[pfsb] investigations and explorations

[blue_ajah]

Two days after Moiraine brought Wei Wuxian's talismans back to Twin Peaks, after she has taken the time necessary to review all of her notes as well as the histories she has been collecting, she calls Dale Cooper, who is still in Olympia, now, rather than Seattle.

All things considered, the conversation could have gone much, much worse.

She is well aware that they are going to have a much longer discussion after he returns in a few weeks, but he had agreed not to ask her to wait. She, in turn, had agreed, as before, not to go to Glastonbury Grove alone, or at night. She also agrees not to approach the pool closer than necessary to place the talismans, or to test it with her own weaving - not at present, anyway.

Hawk had been her next call.

A few days later, after he has had time to consider and to consult with the Bookhouse Boys, Hawk knocks on her apartment door and agrees to her request.

* * * * * * *
When Moiraine returns to Milliways, she leaves a sealed note with Bar, addressed to Wei Wuxian.

Master Wei--

I made the trial of your talismans according to your instructions. When I activated the one at the northernmost point, glowing red energy swept inward from the circle in a wave focused on the pool at its center.

The pool absorbed it all. It vanished into the depths without a ripple, and without a trace.

Nothing else has happened. Yet.

--Moiraine Sedai

That task completed, she settles at her preferred table with tea and begins sketching something in a notebook.

Comments

[we_bring_hell]

She frowns. "That could definitely produce a stronger than normal thanergetic burst... it's the sort of thing that produces dangerous revenant spirits. Perhaps if they were able to keep capturing thanergy through the harm they do..."

"Certainly a subject worthy of study," she concludes.

[blue_ajah]

“Indeed,” she agrees.

“I have always felt it important to understand the nuances of such things, when possible. Perhaps especially so, in this case.”

[we_bring_hell]

She studies Moiraine's expression, always a hiding to nothing.

"You said it is in your adopted world--is it a mystery you have sought out? Or something..." She ponders the phrasing briefly. "...that has thrust itself upon you?"

[blue_ajah]

"It has affected those I care about, in the past," Moiraine says.

"Although it appears quiescent at present, I am a student of history and a collector of stories, among other things, and knowing something of the disruption that has been caused, against which there is at least one group that has been on guard for generations, I feel that I cannot sit idly by and do nothing. At the very least I feel that I must learn what I can, to be prepared in the event of need."

[we_bring_hell]

She nods. Moiraine has never spoken of those she cares about in that world, but logically they must exist, for the dislocation to be worthwhile. "Then it is local," she concludes. "And far from academic."

"You must know that you have my aid in such matters, for what it is worth. I have pledged it. Unfortunately matters of the spirit have not been my area of focus."

(It's gone past strange and into commonplace how often her mind turns to Abigail Pent in this place; mystery-loving historian and speaker to the dead and oddly, uncomfortably maternal presence, with her mousy hair and flashing spectacles. Harrow had known her only a few weeks, and barely at all until the last day of her life, tragically cut short. There is no reason why she should come to mind so often, except that she seemed to be so many things Harrow is not--knowledgeable about the spirit world she has scoffed at, friendly and warm, stable and happily in love with her cav.)

[blue_ajah]

"I am not certain that it is entirely a matter of spirit alone," the Aes Sedai says. "In any case, I do, and shall, greatly appreciate your help and your expertise. Especially if matters were to escalate. Time will tell, I suspect. The Wheel weaves."

She tilts her head slightly to one side, studying the younger woman.

"You mentioned a device that allows you to communicate across worlds?"

[we_bring_hell]

She smiles faintly. "Only at the most rudimentary stages. I have no assurance it will function."

"I have seen someone retain control of a construct even after it passed through the door. If I could do the same for a construct here, prepared for the purpose, I might be able to write messages."

[blue_ajah]

"I see," she murmurs, considering. "Retaining active control across the threshold may operate differently from a stasis of sorts, but there are possibilities in the idea."

She drums her fingers once on the table, then reaches for her teacup instead.

"Did the door remain open, or closed?"

[we_bring_hell]

"Open--that is, of course, the difficulty. I have thought of incorporating something of the gateway weave into the theorem. I have approached it cautiously, as you recommended--and indeed, since I cannot create the differentiated thanergy on my own, my studies have remained entirely notional."

"And then I thought--perhaps a notional gateway is all that is needed, to exercise control over a theorem left behind."

[blue_ajah]

Moiraine gives her a sharp look.

"Do you mean for the construct to itself have control over a gateway, or to use the concept to allow connection?"

[we_bring_hell]

She shakes her head. "Oh, to use the concept from my end of the connection. The construct would not have the complexity to do any such thing--I had envisioned a hand moving in synchronization with my own."

"I did not believe it would be possible the other way around; complexity aside, I am a moving point and the construct is a static one. The gateway must originate with me, for if the construct was able to track me, it would no longer need a gateway."

[blue_ajah]

"Ah," she murmurs. "Then yes, I believe your theory is sound. I am a little familiar with the transfer of messages with weaves on them for security and certain other reasons, although not quite as complex as the construct you are envisioning."

[we_bring_hell]

"Messages sent in what format?" she asks curiously. "I admit a physical construct handwriting messages is not entirely elegant; an obstruction or a pen running out of ink could be my downfall."

"I had considered a dash-dot burst system, like a spirit telegraph. Easier to transmit, I am certain. But that must be encoded on my end, and interpreted on this."

[blue_ajah]

"Letters with weaves laid on them," she says, "for one. For another, there was a matched set of journals in which what was written in one appeared in another, but that was a special case."

[we_bring_hell]

"Ah--I see," she says. "A letter requires a physical opening, of course. The matched journal is more along the lines I was considering, but certainly more elegant."

"Perhaps I am being too physical in my imagination," she admits. "Stuck on the idea of a body taking an action. There might be something in a responsive ink or paper..."

She presses her thumbs together; a concentration exercise set by her parents, as she absently softens the left distal phalange almost to the point of dissolution and then solidifies it.

[blue_ajah]

"There might; there also might be worth in the mechanism you are describing," she points out. "Or both, each for its purpose."

[we_bring_hell]

"In any case, it cannot function without the fundamental ability to transmit," she admits. "I should focus there to begin with."


"The Empire uses the spirit telegraph and planchette to communicate over interstellar distance," she offers. "But I have no oath-bound messengers on the Other Side to employ, and no idea how to give them directions to here."

[blue_ajah]

The Aes Sedai considers that.

"Oath-bound," she observes. "Trustworthy? Can these oaths be broken?"

[we_bring_hell]

"In theory, in some ways," she says, frowning. "I am not as familiar as I might be, the Ninth had no such apparatus. We depended on radio wave transmission within system and received--or rarely, sent--messages via relay to the Cohort headquarters on the Second House, for interstellar purposes."

"I know it is an oath sworn by some Cohort soldiers, to serve as messengers after death for a time. It is an honor, of sorts."

[blue_ajah]

"And one might presume," she concludes, "that for the type of person who would swear such an oath, it would in most cases be kept."

In most cases, save for those of intentional treachery, spying, and deception, of course, should the dead be able to main such will.

There is one way to learn more, of course.

"... do the messengers retain their free will, or become -- lesser, somehow?"

[we_bring_hell]

"I do not believe it diminishes them," Harrow says carefully, aware she is out of her depth slightly. "Over time, spirits in the River become less stable and able to interact with the living world, I know, and I do not believe it protects them from this entirely. For that reason they cannot serve indefinitely. But I have not heard it makes matters worse."

"If they were tempted to change or hide a message--or even desert--I suppose they could, just as a mortal messenger could. I imagine the risk would be greater if we were at war with other necromancers, who might be able to intercept and bribe or coerce our messengers."

[blue_ajah]

"And of course, the greater flexibility that might be offered by such a mechanism could be perceived to counter that risk, at least in many cases," the Aes Sedai says.

Absently, she is reviewing what Harrow had explained earlier.

"So in the theory under consideration, you have described a one-way communication from you through the construct to elsewhere. To other places in your world, to here, or to other Mirrors of the Wheel -- or all three?"

[we_bring_hell]

"My initial planning was from my world to here. I had rather thought to rely on the Bar's collusion to simplify certain aspects of the process."

"When I leave here, I am not sure when I will be able to come back. As we have discussed, matters in Canaan House have grown quite tense, and I anticipate I will be quite occupied on my return. I would rather not vanish entirely from the lives of those I've met here, even if that means scribbling a final note," she says soberly.

"Whether I depart in a coffin or as a Lyctor, my stay at Canaan House was always temporary."

[blue_ajah]

"I understand," she murmurs, thinking of letters she has left in the past, expecting them to be the last that others ever heard of her.

"I shall, of course, hope that your departure will be a triumphant one, and your return here assured."

[we_bring_hell]

She inclines her head, acknowledging the well wishes.

"Even if I ascend to Lyctoral glory, I imagine the Emperor will have much for me to do in the days to come."

"I believe if I am spared--if I am given a little more time--I may yet succeed. Palamedes and I both together, perhaps, but I believe I could resign myself to spend eternity with him. Between the two of us, we are close now."