INTERLUDE TWO - THE PATH
 

My distant ancestors were cursed by the gods. I am now the God-Emperor, and I have neither the intention nor the desire to lift that curse. History is a roughly circular motion of unfixed velocity of the now across a set of logically allowable processes, and this shows itself quite clearly in the past of the Atreides. Tantalos offered the flesh of his own son as a meal to the gods, Atreus forced his enemy Thyestes to eat his own children and Agamemnon was prepared to sacrifice his own daughter. The actions of my grandmother, the Lady Jessica, and my father, Muad'Dib, are not that dissimilar to those of our ancestors. I too am a cannibal, and all the travelers on the Golden Path are my children.
-Leto II, the God-Emperor. From The Stolen Journals-
 

Moneo was thrust into the darkness and unto the rock floor by two strong Fish Speaker guards. They threw something after him, and closed the door.

It took a while for Moneo's eyes to adapt to the darkness. He slowly rose, feeling the bruises on his arms where the Fish Speakers had held him, and looked around. The cavern was very dimly lit, the light of a glowglobe around a corner ahead of him spilling into the space he was currently in.

Next to him lay a bag of soft brown leather - the object that had been thrown in after him. He opened it carefully, and found a small supply of food - a few pieces of dried, spiced meat wrapped in the leathery leaves of a plant, a piece of fruit, the moisture in which would keep him alive for a short period, some bread - and a small bottle of a deep blue liquid.

"Welcome", a voice said.

"What?", Moneo asked, his eyes still adjusting to the relative darkness. "Who is that?"

"I think you know," the voice said again.

Moneo had trouble determining whether he heard the voice with his ears or with his mind - his disoriented state prevented him from making an accurate distinction between the two. However, he did recognise the voice - he had studied records of the Worm's speeches often enough to know what he sounded like. "Leto?"

"Very good."

"Where are you?"

"I can't tell you that. You're going to have to find your way to me yourself." Leto paused. "I must warn you that your voyage won't be an easy one: I'm still quite far from you in many ways. I'm using thought-projection to speak to you right now."

"Thought-projection?"

"I use it sparingly - it's rather tiring."

"Why am I here?"

"I need you to serve me."

"Serve you?", Moneo said, his voice pregnant with contempt. "Now I'm quite certain that at least one of us has gone insane, because I thought that over the years it has become rather clear that I hate you, and would sooner see you dead than breathe the same air as you."

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice in the matter."

"I see. You're talking to me in my mind, and now you're going to control my thoughts as well?"

"I could, but I won't. You will reach this decision of your volition."

"Of course," Moneo said mockingly. "How do you read minds?"

"I have developed the ability to sense subliminal signals transmitted by members of more recent generations of key bloodlines. I have also developed a device capable of transmitting such signals to individuals properly outfitted to receive such data - such as you."

"That's in direct violation of the rules of the Butlerian Jihad!"

"I won't deny it. However, there's something else we need to talk about. I notice you haven't started walking yet. If you stay here you will die."

Moneo rose, realising playing along with the Worm's game for a while wouldn't do any harm, and started walking. Each passage or corridor revealed another passage at its end - small, dim glowglobes attached to the walls at regular intervals illuminated Moneo's path. "This is a maze! Where am I supposed to be going?"

"I told you - you need to find me."

"And what will happen once I do - will you kill me?"

"No. You will most likely kill yourself - in a manner of speaking."

"I can assure you that will not happen. What's in the bag your slaves gave me?"

"A choice."

"Don't give me riddles! What's in the bottle?"

"It contains a small amount of Spice Essence."

"That's a poison!"

"Of course it is. That is why I would like to urge you to choose wisely."

"You poisoned the food as well." It was not a question.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Perhaps the food itself is the poison: taking it will deny you your birthright."

"What do you mean?"

"You are an Atreides - you are my family. You're capable of seeing what I have seen, of understanding why I do what I do."

"I don't think I could ever understand the tyranny, the cruelty you've subjected so many people to."

"Don't worry, you will outgrow your ignorance."

Moneo started laughing. "You are so disgustingly arrogant it's amusing. You are your own parody."

Leto continued as if he hadn't heard Moneo's intended insult. "The choice you need to make is an important one - all decisions affect the motion of the allstream, yours more than those of most others."

Here, Leto had touched upon an area of great interest to Moneo. "The allstream ... I've read about that theory."

"Of course. I wrote the dissertation, and made sure you got to see it."

Moneo was too mesmerised with what he could remember of the theory that he failed to remark on the implications of Leto's claim. "Does your mental link function on that principle?"

"Very good!"

"How does it work? How do you influence the allstream?"

"You certainly are inquisitive, young Moneo. Are you sure you're not going to use what I say to you to somehow bring about my downfall?"

"I'm interested in the theory, that is all."

Leto chuckled. "You're a terrible liar - but that's one of the reasons I chose you to be my servant."

"I will never be your servant!"

"We'll see. In the mean time, I will tell you what you want to know - you need to understand." After a short pause, in which Moneo descended down a very steep slope into a larger tunnel, Leto continued. "I've developed a specific mode of cogitation only I am capable of - an intense cooperation of many of the personas present in me - which allows me to create certain interference patterns in the substratum of reality on the sub-quantum level.

These mental acts require extremely precise calculations - I've constructed appropriate algorithms based on old Mentat theories. This way I'm able to influence the motion of superstrings, the vibrations and energy transformations of which consitute space-time. My influence is holistic: I manipulate processes based on a profound understanding of the motions of the most basic elements that form our reality - I understand the way the parts relate to the whole and the whole relates to the parts."

"You've adapted Palimbasha's theories," Moneo noted with a mixture of amazement and admiration in his voice. "What is your intent with all this?"

"My ultimate goal - and you may take notes at this point if you want to - is to become one with the universe: my own mind will provide the laws that govern all of reality."

"Is this somehow linked to your prescience?"

"Wonderful! The intelligence operatives of your organisation have been quite effective, I see. I may have to draft them into my service as well." Leto revealed a certain measure of pride in his voice while he said this. A father's pride, he remarked to himself. I guess I do think of them as my children, in a way. "Indeed, prescience the way my father and myself inherited it works in a similar way, but the effective range is quite different. Prescience influences large underlying developments in an almost subliminal way, while the localised, specific control of macroreality I'm breeding into the Duncans is much more subtle."

"Duncan Idaho? What does he have to do with anything?"

"One of the Duncans will some day develop a similar ability - I will have need of his help then. His control is akin to the way many scientists understand reality - that is, in a mechanical way: they don't understand the way the forces do their work, but they do know what one needs to do in order to stimulate a system to respond in a particular way."

"But the Duncan's are gholas, bred from the body of a normal man. The original Duncan didn't have this ability, did he?"

"No, but whe I first ordered a Duncan ghola I understood the potential of certain recessive genes of his - their potential development simply needed to be expedited somehow. A few centuries later I had my agents infiltrate Tleilax and destroy the cells of the original Duncan they had in their possession, and sold them a batch of cells I had modified to my own specifications."

"Couldn't they tell?"

"Perhaps they did, perhaps they didn't - it doesn't matter. I told them I extracted the cells from a carefully preserved possession of the original Duncan, and they at least gave the impression they believed that."

"You said you 'modified' the Duncan-cells in your possession - do you have an axolotl tank?"

"Yes."

"How is that possible? Very little is know about the Tleilaxu, and they're extremely secretive about their technology."

"You continue to amaze me with your knowledge! I am certain you will make an excellent servant. To answer your question: Intelligence reports, combined with the knowledge of many of the finest scientists of all time told me all I needed to know."

"The finest scientists of all time" Oh yes, your memories." Moneo stopped walking for a moment. "Why wouldn't you simply use your own axolotl tank to make the Duncans?"

"This would upset the balance in my empire. If the Tleilaxu learnt I had an axolotltank, they would undoubtably launch a war against me, which would force me to eradicate them. This would be most unfortunate, since I still have need of them - or rather, what they will become in the future and what they will produce at one point."

"Why do you do these things?"

"It is the one way left for me to develop further. I understand all of history intimately, and I've explored philosophy, science and art to the boundaries of those realms. I need to feel what lies beyond this life."

"And you think you can force that to happen?"

"My mind is a multitude forged into a singularity. I have tamed the many and forced them to merge into one. All of reality will eventually spiral into my well of gravity. I will become one. Plotinus was correct."

"Plotinus?"

"You don't know him. I'll tell you about him one day."

"Why would you be so candid with me? You do realise I can and will use this information against you."

"I need you to understand what it is like to be me."

"Trust me, I have no desire to find out. I know all I need to know already."

"I doubt that. You should want to get to know me - I know what it is like to be you, for instance."

"Do you?"

"Certainly. I understand everyone intimately."

"That's quite impossible. Each person operates under a uniquely configured set of axioms that acts as the foundation of one's opinions about the composition and behaviour of reality - there's a fundamental paradigm gap between the way of thinking of one person and that of the next."

"This is true, to some extent. However, the spectrum of such theoretical bases available to people of normal intellect is much more limited than is often assumed - it is possible to understand someone else's thoughts on even the most fundamental level. You're also forgetting that I am not one, but billions of minds. I am quite sure the full range of potential categories of worldviews is represented by these, and my unique perspective as lord and ruler of all those voices gives me the power to transcend all the various ways of understanding, seeing reality in ways that have never been even imagined or suspected before, and will never be after my death again," Leto lectured.

Moneo was rather offended by the hint of pleasure in the Worm's voice as he was explaining his views - apparently the megalomaniac enjoyed correcting others, thus assuming the dominant position in the verbal exchange - but he considered another element of what had just been to be more important.

"Your death?"

"Of course. Nothing lasts forever."

"I thought your Golden Path would?"

"Mere propaganda. I thought you of all people would be smart enough to understand that."

How odd it is that he reveals these things to me, Moneo thought. Could these simply be more lies? He decided to address the issue. "Why do you trust me? I want to see you dead."

"I have ways of making you see things my way."

"Is that a threat?"

"Yes. But it is also a privilege."

"We're digressing. You said you understand me. Prove it."

"'I give my life in dedication to the greater glory of God'. During your childhood, you spoke these words quite often. Isn't this so?"

"Yes. It was part of a prayer my mother taught me."

"The time has come to make good on your promise. What would you offer your God?"

"You're not a god!"

"I've assumed the task of a God."

"Who gave you that right?"

"What I do, my Golden Path - this is not something I wanted or asked for. It is something that I realised needed to be done, and I was the only one capable of doing it. I can make you see if you want to."

"How?"

"Make the choice."

"What choice? Earlier you said I didn't have a choice."

"Only in complete freedom can categorical laws exist. The possibility to use reason dissolves all choices and leaves only one path open, giving you a truly free choice."

"That doesn't really help me. What choice do you mean?"

There was no answer.

"What choice, you despicable worm?", Moneo screamed. "You throw me into a cave with nothing but poison, spout your propaganda and then leave me to die. How will I survive in this maze? This food will last me only a few days, and -"

Moneo looked down to the bag in his hands, opened it and considered its contents, a realisation of what it was Leto wanted from him forming in his mind. 'You are an Atreides', the Worm said, 'You are my family'. The Oral History explains in detail how certain Atreides have experienced illuminating visions under the influence of the Spice Essence - could he intend me to take it?

No! Ingesting this liquid could kill me, and that is what he wants. I will not do it! But ... I've been at his mercy all this time - he has had ample opportunity to kill me. He repeatedly stated he wants me to be his servant, and I don't think he was being untruthful when he said that. He has need of me somehow, and the Spice Essence will help me see whatever it is he wants me to see.

Moneo removed the stopper from the small vial, and let a tiny drop of the blue liquid flow onto his left index finger. He moved the finger up to his mouth, but stopped just short of licking off the drop, holding it up in front of his eyes instead. If I swallow this, that might mean the end. But oh, the curiosity!

Moneo forced himself to make a decision: he ingested the Spice Essence. He felt the drop burning in his throat, trickling down into his stomach. Suddenly he felt a powerful pain flashing through his entire body, causing him to collapse onto the hard rock floor.

Many differently coloured shapes invaded his mind, inducing a sensation of vertigo in him. The images - because that's what he thought they had to be - grew progressively sharper.

Dirty, disease-ridden, malnourished humans huddling together in dark basements, fear grossly distorting their faces.

Human soldiers, fighting valiantly but being killed by the dozens / hundreds / thousands / millions / too many to count!

Machines!

A path of gold that leads away from this armageddon.

The sacrifices: being dehumanised by accepting symbiosis with the sandtrout.

The Worm's - Leto's - death! His mind divided into many parts, each of them submerged in an eternal slumber.

The water: powerful streams thrusting the clear liquid everywhere, washing all the filth away but bringing with it death and destruction as well.

Violent women, more dangerous than the Bene Gesserit, spreading their detestable rule.

An even greater danger beyond that ...

Moneo awoke in a gigantic hold, dimly lit by floating glowglobes. He couldn't see the ceiling or any of the sides, but, turning around, he spotted many large storage bins and enormous piles of a blue substance. The smell of cinnamon was thick in the air.

"Welcome back."

Moneo spun around to face the direction from which the voice had come, and saw a large shape gliding into the light. On a floating platform lay the God-Emperor himself, his gross, segmented worm-body strangely discordant with the intensely human face staring at Moneo with friendly eyes.

Moneo tried to speak, but noticed his mouth was extremely dry. "I have arranged that some nourishment be brought for you," Leto said, pointing at a flask of water and a few pieces of fruit to Moneo's right. "You've been in trance for five days. Did you find what you were looking for?"

Moneo drank and ate, looking at Leto, suspicions haunting his thoughts. "You're a worm," he said after a while, "and in my hand I have a flask of water. In my vision, I have seen what water does to worms. I could kill you."

Leto laughed loudly, the sound reverberating against the distant walls. "You're still rebellious, after all you've seen? And even if you would decide to carry out your threat you might hurt me somewhat, but kill me? I don't think so."

"Where are we?"

"This is the place where my grandmother and my aunt each found their awareness, and where my father started his empire. This is the place where my spice hoard is stored."

"This is all Melange?", Moneo said, indicating various bins to his right.

"Yes. What you see here is valuable enough to buy a million planets. But -," Leto inserted a pause for effect, "- we have business to attend to. With what you know now, I must ask you again: what would you offer your God? What would you give up if your life were not enough?"

"What more could I give? My life is the most valuable thing I have! I can't surrender any more to you."

"What is your life when you hold back the greater gift?", Leto shouted. "You have seen what I have done, and what I have yet to do. How can you do any less?"

"I am but a man, and you are ... you are more than that." Moneo was close to tears. "I just wish I could do what you want me to do."

Leto moved his cart closer, bowed down and looked Moneo straight in the eyes. "I look at you now and if I could shed tears, I would. Consider the wish to be the act!"

He speaks the truth, Moneo realised. He understood now. "Leto - Lord Leto ... I will serve you."

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