Mentats of Dune

Chapter 47 (How many people can be told a secret, before it is no longer considered a secret)

Drawing upon more than a thousand years of memories, Erasmus had a wealth of stories to whisper into Anna Corrino’s ear. He stopped speaking to her in the simulated voice of Hirondo when he discovered that she had never believed he was actually the disgraced young chef. Regardless, she considered Erasmus a true friend who would not abandon her, and he experienced an odd pleasure in hearing that.

Erasmus encouraged her attitude, along with the corollary that he was a far closer and wiser friend than Hirondo had ever been. As a companion, he was always with her, and Anna could rely on him for excellent advice. Erasmus had tailored this line of reasoning to achieve a specific goal, but the more he conversed with the young woman, the more he actually believed it himself. He really had become her friend.

Anna lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. “Tell me more about the terrible thinking machines.”

She spent more time in her quarters now. Even though he could accompany her everywhere, thanks to the silver transceiver in her ear, she preferred to converse with him in private. Erasmus had advised her not to call attention to herself, but her increasing isolation was also drawing notice. With his numerous eavesdropping devices, he could listen to conversations among the Mentat trainees, and they talked often about the peculiar girl.

Erasmus promised himself he would do what he could to protect her. Yes, Anna Corrino was odd, but she was also a special young woman, just as Gilbertus had been special to him. And after nearly two centuries, Erasmus was glad to have another friend and confidante. He felt a strange sense of responsibility toward her.

“I will tell you about the thinking machines,” he said, “but you have to decide for yourself whether or not they were evil. Let me give you a different perspective on history not told in official Imperial documents, and certainly not details that the Butlerian fanatics would share.”

As Anna Corrino listened, Erasmus talked about Serena Butler, the girl’s own distant ancestor. The robot didn’t have to lie when he described his admiration for the strong woman who had led humanity in an astonishing uprising against the machines. And all because of the silly little death of an unremarkable child? He’d never understood that part. Why had that been the cause of such an uproar?

Serena was the first human Erasmus had ever seen as a real person, not just a specimen. She’d made him reconsider the potential of humanity, which had eventually led to him taking the feral boy Gilbertus as a ward.

When he finished that story, Anna wanted to hear more about the Butlers, so Erasmus told her how Serena was finally martyred by Omnius in a great bonfire — and how that horrific death had further galvanized the doomed humans into a furious, illogical energy. “And that gave them the irrational confidence that actually defeated the thinking machines. Otherwise, they would not have had the resolve.”

Erasmus considered that an important object lesson, and he would never underestimate the power of human fanaticism.

When he recounted the fall of the Synchronized Empire, Erasmus managed to make her feel sad for the loss of the machine civilization. Tears actually ran down her cheeks! In vivid detail, he described the chaos when the Army of the Jihad overran the last Omnius stronghold, ruthless and savage in their destruction. He did not reveal that he had witnessed that mayhem himself.

Anna was so excited that she picked up the story herself. “And after the Battle of Corrin, Faykan Butler changed his surname to Corrino and became the first Emperor. My grandfather.”

Erasmus didn’t remember any of that, since by then he had gone into hiding with Gilbertus. Some former machine captives surely knew that the independent robot kept a pet human, but he had vanished among them. Fortunately, enough time had passed that virtually no eyewitnesses remained alive, though there were still some old images.

Anna startled Erasmus by saying, “I feel so close to you, stronger with you.” She let out a long sigh. “I wish you were real.”

“I am real, Anna. Very real.”

“Then what is your name? Why don’t you have a name?”

“I have a name, but it would frighten you.”

She chuckled. “You can’t frighten me. I know you too well.”

Erasmus went through countless calculations, following decision tree after decision tree with the techniques that he himself had taught Gilbertus. “How do I know you can keep a secret?”

“Because you know me. Who would I tell, anyway? I have no friends here. Even at the Sisterhood school on Rossak, Valya was the only one I was close to, and she’s gone now. You’re my last remaining friend. If you tell me a secret, I couldn’t possibly discuss it with anyone but you.”

The chain of reasoning was a human sort of logic, but Erasmus believed her. She was so earnest. Though he completed his calculations in a fraction of a second, he hesitated intentionally so that she would understand how carefully he weighed the decision.

“There’s something I need to show you,” he said. “Follow my instructions carefully.”

WHEN HE HEARD about the uprising on Baridge, Gilbertus Albans was appalled, though he let himself show no emotion. A quick report had been rushed back to the Butlerian headquarters while Anari Idaho tied up the loose ends, and Manford Torondo transmitted his victorious news across Lampadas. He was actually proud of what his mobs had accomplished.

Gilbertus remembered Draigo urging him to stand up and expose the folly of the Butlerians. It would have been suicide, of course — and certainly the end of the great Mentat School. Nevertheless, being forced to maintain a meek silence rather than condemning the actions disturbed him. Gilbertus wanted to set an example for humanity, but his inaction in the face of such atrocities seemed cowardly.

Maybe Draigo and Erasmus were right. He should pull up stakes from Lampadas and just leave, change his identity and appearance, go back to a quiet bucolic life on Lectaire. Maybe eventually, in a century or so, he could form a new school somewhere else, possibly on Kolhar.

He was aware that many of the Mentat trainees — maybe even most — held the same mindset as he did, a tolerance of technology as long as it was properly controlled, yet they remained quiet because of the many vehement Butlerian students among them.

The Headmaster finished teaching his class, then gave the Mentat trainees hours of intense exercises under the supervision of his administrator Zendur. Gilbertus returned to his office, deeply troubled. Before making any major decision, he would discuss this with Erasmus, hoping to find some bastion of sanity.

When he opened his office door, he found Anna Corrino standing there. Inside.

Gilbertus stopped in astonishment. To his great dismay, he saw that she had found the secret wall panel behind his bookcase — and was cupping the Erasmus memory core in her palms as if it were a magical talisman!

He was so stunned he couldn’t find words. When he realized any passerby could see the secret cabinet and the gelsphere, he quickly stepped inside, closed and locked the door. His mind raced through a series of Mentat projections, trying to determine how best to respond.

Anna smiled at the memory core, then looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with an expression of childlike awe. “He’s beautiful. Erasmus is my best friend.”

“How did you … how did you know where to find him?”

“He told me. It’s our secret.” Her brow furrowed, and she looked at the Headmaster. “He said we can trust you not to tell anyone.”

The idea that Gilbertus might be a threat took him aback. He had rescued the robot and kept him safe ever since the fall of Corrin. “Of course I won’t tell anyone.” He did not like the sudden precariousness of the situation, now that his greatest secret was known by an unstable person.

The gelsphere thrummed, activating the small speakers. “We needed another ally, son, so I told her where to find me. Anna Corrino is the Emperor’s sister. She can help us.”

“And I need you.” Anna looked lovingly at the glowing sphere, then at Gilbertus. “No more secrets among us. You can both tell me everything now.”

“This is extremely dangerous, Father — if she lets slip any word, any hint at all … Alys Carroll watches her, and the other Butlerian trainees are always looking for me to make the slightest mistake.” The possibilities continued to unfold for him in a series of disastrous Mentat projections. “And Manford Torondo might decide to take Anna as a hostage, in an attempt to control the Emperor. What would she tell the Butlerians?”

Anna sounded indignant. “I would never tell anyone.”

“She needs to be involved in our dilemma,” Erasmus said, “especially if we have to escape and find another sanctuary — just as Draigo Roget suggested. You should have listened to him when he was here.”

“I haven’t decided to leave,” Gilbertus said.

“But I’ve decided that we can’t stay. Look at the data, Mentat! You realize how great the danger is becoming. I am not confident the school’s defenses will be sufficient if the Butlerian mob comes. What if someone discovers your true identity?”

Gilbertus thought this over. The old and harmless Horus Rakka, a former machine sympathizer, had been lynched because of what he had done eighty years before.… Considering the recent outrage on Baridge, as well as the frenzied rampage festival in Zimia, and the earlier battle at the Thonaris shipyards, Gilbertus could not deny that the antitechnology movement was growing increasingly out of hand.

But if he simply fled in order to save himself and Erasmus, who could quench the flames of fanaticism? He had to do something to protect the school.

“I have analyzed the mind of Anna Corrino with great attention to detail,” Erasmus said, “and I understand how to repair and nurture her thoughts. I realize now that if I cure her, the Corrinos will be beholden to us. Then they will defend us against the Butlerians. A perfect solution.”

“The Corrinos may not be as strong as you think,” Gilbertus warned, though he very much wanted the young woman’s mind repaired. “And the Butlerians may be more volatile than we can possibly imagine.”