(urth) AEG: Margaret

[Roy C. Lackey]

Dave Tallman quoted and 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.

I'm still not sold on the reality-warping bit, partly because no one, not
even Cassie, seems to notice the discrepancies you have mentioned.

> > >/ 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.

Gid is the only known expert in the book, so he would almost have to be the
one who assisted any theoretical transformation up. Gid admits to not
telling the whole truth and told Cassie never to volunteer information when
he was instructing her how best to lie (94), so I'm sure he wasn't telling
her all his business.

> > *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.

If it happened that way, there would be no need for him to go back in time.
Bill just becomes Wally. Time travel by hopper seems too iffy to exercise
fine control.

> 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?

Gid is playing everyone involved to one degree or another to suit his own
ends.

> 2) Why ask Cassie to "leave flowers"?

I don't know. Why did Pat Gomez do the same, particularly since it seems so
bizarre in the circumstances? But it seems to be why Cassie had just come
from Oakland before speaking to Klauser. Best I can tell, Pat somehow
assisted, or at least tried, to keep Cassie from dying the night of the
storm, when both Cassie and Reis were supposed to die. As indicated by Pat
saying to Cassie, "You will live.", contradicting the dead assassin. (280)
The two "leave flowers" bits must be related somehow.

> 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?

I don't know. But when Reis and Cassie had their walk on that island, he is
referred to as Reis, she calls him Bill, then calls him Wally and asks him
if it is okay to call him Wally sometimes. (270) Odd.

> Is this the sort of theory you have in mind?

I don't know yet what I have in mind; I've hardly begun to connect all the
dots. It would help if I knew why the Volcano God chose to appear to Cassie
as Vince instead of Bill/Wally, and why *he* thought she might see him
again. How? Why would he think that? The fire she built was as much a ritual
fire as a rescue beacon.

-Roy