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moment that she actually invaded me, that I would gladly give up this body and
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this life, which I thought I hated. But I found out, with her chasing me around,
that Malu was right, I don't hate my life, I want very much to live. Of course
it's not me doing the wanting, ultimately, it's Ender, but since ultimately he
is me, I guess that's a quibble."
"Ender has three bodies," said Wang-mu. "Does this mean he's giving up one of
the others?"
"I don't think he's giving up anything," said Peter. "Or I should say, I don't
think I'm giving up anything. It's not a conscious choice. Ender's hold on life
is angry and strong. Supposedly he was on his deathbed for a day at least before
Jane was shut down."
"Killed," said Grace.
"Demoted maybe," said Peter stubbornly. "A dryad now instead of a god. A sylph."
He winked at Wang-mu, who had no idea what he was talking about. "Even when he
gives up on his own old life he just won't let go."
"He has two more bodies than he needs," said Wang-mu, "and Jane has one fewer
than she must have. It seems that the laws of commerce should apply. Two times
more supply than is needed -- the price should be cheap."
When all of this was interpreted to Malu, he laughed again. "He laughs at
'cheap,'" said Grace. "He says that the only way that Ender will give up any of
his bodies is to die."
Peter nodded. "I know," he said.
"But Ender isn't Jane," said Wang-mu. "He hasn't been living as a -- a naked
aiúa running along the ansible web. He's a person. When people's aiúas leave
their bodies, they don't go chasing around to something else."
"And yet his -- my -- aiúa was inside me," said Peter. "He knows the way. Ender
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might die and yet let me live."
"Or all three of you might die."
"This much I know," Malu told them, through Grace. "If the god is to be given
life of her own, if she is ever to be restored to her power, Ender Wiggin has to
die and give a body to the god. There's no other way."
"Restored to her power?" asked Wang-mu. "Is that possible? I thought the whole
point of the computer shutdown was to lock her out of the computer nets
forever."
Malu laughed again, and slapped his naked chest and thighs as he poured out a
stream of Samoan.
Grace translated. "How many hundreds of computers do we have here in Samoa? For
months, ever since she made herself known to me, we have been copying, copying,
copying. Whatever memory she wanted us to save, we have it, ready to restore it
all. Maybe it's only one small part of what she used to be, but it's the most
important part. If she can get back into the ansible net, she'll have what she
needs to get back into the computer nets as well."
"But they're not linking the computer nets to the ansibles," said Wang-mu.
"That's the order sent by Congress," said Grace. "But not all orders are
obeyed."
"Then why did Jane bring us here?" Peter asked plaintively. "If Malu and you
deny that you have any influence over Aimaina, and if Jane has already been in
contact with you and you're already effectively in revolt against Congress --"
"No, no, it's not like that," Grace reassured him. "We were doing what Malu
asked us, but he never spoke of a computer entity, he spoke of a god, and we
obeyed because we trust his wisdom and we know he sees things that we don't see.
Your coming told us who Jane is."
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When Malu learned in turn what had been said, he pointed at Peter. "You! You
came here to bring the god!" Then he pointed at Wang-mu. "And you came here to
bring the man."
"Whatever that means," said Peter.
But Wang-mu thought she understood. They had survived one crisis, but this
peaceful hour was only a lull. The battle would be joined again, and this time
the outcome would be different. If Jane was to live, if there was to be any hope
of restoring instantaneous starflight, Ender had to give at least one of his
bodies to her. If Malu was right, then Ender had to die. There was a slight
chance that Ender's aiúa might still keep one of the three bodies, and go on
living. I am here, Wang-mu said silently, to make sure that it is Peter who
survives, not as the god, but as the man.
It all depends, she realized, on whether Ender-as-Peter loves me more than
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