Chapter 3
The Mentad was restless. It was small, cut off from the colony of minds that had given it security until it split into the seed that reached Iwagen. It was eager to begin, to grow, to acquire. But in order to expand, there was an inevitable paradox: to strengthen itself, it must first grow weaker.
The urban areas of Iwagen, like cities on most other civilized worlds, were complex and artificial, lacking the organic quality of the rural regions. Aladek, the spaceport city, was no exception. Its paved streets were lined with houses, businesses, and factories; its population was an ever-bustling mass of souls, impersonal and apart. In this sterile field, the Mentad hoped its seed would blossom.
The three Dur-ill bodies that comprised the Mentad went their separate ways after leav
