(urth) AEG: Margaret

[Dave Tallman]

Roy C. Lackey wrote:
> You evidently believe that Cassie was elevated by Gid to the level of a
> goddess. I have trouble seeing Cassie as a goddess in any meaningful sense
> of the word, either by traditional or Lupine standards. The Old World
> goddesses in, say, the Latro books, have supernatural powers that they
> exercise to intervene in human lives and on the objective world. Cassie
> demonstrates no such powers. She was powerless to prevent her lover's death
> or to get herself off that island, for example. She became an object of
> desire with the requisite mien of a Hollywood star, but that is as far as it
> went. And her comportment was by no stretch angelic.
>   
I do think so, because strange things are going on around her other than 
her new attractiveness. Addresses are shifting, etc. Her power seems not 
to be under conscious control, and it may be blocked (perhaps by Gid's 
post-hypnotic suggestions). Something gets unblocked when she dances 
with the Volcano God, but it's too late.

> >/ 2) The Volcano God -- possibly a human who transformed up.
> /
> That is the possibility that I was getting at. I mentioned before how, at
> times, in Cassie's mind, it almost seems as if she regards Bill and Wally as
> two different people. Then consider the "angel or what" bit and India's
> "angel", the only person so called in the book. How different is India's
> angel, the man Cassie came to profess love for, from the man the president
> said was the most "evil man in the world"?
>   
Ok, suppose Reis has transformed up. He would probably require expert 
assistance, and by your previous arguments he couldn't learn that on 
Woldercan. Is that a consulting service he got from Gid? It's doubtful 
that was the original deal, because Gid never refers to such a thing 
when brainstorming with Cassie when Reis is an enemy. It could be part 
of the second deal with Gid.

> *If* there is a moral component to transforming up, did bad Bill become the
> somewhat benevolent Wally, who hoped to fight the aliens and make the world
> a better place? If there is no moral component to transformation, might a
> spirit or nature god be the "or what"?
>   
To have these aspects co-exist in time, we need time-travel for him, 
too. Call the old Reis Bill -- he's an evil, murderous, blackmailer. He 
came around backstage that night and possibly rubbed out Jimmy. Then he 
met Cassie and got charmed. He made arrangements with Chase to get 
raised to a higher level himself. The new and better man, Wally, came 
back in time after transformation to do a nicer job of wooing Cassie. 
His powers are less blocked than hers, so he can exist in some form 
after death. He chose to appear to Cassie as Vince Palma's Volcano God 
(maybe to spare her pain) and gave her a little help by starting a fire, 
etc.

That's not a bad theory (I'm not sure how much of it corresponds with 
yours), though it leaves lots of open questions.
1) Would Gid help a half-enemy to such a degree?
2) Why ask Cassie to "leave flowers"?
3) What does Cassie think is possible regarding Wally in the end? If she 
wants him to come back, why not go back to the island instead of out to 
Woldercan?
4) Is Wally an established alias? It seems to be known to the business 
community already, and Reis much less so. You'd think it would be the 
other way around.
5) In the book, which appearances are Bill and which are Wally?

Is this the sort of theory you have in mind?