And Now?

He then looks a bit more surprised at being able to mentally "speak" with us....

The Doctor

Well, that explains just what the absence of glyphes on your mother and a few of your kin, my dear. I say gently, making a small emphasizing gesture at the area on my forehead that a gem would be if I was a Golem.

Dare say you are right, Betty and Ragan chime in together.

Inquirer nods, looking back at the others and then back at the nervous Golems, Daneel and RX-347 (the newborn female Golem's designation) and then waves them over to a corner, away from the as yet oblivious Baley and Gladia.

Betty and the others not already involved in discussion (verbally speaking), come over, adding when they felt the need.

The thing of it is I and the others of my kind are still getting a feel for what it exactly means to be Golems, Inquirer sighs, looking earnestly at her breathern, I've told Daneel the bulk of what I know, but like I said....there was still much to be discovered.

She continues on, explaining that in all of Golemkind, the ratio to glyphed to non-glyphed Golems back on Terra Prime was split 50/50. As far as research had been able to uncover so far, there was a percentage of magic using Golems that was a little bit above that found in human beings, all of them glyphed types. Then, there was the non-glyphed Golem types....

I'm just taking a wild guess here....but I'm willing to bet that the percentage of ESP types like yourself is roughly the same percentage, Inquirer finished up.

Why us? Roxanne (the name that Betty had suggested for her during this mental discussion...which RX-347 took a liking to), Why have Daneel....why have I and he been chosen?

Why have any of us been chosen? I ask gently, Personally, I've been around for awhile now, and I fear, my dear, that I am not have no clear answers....beyond the little glimpses here and there of the Beyond. Could be that Inquirer's religon is correct. Could be that Christianity is correct. Perhaps Islam. Perhaps something else. Mayhaps even my religion is the correct one. None of us here is sure of anything anymore on that score, I fear.

Can't be absolutely sure of anything, Ragan adds, smiling a smile in a manner speaking of mischief, It's a sign of weakness.

Then both she and Betty give a bit of a laugh at that, and I get the feeling that it's something that I...or rather....my TV counterpart would say....

.....

Actually, that's not half bad advice.....

We continue to talk a bit more, mentally, and before turning our attention back to Gladia and Baley.

As we do I almost have a twinge of regret that they hadn't asked about Time Lord religion. Then again, while certain aspects of it may appear on it's surface deceptively simple (primitive even). Some may even dream of Time Lord society been sterile and wholly intellectual, free of religious items.

......

Well, perhaps in some realities it's that way, but I come from my reality, and it is the way it is. It's got features that would be....rather difficult to be able to grasp in total. Difficult to explain to the average non-Time Lord kind. Dear me, it has aspects that even I am not totally clear on, but take on faith.

Hrmph.

Anyway, I do admit I am still not totally comfortable with speaking of religion in casual conversation.

We also speak of other things....

But whatever the case, it seems to have somewhat put at ease the linger anxieties in Roxanne. Daneel's softly spoken verbal words seem to steady her as well.

Seems like a budding relationship isn't just happening between Baley and Gladia alone.

Should we tell him about his and her life being mirrored in those stories by Asimov? Roxanne asks, glancing at the awaiting humans.

That was one of the things that had come up in this conversation. Daneel had said he'd overheard that part back earlier and had figured it out for himself. He'd even figured out the fact that, given a big enough number of realities, reality and fiction would naturally mirror each other. The theory that every fictional story told of another reality, somewhere, didn't even phase him.

Quiet a steady customer, this Daneel and Roxanne. I must admit I am impressed!

Not quiet yet, Inquirer finally says, glancing at Baley and Gladia, Baley, I judge, is steady enough to take it, but Gladia's not....quiet ready, yet.

"So, what do we do next?" Gladia asks, "I take it that.....you have planned on speeding up this Golemization process. But do your plans now include apprehending whoever sent....her?"

1. Baley had apparently figured out that Roxanne had been sent here on purpose, perhaps for the purpose of causing what we interrupted....

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