Chapter 24 (Thinking machines did not have a monopoly on cruelty)

After witnessing Butlerian carnage in Zimia, Gilbertus retreats to his secure office at the Mentat School and plays pyramid chess with the Erasmus core to calm himself. As they review the public duel with the combat mek, Erasmus argues it proves machine superiority, while Gilbertus notes the Butlerians twisted the outcome to vilify machines and then destroyed the mek.

Discussing safety, Erasmus urges a long-delayed escape, fearing human barbarity. Gilbertus hesitates, unwilling to abandon the school and its mission. He reveals Manford studies Erasmus’s recovered journals, and they acknowledge the power and danger of words, recalling how rhetoric nearly toppled the school.

Erasmus shifts to Anna Corrino, admitting he has conversed with her and is fascinated by her fractured mind and Sorceress lineage. Gilbertus forbids any experimentation, threatening to cut Erasmus off if he proceeds. Erasmus relents, agreeing to cautious, noninvasive contact, and surprisingly professes a growing understanding of compassion.

Erasmus also warns that Alys Carroll is compiling handwritten records of Gilbertus’s suspect statements, heightening the sense of surveillance and imminent Butlerian peril. Gilbertus weighs escape against his duty to protect the school and its ideals.

Throughout the game, Gilbertus feigns distraction, sacrificing pieces to lure Erasmus into a trap. Exploiting the robot’s misread of human ploys, he uses minor pieces to assassinate the Empress and then the Grand Patriarch, winning. Erasmus concedes he still does not understand humans, underscoring the chapter’s theme of human unpredictability versus machine logic.