Elspeth does not at all feel the way her mama does about mindreading. She is in fact rather the opposite. So she thinks nothing of accepting Downside's admin's invitation to visit and see whether judgesight picks up the memory dump she carries around in her head. Jane drops her right there - Elspeth has her own Janegem, a little yellow charm hanging from a choker she wears - and she goes to visit the admin.
Generated:
Post last updated:
help yourself
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
the keeper
ending-of
It is still not possible to visit the admin without the appropriate permissions, but since Elspeth is invited, she has no trouble teleporting to the room at the top of the tower.
The admin looks at her.
"Interesting," she says. "I only receive what you yourself have processed."
The admin looks at her.
"Interesting," she says. "I only receive what you yourself have processed."
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
"I haven't processed even most of it," Elspeth says.
the keeper
ending-of
"Would you send me the rest?"
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
"Sure." Braindump!
the keeper
ending-of
The admin blinks.
"Interesting," she repeats thoughtfully. "The power that collected most of that is not quite exactly like judgesight, but it's very close. And there's no loss of fidelity at all from being passed back and forth."
"Interesting," she repeats thoughtfully. "The power that collected most of that is not quite exactly like judgesight, but it's very close. And there's no loss of fidelity at all from being passed back and forth."
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
"I don't think my power would tolerate loss of fidelity, sendingwise. It'd be inaccurate. And Aro didn't have that problem either, so neither did Addy."
the keeper
ending-of
"Do you want a copy of Jane's judgesight?"
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
"What would I do with it? My way of fake-resurrecting people caused all kinds of headaches, and I'm bad enough at keeping secrets I'm probably the last person anyone wants staring into their soul."
the keeper
ending-of
She shrugs.
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
"Besides, Jane has it and she's a friend of the family."
the keeper
ending-of
"Yes?"
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
"So if it's ever important to Aro somebody, Jane can do it."
the keeper
ending-of
"Jane lacks an elegant distributory mechanism."
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
"I guess that's true. Well, you can give it to me if you want, I don't have to use it I guess. But can you make it so Addy can't copy it? I don't think anybody but Addy wants that."
the keeper
ending-of
"Done," says the admin. "Thank you."
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
"You're welcome. Thank you," laughs Elspeth.
the keeper
ending-of
She smiles.
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
"I guess that's it, unless there's, like, tourist attractions here?"
the keeper
ending-of
"Not many," she says. "You might find it interesting to watch from the roof of the tower when the sky switches."
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
"The sky switches?"
the keeper
ending-of
The ceiling above them becomes transparent. The sky above that is split down the middle as though cut with a knife, one side showing day, the other showing night. The line between them precisely follows the - equally straight on average - cliffs that bisect the landscape beneath.
"The sky switches," the admin confirms.
"The sky switches," the admin confirms.
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
"Ooh. I would like to see that. When is it due?"
the keeper
ending-of
"In approximately an hour," she says.
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
"Okay. I'll go hang out in the Bells' office till then and then go have a looksee," Elspeth says. "I have no idea what it'll do to my sleep cycle, so, Jane, after I've seen that, just go ahead and send me home if I fall asleep?"
Jane
mind_game
[Sure.]
the keeper
ending-of
The admin nods.
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
Elspeth teleports to the Bell office and makes sure everything in it is straightened up. One person comes in with a question, which she answers as long as she's there.
And then the Janepoint in the office beeps.
Elspeth frowns and reads the message and clears it away.
[Jane's... lost connectivity,] she tells the admin. [I don't know why.]
And then the Janepoint in the office beeps.
Elspeth frowns and reads the message and clears it away.
[Jane's... lost connectivity,] she tells the admin. [I don't know why.]
the keeper
ending-of
[I noticed,] she says. [There's no technical problem with her ansibles that I can detect. The source of the issue is outside my domain.]
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
[Where's someplace with a lot of doors I can open and close?]
the keeper
ending-of
[Downside's library contains the most doors of any building or complex in my domain.]
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
Elspeth goes there.
She starts opening doors.
(She does take a break to watch the sky switch.)
She starts opening doors.
(She does take a break to watch the sky switch.)
the keeper
ending-of
(The sky switching is very beautiful.)
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
Elspeth goes back to the library when it's through and continues opening doors. Her sleep cycle decides that the sky switching is sunset, and she goes and crashes in the office when she's tired, then starts up again.
the keeper
ending-of
Downside's library contains a lot of doors.
The number is not technically infinite, but it is enough to ensure that she need not repeat any if she doesn't want to.
The number is not technically infinite, but it is enough to ensure that she need not repeat any if she doesn't want to.
Elspeth Annarose Cullen
her_imperial_radiance
Elspeth does tend to get better results from doors she hasn't tried recently, so she doesn't repeat herself.