Victor stepped out of the oblong box. "There is something you should
understand. I am different from the others."
"They all say that."
"I am not your friend."
"No?"
"No. You have made yourself an enemy."
Manet felt nothing more at this information than an esthetic pleasure
at the symmetry of the situation.
"It completes the final course in socialization," Victor continued. "I
am your adversary. I will do everything I can to defeat you. I have
<i>all</i> your knowledge. <i>You</i> do not have all your knowledge. If you let
yourself know some of the things, it could be used against you. It is
my function to use everything I possibly can against you."
"When do you start?"
"I've finished. I've done my worst. I have destroyed the Modifier."
"What's so bad about that?" Manet asked with some interest.
"You'll have Veronica and Ronald and me forever now. We'll never
change. You'll get older, and we'll never change. You'll lose your
interest in New York swing and jet combat and Daniel Boone, and we'll
never change. We don't change and you can't change us for others. I've
made the worst thing happen to you that can happen to any man. <i>I've
seen that you will always keep your friends.</i>"
<tb>
The prospect <i>was</i> frightful.