"We didn't mean to say she isn't," said Wiggin. "But she certainly isn't being wise about this, is she?"
"Not about this," said Wang-mu.
"That's all we meant. No one likes to find out that the story he always believed about his own identity is false. The pequeninos, many of them, believe that God made them something special, just as your godspoken believe."
"And we're not special, none of us!" cried Wang-mu. "We're all as ordinary as mud! There are no godspoken. There are no gods. They care nothing about us."
"If there aren't any gods," said Ela, mildly correcting her, "then they can hardly do any caring one way or another."
"Nothing made us except for their own selfish purposes!" cried Wang-mu. "Whoever made the descolada--the pequeninos are just part of their plan. And the godspoken, part of Congress's plan."
"As one whose birth was requested by the government," said Wiggin, "I sympathize with your point of view. But your reaction is too hasty. After all, my parents also wanted me. And from the moment of my birth, just like every other living creature, I had my own purpose in life. Just because the people of your world were wrong about their OCD behavior being messages from the gods doesn't mean that there are no gods. Just because your former understanding of the purpose of your life is contradicted doesn't mean that you have to decide there is no purpose."
"Oh, I know there's a purpose," said Wang-mu. "The Congress wanted slaves! That's why they created Qing-jao--to be a slave for them. And she wants to continue in her slavery!"
"That was Congress's purpose," said Wiggin. "But Qing-jao also had a mother and father who loved her. So did I. There are many different purposes in this world, many different causes of everything. Just because one cause you believed in turned out to be false doesn't mean that there aren't other causes that can still be trusted."
"Oh I suppose so," said Wang-mu. She was now ashamed of her outbursts.
"Don't bow your head before me," said Wiggin. "Or are you doing that, Jane?"
Jane must have answered him, an answer that Wang-mu didn't hear.
"I don't care what her customs are," said Wiggin. "The only reason for such bowing is to humiliate one person before another, and I won't have her bow that way to me. She's done nothing to be ashamed of. She's opened up a way of looking at the descolada that might just lead to the salvation of a couple of species."
Wang-mu heard the tone of his voice. He believed this. He was honoring her, right from his own mouth.
"Not me," she protested. "Qing-jao. They were her questions."
"Qing-jao," said Ela. "She's got you totally boba about her, the way Congress has Qing-jao thinking about them."
"You can't be scornful because you don't know her," said Wang-mu. "But she is brilliant and good and I can never be like her."
"Gods again," said Wiggin.
"Always gods," said Ela.
"What do you mean?" said Wang-mu. "Qing-jao doesn't say that she's a god, and neither do I."
"Yes you do," said Ela. " 'Qing-jao is wise and good,' you said."
"Brilliant and good," Wiggin corrected her.
" 'And I can never be like her,' " Ela went on.
"Let me tell you about gods," said Wiggin. "No matter how smart or strong you are, there's always somebody smarter or stronger, and when you run into somebody who's stronger and smarter than anybody, you think, This is a god. This is perfection. But I can promise you that there's somebody else somewhere else who'll make your god look like a maggot by comparison. And somebody smarter or stronger or better in some way. So let me tell you what I think about gods. I think a real god is not going to be so scared or angry that he tries to keep other people down. For Congress to genetically alter people to make them smarter and more creative, that could have been a godlike, generous gift. But they were scared, so they hobbled the people of Path. They wanted to stay in control. A real god doesn't care about control. A real god already has control of everything that needs controlling. Real gods would want to teach you how to be just like them."
"Qing-jao wanted to teach me," said Wang-mu.
"But only as long as you obeyed and did what she wanted," said Jane.
"I'm not worthy," said Wang-mu. "I'm too stupid to ever learn to be as wise as her."
"And yet you knew I spoke the truth," said Jane, "when all Qing-jao could see were lies."
"Are you a god?" asked Wang-mu.
"What the godspoken and the pequeninos are only just about to learn about themselves, I've known all along. I was made."