Ajax strode his intimidating walker-form into the Forum Plaza, inspecting every operation, searching for flaws. With his array of optic threads, the Titan scanned the polished colossus that showed his long-forgotten human form. Ajax was frustrated that Iblis Ginjo had maintained such a careful watch that he could find no excuse to impose amusing punishments. . . .

In turmoil, Iblis watched for an opportunity of his own. His imagination kept returning to the remarkable things he had learned from the Cogitor Eklo, especially details of the glorious failure of the Hrethgir Rebellions. Ajax personified the brutality and pain of those long-ago battles.

Could the Cogitor help Iblis to spread the quiet fires of a brewing revolution? They could learn from the mistakes of the past attempts. Had there ever been a rebel of trustee stature, like Iblis? And how could the secondary Aquim assist him?

Despite his subtle investigations, his ability to manipulate conversations and make others unwittingly divulge their secrets, Iblis had not yet found evidence of other resistance groups. Perhaps their leadership was scattered, disorganized, weak. Who had sent him the secret messages— five in the past three months?

The lack of evidence frustrated Iblis, because he wanted to push the uprising forward, now that he had made up his mind. On the other hand, if the dissenters were too easily found, they would have no chance against the organized thinking machines.

After pushing his slaves particularly hard and finishing his assigned labors, Iblis asked to take another pilgrimage to Eklo’s stone tower. Only the Cogitor could give him the answers he needed. When he spoke with the administrative cymek Dante, showing records that demonstrated his productivity and efficiency, the Titan bureaucrat granted him permission to leave the city grid. Dante made it clear, however, that he didn’t understand why a mere work supervisor would be interested in nonproductive philosophical issues. It seemed to go beyond the interests of most trustees. “It will not benefit you.”

“I’m sure you are right, Lord Dante . . . but it amuses me.”

Setting out before dawn, Iblis urged the smelly burrhorse into the rocky desert and up the slopes to the monastery. Aquim awaited him at the steep circular stairs to the tower, again looking disheveled and somewhat dazed from semuta. From the first time Iblis had immersed his hand in electrafluid and touched the Cogitor’s thoughts, he could not imagine why Aquim wanted to dull his perceptions. Perhaps the complex enlightened thoughts of Eklo were so vast and overwhelming that the big-shouldered secondary needed to dampen the flood of confusing revelations.

“I see you look at me with disapproval,” Aquim said, peering out through slitted eyelids.

“Oh no,” Iblis said. Then, realizing he could not get away with lying, he said, “I was just noticing that you enjoy your semuta.”

The big man smiled and spoke in a voice that slurred slightly. “To an outsider, it may appear that I have deadened my senses, but semuta permits me to forget my own destructive past, before I was inspired to join Cogitor Eklo. It also enables me to focus on what is really important, ignoring the sensual distractions of the flesh.”

“I can’t picture you as a destructive man.”

“Oh, but I was. My father fought against enslavement and died in the attempt. Afterward, I sought revenge against the machines, and I was good at it. I led a small band of men, and we . . . damaged some robots. I am sorry to say that we also killed a number of trustee slaves who got in our way, men such as yourself. Then Eklo arranged for my rescue, and for my rehabilitation of sorts. He never told me why he sought me out, or how he made the arrangements. There are many things the Cogitor does not reveal to anyone, not even to me.”

Abruptly, the monk turned and plodded unsteadily up the stairs, leading Iblis to the chamber where the Cogitor lived in a state of eternal contemplation. Standing in the tower room with the color-bathed observation windows, Aquim said, “Eklo has considered your situation at length. Long ago he watched the changes in humanity after the Titans crushed the Old Empire, but he did nothing. Eklo thought the challenge and adversity would improve the human race by strengthening their minds, forcing them out of their sleepwalking existence.”

The monk wiped a stain from the corner of his mouth. “By separating their minds from their bodies, the cymek Titans could have become enlightened, like Cogitors. That was Eklo’s hope when he assisted Juno. But the Titans never rose above their animal flaws. This weakness enabled Omnius to conquer them, and humanity.” Aquim stepped toward the translucent brain canister resting on a window shelf. “Eklo believes you may be able to institute a change.”

Iblis’s heart leaped. “Nothing is impossible.” But he knew he could not fight the machines by himself, would need to find others to help him. Many others.

Before the transparent window, Eklo’s plexiplaz container glistened in a wash of golden morning sunlight. In the distance, Iblis could see the unending skyline of megaliths and monuments designed by the cymeks and built with human sweat and blood. Do I really want to see them all crumble to dust?

The crew boss hesitated as he considered the consequences, remembering the billions of victims of the Hrethgir Rebellions on Walgis and other worlds. Then he sensed an intrusion into his thoughts, something bumping against them.

Aquim removed the covering of the Cogitor’s canister, exposing the nutrient fluid that supported the ancient mind. “Come, Eklo wishes to make direct contact with you.”

The tank’s nutrient solution was like amniotic fluid, tingling with immeasurable mental energy. Tentative, fighting his eagerness to know and learn, Iblis dipped his fingers into the electrafluid, touching the slippery surface of Eklo’s brain and unlocking all the thoughts the Cogitor wanted to give him.

Aquim stood to one side with a strange expression on his face, part beatific complacence, part envy.

“Neutrality is a delicate balancing act,” Eklo said directly into Iblis’s mind, through the neurelectric contact promulgated by the organic circuitry. “Long ago, I answered Juno’s many questions about how to overthrow the Old Empire. My unbiased answers and advice allowed the Titans to formulate successful plans, and the course of the human race was forever changed. For many centuries I reconsidered what I did.” The brain seemed to press against Iblis’s fingertips. “It is essential for all Cogitors to maintain absolute neutrality. We must be objective.”

Puzzled, Iblis said, “Then why are you speaking to me? Why have you raised the possibility that the machines might be overthrown?”

“In order to reestablish the balance of neutrality,” Eklo said. “Once, I inadvertently assisted the Titans, so I must now answer your questions with the same objectivity. In the final analysis, I will have maintained equilibrium.”

Iblis swallowed hard. “Then you have foreseen where it all ends?”

“There are endings all around us, and beginnings. You alone can decide where you are on the path.”

As Iblis’s thoughts spun, searching for useful questions about machine weaknesses and vulnerabilities, Eklo intruded, “I cannot provide concrete military or political details, but if you phrase your questions cleverly enough, as Juno did, then you shall have what you need. The art of cleverness is a prime lesson of life. You must outwit the machines, Iblis Ginjo.”

For more than an hour, Eklo guided Iblis. “I have considered this problem for many centuries, long before you came to me. And if you do not succeed, I shall consider it even longer.”

“But I can’t fail. I must succeed.”

“It will take more than desire on your part. You must tap into the deepest emotions of the masses.” Eklo fell silent for several moments.

Iblis struggled to comprehend, trying to stretch his thoughts. “Love, hate, fear? Is that what you mean?”

“They are components, yes.”

“Components?”

“Of religion. The machines are very powerful, and it will take more than a mere political or social uprising to defeat them. The people must coalesce around a powerful idea that goes even deeper, into the very essence of their existence, what it means to be human. You must be more than a trustee, but a visionary leader. Slaves need to rise up in a great holy war against the machines, an unstoppable jihad to overthrow their masters.”

“A holy war? A jihad? But how can I do that?”

“I tell you only what I sense, Iblis Ginjo, what I have thought and envisioned. You must go out and discover the rest of the answers for yourself. But know this: Of all human wars in history, a jihad is the most passionate, conquering worlds and civilizations, mowing down everything in its path.”

“And the people sending me messages— how do they fit into this?”

“I know nothing of them,” Eklo said, “and I do not see them in any of my visions. Perhaps you have been specially chosen, or it might be nothing but a ruse or a trap by the machines.” The Cogitor fell silent, then said, “Now I must ask you to leave, for my mind is tired and I need to rest.”

When Iblis departed from the imposing stone tower, he felt a strange mixture of exhilaration and confusion. He needed to organize the information into a comprehensive plan. Though he was not a holy man or a military person, he did understand how to manipulate groups of people, how to channel their loyalties in order to achieve his goals. Already, his work crews would do almost anything for him. His leadership abilities would be his greatest asset, and weapon. But the scale was not large enough. It needed to be much larger than a few hundred people in order to succeed.

And he needed to be very careful, in case the thinking machines were trying to trap him.

WITH ACCESS TO Omnius’s watcheyes and distributed surveillance hardware, Erasmus monitored the activities of his experimental subjects. Many loyal trustees had ignored the hints he had sent to them; others had been too frightened to act. But some had shown an amusing amount of initiative.

Yes, Erasmus felt that Iblis Ginjo was a perfect candidate to prove his point, and win the bet with Omnius.