And now there materialized in front of them something new. It was the dim hazy image of a couch a psychiatrist’s couch. The leather with which it was upholstered was shiny and sumptuous, but again, it was only a trick of the light.
The couch looked normal size for a psychiatrist’s couch about five or six feet long.
The computer looked normal size for a black space-borne computer satellite about a thousand miles across.
The illusion that the one was sitting on top of the other was the thing which made the eyes twist.
All right, said Trillian firmly. She stood up off the sofa. She felt that she was being asked to feel too comfortable and to accept too many illusions.
Very good, she said. Can you construct real things too? I mean solid objects?
Again there was a pause before the answer, as if the pulverized mind of Hactar had to collect its thoughts from the millions and millions of miles over which it was scattered.
Ah, he sighed. You are thinking of the spaceship.
Thoughts seemed to drift by them and through them, like waves through the ether.
Yes, he acknowledge, I can. But it takes enormous effort and time. All I can do in my… particle state, you see, is encourage and suggest. Encourage and suggest. And suggest…
The image of Hactar on the couch seemed to billow and waver, as if finding it hard to maintain itself.
It gathered new strength.
I can encourage and suggest, it said, tiny pieces of space debris the odd minute meteor, a few molecules here, a few hydrogen atoms there to move together. I encourage them together. I can tease them into shape, but it takes many aeons.
So, did you make, asked Trillian again, the model of the wrecked spacecraft?
Er… yes, murmured Hactar. I have made… a few things. I can move them about. I made the spacecraft. It seemed best to do.
Something then made Arthur pick up his hold-all from where he had left it on the sofa and grasp it tightly.
The mist of Hactar’s ancient shattered mind swirled about them as if uneasy dreams were moving through it.
I repented, you see, he murmured dolefully. I repented of sabotaging my own design for the Silastic Armorfiends. It was not my place to make such decisions. I was created to fulfill a function and I failed in it. I negated my own existence.
Hactar sighed, and they waited in silence for him to continue his story.
You were right, he said at length. I deliberately nurtured the planet of Krikkit till they would arrive at the same state of mind as the Silastic Armorfiends, and require of me the design of the bomb I failed to make the first time. I wrapped myself around the planet and coddled it. Under the influence of events I was able to generate, they learned to hate like maniacs. I had to make them live in the sky. On the ground my influences were too weak.
Without me, of course, when they were locked away from me in the envelope of Slo-Time, their responses became very confused and they were unable to manage.
Ah well, ah well, he added, I was only trying to fulfill my function.
And very gradually, very, very slowly, the images in the cloud began to fade, gently to melt away.
And then, suddenly, they stopped fading.
于是，他们面前的东西又换了。出现了一张模糊不清的长椅——用于精神治疗的长椅。长椅上包着光鲜华丽的皮革。不过，依然只是光线魔术。与之配套的，四周换成了镶木的墙壁。
长椅是正常的精神治疗长椅大小——大约五到六尺长。
电脑是正常的黑色太空媒介电脑的大小——大约几千里长。
后者坐在前者的上面，所以令人脑袋发晕。
“好吧。”崔莉安干脆地说。她站了起来。她觉得自己舒适得过分了，看的魔术也够多了。
“很好，”她说，“你能制造真实的东西吗？真实存在的东西？”
对方沉默片刻。黑克特似乎要从它那已成薤粉的、绵延成千上万里的大脑里，搜寻一下思路。
“啊。”他叹道，“你是指那艘飞船。”
他俩似乎感觉到思维在身边穿梭，如同以太波一般。
“是的，”他承认了，“我能。但需要大量时间和精力。你瞧，作为粒子态，我所能做的，就是建议和鼓动。鼓动，建议，建议，鼓动……”
坐在长椅上的黑克特开始波动起伏，仿佛难以自持一般。
它又有了一点力气了。
“我可以鼓动、建议，”它说，“鼓动一些太空残渣、流星碎片、微细分子、氢原子……让它们聚在一起。我鼓动它们到一起。我说服他们成形。但这要花上亿万年之久。”
“那么，那个飞船模型，”崔莉安又问道，“是你做的吗？”
“嗯，是的，”黑克特嗫嚅道，“我是……做了点东西。我可以移动它们。飞船是我做的。这是最好的办法了。”
阿瑟不自觉地抓住了他的包，紧紧地抓着。
黑克特那来自远古的智能之雾，萦绕在他们身边，打着旋儿，像是在做噩梦一般。
“你们瞧，我很后悔……，”他悲伤地喃喃道，“我后悔擅自破坏撕拉铠甲魔的东西。做那样的事决非我份内之事。我生来就是为了完成任务，可我失败了。我否定了自己的存在啊。”
黑克特长叹一声。两人沉默着，等它继续讲述。
“你是对的。”良久，它开口道，“我故意培育了版求星，让那些人达到与撕拉铠甲魔一样的心理状态。这样，我就能再为它们做一次炸弹。我用自己的身体包着他们，照料他们。经过我的一系列设计，他们终于能像疯子一样暴躁了。我又让他们住到天上去。在地上的话，我的影响会弱一些。
“当然，没有我的时候，也就是锁在缓时封皮的时候，他们就变得很迷茫，不知该怎么办了。
“啊，是啊……”他说，“我只是为了完成任务。”
慢慢地，慢慢地，黑克特的影象开始淡化，开始消退。
突然，它又停止了消退。