She felt a stream of low-level requests for data, and shewilled her Mediator to respond. She’d been through the same processbefore her transmission from Earth: sending the preliminaries first,things that needed to be known about the structure of her mind beforeit could be implemented in a new environment.

Rainzi said, "Take my hand. We’ll step through together."He placed his ghost-fingers over hers, and asked her for everything.

Cass examined his face. It was pure chance that herMediator had given him an appearance that inspired trust in her, butthe faces of the embodied were no better guides to character, whetherthey’d been sculpted by genes or by their wearer’s wishes. If Rainzi’seyes still seemed kind to her, after five years, wasn’t that becausehe’d shown her genuine kindness? This was not the time for paranoiddelusions about the unknowable mind behind the mask.

She said, "Are you ever afraid of this, yourself?"

"A little," he admitted.

"What frightens you the most? What is it that you thinkmight happen?"

He shook his head. "There’s no terrible fate that I fearis lying in store for me. But however many times I do this, I come nocloser to knowing what it’s actually like. Don’t you think there’ssomething frightening about that?"

She smiled. "Absolutely." They weren’t so different thatshe’d be insane to follow him, the way it would be insane to follow anarmored robot into a volcano. This would not be strange or painfulbeyond her power to bear. If she truly wanted it, she had nothing tofear.

Cass opened the floodgates.

Rainzi’s hand passed through her own, intangible as ever.Cass shuddered. She was who she always was, andthe part of her who valued that above all else could not disguise itsrelief.