Alvin looked at her in amazement. Then he understood: it was not hard to imagine what the impact of Vanamonde must have been upon this people, with their keen perceptions and their wonderfully interlocking minds. They had reacted with surprising speed, and he had a sudden incongruous picture of Vanamonde, perhaps a little frightened, surrounded by the eager intellects of Lys.
“Have you discovered what he is?” Alvin asked.
“Yes. That was simple, though we still don’t know his origin. He’s a pure mentality and his knowledge seems to be unlimited. But he’s childish, and I mean that quite literally.”
“Of coursel” cried Theon. “I should have guessed!”
Alvin looked puzzled and Seranis took pity on him.
“I mean that although Vanamonde has a colossal, perhaps an infinite, mind, he’s immature and undeveloped. His actual intelligence is less than that of a human being”-she smiled a little wryly-”though his thought processes are much faster and he learns very quickly. He also has some powers we do not yet understand. The whole of the past seems open to his mind, in a way that’s difficult to describe. He must have used that ability to follow your path back to Earth.”
Alvin stood in silence, for once somewhat overcome. He realized how right Theon had been to bring Vanamonde to Lys. And he knew how lucky he had been ever to outwit Seranis: that was not something he would do twice in a lifetime.
“Do you mean,” he asked, “that Vanamonde has only just been born?”
“By his standards, yes. His actual age is very great, though apparently less than Man’s. The extraordinary thing is that he insists that we created him, and there’s no doubt that his origin is bound up with all the great mysteries of the past.”
“What’s happening to Vanamonde now?” asked Theon in a slightly possessive voice.