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I found him sleeping in my room, Gene said.
I was tired. Besides, I was sick of looking at myself all over, so I thought
I d get some sleep. Great
White Stuff, am I hungry!
Dig in, Linda said. I had the cooks bring your beeswax candles and Thousand
Island dressing.
Thanks! Sometimes I like beeswax, sometimes paraffin. It depends on my mood.
Snowclaw dipped a candle into a bowl of dressing and popped it into his toothy
maw.
Thaxton looked disgusted and put down his Reuben sandwich.
Other Guests entered the hall, laughing and chattering away. Deena Williams
waved and said hello.
Hi, there! Sheila called.
I ll bet they all have stories to tell, Linda said. And I ll bet you have
one, too, Gene. Whatever happened to you?
Got into a strange universe. But that s nothing new.
What about school?
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Forget it, Gene said. I ve had enough reality to last me awhile. Give me
swords and sorcery. Can t get enough of that stuff.
Well, you came to the right place, Dalton said.
Thirty-eight
King s Study
The room was filled with books and curios. The ceiling was high, supported by
rib vaulting.
Bookshelves reached almost to the ceiling. Star charts and astronomical gear
orreries and such
were concentrated in one comer of the study. A rank of instruments resembling
grandfather clocks ran along one wall.
What readings you getting? one Incarnadine asked of another.
Things are just about back to normal.
Well, that doesn t solve our problem.
The other Incarnadines grumbled agreement.
What exactly is our problem?
There is the ultimate ontological question.
Meaning?
Who s real and who isn t.
Why don t we let reality take care of itself?
Ultimately it will, but I for one can t regard myself as the product of some
glitch in the supercontinuum.
Me neither. I don t hold with the notion of there being an infinite number of
castles.
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Why not? asked still another Incarnadine. Any rigorous quantum
interpretation of things would
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Well, quantum physics is so much whistling in the dark as far as I m
concerned. There s an irreconcilable conflict between quantum theory and
relativity, and everybody pretty much agrees that relativity is right. You
can t have both.
It depends what particular subuniverse you re talking about, said a third
Incarnadine. The paradigms are polar opposites, but most continua are
compromises between the two. Earth, for example, is pretty much fifty-fifty.
The ratio has something to do with the amount of magical leeway per given
continuum, but just what the mapping function between the two is, is unclear.
Let s drop all this chalkboard chicken scratching. I just want to know who
the real McCoy is.
Damn it, Jim, I m a doctor, not a philosopher!
Very droll. I tell you, it s relative.
It s not relative. There can only be one of us.
Why? Are we supposed to be a god, or what?
Well, that s never been very clear.
A demiurge, at the very least.
Anybody want to buck for Glaroon?
That s a special pocket continuum, and it s copyrighted.
Look, we re not getting anywhere. Why don t we all return to our respective &
whatever you call them. Continua, quantum glitches, Erehwons, reflections of
reflections
I kind of like this place a little better. Some nice equipment here that I
don t have.
See? What you re saying is that we aren t merely reflections.
I never said we were.
I m getting confused.
It is a confusing situation.
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Mirror, mirror &
Who s got the mirror? Endlessly regressing fleas, and all that. I say the
question s purely academic, and
I say to hell with it.
Well, we tried to settle it by force, and that didn t get us anywhere. Nobody
ever gained anything by playing chess with himself.
Why don t we flip for it? Anybody have a coin?
Why don t we all meet in an aspect somewhere, bring guns, and start banging
away at one another?
Primitive, but it ought to settle something.
That s what I was talking about at lunch. Some of you guys are just a little
too bloodthirsty for my taste.
Well, all you liberal pantywaists can hold a raffle for the door prize.
Who s a panty waist?
Who s a liberal?
Wait a minute. Something s happening.
They all looked at one another.
You re all fading, said one of them.
So are you, said another. I can see right through you.
Anybody know what s going on?
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The disturbance has been quelled. The problem is taking care of itself.
Gradually the figures in the room grew transparent, save one.
One of the disappearing ghosts raised a hand. Anyway, fellows, thanks for
lunch.
See you around, another said, his voice an echo.
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Presently there was only one man in the room. He exhaled and got up from the
chair he was sitting in.
He checked the instruments again, nodding in satisfaction.
So much for that, he said.
On his way out he passed a mirror, and stepped back to consider his
reflection.
Anyway, I
feel real enough.
His image winked at him.
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