Lydia blinked. In the background there were groups of people, obviously waiting. Where had they come from? She hadn’t been aware of them before. Nor did she know how it was that she suddenly was standing in front of them, with the old man at her side. Politely Seven materialized a chair for her, and she sat down. As she did so, her poetry book appeared in her lap. What was happening? First everything made perfect sense, and the next moment none of it made sense at all. She was about to say something when a lovely black girl in a long gown left the audience and came up to the platform.

Lydia gave the peace sign, but the girl ignored her.

“Well, at last you’re here,” Ma-ah cried to Seven. She saw him as her version of the old man, with a white beard, black skin, and clear piercing eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s very important,” she said, “And I’ve had an awful time trying to find you. I fell into a terrible nightmare and kept falling and falling, and Sumpter had to get me out of it. All that to reach you,” she finished, accusingly.

Sumpter came forward and paused deferentially. He bowed to Oversoul Seven, perceiving him as a giant-sized Speaker of superior bearing, wearing the sacred purple robes. “We’re honored to have you here,” he said.

“Honor yourselves as well,” Seven said. “Tell me, do you see me as an old man too?”

“As a prophet, sacred Speaker of old,” Sumpter said.

Seven shrugged. “I’m Oversoul Seven, a learner and a wanderer. I’m not physical at all, but if you want to see me as an old man, that’s your business.”

“Now, stop that. You are an old man,” Ma-ah said angrily. “And the Speakers want to know how I got here. You had something to do with it, that much is certain. My guess is that you know more than you’re telling.”

Sumpter frowned. “Ma-ah, this personality is One Made of Many, as our records say. Be more courteous.”

“She always talks to me that way,” Seven said. They all looked so serious that suddenly he grinned and added, “Well, I guess I’ll leave now. You’re all so profound that I feel out of place.”

“But you can’t,” Lydia cried, from the platform. “Where’s Lawrence?”

Seven sighed. “You certainly all get yourselves in messes,” he said, but suddenly he knew that the examination was nearly over. Memories that he’d purposely put aside now returned to consciousness. There was a job to be done.

“Some time you’ll see me as I am,” he said to Ma-ah. “But you’ll have to see yourself as you are first. In the meantime, the necessary answers must come from you and Lydia. The whole must discover its parts, and the parts must discover their whole—”