answer us," Anteac said

"Do not norant about your Sisterhood&039;s ways," he said "You are alive Your senses are exquisitely tuned I do not stop this, nor should you"

"But the lxians play with automation!" Anteac protested

"Discrete pieces, finite bits linked one to another," he agreed "Once set in motion, what is to stop it?"

Luyseyal discarded all pretense of Bene Gesserit self-control, a fine conition of Leto&039;s powers Her voice almost screeched: "Do you knohat the lxians boast? That their machine will predict your actions!"

"Why should I fear that? The closer they come to me, the more they must be my allies They cannot conquer me, but I can conquer them"

Anteac made to speak but stopped when Luyseyal touched her arm

"Are you already allied with Ix?" Luyseyal asked "We hear that you conferred overlong with their new Ambassador, this Hwi Noree"

"I have no allies," he said "Only servants, students and enemies"

"And you do not fear the lxians&039; machine?" Anteac insisted

"Is autoence?" he asked

Anteac&039;s eyes ide and filht by fascination hat shethere within her own internal ht

Leto felt then the seductive attraction of community with Reverend Mothers It would be so fa to lure him once more

She spoke: "The machine cannot anticipate every problem of importance to humans It is the difference between serial bits and an unbroken continuum We have the one; machines are confined to the other"

"You still have the power of reason," he said

"Share!" Luyseyal said It was a command to Anteac and it revealed with sharp abruptness who really doer over the older

Exquisite, Leto thought

"Intelligence adapts," Anteac said

Parsi his aence creates," Leto said "That ined You must confront the new"

"Such as the possibility of the Ixian Machine," Anteac said It was not a question

"Isn&039;t it interesting," Leto asked, "that being a superb Reverend Mother is not enough?"

His acute senses detected the sudden fearful tightening in both of the woht to fearhis voice, he demanded: "How do you know you&039;re even alive?"

As Moneo had done so many times, they heard in his voice the deadly consequences of failure to answer hilanced at Moneo before either responded

"I am the mirror of myself," Luyseyal said, a pat Bene Gesserit anshich Leto found offensive

"I don&039;t need pre-set tools to deal with my human problems" Anteac said "Your question is sophohed "Hoould you like to quit the Bene Gesserit and join me&039;?"

He could see her consider and then reject the invitation, but she did not hide her amusement

Leto looked at the puzzled Luyseyal "If it falls outside your yardsticks, then you are engaged with intelligence, not with autoht: That Luyseyal will ill newer again do to conceal it She said: "The lxians are rumored to have provided you withIf you have such a low opinion of them, why"

"She should not be let out of the Chapter House without a guardian," Leto said, addressing Anteac "Is she afraid to address her own memories?"

Luyseyal paled, but remained silent

Leto studied her coldly "Our ancestors&039; long unconscious relationship with , don&039;t you think?"

Luyseyal h open defiance of the God Emperor

"Would you say we at least know the attraction of machines&039;?" Leto asked

Luyseyal nodded

"A well-maintained machine can be more reliable than a hue in emotional distractions"

Luyseyal found her voice "Does this ainst abo in his icy voice of disdain, "that if you display further such stupidity, I will have you publicly executed I am not your Oracle!"

Luyseyal opened her

Anteac touched her coh Luyseyal&039;s body Anteac spoke softly in a exquisite demonstration of Voice: "Our God Emperor will never openly defy the proscriptions of the Butlerian Jihad"

Leto sentle commendation It was such a pleasure to see a professional perfor at her best

"That should be obvious to any conscious intelligence," he said "There are li, places where I will not interfere"

He could see both wo the possiblethe their attention on the lxians while hethe Bene Gesserit that the tiainst the lxians? Was it possible his words had no more than their surface nored He was undoubtedly the most devious creature the universe had ever spawnedLeto scowled at Luyseyal, knowing he could only add to their confusion "I point out to you, Marcus Claire Luyseyal, a lesson from past over-machined societies which you appear not to have learned The devices themselves condition the users to employ each other the way they employ machines"

He turned his attention to Moneo "Moneo?"

"I see him, Lord"

Moneo craned his neck to peer over the Bene Gesserit entourage Duncan Idaho had entered the far portal, and strode across the open floor of the chamber toward Leto Moneo did not relax his wariness, his distrust of the Bene Gesserit, but he recognized the nature of Leto&039;s lecture He is testing, always testing

Anteac cleared her throat "Lord, what of our reward?"

"You are brave," Leto said "No doubt that&039;s why you were chosen for this Embassy Very well, for the next decade I will continue your spice allotnore what you really intended with the spice essence Aenerous, Lord," Anteac said, and there was not the slightest hint of bitterness in her voice

Duncan Idaho brushed past the women then and stopped beside Moneo to peer up at Leto "M&039;Lord, there&039;s" He broke off and glanced at the two Reverend Mothers

"Speak openly," Leto commanded

"Yes, m&039;Lord" There was reluctance in hie of the City, a distraction I believe because there now are reports of more violence in the City and in the Forbidden Forest- my wolves," Leto said "In the forest and in the City, they are hunting my wolves"

Idaho&039;s brows contracted into a puzzled frown "Wolves in the City, m&039;Lord?"

"Predators," Leto said "Wolves-to asped

Leto s how beautiful it was to observe a moment of realization-a veil pulled away froe force of guards to protect this place," Idaho said "They are posted through the"

"I knew you would," Leto said "Now pay close attention while I tell you where to send the rest of your forces"

As the Reverend Mothers watched in awe, Leto laid out for Idaho the exact points for a the size of each force and even so, the necessary weapons, the precise deployued each instruction He was too caught up in the recital to question it until Leto fell silent, but a look of puzzled fear cah he peered directly into Idaho&039;s hts there l was a trusted soldier of the original Lord Leto, Idaho was thinking That Leto, the grandfather of this one,saved h that Leto still has some kind of existence in this one this is not him

"M&039;Lord, why do you need th and loyalty"

Idaho shook his head "But"

"You obey," Leto said, and he noted the way these words were being absorbed by the Reverend Mothers Truth, only truth, for they are Truthsayers

"Because I owe a debt to the Atreides," Idaho said

"That is where we place our trust," Leto said "And Duncan?"

"M&039;Lord?" Idaho&039;s voice said he had found ground where he could stand

"Leave at least one survivor at each place," Leto said "Otherwise, our efforts are wasted"

Idaho nodded once, curtly, and left, striding back across the hall the way he had coht it would take an extremely sensitive eye indeed to see that it was a different Idaho leaving, far different froing that Areed "Recount this carefully to your Superior, the admirable Reverend Mother Syaksa Tell her for me that I prefer the colanced at Moneo, who drew hione from my forest They must be replaced by human wolves See to it" -= The trance-state of prophecy is like no other visionary experience It is not a retreat from the raw exposure of the senses (as are many trance-states) but an isconsciousness where you come at last into the unbroken awareness that the universe e that nothing rehout all suchcan work only within precise confinements and, once the walls are broken down, the old explanations shatter and dissolve, bloay by new , often shattering They demand your ute froed

- The Stolen Journals THAT NIGHT of Audience Day, while others slept and fought and dreamed and died, Leto took his repose in the isolation of his audience chauards at the portals

He did not sleep His mind whirled with necessities and disappointments

Hi!

He knei Noree had been sent to him noell he knew!

My most secret secret is exposed

They had discovered his secret Has the evidence of it

He thought desperate thoughts Could this terrible metamorphosis be reversed? Could he return to a human state?

Not possible