The most intricate thing to find in this world.

Is it a needle that you lost in the desert?

The most intricate thing to find in this world.

Is it a crow’s feather that you lost in the darkness of the night?

The most intricate thing to find in this world is,

Realizing your own erroneous contemplation.

—From “Shintosunni sutras IV” by Frederica Bernkastel

Where was Rika? Satoko wondered, Mion and Shion decided to go anyway, take the ‘topher and arrive at the place where the smugglers held the spice. It was getting too late, and if it took them longer to arrive, they wouldn’t be able to get the so much needed spice. She was supposed to be there, to help them negotiate and act as a truthsayer, she also had to give them a status report on the soldiers of Arrakeen, how tight would their security be, when and where to leave the planet. They would deal with that later, the time window to get the spice was narrowing.

Shion looked at the place where the exchange of spice would happen. The weariness in the eyes of the people around them. They know? But how… Rena and Keiichi would arrive entirely on their own, exchange the knives for the pellets. She looked at the Fremen around them, they were asking questions among themselves in hand language, they knew Bene Gesserit speak Chakobsa.

Once they opened the warehouse the smell of blood hit Shion’s nose, she turned to see Satoko. Rena! The negotiating did not work, and Rena had to do the killing. They probably had investigated us more than we give them credit for… No stab scars, all traumas from the edge of the sword, only a handful of people in the universe know how to do that and they know our swordsmaster does that too.

Ahmed the smuggling leader looked at them then back at the bodies piled up behind him “I must admit your plan was good, it could have worked but we are aware of what your demon servant can do”

They know of the Harkonnen war! Shion thought. Mion was scared, but she showed none of it “Rena does not attack unless my husband was threatened. You threaten our water and we will respond. The deal is off!” She turned around and began walking away, the group closed on them.

Ahmed walked in front of them “Your water belongs to us now”

Mion smiled, she looked at the man and his own soldiers “Back off or it’ll be worse for you! You have no idea what we are capable of” Not much really, Rika I hope you saw this coming or else we are dead.

“A House Minor? We had received worse threats from bigger houses. These men had fought the Sardaukar and come out victorious so have I, three witches do not scare us” He laughed in her face.

Mion did not move “Let it be then, you will regret it” In the distance a flash of light broke out, they were far away from Arrakeen if they weren’t, they would had gone blind. At the right place at the right time, just how Rika does it… Who set off the stone burners anyway? She sent us to the planet right in the middle of an insurrection! She continued waiting, the explosion finally making Ahmed flinch.

“Atomics!” He screamed

Mion winked “There are more where that came from. The Jihad was coming to us, so we decided to act first. Do not worry sir, we just want spice and nobody in this planet will ever hear of us again”

Ahmed signaled his man to lower their weapons. How mad is she? Using atomics for a negotiation. “Very well then, but Muad’Dib will come for you”

Mion looked at the men “What are you waiting for? Load the spice onto our ‘topher!” She crossed her arms and have a smug smile.

Shion couldn’t help it but chuckle. What a miracle this was, typical of Rika.

Satoko began thinking where the last place was where they saw Rika, she had to be near Arrakeen, and she was not in the city, she would know about the Stone Burners, Rika relied on them in her plan for their survival. Rock formations around Arrakeen, most of them Fremen settlements, or cave systems where the Atreides went to die. It only leaves a handful of places where she can be.

I was the most unfortunate.

I knew that there was no exit out of this maze.

Then, he was the next unfortunate.

He did not know that there was no exit out of this maze.

But all the rest weren’t so unfortunate.

They didn’t know that they were in the maze in the first place.

— From “Shintosunni Dogma” by Frederica Bernkastel

Bernkastel sipped from her own reclaimed water, a disgusting taste but to waste a sip of water in such a place was madness. She looked at the entrance of the cave, it was well hidden within the rock, but there were enough signs of human activity in the stone itself, that small polishing or rock once it has been stepped on it too many times, even for Bene Gesserit would be hard to find it.

A Fremen outpost, a small cave system that housed a few tools, mostly for farming, also weapons. It was usually brimming with people, but the stone burner had been set off a few minutes ago, the right moment at the right time. The Tleilaxu expected insurrections to die out from their own lack of  order, but cats  are deadly even when disorganized, my cats are awaiting orders overhead, I say the word and they will come down to take what remains of the empire in my name! I just have to wait, to release the pathogen in my blood once Muad’Dib is lost in the desert. Let these fools get the Tanna sickness. We drove the Amporilos to madness, the Fremen will gut each other within minutes.

The pathogen of Tanna, thought to be a genetic predisposition by the Bene Gesserit, Hanyuu thought it that way too. Bernkastel knew the secret, a pathogen the population had brought ever since the days of old Terra, a bacteria that was incurable, yet controllable, a soft planet to keep the population under low stress. A place like Arrakis, a place where sole survival was stressful, the pathogen would have the Fremen go mad. Everyone will blame their fanaticism, all while her armies, the population that has already developed resistance to the sickness, take the empire for Bernkastel. Witch Empress Frederika Bernkastel, yes it has a good ring to it.

She dropped the lever that released the water into the chambers of the maker, the sandworm wriggled in pain as water sipped through its body, the strong smell of the poisonous spice essence filled Bernkastel’s nostrils. She bowed down and took a sip with her hand. Her awareness unfolded, awareness trained by the very people that tried to hold her back, unlocked by their own arts.

She could again see the paths of future, unfolded before her, many places she could walk. Oh, how powerful she was in this state, every breath changed the future in great degrees, everything she did had an action she could control. The entirety of the universe was at her feet. She would marry the son of the Atreides Emperor, do the same thing he had done to secure power. He was already afraid of her, he had seen her actions, he had tried to stop her using his own aunt Alia, but foolishly they both had walked into her trap, she was free, and they were helpless.

What could an infant do? Everyone he could be allied too was worried about the conspiracy against Muad’Dib. Pieces that did not belong to Bernkastel, a game of chess in which she had only small pawns, but the big pieces were already tearing each other apart.

Satoko was a possible threat, but she needed a threat, she needed a rival, or else it would be too easy. That was the problem with Paul, he stomped all of his rivals, he grew soft, and thus fools with less power than him took him out too easily.

Bernkastel would wait for her too, she would come in time, her path was already there. She laughed alone in that room, her genetic personalities surrounding her as black cats, meowing, begging for her to do the right thing. Rika was in a corner scared, but Bernkastel held her close and nurtured her, she was as well part of her, there was no need to scare her, she could even take the light at times, after all she liked her friends and said friends were worth having. She even tried to reach the emperor, but prescience does not work that way, even Bernkastel who has had said abilities for very long did not fully understand them. She could see him, clear as day, but he could not see her. The one who could see her, was the son, Leto II, he was there, staring back at her with a mixture of anger and fear. She realized it then, Muad’Dib was the Kwizats Haderach, but he was not perfect as one, he had that blind spot, a weakness that his conspirators used. Bernkastel could see them, planning their own doom, her success. What an easy game this was, there were many players. Bernkastel bit her finger, she was walking to another water container, another maker could be drowned in there, infecting that water, bringing the destruction of the Fremen from their own stress.

A flower raised in a greenhouse is still beautiful,

even though it knows no adversity.

But a flower growing in the field

that has braved wind, rain, cold, and heat

possesses something more than just beauty.

—From “Atonement of the blade” by Rena Ryuuguu

They had instinctively formed a group of three, each one having their back pressed against the other, it was expected of Ooishi, that was the way the Sardaukar fought, but Rena and Keiichi were different. Keiichi was no strange to fighting, but he was more of a diplomat, his best weapon was his tongue. He still wished to fight; he would not be a liability to the group. Ooishi’s own fighting style had changed over the years, learning from the same soldiers who decimated the other Sardaukar, Ooishi was good enough to survive, but he would be long dead if he had remained that way.

The shipment of spice was ready, so were the protein pellets. Keiichi was supposed to exchange Rena’s krysknife collection for the protein pellets, then they could steal the spice when it reached Mion. But the Fremen took issue with outsiders holding krysknives.

“Rika did not predict this?!” Keiichi was sweating, he looked at the numbers, they were not good, fully knowing how sandworms reacted they had not taken shields, and now they were paying the price for that foolishness.

A few shots from a pistol were heard, a quick move by Rena, a few Fremen behind Keiichi making sounds of pain from the bullets ricocheting towards themselves. Ooishi turned his eyes towards the swordsman. She is that fast?! Good thing she never called me out or I’d be dead.

Rena’s broadsword had a few carbon marks from where the bullets had hit. Keiichi pressed his body closer to hers. Ooishi did not have to worry about the bullets at least, he had never stopped wearing a shield, in the open desert it turned into a weapon even the Fremen feared, yes, a mad sandworm was a sight to behold.

“She probably did” Rena said “Plans have to often change”

“Who are you boy?” Asked Ooishi “A house with prescient truthsayers and swordsmen capable of deflecting bullets must be very important”

Keiichi spoke up “You heard him?! I am Keiichi Sonozaki, husband to the great Sonozaki Mion!”

Ooishi gripped his knife tighter Sonozaki? I think I’ve heard of them, but they are a House Minor. Probably the Bene Gesserit gave them access to a truthsayer and this girl, she has the odd calmness of a witch.

Rena smiled brightly when hearing Keiichi speak with such pride “The sisterhood ignores our existence. Mii-chan is just worth working for”

She can even read my mind! Yes, this girl is a Bene Gesserit too! I didn’t know there were witch swordsmen. What secrets is that planet hiding? I heard it was a soft world for a soft population, but it attracted people like this girl. They have an oracle truthsayer, probably even a mentat! “If we make it out of here alive, I will sell my services to your wife kid” He laughed.

“I thought you were great warriors with sense of honor. Right now, I just see scared desert rats” Keiichi sheathed his knife and took a krysknife, the milky white blade shone against his face. “Sore losers, that is what you are. You can’t resist the fact that we killed these many! Want to know the truth? Rena did it on her own! You praise Duncan Idaho for killing 19 Sardaukar, Rena here has killed 50 without a scratch in her body” Keiichi was not lying, Fremen had learned the weirding way, and in that a little of the art of telling truth from lie, at least blatant lies. Keiichi was speaking the truth, the Fremen saw this, but he also taunted them, and the taunt would make them attack in rage, he had just insulted one of the Lieutenants of their Emperor, he did it with facts, they were angry now. Sorry Rena, I had to outsell you.

Rena licked her lips, she waited for an opening from their part, the moment Keiichi said Idaho’s name many flinched, guns were shot, but they were out of pure fright, usually shots like that never landed, and out of those only one had been aimed correctly, she measured the trajectory, deflected the bullet towards Ooishi while leaping into action.

A small burst of speed, Rena stood and a smuggler was falling down, then another, they attempted to shoot her but all they managed was shooting each other, after a few moments of this then there was just silence. Rena was still standing, covered in sweat and smears of blood, same as when she fought the Sardaukar.

Keiichi looked at her. She can control it! I must tell Mion about this, Rena can control her kyute mode. Rena bowed down to pick up a small statue of a sandworm. Nevermind… We just got very lucky.

Ooishi began laughing “Why do you need me again?” He did not believe a word Keiichi said, until he saw it for himself, they were not incapacitated, each one of them was dead, in true fashion of the school of Ginaz they were all slashes, all severed in vital parts of their body, but no stabbing. Even in these conditions she found a chance to show off! Ooishi thought, he would be happy to serve alongside Rena.

Keiichi screamed; he fell to the ground shaking “I think I soiled myself! Good thing that is how a stillsuit should work”

Rena cleaned the little sandworm statue. Zensunni do not accept representative art, there are only miniatures in Fremen filmbooks, nothing on sandworms though. Probably because these are smugglers, they are not as orthodox as wild Fremen. She turned to Ooishi, snapping out of her own trance “In case we find wild Fremen, these were smugglers”

“I think some of these were Fremen” Ooishi looked at the bodies. “You said we have to get the pellets?”

Keiichi nodded “Yes, the spice remains in here, if we take both the Fremen will know it was us. They must think we were scoundrels who just wanted the offworld food” 

Ooishi began taking the crates of pellets and loading them onto the smuggler’s ‘topher. Stealing from the Fremen, if I knew they were carrying Fremen knives! A realization hit Ooishi “Wait so you bought that spice with these? You plan to get into another situation like this?”

“I thought you Sardaukar were fearless” Keiichi winked at the old man

“I am not afraid of poison, but you don’t see me drinking it” Ooishi retorted.

Keiichi chuckled. He doesn’t plan to leave; he would be asking for his payment if he was actually afraid.

What is it that you want to see?

I shall show it to you.

What is it that you want to hear?

I shall tell you about it.

But, please don’t expect anything.

For you who close your eyes and ears, surely, it is meaningless.

—From “Shintosunni analysis” by Furude Rika

He opened his eyes, the sheets were cold which was pleasant in such a warm day, the sound of the cicadas surrounded him, yes this was one of those dreams again, was it? They had become more frequent as of late, what was the last thing he had done? Yes, he was in Bandalong, his father had given him something to drink, signaled him to be careful.

Satoshi Waff, son of Tylwyth Waff, or rather said created. He knew the process too well, Tleilaxu were not limited by gender to bring in genetic qualities into a specimen. They knew that the Harkonnen genotype was the best for such a base. The prescient genes of House Furude were used instead of Atreides, much more reliable, those reverend mothers had been oracles for long before the trait came into other royal families, they were prone to violence, thus the gene had to be controlled very carefully.

House Furude gladly gave their genes for experimentation, in exchange for a Ghola of one of their ancestors, they even had a Harkonnen in their ranks, with that they had everything they needed. The ultimate test had to be done,  there  were many previous failures, all of them aware of the potential threat, but Satoshi was surviving the Rossac poison, it had been weeks, yes this was where he was really, Waff was checking his vitals right that moment.

Satoshi went back to the trance, that planet for him was a paradise, Tanna, the world of the cicada, a soft planet made to neutralize the harshness of a population. How foolish of the Bene Gesserit to blame it on genetics, the violence came from a pathogen, it came out along with the cicadas in their harvest cycles. House Furude had known this for long ago, the Tleilaxu found out about it within minutes of handling Rika’s blood.

By his side a sleeping woman, green long hair covered her face. He stared at her and smiled, yes, that was Shion, he had not met her yet, but it felt as he had known her forever. The vision blurred a little, they were now in a table, at the head of it there was Mion, at her right Rika, blue within blue eyes and a smiling expression. Satoshi had seen this future before, albeit a little different, before there was blood, there was destruction. Beyond them a golden path Satoshi was not willing to take, it was not for him to take, it would require fortitude beyond what he could. This path, for them was the best, their perfect ending.

The golden path required for them all to overthrow the current Empire, be at the right moment at the right time. Rika would know where to be, and she’d follow that path blindly, fooled by her own past selves. Among those memories, memories he was now unlocking there was the secret to the sandtrout, engineered by ancient humans to terraform, the fact that ate up water was a defect, but out of this defect came out the spice, a  substance that enhanced the human mind. There were attempts at synthesizing the drugs, but even the thinking machines had a hard time running the simulations for possible paths of synthesis, he could see it now, yes the human body could produce it.

He had told it such to Waff before, spice could be produced by humans, and thus by the Axolotl tanks, there would be one day where this process would be run by humans internally, then and only then survival would be ensured. Though to find out the current synthesis was hard, and it would not be discovered soon. Waff would live to see it, but Satoshi did not mention how this would signal the nearing of his own death.

He saw his own path before him, he had tried to find a path for everyone to survive, but always, down the line, Shion died on his arms, and that was one of  the best paths, usually they brought death upon themselves. Keiichi killed Rena in one, he stabbed her while she turned away to medicate him, he then killed Mion. After that Keiichi would leave to the forests of Tanna and claw his throat out.

Yes that was one of the bad paths, that one was already avoided, Rika had not chosen it, Keiichi had played his part too. Shion would go insane if she ever met him and he died, that would become another path, she’d die under Rena’s blade, a quick death, a stab through the heart, knowing Rena this was the most honorable thing she could do, giving her friend a quick death by the tip of the blade, not an elegant one by the edge.

Satoko turning into a full Reverend Mother was a threat, a threat she had already avoided long ago, but if she ever chose to drink the poison, without the guidance from Rika, then she’d suffer a fate much like that of Alia Atreides.

Lastly, the path they had chosen, it was already set, Rena would go insane, Rena turned  into a demon was a very dangerous future, but Rika probably knew the risk she was taking, and many of those paths led to a happy ending for them all. Satoshi could see it clearly now, how to save those friends he had not met. He awakened from the trance of the poison, and began clawing his throat, alarms rung all around the room, and as he faded away from this world, Waff looked at him with worry in his eyes. A true sacrifice, the Tleilaxu Kwisatz Haderach had to die to save those he would consider close in a possible future.

So who is the culprit, you ask?

Finding that out is part of the story, right?

So who is the culprit, you ask?

Do you even know what is the culprit in the first place?

So who is the culprit?

Who is the culprit that’s gonna kill me?!

—From “Autobiography” by Frederica Bernkastel

Rika had to wait for Rena’s signal to jump into action as well. She would have to be there to act as Mion’s truthsayer, the plan would fail, she was certain of that, Muad’Dib was  in many places  at once, that future was one of those places, it was clouded by him, but past him she could see success. The streets of Arrakeen were full of an odd sandy dust that got into every place possible. Rika wiggled inside her stillsuit, how many of those things did Rena have? Rika could remember Rena dealing with a great amount of them, it never downed on her that the number was actually much larger than it seemed, the Jihad was closer than they ever knew.

It was then when she saw him, not inside the paths of the future, or in her awareness, but right there, walking in the streets of Arrakeen, his stillsuit covered his face, nobody could see who he was, and thus they avoided him the same way people would avoid any other Fremen. Rika looked at him at the eye, there was an air of sadness in his gaze, though it was not intimidating, he was not trying to intimidate her.

He could see the fear in her, but so was every other Reverend Mother when they met him, even his own mother was afraid of him. Rika in her own prescience explored timelines where she stabbed him on the back, instead of flinching he turned around to see the streets. He was completely unaware of who would drive the knife into his back, he did see futures in which he could die, but he did not know who the culprit would be.

Rika turned around to see him. Muad’Dib knew she was a Reverend Mother, he knew she was aware of who he was, but he did not know who she was. He could not see her with his inner eye. It was then when it hit her, she looked into possible immediate futures, in all of them she could openly attack him, he was wide open to her, though when Rika’s actions began to affect people around her, then those futures would have him acting right away. He can’t see me! He cannot see those who can see the future, we are invisible to him.

Though there he was, in her future paths, the clouded path she had chosen. Why was he there? Why could he see her? She began meditating, right there in the street, seeking her own answers. There he was again, in her path, blocking it. Hanyuu, the original Hanyuu stood besides her, the personality of her ancestor, protecting her from all the personalities that came with an Abomination. Hanyuu looked at Muad’Dib too. Rika decided to launch towards him, overwhelm the awareness of this Muad’Dib. He quickly ran away from Rika and Hanyuu, a mask that shattered to show a formless being.

Hanyuu looked at the shadow running away “Just like you before you were born… That is not Muad’Dib, that is his son. His son saw the threat in you and clouded our path, so we were not a threat to him”

“Scared by a baby” Rika thought, Hanyuu nodded when hearing the words “All this time, we were actually immune to his vision, his son was the one scaring us!” Rika began to follow the Fremen Emperor. She had to face him, to directly face him. Rika did not see that she was being followed as well.

It looked like another Reverend Mother, slightly younger than she was. Another abomination, Muad’Dib was not protected by just his son. Rika felt the poison needle through her neck, she quickly began to metabolize the poison, to break it down to harmless components. Hanyuu noticed it after it was too late “Alia… Alia is just like us, Alia has probably seen Muad’Dib’s son”

Rika grabbed her knife and turned to face her attacker. Alia’s eyes met Rika’s, the same aggressive Harkonnen eyes Rika had seen in Satoko, this time though, the intent to kill was not a mere intimidation trick. Alia was here to kill Rika. She noticed how Rika was processing the poison, how her body was fighting it, and winning.

“Now they send an abomination after my brother. This is quite new” Alia said, she touched Rika’s yead, a simple graze with the tip of her fingers. Though that touch Alia shared memories, memories of pain and despair, just those for Rika to enjoy. Alia saw how Rika fainted from that touch alone. She knew how hard was to keep the personalities at bay, all she had to do was give Rika a push and everything would crumble. The poison would now do its work freely.

Rika’s mind was a castle, in the rooms there were past personalities of her, all of them guarding the dungeons, a place where one personality made everyone else shiver in fear. Rika’s mind was slowly rotting away, the awareness of pain began torturing Hanyuu who absorbed most of it, its own personality slowly deteriorating.

The door of the dungeons shook, all of Rika’s ancestors tried to hold it close. It shook again, her entire mind palace began to crumble. Rika continued repeating the litany against fear while attempting to metabolize the poison, ignoring what was happening inside of her mind.

The door broke open, laughter filled Rika’s mind, she was yanked away from the light, and tossed to the side along with the other personalities. The poison was quickly destroyed by this personality. Rika turned to see who this was, she froze in fear, the witch of miracles, the founder of Shintosunni religion.

Alia would had done things differently if she knew whose ancestors were on Rika’s blood. Bernkastel, the mad conqueror who drove her own jihad in the universe in times before the Butlerian Jihad. History had almost forgotten about Bernkastel, but there she was, in a body fully trained in the Bene Gesserit ways.

Yes it was the Bene Gesserit who made Tanna a soft planet, they mellowed out their population. Some gene in its population made them more prone to violence than any other human, so much so that it was common for them to kill each other under the right conditions. Bene Gesserit had trained the leaders of said planet to avoid exactly what was happening, the people revolting against the Empire. Mion and Shion would had been great for stopping the insurrection, but their loyalty was with their people before the sisterhood. Bernkastel had seen this path back when she was in her original body.

She knew which parts were clouded by the Emperor’s son. She managed to fool Rika to walk into this trap, a miracle had happened, she was back among the living. First, she had to talk to the Guild. Attacking the Emperor would be easy enough, but there were people already at that. Yes, without knowing they would lay the groundwork necessary to take over herself, a newly built empire can easily take over. Handed to her by the sisterhood that neutered her planet so that this very thing would not happen.

First Bernkastel had to share a secret not even the emperor knew to the guild. A secret that was lost to time and was about to be revealed back to humanity. She could easily take away the power from Muad’Dib this way. Let the conspirators continue their work, let them do the hard part for her take over. The time of the Witch Empress of the universe was nearing, a miracle again, she rolled the dice ahead of time and now it was paying out.

I cannot quench your thirst

Because even if you yearn for the truth, you refuse to believe in it.

I cannot quench your thirst

Because no such truth exists that you are in anticipation for.

But I still want to quench your thirst.

Because I am the one that put you into the desert.

— From “Shintosunny Vinaya Pitaka” by Frederica Bernkastel

Mion accepted to carry out the plan, they would pay fare to have a heigliner move them to become a renegade house, of course the guild would take the planet in return, that is the way it always was. Though the plan was slightly different, the people of Tanna all boarded the ship, and shortly after their intentions were made clear. They had the atomics of House Sonozaki and would blow them up unless everyone left the ship, everyone but the Tannans of course.

It was a complete exodus, the guild saw baffled how the crazy three Minor Houses of Tanna took their heighliner and left as soon as everyone was on the ship. They would do it, the steersmen could see it in the immediate future, the Tannans would rather die than give up their priestess. The same crazy loyalty of the Fremen had towards the Emperor, these were farmers, soft people, but just as that they would die willingly for their religious leader.

Lord Kimiyoshi as well as his servants hid in their quarters for the entire ordeal, if the plan failed he could clean his hands blame Rika and Mion, thus the planet would not be punished by the Guild on its entirety. This is how it worked, House Sonozaki controlled the planet, even though it did not have any CHOAM shares it acted as a bank for House Minor, those Houses minor with such little power that CHOAM would not give them a loan relied on House Sonozaki.

Smugglers relied on them for money, so did semuta merchants. Mion did try to get into the spice business but CHOAM actually gave loans to those smugglers who dealt with spice.

House Sonozaki was not alone as such, though House Sonozaki was the only House Minor that did such business. It looked like their operation was bigger than it really was, their fortune did not ascend to more than 5 million Solaris, and half of that was money others owed them. House Sonozaki relied on favors, those who owed them would gladly do them a favor to be pardoned part of their debt. One such favors was what allowed them to threaten the Guild. The atomics was a gift from other Houses of the Landsraad.

Rika sat at the room of the steersman, a large room even though there were supposed to be two people, the driver and the steersman. Rika had never seen a Guild steersman, but the size of this room told her they required huge housings. To travel in space they must stop being human… I just look human, but I am probably far more gone than them. She stroked the controls, visions of death filled her path, along with a narrow one where they could travel, so many hidden dangers filled the void.

Mion came into the room holding a radio “Everyone is gone. Rika is at the wheel, deactivate the detonator” she walked close to Rika, the room reeked of cinnamon, Mion got slightly dizzy from the smell.

Rika turned to see her friend She gave them the detonator… Who is holding it? Probably Tomita, he is a leader of the people. Mion does not like to give orders, she just gives the means to do things that may benefit her… That is the key of the Sonozakis, that is what allowed them to stay strong while we grew weak.

“Satoko is with Prince Kimiyoshi, the plan was a success now it is all up to you” Mion smirked “Do not launch us towards a star”

“Where do you think we should go?” Rika’s newfound freedom made her feel helpless, not even Satoko could calculate where to go, the possibilities were endless, Rika could find another planet just like Tanna, that path was there, an empty planet for the taking. She could choose a paradise world, a planet full of adventures and excitement.

Mion looked at the void of space “We have a problem, perhaps this may help making you know where to go” She smiled “Many in our population are old, and they had been taking spice for long. Prince Kimiyoshi is nearing 150, his aging is slowed due to the small amounts of spice he eats”

Rika felt the controls, the paths narrowing, she was eliminating more with each word from Mion. Was this how the Guild acted? Yes it had to be, the other path was to walk at the edge of danger, taking a huge risk for a huge payout. The Emperor walked there, but many places he had to go through were inaccessible to her. She feared that place, and there he stood staring back at her, just as he told the old Reverend Mother Mohiam. Rika would not dare to look at those places either, but now they were even scarier with him standing there.

The guild was afraid of him, he intimidated them, of course he did. He intimidated Rika, he would cloud the vision of the Steersmen prescience the same way he clouded Rika’s own path, clouding those paths that may harm him. She did see paths were the Guild harmed him, some steersmen had taken it. Oh yes they had, Rika could see it more clearly now. Why can I see more now? She took a deep breath then it hit her.

The spice, this room was full of it, it was feeding her, enhancing her vision, letting her see new paths she had not seen. Yes, she could still talk to the guild, ally with them, become an open enemy of the Emperor, yes that was the path he stood by, the path he guarded against her. Using the atomics in Arrakis, there were more already doing that very action.

But even Satoko adviced Rika against it, Rika trusted Satoko in that, she was right. But there was a third path now. “We do not need much spice, we have enough to last a few decades. Nobody in Tanna ate more than a few grams per month”

Mion nodded “You are our biggest eater actually” She tried to hide her expression. There it was, I didn’t want to tell her… But she would figure it eventually. The first one to die from spice withdrawal would be Rika-chama. “I can call in our last favors before we leave for good, travel around those who owe me and ask for our payment in spice”

Rika saw that path as Mion said, yes, she would live up to 100, maybe a little more depending on the path. A full life, and those already into the spice diet would die at similar ages. New generations would have no spice to eat, their lifespan would be short but painless. It was not a bad path, a safe path. But why would she take the safe path? She already had the same knowledge as a 100-year-old Bene Gesserit at birth. Abomination. The incarnation of Oyashiro-sama the god of Tanna.

There was another path, a mixture of the choices already given to her by Satoko, it would be full of dangers, but it could be possible “Do you trust me Mion?”

Mion pouted and punched Rika lightly on the arm “I do not trust you at all! I think you want to take us to Arrakis and hand us over to the Emperor himself”

Yes she trusts me. Thought Rika, Mion would not answer if she did not trust her choice, Mion never gave a negative order, she learned that from her grandmother, the old Lady Sonozaki. Mion did not give orders, she gave suggestions. It was the Bene Gesserit way, here they were, two unorthodox Bene Gesserit following Bene Gesserit ways.

“I can’t tell you the whole thing… Many loops are closing, many end up in pain, but the way is narrowing, and the trail shines so bright it looks like it’s made out of gold. We will suffer right now, but when everyone else suffers we will remain safe” Rika allowed the spice to let her do the talking.

“You speak like Muad’Dib” Mion took a step back from Rika, she was afraid, but she knew Rika would mean her no harm.

“I can see him Mion, he is there… If you ever drink the Rossac Poison you will see him there too. He stands in the branches of time, he holds them as if they were his own, that is why the guild fears him. But he is as human as you and me” Rika held the controls and punched in the coordinates “Forgive me if we fail… But we have everything we need not to”

Mion looked at the destination and gulped on a dry throat, she nodded “If you say it is a trail that shines. I will follow you through hell to find it”

Rika turned on the Holtzman engines, the space began to fold around them, to twist them. She could see through time, and of course, through space, she could see the paths, the branches that space took, the dangerous turns that would bring them to safety, and those horrible turns that would shred them. The ship did not move in any dimension they could see, but it moved between the dimensions, in those folded dimensions strings danced in, they were now on top of a rock, circling a planet.

Rika turned off the engines. She saw the orange planet before them, a small ice cap on its pole and patches of green. Change was happening, she could see it more clearly now, this was the pivot of change, and their own personal branch would come out of here. This was the planet that made Emperors and destroyed them just as well. The planet that allowed the Guild to travel through space without moving. The planet for which billions of lives were lost, and the planet that birthed the army that would end the life of her own people if they did not escape. To flee from the Jihad they had come to the root of it.

“I don’t know what we need. But I know we will get it here” Rika smiled when seeing the Golden Path, yes that was it, the Golden Path, so clearly. She did not discover it, she was not meant to see it either, but Muad’Dib walked so often in it that all she had to do was follow. She avoided the parts that she could not see, but most of it was there, enough for her to understand.

“I’ll tell my men we have to steal a load of spice” Mion was not understanding the part of suffering, but yes, a full cargo of spice would allow them to live for a couple centuries, when the spice was gone so would those who depended on it to live. Granny died at 110, and she never tasted spice, neither had I. But Rika-chama won’t even have to worry about it, neither would Kimiyoshi or Keiichi.

“For now the mission is that. I don’t think it is spice, time is a mess here, I can’t see through the storm, but something in this planet, a gift from the planet. It may be spice, but I don’t think it is” Satoko will hate me for this… But I think she will be able to figure it out eventually.

Someone is patiently warming an egg.

If you warm it with love, then surely it’s happiness that will be born.

It will be filled with love and joy.

Someone is patiently warming an egg.

If you warm it with rage, what will be born?

I am also warming an egg.

I am warming it with gas, so it’s doesn’t matter which kind of egg it is.

From “The Shintosunni Sutras Volume II” by Frederica Bernkastel

Hanyuu trained a little more that morning, it was mostly stretching and some breathing exercises, this would be a light day for her and she was thankful for it. Rika seemed stern at times, but she never made Hanyuu hate the training she was given, a good equilibrium between hardship and resting, the way of House Furude, a house of three, but a House nonetheless.

Satoko began explaining once more, adding a few new variables since history is ever changing, the variables are never static. Everyone has plans within plans within plans, yet Satoko’s own plans were never obvious, Mion had learned this quickly, Satoko’s advice was rarely straightforward. She always assumed other Mentats had an underlying plan and planned accordingly herself.

“The Emperor has already bought us enough time as is. He did not want the Jihad, it just happened, but his army cannot be contained even by himself. Mion managed to buy some time, as well as you by waging war against the Harkonnen. Fremen thought of you as a local hero and this helped. Though we are not part of their religion, Tannans do not bow to the emperor, they venerate their own God incarnate, Furude Rika. The Jihad will arrive, and it will be soon. When it happens the first target they’ll have is you. You and your child”

She looked at Hanyuu “We have only two options Lady. To bow before the Emperor, to reject your godhood and say he was the one guiding your hand. Or to escape”

Rika sipped her tea. She looked at the temple, in her mind, Rika was already using prescience, an ancient ability of the Furude, to live out a life in which she chose to bow before the Emperor, how in the end this would turn the Tannans against each other, how they would eventually drive themselves to extinction. The other life where they stayed, this one she begun to check, and her prescience allowed her to see how soon the Jihad would arrive, how brutal her death would be.

She kept meditating, aided by Satoko, she had already provided her two options, the rest were certain death. It was probably what the Emperor did for his plans, but his Mentat abilities allowed him to see further into the future, reject bad choices as he spoke. Rika was no Mentat, she had to walk through those paths. Satoko helped her in some way, but neither of them could compare to the terrible Muad’Dib of Arrakis. It was a good thing he did not want to spill blood, or not yet, he perhaps imagined how the three minor houses were a potential threat. After all they held a planet, they had a religious figure, a Mentat of good quality and a Swordsmaster with skill that made Fremen shiver. The three houses of Tanna would indeed become a threat, they would never be able to overthrow the empire, but with what they had, they could indeed do harm.

Rika did see those timelines too, out of curiosity. Yes it would be a fruitless attempt, but they would go down in glory, seen as one of the toughest planets to cleanse in the Jihad, though the Emperor would not even bat an eye at the destruction, a spec on the sea of his awareness. It was there, there when she saw him. Standing in her path of awareness, in a future only she could see and he knew she could. “Run” He said “Listen to your mentat, do not underestimate your mentat. After all she and I share the same blood”

Rika was pulled out from the trance, or rather, pushed away by that terrible man. Satoko was slightly concerned, Rika had seen many terrible futures, this one was probably one that she saw. Rika looked at her friend she tried to hide it in her face, but the impression was too much.

“He knows” Satoko said in surprise

Rika noticed how she didn’t find the Emperor until she thought of the path of destruction. They were a threat, he stood in the paths that would make them a threat, the choices that would make them bring their world into chaos, both hers and the Emperor’s. Yet he told her to take another path, he talked of Satoko as if she were a close relative, she was, but as if she knew her personally, he probably did, but with the familiarity you have with someone you like. He knows, but he approves of her. Rika thought to herself. Satoko was an ally the Emperor allowed her to have, a tool for their survival, a last chance for them to escape.

So that was the Harkonnen blood, some hidden gene that allowed them to see plans within plans. The old Baron would had been a great Mentat, so would Feyd, but neither of them had the proper upbringing. A bloodline doomed by their own debauchery. The emperor himself knew how dangerous Satoko could be, how dangerous Rika was with her own prescience, but he also knew they did not seek to harm his empire, they just wanted to survive.

“We would need to escape somewhere where the Emperor couldn’t find us, even if he threatened the guild… Do you think it is possible to hijack a heighleiner?” Rika smiled

Satoko narrowed her eyes, trying to see something inside of Rika, what was her plan exactly? “Of course, it is… But even after taking it, what would you do with it? Do you want to gamble with our lives and go through foldspace to some empty corner of the cosmos? Finding a planet is impossible under those conditions”

Rika smiled proudly “I think I could handle it”

Satoko was aware of Rika’s prescience, but just until then, she understood how strong it was so she could act as a steersman. She can see the paths we would take if going through foldspace. Oh how formidable it was, a Mentat and a Prescient Reverend Mother. The mentat to trim the branches of time that would led nowhere, and Rika allowing to see which path would be the best. Only Great Houses of the Landsraad had a team like this, only the old Emperor had a team of Mentat and prescients to figure out the future.

Rika’s own prescience was great, but she could only study one timeline in a moment, the old Emperor had a team like that, and we all know how it turned out for him. What was three minor Houses against the  great threat of the Jihad? Against the Kwizatz Haderach, the abilities he possessed already existed, Rika and Satoko were great examples of it, both holding a piece of the puzzle, but the Kwizatz Haderach is stronger than the pieces combined, they knew this much.