Alec lay quietly, letting the warmth of the sand to seep into him. Strange, but he never talked about this. The wars were reality, the whole of his life from a broken home to an endless run because there was no place to stop. But he stopped — here, among this alien opulence, with this curious presence of a boy-man next to him. How soon would he have to run again?

Finally he turned, meeting Cir's gaze. "That's what I meant by safe haven," he said. "Normally someone would have found you long ago."

"To kill me?" Cir's voice was curiously detached.

"Perhaps. Or, perhaps, to use you. Precognitive talents, no matter how unstable, are very rare..." Was Cir in shock? Alec dipped into his mind and found there as much detachment as in Cir's outward appearance and tone.

"Do you not care at all that you are alive?" he asked, such detachment suddenly making him furious. "Do you know how many people have died just to keep their loved ones alive and safe as you are?"

"But am I alive?" Cir asked with a listless half-smile. "You were thinking of me as a machine earlier, weren't you?"

Alec practically hissed in annoyance. "Was I?" he said, forcing himself back into calmness. No time to be childish just because someone else was. "Or are you projecting your little hangups all over the place?"

"It's not a little hangup!" Now Cir seemed angry. "I am not like other people — you all are always forgetting this! I'm not here, and you are not talking to me! It's all just illusion, and really I'm just lying in a big capsule, connected to the machines!"

Alec laughed, glad to see the boy reacting normally again. "So you do care about something," he exclaimed. "Very good, Cir, very good."

He did not need to be a precognitive to expect the slim body that came flying at him in the next moment, fists pounding. Cir was stronger than Alec expected, but also much angrier than the telepath. The anger did not let him plan his actions, so after a momentary scuffle Alec was on top of him, pinning Cir's wrists to the sand and grinning at him triumphantly.

Pleasantly elated from this small victory, Alec was a little startled when the body under his suddenly went limp. He almost dismissed it as an acknowledgment of surrender in fight when he noticed the disturbed look in Cir's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Master," the Key whispered with a shuddering sigh. "I shouldn't have..."

"Oh damn," Alec said quietly and sat up, letting Cir go.

Cir sat up too and was staring at him slightly anxiously, all animation gone from his face. Now what, Alec thought, worried. How long and how hard was Cir trained? Somehow it was unlikely that Alec's words that he did not do anything wrong would be enough.

Finally he shook his head and grabbed Cir's hand, at the same time slipping inside the Key's mind. It should have been easier still than the first time, but instead of familiarity Alec encountered a strange... fog. He marvelled at himself — Alec knew that each telepath saw minds as something suitable to their own understanding, but fog... He never used nature images before.

Still, fog was the best he could do to describe that dense and vague something that clouded the channels usually linking Cir's mind to the outside world.

::Sorry, Master... Sorry, Master... Sorry, Master...::

This mindvoice didn't even sound like Cir. Too mechanical — even when Cir sought refuge in the routine, he did not speak in such a flat monotone. Programming? Or just a very intensive training? Alec shivered. He never saw anything like this and was sure he never wanted to see such thing again.

So he needed to cut through the fog just to get to Cir, to make Cir return to normal at least for now. Alec plunged ahead, concentrating his will, imagining himself a sharp blade.

His task proved unexpectedly difficult. The fog lulled him. ::Master... Master...:: It was warm, and nice and safe, inviting him to stay forever. Still, it was not enough to take away Alec's reasoning. If this part of Cir's mind was calling him master, then Cir himself must be here somewhere to recognize him.

Finally assuring himself of imminent success, Alec almost laughed. After surviving all these years it would be pure stupidity to get caught in the middle of the conditioned mind of a sex slave who felt sorry for attacking him. Alec's mental touch expanded, pushing the fog away, not bothering with clearing it for now. ::Cir! Cir, snap out of it at once!::

Alec moved out of the other man's mind abruptly and looked with a chuckle into Cir's surprised face. The Key was blinking at him and shivering. Alec knew his mental touch must have felt cold to Cir — he made it so deliberately.

"Wha... Master?"

"Don't. Call. Me. Master," Alec said succinctly and evenly.

Cir shivered again, trying to sit straighter. "Alec. I'm sorry."

"Whatever for?" Alec asked him, even though he knew the answer. "I provoked you. ou reacted. Up to that point all was perfectly natural."

"But I shouldn't have..."

Alec cut him off with a gesture. "You said that already. Frankly speaking, I don't like your rules, and I wonder who programmed them into you so strongly."

Cir shook his head, focusing with an effort of will. "I don't know. What was it... What did you do to me just now?"

"Cleared your head, dear," Alec answered with a slight smirk. "A mental equivalent of a cold shower. Did it work?"

"Oh yes," Cir said wearily, "yes, it did. But I really shouldn't have.."

"Are you satisfied now that you're human?" Alec interrupted him, suddenly loath do discuss the fog in Cir's mind. Mental programming terrified him, even if it was highly unlikely someone would be able to do that to him. Adult telepaths' minds broke, but never bent.

Cir just looked at him questioningly.

"Machines don't get angry. And they never, ever break rules."

"Guess you're right," Cir said quietly. "I don't usually think about this."

"Well, try thinking," Alec offered. "It is generally a useful occupation..." He felt himself letting go of the unnoticed tension that had been holding him. And Cir seemed to be better too, for he made a face when Alec said that.

They looked at each other and laughed. Finally Alec said, "While you're exhausting yourself thinking, try also looking at the data about the Palace. I'd really like to know how and why it was founded."

"I'll try," Cir answered seriously. "Nobody ever told me I shouldn't look for that, so I guess it's okay."

Alec stared at him, suddenly struck by the idea that Cir might feel any loyalty to this place. Still, the Palace kept him alive and safe... He did not say anything. It wasn't the right time to think about this, for he was tired and there was too much he still did not know.

"Well," he said lightly, "if you're not able to find any information for me yet and also you are not supposed to fight with me, what am I to do with you?"

"Have sex with me?" Cir offered in a strangely hopeful tone.