ysterious intruder with uncanny powers would be welcomed instead of rejected and killed The preliminary scholarship the pattern weaving, the cour age of the agents who did the actual transmit ting to strange planetary systems are all staggering m their magnitude The Missionana Protectiva also had to establish a 'feed through' network within the Bene Gessent so that trainees and adepts would know what they could expett when threatened in a dis tant place The insertion of the appropnate litany m adab memory for recall under just the proper conditions is merely one example of such training The Missionaria Protectiva sought and used cultural pivot points in two ways First, they made the approach to the crucial point depen dent on some mystenous benefactor Since the benefactor would mean an improved chance of success the civilization must recognize and enlist the agent rather than spurn and despise her Second, the Missionana Protectiva inserted another stranger on the far side of the crucial turning point This 'savior ' or "redeemer symbolized success itself The transition cnsis m any culture's legends could be constructed or altered by the Missionana Protectiva to pave the way for a Bene Gessent adept who would bring mystenous techniques to help in achieving success and for a Great Leader who would signify that success was at hand There were many variations in the Missionana Protcctrva's operating methods Once the target culture s value system had been assessed and whole cloth or engraftable sto nes had been devised to mesh with those values, missionary agents infiltrated as pat-terners ("artists') Having learned the legends, melodies, rhythms cultural techniques, and modulation skills of the planet they provid ed entertainment that appeared to be ' home grown The agent could adopt almost any identity As journalists itinerant crafters, or image-recorders, they could 'sell" their wares from any kind of base They died to achieve great popularity so that whatever they com posed would be easily accepted Another method was to join the educational system and gradually alter the curriculum Complete catalogs of techniques for adjusting a culture's belief structures fill volumes Some patternmakers dnfted through society spreading ob MISSIONARIA PROTECTIVA 386 MISSIONARIA PROTECTIVA swene jokes and inscribing pubhc walls Oth ers wrote, composed, painted and holod their way into classic status without help from curriculum manipulators At fairs, festivals, and faddish museums, in pulp sen als and bound volumes, via interplanetary broadwave and personal digidisk, they spread each other's work across a civilization Meanwhile, other missionaries were analyzing and inscribing and disseminating elsewhere throughout the galaxy The Missionana Protectiva's method, then, was to 111 iplaiil recognition wgnals in a culture A Bene Gessent wayfarer would be noticed, tested and, if her abilities were up to the test, spared The legends were designed so