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Might<br />
Haalii had no time to devote to anyone but Mura. She called on some of her trusted tools—people who<br />
considered themselves friends—to entertain and probe for information <strong>from</strong> the thousands who clamored after<br />
contact with her. She even had to steal some time to train a corps of twenty-four artisans to create weavings for<br />
her business. No one noticed that these substitute creations were fake. People met one of the artisans, spent<br />
some time with them, waited while they "consulted" with Haalii, and felt completely entranced with the results.<br />
The artisans would never sacrifice the large sums of money to reveal the truth.<br />
Mura was developing a radically new style of dance that one news Mesh reported was related to the<br />
dances inspired by <strong>An</strong>glana. Mura furiously denied it, saying: "I saw the plasma glows and watched my parents<br />
dance. I never felt an urge to taste <strong>An</strong>glana and, if you think my dances are anything like what people do when<br />
incorporated with that life-form, you're as stupid as my parents."<br />
Haalii didn't need to train Mura in the ways necessary to discredit Delva and Verluin. She only needed to<br />
encourage Mura to continue to do what she was prone to do. Haalii did, however, need to spend enormous<br />
amounts of time facilitating Mura's connections with the public, setting up performances for her, lining up news<br />
coverage, and supplying a slowly rotating entourage of lovers—very carefully chosen lovers.<br />
The fact that the Worlds' economy was structured in a way that favored massive trading between <strong>An</strong>ga-<br />
Param and <strong>An</strong>la-Purum yet had to deal with restrictions when it came to trade with <strong>An</strong>gla-Palli made anything<br />
that could be exported <strong>from</strong> <strong>An</strong>glana's planet attain extremely high worth. Even a simple Mesh news item could<br />
fetch a higher price if it came <strong>from</strong> <strong>An</strong>gla-Palli. Traders living on <strong>An</strong>glana's planet quickly adapted to the<br />
commerce restrictions and profited greatly <strong>from</strong> what they were permitted to buy and sell.<br />
A single Mesh broadcast of Mura's dance creations brought nine times the value of a month's worth of<br />
food shipments.<br />
Haalii cared little for the money and took only five percent of the proceeds. She did, though, counsel<br />
Mura closely about where to invest the other ninety-five percent. Within a few years, Mura owned or had<br />
controlling interest in an estimated fifteen percent of all the Worlds' businesses.<br />
Haalii made sure Mura stayed busy and well-bedded. She would instruct her in what to do with her<br />
wealth when the moment for Worlds'-wide turmoil came.<br />
Verluin sat with Delva on the coast of the largest sea on <strong>An</strong>gla-Palli—the largest concentration of<br />
<strong>An</strong>glana's consciousness. Delva had just returned <strong>from</strong> a tour of visits to all the Territorial Councils and had<br />
shared what she'd learned with <strong>An</strong>glana. Delva's return had also thrown her into prolonged communication with<br />
<strong>An</strong>glana about Verluin's state of health.<br />
He'd been exposed to certain toxins when he'd been growing up during the harrowing times on <strong>An</strong>ga-<br />
Param. He'd had damage done to his endocrine system and not just <strong>from</strong> the Corporate implant. The onset of his<br />
condition had only become obvious to <strong>An</strong>glana and was being dealt with by continual rituals of re-incorporation.<br />
Verluin had been attending to the treatments every week during Delva's prolonged absence. <strong>An</strong>glana had just<br />
told Delva and Verluin that, in spite of her attentions, Verluin had only two years left to live.<br />
Delva used <strong>An</strong>glana's presence to communicate with her husband at levels no other could master.<br />
Excerpts <strong>from</strong> The Attempted Translation of Delva's Communication With Verluin Concerning<br />
The End of His Life:<br />
"Verluin, what of Mura?"<br />
"Mura is under Akla's protection."<br />
"What of her wealth?"<br />
"It will be ill-used."