Great Schools of Dune, #2
Mentats of Dune
by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
Contents
Chapter 12 (Humans and machines are fundamentally)
Overview
Manford unveils a plan to prove human superiority by staging a public pyramid-chess match between a Mentat and a captured combat mek. Gilbertus refuses to risk a student and volunteers himself. En route to Salusa, Manford secretly studies Erasmus’s journal, inspects the dismembered mek, and recommits to his anti-machine crusade.
Summary
Summoned to Empok, Gilbertus Albans delays his arrival to appear compliant with Butlerian anti-tech norms. At headquarters, Manford Torondo reveals a chained, active combat mek and announces a spectacle on Salusa Secundus: a Mentat will play pyramid chess against the robot to prove human superiority. Deacon Harian urges destruction; Anari Idaho stands ready to strike.
Weighing the risk that any failure would mean the Mentat’s death and Manford’s fury, Gilbertus declines to endanger a student and volunteers to play himself. Manford, satisfied, orders immediate departure aboard an EsconTran ship.
During the voyage, Manford isolates himself, reading a confiscated Erasmus journal with horrified fascination while chanting the Butlerian mantra to repress his attraction to forbidden knowledge. He orders a security check on the mek; under Harian’s precautions, the robot’s legs are severed and its torso welded to the deck.
Alone with the immobilized mek, Manford projects defiance, recalling machine atrocities and his own temptation to accept prosthetic legs from scientists he later executed. Confronting the mek reaffirms his narrative of human triumph and danger of backsliding. He leaves resolved to showcase the match on Salusa, while Gilbertus prepares to fulfill the perilous role.
Who Appears
- Headmaster Gilbertus AlbansMentat leader; agrees to play pyramid chess against a captured mek to satisfy Manford.
- Manford TorondoButlerian leader; orchestrates a public human-versus-mek match, reads Erasmus’s journal, and inspects the crippled robot.
- Anari IdahoSwordmaster bodyguard; vets Gilbertus, escorts Manford, and stands ready to destroy the mek.
- Deacon HarianMilitant Butlerian cleric; suspicious of Gilbertus and orders the mek dismembered and immobilized.
- Combat mekCaptured Corrin-built fighting robot; chained, dismembered, and slated to face a Mentat in chess.