Page 134: For Science!

[boldilocks]

Didn't redhead even plop down next to Alex just like Beryl when there was CLEARLY space for her to sit away from him if she really had a problem with him?
http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider072.html
Yep! This is what my best friend would call "being crafty"! Sneaky redhead.
I enjoy Alex's look of "ehhh?".

I would point out that this is also very possibly an artistic choice to put the three of them right next to each other for the purposes of framing, rather than to imply any specific meaning for the characters.

Also, she might have sat down close to him as part of a standard security protocol, in order to ensure a swift vulcan death grip in the case of any foul play.

[entity2636]

And Fireblade? I said it myself, she is difficult to read. Though apart from that one moment where they had to make a quick egress from Tempest's bridge, she did show him nothing but derision and disdain. Maybe not outright hatred, but that kind of look you'd usually reserve for something disgusting you scrape off your boot.

I think you just said it yourself - Fireblade's not at all difficult to read, it's all confidence about her superiority, arrogance and clear disdain and contempt toward Alex. Not anger or hatred, but the look you give to someone or something utterly unworthy and particularly disgusting. By the way, she does give the same expression of contempt toward Beryl aswell, for example, on http://www.well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider108.html, when Beryl's explaining on who the Teidar are.

I'd say she's so full of herself that she's incapable of any other expressions or emotions.

There's something else in addition. If one looks closer at Fireblade's posture in his mind's eye, she still seems pretty much relaxed. Though... she sits sort of sideways to him in relation to Alex himself, but it looks like she already turned her head in his direction. Maybe she did notice something odd, already?

Now that you mentioned it, perhaps, but hard to be certain, since it's just the outline. Maybe Alex's waking up to the torpedo warning just saved him from a mental stab or psi punch in the face

[novius]

There's something else in addition. If one looks closer at Fireblade's posture in his mind's eye, she still seems pretty much relaxed. Though... she sits sort of sideways to him in relation to Alex himself, but it looks like she already turned her head in his direction. Maybe she did notice something odd, already?

Now that you mentioned it, perhaps, but hard to be certain, since it's just the outline. Maybe Alex's waking up to the torpedo warning just saved him from a mental stab or psi punch in the face

The hair is most telling. It's fanning out on both sides of her face. Were she looking sideways, one would see the long hair flaring out behind the back of her head.

Interesting though, the seating of the passenger section is facing to the front, yet she is sitting sort of sideways towards his field of view, only with her head turned - either directly facing him or completely away from him. That would mean his 'mind's eye' perspective would be somewhere to the shuttle's port side rather than his current position in the cockpit, unless Fireblade did get up and move around in the meantime.

Could be that it means something or it was just an artistic means to emphasize the fact that he somehow garnered her attention.

[Arent]

There's something else in addition. If one looks closer at Fireblade's posture in his mind's eye, she still seems pretty much relaxed. Though... she sits sort of sideways to him in relation to Alex himself, but it looks like she already turned her head in his direction. Maybe she did notice something odd, already?

Alex' first reaction to Fireblades mental presence:

http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider018.html

"There was something out there in the darkness."

"It had been fluttering there in the distance for I don't
know how long, like an afterimage of something very bright.
But now it was moving closer and for some reason I was
terrified of it."

"It seemed as if I could feel it's presence, as if it were some
fiery monster. Was I hallucinating? My mind filled with a wild,
unreasoning fear. I wanted desperately to get away from it,
but I couldn't move."

"I pressed in on me, it's terrible closeness burning like a furnace."

-> Alex sees Fireblade basically as a "fiery monster"

[Zarya]

Whoa, Fireblade could use some PR & reputation management

http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider091.html
My interpretation of her on this page, while escorting Alex off the bridge of the Tempest, is that she’s already acting as his bodyguard. Stillstorm might have had him thrown out of an airlock..

[Sweforce]

Speaking of Fireblade, would it not be interesting if it is SHE who are the Outsider rather then Alex (or maybe they both are). In any case there is SOMETHING about her that a bit odd. Maybe we are totally wrong to believe her to be a powerful Teidar but she may be something way more then that but just does not know it.

[boldilocks]

Speaking of Fireblade, would it not be interesting if it is SHE who are the Outsider rather then Alex (or maybe they both are). In any case there is SOMETHING about her that a bit odd. Maybe we are totally wrong to believe her to be a powerful Teidar but she may be something way more then that but just does not know it.

A "Secret Soia"?

[raistlin34]

Speaking of Fireblade, would it not be interesting if it is SHE who are the Outsider rather then Alex (or maybe they both are). In any case there is SOMETHING about her that a bit odd. Maybe we are totally wrong to believe her to be a powerful Teidar but she may be something way more then that but just does not know it.

That would be quite the plot twist. And imagine Alex's position as the only one who figures this out (maybe with Beryl's help), while being at the mercy of his "bodyguard".

[novius]

Speaking of Fireblade, would it not be interesting if it is SHE who are the Outsider rather then Alex (or maybe they both are). In any case there is SOMETHING about her that a bit odd. Maybe we are totally wrong to believe her to be a powerful Teidar but she may be something way more then that but just does not know it.

That would be quite the plot twist. And imagine Alex's position as the only one who figures this out (maybe with Beryl's help), while being at the mercy of his "bodyguard".

Or, there's an even worse thought: Who put up the idea that this storyline is just the imagination of an oxygen-starved, dying brain?

...And that light at the end of the tunnel would be her.

[fredgiblet]

Speaking of Fireblade, would it not be interesting if it is SHE who are the Outsider rather then Alex (or maybe they both are).

Fireblade, Beryl, Talon and Alex all have clear claims on the title for different reasons.

[Krulle]

Or, there's an even worse thought: Who put up the idea that this storyline is just the imagination of an oxygen-starved, dying brain?

...And that light at the end of the tunnel would be her.

That would be me, and I apologized to Arioch for that, since I meant Alex' brain being oxygen starved and producing the imaginations... (http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider016.html)
(it could be interpreted as Arioch's brain being oxygen starved)

[icekatze]

hi hi

You can place each letter separately, or if you just want to displace them vertically, you can use the super/subscript setting in the character pane. In this case it alternates between 1, 0, and -1.

That's surprisingly simple. I guess part of it is optical illusion based on the angle of the text, but at a casual glance, it looked like they were slightly offset left and right. Thanks.

They imply they've optimized their society for war, which would mean reproduction and child rearing would be completely different than what we experience.

The insider page on Loroi Warrior Rites of Passage has some interesting information regarding this.

[novius]

Speaking of Fireblade, would it not be interesting if it is SHE who are the Outsider rather then Alex (or maybe they both are).

Fireblade, Beryl, Talon and Alex all have clear claims on the title for different reasons.

Tempo as well. With being her in the spook business and everyone knowing it just because of her caste designation I'm pretty sure she'd find real friends and colleagues hard to come boy.

[novius]

Or, there's an even worse thought: Who put up the idea that this storyline is just the imagination of an oxygen-starved, dying brain?

...And that light at the end of the tunnel would be her.

That would be me, and I apologized to Arioch for that, since I meant Alex' brain being oxygen starved and producing the imaginations... (http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider016.html)
(it could be interpreted as Arioch's brain being oxygen starved)

And that's how I read it, too - Alex's brain being slowly starving of oxygen, the neurons firing one last time out of hypoxic stress. But the universe would be too cruel if it's that "red-headed harpy" who would wait for Alex in the Beyond

And not that "pleasant science elf"

[Scynix]

There's a heap of things I'd like to respond to when I have time, but at the moment this one really leaped out to me.

The insider page on Loroi Warrior Rites of Passage has some interesting information regarding this.

I hadn't read this page.
I can't imagine Alex considering this social construct being 'good'. Even though we struggle to accept societal differences, one thing that has remained for humans is that... well simply put, we're meddlesome. If we don't think something is right, we meddle.

I'm sure Alex is smart enough not to comment when such a subject of society comes up, but I can't imagine Terran's liking this society.
They're already wary of the Loroi's refusal to allow neutral races (which is understandable to a degree when you're in such a state of war) but it seems Terran's are gonna have to work hard to make sure only diplomats interact with the Loroi. :d

[cacambo43]

There's a heap of things I'd like to respond to when I have time, but at the moment this one really leaped out to me.

The insider page on Loroi Warrior Rites of Passage has some interesting information regarding this.

I hadn't read this page.
I can't imagine Alex considering this social construct being 'good'. Even though we struggle to accept societal differences, one thing that has remained for humans is that... well simply put, we're meddlesome. If we don't think something is right, we meddle.

I'm sure Alex is smart enough not to comment when such a subject of society comes up, but I can't imagine Terran's liking this society.
They're already wary of the Loroi's refusal to allow neutral races (which is understandable to a degree when you're in such a state of war) but it seems Terran's are gonna have to work hard to make sure only diplomats interact with the Loroi. :d

The end of the first paragraph *does* say that general civilians live very different lives than what's explained there, though. So I guess it depends on whom they interact with.

CJSF

[Krulle]

Or, there's an even worse thought: Who put up the idea that this storyline is just the imagination of an oxygen-starved, dying brain?

...And that light at the end of the tunnel would be her.

That would be me, and I apologized to Arioch for that, since I meant Alex' brain being oxygen starved and producing the imaginations... (http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider016.html)
(it could be interpreted as Arioch's brain being oxygen starved)

And that's how I read it, too - Alex's brain being slowly starving of oxygen, the neurons firing one last time out of hypoxic stress. But the universe would be too cruel if it's that "red-headed harpy" who would wait for Alex in the Beyond

And not that "pleasant science elf"

I'm pretty sure Arioch also understood it that way, and complained in jest (here)but this being a written medium, having no visible emotional cues, I prefer to apologize before I hurt someones feeling permanently.

[fredgiblet]

I can't imagine Alex considering this social construct being 'good'.

And if he's smart he won't consider that remotely relevant.

The goal isn't to pick the side of the saints, it's to pick the best side for humans to ally with. Playing the sort of purity politics game that is being pushed in society today just invites disaster.

[Corpsman_of_Krieg]

Speaking of Fireblade, would it not be interesting if it is SHE who are the Outsider rather then Alex (or maybe they both are).

Fireblade, Beryl, Talon and Alex all have clear claims on the title for different reasons.

Valid. It makes the title all the more fitting. That said, I vaguely recall something about Jardin being referred to as an alien by way of their use of the word in question. Either way, it is apt.

I can't imagine Alex considering this social construct being 'good'.

And if he's smart he won't consider that remotely relevant.

The goal isn't to pick the side of the saints, it's to pick the best side for humans to ally with. Playing the sort of purity politics game that is being pushed in society today just invites disaster.

I imagine that, just as in Human society, that there are Loroi who are dirtbags, or xenophobes, or those who think they know better than everybody else and that their way is the best way. Thankfully for all of us, this story has thus far focused on individuals that, if not extraordinary in their own right, are nonetheless above average, who have had an extraordinary set of circumstances foisted upon them.

[novius]

I can't imagine Alex considering this social construct being 'good'.

And if he's smart he won't consider that remotely relevant.

The goal isn't to pick the side of the saints, it's to pick the best side for humans to ally with. Playing the sort of purity politics game that is being pushed in society today just invites disaster.

The original mission of the Bellarmine was to make contact and open the lines of communication, sort of. Especially Alex's mission briefing surely wouldn't have included spending an extended amount of time around Loroi.

He's in a position many anthropologists would happily murder for - immersed into an alien culture, seeing the 'natives' first hand and up close.

I'd guess that maybe the TCA prepared Alex for such an eventuality - and, much like with an anthropologist it has been hammered into him never to judge an alien culture. Even if he would find out that Loroi would eat their children failing some rite of passage, the extent on what he would be allowed to say is "Well... it works for you, but perhaps you might be better off not mentioning that around other humans?"

After all, there were moments where he actually displayed restraint rather than running off at the mouth.