"Anthony, Piers - Adept - 06 - Unicorn Point" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

one.

Then things firmed, and he looked around. He was stand-
ing in Bane's apartment in Hardom, and before him was
Bane's wife. Agape, and Bane's daughter, Nepe. Mach spent
as much time in Proton as in Phaze, alternating months, but
each time he saw Nepe she seemed to have grown another
notch. She was in human form, a four-year-old child, and
rather pretty. Of course she derived from alien stock, and
could assume any living form she chose, with sufficient ap-
plication and practice, so could be just as pretty as she was
able to imagine.

Mach smiled, a trifle grimly. "The exchange has been
made; I will leave you now."

"Of course," Agape said. She was pretty too, possessing
the same ability as her daughter. It was always a bit of a jolt




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18 | Piers Anthony

to encounter her naked, after a month of life in Phaze, where
human nakedness was often a signal of sexual readiness. In
Proton, of course, all serf's were naked. He normally adapted
to the situation in minutes, just as he did to the change to a
body that was a machine. He had existed many years in this
body before discovering what life was like; he could endure
it for another month. Bane, after all, was suffering the same
readjustment, returning to his home frame, separated from
the woman and child he loved. Agape, three syllables, with
the accent on the first; Nepe, two syllables, accent on the
first. His computer brain always clicked through such details
as he oriented on his other selfs family.

He turned to the door panel, and extended one hand. The
panel irised open, showing the hall beyond.

"Uncle Mach!"

Mach paused. "Yes, Nepe."

"Can I go with you?"

Agape was startled. "Nepe, he is going to report to the
Tan Adept, whom we don't like. You would not be welcome