BOOK ONE - CHAPTER SEVEN
 

Controlled doubt is the tool reason can utilise to dissect lies, illusions and falsehoods, but it's imperative to let your actions guide the tool rather allow yourself to be ruled by such a mental makeshift.
-Bene Gesserit Coda-
 

So much power and knowledge in such a misleadingly young body. Scytale could never prevent his face from contorting into an expression of supreme loathing whenever confronted with one of the Bene Gesserit. Perhaps Waff was right to covet their abilities for the Bene Tleilax, but he foolishly allowed himself to be soiled by their powindah beliefs. He was weak, and permitted these witches to influence him, to taint and distort his adherence to the true belief.

Scytale said nothing, watching Sheeana while she approached, and wondered what the witch wanted now. These blasphemers never followed the one and only God. Waff's reports clearly show they used trickery to simulate their involvement, and he was simply too incompetent to fully realise what they were doing to him.

Sheeana stopped in front of the holding cell. Scytale could smell her, so close was she to the semipermeable force field separating them. Do these witches control their body chemistry to such an extent they can emit pheromones at will? Her closeness was strangely, unexpectedly arousing to him.

This one is able to communicate with the Prophet! I must know of His plans for us. Scytale straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath, once again being overwhelmed by Sheeana's seductive scent. I can't let her manipulate me again. I need to request an audience with the Prophet. He will guide me.

"You promised to take me to see the Prophet", Scytale said.

Sheeana grinned. "I did no such thing. I said that I might take you to see Him."

"What is it that you want from me?", Scytale asked.

"Very good, I do want something that you might be able to give me." Sheeana leaned even closer to her captive, and whispered: "But remember that my need for your services is not nearly as great as the other way around."

Could she be after the ghola cells in my possession? Almost all Tleilaxu intelligence reports about this accursed sisterhood state that at all cost they want to prevent another disaster like the one they had to endure when they finally got their Kwisatz Haderach. Still, they continue to breed with Atreides genes, exploiting that bloodline's potential and finding new, previously unsuspected combinations of recessives in practically every generation. On the other hand, she doesn't know which cells I have - she can only guess, and even though she proved she could be quite successful at that game during our last conversation, I can still use her lack of knowledge to my own benefit.

"How may I be of service?", he said as mockingly as he was able.

"I have told you already," Sheeana replied, somewhat annoyed.

"Refresh my memory. I am an old man, and I tend to forget things."

"I will supply you with an axolotl tank to exploit, as long as I'm allowed to decide which cells you use first."

"What do you hope to gain from this?", Scytale inquired.

"Our goals are very similar," Sheeana lied. "You seek ascendancy for your people, and helping you reach that goal serves my own purposes as well."

She is lying. She cannot be speaking the truth, can she? No! These powindah witches have tried to deceive me in a similar manner so many times before, that their words have lost all connection with what is true and holy. Nothing they say can be trusted. Still, I might have to feign my compliance in order to get out of this holding cell and see the Prophet. And yes, it is there that I should focus my actions right now, considering the special bond she has with Him. "Has the Prophet spoken to you on my behalf?"

"Indeed he has. He has made me understand the righteousness of your mission, and has demanded of me that I function as an intermediary when he speaks to you." He will do anything to receive some sort of confirmation or justification of his actions from his Prophet - that disgusting beast down in the hold. Shaitan will help me get my army ...

Sheeana walked over to a small console with a variety of knobs and switches to the side of the cell, and started keying in the code that would dissolve the energy barrier keeping the Tleilaxu Master inside. "Remember that I can - and will - kill you without thinking twice."

"If you do that the ghola cells you covet so die at the same moment I release my last breath," Scytale countered.

Barely concealing his triumphant facial expression, Scytale was led to the hold where the small sandworm was being kept. For the first time he got a good impression of the size of the no-ship, walking through the corridors with their numerous twists and turns: after having been confined to a small space for so long almost anything would have seemed big to him, but this ship really was quite large.

Sheeana didn't use the dropchutes to traverse to other levels, but used the stairways instead, always keeping Scytale in front of her. You never know what that little rat is capable of, she thought.

When they entered the hold, they noticed Idaho was already there, standing transfixed in front of the worm's holding pen.

The ghola is here!, Scytale thought. This is excellent.

Good, he is already here, Sheeana thought. I hope he performs his part as he's supposed to.

After the initial elation of finding what he perceived to be an ally in that hold had worn off, Scytale turned his attention to the worm - a manifestation of Leto II, the Prophet of his religion - and was utterly overwhelmed with religious awe. He dropped to his knees, and started praying in a language Sheeana had trouble identifying at first.

Idaho turned towards Scytale. "With the help of Alyama, the Prophet has made me see the truth. Master, I am here to serve you."

Scytale rose from his prayer. Another trick? No, this is a ghola - a Tleilaxu creation. He will obey me. However, he might have been tainted by his long association with the witches. I need to consolidate my control over him. He started whistling, a complex pattern of long and short tones, and a rapid succession of high and low.

Scytale's whistling had a peculiar effect on Idaho. He felt his flesh attempting to overthrow the Bene Gesserit conditioning and the stability of his multifaceted, many-layered memories, certain failsafes imprinted by his Tleilaxu creators into the most basic and primitive aspect of his being awakened from their slumber. He felt the tendencies that nudged him to do the Tleilaxu Master's bidding were causally prior to his conscious mind and therefore extremely threatening to his intellectual autonomy, in the same way that a physically based causal agent such as libido can override any and all conscious decision-making processes. He realised he could not eradicate this class of impulses - he could only hope to contain it, and attempt to initiate countermeasures.

The Tleilaxu clearly had not foreseen any one of their gholas growing strong enough to withstand their conditioning, because however overwhelming the impulse to obey Scytale was, it appeared to be decidedly limited in its effective range, merely impairing the freedom of thought in that part of the mental spectrum reserved for the activities of a convential human intellect. Idaho was Bene Gesserit-trained, and had access to the memories of many lifetimes of previous Idaho-gholas, which had been unlocked during Murbella's initial attempt at imprinting him - his mind was far from conventional.

A multitude of memories came to his aid, in a way similar to the support a Reverend Mother's Other Memory could offer in times of peril, and the many different perspectives on the situation offered to him allowed him to withstand the primitive urge - they enabled him to design his actions from a mental vantage point, freed from the constraints programmed into his ghola body.

He thinks he can still control me. His belief is not entirely unwarranted - the method he attempted to use is quite powerful, and would have overwhelmed any other ghola. Perhaps it would be advantageous to allow him to believe he actually does still exert influence over me.

"We will help you build and exploit your axolotl tank. The necessary equipment is stored in a smaller hold several levels down," Idaho explained to his would-be master, a hint of mechanical subservience in is voice, as if his responses hadn't been produced in complete freedom. "We brought it with us when we left Chapter House."

Sheeana was perceptive enough to note the deception in Idaho's voice, and observed Scytale's reaction - which conformed to their expectations quite nicely. She was pleased their scheme was working - lack of knowledge of the relationship between Tleilaxu Masters and their gholas had constituted a potential gap in their plan, but apparently Idaho had managed to override Scytale's attempts at reinstating the hierarchy, in accordance with the Mentat projection he had made earlier.

"We need to put you back in your holding cell again," Idaho told Scytale. "Not everyone in this ship shares our convictions, and until we have dealt with this minor problem, you should-"

Scytale interupted, holding up his hands in a reassuring gesture. "I understand, my friends." It took him a considerable amount of willpower to produce this last word, but he hoped it sounded convincing anyway.

While Idaho was leading him back to his cell, Scytale leaned over and said: "I think I know who to use as the central component of the axolotl tank."

Idaho nodded. "I agree, Master. I already know how to do it, but she is needed for one other task. It will happen soon."

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