(urth) Auk's fate?

[thalassocrat at nym.hush.com]

On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 07:09:35 +1000 Fred <lucidprevention at gmail.com> 
wrote:
>I'm new to all of this, and I've been searching these archives for 

>a while
>now. I've not been able to find much discussion on Auk, especially 

>in the
>short sun books. In RTTW, Horn/Silk says, "I struck Jahlee with my 

>fists,
>and when she fell I kicked her like Auk. A day may come when I can 

>forgive
>myself of that."
>
>Why did he kick Auk (or did he mean he kicked her like Auk might 
>have or
>something?)? 

Somewhere early on in Long Sun, we learn that Auk once kicked a man 
to death.

>One of the most frustrating things about these books 
>was
>waiting to hear about Auk, and then when he's mentioned, he gets 
>only a
>passing mention in an earlier chapter with Hide and his village. 
>What
>happened with Auk?

It is very frustrating. SilkHorn meets Chenille (and Auk? can't 
rememebr) in the cellar of Sinew's house on green, but we learn 
absolutely nothing about what they said to each other. 

However I think it's pretty easy to guess what happened afterwards. 
This meeting happens shortly after SilkHorn and his little army of 
astral-travelling mercenaries have cleared the old city on green of 
inhumi. These inhumi were holding A & C's children hostage. 
SilkHorn would have reconciled Sinew's villagers with Chenille, and 
she & her colleagues would have gone back to the city to claim back 
her children, and to claim the city for humans, guarding it against 
the return of inhumi. This would have fulfilled the hope of the 
Neighbor when he set Horn the task of clearing the sewer, that by 
doing so the sewer might be cleared forever.

I think you can guess other things about Auk. It must have been Auk 
with his preternatural mechanical insight who reprogrammed his 
lander so that it would fly between Green & Blue under inhumi 
control. 

Less certainly, I feel pretty sure that Pas gave Auk this insight 
and sent him from the Whorl just in order that Auk would build a 
new Mainframe for Pas & the others to dwell in & rule from. In a 
sense the inhumi performed a valuable service in taking Auk 
prisoner before he could do this.