Mr Bojangles wrote:Emotional reunion, jump-induced nightmare, what's the difference, right?
No different. Only different in your mind.
--Yoda
dfacto wrote:Or because the unaccounted for crew-members are also onboard and they want them to think they're alone to see if they're lying Umiak constructs.
Fotiadis_110 wrote:
No, in fact the reason Alex has been so isolated is probably due to his unknown element, is he an ambassador of a future ally, with whom they can share information, or is he a member of a future enemy who will need to be destroyed lest valuable information reach their foes ears? And of course finally: The prison cells MIGHT just be escape pods themselves, able to be jettisoned in a crisis to prevent problems, and to transfer prisoners between ships without offering an opportunity to escape?
And let us not forget that the Loroi were in potentially hostile terrain, they would not want to place him in any further risk than they need do, so keeping him contained in the heaviest guarded, and best protected portion of the ship, the prison is probably not a unreasonable idea.
sunphoenix wrote:
While such explanations apply handily to Alex's confinement,
the lack of communication he spoke of does not fit such a model.
Alex's surprise at the mention of the Listel caste's accurate memory would tend to indicate that this is not a trait he shares; therefore I believe the Loroi would be wise to think any information he has to be a perishable commodity, and one to be extracted as soon as possible. Thus I would expect, under such circumstances, that he would be confined to his cell, but also visited daily by either Tempo or another information-gatherer. This is something that I think Stillstorm would agree to, not least of all because it can be a method of confrontation. If the Loroi were not willing to make any assumptions at all regarding their ability to understand and manipulate human emotions and psychology, then I would expect them to work as quickly as possible to get as many statements as possible out of him, and worry about evaluating them later.
It might be imprudent to regard human psychology and Loroi psychology as analogous, but it would also be imprudent to regard human psychology and canine psychology as analogous. Humans and Loroi do not share similar emergent social structures, nor do humans and canines. Humans and Loroi do not share qualia of sensation, since humans lack telepathy; neither do humans and canines, since canines lack color vision and humans lack olfactory refinement. But trained individuals are able to understand dogs well enough to produce reproducible desirable reactions out of them; not just training, but resocializing some maltreated individuals to conform to domestic standards. Just because a psychology is alien does not mean it is not rationally or even intuitively comprehensible, and comprehending alien minds
is, I believe, part of Tempo's job description. As I said earlier, I believe that when she was speaking with him on the bridge she was sounding him out, and has likely learned a number of things. She has, for instance, undoubtably learned how he reacts to the loss of his crewmates. How he responds to overt aggression. How he reacts to accusation, to implication, to the loss of his old social ground, etc. I think she saw that he was inclined towards trusting Beryl as tentative means of of securing new social grounding (and that Beryl was enthusiastic at the prospect), and I believe she chose to intensify the reaction. This thought process could occur regardless of whether or not Loroi would react to such circumstances in a remotely similar manner, as it is based on conscious understanding rather than any heartfelt sentiment on the part of the manipulator.
I think it is worth pointing out again that the Loroi have had centuries of very significant contact with a number of different sophont alien species, and likely have much greater understanding of what sorts of psyches would be universal to all highly social but noneusocial rational sophonts than humanity does. I am not attempting to make statements regarding Loroi emotions here; whether or not Loroi feel or react in certain ways, they are surely still as capable of understanding a human psyche as humans are of understanding those of dogs, and, having as much experience with other alien minds as they have had, I believe that Tempo trying to understand Alex would be more like a wild animal expert with no experience dealing with dogs but some level of experience with wolves who is trying to understand a dog than it would be akin to a cynophobe with no experience in animal handling attempting to do so. Natural empathy is not necessary for the variety and level of understanding I am attributing to her.
crumjd wrote:
I don't really think she was trying to learn anything with what she was doing psychically.
Ah. My apologies; I thought that was what you meant when you said that you took her intrusion into his space as a matter of "practical necessity."
Muttley wrote:Stats pages for the Outsider characters in some kind of game. Are they canon, and where are they located?
They were once located in
the temp folder. However, after looking there, I have been unable to find Beryl's character sheet, and
Fireblade's was moved to the Insider.
Here's Tempo.
I am sure they are as canon as you would expect a generic RPG interpretation of character concepts Arioch might have made way back in the day as part of his planning process and then might have subsequently changed his mind about or abandoned or deviated from or whatever to be. Broad strokes.
Though, Fireblade's sheet was promoted to a place in the Insider, so it's almost definitely a bit more accurate than the others.
Speaking of broad strokes and outdated information, you might also be interested in
Arioch's Combat Sim .pdf, which is also in the temp folder.
and facepalm
