* * * *
“Wake.” It was the Yellow Glamor standing beside them.
“Question?” Aura asked, surprised. It was barely dawn.
“Two ifrits approach this camp."
Suddenly Aura was totally alert. She and Augur scrambled up, not bothering to dress, and followed the Glamor outside. There was nothing in sight.
“They are near the edge of the nearest Red Chroma zone,” Yellow said. “It is beyond coincidence that they approach this base at this time, and that two are together. I believe it best that we meet them."
“Agreement!” Aura and Augur said almost together.
The base was in a nonChroma zone, apart from its special Chroma trees, of fair extent. Several Chroma zones bordered it, irregularly, Red among them. They made their way toward the Red one.
There was an ifrit cloud, condensing to globular form. “The second is beyond, awaiting its turn,” Yellow said. “There is no established path here, so this can't be a routine crossing."
“Agreement,” Aura breathed. “They must be coming to see us."
“This time in solid form,” Augur said.
“We do not know whether either is the same as the one you contacted yesterday,” Yellow said. “Considering their slowness of motion, it seems unlikely. This suggests that there is communication between them, and that these are the closest ones to this enclave. There has never before been such an intrusion, that we know of."
“How should we proceed?” Aura asked. Her heart was thudding. The thought that they might be about to make more meaningful contact with the ifrits was exhilarating.
“The two of you should approach them; you are the ones they know, if that is relevant. I will observe, unobserved. Try to ascertain the nature of their interest."
“Agreement.” Aura walked toward the coalescing ifrit. Augur followed, deliberately a bit behind, giving her the first chance to make contact.
The red blob was within the Red Chroma zone; evidently Chroma magic was required to make the transition from cloud to solid. Aura stepped into the zone, meeting it there.
Some cloud remained, in a streamer attaching to the ball. It shifted toward her, evidently aware of her. Part of it extended toward her. She extended a hand toward it. Hand touched vapor tendril.
“Aura. Human. Friend,” she said, focusing her thoughts. Would that help?
Then the tendril withdrew. It joined the solid body.
Aura waited. What came next?
The solid glob quivered. It was a sphere, but now it became irregular. Bulges appeared. These extended into five projections, two below, two to the sides, and one at the top. The two below thickened into stout columns, while the two to the sides lengthened and bent in the middles. The top one became a smaller sphere. All of their substance was at the expense of the main mass, which diminished somewhat. What was the ifrit doing? This was no shape for rolling; it was awkward and ungainly.
The columns below broadened at their bases, projecting slightly forward. The side extensions formed small nests of tentacles at their ends. The top ball sprouted fibers above, that lengthened until they bent of their own weight and flopped crazily to the sides. Two blisters appeared, one on either side. The front formed two slight indents, a single projecting ridge below them, and a sideways crack below that. The thing looked like a comical cartoon face.
Aura felt her jaw dropping. “The ifrit is trying to emulate a human being!” she exclaimed.
“It is trying to make contact by adopting our form,” Augur agreed. “So we can relate to it."
That suggested more than animal curiosity. “It must be sapient after all,” she said. “Or approaching sapience."
“Then let us help it relate,” Augur said, as the second ifrit began its slow condensation. “This could be much more of a breakthrough than we anticipated."
“Agreement,” she said, awed.
* * * *
Augur was excited. Aura's initiative had brought them to the verge of something unprecedented: possible contact with an alien sapience. The ifrits were meeting them more than halfway, which suggested that they had not only understood Aura's effort, but had recognized the two of them as creatures worth understanding better. Oh, it could be that the ifrits were curious, so were mimicking the unknown species, thinking them potential playmates; since ifrits could change shape, that might be a standard device. But it also could be that they had recognized sapience, and wanted an exchange of minds.
The ifrit before Aura was shaping itself into a crude human being. How far could that go? Would it be able to walk and talk? Would its eyes see, its ears hear, its fingers feel? If not, the ifrit would have trouble truly relating. Yet the ifrits must have done this before with animals, so had a notion of animal senses and abilities.
He heard something, and looked around. Ini, this time swathed, and Futility were coming to join them. That made sense, if the ifrits tolerated the extra company.
The ifrit before him was reducing to the solid stage. It had had to wait until Aura's ifrit was done, because the clouds took up too much room to come together in such a restricted area. Aura's ifrit was becoming female, with long hair and breasts. Would his ifrit become male? That seemed likely. They were copying what they saw. Did they have any idea of the significance of the genders? Maybe, because at least some of the animals they had seen here had two sexes. Did the ifrits have male and female forms? That depended on how they reproduced. If they reproduced.
Aura's ifrit opened her mouth. She sucked in air, then blew it out again. “Oooo!"
Aura smiled. “Greeting."
The ifrit tried again. “Hzree-sting."
“Aura. Human."
“Aaaw-rah. Hoo-min."
Was this intellect, or mere mimicry? It might take some time to find out. Ini was murmuring to Futility, who was noting it down.
Augur's ifrit did gradually shape into a man. At least it lacked breasts and had a penis. But imitation was a far distance from understanding.
“This is a creditable beginning,” Augur said. “However, this smacks of parody. It needs to be more precise.” He was sure the ifrits could not understand his remarks, but they were partly to keep Aura abreast of his thinking.
“Attention,” Aura said. “Mine is closer."
He looked. She was right: her ifrit, ahead of his ifrit in the adaptation, was forming into a lovely figure of a red woman. She had outstanding breasts, a small waist, and lustrous hair. In fact she looked very much like Aura, only in red.
He watched his own ifrit more closely. It was improving its emulation. Its head was too big, but now some of it fuzzed off into vapor, which settled around the shoulders and condensed on them. Both head and shoulders were improved. The facial features were crude, but they too fuzzed partly into vapor, leaving a smaller nose and lips, a firmer chin.
“Better,” Augur said encouragingly.
“Bet-terr.” The voice and enunciation were improving too.
Augur watched as, part by part, the ifrit reshaped its body. It was evident that it could not do so directly; the seeming flesh had to vaporize, then condense again. So the process was slow, but effective. Soon enough a virtually perfect red human man stood before him.
“Caution,” Ini said.
“Question?"
“He looks exactly like you. The other looks exactly like Aura, except for the color."
“Actually, mirror image,” Futility said. “The human body is seldom perfectly symmetrical. The male ifrit's left arm is slightly more muscular than its right one."
Augur realized that as a dancer, she was highly conscious of body balance. This was an excellent point. The ifrits were copying them as they saw them, mirror-like. Still, the fidelity was remarkable.
“Perhaps it should be left that way,” Ini said. “We do want to be able to tell you apart.” She was not joking.
“They copy us,” Augur said. “We are their models. This makes sense. But there is more to being human than appearance."
&nb
sp; “Understatement,” Aura agreed, laughing.
Both ifrits stumbled. They caught themselves, a bit clumsily, as they were evidently not accustomed to standing on two legs when in solid form.
“Interest,” Ini said. “Your laughter surprised them, distracting them from their concentration on the form. They must never have heard it before."
“Only human beings laugh,” Augur said. “Because only humans have a developed sense of humor."
“Only humans have the wit to appreciate the ridiculous,” Aura said.
“Wit,” he agreed. “Intelligence."
“Hypothesis,” Ini said. “No creature on Planet Counter Charm is sapient."
“Rationale?” Aura asked.
“The ifrits evidently travel the planet, and can go anywhere. They will have encountered all landbound creatures, and probably airborne ones too. If they never encountered laughter, there are no creatures who practice it. Therefore none have sufficient wit."
“Correction,” Augur said. “They may have humor, but express it some other way."
“Or they may be smart, but not humorous,” Aura said.
“Hypothesis unproven,” Ini agreed.
“But likely,” Aura said.
“So we need to find out just how smart they are,” Augur said. “Animal intellect seems probable."
Meanwhile the two ifrits were shaping up. The one before Aura was looking around, her eyes fixing on Futility with seeming interest. Futility glanced at Ini, then walked to stand beside Aura. The ifrit touched her hair, which was red. The ifrit's hair was red too, but not the same shade; it matched the monochrome of the zone.
“Some of us are Chroma,” Aura said. “Some are nonChroma. This is Futility, who is nonChroma."
“Futility,” Futility repeated.
“Foo-dill-idy."
“All our talking must be confusing to them,” Augur said. “The repertoire of animals is limited."
“But we are not animals,” Ini said. “Our dialogue helps make that plain. We should not pretend to be animals."
“Agreement,” Augur said. “Animals hear us constantly talking, and ignore it, just as we ignore their scratching."
“Question,” Futility said. “Shouldn't we name them?"
“Agreement,” Aura said. “If they are going to look this much like us, and want to relate, we need to get on a name basis."
“The concept may be tricky,” Ini said. “Animals don't have names, except when humans give them names."
“Let's try it and see how it works,” Augur said. “What is a suitable name for this one?"
“Ifor Ifrit,” Ini said naming the one in the children's story that had brought the term ifrit.
They all laughed, causing the ifrits to pause again, their faces going blank. Would it ever be possible to explain to the ifrits what humor was?
“Maybe Ivor, to differentiate,” Ini suggested. “And Iva for the female."
“Agreement,” Augur said, and the others assented.
The male ifrit was now complete, looking just like Augur, only left sided. It was time for introductions.
Augur touched his own chest. “Augur,” he said.
“Aw-grr."
Close enough. Now he tapped the ifrit on the chest. “Ivor."
“I-vorr."
“Agreement. I am Augur, you are Ivor.” Then he walked slowly to Ini. “Ini,” he said, touching her swathed shoulder.
“In-ee."
“Ini,” Ini repeated, touching her own shoulder. Then she touched Augur. “Augur.” And the ifrit. “Ivor."
“I-vor.” Already the pronunciation was closer.
But had the lesson taken? “Augur,” Augur said, tapping himself. He glanced at Ini.
“Ini,” she said, touching herself again.
Then both of them looked at the ifrit.
“Inee.” And the ifrit touched himself.
“Negation,” Augur said. Then, reconsidering, went for a simpler term. “No.” He touched Ini. “Ini.” He touched himself. “Augur. He touched the ifrit. “Ivor."
It took some time, but finally the ifrit got the idea. Then they repeated the process with the female ifrit She, having observed the process before, was quicker to catch on. “Ivaa."
When both ifrits had the name of all the party straight, it was time for the next step. What should that be?
“You two must be hungry,” Ini said. “You skipped breakfast. Now it is nearing noon."
So it was; time had passed rapidly. “Then let's eat,” Aura said. “And see if they do."
They hesitated to leave the Chroma zone, so Ini and Futility returned to the camp and brought food out for them. Augur conjured a crude table and chairs for the six of them.
This confused the ifrits. They had surely seen conjuring before, because it was common magic with in Chroma zones, and animals often used it to fashion temporary refuges. It was the special forms that were strange. “We need to make a demonstration,” Augur murmured. “I'll be a courtly man; you be ladies."
“We'll fake that state,” Aura agreed wryly.
He approached her. “Aura,” he said clearly. “Seat.” He pulled out a chair for her. She sat on it. He went on to Ini. “Ini. Seat.” She sat. “Futility—seat.” She sat. Then he came to Iva. “Iva. Seat.” And she, again benefiting from observation, sat. He came finally to Ivor. “Ivor. Seat.” And Ivor sat. It wasn't courtly protocol for a man to help a man, other than the king, but this had done the job.
Aura served food similarly. “Augur. Food.” He accepted a chunk of bread and a cup of milky liquid, Gale's concoction. Ini and Futility accepted theirs. Then Iva and Ivor. Did ifrits eat? Not in solid form, he suspected. But since humans did, this was appropriate.
When all were served, Augur made a show of biting into his bread. He chewed, slowly and obviously, and swallowed. Then he took a careful sip of his drink. After that, Aura did the same, and the others. But the two ifrits had a problem: their teeth were not hard, and probably they didn't have solid digestive systems.
But they adapted. They opened their mouths, and their teeth vaporized. Soon they reformed as much harder units, so they could chew. But they still couldn't swallow. So vapor issued from their mouths in larger quantity, then funneled back down into them. Now they swallowed; they had reformed their innards to make the equivalent of stomachs.
“And what of elimination?” Ini murmured.
“They'll probably have to eject it undigested,” Aura said. “But at least we have succeeded in making a social occasion."
After the meal and a brief discussion, Augur took Ivor to the screening of some bushes and demonstrated urination and defecation. The ifrits surely understood these animal processes; now they knew that humans did them too, and perhaps understood that they normally did them alone. Ivor went through the motions, but was able to produce only a little mist, which was then retracted. “Understanding,” Augur said. “You don't eat and eliminate the way we do."
They rejoined the women, who evidently had had similar experience. “What's next?” Augur asked.
The answer surprised him. Iva Ifrit came to him. She placed her arms around him and squeezed, gently. They were both naked, and she was well formed—just about like Aura in red—so this was a pleasant surprise. “Fren,” she said.
“Friend,” he agreed, pronouncing the word carefully.
“Frend,” she agreed. “Ege of."
Augur did not understand the second statement, but hesitated to show his ignorance. He stood embracing Iva, silent. It was Ini who figured it out. “Edge off!” she exclaimed. “That's what I said when we had sex the other night!"
“Amazement!” Aura said. “That suggests two things. First, that the purple fog was the same ifrit, or that they have communication. Second—"
“That Iva wants sex,” Ini concluded.
Augur still did not feel free to comment. This development astonished him, and he did not know how to handle it. He remained as he was, holding the ifrit, not moving.
>
“Conjecture,” Ini said. “The ifrit passed that night, noted our presence, heard our dialogue, and recognized a typical animal interaction: sex. This is used in many species as a social lubricant: a male does not generally harass a female who is new to the group if he has had sex with her. The ifrits wish to interact amicably with us, so proffer sex in this spirit. Question: would we be wise to decline?"
“Acceptance,” Aura said after a pause. “I will take on Ivor."
“Question,” Ini said. “Notes?"
“In this instance, yes,” Aura said. “There are bound to be complications. It is a learning process, and we must be ready to clarify things. Let's start with Augur and Iva. Demonstrate sex."
Augur's feelings were mixed. He knew this was not a human woman, not even an animal one, but a form of demon. But she was perfectly shaped, and wished to relate in this way. “Agreement,” he said.
He drew away from Iva, and concentrated on conjuration. He summoned substance to make a red bed of straw, then covered it with a red sheet. Then he demonstrated lying down. She understood immediately, perhaps because he and Ini had been lying down in the night. He lay beside her, and kissed her.
That needed a lesson. Her mouth was mushy. “Aura,” he said.
Aura came and lay down beside them. The likeness remained eerie: the red woman form and blue woman form. He moved over to her and kissed her. Then Aura addressed Iva, bringing Iva's finger to her pursed lips, demonstrating a kiss. After that Aura kissed Augur again, with exaggeratedly firm mouth. Then she withdrew.
It sufficed. When he kissed Iva again, her mouth was firm. It was far from perfect, but a vast improvement. Ini was murmuring, and Futility was making rapid notes. This was certainly a public demonstration.
He continued, fondling and kissing Iva's breasts. Iva remained quite still. He summoned Aura again, and she demonstrated motion with the touching, adding small moans of pleasure as she clasped him to her.
Again Iva understood. She came alive as he stroked her, and moaned. She kissed him with increasing competence.