55

The streets were full of people, and Teresa knew that her original body could be anywhere out there—or nowhere at all.

She had scoured the huge COM databases for a body with her fingerprints, DNA, even scan-matches of her facial features. Nothing. Refusing to give up, Teresa had posted the image of her younger face Garth had drawn. “Have you seen this body?” So far, though, none of the responses had been even close.

Not even Daragon, with all the resources of the Bureau of Tracing and Locations, had managed to find any useful information, only a few false leads.

Now, she sat throwing pebbles into the bubbling geometric fountain where she and Arthur used to talk. She had no flowers left, no petals to float on the gentle waves. Teresa felt weary in her mind and in her bones, but at least Eduard’s body had survived the Rush-X withdrawal. Physically, she grew stronger every day, no longer afraid of falling apart with each uncertain step.

But this still wasn’t the place where Teresa belonged. She missed her home-body. It had been a long time since she’d been a woman. Had she lost that part of her identity, too? She seemed farther from her goal than ever before.

Wistfully, she thought about the monastery. As a curious teenager, even before she or her friends had learned how to hopscotch, Teresa had studied the changes puberty brought upon her flesh, her chemistry, her attitudes. She had explored her body and how it worked, making love to Eduard and Garth, and even Daragon, sharing warmth and caring. Her friendships were her world.

Teresa had felt whole then.

She trailed her fingers in the fountain. She pictured old Arthur’s worn-leather face, thought of the things she had learned from him. You always told me I should welcome challenges.

Teresa brushed stray droplets from her hands and marched over to a public COM terminal. She would try again, and again if necessary. But if Daragon and the BTL couldn’t find anything, how could she hope to be successful? She had already searched in every way she could imagine.

Nevertheless, she refused to stop looking.

As she stood in a sheltered alcove where a smoked-plastic panel shaded the COM filmscreen from sun glare, an image formed there. She hadn’t even entered a command. But it was a face . . . a familiar face.

Soft Stone!

A superstitious thrill ran like a centipede down Teresa’s spine. She recalled the dull day at her dead-end job when she had seen her teacher’s image among the datanets. But the bald monk had vanished that time, leaving Teresa to convince herself it was only her imagination or wishful thinking. But not now.

Soft Stone appeared with crystal clarity, projected three-dimensionally on the filmscreen. “Hello, little Swan.” Her voice was so familiar, so rich.

Tears sprang to Teresa’s eyes. “What are you doing here? How? Why—?”

“I’ve watched over you for a long time. You and Garth and Eduard. Even poor dedicated Daragon, though he would never dare to ask me for help. I’ve tried to help you, when I could.”

“You’re inside COM?”

“I have many eyes and many thoughts. I helped save Garth from drowning in Hawaii. I sent Eduard a message to rescue you from the Sharetakers. And I continue to keep an eye on Eduard, when I can. He’s very careful.”

Teresa took a deep breath. “Eduard’s all right, then?”

“He’s alive, and very clever. But then again, so is Daragon.”

Teresa moved closer to the wavering screen, as if she could reach out and embrace the virtual image. Soft Stone’s pale lips curved in a smile. “I understand your quest, child, and your anguish—I offer what little assistance I can.”

“Do you know where my original body is?” Teresa trembled again, but this time it had nothing to do with Rush-X withdrawal pains. “Oh, how I want to be myself again.”

Soft Stone’s disembodied head bobbed up and down in a quiet nod. “I am a luminous being now. I’ve soared through the databases . . . so much to explore, and so many of us here. Each new mind makes COM a vaster universe.”

Teresa held her breath.

“I’ve put together fragments of long-lost records that no normal human could have found. Perhaps you’ll find the clue you need in them. I have finally discovered where Jennika went after the Sharetaker enclave. Try there.”

Soft Stone flashed the address of a business, and Teresa twirled, giddy with relief. When she leaned closer to the screen to thank Soft Stone, though, the female monk was no longer there.