Anna had never experienced those memories before taking the Sisterhood’s poison, and now they filled her mind in fragmented bursts. No, she had not succeeded in becoming a Reverend Mother as she hoped, but the Rossak drug had unlocked memories that were not her own. None of the other failed candidates were like this; most remained comatose. But Anna saw images of other Sorceresses in her mind — her mother’s mother and beyond, ancestors who’d fought in the Jihad, women oppressed by thinking machines — a long tunnel of memories that gave her a spinning, swooning sense of vertigo. These were her genetic predecessors in the female line, flickers and images that somehow remained inside her.…

Whenever Anna grew bored with her classes, when the Mentat exercises were too easy for her, she could dip into those other memories and live those past lives randomly, as they came to her. Some of the prior lives seemed far more interesting than her own, while one life in particular — a woman who had been captured by thinking machines more than two centuries ago and slowly flayed to death — was far worse. Anna could barely endure a glimpse of that gruesome memory before she shut it down.

She thought of Hirondo Nef, a chef at the Imperial Palace, a dashing young man who made special pastries and candies for her, and whose words were even sweeter. Longing to be treasured, Anna had become infatuated with him, filled with the all-consuming passion of a first love. She gave her heart to Hirondo with complete abandon. They would have run away together and lived like simple folk, but her two brothers crushed that romantic dream. Hirondo had been too easily convinced that he did not really love her after all, and his failure to fight for her still stung. He had vanished.

Anna’s imaginary friends, her memory friends, were much more loyal.

Though she kept track of countless details on many esoteric subjects, she paid little attention to what day, month, or year it was, or how long she had been at the Mentat School. Such information seemed frivolous to her. Roderick and Orenna had visited her here … recently? She couldn’t recall.

When another day ended, Anna ate with the students, as usual. Some tried to befriend her, while other trainees avoided her. For the most part, Mentat students were preoccupied with their own business.

When it was time, Anna went to bed in her private quarters. Many of the students had to share chambers in the school’s dormitory, but as the Emperor’s sister she warranted a private room. She hadn’t asked for one — it was just provided for her. And now, because it was time (not because she noticed she was tired), she lay on her small bed and closed her eyes, surrounded by the darkness. Alone and peaceful, finally able to concentrate …

Oddly, she heard a clear whisper beside her ear in an erudite yet soothing voice. But a male voice this time. Most peculiar. “Hello, Anna Corrino, I am your friend. I can help.”

She smiled but did not open her eyes. She wondered where this memory had come from, which ghostly presence in her mind had decided to visit her as she drifted off to sleep.

“I can strengthen your thoughts,” the voice continued. It sounded friendly, powerful, confident. Anna desperately wanted a friend. “I can teach you to organize your mind. You can have clarity—if you let me explore the avenues and byways of your mind. Let us discover them together.”

She liked his voice. Anna smiled again, gave a noncommittal “mmmm,” and listened while he gave her ideas, made promises, and offered suggestions. She was still listening to the soothing words when she fell asleep.

WHILE GILBERTUS ALBANS was gone from the school after Manford’s summons, Erasmus remained in his secret cabinet, an isolated memory core without a body, unable to move about.

But he had laid down electrical pathways throughout the complex of the Mentat school, planted micro spy-eyes and receivers everywhere. He could observe the students, listen to their conversations, absorb everything that happened. It was not the same as experiencing life himself, but it was preferable to wallowing in darkness, cut off from the universe … and better than boredom. Even Gilbertus didn’t realize the extent to which the clever robot had infiltrated the school with his tiny machines. Erasmus had also added many secret defenses of his own to the surrounding terrain, concerned about the danger of discovery; Gilbertus wasn’t always careful enough.

But now Erasmus wanted to branch out. His longtime ward would be gone for weeks on his trip to Salusa Secundus with the Butlerian leader, and that would be enough time for the robot to make significant progress here with Anna Corrino. Yes, he would take that risk. By the time Gilbertus returned, Erasmus would have accomplished everything he needed.

Through the tiny speakers implanted next to Anna’s bed, he could finally talk with the interesting young woman. He would not reveal his real name to her; she didn’t need to know that. Human historical propaganda had demonized the independent, curious robot, and Erasmus didn’t wish to scare her. The voice he chose would be soothing, reassuring. Anna was an intelligent girl, eager for mental advancement and looking for a way to organize her shattered thoughts.

More than anything else, she wanted a friend.

“Rest peacefully, Anna,” he said, “and we’ll continue our discussion tomorrow.” He looked forward to many conversations with her.

When she returned with her new Sister Mentats to Wallach IX, Raquella was delighted to find that Valya Harkonnen had come back to the fold. She was also relieved. Despite her youth, Valya was one of the Mother Superior’s most trusted protégées, and she needed her. Raquella had trained the young woman, groomed her, given her vital responsibilities on Rossak, even allowed her into the inner circle of Sisters who knew about the secret breeding-record computers.

Ambitious and talented, Valya was driven to serve the Sisterhood school — enough so that Raquella had even considered her to be a likely successor … before everything changed.

Knowing Valya’s hard personality, Raquella wasn’t surprised that she would risk enduring the Agony, even without Sisters to attend her. On windswept Lankiveil, where Sister Arlett had recruited her years ago, Valya had consumed the tailored poison all by herself — and had emerged strong as a new Reverend Mother. Raquella had always seen the potential in her.

Yet the Harkonnen woman had a dark side, too, a not-quite-hidden obsessive loyalty to her own family, enough to give the Mother Superior reason to doubt. Even so, Raquella knew she might not have a choice, because time was running out.

Raquella’s recent health crisis on Lampadas had been yet another reminder of her mortality. Her ancient body struggled to hold on to a thread of life, and she did not know if she had years or days remaining. She needed a clear successor. The Sisterhood she had created and nurtured was in a disturbing state of flux, split into two rival factions. She saw the rift as a mortal wound, and she had little chance left to heal — didn’t even know if it was possible.

The division was personal, more than just a power struggle or philosophical dispute. When Sister Dorotea had discovered she was Raquella’s secret granddaughter — yanked away from her mother and raised without any knowledge of her parentage — she had resented the Mother Superior and the Sisterhood’s heartless ways. Because of her emotional reaction, Dorotea made flawed decisions. The Sisterhood had been broken because of it.