Chapter 5
The Mentad now had twenty-seven bodies at its command. Progress was being made at a geometric rate; the more bodies it had, the more area it could search for new ones. Already its search had expanded far beyond Aladek and the surrounding countryside. The Mentad was now combing towns and villages across the continent for new adoptees to add to its oneness.
As its success mounted, the Mentad grew stronger. With the mental resources of twenty-seven minds merged into one, its broadcasting distance expanded correspondingly. Its fund of memories and experience broadened, its knowledge of the surroundings increased. Iwagen was no longer a strange world. It was home, and the Mentad for the first time began to relax. The seed was taking root, just as it had done on thirty-five other Dur
